Oh No

Loki and Dani were practically inseparable once she let her guard down with him. When she wakes up each morning, there would be fresh flowers by her bed that were not there the night before. In the evenings, she would have his favorite tea ready for him and bring it to the library. They would both drink the tea as they read their books. Occasionally, Loki would read aloud to her. It was becoming a sort of routine.

About 3 weeks into this routine, the Avengers were called on a mission. Cap and the team needed a little extra help.

"Hey Loki, we're going to need you on this one. With Thor off-world, we could really use your help." Captain Rogers had seen the difference in Loki over the past few weeks and decided it was time to bring him out on a mission.

Loki nodded, agreeing to join the mission. His face gave the appearance of stoicism, but secretly he was excited. The Avengers finally trusted him to go out on a mission. He always wanted to belong with a group of people. Maybe this was his chance not only for that but to show that he truly had changed for the better.

Turning to Dani, he was concerned about leaving her alone. "Captain, how long might we be gone?"

"If everything goes according to plan, it should only be a few hours. "

Dani didn't want him to go, but she couldn't hold him back. She understood he would have responsibilities and would not stand in the way.

Tony officially hired her as an assistant a few days before, and she had some paperwork to catch up on.

When did anything go according to plan? Definitely not this mission nor what came after.

As it turned out, unsurprisingly, Hydra knew they were coming and had planted a trap. They let it leak on purpose that they had the scepter, but they left a fairly believable fake at the location where they were leading the team. The only person who would know the real from the fake would be Loki if they even had thought hydra would plant a fake.

All were engaged in battle. Tony, utilizing Jarvis, was able to find the concealed room where the scepter was believed to be. Due to the lining of the room, he couldn't tell what was in there, but Tony was a sucker for hidden rooms.

"I've got eyes on the scepter" Stark proclaimed as he opened the door. As Tony went to pick it up, Loki realized something was wrong.

"Stark, get out of there. It's a trap!"

All Loki got back was static. Abandoning his fight, he teleported to Tony's location. Right as Tony went to pick it up, Loki picked him up and tossed him back out of the room; however, the damage had been done.

Tony was so excited at finding the supposed scepter that he failed to fully scan the room. The moment he touched it, an explosion set off. Loki had only just thrown Stark out of the room, saving his life, but Loki was caught up in the blast himself which knocked out as he hit a wall.

He started coming back around on the plane back to headquarters, his head aching, a large gash on his forehead, and several bruises. By the time they reached the tower, he was starting to heal thanks to his jotun heritage.

Thor had received word from Heimdel of Loki’s heroics and returned almost immediately.

Even though Loki was healing on his own, Bruce insisted on checking him over and treating the gash to prevent infection.

Thor made his grand entrance and went straight to the medical facility to congratulate the team on their honorable win as well as commend Loki on his protection of the tin man. Even more so, he had news from him to share and needed to talk to his brother.

"I've heard you fought a great battle without me! You must tell me the story of your enemy's defeat."

Groaning, Loki retorted "any imbecile who looked at the scepter would have known it was a fake much less the platform on it being rigged. I do not believe the team would have responded well should Stark have been left to his own devices. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go see my Daniella."

Ignoring his attempt to leave, Thor gripped his brother's shoulder. "I'm sure Stark is grateful to you, but there is news from home."

"I do not ca…."

"Sigyn has returned and inquired after you. She is most adamant to see you."

During the hustle and bustle of it all, Dani was tucked away in the library. Stark left strict instructions with Jarvis not to give her any updates so as to not worry her unnecessarily. The only person to come find her was Nat.

"Hey! We're finally back. Loki would be here instead of me but he's down getting checked out after getting knocked out saving Tony."

Dani was relieved and dropped everything, running past Nat, down the stairs (the elevator was too slow for her right now), and directly to the medical facility.

As she was about to open the door, she noticed Thor next to Loki’s bed, both of them facing away from her.

She could hear part of what sounded like annoyance in Loki’s voice.

"I do not care about her nor have ever cared for her. She has delusions that we are in love, and I am tired of putting up with them. "

She could feel her heart crushing and ran to her room before they could see her so she could cry in peace.