Chapter Text
"Agent West, what's your status?" a voice said, ringing into a woman's ear.
She frowned and shook her head. Why on earth had she signed up to help again? Oh right, because it was her 'calling'. Well, part of that calling hadn't been to be a gopher for anyone. Or a prized man child billionaire. "Tony, I've been waiting in line for ten minutes to pick up the order. Calm down."
"Well," he paused, "just so it gets here soon, agent."
A sigh and she said, "Please stop calling me agent. I'm not even an agent, really. Eva's fine."
"Agent."
Eva heard the beep that signaled the conversation was ended and glared up at the ceiling. Here she was, standing in an italian resturaunt, waiting for an order to take back to Tony Stark like his own personal delivery girl. All because she got the numbers wrong when she faxed her application to a perspective new job. Typical as per her luck. Finally her number was called and one of the servers brought her a bag. At least whatever he ordered smelled good, Eva supposed.
And maybe she knew it would spite the man or possibly get her fired on her first day, but she decided as she exited the resturaunt to take the longest way she could map out in her head to get back to Stark Tower. Maybe it would teach him some patience...
Rounding the corner, Eva tucked her coat around her better to avoid the wind that began to blow on her. It was bad enough that she had decided to walk the couple of blocks, the weather taking a turn for the chilly was making her regret the decision. She shivered once, shoving her hands in the coat pockets and cut down an alley where she hoped she'd be blocked from the wind.
And that she was, but she tripped over a boot. A boot that was on a foot that was attached to a leg and, no doubt, attached to a person.
Thankfully, she hadn't fell, but it did strike her attention. Eva stopped once steady, keeping distance from the body as she tried to investigate. "Excuse me?"
She couldn't see if it was a man or woman since the person had their head down and a hat on; the long dark hair protruding from under the hat made her think one way, but the build made her think the opposite. Not that it was exactly the brightest or safest idea to get in said person's personal space, but Eva couldn't help but make sure they were okay. It was the damn helpful gene in her DNA - something she always blamed in most occurances. The bag from the resturaunt was placed on the ground and she moved closer to the person, kneeling to reach out one of her hands to check their wrist for a pulse.
A slow heartbeat throbbed against the pads of her two fingers and sent her into work mode. This was what she knew how to do - care for people. Not be a personal delivery girl. Eva frowned at the thought and quickly pulled out her phone, dialing 911 and speaking as soon as the operator on the other end picked up.
"Hi, this is Evangeline West with Lennox Hill ambulence service. I just found--"
She was abruptly cut off when the person suddenly moved, knocking the phone from her hand and covering her mouth quickly. Her eyes went wide and a shiver ran down her spine as she was face to face with the person - the man - that she thought was unconcious. Instinct wanted to take over and to try and get away from the man, but training told her that might only agitate him further and cause her more problems.
"No," he said in a low voice. She gave a muffled sound of confusion and the man shook his head, frowning deeply. His eyes darted towards the phone that had been flung a few feet away, just at the mouth of the alley. A worried look crossed his features and he let go of her, only to spring up and run out of the alley.
It was just too bad that he stepped on her phone in the process.
In her daze, she stared at the broken phone. Had the man been sleeping? Was he strung out? Should she follow him? Questions flew through her mind as she sat there silently. It must have been longer than she thought of sitting in silence, playing the scenario back and questioning things when she heard the cry of sirens nearing. It brought her attention back to the now as she heard a car door open and a police officer hurried to her.
"Ma'am? Are you the one that called 911?"
Eva let out a breath she apparently had been holding and said, "Yeah. Yeah, that's me."
The officer looked her over and glanced down the alley. "What seems to be the problem?"
Confused as to where she could start, Eva told him, "There was a man sitting here. I thought there was something wrong but...I was mistaken. Sorry."
"Do you need help up? Are you alright?"
"Fine." She stood up and brushed her jeans off, shaking her head.
A huff of irritation came from the officer and he said, "Next time, make sure it's an emergency ma'am."
Nodding, she watched as the officer turned to leave her alone in the alley. Eva waited to move until he was gone, watching the police car drive by and approaching her broken cell phone on the ground. She plucked it off the ground and sighed. "Great." Throwing the phone into one of the close by dumpsters, she stepped out of the alley. It must have been a sign to keep doing what she knew, to stick to her guns. Why had she wanted a second job anyways? A hand raised to her forehead, rubbing at the appearing tension headache as she started back towards her apartment, leaving the food in the alley as her notice of resignation for Tony Stark.