Chapter Text
Things have been going well recently. Too well. Sara's skin shivered. A sense of unease, of a forest where the birds have gone silent. Surely the people in the tower would see Sara did not belong.
By now, she had been here for a year. She knew Tony, the mechanic that smelled of oil, the genius inventor who owned the tower. Bruce, smelling of herbs with a hint of sharpness that he had explained was a strange creature called the Hulk. Clint, who she watched cartoons with and traded flying stunts, Sara with her wings and Clint with his acrobatic jumps. Clint's shadow, Natasha, who Sara had established somewhat of a peace with without exchanging so many words. Thor, who's loud presence quieted when they had wing grooming sessions, huge figure turning gentle and soft as he often did when combing through her feathers and recounting stories of Valkyrie comrades.
Bucky and Steve marked her quarters with laughter and a feeling of tentative safety, of warm comforting touches from Steve and understanding glances and reassurance from Bucky. Despite being here for as long as she has, this is all she's known from her new life. The inside of the tower, the few floors she was allowed room to roam with supervision. Her room, with her messy nest of blankets and down feathers hidden in the bathtub. She still slept there most nights, on the good nights. She liked the feel of blankets against her skin, the warmth and familiar scent of herself surrounding her.
On bad nights, she squeezed into the narrow space under her bed, shaking with fear, eyes cloudy with memories of before Steve. Sometimes she would get so confused about what was here and now and what had happened, she would have to find Clint. After their time in the common room, he seemed to understand what she needed. He was good at knowing what she was thinking without words- reading her tense wings and hunched figure as easily as he read the sign language she would sometimes use.
She was not bothered by the small scope of her world. Sometimes, Tony would let her into his shop, and would show her schematics and plans beyond anything she had known at the Lab where she was created. She liked the routine of going to the gym room with Bucky, where she was able to glide around the large space and work her flight muscles. She was weak when she came into the tower, wings still growing in patchy and muscles near nonexistent.
Months of steady food intake and grooming had made her feathers glossy, brighter in color than they were before. Her healing accelerated even more when Steve learned of her enhanced metabolism. He had caught her scarfing down meal bars soon after they had finished their own meal together an hour ago. Steve's face had gone still, and his scent soured. After that, she started getting nutrient dense shakes to meet her needs.
Steve sometimes smelled like that when he saw Sara's nest, too. He was looking for her one evening, knocking on her door. Sara was busy fortifying her nest with molted feathers, but did not mind when Steve had come in and seen her construction, Sara was proud of her nest at the time, fuller and more plush than it had been. Strangely, Tony came and talked to her not long after that.
"Hey, wings. Steve mentioned some sort of bathtub bed situation yesterday? Was giving me real puppy dog eyes, you know anything about it?" Sara shrugged, and led him to her nest. Close enough to look, but not to touch. His steps echoed on the cold bathroom tiles. He whistled through his teeth,
"Well, this just wont do, not in my tower. I have higher standards than this, you know. You ever thought about using that California King I bought for you in the other room? No, I suppose you wouldn't" He sighed dramatically, but Sara's shoulders remained relaxed. His scent had soured like Steve's, and Sara knew he was not angry. Tony spun on a heel, muttering to himself about blueprints and soundproofing, and that was that.
Or So Sara thought. A few weeks after that conversation, Steve and Bucky breached their plan at dinner,
"Sara, me and Tony have been talking, and he wanted to show you a different option, for your room," Steve smiled, and gestured toward her door as he spoke,
"If you want to, there's a spare room ready on the next floor up. You won' be as close to me and Buck, but we'll still be nearby if you need us," he sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair,
"And, well, me and Buck won't be around for awhile anyway-we, uh, have a mission. But don't worry, Sara, Tony will be around, and this new kid, he's great too, and even if Thor is off world, Clint will be here, but I don't want you to feel nervous, so-"
Bucky cut him off,
"We are investigating the people who experimented on you. It is important. Sara, we want you to feel safe, the tower is your home too," Bucky put his hand on Steve's shoulder,
"We wanted to show you your new room before we leave tomorrow," Sara did not react. Her heart was beating too fast, her thoughts racing.
Steve and Bucky were going to the Labs. They would learn more about Sara, about how monstrous she truly was. They thought they knew, but Sara was so much worse than that. It was something she could not control. Finally, her feeling of unease shifted. She knew with finality that her free time would end soon.
Steve and Bucky noticed her silence,
"Sara. I know it might be hard for us to be gone for so long, we were only taking short missions for as long as we could. Would you come with us to see your room?" Steve looked at Sara, trying to catch her gaze, but Sara was looking down, dinner forgotten. She nodded, and Steve's scent shifted to cool relief. They stood, and Sara followed them into the elevator. They moved upward, and then down a hallway.
She could catch no scents on this floor to indicate anyone else lived here. Sara frowned, because she liked the reassurance that others were around, the quiet sounds of moving about and breathing, hearts beating, covering the silence she was used to from the labs. They had reached her new quarters, Sara shifting uneasily now.
Steve opened the door, revealing a surprisingly habitable space. Her own room had been plain, undecorated. This room was not. The ceilings were higher, to start, the windows still large but walls and furnishings placed to create safer corners, more cover, and dampen sound. Fabric hung from ceilings and walls, closing of what would have been an echoey space into something den-like. Tony had chosen a purple scheme, walls a soft lilac and gray, furniture in fuchsia. She looked in the bathroom, and her heart sank.
No tub. Not even any glass for the shower. The shower was big enough to accommodate her wings. And took up a quarter of the considerable sized bathroom. No place to hide. Sara knew she should not care about this, that she would live wherever Steve ordered, but a part of her that had opened in the recent months cringed away. She longed for a soft place to relax, safe from the outside. It was clear she was not allowed anymore.
Bucky's voice drifted from the main room,
"Hey, Doll, you missed the best part. Tony re-did your bed and everything, ordered a custom mattress and framed it out, come look," Sara dejectedly left the en-suite. Tony had made her bed different? Hopefully there was still enough space that she could slip underneath. Maybe she could re build her nest there. Under the bed might be cramped, but better than the open space on top, exposed and vulnerable.
When she got to where Bucky and Steve were standing together, she paused. High above, a wooden ladder led to a large ledge tucked in a corner, away from doors and windows. It was so well hidden with fabric drapes and low lighting that Sara had not noticed. She could only stare.
Tony had made her a nest.
Immediately, she flew up, scrambling over the lip of the ledge and rolling into the soft cushions beyond. It was- perfect. Bigger than her bathtub, but an upward curve made it feel safer. There were already cushions and blankets, so Sara rolled around to scent the area. She forgot about Steve and Bucky, startling when Steve piped up,
"So, this means you like it?" with a small smile on his face. She peered over the edge at them. The platform was so high up they could not reach her without the help of the ladder, and she could easily glide down to the floor from her perch. She nodded yes.