The Archangel (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter Nineteen

I found Bucky going ham on a punching bag, it was specially made so that super soldiers couldn't break it but he was certainly giving it a run for its money. Yeah, something was definitely bothering him.

It wasn't wise to startle a fighter, so I leaned against the wall and waited patiently for him to notice me. When he stopped and leaned heavily against the bag, I knew he had seen me. I steadied the punching bag from the opposite side. "You wanna talk about it or do I need to beat it out of you?" I asked. I could tell from his expression that he wasn't in a talking mood. I wrapped up my knuckles as we moved over to the sparring mats and faced off against each other.

I was far more confident now in my ability to remain in control than the last time we had sparred, but as to Bucky, I didn't know if I would be facing the Winter Soldier or the White Wolf, either way I was ready. To make this fair, I turned my left arm metal and tucked my wings in close. Without warning, Bucky started, apparently he had a lot of pent up aggression. I dodged the left hook he sent my way and knew immediately that I was dealing with the Winter Soldier. If he wanted to fight no-holds-barred, I could do the same.

From the outside, it probably looked like we were trying to kill each other but really we were just letting off steam. As we fought, I could literally see Bucky's mood begin to lift and I quite enjoyed it myself. Finally, he held up a hand, calling the end of the match. We were both breathing heavier and had to take a few seconds to catch our breaths. "They'll always see me as the Winter Soldier. How am I supposed to change that?" Bucky asked in a resolute tone of voice.

"One step at a time." I supplied, offering Bucky his watch, "but I'd say to start with this."

"What's this?" Bucky asked, taking the watch and strapping it to his right arm.

"The first step . . . White Wolf." I smiled as he glanced up at me with a searching look, "I got you a new callsign."

"White Wolf, huh?" Bucky inspected the logo on the watch, "you know, white symbolizes moral character that we both know I don't have."

I laughed lightheartedly, "you have more of it than I do and I'm the one called Angel. Now, we can both enjoy the irony." Bucky snorted at that but didn't give any further protest. "Here, let me show you how it works." I guided his right hand up to my shoulder, gliding the fingers on my right hand down his arm to his shoulder and up his neck. I drew him into a kiss and double tapped his watch logo. I could feel him shiver as the nanotech formed around his body and hummed against his lips in response.

Pulling away, I ran my eyes up and down his suit, taking it in. Similar to mine, it was all black with the white wolf logo from the watch face on the left chest and the Avengers' logo on the right shoulder. He had fingerless gloves and combat boots, both black, though his weren't knee high like mine were. His suit also had a popped collar which looked damn good on him.

The only thing I had a hookup about was the lack of a left sleeve which exposed the entirety of his metal arm, red star included. I didn't mind that it exposed his arm, I thought that he ought to flaunt it, it made him unique and doubly strong than he would be without it, but the red star was a problem. It declared allegiance to an organization he wasn't allied with, maybe I could get Tony to repaint it? Or maybe . . . ? Turning my hand metal, I ran the edge just barely over Bucky's red star picking up paint and small metal chips in the process. I looked up to get Bucky's permission, which he gave, and I quickly shaved the rest of the red star off, leaving just a base silver arm which he rocked quite well.

Taking a step back, I admired both the suit and Bucky himself. "Damn, that looks good on you." I laughed, activating my own suit, "I'm almost jealous."

"We still got some time to kill before the press conference, wanna continue?"

"Should I be gentle or no holds barred?" I questioned, feeling my wings fluttering in excitement at just the prospect of it.

Bucky smirked, "isn't that the same thing?" and moved back onto the mat.

I had my answer. "Yes!" I whispered to myself in a silent victory. When we moved back onto the mats, we immediately went at each other's throats and quickly lost ourselves to the fight, losing track of time almost immediately.

***

So close, he kept dodging my attacks. It was actually kinda pissing me off how fast and agile he was. I attacked with my wings in great slicing movements that could have cut a normal man to pieces. He dodged my attacks and was in the midst of a counterattack when a great banging sound distracted the both of us.

We whirled around in our fighting stances, at the ready for any attack that might come. It was just Sam, he had opened the door so hard it flew back on its hinges. "Whoa! Don't shoot the messenger!" Sam put his hands up.

I turned to Bucky, who luckily had been able to prevent his counterattack from landing when Sam had startled us. "Can I punch him for being a dumbass?"

"Go right ahead." Bucky permitted with a glare in Sam's direction.

I was starting toward Sam when he threw his hands up even further and asked, "don't you wanna hear the message first?"

"Not particularly." Bucky responded for me.

"Guys! It's five minutes to five!" Sam raised his voice in exasperation. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

I paused, "oh, right," I definitely wasn't thrilled about this. Looking back at Bucky, I asked, "you sure we can't just skip it?"

"I wish, but we can't." Bucky made his way off the mats.

"Do you think they'll let us go like this?" I asked, gesturing to our new suits.

Bucky shrugged, "they don't really have a choice if they want us to be there."

I remembered something Steve mentioned about the press conference being held in the section of the compound open to the public. It would be faster and easier to just fly around to the other side of the building. Looking at his face, I knew the exact moment Bucky came to the same conclusion. "Ready when you are, Angel."