The room was quiet, too quiet and the shocked silence drew your attention, Stark's as well. Your tortured mind automatically jumped to the conclusion that you were being attacked, that there was some danger. You let go of Tony and stood, turning to face the room as you rubbed your arm across your face, drying your tears roughly, drawing a thin blade from the sheath hidden at the small of your back in one quick movement, standing in front of Tony to defend him, even as he stood too, placing his sarcastic mask back in place, pretending nothing had happened.

You looked around the room for the attack, the danger, but everyone was just staring at your group, even as they came over to you, as if the danger were in your little group. Tony was safe behind you, so you looked to Loki who seemed sad that your instinct had changed after what you'd been through with Hydra. You'd never been a fighter by inclination or training, until Hydra had fucked up your brain and tortured you into doing their will.

Your mouth fell open and your blade clanged to the floor when you saw Mjolnir in Loki's hand. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asked, raising his hands to hug you, or somehow reassure you over whatever you were staring at. It was then that he finally saw the hammer in his hand and realized what he had done. He let out a yelp of surprise as he dropped the hammer to the floor as if it had burned him. "What in Valhalla?" he demanded, shocked and confused.

The room erupted into shocked "He's worthy?" They had all made it over to you and saw up close that Loki had in fact been holding Mjolnir.

Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder. "I knew you were worthy, Brother!" he boomed, overjoyed and proud. Loki just looked at him confused. He was over a thousand years old and had never once been worthy of holding Mjolnir.

Loki flushed nearly purple under the praise. "It was a fluke," he protested as the situation finally got through your brain. You grinned at him and wrapped you arms around his neck. His arm went automatically around your waist, holding you close to him.

"I knew it too, Lokes," you praised warmly. You knew how much it would mean to Loki to actually be worthy, once he got over his shock. Poor baby was shocked so much twice in one morning. Plus you'd nearly died. It was a rough morning all around.

"I knew the hammer thing was a trick. Only the worthy? Pfft, it's only the Asgardians," Stark grumped. He was always pissy about not being able to lift Mjolnir. He had definitely put back on his sarcasm and jokes to pretend nothing happened and no one had seen him cry. It was definitely typical behavior for him.

"What's the big deal? It's just a hammer," Buck demanded and bent to pick up the hammer, while keeping himself a safe distance away from Stark, figuring correctly that Stark wasn't going to like him quickly after today's revelation. He tried to lift the hammer anyway, except Mjolnir stayed firmly on the ground.

"Only those who are 'worthy'," you made air quotes since no one really knew exactly what it was that made someone worthy or not "are able to lift the hammer," you explained to the confused Bucky. You kissed the confused shocked Loki and let him go, standing on your own two feet again.

Thor picked up the hammer and turned it so the inscription shone where Bucky could read the 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor' inscription.

"More magic," Bucky growled, exasperated with his life becoming filled with so much magic.

"It was just a fluke to save my lady," Loki said softly, too shocked for anything else. He pulled you to his side as if for comfort. Poor baby was so shocked, he'd never once been worthy. Thor silently turned the hammer and handed it to Loki handle first. Loki took it without thinking and seemed surprised when the hammer didn't immediately fall to the ground. He just stared at it.

Poor Loki getting the shit shocked out of him twice in one morning.

"Fluke, huh?" Nat teased, seeming just as proud of Loki for holding the hammer.

Thor kindly took Mjolnir back from Loki and clapped his shoulder again. "I knew you'd be worthy someday, Brother,"

"Y'know what? This is bizzaro world and I've had enough of it for one morning," Tony announced. "Way too many revelations for me on no sleep. I'm going to go close my eyes and hope the universe makes more sense this afternoon," he announced and started to head for the elevator. His eyes were still red and you had the feeling he'd be sorting through, or shoving down, his emotions properly when he was alone. "Danger Noodle, can you and the kid fix whatever they did to her brain? I need her and her brain back in my lab and would prefer the interns don't knock her out by using her nickname when they flirt with her," Tony teased, still pretending nothing had happened. Of course he was.

"Danger Noodle? What flirting interns?" Loki demanded, focusing on something besides Thor's stupid hammer.

"Danger Noodle is a stupid name the internet came up with for snakes. The interns are silly kids," you explained quickly as you got out of his embrace. You had no interest in the interns, they were silly lab boys who tried to show off until you ran circles around them and they shut up.

Loki sighed heavily, but at least seemed back on firm ground. "Another stupid nickname, Stark?" he sighed. "But yes, we will work on fixing those stupid words for Y/N or Sargant Barnes. We can only work on one at a time..." Loki reminded them.

"Whichever one of them loses the 'no you get fixed first' contest?" Nat suggested, teasing you and Bucky for being self-sacrificing idiots.

"Can it Natal'ka," Bucky growled. He turned to Loki. "Whatever Striga says, fix her first," he added just as firmly.

"Buck-" you protested. He'd been broken longer and needed fixed more.

"Kid, you're outnumbered. No offense to Barnes, but we're all going to insist boyfriend's efforts go to fixing you first," Clint reminded you. You opened your mouth to protest again, but the entire team gave you the same look, reminding you that you were very much outnumbered.

"Buck, you're sure?" you asked. He nodded, then seemed to realize something. He rushed to you and wrapped his metal arm around you, his other hand going over your eyes.

"Shit, the light's coming in. We've gotta get you out of here," Bucky told you urgently as he moved to shield you from the sun with his body.

"Relax, Buck. Let me go before Loki stabs you," you told Bucky gently, keeping your voice relaxed. You heard the 'shing' of a blade. "Lokes, don't kill Bucky for trying to protect me from the sun," you added in Loki's general direction. "Seriously, Buck, Stark redid all of the windows in the tower so I won't be hurt by the sun through them. It's ok," Bucky slowly let you go.

"Thanks for your concern, Buck, but I'm safe in the tower," you told him warmly and took a step away from him.

Loki moved possessively closer to you and handed you your slim blade back, hilt first. "You dropped this, kitten," he told you warmly as you took it from him and resheathed it. He leaned down to kiss you, tilting your head up with his fingers under your chin. You saw him watch Bucky while he did. He was making sure his claim was well-staked.

Bucky huffed. "I have no romantic interest in your girl, Odinson," he told Loki. Bucky was an army-man too and tended to use people's last names, at least when he was thinking clearly.

Loki nodded and smirked at Bucky over your head. "Have to make sure, Sargant," he replied with a Cheshire cat grin. Loki, like Thor, tended to be overly polite and use people's titles as a form of address.

"With that excitement, I'm off to bed too," Nat told you warmly. She, Stark, and Clint, and Thor gave up and headed to the elevator to get a nap in and see if the world made more sense when they woke.

"Where'd 'kitten' come from?" you asked Loki as you walked with him back to your couch. You weren't tired yet, you'd been unconscious for hours. Cap and Bucky went to their couch to go over old memories or what had been done to Bucky.

"You reminded me of a little kitten all fluffed up in anger with her tiny needle claws out, when you were defending Stark," he teased. You were tiny and your blade was thin, natural if annoying conclusion.

You huffed and rolled your eyes. "Whatever you say, Noodle," you teased him right back.

"I deserved that," he replied and moved to sit cross-legged on the couch facing you. "Ready to get started?" he asked. You hesitated, knowing this would suck, but turned to mirror his pose and nodded. Loki placed his hands palm up in front of him and you placed your hands on top of his. You both closed your eyes and a shimmer of green magic appeared around you both as warning to everyone else that you and Loki were playing with magic so they wouldn't interrupt.

Loki tapped politely on your mind's shielding and waited for you to open your mind to him before he would dream of entering your mind. He was ever so polite and didn't touch anything that was private. All he looked for was the trigger words, how they were put there, and how to get rid of them. He saw all you'd been through with Hydra and you felt his sorrow at it, but knew he needed to know in order to figure out how to fix what they'd done to you. /I'm going to start with this one/ he indicated the 'hugin' command. It was the most dangerous. He showed you what he needed you to do and you worked together to remove the damn command from your mind. You tried to help him, but you couldn't after the first attempt, he literally had to cut the commands away from the word and there were no words for how much it hurt when he did it. It took all your concentration not to break the connection, not to throw him from your mind.

You couldn't keep your body from keening in pain. Bucky and Cap both ran over. "Shit. More magic. I can't fix magic," Bucky's voice.

"Do not interrupt," Loki's voice was distant, distracted, toneless. "It will not hurt when we do the same for you"

/I'm sorry, darling, I'm sorry/ Loki's mental voice was heartbroken as he worked.

/Fix it, please!/ you begged him.

/I am, dearheart/

*

You finally came back to your body hours later, panting, exhausted, and your head ached like the worst migraine you'd ever had in med school. You blinked quickly, trying to focus your eyes. Loki was looking just as drained. He recovered faster, though, he was stronger than you magically. He smiled warmly at you. "Well done, darling, but you need to rest now. It's noon and past bedtime for sleepy little vampires,"

He was right, but... "I don't want to be alone," you admitted softly.

"Come here, little one," he bid you, opening his arms to you. You slid across the couch and curled yourself in his arms. He wrapped a blanket around you and settled you safely in his lap, letting you rest your head on his shoulder. "I have you, sweetheart, you're safe," he told you warmly and kissed your forehead.

"Love you," you murmured in an exhausted whimper.

"I love you more than anything, kitten," he replied warmly.

"Noodle," you murmured.

"Danger Noodle," he corrected and then shook his head in exasperation at having accepted the new nickname. "Go to sleep, little one," he bid you warmly, with loving exasperation.

*

When you woke, you were lying on the couch a pillow under your head, and the blanket still over you. You rolled over and made a soft noise, wondering where Loki had gone. "Down here, sweetheart," Loki told you. You rolled over and looked down and saw him and Bucky sitting on the floor on either side of the coffee table next to the couch a chessboard on the table between them.

You sat up slowly and wrapped the blanket around your shoulders. "You must be a glutton for punishment, Buck," you teased, clearly seeing that Loki was kicking his ass again.

"At least I'm not losing to a bird this time," Bucky replied. "You know how to play, Striga?" he asked after he'd made his move.

You nodded. "I've only been playing a few months, though," you replied innocently.

"I will stop playing with the army-man and beat him quickly so you can play, darling," Loki told you with a Cheshire cat grin.

"You've been toying with me?" Bucky growled. Poor baby thought he'd been holding his own. Loki inclined his head with a smirk and beat Bucky within three moves. You switched places with Loki and sat on the other side of the chessboard. Loki sat behind you and rubbed your shoulders. "You better not let boyfriend help you," Bucky teased.

"I promise," you replied. You looked up at Loki. "Behave," you told him firmly. He drew a cross over his heart with a long finger. You rolled your eyes at his silliness and turned your attention to the game.

"HOW?" Bucky demanded not terribly long later when you'd kicked his ass.

You shrugged innocently. "Beginner's luck?" you suggested. He gave you a look, but set up the board again. He glared at you when you beat him the second time and burst into laughter when you had. "Loki taught me to play," you explained, modestly.

"Barnes, you seriously tried to play chess against my sestrichka?" Nat asked as she passed through to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen. She'd obviously been downstairs in the training room. "You do know she's crazy smart and was taught to play by Loki, right? He's the only one who can beat her,"

Bucky sighed and stood, gesturing to Loki to take his place. "Are you up to one more round, sweetheart?" Loki asked you. You nodded and set up the board while he folded himself on the other side of the coffee table. You and Loki both closed your eyes when the board was set up.

"More magic?" Bucky sighed, watching as pieces just disappeared from their perfect two rows to stand next to the board. You were playing the entire game in your minds and magic. You shouldn't have been showing off after playing with telepathy all morning, but it was fun.

Until you had to stop halfway through, clutching your head from the sharp shooting pains in your brain and behind your eyes.

"Sorry, Lokes," you whimpered softly as he rushed around the table and turned you to face him, placing his cold fingertips against your temples.

"Hush, sweetheart. I should have known better than to push after the magic we worked this morning. It's my fault for forgetting your limits," he told you softly. You closed your eyes again and moaned in relief as his magic eased the pain.

You heard footsteps approach, but didn't dare open your eyes again, even as the pain eased. Loki settled your tinted glasses on your nose. "I thought you were safe in the tower?" Bucky asked, confused over the tinted glasses.

"I am," you replied as you and Loki returned to sitting on the couch. He waved his hand at the chessboard and it vanished. "But my eyes are sensitive, so the afternoon light can still sting," you explained. Bucky nodded, accepting that explanation and you curled up with Loki to watch stupid daytime TV.

"Brother," Thor said from behind your couch. Loki looked over the back of the couch. You shifted to look up at Thor too. "Lady," he greeted you with a head nod. He turned his attention back to Loki. "I have heard back from Father. He wants us to return to Asgard and report on recent events,"