07; an open book
Just as things began to settle, the stakes got even higher.
They had been shipped off to the forests near Paris, France, after they had sabotaged many Hydra operations around France, Russia and other places. Now, on their way to take down another brigade of Hydra members in the forest. They tried to be as quiet as possible, but the snow beneath them crunching incessantly it was hard to do so.
Steve and herself lead the way, both on the lookout for any hydra soldiers in the shadows or up in the trees. So far, about four Hydra soldiers had been in the trees, none on the ground. Evelyn was beginning to think they had all gone. Steve must've been thinking the same thing because he glanced over at her, raising his eyebrows as if to say "All clear?".
They had become civil towards each other in the months that followed. Steve had overcome his awkwardness and now talked to her with ease. Evelyn had pushed her feelings towards the man(no matter the size) aside and was treating him like she had never seen him making out with one of Privates on the base.
Although, that woman didn't get the best send off from Peggy when she was fired for inappropriate behaviour in the work place.
So, she checked the surrounding area once more. She walked with her back to a tree, facing him, to check behind in case they missed any in the forestry. She was about to give the all clear when Steve stopped, holding his hand up to halt the team. Evelyn stayed perfectly still, knowing that something that had sparked Steve's attention was a bad thing. She couldn't tell where he was looking, any movement could mess everything up. But with one swift flick of his shield, the Hydra soldier fell out of the tree with an unceremonious thud.
She hated admitting that that was so attractive.
Everyone stood in stunned silence for a couple of minutes, but resumed to normal after Steve gave the all clear. They retired to their jeep where the Captain was already in position with a map laid out in front of him. Bucky took the nearest seat to his friend, the rest forming a semi-circle around him. They tried to ignore the film crew obnoxiously sticking camera's in their faces and if Evelyn was allowed, it was be a pile of crushed metal by the time she would be done with it.
She knew what this was for, Colonel Phillips and Peggy had asked for the Howling Commandos missions to be documented on film. If she had any say though, they wouldn't be here.
"Alright," Steve began, smoothing out the map. "So the next Hydra base is around here, near the Maginot Line. If I'm correct, we should be about a half hour from it." he opened his compass, revealing something that nearly made Evelyn choke on air, her face and neck turning a deep shade of crimson.
Inside the lid of his compass was a picture of her.
But it wasn't any old picture from the newspaper, it was the sketch of her that he drew that night back in London. Bucky had a fucking cocky smirk on his face, staring her straight in the eye as the camera zoomed unnecessarily close on it. Gabe and Dernier were straight up giggling like little school girls, Falsworth chuckled while Dugan smiled wide. "Well, looks like someone's got a crush." he commented, earning daggers sent his way by both of the parties in question. The compass snapped shut and Steve looked at the camera guy disapprovingly. Then it turned to her and she's never been so glad that film was in black and white otherwise she would've been redder than the Red Skull.
She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm just going to go over there." and so she hopped off the jeep, trying desperately to stop her heart hammering in her chest. This was going to be sent back to America, people were going to see this.
Peggy was going to have a goddamn field trip with this.
-
"I still think this is a stupid idea." Evelyn muttered as they set up on the side of the road. Dernier had volunteered to destroy a Hydra tank that was coming back into base. And although they were going to be in for a surprise when they showed up and no one was there to welcome them, he still wanted to do it. "I could easily blow it up without even going near it but no, you have to be crazy and blow it up yourself."
Bucky put an arm around her, in a friendly gesture. "Come on Lyn, lighten up. Dernier specialises in bombs, he'll be fine."
She nudged him off her with smirk, laughing with him as Steve looked on fondly. He was glad Bucky and Evelyn got on so well.
Evelyn's smile dropped as she heard the familiar sound of Hydra's engines. Jim, who was up in the trees, whistled and flashed his torch. When they saw this, Dugan handed Dernier the bomb and he scurried off onto the road, rolling under the tank and placing it on the engine. While this was happening, Evelyn bit her lip in anticipation. She was worrying too much, she knew that, Dernier knew what he was doing but she couldn't help it.
She stood next to Steve, hand to her mouth, tapping her foot. "I can't look," she breathed, turning so her back was facing the scene. There was a loud explosion that made her eyes screw shut, fearing the worst. But the French man just yelled in success. The rest of the Howling commandos ran to him to congratulate him, lifting him up in the air. Evelyn whistled, chanting his name with the rest of group. Without thinking, she jumped into the arms of one of her teammates. She laughed gleefully, though noticed how it took the person a few moments to wrap their arms around her.
She opened her eyes to see who she was hugging. It was Steve. Although she should've felt uncomfortable, she was too relieved to care who the hell it was.
-
A few hours later, a tired looking Steve was at the door of her tent. They were all wrecked, really. The hoard of German soldiers were a tough fight, but they pulled through with minimal casualties. Evelyn looked up from the latest letter from her mothers nurse, they kept regular contact so she could know everything from any breakthroughs to if she had gotten any better.
But most of the time her mother wasn't getting any better, the letters just detailed much worse problems.
"Hey, busy?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.
She shook her head, sending him a quick smile even though her heart was heavy. Ann's letter had told her that they had to take her mother to the hospital. "What's up?"
"About the picture...in my compass."
She set the letter on her cot, sighing softly, it was bound to come up sooner or later. "You kept it." she stated quietly.
That caught Steve off guard, he was expecting her to say how it was unprofessional and how he should take it out to avoid anymore awkwardness but what she said made his heart all warm and fuzzy. It was pretty obvious to everyone around them that he wasn't over her, and she sure as hell wasn't over him, but they had to put a pin in their feelings. Now was not the time.
"I did. Did you not want me to?"
She stayed silent for a few minutes, wondering if she actually liked it or not. It was quite nice to know that he'd kept it, especially since she sang praises of it. "No, it would be a shame to get rid of such talent."
There was so much she wanted to say, but she couldn't get the words out. Not when the letter on the cot had her mind swimming. As they sat in awkward silence, her eyes kept flitting to the letter, more importantly the last line that read: I'm sorry dear, but she may not have as much fight as we intentionally thought. It was selfish of her to think that one conversation with her mother about staying for each other was going to change everything, the cruelness of fate had decided to take her mother from her and there was no stopping it.
Steve caught wind of her constant fidgeting, the way her fingers tangled and untangled together so they would have something to do. He followed her gaze to the paper on the cot. He noticed the way every time she glanced at it, her bottom lip trembled ever so slightly. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he felt he would be prying into her personal life a little too much.
But then a small sob bubbled from her lips, and he didn't care if they had to be professional or not. She brushed her hands over her face, to stop any sound that would have the rest of the team barge in in an instant. "Sorry," she whispered. She hated him seeing her like this. She was Lieutenant Liberty goddamn it, a symbol for little girls and teenagers that women could be strong and here she was, a blubbering mess all because of a damn piece of paper.
Steve didn't want to, but in order for him to actually know what had made her this way, he scanned over the letter. His features morphed from confusion to horror and sadness as he got closer to the end of the letter. Without thinking, more of a reflex than anything, he wrapped his arms around her. She didn't protest, in fact, she welcomed it. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to, because Evelyn knew exactly what this meant.
He was apologising.
Not just for her mother's deteriorating health, but for everything. For the torture she endured that he so badly wanted to prevent, for the hours upon hours of training she had to go through until she could barely walk and for being an idiot when it came down to hurting her. She could read him like an open book, maybe because he left it open for her to read. For once in about six months, she was comfortable to be around him.
When he kissed the top of her head, she couldn't help but giggle through the tears. "What?" he questioned. Had he gone too far?
"I'm so glad Bucky isn't here."
And then they both laughed, like the troubles they were about to walk into were nothing more than a bad dream.
-
(not edited)
A/N: Very heavy Stevelyn here, and I just realised that this book might not be that long. Probably about five or six chapters left??? Depending how long I make them and how much original content I want in it.
Don't really have that much to say, see you in the next chapter!
Comment, vote & follow! - Emma