Sam's lab was located directly opposite yours, with the complete glass walls unable to hide the little pace you added to your stride as you made the last couple of steps into your own lab. He simply mouthed 'you OK?' from his side of the room and you nodded back. He seemed to accept it.
Your floor seemed colder than usual, and in the middle of the summer in Midgard, there was only a handful of explanations for this. Only some people got the pleasure of this particular reason though. You make your way round the corner of the lab, out of sight from the others, you see a familiar face.
"Loki." You nod, not really in the mood for smiling so much in the comfort of your own space. "To say you've been living in the compound I haven't really seen much of you."
"Oh I haven't been living here, this place is disgusting." He interjects almost immediately, the Odinson's really did have an eye for interior design. "I was here to talk about where I have taken up residence but I do have to ask-" You hated when he said that, it always filled you with this feeling of being judged by him. "-Did you really think he was going to follow you in here?"
You don't falter for a second, showing no emotion in your response. "If I wanted to speak to him, I would have stayed exactly where I was." You shrug, thinking more on the news of Loki's arrival than on whatever he believes your current situation is. "Anyway, who's your new boyfriend?"
"What?" Loki jumps backwards, knowing you hadn't used your powers.
"The reason these boys are up here is because you and Thor were fighting, you only get Thor that riled up when you want him to give you a reason to not tell him something major. That something major is either a new love interest or you killed someone you probably shouldn't have. For my own peace of mind I like to think it to be the former, if I'm correct I also know who your boyfriend is but if you want to break it to me you better do it quick because I really just wanna get out of here and meet him already."
"Well, you asked to meet him." Loki shrugs, looking at the ground where a circle of sparks encased the two of you. "Hope you don't mind a quick exit."
And with that, you fall.
No terrible landing for you though, telekinesis has always been useful for that kind of stuff. Loki, on the other hand, couldn't quite keep his balance, despites trying his very best, much to the amusement of you and the other Doctor in the room.
"Ah, you must be Y/N. I'm-"
"Stephen. A pleasure to finally meet you." You answer for him, introductions seemed tedious after so many years of being alive. He seemed offended by your interruption though, you weren't quite sure why yet though. You were tempted to use your powers on him, he wasn't a patient of yours after all, and he'd never know, you liked the guessing game not using your powers gave you though.
"Did Loki tell you why you are here?" Strange asked, his tone implicating more than just an announcement of a new relationship.
"No, and he didn't need to." You took a deep breath, as a distraction of course, you wanted to know why you were here and you also wanted to show off your powers in front of like minded people, so you used a little foresight to find the most likely answer. 'Universal threats to this realm' leaped out at you, and you snapped back to the current conversation with your exhale. "I think this conversation should be done sitting down, perhaps with a strong drink."
Strange teleports himself and Loki to the next room, he tried to teleport you with them but you were able to refuse the movement. What was with sorcerers and using their powers for pointless tasks? You walk into the next room and give Loki a knowing look, reminding him of a previous conversation about sorcerers insecurities. You grab yourself a drink as you walk in, avoiding more unrequited uses of magic at any cost.
"I'm sorry, what do we need Y/N for again? I completely didn't listen the first time you told me." Loki lightened the mood, allowing you to see what Stephen looked like smiling for the first time.
"Someone's coming." His expression changes immediately as he faces you, at least it shows he's genuinely interested in Loki, you guess. "Y/N knows who it is, and how big the threat may be."
As a doctor, you were wary of giving way information that wasn't suited for the topic at hand. Was Strange talking about New York? Was there something else you had missed in a different file? You sure hoped not. You stayed silent, waiting for Strange to tell more of the story, he looked like the type that liked to hear himself speak, so you let him.
"A spaceship of unknown proportions entered our universe two days ago, since most ancient books don't cover creatures beyond this universe it took a while to find any origin from the spaceships symbol or shape. Wong came across it this morning, I showed Loki and he reluctantly told me it reminded him of a memory he was allowed to keep of yours. I hope you don't mind but he shared said memory with me and-"
Oh you did mind. Loki knew it too. He knew it since you induced the sensation of his lungs filling with water just long enough for him to think he was going to die, Strange didn't seem to notice.
"-they happen to know your location. Now tell me Y/N, how big is this threat?"
Emotion never usually takes over you, but being betrayed really does let out the anger in some people; today you were one of those people.
"I'll deal with that problem, Stephen." You forcefully take his hand, extracting the memory Loki gave him back into you, the anger dimmed the pain of the transaction. "Now, what you need to deal with has been a threat in this universe for several years, I would've thought someone who so narcissistically calls themselves the Sorcerer Supreme would have already noticed him by now."
"And what threat is that?" Loki asks in place of Strange, taking a memory from someone often leaves them in confusion for several minutes.
"You know who it is." You stare back at Loki. It was foolish of him to think you didn't know what he had been through leading up to the attack on New York, connecting the dots between Loki's trauma and Starks was simple, and everything always boiled down to one person, whether they knew the name or not.
Loki nodded back in agreement, and as a form of apology. You decided to take it, Loki was one of the only people that had not been so quick to judge you whilst you were on Asgard, it would have been a shame to lose that over him trying to do the right thing. Yes, he completely violated your trust, but so had everyone else from your past.
"You make a good couple." Was your final statement on your way out, enough to put Loki at ease about what had just occurred, and enough to see shock flash across Strange's face, obviously he didn't think the interaction had gone too well either. He seemed like a well-driven man, focussed, and probably good fun when he wasn't too busy thinking about universal threats. You only wished he had enough control over his magic by the time Thanos arrived for it to be an easy win.
The night before your month trial was over. Damn. It was weird to think you had settled into the compound so easily, you had taken well to everyone, especially Sam. Everyone seemed to accept you and your powers and almost everyone had let you use them in one form or another. You were, dare you say it, comfortable in the compound. Having an area to call your own. Having people, mostly FRIDAY, to rely on, to make sure you eat and offer to help you with things. It was nice.
Shame you had to leave tomorrow. No matter the outcome.
You were in the common area, which was now more like your safe space, away from everything that looked so clinical and unrealistic. You had a pencil in your hand, no notebook with you this time, you were just twirling the pencil mindlessly, trying to formulate the plan for when your people finally found you. It was easy to keep an eye on them, you had completely thrown out the limited magic rule since Strange told you the news, you needed practice now more than ever to ensure you wouldn't go back to that horrible place. You watched them in almost every spare minute of your day, it was like having the TV on whilst you worked, casually looking up at it every now and then to check you didn't miss anything interesting.
So you watched. Waited. Devised a plan. Stared at the floor length windows and prayed for this to not be real. Thought about what to tell the Avengers tomorrow. Maybe you could just tell Stark? Privately let him know you have an army to kill. How would that even go down?
I can't stay here.
Why not?
My people are coming to capture-maybe-kill me, just need to go kill them, no biggie.
Yeah. That wouldn't work out too well.
That, and they are the Avengers, they would feel obligated to help you, which would evidently get them all killed. Not something you want on your conscience. Earths greatest defenders, dead because of a feud that shouldn't even stretch into this universe. Why couldn't they just leave you alone? Foresight always told you the only way you would ever be free would be if one side seized to exist. You hated foresight. You hadn't used it since. Hopefully your choices meant that you would be the one to live, and if you wasn't, death was better than the torture you had already been through.
You hear a cough coming from the far side of the common area. It was nearing 2am, so there was no way it was Samuel "I-need-my-beauty-sleep" Wilson. You were still too encased in your planning to turn around, you make some sort of humming noise, as a signal for the person to make their way in, even talk if they had to. The presence didn't feel threatening, if they were there to kill you, they wouldn't have made a noise. Using all your powers felt a little weird, knowing someone was now in the room with you, but it was good practice, so you didn't slow down your planning, you could feel their feelings, pull their thoughts out of them if you wanted to. Tempted, you put the view of your people on a low volume for you to look into when you needed to, you don't advert your gaze from the window yet. Instead, you look for words, emotions, things jumping out at you about this person.
Nervous. Tired. Pain. Confusion. Wariness. Need. Notebook.
Notebook. Shit.
"I- I uh- You left this, the other day. I didn't think you would want Steve or Sam taking a peek at it. So I- I hope you don't mind." Bucky gently placed the book on your lap as he sat down next to you, you never did see what you drew the last time he was here. All you did know was that the drawing of you was still in there, and now the reality of an unwanted 'family' reunion was dawning on was overwhelming.
"Thankyou," You break away from your intense stare at the window to give an appreciative look towards Bucky. Understanding that you're impossible to read, you felt it was a good time to let the people around you know how much you appreciated their company, and how it was all for nothing since you had no choice but to leave. "Honestly, I mean it. You let me into your mind, after having people probe at it and control it for so long, you took care of me, not that I needed it." He laughs, and you take that as a good indication that you should continue. "You showed me true emotion, a proper smile, and you never minded when I didn't. You didn't question my past. You- You're-" You stop yourself, not really knowing where you was going with the sentence anyway. "I'm sorry."
The apology confused him, pushing that emotion to the forefront of his mind, even above the eternal tiredness he feels. "You don't need to apologise for anything." His brow furrows to the point where they're practically touching, looking for something in your eyes, something you know he couldn't find, your eyes had no emotion in them anymore. "What's wrong?"
Your choice of words put you in a hole, and you weren't yet sure how to climb out of it without letting Bucky in. You wouldn't mind letting Bucky in, but it would be terrible of you to let him in and then leave the next day, there wasn't any point. You couldn't ask him to leave, and you also couldn't talk to him. You were stuck.
"Can you- Would you stay with me? Only for a little while. Please?" Your hand rests on his knee, physically begging him to stay where he was, since you knew your face wasn't letting on the urgency of your request.
His metal arm laces with your fingers, and then makes it way to your thigh, just resting in a way that allowed you to comfortably lay your leg over his lap. "Of course."