New Avenger (A Steve Rogers love story)

Why Do Weird Things Keep Happening To Me?

My eyes fluttered and I groaned as my consciousness returned. My body hurt like crazy, and I felt like I'd been hit by a train.

My eyes finally opened and I looked around. I was in a hospital room. Hospitals were starting to feel like a second home.

I tried to push myself up with my arms, getting off my stomach, but pain kept me from doing it. I tried to hold my head, but my hand was being held. I looked over and found that Steve was sleeping with his head resting on the bed, next to my leg. His hand was wrapped around mine. Abby was asleep as well, curled up next to Steve's head. I smiled and gently squeezed his hand.

Wait a minute...What's wrong with my hand?

I looked at my hand. It was covered in spotted fur, was way smaller than before, and didn't look like a hand anymore. It looked like...

A paw? What's going on? It isn't Abby's...

I looked at my body, also covered in spotted fur that reminded me of a leopard, and I was much smaller than I used to be. IVs fell out of my arms...uh, legs, and a breathing tube slid from my throat. I slid my hand...uh, paw, out of Steve's hand and got on all fours.

Huge bandages and a hospital gown fell around me, my front legs still in the sleeves. I shimmied out of the gown and sat on top of it, facing the pillow. I felt weird. I was sitting weird.

A low growl came from behind me. I slowly turned toward it, my ears pressed against my head.

"Abby?" I tried to speak, but a small meow came from my throat instead.

"Alexx?" Steve looked up with tired eyes, which widened when he looked at me.

A doctor walked into the room. "I see you are finally awa -- " The doctor dropped his clipboard with a clatter and stared at me with wide eyes.

I felt an itch and my hind leg went straight to the spot, scratching it. It didn't feel very satisfying, the itch still there. I looked at Steve and tried to ask him to help me out, but another little meow came instead.

What's wrong with me?

I scratched at the spot again, then ignored it. I stood up and faced Abby. Standing up, I was barely taller than her.

Abby was still growling at me. I stared into her eyes, telling her to back down. To make sure she listened, I growled back. Abby stood up straight, cocked her head to the side, stuck her tongue out and wagged her tail. She yipped and licked my face, the fur sticking out all over. Abby knew it was me.

"A-Alexx?" I turned toward Steve when he said my name and an awkward smile formed on his face.

The doctor looked at me with confusion, and Steve stood up. "Could you give us a moment, please?"

The doctor nodded, picked up his clipboard and left, closing the door behind him.

I watched Steve sit down. "Alexx, what happened? W-Why are you a cat?" Steve asked.

I shrugged, which probably looked weird since I was a cat.

It had to be that serum Ashley injected into me. Damn it, Ashley.

Steve ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "How? I don't underst -- I don't even know what to do about it."

I looked up at Steve. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept in days. His facial hair was coming in a bit, and I liked the way it looked.

I pat the bed with my small, furry paw. Steve looked at me. I gave him my best puppy dog eyes -- even though I was a cat -- and laid my head on the bed, covering my eyes with my paws. I couldn't speak, so I tried to show him what I wanted. I was still tired, and being a cat was weird.

Steve stood up, held Abby in his arms, sat on the bed next to me and grabbed me with his other arm. He laid down and Abby laid by his legs. I laid across Steve's chest, my weight not really a problem.

As I curled up, I noticed something on my back. I spun around, shook my body and found that I still had wings, just, much, much smaller. I spread them, then folded them against my body. Steve smiled at the wings, then fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. I snuggled up to him and soon fell asleep.

***

I woke up and felt the weight of Steve's arm across me. Steve moaned as he woke up and smiled at me.

"Good morning." he yawned.

Because I couldn't talk, I smiled and licked his chin. If I was a cat, I'd need to act like one to fool people, but around the others I should be fine.

I moved a bit, trying to get into a more comfortable position. My body didn't hurt much except for the occasional sting of a healing cut.

I stood up and stretched with my paws in front of me, a yawn coming from my mouth. I stretched my wings as well, my wingspan about two feet long now.

I went to the edge to jump onto the floor. Being a cat, I should land on all fours. Plus, I'm a reasonably big cat.

Steve stood up and watched me jump down gracefully. Abby easily hopped off the bed after me and sat by Steve. I rubbed up against his legs, purring. Standing, my head was just above Steve's knees. Abby was a few inches smaller than I was.

The doctor came in and looked at us.

"We'll be heading out, doctor." Steve said as he scooped me up and held me in his arms. I was small, but not that small. I was bigger than the average house cat. Great Danes are the horses of dog breeds, and I had to be the horse of cat breeds.

"I'd like to do some tests, though." the doctor said.

"That won't be happening."

Steve and I turned toward the voice. "Ryan!" I smiled, as much as a cat could smile. 

The doctor opened his mouth, but Ryan cut him off as he picked Abby up. "If you try to do tests, she just might destroy your testing equipment. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

"Well no, but...she's a cat..."

"No testing. You are going to discharge her from the hospital and leave it at that."

The doctor looked at Ryan, ready to challenge him. I blinked, turning my eyes to fire, and stared into the doctor's eyes. He looked at me, terrified that even as a cat, I could still wield fire, and nodded.

"Okay. Let's go get her discharged."