Chapter Text
She had heard the gunshots and the dogs late last night, which she assumed were from poachers. She knew there was no point in going out to find them, so, instead, she got up early to find the animal that more than likely got away. Hopefully she'd be able to find it and nurse it back to health, before releasing it. Worst case scenario, the animal had gotten away and been so wounded, it had died during the night, she hoped that wasn't the case.
While walking to her barn, her cat walked up to her, weaving between her legs. He always greeted her whenever she came outside. He was another animal she had rescued, he had been hit by a car and she found him on her way home one evening. She brought him back, fixed him up and he hasn't left since.
Who is she, you ask, her name is ___ ___, a veterinarian living in the rural area near Long Island, New York. She had a private practice on her farm there, she saw a few animals at her home, more often than not, she made house calls for the animals that were too large to be brought in. It was something she loved and had wanted to do her entire life. When her Father died from a heart attack, she moved back in to help her mother who had had a stroke a few months before. Her mother's health quickly began to decline and she died a few months later. Now, it was just her, alone on her farm and she wouldn't have it any other way. Of course, that didn't stop some of the local busy bodies in town, from trying their hardest to set her up with their sons and nephews. They just couldn't understand how such a young woman would be happy living alone without a man to help her.
Of course, there were other reasons as to why she preferred to stay single. She was what they called, a mutant. She was one of the lucky ones, though, her mutant power wasn't obvious, so as far as anyone knew, she was a normal human. She had even kept the secret from her parents, she knew that if they found out, they'd send her to one of the mutant camps to have her “cured”. She rather liked her power, it allowed her a lot of freedom. She was one of the mutants blessed with the gift of wings, but her wings weren't like the others. They weren't always exposed, she was able to absorb them into her body, the downfall to that, the mass of her wings had to go somewhere, so it would be distributed through her body as excess fat cells, which made her a little on the hefty side. There were many nights, when she couldn't sleep, on those nights, she would just fly around instead. She would fly to clear her head, to help her stop thinking about how her life hadn't gone the way she had thought.
Like now, here she was, out in the snow, getting ready to find the animal some poachers had been hunting last night. She followed her cat, who she had named, Lucky, not the most original, but he was lucky she had come across him, otherwise he wouldn't be here to greet her every time she came outside.
“Hey, Lucky, you're awfully affectionate this morning.” She smiled, bending down to pick him up. He nuzzled against her face, always happy to see her, he let out a small meow, then squirmed out of her arms and ran into the barn.
“What's wrong, Lucky? You're usually a little more affectionate than that.” She asked, following the black and white cat into the barn.
When she opened the door, Lucky was standing there, waiting for her, he let out another cry and ran further into the barn, towards the back door.
“Lucky, what are you doing?” She asked, continuing to follow her cat.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw where Lucky had stopped. He was sitting on the lap of a man. A very injured man.
“Oh, shit! Mister, hey mister! Are you ok?” She asked running over and kneeling next to the man who had managed to sit himself in the chair she left by the back door. She quickly grabbed his left arm to feel for a pulse, but it was cold and very firm. She pulled the glove off, gasping at the metal that was shinning back at her. Remembering she needed to know if he was still alive or not, she decided not to take the chance his other arm was also metal, she felt for a pulse on his neck. She found it. Faint, but it was there.
“I think we've found another Lucky.” She smiled down at her cat, who was still sitting in the man's lap.
“He doesn't look light. How am I going to get him into the house?” She asked, moving his hair out of his face, so she could get a better look at him.
“Handsome. Shit, I bet he's who the dogs were looking for last night. Whoever was looking for you, I sure hope you're the good guy.” She sighed, kneeling with her back towards him, pulling his arms over her shoulders, so she could carry him on her back.
It took all of her strength, but she managed to stand up with him on her back. Slowly, she made it into her house and to her bedroom on the first floor. Normally she would have given the guest one of the bedrooms on the second floor, but she knew she wouldn't be able to carry him all the way up the stairs.
Once she got the stranger situated in her bed, she took a minute to look him over. He was covered in blood, she assumed most of it was his. She went to her office where she kept all her veterinary supplies, grabbed a few things and headed back to her patient. She lay everything out on her dresser, the IV, needles, gloves, scissors, cotton swabs, iodine, and various other things she would use to clean him up. She was prepared to give him stitches, but once she got his shirt cut open and off, she found no open wounds, a few scratches and bruises, but nothing too serious.
“Wow, you really are one lucky guy. Got away with just a few scrapes and bruises.” She then looked at his metal arm and took it in her hand.
“I wonder if you were running from whoever did this to you? Don't worry, mister, you're safe from whoever wants to hurt you, here. What kind of monsters did this to a person?
” She sighed, gently placing his metal arm back on the bed so she could begin cleaning the few open wounds he did have.
It didn't take her long to clean him up and get him all set up with an IV, she figured he was dehydrated and since she wasn't sure how long he would be out, she didn't want to take the chance of his recovery not going as fast as it could because he wasn't getting the nutrients his body needed.
Now that he was fully treated, she began to take off his shoes. While she was looking up at him, she noticed a hole in his pants, it was wet, with what she assumed, was blood. Looking up at Lucky, who was laying on the man's chest, watching her, she sighed and asked, “How did I not think to look at his legs for injuries. Mister, I'm really sorry about this, I'm not trying to be a perv or anything.”
She got up and grabbed the scissors that she had set on the night stand next to the bed, then back to the bottom of his pants and began to cut them off. Lucky let out a little meow to remind her that he was watching.
“I know, don't worry, I'm not going to do anything. Damn, this is embarrassing!” She replied, thankful the man was out cold and couldn't see the inevitable blush that was forming. Sure, she had studied some human anatomy in school, but never on an actual person. There was a reason she became a vet instead of a doctor, besides trying to keep her mutant ability a secret, the thought of having to deal with naked people, made her extremely uncomfortable. More specifically, having to deal with partially naked men telling her about their ailments. Nope, animals would be much easier to deal with, no chance of embarrassment there, and no judgmental thoughts to worry about.
Once she finally managed to cut his pants away, that's where she saw it, there was a bullet hole in his leg. Sliding her hand under his leg, she felt for an exit wound, she didn't feel anything, which meant the bullet was still inside.
“Looks like I'm gonna have to dig that out. Lucky, don't let Lucky 2 get up.” She said deciding to give the stranger some kind of name. Running back to her office to get some foresnips to try and dig the bullet out. She wasn't gone long, Lucky was still lying on the man's chest, continuing to watch her.
“You know, we really should call him something other than mister or Lucky 2, how about we just call him Luke until he wakes up to tell us his real name?” She asked Lucky as she began to dig inside the wound for the bullet, Lucky just replied with a soft meow. As she was digging in his leg, he began to groan and squirm, she looked up, seeing the look of pain on his face, she felt bad, but there was nothing she could do about the pain. She could feel the bullet and didn't want to go back to the office to find the local anesthetic she had. It would take to long to wait for it to kick in, not to mention, she almost had the bullet out. He began to fidget his leg more, so she had to put part of her weight on it to finish pulling the bullet out.
“I'm really sorry, Luke, but the bullet is almost out. Just bear with me a little longer.” She grunted as she finally pulled the bullet out of the wound.
“There! Got it, now, let's stitch that bad boy closed.” She said, placing the bullet on a towel she had lying next to her on the floor. Once the bullet was out, Luke had calmed down and stopped moving, his breathing was slightly labored, but he seemed to be calming down. Looking back at the wound, she had a thought. “You know, maybe I should numb this first. Don't want to risk him waking up and freaking out on me.” So again, she got up and went find the cream of local anesthetic, she hoped it would numb the area just enough so she could get the stitches in without him squirming all over the place. If she was going to do the stitches right, she wanted him to be as still as possible.
“Ok, almost done!” She smiled at Lucky, who had jumped back on Luke's chest, he had jumped off when Luke started squirming while the bullet was being removed.
___ rubbed a fair amount of the cream into Luke's leg around the wound once she got it cleaned up and added a cauterizing agent so it would stop bleeding. She gave it about five minutes, before she started stitching the wound closed. Once closed, she wrapped his leg to prevent any infection from getting into it. She stood up and looked at her handy work, she was quite impressed with herself, especially considering she'd never done any kind of procedure on a human before. Then, realizing the man was half naked, she blushed again and turned away.
“Right, we need to get you some pants. I think I still have some of my dad's old sweats upstairs. They should fit well enough. Be right back, Lucky.” she said, leaving the room and making her way upstairs to her parents old room.
After their deaths a few years ago, she had decided to leave their room the way it was. She just couldn't bring herself to change it. Even though they were gone and she knew they were never coming back, it still brought comfort to her, knowing their room was still there, just as they had left it.
She stood in the doorway a few minutes, after opening the door, to look at the room. It had been a few months since she had last felt the need to enter. On the nights when she would have really bad nightmares, she would come in here and sleep. The room still smelled like her parents and she found it comforting when she would have nightmares, it was like they were still here, helping her.
She took a deep breath and walking into the room, straight to the dresser. She didn't have to look for long, since she knew where her father kept all his clothes. She used to help her mother put laundry away when she was still too small to help with the outside chores. Once she had a pair in her hand, she closed the drawer and walked to the door. She stopped and turned around, taking one last look before she closed the door and made her way back downstairs.
“You know, Lucky, maybe I should finally get around to changing mom and dad's bedroom. I've always wanted a library and I think mom and dad would like it if I turned their room into a library. What do you think?” She asked as she walked back into the room, looking at her cat, he just gave her a slow blink in response.
“Yea, you're right, maybe once spring rolls around, then we can consider turning it into a library.” She chuckled, as she struggled to put the pants on Luke. “Man, you're heavier than you look!” she grunted as she finally got them up to his waist. The she stood up and took a step back, looking over her work, smiling.
“That should do it for now. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you again.” She said, as she threw a blanket over him, covering Lucky, who didn't mind at all. He'd crawl out from underneath when he was ready. Now that he was all cleaned up and tucked in, she cleaned up the mess she had made, with everything in the bowl she brought in, she took one final look at the man, before shutting the door, leaving enough of a crack so Lucky could come and go as he pleased.
The next couple of days were quiet, she went about her daily routine, checking on Luke every few hours, changing his bandages as needed and cleaning up the mess from when he would urinate in his sleep. Now she was really wishing she had learned about catheters in school, but you usually didn't use them for animals, so she saw no need to keep any on hand. She made a note, that the next time she ordered supplies, she would definitely be ordering catheters. She doubted she would ever use them, but she'd rather have them on hand anyway.
It was early evening on the fourth day after she found Luke in her barn. She had come home from a particularly messy job and just finished her shower. Now that she was all clean, she made a fire, since it had started to snow and it was her main source of heat in the house. Once she had the fire going, she decided to cook dinner. She was reheating left over spaghetti. She had her favorite mix tape playing while she cooked, singing and dancing along with it. Completely oblivious to the movements that were happening in her bedroom.
Luke had woken up. He blinked a few times and looked around the room. This was definitely not a HYDRA installation. He sat up and cringed when he felt the pinch in his arm and pain in his leg. He looked at his arm first, seeing the IV, he quickly pulled it out. Though it didn't look like HYDRA, he wouldn't put it passed them to put him in a setting like this to test him, make sure he was loyal. He winced as he moved his leg, feeling the pain from the bullet he remembered being shot with. Even though he had been injected with the super soldier serum, it didn't do to much in helping him heal faster. It helped a little, but not as much as he would have liked.
As he tried to get up, he heard a meow, looking down next to his feet, there sat a black and white tabby. They starred at each other for a minute, before the cat got up and rubbed up against his legs. He smiled at the action and wondered what kind of HYDRA agent would have a cat as a pet. Then he noticed music coming from the other side of the cracked door. He slowly got up and did his best to limp over to the door, upon opening it, he was hit with something he wasn't sure if he had ever smelt before. Just what kind of HYDRA agent was this? They had a cat, listening to music and cooked their own food? His curiosity getting the better of him, he slowly and as quietly as he could, crept to where the music was coming from.
He was shocked when he saw her. She was definitely not an agent he had ever seen before. She was short in stature, with long (h/c) hair and a little on the chunky side. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt with shorts that came to mid-thigh and she was dancing and singing along to her music while she cooked. This was definitely not the normal behavior of a HYDRA agent, not to mention she would be considered unfit as an agent and would never be allowed in the field. Her guard was down and she was alone, this also went against all HYDRA protocol. Then he remembered how he had gotten injured. He had disobeyed a direct order during a mission and managed to get away. He remembered running through the forest and being chased, but the memory starts to get fuzzy after he was shot.
Though he doubted she was HYDRA, he couldn't be to sure and felt it best to keep his guard up. Lost in thought, he quickly looked up when she screamed and he heard glass shattering. His presence clearly startled her. Did she expect him to stay in bed after he woke up?
___ was definitely not expecting her patient to be up so soon. She thought he would have been out a few more days, so when she turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to her kitchen, she couldn't help but scream and drop her bowl of spaghetti, jumping back as the hot sauce hit her legs. She fell when her foot landed on a sharp piece of ceramic, falling on the food and shattered ceramic, getting a few more cuts as she tried to get up. He cautiously walked over to her and offered her his flesh hand. She looked up at it, then him and smiled.
“Sorry, you startled me. You'd been asleep for so long, I was beginning to think you weren't ever going to wake up.” She said, scooting back so her back hit the cabinet behind her. Once she had her uninjured foot stable and not on any sharp ceramic pieces, she took his hand and let him help her stand up.
“Thank you.” She said as she adjusted the weight on her good foot and placed booth hands on the counter behind her to help stabilize her. “How are you feeling?” she asked before limping over to her fridge and digging out the broom she kept in the space between the fridge and the wall. All Luke did was watch her, still certain this was a ruse to get him to drop his guard.
She stopped and looked at him, waiting for an answer, but all he did was stare back at her.
“You look better, that's for sure.” She still smiled as she hobbled back over the mess she had made, stopping to get something from under the sink, he tensed and was ready to attack, thinking she was getting a weapon of some kind, he relaxed a little when he saw her grab a dust pan and a towel.
“How's your leg? I did the best I could getting the bullet out and did a decent job on the stitches. You'll have a scar, but something tells me you don't really mind scars.” she said as she looked at his left shoulder, where metal met skin. He, too, looked at his bare shoulder, then back at her, wondering why she wasn't fazed by it at all. She had bent down and was picking up the large pieces of the ceramic bowl she had dropped.
“You can sit down, you know. I'll have this cleaned up in just a minute, then I can set up a bowl for you. I hope you like spaghetti.” She said, not even bothering to look up at him as she continued to clean up her mess. She did find it odd at how quiet he was. If she was in his shoes, she'd be asking all kinds of questions about where she was and who he was and what happened. She just figured he was still a little confused and disoriented from being unconscious for so long. She was sure he'd talk when he was ready.
She smiled a little when she heard the chair move and give a small creak when weight was added to it.
“My name's ___, by the way.”
He just looked at her quizzically and his brows furrowed. Was she expecting him to tell her his name in return?
“I didn't know your name, so I've been calling you Luke.” She said, sitting on her haunches and looking up at him.
“Luke?” He said, it didn't sound or feel familiar, so he was sure that wasn't his name. His concentration was broken by a small meow and something brushing up against his legs.
“And that's Lucky, he's the one who found you in my barn and he's been keeping watch over you while you slept. Only left to go to the bathroom and eat, otherwise, he was in the room with you the whole time. He doesn't usually take to strangers so quickly, but I'm glad he likes you.” She said with a small chuckle.
He groaned and clutched his head in pain, slamming his fist on the table as images of people quickly flashed in his mind, it was as if they were screaming to be remembered. ___ looked up at him, startled by the loud noise. Seeing the distress he was in, she quickly got up, forgetting about the pain in her own foot, and ran over to him, kneeling next to him. Her hand on one shoulder, while the other one ran through his hair, getting it out of his face so she could get a better look at him, trying to see if there was a wound she had missed that might be causing him pain now. She didn't see anything.
“Luke, are you ok? What's wrong?” She asked, her hand quickly moving down the side of his face, over his cheek and under his jaw, lifting it up to look at her.
Once the pain had gone and the images had stopped, he opened his eyes and looked straight into hers. They were full of nothing but concern. Not a look he was accustomed to seeing.
“I don't remember my name, but I know that's not it.” He opened his eyes when he heard her let out a small chuckle, the look of concern was gone and was replaced with a smile. Again, not something he was used to seeing on the people he worked for.
“I figured as much, but sadly, it's gonna have to do until you remember yours. Are you hungry?” she asked, standing up and limping over to the stove.
That's when he noticed the trail of blood her foot was leaving.
“You're bleeding.” He said, looking up at her. He watched as she turned to look at him, then at the floor, seeing the blood she left as she stepped.
“I guess I am. Well, let me make you a bowl, then I'll go patch my foot up and join you.” she said, returning to her original task of getting him something to eat. Once she set it down in front of him, she sat down as well, clearly forgetting about her foot again.
“It's been a few days since you've had anything solid in you. Make sure you eat slow, so you don't throw it up right away. You're stomach needs to get used to having solids in it. If this is too much for you to handle, I have some soup that I could heat up instead. I probably should have tried that first.” she mumbled the last part more to herself than to him.
He looked at her, still smiling at him. He was a little weary of the fact that she wasn't eating anything. It made him think she had put something in his food. Even though he watched everything she had done, and didn't see her add anything, he couldn't be too sure. She was a stranger and for all he knew, she wanted to kill him.
“Is it too hot? Should I heat up the soup instead?” She asked, worried as to why he wasn't eating.
She went to get up, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist, looking at the contact, she sat back down and looked at him, that look of concern gracing her features once again.
“Why are you being so nice and helping me?” he asked, his grip on her wrist tightening, she winced at the increase in pressure.
“I don't know.” She replied, trying to pull her wrist out of his grasp, only causing him to hold it tighter.
“Did they order you to help me? Is this some kind of test?” He asked his voice harsher, his grip tightening still.
His eyes never left hers. He watched as they began to water. Watched for any indication she was HYDRA, that this was a test of loyalty, a test to see how he would react if he thought he wasn't being monitored, if he thought he had truly succeeded in escaping them. He watched as panic took over her features, as she struggled to free herself.
“Ow, you're hurting me! Let go!” She said, her voice laced with the first signs of panic and the look on her face quickly changing to that of fear. He watched as she tried to pry his hand off her wrist, but she was no match for his strength.
“Who are you working for!” He demanded as he practically yelled at her.
She could feel the panic as it began to bubble up to the surface. She knew that if she let it take over, she wouldn't be able to keep her wings hidden. The last thing she wanted to do was expose her secret to him, but the tighter his grip got and the angrier he looked, the harder and harder it was to keep the overwhelming feeling of panic under control. Then, when he yelled at her, demanding to know who she worked for, she lost it.
“I SAID, LET GO!” She screamed as wings exploded from her back.
Luke was bowled over and pushed across the floor by the wind that her wings created as they burst forth from her back, hitting the wall behind him. Eyes wide, he looked up to see the girl standing in front of him, her shirt barely hanging on to her shoulders, her shorts in tatters on the floor. She was panting and her eyes conveyed nothing but fear and panic as she crossed her arms over her chest, cradling the wrist he had been holding and also preventing her shirt from completely falling off and exposing all of her to the stranger laying on her kitchen floor.
That's when he knew. He knew there was no way she was a HYDRA agent. If she was, he would have heard about her, he would have gone on missions with her. He would know if HYDRA had an angel on their side.
Luke never took his eyes off her as he eased himself up into a sitting position. Leaning against the wall, letting it support him as he tried to process what had just happened. He let his eyes wander up and down, noticing how her appearance had changed. She was slimmer now, her face still held that look of panic and fear. He had seen that look many times in people before he killed them. She was afraid for her life.
“I'm sorry.” Luke said as he finally moved to stand up. Once he was stable, he went to take a step towards her, but she only limped back.
“I thought you were trying to hurt me.” He said as he bent over and set the chair he had been sitting in, up right, then sat in it. Trying his best to show her that he wasn't going to hurt her.
“Why would I fix you up, just to try to hurt you later?” she asked, after a few minutes of silence and once she was sure he wasn't going to try and hurt her again.
“Because that's the kind of thing the people I work for would do.” He answered, letting out a heavy sigh as he did.
“The people you work for are messed up.” She scoffed as she took a few hesitant steps towards one of the chairs sitting at the table.
“I know. It's ok, you can sit down. I'm not going to hurt you.” he said as he looked down at his metal arm. He really hated that arm.
“Are the people you work for the one's who gave you that arm?” she asked, finally sitting down in the chair. Luke just nodded.
“Are they also the one's who shot you? And the reason I found you passed out in my barn?” She asked, pulling the shirt up on her shoulder, as it had slid down a little when she walked to her chair.
Again, he just nodded.
“The people you work for really suck!” she huffed.
He couldn't help but give a small smile at her words, the smile quickly disappeared as he realized they would be looking for him. Which meant, she wasn't safe and if HYDRA found out about her and her ability, they would stop at nothing to have her.
“I should go, you're not safe if I stay.” He said with a scowl as he stood up.
“What! No, you can't go! You're not fully healed.” She almost yelled as she did her best to run towards him and grab his arm.
“It doesn't matter, as long as I'm here, you won't be safe.” he said, not bothering to turn around and look at her.
“I don't care who you work for! You're not leaving here until you're fully healed. Besides, I'm sure they would have found you and captured you by now if they were still looking for you.” She said, stepping so she was now in front of him and giving him a small smile as she blocked his way to the backdoor in her kitchen.
He really did want to stay. He couldn't remember anyone ever having been this caring towards him. It made him feel almost human.
“Come on, at least stay until that wound on your leg closes up. Then, once it's all better, you can leave if you want. Besides, it's snowing outside. How far do you think you're going to get, dressed like that.” She smirked, looking down at his sweatpants and bare feet.
He looked down, realizing she was right and sighed.
“You're right.”
“I know. Now come on, sit back down at the table and I'll heat your dinner back up.” She said, grabbing his hand and turning him so he was now facing the kitchen. He had almost forgot that she was hurt until he saw her limp to the table and grab the bowl she had made for him, then quickly looking away as it dawned on him that her backside was completely exposed, parts hidden because of her wings. He was fascinated by her wings, they were almost as long as she was tall and they reminded him of a Raven, the color a deep, glistening onyx. He wanted to touch them and see if they were as soft as they looked.
“Your foot.” He said, remembering her limp and forcing himself to not focus on her wings, as he was still standing there, now staring at the floor.
“Hmm, oh yea.” she said as she looked down to see how she was favoring the injured one.
“Guess I forgot with all the excitement. But, hey, at least it's stopped bleeding.” She joked as she walked to the microwave and put his bowl in.
“You should go take care of it. I can heat my dinner.” Luke said as he walked to where she was standing, he wasn't quite sure how to address her shredded clothing, Trying not to get to close, as her wings were a little intimidating.
“No, it's fine. What kind of host would I be, if I let you heat your own food?” she chuckled, then gasped and stood rigid as she felt a hand run across the edge her wing.
“They're beautiful.” Luke whispered, not able to contain his desire to touch them. Then, noticing her stiff reaction, he quickly removing his hand. “Sorry, I didn't mean to...”
“No, it's ok, it just surprised me, is all. No one's ever touched them, let alone seen them. You can touch them, again, you know, if you'd want to.” She said, almost in a whisper, relieved he couldn't see the heat that was spreading across her face. She opened the microwave door and gave his food a few stirs, before placing it back in the microwave for another minute.
“How did you get them?” Luke asked, allowing his flesh hand to reach back up and run along the edge, then over her soft feathers, he couldn't help but stare as he did. He didn't see that she had placed her hands on the counter, supporting herself as she went weak in the knees. She appreciated how gentle his touch was. Wanting him to touch more, she let her wings expand as much as they could in the kitchen. Understanding what she was asking, he brought his metallic hand up and ran it along the arm of her other wing, she hung her head forward as she let out a low moan. The sensation wasn't sexual in nature at all, it felt more like when someone lightly massaged aching muscles.
“I guess I was just born with them.” her voice light and airy after letting a few minutes of silence pass, before answering him, allowing herself to enjoy the sensation of his touch. It was a completely new experience, hands gently caressing her wings, she had no idea they would be so sensitive.
“What do you mean?” he asked, reluctantly pulling his hands away and letting them fall back to his sides. It took a moment for her to realize that he had removed his hands. Once she did, she took a few deep breaths, clearing her throat as she focused her attention back on heating up his food.
“I'm what they call a mutant. Mutant abilities don't usually manifest themselves until puberty. So, I didn't know until I was about fourteen. Um, can we talk about something else? I'm not very comfortable talking about them. Like I said, you're kind of the only person who's ever seen them.” she couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the pseudo-affectionate moment they had just shared
The microwave beeped, signaling it's job was done. ___ took out the bowl and stirred it a few more times, then turned to hand the bowl to Luke.
“It should be hot enough, if not, just pop it back in the microwave for another minute or so. I have to go take care of my foot.” she said, avoiding making eye contact with him, her voice still very quiet.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry.” He said, taking the bowl from her.
“It's ok. Like I said, I've just never talked to anyone about it.” she turned to leave, but then stopped and added, “If you'd like something to drink, there's cups in the cupboard next to the fridge. I'll be back in a minute.” Then she limped out the door and headed to what he assumed was the bathroom. He watched her go, realizing her shirt had been shredded by the exposure of her wings. He also noticed the scars on her back, he assumed those were from when she drew out her wings and he couldn't help but wonder if the process was painful or not. Coming out of his thoughts, he stirred the contents of the bowl a few times, then set it down on the table before getting a cup and filling it with water. He felt bad for asking about such a sensitive subject, but he couldn't help himself.
Luke was washing his bowl and cup when she came back into the room. He noticed that her wings were gone, her mood seemed to be brighter and she was fully dressed.
“How was it?” she asked, sitting at the table across from where he had been, acting as if nothing had happened.
“Good, thank you.” he answered as he walked back to the table and sat down.
“I'm sorry about earlier.” She said, looking down at her hands that she played with nervously.
“It's ok, I'm the one that should be apologizing.” he said, watching her fidget.
“Let's just say we're both sorry and leave it at that.” She replied with a nervous smile, hoping he would drop the issue and they could talk about something else.
She was relieved when he nodded in agreement and let out a heavy sigh.
“So, where are you from?” She asked, trying her best at making small talk.
“I don't remember.” he replied, looking to the side.
“Then how do you remember who you work for?”
He let out a heavy sigh, deciding to take the chance and trust her. If she really was a HYDRA agent, the worst that would happen is he would be beaten and wiped before being put back in the cryo-freeze.
“Before you found me. The people I work for, after my missions are complete, freeze me until I'm needed for another mission. I have no idea who I was before or how old I am. They have a way of erasing my memories after every mission before I'm put back to sleep.”
___ listened in horror as he told her of the things he's remembered doing and the people he works for. She listened as he told her about the events that led up to her finding him. Once he was done talking he looked up to see her hand covering her mouth and tears falling down her chubby cheeks.
He was surprised by her reaction. The sorrow that was written across her face was not the look he was expecting to see when he looked at her. He expected to see disgust and disdain, not sorrow and sympathy.
“Oh Luke, that's absolutely horrible! No wonder you ran away.” She said, reaching her hand across the table and resting it on top of his flesh hand.
“I want you to know, you are welcome to stay here as long as you want. I will keep you as safe as I can, for as long as I can.” She gave him a gentle smile as she looked up at him.
“Thank you, but like I said before, they'll be looking for me, if they aren't already. If they find me here with you and they find out about your wings, they will take you.”
“Why don't you let me worry about that. Like I said, you can stay here as long as you want. I mean, I could use some help with some of the outside chores.” Her smile got a little bigger as she sat back in her chair. He couldn't help but give her a small smile back. The chance to do some normal tasks was very appealing and he couldn't help but smile at the thought of feeling somewhat like a normal human being.