Sewn
Prompt: Loki gets a really bad cut and freaks out when they tell him he needs stitches.
xxx
“Jesus fucking christ.” Stark muttered. He was holding Loki’s arm in hands gently. His eyes were glued to the bloodied wound. Battle waged around them but Tony was more concerned with the god. There was a large gash that started at Loki’s shoulder and ended just inches before his wrist. There was blood everywhere. “Yeah, I’m no doctor, but that’s definitely going to need stitches…” he pondered for a moment, “a lot.” Tony concluded. He cursed slightly as blood began to overflow and leak onto the concrete. He felt Loki still in his grasp. The genius looked up worriedly and saw that his friend’s face was multiple shades paler. Loki’s eyes were wide open but didn’t seem to be focused on anything. His body trembled and shook viciously. It was if the god wasn’t really there. His mind was somewhere far far away. Concern seeped into Tony’s mind. Tony shook his friends shoulder gently, careful not to startle Loki.
“Lokes? Hey, you good?” He pulled Loki’s injured arm slightly closer, “I’m just gonna stitch it up so it doesn’t get anything inside it-” He had no time to finish his sentence before Loki ripped his arm away as fast as he could. He scrambled backwards in a frenzy and curled up tightly. Tony watched in shock as tears pricked at the god’s eyes. “Lokes?” He whispered.
“Iron man,” the Captain’s voice rang through their comms, “everything all right?”
“No,” He stuttered out, “There’s something wrong with Loki. He’s really freaking out you guys, I’ve never seen him like this.” It was true. Even after a year, no one on the team had seen Loki upset like this. Nothing even close to this. Sure he got angry, really angry, but never anything like this. Tony had never seen him scared like this.
“What?” Came Thor’s startled voice. “What do you mean he is ‘freaking out’?” Tony examined the shaking deity before responding.
“Uh, I don’t know I think he’s having a panic attack.” Tony shifted nervously as Thor grumbled angrily. The inventor neared his friend slowly, so that he wouldn’t startle him.
“Keep him calm, we’re on our way.” Natasha’s voice was sturdy, it calmed Tony slightly. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that panic attacks weren’t life threatening. “Okay,” He breathed out shakily, yet sturdier than earlier. He approached Loki carefully but kept his distance, knowing that Loki wouldn’t want to feel crowded.
“Loki? Can you hear me?” Loki ignored him completely, his breaths coming out short and ragged. “Lokes I need you to breathe normally okay? Just breathe in slowly and out slowly, like this.” He gave an example, taking in deep breaths of the smoke filled air; gross. He didn’t really think Loki could hear him, but he continued the exercise with the small possibility that the god was listening.
Loki didn’t seem to be improving at all, and Tony was beginning to get a little worried. Thankfully, Thor chose that moment to arrive. With a mighty drop to the ground, dramatic as always, Thor raced to his brother worriedly. “Loki!” He dropped by Loki’s side and looked to Stark for help. “What happened?” He questioned in a frenzy. Thor was staring worriedly at Loki’s injured arm. Tony scrambled to explain.
“Uh he got a scratch-cut, big cut, and I uh was about to give him stitches,” He saw all the colour drain from Thor’s face at that, but he didn’t know why “when he started having a panic attack-” “Flashback,” He was interrupted by a familiar voice. Tony looked back to see Steve and Natasha. “That definitely has something to do with PTSD.” Natasha concluded. The thunder god turned to his brother and began speaking to him hurriedly.
“Brother! Brother listen to me! You aren’t in Svartalfheim, you are on earth! Earth with our friends. The Elves aren’t here!” Loki was now making direct eye contact with Thor, unshed tears in his eyes. “Loki - can I touch you?” The god in question nodded, “Loki I need you to open you mouth.” The trickster’s eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. He tried to pull away but Thor held him firmly.
“Loki, i know, I know, but I promise you-” Loki only shook his head harder and Thor looked at him desperately.
“Brother I need you to trust me; No harm will come to you, I swear on the Allmother’s life.” Loki froze suddenly at that. He gave Thor a worried look. “I promise,” Thor whispered. Hesitating slightly, Loki gave his brother a weary look. Slowly, he parted his lips. His eyes widened and new tears pricked at his eyes. He looked shocked that it had even worked. Thor traced his thumb over Loki’s mouth.
“See Loki? There is nothing there, you are safe.” Relief flooded the tricksters eyes. Thor hugged his brother tightly, not minding the blood of Loki’s wound. “I promised I would never let anyone do that to you again and I intend to keep that promise Loki.”
xxx
A heavy air reigned over Avengers Tower. The Avengers, excluding Loki, were seated in the common room silently. The lights were dimmed inside, but it did nothing to prevent the afternoon sunlight that poured through the large windows. Loki was sleeping in the medbay, being watched carefully by the ever present A.I. After Clint and Banner had finished with the villains, they had returned to the tower. None of them had spoken, save for Bruce to update them on Loki’s condition. It had shocked the Avengers; seeing Loki like that. The doctor and the archer hadn’t been there, but one look at Loki and Thor’s faces, and they knew something had happened. Although, what surprised them most, was how concerned they were. They had had no idea they had gotten so attached to Loki.
Tony had a bottle of scotch in hand, his hands were red and raw from trying to scrub off the gods’ blood. He would take breaks from drinking to scratch at his hands even more.
Natasha was seated by the window, staring into the city, but something was off. She was seated differently than usual. Her eyes were cold and hard but the others had learnt her eyes were no indication of her emotions.
Steve was sat silently in the middle of the couch. His posture was slouched and he stared dead ahead.
Bruce and Clint were sat side by side, offering each other glances every now and then. They still didn’t know what happened or why the God was in the Infirmary.
Thor was sat at the very end of the sectional, head in his hands. After what seemed like hours, the thunderer sighed. He stood from the couch and turned towards his friends.
“I believe you all wish to know what transpired, yes?” They nodded.
“As you know, life on Asgard is… different,” he paused, “The way children grow up is very different than the ways Midgard children do. Although, even on Asgard, Loki’s childhood would have been categorized as strange.” Steve sat up straighter, “What do you mean?”
“Children on Asgard are normally very well behaved. They are all alike in the sense that the males wish to train and become warriors and the females wish to become healers or sorcerers. Loki wanted to be a sorcerer and practice magic, this did not bode well with many people. But nevermind that. My brother, as you know, is the god of lies and tricks. As a child, he was extremely adventurous and mischievous, he loved to play tricks on anyone.” There was a small smile on Thor’s face. “Despite all the tricks, my brother was the most caring person I knew,” he chuckled gently, “there was this one time I killed a bug, the equivalent of a midgardian spider, and he cried for hours.” The Avengers couldn’t contain their small grins at that. “Loki was very strange indeed.” Thor reminisced. A dark look passed over his face suddenly.
“Many elders despised Loki though. They absolutely hated his fascination in magic and tricks. They would often speak their minds very publicly. By the age of three hundred, your equivalent of six years, Loki had received numerous threats, including ones on his life. This is something I myself have just learnt recently.” Thor looked at the ground. The superheroes all shared various concerned looks. Death threats at six? That was horrible.
“But Loki’s tricks often got him into trouble,” Thor sighed, “his snark and his delight in laughing at others angered many. He knew not the errors of his ways… he was just a child…”
Steve looked at Tony, where was this going?
“There came a time where Loki got mixed up with the Elves when he was around eleven or twelve, just a young boy. He made a bet with his head as the prize. After losing said bet, he managed to talk his way out of it, he was always so incredibly cunning, but there was still a cost. The elves sewed his mouth shut. What you saw today was an example of how it still haunts him.”
Thor looked at his friends sadly, he saw their reactions. Natasha looked rather stoic, but you could see the way her hands were clenched and the way her lips were pressed together tightly. Her eyes were cold as stone, and if looks could kill, this one would be a mass murderer. They knew she was great at hiding her emotions, but they also knew how to see through her. Concern and surprise was evident in her.
Tony was taking turns in between taking swigs from the bottle, looking back at Steve with a horrified expression, and cursing. He couldn’t believe they’d do that to a kid.
Steve was massaging his temples. All he could think about was how absolutely horrible that was. Loki was just a kid! He was eleven for christ’s sake! Steve looked up startled, as Tony stumbled into the bathroom; to empty the contents of his stomach no doubt.
Bruce was staring at Thor with a horrified expression. While not unusual for the scientist, this look was unlike any of the others. Bruce was easily disturbed, but here, he was appalled. “They, They sewed his mouth shut? L-Like with a needle!?” Thor nodded solemnly.
Clint was sitting with heavily disturbed and confused look in his eyes. He looked up suddenly, “You mean this all happened when he was just a kid, and your dad was okay with it?” He questioned incredulously. The others looked at Thor expectantly. The god remained silent, a look of shame on his face.
“The elves were very angry… and Loki was-is a prince.” Thor corrected himself, “They were threatening to go to war… It was Odin who proposed they… that they sew his mouth.” That was all he could say before the room exploded into a fury.
“What!?” “Are you fucking kidding me!?” “Thor what the actual fuck!?”
“He wouldn’t dare!”
Everyone went silent as Clint snarled. They was a burning rage in his eyes. “How fucking horrible of a father do you have to be to do that to a kid- your kid!?”
Everyone watched him carefully. It was obvious this was hitting home for him. Clint was a father, he had multiple children, and they knew how much he cared about them. He couldn’t imagine his children having to go through that, nevermind him being the one responsible.
“Why?” Bruce almost whispered, as all the attention turned to him, “why would he do that?”
“Our father could not risk going to war… he had to punish him somehow, I-” Thor was looking terribly troubled.
“Thor,” Steve started, “When you almost started a war with the Jotun, he just sent you to earth didn’t he? And you were an adult then. Why did Loki get a different punishment?” Thor’s eyes widened at that. He looked startled as he took in the information.
“I, I never realized he-” Thor looked down at his hands as realization hit him. He was suddenly aware of how miniscule all of his punishments were compared to his brothers.
“All these years, Loki claimed that I was favoured by father, and I- I just ignored him. I was too blind to see it and now-” He cut himself off as he began mumbling incoherent things.
“And now you have time to fix it.” Natasha finished. “He’s not dead Thor, he’s right here. And your bond with him is different before. If you just listen to him then everything will work out.” Natasha put a hand on his shoulder, although the gesture was rather awkward due to their height differences. Thor smiled gently.
“Loki’s quiet now but, I can tell he’s got a lot to say.” Steve comforted. Thor grinned now, a new hope within him. He could do this. Him and Loki would be okay.
“Sir?”
“Yes Jarvis?”
“Mr. Laufeyson has awakened.”
The others looked at Thor, “No better time to start than now.” Tony elbowed him in the ribs playfully.