AN: Just wanted to explain that when Anna's wings come out it's not a bloody mess, they are sort of like Logan/Wolverines claws in X-men. Also, she can change the color of the feathers at will, they just start out gray. This chapter gives more insight into Anna's power and her history; contains a flashback with Bucky…because let's be honest he's awesome. WARNING: May contain spoilers, if you haven't seen the movie. I also used a few direct quotes from the movie because they were honestly too awesome.
Chapter Eight: Avengers Assemble
Anna looks up at the looming Stark Tower as she exits the SUV and walks beside Coulson into the building. They wait patiently for the elevator to reach ground level, Anna having bribed the guard at the desk in order to go up. Coulson dials Starks number and Anna listens to his side of the conversation with Jarvis.
"He's going to have to talk to me eventually." He mutters when he looks over at Anna, who decides that she might as well let her wings out, just in case Stark tries to take off in his Iron Man suit.
Coulson watches with fascination as the bones slowly slide out of her back, muscles, skin and feathers quickly forming over them while Anna grits her teeth and grimaces in pain. Once her wings are fully revealed she takes a deep breath and sighs in relief before looking at Coulson.
"Tell Jarvis that Annabelle Barnes is with you and she's not in the mood for Stark's crap." Coulson nods and repeats her statement, which gains a quick response from Stark.
"This is urgent Tony."
Tony quickly hangs up only to have the elevator doors slide open to reveal Coulson and Anna.
"I guess there's no escaping you two." Tony states as Pepper quickly greets the SHIELD members, only to have Tony comment in the background, "Phil, who's Phil, his first name is Agent."
There is a quick exchange of pleasantries as Coulson hands off the file that SHIELD wants Stark to look at, which he quickly scans over. Shocked by the information on his screens Tony looks over at the others in the room and they have a quick discussion before Tony says that he'll need the night to look over the data.
"You take Pepper to the airport Phil, I can fly back to HQ in 'stealth mode' after I discuss a few things with Stark." Anna states, using air quotes. Phil nods in response and strikes up a conversation with Pepper as they enter the elevator and head off.
"So we're back to last names again Barnes?" Tony asks sarcastically.
"Don't start with the attitude again; you forget that I'm not much younger than your father would be if he were alive. This is a very serious situation and you had better treat it as such Anthony Edward Stark. I don't want you putting people we both care about in danger just because you decide to be cocky. We either come together as a team on this, or we watch the world as we know it crumble around us. And a word of warning, Steve isn't very fond of you after I informed him of your antics, so watch your back."
Anna turns to leave, having said her piece, when Stark reaches out to grab her wrist. She yanks her hand away and turns to glare at him only to be shocked by the serious expression on his face.
"I know this isn't a joke Annabelle, and I'm not planning on letting a madman destroy the world." He states causing Anna to nod slowly before she walks out onto the balcony.
She leans down to press a button on the inner seam of her right boot, causing all but her head, wings, and hands to become invisible. She then pulls on a pair of gloves, pulls up her hood, and shifts the color of her wings so that they match the night sky before taking off to return to SHIELD HQ.
-HQ Roof-
After a fifteen minute flight back to HQ, Anna quickly lands on the roof and removes her gloves and hood, pushing a button on her other boot to become visible again. She sighs softly and runs her fingers through her hair, retracting her wings with a pained groan before entering the building and taking the elevator down to the level where Steve's gym is located. She bumps into Fury on the way to the gym and he stops her.
"How did Stark take it?"
"It was much simpler than I thought, guess he misses the action. How did it go with Steve?"
"He's on his way out, so you can ask him yourself; have you told him yet?"
"Nope, figured I would wait until we're on the helicarrier and he can't interfere." Anna responds nervously. Fury chuckles before he sees Steve over her head and continues his trek to the elevator.
"Guess it's time to save the world again?" Steve asks as he stops behind her.
"At least this time I can come along and wait for you at 'base camp.'" Anna states causing Steve to look at her in shock.
"Oh no, I am not putting you in danger. I need to know that you are safe." He protests.
"The safest place I can be is close to you." Anna states, leaning up to peck him on the lips before taking his hand and pulling him down the hall, "Come on, you need your rest because tomorrow is a big day."
Steve lets her drag him to the elevator and as soon as they reach their floor he leads her to her room.
"I'll see you in the morning." He whispers before gently kissing her. What starts as a simple peck on the lips becomes a mini-make out session in the hallway when Anna buries her fingers in his hair and pulls him closer. At first he is uncomfortable, but she keeps him distracted for a while by massaging his scalp. Eventually, the need for air overpowers his need to be close to her and he slowly pulls away. Steve shakes his head to clear his thoughts before reaching up to take her wrists in his hands and pull her hands away from him, holding them between them while taking a step back.
"What's wrong? I'm sorry; I made you uncomfortable didn't I. I just…sometimes I think that it can't be real because you've been gone for so long and I…" Anna rambles, trailing off as tears fall from her eyes and her body begins to tremble. Steve quickly wraps his arms around her and pulls her close to his chest while shushing her.
"I'm here Anna, I'm not leaving you. Let's go inside okay," he whispers before gently taking her key from her hand, scanning it in the machine, and leading her inside, "I'm going to get you some water."
"No, don't go, just stay here, I'll be okay just don't leave me." Anna whimpers against his chest. Steve nods and carefully leads her to the couch before sitting down and letting her curl up in his lap, like when they were younger and she was scared. He slowly runs his fingers through her hair, like he had when they were kids.
"How long have you been holding this in Angel?" He whispers in her ear as he rubs his hand up and down her back to calm her down, feeling her bones shifting as her wings are desperate to be freed, "You know how bad it can get when you don't talk about how you feel. I don't want you to get hurt again."
-Flashback-
Steve and Bucky walk into the Barnes' apartment to find the sofa ripped apart. Bucky quickly shuts and locks the door before slowly walking further into the room.
"What the heck happened in here Bucky?" Steve asks worriedly.
"Just be quiet okay, I need to find Anna and calm her down. It's never gotten this bad before." Bucky whispers before moving down the hall toward the bathroom, where he hears the shower running. Bucky carefully opens the door to find drops of blood that lead to the tub and a few sharp, metal like feathers near the sink with blood on them.
"Bucky, is that you?" Anna's quiet whisper comes from the tub and both men looked up to see Anna peeking around the ripped shower curtain.
"Anna what happened to you?" Steve whispers from behind Bucky, causing her to squeak and hide behind the curtain again.
"What is he doing here? He can't know about this, no one should." Anna whispers as Bucky slowly approaches the tub and kneels just outside the curtain.
"Can you go get a towel and grab her robe for me Steve? I need to help her calm down." Bucky explains. Steve quickly does as he is asked and returns to find his friend quietly murmuring to the terrified young woman that is his sister.
"Everything's gonna be fine okay Angel? I just need you to calm down and let your wings go back to normal or the cuts won't heal." Bucky encourages before glancing back at the doorway and motioning for Steve to bring him the towel and robe. "Okay, can you turn off the water for me Bells? –water shuts off- I need to get you dried off now, so I need you to stand up so that I can give you your towel and then me and Steve can turn around. You can come out for your robe alright sis?"
Anna slowly stands behind the curtain and is handed her towel, Bucky and Steve then turn around.
"I can't put the robe on because of my wings Bucky, they won't retract." She murmurs with her back facing them, so Bucky turns around and carefully rubs between her shoulder blades which causes her feathers to disappear and her wings to slowly retract into her back. Bucky then helps her put on her robe and turns around to face Steve's back.
"I'll explain things to him and you can go get dressed, alright?" Bucky then pulls Steve out of the room and pulls Steve into his room, shutting the door so that Anna can walk down the hall to her room before turning to Steve.
"I'm going to explain this in the simplest way I can. Her wings act as a defensive measure when she gets too upset, they burst out and turn into these sharp knife like weapons and hurt her while protecting her. It usually happens after nightmares, I guess she took a nap on the couch or something. She didn't want you to know because she thought you'd leave her out of things." Bucky explains. Steve just nods in understanding, trying to wrap his mind around what's going on.
-End Flashback-
"I didn't want to put pressure on you, I thought I could handle it, but I guess I was wrong." Anna whispers with her face pressed against the side of his neck.
Steve nods and feels her bones stop shifting under his hands, her wings having calmed down. "Don't let things get like this again, you scared me. You can talk to me about anything Annabelle, I thought you knew that. Do you think you're calm enough to go to bed?"
"Stay with me, I'm always calmer when you're around. I don't mean…ya know…I just want you to stay and hold me until I fall asleep, that is all I want." Anna whispers. He kisses her forehead and runs his fingers through her hair again before nodding slowly.
Anna carefully moves out of his lap and leads him to her bed. They both do their bed time rituals and Anna crawls under the covers. Steve is somewhat reluctant at first, but he eventually joins her and she rests her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as it slowly lulls her to sleep. After some time just watching her sleep Steve decides that she will be alright and gets up to sleep on the couch.
The next morning Steve wakes up to the sunlight beaming into his eyes and stretches before getting up from the couch and moving into Anna's room to see if she's awake yet. He walks over and sits next to her on the bed before running his fingers through her hair, causing her to shift before her eyes slowly flutter open. He then removes his hand from her hair and moves so that she can sit up.
"Morning." He whispers as he watches her stretch.
"Morning, sleep well?" She asks.
"Better than I have in a while actually. Come on, we should probably get ready to go meet the rest of the team." He whispers as he sits up.
The two get ready for the trip to their new HQ and Anna leads Steve to the Quinjet that will take them to the helicarrier. They are met by Coulson, who is immediately star struck by his idol and Anna laughs quietly.
"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was, I was present while you were unconscious, from the ice. You know it's really just a, just a huge honor to have you on board." Coulson rambles as he follows Steve to stand at the front of the jet.
"Well I hope I'm the man for the job." Steve replies somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh, you are, you are." Coulson responds.
When the three reach the helicarrier and get off the jet Steve turns to Anna with annoyance clear on his face while Coulson is approached by Natasha.
"You could have helped me out at some point you know." Steve informs the woman who is still giggling quietly.
"I'm sorry but honestly he was so awkward, it reminded me of you when you had to talk to any woman other than me." Anna reminisces.
"I've never told anyone that I watched them while they were asleep." Steve mutters before crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.
Anna just giggles softly and tugs at his arm, causing him to look down at her pouting face before sighing in defeat and letting her take his hand. She smiles softly before lacing her fingers with his and pulling him toward Natasha and Dr. Banner.
"Word is you can find the cube." Steve comments as he shakes Banner's hand.
"Is that the only word on me?" He responds somewhat sarcastically, sounding miserable.
"Only word I care about." Steve informs him before looking down at Anna who squeezes his hand gently with a small smile on her face.
"We should get inside soon." Natasha states while glancing around the deck when a sudden whirring noise is heard.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve questions which causes Bruce to become more irritated as they walk toward the edge of the deck, Anna being dragged along by Steve.
Anna sighs while standing slightly behind Steve as the men look over the side of the ship. Once the men finally get over the fact that the helicarrier can in fact fly, the group makes their way inside.
"I'm glad Natasha managed to convince you to help us Dr. Banner, your research into gamma radiation is very thorough, completely unparalleled." Anna states softly as she walks between Steve and Bruce.
"Thank you, I can't exactly say I'm glad to be here though."
"I'm sure you'd rather be helping others elsewhere, but as soon as we find Loki and the Tesseract you can go back to your simple life." Anna assures him with a small smile.
They soon reach the bridge and look around at all the tech. Steve releases Anna's hand and moves to examine the area while Natasha moves to check on the status of finding Clint and Coulson explains what is being done to find Loki and the others. Banner soon gives Fury the information on what he needs to find the Tesseract and he is soon led to his lab by Natasha. Anna finds herself distracted the entire time, trying to determine why she feels as if she is being watched. After a while of standing around waiting for someone to get a hit on one of the men involved, they finally get a hit on Loki, who has apparently taken off to Germany.
"You're up Cap. Got a new agent coming along too, he'll be quite useful seeing as he hasn't failed to watch your back before." Fury states before motioning someone forward.
As soon as the agent comes into sight Steve and Anna both stare in shock. Anna suddenly begins to feel dizzy and quickly grabs onto Steve's arm for support.
"Bucky?"
AN: Bet you weren't expecting that huh? Well if you want to know what's next or how the hell Bucky got there in the first place you should review. I need inspiration people and so the next chapter and explanation about how Bucky got there are being held hostage until I get some input. To those who have reviewed, I love what you have to say and I apologize for doing this, but I can only do so much.