The Girl with Wings and a Metal Arm || Avengers Fan Fic

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

"Cosima, I'm afraid you've got the couch to sleep on," Laura said, handing her a warm-looking, pink blanket. 

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Cosima didn't go into the detail, but with Hydra in the past year that she could remember she'd slept in worse places. She grabbed the blanket and set it on the couch.

"I also have a pair of pajamas," Laura said, handing them to her.

"What are pajamas?" To Cosima, they looked like comfy clothes to lounge about in, but she could never remember wearing them. 

Laura looked confused. "You sleep in them..." she trailed off. She was looking around for Clint, but everyone was upstairs trying to get to sleep. "I'll see you in the morning." Laura climbed the stairs and Cosima was left alone.

She spread herself out of the couch and didn't bother to put the pajamas on. 

Cosima was tired, but not too tired to think. The first thing to think of was how she was gonna get Fury to trust her. He seemed like a crucial figure to the Avengers, yet he'd never shown her the kindness he'd shown to the others. He seemed to fear her a little, as if they had met in a lift gone by and she'd scared him. 

But Cosima concluded that trust had to be gained. It couldn't be immediate. If she did her best, towards him and the Avengers, if might ease him into trusting her. She decided she would work on that and that it was Fury's problem now.

The next thing to have a think on was Morgana Stocking. Cosima knew who she was and what she was like. But how on earth did it relate to her? Did it relate at all? Did Wanda get something wrong?

Cosima took out the four pictures and spread them on around her. The first of eleven-year-old Morgana. It wouldn't be very helpful. She was gone, and she wouldn't look like that now. The picture of the family wouldn't be helpful: they were all dead. The picture of the parents was the same. But the last of what Morgana - the eighteen-year-old - would be helpful. 

Cosima had remembered where Clint put his laptop. She got it out and turned it on. There was no password on it so Cosima was in. She brought up the internet explorer and looked back at the modern day Cosima. She started to type in a description of the girl - pale, blonde hair, red lips and hazel eyes when she heard a voice.

"What on earth are you doing?" 

Cosima looked behind her and up the stairs. Steve was standing there, watching what she was doing. Cosima cast a scowl at him, shut the laptop down and gathered up her pictures and stuffed them in her coat.

"Cosima, you can tell me what's going on," Steve said.

"Well I might have done if you hadn't have stalked me!" Cosima said.

"Fair play. I was there for just a minute in my defense."

"Still a stalker." They both laughed. Cosima spoke again. "Thanks for defending me against Fury."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You heard that?"

"I've been trained to hear further than that."

"Wow! You've gotta train me." He paused. "It was no bother. You're unofficially part of the team. And we fight and stand together."

"Thanks. What is his deal with me though? Have we met before?" Cosima hated asking that question. It made her sound like an old woman who couldn't remember anything, and she certainly wasn't that. It messed with her head.

"Yeah. When I met you."

"What happened?"

"You saved his life."

"I saved his life!" Cosima exclaimed. "That doesn't sound like me."

"Do you ever remember a man called Pierce?"

Cosima thought. The name sounder familiar, but like a distant memory - one she couldn't reach. Cosima grabbed the laptop beside her and searched his name up.

"Don't look it up," Steve said.

"Why not?"

"You might not like what you find. After this is all over, you can. But if it's gonna bring back the memories of what happened, you should wait until this is over." Cosima nodded and set the laptop aside. "You were like his pet."

"Hey!" Cosima said, making an angry face.

"Okay. You listened and did everything he said."

"You just described a dog."

"Well you weren't that." Cosima raised an eyebrow. "Maybe just a little. But that's not the point. He ordered you to ... well ... kill me and my friends, which included him."

"But I didn't kill Fury?" It was more of a question that a statement.

"No."

"That doesn't sound quite like I used to be."

"I know. You turned on Pierce. You figured out he lied to you. You didn't take it so well."

"So I killed him?"

"Apparently so. You told Fury and Natasha," he said pointing upstairs, "to go on. So they did. But there were ships in the sky destroying each other. And their fragments rained on the building. You were found beside me, with a piece of metal in your stomach. I was with you when you were recovering."

Cosima took time to process this. Her thought about something lodged in her side a while ago made sense. It was a thought to that day. She rubbed her stomach. There was a scar there that no one ever explained to her.

"Then how did I get to Stryker if I was recovering?"

"He took you in the middle of the night. He was in and out before we were alerted."

"So that's how we met?"

"Yeah. I mean you tried to kill me a couple of times, but you opened up to us about Hydra and your past life."

"Do you remember what I said?" Cosima said, talking over Steve.

"Yeah. It's at the Avengers Tower. When this is over, I can locate it for you."

"Thank you," Cosima said, meaning it. "And I'm sorry for being mean and all. I feel like I can't help it."

"Well it's nice to hear an apology," Steve said. He smiled. 

"What did you come down here for in the first place?" Cosima asked.

Steve's face slumped a little. It was like he was thinking of a bad memory. "I had a friend in Hydra. He never wanted to join. He was forced too really. I was hoping you'd remember something about him. I don't know ...  maybe tell me stories of what he was like."

"Sounds like more than a friend," Cosima interjected.

Steve looked shocked and then angry. "He was with me through everything. He was more than a friend. He was called Bucky. Do you remember anything about him?"

Cosima played with the word in her head. "Usually Hydra gave people new names. Do you know what his was?"

"The Winter Soldier."

It instantly clicked with Cosima. How had she not remembered about him? Stryker, when she was with him, kept reminding her of what he was like and how she should aim to be like him. He'd make her watch videos of him that Hydra had documented and videos from the world. "Well," Cosima began...