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“I am going to kill this so-called sorcerer when we get out of here,” Stark mutters to himself for the hundredth time. “Dead. Die. Gone. Vamoosed. Poofed. Banished. Six feet -”
“Stark,” Loki snaps, “Enough of your ceaseless chatter. Do you ever stop?”
“Pretty sure you’ve been living with us to know that answer to that one sunshine. Have you heard me yet?”
“There is a first time for everything.”
The two of them glare at each other from across their section of cave. They had been like this ever since they landed here. For the hundredth time Bucky wonders where everything went wrong. The call had gone out for the so-called second rate sorcerer running rampant and the Avengers were the first to respond. The plan had been to distract him until Doctor Strange and his lot could contain him. That was enough to make Loki grumpy already. He could have handled the sorcerer himself, only the team had nowhere to contain him, where as Doctor Strange did.
Everything had been going fine too - or as fine as any battle can go. Chaos is inevitable, but this time it was contained. Rather it had been contained, but then the second rate sorcerer turned out not to be so second rate after all. Skilled enough to somehow send him, Loki and Stark off world at least.
Loki immediately identified the place as Jotunnhiem and promptly kept them from freezing to death. A good thing too because this place had been colder than any place Bucky has ever been. It was even worse than cryo. Even with the super soldier serum he doubts he would have survived long.
To make things even better there were clear signs of a blizzard not being far off. They found the closest shelter - a cave - just in time. A wave of snow and ice and wind chased them into the cave. Loki drew a rune circle in the ground to ward against the weather. The temperature rises to a more bearable level, although it was still not what Bucky would call warm. They will survive, but he doubted they will be happy about it.
Well there is certainly no doubt about it now. Loki grew unhappier as soon as they arrived. Stark was the same, although it certainly increased as soon as they entered the cave. He has been alternating between complaining and babbling since. Bucky himself knows that he has gone too quiet, too emotionless from the cold.
They are stuck here until the blizzard stops and Loki can find a way to send them home.
If they are all alive at that point that is. Loki looks ready to murder Stark already. Any tolerance - or even possibly amusement - he has built up by living with the team is long gone. He is back to square one, when he had first arrived, forced to work with them in the name of penance.
Stark is obviously desperate to distract himself via any means necessary. If that way ends up being a fight then so be it. The reason feels like it should be obvious, but Bucky cannot think of it. Any kind of thought is becoming harder to accomplish right now.
“How about you Elsa?” Stark turns his attention to him, “How are you holding up? Not about to go all Terminator on us are you? Rambo? Robo Cop? Because as epic as it would be to see you and Maleficent go head to head, I think we should probably avoid that for now.”
“And why would Barnes go after me ?” Loki asks, glaring fiercely, “You are the one annoying us all half to death. If anything would make him snap it is your mouth.”
“Why sunshine,” Stark flutters his eyes obnoxiously, “I never knew you thought about my mouth. Have fantasies about it, do you?”
There is a dark look in Loki’s eyes as he answers, “You have no idea.”
At least Steve is not here. That would be the only thing that would make this worse. He’ll never like the cold again and this would have most certainly triggered him. He and Stark really would kill each other before they could leave.
The thought is what makes the pieces fall in place. Trigger. Oh. He didn’t think the cold made him stupid now too. HYDRA gathered intel on Stark’s captivity on the off chance it would one day be useful. They passed this information on in a way that their Asset also knew.
So. What does he know of Stark’s capture by the Ten Rings? Location - Afghanistan. Desert. Hot during the day, cold during the night. Base of operations - cave system of the Afghani mountains. More strategic in the long run. Goal - force Stark to build them weapons. Method of persuasion - torture of unknown type.
The answer lays right there then. Stark is triggered by their environment. In that context Loki seems equally triggered, although the reason why is unknown. Too much of his past remains hidden. Any questions are viciously revoked by Loki himself and Thor’s tales leave too many holes in them to be overly informative.
“We need to conserve energy.” That draws both of them away from their bickering to look at him. “The blizzard will last an indeterminable amount of time. We cannot afford to waste our resources uselessly.”
“How very practical,” Stark rolls his eyes, “Makes my heart all aflutter, truly.”
“He is correct,” Loki predictably contradicts. “I am not an endless well of power. Or do you believe my magic will allow me to be such?” He sneers the word, lips curled. Obviously Stark’s constant mockery of his skill has also taken a toll.
“I don’t know Potter, does it?”
“And here I thought you wished to learn its inner workings, not simply find the imaginary flaws in the system.”
This is news to Bucky. Stark’s disregard of magic is well common knowledge among them. He is forever complaining about it. That he is willing to learn - and from Loki of all people - is - interesting . Bucky had noted a lessening of tension between the two, in recent weeks, but had yet to identify the cause. Very interesting.
Stark - tellingly - doesn’t reply, curling in on himself further. His jaw is clenched and his teeth are all but bared. He looks like an angry, cornered kitten. Or a tiny Steve before he landed himself into another fight he had no hopes of winning.
The thought is almost enough to make him smile.
An aggressive sigh leaves Loki’s lips. Impressive. “Stark. Come here.” He gestures to the space beside him. When Stark does not move he raises an eyebrow. “Well?”
Stark finally moves. “Feeling generous are we?”
“I am not so fool as to think that certain individuals would not come after me if I allowed you to fall to harm.” He opens his arms to let Stark crawl into them.
“Afraid of the team are we?” There is a lighter, teasing note in his voice already.
“Do not be ridiculous,” Loki snorts, “I am referring to Miss Potts.”
Bucky can just see the edge of Stark’s smile where he has his face buried in Loki’s chest. “Yeah, Pep tends to have that effect on people.”
“Indeed,” Loki hums, “I have often wondered how she would fare against Odin.”
“Give her a reason - I’m sure she would love the challenge.” His words are completely muffled now.
Loki turns his attention to Bucky. “Well? This was your idea to begin with.”
Not... exactly. Bucky is not sure how ‘conserve energy’ turned into ‘huddling for warmth’, but he is not willing to argue. If it has shut Stark up then it is worth it. He walks over to join them, settling on Stark’s other side.
Stark reaches around and pulls him closer still.
Bucky moves so that he is comfortably flush against his back. “Better?” There is an unexpected fondness that hits him as he asks. Since when has he become fond of Stark? Something to analyze for another time. He can admit that this is better. The added warmth begins to soak into his body, helping to keep that terrible blankness from swallowing him whole.
“I am in between two Disney Queens. I feel so special right now, you have no idea.”
Loki snorts. “Rest Stark. We still do not know how long we will be stuck here.”
Interesting how that no longer sounds quite so terrible.