Beneath Me 》 Loki Laufeyson《 [UNDER HEAVY EDITING]

18. 》Triggered《 ⚠️

⚠️ Warning: mentions of trauma, torture, and assault.

Sh*t, Kara was drowning.

"HELP! HELP! I CAN'T SWI- ARFGSHAJHS", Kara's yells were muffled by the water hitting her face due to her violent paddling.

"Stop panicking, Kara!", Tony called out as he jumped up from his seat, frantically looking around for something she could grab on to.

"Sh*t, sh*t. What happened?" Rhodey, Clint, Natasha and Sam came running over. All there gazes fell onto the pool water splashing and arms waving around.

"NO! PLEASE, STO-", her cries were silenced by a hand swiftly pushing her face into a drum of water.

"Every time you make a mistake, Kara, expect consequences.", Strucker said from afar, casually eating some finger foods as he watched his goon practically drown the young woman. Kara had her hands tied behind her back, but that didn't stop her from fighting back up for oxygen. She attempted to kick the man, but she without air, she was slowly starting to lose the strength to do so.

When Kara's body began to go limp, the man's eyes flickered to his boss. Werner stood up and snapped his fingers. His goon pulled her hair and brought her head back up. Kara took in as much air as she could in one inhalation, then started breathing in and out rapidly.

Another snap of Werner's fingers, and her weak frame was thrown to the ground. Her head was still fuzzy from the loss of oxygen, and now her joints and muscles were aching as a result of the harsh action.

"What do you say?", Strucker whispered as he kneeled down to her level. Kara couldn't reply, still desperately gasping for air.

Another pull on her hair. "I said, what do you say?"

Kara struggled to form sentences, as she looked him dead in the eye and answered, "I'm sorry, and thank you."

Werner smiled wickedly and dismissed her. He ordered his goon to give her one final kick in the stomach, though, before leaving her be.

"Lady Kara, I'm coming-" Before Thor could finish his sentence, a pair of arms grabbed Kara's legs and waist, and brought her to the edge of the pool.

Kara puffed and panted as she got a taste of oxygen. Aside from the cold water, agonizing recollections of her water tortures under Strucker caused her to shiver. Loki wrapped his arms protectively around her, and in this instance, Kara did not try to fight him off.

"Shh... it's all right, darling. You are safe now.", he cooed in her ear, making Kara grip on his shoulder tighter and lean further into the crook of his neck. The raven haired god threw eye-daggers in his brother's direction.

So did the rest of the Avengers.

"Lady Kara, I do apologize for my actions-" "Save it, Thor.", Loki cut him off, rubbing circles in Kara's lower back.

"It's fine. It wa-was a-an accide-dent-" "No.", The God of Mischief cut Kara off this time, looking at her with worry and sadness.

Natasha approached them, holding a towel for her. Kara was surprised at first, but she accepted the item with a small nod to the redhead.

"Loki, I am terribly sorry-"

"You always do this! Reckless, insensitive, impulsive Thor. You know, these are the times when you give justice to the term 'witless oaf' ". Loki yelled at his brother, standing up and walking towards him. Thor's jaw clenched.

Natasha and Clint offered to get Kara out of the scene, both sensing tension brewing among the Asgardian princes. The other men began to approach the gods cautiously. Wanda and Vision came over, but decided not to interfere, afraid they would provoke the two rather than pacify them.

"Every single thing I do in your eyes is reckless, Loki. All you see in me are the negative traits I possess, or the misdeeds I've done. How would like it if I brought back your past wrongdoings and take them against you every time you shut yourself off from the rest of us?", Thor replied sharply, inching closer to his brother. Loki did the same, and Tony and Rhodey started to pull him back.

"Is not that what you do anyways? All of you look at me like a disgusting creature walking amongst you. Do not think that your weary glances and your petty insults at me go unnoticed. I came to Midgard looking for redemption, but I received rejection instead.", the younger brother answered, walking past the blonde god and bumping his shoulder roughly. Thor was about to strike back when he was stopped by Steve and Sam.

"Stop, Thor. He is your brother.", Steve warned. Thor shoved the captain off forcefully, and threw the disk on the ground.

"He' adopted.", Thor spat bitterly, turning the opposite direction and storming off.

The other members were left looking dumbfounded at what happened. "Wow, so much for a 'team outing' "., Tony remarked. Steve sighed heavily.

"Is Kara all right?", Wanda inquired, to which Tony nodded, pointing to the cabin they stayed in.

"Loki's rant actually made sense, to be honest.", Rhodey added, crossing his arms.

"We haven't been the best hosts to him during his stay here on Earth.", Sam spoke up.

"Can you blame us? After his little stunt in New York, how could we not be weary of him?", Tony interjected. Steve shook his head.

"For the past years, Loki hasn't tried anything on us. He may be a bit moody at times, but majority of the times, he would much rather be alone than with us. And I think that's partly our fault.", the captain uttered.

Silence came afterward.

"I'm going to check on Kara.", Wanda suddenly piped up, running towards the cabin. Vision flew swiftly to follow her.

"I... am going to get myself another smoothie. Come on, Rhodes.", Tony added, heading towards the snack shack.

Sam looked at the disk that Thor had left on the ground. He exchanged glances with Steve, who sighed in response.

"Frisbee?", Sam asked.