It's been a month and no sign of Eva. The only evidence they had was her shopping left on the ground. The cameras inside and outside the store had been tampered with, meaning they couldn't even get a face on who may have taken her.
Steve has had many sleepless nights, nightmares plaguing him of what she could be enduring. No matter how often he asked people, checked out the scene, or walked the routes you may have taken, he couldn't find a single trace of his girl.
Today, like every day since you disappeared, Steve walked into the lab and asked, "Why haven't we found anything?"
Tony sighed and said, "With her phone off, it will take time."
It was now a routine. Steve had gone into full soldier mode. Morning, wake up and hit the gym, followed by breakfast and walk to the store. Midday, ask Tony why there was nothing, a quick lunch after running through the park. Evening, annoy Fury by asking if he had any updates before riding his bike back to the compound for dinner. No time for team builders or game nights or any entertainment when his world was missing.
Bucky walked in. The look on his face said it all. He turned up nothing. The Winter Soldier was still feared in some circles and Bucky was using it to his advantage. But there were no hits out on Eva, no reason to kidnap her at the moment as her relationship with Steve wasn't public knowledge, and no one looking to purchase a woman matching her description. Bucky leaned against one of the tables, completely at a loss.
Just then, the last person Steve wanted to see walked in and yelled out, "Guess who's back."
Steve scoffed and walked away. Something was telling him not to trust her. She had had his back in the field on several occasions since the Avengers had been formed. Now, everything in him rebelled against the idea of being anywhere near her.
"What's your problem?" Nat asked.
Steve made sure there was a table between them as he answered, "My problem? Evelyn is missing and you don't answer your damn phone for a month!"
Bucky moved to stand next to Steve, more to stop him from doing something stupid than to protect Nat, before adding, "And you show up just when we hit another dead-end."
Nat rolled her eyes and replied, "Not my fault. I didn't have service."
Tony, who was out of any better ideas at this point, inquired, "Do you think you can go look? A fresh set of eyes and all."
"Sure." She went to exit the room.
Bucky grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving as she walked past, and said, "Not without me."
Nat stole a glance at Steve. He was disheveled. Stubble was beginning to show. His eyes held dark circles. This was a man barely hanging on. Worry colored her features.
"You really think Steve should be alone right now?" she asked, not bothering to keep her voice down with the super soldier's hearing.
Bucky didn't answer. The last thing Steve needed was time to lose himself further. This wasn't a trauma Bucky could fix. Steve lost someone precious to him again. There was no taking that from his best friend.
"I'll let you know what I find," Nat said once Bucky let go.
Nat left the compound. She made sure she wasn't followed. She couldn't afford for her prizes to be found. She made her way to a secluded safe house. It looked to be little more than an old hunting cabin, barely big enough to house one person.
She went inside, disabled her traps, pulled up the cellar door that was hidden under the kitchen table, and went down. She walked the corridors, disarming more traps as she went. When she got to the room with two glass cells, she paused before one.
Nat gave a dark smile and said in a sickening tone, "They don't suspect a thing, любовь - love. It's just you and me now."
The left cell held a dark figure curled up on a cot, not even acknowledging that she ignored them and treated them like an object. However, the one she was looking at was in the cell, tied to a chair and gagged. Eva sat in the unlocked right cell, unable to move, her only thought was, Please find me, Steve. But hope was fast becoming a dream.