The Winter Warrior // Captain America

«Chapter 2»

Anna couldn't help but smile. "Congratulations Steve, you've earned it," she said and hugged her brother tightly. He smiled into her embrace. 

She drew back first. "I've got something to tell you, too," she said. "After Bucky left, someone came to our door. I received my orders. Training new soldiers. Looks like I'll be training you soon," she told him, nudging his arm. 

"Anna, that's great!" he said, returning her hug.

She nervously tucked a strand of brown hair that had fallen out of her curlers behind her ear. "Something happened with Bucky when he left," she said after a moment of silence.

Steve waited for her to continue, his brows slightly furrowed. 

Anna intentionally avoided his gaze as she continued, "When he dropped me off at home, we talked for a while until he had to leave. We said our goodbyes and when he wanted to go, he came back and kissed me," she said, fiddling with her fingers, still avoiding to look at her brother. After their mother's death, they had promised to never keep secrets from each other, and since this was a pretty important thing, Anna couldn't just pretend it never happened. 

Steve was speechless. Bucky had ensured him years ago that he loved Anna like a sister, that he would never try anything with her. 

"Steve, say something, please." Anna's voice brought him back to reality. 

"What did you do?" he asked. 

"I-I just went with it, I think. It's still a blur," she said, slightly shaking her head. 

"I can't believe him," Steve mumbled. 

***

A N N A ' S   P O V

While Steve stood in line with the rest of the soldiers. I took place next to Peggy Carter, a young woman who, just like me, worked in the army to train new soldiers. I tugged at the bottom of my army green pencil skirt to calm my nerves. Being a woman working in the army was one thing, being a 21-year-old in front of a bunch of men was another. 

"Let's go, Anna," Peggy said after a while. We moved toward the men and I focused on making sure my feet didn't sink into the soft ground. "Recruits, attention. Gentlemen, I'm Agent Carter. This is Agent Rogers," she spoke with authority. "We supervise all operations of this division," she explained. I admired her confidence. All I did was trailing behind her and speaking when I needed to. I was better at the training part of the job. 

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" one of the men spoke up, referring to Peggy's British accent. A slightly sickening smirk was plastered on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him. "I thought I signed up for the US army," he continued. 

"What's your name, soldier?" Peggy asked, stepping up to him. 

"Gilmore Hodge, your majesty," he mocked. 

"Step forward, Hodge," she ordered, never letting the resolute tone in her voice disappear. Hodge glanced at his fellow soldiers and stepped forward. "Put your right foot forward," Peggy said, looking directly into his eyes. 

Hodge did what she said before speaking up, "Oh, wanna dance? 'Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like," he winked. Before I could blink, Peggy had punched the man in the face. Hodge dropped to the ground with a grunt.

I couldn't help but smile. Peggy Carter never hesitated to stand up for herself, especially to men who dared to defy her. Or me, for that matter. She hated the disrespect from men just as much as I did. That was one of the reasons we were such good friends. 

"Agent Carter," a voice barked. I straightened my posture before turning around. 

"Colonel Philips," Peggy and I said in unison. 

"I can see you're breaking them today. That's good," he said. "Get your ass up off the ground and stand back in line until someone tells you what to do," Philips spoke harshly to Hodge. 

He got up from the ground, his nose heavily bleeding and stood back in line. He held his head back slightly to prevent the blood from dripping down. "Yes, sir," he obliged. 

Philips pondered for a moment before speaking. "General Patton once said, 'Wars are fought with weapons, but are won by men.' We are going to win this war because we have the best men." When he reached the last part of his sentence, his gaze fell on Steve. Philips looked at me and I nodded once. "And because they are going to get better. Much better."

***

"Rogers! Get off of there!"

"Rogers! Get that rifle out of the mud!"

"Rogers! Fall in line!"

"Rogers!

Those were some of the most used sentences in the first days of Steve's training. 

"Anna, you still with me?" Peggy asked me and I snapped out of my thoughts. We were sitting in the car that drove ahead of the soldiers on their daily morning run. 

"Pick up the pace, ladies!" their commanding officer for the day barked as they all visibly panted and struggled to keep up. "Let's go, let's go! Come on, faster! Faster!" The car stopped in front of a small field with a flagpole on it. I finished the sentence I was writing in the report files that were in my lap before turning around, watching the soldiers. 

"Squad, halt! That flag means we're at the halfway point. The first man to bring it to me gets a ride back with Agent Rogers and Agent Carter," the commanding officer to the group of soldiers. 

Steve came running towards the group, catching up on the distance that had fallen between him and the others. Beads of sweat gleamed on his forehead and he panted heavily as he leaned on his knees. Now was not the time to get an Asthma attack, Steve, I thought to myself.

"Move, move!" the officer called. All of the soldiers tried to climb up the flagpole, but all failed miserably. It didn't take long before the officer shouted, "Now, fall back in line! Come on, fall in!" 

Steve looked at the pole, focused on the bottom. 

"Rogers, I said fall in!" 

Steve pulled out a pin from the side of the pole. Before we knew it, the pole was on the ground and the flag in the officer's hands. "Thank you, sir," Steve said before climbing into the car, sitting down next to me. I smiled broadly. Peggy turned around and offered Steve an approving smile. He nodded gratefully, fixing the too-large helmet on his head.