Loki, my darling

XXII

I looked up to where the kidnappers were holding Gamora in a big hug, I was glad I could do that for them. But now I really wanted to go somewhere, where Loki and I could really just be, no war, no kidnapping, just a bit of peace. "I don't want to break in on your get-together," I said, catching everyone's attention, "but I think me and Loki would like to go now," "Of course," said Gamora, breaking out of the others' hug and came to give me one instead, "Thank you for letting me out," she said, and turned to the guy then, "Peter, let them go," "Right, you won't put us in prison for this little incident, will you?" he asked, and scratched his head. He obviously hadn't thought past getting back Gamora. "Give us one good reason we shouldn't," said Loki angrily, I felt his grip on me tighten, he was really angry at them for what had happened. I turned him to face me and in a surprisingly calm and gentle voice said, "Loki, no, it's alright,", he shook his head and replied, "No, no it isn't, they hurt you, they.." I felt the sadness in him, guilt about not being able to protect me. I shook my head, "I know, but I would've done the same he did if I had lost you and someone else instead of me could've even maybe brought you back," I tried to explain. I think he knew what I meant although he was still really sad and a bit angry too. I gave him a quick kiss and then said, "Let's just go," he nodded and followed me as I stood up and walked up to this Peter-guy. "How do we get out?" I asked and he proceeded by pushing a button on the control board. The back part of the ship opened and as we looked out we realized we were still in the same cave. I hadn't expected it and since I really didn't feel like walking all the way back, I turned back to Peter and asked, "Do you think you could give us a lift back to the castle?" Loki groaned, he wanted to have nothing to do with these people anymore, but he also knew I wouldn't let him carry me back or anything so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, Peter replied with a "Sure, we're gonna have to pick up some others from there anyway," and closed the ship back up to get going.

It took barely an eyeblink to get back. When we walked back into the castle with Loki, Strange and some others ran right up to us, "Where have you been? Neither of you were even supposed to leave your hospital rooms yet!?" he raised his voice at us. "Well, if you need to know," I started and then pointed to Gamora, "she needed saving," Gamora gave a nod to verify my words, then reached her hand out to Strange, "I'm Gamora, it's nice to meet you," "Dr. Strange," he said shaking her hand, "Wait, Gamora, but weren't you dead?" he looked at all of us one by one. "She was," said Peter, but Gamora corrected him with "Well, not quite, I was trapped inside the soul stone," "And I let her out," I added. It didn't seem to make any sense to the workers and other faces around us, but Strange knew what that had meant. "Right," he said, "Well, you need some rest, there'll be a press conference in the US tomorrow afternoon so we're leaving early. We'll need you there too Gamora, as a representative of the Guardians of the Galaxy and someone who has basically been brought back from the dead. We'll need to explain how that happened." She gave him an understanding nod and looked back to Peter, "Guess we'll stay on Earth for a bit longer." He groaned. He was from Earth, but obviously didn't enjoy it that much, but I didn't stay lingering on that thought, I was exhausted and just wanted to get to bed for at least a little bit. It was already almost sunrise which meant we'd already be leaving in just a few hours. We were led to a bedroom and I, once again, fell asleep in Loki's arms. And this time he was still there when I woke up, staring at me. His eyes looked extremely tired, I realized he hadn't slept, that he had stayed up to hold me and watch over me. I turned to him, worried, "Why haven't you slept?" I asked, sliding my hand over his sleepy face, "I had to watch over you, protect you," I sighed, and although I was thankful for that, I didn't want him to do that, I wanted him to be healthy. And one can't be healthy without sleeping. "Next time just sleep with your arms around me, okay? We're safe now, I don't want you to stay up for me like that," "But,.." "No, or I'll stay up for you too, and then neither of us will get any sleep at all," I said firmly, not letting him argue, and rolled out of bed as it was time to get going.

I made him sleep on my shoulder during the flight, held his hand, and watched the land beneath us be replaced by the ocean and then, eventually, another land. And so we made it back to the headquarters at last. I gently woke Loki up with a kiss as we started landing, and earned the title of "the best alarm clock ever" from him, "Seriously, everyone should get themselves one," he added, laughing, "I'm one of a kind, unfortunately," I replied, "Lucky me then, I guess," he said and gave me another kiss. Then it was time to get out of the plane, Happy and Stark were already there to greet us. "So the conference is being held for several reasons," Tony started explaining as we walked down the halls, "Firstly, to introduce both of you," he pointed at me and Loki, "as official members of the Avengers. Secondly, so you can answer all the questions regarding the battles with Thanos and, well, bringing people back from the dead," He looked at me when saying the last part, so I gave him a nod just in case that was what he was looking for, "Any questions?" he asked as he stopped before a door. None of us reacted so he took it as a no and led us in. I was immediately blinded by flashing cameras, the room was filled with press, asking questions, taking pictures, and we hadn't even found our places behind the long table on one side of the room. "Silence!" yelled some security guys as we all sat down. There was a microphone before each of us, for answering questions. I reached my hand out to Loki's behind the table, I was feeling not just nervous but really overwhelmed as I had no idea what to expect. His palm being a little sweaty gave me the impression he was facing similar feelings.