Since it's been so long...

Previously in Rehabilitate:

"I like you, James. As a more than a friend kind of thing. That's kind of what the kiss meant. I mean, I don't go around kissing just anyone," Realizing she was starting to babble Anna paused, averting her gaze for a moment to gather her thoughts before forcing herself to meet his eyes and continue. She'd already gotten that far. "What I'm trying to say is, Steve isn't a threat. You don't have to compete with him for my attention or my affection. It's all yours. If you want it, that is."

As she waited for him to say something, anything in response, James took her by surprise when his metal hand reached up to hold her wrist. Slowly, he moved her hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss to the palm of her hand that sent her heartbeat fluttering as wildly as the butterflies in her stomach. Both her heartbeat and the butterflies only intensified when he gently pulled her to him, keeping eye contact until he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

Not being near Anya was something James had discovered he did not enjoy. Especially not when she was hurt. He knew she was in good hands with her brother. James wouldn't have accepted Tony's demands that Anya stay in her room, if he didn't know she would be looked after. The fact that he knew she would survive her wounds was another huge reason he wasn't fighting Tony on staying with her. Tony could have her time when she was sleeping, as Pepper had promised him Anya's time when she was awake.

Though just because he had decided against picking a fight with Anya's brother did not mean James wasn't troubled. However, unlike Anya, who paced when she was nervous, James simply sat stoically on the bed while he waited. Hydra tended to keep him in small spaces, which often limited his movement. Pacing had never been an option. Besides, fidgeting showed nerves, and he was trained never to show his prey when he was nervous. As such, he was accustomed to stillness as he worked through whatever made him uneasy. So, while he sat waiting for Pepper to alert him when Anya woke, James ran through all the details of the day that had him antsy in his mind: the attack, Anya's wound, Steve's concern, Tony insisting Anya stay in her own room, the kiss. He always came back to the kiss. The memory he never wanted to forget. The memory that had his heartbeat quickening. James' wasn't accustomed to this feeling. He couldn't remember wanting to be around someone at all, let alone as much as he wanted to be around Anya.

The urge to be close to her had never been stronger than after the kiss, when he got a taste of what that closeness felt like. Then, to have it threatened by the man from the helicarrier, by Steve, it made James uneasy. Anya was comfortable around Steve, she was accustomed to his mannerisms and his touch. They were close. James didn't like that. It had his heart sinking in his chest when he thought of the way Steve had touched Anya's face: like he'd done it a thousand times before. It's not that James didn't want Anya to have friends. He could share her time with others. He just didn't want to share her heart.

When his uncertainty over Anya and the kiss made him too uneasy, James rotated through the other events of the day. The one that averted his attention the most was Hydra shooting Anya. All the damage Hydra had inflicted on him already had him contemplating revenge. Hydra hurting Anya simply tipped the scale, pushed him over the edge. Revenge wasn't a question of 'if' anymore, but of 'when' and 'how.' Of course, James acknowledged that he would need to heal first before he could find them. But there was no question that he would track them down and give Hydra a taste of what they had tone to him and to Anya. Ironically it was at that thought that the door creaked open and Anya stepped in.

She looked better than before, not as pale. Pepper or Tony must have helped her change her shirt, as she no longer wore the one the doctor had ripped. Instead she had on a loose fitting grey tee with her sling. He was about to approach her, to get a better sense of what the state of her injury was, but Anya immediately halted him with a hand gesture that clearly meant for him to stay where he was. Listening to her, he remained seated, watching as she came closer. He was so busy studying her for any signs of pain or discomfort that it took him a little by surprise when, after stopping before him, she moved even closer, her legs brushing his.

Anya spoke first, asking how his arm was. He simply shrugged in response. Truth was, he had been so caught up with his thoughts that he hadn't had a chance to dwell on the pain in his shoulder. His pain seemed insignificant. He had been shot more than enough times before and was used to the pain. Besides, he hadn't been the one who almost passed out from blood loss and required a blood transfusion. All this made how Anya was doing much more important than how he was.

Anya's response that she'd live wasn't what James had been looking for when he asked her how she was. The doctor had already assured him she would live. James wanted to know if she was in pain. If she was mentally alright after what happened. With all the stress her body must have gone through, there was a decent chance it had affected her mind as well.

"There's something I need to make sure you understand," Anya interrupted his thoughts, her voice trembling a little and showcasing her nerves. It had James feeling anxious for whatever she was about to say. Had today been too much for her? Was she coming to tell him she couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't put herself at risk by being around him? Would this be the last time he got to be this close to her? Just the thought had his heart clenching in fear.

"In case I wasn't clear before, Steve is just a friend." Anya's words confused James, mostly because they hadn't been the ones he was expecting. Once he wrapped his mind around the fact that Anya wasn't telling him she wanted him to leave, he had to wonder what she meant by 'just a friend.' If Steve was her friend, what was James? Where did they stand? James had been an assassin, a patient, a soldier, but he had never been in a situation with anyone like the one between him and Anya. At least not that he could remember; not while he was with Hydra.

James was pulled out of his thoughts by Anya running her hand through his hair. When she rested it against his cheek, he allowed himself to relish in the contact, the closeness that he craved. If that was going to be the last time he was close with her, James was going to enjoy it.

"I like you, James. As a more than a friend kind of thing. That's kind of what the kiss meant. I mean, I don't go around kissing just anyone." Her words had his heart hammering against his chest. He wasn't exactly sure what 'more than a friend' implied, but she liked him. And if Steve was 'just a friend' and he was 'more than a friend,' then it at least meant she liked him more than Steve. Which would have been enough for him. However, she continued on.

"What I'm trying to say is, Steve isn't a threat. You don't have to compete with him for my attention or my affection. It's all yours. If you want it, that is." Of course he wanted it. His racing pulse was a good indication of that, if she could feel it. Too caught up in the fact that Anya wanted him, it took James a moment to realize Anya was waiting for his response.

Verbalizing what he was thinking at the moment seemed impossible. It would take too long to find the words to express what he was feeling, some feelings of which he wasn't very familiar with. Instead, James moved Anya's hand to his lips, kissing it gently before the temptation became too much. The memory of their last kiss, the one he'd been thinking about for the better half of the last hour, had him wanting another. Pulling Anya down to him, James kept his eyes on hers to gauge her reaction. When she didn't seem to object, he pressed his lips to hers.

In his opinion, it was even better than the first time. He wasn't sure if it was the knowledge that he wouldn't have to share her heart, or the anticipation of being closer to her now that he knew how good it felt. Either way, he didn't spend much time contemplating between the two, as he moved his hand from Anya's arm to her waist, shifting her even closer. The movement had her hand returning to his hair, once she had steadied herself. It sent a new sensation through him, both invigorating and relaxing, as her hand massaged his scalp. Keeping control, not placing too much pressure on her waist or her lips, was much harder that time. James wanted Anya as close as possible, feeling that his heart might be satisfied if he just held on a little tighter and kissed a little harder. As he felt his resolve crumbling, Anya pulled away. Just like before, it seemed much too soon.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," she murmured with a smile, her eyes shining. It made him want to pull her back in. Instead, he simply smiled lightly back, keeping his grip on her waist. Anya's hand had moved from his hair to his shoulder, but she remained between his legs. It was close enough for the moment.

Taking his time to study her, James noticed that, although her eyes were shining, her whole body seemed exhausted. It was in the way that she was leaning against him for support, and the way her shoulders sagged a little as if she didn't have the energy to stand tall. She needed more time to rest. Though she wasn't as pale as before, her complexion hadn't returned to its normal color. An hour had been enough time to refresh her slightly, but she wasn't completely recharged. The stress her body had taken required more healing time than that.

"You need to rest," James voiced his opinion, once he noticed Anya swaying a little. His hand immediately tightened a little around her waist to steady her.

"Would it be alright if I rested here, with you?" Her eyes pleaded with him. She didn't know it wasn't necessary. He wanted to keep her close; he wanted her to stay. When he nodded his head it had her smile widening in response. She really didn't have any idea how much he needed her there. Was she as oblivious to his body's reaction to her being near? He didn't know how she could be.

Anna waited until James moved back onto the bed before she crawled on herself. Propping up the pillows she stabilized herself carefully before reaching out with her right hand to hold onto James' left. The metal was cool to the touch, but Anna didn't mind. It was the only contact she could afford. Although she would have preferred to cuddle up to James' side, her shoulder would be killing her. For a little while, at least, she would have to sleep propped up and in her sling. Meaning holding his hand was as close as she could get to him while sleeping. It was enough for now. Any contact with James was better than nothing. Just knowing he was beside her was reassuring and it had her drifting into unconsciousness fairly swiftly.

James would give anything to be able to feel Anya's skin on his. To feel her warmth as well as her closeness. He knew it wasn't possible. Not with the injuries they'd received. So feeling the pressure of her hand in his mechanical one would have to be enough. It was a far cry from the relaxation her head on his chest brought, but it was sufficient to know she was beside him, that she was safe. And before long he felt his eyelids growing heavy as he eventually succumbed to sleep.

…

Steve had spent the night conversing with Bruce about Bucky and Anna. It wasn't something he had planned on doing, but Bruce was simply very easy to talk to. Eventually, Steve made the realization that Bucky was feeling threatened. It had made sense the more he talked to Bruce about it. The way Bucky looked at Anna, the way he acted around her, more than hinted at him caring for her. Some of Bucky's telltale signs of liking a girl from before the war were present. But it was more than that. Even back in Bucky's heyday, Steve had never seen Bucky look at a girl the way he looked at Anna. To Bucky, Anna was it, she was…everything. She was the first person to believe he was more than what Hydra had made him. She was more than just a pretty girl he wanted to take dancing, to show a good time to. Anna was the girl he had a good time with simply because he was with her.

With all that, Bucky didn't have a clue that Anna liked him. Really liked him. Nor did he realize how huge that was. Over the two years Steve had known Anna, he'd never seen her open up or take to a guy like she seemed to have done with Bucky. She never reciprocated any interest in the men that had shown interest in her. Bucky couldn't see that. Which meant whenever Steve showed any kind of closeness or affection with Anna, even though it was nothing more than friendly concern, Bucky saw it as a threat to his own relationship with Anna. He saw it as Steve stealing Anna's affection away.

"I have to make him understand, I'm not trying to get between him and Anna." Steve announced, rising from his seat beside Bruce. When Bruce suggested he test what he was going to say out on him, Steve simply waved him off. He didn't need to practice how to talk to Bucky, even if he wasn't the same Bucky he used to know, he was still Steve's best friend.

Steve was in such a hurry to make Bucky understand he wasn't a threat, he didn't think about how early it was when he knocked lightly on Bucky's door. He simply knew he had to make certain Bucky knew he wasn't after Anna. The sooner the better. When there was no answer, Steve was about to turn away. It probably wouldn't be best to sneak up on Bucky, seeing as the last time they'd been in a room together, Bucky had punched him. To his surprise, before he could take a step, he heard Bucky's voice call out to come in.

When Steve opened the door, it was to find Bucky still in bed. And he wasn't alone. Anna was beside him, propped up against pillows with her arm in a sling. Steve hadn't been aware she was with Bucky, figuring Tony would have separated the two. Apparently not. And although they were both fully clothed and sitting several inches apart, Steve couldn't help but feel like he was intruding. He was actually all set to leave when Anna's voice stopped him.

"You can stay Steve. I was actually about to go grab some food." Anna smiled reassuringly at Steve, noting his uncertainty, before turning her attention on James. Even after her declaration, James still looked a little uneasy. Anna deduced it had more to do with him not knowing how to interact with Steve now, than it did with her and Steve. Wanting to set him at ease, Anna reached up to lightly brush her fingers against his cheek, hoping the brief contact would be reassuring enough.

Steve averted his gaze when Anna reached out to Bucky. The movement was personal, and made him feel even more like he was intruding than before. He didn't glance back up until Anna was walking past him, shooting him an encouraging look before continuing on her way. The door shutting behind her didn't make him anymore at ease. In fact, Steve was a little more nervous now that he was alone with Bucky. He could only hope his apology would be enough.

"I didn't mean to intrude," Steve stated a little bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck to diffuse the tension in his body. "I just came to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" James asked as he moved to a seated position with his feet on the floor. He didn't understand what Steve could be apologizing for. James was the one who hit him.

"For overstepping my boundaries. I'm not used to Anna having a guy, so I don't really know how to act with her now she has one. And I get it. She's your girl. I'm not trying to mess with that. Anna and I are just friends. My concerns for her are like that of an older brother." Steve's words had James relaxing slightly. Hearing from Anya that Steve wasn't his competition was one thing, but hearing it from the man himself was even more reassuring. Not only was Steve admitting he wasn't competing for Anya's affection, but he had also admitted that Anya didn't normally hang around other guys. James liked the thought of Anya not having many guys around. He also liked the thought of Anya as his girl. Not like he owned her, but that a piece of her heart was reserved for him. That he was special.

"I'm sorry for punching you," James finally spoke up, feeling as though he owed Steve an apology as well. That punch had a lot of force behind it, and the guy hadn't even been trying to upstage James with Anya.

"It's okay." Steve insisted with a wave of his hand, smiling a little to himself at something. When he seemed to notice James staring at him, Steve shared what had him smiling. "You mentioned once how you thought I liked getting punched."

"Do you get punched a lot?" James inquired, his eyebrows pulling together as a vague image of a smaller Steve with a black eye and a bloody nose started forming in his mind.

"I've gotten better at deflecting. But yeah, I used to get in my share of scraps." A combination of not liking bullies and being small had led to him being beaten up in more back alleys than he could count.

"I broke up a lot of those fights, didn't I?" What started as a statement, ended as a question. James wasn't convinced by the blurry memories, but he had the impression that he helped Steve out of the messes he found himself into.

"Yeah, you did." Steve smiled, encouraged that Bucky was remembering. It was hard to refrain from plowing into stories of their childhood misadventures. However, he knew ambushing Bucky with the past would throw him into information overload. It was just another epiphany Bruce had helped him work through. "Even when I insisted I had 'em on the ropes."

Silence fell between the two after that, and though it wasn't exactly comfortable, it wasn't tense either. Before Steve could voice his goodbye, figuring it was probably time he gave Bucky some more space, Jarvis was interrupting. Apparently Tony was demanding everyone meet in the family room, immediately.

…

Anna was sitting at the counter with a bowl of cereal, waiting for James and Steve while she let them have some time alone to talk, when Tony discovered her. He was a little peeved he hadn't been informed the moment she regained consciousness, though he wasn't sure whether to blame Anna, Pepper, or Jarvis. Grabbing the stool beside Anna, Tony stole a bite of her cereal before demanding to know the events that led up to her getting shot.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others? So I don't have to rehash it a dozen times." Knowing Pepper and Steve, they would want to hear the story as well. And Anna didn't really feel like reliving getting shot more times than she had to.

"You know I don't do waiting," Tony responded. However at the look Anna sent him, he immediately asked Jarvis to rally the troops to the family room for 'story time.' It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually everyone made it out, perched on the various furniture. Anna immediately went to sit beside Tin Man on the couch, making their matching slings even more prominent.

"Hey, together, you two have a pair of working arms," Sam pointed out almost immediately, referring to Anna having her right arm working while her left was injured, and James having the opposite. That realization had Sam chuckling while Tony simply rolled his eyes.

"Why did you leave the Tower?" Tony started off the interrogation from his spot perched on the arm of Pepper's chair.

"I needed some time away from your overbearing big brother act. And I wanted to show James around Brooklyn, from the viewpoint of the 40's. Which was why I took the glasses." Tony didn't take well to being called overbearing, objecting quite profusely until Pepper interrupted. She thought it was an adorable idea for a date. Her remark had Anna blushing.

"So, how did Hydra get the drop on you Tin Man? You're an assassin. That means you're supposed to notice when you're somebody's target." Tony immediately steered the topic away from dates, crossing his arms as he turned his attention to the man who was sitting rather close to his sister.

"That was mostly my fault," Anna admitted, blushing deeper when all eyes turned to her for an explanation. It was because she had distracted them both with the kiss that James had let his guard down. And she wasn't exactly looking forward to reporting such a personal moment to everyone. "I was the reason we climbed to the roof to watch the sunset. And I was the one who initiated the kiss."

"Can't blame you for not noticing a sniper when you're locking lips man." Sam broke the tense silence, sending James a smile. The others were all in their own state of processing: Pepper beaming at Anna and James, Steve looking slightly stunned, Bruce studying Anna and James closer as if trying to interpret where they now stood with each other, and Tony stewing in his seat.

"So, what I'm hearing is, you got shot because you kissed. You stole my glasses, left the Tower without telling anyone to go gallivanting around the city, climbed to a roof of a building to watch a freaking sunset and got shot when you kissed Tin Man." There was a false calm to Tony's voice that showcased his frustration more than yelling would have.

"What about the men in the alley?" Pepper quickly asked, giving Tony some time to deal with his big brother instincts and hopefully get over them.

"They were waiting for us," James spoke for the first time, feeling more comfortable answering Pepper's questions than Tony's. Mainly because he didn't feel like he was being interrogated and blamed by Pepper. "All but the one." He amended when he recalled the fourth agent who had had a tight grip on Anya's face.

James' words reminded Anna of yet another point of the story that Tony wasn't going to like. She knew she had to tell him about Brent being with Hydra. She just wasn't looking forward to the questions that were sure to follow both from Tony as well as from everyone else. Most of all James. Anna avoided talking about Brent at all costs. She had been very successful over the years, but it couldn't be avoided now.

"There's something you need to know about the agent who shot us. One of the agents in the alley." Anna started, focusing her attention on Tony. Although he would be angry and shocked, he was also the only one who knew the weight of what she was about to say. "It was Brent."

"Brent is with Hydra?" Tony managed to get out after swallowing down his shock. "I thought he got 8 years."

"They let him out a year early for good behavior." Anna responded, studiously ignoring the confused glances she was receiving from Steve, Pepper, and James.

"Good behavior my ass. He shot you in the shoulder." Tony answered angrily. "Besides, the court never alerted me. I was supposed to be notified whenever they let the Bastard out." After all the money and effort it took to get that man behind bars, and they couldn't even pick up a phone to alert him when the Bastard was set free. It was a serious flaw in the American justice system.

"You two do realize there's five other people in the room who have no idea who or what you're talking about, right?" Sam interrupted the sibling verbal tennis match. "Who is Brent?"

"A lying, manipulating, sack of shit, that's what he is." Tony answered vehemently, answering Sam's question without really answering it. It had Sam immediately turning towards Anna in hopes of a better answer.

"He's my ex." Anna translated, wincing slightly as she felt James' piercing eyes on her. Brent was a conversation topic she had hoped to avoid bringing up around James. At least until their murkily defined relationship status became a little more solid.

"Okay, and the eight years in prison part?" Sam inquired again after getting somewhere with Anna.

"He had an anger management problem," Anna murmured, not completely comfortable with answering questions about her past with Brent. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't something she liked to think about.

"It's called being a psychopathic Bastard," Tony corrected, once again making the point that he did not care one iota for Brent. In fact, if he could have, Tony would have made sure the man had gotten the death penalty. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for a domestic case not involving murder.

Steve was shocked to hear about Brent's connection to Anna. Over the two years he had known her, Anna had never mentioned any past relationships. Definitely not one that had ended badly enough for the guy to go to prison. He couldn't imagine what he must have done. James was more confused than shocked, as he tried to process the pieces of information Tony and Anna were providing.

"What did he do?" Sam was almost afraid to ask. However, his curiosity won over.

"I just want to preface this with the fact that I was young and stupid; barely 18." Anna inhaled deeply, trying to settle her nerves before continuing. "When Brent got angry he'd take it out on me. Sometimes the attacks were just verbal, other times he would hit me."

"He beat the crap out of her. Threatened her to keep quiet about it. I only found out when he couldn't refrain from hitting her face. He landed her in the hospital that night, with two broken ribs and a swollen and bruised face." Tony added, feeling the need to elaborate on Anna's answer. Her reply had been tame, especially for what Brent had done to her. Brent didn't just 'take his anger out on her' he demolished her.

It took a moment for Anya's and Tony's words to sink in. When they did, James tensed, pure rage flowing through his veins at the imagery of Anya beaten and bruised at the hand of the agent in the alley. Knowing what the agent had done to Anya had him wishing he would have made him suffer. Especially thinking back on the tight grip he had had on Anya's face. The man deserved a fate worse than what he had gotten. It made James want to hunt him down and give him a taste of his own medicine. To teach him the lesson that a man should never lay his hands on a woman.

James' tenseness didn't escape Anna's notice, and it immediately had her raising her good hand to his face. It was something that always seemed to pull him out of his darker thoughts, and she only hoped it would pull him out of his own head now. She knew his thoughts must be murderous, not only because of the information just brought to light, but also because his face had taken on the look of the Winter Soldier again.

"Damn," Sam murmured lightly, interrupting the tense, uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the group. His remark didn't seem to help James' mood at all. It only seemed to spur him on, reminding him just how awful what Brent had done to Anya was.

"What I don't understand, is how Hydra found you in the first place." Bruce spoke up, voicing the part of Anna's story that confused him. He had already, partly, known about Brent, so that part didn't come as much of a surprise to him as it had to everyone else. Besides, by the looks of Anna, she would much prefer the subject be changed as soon as possible. So he decided to change it himself. Mainly because he knew continuing to rehash her past while James sat beside her, ready to murder the guy, wasn't the best for Anna's mental status. Especially taking into consideration how Anna seemed so focused on trying to calm James down, that she ignored her own emotions over the situation.

"They weren't just waiting around Brooklyn, hoping you'd show up. Somehow, they knew you would be there." Bruce clarified as the room's attention fell on him.

"Maybe one of the employees let slip she was leaving the Tower," Steve suggested, but Tony instantly shot him down. All of his employees went through lie detector tests and thorough background checks that Tony conducted himself before being hired. They might have missed Anna leaving the Tower, but they wouldn't betray Tony and give information to outsiders.

"The obvious answer would be they tracked her through a tracer. But that's not logical. The only way I was able to track her was because of the glasses. And Hydra couldn't know about those. I didn't even know about them until Bruce pointed out they were missing." Anna didn't carry anything on her person that was easily traceable. Which was why the glasses had been a lucky discovery. Otherwise Tony wouldn't have been able to locate her and Tin Man at all. Tony didn't like to think about what would have happened if he hadn't been able to find Anna.

"Your neck," James murmured to Anya after a moment of silence. He had been trying to work out how Hydra could know Anya's every movement ever since Bruce pointed it out. The tracer theory made sense, seeing how easy Hydra had found them on the private plane and on the roof. However Tony was right, Anya hadn't been carrying anything that could be traced, save for the glasses. But what if they implanted their own tracer inside her? Anya had mentioned one of the agents injecting her with something outside of the museum. She had assumed it was a sedative, but what if it wasn't. What if it had been a tracker?

At James' statement Anna reached up reflexively for the back of her neck as she met James' eyes. The pain from where the Hydra agent had stabbed her with the probe device had subsided. That as well as the distractions of her brother finding her and Hydra trying to kill her or kidnap her twice already had her forgetting all about it.

"Care to explain that comment?" Tony asked dryly, unhappy with the nonverbal communication going on between his sister and Tin Man. The nonverbal thing was his and Anna's.

"A Hydra agent injected me with something before we escaped them outside the Air and Space museum, shortly before you found us. I thought it was a sedative, but it never really took effect." If it had been a sedative, it obviously wasn't a very effective one. As it never caused her to lose consciousness.

"Neither of you thought to mention this?" Tony about exploded. It seemed a very crucial bit of information to include.

"Certain events had it slipping from my mind. Like you barging into the motel room the next morning, and Hydra attacking us. Twice." Anna explained while Tony started tugging on her arm, pulling her off the couch.

"We're going to the lab. We need to get some x-ray imaging of your neck to know what's inside." Tony responded when Anna asked him just what he thought he was doing. James, who had risen from the couch as soon as Tony had pulled Anna away, followed closely behind. It wasn't long before everyone was piling onto the elevator, pushing the maximum occupant limit, in order to find out what Hydra had injected Anna with.

With everyone gathered around her watching as Jarvis did a full scan of her body, Anna felt like a lab rat. Was that how Steve felt when he was transformed into a super soldier? With everybody watching to see what would happen. The situation seemed similar, except that they were trying to understand what had happened to her rather than trying to do something to her.

"It looks like a bug." Sam commented when the image popped up on the screen.

"What's the analysis Jarvis?" Tony asked as he zoomed in on the image. He hated to admit it, but the Pigeon was right. It did kind of look like a bug.

"It appears to be a foreign electronic object that was implanted into Anna Banana's neck." Jarvis announced his generic analysis.

"How very insightful." Tony muttered before turning away from the screen. "It has to be a tracker. It's definitely electronic which means Hydra could be tracking a signal from it."

"Can you remove it safely?" James asked worriedly. If that was the reason Hydra knew where Anya was, he wanted it out. It only put her at more of a risk. He didn't like Hydra being able to locate Anya at any time.

"Bruce probably could." At Tony's comment Bruce turned his attention away from the image on the screen.

"Nowhere on my degree does it say neurosurgeon" Bruce remarked. He was used to reminding Tony that, just because he had a doctorate, it did not mean he could universally perform any job that required a doctoral degree.

"Nor does it say psychologist, but you're doing an Ace job at that." Tony retorted, slapping Bruce on the shoulder to provide some support.

"What if we didn't remove it," Anna suggested, interrupting Tony and Bruce as she stared at the x-ray image on the screen. It was a thought that had crossed her mind during the scanning process, when she was comparing what she was going through with what Steve had. Perhaps having Hydra tracking her wasn't a bad thing. Perhaps it could be used to their advantage.

"We're removing it," Tony and James remarked at the same time, causing them to share a glance. Tony's was a look of approval that, at least when it came to Anna's safety, Tin Man and him were on the same page.

"Just, hear me out." Anna insisted, turning to face her brother and James. Though they were the only ones to verbally disagree with her suggestion, she could tell by the looks on Steve and Pepper's face they didn't exactly approve of it. "This could be the key to drawing Hydra out. We don't know where their new base is. This could help solve that problem. We know they'll come after me. Probably with more agents than before. If we catch them off guard we could nab at least one agent for interrogation."

"No," James insisted immediately. "That's a bad idea." There were so many things that could go wrong with that 'plan.' Just the thought of using Anya as bait had him on edge.

"I agree," Tony eventually spoke up. "Mostly because I didn't think of it myself." Anna's plan was admittedly brilliant. It was true, currently they had no plans to move forward and track down Hydra. Now they might not need to track them down. They just needed Hydra to do all the work and track Anna down.

"What?" James and Steve exclaimed together in confusion. Neither had expected Tony to be okay with putting Anna in harm's way.

"We won't let them take her." Tony elaborated, as if that part was obvious. "We'll get the Avengers to assemble and tag along inconspicuously while we set Anna loose on the city. Of course, she'll never be alone. Not really. She won't leave our sights." It was all rather simple. Which made it brilliant. Tony didn't understand why the others weren't following.

"Can you do inconspicuously?" Pepper asked pointedly, eyeing Tony. For as long as she'd known Tony he had been ostentatious. Him being able to successfully fly under the radar of a mastermind evil organization didn't seem very likely.

"There's a first time for everything." Tony retorted. Sure, he was used to making an entrance. But he could adapt. He was very adaptable.

"No," James insisted more adamantly. He didn't like the plan, as it seemed to have a lot of holes in it. And though he didn't have a clue what 'Avengers' were, he wouldn't bet against Hydra. They played dirty. Noticing his jaw set in determination, Anna quietly excused them for a moment, gently pulling James to the side of the lab.

"I don't like it." James muttered once Anya came to a halt and turned to face him. Though he knew he had made that point very obvious, he figured Anya could stand to hear it one more time. It was obvious that she had pulled him away from the others to discuss their opposing stances on the issue. But he wasn't going to budge. Not when it came to her safety.

"Okay, why not?" Anna asked calmly, figuring it would be best to hear exactly what his reasons for disliking the plan were before she tried to convince him otherwise. Her question had James sending her a look that said she clearly should know why not.

"Hydra is dead set on getting their hands on you. Most definitely for nothing good. And you want to practically hand yourself over to them. I can't stand by and watch from afar while you risk everything to draw Hydra out." It had been hard enough watching from a couple feet away as Hydra attempted to get to Anya, there was no way he could take seeing it from further away.

"It could be our best chance at finding them. I know you want to find them." James' brow wrinkled in frustration both at Anya's insistence she put herself at risk and at the truth in her statement. He knew she'd try to convince him to let her do it, he just never thought her logic would actually make sense to him. Still, however true her logic might be, James wasn't willing to sacrifice her safety.

"I won't risk you for my revenge." Yes, he wanted to get back at Hydra for everything they had done. For all the memories they had taken from him. But revenge wasn't worth practically handing Anya over to them. Revenge wouldn't mean anything if he lost her in the process.

"What if I'm armed? What if you train me?" Anna insisted, offering up compromises. She needed to do this. Not for the sake of being a 'hero,' but because James and her had little hopes of living a normal life if they didn't stop Hydra. And Anna wanted a normal life with him so bad. "Not that I'm expecting them to get close enough to me with the Avengers around, but just in case, I'd be prepared."

While Anna tried to convince James to go along with her plan, Tony watched closely from across the room. It was obvious Tin Man wasn't budging from his position on the matter from the set of his shoulders. That knowledge had Tony slowly creeping closer to eavesdrop on what Anna was saying. If she couldn't come up with a suitable compromise, perhaps he could. When Anna Banana's offer to remain armed and to receive training failed, as James shook his head in refusal, Tony interrupted the two.

"So sorry," he announced as he stepped up beside them. "But, what if you did all that and I could put our own trace on Anna. Even if Hydra managed to take her, we could track her. By reversing their signal as well as placing a new one of our own on her."

James didn't appreciate Tony listening in on Anya's and his conversation, when clearly it was meant to be private. He also couldn't understand why Tony was so on board with Anya's plan, when initially he had been on James' side. Glancing around the room at the others for some support, it seemed Tony and Anya had already convinced most of them that they could do this. The only one who didn't seem to be completely on board with Anya was Steve. It had him feeling a new sense of appreciation for the man from the helicarrier. Still, two against five wasn't the best of odds. Especially when James' version of convincing people consisted mostly of violence. He didn't think Anya would approve of him using violence against her friends to get them to see his side of things.

"We start training immediately." James caved, turning back to Anya. Relief flashed across her eyes as she bounced up on her toes and placed a quick kiss against his cheek. She was already pulling away by the time James registered the unexpected contact. It would seem Anya had found an effective way to convince him to see her side of things. If she ever figured out just how effective her touch was in convincing him, James would be in trouble of always caving to her requests.

A/N Hey everyone here's the next chapter! Sorry it took soooo long. I was at the beach with no computer. I wrote some of it on paper and had to manually type it up and then edit it when I got back. I want to clear up the question about eventual sex scenes that I had in my last authors note. Mostly that I did not intend (if I did write one) to do it anytime soon. It would be chapters and chapters from now. Anna and James are not to that point in their relationship. I mean look how long it took them to finally kiss! I was just wondering if, in the way distant future, you would be interested in me writing that part of their relationship when they got to that point. I just wanted to clarify that point. Thank you so much for your continued support and the compliments you always give. I have to say when I try to get my original book published and it gets rejected a million times, I will read your lovely comments and remind myself I always have fanfiction and you guys who enjoy my fiction on here! Anyways, I got a review requesting I post a guestimate of when I would post the next chapter for all the guest reviewers who can't receive alerts. So, I estimate that I will post the next chapter by Sunday. As long as I have internet connectivity and don't have to work too much!

Now onto guest review responses!

To the guest who commented that the ending of the last chapter was 'Beautiful': Why thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed that. As you can see, I showed a hint of James warming up to Steve a little more after Anna's little talk with him. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the long wait.

To Hannah: your depiction of you cheering and your husband sending you a funny look made me smile. I have done similar things for fanfiction with my boyfriend present and he looks at me funny as well. Glad you enjoyed the kiss so much! And hope you liked the little Janya moments in here! Do prefer reading Janya moments from James' POV or Anna's? Or both? Just curious!

To Avid Fan: Glad you enjoyed jealous James so much. I quite like when he pops up. Also happy to hear you like how I'm writing Pepper. It's true, she has sort of filled in as older sister/mom for Anna over the years. I mean, her and Tony are practically married anyways so Anna is practically her sister. Oh my, you paid me a huge compliment by stating you think I write so beautifully that a physically romantic scene would be graceful. Thank you for that! When I eventually write it, I hope I do that comment justice. I mentioned above that I'm aiming for the next chapter to be posted Sunday afternoon. I can't guarantee how accurate I will be, but I will make an effort to announce when I will be posting so you don't have to refresh your screen all through class!

To Pikachewbaka: Awesome name btw. Thanks for leaving a review! As mentioned above, I will definitely continue to raise the level of Janya's relationship slowly. Any intimate scene would be chapters from now, with a minimum of 3 chapters.

Kiku: I agree, we need real life James/Bucky and Steve. I demand Marvel make more and release them into the world for reals.

ParisFan83: Aw, I'm so glad you thought the Janya moments were so cute! As you now know after reading this chapter, they finally got around to looking into Anna's neck. Better late than never right? James has had a lot of new situations to deal with, and it kind of escaped both of their minds when Anna stopped complaining about the pain in her neck. Don't worry, I will take the advancement of Janya's intimacy slowly. I agree, them progressing too intimate, too fast would be completely out of character for them. I have to say your compliments made me smile, not sure I deserve them all, but thank you all the same!

Keshigomu: Glad you enjoyed James basically being epic and amazing with fighting off the Hydra Agents. I agree, Tony would have a meltdown if Anna got too physical with James too soon. I'm pretty sure Anna would have a mental meltdown as well. Neither Anna nor James are used to being that close to anyone, so progressing to that level of closeness will take time.

To the guest who mention that my story is amazing and James and Anna are too perfect: Thank you. Glad you love Janya together. There was a small blip of a Steve and James moment where James remembered a little, they will keep coming, don't worry! Thanks for your review!

To the guest who 'absolutely enjoyed it! Like every chapter.': Thank you! I'm glad you have faith in me as a writer to take the story in a good direction. There will be more action, in the distant future. When the drama dies down a little perhaps.

To buckylover: Happy to hear you like the way I've developed James and Anya's relationship! As previously mentioned, and because of popular demand, there will be some action in the future, though I probably won't be changing the rating of this story so it will be described in detail but without DETAIL lol.

To the guest who reviewed UPDATEEEEEEEEEE!: I did! Once again, sorry it took so long!

To the guest who reviewed 'hell to the yes for more 'action'': Thanks for the input! By popular demand there will be more action in the distant future.

To NicholeRenee224: I'm responding here since your PM is turned off: so glad you loved the chapter and think it had a good mix of action and romance!

Rach

xoxo