When Anna woke up the next day, it was to find her hair had turned into an untamable mess during the night. At least from what she could see in the small compact she always kept in her bag. Brushing it only made it worse, so she braided it just so she wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. Because of the whole ordeal with her hair, Anna was later than usual getting to breakfast. She was only able to tell because her stomach was growling in protest, as she still didn't have access to a watch to actually know what time it was.

She didn't notice anything was off until she started walking towards her regular table. Instead of James, Rumlow and Rollins sat there, heads bent together in discussion. It caused her to pause and scan the room for James, perhaps he was sitting at another table. With no sign of him, Anna continued on her way to the table that Rumlow now occupied with a new determination.

"Where is he?" Anna demanded, coming to a stop at the edge of the table. Rumlow looked up at her, a fake smile on his face.

"Hello Anna, nice to see you this morning. Did you sleep well?" His forced politeness only riled Anna more than she was before.

"Where is he?" She pressed more firmly, refusing to have a civilized conversation. Anna wasn't even sure if that would be possible with a man as uncivilized as Rumlow.

"In his room," Rumlow answered, a harsh and satisfied glint in his eye. He was enjoying being the one to tell Anna, had been looking forward to it. That's why he chose to sit at the table the Winter Soldier normally sat. It provided the perfect opportunity to force Anna to ask him the question instead of another agent. "He lost his breakfast privilege by not staying there last night."

They weren't allowing him to eat just because he'd hung out in her room last night instead of alone in his? That was just so messed up. What was even more messed up was how much Rumlow seemed to be enjoying torturing James. It seemed the only way Rumlow got off was by hurting others: whether it be physically or mentally.

"Do you have to try, or does being a dick just come naturally?" Anna spat out, unable to control her anger, before turning on her heal with her tray and heading out of the cafeteria. If James couldn't come to breakfast, she was going to bring breakfast to him. Halfway down the hall she realized she hadn't thought about how she was actually going to find her way to James' room, but she got lucky and came across a Hydra Agent that pointed her in the right direction. Slowing when she approached his door, seeing the Hydra Agent standing guard outside it, Anna started thinking of excuses that would gain her access to the room. She eventually went with the simplest one: he was her patient and she needed to check on his arm. The agent couldn't fight her on that one, she had a doctorate to back her up.

James was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, when Anya entered. Glancing up at the sound of the door closing, surprise flashed across his eyes when he saw Anya standing there. He hadn't expected anyone to come for him until later that night, least of all Anya. As she approached him, he moved into a seated position to make room for her on the bed. He had to scoot over little more when she set the tray down beside him before taking a seat herself on the other side of it.

"Your face looks like the swelling went down," Anna commented, making James reach up to feel the cheek she was referring to. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble," She added as she handed him a slice of toast while taking a bite out of the other one.

James accepted the food, but didn't make any move to eat it as he stared down at Anya. For some reason, she always seemed to blame herself for his punishments, when it was his own actions that led to them. He didn't understand that about her, how she always made things out to be her fault when they weren't. At his questioning stare Anya explained running into Rumlow that morning and how he had more or less told her James was stuck in his room because of him being with her last night. Anna herself thought it was a ridiculous reason to punish someone, but it just illustrated Hydra's beliefs of order at any cost.

Of course, Anna was all for disobeying Hydra's rules, and shared every last bit of the food she had gotten with James. It wasn't a lot for two people, but knowing she was basically giving the finger to Hydra by disobeying their orders made up for the fact that her stomach was still hungry after eating her half. She waited until James was finished before removing the tray from the bed. Noticing the pill bottles she'd given him the other day on his bedside table, Anna subtly shook them before turning back to James; he hadn't used the pain medicine at all, the bottle was still completely full. However, at least it seemed he had listened to her when it came to the Penicillin. He might be in pain, but at least he wouldn't get an infection.

"How's the shoulder today?" Anna asked, going into doctor mode as she went back to the bed. "Ready to see if you can get out of that sling yet?"

James had been ready to get out of the sling the moment Anya had put it on. So before Anya could change her mind and take back the choice of being free from the confines of the bandage, he was pulling the hem of his tee over his head. Still not used to the swiftness of his actions, it took Anna a moment before reaching forward to start unwrapping the ace bandage. Keeping her left hand on his forearm to keep it steady, in case his arm wasn't quite ready to be mobile yet, Anna unwound the last bit of fabric form his arm. After removing the gauze pad that had covered the wound, Anna was a little shocked with how well the wound had healed in only a couple days.

"I'm going to need you to loosen up a little," Anna murmured once she had gotten over her surprise. James did his best to relax his arm, and once it wasn't as tense Anna started slowly manipulating his arm and shoulder, testing his range of motion while keeping an eye on his face for any signs of pain. His joints were a little stiff, but that was to be expected from the injury and from having his arm pinned to his stomach. He didn't have full rotation of his shoulder without showing signs of pain, but Anna didn't think that warranted a re-wrapping of his arm.

"If I let you keep your arm unwrapped, you have to promise you won't over work it." Anna insisted as she stared up at James, trying to convey how serious she was. James immediately nodded his head, ready to promise anything to be rid of the confining material. "Alright then, let's get rid of this then shall we?" Anna announced, rolling up the ace bandage and leaning across James to toss it on the table with the tray.

The movement called James' attention to the braid that had flipped over Anya's shoulder. The pattern of the strands of hair weaving around each other intrigued him. Anya hadn't worn her hair like that yet, normally it was either pulled back in a ponytail or down. Anna watched him curiously as he slowly raised his newly freed hand to grip her braid loosely between his forefinger and thumb.

"It's a braid. I reserve it for bad hair days or when I'm working out." Anna murmured, feeling the need to explain her choice of hairstyle. "Though, the truth is, I hardly ever get around to actually working out. I plan to, but when it comes down to it I lack the proper motivation. That, and the humidity tries to suck the oxygen from me whenever I do attempt running. Asthma and humidity don't really mix well," Anna continued to ramble, running with the topic. James ended up releasing her hair during her rant, causing Anna to follow the movement.

"You seem like one of those people who would actually enjoy working out." She commented as she took in his physique. He was still shirtless from when she had examined his shoulder. Noticing him shiver, and assuming it was from a chill, she added, "You can put your shirt back on now. The wound doesn't require any more gauze because you heal freakishly fast. Which is a good thing. Though if more people healed like you, I'm pretty sure I'd be out of a job." Doctors would probably still be required, but the world definitely wouldn't need as many if everyone could heal like James could. Anna couldn't help wondering if it made her a bad person for being just a little thankful people couldn't heal super-fast, even if it meant, in some cases, people would survive injuries they normally wouldn't. She kind of liked her job and wouldn't want to try and find another one.

"So, how long do you normally have to stay in here?" Anna asked, changing the subject so her thoughts wouldn't go too deep and philosophical. That would just lead to her being depressed from the situation she was in. If she was going to pull through this, she needed to stay positive.

"Until someone lets me out." They usually kept him confined to his room longer before a mission. Hydra felt it would make him look forward to the mission, that he'd consider it a reward because he got to go outside for a change. It would also increase his frustration, when he was kept in tight spaces for extended periods of time. And Hydra considered that a bonus.

"That must get boring." James couldn't help but agree with Anya's statement. It was enough to drive him mad at times. That started changing when Anya got there. She talked too much for him to get bored. She helped keep his mind focused on one thing. Without her, his thoughts flew through his head too fast for him to even make them all out: flashes of pictures, voices, even feelings. Whether they were memories or dreams, he didn't know. He only knew that with Anya, the noise inside his head died down to a low hum as he focused on her voice and what she was saying.

"It's not so bad now," James finally responded, keeping his gaze down as his right hand picked at the scratchy blanket they were sitting on. His comment had a smile pulling at Anna's lips, and she shifted her left hand, sliding it over his. The unexpected warmth of her touch had James head snapping up, his eyes shifting to gaze down at her.

"What's your favorite color?" Anna asked, making sure to keep her gaze on the wall across from them. She could feel his eyes on her, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see what they were expressing at that moment.

Anya's question pulled James' attention away from her hand resting on his and what she meant by the contact. He had never given much thought to his favorite color. In truth, there were a lot of things he hadn't ever considered or thought of until Anya came with her questions and her stories. Before he had made the decision to start speaking to her, he could get away with not answering her questions. Now, she remained silent as she waited to see if he'd offer up a real answer that time.

"Blue," James eventually answered. He had actually considered his answer for a little bit. In the end, he chose the color of the sky, because it was oftentimes rare that he got to see it.

"Mine is yellow." Anya responded, even though he hadn't asked. When James thought about it, yellow suited Anya. The sun was yellow. Yellow stood for all things bright, happy, and warm; all things that Anya seemed to be. "I think you'd look good in blue," Anna murmured softly after a few moments of silent contemplation. "It would bring out your eyes." Turning her head to the side, Anna's eyes connected with the blue ones she had been talking about. She offered up a half smile before shifting her attention back to the wall.

"Do you look good in brown?" James' question was serious, and that might have been an added reason to why she smiled at it.

"No more than anyone else," Anna remarked, trying to contain her smile. "The color matching thing doesn't work as well with brown eyes. Not that anyone ever really talks about how to make brown eyes pop. In my opinion, it's because brown eyes don't hold a candle to blue eyes."

James didn't think that was true. It wasn't the color of the eyes that made them stand out, but the emotions behind them. Eyes that were void of emotions didn't 'hold a candle' to eyes that flickered with everything a person was feeling. Take Anya, she wore her emotions freely, each one showing in her eyes.

"Want to learn a new game?" Anna asked after a moment of silence, turning to face James. When he silently mimicked her movement by turning to face her, Anna started explaining the game, taking it as a yes. "It's something Tony and I used to play a lot when we were bored. You need to hold your hands out palm down like this," taking hold of his hands, Anna positioned them correctly before moving on. "Now I hold mine palm up just below yours. I'm going to try and bring my hands up and around to tap yours, and you're going to try and move your hands so I can't. If I tap your hands three times in a row, I win. If I fail, you win and we switch places."

It didn't take long for Anna to lose the first round, making her realize too late that James had an unfair advantage. Still, there were only so many games you could play in a small room with no windows, no paper, and no cards. So Anna raised her hands into the starting position, only to find James with a hesitant look on his face. It was all well and good when Anya was trying to tap his hands, but James didn't want to hurt her by accidently hitting too hard.

"It's okay James. I trust you," Anna assured him once he made eye contact with her. It was that last statement that had James setting his hands up below Anya's, determined to prove—both to himself and to Anya—that he was worthy of that trust.

They ended up playing several more rounds of that game. Anna was determined to win at least once, but gave up after being unsuccessful every time. Her reflexes just couldn't compare to James'. Instead of starting up a different game, Anna went back to telling stories about her past. Something that James' had started to enjoy. It was a nice distraction, and it allowed him a chance to see a sliver of what Anya's life was like before Hydra had brought her there. If he couldn't remember his own past, it was nice to hear someone else's.

When hunger became an issue, Anna volunteered to go bring back food. She was enjoying the solitude with James, and she didn't really feel like sitting in the middle of a room full of Hydra Agents. That time she brought back enough for the both of them, probably more than the both of them needed. She didn't know what he'd want to eat, so she picked a little be of everything. From the choices he made of the smorgasbord she brought back, she soon discovered James liked all things meat, and tended to stay away from anything green.

"There was a time I attempted to be a vegetarian," Anna relayed to James as she cut a piece of chicken. "It was mostly because Tony insisted I wouldn't be able to do it, and I really wanted to prove him wrong. So I didn't eat any meat for five months. It was absolute torture, but the look on Tony's face when I won our bet was priceless. Not to mention the kicker that the money I won on that bet helped pay a big chunk of my medical schooling."

Tony didn't necessarily know that's what she spent the money on. If he did, he'd probably would have thrown an even bigger tantrum when she left for DC. She was going to mention that to James, before realizing she'd already told him that story. In fact, most of the stories she'd told him had brought up Tony in some way or other. Anna hadn't meant to talk so much about her brother. She just missed him. And most of her memories that made her happy tended to have Tony in them. He was the one who took over raising her after their parents died, when he was only a teen. He refused to let her go into foster care, even if having a kid sister around might have cramped his style.

"You must get tired of hearing about Tony, huh? He's just such a big part of my past. We don't get to see each other as often now, so it's nice to reminisce about the good times. If I get out of here, I'm definitely going to tell him how much he means to me. Of course, it'll only inflate his ego more, but I don't care. I don't want to die without him knowing I'm thankful for every pulled pigtail and overprotective big brother instinct he's ever shown." At the thought of the real possibility of never getting to see or talk to Tony again, Anna felt tears forming in her eyes. Before she could stop it, a few escaped out of the corners. She immediately wiped them away with her finger, but they were quickly replaced by more.

"I'm sorry," Anna mumbled, trying to stop the hysterical sobs that threatened to come. "I usually don't cry. When I do, it sort of doesn't stop."

James froze when he caught sight of the tears, uncertain of what to do, of how to comfort her or make her stop. There was a tight feeling in his chest when he saw the tears falling down Anya's face, and he just wanted to make them stop so the tightness would go away. A fuzzy picture came to mind, one he had never seen before, yet he knew it was his hand reaching out to wipe away the small, vaguely familiar girl's tears. With no other, better, ideas of how to help, James mimicked that picture, slowly raising his hand to Anya's cheek to wipe away a few of her tears with his thumb.

The contact startled Anna, as she hadn't expected James to try and comfort her. It had been a long time since someone had comforted her, as she made sure no one was around to see her cry on the rare occasions that she did. It felt nice, knowing that someone cared enough to try and comfort her. Before she really knew what she was doing or whether it was a good idea, Anna slid closer to James until her head rested on his shoulder. His arm fell on the bed behind her at her movement, but he didn't move it. In fact, he didn't move at all. He just sat there as Anya's tears soaked through his shirt. Eventually her breathing evened out and her tears stopped falling as she fell asleep with her head still resting against his shoulder. And still he didn't move, not immediately at least.

Eventually, James carefully lifted Anya just enough that he could pull the blanket back. Laying her down gently, he pulled the covers over her before moving to lay on the floor beside the bed, giving Anya the bed to herself. Anya was small enough that he could have fit beside her, but there was something inside him saying it wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be proper. So he laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling and hanging on to the feeling of Anya's head on his shoulder. She had trusted him, to see her vulnerability and to accept the small amount of comfort he could provide. She trusted him.

A/N Hey all! So I hope you liked this update. I'd love to hear what you thought. I also love hearing suggestions of what you'd want to see happen (either in the immediate future or a little further on) in the story. So feedback dealing with that is always welcomed! Reactions to the chapter are also welcomed :) Now, onto the responses to the guest reviews!

To the guest who mentioned how sweet the ID badge part was: about your question about having it in his possession being important in upcoming chapters I will only say this, it will help him in more ways than one. That probably makes no sense, but I don't want to give too much away!

To the guest who mentioned how they don't think Anna is a mary-sue: I want to say Thank You, it is always good to be reassured that my characters aren't mary-sues. I also thank you for the complement on my writing. I enjoy it a lot and it's nice to know people think I'm competent at it :)

To the guest that commented about updating regularly and keeping it up: I am trying hard! I was going to update yesterday, but I got sidetracked. But here it is. I hope it was worth the wait!

Rach

xoxo