Resilient

Chapter 8

Bruce was watching the monitors going back and forth - he almost missed Evelyn coming in.

"Morning, Evelyn! I'm glad to see you're up. You've been asleep for 16 hours," He said turning back to the monitors

16 hours?! She thought to herself no wonder she feels so rested. She walked up to Bruce to look at the monitor showing the team investigating the base. Her eyes darted through all the monitors and vital signs of the team.

Bruce watched her examining the screens, "If you're willing to help an extra set of eyes on this would be very helpful." Seeing her nod Bruce brought a chair over for her to rest on while he removed the iv line from her hand. He had meant to do it earlier but didn't want to risk missing something on the monitors. He watched Evelyn apply pressure with the cotton ball and elevate it while never taking her eyes off the monitor.

Evelyn gasped; in the southwest corner a group had gathered she got Bruce's attention to relay the message to the team.

-------

"Southeast side small group but looks like they may be trying to either escape or ambush," Bruce said over the comms

"Thanks, Bruce," Steve said both him and Bucky more alert as they rounded the corner

"Don't thank me - Evelyn caught them." Bruce said, "Tony, looks like they may be trying to run after all."

"Got it, those still in the building let's do some recon," Tony said, speeding after the group ran with Sam to capture them.

Bucky's body instantly relaxed hearing Evelyn had finally woken up. He and Steve walk into the first room and start searching.

"Told you she'd be okay Buck," Steve said, ripping open drawers and looking for anything useful.

"Yeah yeah," Bucky replied bent to the ground looking for anything that Hydra could have missed.

"Guys, I found a map with some Hydra bases on it," Clint said over comms

"Stark let's all get to the quinjet - we need to look at this," Steve said motioning for the team to move out.

"Steve this could be a decoy or worse," Natasha said as they climbed aboard the jet.

"I agree with Nat," Sam says leaning against the wall "This seems fishy"

"We will do some recon on the way back. We were able to grab other documents that Fury wants to look over" Tony said putting a hologram on the table, "Banner you see what we do?"

--------

Bruce brings up the map and locations and zeros in on the coordinates. "Got it".

Evelyn had barely blinked; absentmindedly picking apart the muffin that Bruce had offered her. She could hear the team on the quinjet discussing strategies and Bruce would pitch in some ideas or research further.

Bruce looked over and saw how engrossed Evelyn was in the conversation. Worried because of what had happened in the lab the other day he didn't want to have a memory triggered if he could help it. "Evelyn, I think you may want to go and explore for a bit. This can get intense and you are still recovering," Bruce said muting his comm "The surgery was a success - truthfully your vocal cords looked a lot better than expected going in. Just try to warm them up and use them slowly. Humming, whispers, and such." He grabbed a set of his headphones and handed them to her. "Just let F.R.I.D.A.Y. know what music you like and you'll be set"

She smiled at Bruce knowing he was worried. She nodded and went back to her room.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y?" she whispered her voice was hoarse and sounded tired. She was thankful that Bruce and Tony were able to save her voice.

"Yes, Miss Evelyn?" The AI answered

"Can you make a playlist?", Evelyn gestured towards the headphones clumsily and feeling stupid when she realized what she had done.

"Yes Miss, what would the title of the playlist be?" the AI asked

"Bad Brain," Evelyn smiled at herself for the inside joke between her and her little sister - one thought she had forgotten

"Of course, you can use the tablet in the room to add songs, Miss," F.R.I.D.A.Y instructed.

Evelyn grabbed the tablet and started to walk to the common room for some food and some new scenery. 

-------

Sitting in the kitchen in the same spot as before; drinking a glass of water and picking at a bowl of fruit, she added songs to the playlist. There was so much music she missed but knew piano music and covers would keep her calm and happy. They had always worked when she was a kid.

She put the headphones on and pushed the on button on the side.  An instant later the headphones were filled with the calming keys of a piano and strings of a violin. She walked down the hall to the elevator and saw the buttons showing each Avengers floor. The buttons were color-coated instead of marked specifically. She chose the first floor without the colors.

Stepping off the elevator Evelyn noticed she had made it to a large bar and party room. Her eyes lit up when she saw the piano and made her way toward it smiling. She barely knew how to play but she missed music and sound. The past years were filled with so much pain and loss she never thought she would have the chance to breathe fresh air.

Evelyn sat down slowly on the bench and looked at the keys. She could tell this grand piano wasn't played very much but it had been well taken care of. She slowly pressed the keys waking them up as a song came over the headphones that made her smile; My Heart Will Go On. Evelyn removed one headphone to hear both the music and the piano. She started slowly with the song and remembered teaching herself the buttons when she was in school; she didn't know the whole song but she pressed the keys to try and figure it out while humming along per Bruce's instructions to get her vocal cords working again.

"I haven't heard that song in forever," a voice behind her said startling Evelyn "Oh dear I'm sorry!"

Evelyn jumped up and nearly fell over. Maybe my legs aren't 100% after all. She turned around to see a smiling redhead.

"My name is Pepper; I'm so sorry for scaring you. I thought you heard me come up. I have missed the piano playing but it's far and few between," she ended

"Evie", she replied quietly "thank you for my flowers".

"Of course, we are happy to have you. I'm glad to hear at least a little of your voice. Bruce said your surgery went well," Pepper said, taking in the young woman in front of her, noticing her shirt. "Please tell me that Tony did not only get you shirts with his face on them."

Evelyn looked at the woman and slowly nodded her head. She wasn't going to lie to this woman but she knew Tony was in for it.

"That man! Ugh, I apologize. He likes to prank not only the new people but torment the rest of the team." Pepper stepped forward "I'm going to have someone take your measurements and then do some shopping for you. Whatever you don't like we will return."

Evelyn shook her head, "Thank you that's so kind but I have no way of repaying you," saying even quieter than she thought. Another thing she was going to have to figure out; was how to repay their kindness.

"Honey, did I say anything about you paying me back? Besides this will all be on Tony's credit card - hopefully he learns his lesson. Conceited ass." She ends and extends a hand to Evelyn who gently takes it.