Winter's Fire. ~Book Three~

Chapter One: The Search.

Steve walked up the steps that lead to his and Red's apartment in Washington, DC. It wasn't what they wanted, but it was all that they could afford. Ideally, he knew that they both wanted to be back in Brooklyn, but that was far out of their reach for the moment. 
He opened the door and saw Red, sitting at the coffee table with a file spread out across it in front of her and the armchair she was sitting in. He assumed that she had been awake since he got up for his morning run. 
Steve put his keys on the table by the door and locked it behind him before he walked up to her. He could see the dark circles that ran around the shape of her eyes, showing him that she hadn't been sleeping well recently. He could even see that her skin was tight around her cheekbones, she hadn't been eating much either. He sighed softly and knelt in front of her as he set a hand on her knee.
"Red," he said softly as he gently pulled out one of her earbuds. "Red, have you eaten?" 
Red took out the other earbud and leaned back in her seat as she looked from the mess on the coffee table and to him. "I had a cup of tea." Her words were sluggish with exhaustion as she gestured to the half empty mug on the table. 
Steve got to his feet and put his hands under her armpits to help her to her feet, he let her lean on him if she needed too, and she did. "Come on, let's go get you some food." 
She looked up at him and gave him a sleepy smile. "You need to shower." He gave her a worried smile in return as he held her up and helped her to the kitchen table. Red had been fighting sleep since the Battle of New York when they had been given the case, and it had been a year and a half since then. "I need to put the case away." 
Steve shook his head as he gently set her down on one of the kitchen chairs. "Don't worry, I got it." After he made them both breakfast, and made sure that Red was eating, he went about cleaning up the mess on the coffee table. 
For the last year and a half since Levinia and Derek had arrived on Earth, they had found many things connecting them to parts of their shared past. The information went all the way back to their days in World War II, it didn't make much sense to him, but he figured it was important to get all of the information they could before they tried to find anyone. 
He pit the rather thick folder on the bookshelf behind the seating area and then cleaned off the rest of the coffee table-putting away Red's notepads and pens, even putting her motorbike keys into the dish by the door, and gave her the rest of her tea as she ate breakfast. 
When he was done cleaning, he sat down next to her and noticed that she had already, not only finished eating, but also started to fall asleep at the kitchen table. 
Steve gently picked her up and carried her to her bedroom, he carefully laid her down and drew the blankets over her. He then showered before he left for the store. He had been doing what he could to make sure she slept, but there wasn't much he could do when she kept having nightmares about the Chitauri, the Battle of New York, Loki and Levinia, and lastly, of Tony falling from the portal, only in her nightmares, he never woke up. On top of all that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her to eat more than two meals a day. And that was killing him, he knew that if Bucky was around, he'd be able to get her to eat, and more. 
Outside of the apartment, the streets of Washington DC were covered in Autumn leaves, summer had just ended and the air was starting to get brisk. 
As he got closer to the store, his phone started to ring. He half expected it to be Red calling him and asking where he was, but when he looked down at the screen of his flip phone, he saw that it was Tony called him. 
When he couldn't get a hold of Red, or see her, he usually called Steve to check in. This had been happening almost every day since they had parted ways. He stepped to the side and answered the call with a quiet. "Hello?" 
"Hey, how is she today?" Tony asked as soon as he heard Steve's voice. 
Steve took a glance around him, noting the people around him before he answered, this was more out of habit than necessity. To the outside world, he was just a random guy answering a phone call, no one would suspect that he was actually Captain America getting a call from Tony Stark himself. "She just went back to sleep. I left to get her something to eat, I thought maybe she'd want something other than the same eggs and bacon I've been making every morning." 
He sighed into the phone before he said. "At least you can get her to eat something." Tony sounded just as helpless as Steve had felt. 
"The things that happened in New York really messed her up. She cant' sleep, and when she can, she had nightmares about Loki or the Chitauri or whatever else." It really was starting to get worse, and he was running out of ideas on how to help her. 
"How many hours does she get a night?" 
"Two in the morning, two at night." Steve said as he kicked at a pile of leaves next to him. "But she's getting more sleep than she was when we started this investigation." 
Tony took a breath as he let that subject go and moved on to another. "And she doesn't know what happened?" 
Around Christmas, there was a bit of a mess, if Steve had to be honest. Tony had had a very eventful run in with a terrorist named Aldritch Killian, who had take his... Assistant? Lover? Pepper Pots. He was still confused about the relationship between Tony and Pepper, and then, in turn, between him and Red, but whatever it was, it seemed to make Red somewhat happy. Killian had also threatened Red's life, and Steve knew about all of it, and it being all over the news, both he and Tony agreed that keeping Red off of the news and keeping all of this from her was the best way to keep more stress off of her. 
"No," Steve finally said. "She's focused on finding Levinia."
"Good," Tony said with another sigh. Steve could almost wager that he was as stressed out and tired as Red was. "Keep her out of trouble, Rogers, if I know Red like I think I do, she'll do anything to find Loki's kid." 
Steve finally took a seat on the bench beside him and leaned forward with his elbows braced against his knees. "She's gonna find her eventually." 
"I'll try to make it down to see her." As Tony spoke, Steve finally noticed the sound of wind blowing in the background. "Any word from Thor?" 
"No," Steve said as he got to his feet and went into the store. "We haven't heard from him." He sighed heavily as he grabbed a shopping cart and started roaming around the store to find some of Red's favorite foods. "I think if you could come and visit her, it'd help her more than you think, Tony." 
"I know, I'll do my best." He took a deep breath before continuing to speak. "It's been more than a year, she has to turn up eventually. How hard is it to find a small, green haired ball of electricity and her death touched friend?" 
"I don't know, apparently it's very hard. And they're both doing a great job at hiding." Steve said as he reached up and grabbed a box of cereal.
"We'll find them. We have to, for Red." Tony said as Steve could now hear birds chirping in his background. 
Steve took the phone from his ear for a moment to give it a confused look for a few seconds. What on Earth was he doing? Was he heading there after all, and not saying anything so that he could surprise Red? He cleared his throat as he pressed it back to his ear and said. "Get here as soon as possible. She needs you too." Steve said before he hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket before continuing around the store. 
He really just wanted to find food and whatever else they needed as soon as possible so he could get home and keep an eye on Red.
+++
Red  ran deeper and deeper into a forest she had visited many times in the last year or so since the Battle of New York. This was the place where she would see Loki, she was never able to tell if she was being brought there because he wanted to speak to her, or because her own mind was doing it. She couldn't see anything ahead of her, nothing but passing trees and the surrounding darkness, and she didn't stop until she ran into something that was so hard that she thought it was a wall. 
But when she looked up, she saw that it wasn't a wall she had ran into, it was, in fact, Loki. He gently grasped her by the waist to keep her from falling. "Have you found her?" He asked as he let her go and met her ocean blue eyes with his own piercing blue ones. 
Red shook her head as she looked up at him. "I'm trying, but after New York, she and her friend disappeared into thin air. But I'm trying my best." She could feel tears starting to trick at her eyes as she looked up at him, she felt so guilty for not being able to find her after all this time. 
He brushed her hair out of her face and put a hand on her cheek, quietly shushing her as her tears formed in her eyes. "It's okay, I know you can find our daughter." 
The sound of the howling wind got louder as she shook her head, and she was sure that she misheard him. 'our daughter' he said. But that wasn't possible. It can't be. "I can't find someone who doesn't want to be found, let alone two people!" Red yelled in a moment of panic as the wind picked up and blew harder, making leaves blow around then and whipping her hair around her face. She let out a whimper as she said. "Why do you keep bringing me here? I don't like it." 
He held her close against his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair. "You will find them, you have all of the pieces, you just have to put them together." 
Red tried to hold on to him as she felt him slipping away from her. "Why won't you just tell me?!" She could see him start to answer her, but it was already too late. The dream was ending, and he was ripped away from her before she could get any sort of answer from him. 

Red woke up to the feeling of shaken awake, her throat was sore from the scream that called out to someone who wasn't there, who would never be there. She was brought back to reality as the smell of burning flesh touched her nose. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she had a hand on Steve's chest and that she had not only burnt a hole through his shirt, but that she had also left a hand sized burn mark on his chest. 
"Steve," she said as fresh tears gathered up in her eyes. "I am so sorry." 
He didn't seem to notice the fact that she had just hurt him again, or maybe it was the he didn't care. Steve pulled her against his chest and rubbed her back. "Hey, it's okay." He carefully moved her to lap and rocked them back and forth. "You're okay." 
Red closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. She was so tired, she was amazed that she was still going strong like this. "I had a dream about him again." She said dully. "He kept telling me that I had all the pieces to find them, I just had to put them together." She left out the part about Loki telling her Levinia was their daughter, but she was still holding out hope that maybe she had heard him wrong. 
He leaned over and grabbed the plate he had set on her nightstand. He had apparently made her a piece of toast with peanut butter on it while she was asleep. "If Loki is telling you that we have all of the pieces to the puzzle, then we'll put them together." 
Red forgot sometimes that he was used to her burning him by accident. Back in the 40s, when Bucky had died, he would have nightmares about that day on the train, she would wake up screaming and accidentally burn him, just like she had this morning.  
She leaned forward and picked up the toast before she started munching on it. Her stomach was relieved to have some sort of food in it after her last meal, she needed to get better at eating. It wasn't helping anyone that she wasn't eating, or sleeping, properly. It made her feel guilty to know that Steve and Tony were worrying about her. 
"We'll have to rest, a proper rest, and look at what we have again." She said as she finished up her toast and looked up at him as she moved off of his lap and back into bed. "These nightmares I'm having might not be nightmares." She leaned back against her pillows and gathered her blankets around her. "They're messages from Loki, he's trying to help us while in prison." 
Steve just gave her a confused look. "How can he-?" 
"My mother might have taught him some of her old tricks, she always had a knack for sending out messages through dreams." She set her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes. "Besides, the cells up in Asgard allow minor amounts of magic." 
"So, you think he's trying to set us in the right direction with these dreams?" 
"Yes." Red said simply before she looked up at the ceiling and gave it a glare. "And he'd better let me sleep now." She settled back against the pillows as she let her eyes close again. "Has anyone else seen Levinia and Derek?" 
"I haven't heard anything from the others, I just spoke to Tony and-" 
This caused Red to open her eyes and sit up straight. She hadn't heard from Tony since before Christmas, and since then, he'd been dodging her calls. It sort of hurt, after he told her they would take care of each other. "You've been talking to Tony? What did he say?" 
"He was asking how you are, said that he'd do what he could to help us find Levinia and Derek, and that he'd try to come over to see you." Steve said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. 
"Do you think he'll come?" She could only hope that he would because she needed to see him, she felt like maybe it would help her feel a bit better. 
"I hope so." Steve said as he stood up. "Get some more sleep, Red." He gave a smile as he left the room. 
Red shifted around on her bed and pulled the covers around her as she closed her eyes. She hoped that this time she would be able to sleep and that when she woke, Tony would be there. 
+++
Levinia leaned against the balcony of her and Derek's apartment, she held a mug in her hands as she watched the Autumn sun rise over the city of Chicago. She had Derek had been staying there since what had unfolded in New York, trying to stay hidden in plain sight. 
She closed her eyes as the light touched her skin, she loved how the sun looked when it rose over the city's skyline, and even through they had been there for over a year, she knew that this wouldn't be permanent. It was only a matter of time before Red and her lovely band of idiots would find her and Derek. 
Behind her, Levinia heard footsteps and the door slid open. She didn't need to turn around to know that it was Derek standing behind her, the only thing she couldn't tell was if he was watching the sunrise with her, or if he was simply watching her. "What are you thinking about this time?" 
She sighed as she kept her eyes on the skyline. "I keep thinking about how close Red and her captain are getting to finding us." 
"Every time they get close to Chicago, our wards lead them back to DC." Derek said, trying to gently remind her. This was something he had to do every few days, to keep her mind at ease. "They won't find us." 
For the last year and a half, while Red and Steve were getting closer and closer to finding them, Derek had been using his magic to, somehow, keep that from happening. He always found a way to lead them back to where they began. Levinia knew that, one day, Derek's odd magic wasn't going to work, and when they day came, they would find them. 
"While this is true," she said as she took a sip from her mug. "Red will able to get passed them when she finds out what it is. She knows about magic." 
"She knows about Asgardian magic." Derek said dismissively. "My magic isn't Asgardian, I doubt she's ever ran across my kind, let alone Asher magic." 
"Maybe, but she is old enough to know stories about the Ashened." Levinia said as she looked down at the mug she held in her hands. A part of her almost wanted Red to find them, she didn't know why she wanted that, and that unexplainable side of her was one of the many things that scared her.
Derek came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist with his chin resting on top of her head. "Then I guess we'll wait and see, okay?" 
Levinia leaned against him and closed her eyes. "And what do we do if they find us?" 
"We'll cross that bridge if we get there, Levi." 
Levi just nodded as they stood there, saying saying another word as she thought about what SHIELD was going to do to them when they found them. Or if Red and Steve were going to find them first, what would happen then? Would they be prisoners again, or would they be able to become something more?
+++
After she had woken up, Red and Steve had gotten the file out and spread it over the coffee table to take another look at the very confusing puzzle they had been handed by both Fury and, apparently, Loki. 
Red scrunched up her eyebrows together as her eyes scanned the large number of papers and photos they had on hand. "We went to Chicago dozens of times, what brought was back here?" 
Steve looked just as confused as Red did as he looked over the pictures they had for the fifth time. "I thought we had a picture of them with HYDRA from back in the day." 
"I don't know... I thought we had tons of things connecting them to HYDRA..." She trailed off as she leaned back in her armchair and looked at him. "Why did we even think they were involved with HYDRA? We know they've been with Thanos for over eighty years." 
He slowly shook his head. "Lets just wait for Tony and see what he thinks." 
"And this is assuming he even shows up, of course." 
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Steve was starting to sound as exasperated and frustrated as Red was feeling. 
Red sighed as she gave a small shrug. "I don't know! This is getting too confusing and I keep thinking that maybe we should go to Asgard and see if Loki-" 
This was already a bad idea, such a bad idea that Steve decided that he didn't need to hear the rest of it. "You're suggesting we go and see Loki?" 
Red sat up and raised an eyebrow at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You got any other ideas? This is the only one I have right now." 
He paused as he considered this for a moment, then nodded as he silently agreed that this was the only option we had in hand. "How would we even go about getting to Asgard?" 
"Well, it wouldn't be that hard, considering that I'm from Asgard." She was about to add more to that statement when she glanced out the window and saw something coming toward their apartment. Upon getting to her feet and going to the window to get a closer look, she saw that it was Tony's suit coming toward them, and that usually meant that Tony was coming with it. This, after months of not seeing him, filled her with joy. "I think he's here, Steve." 
"Thank God." He said as he put what they thought they had on Levinia and Derek back into the folder but left it on the coffee table. "See? I told you he would come." 
Red grinned as she felt herself get giddy for the first time since she had last seen him. If she remembered correctly, that was just before Christmas and he had given her a new chain for Bucky's tags and her engagement ring to hang on. It had meant a lot to her that he'd do that for objects that were so old.
Red opened the door as he landed on their balcony, she noted that he made himself a new suit since the last time she saw him, she really liked how this one looked. "You came." She breathed as Tony stepped out of his suit and took her into his arms. 
He smelled the same as he always did. Like cedar. It was welcoming, it made her feel like she was home for the first time in a long time. But when she looked up at him, and they shared a grin, she could tell that he was more than a little concerned looking over her face. 
"You look like you're in rough shape, Hot Stuff." 
"It's been a long year." Red nodded slowly as she nuzzled her face against his chest. "I'm just glad to see you again after all of this time." She let herself relax against him as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was just glad to be in his presents again. 
"I'll be around a lot more often." Tony muttered to her as she leaned his cheek against the top of her head. 
"Promise?" Red whispered to him. 
"I promise." He whispered back. 
"I'll hold you to that." 
When they finally stepped away from each other, Steve walked over to them with his hands in in the pockets of his jeans. "Nice to see you, Tony." 
"You too, Rogers." Tony walked over to Steve and the two shook hands before they put hands into their pockets again. Red raised an eyebrow at that, but then shrugged, deciding that it was one of those weird guy things that she would never hope to understand.
"So, how's the search for Sparky going?" 
"It's..." Red trailed off for a moment as she sat back down on her armchair. "Getting more confused by the minute." 
Tony sat on the arm of the chair as he followed her gaze and at the previously thick file on the coffee table. "And what are you thinking in that pretty little redhead of yours?" 
"Well..." Red said as she pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm thinking that we should go to Asgard and see if Loki can tell us anything that we ought to know about Levinia and her friend." 
"And the friend's name is... Derek, right?" 
"Yeah, him." Red glanced at Steve. "Steve doesn't think it's a good idea." 
Steve sighed as he started to argue with her. "I didn't think that, all I said was-" 
"It was implied." Red countered.
He turned to Tony, clearly looking for someone to be on his side. "She wants to see Loki." 
Tony just shrugged as he reached over and rubbed Red's back. "And why shouldn't she? He would be able to tell her what she needs to know. Especially since Levinia is his daughter." 
"So, we're going to Asgard, and we," Steve said looking at Tony. "Are letting her talk to Loki alone?" 
Red sighed as she rubbed at her eyes. "I won't be alone, I'll have you guys and Thor and there are, believe it or not, guards watching over Asgard's prisoners." 
Tony gave a curt nod after Red finished speaking. "And besides all of that, Red hasn't seen home she left and met you, Spangles. I think we should go for it." 
Red leaned against her seat and felt smug as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at Steve. He was banking on Tony agreeing with him and making Red find a different way to to find Levinia, she was over joyed, ridiculously so, to watch that blow up in his face. 
Steve sighed as he gave up. "Fine, we're going to Asgard." 
Red grinned as she looked between them. "So Asgard?" 
They looked at each other before they both shrugged and looked down at Red. "Asgard." 
Red stood up and started to pack what they would need for their trip, even if it would be a short trip back home. This would be the first time she's stepped foot in Asgard since her exile over seventy years ago.