The first day Evaline had been missing, Steve hadn't even known.
As he sat in yet another meeting about their so-called plan to find her, his feet tapping restlessly underneath the table as he yearned to do something, he couldn't stop focusing on this fact. After their fight over the note and Evaline continuing to hide secrets from him, Steve had needed space just as she had needed it so many times before, and he had kept his space for almost a full 24 hour period.
It wasn't until the next morning that he realized anything was wrong beyond their own personal issues. He had been drinking his coffee in the nook of the Tower's kitchen, trying to be subtle and aloof when Evaline eventually exited from their shared hallway, but the first person who came out wasn't her. It was Wanda, with a look of concern and fear on her face that made Steve's heart clench.
Because in that moment he had known that Evaline's disappearance wasn't by her own choice.
After busting into her room and breaking her door for the second time, and failing to reach her by phone or be able to track it, Wanda and Steve woke the rest of their team that was present in the Tower and called Tony, who was in his own suite with Pepper.
When Tony had come up, Pepper close on his heels, he had gripped Steve's shoulder in solidarity and said, uncharacteristically somber, "We'll find her, Rogers."
Feeling his throat begin to tighten with emotion, Steve could only think that the mood felt eerily similar to when Evaline had fallen into her coma what felt like lifetimes ago.
They had all collected in the living room, where they were sitting now, surrounded by holographic screens that Tony had pulled down from the ceiling. Various shots of New York City were flashing by, Friday using the CCV cameras to try and search for Evaline anywhere in the streets. They spent a large portion of the day tracking down leads, going so far as to reach out to Evaline's brothers and mother, who all said they hadn't heard anything from her, and Marley, who said the same. Bruce, Tony, and Natasha had created a map of sorts, marking off places and people they had checked with, to no avail.
Steve knew it was in vain, just as he knew that Evaline hadn't simply run away. There was no way they would be able to find her with such basic methods. At the same time, however, he was grateful for his teammates as they rallied around him and used their strength to lead when he simply had none. All of his energy was being spent internally berating himself for not going to check on Evaline sooner, and for letting their fight end on such bad terms.
As he looked down at his phone to check the time once the sun went down, he saw that somewhere during the business of the day, the battery had died. Sighing, he leant over to Sam, who had been solidly beside him the whole day, and said, "I need to go charge my phone real quick. And maybe take a shower or something."
The fellow ex-soldier looked over at Steve, his eyes seeing past Steve's bravado. He also saw how close Steve was to snapping; instead of commenting on Steve's mood, or asking him questions, Sam simply nodded and said, "Alright, I'll hold down the fort out here."
Steve slapped him on the back in thanks before getting up from the couch and heading to his room, feeling more than one pair of eyes on him as he exited. While grateful for his team's efforts, Steve also just needed a break from them. It was moments like these, when the emotion and weight of circumstance caught up to him, that he well and truly felt his actual age.
When he made it into his room, he did feel like he could breathe a little easier without the presence of his team's tension, even though his eyes were immediately drawn to the various photos of Evaline or memories of her that were scattered throughout his room, including one of her sweatshirts still draped across the back of his desk chair. Trying to ignore all of this, Steve simply plugged in his phone and then moved into his en suite bathroom, hoping that a long, magnum heat level shower could at least maybe relieve some of the muscles he had been keeping taut in anticipation and worry all day.
All his hopes were in vain as he felt his joints still clicking as he exited the shower, put on a new set of clothes, and checked his phone. He didn't have many notifications considering pretty much everyone he communicated with on a regular basis was back in the room he had just left, but he did have one voicemail from a number that he didn't recognize. Although the technology Tony had put on their phones had high levels of encryption and he swore blocked any spam callers, it still allowed random numbers to get through in case it was an agent or someone else of import attempting to call them.
As Steve finished doing his post-shower routine, he put the voicemail on speaker and turned to go back into the bathroom.
"Hi, there, Evaline," a vaguely familiar voice said from the other end of the line, causing Steve to quickly run back out of the bathroom and stare at the phone like it was was talking itself. "We found your phone in our cafe; you left it underneath one of the booths. Luckily you had this number saved in your emergency contacts, so hopefully I've reached the right person. I've left it behind the counter, so just come in and ask for it; they'll just ask to see your ID and probably ask you what your screensaver is. Anyway, you can call us back or just come right in. Hopefully, we'll see you soon!"
He sat in silence, in surprise, for a few moments, before quickly grabbing his phone and busting back into the living room. Every single one of his teammates' eyes swiveled to look at him, more than one pair spotted with fear and concern of what had instigated his abrupt re-entrance. He held up his phone by way of explanation, saying, "The cafe left me a voicemail earlier saying they found Evaline's phone."
"Oh, good!" Bruce said with a grin, before he lost the expression when he spotted the time. "Too bad they're probably closed now."
Turning to him and giving him a look of incredulity, Tony said sardonically, "Yeah, if only we had a way to break into a public cafe. Like, say, a spy who knows how to break into safes, or someone with telekinetic powers, or someone able to wield a weapon made of the world's strongest metal, or someone able to shoot plasma beams out of their hands, or…"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Bruce said, waving off Tony in annoyance. "My brain's being diverted into more theoretical matters, so my basic common sense is a little hindered right now."
"Alright then, Banner, if that's the case… you and Pepper get to stay here and monitor the screens and the hotline, see if anything comes in. Call in Vision if you need an extra brain, or whatever cerebral entity he has," Tony said as he slapped on one of his mobile suit bracelets, earning a peaked, questioning eyebrow from Natasha. He shrugged by way of explanation and said, "What? I am preparing for every possibility. This could be a set up."
"Considering they called during the day, at a normal time, I don't think it's going to be," Natasha said, although Steve didn't miss when she checked for her gun she kept holstered behind her left hip.
"I'll suit up and meet you all, cover you from the skies," Sam said, already headed to his room to grab the clothes he wore under his Falcon suit. "I'll pop in my comm and you guys can reach me there."
Steve followed his teammates in a kind of haze as Tony doled out assignments and led them down to the street where one of his self-driving cars, powered and controlled by Friday, was waiting for them at the curb to take them the few blocks to where the cafe was. As they all piled in, Steve getting into the relatively spacious backseat with Wanda, he could feel the kinetic energy coming off her in waves that he knew well from before their battles, when she seemed to be putting energy in reserve for a fight.
She wasn't the only one in the car who was a little tense.
The car navigated the roads like a master driver, although no human's hands were touching the steering wheel. Within minutes, it was pulling into the nearly black loading dock behind the cafe, its headlights the only thing providing visibility for the small space as they all clambered out of the car and headed to the back door to the cafe.
Tony had started to reach for the doorknob, flipping part of his metallic suit over his hand and beginning to power up one of his photon beams as he asked his omnipresent AI, "Friday, can you - "
"Uh-uh," Natasha said, stepping in front of him as she pulled a pin out of her hair and stepped up to the doorknob. "Some things are better done old school. We like this cafe. We con't want S.H.I.E.L.D to shut it down because they've got to cover up your work of a melted down doorknob or something."
Tony frowned in disapproval, and despite his concern for Evaline, Steve felt the corners of his mouth twitch with amusement at Tony's annoyance. Natasha jiggled her tools in the door for a few moments before it simply popped open, and Tony made a noise of assent under his breath before the four of them stepped through the door.
There was the sound of mechanics whirring as Steve quickly turned, relaxing only when he saw Sam's fully suited up body was landing behind them. He looked ridiculous compared to the rest of them all in plainclothes, especially as he struggled to get his wings in through the doorway, but his presence made Steve feel a little bit safer and saner.
He gave Steve a tense nod and said, "All clear. Couldn't spot any possible adversaries from the skies. I think we're safe to look around."
Steve simply gave a grateful nod of his head before turning around to follow the rest of their teammates into the cafe. It was a little strange to be in the back of the cafe they all frequented so often, especially at night and in such relative silence. All of them remained quiet as they perused the kitchen, finding nothing of note or out of place.
Natasha had slipped into the manager's office after picking that lock as well, then came out with Evaline's phone outstretched to Steve, who took it from her and turned it on. Her locked screensaver picture was a large group photo Pepper had somehow been able to organize at the homecoming party where they had reunited her with the additional extensions of their team. Despite the large group, Steve's eyes immediately found Evaline in the middle of the picture, in the middle of the crowd: perched on his lap, securely in his grip but also halfway out of it as she leaned over to kiss a mortified Peter Parker on the cheek.
Despite his actual age, Steve's fingers moved quickly over the phone screen as he unlocked it, his heart banging as he remembered her passcode was 0403, the date that they had finally gotten together. Her phone unlocked in what felt like slow motion before it went to her first page of apps, and then Tony took over as he paired it to his tablet and brought up an enlarged holographic form of her phone screen so they could all look at it and see what was missing or different, and if Evaline had left a clue behind.
Tony's voice shot out in the silence, "Friday, scan for any abnormalities: deleted pictures, messages, voicemails, e-mails, anything along those lines."
"It seems that there are some recently deleted texts, but they were deleted externally," Friday said almost immediately, even the AI's voice sounding puzzled.
"How is that even possible?" Wanda asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Her mastery of technology, or lack thereof, was second only to Steve's, which was significant considering that Wanda was also the youngest member of their team besides Peter Parker.
"With the right amount of training, it is very possible. But that's just it; this must've been done by someone whose grasp of technology has to be a little higher than Romanoff's and Wilson's here," Tony said, racing his fingers across his control pad as his eyes scanned the screen in front of him. "Friday, can you retrieve the deleted texts from the archives and find out who our girl was chatting with and who wanted to cover it up?"
"It seems the messages that were deleted were between her and a Marley Herrera," Friday said automatically. "Would you like me to read them?"
"Just pull them up for us," Tony said, his wish completed before he even finished the command as the texts jumped up onto the screen.
The five of them that had gathered all inched closer to the screen, reading the messages in which it was obvious that Marley had point-blank lied to them earlier about talking with Evaline. They all remained in silence for a few moments before Wanda finally broke it, asking with a little betrayal in her tone, "Why would Marley have lied to us about this?"
"Maybe Evaline asked her to. Maybe she just wants some space after… what happened last night," Sam said with a wince as Steve's expression tightened.
Natasha shook her head so adamantly, wisps of her scarlet hair slid out of the braid she had hastily thrown up before they had headed out from the Tower. "There's no way she would've kept lying to us just at Evaline's request when she knew we'd probably launch a mini mission to look for her. Marley's her friend, but she's also a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. And I thought our friend, too."
"Speaking of S.H.I.E.L.D…" Sam said thoughtfully, looking up into the sky. "Hey, Friday, can you check to see if Marley's on the schedule for S.H.I.E.L.D today?"
"Agent Herrera was scheduled for trainings today at the main headquarters," Friday answered back simply.
"Then maybe we should go and see if she's still there," Sam said easily, turning to the rest of the team. "Worse case scenario, we'll get some access to S.H.I.E.L.D. tech that might help us at least look into all of this a little bit more."
The rest of their team agreed with Sam's suggestion, heading back out to where the car was waiting for them. As they all piled in, Steve couldn't help but focus on Sam's innate grasp of leadership. Not for the first time, Steve was grateful for his friend's calm, tactical mind in a crisis as he seemed to help refocus the group, which was ordinarily Steve's job, but he also noticed how different the situation was from when Evaline had first fell into her coma and their relationship had been so strained that they simply had not been a team.
Steve hoped that their ability to work together as a team this time around would be enough to save Evaline from whatever had befallen her.
After a short and frankly terrifying drive to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Training Headquarters in the middle of rural New York, during which Tony took the wheel and frequently leant over driving capabilities to Friday so he could help the rest of them plan their infiltration and likely questioning of Marley, Steve nearly tuck-and-rolled out of the car before it came to a full stop. The rest of the team rushed to follow him, most of their shorter limbs not able to match his wide stride as he led the way inside. As he walked into S.H.I.E.L.D, he saw the larger-than-life image of Evaline that had joined Luke's, stretched out on the holographic screens lining the lobby. The screens flipped, showing their information and stats and the bright red labels of 'missing'.
Steve also saw the looks of pity that were aimed in his and his team's direction as they made their way to the elevators. He tried, and failed, to ignore them.
The five of them squeezed into an elevator with all glass walls, still very visible to the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that were watching them with concern and curiosity alike. As they rose, Steve's mind blanked out as he stared out over the vast forest surrounding them, seeing a very vague glimpse of the New York City skyline in the distance as they rose above the tree tops, and hoping that somehow he would get an inkling as to where Evaline was in the mess of those city blocks.
They made it up to the fifth floor of the complex, Sam leading the way now as he took them to where a lot of the surveillance techs had their desks and posts. As they stepped into the open-concept office space, they all startled a bit as they saw only one tech was currently in the space that should have easily sat about fifteen techs during more normal business hours.
The lone tech glanced up in boredom when the door opened, but then did a double take as he realized five of the Avengers were standing in front of him. He stood up so quickly he almost knocked over the chair he had been sitting in, before he spluttered, "Sirs! And ma'ams! What can I do for you all?"
Steve quickly strode forward, finally able to focus enough to take charge again as he said, "Sir, I need you to tell me if Agent Marley Herrera is in the building right now."
"Yes, sir," the tech said, hastily taking his seat again as he began searching something in the computer. The five superheroes moved to stand behind him and watch his screen, although only Tony could really make sense of the commands and such that he was putting in.
After a few moments of tense silence, the tech shook his head, and Steve didn't miss the look of concern that turned down the corners of his eyes by just a hair. "According to her key code login, and facial recognition throughout the building, Agent Herrera hasn't been here for two days, even though she was slotted for shifts at the training field. She also hasn't showed up to her meetings at the main HQ. She's been a no show."
Inching closer to the tech and peering over his shoulder like he would be able to easily decipher anything on the screen and figure out if the tech were hiding something, Sam asked, "Well, is there any information on her last known location?"
"Not unless she was in the building," the tech responded, wincing as he did so and saw the disappointment that crawled across their expressions. "I'm sorry."
Stepping in front of the rest of his teammates, Tony stiffened his spine and brought himself up to his full height, still a few inches shorter than either Sam and Steve, as he commanded the tech, "Initiate the Big Brother protocol."
The tech significantly paled, and Steve noticed a bead of sweat had begun collecting at his temple. "Sir, I don't know how you know about that, but I need someone with level eight clearance or higher to confirm that action, and …"
Simply peaking an eyebrow, Tony asked, "And you think that I, the original Avenger, even over the Star-Spangled Captain here, don't have level eight clearance?"
Swallowing heavily, the tech swiveled back around to face his computer screen as he typed in a rapid set of commands that Steve's technologically uneducated eyes couldn't hope to follow or replicate. Within seconds, a second command box popped up with no instructions as the tech silently rolled to the side, away from his desk, as Tony stepped forward and typed in something just as rapidly to make the command box disappear, giving way to a grid-locked screens of surveillance cameras both at S.H.I.E.L.D and beyond.
Natasha's voice was low as she asked, "What the hell is this?"
"A surveillance system we have to track our agents. It's attached to their tracking chips, and pairs up with satellites or CCV cameras in the area to piece together their movements," the tech said, his voice nearly hypnotized now as he clicked through multiple screens that had popped up. As Steve moved closer to the computer, he saw that Marley's name and agent ID number, presumably, were at the top left of the screen.
Quickly, Natasha turned toward Tony, her eyes narrowing. "And you knew about this, how?"
"Because it uses Stark satellites and Friday's tech, obviously," Tony said simply, earning a further glare from Natasha as he rolled his eyes. "Oh, come off it for now, Romanoff. It's going to hopefully help us in finding either Marley or Evaline, or both, so I don't want to hear it. You can yell at me about privacy and all that crap when this blows over. Also, it's only for S.H.I.E.L.D agents, not Avengers, so it doesn't affect you."
Natasha looked like she still was going to argue with Tony, but she bit her tongue and held back, knowing it wasn't the time or place to bring up the topic.
"Okay," the tech said, ignoring their little battle and interrupting the argument they were undoubtedly about to enter into. "I narrowed down to the block of time you think Agent Kaeser met up with Agent Herrera at the cafe. I don't see Agent Kaeser leaving in the same window, but Agent Herrera was seen leaving the cafe around 10 AM. She disappears within a few blocks, and here is a blindspot there, but nothing of note that Agent Herrera would have entered into or exited out of. She simply… vanishes."
The room went silent as all of them focused on the implications of their findings, and the implication that Marley disappeared because she did not want to be found.
A deep voice boomed from behind them, interrupting their reverie as it commanded, "Add Agent Herrera to the missing and in search for list."
They all turned to see Fury enter the room with a flick of his trench coat, Maria Hill close behind him with a terse look on her face and a clenched jaw. The tech they had been talking to straightened up a little further and said, "Yes, sir. But, if I may ask… it sounds as you may need me to add that Agent Herrera is want in connection with Agent Kaeser's disappearance. Is that correct?"
Fury turned and glanced at the small portion of the Avengers that had come, and Steve saw Natasha nod once out of the corner of his eye in affirmation of what the agent had asked. However, it was Fury who finally put it into words.
"Yes. Agent Herrera is wanted for questioning in her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D… and in the disappearances of Agents Calloway and Kaeser."