Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

xiv. 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛

THERE WAS a loud beeping. It was high pitch, annoying. Evelyn felt her ears twitch as more sounds filtered through as if she was hearing for the first time. Honks from automobiles. The sound of a radio's crackling before words were able to be made out. She could even hear a faint chatter of people talking. As her hearing managed to grow clearer, her senses went into overdrive. She could feel the sheets from a bed. She could feel the warmness from the air. She clearly remembered being in a jet on the side of a freezing cold mountain when she fell asleep, so how did she end up there?

Grunting in pain as a headache seemed to form, she moved her arm to rub her forehead. Her arm felt heavy as if she had not moved it in years. Opening her eyes slowly, she used her hand to block the brightness of the light as she used her other arm to try and sit up.

Evelyn's eyes unfocused and focused until she finally saw where she was. It was a small room, the walls not painted, the curtains in front of the window white. The sheets and blanket were an ugly green. There was a table next to her bed with a radio playing music she had grown up listening to. Looking at the corner of the room, there was a camera... but it looked so different. Small. Concealed. Was she in Hydra? Did they have technology she did not know about? She became paranoid as she took a deep breath. Something was wrong.

There was a knock on the wall ahead of her. She realized there was a door. As it opened slowly, a dark-skinned man wearing an eyepatch and black clothes walked inside of the room with an apprehensive look on his face.

"W-Who," she began before coughing at the scratch at the back of her throat from an obvious lack of use for who knows how long. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The man assessed her for a moment before chuckling. "Evelyn Stark. You are in the Triskelion. S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? What do you know about that?" Evelyn said, getting defensive. "Who are you!? Where's my brother? Where's Colonel Phillips and Agent Carter? They were the only ones who knew about that? Where's Steve?"

Evelyn looked around for a weapon but found herself empty-handed.

"My name is Nicholas J. Fury. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I need you to stay calm, Ms. Stark. There are some things you need to know," he said before standing at the edge of her bed. "You are no longer in the 1940s. It is the year 2013."

Evelyn felt her throat close. "W-What? No, that's–" she let out a breathy laugh "–impossible. Where is my brother!?"

Fury sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry to say this. Howard Stark and his wife Maria died in a car crash in 1991."

Evelyn felt the breath leave her lungs.

"We found your body trapped in a frozen jet. You survived because of the serum in your body. After we brought you here and defrosted your body, we found some things you might want to look over," Fury stated before the door opened again. A woman smiled timidly at Evelyn before handing Fury a stack of files. Fury dropped them on Evelyn's bed. "Thanks, Hill. That should bring you up to speed, Ms. Stark."

Evelyn felt tears falling down her face as Hill left the room. "Y-You... uh," she laughed pitifully, "have you found a James Barnes by any chance?"

Fury shook his head before clicking his tongue. "Howard Stark had a son. Anthony. His information is in those files as well. Read everything over. Mr. Stark is already on his way over."

Fury turned to walk out before sighing. "Are you going to be okay?"

Evelyn wiped under her eyes. "Y-Yeah. I have to be, don't I?"

Fury said nothing else as he left the room. Evelyn looked down at the first file. When she opened it, it had everything she had written on the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D. Howard, Phillips, and Peggy really did start her organization. She let out a breathy laugh at that as she read through some of Howard and Peggy's notes they had added to her work. Turning the page, she found information on Stark Industries. She smiled at Howard's handwriting, running her finger down the page slowly. She grabbed another file, finding all of Erskine's and her notes on Rebirth and Venus. She laughed quietly at the situation... because she had to. Either it was all a joke or none of it was.

Moving to another file, she found the details on the death of Howard and his wife Maria. She felt more tears leave her eyes, landing on the paper. She frowned as she read the words about their son taking over the company at a young age. Tony Stark. He was an icon in the world, apparently.

Throwing the files down, she did not know what to do. Her eyes leaked tears as her head felt like it was going to explode. It was too much. Her brother. Dead. Her mother. Dead. Her fiancé. Dead. Her best friends. Most likely dead or dying, but Fury did not say anything about Steve or Peggy. They had won the war, great. But at what cost? What did they have to do to get there? Why was there no file on the Howling Commandos and their final mission against Schmidt?

Standing up, she walked to the window and moved the curtains gingerly. The world was much bigger than she remembered. Too bright. Too artificial.

Looking at the table with the radio again, she saw something glittering in the light that hit it from when she moved the curtains. She ran to the table, picking up the familiar chain with their wedding rings and holding it to her chest.

"I'm so sorry, Buck."