Chapter 51: Magic Origami

Marie hefted a box of books up into her arms and was promptly relieved of it by Bucky who easily plucked it out of her arms. "Leave the heavy lifting to those of us who have metal arms, doll," he smirked and gave her a wink before leaving the living room to load the box onto the moving truck.

Marie blushed, but rolled her eyes and continued packing up books from the bookshelf in her grandpa's living room. With the help of her brother's squadron (who had proclaimed themselves The Avengers) Marie and her family were packing up Grandpa's house because he was moving into an assisted living facility. It was a hard thing to do because Grandpa had lived in the house forever and everyone had many fond memories in the house. However it was the right thing to do for both the family and Grandpa.

"Hey, need any help in here?" Marie's brother, Earl, poked his head into the living room.

"I think I've got the bookshelf just about done," Marie answered. "But if you want to start on the curio cabinet that would be great!"

"Sure," Earl shrugged and grabbed a box and some bubble wrap.

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers entered a few minutes later, bickering back and forth about who was better, the Mets or the Yankees. Tony was a staunch defender of the Yankees, while Steve insisted the Mets were better. "Hey guys," Marie called out to them. "Little less arguing and a little more couch lifting action, huh?" She pointed at the couch that was ready to head out into the truck. "Besides, the Minnesota Twins will always be better than any New York team," she rolled her eyes at the obviousness before turning back to her packing.

The two gaped at her for a second then started grumbling about midwest baseball teams and how they would never be better than east coast teams while they lifted the couch and headed out the door. Not even a second later, Natasha Romanov poked her head in. "Hey, Clint and I are running to the sub shop down the street for lunch. What are your orders?"

Both Marie and Earl gave their orders to the pair and kept packing. Tony, Steve, and Bucky went in and out with boxes as they worked. When Nat and Clint finally got back, everyone gathered on the floor in the living room. Most of the furniture had already been taken out and it was too cold outside to eat, so they sat in a circle on the floor of the living room. As they were eating, Marie suddenly noticed that everyone's eyes seemed a bit glazed over. "Pass the napkins," Steve said in a flat monotone.

"What the…?" Marie waved a hand in front of his face only to receive no response. She turned to Bucky, who sat on the other side of her and found that he had fallen backwards, his eyes were closed and his chest was no longer rising and falling. "BUCKY!" she shouted! She dropped her sandwich and quickly moved to do chest compressions. "SOMEONE CALL 911!" she yelled. However no one made a move or gave any outward sign that they had heard her. "What is wrong with all of you?!"

She growled and wiped away tears threatening to fall. "Steve! Your friend is dead! Do something!" She continued doing chest compressions to no avail. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her mind. It was like something was trying to claw its way in. Marie grimaced and put both hands on her head. "Fuck!" She shook her head and gripped her skull. Something was trying to claw its way in… the same something that had already gotten the others! But she couldn't let it!

Marie grabbed the closest thing to her, a napkin, and crumpled it in her fists, letting all of her emotion and rage fuel into it. It was only a couple of seconds later and the napkin was a crumpled mess and spitting purple and blue sparks. Marie looked down in shock and threw the napkin away from her. It hit Steve and the effect was immediate. In a flash of light Captain America was no more. In his place sat an eagle. It screeched and flared its wings, fluttering over to Marie. She could tell by the intense look in his eyes that Cap was no longer under the mind control. However the spell or whatever it was didn't last very long and Cap flashed back into a human. He groaned. The groan turned into a grunt and then a yell though as he clutched his head again. Marie watched, eyes wide as he fought the mind control. She wasn't sure why she was so resistant.

When it looked like he was about to go back under, Marie grabbed another napkin and focused as hard as she could on it, performing whatever magic origami was needed to turn Steve into an animal. Once again, it started to spit sparks. This time they were silver and red. She threw the crumpled napkin at him again and in another flash of light, Captain America had turned into a small blond hamster with little pink feet. "What the fuck?" Marie murmured.

However she didn't have time to think anymore. All at once, the hamster ran at her and leaped into her outstretched hands at the same time everyone else in the living room made a grab for her as well! Marie ducked them all and raced out the door! She made it just outside when a sharp pain lanced through her head and she fell forward into darkness.

*several hours later*

Marie groaned as she woke up. There was a sweet fragrant smell filling the air and her eyes fluttered open to find that she was in the back of what looked to be a flower shop. Brightly colored blooms filled the shelves lining the room. A small squeak drew her attention down to a large lotion bottle laying on its side. There was Steve the hamster, peeking out of it. He appeared to have made the empty lotion bottle his home and was happy to stay inside of it. "How the hell did we end up here?" she asked.

However a jingling bell in the front room announced the arrival of someone to the flower shop. Marie froze. Footsteps slowly started to head towards the backroom. Marie unfroze and looked around. A blanket of what looked to be actual flowers was next to her and she quickly pulled it over both her and Steve the hamster. The footsteps kept coming closer and closer. There was a definite click of a heel in them and Marie slowly peeked out from under the blanket of flowers. She saw a familiar woman, but struggled to place her name. However a second later it popped into her head and she gasped.

"TESS MERCER!" she shouted as she sat up straight in the queen sized bed she and Elise were sharing.

Elise groaned and swatted at her friend behind her. "Go back to sleep!" she grumbled and pulled the covers further up. Marie stared wide eyed at her friend who had the luxury of sleeping peacefully. Her mind was running a million miles an hour trying to reconcile what she'd just experienced, and her first instinct made her grab at her cell phone sitting on the nightstand. She hit the number three speed dial on her phone and waited impatiently as it rang. A groggy man's voice answered with, "What the hell?"

"Bucky?"

"Yeah."

"Oh thank the Goddess! You're alive!" Marie cried out as Elise shushed and swatted at her again.

"Of course I am," he grumbled. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Um…" Marie paused then changed topic. "Is Steve there with you?"

"Yeah? He's still asleep though. You do know it's like one in the morning here, right?"

Marie glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It flashed a bright green 7:00 AM back at her. They had landed at Heathrow Airport in London yesterday and Marie had a severe case of jet lag, which meant she'd gone to bed at an irregular time. "Uh… sorry," she apologized. "I just… woke up from a really bad dream. Um, Steve is a human right? Not a small furry rodent?"

Bucky actually chuckled. "Nope. Still a human. I can see him from here. You want to talk about this dream?"

"Um, I mean. I don't want to keep you up?"

"It's no problem, doll. I don't sleep much anyway. Hazards of being a super soldier with PTSD."

"Okay, let me just go get some tea and I'll tell you all about it," Marie said as she slipped out from under the covers and tiptoed across the wooden floor to exit the guest bedroom she was staying in at Dawn Summer's Oxford, England home.

"Take your time, Doll. I'll just get the tea kettle going here and we'll share a cup while you talk."

"Thanks Bucky," Marie said in a genuine heartfelt way.