A/N: WARNING: Up until this point, the story has been predominately fluff. We have reached the point where the more direct plot begins!

[Chapter 14- Bad News]

For the first time in Loki's stay with the Avengers branch, the door rumbled ominously.

Someone was knocking.

Mr. Fury opened the door, unaware (or completely aware) of Loki, Tony and Bruce peeking around the corner. The dark skinned man pulled out his gun as he warily looked through the door-viewer. After a moment, he huffed, tucked his gun away, and pulled open the door.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit, Agent Sitwell?"

-[]-

Fifteen minutes later saw Mr. Fury, Mr. Phil, Mr. Sitwell, and a crying Steve in the living room. Loki, Tony and Bruce were watching the events unfold on screens in the lab.

"Hydra's back? What does that mean?" Loki asked innocently, looking up to his best friends. He and Steve weren't exactly close, but he still didn't want to see the poor blonde in such a miserable state.

"Hydra was the super-powered gang that killed Steve's girlfriend and best friend," Bruce explained quietly. He fiddled with his shirt anxiously, squinting at the screen. Tony was silent.

"That's really sad. But when did they leave?"

"Steve took their leader out of power and dissolved the gang. Most of them ended up in prison, but some of the less powerful criminals managed to get away. We've been waiting for the gang to form again so they can be taken out completely," Bruce continued.

"They put Steve in a coma for a month after the fight. He woke up in bad conditions and completely freaked out. He doesn't like talking about it," Tony whispered.

The boys were quiet as Mr. Fury entered the lab. Jarvis automatically shut off the screens, trying to keep his boys out of trouble.

"Tony, Bruce, Agent Sitwell would like your assistance in tracking down Hydra's secret weapon. Oh, don't bother looking surprised- I know you brats were watching. We're not really sure what the weapon is-"

"Hence the secret," Tony murmured.

"-but Sitwell believes your hacking skills can find it. Eventually. You don't have to find anything today, or tomorrow, or even in a week. But it would help us a lot if you could keep a program running or something," the man continued.

"Sure, let me just whip one up!" Tony mumbled sarcastically. He pretended to type on a complicated keyboard. "Beep boop be-boop bop. There you go!" He scowled. "How are we supposed to find something when we don't even know what we're looking for?"

"Just..." Fury rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Keep an eye for any super-powered activity. Especially this." He held up a paper with a printed symbol. The red mark looked somewhat like a bad cross between an octopus and a skull.

"Gimme that," the trouble-making genius muttered and grabbed the paper. He moved to another part of the lab to scan it and create a program.

"What can I do, sir?" Bruce asked nervously, twisting his hands in his shirt.

"So far, Sitwell has been able to connect the weapon with the odd signals that come off Steve. We're not sure how they're connected, but I'm sure you can find a way to track them," Fury also pulled out a folder of charts and data for the other brunette. Bruce moved to his own section to study the information and begin calculating.

"And you," Fury turned to the seven year old. "Is there anything you can do with... with magic?"

Loki thought for a moment. He let green energy run over his fingers, considering the different branches of magic he could wield and how they could be used in this situation.

"There's a few things I can do to help search, and to keep us safe," he admitted. "I can set up a small border around the building that can keep out anyone with intent to harm one of us, and I can enhance whatever Tony and Bruce come up with."

"Will you need any help with that?" Steve's voice drew attention to where he had been quietly standing in the doorway. Loki observed him for a moment before nodding and wheeling closer.

"I need someone to help me get around outside," he offered. The blonde nodded once, sharply, and turned to the brunettes at the back of the lab. "I'll bring you guys some... some snacks when we're done." Tony's head whipped up for a moment, but he quickly put it back down, humming his thanks.

-[]-

"So how does this work?" Steve asked, carrying a large sack of... of whatever Loki had harvested. It looked like salt, but it smelled like flowers, and it had come from some deposit behind the building.

"That," Loki gestured to the bag, "has magical properties. We make a circle around the house, and I can enchant it to keep out anything that means to harm us. It's a weak barrier, but it should hold for a while." Steve nodded again, following after him.

They tried to stick to the paths as they went around the building, but soon they reached the backyard. Loki requested to be settled against Steve's hip, with the bag on the opposite hip. The green eyed boy threw handfuls of the mineral into the grass. His eyes glowed as he chanted.

About an hour later, they had made their way around the entire building. Loki spending a few more minutes testing the barrier with his magic before he deemed it good. Steve stored the sack in the garage, in case they needed to renew the shield.

When they went inside, Tony was complaining and practically begging for goldfish. Steve retrieved some with a smile. The blonde sat with the boys while they continued programming and bantering.

-[]-

Later that evening, Loki tested the barrier again, making him the last to use the shower. On his way to the bathroom, he passed Steve and Thor's room. He knew Thor was in the kitchen with Clint, so he was surprised to hear quiet shuffling from the room.

He gently pushed open the door and instantly saw Steve weeping quietly on the bed. His breathing was labored, his cheeks splotchy red, and his hair mussed. It was not a pretty sight, him crying into that blanket like it was the end of the world.

"Steve?" Loki quietly rolled into the room and up to the bed. The blue eyed teen stiffened; he was obviously ashamed to have been caught in such a position. "It's... not okay, right now, and it probably wasn't back then either. But it'll be okay soon, so don't be too sad, okay?"

"I miss them," Steve whispered brokenly into the space between them. He clutched the blanket closer with one hand and the stuffed dog with the other. "I miss Bucky and... and Peggy. They were my c-closet friends." He sobbed out weakly but quickly tried to reign it back in.

"What are those?" Loki asked softly, gesturing to the items in Steve's hands.

"The blanket... The blanket was a gift from-from Buck's Ma," the blonde said quietly. "We used to watch movies... t-together under it. And... and the dog was from Peg- Peggy. She... She shot this disc at a carnival, and she won it," his face cracked in a strained smile before he dissolved into tears again.

"Now they're dead..."

Loki didn't know what to say, so he just hugged the blue eyed blonde while he sobbed his poor heart out.

A/N: QUESTION OF THE UPDATE: What's your favorite kind of goldfish? I love the rainbow ones!