Chapter Text
The Avenger’s raid of one of the few remaining HYDRA bases had been more or less successful. Upon landing, Tony and Thor busied themselves with destroying their weapons cache while you set off to find their computer system and wipe all the information from it. The rest of the team had dispersed across the compound to plant the explosives needed to fully destroy the base. Everyone except for Loki of course, who volunteered to stay with you to watch your back as you worked.
“There’s no need for you to stay behind,” you protested. “Given how flashy Tony and your brother can be, all available agents are going to be too busy trying to stop them to think about checking their systems.”
“Darling, you know how vulnerable you are when you tap into your abilities. I will not leave you alone like that.”
You reluctantly relented. As much as you resented the idea that you needed protecting, he had a point. While simple tasks, such as overriding familiar door controls could be done instantaneously, worming your way through more protected systems took time. Time that required such intense focus that the outside world completely melted away.
~~~~~
Your part of the job went gone smoothly. The systems had been easy to find and you had been able to wipe it without distraction.
“I told you that I’d be fine,” you teased Loki as you both ran back to the jet.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes tease me all you like, my dear. Forgive me for not wanting to gamble with your life.”
“Ugh, you two do know your comms are on right?” You heard Tony complain in your ear.
“Shut up, like you and Pepper are any better,” you retorted.
All in all, everything had gone off without a hitch… until you tried to leave. Somehow, Thor and Tony’s rampage had left one HYDRA jet intact and the remaining agents were currently trying their damnedest to shoot you out of the sky. Tony, Sam, and the Vision were out flying around the enemy vessel but none of their attacks seemed to be having any effect.
“If anyone has any ideas on how to get rid of this ship tailing us, now would be a good time to speak up!” Tony called out over the comms.
“I think I have and idea. You guys just keep them occupied,” you replied.
“Whatever it is you’re planning, you better do it quick!”
If anyone said anything after that, you didn’t know. Your eyes glowed a bright gold as you reached out to the enemy ship’s systems. As soon as you made contact however, you knew this was a mistake. You were already fairly spent from hacking the system back at the base and you didn’t have the energy left to do much to the ship. However you had already made contact so you decided to at least try something. Reprogramming the current protocols would be too much work. But you decided that sending the entire system into a reboot would be just as effective and much easier. Given that the ship seemed to completely rely on its internal computer, shutting off the system would likely send it plummeting.
You wormed your way through the system frantically. You could feel yourself getting more tired by the second. By the time you found what you were looking for, you were barely able to maintain the connection. However, just as you felt your hold begin to give out, you managed to initiate the protocol.
Your surroundings suddenly slammed back into focus, but not for long. You felt what was probably blood trickle out your nose and heard the sound of someone shouting your name as the world seemed to pitch to the side and everything went black.
~~~~~
You awoke to a pounding headache and the sound of people arguing.
“I don’t care how you do it just get us back now!”
“Loki, calm down, she’s going to be fine,” you heard someone calmly reply. It sounded like Steve.
“I will not calm down! She started bleeding and then passed out!”
You groaned softly as you took stock of your surroundings. You were sitting upright, with someone’s arms wrapped around your waist and legs to hold you in place on their lap and your face was pressed up against what you assumed to be the person’s neck. “Darling?” you heard Loki ask tentatively, all traces of his previous anger gone from his voice. The arm around your legs moved and you felt cold fingers brush against your face as you pulled away and opened your eyes.
“Did we lose them?” you croaked.
“Yeah we did,” Steve chuckled. “Nice work kid.”
Loki glared at the super soldier seated across from you. “Nice work?! She almost died!”
“What that?” you scoffed weakly, waving your hand. “That was nothing. You should have seen when I went up against Ultron.”
The arm around your waist tightened as Loki stiffened. “What.”
You froze. In retrospect, you probably shouldn’t have mentioned that. Ah well, too late to take it back, and you knew Loki would keep pressing the matter until you told him. “Well long story short, Tony created some AI named Ultron, it went rogue and wanted to destroy humanity. I thought, hey this thing’s technological, maybe I can stop it. So I tried to hack it and I woke up in a hospital bed three days later. Missed the whole thing.” You didn’t think it was possible but somehow Loki managed to look even paler than normal.
Suddenly you were puled into a bone crushing hug that stole the breath from your lungs. “Loki,” you wheezed. “Can’t breathe…” His grip loosened slightly. Now that you could actually maneuver your arms you wrapped them around him to return the hug. “Hey now, I’m fine see?” you whispered, reassuring him.
It took a while, but he finally relaxed a bit. He pulled back slightly to look you in the eyes. “Please just promise me that you won’t try something reckless like that again.” He softly pleaded.
You hesitated before answering. “I can’t promise that if it means I have to stand idly by while the people I care about are in danger.” Loki looked like he was going to argue but you continued. “But I’ll try to be more careful in the future.” Your words seemed to appease him, as he didn’t press the matter further. It was at that point that you realized that you were still sitting on his lap. “Now may I get back to my seat?” You asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not sure if you noticed but we’re not exactly alone right now.”
“I know,” Loki replied, smirking mischievously. Any hint of the vulnerability he had unwittingly showed moments before was gone without a trace. “I, however, quite like the arrangement we have going on here.” You blushed as his arms tightened around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest once more.
You heard Steve cough lightly.
“They’re being gross again, aren’t they?” Tony asked over the comms. “Come on you two, save it for when we get back.”
You buried your burning face in Loki’s neck as he chuckled. They were never going to let you hear the end of this.