Time Unchanging

Chapter 28

⚠️TW: Kidnapping⚠️

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He pulled back and looked at her. This was his world, his everything. She needed to let him fight for her, to protect her. He was the man with a shield, and dammit, he was going to use it to keep Eva safe.

"Let me protect you, princess," he whispered to her.

She smiled up at him. She saw the same desire in his eyes that was in her heart. She couldn't deny him anything when he looked at her like she was the air he breathed and the ground he walked upon and every other gift bestowed upon this Earth.

She said, "Fine, but only if you don't take on too much."

He scoffed, "When do I do that?"

Tony interjected, "Every time you say you can do something all day. Now, let's go have a team meeting."

"You guys go," she said, chuckling. "I have to go shopping. It shouldn't take more than an hour. Two at the most." She headed toward the door. "See you soon."

"Sounds good," Steve replied, stopping her. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful. Bye, love you!"

With that, she was out of the compound. She went to a nearby convenient store. Realizing what she needed would be more than she could carry, she knew she would have to call someone. As much as she hated it, she got ready to call Steve when someone stopped in her path down one of the aisles.

"Hey," Nat said. "You're looking flustered."

"Oh," Eva said, feeling uneasy. "Well, I can't drive, so I walked here, but I need help getting everything home."

"I have to go back anyway. I forgot something in my room. I can take you."

"Okay. I mean, it's close by, so that should be fine."

"Great." There was some silence as Eva finished up the shopping and walked to the Widow's car. "So, I need to apologize."

"It's okay, Nat. This vacation will be a big help. I know it."

"You misunderstand." It was strange that Nat's voice was coming from behind Eva.

"What do you mean?" Eva's heart began to race and she began to pick up her pace.

"I need to apologize for this."

The next thing she knew, Eva was screaming into a cloth, the cart with the shopping took off towards the curb and dumped onto the ground, and she couldn't break free of Nat's hold.

The last thing she remembered before her world went black was Nat saying, "We'll be at our new home soon, любовь - love."

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The team sat in the meeting room. Tony took the first five minutes to explain that Nat would be on vacation for a while, and Thor informed the team that Loki had escaped Asgard and was hiding on Earth. This didn't sit well with the Avengers, especially when told that Heimdall couldn't locate him. Then, the meeting continued.

However, after a while, Bucky looked at Steve and asked, "What time is it?"

This worried both the super soldiers as Steve said, "It's almost five."

"Eva isn't back yet."

Steve stood up and began to pace. All kinds of scenarios ran through his head.

That is, until Tony replied, "Guys, she went shopping. I'm sure she's fine. Let's-"

This pissed off Steve, who said, "It's been four hours! She would have called."

That alerted Tony. If it had been anyone else, he'd have waited a full twenty-four hours before looking. But they knew Eva. This was unlike her.

"Does she understand the modern technology you use?" Thor asked, remembering how Eva was from a different time.

"Enough to use a cellphone," Steve answered, "just in case."

Bucky gripped the arms of his chair as he added, "If she's running late, she'd have told us."

Wanda looked between the two super soldiers and inquired, "You think something happened?"

Steve looked around the room before he responded, "I know it did. We have to find her."