Loki's Pain

Chapter Fourty-Four- Kurt's Pain and Loki's Guilt

Loki gasped when he saw Kurt and Loki reappear. They had been gone for hours, and Ash was barely conscious and coughing up blood. Bruce and Shoop both rushed over after hearing Kurt's shout, having been nearby in Bruce's office. Bruce swiftly picked Ash up and carried him to the nearest cot. "What happened!?" Bruce asked sharply, needing to know about any new injuries.

"He went after this big purple asshole... Got in a few good swipes too...but then the guy grabbed him and slammed him into the ground before he punched him in the stomach. I'm pretty sure that I heard some bones break...." Kurt informed them quickly as they rushed down the hall towards the emergency response area.

"No! Not him!" Kurt heard Loki shout, but he didn't know for sure, his voice sounded so raw and agonized that it was difficult to make out words or their meaning.

"Quick, check to see where that blood is coming from!! His blood pressure is too low!! He might have internal bleeding!" Shoop ordered the staff as soon as they arrived, and the emergency nurses sprang into action like a well oiled machine. "Call for Thor again! We might need him for a transfusion!" Bruce responded, several nurses nodding in assent let him know they had heard, "Also, bring over the new portable imaging equipment, it would help us check for a bleed as well as to identify any broken bones! Guess that new invention of Tony's is getting tested sooner than we thought...." Kurt was soon shoved aside and ended up pressed into the far wall as he tried to stay out of everyone's way.

After a few minutes the mad scramble began to die down, and Kurt was suddenly dragged out of the room by a very pissed off Loki. Before he even had a chance to apologize he was flat on his ass, a bruise soon to form on his left cheek that most wouldn't be able to discern anyway. Loki had punched him, and after a pause of less than a second, another blow landed on his right. Loki soon straddled him, and blows began to fall down on Kurt like rain. He did not bother to try and defend himself, his own guilt enough to keep his hands at his sides.

Loki pummeled him for at least ten minutes before anyone managed to interfere. Cap was the one who eventually pulled him off of Kurt, as one last blow sent blood spattering across the floor to join the rest, a pattern like a Jackson Pollock painting having been smeared across the tiled floor. The look on Loki's face was one of desperate madness, anger warring with grief and fear, and despite the Captain's initial intent, that look alone managed to forestall anything he might have said to the man.

"Loki...." Cap said softly, not quite chiding, just trying to get him to focus on someone, or something, else other than the bloodied and bruised mutant laying below him on the floor. Instead of Cap calming him, however, Loki ended up swinging at him instead, trying to get free of Cap's grasp to go after Kurt again. "Calm down, I understand how upset you are, but you need to calm down..." Cap tried again, finally drawing Loki's gaze, but his eyes were filled with rage at Cap's presumption.

"You understand!?...Really!?" Loki spat at him, "How could you!? He could have killed him! He almost did!!! My very heart is laying in that room, barely hanging on to life....and it is all his fault!!!" Loki was screaming, his voice cutting deep, "He was just trying to defend me, and this idiot's interference put him right in front of the very person that tortured us both!!! How in the Hells could you possibly understand that!!"

"Okay....you're right. I can't." Cap admitted, but his voice was still determined, "I can't understand. But you can't kill him either. He didn't mean to put Ash in danger, he was simply trying to help us."

"Oh...I don't want to kill him." Loki said slowly, a small, sadistic grin spreading across his lips as his gaze sharpened on Kurt once more, "Death would be too easy. I just want to hurt him... Heal him... Then hurt him again...." Loki started to walk towards Kurt, who finally started to feel afraid of Loki upon hearing his words, only for Cap to stop him with an arm across his chest.