Sorry for the wait, but I finally got something going here!

Tiphanie: Anna is definitely freaked out. More so than she can handle. She's feeling a lot that she doesn't realize and necessarily understand.

Brittney-xx: Yay! I'm glad!

Hannah: Yeah, a lot's gonna happen in a short period of time. Don't worry, it's definitely not going to be smooth sailing. That was just a little calm before the storm. You know me, nothing's easy with me. And yes, food equals sleep, and sleep equals food. It goes into it a little in this chapter.

Awesomesaurs: Yay! It's definitely getting good!

Gilyflower: He hasn't had time yet. But you know he will.

TalkNerdyToMe91: It's okay! Your health should come first anyways. My mind is very twisted, indeed.

XDancingTillFlamesX: Sam needs more love 2k16! My baby bird doesn't get enough, and he deserves it! Sam deserves some love! I love the AU where you can write to your soulmate. And it fit so well in this story, I just had to use it. Your heart might flutter a lot in this one...well...maybe.

Enjoy!

Anna didn't quite know what to do with herself, so she went down to the labs early. Sam had written to her, trying to talk to her, but she'd ignored him. She didn't know what she wanted to say to say to him. If she wanted to say anything at all. She was scared, unsure, and needed time to think.

She was alone when she arrived at the lab, something that surprised her. She would have thought at least Tony would be up tinkering. But she was alone, surrounded by the light hum of the machines around her. It was a comforting sound, something she had grown used to over the years. She sat down, looking over the plans Tony had created for her gloves. They were just a prototype, but he'd already figured out how they could be better.

She ran her hands through her hair, before fingering the mark on the back of her neck. Thankfully no one had noticed it yet. That would warrant some unwanted questions. She braided her hair back, making sure it covered her neck, before reading the words Sam had written again.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. Please just let me know if you're alright. I just want to help you."

He had added something this time, on the other arm, fairly good for being a righty.

"I know you say you're dangerous, but I have a hard time believing that. I get it, you were with HYDRA for a while, but so was Bucky. You don't see me running from him. Please, let me in. We don't have to be romantic, we can just be friends. Please, baby girl."

She debated picking up the pen in front of her, writing back to him. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to run to him, tell him the truth, confess her sins. But she didn't. Instead, she turned to a machine Tony had been working on. She wasn't entirely sure what it did, but it had been taken apart to find why it wasn't working. She fiddled with it for the good part of an hour, figuring out what was wrong, before she got it working again.

She turned around, nearly screeching when she saw Tony standing behind her, rubbing his goatee with his fingers, looking at her appreciatively.

"What?" She asked, feeling self conscious.

"I've been working on that for months now, trying to get it to work again."

"Well, the hydraulics system needed updating. It was overheating, causing it to go into emergency shutdown every time it was started." She shrugged. "So I just...fixed it…"

"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, kid." Tony said, squeezing her shoulder as he passed her. If only he knew.

She worked with Tony well into the hours of the night, recreating her gloves, testing them out, working on his suit. Something he'd promised his soulmate he wouldn't do, but things needed to be fixed, small problems that developed that could be deadly in a combat situation if they went unchecked. He said that was worth it, and usually got her to stop haranguing him. Just as long as he didn't start obsessively start building them again.

She hadn't heard from Sam since that morning, something she was grateful for, yet it slightly worried her. Was he alright? Had HYDRA somehow found out about him in that short amount of time and taken him away? Why would they take him, and leave Bucky? Because Bucky would be too hard to get to, so take Sam as ransom to make her work faster. Get them the Winter Soldier back.

She found herself panicking as she made her way to the rec room, knowing there would be no way she'd sleep that night. A part of her hoped Sam would be up there, just so she could ensure he was okay. That HYDRA hadn't gotten to him. That he hadn't gone out to run an errand, and hadn't come back. But another part of her hoped he wasn't there, because she didn't know what she'd say to him. What she'd tell him. She was scared of him. For him. What would happen if everything came crashing down and her secrets got out. She didn't want to get close in case that happened. He'd never forgive her.

Sam was sitting with his back to her on the couch when she arrived, much like he'd found her last night. He was staring out at the city, the lights dimmed. He was staring down at something in his lap, and she watched as words appeared on her skin.

"Anna, baby girl, I know you're afraid. You have every right to be. I can't even imagine what you went through. Steve told me about HYDRA, and I get it. It can be hard letting go of things like that. Of being scared they'll come back. That they'll find you again. But you're safe here. I know it's hard to think that, but you are safe."

"I'll never be safe." Anna said, stopping a few feet from the couch. Sam startled, spinning around to face her. He stood, looking her over. Dressed in all black as usual. "I just…" She looked down to the floor. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Wanted to be sure I hadn't been kidnapped by HYDRA?" Her eyes snapped to his, and he couldn't help the chuckle. "Bucky worries the same thing every time Steve leaves by himself. He's like a dog when Steve comes back, all over him, making sure Steve's okay. If he had a tail, it would probably wag." Anna smiled slightly. The corner of her mouth barely lifted, but Sam counted it as progress. "Where have you been all day?"

"I've been busy." Avoiding you.

"Tony does get buried in his projects." Sam said, not believing it completely. "Have you eaten today?" Anna didn't say anything, just looked away, shifting on her feet. "You gotta start eating regularly. "You'll start falling apart if you don't."

I'm already falling apart. But she didn't say it out loud. She knew it would only make him worry more. And she didn't need that. So she followed him down to the kitchen, being confined in an elevator with him nearly suffocating. Her heart pounded in her ears, sweat starting to form on her palms. She closed her eyes, begging her powers not to act up now.

She fed herself this time, forcing the food down, wanting to avoid having contact with him. Her special place was the only reason she got through the entire ordeal. Well, it was an ordeal for her. But she put her mask on, just for Sam, so he wouldn't worry. She didn't need anyone worrying for her.

The pain hit her in the elevator up to her room. She gripped the railing, doubling over in pain. It was like something was trying to claw its way out of her stomach. She stumbled into her room, telling JARVIS not to alert anyone. She barely made it to the bathroom before she hunched over the toilet, vomiting up what she had just eaten.

She fell back against the bathroom floor, shaking, holding her stomach, a sheen of sweat on her skin. She breathed, JARVIS asking if she was alright, and she insisted she was. But she knew she wasn't.

She made it into bed, falling into a fitful sleep, which took her well past when she should have been in the lab. She stumbled in, smoothing her hair back, still half asleep. Tony looked up, frowning at her as she fell into her stool in front of him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking her over.

"Yeah." She breathed, rubbing her eyes. "Just overslept."

Tony noted the yellow tint to her skin, his brow furrowing further. He looked over at Bruce, sharing a look with the doctor. Bruce paused what he was doing, approaching Anna from behind. She spun around on her stool, nearly falling off in the process.

"Please, don't touch me." She said, holding her hands out. "I don't want to hurt you." She swallowed thickly.

"Hurt me?" Bruce asked, frowning at Tony. He went to take a step forward, but Anna stumbled back away from them, catching herself before she fell on a lab table. "What do you mean?"

"I...I could...set the Hulk off. Please."

Tony went to touch her skin, but jerked his hand back when what felt like an electric shock zapped through his hand. He shared a look with Bruce before looking back at Anna.

"JARVIS, get me Cap and Frosty. We may need a little help down here."