One of the first magical skills Stephen had taught me was shielding. He had decided to make it a priority, so that if I ever got into trouble, I would at least be able to defend myself until someone else arrived to bail me out. We practiced every day for weeks until calling up a shield became automatic for me. He wanted me to not even think about it, just call one up out of instinct. He would surprise me when I was out and about, startling me with a fake attack. On one very memorable occasion, he hijacked a trip to Australia that Loki had decided to take me on since I had always wanted to visit the continent. I was alone on a pier waiting for Loki at one point, and Stephen appeared out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me. I shielded from his blast, but the impact made me topple heels over head off the pier and eighty feet to the water, where I landed smack dab in the middle of a jellyfish bloom. Being able to heal fast did not make being stung by dozens of tentacles suck any less, especially when you had no choice but to swim through them in order to get back to shore so you can strangle a certain Sorcerer with his own cloak. Loki almost beat me to that, and after I brought one of the jellyfish to shore with me and threatened to feed it to Stephen while Loki held him down, he agreed that vacations—especially romantic ones- were off limits as far as magic practice was concerned.

The point was, shielding became second nature, a snap reflex reaction the same as blinking or pissing yourself when some asshole set off fireworks ten days before the Fourth of July. As a result, the bullets that were flying at us pinged and bounced off a translucent shield made of shimmering brilliant white light. I managed to call it up so that it protected myself, Sam, Bucky, and Zemo. I wasn't able to extend it to anyone else in the room though, and as a result a few people lay on the ground dead, including Selby.

Her guards were running around like chickens who had their heads chopped off, and my head rang as they returned fire with machine guns. At what, no telling. Some of them weren't even shooting in the direction I had heard the sound come from. There were a couple of people on their phones, shouting confusion, general mayhem. The four of us were the only ones who weren't in a damn frenzy. In fact, Zemo was actually poking at the shield with his forefinger like it was an interesting animal he had found.

"If we get out of here, do you think you can track down whoever is shooting at us?" Bucky yelled at me, and I nodded. We needed to move anyway, I couldn't keep this up for long. My forehead prickled with sweat.

I started to follow Sam and Bucky but noticed Zemo was still poking at my shield. "Oh, for God's sake," I exclaimed in exasperation, reaching for the back of his swanky coat and yanking on the fur lined collar. He finally got his ass moving, and I shoved him ahead of me just as my shield dropped. Then I yelled as three bullets nailed me in the back of my thigh, Loki's amulet flaring hot on my chest.

My leg was on fire as I ran out, limping and then leaning against the wall. "Are you alright?!" Sam yelled, and I gritted my teeth and nodded while wincing. Fuck, fuck, fuck, that hurt. The amulet was now so hot that I was surprised it wasn't burning a hole in my chest. Well, I wasn't exactly happy at the moment either.

The pain faded very suddenly. I knew the bullets were still in my leg. The flesh would have healed over them, and I was sure it was going to tear internally every time I moved, but at the moment I didn't feel anything. Damn it, if he cast that godforsaken pain spell that turned me loopy when I was in the middle of a brawl, he would be sleeping alone for the next decade.

Zemo had yanked a tablecloth off a nearby dining set and was rolling it up, but I stopped him before he could kneel to tie it around my leg. "I said I'm fine, move it!" I pushed him after Sam and Bucky, guarding our rear. I would heal from another bullet, he wouldn't.

We shoved past clueless club patrons and made it outside, where I took the lead and ran full tilt towards the smell of gunpowder. Bucky was behind me. Being a super soldier meant he was the only one of our group who could keep up with me, albeit barely. I raced down the street, vaulted over carts full of produce and other assorted contraband, and turned down an alley where the gunpowder smell was strongest. It was behind a building right across the street from the club, facing directly into Selby's lounge. I jumped up to the fire escape and began climbing, but I knew I was too late. Whoever was there was gone.

I followed the trail anyway, climbing all the way to the roof, and made a beeline towards a spot that looked directly into the lounge we had just fled. I didn't need to kneel to catch the scent, and I recognized it. It had been at that Hydra base.

"Jesus Christ!" I screamed in frustration and kicked the wall of the building's roof access just as Bucky climbed over the edge of the roof to join me. He winced at the sight of the crumbling brick and mortar. "They were here! They were right here!"

I was seething now, and I went back to the spot, picking up the scent and trying to follow it. Just as Sam and Zemo caught up, I went down a fire escape on the other side of the building, hot on the scent's trail...

...Which ended in a drainage culvert full of water, and then I picked up the smell of car exhaust and saw tire tracks caused by a vehicle burning rubber to get away. "Fucking figures."

"Great. They know about you, at least enough to know to go through water," Bucky remarked coming up beside me.

My hands balled into fists at my sides. I was angry before, but now I. Was. Pissed. "All that time farting around in that damn club, and I could have been out here, could have caught their scent and taken them..."

"Don't blame yourself," Bucky started.

"I don't. I blame him," I snarled as Zemo ran up. "What the hell? We wasted that time in that damn place and didn't learn a damn thing!"

"We learned that someone is aware of you and thanks to that display you put on, we no longer have the advantage of the element of surprise as far as you are concerned. And if someone had not attacked Selby, we would not be certain that Steve's abductors have connections here..."

"Oh, you are so full of shit! You dragged us in there not because you give a crap about Steve, but to mess with us! What the fuck was with that Winter Soldier stunt?"

"Tracy..." Bucky's voice sounded pretty nervous. Understandable since a couple of buildings close to us were shaking.

"We needed to blend in, and could not do it as ourselves. I am sorry for making James take on a role he says he has left behind..."

"Stop lying to me! You enjoyed that, you cold, manipulative, vile worm."

The buildings shook harder, Loki's "amulet" heated up again, and I took a breath, muttered a word that would have made Tony faint, then pulled the power that wanted to escape my leash back and flung my hand towards a deserted section of road. It rolled through the asphalt for yards, rippling under the pavement like Bugs Bunny tunneling under the ground in the old cartoons, reducing the pavement to powder.

I took in another deep shaking breath. "And you're right, we have lost the element of surprise. If we hadn't been in there, we wouldn't have gotten shot at, and I wouldn't have had to shield your sorry ass. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should get back to my hotel room. I have three bullets to dig out of my leg!"

Bucky started to reach for my arm, but I yanked it back. "Don't," I snarled in warning. He backed off. All three men did. The "amulet" went quiet.

At least the ride back to the hotel was relatively peaceful.

I borrowed Bucky's sharpest knife, but declined his offer of help. This was going to be bad enough. My leg had completely healed over the damn bullets, and sure enough as I walked or did anything they continuously ripped through muscle, nerves, and blood vessels, which kept healing but even with the pain dulled it was going to seriously hamper my ability to do anything unless those bullets came out.

I went into the bathroom, hiked my dress up, and sat on the rim of the tub. Just as I touched the tip of the blade to the back of my thigh, the leg was surrounded by a bright green glow. Moments later three plinks echoed off the tiles as the glowing green bullets fell out of my leg. And that officially clinched it.

I sighed, took off the "amulet", and told it, "Alright, the jig is up. You may as well turn back into yourself."

Nothing happened. The stubborn ass.

"Fine. Have it your way...you won't mind if I shut you in a drawer or plopped you into the toilet tank for safekeeping then?"

There was a flash of green light and I was holding Loki's hand, unsure if I should feel annoyed or relieved. My primary emotion was concern. I could feel how exhausted he was, and there were dark, dark circles under his eyes. He looked really washed out. "My God. How long has it been since you slept?!"

He put on a wobbly, sardonic smile. "I haven't been able to."

He was swaying on his feet and I tugged on his hand. "Sit down before you fall down," I told him, and he lowered himself to the bathroom floor. I slid off the tub's rim to join him. He pulled me between his legs with my back to his chest, wrapping his arms around me with a sigh. "When did you learn a pain relief spell that wouldn't send me into the stratosphere mentally wise?"

"I've been experimenting ever since you were wounded by that demon in New Asgard," Loki mumbled into my hair.

"And that was a projection I yelled at back at the Mansion?"

Loki cleared his throat. "Yes, but I was still very much present so I heard it all." He inhaled deeply. "I know we need to talk..."

"You need to sleep, and I need to cool down some more before I go outside and beat Zemo to a pulp for how he played Bucky tonight."

I felt his own temper spike dangerously. "And you, too. If he touches you again..."

"Stop it. I can handle Zemo. Let's not reveal that you're here unless we absolutely have to." Then it dawned on me. "Oh, fuck. You were there when Bucky shoved me out of the plane."

I felt Loki shrug. "I wouldn't have let you fall, although I couldn't say the same for Barnes had he dropped you." His arms tightened around me. "I was also there when you and Wilson talked. It was most...enlightening that the Avengers found my courtship of you so amusing."

"Wasn't your fault," I said, picking at my nails. "I didn't exactly make things easy for you."

He grabbed my hands in order to still them. "Stop that. They look nice. I didn't approve of Zemo drooling over you like a dog, but I will concede that you look amazing. I approve of the choice of color."

I laughed. "Zemo wasn't drooling. He was trying to mess with me hoping I would reveal more about myself, give him something to use so he could manipulate and extort me."

"It looked like drooling to me."

"It wasn't. He's still very much hung up on his dead wife, and would never do anything out of love for her." I nudged him with my elbow. "Listen to the empath."

He let it go, having been mollified. His head nuzzled my shoulder. "I'm sorry about the deception. I thought I could be another element of surprise, an advantage that you could use. And right on the heels of what you said..."

"I'm not going to lie and say I'm not at least a little irritated, and if you ever do something like this again, we're going to have a celibate relationship."

I felt him smile. "Fair enough."

"But since my cover is now blown, we can use all the advantage we can get. Besides," I glanced at Bucky's knife. "You saved me a lot of pain, and a whole lot of cleanup."

"I'm sorry I couldn't shield you in time. Yours went down so fast, and before I could do anything, you were hit."

"You can't protect me from everything, Loki."

"No, but I want to try." He intertwined his fingers with mine. "I still don't know how to act, don't know what to do. You're so precious to me, but I know you can't live with me smothering you. And I know you need support as you learn to fly again rather than have your wings clipped and then be kept in a cage. I'm sorry for that."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, too. We'll figure it out. I think we're on the right track though."

He yawned, and I decided that was enough talk. "Bed," I ordered. "I think I scared the guys enough that none of them will be knocking on my door until morning. Sam and Zemo are about half passed out anyway, and Bucky isn't too far behind them."

"That was a rather impressive display you put on. Very nice redirect of your powers," Loki yawned again. "I do hope the city hasn't paved that road recently."

"You did look around when we were down there, right? If anything, I think I improved things in that part of town."

He just grunted. I got up and pulled on his hands to help him to his feet. "Alright, you. Time to sleep."

Loki smiled. "Join me?"

I slid into the bed after removing the tiny scrap of fabric Zemo had dared to call a dress and cleaning up in a quick shower, and Loki spooned me. He was asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow, his face in the crook of my neck and arms holding me snugly against his cool body.

I was feeling too wound up and frustrated to sleep, but I laid there listening to his breathing, and wondered how the hell the people behind Steve's disappearance learned about me and my enhanced sense of smell.

We needed to figure it out, because time was running out. And we were no closer to finding Captain America.