As they cautiously walked through the halls, Everly took in her surroundings. Her heart skipped as they passed a large room whose walls were vertical metal bars, benches lining the interior. She glanced at Bucky, who seemed a bit dazed as he directed his eyes to the floor. They continued deeper into the labyrinth of corridors.
She slowed to a stop before a heavy metal door, a sliver of light spilling into the darkness through the barely open door. She drew in a shaky breath and pressed her hand to the metal, pushing it gently open. A sick feeling arose in her stomach at the sight of the familiar room. Steve turned back and frowned as he slowly made his way over. He stood beside her, sending a questioning glance her way. She pushed the door open further and it creaked, the old cobwebs falling away from where they'd formed in the doorway. The light from the hall shone on a pair of metal shackles in the far corner and a lump formed in her throat. Steve's confused expression melted away and his lips parted slightly as he looked again into the room. Realization flashed across his features and he tried to speak, but couldn't manage any words.
Everly broke from her trance and cleared her throat, forcing herself to stand a bit straighter as she turned to leave. Steve lingered a few seconds more, staring sadly into the dark room.
"I got heat signatures." Tony's voice sliced through the eerie silence as he turned the corner into an open room. Bucky followed behind him, Everly next, and Steve behind her.
"How many?" Steve asked as he quickened his pace.
"Uh, one." Tony answered. Everly's eyes wandered the wide open room which was illuminated only by the cone of light that spilled in from the hallway.
As they stepped further inside, a few machines whirred to life. Five large tubes came into view, lights flicking on inside of each. Everly's eyes widened slightly. A person could barely be seen through the fog within each chamber. They pressed further into the odd room until a voice filled their ears.
"If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep." Everly immediately recognized the voice to be Zemo. She frowned and walked slowly over to one of the tubes where inside, a man sat motionless with a bullet hole in his head. They were all dead. "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"
"What the hell?" Bucky mumbled as he shifted awkwardly in place, switching his gun between each of the dead soldiers.
"I'm grateful to them though. They brought you here." Everly froze, her hands curling into fists. This had been his plan all along. Another light flicked on, revealing Zemo behind a glass wall. Tony aimed a fist at him and Steve instinctually flung his shield, though it bounced straight back into his hands. "Please, Captain." Zemo continued calmly as more lights switched on around them. "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR 100 rockets."
"I'm betting I could beat that." Tony shouted.
"Oh, I'm sure you could Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."
"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve said as he stepped closer, stopping just before the glass.
"I've thought about nothing else for over a year." Zemo returned, no longer bothering with the speakers. Everly's frown deepened. "I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized... there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes." He chuckled. Everly cocked her head aside questioningly. "How nice to find a flaw."
"You're Sokovian." Steve said plainly. Everly's expression faltered and her eyes flicked between he and Zemo. "Is that what this is about?"
He shook his head. "Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No. I'm here because I made a promise."
YOU ARE READING
Everly || Steve Rogers
Fanfiction"Though I may cry a river, I will not drown in it." In which she needed a hero, so she became one. "She loved him too early, and he loved her too late." #1 in "thefirstavenger" as of 1/24/20 #1 in "buckybarnes" as of 5/4/20 #1 in "captainamericathef...
