Come back to me (Loki x reader)

Gauntlet

The next hour or so was spent in near silence down by the lake.

No one could seem to be able to actually comprehend that Nat was dead, that she was gone and wasn't coming back – despite the fact that Clint had described what had happened so vividly you'd almost been able to picture it. It was so like Nat, fighting her best friend not for the chance to live, but for the chance to die to save them.

Everyone had told their story of what had happened to them and how they had got hold of each Infinity Stone; you'd barely been able to voice the part where you had left Loki alone on Thanos' ship, without the tesseract. Everyone was sympathetic towards you, but you knew the main cause of grief here today was nothing to do with you or Loki – you had had your time to grieve five years ago. Five years he had been dead... and yet you'd just seen him, hell you'd even touched him, not two hours ago. Surely there was a way to undo what had happened. But you had more pressing matters to attend to.

Your thoughts were interrupted as Bruce gave a sudden outraged roar and sent a bench flying across the lake into the trees beyond. It seemed to shatter the heavy silence that had been sat over you all.

"Right, come on, no point sitting around waiting for something to happen." Tony said briskly, standing up. He had been literally the quietest you'd ever heard him the last couple of hours; you prayed that was about to change. You couldn't stand it.

Steve gave you a watery smile as you stood and offered him a hand to join you – it was awful seeing the strongest people you knew so tired and weak; it made you want to curl up into a small ball and give up. But you had the Infinity Stones, and a chance to bring back everyone who had been lost to the snap; there was no way in hell you were going to give up now.

Back up at the Avengers compound, Tony had crafted a new gauntlet which now held the six stones, and a very large question.

"Who's going to do it?"

Steve's question hung heavy in the air as you all stood around the new gauntlet in Tony's lab. For a while, no one said anything. But then...

"I will. It has to be me. I'm the only one strong enough to take it." Bruce announced.

There was an outburst of protest, but he waved the objections away stubbornly.

"It would kill any of you." He said sadly, and moved to pick the gauntlet up. No one tried to stop him – recognizing the determination in his voice. Instead you all moved back and shielded yourselves from what might be about to happen. Tony produced two shields, one for you and one for Clint, and you gave him a grateful but worried smile.

The gauntlet expanded to fit Bruce's massive hand, and he yelled in pain as soon as it was fully on. You could hardly bear to watch as he dropped to his knees, roaring and obviously in complete agony, and you knew the others felt the same.

"Someone get it off of him!"

"No, wait! Leave him!"

Half in awe of Bruce's strength, half in complete terror, you watched as he managed to bring his fingers together painstakingly slowly... and snapped.

There was no flash of light, no burst of power or energy... nothing happened.

Bruce collapsed to the floor, shaking and literally smoking. Everyone instantly surrounded him; Clint yanked the gauntlet off of his hand and kicked it across the room, and Tony blasted Bruce's arm with cool water from his suit.

"M okay, fine, yeah." Bruce mumbled in response to everyone's frenzied questions.

"Did it work?"