"I'm very sorry Ms.Stark, Sergeant Montgomery was killed in action over three months ago." Evelyn stilled, the trauma from the past two years still so very fresh in her mind. The only thing that kept her going through all of the pain and grief she suffered was knowing she could come home to her fiancé. But alas, once again -- the universe had a different direction for Evelyn Stark.

She reached forward and clutched onto Phil Coulson, one of the many men that had become like family to her. She winced as the bruising in her body came in contact with the rough fabric of his suit. Phil gently wrapped a hand around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry Eva. I know this is the last thing you need right now."

"What happened?" Evelyn croaked out, her voice still hoarse and raw.

"Helicopter crash. His bird went down with an RPG over Kandahar. " The casualty assistance officer told her. He stood awkwardly in front of her with his dress blues perfectly pressed, and his black beret form fitted over his head. Such a perfect looking man to deliver such heartbreaking news. Evelyn knew his job was a difficult one. She couldn't imagine her only purpose being to break the hearts of others, to tear their homes apart with only a few words.

"Thank you." Phil told the soldier, before gently guiding Evelyn's shaking body onto the couch of her apartment.

"I should get Tony. He would want to be here with you." Phil told her.

Evelyn closed her eyes, the tears not hesitating to roll down her bruised cheeks. She grabbed the blanket off the back of her sofa and wrapped it around her tightly, welcoming it's warmth. She was seconds from completely shattering, like a mirror being dropped on concrete -- yet she managed to stay as calm as she could.

"No, don't." Evelyn whispered. "He's already got so much to deal with right now. Besides, he's still in California."

"He's your brother Eva, he would want to know what happened with Tommy!" Phil argued.

"I'll be okay Phil. I always am." She smiled with what little energy she had in her, leaning her head against the back of the couch.

"You shouldn't always have to be okay, kid. Nick needs me to do something, but I'm having Natasha come be with you. I'm not leaving you alone with this one." Phil said, kissing the top of her head before pulling out his phone and wandering off.

~

"Eva!" Evelyn turned her head to see Sam Wilson waving a hand in front of her face. She must have zoned out for quite some time as the coffee in her hands was now cold and the coffee shop that was once crowded now housed only the two of them.

"I'm sorry. Daydreaming I guess." She shrugged.

"Which memory was it this time?" He asked her in concern.

"When I found out Tommy was killed in action." She told him, closing her eyes to will the tears back into her eyes.

"That's understandable Eva, It's the anniversary of his death." Sam placed his mug down and reached over to grip her hand.

Evelyn looked to the man that had become her close friend over the past year, she gripped his hand tightly in hers before she finally felt her tears weren't going to betray her. She was always grateful for Sam, he had a calming presence that soothed her whenever she was around him.

Evelyn met Sam in a support group for trauma survivors. Sam's trauma was from war, and Evelyn's was from war as well -- just a different aspect to it. Her and Sam seemed to gravitate towards each other every week in their sessions, until the pair found themselves confiding in one another only three months in.

Now less than a year later, Sam had moved to D.C so Evelyn had to fly there to see him. But that morning Sam surprised her and was knocking on her door at 8 AM with the comforting hug he knew she needed that day.

"I've just been feeling so angry lately." She told him.

Sam looked at her and frowned. "About what?" He asked.

"Those last two years with him, I can't even remember a single happy memory with him. I was robbed of it because of everything that happened when I was taken. I was robbed of time with him. So many days I could have spent just being a happy normal couple, or planning our wedding. But no, I wasted time healing, and fighting with Tony about Stark Industries, and then Tommy deployed, and I was taken again and it was this big shit show of a cycle of misery that I couldn't climb my way out of!" Evelyn's hands were shaking, Sam instantly reached forward and gripped them firmly with his.

"Eva, look at me please." Sam said softly. She looked from his hands up to his big brown eyes.

"It's okay to be angry about everything you have gone through. And what you've been doing this past year to heal yourself and your mind has been incredible. But we've talked about how anger will fester inside of you like a seed, and keep growing until you can't control it anymore. We have to look forward, Eva. You know Tommy would want that."

Sam always had a way of making her both understand her feelings, and accept them. He never tried to change how she felt about things, and that was one of the many reasons she cherished him as a friend.

"How have you been Sam?" Evelyn asked, feeling guilty the focus had been primarily on her for most of their conversation that morning.

"I'm doing great actually. I've been working with The Wounded Warrior program, and they want me to start running the PTSD support group at the VA. It's been really fulfilling work, Eva." Sam smiled, looking completely at ease to her.

"I'm so happy for you, Sam." Said Evelyn, a sense of longing in her voice. One that Sam luckily didn't catch.

"You'll have to stop in next time you're in town."

Evelyn smiled and nodded her head. "Of course. I miss you now that you don't live right across the bridge anymore."

"D.C is a lot prettier than Jersey." Sam chuckled.

The duo chatted for another hour about things they had missed in their months apart before Sam needed to leave to visit his parents in New Jersey. He walked her back to her apartment in Stark Tower until it was time for them to part ways.

"Call me when you land?" Evelyn asked.

"Duh!" Sam exclaimed, sticking his tongue out before pulling Evelyn into a crushing hug. She felt the heavy weight she was carrying lift off of her just by hugging someone close to her. But she knew it wouldn't last for long as he was leaving. But she knew he was just a phone call away, and he would answer any time day or night if she needed him.

~

A week later Evelyn walked to 476th 5th Avenue, New York, The New York Public Library. Only five blocks away from her home at Stark Tower. It had been her current employment for the past six months. Both her advance degrees were in the science field, and yet she never felt as peaceful as she did helping someone navigate through the intricate and beautiful pathways of the New York library.

She clocked in with her time card before settling in behind the desk in the center of the history section on the third floor. It was mostly busy work that she did, sometimes meandering around the different aisles of books and finding a book on a new subject she hadn't known much about, then reading for a couple of hours.

Her brother;Tony -- said working here was a waste of her mind. And her time. And while Tony and herself had gone through so much the last few years, neither of them healed the same way. Tony threw himself into his work, the science consuming him. Evelyn did the opposite, and she hadn't stepped foot in her lab in almost a year.

Evelyn was content where she was, and her older brother would just have to accept that.

Evelyn watched the children's reading corner that took place every morning before grabbing a coffee from the cart in the lobby and heading back to her desk. But before taking a seat she noticed a large man wandering around a table, scratching his head.

His dirty blonde hair was perfectly gelled and parted to one side. He was built, she could tell, even through his clothing that looked less modern than the clothes that the men his age typically wore. He scratched the back of his head, his eyes darting from aisle to aisle.

Evelyn sighed before taking a sip of her coffee and walking over to him. Her eyes went wide as she recognized him almost instantly. Phil had an extensive collection of cards with this very mans face on them.

With everything that happened to her she had no idea that Captain America was actually alive, she decided to keep the fact that she recognized him to herself for now. The poor man looked so lost to begin with.

"Can I help you, Sir?" She asked gently.

He turned, taking in the petite woman who was standing behind him with a hesitant smile on her face.

"Uh, I honestly don't even know where to start." He scratched the back of his head again. "It's kind of a long story, I doubt you would believe me."

"My brother is Iron Man, there isn't anything that will shock me anymore." Evelyn said, a nervous  chuckle flowing through her lips. She didn't normally like telling people about her brothers second life, but he told anyone he came in contact with so one more person wouldn't hurt.

"Iron Man? Sorry, everything in this time is new to me." He said.

Evelyn thought he might open up more if she let him know she already knew who he was now.

"I know who you are. A good friend of mine has a tiny obsession with Captain America. I just didn't know you were alive." Evelyn told him with sympathetic eyes.

"I shouldn't be." He whispered, looking down at his shoes.

Evelyn could see that same look in his eye that she often saw in her own when she looked in the mirror. Why am I here? When so many others are not? He looked so scared and haunted by something that she had no idea of. But with all the avenues that brought help to her mental issues, she wanted to pay it forward to someone in need.

"Let me help you." She whispered, placing a hand delicately on his forearm. "You came in here looking for something, let me help you find it."

He looked down at the hand that was unthreateningly placed on his arm, up the pretty white blouse that brought out the color in her eyes, the color of the grass in summertime, before he found himself nodding his head.

"Okay." He whispered.