Wintry Christmas
Eva didn’t know how much time has passed since the pretty lady, Pepper Potts, helped her to the couch in the living room. The man, Tony Stark, gave her several blankets to keep her warm and offered her a bottle of whisk, a failed attempt at comforting her but made her smile nevertheless. She still didn’t know what was happening around her. It might’ve been a few hours or a few minutes, but she found herself not caring anymore. She heard the door clicked and approaching footsteps. She remembered that voice, she tried to reassure herself. Steve. Steve Rogers, she repeated until she finally found the courage to look up. His blue eyes stared back at her and she slowly unwrapped herself to reach out her hands. He immediately crouched in front of her and pulled her into a hug, careful not to hurt her. She was safe, she heard him said. She was safe and she will never have to step her foot in that hellhole.
Tony watched the two of them in silence. He knew that feeling very well, he thought to himself. Wanting to give the pair a little privacy, he slid his gaze towards the shaggy-haired man standing behind the couch near two petite women and he took a sharp intake of breath. That face. He knew that face. His heart raced as realization dawned upon him. The wintry cold when the cop came knocking at his door with the reports. He felt nauseous and had to tighten the grip on the kitchen counter to stop himself from falling.
“Are you okay?” It was Pepper who came up to him with her small soft smile. She held out a glass of water for him and watched him gulped it in one go. “Do you want to help me with my bags?” She didn’t need any help, he noticed. But she waited for him to nod before she turned to the quintet in the living room.
“I’m going to find my room.” She announced and added something he couldn’t hear. He felt dizzy. The man was staring at him in equal shock. He must’ve realized who he was, based on the look on his face. Tony mustered a smile. Not his fault. This is not his fault. He chanted. Tony quickly looked away before the man could say anything.
* * *
The whole interaction didn’t go unnoticed by Natasha. She quietly watched Bucky and Tony exchanged eye contacts, noticing Wanda’s confused expression when Bucky tensed by her side. Tony quickly left the room with their new tenant, Pepper Potts. She heard Bucky exhaled in relief when they finally disappeared to the upper floor.
“Her sister.” Wanda softly spoke, enough for the two of them to hear. “What about her sister?”
“Should we ask her?” Bucky frowned. “She just calmed down.” Natasha bit back an amused smile at how surprised Bucky looked when he saw Steve hugging Eva.
“She must be okay. Eva wouldn’t leave if her sister was still in that house.” Natasha said.
Steve walked over to them fifteen minutes later, his face filled with anger that Natasha didn’t know he could have.
“Her sister was away on a field trip with her schoolmates. Eva said she needs to pick Becca up tomorrow before her mother come.”
“Have you met her?” Wanda voiced everyone’s curiosity and the blush on Steve’s cheeks was enough answer for them.
“A few times. She’s a nice kid.”
“We’ll pick her up tomorrow.” Natasha said and gave Eva a smile when the woman turned around in surprise. “Tell Becca about us so we could get her. You need rest.”
* * *
The rest of the crew (as Darcy liked to call it) went back not long after Steve, Bucky, Natasha, and Wanda left. They were too worried about what was happening to be having fun. The drive home was nerve-wrecking, at least it was for Darcy. She didn’t know what happened with Eva to make her friends flee in seconds. She played scenarios over scenarios in her head, hoping nothing is as bad as she thought.
It was worse than she thought. That was her first thought when she stormed inside to meet her new bestie. Eva was still on the couch, her body leaning against Steve’s chest while Natasha tried to clean up her… wounds? Darcy swallowed back the lump in her throat. There were a lot of bloodied cotton balls on the coffee table and she could see Natasha’s hands movement to know she was stitching her up. She shakily took a few steps closer to reach the living room, not trusting her voice to not waver when she saw Eva’s face.
“Hello, Darcy.” She quietly smiled, wincing a little when she moved her lips. “I’m sorry for ruining your Christmas night out.”
Darcy didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Her feet brought her to Eva and she touched the woman’s cheeks with her hand.
“You look horrible, Eva.” She choked out.
“I know.” Eva was grinning. Steve and Natasha looked a lot more relaxed when they heard Eva’s light chuckle.
“You look like you need tons of ice cream and cookies.” Darcy was not crying. She was not a crybaby, she chastised herself. But the tears kept rolling down as she sat next to her.
“I look like shit.”
“You do.” She cried and laughed when Natasha told her to shut up so she could concentrate.
They giggled until Natasha and Steve left them to talk. Steve looked a little hesitant at first, Darcy noted. But Eva gave him her usual bright smile and the latter walked out with a somewhat goofy smile on his face.
They didn’t spoke for a long while. Darcy had her arm wrapped around the smaller woman. She was humming a song when Eva pulled away to gave her a hug.
“You’re a good friend, Darcy.”
Darcy was not the smartest person in the whole world, she knows that. She was not a smart person, period. Her grades ranged from A to D throughout her school years and she was okay with that. She has come to terms with the fact that she was nothing but ordinary. She made it up by being a very social person. She didn’t realize it was something she should be proud of until she was sitting in the living room next to Eva. She was a good friend for her. The thought of it made her want to cry.
“Do you need anything, Eva?” She asked Eva with teary eyes.
“No. I just want to sleep.” Eva’s eyes dimmed a little.
“Okay. Come on.” Darcy beamed and helped her on her feet.