You, Bucky, and the raven on your shoulder made the long trek back to the Hydra agents. The snow was deep, but you could follow Bucky's tracks from the way out on your way back. "Oh, Loki, sorry, I forgot proper introductions. This is Bucky. He was one of Cap's friends when they were growing up and got kidnapped by Hydra right after Cap got his powers. He's as warm as your idiot brother and as physically and mentally unappealing-" 'Loki' was a forbidden word, but they couldn't stop you from using it.

"Hey!" Bucky protested, the image of an annoyed older brother, which is exactly the reaction you were trying to get out of him. You did not want Loki jealous of him. That wouldn't help anything and there was nothing for him to be jealous about.

You shrugged. "Sorry, Buck, it's true. Anyway, we've been helping each other in the Hydra compound. I put his brain back together after all the crap Hydra did to it and he's kept me as safe as possible. He's been my substitute Thor and based on his stories I think he might be gay for Cap,"

"I am not gay for Steve! I'm not gay!" Bucky protested, glaring at you.

You laughed in reply, finally feeling like your usual ball of sunshine briefly. "Uh-huh, sure you aren't," you replied with as much sarcasm in your voice as you could muster. Bucky rolled his eyes and glared at you.

"Shut it, Striga," he grumbled at you as you continued to trudge through the snow, cradling your little warm shield-ball to your chest to keep warm and functional. Talking was helping too.

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Loki asked, getting you back on track.

"It's the Romanian term for a type of vampire, well a play on the word anyway. My family was Romanian. I needed some nickname for your girl," smart Bucky realizing that firmly indicating to Loki that he had no interest in you. He also addressed the raven directly when he spoke.

"He's like all of the rest of the team when it comes to the nicknames," you explained to Loki. The raven nodded in understanding. The team, Tony especially, were obsessed with nicknames. Bucky stopped short, just stopping and staring at the bird on your shoulder like he couldn't understand. "What's wrong?" you asked him, confused why he was staring now.

"I just spoke to a fucking bird. What the fuck?" Bucky grumbled, staring at the bird, which just ruffled its feathers nonchalantly. You would have scolded Bucky for his language, but that was Cap's thing, which was ridiculous since they'd both been in the army.

You laughed. "You're hanging out with a vampire and talking to a bird is the thing that weirds you out?" All the shit he'd seen, a talking bird shouldn't be the strangest.

"The bird is your boyfriend. And a god? And it talks. I'm just a simple army-man Striga, I'm allowed to be weirded out by magic," he reminded you as he shook his head to clear the disbelief that he had just spoken to a talking bird. It wasn't going so well.

"The bird is borrowed from my father. I just hitched along for the ride when it came when you called it. The other bird is on the jet with our friends. Darling, did you not tell your friend the plan?" Loki asked you, admonishingly. At least his voice didn't sound too jealous.

"I told him," you replied defensively and reached out to Bucky's mind with yours. He was fine, just normal mortal disbelief over all the magic going on around him. That was ok, his mind breaking wasn't. You'd done well rebuilding his mind under the conditions, but the conditions hadn't been optimal and the rebuilding was tenuous. You had some of his trigger words under control, at least enough to keep him from turning against you during the rescue mission.

"I'm fine. We're almost back. Game faces everyone," Bucky told you and straightened into his usual zombie masked soldier guise. You vanished your shield-ball of fire.

"Hide, Loki," you reminded the bird.

"They're not going to see me, love. Don't worry," Loki's voice was reassuring.

"I'm allowed to worry, this is our one shot," you reminded him.

"And we won't fail, sweetheart," he reminded you just as firmly. "Now, hush, and play out this game, my love,"

So you hushed and let Bucky pack you in the jet to return back to the compound. The raven moved to sit in your lap and it took every ounce of effort not to look like you were cuddling it, though that's what you wanted to do. Bucky pulled the scarlet ribbon out of his pocket and handed it to you. You glared at him. "It'll be noon when we land. Put it on, Scarlet," he ordered firmly. You glared, but did what he said, tying the stupid ribbon over your eyes. Loki didn't comment. Bucky stood when you had landed and took your hand. You clutched onto his arm, hating being blind among the Hydra agents. The raven landed silently on your shoulder and its presence was reassuring.

"Take Scarlet Death to your room. You get to rest until dark," Schneider told Bucky.

"Yes, sir," Bucky said dully. "Come, Scarlet," he ordered and started forward, trusting you to stay with him. You did, especially since he was leading you through the sunny lot into the compound. You ripped the stupid ribbon from your eyes when you were safely back inside. You hated that stupid thing. Bucky led you quickly all the way back to his room. "Take the bed," Bucky told you when you were safely inside. You were leaning on him, half asleep already because of the sun. You stripped off your leather jacket and dropped it unceremoniously on the floor, followed by your combat boots.

"You're not tired?" you asked Bucky as you fwumped onto the bed unceremoniously. You were exhausted and needed to rest. Even a few minutes in the sun was draining.

Bucky looked at the raven. "I'll take the floor," he answered instead.

"That's just dumb, you've-" Bucky's hand was on your mouth an instant later.

"Shut it, Striga. I was trying not to advertise the sleeping arrangements to your boyfriend since he likely won't believe that nothing happened, though nothing happened," he added for the benefit of Loki. He removed his hand from your mouth with a yelp when the bird pecked him.

You shrugged, the effect lessened given your current face-down position on the bed. "Nothing happened. Hydra forced us to share a room so they could make you babysit me. Love, don't be jealous. I have no interest in Bucky and he has less in me. Still sure he's gay for Steve. Buck, don't be stupid," you grumbled at the boys. "Now the vampire is exhausted at noon, so you two behave so I can get some sleep," you told them firmly and curled up on the bed with your back to both of them.

"Sleep, love. It is well past bedtime for little vampires. I won't kill the man who has been helping you. I owe him my thanks and killing him would be a poor way to repay the debt. The team and I will be there at dusk," Loki told you warmly. Though he wasn't here, you felt his hands as he pulled the blanket up over you, and you felt his lips against your cheek. "Do you know how to play chess?" Loki asked from the raven which had landed on the floor. You looked over to see Bucky sit cross-legged on the floor as well.

"I do," Bucky replied suspiciously. He didn't have anything as luxurious as a chessboard. One appeared in front of them, completely set up.

"White goes first," Loki told Bucky graciously. Damn tactician trickster loved chess. You'd learned how to play quickly to play with him and he loved the battle of your minds. Bucky made the first move and the game began.

"I'm playing chess against a bird," Bucky growled once the scene in front of him registered. "I'm playing chess against a fucking bird,"

"And you will lose," Loki added calmly, sounding pleased with himself.

"Great, I'm going to lose at chess to a bird. Even better," you laughed and closed your eyes to get some rest until dusk, listening to the chess match and knowing you were properly safe for the first time in a long time.

Just a little longer