Time Unchanging

Chapter 54

Eva gave a dark smirk as she lifted Nat into the air, saying, "Do you know how often I've daydreamed about this? Watching you suffer?"

Nat's eyes were about to roll into the back of her head as she struggled to say, "I-I can't breathe."

Loki, having been in the same situation, pulled Eva's arm down, forcing her to drop the Widow. Nat's coughs could be heard but she was being ignored.

"Stop!" Loki demanded, fighting more flashbacks that threatened to overtake him.

"Don't tell me you don't want this, Mischief," Eve said in a dark tone.

Was I like this when I attacked New York? Loki wondered, fearing for his friend. Hell, he was afraid of her for a moment. I can't let her go down that path too. I don't know if I'd be able to save her.

"To see her pay for everything she has done to us," Eve continued.

"This isn't you, Eva!" Loki replied before calming down some. "I've been where you are. I've felt what you feel. All I know is," he gasped, trying to keep the tears from spilling over, "I just want you to be okay."

Eva's temper grew. "You want this as much as me! Why are you stopping me?"

"Because you're better than this."

Eva let a single tear fall. "What if I'm not?"

"I know you are, Eva." Loki gave her a small smile, seeing Eva decide that killing the Widow was not a good idea at that moment.

Nat tried to keep pushing, asking, "Are you really going to listen to such a weak God?"

Eva turned to the imprisoned woman, growling, "Don't make me change my mind, Romanoff."

"Don't," Loki said, turning himself and Eva away from the cell. "She isn't worth our time anymore."

As Loki, Eva, and Hank left, Nat raged at them. She hit the cell walls like a mad woman and yelled every obscenity she could think of in every language she knew until neither of them could hear her anymore. It took everything in Eva not to turn around and finish what she started. Though, Loki's firm grasp on her shoulders would have made it difficult as well.

"Sorry that I froze in there," Hank said. "Everything took me by surprise."

"It's not your fault, Hank," Eva said. "I don't usually get that angry. I honestly don't know where it came from. All I could think about was getting revenge on her for what she did."

"Revenge isn't all it's cracked up to be," said Loki. "Trust me."

"You know I do, Mischief." Eva shared a smile with her best friend as they made their way back to the team.