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ANASTASIA'S eyes are locked on her left hand. Her fist is clenched tight—her knuckles white with rage. She feels her lids heavy from exhaustion; both from crying and insomnia.
Her fingers slowly peeled away from her palm, revealing her engagement ring nestled in it. Sitting upon her calloused skin was a gold band. It was slim and inexpensive, she thought. But it meant the world to her. It was a sign of love—affection. Devotion.
The ring was a symbol of her heart belonging to another.
Steve sniffles beside her for the umpteenth time that night, but Anastasia seemed immune it the sound. Draining the last of the liquor in his glass, Steve hissed quietly through his teeth.
Ana's dull gaze slowly lifts, landing on the crystal glass sitting beside her hand. It's filled halfway with the bourbon, but she hasn't touched it since Steve poured it.
The faint click of heels, followed by crunching glass captures her attention, and her dark eyes lift to the doorway of the wrecked building they sat in. The clicking and crunching grow louder as Steve stares blankly at the bottle.
Peggy emerges in the doorway with a sullen look. This only infuriates Anastasia more, and she bites the inside of her cheek before looking away harshly.
The Agent slowly enters the room, causing Steve to look over his shoulder in alarm. Once he sees her, his shoulders visibly relax. Wiping his nose with his hand, Steve sniffles loudly.
"Doctor Erskine said the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles," he pauses briefly as he pours himself another drink, nearing the bottom of the bottle. "it would affect my cells. Create...a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means..."
Steve paused again, lifting his glass to the light, studying the swishing liquid. "I can't get drunk. Did you know that?"
He finally turns his head, peering down at Peggy's brown pumps. She sighs quietly through her nose before turning to lift a discarded chair off the ground. "Your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person." Once it was by the table, she slowly sits down. "He thought it would be one of the side-effects."
Steve remains quiet, trying to fight down more tears that welled in his eyes. This made Peggy lean forward an inch, "It wasn't your fault. Yours neither, Ana."
Anastasia's dark eyes flicked up, unintentionally offering her friend a tense and unconvinced gaze. After a moment of silence, she finally grabbed the crystal cup and downed the bourbon in one swallow.
"Did you read the report?" Steve asked in Anastasia's place, taking the cue of her attitude.
"Yes."
"Then you know that's not true." Anastasia bit the inside of her cheek, turning away from the two. She sniffed loudly. When her eyes met with Peggy's again, they were full of tears of her own. "I was inches...inches away from grabbing his hand. And I—"
Her voice cut off abruptly and she clenched the ring in her fist once more. "I...let him slip right through my fuckingfingers." Peggy frowned in sadness when Anastasia's voice was nothing more than a whisper, "I'll never forgive myself for that."
"Did you everything you could. Both of you," Peggy spoke. "Did you believe in your friend?" Steve glanced up slowly, watching the Agent gaze between him and Ana.
Peggy took his stare as a silent agreement. "Did you respect him? Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his voice. He damn well must have thought you two were worth it. You were his best friend, and you were his fiancée for crying out loud!"
Steve returned his eyes down. "We're going after Schmidt. Anastasia and I have both agreed we're not gonna stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured."
Peggy's lips twitched up in a small smirk, "You won't be alone."
"YOU all right back there, Ana?" Steve yelled over the roar of the motorcycle he was driving. Anastasia sat directly behind him with both arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
"Don't worry about me, just try not to drive into a tree," She replied with a frown as the straps to Steve's shield dug into her armpits.
As the forest blurred past her eyes, more roaring of engines caught Anastasia's attention, and she twisted to watch six Hydra men catch up on their own bikes.
"We got company!" She yelled over the noise. Steve gave his own glance before revving the bike, which caused it to lurch forward.
A neon-blue blast hit the back of the shield, making Ana feel a stiff thump against her back. She let out an unintentional yelp, tightening her hold on Steve. "Holy hell!"
Steve turned sharply to the left before activating his own gadgets stored in the motorcycle. Spiked arrows shot down from behind Ana, lodging into a tree and setting up a steel wire. Four out of the six men dodged it, making Anastasia sneer.
Next, a built-in flame thrower activated, taking out two more who were too close to them.
Anastasia heard Steve curse, and she craned her neck to peek over his shoulder. The two men behind them managed to go in front. Steve turned his head, "I'm gonna speed up, grab the pins off their explosives."
"You better not kill us, Rogers," Anastasia half-teased as Steve sped up more. Doing just as she was told, they both watched the last two explode. Anastasia winced.
"Hand me my shield, will ya? And duck!"
Passing it to Steve, he placed it on the front of the motorcycle. Placing her cheek between Steve's shoulder blades, she listened to multiple explosions go off around her, squeezing her eyes shut, Anastasia felt them going at an incline.
When she finally opened them, they were...in the air?
Anastasia bit back another scream before they landed on the ground with a hard jerk that nearly threw her off.
Steve continued to dodge and weave through a whole crowd of Hydra agents before he looped his arm around Anastasia. Without warning, he grabbed his shield and jumped from the bike. They soared over a tank and landed with a roll.
Their motorbike crashed into a concrete wall before exploding and killing a few more agents. To Steve's left, he threw his shield to knock another down. Anastasia grabbed her gun and fired at the surrounding men.
They got through many before two stepped out dressed in heavy armour and flamethrowers. Creating a diamond of fire, Steve pushed Anastasia behind him, whenever he turned. Anastasia holstered her gun, knowing they had to give up.
