Resilient

Chapter 33

Jacob walked into his dark apartment and was instantly on edge as he realized he wasn't alone. He drew his weapon and rounded the corner into his living room to see a shape seated in his armchair.

"Mr. Martin; you're finally home," the voice said as they leaned over to turn the lamp on.

"Doctor," Jacob said, nodding at the man. "I see you received my message."

"Yes, we didn't expect you to find her so quickly," the Doctor said, looking over at the man.

"You told me her name was Evelyn Pierce. The woman was Evelyn Bennet - the woman I told you about 6 years ago," Jacob said leaning against the wall looking at the man.

"Ah yes. I had forgotten you were once engaged to her. But that is in the past, no?" the Doctor asked.

"I broke off the engagement per my instructions from Hydra," Jacob said, not breaking eye contact with the man.

"Do you still have feelings for the woman?" the Doctor asked as he got up and went to the bar and poured himself a glass.

"No Sir. It was unexpected to see she was the woman you had instructed me to locate as I was under the impression her whole family had died in the fire," Jacob said, watching the man's movements.

"That is good to hear. It would be foolish of you to let school boy feelings get in the way of our plan Mr. Martin. Once you told us about her empath abilities she was observed and chosen by Richard Pierce to be his bride," the Doctor said returning to his seat.

"Understood Sir. I am glad my information helped further the Soldier program," Jacob said standing tall.

"Now we need to get Mrs. Pierce back to the compound to complete the process. Not doing the brain programming was a mistake. We need to complete the serum process and wipe her memory quickly. The longer she is with the Avengers the more work we will have to do," the Doctor said swirling his glass.

"It won't be a problem Sir," Jacob said thinking of a plan.

"Good. See that it isn't Mr. Martin. We cannot afford to send the Soldiers in to retrieve her. We are not ready to unveil our plan," the Doctor said, finishing his glass and walking towards the door.

"She will be back with us within the week," Jacob said walking behind the man. Before either opened the door the men looked at each other and saluted.

"Hail Hydra!"

-------

The next morning Evelyn was organizing the boxes on the island and smiled at all the work she accomplished.

"Morning Evelyn," Steve said walking into the kitchen.

"Morning Steve!" Evelyn said, smiling at him.

"Is Sam coming to help you with these boxes?" Steve asked, grabbing a cup of coffee.

"I don't think so. I told him I would meet him at the VA and he said he'd send a Uber to pick me up - whatever that is," Evelyn laughed.

"I have to go into the city today anyway - how about I drive you?" Steve asked, smiling at the relief on her face.

"That would be amazing! But only as long as it is on the way to where you're off to," Evelyn said, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's on the way, but even if it wasn't it wouldn't be an inconvenience to help out," Steve said, grabbing some of the boxes.

They both got on the elevator loaded up with the goodies and headed to the parking garage. Steve looked over at Evelyn and noticed she seemed tense.

"You okay Evelyn? You didn't party too hard with Nat and Wanda did you?" Steve tensed

Evelyn laughed and looked at him, "No, we had a mellow night out. We ate dinner and then did some shopping. I was probably up a little later than I should've been with them though. I think I'm just tired."

"Bucky said he finally manned up and asked you out," Steve said as they arrived in the parking garage.

A blush took over Evelyn's face as she stepped off the elevator, "Yeah."

Steve led them to a truck and opened the back door and started to put the boxes and bags in the back. "Are you excited?"

Evelyn bit her lip and nodded. "Very - but I'm pretty nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Steve asked closing the door to look at Evelyn.

"I - uh - well," Evelyn said looking at her hands

"I'm sorry if I overstepped. I just care about both of you." Steve said, opening Evelyn's door for her.

Evelyn was taken aback by Steve saying he cared for. She sat silent when Steve walked around the truck and got into his seat.

"You didn't overstep Steve," Evelyn started as Steve turned on the engine, "it's just hard to explain."

Steve nodded his head and put the truck into reverse. As they pulled out of the parking garage into the street Evelyn sighed.

"I'm scared he will realize I'm not worth it," Evelyn said, staring out the passenger window.

"Worth it? Evelyn what do you mean?" Steve asked, furrowing his brows. He didn't expect the nerves to be because of her - he had expected her to be nervous about Bucky's past.

"I remember the news stories when you rescued him. He's been through so much. He deserves easy - with me he's going to have to keep dealing with all of this," Evelyn said leaning her head on the headrest and turned towards Steve. "But I feel something with him and I'm selfish to not want to let him go."

"You guys are made for eachother," Steve said, smiling at her. "You're both worried about how your pasts will affect the other person. You both don't see what the team has seen."

Evelyn blushed at his words. Her nerves calmed slightly knowing Bucky wasn't concerned about her baggage. "And what has the team seen?"

"The glow each of you have around each other, how you have brought part of the old Bucky back, and how effortlessly you are together," Steve said, listing the items easily.

Evelyn looked at him in shock. Her heart started racing - she knew she had strong feelings for him but didn't expect he would have them as well. She especially didn't think that others noticed the pull she felt. 

"Thank you for saying those things. It's helped my nerves - some." Evelyn gave him a reassuring smile. "May I ask what you are planning on doing after you drop me off?"

"Truthfully, I don't have any plans today. I just knew Bucky would've been mad at me if I let you take an Uber. He wouldn't let my girl get in the car with a stranger and I won't let his," Steve said, winking at her.

"His girl huh?" Evelyn asked, smiling at him.

"Well - I mean," Steve said, noticing he overspoke.

"It's okay Steve. I'm not the kind of girl who dates multiple guys at a time. I hope our date this week goes well and we can cross the bridge of titles soon," Evelyn said smiling.

"Good, he'd kill me for mentioning you being his girl if you were against the idea," Steve said, relieved.

"I like the idea of being his girl," Evelyn blushed, "you know you can hang out with me at the VA today. It would help my nerves to have you there. And after you can buy me lunch for losing the bet."

Steve noticed that Evelyn had no clue about her date with Bucky after her visit to the VA. He smiled - hopefully Evelyn was the kind of girl that likes surprises. "Sounds like a great day."

Evelyn smiled widely at him as they pulled up in front of the VA and parked. "Steve, thank you for being a great friend to me."

Steve smiled at her, "Of course - now let's get these treats in here and cheer up some Vets."