Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

ONE-SHOTS FEATURING OUR FAVORITE WINTERY SOLDIER AND FROSTY ASGARDIAN!
(Well, they better be your favorite...)

Requests are welcome!
Very welcome, in fact!
This chapter emphasizes their importance!
Without them, I'm just sitting here re-reading fanfiction!

Chapter Text

“Whatcha got there, Reindeer Games?”

“Shut up, Stark,” Loki muttered, using his magic to place the final touches on his present. According to you, on the Midgardian holiday of “Christmas,” mortals give presents to each other as a sign of fondness and or love. Initially, he had planned to give you the book you had been waiting for for over a year, signed by the author, adorned with jewelry from his former home, Asgard.

Loki intended for his present to say the words he could not, to thank you for being a suitable companion during the period of time he is forced to stay at Avengers Tower and help his brother’s teammates. Something else he intended was to have your full attention during these present-unraveling moments.

Unfortunately, there was somebody who stood in his way.

James Buchanan Barnes.

A few months ago, he transferred to live in Avengers Tower, because apparently the agents at SHIELD are refusing to bunk with him. He was known to be quite...violent, and isolated, this being an effect of his time with HYDRA.

Within the first day, however, you had successfully gained the careful man’s friendship and trust by baking him some of your delicious cookies. Over time, it was evident to all of the Avengers that the super soldier held strong affections for you, but you were perfectly oblivious.

What made it more ironic was the fact that you possessed telepathy.

Over that period of time, annoyingly, Loki didn’t have as much time to spend with you discussing books because of how you wanted to help Barnes with modern day technology. The impulse to roll his eyes whenever he saw you with that man became irresistible.

Well, tomorrow night, he was going to show you that someone, anyone else can waste their precious time on the soldier out of time, but the moments spent with this particular Asgardian were priceless. Obviously.

Tony looked over Loki’s shoulder, squinting as he tried to read the label. “To my dearest Y/N. You light up my life and...what does that say?”

Loki snatched up the note and shoved it in his pocket. “It’s not finished,” he hissed, but regardless, his face reddened just a bit.

Tony raised an eyebrow, but began to walk away, his interest apparently lost. The raven-haired Asgardian sighed in relief, and, taking out the note, continued to perfect it.

You deserved the best.

~~~~~~

Bucky needed no help carrying his present for you. The hours at the gym and the strength provided by his metal arm made the task seemingly effortless. But his worry of whether or not you’ll like his gift weighed him down.

“Steve, are you sure?” he said, his voice set in a low whisper.

His best friend walked next to him, and clapped his back. “I’m sure, Buck. Y/N will love it.”

“Oh, DRAMA!” Tony said, in an exaggerated tone as he walked by. A maniacal grin lit up his face when he saw the two super soldiers furrow their brows in confusion. “You better move fast, Terminator, or Loki might get to her first!”

“What are you talking about?” Bucky growled.

“Tony,” Steve warned, but it was no use. The billionaire plunged forward like he didn’t have any common sense.

“I saw his note,” Tony replied ambiguously, much to Bucky’s annoyance.

“What’d it say?” he asked, trying to stay calm.

“Something about meeting him somewhere, to do stuff, blah blah blah,” Tony answered, waving his hands indifferently.

Steve sighed heavily before watching his best friend storm in the direction of the library, where the Asgardian could usually be found. “Tony, did the note really say that?”

“No,” he chuckled, leaning against the wall. “But this is gonna be hilarious!”

“Try “Y/N is going to get hurt,”” Steve grumbled, pushing past the billionaire to find you.

“She’ll thank me!” Tony hollered.

~~~~~~

“Loki…” Bucky growled, throwing open the doors of the library.

The god looked up at him in mock surprise. “Why, if it isn’t the broken soldier.” Upon seeing the man grit his teeth, he smirked. Motioning at the books, he asked, “Are you here to educate yourself on the modern day invention that is the toaster?”

Bucky stalked towards him, but Loki continued as if he didn’t notice. “Perhaps then Stark would have to pay less for the constant kitchen replacements needed due to your constant fits of anger directed towards the contraption-”

“You listen to me,” the super soldier snarled, holding the Asgardian up by his collar. “Don’t you dare lay a finger on Y/N.”

Apparently unfazed, Loki raised an eyebrow before suddenly disappearing. “Or what?” his voice echoed through the huge expanse of the library, causing Bucky to look for him frantically. The god laughed, and suddenly reappeared back on his chair, as if he’d never left.

“It’s not really as if she’d start noticing your affections towards her,” he said, examining the bindings of your book absently. Bucky’s eyes flittered uncomfortably, which Loki noticed. “And even if she did, it wouldn’t exactly mean that she’d...return them. At least, not much sooner than she’d realize her affections for me.”

The super soldier’s head snapped up angrily. Okay, that was it. This guy was trouble, he knew that much. He wouldn’t let him touch a hair on your head.

“This is for you, doll,” he muttered, before throwing a punch at the god’s jaw.

~~~~~~

“Loki! Bucky! You in here?”

“Y/N! Don’t go in there!”

~~~~~~

“Y/N? You awake yet, doll?” you faintly heard the voice of a familiar super-solder question, concerning lacing his tone. Slowly, you managed to open your eyes.

“I’m real sorry, doll,” Bucky whispered, pressing his face against your arm. “It was all my fault.”

“I agree with that,” you heard Loki’s soft voice comment from the foot of your bed. “But...I was slightly at fault as well, I suppose. For that, I apologize.”

“How bad is it?” you winced, trying to sit up.

“Just a sprained ankle. And a broken arm,” a new voice answered. You craned your head to meet the gaze of Steve, who had just walked into the room.

Smiling the best to your ability, you said cheerfully, “Hey, Steve.”

After he nodded in greeting, Bucky buried his face in your arm again, presumably the one that wasn’t broken. “It’s all my fault,” he repeated.

Sighing, the Asgardian got up from his place to bring you a glass of water. “Truly, I never wished to be the cause of your pain, Y/N.”

“Okay, you know what? I don’t forgive you two,” you snapped, trying to sound angry. The two men looked up at you, surprised at your outburst. “What the heck were you fighting about? Oh, you know what? It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I can’t walk, and one of my arms are broken!”

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” Bucky whispered, sounding broken, but against your instinctive judgement, you pressed on.

“No, you know what, Buck? No. And don’t even think about using that silver tongue, mister,” you ordered, looking directly at Loki, who was beginning to open his mouth. “I am mad.”

The room was silent before you finally threw the covers over your head, signaling the end of the discussion. “Doll,” Bucky tried to say, but your hand popped out of the covers and threw a stuffed bear in his face.

“You deserved that,” Loki snickered quietly.

Bucky’s apologetic demeanor suddenly changed as he turned towards the god, who looked up at him amusedly. Grabbing his collar yet again, the super soldier leaned close in order to emphasize his words. “You listen to me-”

“Do you really wish to repeat this again? With Y/N directly beside us?” Loki questioned calmly, raising an eyebrow.

“Y/N deserves better than you.”

“Oh, so she deserves you?”

“I am going to shove this bear right up your-”

“OKAY, GUYS!” you yelled, throwing off the covers with your okay hand. You weren’t mad. Not at all. Your mindset included the reasoning that being able to see life in as many perspectives as possible was a good thing, even if it was painful, so the broken arm and sprained ankle didn’t really affect you emotionally.

Initially, since you couldn’t do much, you were going to have the boys order some cookies because you couldn’t bake them for the Christmas party tomorrow night. But...seeing as they obviously had some issues to work out…

The two men turned their gaze your way, as you took a deep breath. “If you want me to forgive you-”

“We do, Y/N. At least, I do,” Bucky said, shifting his gaze away to glare at Loki for the briefest moment before flying back to you.

“-then you gotta help me something.”

Loki allowed the smallest fraction of a smile to corrupt his face. “Anything, darling.”

~~~~~~

“You want me to what.” It wasn’t a question, it was a clear statement. A clear description of exactly what he thought about what you were asking him to do.

“Line the pans up with parchment paper, please,” you answered cheerily, turning the knobs on the oven to begin preheating them. “Bucky, did you get the ingredients?”

“Y/N…”

“Ya, sweetie?”

“What’s the difference between sugar and salt?”

“Oh, Bucky…”

Loki shifted his confused gaze from the package of parchment paper and the trays to where you were helping Bucky gather the ingredients. He rolled his eyes, annoyed, before turning back to the baking sheets. It doesn’t matter that he’s never cooked before, at least he could tell the simple difference between sugar and salt. He was also fully capable of placing the parchment paper down correctly.

He picked up the package, but immediately, the entire roll fell to the floor. Sighing sharply, he bent down to pick it up, but hit his head on the counter in the process. “Pathetic mortal thing,” Loki hissed, rubbing his head slightly.

“Need help, Loki?” you asked, noticing the Asgardian on the floor.

“I’m fine,” he snapped, picking the roll up.

You raised your eyebrow as Loki attempted to find the beginning of the parchment, but upon discovering it, allowed the rest of the roll to...roll away. He watched the paper travel all the way to the door before purposely banging his head on the counter. “Yes,” he replied, sounding exhausted.

Fighting a giggle, you left Bucky’s side to go fetch the parchment paper, while the soldier you were previously helping let out a small snicker as Loki tried to unravel another roll of parchment paper. The Asgardian apparently heard, and sent a glare his way.

Coming back into the kitchen, bright and happy, you held up the roll triumphantly. “Got it!”

“That’s wonderful, darling,” Loki said dryly, holding out his hand. “Perhaps you’d like to show me exactly how to do it?”

“Sure,” you said, turning away the second he threw a smug look in the super soldier’s direction. “You have to keep the roll in the box, Loki, and pull it out from there. See?”

“Ah,” he replied, directly behind you. “I see.”

“You think you can do it on your own?” you asked, in the process of turning around, but the Asgardian grabbed your waist and pulled you back.

“Actually...would you mind terribly helping me directly? I hate to say this...but I’m quite inexperienced in this sort of thing.”

As you agreed, Bucky grit his teeth, but couldn’t help himself from watching you take that...that god’s hand with your one good arm and show him physically how to do it. It sickened his mind to think of Loki insisting on returning the favor. His grip on the wooden spoon tightened, and he unconsciously began to stir the sugar cookie batter faster.

He did, however, notice when the spoon broke and some batter splattered on his face. “Oh my god, Bucky,” he heard you laugh. “Can’t go one second without me, can you?”

The super soldier was aware of your crutch hitting the floor as you moved closer to him. And he was well aware when you took a swipe of batter right from his face with a finger. “Mm. Getting there, Buck!”

“Um...thanks,” he replied, glad that the batter covered most of his face so you wouldn’t see the red. “Do...we have another spoon?”

“Of course,” you replied sincerely, hopping over to the drawer to fetch another one.

Obviously, the Asgardian couldn’t help but dig into the ex-assassin’s embarrassment further. “Will he not break that one as well?”

“I won’t,” Bucky snapped.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Because...well...it seems as if you do break everything you touch…”

Bucky’s face darkened as he registered the demigod’s words. Someday, when they’re alone, that guy’s silver tongue is gonna earn him a silver arm right up in his-

“How about I mix up this next batch of batter, Buck?” you suggested with a smile. “I think the one you mixed is ready to be spooned.”

“Okay,” he replied, sending one last glare the smirking Asgardian’s way before picking up his bowl.

Loki laughed under his breath before turning to witness your struggle with the new bowl. “Allow me, Y/N,” he advised, steadying the bowl and setting his arm across your waist once more.

“Thanks, Reindeer Games!” you exclaimed, smiling up at him while mixing. “But do you maybe think you can help Bucky with spooning the batter instead? I think I got this.”

The smirk on Loki’s face disappeared as you uttered those words. “Surely you understand my complete lack of skill in the kitchen?”

Shrugging, you motioned your head towards Bucky encouragingly. “Bucky lacks that too, you know. Maybe you guys could help each other out?”

Loki flitted his gaze to the hard ones of the soldier already staring at him. Then he turned to you. Which was a mistake, as nobody’s willpower was a match for your pleading eyes. Heaving a sigh, Loki released his hold on you and walked towards the tray, his eyes attempting to burn a hole in the soldier’s head.

“Don’t yell at the spoon,” Bucky muttered, handing him a scooper.

Scoffing, Loki took it, returning a tone of venom. “At least I won’t break it.”

Bucky narrowed his eyes, but held his tongue, not wanting to spark another fight, especially with you so close. He looked up to see you dancing as happily as you could with one foot and one arm while you mixed the dough. It made him feel warm and fuzzy.

While he stared at you, Loki was trying to figure out how this new pathetic mortal thing worked. Obviously, its function was to create the spherical shape of the sugar cookies, as stated on the packaging cover. He was certain he could figure out how it worked, as the soldier did it, and managed to create lumps. Pathetic lumps. And Loki was also certain he could do much better.

He furrowed his brows before digging his scoop into the bowl of dough. Loki wiggled the contraption a bit before pulling it out, bits of dough hanging off of the edge. He placed it upside down on the tray and, after waiting a few seconds, lifted it, only to find out none of the contents came out.

Loki tried again, but still, to no avail. His eyes traveled to the soldier’s pathetic lumps and breathed sharply through his nose. Surely it was not supposed to be this difficult?

The Asgardian flicked his wrist sharply, willing the dough to fall off of the spoon. “Come on, you pathetic mortal dough,” he muttered, flicking harder. “Fall off!”

“You guys doing good back there?” you called out, still stirring.

“Huh?” Bucky said, bringing himself back to reality. “Oh, yeah, um, we’re...we’re go-”

The super soldier wasn’t able to finish his sentence, as a particular hard flick of the scooper, courtesy of Loki, caused a ball of cookie dough to fall on Bucky’s face with a hard slap. He blinked hard.

“Oops,” Loki said, obviously delighted.

~~~~~~

“Okay! I think they’re done!” you exclaimed triumphantly, pulling on a mitten to take them out.

“So...we are finished, I presume?” Loki asked, his voice sounding hopeful.

“Nope!” you replied, and his face fell dramatically. “We still got to frost them!”

Loki groaned loudly, leaning against the counter, exasperated. Differently, Bucky smiled, eager to spend more time with you. You finished filling up the piping bags with an assortment of colors before spreading your arms out. “Go ahead!”

Bucky tentatively picked up the red and, after taking a sugar cookie, attempted to squeeze frosting onto it. Unfortunately, his grip proved much too strong, as the red topping squirted all over the tray. The super soldier exhaled sharply, then tried again.

It took quite some time, but he managed to make what was supposed to be a flower. You finished frosting a snowman on your cookie, with a bit of difficulty as one of your arms was in a cast, then looked over at Bucky’s design. “Aww, Bucky! A tree!”

“It’s a flower,” he said softly, looking at you with a pitiful face.

“It’s a very pretty flower,” you complimented sincerely, patting his hand. He gave you a small smile before picking up the orange piping bag for his next cookie.

Loki raised an eyebrow, leaning over to inspect the super soldier’s crude work. It didn’t look much of anything, much less something he couldn’t do better than. Smirking, he took up two bags of green and gold colored frosting.

“Look what I made, Y/N,” the Asgardian heard Bucky say.

“Oh, Bucky! That’s a really cute elf!”

“It’s Santa Claus…”

“I was close!”

“If you really want to see something amazing,” Loki said smugly, putting the finishing touches on his cookie. He then picked it up gently and placed it in front of you. “Then you should see mine.”

Your mouth dropped open. “Oh...my…”

“There’s no way you did that,” Bucky muttered.

“I did,” Loki answered proudly. “I’m very experienced in the arts.”

“It’s incredible, Loki!” you squealed, hugging the god tightly. Satisfied with your delight, Loki reciprocated the hug, smirking in the angry soldier’s direction.

“What’s happening?” Tony’s voice asked, as he, Bruce, and Steve walked into the kitchen.

“Something smells good,” Bruce noted.

“COOKIES!” Thor yelled, brandishing his hammer as he stormed into the kitchen. “Y/N MADE COOKIES!”

“Not just her, apparently,” Steve commented, laughing slightly.

“I helped,” Bucky added.

“Woah, woah, woah there, Goldilocks,” you chuckled, holding your crutch in Thor’s way. “These cookies are for the party tomorrow. They need to cool.”

“Aww,” everybody who just came in said sadly.

“Hmm…” you looked at the already frosted cookies and pursed your lips. “Well...I guess you each can have one…”

“HUZZAH!” Thor exclaimed, holding his hammer up again before setting it down gently on the counter. He looked over the selection of sugar cookies, but widened his eyes upon seeing the one in front of you. “That is a very intricately frosted cookie!”

“I did it,” Loki said, his voice oozing pride.

“Perfect for eating!”

“NO, THOR!”

“Too late,” Tony snickered, as the blonde Asgardian chowed down on Loki’s cookie, while his brother could only look on with horror.

“I made this one,” Bucky said, holding up the one with a star.

Tony squinted at the cookie’s design as Steve praised his friend. “Nice, Buck!”

“Yeah, pretty good stocking, Terminator,” Tony said, stepping back.

Bucky blinked. “It’s a star…”

“Oh...well...that’s a very nice star, Buck!” Steve commented, clapping his somber friend’s back. As he did so, Tony slipped past them to stand next to you.

He nudged your good arm, motioning his head towards the two men you worked with. Raising his eyebrows, Tony asked slowly, “So...what happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?” you asked, confused. “We made cookies.”

“Oh my god, Y/N…”

“What?”

Chapter Text

You’ve never had the best of luck.

Your childhood certainly provided substantial evidence, as for one, your parents’ income didn’t provide enough essentials for a child. But despite that, they gave you all they had anyways. This sounds happy, doesn’t it?

Wrong. Everyday, you had to watch your parents suffer, simply because they loved you too much. Too much of anything pure and good inevitably ends in death.

History has proved that correctly.

It got even worse when you were kidnapped at the small age of ten to a group of men in black coats and masks. You weren’t much, just the average ten year old, but apparently, that was all they needed for their experiments. That proved to be the first of many, many, many terrifying moments in your life.

The men experimented on your body painfully and thoroughly, but that wasn’t the worst thing they did. With the experiments came physical advances, in which they had you use against targets. They didn’t brainwash you, or shock you to the point where you didn’t feel pain, like they did with Bucky.

No.

The men in black took complete control of your body and had you do...horrible things...while your mind was fully conscious. Every moment was absolute horror, every plunge of the dagger, every push of the trigger, every clench of your fist on flesh…

To you, the worst part wasn’t seeing the light go out in your victim’s eyes, nor their pleas for mercy, or their screams for help. The worst part was seeing the look on your witnesses’ faces, their expression of horror, disgust, and fear for their own lives. It was the worst because that face was is the exact opposite of your parents towards you.

You still had nightmares about it, to which Bucky’s response would be to hold you tight and tell you everything was going to be okay. But you knew it would never end.

A few times, you had tried dismantling the system, or try to prevent a death by getting your body caught on something. That was how you lost your right arm.

The pain was excruciating, but the relief you felt was incredibly contradictory. You were right-handed, so guns and punches were no longer an option.

But...of course that wouldn’t stop them.

They gave you a bionic arm, one that could easily crush a neck and function like a regular one. With it, your strength furthered and the look of fear on people’s faces grew. It wasn’t fair.

Finally, finally, the men in black were gone. Maybe not completely gone, but they certainly weren’t a force to be reckoned with any longer, the redhead assured you. No more deaths, no more being controlled. A happier life, she said. You never did anything wrong.

Well...the public didn’t think so.

Formally, you and Bucky had to go to court for the crimes committed in your hand, some kind of SHIELD protocol. They rendered you both innocent, and there was no argument otherwise...formally.

Outside of the court, however, there was more than a little disagreement on that. You kept your head down, exiting the house to get into the car awaiting you and Bucky. “GET BACK HERE!” a man yelled, throwing a flowerpot at you, narrowingly missing.

“Just keep your head down, doll,” Bucky murmured into your ear, nudging you towards the car. The raindrops fell heavily on your head, but the anger in the people’s voices hurt enough. “Don’t have to look.”

“Why would he waste a perfectly good flower pot like that, huh?” Tony asked, grinning from the shotgun seat. His smile faltered when he saw your expression. Sighing, he motioned for the driver to get going before looking back at the both of you with a sympathetic look on his face. “It’ll get better, Y/N.”

You neglected to answer, instead opting to face your unrelenting haters. “I took everything from them,” you softly murmured, tracing a line on the window. “What I took isn’t coming back.”

“Doll,” Bucky sighed, hugging your waist. “It’s gonna get better.”

Humming in reply, you continued tracing lines on the window until Tony brought you two back to the apartment.

You stepped out without another word. Bucky nodded towards the billionaire, who began to call Steve to tell him what happened.

Rubbing the circles in his eyes, Bucky followed you to the bedroom, picking up an apple on the way. He sat down next to you, rubbing your back soothingly. “Hey, doll, you wanna know what you and this apple have in common?”

“...”

“You both are-” Bucky pressed you to his chest while holding the apple to his eyes, grinning. “-apples for my eye!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s apple of my eye,” you corrected monotonously.

The super soldier shrugged and nudged your shoulder playfully, attempting to get at least a look from you. “I couldn’t think of anything else. Don’t blame me.”

When you didn’t answer, his grin faded for the briefest second before it returned, along with an idea. Bucky placed his lips on your neck eagerly, but you pushed him away. “Not in the mood, Buck.”

He blinked, then stood up. “When is someone not in the mood?” Bucky asked, cracking another smile, but that quickly vanished when you answered.

“When they’ve tried a million times, and it’s never worked!” you snapped.

“If we’d have tried it a million times, then I’m pretty sure I’d be the happiest guy in the face of the earth right now-”

“Shut up.”

“...what?”

“Just...shut up!” you yelled, pounding your face into your pillows. Tears began flowing from your closed eyes down on the bed, creating a very apparent puddle. “I-I can’t do this.”

“Do what? Us?” Bucky asked softly, kneeling down so he could face you. “Doll, that’s not even an option. I need you.”

Laughing bitterly, you stayed face down on the pillows, not facing the ex-assassin. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you need a mess.”

“You’re not a mess.”

“Look at me!” you screamed. “Look at us! I have nightmares every night about what happened to me, and I don’t exactly think I’m the only one. You’ve gone through the same things I have, Buck. I think you deserve someone who can actually help you through that, not someone who makes it worse. The public hates me, I can’t make the one thing my body is supposed to be capable of to make you happy...”

Your sobs filled the space of the room as you pitied yourself, pitied James for ever trying to make this work. Because it most likely never will.

Over time, you felt a hand massage your back, and you looked up, sniffling at the slightly smiling face of Bucky. “I need you,” he repeated.

Silence permeated the air before you spoke hoarsely. “Why? Why would you give all of your effort to make me better? You don’t even have enough to help yourself!”

“Cause seeing you better is all I need,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to yours. “I love you, doll.”

“...I love you too, James.”

Chapter Text

It started like any normal mission, really. Team one today was Thor, the Maximoff twins, Tony, Clint and the Hulk, and their job was to infiltrate the base and to generally direct most of the firepower towards them. Team two’s was to disable the machines and get the information concerning Hammer Tech’s schematics, and consisted of you, Bucky, Steve, Nat, and, most reluctantly and recently added, Loki.

He and Bucky had been going after each other for quite some time, ever since they met, to be accurate. The tension lessened after you and Bucky had started dating, because you were basically the only person Loki could stand to discuss books with, and he needed an Avenger to go with him if he wanted to go visit the library.

But...he knew Bucky was really protective and possessive over you. Which the Asgardian was going to use to have just a little fun.

Thankfully, Steve and Nat were there, so Loki couldn’t really try anything funny if he didn’t want to be killed, considering that his magical abilities were limited by the bracelet he wore. Still, Bucky insisted on keeping you in the very back, far away from the demigod.

Steve rolled behind the corner, and after a few moments, sent the signal for the team to move in the basement. Silently, you all creeped into the room, Bucky holding up the door for you before closing it shut. The room mostly consisted of file cabinets, one gun standing in the corner, and a table located dead center.

“Where is it?” you muttered, flipping through the files, brows furrowed.

“Fury said Hammer’s blueprints were hidden in one of the files,” Steve answered, looking through one, then proceeded to throw it onto the table.

“Where else would it be, Steve? The gun?” Bucky murmured, kicking a file cabinet to allow all of its contents to fall out, earning a glare from the Asgardian.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard out in the hallway. You froze, as did everyone else, and flitted your gaze towards Steve and Nat, who had dropped the files they were holding and ran towards the door. “Keep looking for that file!” Steve exclaimed, following Nat.

Unknown to everyone else, the moment Bucky kicked the file cabinet over, a lock-picker machine thingie fell out, collided with Loki’s bracelet, leaving it to clatter to the ground. Loki blinked, looked around, attempting to see if anyone noticed.

You sighed, throwing the file you were holding down. “It’s no use, Buck. And it’s just Steve and Nat out there. We gotta go help them,” you decided, walking over to get the gun.

“Woah, woah, woah, there, doll,” he lifted you by the waist and set you on the table. “I don’t think so.”

Rolling your eyes, you hopped off, to which Bucky’s response was to catch you and put you on the table again. “Buck…”

“No, Valerie,” he said firmly. He ignored your pleading blue eyes, unfortunately, and picked up the gun himself. “I’ll go help.”

“So-”

“So you trust her with me?” Loki asked evenly, raising an eyebrow.

“Why would I do that?” Bucky questioned sarcastically, shouldering the gun. “Don’t talk to him, Valerie.”

“Um…”

“Do you understand, doll?”

“I understand-”

“Loki, don’t you dare go near her,” Bucky growled, pointing a finger at the smirking god.

“Why would I do that?” he replied, copying Bucky’s previous tone. “You know, Mr. Barnes, I’ve met people like you, people who don’t give their other enough space,” Loki commented, rubbing two fingers together, sparking a hint of green magic within.

You sighed, exasperated. “Loki…”

“To be honest, it’s a bit...annoying,” the god continued as if he didn’t hear you. “I wonder what it would be like for you if you couldn’t do such a thing?”

Bucky dropped the gun and stepped towards the Asgardian. “Don’t you da-”

~~~~~~

He felt an incredibly intense pain throbbing in his leg. That wasn’t good.

Bucky blinked hard, wincing, as he tried to sit up in order to examine his ankle. The setting sun shone brightly directly in his eyes as he whipped around, trying to locate you. “Valerie? Valerie! Doll!”

“Here,” you said weakly, from behind the super soldier. He turned around, sighing in relief, before attempting to scooch over to you. Bucky pat his hands down your body, looking for injuries. Taking note of the concern in his eyes, you smiled slightly and ruffled his hair. “I’m fine, Buck.”

“Still gotta be sure,” he muttered, checking your pulse. Rolling your eyes, you turned to observe your surroundings. It consisted of a familiar looking street, located in D.C., you remember. Bucky took you through here, to see the Captain America memorial. You also recall making fun of him with short hair, although it was pretty attractive.

An explosion suddenly lit up the car next to you, causing Bucky to push you behind him before its pieces could pierce the both of you. A woman with short red hair jumped in front of you and Buck, before turning to land behind another car. She turned her head to look at the empty road, and your jaw dropped open.

It was Nat. You were about to call her name out, but Bucky placed a hand over, motioning to be quiet. Nat took out a silver ball and rolled it out to the street. Your eyes followed the object, but they further widened when you saw who was out in the street, their gaze following the ball as well.

Bucky...but it wasn’t Bucky. It couldn’t be your Bucky, as he was sitting behind you in an alley, covering your mouth. It had to be someone else...someone else donning the Winter Soldier persona.

“No way,” you heard Bucky exclaim softly, slightly releasing his grip.

“CUT!” a voice yelled in the middle of it all. Instantly, Nat got up, cracked her neck, then began walking past you, the Winter Soldier following. You and Bucky craned your head to discover...wait, what?

“I’m gonna kill Loki,” the super soldier growled, taking hold of your waist once more. He attempted to stand up, but upon forgetting he had a broken leg, fell back down in pain. Bucky shut his eyes hard, gritting his teeth in the process.

From a distance, you could hear Nat...or whoever that was...laugh. Getting up, you held out your hand to help Bucky, up which he accepted gladly. You flitted your gaze to his slightly pained expression and raised an eyebrow. “Can I torture him first?”

Bucky smiled slightly, but that disappeared when he accidentally bumped into a pole. You couldn’t help but frown as he grimaced, attempting to cover that up with a cough.

The two of you walked...or, hobbled, is more like it, to a car in the side of the street. “Bucky-”

“We’re just borrowing it,” he said, gritting his teeth as he pulled out that instant-hot wiring tool Tony made once, in his sleep.You resisted the impulse to roll your eyes, helping Bucky into the seat next to the driver’s.

Hopping into the seat next to him, you started the engine and began to pull out of the curb. “Where to?”

“Museum,” Bucky said simply, knowing you’d get it.

A few minutes later, you arrive at the correct address...but where the museum should be...in its place was an ice-cream shop. “Where’s the museum?” Bucky asked, voicing your thoughts.

“I don’t-Oh, look, Buck! A kitten!”

“Valerie, Valerie, WAIT!” Bucky cried out, toppling over as he tried to get out of the car without your aid..

“Hello there, kitty,” you cooed, picking the tiny tabby up, pressing it to your cheek. It meowed, which you gasped at. “He’s so fuzzy!”

Bucky struggled to stand up, opting to lean on a nearby trashcan. He sighed, then felt, rather than saw, movement by the corner of his eye.

The moment felt far too slow to be a half second. Bucky didn’t even have time to call out your name. At sixty miles an hour, the truck most likely didn’t expect to see someone running off to the middle of the street to pet a kitten. The rate it was going was far too quick to stop, or for you to notice, but it was fast enough for the kitten...and that man running towards you...to notice.

Meowing loudly, you held the kitten away from your face, furrowing your brows. “What’s the ma-OOFF!”

Passing by like lightning in a Thorm, you barely registered the vehicle that had nearly taken your life, only that when you landed, Bucky was all over you, hugging you tightly, kissing your forehead. “Oh, god doll, don’t ever do that again.”

“Meow,” your kitten agreed.

“Are you alright?” a very familiar voice asked, concern lacing his tone, from above you. You looked up, expecting one face, but was extremely shocked to discover a completely different one.

“Um…” you said, still overcome by shock.

Bucky held you tighter to his chest, ignoring the sharp stab in his leg. “She is now.”

He smiled in such a heart-warming and genuinely happy way that helped your mind register the fact that this man…

This man was not Loki…

“Fine, thanks to you!” you blurted out, rushing out of Bucky’s arms, much to his obvious dismay. Holding out your hand, you smiled back at the man. “I’m Valerie.”

“Tom,” he replied, shaking your hand. “I presume you are Sebastian’s new...friend?” Tom asked, grinning slightly while raising an eyebrow.

“I-I don’t-”

“Who’s Sebastian?” Bucky interjected, trying to stand up.

“Meow,” your kitten answered, licking its paw.

Tom’s brows furrowed as he held out a hand to help the super soldier up. “You-you okay, man? I can get a doctor-”

“I’m fine,” Bucky growled, sending a glare in the way of your new friend. “Who’s Sebastian?”

Tom tilted his head, slightly confused. “You...are? And shouldn’t you be filming right now? I heard a lot of explosions over there-”

“What? No, I’m Bucky,” the super soldier said, his hostile tone converting into one of bewilderment.

“He’s Bucky,” you affirmed.

“Meow.”

The man chuckled a bit before clapping a hand on the soldier’s shoulder. “Very funny, Stan. Is that man Misha around, perhaps recording this as we speak? I’ve heard he is quite obsessed with things such as that-”

“Who the hell’s Misha?” Bucky demanded, completely confused.

“Meow.”

“Who the hell is Bucky?” Tom fired back, grinning.

“Meow!”

“Okay, then,” Bucky said slowly. “Who the hell’s Sebastian?”

“You!”

“Baaah!”

“What the hell was that?” Tom asked, his tone disturbed.

“Meow.”

“Okay, that’s better.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” you interrupted, holding up a finger in front of you. “What...is happening over there? Why is there another Winter Soldier?”

Tom blinked, obviously more confused than ever. “Another…”

“Hey, Tom!” a voice strikingly similar to Bucky’s called out from the other side of the street.

The man’s blue eyes widened as he turned his head, switching back and forth from the man who spoke and to Bucky. “This...is definitely a prank of some sort. A particularly devious one, at that.”

“Meow,” you kitten stated happily.

“What prank?” the Bucky-doppelganger voice laughed, his voice growing louder. Bucky gripped your arms and pulled you to his chest once more, his warm breaths chilling your spine.

Tom was still in a confused state, mumbling incoherently as he stared at Bucky to...Bucky?

“What the hell?!” Bucky yelled, his voice loud in your ear.

This ‘Bucky’, upon seeing your super soldier, dropped his jaw. “Holy…”

“Meow.”

“LOKI!” Bucky suddenly yelled, looking up at the sky. “BRING US BACK RIGHT NOW, OR I WILL SHOVE MY METAL ARM INTO YOUR-”

“No need for that, Barnes,” Loki’s real voice said, sounding smug.

Tom pretty much fainted on the spot, while “Bucky”, after immediately catching Tom, ran off. “SECURITY!”

Attempting to ignore Bucky’s heavy breathing, you looked around for the Asgardian. “Where is he?”

“Right here,” Loki replied cheerfully, his voice coming from…

Bucky picked up the gray tabby in your hands and threw him back into the oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, the world you were in began to disappear quickly, turning into the base you were supposed to be search for the Hammer Tech blueprints.

Bucky let go of your waist and turned to snarl at the smirking god. “When I’m done with you-”

“That won’t be necessary,” Loki answered, his smirk growing as Bucky fell to the ground, clutching his leg in pain.

“I-am-going-to-”

“Just think of this as...training...for your lovely lady,” Loki said, disappearing and reappearing behind you, wrapping his arms around your torso. “You can’t always be around, you know.”

Bucky’s eye literally twitched as he picked up the closest thing he could reach-which happened to be the table leg-and threw it at the god. Loki rolled his eyes, allowing the leg to pass through him easily. “Valerie, please tell your lover to cease his infernal rage,” he asked you calmly, running a hand through your curly brown hair.

You pushed the Asgardian off of you, slipping the extra magic-containment bracelet you had in your pocket into his wrist. “Seriously, Loki? I thought you were getting better!”

He shrugged indifferently. “That depends on your definition of ‘getting better.’”

“‘Better’ doesn’t equal trying to immobilize Bucky so he could learn how to leave me alone!”

“The man needs it! I’m simply looking out for you, Valerie!”

Raising an eyebrow, you walked over to Bucky and helped him up. “You know, maybe if I didn’t like it, then I’d probably agree. But I don’t think so, Reindeer Games!”

Loki growled, annoyed. “I thought I told you not to call me that.”

“Call him that,” Bucky chuckled, leaning himself into the warmth of your body.

~~~~~~

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, Buck?”

“For...getting all wild over there with Loki, and choking you when we met...I don’t even know who we met.”

You giggled, further snuggling yourself into Bucky and the blankets. “Loki turned into a kitty.”

“And you let him lick you.”

“...Yeah, that was a bad call.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, Buck.”

“...Hey, Bucky?”

“Yeah, dollface?”

“Do you mind helping me get back at Loki for breaking your leg?”

“...I’ll let you torture him first.”

“Aw, you do love me!”

Chapter Text

"Thor! We got your Pop-Tarts! Clint! We got your peanut butter!" you hollered, your voice resonating throughout Avengers Tower.

Bucky looked left and right before turning to you. "Nobody's here," he said slowly.

"Well, where the heck did they go, then?" you asked, dropping the groceries in the kitchen and heading to the elevator, with Bucky following close behind.

"The Avengers are still in the tower, Miss Y/N," JARVIS said, in his usual overly-calm voice.

"Which room are they in?" Bucky asked, squinting at the ceiling.

Before JARVIS could answer, however, a certain trickster god suddenly appeared in the room, panting. You raised an eyebrow and placed your hands on your hips. "Hello, Loki."

He looked up, and his dark green eyes widened, with surprise or fear, you couldn't tell. Loki blinked quickly and cleared his throat before righting himself. The usual bored expression made its way onto his face, but you already knew he did something. "What did you do?" you asked.

He scoffed and crossed his arms, making you even more suspicious. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Bucky asked, also suspicious. "Where's the rest of the Avengers?"

Loki looked away, apparently bored, but you knew better. "Somewhere."

Sighing, you asked, "Where's somewhere, Loki?"

He didn't answer.

"The Avengers are in Mr. Laufeyson's room, Miss Y/N," JARVIS answered.

"Ha!" You pointed an accusing finger at the glaring trickster. "So you did do something!"

He held his hands out in front of him as he followed you and the Winter Soldier into the elevator. "Before you see anything, you must know that it was not my doing that made them that way."

You grabbed his coat and pulled him towards you. "Made them what way?"

Loki tried to look away to appear unintimidated, but failed miserably. "You'll see."

The second the doors burst open, you sprinted to his room and threw open the door. The room inside was neat, filled with books, and of course, had a color scheme of green and gold. There was nothing out of the ordinary...except the small box in the middle of the room with tiny sounds coming out of it.

Bucky caught up to you, with Loki close behind, as you slowly neared the box. "A box? The Avengers became a box?" Bucky asked Loki in an angry voice.

In another occasion, you might have laughed for hours on end on how serious he sounded, and Loki's reply-"I would never have turned them into something so useful", but right now, all you could think about the contents, which were becoming louder and louder.

You lifted the lid, and expected to be greeted with horrifying predators or a portal to another world, but instead...they were kittens.

Cute, cuddly, fuzzy kitties.

Awww.

No, Y/N! Not awww! Avengers!

"Loki, what did you do?"

Loki rushed to your side and sighed down at the box. "As I clearly stated, this was not my doing. The Enchantress decided to pay us a visit, and of course, I fought her off effectively, but then Thor just had to engage as well, and from there...Well, suffice to say-" a smirk grew on his lips, "-she cast a spell on them."

"And you just let her?" Bucky grumbled, peering into the box as well.

"Of course not! As annoying as my brother was, the Enchantress was the real problem! So, I sent her to another dimension and changed the spell so instead of being turned into vicious animals, they turned into those ugly, small, disgusting Earth creatures!" Loki exclaimed.

Gasping, you held up a kitten with blue, red, and white stripes, with a star on its forehead and hugged it to your chest. "Excuse me?"

Loki sighed and nodded. "You're right. They were already ugly, disgusting creatures to begin with."

Bucky shook his head. "Can you turn them back?"

"Why would I? This is far more amusing!"

"Loki..." you said threateningly.

The trickster rolled his eyes. "I can't turn them back, but it is but a temporary spell, so they will be back to their normal, insignificant selves by, say, tomorrow evening?"

You gave him a look. "Are you sure?"

After he gave you a nod, you began stroking the head of what seemed to be a kitten Captain America. "To be honest, though, I wouldn't really mind it if they didn't turn back by tomorrow night. I mean, look at itty bitty wittle Captain Amewica!" You raised the white paw of the kitten and waved at the two unmoving men.

Huffing at their lack of reaction, you put the kitten on your lap and muttered, "Fine. Be the two most heartless guys on the team."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you already knew that."

Suddenly, a loud yowling noise came from inside the box. Instantly, you looked inside it, and gasped as you lifted a fierce green kitten. Loki and Bucky merely looked on in amusement. "Let me guess: Banner?" Bucky muttered.

Loki shook his head. "And here I was, thinking it was the fast one."

"No! Bad Hulk kitty! No more cat-fighting!" you said, trying to contain the little beast. You paused for a second to glare at the two men who were silently enjoying your pain. "Um, hello? Little help, maybe?"

Thankfully, Bucky was enough of a gentleman to lift Banner with his metal arm, off of your already-ripped shirt. You smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Bucky. At least somebody-" you pointed your glare at a smirking Loki, "-is nice enough to help."

Loki leaned back against the wall of his room, stretching his legs. "I am helping. I am supervising."

You were about to comeback with some not-so-very-nice words when a red and gold kitten shot out of the box and began scratching at the trickster god. Shoving your hand in your mouth to cover the giggles, you simply watched as the tiny kitten tore apart the Asgardian. "Stop it, you vile Earth creature! Ow! This is custom made!"

Finally, you were able to stop your laughing struggle and pulled the cat off of a very distraught god. He stared at the meowing kitten as it snuggled onto your lap with malice. "The moment you turn back, I swear, Man of Iron..."

"Can someone help me? Please?" you heard a weak voice say on your other side. Once you caught the sight, though, your mouth dropped open and you couldn't stop looking on in adoration.

Instead of a single green kitten holding onto his arm, there were now seven kittens, total, crawling all over the Winter Soldier, as he held a face of pure terror. Loki chuckled. "Did HYDRA not give you the training for that?"

"Shut up," he growled, trying to get a white and gray kitten off of his shoulder.

"Awww, look!" you said, delighted, as the two kittens you previously held started to make its way to Bucky. "They all like you!"

"No!" he growled, trying to scoot away, but they jumped on and wouldn't let go. You couldn't hold in your laughter as the famous ex-assassin glared at you as six colorful kittens crawled all over. Bucky tried to peel a silver and gray haired kitten, but it quickly jumped to his hair. "Not the hair!" the Winter Soldier groaned, earning a chuckle from Loki.

This was going to be interesting...

~~~~~~
Pop-Tarts and Peanut Butter
~~~~~~

You licked your lips as you flipped open the cabinet to reveal the snacks you bought earlier. Considering the people you bought them for were currently kittens, you figured it was safe to use them as a quick snack.

Using a spoon to scoop out the smooth peanut butter, you ripped open the packaging of the smores Pop tarts. You spread the peanut butter generously on the pastry before breathing in the sweet scent of the rare treats. Before you could take a bite into it, however, two kittens suddenly jumped on you, yowling and pushing the beloved treats off of your hands and onto the plate. "Hey-hey! That's mine!" you howled, as the purple and gray kitten, along with the light gray with yellow highlights took the peanut butter coated pastry from your plate.

You fell to the ground with your hands over your face. "WHY?!" you cried, wishing you weren't so loud. Of course, even in kitten form, Clint and Thor would still try to take the treats that were rightfully theirs. Peeking through your fingers, you noticed the two cats coming near you.

Sniffing, you showed off your biggest pair of sad eyes, while they came closer still. Clint hopped on your lap with peanut butter on his snout, and jumped onto the counter top. You looked on in confusion as he knocked the plastic jar to the floor, then proceeded in quickly pushing it away.

Falling upon the cold metal tiles, you pounded your fists on the floor and screamed, "WHY?!"

~~~~~~
Books and Magic
~~~~~~

Loki sighed, turning the page to yet another riveting chapter of his new book. Unnoticed by him, however, were two kittens intent on destroying what the god loved most: his sanity.

The red and gold kitten nudged the silver and gray cat next to him, and motioned towards the content god. Faster than what was normal for the speed of a kitten, little Pietro sped towards Loki, but ended up bumping into a bookcase. The other cat tilted its head, obviously a little surprised, but after seeing the god jump up in horror, nodded its head.

"NO!" Loki yelled, trying to save his beloved bookshelf before it fell, along with all of his favorite books, but it was too late. He fell to his knees at the sight in front of him. Of course, he could always use magic, but he was too busy glaring at the two kittens in front of him. "...why?" he whispered, picking up a Shakespeare play and stroking the binding with his long, slender fingers.

The red and gold kitten stepped forward, and Loki was immediately on his guard, expecting the Man of Iron to tear his book apart. Both of the kittens suddenly jumped, and Loki shot green balls of pure magic everywhere he saw the stupid things. Unfortunately, they got away by crawling through the vents.

Breathing hard, the moment he let his gaze wander away from the vent, Loki's jaw dropped and stayed there. His room, and his books, were either blown to smithereens or burned badly.

Falling upon the cold metal tiles, Loki pounded his fists on the floor and screamed, "WHY?!"

~~~~~~
Metal and Training
~~~~~~

Bucky kept a look of concentration on his sweaty face as he punched the bag in the training room with no mercy. He was glad to finally have something to keep his mind away from...ugh...all those kittens. They were so frickin clingy.

NO! He punched harder, if it was possible. More sweat poured down his back, causing his entire mind to focus on breaking the punching bag like HYDRA broke his sanity. He didn't fell the three little kittens pulling on his legs at first, but noticed soon as they started meowing.

Breathing heavily, he stopped and looked down in disdain at the maroon, green, and star spangled kittens nuzzled him affectionately. Rolling his eyes, annoyed, he shook them off and continued his training.

The two cats, while majorly different, both wanted the Winter Soldier's attention, especially the star spangled one. They didn't understand why, but wanted it anyway (they were cats, what did they know). So they ran over to to a switch on the wall, hoping that it will do something to get Bucky to notice them. It did.

The switch caused an extremely powerful magnet to appear out of the wall, which obviously, dragged Bucky from his training and get stuck on said magnet. He blinked, surprised, then looked down in panic at the three kittens beginning to crawl on him. "Why?" he asked, desperately trying to pull his arm from the magnet.

Grabbing onto his hair, the green one yowled aggressively. Bucky threw it as a first instinct, as its claws were digging into his scalp. It hit the button, and the magnet disappeared, as did Bucky's pain, but not his guilt. Fortunately, the green one seemed fine, but began advancing again.

Bucky began scooting away, but not without the remaining two kittens to accidentally drop colorful magnets on him. Finally, the Winter Soldier sat in defeat with his colorful arm and three kittens licking him.

Falling upon the cold metal tiles, Bucky pounded his fists on the floor and screamed, "WHY?!"

~~~~~~

"Psst! Reindeer Games!"

"Try not to call me that, Y/N."

"But it fits you so well!"

"I agree there."

"And I call you Terminator!"

"....Never mind."

"Is it not usually the Man of Iron who creates these pseudonyms?"

"Well, yeah...but that's not the point! What are we going to do about those kittens?"

"Tear them apart."

"Wow, okay, if you guys are agreeing on something, then it's probably worth listening to. But they're our friends!"

"Your friends, Y/N, and I'm fairly certain this man's as well. Not mine."

"Thor is your brother."

"I don't care, Son of Barnes! I swear, if they bother me again, they will pay the price."

"I'll help."

"Terminator!"

"Don't tell me you're not even a little tempted to help, Y/N."

"Well..."

Chapter Text

Loki hated the snow.

He scowled as the snowflakes gently landed on his nose, then promptly stuck themselves there. It really wasn’t his fault that he was born a frost giant, but apparently, that was an issue when he was attempting to plan outings for just you and him.

Normally, it wouldn’t be, as he’d take you, perhaps, to visit one of your favorite authors, or the site of your television shows, but the only problem was the weather. In extremely cold temperatures such as this, ever since he found out he was a frost giant, it became somewhat of a habit to convert to his Jotun form due to the natural comfort it provided.

He didn’t think you’d enjoy spending time with him as much if he spent the entire outing looking like that.

So, he instead opted for spending the night alone, in his balcony, although he would have preferred having you by his side. The Asgardian sighed, before stepping back into his room in Avengers Tower. His blue skin and red eyes disappeared, replaced by the appearance Odin gave him.

Before he could flop onto his bed depressingly, however, someone popped out of the vent and landed on the said furniture. Loki raised his eyebrows as you began to cough persistently. “Was the elevator out of order?” he asked.

“I was looking for my cousin, Reindeer Games,” you grumbled. “I looked for him in the vents, and when he wasn’t there, I looked for his room. I thought this was it.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Did you, now?”

“No,” you scoffed, dusting yourself off. “I came here because you said something yesterday about going on an “outing”...”

Loki sighed, disappointed that his attempt to avoid you because of that failed. “I apologize, darling, but I’m afraid that is not possible at this time.”

“Why? Because of the snow?”

“Well,” he hesitated. “Yes.”

You rolled your eyes before throwing open the doors to his balcony. Walking outside, you looked around, delighted by the amount of snow falling. It wasn’t too hard, nor was it too little. “I got an idea!” you cried, as a snowflake landed on your nose.

Turning towards the Asgardian, who was still inside, you clapped your hands excitedly. “Let’s have a snow day!”

He blinked. “A...snow day?”

Not noticing his discomfort, you continued to ramble. “All the Avengers are gone! Thor went to Jane’s holiday party, Stark went to one of his parties, and the others...went somewhere. I don’t know. But it’s the perfect time for me to teach you what we do in the snow!”

When he didn’t answer, you added, “You didn’t have much snow in Asgard, did you?”

Loki turned his head away before replying. “I’m familiar with the cold.”

“Then-”

“But I don’t think I want to go,” he finally stated, refusing to turn around so you wouldn’t see the look of regret on his face.

“Oh...Okay,” you said, disappointed. “I guess...Bucky’s still around, I think he said something about wanting to go outside-”

“Wait,” Loki replied immediately, sighing internally. It was one thing to make you sad, which he couldn’t stand, but it was another to allow you to spend even more time with that particular super soldier.

You looked up eagerly. “Yes?”

According to Rogers, Barnes was quite the charmer in the past. If there was a chance he regained that skill when spending time with you…

~~~~~~

As you rolled around in the snow, giggling relentlessly, Loki stood under a snow-covered tree, with about three layers of clothing, a really long green scarf, and a hat far too big for his head. Basically, the only thing that could (just barely) be seen was his eyes. He cursed the fact that he decided not to wear a mask, as his prior goal had been to allow you to see as little of him as possible when he went out in the snow.

“THIS IS AMAZING!” you cried out, throwing piles of snow into the air. “EVERYTHING’S SO FLUFFY!”

Loki attempted to suppress a chuckle, but failed miserably as you promptly fell face-first into the snow. Unfazed, you jumped back up, and grinning, grabbed the god’s hand. “Come on!”

“Where-where are we going?” he asked, stumbling as the thick snow.

“Do you know what a snowman is?” you asked seriously.

When the Asgardian shook his head, gasping dramatically, you threw his hand down. “That-that is just-”

“Unthinkable?” he finished.

“Bad parenting,” you agreed, before tugging on his glove-clad hand to a good spot in the snow. “Here, let me show you.”

You first took up a clump sized for a proper snowball, then began to pick up other similar sized chunks and pushed them together, until they were hard enough to support other balls. It took quite a bit of time, but you were soon able to create a ball as big as the nearby stump.

Loki was watching, fascinated, as you got up, panting, but grinning all the same. You motioned to the ball and waited proudly for a response.

“That man of snow is very short.”

“It’s the base!” you groaned, picking up another ball. “I was thinking that maybe you saw how I did it, you’d be able to help me with the other layers!”

“Oh,” he laughed, picking up a particularly large chunk of snow. “Well, then, I’ll try my best.”

“Good,” you replied, turning around to add more snow to your ball. “Okay, so the layers are going to be like...like a pyramid, kay? The top ball is going to be the smallest, so that it-”

“Is this good?”

You turned around, expecting the god to be holding a messed-up snowball, the contents falling apart, but what you saw made you discover that you had completely been confusing him with Bucky.

Loki stood, his emerald eyes quietly observing his finished snowman, complete with four layers of perfectly round, perfectly smooth snowballs, with interest. Finally, he looked towards you to watch your expression.

Your mouth was dropped open, but was quickly closed when you realized he was watching. “Um...it’s good, but you...forgot the face!”

The Asgardian nodded in agreement, then took off the snowball on top and began to fiddle with it. You, in contrast, began to pick up some pebbles and sticks, eager to show Loki how to make the prime features of snowmen. When you turned back, however, you had found that he had already carved an entire fricking face on the dang snowball.

“Is this right, darling?” he asked, looking at you hopefully.

Glancing at the corner of your eye, you spied your pathetic little lump of snow and sighed. As a little clump of it fell, you walked over and softly kicked it down, thus neglecting to answer. Loki furrowed his brows, not used to seeing you obviously upset. “Are...you alright, Y/N?”

“I wanted to show you how to make a snowman,” you grumbled, stomping on your lump with finality.

“Oh…”

You silently walked over to a log glumly and sighed again. Earlier, as you and Loki walked out here, you had been planning the best way to get him to like you more, which involved a lot of time explaining how to build a snowman while you held his hand. It worked with Bucky, and the two of you weren’t even interested in each other that way.

So caught up in thoughts, you didn’t even hear the noises of snow being piled on at an increasingly rapid pace. “Y/N!”

Sighing again, you craned your head to face the god, but he quickly came over to cover your eyes with his hands. “I made you something,” he said, his breath feeling warm on the side of your neck.

Shivering, you walked wherever he directed you and asked, “Is it a snowman?”

“Better,” he answered, sounding proud. “It’s fit for a queen.”

“Really soft toilet paper?”

You heard him sigh, then felt his hands let go of your face. After that...well, everything just happened at once.

“OH MY GOD! YOU MADE ME AN ELSA PALACE!” you cried out, jumping up and down whilst clapping your hands. The god didn’t understand your reference, but smiled anyways, due to your apparent delight.

The palace really did look like Elsa’s, though. It stood on four pillars, because the grounds you were on couldn’t possible be wide enough for the huge castle, then rose up high into the sky. Constantly changing colors, the ice crystals surrounding the walls making the entire wonderful thing glow was almost as bright as the smile on your face.

However, that smile disappeared for a second as you voiced your thoughts out loud. “How in hell did you manage to do this in the span of sixty seconds, dude?”

You couldn’t exactly see it because of the scarf, but Loki was grinning smugly. “Magic.”

“Magic,” you giggled, putting one foot on the staircase to the door. Almost immediately, you slipped and probably would have broken your spine, neck, and sanity (nope, that bus left the station years ago), but Loki caught you gracefully.

“Allow me?” he asked, holding his arm out.

~~~~~~

“What kind of palace is this?” you asked in wonder, staring at the gigantic ice chandelier on the ceiling.

“Not just an ice palace,” Loki chuckled, slipping his arm across your shoulders. “I made this for you, thus thrusting the title of a queen’s palace onto its name. Also, I put slides everywhere.”

“Slides?” you asked excitedly, looking around.

“Slides,” Loki assured, waving a hand at the walls. Suddenly, the ground rumbled for the slightest moment before, surprise, slides popped out of the walls.

“SLIDES!!” you cheered, running towards them. Again, immediately after you let go of the Asgardian, you fell flat on your face. “Ow.”

“You lasted longer this time,” Loki commented, picking you up by the waist.

“Shut up,” you said, rubbing your nose. “You’re lucky I like you. And slides.”

“Well, just so you know, these slides go all around the palace,” he exclaimed, pushing the two of you towards the beginning, while you tried to scoot toward it faster. “Careful, now, Y/N.”

“Not a baby!” you informed him, pulling your legs up on the slide. Loki made sure you were settled safely in place before going back to the other side so he could make sure you were safe. You looked at him with your big doe eyes sadly. “You’re not coming?”

“This-this slide is for you, darling,” he tried, but unfortunately, there was literally no force on the nine realms could withstand your biggest pleading eyes. “Fine,” he grumbled, getting in behind you.

“Yay!” you cheered, hands poised on the sides of the slide, ready to let the ice take you away.

“This slide starts slow as it travels up,” Loki explains, attempting to push his legs in. It was pretty difficult, considering the three layers provided more than a little bulk. “But it will get faster-”

“FOR ASGARD!”

“Y/N! I’M NOT READY!”

~~~~~~

“WHEE!” you screamed, as the slide launched you in the air and tossed you into a pile of snow directly outside the palace.

“I HATE MIDGARD!” Loki yelled as he was thrown out the palace and landed next to you. He fumbled with his hands, attempting to push the snow on his head off roughly. You watched him with great delight, but that faded as soon as the Asgardian accidentally knocked off his head wear.

“Loki…” you said softly.

“Yes, dar-”

Silence stood between you two like a thick blanket of snow as you examined his face, either with interest or disgust, he really couldn’t tell, although he highly suspected it was disgust. Loki swallowed, wishing above all things that he could just go back in time and acted sick so instead of going out, you would have stayed in to take care of him. Or perhaps, go even further back to uproot his love for you.

“You’re blue.”

Out of instinct, he raised an eyebrow. “How observant.”

“I know,” you replied, your tone and expression both stoic, making it nearly impossible for Loki to know what you were thinking.

After that comment, you simply sat and stared at him for a few more minutes, but to the centuries old Asgardian, it felt like milleniums. He breathed in sharply, knowing he was going to regret opening his mouth, but his need to know what you thought peaked higher than his need for oxygen. Dreading the worst, he asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that if you really cared, you probably would have told me you were an alien.”

“What?” he exclaimed, taken completely off guard. “I’m not-well, technically, yes, but I’m not an alien.”

“Well, then, son…” You leaned forward as if to tell him a secret. “You got a condition.”

Loki sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, darling, I’m a Jotun.”

“A wonton?”

“Jo-tun,” he said slowly, covering his face with his hands. “A frost giant.”

“Oh, yeah!” you exclaimed, looking up happily. “Thor told me about those once when he was trying to one-up Tony and Clint on their adventures.”

“Then you know that I am a monster,” Loki muttered, expecting you to agree.

“Um, dude…” You chuckled and waited for him to look up at you with his ruby-red gaze. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but monsters don’t make snowmen.”

Loki blinked, slightly bewildered, as you continued. “Monsters definitely don’t build entire ice palaces and agree to try the slide.”

“Monsters…” Your voice grew softer as you cupped his moderately cold cheek, smiling slightly. “-aren’t as good looking as you are.”

“...True,” he admitted. “Where would we be then?”

“I’m not saying I like you cause you’re hot!” you said, throwing your hands in the air. “I mean, you are, but you’re cold, too, obviously, cause you’re a frost giant...wait-”

“Why are you with me, then?”

Was he serious.
Like, that wasn’t even a question, there’s no question mark at the end of that previous sentence. You saw it, right?

It was a statement, because you really did not get how he didn’t pick up on how effing perfect he was.

“Seriously, Reindeer Games?” you cried out, picking up a ball of snow and throwing it at his face. As it collided with his nonreactive expression, you rolled your eyes. “You read books. You like books. I like books. You’re misunderstood. Have you also heard your voice?”

Loki blinked once. “What?”

“THERE’S LIKE A MILLION REASONS!” you yelled, your tone echoing through the empty park. Taking a quick breath, you grabbed his shoulders and shook them a little. “Too many to count. And even if I managed to list them down-”

You slowly bit your cold lips before smiling up at his somber face. “-there’d be like a million more. Thus, I don’t really care about your blue face. Or your sparkly red eyes. Like a vampire’s! Wait, no, Edward was kinda creepy, that was a horrible comparison-”

“I love you,” he interrupted, leaning in.

“Ah, ah, ah,” you muttered, pressing your finger to his nose and pushing him back, while trying to ignore his hurt expression. “I still like you, but I’m pretty pissed about the fact that you decided to go eight months into our relationship without telling me you were a yo-yo!”

“Jotun. And we were only together for...six months?”

You waved a hand, disinterested in that particular fact, as you pretty much had a crush on the guy ever since he set foot in the tower. There, Clint pretty much kept you away from the Asgardian, and in compliance with his requests, your words were brief and eye contact was limited whenever you had to talk to him personally. However, inside your mind, those moments were turned into thirty chapter fanfics on AO3. So, the relationship started pretty early for you.

Tony actually found those fanfictions.
Every single one.
He’s currently using it as blackmail to keep you from raiding his secret Ferrero Rochers stash.
Anyways…

“In any good relationship,” you said, in a professional voice, “-there has to be trust established, as it is what keeps any good one together. If I cannot trust you, then what relationship do we have?”

“I truly do apologize for that, darling,” he said softly, bowing his head. “I simply wanted a chance for a relationship with the most heavenly being in the nine realms. If there is anything I can do to make it up, just say the word.”

“The word,” you replied immediately, grinning. “You can take me ice-skating.”

~~~~~~

“One four for me, and a ten, please.”

The man handing out the shoes raised an eyebrow, peering down at your feet.

Rolling your eyes, you corrected yourself grudgingly. “Fine, an eight for me.”

He handed you your shoes without another complaint. You stomped away, your ice-skates in hand, to your little Asgardian friend hiding behind a tree, far away from the tables where everyone else was putting on shoes or sipping hot chocolate.

“What the heck are you doing all the way over here?” you questioned.

Loki peeked out from behind the trunk and sighed. “There’s too many people.”

“Do...you not like too many people to watch…?”

“No, no, it’s just...well...aren’t you embarrassed to be seen with me?” the Asgardian asked hesitantly.

You stared at him for a second before handing over his shoes. “We’ve been over that issue, Reindeer Games. I like you. Now put on your shoes.”

“I never got my kiss,” he reminded you, silently praising whatever being made you in such a way that you would not only overlook his major flaw, but isn’t bothered if other people saw you with such a being.

“You’ll get it later,” you promised, tugging on your skates. “Have you skated before?”

“Of course, we love to dance at the face of a freezing death in Asgard,” he replied sarcastically.

“It’s fun!” you reassured, taking his hand. Looking up, you squinted your eyes, realizing that snow was no longer falling. “You know, it’s not as cold anymore. I think you can take off some of your layers now.”

“I could have taken off all of my layers. the cold doesn’t bother me,” he muttered, pulling his coat tighter around himself. “I just don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“My face isn’t the only thing that’s blue, Y/N.”

“Aw, that’s fine, Loki!” you exclaimed, tugging his first layer off.

“No, wait!” Loki tried to stop your hands, but they had already pulled off two layers, revealing his long-sleeved shirt with the blue skin, engraved with the markings of a Jotun, on his neck and hands exposed.

“You look pretty!” you insisted, tugging on his hand to pull him to the skating rink. “And if anyone thinks otherwise, I’ll send Clint in after ‘em!”

“But...but…” Loki stuttered, racking his brain for excuses on why he couldn’t go through with this. Already, as you were dragging him to the rink, people were staring and whispering. He would have given them a glare and most likely cursed them and their children, if it wasn’t his fault these people were speaking badly of you. “I can’t skate!” he blurted out.

You scoffed, hopping onto the ice. At a young age, you’ve been taught an array of skills, courtesy of SHIELD, as they tried to protect you from anyone who wanted to take advantage of the fact that you had the ability to shapeshift. This, apparently, included ice-skating. So, now you were basically a pro.

Though, you could hardly imagine how incredibly awesome Loki would be, if his snowman and ice castle were good examples of how in-his-nature he was in the cold snow weather. You could just picture it: people’s jaws dropping down as Loki soared through the sky in a green tutu, his white ice-skates clipping some of the ice as he landed…

…..

You prayed Loki wasn’t currently reading your thoughts at that moment as you helped him onto the ice. The god’s face was twisted in concentration, in a really cute way, while you held him as he tried to walk on the ice. “I-I think I can do it,” he said, a small smile forming on his face.

“Of course you can!” you said loudly, peeking up at the people who were watching that recognized the criminal that invaded New York, especially the kids with the ginormous eyes, gaping at your blue friend. “You’re a god! You can do anything!”

“Yes. I-I can!” Loki exclaimed, his confidence coming back.

“You’ll outshine everyone!”

“Yes!”

“You’ll be awesome!”

“Quite likely!”

“YOU’LL SOAR!”

“WITHOUT A DOUBT!”

With that, you released your hold on the Asgardian, and he did soar!
For half a second.

In the next, he was flat on his face, kissing the ground. You covered your mouth in shock before quickly skating over to his figure on the floor. “I’m so sorry!” you cried, lifting him up. “I thought you were going to soar!”

Loki panted slightly as he accepted your help. “It’s-it’s quite alright, but…” He skirted his panicked gaze towards the many people closely watching him. “Per-perhaps we should leave?”

“You’re gonna soar, Reindeer Games!” you insisted, hooking your arm to his as the two of you went along the wall. “I promise!”

He blinked hard, trying to keep up on his unstable feet, for your sake. It was enough people had to laugh at you, right in your face, while you carried on with him by your side as if you didn’t notice. There had to be an equalizer, he thought, gritting his teeth, he has to excel at this for you.

That thought faded quickly as he fell on his face yet again, being run over by a seven-year old child. He literally flipped over, your grip on him releasing in the process, and landed about ten feet away. Loki groaned, clutching his soft spot, as you turned to glare at his giggling attacker.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?” you snarled, rolling up your sleeves. The boy’s mother skated by, took a look at you, then dragged her son away. “YOU’LL SEE WHAT’S FUNNY, YOU LITTLE RASCAL!” you yelled, cupping your hands to your mouth. “Y’ALL BETTER SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN TONIGHT!”

“He kind of had it coming,” someone snickered behind you.

Whirling around, you turned to glare at the girl, who with her friends looked about your age, spoke. “You want to say that again?”

“That guy did kind of...try to enslave humanity?” one of her other friends said with a smirk.

“Why are you even hanging out with him?” a guy questioned, a flirty smile plastered on his face as he skated to you. “I’m Tom.”

“I’m taken,” you replied coolly, as he tried to loop his arm around yours. “And my brother’s an Avenger.”

Loki was able to overcome the pain throbbing in his soft spot as he spotted a brunette male try to take you into his arms. As if you weren’t already his.

He attempted to get up, but somebody apparently dropped their hot chocolate on him, and he cursed himself for landing so near the wall. Loki squeezed his eyes hard, willing the cold to surround the burn on his back.

“OH MY GOD, SHE PUNCHED ME!” he heard a male shriek, and Loki was able to smirk slightly amidst his pain. Another reason he loved you: you weren’t afraid to take on anyone. And that included men twice your size.

“I’m so sorry, Loki,” you whispered, wrapping your arms around the Asgardian. Admittedly, your touch soothed his burn quite a bit, and he leaned into your embrace gladly. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

“I agree,” he muttered. “You are too much of a queen to be laughed at.”

“I don’t care about that,” you scoffed, lifting him up. “I was talking about ice-skating. You could barely go half a second before falling on your face!”

“Perhaps you could simply...hold onto me?” he suggested, a slight smile gracing his face.

“Sure,” you giggled. “But definitely not here.”

“Where then, darling?”

“Well…”

~~~~~~

“-and then it turned out that sisterly love was the answer to the prophecy.”

“Truly? It was not the prince’s love for her?”

“It never existed!”

“Then...the iceman’s?”

“That ain’t the message here, Reindeer Games!”

As he laughed, you sighed in content, perfectly warm with his body leaning against yours as you skated gracefully through the rink Tony rented, just for the two of you. You had to promise to let Jarvis to record the entire time, but it was worth it.

“Y/N…”

“Yeah?”

“I think there’s something amiss.”

Before you could ask what, he pulled you to the wall and pressed his cold lips to yours, which really didn’t seem all that cold once he pushed you closer to his body. You rested a hand on his shoulder while the other wound up in his raven hair.

Seriously, you weren’t even thinking about the fact that this was being recorded.

After was seemed like only a few seconds, Loki leaned back, grinning all the way. “I love you,” you blurted out.

“I-wait…” Loki looked over your head, his emerald eyes wide with confusion. You blinked, feeling the same way, as you looked back. “Did you not say that this snow queen cause winter?” he asked slowly.

“Yes…” you replied, still confused.

“YOU! IN THE WHITE AND BLUE DRESS!” Loki suddenly yelled, throwing off his ice skates and jumping out of the rink. He ran towards the exit, apparently after a person dressed as Elsa who had just passed by the door. Her eyes widened as she began to run for her life.

“COME BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU WISH TO RUIN MY ROMANTIC GESTURES FOR MY BELOVED BY MAKING IT SNOW!” the Asgardian snarled, a green ball of energy growing in his hands.

Sighing softly, you shook your head, smiling widely. Yup.

That was your guy.

Chapter Text

You sighed, dabbing a wet cloth to Bucky’s bleeding wound on his real arm while attempting to ignore his winces, for the sake of your accuracy. “I’m sorry, Bucky,” you muttered apologetically, moving slightly to clean the wounds on his upper arm. “It’s all my fault.”

Bucky tried to smile at you, but it looked rougher than usual, accounting for the fact that he had bruises all around his face. Still, just like every other time that idiot grinned, you melted a little inside. Like, “a kitten got itself trapped inside a toilet paper roll, and it was fine, but it was rolling around trying to find out why it can’t walk” kind of melt.

“Which part was your fault, doll? The part where we got kidnapped?” he chuckled, brushing a stray hair behind your ear, much to your surprise. Immediately, you pressed the cloth a little too deep into a wound, causing the super soldier to hiss slightly.

You cursed yourself for being such a mess compared to the guy who could probably charm his way through Buckingham Palace without much reluctance. “That part was your fault,” Bucky groaned, as you tried to mop up the small traces of blood escaping.

“Sorry,” you murmured, wrapping his entire arm with the wet towel. It was pretty hard to concentrate on what you were doing when a guy like Bucky was just staring at you, so you opted on just not looking up at him.

“Hey,” he said, interrupting your thoughts. Grabbing your arm with his metal one, Bucky caught your attention, forcing you to stop what you were doing. Coaxing you to stare right in his warm brown eyes, he held an expression of concern. “I might be the one with all the stab wounds, doll, but I don’t need you to be blaming yourself.”

When you didn’t answer, he sighed and released his hold, but continued to look at you intently. “You did the right thing. You didn’t tell them where it was. Why are you so depressed about it?”

“Because look what it did!” you cried, your voice echoing through the long hallway. “You’re hurt!”

To your annoyance, Bucky laughed. “Stop it,” you said crossly.

His chuckles ceased to falter, unfortunately. “Doll, I’ve been through worse. Just ask my arm.”

“Which one?” you asked sarcastically. “The one that has about a million cuts? Because of me?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow, his face becoming stoic. “I’m serious, doll. Stop it. You don’t deserve to be like this just because you wanted to save the Avengers over letting me go through-”

“Things you’ve probably gone through before,” you interrupted, turning away. “Things you should never have to experience again.”

Suppressing a frustrated sigh, Bucky shook his head. “What if…” he began, an idea forming in his head. “What if I told you that this whole thing was Tony’s fault?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” you muttered, and Bucky resisted the urge to grin.

“Would you stop blaming yourself?”

“First, you’d have to explain how this was Tony’s fault.”

“Okay, but first you have to stop blaming yourself.”

Resting your forehead against the wall, you sighed. “Fine.”

“Will you admit that you did the right thing?”

“Yes.”

“Can you also say that I, Bucky Barnes, have played the part of the rugged, handsome hero, who-”

“Okay!”

“Will you admit you have a crush on me?”

“That’s kind of obvious,” you answered without thinking. Your eyes widened as your ears slowly began to register your words. “I mean-I…”

You silently cursed whatever divine being made Bucky so dang annoying and adorable at the same time in a way that made whoever that looked at him non-resistant to his spell. “I like your hair,” you blurted out.

Nice, Y/N. Nice.

Bucky shrugged, running a metal hand through his tangled brown locks. “I use a good shampoo, doll, I think it’s general knowledge that the only guys competing with me for this are Thor and-”

If he had tried to finish his sentence, it would have been really difficult, as you, at that moment, decided to forget everything and just kiss the guy. Bucky, surprised at your sudden movement, shrugged and returned the action with eagerness.

“Took you long enough,” he chuckled.

“Shut up, Barnes.”

~~~~~~

Tony sat in the living room, tapping his feet impatiently as he tried to watch a movie with the rest of the Avengers. Thor, noticing the discomfort of his teammate, furrowed his brow. “Is...something the matter, Stark?”

“Bucky! Hey, where are you?” Steve yelled through his phone, obviously panicked. “It’s been three hours!”

“Forget that metal-clad mortal, where’s Y/N?!” Loki exclaimed, bursting into room. “She was supposed to take me to the library!”

Steve stood next to the TV for a moment, listening to the other voice on the line. He began to nod slowly. “Okay, Y/N’s with you, okay. But where have you been?”

The billionaire flitted his eyes to the super soldier, who had an Asgardian next to him, attempting to hear what the voice, presumably Bucky’s, was saying. “Um…” he stuttered, almost falling off the couch. “I...think I hear Pepper calling!”

“I do not hear anything, sir,” JARVIS commented, oh so helpfully.

Before Tony could say anything to the AI, however, both Steve and Loki turned to set their blazing glares on him. He gulped.

“STARK!”

“Coming, Pepper!”

Chapter Text

“I swear to God once I get my hands on you-”

“Please, Brother Barnes!” Thor cried, picking the super soldier up by the waist, much to his obvious dismay. You looked on in fascination, as the Asgardian tried to plead with the angered ex-assassin. “I’m sure my brother did not mean to do it.”

“I meant to do it,” Loki corrected smugly from behind. He lifted you up from the ground, much to your surprise. As you craned your neck, attempting to look at your captor, Loki hugged a four-year old version of Y/N to his chest while smirking at the brown-haired man. “Who does Y/N like more now?”

“Bucky!” you called out, reaching your arms toward the glaring soldier. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Turn her back…” Bucky growled, gritting his teeth.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Loki apologized mockingly, shaking his head. “I suppose you need her to be an adult in order to be able to take up all of her attention?”

Thor sighed, bowing his head. Obviously, he’s heard his brother’s tantrums before. “Brother, Y/N has already stated that she will bring you to the festival of books taking place in the New Jersey-”

“And no doubt this man of metal will try to pull her away from that, as well,” Loki snapped. “Am I truly unworthy of any sort of companionship?”

“You’ve killed hundreds of people!” Bucky yelled, much to Loki’s amusement.

“And you?”

Thor, realizing that he was simply delaying the inevitable, rushed to find the others as Bucky leapt toward the man holding you. Of course, the god disappeared with a puff of green smoke, and reappeared, with tiny you on his lap, on a chair nearby while Bucky collided heavily with the counter.

As Loki chuckled, you gasped, horrified. “Bucky!” you cried, pushing the god’s arms aside as you so you could run as fast as your little legs could carry you to the man on the floor. Bucky winced as he rubbed the back of his neck, not noticing what you were doing until you promptly jumped on him.

“Are you okay?” you whimpered, hugging his metal arm tightly. “Do you need a band-aid?”

Bucky chuckled softly, pulling you to his chest. “M’okay, doll. No need to worry.”

The Asgardian scoffed loudly, much to both you and Bucky’s disapproval. “You’re bad,” you commented haughtily, turning your nose up in the opposite direction.

“I’m bad?” Loki exclaimed, getting up from his chair, causing Bucky to instinctively hold you tighter. “Do you truly have no fear for the man holding you? The same man with a metal arm?”

As you stuck your tongue out to the shocked god, Bucky couldn’t resist the urge to smile. Before this, you and him were watching TV, well, more you, because there was no way that he, Bucky Barnes, would voluntarily watch a sappy romance, so he focused instead on the warmth you brought simply by snuggling up in his arms.

Midway in the show, you got up, announcing that you needed more popcorn. He probably should have known that something would go wrong.

Something always went wrong when you went to use the microwave by yourself.

Loki, apparently getting over the fact that you just stuck your tongue out at him, forced a smile onto his face. “Come now, Y/N. Wouldn’t you rather spend time with-”

“Bucky!” you cheered, hugging his midsection, much to Loki’s annoyance. Bucky kissed the top of your head, and sent a smug grin in the fuming Asgardian’s direction. Huffing, he stomped away as you let go and tugged on one of Bucky’s fingers. “Bucky, Bucky, come on!”

Bucky smiled, following along. “Where we goin’, doll?”

“Let’s make some popcorn!” you yelled, reaching up on the counter to take the unopened bag of kernels. Unfortunately, you weren’t nearly tall enough, so you couldn’t see what exactly you were grabbing on the counter. Which ended up being a bowl of flour.

“Y/N!” Bucky yelped, catching the glass bowl before it shatter on your head. You, on the other hand, failed to notice such a thing.

“I’m white!” you announced, patting your cheeks.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Bucky placed the bowl back on the counter, out of your reach, before taking up a wet cloth. He began rubbing it in gentle circles across your face, while you poked your cheek, observed the white substance on your finger, and promptly tasted it.

“How does it taste?” Bucky asked, a knowing smirk on his face.

Your own face wrinkled in distaste. “Like-”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Tony’s voice came screeching at the entrance. “How many times have I told you guys to not leave Y/N alone with the frickin’ microwave?”

~~~~~~

“How many days is it gonna last?” Bucky demanded.

Loki rolled his eyes, aloof of your boyfriend’s concern. “Just a few,” he answered, struggling against his his brother’s firm grip. “Is this really necessary?”

“I don’t need you hurting Y/N in more ways than one,” the super soldier growled.

The Asgardian chuckled maliciously. “I find that highly amusing. Do you know why? Because, as I stated, Y/N was in enough danger whenever she finds herself in the general vicinity of that metal contraption on your body. Now, as a child...what do you think?”

“You’d better shut your mouth before I make sure that there won’t be anything to shut,” Steve threatened, causing Tony to look at him in shock, but Bucky sighed.

“I think…” His eyes flittered to the corner, where you were reading a book while chewing on a marshmallow. You were so tiny…

“I think he’s right,” Bucky said quietly. “What if I hurt her?”

“Do you want to hurt her?” Natasha asked.

“No! Of course not! But, I’ve never really had any experience with kids, and what if-”

“What if you turn out to be really good at it?” Clint supplied. At this, Bucky covered his face with his hands and laughed miserably.

“Surprise of the decade, I guess,” he muttered.

“I completely agree,” Loki said cheerfully, before Tony stuffed a cupcake in his mouth.

“Terminator, even I can tell how much that kid loves you,” he said sternly, ripping open a box of Twinkies. “Look.”

Tony tore the package out of one of the Twinkies and held it out in your direction. “Hey, Y/N!”

You looked up, eyes wide as Tony motioned for you to take the piece of cake from his hands. “You want it?”

Blinking, you looked away from the billionaire to tilt your head at your favorite Avenger. “What is that, Bucky?”

The super soldier fought a grin as he answered. “It’s a Twinkie, doll.” At this, you slowly got up from where you sat and walked towards Tony. Gingerly, you plucked the Twinkie from his hands and carefully handed it to Bucky.

“Don’t you want it?” he asked, caught off guard.

“Feed me,” you demanded. “I have to finish my book.”

Stark snickered. “Mini Reindeer Games.”

You stepped on his foot harshly and calmly went to get your book as Tony jumped up and down, not regarding his language as he cursed your little feet. As you came back, you reached out for Bucky to pick you up, which he did so reluctantly.

“Oh, you-you know what I’m going to do, you-you little-”

“Chunk of adorableness?” Clint chuckled.

Turning a page, you shrugged indifferently, not taking your eyes off of your book. “I don’t know.”

Tony smiled maliciously and opened his mouth, but before he could get any farther, Steve tackled him roughly to the ground. “Language!”

“No!” the genius yelled, clawing at the counter. “Gotta...taint...that...kid...somehow…”

Nat made a face. “Ew, Tony.”

“Not like that!” he yelped, falling to the ground with a heavy super soldier above him. “Get off me, Capsicle!”

Bucky felt a small tug on his shirt, and looked down to see you pulling him towards the door. “Bucky, come on!”

“Where we goin’ now?” he asked, chuckling.

“Somewhere else,” you said promptly. “They’re being mean.”

When you and Bucky reached the elevator, you attempted to press the button, but you were just a few feet too short. Scrunching your nose, you jumped up with all of your might, but the button seemed miles away!

Bucky’s finger poised itself on top of the button. “You want me to-”

“No!” you shouted, stomping once. “I wanna do it!”

You tried hopping up a few more times, but gave up. “You can do it,” you said dejectedly, grabbing hold of Bucky’s leg.

~~~~~~

“No, no, no, Y/N,” he said frantically, grabbing you around your waist and lifting you up before the weights could fall on your little feet that Tony cursed. “That’s not safe.”

“Bucky!” you whined, trying to wriggle out of his tight grasp. “Wanna play!”

“I thought you wanted to read a book!” he groaned, quickly walking, with struggling you in his arms, out of the gym.

“Now I want to play!” you exclaimed.

“Well, we can’t play if you’re gonna be bad and run into dangerous places, doll,” he said sternly.

You seemed to ponder this for a moment, staying still, then twisted your head to give Bucky your biggest, most adoring eyes. Crap.

“I promise I’ll be good,” you said in a pleading tone, tilting your head down. “Very good.”

“Very good?” Bucky asked absently, his resistance cracking under the fact that your eyes have become the size of plates and were shimmering in that way only anime people do. As you nodded eagerly, he sighed in defeat. “Alright, but how about we play somewhere safer?”

“Okay,” you said, pressing your cheek to Bucky’s chest. The corner of his mouth twitched as he kicked open the door to what he thought was his own room.

Nope, it was Thor’s.

And apparently, he felt the need to provide his room with protection, which was understandable, even with Tony’s high tech security system.

“Puppy!” you cried out with glee, pointing at a-

“WHAT THE FU….HECK IS THAT THING?” Bucky yelled pulling you out of the room.

As he closed the door, Bucky panted as if he had just woken up from one of his nightmares, which was sort of true. You, on the other hand, were bouncing up and down as if you just had spotted a really cute kitten, which really depended on your sanity. “I wanna see the puppy!”

“That ain’t no puppy, doll,” Bucky replied breathlessly. “Puppies don’t breathe fire.”

“I wanna see the puppy that breathes fire!”

Picking you, and himself, up, he began walking towards the right directions to his room, while you rested your chin on his shoulder in defeat.

Once you got there, you wiggled out of his grip and searched his room, looking for something, anything, fun. After a few minutes of turning over throw pillows, peeking behind the couch, and attempting to see on top of shelves, you sat down, legs crossed, with a pout on your face.

“Aw, doll, don’t be like that,” Bucky cooed, kneeling down in front of you. “What do you wanna do?”

“Something fun,” you grumbled, glaring at the ground.

“Like what?” Bucky pressed, leaning closer.

You pursed your lips, deep in thought, when one idea made a grin light up your entire face...

~~~~~~

“Hey, Terminator!” Tony yelled, the door to Bucky’s room clicking open with him. “How’s it…”

The said super soldier glared daggers at the silent billionaire. “One word, Stark. I dare you.”

“Aw, you look so pretty Bucky!” you squealed excitedly, tightening the pink bow you had just tied to one of his many braids. “Doesn’t he look pretty?”

Tony blinked, wondering if the cons outweighed the pros of him dying from splitting his sides. As Bucky’s glare deepened, he gulped and decided it did. “Yes, Y/N, he looks very, um, attractive. Just like Barbie.”

Oh, crap.

You clapped your hands excitedly. “Uh huh! Don’t move, Bucky. Imma get my sparkle gun!” With that, you gleefully ran towards the supply kit on the couch. As soon, as your back turned, however, Tony knew he was a dead man.

“BARBIE, HUH?” Bucky yelled, holding a shaving razor above the screaming billionaire’s head. “LET’S SEE HOW ATTRACTIVE YOU LOOK RIGHT AFTER I SHAVE YOUR HEAD, YOU FU-”

“Bucky!” you cried out, eyes wide. The super soldier craned his head to face your betrayed expression, which instantly made his grip on Tony falter, giving the dead man a chance to scamper away. “You-you…”

“Doll, what is it?” he asked, dropping the shaving razor to crawl back to you. “What’d I do wrong? Is my hair ruined? You can fix it, right?”

“You moved!” you hollered, falling to the ground. “You weren’t supposed to!”

Bucky could only watch helplessly as you rolled on the ground, crying because he moved from his spot. If it was anyone else, even you in the right age, he would have shut them off without another thought. But with you…

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said gently, pulling you into his arms. Sniffling, you hugged him tightly, burying your wet face into his cheek. “I shouldn’t’ve moved. Is there anything I can do to make up for it? Maybe I can get you a candy bar?”

You looked up at him imploringly. “Pop-Tarts?”

He grinned. “Sure.”

~~~~~~

“What do you mean, you ate them all?” Bucky asked, attempting to keep his temper in check.

Thor sighed, shaking his head sympathetically. “I truly do apologize, Brother Barnes. In truth, perhaps my daily intake of the sweet pastry has gone a bit farther than intended. But, one cannot argue with the delightful simplicity-”

“Can I have my Pop-Tart now?” you said, tugging on Bucky’s arm impatiently. “I’m really hungry.”

Bucky took a deep breath, closing his eyes, before crouching down to meet your eyes. “Doll...I hate to say this...but-”

“No more Pop-Tarts?” you stuttered, lip quivering.

“No, no, no, no, doll, there are Pop-Tarts,” he assured, picking you up. Bucky turned a heated stare towards the god’s direction. “You’re coming with me to get them.”

“I...am not sure that is a good idea,” Thor said uncertainly. “Stark has banned me from-”

“I don’t care what Stark banned you from,” Bucky hissed, repositioning your body. “You’re coming with me to get as many Pop-Tarts as Y/N wants, and help protect her in case we get caught by some not-so-friendlies. Got that, Blondie?”

Thor nodded, his smile now slightly forced. As the super soldier began to walk away, the Asgardian cleared his throat abruptly. “Um, Brother Barnes?”

He whirled around, his glare growing dangerously. “Yes?”

The thunderer hesitantly pointed a finger at the man’s hair, which was still in braids and covered in ribbons, beads, and sparkles. “Are you going to...make yourself presentable?”

Bucky’s gaze flew to his hair, but he rolled his eyes. “I look great.”

“Yay!” you exclaimed happily, hugging Bucky’s neck. “I knew you liked it!”

~~~~~~

Maybe bringing Thor to the grocery store wasn’t such a good idea.

Within every few feet, some fan of his sees him, starts screaming their head off, and rushes to get his autograph. Not to mention, you were getting more and more frightened of each one.

“OHMYGOD, IT’S REALLY YOU!” this black-haired girl screamed, right after Thor had just finished spending a few seconds with another fan. She ran up to him, and held up her phone pleadingly. “Can...I get a pic?”

Thor laughed, obviously used to the attention. “But of course, fair maiden!”

Bucky sighed sharply, squinting at the nutrition labels at the Cookies and Creme flavored Pop-Tart. The daily sugar intake these days, dang..

“Bucky, get them to stop,” you whimpered, hiding your face in Bucky’s shirt. “Their voices are so big.”

“So are your eyes,” he replied, poking your nose. “Thor!” he called out in a hostile voice, towards the direction of the Asgardian currently smiling at a phone.

“Yes, Brother Barnes?” he asked, chuckling as the girl showed him their picture.

“Get your Asgardian as-behind here right now!”

Thor looked apologetically at the black-haired girl, who looked like she was about to swoon. “This is where I say my good-byes, fair maiden. I bid thee-”

“I SAID NOW, GOLDILOCKS!”

“Coming!”

As Thor loaded the cart with about half of all the Pop-Tart boxes the store had in stock, the same black-haired girl giggled as she noticed Bucky’s hair. She held her phone up, ready to take a picture, but it was at that moment that you spotted her.

Being a child and all, you really didn’t know anything except fun, food, books, and Bucky, not in that particular order. Food obviously came first.

But you could share food. You did not like sharing Bucky.
Especially if the person you were sharing him with only wanted to make fun of him.

Which was exactly why you decided to pick up Thor’s hammer, which was just laying on the child’s seat of the cart, and threw it at her foot.

“WHAT THE CROWLEY?” she screeched, jumping up and down. “MOM!”

As she ran off, you giggled to yourself. “Fun.”

~~~~~~

Loki tapped his chin thoughtfully, wondering if that was what would really happen if he were to cast the de-aging spell on you. If so, then you would most likely be closer to that dimwitted soldier than ever.

Nonetheless, he sighed deeply, Barnes did do his best to make you happy. And since that’s all he wanted as well, then you being with the super-soldier would satisfy him greatly.

However, mischief never did anyone too much harm...

Chapter Text

“It was your fault.”

“No, I believe this was your fault.”

“I don’t care, I’m blaming you.”

“Well, I may be the god of lies, but I am most certainly not blaming this on myself.”

“Did you think about those words before you said it?”

The trickster and the super soldier stared down at the charred remains of the costume regretfully. It was a silly fight, really. This morning, Loki had confiscated all twenty-two PopTart packs that Thor planned to share with Jane on a picnic, and Bucky stole Steve’s shield while he was training. Together, they wanted to hide them, in retaliation for the fact that Thor and Steve beat you in your most favorite game in the world: Chutes and Ladders.

Dang, the things they’d do for you…

Unfortunately, they argued about the best place to hide them, and since the temper level of these two weren’t exactly very long...well, you get it. Couches caught fire, pictures were stabbed, and Bucky got himself stuck to a magnet while Loki’s helmet was glued to his head. And the costumes you made for them were in the line of fire.

You were so excited the day you finished them, so eager to show your two best friends off at Comic-Con to all the jerks who pushed kids out of line. Initially, you had planned to have them dress up at X-Men, Loki being Iceman, Bucky being Wolverine.

After spending so much time on their suits, you didn’t really have much more to make your own, so you opted for asking Pietro if you could borrow his clothes, which always smelled really good. However, you were still more excited for how people were going to react in seeing the actual Bucky and Loki dressed up as X-Men.

The super soldier shook his head. “What are we gonna do?”

Loki sighed, bowing his head in defeat. “Perhaps I can fix it?” he suggested half-heartedly, knowing full well that it will never be the great creation you had made it to be.

“HOLY NACHOS, WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?” Clint’s voice came at the doorway as he walked in, a peanut butter jar in his hand, and Nat trailing behind. “It looks like the Hulk busted out!”

Bucky covered his head in his hands and leaned against the wall. “Long story,” he replied, in a hoarse voice.

Nat’s eyes narrowed as she pointed at the pieces of charred clothing in front of Loki. “That’s not...the costume Y/N made for you, right?”

Loki’s gaze lingered on your costume, his mind dreading the heartbroken look on your face when you see what has become of your beautiful masterpiece. He usually didn’t care about how mortals felt when he was up to his usual mischief, but you were a involuntary exception.

Perhaps it was because you were the only one to listen to him when he had nightmares, same as the Winter Soldier, or help him when he didn’t understand how those stupid mortal devices worked, also similar to the Winter Soldier.

He didn’t want to be guilty...But the feeling came.

The Asgardian dropped to his knees, picking the charred costume up with his thumb and index finger. He sighed helplessly. “This was all my fault,” he muttered.

Oblivious to Nat’s and Clint’s dropped jaws, Bucky shook his head violently. “No, it’s mine.”

Getting up, Loki turned a heated stare in the soldier’s direction. “The blame is clearly mine, Barnes.”

“Uh huh, yeah, no, it’s-”

“Guys, guys!” Clint exclaimed, waving his hands after he got over his apparent shock that Loki was blaming someone other than everyone around him. “If you don’t want Y/N to set her “Look at me, you made me sad” eyes on you, then just do what I do!”

“That would be?” Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.

The archer grinned cheerfully. “Blame it on Tony!”

As the two other men blinked, Clint cupped his hands and faced the doorway. “TONY! YOU’RE GONNA BE IN BIG TROUBLE!”

“OKAY!” the billionaire screamed back from the next room.

Clint turned back to his gaping audience and snapped his fingers. “Problem solved.”

“WAIT A MINUTE,” Tony yelled, his voice echoing through the hall. “WHAT DID I DO?”

“We’re goners,” Bucky groaned, banging his head on the wall.

“Hey, guys!”

Loki sent a glare in the super soldier’s direction. “You just had to speak, didn’t you?”

You popped out of the doorway excitedly, fully decked out in Pietro’s official mission clothing, which was a little big for you, but you still looked cute, and you had even dyed your hair silver-white for the occasion. Both Bucky and Loki gulped as you bounded in, running a hand through your hair.

“Piet insisted that his hair color was an effect of his mutation, but I’ve seen the evidence proving otherwise,” you cackled. “Are you guys in your costumes ye-e..”

Silence.

“It was Tony,” Clint said.

Whack! “Ow, Nat!”

Your knees gave way as your unblinking eyes took in the sight of the beautiful X-Men costumes you had created, burned to charred remains. It seemed as if your brain was having so much trouble comprehending the situation that it had no say in what your body did.

“What...what happened?” you whimpered, fingering the sooty material. “It was fine this morning…”

Natasha carefully kneeled down next to you, watching your expression. She placed a hand on your shoulder, in an attempt to soothe your obviously hurt feelings, but you pushed her away with a furious rage only equal to the Hulk, or Loki whenever someone touched his books.

“TONY!” you screamed, storming into the next room, where the inventor was happily upgrading the microwave. “YOU’RE A DEAD MAN!”

Clint shook his head sadly as you stomped away. “I’m gonna miss that guy.”

“Y/N...Y/N, wait!” Bucky cried, running after you. “It...It was my fault!”

You stopped in your tracks, anger forgotten. Slowly turning around, you faced Bucky with the most hurt expression imaginable, complete with a quivering lip and tearing eyes. “What?”

“It was my fault as well,” Loki admitted, walking up next to the super soldier. He bowed his head, unable to face you directly. “I...I apologize.”

Flicking your gaze to the ground, you kicked away a pen nearby. “If you didn’t want to go with me, then you probably should have just said so,” you explained in a hollow voice. Tears threatened to break the confines of your eyes as you spoke.

“No, no, no, no,” Loki and Bucky both shook their heads frantically, not wanting to make you even more upset. “We wanted to go-” Bucky began.

“-but we got into a argument-”

“-about stupid stuff-”

“-and your wonderfully crafted costumes just...happened to be in the line of fire,” Loki finished, his voice catching at the end.

“So…” You sniffled a bit before daring to look up. “It was an accident?”

As they nodded eagerly, you closed your eyes, sighing in relief. “I can’t be mad at you guys,” you said, smiling up at them. Loki gave you a pitying look before reaching over to wipe away the tears that have escaped to your cheeks.

“So...you’re just gonna blame it on Tony?” Clint suggested hopefully.

“Sure,” you grinned, before turning your face towards the next room. “TONY! I’M GONNA KILL YOU LATER!”

“OKAY!” he screamed back. “WHAT IS IT THAT I DID AGAIN?”

“What are we going to do about the costumes?” Bucky asked, his brows furrowing.

You sighed, shrugging. “Guess you guys’ll just...have to go without them,” you said, your voice lowering. Sighing, you shook your head. “Too bad,” you murmured.

“Wait,” Loki exclaimed, holding up a finger to get your attention. “There is...one other option.”

Looking up at him hopefully, you nodded to signal him to continue. “I have recently learned a spell that allows for shapeshifting. Perhaps I could cast it on myself and Barnes to completely immerse ourselves in the forms you wished to conform us to?”

Bucky silently agreed, nodding his head, then turned to you. Your reaction was the opposite of what he expected it to be. “But then nobody would be able to realize that it was you,” you said, pursing your lip.

Suddenly, your eyes lit up. “Can you do a spell that makes a person their opposite gender?”

“The Gender-Swap spell?” Loki asked, smirking. “That was the first spell I was able to teach myself. Gave Frigga and Thor quite a fright.”

You jumped up and down, clapping your hands excitedly. “Do that one on you and Bucky! Pretty please? People would be able to recognize you, and it’ll be totally bomb! Please?”

“Can’t ignore a pretty please,” Bucky said under his breath, sighing in defeat.

“No, indeed,” Loki agreed, before beginning to chant the words to the spell.

~~~~~~

“COMIC-CON!” you yelled at the top of your lungs, seeing the big sign right after you exited Tony’s limousine. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!”

“This is the worst day of my life,” Bucky grumbled, already able to spot a throng of guys his own age, and much less attractive than his male-self, he thought, blatantly checking him out.

“We’re doing this for Y/N, Barnes,” Loki said, stepping out of the car. He ignored the fact that the guys previously watching Bucky were now gaping at him, and Bucky could understand. As a girl, Loki was pretty hot. Then again, according to you, the three most attractive guys on the team were Loki, Bucky, and Pietro.

Pietro was ranked number one.

He tried to ignore that.

Tony had a bit harder time doing so. He spent ten hours locked in a broom closet, crying and eating ice cream, complaining about how hot it was in there and why the air conditioner didn’t reach the closet while choking on his tears.

Maybe how hot you looked as your opposite gender was based on how you looked normally? Probably. It would help him understand why you were always begging one of the three guys you ranked to go with you whenever you were going to meet with one of your old high school friends. A few days later, they all started questioning about why your boyfriend’s name, looks, and accent kept changing.

“He eats a lot of marshmallows,” you claimed, which really didn’t answer the question...or had anything to do with it...but you refused to say anything else.

“Come on, guys!” you exclaimed, dragging both men-oops, girls-to the entrance. After you were able to get inside, you rushed through, speeding around slow-moving costumed fans like you were actually Pietro. Bucky and Loki rushed after you, attempting to ignore the obvious stares people gave them.

Bucky flitted his eyes to the side, and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor when he saw ten (TEN!) guys and girls, all dressed up like him. Only three or four had the arm somewhat looking like his, and even fewer had the hair remotely right.

One girl caught his gaze and eyed his costume, rolling her eyes afterwards, obviously not impressed. Bucky resisted a smug grin in realizing that he was the only real thing there.

Loki was having a similar problem, the only difference was that it was slightly reversed. He was the one scoffing at all of the Loki cosplays, grumbling about how “a bilgesnipe hide looked more similar to Asgardian leather than those atrocities,” and how “they were all saying “KNEEL” weakly and in a way that is completely unfitting for a king.”

Neither of them had realized that you had stopped before it was too late. They collided on each other and were sprawled to the ground, but you had not moved, too busy gaping at the fact that Chris Hemsworth was walking around in his full Thor regalia, and the people around him not batting an eye.

“Y/N,” Loki began, but you were already on your way to greet the celebrity with eagerness.

“MR. HEMSWORTH!” you screamed, waving your hand in the air while rushing as fast as your feet could carry you. “IS IT TRUE THAT YOU’RE SECRETLY A REINCARNATION OF ELVIS PRESLEY?”

Both Loki and Bucky blinked in confusion. However, their second of bewilderment cost them dearly, as in the next three milliseconds, they had lost their sight on you.

“Crap,” Bucky muttered, before attempting to push his-sorry, her-way through the thickening crowd. “Y/N! Y/N, where are you?”

“There’s no need to panic,” Loki commented, though inside, he was thoroughly panicked. “We’ll find Y/N. It cannot be too difficult. Look! There she is now!”

His finger pointed to the back of someone with the hairstyle you donned, silver color and all, that even had the speedster’s clothes. Bucky ran over and put his metal hand on your shoulder-only to be faced by a very familiar Sokovian.

“Pietro?” Bucky said in disbelief, backing away. The mutant grinned and waved his hand in hello.

“I thought I’d find you two here!” he said cheerily, his thick accent clearly visible. “Where is Y/N?”

“We don’t-wait...How’d you know it was us?” Bucky asked, furrowing his brows.

Pietro raised his own eyebrows, reaching out to tap Bucky’s metal arm and motion towards Loki’s long hair. “Believe me when I say that I know a genuine costume when I see it. I’ve had to suffer watching little boys strut around in horrendous costumes of me!” he cried. “They were cute, yes, but my hair certainly does not have any green stripes-”

“Do you mind helping us in our search for Y/N? We lost her,” Loki interrupted.

The speedster sighed, shaking his head. “I apologize, but I am due to compete in a Pietro Maximoff cosplay contest in five minutes.”

Bucky rolled his eyes.

“But good luck in your search!” he said brightly, before dashing off.

“Pietro Maximoff cosplay contest,” Loki mocked.

“Forget about him,” Bucky grumbled. “Let’s just-”

As he turned around, the super soldier crashed right into the hard chest of a man just a bit taller than him. As Bucky looked up, however, he realized that this man was the same height he was when he was a guy…

“Crap,” he muttered.

“I am so sorry!” the man apologized, taking hold of Bucky’s shoulders. At this his eyes narrowed, but the man didn’t seem to notice, as he was too busy checking Bucky’s body for injuries. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Don’t touch me,” Bucky hissed, backing away.

Btw, the guy looked exactly like Bucky, plus he was donning the classic Winter Soldier costume, with details that made it almost identical to the one Bucky has. Scratch that, it looked exactly like his costume. So he had a very valid reason to be pissed.

The man blinked at his sudden rudeness, but apparently forgot all about it once he began eyeing Bucky’s clothes. “Dang, that it...a really good costume!” he exclaimed, holding out his hand. “What’s your name?”

“Um…”

“Bertha,” Loki interjected, a smug grin on his face. “Her name is Bertha.”

He took a look at Loki and took another double take. “Holy Hannah, both of your costumes are amazing! Did you make them yourselves?”

“Our friend made them,” Bucky said slowly, still suspicious of him. “We’re looking for her.”

“If you want, I can help,” the man offered, smiling slightly.

“NO!” both men yelled at the same time, much to his surprise.

Loki took a deep breath before reluctantly smiling at the mortal he wanted to smite so much for interrupting them in their search for you. “No, thank you. I think we’ll be able to manage.”

The man’s smile twisted into a smirk. “Not taking no for an answer, sorry about that.” He wrapped an arm around Bucky’s shoulders, thus leading to his urge to punch the lights out of this guy. The super soldier could rely on no help from the Asgardian, who was enjoying his discomfort with great vigor.

“So, what does your friend look like?” he asked.

“She’s dressed as Pietro,” Bucky said with a stoic tone. “She even cut her hair to each of his exact measurements.”

“Y/N was chasing after a man dressed as my bro-Thor,” Loki supplied.

“Bro-Thor,” the man snickered. “You mean Chris, right?”

Bucky’s face scrunched up in concentration. “I-I think I see her-”

“HOLY BISCUITS!” another man’s voice exclaimed behind them. “Your Lady Loki cosplay is so eerily accurate!”

“Tom!” the man with his arm around Bucky said happily, turning around in delight. The one standing behind them looked exactly like Loki’s male form-except for the fact that his grin practically radiated happiness.

And we all know that Loki don’t smile like that.

“Tom” reached over and lightly punched the man’s arm affectionately. “I assure Sebastian wasn’t giving you two too many problems?” he asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“He was touching me,” Bucky muttered in a low tone.

“Sebastian,” not hearing Bucky’s statement, chuckled and shook his head. “Tom, I swear, I was completely civil with them.”

“He was touching me,” Bucky repeated.

Tom laughed and stepped around Sebastian, offering both of his hands to Bucky and Loki with a genuine smile. “Hi. I’m Tom.”

“Don’t touch me,” Bucky growled.

In response to Tom’s look of embarrassment, Loki smirked and motioned his head at Bucky. “She doesn’t like to be touched,” he said helpfully. “Especially when she’s staying in character.”

“Oh! Of course!” Sebastian exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead. “For a second there, I really thought that you just really hated me!”

“Then that means we have to stay in character as well,” Tom said, elbowing his friend.

“I, for one, can’t wait to see this,” Loki chuckled.

Suddenly, in that one millisecond before Tom turned his head to face Loki, his entire demeanor changed. It’s as if all of the light so happily present in the last few minutes instantly drained out of him and was replaced by a mass of darkness, just waiting for an excuse to be released.

“Oh? Why so, mortal?” he whispered, moving closer. “Are you really so eager as to watch me choose how to best make you kneel before me?”

Loki rolled his eyes, unimpressed, as Tom began circling around him. “Power, darling, that’s how I will do so. Because as much as you wish to resist…”

Tom stopped to speak quietly and threateningly into Loki’s ear. “Your kind will always bow.”

“Please,” Loki scoffed, momentarily surprising the actor. “Thor is more like me than you are. A ROCK is more like me than you are.”

“Oh, snap!” a passing Iron Man said, his arms full of Wolverine merchandise.

“Come, now, Barnes,” Loki growled, grabbing Bucky’s metal arm. “Let us continue our search for Y/N.”

“We’re coming as well,” Tom said, stepping in time with the trickster.

Scowling, Loki intentionally tried to trip the grinning mortal, but apparently, his grace was far more than it appeared, for he sidestepped his foot easily. “Truly, it would be our pleasure.”

Sebastian smirked, linking his arm with Bucky, who was now more terrified than angry that the man was touching him again. “Can’t leave two ladies like you two all alone at a comic-con, now can we?”

~~~~~~Extended Ending~~~~~~

“I still feel like this is too much,” Pietro commented, squinting at the two struggling men held by the two actors.

You scoffed. “After destroying my costumes? No way, Maximoff. Plus, I’m getting paid to get back at them for hiding Thor and Steve’s stuff.”

“And you said you’d give me some of your share. Thirty percent, I believe,” he added.

“Exactly,” you replied, grinning maliciously. “You wanna go to that go-kart racing place next door? So we can give Laufeyson and Barnes a little alone time with Hiddleston and Stan?”

Pietro shook his head, chuckling. “I still don’t know how you managed to befriend two actors. And convince them to try to make Loki and Bucky as uncomfortable as possible. And how you came up with this very unnecessarily elaborate plan.”

“I still don’t know why you have to insist that your hair color was because of your mutation.”

“.....”

Chapter Text

Once, there was a man. An Asgardian, if you should wish to be specific. A green-eyed, magic-casting, internally torn and a secretly-frost-giant Asgardian. So he wasn’t really a man. More of a god. Or a demigod, if you wanna get into specifics. Which I won’t.

Anyways, this man was known throughout Earth to be a wanted war criminal, this being an effect of the fact that this guy tried to enslave all of humanity. Stupid, right? If he wanted to enslave a race of less irrational beings, he probably should have just yelled at rocks to kneel. They wouldn’t obey, but they wouldn’t fight back.

If they did, that’d be weird.

Both obeying and fighting back.

How would that look like?

“Dad,” you sighed, rubbing your temples. “Do you seriously have to narrate this entire story?”

Your father whirled around, a silent glare on his face. Rolling your eyes, you got the message loud and clear: don’t interrupt or he’ll start over.

After a few moments, he turned back to the window, clearing his throat, and continued his story…

Earth’s main force of protection, known as SHIELD, made the decision that the Asgardian would atone for his crimes by working with the people who made his defeat inevitable, the Avengers. Any by work, they meant actually helping the people whom he previously tried to enslave. Kind of a bummer for him, right?

But then again, the decision was plenty merciful, much more than he deserved, considering that he did kill a lot of people in his quest for a kingdom. He was given a place in the tower in which the Avengers resided, but that did not necessarily mean he had to be grateful, that old washcloth.

“That’s a terrible insult,” you retorted.

The Asgardian wasn’t necessarily thankful for the fact that he wasn’t the subject of a death penalty. In fact, the moment he stepped into the tower, he intended to make the lives of his “captors” as difficult as possible.

“Dramatic sting,” you whispered.

He played all sorts of nasty pranks on them, some of which include snake illusions in the shower and hiding the chocolate stash behind the prune juice. Unforgivable.

One day, the Avengers decided, as a unit, that the Asgardian’s behavior will never change, considering that he was the Norse god of mischief, but they could take revenge.

“Another dramatic sting,” you said in a low voice.

Revenge, they thought, would be sweet. But unfortunately, the trickster could not be tricked easily, as he practically knew all the tricks in the book, all of which were simple tricks up his sleeve.

“Unnecessary repetition,” you said, shivering.

They continued to suffer underneath the trickster’s dark cloak of mischief-

“Oh. Nice one.”

-unable to fend for themselves against the magic their captor held, which loomed over them constantly like blanket of darkness-

“Take him out of the oven, cause he’s on fire!”

...Like a blanket of darkness. And so, they were left to despair. That is, most of them were left to despair. There was one team member left, one whose patience was longer than the others, one who was determined to give the trickster what he deserved.

The Reader.

“Not the reader!” you yelped, throwing your pencil in the air.

That’s right, the Reader. The most feared, loved, hated, and needed character in most fanfictions. Well, Character/Reader fanfics, really. In this story, she happens to be a fellow Avenger, one of the more patient ones on the team . Before, the Reader wanted to talk things out with the Asgardian, hoping he’d see hers and the Avengers’ point of view on his pranks.

Unfortunately, he didn’t.

So, naturally, it was war.

“GIRL POWER!”

Reader sneaked into the Asgardian’s room one day, when he and the rest of the Avengers were in a meeting with Fury. It would take at least two hours, which would have bored Reader to death had she not made herself disappear at the last second. Tony said he would cover for her, but that she had better make the time worth it.

Oh, she would.

~~~~~~
“Dad-”

“Not now, sugar, I’m putting a break here so I could eat my muffin.”

“Can I have some?”

“No, it’s my muffin. Get your own.”

“You ate all of them and left me tofu bars.”

“They’re healthy! Go eat em!”

“Well, if they’re so good, why don’t you eat them?”

“What, you crazy? I ain’t going near anything that disgusting!”
~~~~~~

The Asgardian trudged through the hall to get to the elevator without destroying anything. Honestly, it wasn’t too hard, as the two hours spent simply listening to that cursed man speak on and on about...whatever it was they were talking about.

Perhaps he’ll ask the captain later. He always seemed to be paying attention.

“Why are you talking all weird all of a sudden? Like you’re British or something?”

Fine. He didn’t care about what the pirate was talking about, so he didn’t pay attention. Later, he’s gonna pretend to care by asking the Star Spangled Banner what he missed, then pretend to pay attention to that, and then forget about it two seconds later!

Anyways, he opened the door to his room, breathing in the familiar scent-

“Familiar scent,” you snickered.

The familiar scent that became his only source of comfort in these dark times, other than his books.

His books…

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly for the briefest second as he slowly made his way to his bookshelf. His thumb brushed the bindings gently, taking in the soft, velvety touch the books offered physically. Emotionally, they were always able to give him a source of escapism from this ignorant realm.

His finger stopped on an emerald book with a gold binding, titled A Separate Peace. Perfect, he thought, a smile finally able to fully take residence on his lean face. Not too recent, just right.

He tilted it, but it seemed to be stuck. Furrowing his brow, the Asgardian grabbed the book tighter, and pulled with all of his might.

No.

It can’t be.

The god began to frantically attempt to pull out some of his other books, all of which refused to move. With each book, his breathing became more laboured, more frantic, more desperate. His books were all that he had here, to have them like this…

“NO!” he yelled, pulling away. With a wild look in his eye, he stepped back, his green eyes turning darker by the second. In the second he seemed ready to throw a tantrum that would level the building...his eyes promptly rolled to the back of his head, and he crumpled to the floor.

And that is how you trick the trickster.

“...Dad, that was a really nice story and all, but, um, I’m supposed to be doing a report of Greek mythology, not tricksters. I don’t know how you misheard it, but...”

“Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood…”

Chapter Text

When his emerald eyes first shot open, everything was unfocused and hazy. After blinking a few times, the scene’s details became sharper, but the situation grew no clearer. He laid in a bed with dirty white sheets and a very uncomfortable pillow.

He tried to get up, but the effort it took was much more than the strength he had, which apparently wasn’t much. Falling back, he winced as his back collided with the bedframe painfully. He blinked rapidly, craning his head to take a look out the open window, which was almost as dirty as his sheets, if not more.

Aside from being filthy, the window was also covered in claw marks, as if some kind of animal opened it. He tried to move again, testing out the waters by sitting up. When that didn’t end painfully, he slowly swung his feet off the bed and onto the floor.

After a few moments, he was able to walk without much exhaustion, so he went over to the window. He squinted out at the scene before him: a seemingly empty town, with signs fallen, windows cracked, and doors heavily chained. It didn’t seem very familiar.

In fact, he thought, shaking his head, absolutely nothing seemed familiar. Where was he? Why was he here?

More importantly, who was he?

“Who am I?” he asked out loud.His voice sounded incredibly hoarse, as if he hasn’t used it for several years. Nobody answered.

He blinked hard, pushing the last bit of sleep out of his system before turning to walk out the door, which was blocked by a desk and a few chairs. Pushing them out of the way, he noted how tightly they were stacked together, how it seemed like they were used to keep something out.

If that was the reason, he wondered, how is it that I’m the only one in the room? Wouldn’t that person still be here?

“No time to wonder that,” he muttered, kicking the last chair out of the way. He pushed open the door to reveal the hallway that was more tattered, more filthy, and certainly darker than his room. The light from his window shone into the hallway, but the darkness still seemed to dominate the vast alley.

Walking through, he swiveled his head side to side, noticing little off details, such as the multitude of claw marks on the wall near the floor. He didn’t know where he was, but something told him that the hospital’s current state was not its original’s.

Suddenly, a crash sounded through behind him, its sound resonating through the long hallway. His body froze. Instinctively, his eyes flitted around the room, looking for potential weapons and possible exits should they be needed.

There was another crash, but this one sounded extremely close. He had two choices: one, he could run down the hallway and hope to find an exit, or he can face whatever was following him with that doll sitting on a broken chair. He glanced at the doll once, then fled down the hallway.

~~~~~~

After walking a bit, he came up to an empty suburban neighborhood and spied some clothes hanging by a clothesline, all ready to be folded and put away. But by the looks of it, the owners have abandoned their home and all their things, rushing out of the house without another thought. The clothing he wore chafed uncomfortably, but luckily one of the faded green shirts and black jeans fit him snugly.

As he fingered the fabric, his mind began to clear as he thought about what might have occurred for this world to end up so barren. The answer must have been in his memory, but sadly, that could not be reached.

The back of his neck pricked just as soon as the wind stopped blowing, and the silence...grew into something else. His fingers froze on the buttons of his shirt, and he momentarily forgot how to breathe.

“Mew.”

He heard it, and immediately, his shoulders sagged with relief. For a second there, he was genuinely worried...

If he had chosen to turn around that moment, no doubt he would have been able to see the the arrow that had made its appearance known a split second earlier with the unmistakable thwip of a released bowstring. The cat behind him yowled, and that was the moment in which he made the mistake of turning around.

The kitten looked pathetic, its gigantic blue eyes shimmering with a wave of impaled innocence, while the noises it made sounded utterly helpless. After briefly looking at the arrow lodged in its chest, it reached its tiny paw towards him, and, as if he couldn’t control his own body, he began reaching out to it…

The bowstring resonated again, but this time, the arrow had embedded itself in the loose fabric of his shirt, thus swinging him away from the kitten. Obviously startled by the sudden arrow, the kitten hissed loudly, and the spell the kitten had on him, he felt at the moment, was broken. He didn’t even know how it was a spell, but for some reason, the sensation he felt, he was certain, was one of a spell.

In his state of shock, his eyes fell to its forehead, where a strange marking lay, a marking that seemed too familiar...

“Move, man!” a man’s voice from a feet away hollered frantically. “Move!”

That man’s voice...he’d heard it before as well.

~~~~~~

“Why isn’t he moving?” Clint said furiously, working another arrow into his makeshift bow.

Steve let out a quick breath before tightening his grip on his shield and adjusting his earplugs, which was designed by Tony to block out any sounds above a human’s capable frequency ability. “He probably doesn’t know what it is, Barton. We gotta help him.”

“Not know what it is?” Clint exclaimed. “What, was he asleep for seventy years?”

“We don’t know that,” Steve retorted.

“How is he even alive?” Pietro whispered, watching as the kitten dragged itself towards its target, who was helping by freezing in place. “We have bathed in eucalyptus oil, but he-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Steve interrupted, putting a hand on the speedster’s shoulder. “You get him, I’ll distract it.”

Pietro nodded once, and in the next second, was gone in a silver blur. The super soldier took a deep breath before making sure his arm-guards were in place. He jumped out of his hiding place and threw his shield in the kitten’s direction.

His aim wasn’t quite like Clint’s, but it was accurate enough to the point where the kitten got a good mouthful of adamantium-vibranium metal. The shield knocked it over a few feet, but it didn’t seem too affected, just maybe a little more angry.

Steve caught his shield as it went flying back to him, but made sure to keep the attention of the recovering cat. From the corner of his eye, he spied Pietro stopping to grab the man, then zipping away. If his full attention was on that one moment, he would have gotten a nasty claw to the face.

He bashed the cat with the shield full on, and drove it into the ground. Immediately, it popped back up, and spat a wad of saliva onto his boots. And yes, their saliva was poisonous.

“Shiitake mushrooms,” he muttered sharply, quickly kicking off his boot and hurling it as far as he could. The cat hissed at him, trying to follow as he ran towards him companions, but Clint managed to shoot another arrow, this time in its mouth.

“What do I do with him?” Pietro asked, poking the man in the cheek experimentally, as he skidded to a stop next to Clint. “He does not seem to be infected.”

“Run! Run!” he called out frantically. “To the bike!”

“Why the bike?” Clint whined, shouldering his bow. “I hate riding in that small side-car!”

Suddenly, a low growl resonated through the street of the neighborhood, shaking the streets every so slightly, but vibrated enough to be noticeable.

Clint gulped visibly. “Steve, you drive.”

~~~~~~

You poked the fire sullenly, wishing Tony hadn’t found out he could create fire using eucalyptus oil and matches. The matches part was obvious, but...well...you were really starting to hate that stupid smell, even if it was the only reason you were still alive.

“Hey, doll?” Bucky’s voice called you out from the porch of the large cabin you and your friends were “borrowing.” “You just gonna sit there and watch the fire, or…”

“Or what, James?” you said, flicking a stray twig into the fire. “Good-bye, twig.”

Bucky stared at you for a moment, then shook his head. “Don’t you want to watch some TV or something?”

“TV?” you questioned.

The super soldier shrugged. “Stark got it to work.”

You barked out a laugh. “In any of the apocalypse movies that you’ve watched, has there ever been a scene where someone’s watching TV like a normal person?”

He blinked. “Stark’s not a normal person. We all know that.”

“How the heck are you always so calm about this stuff?” you exclaimed, throwing another stick into the fire. “It’s literally the freaking apocalypse, and you’re...you’re…”

“James Buchanan Barnes,” he supplied.

“Yes!” you yelled, throwing your hands in the air. “You’re you, whereas I’m...I’m…”

“Y/N M/N Barnes,” he finished. “We’re related.”

“A fact I cherish every day,” you mutter, before getting up to go inside. “What is this about TV?”

“Y/N…” he called, trailing after you. “We’re gonna be fine.”

“How can you tell me that?” you exclaimed, rolling your eyes. “You were the one brainwashed into being an assassin for, like, seventy years!"

Bucky didn’t say anything for a moment, causing you to sigh and cover your head with your hands. “I’m sorry, Bucky,” you whispered. “I just...want us to be okay.”

Bucky stepped in front of you, his mouth turned up with a light-hearted smile. “Doll, it’s gonna be okay. We’re all gonna come out of this with maybe a few bruises here and there, but alive.”

“Pinkie promise?” you inquired, raising the said finger.

Before he could hook his pinkie with yours, footsteps approached the door to the living room. Wanda burst in, panting heavily. “They’re back.”

You stared at her relieved face for a second before darting to the door excitedly.

As the familiar rev of Steve’s motorcycle came closer, you squinted off into the distance, spying your brother’s best friend, Clint, and the team’s speedy demon, seemingly unharmed.

“Who’s that with them?” Bucky asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Who…”

You didn’t notice before, but as they drew closer, the foliage slightly obscuring their visage, you spotted a raven-haired man with them, one who kept staring at the two guys riding the motorcycle with him. Clint shifted uncomfortably, having to share the already tight motor-car with a man with a larger physique than his.

A silver blur passed by them and came close enough to trip you, and you probably would have if it weren’t for your quick reaction, resulting in time slowing down enough for you to push the assailant over.

Pietro spat out dirt and glared up at your laughing face. “Not funny, Y/N.”

“You-you didn’t see that coming?” you choked, tearing up. At the moment, you probably looked a little crazy, laughing like that, but you couldn’t help it. It turned out to be another trip that didn’t end with one of your friends gone.

The speedster blew his hair out of his face, getting up. “Reusing lines isn’t funny, either.”

“OH, THANK GOD!” Clint screamed, jumping out of the tiny car with much difficulty. In the process, he accidentally pushed the raven-haired man out of the car with him, leaving him sprawled on the ground with confusion written on his pale face.

Steve sighed as he locked his bike up with chains against a tree. “Clint…”

“Pietro!” Wanda cheered, grabbing her brother and hugging him by the waist.

“Steve!” Bucky called out.

“Buck, Bruce,” Steve greeted, as the scientist himself walked out of the cabin.

“Natasha!” Clint screamed, backing away from a little duck who thought he was his mother.

“Y/N!” Tony yelled, pushing Thor aside, holding up his broken clock, which you previously messed with.

“I’m Y/N!” you said cheerfully, unaware of the angry billionaire about to throw a clock in your direction.

“Loki.”

Everyone paused in their arguments to look at the raven-haired man, who was currently staring at the ground. He looked up slowly with furrowed eyebrows. “My-my name is Loki.”

“...Good for you, man,” Clint said. “My name’s Clint.”

“Clint,” he mused slowly. “Hawkeye. I-I remember you.”

“How do you know his codename?” Natasha immediately questioned, eyeing him dangerously.

He didn’t answer.

“Wait...what?” Tony asked, turning to face Steve. “Who, pray tell, is that? He reeks!”

“That’s you, Tony,” you piped up.

As Tony lifted his shirt to smell it properly, Steve let out a large breath. “We saw him come out of the hospital we went to for medical supplies. He was just stumbling around, so after we got our supplies, we followed him.”

“He stole some clothes,” Pietro added.

“Yeah,” Clint agreed. “And then we ran into a domestic, but then the guy didn’t run or anything-.”

“That guy’s right here, you know,” you said.

At your voice, the raven-haired man turned to you, and his expression changed into one of shocked recognition. His stare bored into your eyes uncomfortably, but in the back of your mind, there was this little feeling of deja vu, even though you swore you’ve never met…

“Where did you come from, dude? And why the heck didn’t you run from the domestic?” Tony demanded.

He blinked, and the look of utter bewilderment returned on his lean face. “Domestic?”

Time froze for a few seconds, and no, it wasn’t because of you, before Clint let out a low whistle. “Seriously, man, how the heck are you alive?”

The man let out a frustrated sigh. “I-I apologize. I cannot seem to recall what occurred to me before I woke up in that building. Nor can I remember anything about myself.”

“Other than your name?” Bruce questioned.

He shrugged, lifting his chin to squint at the treetops. “I’ve only recalled that just a few moments ago.”

“But you knew Clint’s codename when we used to work for SHIELD,” Nat pressed.

Bowing his head slightly, the man laughed weakly. “I’d love to explain that, but unfortunately, I’ve lost all of my memory, so…”

“...Well, either way, now we got someone else for fire-stoking duty,” Bucky suggested. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“True…” Tony mused.

“Hold on, guys,” Steve interrupted, holding up his hands. “He can only stay if he wants to.”

“Wouldn’t this normally be the part where we’re supposed to argue about if we can trust him or not?” Pietro asked. “I saw it on an American zombie apocalypse show.”

Everyone simultaneously decided to ignore Pietro as his sister swatted his head. “Ow!”

Loki’s gaze flicked back and forth between your friends, before settling on you. “Well...it’s not as if I know where else to go.”

~~~~~~

You were so incredibly happy that the showers worked.

Then again, it was most likely Tony’s doing, since he was one who got most of the stuff to turn on by making a solar energy panel or something, but you didn’t need to inflate that guy’s ego any more.

“HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIIIIDE!” you screamed as you lathered the honey-scented shampoo through your hair. “I MUST HAVE CALLED A THOUSAND TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMES-”

“What are you doing?”

Crap. You had forgotten that you weren’t the only one staying in the cabin that night, after the rest of the team went out to loot a Costco since Clint decided to burn all of the food. Luckily, it wasn’t that much, maybe for three days it would feed the lot of you.

They promised that in exchange for staying home with Loki, you would get to decide what was going to be cooked.

Clint would clean up.

You quickly rinsed out the last bits of suds in your hair before switching the shower off and peeping out of the curtain. Loki stood there, his body partway into the bathroom, and partway in the hall, an irritated look on his face. “Must you sing so loudly?”

Rolling your eyes playfully, you shrugged. “Sorry. Usually, I sing this loud to torture Tony, cause his room is right next door to the this bathroom.”

He blinked. “Why?”

“That guy hogs the bathroom every morning for two hours, man!” you exclaimed, pulling your fluffy towel, courtesy of the owner, from the pole and wrapping it around your body. “It’s the least he deserves!”

Loki nodded hesitantly, to which you smiled in reply and waited for him to go out. He simply continued to fidget where he was. “Is there...anything else I can help you with?” you coughed.

“Do you...have a library?” he asked uncertainly, as if he couldn’t decided if he wanted to go there or not.

“Downstairs, door’s in the hall right next to the staircase,” you answered.”You like to read?”

“I-I suppose,” he said with a furrowed brow. Shaking his head slightly, he cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes. I believe so.”

“Cool!” you exclaimed, excited to have another reader in the team. Sure, there was Bruce, but he usually preferred books that talked about things that would kill your sanity within a few minutes. “How about you let me finish up, and we can walk there together?”

Loki nodded and stepped back outside, gently closing the door in the process.

He leaned against the door, sighing angrily as he ran a hand through his disheveled black hair. For a fact, he knew this girl, and all of her friends. Their voices, speech patterns, names, hobbies, it all seemed so familiar, yours particularly. And that moment when he was so frustrated with it, he wanted to go to a library to empty out his thoughts…

More pointless memory. Loki leaned back, closing his eyes in the process. At any moment, the back of his mind thought, you would come out, and he would fall down at your feet. Nevertheless, he stayed where he was, taking deep breaths to calm his quickening heartbeat.

“At some point, it’ll make sense,” he sighed.

The door opened before he could react, and in the next second, he found himself sprawled to the ground.

Somewhere up above him, he heard a voice laugh gently.

~~~~~~

“So you really can’t remember anything?” you clarified. “Anything at all?”

Loki shook his head adamantly, turning a page in a book his mind deemed as familiar, but his memory deemed new. He slammed it shut, practically throwing it to the table beside him. “There are moments in which I feel as if it’s coming back,” he said slowly. “But...whenever that happens, it’s just bits and pieces that don’t help me all that much.”

“Like, how you knew Clint’s codename in SHIELD?” you questioned. He shrugged helplessly.

“I remember you,” he said quietly.

You stood still for a second, trying to process that. “But…” you managed. “-we’ve never met.”

It came out sounding like a question, since there was that little feeling of deja vu when you first saw the guy. You had insisted to yourself that it was nothing, considering that it was just a feeling, and it wasn’t even that particularly strong. But since he somehow knew you…

“What do you remember about me?” you asked hesitantly.

Loki tapped his fingers to his chin, deep in concentration. “Not much. Just that we’ve met. But I do recall you more strongly than the others.”

“You remember the others?” you asked, flinching. He nodded.

Taking a quick breath, you took a hand on his shoulder and smiled slightly, trying to calm his angry expression. “Hey, it’ll come when it’ll come, alright? Who knows, you might end up being a prince of England or something!”

“God,” he muttered.

You laughed, not realizing how serious he intended his tone to be. Suddenly, your laughter trailed to a stop when your ears picked up a small scratching sound coming from the library door, which remained closed.

“No,” you muttered, your body freezing into place. “I know I stoked the fire…”

Loki shot up, knocking over the chair in the process. Its collision with the floor caused a loud thud to resonate to the corners of the large library. The scratching on the door ceased for a second, but came back, louder than ever as if whatever was outside had returned with a dozen more of its brethren.

Then came the mewling.

The reason why Tony had created those earplugs that modified what sounds you could hear.The adorable, high-pitched, desperate sounding mewling that almost made you want to go over to the door and open it up. In fact, you had taken the first step in doing so, and probably would have continued if it weren’t for Loki, who took hold of your wrist and pushed you towards the unlit fireplace.

“We have to go, Y/N,” he coaxed, pushing apart the bars keeping any books from falling in the fire.

“No...no…” You began to hyperventilate, panicking quickly. “How did they-”

“I don’t know, but in the way Barnes explained those things, I predict that it would be best if we didn’t face them without backup,” he said, his voice getting more urgent as he pulled on your hand. “Come now, Y/N!”

As you were finally able to get your gaze away from the shuddering door, you turned to the fireplace and met with two of the most adorable yet terrifying creatures you’ve ever seen. Quickly, before they could leap at you, Loki picked them up with his shoe and threw them to the other side of the room.

There it was again, he thought, his gaze falling to the forehead of the kittens. The mark. Why couldn’t he remember where he had seen it?

As they hissed, Loki pushed your body to the chimney, which you were able to climb through with ease, thanks to the uneven brick surface. You heard screeches come from the fireplace, resulting in your sudden memory of your powers.

But you needed your hands to be able to work them, and if you let go, you risk knocking over both you and Loki. Finally, your fingers felt the breeze of the cold night air, and you were able to pull yourself up. After hauling Loki up as well, he pointed to Steve’s motorcycle urgently.

“Do you know how to drive that?”

“Nuh uh!” you exclaimed, paling. Both Bucky and Steve tried to teach you, but with you on its seat, the bike somehow ended up in a tree. Loki sighed softly and pointed to Tony’s old tandem bicycle that he bought as a joke.

“What about that?”

~~~~~~

“What are we gonna do?” you cried, pedaling as fast as your weak legs could carry you. Honestly, you had always seen people in the apocalypse as real buff people, because they have to be used to running away and stuff. Honestly, you just used your powers to stop the kittens from ever being able to have enough time to see you.

You also used that whenever Steve requested you train with him and Bucky in the gym at the cabin. But, come on, those guys were super soldiers! You didn’t want to die with their crazy training regime to “Turn Down For What!”

(Nice image, right?)

“Where did the rest of the Avengers go?” Loki demanded, pedaling right behind you.

“Avengers?” you questioned. The man’s pedaling immediately faltered, leaving you with all of the work. “Dude!”

As soon as he started pedaling again, you huffed before asking, “Who...are...the...Avengers?”

Loki stayed silent for a second, not even out of breath from working the bike so fast, before shaking his head. “I-I don’t know. I don’t know.” He seemed to be talking with himself now, so you didn’t reply.

After a few moments, he looked back at you briefly. “Where did your friends go?”

“They went to Costco,” you answered, squinting off in the distance. “I-I think that’s it!”

Loki nodded, and just after a mile or so, you slowed your pedaling, and he mimicked your actions. Parking Bruce’s bike next to the abandoned warehouse sign, you peeked your head through the half-open entrance carefully. “Hello? Anyone there?”

“Was this theirs?” Loki’s voice came from the parking lot. You looked back at him, tilting your head slightly.

The familiar beat-up RV that looked like it couldn’t run even with a billion dollars worth of repairs greeted you, but it only looked like that because Tony created it that way. Inside, it was decked out with a breakfast bar, a candy bar, game consoles, retractable beds, and a heated toilet. It was just one of the perks of being friends with the man who came up with self-sustaining energy.

“Yeah, it is!” you called back, cupping your hands to your mouth.

Loki turned back to you, and his previously stoic expression turned into one of horror, but he was looking at something...something behind you.

You didn’t hear yourself scream, but you did feel yourself fall.

~~~~~~

He didn’t remember picking up that hammer on the ground.

He certainly didn’t remember kicking the kitten’s twitching body out of the way with ease.

What he did start to remember put a madness in his mind that was worse than anything he could have come up with.

~~~

“It’s okay, Wintergreen,” you cooed, stroking the head of your new mewling little kitten as you walked into the recreation room.

“Wintergreen?” Tony scoffed, from his place on the couch. “You’ve already named it?”

As the kitten meowed in reply, you rolled your eyes. “Not an it, Stark. He’s a he.”

“He looks very trustworthy,” Loki murmured, staring at the kitten’s bright green eyes with interest.

“Aw, thank you, Loki!” you exclaimed, hopping into the seat next to him with your mewling kitten in your arms, which you promptly held out to him. “You wanna hold?”

He hesitated, before carefully grasping the animal by its paws, causing it to meow. Loki and the kitten held a staring contest, both fully immersed by the interesting visage of the one in front of them.

“Dude,” Tony chuckled.

“Mew,” Wintergreen said happily.

~~~

The moment seemed to be almost nothing, obviously of no real significance to his current situation, but that was why it was so maddening. For example, in his past life, he knew Stark and you for certain, but neither of you apparently remembered so as he did.

Add that to the fact that you were currently passed out on the floor with a kitten scratch on your bare arms and that your friends were nowhere to be seen, and the temptation to quickly lose his temper and destroy everything on sight was becoming quite appealing indeed.

He crouched down next to you, closing his eyes and taking in deep breaths. The situation you were in certainly was not going to be alleviated anytime soon if he wasted time physically exhibiting his frustration. Instead, Loki opened his eyes, and almost impulsively, reached forward to rest his hand on top of your growing wound.

~~~

“Bucky’s really sorry, Loki,” you apologized miserably, rubbing alcohol on the bruise on the Asgardian’s right cheek. “It was an accident. You don’t need to kill him or anything, kay?”

“Kill him or anything,” he mocked under his breath. “He’s lucky I don’t torture him, then tie his wasted mortal form to a stick and roast him over a slow fire for the bilgesnipes.”

You sighed, squeezing a little alcohol on a new cotton puff. “You always were a cheerful guy.”

Loki grinned wolfishly, trying to hide his grimace as you gently patted your cotton ball on an open cut. “That’s why Odin loved me so much.”

You didn’t answer, too concentrated on not pressing too hard to speak. The god sighed, leaning against his arm a bit. “One day, I’m going to repay you for this,” he decided.

Before you could tell him there was no need, he put up his hand. “I don’t enjoy being under the debts of mortals.”

~~~

The warmth he felt underneath his hand meant what he was doing was...well, doing something, but that little memory led him to think that this was what he needed to do. After a few more seconds, the warmth faded, and he lifted his hand away to reveal a lack of a scratch, much less the disease spreading.

You let out a little sigh before beginning to snore softly. Loki huffed out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding before falling to the ground, his head facing the stars. His eyelids felt heavy, but his mind refused to sleep. First of all, you were just attacked, and it wouldn’t be safe to lie there like wounded zebra on an open savannah.

Second, the memories he had were still swimming in his mind, as expected, but did not make sense with the others he had, also expected. Yet, he thought about how unfamiliar those parts of his life seemed to be...at least in this environment, where the world seemed to be in the middle of a kitten apocalypse.

It could be possible...that he was not from this world altogether. That perhaps, just perhaps, he, an amnesiac, somehow stumbled into a world alternate to his own.

Chapter Text

You weren’t sure whether to laugh or be concerned.

Rumlow was at it again that day, when your dad was out doing stuff you never could understand. Got a little handsy, and you pretty much were ready to slap the curry out of the guy when he showed up.

That one guy your dad employed to “be your bodyguard” or something. You wished you could say that you didn’t need one cause you were some badass spy who helped with missions, but the very opposite was true.

You liked to read, yeah, but that’s pretty much it. Anime’s your fave, but let’s face it: Attack On Titan ain’t exactly a book on hacking stuff. Rumlow, of course, loved to chat you up about it (not in a good way) and basically do everything in the world to try to piss you off. It was annoying.

Even when your dad had the Winter Soldier guard you pretty much twelve hours a day, when he wasn’t out doing his gun business thing, Rumlow still had the guts to poke fun at you, probably cause he thought your “bodyguard” wasn’t going to do anything.

Boy, was he wrong.

You really wished you could feel some sort of sympathy for Brock, or maybe try to stop the Asset from knocking his jaw out, but you really didn’t want to. Boo hoo.

After he finished kicking Rumlow’s ass, he turned to you and asked if you were okay.

You didn’t respond at first, because seriously, this was the very first time he said anything to you. It’s the first time you heard his voice.

It was really deep. And scary.

“Uh huh.”

With that, he nodded and faded into the shadows. Literally. He like backed up behind the wall and you couldn’t see him anymore, and then you just stood there awkwardly with a broken-nosed Rumlow trying to get up without having it seem like he was hurt badly.

You couldn’t stand seeing his sorry face, so you kind of rolled him into the shadows, too. He didn’t really fight, so you thought it was okay.

“It was really weird,” you commented, gently placing the book you were looking back into its shelf. “Actually, no. He’s really weird.”

“Some people are just like that,” your friend mused as he flipped through a book nearby. “For example, some prefer to attempt to enslave a mortal realm. All people are different.”

“Are you deliberately trying to insult yourself?” you scoffed.

“I find it’s a more efficient way to deal with the idiocy I am forced to live around,” Loki responded smoothly.

“Right.”

“But aren’t you glad now that I stepped in?” he asked, putting the book back on the shelf. Picking up a different one, he said, “Your father’s agents are aware of who I am, what I’ve done. They won’t bother you anymore, and neither will your strange friend.”

“Eh,” you replied, plopping down on a bean bag chair. “I kind of wanted to get to know that guy.”

Chapter Text

“I’m going whether you like it or not, Reindeer Games!” you shouted, right before you slammed the door.

The Asgardian let out a sharp breath, shaking his head at your ignorance. He tries to be helpful, and look what happens! You rebuff his suggestions!

Honestly, it wasn’t as if you didn’t go on extremely dangerous missions regularly. Considering your heritage as the Black Widow’s sister, added to your reputation as the mutant with the ability to control probability, it was obvious that you would be chosen for the more complex ones.

It’s just...he didn’t even know where you were going this time. All those other times, he was still nervous about you leaving, but at least he knew where you were and could reach you if necessary. You couldn’t even contact him while you were out on this one.

He had already admitted his affections for you to himself, now it was just a matter of making sure you never find out, because if you did, and you returned them for some reason, he would have to deal with those that housed him. The Avengers.

The demigod shuddered at the thought. Better to keep his thoughts to himself.

What he couldn’t keep to himself, however, was the constant worry that he knew would eventually overtake him.

~~~~~~

“Look at this, Thor, and tell me what it looks like!”

“Er...food?”

“A monstrosity!” Loki screeched, hurling the burned piece of toast to the other side of the room. “Midgard monstrosity!”

His half-brother stared at him with concern. “Brother...are you-”

“I am not your brother!” With that, the Asgardian stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him loudly, causing the rest of the Avengers to jump.

Silence overtook the room before Tony whistled lowly. “Is it me, or is Reindeer Games more pissed off at the world than usual?”

“Isn’t he always pissed off at the world?” Clint wondered.

Thor shook his head slowly, his eyes still glued on the door his brother previously exited. “No. Something is wrong.”

“‘Kay then,” Tony said, pouring himself more coffee. “What changed in the past couple days?”

“Well,” Pietro began, listing off of his fingers. “We got a new radiator, Thor began doing Zumba videos regularly, Y/N has been gone for four weeks now, I got new shoes-”

“Wait, what was that?” Clint interrupted, leaning forward.

Pietro’s eyes lit up as he raised his foot. “You mean my shoes? They’re good, no? Good brand. I think it is Nike, or some generic American brand-”

His sister pushed him off his seat. As the speedster fell off, his sister sat back on her own chair. “Y/N has been gone for quite some time,” she mused.

“You don’t think…” Clint began.

“There’s a chance,” Natasha interjected, poking at her eggs suspiciously. “They seem pretty attached to each other.”

“Seriously?” Tony scoffed. “You guys don’t know anything. Those guys are all over each other! They’re both just too damn stubborn to do something about it!”

“And how do you know this, Tony?” Bruce questioned.

The billionaire rolled his eyes. “By watching the security footage! Duh!”

~~~~~~

Wow. That mission took way longer than expected.

And you may have gotten a few cuts here and there.

Okay, a lot.

Really, all you wanted when you crawled through the window to what you thought was your room was to crawl into bed and tuck yourself into a good night’s sleep. That was nice.

A few things went wrong, however. Like how you didn’t even end up in your room.
Oh well. That was the effect of needing sleep.

Second, the room you ended up in was actually Loki’s room.
Third, he was asleep.

“Shoot,” you whispered. As quiet as you could, so as to not awaken the sleeping beast, you tiptoed across the room. You were almost to the door when you heard a voice mutter sleepily behind you.

“I’m still awake.”

You stopped in your tracks, wincing slightly at the creaking noise. Behind you, you heard Loki shift into a sitting position on his bed. “So you’re finally back,” he commented, sounding annoyed.

“Sorry I couldn’t be any longer,” you replied sarcastically, stomping loudly to the window, You began crawling out, in the correct direction to your room, when something pulled you back and shut the window tight.

“Hey!” you exclaimed, trying to break loose of the grip the Asgardian had on you while he hoisted you up on his shoulder. “Let me go! I wanna go to sleep!”

“You’ll go to sleep here,” he ordered, dropping you gently on his bed. “With me.”

“Lol, no,” you scoffed, but before you could move, the demigod threw the covers on top and hugged you close to his chest.

It took a few seconds before you stopped struggling. You were pretty tired...and it probably didn’t help that the bed was really, really warm.

Ah, what the heck. You can deal with it tomorrow.