Energy - Loki x Reader

Dark

Over the last week, secretive conversations around the compound have increased, and so has your tendency to eavesdrop. Most of the time they're trivial. Something about 'When will y/n speak to Loki?' or 'When will Loki come out of his room?'. Today, it's less trivial, because Loki's there, so it must be important. What's more interesting is it's just Clint, Loki, Nat, and Bruce. This is never a good sign. Clint and Loki - the ones who are the most worried about you. Nat - the voice of reason who can keep a secret. Bruce - the scientist. This means about you and your... condition.

You hesitate before hiding around the corner. Are you sure you want to hear this? The door's open, so before you can tiptoe away, they start talking and you're hooked. 'Why isn't she making any progress? You said she'd be better by now,' Clint says. You can imagine poor Bruce, trying to speak to Loki and your dad, pressured to have an answer.

'She used to be able to wipe out an entire army of Chitauri and now she can't even turn a lightbulb on.' Ouch. Way to make you feel pathetic, Loki.

Bruce takes a deep sigh, probably buying himself time to think about how to word this. That means it's not good. They don't know you're there, so they're not going to sugarcoat this, either. 'Her powers are manipulating energy, right?' A pause for the others to nod along with him. 'I think before her energy supply was the power stone, and her body isn't used to producing energy for itself.'

'What are you saying?' This really isn't good. Nat's voice is shaky, which means even Natasha Romanoff, trained to conceal her feelings, is openly worried. It shakes something loose inside you, and you feel your cheeks getting warm. When you touch your hand to your face, it comes back wet. You're crying.

Bruce hesitates again. 'Her body's failing.' You have to bend over and put your hands on your knees. Breathe, y/n. Your chest rises and falls heavily. Bruce obviously doesn't know you're here, panicking, so he carries on before you've calmed down. 'At first I thought she was sick because of exhaustion but now I think when she uses her powers, she's taking from her own supply of energy. It's killing her.'

'So- so how do we fix it?' Clint's desperate. You don't like Loki's silence. He's not lashing out at Bruce, which can only mean one thing - he's past anger. Why do you even care? You're mad at him. But you can't help but want to run to him, wrap your arms around him and tell him it's ok.

'I wish I could tell you that it's just a healthy diet and exercise, but I can't. I don't know.'

You take a moment to process the situation without worrying about the others and their reactions to what's happening. You know what Bruce is saying. The tears come streaming faster down your face, eyes stinging, lips trembling. All you want is a hug from your dad, so you step into the doorway. 'Dad?' They all look around, instant regret washing over their faces as they register you, knowing you heard everything. You don't want to hear it from Bruce; you want to hear it from your dad, so you keep looking at Clint. 'Am I going to die?'

He shakes his head and jogs over to you, kissing your forehead and bending down so that his eyes are in line with yours. 'Not on my watch.' You nod and wrap your arms around him. Your eyes catch Loki's and he looks away guiltily. All you really want is to spend your last few nights with him, but he can't get away with everything, he can't think it's ok to put this kind of weight on your shoulders. If Thanos gets the rest of your powers, it'll be yours and Loki's fault that he got the last two stones.