Thank you LovesDragons for the reminder and the review! Thank you magentarosegallifrey for the review! It made me so happy to get them!
Natasha shot her guns at the advancing Chitauri. Many of them went down easily. A lot easier than they had been going down. She reloaded and took the three Chitauri on her left out.
"Is it just me," Steve threw his shield out and knocked over several Chituaris, "Or did this just get a heck of a lot easier?"
They turned as they heard an explosion. Clint looked down from his perch, "They're going down easily."
"Why?" Steve looked up and saw that the golden ships and Shield ships were fighting off the last of the Chitaurian ships. Many of the Asgardians had joined the Chitauri on the ground and were fighting with swords, axes and some magic. It was evident that the Chitauri were losing.
Steve frowned, "Loki once said that the army was stronger because of Thanos' magic. Maybe he's using his magic for something else."
"Maybe he's dead," Clint looked toward the center of the city.
Tony shot down one of the few Chitauri ships left. He looked around and saw that Hulk was taking out a lot of the remaining Chitauri soldiers on the ground. The Asgardians had given him a wide berth to do such. Thor had followed the beast into battle, but Tony noticed that Thor was constantly looking over his shoulder.
"Jarvis," Tony frowned as he knew exactly what Thor was looking for. "Find Loki."
The screens in front of his face lit up and honed in on every life form it came across. None of them were of the god of mischief. Tony frowned and began flying over the debris-littered streets. He could see several buildings had been demolished. One of them had burned completely to the ground. The embers were still an unnatural bright red.
"Sir," Jarvis' voice sounded as an image of Loki beeped in front of him as well as a lit up form on the ground. Tony darted downward and landed on the ground a few feet from where Jarvis had directed him. Tony's face plate moved up and he stared at the god before him.
Tony wasn't sure he would have recognized Loki if it hadn't been for Jarvis. Loki's face was badly burned. His hair was charred. His neck was blackened from bruising. His armor was broken and much of it had been blackened or completely burned away. Blood seeped from his mouth and covered the side of his face. His right arm was covered in blood.
Stark frowned as the suit showed a bpm reading coming from the god. He recognized that the rate was low for Loki. He bent down and carefully pulled the god up and tossed him over his shoulder. He couldn't just leave him in the pile of rubble.
Stark looked around. He took off slowly and then headed for the blond god. He found him on the edge of a battlefield. The god's face was wrought with worry. Stark approached the ground in a much slower fashion than usual.
"Stark," Thor's thunderous voice boomed as the god trotted to the man of Iron. Thor frowned at what was tossed over the Iron Man's shoulder.
"One crazy brother," Stark nodded his head to the god slung over his shoulder.
Thor's eyes widened and he quickly darted behind Tony to see his brother. "You must take him to the tower. I will be along shortly," Thor flew into the air without another word.
"Well buddy, I'm going to say that you might be hurt," Stark frowned. "Enough to get your bro's panties in a twist anyway."
Natasha climbed the last of the stairs, Steve and Clint followed behind her. They had finished off the Chitauri and raced back to the tower to get orders from Fury. Their communication devices had been knocked out by Loki's initial blast. Natasha mostly wanted to see if Fury had made it through the battle. Many of the dark ships had exploded in the air and as much as the director had pissed her off, Natasha did not want to see him hurt.
The pent house was still lit up, thanks to Stark's alternative power sources. Natasha noticed that hardly any damage had occurred to the tower, though a few stray blast must have knocked out the windows.
"Jarvis, contact-" Natasha paused. She watched as Tony flew into the room. He was clutching whatever was flung across his shoulder.
"What's that?" Steve took a step forward.
Tony set the god down on the floor. Immediately Clint drew his arrow. Natasha reached for her gun but Steve jerked his head up for the explanation.
"Wait," Tony's faceplate flew upward and he held out a hand.
"He betrayed us," Clint growled, but held his arrow.
Natasha furrowed her brow, "what happened to him." She was holding the gun, but it was not pointing at the obviously immobilized god.
"As far as I can tell," Stark looked out the window. "Thanos beat the shit out of him when he double crossed him."
"Double crossed?" Steve blinked.
Suddenly Thor and two women appeared in the middle of the room.
"He doesn't like to stay dead, does he?" The elder woman quickly made her way to Loki. The younger woman quickly followed her without saying a word.
Thor followed the women quickly. The older woman set devices next to Loki's head and feet and then one by each of his arms. She stood and pressed a device and a red silhouette of Loki's body appeared above him. Meanwhile, the younger woman was digging in a bag and removing jars and cloths.
"His fingers are missing," Thor commented.
The woman said nothing. Her eyes darted over the red silhouette. The younger woman poured some liquid onto a cloth and began wiping the god's brow. She was removing the dirt and debris to get a clearer assessment of the damage to the god's skin.
"How quickly will he heal?" Thor asked.
The older woman raised her hands and reached into the red silhouette. Threads appeared as she worked inside the body. Loki grunted on the ground below. She paused and looked down at him. The younger woman looked at her and shrugged. She had thus far removed the dirt from his face and the extent of his burns were becoming apparent. The elder woman began working again and immediately Loki made noises of pain.
Odin appeared out of thin air a few feet from them but no one seemed surprised by this. Odin quickly made his way to them.
The elder woman's eyes darted to the king but she didn't say a word. She continued to work the red threads as the younger woman cleaned the rest of the exposed skin.
"Loki pretended to be on his side," Thor told his father. "Like the battle of the Rock Giants."
Odin nodded, unsurprised by this detail
"Pretended," Clint blinked. "You'd think he'd give a little warning."
"He did," Thor told him. "That doesn't sound like me at all. It was what he said in that battle."
"I meant for us," Clint frowned. His bow and arrow was finally put away, but he kept a close eye on the god of mischief.
Natasha shook her head, "It wouldn't have been believable."
Loki made a loud grunt of pain and the elder woman let go of the threads. The younger woman looked up from her bag. She had been putting her supplies away and hadn't even touched the god. The older woman turned to look at Odin and Thor.
"Loki has taken a lot of damage," She began. The younger woman stood next to the elder woman.
"I've seen him have his head chopped off, he will be fine," Thor said dismissively.
Odin turned to look at his older son who blinked as he realized that his father hadn't heard that particular story. He decided to look in a different direction than explain it.
"I am sure that Loki was awake for that particular repair," the woman frowned. "Loki is unconscious. Worse yet, Loki is a strong sorcerer who has built up barriers to magic. He was fighting for his life when he was knocked unconscious and has put in place an extremely strong barrier from other magic."
"To protect himself," Thor shrugged.
"Yes," the woman nodded. "But as a side effect, it does not allow me to heal him easily. He is reacting badly to magic for healing. It might actually be making it worse."
"So leave him be," Thor waved his hand dismissively. "He will heal and be up in no time."
"Alva," Odin said quietly. "Your opinion?"
The woman didn't meet his eye, "Loki cannot heal himself properly while he is unconscious. He is not able to concentrate on the problem areas and instead he heals as a whole." She paused. "If this were any other Asgardian…I would tell you to say your goodbyes."
Thor's face contorted into rage, "This is Loki. He can heal anything. He's regrown bones, been crushed-"
"Leave." Odin's quiet voice cut Thor's rant short. The women merely bowed and quickly left the room.
"Father," Thor turned to look at Odin. "It's Loki. And this was not some enchanted blade, it is regular damage."
"I must get back," Odin frowned. For the first time in years, Thor was able to see the age of his father weighing down on him.
"He will be fine," Thor told his father.
Odin met Thor's gaze and immediately disappeared from view. Thor stood perfectly still as the image of his father's face stayed in his mind. Odin had already began to form tears for his fallen son.
"Okay, let me get this straight," Fury stood in front of the couch. He had bandages around the top of his head and his left arm was in a sling. "Thanos showed up and Loki joined his side."
"Correct," Clint nodded. He was now covered in several band-aids and his hands were wrapped in gauze.
"To which Loki says something that makes Thor realize that he's still on our side but he doesn't tell anyone else," Fury continued.
"Yep," Bruce held a bag of ice against his skull.
"But he was actually just getting the bastard worked up so he would use one of the gems because it was actually a portal?"
"That is correct," Stark was using a screw driver to try to remove the suit off of his hand. It had gotten smashed and now proved quite difficult to remove.
"So, Loki is actually on our side?" Fury sighed.
"Evidently," Natasha frowned at him. She had an arm in a sling as well as a large cut going down the left side of her face. It had scabbed over already. Actually she had healed quite quickly after she was hit by some of the flying debris.
Fury frowned slightly at her words and then looked down the hallway, "And Loki is gravely injured and Thor won't leave his side."
Steve nodded, "the nurse lady basically said to say good-bye." He leaned back into the couch. His uniform was torn in many places and still had his blood splattered on it.
Natasha stared down at her coffee. It had been a day since the battle. Tony was busy making repairs to the tower. It had remained out of the major part of the battle but it did get some crossfire. Fury was busy getting the SHIELD agents in to clean up the city. Thankfully most ships were destroyed midair so there was hardly and debris. But Loki and Thanos had demolished several of the buildings.
Natasha frowned as she thought about the god of mischief. She had seen Odin going into Loki's room. She noticed that he always looked much older when he left the room. Though Natasha had yet to see Thor leave Loki's room, not since he had moved his younger brother in there. Some of the Avengers had gone in there to speak with Thor or to see Loki, but Natasha had yet to venture in there.
"How is he?" Steve asked from next to her. Natasha looked up in surprise and then realized he wasn't talking to her. She looked over to see Thor heading for the fridge.
"He has not awaken," Thor said quietly. He looked down and sighed. "The Valkyries continuously pull at him…he has nearly followed them three times."
Natasha stared down at her coffee. Three times. He has nearly died three times. She blinked and tried not to think about how her heart had sped up and how her head was spinning.
"Who's in there with him now?" Steve asked.
"Father," Thor said quietly. "…he fears that Loki will not pull through."
"What do you think?" Steve asked.
Thor sighed, "I have seen worse damage on him, but never when he was unconscious."
The door slid quietly behind her. Natasha made her way into the room silently. She glanced over to see Thor sitting in a chair next to Loki's bed. He was leaning against his hand and appeared to be asleep. Natasha made her way closer to the bed and paused at the foot.
Loki had the blanket tucked in at his waist, his chest was bare. Burn marks were all over his left arm and part of his face, but had disappeared everywhere else. His head was wrapped in bandages and what hair could be seen looked burned.
Natasha went over to the other side of the bed. She looked down to see Loki's hand was bandaged. It was apparent that some of his fingers were missing.
"Lady Natasha," Thor said softly.
Natasha turned to see the sleepy Thor looking at her. "Still no change?" It had now been two days since Loki had been brought back to this room.
Thor shook his head, "none."
"He doesn't look as bad," Natasha eyed his skin.
"He is healing on the outside," Thor frowned. "He should be concentrating on the inside…Alva said he had many problems inside…"
"Why don't you take a break?" Natasha looked to the weary brother. "I can watch for a while."
Thor's eyes immediately narrowed, "Has Fury asked for you to remove my brother."
Natasha shook her head.
Thor's expression softened as he sighed. He then stood and stretched. "I will bathe and return shortly."
Natasha nodded and watched him leave the room. She sat on the edge of Loki's bed and eyed his damaged hand. She had seen many a person hold onto a loved one's hand as they waited for them to recover. She doubted it would help so she didn't bother.
Natasha entered Loki's room. It had been four days and Loki was barely clinging to life. She immediately was drawn to loud booming voices arguing. Odin and Thor were at it again. From the small bits she had heard the last few days she knew that Thor felt that Odin had given up. She could also tell that Odin was weary and could not bear to see his son in such a manner.
"I must return, Asgard needs its King," Odin told Thor simply.
"Loki needs his father," Thor frowned. "Asgard can wait."
"Asgard has waited," Odin frowned. "It cannot wait forever."
Thor's jaw tightened and Odin looked away. As soon as the Asgardians noticed she was there they moved to their native Norse tongue. Natasha yet again felt the need to learn the language. She made her way to Loki's right side where she had set a chair up the previous day. She knew a few of the Avengers had made their way to see Loki. Even Clint had come to see what had happened to the god, though she felt that was more out of curiosity than actual concern. Natasha noted a can of Red Bull and a bag of cotton candy on the nightstand and smiled; Tony must have visited.
She ignored the loud Norse on the other side of the room and placed her hands next to Loki's. She sighed and looked up to see that the others were not paying attention. She slid her hand closer and wrapped her fingers around Loki's bandaged hand. She looked to him and wished she could tell his dumbass to wake up without bringing attention to herself.
She had been making sure just to visit once a day. Yesterday she had nearly run into Fury as she had exited. He had stopped her and asked a progress report. Nothing was said about her previous antics with the god. This morning she had found a new cell phone on her dresser with a yellow post it note on it with her new password. Though she wasn't sure if it was because Fury believed she was never controlled or because he believed Loki would be dead soon and it didn't matter.
Natasha furrowed her brow and blinked. She could have sworn that Loki's eyes had moved. She frowned and shook it off as him dreaming. She glanced at the two Norse men. Looking back to Loki she noticed that his lashes were fluttering again. She swallowed against the lump in her throat. She looked to Thor and Odin. She wasn't sure if she should say anything. It might be nothing which would just send them further into an argument.
Natasha squeezed his hand and watched as his eyes opened a crack. They were completely unfocused but they were open. She caressed his hand with her thumb and his brow furrowed. He blinked a few times and turned to look at her.
"About time you woke up," Natasha smirked at him. She heard the loud argument immediately stop on the other side of the room.
Loki looked at her completely confused. His eyes moved around him slowly and then fell back on her. "Did we win?"
Natasha nodded.
"Thanos?" Loki asked.
"Thanos is gone."
Loki let out a sigh of relief and his eyes became hooded.
Natasha frowned. She realized he was going back to sleep and she squeezed his hand again. "Loki! Wake Up!"
Loki's eyes darted back open and he blinked as he tried to focus on her.
"You are very injured," Natasha told him. "You need to fix it."
"Injured?" Loki blinked. He was losing consciousness fast. He saw the jagged red mark on her face and raised his hand up to it.
Natasha blinked in surprise at his action and then she felt her face tingle. "Not me!"
Loki frowned in confusion. Who was injured? "Thor?" He looked around and saw his older brother and father looking at him.
Natasha shook her head and grabbed Loki's arm so he'd pay attention. "YOU!"
Loki turned to look at her.
"The healers can't fix you because of your magic. Your ribs are broke, you have something ruptured, and you're missing a few fingers."
Loki blinked and his hand moved from her to his chest. He tried to use his magic to find what was wrong with himself but he was so tired. He sensed an infection where Thanos had jabbed his hand in him and a few ribs poking against his organs making it hard to heal. He focused on moving the ribs.
Natasha watched as Loki writhed in pain as he held his damaged hand over his chest. A few moments later his hand fell to his side and he was deep asleep. She looked over to Thor who quickly made his way to his brother's side.
"He is asleep," Thor frowned. "But I think he has healed himself some."
Odin nodded. He brushed a few hairs out of Loki's face.
Thor looked over to see Natasha's hand holding Loki's. He glanced to his father and noticed that the elder Asgardian did not seem to notice. Thor decided not to comment on it.
Interesting fact: Loki's head has been chopped off in the Marvel universe. And yes, he healed himself. Been looking for an opportunity to throw that in somewhere.
I am not exactly happy what my next two chapters look like at the moment. They need to be fixed completely. So it may take a sec...but I also start my two bi-terms next week-so I am attempting to follow my own self-set deadline.
Yes, there's only two chapters left.