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Working for the Avengers, you would think that you would have some sort of self defense knowledge hidden in the recess of your mind. Being Tony Stark’s executive assistant for a little over 2 years, you had seen enough scuffles between the avengers to pick up a thing or two, but when push came to shove, being in the heat of battle is different than watching Thor chuck Tony over the couch due to a missing hot pocket.
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Friday nights were “movie nights” in Avengers tower much to Loki’s chagrin. Secretly, you knew he enjoyed them from the way his lips would quirk up at the humor or the gentle huffs he would let out in the more depressing moments. Not that you were watching him instead of the movie…even if you totally were.
Tonight’s movie was “Breakfast at Tiffanys”, a surprising pick from Nat, and although you wanted to stay you had a mountain of laundry to do at home and a very busy weekend of errands. You bade everyone a quick farewell (maybe hugging Loki a bit longer than necessary), strapped on your trusty Iron Man fanny pack that Tony has given to you as a gag gift that you secretly adore, and you were on your way.
One mile. That was how far you lived from the tower and it was perfect for you. On nice nights like tonight you would walk home enjoying the sounds of the city around you. Sometimes you would pop in your headphones and listen to your true crime podcast, but tonight the city was calm and you wanted to soak in the ambient sounds.
A half mile. A half mile from home is when everything went wrong. Strolling along you passed a familiar dark alley. The only one with a broken lamplight. It used to give you the heeby jeebies when you first started your nightly strolls, but after years of walking past it almost every night, you barely noticed it anymore.
One stupid step. One step you took to cross the dark threshold when a hand whipped out of the darkness closing around your throat in a vice grip. Before you could even grab the arm you were slammed against a wall, the breath leaving you in a choked gasp.
“GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!” The man hissed out. He was shrouded in darkness, his breath smelling of cigarette smoke and dark eyes glinting in the moonlight. You tried to grab at his hand again, but his other fist slammed into your head and he used the momentum to chuck you onto the ground, glass or some sort of debris slicing open your right arm. With fumbling fingers you quickly unclasped your fanny pack and hurled it at the man, gasping for air. Without a second glance he scooped up your pack and sprinted out of the alleyway.
For a brief moment, time stood still. The sounds of the city fell away and the only sounds around you were your own gasping breaths and what sounded like the drip drop of blood rolling off your arm. You knew, realistically, once you caught your breath you should find a police officer nearby, but in your panicked haze, all you wanted was to get back to the tower where you knew you would be safe. Slowly you rose to your feet, feeling the already forming bruises all over your body. You clutched your bleeding arm to your chest and after a few stumbling steps, your adrenaline pounding into you, you were full out sprinting to the tower.
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The place was deserted when you hobbled through the front door. Going up to the security entrance you reached for your access card…only to meet the empty space where your fanny pack used to sit. With a strangled sob you called out to FRIDAY.
“Yes, Miss (Y/N)?” the voice boomed over the speakers.
“I don’t have my access card, can you please let me in?” you cried out, feeling the sobs beginning to grow.
“That is not protocol, Miss (Y/N).”
“Please just fucking let me in FRIDAY!” you screamed, immediately regretting it as pain shot through your bruised throat. There was a brief moment of silence before the doors in front of you dinged open.
“I have made a one time exception as it looks as though you are injured,” FRIDAY pinged, as you entered the elevator, “Should I let Mr. Stark know?”
“No FRIDAY, please just take me to the Avengers Common Room,” you whispered, feeling your body begin to shake as the adrenaline wore off.
The doors to the room swung open and you could hear the sounds of the team babbling to your right.
“Wait, does she not actually eat inside Tiffany’s? Why is this called Breakfast at Tiffany’s then?” Tony’s voice floated towards the elevator as you stumbled in. The first person your eyes landed on was Loki, who was standing at the counter with Thor, the brothers both nursing beers. He looked toward you with a smile that quickly morphed into fear as your legs finally gave out under you. In an instant, your knees hit the ground with a loud thud, but before your head followed the same fate, Loki’s arms wrapped around you pulling him into his warmth.
“Darling, I need you to look at me and tell me what happened,” He gasped out, looking terrified and angry. You wanted to respond, but now that you were safe your body was shutting down against the onslaught of senses.
“Stark! Where is Banner?! She needs medical attention NOW!” Loki yelled, pulling you tighter against him. You could hear Tony on the phone speaking with someone who you assumed was Banner as Loki’s eyes roamed over your body frantically. Suddenly, Nat’s face popped into your field of view and she pushed a stray piece of hair off your forehead.
“Loki, we need to get her down to the med bay, she’s bleeding pretty bad from her arm,” Loki leapt up without another word, striding over to the elevator door. You felt yourself being lulled to sleep as Loki continued speaking to you in hushed, gentle words.
“Darling, you need to stay awake. You cannot fall asleep on me,” he whispered, placing a small kiss to your forehead. A sob broke from your chest at the gentle touch. Finally the door opened and Loki, Nat, and Tony all swooped in. You caught a glimpse of Clint, Thor, Bucky, and Steve standing on the other side of the door, most likely waiting for the next elevator.
Briefly you must have drifted off because the next thing you knew you were on a cot staring into Loki’s terrified blue eyes. His hand reached up shakily to cup your cheek as the rest of the noises in the room filtered in.
“(Y/N) hey, are you back with us?” Bruce asked from your left. You took Loki’s hand into your own and shuffled a bit to see Bruce holding a Stark pad, while Tony was tying off what looks to be bandages wrapping up your damaged arm. With a quick nod to him, Bruce sprang into action. He was quick and efficient with his examination, asking general yes/no questions while taking x-rays and head scans. An IV was suddenly administered and the pounding headache and sting in your arm became a dull thud.
“Alright sunshine I have some good and bad news for you,” Bruce proclaimed after 20 or so minutes of flitting around you, opening the door so the rest of the Avengers could hear as well. If you weren’t drugged to high heaven you would have laughed at the crowd hovering outside of your room in their varying pjs. Loki gave your hand another squeeze and you focused back on Bruce.
“Bad news, we had to give you 10 stitches in your arm while you were passed out, you have a small orbital fracture from what I am assuming was a punch, and some pretty bad bruising to your larynx, back, and right hip.” You and everyone outside the room stared at him in shock. Tony looked to be on the verge of tears and Bucky was leaving finger dents in the door frame from where he was gripping it so hard.
“And the good news?” Loki hissed, clenching your hand tighter.
“Good news is that you have no broken ribs nor a concussion which is what I was the most worried about.” Silence met Bruce’s statement. Silence that was suddenly broken by a loud sob that had all of the Avengers turning into mushes at your feet. Finally your body fully let go and you reached out for Loki, desperately needing his comfort. Without a word he crawled onto the cot beside you and bundled you up against him gently.
“FRIDAY, please scan the five miles that surround Avengers tower for (Y/N)’s likeness. I need to know how this happened.” Tony commanded. The rest of the team trickled in, taking various seats around the room while Nat and Clint plopped down on the floor. Tony opened a screen on the mostly blank wall to your right to watch the progress. You continued to cry into Loki’s shoulder as he gently ran his hands through your matted hair and pressed soft kisses on your hairline.
“Got it Boss.” FRIDAY pinged, “It looks like Miss (Y/N) was mugged on the corner of 24th and 5th by an unknown assailant who took her personal belongings.” The anger in the room was palpable as FRIDAY cued up the video. You kept your face hidden in Loki’s shoulder, but could hear the man screaming all over again behind you. The video dulled the noise but it was still jarring to hear. With a choked gasp you hissed out a small “that was my favorite fanny pack.”
Suddenly a gentle hand touched your leg and you found Tony to be standing next to you staring at you with a mix of anger, sadness, and gentless.
“I promise I will get you a new one. Maybe I will even be extra humble and get you an Avengers one this time.”
You let out a small giggle, finally feeling your body coming back into itself.
“So, can I go after this guy or what?” Bucky growled from his position near the door. You could see around the room the fury that was emanating from your team after watching the clip.
“I too would like to give him a piece of my mind,” Thor huffed from the chair on your right. Tony took a deep breath, running his hands through his already disheveled hair.
“Yeah alright go ahead,” He shrugged, closing the video. The Avengers quickly stood up and raced out the door. With a second thought Tony followed, calling out, “BUT DON’T KILL HIM. (Y/N) WOULD HATE THAT!” And with a quick wink back at you he was gone.
Finally you're alone with Loki in the med bay, the only sounds in the room are your hoarse breathing and the gentle beeping of the heart monitor.
“How are you doing, my sweet?” he asked gently, shuffling a bit so you were no longer in his lap and instead laying next to him.
“Not well,” you croaked out, “I really want to change and be in my bed.” Loki smiled one of his simple and smallest smiles that he keeps hidden for you only.
“I am not able to bring you to your room as Banner has requested you spend the night here, but if you would like, I could use my sedir to change your clothes?” You let out a shy grin and nodded. His blue eyes lit up quickly and in a puff of green you were clothed in a large green shirt and your favorite sweatpants.
“Is this your shirt?” you whispered shyly. Loki’s smile could have lit up the entire med bay at that question.
“Only the best for you.”
“Promise you’ll stay?”
“I would never dream of leaving you, Darling.” And with that you allowed yourself to finally sleep.
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The next morning was…rough. Waking up in the med bay was jarring and if it wasn’t for Loki you would have most likely broken down again. Bruce came in a few moments after FRIDAY informed him of your alertness and after a cursory glance at your scans and vitals, he okayed you to be released–with a strict prescription of rest (and advil).
Loki helped you to stand and get your bearings, the various aches and pains coming in full force as well as some tears.
“Darling, would you like to stay here for the weekend? I’m sure Stark would not mind, there are enough empty rooms to house all of Asgard.”
You smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his waist.
“If Tony’s okay with it, so am I.” you croaked. Loki nodded and helped you to the elevator, holding you tightly against him.
The ride was brief, filled with Loki’s gentle touches. When the door cracked open the first face you saw was Bucky, holding a very familiar (albeit a bit dirty) fanny pack.
“You got it back?!” you cried, your voice hoarser than you liked.
“Anything for you, (Y/N).” Bucky huffed. You responded with a gentle hug before turning to see the rest of the team all standing awkwardly in the common space. Each one held a kitchy fanny pack with their respective superhero alter egos on the front.
“What? What is this?” you whispered, clutching your iron man bag to your chest.
“Well no one should have just one bag,” Tony started, coming forward with his hands suspiciously hidden behind his back, “We figured you could use a couple more.” With that he revealed the bag behind his back with a familiar helmeted asgardian gracing the front of the green bag. You looked at Tony confused.
“Since you already have my bag, I figured you would want one for your boyfriend as well.”
A sputter fell from your lips and a quickly spreading blush crept up your neck. You looked to Loki expecting the same, but his blue eyes just held love and he placed a kiss on your forehead. Each Avenger came up buckling their respective bag around your waist until you looked like you were in a fanny pack straightjacket giggling like a fool.
“I…I can’t thank you all enough, this is too much.”
“(Y/N) of Earth, you are one of us. We would protect you with our life.” Thor boomed.
“Happy to report we also deposited the guy who did this to you at the police station with only one life threatening injury.” Clint beamed, Nat hitting on the shoulder with a “what the fuck” look.
“I guess one life threatening injury is okay,” you giggled, leaning heavily into Loki. Even though you had only been awake an hour or so, you could tell your body was still tired and your bruises and head were starting to ache. Loki immediately took notice of this and before you could even blink the fanny packs were unclasped and over his arms and he swooped you up in a bridal style carry.
“Sorry to ruin the fun, but I believe (Y/N) needs to rest.” He commanded softly.
“You can put her in the guest room if she wants,” Tony offered, going back to the kitchen to grab a snack. Briefly you felt a jolt of panic at being alone and you brought your mouth close to Loki to whisper that you wanted to be with him instead. He didn’t even hesitate, and with a gentle goodbye you were suddenly in his room, teleported there in an instant.
Loki made quick work of getting you settled in his bed and comfortable before sliding in next to you. Without a second thought you cuddled into his warmth, his arms coming around your back mindful of your injuries and your hands going to grasp his shirt gently.
“So…boyfriend?” you asked, breaking the silence. His hand came up to grasp your cheek slightly tilting your face to see his eyes.
“If you would like, I would not mind binding myself to you romantically.” He whispered softly.
“I think I would like that very much.” you responded without a second thought. Slowly Loki lowered his face to yours, giving you every option to back out so you took the initiative and closed the gap, your slightly chapped lips fitting against his. The kiss was soft, filled with promise and trust making your toes curl and your belly pool with warmth. Far too quickly he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours.
“When you are better, Darling, you are going to strap that god awful bag that I find maddeningly adorable around your waist and I am going to show you the world.”
“Only if you promise to wear the Loki one.” you chuckled back and with a rueful yet loving smile, Loki pulled you closer to him, the safety of his arms lulling you into a deep sleep.