"He did what?!" Peggy exclaimed, the news of my previous evening coming at as much of a surprise to her as it had been to me. I shrugged dramatically, offering her a wide-eyed and amused expression as she attempted to wrap her mind around my revelation. "I thought he might try to coerce you into going on a date or make a move on you. Not offer you a partnership in Stark Industries!"
"Trust me Peg, I was just as surprised as you are," I explained, dropping ungracefully onto my bed with a laugh, a thoughtful expression playing on my features. "It felt strange you know... to be looked in the eye by a man who actually sees your worth and considers you an equal."
"Well Howard is nothing if not progressive," Peggy responded, to which I nodded in agreement. "I don't think the fact you're a woman makes a blind bit of difference to him." She paused before adding, "Apart from the fact that he's determined to have you on his arm."
I rolled my eyes, waving away her laughter with a frown.
"In his dreams." I groaned, not missing the way my lips briefly twitched into a smile at the thought before I pulled them back into a straight line. The bed dipped slightly as Peggy dropped onto the sheets beside me, a wicked smile on her lips.
"Oh, I'm sure you are, every night." She winked and I grimaced, her comical kissy faces finally managing to coerce a smile from me as I clutched my stomach in a fit of giggles. I wiggled my eyebrows at her suggestively, succeeding in prolonging her laughter before swatting her on the arm and sitting up. I clapped my hands together, hopping up from the bed and crossing the room in search of my favourite shoes. I dropped to my knees, scrambling around under the desk where I had spotted the toe of my favourite heels poking out from under the mess. I slipped my feet into them, admiring the soft navy velvet which was accented by a feminine bow on the front.
"Come on Carter, get your shoes and your coat, we have a busy day ahead of us." I instructed as she groaned, dragging herself from my sheets with about as much enthusiasm as I'd often seen from Rogers when faced with yet another physical test. Speaking of which, I'd be sure to mention that particular recruit today. Whilst my own love life may not be top notch, I prided myself on my ability to notice when two people held a flame for each other. As much as she wanted to deny it, I'd seen the hurried glances in his direction. And how could I miss the way she'd ran without a care towards him in panic at the prospect that he might get blown up. Unfortunately for her, she wouldn't be able to escape my prying curiosity for much longer.
I admired myself in the mirror, giving a quick twirl and grinning at the way my skirt flowed gracefully around me. I had picked out a particular favourite outfit of mine, something that was pretty and feminine, yet offered the comfort I would need for a long day in the City. I wore a navy skirt which fell to just below my knee, small pleats near the top meaning it flowed perfectly away from where it pinched in at my waist. Tucked into it was a pale blue blouse, buttoned up at the front and falling into a V, accented by a large collar which sat on my shoulders.
Whilst the weather had begun to deteriorate over the last week or so, the sun was still shining overhead, leading to my decision against a heavy coat as I grabbed a slightly less bulky jacket, matching the colour of my skirt. If I didn't need it I could always leave it in the car anyway. Peggy and I had been granted a couple of days' leave, one of which we were spending in New York, seeing the sights and perhaps enjoying a bit of window shopping. As I had expected, Peggy hadn't been as keen on the idea as I had, skeptical about the prospect of a "girl's day", as I had described it. Yet I had managed to convince her with the promise of paying for her lunch.
"Ready?" She called from behind me, slipping her bag over her arm as she waited by the door. I turned to her with an excited grin, slinging my bag over my shoulder before sending a quick nod. I practically skipped across the room, keen to spend a day away from the dirt and sweat of the barracks, savouring the scent of my perfume from where it lingered on my hair and clothes.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together as we made our way across the barracks and towards the waiting car that Colonel Phillips had so kindly loaned us for the day. The raised eyebrow and wary expression I received in return told me that Peggy wasn't feeling so enthusiastic about our plans. "Oh come on Peg, we can have a lovely lunch in the city, do a bit of sightseeing, and maybe even get a bit of shopping done." I practically pleaded for her to show some excitement for the day ahead, finally coaxing a small sigh and a smile as she rolled her eyes at the way I batted my eyelids.
"Perhaps we could find you a pretty new dress to catch Steve Roger's eye..." I added as an afterthought, teasing as I tilted my head knowingly. Her eyes widened slightly as she registered what I was suggesting, her guard dropping only momentarily before she was once again the picture of composure.
"I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about," she argued, crossing her arms over her chest as she successfully retained a stoic expression. "Let's get going, shall we? Wouldn't want to waste a second of our highly anticipated 'girls day', would we." I grinned as she breezed past me, her reaction to my comment only serving to heighten my suspicions. I quickened my step to catch up with her as she slid gracefully into the driver's seat, a small chuckle escaping my lips as I thought forward in anticipation to what the day may hold.
"Keep up Evelyn!" Peggy called from ahead of me, smirking over her shoulder as I hurried along the street a little way behind her. I narrowed my eyes as I glared at her back, the tables having turned since this morning. While I was still very much enjoying my day, Peggy had taken a fair amount of amusement in my inability to keep up with her long strides and graceful weaving through the crowded city streets. While my shoes were beautiful, I had begun to regret my decisions as they pinched sorely at my toes, and along with the various shopping bags I clutched, had further hindered my ability to keep up with my friend.
"Peg!" I breathlessly called out as I eventually caught up to her, "perhaps it's time to stop for lunch, don't you think?" I gave my suggestion hopefully, my eyes pleading as I glanced over at her. She laughed, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Absolutely, I'm starving." She responded with a smile, my relief visible as I sighed out a laugh, linking my arm through hers as we journeyed through the city together.
Before long, we had arrived at our destination, taking a seat inside a small diner. Thankfully it wasn't too busy, with only a few others there with us, meaning we could finally enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. We quickly ordered our drinks and food, thankful for the chance to take the weight off our feet and relax. At least, I would be relaxed, unfortunately for Peggy, I wasn't planning on letting her off so easy.
"Margaret Carter," I began, leaning my elbows onto the table and resting my chin in my hands. She eyed me suspiciously at my use of her full name, clearly unsettled by the devious look I was currently sporting.
"Evelyn Moore," she countered warily, folding her arms across her chest in expectance of a conversation she wouldn't enjoy.
"So, tell me all about your undying love for Steve Rogers," I smirked, not one to beat around the bush and choosing to get straight to the point. She raised her eyebrows in response, keeping her stern glare firmly on me.
"I wasn't aware that I was in love with him." Her voice remained calm and steady, a hint of amusement lacing her words.
"You may not be aware of it but that doesn't mean everyone else is as oblivious, we can all see it Peg." I shrugged, offering a sympathetic smile, much to her displeasure.
"And who is 'we all'? I assume you mean just you."
"Come on Peg, everyone saw how you ran towards him when he jumped on that dummy grenade! Don't try and tell me you don't care for that man." She paused for a moment, clearly attempting to compose a good response to my comment, more than likely something to take attention away from her.
"You can be as smug as you like Evelyn, but don't think we didn't all see that lovely little moment between you and Howard," she had successfully u-turned the conversation, placing attention on me as I felt a panicked blush creep over my cheeks and I searched my mind for the moment she was speaking of. She leaned across the table, reaching out and taking a strand of my hair in her hand before twisting it gently around her finger, immediately alerting me to what she was referring to. "I certainly didn't see you complaining about Howard's fingers brushing past your cheek as he twisted you curls in his hand."
I batted her hand away, smoothing my hair back into place as I attempted to compose my flustered state. She clearly found amusement in my embarrassment as she released a loud laugh, earning a stern glare from me.
"I think we've talked enough about my love life," I grumbled, keen to get off the topic. "It's your turn now."
"Oh, so you consider Howard to be a part of your love life now?" My eyes widened as I realised how my words had only dug me deeper, a proud smirk on my friend's lips.
"That is absolutely not what I said!"
"Oh hush Evelyn, you know I'm just joking," she waved me off as our waitress placed our plates on the table before us, accepting our thanks before leaving us once again. "And anyway, you know that I am completely supportive of your decisions regarding Howard." I sighed, accepting defeat as Peggy somehow, once again, managed to tactfully steer the conversation away from herself and back onto me. I suppose I should be used to it by now.
The rest of our day passed uneventfully as we continued with our shopping and sightseeing. I had managed to convince Peggy to buy a new dress, which sported a low v-cut neck in a deep red. She had initially been against the idea, mostly due to my jokes regarding Rogers, however, she had eventually agreed that she looked great in it and so had bought it. I had also managed to pick up a few dresses, thoroughly making the most of the increased rate of pay I was receiving working for the SSR. We had taken a stroll along the Coney Island Pier, treating ourselves to some cotton candy and popcorn as we ambled around aimlessly, simply enjoying the feeling of being away from the camp.
While we both enjoyed our jobs immensely, it was difficult to forget the reasoning behind them. There was a war, a huge and terrifying war in which thousands of innocent men laid down their lives every day. It had far been too easy to push that fact to the back of my mind, throwing myself into training and research for project rebirth, allowing myself to live in blissful ignorance that the men I was training wouldn't surely die very soon. Being away from camp had given me a chance to appreciate the world I had known before the war had begun. I watched children laughing, pleading with their mothers to let them go on just one more fairground ride. Husbands and wives holding hands as they simply enjoyed each other's company, far away from the slaughter and death of the war that stretched on out across the water. Peggy had disappeared into the crowd, muttering something about finding some more cotton candy before she left me to people watch alone. My attention was drawn to a young couple, standing hand-in-hand just a few feet away from me. They were clearly in love, that could be seen simply by the way they looked at each other, but that wasn't what caught my attention. The man wore a uniform, fresh and clean, exactly how it should be before he is shipped off to the front lines. I felt my heart sink as I subtly eavesdropped on their conversation, my suspicions confirmed as they spoke quietly about his orders. The woman spoke hopefully, proud of her beau as she straightened out his collar with a sad smile. She told him how she would wait for him, and that when he returned they would be married. I admired her blind optimism, at least she might be able to allow it to carry her on after he left, however, I knew better. The likelihood was that she would never see him again, and this thought was what urged me away from them, turning my head away from the crowds and towards the water. It took a few deep breaths to force back the tears that threatened to spill over, glad when the couple had disappeared back into the crowd and out of sight.
"Are you okay Eve?" I was startled slightly as Peggy rejoined me, offering a piece of cotton candy my way which I gratefully accepted. "You look a little sad."
"I'm fine, just got lost in a daydream," I easily lied, forcing a convincing smile on my lips before stealing a little more cotton candy and popping it in my mouth, spinning on my heel to begin heading back towards the fair. "Shall we?"
The next few days seemed to drag as we spent many hours holed up in the offices digging through each of the recruits files, ensuring we selected the perfect man to undergo the project. Eventually, I had managed to escape, taking my papers with me, no longer capable of coping with the Colonel's ignorant remarks and Howard's furtive glances in my direction. As well as this, the offices had begun to feel stuffy and claustrophobic, putting me on edge and leading to more than one occasion of me snapping at one of my colleagues. I currently sat, cross-legged on the grass of the training field with papers spread haphazardly around me. While the open space gave me much more room to breathe, it hadn't helped my ability to think. I glanced down at the papers, the pages filled with neat calculations, messy scribbled notes bordering the edges around them. As we had reached the point of selecting our participant, it would be extremely helpful to have actually finished working out the calculations for the serum we would be using. I had taken the liberty of re-writing the calculations in a much neater format than I had been given, the mixture of Doctor Erskine and Howard's rushed scribbles proving too messy for my brain to handle. Unfortunately, I had made the mistake of leaving these notes unattended in the unlocked office, where Stark had managed to get his hands on them and add his opinions to the work. Hence why the page was now littered with chaotic annotations that frankly, I had a hard job even reading let alone understanding.
I scanned one of the pages again, groaning as I realised that none of the information was actually going in, before dropping it atop the pile and falling back onto the grass. It was early evening so even though the sun was beginning to wane, it still emitted a comfortable warmth. I closed my eyes, drinking in the quiet around me, the only audible sounds being that of the birds singing in the trees.
"Agent Moore," A voice queried from above me and I opened my eyes, squinting against the light to discern who had joined me. Once my eyes managed to focus to the bright sunlight, I smiled as Doctor Erskine watched me with a grin from above.
"Abe," I greeted, pushing myself back into a seated position as he dropped to the ground beside me, flicking through the mess of papers that surrounded us.
"Having a bit of trouble?" He asked with a chuckle as he noted my exhausted expression. I laughed in return, stretching out my arms with a groan as I pushed the calculations away from me.
"I just can not seem to work this out. There's just something that isn't making sense and nothing I do seems to be helping." He nodded thoughtfully as he observed the papers, holding one up and scanning its contents before handing it to me.
"You are thinking too hard fräulein, perhaps try taking a step back and re-evaluating what you know." I frowned, struggling to understand how his advice would help me. "Sometimes you must read between the lines to find the answer that you look for."
I considered his words for a moment, re-reading the notes I had studied for days, attempting to find something different that may help me to figure this out. I paused as I read one of Howard's notes again, a small scribble that spoke of how the subjects own DNA might react differently to the serum than another's. I grinned as the pieces fell into place, finally understanding the tweak we would need to make to the serum for it to be complete. I hurried up from my spot on the floor, gathering the papers in my hands before leaping to my feet and pulling the Doctor into a tight hug.
"You are a genius!" I exclaimed, waving the papers excitedly.
"I did not help at all, I simply offered my wisdom." He explained with a laugh.
"Well then, you are very wise," I rushed past him, clutching the papers in my hands as I headed back towards the office, throwing a quick wave and a thank you behind me at the doctor as my feet carried me away.
I practically fell through the door once I reached my destination, met with the confused stares of my colleagues as I rushed across the room. I completely by-passed Peggy and the Colonel as I made a bee-line for Howard, the only person I needed to explain my findings to.
"I've got it, I worked it out!" My words tumbled from my lips as I fought to catch my breath, thrusting the notes towards the man before resting a hand on my hip and blowing a stray hair out of my face.
"Slow down Eve," He laughed as he took the papers from me. "Worked what out?"
"The problem with the Serum," I grinned, feeling extremely proud at the expectant and impressed expression that painted his features. Clearly, I was enjoying the moment far too much as I had forgotten to continue speaking, leaving him without an explanation.
"Evelyn, would you care to explain or are you just going to stare at me all day?" He acted as though he was complaining, yet the slight quirk of his lips told me otherwise.
"Okay, so I've been struggling with this for days, attempting to work out what we needed to do the ensure the serum would work perfectly with the specific recruit that we select," I began, finally having caught my breath and composed myself.
"Go on…" Howard urged, leaning back on the desk behind him as he listened intently to my explanation.
"It was your note that made me realise it," I explained, directing him towards the messy handwriting near the bottom of the page. "You wrote that the serum had reacted differently to different DNA, meaning that it would not be tailored for any specific man, which could lead to a number of different uncontrollable outcomes. Which of course we do not want." He nodded in agreement, scanning the page before turning back to me.
"Right, we need to find a way to ensure that the serum will react in the way we want it to with the participants specific DNA. But how can we do that?"
"We incorporate their DNA into the serum." I explained simply, a thoughtful expression washing over Howard's face as he considered it.
"What did you have in mind?"
"We administer the serum in two parts. The first part intravenously, with none of the recruits DNA, followed by the second part administered orally, with the DNA assimilated." I paused, allowing him a moment to consider my proposition as I caught the expressions of my colleagues out of the corner of my eye, both watching on in confused silence. I also didn't miss the pointed look I seemed to receive from Peggy every time I was so much as in the same room as Howard. I turned back to face him, watching as he studied the calculations, muttering to himself as he attempted to discern if it would work.
"You know what," He began, glancing up from the papers to meet my eye, an excited smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "I think that might just work." I grinned in response, a mixture of pride and pure excitement filling me. He turned to the table, grabbing his own notes and adding them to mine before breezing past me towards the door.
"C'mon Moore, you're coming with me," He announced, gesturing over his shoulder for me to follow. "We have work to do." I gladly obliged, grabbing my bag I had abandoned in the chair earlier and hurrying after him.
"Have fun." Peggy offered a quiet but suggestive comment as I passed her, earning her a quick slap on the arm before I disappeared out of the room on my way to what would inevitably be a very long night.
We had been here for hours, or at least it felt like hours as darkness fallen outside the building, leaving us to work under the bright artificial lights of the lab.
"Run it again." Howard ordered with a sigh as he tugged his fingers through his hair in frustration. Thus far, every test we had carried out had proved unsuccessful, my plan struggling to find traction as the DNA refused to combine with the serum.
"It didn't work the last eight times, I don't think the ninth will end any better." I grumbled, turning back to the equipment and setting it up to run again.
"Then what do you suggest, Evelyn?" Howard snapped, rising from his seat and glaring in my direction. "Huh? This is your brilliant idea so how do you suggest we make it work?" I found myself taken aback by his attitude, never having experience him act in this way to me before. Though rather than upsetting me, it only served to fuel my building irritation from the failed tests.
"Do not snap at me Howard Stark." I warned, turning away from the equipment and taking a few steps towards him. "I simply offered a solution to a problem that you were unable to solve. The fact that it is not working is not my fault and I don't appreciate you taking that tone with me. Anyway, I thought you were supposed to be the genius, surely you can work it out yourself." I crossed my arms over my chest, calming my breathing to control my irritation. He deflated slightly as he sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly before glancing back at me.
"I'm sorry Eve, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, I'm just frustrated." He apologised, shrugging his shoulders with the most pitiful puppy dog expression I had ever seen. There was every chance that it was a clever ploy to get me to forgive him, but if so, it worked. My annoyance instantly waned and my arms fell to my sides as I closed the space between us. I paused in front of him, considering my actions for a moment before I slipped my hand into his.
"We can work this out Howard," I spoke softly, meeting his eye with a determined gaze. "You are the cleverest man I have ever met, and if anyone can figure this out then it is you. I have every faith in you Howard Stark." He watched me carefully, digesting my words as we fell into silence. I suddenly realised how close we had gotten, with mere inches between us as we watched each other. Just as suddenly, I realised that I was okay with that, quite enjoying our closeness as I gently squeezed his hand in mine. What I wouldn't give to know what he was thinking in this moment. I mean, I'm sure I could have made an educated guess at most of it, namely the parts I wouldn't want to hear. Yet something told me that he thought differently about me. Whether it was my childish notions of fairytale romance that led me to believe this, I couldn't say, though a part of me believed that I was right and that something about him was different when it came to me.
My breath hitched in my throat as I was distracted from my thoughts by a gentle touch sweeping my hair behind my ear. I was suddenly aware of everything around me, from the warmth of his hand in mine to the steady beeping of the equipment behind us. I could have sworn that I could even hear the quiet buzzing of the electricity in the lights above us, yet despite this, I was still completely focused on the man before me. I noted how his gaze flicked from mine to my lips, and back again, as it so often did when we were together. There was no denying that he wanted to kiss me, and I was beginning to think that perhaps I would be inclined to let him. Unfortunately, neither of us got a chance to find out as a loud beeping from behind shocked us from our state as we were alerted that the test had completed once again.
We quickly stepped apart, placing some distance between us yet not breaking our gaze until I turned back to the machinery to remove the samples. Silence remained between us as I busied myself with the serum and Howard watched on intently, mentally going over the calculations in an attempt to figure out how we could make this work. Eventually, I felt his presence beside me, loosening my grip on the vials as he gently took them from my hands.
"We can work this out," He stated, mostly sure of himself yet looking to me for reassurance that it was possible. I offered a nod of agreement in return, squeezing his arm gently as he smiled, my simple act giving him all the reassurance he needed. With that, we got back to work.
I leaned back ungracefully in my chair, sighing in exhaustion as we ran the test for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening. By this point I had all but given up, retreating to the office chair that sat beside the worktop, distracting myself by attempting to balance various sized beakers on my head. Howard had barely noticed my distracted state, too busy pouring over notes and continually tweaking the serum to even find amusement in my childish antics. I watched him curiously, adjusting my position to ensure the glass beaker remained in its place balanced atop my head as I studied him. He looked older recently, fine lines and dark shadows forming around his eyes from what I guessed was lack of sleep. This project had taken it out of all of us, but none more than him. Whilst it couldn't be denied that he lived for the limelight, basking in the fame he experienced, he was not a bad man. And although he carried himself with an air of cheerful confidence, it was becoming easier and easier to see that this war had taken its toll. Because despite what many might think, he cared. He cared for every man who lost his life fighting this war. He cared for all of the women and children who were left alone as a result and he cared immensely for this project. We had continuously been told that this project would do great things, it would end this war sooner, and therefore we had given our all to see that it was completed. I found myself feeling proud of this man, a man whom only a few months ago I had held in high distaste. Now I looked at him, busy working away, his hair slightly disheveled and his tie sitting crooked, I saw someone who I knew I could, or already did, care for. He glanced over at me, a grin stretching across his lips as he took in the sight before him.
"Eve, why in gods name do you have a beaker on your head?" I suddenly realised that, in my distracted pondering, I had forgotten about my little circus act. I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by the shrill beeping of the equipment in front of us, the alarming sound startling me slightly, sending the beaker tumbling to the ground with a loud smash, glass scattering across the floor. However, neither of us were interested in the mess I had just made as we analysed the information we had gathered from this last test. A simple sentence presented to us gave all the information we needed.
Assimilation Complete. Positive.
We glanced at each other with stunned expressions as our hopes were confirmed. We had managed to assimilate the serum and the DNA.
"We did it." I muttered absently, my attention still stuck on the results.
"You're damn right we did." Howard replied equally as stunned as I was. An excited grin formed on my lips, a laugh escaping as I turned to the man beside me, allowing him to pull me towards him in an elated hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, lifting me with ease off the ground before spinning us both in a circle. He laughed as he placed me back on the floor, releasing me from his grasp and taking a slightly awkward step back as he realised what he had just done. I chuckled as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, his gaze flicking between the equipment and me.
"I told you-you could figure it out." I praised, noting the slight glimmer in his eye as I watched him with pride.
"We figured it out," He corrected, resting a gentle hand on my shoulder with a nod. "Together."
"I suppose I did help a bit…" I shrugged innocently before continuing, "Actually, I helped quite a lot, I think perhaps you might have had a mental breakdown if it weren't for me." He laughed a deep and genuine laugh as he threw an arm around my shoulder.
"Yeah yeah, Moore, I get it." He rolled his eyes, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with my statement. "C'mon, let's get out of here." I followed after him, taking the papers that he handed me before gathering my things and heading for the door. I paused as I grabbed the handle, glancing back over my shoulder.
"Whatever would you do without me Howard Stark?" I asked dramatically, grinning at him before swinging the door open and slipping through, leaving him behind to catch up.
"Let's hope I never have to find out."
Sorry, I took so long to update this one! Honestly, between my starting a new job and severe lack of motivation for life, it took me way too long to write this chapter. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it, keep favouriting and following so you're notified when I update, and trust me you're going to want to be notified for the next chapter ;) also please please review, tell me everything you think about this, i want to know what you think of Eve and her character/plot/personality, tell me what you think about Eve and Howard, let me know what you want to see happen or what you think will happen, anything!
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned - E.H.