Alpha and Omega

Chapter 14

He let her drag him with him, following her lead. God, he was like a lost puppy. Somehow he couldn't convince himself to care.

Loki gave Bucky a very knowing smirk when the pair entered the cafeteria. He raised his glass in a salute that luckily the little wolf didn't see. Bucky glared at the prince. If she thought she was just a trophy, he'd lose her. He would lose her in a heartbeat if she thought she was just a trophy or a conquest. He couldn't let her see Loki's teasing. He couldn't risk losing her over his friend being an ass.

Luckily, Gwen was tempted by the steak selection they had that night and was evaluating the offerings and didn't see Loki's knowing smirk. Bucky flipped Loki off, as he got in line after her. Loki chuckled, but decided to behave for now. "You're getting used to eating what you want, right?" Loki

Gwen smiled up at Bucky. "I am," she agreed, filling well over a plate with food. With almost everyone here being super soldiers or gods, it wasn't strange at all that most everyone had more than one plate at dinner. That, in turn, made her much less shy about eating like a wolf.

Bucky reached her chair first and pulled it out for her, making the little wolf blush at the kindness. He sat beside her, his thigh brushed against hers. She smiled warmly and kissed his cheek. Her thigh touched his the entire meal and her foot rested on top of his. Nat laughed, "Barnes, any closer, and she'd be sitting in your lap." Bucky didn't know if he should get mad or not. So he waited to see Gwen's response.

Gwen giggled. "He might like that," she replied, sticking her tongue out at Bucky. He would like that, too much. And then he would be inappropriate again. And that was why she didn't end up on his lap. Once was all she could handle that day.

*

They were adorably cute with each other over the next couple of days, and the team teased them mercilessly for it. Or teased Bucky mercilessly. No one wanted to make the omega cry. Things went on as normal until near midnight one night when a storm was raging outside. Gwen jolted awake, terrified and went to go find safety in the dark. She knocked timidly on Bucky's door, but her knock was eaten by the storm. So she slipped inside, not realizing an intruder in his room might trigger Bucky's PTSD.

Bucky woke when he heard his door open and click closed. The sound was supposed to be quiet, but Bucky had always been a light sleeper. He laid there, eyes closed, listening to the footsteps of the intruder.

Gwen approached on bare feet, not wanting to startle him if he wasn't awake and made it next to his bed. She wasn't wearing anything but a shirt stolen from his dresser that went down to her thighs and her underwear. It was typical sleepwear for a shapeshifter.

Bucky heard them, tiny light steps approaching his bed. He waited until they got closer. Closer. He grabbed the figure with his metal arm and tackled the figure. It was tiny, he realized as he straddled its body.

Tiny?

Who would send a tiny assassin, besides Natal'ka, and she wouldn't be killing him.

He scrambled off the figure and flipped the lights on. She had shrieked in surprise and fear when he tackled her. No assassin would shrieked in fear. She scrambled to her feet to run, but stopped with a whimper when the lights came on, ruining her night vision.

Bucky stared. For what felt like an eternity. His scrambled brain tried to figure out what happened. He assessed her, in his shirt, with her hair messed up. That wasn't helping his brain any. "I'm sorry. You should be careful. Most of the team is like that." He shook his head. Blaming her wasn't helping. "I'm sorry, Gwen, I'd never hurt you,"

She whimpered and nodded, too lost for words to apologize. She took another step towards the door and cringed with a kicked-puppy-like whine when there was another crash of thunder.

Bucky couldn't have that. He couldn't have her afraid, especially not of him. He scooped her up and tucked her into his bed. He turned the light back off. "I'm really sorry." He tried to soothe her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come, I was afraid and-" she broke off at the next boom of thunder and looked like she was going to bolt for somewhere else to hide. He tightened his arms around her, hauling her into his lap.

"You did nothing wrong. I'll try to help you through the storm." She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, hiding in his safe strong arms. "You need anything else?" He asked her gently. He'd get her whatever she needed to feel safe.

She shook her head. "I just need you," she said softly.

The pair were joined by a sleek black cat, who despite arriving in a shimmer of green magic, would never admit it was Loki, and who would never, ever admit to being afraid of the storm. He curled up next to Bucky in a ball, which meant Thor wasn't home to move the storm along. Bucky soon felt Lokitty's purring and scratched behind his ears, trying to bring the scared cat comfort. Soon cat and wolf felt safe and were asleep in Bucky's bed, the wolf in Bucky's arms.

Bucky laid awake, listening to the storm, feeling Gwen twitch in her sleep after loud cracks in the sky. She whined softly in her sleep at each boom of thunder, nuzzling Bucky.

"Is this where the cuddle pile is hiding?" asked a small voice of a little witch from Bucky's doorway.

Bucky laughed. "I guess so. Lokitty's on the pillow, Gwenie is in my arms. You're welcome to cuddle the cat," he told her. Wanda slipped into the room and into Bucky's bed, cuddling the Lokitty in her arms. Loki was teaching her magic, so of course he liked his student and didn't mind being cuddled by her.

"Thor isn't home," Wanda said softly as she settled in where it was safe

"I surmised as much. I'm just waiting on Steve now." Bucky commented.

Wanda giggled. "He can't be scared of storms!" she protested innocently. Steve was Captain America, he couldn't be afraid of anything. At least not to teenage logic.

Bucky laughed. "He was a 5 foot-6 guy. He had asthma and depression as a child. He still has his old inhaler. Hell, I still carry an inhaler for him though he hasn't needed one since the serum."

Right on cue there was another person at the door. "Hey Buck, you doin' alright?" asked Steve from the doorway. Of course he was pretending to check on Bucky, instead of admitting he was seeking comfort for himself.

Bucky chuckled. "No Steve, not at all. I've convinced the others that I need protection from the storm." He said it with a smile in the dark.

Steve laughed too. "Guess I better add another layer to your protection then," he said and entered the room. Bucky expected that his bed would collapse one of these nights. Steve shoved Bucky over so Bucky was in the middle of the bed, Gwen in his arms, Wanda and Loki on one side, Steve on the other. Poor Bucky. Stark was going to have to get him a bigger bed one of these days. They all settled into sleep, safely cuddled against the super soldier who wasn't afraid of storms.

Nat and Sam stopped by the next morning when they saw the door ajar. They both peeked in to see what was going on, and make sure everyone was ok.

And then proceeded to take a shit ton of pictures.

" Wake up! Sun-up!" Sam announced with glee.

Every single person in the cuddle pile (and one grumpy cat) groaned at the interruption and opened their eyes at the Nat and Sam in the doorway.

The glares just intensified that the pair were so perky and awake.