Author's note: Heyy guys have an early update to make up for all the nights where I post at like 1am hehe. Thank you sooo much for 2k reads and especially everyone who votes and comments; it makes it all worth it! Here's chapter twenty two, enjoy! <3
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The journey down from the roof of the tower to the medical ward seemed a lot longer than it actually was in your state, and despite your furious protests Thor eventually carried you for the second half of the trek. When you finally got there you had to sit and take some deep breaths for a minute before you could open your eyes, even though you'd been carried and hadn't walked yourself.
"You guys can leave, I'm just going to check her vitals and when she is fine I'll give you a shout." Bruce told the others, putting emphasis on the word is. Everyone had followed you down apart from Nat, Clint and Steve. You lay down on the bed under Bruce's supervision and faded in and out of consciousness as he hooked you up to some machines and watched a computer screen, clicking frequently.
"Am I okay?" you asked, unable to wait while he analysed your vitals.
"Yeah, there's nothing serious going on, you just need to take it easy or things might start going wrong. Got it? That means no leaving here until tomorrow." he told you, detaching you from the monitors and switching the computer off.
You sighed heavily, slumping back on to the bed.
"It's a miracle you're not seriously injured Y/N, you should be grateful." Bruce said.
"I am, I'm just getting bored of being stuck in here constantly." you moaned.
"It's only for a little bit. Now let me look at your hands."
"What? My hands are fine." you said, holding them out to show him. Your mouth fell open as you saw your palms; they were bright red, shiny and swollen. Burnt from where you'd grabbed hold of the electric fence.
"I hadn't even noticed." you said in disbelief.
"You were probably preoccupied, what with not being able to breathe." Bruce joked, crossing the room to get medical supplies.
"Let me." Loki's voice came from the doorway.
Bruce turned to look at him in surprise, then to you for confirmation. You smiled.
"Thanks Bruce."
You felt bad as he left the room, but Loki could get it done quicker and more effectively.
Loki sat down next to you and held his hand out; you obliged and let him start healing you. You sat in comfortable silence for a bit, before you realised something was bothering him.
"What's wrong?" you asked, noticing that he wasn't looking at you.
He didn't reply verbally, rather let you hear what it was he had been thinking.
You were shaking your head as you realised what he had been thinking.
"Don't try and tell me that you think it's your fault I got taken? I was the one who let my guard down, I was half asleep."
"They heard me at that party. I was careless."
"Well, I don't blame you; you don't need to worry about me being mad."
He looked up at you sharply, and then back at your hands.
"You weren't meant to hear that bit."
"You saved me. From being shot. How could I be mad?"
He didn't reply, but his grip on your hands became ever so slightly firmer.
When he was done, your hands looked almost good as new, apart from still being slightly red. To your surprise, next he reached for your face, and you leant back as he moved towards you.
"You're covered in scratches." Loki explained, and you frowned before remembering that you'd smashed through a glass window to escape.
"Oh yeah." you laughed half-heartedly, leaning back forward to let him heal the scratches. You were so wiped out that you didn't even have to distract yourself while he was doing it.
"There." he finally said when he was done, leaning back.
"Thanks." you smiled, again slumping back into the pillows on your bed.
"...I'm sorry." Loki told you, watching you worriedly.
"It's not your fault!" you exclaimed. Why didn't he understand that? You weren't really mad, but you didn't know how else to get through to him.
He observed you for another couple of seconds, and then stood up and made for the door.
"Shall I ask Thor to come down? Or Stark?"
"Thor, please. I'm sorry for..."
He was already gone.
You cursed yourself for being so stupid. He'd shown emotion and you'd been short with him. Then again, you couldn't have him thinking it was his fault you'd been kidnapped. But maybe you could have been a bit less harsh.
Minutes later Thor was by your side.
"What did you do to him? He wasn't happy." he asked you, with a hint of a smile.
"Just told him it wasn't his fault I was kidnapped." you shrugged.
"Ah yes, that would do it." Thor said humorously; you smiled.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine."
"I know. I wasn't worried." you replied. Wow, you were cranky. Then again, you'd had barely three hours sleep (not including the time you'd been out cold for) and been kidnapped in the last twenty-four hours. If ever there was a reason to be cranky, that was it.
"I've never seen him so worried about someone before. Loki, I mean." Thor told you, watching your face carefully as he leant back in the chair next to your bed.
"Well, he's good at hiding his emotions." you countered, not letting your expression betray the fact that your chest had tightened again.
"That's what I mean. He wasn't so good at doing that yesterday." Thor said.
You shrugged.
"We're friends Thor, we've spent a lot of time together. I would've been worried about him too."
"Well, I think the others have warmed to him slightly after that. Tony wasn't even that angry that he'd snuck on to the Quinjet when he told him to stay put..."
"What? He wasn't meant to come with you guys?"
"No." Thor replied, with an 'I told you so' look on his face which you stubbornly ignored.
Your chest was getting tighter by the second, and it had nothing to do with the fact you'd been electrocuted.
You quickly changed the subject after that, and Thor kept you company for about twenty more minutes before Tony appeared.
"Hey kid, how're you doing?" he asked, coming to stand at the end of your bed.
"I'll let you two talk, see you later." Thor said to you, standing up and allowing Tony to replace him in his seat.
"I'm feeling better thanks. We need to talk about that place I was being held." you told Tony as Thor left the room, and he nodded.
"That woman, she called it an 'institute'. What does that mean?" you asked.
"SHIELD are dealing with it as we speak I should hope. It was an underground organisation which, as you know, was focused on eliminating 'threats to society'. Basically they didn't like anyone who held more power than them; all of us were on the plans we found of theirs on that mission when we found out you were in danger. The difference was that you seemed 'weaker' than the rest of us so they were targeting you. " Tony explained.
"I think there were other people there. Will SHIELD help them?" you continued.
"...I hope so. They'll probably all be enrolled into their programme, if they're fit to do so..." here he trailed off, and you both sat thinking about what horrible things they might have done to people.
"But the main thing is the organisation is being broken apart as we speak. And you're alright." Tony suddenly continued, grasping your arm firmly.
You nodded.
"And what about Loki?" you asked.
"What about him?"
"When are you going to talk to Fury about the fact that he should be able to use his magic? And not be locked up here in the tower?"
"He can use his magic, we're doing him a favour. Fury won't go for him being allowed in public, we both know that." Tony sighed.
"Can you at least try and talk to him about it? He might say that he can use his magic again, and then we won't have to pretend that he's still powerless."
"Maybe Reindeer Games shouldn't have his powers. None of us knew he was on the jet when we came to get you earlier, he's good at what he does. That makes him dangerous."
"He's not dangerous." you stated firmly.
Tony gave you a sceptical look.
"If you say 'you weren't there during the attack' I'm gonna-"
"I wasn't going to say that." Tony interrupted. "We've heard about all of the times he's betrayed Thor, and he's proven he can be manipulated... kid?"
You realised your anger had exposed itself in the form of your eyes glowing purple as Tony stared at you in surprise.
"He wasn't manipulated, he was tortured and brainwashed by a titan." you said angrily.
Tony nodded sadly. Your eyes slowly returned to their normal colour.
"Sorry." you whispered. Now you felt like crying. What was going on?
"You really care about him don't you?"
You had a flashback of you saying that to Thor on the roof, weeks ago.
Tony was still looking at you; you just shrugged, not trusting yourself to speak.
"I think you need to get some sleep Y/N." he said, standing up putting a hand on your head comfortingly.
You nodded, closing your eyes.
"Wake me up for lunch?" you asked, and Tony laughed.
"I will. Get some rest."
Then he was gone.
You were alone with your thoughts for approximately three seconds.
Are you okay?
You smiled.
I'm fine. Just tired.
And angry? What did Stark say?
Nothing, I just need to sleep.
I agree.
There was a bit of angst behind that comment, you could tell.
Sorry for getting annoyed. I need you to know that it's not your fault that I got taken.
Go to sleep Y/N.
When you admit that it wasn't your fault.
You'll be awake for a while.
You didn't reply to that. Knowing that he would give in.
Fine. Maybe it wasn't entirely my fault.
Good enough for me.
He tried to reply to that, but you didn't hear him, having already started to drift off to sleep.
Loki's POV
There was a smile on his face as he lost contact with you as you fell asleep. What was wrong with him?
'You're going soft' he told himself under his breath sternly, only realising how ridiculous he must look after he'd uttered the words. You were changing him, for better or for worse. He'd risked his safety and his magic to sneak on to the jet and save you, having not even thought about the consequences of his actions until after you were safe. But the consequences seemed to have been mostly positive (oddly); the others had thought better of him on the way back (he'd literally heard exactly what they were thinking), and Tony hadn't been that angry. There had been a minute lecture, if that, and afterwards Tony had actually clapped him on the back. Apparently that was a nice thing to do on Midgard.
All of the evidence was pointing towards one thing – sentiment. But for the first time in a long time Loki wasn't seeing it as a bad thing. It felt good, and right. There was just the small issue of you not seeming to return the feeling, and the fact that you never would. You were a normal Asgardian, whereas he was... not. The thought hurt.
But, as Loki lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, he remembered that sentiment couldn't just be pushed aside. It had to be dealt with. Now he was remembering why he didn't mix with people, it made things complicated and annoying. But then there was you. Y/N.
The simple thought of you wasn't complicated and annoying. It didn't make him feel bad.
It made him feel something completely, totally different.
Loki sat up slowly as the word bounced around his head.
He'd barely known you for seven weeks, that was barely a blink of an eye in his lifetime, but you were so different to anyone else he'd ever met. Things were about to get complicated; there was no pushing this down.
The word continued to fly relentlessly around his head.
Love.