Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

xliii. 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎

"Nice guy, but artificial."

"Thank you."

Thor laughed as they opened the door to walk onto the lawn. He turned to face them. "If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply."

Steve looked thoughtful as he said, "But if you put the hammer in an elevator..."

"It would still go up," Tony finished.

"Elevator's not worthy," Steve said with a sigh.

Thor grinned. "I'm going to miss these little talks of ours," he said.

Tony lowered his sunglasses to look at Thor better. "Well, not if you don't leave."

"I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?"

"It's not a game, Tony," Evelyn said with a roll of her eyes and a small laugh. He grinned. "This is serious. If someone is messing with Earth, we should be prepared."

"I think I much prefer Lady Evelyn over you. She is clearly the better Stark," Thor commented with a small head bow toward Evelyn.

Evelyn winked at Tony. "Hear that? I'm better."

"You wish you were a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist like me," Tony said back with a scoff.

"Do I, though?"

Steve and Thor shared an amused look before Steve asked, "You think you can find out what's coming?"

"I do," Thor said before clapping Tony's shoulder with a smirk on his face. "Besides this one, there's nothing that can't be explained."

Thor walked forward, raising his hammer to the sky as a colorful ray of rainbow surrounded him until he disappeared along with it into the sky. In its place was a mark of Asgard singed into the grass.

Tony made a tsking sound with his tongue. "That man has no regard for lawn maintenance. I'm gonna miss him though. And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears," Tony said to Steve as he called for his car to come from the garage.

"I will miss you, Tony," Steve said as his hand rested over Evelyn's.

"Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up," Tony said as he opened the car door.

Steve nodded. "The simple life."

"You'll get there one day," Tony replied as he rolled his window down and shut the door to stare at them.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know, family, stability. The guy who wanted all that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out."

Evelyn squeezed his hand as Tony eyed him warily.

"You all right?"

"I'm home," Steve said as he glanced at the compound.

Tony's eyes drifted to Evelyn. "I expect more communication from you. Don't be a sucky aunt."

Evelyn smiled softly. "I won't be. Just let me know when you want to meet up, and I'll be there. Communication does work two ways, you know?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't be snarky. I don't deserve it."

"Yeah, right," Evelyn replied before smiling. "Be careful. Give Pepper my love."

Tony revved his engine before saluting the supersoldiers. He sped off with that, leaving the old folks to stare at the car.

Steve sighed, holding her a bit tighter as they began to walk to around the lawn of the compound. "I know you have to go," Steve said, "but I'm selfish. I don't want you to go without me."

"You're not selfish for missing your best friend," Evelyn said. "I'll work with him. He'll want to see you soon. Once I get back, I'll probably have to build trust again. He's been doing so well, and then, I had to leave. I'm worried about him."

Steve hesitated before asking, "Have you guys... talked about your relationship? I noticed the rings, of course. And the necklace—"

"We're taking things slow," Evelyn said. "He so worried about hurting me with his arm. It's really not a big deal, but I know he hates it. Reminds him of Hydra."

Steve hummed. "Make him a new one?"

Evelyn paused before nodding. "One day."

Evelyn realized Steve had walked her to a Quinjet. She smiled softly as she turned to him. Their arms disconnected as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Be careful."

"Always am," Evelyn said with a firm nod. "Check on Peggy for me. Give her my love." Steve nodded as she turned to step onto the jet.

She closed the hatch as she sat in the pilot's seat. Dialing Bucky's number, she sighed in relief as the jet lifted in the air to hear Bucky's voice.

"E-Evelyn?"

Evelyn furrowed her brows at his tone. "Buck? You okay?"

"Nightmare."

"I'm on my way."