The next time Anna woke up, it was from her growling stomach. Yet another problem; she needed food and she didn't have any idea how to get it. Getting kidnapped sucked. Figuring she'd rather try and do something about it, rather than sit and wait for someone to remember her, Anna rose from her bed and crossed the room to the door. If it didn't open, she would simply continue to bang on it until someone let her out. It wasn't the best plan, but it was all she had.

As it turned out, the door was unlocked. This surprised her until she opened it to find an armed agent standing at attention outside her door. They hadn't locked her in, because they figured there was no way she would get anywhere with a hired gun at her door. They weren't wrong. Anna's self-defense knowledge was decidedly small. She could throw a punch, but it wouldn't do much harm to anyone that was likely to attack her. It definitely wouldn't do anything against any of Hydra's agents. If she were to escape, she'd need one Hell of a distraction in order to do so.

"I need food," She announced to the agent. After a minute, he motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a small cafeteria that smelled heavily of bacon, then he disappeared back down the hall they had come without saying a word. Not that she really cared. At the moment, all she cared about was food. It wasn't until after she got a helping serving of eggs and bacon that she felt the awkwardness settle in.

It was almost like she was back in high school again, not knowing which table to sit at. There were several tables where Hydra agents sat together talking, but the last thing she wanted was to join their company. She was going to take a seat at an empty table to the side, when the table in the back corner drew here attention. There, sitting completely alone, hunched over his plate of food as if he suspected someone might try and take it from him, sat the Winter Soldier. With a deep breath, Anna changed her path, making her way towards his table. She wasn't sure why; maybe because seeing him alone brought back memories from her own high school experience, or maybe because the other agents might be less prone to staring at her if she sat there. Regardless of the reason, she ended up setting her tray down across from his.

"Mind if I sit here?" Anna asked politely, proud that her voice didn't crack when she spoke, as she stood staring down at his hunched shoulders.

Turning his face up to stare at her, Anna could practically see him contemplating the question in his eyes, before he turned back to his food without saying a word. As she had before, Anna took his silence as acceptance of what she asked and took a seat. Taking a bite of her eggs, which were a little too runny for her taste, Anna kept her eyes on the soldier. His hair fell in his face, covering up his expression. It had to be getting in the way of eating. Anna couldn't imagine trying to eat with her hair down, as she knew it would result in food and condiments getting stuck in it.

"Would you like a hair tie?" Anna cleared her throat before asking, successfully getting him to look up at her. She pulled the spare hair tie from her wrist and held it out to him. When all he did was stare at it she began playing with it absentmindedly while she tried to explain. "You know, for your hair. To keep it out of your face while you eat."

To her surprise the Winter Soldier actually reached out with his metal arm. She braced herself for the pain she felt the first time he had grabbed her with his prosthetic, but it never came. He simply placed his hand on hers to stop her fingers from twisting the hair tie, a touch of annoyance in his eyes. Her hand stilled at his touch, and as soon as she stopped playing with the hair tie, the soldier removed his hand. It almost made her smile at the realization that he didn't like fiddling.

"No hair tie then," she agreed, slipping it back on her wrist. Taking another bite of her eggs Anna kept eying the soldier's metal arm. It looked extremely lethal, as well as very high tech, not that Anna was exactly tech savvy. It actually made her think of her brother. Tony would love to get his hand on that arm in order to learn how it worked.

Thinking of her brother only made her antsy as the reality that she was kidnapped and might never see him again settled in. Resisting the urge to start playing with the hair tie again, feeling that the Winter Soldier might not be as gentle the next time, Anna picked up a piece of bacon to have something to do with her hands. Unlike the eggs, it was actually pretty good.

"You know, I was half expecting the food here to totally suck. It's not that bad. Better than I thought prison food would be." Anna commented as she finished off her bacon. Just because the Winter Soldier didn't seem very fond of talking, didn't mean she couldn't hold a conversation with herself out loud instead of in her head. Talking helped her not think so deeply about her situation.

"I wonder if Rumlow will give me my phone back if I remind him that my family has the resources to start a manhunt for me, if they don't hear from me. Tony, that's my brother, has a whole army of metal suits to choose from and could blow a hole through that wall." She babbled on, speaking as soon as the thoughts crossed her mind.

"I bet you can bust through a wall with your metal arm. Does it hurt? When you use it?" Anna knew it hurt whenever someone without a metal arm punched someone. She'd treated soldiers who had scrapes and bruises on their hands from punching someone out.

The Winter Soldier had been watching her through his hair as she chatted away. He found it odd how she kept talking to him even when he didn't answer. It had surprised him when she chose to sit with him at all. It wasn't as if he had given her any reason to want to. When she posed the question to him, she actually paused, glancing hopefully at him. She was expecting an answer, even though he had yet to provide one to any of the questions she'd asked.

His response was a simple shrug, barely perceivable, but it was an actual response compared to the silent stares Anna was already getting accustomed to receiving. It wasn't even a direct yes or no to her question, but it still made Anna feel a small sense of accomplishment. She got him to react to something. It encouraged her.

"One time I punched out another doctor. He was going to send a recent amputee away from the clinic, dismissing his phantom limb syndrome as being all in his head, and that it couldn't be treated with real medicine. When I disagreed with him, he told me I was the epitome of why women shouldn't be doctors. Socked him right in the nose for that one. Hurt like Hell, and I got suspended for a few days, but it was completely worth it." Anna smiled fondly at the memory.

Not many people smiled around the Winter Soldier, but even with nothing to compare it to, he thought she had a nice smile. It had the ends of his own lips twitching the slightest bit upwards in response. Not that Anna noticed, as his hair still obstructed the view of his face as he kept his head tilted down towards the table.

"I hope I don't get fired after this. I mean, I have vacation days saved up, but I never called to use them. If I didn't get fired for punching Greg, I shouldn't get fired for missing a few days right?" The smile slipped off of Anna's face as her mind jumped to the topic of work after that memory. She began worrying her lip the more she thought about losing the job she loved, that always made her happy.

Anna's scared tone made the Winter Soldier consider something he'd never felt the need to do: comfort someone. He came close to moving his hand out once more, anything to make her stop looking so worried, when Anna suddenly stopped chewing her lip and got a determined look in her eye. Before he knew it, she had risen from her seat and was setting out towards the nearest table of Hydra agents.

"I need a phone," Anna demanded when the agents at the table turned to look at her. "I'll be damned if Hydra screws up my career at the VA."

"Sit down Doctor," The agent closest to her ordered in a bored voice. "It's been taken care of. You're on extended vacation according to the VA. The last thing Hydra needed was a missing persons report to be filed for you."

Anna was a little stunned, before the anger kicked in. How long had they been planning on taking her that they had planned it down to lying to her work? And how docile and believing was society if the hospital OK'd an impromptu vacation Anna hadn't called in or requested herself. One she hadn't even mentioned taking with any of her co-workers.

She felt a bit of disappointment, both at the hospital for believing Hydra's story, and for the fact she wouldn't get her hands on a phone. It would have been a relief to have some contact with someone outside of Hydra, even if it was just to help them cover her tracks while simultaneously ensuring her job would still be there when or if she returned. With no other reason or desire to communicate with the Hydra agent, Anna simply turned on her heel to head back to her table.

"You might want to ring my brother as well, or your biggest problem won't be a missing person report." Anna called out halfway back to her table. She didn't even turn to see if they had heard her or not, she was satisfied enough by getting to say it aloud at all. When she reached the table, she simply picked up her tray, no longer in the mood to eat.

"Are you coming, or staying?" Anna asked the Winter Soldier. When he didn't make any move to stand, Anna figured she had her answer. With her tray in hand, she stalked back towards the doors, tossing her trash forcefully in the trashcan before exiting the cafeteria.

What Anna hadn't known was that the Winter Soldier probably would have preferred to leave with her, rather than stay. It wasn't up to him, though. The Hydra agents controlled his movements, and until they told him he could go, until one of them escorted him back to his cell, the Winter Soldier couldn't go anywhere. So he sat there in silence. Instead of going back to his food, he became caught up in his thoughts. Mainly, the amusement of watching the brunette that couldn't be taller than 5'4" face off with a Hydra agent and lay out her demands as if it wouldn't be as easy as the count of three to take her down.

Anna was completely turned around. Whoever designed the building must have had a penchant for solving mazes, because the floor plan read out as one. Surprisingly enough, she hadn't passed a Hydra agent in a while, and none of them had stopped her when she left the cafeteria. They must have been confident that she lacked any sense of direction. Well, they hadn't been wrong. Eventually she turned a random corner and came across a Hydra agent, something she never would have thought would cause her relief.

"There you are, we need you in the infirmary," the agent muttered to her before he started pulling her in the opposite direction. If she wasn't so relieved that she was being saved from roaming those halls for eternity, Anna would probably have pulled out of his grasp.

When they made it back to the only room that held any familiarity to Anna, she hadn't expected what was waiting for her there. Nine agents stood in various degrees of bruised and beaten. Several of them were so huge, they could have probably been professional wrestlers. And all nine of those intense, angry eyes turned her direction when she walked in. Talk about intimidating.

Without a word, Anna stepped towards her first patient, Rumlow, who had commandeered the chair when they all had returned from their mission. He had some lacerations on his face, and a hell of a black eye. Seeing as there was a guy who Anna was fairly sure had a busted knee, she couldn't understand why he was supposed to be treated first. His injuries were fairly mild from what she could see.

"What happened?" Anna asked as she stared down at Rumlow. When he didn't look inclined to answer she added, "I need to know what happened to know how to treat you. Basics of medicine."

"The Cap, that's what happened," Rumlow finally muttered, not too keen on admitting he had gotten his ass handed to him when there were nine guys on his team. He especially didn't like admitting it to Anna. "Damn serum." His answer had Anna glancing around the room again, taking in all of the injured men.

"You ganged up on him? Really? What are you, twelve?" It didn't really surprise Anna that Brock and his team would do something like that. He had always seemed like a candidate for a bully. And it was no secret Hydra had a history of being a bully. "By the looks of you, I take it Steve won."

"You don't have to sound so happy about it," Rumlow muttered, his anger rising at the half smile playing on Anna's lips and her teasing tone.

"I'm just happy my friend's okay," Anna murmured lightly, trying to keep her amusement to herself. It wouldn't do well to poke the pride of her enemy any more than she already had. Her life was basically in their hands now, she was living under their mercy.

Without another word Anna jerked Rumlow's chin up, adjusting his face so she could take a closer look at the cut on his cheek. The unexpected contact took Rumlow by surprise, and her proximity made him feel a little different about his injuries. He didn't mind Anna being that close, though he'd prefer it under different circumstances. He'd also prefer that she actually care he was hurt.

"You're lucky, it won't require stitches." Anna announced as she released her grip and turned to the table, picking up a cloth and some rubbing alcohol. "This will sting like a bitch, but it'll sterilize the wound." Pouring a little alcohol on the cloth, she pressed it against his scrape, causing Rumlow to hiss in pain. After that she poked and prodded his body to make sure nothing was broken. Nothing was, but there were plenty of bruises that hurt bad enough and had Rumlow wincing when pressure was applied.

"Okay, who's next?" Anna asked once she was through examining Rumlow, her eyes glancing towards the agent with the messed up knee. It made her smile inside when they all looked a little nervous to volunteer. Anna knew the looks on their faces meant they were debating if it was actually worth the pain a full exam would bring. She also know, if they wanted to keep their jobs, they didn't have a choice. They needed to be bandaged up.

Anna worked her way down the line of men until every last injury was dealt with. The only agent that was completely out of commission was the one with the bum knee. Steve had really done a number on that guy. She didn't have casting equipment there, so she had to make due with an ace bandage and orders to stay off of it for at least two weeks.

When she didn't have any more patients left to treat, Anna went into sterilizing mode as she began cleaning up the mess that had been created. Methodically, Anna sterilized all of the equipment she had used, placing them back in order on the table when she finished. She hadn't heard anyone enter the room, so it about gave her a heart attack when she discovered she wasn't alone.

"Gahh!" Anna shouted when she turned around and found the Winter Soldier staring back at her. "It's not nice to do that to people," She chided, placing her hand over her rapidly beating heart. "It should be illegal to move as silent as you do." Honestly, he could give someone a heart attack. Granted, when he snuck up on people it was probably with the general intent to kill them.

Given that possibility, it wasn't completely unreasonable that, in response to her scream, three armed guards came barreling into the room. Their guns were locked on the Winter Soldier, who simply turned his head to stare at them, his body still facing towards Anna.

"No, it's okay. Guns won't be necessary. He's fine." Anna insisted, quickly moving so she was standing between the Winter Soldier and the armed agents. A move that took the Winter Soldier by surprise as he turned completely around, following her movement. It was a slightly ridiculous sight, seeing the tiny doctor standing between him and the guns. She seemed even shorter when he was standing that close to her. What was even stranger, was that she was trying to protect him. Even though there wasn't much she could do if the agents decided to fire upon him. Although, between the guns and him, he'd have to say he was definitely more lethal.

"He's supposed to be in his room," One of the agents spoke as he lowered his weapon, though it didn't escape Anna's notice that the other two still had theirs locked in on the assassin behind her. She didn't dwell on that very long, as the words of the agent who did lower his gun struck Anna as curious. She hadn't thought the Soldier had a room, mostly because of the previous night where they kept him locked in the infirmary. Was that just some sort of punishment for something he hadn't done to their liking?

Glancing behind her, Anna studied the Winter Soldier, trying to decide if he wanted to stay or go. It was impossible to tell which he preferred, even as he stared her directly in the eyes. Normally Anna was better at reading people's body language, but it seemed as though the Winter Soldier was highly skilled at hiding the regular tells.

"I don't mind the company." Anna finally spoke as she turned back to the agents, figuring she'd at least give him the option to stay if he wanted.

The three men glanced at each other in deliberation. It was the one who had lowered his weapon that made the decision. With a shrug of his soldiers he left the room, the other two following shortly after. If the doctor wanted to be alone with the asset, that was her decision. Though the agent couldn't help feeling as though it was an extremely stupid decision. Her self-preservation mustn't be very high.

As soon as Anna was sure the guards were gone for good, she turned around with a sigh. Confrontations always left her with a feeling of unease, even when she won them. Not knowing exactly what to do, the Winter Soldier still studying her silently, Anna pulled out the best thing to come from helping to heal the Hydra agents earlier from her jacket pocket: her phone.

"I swiped it back from Rumlow while I treated his injuries," Anna murmured in response to the heavy stare of the Winter Soldier she could still feel on her, even without looking. "You're not the only one that can be stealthy."

It all came down to distraction. That's what Tony had taught her. Keep their attention on something else while you took what you wanted. She had never done it to anyone but her brother before, so she had been a little nervous. In the end, Rumlow hadn't suspected a thing, and none of the others had noticed.

The battery was low, that's the first thing Anna noticed as she went to check her missed calls. There were five missed calls, four from Steve and one from her resident. Steve was the only one to leave messages, all of which had already been listened to, most likely by Rumlow, who didn't seem to have a problem with invading others privacy. Anna knew Steve had probably already dumped his phone somewhere. He was on the run from SHIELD, and phones made it too easy to track someone down. So instead of trying to call him, she listened to the most recent voice mail he'd left her.

She didn't get through the whole message, as the shock of hearing Steve murmuring that Fury was dead had her hands shaking and the phone slipping from her grip. It was saved from crashing against the floor, and alerting any agents who lingered outside in the corridors that something was wrong, by the Winter Soldier snatching it midair. When he went to hand it back to her, it was to find her staring at him with wide eyes.

"You killed Nick Fury. That was your mission last night." Anna murmured as she continued to stare wide eyed at him. Her statement made the Winter Soldier freeze. He didn't know the name of the man he had killed, only his picture. He could have killed this Nick Fury that the doctor seemed to have known. Bracing himself, he waited for the look of fear to touch her eyes, for her anger to bubble to the surface, for her to treat him like everyone else did. He assumed she'd blame him. He never once thought she'd blame herself.

"Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god." She muttered swiftly under her breath as her shaky hand went to tug on the end of her ponytail in a nervous gesture. "I was the one who cleared you physically to leave. I'm the reason he's dead. The director of SHIELD's death is on me." Her anxiety and guilt started growing until she felt the familiar tightness in her chest and her breaths became shallower as the constriction of her lungs made breathing harder.

On top of everything else that had gone wrong, now Anna was having an asthma attack. Normally she had her asthma under control, but she hadn't had her medicine with her at the hospital. Neither her long-acting nor her rescue inhaler was with her here. The thought that she didn't have anything to stop the attack only made it worse as she found herself collapsing to the floor.

The Winter Soldier was stunned at her reaction, before a distant memory flashed in his mind. It was one of a weak, tiny, ill man who was using his shoulder muscles in an effort to breathe deep enough. He wasn't sure where it had come from, or if it was even real. Whether it was real or not didn't matter though, because, oddly enough, he knew what to do. Moving across the room with speed that seemed effortless to him, the Winter Soldier started opening the many safety deposit boxes until he found the one he was looking for.

With the small, oddly shaped device in hand, the Winter Soldier returned to the doctor. Kneeling in front of her, he pressed the device into the palm of her hand. Anna didn't waste any time flicking the cap off of the inhaler and inhaling the medication into her lungs. After the second inhalation, she was beginning to feel its effects. Her airways were opening up again. With her breathing under control, Anna glanced up in slight awe at the soldier kneeling before her. There was no other explanation for how he knew how to help her, and that was that Pierce was wrong. Bucky Barnes wasn't gone. He was still in there, deep down, fighting to come to the surface.

A/N I am so excited to post this chapter. I'm enjoying writing this story so much. I hope you all enjoy reading it just as much. As always, any written response to this story is welcome. As with every other author on fanfiction, reviews help feed my creativity and desire to post.

Rach

xoxo