James had resigned himself to another night where he wouldn't be able to sleep. The bed was too comfortable, the complete unnatural silence of the room had him unnerved, and Anya wasn't within reaching distance. The last factor alone would have prevented him from sleeping, all together they made even the thought of sleeping impossible. Until a small knock sounded at his door, so quiet he wouldn't have heard it had the room not been dead silent, and he opened it to find Anya standing before him. She couldn't sleep either. It had James moving to the side, offering her the choice to stay with him. When she took it without question or hesitation, walking past him and climbing right up into the bed, it had his heart fluttering as the unaccustomed feeling of wanting to smile came over him.

It didn't take long after James had joined her in bed for Anya to curl up against him. The weight of her head on his chest was both relaxing and energizing, and his heart only sped up more when her hand lightly gripped the fabric of his shirt. Wrapping his arm around her, James allowed himself to get lost in the sensation of having her beside him. Even though he was in unfamiliar surroundings, and he still didn't quite trust the people they were taking shelter with, James ended up falling asleep shortly after Anya curled up with him.

Pepper was the first one to discover them the next morning, checking James room in her search of Anna when she hadn't been in her own room. Creaking the door open slowly, she found them huddled together, sleeping soundly and only taking up half of the bed. With a small smile, Pepper simply closed the door, leaving them be as she continued back down the hall to the kitchen. She was in the process of making pancakes when Tony stepped off the elevator. He had spent the whole night in the lab, which wasn't unusual, and she was happy to see he didn't look as peeved as he had when he left. In fact, he seemed to be in a fairly decent mood. Which was just another reason not to enlighten him as to where his sister had spent her night.

As he passed by Pepper, Tony kissed her on the cheek, claiming he would be right back for breakfast. He had plans to shower and change first. It was Banner's suggestion that freshening up would help him wash away the rest of his bad mood. Although, after spending the night tinkering and talking with Banner, Tony was fairly sure he had a good hold on the good mood that had finally settled in when they successfully increased the horsepower of one of his favorite cars. Still, his clothes were wrinkled and he could stand to have a shower.

It just so happened that Anna Banana's room was on the way to his, and it reminded him of Banner's other advice: apologize to Anna. However, when he peeked his head in her room, it was to find it empty. It had him calling out to Pepper, asking where Anna was. When she only stuttered, giving a noncommittal answer, it had his suspicions rising.

"Jarvis, where is Anna?" Tony called out, knowing that Jarvis would give him a straight answer.

"Three doors down on your left, sir." Jarvis' response was exactly what Tony hoped it wouldn't be. Making his way down the hall to the other guest room, Tony threw the door open, causing it to bang against the wall. At the sight of Anna in bed with the Tin Man, wrapped up in each other's arms, Tony's bad mood came flying right back.

The slamming of a door was what jolted James awake, immediately sitting up and shifting so Anya was partially behind him. He wasn't sure whether the noise or his movement woke Anya up, too concerned with the possibility of a threat. When he saw Tony glaring murderously at him, it didn't really make James relax any. It might not be Hydra, but it was still a threat.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tony demanded, once Anna sat up, her hair slightly disheveled, which was not helping his mood at all.

"We were sleeping, before you interrupted," Anna yawned, moving her hand to brush her hair out of her face. It always took her a couple minutes to get her bearings after waking up.

"I thought I made myself clear when I gave you separate rooms. There will be no sharing a bed!" Tony's volume, especially so soon after she had woken up, as well as his statement had Anna scowling at him.

"And I thought we had this conversation last night. I'm an adult. I make my own decisions." Anna insisted as she crossed her arms defiantly. It might not have been the most adult response, but she was just so tired of Tony and his demands. She was a grown, independent woman and he needed to come to terms with that.

"You make bad decisions. Exhibit A." Tony gestured at James who was still trying to keep Anya somewhat behind him.

"Don't be rude Tony." Anna chided him for his insensitivity, before turning to James. "Ignore him, he's an idiot." Of course, Tony, who had a comment for everything she said, reminded her that he was actually a genius. Had the IQ test results to prove it.

"Excuse me for a moment while I have words with my brother." Anna ignored Tony's comment, flashing James an apologetic look before crawling off the bed and dragging Tony all the way out to the balcony on his floor. In truth, it wouldn't have taken Tony much to break free of Anna's grasp, but he let her continue to drag him. It got her away from the Tin Man.

"Honestly Anna, he is the definition of a bad decision." Tony announced once they were alone on the porch. "And you spent the night with that bad decision. Making it a doubly bad decision."

"You still have to let me make my own decisions Tony, no matter how you feel about them." Anna responded, feeling as if she had told him this about a thousand times already. "You can't make every guy I meet sign a contract prohibiting actions you don't agree with!" That last scolding statement had Tony pausing in surprise. Anna knew. She wasn't supposed to know.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tony stated, attempting at nonchalance, but failing miserably. Anna could read the truth in his face. Even if she hadn't, she knew the truth.

"Don't even try it Tony. I know all about how you bullied Steve into signing a contract not to date me. You took advantage of his friendship and you lied to him about how the law in this century works. You can't make contracts about other people's personal lives. And I think you owe him one Hell of an apology for doing that to him." Tony's actions not only invaded Anna's privacy, but also Steve's. An apology was a basic common courtesy Tony could extend to Steve. Lord knows he owed Anna much more than an apology; a sign that he accepted she was the only one who made decisions in her personal life would be a start.

"I only did it to protect you." Tony insisted, not reveling in the idea of apologizing to Steve. He didn't like apologizing, it admitted that he was wrong. Tony enjoyed thinking he was never wrong.

"You took the overprotective brother thing too far this time Tony. You can't tell me who I can and can't spend time with, like, date, or sleep with. It's completely hypocritical of you. You went through women faster than anyone at my age." Tony had been a huge womanizer. It hadn't been uncommon for Anna to wake up and find a strange woman in the kitchen wearing Tony's shirt and boxers. Which had been more than a little traumatizing.

"Anna I haven't been just your brother for a long time. I had to step into the parental position when I was 17. You were my responsibility, to protect and look after. And I failed once before. I won't do that again. I won't let another man destroy you like Brent Phillips." It was Anna's turn to be surprised by Tony's response. Anna had never thought of him as taking over patriarch of the family. Of the company maybe, but she'd always seen him as her same old crazy brother. She also hadn't expected him to bring Brent into the conversation. He had been sort of a taboo subject in the family ever since it all went down.

"What happened with Brent wasn't your fault. I was the one who never spoke up about it. I was the one who wasn't strong enough to see what he was doing was wrong. I was young and stupid." Brent had been a mistake, a huge, gargantuan mistake, but he had not been Tony's fault. To hear Tony had always felt guilty about it had Anna resenting the man even more.

"Don't do that Anna, don't act like you were the one at fault." Tony demanded, his frustration and anger leaking into his voice. "You were the victim. I should have recognized the signs. Noticed you weren't yourself."

"Brent hid behind a façade that reeled me in and kept me second guessing everything Tony. It's not your fault you fell for the façade as well." Brent had seemed nice, safe, and perfect. Anna was too young to know when someone seemed too perfect, too good to be true, chances are they were. Brent simply knew how to hide his darker side too well.

That hadn't mattered to Tony. He hadn't liked how he had been so ignorant to it all. In fact, it had tormented him when he finally found out what was going on. He had tried to make up for it after the fact, hence the contract with Steve. After everything that had gone down, he wasn't going to take the nice guys at first impressions or face value as he had before. He needed to protect Anna and her heart from ever hurting like that again. Which was why he was so freaked out over Tin Man, who didn't even hide behind a good impression. He was the epitome of a bad boy image.

"You're too good for an assassin." Assassins were trained not to feel. Not to get emotionally attached. They didn't have normal relationships with people. Anna deserved a normal relationship with a man who would treat her right.

"James isn't just an assassin. He's a better man than most." Anna murmured, looking out at the city. Brent hadn't been a tenth of the man James was. When Tony simply scoffed at her statement it had Anna whipping her head back in his direction.

"Don't act like you know him because you read some files on the Winter Soldier." Anna spat out with a ferociousness Tony hadn't been expecting. "He's more than just the Winter Soldier." Tony was using James' past against him, and it wasn't right. The Winter Soldier might have done some truly horrible things, but James would never do anything that would put her safety at risk. Anna was sure of that. Hell, he was willing and ready to jump out of a plane after her.

"Show me proof otherwise." Tony's challenge had Anna heaving a deep sigh, knowing no proof would actually be enough for Tony.

"You're not getting the point of this conversation at all Tony." Running a hand through her hair, Anna peered up at her brother with some exasperation. "My word, my judgment, my opinion, should be all the proof you need. You're supposed to accept him because I do."

That didn't sound very reasonable to Tony. His whole life had been about data and numbers, physical proof that things worked or they didn't. How was he supposed to accept something as flimsy as Anna's belief that Tin Man was good as viable proof? Especially with her track record with judging people's character. As if she read his mind Anna quickly added to her previous request.

"I'm not that same girl anymore. I'm stronger now, and I would tell you if something was wrong." It was Anna's eyes shining with truth that had Tony debating his previous stance against Tin Man. He could see the strength of will and spirit in her eyes. She had moved past it while she was in DC. His sister wasn't the same girl who could be broken by a man. Now, she would be the one to break the man who even attempted to hurt her like that again.

"Fine. I'll try it your way. But if he screws up, I evoke the right of your big brother to introduce him to the many weapons on my suits." Tony relented, before turning to leave. When Anna asked where he was going he threw back: "to apologize to Capsicle and find Bruce so I can throw it in his face how I am capable of compromising and listening to other people when they talk."

Anna had to hand it to Bruce, whatever his sessions with Tony consisted of, it seemed to be working. Before Tony would have been so much harder to convince to even listen to what she was saying. Compromising would have been way beyond his reach. But there she was, feeling successful with getting Tony to understand where she was coming from. Or at least accepting her terms when it came to interfering in her personal life.

Her apparent success had the bad mood in which Tony had put her in since he woke her and James up evaporating. With a slight skip in her step, Anna returned to the kitchen. Grabbing two plates of pancakes and sausage, she informed Pepper that someone would need to deliver Steve's food to him since she put him on bed rest before continuing back down the hall.

James was still sitting on the bed where Anya had left him when she pushed open the door, closing it behind her with her foot. When he noticed her juggling the two plates he immediately rose from his spot to help her. She murmured a small 'thanks' before crawling onto the center of the bed with her plate, sitting with her legs curled up beneath her. Anya waited for him to join her before eating, letting out a soft moan when she did before blushing and apologizing.

"I've got a thing for pancakes. They're just the best breakfast comfort food. My mom used to make them every Sunday." Anna explained her reaction before licking a drop of syrup that had fallen on her hand. "I can never manage to not make a sticky mess of myself though."

It didn't take long before Anya got syrup on her again, that time on her nose. James wasn't sure how she accomplished it, but there she was, with a little dot of it on the tip of her nose. And she seemed completely oblivious to it. Until he reached up and wiped it off with his finger, making her freeze for a moment. It had him second guessing his action before she smiled at him, her cheeks tinging a light pink color.

"See, I told you I make a mess." She commented before popping another bite in her mouth, her cheeks slowly returning to their normal color. All James could think was he could get used to mornings like this. Waking up with Anya, minus her brother barging in, and eating breakfast in bed. He was glad Anya brought the food back with her, as he much preferred eating with just her than with the others. Alone, he didn't have to have his guard up. So he took his time with his food, wanting to prolong their time alone together.

They remained sitting there for a little while after they were both finished, but eventually Anya rose from her spot on the bed. Grabbing up their empty dishes she left, telling him to meet her in the kitchen once he was dressed. It didn't take him long to throw on jeans and a tee, meaning he beat Anya to the kitchen. The woman named Pepper was busy cleaning up the dishes from that morning. After a moment of hesitation, James went to help, silently picking up a towel.

"Wow, a man who helps clean up. Tony usually just makes the messes." Pepper commented, after she got over her slight surprise at his presence. She hadn't even heard him coming. "Did you enjoy breakfast?"

After James nodded his head in answer, Pepper didn't ask any more questions. She had already deduced he wasn't one to talk much after last night's dinner, when he hadn't said a word. It was actually a nice change, seeing as Tony always loved talking just to hear his own voice. Anna was a chatterbox as well, which probably suited James just fine. Pepper suspected Anna supplied most of the conversation between the two, knowing how much she could ramble one story off after the other. Though, unlike Tony, Anna never minded being interrupted.

"Thank you, for keeping her safe. For saving her." Pepper finally spoke up again when she handed the last dish to him. Anna could be a bit outspoken when people set her off, which would land her in a heap of trouble in a hostage situation. Pepper couldn't imagine what would have happened to Anna if she didn't have someone looking after her and making sure she didn't go too far with her comments. If anything had happened to Anna, Tony would be broken.

"She was the one who saved me," James spoke up for the first time since he'd arrived in the kitchen, thinking how Anya was the first person to treat him like a human. For as long as he'd known he'd been a weapon, a tool. Something to bring out when they needed him, only to be returned once the job was done. No one had treated him as anything else. Except Anya. She was still saving him, she saved him every day, and she didn't even know it.

For a man who didn't speak often, the words he did chose were powerful. They hit Pepper hard with a new perspective on the relationship between James and Anna. The complete honesty with which James uttered that statement had Pepper starting to realize how he saw Anna, not as someone who needed him, but as someone he needed; Anna was his light, his hope.

Before Pepper could formulate some kind of response to James' statement, Anna herself joined them with an apology for taking so long. Naturally, Pepper studied James' reaction to Anna's entrance. The way his whole body turned towards her as soon as she entered the room, losing the tension Pepper hadn't even noticed it had held until then, spoke volumes. Though it was a subtle change, unnoticeable unless you looked for it, it was definitely there.

"I finally found the movies I was looking for." Anna held up several DVD cases in her right hand to illustrate her findings. "I figured, since I put Steve on bed rest, I should probably give him something to do so he doesn't go crazy. And I also figured it'd be a good way to reintroduce you to the classics." Anna explained before walking past both James and Pepper towards the elevator. The sooner they started their movie marathon, the more movies they'd be able to get through.

James simply nodded goodbye to Pepper before he followed Anya to the elevator, accepting that their time alone had ended when she left his room with the dishes. With everyone there who cared for Anya, he couldn't expect all her time to be spent with him. Sharing her attention was something he would have to get used to. Apparently the heavy feeling he had felt when Anya showed concern for the man from the helicarrier's safety was also something he'd have to get used to, as it settled in his chest again when he noticed the man lighting up when Anya entered his room.

It slowly dissolved when, after the man from the helicarrier picked out a movie, Anya chose to sit leaning against the end of the bed with him. With the lights off, James almost forgot all about the man from the helicarrier and the sidekick, who was sitting in a chair to the side of the bed, being present. He was too caught up with Anya's head moving to rest against his shoulder as the title page flashed across the screen.

…

"You don't believe me," Tony insisted as he followed Bruce around Banner's section of the lab. It was part of the deal for Bruce agreeing to live in the Tower, that he would get his own space to conduct his individual research.

"I didn't say that Tony." Bruce answered as he readied a slide for the microscope. In all honestly, it had surprised him to see Tony re-entering the lab less than two hours after he had sent him back up to Pepper. "I merely said I'd like to speak with Anna on the topic."

"Because you don't believe me. You think I'd lie. Which is not true. I exaggerate, which is completely different than lying." Tony insisted, picking up a model of a molecule and playing with it until Banner reached out and took it back without even looking.

"Has Anna ever talked to anyone about what happened?" Bruce questioned, moving past Tony's insistence that he had compromised and onto the subject that had sparked his interest since Tony had mentioned it in passing while he reiterated his conversation with his sister.

"Not to my knowledge. Neither of us has mentioned the Bastard's name since it all unfolded." Bruce didn't think that was the healthiest way to deal with the situation. Before he could point that out, Tony held up his hand to silence him. "Don't. Anna is doing fine. Whatever she did in DC to get over it, it worked. She doesn't need a shrink. In fact, the last thing she needs right now is to rehash the past."

"Don't you think I should give her the option?" It should be Anna's choice to accept or deny his help, not Tony's.

"No, I don't." Tony answered emphatically, leaving Bruce with the impression that they still had a bit to go before Tony let his sister be completely independent. Letting her make the decision to hang out with James was a good start, as was apologizing to Steve. But there was major work still to be done. Which meant another big project. Nothing got Tony talking like a science project.

A/N This is being posted later than I anticipated. I'm home on an off block during my rotation and had to run errands, like picking out a bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding and figuring out how to finish my intern packet for CVS. Anyways, it's here now and I do hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your patience and your continued support. Sorry this wasn't longer. Oh and Thank you all, I just reached 300 followers! I'm astonished, I never expected this story to take off like this.

Onto Guest Review Responses!

To Keshigomu: I'm writing here because your PM seems to be turned off. I'm so happy to hear, as always, that you liked the chapter. I'm also glad I could fulfill your wish that James would save Anna and then Tony would have to suck it and admit he's not a fully terrible person. Hearing I have Pepper down when I write her is awesome. I've been so lucky as everyone who has commented on the marvel characters I've written have been so nice about it. I'm loving all the compliments! And I'm glad you liked that I snuck in that 12% reference from the Avengers! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To the guest who said they honestly love Janya: thanks I have to say I love Janya too! Sorry you were worried about Steve and Anna getting together. I love Steve and all, but I love Janya more. I'm so happy whenever I hear any of the readers react strongly (in a positive way) to what I write. So I was very touched to hear you screamed at hearing James would jump after Anna. And I agree, cuddles are great.

To the guest who liked the airplane flight scene: Glad you enjoyed it! I'm getting more confident about writing acion-y scenes thanks to reviews like that :) And I'm glad you enjoyed James' willingness to jump out of a plane to save Anna. Hope this chapter gave you some AWEE feels too!

To the guest who mentioned I write Bucky really well: Thank you! I try really hard. And I'm also super psyched you like Anna's character as well. Don't worry, I will keep writing this one for the long haul!

To the guest who commented what a busy day!: I'm glad you enjoyed the tid bit about James willing to follow her out of the plane. I agree, it does speak to his feelings for her. Also, glad you're excited for a possible Steve/OC story to follow this one. As you now know, Anna does rip Tony a new one for the contract, but she got some insight into Tony's overprotective mind as well. Hope you enjoyed the little taste of their night together I provided :)

To Ninisi: First off, you're fine. I think you're English is actually pretty good. Loads better than what I would probably sound like writing in a foreign language. I'm happy you're reading this even though English isn't your first language. Thank you for your lovely review! It's nice to hear you're enjoying the story. And that I'm getting you to have fangirl attacks (hopefully none end up life-threatening lol) Thanks for reviewing and letting me know you're loving the story!

Rach

xoxo