Guardian Angel
… …
Bruce wandered aimlessly along the narrow street, vaguely heading towards the woods on the outskirts of the village. The night was cold enough for it to be unpleasant to walk around for much longer, the fading sun casting shadows and slits of colder air along the pavement. Somewhere at the back of his mind he worked out the route back to his small apartment. Underneath his feet, deep underground, ran the track of the Large Hadron Collider. That, of course, was further forward in the scientist's mind. He reached the last house, the edge of the village and paused for a moment before turning back.
Falling out of the sky was something both Bruce and the Hulk had a fair amount of experience of and having things fallen on them was also a common occurrence. It was almost second nature, a sixth sense that made him look up when the light fell swiftly down into the woods. Bruce broke into a run, knowing that of all the people in the area, he was the best equipped to deal with whatever had just fallen from the sky. As things fall, they appear nearer than their place of landing is, so Bruce found himself running for a while before he found an area of undergrowth that had been disturbed. Instead of landing in a clearing, the object had grazed the side of a large fir tree. As he neared it, he was instantly glad that the branches had broken the figure's fall. Lying crumpled by the trunk was a body. Bruce slowed, crouching down next to the figure. The first, most noticeable things about her were the angel-like wings that covered her body in a protective shell. Unsure exactly what he was dealing with, Bruce placed a hand on her neck. He felt a pulse and let out a sigh of relief. Now that he was sure that she was alive, he took a long look at the strange arrival. It appeared that under the wings lay a perfectly normal woman. It was hard to say since she was lying down but she appeared to be medium height and slimly built. Chocolate coloured hair fell in waves across her face, complete with twigs and debris from her fall through the tree. Her blue dress, somehow worn with the large feathery appendages on her back, was ripped and dirty. She had either lost her shoes or never had any at all. Gently, Bruce felt for any obvious neck or back wounds before he tried to move her. For some reason Hulk tried to break through and transform.
"Not now, big guy," Bruce muttered. He carried the prone body towards the village, hoping that no-one would notice. Who was he kidding? No-one would notice a guy carrying an angel through the streets of a sleepy French village. It being quite late, he managed to avoid everyone except for a rather surprised old man. The Frenchman sent him a curious glance then shrugged and carried on walking.
Bruce navigated his charge through his front door and onto the single bed. There he lay her down carefully on her side, unsure how to place her so as not to damage anything. Then he grabbed his mobile and called Tony.
"Hey, Tony? It's Bruce."
"Bruce! Hi, how's it going over in Europe?" his loud friend asked. Bruce ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
"Tony, you are never going to believe what just fell out of the sky." There was a brief pause.
"Thor?" Tony answered slowly, still sounding excited and his usual boisterous self.
"No, is there any way I can get to New York without going via civilisation? And quickly?" Bruce knew that Tony would be able to get him and his newfound flatmate to Stark Tower without having to go by conventional means.
"What's the emergency, Bruce?"
"An angel, quite literally, fell from the sky. I think we may need to talk to Thor and get her checked out. She's unconscious at the moment. Can you get us out of France without S.H.I.E.L.D knowing?" Bruce had never had the strongest bond of trust to the organisation, not when they equipped their planes with devices designed to kill him.
"Geneva airstrip, can you get across the border?" Tony asked after a moment. JARVIS' voice could be heard in the background.
"I'd rather not, Shengen agreement or not I don't think that the Swiss would appreciate a visit." He could almost hear Tony's brains whirring away.
"There's an airfield at Versoix, I'm leaving now. I'll call when I'm almost there."
"Thanks, Tony. I'll see if I can get the others notified too." Tony chuckled.
"I've got the Cap here and he's coming with. Clint and Natasha won't be in the dark for long. Just see if you can work out who your visitor is and where she came from. No, Pepper, we won't be back in time." Bruce smiled and hung up.
He did his best to give his guest a medical examination and decided that no vital bones in her neck or back were broken. Her left wing, however, looked slightly bent but he thought it best to leave it well alone. Bruce covered her up with the duvet then made a number of calls to the Hadron Collider facility, regretfully excusing himself from any further work with the team. Once he was completely free to leave, he began to pack. Having only been in France for a month he had very little scattered around the two-room flat and everything was in his suitcase within half an hour. That left him with one last thing to do before he could leave. He went outside and knocked on the door opposite his in the hallway.
"Ah, Bruce! Viens, entre! Ça va?" Jacques asked, shaking his tenant's hand. Bruce let the stream of rapid French go on for a moment before speaking.
"Je suis très désolé, Jaques, mais je dois partir. Voice ce que je vous dois, je regrette de ne pas vous dire avant. Je pars tout suite. Merci pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi. Bruce carried on with his apologies for a few moments until the conversation ended in a lot of handshaking and pats on the back. Eventually Bruce managed to leave and get back to the other flat in time to take Tony's call.
"You'd better start on your way to that airfield because we're going to be there soon."
"Thanks, Tony, see you shortly." Bruce hung up again and turned to the unconscious form on his bed. Then he realised that she was no longer unconscious.
"Asgard?" she asked in a petrified voice. He shook his head.
"No, um, Midgard." Bruce really whished that Thor was on the plane with Tony, instead of Captain America.
"Oh." His patient looked disappointed and pale.
"Hey, can you walk? Did you hurt yourself?" Then he saw how awkwardly she was raising her wing. "Yeah, you did. Alright, come on, let's get you to Stark."