I meant to have this up sooner but we had a friend stay over. Anyways, I'll try to update this once a week, just in case I can't keep up the pace of having one up every other day. Thanks everyone who has reviewed so far or faved or followed this. It's good to know you guys are interested in this story.

Somebody was asking if this is going to be romance: Yes. Unless the fanfic decides otherwise, I'm aiming to have romance in here eventually. I will most likely also up the rating in the upcoming chapters.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

He could hear footsteps approaching and he pulled back from her completely. For a moment, he thought he saw curiosity cross her expression but he couldn't be sure. There were only so many options for him at the moment and he took each of them into account.

He could disappear, just like he had come, via teleportation and make sure not to engage her team. It would be a safe way to leave and a quick one too.

He could stay and face the Avengers, demand answers that he knew he had no right to. It was tempting, if only to see their faces when they saw him.

He could also get a hold of Natasha again and vanish with her. He could take her away with him and try to figure out what had happened to her by himself. Though he doubted the Avengers and Thor would take kindly to it. Not to mention that Natasha herself would probably disapprove. Not that she would voice her opinion, by the looks of it.

The decision was made the moment the door burst open. Loki was gone in a flash, teleporting back to the apartment he shared with Thor, leaving Natasha behind.

"Natasha! Are you alright?" Steve asked, concern written all over his face.

When the team had seen Loki in her room, they had rushed to get to her. They had all been worried sick since the incident and had upped security on her floor, just in case she needed anything or anybody tried to break in.

She didn't answer, staring at the spot Loki had been occupying.

"She seems fine. Doesn't look like he hurt her or anything." Tony said.

They were all relieved and Clint took a step closer, kneeling down in front of her for a better, proper, check-up. If anyone could tell if she truly was okay, it would be him.

"You're really okay? He didn't touch you?"

It was a stupid question considering she wasn't going to answer him in any way and he knew it but he couldn't help himself. Bruce was the one to wonder aloud what Loki had been doing in here in the first place. All eyes turned to him, even Natasha looked up at him though her expression remained neutral.

"Maybe he was lonely."

"Stark, this is serious."

"We should call Thor." Clint suggested and the boys nodded in agreement.

"I'll make the call. Somebody should stay here, just in case."

Clint volunteered and the others left together with Tony, who asked Jarvis to call their favourite God. It didn't take long for the phone to be answered, Thor's greeting echoing through the big room.

"Hey buddy. Listen, is your brother around? We need to talk to him. Like, now, would be good."

"Indeed he is! But you cannot speak to him at this moment."

"What, why?"

Thor looked back at Loki who was sitting at the table, his chin resting in his hand.

"I will bring him to you when we are done."

"No, Thor, list-"

Thor had hung up on him and Tony stared at the phone, offended.

"Did he seriously just hang up on me?!"

"Maybe he finally learned that you can't keep your mouth shut?" Bruce shrugged and Steve chuckled while Tony glared at them both.

Loki looked up at his brother when he ended the call. He would have been amused about the rather rude ending but his thoughts were on Natasha.

"I ask again, what have you done this time, Loki?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Thor's faith in him was always such a great thing to fall back on.

"The question should not be about what I have done but what has been done to Agent Romanoff. And I believe I asked that question first."

Thor fell silent for a minute. He could tell Loki what he knew, which was hardly anything, or he could remind him of their agreement to not utter a word about his friends. Loki continued staring him down, narrowing his eyes at the silence. It was never a good thing when Thor was so quiet. Another minute later, Thor sat down at the other end of the table, covering his face with his hands for a moment. He felt out of place for telling him.

"I will tell you what I know but do not expect it to be much."

The younger God nodded and waited quietly for Thor to continue.

"Lady Natasha had gone missing two months ago, on a mission. The others found her a week after that and she has not spoken a word since. We do not know what has happened to her during her absence. She refuses to speak and does not react to anything. She spends her time in her room where she can be left alone. Her team is taking good care of her but it is worrisome that she will not speak." He explained, his expression giving away just how much he worried about the spy.

"I see…" Loki mumbled to himself.

"Loki… Why are you suddenly so interested in her well-being? You have asked me not to tell you about them and so I have not… I do not understand why you want me to now."

"The agreement still remains, Thor. I care not how they are and I do not wish to hear of them. This is an exception. Somebody has broken her when I could not. She is no fun anymore now and I wanted to know why."

Thor narrowed his eyes at him then, his gaze holding a clear warning. He did not appreciate the way Loki talked about his friend. He could deal with the bitterness and jests but he would not sit by and watch him speak like that when she was suffering already.

"Don't fuss, Thor. I have no intention of hurting her. I am merely…fascinated."

That seemed to settle his uneasiness a little though the frown remained on his face. As far as he could tell, Loki was being sincere.

"We must go see the others. They wish to speak to you as well."

"Speak to me or attempt to kill me?" Loki mused, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Okay, Reindeer Games, what the hell were you doing in Natasha's room?"

"Hello to you too, Stark."

"Yeah, hi, whatever, so?"

"I was seeking a distraction and I found it." Loki smirked, just to anger him, "I must admit, I'm surprised Barton is not here. I would have thought he would have put an arrow in the back of my head the second I stepped in."

It was Steve who replied, his voice calm, "He's with Natasha."

Loki nodded in acknowledgement. He rather appreciated the calm and honest reply. He wasn't here to fight them after all, no matter how much fun it was to stir up some trouble.

"Listen, you can't just teleport in here and you definitely can't go and see her."

He turned his attention back to Tony then and frowned, irritated.

"You cannot tell me what to do and what not. I do what I want."

"Yeah, that's great for you and all but she can't kick you out and this is my house so I can tell you to leave her alone. I don't think it's good for her to see you so you won't, easy as that. We can kick you out whenever we want to."

Bruce and Steve nodded in agreement and when Loki glanced over to Thor, he too voiced his agreement, "It will be best for the Lady Natasha to keep things calm."

"I do not care. I wish to see her."

"I just told you, you can't. You don't know what happened-"

"And neither do you." Loki snarled.

Silence filled the room at his outburst and Tony stared at Thor, half angry. Obviously, the God had told him about the incident. There was simply no other way Loki would know anything. The click that came from the door behind them caught everybody's attention and they all turned their heads toward it.

"I think he should go see her."

Everyone stared at Clint in disbelief, including Loki. Out of all of them, he had been certain that Barton would be the one to jump to Natasha's defence first. That he would be the last person to agree to let Loki get close to her again, especially under the current circumstances. Clint walked over to the group, moody, and crossed his arms in front of his chest as he looked up at Loki. He was clearly displeased by the idea of having him here.

"Agent Barton?" Steve questioned with furrowed brows.

The archer sighed and tore his eyes away from Loki while trying to find the words to explain his previous statement.

"Okay, I know this sounds crazy but listen. I don't want him here any more than you do and I sure as hell don't want him anywhere close to Natasha but… I think he actually got a reaction out of her. And no, it wasn't out of fear, as much as I'd like that. It'd give me a reason to kick him out of here but it's not that. I think… maybe he can help."

"And what if he can't? What if we let him see her and he kills her?"

Loki rolled his eyes at that. Had they forgotten that he was right there?

"I don't think that will happen, Captain." Bruce chimed in, "He could have killed her last time. He didn't even try to hurt her. Look, if he can help Natasha, we should give it a try. None of us managed to make her react, not even Clint."

The man in question nodded. "Besides, there are cameras. He does something stupid, I will personally kick his ass back to Asgard."

There was another round of silence in which Steve and Tony shared a concerned look.

"Okay, fine."

Steve gave his okay as well though he was still reserved about the idea of letting Loki close to her.

"If you can help her somehow, we'd appreciate it. Just know that we will not just sit back and watch if you harm her in any way."

Loki was surprised, to say the least. He ignored the Captain and turned to face Clint once more. He wasn't sure he understood his motives. He also wasn't sure how this entire conversation went from his wish to see her to them assuming he'd help her.

"I will not harm her." He said to no one in particular.

Thor clapped his shoulder a little too eagerly, making Loki cough and glare at him.

"I am happy you will help Lady Natasha!"

"Don't be ridiculous. I will make no such promises. I don't see why I should help her. In case you've forgotten, I don't care."

"Just talk to her." Clint pushed, "Not today though. She's just gone to sleep."

"Then we shall return tomorrow!" Thor smiled.

He was happy with the current turn of events. Loki bowed his head briefly before grabbing Thor and teleporting both of them away again. He didn't feel like walking. The way through the tower and back to their apartment was tedious.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Tony voiced, obviously worried.

He felt protective of Natasha, now even more so. He wanted her to be alright and having the crazy God of Mischief in the same room as her wasn't his definition of protection and safety.

"I don't know, Stark. But honestly, if there's a chance he can help, I'm willing to take it. I saw something in her eyes after he left and that's the most reaction she's showed ever since we got her back."

"Should we inform Director Fury of this?" Steve asked.

The others just shook their heads no. It wouldn't be easy to explain why on Earth they let Loki close to her now and none of them would be willing to have that chat quite yet either. There was only so much Fury could take before he would snap and they didn't doubt that this would be the last straw. Nobody wanted to be shouted at for this and if it didn't work, they could simply keep Loki away again and pretend nothing ever happened in the first place.

"It can wait."

Loki retreated into his room as soon as they got back, not willing to converse with Thor about this entire thing. He was just curious. He needed to know how somebody had managed to break the unbreakable Natasha Romanoff. She was his match on so many levels but now she was nothing but an empty shell. He pushed the sudden wave of emotions back, trying to convince himself that he did not care the least about her condition beyond his curiosity. He ignored the memory of his chest tightening just hours before. He did not care for one pathetic little human.