A three part Loki x reader fanfic. Through the fire - part one, Through the ashes - part two, Through the rain - part three.

...

"Y/N. Y/N!"

Your head jerked up and your eyelids snapped open as you heard your name being called. Tony was staring at you with a look of almost despair on his face.

"This is important Y/N! I'm sorry, I know it's the middle of the night, but you need. to wake. up."

"S- sorry Tony." you yawned, feeling guilty at having dropped off. Although, none of the others looked anymore awake than you felt.

You and the rest of the Avengers were in the Quinjet, it was exactly 2:37am and you'd been woken up by the sound of Tony running through the compound yelling at everyone to get up RIGHT NOW. You were currently speeding towards a fight which had been building up for months: it was too 'dangerous and top secret' for you to know the details, but if it was a good enough reason to fight for Tony then it was a good enough reason for you too. However, you didn't see why you all had to have been woken up in the middle of the night. All your brain had been able to compute was 'surprise attack' and 'kill the bad guys'; that was all you needed. Being an Avenger was great and all, but at times like these you despaired at the responsibility that was put upon you.

Your head involuntarily slumped again, and you felt a cool hand rest on your thigh. Loki. Placing your hand on top of his you gave a grateful squeeze as you felt his magic running through your veins; suddenly you felt a lot more awake. You turned your head to smile at him, your eyes fully open now, and he winked at you briefly before returning his attention to what Tony was saying, entwining his fingers with yours. Tony was reiterating yet again how dangerous this was and how careful you all needed to be; you couldn't help but notice how nervous everyone looked. There was a vague sense of panic in the air which you didn't like one bit. As one of the newest recruits, along with Peter Parker (who you had become fast friends with) Loki and Bucky, you hadn't been told the full story (much to your annoyance); you had been told it was for your own safety. Even more disgusted at this was Loki, who had been through "much more than this trivial ordeal" and couldn't believe that "as one of the only two gods on the team" he "still couldn't be trusted". You were reluctant to remind him of the reasons Tony and the others probably wouldn't trust him for a while. After managing to persuade him that it was fine not knowing all the details ("it's for my safety too Loki") (that had shut him up), he'd accepted that he didn't know everything and agreed to help anyway.

The Quinjet landed with a slight bump, and everyone stood up simultaneously. No one spoke for a moment; the air was fraught with tension. Tony swallowed nervously.

"Okay. The odds are against us right now, but when have they ever been for us?"

That was true.

"Just be careful alright? All of you."

As he spoke those last words he looked directly at you and Peter, worry clearly etched on to his face. You felt Loki's hand tighten around yours.

The back of the Quinjet opened into the night and everyone began to file out. You were about to follow when Loki tugged lightly on your arm, and you turned to face him.

"It's going to be fine." he murmured, and you opened your mouth to reply doubtfully, but he shook his head before you could speak.

"It's fine." he repeated, tilting your chin up to look at him and forcing a smile. You could tell it was forced; it didn't reach his eyes – he was worried. This didn't do anything to help your nerves.

"Just be careful, and- "

"Stay close to me." You finished for him, having heard him say it a dozen times before. "I know." You were suddenly scared for what was about to happen, you wanted confident Tony and Steve yelling orders at everyone, not this subdued nervous vibe. It felt wrong; like you'd already lost.

Loki smiled again and brushed his lips against your forehead for a fraction of a second, before leading you outside to stand with the others. Clint remained in the cockpit; he would hover over the scene and be ready to intervene if things went wrong.

The Quinjet hummed quietly as Clint took off, and then became invisible. It was a small comfort knowing he was up there, waiting.

"You know the drill, let's get in and out as quickly as possible." Tony said, pointing towards the dark building that loomed behind you. Reluctantly, you followed the group towards the run-down building that seemed to exude despair, feeling your magic bubbling just below the surface, ready to protect yourself and the others if anything unexpected happened.

Inside the building it was deathly quiet, the only audible noise the sound of your footsteps echoing around the abandoned lobby as you spread out.

"I don't like this. It's too quiet." Tony said in a low voice from the other side of the room.

"Wait... does anyone else hear that?" Steve asked, frowning slightly.

You strained your ears, and became aware of a barely audible crackling sound coming from... where was it coming from? Then, suddenly, a much louder sound. Gunshots, heart-stoppingly close to where you were stood.

"Shit!" you heard someone yell, and you acted without thinking, throwing up your hands to create a protective shield around you and the people nearest to you. Now there were more gunshots, louder and more frequent with every second that passed. The initial shock had passed; everyone was ready for a fight, so you took down your shield and started blasting the men that had appeared all around the room with your magic instead, sending them flying backwards through walls and even once the ceiling. Having cleared the lobby relatively easily you piled after the others into another room and continued to fight, until suddenly...

"Um, where did they all go?" Peter asked, spinning around in confusion.

Equally confused, you turned back towards the door just in time for it to slam shut in your face. Heart pounding, you ran to it and threw your whole body weight against it; it didn't budge.

"This door is locked too!" Nat called from the other side of the room. You frowned, what was going on?

"A trap." Tony said, his face void of emotion.

"...no. No, it's not. It can't be- "

The lights went out. It was pitch black. Now all you could hear was the sound of your friends' breathing.

"... a trap." Bruce finished dejectedly.

You let your magic rise back up to the surface of your hands, and then hurled it powerfully towards the locked door. It barely dented it.

"How...?"

"Let me try." Thor said confidently, and proceeded to try and break it down with Mjolnir.

"What magic is this?" he growled, when it did little more damage than your magic had done.

"Clint, can you hear this? We're stuck, it was a trap- "

You moved back to let the others try and break down the door, suddenly feeling claustrophobic trapped in this room. It wasn't a small room, but it was dark, and cold. You hated the idea of those men outside, knowing they had you cornered in here. In an attempt to make the room seem less dark, you created two glowing balls of magic, one in each hand, which illuminated your face in the darkness. Wanda followed your lead, and then Loki, who was by your side in an instant.

"Are you okay?" he murmured, and you gave a singular nod, relieved that he was uninjured.

Suddenly, you heard the noise again, that crackling noise. It sounded like...

"You guys, can anyone smell smoke?" Wanda asked sharply and suddenly.

"Listen." you said hoarsely, your mouth suddenly very dry. The crackling was louder now, and now Wanda had mentioned it, you could smell smoke.

"It's fire. They've started a fire."

"Fire? You're saying they're just gonna burn us alive?" Bucky asked disbelievingly.

Everyone started talking loudly and at once at that, and you felt your head spin. How on earth were you meant to get out? The room was suddenly too hot rather than too cold, and the crackling was getting louder and louder.

"Shut up! I have an idea, but you lot are going to need to stand back. Quickly, before the walls get too hot!" Thor demanded loudly and insistently. Unused to him being so demanding, everyone immediately backed up, trying not to touch the walls which were warming up fast. A light appeared in the middle of the room; you recognised Mjolnir glowing in the darkness.

Thor was trying to summon lightning.

"Thor whoa, are you sure..."

"Shhh!" Steve hissed, poking Bucky who was stood next to him. "He's the god of thunder, he knows what he's doing."

You raised your hands, creating a shield around you, Bruce and Nat, and saw Wanda do the same to surround her and the people nearest to her. Loki completed the shield; now there was a protective wall separating Thor and the rest of you.

Seconds later there was a huge rumble of thunder, and then a searing heat and blinding light as the roof was smashed open and lightning rained down into the room. You squeezed your eyes shut and turned your face away but kept your hands raised to keep the shield up, but why was the heat more intense facing that way? Opening your eyes, you gasped and lurched backwards – the whole wall was on fire. In fact, the whole room was now burning, the wood cracking and curling loudly. The shield was broken, but now there was a huge gap in the ceiling: your escape route. The men had presumably forgotten they had been trying to entrap the god of thunder.

"Let's go! Quick!" Tony yelled, grabbing Peter and flying up through the new hole in the roof. As one of only four present that could fly, you were suddenly under a huge amount of pressure, which increased drastically when the doors slammed open and the men, having realised you'd found a way to escape, came pouring back in heavily armoured and with bigger guns than before; your heart faltered as they started firing at your friends. Instinct kicked in and you went into attack mode, sending the men smashing backwards into the fire with no remorse, determined to get them away from everyone behind you. Nat, Thor and Bucky were by your side, driving the men back; they seemed to have met their match.

"Y/N! Help!" you heard Wanda yell behind you, and turned to see her trying to levitate Bruce in his hulk form towards the roof. You ran over and helped her lift Bruce outside; Peter was already out there, and Tony landed on the grass with Steve as the Quinjet became visible again and hummed its way towards the ground. You, Wanda and Tony flew straight back inside where the heat was now almost unbearable; Thor, Bucky and Nat were still fighting – you could see Bucky was hurt even from up here. You flew down and landed in front of him hard, throwing up a wall of magic and then hurling it at the men, you didn't understand how they were still coming, or where from. Momentarily distracted by your protective wall, the gunfire ceased for a second; you turned around to grab Bucky, wincing when you saw the bullet in his leg.

"Buck, hold on to me!" you yelled, having to shout over the noise of the flames and gunfire. Somewhere within the building there was a huge crash and a whoomph of hot air: the ceiling was falling in. Bucky put an arm over your shoulder, and you flew up towards the ceiling, slower this time as you only had one hand free; the other was holding a shield of magic so you wouldn't get shot on the way up. You saw Wanda overtake you with Nat.

Outside you gasped in the clean air and tried to set Bucky down as gently as possible, unable to stand again once you touched the cool grass.

"We need to get him in the jet, now!" Steve was saying, pressing a hand to Bucky's bloodied leg.

"They're coming, get inside!" Tony yelled, landing on the grass next to you with Thor and hauling you to your feet. You coughed, there was too much smoke in your lungs and your head was spinning.

"Y/N, it's okay, get inside..." Tony was saying, leading you up the ramp swiftly. You could hear the rattle of machine guns behind you again.

"Is everyone here?" Clint yelled, scanning the room, already closing the ramp. Bullets were hitting the side of the Quinjet.

You glanced around at everyone, wait... where...?

Your heart stopped. Loki. Loki wasn't there.

It took your body a second to catch up with your brain, but when it did you moved lightning fast, out of the jet and in the air in seconds. You were immediately under fire, but your magic was surrounding you already and nothing hit you as you shot back into the building, ignoring the heat and the smoke.

Inside you could barely see or breathe, the smoke was so thick and the heat was suddenly searing. Tears sprung to your eyes, half from being unable to breathe and half from the fact that Loki was in here somewhere, you'd left him, how could you not have noticed?

"Loki!" you yelled, dropping further down into the heat, unsure whether to be alarmed or relieved that he wasn't just lying on the floor somewhere. You tried to draw another breath to yell his name again, but you inhaled pure smoke and ended up coughing and wheezing violently, spinning in a circle desperately, your eyes streaming. You knew you had to get out, but you couldn't just leave, he was in here... somewhere. Starting to feel light-headed, you smashed through a door into another room, sobbing in desperation when there was nothing but more fire and smoke in there. Your magic was so weak now it was barely protecting you from the flames, and you struggled to draw a breath, your head pounding.

Suddenly, a pair of red metal arms grabbed you around the middle and you were being hauled backwards, upwards, fast.

"No... Loki..." you choked, struggling in vain against Tony's suit and watching through blurred vision as you were flown out of the building and towards the Quinjet. The men were gone, there were no guns, and then you were inside the Quinjet, lying down on the floor, numb.

What had just happened?

Everyone was crowded over you, checking on you, asking if you were alright when Loki was the one back there, the one who was being left behind as the Quinjet flew away.

You were reeling, you couldn't think straight, everything was spinning and your chest was so tight, you couldn't breathe... the smoke...

"Y/N!" you heard Tony call your name, why did he sound so alarmed, you were fine...

Your heartbeat was loud and powerful in your ears, until suddenly, it wasn't. You felt your heart stop for the second time in ten minutes, but this time, it didn't start again.

The pain washed over you abruptly and unexpectedly, and now you really couldn't breathe, you felt someone grab your arm and you squeezed your eyes shut, feeling your head become ten times heavier and droop back all of a sudden. This couldn't be how you died, could it? Not now, not today, not like this...

The pain took over, and you felt yourself succumb to the darkness.