The Sound of Silence

Chapter 42

  It was morning before you finally woke again. And you felt like death. Yesterday had been too exciting and your throat ached from whatever they had done to remove your powers. You automatically groaned at how much it hurt, but only succeeded in silently irritating your sore throat. You hadn't appreciated just how thorough Fury would be in removing your ability to make any noise. No groaning, whining, whimpering. Could you even laugh? You weren't brave enough to find out yet.

Loki was still asleep and since he was actually asleep for once, you didn't wake him. You got out of bed, stole a clean pair of pajamas, and showered in Loki's bathroom. He would worry if you returned to your own, if you left the suite without waking him. He wouldn't worry if you weren't in the bed and he could hear the shower. You'd learned to work with his overprotective instincts and you knew that now that your powers were gone, his overprotective streak was just going to get worse.

But you desperately needed a shower. You were gross and still felt like hospital, which clung to your skin like a miasma. "Darling?" Loki asked an inordinate amount of hot water later. You stuck your head out of the shower to look at him in answer. "Are you alright? You've been in there quite awhile," you nodded and ducked back into the shower to shut off the hot water. When you stepped out of the shower, Loki was there with a towel for you. You smiled and kissed him. "How are you feeling?" he asked after you were dressed again.

[Like hell] you admitted. Your hot shower had helped for a little bit, but you saw yourself in the mirror. You looked as bad as you felt. Loki frowned and reached up to touch your throat with a glowing green hand, intuitively knowing why you felt like hell. You tilted your head back to let him. His frown deepened.

"Do you even know what they did to you in that...procedures?" Loki asked, clearly unhappy. You shook your head. You didn't know, had made sure not to know. It was safer not to, less chance of Odin figuring out a way to undo it. "It's a mix of magic and surgery..." he finally told you. You pressed a finger against his lips to silence him before he got too far down this dangerous rabbit hole.

[It doesn't matter how they did it. It's not getting undone] you told him when you removed your finger from his lips and had his proper attention again. You were careful in your words, you had promised not to lie to him, but he was treading dangerous waters.

He raised an eyebrow. "You know something," he accused. You flushed and wouldn't look at him, but nodded. "And you wish for me not to investigate this too deeply," he surmised. You nodded again, sheepishly. "Y/N, you know I dislike secrets..."

You sighed heavily and nodded. You took his hand and led him across the hall to your room. He didn't protest, but did yank you back from entering the room first so he could make sure it was clear for intruders. Overprotective husband. You picked up your tablet from your desk, thanked your foresight that you had remembered to throw it on the charger before you ran off to Asgard and started looking for the file you needed.

[This secret is dangerous] you told Loki firmly before you would hand the tablet over. [Are you sure you want it? I can bear it alone] He silently held out his hand for the tablet. You handed it over and curled up on your bed while he read the documents. It took him awhile, but he finally made it through the whole thing and handed you the tablet back. You closed out of the document again and made sure it was hidden on the tablet and password protected. You didn't want the others stumbling on it.

"That secret is dangerous indeed. Darling, are you sure-?" you glared at him. He sighed. "Of course you are. Very well, I will keep the secret as well. The real reason I interrupted your shower was to drag you to breakfast. Clint said it was done," he offered you a hand to help you off your bed.