Rise of the Phoenix (L. Laufey/Odinson)

24.

Bucky plays with Nina's hair as she lays with her head in his lap, her eyes slightly vacant. She slept about as much as Loki did the night before. Bucky slept. He slept better than he had since Nina left. At least one of them is sleeping through the night. Steve holds out a mug of tea for Nina who smiles softly at him and sits up to take it.

"Thanks" She whispers and pulls her knees up and under her.

"So what was it like?" Steve asks her. "Over there?"

"Cold, so very cold" She answers. "But it was so beautiful, Steve, you've never seen anything like it" She adds and then begins to gush about Jotunheim. Bucky and Steve can see that despite the reasoning behind her stay on Jotunheim, Nina liked it, she liked the realm, the people, the environment. She was happy there. Even with Loki. Especially with Loki. Bucky and Steve share a look, Steve shrugs a little. They've already talked about Nina and Loki, Bucky having seen something between them, knows his sister well enough to read her. She likes him. He understands why they have formed a bond, they spent a significant amount of time together, relied on each other to survive. But there is something more there too.

..........

"What's going on with you and Loki?" Bucky asks Nina who sets her now empty mug into the sink.

"We bonded" Nina admits to Bucky who raises an eyebrow at her. "I really like him"

"But...Loki?" he asks pulling a face, she turns a look on him.

"You don't know him" Nina scolds him. "You only know what they told you" She motions beyond them, implying the rest of the Avengers. "You didn't spend months with him....talking to him, listening to him" She points out. "I saw him, the real him, as he is now.......and I like him, Bucky. He took care of me, protected me, saved my life, you don't have to like everything he has done in the past....but you cannot fault him for the way he has treated me" Nina tells Bucky as she threads her fingers with his, he sighs and shakes his head, because she is right, he can't...Loki protected his sister, made sure she survived. He owes Loki. But being okay with his sister having feelings for someone that tried to invade the world. Bucky sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

"Nina?" Loki asks from the doorway as he pulls on his jacket.

"I'll be right there" She assures him. Bucky pulls a face. Nina shoots him a look. "Be nice" She hisses at him. Bucky glares at Loki a little. Nina smacks his chest and shoots him a look before walking to Loki, he raises an eyebrow at her but she just shakes her head and takes his hand. They'd decided the night before to find a few moments every day for them. No matter what. It will help the others come to terms with them as a couple if they see them together as friends first.

..........

"Midgard has some beautiful flowers" Loki comments as he picks a few of the tulips growing in the courtyard of the facility.

"Not as pretty as the ones on Jotunheim" Nina complains a little, Loki chuckles and holds out the flowers to her.

"Only you would think that Jotunheim is beautiful" He counters, she smiles softly taking the flowers from him.

"You still don't see it" she scolds a little, he shrugs. "Good thing Mairead is going to be the queen then" She teases, he smiles and presses his lips to her forehead. "All those whites and blues" She whispers and smiles. "It is beautiful to me.....I live in a world of red and orange and fire, Loki" She reminds him. "Jotunheim is so far from that....it made me feel...." She smirks and shakes her head.

"What?" He asks her. "What did it make you feel?"

"That I was in another world" She answers, Loki laughs and gives her a look. "I know I was in another world but those colours...." She looks out across the view and sighs.

"You miss it" He points out.

"It's so crowded here" She whispers and hangs her head. "And...filled with bad memories....." He leans closer and brushes his lips over hers, she hums and smiles against his lips before pulling back.

"What about this?" He asks as he threads his fingers with her. "Is this a bad memory?" She shakes her head and smiles softly.

"No" She assures him. "This will be a good one..." He nods and squeezes her hand. "You don't miss it?" She asks. "You don't regret giving it up?"

"No" He answers, sure of his answer. "I won something better" He teases, she chuckles and leans against his arm.

..........

Nina stretches out in her sleep before curling up again. She is so tired that she has to sleep now, regardless of her feelings. Her body is telling her to do it and she has to listen. She turns over and curls up again. Something shifts in the darkness of her room. A figure. Tall. Very tall. And blue. Gonseyt. She steps out of the shadows and smirks as she holds up a small stone, she breaths against it, a black mist wrapping around the stone, seeping into it before it disappears. She turns a glare onto Nina's sleeping form before sliding the stone under her pillow. Loki ruined everything. Broke tradition. Broke their laws. Broke her son's heart. Býleistr was a mess after his loss. He lost the throne. He lost the girl. And he lost it to that half-breed son of Mairead. He is not even full Jotun. And now he will pay. She is going to take the one thing that means everything from him. She steps back into the shadows and disappears.