CHAPTER FORTY-ONE — ( It made me a pretty convincing corpse. )
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Evelyn's body felt numb. The serum coursing through her veins had stolen the last of her energy. Her limbs were as heavy as stone, her muscles refusing the simplest commands. She could barely hold her head upright. The world around her tilted and swayed in a blur, and sound was muffled as if she were underwater. That damned liquid—HYDRA's creation—had once been used to enslave her mind, and now it claimed her body again.
Her vision was hazy, her eyes glazed and unblinking as they darted toward the figures speaking around her. The voices were distorted, fractured echoes of conversation slipping through the cracks in her consciousness. She clung to reality by a thread, fighting to remember each word.
"It... him."
Steve's voice pierced the fog. Evelyn blinked slowly, trying to follow his words. The sound grounded her just enough to pull her from complete darkness.
"He looked...me," Steve continued, "...didn't...know me."
Evelyn's lips parted slowly, barely forming words. "They... they did to him... what they did... to me," she murmured, her voice slurred, nearly swallowed by the air. "Makes sense. Sorry..."
Steve's brows drew together in concern. He leaned in closer, cuffed hands still reaching out instinctively to steady her. "... not... fault."
"How... even possible?" Sam's voice now. "That was... 70 years..."
Steve nodded solemnly. "... Bucky's unit captured... Zola experimented on them. Bucky... survived. ... Evelyn fell from the train... HYDRA..."
"... your fault," Sam said quietly.
Steve's voice dropped to a murmur, barely audible. "Even... nothing... had Bucky."
Evelyn tried to respond. "I wouldn't... wouldn't be here... todayyy..." Her voice trailed off into a low moan. Her body went limp.
Steve caught her just in time, his bound hands awkwardly cradling her head and shoulders. "Hey! ... help us!" he shouted, his voice laced with panic.
"... doctor!" Sam echoed.
"I'm fine," Evelyn mumbled, though her eyes rolled back, and another moan slipped from her lips.
Suddenly, one of the agents holding an electric rod moved—but instead of turning it on them, they swung it around and jabbed the agent beside them. Electricity crackled, and the second agent collapsed. A swift kick to his head sent him slamming into the truck's interior wall with a sickening thud.
The attacker peeled off their helmet, revealing a familiar face beneath. Maria Hill exhaled, pulling a strand of hair back into place. "Ah. ... was squeezing my brain," she muttered, rolling her neck. She surveyed the truck's interior, her eyes pausing on Sam. "Who's...?"
