The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

"Where is he?"

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

I wasn't dead. Or at least, I didn't feel like I was. It just felt like I was asleep.

I could feel my fingers and toes, but I couldn't open my eyes.

The last time something like this happened was in the Lighthouse, when I died and came back. Which was not comforting given the current situation.

It took some trying, but I was eventually able to force my eyes open.

I was instantly met with the loud sound of arguing. I couldn't tell between who or what they were talking about, I just knew it was far too loud to be waking up to.

Disoriented, I attempted to sit up, but got a wave of dizziness and nausea for my troubles.

What happened?

I furrowed my brows as I tried to figure it all out, but the last thing I remembered was Thanos snapping. Nothing after.

The sound of arguing disappeared almost instantly when I moved into a sitting position.

Before I could turn and see what was going on, I heard someone run up to me. That someone turned out to be none other than Natasha.

"Cat! You're awake!" She rushed over to my spot on a stretcher and gently hugged me. "Thank God."

I looked at her, confused. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could answer that." Steve came into view, his arms crossed in concern. "For a second there, we thought you'd been part of the unlucky 50%."

His words triggered something in me and suddenly, it all came flooding back.

"I was..." My voice broke as I let a few tears fall. "I started to disappear... I don't understand. I was dead."

Nat's eyes widened at my sudden change of emotion and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You're not dead. You're on the quinjet with us. You're safe. And so is your baby. Don't worry, we made sure of it." She said reassuringly.

"What about Loki? Where is he?" His absence was what bothered me the most. Every time something happened to me, I would wake up to see Loki there, right by my side. But at the moment, he was nowhere to be found. It was concerning to say the least.

He said he was going to do something... I lost consciousness before I could figure out what he meant though.

I tried to get off the stretcher to look for him, but Nat wouldn't allow it, carefully pushing me back down.

"Hold on. You can't be walking around. You're not strong enough yet." She said gently, but with a tone that warned me not to argue with her. "Now, just walk us through what happened."

I nodded, taking a shaky breath. "After Thanos snapped, I didn't know where Loki was and got scared. I found him, but when I did, I started to turn to dust." I could barely finish the explanation without choking on a sob, remembering just how terrified I'd been.

"We both panicked, and right before I blacked out, I saw a bright flash of green light." The green flash was too odd for me not to mention. "Now, tell me. Where is my husband?"

"Can we back track a little here?" Steve spoke up, visibly perplexed. "You were turning to dust? How is that even possible?"

"I told you, I don't know." I shook my head, some anxiety creeping in.

They were avoiding the question and it was starting to scare me.

"I think I might know." Thor's voice entered the conversation out of nowhere.

I guess he was in a different part of the quinjet before this, which is why I didn't see him.

This wasn't a normal quinjet. It was more like a mini-helicarrier. Kind of like the Zephyr, but smaller. And from what I could see, I wasn't in the infirmary, but in the cargo hold.

"Care to explain then?" Nat raised a brow at the god.

"You said you saw a flash of green light before passing out?" He asked me.

I nodded hesitantly, not knowing where he was going with this.

"I think you survived because Loki saved you." He said quietly, increasing my panic.

Nat stared at him like a puzzle piece just fell into place. "Is that why he..." She cut herself off when she made eye contact with me. "How could he accomplish something like that? Is that even possible?"

Thor nodded. "When we were children, our mother taught him many aspects of magic. Including a spell where... Where he could transfer his life force into a dying person to save them..."

My heart raced faster as I looked around at the three of them, anxiety turning into fear fueled panic. "Are you saying..."

Suddenly them not answering my question made perfect sense.

"Where is he? Where is Loki?" I demanded, getting off the stretcher despite their protests.

I collapsed almost instantly, but Steve managed to catch me. "Rogers, where is he?!" I yelled, tears streaming down my face.

I must've looked like a mad woman, crying and yelling like that, but I didn't care.

"Catherine, you need to calm down." Thor and Steve helped me to my feet, but I just shrugged them off, leaning on the wall for support instead.

"Please, just tell me the truth." I begged, voice wavering. "Is he alive?"

All of them exchanged a look before Thor finally caved. "Yes. Just barely."

I let out a small breath of relief, but my worry was still raging.

"Where is he? I need to see him."

"He's unconscious and in critical condition. We can't let you-" Steve started, but was cut off by Natasha instantly.

"He's in the infirmary. I'll take you to him." She offered and gently guided me away from the two men.

"Nat-" The super soldier tried to protest, but she shut him down with single glare.

"Steve, I love you, but what are you not getting here? She is worried about her husband. Plain and simple. She has a right to see him." And with that, she led me to the infirmary.

She wrapped her arm around me as we walked, helping me stand up straight, which was greatly appreciated.

"I am so sorry you're going through this." Her tone was sad and genuine as she gave me a small side hug. "If there's anything I can do to help-" I stopped her mid-sentence with a weak smile.

"Taking me to see him is more than enough. Thank you." I blinked back tears and she squeezed my hand supportively. "How did you find us?"

"A few minutes after the Snap, we noticed you weren't there. And then Thor realized Loki wasn't either. So we started looking. Eventually we found you both unconscious at the bottom of the hill. We got you on the quinjet about an hour ago, and that brings us to right now." She summarized as we came up on the infirmary.

Her words slowly faded to a faint humming in my ears as I saw him lying there.

He was on a stretcher similar to the one I was on before, hooked up to a bunch of wires, and his face was as white as paper.

But he was alive.

Every faint beep of the heart monitor and small rise of his chest reassured me that he was still holding on.

I wiped away my tears and swiftly moved across the room to grab a chair so that I could sit beside him, just like how he always sat beside me.

"I'll let you be." Nat said softly from the doorway. "Bruce, Rhodey, and Pietro are in the cockpit if you need them."

I just simply nodded silently, my focus remaining on Loki, his hand tightly entwined with mine.

He was going to be okay.

He had to be.