Healing Each Other (Loki Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

"Eliza, Natasha's down! Can you get over there?" Despite being in battle with terrorists, I roll my eyes at Steve's request.

"Nat, just because I can heal doesn't mean you can be reckless," I say. She's been shot twice already in the last hour alone.

"Shut up Eliza, are you coming or not?" She snaps. I find her on the ground in an abandoned hallway, sheet white.

"Yes, I am. Do you have a please for me?"

"I have a word for you and it isn't please." I laugh, but I still heal her, so it isn't as mean. I've been on a few missions, and she's managed to get injured every single one. "Left leg, down low." I bend down.

"I hope it's a nice word, or Steve won't appreciate it very much."

"For goodness sake, will you ever let it go?" Steve's irritated voice rings out on my earpiece.

"Nope. Are we getting out anytime soon, Steven?" I ask innocently, helping Nat up. In the distance, I hear the roar of bullets and a few faint screams.

"Yeah. Head outside, Clint has the jet. Everyone involved with this base is either dead or captured." I try not to think of the man I shot running down the hallway to find Wanda earlier. I agreed to be an Avenger if my primary purpose was healing, not destroying. We move quietly, just in case, but I don't run into anyone.

We're the last two on the jet. Clint surprises me and hugs me before Natasha, something I never would have imagined. During the last few weeks of me working as Sol, he's almost adopted me, which I absolutely love. He says he's going to take me to meet his kids someday soon. I can't wait.

"All right, are we ready?" He asks, taking a seat in the pilot's seat. Nat sits next to him, and we slowly lift into the sky. I notice Vision has his arm around a shaking Wanda, who seems to be having an emotional breakdown. I sit in between Steve and Tony.

"What happened?" I whisper, nodding to the pair. "Is she okay?"

Steve sighs, a mix of tired and sorrowful. "I was with her, trying to rescue captives of HYDRA. She saw a little boy today. This skinny blond thing, but he was laughing and acting like nothing was wrong." I understand what he's implying: she's reminded of Pietro. I've gotten to know Wanda better recently, and while she's this beautiful person, full of empathy and wisdom, she's damaged. Hurt by what she's done, and what she wasn't able to do. I walk over and kneel in front of her.

"Wanda?" I say this softly, using the same voice I use when I help people. Loki calls it my healing voice, which is apparently not the voice I use when I tease him.

"Miss Banner, I'm not sure if now-" I know Vision means well, but so do I.

"Please, just trust me. I know what I'm doing. Wan, can I have your hands?"

She speaks slowly, voice tinged with Russian twang. "Eliza, I'm not injured. You can't help me right now. I'm sorry."

"Please. Just trust me." She bites her lip, dark eyes finding mine. Tears threaten to spill over as she nods and holds out her hands. I take them, grip them tightly, and close my eyes.

The golden light comes almost instantly, swirling around my mind. Taking a deep breath to fully calm myself, I tell it to go. Go help her. I open my eyes, and tranquility floods throughout Wanda. She looks surprised but smiles gratefully. I smile too until her anxiety and suffering flows into me. I get up and move to the other end of the Quinjet, squeezing my eyes shut tightly and hugging myself. She doesn't need to know I took her suffering so she could be free. I knew this would happen. I made the choice to trade emotions with her, knowing full well that I would receive hers in return. I've done it with Loki before, removing small amounts of fear or hurt, but never with something this big. It feels suffocating. Wanda's pain is worse than when my parents died or Bruce left. I've never experienced anything like it. I can't breathe. It's like inhaling ice, sharp shards of ice. Others are talking to me but I barely hear them.