Chapter Text
September was gone, as was October. Even November had passed in a whirlwind, its chaos settling into a Christmas-infested calm in December. Bucky was probably one of few who thought that Christmas was a ‘calm’ time but he didn’t exactly have much to stress about. He was free and catching up on the things he hadn’t been able to. He’s gone to the tourist traps, taken Steve on an insurmountable amount of dates and had gone to every single session since his pardoning. That didn’t mean he didn’t have bad days, of course he did, but he felt stronger now. And, if he was honest, having the press gone was a big help.
Their sessions, sadly, had gone back down to twice a week since school had started a few months back but Bucky didn’t mind when he saw the three teenagers draw closer than ever. Wanda, apparently, had scared Flash off (even if the slinky bastard still managed to get in a few jabs any time Wanda wasn’t around) and had settled in great. Ned was fascinated by her but was dutifully keeping his mouth shut about her origins, taking the knowledge of all their secret identities with an impish grin, whispering conspiratorially about being ‘the man in the chair’. Bucky, having now watched enough movies, understood the reference.
He was not going to let Ned be the man in the chair.
He wasn’t going to do it either. He couldn’t watch…all that, anymore.
Maybe he’d make Steve do it. Someone had to, after all.
But back to the point. Wanda was doing great, really great. She had surprised them with her competency for academia and had taken to the ‘nerd life’ with frenetic intensity. Although, unlike Peter and Ned, her fascination had drawn to languages. Being as competent as she was in three languages, she’d hungrily learnt more and although their proficiency wasn’t even close to her other languages, she was a rapid polyglot that with enough training, could surely be as competent as Bucky.
Bucky and Wanda had taken to conversing in any and all languages. Wanda, especially, used it to talk about the other two (not unkindly) behind their back. Or rather, right in front of their faces. It usually led to a lot of gossip and revealing embarrassing secrets about things that happened at school.
MJ was getting her own back, though, getting Steve to tell her all the embarrassing things that had happened to Bucky over the week in their new, weekly art sessions on a Sunday. Peter, following suit, had gotten Stark to ask JARVIS to compile the most embarrassing moments of anything that happened in the Tower, including all the Avengers (bar Tony and Peter, if he could be counted as such) and Bucky’s team.
It had led to a lot of laughter.
Which was what made December 12th, 2015 so jarring.
They were all making their way to the gym when JARVIS interrupted, his voice uncharacteristically worried. As much as was possible for an AI, Bucky presumed. “The Tower is currently being evacuated. You are part of the group: ‘pretty competent’,” it said in Tony’s voice. “This allows you to either vacate the Tower or go to the top floor of the Tower where help is needed.”
The team looked at each other and without a word being spoken, agreed on the most obvious course of action. “JARVIS,” Bucky ordered, “take us up.”
From there, the elevator was filled with a palpable tension, each of them staring awkwardly at the ceiling or some hidden part of the wall where they could deal with their worry in peace.
Nothing made Stark Tower evacuate unless it was really bad.
Which was why Bucky was a little confused when he walked into the room and the Avengers were all facing a few normal-looking guys. Long-haired, admittedly, but he had long hair. It was really the only thing differentiating them. They looked like a bunch of hipsters and there were only two of them, a man and a woman. Oh, and Thor, apparently. So he was finally back.
Bucky walked up to Steve, who was in his full Captain America gear, feeling a little out of place in his black t-shirt, jeans and a blazing red leather jacket, matching his dark-red trainers. Although, all in all, it wasn’t that far off the Black Widow gear, or even his old getup, if a little more stylish.
“Um, any reason we’re ready to fight a bunch of hipsters?” Bucky asked Steve and Steve alone, except the room held a deadly silence and his voice had nearly every head turning towards him, although at least half the eyes in the room were still trained on the hipster bunch ( creepy ).
“Bucky,” Steve sighed, his eyes focused on the enemy but his shoulders losing all the pent up tension. “They’re not hipsters. That’s Thor’s family. The Asgardian royal family.”
Bucky turned to them, looked them up and down. “Well they look like hipsters,” he muttered. He’d thought Asgardians were supposed to look like Vikings, with heavy armour and as much gold as they could scavenge. Apparently, they liked to wear hoodies and loose dresses (unfortunately, much to Bucky’s disappointment, the dress was not on Thor) and looked like they were definitely about to ask for an overpriced IPA in a Brooklyn bar. But Bucky knew when to keep silent and refrained from any further comment.
“Mother,” Thor finally said to break the silence, “this is James Barnes and his team of young warriors. He is training them to be ready for battle one day.”
“A teacher.” Thor’s mother - oh my God - looked impressed, nodding as she examined him. “Teaching is a brilliant profession.” Bucky wasn’t going to point out that he wasn’t really . He had no qualifications, worked what was probably less than part-time and spent most of his time either on Sims or trying to catch up on everything that happened after 1945.
Bucky, in an attempt to avoid eye contact, scanned the room instead and found-
Was that Bruce?
Guess it made sense that he was back too...what the hell he was happening here?
“Thank you?”
“You’ve grown in number since I was last here,” the final Asgardian sneered, his eyes on Stark. His jet black hair looked honest-to-God greasy and there was nothing Bucky wanted to do more than give it a good deep cleanse and condition. His clothes weren’t much better, tattered and old, as if they’d been found in a corner somewhere and been deemed acceptable.
“Enough, brother,” Thor ordered, his face grave. Only now that Bucky was looking, he noticed that it wasn’t only the tension of the Avengers that had the room bristling with capricious energy. The Asgardians - and Bruce - held their own sort of tension. Thor looked almost despondent whilst his mother, although trying to keep her head and regal, had dark circles under her eyes, her hair lying in a bird-nest-like formation above her head. Bruce was almost shaking, his eyes darting from side to side like he was still in a war zone. The last one - who the hell was he? - gave nothing away.
Bucky recognised the tactic; to be so blank only came from hiding pain, physical or mental.
“We came to give you news. Awful news.” Thor took in a deep breath, letting it out in a sudden breath. “Asgard has fallen. Ragnarok has taken our planet.” Thor’s voice broke and seamlessly, his mother took over.
“Our refugee vessel landed in Norway just yesterday. We are hoping to make plans with your planet to make it a permanent residence of our citizens. We are few, the journey was rough and our supplies low,” her eyes were harrowed, but her head was still raised high, “but we are a strong race and now all we wish for is a place to stay.” The Avengers collectively put their arms down, although not their guards, and gave each other fleeting looks. The main question in everyone’s eyes: what does that have to do with us?
Seeing his mother’s struggle, Thor took over again. “We understand that Asgardians have wronged you in the past but we hope to overcome this. Today, we offer our help to make reparations. I will become a more permanent member of the Avengers whilst my brother will be at your beck and call. He is yours to use as you please.” And with that uncomfortable sentence finished, the offer was complete.
“Um, look, Thor, we know you’re just trying to help-“ Stark started, before taking a long pause to take in the opinion of the room. “Look, I just don’t know if we can trust the guy who brought aliens to the planet.”
“He brought aliens here? Like non-Asgardian ones?” Bucky asked Steve, eyes wide.
“It wasn’t like that,” Steve immediately cut in. “He tried to take over the world.”
“Aliens tried to take over the world?!”
“How did you not know this?” Steve asked incredulously.
“I’m only on the 70s, okay?! A lot happens in history!”
“Yeah but this was kinda important, Buck. It was how the Avengers formed.”
“Then why don’t we like the guy? He clearly didn’t succeed and by the looks of Thor, he probably could have. Something must have changed. And he introduced us to aliens! That’s great.”
“I liked it back when you were a pessimist.”
“I am a pessimist but I’m just saying, aliens are really cool.”
“You just like sci-fi.”
“We’re living in sci-fi! And anyway, what can the guy do? Half of us don’t live here, Thor will be here the whole time, and if he screws us all over, he’s screwing over his whole kingdom too. He’s a prince, that would be stupid.”
“You weren’t there,” Steve sighed. “Loki is dangerous.”
“And you’re scared of him which is why you aren’t listening to my logic. Use him. You’ve literally got a god offering his help. What’s Loki the god of anyway?”
Loki, who’d been listening intently to the whole conversation, smiled sinisterly. “Mischief and mayhem.”
“So he’s basically a clown. Steve-“ Steve tried to talk over him again. “Steve! Be a Captain. Will this guy help you out?”
“Maybe but if he pulls any of his-“
“Then Thor will stop him. Hell, his mother would too. And anyway, I think you’re all missing something about him.” Bucky smirked and looked at Loki, making eye contact, purposefully looking behind the mask and stripping Loki bare with just a look.
A flicker of worry was enough to show Bucky that he’d succeeded. To some extent, anyway; he still didn’t have a chance against a god.
“And what is that?” Tony sneered.
“That’s not for me to tell, is it? But again, this guy could have taken over the world easily. Why didn’t he?” The room fell silent. “Anyway, I’ve got a session to finish so I’ll see you guys later. Come on, guys,” he waved at his team of misfits and led them to the elevator; they followed reluctantly but stayed close behind him anyway as the Avengers gaped at him.
“Oh, and Steve!” He called as the elevator doors were closing. “Don’t be an idiot!”
~*~
From there on, their session ran as usual. Even though it appeared that his team were desperate to ask questions, they refrained and focused on their tasks. MJ was finally learning a few offensive attacks whilst Wanda was still working on her all-round shield, which Peter was slinging webs at from all angles, hanging from the rafters and laughing each time the webs caught on Wanda’s clothes with a small whoosh and a splat.
Bucky was just leading MJ through the last demonstration manoeuvre when the elevator doors opened, the noise nearly silent if not for the small swish of air. Bucky let MJ go through the manoeuvre but kept his eyes on the door, surprised when it revealed a lone Asgardian prince, in the same tattered clothing, each item in a shade of dark - sometimes almost black - green.
He finished up and then backed away from MJ, giving her ample time to notice the new entrant. Wanda and Peter were not far behind, warily staring at the stranger. MJ and Peter seemed particularly tense - not surprisingly, they were New Yorkers, after all, and that was where Loki had done his damage. Maybe it was her power, maybe it was her lack of information on the so-called super-villain, but Wanda just stared the man down, pushing herself in front of her two teammates, ready to protect at a moment’s notice.
Bucky, on the other hand, was not worried at all.
“What are you doing here, Loki?” He sighed, hoping to urge on this conversation so he could leave and they could get on with the session. Despite his inklings, like Wanda, he was just as disconcerted by Peter and MJ’s tension at seeing the alien prince.
“I wanted to see my ardent defender.” Loki raised an eyebrow, slowly appraising the room. “The man so certain in his assumptions.”
“Not certain,” Bucky argued, “but I could guess a few things.”
“And guess you did.” Loki approached, his stance as regal as his gait. He was every bit a future king but Bucky could tell that it took effort, that there was a force behind it that was as much painful as it was necessary. Loki was trying to live up to some sort of standard and Bucky could only guess at what it was.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to watch.”
“So you’ve said.”
They stared each other down, neither willing to concede. Finally, Loki gave in, prying for more information. “You appear to think you know a lot, teacher. Occupational hazard?”
“More like personal experience. Look,” Bucky sighed, “I’m not trying to start a fight. Yes, I made assumptions. Am I going to voice any more of them? No. I’m not an Avenger, you deal with them. We never have to speak again.”
“Maybe I’m curious,” Loki replied cryptically, his eyes finally drawing to the rest of the group. “About all of you. Especially her,” he pointed at Wanda with a nimble finger, “the one touched by the mind stone.”
Wanda’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “The mind stone?” She asked, tumbling straight into Loki’s trap.
“Yes. Have you not heard of it? You surely have seen it.”
“I was created by the-“
“Wanda,” Bucky cut off sharply. “Loki, stop it.”
“I am merely asking questions.”
“You’re drawing things out of her that she doesn’t want to say. You got questions, you come to me.”
“But, I want-”
“Wanda,” Bucky warned. “Later. I promise.”
“Ah, a protector then. Let me guess, you were a warrior once. Maybe a second-in-command.”
“As I could guess you were too, despite your tricks. Don’t try and work around me, Loki, it won’t work.”
“Clever, I admit,” Loki hummed. “But I am the silver tongue. You cannot beat me.”
“I’ve had enough of silver tongues ,” Bucky drawled, “I can see through them. So do your best but it won’t work. You can try but then I’ll do the same in return.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Oh? Okay then.” Bucky smiled, a sadistic, killer’s smile. It was as new as it should have been old, pulling his cheeks into a dangerous contortion as he bared his teeth. “You’re Loki, God of Mischief, second-in-command to Thor, always overshadowed by his so-called greatness. You tried to protect him but no one would see, you were too cunning for that. No, you did it from the shadows and never gained an ounce of respect. You probably got mad, sinister even, if your reputation is anything to go by. At some point, you got separated. Something bad happened to you. Torture? Rape? Mind control? Sound familiar? Thought so. You were someone else’s puppet and I’d guess that was how you turned up on Earth.” Bucky let the smile drop. “But that’s just a guess.”
Loki was silent.
Bucky, kindly, continued. “You can’t trick me, Loki. But I see more than you think. I can see the pain because I see it in me too. I know that something as sinister as you try to present doesn’t come from nowhere and I know Thor. He’s bright, endlessly so, he’s revered , and I’d bet that’s not just on Earth. I’d guess that no matter how brilliant you are, it’s always him that gets looked at. Believe me, I’ve had it too. I was just lucky enough to not want to be in the spotlight-”
“Stop,” Loki ordered, the ’s’ like a snake’s, it’s poison flooding into its fangs. “You have made your point. I admit, I’m impressed. But if you think-“
“If I’m wrong, you can leave. If I’m not, you can stay and watch. We can talk. I know what it’s like to be seen as the villain, to become that very villain because you don’t know what else to be, if only for a few months. And if Asgardian ages are anything to go by, I’d guess that you’ve been doing it for a lot longer.”
Loki stayed still, lips pursed, shoulders tense, before he snapped a quiet, “I’ll stay.” Bucky knew perfectly well that Loki was not doing it for the reasons Bucky that wasn’t the point. Bucky had laid his trap and Loki had walked right into it.
“Back to it,” Bucky ordered, “MJ, help Peter out. Loki and I are gonna have a talk.” Before Loki could say otherwise, Bucky brought him to the bench at the side of the gym and sat down with him. They watched as MJ got her shield and assisted Peter from below, forcing Wanda to concentrate on hits from all angles. It was getting better and she could easily complete the all-round shield but she was having issues with holding it, especially once it had been hit. It was useless then; it would only take a double-fisted strike and she was vulnerable. But they had time to improve. Lots. With Wanda now in school, she’d been put to the side as an Avenger and Steve promised only to call her in if the world truly was in danger.
At least another ten minutes passed in silence, broken by the sounds of exertion on the other side of the room and the steady sound of breathing next to him.
“Feel like spilling your guts yet? I’ve heard I’m quite good at bringing that out of people.”
“Not good enough. You know enough already, James. I’m not here to be friends with the Midgardians, or anyone else beneath me.”
“It’s Bucky to most people. And you should be careful? I may be beneath you but unlucky for you, Steve is the leader of the Avengers and I’m his boyfriend,” still sounded like a goddamn teenager saying that, “and that means I have quite a bit of say. I just got him to give you a chance and I can get him to take away. Look, I’m not going to push you into something you don’t want to do or say but I will demand an ounce of respect for me and my team. And everyone else on this planet.” Bucky gave Loki a dull glare.
“I am a prince, and one of a species far stronger than yours.”
“Power doesn’t mean you have to be a villain.” Bucky looked at his team for a moment, an idea coming to his mind. “Two of those kids were in New York when you attacked it, they’re scared. Either you prove them wrong today and take a turn your life around in a way that may just get it back on track or you walk away into god knows what. Stay the villain you seem so desperate to be.”
“You’re making it a binary choice. Life is not so simple.”
“Each path branches from those two paths.”
“But one does not automatically good and the other evil.”
“You’re clever, I’ll give you that.” Bucky smiled. “It’s your choice.”
Loki said nothing, weighing his options. “I am not here to prove a point to you. I am here to help my people. So I think I will take my leave now.”
Bucky sighed but didn’t say anything, his eyes drifting into the middle distance. “That’s fine, Loki, but if you ever change your mind, we’re here on Saturdays. In the Tower on Wednesday’s too, just get JARVIS to tell you where.”
“Why are you so desperate for me to join your little classes?”
“It’s not a class. It’s a team. And honestly, I see something in you that I see in myself and I don’t think I’d forgive myself if I didn’t give it a shot.”
“Give what a shot?”
“Helping.”