"Knock knock! Anyone home!" Shouted Clint whilst fumbling around with Steve dragging the huge television into Y/N's room.
"I don't think the person in the coma down the hall heard you there clint" Steve rolled his eyes.
"Lady Y/N ! You are awake! I bring you the delightful pastry of pop tarts!" Thor boomed whilst walking over to Y/N to give her the biggest hug.
"Thor careful, don't break her anymore" said Tony.
"Haha guys you didn't have to do all this" Y/N smiled. She was so happy to see everyone but was hoping Loki wasn't with them. To her relief he wasn't.
"Yes we do , we miss you Y/N" said Nat , hugging Y/N not too tightly.
"We bring food! Lots of it. Chinese, pizza and, shake your sombreros, Mexican food!" Bruce cheered.
The team chatted for hours , laughed and teased which made Y/N so happy. She had missed normal human interaction for such a while and was glad to have a small amount of normality back in her life.
"So how're you feeling ?" Nat asked
"I'm okay, the nurses are gonna get me to start walking tomorrow" Y/N smiled.
"That's good. It'll be good to see you up and about. Lokis stayed upstairs. Tony's told him to stay away until you're happy to see him" nat knew that she didn't ask but figured she'd want to know where he was.
Y/N simply nodded.
A few hours went by and the team ate like kings and watched as many movies as they could. Y/N started to get sleepy and Tony noticed her yawning more and more as the night went on.
"Okay guys let's give Y/N some space. Grandma needs her sleep!" He winked at Y/N who stuck her tongue out at him in response.
"Night Y\N we'll see you tomorrow for our run yeah?" Steve smiled and kissed her goodnight on her head.
"That's the one upside to having a broken ankle right now. I don't have to hear you say on your left" she laughed.
The rest of the team bid her goodnight and returned to the living quarters.
Loki was sat on the sofas when the team arrived home. He lifted his head from his book "how is she?" He asked
"She's okay , she's going to start physio tomorrow to get back on her feet which is good" Clint replied.
Nat looked at Loki and could tell he wanted to know if she had asked about him. "She's still not ready Loki. Give it a little bit more time" she said whilst patting him on the shoulder reassuringly. He nodded in response and returned to his book.
*the next day*
"Okay Y/N hold onto my arm and we'll guide you along the corridor. If you need a break just say and you can sit back down" said nurse Francis. She was helping Y\N to get back up on her feet. It had been nearly a week since she had come home and had yet to leave her bed.
Y/N took a few steps , then a few more, then nodded to the nurse to sit down. She was in pain.
"Hey that's okay. That was 6 more steps than you could do this morning! It'll take time okay? " she smiled. Y/N was annoyed and frustrated that she was lacking the independence.
"Can we go up to the main living quarters? I wanna see the team. Show them I'm improving!" She asked.
The nurse replied and helped her back into the wheelchair and took her to the elevator.
"I can go by myself , thank you nurse Francis." She nodded to her as the doors closed.
The doors opened onto the living room and Y/N wheeled herself into the living room where Steve and Nat were sat having coffee.
"Working hard or hardly working?" y/n teased as she wheeled over to them.
"Y/N! Oh my god it's so lovely to see you. What are you doing up here?" Nat beamed.
"Do the nurses know you're here?" Steve asked. He was always a stickler for the rules.
"Haha yes they know I'm here. I asked to come up here. I just needed a break from ... well being sick" she replied.
Tony and Bruce wandered back in from the lab, hands filled with documents from a study they were looking into.
"Y/N! What are you doing here? Did you escape?" Tony teased.
"Very funny , no, I just wanted to come say hey" she replied.
She wheeled over to the couches and the team sat and chatted over tea. Thor and Clint returned from the training room with Loki lurking behind them.
"Lady Y/N! So good to see you" Thor shouted whilst swinging Mjolnir around his hand.
"I'll make some more coffee!" Clint replied.
Loki tried to make eye contact with Y/N but she turned her head away as soon as she saw him. Frustrated, Loki decided to sit in the sofa closest to her. Hoping this would force her to talk to him.
She turned away again to chat to Nat who was sat opposite.
"So Nat how're you doing ? Any missions coming up?" Nat could see her blatantly ignoring Loki and shuffled in awkwardness.
"She's fine. No missions at the moment" Loki answered for her. Nat looked wide eyed at what was potentially unraveling. An awkward argument.
"I didn't ask you." She replied without looking at him. "Nat, hows things" she tried to steer away from a conversation with Loki but he steered it straight back
"Why won't you look at me" he grunted
Tony walked back over and put his hand on his shoulder. "Leave it Loki" he said.
"No , no I won't leave it. Why won't you talk to me ? I said I was sorry dammit" he raised his voice which made Y/N flinch slightly.
"Because I... I can't" she stuttered.
"Well!?" He shouted. The team didn't know where to look but started to get up to break them apart
"Because I don't want to Loki! That's why! Have you forgotten what happened? Do you think I'm sitting in this wheelchair for fun? Do you think that I want to be in this amount of pain?!" She shouted back with tears in her eyes.
"Okay that's enough, y/n let me escort you back down stairs" Steve stood and wheeled Y/N back to the elevator to return her downstairs. She protested and flicked his hands away.
"I'm fine Steve. I can do it myself" she swatted him away and retuned to the elevator herself with tears in her eyes. Nat and Tony stood to go over to her but the doors closed before they could. They turned to Loki who was staring into space with a blank expression.
"Did you have to do that?" Tony snapped.
"I'm sorry. I just want to talk to her ... she needs to know.." Loki was cut off by Thor.
"Brother she needs time. I know you're impatient but for once in your life... just wait" he sighed and sat down next to him.
Loki knew that he had crossed a line but he so desperately wanted to talk her her. To hear her voice , her laugh and to see her smile.
Y/N returned to her room still upset and managed to pull herself into bed. She curled up and cried. She just wanted to go back to normal. More than anything she wished she had never been kidnapped. She wish she didn't have her powers.
Tony knocked on her door and came and sat down next to her. She was curled up and trying to cover up her sadness.
"Tony I don't want to talk about it. Please" she sobbed.
"It's okay. I'm going to talk instead. Alright?" He said and she nodded in reply. "Loki tells me you found another element. That's pretty cool. I mean under different circumstances it would be exciting and I know it wasn't found in the best of ways but it's still cool Y/N." Tony wanted to try and turn her sorrow into something more positive. To get her to focus on something else.
She nodded.
"If you want , when you're ready, we can have a play around with it. Get you trained up to use it. How does that sound?" He said whilst stroking her hair to reassure her.
She nodded again and began to sniffle.
"Everything we do over the next few weeks of your recovery is on your terms Y/N okay? You decide. You tell us and we will follow okay?" Tony wanted her to know that she was not alone anymore and that she didn't have to worry.
She nodded again.
"Okay well I'll leave you be. If you need me , just call. We all love you Y/N" he kissed her goodnight and returned upstairs.
Y/N tried to sleep that night but couldn't. It was a mixture of pain from where her meds had worn off , and worry and flashbacks. The flashbacks were the worst.
*Y/N POV nightmare*
"Please stop! Please !" I screamed as the men in white coats shot electricity through my body again.
They didn't respond, just laughed.
I screamed and screamed but they wouldn't stop.
"Please I can't take this. Stop!" I yelled again. They stopped and Zemo walked in with a smile on his face.
"You'll never be free of us" he said
I woke up with a jolt and a scream. A new nightmare. This was something I was going to have to get used to now.
Tears filled my eyes and I wanted nothing more than it to be day time right now and to be with the team. But it wasn't it was the middle of the night , everyone was asleep. And I was alone.
At least I thought I was.
I glanced out of the corner of my eye and jumped in fear when I saw Loki sat by the side.
"W...what are you doing here?" I trembled.
"You were having a nightmare. I thought you could do with some company" he replied.
Loki stood and came and sat next to me.
I shuffled a little to try and keep some distance but he took my hand and began to stroke it.
"It's okay. Just breathe. Breathe with me....in....and out" I followed Lokis breathing which helped me to calm down and stop crying.
I wanted to tell him to leave but I really wanted the company right now.
"Thank you" I whispered.
"It's okay. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. I shook my head no.
"Okay that's fine. Do you want to talk about something else ? How're you feeling?" His other hand reached up to my head to stroke my cheek. I flinched at first but settled when I knew he wasn't going to hurt me.
"I think my pain killers are wearing off. Everything hurts." I stirred.
"Here let me help" with that Loki was waving his hands over me which were glowing green. At first I was scared but suddenly the pain subsided and I began to feel sleepy.
"T..thank you Loki" I gave him a small smile.
"It's okay. I've missed that smile. I've missed you Y/N" he whispered.
"I don't know if I can trust you yet Loki" I looked at him in the eyes. He looked hurt but he smiled.
"I know. These things take time. It's okay. When the time is right, then we can go from there. But for now, please get some rest. I can stay here if you like?" He began stroking my forehead which made me more sleepy.
I nodded and smiled in response and then next thing I knew, I fell asleep.
*Loki's POV*
She smiled. That's a step in the right direction. And she wanted me to stay. Even better. We'll get there. One day at a time.