"Did you guys make any progress at least?" I looked back over at Tony after a couple of seconds of calming myself down.

"A decent amount." He nodded, breaking out into a grin that caused hope to bubble up in me.

"How much?" I asked eagerly, sitting up a little straighter.

"We have Arnim Zola." He grinned, my heart stuttering for a moment. "And Baron Strucker."

"What?" I breathed, feeling like the whole world was slowing down and stopping around me.

"You didn't tell me that." Loki's voice was sharp behind me, but with shock rather than anger.

"Consider it a welcome home gift." Tony shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"What exactly do you mean you have them?" Loki pressed as I slowly sunk down into shock against him.

"They're downstairs." Tony replied. "We have them locked up in the best Stark technology that I have."

The only thing I was aware of was the rapid thumping of my heart in my chest, so painful it felt like I could barely breathe. I stared at the floor, my vision blurring as I took in shaky breaths. I could still feel the humming of Loki's chest against my back as he continued to talk, but my ears were ringing too much as blood rushed too my head for me to hear him. I felt like I couldn't move, my whole body going still as I struggled to process it all. Zola and Strucker were here. Just below me. The two people who had made my life the fucked up mess it was. But they weren't here to kill me. They... they were under our control now. We had control over them. I had control of them.

"Em." A voice broke through my head and I looked up in a daze to see Loki gently holding my shoulders as his green eyes darted over my face in worry. He looked away from me and out to the others. "Okay, we're going to need a moment."

He basically had to pick me up from the couch, my legs eventually deciding to work as he led us over to the kitchen, sitting me down on the ground. He sat cross legged across from me, gently taking my hands up in his as he turned my head so our eyes met.

"Talk to me." He murmured, sweeping back some of my hair. "What is going on in your head?"

"I-I don't know." My words wobbled as I drew my knees up to my chest. "I think i-it's just a l-lot."

"I know." He smiled softly. "But it's a good thing. We've finally got them to ourselves. We can finally do everything to then that they've done to you."

"I don't know if I-I want to." I admitted, the words finally tumbling out of my lips that had been dampened by my tears.

"Why not darling?" He asked gently but I could still hear the shock in his voice.

"I-I don't want to f-fall back into what I-I was." I sniffled. "I-I don't want to b-become that killer again."

He sighed softly but I knew he understood where I was coming from as he shuffled over to me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in close to him. He gently pressed a kiss to my head and I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the tears flow freely as the sobs wracked my body. I squirmed softly in his arms, trying to untwist myself so it was easier to breathe. He carefully positioned me so my back was against his chest, his arms loosely wrapped around me as he held my head back against his shoulder so my throat wasn't constricted. I gasped shakily, one hand moving up to gently stroke my hair. He murmured softly against my hair, but I couldn't hear him through the ringing in my ears.

Eventually, my body slowly settled into his grip and I dissolved into soft sniffles and tears that Loki was quick to wipe away the moment they appeared on my cheeks. He continued to stay still behind me, my breathing matching to the rise and fall of his chest.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked gently after a couple more minutes.

"I don't want to think about them anymore." I murmured, taking in a shaky deep breath. "I want to keep being happy."

"Do you want us to take care of them for you?" He offered softly.

"No." I shook my head, pausing for a moment before continuing. "I... I want to. But just not right now."

"That's okay." He smiled, fingers gently tracing shapes of comfort over the shirt covering my stomach. "I'll talk to Stark about it. What do you want to do now?"

"I think I just want to go back up to my room." I mumbled. "I should unpack my stuff."

"Do you want me to go with your or do you want space?" He asked softly.

"You can come up once you've talked with Tony." I nodded. "If that's okay."

"Of course." He kissed the top of my head again. "Are you ready to get up?"

I nodded, and he let go of me, helping me up to my feet and brushing away the last couple of my tears. I couldn't help myself and looked over to where all of the Avengers had been sitting, but only found Tony, Steve and Pepper sitting there. They offered me comforting smiles and I tried to return a weak one before Loki gently nudged me upstairs.

I walked up to my room by myself, opening and shutting the door quietly. I realised I had left my bag down in the lounge room, but I didn't bother to go back down purely for the reason of not wanting to face the embarrassment. Instead, I flopped down onto my bed and curled up under the weighted blanket I had gotten from Bucky last Christmas, focusing on keeping my eyes closed and my breathing steady until I heard Loki walk in.

"Hey love." He murmured the bed dipping down behind me as he sat down, a gentle hand running down my arm. "You awake?"

"Yeah." I mumbled, slowly rolling over to look up at him and giving him a weak smile.

"I brought your bag up." He smiled sympathetically, nodding over to the duffle bag now dumped by the dressing table before he looked back down at me. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know." I sighed, slowly sitting up and pushing the blanket off myself. "There's too much going on up here." I weakly gestured to my forehead. "I can't process it all."

"You don't have to right now." He gently bent forward to kiss my forehead, my eyes fluttering shut under the gentle gesture. "Just settle in back here for now, and you can think about it all later."

"How can I settle in when I know the two people who made my life a living hell are living straight under this floor?" I sniffled, hating how the thought of the two men managed to bring me close to the edge of tears again.

"You can settle in knowing that they are trapped behind bars in one of the safest places in this world with the best technology stopping them from getting out and to you." He gently brushed his hand through my hair. "They can't hurt you again Em, okay?"

"It feels like it will never be enough to stop them." I leaned into his touch and opened my eyes.

"They are human." He shifted so that we were facing each other. "There are five genetically enhanced individuals here, along with a Black Widow assassin, a billionaire with way too much dangerous technology and two literal Gods, one of which will be extremely pissed if one of them lays as much as a finger on you. Two of them are not a match against any of us, they are just ordinary humans. They won't get to touch you, Emily, okay?"

"Okay." I murmured, realising he was right. Everyone here was an Avenger for a reason, and Strucker and Zola would not be a match against them, especially without their own backup.

"What do you want to do now?" He asked, his hands that had been running through my hair now dropping down to my cheeks to gently brush over my skin.

"What time is it?" My eyes met his green ones as he gently wiped away a stray tear.

"It's just after lunch time." He watched me with a comforting smile.

"Can we rest here for a moment?" I murmured after a couple of moments. "I think I just need to relax for a little."

He nodded and carefully let go of my face,letting me lay back down and adjust the blanket around myself. I pulled up oneend for him and he easily slipped in with a soft smile, kissing my foreheadonce more before he pulled me in close.