The air was heavy aboard the helicarrier. The once lively and chaotic environment had been dulled to a mere whisper. The failed mission was heavy on everyones minds, a few select people more so than others. Not only had they lost an alien fugitive that was at the root of it all,  he was taken by his former captive —someone with unimaginable capabilities. The only thing they were actually certain of was the location of the tesseract, but who knew for how long.

Steve, Tony, Natasha, Phil, and Nick all sat around a circular table in one of the helicarrier's private rooms. All of them were too angry and distraught to be out in the general population quite yet. Thor had joined them, he was currently pacing in front of the metal table. 

"I still don't understand how this happened," Steve mumbled, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

Tony turned to glare at the Captain. "I told you, Eva took him."

"If she's under Loki's influence, why aren't we looking back in Stuggart? They would have went back to the tesseract."

"You aren't getting it, Steve. Eva took Loki of her own volition." Natasha added, looking the most calm out of everyone at the table. 

Steve's blue eyes widened, and he stood from his chair. "Why would she do that?"

Steve couldn't understand why Eva would put herself in that situation, regardless of how powerful she had become. Why would she willingly bring herself to the root of all the problems? After breaking free of Loki's mind control, why would she risk it happening all over again? The questions turning over in Steve's mind were endless, but the one that repeated itself on a loop over and over again -- Was Evelyn okay?

Steve just wanted to make sure Evelyn was safe, he wanted her beside him. He never wanted to let her out of his sight, but Evelyn was a stubborn one, you could tell her no a hundred times and it will just make her want to do it more. Steve was both frustrated and fascinated with the woman he called his best friend.

"Does anyone have an idea where Eva might take him?" Phil asked.

"I thought she might have went to Sam Wilson's in D.C., but seeing as the man hasn't stopped trying to get ahold of me about what's happening in Germany, I would assume that's a no." Nick responded.

"You haven't let Sam know what's happening?" Steve asked, turning his attention to the director beside him. Steve hadn't personally met Sam, but had spoken with the man while Evelyn was in the hospital, and Evelyn talked about him all the time. He knew Sam and Evelyn shared a bond similar to their own, and he was grateful Sam was there for Evelyn when she needed it.

"I've been a little busy!" Nick argued, motioning around them. Everyone looked to be in their own headspace, trying to think of somewhere Evelyn could be -- but they all knew she could be anywhere on the planet. Their best chance was waiting for the facial recognition to give them some clues.

"My brother will not play nice with the mortal, not after today." Thor finally spoke up after an hour of silence. "She is not safe with him."

"The mortal's name is Eva." Steve told him, suddenly becoming angry. He knew his anger was displaced, but he couldn't help but feel some aggression to the God in front of him. "And you haven't seen what she can do. I'd be worried about your brother if I were you."

"That rhymed." Natasha voiced, trying to diffuse the situation. Steve and Thor however just glared at one another. She did receive a small snort from Nick.

The tension in the room was at an all time high, and nobody had anywhere to put any of it. Arguments broke out between the men, with Natasha and Phil trying their hardest to calm them down. They were screaming themselves bloody to try and get their points across, there was a point Steve's shield and Thor's hammer almost collided for the second time that evening.

Tony was ready to shove his fist through Nick's one good eye when Maria Hill came bursting through the door.

"We have a match on Eva!" She huffed out, one hand grasping her leather clad thigh in a panic. "She's in Gulmira, Afghanistan."

With everyone in the room somewhat aware of Evelyn's past, the confusion was minimal as to why Evelyn would take Loki to a war torn Afghanistan. Steve; who was only slightly aware of what happened before meeting her, clutched his fists around the bands on his shield in frustration. He knew Evelyn could take care of herself, but he also knew war. Even if this war was so much different than the one from his past.

"Tony, Steve. You two are the best bet at getting Eva back to us." Nick announced, his hands wound tight behind his back.

Tony and Steve glanced to one another, each with their own doubts in their heads. Tony would know exactly the location of where Evelyn would go -- he knew it better than anyone. And Tony knew Evelyn's attachment for Steve would help calm her down.

They knew they needed each other, so with a nod of their heads they suited up and were ready to go.

~

"Earth really is horrendous, what do you call this place?" Loki grumbled, as Evelyn dragged him through the desert.

"Afghanistan." Evelyn answered, keeping her hand in a firm and powerful grip on his arm. "One of the parts the war hit the hardest."

Evelyn stopped dragging the God of mischief on the top of a sand dune, the familiar cave of her nightmares could be seen in the distance. The sweltering heat along with her severe anxiety was causing buckets of sweat to pour out of her skin. She was questioning why out of all the places on Earth, she chose this particular one that caused her agony.

So much of who Evelyn used to be was killed right here in this country. She lost parts of herself that hadn't begun to resurface until recently, as well as losing a man she loved deeply. Lives were lost here, her own life as well as her brothers was put to the test, and she still hadn't figured out why the hell she decided to come here. 

"Are we just going to stand here, or?" Loki asked through gritted teeth. Evelyn was still pouring energy into him that made it so he couldn't fight back.

Evelyn stayed silent, her eyes glazing over the village in the distance. Loki couldn't accept silence as a response, he didn't like to be ignored and he knew Evelyn had a past with this country or she wouldn't have brought him here.  So within the blink of an eye his palm was forced against her forehead, and his magic was flowing into her just as hers was flowing into him.

~

Mortars hit the area outside the cave, vibrating the ground beneath Evelyn's feet. She wobbled, unsteady from both the knock to her head and the unleveled ground. The last she remembered was trying to fight Obie off of her back in California, and now it was very clear that was not where she had ended up.

She slowly walked around the rather decent sized cave, her sneakers tripping her over the debris that littered the ground. She could see a operating table to her left, with small pools of blood laying on top of it. An empty IV bag hooked to a pole stood beside it. Equipment that was as outdated as the old iPod that laid forgotten in her desk drawer was shoved into every corner of the room. And pieces of iron and metal scraps laid at her feet. This was no cave -- it was a prison. 

Upon seeing the design for the Arc Reactor laying dusted on the tabletop, she knew the previous prisoner was her brother. 

"Oh, Tony." Evelyn mumbled softly, her fingertips slowly gliding over the drawing. 

Loud banging could be heard outside the large metal doorframe, before it was unlocked and several men clambered inside. Evelyn's heart rate was through the roof, her hands were shaking and slowly took steps away from the foreign men in front of her. 

"Dr. Stark." The man in front mumbled with a heavy accent. His face was bruised and bludgeoned, the turban wrapped tightly around his skull was tinted with blood. He had seen his fair share of this war -- or at least the beginnings of Iron Man. 

"What do you want?" Evelyn asked as strongly as she could, but the quiver in her voice betrayed her. 

"I want the same thing as you Doctor. An end to this war, and you filthy American's out of my country." He grumbled. His voice was fierce and Evelyn noticed a certain passion in his eye that had a hint of insanity to it. "I want you to make something for me, and then I'll let you go home." 

Evelyn stared up at the man in silence as he walked over to her with a large paper in his hands. He gently handed it to her, her shaking hands nearly dropping it from nerves. 

She unrolled the paper to see a large blueprint for the familiar Jericho missile that was contracted by Stark Industries. The same weapon these men had requested Tony make for them, he of course had other ideas. 

"I don't work for Stark Industries. I don't know how to build this for you." Evelyn told them, shoving the paper back into his hands. 

The man smirked before pulling out a second paper from his pocket. 

"Evelyn Jane Stark. PhD in mechanical engineering at age twenty. PhD in Robotics at age eighteen. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from M.I.T with double bachelors in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at age Fifteen. President of robotics club and once listed as New York City's most sought after young mind." 

"Congratulations, you know how to Google." Said Evelyn, who would say anything at this point to get out of this situation. She would have definitely been able to escape in the same way her brother did, that was no issue, but she felt these terrorists were going to be a little smarter about what they left in the cave this time around. 

The man nodded to the two goons beside him, and it wasn't a second later they each took turns bashing their fists across her face. 

"Your brother was funny too." The leader said, kneeling down in front of her. "I don't like funny." 

"I'm not building this missile for you, you might as well kill me." Evelyn huffed out. 

The leader and his two goons marched their way to the door, the leader turning around at the last second. 

"Sooner or later you will do what we want. One way or another." The leader said before leaving and locking the door behind him.

~

"Argh!" Evelyn shouted, reaching up to clutch at her head with one hand,  She shot a blast at Loki with the other, who had done the unthinkable by penetrating her memories. Luckily she forced him out before he got any further. 

Loki rolled through the rough sand, flipping his raven hair over his head and grinning at the youngest Stark. 

"Oh, you are far more interesting than I thought." Said Loki, smiling wickedly as he pushed himself to stand in front of her. 

"You had no right!" Evelyn cried out "No right to go in my head!"

"And you had no right to bring me to this wasteland, yet here we are." Loki shrugged, wiping the sand off his black and green leather garb. 

Evelyn groaned loudly before poising to blast Loki once more, before the blast could make contact with the God, it connected with a sphere of vibranium and bounced back in her direction. She stepped out of the way at the very last second to avoid getting hit by her own blast.

"Steve," Evelyn breathed out, seeing her best friend appear in front of her. His eyes were sad and gentle, and she really just wanted to run into his comforting arms. 

She heard the familiar whir of her brothers suit behind her, and Tony was gently walking towards her in the sand. "Hey, Sweets. I think it's time we go home now." 

Evelyn's eyes blurred with unshed tears as she saw her brothers gentle eyes looking at her with pity. His left eye was bruising, and his bottom lip was split with a stain of blood running down his chin. His suit was falling apart, and she knew it was all her fault. 

"Tony, I'm so sorry." Evelyn whimpered, fulling turning around upon seeing Steve had apprehended Loki into a pair of handcuffs. "I did this to you." 

Tony instantly shook his head. "No you didn't. That wasn't you. Not even a little bit." 

"But I still know I did it." Evelyn mumbled, looking down at her feet. She then turned around to Steve. 

Holding her wrists out in front of her she asked "Do you have another set of handcuffs, Steve?"  

"We can't get Barton back if you're arrested." Tony's voice said from behind her, cutting off any reaction from Steve or response from Evelyn. 

Eva turned back around to Tony and nodded her head. She knew he was right. She also knew the fight with Loki was far from over, and the fight for the tesseract was only beginning. There was a war coming, and whether or not she saved lives in the process -- she knew exactly how the world was going to view her by the end of it.