Anna eventually stopped attempting to break the glass when she wasn't getting anywhere with her efforts. Instead, she altered her focus and channeled her exertion on locating something, anything, that she could try to pick the handcuff locks with. There was nothing in the cushions of the backseat but crumbs, which was a little disgusting. Dropping to the floor, Anna began searching under the seats. Preferably she wanted a bobby pin, but Anna highly doubted any of the Hydra agents wore bobby pins. A paperclip or tie clip were more likely, and were also decent options. At least that was Tony's rule of thumb.
Tony had been the one to 'teach' Anna how to pick handcuffs. After one of several apprehensions with the law, Tony thought it a useful trick to learn. So he'd nabbed a pair of cuffs from the station before Anna had bailed him out and began tinkering with them once he was at home. Anna wanted no part in it, but Tony faked being stuck and forced her to take the bobby pin from him and get him out. Of course, she had only picked a lock that one time. And once she found out Tony had coerced her into it she let him have it. If she managed to get out of the handcuffs now, she had a feeling an apology for that would be necessary.
First, that would require her to find something to pick the lock with. It was too dark under the seat for Anna to see much, so she had to adjust her position and reach her hands under the seats. Using arms when they are handcuffed is no easy feat. In fact it was awkward and uncomfortable. So when Anna finally did get her fingers on something, it took a lot of finagling to pull her arms back. All that work was for nothing, as it turned out to just be a gum wrapper. Which was of no use whatsoever. Refusing to give up, Anna went back under. There had to be something she could use. A feeling of hope swarmed Anna when the second time she felt something, and finally managed to get back to a seated position, it happened to be a paperclip.
It was as she was trying to bend it into the right shape that she caught the movement out of the corner of her eyes. It had her dropping the paperclip to the seat as Anna scrambled to the window for a closer look. Three incredibly huge flight decks were rising into the air. At least, they looked like moving flight decks. She's sure they had a very different purpose, as they were rising near the SHIELD headquarters, which inadvertently meant they were Hydras. Which was very bad, because if they were Hydras they were probably some kind of weapon. Were they part of the mission that required all Hydra agents to infiltrate SHIELD? Anna had a feeling the answer to that was yes.
That fact had Anna scrounging for the paperclip again. She really needed to get out of that car. And though she wasn't quite sure how she was going to do that just yet—as breaking the window had proved impossible—the first step was to get out of the hand cuffs. Which, Anna discovered, was much harder to do when the handcuffs were on her. It was hard enough when they'd been on Tony, but to try and manipulate the paperclip with her hands tethered together was ten times harder. It was just as frustrating as trying to actually walk normal in the shoes in the store that were held together by the annoying elastic band.
"You can do this Anna," she muttered to herself, blowing a strand of hair out of her face in frustration. Adjusting her grip on the paperclip, she tried again, manipulating the metal around in the motion Tony had first talked her through. Hearing a snap, Anna froze, assuming the paperclip had broken before realizing she had done it. Her left hand was free.
Anna only allowed herself a few moments to celebrate her accomplishment before making herself tackle the other cuff. Though she now had her hands separated, which would make it easier, Anna was not left handed, so manipulating anything with her left hand always took more time to get right. It had her resorting to cursing while she kept trying and failing at freeing her right hand. Movies made it look so much easier to break out of things than they were in reality.
Anna could feel the drops of sweat forming on her forehead from the stress combined with the heat. Wiping them with her free hand, she mentally chided Rumlow for not cracking a window. There were dogs that got better treatment than she was getting right now. She hadn't even been left a bottle of water. Clearly they weren't used to taking prisoners alive, because the first rule of keeping prisoners alive was providing food and water.
The mental rant Anna had going inside her head was momentarily interrupted by the thundering sound that, from growing up with Tony, Anna knew to be some kind of explosive or missile. Once again Anna pressed her face against the window, trying to get a good look at what was happening. It was worse than she had thought. The flying buttresses were now firing missiles at each other. Anna watched in horror as one of the huge ships started falling from the sky, headed towards the ground. Though she couldn't see it, Anna knew exactly when it hit. The impact was like an earthquake, rocking the car and causing Anna to hit her head against the seat in front of her.
"Shit," Anna muttered as she desperately returned to trying to free her right hand. Those floating skyscrapers were falling from the sky and she did not want to be anywhere near to where they landed. It was with relief when Anna finally heard the same snapping noise before pulling off the cuff. No more metal around her wrists.
When the earth shook a second time, Anna quickly leaned over the consul to stare confusedly at the many buttons on the dashboard. When did they even start making cars with so many buttons? Without much hope, Anna began pushing buttons at random, hoping it would result in something happening. But with the car off, none of them seemed to work. It was too bad Tony never taught her to hot wire a car. But, living in New York led to limited driving experience and Tony thought it would be safer for her not to drive after a failed attempt when she got her learners permit. There was no need to know how to hot wire a car if you didn't know how to drive it. So Anna's experience with cars consisted of the passenger side of one of Tony's many collectables, or the backseat of a cab.
With no other plan on how to get out, Anna did the only thing she could think of, what any New Yorker would do, she laid on the horn. Other than scaring a few birds out of a nearby tree, it didn't really have an effect. It worked better when there were people around to hear it, but Anna didn't stop. Perhaps someone in the near vicinity would hear the incessant honking and look for the cause, if only so they could make it stop.
After what felt like an eternity, someone finally appeared on the street, approaching the car. Anna refrained from shouting with joy as she continued to lay on the horn. She wasn't going to stop until the person actually saw her in there, afraid they would turn back around once the noise stopped. It wasn't until the guy came to a standstill outside the driver door that Anna noticed two very bad things: the small Hydra pin on his lapel and the handgun in his left hand.
Now Anna had been surrounded by Hydra agents for a week, had been surrounded by them on the drive there. However, none of them had actively drawn their weapons. All firearms had remained in their holsters, save for the times when they drew them on James. But that was an entirely different situation. Seeing the sole agent fumbling with the code to unlock the door with his gun drawn and ready had Anna immediately retreating to the backseat again. All of a sudden being stuck in a bulletproof car didn't seem like such a bad thing, as long as the guys with the guns were outside of the car.
When she heard a gun being fired, Anna reflexively let out a little scream, which only grew when there was a thud against the window. It took her a minute to realize the Hydra agent hadn't fired his gun, he'd been on the receiving end of a bullet. Although her immediate threat had just been eliminated, Anna's heart still raced at the thought that whoever had shot the Hydra agent was the new threat. With nothing to defend herself with, Anna got into position, ready to send her feet flying at whoever happened to try and open the back door.
As soon as she saw the bright light of day Anna flung herself feet forward into what felt like a brick wall, not even noticing the fact that the door hadn't been opened but ripped off its hinges. The force of which she hit the new threat had her flying back into the car, landing unceremoniously on the seat. Struggling to a seated position, Anna couldn't hide the shock at the sight of James standing, dripping wet, outside the car.
"Anya," he murmured, looking relieved to see her. Anna's level of shock only increased when she realized he'd said her name. He remembered her. Enough to come back for her. That had her flinging herself at him once more, but that time it was to wrap her arms around him instead of kicking him. She didn't care that he was soaked through and dripping water on her. She only cared that he wasn't gone.
Her reaction took James by surprise, not expecting such an enthusiastic response. Once again she had his heart rate speeding up, and it was only a moment's delay before he wrapped his metal arm around her, returning the embrace as best he could. His right arm was too messed up for him to be able to move it to hold her. Of course, Anya noticed the way he held his bad arm precariously and immediately pulled away to examine it. He couldn't help but flinch in pain when she touched it, which only made Anya frown.
"It's hard to tell for sure with all your padding, but I think it's dislocated." Anna told him, reaching back towards him in order to try and remove some of the layers so she could get a better look.
"Not here. We need to get you out of here." James refuted as he pulled away from her hands. He had just reached Anya in time, able to deal with the agent Hydra had sent. There were bound to be more Hydra agents coming, and he wasn't in any shape to fight them off. Therefore, it was a relief when Anya agreed without questioning him. She simply took his metal hand in hers as she began silently leading the way down the street.
Finding her way around the city had always been a problem for Anna. She relied more on landmarks than on street names. So, when she started leading James down the street, she wasn't exactly sure where they were or how to get to her destination until she finally spotted a familiar landmark. Aware that they were on the run from Hydra and needed to stay as discreet as possible, Anna took streets that had less traffic, even darting through some back alleys. It was as they were cutting across one of those alleys that a cat jumped from a dumpster and rattled a trashcan lid. It had Anna's hand flying to her heart, its rate increasing, while James immediately pulled his gun, aiming it at the innocent tabby.
"It's okay, it's just a cat." Grabbing a hold of James' arm, she didn't even attempt to try and pull against the metal. Instead Anna left her hand resting there until he lowered his aim and holstered the gun. "We're almost there. Just a few more blocks."
When they finally reached the building Anna had been trying to get them to, it had a strong sense of accomplishment rushing through her. She may suck at reading maps and street names, but she was damn good at finding familiar landmarks. Without wasting any time, Anna reached out to punch in the code that had the metal gate before them opening with a click. James simply followed behind Anya, trusting that she knew what she was doing as she led them up the stairs. Several floors later and they were standing in front of apartment number 503.
"Crap," Anna muttered under her breath when she realized she didn't have a way to unlock the door. "My keys are in the bag at Hydra's compound." As was her wallet and her phone. Glancing at the door across the hall, Anna knew it wouldn't be any use to knock on it. She never really talked to her neighbors, spending most of her off time sleeping or at SHIELD's infirmary. She didn't even know their names, let alone had given any of them a spare key. Which meant she was royally screwed. Why hadn't she tried to be more social?
While Anna was caught up in her spiraling thoughts, she hadn't notice James reaching around her with his metal arm, grabbing hold of the door handle and twisting it, effectively breaking the lock. At the crack of wood Anna was pulled out of her thoughts. Even though it meant she'd have to get maintenance to fix it at some point, Anna didn't care. Because now she didn't feel as bad about being non-social. Who needed to be friendly with neighbors and give them a spare key when they knew a guy who could bust open locks with a flick of his wrist?
"That works," Anna commented as she moved to enter the apartment. James immediately stopped her with his good arm, much to Anna's confusion.
"Stay behind me." James ordered, drawing his gun. There was no way he was letting Anya go first. Not with the possibility of Hydra being in there. He'd seen too many people die from letting their guard down when they thought they'd reached a safe haven. Hell, he'd killed too many people who had done just that. So with his gun at the ready, James entered the apartment first, his eyes darting to every corner and shadow, assessing the area for any signs of movement. Once he could feel Anya following behind him, he started creeping down the hall, checking each room until he was confident the house was empty.
"Well, I'd offer you a tour, but you've just seen the whole place." Anna commented as she walked back out to the living room to shut the door. In order to keep it from swinging back open because of the broken frame, Anna had to slide the extra dead bolt she'd had installed for more security into place. "It's a bit small, but I think it makes it cozy. Tony would never approve, which is why he thinks I'm living in a swanky building closer to the hospital. I paid off the manager there to tell him I moved in when he came to inspect my living conditions. Because Tony would never let me live in a building without an elevator or a security checkpoint." Anna jabbered as she made her way to the kitchen.
James followed her, half listening and half taking in his surroundings. Now that he didn't have to worry about a threat being present, he was taking the time to study the rooms themselves. The room they had first entered in was small, furnished with a bookshelf that was full of heavy looking books, a chair and sofa as well as a small side table. There were lots of pictures in frames on the wall that James was itching to get a closer look at, but Anya was calling out for him from the other room, meaning the pictures were going to have to wait.
…
SHIELD hadn't given Tony much information on Anna. In fact, he had to keep demanding to talk to the person in charge when every person who got on the phone claimed to not even know who Tony was talking about. Finally a man named Pierce, who claimed he was in charge, seemed to know Anna. Not that he gave Tony anything better to go on, claiming that Anna went to a secure location to help agents after a devastating mission. When asked about her not answering calls, Pierce simply said the service in the remote, top secret location was bad. By the time they hung up Tony was 90% sure the man was made of Bullshit.
Anna wouldn't leave DC. SHIELD brought the agents to her to heal. Even if they tried to convince her to go, she would have called Tony before leaving to tell him. However, Tony let SHIELD think he believed them. That way they wouldn't get in the way when he started his own search for Anna. A search he was taking to DC. It was the last place she'd been seen. So ordering Jarvis to start up the private plane, and Pepper to make sure everything ran smoothly until he returned, Tony took an impromptu trip to the nation's capital.
He headed to the hospital first, after checking into his hotel room. The director there told him Anna had called in her vacation time. Anna never took vacation. Those imbeciles running the hospital should know that. She'd only been working there for several years. He went on to tell the director as much and, as a result, was asked to leave immediately. He made no secret about his feelings towards the hospital on his way out, raving about how one day he'd own the building and then they'd all be out of jobs. It wasn't until he'd calmed down later that he thought of the consequences of his actions on Anna's job. Oh well, if Anna lost her job he'd just sue them, or buy the building like he'd threatened and put her in charge of it.
"I'm sorry sir, no one by that name lives here," The manager of the Ashton insisted.
"There must be some mistake. She's been living here for a couple years now. I toured the damn place with her before she signed the lease. Check again, her name is Dr. Anna Eve Stark." Tony demanded, slamming his palm down on the counter. He was tired, hungry, and cranky. The hospital hadn't been useful at all and now Anna's apartment complex wouldn't let him up to see her room, claiming no one by her name had ever lived there. When the manager once again insisted there was no one there named Anna Stark, Tony left with similar threats as he'd given the hospital. If he kept it up, he'd own every building in DC.
"Pepper, we have a problem." Tony muttered when she finally answered the phone. "Anna's place of work claims she's on vacation, and her apartment complex denies she ever lived there. It's like she's disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Are you sure you had the right address?" Pepper asked, forcing herself to sound calm. Truth was, even she was starting to worry about Anna now. After SHIELD's excuse for why Anna was missing, Pepper had done her own research and she couldn't dig up any SHIELD files with Anna's name on it. Like they had all been deleted.
"Yes I'm sure. Unlike Anna Banana I have a very good sense of direction." Tony exclaimed, making the town car driver jump at the volume. "Someone's trying to make her disappear Pepper. And SHIELD is a part of it. Cancel all of my meetings this week. I'm staying here to do some recon on SHIELD and Anna." Tony was going to find out what had happened to his sister. He was going to find whoever was trying to hide her and he was going to make them feel the rage of Iron Man.
A/N You guys never cease to amaze me! Your response to the last chapter was amazing and proved that I shouldn't doubt myself or you guys. Because you all are awesome, truly. Hope you enjoy this little installment. I'm really excited about events to come. As always, I enjoy hearing your reactions so please feel free to leave a review :) Thanks to all who review favorite and follow this story. Makes me happy!
Oh and to whoever asked me in a PM about if I'd seen the new Avengers Age of Ultron trailer, I had not until you mentioned it. Now I did and I can't wait to see the movie. Though the shot of Cap's shield being broken shattered a piece of my soul. I'm sorry I never responded to that, I tried to go back and respond, but I couldn't find the PM that it was in.
Now onto guest review responses :)
To the guest who commented on being glad James remembers and that they could feel how hard it was for him to pretend he didn't: I'm glad James remembers too. And thank you for that lovely complement, I try to get people to feel with the characters with my writing. I don't always feel like I accomplish it, so it's nice to hear when you think I did! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, especially since James/Anna are reunited…for the time being. I know, that's evil to say 'for the time being' Just keeping you on your toes.
To the guestxx: I apologize the chapter seemed rushed, it was hard for me to write the whole battle action scene and so I might have rushed it a bit. Anyways, I am very flattered to hear you thought the chapter was 'brilliantly written.' And that you think I did a good job capturing Bucky because I do strive to stay true to all the marvel characters in this fic. You just keep coming with the compliments and it makes me happy. I do read over the story before posting and I try to catch all grammar and spelling mistakes, that being said I'm not perfect. I have to thank several reviewers who pointed out mistakes for me because I was able to go back immediately and fix them. I'm glad all the hard work I put into making it grammatically correct is paying off. Oh, and this chapter kind of answers your question on Tony. He's taken a little trip to DC to track down Anna Banana himself.
To the guest who wanted to offer constructive criticism but claimed they couldn't find any: You are so kind. I'm flattered you couldn't find any criticism so far, it means I've been doing a good job. If you see anything in the future don't hesitate to point it out. I think I was most nervous about this chapter because I wasn't sure how people were gonna like the plot, how James remembered her. Because I know some people like lots and lots of drama and him not remembering her would have made it more drama-y. lol. Hope you enjoyed the update!
To the guest who was speechless: wow the length and detail of your review blew me away. Your aforementioned favorite parts were some of my favorites to write. I agree, Pierce is a smug (submit bad adjective of your preference here). I've tried to capture his sadistic side in this fic because I feel he'd probably do major manipulation like that in 'real life' or 'marvel life' whichever you prefer. I like the picture of Pierce being a kid throwing a tantrum over not getting the 'new toy.' The symbolism of the Winter Soldier being his toy is just too perfect, that's how Hydra sees James. As you can see, everyone's semi-alright here. More to come on that topic in the next chapter. And YES this story will most definitely continue past the winter soldier movie timeline. Of course, it's all speculation from there until the new avengers comes out. But that's what makes it all the more entertaining. I have more freedom to create the timeline once I'm past the part where the movie ends. As you just read, Tony is most definitely still looking for his sister. Steve is still unconscious, but you can bet once he's up and running again he'll be itching to find both Bucky and Anna. Finally, I'm glad you enjoyed Anna punching Rumlow, I enjoyed writing it in there. Anna enjoyed it to, even if it did hurt her hand.
To the guest who quoted Captain America's 'if they're shooting at you, that means there bad': I'm sorry I couldn't put that quote in there (since it was from James POV) because I always laugh at that quote.
To the guest who said they will never get tired of saying they love it: Thank you! It really means a lot that you're still enjoying it. Hope you enjoyed the update. I'm always trying to update as fast as I can. Perhaps if I was the quicksilver I'd be a bit faster at it lol.
To the guest who just joined the story and who stayed up till 4 to catch up: I hope you could function properly today after staying up past the time change (unless you're not in America, then I'm not sure how time change works where you are) but for America we lost an hour of sleep and I stinks. Anyways thank you for letting me know that you like it, and let me say I am so so very happy that you enjoyed it enough to stay up so late finishing it.
Rach
xoxo