Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

xxiii. 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐

WHEN EVELYN made it to Tony's home, she let herself in without hesitating as she kept her hold on the drinks she picked up for the trio. Pepper was sitting on the couch with a computer on her lap as she worked on something. The woman looked up with a tired smile on her face, noticing Evelyn's red eyes but not commenting on what could have been bothering her as she saw the dog tags resting on her chest now. Evelyn placed Pepper's drink next to the woman.

"Thanks. He's in the lab," Pepper said quietly. "In a mood."

Evelyn nodded as she walked through the hallway to get downstairs to the lab area. Walking inside, she was surprised to see Tony working on another Iron Man suit when she remembered Pepper saying he was going to tone down his lab working. She wondered what was bothering him.

"Hey," she greeted, placing their drinks down as she watched him freeze. "What's wrong?"

Tony scoffed. "Like you actually care, Icicle."

Evelyn recognized the snarkiness of her brother rising. Sighing at her nephew, she leaned against the counter in his sight. He turned to look away from her. "Tony. Would you tell me what's wrong?"

Tony stood abruptly, throwing a tool down. "Why? You're not my mother, Evelyn." Evelyn winced, knowing he did not mean the words as he spoke them vehemently. "You can stop the act. I'm sick of it!"

"What act?" she sneered back. "I know I'm not your mother, and I'm not trying to be! I'm your aunt whether you like it or not. I don't have any authority over you, I get that, but I'm here for you. Jesus, Tony!" she yelled. "Is this what you do? Push people away who care? Pepper thought you both were finally okay, and now, she thinks you're spiraling again!"

Tony gripped his hair before saying, "It's not that I'm spiraling! I just can't deal with the fact that there is still a threat out there. I want to be done. I want to stop fighting, go find a home with her. I can't do that if I'm kicking ass all the time! Not like you'd understand—"

"Don't you dare," she spoke quietly. "I spent from 1937 to 1945 worrying about the war before it had even begun! All of my work surrounded it. I was fighting the threat before the threat even knew who I was. Now, I'm sent into a new century without the two most important people in my life. I was given a part of Howard: you. And I cherish that every day. I love you, Tony. I love the fact that I can be a part of your life. But, if you don't want me involved, I'll leave."

She turned to leave just to hear Tony say, "No," brokenly with a crack in his voice. "No, please, don't go."

Twisting to look at him again, she saw him fall into his chair defeatedly. She walked back over to him with a sigh. "If making the suits keeps you feeling safe, make them. Just don't push out the people who care so much about you. What's the point of ending the fight to go home if there is no one to go home to?"

Tony nodded as Evelyn hesitantly wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know," she said. "You obviously need to talk to someone. Maybe you should talk to Bruce. Isn't he a doctor?"

"Aren't you?" Tony quipped back as they broke apart.

"Yeah, but I feel like he'd have more patience," she said just as the man walked inside of the lab. Tony glanced at her with a laugh. "Hey, Dr. Banner," she greeted to which he waved at her. "Maybe talk to him," Evelyn said as she began to leave.

She could hear Tony greet the man as she walked back into the living room. Pepper bit her lip, now standing by the bar as she watched Evelyn appear. "Did you hear all of that?" Evelyn asked as she shut the door behind her. Pepper nodded. "I just hope he listens to me."

"He will," Pepper promised, walking forward to hand her a glass. She sighed. "Don't take what he said to heart, Evelyn. You are everything to Tony. Everything he lost, everything he wanted... you mean the world to him."

"I'm not trying to replace his mother or father," Evelyn said.

"And he doesn't think you are. He just thinks of you as family. He loves you, too, even if he doesn't say it. I don't think you realize how much you have impacted his life," Pepper admitted with a smile.

Evelyn's life began to find a routine. She had gotten another place in D.C. for when she had to be there instead of her home in Brooklyn. She would go to the Triskelion whenever Fury called her in—even allowing the woman to go on missions with Steve and the S.T.R.I.K.E. team. She did not like Brock Rumlow one bit. She thought he was just as evil as Pierce, so the pair were rarely seen conversing. Not like he ever went out of his way to converse with her to begin with.

The world knew Evelyn Stark was officially alive again as well. Fury was glad to finally have her blending into the new world as easily as she was. He figured it had everything to do with Steve and Tony being there for her. He admitted it was wrong to keep Steve and Evelyn apart, which had Evelyn smirking at because she knew he rarely admitted to being wrong.

As time passed, Evelyn was able to move on. She still wore her wedding rings and Bucky's dog tags around her neck, and his jackets, but she was coming to terms with the fact that she was never going to see Bucky Barnes again. She had been talking to Steve about changing her last name to Barnes for the hell of it because she knew they would have been married as soon as the war had ended if it had not ended the way it did for them.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes at her phone when it began to go off on her desk. Picking it up, she sighed, "Hello?"

"That's a terrible greeting," Steve quipped. "Meet us outside in five minutes. We have a mission."

"Who's we?"

"Agent Romanoff. I think it's time you two properly met," Steve said.

Evelyn logged out of her computer as she walked to the large cabinet next to her desk. Opening it, she saw her uniform and new helmet Tony had made her. It was not a helmet anymore—not really. It was almost like glasses, except it was holograms of energy that shielded her head somehow. She was still learning the new technology Stark Industry had. "I'll be waiting."

She ended the call quickly before getting dressed. As she left her office, she could see Pierce and Fury talking inside his office, and she saw Pierce's angry eyes as his gaze followed hers.

Evelyn completely ignored him as she walked to the elevator.

Pierce scowled even more.