Since 1945. (Marvel 'Winter Soldier' Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

"Never again. Ever," Anna promised as she rested her head against the rim of the elegant tub. She was currently all but curled around the toilet, head pounding something ferocious, and her stomach trying to work it's way up through her throat. It wasn't a good start to the day– ungodly sick and sulking in a dark bathroom. Some small part of Anna had hoped that she'd be immune to hangovers due to the whole alternate universe thing. Guess not.

"Anna?" a muffled voice called, followed by three taps on the door that sounded like booms of thunder. Anna only groaned in response, moving to place her hands over her ears. Why did she think that third mojito was a good idea? Why?

"I told you she was in there. You worry needlessly," another voice muttered, distinctly feminine. Pepper, maybe, or Natasha.

"Not trying to escape. Just puking. I swear," Anna called back, overcome with a wave of dizziness as she moved to stand, quickly giving up on the idea.

"Are you alright?" the other voice asked, male, and like the woman said, worried. Suddenly the door was being opened up and daylight hit Anna smack in the face. She unabashedly hissed as she threw her arms up to shield her eyes and fell to cower behind the toilet.

"I take that as a no," the woman chuckled, and Anna immediately recognized it as Natasha's.

"I told you that the third mojito would be a mistake," the other voice teased, and it was unmistakably Steve's. The sunlight was blinding even when muted through Anna's eyelids, and she curled up tighter, muttering a string of colorful language, knowing full well that Steve could hear every word. Captain America and master assassin titles aside, Anna felt like shit and the teasing was greatly unappreciated.

"Is Sam doing any better?" Anna ground out, vaguely remembering something about dubstep and multiple shots of tequila.

"Not really, no. He's still puking," Steve answered, turning on the bathroom lights which earned a vicious, albeit gargled, "fuck you, Spangles" from Anna.

"Come on, let's get you to the kitchen," Natasha said, hoisting Anna up onto her feet. Anna bit her tongue to not question why, but also to hold back the urge to vomit up the last of the chicken wings from last night. The trek to the kitchen took three times as long as it should have thanks to Anna's feet who refused to cooperate, and her eyes who didn't seem to want to adjust to any type of lighting, be it fluorescent or natural.

Natasha unceremoniously plopped Anna down into the islands chairs, and then went about rifling through the fridge. Anna's stomach lurched violently at the thought of food. To distract herself from her bodily rebellion, she decided to talk to Steve who had taken the seat next to her. She peered up at him through a curtain of hair, still not ready to face the light full on.

"So, thought I was trying to escape, huh?" she asked, placing her head on the countertop, but still tilted in his general direction.

"I didn't say escape–"

"Yes you did," Natasha interjected, her back to the duo, mixing something just out of sight. Her red curls bobbed in time with the swirling motion of her arm. Anna watched through her lashes as Steve's face reddened in chagrin.

"And here I thought that you trusted me," Anna said, feigning disappointment.

"I've learned to trust very few people," Steve replied, shrugging, sparing one lightning fast glance at Natasha, before directing his attention back down to her.

"Good habit," Anna ground out when Natasha decided to fire up the blender. "I trust way too many people, it's bad for my health."

"What's bad for your health is drinking alcohol that you know you can't handle," Natasha said, turning around and placing a glass down. Anna lifted up her head to look at it, and gagged on sheer principle. It was green and slightly viscous with small, dark chunks of something floating around in it.

"What–"

"Old recipe. If it works for my hangovers, it'll work for yours," Natasha said, nodding her head toward the glass, and raising one expectant brow. Anna turned toward Steve with a look of disbelief, to see him quickly mask his disgust with a forced smile. Anna took the glass begrudgingly, glaring down the woman before her. Natasha only smirked.

"If this kills me, and I somehow wind up back in my universe, I'm forcing the directors to make you all wear tutus and repeatedly sing 'happy birthday' in the next movie," she grumbled, before downing the concoction in one go.

"Mother of– That's vile!" Anna spat, rubbing her mouth with the back of her hand as if that could somehow get rid of the taste.

"But you're feeling better already!" Steve said, giving her a thumbs up, which was promptly met by a very impressive glower. Though, Anna did have to admit, her stomach was actually settling and the throbbing of her head was easing– slightly.

"Watch it, Rogers," she said, though she did crack a small smile. It was silent for a few minutes after that, Natasha leaning against the counter scrolling through her phone, and Steve rifling through the fridge for something of substance.

"So, you must be the young woman I've heard about," a new voice stated from behind her, startling Anna into almost jumping onto the counter. Pepper made her entrance to the right of her, greeting Natasha and Steve with a cheery "good morning", before holding her hand out towards Anna. Anna took it with slight hesitation, suddenly self-conscious of her oversized Captain America t-shirt and Hawkeye sweatpants, both courtesy of Natasha. (Well, Anna found them inside in the dresser in the suite, but she had no doubt Natasha had put them there.) "It's nice to meet you, Anna. I'm Pepper Potts. But I'm guessing you knew that...?"

"Yeah, that's me. Miss. Know-it-all," Anna affirmed, taking in Pepper's white blazer and skirt that she'd previously worn in Iron Man 3. The clothes looked even better in person!

"Not the strangest thing to happen here, but it's still pretty weird to be told that I'm a fictional character somewhere," Pepper laughed, moving past Natasha to turn on the coffee maker.

"Tony filled you in?" Natasha asked, putting her phone away.

"Yes, he went down to the lab early this morning. He wanted to do some research, call Bruce," she said, reaching into one of the many cabinets to get a thermos.

"Speaking of Bruce," Natasha said, peeling something off the fridge and tossing it to Anna, "look at this magnet I found the other day– it looks nothing like the Hulk. I think it's actually really insulting." Anna inspected the green blob with what might've been a face, that she now held in her hand.

"Oh, is that the one ToyCo made? I've been trying for weeks to get that pulled," Pepper sighed, looking at the thing like it was the root of all her problems in life. Natasha nodded, wearing an expression of equal disgust. Suddenly, the coffee machine honest-to-god blared, and with Anna's utter crap reactions, the magnet flew from her hands and over her head. She went to laugh, when she noticed the silence that had entered the room. Natasha donned a small smirk, Pepper was smiling over the rim of her thermos, and Steve was positively beaming– all of this directed to something behind her.

A voice cleared, and then, "I think you dropped something." Anna's face flamed, and if it became any redder, it would've exploded. She turned slowly in her chair, wearing a sheepish smile and absolutely drowning in embarrassment. Bucky watched her with a controlled expression, his mouth pulled up at one side in a manner that could've been read as either annoyance or amusement, the Hulk magnet stuck on his metal bicep. Oops.