Time Unchanging

Chapter 87

Eva and Loki left the group to talk. They acted as if everything was normal after that, but someone had their suspicions. The twins could feel eyes watching them throughout the rest of the night. So, once everyone had gone to bed, they decided to make their move.

"Are you sure about this, Eva?" Loki asked as they made their way to the hanger. "Once we do this, there's no going back. It's not something to take lightly."

"Yes," she answered in a whisper. "Now, quiet!"

They had a plan. They didn't want to have anyone else get hurt going after Nat. They didn't plan on letting her walk out of her hole alive if they could help it, and they would die before they got captured by her again.

Loki was a little giddy about the whole thing. Not only was he eager to end the Widow, but the sense of freedom was near.

"I can't believe we are doing this!" he giggled. "To finally be free from her-"

"Mischief, I said to shut up," Eva whisper yelled.

They finally got to the hangar door. When Eva went to put in the code, someone came out of the shadows, causing the pair to jump and hold each other. Even after all this time, when they were together, it was their way of coping with fear. Together, they were stronger.

"You two aren't stealthy," came a gruff voice.

The pair pulled apart as Eva chuckled and said, "H-hey, Bucky."

"Don't 'Hey, Bucky' me!"

Eva dropped any pretense. "Okay, look. You can either help us-"

"Or you can get out of our way," Loki finished. "No matter your decision, we are going after her."

Bucky sighed, feeling like he was explaining himself to children, and said, "I know how assassins think. More importantly, the team knows how she thinks. We said no for a reason."

Eva gave a snicker as she replied, "And what part of this whole situation told you we cared?"

Loki gave a dark smile as he added, "It will be fun paying her back. This time, I know we have to end her life."

If Loki had tried to do the right thing before, now he was ready to get dirty. He was willing to make New York look like a day at the kiddy park. Bucky saw a dark resolve in them. He knew he couldn't talk them out of wanting Nat dead, but he couldn't let them go like this; unprepared, no plan, and a desire for revenge.

"Eva," the one-armed man pleaded, "don't do this. This is what she wants. The two of you coming to her. It's a trap."

Eva and Loki knew he was right, but they didn't want to back down. Not when they were so close.

"And what would you have me do, huh?" Eva countered. "I have to be part of the reason she is taken down."

Loki put his hand on her shoulder as he said, "We both do. It won't seem real until we finally see her on OZ or dead."

"I understand," Bucky sympathized. "I do. But there's a better way. We start planning tomorrow. We will get her."

"And if you don't?" Loki asked, unable to take the promise at face value. "If she continues to escape and torment us?"

Eva added, "We can't rely on the Avengers. Look at what happened to Clint."

Children had been taken hostage because of them. What if something happened to one of their other friends? Or the people they cared about? Eva and Loki didn't want to risk it.

Bucky looked his long-time friend in the eyes and inquired, "Do you trust me, Eva?"

The question took Eva off guard and she asked, "What?"

"I said, do you trust me?"

There was no hesitation in Eva's voice, just sadness that she made him question their bond. "You know I do."

Bucky gave a nod. "When the time is right, trust me to have your back. HYDRA, Her, and every other asshole terrorist that come for our family will fear us three, okay?"

He wasn't afraid to bring out the Winter Soldier if it meant keeping his found family safe. He would do anything to protect them, especially Eva, Steve, Sam, and even Loki. They all had a connection of some kind and he wasn't going to allow anyone to tear them apart. Sure he didn't know Loki like the others, but he understood him all the same.

Bucky saw the same kind of ruthlessness in Loki that was in him. And Eva, who may have had a mean streak before, had developed the same kind of resolve. It was something only pain like they had suffered could cultivate. They were willing to kill. Bucky knew Loki could do it, but only time would tell if Eva would be willing to cross the same line the dark-haired men had been made to traverse.

"You'd really help?" Eva inquired, drawing Bucky out of his head.

"Why?" Loki asked, not having the same faith in the super soldier his sister did.

"Because I've been there," Bucky responded. "It has to stop, but not like this."

Loki looked the other man over. "Ooh. If only we bother were single."

The statement shocked Bucky into silence. It was only when the siblings started laughing did he realize it was a joke. He escorted them back to their rooms. He stayed up a little longer to make sure the pair didn't try to sneak out again before he went to bed himself.