08; through their fingers

italics are flashbacks!

-

They had been informed that Dr. Zola was on the move near the Alps, and they would be damned if they didn't give him hell. Evelyn seemed to be the most determined to get this mission and to capture Zola. He was the man of her nightmares the first few nights she had the serum in her body, but now she was going to become his nightmare.

While Gabe was manning a german transmission radio, Steve, Evelyn and Bucky were looking out on the train tracks. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?" Bucky asked.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, and I threw up."

The sides of Evelyn's mouth perked up at that. "This isn't payback, is it?"

"Now, why would I do that?" Steve smirked at Evelyn who tried to keep her laughter at bay.

"We were right. Dr. Zola's on the train." they turned to Gabe. "Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."

Falsworth checked his binoculars, sure enough the train was moving fast. "Then let's get going because they're moving like the devil."

Steve grabbed one of the rungs and connected it to the zip line. "We only got about a ten-second window! You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield!"

Evelyn grimaced at the image. "Bit of a gap." she warned.

"Better get moving bugs!" Dugan called out.

Dernier watched as the train came into view and then called out for Steve to go, then Bucky, then herself. They all landed on the same train car and entered. With hands out, she scanned the area of her train car, Bucky stayed by her side while Steve walked into another. But Evelyn sensed something was wrong, it was too quiet.

Suddenly there was a sound of a door closing, both Bucky and herself whipped around to see they were cut off from Steve, who was desperately trying to get the door open. Evelyn made a move to help him but on the other side of the car she heard a gun whirr to life. Her eyes widened, her face contorting to fear almost as she took cover behind a crate on one side, Bucky on the other.

Steve stood helplessly as he witnessed his two best friends fighting for their lives. Bucky shot at the heavily armoured man while Evelyn flicked her wrist, blue light erupting from her hands in the hopes of hitting him. He knew they wouldn't last long, Bucky was running low on ammo while using her powers took a lot out of Evelyn. Large bolts of Hydra energy left the gun, larger than any bolt Evelyn could conjure up. Steve bashed at the door, looking on as Bucky ran out of ammo and Evelyn slumped down against the bunker, sweat shining off her skin. Once he got it open he sneakily signalled Bucky to be ready to catch the ammo he was about to throw.

In a matter of seconds, the ammo was caught by Bucky who then shot at the guy again. He moved, giving Evelyn the opportunity to hit the cargo forward, hitting him and knocking him out.

Steve ran in, Bucky by his side. "I had him on the ropes."

"I know you did."

The three didn't have much time to revel in their success for much longer. Another Hydra soldier had come up behind them, catching them off guard. The gun took a moment to charge, giving Steve enough time to block the blast with his shield. The bolt of energy deflected off the shield, knocking Steve and Evelyn into the wall while Bucky was just knocked to the ground. The energy had hit the other wall of the train, blowing a hole and exposing them all to the harsh weather conditions and a 200 foot drop.

"Fire again!" they heard the voice of Zola cry. "Kill him now!"

Bucky was the first up, Evelyn and Steve still recovering from the blow. They were still a little out of it when he picked up the shield and fired at the hydra soldier. It was done in vain as he was shot at once more and propelled out of the opening, luckily holding onto a rail still attached to the side of the train. That brought them back to reality. Steve rushed over to the opening, Evelyn conjuring a large ball of energy, evaporating the man into thin air. She too ran to help Bucky. "Hold on!" she yelled, as Steve slowly made his way down to his friend.

"Grab my hand!" Steve ordered, but the railing was already unhooking from the metal wall. Bucky clung on for dear life, but something in the back of Evelyn's mind told her that this wasn't going to end well. And it was right, the railing came undone from the wall, dropping to the abyss, Bucky falling with it. Steve screamed his name, Evelyn's hand flew over her mouth, eyes wide. She stood, paralysed as Steve climbed back into the car, face red and tears of rage, regret and sadness filling his eyes. He grabbed his shield and threw it against some cargo, then at the opposite wall before a bellow of rage ripped through his throat.

He'd failed to save his best friend, Captain America had failed to save his comrade. Some superhero he was.

It took him a moment to remember that Evelyn was right there with him. He spun around, ready to apologise, but she was already gone. Storming down the carts, absolute fury blazing in her raging blue eyes. She was going to kill Zola for everything he's done, he was a dead man walking.

Without trying, as more Hydra soldiers came at her she deflected and evaporated every single one. She was on a war path, and nothing was going to stop her. She caught sight of Zola cornered by Gabe and Jim. She barged into the room, a snarl present on her lips. Zola spotted her and visibly shrank away from her as she bounded towards him, grabbing him by the lapel of his jacket, lifting him up so that his feet were nowhere near the ground. There was slight fear in his eyes but she just clutched his jacket tighter.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right here." she seethed. "Tell me why I shouldn't disregard your life like you disregarded our friends life."

Zola let out a strangled laugh that only enraged her more. "Because you can't."

Panic flared in her eyes for a spilt second but she didn't release the man. "Why can't I?" all was silent, she felt every beady eye on her in the moment.

"Because you are my greatest creation. I am your creator, you couldn't kill your creator."

She wanted to, she really wanted to. She should've crushed his life between her fingers but he was right, she couldn't. It must've been the serum flowing through her bloodstream, something was physically stopping her from killing him. Like it had been locked into her DNA.

The moment she dropped him down to the ground, a sinister smirk hit his lips. "You are Hydra." he whispered.

Her pained look turned to stone and she rounded on him, her elbow connecting with his face, knocking him to the ground. Steve was watching with a grim face, eyes red. "Get him out of here." he ordered, his own features stoic.

The two didn't talk to the rest of the team for the rest of the day.

-

They were thrown into a large cellar after the ambush. Hands and feet tied together like they were pigs about to be slaughtered. Men groaned in pain, the smell of grim, sweat and blood hit their noses with a potent scent that made Evelyn want to vomit. She was the last to be thrown in, Bucky second last and she ended up at his feet in a pile of roped together limbs.

"Agent Mason," he called, his voice hoarse. "Evelyn, can you hear me?"

It took her a moment to respond. "Ow," she mumbled into his grubby boot. "They pack a wallop."

Bucky smirked, a breathless laugh leaving his lips. "Yeah, yeah they do."

She shimmed her way off of his shoe and closer to face him. "Phillips told us that the platoon of men was small, we could outnumber them."

"Clearly he was wrong." he shifted a bit but stopped, his leg writhing in pain.

Evelyn watched, concerned. "You're hurt, James."

"Just a scratch, nothing a big boy like me can't handle." his dirt covered hands danced over the wound. "And enough with the James bullshit, call me Bucky. James is my father."

The two stayed in silence for a moment, for there was a rattling of keys. The silence didn't last for very long as a group of soldiers burst through the door, shouting commands in German. Two men charged over to them. Evelyn tried to squirm away but Bucky couldn't move. One grabbed Bucky by the arm and the other yanked Evelyn up by her hair. She yelped in anguish for a spilt second before becoming used to sensation.

They both stayed stone cold silent, neither one of them yelling for help of screaming in pain. That was until they were lead into a room with surgical tools and torture weapons. They gave each other fear stricken eyes, both thinking the same thing.

We're going to die tonight.

Each was given a separate chair, one on either side of the room, facing each other. Evelyn wanted to cry, she wanted to fall to the floor in agony, wishing she had never joined in the first place. Her father be damned at this point.

They were strapped to the chairs, staring at each other in pure fear. "It's gonna be okay," Bucky panted as he was wheeled off in another direction. "We're gonna be alright."

She nodded, something in his words making her want to believe him.

Before her world went black, something in his words gave her something to fight for again.

-

"Evelyn!"

The call of her name shook her out of the trance she had secluded herself in. It was Peggy, and she looked concerned. "What?"

"You've been staring at that map for almost twenty minutes, go out and get some fresh air."

"And let Hydra get the drop on us again, no thank you."

Peggy sighed, bringing her hand to her friends shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I know you're grieving, but you will go insane if you spend another minute here. I'll tell you this, why don't I finish up my shift ad we can go-"

"No, no stay here. Someone needs to be here to go over this stuff." Evelyn raked a hand through her hair then down her tired face. She must've looked awful, must've looked like she aged ten years but honestly, at this point, she didn't care.

She grabbed her coat, throwing it over herself before turning to Peggy. "Oh, and when Phillips goes into the miracle doctor, tell him to ask why the fuck I couldn't kill him, would you?"

"It would be my pleasure."

With a smile, the Lieutenant departed from the HQ, to take a walk for god knows how long. London was still in the midst of the black out, so the whole town had evacuated the streets. She was alone with her thoughts and that really was a bad thing. She needed to find Steve, she couldn't be alone right now. Not if she didn't want anything broken.

So after a good ten minutes of searching for him, she came across the pub they were in the night before they went on their first mission. There was a pang in her heart as she saw the roof caving in on itself, bricks and wood lay waste to rubble and dust. She knew that Steve would be here. He was a sentiment, places and people who may seem like nothing trigger memories for him and mean the world. This place was one of those places.

"Thought I'd find you here." she said, leaning against the obstacle free doorway as the Captain downed his glass of scotch.

Steve didn't look up at her. She could only imagine the pan he was going through. "Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells." he pored another drink. "Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means...I can't get drunk." He turned to look at her, eyebrow slightly raised. "Did you know that?"

"Yeah, learned the hard way, night after I found out my mom was sick I tried to drown my sorrows in a bottle of vodka. Needless to say the buzz wasn't very mind numbing." Evelyn desperately wanted to comfort him, but how could she say it? Hey, I'm sorry your friend is dead because we couldn't haul our asses up a minute sooner was not going to cut it.

"Please stop blaming yourself," she took his hand away from the glass and into her own. "it wasn't your fault."

"You know that's not true."

Evelyn huffed, eyeing the surroundings. "I didn't know Bucky that well, hell I didn't know him at all compared to you, but I know for a fact that he wouldn't want you to be in a bombed pub, looking like you're about to kill yourself!"

"But Evelyn-"

"Steve, I know what it's like to feel loss. I know what's it's like to have the world cave in around you, like the guilt of not being able to save them is suffocating you alive." tears threatened to spill from her eyes, reliving the moment they revealed her father under the sheet at the morgue. "The what if scenarios that run through your head, I've had them all. What if I had never done this, what if I had did that."

Steve was watching her intently now, so perplexed at how she was perfectly describing what he was feeling. "For years I blamed myself, that I hadn't seen it when it was as plain as day but I guess fathers are never good with their emotions anyway."

His eyes widened as did hers. She'd finally let it slip. "Your father?"

Her eyes closed, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yes, my father. My father is dead, he killed himself because he couldn't handle his depression. And now I'm about to loose my mom too. My life has just gone to complete and utter shit."

"Look at me," Steve demanded softly, she obliged. "do you realise what you're doing? We're taking down Hydra with only a small team, my shield and your powers. We're not going to stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured. That's pretty big for someone's life who's gone to shit."

Small smiles were exchanged. Their hands still interlocked. Evelyn laughed as she wiped away a few of her tears. She lifted her thumb to catch the last one but Steve's hand reached out to capture it. Her breath caught in her throat from the surprise and now both super soldiers were staring at each other as the all clear alarm bells rang throughout London.

"Uh, excuse me?" a man asked to them, making them both jump. "When we ask everyone to stay in their homes, that includes you two."

Evelyn stood up, brushing her skirt down. "Yes, sorry." the man nodded, disappearing into the night. "I'll see you tomorrow, Captain." he nodded solemnly, setting the glass on the floor.

She had made it almost five steps away from the pub when she heard. "No," she whipped around, confusion etched all over her face. "I'm not letting you slip through my fingers again."

Evelyn was going to question his statement but within the time it took for her to register and come up with a question, his lips were on hers and then her brain was goo. Her first reaction was to kiss back and that's exactly what she did. Her arms snaked their way around his uniform shirt and his hands were splayed against her back. They melded into each other, both of them thinking this was better than they had hoped.

Once air became a necessity, they pulled away, gasping. Steve rested his forehead on hers, breathing in time with her. Then, the woman began laughing. "What is it?" he breathed.

"Now I see why that woman wanted to kiss you so badly."

And in the dark London streets, the only thing lighting up the cobblestone path was the smiles they wore.

-

(not edited)

A/N: *SCREAMING* STEVELYN STEVELYN STEVELYN

Seriously tho, this chapter gave me chest pains, with Bucky's death, Stevelyn and the flashback I just need to lie down.

Comment, vote & follow - emma