The Mission

Chapter Six

All color left Steve’s face. He hadn’t been prepared for that response. What should he say to that? What could he possibly say? That Bruce didn’t know what he was doing? She wouldn’t believe that because he didn’t believe that. “I’m sure he isn’t the way I remember him. The way you experienced experimentation on your body is way different than mine.”

“Yours was more like torture of a war-time criminal,” Steve supplied. Evelynn met his gaze again. There was a softness there. She recognized it and immediately berated herself for stooping so low.

“I’m not a damsel-in-distress that needs the saving of the valiant Captain America, Steve,” she huffed. “I’m…I’m…”

“A strong, beautiful woman who has had a lot happen to her recently. I don’t think you’re a helpless dame. Believe me, I’ve met plenty of those, especially after the procedure, who just want to be rescued by Captain America. You’re nothing like that. But admitting you need back-up doesn’t make you weak. An army isn’t just one man fighting; it’s platoons of men working together. That’s what makes them strong. They have back-up so that they win. I’m here to be your back-up.”

Evelynn forced a smile. /Don’t tell anyone…I’m scared. /

“Being scared makes us human. It’s okay to fear things, it’s what we do to overcome the fear that matters. I’ll tell you a secret. I was terrified when they first put me in the machine for the procedure. I wanted to serve my country so badly and I wanted to help end the war. So I didn’t let my fear consume me. When I saw the HYDRA weapons that were powered by the Tesseract for the first time, I was scared, but I had a team I had to lead into battle so I overcame my fear.”

“I never thought Captain America would be scared of something,” Evelynn conceded. “But you know what?” Steve raised his eyebrows. “I bet those HYDRA officers were way more scared when they saw Captain America storming their camps.” Both of them chuckled.

Evelynn leaned in and kissed Steve softly on the cheek. “Thank you.” Steve cupped her cheeks and kissed her fully on the lips. He slid his tongue into her mouth and explored its caverns. He pulled her closer to him so that she was practically on his lap. God, he hadn’t kissed anyone in so long.

Riinnnggg!

God dammit, Steve knew it was one of the Avengers asking for a status update. If he didn’t answer, they would send the whole squadron after them. Evelynn pulled away. “Swipe the green flashing circle across the screen gently,” she prompted.

“Hello?”

“Yes. Situation has been contained.”

“Yes sir. We’ll rendezvous back at Stark Towers in thirty minutes.”

“Understood.”

Steve hung up the phone and look apologetically at Evelynn. “Director Fury wants us back at the Tower.”

“I heard. But why did you tell him it would take us thirty minutes? We’re not that far from Stark Tower.”

“I wanted to make sure you were prepared emotionally to go back. He’ll be there, you know, and we need you for this mission. You’re our expert for all things mutant.”

“You are truly the best human being I’ve come in contact with.” She threw her arms around his neck. /And probably one of the sexiest./ Immediately Steve blushed and stammered something about them getting back to the Tower to rendezvous with the rest of the team.
***
“Are they mobilizing? What’s their target?”

“Humanity,” Natasha stated coolly. “Call it, Captain.”

“All right. You said he plays chess,” Steve nodded in Evelynn’s direction. “In chess the pawns move first, which means that we won’t be facing any of their prime players right away. We need to keep our guard up though. We’re short Hawkeye. Tony you create a perimeter in the sky. Natasha, Evelynn and I will strike here. Hulk, you wait until Loki is vulnerable and take him down. Fury, assemble the pilots in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

Just as Steve finished his commands, lightning struck. “Thor?”

The demi-god landed in front of the Avengers. “Comrades. Loki is…”

“Terrorizing Earth again,” Natasha supplied. “I thought he was answering for the first time round.”

“He can be persuasive and mother believes him.” Natasha rolled her eyes and handed an ear piece to each Avenger. The Avengers rode the elevator to the roof and entered the jet to head to West Chester County. In a few short minutes, they were hovering above the X-Mansion.

The Avengers jumped out of the low-hovering plane, one by one. Fury grabbed Evelynn’s arm before she could descend. “Remember your mission.” She nodded.