Chapter 2: The Party

Author's Note: I'm guilty of only watching Hulk once, and that was like three years ago. If Bruce's backstory is totally off, that's why xD I think some of this for sure is made up.

Also, does Tony being drunk need a warning? XD

And also, we're shuffling around our posting schedule a little bit so this fic is being moved up to being updated on Wednesday. :) Just so no one's confused as to why the next chapter is being posted so early.

~ Tirana Sorki

Tony insists on holding a party "in honor of Loki's return". Steve's pretty sure he just wants an excuse, not that he's opposed to it. Either way, it'll be a good opportunity for him and Loki to talk to the others and see if they can trust them. At this point, whatever works in their benefit is enough.

If they can't... well, the Avengers know already Bucky's here. If they've been infiltrated, so does Hydra. And Steve is friends with them all on some level, the first he's had since he came out of the ice.

All the Avengers come and so do Sam and Rhodey.

When Clint and Natasha enter, they're trailed by someone he doesn't recognize – a blonde a bit younger than Natasha.

"Hi," she greets cheerfully, gaze flicking past Steve to Bucky for a moment. His friend shifts at his side, seemingly uncomfortable, but he hasn't been overly comfortable this whole time. He did want to come, though. Being here is nerve-wracking for him – Steve can tell – but he'd rather be here than somewhere off alone.

"This is Yelena," Natasha says, "My..."

"I'm her sister," Yelena interjects cheerfully.

Steve blinks. "You have a sister?"

"Technically, we were on a mission together," Natasha interjects, "It wasn't... real."

Yelena's expression dims. "It was always real to me. I've meant to find you for a long time, Nat. I thought you'd find me."

There's clearly some kind of history there, something Steve is curious about but it's their choice if they want to share or not. "At least you have each other now?" he offers. That's a lot of family reunions to go around.

Clint smiles. "Yeah." He pats Yelena's shoulder. "Tasha talked about her all the time. It's nice to meet her."

Yelena moves off to mingle with the others. Bucky takes a seat in a far corner and just sits there, watching.

"You alright?" Steve asks him, just to be sure.

"Yes." He doesn't sound very convincing but... he does know he can leave if it's too much to be here. It never stops hurting to see how different Bucky is now. He always used to be the very social one.

Not that Steve's any more sociable than he ever used to be. He's not talkative, exactly, but everyone wants to talk to him, and Bucky is... he's a quiet shadow, unmoving and silent. Steve tries not to let his heart ache.

Loki's gone to talk to Tony now and once it seems natural enough, Steve goes in search of Bruce. "This must be different for you," he comments.

Bruce nods a little, looking between the others. "It is. Now."

"How long have you been away from the U.S.?" This probably isn't something Bruce is overly comfortable with discussing but he needs to know.

"Years. Ever since this all first came up. I never thought I'd be very welcome back here."

Steve winces. That – wouldn't be easy. The way Bruce is talking is so genuine, though. If he were HYDRA, then... "How did you first get into researching the serum?"

Bruce twitches. "I was curious at first. It was a project other people at the lab were working on. At the time some were... friends, and I was interested in the project. I didn't know what was going to happen when I took the serum. Never would have if I had."

"I'm sure you wouldn't have," he agrees, "I heard Ross was focused on chasing you for a long time?" He's read a bit about it in his files. It was awful. Steve can't help feeling a little responsible for what happened to Bruce. If not for the serum he took and everything it entailed, none of this would have happened to... a lot of people.

"He was involved in the serum project. He thought because I took it, he had right to... control that. He wanted to control the Hulk. Until he realized no one could." Bruce huffs out a breath.

If he was actually involved with HYDRA, it doesn't sound like it was willingly. Bruce isn't faking how much he hates the Hulk. Likely, whoever was influencing the project were HYDRA, but that doesn't mean Bruce was.

Steve trusts him. They can trust Bruce – he's almost certain of that. Though what aid he can offer, Steve doesn't know. Bruce is drowning in guilt over the Hulk and everything he's done in that form, even if it really wasn't his fault.

It reminds him of Bucky.

Still, it means they've got another friend here, which is a plus.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Tony suddenly incredulously shrieks from across the room.

"No," Loki replies flatly, disgustedly, "You're not nearly charming enough."

"Hey –" Tony starts to protest, and Steve tries very hard to tune them out. Sometimes, his enhanced hearing can be very annoying. He has no idea what they're talking about, and he doesn't want to. But he's pretty sure Loki's doing his job well. They need answers, and Loki seems good at getting those.

On the far side of the room, he sees Sam talking to Bucky. It looks like they're actually having a conversation and that's progress.

Clint's talking to Natasha and Yelena, probably catching up with this sister he's presumably never met before. They're catching up, and Steve is fully willing to give them some space as they do so.

Loki approaches them once he untangles himself from Tony, and Steve goes over to Bucky once Sam gets up again.

"See you around," Sam's saying much to cheerfully while Bucky just glares at his back.

"...What was that all about?" Steve asks, sitting in the vacated spot.

"I hate him, but he's safe," Bucky grumbles. "Don't bring him into this."

He tries very hard not to laugh but really, what did Sam say that has Bucky so annoyed? "He's that bad?"

"Yes."

"You've known him for, what, ten minutes?"

Bucky's head turns to scowl grumpily at him. It would look way more intimidating if not for his wild, shoulder-length hair that looks like it hasn't been combed in all sixty-seven years they've been apart. He looks ridiculous for having spent two hours in the bathroom getting ready for this stupid party earlier.

Oh, fine, fine – he'll let this slide. It's overwhelming to see Bucky again. For Steve, it's only been a few weeks since the train. Since Bucky fell, and it feels like a dream that he's here again. It's only been a few days since he's been back.

"Well, I think Bruce is safe, too. I cleared up that space. Hopefully Loki's made progress with the rest."

There's too much noise for him to decipher what the others are talking about, but Natasha keeps looking over at them. There's something calculating in her gaze that makes him on edge. Steve knows she's good at reading people, and he doesn't know what it is she's analyzing. There's probably something she's seeing that he might not even notice – being an assassin and all.

Steve hates that he's not certain he can trust her. She saved his life once, or at least she tried her best to when she could've died for it.

Or maybe it's just that he trusts her with his life, but not Bucky's.

Bucky eyes Loki, nodding motely, settling back against the couch.

"It's been a long time since we've been to a party."

"1943." Bucky smiles, though it's pained. Steve's heart aches, too.

It feels like a dream. That they're both so out of time.

He looks up, and across the room Natasha and Yelena are talking to Clint. Their voices are drowned over by the music blaring in the background. Clint's laughing, and Yelena says something, gesturing in Steve and Bucky's direction. Natasha laughs and swats her arm.

"I'd bet she's talking about asking us out," Bucky says dryly, "But I don't want to owe you."

His gut flips sharply. "You don't owe me anything. I'm sorry I –" What's he going to say? Wasn't strong enough? After everything Bucky did for him, Steve could do nothing to help him.

"Don't," Bucky orders firmly, "I knew the risks. If I hadn't taken the shield, it would've hit you. The explosion, the fall – I'd do it all again. For you."

Steve exhales shakily. He knows that, but it doesn't stop the aching in his heart or the fact that he saw his best friend fall. Bucky's done so much for him. "You don't have to look out for me."

"I'm with you til the end of the line, remember?"

Steve's smile is strained and brief. "I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't."

"Don't," he requests, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Oh, that's sweet," Tony quips, approaching, "Heart to heart? Want a drink?"

"Alcohol doesn't affect me," Steve tells him, shifting and shrugging one shoulder. "It hasn't worked since the serum."

"Doomed to a life of sobriety?" Tony shudders violently. "No wonder you're so sticky. Loki? What about you?"

"That will not work on me," Loki replies, watching with his arms crossed and visible amusement.

"Really?" Tony asks, "I have the best around. If you drink enough of it –"

"It won't. It is far too meager to be effective. I brought some from Asgard." He pulls a bottle out of nowhere. Steve is still getting used to seeing him doing that.

"Let me try some of that," Tony demands eagerly.

"I would rather not carry out your corpse."

"Oh, come on. Do you have any idea how much alcohol I can tolerate?"

"I don't think he wants to," Steve interjects, approaching them. He certainly doesn't. He cannot believe Tony sometimes. Most of the time. He's even crazier than Howard.

At least things between them have warmed up a little bit. Had to, considering that they're living in Tony's tower now.

"Since you're no longer human, you should be able to handle it. If you want," Loki says, holding some out to Steve.

"That's not fair," Tony whines.

"Being able to drink this means nothing else gets me drunk," Steve tells him, and Tony deflates.

It hadn't really mattered to him much before, except after Bucky was lost. All he wanted then was for one moment to stop thinking about it, to stop remembering but there wasn't a way. Bucky's back now, though.

He gives in to Loki's offer anyway, though he's careful about it. He does, in fact, need to be perfectly aware of what everyone around him is doing.

Nor does he care to test just how strong this actually is, considering that Loki's beginning to act increasingly... ridiculous. Though that is his normal state so it's hard to say whether the way he's acting is from drinking, or because it's his normal state of being.

Loki starts singing in some language Steve has never heard of before and Tony tries to join, but he's basically making up noises on the fly as he tries to copy him. And then he tries to start dancing, which is about when Steve stops paying attention to them.

Yelena's cheering them on. Steve is relatively certain Rhodey is catching this all on camera.

"Hey." Natasha's voice cuts through his thoughts and he starts slightly, looking down at her.

He hardly noticed her approaching. "Yes?"

"Is something going on with you and Loki?"

Steve stills, even if he tries very hard not to show it. Was that obvious? This could be bad. It might not be, but he's instantly on edge. "Why?" he asks, trying to go for casual.

"You've been tense this whole time. And I can tell that Loki's up to something."

He tries to think of a very good excuse and fast. It's not working. "I heard from Clint he's called the god of mischief. Isn't he always up to something?"

She raises an eyebrow, looking very disbelieving. "And I'm thinking you know what it is. Is something wrong?"

She seems like she's just worried which is understandable. It makes him feel a little bad about distrusting her in the first place but he can't risk Bucky. "The other people Thor was working with," Steve settles for finally, because that's wiser than explaining the whole HYDRA situation, "There must be more of them out there than we realize. They must be hiding right in front of us for no one to have noticed before."

"And you want to know if you can trust everyone here?" she deduces. Her face is too neutral for him to properly read though he thinks she might be a little hurt.

"We just met," he tries to go for saying lightly.

"Well, I don't have any interest in an alien ruling the entire planet and I know Clint doesn't either. Banner's been hiding for years for a reason, and SHIELD would know if Stark or Rhodey were presently threats. Never met Sam before."

That was basically his assessment, too, though he'll have to ask Loki what he thinks later.

"That's what I thought," he tells her and leaves it that, going to Bucky's broody corner again.

Neither of them speak for a while, at least not until Yelena comes over to them.

"Hey," she says, a bit cheerily, "I just heard a bit about you both from Nat."

"She never mentioned you before," Steve comments, not that he knew Natasha nearly long enough to have much of a personal conversation with her. Those details don't really seem like the kind of thing she shares readily. She's big on trust.

Her expression dims. "We were separated years ago. I thought she'd come look for me but... I suppose she never knew where to start."

"She mentioned you met on a mission?" Steve asks, mostly curious. He doesn't know if them being sisters is biological or – like it is with him and Bucky.

"I was too young to understand what it is was at the time, but... we were raised together." Yelena replies with a shrug. "I lived in the U.S. for a time. They had some pretty cool food and some really fun songs. I never heard about you, though. This... Captain America hype? You got turned into an ice cube and somebody thawed you out?"

The ice thing again – Steve usually hates it, but somewhere between drinking for the first time in years and this being Yelena has him laugh. It's relieving that there's actually someone else who doesn't know him. "I fought HYDRA during World War II. It wasn't really an official role."

She nods a little. "Must be weird to have your face splattered all over every magazine on the globe."

He huffs out an almost amused breath. "It took a lot of getting used to." He's still getting used to it.

"Yeah, being a hero to everyone sounds really, really boring." The comment seemed very personal, but he imagines her past is about as dark as Natasha's.

Steve thinks he sees Sam talking to Clint and Bruce, but he's starting to lose them amidst the chaos a bit. He feels... better. Oh, he'll regret this in the morning, but it's still a bit nice. He feels... calm.

"Especially when you're used to being invisible," Bucky asserts.

Yelena laughs. She's got to be in her early twenties, if that – she's basically a child.

He has a lot of questions about her, but he lets them slide. It's a party right now – he's not going to dwell on heavy things.

Yelena moves back into the chaos, monologuing a bit about some song playing in the background that's way too loud in Steve's opinion, and with Bucky's sharp taste of music he probably close-to-hates it.

"Think we can trust her?" Steve queries, trying not to watch Loki doing a stupid dance that his cape makes look unnecessarily dramatic.

"Don't know," Bucky answers, "But I kind of like her."

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