The Curious Tales of Evelyn Stark

Siberia

Evie pressed the gauze to her wound. They'd barely made it to the quinjet and were now in the air thanks to Nat. A stunning turn of events. She winced, "Shit that hurts."

James looked at her, "I'm not sure I'm worth all this."

Evie bit her lip. Her relationship with Tony was pretty well over after the air port. She'd barely survived it herself and Rhodey was in god knows what condition. She rested her head against the headrest. "You are worth it. You're an innocent man, James Barnes."

"For this at least," he muttered.

"Don't. I know that spiral. Been there myself more than once," Evie hissed, checking the wound again. She'd taken some panther claws to her side. Of course her stupid ass had tried to take on T'Challa, and she'd nearly been killed for it. "I'm going to need this stitched up Stevie."

"I can do it," James said, standing up. He went to the first aid kit where she had gotten the gauze and grabbed the suturing kit along with some gloves. "This is going to hurt."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've been stitched up on the back of a quinjet," Evie said, as she watched him put on the gloves and clean the wound. She stopped watching after that, just feeling the tugging as he sewed the wounds closed.

He put gauze over the sutures, and kissed her gently. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, "It's going to be okay, eventually for all of us."

"And your nephew?" James asked.

"Pepper left by the way," Steve stated from his place as piolet. "She got sick of this nonsense we seem to keep getting into."

"I don't blame her I'm in the middle of it and I'm sick of it," Evie said, "I get not knowing if your partner is coming home this time. If a mission is finally going to kill them. I lived that life. I had my partner not come home." Her gaze leveled on James for a moment, before looking up at Steve again. "It was hard. And I admire her strength to not want to deal with it. I couldn't do that."

James pressed a kiss to her temple, "I'm sorry for putting you through that doll."

She shrugged, "I was putting you through it as well, honestly. I'd disappear. Come back in goodness knows what state. It was different for us. We were both doing it. Only difference is you were assumed KIA. I lived through it."

Steve sighed, "We're about an hour out."

"I'm going to close my eyes and rest a bit." She closed her eyes, and her breathing evened out, almost instantly.

"I always admired her ability to fall asleep anywhere," Steve said, chuckling, "I could never do that."

"Me neither, we've all slept in worse places though," James said. They slipped into silence for a while before Steve spoke up again.

"You remember that time we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?" Steve asked.

James grinned, "Was that the time you used our train money to buy hotdogs?"

"You blew three bucks trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead, this was obviously before Evie," Steve stated, with an eye roll. She'd have their asses for this conversation.

"What was her name again?" James asked, the women before Evie were a blur. Empty dates and careless promises. No one really caught his eye for longer than a date or two before he walked into the Copacabana, to see the woman on his left sipping bourbon the same caramel color as her hair.

"Dolores. You called her Dot. Her friend had black hair she wasn't interested," Steve said laughing.

"She's gotta be a hundred years old right now," James said, laughing. Evie turned in her sleep smiling.