"When are you visiting, Aunty Nat?" the eager and shrill voice of a child begs.
Natasha balances the phone between her cheek and shoulder as her fingers type into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. "Hopefully soon. Maybe I'll try this weekend." They both know that's a lie.
"You said that last week!"
Laura and Clint raised one hell of a clever girl. "I know. You'll have to blame Uncle Nick for that, kiddo."
"But I have two loose teeth!" the little girl exclaims. "Cooper says he's gonna yank them out in my sleep-can you pull 'em out for me?"
"Wow," Natasha breathes in amusement. "You want me to do the honours?"
"It won't hurt if you do it."
"I can be gentle," Natasha promises. She suddenly overhears Laura on the other end scolding her daughter about bothering Clint at work.
"It's Aunty Nat!" Lila pipes back.
"That's even worse!" Laura sighs. "You can't bother her, sweetie."
"Aunty Nat, am I bothering you?" the child sulks.
Natasha downloads a file for her next mission onto a thumb drive. "Not at all," she says with a grin. "But I think you should listen to your mom."
"You'll come see me?"
"Lila!" Laura huffs.
"I'll do my best, kid," she expertly lies. "Keep those teeth in for me." The little girl squeals as she ends the call. As thick skinned as the Black Widow seems, she's got a soft spot for two particular children that call her 'Aunty.' A visit is long overdue. There's nothing worse than having to constantly lie and disappoint those kids. She begins skimming through the file when an urgent evacuation notice blares over the speaker system.
"All personnel, an evacuation order has been confirmed!"
Her phone goes off and she immediately answers her boss' call. "Sir?"
"I'm about to touch down," Nick Fury states, ignoring the obnoxious honking of an alarm on her end. "Meet me at the portal."
Natasha wordlessly hangs up and shuts down her computer as she fights her way through the bustling crowd of agents. "Hold the doors!" she barks at the nearest elevator. An agent nods and lets his arm block the doors from closing on the Widow. The lower level agents all know who she is, and they're aware of just how terrifying she can be. "Basement level first, evacuate later," Natasha warns as she squeezes in between a frantic group of newbies (she knows they're new-they're cowering as if they've never heard an alarm in their life).
Natasha greets Dr. Erik Selvig at Fury's designated location. "What happened?" she demands as she approaches a steel contraption at the heart of the room.
"Energy readings," Selvig states as he closely examines the Tesseract hovering inside a set of iron rings. "I've never seen the readings so high." He runs a hand through his already messy white hair as he motions a scientist closer. "I need Director Fury."
"He's close," Natasha assures. "What can I do?"
He waves the assassin away. "Keep your distance. We don't know what she'll do."
A scientist brings a long needle towards the glowing cube, but the Tesseract fights back by directing a spark of blue fire towards him.
"We're detecting another spike!" a woman shouts from her station. "Five, four…"
Natasha approaches the woman's monitor to sneak a peek at the cube's radiation signatures. They increase and another zap from the Tesseract echoes in the building.
"Doctor Selvig!" Nick Fury marches in with Maria Hill in tow. "Talk to me, Doctor."
Natasha eavesdrops in on the conversation. She overhears "gamma radiation" being mentioned and she has a feeling that her next mission is about to be traded in for a newer one…
"Agent Romanoff!" Fury barks.
As if right on cue, she hurries to the Director's side.
Nick saunters away from Selvig and heads for a raised platform surrounded by panels of yellow lights. "I've had Barton monitoring his work over the past week," Fury begins once he senses Natasha at his side. "So far, he's seen no suspicious activities…"
"You think Selvig's up to something?" Natasha quietly assumes, eyes flickering over to the frantic doctor.
"Something- someone is messing with this, and he's the only one yet to be entirely cleared by our system."
"His overall record is clean," Natasha vows. "We haven't had any disappearances or other abnormalities." She turns to her boss. "If someone's tampering with this, it's not on this end."
Fury gives her a stern look with a hint of confusion. "'At this end?'" he repeats.
"Think of the cube as a doorway." Natasha folds her arms across her chest as she admires the bright blue Tesseract.
"It's spiking again!" a scientist shouts.
"Door open from both sides," Natasha finishes.
"Get back!" Selvig yells.
Natasha and Fury simultaneously direct their attention to the cube as it surges, illuminating the rings holding it in place with jolts of blue lightning. The floor begins to shake and Natasha braces herself as a mild earthquake rumbles. She starts to back away and Nick does the same.
The Tesseract surges once again, only this time, its piercing wail resounds as a whirlpool of blinding light surrounds the cube. All of its pent-up energy morphs into a beam of light that strikes the platform.
Natasha's jaw drops as a portal to a starry night sky opens up.
"Son of a bitch," Nick breathes.
Natasha stares in awe until the void becomes a blinding blue flame. The light sweeps towards her and she covers her face as an icy wind gusts past her.
"Romanoff!" Fury growls.
She cracks open an eye to find that the Tesseract's flame burns at the very center of a platform. Through the brightness, she spots a lone silhouette, and she readies her gun.
A cloud of thick smoke forms as the fire diminishes and a small army of armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents creep over to the platform.
The silhouette is revealed to be a man with messy dark hair. Though Natasha can't identify what region his clothes are from, he looks human. She raises her glock as the stranger's eyes rest on Fury, then her, then Selvig…
"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury shouts.
Natasha eyes the stranger's weapon. A sparkling blue gem rests between a set of sharp daggers. She's never seen a weapon like it, and judging from the stranger's furrowed brows, he's never seen it, either.
The man raises his spear as if admiring it for the first time. His eyes then flicker to Fury as he raises his weapon.
Natasha lunges at her boss, sending them both to the ground as a burst of energy hits a machine planted directly behind where the Director was standing.
Gunfire rings out and Natasha collects herself after tumbling into the floor. She rises to her feet in time to spot the stranger plunge his dagger through an agent's heart. More bullets fire, but they don't faze him. He simply deflects them right back at the guns' owners, killing them instantly. Natasha scowls and fires a shot at him. He takes note and shoots her a glare before sending an energy beam towards her. She's one step ahead of him and she easily manages to roll away. Natasha keeps to the floor while stealing glances at her surroundings. Everyone appears to be down, whether dead or faking it. She hops to her feet and makes sure her tazer bracelets are ready to fire. Natasha points her fist at the newcomer from yards away. She fires, but he speeds towards her in a matter of seconds. He grabs her by the arm and twists it back, forcing her to relinquish her gun as her shoulder threatens to dislocate itself. Her free hand punches him in the side and gives him a taste of 10,000 volts, but his body hardly trembles. All she can do is stare at his pale and sweaty face as he watches her with a cruel smirk.
"You have a heart," he purrs in an English accent. The man raises his weapon and lightly presses the blade's tip against her chest.
Natasha feels like the wind has been knocked out of her and she blacks out.
"Natalia…"
Her vision clears and her mind feels as if it's in a fog. She glances up at the stranger and the fog instantly lifts. Natasha knows him. My King.
He flashes her a knowing look and Natasha kneels to grab her gun. She locks it into her holster and eyes her master as he sends her another wordless command. He begins to walk and she follows closely behind.
Natasha observes as he raises his scepter to a new agent who becomes his.
"Please, don't," her master says aloud. "I still need that…" He turns his head towards Fury who is currently hiding the Tesseract in a steel briefcase.
Natasha glares the Director's direction, awaiting an order to kill.
"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury remarks, his back facing the stranger.
"Of course it does." The raven-haired man straightens his back. "I've come too far for anything else."
Natasha is on her toes as the Director turns to face him. One order is all it will take for her to pull the trigger.
"I am Loki," he announces. "Of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Loki. Natasha feels nostalgic towards the name as she watches him exchange banter with Fury. The name feels comforting in an odd sense. He is her ruler, her King…
Loki saunters up to Erik Selvig and taps him with his scepter.
Her glare hardens as Fury continues to move his lips, spouting nonsense. "Sir!" She walks towards Loki. It is her duty to protect and serve him, even at the cost of her life. "Director Fury is stalling," she warns. "The portal." She glances up at a ring of azure fire that hovers over the platform. "It's unstable and ready to take us all out."
"She's right!" Erik announces after rushing over to a monitor. "The portal is collapsing in on itself."
Loki turns to Natasha, sending her an unspoken plan of attack. "Shall we go, then?"
Natasha raises her gun to Fury and shoots him in the chest. He's not dead-bulletproof vest, but it forces him to stumble backwards, giving her time to steal the briefcase housing the Tesseract. She hands the case to Selvig as she guides Loki to a loading room where a row of trucks await. Maria Hill eyes the group as Natasha marches over to the sets of keys for each vehicle. Loki hops into the bed of the truck and crouches, one hand gripping a railing, the other, his scepter.
"Hill!" A voice muffled with static breaks the silence. "R…Romanoff. Compro-" The voice is abruptly cut off, but Maria comprehends the warning message.
Maria fires a shot at her co-worker, but Natasha evades and pulls her gun's trigger in the process, successfully hitting Maria in the shoulder.
With Hill down, Natasha dashes into her truck and speeds off. Agents are quick to chase them down, but Natasha won't give in. She notices Loki raise his spear in the rearview mirror.
He manages to blast the windshield out of the car behind them. The impact forces it to flip across the pavement, smashing into another truck in the process.
Natasha presses the gas as far as it will go as rubble begins raining from the tunnel's ceiling. She spots the facility's entrance and the ground begins to rumble. Natasha's eyes flicker to the rearview mirror to find Loki's eyes staring back at her. She smirks, and they escape the S.H.I.E.L.D. base as the roar of crumbling rocks fills the night air. The path behind them caves in on itself, but they're out of the worst of the mess. A helicopter soon whirs overhead and Natasha spots Fury pointing his gun to her as he braces himself beside the wide open door. He shoots, but Natasha swerves the car so that the windshield in the only one to suffer any harm.
Loki scowls and delivers a blast up at the flying mechanism and sends it crashing down into the dirt.
"Looks like we're clear," Natasha notes. She continues driving at full speed ahead, occasionally checking the rearview mirror. They're alone, and safe, but only for now. "Where to?" she asks, watching Loki from the mirror.
He licks his lips before flashing her a proud smirk.