In The Shadows | Loki

SHE'S DEAD

Clint~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        "Clint?Clint! What just happened?" I watch the Hulk soar to another building.
        "Ophelia's down." I say quietly.
        "What?"  Nat asks, sounding horrified. "What do you mean-"
        "If she's not dead, I'll be surprised. She was fighting the Chitari. She got a spear through the stomach and then was thrown through a window." I cut her off. "She's down Nat." The line is silent for a few moments, and I put a couple of arrows through some Chitari heads.
        "We've still got work to do. This is a war. We can't let this slow us down." Steve finally speaks, breaking the silence.
        "Easy for you to say Cap. You barely knew her." Nat says, her voice harsh. The line goes silent just in time for me to run out of arrows. A few Chitari land nearby, and I make a split second decision. I snatch one of my arrows out of the fallen Chitari, running for the edge of the building. I leap over the side, twisting around mid-air. I fire the arrow, now equipped with one of the specialty arrow heads.
        A cable shoots out, and I hold on as I swing in through a window. I land in the glass, and pain ricochets through my body. I let out a groan, slowly turning. It takes me a few minutes to get back on my feet, ignoring the pain. It takes me longer than I like to get out of the building and back onto the streets.
        I hit the street just in time to watch Tony Throw the nuke he had been talking about into the portal. With himself still holding on. He doesn't reappear, and I let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through my hair, We had just lost Ophelia, and now we were losing Tony.
        "Come on Stark..." I hear Nat trail off. Nothing happens.
        "Close it." Steve says, voice heavy. For a moment, I don't see anything happen. Then the power stream to the portal stops, and it begins to close. I watch for a moment, not wanting to see Tony lost in the void.
        And then he falls back through.
        "Son of a gun." I hear Steve mutter.
        "He's not slowing down." I hear Thor reply. I start sprinting towards the tower, having to avoid debris and pieces of the broken city.  I glance up as The Hulk snatches Tony out of the air, using the side of a building to slow himself down.
        It's only as I'm coming up on them do I hear the Hulk roar, and see Tony move. I walk up to the group just as Steve leans back, resting slightly. We all looked terrible if I was being honest.
        "You ready for this Barton?" Steve looks at me, motioning towards the tower.
        "Nope." I reply. Thor helps Tony to his feet, and Tony takes the rest of his broken helmet off.
        "I really hope an elevator is working." Tony mutters under his breath. It's a strange thing, the five of us walking towards the tower. Hulk just jumps up, practically scaling Stark Tower. I hear Tony  mutter something about even more window repair. I chuckle.
        "Clint?" Nat's voice comes through the earpiece.
        "I'm here."
        "I walked in the room and I-" She stops. "I saw her. She's in the same room as Loki." I curse under my breath. I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to see her body like that. "It's not pretty."
        "She got impaled. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be." Tony says bluntly. I knew he was just as tired as the rest of us. It didn't give him an excuse though.
        "Stark, I will still put  an arrow through your skull." I say quietly, not even turning to look at him. The elevator dings as it opens onto the main floor, and the first thing we see is the destruction.
        Then I see the pile  of rubble Ophelia was laying in. The large pool of blood she was in. Her eyes were shut, and her limbs were splayed every which way. Her head tough, was turned to face Loki.
        Loki, who was struggling to sit up, pulling himself up the small stair. Struggling to get closer to Ophelia. 
        I walk forward, quickly knocking an arrow and pulling it, ready to send it through his skull.I hear everyone else assemble behind me. Nat is holding the scepter, and it almost looks more deadly in her hands than it did in Loki's. He slowly turns, leaning back against the step as he took all of us in. It gave me an almost smug satisfaction to see how battered up he looked.
        "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." He says. I pull back, making the string grow even tighter. 
        "She's dead because of you. Give me a reason not to put this through your eye." I reply, voice cold. Loki's eyes trail over to Ophelia's body.
        "She's not dead." He says simply.
        "I'm sorry, you may have been impaled like that and survived, but we're human. She's dead." There's a long moment where Loki just narrows his eyes, still staring at Ophelia. 
        "I can still feel her life force." He says, turning to Thor abruptly. 
        "Loki, now is not the time to joke."
        "I'm not." His voice goes cold. Thor hesitates.
        "Your eyes." He murmurs. "She was right, wasn't she." It isn't a question. Thor moves quickly, going over by Ophelia. None of the rest of us move.
        "I'm sorry to break it to you Thor, but your brother is a manipulator. She's dead."
        "'M not..... dead..... yet....." the words come out slowly and heavily slurred, startling everyone. We all turn. Ophelia's eyes are open, and there's a fresh drop of blood trailing down her cheek, out of her mouth. "'M.... feeling..... better....." Her entire body shakes as she starts to cough up blood.
        "Ophelia." I almost drop my bow in my hurry to get to her. Nearly all of us sprint over.
        "You try to run, you die." Nat tells Loki. He gives her a long look. 
        "What the hell.....?" I hear Tony whisper. We all saw it. Her skin was slowly knitting itself back together. Almost too slowly. Ophelia tries to smirk, but it doesn't come out.
        "I met.... Wolverine....." She says slowly, coughing harshly between every word. "Got.... healing.... factor....." She's shaking violently, and even I could tell she was too pale. "It's..... slow...."
        "Don't speak." Nat murmurs, moving to cradle her head. The blood wasn't phasing her.
        "She's bleeding out." Tony says quietly. 
        "Help....ful......" 
        "Really? You're choosing now to be sarcastic?" I ask, glancing around the room, looking for something, anything that might help. I hear movement behind me, and I look to see Loki sitting closer than he had been before, watching closely. Nat doesn't miss the movement either, and I know that Thor is watching Loki curiously.
         Ophelia's breathing grows more ragged, and her eyelids drop ever so slightly. "It....... really.......hurts......" her voice is quiet. Too quiet.
         "C'mon, you gotta stay awake." I say, voice cracking. "You're really going to let some psycho alien be the end of you?" The corner of her mouth twitches ever so slightly.
          A pale hand reaches towards her beside me, but I don't notice it until it grabs Ophelia. Everyone moves quickly. Loki yanks Ophelia's towards him, and Nat and I instantly move to fight. "Wait." Thor stops us.
          "Thor, I'm going to put a bullet though your brother's...... Nat trails off. All of us are watching carefully.
          Loki kneels next to Ophelia, putting her head in his lap. He ignores the blood seeping into his clothes as he leans over her, murmuring something into her ear. Ophelia's eyes go wide, and she let she out a choked noise, looking like she was in even more pain. The hand holding her upper arm starts to leak green mist, and it travels down to her wound.
           There's a loud crack, and Ophelia's back suddenly arches. She lets out a scream, but Loki hold she her in place by her arm. I hear the click of a gun as Nat levels it towards Loki. Thor puts a hand on her arm, forci it down. "He's healing her." He says quietly.
           "That was her spine being fixed." Banner says from behind me. I barely spare him a glance. He must've changed back, and there was a blanket over him, keeping him clothed as he stood there. 
            Loki didn't acknowledge anything. He either didn't hear, or just didn't care.
           He doesn't stop whispering whatever he was saying into her ear, and Ophelia doesn't stop screaming. There are tears dripping down her face as her muscles are pulled back together, as her organs are made whole again. There is more popping as her lower ribs are repaired.
           She doesn't stop screaming until the last of her skin heals, and the green mist slowly evaporates. She's breathing heavily as Loki finishes whatever he's saying and releases her arm. Ophelia stares at him as he slowly glances at us. He doesn't move her head out of his lap, and I'm quick to notice the drop of blood trailing out of his nose.
            "She saved me from a lifetime of servitude under Thanos." Thor stiffens at the name. Loki looks down at Ophelia. "Consider the life debt paid." Both of their chests are heaving. "And at least now I know."
            "Know what?" She asks. He smirks.
            "You do have my powers." She groans.
            "I hate you."