Anna didn't sleep much that night. After sleeping most of the day, she couldn't slip back into unconsciousness. She did spend it in her own room, though. After leaving at some point to take a shower, Anna came back only to find the new guard on duty denying her entrance. Not that she didn't attempt to put up a fight about it. But the agent was adamant in his orders. So, with nowhere else left to go, Anna returned to her designated room.

Once again, when she arrived at the cafeteria for breakfast, James wasn't there. And again, Rumlow and Rollins sat at his table. This time she posed her question to Rollins, trying her best to ignore Rumlow's very existence. Anna was confident that her being banned from James' room was entirely his doing. When Anna addressed Rollins, he glanced at Rumlow, asking permission to disclose the information Anna was requesting.

"He ate alone. Needed solitude to prepare for today's mission." Rollins finally answered gruffly when Rumlow nodded his head, allowing him to divulge the information to Anna.

"A mission? So soon after being shot? And in broad daylight? Don't these things normally go down at night?" Anna fumbled through all the questions that were running through her mind. The peacefulness of the last two days had momentarily made her forget that James was being used as a tool for Hydra, that he'd have more missions to go on until Hydra got what they wanted.

"You'll actually be clearing him for it, as soon as you're ready. We have him waiting in the infirmary." Rollins responded, pointing his fork at Anna before stabbing his eggs with it. He missed the glare Rumlow shot him for divulging that information, as it had Anna swiftly turning on her heal, abandoning breakfast in preference of the infirmary.

It was obvious the guard outside the infirmary hadn't expected Anna so early. Regardless, he allowed her entrance. His orders were to let the doctor in when she came, so it wasn't his place to tell her to come back later. To Anna's surprise, James was already suited up, choosing to lean against the wall rather than sit in the chair normally used for examinations.

"I thought I was supposed to clear you?" Anna asked as she came to stand in front of him, unable to see how she was supposed to conduct a physical exam with his uniform on. And if there was no physical exam, there was no way she could claim he wasn't ready to go back out yet.

"I'm fine," James responded with determination. He had suited up before Anya got there for a reason, and that was to prevent her from having to clear him. To prevent her from feeling guilty for whatever he did today, like she had last time.

"Do you have a doctorate in medicine that you spent six years of your life on?" Anna inquired, her hands going to her hips as she stared defiantly up at him.

"I'm fine," James insisted, crossing his arms to illustrate he was done discussing it. He would not let Anya win on this point. To his surprise Anya reached forward, attempting to pry his arms from his chest without much luck. Her plan of forcing him to let her perform her job hadn't been thoroughly thought out.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Anna huffed, giving up on trying to make him let her examine him. There was no way she was going to be able to make him move if he didn't want to.

"So you don't blame yourself again." Of all the possible answers Anna could have gotten, including no response at all, that was the least expected. It had the fight slowly slipping away from her as the meaning behind it hit her.

"I can take the guilt. What I can't take is you going out before you're healed and getting hurt worse because of it." Anna responded, her voice a shade softer than before. Even if it was completely stupid of him, it was kind of sweet that he wanted to protect her emotionally from herself.

"It'll be fine. Easy even." James responded with sincerity. Her concern for him was truly touching, but also unnecessary. He knew what he was doing. It was nothing he hadn't done more than a dozen times.

"If it's so easy, then why do you need so many guns?" Anna pointed out, her eyes moving to the various guns he had strapped on him. It was enough to arm a whole tact team, and he carried it all on his person. If the mission was so simple, why the need for all the excess weapons?

"Sometimes I miss," James responded in all seriousness. It was rare for him to miss, but it did happen every once in a while. There was also the variability of how far away he'd have to be from his target that came into the equation. In order to factor for variability, he was given the weapons he'd need for different circumstances.

"Will the people you're going after have guns too?" James didn't have a direct answer for that inquiry. There was a distinct possibility that his targets would be armed, given they were both level 6 targets. But there would be no way of knowing until he found them. The uncertainty led him to shrug in response, not wanting to lie to Anya if he could help it.

The lack of a real answer didn't do anything to instill confidence in Anna. It was awful, hoping that Hydra's newest targets would have to face the 'Winter Soldier' with nothing to defend themselves with. But Anna couldn't help it. Not when the targets weren't even faces in her mind, and it was James who was going up against them.

"Well," Anna cleared her throat as she stepped closer to James. After a moment of hesitation she rested her hand on his suit, just over his heart. "This thing better be bulletproof." She murmured, keeping her eyes level with her hand. It has hard for her to actually admit defeat in any argument, but admitting it in this one would result in death and pain. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, but she really didn't want James to get hurt.

The concern in Anya's voice, and her light touch, had James' heart speeding up. Copying his motions from the day before, James' raised his right hand to cover Anya's, pressing it closer and prolonging the contact. The sound of the infirmary gate creaking open was what finally caused them to separate. Rollins, who was the first to enter the room, was the only one that had caught James and Anna before they jumped apart. Not that it mattered at all to him. It was Rumlow who had the odd fixation with the doctor. Rollins' orders were simply to retrieve the doctor's report and escort her back to her room while Rumlow escorted the asset to the transport.

It was with satisfaction that Rumlow handed the Winter Soldier his mask and goggles. He felt as though he had won when he had entered the infirmary to find the Soldier in full gear. Anna hadn't been able to find an excuse for him to stay. Meaning this mission might just force her to see what the Winter Soldier really was: an asset, a tool, a weapon. Undeserving of empathy or affection.

It was with one last glance at Anna, who had twisted in Rollins' grasp to look back at him, that James slipped the mask on, followed shortly by the goggles. As always the walk to the transport was silent, and James spent the time he was being transported mentally preparing himself for the mission. He went over the mental pictures of his targets and the strengths and weaknesses he had been presented with by Pierce. His orders were to take them down by any means necessary, no matter how many other casualties it cost.

The news that both of his targets were in the same vehicle, headed towards SHIELD, had James mentally berating them. Being in the same confined space wasn't a challenge, they could have at least tried to make it interesting for him. They were supposed to be level 6. At least it would mean he'd get to return to the compound, to Anya, sooner than anticipated. At the thought of Anya, James slipped his hand into his pocket until it slid over the smooth card that had her picture on it. When the driver of the small car they were traveling in pointed out the target's vehicle, James quickly pushed all thoughts of Anya away and readied himself for attack.

In one swift movement, James launched himself out the window, landing with a thud on top of the target's vehicle. He disposed of the 'traitor' first—the Hydra agent that reportedly was the one to inform Hydra of the targets' whereabouts only after he spilled Hydra secrets to the targets. That left three people in the vehicle. Only two were his targets, but with the third possibly knowing Hydra intel now, the third would be collateral damage. Three shots and it would all be over. At least, that's what James' had assumed. Until the vehicle came to a sudden halt after he'd fired the supposedly killing shots. Not expecting it, James felt himself flipping off the car before he could anchor himself.

He barely registered his head crashing against the concrete, more focused on providing traction with his mechanical arm. Rising slowly to his feet after stopping his momentum, James' waited for the second Hydra vehicle to make its move. When it did, he once again launched himself on the roof of the targets' car, which was being propelled by the Hydra vehicle from behind. The collateral attempted to steer out of Hydra's lock on their car, and would have probably been successful had James not ripped the steering wheel from his grasp.

Gunshots firing up at him caused his retreat, and made him take note of two things: one being that he might have originally underestimated his targets, and two being that they did in fact have guns. It changed his next choice of weapon, as he pocketed the handgun he'd originally used and instead took the missile launcher one of the Hydra Agents offered him. His first shot was dead on, causing the blonde target to fly off the bridge. If he hadn't known that one was the one who had enhanced strength, James would count him as dead.

With one target out of range for the moment, James focused on the redhead, waiting for the agents' fire to draw her out before sending two missiles her way. The first one missed, but the second one sent the car she had taken cover behind flying off the bridge with her. Counting her as down and out, James traded the now empty missile launcher for an automatic, ready to finish off the blonde. It took him a minute to locate the shield beside the crashed bus. When he took aim, ready to end this mission, bullets came from below, nicking his goggles and cracking the glass. Unable to see out of the right side, James pulled back, using the concrete divider as cover.

It had been the redhead who had fired the shot. She had, once again, survived his attempts at taking her down. Not only that, but she had caught him off guard and hit him. Albeit, he suffered no injury from it. Still, it just really pissed him off that these targets wouldn't die. That thought had him ripping off the newly made useless goggles as he rose back up and fired shots down to where the redhead had been. He should have figured she'd moved to a different location. Instead, it was something he found out as more shots fired at his head from across the way, making him duck behind the concrete siding again. As soon as the shots stopped, James rose back up, firing at her new position and forcing her to retreat further down the street.

"I have her. Find him," James ordered in Russian, before jumping over the concrete divider and landing with a crunch on the top of a car below. He wanted retribution for the redhead momentarily getting the better of him, that's why he let the others take care of the blonde.

With the redhead having a head start, James relied on his hearing to locate her after following the direction she'd taken when she fled. When he picked up on her voice from behind a car across the street, he slowly pulled a bomb from his belt, rolling it carefully towards the car in question. He could hear the electronic qualities of it, knew it was a recording, but he also knew the bomb would draw her out from wherever she was hiding.

His eyes scanned the area, gun at the ready, waiting for the redhead to attack. When she did, it was unexpectedly from above, kicking his gun free and straddling his shoulders. James was just able to reach his hands up to block the string she wielded from strangling him. That was the second time she had bested him, and it only made his desire to finish her stronger. Flipping her off of him with his mechanical hand, he immediately went for his gun. Ready for his move, the redhead threw a small round disk at him. James thought it was a bomb at first, but instead of exploding, it sent a jolt of electricity up his metal arm. Ripping it off before it could short circuit him, he recalibrated his arm in one swift movement before once again chasing after the redhead. Her dirty little tricks would only gain her time, time she'd eventually run out of.

Lining up his shot, James hit his target through the car window she'd jumped behind, but it wasn't a killing blow. It slowed her down though, and it would make finishing her off all the easier. He was just about to take that final shot when the blonde charged him. Seriously, these two just wouldn't die. Now it was up to him to finish them both off, seeing as the Hydra agents hadn't been effective in taking care of the target he'd assigned them to deal with.

James soon discovered that fighting with the blonde was different than fighting with the redhead. The blonde was faster, stronger, and could bounce back from James' hits like no normal human could. After losing two guns because of the target's damn shield, James decided it should be the first to go, commandeering it and launching it deep into the back of a parked van. Even without the shield, the blonde held up against his attacks. As the blonde dodged and blocked James' knife, it allowed James to get a few good punches in, but the guy just came back for more. Just when James thought he had him, the target manipulated their weight, flipping them both, before going for his shield.

That's when the target momentarily regained the upper hand, using his shield to pry a panel of James' metal arm open before twisting them and slamming it into James' forehead. Gripping James' face, the blonde managed to toss him over his shoulder as if he were nothing. James was able to roll out of the fall, but not without losing his mask in the process.

The blonde's attention was momentarily distracted from the Winter Soldier, as he bent down to retrieve the small, white, plastic card that had fallen from the Soldier's possession along with his mask. Unlike the mask, it didn't belong to the Soldier. It wasn't his picture or his name printed across the card. What was printed on it had the blonde's grip on the tiny plastic card tightening.

"Anna," James tensed when he heard the target whisper Anya's name. Hunching his shoulders, James reached his hand into his pocket, only to find her ID badge gone. "Where is she?!" At the blondes' demanding question James swiftly turned, shooting a glare at the target who was holding the ID that Anya had given him. As soon as he did, the target seemed to momentarily forget about Anya and her ID as he stared at James with shock and confusion.

"Bucky?" The target called out, as if he knew James. And though James could swear he'd never heard that name before, there was something frustratingly familiar about it nagging at the back of his mind, just out of reach. The sickly boy who had helped James remember what to do when Anya was having trouble breathing flashed in James' memory. He had called out the name the blonde before him did. And though the two blondes, the one physically before him and the one in his mind, looked similar, they were also drastically different.

"Who the Hell is Bucky?" James demanded, aiming his gun at the target's head. Though he had his shot, he wanted, needed to know who Bucky was. That hesitation cost him his first chance, as the collateral came out of the sky and hit him from behind, knocking him down until he rolled into a standing position. As James focused on the blonde target's face again, it unwillingly stirred up images of the tiny kid from his mind and caused him a second hesitation that ended up costing him his second chance. The redhead was the one who took advantage of his hesitance that time, firing the missile at him. Though he could claim that was the reason he retreated, letting the other agents take care of the two targets and the collateral, the real reason was he didn't want to face the blonde he couldn't remember, but that he still somehow knew.

…

"Drop the shield cap, get on your knees. Get on your knees!" Rumlow shouted as he led his team towards Rogers.

It took a moment for Steve to follow the command, only half aware of his surroundings. His thoughts were still reeling from the discovery that Bucky had somehow survived the fall from the train all those years ago, that he was the Winter Soldier. So caught up in memories and disbelief, it took Steve another few minutes to realize what Rumlow was asking him.

"Where did you get this? Captain, where did you get this?" Rumlow asked, holding the card with Anna's picture on it in front of Rogers?

"Bucky dropped it," Steve muttered when he finally was able to focus on what Rumlow was saying. Rumlow didn't ask him any more questions after that, simply handcuffed him while other agents went to restrain Natasha and Sam.

Steve didn't speak a word until they were well on the way to wherever Hydra was taking them to kill them. His expression still dazed as he insisted to Sam and Natasha that it had been Bucky. But he hadn't even recognized Steve. Hydra had done something to his memory when they saved him. Turned him into a weapon. Natasha was quick to tell Steve it wasn't his fault. Steve disagreed. He knew when he saved Bucky from Hydra's clutches the first time that something wasn't right. Bucky had been in a lab, on the table. They had been experimenting on him. Whatever they did, made Bucky able to survive the fall. Steve should have realized that. He should have gone back for him.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve murmured, lost in memories of all the times Bucky saw him when no one else did, when Bucky cared about him when no one else gave a damn. Even when he became Captain America, when everyone else saw the shield, Bucky saw Steve.

Now that he knew Bucky was still alive, Steve wasn't going to give up. Hydra now had two of the people Steve cared the most about: Bucky and Anna. And he would die before giving up on them. Somehow, someway, they were going to get out of this SUV and Steve would make sure that he got his best friend back. Because, while everyone else saw the metal arm and the assassin, Steve still saw a flash of Bucky. It was in Bucky's eyes, when he hesitated. Bucky was still in there, trying to remember. Come Hell or high water Steve was going to get him to remember.

A/N So, this chapter is obviously different from my other ones. First: it's mostly James' POV and only has Anna splashed in here and there. Secondly, I followed the movie while writing it. And let me tell you, I found it difficult to write so I hope I didn't muck it up too bad. If I did, please be gentle with any hate comments about how it turned out, because I did try really hard. It was my first attempt at James' POV where he was in full Winter Soldier mode. I figured, during a scene like this, he would have to revert back to Winter Soldier mode, even with all the changes Anna has helped him achieve. To do the things he had to do, he had to go back to that mentality, and even though he has changed some, that mentality is still a part of him. It was all he had for so long. Anyways, I'm babbling and defending my work when I should just embrace it. Let me know what you guys think! You've been great about that so far, and I really appreciate that! Oh and to those I respond to via PM, just so you know, no pressure to PM me back. It's awesome that you do! I just wanna make sure ya don't feel obligated :) Now: on to guest reviews!

To the guest who commented how much they enjoy how comforting Anna/James are to each other: I'm glad to hear that, I love writing those Anna/James moments so I'm glad their being appreciated. Can't quite divulge what's gonna happen to them after the chair scene, but I will say there will be obstacles that Anna/James continually have to tackly during this story.

To the Guest who commented about the cheesiness of the whole anya's hand making James feel stronger: I knew it was cheesy when I wrote it, I just couldn't help myself. I'll try to dial down any further cheesiness! I like the way you phrased "get a little sweet on her" because that's how 1940's Bucky probably would have expressed his feelings about Anna to 1940's Steve "I'm sweet on her, steve. She's different, but in a good way." Ah pre-soldier bucky, how different you are to post-soldier. Anyways I'm babbling. I gave you some of bucky's POV in this chapter. I'll try to do it a little more in later chapters, but I can't promise how my mind and fingers will take this story when I'm writing.

To the guest who mentioned it would be weird if Tony didn't notice something was up with Anna: I totally agree! He's a protective brother and he was bound to notice something wasn't right with her. That's partly why I added his small bit in!

Rach

xoxo