Author's note: Hey guys! I'm getting really frustrated at Wattpad at the moment, when I posted the other day this went up by like twenty reads overnight and then I've had nothing for about four days, and ten minutes ago it shot up like another thirty?? What are y'all doing?? Heh, oh well, it's not like I care if people are reading this story anyway.... I lie, I really want you guys to be reading and enjoying this pile of shit I've spent so long on XD So, here's chapter nine - leave a comment/vote if you enjoy! <3
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The team reacted with lightning speed; before you'd even fully comprehended what was happening they were gone from your side, fighting to get towards the middle of the scrum. You focused on getting people out of the way, remembering what Nat had told you in training about getting civilians to safety first and foremost.
Things had gone from zero to a hundred super quickly, and your head span as you tried to focus on helping people up off of the floor and herding them away from danger. You hadn't realised how loud it was going to be, the yells and screams of people around you mingled with the shouts of the team through your earpiece and the frighteningly close sound of the guns. Your gaze fell upon a person was being trampled as people fled from the scene and you rushed to help, hauling them to their feet and telling them to get away, right as you had a horribly strong feeling that something was wrong.
The sound of Tony and Bucky yelling at you to get down through your earpiece almost deafened you, but instead of ducking you automatically spun around and threw your hands up defensively. The bullet stopped an inch from your face, reminding you of a knife you had seen there recently. You could see the shooter now, staring at you in disbelief as the purple mist vanished, allowing Tony to rugby tackle him to the ground and get the gun off of him.
"One's down." Tony grunted to the others as he wrestled with the man.
"There are two others, some people are injured over here." you heard Nat say through your earpiece, and ran across to where there were still two active shooters. There was a girl, she couldn't have been much younger than you, on the floor covered in blood and clutching her leg, surrounded by three other girls who were trying to drag her out of harm's way. Some other people were trying to come back over to help too, that was bad, you needed them out of the way. The rest of the team were surrounding the other two shooters while Tony held the other one, so you ran to help try and move this girl with her tearful friends.
"Someone get something to stop the bleeding, a hoodie, anything. Put pressure on it; we need to try and lift her. On three, okay? Get her behind that tree." you told them, trying not to look directly at all the blood. Together you half lifted, half dragged the girl across the ground towards the trees, but only got half-way before you had to stop. There was a yell from through your earpiece and then several shouts of "Clint!".
Shit. That didn't sound good.
"Stop, don't let him run! Steve- Y/N!"
This time you weren't ready, still carrying the now half unconscious girl. You dropped the arm you were holding (gently, you hoped) and turned to stand in front of the small group of people behind you. One of the shooters was running, reloading the gun as he did so, but faltered as he saw you stood in front of the group, apparently completely vulnerable.
"Y/N, do your thing! Get him to stop!"
"I can't just do it! I don't know how, I-" you faltered as the shooter directed the gun towards you, watching helplessly as he pulled the trigger... but not before Steve threw his shield and knocked the gun clean from his hand. The bullet missed by a mile. Bucky prevented him from running any further by knocking him out with a punch to the jaw, watching him collapse in distaste.
"Second one's down..."
"And the third." Nat said, sounding vaguely out of breath.
You turned back to the girls behind you, to find that they were gone, having made it to the trees. Jogging over, you felt your eyes burning, like you were about to start crying. Don't cry Y/N, she's fine. It's not your fault.
"Is she alright? Has someone called an ambulance?" you asked, standing over the group.
"Of course she's not fine, look at- oh." one of the girls said aggressively, turning to address you and stopping in surprise. The others turned to look too and... did they look scared? Of you?
There were too many voices over your earpiece, why did they all sound panicked? The shooters were down...
"Stay with me bud, keep your eyes open, we're getting in the jet now..."
Clint.
"Keep pressure on that wound. Paramedics will be over soon." you said to the group as you turned and sprinted back towards the Quinjet. The police were pushing the shooters into the back of their cars and some were trying to talk to Tony, who shooed them away, looking around for you.
"Why were you... over there?"
Why had he paused?
"A girl was injured, only her leg, there are paramedics coming, right?" you said, allowing him to herd you into the jet ahead of him.
"Yeah, yeah they're here."
The door closed and you were in the air almost immediately; everyone gathered around Clint lying out on the sick bed. He was sickly pale and covered in a layer of sweat, his breathing shallow as Nat did something to his shoulder, where there was a lot of blood. You chose not to look too closely.
"You okay?" Bucky asked from next to you, squeezing your shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks." you replied, looking at him gratefully. Bucky's eyes widened and he took a step back, letting go of your shoulder.
"What?" you asked, suddenly afraid. Why was everyone being so weird?
"You- your eyes..." Bucky said, staring.
Ah.
"Oh yeah. They do that." you said dejectedly, squeezing your eyelids shut and pressing two fingers to your forehead. That's why your eyes were burning. It felt like your magic was right below the surface, waiting to get out, but you didn't know how to let it. It was so frustrating.
"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, it was just a shock, y'know?" Bucky apologised, looking worried that he'd upset you. Steve and Bruce were staring now too.
"Yeah, it's fine." you told him with a smile, turning to sit down on one of the seats which lined the walls of the jet.
"Well done Lady Y/N, your first mission!" Thor congratulated you, and you thanked him with a smile. What had you done, really, apart from accidentally use your magic and then almost failed to protect yourself and other innocent people a second time? If Steve hadn't thrown his shield... would you have been able to use your magic without it being an unconscious decision? You didn't want to think about it.
You were back at the tower in no time, and Clint was hurried to the medical wing immediately by Nat and Bruce, who gave everyone else strict instructions not to come and see if he was okay until they were done. And that he would be okay.
"C'mon kid, I bet you're shattered. Let's go see if Reindeer Games has broken anything or run away. By the way, your eyes are purple." Tony told you as you exited the Quinjet.
"I know." you sighed, appreciating that he was trying to make you feel better about it. You had forgotten all about Loki until Tony had mentioned him then, and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. At least he was being trusted a bit more, being left virtually on his own. You'd go talk to him after you got changed. He probably hadn't even noticed you'd been gone.
Loki's POV
Loki had noticed that you'd been gone. He'd thought of little else since you had left with the others in a burst of spontaneity over an hour ago. And he hadn't stopped worrying. It was a horrible feeling, and he had continuously told himself to stop, but that hadn't helped in the slightest. He also told himself that he was only worrying because he and he alone knew how powerful, and potentially dangerous, your magic was, especially as you didn't know how to use it properly, but he knew that that wasn't entirely true. He wouldn't let himself think about why he was actually worrying.
He was in the lounge when the Quinjet returned, and watched in trepidation as it disappeared above to land on the roof. He was going to be so angry with Thor if you were hurt, or worse... no. The following three minutes of waiting were excruciating, until finally the elevator made that annoying dinging noise and the doors slid open. He heard Thor's voice first, no wonder, he was so loud, and then the Captain and his brown-haired friend... Bucky, that was it. Thor strode into the room and clapped Loki on the shoulder.
"Did you enjoy the peace?"
"I was, yes." Loki replied, trying not to show his annoyance. Where were you?
"Well, the mission was a success, Clint has been injured but he will survive."
Loki allowed himself to relax. If you weren't okay Thor would have told him immediately. Good.
"Wonderful news." Loki replied with a hint of sarcasm, pretending to be immersed the book which was on his lap.
"I am going to change." Thor said, leaving the room.
About five minutes later Stark entered the room and sat opposite Loki.
"So, what did you get up to while we were gone?"
"Sat, read, had a drink." Loki replied, looking directly at him. He found it made people uncomfortable. Well, everyone but you.
"Good." Tony said, not even looking suspicious. Loki found that odd. It was also odd not gaining someone's trust in order to manipulate them, rather just for the sake of it.
It was at that exact moment that he heard your voice. Your laugh, to be exact, followed by the Captain's voice. Stark was staring at him now. He hoped he hadn't shown emotion upon hearing your voice, that would be extremely embarrassing.
You entered the room with the Captain and Bucky, and sat yourself down on the sofa next to him. Not next to Tony. Him.
"Hey." you said.
"Your eyes are purple."
Tony chuckled as you put your head in your hands, pressing your palms hard into your eyeballs.
"Yes. I was aware." you muttered.
"Anyone want bagels?" Bucky called from the kitchen.
"Yes please!" you said eagerly, looking up again as though you hadn't realised how hungry you were until food had been mentioned.
You were okay.
Now Loki could stop worrying about you, and start worrying about why he'd been worrying about you in the first place.