Sorry for the long wait! But we're getting close to the end here! Just a couple more chapters and we're there! Things are heating up and getting serious. And shit's about to hit the fan.
And I would also like to thank my Tippy for writing almost this whole chapter. Thank you baby!
Hailey: And it only gets worse from here!
Tippy: We are old! And you already know part of what's gonna happen. But I've still got some surprised up my sleeve.
abstract0118: Yes! The story is unfolding!
Espied7: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Things are gonna get even worse from here!
Enjoy!
"Annabelle Dugan, born April 5th, 1932 to Timothy Dugan and Lillian Hanover. Tiphanie Dugan, born March 18th, 1934 to Timothy Dugan and Barbara Fulmore." Tony drops the file on the table. "How do you explain that?"
"What did you expect me to say? Some 82 year old woman scaled your tower from the outside? That's believable." Anna says, getting slightly defensive.
"You could have at least told us the truth after the fact." Steve says, crossing his arms.
"And you would have believed me? That I'm actually 82 years old? I spent 60 years as HYDRA's prisoner? That I only look like I'm 25 because of what they did to me?"
Both Steve and Tony go to retaliate when Bruce rushes into the lab. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need Anna back in the med bay."
"What's wrong?" Steve asks, turning his attention from Anna to Bruce.
"It's Sam. He's trying to wake up."
Anna and Tiphanie follow Bruce down to the med bay, Anna rushing into Sam's room.
"I want you to take his hand. See if you can't bring him out." Bruce says, watching Sam's vitals carefully.
Anna takes Sam's hand, squeezing it gently. "Sam? Can you hear me?" She looks to Bruce and he nods reassuringly. "Sam?" Sam's fingers start to tighten around her hand, trying to squeeze it back. "Sam! You can do it. Please."
Sam's grip tightens, his heart rate rising as he tries to fight his way out of the coma. It takes him nearly an hour, but eventually, his eyes open, his gaze landing right on Anna.
"Sam?"
Sam's voice is rough, his throat raw and slightly swollen from the effects of Anna's powers, but he manages a "baby girl."
Anna chokes back a sob, tears finally running from her eyes, despite the years of torture telling her not to cry. Sam reaches up with a weak, shaky hand, trying to brush away her tears.
"Don't cry." He says hoarsely, managing to smear her tears on her cheeks.
Anna takes his hand in her own, pressing a kiss to the back. "Oh god, when I hit you...when Tony told me…I thought I'd lost you." More tears fall down her cheeks, decades of pent up emotion finally coming out.
Sam summons a last bit of strength, pulling her down so her head is against his chest, his hand on the back of her head. She clutches the hospital gown he's in, letting everything out finally. Tippy shares a look with Dr. Banner before they both step out, allowing the soulmates some privacy.
"Do you think he'll be okay?"
"His vitals are normal, but he's a bit weak. I won't quite know the extent of the damage until I can do further tests. But for now, they need their moment."
Tippy goes to say something else, but finds Dr. Banner gone, and instead sits down in the chair across from Sam's room. She quickly grows bored, her curiosity getting the better of her, and she finds herself perusing the hallways, before she finds a pen attached to a clipboard outside a room. She gets an idea, grabbing the pen, before making her way back the direction she came from, carefully writing on her arm. She nearly runs into a wall on her way, not paying attention to where she's going, before finding her way into a different part of the tower. Writing appears on her arm, and she finally looks up, seeing she's nowhere near where she started. She turns, spotting Dr. Banner in his lab, also writing on his arm. It doesn't hit her at first, until she sees the writing still appearing on her arm. She looks between her arm and Dr. Banner for a moment, before she gets an idea. She writes "look up" on her arm, waiting for any sign that it's not a coincidence. Dr. Banner frowns for a moment before looking up, turning to look in both directions, before finally spotting her outside the window. His eyes widen in shock as she approaches the door, entering once it slides open.
"Found you." She says, staying in the doorway.
Bruce stares at her in shock for a moment, before moving forwards, almost like he's in a trace, stopping just a few feet from her. "You…"
Tippy bites her lip, nodding slowly. "Y-yes. It's me. And it's you too, Doctor Banner."
His heart rate jumps, his breaths growing shaky as his heart rate grows higher and higher. Tippy takes a step forward, her hands outstretched towards him.
"Doctor Banner? Your heart is beating too fast. Calm down. Please."
"I can't believe it." His voice is strained as his heart rate jumps higher.
"Do-do you not want me?" Tippy asks, waiting for the rejection she can feel brewing.
"I...I never thought...I didn't think…" He runs his hand through his hair, breathing deeply to try and calm himself.
Tippy moves forward finally, touching his arm, coaxing a wave of calm through him gently to try and help him relax. "You didn't think you'd find your soulmate either, huh?"
"I never thought I'd meet you. It was so long...before I heard from you the first time...i knew it couldn't be right." He relaxes a little, feeling the calm moving through him.
Tippy smiles softly, feeling him relax, the glowing light growing wider around the ball of black rage. "I was being held captive by HYDRA. I didn't want to put you at risk, but I just... I had to talk to you. At least once. It was killing me not to. But, at least I know you're someplace safe. And can kick some serious ass."
Bruce smiles a little. "I'm glad you didn't get dragged through everything with the hulk...not that it was a good thing you were being held captive by HYDRA, I mean…" Bruce gets flustered, trying to get the right words out.
Tippy giggles softly. "I know what you mean. But to be honest, I'm not scared of you. Or of the Hulk." She shrugs. "I guess it's because I never intimidated easy. Ask Nabelle. It's part of the reason why I was always in trouble as a kid."
Bruce smiles. "I might just have to hear those stories some day."
Tippy smiles back at Bruce. "I'll tell you all about it. Promise. Is there anything I can get you? We can talk over tea or something…"
"Tea would be wonderful."
"Is there a special brand of tea you use? How do you take it?"
"Earl grey with a little honey and lemon."
Bruce watches her leave, before turning back to his work, still slightly distracted by her.
Tippy is slightly distracted as well as she enters the kitchen, a person she doesn't know standing with his back to her. "Oh! Hello! I hope you'll pardon the intrusion. I just came to make tea."
He nods, turning slightly to acknowledge her. "It's alright. 'M used to it."
Tippy frowns a little, looking around at the cabinets. "Um, do you know which one has Doctor Banner's tea? And the honey and lemons?"
He turns, giving a glimpse of his metal arm as he points to the cabinet to his left. "Tea's in there with the honey. Lemons are in the left bottom drawer of the fridge."
"Thank you. I'm Tiphanie, by the way." Tippy moves a little to see what that glimpse of metal was, curious.
"Bucky." He turns to face Tippy.
Tippy pulls a mug down from the cabinet. "It's nice to meet you, Bucky..." She freezes as her eyes land on his metal arm.
His eye follow her gaze, slowly moving his arm behind him to hide it.
The mug slips out of Tippy's hand, crashing onto the floor as she backs up, trembling. "N-no.. Y-you're.. It can't be.."
Bucky gulps, realizing why she looks so familiar. "No…"
Tears spill down Tippy's cheeks as she backs up further from him. "Nabelle... Sissy…"
Bucky backs up the other way. "I'm sorry. I...it...I wouldn't…"
Tippy shakes her head, not wanting to hear what he has to say, too terrified to do anything but her instinct. "NABELLE! ANNABELLE!"
JARVIS alerts Anna to Tippy's panic and she turns to look at Sam. He nods, telling her to go, before she hops off the hospital bed, JARVIS leading her to the kitchen. "Tippy?"
Bucky moves away in fear of what Anna will do as Tippy sits on the floor, crying and rocking. "Nabelle." SheI reaches for Anna, trembling.
Anna runs to her side, taking her hand. "Tippy? What is it?"
She pulls Anna close, before pointing with her free hand at Bucky. "It's him…"
Anna glances up at Bucky, before turning back to her sister. "Yeah, that's the Winter Soldier."
"N-no, Nabelle...you don't understand...H-HYDRA….HYDRA didn't just take me so you would behave...they knew about my empathy, my super strength...they wanted...they wanted me to be Eve, the mother to the new generation of super soldiers...and he…he was supposed to be Adam….they...they made him...do things to me...repeatedly...the fertility tests were horrible...and I could never conceive...so I was beaten too…" She buries her face in Anna's chest, crying harder from the onslaught of memories.
Anna holds her tightly, letting her cry as she looks up at Bucky. "Did you know? Did you know it was her?"
He shakes his head. "No. I swear if I had known I wouldn't have...I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was her until just now...I'm so sorry Annabelle."
"Get out of here. Before you make things worse."
Bucky takes a step, ready to leave when Bruce comes in, seeing the mess. "What happened?"
"Nothing." Anna says, shaking her head. "Everything's fine, Dr. Banner."
Tippy squirms in Anna's arms a little, reaching for him. "H-he's my soulmate, Nabelle."
"Why is Tiphanie crying? What's wrong?" Bruce steps forward, and Bucky tries to quickly leave the room, but he blocks the way "I want to know what happened. Now."
"They have a history." Anna says, holding Tippy tightly. "It was HYDRA."
"HYDRA?" Bruce gives Bucky a look, and Bucky looks away in shame, slipping around Bruce and exiting quickly.
"Let me tell him, Nabelle. Please?" Tippy asks, looking up at Anna.
Anna sighs, looking between Tippy and Bruce for a moment, before nodding. "Fine."
Tippy holds out her hand for Bruce to come closer. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to kill him. It was HYDRA's fault, not his. Please?"
Bruce nods, taking her hand. "I promise."
Tippy takes a deep breath, before repeating the story to Bruce, shaking and crying as she relives those memories again. Anna wraps an arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly as Bruce starts to tremble a little. Tippy buries her face in Anna's chest, holding her tightly as Bruce starts to turn green, JARVIS alerting Tony to a possible Hulk-out.
"Dr. Banner, I need you to calm down." Anna says, ready to grab Tippy and run if she has to.
"CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN SHE WAS TORTURED LIKE THAT?!" Bruce nearly roars before he drops on his knees, grunting and trying to fight the switch, his skin turning completely green as he looks at us with brown eyes, before they turn green.
"Nabelle…"