EVELYN

III

BUCKY BARNES
PRESENT

Everyone was smiling as I finished the story, they all wanted to know more but I knew I had to speak to Steve so I promised to tell them more tomorrow. I knew Steve was finished with the girl when I saw her leave his room with tear stained cheeks, fixing her dress. She avoided my eyes as she walked past me and to the elevator.

I knocked on Steve's door, not waiting for a response before entering. When I walked in he was pulling on his jeans, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Can we talk? Please?" My voice was barely audible but thanks to his Super-Soldier hearing, he nodded and gestured for me to sit on his bed with him. It was quiet while I searched for the right words or even the right way to start this conversation.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Evelyn, I was going to but then she died and well I couldn't speak about her. It hurt too much," I whisper. I still remember that feeling of my heart being torn out when they announced her dead. They said that her family never wanted anything to do with her. So they buried her in Austria.

Our marriage was legalised before she died but the army never knew because we told no one. By the time Colonel Phillips would've found out, I would've been gone too. I never had the chance to visit her grave during the war, all I know is that she was caught in the crossfire after trying to help a soldier who tried to create peace between the two armies. She tried to save his life before the enemies started to throw grenades rather than sticking to guns.

"Do you know who killed her?" Steve asks, sharing the grief with me. I shake my head wishing to reverse the past.

"I found out that the soldier she tried to save was apart of Hydra, he survived thanks to her but they must have known she was your wife. She wasn't supposed to be on the battle field but they organised it all. According to files they pre-planned taking you and they knew she would be a distraction, I guess," Steve explained.

"How'd you know?"

"Shield files. Hydra files," Steve paused, "When I went back in time to dance with Peggy I asked her about Evelyn and she told me everything she knew."

"Is that what made you come back?" I ask. Never once have I asked why he changed his mind but now seems like the right time.

He shook his head, "No. But that made me finalize the decision. Evelyn was our best friend during the war and I know that she wouldn't want us to be separated."

Steve placed his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze.

"I wish we could bring her back. I should've convinced her to stay at the camp," I regret letting her go, but I never wanted to be a controlling Husband, ever.

Steve let out a broken laugh, "And you really think she would've listened to you punk? She hated being told what to do, especially by a man."

I laughed with him, "I remember you telling her that she shouldn't go out one night because the bar 'wasn't a place a woman should go' and when she went out she told all the girls to stay away from you."

"She even got some of them to pour their drinks on me," Steve chuckled, placing his head in his hands.

"And at the end of the night she called you a 'sexist son of a bitch'," I wiped my tears from my eyes. I wasn't sure if they were happy or sad.

Steve and I spent hours reminiscing on old war memories, most of them were to do with Evelyn and others were of the Howling Commandos. The two of us were awake until early hours in the morning before falling asleep in Steve's bed as we would do most nights.