Resilient

Chapter 36

When Evelyn finally awoke she kept her eyes closed to not raise the alarm she was conscious. She tried to push her power out to sense if anyone else was in the room with her but it came in wisps. She bore down and while the power still only came in wisps she used the wisp as an arrow; directing it through the room until she had touched every corner and didn't touch anything.

She opened her eyes and felt her heart sink. The room was exactly the same as where Hydra held her before; even the bed and the restraints were the same. She took a deep breath to prevent the panic from setting in. She rubbed her thumb over the ring and said a silent prayer of thanks that Nat had talked her into getting the easily ignored tracker. Closing her eyes again she tried to think back to when she was taken. Her neck was tender from the shot; she made a mental note to have Natasha teach her how to defend herself from that if she ever got out of here. "No, not if; when," Evelyn thought to herself. Having negative thoughts wouldn't help the situation. She then focused on trying to remember her assailant; she had been injected before she saw their face. Evelyn focused on the sound of her name from their mouth; it was male and sounded like he was trying to disguise it.

As Evelyn laid with her eyes shut trying to go through her other senses the lock of the door clicked and she heard the metal grating of it swinging open. And she was hit with the smell of cologne;a scent she recognized.

"Fantastic job Mr. Martin. I was worried you would not keep your promise," the Doctor said as he neared her bed. Evelyn steeled her nerves and made her body look as if she was still unconscious.

"Of course not Doctor. I live to serve Hydra," Jacob said further away. "I was worried she would wake up during transport so I gave her additional sedatives, my apologies."

"It is better for her to arrive unharmed than damaged from trying to escape, Mr. Pierce would not be happy with seeing his bride injured," the Doctor said as he brushed a hair from Evelyn's face; she nearly vomited at the contact. "We will need to proceed quickly with the plan before the Soldiers arrive to retrieve them."

"What do I need to do to help?" Jacob said and Evelyn could sense him next to the Doctor.

"You need to focus on ensuring the Avengers do not find out our location before I can give the Bride's their final dose and wipe their memory - something I should have done before this whole incident."

"We are under orders to not wipe their memory. It could affect their powers," Jacob said sternly to the Doctor.

"Do not talk to me as you would your lessers Mr. Martin. I am still your superior until the decision is final." the Doctor said as he turned away from the table and towards the door. "I am going to give them an increased dose of the serum to negate the side effects of the memory wiping - we can't have Mrs. Pierce here running back to the Winter Soldier now can we?" As he ended his sentence he opened the door and left.

"Don't worry Evie, I am working to get this all fixed," Jacob said as he grabbed her hand gently.

Evelyn took the opportunity to let her eyes flutter open and looked at Jacob through what she hoped were glazed eyes. "Jacob?"

"It's okay Evie, I'm here," Jacob said, squeezing her hand slightly.

"Where are we? How did I get here?" Evelyn said her voice was hoarse. Natasha would be proud of her, she thought.

"You are back on the Hydra base," Jacob said and continued when Evelyn's eyes got large. "Don't worry it won't be like before I'm here. I am working to get this all figured out and have you back with me."

"I don't understand," Evelyn said with confusion clear on her face "Are you working for SHIELD or Hydra?"

"I am a double agent implanted by Hydra at SHEILD for the last 5 years," Jacob said, taking a chair and putting it by her bed. "I was assigned the job shortly before you were taken; all these years I thought you were gone. I thought I had doomed you when I told them about your empath abilities. But no, you were here as part of the program."

Evelyn stared at him trying to comprehend what he was saying. He had told Hydra about her empath abilities; even after his consistent judgment that they weren't real when she tried to talk to him about it. He had turned her in after he broke off their engagement; or did he end the engagement because he turned her in. She couldn't speak.

"I am about to become part of the Soldier program and then I will fight to claim you as my bride and we will finally be together," Jacob said, rubbing her hand with his thumb. "I won't let anyone hurt you - I even took care of the guy who grabbed you at the party."

"Wh- what?" was all Evelyn could reply.

"I'll explain it all later. You need to rest - I won't tell the Doctor you're awake yet so you have time to compose yourself before they give you your serum," Jacob said, rising and going to the door.

"Jacob don't let them take my memories - they are all I have left," Evelyn said, trying to reach the man she once loved. When he didn't reply and only looked at her she attempted a final time to use their past to sway him, "what if I forget about us?"

"Don't worry Evie - maybe it will be for the best. Then we can start off new and you won't have to remember all the bad things from when we were kids," Jacob said as he opened the door and left.

Evelyn clenched her fists and fought the urge to scream. "Giant selfish piece of shit," she thought to herself. She began to focus on her power to try and wake it back up as the drug wore off. She wasn't going to let them take her memories without a fight. She wouldn't forget her parents or Grace. She wouldn't let them take her memories of the Avengers away.