Title: The Lucky Ones
Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes & Loki aka Lucky
Captain America/Thor crossover, though it takes place during the Captain America timeline, so before the events in Thor. We'll get to those at some point.
Rated M for later slash
A/N - Long time reader, first time writer. I don't own the characters.
-The Lucky Ones - Chapter 4
Loki entered to see James sitting up in his bed, laughing with one of the nurses. He walked up to the bed and was pleasantly surprised to find that his mind stayed clear, even standing so close to James. He wondered if his earlier activities had anything to do with this, but dismissed those thoughts quickly. That was the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now. A slight blush crept up his face. James looked over and smiled shyly at Loki.
"You must be feeling better." Loki said, returning the smile.
"Yeah, I'm doing okay. Ingrid is a peach." James winked at the nurse and Loki felt a stab of jealousy. He smiled tightly at Ingrid, but said nothing. Ingrid, still intimidated by the prince, retreated quickly.
"I am glad to hear it." Loki said, pulling a chair up next to the bed and sitting. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah, most of it. Though I am still lost on a few of the details. Like how I survived and how I got here."
"Will you tell me, James? How you came to be on that train? I am curious to know," About everything, Loki added silently.
"Can you call me Bucky? I don't care for the name James."
"Of course, Bucky" Loki replied. He rather liked how similar Bucky sounded to his own name. "We found your name on these." He pulled the chain from his pocket and handed it to Bucky.
"My dogtags! I thought I'd lost them." Bucky exclaimed and put the chain around his neck.
"Dog tags?" From what Loki knew, dogs were a creature on Midgard, regarded as lower than humans. "Why would you wear a necklace belonging to a dog?"
"They're just called that," Bucky laughed. "Our military gives them out to soldiers, to use as identification, among other things. There is a lot of pride in wearing them"
"Then I am glad to return them to you," Loki said with a smile. "So you are a soldier? Is that what led you to the train?"
"It's kind of a long story," Bucky began. "I was in the army, and my troop got captured by the enemy. A really bad guy named Schmidt, who had a whole army of his own. My buddy, Steve, came and saved us. Turns out he's some sort of superhero now."
"Superhero?" Loki was not familiar with that term.
"The last time I had seen him, he was a scrawny little boy, but when he showed up in Germany...he had grown. He was bigger, a lot bigger. And strong...brave." Bucky gave a wistful smile, obviously thinking fondly of his friend. " I mean, he had always been brave, but it seemed like he didn't have anything to fear anymore. He rescued me from the lab where Schmidt was doing some nasty shit to me, and got us both out of the building as it exploded around us. "
"He sounds like a good friend to have," Loki said, though he was fairly certain his own rescuing skills were far superior than this Steve person.
"He is. I've got to get back so I can let him know I'm okay." Bucky sighed. Loki felt a pang in his heart to hear Bucky talking about returning to Midgard. He knew it was going to happen much too soon.
"You will when you're fully healed, don't worry about that." Loki tried to sound reassuring, though he probably wasn't as successful as he hoped. Feeling anxious once again, Loki got up from the chair and walked to the foot of the bed. He stood with his back to Bucky, not trusting himself to look at him. There was a quiet rustling behind him, then Loki felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and came face to face with Bucky, who had gotten out of bed and was standing in front of him, a look of concern on his face.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Bucky asked softly. His hand rested on Loki's shoulder.
Loki looked at Bucky with wide eyes for a few moments. The proximity was maddening. His knees threatened to buckle and his heart stuttered in his chest. Was he the only one feeling this? Did Bucky want him as much as he wanted Bucky? The cynical coldness in his heart told him no, that he was fooling himself if he thought anyone could want him. Unable to bear it any longer, Loki stepped away once more.
"You shouldn't be up yet." he said, eyes tightly shut, and hardly recognizing his own voice.
"Oh," Bucky breathed. "Right." Loki could have sworn he heard dejection there, which meant what? Hope sprung in his heart and he spun around to meet Bucky's eyes.
-oooooooooooooo-
Bucky was certainly feeling anxious to get home, but he found himself rather enjoying Ingrid's company. When he had awoken once again, he felt much better. Ingrid helped him to get up and walk around some. It felt good to move, but he tired quickly and had to return to bed. Ingrid was there to chat with him. She told him stories of Asgard, and Bucky listened with particular interest whenever she mentioned Loki. After a while, another healer pulled Ingrid away to help with a new patient, leaving Bucky alone with his thoughts.
Of course, once he had nothing to distract himself, Bucky found himself thinking of Loki. Why did this guy intrigue him so? Sure, he was handsome. Bucky could appreciate that in a man, though his tastes usually steered him toward women. Showing attention to another man was frowned upon in society. Because of that, Bucky had never acted on anything he had felt toward a man, though he'd wanted to at times. Was it just attraction that was causing this? Bucky didn't think so. He had enjoyed hearing how Loki was partial to playing tricks and making magic. It sounded as if the guy would be fun to spend time with. The fact that Loki had saved him meant something too. Was that it? Was he assigning some sort of unnecessary significance to just being grateful for having his life saved? Bucky groaned and slammed his fist into the bed in frustration. The sudden movement brought Ingrid rushing to his bedside.
"Are you alright?" she asked with concern.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Bucky sighed. He needed a drink. "Nothing some scotch and a couple of ice cubes couldn't cure."
"I'm afraid I've never heard of that medicine. Is that kind of salve? An herb?" Ingrid looked so genuinely confused that Bucky couldn't help but laugh. They were both still giggling when Loki approached the bed. Bucky found himself very glad to see the man, but he felt shy all of a sudden. Still he couldn't help but smile. Yes, there was definitely attraction. Loki had a beautiful smile.
When Loki returned the dog tags, Bucky was elated. It felt nice to have something familiar again. Loki's reaction to them was very cute. Holy crow, Bucky thought, did I just think that? He shook the thoughts from his head and continued telling Loki his story. Remembering what happened in Schmidt's warehouse made Bucky feel sick. He wished he knew what the bastard had done to him while he was strapped to that table. And talking about Steve made him homesick. He missed his friend.
When he expressed his desire to go home, Loki became obviously upset. Bucky didn't understand. When the dark-haired man stepped away, Bucky found himself getting out of the bed to approach him.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Bucky put a hand on Loki's shoulder, and the taller man turned to look at him. This was the first time they'd been face to face like this, and Bucky had to admit that he rather enjoyed the view. He wasn't sure what what he was seeing in Loki's wide eyes. Was it fear? Concern? Did Loki feel the same overpowering attraction that Bucky felt? Please, let him feel it too, Bucky pleaded silently searching those green eyes for answers. But Loki walked away again before he could make sense of anything.
"You shouldn't be up yet," Loki told him. Bucky felt his heart sink. It was only concern, it turned out. Nothing more. He had gotten his hopes up.
"Oh. Right." Bucky couldn't hide the disappointment from his voice. Then Loki turned, his eyes shining and his lips parted, and Bucky knew. He could see it in those green eyes. He knew Loki felt the same way.
Never one for making time to think before he acted, Bucky strode right up to Loki and kissed him. He could feel Loki's sharp inhale of breath as their lips met, and the other man froze for a second. Not for long though, and soon Loki's hands reached up to hold Bucky's face as their mouths moved together. Bucky grasped Loki's hips and pulled him flush to his own body. The god's lips were cool, but they tasted sweeter than anything Bucky had ever tasted before. After a few too-short moments, Loki broke the kiss and pulled away. Both men stood there looking at one another, breathless, wondering what the hell just happened.
"We shouldn't do this" Loki whispered.
"I thought you wanted to?" Bucky asked worriedly.
"I do. Just...just not here." Loki glanced toward the other side of the large room, where a few people were milling about. Thankfully none of them seemed to be paying attention to the two men.
The emotion, the kissing, the lust, the relief that Loki wanted him too...Bucky didn't know what it was, but he was suddenly very overwhelmed. His knees gave out, and he would have dropped if Loki hadn't caught him. Strong arms gently helped him back to the bed. Bucky sat down on the edge and Loki sat next to him.
"I'm sorry..." Loki said softly.
"For what? I kissed you." Bucky nudged Loki's knee with his own. "I've never done that before, you know."
"You have never kissed anyone?" Loki sounded surprised.
"Well, yes. I've kissed girls. Plenty of girls." Bucky quickly answered, not wanting the other man to think him inexperienced. "But never...well, never another man."
"I have never kissed anyone," Loki admitted.
"Really? I find that hard to believe. Look at you! Surely, the girls are lining up to have a chance with you."
"They have, yes. But I never found any of them worthy of my attention."
"You were waiting for me, I guess," Bucky teased. Then he yawned. How was it possible that he was tired again? He felt like all he did anymore was sleep.
-oooooooooooooo-
"You were waiting for me, I guess"
Bucky was jesting when he made that statement, but it struck Loki as astoundingly true. He really did feel like his whole life had been waiting for this moment. For this man. He honestly did not know how he had lived until now. Even with his parents and his brother, he had felt lonely his whole life. It was his own doing, he knew. He pushed people away on purpose. Sure, the women had lined up, but they stopped quickly when they learned it was futile to try to capture his heart. He had no idea why this human was any different, but he was. Loki's heart was warmer than it had ever felt before.
When Bucky yawned, Loki knew he should go. He was tired too. It had been a long day. He looked over to the incredibly beautiful man sitting beside him and smiled.
"You should sleep," Loki told him.
"I'd rather do more of what we were just doing." Bucky laughed lightly.
"Maybe we can try again, only somewhere with less audience?" The last thing Loki needed was gossip being spread about him. He stood up and motioned for Bucky to lay back in the bed. After getting him comfortable, Loki leaned over and quickly pressed a soft kiss onto Bucky's forehead.
"I will return as soon as I can tomorrow," he promised.
"I'll be here," Bucky smirked.
Loki forced himself to walk away from the bed. As he left the room, he turned back and smiled at Bucky, who was of course watching him leave. Closing the door behind him, Loki sagged against it with tiredness. He muttered the simple spell that transported him back to his own chambers, flopped down on his own bed, and was asleep almost instantly.
