Chapter Text
"So. What first?" Thor asked as he sat down with the rest of the team after a lunch of takeout pizza and leftover Chinese.
"Well, our new mission statement is HYDRA." Steve explained. "We need to identify them and bring them down, without destroying S.H.I.E.L.D in the process."
Thor frowned. "...riiight?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D is Fury, Coulson, Hill, anyone who's name includes an agent." Nickie whispered to help him out.
"Yeah, intellectual thieves."
"In the name of planetary defence." Coulson retorted calmly.
"And HYDRA?" Thor asked.
"A leftover from the second world war." Natasha explained. "They've been growing inside S.H.I.E.L.D for decades, manipulating files, records and even international politics to their advantage."
"What do they want?" Thor asked.
"Power." Steve answered. "Most likely through control."
Thor nodded a little. "So, we find them and fight them, yes?" He asked.
"Exactly." Tony agreed.
"Sadly, it's a little more complicated than that." Hill apologised, shaking her head. "If we announce to all S.H.I.E.L.D operatives that we're aware of the HYDRA threat, we risk an internal war that could launch international conflicts and put civilian lives at risk."
"So we have to be stealthy." Steve replied. "Beat them at their own game. Now our agents have the hard job, finding bases that are likely to be infested with HYDRA and sending us out there. We have the harder job. We go into every situation blind and assess as we go. Maybe the base is clean, maybe not. Maybe we play detectives, maybe they launch a defence against us."
"We have no idea?" Thor confirmed.
"Which means you have to trust each other. Work together." Hill summarised. Tony leant back in his chair and groaned as Steve went on.
"So anytime we're not in the field, we're training. Honing our skills and our instincts." Steve told his people. "We'll never make it through this unless we can depend on each other's every motion perfectly. Like Barton and Romanoff over here."
Clint laughed dryly. "We're the example?" He asked incredulously, raising his eyebrows.
"Of course we are." Natasha smirked. "Have you seen the rest of these fools in combat?"
Banner scoffed in surprise and pointed at Steve. "You know he's the most celebrated war hero maybe ever, right?" He pointed out.
"Out of date." Natasha remarked playfully as she leant back in her chair. "Could use a tune-up."
"You hear that?" Tony laughed, looking over at him as Steve shot Nat a playful glare.
Thor beamed and chuckled as well. "I think we'll be just fine." He mused. "A fine collection of warriors, and great scientists as well." He added, gesturing to Jane, Banner and Stark down the table from beside him.
"Yes, uh, what exactly am I going to be doing?" Jane asked.
"You get to play with us, Doctor." Tony grinned.
"By which he means you'll have a lab of your own." Hill quickly reassured Jane. "A near unlimited budget for researching potential extraterrestrial civilisations, beings, threats-"
"Primarily threats, right?" Jane confirmed. "Not the science."
"Well, if you tell them the science is to help you find threats," Tony leant forward, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "They'll pay for whatever you want." He whispered.
Jane couldn't help but chuckle a little as she shook her head and looked back at Hill. "So... what happens, like... right now? Today, this week?"
"Today, nothing." Hill assured her. "Settle in, find your feet. Rest up."
"Tomorrow, the Avengers have training. I'll put up the schedule later today." Steve said. "As for you and yours, Dr Foster, Stark can show you around your lab space in the morning and we'll let you get to work." He smiled.
Jane nodded a little smiled as she nodded to Stark and looked back at Hill. "Thank you." She said politely.
"Do we have a date for our first mission?" Thor asked eagerly.
"Not yet." Maria shook her head. "Give our agents time to select a viable target, we estimate sometime this week. There's a few other things to catch you up to speed on but I'll let the Captain get around to that on his own time."
"Agreed." Steve nodded. "We'll gather again to discuss further details tomorrow, for now you're all free to go." He said as he stood up.
As everyone began to file out and started chatting with each other, Nat made a point of seeking out Steve. "Cap."
Steve looked up from the tablet in his hand. "Nat?" He asked.
Natasha watched and waited for the others to leave before speaking softly. "What are you doing about Barnes?" She asked.
Steve looked down and sighed softly, shaking his head. "I don't know." He admitted. "I'm... on my way to see him now." He explained as Natasha nodded along and crossed her arms. "I could use some backup if you're free?" He asked.
Natasha paused for a moment before nodding again. "Yeah, of course." She agreed.
Steve smiled and nodded with his head. "Come on then."
"And, uh, our room is just in here." Jane explained as she showed Thor to the room. She stepped in and started walking around, saying something about how it was technically his room, but Thor was barely listening. His fingers rested on the symbol on the door. His hammer.
All the Avengers had been too oblivious, intimidated or polite to ask him about its absence at lunch, and Loki probably knew better already than to expect him to return from Asgard with the godly weapon still in hand.
"Do you like it?" Jane's voice stirred him from his thoughts.
Thor looked up and actually took in the room as he stepped forward. It was different but nice. The cool greys and steel blues were foreign but very professional. Modern and sleek, quite reminiscent of storms. Thor appreciated the design.
"It is perfect." He smiled as he opened his arms and pulled Jane into a hug.
Jane smiled back and relaxed as she rubbed his side. "...I'm glad you're back." She said quietly.
Thor beamed proudly and kissed the top of her head tenderly
"I said I would be, did I not?" He chuckled softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Jane smiled back and chuckled sweetly. "I was supposed to believe that?" She joked.
Thor laughed as well and shook his head as he stepped back to look around again. "...I do not intend to leave again." He promised, looking back at her. "I swear."
Jane nodded a little and beamed, tilting up in her tip toes for a kiss.
Thor cupped her cheek and kissed her gently for a moment before grinning against her lips and catching her waist with his other hand, dipping her low as he kissed her through giggles.
"Thor!" She exclaimed, clinging to his neck.
Natasha waited in the corner as Steve took a deep breath and looked across the room. There he was.
"Buck." He sighed softly as he slowly approached his bedside, taking a seat beside him. He looked different. His hair was longer, his eyes looked sunked.
"He's sedated." Nat said as she walked over carefully, making no sudden moves as she picked up Bucky's chart and examined it for a moment. "Apparently-"
"-He hit someone." Steve finished for her. "Freaked out when he woke up."
Natasha nodded and hummed softly. "Same as you did." She mused.
Steve smiled with a slight scoff at the memory, his first in this new time. New life, really.
Natasha smiled a little back and slotted Bucky's chart back onto the end of his bed before taking a seat next to Steve.
"...what are you gonna do with him?" Nat asked quietly.
Steve sighed again, not looking up from his best friend's face. "...I don't know." He admitted.
Natasha paused, her heart heavy with sympathy. "... Steve... I might be wrong, but..."
Steve finally looked back at her narrowing his eyes slightly. "What?" He asked.
Natasha sighed. "That arm." She said. "There's an assassin. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years. I've had a scrape with him in the past myself." She admitted.
"What are you saying?" Steve pressed gently.
Nat took a deep breath and tried to deliver the blow softly. "...he had a metal arm. With a red star on the shoulder."
Steve covered his face with his palm for a moment before just looking over his hand, still covering his mouth. "Oh Buck..." he murmured quietly.
As the team disbanded from the meeting, Nickie made a point of following Loki.
"Loki." They said under their breath, gently tugging him off to the side by the elbow joint.
"Hey!" Loki protested before softening as he recognised his tiny assailant.
"You still need your antibiotics." Nickie reminded him.
Loki sighed and rolled his eyes as he leant against the wall and opened his palm while Nick fiddled with the box of pills.
"When am I off these?" He whinged.
"Not until the end of this week at least." Nickie told him mock sternly. "And given that your malnutrition is affecting your healing factor, I think I'll keep you on another week after that just to be safe. Especially since you're not at risk of antibiotic resistance since you've never been exposed to them before."
Loki knocked back the pills and swallowed them with a gulp before half-heartedly glaring at Nick again. "Who exactly appointed you my nurse?" He asked.
"You did." Nick retorted. "With your 'No! Please! Don't let them touch me!'" They laughed, putting on a high, silly voice until Loki jabbed their side.
"I did not say that." He insisted.
"Eh, more or less." Nickie shrugged, leaning against the wall beside him and crossing their arms.
"Well, you've certainly settled in quickly." Loki pointed out.
Nickie shrugged again. "...I just want to make sure you're okay." They explained. "You've seen how the others are around me now... not meeting my eye, not joking with me..." Nick deflated a little, the bright coral colour of their hair dulling to a ginger-blonde as they sighed softly.
Loki hissed in a breath in return, wanting to cheer them up. "They hardly have a kind word for me either." He pointed out. "Foster doesn't seem so bad though." He smiled.
Nickie warmed a little again at that and nodded. "Jane's a good person." They agreed. "Thor too, I think." They mused.
Loki nodded with a hum. "He is. Better than I've given him credit for in a long while, actually." He admitted.
Nickie looked up and grinned at him, unable to deny the pride they felt. He'd come a long way since they first met. Well, so had Nickie... but they'd progressed in the opposite direction.
"Hey, you wanna see my room?" Nick offered, distracting themself from their thoughts.
Loki snorted and nodded as he started to follow them. "Is it as disgustingly big as everyone else's?" He asked as Nickie giggled and nodded back as they pushed open the door.
Loki almost gasped at the view. The sun was bright today, casting the metropolitan city below in sparkles against the pure blue sky. The lighting through the cosy little round window encircled by a reading nook was the perfect backdrop to the warmth, colourful room.
It screamed Nickie, from the gold geometrical designs and stencils to the array of colours in pink, purple, blue and teal, contrasting against dramatic white and black throughout the room. It was cosy and modern, soft and bold, welcoming and intimidating, even cluttered yet neat.
"It's not much," Nick shrugged as they wandered through the space, eyes trailing over their bookshelf.
Loki scoffed and shook his head as he admired strange trinkets and the mess of a desk in something close to awe. "It is." He replied reverently, before hastily trying to explain away his tone. "I'll be lucky if I sleep in a bed at all tonight. One of the walls in my room is plywood." He pointed out.
Nick smiled and shook their head wryly as they picked out a book. "Well, here." They said as Loki caught it reflexively and turned it over, tracing the title carefully as he exhaled deeply. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
"Your first housewarming gift." Nickie grinned.
"Thank you." Loki murmured sincerely in a soft voice.
Nickie chuckle and nodded. "Until the stage." They replied in a dramatic whisper.