Alone Together

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was comfortable. That was the first thing I noticed once I escaped the alluring darkness of unconsciousness. I was lying on a soft bed with a warm blanket tucked up to my chin. I shifted slightly, snuggling deeper into the warm covers. I heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching my bed followed by the comforting feeling of a calloused hand cupping my wrist. It paused there for a minute before moving to hold my hand.

"Pietro." I murmured. It made me happy to think that he was here, watching over me. But something was wrong. I felt the body next to me stiffen and let out a startled gasp. I felt my body freeze; that wasn't Pietro and I wasn't in my bed back in Sokovia. My eyes flew open and I wrenched my hand away from the strange man who was sitting next to me.

I could see my shock echoed on his strikingly handsome face. We were both frozen, staring at the other warily. He was the first to make a move, reaching out a hand towards my shoulder. I flinched away from him and scrambled off of the bed, I was planning on making a run for it. My body had other ideas; I had hardly made it two steps before I felt a sharp pain in my ribs and my legs collapsed out from under me.

The strange man hesitantly made his way towards me, his hands raised in a motion of surrender. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but there is no reason for you to be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you; you are safe here." I studied him from my position on the ground; I knew that I had no chance of beating him in a fight. If I had all of my strength, maybe, but right now I could hardly stand. I settled for watching the soldier in the oddly spangled suit warily; I figured that if worse comes to worst, I could probably bite him.

He crouched down in front of me, approaching me as if I was a wounded animal. "I promise; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm the one who rescued you from the HYDRA base in Munich." Now that surprised me. At first I thought he had to be bluffing, but his light blue eyes gave no indication that he was being dishonest; they actually looked very sincere.

For some odd reason I decided that I trusted this soldier, there was something about him that made me feel almost safe in his presence. "Thank you." My voice was thick and full of sleep, making me think that I had been unconscious for a while. The soldier's shocked expression was quickly replaced by a genuine smile, "My name is Steve Rogers. What's your name, miss?"

"Liliya Petrova." I replied softly, offering a light smile. Steve gave me a very boyish smile, "It is a pleasure to meet you ma'am. "His oddly formal mannerisms amused me, never in my life had someone addressed me like that. Steve stood up and offered me a hand, which I gladly accepted. Once I was on my feet Steve guided me over to the bed that I had been laying on earlier, making sure to keep one hand on the small of my back to help keep me upright.

After I was sitting down again, I took a quick inventory of my obviously battered body. There was a dull throbbing in my head and my ribs ached, but all in all I was better than I expected for someone who had a wall collapse on top of them. I was sure that if I looked, most of my body would be covered in nicks and bruises. Caustically I extended my wings, wincing as they unfurled. When fully extended, my wings had a span of about thirteen feet. Their snow-white tips almost brushed both sides of the lab. I fluttered them experimentally checking for injuries, but they seemed relatively unharmed.

Steve was watching me with a look in his eyes that could only be wonder. I knew that it was probably a shocking sight; it's not every day that you encounter a woman who has wings. I felt oddly self-conscious as he watched me; Steve seemed to be studying every feather.

"They're beautiful." Now it was my turn to look shocked. No one had ever said that to me before. Back in Sokovia, I had taken to keeping my wings folded in as close to my body as I could. They had always set me apart from everyone; they showed that I was some mutant freak. I only brought them out when the scientists made me. The Maximoff twins had only seen my wings once and that was only after Baron von Strucker had made me so he could show off his creation.