Resilient

Chapter 7

Bucky didn't like it. Someone besides Banner should have stayed behind with Evelyn. He had only heard stories about his nightmares and he's pretty sure that he had nothing on what he walked into yesterday. It was like everything around her was being pushed away.

"You okay Buck?" Steve asked him noticing the frown on his friends face

"Someone should have stayed with her Steve; she needs help and Banner will be busy helping us," Bucky said

Steve knew how his friend felt. Leaving a girl in distress had never sat well with him. He knew that Banner had it covered but he couldn't help but lean on his values when he was younger and cringe to think what his younger self may say to him now.

"She'll be fine Buck, Bruce will make sure she is being watched over if he can't be there. Her surgery went well and she's probably still asleep," Steve said pushing his guilt aside. They needed everyone for this. Hopefully, they could get the intel they needed to stop Hydra.

Bucky looked at his friend and nodded in agreement. Steve was right but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Hey Nat, do you know what Evelyn's favorite flowers might be?" Sam asked looking at his phone

"Seriously Sam - we're on a mission," Clint said from the pilot seat shaking his head.

"We still have hours to go before we get to the Ukraine," Sam replied "Anyone have a guess?"

"Sam, she hasn't been able to say anything since we've been with her," Natasha said turning to the back from the copilot seat "I'm sure she'd be happy to get any flowers - we should all send some,"

"On it," Tony said, sending a message to have flowers delivered from the team to brighten Evelyn's room "Just let me know if anyone wants to send her a separate bouquet".

Bucky clenched his fist. Why was Sam being so pushy? Evelyn needed space and respect. She wasn't the kind of girl who wanted a guy like that. He pinched the bridge of his nose; who was he kidding? He had no idea what kind of a girl Evelyn was or what kind of a man she liked - he just knew he wished it could be him.

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Evelyn stirred in bed feeling the warmness of the sun and the plushness of the bed and tried to remember how she got into bed. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the lab. She lay there with her eyes shut trying to remember and then remembered the nightmare and seeing Bucky when she woke up being held down by Steve and Bruce. She brought her hand to her face embarrassed; wishing she didn't remember. The scent of flowers hit her nose and she shot up in the bed and looked around the room. There were more flowers than she had ever seen in one room. She felt tears sting her eyes.

Why are they being so kind to her? How did she get so lucky that after all the years of pain, she was able to have hope again? Her nightmare was so bad that she had to be restrained by the strongest men she had ever met and probably ruined the lab, yet her room was filled with so many beautiful flowers and scents.

"Good Morning, Miss Evelyn. Your surgery was a success. Once you are ready Mr. Banner is in the lab," F.R.I.D.A.Y announced.

Evelyn's hand went to her throat and was grateful that she didn't have time to panic about the surgery. They must have gone through with it after she passed out. She flexed her feet under the blanket; her legs felt so much better. She swung them over the side of the bed and used the IV pole to steady herself; she stood to her full height taking a couple of steps. Evelyn smiled FINALLY! She was careful to move slowly but she felt her strength come back and she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. She was so thankful for everyone being willing to wheel her around but she hated leaning on people for help with the smallest tasks and this meant more freedom to roam.

She walked to the flowers around her room. A huge bouquet signed from The Avengers; making Evelyn smile, a bouquet of sunflowers from Nat and Clint, a bouquet of red roses from Sam, a vase of carnations from Bruce, an assortment of tulips from Steve, a vase of yellow and white roses from Tony and Pepper, and when she got to the last bouquet of lovely daisies she noticed they were signed from James; not Bucky. Her hand softly caressed the flowers and smiled.

Evelyn grabbed a change of clothes and slowly went to the shower to freshen up before meeting Bruce in the lab.