Roswell (S. Rogers & B. Barnes)

36.

Steve watches Roswell sleep from his chair in the corner of the room, his elbow resting on the arm of it, his head pressed against his fist. He's barely slept. It's been running through his head since the night before. They'd had dinner, all of them, and Steve had seen something with Bucky and Roswell, something that brought those thoughts back to the forefront of his mind. They'd both been sat close together on the couch, Roswell curled into Bucky's side as he whispered to her, her cheeks had been wide with her smile as she listened to him. They'd looked comfortable. And he wondered what it would have been like if they were together. The more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense to him, to them, to all of them. He picks up the tablet from the side as well as the digital pen before he opens a web browser on the screen. He needs to make sure he knows what he is about to do before he dives into it.

.................

Roswell balances a pencil between her lips as she opens another crate pulled over from Scotland, since she returned a week ago she's been busy cataloging and readying what was found. Shield keeps anything dangerous and donates the rest to various museums and galleries around the world. She lifts a vase from the crate and carefully unwraps the bubble wrap from around it. She smiles. This is the part of the job she loves. The things they find are some of the most exquisite things she's ever seen. She touches the ruins on the vase. It's beautiful. A dirty black vase with pale green symbols all over it. She raises an eyebrow and lifts her head when she realizes the translations.

"Huh" she breaths and looks back down touching the symbol. "Loki" she whispers reading.

..............

Thor sits on the games console with Bucky, both of them leaning forward, controllers in hand as they battle against one another on screen. Steve sits between them with his report in his lap, he's sat there to stop them physically fighting, it's happened before and things were broken. The three of them look up as Roswell walks in with her vase, Thor raises an eyebrow when she stops at his end of the couch.

"It's Loki's," she tells Thor who sits up taller now. "Here" she holds out the vase and motions to the runic on it. "It's his mark"

"Yes," he agrees looking over it. "This is a feikinstafir hirða" he tells her, she raises an eyebrow. "You trap things in it to stop them hurting people" He explains.

"Like a curse box?" she asks, he nods.

"Exactly...." he agrees and then motions the runes. "These are magical, holding whatever it is inside in there until the lid is removed"

"What's in this one?" Bucky asks her, she shrugs.

"It says a hulder spirit" she answers. "But hulders and spirits are two different things" she explains. "So I don't know what's in it" she takes it back from Thor. "Your brother still around?" she asks him, Thor hums and looks to her realizing.

"You want me to bring him here?" he asks, Steve shakes his head as he stands moving around the back of the couch.

"Well, it's that or....you take me to him" Roswell explains. Thor looks to Steve for what to do here, because he is captain not because he's Roswell's boyfriend. There is a risk to letting Loki return to Midgard, a risk to bringing him into the facility with civilians. "This is his object, he'll know what's in it" she explains. Steve looks at her. "Steve" she starts. "It's either we involve Loki or I open it and cross my fingers that I can put whatever it is back in"

"Alright," he agrees and sighs. "But we shut down this end of the facility for it...if word gets out that we're allowing him back" Roswell bounces to his side and smiles widely.

"Thank you," she tells him warmly and leans up to kiss his cheek, he looks to her softly and then to Thor.

"He better behave himself" Steve warns. "And he's supervised" he looks back to Roswell. "You're not to be alone with him" he warns her. Thor stands and nods to himself.

"I shall return with him" Thor informs them. "Perhaps Clint should be..."

"Yeah" Steve agrees interrupting. "We'll make sure Clint's kept busy" he wraps an arm around Roswell as Thor leaves, Bucky pouts down at his controller, Roswell smirks wiggling free of Steve, she sets the vase on the table and takes Thor's abandoned remote to join him, Bucky smirks and kisses her cheek. Steve smiles.

"How is your new arm?" she asks Bucky who nods flexing his metal fingers, the new sleek and shiny design is everything he could have wanted and so much more, Tony outdid himself on it.

"Good" he answers softly. "Lighter..." he looks to her. "Feels better"

"That's great" she counters. "I told you it would be fine" he smiles and nods.

"Yeah, you did" he whispers fondly. Steve takes his seat and sets his arm over the back of Roswell's side of the couch whilst sharing a look with Bucky, he quickly turns his attention to the screen. Bucky's been getting looks of Steve more often now, and these looks he can't read, he doesn't know what they mean and it scares him. He's worried Steve gonna take Roswell away from him, even the thought of losing her as his friend breaks his heart. He can't lose her.

..................

Bucky shakes the contents of the candy jar free, what is left of them anyway, he's pretty much devoured the whole thing in the space of an hour. He's stress eating away his feelings for Roswell and his and Steve's weird relationship. He has no idea what's going on with his friend at the moment and he truly is worried about this.

"Hey" Steve greets from Bucky's doorway, Bucky looks to him from where he sits on his bed.

"Hey" Bucky counters and raises an eyebrow. "What's going on?" he asks.

"We need to talk," Steve tells Bucky who looks completely nervous, he knows what's coming. Steve steps into the room and closes the bedroom door behind him, Bucky looks between it and Steve. "It's about Roswell" Bucky nods a little as Steve leans back against the door.