Chapter Three
Ello again. I'm on a bit of a roll and I can't bring myself to stop. So, I won't. I'm going to write you guys another chapter, armed with my trusty MacBook and my boyfriend's advice I shall conquer this chapter and make it my bitch! Let's do this!
"Hello. I'm Addilyn Banner. But you can call me Addilyn, or Addi." She pushes aside everything she's heard about him before she approaches his and holds her hand out in front of her. He looked at her face then to her hand before a timid, half smile appears on his face. Taking her tiny hand in his large one, he gently shook it.
"Hi, I'm Bucky Barnes. Steve and Bruce, we're telling me you're here to help me?" His voice was deep and it was a little husky, almost like he had just woken up. She could detect a bit of an accent in his words but she figured she would ask on a later day.
"They are right. Though they probably told you that I came here happy to help and if they did, they would be lying." She laughs a little, "Tony made Steve come fetch me at one thirty in the morning." Addilyn spoke some more, and smiled kindly at him. She was always the kind of person that made sure she treated people as nicely as possible all the time. Unless they give her a reason. Bucky was no exception. Addilyn; while nervous about meeting a super assassin, decided that she would let him be the one to decide if he was worth trusting or not. She knew from experience that not everything the media said or wrote about was true. She was giving him the benefit of the doubt, and so far, he seemed like a nice person.
"I'm sorry you had to drop everything and come here. It must be stressful." Bucky sympathized. Addilyn shrugged in response.
"Don't take what I said the wrong way. I'm just extremely sleep and food deprived. But from what I've gathered so far, I'm quite excited to help you Mr. Barnes. Do you mind?" She asks and motions towards his left arm. He jolts a little and shakes his head.
"No, go ahead." He kindly obliges and hands me his arm. The first thing she takes notice of is the way the metal connects to his chest. Almost like it was fused with his remaining limb. The next thing she checked was the scar, it was the scar of a serrated blade. Whomever attached his arm had removed what remained of his shoulder in order to fit the arm securely. It was barbaric. She felt for him, just seeing the scar and determining what really happened to him was enough to feel her heart break a little. No one should ever have to go through that kind of torture. Pushing her emotions to the back of her mind she continued with her examination.
The room had gone quiet as she could feel their eyes on her. Grabbing a needle pick she got close enough to his shoulder that her nose was almost touching the metal, "What was your original arm made of?" She asked Bucky as she kept her eyes on his arm. She could make out the very faint seem that connected the arm he's using now and the shoulder remnants from his original bionic arm.
His blue orbs shifted to my face as I looked up from his arm, "Vibranium." He answered. Her eyes widened and she looked at Steve, the only other person she's known to possess the strongest metal on earth.
"Tony? Did you use Vibranium to create his temporary arm?" She dropped her hands from Bucky's arm. She listened to the whirling sound that the settling plates in his arm make.
"I used it with another type of metal. I didn't want to waste it all at once. T'Challa just gave us the okay to get our hands on more." He shrugged, he had to admit. The arm that he gave Bucky was not his best work. He only did it so Steve would get off his back. He didn't put an ounce of effort into it since when I had made it, it was around the time he had found out how his parents really died.
"Oh shit. I'm excited!" She clapped her hands together a few times to express her joy. She had always wanted the opportunity to work with the rarest but strongest metal on this planet and now, she was getting that chance. She was going to make a full record of each step. This was a huge accomplishment in her book.
Steve snorted out a laugh at Addilyn's word slip. He only laughs at her because she doesn't curse and when she does, it sounds so foreign and strange, "Language Addi." He jokes. She rolls her eyes at his childish reaction.
"Hush Steve, you have no idea how much of a big deal this is for me!" She exclaims in a frenzy of flurried hand movements.
Bruce placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her, "Breathe Addilyn and keep going. You're almost done with your examination." Her uncle set her ecstatic brain straight and she got back to work.
She cleared her throat and mumbled, "Sorry." Before she gets too immersed in her work she grabs her hair all in her hands and twists it up into a messy bun, she looks at T'Challa for a second, "Um, would you mind bringing me my bag from over there?" She points to a brown leather cross body bag with white leather accents. The King jumps into action and quickly retrieves her bag. She takes a couple seconds to fish through her bag then pulls out a pair of glasses. She shoves them onto her face; finally, she could see. She had forgotten to put them back on after she got off the quinjet. Originally, she put them away to go to sleep, but that never happened until she was on the jet.
"Sorry I couldn't see. Thank you." She thanks his highness for getting her things before centering her focus on the other super solider in front of her. She stretched out his arm to his full wing span. Tracing the outline of some of the plate on his bicep and inner forearm she took notes in the note book at her side. Moving further down his wrist she paid close attention to his fingers. Tony knew how to shape fingers on his suits exceptionally well so there's really no surprise then when she finds is work flawless. She took notes of his arm length and finger length, wanting to get even the tiniest of details.
"For a half assed job Tony, you still did really well." She stepped back, taking her note book into her hand she leaned back against the table. Sticking her pen in her mouth she skimmed through some of her notes then looked back at Bucky's face, "When I was touching you, did you feel anything?" She asked.
Bucky took on this look like he was trying to think of how to describe it, "A little, when you touched my hands and fingers I felt it but the further up you got it was a dull sensation. I don't really feel pain in my arm if that's what you're asking. Only my scar hurts." He touches it softly. Addilyn watches his movements and she feels that sadness again.
"I'm sorry this happened to you Bucky. No one deserves this." She spoke honestly. For a moment, he looked a little thrown off by her words but he recovered quickly.
"I've come to terms with it, it's okay." He brushes his hair back using his left hand. The whirling was a familiar and pleasant sound. She has always liked the sounds of mechanics. That's what drew her into the field of Biomedical Engineering. She wanted to help the wounded try to live a semi normal life again through her study of the human anatomy and how to incorporate mechanics, thus furthering her knowledge into Biomechanical Engineering.
"Well I'm sorry to tell you but, as much as I would love to check out Bucky's arm I really need some sleep." She covers up a yawn with the back of her hand, she was having a hard time concentrating, "If you don't mind but I think we'll continue this when I wake up." Addilyn asked Bucky. He shook his head with an airy expression.
"I don't mind. It gives me something to do." He stands up from the chair he was sitting in and he's towering over Addilyn. She almost had to look up all the way to see his face. She liked to tell herself that she was of average height, sitting at 5'5". But now that she's around two super soldiers, T'Challa, her bother, and Tony, she felt like she was three feet tall.
"Cool. Thanks Bucky." She smiles up at him.
Bruce wraps his arm across her shoulders and leads her out of the lab, he wanted to show her to her room as well as speak to her about a few things, "Come on Addi. I'll show you to your room." He tells her, one of T'Challa's escorts had taken her bags for them as was following behind.
Addilyn had been lead downstairs and through the main hall and entrance to the building. This place, it was almost like the Avengers compound but more secured. Everywhere they went there were always a few scientists and doctors. With the occasional man or woman in business attire. She felt wholly out of place.
When Steve had shown up to bring her here she hadn't had any time to change. After Tony hung up on her she quickly threw on the closest outfit she could find. Which in this case was, a pair of Forever 21 athletic leggings, an old NYU hoodie from when she was a freshman and a dirty pair of Nikes. Everyone around her looked clean and professional. She sure knows how to make a good first impression.
They were approaching another set of stairs that led to the South Wing of the building, "This is the side where we live. Not very many live here but there are plenty of rooms in case they do." Bruce made it a point to tell me that besides the few back in the Lab and himself, she almost had an entire floor to herself. Her room was located on the second floor while Bucky was the only close one; being two doors down. Everyone else was alone. Steve down one floor, Tony has a room on the floor above her and Bruce's room was on the fourth floor.
He handed her the key to her room then softly stroked her hair, he sighed before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Thanks uncle. I'll see you in a few hours, I'm exhausted." Another yawn slipped out and he bid her farewell. He'll catch up with her when she's more awake, for now he would let her rest. There we're things about her being here that she had a right to know and if he knew anything about Addilyn it's that she's not going to like what he's going to tell her.
BUM BUM BUMMMMM! What do you think Bruce will tell her? You'll just have to wait and find out :D I have another chapter coming at your real soon. But for now, I'm going to call it a night. Thanks guys, and please don't forget to review! xoxo