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chapter twenty four

24 x the force is strong with us avengers

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[ Megan's POV ]

I was sitting on the bed in Evangeline's room. I was on the end, hardly on the bed at all, while Ev was sprawled out across it, face down, unmoving, unspeaking. We'd been like this for a few minutes now; she hadn't moved when I came in, and I hadn't said anything yet.

I'd kind of been hoping she'd say something. I assumed she'd noticed I'd come in . . . it's not like it's easy to ignore someone else sitting on your bed.

But she hadn't said a word.

I didn't exactly blame her. If someone had taken Pietro, I would've torn apart entire cities searching from her. But I knew that before I had come in, she had spoken with Wanda, who presumably attempted to calm her.

If this was the result of said calming, I figured I should probably be grateful. Mostly because spontaneous flowers weren't blooming, nor were vines creeping up my legs.

I hadn't changed from my Goldstreak outfit, nor had she changed from her Terra outfit. So we were both just sitting there, in her room that looked more like the guest room it was supposed to be, in our superhero costumes . . . not speaking . . . and I was starting to get a kink in my neck.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I finally asked, leaning back on my hands and turning to look at her.

She shifted somewhat, but it was more like a readjustment of her legs and arms. She made no move to look at me, or even sit up, when she muttered a very muffled "Not really."

I sighed and stared up at the ceiling, as though help would come from above. As the cynic in me had anticipated, it did not. "It's probably not healthy not to talk about it. You know, from a mental health stand point."

Then she was quiet. For a very long time. And I respectfully remained quiet as well, figuring -- hoping -- she would eventually say something. I wasn't disappointed. After a few more minutes, she sat up and turned to face me, crossing her legs and gripping them tightly as she looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "He asked me on a date."

My eyes widened fractionally, and I did my best not to look so surprised. Peter had just been abducted, and this was what she wanted to talk about? Well, all right then. I could roll with that. "Did he, now? About time."

Evangeline attempted to crack a smile at that, but it was short lived. "Yeah," she whispered. "We were supposed to talk about it more . . . when we got back . . ." she trailed off and sniffed, eyes watering again. She quickly wiped at under her eyes. "And now-- he's gone." And with that, she did start crying, her shoulders shaking somewhat.

I didn't hesitate to crawl across her bed and wrap my arms around her in a tight hug. I adjusted myself slightly for comfort, rubbing circles into her back as she cried quietly. "We're going to get him back, Ev," I promised aloud. "There's a whole lot of us, and only one Red Skull. And believe me when I say we outrank him. And over power him. And basically out-and-over everything else you can think of."

It was a lame joke. A very bad attempt at getting her to laugh. It also failed.

"What if they're hurting him?" she whispered before crying harder. "I--I can't lose him, Megan."

I could feel my resolve steeling. I understood her concerns; I was having a lot of them too. "If they hurt him, and we don't know that they will," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice even (I did need to be the mature one, here), "we will hurt them back. We're Avengers. It's kind of what we do."

She did crack a half-smile at that one, pulling away somewhat and wiping at under her eyes. "Yeah, I-- I guess so."

I scoffed, gripping one of her shoulders and giving her a reassuring smile. "You guess? C'mon, kid, we've got this. And you know it. Have a little faith, young padawan."

"Oh, so you're a Jedi master now?" Ev asked, seeming to regain some of her humor.

I grinned widely, relieved that she was even close to not stressing entirely over Peter. "I have always been a Jedi master, Ev. It's just a super-secret that I don't tell people. Ask Wanda."

Ev gave me a doubtful look. "Wanda knows what Star Wars is?"

"We had a Star Wars marathon a while ago," I nodded. "Steve and Bucky hadn't seen 'em, either . . . it was very eventful." I paused thoughtfully. "When they found out about Luke's dad they broke a TV."

"Who broke the TV?" Evangeline asked, wide-eyed.

I grinned. "Mostly Steve. Also Bucky. Pietro just kind of sat there, he was quite stunned. Wanda, however, apparently saw it coming." I rolled my eyes and shrugged in a 'what can you do,' gesture, which caused her to giggle. "So yeah, they're very educated."

"And they all know you're a Jedi master?" she asked mock-seriously.

"Yup," I agreed with a firm nod. "All of 'em. It's a well known fact amongst the Avengers." Then I gave her a stern look, clutching her shoulders for a moment, "Don't you dare go to the dark side. I will wrestle you back and force goodness into you."

"That's possible?" she asked doubtfully.

My look did not alter from it's sobriety. "I will find a way."

There was a knock on the door then, and Ev said, "Come in," prompting Bucky to peek his head around the door.

"Kid," he greeted, "Ev. We're about to head out. We've got a location on Peter." Then he ducked back out of the room before any conversation could be had, leaving me to turn to Ev.

I was going to ask if she was ready, if she could handle this, but before I could, she was on her feet and securing her mask back onto her face. She turned, and determination was scrawled across her very being. "Let's do this."

>>

"So, Falcon," I said, adjusting the sleeves of my costume before retying my sash around my waist.

Sam Wilson was fiddling with his goggles when he glanced over at me. "Goldstreak," he retorted, arching a brow at me. "You need something, or are we just being in superhero mode?"

"Yes," I said with a chuckle. "I need to know if you're sure you can do this, given you were just knocked unconscious by Kravinoff the shape-shifting lunatic."

Sam gave me a droll look before rolling his eyes. "Ha, ha, you're very funny. You know, I was on my own when he came up on me. It wasn't like what happened with you and Barnes. Had there been two Ev's, I would've figured it out."

I smiled then, nodding. "Yes, I'm sure you would have."

"I'm serious, shortstop," Sam said, readjusting the straps of his gloves before turning toward the quinjet as it began to take off. "Remind me again why Vision is riding in the jet?"

I shrugged, breaking into a jog after the jet, Sam soon to follow. "He likes to be with Wanda."

"Yeah, but you like to be with Pietro, and here you are," he pointed off as we neared the ledge.

I laughed and shook my head. "I also like doing this," I shouted, launching myself off the edge of the landing pad and taking off. I zoomed past him, laughing and incapable of removing my smile the entire time.

As I did an eccentric loop around him, I heard him yell, "Show off!" which only made me laugh harder.