#I’m sitting in your office because I’ve had elevated ANA levels for over a year now and I cannot function in society due to my health issues

[eatyourdamnpears]

“elevated ANA levels are usually markers for an autoimmune health condition!”

well, not when the rheumatologist you see is completely invalidating about it and your rheumatology blood panel comes back negative for anything!

[ncmadiic]

&. —— ❝ 003. ❞

                                             ( washington dc - march 2014 ! )

By the time evening struck the city, Anabelle had all but forgotten her father’s instruction and she found the deserted streets of the city quite eerie. But she ignored her intuition as the events of the next morning worked their way into prominence of her mind. After she’d dropped her daughter off at her mother-in-law’s house, the overwhelming feeling finally took over. It was all too much. First, her brother, Andrew, then Tom, now Jake--- all the men that she’d cared about wound up being trouble, some way or another. 

Andrew was spending the rest of his life in prison because he took the fall for a criminal--- Tom’s disappearance after she gave birth, and now, all this--- it simply was just TOO MUCH. 

Anabelle parked her car behind an old warehouse, knowing that hardly anyone passed through. She checked her surroundings, making sure that she was completely secluded before she went for the briefcase, albeit, her convictions were hesitant. She placed her thumb on the print reader, before punching in the combination--- 0424 and the case opened with ease. 

As Anabelle flipped through the itinerary, reviewing her new ID, passport, and home of record, a knock on the window startled her. She gasps, dropping the file in her lap, thankful the pages didn’t scatter. “GODDAMNIT.” She curses, flicking her eyes between the person at the window, and the Manila folder. Father, please forgive me for cursing your name. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

She rolls down the window and is surprised to see Steve's face as she expected a police officer instead. He changed out of his stealth suit between the time she’d seen him and now, and he was dressed in a brown leather jacket, black Under Armor shirt and a pair of jeans. She looked at him incredulously, brows knitted together before spitting, "What are you doing here?"

“I thought you said you weren’t working?” He replies, coolly, resting his forearm against the roof of her car, hovering over the opening of the window. 

 “What’re you, stalking me now?” She returns the quip, with a half-hearted smile. 

 “No.” Well, yes, but that was solely for the mission he’d been appointed. 

“Then go away.” She’s still irritated from their previous interaction, but Anabelle had all the intention to be left alone. 

 “I just wanted to check on you.” Rogers pushes his weight off of the car as he lowers his form to be at eye-level with her. 

“Why?” She doesn’t look at him as she edges the loose pages neatly within the folder before placing it back into the briefcase before closing it and allowing it to lock automatically. She fails to notice Steve's curious gaze on the piece of luggage. 

 “I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer and when you left HQ, you didn’t sign out, so, here I am.” This catches her attention, and she finally looks at him with her eyebrows furrowed. The sun catches her eyes and the flecks of green enveloped within the rich sky-colored hue shimmer with confusion. 

She was almost POSITIVE that she signed out with security, but then, again, with what happened in the elevator being on her mind, anything was possible. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry about that,” she conceded, though still doubtful, “Hey, you want to sit in the car with me? It’s a little cold and---”

“You sure?” A grin splits his face. 

“Yeah, let me just---” Anabelle tosses the case into the back seat hastily before unlocking the passenger door. Steve wastes no time making his way around the hood of her car before opening the door and settling in her passenger seat. A few moments pass as they sit comfortably in silence before she's the one to break it. 

 "Steve, I---" she hesitates, feeling pride grip her apologetic words from spilling from her lips, though, as if the soldier could read her mind, he interjected. 

 "No, Ana, I'm sorry. I was being an ass and honestly, with everything going on with the Lumerian Star, I've been kinda stressed. You didn't deserve the way I've been treating you." He knew she'd be eating from his palm with him confessing fault first, and this would be his leverage against her to lower her guard. 

"Hey, it's okay, to be fair, I think we both were under a lot of stress." A smile lifts the corners of her mouth and her posture softens into a more relaxed position. He notices this and takes this as his opportunity to distract her before he incapacitates her. She may have been much smaller than him, however, he'd trained her himself, along with Agent Romanoff upon direct orders from her father upon her post-initiation into SHIELD after her daughter was born. He thought it was foolish of Nicholas to drag his own flesh and blood into the organization as this could compromise him, though, he'd made no comment.

This was all valuable intel to pass over to HYDRA and he did. Steve did have to admit that Fury was not the fool that he expected him to be, though, as he did not assign his daughter to covert ops where she could be compromised herself, instead he had placed her in Records, like the good father that he was to keep her from harm. He knew that Anabelle was fully capable of pushing paperwork all day, despite her experience in the US Air Force as a combat medic. 

"Ana," Steve's voice comes in a soft breath as he attempts to catch her gaze. He'd done as he was ordered; befriend the woman and wait for the perfect opportunity to use her as leverage against the director--- Even if it took years. And now that Captain Rogers had been shown the agenda of Project Insight by the man himself, he'd received confirmation of his directive: take the woman hostage. 

She remembered the last time he said her name like that and it made her smile stretch just a fraction wider. She remembered the way her lips had melted against his and how warm his hand was against her cheek. Even with her ex-husband, she'd never felt the way that Steve made her feel that night and she could feel herself longing for that same feeling once again. She turned her head to meet his gaze and she'd noticed that his pupils were dilated. 

Maybe this was meant to be? 

She remembered how she'd pushed him away, as her divorce had not yet been finalized and she couldn't bear to live with knowing that she’d committed adultery, regardless of her circumstances. Though, she couldn't shake the guilt of doing that to him, even after a year and a half, she'd always felt bad for the situation. She never forgot his tinted cheeks, flushed from embarrassment (or so she thought) and it continued to haunt her to this very day. 

Now, however, it was different. Her husband had departed from this life, therefore, she was no longer obligated to him. Anabelle's eyes trailed from his, down the bridge of his nose and in finality, she'd settled her gaze upon his lips and hesitated a moment before flitting her eyes back up.

This was the signal he was waiting for, and it was more than one reason that drove him. His lips were on hers in an instant and he cradled her jaw in his hand, pulling her closer to him. Her hands were placed on both his shoulder and his the back of his neck as she grazed her nails against his skin. He let a low moan slip from his mouth into hers before he wraps his arm around her waist to lift her and settle her into his lap. His hands now wander from her waist down to her backside giving a gentle squeeze before he trails a hand back up to entangle in her hair. She shivers from the gesture and her body responds as she presses her chest into his, deepening the kiss. 

As the woman is distracted, Steve takes the time to slowly reach into his jacket pocket for the syringe filled with a dose of some sedative that could easily render her unconscious. As he grasped the toxin, she'd moved her lips to his neck, kissing and nibbling at the flesh which distracted him from the task at hand and he'd almost given in to his lust, savoring the feeling for just a moment longer before he decided to take matters into his own hands. She'd sensed the shift in his demeanor and when she pulled back, the expression on his face had turned almost animalistic. 

Everything in her had screamed for her to stop as she was just about to commit a sin against the Lord again, but she was willing to ask for forgiveness later as finally admitted to herself that she wanted this just as much as he did. 

Screw it. 

He moved his hand from his pocket, absent the toxin and he moved his hand to her backside once again, taking no pause to squeeze it, much harder this time and he relished in her reaction as a soft moan had slipped from her lips against his neck. There was no time limit for him to return with Anabelle tonight, so he was content in getting his rocks off first. 

He bedded many women since he'd been retrieved from the ice, but in this moment Anabelle was among his greatest conquests. From the night that he met her, he wanted nothing more than to ravage her, regardless if she were pregnant at the time and he’d succeeded at one point after Grace was born--- but it only left him wanting MORE. 

"I admit, you two are putting on quite a show and I'd like to stay and watch, but you need to wrap it the FUCK up." Rumlow's voice was hushed through the earpiece. He watched the two through his sniper scope from the vantage point barely 500 yards away from where she parked. 

Damn you Rumlow, can't you just let me have something?

"No." He muttered, loud enough for his comrade to hear, though Anabelle thought that he was rejecting her and he could tell by the way she pulled away from him, and it wasn't hard to miss the look on her face. He saved the moment, however, by following up with "I wanna do this in the back." Rumlow sniggered, shaking his head before pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"I gotta do everything around here." He doesn't hesitate as he re-positions his rifle and fixates his cross-hairs onto Anabelle's back and before he pulls the trigger he mutters, "Gotta admit, the bitch has a nice ass." 

The dart sinks into muscle, missing her spine by two inches and the toxin instantly hits her bloodstream. "Ouch!" She exclaims before she realizes that there's a hole in her windshield. before she can register what has happened, her vision fades. 

"Steve?" She slurs before she slumps in his arms. 

 "God damn you, Rumlow."