Trials

Thirty One

Anne-Marie continued to hold the shotgun barrel to Eve's face for a moment before lowering it a little to get a full view of Eve's face. Eve nervously watched as Anne-Marie looked her over carefully.

"Eveline?" her voice softened to almost a whisper in disbelief. She dropped the gun and walked up to Eve as tears welted up in both of their eyes.

"Eve," Anne breathed out and hugged Eve tightly, which Eve reciprocated. Eve rested her head on her mom's shoulder as a loose tear fell from her eye.

"I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry," Anne cried as she hugged Eve tighter. Neither of them wanted to move, Anne not wanting to lose her daughter again and Eve not wanting to separate from the most comfort she's ever felt.

Bucky stood back and watched, a small happy smile on his face at them. He was so happy for Eve he could feel it bubbling in his stomach.

The girls let go of each other, but Anne kept her hands on Eve's shoulders. Smiles were both plastered on their faces as Anne's hand moved up to cup Eve's cheek and wipe her tear.

"And you are?" she asked Bucky.

"Bucky Barnes," he answered kindly.

"It's nice to meet you," Anne smiled at him. "Come inside."

She led Bucky and Eve into the cabin, dropping the gun by the door before hand. The two looked around the house as Anne walked over to a section of the wall. She pressed on a hidden button to make the wall slide back then to the side. Eve and Bucky looked at each other skeptically.

"Come on out. There's someone you should meet," Anne said when she stepped into the hidden room. One by one, two girls and a boy stepped into the room while staring at Eve and Bucky. Anne was the last to come out so she locked the door again and walked in between the two groups.

"Aidan, Brooke, Dustin," Eve's stomached flipped at the names as her eyes darted to them, "this is your younger sister, Eveline."

Eve stared at them in shock as did the others to her. The siblings shock didn't last very long because they walked up to Eve to all hug her with laughs and smiles.

"We never knew what happened to you," Aidan said as she hugged Eve first. "I was so scared for you."

"But I thought you guys–" Eve started but Dustin cut her off when he leaned down to hug her.

"We did too. I'm so glad you found us," Dustin said to her.

"I'm so happy you're back," Brooke then cheered as she then hugged Eve.

"Do you know where Ciro is?" Anne asked, drawing Eve's attention to her. Eve's breath caught in her throat.

"Ciro joined Alvaro. He was trying to–" Eve stumbled out, but Anne held her hand up to shush her before hugging Eve again.

"It's alright. We knew he chose that path. We just hoped he would have changed," Anne said then let go of Eve.

"He's our brother, but we knew that he and Alvaro would have to be gone to get you back," Brooke comforted her. Eve noticed their eyes look past her at Bucky.

"This is Bucky," Eve said and stepped back next to him. "He helped me find this place."

"Thank you, Bucky. From all of us," Anne smiled at him. Bucky returned her smile, liking the feeling of warmth from Eve's family.

They all sat and ate dinner together as a family for the first time. The family focused on the brighter side of things, laughing most of the time as they enjoyed Dustin's cooking.

Although, the lightheartedness had to end at some point. After dinner, Anne and Bucky started clearing the table as the siblings walked outside.

"You might not want to talk about this now, but we would like to learn about what happened," Brooke said in her soothing tone, much like Anne's. Eve looked down with a sad smile on her face before looking through the window to see Bucky drying dishes while laughing with Anne.

"Now's as good a time as any," Eve answered as she looked back at the three. "I didn't know any of you existed until last week." All three of their faces suddenly were filled with confusion, although they didn't say anything.

"He never told me about it, I never thought about it. I didn't know he was my dad," Eve told them.

"You don't remember us? He never told you?" Aidan questioned earning a shake of Eve's head.

"I didn't really remember anything until the Avengers found me. He would 'clear my head' frequently. When they found me, it was the longest I'd gone so I could actually have the chance to remember," Eve explained.

She continued to explain what happened to her, the solemn looks on their face never fading at the news of their baby sister.

"You were his absolute favorite. We weren't jealous of you. He spent so much time and effort making you who you are. We were trial runs. Looking back, I guess we never got your abilities because he knew we wouldn't cooperate. He must of thought we rubbed off on you. He didn't even give you the chance to fight back," Dustin told them.

"Ciro was always jealous of you. That would explain his actions," Aidan told Eve.

"I'm just glad to have found you guys," Eve said and they all hugged her tightly. Anne walked through the doorway, her heart instantly warming at the sight. Her heart also ached at the news of Ciro, but she was joyful to have gained Eve.

Anne walked over and wrapped her arms around her children as Bucky took a picture of them on Eve's phone for her to have. He knew she would want to remember every new moment she would have with them.