'the evil it spread like a fever ahead, it was night when you died my firefly'

A SIGH ESCAPED HER LIPS UNBIDDEN as she found herself sat once again in the all too familiar meeting room. This time, though, they had shed the cloak of mystery draped over their mission, the sense of unknown which haunted her every time. This time, they knew exactly what they were searching for.

The room seemed oddly empty that day, no glass vase placed neatly on the pearly white windowsill, no adorned pillows nestled in the corners of the couches. The emptiness was uncomfortable, and it prompted her as she squirmed in her chair slightly, an icy breeze blowing against her face from her seat besides the window.

As soon as the last of the team had entered the meeting room, Fury stood up, clearing his throat as he placed down a file of papers, eyes examining everyone in the room for a second before speaking.

"As I expect you all know," the director spoke, voice a deep baritone ringing clearly and authoritatively in the room, "The stones are very much where we expect them to be, but they aren't obtainable."

"They aren't in alliance to their physical form," Loki spoke up grimly, a downward curl in his lip, "It was the only thing keeping them in check, contained. They knew Thanos wasn't worthy so they fled. Its in our best interest to.. reabsorb them."

"Reabsorb meaning?" Steve inquired warily, inspecting Loki with narrowed eyes.

"We have to bind the powers back to their rightful stones, but that'll require an immense force," he explained, trailing off at the end as his eyes flitted up and glanced around the room, a hesitancy in his tone as he continued, "There's a particular power, though, that I know will work."

Immediately, Stephen grimaced in his seat, sitting up straight as his attention was peaked. Exchanging a knowing glance to the trickster who had just spoken, and the room fell into a wave of curiosity.

Wanda furrowed her brow in confusion as Loki refused to meet her eye, and was appearing to be struggling with words, an air of hesitancy surrounding him as he opened his mouth, before closing it again and flitting his gaze to the table. Shutting his eyes closed firmly, he took in a shaky breath as he finally uttered out the words;

"Chaos magic."

Oh.

Pursing his lips, Loki leaned back in his seat, words failing him as his mouth soured, no longer wanting to speak. The words felt like poison in his throat as he spewed them, and they had seared through his skin by now.

"Me?" Wanda breathed out, face slackening at the sudden realisation. Nodding grimly, Loki finally allowed himself to look up at her, but it seemed to make that pang in his chest that much stronger as he watched her face fall into one of confusion and fear. "I- how?"

The silence following her inquiry was deafening, and her eyes flitted between Loki and Stephen, a desperate attempt at normalcy coating her demeanour as she masked the impending horror looming over her. Loki read through it instantly, he had grown accustom to the pointers of his witch's false forced mask of bravery, he could read her through the emerald of her irises, even when she built up walls around them, he saw through them like glass.

"It's a power which is powerful enough but also.. unsteady? It's enough to match the stones themselves," Stephen spoke up, selecting his words carefully as he threaded his fingers together on the table.

It felt like she had been winded, words escaping her gasp as she sat glued in place, arms tense by her sides as she bit her tongue. Despite her stunned silence, the conversation continued on, barely feeling the loss of contribution from Wanda (or Loki at that matter, who had become uncharacteristically quiet).

"Say we do manage to bind these stones," Tony spoke up, lifting up from his chair dramatically as he waved a hand up exasperatedly, "What do we do with them then?"

"Nothing," Stephen replied, rolling his eyes at Tony's antics as his cape swatted his chair back out, and the doctor gestured for him to sit back down. Grumbling, Tony obliged. "The stones already know Thanos isn't worthy, he knows that too."

"That won't stop him from trying," Bucky pointed out grimly, "It won't stop Thanos at all."

"No," the wizard agreed, nodding slowly before pausing for a second, hands sliding of the table and to his sides as he stood up suddenly.

"But removing him with them will."

"Are you okay?" Loki's voice tore through the silence as he observed her warily where she sat in the centre of their bed, fingers tugging at the silk blankets beneath her. Eyes remaining trained on the velvet carpet, she shook her head absent-mindedly. Raising a brow, he looked at her suspiciously, but opted to avoid prodding the situation as he shucked off his jacket, neatly draping it over the chair by her vanity as he began to unbutton the top of his shirt. His eyes flicked to the side at the sound of rustling fabric, and he found her vacated spot now empty as the bathroom door clicked shut behind him.

Had he pissed her off? Loki was no stranger to the fact that he had a dazzling talent for crawling under people's skin, he was not ashamed of that, but he hadn't ever intended to disturb her. Slowly, he walked over to the door, the sound of muffled running water audible at his spot against the wall. Leaning an arm against it, he patiently waited for the door to swing open.

Sniffling slightly, she squealed in surprise as she turned her head to find him inches away from the door, eyes examining her.

"Care to tell me what I did?"

Groaning, she twisted on her heel, wordlessly walking to the bed as she ignored his scoff behind her. Kicking off her slippers, she snuggled into the covers, tugging them firmly beneath her chin as she lay there, utterly ignoring Loki's very presence.

"Fine," he caved with a humourless laugh, his clothes morphing into sleepwear with a click of his fingers as he approached the other side of the bed. On the way, he flicked the light switch off, consuming the room in darkness as he sunk under the sheets.

It partially annoyed him, her unwillingness to communicate, he refused to take the blame for something he didn't know he was doing. Somewhere internally, a small flame of fear had burst up at the thought that he may have actually hurt her, it made his heart cringe uncomfortably into a weird feeling he didn't recognise.

Shaking it off, he flicked his wrist in a small movement, teleporting to himself a book which he had been reading. The crisp pages turned beneath his fingertips as he opened it, eyes scanning the words.

For a while, the time was spent in silence, and he assumed she had fallen asleep by now, but the guilt trickling down his spine was beginning to become too hard to ignore, jumping to the forefront of his mind despite his attempts to distract from it.

His gaze drifted from the page in front of him, lingering over her sleeping frame, hair scattered messily over her face. Instinctively, his hand moved to shift the scarlet lock away, nimble fingers cradling her face. She stirred in her sleep, eyelids fluttering as she awoke to the feather-light brush of her eyelashes against her cheek.

"Mm, Loki?" She inquired, slightly restless.

"Yeah, its okay, go back to sleep," he soothed nudging her hand back down as she curled further towards him, any previous annoyance melting.

"M'sorry," she babbled in her sleep, eyes opening slightly, but narrowed to shield from the dim light he had turned on to be able to read the words etched on the pages. Noticing her struggle, he flicked it off.

"For what, Wans?" He asked, voice quiet.

"Ignoring you," she murmured sleepily, barely awake and clearly hanging on to consciousness by a thread, "I was jus' scared."

"Scared of wha- oh," he thought out loud, and suddenly, everything that had happened that night seemed to click into place. Guilt curled up in his spine for snapping at her, and he unconsciously shuffled closer to the witch as he reassured, "Its okay, consider it forgotten."

A moment of silence dispersed over the room, the two of them clearly relieved now that the air had been cleared of its uncomfortable tension.

"I don't think I can do it," her soft voice echoed out amongst the darkness, finding herself more awake than she had been before, "The infinity stones? I barely figured out how to work my powers let alone-"

"You have to," he reminded, tone stern, yet gentle as to break the news to her like she hadn't already known that, "And you can, Wanda, you are so strong. Stronger than you know."

"Maybe I don't want to be."

The somber tone she had uttered in made him bite his tongue, he supposed it had been a little harsh to drop that bomb on her at the meeting without warning. And then continue to barely give her any time to react. Yeah, maybe it was better to turn it down a notch.

"Loki?" She called out, her hand finding his in the darkness as he intertwined their fingers.

"Neither do I, my witch," he admitted, a grim agreement lingering in the air as he lifted her head which lay on the pillow an inch away from him onto his lap, tangling his fingers into her hair. The motion was soothing, and she felt her body threaten to drift away again.

"Read to me?" She requested, uncomfortable in the atmosphere they had set with their rather sensitive conversation, his fingers stilled from where they massaged her head to reach over and grab the book he had abandoned on the night stand for her. Pulling the hand which was locked with hers away to support the book, his other hand continued his ministrations in her hair as his deep voice filling the room in what she would consider an enchanting aura. Loki didn't need magic, she decided, mind drifting off, he was captivating all on his own.

As she lay blissfully unaware of her surroundings, finally letting herself surrender to the grips of her exhaustion, she felt a gentle flutter against her forehead, the touch barely recognisable in her state as she managed to catch a soft whisper.

"Rest easy, my darling, I'll be here when you awaken."

True to his word, she awoke to his sleeping presence besides her. For the rest of the day, she felt oddly attached to him, it seemed her fear had brought forth a sudden urge to be clingy, but she quashed it down, unable to allow herself the small comfort of his company. She wasn't a child in need of guidance, she was a fully grown woman, fortified with steel and fire in her blood to fight for herself, she didn't need to cling to anyone. Besides, a wriggling thought that always lingered in the back of her mind reminded her how dangerous it was attaching to someone, how it only made it more painful when they inevitably left.

Groaning, she found herself sat in the main room of the compound, the background noise of Sam and Bucky bickering muffling the TV as Thor laughed along.

"Do you guys ever stop?" She muttered under her breath, swinging her legs over the side of the sofa as she stood up, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. "Whats it this time?" She asked Thor as she entered the connected dining room the three of them were stood in.

"He put 'My little pony' magnets all over my arm!" Bucky exclaimed in genuine annoyance, prompting Wanda to stifle a laugh, disguising it with a cough.

"Wow, that sounds.. terrible," she managed out, biting back a smile. "Can I see?"

Throwing his head back in annoyance, Bucky walked away, a steaming mug in his hands as Sam smirked mischievously behind his back.

"It was so worth it," he declared, seating himself up onto a stool by the breakfast bar as Wanda sat across from him.

"When did you even find the time to get his arm?"

"I am a man of many talents," the falcon boasted, and Wanda smiled over the rim of her mug of hot chocolate she had previously abandoned on the table. Cringing, she observed the warm liquid had cooled down now, and cold hot chocolate was not quite as enjoyable. "How you feeling, by the way?"

Furrowing her brow, she waved it off, declaring herself fine before questioning the sudden change in mood.

"All this Thanos stuff.. lets just say its been messing with a lot of the team," he trailed off, ever the true therapist at heart as he worried himself over the well-being of his team. Wanda shifted uncomfortably in her seat, maybe she wasn't as fine as she claimed, it had taken a toll on her, having such a burden weighing on her shoulders. But someone had to do the job.

"And what about you?" She questioned softly, moving a hand onto the table as he returned a sad smile.

"Its hard but someone has to keep it together for the rest of us."

"And we appreciate that, Sam, but you don't have to keep it together," she cringed at her trivial attempt at comfort, she had never been great at emotions.

Growing up, Pietro had been the comforting one, the one who's cheeky jokes and dimpled smiles would lift spirits. He was the sunshine to her rain, and as a child, she hated that about him. She hated how her parents friends and teachers would ruffle his hair and call him a sweet cherub, overflowing his bag with sweets and gifts just to see him smile. She hated how he stole the conversation whenever he opened his mouth, how at the dinner table in the evening his parents would watch with fond smiles as he babbled on and on. It brewed so much jealousy in her, but now, she missed it so much her heart ached.

"I know, thanks though, Wans."

It broke her out of her thanks as she sent him a brief smile, clinking her nails against her abandoned glass. Despite herself, the atmosphere in the room was peaceful for once, it felt calm.

And then, as if to shatter her moment into pieces, the alarm started blaring, and all havoc broke out.

a/n:

boring chapter? boring chapter. also its not proofread but we movee. i am literally so sorry i havent updated in over a month, but on the bright side, i might, emphasis on the might, be less busy after this week.

anyways, i hope you enjoyed it even though it was a bit more lowkey than usual, and ill see you in the next one <3