The next thing you knew, you were being dragged out of bed. You opened your mouth to scream, your eyes snapping open as you automatically reached for a dagger. A hand clapped over your mouth while the person dragging you out of bed grabbed your wrist to stop you from drawing a dagger on them. "Kat, it's me," Claire hissed in a whisper. She dragged you from your bed and through a portal, her hand still firmly over your mouth. She didn't trust you when you was mostly asleep. You didn't blame her. "Balder claimed another victim," she explained once you were on the other side of the portal. "You're the only one strong enough to save his victims," she added as she finally removed her hand from your mouth. You stumbled behind her, still not awake as she dragged you to the emergency bay where one of the younger teen supers was lying in the bed.

You saw instantly why Balder had chosen her. She had dyed her hair magenta-red. It wasn't the right shade, but it was as close as dye could get to your color of red hair. She was one of the newest recruits. You hadn't even gotten a chance yet to learn her name or her powers. Balder had gutted her, just like he had done to Tony, Pepper, Loki, and Veronica. You fought back your anger at him. That wouldn't help right now.

In your haze of exhaustion, you didn't even think of calling for Loki's help. You weren't sure how much sleep you had gotten in the last three days, but it wasn't nearly enough. Too much had been going on. You were in an exhausted autopilot, bordering on a healing trance, which was dangerous for you, so you did exactly what a healer on autopilot did when faced with a victim as injured as this little girl was. You threw yourself straight into the healing without thinking of anything more than fixing this girl.

You didn't notice or think about anything else until cold hands pulled you gently away from the girls' bed what felt like a long while later. You had been so lost to the healing trance and the pull of the healing magic that you hadn't noticed anything around you. "She is healed, darling. Time to let go," Loki told you softly as he took a couple of steps back, pulling you with him so your glowing blue hands lost contact with the girl and broke the last of the healing trance. You looked the girl over automatically and saw that the wound was healed. It would still be sore and fragile, but it would heal completely with time. Once that was confirmed, you could finally turn from her bed and look at Loki, finally noticing the exhaustion haze in your eyes and that your vision was starting to go black around the edges. Damn. "One of these days you will have to enlighten me as to how you manage to push yourself beyond your body's limits without losing consciousness until after the healing is complete. It should be quite impossible." You reached out to hold on to him to steady yourself. He swept you up into his arms before your legs gave out. You opened your mouth to answer his question. "Right this moment is not the proper time to tell you that story. Rest now," he interrupted you before you could speak and knock out the entire room. That sounded like a good idea, so you laid your head more comfortably on his shoulder. He smiled at you, glad you were being reasonable for once. You vaguely felt, or was it saw, your brain was too foggy to even notice the difference, when Tony arrived. He paused at the doorway, taking in the scene.

Loki turned to glare at Claire and Healer Julia. "You lot are supposed to be making sure she does not get in this state from overwork. I know for a fact that you have been warned by Fury after the last time, which was just a few weeks ago. Surely your memories cannot be that poor," he snarled at them. "You two both know that healers will not stop until they collapse from exhaustion or the healing is complete, and you know that Lady Y/N is especially bad about that, most especially when you catch her when she is half asleep." They at least had the grace to look ashamed. Loki slipped into formality when he was fighting to rein in his temper.

"We had no choice. Grace would have died without Kat's help!" Claire protested, nearly whining.

"So, this child's life is worth more than the life of your strongest healer, the life of my beloved? Is that why you kidnapped her from our chambers? Is that why you feared to wake me when I could have helped with the healing, which you both very well know?" Loki was downright terrifying when he was angry. His cold rage spiraled throughout the room and ice formed along the walls. You weren't sure you had ever seen him this angry before. In that moment, all you could do was be glad that his anger wasn't directed at you. "Neither of you will like the consequences if you ever try to pull this stunt again." Loki snarled, holding you protectively to his cool chest.

Tony took a step forward in the silence, drawing attention to him. "What'd you wake me for, Loki? What's the emergency?" he demanded, as if he hadn't just overheard all of Loki's threats.

"The healers kidnapped Kat from her bed down here to heal someone without bothering to wake me, or have anyone here to monitor her power levels. You know how healers are..." Loki explained to Tony. His voice was calm, but you could still feel his anger at the situation.

"It was one of Balder's victims!" Claire protested. "She's the only one strong enough to heal them!" Tony, Loki, and Julia all glared at her. She wasn't helping anything.

"Why do you need my help?" Tony asked, almost pleasantly. He was up to something if he was being that pleasant in this situation. "It looks like you have the situation under control,"

"You are much better at yelling at the mortals than I am. I thought it best to ask for your assistance in the matter of scolding them, and of course the subsequent report to Fury," Loki replied pleasantly. Tony gave him a real smile. Those two getting along wasn't a good thing.

"You're right on that one, though you were doing a good job on your own. She gonna be ok?" Tony asked, concerned when you hadn't moved an inch even though your eyes were still open. You started to answer with a smart-ass remark about how you was perfectly fine.

"Love, I realize that you are exhausted and rather drained of power, which generally makes you adorably brain dead, but kindly try to remember not to speak. I would hate to drop you because I have passed out," Loki interrupted you before you could answer, his voice kind and gentle with you. He looked over at Tony. "She will be alright once I can get her back to bed," he reassured your uncle.

"Go. I'll take care of things here. Get her to bed before she hurts someone," Tony ordered with a glint of a smile at you. You managed to lift your arm enough to flip him off. "Love you too, imp. Get some sleep,"

"Alright, my darling little witch, off to bed with you," Loki said softly, his voice filled with love as he carried you from the room. You heard Tony begin roaring at the healers while you left. They were doomed to a long lecture and another scolding tomorrow when Fury got ahold of them.

/You're not mad?/ you asked, fully expecting, now that you were thinking more clearly, for him to be upset with you for draining yourself this much.

"Not at you, darling," he told you gently as he climbed the stairs, holding you as if you weighed nothing. "I am upset with them for dragging you out of bed and not bothering to bring me along. I know how healers are. Were it my main gift, I would probably be the same way. I am just glad I woke enough to realize you were gone," he explained gently and kissed your forehead.

/I'm ok/ you tried to reassure him.

"Try that again in the morning when you can think coherently," he chuckled. "You sound drunk."

You was asleep in his arms before you had even gotten back to your floor.