THERAPIST | JACK THOMPSON

FIFTY SEVEN

» [habits of my heart- james young] «
0:48 ─〇───── -2:42
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VOLUME: ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇ 100%

Evelyn sat on the table in the briefing room. She had her legs crossed and her hands rested in her lap as she looked between Howard and Jack.

"As of this moment, you're under arrest, Stark." Jack crossed his arms, he looked towards Evelyn apologetically.

"You know, I could help you with that." Howard stated confidently as he looked down at Sousa's crutch. Evelyn didn't hesitate on smacking the man's bicep as a way of telling him to behave.

Jack slammed his hands down on the table and leant close to Howard. As much as he loved Evelyn, just been in the room with Howard infuriated him.

"Roger Dooley is dead. Ray Krzeminski is dead. You almost killed Evie." Jack seethed. Evelyn placed her hand on his shoulder and slowly pulled him away from Howard.

"Along with a theater full of innocent people. Stark Industries. That's all on you. You got something funny to say about that?" Sousa questioned.

"I know. That's why I came back. That's everything there is to know about the battle of Finow." Howard pointed to a small box that Evelyn sat in front of.

"I really don't care about some old war story." Jack spoke, his jaw clenching tightly as he did so.

Evelyn looked behind her and towards Peggy, who stood in the corner of the room quietly. Unlike Evelyn, she remained far away from Howard. But the girl didn't want to leave his side in fear that something bad was going to happen to him,

"Well, you should. 'Cause all those deaths are on me, too." Howard slowly stood up, tapping Evelyn's legs, causing her to move out of the way. "The gas is called midnight oil."

"You designed a poison gas, Howard?" Peggy questioned disappointedly.

"No." Howard scoffed, shocked that one of his best friends didn't have more faith in him. He hummed for a moment before continuing. "Well, not intentionally. The army wanted something that would keep soldiers awake for days at a time, but it failed."

"You're a bloody idiot." Evelyn spoke up as she jumped off of the table, standing beside the dark haired man as he looked through the files.

Jack came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and resting his chin on the top of her head. Evelyn's hands instantly wrapped around his wrists as she was engulfed by his familiar scent.

"Caused symptoms similar to sleep deprivation. Anger, hallucinations, psychosis." Howard listed, a little too proudly for Evelyn's liking.

"If you knew all that, why use it in Finow?" Sousa questioned as Howard showed him and Jack the photo of the bodies.

Jack attempted to cover Evelyn's eyes so that she didn't have to see, but Howard went on to say,

"There's no need to cover her eyes, she's probably seen worse than me and you ever will have." Howard chuckled. "I didn't. My lab was raided. They took my samples, my research, all on the orders of general mcginnis. The next day, they dropped it on the Russians to help them take Finow."

Jack pulled away momentarily to take a seat on the edge of the table and then pulled Evelyn back into his chest. He pressed his lips against her cheek, wondering about what Howard meant.

"I flew there afterward to see with my own eyes. What those men did to each other, you can't imagine. Needed one too many therapy sessions after that, right Bernie." Howard playfully winked at the girl, causing Jack to glare at him in response.

"We don't need to imagine. We saw it in that theater. I experienced it myself." Sousa commented.

"And you survived? It's been known to cause asphyxiation." Howard shrugged, wondering how Sousa had survived.

"Guess that explains my sore throat." Sousa replied back in a sarcastic tone.

Evelyn leant back and rested her head on Jack's chest. She linked their hands together, something that Howard noticed almost immediately. He could help but smile. Evelyn deserved to be happy.

"It also explains our voiceless friends. Someone performed laryngotomy procedures on these men. I expect it was Dr. Ivchenko or, as he's also known, Johann Fennhoff." Peggy announced as she showed Howard the photos of the two men.

"Who?" Howard asked with furrowed brows.

"A psychiatrist with a speciality in hypnosis." Evelyn spoke up, rolling her eyes as she did so. She hated Ivchenko with a burning passion for what he did to her and Chief Dooley.

Chief Dooley was a good man and the girl promised that she would get revenge on Ivchenko for what he did. If anything, Evelyn was a woman who stuck to her word. She would get revenge for what he did.

"Must be how they got to Dooley." Jack whispered knowingly.

"And if he can control the chief, we're all at risk." Peggy added, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear anxiously.

The girls made direct eye contact. Evelyn pursed her lips and cleared her throat before slowly standing up. She hated that she would have to admit it but it could help them nevertheless, so she said,

"Actually, I know how to avoid being hypnotised." She paused. "I began reading it when Ivchenko first arrived at the SSR, it takes a while to learn."

"That doesn't surprise me on bit, Bernie. But no. This time, I'm taking the risk." Howard spoke sternly. "This Fennhoff obviously wants to punish me, so let's give him what he wants."

"What are you talking about?" Peggy questioned alarmed.

"I'll be the bait. The SSR just needs to set the trap." Howard looked between Jack and Evelyn with a grin.

Evelyn's heart dropped at the sound of Howard being in danger. She couldn't lose him too, he was too important to her.

"Yeah." Jack hummed in response. "Something public. Real showy."

His fingers traced patterns along her biceps, making her turn to look at him, their noses brushing against one another lightly.

"Well, that's the only way I do it." Howard allowed his signature smirk to form on his face, causing Evelyn to turn and face him whilst scrunching her face up in disgust.

"You're a pig." Evelyn spoke as she narrowed her eyes to him.

Jack softly chuckled, pressing his lips against the corner of Evelyn's. He didn't care who saw now. He wasn't hiding how he felt for her, especially not after he smear death experience.