Everly || Steve Rogers

12. Shield Shopping

"Emission signature is unusual. Alpha and beta ray neutral. Though I doubt Rogers picked up on that." Howard smirked and stole a glance behind him at his lab assistant. He returned his focus to the glowing blue shard on the opposite side of the glass before him. His eyebrows knitted together as he studied it intensely. Everly was leaned up against the back wall as she watched from a distance. She had seen the damage those weapons could do and knew better than to mess with it.

"It's gonna blow up." She blurted.

"Seems harmless enough. Hard to see what all the fuss is about." Howard leaned in, bringing a robotic pair of arms down to touch the shard. Everly jumped as the glass wall burst, sending fragments flying through the room. Howard was tossed backward where he slid to a stop across the ground. She rushed over to him as a groan escaped his lips, her eyes raking over his disheveled appearance.

"Are you okay?" She hurried.

He looked over at his assistant, who too had been thrown across the room. "Write that down." He said before his head fell back to the floor.

"I told you it was gonna blow up." Everly scoffed. She helped them clean up the lab, and was sweeping shards of glass from the floor when Howard came up behind her.

"He'll take care of this," He said nonchalantly, gesturing to his lab partner who frowned and rolled his eyes. "I need you to go find Rogers. He should've been here by now." She nodded slowly as he plucked the broom from her hands and ushered her toward the door.

Everly let out a sigh as she started down the hall to find Steve. Her eyes fell to her shoes, watching each step she took. The sound of papers hitting the floor was heard around the corner, capturing her attention. She peered around a bookshelf to see just the man she was looking for. Her stomach sunk to her feet at the sight before her. A blonde woman had her fingers wrapped tightly around his brown tie. He leaned into her, not at all trying to pull away. As they kissed. Everly's mouth fell open in surprise. There stood her best friend, the one who could barely form a full sentence around a woman, as he made out with one.

She'd seen the looks exchanged between he and Peggy, and here he was, as if he'd never laid eyes on her. Everly cleared her throat awkwardly and brought a hand up to cover her eyes. After a few seconds of continued silence, she peeked between the cracks in her fingers and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Captain!" Steve quickly broke the kiss, his eyes wide as his hand flew to wipe the lipstick from his mouth. "We're ready for you, if you're not otherwise occupied." She huffed, staring at her friend for a moment before shaking her head lightly and spinning back around. Steve was fast to chase after her, his quickening footsteps tapping against the concrete floor.

"Everly wait."

"What were you thinking?" She mumbled as she ran a hand down her face.

"Evie that's not what you thought it was." He hurried to tuck the tie back into his shirt.

"I don't think anything, Captain, not one thing." He paused, the name sounding foreign in her voice. Never had she called him Captain as everyone else did. To her, he was just Steve. "Besides, it's not me you owe an explanation to." Everly sassed. "You always wanted to be a soldier and now you are, just like the rest." She regretted the words as soon as they rolled off her tongue. He froze, his demeanor changing entirely.

"Like you have room to talk, what about you and Stark? How do we know you two haven't been fondue-ing?" She turned to look at him, her face scrunched up in confusion. She scoffed, realization dawning upon her. Howard and Peggy walked up behind them and Howard opened his mouth as if to speak.

"Really, Steve?" She rolled her eyes, leaving him with Howard. Peggy looked between the two friends oddly before starting after Everly, who peeked over her shoulder. Steve's bright blue eyes bore into her own, a pleading expression on his face. She glanced back over at Peggy, ultimately deciding to keep his dirty little secret just that: a secret. He may have done something stupid, but he would have to be the one to spill when the time was right.