The Siren (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Part 18 - A Song of Forgiveness

Dusty aired filtered its way into Maya's healing lungs. Bones popped themselves  back in place, muscle tissue enveloping them, skin crawling over to encase it all. Life drifted through the newly healed body, pressing its weight onto her heart, forcing it to beat again.

Blue eyes flickered open with a single thought present within them. Bucky. The name jolted Maya's body awake. Grunting, she lifted herself from the imprint her once decimated body left in the concrete steps of the fountain. Water sputtered from it, attempting to return to its natural flow. Her wings flared behind her, helping support her balance.

Shocked gasps shuddered through the watchful crowd. The emergency workers running to Maya with a stretcher halted as their patient walked with ease. The people parted for Maya as she walked. A mix of fear and awe fuelling their need to back away. Whispers of two words were ushered through the crowd, growing louder as they grew more confident. Fallen Angel. 

Maya's ears picked up on the words, and their meaning. It warmed her heart to here a name belonging to her that had such good intentions. The people's confidence grew further, many reaching out to touch her. An elderly man reached out, asking in a questioning voice, "Jesus?"

Stifling a laugh, Maya responded kindly, "Far from it. Anyone know where three men ran off to?"

The elderly man touched her shoulder gently, his kind eyes resting on hers. "That way, Angel," he pointed towards old factory buildings lining the railway tracks. "I have a feeling they will need your help." 

"Thankyou," she smiled at him, taking his hand in thanks. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that." Releasing the man's hand, she spoke louder, "You may want to stand back everyone." Giving her more space, Maya spread her wings, lifting off with a powerful push towards the blue expanse of the the sky. Soaring high above the city, Maya felt free for the first time since being with her family and friends back in Australia. She wondered what they would think of her now, of the person she was becoming. Maya hoped they'd be proud of her.

The scuffle of fighting and stench of blood captured her senses. Walker's distinguishable voice drifted through the air to her as she touched down on the ground, superhero landing coming into action. "I am Captain America."

Hatred roiled within her at the same time as darkness flowed from her, inching its melody into the deserted warehouse. "You're wrong," Maya drawled out, letting the shimmering darkness carry her voice, concealing her body in it as she approached. The three men froze at the sound of a dead woman's voice. "If you were, you wouldn't have killed me." Maya moulded her shadows to the shape of Captain America's shield coming down over Walker's head. As it touched the top of his hair, it seeped back to smoke and shadow, gracefully flowing over him in a waterfall of glittering black. It pooled at his feet where Sam lay, wings ripped from his suit. Bucky was collapsed, recovering, a few metres away. The breath hitched in Maya's throat at the sight of Bucky barely conscious. 

"You killed Lemar," Walker yelled, turning in the shadows in search of Maya. 

"And I'm sorry for that, truly."

"Oh please-"

"It was an accident," Maya cut him off. 

"Murder" Walker accused her.

Maya let the shadow of her body be visible through the darkness, her wings spread wide. "I am, and I've come to terms with that. But can you?"

"How?" John stumbled in disbelief at the silhouette of Maya's form. 

"It doesn't matter." Her body came into view as she stood a few metres away from Walker. "You are not fit to wield that shield." Maya clamped a ring of darkness around his middle, pulling him back against a metal beam. "You are the opposite of everything it stood for." Hands of shadows forced Walker's arms against the thick beam. "You," Maya approached him, gripping the shield he clung to, "were never Captain America, and you never will be." She ripped the red stained vibranium from his hand. Walker stared at her in disbelief, his mind still grappling to comprehend how she was alive.