Wanted

The first thing Anna noticed when she woke was the migraine, thumping like a jackhammer behind her temples before she even opened her eyes. The second thing was undoubtedly the nausea, and the accompanying sour taste in her mouth from having been sick at some point throughout the night.
Someone close by was saying her name, trying to wake her, but for reasons she hadn't yet worked out she didn't have the strength to sit up. Her head felt like it was made from cement. She groaned a little as she forced her eyes open, regretting it instantly as the light pierced her eyes like hot skewers.

"Anna, get up." came the voice beside her again, more demanding this time.

She stirred again, unable to lift herself, and alarmingly, unable to put the words together to explain herself as the person beside her grew less patient. A second person entered the room, Anna trying to decipher their low mumbles over the ringing in her ears.
The covers were pulled back from her, Anna giving a shiver as the chill of the room hit her skin, followed by the prick of a needle in her arm and the ache of whatever they'd injected into the muscle.
A shackle was tightened around her wrist, and she was left alone as she drifted back off to sleep while they waited for whatever they'd given her to take effect.



Back at the formerly known 'Stark Tower' in the city, Tony, Steve and Bucky had spent the night trying to sleep in shifts, deciding they'd be better off rested while the scanners did their thing. It'd been a reluctant decision, one that'd been made by Steve and ordered upon the others along with a heated argument after hours of aimless driving.

"If that call comes through early, or if she gets out and tries to get a hold of us, we'd damn well better be at our A game!" Steve had almost yelled authoratively, ending the discussion. It'd been the first time Tony had actually felt a little intimidated by him - not that he'd ever admit that out loud, "we have to be ready, and we'd better have a quinjet loaded up and on standby. If she called us right now she'd be alone and stranded - we're in the middle of nowhere, exhausted, and driving a fucking SUV..."

In different circumstances, Tony might have stifled a giggle at Steve swearing, but not tonight. Bucky's jaw was set and his eyes were focused and angry, his brows strained into an aggressive frown. Still, he managed to at least let an irritated sigh out, giving Steve a sideways glance, acknowledging his point.
"I don't like it either, Buck..." Steve had said as if reading his mind, "but it's the best chance we've got. The second that call comes, we drop everything, trace it, and go. Until then we regroup, get weapons, first aid supplies, and whatever else we need ready. We need to load the jet, run the scanners, eat, and rest."

Tony had scoured CCTV footage from the city for clues, as well as everywhere within a 1000 mile radius, but had come up empty. It was astounding how many black SUV's and white, unmarked vans there were - even moreso how many were unregistered, not to mention unbothered by police...
The three of them had hardly slept, least of all Bucky who knew how terrified she'd be. Even recently, wrapped safe in his arms she still had the occasional nightmare and spoke in her sleep. He felt sick thinking about what she was going through now, wondering if she'd been beaten again, god forbid they'd touched her or worse...

He'd tossed and turned most of the night, riddled with everything from rage to worry, and of course guilt. The guilt was the worst... She should have been safe with him. None of this should have even been possible - she should be warm in his arms right this very moment.
He'd gotten out of bed several times throughout the night, stopping in front of the chair in which he'd slung a pair of jeans and a leather jacket over. It'd gotten harder and harder to convince himself to stay put and not go out looking for her, his backpack practically begging to be picked up and slung over his shoulder... Despite himself, as much as he'd hated to temporarily admit defeat, he knew Steve was right. He needed to sleep, but how could he with all this on his conscience?


It was a welcome relief when the sun came up after the world's longest night, Tony, Steve and Bucky all grateful for hot showers, and the fresh clothes Pepper had had couriered over for them. A wooden crate had arrived under heavy guard, containing weapons, a backup suit and Steve's shield.
"She thinks of everything, doesn't she..." Tony has smiled fondly as he opened the lid, "help yourselves, guys"
Breakfast had been ordered and sent up to them, along with a very 'mother duck' note that contained apologies for not being there, instructions to eat even if they weren't hungry, and assurances that she was doing everything she could from the other side of the world.

The morning came as went, Tony, Steve and Bucky sitting and watching their phones, waiting for them to ring, with tracking tech at the ready. The wait was a long one, most of the day passing them by before Bucky's phone finally lit up, all three of them jumping to their feet as he answered it.
"Anna?"
"Hey Sarge..." came her weary, croaky voice. Tony gave him a nod when the trace started, and gestured for him to keep speaking.
"Hey Princess... How you doing, are you okay?" he asked, hating himself for having to ask such a stupid question. The images of her being knocked out cold by a pistol-whip to the face were well and truly ingrained in his memory after studying the footage all night...

"Yeah, just tired from the party" she lied, Bucky making out a slight slur in her speech that he didn't like as he put the phone on loudspeaker for everyone, "and we were on the road for a while..."
"But you got there alright?"
"Yeah we got here in one piece, what's happening with you guys, was Dad angry?"
"Uh, no..." Bucky assured her, glancing over at Tony who shot him a grin as her call location popped up on his screen, "he was surprised, but mostly just wanted to know you were okay... He was worried about ya - we all are..."

He heard a muffled sniff and the sound of her clearing her throat in the background before she went on.
"He's not there with you is he?" she asked after a pause, obviously having had to gather herself up.
"Yeah he's here, did you want to talk to him?"
"Yes please"

"Hey Honey, what's going on?" Tony asked, leaning toward the phone.

There was a muffle on the other end where she'd covered the receiver with her hand, Steve and Bucky making out the sound of a very faint sob in the background, the two super soldiers exchanging a glance.
"Dad... I'm so sorry, did you talk to Bucky?"
"Yeah he filled me in... Are you alright, why didn't you come talk to me?"
"I'm sorry... I just..."

It was obvious to the three of them that she was struggling to find the words...

"...I'll be okay, I'm just taking a break" she said, changing direction as if she couldn't make up a story on the spot,
"For how long? And where are you?"
"I'm with friends, and I don't know for how long, I just need time" she said, "they're setting up a room here for me over the next few days"
"You don't have a room yet?"
"hang on-"

There was a muffle on the other end again, the very faint sound of low voices in the background.

"Sorry..." she mumbled, that slur still evident in her words, "No room yet, they were supposed to have a bed here, but apparently their pay didn't come through or something..."
"How much do you need, I'll wire you some cash" he offered, becoming increasingly worried, Anna swallowing hard as she glanced up at the gun that was pointed at her from across the room.

"Dad..." she started, choosing her words carefully, "I can't take money from you after all you've done for me"
"Anna, you know it's not a problem"
"Yeah I know, but you're my Dad, not my ATM... I'm not gonna start doing the leachy, gold-digger thing, okay?" she said somewhat defiantly, the gunman in front of her giving a nod of praise at her acting skills, "I've got earnings in my account, that'll be more than enough to get me by if you don't mind sending it over?"

Tony let out a breath of frustration, nodding his head as though she could see him.

"Okay... What's the account number?" he asked, more muffled voices in the background.

In seconds Anna recited the number to him, Tony confirming it back to her as he entered it into his device.

"Done" he said after a brief pause, "will you call me tomorrow and let me know it's there?"
"Uh..." she started, Tony listening as she covered the receiver for a moment, Tony cutting her off before she could continue.
"-Listen... You there?"
"Yeah, sorry..."
"Okay go grab a pen, and write my number down in case you need to call me. Doesn't matter what time of the day or night"
"Okay, hang on a sec..."

"Alright I'm back, fire away..." she said, writing down his number and repeating it back to him, "thanks Dad - for everything"
"Don't mention it, honey... So I'll hear from you tomorrow?"
"Uh, yeah - either tomorrow or the day after, I know you're busy, and I'm fine here" she said, Tony reading between the lines, knowing she'd probably have someone threatening her as they spoke.
"Okay, stay safe - I'll have my phone on me if you need me"
"Will do. Oh - can I ask one more favour?" she'd quickly added after a prompt from the thug in front of her,
"Anything"
"Do you mind keeping all of this out of the press?" she asked, "Please? Make something up if you have to, I just wanna be left alone for a while..."
"You got it" he'd sighed, reluctantly.

"Thanks so much Dad, and sorry again for making you worry..." she said, wishing her voice didn't sound as hoarse as it suddenly did,
"It's fine, you just look after yourself, okay?"
"I will..." she said, her voice faltering a little, Anna disguising it by clearing her throat,

He hoped whoever she was with didn't notice.

"Love you Dad"
"I love you too, kid..."

The phone was snatched off her once she'd hung up, someone shoving Anna hard enough into the nearest wall to make her see stars. The back of a hand made swift, hard contact with her right cheek, knocking her to the floor before a boot to the ribs knocked the wind out of her.
Someone was screaming at her, but her ears were ringing and she couldn't make out what they were saying. The same boot connected with her again, Anna gasping several times, desperate for a breath of air that she thought would never come.

Oh god, this is it... I'm dying...

There was more screaming above her before someone grabbed her roughly by the front of her shirt and sat her up. One last desperate gasp filled her lungs enough for her to let out a strained sob, still in shock over whatever it was that'd just happened.
Whoever it was that'd propped her up against the wall was now yelling at whoever had hit her, this person seemingly trying to keep her safe...

What the hell!?...

She was pulled to her feet, Anna hanging onto whoever it was to try and keep herself upright, while more yelling and arguing ensued. An arm was wrapped around her as she was pulled close to her savior, the fight between him and her attacker escalating before a third person entered the room and broke it up.

"Anna..." came his familiar voice as she began to slump in his arms, feeling herself fading...



Steve was at the controls of the quinjet as they flew through the air in stealth mode. Tony sat beside him, giving direction while Bucky listened in from the seat behind them.
He'd explained that the kidnappers had been quite clever about a few things, one of which was a location scrambler. Instead of turning the location settings off the phone and appearing suspect, they'd simply changed the location by bouncing it off a station several states over. This wasn't a cheap exercise, but obviously they were counting on a paycheque... An ongoing paycheque.

"It's a ransom" Tony explained, Steve and Bucky both listening intently, "but they're getting away with it - well, they THINK they're getting away with it by having Anna 'convince' us that she's fine"
"Keeps the authorities off their tails and they keep getting paid, so long as nobody suspects anything's outta place, right?" Steve said
"That's it - no cops, no media... No appearance from 'Earths mightiest heroes'"

The three of them nodded thoughtfully, Bucky peering over at the device in Tony's hand.

"Even the bank account is off-shore and disguised" Tony went on, "but as soon as they transfer and draw out the cash it'll light this little guy up, and we'll have their exact location"
"So tell me again where we're headed?" Steve asked
"In the general direction of L.A" came Tony's somewhat vague reply, "they're either very clever, or very arrogant"
"First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk..." Steve piped up from the pilots' seat, "Nat told me that... Maybe the same goes for hiding, too?"
"Sure does," Bucky answered quickly, "Always hide where they won't be looking, and that's usually in plain sight - it's not arrogant, it's smart."



The sound of her door closing was enough to wake Anna up again. She winced at the pain in her side, her hand over her ribs as she tried to sit herself up.

Christ, how long was I out for this time...?

She was aware of a couple of things - the first being that it was night time, the second being that as usual, she wasn't alone in the room. The light was turned on and dimmed before the foot of her bed sank under the weight of the person she was with, Anna opening her eyes and waiting for her sight to clear.
"Hey..." came the voice from earlier, still familiar, but obviously too kind to be who she thought it was, "you alright?"
"...Hardly" she managed to get out, her tone understandably surly.
"There's that attitude I remember so well - nothin' changes, huh?"

She rubbed her eyes and looked at the still-blurry guy in front of her, balking a little when he leaned close enough for her to get a better look.

"He hit you pretty hard, didn't he?" came the voice again, sounding somewhat concerned.

Anna's stomach dropped.

"Jake?" she asked, answered by a chuckle,
"Who else would it be?"

Her heart took off at a million miles per hour, Anna now terrified she'd disrespected him. She scooted away from him until her back was against the bed head, muttering apologies and keeping her head down as she did. Her actions were met by another chuckle - strangely coming off more friendly than sinister...

"You don't need to apologize, I come in peace... For now" he joked, Anna nervous as ever, tears welling in her eyes.

Peace? PEACE!?

He inched closer to her, Anna's body trembling in fear as his hand approached her jaw, his fingertip steering her face so she'd look at him. Tears spilled from her eyes as he smiled at her, Anna frozen where she was, much too afraid to move lest she end up like that poor girl in the back of the SUV...

"I'm not here to hurt you" he said, talking his hand away, "I just want to talk"

Anna eyed him suspiciously, everything screaming at her not to trust him for a second.

"We need to come to an understanding..." he started, ducking his head to make eye contact with her, "...I can't have you pulling shit on the phone like you did today" he said with a shrug, Anna swallowing hard, not sure what to expect.
"I told you last night that if you fuck up, then people die" he said, watching her eyes widen with horror, "you fucked up, sweetheart. You faltered. You got emotional, and you could have jeopardised the entire plan"
"Please Jake, I'm sorry-" she started, both of them a little shocked that she'd spoken up out of turn.

He put his hand up to stop her in her tracks, Anna shutting her mouth obediently.

"You get one chance, okay? One." he said, "from here on out if you're not on your best behavior, then innocent people start dying. Do you want that on your conscience?"
"No" she answered honestly,
"Good" he nodded, "now for the ground rules - and listen good, cuz I'm only going to explain this once..."

Anna nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks and eyes in an effort to appease him, and hurry his little talk along.

"You do as you're told, when you're told, and how you're told. No exceptions or people die... If you try to escape - people die... And If you try to use code words, or communicate to Stark, Barnes, or any of them, in any way other than how I tell you, then guess what?"

"People die?"
"That's it" He said with a nod, "that same rule also applies to anyone other than myself or my guys - so don't get any ideas about signalling the neighbours, okay?"
"Okay"
"And if any 'rescue' operation should take place, you are to avoid Stark, Barnes, or any of the others at all costs. You are to hide, and wait for me or my guys to come and find you. I have snipers and hidden weapons set up everywhere, and we will shoot on sight if you're seen with any of them. We know who's enhanced and who's not, and we also know that none of them would survive a gunshot to the head. Their lives are in your hands if they step into this building. Think about that long and hard."

Anna nodded as Jake gave her his most threatening glare.

"In the event that you are successfully retrieved, and delivered back to Stark, I'll kill an innocent person on the hour, every hour, until you're returned to me. Understand?"
"Yes" she nodded hopelessly, blinking back more tears.
"Good." he said, looking quite satisfied with himself, pausing before he continued on,

"The good news for you, is that you're in control of the lives of those around you. If you play by my rules, nobody has to die, or get hurt" he explained as though it was the most casual thing ever, "if you're a good girl, and you continue playing by my rules, I'll make sure you're looked after. You've already got a comfortable bed, but it might mean that you also get a little slice of luxury every so often..."

Anna nodded, trying to look like she was happy to hear this, rather than completely disgusted by his sick attempt to win her over.

"Today's 'bonus' was a second chance after your monumental fuckup... This won't happen again, and nobody died this time so it's a huge learning opportunity for you. I guess you can consider the black eye a gift, and use it to remind yourself to try harder next time." he explained, "hopefully that won't happen again, but that's totally up to you..."

She smiled somewhat weakly at him, Jake satisfied enough that she had a firm grasp on how things were going to be from now on.

"Great" he said with a somewhat patronizing smile as he stood, "I'm glad we could have this little chat"





Bucky leaned against the counter top, letting out an exhausted breath as he glanced up at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He sneered and looked away, hardly able to stand the sight of himself after letting Anna down. He straightened up, pushing his wet hair back from his tired face, pausing for a moment to check his phone, hoping in vain that he'd missed a call or message and not noticed.
He clenched his jaw, shaking his head to himself as he set it back down, suppressing the urge to throw his fist through the nearest wall. It'd been almost four painfully long days since they'd heard from her, and even then the call had been just the usual short, fake check in. The slur in her voice had been there again, Bucky guessing they'd given her some sort of sedative so she'd be unable to escape.
Kidnapped, beaten and drugged... Jake was going to wish he was never born if Bucky had a say in it...

By the second day without a call, Tony had a second quinjet dropped off at his L.A compound so they could run a stealth search, scanning every single house and building for heat signatures one by one. It'd been an arduous undertaking, and frustratingly, it'd take them weeks doing it this way. Not that there was any other option at this point in time.

The bank account had been accessed like Tony said it would, but several hundred miles away from where they thought she'd be, way over the Mexican border. The CCTV footage had been easy enough for Tony to dig up, revealing two local men drawing the cash out, and carrying it out in an inconspicuous backpack. They'd been greedy, taking the full amount out, but it'd mean they'd only have to make the one trip - and Tony would be watching them the whole way...



"SO... I've got good news!" Tony announced excitedly, bounding into the lounge room where Steve and Bucky jumped to their feet, "our delivery boys have just crossed the border. They're officially headed this way!"

Steve and Bucky exchanged a grin.

"How far off are they?" Bucky asked, eyes bright and hopeful,
"Around 12 hours if they don't take a rest stop - which they won't if they've got any brains whatsoever" Tony said, looking back and forth between the two super-soldiers.
"Soooo, we're looking at... Any time after 1am" Steve said, glancing at his watch.

Bucky smirked, cracking his knuckles in eager anticipation, Tony raising a brow at him before looking away again.

"I've got all eyes on them, CCTV is being followed - every bridge, tunnel, red light and even shop camera that can see a road between there and here is being monitored" Tony explained, holding his phone up after a few swipes to bring the image of a blue sedan up on the screen, "and the birds-eye view you see here is from one of two stealth suits I've got on their tail - if they pull that little warehouse stunt again, we'll be ready"
"Good work" Steve said with a nod and a smile, "now we just need to figure out a plan of attack"
"I  say we go in there, take Nester, and then do whatever it takes to get Anna out" Bucky piped up, "if his guys surrender, great. If they turn hostile, well..." he trailed off darkly with a shrug
"Barnes is right" Tony nodded, Bucky turning to face him, the two exchanging a nod, "The suits will be on standby as well, so I can have Friday access any data systems when while we're in range, see if anything useful comes out"
"Okay" Steve agreed, glancing over at the clock on the wall, "in the meantime we'll double check we've got what we need, rest, and keep eyes and ears on the phones and trackers."




It was still dark when commotion pulled her from her sleep, Anna startling awake despite how strongly she was still sedated. After she'd woken up screaming from a nightmare on the first night, Jake had ordered it to be an ongoing thing that she was given a shot before bed from then on out. He'd worked too long and too hard on this whole operation to have someone call the cops after hearing a scream...

For a few moments it was quiet, and Anna began to wonder if she'd had another nightmare until she heard the muffled cry outside followed by a dull thud.
Not sure exactly what was going on, she carefully slid to the floor and crawled under the bed to hide, her heart beating out of her chest as she strained to listen. Several gunshots rang out, Anna jumping with fright as she let out an involuntary gasp, shaking and totally gripped by panic now. She jammed her eyes shut and covered her face from her hiding spot, trying to make herself as invisible as she could as the chaos in the hall got louder. Heavy boots ran down the hallway, followed by more thuds, cries, and the occasional stomach-turning crunch that could only be from bones breaking. More gunshots rang out, Anna slapping both hands over her mouth, not trusting herself not to scream as this wrecking-ball of a being got closer and closer to her room.

The door was shoved open with a crunch as the deadbolts broke from the door frame and hit the floor, Anna's eyes snapping open to see a pair of black combat boots enter the room. She held her breath as they made their way around the room, stopping for a moment to watch the faint footage that had been projected onto her walls for the past few days. There was the sound of a frustrated exhale before the boots picked right up where they left off, searching the room before pausing at the end of the bed. Anna jammed her eyes shut again and curled into a ball as the owner of the boots crouched to peer under the bed.

"Anna?" came a familiar voice, her chest tightening at the sound of it.

She ignored him as she'd been ordered to for his own good, hoping he'd go away... Instead he stood up, effortlessly lifted the end of the bed, and pulled her out from under it.
"It's just me" he soothed, setting the bed down and pulling her into a tight embrace, Anna trembling like crazy still, "it's Bucky... You're safe..."

Anna snuggled into his chest, despite the orders Jake had given her. She thought she'd be tougher if-and-when she ever came face to face with Bucky, but being here in his arms had proven too much and she'd folded like a house of cards. She let out a ragged breath, hanging onto him tightly for a moment until Bucky pulled back to look into her glassy eyes.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell have they done to you..." he muttered angrily, lifting her chin with his fingertips to inspect what was left of a bruised cheek and a busted lip which had started to heal. Anna pulled away from him, completely ashamed of herself already as Bucky looked on at her pale, gaunt appearance in sympathy.

The moment was interrupted by gunfire in the hallway outside her room, Bucky shoving Anna behind him as he pulled his pistol out and fired back. Anna let out a shriek and backed herself against the wall in horror as she watched the shooter collapse, a pool of blood spreading on the floor around him. Her breathing picked up as her hands covered her mouth, Bucky turning to face her, his eyes darting to the footage still playing on the wall for a second. He growled under his breath, pointing his pistol at tiny projector in the corner of the room and taking it out, along with the rooms surveillance camera without looking.
He pulled his jacket off as the room plunged into darkness, peeling Anna away from the wall and putting it around her shoulders.

"We've gotta get outta here" he said gently, helping her as she put her arms through the oversized sleeves before zipping the front up, "come on" he added, taking her hand and moving to leave the room, Anna planting her feet and staying where she stood.

"What's the matter?" he asked urgently, turning to face her.
"I can't go with you..." she mumbled, tears welling in her eyes, "I want to, so bad, but I can't..."

Bucky frowned, his face full of sympathy and worry

"I'm so, so sorry Bucky..." She slurred, the floodgates opening as tears spilled down her cheeks, "they'll shoot you if they see us together... And Steve or Dad, or anyone... I can't let that happen..."
"Hey" he said, holding onto her arms just below the shoulders so he could steady her from wobbling and look her in the eyes, "nobody's getting shot, and there's no way in hell I'm leaving you here - got it?" he said with his 'no-nonsense' voice and a very serious face.

Anna nodded, wiping her eyes again.

"He said he'd kill people every hour till I came back..." she said, her body shaking as she sobbed, Bucky wrapping his arms around her again, holding her against him tightly in an effort to calm her down.
"That's not gonna happen..." he said steadily, "Steve and Tony are bringing Jake in, and no civilians are getting killed"

He pulled away enough that he could hold her face in his hands and look into her eyes.

"Now we've gotta go, okay?"
"Okay..."

Bucky swiftly kissed her on the forehead before taking her hand and leading her out of the room. He protectively tightened his grip as they hurried down the hallway, part of her wondering if they were being watched like Jake had threatened...
They came to a doorway leading into a stairwell, it only now occurring to Anna that they were in an office building, rather than the large house she'd envisioned. Bucky went first peering in every direction before pulling her along after him, the two of them making their way down several flights of stairs before coming to another door.

Bucky cursed under his breath as he peered through the window.

Without explanation, he turned and took her back up the stairs, getting back out at the level above them. They made their way down an empty hallway, Bucky guiding Anna into a dark office, backing her into the corner of the room and closing the door behind them.
"I've got her, we're in an office on the eleventh floor" he said quietly, turning away from her with his fingertips to his ear, "yeah she's okay, they've given her something but she's fairly mobile still... Yeah if you can clear it we'll come back down... Okay thanks, we'll be waiting..."

Bucky let out a breath turning to face her again, the glow from lights outside providing enough light to see each other for now.
"How you doing over there?" he whispered with a gentle smile, Anna's eyes still glassy and confused.

"You still with me?" he asked, stepping over to her, Anna slurring an apology as she nodded. Bucky reached out to put his arms around her again, Anna pressing herself into him as she always did.
"Steve and Tony are clearing the building as we speak, it won't take em' long" he said, rubbing her back as he gave her trembling body a reassuring squeeze.
"This shouldn't have happened to you... I'm so sorry Anna..." he whispered against the side of her face, kissing her temple, "Nester's lucky the guys went after him and not me... I wanted to kill him - I still might" he muttered, shutting up when Anna tightened her grip on him.
"It's not your fault" she mumbled between sobs, "I just wanna go home... Please..."
"I can do that, baby" Bucky said quietly, relieved to have her in his arms again.

They stayed together like that in the office for a few minutes, Bucky keeping her hidden in the corner as they listened out for the gunshots and noise that seemed to be getting closer... It made him nervous, his protective instincts screaming at him now to take her and run for it.

His worries were confirmed when the call from Steve came through and something in his voice made Bucky's blood run cold;

"We can't hold em' off, there's too many..."
"What?"
"We've got Nester in custody, the rest are coming for you. Tony's on the roof waiting with a jet - GO! NOW!"

Bucky's chest tightened as he glanced over at Anna, who was seemingly oblivious to the life-or-death urgency of their situation. He muttered something about having to go and scooped her up, deciding he'd be able to get them out of there quicker if he carried her and ran.
They flew out of the office door and down the corridor at super soldier speed, gunshots and yelling following them. Bucky ignored it, tightening his hold on Anna as he ran, panic hitting him for the first time since he could remember. He swallowed it down, using it as fuel to spur him on as he made a right at the end of the hallway, knowing the stairwell was just around the next corner, and they'd be safe as soon as they stepped onto the rooftop.

Oh fucking hell...

He skidded to a stop, heart in his throat when the elevator doors at the end of the hallway opened with a 'ding', and it was full of bad guys with guns. He pulled his own out from one of his many holsters and thumbed the safety off, still holding Anna when he turned to check behind him, only to see they'd been followed.

They were trapped, and Bucky knew there was too many for him to take on whilst trying to protect someone...

"Little help?" he said quietly as he pressed a finger to his earpiece, not hearing the response as one of Nesters thugs shot at the wall beside him to get his attention.

Bucky recoiled away from the gunshot, setting Anna down behind him and backing her hard up against the wall, pulling a second gun out and pointing it in the other direction.
"You do know who you're shooting at, right?" Bucky threatened, trying to stall them, knowing Steve was headed their way.

The guy who'd fired the gun had the audacity to laugh, infuriating Bucky further, Anna feeling his back muscles under the palms of her hands tense as though he was about to charge.

"Hand her over Barnes, and nobody gets hurt"
"Not gonna happen..." he said darkly, glancing back and forth between both groups, realizing that whatever was about to happen would probably be all over before Steve made it there... He did the only thing he could do in that moment, and prepared for the worst; counting them in seconds and figuring out the quickest way to kill them, all while keeping her safe.

Even in her state, Anna could tell they were in deep shit. Tony was waiting for them on the roof, and Steve was clearing the lower levels last they'd heard. Her and Bucky were cornered, and with both groups of guys inching towards them, Bucky was sure to explode like a bull out of a gate and risk himself to get them out...

"Last chance..." came the second warning, Bucky glaring back at him with that sinister smile Anna had only seen once or twice on his face.
"Go fuck yourself..." he snarled, raising his guns, ready to get this shit-show rolling already...

Anna swallowed hard, knowing there was only one other option.

She lowered her hands to the waistband of his jeans, grateful that she was cornered in such a way that nobody could see what she was doing. Bucky figured it out pretty quickly when he felt his other gun handle move, and pressed himself against her harder to block her movement, muttering a 'don't do it' to her which she ignored.

Trigger, slide, safety...

She was surprised she'd remembered the anatomy of the weapon from that sunny morning shooting in the snow, and wasted no time arming it like he'd taught her.

The first shot was fired from one of the guys on her side, Bucky deflecting the bullet with his metal forearm before firing back. The guys on Bucky's right came to the party, shooting and charging at them, Bucky turning around and unloading a full clip into the group, taking most of them out in seconds.
Anna held her pistol up, sending a shot into the group in front of her, the recoil sending the bullet higher than she meant it to, taking out the hanging light above them with a sea of sparks. She aimed lower, pulling the trigger again and again, watching people drop in front of her, unsure whether they were victims of her gun or Bucky's.
She heard him growl when he was hit by a stray bullet, Anna letting out a worried gasp as she turned to check him, Bucky's face paling as he shoved her against the wall, but not fast enough.

Her leg felt like it'd been swung at with a baseball bat, right above the knee in the side of her thigh. She crumpled and dropped to the ground instantly, everything but the ringing of her ears drowned out, despite the gun-fight continuing on. Bucky was standing over her now, shielding her as he took the remaining shooters out.
Anna thought it was strange, almost movie-like how the rest of it played out. Everything ran in slow motion, blood, bullets and shrapnel flying... The wall opposite them had crumbled, and there were still sparks hanging from the light she'd killed earlier. Bucky crouched and covered her, ducking as a shield flew over them, Steve Rogers bounding in to take the last couple of guys out...

It was almost comical to her - a superhero bounding in, after the fact, to finish off two guys out of the thirty-odd she'd estimated the last count at.
Bucky was yelling now, his face intense and as worried as she'd ever seen. Anna watched on, feeling like a spectator in this mute, slow-motion scene that was playing out around her. By the time that Steve had returned, Bucky had pulled his Henley off over his head, leaving him in a black shirt and a bulletproof vest, Anna smiling up at him now as her vision got cloudy.

Reality came and went in odd intervals over the next few minutes... There was the warm, wet puddle she was sitting in, and flashes of Bucky with bright red hands and arms.
There was pain when Bucky tightened his shirt around her leg, intense enough for her to scream out, and then nothing... There was more pain as she was carried up several flights of stairs at super soldier speed, and then nothing... There was icy cold air, noise, panicked rushing, and then nothing...
Tight arms around her, and a racing heart under the chest her head was resting against, and then nothing...



"Hang on baby, stay with me... Please stay with me..."