Music: Superhero - Unknown Brain

(Y/N) = Your Name
(C/P) = Chosen Pattern/Random Pattern
(F/C) = Favourite Colour
(E/C) = Eye Colour

:Chapter Twenty-Four:

"J-Just stay back! Stay away from me!"

"(Y/N), we're not going to hurt you." Natasha told her, squatting down to the girl's height as she cowered in the corner.

"I can't believe you! I won't! I can't trust anyone!"

"You can trust us." Tony spoke softly, which surprised a few of the Avengers. Stark wasn't known for a soft, calming voice, more like an egoistic, sarcastic one.

"How do I know? How can I be sure? People said that to be before and they lied!" (Y/N) cried, scooting back further as the male stepped closer, "They lied and hurt me!"

"I promise we won't hurt you. You don't have to be afraid of us." Tony whispered, holding out his hand. (Y/N) stared at it uncertainly, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"People are afraid of me." she mumbled, pressing her thumb into her palm, "I hurt people, I'm a bad person. I could hurt you."

"You won't hurt me. You won't hurt any of us."

"H-How can you be sure?"

"Because we want to help you." Thor spoke, "We know that you are afraid of your own power, and we want to help you to control that power."

"I'm un-helpable."

"Un-helpable? Is that a word?" Thor asked, looking towards Banner.

(Y/N) shrugged, "I was never taught to read or write - and I only learnt talking by listening to people."

"We can help you with that." Steve smiled, "We can teach you about us, about the world around you and we can teach you about yourself."

"Why are you acting so caring towards me? Don't you know what I'm capable of?"

"We want to understand you, and help you understand yourself." Natasha told her, "It doesn't matter what you're capable of because that doesn't change you, does it?"

"We help because that's what heroes do!" Thor grinned.

(Y/N) looked back at Tony, staring at his hand as it reached for her again. Stark saw the uncertainty in her eyes and smiled, "No one will hurt you." Slowly, she reached out and eventually clasped hold of his hand, tightening her grip the further she moved from the comfort of the corner, "I promise."

-----

A small groan resonated from the subconscious girl, her head tilting against the pillow. She could hear faint footsteps as they echoed around her mind, along with a distant beeping sound.

"(Y/N)?"

Her eyes opened slightly, squinting at the bright lights above her, groaning quietly again. The beeping seemed to get louder, and her head turned in the direction of the noise, glaring at the machine before mumbling, "Shut the fuck up."

A small chuckle lifted into the air, and (Y/N) turned to find the source of the sound, "...Lokes?"

The God nodded, sitting down on the chair beside her bed, clutching hold of the hand closest to him, "I'm here."

(Y/N) frowned, looking down at her wrists. Didn't she have blue limiters on before? Loki looked at the machine, noticing her heart rate begin to accelerate. She looked around the room, fully taking into account where she was.

"(Y/N), calm down. You're safe."

"What... What happened?" she asked, "All I remember was going on a mission, and then-" she gasped, sitting up. She clutched her pounding head at the sudden movement and squinted weakly, "W-Where's Zola... What happened to him? Is he here?"

(Y/N)'s heart rate picked up dramatically, causing the Avengers to rush into the room, "(Y/N), you've been out for three weeks. You used up too much energy when..." Loki stared at her.

"What? What did I do?"

"You killed him. He's gone."

The female frowned, staring at the blank wall, "...I did?"

Bucky stepped forward and knelt next to the bed, "(Y/N), you had another blackout." he told her.

(Y/N) tensed, "What?" she breathed.

"We checked everywhere for Zola." Bruce spoke, "All of the computers, files, records... He's gone - for good."

(Y/N) stared at her hands, wide (E/C) orbs, before turning to face Loki for the first time. She saw a dark bruise still circling his right eye, followed by a few cuts and scratched elsewhere that would heal soon enough. She gasped, gripping her head as the memories flood back to her.

She could remember fighting Loki.

She remembered all of his clones scattered around her, trapping her. She could feel her hands igniting with light energy before it disbursed around her, destroying the illusions and hitting the God right on.

Loki had stumbled back, and his brother had come to his rescue.

(Y/N) turned to the others, and took in their forms properly, looking at all their cuts and bruises. She noticed Bucky's bionic arm missing, and those memories came back to her.

Her ripping it from his body and leaving him almost helpless. She would've truly hurt him if Steve hadn't blocked her incoming attack and threw her off guard.

He breathing suddenly became rushed and ragged, ripping the wires from her body and stumbling off the bed. Bucky stepped back, looking away. (Y/N) looked at the redhead, flinching and staring down at her hands again.

She could've killed Natasha.

She could still feel her fragile skin as he hand clenched around her neck.

The bruise was still plastered on her skin, and (Y/N) didn't know whether or not she could speak - she put too much pressure on her neck to not have no injury.

Then (Y/N) turned to Peter. Her best friend. The boy looked pale, as if he'd only been up from unconsciousness for a few hours. He looked back at her, and she expected to see fear, but she didn't. Peter looked worried - and it wasn't even for him.

(Y/N) remembered him trying to attack her - trying to calm her.

He'd successfully wrapped her in his webs, holding her steady whilst Mr Stark was preparing something. But a surge of light energy ran through her, and through the webs. It shot back at him, enough to startle the boy, giving her enough time to grab his wrist and lob him into a tree.

(Y/N) could see the dark bruise on the left side of his face, his busted lip - maybe even a broken nose.

"I... I-I..." (Y/N) looked at them, eyes full of tears, "I-I'm so sorry." she whispered, stepping backwards, towards the corner where she felt most safe.

"(Y/N), it's okay. You were under HYDRA's control." Tony told her, stepping forward slightly.

"B-But I hurt you. I'm dangerous." Stark went to walk over to her but she put her hands up to stop him, "No, don't come any closer! I don't want to hurt you more."

Tony paused, "You won't hurt us anymore - we know you won't."

"Look what I did to Peter - I'm so sorry... I-I didn't mean to. I-" (Y/N) rushed towards the door, on the other side, stumble to a stop as a Loki illusion stood in front of her.

"(Y/N)..." he mumbled, walking out from the door. She turned to him, tears dribbling down her cheeks. Loki gave her a worried look and was immediately in front of her, wrapping his arms around her form. (Y/N) sniffed, letting the tears fall as she buried her head in his sweater, "I'm so sorry I didn't protect you." he whispered.

"It's not your fault, Loki." (Y/N) whispered.

-----

"And these new limiters are resistant to your heated skin when you use your power." Peter grinned, clipping them back onto her wrists, "I also made the designs on them to suit you and your style."

It had been a couple of days since (Y/N) had woken up, and everything had turned back to normal. Almost. Loki had continuously been around her, making sure that (Y/N) never left his sight unless it was necessary. He'd also regained his powers back completely from Odin after proving he was worthy of them - Thor was proud of his brother.

Stark ruffled the teenager's hair and grinned, "This kid has a gift."

(Y/N) smiled at them, looking down at the (C/P) pattern and (F/C) glow, before she frowned. Peter looked worried, "Do you not like them? I can change them if-"

"No, no!" (Y/N) gave him a grin, "They're perfect. I just... Why are you guys okay with this? I hurt you - I almost killed you... Why do you help me? You know these make me stronger."

"We help you because we care about you, (Y/N)." Peter smiled, "You're my best friend! I'll always be there for you, no matter the odds."

"Exactly! Plus Reindeer Games really freaked me out." Stark muttered.

"How so?"

"By saying-"

"I love you."

(Y/N) tensed, turning around to face the God of Mischief. Loki stood by the doorway, a nervous smile on his face, "What?" she asked, walking closer to him.

Loki stared at the girl before him, raising his hand and pushing a few locks of her hair out of her face. His emerald eyes met her (E/C) ones, before speaking again, "I said, I love you."

"Aw, man - I wanted to tell her that." Stark pouted, wishing he could've ruined the God's moment for once.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened, "B-But... why... I almost killed you as well."

"Trust me, it's not the first time," Loki chuckled, before resting his hand on her cheek, "But ever since you dragged me to that cell by my neck, you always intrigued me. Everyone else used to walk past me with fear, but you never once cowered. You were always there with your snarky retaliations and witty comebacks, always somehow making my day brighter."

"I didn't know what it was that I felt. I didn't realise it until it was too late. And when you were taken over by Armin, I couldn't bare to watch you suffer inside yourself and I knew I had to save you - I had to protect you just like I promised. The All-father gave me back my powers for one time to help me bring you back, and I won't ever regret it."

"You may think you're a monster, but you're not. I've told you before - you're a phoenix, darling." Loki smiled, leaning down, "You're my phoenix."

Loki's lips pressed against (Y/N)'s, sealing his words with a kiss. Tony immediately put his hands over Peter's eyes, looking towards the elevator as the other Avengers came in, "Hey, guys, there's a kid here!"

"Wha- hey!"

"Brother, you've finally confessed!" Thor cheered.

(Y/N) grinned, smiling into the kiss before pulling away and looking up at him with bright (E/C) eyes, "I love you too, Loki, Prince of Asgard, God of Mischief, rightful King of Jotunheim, Odinson."

Loki snickered at her, "I'm glad you remember."