A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

53. Darling

The Jet was fast advancing on the wormhole, and with the remaining scrapper ships effectively detained by Thor, the party was free to go. The last leg of the flight was relatively stress-free, if it had not been for Bruce constantly panicking over the fact that he was co-piloting the ship. Valkyrie mostly tuned him out, focusing on how the hell he shared a body with the Hulk if he scared so easily. Other than Bruce, the rest of the heroes reveled in a relative state of calm, especially the pair seated on the floor, occupying the back of the Quinjet.

Naomi was hardly aware of how long the kiss lasted, but when they inevitably pulled away, a long sigh departed from her lips. Her heated breath mixed with Loki's in the small pocket of space between them. When she finally opened her eyes, she met Loki's intense gaze, and very nearly was overcome with the urge to kiss him again. Her fingers still tangled in his hair, and his hands pressed softly against her back, clutching her close to him as though he feared she would vanish. They sat for a few stolen moments more, breathing in the air. Her fingers idly twisted a lock of his hair, and his eyelids fluttered at the sense. "Remind me why this took so long." He asked, his voice rough.

"I don't know." Naomi smiled. Loki grinned, and pulled her even closer, he might have pulled her into his lap had it not been for her still-injured leg. Naomi wouldn't have protested, the wound in her thigh being the last thing on her mind. Even if Loki had not taken away her agony, she was sure that she would not have even felt the pain after they kissed.

"I do believe this is the first time I've heard you say that." He teased.

"It'll hardly be the last." Naomi replied, almost giggling in her elation. Loki smiled softly, and slowly pressed his lips against hers once more, before pulling away to whisper in her ear.

"Promise me, darling?"

Naomi craned her head away from him, only to touch her lips to his again. "I promise." She whispered. 

They sighed against each other, until a murmured, "Lets get to the front," from Loki prompted them to move. Delicately, the Trickster God lifted Naomi off the ground, holding her against him in a bridal position. Had it been anyone else, she might have protested that she could walk, albeit with some support, but no argument left her lips when she slid her arms around his neck, trailing her fingers through his hair. Naomi could only smile as he carried her to the front, stealing kisses she was all too happy to give. Their only interruption was a sudden weight landing in the jet, and the gradual loss of the wind as the docking doors closed.

Loki turned for them to see Thor, finally returned from his successful mission to rid the jet of the pesky Sakaarians following them. Upon seeing them, Thor lifted a brow in confusion due to their positioning, but once his eyes alighted on Naomi's bandaged leg, his face fell in sorrow. "Naomi, you have been injured in the battle?" He asked, his expression furrowed in concern as he approached. 

"Yeah," Naomi replied with an easy smile. "A scrapper shot me from about an inch away." Loki's head whipped down to hers, regret in his eyes.

"That close?" he asked, his voice hushed. Naomi softened her smile.

"I'm okay." She nodded. Loki reluctantly sighed, turning his attention back to his brother. Thor- who either hadn't noticed the intimate exchange or hadn't realized it was intimate- stepped up to the pair with a firm smile.

"I trust that you enacted revenge?" Thor asked, clearly hoping for her to say yes. Loki rolled his eyes, but Naomi chuckled and responded that, yes, of course she got her revenge. Happy with her answer, Thor led the way into the cockpit, not even hesitating before going to Bruce and gripping the mans shoulders. Bruce sighed in relief, and quickly scrambled from his seat to let Thor take over the piloting position.

"Took you long enough." Valkyrie muttered to Thor, her tone friendly enough that Thor only gave a hearty laugh in response. "We're about to head in." She reported, taking a glance behind her at their passengers. "What happened to you?" She raised a brow at Naomi, who was still in Loki's arms.

"Got shot." She replied curtly, knowing that Valkyrie wasn't one for chit chat.

"I've been there." Valkyrie nodded, and turned back to the glass, staring at the dark wormhole ahead. Thor and Valkyrie's lackluster reactions to Naomi being shot were actually comforting to the woman, as they assured her that she was in no danger of dying from what, back in her dimension, could possibly be a fatal injury. However even if the more seasoned warriors hardly batted an eye at her wound, Loki provided all the fretting she needed. Though perhaps she needed it, since the edges of her vision were beginning to go blurry. The man placed her down after a whisper from Naomi, and carefully propped her against the wall before taking a seat beside her.

Naomi cleared her throat. "Alright. When we enter the Anus, it'll knock us out for a while, and when wake up, we'll hopefully be right in front of Asgard." She instructed, frowning slightly in concern as her vision continued to grow dimmer. Bruce, who had nowhere else to crash ad decided to sit next to Naomi instead of Loki, quickly noticed her wrapped leg, and the blood staining the fabric.

"Oh God- Naomi, I'm sorry." He started, his eyes pleading. "It's my fault and-"

"No." Naomi cut him off, suddenly too tired to deal with the unnecessary apology. "I'd rather I get shot than you, Bruce." She gave a hazy smile. "It's my job now to protect you guys." He frowned, the scientist in him taking note of her slowly drooping eyelids, and the bloodstained wrap.

"You've lost a lot of blood, Naomi." Bruce commented, nervously fiddling with the wrap before deciding better of it. Her head was angled toward Bruce, but as her vision grew closer and closer to black and his voice faded, the last thing Naomi felt was a whisper, a mere breath against her ear.

"Stay with me, Darling."