Time Unchanging

Chapter 127

Using her magic, Eva blasted open the doors to the house, saying, "I'm not waiting." She stomped through, determination written on her face. "Let's go!"

Tony's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he whispered to Bucky and Loki, "Your sister is terrifying!"

Loki stared after her, knowing the path she was going down, but unsure of what to say or do to prevent the dark turn she was heading towards. Bucky, however, ran to catch up to Eva. He knew exactly what she was doing, despite how well she was hiding it even from them.

"Eva," he said, blocking her path, "you need to calm down."

Enraged, Eva replied, "You can't be serious! Who knows what that bitch is doing to Steve!"

There it was. Guilt. Pain. All of it. He pulled her into a hug. Taking a life for the first time was never easy. It didn't matter if it was an order made by a superior officer, a kidnapper, self-defense, or accidental. The image of that person would always be the clearest.

Bucky had dozens of faces and names playing in his head on his bad days, but that first person, an unnamed enemy soldier from WWII, would always play in high definition. He was the first in a long line and Bucky swore that his blood would never come off his hands. It didn't matter if they believed the cause they were fighting for, or if they had been forced into service. He had taken a life, and all because someone told him to. For many, that is the life of a soldier. For Bucky, it was just the beginning of the end. He would never be James Barnes from that day on. He would be Seargent Barnes until he fell from a train, the Winter Soldier until he was deprogrammed, and a fugitive until pardoned. Now, he was Bucky Barnes, White Wolf, and brother to Loki and Eva. But the road there was paved with the blood of innocents and damned alike.

Seeing the same emotions amok in his sister, the self-hatred for taking a life that may or may not have deserved it, he pulled Eva into a hug. She was stiff, almost cold to him, but he didn't let her go.

"We have time for you to process, sis," he said. "Don't mask the shock you just suffered."

"But-" she started to argue.

"Breath. Steve needs you to have a clear head. If all that's playing is that-"

She gave a quick nod. "I understand."

That was the good thing about their bond. It didn't take many words for the three of them to get the point. Bucky wished someone had told him it was okay to break. But he bottled it all up until it became normal.

Eva took a shaky breath. Tears fell as the weight of what happened to her was being acknowledged. Everyone else on the team got ready to charge in. Only Loki went to his siblings to take Eva's hand in solidarity. He also understood the strain she was suffering, and would not leave her alone as she came to terms.

When she pulled back, the burden hadn't changed, nor had her determination. But there was purpose again. Yes, she could kill, but she didn't have to. She could let Valentina be the only one. Bucky and Loki knew that the odds of that happening were slim, considering their line of work, but if they could make it easier on Eva, and make sure that any deaths that followed were justified, perhaps she would survive what almost crushed her brothers.

"Let's bring Stevie home," she said, turning back to the seemingly empty house.

Loki stayed back with most of the team, having them scout the perimeter for hidden traps and agents. He wanted to help look, but he couldn't bring himself to go in further than he had for Eva. His siblings understood and allowed Tony to join them.

The thought of what Steve was suffering helped Eva fight and win against the flashbacks. Using her magic again, she found and destroyed many traps, rendering them useless. She didn't want to trigger them in case they could explode or injure someone, and she wasn't about to leave them where an animal or innocent bystander could wander in and be killed.

While searching, Eva entered a room. Before Bucky or Tony could join her, the door shut and locked behind her.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, hitting the iron door. "Not again!"

Out of the shadows, the Death Widow emerged, saying, "You came. Such a good girl."

Eva clenched her fists, turning toward the source of her nightmares. "Where's Steve?"

A light turned on in a cell behind Nat. Beaten and slightly drugged to leave him weak, Steve sat chained to a metal chair. Eva had to fight her reaction to run to the glass, crying and begging for his release. She stood in shock, however, at the sight of what her tormentor had done to a super soldier.

"Evelyn?" Steve asked, his voice strained with fear for his fiance. "You shouldn't be here!"

Nat unlocked the door as she said, "As promised, I will leave Loki alone." She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Steve's head. "And release Steve from this world."

There was the catch. Death Widow had no intention of keeping her end of the bargain. Eva knew people like her far too well. Give them an inch, they take a mile. But this was one stretch Eva was not going to let Nat walk away from.

Eva threw up a barrier around Steve as she yelled, "Don't you touch him."

Nat turned to the amethyst-haired woman, keeping her gun ready, and said, "But we can't be happy if he's still alive, любовь - love."

Eva had enough and used her powers to throw the Death Widow into a concrete pillar. "Shut up!"

Nat hit hard, landing so that the wind was knocked out of her. Eva ran to Steve's side, her powers breaking the chains around Steve. She helped him stand, glad to be a super soldier herself as he held on to her.

"Baby, are you okay?" he asked, his dirt-covered hand running over her face and arms as if he couldn't believe she was standing in front of him.

Eva opened her mouth to say she was fine, but the look of worry on Steve's face stopped the lie in her throat. She swallowed, giving him a sad smile as she looked into his cerulean eyes and moved a hand to cup his cheek.

"I'll tell you when we get home," she promised before blasting the door open. "Let's get you home, huh?"

Bucky and Tony came in. Seeing Steve almost carried by Eva, Tony went to work on restraining the Death Widow. Bucky gave a look that told the couple how bad Steve's injuries looked.

"Get him to the jet," Bucky ordered. "Stark and I will get her."

Eva gave a sharp nod and helped Steve through Widow's lair. She felt him stiffen slightly when passing a room, and she knew Steve's torment had begun there. The abandoned factory had been a rouse. He had been a prisoner for a week in that hell. A hell she had hoped he would never have to see. A hell shared by Eva and Loki.

Once they reached the door, she paused for a moment. She knew Steve. He'd want to walk out on his own, no matter how weak or injured. He also needed a moment to savor the sense of freedom. She wanted to weep, reliving her own escape again and how amazing the wind felt after a year. Steve felt the suppressed sobs shaking her. Taking her hand, they walked out together.