Everly || Steve Rogers

48. Two Enhanced

Explosions filled the sky and sent debris flying through the air. Everly loosened her grip around Steve's waist as Thor soared overhead, landing on the guard tower above. She jumped from the back of the motorcycle and rolled to her feet as he continued farther into the woods. Hulk raced past her, catching a car that had been tossed through the air. Her heart quickened as she took out a guard or two. She bounded forward a few steps before latching onto the armored car Nat was driving. Clint was perched up top shooting down anyone in their way.

Natasha slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel to the right, launching the three over the roadblock to the guards that awaited them. Thor and Hulk leapt over, Tony whizzed by beside them, and Steve jumped the barrier on his bike. 

There they were in all their glory: The Avengers... and Everly. Despite having been with them since the beginning, she didn't feel like a hero. She'd done horrible things for which she would probably never forgive herself. What place does someone like that have on a team of heroes?

Everly plunged her fist into the face of one HYDRA guard as she dropped to the ground. The man fell to the snow covered dirt in a heap and she spun behind a tree when a pulse of blue flew past her face. She sprung forward, locking her legs around the torso of another soldier and throwing him to the ground. A deep breath pushed past her lips and a few snowflakes landed softly on her eyelashes. The beauty of the winter forest around them perfectly contrasted the raging battle brewing within.

"Shit!" Tony shouted through her earpiece as she started toward more gunfire.

"Language!" Steve returned. She let out the smallest of laughs as she slipped to her back to avoid a few bullets. She pushed off of her hands, sending her feet barreling into the guard's chest.

"Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?" She asked as she rose to her feet and rubbed her freezing hands together. Her heavy breaths formed in clouds before her face. There was hardly a moment's hesitation before receiving her answer.

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken." He finished. 

After the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D., they had all been bouncing from place to place eliminating any HYDRA base left standing in an attempt to locate Loki's scepter. Part of her hoped to find Bucky hidden away somewhere along the way, while another part dreaded the possibility of stumbling across him. If they found him, that meant he was once again subject to HYDRA's torment. If they found him, that meant the tiniest sliver of their Bucky that had shone through The Winter Soldier's rough exterior was gone.

Everly jumped when Thor crashed to ground beside her, wasting no time in slamming his hammer into the nearing guards. "Loki's scepter must be here." He held out his hand to receive the hammer he'd thrown, but pulled away at the last second. It flew past him, taking out the HYDRA soldier Everly was fighting behind him. She huffed and rested her hands on her hips as her chest heaved. He made everything look easy. "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." He met Everly's eyes and she stepped aside when the magical hammer came soaring past her face, planting itself perfectly in the god's hand. "At long last." He grumbled.

"'At long last' is lasting a little long boys." Natasha's voice crackled through the device in Everly's ear.

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise." Clint returned.

"Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said, 'language?'" Tony interrupted.

"I know." Steve responded annoyedly. Everly smiled to herself and watched as Steve hurled the motorcycle over his head into an oncoming truck. He stood up straight and sighed. "Just slipped out." He breathed, his gaze flicking to Everly as she drew nearer. She frowned when his face fell and his posture stiffened. He hesitated a moment before chucking his shield in her direction. Her eyes grew wide as she jumped into the air and flipped around. The ground rose up to meet her feet and she drew in a deep breath at the sight of a few guards that had been running up behind her. One was struck with the shield, but the other continued on his rampage. Steve's shield bounced off a tree to her left and she snatched it from the air, smashing it into the man's face.