Bucky could not believe it. He knows he’s seeing this with his own eyes but a part of him still refuses to.
He was just returning from a successful solo mission and was actually looking forward to a few days’ break. Maybe a trip up north this time after a quick visit to his Pardon mandated shrink, Anya.
Yep, he calls his shrink by her first name—which was a promising sign added to the fact that they’re barely a year into working together. Unlike the other psychiatrists assigned to him in the past who were hell bent on getting him to talk or share feelings or thoughts, she let him stew in silence for a whole month and a half into their bi-weekly sessions. The second month, she nearly sent him to an early grave in shock when they started having sessions outside her office... in various places in Queens, each meeting with her letting him start the conversation— mainly in response to her prompts. Not once did she write a thing down.
By the fifth month, while they were walking along the boardwalk, Bucky asked her, “Why do you do this?” Anya did not seem suprised by his question. “It’s the work I’m given and I enjoy the work.” The answer as generic as they come but he knew she’s meant them, every word. And as their “relationship” entered into the half-a-year mark, the sessions stopped being so tedious and somehow, in spite his disbelief, Bucky realized he might have found a new friend.
So, he did not question the sudden panic and surge of adrenaline upon hearing the Friday’s updates on the comms that had him sprinting to Anya’s last location.
There was already a guy lying on the floor of the observation deck with his leg bent oddly to the left. As Bucky looked over the railing he saw Anya fighting a guy in black wielding a knife. He jumped over the barrier and soundlessly landed a few feet from the two. He barely caught his breath when he saw the look on Anya’s face as she fought the man. Her arm was already bleeding but she did not show signs of pain... her face did not show any emotion at al... until that last minutes when as she gripped the man’s chin, a hint of a smile, relief then fear as her eyes met his just as she lowered the dead man’s body to the floor.
Bucky was frozen on the spot, barely registering that he had stepped forward to her and like a deer that caught a predator’s scent, she fled.
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The door to her office was opened with such force she thought she broke it off its hinges. But the sound of the frame re-engaging reminded Anya that this is a Stark facility designed to house the Avengers and similar super-powered beings. It will probably take more than an irate super soldier to break down doors.
She kept her eyes closed to focus on the darkness. She clenched and and unclenched her bloodied fists while she tried to control her breathing. The nerve of that man! Her shoulders quiver from boiling anger and urge to punch through walls or throw her office table through the window was beginning to level out but then the door behind her was forcefully opened again.
“Where did you learn to do that?!!??” Venom laced the words as they come out of his mouth.
“Anya!” What was that—fury, disappointment... a touch of fear? Then as if trying to calm himself down, Bucky, spoke under his breath, “это была ошибка”[1]
“возможно.”[2] She just missed the look of suprise that flashed on his face upon hearing her speak.
Then the sound of footfalls from the hallway outside had both of them looked at the door but Anya decided enough is enough. The doors locks simultaneously engaged effectively preventing whoever was outside from entering. They could hear Steve trying to break the door open then Friday’s voice telling Tony that something has disabled her override functions on the door is preventing her from entering the mainframe. Anya was sure that both she and Bucky could hear the two bickering outside: Steve wanting to stay put and trying his luck breaking the door while Rhodey insisting on going to the main controls and watch what’s happening in the room and help Friday override the locks from there. After several minutes, it seemed the latter won. She watched Bucky clenched his metal fist but he remained where he stood, his eyes fixed on her.
“How the hell did you do that?” Could she blame him? His disbelief and feelings of betrayal? She was the designated “in-house shrink” of the facility and has been doing that job for two years before Steve was successfully able to find and bring back his best friend. The whole thing was so secret everyone in the facility was caught off guard by the new arrival. Except her.
Anya’s skill and talent as a psychiatrist were boosted by the fact that she has telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Abilities she kept well under guard and secret to all but a few, including Tony Stark who made sure she got the position and kept it. At the moment, though she’s wishing she had healing abilities too, a jagged cut on her upper arm from the quick clamber down the tower has started to sting.
Unfortunately, this dark man spouting Russian expletives is pacing angrily between her and her first aid kit.
An hour ago, she was on a routine observation task; part of the post-mission clearing operation to ensure that the “players” (in this case, Captain America, War Machine and the Winter Soldier) work well together and more importantly, shows no signs of high risk or dangerous behaviours associated with the stress of the job and in the case of the super soldiers, long term side effects of the serum in their systems. Everything was going on smoothly until two bogeys or rogue henchmen appeared from nowhere and had her cornered in her snug observation “platform.” Some distance from the three but not far enough for them to see her engage the two very armed and very pissed men. She made quick work of the first guy, breaking his left leg and letting him fall from the deck two storeys high. The second guy was a bit of a challenge that he was able to chase her as she clambered down the tower and by then she could hear Steve and Bucky already heading their way but the guy had knife and was already on her so she fought him. Avoiding his attacks, trying to grab the knife from him. Everything was a blur and she should be afraid but she wasn’t. As possibility that she can win this became clearer, she felt relief. To onlookers, it was a dangerous deadly fight but to her, it’s all a matter of timing and when the chance came, she caught the serrated heel knife jammed it straight through the right side of the man’s neck and then cupped his chin tight as he let out a gurgling sound as blood filled his neck then overflow his mouth. She slowly lowered him to the ground only to see Bucky staring at her like he’d seen a ghost. When he took a step forward Anya listened to her gut and ran.
[1] “This is a mistake.” – Google Translate
[2] “Perhaps.” – Google Translate