EVELYN HELD her head in her hands as she sat across from Bucky in a large abandoned warehouse. Bucky's metal arm was clamped in a machine to keep him from moving when he woke, and Evelyn felt everything come crashing down on her. She did not want to fight anymore. She just wanted to take Bucky and run. No more fighting. Peace. A home. A family. A life.
"You all right?" Steve asked, standing next to her. Sam stood next to him, both men worried for Evelyn.
She let out a mocking laugh as she tilted her head to glance at him. "He was doing so good," she whispered. "Less nightmares. He even wanted to talk to you, Steve." Steve's eyes widened. "He was ready to start moving on. We were going to look for somewhere permanent—try to get him reinstated in the world. All the work for the past two years with him, gone," she said with a snap of her fingers, "just like that."
"That's not true," Sam argued. "Not with you, at least. He knows who you are, Winter Soldier or not."
Evelyn smiled slightly. "I'm sorry for how hostile I was in Bucharest," she said to Steve. "My job is to protect him. It's like a switch that gets flicked if he's in danger. It's why I'm going to jail if they find me. I openly helped him escape—in front of Tony, Sharon, Natasha, T'Challa."
"We won't let anything happen to you, Eve," whispered Steve as he crouched to place a hand on her shoulder. "Once we figure out why the psychiatrist wanted him, we'll try to get that life you want."
Evelyn smiled slightly as she looked at Bucky. "That life moves further away by the day."
Sam frowned as Steve walked off when they heard the whirring of a helicopter. Sam sat down next to Evelyn. "If it's any consolation," he began, "I saw you two at the market. He really does love you."
"I knew that," Evelyn said with a smile before it fell as she turned to look at him. "You were spying on us?"
Sam shrugged. "To make sure he wasn't trying to kill anybody."
Evelyn rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Right."
Evelyn looked up when she heard a groan of pain. Standing quickly, she and Sam went separate ways. Sam went to get Steve while Evelyn fell in front of Bucky, a hand going to his cheek. She watched his eyes open slowly, his gaze soft as he finally focused on the woman in front of him.
"Lyn," he whispered.
"Hey, honey," she said quietly. "It's bad," she told him, and he did not need her to clarify her words to know what she meant.
Evelyn backed aside as Steve and Sam stood watching them. Bucky's eyes moved from hers to his best friend, a small smile moving onto his face as he said, "Steve."
"Which Bucky am I talking to?"
"Your mom's name was Sarah," Bucky said with a small laugh as he added, "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."
Steve smirked at Evelyn. "Can't read that in a museum."
Sam glanced between them with a curious gaze. "Just like that, we're suppose to be cool?"
"What did I do?" Bucky asked them, pain in his voice.
"Enough," Steve replied to him.
Bucky shut his eyes in pain. "Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything Hydra put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words."
Evelyn held herself back from reaching out for him again, knowing they needed to focus. She took a deep breath as she asked, "James?" He glanced at her. "Who was he?"
Bucky averted his eyes. "I don't know."
"People are dead," Steve told him. "The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than I don't know."
Bucky thought for a moment before saying, "He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."
Evelyn's brows furrowed. "Why would he need to know that?" she asked him.
Bucky gulped as his eyes flickered up to Steve. "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."
Evelyn stood up, hand reaching up to her chest as she suddenly felt sick at everything Bucky had to go through. She just imagined him fighting those men and women, and she wanted to keep Bucky safe more than ever—especially from this fake psychiatrist. "Who were they?" Steve asked.
"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra history. And that was before the serum," Bucky told them.
"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked him.
"Worse."
"The doctor, could he control them?" Steve questioned next.
"Enough," Bucky murmured.
Steve looked at Evelyn. "Said he wanted to see an empire fall."
Bucky nodded. "With these guys he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming."
Sam stepped up to stand in front of Evelyn and Steve. "This would have been a lot easier a week ago," he whispered to them.
Evelyn nodded as she saw Sam glance back at Bucky. He was staring intently at the ground with thoughts, no doubt, racing through his head. "It would have been easier if anyone in that fucking office knew how to listen and communicate. I was not lying."
"We know," Steve told her quickly. "We just need to figure out what to do now."
Sam paused, glancing back at Bucky once more. "How do you deal with Mr. Kill-Them-With-My-Brooding-Glare over there? Does he always just stare like that?"
Evelyn bit back a smile. "Very funny," she said dryly as she thought of what to do. "If we call Tony..." Evelyn started, but Sam shook his head.
"No, he won't believe us," Sam said quickly.
Steve scoffed. "Even if he did..."
"Who knows if the Accords would let him help," Sam finished.
"We're on our own," Evelyn said as she glanced at Bucky. He gave her a small smile.
Sam shrugged. "Maybe not. I know a guy."
As Sam and Steve went to make phone calls, Evelyn walked over to Bucky. She pressed the button on the machine to let his arm out. She watched him stand shakily as he moved his arm in a circle quickly to calibrate his arm again. He cracked his neck as Evelyn stepped forward.
He took a step back. "Did I hurt you?"
"No," she told him honestly. "You tried to escape with me, actually. Wouldn't let anyone lay a hand on me."
Bucky scoffed. "At least the idiot had some sense."
Evelyn stepped forward again. "He's not an idiot. He's you, as much as it sucks. One day, you won't be the Winter Soldier anymore. It'll be a memory."
"Did they hurt you?"
She showed him her wrist with the marks from the zip ties. "Just a mark. Ankle hurts a bit, but it'll heal. The claw marks have scabbed over."
Bucky hummed, finally allowing Evelyn to wrap her arm around him to pull him to her embrace. Bucky took a deep breath as he held her to him. He opened his eyes to see Steve watching them with a small smile before walking forward.
"We're going to meet Sharon," Steve said when he made it to them.
Bucky kept a hand on her waist as he said, "Carter?"
Steve nodded. Evelyn frowned. "She's not going to be very happy with me and Buck. We kicked her ass."
Steve rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it. C'mon, we're leaving." Bucky nodded, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Evelyn's forehead. Steve sighed as they began to walk. "I forgot how much I hated being the third wheel."
Bucky smirked, nudging his shoulder as they passed. "Never was a problem for me."
Evelyn saw stars light up in Steve's eyes at the familiar taunting. She was so glad Bucky was not closing himself off after that. She smiled at Steve with a wiggle of her eyebrows as they found Sam, who had hot wired a car.
When Steve drove to an underpass, Evelyn noticed Sharon waiting for them. Steve told them to wait in the car as he greeted the woman. She opened her trunk to show the gear she managed to get. Evelyn's eyes widened at her own outfit—leather jacket and helmet Tony had made.
"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam in his gruff voice, still not trusting Sam completely yet.
"No."
Evelyn bit back a smile as she said, "Swap?" Bucky nodded with a scowl on his face as she crawled over his lap. Sam chuckled quietly. "Don't be mean."
"Of course," Sam promised with a cheeky grin.
Evelyn leaned onto Bucky's shoulder just as she saw Sharon and Steve kiss. "Oh, I know he did not just do that," she said with a scrunch of her nose. "That's Peggy's niece, man."
Bucky and Sam both laughed before glancing at each other. As if it disgusted them to laugh together, both grew quiet.