The Newest Avenger ❤️

Chapter 3

Bucky and Anna make it to the coordinates that Yelena sends them, finding what looks to be an old bunker that they begin to explore. Bucky begins to take the lead as Anna tries to walk in front of him. "I don't need you to protect me Bucky."

He grabs her with his metal arm and pulls her behind him as she grunts. "Then why am I here doll?"

Anna hacks into the security system and disarms it easily, opening the door as she turns to Bucky. "Stop calling me doll! Why do you do that? I hate it!" She looks at Bucky as she sees what appears to be a hurt look on his face.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Bucky mumbles. He always liked calling her doll. It was his way of showing affection towards her because he didn't know how to show it any other way.

"Bucky, look." He follows Anna to a large metal door, and they look inside the window and see a bunch of small girls all huddled together. They couldn't be more than 9, the youngest looking to be around 4. Anna looks at Bucky and grabs his arm, "We have to save them Bucky."

He sees the tears welling in her eyes as she appears to be scared for the first time since he met her. "Don't worry, we will," he assures her with a small smile.

Anna gets on the comms to Yelena, "we found girls. You need to get here as soon as possible. Bucky and I are going to see what else we can find."

Bucky breaks open the door as it sounds an alarm. He tries to help the girls, but they are afraid of him. He sighs, a little disheartened, used to people being afraid of him by now.

Anna pulls him out of the room as she stands between him and the girls. "They're afraid of you because you're a man. Just keep going, I'll get them." Anna approaches the girls, telling them that they are safe. She motions for them to run out the way she and Bucky just entered. After the last girl is out Anna turns down the hall to catch up with Bucky. She finds him in a room where he is fighting off Hydra soldiers. There is a giant screen, and she sees her face pass across it, along with Natasha's and Yelena's and all the widows that escaped, getting distracted as she gets knocked down.

She stands up just as three Hydra soldiers run toward her. She is able to incapacitate one quickly with one of her widow bites. She pulls the batons off her back and knocks one soldier out, knocking him unconscious as she is thrown to the floor by the third. She kicks him back and jumps on top of him, her face red with anger. "Who is in charge here?"

The man just laughs as he sneers up at her, "you'll find out soon enough. This isn't the only facility. We have more girls. There are always more girls." Anna hits him hard in the head, angry, knocking him unconscious. She looks up to find no more soldiers but sees Bucky watching the screen. He looks back at her and she sees exactly what she didn't want to see; pity.

Over the comms she hears Yelena's voice, "we are outside, do you need assistance?"

"No, no. We are on our way out." Anna starts to walk away, but Bucky grabs her arm gently. She avoids his gaze, looking past him toward the entrance of the large room. "Leave it Bucky, please."

Now he knew why she didn't sleep, why he could hear her having nightmares almost nightly. He felt bad for her. He knew the stories of the Red Room, what they did to the girls they trained.

Yelena took the girls to try and find their families or find them new ones. On the Avenger jet, Natasha flies them back to the compound as Anna is sat next to Steve, and Bucky across from them. Bucky leans forward toward them. "Anna. I-." Steve shakes his head, and Bucky sits back not finishing his sentence. Anna looks away from them as she starts to cry. She feels Steve rest his hand on her thigh, trying to comfort her as they fly the rest of the way in silence.

Anna completely avoids everyone and goes straight to her room. She couldn't believe that someone is trying to recreate the Red Room. All those girls. She waits until she is safely inside the shower before she lets the tears fall. She turns on the water and sits on the ground holding herself as she cries. She doesn't know how long she sits there as the water turns cold, her skinny becoming wrinkled. There were no more tears left to shed as she pulls herself off the floor, turning off the water.

***

Anna's skin burns as she remembers the feeling of his hands on her. Being in the Hydra facility brought back memories from when she was a child in the Red Room until she is brought to the present, woken by a voice.

"Anna? Anna, are you okay?" Bucky nudges her, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder as she whimpers and thrashes.

Her eyes snap open as she sees Bucky standing beside her next to the bed without a shirt. She rolls away from him with a groan, but she doesn't hear him leave. "Please go," she pleads softly as he sighs.

"Let me make you something to eat, Anna." He stands firm beside the bed as he hears her sniffle.

She finally turns back to him, sitting up on the bed as she rubs her hands down her face. "I don't need your pity Bucky. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell everyone what you found out about me today."

Bucky sits on the edge of the bed next to her with a sigh. "I don't pity you, and I would never say anything."

She looks up into his eyes as he stares back at her. "You're a terrible liar, your eyes tell a different story. Just go. Please."

Bucky takes a deep breath, not having been this close to her before, feeling her breath on his face. She smelled of lavender and vanilla. He clears his throat, standing up from the bed. "I won't leave until you eat something. Come on." He grabs her hand gently, pulling her to her feet as she reluctantly follows him down to the empty kitchen.

She takes a seat on a stool and watches in silence as Bucky grabs everything for grilled cheese. She watches his back muscles tense and relax as he moves about the kitchen. She's never seen him so, domesticated. He turns around and sets a plate with a sandwich on it and sits beside her with his own. "Thanks, Buck."

He smirks at her, as she takes a bite. "You're welcome, doll." He sighs, shaking his head as he looks down at the counter. "Oh, I'm sorry, you don't like that."

Anna looks up at him as he avoids eye contact, so she grabs his metal hand to make him look at her. "It's okay, Buck. You can call me doll. It's growing on me. I'm sorry."

Bucky smiles, getting lost in her green eyes. He knew that he could look at them all day. "I call you that because I like you." He smiles as she blushes, and they both return to their sandwiches. As they finish their food, Bucky finally breaks the silence. "I'm really sorry Anna. I didn't know." He turns to face her as she turns so that they are face to face and opens her mouth to say something, but Bucky puts his finger to her mouth. "Look, I don't pity you. And I promise not to bring it up again or tell anyone else. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here. Okay?"

He removes his hand, and she just nods in silence as she brings her hand up to his face. She had never seen him so, vulnerable. She leans toward him as she feels his breath on her face until they are interrupted by someone in the hallway. She pulls away from him as Sharon enters the kitchen.

"Isn't this cozy? What are you guys doing down here in the middle of the night?"

They both ignore her as Bucky grabs Anna's hand. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your room." Bucky never releases her hand as he walks her back to her room. They both hesitate outside her door as he strokes his thumb gently along her hand.

Anna starts to think maybe she was wrong, that there wasn't anything shared between them in the kitchen as Bucky only stares back at her.

He finally leans forward, his face close to hers as he reached behind her to open her door. "Goodnight doll. If you have any more nightmares, you can always wake me up." He turns on his heel and walks away quickly as Anna goes back into her room, going back to sleep, this time without any interruptions.

Bucky shut the door to his room quietly, resting his head on the door. He wanted to kiss Anna; he wanted her to know he much he wanted her. But she had been through so much, he didn't want to scare her or come on too strong.