First published LotR fic! Wooo! Yet another Avengers crossover, but I can't help it. I love the MCU and have been obsessed with the Tolkienverse for over a dozen years now. It was natural to combine the two.
Yes, this is a trio pairing- kind of. (It's me, of course there's a twist.) Yes, it is Stark Spangled Soldier. Don't like, you know where the back button is.
Fair warning that this is a blend of the LotR bookverse and movieverse. There are some parts that are from each, but for clarity of the story it is mostly movieverse. You'll know the different parts when you see them.
Disclaimer: I own nothing under copyright and am making no money off of this.
Chapter One: Portals
"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?"
― Chris Rock
When Steve got up that morning, he had been full of hope that maybe, just maybe, he would find Bucky this time. For the past year he and Sam had only been able to track The Winter Soldier through pictures social media users sent him, and the occasional destroyed HYDRA base. He never thought he would thank God for Twitter.
They had found a battle raging between the remains of HYDRA and the Winter Soldier. Of course they sided with Bucky. How could they not?
Somewhere down the line though, there had been some kind of weird portal… and Bucky was herded right into it. There had been no chance to see it, just a circle of blue light on the ground around a corner. For the second time, Steve watched his friend fall.
For the first time, he jumped after him.
Bucky's eyes went wide, and he made motions as if to claw his way right back up the portal. Their fingertips touched...
"STEVE!" Sam's shout was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
Coming to was an unpleasant experience. It started with being slapped in the face by some kind of leather glove, or maybe just a really calloused hand. Huh, it shouldn't hurt that much...
Groaning, he allowed his body to come to awareness. This was taking longer than it had in years.
"Wake up, man-brat!" jeered a horrible, nasal voice in front of his face.
When Steve managed to pry his eyes open, he wished he hadn't. The face in front of him was uneven and misshapen, one neon green eye noticeably bigger than the other and half its nose missing. Rows of jagged, rotting teeth were bared at him in the most terrifying smile Steve had seen since Loki.
He simply frowned at the creature. "Where am I?" he asked looking around.
There were more of the creatures, all with black, brown or green hides and a range of features that made the Chitauri look like Playboy cover models. Some were crouched around a fire, others gathered around something on the opposite side, and still others circled around him, salivating and gnashing their teeth.
The thing in front of his face smacked him again. "You will speak when spoken to, brat!" it hissed at him.
What made them think of him as a child? Ever since the Serum he at least looked old enough to buy cigarettes… "Yes, sir," Steve replied sarcastically.
He was slapped a third time. This time there was a ripping sort of pain he hadn't felt often since Project Rebirth. Something warm trickled down his cheek, and he froze. Blood. Somehow these things had claws able to cut through even his skin without effort.
Still, he was never one to know when to shut his mouth. "I can do this all day," he said with a low chuckle.
"Maybe you can, but I can't, punk!" Bucky's voice made his heart beat more rapidly. He hadn't heard that much emotion in his old friend's voice since the train, not counting the rage of the Winter Soldier. Had that portal somehow helped?
There was a snarl and Bucky grunted as some sort of animal tied to a stick was lifted up on the shoulders of four of the creatures. "Oh no, oh no no no no no," Bucky protested, panic edging into his voice, "You're not going to cook me, goddammit!" The animal squirmed in its bounds, twisting this way and that and straining the ropes.
Wait, it wasn't an animal. Even with Steve's suddenly shitty eyesight he could see that much now. It was Bucky.
It spurred fear in Steve that he hadn't felt since Nat was shot by the Winter Soldier. He struggled against his bindings, to no effect. Either these were the strongest ropes he had ever come across or there was something horribly wrong.
"Oh my god, Stevie." Bucky's voice made him look over at the fire again. "Look down."
When he did, his chest tightened and he realized belatedly that he was having a panic attack but couldn't find it in himself to care. There was no sign of the musculature he had gotten used to, just a pigeon chest. Delicate artist's hands were tied in the region of bony hips, and boots that used to fit were big enough that he didn't even feel them.
It was a nightmare. It had to be.
The pain from that thing's nails refuted it.
There was a yell and the stick was heaved over the fire. They were going to smoke Bucky to death.
Two of the creatures fell down dead, and one was close enough for Steve to see the yellow feathers at the back end of an arrow in its eye. Hawkeye must have found them! But the archer he knew didn't use yellow anything…
No, it became obvious quickly that Hawkeye wasn't there. Instead four of the strangest people Steve had ever seen were sprinting down an embankment toward them. In the light of the fire, shiny objects- weapons?- glinted in their hands.
The battle was over almost as soon as it began. The skill of the people who invaded, despite being outnumbered three to one, was too great for anything else to happen.
Two, a blonde and a dark haired man, lifted Bucky off the fire as soon as they got to him. The blonde cut him free with one of two knives he had in hand while the other charged with a wicked looking two handed sword.
A man with brown hair was fast despite the large shield and the size of the sword he used single-handedly. He defended the blonde, who got Bucky to his feet, and not a single one of the creatures got past him.
Meanwhile a man about Steve's current height aimed directly for him. He was robust at first glance, but the two bladed axe he wielded with ease said a great deal. That axe chopped into the tree he was tied to, freeing him.
"Thanks!" Steve called, and dove for where something gleamed red and white.
Bucky was already there, rummaging in the mess. "I think I've gone nuts!" he coughed.
"I know I have!" Steve returned. His shield was right there, and he hefted it just in time to keep himself and Bucky from getting impaled.
It was strange to be in a fight with something taller than him. Steve took advantage of the blade sliding off his shield to bash the thing in the head. The hit wasn't as strong as he liked, but the creature was dazed enough that he was able to slice its neck open with the edge of the shield.
A shot rang out.
The dark-haired man spun around, only to stare as a creature that would have sneaked up on him fell down dead. With a look around, he cleaned black slime off his blade and sheathed it.
Steve took that as the signal that it was safe. It was awkward putting his shield on his back, where he usually had it. The Kevlar armor that he had gotten so used to didn't fit anymore.
"Thanks for the save, guys," Bucky said to the strangers with a shaky laugh.
"You are most welcome," the dark haired man said, with a signal to the blonde.
The blonde, a strangely young looking man for the kind of skill he fought with, whistled out a birdcall. With aching longing, it Steve remembered how Jim used that same signal.
Sudden realization made him look so fast at Bucky that his head spun a little. He nearly choked when he finally processed what he was seeing.
This wasn't just Bucky, it was his friend as he was in their time with the Howling Commandos. Short hair, some stubble, and a blue coat with a white wing embroidered on the left arm. He even had the same gun, Steve realized with longing, an M-1 Garand with scope.
"Stevie? What's going on? Why's your suit different?" Bucky asked, quickly coming to a similar conclusion, "Why are you different?" His eyes were starting to bug out with shock.
The strangers were almost completely ignored for the moment. They were shifting around, but only to clean their weapons. And stare, but that wasn't important right now.
"What's the date?" Steve asked quickly.
"Um, sometime in the middle of October, 1944," Bucky responded, bewildered, "We've been playing hide and seek with HYDRA all month, remember?" He gave his friend a look, asking if he was okay.
It made a bizarre amount of sense. At the exact same time, it made none. "Bucky, I'm not the Steve who's currently running around Poland in a panic wondering where you got yourself off to," Steve said calmly, "This is going to sound nuts but I'm a future version."
Bucky looked to consider it. "How far in the future?" he questioned.
"Seventy years," Steve replied with a grimace.
At first there was no reaction. All Bucky did was stare at him as though he had grown another head.
Steve took the opportunity to check his pockets and utility belt, make sure everything was there. Luckily it was.
It was as he was trying to turn his cell phone on that Bucky began laughing, hysterically.
A little worried now, Steve looked up at his friend. He tilted his head sideways.
It only made Bucky laugh harder. "I fell into a stupid portal, monsters tried having me for lunch, I was saved by King John and his friends, and you're tiny and from the future!" he crowed, tears in his eyes as he stuffed his knife into his boot.
"Basically," Steve agreed with an apologetic look at the strangers.
The dark haired man gave him a knowing look. "We should move, soon," he advised in a slightly English accent, "We do not know if this was the whole company." He grimaced in distaste as he looked around at the carnage.
"Right. I'm Steve Rogers, this is Bucky Barnes," Steve introduced them quickly, "Thanks for the rescue from these… What are they?" They looked like nothing he had ever seen.
"Orcs," the blonde supplied helpfully, though not without a strange look.
"Orcs," Steve repeated with a nod of finality.
"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn," the dark haired man said, gesturing to each of the others as he mentioned them, "These are Boromir of Gondor, Legolas of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood, and Gimli son of Gloin." His grey eyes were sharp and analytical as he watched Steve and Bucky for any sign of recognition.
There was none, just a, "Nice to meet you," from Bucky as he holstered his pistol. His rifle was slung over his shoulder.
Then an old man and what looked like children with adult faces appeared out of the scrub brush. A baggage pony was with them. They were quickly introduced as the last members of Aragorn's company. Steve quickly memorized them, only telling Merry and Pippin apart by the former's large nose and yellow waistcoat.
"Our route goes east through the pass of Caradhras," Gandalf told them with sparkling blue eyes, "If you are headed that way, you are welcome to join us."
Steve and Bucky quickly exchanged looks. A frown here, a shrug there, a shake of a head.
"To the east are The Lonely Mountain and Dale," Aragorn supplied.
"Is Dale a town?" Bucky asked, "Did we just wander the whole way back to France?" He looked horrified at the mere thought.
"I do not understand. What is this France?" Boromir questioned suspiciously.
"It's a country, bordered by Spain, Germany, the English Channel…" Steve trailed off when he realized that the strangers were just as clueless about the places they named.
For a few moments they all stood there, wondering what was going on.
"Is this at least Earth?" Steve asked wearily, hoping that they had just ended up on Asgard or something, "You might know it as Midgard?"
"I have never heard of Midgard. We are on Middle Earth," Gandalf advised them with a strange amount of gravity.
"Wait, we're in the middle of the earth?" Bucky asked.
Steve elbowed his friend. For once it was handy to have his old knobbly elbows back. "I think we're on a different planet," he stated. Somehow, the thought wasn't as weird as possibly being in the middle of the Earth. Maybe it had to do with having fought aliens before.
"If you'll excuse us, I think that we need to have a good talk," Gandalf said with a smile, and the strangers walked a short distance away. They began to furiously whisper to each other.
Steve took the opportunity to have a conference with Bucky. "I think that if the offer is still open we should go with them," he said plainly, "With me like this, we're sitting ducks if we get attacked and they've got some damn good fighters."
"And they know the area," Bucky pointed out, lips twisting as he added, "Better than we do anyway."
As one, they snorted. Anyone knew this place better than they did.
"And if they don't offer?" Bucky prompted more seriously.
Uncomfortably, Steve shrugged. "We ask directions to the nearest town and book it," he said.
"Book it like bookity-book?" Bucky asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," Steve agreed, putting a hand through his hair, "I guess I've assimilated into the 2000's more than I thought." It was vaguely encouraging.
"Now I'm starting to believe you're from the future, punk," Bucky teased.
"You better, jerk," Steve returned with a grin. He felt his heart cracking in two even as pure joy filled it. This was what he had been missing for years, ever since the train. This is what he had been hoping to get back when he started hunting down the Winter Soldier.
The thought stopped him short. The Winter Soldier fell through that portal too… So shouldn't he be here? And even more important, shouldn't he tell Bucky?
Before he could get the words out, he saw that the strangers had concluded their meeting. They approached, Gandalf and the short people the most openly and Boromir the most suspiciously, to stand in front of Steve and Bucky.
"You are welcome to join us, if you wish," the old man told them, "But we will have to swear you to secrecy whether you do or not, and tell you a tale if you do."
It was more than Steve expected. Gratefully, he accepted. "If you're willing to help us out until we reach the next town or find a way home, we'll be as close-mouthed as you want."
"We can talk as we walk," Gandalf said, and spun on his heel.
The rest of the company followed, Bucky and Steve catching up to the old man to listen.
"The tale we have to tell is of the Dark Lord Sauron and the One Ring," Gandalf said in a low rumble.
Steve wasn't sure he liked the sound of this. But wasn't that his life now?
By the time they stopped for the night, Steve remembered exactly why he hated his body before Project Rebirth. It was lucky that the company, or Fellowship, as they called themselves, walked slowly for the hobbits. Otherwise he never would have lasted.
As it was, he dropped to the ground and rubbed his spine with a groan. The curve of it was more irritating than he remembered, made carrying his shield a pain no matter how light it was.
Beside him, Bucky was more graceful. Then again, this was for him a continuation of an already difficult assignment. "I hate these kind of missions," he mumbled.
"You're just lazy," Steve retorted without any kind of heat.
There was no disagreement from Bucky. Instead he dug in his bag and withdrew something wrapped in cloth. "Here, I've got some smoked pork, if that'll help," he offered Sam with a pained look. Even before the war he had hated sharing his food with anyone except maybe Steve. Sometimes. When they were really hard-pressed for groceries.
Steve smiled a little as he remembered his prior confusion over how all the meat Dum Dum had smoked and shoved in Bucky's bag disappeared within two hours. Answers were coming to questions he forgot he had.
The pork was accepted gratefully. "This is mighty handy," Sam said, "Since we can't have a fire." He looked troubled and a little disappointed at the thought.
"Fire would draw too many eyes," Aragorn advised.
There was no argument from Steve. "That's one thing I don't miss from the war," he commented with a grin. Sometimes he got nostalgic about his time with the army, but shook himself of that quickly when he remembered the cold and the damp and the Colonel.
Immediately Boromir perked up. "What war was this?" he asked interestedly. He had been in the middle of sharpening his sword when the topic came up.
"We call it World War II. It's exactly what it says on the tin: every country on the planet killing each other. Again," Bucky answered with a grimace. He fidgeted with his bag as he got out a blanket then closed it, fingers playing with the clasps and buckles.
"It would have been pretty tame compared to the first one if it weren't for HYDRA, the insanity, and the concentration camps," Steve added. The mere memory of the camp he helped free haunted him to this day, dead eyes and the stench of burned flesh.
"What does a thinking cap have to do with a war?" Gimli asked, obviously mishearing.
Steve tried not to chuckle, but he couldn't help it. He would have preferred that to the reality.
"Besides having to wear one?" Bucky teased. It fell flat.
"Concentration camp," Steve corrected. "One of the beliefs of the ruling party of the time in Germany, the main country our unit fought, was that certain groups of people were… less, than others. They were imprisoned in camps and systematically worked to death, if not killed outright. Human experiments were done in some." He felt his face going hard as he spoke, the mere explanation of his old enemies bringing back his anger at them.
When Bucky went pale, it was easy to tell why. "HYDRA is a rogue German division that's trying to take over the world using what's basically magic," he continued, still picking at his bag, "Our unit was specifically designed to deal with them." His lips twisted with displeasure as he added, "We've got a little bit of a personal vendetta where they're concerned." He began tearing into the food that Sam passed out, including the smoked pork he had provided.
Steve grinned down at his rations, for once grateful that he didn't have to deal with his enhanced body; normally this would be a snack for the middle of his run. Instead it filled him enough to be comfortable.
Their conversation caught the attention of the entire camp at the word 'magic' with Gandalf smiling grimly. "If you dislike magic, I fear that we will have problems," he huffed as he pulled out a pipe.
"No, no, it's not magic I've got a problem with," Steve hastily assured him, "From what I've seen, magic itself isn't evil. Just some of the people who use it." Loki, for instance. Or that Grindelwald guy that had been on the loose.
"Just like any other weapon," Bucky agreed, clutching his rifle in example.
"Good," Gandalf said with twinkling eyes, "because I am a wizard, one of five." He lit the pipe and began puffing contentedly on it.
It was a little of an adjustment to make in his thoughts about this world. So there was magic here too and not just of the 'alien magic which is usually technology' kind. It wasn't the strangest thing that had happened to him, so Steve shrugged it off.
Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Has your life really gotten so weird that this ain't even a thing?" he asked, sounding amused and incredulous at once.
"Yes," Steve said bluntly, thinking of the Avengers and Loki and every other day between then and now. Especially Tuesdays for some reason.
"I want to hear all about the future," Bucky said with a grin, and a yawn. "After we sleep. Today was a mess." He pushed his pack into a slightly comfortable configuration before he laid his head down on it and almost immediately began snoozing.
It made Steve smile as he remembered the old adage: the true nature of the soldier is to sleep whenever he can. Wasn't that true? "I think I'd better sleep too," he said, grimacing as he realized he would have to use his own boney arm as a pillow, "Wake us up for our watch?" That would be hell, he never did like waking up.
Aragorn smiled at him across the fire. "Tonight, you are our guests. Tomorrow, you may take a watch," he said understandingly.
"Thanks. Night." Despite that he was uncomfortable and his arm was too boney to use as a proper pillow and he didn't have any kind of blanket, Steve was down for the count. Darkness descended upon him, for once free of nightmares.
Aragorn watched the newcomers sleep as he smoked his pipe, alone on watch. They had migrated toward each other instinctively, Steve now curling around Bucky protectively with one arm thrown around his waist and forehead pressed to the nape of his neck. It painted an endearing and curious portrait.
If there was one thing he knew at a glance, it was love. Everything about Bucky screamed it, from keeping himself between the Company and Steve at all times, to the tone in his voice when he called Steve "punk." That those feelings were probably unrequited made it painful to watch.
There were a few times when Steve would look over at his friend and Aragorn was sure that he felt something more, but those were few and far in between. The one thing that was for sure was that the small blonde was amazed that the other was actually there. He basked in his friend's attention and affection like he had been deprived for months.
It painted a bizarre picture, between their interactions and the things they said.
Steve barely looked old enough to be conscripted into an army and yet he had already been through a war, led Bucky who looked to be a decade older through it. The only weapon he carried was a shield and his armor was far too big for him. Bucky had mentioned that he was "small again" so that meant that he logically used to fit armor that even Boromir would have trouble with. But how?
Bucky was no less of a mystery. The weapons he carried were strange, long metal rods with holes in the front, firing projectiles that Aragorn had never encountered before. The only blade he carried was a small knife in his boot. What could he have meant by "playing hide and seek" with HYDRA? And what kind of experiments could they have done to him that left him relatively unscathed?
As Bucky whimpered in his sleep, twitching in the throes of a nightmare, Aragorn felt his mood darken. Torture leaves its mark in everyone.
It seemed to be instinct for Steve to comfort his friend, even in his sleep. The hand of the arm he was using for a pillow carded through the dark curls soothingly.
Calmed, Bucky stopped moving and his dreams appeared to be peaceful again.
It was a curious thing that the Fellowship would stumble upon strangers in the middle of nowhere, Aragorn thought as he stared at them then the fire and back again. They appeared to be from another world entirely. The word Midgard that Steve had used was vaguely Rohirric sounding, but none of the others were familiar in the least.
As Gandalf had said, it was a story so crazy that the Dark Lord and his spies would never have dreamed of it. So it must have been the truth.
The thought of other worlds was strange and uncomfortable in how small it made Aragorn feel. That Arda may be one of many places out there… It provoked curiosity and insignificance at once in his heart.
They would find out the truth of the matter as time went on, Aragorn thought with a grim smile. It was time to wake Gimli for his watch.
He would rather have faced a balrog.
Days went by, and the strangers were welcomed into the Fellowship cautiously. Bucky was quickly taken to kin by the hobbits, while Boromir and Gimli found a strange sort of companionship with Steve as a military man and a short person respectively. It was almost comical to see how protective Legolas grew of the short blonde, believing him to be little more than a babe in arms. Gandalf kept his silence, but the twinkle in his eyes as he looked upon the two said enough.
Aragorn was not sure what he felt, but he found a strange sort of common ground with Boromir through Steve. They were all plain speaking military men at heart and enjoyed learning from each other's battles. According to Steve he was used to leading small groups of seven at the most, where Boromir generally commanded armies. Having done both, Aragorn was in a unique position to see to the heart of both their tactics and operations.
On the third night, right before reaching Caradhras, Boromir finally brought up Steve's shield. "Is it for light skirmishes?" he asked, eyes bright.
The grin Steve gave was mischievous. "It's for any kind of fighting I need it to do," he said, stroking it fondly with his fingertips, "A fraction of the weight of steel and according to Howard it's almost unbreakable." He was justifiably proud as he gazed down at the red and white rings surrounding the star and field of blue. It was a beautiful shield.
"Is it mithril?" Gimli asked in a reverent tone, clearly drawn in by the metalsmithing aspect of the conversation.
"We call it vibranium," Steve corrected. Such a strange name for a metal.
From there the conversation went to mithril and fine weapons, some of them mystical. The stories told were amusing, from how Bucky's 'rifle' and 'pistols' were considered standard-issue (if lightly modified) in his time, to the legendary blades Orcrist and Glamdring and the deeds they had done. It was about the time Gimli mentioned the mithril warhammer that the Dwarves had given Helm Hammerhand that Steve snorted with laughter.
"Sorry, it's just every time someone mentions a warhammer I think of Thor's and not even an vibranium hammer could top Mjolnir," he said, smiling sheepishly at the Dwarf's upset.
At that, Gimli grumbled and gave the blonde the evil eye. "A mithril hammer would certainly whack that shield of yours into shape."
This time it was Bucky who had something to say. "I wouldn't test anything against that shield. I've seen it split steel and cut people in half, no joke," he commented, amused and serious at once.
The thought was intriguing. "May I?" Aragorn requested, wishing to know the weight and balance for himself.
With an easy smile, Steve handed it over. It dwarfed him, covering half his body, yet he was able to pass it with one arm.
When Aragorn gave a few turns, pushes and swings with it, he was surprised. It was just as light as Steve said and there was not a single flaw in its construction that he could find. Hopefully they would not need to test its strength, he thought even as he gave it back. "This was made by a master craftsman," he complimented it.
"And a master asshole," Bucky added dryly.
"Yeah, to both," Steve said with a grin, settling the disc against his legs again, "His son Tony is worse, believe it or not." The tone he spoke with said exactly why he didn't return his friend's feelings.
It seemed that Bucky knew it as well. The pain in his eyes could drive a man to tears. To his credit, he hid it within seconds behind a playfully raised eyebrow and an elbow to the blonde's side. "I didn't know that was possible," he teased.
"Within ten minutes I called him an arrogant, selfish excuse for a human being and told him to get his weapons, and he implied that I was less dangerous than angry bees," Steve replied dryly.
No matter how Aragorn wished he could refute it, he thought that this Tony had a point.
Bucky apparently had other context. "Wait, this was before you shrank again? He's Howard's kid, I thought he'd've been all over the science," he said, taken aback.
"Oh, he went into that too," Steve said with a gracious dip of his head, "Said everything special about me came out of a bottle." He was smiling as he said it, amused, even as he recounted one of the more cruel insults that Aragorn had ever heard. What kind of person was he, to fall in love with someone who gave him that kind of abuse?
"What did you say back?" Bucky asked, clearly exasperated.
"That I knew men worth ten of him and he wouldn't lay down on the wire for the next guy to crawl over," Steve recounted, a flush creeping up his neck, "Well, we were both wrong. By the end of the invasion only Thor and I were still fighting, he flew a nuke through the portal that otherwise would have destroyed Manhattan, and everybody started joking that the Civil War was finally over." He rubbed at the back of his neck with a thin hand, shaking his head as he did.
"Nuke?" It seemed that Bucky had no idea what he was talking about either. That was slightly comforting.
It seemed to startle Steve to remember that he knew things no one else did. "Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting…" he said with a heavy sigh and a tight smile. The wonder at his friend being here grew in his eyes again as he gazed hungrily, as if they would be separated again at any moment.
The explanation that followed, first about the 'nuclear' weapons that were made after Steve 'went into the ice' and then the attempted invasion of a sorcerer named Loki and his army, made Aragorn's head spin. From the expressions on the rest of the Company's faces, they felt similarly. Pippin had even forgotten to eat.
"And that's how the Avengers were formed and we ended up moving into Stark Tower, now Avengers Tower, and became professional superheroes," Steve finished proudly.
The crickets could be heard chirping over the silence in camp. It took a moment for even Gandalf to find words, those being, "We are glad to have such a man among us, then!" with twinkling eyes.
"If only we could have the rest of you with us as well," Legolas said softly, "I would like to see this Hawkeye in action." He fingered his bow, clearly wishing for an archery competition.
"Wait, Black Widow. Did she really get married and kill her husband?" Bucky asked, somewhere between horrified and impressed.
"Does she have a beard?" Gimli asked eagerly.
Everything stopped again after the Dwarf's question. The newcomers, and indeed, most of the Fellowship, stared at him like he had shaved off his own beard. "What? No, no beard," Steve stuttered.
"As beautiful as you describe the lass as being, she'd be even more beautiful with a beard," Gimli advised sagely. His eyes went hazy and undoubtedly visions of bearded Dwarf women danced behind them.
Again there was silence, and Steve blanched at the thought.
"So, moving on, what's the plan for this mountain we're coming up on?" Bucky asked, not noticing Steve flinch beside him.
Aragorn filed it away as Gandalf explained about the High Pass. Something was very wrong here, between the two of them. More than one being from further ahead in time than the other.
He caught Steve's eye and tilted his head slightly in curiosity.
Steve shook his head and began pointedly talking to the hobbits about the Shire.
Aragorn sat back and smoked his pipe and wondered. What kind of secret was Steve keeping, about Bucky, that he couldn't tell the man himself? And what kind of trouble would it generate when it came out?