Incomplete (Loki x Reader)

twelve

•••

Everyone was silenced upon receiving that news. I look at Steve. His mouth hangs open, as he's frozen in shock. Then my eyes shift to Tony, standing a mere foot away from Steve. I walk towards them and stand in between, knowing what this new information may lead to. I grab Steve's hand and put my other hand on his cheek, making him look at me. As he finally unfreezes, he closes his mouth. Looking at me, his eyes well up with tears. He opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, speechless.

"Hey. It's okay. We'll him back. Trust me." Steve nods, closing his eyes. I pull him into a hug, trying to comfort him as much as I can. When I pull away, his eyes are still closed, so I squeeze his hand. I turn to see the others as well, but avoid Tony's glare. "We are going to get them back. All three."

•••

After spending hours in the lab, trying to come up with a plan, we finally agreed to revisit this... crisis... tomorrow. I walk down the hall and to the elevator. I sigh and stand in there. My thoughts wander, and the weight of stress finally drowns me. All of my emotions overpower my strength. I know what's coming and try to stop it, even though I know I can't. I slide down the wall of the elevator to the floor. I'm having a panic attack, and before I know it, I can't breathe. I lay on the bottom of the elevator in fetal position.

"Someone will be coming shortly, Ms Banner. Please try to stay as calm as you can." Friday instructs, though I barely hear it. Through my blurry vision and the tears, I think I see the elevator door open. Clint and Nat rush in. They try to calm me down, but I can barely hear or see them, so it doesn't work. I feel Clint pick me up and carry me somewhere. They set me down somewhere soft, and the other person in the room steps in front of me. He says something, but I don't know what. Clint and Nat leave. After a while, whatever the man in front of me is doing starts to calm me down.

"Can't breathe." I choke out. He holds a brown paper bag over my mouth and nose. I breathe into it, clutching his hand. Slowly, my breathing starts to stabilize. I grab the bag and continue to breathe into it, while the person sits behind me. He puts his arms around and I lean back into him. He rocks us side to side gently. When I think I'm fine, I put down the bag. I realize the man is Tony.

"Thank you." I say softly.

"Why didn't you come to me before? If you're feeling like this, we could've talked, avoided this entirely." His voice is laced with concern, but I still tense, and I stop rocking.

"I think you know why Tony." He sighs and moves away from me. He sits on the floor in front of me, and grabs my hands. I look away from him.

"I'm sorry." He clears his throat. "Please look at me, Y/n." I close my eyes, trying to stop the tears, and shake my head. "I know I hurt you with what I said, and I've been an ass lately, but I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel like you can't come to me or talk to me. You're one of my best friends and I want you to be safe. What if that happened during a fight? Do you know easy it would be for someone to kill you or hurt you? Do you understand how we would feel? How I would feel?" I hesitate, but look at him. His eyes are filled with tears, just like mine.

"I agree." He looks confused, so I clarify. "That you're an ass." I smile half heartedly, then pull him into a hug. He hugs back tightly.

"I'm sorry I'm such as ass." He laughs quietly. "I have a question for you. I don't know if I should ask you, especially right now, but I don't know who else to ask." He pulls away and looks at me hesitantly. I raise my eyebrows, signalling him to continue. He clears his throat. "Can we be friends again?" He asks. I smile, and hug him again.

"Of course, Tony. Just be better to Peter. He already lost his parents and uncle. Now he lost May too. He can't lose you too. He needs you, whether you realize it or not. You know how he must be feeling, so just try to be there for him."

"I promise I'll try." He says, hugging me tighter.

•••

"What I don't understand is how they're back. Or how they have Bucky again." I say, pacing the floor of the conference room.

"I released all of Shield and Hydra's secrets to the internet." Natasha adds.

"Exactly, and even if they are back, why would they go after Bucky? That's like the most obvious thing, and they should know that." Sam says.

"Unless they want us to go after them." All eyes turn to me. "Well think about it. They just happened to take the kids I was talking to when I was talking to them. After I was knocked out, they didn't kill me, take me, hurt me in anyway. They want us to go after them." I explain.

"Well, we can't just not go." Clint says.

"I know. We have to get those kids away from Hydra. And we have to get Bucky too." I look at Steve to find him staring out into space, wringing his hands together. I walk towards him and stand behind his chair, my hand on his shoulder. "We will get them back." I say firmly, looking at all of the others. "We can talk more about this later. Everyone needs dinner. And sleep." Everyone except Steve nods or mumbles their agreement, then leaves. I sit on the table in front of Steve, my feet dangling slightly above the floor. "Steve." I grab his hands and pull them apart, then hold them. "We will get them back. We will get Bucky back." He looks at me.

"I know. I trust you." He tries to force a smile but stops, knowing I can see right through it.

"Whenever and however this happens, I'll come with you to get Bucky back. Even if something happens to me."

"That won't happen."

"He's your best friend, he's more important." I look down at our intertwined hands. He lets go of my one of my hand, and uses his free hand to make me look at him.

"You're my best friend too. You're just as important." He grabs my hand again. "I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself. I don't want to lose one friend to get the other back. I mean it. Bucky's my best friend. But so are you. And so many people rely on you. Loki, Peter, Bruce, these kids. You also hold this team together. You are why we're back together after the Accords ripped us apart." He stands up. "And I mean it when I say I'm here with you. To the end of the line." I stand up too, and hug him.

"End of the line." I pull away and chuckle sadly. "I wonder how Bucky's gonna feel when he hears that."

"He'll feel the same way." He smiles. "Hopefully. If not, he'll at least understand. And I'm sure of that."

•••