March 7 2026

Winters made her way towards the capitol hill, keeping a focused and straight face. There was reporters as the officers were warning them to stay back but the reporters needed answers to their questions towards the senators and politicians, The politicians were ignoring them while some were giving short and cryptic responses while walking away.

Anne stared at them, watching their move as she began walking past the reporters until they noticed her, recognising her and all attention was shifted to the secretary and began asking her questions.

Reporter: Miss Winters! Miss Winters!

Anne tried to walk past them but they were also pushing the microphone towards her as Anne stood, patiently waiting to hear their questions.

Reporter 2: Miss Winters, can you confirm whether Congressman Barnes is under review by the Senate Committee?

Anne: I'm not in a position to comment on any ongoing matters. The Congressman will speak when it's appropriate.

Reporter 3: You and Congressman Barnes were seen at Gala, a little too close. Care to clarify your relationship for the public?

Anne blinked as she looked at them, but kept her composure, The question almost brought a smile to her, She spoke in a respectful and calm tone.

Anne: I attend every event that falls under my duty. The Congressman and I have a professional relationship, nothing more.

Reporter 4: Miss Winters, some sources claim you have a personal connection to someone tied to SHIELD. Care to confirm or deny that connection?

Anne slowed, just for a second. and stared at the crowd who were awaiting for her answer as Anne smiled, shaking her head.

Anne: I think some people have too much time for rumors, Don't trust the internet.

She pushed through the last few steps, past the noise, into the building. The heavy doors closed behind her, muffling the shouts, the questions and camera flashes. She continued walking and began replaying the questions the reporters asked her. She took a deep breath and walked past the metal detectors and made her way towards the office.

But that's when she stopped.

She noticed two men exiting the congressman's office, Anne looked at them as they were muttering something to each other and even noticed her, Winters tilted her head. . . She doesn't recognise them. Definitely they weren't any senator, congressman or anyone related to the field. They walked past her as Anne stared at them before quickly making her way to Bucky's office.

She opened the door and saw Congressman Barnes talking on the phone as she gently shut the door behind her, staring at him. He already knew she was in the office.

Bucky: *On phone* I'll call you later.

He disconnected the call, staring blankly. Anne looked at him and noticed something was up and the tension in the room. . . Was different, Heavy.

Bucky: Good morning, Winters.

Anne: *Smiles* Good morning, Congressman. You had an interesting meeting early this morning.

Bucky tilted his head as Anne walked towards him, studying his face.

Bucky: Meeting?. . . Wait, No. It wasn't a meeting.

Anne: Really? They seem unusual to me.

Bucky: They're new. Advisors from an external committee. Just running over some data for the infrastructure bill.

Anne tilted her head slightly, watching him. Bucky tilted his head as well, mimicking her actions.

Anne: I haven't seen them before.

Bucky: You wouldn't have. They're not here often, They work off-site. . . Most of the time.

His voice was calm. But she noticed the faint shift in his tone, like he was choosing every word carefully.

Anne: They didn't look. . . .very political.

Bucky: *Smirks* Neither do half the people who run this place.

Anne chuckled at his response and glanced at the ground for a moment while Bucky kept his eyes on her, keeping the smirk.

Anne: Okay, Sorry, I was just wondering. . .

Bucky: It's fine, You don't have to worry about anyone in this building, Winters.

He leaned close to her, feeling the heat of his body inches towards her, Anne looked into his eyes as he spoke quietly.

Bucky: As always, If something feels off, You come straight to me. Understand?

She looked at him, feeling her heart race by how close he was before she nodded.

Anne: Of course, Congressman.

Bucky: Good. . . Now before we get started, Let's have some coffee together.

Anne: *Smiles* Of course, Black coffee as always.

Bucky: *Smiles* That's my favourite secretary.

She blinked, blushing a little by his words and laughed quietly as he continued smiling at her before Anne left the office to buy coffee for both of them, Barnes was smiling at her as the door was shut. . . And his smile started to fade away.

Anne continued walking in silence and replayed the conversation she had with the congressman, Her pulse wouldn't settle. She knew when someone was lying. . .

And today, The congressman lied to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky: *On Call* Don't you dare get your hands on that project, Val.

Valentina: *Chuckles* Oh, wow. Did i really offended the stooges so they came running to you, Relying for your help?

Bucky: Don't play games with me, Val. I know what you're planning, Project Sentry should've been buried for good.

Valentina: *Smirks through the call* Buried? My dear Congressman, you and I both know some things don't stay buried. Not when I have the power to make him immortal. . .

Bucky: Bob's not a weapon. He's not your experiment.

Valentina: Oh, you sound so protective. Tell me, are you going to write a nice little speech about morality again? Because last I checked, Bob Reynolds is out with your goons, barely stable and you've done nothing to fix that.

Bucky: *Grits his teeth* That's not your call to make.

Valentina: Relax, Mr Barnes, I'm just reminding you that while you play politician, the rest of us are actually doing dirty work. And if Bob's part of that. . . .well, consider it. . . Necessary progress.

Bucky: If you go near him, or anyone connected to that project, I will-

Valentina: You'll what? Throw me off a helicarrier or tower? Please. We both know you can't touch me anymore. You've got too much to lose.

Bucky gritted his teeth, Valentina could tell he was really angry and she enjoyed testing him.

Valentina: How's Miss Winters doing? Does she know that your still tangled in superhero work?

Bucky's eyes were widen when she mentioned Anne's name and that boiled his blood, He clenched the phone tightly and tried to keep his voice down.

Bucky: Leave her out of this.

Valentina: Oh? Is the secretary taming your heart, Congressman?

Bucky: I said leave her out of this, She doesn't have to be involved.

Valentina: *Chuckles* So cute, You're falling for the secretary, But wouldn't that be scandalous to the whole world?

He shut his eyes, She knew how to get on his nerves. But he also felt his heart racing by the thought of Anne, She was right. He was falling for her and wanted to protect her from Val's mindgames.

Valentina: You know, Barnes, The way you defend her, I'm starting to think those late-night meetings in your office involve a lot less talking, More action-

Bucky: Enough! You said enough, Leave her out of this.

Unknown to him, Anne was making her way to the office, holding two cups of coffee. But through the door, She heard his voice which made her jump. Who is he talking too? Why was he so mad? And who was he defending? Was it her?

Valentina: *Laughs* Alright, Alright. You can keep your secrets, So can she. . . Have a good day, Congressman. . . Be prepared.

The call was disconnected as Bucky's face was full of anger and slowly lowered his phone until the door opened, He knew it was Anne and just stared at the window as Winters quietly walked in, knowing something was up.

Bucky: Keep the cup in the table.

Anne looked at him and slowly placed the cup on the table, The tension in the air was heavy as she slowly approached to him, She was worried. . . What went wrong?

Anne: Are you okay?

He felt his heart skip a beat when she gently grabbed his arm and hand, His face softened for a moment and stood still, deep down, he craved for some comfort.

Bucky: I'm fine. . .

Anne: You don't look fine, What happened?

Bucky looked around the room, skeptical, before sighing and leaned close to her as Anne was looking at him, waiting for his response.

Bucky: It's just Val, We had some disagreements. . . Nothing else.

Anne: Again Val?

He nodded quietly before patting her shoulder, reassuring that he was okay and told Anne to get some reports done. However, Anne didn't care about the reports and was worried about what Valentina said to him. She could tell it wasn't about disagreements. . . Something was up.

( Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine. . . You're getting on my nerves and now his nerves. . . )

(. . . . Maybe I should pay your company a visit.)

( Cause it looks like everyone's keeping secrets. )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day

O.X.E. is a company operated by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine where it specialises in Advanced weapons development, Biotech and human performance research and government contracts. O.X.E is known to be a defense tech company.

The time was four p.m as Anne was outside the headquarters, staring at the building as pedestrians walked by, She fixed her hair, awaiting to see what will happen. But Winters knew she couldn't just enter like that otherwise Valentina was gonna get suspicious of her.

But Anne was smarter, She thought about a way to sneak into the company, all night.

Anne walked into the building, looking around as employees were walking by, She looked at the front desk security and walked towards guard, holding her tablet.

Anne: Senate assistant for the Committee of Enhanced Affairs. Here to confirm paperwork for the congressional review.

The guard glanced at her ID, hesitated for a moment before allowing her in. Anne walked and had a small smirk on her face and then she was met by the interior of the facility, She felt completely out of place. But she kept walking, acting like she belonged there.

( Defense Tech Company. . . This is interesting for a businesswoman with political influence)

She walked upstairs, admiring the facility as people walked by. Anne was studying the employees, overhearing the faint chattering in a distance.

The place was too clean, too calculated. The sound of machinery echoed faintly under the sound of hurried footsteps and conversations, She looked at the screens which looked odd. . .

It flashed lines of data and holographic blueprints, advanced weapons, prosthetics, something that looked eerily close to a human nervous system diagram. . . . Her stomach twisted.

(Biotech. . . Human enhancement? What are you really doing, Valentina?)

She turned a corner, pretending to scroll through her tablet, stopping briefly near a glass lab room where two scientists were arguing in hushed tones.

Scientist: We can't run Phase Two without the stabilizer. The last test almost killed him.

Scientist 2: Orders came directly from Fontaine. . . We move ahead tonight.

Anne: *Eyes widen* Oh my god. . .

But she couldn't risk to get in or find out more. She couldn't rush it, Anne just looked at the glass before walking away as her thoughts roamed in her mind.

( Had a feeling something was up. . .)

She walked to the upper level and noticed it was quieter then the lower levels, Anne continued looking around the facility until she stood, noticing a strange door that was marked

"Restricted Access"

The passcode panel blinked red, guarded by a pair of cameras. Anne bit her lip and slowly stepped back, knowing she shouldn't go further or touch anything.

That's when someone grabbed her which made her yelp, She was dragged to the corner as Anne immediately turned around, feeling her heart race until she saw who it was

Mel: Miss Winters, You shouldn't be here.

Anne: *Eyes widen* Melissa?

Mel: You really picked the worst time to visit, Anne. What are you doing here?

Anne: Valentina keeps calling Barnes and something's upsetting him. . . What is this place really, Mel? I saw something downstairs-

Mel: Shhh, D-Don't say that!

Anne looked at her, tilting her head slightly and leaned closer, whispering.

Anne: You know something. I can see it on your face. . . What's going on here?

Mel: . . . I know a lot of things, Winters. I can't tell you.

Anne: You have to tell me, She might be involving my boss into something dangerous.

Mel: That's not the point- Urgh, If I told you everything, I'd be signing my own death warrant. . . My boss doesn't tolerate leaks.

Anne: Tell me something, Mel. Please.

She grabbed both of her hands as Mel looked around, skeptical and worried before taking a deep breath.

Mel: All I can tell you is, She's restarting something that they once stopped. . . A dangerous being.

Anne's eyes widen, her blood running cold.

Anne: What?. . . They? Who?

Mel: Not here. . . Cameras are everywhere, and Fontaine has eyes even I can't see.

Anne quietly stared at her as Melissa continued speaking to her while frantically looking around.

Mel: Go back to the Capitol, act like nothing happened. I'll try to reach you tonight or tomorrow, if I can. But for now, you need to get out before someone reports your ID scan.

Anne: . . . . . . Fine. What if you-

Mel: *Smiles a little* I'll be fine. I've been pretending for a long time. . .

Winters stared at her before nodding as she walked away, giving one last look to Mel as she stared at Anne before walking away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne was working on reports on her laptop. But she couldn't stop thinking about O.X.E headquarters and the conversation she had with Mel. . . A dangerous being. . . Human enhancements. . . Biotech. . .

( Valentina, What are you creating?. . . )

She took a short break from working and was reading through articles about O.X.E, Learning more about Valentina and the company. Soon, She found an article related to an incident that happened last year. . .

Mass Hallucination Event: Global Anomaly Still Unexplained

Nearly a year ago, the world experienced an unexplained phenomenon, A sudden blackout, lasting just under three minutes. During that time, millions reported vivid hallucinations, reliving traumatic events or their deepest fears. Global agencies dismissed it as a "collective psychological episode" triggered by solar radiation. But witnesses describe it differently

"More real than a dream, More haunting than memory"

Anne stared at the article and swallowed as her heart was pounding, She remembered that day. . . It was a strange one.

Laughter

A soothing voice

And then a gunshot.

She shut her eyes. . . Remember that painful memory and closed the article and went back into working on the reports.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and stay strong!!! :)