Anya stood watching the filter of people drag by her field of vision. The muddled over the streets in droves like rats. Things had changed yes, people were constantly talking and moving now, but she could always blend. She'd neglected to stress to Tony how much being around people like this triggered her. It automatically started a response in her body that drove her nearly mad. Her heart started to tick. Her eyes felt like pressure had built behind them. Her hands were shaky. The shaking had always been a habit since she was a child. From the first mission she'd been given to now, her hands had always been unsteady. As a person shoved by her bumping into her shoulder Anya stood still. She watched as they turned around giving her a look of indecency with a phone glued to their ear. She wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans moving forward in the crowd. She had a mission here. She needed to find Bucky. She knew him. She knew he wouldn't leave the one thing that had connected him to this world. If Steve had broken him, he'd stay close to Steve. As she stuffed her hands in her pockets trying to keep them from being noticed she thought back. She remembered a very hazy memory.
Bucky breathed against her back reaching around her side. Her heart was racing. She leaned forward to sight the target through the scope. She let a breath out before closing her other eye and focusing. Bucky placed a hand over hers near the trigger.
"Not yet." He whispered against her ear. "Your hand is unsteady." He slid a finger along hers to still it at the trigger.
"I am not." She insisted belligerently in a hot whisper. She wasn't older than eleven at best.
"Steady your hand." He corrected her like an older brother. "Watch him. He's walking towards the building. When he reaches the door you wait. Wait until his hand is on the knob." She listened despite wanting to throw up. This had been one of the first real missions she'd been told to conduct with the Winter Soldier. It was all part of her training they had said.
"Wait." He said again pressing her down into the dirt of the rooftop to flatten her body from being seen.
"I have the shot." She growled out.
"Wait." He snapped again. She let out a sigh angrily but waited.
"Now?" she asked sarcastically when the hand reached for the knob. He breathed out beside her and slowly pulled the trigger using her finger. She sucked in a breath watching through the sight as the man's head exploded from a tiny hole that entered the back of his skull. The door was sprayed with blood. He fell limply. His hand never gripped the knob.
"Affirmed kill shot." Bucky said into an earpiece he'd been fitted with.
She bumped through people like a fish in the sea listening. She kept her hands in her pockets remembering Bucky telling her she was unsteady. She remembered him telling her to wait. She paused on the sidewalk. To avoid the rush of people she stepped backwards into an alcove by a store opening. He'd always told her to wait. She was impatient. That's what she remembered most about being trained. She knew it was nothing for him to hunker down and stay somewhere patiently for days. She was always itching to move. He wouldn't have left this city, she was sure of that. She was also sure of the area he'd be in now. Hidden away, hidden behind. Blend. He'd blend in with the people no one watched. The sudden thought made her feel stupid for not realizing it at first. The realization also caused a jolt in her body. Immediately she started forward again with a new purpose.
Natasha rose an eyebrow watching. Clint had sat across the area the girl had moved in at a small coffee shop with her. At first they'd thought she was just pacing the city thinking of places he could be. It wasn't until they watched her duck under an awning of a shop that she showed any real purpose.
"Where do you think she's going now?" he asked leaning back in the chair.
"I'm not sure but she looks determined." Natasha replied.
"You think she got sight of him?" she shook her head. She would have seen the soldier before the girl would have.
"No, but she knows what she's doing now." She got up grabbing for her bag to sling it on her back.
"I'd rather we just stay here for once." He sighed out before getting up. "Having lunch was actually nice." He smirked.
"Move." She eyed him. "Before we lose her." And the Widow was off tailing the girl who was weaving delicately between bodies. She wasn't trained half-bad. If it weren't for her moving too fast at this moment, nothing would have seemed amiss about her at all.
Anya swiftly crossed the busy street into the lower side of town. She shuffled off her jacket quickly. This kind of leather poured off a vibe she didn't want down here. She needed to fit in and Tony's expensive taste would only hinder her movements here. She walked by a trashcan dumping it. The shirt underneath and jeans would do alright. She reached up making sure the baseball cap was hiding the majority of her eyes. People didn't like to look directly into your face when you asked questions. They didn't want to know who you were. She needed answers. Glancing in the general direction of the river she made her way towards the docks. Neither one of them had ever liked water much, but she had a feeling, that someone around here had to have seen him. Rounding a corner she stopped. There was an older man sitting against the bottom of a building. He looked ragged and dirty. Tuffs of matted hair hung in his eyes. He held a brown bottle in one hand and a green duffle bag in his other, just sitting. She made her way towards the man slowly. She pulled out a card, a credit card, that Tony had given her and squatted in front of the man.
"You see this?" she asked. He grumbled but nodded.
"Yeah what about it?"
"You want alcohol, food, clothes…a place to stay. It'll all be paid for." She yanked the card back before his gloved hand could reach it.
"What do you want?" he snarled out.
"Answers." She said simply. She waited until he sighed. "A man, tall, brown hair…he came out of this river with Captain America. Where did he go?" the guy huffed coughing before sitting up straighter.
"The guy walked along the river for a ways. Didn't stray from it." He mumbled.
"Towards the bridge?" she prompted. When he nodded she gave him the card.
"What's it to you anyway?" he snapped inspecting the card to be a fake.
"He's an old friend. PIN is 5667." She called over her shoulder reminding herself to ask Tony not to shut off the card until the guy had a place to sleep. She'd make sure somehow that he kept the place even if it meant threatening Tony.
By the time she'd traced the riverbank to the bridge her lungs were aching. She'd gone very fast without stopping. She couldn't; not if she were really this close. She had to get to him. She was sure of it now. He would be here. Where else would you go? Reaching the pillars, she noticed that there were some men huddled around a drum barrel that was on fire. They had their hands over it to keep warm. A cold breeze blew overhead. She regretted taking the jacket earlier but she'd had to blend in. However, that wasn't helping her a whole lot now. A guy approached her from the right. He was grimy with layers of dirt caking his hands and face. He reached inside his blue winter coat for something and again came closer invading her space.
"What's a little girl like you down here for? You come for a new batch?" he asked pulling out a baggy of crushed powder. She noted that it was blue in substance but couldn't tell what kind it was. She moved back shaking her head.
"No. I have business for something else here." She stated starting to walk past him.
"Working the night shift? You're a little early aren't you?" he chuckled. She made a face disgusted that he was even associating her with that kind of woman. Whatever. If it got her in, it got her in. She continued moving. Stopping wasn't an option. She had to be close. She waded through the muddy banks and past the people huddling to stay warm.
There was a woman sitting under a broken tent roof eating beans out of a can with a bent fork. A boy in his teen years huddled beside her picking at dirt beneath his fingernails. Anya hated seeing people like this. There had been missions she couldn't quiet recall, but she knew that she'd seen many places like this. It was why she kept pushing herself forward trying not to look. You didn't look. You didn't connect. You always kept moving. She started past one bridge pillar to catch the other side as her eyes slid over something. Someone. She caught a glimpse of tangled brown hair pulled hastily back in a low pony tail. She saw a guy with his hands in a Patriots Hoddie with his back against the bricked pillar. But it wasn't until she stopped and caught his eyes that she knew it was him. There was a dusting of hair growing along his jaw and dark rimmed circled beneath his eyes. Her entire body was rooted there staring at him. He hadn't seen her yet. He was simply looking around watching those around him. Watching for threats she assumed. He looked stiff and out of place. No doubt his metal arm was cold. Her body ached as it was form the wind off the river. The metal wasn't staying warm enough and her movements were rigid.
"Soldier?" she called across the small space separating them. Calling him by his name wouldn't have been of benefit. He wouldn't have responded. She'd never called him that. His eyes snapped up and in her direction. His body went still. His jaw set. She didn't move.
"Soldat." He replied narrowing his eyes. It was unsure. He wasn't sure who she was. For some unknown reason her insides clenched knowing that. He was trying to place her face but he couldn't.
"I…listen…" she didn't know what she wanted to say. She didn't know how. This had been unplanned.
"Get away from me." He suddenly peeled himself from the pillar moving forward. She took a step back drawing her hands from her pockets.
"Hey." She said in a calm voice. "It's me. I'm not going anywhere." She kept her eyes on his.
"I'm not going back." He said sharply. Her eyes widened. He was mixing her intentions with the past. There had been times she'd been sent to retrieve him when he'd gone missing.
"No. Bucky." She made the mistake of using his name. Now he was set off. It would be a trigger. He'd think they had sent her now trying to use his own name against him to unsettle and rile him back into being compliant. He closed the space between them in that instant. Hands out of his pockets he swung. Everything inside her screamed and without being able to stop it, she entered her soldier state of mind. She ducked.
Shooting an arm up to block as he came at her again, Anya sucked in a breath twisting. She half turned and shot her leg out to catch him. He took advantage however and threw his metal arm into her side. She grunted hunching over from the impact. He hit a lot harder than she remembered and she hadn't gained enough muscle back from where she'd been left in the lab. His elbow caught the back of her skull and she went down. The impact caused dots to play across her line of vision as her face hit the dirt. It didn't stop. She rolled herself over trying to catch the next blow but he was stronger. He always had been. He broke through her block slamming her arm aside and his fist broke into her nose. Pain exploded over her body. It hurt undeniably.
"SOLDIER!" She screamed catching his next fist. She pushed back using her hips to buck him off. He hit the dirt but rolled agilely making it back up to his feet. Blood dripped from her face, down her chin, and over her shirt. She wasn't breaking now. He'd have to kill her to make her stop. Anger flooded her veins. They'd done this to him. It was back with him or without, she'd said that. She wouldn't give up now.
"STAND DOWN!" she ordered venom dripping in her voice. He paused but shook his head.
"I will not!" he growled between his teeth going at her again.
"Yes. You will." Natasha spoke suddenly coming forward. An arrow plowed into his shoulder, the flesh one, biting deep and true. Clint came out from behind a tree with his bow raised again.
"The next one goes in your head." He said calmly side walking to keep cover on Bucky. Natasha put a hand on Anya's shoulder.
"We can handle this from here." She told the girl. Anya jerked away from her angrily.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.
"Helping you." Another arrow shot at the ground by Bucky's foot when he took a step forward pulling the one out of his shoulder.
"Last warning shot." Clint clarified to the other man. Bucky eyed him viciously.
"What do you want?" he questioned.
"They don't want anything!" Anya lost it. She rounded at him and slugged him in the jaw. It didn't do much to hurt him but it made her feel better.
"I came to find you. I wanted to find you. This has nothing to do with them." She said glaring up at him.
"What?" he rubbed where she'd hit him.
"I had to find you." She whispered breathing hard.
"I…why kid?" she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"Because I'm made for the Winter Soldier, remember? I'm not really me without you." He glanced around her at the other two before looking back to her.
"I don't have a choice do I?"
"Steve's there." She said hoping in the off chance that he'd take that better than he was everything else.
"Where?"
"Where I'm staying. Steve found me." She nodded to him. "Are you coming or do I have to make you?" he stayed silent for several long moments.
"Like you could make me." He grunted out rolling his eyes. She fought the urge to laugh and instead let out a small smile. It wasn't much, but it was a start. He'd at least come willingly. As she glanced at Natasha and Clint though she felt agitation creep into her spine. Tony and her would have a long discussion when they got back. She hadn't asked to go alone to be obstinate and adolescent. She knew better than they did how deadly he could be and how quick. Either one of them could have been killed.
"Let's go…" she said gently glancing back at him. He looked like hell. It was vaguely like a lot of the times she remembered that hadn't been wiped from her head. She'd be sent in to get him from some mission. He'd go…silently…and eventually they'd put him on ice again. This would be the first time that she'd taken him to someone to help him and not back to his prison. She wanted to say she was sorry…but they'd done the same things to her. She knew how he felt. So she stayed quiet and walked in front of him. What mattered most now was getting him somewhere safe. The healing could start after that.