Everly || Steve Rogers

25. Shawarma

"Are you okay?" He asked again, though she had a feeling he wasn't asking about the grazed shoulder.

Everly furrowed her eyebrows as Steve's voice rang through her head. She looked around oddly, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry." She brought her right hand up to the locket still clipped around her neck. Neither looked up at the other and a silence filled the tent.

She pushed herself off the ground and shook her head, trying to free her thoughts from the voices that rattled around her mind. 

She let out a shaky breath and her heart fluttered as she met his eyes. "Thank you, Steve."

The sound of movement behind her made her freeze in place. To her surprise, the sound too stopped. She reached for her gun and spun around, aiming straight ahead of her. Her eyes instantly met Steve's bright blue ones and her arm fell back to her side.

 She remembered him.

Everly stumbled forward with wide eyes. Steve looked at her strangely, his gaze finally landing on her blood soaked leg. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. She didn't respond, she couldn't. She limped toward him, ignoring the searing pain that accompanied each step. The pistol slipped from her fingertips, clattering to the pavement, but she didn't care. "Eve?" She stopped just before him and looked up into those incredible, blue eyes. With a final step forward, she fell into him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. He froze, not knowing what to do. A tear rolled down her cheek and she let out a quiet sob.

"I remember you." She whispered. A moment of silence passed between the two before Everly felt him return the hug. She rested her head against his chest and tuned in to the steady beating of his heart. She needed proof that he was real, that he was alive and well, and standing before her. "You're alive." She breathed, more to herself. Steve remained silent, unable to find the words. He simply held her tight, afraid that if he let go, she would slip away again.

"This is nice." Thor appeared behind them as he bashed the heads of two chitauri against one another. "But do you think maybe it could wait?" Everly giggled and wiped away a stray tear as she let go of Steve, who smiled and shook his head lightly.

"I can close it." Natasha's voice crackled through Everly's earpiece. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down." 

Steve finally pried his gaze from his best friend and held a hand to his earpiece. "Do it!"

"No, wait." Tony objected.

"Stark, these things are still coming." Steve argued. Everly found that the tiniest of smiles had made its way onto her face. She was finally able connect the dots. Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. They were practically the same person. She only wished she'd realized sooner.

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute." Steve looked to Everly worriedly. She had almost forgotten about that important detail.

"And I know just where to put it." Tony mumbled.

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Steve said sadly.

Everly looked to Steve with wide eyes. "No, there's got to be another way." She peered into the sky and watched as Tony whizzed by overhead. He was latched onto the missile, directing it using his thrusters. Just before crashing into Stark tower, he shot straight up into the air and through the portal. He was gone in the blink of an eye.

Everly took a few steps forward, her eyes locked on the hole in the sky. "No, no, no." She mumbled. "Come on Tony." Steve and Thor braced themselves as chitauri began surrounding them, but they all suddenly collapsed. Giant space worms fell from the sky and shook the earth as the met the concrete. But Everly never took her eyes off the portal.