Bucky tucked his pillow behind Marley's back, smiling at how peaceful she looked. He'd given her a light gray shirt to sleep in that had once been Steve's, a New England Patriots shirt. Against the dark gray and black bedding, in his room with it's dark green walls and dark carpeting, she looked like a bright star in his bed. Her hair was nearly pale as her skin, like satin ribbons curling across his pillow.
In the months since he'd joined the Avengers, more and more of his life before HYDRA came back to him. He remembered taking out girls when he and Steve were young men, before the war and the world had broken him. Bucky's confidence in those days had given him an easy charm. If he liked a girl, he could usually sweet talk her into going out with him. Dates, dancing, sometimes more. Usually more. He tried really hard not to use his looks and charm to be an asshole and he never made promises he didn't intend to keep. While he'd never found a girl in those days that could hold his attention for long, he always treated them well while he was with them. Most dames appreciated nothing more than a generous and giving lover and he'd been that. He'd liked to please.
Memories of faces, so many pretty faces, drifted through his mind when he tried to remember. There'd been no one who stood out. No one special.
No one like her…
It was a helpless feeling, realizing he was losing his heart to Marley. To a girl who just may be as broken and lost as he himself was.
She'd sleep for hours, he realized, considering everything that had happened yesterday. F.R.I.D.A.Y. told him it would be at least forty-eight hours until repairs were completed on her apartment. She'd be here in his bed again tonight, maybe tomorrow night. He smiled thinking about it, having enjoyed one of the best nights of sleep he'd had in years, just holding her against him.
"I'm here." Wanda stood in the doorway of his bedroom. He'd asked if she would stay with Marley long enough for him to go to the meeting with Steve, so he could see who Loki was for himself.
Bucky realized that Wanda was there to help Marley not him, but he was grateful all the same.
Rising from where he sat with Marley on the bed, he walked out into the living room and Wanda followed him. "Thank you for doing this."
Wanda nodded. "Be careful, Bucky."
"Do you know anything about this guy?" he asked her. "Loki?"
"He's a Norse god, an old one," Wanda explained. "He's a sorcerer and a powerful one. Don't underestimate him."
"He's like you?"
Wanda's laugh held no humor. "He is much stronger than me."
Bucky considered that. "What can someone like me do up against that?"
"He's a physical being, and in a fight, you could probably hold your own with him. Steve has. But if you give him a chance to invoke his magic, you could find yourself in a dangerous place."
Bucky nodded, taking in what she said.
"Guard your mind most of all," Wanda warned him. "Guard your thoughts."
Bucky smirked on that note. That he could do.
"It bothered me," Wanda went on. "How he looked at her. We were training, and he came into the cell with his brother Thor, who was looking for Nat. Loki saw nothing but Marley. He was fascinated with her."
Marley was beautiful, but Bucky sensed that wasn't her appeal.
"He's interested in her power?"
"Yes," Wanda nodded. "I think so. Please, be careful."
Nodding, Bucky pulled Wanda in for a friendly hug. "Thank you."
Steve had just walked out of his apartment and the two of them headed for the elevator.
"Marley okay?" Steve asked when they reached it.
"Still sleeping," Bucky told him. "Wanda's staying with her."
"Good call."
Steve was in full Captain America mode and it felt like the old days as Bucky walked with the same determination up the hall to the conference room. When they reached it, the found Tony sitting at the head of the table with Thor seated at his right and Loki next to him. Bruce stood near a refreshment table that had been set up, talking quietly to Clint and Natasha.
All eyes turned to Steve when he walked into the room. Bucky closed the door behind him, maybe a little harder than he needed to. For once, Tony didn't roll his eyes at Bucky's presence with Steve. He did look curious though.
"Thor," Steve called, walking around that side of the table to embrace Thor who rose from his chair with a smile. "How've you been?"
"I've seen better days, Captain. It is good, however, to see you," Thor's voice was warm.
Steve's gaze was cold on Thor's brother. "Loki," he said with something resembling courtesy.
Bucky took a seat at the far end of the table and just observed. Since he rarely spoke to anyone other than Steve, no one was paying him any attention. Today was one of those situations where it worked to his advantage.
He quickly sized Loki up. Tall, slender, with black hair and a face that was almost too pretty for a man. When he smirked at Steve who walked around Tony to take a seat at the table across from Thor, Bucky saw it then. The mischief in the man's eyes. Loki knew Steve was upset, he knew why. Loki sat enjoying Steve's discomfort, obviously enjoying the game he had started.
The intensity of Steve pretty much kicked things off and Bucky was happy to be off to the side, in observation mode. Loki and Thor each cast Bucky a cursory glance early on but it ended there.
"So, Thor is the bearer of bad news, Cap," Tony started. "You want to tell him?"
Remembering what Wanda told him, Bucky focused on locking down his thoughts and focusing only on the conversation before him. It seemed weird to be deliberately be doing with his mind what HYDRA had once forced him to do. He forced himself to focus only on the subject at hand, and he did it quickly to protect himself. To protect his thoughts.
The story Thor told of some guy named Thanos, who was coming to claim what was known as the Infinity Stones, was pure gloom and doom. If he understood correctly, Thanos, like Thor and Loki, was not from earth and had an army that sounded like a real threat to all of them. Bucky had heard bits and pieces here and there about the Infinity Stones over the last several months. One of them was in Vision's head, the Mind Stone, and it had given Wanda her powers as he understood it. It had once been in a scepter – maybe Loki's, was that right? – when he attacked New York. Where the other five stones were and what Thanos wanted with them, he had no idea.
Whatever was coming, and it sounded unbelievably bad, Steve believed it was true. Steve's expression was as grim as Bucky had ever seen it. Steve would be expected to lead the Avengers in a battle for their very lives. And where Steve went, he went. Was that how it was all going to end for them? They'd been through everything they had just to have some alien fucker looking for powerful rocks to come and crush them like overgrown ant hill?
As they agreed on preparations to be made, things to be secured, further planning, Loki watched all of it swirling around him with barely contained amusement. After a while, even his own brother took note of his demeanor.
"Brother, I'd like to know what you find amusing about all of this," Thor confronted him. "I realize you may not have much of a care for Midgard, considering your failed attempt to take control of it, but you more than anyone should be concerned about Thanos. Shouldn't you?"
That earned Thor a dirty look from his brother. An egotist then. He enjoyed the discomfort of others, but his own shortcomings were not up for discussion.
"Thanos will have his hands too full, I think, to deal with the trivial issue of me," Loki said calmly like he knew a big secret no one else in the room was privileged to know.
"You sound pretty sure of that," Steve taunted him now, "for a guy that lost Thanos the battle for New York not too long ago."
"Much has changed, Captain Rogers," Loki shot back at him. "Thanos' ambitions are far bigger than that of this one, small planet. You all are devising a grand plan to protect your precious Midgard. Perhaps with the new weapons and players on your team, you'll be up for the challenge."
Steve stared Loki down while Bucky fought to keep his mind focused on the discussion. Nothing else. Nothing else.
"Interested in any of my team members in particular?" Steve asked.
Loki's grin was wide, almost maniacal looking.
Natasha took a seat next to Steve, looking intently at Loki. His smile faded a little at that. Something told him that Loki was a little wary of Nat.
The intensity of both Steve and Nat had Thor looking from them to his brother. "What's this about?"
"Why were you in the room last night of my newest team member?" Steve asked directly.
Loki's chuckle was a wicked sound. "This wouldn't happen to be someone that you're interested in as more than a team member, would it Captain?"
Bucky's fists clenched under the table, but he fought to keep his expression and mind completely neutral.
Steve's jaw locked, and his color heightened. "You didn't answer my question."
With a quick, nervous glance to his brother, Loki didn't seem phased. "I was in the quarters I was so graciously given all night I'm afraid. Perhaps the young lady in question simply had a bad dream."
"A bad dream that left physical handprints on her?" Steve shot back.
Tony, who had to have been aware of the fire in Marley's apartment became very interested at that point.
"Handprints?" Tony asked. "On Marley?"
Steve nodded confirmation.
"We've talked about this," Tony pointed an accusing finger at Loki. "You're a guest here in my compound. That doesn't mean you get to terrorize our team."
"Brother, what is this?" Thor demanded. "This has to do with the young woman yesterday? In the fire cell?"
Natasha nodded in answer.
"I don't know what game this is," Thor state carefully, "but we have no time for it. Leave her be."
The challenging smirk on Loki's face as he held Steve's gaze assured Bucky that the god of mischief had a plan for Marley and his brother would be unable to dissuade him from it.
To their credit, neither Steve nor Natasha glanced down the table at Bucky at any time. He was hanging on to his thoughts by a thread, but he made it. Tony called an end to their meeting and Steve and Nat didn't move as they watched the Asgardians leave the room.
As soon as they'd left, Tony turned to Steve. "What's going on there?"
"Watch the footage from Marley's room last night," Steve bid him. "He was there or at least, one of his clones was. She was so scared she set her bed on fire."
Tony shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "How is that coming along? Training. How is she doing?"
"She's getting better every day," Natasha offered. "Each day she's better able to control her powers."
"Loki's interested in her," Tony pointed out. "Just maybe because he is aware of what her potential is. With this enormous shit storm that is Thanos, coming for all of us, but especially him since he fucked him over back in New York, why is he specifically interested in Marley? Why her?"
"Maybe he thinks she's strong enough to protect him from Thanos," Bruce offered quietly from where he leaned against the coffee table. "Maybe she is. If the growth we've measured while she's been here is any indication, he might be right. She may end up being a valuable asset in what's to come."
"Great," Tony snarked. "We have to protect Marley from HYDRA. Protect her from Reindeer Games. Try to train her for this big intergalactic battle. Anything else?"
Tony's gaze moved to Bucky who dropped his own gaze at that.
Steve's hand on his shoulder had him looking up as they started drifting out of the room.
Walking with Steve and Natasha out into the hallway, Bucky shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
"How is she doing?" Nat asked him, the concern on her face real.
"Sleeping," Bucky told her. "Wanda's with her right now. But I don't expect her to wake up until later."
"Good job in there," Nat told Bucky. "You're not on even on Loki's radar. He thinks Steve is in love with her."
Steve actually blushed, looking uncomfortable. "I'd rather not deal with Loki. We have enough to handle with Thanos coming."
Steve and Nat, the rest of the Avengers, could make all the plans they wanted for Thanos and the Infinity Stones and whatever else needed to be dealt with.
The conversation for him ended at keeping Marley safe. That was his mission. From HYDRA. From Loki. It didn't matter. And it gave him a lot to think about.
"I'm heading back up," Bucky told them, and he made his way back to the elevator.
He went over the meeting with Wanda when he got back to the apartment, happy he was able to avoid drawing Loki's attention for now. Wanda agreed with the idea that Loki's interest in her was likely a belief that her powers might shield him from his own enemies. Either way, he was happy to have an ally in keeping Marley safe. Wanda agreed to help whenever needed and assured him Vision would help as well.
When Wanda left, he made his way back to his bedroom. Marley didn't appear to have moved from where he left her, and he smiled, listening to the quiet sound of her breathing. Her steady heartbeat was a soft cadence he liked to focus on with his enhanced hearing.
Bucky undressed, putting on the same sweats he'd worn the night before, and climbed back into bed with her, spooning behind her.
Marley murmured in her sleep, turning to face him. Her eyes slit open.
"You came back," she whispered.
"I came back."
Pushing herself up in bed, Marley propped herself up on an elbow, looking down at him.
"Is he still here?" Her voice trembled the tiniest bit as she asked.
"Yes, but Thor and the rest of the Avengers know the situation now. We'll keep him away from you." Bucky reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear with this metal hand. "I'll keep him away from you."
"Can I stay here?" Marley asked so quietly he almost didn't hear her. "At least until he's gone?"
"You can stay here as long as you want to," he told her, his heart flying. He knew she was scared and didn't want to be alone. He knew there was a solid chance that he was nothing more than a remedy on either front.
But damned if he didn't want to spend every moment he possibly could with her. He'd take what he could get.
When Marley lowered her head to tentatively press her soft lips to his, she took him off guard. When her small hand curled around his neck, her fingers drifting into his hair as she continued to kiss him, Bucky wound his arms around her, pulling her flush against him. The scent of her arousal was a heady, thick perfume drifting up to him from beneath the bedding and it made his mouth water. Her blue eyes were darkened, her pupils blown wide in desire.
God, he wanted her. But…
"Doll," he whispered against her lips, his flesh hand gentle on her face as he pulled slightly back. "You don't have to do this. I'll still let you stay here –"
Marley pressed her fingers against his mouth to stop him. He couldn't resist nipping at the tips of her fingers with his teeth.
"I want you, Bucky," she whispered. "Please."
Well, when she put it like that.
Bucky rolled onto his back, pulling her with him so that she was above him, straddling him. Her hands were braced on his chest and he rolled his hips beneath her, so she could feel how much he wanted her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so hard.
"Take what you need, baby doll," Bucky offered. "I'm all yours."