Gifted

Chapter 54

You spent the next two days straight researching with Fury and Tony, trying to find any sign of where Balder could be hiding Loki. Your power was draining through the soulbond at an alarming rate and you were getting desperate to find Loki before it was too late. You ate everything in sight, trying to keep your strength up and fuel yourself so you could fuel the soulbond. You apologized to Loki one day after you brewed coffee with one of Tony's energy drinks instead of water and dumped in crushed up caffeine pills in and sugar. You felt your heart skip about three beats when you downed that ungodly mixture and power flared in the soulbond. Fury sent a memo out that no one else on the team was to ever attempt to make monster-coffee. You drank three more pots of the stuff before the ordeal was over.

You spent free moments on top of the tower, casting out your magic and senses for Loki, or signs of Balder's shields.

You had no luck.

You expected to hear from Balder. He wanted you to come to him. Why hadn't he contacted you? You couldn't go save Loki, if you didn't know where he was.

The morning of the fifth day, you were desperate for answers and made a desperate move. "Tony, don't stop me," you told him firmly. You were in the commonroom right after breakfast. "I'll explain what I'm doing after. I promise that I know what I'm doing," you told him. He growled, but nodded. It was never good when you told him you'd explain something after you did it. You pulled a dagger, apologized silently to Frigga, and sliced open your right palm.

"Kat!" Tony exclaimed, protesting your blood being spilled.

You ignored him and placed your bleeding palm against the soulbond marks on your left arm. You felt the power flare and followed the pulse to Loki's mind at the other end. /Loki!/ you called when your mind finally found his. You got a vague idea of where he was.

/Kat?/ he asked. His voice sounded so weak and pained.

/I'm here. We're trying to find you. I swear we're coming. Just hang on/ you told him urgently. He couldn't give up. If he gave up you would both die. /Can you tell me anything about where you are?/

/I have seen nothing besides the room I am chained in/ he replied, so tired, so weak. You could hear how bruised and broken he was. What the hell had Balder done to him? Didn't he care at all about his brother? You poured strength and healing magic down the soulbond.

/No matter. We'll find you/

/No. Do not come here. He will kill you, or worse/

/He can't kill me without killing you/ you reminded him. /We're coming for you, my love. I will not abandon you. We are in this together. Forever/

/No, darling. He will kill you to keep you from helping me. He doesn't care about keeping either of us alive. No, do not interrupt, my darling/ he said urgently before you could do just that. You had to interrupt, to get him down off the ledge. /I am just sorry that I could not marry you. I am glad that I got to talk to you one last time/

/No! Don't give up. Don't you fucking dare give up. I will find you and I will get you out of there. We're coming for you, I swear to you, Loki. I swear on the soulbond, on everything I am that I am coming for you. Please, just hold on a little longer/

/I love you too/ was all he answered.

You felt the destructive force of power, the backlash as you were thrown back into your own body. you howled in pain as you felt your soul literally ripped in two. Tony was holding you while you screamed and cried, while your heart, your soul, your very being was ripped in half. You wailed in pain as half of you was lost, torn away.

"Kat? Kat?! What the hell just happened?" Tony demanded when you finally got your breathing under control, when you could finally stop screaming long enough for him to get through to you. You looked down at the soulbond marks on your arm. They were gray under the smear of your blood. Tony wrapped a bandage around your sluggishly bleeding palm and cleaned the blood from your other arm.