05; back to square one

"Alright, can you do that again?"

Howard's voice broke through the speaker in the training room. A punching bag was placed in front of her as she practised her abilities. So far, she had the same abilities as Steve. She was agile, she was stronger, she was more aware of her surroundings and she had enhanced vision and hearing. The only difference between the super soldier and herself was the fact that she was a lot more nimble, she could dodge quicker and sneak up on people quieter.

Evelyn nodded, sticking a thumbs up in his direction before attacking the punching bag once more. She threw punches, kicks, even going so far as to make the chain holding the bag up wobble profusely. But something was wrong this time. As Evelyn kept going she could feel energy surge inside of her, making her go faster. No matter how many times Howard told her to stop, and as much as she wanted to, her body was out of her control. Sweat dribbled down the side of her face and her limbs burned but she kept going.

Unbeknownst to her, her eyes had flashed blue before the same blue light encased her hands and legs. With one last kick, a blue light hit the bag, the bag's seam ripping open as it flew off it's harness, sending sand all over the floor. It took her a moment before Evelyn noticed the blue light swirling around her body. She staggered back onto a table, gaping at her hands in awe. She clutched her head as the words, You Are Hydra screamed at her.

The door flew opened and Peggy rushed in with Steve close behind. Howard stayed on their side of the window but still looked concerned. Peggy threw one arm around her, to calm her down but Evelyn was in shock. "Hey," the British woman cooed. "It's alright, you're fine."

"No, I'm not." she whispered, her voice trembling.

Steve hardened the look on his face and turned towards Howard. "She's done." he ordered.

"But-"

"She's done." with such sternness in his voice, Howard did not want to argue, he took one glance at Evelyn who looked confused and scared like a little girl and knew he had pushed her too far. He nodded, Steve seeing the sorrow in his face of what he had done to his childhood friend and he walked away.

Steve then turned his attention back to Evelyn who had calmed down somewhat. "Do you think you can stand?" he asked tentatively.

Evelyn shot him a look. "I'm getting stronger, Rogers, not weaker." she got up just fine, but her stance was a bit wobbly. "I'm perfectly fine." she gave him a pearly white smile.

Peggy was still behind her, ready to catch her if she suddenly crashed. "You sure you're alright, I can get a nurse in here."

She shook away from her friend's hold, displaying her face that she was fine. "Really, Peggs, I'm fine. Does this look like a girl who's not?"

Peggy surveyed her friend. Truly, she never looked better. Her skin was practically glowing, her eyes were bright and full of life, her hair shining. But even though her eyes were pristine, there was something else behind them that she couldn't detect.

Steve could see it, it was fear.

Evelyn walked out after she assured Peggy that she was fine, but Steve wasn't so convinced. He caught up with her and fell into step with her. "So, since you're fine, how about you help me with something?"

She frowned at him, but kept walking. "Alright, what's the issue?"

"Like I said, I'll need a team, and that team will probably be hauled up in a bar. They may need some convincing so I was hoping you could warm them up to the idea?" he smiled hopefully, softly gazing down at her.

Evelyn returned his gaze, biting her lip slightly. "Why not? Be fun to whip 'em into shape."

The Captain grinned. "Alright, so how about nine? They'll probably be there all night but-"

"Nine is good," she chuckled. "now get outta here, Rogers, make up the rest of your team. And don't be late!"

The moment he left Evelyn had to muffle the childish squeal that left her body. She was acting like a teenager, a fool could see that, but she couldn't help it. Steve had basically asked her out on a date. She shouldn't be like this though, she shouldn't be worrying about if this was a date or not when there was a war raging on. But she was just a human. Just a woman.

And this woman needed to pick out what dress to wear.

-

She was late.

Evelyn had specifically told Steve not to be late and here she was, running down the streets of London at 21:15, late. Running down the cobblestone streets is hard enough as it is, but running in these god forsaken heels Peggy had picked out for her was a goddamn torture method. The blonde's run her fair share of streets, be it chasing after taxi's or falling back into the trenches, but this was horrible. Even as the wind nipped at her legs she still felt like her feet were going to fall off.

Even though it was wartime, the streets were relatively busy. She actually had to push people aside to get to her desired destination. Her shoes and little protests of, "Excuse me, sorry, out of the way!" were the loudest thing in the streets. That was until she saw the pub that Steve said they'd be in. There was loud piano playing and singing bellowing from the walls. A smile swept across her out of breath looks as she spotted Steve checking his watch at the door.

She jogged over, taking him by surprise. "Hey, I am so sorry. I feel like the biggest hypocrite, who tells a person not to be late, and then is late."

He stood there for a moment, unable to get a word out, Evelyn was beginning to think something was wrong. "Believe me, the fact that you showed up is good enough for me." was all he managed to spew out before opening the door to the pub, letting her slip in with ease. There was a coat hanger near the frame and so she unwrapped the black light fabric from her dress. It was then that Steve got a proper look at her attire. Blue polka dot dress, white belt, she truly looked stunning.

He was about to comment but there was an explosion of cheering. "Steve!" it was some of the 107th Evelyn recognised from Azzano. They all had a glass of beer in their hands and were very jovial.

Evelyn forced her smile a little. "This is your team?"

"Yeah,"

"You do realise they have to be fitted for equipment at 0800, right?"

"Yes, but they don't, that's why you're here." she shook her head fondly and made her way to the group. They all wolf whistled but she ignored it. She knew it was done in good fun, and that none of them would try anything(unless they wanted a very angry Bucky or even worse, Steve on their asses) so she gave them a twirl, her skirt flowing around her.

They all sat down in a circle, the two super humans ordering beers for themselves. They told them about the Hydra bases, and the gathering of a team. Some looked skeptical, while others were just blank faced. Dugan, the real southern man, took a large swig of his drink. "So let's get this straight. We barely got out of there alive and you want us to go back?"

Evelyn shared a look with Steve. "Pretty much." they said in unison.

Falsworth, the British man, smirked. "Sounds rather fun, actually."

The Asian man, Jim, belched before shrugging. "I'm in."

The man to her left began speaking French rapidly, making Evelyn's eyes widen as she tried to keep up. She had no idea what he was saying, and she was willing to bet that most of them didn't either. But after Gabe, the man beside him answered him in French, they both agreed on something. "We're in."

It was all on Dugan to be the deciding vote. "Hell, I'll always fight. But you got to do one thing for me."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

With the question, Dugan finished his drink. "Open a tab."

Evelyn laughed whole heartedly as he got up to do so. "Well, that was easy." he commented, making the whole group laugh.

After talking with the group for awhile longer, Bucky had decided to make an appearance. The singing was in full swing once more and Steve and herself had left to talk to their friend. "See? I told you, they're all idiots." Bucky remarked.

"How about you?" Steve questioned. "Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"

Bucky scoffed. "Hell, no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight, I'm following him."

Evelyn smiled at the two friends, it was evident they really cared about each other. From what Bucky had told her back in Azzano, it seemed he was scrawny Steve's bodyguard. Now that Steve could stick up for himself, Bucky felt a little nervous that maybe his old friend wasn't there anymore, but this, this proved that he was still there. Evelyn couldn't be happier for him.

"But," she said. "you're keeping the uniform."

"You know what? It's kind of growing on me." he said, looking back at the Captain America poster on the wall, a sign on it read: cancelled until further notice.

Then something happened that made them turn to the main bar. The singing stopped. All three frowned but Evelyn smiled in realisation. She hopped off her stool and poked her head out the door to see Peggy looking around, a little lost. "Excuse me gentlemen, I'm looking for Evelyn?"

"Well, you dressed to impress." the blonde complimented, walking toward her friend. Said friend was wearing a bold red dress and matching heels.

"Yes, and I see your top squad is prepping for duty." She joked, looking at the men who were trying not to look they weren't staring.

"This is how they prep." Peggy raised an eyebrow. "It's very unorthodox."

Steve and Bucky emerged from their spot and nodded their heads in peggy's direction. "Ma'am." Bucky greeted at the same time Steve said, "Agent Carter."

"Sorry to have to leave, boys, but there are other things London has to offer."

Bucky smirked flirtatiously, but it was more directed at Peggy than Evelyn. "Like what?"

"We were thinking about going dancing." Peggy answered.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Evelyn's eyes switched to Steve's. "The right partner." they locked eyes for a moment, not saying anything but it was enough. "See you in the morning, Captain."

"I'm looking forward to it."

With a knowing smile, Evelyn winked at him before leaving the bar with Peggy. Bucky turned to his friend in shock. "I'm invisible." that made Steve laugh. "I'm turning into you. It's, it's like a horrible dream."

Steve patted him on the shoulder. "Don't take it so hard. Maybe Agent Carter is interested."

-

The next morning, Steve was back at the base. Howard had asked to see him so he made his way to the weapons room. He looked around for a moment before spotting a woman reading the newspaper. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Mr. Stark."

She didn't bother looking up from her newspaper. "He's in with Colonel Phillips." she sighed, taking a glance at him, then her whole demeanour changed. Her disinterested features was replaced with a sultry smile. "Of course, you're welcome to wait."

He made his way to the table opposite her, leaning against it. The woman still had her eyes trained on him and in all honesty, it made him a little uncomfortable. "I... read about what you did." she spoke softly, pointing to the newspaper which detailed his mission into Azzano.

"Oh, the... yeah. Well, that's, you know. I'm just doing what needed to be done." he tried to play it off cool, he really had no idea how to talk to girls at all.

She stood up from her chair. "Sounded like more than that. You saved nearly 400 men."

Steve took a moment to reply, because he noticed the way she was looking at him. It wasn't trying to be nice, she was flirting, and he didn't know how he felt about it. "Really, it's not a big deal."

The woman sauntered over to him, her head tilted to the side a little. "Tell that to their wives."

Steve was suddenly speechless, all he could think about was that a pretty girl was wanting his attention. "I don't think they were all married."

"You're a hero."

"Well, that, you know, that depends on the definition, really." what was he doing? His brain was mush. He shouldn't be letting her so close, he shouldn't be letting her flirt with him, but he couldn't get his mouth to speak it.

She placed a hand on his chest. His brain screamed at him to make her stop but all did was take a sharp inhale. "The women of America? They owe you their thanks." she pulled out his tie. "And..." she looked around before dragging him behind a filing cabinet. "seeing as they're not here."

Steve was about to protest, to politely reject her advances but she was too quick for him. Her lips were on his in an instant and for some reason, he found himself kissing back. The kiss was short lived however, a cough sounded behind them.

It was Evelyn, and she didn't look happy.

The Captain was more than ready to spew a flurry of apologies but he took one look at her and he knew they wouldn't matter. She was furious. "Mr. Stark is ready."

"Evelyn, wait!"

"Oh, Captain, have you taken your tongue out of that girl to actually bother about the mission."

"You don't understand."

"I understand just fine, you found your partner, that's it."

He was slowly loosing her, and he didn't want that. He grabbed her wrist, turning her to face him. "Please Evelyn, just let me explain."

"What's there to explain?"

"What you saw-"

"Was a blatant sign that what I thought about you was wrong. I thought you liked me, and for a moment there I was beginning to like you too, but I guess there's no point now." Evelyn wriggled her wrist out of his grasp, tears of frustration threatening to spill. "Just go into Howard."

His heart sank, he had hurt her. Never would he ever want to hurt her. "Evelyn please-"

"Just go!"

And just like that, they were back to square one, their relationship becoming distant and awkward yet again.

-

Evelyn was fuming.

If she wasn't scheduled for an outfit fitting, maybe she would've calmed down, but if these people pricked her with a needle one more time, she was going to loose it.

Also, if she had known that this fitting was taking place in the same room Steve was, she would've rescheduled. Yes, she overreacted when she saw him kissing that woman, she's willing to admit that, but what made her angry was the fact that she felt so stupid in that moment. She should've known Steve didn't like her, or at least, she should've asked him. Evelyn just needed some space, to calm herself down and go back to being friends with him.

"Uh, Agent Mason?" she was ripped from her thoughts as one of the men fitting her suit tapped her on the shoulder. "It's ready." She stepped off of the platform and walked towards the mirror. As she drank in her appearance, she smiled. The top of her suit was brown, with straps and buckles decorating it. It felt almost like corset except she could breathe in it. Her pants were standard brown and the whole thing was padded with enough armour to withstand a knife wound. Although she doubted with the technology Hydra possessed, that they'd be using knives. Her boots were combat boots also. She looked like a soldier.

"Mr. Stark also embedded the fabric with something to make sure it can withstand your powers." the person sounded a little uncomfortable saying the whole powers part but she ignored it. She was too busy wrapped up in her outfit because, she smirked to herself as she thought about it, she looked good.

Evelyn thanked the tailors and wandered around a bit. She glanced over at Steve who was admiring a circular shield. She blew out a breath, she'd have to face the music sooner or later. So, summoning whatever dignity she had left in her, she strode over to the super soldier. "Mr. Stark," she greeted. "I'd like to thank you for the outfit, it's much appreciated."

"My pleasure, Evie." he said, smiling. He could tell when Evelyn was in a bad mood, and now was one of those times. "Steve was just trying out some new weapons."

Steve showed the shield to her. "What do you think?"

She studied it a moment, noticing how it looked and probably felt very light. So, the crazed and angered part of her brain decided to have a little fun. Blue light expelled from her palm and hit the shield with a loud bang.

Steve, who had hidden behind his shield, peeked out. She was smiling and his heart was racing. "Too bad." she commented, walking away briskly like it was no big deal.

If Hydra didn't kill him, Evelyn was, and he wasn't sure which he feared most.