The Archangel (Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter Twelve

I would be the first to admit that the relationship between Bucky and I was odd. Our relationship had rocketed from envy and hatred to a weird sort of friendship in a matter of a week. The next time we visited the shrink, we sat next to each other instead of on opposite sides of the couch, not quite touching but not as close as we were when we laid together either. We hadn't been that intimate with each other since then, more like close friends rather than . . . whatever this has been leading into.

The shrink was utterly unhelpful in analyzing our changing relationship, he just didn't get it. And Bucky? Well, I was beginning to see that he was a good man with a broken spirit and a mind that he couldn't trust. Sound familiar?

I was hyperaware of every movement, cataloging everything for weapon use, never with my back to a door or someone else unless it was Bucky, he seemed to be the only one I could relax around. Our relationship was odd, yes, but with the issues facing both of us, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The shrink continued to ask questions that both of us refused to answer. When the session was up, I asked Bucky, "you hungry?"

"Starving." We both got up and he held the door open for me as we left. I let a hand trail over his flesh shoulder and down to his hand as I drifted past. I interlaced our hands and lead him through the door and back toward the kitchen. I didn't want to disconnect our hands until necessary, I had this weird need to touch him that seemed so foreign and yet so familiar.

"What do you feel like?" I asked, tracing patterns on the back of his hand.

"Something sweet." He murmured. "Maybe chocolate . . . or peanut butter . . . or both."

"Sounds like we're making cookies." I observed. "You wanna help me get the ingredients?"

Bucky smirked down at me, "I thought you said you couldn't bake?"

"I might have lied." I admitted sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes playfully, "got a recipe?"

"I think so," I admitted, "I don't know where it came from, but I remember some sort of recipe."

"Let's try it."

"We'll need flour, baking soda, baking powder, fine sea salt, butter, creamy peanut butter, granulated sugar, packed dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and semi-sweet chocolate chips." I looked back to see that he'd already pulled out half the ingredients. I commented, "someone's done this before."

"Guilty as charged." He chuckled, "I'll melt the butter." While he did that, I mixed the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and the salt together which took just enough time for the butter to melt. I set the mixture aside, we'd get to it later.

"Stir the peanut butter into it, then the two sugars and the eggs." I instructed as I measured out ingredients for him. Once that was finished, I put the vanilla and flour mixture in. I held up the bag of chocolate chips, "you wanna do the honors?" He took the bag from me and poured an ungodly amount of chocolate chips into the batch. "You really do have a sweet tooth."

"And don't you forget it." He scooped a bit onto his finger and tasted it. "And that is really good."

"What do you say we get these in the oven?"

"My pleasure." I pulled out a pan as he started rolling them into the perfect size and shape. I put the first two batches in the oven and set a timer for twelve minutes. We got eight pans of cookies out of the batch, us both rolling the dough but Bucky took charge of the oven. He would open the oven door with his real hand, and grab the hot trays with his metal arm. I'll admit, the first time I saw him do it, I was a little concerned, but he didn't seem to mind it.

"You do know that I can also grab the pans without injuring myself?" I flashed both my hands metal to show him.

"I know, I wanted to, I can be a gentleman sometimes," was his only reply, to which I found myself blushing scarlet.

"Sometimes?"

"I can be quite the scoundrel when I want to be." He smirked as he pulled out the last tray of cookies.

I muttered to myself, "why does that sound intriguing?" I arranged the cookies onto a cooling tray in a methodical manner. I felt a presence hover behind me and the only reason I didn't tense from it was because I knew it was Bucky. He lightly gripped my hips and leaned over my shoulder to take in the fresh aroma of the cookies. I turned to face him and he took that opportunity to snatch a cookie from the cooling rack but left his other hand on my hip, looks like I wasn't the only one who felt the need to touch. "Hello there." I greeted as he took a bite of the cookie, "are you planning on sharing?" He shook his head, I raised my eyebrow at him, "what if I gave you a little incentive?"

His eyes sparkled with a little mischief. "I could be persuaded." I ran my hands up his arms and settled them on his broad shoulders, pulled my body closer to his, not so close that we were touching, but I could definitely feel his body heat against me. His muscles were tense, not the tense that came from stressful situations but tense with anticipation. I could almost feel his body thrum with energy beneath my touch. "Are you going to tease me?"

"Depends on if you're going to give me that cookie." I murmured, head tilted at just the right angle that neither one of us would have to move much for our lips to be touching.

"You guys flirt over cookies," we sprang apart at the sound of Sam's voice, "are you sure you're not dating?" On impulse, I snatched a spatula and threw it at him. "Ouch, I think I'll leave you be."

I grumbled, "Mood sufficiently killed, let's grab some cookies and go elsewhere."

"Agreed." Bucky's voice had deepened from his annoyance into a husky sort of growl that I found incredibly attractive.

We loaded up a tray full of cookies and grabbed some beverages, "should we go up to the rafters?"

"No offense, Angel, but rafters are only comfortable for those who can fly." Bucky pointed out.

"Fair enough, your room?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could go outside."

"That sounds like a much better idea, I think we could both use the sun."