forget-your-woes here with the regular song and dance. I own nothing but my OC's. The rest belongs to their rightful owners.
The next few days went by slowly. I spent the days either helping repair and rebuild SHIELD or by Gwen's bedside. She hadn't gotten any better and it seemed to me that she was getting worse since she was barely awake for more than two hours out of the day.
And of course I spent a lot of time being with Loki. I was beginning to get used to having him by my side and to him living with me.
Loki worried about me though. I hadn't been sleeping much since every time that I did, I would get nightmares from Agonia. They ranged anywhere from a slow and painful death to watching someone I cared about dying. Loki was the main subject in more than a few of the nightmares.
Every time I woke up crying from a nightmare, Loki would pull me closer and tell me everything would be okay soon. He'd tell me that I was safe and that I would be okay. Loki didn't get as many nightmares as me, mostly because he didn't sleep nearly at all, and because Agonia was focused on me.
About a week after Gwen had been brought into the hospital, things started to change. It started with a nightmare.
Running. No surprise there. I'm usually always running during these nightmares.
I could hear the heavy, hot breath of whatever was chasing me down my neck, making me cringe and try to run faster.
I'd only gotten a few more feet ahead of the creature when it suddenly grabbed me by my waist and pulled me back against its torso. I cried out from the feeling of hot, wet, wrinkled skin wrapped around me.
"Let me go!" I yelled and coughed. "Let. Me. Go!"
I felt the creature laugh with its deep and dark laugh.
"But the fun hasn't even begun yet," the sickening voice said.
I tried to squirm away and kick the creature- which I guessed might be Agonia. I still had never seen his real face before. My kicking and squirming only made him angry and he held onto me tighter. So tight that I couldn't breathe.
So tight that I could feel my bones crushing.
"STOP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Shut. Up," Agonia hissed before I felt one of his long claws scraping against my back roughly. I yelped when I felt it, but it angered him even more.
He dug his nail into my skin, breaking it and causing it to bleed. I cried out more and started sobbing as he slowly and agonizingly scratched more and more into my flesh.
"See if your little boyfriend gets the idea now," He spat at me before dropping me to the ground, sending me back to reality.
My eyes flew open and I cried out. My back still hurt just as much and I could even feel the blood. I felt it pooling.
"Laura!" Loki quickly moved me so we were sitting up. "You're bleeding!"
I was sobbing from the pain. It felt like there was salt being thrown onto my wounds.
"Help me!" I cried. "Please! It burns!"
Loki carefully took my shirt and slid it up so he could heal me. He snapped his fingers and I felt him press a towel to my back, trying to slow the bleeding. The pain was slowly numbing a little more, but it burned still. I cringed as I thought of the feeling of Agonia's skin on mine.
A few moments later, Loki carefully took away the towel. He pulled me so I was closer and he wrapped one of his arms around me and let me hold his hand.
"This will hurt," Loki said before he started healing. "Squeeze my hand when it does, okay? Just focus on my hand."
I nodded and picked up his hand with both of mine.
"I'm ready," I whispered.
Loki started healing the wound furthest to the left. I didn't even know how many there were.
But it hurt. I whimpered and bit my tongue. I held onto Loki's hand tighter and tried to focus on it.
On some level, it did work. I looked at his hand in both of mine. It was so much bigger than mine and I traced his fingers shakily with one of my hands. Loki pressed down to heal another wound and I focused even more on his hand.
There was a long white scar that ran from the right side of the top of his hand that went all the way up to his middle finger. I traced it and tried to figure out where it could have come from. I traced his fingers again and was almost jealous of how even and clean his nails were. I usually kept mine in nice condition but I most certainly didn't have the greatest nails. But Loki's were perfect.
He had perfect hands.
"Okay," Loki said after a few more moments. "I'm done. You're all healed."
Loki snapped his fingers again and the blankets on the bed were rid of my blood.
I turned and looked at Loki. He reached out and gently touched the side of my face. He looked even more worried than before.
"This is too much," Loki said. "The nightmares are one thing, but now this? I can't let this happen to you, Laura."
"What are we going to do?" I whispered. I was scared. Not many things could scare me but Agonia had my mind, my memories, and my feelings all right in front of him. He could toy with me at any given moment. Loki rubbed my cheek gently and seemed to think for a few moments.
"I don't know yet. But I have to keep you safe, darling. I have to make sure you aren't in danger," Loki said.
I nodded slightly and went to lay back down, but remembered that I had blood all over my shirt. I started to get up but Loki stopped me.
"No, here," Loki said while pulling off his sweater. My back was will turned to him and he carefully pulled my shirt off before he replaced it with his sweater. It was warm and it smelled like him.
"Thank you," I said as I laid down again. Loki wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I could hear his heartbeat and I held onto him like he was a safety net. Loki put his chin on the top of my head and kissed my hair gently.
"No. You don't have to thank me, my love. I can't stand to see you in pain, and I want you to be safe. It's alright."
I nodded and closed my eyes. I moved closer to Loki and sighed softly. I was afraid to fall back asleep, but I was tired.
Eventually, I let myself fall asleep to the sound of Loki's heart and the way he was slowly rubbing my back.
A very, very short chapter. I'm trying to get my inspiration back for this story, so this was a test run with writing again. I'm still trying to get over writer's block and get more motivation. I recently got a new laptop so I'm trying to use it for writing (and school). I hope to update soon again.
Thank you all for reading, reviewing, and favoriting. It means the world to me.
xx
