Energy - Loki x Reader

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You wake up peacefully for the first time in months. Your back isn't pressed against some cold, rigid metal bed frame, and whilst you're a bit sore, you know you're safe. You're trying to break through the fog that's clouding your memory, but the last thing you remember is being hooked up to the extraction machine. You reckon that's probably a good thing, because you can imagine how painful it was. Blinking away the remnants of sleep, you open your eyes to see most of the group in your room. Peter and Thor are in the corner watching TV; Bruce is scribbling something down at your desk; and Wanda, Nat, Clint and Loki are sat around your bed - either reading or chatting. Loki's sat in the chair closest to your pillow, holding a book in one hand and holding your hand in the other. You smile. 'I missed you guys.' Your voice is gravelly but loud enough for them to hear it.

They all sit up and move closer to you, it's a little claustrophobic, but you don't mind too much. 'Hey, Love.' Loki's voice is gentle, concerned. You squeeze his hand to let him know you're ok, and turn to your dad.

'Hi Honey. How are you feeling?' He asks.

You lean your head back exasperatedly. 'Like I drank bleach.' You don't want to dwell too much on the pain, so you ask, 'Did you get the rest of the infinity stone back?'

'What do you mean the rest of the infinity stone?' Loki shifts in his seat, looking between the four of you.

A pit of dread forms in your stomach. 'Thanos told me I was an infinity stone. He was extracting it-' You sit up to mask the flinch that follows. Loki noticed.

Overhearing your conversation, Bruce drops his pen and walks over to your bed. He also looks dreadful. 'That's what he was doing to you? Taking your powers?'

'What did you think he was doing? Pulling my teeth? That's the only thing he wanted me for!' You feel your voice starting to raise so you put your head in your hands. 'Tell me you got them.' You beg.

They all look between each other. You groan to hide the panic rising in a memory comes back to you of the extraction. When you were thinking of your family being torn in half. Loki seems to be too distracted to say anything, his eyes are fixed on the doorway and his expression is unyielding of any emotion. Wanda's there though, and she knows you well enough to notice the anxiety bubbling up, so she leans forward and puts her hand on your right arm, the one Loki's not holding. 'Hey, listen. He can't have finished or you wouldn't be here, so he can't use them if he doesn't have the full stone. And we still have the Tesseract. We've still got a chance.'

Loki's head drops and he snatches his hand out of yours. 'Loki, what's wrong?' You ask.He plasters a forced smile on his face and looks up at you. 'Nothing, Love. Can you excuse me for a moment?' He doesn't wait for an answer, he just walks straight out silently and quickly, and you all stare at him, dumbfounded.

Clint notices your hurt expression. He sits in Loki's seat and takes your hand. 'Hey. Everything's going to be alright. Just rest, ok?' Come to think of it, your eyes do feel like they're beginning to droop, so you nod. Nat squeezes your leg as she leaves with Bruce and Wanda. Clint places a kiss on your forehead and follows them out, switching your light off. You're asleep before the door shuts.

—

A week later, you've spent most of your time in bed with Loki or catching up with Clint, telling him stories about various missions you've done. He's not all that impressed with the Avengers for putting you in danger, but he's grateful that they helped you. Loki hasn't spoken to you about what was up with him when he walked out, and you haven't wanted to ask. He got over what ever it was though, happily spending all day in bed and getting you breakfast. You've tried to argue that you can get food yourself, but he told you if you could walk to the door he'd let you get it yourself. Needless to say, he's been getting your food since.

There's an episode of friends on, the one where Rachel teaches Ben pranks, but you're enjoying Loki's reactions more than the actual show. He loves it. You giggle when Rachel screams thinking Ross has been pushed downstairs. 'See, Jennifer Aniston didn't know they were going to do that, so that was her real reaction.'

He laughs a real, hearty laugh, it makes you feel warm all over to hear him laugh like that. 'I like this show. We should have it on Asgard.' You laugh with him, but it turns into a coughing fit. Loki's smile drops and he grabs a glass of water by your bedside, helping you sit up and passing it to you. 'Here, drink.' He instructs.

You take a few sips and stare at the rim of the glass. 'I'm sorry, Loki,' You croak. He strokes your hair out of your face, tucking it behind your ear. 'What's to be sorry for? You're just adjusting to the change.' He smiles reassuringly at you, but you can't bring yourself to smile back

When the credits roll up on the screen, Bruce and Clint enter, Bruce holding a tray of empty coke cans. You put the glass back on your bedside table and Loki rolls his eyes. Every day, Bruce has been testing your powers and monitoring the progress. You don't mind, but it gets frustrating seeing no progress. It's been a week, and you can still only crush two with your powers. You manage to muster a smile for them, even if you couldn't a few seconds ago. It was easier to show your real emotions in front of Loki, but you couldn't in front of your dad. He'd blame himself.

Loki scoffs. 'Do we have to do this now?' He complains, referring to your current condition.

Not wanting your dad to worry, you hold up a hand to Loki and say, 'No, it's ok. I can do it.'

Bruce comes closer to you. You think he's a little scared of Loki, because he always looks at him like he's asking for permission. As soon as Loki rolled his eyes Bruce stopped in the doorway, not wanting to aggravate him. 'As usual, just do as many as you can, no pressure.' You like scientist Bruce. He's comforting. It's almost as if when Bruce is doing calculations, all his anxieties disappear, and he's not worried what other's are thinking and he'll give it to you straight. When he's doing work, it's just him, the problem, and the solution. There's no funny business with scientist Bruce.

Deep breath. Eyes closed. Focus. You hone your senses and feel the energy around the coke can, how it hums and how it paints a picture of the outline. You bend that outline, shaping it how you want and deforming its edges. When you open your eyes, the can's crushed. Bruce looks pleased, but none of them are impressed, they've seen you wipe out an army of aliens in one fell swoop (except for Clint, but he's seen you flatten all the trees in the forest behind your house because you had a temper tantrum when you were 3).

'Try another one.' Bruce moves another can to the centre of the tree. You repeat the same process: Deep breath, eyes closed, focus, feel the energy, bend it. When you open your eyes though, the can is still a perfect cylinder, and you're out of breath. Your face droops, and a lump forms in your throat.

Clint strokes your arm. 'Hey, that's ok. Take a breath. Try again.'

You frown, mad at the coke cans now. You try to bend it, crack it, throw it, anything, but you can't even sense it. 'I'm sorry, guys. It's not happening.'

Loki senses that you're fed up and places a kiss on your forehead. 'Don't worry about it, Love.' He sends a look of daggers towards Bruce, indicating that he should get out. Even scientist Bruce has to listen to that look. It's scary. They both leave, Clint giving you a forlorn look, but you don't see it, because you're already asleep before they've even gotten off the bed.