FLIGHTLESS (LOKI LAUFEYSON FANFIC)

Chapter 14 - Mission

"There's no need to thank me for anything, El." he mentioned and proceeded to dry my wings with cloth, gently dabbing on my feathers.

"You believed in me, cleared my name, saved my life. Loki, that's everything to be thankful for."

"I did all of that willingly. I guess there are things you'd be willing to do for..." he didn't finish the last part and instead conjured a comb that was perfect for my feathers.

"For what?" I pried.

"For friendship." he answered briefly.

We stayed silent for a while. He was combing through my feathers and I let out a soft moan because it felt so good.

"It feels good to be doing this again, especially with you." I confessed.

"I missed these moments, too."

And another wave of silence. I don't know what came over me but I knelt and turned around to face him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with a confused face.

"Why are you doing all this for me, Loki?" I asked, firmly this time. I wanted him to know that I needed an answer.

"Why would you keep asking that?"

"Because... I can't take it anymore! I've been feeling this way even on Asgard, I know you know there's a connection between us. I feel so confused, it's driving me crazy." I lay my forehead on his chest to hide my tears.

"Hush now, love. Odin knows I have a lot to tell you. And I'm very much tempted to. But you said it earlier, you love Thor. I don't want to get in the way of that."

I lifted my head and asked "You were eavesdropping earlier?"

"Guilty," he smiled and raised his hands in surrender.

"Loki, didn't you get to hear the whole thing?"

"I might have left after you said 'I do love you' so..." he leaned his head against the wall, his eyes looking down and avoiding mine.

"It's a misunderstanding! What I said after that was–"

My explanation was cut short by a knock on Loki's door.

"Loki? Door's open so I'm coming in. Don't stab me," Thor's voice registered and we both panicked.

"Just stay here," he put his finger to my lips but quickly pulled away after realizing what he had just done.

He slithered outside the bathroom and I sat there on the tub again.

"What brings you here, brother?" I heard Loki say.

"Sarah doesn't seem to be in her room, something might've happened to her," Thor answered.

"I haven't seen her but I'm sure she's safe. You might want to check the garden. She loves to go there when she's had a rough day." – Loki.

My eyes were heavy as lead at this point. Keeping them open has become a chore so I took my clothes earlier, rolled them together to create a pillow and just fell asleep in Loki's tub.

***

I woke up to Nat's voice the next morning. "Rise and shine, sleepy head. It's your first mission with us," she said.

I jolted awake remembering I fell asleep on Loki's tub but to my surprise, I was in my room.

"That shirt looks familiar," she teased. I looked down and noticed that I was still in Loki's shirt but I already had sweatpants on.

"I'll fill you in after the mission," I smiled at her and she left so I could change my clothes. I put on the black suit Nat had given me which had gold and green accents to it.

Minutes later, I joined the others in the conference room with a bowl of cereal that I got from the kitchen. Thor was there and so was Loki but everyone was so focused on listening to Cap's instructions.

"Here's the plan. I'll head in first, Nat and Clint will cover me while I scan the perimeter. Rhodes and Sam will act as decoy, pretending to come unarmed and ready to bargain." Tony explained.

"After Rhodes and Sam are in, Thor and the Hulk will destroy the big guns. The rest will help fend off everyone and keep them distracted so Loki and Sarah can sneak inside with their illusion and rescue Wanda." Cap added.

I looked over to Loki and he gave me a slight smile.

Cap dismissed us and everyone went to the artillery to arm themselves with whatever weapons they needed. I fell behind on purpose to hopefully catch Loki.

"Loki." I called out. He turned around and asked if I needed anything.

"Can we talk after this mission?" I hesitantly asked. "Of course," he replied. I smiled at him as he opened the door for me.

There were lots of weapons in the artillery. I went to the guns first, strapping a pistol on each of my leg. Then I went beside Loki to gather knives which was our favorite type of weapon.

I sheathed two knives on each of my inner thighs and another two behind each calf. There were also two daggers on my wrists.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Clint said looking at all the weapons I brought.

"I've missed this," I said, ecstatic. Finally, I get to be in action again.