Chapter Three (Edited.)

Loki was having a very odd day. First those "demigods" show up and claim to be the daughters of Apollo and Hades (the latter's skeletal soldiers beating the everlasting daylights out of him), then they sign up for SHIELD and Odin decides to drop in. That was where he was now. The AllFather was sitting on a foldup chair in front of his adopted son. And Fury was having conniptions.
That at least was amusing. The mortal wanted him to show his agents a way to bypass the Stargates and lead them to Thanos. Not amusing. They'd be slaughtered by that monster.
Definitely amusing.

"Greetings, Odin." Loki was completely indifferent, outwardly at least. The last time he had seen his foster father was in Asgard during his trial which was incomplete. The most punishment he had been given since then was full monitoring of his thoughts, which was probably the worst punishment ever, right under being tortured by dripping snake poison and smashed to a "pancake" (as the mortal's say) by Hulk. Everytime he tried to think of an escape or even brood, a sharp needle of pain shattered any thoughts he had in his mind.

"Call me Fa-"
"No." Loki's eyes shut briefly before staring straight into the AllFather's eyes.
"Odin."
Odin sighed and sat back in his chair.
"The mortal Fury and I have been discussing your fate."
Loki gave an I-cannot-believe-this laugh.
"What? About who gets to kill me first?"
"No, about your release from prison and ensignment in the new Project."

Loki's face twisted up. He knew it was a bad idea to tell Fury about Thanos and his mutated Wraiths but it was for the sake of Asgard. With Midgard destroyed, it would be only a matter of time until Thanos found Loki's home. Well, his foster home. He didn't care about Jotunheim, after all he did try to obliterate it from existence.
"My dear Odin," Loki looked at the AllFather with a half disbelieving and half mocking gaze. "you want me to join the group that de-... stopped my plans?"

The AllFather stood up and began slowly pacing back and forth.
"The Nine Realms are no longer as open to you as before, SHIELD (here he paused and nodded to Fury) is holding you under lock and key, and if you return to Asgard you will face the rest of your trial. And most likely... execution." Odin stopped pacing and looked at him sadly but Loki only shrugged.

"How do you know I won't turn on the Avengers?"
"I don't." Odin sat down again. "But you still have that mind spell cast on you..."
Loki winced.
"This is a chance for you to redeem yourself. We both want this-"
"Are you so sure about that?"

The AllFather put one hand on top of Loki's (so firmly that he couldn't wriggle) and looked steadily out of his one eye.

"Your mother-and I- both want you back." He reluctantly let go of Loki's hand and stood up.

"I must go now." Odin started for the door and looked back. Loki was silent and had his face turned towards the wall. Odin walked through the door. "Goodbye, son."

And it was only after the door had closed and the lights dimmed that a certain Jotun sighed.
"Goodbye, Father."

•••

Natasha

Natasha sat at the bar in the game room and watched Tony try to explain the Wii to the Captain and Thor. Not a good idea, not at all. Philly, well Agent Philly now (her last name was nonexistent), was perched in one of the massive bay windows with a sketch book and charcoal in hand. Sitting across from her was a still chained but strangely no longer sullen Loki. Natasha guessed they didn't hold their earlier fight against each other, or they were just waiting for the oppurtune moment to beat each other up. She herself was just waiting for Loki to break one of Fury's conditions so that she could send him to whatever afterlife the Asgardians had. Philly's hands flew over the sketchpad, occasionally stopping as the owner took a long intense look at the subject who did not squirm but returned the gaze just as steadily. Natasha shifted her attention to Clint and Agent Rayson who were taking turns at the dart board, each getting bull's eyes (the latter attributed it to being a daughter of Apollo, who had improbable precision and accuracy with projectiles) so many times that they had to set up several different boards on the wall in order not to wear out one board so quickly and not to annoy Tony by doing so. Although the guy could probably buy the world's dart boards and not miss it.

The two were smiling and obviously enjoying an inside joke and Natasha tried to supress her surprise at the quiet little laugh that emanated from Clint. It wasn't his normal on-the-job sarcastic laugh but the laugh he used when it was just the two of them on break from whatever life-threatening situation they were just in. Natasha felt a tugging inside of her, a small voice crying out to separate the two, to possessively guard her Clint from the other girl. But, she quickly brushed the thought away, it was unprofessional. Besides, she only felt that way because they were partners, through thick, thin, and sometimes Fury's wrath. But the voice persisted and a moment later, Natasha found her own voice speaking.

"Since when did you guys become BFF's?" The Russian accent bit through the air a little harder than she intended. Clint and Ashley paused in their game and looked at her and then back at each other. They laughed. Laughed.

"Is it really that obvious? Gee, and I thought Reyna was good at finding things out." Ashley said, trying to stifle a laugh at the crestfallen look on Natasha's
face.

"Tasha," Clint said, not laughing anymore but with a smile on his face. "I've known this kid since she was twelve. Fury made me babysit-" Here he was interrupted by a swift jab to the stomach by Ashley.
"What Clint means is that we're like brother and sister."
Natasha heaved a mental sigh.

"Then why did you not say anything in the tower?" She asked.
"Because we knew Fury was watching and after the Budapest incident-" Ashley stopped.

"Budapest?" Natasha raised an eyebrow. That time in Budapest seemed to be a sore subject for Clint. From what she had seen from her post (they were on the same mission but at different posts) a building containing the target blew up before she could pump him for information.

Ashley spoke first. "It was my fault actually." Of course, it couldn't have been Clint's, Natasha noted with satisfaction. "I kind of detonated a few last resort bombs..."
"But I let her come on the mission." Clint put in.

"Anyways, Fury thought we weren't good for each other so basically put a restraining order on us, but since some of us are going to be in the Project, we are going to have to work together." Ashley finished. Clint shrugged and smiled at Natasha and for a heart-pounding second, the master assassin and spy thought he knew about her best kept secret. That she-. But then the moment passed and Clint turned towards the dart board again, although Ashley gave her a knowing look that was far too devious for her taste. Natasha shuddered. She sipped her cocktail and turned away.

"Where's Banner?" Stark asked as he slid into the bar. He was sweating profusely and his hair was rumpled. Natasha supposed teaching Thor and Captain America to play the Wii did not go very well.

"What happened? Banner is probably in the lab." She said. Tony sighed and pulled a beer from the fridge.
"Thor broke the Wii. Actually, Capt. broke the remote and Thor smashed the screen."
Philly looked up from her sketch and frowned. "What game did you put on?"
Tony knit his eyebrows. "Call of Duty, I think. Why?"
Everyone groaned.

"You know, for a genius, putting on a warfare game for a soldier and a Asgardian god who might get a little too excited, is a very bad idea." Philly said, emphasizing the last bit. Loki laughed quietly.
"Shut up Reindeer Games." This was directed at Loki but he was cut off by a very Loki-like evil glare from Philly.

"So where are they now?" Ashley asked, an innocent look on her face as she simultaneously nailed a bulls-eye.
"Fury called them away. He also asked for you Nat." *insert Clint's evil glare at Tony* "I mean, Natasha."
Natasha sighed and stood up from the bar and began walking out when Bruce walked in.

"Hello Natasha." Bruce greeted her and then noticed the rest of the people. "Good. You're all here."
"What's up Doc?" Tony clapped him on the shoulder. They were friends whose idea of fun time together was building some complicated machine in their lab while consuming packs of freeze dried fruit. Tony liked the blueberries.

"What news from Fury?" He inquired.
Banner just shrugged. "It's all very vague. The director told me that us five are to receive a message soon."
"Just us five?" Philly asked, looking over at Loki, either lamenting her unfinished sketch or feeling sorry for Asgardian.
Most likely the former.

"I was just getting to that. He said Loki can do whatever he dang well pleases as long as it don't interfere with us or break my conditions." Banner explained, executing an almost realistic imitation of the director. Loki didn't move.

"You still need to finish that sketch of me and prove your skills." He stared at Philly and she smirked.
"I guess he's staying then." She smiled quickly at the Asgardian and for the briefest of moments, he smiled gently back.
And then the phone rang.