𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 | 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

𝟎𝟏. 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 down on the bed with a satisfied sigh. "You were right, this is so much better than the warehouse I had in mind."

"Thought you'd like it." Steve chuckled under his breath. "How was the shower?"

"I think I saw Heaven for a minute," she replied as she stretched and then sat up in thought. "You know... I could draw you a bath in the sink or something if you wanted to clean yourself up too."

Steve shook his head with another chuckle as he imagined every scenario that could possibly do wrong with that suggestion. "I think I'd rather just wait for that antidote."

"Right." She nodded her head and rubbed her hands together. "I'll get started on some of those calculations now."

Steve shook his head again. "Just rest. We can get to work tomorrow."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue as she slowly nodded her head. "Alright..."

She leaned over the bedside table and eagerly snatched up the remote within the first drawer. With the click of a button, the television screen across the room flashed on. She flicked through the channels one by one. A frown formed on her face as most channels were covering the news from the past twenty-four hours. There only seemed to be one channel disinterested with the story of America's Golden Boy turned traitor.

The Disney Channel theme song quickly played before returning to the programmed film. It didn't take long to figure out that the scheduled film series was a throwback as the late 1980's—early 1990's—font and title credits played across the screen.

An unamused look crossed Steve's face as the film's title popped up. Although she'd never seen the movie, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, it was evident that the captain was in no mood to be reminded of his miniature stature. Out of respect, she elected to turn the television off. She didn't notice the look of surprise Steve cast in her direction from the out-of-character decision. Prior to their little shopping spree, she probably would've told him to suck it up while throwing around a few belittling jokes; however, her opinion of the captain had changed. She no longer viewed him through the same eyes as the media or the collection of S.H.I.E.L.D. files; instead, she saw someone who reminded her of herself: an experiment trapped in a cage, too blinded to see the prison that kept him restrained.

A few minutes of silence passed, but each beat was unbearable. Unable to take anymore, Steve interrupted the quiet. "Could I ask you a question?"

"Just one?" she joked. "Shoot."

"Why do you hide your wings?"

She didn't answer.

"Crystal?"

"Sorry," she apologized, took a breath, and shrugged, "They draw unwanted attention."

"Even now?" he asked, referring to the fact that they were still invisible despite having been alone in the room about an hour.

"Habit, I guess." She pushed a few buttons on the piece of tech around her wrist and the pair of wings reappeared on her back.

Now interested in the process since they weren't currently running for their lives, Steve gestured to the tech. "How exactly does that work?"

"I mean they're still there either way, they just can't be seen," she explained, "I modify their molecular structure to reflect the surrounding area as if they weren't there. The larger the figure, the more complex the sequence... My turn."

"To ask a question?"

She nodded her head, but didn't wait to actually receive permission to ask her question. "It's not phrased this way in any history books, but why did you voluntarily become a lab rat?"