The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 8

The next pieces came in snippets.

You registered Lokitty's yowl of protest and indignation even as your arms wrapped firmly around the shield ball to keep it safe.

You registered that the explosion should have knocked out your hearing even as you were flying backwards through the air. That wasn't something you were supposed to be focusing on. Thanks stupid brain.

You felt the thousands shards of shrapnel impale your body through the protective material of your costume and heard your own howl of pain.

You registered falling hard, landing on your back as the breath was knocked out of you.

You definitely registered pain and too much blood.

So much pain.

The yowl changed to a roar of pain, anger, grief, rage as the shield ball shattered, not from external force, but from inside. The sound was of such anguish that a human throat should never have been able to make it and should never have had a reason to. And yet.

A slim figure in green and black battle armor appeared, crouching protectively above you, daggers in hand as he shielded you with his body and magic. You saw the green shimmer of magic around you as explosions continued to surround the pair of you. An instant later, magic exploded outward from the figure above you, ruthlessly taking out everyone and everything that wasn't a civilian or teammate.

Loki shifted, kneeling beside you, daggers clattering to the ground. "No. Nonono," he whispered while you fought to keep focus, keep consciousness, tried to make your battered body keep breathing. You couldn't even take account of the injuries, besides noting that your were filled with shrapnel, you were much too busy trying to remain breathing. Breathing was important, and way too difficult.

Yet, you managed to raise your hand to his cheek, then one of the cat-ears on his head, panting for air, yet you smiled for him, a reassurance you didn't feel. "You're safe, my Lokitty," you told him softly, relieved, so far lost to the bloodloss and shock that you couldn't think of anything but that particular point.

"Why? Why save me?" he demanded frantically, tears in his eyes, as your hand fell back to your stomach. His hands were glowing green as he placed them on you.

You couldn't understand. "Why wouldn't I? I couldn't save both of us, but... I could save you, and you're mine to protect," you gasped, but your breathing was becoming easier the longer he kept his hands on you. "I love you, you silly cat," you spoke as if he were still the cat, not a mostly-human shaped Asgardian.

"I am not worthy of that honor, love. Had you not shoved me inside that damn shield I could have, would have... Never mind that now. If you die on me, I will bring you back so I can kill you again myself," he growled. You knew he was angry at the situation, not really at you. He was terrified for you, and you knew it was impressively hard to terrify a god. You heard the fear behind his words, the outright terror that you were actively dying in his arms, and the fear that his skills wouldn't be enough.

Footsteps had finally made it to you. Loki's shields had vanished when he had taken out the entire battlefield with that magic explosion. "Brother?" Thor asked, kneeling on your other side, careful not to touch you, not to dare interrupt Loki's magic. The rest of the team was gathered around helplessly.

"I've got her," Loki replied stiffly, his focus on his magic. "She's not dying on my watch." Breathing was easier, though the world kept trying to turn black. The pain had eased, eased, but wasn't gone. The blood kept pouring.

"Why are we trusting him?" Tony demanded helplessly.

"You think I don't care for her?" Loki snapped, glaring at Tony. "And you best trust me because right now my magic is the only thing keeping her alive," he snarled and focused his attention back on you. Thor said something, more effectively shutting Tony up.

"Loki. Healing potion. At home," you managed to focus to enough to get the words out. It was so hard to focus, to do anything but float on the haze of healing magic, to ignore the battering your body had taken.

Loki gave you a small smile. "Smart little witch," his voice was soft and warm, gentle and reassuring for you. He was standing a moment later with you in his arms. You whimpered as the increase in pain at being moved broke through Loki's magic. "I know, love, I know," he told you gently as you fought to remain conscious.

"Should you really be moving her?" Cap asked, protesting the moment Loki had started to move.

"Medical is heading to the tower," Tony said at the same time.

"Unless you have a better idea how to get to the tower besides moving her," Loki snarled.

"Brother, can you teleport that far?" Thor asked, holding Mjolnir ready to fly if necessary. Loki nodded. "Then go. We will be right behind you,"

"Hold on, love," Loki told you as he held you more securely in his arms. You reappeared in the medical room of the tower a moment later. He laid you on the bed. "Where are the potions?" he asked, staring into your eyes with his bright green ones, trying to make you focus enough to help him. You managed to point to one of the medical cabinets.

"Emergency only," you rasped. You finally caught a glimpse of the sheer amount of damage to your body and knew that this was definitely the time for that particular potion. There was only one in there labelled 'emergency only'. You couldn't even comprehend the damage, or the amount of power it was taking Loki to keep you alive, much less conscious. He rushed back to the bed, holding the small vial. He opened it and sneezed an adorable kitten sneeze.

"Damn, this is strong," he commented, a mix of impressed at your potions skills, and desperation for the healing.

"Shrapnel," you told him as you were losing the fight against consciousness. If the shrapnel wasn't removed before the potion, your body would heal over it and that would be just as bad or worse. Loki used an impressive tricky spell to find every ounce of shrapnel in your body and remove it in an instant. Though it hurt as much coming out as it had going in and you howled in pain again.

You must have blacked out for a minute.

"Stay with me, love!" Loki ordered your firmly, hooking your mind with his power and forcing you back to consciousness. "You can't sleep yet," he told you, a little more gently, but only a little. He was scared. He couldn't get the potion down your throat unless you were awake enough to swallow it.

"I can't-"

"You can and you will," he ordered in an icy regal tone.

"Stay human," you told him, your stupid brain thinking that was important right now. "Promise?"

"Only if you stay alive. Now stay awake long enough to drink this," he lifted you enough that he could tip the potion into your mouth. It took all of your willpower to swallow the awful stuff and you coughed and spluttered and cursed like a drunken sailor on leave as it crashed through your body like lightning and two teams of draft horses as it healed the worst of the damage in a matter of moments. It was labelled 'for emergencies' for a reason. It kicked like a shock to the heart and hurt like hell, but it did it's job well. Loki held you as you shook and spluttered, as the potion did it's job.

You caught your breath, not completely healed, but out of the woods. You felt Loki's magic lift from you, from your mind. You were stable enough without it. "Impressive potion indeed," he told you, truly impressed.

"Lokitty, I can't anymore-" you tried to get the point across, but you were slipping fast and weren't entirely sure he wasn't using magic to put you to sleep now that you weren't in danger.

"I know, love," he said softly and kissed your forehead, laying you gently back on the bed. "Sleep now. I will be here when you wake," he promised softly, relief so apparent in his voice. You heard him mumble something to himself about how he'd wanted you to meet his Asgardian self under less dramatic circumstances. You smiled softly at that and fell asleep, or unconscious, it was hard to be sure which.