It felt like an eternity later when Loki finally appeared before you. He materialized in a shimmer of green magic, holding his hands up in surrender. At least he had come expecting that you would be angry with him. Despite that he was clearly apologetic, you still chucked one of his pillows at him as you jumped to your feet, chains jangling. It wasn't the best weapon, but would express your displeasure with him clearly. Even though you were mad at him, you weren't going to throw his gift at him, or actually hurt him. He was also carefully standing just out of your reach.

You realized that it wasn't really Loki, but an illusion instead, as the pillow you threw at him, flew right through him. His illusions couldn't be touched.

"Why have you been training me to fight if the second there is a hint of danger, you lock me up like some helpless princess?" you demanded, tears of anger falling down your cheeks. Stupid tears, they weren't helping your cause.

"There were simply too many of them, love. There were over twenty of them, just to start, and only two of us. More of them came once they caught a glimpse of you, and even more came directly here to the compound. You were their target tonight, love. Not me, not stealing objects, or whatever other petty things they are usually after. Tonight, they only wanted you. Even with all of my tricks and all of my magic and powers, I was not going to risk your safety, when I am your only guard tonight. Especially, when you were the one they were after. Even I had to call backup to take them all on, and even I did not get away from all of them unscathed. I was not leaving you in that kind of danger. I am sorry, so very sorry, for this," he gestured toward the chains, "but I could not risk you returning before it was safe."

"You should have let me help," you protested, still angry, though the emotion was fading under the force of his logic. Part of that was his silver tongue, but he was making valid points. Even if you hated all of them.

He shook his head. "My first duty is to protect you. I accomplished that the only way I could. They would have taken you. Please, love, please, understand that. They would have kidnapped you before backup came. There were too many. Some of them even broke into the compound before help arrived. I could not have kept them from you had I not brought you here. So I did the only thing I could. I know you are upset, and I accept that. I am not sorry for protecting you. I am sorry for the way it had to be done." You heard the heartbreak in his words and the terror that he had felt. You knew then that he hadn't been lying or exaggerating. There really had been that many of the clowns for him to have been that scared for your safety.

He hesitated before he opened his mouth again to speak. You saw the hesitation and knew that his next words were the most important part of his speech. He took a breath before he spoke. You could see how hard these words were for him to say, so you waited patiently and didn't pressure him. "You are aware that I can see glimpses of the future?" you nodded. He had just told you that yesterday morning. It seemed so long ago, but it was just yesterday morning that you were up on the roof watching the meteor shower. "For the last fortnight I have had the same vision. It was of you, my darling, dying in my arms during an attack on the compound. And every time I see it, I have to watch you die and know that there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it or save you,"

His words eased your hurt and anger. You would have done the same thing in his shoes. Especially had you seen his death in visions of the future. "I understand," you finally admitted. You paused, gathering your words before you continued. "I'm sorry you keep seeing that. Hopefully the visions will go away now that the attack is over," you told him. It wasn't enough, but it was all that you could say. You still wished he had told you, or had come up with a better plan to protect you.

It was then that some of his first words hit you. "You said you didn't get out of this unscathed. You're hurt? Where are you? Let me help!" You begged him, desperate to help him.

"Please, promise me you will stay up here a little while longer. I will come to you when it is safe,"

"Loki! Please, surely backup is here by now. Please, let me help you," you couldn't stand the thought that he was hurt. He thought about it for a moment, considering, and you knew it was your safety that he was concerned about.

"Do not make me regret this," he told you. You nodded, you wouldn't betray his trust. The chains vanished. Your dagger in its sheath appeared on the bed. "I am in the infirmary. Be safe, or I shall be quite cross with you." You saw the hint of a smile in his expression and knew that he would be ok, even if he was injured. If he could make any kind of joke, you knew he would be ok. The illusion faded instead of coming with you though, so you also knew that he was more injured than he was letting on. You strapped on the dagger sheath and made sure it was secure before you ran from the room, heading straight for the infirmary. There were so many people milling around, still dealing with the aftermath of the attack, but none of them noticed you, somehow. Until Tony caught you right outside the infirmary.

"Kat!" he exclaimed. You cursed your luck. He grabbed you and pulled you into a hug, crushing you with his strength. "Are you ok?" he asked. You nodded, barely able to move because he held you so tightly.

"I'm fine, Uncle Tony." you only just managed to get the words out. He loosened his grip when he realized you were struggling to breathe. "Loki got me out of there before the fight even began," you reassured him. You didn't know what story Loki had told them, so you were keeping your story vague, until you could collaborate.

"Thank god," he whispered, still holding you too tight. "When the alarm came in, I was so worried something had happened to you,"

"I'm fine, Uncle Tony," you reminded him again. Maybe if you said the words enough times, he'd believe you.

"You should go back upstairs. Everything is under control here," he told you firmly. The words were a suggestion, but you heard the order being him.

You heard it and promptly ignored it.

You shook your head; Tony scowled at you. "I need to get to the infirmary," you told him firmly. He looked down at you confused. "Loki's in there. He was hurt saving me from those clowns," you explained. He nodded and let you go, understanding the need to help an injured teammate if nothing else. Plus Loki had gotten injured saving your life and freedom. You ran into the infirmary the second Tony let you go. There were others who had been injured, so it took you a minute to find where Loki was. "Loki!" You called when you saw him and ran to him. You hugged him, even though he was in a hospital bed, even though he was injured. You had to hold him, had to make sure he was real.

"Shh, love. I'm here, this is not an illusion and I will be just fine," he promised you, though he held you tightly while the doctors stitched up the last of the wounds they had been working on. He had a head wound, a large gash in one arm, his other arm was in a sling. He was battered, covered in cuts and scrapes and looked like one giant bruise. He was a lot more injured than he had let on.

"Why aren't you healing yourself?" You asked him, concerned. He gave you a small smile.

"Teleporting thirty odd clowns to Siberia takes quite a bit of magic," he chuckled, deflecting the explanation.

"You couldn't have done that before you were injured?" You grumped at him. He laughed and you finally felt better, until you realized when he must have been injured, while he was teleporting you away. That was the only time he would have been distracted enough to allow them to hurt him. "They hurt you while you were saving me," you said softly. He wouldn't look at you, so you knew it was true.

"I will be just fine, darling, please do not worry. I am just glad that you are safe," he told you gently.

"What happened to the rest of the clowns?" you asked.

"Some escaped when the backup arrived. Some fought. There are quite a few who were captured and are in the holding cells downstairs." you nodded and curled up next to him, glad that he was relatively ok. It was difficult to manage with him so injured, and in a hospital bed, but you did. You could tell that it made him feel better to have you near when he knew that you were safe.

It took a long while longer before he could leave, but there were others who were injured and needed his bed. He wasn't in any real danger, so he was finally allowed to leave to go back to his own bed to recover. It also helped that you could promise to keep an eye on him and alert them if he got worse. You could tell he wanted to get out of the infirmary as much as you wanted to. So this time, you were allowed to walk him up to his bedroom, steadying him with one of his arms around your shoulders while you supported him with an arm around his waist.

"We have to stop meeting like this," you grinned up at him as you walked, trying to get him to smile. He looked down at you and you saw a glint of humor under his pained expression. It had only been a week since the last time you helped him up to his room like this after he had been injured.

"I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, my dear," he murmured. His focus was on remaining upright and fighting through the pain. You took as much of his weight as you could, but you knew your help wasn't really enough. Somehow, you got him back to his room and settled on his bed, propped against the pillows. You sheepishly went to get the pillow you had thrown at his illusion earlier to add to the pile behind him. "Keep it," he bid you gently. "There's a spare blanket on the chair," he gestured to the recliner where the blanket was indeed waiting for you. At least he knew that you weren't going to leave him while he was injured.

"You haven't opened your present," you told him, breaking the silence before it got awkward, handing him the box you had hastily wrapped that morning.

"A present?" he asked, both confused and pleased. "What is the occasion?"

"You're always leaving me little presents. I wanted to do something for you too," you told him. He opened the box and pulled out the plush dragon. He looked at it confused for a moment until he realized it was Toothless and lit up at it. "I know it's silly, but he was cute and reminded me of you. He's spent a lot of time with me, but I thought you might like his company for awhile. Especially with how much you love the movie," you explained with a grin.

He grinned back, pleased by the gift. "Then I will cherish his company," he set the dragon next to him on the bed. He slid over on the bed, making room for you. You didn't care about propriety, not tonight. You were too worried for him because of how injured he was. You wished, not for the first time, that you had healing powers. You sat on the bed with him with your borrowed pillow and blanket.

"It won't hurt you for me to be here?" You asked. You didn't want him to be in any more pain.

"No, darling, and even if it did, it would be worth it," he told you gently, softly. You leaned over and gave him a soft kiss. His lips seemed to be the only part of him that weren't injured.

"How did you get so injured?" You asked him, concerned. You knew his combat and magic skills were strong enough that he should have been ok, even against those odds. He sighed.

"The clowns are all civilians. They have all been brainwashed by The Harlequin to do her bidding,"

"So you pulled your punches to avoid hurting them more than you had to?" You surmised. He nodded. "And the ones you sent to Siberia?" You couldn't believe he had sent innocents to Siberia.

"I resummoned them once it became clear to me that the clowns were not acting on their own free will." That's where his magic had gone. "They are being treated downstairs to see if our healers are able to break the mind control on them," he added before you could ask.

"Why did you send me here, instead of to my room?" you asked, promising yourself you'd let him get some rest after this last question. You weren't even going to ask why he had chosen here instead of some safe house or safe room somewhere.

"Here was safer," he replied. "If they broke in and came looking for you, your rooms would be the first place they would look. I could also hide your scent, and your...psychic presence... by hiding you here where you would be surrounded by mine instead," you raised your eyebrow and he continued his explanation. "The clowns are nearly animalistic, they hunt by scent. Some of them also are supers, or have some magic, so they are able to hunt magically as well. Since you do not have powers of your own, it was safer to hide you where your...aura... would be dampened," you thought you understood that. They couldn't find you if all they could sense was him. "Also I have been putting the strongest shield spells I know on these rooms for the last fortnight," he admitted. He'd been doing that since he started having the visions of my death.

"You planned for this," you accused. He nodded.

"I do not wish for you to perish, darling, and I would do anything to keep that from happening." Curses, you were going to have to ask him another question. You promised yourself this one really would be the last before you let him rest.

"I snuck in here this morning," you told him, "to leave the present. Why didn't your shields keep me out?" you weren't accusing him of insufficient work, but if you could get in, then so could others.

He laughed in reply. "I allowed you, darling. You felt you knocking on them and let you get away with your mischief."

You laughed then, relieved. "You should get some rest," you told him, settling the dagger more carefully so you would be able to access it quickly if there was trouble.

"Are you staying?" he asked. You could hear how hard he was fighting not to pressure you to stay.

You nodded. "Unless you don't want me to. Besides, what if they come back?" you doubted they would be back tonight, but you both knew you were safer here if they did. He was safer with you here as well.

"Your uncle will kill me for not kicking you out," he murmured, but laid down, a faint green glow surrounding him, when he finally started using his healing magic on himself. You thought he had been waiting to make sure you were safe before he healed himself. Stubborn male.

"He'll get over it," you grumped. "Besides, you saved my life. The least I can do I make sure you're safe while you heal,"

"You do not need to keep vigil all night, lady. You need sleep. My shields will keep us safe,"

"Hush, Trickster, get some rest," you bid him. He stopped arguing, closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep, the green glow intensifying once he was asleep. You could pull an all nighter for a good cause. And this was the best cause you could imagine.