Alpha and Omega

Chapter 1

Loki stepped off the elevator into the common room of the tower after the mission that day. He was filthy from battle, covered in grime, and carrying something over his shoulder. The fact that Loki came to the common room first while the rest of the team went to get cleaned up wasn't surprising. Bucky was in the common room waiting for the team to return. He had been left alone in the tower to wait for the team to return as they were taking down a Hydra base and they hadn't been 100% sure that his mind was healed enough to successfully face down Hydra. Bucky was also somehow Loki's friend and Loki knew that he would want to know the team was home.

How those two had become such good friends, no one knew, but it was good for both of them.

None of that was strange. What was strange was the unconscious girl draped casually over the god's shoulder.

Loki nodded a greeting to Bucky. "Sergeant. The mission was a success. That base was destroyed most thoroughly," Loki told him with a smirk. Bucky looked up from the book he was pretending to read and stared at his friend and the girl on his shoulder. Loki indicated the girl. No, not girl, young woman. "We rescued this little one from their care. I am taking her to the healing room. The team is uninjured, just cleaning up from the fight," Loki told him and turned to take the girl to the medbay, letting Bucky get a good look at the girl as he turned. She was thin and pale with long auburn hair and looked at a glance to be roughly in her early 20s.

What was strange and intriguing about her were the wolf-ears and tail she had of the same auburn of her hair.

Bucky's curiosity was piqued and he couldn't help staring at her ears and tail as Loki carried her to the medbay. He waited and tried to be patient about it until Loki returned to the common room. "Did you notice she had a tail and animal ears on her head?" he demanded of his friend stupidly. He was beyond intrigued by the young woman.

Loki huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, my friend. My powers of observation have not failed me that miserably," he teased. He noticed Bucky's interest in the girl immediately. He'd had a feeling his friend would be interested. Or more. "The Captain believes she is an experiment of some variety," Loki shrugged, clearly disbelieving that. Bucky raised an eyebrow. Loki tended to know more than he let on, but sometimes he felt generous enough to share. "It feels more... natural to me, though I cannot claim knowledge of all of Midgard's creatures," he added at Bucky's curious look.

Bucky tilted his head, thinking over the implications. "Natural, hmm? She made me think of something mythical. Out of a fairytale..." he pondered what the girl could be. He desperately wanted to know more.

Loki raised an eyebrow "A tale you say? What kind of tale?" he was intrigued as ever by new stories. It didn't matter what kind of story or where it came from. He was the god of stories among other things.

Bucky chuckled at Loki's enthusiasm for stories. "Ever heard of 'Little Red Ridinghood'?" he asked the god. Loki knew a lot of stories already and Bucky wouldn't retell him one he already knew.

Loki inclined his head. "I have. Idiot child refused to listen to her mother and got eaten by a wolf," he summarized the story.

Bucky chuckled as he nodded. Loki tended to have some interesting ideas about stories and the pair enjoyed discussing the differences in the stories they both knew. Bucky nodded at Loki's assessment. "That's one version. Another is that she was a werewolf. Do you know what a werewolf is, or is supposed to be?" he asked the god. His question wasn't rude or demeaning to his friend. He was simply asking if Loki knew of the Midgardian mythological creature. He wouldn't reexplain it if Loki already knew what it was. Loki appreciated the consideration.