The Archangel (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter Ten

*I decided to do another Bucky POV, sue me*

Bucky panted slightly as he stepped off the mats, wiping sweat off his forehead. Steve was one of the only people who could keep up with him in training, mostly due to their similar enhancements and not any particular skills or training like Natasha who tended to refrain from training with them, saying something about too much testosterone or something. It was only Archangel who had a clear advantage over him because she had both the enhancement and the skills to keep up with him and the drive to push his limits.

Bucky grabbed his water bottle as Steve started unwrapping his knuckles, giving Bucky one of those looks that said more than words ever could. "So, what's this with you and Archangel?" He knew Steve and Sam had been dying to know since they began.

His face remained impassive as he responded, "there's nothing going on between us, if that's what you're asking."

"I don't know, Buck, the way you two were acting indicates otherwise," Sam put in from his spot on one of the treadmills.

"And you got a date at one o'clock, remember," Steve said, "she said not to be late, that's not something you say to someone you despise."

Bucky grumbled as he started unwrapping his hands, "it's not a date and I never said I despised her."

"Oh really? Then what would you call it?"

"A prearranged meeting to get to know each other." He answered with a straight face, completely serious.

Sam furrowed his eyebrows, "so . . . a date."

"It's not a date," Bucky rolled his eyes, exasperated and glanced at the clock. He had about ten minutes before their . . . meeting, and he was not going to show up smelling like he had just come out of the gym. "I'm gonna go shower." He said as he made his way toward the exit.

"Yeah! You gotta smell good for your date!" Sam taunted.

"It's not a date!" He called behind him as he left the training room though he could hear his friends' snickers behind him. Clearly they didn't believe him, but whatever, he had teased Steve plenty back in the day, it was only fair he did the same, and it was just in Sam's personality to be like that.

He didn't spend a lot of time in his room, he was like Archangel in that way. He had pushed the bed to the corner when he first got to the facility, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept in one but hadn't made a move to attempt to since he was freed from Hydra's control, he just didn't feel like he deserved it. Besides, the floor was cooler and he didn't have to worry about breaking something with his arm if he had an episode.

His room didn't have much in it aside from what had been provided, it lacked the personal touch the other's brought to their rooms, it was just easier to not have anything personal. There was a TV in the room that he rarely used, a dresser where he kept his clothes folded with military precision, and above that, a mirror which he avoided looking into and had considered covering at one point so he could avoid looking at the damage Hydra had done to his body.

Bucky striped and made his way into the shower, spending only long enough to wash off the sweat and grime from training. He grabbed a new long-sleeve shirt, dark green in color, a new pair of black pants, and his black leather jacket. Finally, he glanced in the mirror, a difficult feat as he had trained himself not to. He still looked roguish, but he had a feeling that if he cut his hair and shaved his beard back to stubble, it would look less like he had come straight out of hell and more like he was just tired. Something to do later, he didn't have long before he was late and he had a feeling she would kick his ass if he was.

He made his way to the kitchen, spotting Archangel in rapt discussion with Peter, the spiderboy that Tony had taken under his wing. He caught the tail end of their conversation. "—changes in the molecular composition?"

"The compound, whatever it is, is organic, the molecular composition has the properties of metal but acts like organic tissue, kind of like the Vision, so there isn't actually a huge change when I shift forms."

"Yeah, about that, how exactly do you do that? Is there a chemical imbalance that triggers it . . . ?" Peter trailed off as he heard her start laughing, her voice like an angel.

"No, nothing quite so rudimentary, I'm afraid. It's kind of difficult to explain, but it's like there's a feeling that's always there in the back of my mind, I pull it close to turn metal and push it away to turn flesh, it's purely instinctual, that simple." There was a lull in the conversation as Peter digested the information, that was when Bucky made himself known by clearing his throat. "One o'clock already? I hardly noticed the time passing, I'll see you later, Peter." She clapped him on the shoulder and sauntered over to where he waited, "ready?"

"I thought we were having lunch."

"We did that yesterday so I figured we could play twenty questions, but I have rules." Bucky nodded and found a spot to sit down as Archangel paused for his reaction, "No heavy questions, let's save that shit for the shrink. You have to answer every question honestly, no lying, no skips. And any question you ask, you also have to answer."

Bucky considered each of her rules and nodded, they seemed fairly straightforward, "Fair enough, you first."

She observed him carefully, her eyes piercing into his very soul so he knew a big question was coming, "favorite color. Mine's a very specific shade of blue paired with metallic silver."

Bucky considered before answering, "I used to say red or black but now I'm partial to gold." He leaned back slightly as he thought of a question. "Has anyone ever given you a nickname?"

"Perhaps before but I wouldn't know. Hydra only ever called me Archangel and that's what I've been called here, so that's a 'no' to the nickname." There was a sad gleam in her eye as she spoke of her former life or lack thereof.

He huffed, "have to change that then, everyone's always called me Bucky or Buck, some play on my middle name 'cause I didn't like my first name back then. But I haven't felt like that Bucky in a long time. Everyone treats me like I might snap at any second, you're the only one who doesn't, that's what I like about you."

He didn't expect her to laugh, "what? Not my charming personality or my remarkably good looks?" She took that moment to flip her hair over her shoulder, which he found greatly amusing, "besides, we both know that I'm the one more likely to snap out of the both of us. Tony's smashed car is proof enough of that." She hummed in thought as she bit her lip, a movement he found quite distracting. "My turn, pet peeves, someone putting an empty container back in the fridge, so irritating." Her expression settled into a peeved one, her eyes narrowed in irritation.

Bucky held up his hands, "wasn't me, Angel. For me, it'd have to be repeating myself."

"Angel? A little on the nose there?" She asked, one eyebrow arching in question.

"What? You don't like it?"

She shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "I actually kinda do."

He could feel the corner of his lips twitching upward in a smirk, "Angel it is then."

***

"I'm making the executive decision that we are going to watch a movie."

"Which movie are we gonna watch?" Bucky asked curiously, they had just finished their bout of twenty questions and now knew a surprising amount about each other. He now knew her favorite color, pet peeves, hobbies, which genre of books she liked to read, what type of music she liked, and that she could dance surprisingly well, and she knew just as much about him.

She seemed as if she were considering him, which made him a little uneasy so he drew in on himself, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'd let you chose 'cause I made the decision to watch a movie but you're not exactly familiar with movies nowadays." She tapped her lower lip before holding up a finger as if she suddenly had an idea, "but I can't say I'm a whole lot better, Peter!"

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows as she called the spiderboy back into the room. "Um, yeah?"

"Do you have a movie suggestion for us two oldies?" He watched as the spiderboy's eyes lit up in excitement and suddenly he had a very bad feeling about this.