Loki stood absolutely still as the scene unfolded before him, with the man in the blue suit and the man he had freed staring at each other, unmoved by the chaos that raged around them. Loki stood with his mouth slightly open, partially because he was still in chock from almost getting a shield thrown right at him, but also because he very frightened to interfere with the reunion of the two soldiers.

The man in the blue suit continued to stare down at the un-frozen man he called "Bucky", and Loki could see that his lips were shaking, and his eyes were filled with so many emotions… Sorrow? Quilt? Relief? Confusion? There was so much that was swirling around in those blue eyes that Loki was almost certain that he would drown in them.

This went on for less than a minute, but for Loki it felt like an agonizing eternity to hear the two pick up the conversation again and talk to each other.

"You don't remember me? It's me Bucky! Your best friend! Don't you remember me?!"

The man said, and he took a step forward as he said so, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other, who in response took a step back. This caused the other man to stop and flinch, as if he had been tremendously hurt by the others action.

"Bucky" as the man called him silently shook his head slowly as he kept staring at the other man.

"No… Why? Should I know you?" Bucky said, and the other man simply gaped and looked at him, as if he was falling apart, like a house of cards that had been hit by the lightest breeze, and was now dangerously close to trembling

and falling apart all together.

"Yes… You know me. I am-" The other man held out his hand in an attempt that would look like he was trying to grab Bucky as he spoke, but he stopped and closed his hand that had been opened into a fist, while at the same time closing his mouth into a thin line while looking down at the ground and leaning back. He was silent for a moment, before he drew a shaky breath and looked up at Bucky.

"My name is Steve, Steve Rogers. We've known each other since we were kids Bucky, don't you remember that?"

But Bucky didn't change his face, he didn't suddenly lit up and run to hug the man, he simply stood there and stared at him like he was crazy.

"No I don't. I don't know who you are, and I am definitely certain that I haven't seen you before."

The other man kept looking at him, and just when Bucky was about to turn around he shouted.

"Wait! Look! Look at me now! It's me Bucky, look at my face!" He shouted, and the man quickly took off his helmet that concealed most of his face, previously hiding the short blond hair that now glowed in the sunlight. He tossed the helmet aside and stared at Bucky, who had turned around at the shout and was now standing still. It was now Bucky who was staring intently at the other man named Steve, and his eyes twitched as he stared at him, as if just seeing his face triggered some kind of chain-reaction in his head.

Loki quickly saw that something was wrong with Bucky. It was too much for him to handle, and if he didn't help him he could suffer some serious damage from being overthrown with suppressed memories. Loki caught Bucky just in time as he fell backwards, clutching his head in agony as he moaned from the pain in his head. Steve quickly ran forward, but Loki would have none of that, so he simply held out his hand and created a barrier that the soldier ran into, though he quickly rose to his feet and started to bang on it.

"Let me through! I need to help him, I'm his best friend!"

"If you are his best friend, then you will stay away so he doesn't die!"

Loki roared, and the man froze completely, hand still on the barrier as he stared at Loki.

"He can't handle this, do you understand? Seeing you brings up memories, memories that have been suppressed, and now that it's all coming back at once it's killing him."

Steve stared at this strange man who seemed to know a lot about his friend that he didn't know, but at least he seemed to care about him, or else he wouldn't hold him so carefully in his arms.

"If you really are his best friend… Then you will put that mask on and be on your way, otherwise he might lose his mind."

Loki said, and he looked down at Bucky who was opening and closing his eyes, catching glimmers of Steve's face, causing him to remember everything that he had been, but at an alarming rate that he couldn't handle.

Loki quickly took his head in his hands and turned it towards him.

"Hey! Stop looking at him, focus on me instead, nothing else."

Bucky stared at this strange man that looked down at him, and he looked into those evergreen eyes, feeling the pain reside as he lost himself in those beautiful eyes that seemed to pull him in. He smiled a bit goofily when the burning sensation in his head was replaced by a cool touch that made him feel so relaxed, and he let out a breath of relief as the pain disappeared completely before closing his eyes, the image of the man's beautiful face and forest green eyes flashing before his own eyes before he was pulled away from the world of the living and drifted into the world of dreams.

Loki looked down at Bucky who was now asleep; thanks to his soothing touch that cooled down his overheated brain and let the exhausted man rest in peace.

"What did you do?!"

Loki looked up at the noisy man who was staring at him as if he had just cut off Bucky's head.

"I saved him you idiot. No thanks to you, who almost caused him his life."

The other man quickly shut his mouth and took a step back, not breaking his eye contact with Loki, who let out a sigh.

"He is asleep at the moment. I froze down the memory that floods his mind, letting him take it in at a normal pace that won't fry him." Loki said before staring down at Bucky again, brushing a few strands of his hair out of his face as he looked at that tired and weary face.

"So what do we do now?" Steve asked, and Loki looked up at him, seeing that the man had no intention of leaving without Bucky.

"Well-" That was all Loki had to say before another explosion occurred, though this time dangerously close to them, and it should really not have surprised him as much as it did, seeing as it was a miracle that it hadn't hit them sooner considering the circumstances they were in at the given moment. Loki quickly scooped up Bucky in his arms and stood up; only now seeing what terrors surrounded them.

Over their heads were planes flying around, Hydra soldiers jumping down from them and joining in on the fight, or at least those that managed to jump out of their respective plane before it exploded, seeing as the Helicarrier was firing an excessive amount of fire at anything that didn't have their logo on it. The soldier named Steve was now out of sight, and Loki did not plan on sticking around to find him, but instead ran towards the edge of the carrier in an attempt to get away from the crossfire so he could think of something. Loki almost ran over the edge, but stopped just in time to halt his movements. He turned around and tried to get a clear view of the battleground and where he could escape, but as fate would have it on of the Hydra soldiers chose that moment to also look around, and of course he saw Loki with Bucky in his arms. Typical.

The soldier shouted something in a foreign language to the others that Loki didn't understand, but he was pretty damn sure that it didn't mean well for him.

Soon enough there was four more soldiers joining the others, and they were now joining him, walking towards Loki like lions trapping a mama elephant protecting her infant.

"Give him over." One of the soldiers said as he held out his left hand, with his right pointing a gun at Loki while the others loaded their guns and mimicked him.

Loki looked at them and waged his options. He could kill those pesky insects, but holding Bucky and conjuring spells would be tricky, especially when he didn't want him shot by those insufferable soldiers.

"You've got nowhere to run boy. Hand him over, now."

Loki stared at them for a few minutes, and every time he blinked he saw a familiar scene from his childhood, where the other children bullied him. They did it like they did right now; round him up in a corner and laughed while they beat him up and ran before Thor came and saw them.

Loki could still remember everything, from the laughter that rang in his ears, from the song they sang about how he was a monster, and how much he cried when he lied on the stone streets with his nose and heart bleeding, mixed with the tears that ran from his eyes.

He remembered how he had limped back to the castle, how he had walked up, up all the stairs to talk to his father.

He entered the room and saw how Odin and Thor laughed together, both soaked in dirt and blood. He had walked towards them, and they had told him of the exiting ogre hunt that they had had together. Without him. When Odin had asked about his wounds, saying something in the line of;

"I hope you didn't let yourself get beat up like a weakling." While laughing and being joined by Thor, Loki had almost wanted to cry even more. But he hadn't. Instead he had put on a fake smile and told them a simple lie, and soon enough they walked past him, father and son holding hands and smiling towards each other while Loki looked longingly after them as he stood in the shadows with now even more pain inflicted on him. All those times… He had simply let them have his way and never stood up for himself… He had cried in his room more times than he would like to admit. Loki shifted his gaze from the soldiers to Bucky that was lying in his arms. He looked back up at the soldiers, and by the looks of them they were suddenly frightened, and who could blame them? After all, nothing is more dangerously than to forcefully put someone in a corner with no escape, especially when that someone has something that it will protect at all cost.

The soldiers watched in horror as Loki now flashed the most terrifying grin that they had ever seen, and his eyes glowed dangerously, and had dark circles under them, like his veins had suddenly started to pump out black blood under his skin.

They didn't have time to scream. Loki swung Bucky over his shoulder with his right arm and held out his left arm, and with a twitch of his eye the soldiers stood still, now floating in the air, hovering slightly over the ground.

"You know…" Loki said, and he let out an ice could chuckle as he watched the soldiers squirm under his enchantment that held them in their place.

"It has been a reaaally long day, and to be honest I'm in a kind of hurry, which means that I won't kill you…"

Loki could see the soldier's dilated pupils shift in size, and he let a full blown smile of pure darkness show on his face before he finished his sentence.

"Slowly." With that said, Loki twisted his hand, and in doing so also twisting each and every neck of the soldiers that had tried to trap him and hurt him.

They fell limp to the ground as Loki's spell ceased, and he took a moment to stare at their lifeless bodies wondering what would have happened so many years ago if he had done the same to those godforsaken bullies.

His victory was cut short however, as Loki now saw even more soldier, who probably would shoot him from a longer distance than the others. Loki looked around saw very few options; He could kill the soldiers, but magic isn't an endless source; it takes energy, energy that he doesn't have much more of, and to put the cherry on the top he is carrying a man in his arm. Loki tightened his grip on Bucky and muttered a curse before falling backwards, down the edge and towards the ground far beneath them.

As Loki fell down he managed to turn around, so his back wasn't facing the ground anymore. It was quite thrilling, falling with accelerating speed towards a certain death. It sure as hell did wonders for the heart, unless of course you don't want a heart attack, which now that Loki thought on it seemed like a thing most people would dislike. Loki fell down, and he tried to remember the right spell to speak, but the wind grinding his eyes open and drying them with the constant blow of the air, as well as slapping his skin and screeching in his ears, well… It wasn't exactly easy to concentrate, but since he was by now less than a minute from facing a ground that would (probably) kill him, he felt really motivated to think. Loki shut his eyes and chanted the spell that would save them, over and over again, each time getting closer to activating it. Then they hit the ground.

Loki had in the last second turned around again, so his back had hit the dusty ground, with Bucky now lying unconsciously on his chest, still sleeping soundly. Loki groaned loudly as he stood up slowly and began walking; the spell had eased his fall, but it still hurt like a bitch when he walked.

Loki more or less managed to wobble himself back into the city, though he dared not say how long it had actually taken him. When he reached the town he quickly disguised himself and Bucky before entering, giving himself and Bucky normal clothes, as well as shifting Bucky so it looked like he was drunk and that Loki was his good drinking pal that walked him home. He found himself outside a respectable hotel with lots of glimmering stars on the outside, not that Loki had the foggiest idea why they thought it necessary to put them there. Nevertheless he walked, enchanted the person behind the desk and walked up the stairs to their shared room. When he had finally walked up all the stairs, laid Bucky gently down on the king-sized bed and made sure the door was locked and sealed he allowed his body to fall back onto the silky sheets and breathe out. Today had been a very long day, and Loki would very much like to sleep, but every bone ached, and his head was swimming with questions, questions like "Where is Thor?" Where are the others?" "Are the Hydra agents after me?"

Those questions kept Loki from sleep, and it wasn't until he heard a soft moan that sort of sounded like a grunt was heard right next to him. Loki turned his head to the side and saw Bucky's eyes slowly open and stare at him. Now, Loki wasn't usually the person that would keep still and stare back, especially when he felt how awkward it felt; honestly. But when moving any muscle in your whole body hurts like a mother-hugger… Well let's just say that Loki didn't give a damn if Bucky thought it was weird, and if he did he was welcomed to get out of the bed. Of which of course he did, quite fast actually, sort of like a cat that suddenly jumped up on all four ten meters up in the air with a screech. It was very much like that. Bucky was now at the floor, breathing heavily and looking around, as if he had been kidnapped and taken far away, which actually now that he read it out loud in his head sounded pretty close what he had actually done he understood why Bucky acted like he was.

"Where am I? Where did you take me? What happened to that man I met earlier?"

Loki groaned as Bucky shouted, feeling a headache sweeping over him. He lifted his hand and swooshed it at Bucky, like he was an annoying fly that bothered him, or like an old lady shooing away a pesky cat. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for Bucky, who had apparently gathered enough courage to climb back up on the bed and was now hovering over Loki who in return squinted his eyes as he looked up at him.

"Tell me." He said, and Loki only groaned and breathed heavily before answering.

"You are in London. We are currently at a "hotel" as they call it… As for the man earlier… I don't know. There was a blast and I lost sight of him. He is probably alright though, seeing as his muscles had muscles…"

Loki closed his eyes and continued to breather, trying to shut out the pain.

It was quiet for a minute, the only sound was their mixed breathing, and Loki didn't bother to stare up at Bucky, who was probably digesting the information.

"… Are you alright?" Bucky asked, Loki's eyes sprung up, now seeing Bucky look at him with something he couldn't put his finger on… Confusion? No, no, not that… Hurt? No… Love? Pshh yeah right… It was like something that was somewhere in between, and for the world Loki couldn't find out what it was, but he felt a little bit warm inside when he looked at him like that.

"What…?" Loki asked, staring up at Bucky who was now looking over his body.

"You're hurt. What happened?" Loki stared at him for a moment, watching him look him over and he felt his hands wander over his body, and to Loki's embarrassment he felt his cheeks heat up at the touch.

"Eerrr… Well… After you fell asleep, or perhaps unconscious, you- I mean I carried you and…"

Loki breathed out and tried to concentrate, but when he looked up he saw Bucky look at him with what Loki could only describe in his head what Darcy called "puppy eyes" and he felt his cheeks redden more if possible.

"You, I mean I, we, we, we fell. From the ship. Down. To the ground."

He said, now looking away and closing his eyes briefly before looking back at Bucky, who was now looking at his own body.

"But if that's true… Why aren't I harmed? I should also be hurt!"

He looked at Loki like he had lied at him, that he was making it all up to confuse him.

"That's because you didn't. I did." Loki said and pointed his right thumb towards his chest and gritting as well as showed his teeth to Bucky whose eyes widened in shock.

"You did? Why? Why would you do that for me? I don't even know you!"

Loki grounded and laid his head back onto the bead and covered his face with both his hands.

"I don't know… Morality? Sentimentality? Pick for yourself."

He said, and he assumed that it calmed Bucky down.

"Did I know you? I mean before I was frozen down, did I know you? Were we friends?"

Loki looked at him now, a confused look over his face.

"Shouldn't you know that by yourself? Didn't you get your memories back?"

Bucky bit his lower lip, and Loki prodded himself up with his elbows digging into the mattress as he stared at him intently.

"It did work… sort of. It's still just a bunch of flickering memories, flashing before my eyes now and then." He muttered, and Loki gave a long sigh before shooing him with his hand to get off of him and sit on the bed.

"Alright, let's get this over with…" Loki said, and Bucky's eyes twitched slightly as if he didn't understand a word he said.

Loki looked at him, and he couldn't help the corners of his mouth turning upwards; he looked rather cute, like a child that tried desperately to comprehend something he had no clue what so ever it was.

"Relax Popsicle; I am simply going to… arrange your memories in order to put it simply. Afterwards you will be put to sleep again, and this time you will remember everything from your past life when you wake up. Alright?"

Bucky nodded slowly after a while.

"Good. Then hold still and grab my hand when I place them onto your head."

Loki said, but when he put his hands on Bucky head he flinched, and Loki retreated his hands immediately, looking at Bucky with confused eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Loki said, and Bucky touched his head with his fingertips before grabbing Loki's hands and then looking up at him.

Your hands… They are cold? How can that be?"

Loki looked at him and his eyes darkened slightly, and he felt hurt, as well as vulnerable.

"That's because I'm not like other people you've met. I'm cold, sorry if that's a bother to you." He said, but to his surprise Bucky hands were still on his, as if it didn't bother him at all. Loki looked up surprised now, and Bucky looked at Loki's hands with a very piqued interest before he looked up at Loki again, this time with a small smile.

"I like it. It feels nice." Loki looked at him like he literally couldn't process what he had just said. Nobody had ever liked touching him too much, the cold of his body always pushing them away and causing them to partially resent him for it. After he had closed his mouth and re-opened it a few times Loki finally managed to get out one cohesive word to Bucky.

"What?" Bucky still smiled at him before looking down at the two hands he was still holding.

"I have been frozen more than I have not. I have been in such cold places for so long that it doesn't feel cold or bad anymore, in fact;

Bucky held Loki's hands a bit tighter as he looked at him.

"I need it. It feels like I am getting over-heated id I'm not cooled down again when I am away on long missions. It feels like my body is… Burning. And the only thing that can help is the cold. It takes away the pain and soothes me… Just like your hands does right now." Bucky smiled at him, and Loki swallowed thickly as he felt that a clump had formed in his throat, and his eyes had started to swell up slightly, as well as a warm feeling spreading in his lower abdomen.

Well damn. Nobody had ever given Loki a compliment quite like that before, if he ever had gotten one, of which he doubted sincerely.

"Eh… Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Loki said as he hastily freed his hands and put them on Bucky's head while giving him an awkward smile. Bucky smiled a bit and put his own hands on his and gave him a silent nod of approval to proceed.

Loki closed his eyes and brought their head together, getting inside of the man's head and tying together all the memories that flew around like leaves caught in the wind, helplessly floating around randomly with nowhere to go.

It took a long while, but eventually he succeeded in tying them together in the proper order, as well as repairing the severed links between them so they wouldn't be broken. When he was done he let go of Bucky's head, who in return fell limp to his chest, already sleeping. Loki laid him gently down onto the bed and positioned himself next to him, not bothering to move, seeing as he was still sore from that "skydiving" he had done earlier. Loki was now lying still with both of his hands on either side of him, and he allowed himself to close his eyes and started to drift to sleep, but was interrupted by Bucky who grasped his right hand with his own right hand. Loki turned his head to Bucky, but saw to his surprise that he hadn't woken up; He had unconsciously grabbed Loki's hand in his sleep, and judging by the big smile that showed up on his face Loki didn't have the heart to let go, or perhaps it was because it felt really nice.

Loki snapped his fingers and turned the lights out, and before everything went black he looked at Bucky with a smile and a warm feeling in his stomach, that only grew when he saw Bucky smile widely and squeeze his hand as he shifted a little bit closer to him.