New Avenger (A Steve Rogers love story)

Wings

I woke up and found myself curled up in a ball with my wings half tucked, acting as blankets. Steve wasn't in the bed anymore. He must have gotten up earlier.

I sat up and stretched. My wings felt odd and stiff, so I decided to try and move them, see what it felt like. It felt weird for sure, like bigger arms that were on my back. I then spread them as far as I could. They were huge, but the room was bigger. My wings didn't touch the walls at all. I folded them halfway and slightly flapped them. It seemed like they'd be stiff, but they were actually incredibly flexible and easy to move around. I folded my wings in front of me like I was giving myself a hug and stroked the soft feathers. 

They were a very complex pattern of black spots on grey and white feathers. 

There was a knock at the door and I looked down at myself. I was still wearing my clothes from the day before, my tank top and short athletic shorts, a bandage still wrapped around my thigh. My hoodie was on the floor beside the bed, along with my shoes.

"Come in." I said.

I spread my wings again, then folded them halfway as Steve entered the room.

"How are you doing?" Steve asked.

"I'm doing better. Thanks for staying with me last night." I replied. Steve nodded and smiled softly. I returned the smile. "How about we go get Bruce to do those tests now." I suggested, folding my wings completely.

Steve and I walked to the elevator and went down to the lab. Bruce and Tony were looking at holograms of birds flight patterns, the way they landed and their wings in general.

"Good morning, Alexx. How did you sleep?" Bruce asked as we walked toward him.

"I slept all right. Thanks for asking, Bruce." I smiled. I looked around, marveling at all the technology I wanted to get my hands on.

"It's so weird." Tony commented.

"What?" I asked, snapping my head back to him.

"Your wings...it's just so weird for a person to have bird wings." Tony replied.

"I have to agree with you there." I shrugged. "But I know you've seen weirder. I mean, aliens in New York?" I slowly unfolded my wings a bit, careful not to knock anyone out.

"I'd like to measure your wingspan, is that all right, Alexx?" Bruce asked.

I nodded and folded my wings so I could turn my back to Bruce. I spread my wings completely, and that's when I noticed just how bit they were. Bruce walked the length of my wings as JARVIS, Tony's AI, measured them. Bruce smiled and wrote something onto the paper on his clipboard.

"Well? What's my wingspan?" I asked.

Bruce laughed. "Your wingspan is 15 feet, two inches."

"Are you serious? I knew they were big, but I didn't think they were that big!" I exclaimed.

"I know these wings, too. They are the wings of a bird of prey called an American Kestrel." Bruce smiled.

"Well, that bird has gorgeous wings." I smiled.

"We'll work on your flying when you're ready. But for now, I say you should rest." 

I nodded. "Thanks."

Steve led me upstairs and I ate some food before collapsing on the couch and falling asleep again.

***

ONE WEEK LATER

Bruce and Tony showed me everything they could about how bird wings worked. They were humans, not birds, and had little knowledge of how wings worked. But they were doing their best with the knowledge they had and the information JARVIS pulled up.

We talked about what I would have to do to be able to fly. Tony scanned me and put a mini hologram or me onto the holographic display table in front of us. JARVIS ran a simulation of what it would look like when I flew. It looked graceful. I hoped to look that way one day.

Tony brought us to a big room that he used when he was working on his suits. The room had to be big enough for him to fly in, so it was perfect.

Bruce showed me holograms and taught me everything I'd need to know for the next hour.

"All right. Remember how to move your wings?" Tony asked. I gave him a hesitant nod. "Show us now, before you get up in the air."

I spread my giant wings and flapped like the bird holograms, creating a small breeze that blew everyone's hair around. Bruce nodded. "You'll have to flap a little faster to get up in the air, but you are doing it correctly."

I nodded. "So, how am I going to get 'in the air'?" I asked, making air quotes with my fingers.

"Just like a plane." Tony replied.

Tony showed me where to start running and about what point I should lift off, "if his calculations were correct."

"You should be able to take off from a standing position after a lot of practice. You can practice whenever you want, just grab me or Tony before you do so that we can collect data." Bruce said. "I've never seen a person with wings, so I want to get as much information as we possibly can. That's why we are also going to record your practice."

"Got it." I nodded. "I'll get you before practice and make sure the camera is recording."