LOKI'S POV:

It was late at night, how late I didn't know, and I didn't really care either. I was sitting out on my balcony, not being able to sleep again, my head replaying the afternoon's events on repeat. I couldn't describe what it felt like when Emily flinched away from my hand, I felt physically sick. The look of horror on her face when she saw what she had done to me when she was under the mind control made me want to comfort her and never leave her again. I knew she blamed herself for it, I could see it in her eyes. But I knew I couldn't go comfort her, not when she flinched away from my touch.

I sighed heavily and took another bite from the apple in my hand, trying to force away the replaying memories in my head, but as usual, I didn't have much luck. I stood up from the seat and began to walk back into my room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of red and gold and I didn't need to check twice to know that it was Stark in one of his stupid suits. Even at this time, when everyone was asleep, he was showing off.

I walked back into my room and shut the doors leading onto the balcony, roughly shutting the curtains to block out as much light as I could before I walked over to the small bookshelf that Stark somehow had a heart to install for me when I was first dragged here. I picked out a random book, which turned out to be Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, and flicked to the bookmark roughly in the middle. I tried to loose myself in the story and words, trying to get my mind the the afternoon's events, but of course, my mind immediately drifted to Emily and all of the time we spent reading with each other. For someone who hadn't been around books in her life, she was an amazing reader.

I sighed heavily and closed my eyes for a second, before I opened them again and tried to focus on the words of the book again. However, I had barley gotten halfway through a sentence when Stark's stupid AI spoke, giving me a slight heart attack.

"Mr. Laufeyson." It said, causing me to clench the book tightly in annoyance. "Mr. Stark requires you in the Lab, immediately."

I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes down on the book, hating the sound of my true last name. I had asked Stark a number of times to change it, but he never did. I believed he found enjoyment in my annoyance.

"Tell him that it is the middle of the night and I couldn't care less about whatever stupid project he had managed to hurt himself on." I shot back at the AI.

That is all they ever wanted me for. My only purpose for them was healing. I was just a tool they could use whenever they wanted. They mostly tolerated me now, though when Thor had first brought me here for the banishment Odin had put on me, they all hated my guts, except Thor of course. Then I suppose they realized that I actually had a use and they decided to warm up to me a little, they were smart enough to know that if I was pissed off at them, I wouldn't help them.

"Mr. Laufeyson." The AI spoke again and I growled under my breath. "It's not Mr. Stark. It's Emily."

I immediately jumped up and in the space of a couple of seconds, I slid the bookmark back into the book and immediately teleported down to the Laboratory that also doubled as a Healing Room. I didn't know what had happened, but if that Midgard HYDRA group, I was going to hunt them down myself and kill them all.

My eyes darted around the room as I pushed open a glass door, and I immediately saw Emily laying there on a bed, completely unmoving. I reached her side in a couple of long strides and my heart dropped to my feet as soon as I saw her. Her skin was pale, way too pale to be normal, and it had a greyish tinge to it. Her eyes were shut and there was a sheet pulled up to her chin with an oxygen mask covering her mouth. There was movement on the other side of her and I looked up to see Stark standing there, still dressed in his metal suit, but the helmet was gone. I was surprised to see that he looked like he had been crying.

But I knew a couple of seconds later when he pulled back the sheet covering Emily and saw the horrible wound on her stomach. The whole lower half of her clothes were soaked in blood, her blood, and I could see through the torn hole that the wound was quite deep into her skin. I noticed that Stark seemed to have tried to patch it up and to stop some of the bleeding, but I could still clearly see how deep it was. It was a miracle she was still alive, I suppose I could thank the genetic enhancement for that.

"What the Hell happened?" I breathed, reaching out with my hand and immediately trying to heal it.

"She tried to take her life." Spoke another voice and I looked up for the briefest second to see Rogers standing a little bit back in the shadows, his face more grave than normal and he looked a little shaken up.

My breath hitched slightly and I slowly looked back down at Emily, only to see that my magic was not healing her the slightest bit. I furrowed my eyebrows and sent down more of my magic, hoping to see some of the skin at least stitch itself together again, but it didn't.

"What did she use?" I stumbled over the words slightly. Whatever she used to inflict this wound was not normal.

Stark didn't say anything as he walked over to one of the medical tables and picked up something, holding it out to me. I took it in my hands and noticed that it was a very well balanced dagger with a weightless handle perfect for her grip and a deadly sharp silver blade with little grooves in the side where her now dried blood sat. I turned it over in my hands and saw on the very bottom of the handle the HYDRA symbol.

"Can you heal her?" Rogers asked and I looked up at him briefly before looking back down at the dagger.

"There seems to be some sort of... poison in the dagger." I murmured softly, twisting the dagger around in my hand as I tried not to look at the dried blood over it. "It's from HYDRA, but I don't know the poison.

"JARVIS." Stark spoke, taking the dagger back from me and looking at it. "Bring Barnes down here."

"Of course Mr. Stark." The AI replied.

My eyes drifted to Emily's peaceful face as silence fell upon the room. I felt a weird emotion stir in my stomach, causing me to tear my eyes away from her and take a couple of deep breaths as a lump began to form in my throat. I had never had this feeling before, and I didn't know why I suddenly felt like this. Maybe because... well, she was my only friend who had actually... liked me, and to see her teetering so close to death, it made me... sad I suppose.

Barnes came down after a couple of minutes, his usual dark, brooding demeanor surrounding him. His steps faltered a little when he spotted Emily laying on the bed, her wound still exposed, before he looked sharply at me.

"I didn't do this." I snapped immediately, anger bubbling up in me, quenching any of the sadness I had.

"What happened to her?" He stood next to her, his eyes daring between the heart monitor next to her bed and her wound.

"She tried to take her own life." Rogers murmured softly and Stark held out the dagger, which caused Barnes to stiffen slightly, seeming to recoil away from the dagger, only slightly, before he took the dagger in his metal hand.

"She's been poisoned." Barnes' voice was even lower, if that was possible. "She'll be unconscious for a little while, possibly in a coma, until the poison is out of her blood stream. The only thing you can do is try and filter the poison out of her blood and then leave her to sleep it off."

"Will she be able to make a full recovery?" Stark asked and I looked up at him before looking at Barnes, who was still looking down at Emily.

"Hopefully her enhanced genetics will help." Barnes replied, his words not exactly answering the question, which caused my heart to sink more.

"We should probably bring everyone else down." Stark sighed softly, running his hand through his hair and I squeezed my eyes shut at what he was implying.

"I will bring them down now." JARVIS spoke and Stark walked over to a nearby chair, slumping into it and putting his head in his hands. Rogers walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly before standing with his back to us as he looked out the massive glass wall, his arms folded.

"We should have done something." Stark's voice was slightly muffled by his hands. "We should have helped her more."

"We didn't know she felt like this Tony." Rogers looked over his shoulder.

"But we should have talked to her more." Stark sat up a little more. "We should have been there for her."

"What's happening Tony?" A voice spoke from the doorway and we all looked over to see Barton standing there.

His eyes immediately darted to Emily and they widened in shock as he slowly walked over to her, causing me to keep a careful eye on him. He stopped by her bed and stared down at the wound, his face pale as Stark stayed silent.

Natasha was the next to arrive and I literally saw her legs buckle, Barton quickly rushing to hold her up as she fell into him. Her skin visibly paled as well as she let out a choked sob, tears welling in her eyes. I had to look away from her, feeling the strange lump forming in my throat again as Clint handed her to Rogers.

Banner came in next and his steps faltered slightly as well before he quickly began to fuss over the wound since Stark seemed incapable at the moment. He dabbed at the blood that was slowly leaking out of her wound. I couldn't bare the sight of her bleeding, her skin growing paler, and I stepped forward, trying to heal her again, but without any luck.

Maximoff was next and she literally fell to her knees, Barton not quick enough to catch her. Her hand flew up to her mouth and I saw a little bit of her power escape her hands. Barton knelt down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, letting her hide her face against his shoulder.

Thor was the next one, the big oaf rubbing his eyes, looking absolutely exhausted until he saw Emily laying on the bed. He stumbled over and looked down at the wound in horror.

Potts was last and this caused Stark to stand up, wrapping her in a big hug, which was a rare show of affection from the billionaire. Potts couldn't even look at Emily.

"Are you going to explain what happened?" Barton demanded, still holding Maximoff.

"JARVIS." Stark said quietly, setting Potts, who looked like she had gone into a state of shock, down in a chair. "Play the video."