James and Anna spent the next 3 days working on her shooting technique, only taking breaks for food and physical therapy. Of course, James' arm was practically healed, while Anna hadn't even been cleared to remove the sling yet. Bruce claimed it would be at least a couple more days before they could revisit the possibility of freeing her arm. He didn't want Anna to hurt herself worse by clearing her too soon.
Anna could tell James was getting a little antsy. He didn't pace, like she would, but it was in the set of his shoulders and, most of all, in his eyes. She knew it wasn't from lack of movement, he was used to being confined by Hydra. Which had her deducing it was because he felt the pressure of being as prepared as possible for 'the plan.' Their training was helping to prepare Anna, but he hadn't been given much time to prepare himself. True, he'd taken his own turns in the shooting range, but he didn't require too much shooting practice before he was on his A-game.
"Why don't you ask Steve to spar with you," Anna suggested after breakfast. "I know you want the practice. And I've got therapy with Bruce this morning."
Normally James would attend her therapy sessions with her. In the beginning it was to make sure Bruce didn't hurt her, and to ensure Anna wouldn't say she was cleared before Bruce had really cleared her. Now it seemed he came because he didn't know what else to do with himself. Yet another reason for him to train with Steve. It would give him something to do.
"Steve?" James asked in uncertainty. The last time he'd fought with Steve it had been when he was James' mission, when James had been ordered to kill him. It made James a little hesitant to spar with him for practice. Unsure of what he might do when he was acting on impulse. Steve was Anya's friend and, as he was constantly told, he was James' friend at one point as well. He didn't want to accidentally hurt the man Anya claimed she saw as another brother.
"It'd be good for you both. I know he could use a good sparring match with someone he doesn't have to worry about hurting so much." Anna insisted. She knew for a fact Steve had always hated to practice fighting with other agents at SHIELD before, not wanting to accidentally put them in the hospital for a week because he hit them too hard or because they weren't fast enough.
James eventually accepted Anya's request. His choices were either sparring with Steve, or watching Anya's therapy. It wasn't exactly fun watching Anya's face screw up in pain as the doctor worked her shoulder. It was actually the opposite of fun. James didn't like seeing Anya in pain, and so he normally sat with tight fists during her sessions, as he restrained himself from making the doctor stop. He also would repeat a mantra in his head that it was, supposedly, helping her. Not wanting to go through that again, he chose option A. He almost wished he had just gone with Anya when he stood in the living room on Steve's floor. It was too late to turn back though, as the elevator had already continued on without him. He was half debating taking the stairs when Steve appeared out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal.
"Bucky?" He seemed surprised, the spoon halfway to his mouth as he stared at James. "Everything okay?"
Bucky had never come to Steve's floor of his own accord. In fact, Bucky had never voluntarily been around Steve without Anna present. It had an uneasy feeling starting to rise up within Steve. Had something happened to Anna? Was it something to do with the device in her neck? Steve knew he should have backed up Bucky when he wanted the thing removed.
"Do you want to spar?" James eventually asked, feeling increasingly awkward just standing there. He really should have just gone with Anya. When Steve simply stared at him in confusion, it had James starting to edge back towards the elevator. "It was Anya's idea. We don't have to."
"I could use the exercise," Steve finally found his voice. He hadn't expected Bucky's question and it initially confused him. Once he realized Anna was alright, and Bucky just wanted to practice fighting techniques, Steve was actually a little excited.
…
"Tell me as soon as it hurts." Bruce ordered, even though he knew by now that Anna wouldn't tell him until it hurt so bad she couldn't keep from cursing. As predicted, her face scrunched up in pain as she remained silent.
"Shit, it hurts, it hurts!" Anna cried out. She was able to hold off on vocalizing her pain a little longer today. That had to mean she was getting better.
"It wouldn't hurt so badly, if you told me when the pain starts instead of when it becomes unbearable." Bruce murmured as he jotted down notes on her shoulder's mobility. Anna's resistance to follow treatment as ordered was the typical doctor mentality. All doctors made horrible patients.
"So, am I cleared yet?" Anna asked, cradling her arm as her shoulder throbbed, and completely ignoring Bruce's comment.
"No. And if you keep pulling stunts like that, you'll end up pushing back the clearance date further." Bruce turned, giving Anna a semi-stern look as he handed her an ice pack for her shoulder. "I'm going to have to insist you rest today. Really rest. Which means no gym time with James."
"But I have to train. It's the only reason James isn't fighting me tooth and nail on the plan," Anna exclaimed, unhappy at how much of her life depended on other people's opinions of her abilities. If Bruce didn't clear her, Anna couldn't train. And if Anna couldn't train, James' wouldn't deem her ready to put her plan into action.
"True, but if you train too early, you'll hurt your shoulder worse than it already is. Perhaps even give yourself new injuries. All of which will set you back even more." Damn Bruce for his logic. He was right. Anna knew he was right. She was a doctor as well, so she knew the dangers of pushing an injury too hard and too early.
"I know, I know," Anna grumbled under her breath, setting the icepack on her wound before leaning back against the chair to keep it in place.
"Have you given much thought to the plan, other than the fact that you'll be the bait while we wait in the shadows?" Bruce asked, coming to sit in front of Anna. "Like, for instance, how to prevent collateral damage like what happened the last time the Avengers fought in Manhattan."
In truth, Anna hadn't really gone farther in the plan creating process than what had been done when the tracker was discovered in her neck. It had her feeling incredibly stupid, now that Bruce mentioned it. Not to mention, naive. To think Hydra wouldn't destroy anyone and anything that stood in the way of what they wanted, which for some unknown and absurd reason seemed to be her. Innocent lives could be at stake if the plan wasn't executed to perfection. Even then, there was a good chance bystanders would get caught up in the fight. It's not like they could warn the city beforehand to clear a section of the city for the Avenger-Hydra show down. That would completely defeat the part of the plan of catching Hydra off guard.
"What if we moved the location of the fight? Made it away from the city." Hydra would follow wherever her signal led them. If they moved her out of the city before they set her loose on her own, it could prevent a lot of damage. "Tony has several remote properties to choose from."
"That could be a possible solution," Bruce nodded, sliding his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "If I was Hydra, I would be less suspicious of Tony and James letting you wander off alone in the country than I would be if they let you alone in Manhattan. Taking into account the recent attack."
Bruce was more than slightly relieved to hear Anna come up with an alternative location for the fight to happen. It had been gnawing at the back of his mind since Tony and Anna decided to go through with using Anna as bait and the Avengers as her backup. The Other Guy hadn't come out to play since the war against Loki and his alien army, and that had resulted in a lot of damage to the city. Though it hadn't all been the Hulk, unlike with Harlem, Bruce would prefer not to release the Other Guy in a highly populated area. Relocating the fight to the country would mean plenty of room for the Other Guy to come out, if strictly needed, without making too much of a mess.
…
It felt good to be training again. James was a little unsure when they first arrived at the gym, but once Steve and he started sparring, the moves came naturally. The fact that Steve could actually deflect some of his hits, and managed to keep up with him, made the training that much more therapeutic. James didn't feel like he had to hold back so not to injure him. Steve was more than capable of handling his hits. It didn't take them long at all to get a good tempo going.
"You could stand a shave," Steve commented as he sent his fist towards James' face. "And a haircut." He added after James ducked the blow and sent a returning one that got Steve in the abdomen. "How do you even see when your hair gets in your eyes?" Steve rasped, a little out of breath after the hit.
James wasn't used to conversing while training. Other than the commands given by Hydra on what to improve upon, training was always a silent occurrence. Hydra preferred he not speak at all unless it was necessary. Perhaps if he was sparring with Anya he'd be more comfortable holding a conversation. With Steve he wasn't sure exactly what to say. However, he felt obligated to say something after Steve's comments.
"I'm used to it," James muttered as he blocked a kick from Steve and sent his own foot flying towards Steve. Steve ended up blocking him as well, before hitting James in the side with his fist.
"Guess Anna's used to it too." Steve sent Bucky a smile. It took him a minute to notice the confusion on Bucky's face, as he had to dodge another punch. "I'm just saying, kissing might be nicer for Anna without the scratchy beard. Not that I've kissed her more than the one time. And we never really talked about it after. So maybe she does like beards." So caught up in his babbling, Steve didn't realize the cold glint in James' eyes at the mention of him kissing Anna until he got socked in the face by James…again. At least that time it wasn't his metal fist.
"Relax Buck, it was only because of the mistletoe. It's not like we wanted to or anything. I told you, she's like a little sister to me." At Steve's remark, James stopped trying to hit him in the face again. It took a couple more minutes before Steve removed the guard he'd held in place since the first punch.
"Why would mistletoe lead to kissing?" James asked darkly. His stomach felt like it had dropped as soon as Steve mentioned kissing Anya. He didn't like that image. Steve had sworn him and Anna were like siblings. Siblings didn't kiss.
"It's a tradition. Any two people standing underneath mistletoe during the Christmas holiday have to kiss. It was at a hospital Christmas party and we wouldn't have even kissed if the drunk head nurse wasn't standing beside us and breathing down our necks to lock lips." Steve was trying furiously to backpedal, internally kicking himself for letting it slip that Anna and him had kissed once. It was insanely stupid seeing as Bucky had punched him for simply caring about Anna's well being. "I don't like Anna in a romantic way. I swear." Steve added, noticing Bucky seemed to be debating whether to trust him and hoping to sway him in his favor.
"Do you need some ice for your face, or can you go a few more rounds?" James finally asked, choosing to trust Steve. There were none of the usual signs of someone telling a lie, so it seemed as if Steve had been telling the truth about the mistletoe. Besides, he didn't want to dwell on the image of Steve and Anya kissing that had formed, briefly, in his mind.
It didn't take long before sparring once again took over James' thoughts. He had to admit, fighting with Steve took more of his concentration than what he was used to. Which was a good thing. It meant he was getting some real practice out of it. Of course, it also meant when Anya arrived in the gym after her session, calling out to them and making James momentarily lose his concentration, Steve managed to hit James square in his jaw.
"Sorry man, had to take advantage of the open shot," Steve commented a little sheepishly when James turned towards him, a stunned look on his face.
"Looks like the sparring was successful," Anna commented with a smile as she came to a stop just off the fighting mat. It was nice to see James and Steve together, even if it was fighting. At least this time the fighting wasn't real. Though, that didn't mean the two hadn't really tried while sparring. Both had worked up a sweat.
She had gotten to see a little of their practice before calling out to them. In fact, the whole reason she called out to them was because she felt the need to distract herself from staring at James' tensed muscles. Better to call attention to herself than to have them notice her staring. If she had known it would cause James to whip his head in her direction, missing the punch Steve threw his way and getting hit in the process, Anna might have held off on alerting them to her presence.
"How was your session?" James asked as he took a step towards Anya. He hadn't been aware it'd already been an hour and a half. Her sessions always seemed to drag on whenever he watched the pain etched on her face.
"It's getting easier," Anna managed to find a truthful statement that wouldn't make him worry too much. "Bruce and I actually came up with a new idea regarding the plan." The disgruntled look on James face made his feelings about the plan known. Not that he hadn't made them abundantly clear ever since the plan was mentioned.
"What's the idea?" Steve took the initiative to ask. It was clear Bucky wasn't going to. Bucky didn't approve of the plan, meaning he didn't care to hear what other insane ideas Anna had come up with to add to it.
"We've decided to move the location of the…interaction." Anna stumbled over the last part, not quite sure what to call the actual part where they engaged Hydra. "To one of Tony's country houses."
"Why?" James demanded, confused as to the logic behind removing Anya from the city. Stark Tower was secure, as much as James hated to admit it. She was the safest as she was going to be right there.
"We can't have a war with Hydra on the streets of New York. Steve and I saw how that went down with the Avengers last time. We need to draw Hydra away from the city." Anna thought the idea was brilliant. It solved all their problems. Well, at least the problem of preventing half the city from being demolished. Anna considered that a huge plus for the new plan.
"The city is safer. I don't like the idea of leaving the security of this building. Not until the exact moment the plan is to be executed." Anna didn't appreciate the emphasis James put on 'plan.' As if her idea was bound to fail. As though it could hardly be called a plan at all.
"I'm thinking of the safety of the innocent people in this city." Removing the fight from the city would save countless lives. Why couldn't James see the good in that?
"I don't care about their safety. It's your safety that matters." The whole idea of having Anya as bait was absurd. Moving to a location where he wasn't familiar with the surroundings only made the plan even more absurd and dangerous. It wasn't going to happen.
"You don't care about saving innocent people? People who don't deserve to die?" Anna replied, her voice growing colder as her anger and frustration grew. "Bull. Because that's something Hydra would think. And you're better than Hydra. The James I know, or at least thought I knew, wouldn't hurt people that didn't do anything to deserve it."
"If they get hurt, I wouldn't be the one to hurt them. It wouldn't be at my hands." James insisted, still not budging from his stance. Anya's words stung, but not enough to make him sacrifice her safety. Let her get mad at him, as long as she was safe.
"But you'd be letting them get hurt when you could prevent it!" Anna shouted, raising her voice for the first time. It echoed around the gym, making it seem all the louder and angrier.
"And you could prevent it by disbanding the idea of playing bait and drawing Hydra out. It's going to end badly." This whole plan was going to end up with someone hurt, even if they did move it to the country like Anya wanted. James didn't like the odds of that someone being Anya.
"I'll have a whole team made up of superheroes and assassins with me, I'll be safe." When James simply shook his head, his jaw set, Anna growled in frustration. "I give up. You talk to him. Get him to see reason," Anna ordered Steve before storming out of the room.
"She's right you know. People will get hurt if we have the fight here." Steve finally spoke, cutting through the heavy silence that had settled in the room since Anna left.
"I don't care," James insisted, more forcefully than was strictly necessary. He didn't like the feeling of something heavy setting on his chest that had started the minute he watched Anya walk away from him.
"Now I know that's not true, but I'll play along. If we stay in the city, not only will innocent people be at increased risk, but so will Anna. We run the risk of losing her in a crowd and Hydra getting her before we realize. Or we run the risk of her playing hero and taking the fall for one of us or for an innocent bystander." There were more uncontrollable variables when it came down to fighting in the city. It wasn't the best choice of battlefield. Seeing as they did have options, unlike when Loki had attacked New York, Steve thought it better to choose the less populated arena.
"I never liked this plan. Now I like it even less," James muttered, running his hand over his face in exasperation. All he wanted was Anya to let them remove the tracker, break it into a million pieces, and keep her as far away from Hydra as possible.
"I'm right there with you Bucky. But if you haven't noticed, your girl is a bit stubborn. Just like her brother." There it was again, his girl. It had the same bubble of happiness rising inside of him, making it take a minute before James realized Steve was on his side when it came to Anya's plan.
"If we find Hydra before Anya's healed, the plan doesn't have to be executed," James spoke after a moment of silence. He had been contemplating ways to stop the plan since Anya suggested it. He just didn't know how to do it on his own. Now it seemed, he might not be alone.
"How are we going to find Hydra?" Steve asked, not convinced on Bucky's plan. There was no question that, if they could find a way around Anna's plan, Steve would do it. Both for Bucky and for Anna. However, they'd have to come up with a more specific plan than randomly tearing through every building in New York and DC until they found Hydra.
"How'd we do it the first go round?" James asked, trying to remember back to the previous war, the one the museum had talked about. He knew the 'Howling Commandos' had tracked down Hydra in the past, he just couldn't remember how. The movie at the museum had probably covered it, not that James paid any attention to it. He had been too busy stressing over Anya being on her own. Rightly so, seeing as she'd been taken by Hydra then. Even if it was only for a few minutes, it had scared the Hell out of him. James never wanted to go through that again.
"I saved you from a Hydra facility and got a glance of their map with their secret locations. Don't suppose you saw any of those while you were with them did you?" Steve asked half-heartedly. He highly doubted that Hydra would have physical maps of their locations anymore. Their locations were probably all encrypted in the computer.
James shook his head. There had been no maps in the areas of Hydra's compound he had been allowed. He wasn't given important information like that. The only information Hydra shared with him was his next target. He didn't even get a real reason for going after a target, simply that they were the enemy and a threat to Hydra's plan for creating a better world.
"Well, we could start by revisiting the scene of the shooting. See if anything important got left behind," Steve suggested. There was nothing else he could think of doing at the moment. Besides asking Tony for help in trying to track Hydra through the use of his computers. And Steve didn't want to drag Tony into this, as he seemed to approve of Anna's plan. He'd need convincing to get him to help them without telling Anna.
James didn't mind Steve's idea. It was a start. However, he knew better than to get his hopes up. Hydra didn't normally leave evidence behind. At least he hadn't when he went on missions. He had been trained to be nothing more than a ghost. To get in, get the job done, and get out without drawing too much attention to himself and without leaving any clues behind.
"If Anna finds out, she's going to kill us," Steve added as an afterthought, knowing Anna would take it as a personal insult that they didn't want to rely on her plan.
"It's all about getting Hydra. If we find a way faster than Anna can put her plan into effect, it shouldn't matter" James insisted. If the bottom line was getting Hydra, then it shouldn't matter how they find them. It should only matter that they did.
"If you say so. But I'd go cave in to her now if I were you. Tell her you'll go to the country when the plan is all a go. She may be the more sensible of the two, but her and Tony both have the tendency to let their anger grow the more time they have to think about what makes them angry" Steve offered the advice. He'd been on the wrong side of Anna's temper a few times, and he'd learned how to prevent it getting too bad.
James didn't like the idea of 'caving' and agreeing to Anya's new suggestion. However, he liked the idea of Anya being mad at him even less. So he forced himself to swallow his misgivings and left to locate Anya. It didn't take too long to find her, as she'd stayed on that floor, pacing back and forth on the track. She didn't seem to notice him until he stepped up behind her, almost causing her to walk right into him.
"I'll go to the country." James relented, causing Anya's eyes to widen a little in surprise. "Only when you're properly healed and ready to execute the plan," he quickly added, not wanting her to get the wrong idea and start packing immediately. Not that they had much to pack.
"Thank you James," Anna murmured, reaching up to give him a semi-awkward, one-armed hug. The stupid sling prevented her from giving a real hug. "So, are there any moves you can teach me with a sling on," She asked hopefully after pulling away. James was being so agreeable, she didn't want to wait to train and risk him rethinking his acceptance of the plan.
"Maybe tomorrow. You're supposed to be resting." There was her surprised face again. It was somewhat endearing. James made a note in the back of his mind to surprise her more often. Preferably with something that would garner a hug like the first one.
"Bruce told you?!" Anna exclaimed unhappily. Of course Bruce would alert James to his orders for her to rest for the day. It was no secret how much Anna wanted to prepare for the plan as soon as possible. And it wouldn't be the first time she'd disobeyed Bruce's doctor advice. "What am I supposed to do while I'm resting?" She added, not liking the idea of lying in bed and staring at the ceiling all day. It sounded dreadfully boring.
"We can watch a movie," James suggested, remembering how Anya seemed to enjoy it the last time they watched movies with Steve and his sidekick.
"Only if you shower first," Anna agreed jokingly. In all honesty, she secretly loved the look of post-work out James. Which was odd for her, as she had never seen sweaty men as attractive. However, James was definitely the exception. Sweat never seemed more appealing. In fact, until proven otherwise, Anna was convinced James could do just about anything and he'd look attractive doing it.
…
"James, are you decent?" Anna called into the bathroom. The shower had been shut off for a little while, and she wanted his opinion on the movies she'd chosen. Anna didn't know if he'd be okay with cartoons. When he murmured an affirmative response to her question, Anna pushed open the doors. When she finally looked up from the movies in her hand, it was to find him staring at himself in the mirror with just his boxers on. It wasn't exactly Anna's definition of decent, and it had her cheeks flooding with color.
"Is everything okay?" Anna finally managed to find her voice, setting aside the DVDs when she noticed how James hadn't moved his eyes away from his reflection since she'd entered the room.
"Would you prefer me to shave?" James asked, turning to face Anya. Steve's comment about Anya possibly preferring someone clean-shaved had been overlooked at the moment he'd made it. James had been more focused on the fact that Steve had kissed Anya. It was brought to the forefront of his mind when he looked at himself in the mirror after his shower. He was used to his face having various amounts of stubble on it, as Hydra had never cared much about his appearance, just his abilities. He'd never thought about Anya having a preference. Her opinion was important to him. If she preferred a kiss from a clean-shaven man, then he would shave it all off immediately.
Anna wasn't sure where that question had come from, but she could tell that her answer was important to James. It had her taking the time to consider her answer. In truth, she'd never really thought much about the fact he had facial hair. It'd been there from the day she met him. It had never bothered her, in fact, his beard mixed with his hair gave him a sort of ruggedly handsome look. Of course, he'd look handsome either way.
"You could shave it, trim it, or keep it. It wouldn't change the way I think, look, or feel about you. So do what you want, what makes you feel most comfortable." To Anna's surprise, James pulled her closer at her response, ducking his head to initiate a kiss. It had butterflies stirring in her stomach and a smile spreading across her face once he pulled away. "Do you mind cartoons?" Anna asked in a slight daze, holding up the movies she held in her right hand. Her question had a smile twitching at the edges of James' lips as he simply shrugged. She took that to mean her movie choices were fine with him.
Leaving James to finish dressing, Anna moved back to the bedroom, setting up the first movie before climbing up into bed. She was all settled by the time James returned. It didn't escape her notice that he had only added a tee to his boxers, though she tried to ignore that fact as he joined her on the bed, sliding in beside her. In order to help her concentrate on something else, Anna hit play, starting the first movie.
It was in the middle of one of the several movies she had chosen that she felt James' hand move to rest against her stomach. Anna didn't think much about it until it slowly edged her shirt up until his skin made contact with hers and starting tracing circles on it. It sent a thrill through her as she turned her questioning eyes on James. It was as if James had been waiting for her to turn, moving his lips down to place a gentle kiss on hers. Moving his lips, he began trailing soft kisses along her jaw before moving down to her neck. Anna had no idea what had started this display of affection, and she was soon too caught up in the sensation of James' lips against her skin to think clearly.
Anna moving her right hand under James' tee, tracing a line down his chest, seemed to spur James' on, as he shivered slightly before moving his face back up to hers. There was a slight hesitance in his eyes that made Anna reach up to pull him back down to her. She kept her hand resting on the back of his neck, letting him know she didn't want him to pull away just yet. She needed to keep contact with him. James seemed to understand this, as his hand slowly moved down to trace along the waistband of her shorts. The sensation sent sparks through Anna as she released a small gasp at the contact. When she sensed James hand starting to pull back, Anna did the first thing she could think of to stop him: she pressed her lips even more tightly against his as she raised her hips ever so slightly towards him. It seemed to work, as his hand froze in place before slowly, almost torturously, moving lower.
Anna's eyes popped open, taking in the dark room illuminated only by the blue light of the TV. It was a dream. That realization had her heart dropping slightly. Turning to look to her right, she found James passed out beside her. Studying him brought her dream to the forefront of her mind again, making her feel flushed and disoriented. Moving ever so carefully, so as not to wake him, Anna finally managed to roll herself off the bed. Her body had a light sheen of sweat over it, and felt as though it were on fire. She needed to cool down. Glancing at the clock, she was a little surprised to find it was three in the morning.
There was no way she was going to wake Pepper up and explain why she needed a cold shower in the middle of the night. That would simply be too humiliating. Instead, Anna made her way to the kitchen, Hell bent on finding an alternative way to cool her body down. The solution presented itself in the form of ice cubes from the freezer. Grabbing two cubes, Anna ran them along the back of her neck. The dream and the feelings it had stirred inside her admittedly scared Anna a little. It had been a long time since she'd been close to a man, and it hadn't been a positive experience. Logically, Anna knew it would be different with James. She trusted him, and she liked him. A lot. But she wasn't sure if she was emotionally ready to be that close with him. It was obvious from that dream, her body and her subconscious disagreed with her.
"Anya, are you alright?" James' voice broke through the quiet of the kitchen, making Anna squeak as she jumped in surprise. She hadn't heard him coming; she had thought he was still asleep in bed. Turning to face him, she noticed the worried set to his shoulders, as well as the concern that clearly showed in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just came out here for some water," Anna answered, quickly moving to the fridge to pull out two bottles of water. It was when she turned to offer James' one that she noticed his apparel. It was the same clothes, or lack thereof, that he had worn before the movie: a plain white tee and boxers. It had Anna's cheeks warming up as she avoided looking him in the eye when he took the bottle she offered. Taking a swig of water from her own, Anna suggested they return to the bedroom, not wanting to chance being caught by Tony or Pepper with James in his underwear. Anna had a feeling that, unless James covered up a little more, she was going to need more ice cubes.
A/N: I didn't make my first deadline, but I made my second estimate! This one's longer, so that makes up for it. Thank you all for your support on this story, it really keeps me going strong! I'm hoping to get the next chapter up by Tuesday night or at the latest Thursday night. I start a new rotation for pharmacy school on Monday and it all depends how much take-home work that preceptor gives me. The last one was rather lenient, giving me more time to write. As for my plans for this story as well as others: I've pretty much decided I will do a sequel after this one that will be James and Anna based. Then after that sequel I'll do the Steve and Emily story that will take place after the events of James and Anna's sequel. Steve and Emily's story will be in the same universe as James and Anna, but it will focus on Steve and Emily. Both of those stories will take place before Avengers Age of Ultron. This is because I figure AAoU happens at least a year after CA:TWS. So there's a lot of room to play with. I still might include a third story dealing with the events of AAoU with James and Anna in it, and possibly Emily, depending on how 1) the new movie goes and if I can work my characters in and 2) how the plot of the sequel and Steve's story goes. ALSO AFTER I finish Janya's sequel and Steve and Emily's story, I might consider starting a Bruce/Hulk OC story because I feel like Bruce deserves some love as well. And the Bruce/OC story most likely won't fall in the same universe as Anna and Emily's stories. MY QUESTION TO YOU GUYS: what do you feel about the above plan? And would you eventually want to read a Bruce/OC story?
Onto Guest Reviewer Responses!
To flaggirl: So glad to hear you are enjoying the story! If I do a future love scene, which I am considering though I'm not sure when in the story just yet, it will most likely not be super detailed as I am keeping this story rated T. I might, later, write those scenes as M as one shots if there is enough readers who desire me to do as such. I agree, it will be interesting to delve into the physical and emotional…hurdles that present themselves if Anna and James were to be intimate!
To Hipstaplease: Yeah, I try to update at least once a week. I used to be faster than that, but life has picked up a little bit. Glad my explanation about the cyrofreeze and the tracker made sense. That's just how I thought of it in my head when writing. Thanks for your input on the question I asked everyone about when to end this story. If you read the authors note above, it will explain my decision on what I'm doing. The story about Steve will be separate from the sequel and it will be about Steve and Emily with only minor bits of James or Anna added in there. Glad you like my name choice for Steve's love interest :) And thanks for leaving a review!
To the guest who mentioned they'd never been interested in bucky fanfics: I'm so glad you tried reading this one and ended up liking it! Also happy you like my choice to have James' call Anna 'Anya.' I'm not sure if Bucky will resort back to being as confident with women as he was before, seeing as once he gets his memories back (if/when) he will still remember everything that happened with Hydra. That will change his personality I feel, the experiences he went through as the winter soldier. Like all Soldiers coming back from war, they aren't quite the men they left as. War touches soldiers in different ways and in a way, their experiences during war will always be a part of them. It changes soldiers, even if just minutely for some. But, that's just my opinion on the subject. Sorry if that didn't answer your question. I won't really know how James will be after getting memories back until I start to write him.
To the guest who thought even Bucky doing laundry would be hot: I must concur lol. As does Anna. Glad you liked the conversation at the end. And you caught the slight shift in James that is allowing him to be more confident around her! Congrats! You're right, he wouldn't have been comfortable to initiate holding her hand and playing with it a few days ago.
To Hannah: Hope you enjoyed the sparring! If you read my author's note you'll get the answer to what I plan on doing with this story as well as the sequel and Steve's story! Let me know what ya think of my 'solution.' I love how you brought up the fact that he was willing to abandon training because Anna was in pain. It does show how much he cares for her! And yes, James received the info about Brent very well for him. He doesn't fully understand the situation, but he isn't judging her. He might be dead set on enacting revenge on Brent, but he doesn't judge or blame Anna for it. AW I'm flattered you get hit with feels whenever Anna is telling James that he's a good man! It means I'm writing it good enough. I agree, Bruce has grown on me more with every time I watch the avengers. As mentioned in my authors note, I'm considering a Bruce/OC down the road. Would you be interested? Thanks for giving me the clearance to be lame when it comes to Janya :) And thanks for reviewing!
To keshigomu: Glad you liked the chapter even though there wasn't a lot going on. You'll have to keep reading to find out what happens in regards to Hydra and Anna! Hope you enjoyed the update! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts :)
Rach
xoxo