The Archangel (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty

Bucky did not like flying. If it wasn't for me, he probably would have flat out refused, but he trusted me—apparently with his life—and knew that I would never drop him. I had a tight grip on the shoulder pads of his suit as I flew us across the compound in less than a minute. Bucky closed his eyes as I started our descent in a glide down toward the entrance to the public section of the building, poor Bucky with a fear of heights.

I slowed six feet from the ground and released my grip on his suit, he landed heavily on the balls of his feet and I dropped down next to him. I pulled my wings in close so they wouldn't hit the door but fanned them out in a way that showed them off perfectly. I wasn't going to hide them, I was proud of my wings.

We walked inside with military precision, ignoring the cameras and the reporters that lobbed questions at us, completely in sync. "They will be answering questions after the conference." Tony interjected as we found our way to the stage and stood off to the side, in sight but not at the center of attention. I let my eyes wander through the crowd as Steve and Tony started the press conference. "As we said before, we are here to welcome two new members. A sneak peak into their skillsets if you would turn your attention back to the screen." Tony gestured up to the screen behind them.

Off to the side, Bucky and I remained facing the crowd, attempting to show that we knew exactly what was going on even though we hadn't been briefed on this part. Depending on what it was, the reporters and the populace could act negatively, that wouldn't go over very well. I carefully hid my surprised reactions to the sounds as I deduced that they somehow had gotten footage of the spar that we had just come from. The one that we were going no holds barred and looked as if we were actively trying to kill each other.

Bucky crossed his arms next to me, a glower on his face as he waited for their reaction, he had also figured out what they were playing and the implications of it. "You're glowering." I muttered, somewhat amused. My words brought a smile to his face that he quickly tried to suppress. "There's that smile."

"You're amazing, you know that?" He murmured back, I blushed at the compliment. He had a small smirk on his face and a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

"Please welcome the White Wolf and the Archangel, the first official partnered team, to the Avengers." Steve said into the microphone, a rotating image of our two logos appearing on the screen behind us. The reporters and waiting crowd clapped. They seemed to be . . . dare I say, impressed? I could feel my wings start fluttering, responding to my nerves at the prospect of standing in front of everyone present. Bucky put a hand on the small of my back in reassurance and I felt my wings still and my heart steady in my chest. "They will now be open to answering a few questions."

Bucky and I stepped up to the podium, side by side, in perfect sync with each other in the way that most people found creepy. A blond woman in the front stood up and asked the first question, "so what makes your relationship so special that the Avengers have already deemed you partners?"

Behind the podium, our hands found each other and intertwined together. "We work well together." We responded simultaneously.

Signaling for a second question, another reporter stood up and asked, "Mr. Barnes, is it true that you are the assassin known as the Winter Soldier?"

I stiffened next to Bucky, a silent fury building inside me at the question, but I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, letting him know that I stood beside him. Whatever he said or did, I would follow his lead. We had both known this question was coming, but Bucky seemed prepared to answer it. "I was found half dead by an organization known as Hydra at the end of World War Two, I spent nearly half a century being brainwashed and tortured into becoming the Winter Soldier. Steve, and the Avengers, were able to free me through various cognitive recalibration techniques. I am not the Winter Soldier, he was an asset of Hydra, which I am no longer." The reporter scribbled notes on a notepad as he sat down.

A third reporter stood, "I'm sorry, we've already been introduced to Mr. Barnes, but I'm afraid you're new?"

I chuckled, amused at the question, "I'm older than your grandma sweetheart, new is a relative term."

The reporter was about to expand upon her question when a middle aged white guy stood from the back and shouted, "you're a corruption of God! An affront to nature! A freak!"

"Have security show that man out." Tony directed. Security wouldn't be fast enough.

"Freak," I whispered to myself. Was I a freak? I was born with my wings but I had never seen them as being unnatural, at least not that I could remember anyway. Was I a freak for having wings that others didn't? Did that make me less than or superior to all these people without wings? And they still had no idea that I could literally turn myself into a living breathing block of indestructible metal. If they wanted to label me a freak, fine, I'd be the freak, but I was not ashamed of what I was. A sadistic smile turned my lips up, "I can show you freak!" I stepped away from Bucky's side, turning my entire body to metal as I stepped to the edge of the stage. My feathers ruffled against each other, making a metal rattling sound that filled the air like claws on a chalkboard.

I spread my wings in a menacing manner and summoned my helmet. Launching into the high ceiling, I shot across the room toward the man. "Angel!" Bucky called from the stage, I paused in the air, hovering over the heads of the crowd as I turned to face him. He had a secretive look on his face, "be gentle." I smirked, he knew me so well.

Diving at precarious speeds, I snatched the man by his collar and pulled out of the dive, rocketing towards the wall of windows and smashing through them with ease. I was fine, a little glass wasn't going to so much as scratch me, but the guy who called me a freak? He was going to need stitches. I climbed to nearly two hundred feet as I crossed the compound at the highest speeds I could go without causing the guy to fall unconscious.

Once I was across the fence-line, I dived how I did without passengers and dropped the man a couple feet from the ground, none-too-gently but without risk of killing the guy. I flew back into the building through the busted window and landed light on my feet next to Bucky. Folding my wings in close to my body, I returned from metal form. "Sorry about the window, Tony."

"Don't worry about it, I'll have it fixed tomorrow." Tony waved it off.

Steve stepped away from the microphone and asked, "what happened to being gentle?"

I glanced at the screen, "that video you showed the reporters? That was me being gentle."

Bucky nodded, "we both were." Steve was careful to control his expression in front of the cameras but I could see the surprise in his eyes.

Tony said into the microphone, "no more questions. Party starts in an hour."

I turned to Bucky and sighed, "let's get out of here."