Collection of One-Shots

》soft heart, cruel world

Tony watched as his daughter looked into the observation room from the medical bay window, she had returned nearly daily to look in at the room's occupant. They had called him many names, a criminal, a monster, a bastard, heartless. Every time such a name was thrown around she felt her heart clench and minutes later she would leave, if only to sit and look into the white washed medical room.

His skin was pale and over the course of a month he had only grown paler, his cheeks had begun to sink in, the circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever, but the most unsettling thing about the god's appearance was the fact that his lips had been sewn shut, the black threads still had dried blood around each puncture. They kept him alive, but barely, the minimum of pain medicine was administered, the steady drip of water and nutrients were the minimum as well, she knew that it was not nearly enough to sustain a god. His hands were still encased with casts, the plaster mold they intended not necessarily to heal the broken and shattered bones, but more so to cover the grisly wounds. She hoped that Thor would return, she asked Heimdall for his brother to return to him, to make S.H.I.E.L.D. realize that this treatment would do nothing but cause the hatred to grow.

The room today was empty, as it usually was. Only on rare occasions were there ever people within the room, if so it was medical professionals who were trying to complete the task at hand and be away from the god that destroyed half of Manhattan. Kari watched him, as was becoming a habit, but today something was different. His brows were furrowed, what skin she could see was tensed in fear and pain and without much thought behind her actions she rushed into the room, unaware as to how to really help him.

She frowned as she neared him, he had the ability to be handsome, that much she could easily see, but he looked like death, his skin too drained of color even for him and the contrast between the white of the room and his skin only made his black hair look darker. The stench surrounding the god did not go unnoticed either, it did not take long for Kari to realize that in the weeks since his arrival they had not bathed him. The young Stark stood beside, looking down at the god that her father had cursed, the same god that Tony wanted to kill if he could.

"Shhh," her voice was quiet, but the cameras and audio bugs planted in the room could pick up the disturbance with ease, JARVIS was already alerting Tony and the others that Kari was within his room. "Loki, if you can hear me, I...I just want to tell that I wish I could help. Not even you deserve this kind of treatment," she rested her small hand over his chest, the panicked beat of his heart thudded beneath her palm, in sync with the beeping of the heart monitor, but after a moment of her touch he began to calm, the tension fading from his body.

"Kari, get away from him!" Tony snapped, anger coursing through him. He could not, and would not allow his own daughter to be any near the war criminal if there was not a barrier between the two.

"He's hurt! He's been in a medical induced comatose for a month, he can't hurt me." She didn't move, she couldn't, not now, they would only find way to inflict more pain upon the damaged god believing that he had found a way to enchant the daughter of Stark. Vehemently she shook her head. "Just let me stay for a few more minutes. Please." Tony knew that she would not be convinced to leave otherwise, she was stubborn, she was headstrong and determined. She was a Stark. But he also knew that she could defend herself if it came to that, so with a few more set terms he left and Kari remained.

When she was sure Tony and the others had cleared the floor she silently retrieved a damp rag, and carefully rubbed away the dried blood from around his thin lips. He flinched and it made her heart jump, but after another moment she resumed wiping blood away from his face. When she turned to dispose of the used rag it was impossible to see green eyes flash open and follow her movements, though when she returned he appeared to be at ease, still in a coma. "I'll come back soon, Loki."