Since 1945. (Marvel 'Winter Soldier' Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

*Enjoy this 3rd chapter! I was iffy about it- let me know what you think! Thank you all so much for reading, it's greatly appreciated!*

"How...what- that's us," Steve choked out, watching his exact look alike struggle to deliver his lines to the camera. "That's...that was in my apartment when Fury was shot, I'm laughing- I wasn't laughing, how-"

"See! I told you!" Anna said, crossing her arms petulantly, all the while glaring at the men and woman behind her. The next clip to play was the initial fight between Bucky and Steve, but instead of going for each others throats, they were laughing and flailing their arms like the completely adorable nerds Anna knew them to be.

"Is that-"

"Green-screen, yeah," Anna said, watching as Scarlett tripped over her tongue in the old barracks, then as Robert Redford tripped over his lines, then witnessed Chris's failure to break the barrack's lock after multiple attempts.

"Well...she might just be telling the truth," Robert sighed, after the screen went dark.

"I am," Anna pouted, exiting from the gag reel and pulling up her favorites on youtube, "and if you need any more proof, I have tons of interviews featuring all of you to back me up. And some very incriminating film clips from other movies that are less than flattering."

"But if this is all true, if we have lookalikes that have done exactly what we have but in a movie setting, who essentially are us on screen...that means you must've come from another universe or something of the like to make that possible," Natasha spoke up, expression falling into a calculative gaze. Anna took another deep breath (these seemed endless today)- she was eighty-five percent sure she wouldn't be called crazy from here on out.

"Then what if that's true? What if I'm from another...universe?" she queried, voice trembling slightly in anxiety. She quickly quelled the feeling- she'd deal with that panic inspiring line of thinking later. Preferably in a bathroom stall. With a lot of tissues. Maybe some chocolate.

"I'll contact Foster, she's done the most work on Einstein Rosen bridges. Maybe their reach goes way past other realms," Tony said, earning small nods and contemplatives 'hms' in answer, everyone lost in their own thoughts. With that, he was gone, firing off orders to Jarvis and disappearing inside of the elevator across the room. Bucky had yet to speak and when Anna turned to look, he was gone, the space he occupied moments before, vacant.

"He does that, don't think too much into it," Natasha said, catching her line of sight. Steve slowly came around the couch to take a seat beside Anna.

"I heard Loki appeared in a S.H.I.E.L.D. head base like you had-"

"He came through the Tesseract- it acted like a doorway, and I don't really doubt the use of some black magic in his arrival," Anna spewed, only to have the suspicious glances return in full force. She groaned, slamming the laptop closed and wearily rubbing a hand down her face. "You guys were movie characters, I am a very big fan, I'm going to know things," she said, giving them both a pleading look.

"Alright, I guess it makes sense," Steve finally conceded, giving her a small, reassuring smile. But there was something in his eyes that made her think she'd regret that 'big fan' comment. Natasha looked a bit less ready to trust, but dropped her suspicions nonetheless. "I'm going to go call Sam, he deserves to know about this, too," Steve stated, before rising from the couch and heading into the hallway Bucky had most likely vanished down.

"So what now?" Anna asked, scratching the back of her neck.

"I'm not sure, but you can just stay here; help yourself to the fridge and the t.v., bathroom is down the hall to the left. I need to go make some calls," Natasha said, and her tone indicated that this room and the bathroom were the only rooms Anna was permitted into- at least until they were sure this wasn't an elaborate Hydra ruse.

"Okay," Anna replied, and with that Natasha walked over and stepped into the elevator. Anna sat alone for a few minutes in silence- it was like no one had been there at all.

~~~~~~~~~

Sam responded to Steve's call immediately, and was at the Tower in four hours flat. Though it was bound to be a business oriented visit, he would be happy to see Steve and Bucky again. He wanted to see the progress Bucky'd made- after more than a year of searching and nearly getting blasted off of the face of the earth multiple times, he had to grudgingly admit that that man was worth the trouble.

He took the elevator up as he usually did, and was expecting to have Steve waiting for him. Instead, he came upon the woman who was the latest, alien space-related news. She was valiantly reaching for something in one of the cabinets, and looked like a tangle of limbs as she dangled halfway off of the counter. Anna, he thinks was her name. Evidence of mind numbing boredom were all over the wide room- pillows were sprawled across the floor, the t.v. was turned to a random cable channel, and various food items littered the island in the kitchen.

"Need any help?" Sam offered, trying to be polite, and the woman startled, lost her grip on the countertop and cabinet handle, and tumbled bodily to the floor. Sam cursed silently under his breath before running over and stooping beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked, as the supposed Anna righted herself, wincing lightly as she came to a completely upright position.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she replied, finally looking up at him. Her eyes went wide for a minute, before she asked, "Sam...Wilson?" Sam was equally surprised, but nodded in confirmation. He heard that she'd probably know him, but he didn't think too much into it.

"Nice to meet you, in person, I guess," Anna said, laughing lightly as she climbed to her feet.

"The same to you," Same replied, "I hear you're from another universe."

"That's the latest hypothesis," Anna answered, shrugging, tucking a piece of hair behind her ears. She examined him for a minute- the mocha skin, ebony hair, and gap toothed smile. He was a carbon copy of Anthony Mackie, furthering her earlier claims. Everyone really did have an alternate universe twin.

"Sam!" a voice called, and both of their heads whipped around to see Steve rapidly approaching, a modest smile adorning his face. "Sorry about the short notice."

"It's no problem man, I told you to call if you needed anything. So, has the brainiac figured anything out yet?" he asked, and Anna immediately knew he was talking about Tony. Steve rolled his eyes at the moniker.

"I was just heading down to the lab, if you want to come," Steve offered, and Sam readily accepted. They were just about to head down when Steve noticed Anna slinking off back toward the couch. She'd been up here alone for hours- it couldn't hurt to take her down to the lab for a few minutes. She also deserved to know what was going on, if what she was saying indeed turned out to be true, and Tony could verify it.

"You're welcome to come, too, Anna," he said, and her head snapped up, eyes wide with surprise and unmistakable excitement.

"Really?! Yes!" she cheered, running to catch up the two avengers as they moseyed into the elevator. All three then began their descent.