You strode too calmly, too fluidly, too much a graceful dangerous predator, to where Loki was chained in the middle of the room. You were the eye of the storm as chaos, rage, and power swirled around you. Attacks came at you, the bullets, powers, people couldn't get to you, they couldn't get through the storm around you.
You touched Loki's hair when you reached him. He growled and struggled, too pained to recognize your touch. "Shh, love. I'm here. You're safe now," you told him softly as you removed his blindfold. You stroked his hair, using a touch of power to ease his pain. You would free him when you'd dealt with the walking carrion who had harmed him. He was safe and not being injured more while you were here. He looked up at you with such hurt and fear in his eyes. You bent down and kissed his forehead. "I'm here. No more pain," you promised, then turned and glared maliciously at those who had dared to harm a hair on your Loki's head. "For you," you corrected.
Loki tried to shout something. It was probably 'no', but he couldn't. He would know what was coming too. It wasn't just Thor who knew the perils of angering the healer.
"Shit. She's going off plan,"
Even the team was thrown by the depth of your grief and rage. Nat and Thor seemed to be the only ones who understood, though Bruce seemed to understand the anger at least. Thor braced himself against the spirals of your rage and powers, to kept from being swept away.
Power swirled, the maelstrom of your rage and grief spiraled faster around you as it spread, enveloping the entire building. Your rage touched every single person in that place, every single one who had been in on this plan.
You dove into your power.
The people who hurt your Loki
Who tortured your love
Were
Going
To
Pay
So you dove to the very last drop of your power, faster and faster, deeper and deeper, spiraling down to the very core of your power, you gathered it all, gathered everything you had and exploded out from the center of your power, hitting every single person there who had a hand in harming your love. Your natural ability was healing. You were a healer to the core. Even in your anger, your rage, your grief, your power went to healing first.
Do
Not
Anger
The
Healer
A healer, a true and proper healer like you, could and did knit wounds back together in an instant, could reassemble people on a molecular level, could do the impossible and stitch any and every inch of the human body together when it was injured.
While a healer could do all of those miracles, they were far more deadly for their ability to do the exact opposite. You could rip the human body apart, could destroy with the same abilities which let you heal, could pull a body apart until nothing was left.
That is exactly what your power did now.
Every person who had a hand in this plot, who had tortured your Loki, who had added to your rage and grief for the pain administered to your love was ripped to particles so small that the air was thick with the red mist that was all that was left of your victims.
It wasn't an easy death either, for all that it was fast.
Pop
They exploded one by one as your power touched them.
Pop pop
They screamed as they realized what was coming
Pop pop
As they realized there was nothing they could do to stop it
Pop pop pop
They all died for their crimes
Pop pop pop pop
They died for the pain they had inflicted on your love
Pop pop pop pop
They were all destroyed
Except one
The one in the office. The one who had let his people fight you while he hid. The one in charge. He got to live. He got to live just long enough to be questioned. Just long enough to find out why your Loki had been tortured. Why you had been targeted. What they had wanted with you.
Thirty seconds
Thirty seconds was all it had taken to destroy 100 people? More? Less? You didn't know. You didn't care. You didn't care about the red mist. About the horror on the team's faces. About the knowledge that they were finally understanding. They finally understood Thor's warning about the Ladies of Asgard, about angering the healer. They finally understood what you could do when you were backed into a corner.
You saw the resolve on all of their faces never to let it happen again.
Thor just offered you a nod and a small bow. He knew. He had known all along. You nodded at him in return.
"There's two mutant kids in cells through that door," you pointed toward the back of the warehouse. "Also a man with a metal arm. More victims of these people. There's an office at the top of the steps. You'll find someone to question up there," you added. That was all the helpful you were willing to be. You had other more pressing matters to attend to.
The team rushed to go deal with the people you mentioned, the survivors of your rage.
You summoned the thermos of monster-coffee you had poured earlier. You downed its contents in a moment and shuddered as you dropped the thermos to the floor. You needed the power spike to help Loki. The power flared, artificial though it was, and you would pay for it later. But for now you had the power and strength to do what was needed.
You turned to him then. "It's alright now, love. I'm here. You're safe," you told him gently, stroking his hair reassuringly. "I'm getting you out of here. Just hold on a little longer." It took effort to summon the exact blade you needed. It wasn't one you summoned often, or had you ever? you couldn't remember. It wasn't important. The blade came to your hand now. Loki stiffened, but recognized the blade and held still. You carefully cut through the heavy metal collar around his neck, the manacles on his wrists, every single bond. It was slow work. You had to be so careful to cut the metal and not him, but finally, finally you made it through them all. You vanished the blade again as he collapsed against you. You caught him and held one of his arms across your shoulders, standing and bringing him up with you, supporting his weight. "I've got you. It's ok," you told him softly, gently.
The others were coming back with the two teens with powers, the man with the metal arm, and a very beaten up, bound man in a suit.
"Let's get you home, love. I'll fix you up there," you told Loki. You couldn't here. It would take too long. He was too injured. You wanted him home safely. You needed him home safely.
"Lady Sigyn," Thor drew your attention with his formal words. "Allow me to take him. I will not allow harm to come to my brother." You hesitated, but it was Thor. Thor wouldn't let anything happen to Loki, but still you hesitated. "Lady, let me help you," Thor implored. You finally nodded once. Thor dropped Mjolnir to lift Loki carefully into his arms. He was so gentle, so worried. Loki was so very injured, bruised, and bleeding. You placed a hand on Loki's bare arm, using magic to ease his pain. You knew him. You knew he hated looking and being weak like this. Knew he hated that Thor was carrying him. He hated all of this, except that you had been saved from the same torment or worse. You still didn't know why they had wanted you exactly.
"It's alright, love. Everything's ok now," you promised him. "I know better than to lie to you," you added softly, a small humor that did nothing. All you could do was try to ease his spirits and pain until you could heal him properly.
"Is no one going to talk about what she did?" Stark asked. He had the bound man thrown over his shoulder.
"I wouldn't," Nat replied stiffly. "You wouldn't understand." She did. She had lived in that anger and grief before. You saw it in her eyes.
You knelt and picked up Mjolnir and Stark and the others gasped. They hadn't expected you to still be able to.
Even after destroying all of those people, you were still worthy.
You all walked back through the portal to the sanctum. You saw Strange's expression at Loki's state, at the additions. Cap was already working to get SHIELD to clean up your mess. You didn't care.
You touched Thor's arm. "Hold on. I'm going to teleport us," you warned him. He didn't care for teleporting, but he wanted Loki home as much as you did. He nodded and an instant later you were in your and Loki's suite in the tower. "Set him on the bed," you told him and propped up the pillows after summoning a sheet to lay down so blood wouldn't get on the bed. He wouldn't want to be moved once he was healed and the sheet could be vanished easier than remaking the entire bed. Thor set Loki down gently. You both winced at the pained noise Loki made. You climbed up on the bed.
"Sig, are you up to this? You have used quite a lot of power already..." Thor's voice was concerned. You had used way too much power already. You both knew it.
"I'll get through this," you told him firmly. "Thanks for your help, but I've got it from here, and Loki is about five seconds away from summoning a dagger to stab you with for seeing him like this," you warned him. Thor saw Loki's expression and nodded reluctantly.
"I will wait in your sitting room. Call if you need assistance," he finally told you. He didn't want to leave Loki like this, but knew he would be safe in your care, and more comfortable with fewer witnesses.
Your hands started glowing blue as you wrapped your Loki in your arms, holding him as he whimpered and began the healing, carefully, gently. You eased the pain, fixed all the cuts, bruises, the marks on his back, the...how the fuck did they break bones?
You growled that you hadn't killed them enough for what they had done to your Loki.
You fixed everything except his poor mouth. You saved that for last. It was the hardest to fix, and you would have to make it worse first, before you could make it better. "I'm sorry, love, I'm sorry. I'm going to fix it this, going to fix what they did to you, I swear," there were tears in your eyes. "It's going to hurt," your fingers ran through his hair he whimpered again and you could feel him fight back the tears. "I know, my love, I know. Just a little longer. Be strong a little longer for me. I'll fix it. Trust me, trust me, Loki, please trust me,"
He nodded once and sat up, though you saw the effort it took him. You summoned a pair of tiny, but sharp scissors and a small cloth. You steeled yourself and ever so carefully cut away the stitches binding his lips shut. The wounds bled anew as you worked and he made a soft noise in pain, but fought not to move. You soothed his pain with what power you could spare. You had to be careful. You were running purely on the caffeine you had thrown into your body and you had to save enough power to heal his lips so they wouldn't scar. He let you work, closed his eyes, trusting you. It took forever, you had to be so careful, but you finally, finally got the string cut away and cleared from his lips. You healed those last wounds and carefully wiped away the blood. It took too long too, you were running dangerously low on power, but you got the wounds healed, no scars left behind.
You sighed in relief when it was done.
The physical wounds were healed, but his emotional scars would take longer. He looked so lost and hurt and...scared. You settled against the pillows and pulled him into your arms. He didn't resist as you pulled his head to your chest, stroking his hair. "Rest now, love. You're safe now," his arms wrapped around you as he curled himself around you, more like a small scared boy than your Loki. You kissed his forehead. "I've got you. You're safe," you repeated. You stroked his hair and rubbed his back until he finally, finally fell asleep in your arms.
You gave him a small smile and kissed his forehead again.
"Thor?" you asked softly, figuring he was eavesdropping. Loki didn't stir besides making a small noise and curling himself more comfortably around you. Thor was in the room in a moment.
"He's healed?"
You nodded. "Physically. Emotionally? Mentally? That might take longer. But that's not what I needed," you had to talk fast to beat the side effects of your artificial power boost.
"What do you need besides that you obviously need to rest? You have pushed yourself far too hard today." What he meant was that you looked like hell. You knew it. You had pushed yourself and your abilities way too far.
"Tell Loki about my stunt with the coffee," you told him sleepily. Your voice was starting to slur in exhaustion. "He's healed and safe, but he'll worry,"
"There is a side effect to all magic," Thor said astutely. He knew more about magic than he liked to let on. He knew there was a reason that you hadn't wanted Loki to know about how you'd boosted your powers. He hadn't said anything at the time, and you saw now that he didn't regret that decision. Loki would have been in far worse shape had you waited any longer.
You nodded. "I need to sleep it off." Did you even say all the words of that sentence? You couldn't be sure. Hopefully you said enough of them that Thor understood. "Might not wake..." you were slipping too fast.
Thor nodded and pulled the blanket up around you and Loki. "I will tell him. Both of you need rest. I will stand guard. Don't fear, little sister. Rest now, you have done beyond a warrior's work today,"
You wouldn't close your eyes until Loki was securely in your arms, until you'd kissed his forehead one last time.
Until you'd reassured yourself that he was back and he was safe.