Reign

Chapter 24: Broken Glass

Loki walked into his room, his helmet disappearing as he entered. He slammed his fist against the mirror, causing it to shatter against the force. He pulled away with a hiss as he realized the shards had broken through his skin.

Ash watched him through the doorway and winced as she saw the wound that he had caused on his hand. She said softly, "Loki..."

He looked up at her with hurt etched on his face. He turned away from her as he walked into the bathroom without a word.

But she regardlessly followed him into the bathroom. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a small first-aid kit.

Loki turned the water on and it slowly filled the sink. He tried to avoid Ash's gaze but it was difficult as she was just looking at him intently. He let out another pained hiss as he tentatively tried to remove the small shards that remained, but Ash stopped him and took his wrist.

He looked at her as she lightly dabbed it with a small cotton ball of something before muttering, "You were only going to make it hurt more like that.... You had to take it out carefully..." She glanced up into his eyes before looking back down at his hand and carefully removing the small, bloodied mirror pieces with the tweezers in her hand.

He winced every now and then as she removed each piece. In pain, he asked between gritted teeth, "When did you learn such things?"

As soon as all the glass was out she began dabbing away the blood with a damp towel. "I... I learned a few things when I was in New York. I learned how to take care of people." There was silence as she continued cleaning his hand. "What's wrong?"

He looked down at what she was doing rather than answering her question. Just before she could begin to wrap his hand, he pulled away and asked, "What are you doing?" He shook his head at the harshness of his own voice. He instead muttered, "I can take care of it from here..."

She put down the medical wrap as she watched him curiously. A green magic filled his palm and glowed against the wounds as the skin began to close up as though nothing had happened. "You can heal yourself?"

"Yes..." He answered hesitantly, "I simply had to remove the shards before attempting to reclose the opened wounds."

Ash placed a hand beside his cheek as she made him look her in the eyes. "Loki... Stop avoiding my question. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if you weren't mad at something... or someone."

He sighed before soothingly passing a hand in her hair. "Midgardians are foolish beings. I have to leave you so soon to go deal with a mess happening elsewhere."

She looked down for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck with a hand placed on his hair. She closed her eyes, taking in his scent as she asked, "How long will you be gone?"

"A week, at the most. I will try to return as quickly as possible." His arms wrapped around her with his hands comfortingly resting on her lower back. "Do not fret, love."

She lifted an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Judging how you handled your hand, do I have a little right to be concerned?"

Loki slightly laughed at that as he placed a kiss on her soft lips. "Give me four days and I shall return to show you that your concerns are unfounded."

She wanted to smile at him but as his lips met hers she realized that this was it. He was leaving and Thor would have his journey back to Asgard. From there... would she ever see him again? They would undoubtedly take Loki away from her and quite possibly kill him for all the evil he had done to Midgard.

She leaned her head into the nape of his neck as she cried out her fearful tears. He surely wouldn't understand why she was crying, and she couldn't tell him why either. "I... I don't want to lose you..."

He caressed her head as his cheek was pressed against her fluffy hair. "Do not cry, love. I will be back soon and we shall be inseparable by these mortals. I promise I'll return to you."

She managed to stop her flooding tears as he gave her one final kiss before leaving. She followed him out of the bathroom as she watched him leave the room. She sat on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest as she continued her silent crying. She wasn't sure how to view the situation. She could save Earth at the expense of Loki or save Loki at the expense of Earth. One choice gave her a more than prosperous life while the other didn't guarantee much of anything other than the fact of her being a partial hero in the eyes of the Avengers.

She laid on the bed, curled into her ball as she faced away from the door. She heard when it opened but she was far too distracted to want to turn around.

There was the sound of many footsteps as people gathered in the room. She made a correct assumption that it was the Avengers because Natasha was quick to sit beside her with a hand on her back. She asked, "Ash? Are you alright?" A noise came from Ash but no one could tell what it was.

Tony spoke up, "Thor told us how you saved him and how there's still a chance to save Earth. You know, Loki left and we have a week to set things right."

Ash shivered and muttered, "I know..."

Steve elbowed Tony to be quiet and Tony only rubbed his arm silently.

Thor went kneel beside her bed and looked at her tear filled face. He pushed her hair back with his thumb as he said, "You have grown attached to my brother... You are faced with a difficult decision, I know. But you must choose if you will save Midgard or if you will stand by and protect Loki as he spreads his evil across this realm."

Ash covered her face with her palms as she rubbed her head. "You... You're going to take him away from me..."

He paused for a moment before replying, "He will be taken to Asgard to face his crimes but I promise that you will be able to see him. I will take you visit him as often as I am allowed. I only ask that you help save Midgard. It is your home. It is the home of your friends and family."

There was silence for a moment before Steve added, "We'll give you the night to think about it. But we need a decision by tomorrow. We only have a limited window for this."

Ash nodded her head but remained quiet as she felt Thor's hand leave from beside her face. She listened to them as they left and closed the door. She crawled up into the bed slid beneath the soft blankets. But she wasn't on her usual side of the bed. She was curled up on Loki's pillow, taking in the sweet scent of him.

This was something she would never again get to do if she allowed Asgard to get involved. She would never get to spend another night shared with Loki. They would never again share the same bed, or the same breath, or anything in any case. The one man who had ever shown her such love. Would she be willing to give that up for the sake of her home?

Thor was wrong. This was more than just a difficult decision. This decision would make up her entire future. She wasn't sure if she could live that out with knowing that Loki would probably hate her if she did fight him. She pulled the blankets over her head as she tried getting her thoughts sorted through her mixed up mind.