Loki smiled as she entered the bar, her eyes scanning around until she landed on Steve who was surrounded by other men; the men he had rescued she realized. She walked slowly to the group, a part of her enjoying the looks she was receiving from the other patrons from the bar.

An hour before she went Colonel Phillips hadn't been able to resist to scold her once more. The lecture was soothed slightly at the fact that in the end the result balanced greatly in their favor and she would receive no punishment however the fact remained that she did go against orders. In the end she was written up and given a verbal, however not written and therefore not on the record, warning.

Before she had started to the bar Peggy had grabbed her and presented Loki one of her own red form fitting dresses and wouldn't allow the other to leave her sight until she had pulled the dress on and allowed Peggy to put various colorings, called make up here, on her face. She had let her hair down and spread along her shoulders and back.

In truth, she felt more than a bit foolish in wearing the dress. The bright red color reminded her of Thor's cape, however the familiar sting that always appeared at the thought of Thor and Asgard didn't hurt as much.

She could feel the gazes of the men surrounded Steve fall on her and soon enough Steve turned to face her as well. His mouth fell open slightly before he quickly closed it and his eyes warmed at the sight of her.

"Captain." she greeted him as she finally reached him.

"Ma'am." Steve replied bowing his head. He still had a habit of bowing his head when he spoke, something that seemed to have no place on his new body.

"Howard has some equipment for you to try." Loki told him ignoring how the men around him were complimenting and flirting with her. "Tomorrow morning?"

Steve nodded. "Sounds good."

She returned his smile and turned to look around the bar once more at the men and women drinking and dancing to the music. His men had separated to give the two of them some privacy.

"I see your top squad is prepping for duty." Loki said dryly.

"You don't like music?" Steve asked.

"I do, actually." Loki admitted. She thought back to the balls of Asgard for a moment and before she could realize what she was saying she said "I might, even when this is all over, go dancing."

Steve gave her a shy glance. "Then what are you waiting for?"

She turned to look him directly in the eyes as she remembered one of their previous conversations. "The right partner."

They shared a silent look for a moment longer before she broke it and slowly pulled on her jacket that had been hanging on her arm. "Oh-eight-hundred Captain." she said, sure he would know what she was talking about.

"Yes, ma'am." Steve said nodding and still watching her. "I'll be there."

As she walked away she could see from the corners of her eyes as one of the men joined Steve again and dimly she could hear him complain "I'm invisible. I'm…I'm turning into you. It's like some horrible dream."

She smothered a smirk when she heard Steve say "Don't take it so hard. Maybe she's got a friend." in a clear inside joke.

The next morning Loki walked to the nicknamed Brooklyn bunker and entered, Howard had requested her to join them in viewing of the newly formed weapons and whatever it was that the weapons they had obtained from Hydra could do.

She was smiling to herself as she walked through the room and past the shelves. When she saw the action in front of her she froze in place and the breath stolen from her body.

Steven was kissing another woman, a private a corner of her mind noted. Her heart hammered in her chest and in her ears, she found that she couldn't breathe, and as her fingers curled into a fist she knew that if her magic hadn't been taken from her a ball of green energy would appear around her hand.

Anger immediately coursed through her when Steve didn't even seem to struggle or pull away from the kiss and she could feel ice, not heat, crack through her veins and bring everything down and into focus.

Steven Rogers was just like any other warrior; one victory, named a hero, and already claiming the spoils of the victory. He was nothing like she had assumed him to be.

He was just like any other warrior.

"Captain!" she barked out, her voice hard and cold, her eyes colder and harder.

The both of them separated abruptly and looked at her. Steve's eyes widened at the sight of her and he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"We are ready for you." Loki said in a professional voice as she clasped her hands behind her back. "If you are not otherwise occupied." at that she allowed a bitter tone to enter her voice. She didn't wait for an answer as she turned and started walking towards Howard's office.

"Agent Odinsdottir!" Steve called after her. She didn't look back as she continued to walk or acknowledge him in any way. "Wait!"

"Looks like finding a partner wasn't that hard after all." Loki said without looking at him as they continued to the office.

"Loki, that's not what you thought it was." Steve pleaded with her.

"I don't think anything, Captain. Not one thing." Loki said simply. "You always wanted to be a soldier." She allowed a bitter smirk to appear on her face as she thought back to the countless warriors she had known. Her own brother Thor, beautiful Bal-best not to think about him, even Fandral. All had started pure enough before tainted with the arrogance and simple notion of being a hero and wanted by others. "And now you are, just like the rest of them."

"Well, what about you and Stark?" Steve stumbled. She whirled to face him and he continued forward, despite the red coloring his face and the stuttering of his voice. "How do I know you two haven't been…fonduing?"

Rage clouded her eyes and she found herself breathing heavily as the desire to strike back at him arose inside of her. A desire she had known her entire life and was never encouraged to use; a lady and daughter of Odin going to violence was never allowed and was looked down despite the double standard of both her brother Thor, her once powerful strength in magic, and the thinly veiled exclamations and desires of others for her to resemble Lady Sif.

Punching Steven would result in nothing. Either her strength that was still somewhat linked to Asgard would kill him or merely hurt him, neither of which was allowed, or she would break her hand. Nothing would end in a good result.

If only she still had her magic.

"You still don't know a bloody thing about women." she spat at him before she walked off and finally entered Howards office. Howards head immediately came up at her entrance and how she slammed the door behind her, right in Stevens face.

Howard smiled widely at her and couldn't seem to help the sigh that came out of him. "Lady Loki, you are one in a million."

Loki pursed her lips and swiped her tongue over her front teeth as she listened to Howard explain the new weaponry to Steven. She rolled her shoulders and her neck backwards and to the sides as she breathed deeply. Remembering the meditation techniques that her Master had taught her she went through the steps in her mind as she tried to calm herself down.

If her Master could see her now, she quickly squashed those feelings. While her hurt towards Thor and Asgard in generally seemed to be lessening her Master had a special place in her heart and she knew that above all she would miss him the most. He had always treated her with respect and as she learned more magic he started to regard her as an equal and would encourage her to sneak out of the castle to participate in magical tournaments. She shook her head to rid herself of the emotions driving up in her and tried to focus more on the situation in the present.

There was no real reason for to become so emotional in this situation. In all truths she should have seen this coming and had been prepared. A warrior was a warrior, regardless.

But she had hoped so much that Steven had been different.

Her attention shift to Howard and Steven who had turned to where she entered. Her anger had cooled slightly however she felt it stir once more as she looked at him. Steven was holding a silver shield in his hands.

"Are you quite finished, Mr. Stark?" Loki asked, her voice emotionless yet cold. "I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business."

Steven didn't seem to realize her remarks as he held up the shield in his hands upwards. His expression was clear and happy, as if the last hour hadn't happened. "What do you think?" he asked almost joyfully.

The rage burst forward again at his indifference to something that was causing her so much anger and, a small part of her was willing to admit, despair and disappointment. Her eyes fell to the table next to her that held many various types of guns.

Without thinking she picked one of the guns up into her hand, pivoted in place, aimed the gun directly at Steven; whose eyes widened at her actions and quickly brought the shield up to protect himself, and fired the gun until it ran out of bullets. When she was finished Steven looked up at her over the edge of the shield. She refused to allow his boyish and almost puppy-ish blue eyes that were looking at her like a scared child to cool her anger.

"Yes." Loki said smiling bitingly. "I think it works."

She put the gun back onto the table and walked past Steven, not before throwing him a freezing look that he was sure he felt clearly, before turning her head and walking out of the lab.

The entire lab was silent and was watching her leave. She could feel all of their eyes on her, especially Stevens and Howards.

She could hear the rustling of paper as Steve said dimly "I had some ideas about the uniform."

"Whatever you want, pal." Howard answered in what could almost be considered a dreamy and awed tone of voice.

As the months passed the nicknamed 'Howling Commandos' continued throughout Europe and destroyed Hydra bases one after the other.

Slowly Loki's anger started to fade, however she kept her distance from Steven. She spoke to him only as a professional, one soldier to another, and once their conversations were done she would leave him alone, despite him calling to her and at times going to her side.

Instead she spent more time with Howard Stark, much to the man's delight, in an effort to rid her mind of Steven. While he seemed to know exactly why Loki spent her free time with him he never mentioned it out loud and the only times he would acknowledge it was when Steven would come to the two of them, Howard would throw him a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Howards mind was a brilliant place to be in, racing by miles per second it seemed he barely had time to get onto one project before his mind created another three. Together they would drink well into the night as he would talk. He would talk of mechanics, mathematics, science of all ranges, and countless others. He would patiently answer any questions she had or help to clarify any misunderstanding.

She would even help in the lab as he continued to create more weapons. She was never fond of weapon creation however the way that Howard was putting everything into place she couldn't help but enjoy watching and later participating. He treated it as an art; a scientist onto machines as an artist would to a painting he spent his life on.

One night he had startled her when he placed his hand over hers. She had grown used to his touching, correcting something that they created together or guiding her hand elsewhere when need be. However, at that moment they were simply drinking with one another, one of her hands were clasped around her glass and the other was on top of the desk. He had leaned over to her with no hesitation or worry, a man filled with confidence and the pure knowledge of never being told no, and placed his hand over hers.

She had started, breathed in deeply and suddenly, and flinched lightly at the touch. The lights were low in the room and she hadn't had enough to drink to cloud her judgment. When she looked at him he met her gaze with no reluctance and seemed to wait for her to make the next move.

Slowly, she slid her hand out from under his and placed the glass on the table instead. She bid him a good night and went to her barracks clutching the hand he had taken to her chest with her other hand, and the entire time feeling Howards hooded gaze following her and for the first time feeling uncomfortable under it.

As she sat in the dark room she and Colonel Phillips were watching a black and white film of Steven's latest mission. As with every mission the Howling Commandos were sent on a cameraman was sent as well to obtain footage to show to everyone how the victory of America was going and how quickly they were going to win the war.

Each video was similar to each other. The team would burst in, destroy the base, protect themselves, take as many hostage as possible in order to gain more information, confiscate any weaponry for their labs and Howard to look over, get together, and move quickly on. Everything was done fast, quick, and efficiently.

For a moment however the video continued after the regrouping. It focused on Steven first who was directing and giving orders, his face obtaining the look of a true Captain who was guiding his soldiers through war and looking far more confident than Loki ever remembered seeing him.

The camera suddenly went downward to where Steven was tightly clutching his fob watch. A cutout newspaper photo of herself was clearly visible for a few moments before the camera turned off.

She changed a glance at the Colonel which they shared for a moment before he turned his head to give her a moment of privacy. Grateful for that moment she couldn't help the blush and smile that appeared and widened on her face. Her heart started to beat faster in her chest and her fingers entwined with one another.

He still waited for her.

Loki found that she couldn't breathe when she read the report. She reread it once more in the hopes that she had misinterpreted or missed a word.

Bucky Barnes was dead. The best friend of Steven.

She had seen the two of them together in the videos, they were relaxed and in tune with one another deeply.

Swallowing deeply she placed the report back on the table gently and walked out, her destination clear in every step.

Steven was in the remains of a bombed bar, surrounding by the destroys stone of the building and overturned furniture Steven sat at one of the few remaining tables with a bottle of alcohol and a half full glass in front of him.

He turned slightly when he heard her coming towards him. His red rimmed eyes didn't seem to even realize who she was at first and when he did he barely reacted. Instead he motioned with his head towards one of the seats.

She picked up one of the chairs that were on its side and placed it straight on the ground and turned to face him. He was playing with the glass in his hands.

"Dr. Erskine said that the serum wouldn't just effect my muscles, it would effect my cells." he said, he seemed to not truly realize what he was saying. Perhaps he was just trying to fill the silence. "Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means um…I can't get drunk." He glanced up at her slightly. "Did you know that?"

"I was told that your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person." Loki said after a moment of simply watching him. "He thought it could be one of the side effects."

Steve nodded once before nodding again more firmly. Regardless he drained the glass in his hand and refilled it.

"It wasn't your fault." Loki said softly staring at the table.

"Did you read the reports?" Steve snorted.

"Yes." she said almost reluctantly.

"Then you know that's not true." Steve said all fight and life in him draining at the words. He slumped in his chair and his hands fell to his lap.

"You did everything you could. Unfortunately, this is still war. And in war we, at times, must still be prepared to lose whomever we care about." Loki said remembering the countless wars, the battles, the tears over fallen comrades, and the pure feeling of knowing that she could have done something, anything, to have saved the fallen. She slid her chair closer to Steve and reached out to clasp his hands in hers. "Did you believe in your friend? Did you respect him?"

Steve glanced up at her, the answer obvious in his eyes.

"Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice." Loki said tightening her grip on his hands. Slowly his hands returned her grasp lightly and she could feel warmth course through her at the feeling. "He must have thought you were worth it." She bit her lip before she quietly admitted "And so do I."

Steve's eyes warmed over and he held her gaze, for that moment Loki allowed herself to be rushed away in the emotions coursing through her. Suddenly his eyes hardened and he resembled the soldier she saw in the videos.

"I'm goin' after Schmidt." he told her firmly. "I'm not gonna stop till all of Hydra is dead or captured."

Loki met his steel eyes with her own steel ones and smiled at him. "You won't be alone."

It was pandemonium. It was pure and utter chaos. It was destruction and it was carnage.

It was war.

Bullets and shots of energy were flying through the air. Hydra weapon from the Nazis sides and the Hydra weapons they obtained and created on the Allied side.

For the first time in a long time Loki found herself on the battlefield. Her gun fired one bullet after the other and when it ran out she simply grabbed the nearest weapon to her, a Hydra weapon and used that instead.

Steve was obvious all around. The costume of his stood out in the brown and black uniforms of the others. He had a single gun and used his shield more than anything. He threw it with clear and careful precision to a point that he was able to bring it back to him after it was thrown.

She couldn't help the feeling of happiness that was erupting inside of her. Steve's plan wouldn't fail, they would destroy Hydra here once and for all. This war would be won and they could move on.

She didn't know what Steve intended to do afterward however she knew what she was going to do immediately after the official declaration of victory.

Steve had promised her a dance after all. And despite everything she was looking forward to it more than anything else.

She couldn't help the smile on her face after her brief encounter with Steve on the battlefield. Schmidt was going to fall, the item that she believed to be the tesseract would be taken in by the Americans; somewhere she could keep a close eye on it and make sure that humans didn't realize what it could truly do, and Steve…

Steve would be able to live. Would he continue to court her? Would he prefer her over the hundred other women that would gladly throw themselves at his feet?

Only time would tell and at the end of the day she knew that they would have all the time in the world.

Soon enough they found themselves on top of a car. Herself and Steve in the back as Colonel Phillips gritted his teeth and pushed forward more, pushing the car to its limits. They flew through the air towards the aircraft that contained both Schmidt and the tesseract.

Steve jumped up on the edge of the car as they drove closer. The aircraft was close to taking off, they had mere seconds. The war could finally end.

"Keep it steady!" Steve called out to Phillips.

"Wait!" Loki couldn't help but cry. Steve looked to her in confusion. Acting on impulse and pure desire she grabbed him and pulled him closer to her. When her lips came to his she couldn't help but relax into the kiss and smile despite the destruction happening around them.

They broke apart too soon, his shocked face stared at her in disbelief.

"Go get him." she said softly.

Still in shock Steve looked at Philips who spared him a single look before turning his attention on the road ahead of them and grounded out "I'm not kissing you!"

Loki settled back in her seat as Steve nodded, shot one last look at her, and jumped off the car and onto the plane. She watched as he climbed up and into the plane biting her lip, her heart pounding in her chest almost painfully.

Loki paced back and forth, Peggy was murmured comforts to her, and Philips was barking out orders as they all tried and failed to maintain composure as they waited for reports. Any report or any word from Steve.

One of the soldiers, Jim Morita, was at the radios as he tried and failed to get some sort of signal out.

Loki took in a deep breathe to try and calm herself down. When that failed she resumed pacing back and forth, her hands clutching one another.

Suddenly the crackling radio came to life. Words jumbled over each other and were lost in the static. Everyone in the room had their attention on the radios as Morita's hands flew over the machines in an attempt to establish contact.

Suddenly, clear as anything, a thankfully familiar voice came out of the radios.

"Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"

"Captain Rogers, what is your-" Morita started to say. Loki all but flew to the machine and pushed him out of the way before bringing the microphone to her.

"Steve, is that you?" she said into it, unable to keep the hysteria out of her voice. "Are you alright?"

"Loki, Schmidt's dead!" Steve said. A small cheer went through the room at that however Loki didn't dare allow herself to even smile. He hadn't answered her question.

"What about the plane?" she asked.

"That's a bit tougher to explain." he said his voice strained.

"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing site." Loki said trying to keep her voice steady.

"There's not gonna be a safe landing." Steve said dimly and young. His voice hardened then. "But I can try to force it down."

"I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do." she insisted feeling water gathering in her eyes.

Never before had she cursed to herself so much at the absence of her magic. The pure feeling of being useless and unable to truly help.

"There's not enough time. This things moving too fast and its heading for New York." his voice was wavering. "I got to put her in the water."

"Please, don't do this." she pleaded her voice breaking slightly. "We have time. We can work it out."

"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die." he said, his voice obtaining that almost childish tone to it once more.

Let them die, she wanted to say. As long as we save you it can be worked out.

"Loki." he said softly and lovingly. "This is my choice."

She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips at his words. She closed her eyes as tears continued to gather and threatened to spill down her face. She could hear the gears in the plane and the howling wind through the radio as Steve forced the plane downward.

"Loki?" his voice came out, uncertain and with a tinge of fear.

"I'm here." she managed to say. She cleared her throat so that she could speak more clearly. "I'm here."

There was a pause and when Steve spoke his fear was clear as he most certainly flew to his death. "I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance."

She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face, however weak it was. She licked her lips and said softly "All right. A week, next Saturday. At the Stork Club."

"You got it!" Steve all but exclaimed. His voice sounded as if he was fighting tears of his own.

"Eight o'clock. No later, no earlier." Loki continued her voice wavering and a tear coming down her face. "Don't you dare be late. Understand?"

For a moment she was afraid that they had lost connection. Until his quavering voice came and said "You know, I still don't know how to dance."

"I'll show you how." she said her heart tightening and threatening to break. "Just…just be there."

"We'll have the band play something slow." Steve promised. The radio started to break out. "I'd hate to step on your-"

Then suddenly the only thing she heard was static. She could feel her heart breaking as she felt more tears coming down her face.

"Steve?" she called into the microphone softly. "Steve?"

Dimly she was aware of the people leaving the room as her voice broke and she leaned forward against the machines and radios. Tears continued to fall down her face as she sobbed quietly and called out one last time.

"Steve?"

I do not own Avengers or MCU.

I'm sorry about the long wait, hopefully the updates will be sooner and regularly.