Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

99. I Missed You

"Good morning." Loki's voice is soft. Daphne's eyes flutter open. Based on where his voice came from, she guesses Loki's behind her. He doesn't even surprise her anymore. Daphne takes a slow, deep breath as her thumbs caress each of her fingers, making sure she didn't lose them in the cold. She pulls in her legs to grab her feet and feel her toes and closes her eyes gratefully once she briefly held all ten of them. Loki chuckles. "I bid you a good morning and all you do is tickle your toes." Daphne can't help but laugh quietly and turns around in her familiar Avengers Tower bed. She pulls the blanket slightly further over her body, cherishing the warmth she missed last night. Loki's sitting in a chair next to the bed. He's slumped back in the seat, legs spread in a disinterested, relaxed manner.

"I-" Daphne pauses to clear her throat from not using her voice for a while. "-need those toes for dancing." Loki stretches his back and moves to sit upright properly. He rolls his shoulders and studies her. It makes Daphne feel a little weird. His expression is off-putting. Why is he looking at her like there's something he doesn't understand?
"Aha," is all he replies. Before he can say anything else, he's stopped by Daphne's sudden change in mood. Anxiety overrides her senses and she quickly changes the subject.
"Peter-" Her eyes shoot to the door and she sits upright, throwing the sheets off her. Loki's hands quickly find her shoulders, grounding her instantly.
"Careful, Daphne." He eases her back into the mattress and pulls the covers over her again. She stops him from attending to her further by holding onto his wrist with her cold hand.

"Is he okay?" she whispers. Loki bites his cheek and sighs as he sits down on the bed.
"He will be alright."
"So, he's not okay?" Her voice cracks and Loki can't help but gently push her hair behind her ear.
"Daphne, I need you to be honest with me." Loki clears his throat and Daphne looks up at him with big eyes. She doesn't reply, not knowing what he wants her to say. He then asks a question she didn't expect: "Are you ready?" Daphne blinks a few times, mulling over his question in her head. Did he just ask her...?
"I- I don't know?" She looks away from him, waiting to feel anything that could confirm or deny Loki's statement. "I don't feel different, so I don't think so? Why do you ask?" Loki purses his lips.
"You controlled your energy." Daphne frowns at his words. "You saved Peter."
"What?"
"What happened in that cabin?"

Daphne doesn't hesitate to tell him everything, starting from the moment Peter and Daphne broke up in Central Park until their kiss in the cabin. Loki looked ready to kill when Daphne told him about what David attempted with her. She tells him about how she and Peter sat together in the corner of the cabin, but she suddenly stops and stares ahead.
"Daphne?" She presses her eyes closed. "Are you still with me?" There's a short silence before she speaks again.
"I... I don't remember much."
"Tell me what you do remember." Daphne's eyes flick through the room, as if she's trying to find her memories in the furniture or on the walls.
"We were so cold..." Daphne rubs her feet together under the sheets as she recalls the freezing temperatures they had to endure. "He took off his regulator."
"Which made him heat up." Daphne nods slowly.
"He was in so much pain. I don't think he noticed how he screamed." Daphne speaks softly. She can still hear the gut wrenching sounds that Peter forced out and how she could literally feel his rapid heartbeat against her back. "He-" She pauses and can't hold back her tears. "He refused to let go of me- I- I couldn't make him let go-" She sobs. "Too strong-"

Loki holds one of her hands in his own as he lets her talk.
"I just wanted him to stop hurting. That's all I could think of," she mutters before she sniffs once. She doesn't continue her story, silently letting Loki know that that was all she remembered.
"And then I arrived?" Daphne stares at him, realizing that Loki didn't just appear next to her bed this morning. He was the one that got them out of the cabin.
"I... I don't know anymore," she mumbles honestly.
"We spoke. You ordered me to save the boys first." Daphne doesn't look away from Loki. She's putting in all the effort to recall any sort of conversation with Loki in the cabin. Loki leans in closer. "When I returned you to the tower you were awake, but not... Present." He thinks for a second and raises his eyebrows. "My best guess is that you turned that way because I took Peter away from you while your body was so focused on maintaining his electricity levels."
"Wha- I became a zombie?" Loki chuckles.
"You could call it that." He takes a deep breath and leans back again. "You were constantly internalizing your energy, whilst also stabilizing Peter's. Once I took him away from you, you must have blocked mentally."
"That's why you asked..." Daphne mumbles. Loki nods slightly.
"You did something you should only be able to do when you are ready." Loki purses his lips. "You saved him solely based on determination." Daphne doesn't reply. "You were his regulator."

...

Peter wakes from a knock on his door, but he doesn't move. Everything hurts. With every heartbeat he can feel his blood rush through his body. He would groan if he had the energy for it.
"Come in," he says weakly. He jolts a little when he sees Daphne in the doorstep. Her hair is still wet from the shower she just took. Peter can't move much, but he manages to smile. "Dove," he mumbles gratefully.
"Hey..." She shuffles to his bed and sits down on the floor next to him. "How are you?"
"Moving hurts," he scoffs as he turns to lay on his side so he can face Daphne. She pokes him softly through the sheets.
"Then don't move, you idiot," she chuckles, but her eyes don't smile along. She sighs. "I thought we promised not to scare each other again." Peter closes his eyes, realizing what she means.
"Guess I'm not as good at keeping promises as I think I am," he says softly. His hand slowly appears from under the sheets and he winces slightly. Daphne immediately takes his hand and raises it slightly to press a kiss on his fingers before placing it back on the mattress. She doesn't let go of him and she shakes her head with a half-smile.
"Oh, you're such a hero."
"For you, always," he says quietly. "I got you."

"I did something I'm not supposed to be able to do and it saved your ass back there."
"Hm?" Peter heard her, but he doesn't open his eyes.
"I couldn't get your regulator to work anymore, Pete, you would've died." She gently squeezes his hand. Peter frowns.
"What did you do then?"
"I..." She pauses and studies his face. Once again, she feels inside herself, trying to figure out if she is ready or not. But still, nothing about her seems to confirm it. "I regulated my energy." Peter's eyes open quickly and he stares at Daphne surprised.
"You what?"
"I mean... Loki said that's what I must've done. It's why you fell unconscious. If I didn't knock you out by managing your energy like your regulator would, your heart would've burst." Peter pulls a face at her words and he can tell she didn't like what she said either.
"So," he ponders. "You can control it now?" Daphne immediately shakes her head.
"No- no, I definitely can't. I was only able to because-" Daphne stops herself from continuing the sentence. She didn't want to think of what would've happened if she wasn't able to control his energy. Peter, however, finishes her thought.
"You didn't want me to die..."

Daphne has to fight back the tears as she looks Peter in the eye. She slowly shakes her head and this time Peter squeezes her hand. He pulls a face when he raises his other arm so he can lift the sheets. It hurts.
"What are you-"
"Come in," he says with a kind smile.
"But-"
"I can't keep my arm up much longer, Daph." He lets out a pained chuckle. Daphne swiftly gets in the bed with him and they instinctively wrap their arms around each other, like they did all those other nights. Her head rests on his chest and she closes her eyes as he covers them with his sheets.
"Doesn't this hurt?" She questions. Contrary to her statement, she feels Peter relax under her.
"No," he sighs content, closing his eyes. "This is perfect." They lay there for a little bit. Enjoying each other's presence. Peter's feelings are still less intense, but being here with Daphne, actually having her in his arms again, smelling her pomegranate shampoo and feeling her heartbeat on his chest, makes him feel warm and safe.
"I missed you," Daphne whispers. She clutches Peter a little tighter. His hand caresses his way up her body, making Daphne feel a different kind of heat. Peter's fingers find their way to her hair and he presses a kiss on top of her head.
"I missed you too, dove..."