Kagome glanced around the elaborate throne room, her eyes taking in the four individuals and the armed guards with visible anxiety. Caked in blood, dirt, and sweat she was pointedly out of place amongst the royals that stood before her.

Frigga smiled warmly at her from beside the prince's, sensing the woman's growing discomfort among her already frayed emotions from the days beating she had taken in the clearing.

"So, you are the young priestess that have my seer's on high alert."

He beckoned her closer, his eye taking her in sternly, as soon as she was retrieved from Midgard the entire royal family had been on alert, all feeling the power that was still reeling from her battle, it crackled around her like a dangerous shield, ready to lash out in defense should the need arise.

Kagome climbed the stairs silently, tossing a glance to the young princes and the still smiling queen as she passed. She stopped at the second set of stairs, how close did he want her?

Odin stood from his throne and made his way down, towering over her as he continued his harsh stare.

"I'm a bit confused… why exactly am I here?" really all she wanted was to die on that battlefield with her friends, she hadn't anticipated living while her entire self-made family was killed before her eyes… then the village… The well closing prior to the battle had sent her into an already fragile existence as it was.

"I did not permit you to speak!"

Kagome tilted her head as a sneer curled her lip, "my apologies, this young priestess has only been fighting for her life for the last half a day. I didn't realize I would be kidnapped by gods later on."

A soft chuckle sounded from her left, Odin snapping his head to glare as Frigga snapped, "Loki!"

"Sorry mother."

Odin turned back to Kagome; "it has come to my attention that you have been doing this for quite some time—this flitting back and forth between times."

"Yes, for the last eight years with the well on my family's shrine… I felt it was my responsibility as I was the one that broke the jewel in the first place." Kagome explained quickly.

Odin's eye grazed her body, "and where is this jewel in question?"

"My body… after the battle it glowed and settled back inside of me." Kagome shifted uneasily as she cupped her side where the jewel lay, she didn't feel comfortable divulging more to those in the room.

"You have done well thus far, much better than your predecessors; that is why I summoned you here. To reward you for your tireless work in protecting one of Midgard's most powerful objects I will bestow upon you a body that will no longer age at the mortal rate. You will once more begin aging once you've reached the point in your history where this well no longer permitted you access."

"In order to do this, I will have to wipe your knowledge of what befalls the history of your realm so you do not disrupt the order of things."

Kagome jerked back, teetering on the edge of the stairs as her miko flared, "what the hell kind of gift is that? Just tell the guy with the sword that brought me here to take me home to my time!"

"Please, Lady Priestess, let's not get carried away, it's a generous offer to be sure." Thor stepped forward attempting to appease the woman softly before she set the palace ablaze with her power.

"There's nothing generous about having your entire mind wiped," Kagome snarled as she sent a glare his way.

Odin drove the end of his staff to the ground, the sound echoing on the walls as he leveled a glare of his own at the woman, "should I want to wipe your mind I would, you are lucky I am leaving your family intact and not taking everything. Open your mouth one more time, and I shall."

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek, she couldn't take that chance, something told her he really would take it all from her. She reeled in her energy, crossing her arms over her chest in a small form of defiance, before exhaling sharply.

"There now young priestess, Heimdall will return you to the clearing he retrieved you from. Once your feet are safely on Midgard you will not remember any history only as it happens. I hope we meet again under better circumstances." Odin inclined his head respectfully.

Her eye was twitching, she could feel the annoying nerve jumping before rolling her eyes and storming down the stairs in a flurry of dark hair and torn priestess robes. She spun at the bottom of the stairs, bowing low to the family before once more spinning and stalking forward, her angry mumbles carrying across the silent room.

"I thought she was lovely," Loki finally acknowledged with a shrug.


"Patient is a 19 year old female, 40 weeks pregnant, admitted due to heavy vaginal bleeding," Kagome briefed the doctor quickly as he appeared in the small birthing room.

He settled between the woman's legs, shifting as he quickly instructed the other two nurses in the room to grab her legs.

"Nurse Kagome, if you don't mind, the child's crowning. I need you ready to begin the necessary requirements."

Kagome nodded, re-washing her hands and grabbing for the blanket for the baby.

"Miss, we've never treated you here in this hospital. Have you had any other occurrences during this pregnancy?" she questioned as she appeared back at the doctor's side.

Tearful green eyes looked at her as she fell back against her pillow, "my parents don't know, please… you can't tell them. It was one time, my boyfriend said we're going to get married..."

"Where are you from?" The doctor asked quickly.

"New Jersey."

She bore down again with a small scream in pain, falling heavily back as Kagome caught the baby, sharing a distraught look with the doctor before he nodded. He quickly severed the umbilical cord and stood, the patient watching Kagome turn away to a small table with the soundless babe.

"Why isn't it crying?"

"Ma'am I need you to calm down, it appears as though there was some distress during delivery." The doctor was handed a needle and thread, sewing her episiotomy.

Kagome flushed the baby's nose and mouth, willing him to cry or something for her as she worked. She rubbed her cheek against a raised shoulder as she bit her lip to keep the despair from escaping, this had always been the hardest part of her job; it never got any easier.

"Doctor," she summoned quickly.

The doctor snipped the thread after tying it off and rushed over, sharing hushed words as the other two nurses began to clean up, "we're going to give you morphine now."

"Why isn't it crying?" she was growing hysterical at the lack of answers.

"Miss, there seemed to have been a hemorrhage during delivery. Unfortunately, your son didn't survive."

Green eyes swiveled to Kagome and held her hands out, "please."

The priestess moved forward, placing the bundle of blankets into her waiting arms as she gazed down with a tearstained face. The familiar tingle of her miko coursed through her body, her fingers twitching as the power coursed through her as if asking to help.

"Nurse Crenshaw, you can take care of this then?"

The red head nodded, "of course doctor, thank you for all of your help."

Kagome blinked as she stared at the grieving mother, discarding her gloves in a wastebasket before following after Mary.

"I hate being called into labor and delivery," Mary sighed.

Kagome hummed in response, wiggling her fingers to alleviate the power still coursing through her. "What are you doing for dinner?"

The dinner she had with Bucky a little over a month ago had her thinking about reaching out more, forming friendships while she could.

Mary turned with a wide smile and a wink; "I've got a date tonight."

"Anyone I know? That cute new doctor?" she had seen them flirting in the break room.

"Bucky Barnes!"

Kagome's face fell as the name tumbled from her lip's in an excited squeal, "oh… well, have a good time."

"I will! We'll have dinner tomorrow night, promise!" Mary disappeared down through a door in a flourish of curls and white fabric leaving Kagome dumbstruck.

She had only seen him a handful of times… it wasn't like they were dating. Why the hell did it hurt then? She floated down the hall silently, shaking her head to herself; she should have never let herself get sucked into that damned smile.

"Hey can we get some help in here?"

'Speak of the devil…' Kagome looked over her shoulder as Bucky glanced up and down the hall.

"Hey darling, good to see you."

"What do you need help with?" she ignored his usual greeting with her, wheeling around and crossing her arms.

Bucky stepped to the side and pointed to Steve lying on the bed, "got at fever that won't break. Other than the initial check in we haven't seen anyone."

"Let me take a look, do you know who was assigned to your room?" she grabbed for the paper left on the desk and scanned it, "damn Mary's got other things on her mind I guess."

She huffed and washed her hands quickly before making her way back over to where Steve lay, "how are you feeling?"

"Great, can't you tell?" he responded.

Kagome placed the stethoscope under his chest, listening to the erratic beating of his heart, "what are you supposed to be doing?"

"I'm jogging, aren't I?"

"No…" Kagome winced, grabbing the thermometer and sticking it in his mouth.

She gripped his wrist, mentally calculating the beats before checking the reading, "how long has he been like this?"

"A couple hours, it started with a cough and here we are. If I knew you were working today I would have hunted you down," Bucky leaned against the wall as he tilted his head to the side.

"I was in labor and delivery," she responded quickly, "although Mary should have been in here but she's busy fantasizing about your date tonight."

Bucky blushed and stiffened at he look she sent him, "I'll gladly cancel with her if you'd rather join me."

"Hey, Steve, I need to know if you have any allergies to medications." Kagome placed a hand on Steve's arm, bending down slightly to talk to him.

"You might want to know what he's not allergic to… that list is smaller," Bucky pursed his lips.

Kagome straightened and moved back to the desk, grabbing the paper with his list of ailments and allergies as she shook her head… "okay… I'll be right back."

She whisked out of the room quickly, running down the hall to the supply closet. Kagome scanned the names of the medications, glancing down at her list and shaking her head, how Steve was still alive baffled her. Tossing her dark hair over her shoulder she made her way back to the room, shutting the door and tossing the papers to the side.

"Okay…"

Bucky furrowed his brow, what was she going to do? "What'd you get?"

"I need you to leave the room," she turned her eyes to him, hardening as she spoke. She couldn't have any witnesses and with how high Steve's fever was no one would believe him… she hoped.

"Leave? I'm not going anywhere," Bucky leaned back defiantly settling his shoulder blades against the wall.

Kagome set her jaw, "then I can't help your friend."

Bucky worried his lip as his gaze flickered between the two, something about the way she stood over him made him suddenly question her abilities, she had no medication and wasn't gone too long to look through them all.

"You've got three minutes," Bucky relented and opened the door with a hard yank.

Kagome swallowed hard and shook her head; this was too risky… she really shouldn't be doing this. She unbuttoned two more buttons on his shirt and placed her cold hands on his chest, his breathing was becoming shallower as his body struggled to fight off whatever was ailing him.

She closed her eyes, allowing herself full use of her power as it trickled into his body. Pulling back she placed a hand to his forehead, he was much cooler, his breathing was returning to normal. Nodding at her handiwork she turned to the desk and pulled out a form, filling it out quickly and signing it.

"He's going to be fine," Kagome opened the door and slipped through, holding the paper out to Bucky as he sprang forward.

The brunette leaned over her shoulder, his hand gripping her shoulder to steady himself as he watched Steve sit up groggily.

"How'd you do that?"

Kagome removed his hand and side-stepped him quickly, "an experimental new medication…"

Bucky moved fully into the room as Kagome walked away, flexing her hands. She glanced up as a man clutching a bowler hat arched a brow at her, she could feel his eyes following her before turning down the hall. Kagome rubbed her forehead as she punched out her timecard, making her way to the entrance as she pulled her purse strap over her shoulder.

Her eyes scanned her surroundings as she began walking home, her nerves on edge every time someone looked at her too long. She quickened her pace, breaking into a full run as she turned onto her street, she was risking exposure again… what was it about Bucky and Steve that had her willing to throw away her safety without a thought?

Kagome unlocked her door and slammed it shut behind her, throwing the lock and leaning against the wood. "I can't do that again… too much, my nerves are shot."

She rubbed her knuckles absently with a sigh; she really hoped she hadn't attracted any unwanted attention… Kagome dropped her purse to the couch, peeling off her dirty uniform and striding into her bedroom. She sat at her vanity, pulling the bobby pins from her hair and wiping the lipstick from her mouth, a knock sounded from the door; her eyes widened as her breathing began coming out shallow, it was the Salem Witch trials all over again.

Springing from the stool, she quickly pulled on a dress and made her way to the door again as the pounding became more erratic.

"You better hope they didn't bring back up…" she threw the lock and cracked the door. She jumped as Bucky shoved it open, he didn't barge inside but glanced around behind him, "what the hell did you do to Steve?"

Kagome opened her mouth, glancing at the silent blonde behind him as he gazed at her curiously, "um..."

"Can we come in?" Steve asked quietly.

The priestess stepped to the side, allowing the men entrance before shutting the door softly.