Time Unchanging

Chapter 128

Sitting on a cot outside, Steve just looked out across the empty field they waited in. His eyes were red from holding in tears. He had bandages all along his arms, torso, and legs. One nasty cut required stitches. Bruce had gone to help set up the jet with Eva so that they could leave as soon as possible.

No one bothered him for a while, which he didn't mind. He barely acknowledged Nat being dragged onto the jet, cussing out the team as she fought and threatened Bucky. He wanted to ignore Tony telling everyone he made the on-board cell soundproof and installed nanotech into the glass to tint it so they didn't have to look at her if they didn't want to. Steve just took in the fresh air and the sight of the open world around him.

Still, he had to face riding in an enclosed space. Stop it, he chastised himself. It was a week. You've been in similar rooms for longer on missions. You've endured worse to save lives. What happened to you was nothing.

He jumped up and walked in. He sat on a bench hard and stared at the floor. Eva sat next to him, lacing her fingers through his. He refused to look at her. She and Loki suffered. You didn't.

"Stevie?" Eva asked in a worried tone, drawing him out of his head. "Are you okay?"

A single tear fell as he replied, "I'm fine, baby. Just a little banged up."

She didn't need her powers to know he was lying. "What did she do to you?"

He looked at her, determined to say it out loud to make it real. "Nothing compared to what you and Loki suffered." It's nothing... nothing...

She moved so that she knelt in front of him, holding both hands. "Don't shut me out, Stevie. What happened to you matters."

He sighed, knowing she was doing what Bucky had done for her and Loki. "Aside from beating me, she kept telling me what she did to you and what her plans were."

He shuddered at the memories. She didn't just use fists or a metal bat to hurt him. She also enjoyed the whip. She had only just started when she received word of the Avengers arriving at the abandoned factory. The cuts were still fresh, so stitching them was difficult due to the blood making his skin slick and sticky at the same time.

"Oh, Stevie," Eva said, hugging him tightly but carefully. "It's okay now."

Steve held her with all the strength he could muster, tears freefalling as he replied, "I'm never letting you go again, baby. Never." What happened to me matters to her. It matters.

When they pulled back, neither could help themselves. He pulled her up and onto his lap as he gave her a passionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers tangled into his hair. He moved her so that she straddled him, his hand on her hip pulling her in as close as possible so that his hardening member could be felt through her suit.

Loki had come to check on everything as the last of the team was returning and paused at the doors, stating, "I did not need to see that."

"Why do you think I'm in the front of the jet?" Bucky yelled back, a drink in hand and his feet propped up on the edge of the console.

Clint came up and knocked his legs down, saying, "Not driving. Move the hell out of my seat, Barnes."

That gave everyone a small chuckle as they took their spots. They all hoped that this would be the end of the Death Widow's vendetta against them, but caution played in the back of the Avengers' minds.