Emerald Storm [Loki]

Previously on WandaVision

Katerina Maximoff sat at the edge of cliff, her hands digging into the grass beside her.  She had dug her nails into the dirt and was focusing on her breathing, letting the salt of the ocean air ground her. Listening to the waves and giving in to the natural world.

Her mind flooded with images. A red wall glitching around a town. Hexagons. Bees. Two twin boys. Vision? And faintly in the background...Wanda.

Wanda's eyes glowing red, hands raised and balls of red orbs in her palms. A cloud of red took over her mind and she was forced out, painfully.

"Ahh!" Katerina's hands flew from the dirt to clutch at her temples as her mind felt like it went up in flames. A deep painful, grief filled burning.

Loki appeared from the forest behind her. He ran to her side, knees skidding the on the ground as he threw himself down to check on her. "What is it? Are you okay?"

Kat shook her head and held on to him, trying to shake the red glitching from her mind but it was holding on to her. First it pushed her out and now it won't leave her alone. Does she want to be found?

"Kat talk to me." Loki begged but the girl kept shaking her head, the burn overwhelming her. Loki couldn't bare it. The woman he loved was in so much pain, searching for her sister for months and months only to find a red firewall that left her writhing in pain.

"I can't. I can't. I can't." She repeated, over and over, unable to form any sort of thought of her own or speak.

Loki took her face in his hands and tried to get her to look at him. "Kat look up, look at me. Darling please." This was the longest she'd been held before. She had tried telepathically connecting with Wanda for the passed three months but each time she was blasted out, left in a trance for a moment before coming around. But this time was different, this time she couldn't fight her way out.

Loki, with his hands still on her cheeks, pictured a happy memory of theirs, a small spark of green magic flowed from his finger tips through her mind as he got her to picture it too.

Her eyes snapped open and her usual green orbs were a fireball of red. Specially, Wanda's red powers. Kat blinked hard and finally her eyes returned to their usual mossy shade.

"Loki!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. She sobbed deeply, holding on to him with all of her strength. She could feel Wanda's pain, the years of grief and trauma flowing through her veins. As if her blood was gasoline and Wanda had lit a match.

"She's in pain. So much pain."

Loki heard her mumble into his chest and she felt his eyes sting. He cleared his throat and held her tighter. "We'll help her. Don't worry. We'll find her and help her."

———

Her hand fit perfectly in Loki's as they strolled back into New Asgard town. They walked silently back from the cliffs, giving nods to the locals who waved and called on them.

Valkyrie was dealing with the latest shipment of goods from one of New Asgard's allies when they arrived at the stone bridge, connecting the town to the Nordic mainland. She would usually had greeted them with a sarcastic quip, jokingly insulting them. But she took one look at the drained Katerina and stone cold Loki and decided against it.

Val could see he was in protective mode. His jaw tense, eyes darker, walking with an air of  " Don't even look at my wife." A look that all the locals had come to know very well these passed few months. 

Kat couldn't muster a wave to Val, she couldn't even feel bad for being ignorant. She was drained. She wasn't sure she could make it back to their cottage on the hill. The little haven they had created together in the wake of New Asgard.

The water fountain sat in the town square, a raised well of hope with a memorial dedicated to Queen Frigga. The children throw in their pennies and make wishes, wishes Kat liked to grant for fun. People leave flowers and trinkets for the gods and Thor returns the favour, leaving treats and swapping their cheaper items for his more expensive ones. Even Loki had left one of his most treasured books for one of his favourite kids. A mischievous little scamp called Henrik who begged for a town library.

The town had become a real place of comfort and warmth, a home. Loki admitted, it become home.

That's why it pained him to see Kat so distraught here. He thought that leaving New York had been the best decision for them, now he was thinking perhaps they should have stayed there. If they hadn't left, Kat would still have Wanda. Now she had lost both of her siblings.

Loki was brought out of his thoughts when Kat let go of his hand. He felt his heart sink but he didn't say anything. He just watched.

Filled with fatigue, bones aching, she fell to her knees before the fountain. She bowed her head for a moment, before reaching into the pocket of her mud-stained jeans. She took out a penny, clasped it tight in her palm taking time to breathe her intentions into it, before raising her arm and letting it slip into the fountain.

Few moments later, Kat raised to her feet and turned back to Loki. She wrapped her arms around herself as a form of comfort, she gave him a sad smile and he sighed. She was okay. She was devastated, but she was okay. She couldn't explain it. All she knew was after she gave that penny to Frigga's fountain, her mind was poeaveful again. And she could breathe.

Her sneakers ground against the gravel as she walked towards Loki. He began to walk towards her to, a silent agreement that they needed each other. But before he could reach out, a gust of wind blew him back, a streak of blue light flashing before his eyes.

Kat stumbled back but steadied herself. A wisp of emerald green magic orbited around her hand, entwining itself between her fingers. Ready to fight the threat.

But she her eyes focused she couldn't see a threat, just two children. Twin boys. Wearing a look of fear and panic on their faces.

"Are.." The taller boy started, but he looked nervously at his brother, "are you Katherine?"

"Katerina." She answered, folding her arms. They looked familiar, they felt familiar. She looked down at the little creature and wondered if the forest fae were messing with her again.

"Oh, that's what Mom was thinking. I couldn't here over the static." The taller boy told the shorter one.

"Whatever." The shorter one said shaking his head. "Are you our Mom's sister?"

Loki was keeping his distance until he heard those words. He walked a short distance around them to get closer to Kat, just in case his prescience scared them away.

Katerina stiffened up, her spine feeling like an iron rod as his words sunk in. She looked at them, what sort of trick is this? This can't be the fae, they resolved the issue.

"Your mom?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at them. "Your mom is..."

"Wanda Maximoff." The youngest boy finished.

Kat looked at Loki, who was giving her a skeptic glance. She shook her head and looked back at the kids. And that's when she saw it. They both had the Maximoff green eyes, brunette hair and pale Sokovian skin. The tallest had mentioned his mom's thoughts, meaning he could read her mind, and the shortest - well the shortest boy had zoomed in in a flash of blue light.

Kat nodded and gestured to walk with her. "Tell me everything."