CHAPTER THIRTEEN —
( Ryangosling69$. )

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The mission was simple: break into the warehouse, take out the agents, extract stolen secret S.H.I.E.L.D. files and bring in the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

As Agent Parrish moved deeper into the warehouse, she could hear the low murmur of voices and the clinking of weapons. Agent Parrish knew she was outnumbered, but she also knew that years of training and the extra strength given to her by her father would give her the edge she needed to take them down.

Suddenly, the agents emerged from the shadows and surrounded Agent Parrish. Without hesitation, she drew her two katanas, the blades catching the moonlight as they sliced through the air with deadly precision. The first agent lunged forward, his blade aimed for Agent Parrish's chest. Agent Parrish deflected the attack with a swift parry and countered with a quick strike, the blade finding its mark with deadly accuracy. The agent fell to the ground, clutching his chest as blood pooled around him.

The other gang members charged forward, their weapons raised high. Agent Parrish moved with fluid grace, her katanas a blur of motion as she struck out at the men. With each swing, another Agent fell, their bodies crumpling to the ground in a heap.

The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood as Agent Parrish fought on, her movements a deadly dance of death and destruction. The Agents tried to overwhelm her with sheer numbers, but Agent Parrish was a master of her craft, her skill unmatched by any who dared to challenge her.

As the last of the agents fell, their bodies littering the warehouse floor, Agent Parrish stood alone in the centre of the room, her katanas dripping with blood, a testament to the fierce battle that had just taken place.

With a final flourish, Agent Parrish sheathed her katanas, the blades disappearing into their scabbards with a soft click. The warehouse was silent once more, the only sound the steady rhythm of Agent Parrish's breathing as she surveyed the carnage around her. Then, a door clicked, and her gaze moved to a door at the back of the room. Agent Parrish made her way over to the door, and without even testing to see if the door had been locked, she quickly kicked down the door and stepped into a small office.

A man coward in the corner of the room, his eyes widening in fear. Agent Parrish moved quickly, disarmed him, and tied him to his desk chair. She knelt beside him and opened up his laptop. "Password, please."

He spat in Evelyn's direction. "I'll never fucking tell you."

Agent Parrish pulled out a knife and stabbed his thigh. He threw his head back and screamed out in pain. "How bout now?" She asked again.

He groaned out. "Ryangosling69$. Lowercase R, capital G."

Evelyn smirked as she typed in the password, watching the laptop turn on. "Cute." She plugged in a usb that immediately began to download everything on the laptop. "Favourite movie?"

"The Notebook," he replied instantly.

"Tear jerker," Evelyn commented. Once the usb stopped downloading every file, Evelyn quickly deleted everything and stood back up. She clapped her hands. "Thank you. Where's the rest?"

"That's all there is."

"Bullshit. Some of our other stolen folders are physical copies. Now, please share." Agent Parrish gave a managing smile and twisted the knife in his thigh. He screamed in pain and glanced over towards a portrait. Evelyn took the picture off and revealed a safe. "Well, hello. What do we have here?" She broke the lock and opened the safe, where two files sat.

"Bitch," the man mumbled.

"Thank you," Evelyn smiled and took the files out. She turned back to the man and began to untie him. "Now, I reckon our ride is here. So let's get going."

He struggled against his restraints and then against Agent Parrish's grip as she hauled him up. "Hail HYDRA," he immediately spat on her shoes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Evelyn rolled her eyes and went outdoors, where a Quinjet waited to pick them up.

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After they reached the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, Evelyn headed straight to the Director's office and entered. "You know, you are supposed to knock on the door. I am your boss, after all," Nick Fury spun around in his chair to face Evelyn.

"We've been friends for almost twenty years, Nick. So I think it can be allowed." Evelyn threw the files onto Fury's desk and sat across from him.

"Mission successful?"

"Same shit, different day," Evelyn commented. "We were right about it being HYDRA, though. Although their stolen intel didn't get far."

"We'll take them all out...eventually. You know we will," Fury assured. "Our NASA research base blew up late last night. The Tesseract was involved and was taken in the process."

"That's what you get for trying to experiment on that cube," Evelyn told him.

"I don't want to hear it," Fury bit. "The world is in danger now, and I need you to bring in Rogers."

Evelyn raised her eyebrows. "Because the Tesseract was taken?"

"Not only that, but because of who took it."

Fury slid over a file, and Evelyn opened it up, her eyebrows raising immediately. "Loki?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "He killed dozens of agents and took at least a dozen others, including Barton."

Evelyn sighed, putting the file back down on the desk. "Does Nat know?"

"Coulson's informing her now."

Evelyn nodded with a hum. "I'll get Steve, but he won't like this."

Fury smirked. "I can handle an old man."

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When Evelyn arrived at Steve's apartment only to find no one there, she knew where to head next. Whenever Steve couldn't sleep, he would go boxing at his local gym to punch out all of the PTSD and nightmares. Evelyn did something similar after she escaped HYDRA. However, Fury also allowed her to help train S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits. It was the only time S.H.I.E.L.D. allowed her to fight, knowing how skilled and deadly she was.

(Completely necessary gif)

Evelyn made her way towards the boxing ring where she immediately saw Steve Rogers punching a punching bag. She leant against the wall and watched for a few moments. She knew that he was thinking about his time in the army, and if Evelyn looked close enough, she could see his hands trembling and hear his heart racing, and not from the exercise.

But every time Steve struck out at the punching bag with all his might, he felt a sense of release. The sharp impact of his fists against the heavy bag echoed through his body, grounding him in the present. With each punch, he could feel the tension and anxiety melting away, replaced by a sense of power and control.

As he continued to strike the bag, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, pushing him to push himself harder and faster. The rhythmic thud of his fists against the bag drowned out the noise of his traumatic memories, allowing him to focus solely on physical exertion. After several minutes of intense punching, Steve finally stepped back and struck his hardest, causing the punching bag to fly off its chain and land with a thud on the other side of the room.

"The meditation video I gave you is not good enough?" Evelyn joked lightly, gaining Steve's attention.

"I forgot how to turn the TV on," he replied.

Evelyn chuckled lightly and began to walk over. "You could have called me. I gave you my number."

"I didn't want to pull you away from work."

"You would've done me a favour." Evelyn stopped in front of Steve who stood not that taller than her, his chest heaving and his face and arms glistening with sweat. "Are you sleeping?" She asked, noticing the bags under his eyes.

Steve let out a deep sigh. "Not really," he replied. "I can't get comfortable on the bed, and when I do sleep, it's on the floor, usually followed by flashes of the war."

"It's normal. You've only been awake for three months," Evelyn reminded him. "It took me over a year before I could withstand sleeping in a bed, and then years of flashes before I could even leave my room on my own."

"What did happen to you? After the war, I mean," he asked cautiously.

Evelyn pursed her lips. "Story for another day?"

"Over coffee?" He asked lightly.

Evelyn smiled. "Unfortunately, my story needs to be told somewhere away from prying ears."

Steve nodded understandingly. "Coffee another time."

"Always," Evelyn replied. She followed Steve away from the boxing bags and into the locker area with his things. "Unfortunately, I didn't just come here to watch you box." After Steve grabbed his stuff from his locker, Evelyn handed him a file. "I'm sorry, Steve, but we need you to come in."

Steve opened up the folder and looked at the document on the Tesseract. "HYDRA's secret weapon," he mumbled to himself.

"The Tesseract was taken by a man named Loki," Evelyn told him, pointing at a smaller photo of the god. "He's a Norse god if you know your mythology. And he's from another planet. He has a brother named Thor who's visited before, but he's a friendly."

"So we're dealing with a god from outer space?" Steve asked wearily.

"Yeah, who has the Tesseract. If we thought that Zola and Red Skull did bad things with it, we can only assume what Loki will be capable of," Evelyn told him. "Howard got the Tesseract out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought it was the key to unlimited sustainable energy, and that's why S.H.I.E.L.D. kept it and was experimenting on it."

"Anything else?" He asked

Evelyn shrugged. "A little bit more, but I dropped the debriefing file back at your apartment when I went to find you. I thought it'd be safer there than me walking around with it. If you're in, call me, and someone will pick you up in a jet tomorrow morning. And I doubt this mission will last a day, so pack some clothes and a toothbrush."

Steve threw his bag over his shoulder and began to walk Evelyn out of the building. "How did you find your way back into this after getting out? Into war again?" He asked softly.

"Knowing I was doing the right thing and helping people," Evelyn replied softly. "I did some bad things when you were under, Steve. Killed." She paused. Evelyn rarely talked about her past anymore, and the only time it came up was when she and Fury were trying to clean out rogue HYDRA groups around the globe. Steve stopped beside Evelyn and held her hand.

"Another time, remember? You don't need to talk about it now," he told her.

Evelyn looked into his soft, baby-blue eyes and nodded. Steve made her feel relaxed, and gave her a feeling of warmth and comfort that she hadn't fully felt since being friends with him back in the forties.

"Okay. Yeah, okay," Evelyn nodded and squeezed his hand lightly. Neither of them let go as they walked out of the building and towards Steve's bike. "You just have to remind yourself that you're helping people. If you still want to help people and save the world, come back and help. That's what Fury told me to get me back in the game."

AUTHORS NOTE
Well, this is a long time coming lol
I honestly couldn't be bothered editing and updating this book because I got bored of it, but I'm rewatching the whole MCU right now, and now I'm in the mood for Marvel

To celebrate my 9th year on wattpad :o I give you updates

Pheebs/-rosepetal