Reveries of Spring│Bucky Barnes

━ 𝟎𝟎

THE DOOR BURST OPEN WITH AN UNFORGIVING CLANK as a figure emerged through its wake.

Artemis Barton emerged through the door; grand in stature, ethereal with her dirty blonde hair billowing behind her, domineering with her aura of deadly authority, and yet calming with her dull blue eyes.

Artemis was covered in a thin layer of dirt and sweat, but nonetheless persistent in the search for her prey.

She scanned the room with a soft scowl on her face- a scowl earned from two days without sleep and with scraps to eat- until her eyes landed on a small quivering girl in the corner of the dark and damp room.

Her eyes softened as she threw the terrified brunette a soft smile before shouting over her shoulder.

"Babe!" Artemis bellowed. "Found her! You owe me twenty bucks!"

The two women heard a few masculine curses and Artemis frowned when the younger girl let out a weak whimper as a man walked through the wall; magic Artemis assumed the girl had never seen before.

The man furrowed his eyebrows as he walked over to Artemis, curling his lips at her in a snarl.

"You never play fair, Artemis," Loki groaned, maneuvering himself beside her. "You and that bloody nose."

She smiled as she tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder. "You're just upset that even with your magic, I still win. No points for showing off though, why couldn't you have just walked through the door like a normal person?"

"I am not a peasant," Loki scoffed, his eyes briefly moving to the silent woman in the corner. "While I do enjoy our verbal spars love, I think we have more important matters at hand."

"Oh, right," Artemis laughed, her lips turning downward as she looked at the girl again, having briefly forgotten her presence as she chastised her partner. "Right."

The girl was terrified. 

Her golden-brown hair was singed at the edges and her dark green eyes were wide and bloodshot. She was wearing dirty and charred clothes and looked rather pale even though Artemis was told the girl had a bronze complexion. As Artemis approached her, she couldn't help but close her eyes shut as tears coated her cheeks.

"You're Martina Garcia, right?" Artemis asked in barely a whisper as she walked toward the woman, her hands raised in the air. "My name is Artemis Barton and the man back there is my partner slash annoying- ass boyfriend, Loki."

Loki scoffed behind her.

Martina opened her eyes slowly, feeling a little less terrified when she saw the warmth in Artemis' eyes and her soft blinding white smile. She nodded her head gingerly as Artemis knelt in front of her.

"We're with the Avengers, have you heard of them?" she questioned, noting the woman's foul stench.

"Avengers?" Martina croaked, coughing slightly and grabbing her throat as she did.

Artemis cringed, assuming that the girl's voice was hoarse from going days without speaking.

Loki scoffed as he let out a devilish smirk. "You know, the world's stupidest heroes?"