Disclaimer: I do not own any of the films in the MCU, nor do I own any of the comics. This is simply a work of fiction and is not meant for any monetary gain or to infringe on any copyright laws

Rating: T for violence and minor language

Author's Note: The next chapter! Also, I posted a new one-shot for the Avengers last night, so feel free to check that out, too. Enjoy :)

Chapter 4

Steve quietly descends into the valley, his shield perched on his back, ready. The farther he goes the more he realizes how stupid he is and how right Natasha is, but the feeling in his gut keeps him from turning back. Besides, he needs to get away from her. The dark voice within him is weaker the farther he goes, and for the moment the relief from the internal battle inside him is enormous. He can't quite rid himself of an emptiness, though. There's a void in his heart that grows even as he walks. Is the only way to shut out the darkness also the way to lose his happiness? Which is worse?

The Giants loiter around the pool, and they're huge. They look similar to normal humans, their proportions very familiar with the exception of their height. Their eyes are a glowing red and their skin pale, and they stand between twenty and twenty five feet tall. Steve isn't used to being a small person, but next to them he is a young child. He begins to doubt that his team can defeat a force this large and powerful, until he remembers Wanda. And then he remembers they were supposed to talk, but it's too late now. He'll have to wait until he returns. If he returns. At this point he's not sure if he's reached the point of no return, selfish as it is.

Loki is asleep on a throne—how melodramatic—and on the far side of the valley is a small shelter, big enough for three human beings. Steve assumes those are where the captives are being held, and he begins to head that way. His stealth training has paid off; he goes unnoticed as he sneaks toward the shelter. When he reaches it he slips inside, putting his shield in first so the women know it's him.

Jane and Darcy look a little frightened, though not at him. Their eyes are dark with bags, and he knows this whole experience has been traumatizing. The other woman, however, looks at him with stern eyes and an assertive expression.

"Hey, neighbour," he whispers, a small fletching of surprise surging up within him. What is she doing here? She left SHIELD for the CIA he thought, but apparently she deceived him along the line, too. The darkness comes in a wave. Everyone is betraying him now, and there's nothing he can do about it. He can't trust anyone, because all of them will let him down in the end. He's just so damn naive.

She nods in reply and motions with her head to their hands and feet, which are bound together. Steve pulls out a knife from his uniform and cuts Kate, or as she's better known, Sharon, free.

He begins to move to Jane and Darcy, but Sharon shakes her head. "They're not in any danger here," she says softly but insistently.

"I have a team that's attacking the Giants tomorrow at first light," Steve argues, keeping his voice down. He doesn't believe her one bit. Not after she posed as his neighbour, a nice nurse who works at the infectious disease ward. Not after they flirted. Not after she turned out to be lying to him and manipulating him the whole time. And why should he trust her? "We have to get them out."

"No, you can't attack," she replies. "This whole trap is meant for Thor, to bring him down. Loki is going to reveal himself to the world, and when Heimdall sees he'll let down Thor. There's something bigger going on."

"How do you know all this?" Steve demands. "I though you went to work with the CIA." It's probably another deception. The super soldier is beginning to be filled with an unending rage. Why does he deserve to be surrounded by "friends" who just lie and use him? Why can't he find someone who is genuine and kind and won't act like someone else? Why does he have to watch his back like a hunted criminal?

"After SHIELD collapsed I had contacts that still were within SHIELD. They returned to me with orders, and I have been working undercover with the CIA. Then my boss sent me to investigate some odd occurrences going on, and I allowed myself to be captured to learn the truth from Loki. This whole ruse? It's only a distraction from something bigger, and right now this is the safest place for them to be."

Steve shakes his head. She may be right-may-, but Jane and Darcy are civilians and thus are not prepared to deal with abduction. They're frightened, and if one thing goes wrong they can be hurt. And Steve won't let anyone on his watch get hurt, especially not Thor's girlfriend and friend.

"I can't allow them to stay," he tells Sharon, his resolve hardening.

"It's okay," Jane's small voice pipes up. "We can stay. I trust Thor will come and save us."

"And it's really not that bad," Darcy agreed. "Loki's actually kind of funny."

"He's a psychopath," Steve reminds her, wondering why anyone would think of Loki as "funny". Maybe Darcy is a secret agent, too. Maybe she's hiding her real self from him, just like everyone else seems to be. Stop it, Steve chides himself. You're becoming tired and paranoid.

Darcy shrugs. "So?"

Sharon turns back to Steve. "Let's go."

"Loki will notice if you've gone missing, and he's not bound to just sit around and wait. He might attack someone or something."

"That's why you're going to leave your team to fight him in the morning. They'll be a distraction, and they'll rescue the girls, and probably Thor will beam down and join them. The two of us need to go and investigate the other issue. The big one."

"I need more than that to just ditch my team. See, I like you, Sharon, and I respect you. But I don't know you, so I don't trust you. Too many of my friends have gone to HYDRA for me to trust anyone." Steve doesn't think she's HYDRA, and he honestly thinks she's a good person, but he can't trust her. Not yet. She may be related to Peggy but that doesn't mean anything in the long run. And she did lie and deceive him before, which is something he's not going to forgive so easily.

Sharon sighs. "Something big is going on at AIM. A big power struggle or something. A lot of their agents have been either deserting, rebelling, or becoming more aggressive, and there are rumours that they have the Cube, which I'm guessing Loki gave to them. We need to sneak in, to get information. If you leave your team then the reports in the spy world will say you've been captured or MIA, like me. Then AIM won't see us coming, and they won't be prepared. And your team can meet up with us in a few days. But we don't have much time, and if we're going we need to go now, before the Giants come and check on us."

Steve wants to hesitate, he wants to tell her things aren't alright, he can't just abandon his team, but her logic is sound. And if the world security is at risk—and it might be, AIM is a powerful branch off of HYDRA—he owes the world his work, not his team. Besides, he has two choices: either go with Sharon, who lied and deceived him, or go back to Natasha, who lied and manipulated him, and who brings out the dark side of him. He makes his decision.

"Fine. But I'm calling my team for backup as soon as I can. And we're going to stick together the whole time. No splitting up, no mission changes. Deal?"

She nods. "Deal. Now let's get out of here."


Natasha waits Steve's watch all night. She begins to grow tired, and though she knows she should get sleep she can't wake up anyone else. They might try and follow Steve, and that will be suicide.

He doesn't come back, and as dawn looms closer and closer she worries. Although she hasn't heard a disturbance in the valley, all it will take is one well-aimed smack from a Giant to knock Steve out, and if Loki is playing games, Steve will become the victim.

What worries her the worst is why she's worried. Steve will be fine, he always is. She has never worried about him in the past. Not when they were partners on missions and were split up, not when they were fugitives from SHIELD with all of HYDRA after them, not when they were in Camp Lehigh and HYDRA sent missiles after them, not in the battle against Ultron when hundreds of robots were attacking them. So why is she worried now?

Natasha is the Black Widow, and her training in the Red Room taught her to never get close to others, to not make friends, and to not trust anyone, because everyone can turn into a liability later on. When Clint saved her and brought her back to SHIELD she learned to trust him, Fury, and Hill, and only those three. When Clint had been placed under mind control by Loki she had worried to no end. That had been the first time she had felt that particular emotion. She knew he had a family, and she worried that he would be forced to do awful things and then killed. Luckily she had been able to bring him back, and her worry had been healed, but she always felt extra protective of him since. He'd dropped out of SHIELD at the request of his wife and the psychiatrists, and he'd stayed out at his family farm with his family. Natasha had been reassigned with Steve, and they made a great team, but whenever she had the opportunity she dropped by to check on him. All through the battle against Ultron while Scarlet Witch had been on the other side she worried about Clint, since he'd already had his head messed with and had become compromised.

The next person she had worried about had been Bruce. When the Avengers decided to join forces again and track down HYDRA bases she had learned a simple touch from her could calm the beast down, a Disney-like cure. However, being an Avenger is dangerous and whenever he had been in human form she worried. They had made a connection, both through the tender touches and through the similarities they had. When he had been compromised by Wanda and he had destroyed part of a city she felt awful for him, and worried. The way he had locked himself away from the others—it worried her to see him that way. Then in the battle of the city when he refused to Hulk out—she worried he'd be hurt and so she forced him to turn into the beast. And when he'd left her she had worried about him again.

Now she is worried about Steve. And not just worried. She's hurt, in a way. Before it had just been worry, not this awful pain welling up inside of her. She feels like she's lost a part of her.

That's not too far off from the truth, though. Steve has been her partner, her other half, the one that always watches her back and protects her, and now he's gone. Now she's left in charge of a team of misfits who are about to engage in a all-out war against a few dozen Frost Giants in the middle of nowhere. Who's going to watch her back now?

I never used to need someone to watch my back, she thinks to herself. And it's true; she trained to work alone, to be the ultimate spy and assassin. Then, somewhere along the way, she'd become dependent on someone to watch her back. Clint. Steve.

It still doesn't change that she's hurting, and if Steve isn't down in that valley when they take on the Giants then she has no idea where he is. He can be dying in a hole and she won't be there with him.

Stop it, she tells herself. It will all be alright, you're over exaggerating.

She wishes she is, but she's been in a similar situation. She's had partners before that she let scout ahead, and the next time she saw them they were in pieces or lying in a pool of their own blood.

But those men weren't Steve, she reminds herself. No man is like Steve. No man is as good, or as righteous, or as strong and powerful as Steve. No man can survive being frozen in ice for decades, but Steve did. No man can survive a run-in with the Red Skull but Steve did. No man can take on HYDRA with two allies, neither of which have any special superpowers.

No man can save the Black Widow from herself, but Steve has. Everyday he's helping her find her footing in ways even Clint couldn't. She's a better person by just being around him. Everyone is, to be truthful. Steve brings out the best in others, even in people like her who don't have very much good to begin with.

Not only that, but Steve is the glue that holds their team together. What will happen if he's gone? Can Natasha hold them together? Can she be the leader they need?

Even more than that, though, she worries about Steve's wellbeing. Natasha learned from a young age how to read people, and is hasn't brushed passed her attention that he's fighting himself. She sees the way he winces and rubs his temples, the way he doesn't look her in the eye, and the way he avoids her. She knows those are all the symptoms of someone fighting internally. And more than that, she thinks she knows what he's fighting: himself. He's fighting to stay a good man, but she's worried he won't win. She's watched him closely enough lately to see that his foundations are slowly falling into the sea. She knows that although Wanda was trying to help him move past Peggy the vision just made him worse.

And she sees the darkness in Steve's eyes growing day after day. The question: is her presence or her absence making it worse for him?

Natasha is terrified of the answer.


When the light of the sun starts touching the ground Natasha moves to wake the others up. They get up, snack on some candy bars that are left over, and suit up. None of them seem to realize someone is missing.

"Let's go." Natasha walks as she explains the battle strategy and reminds them of the information on the Frost Giants. Then Sam suddenly stops, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Where's Cap?" he asks. The others nod; it seems as though they did realize Steve had been gone, they just didn't bring it up. Of course they wouldn't; they probably had assumed he'd be back in time for the battle.

"He went to scout ahead earlier. He hasn't returned." Natasha continues walking, though she knows none of them are following. Then she sighs and turns back to them. "Listen, he said to keep going, to fight them if he didn't return. I don't know where he is or what he's doing, but we need to fight. I'm the leader now, and we're going to kill these bastards. Okay?"

"Is this wise?" Vision questions. Natasha knows she'll have to assert authority or else they won't follow her, so she strides up to him and gets right in his face, and even though he has a good three inches on her (at least) she scares the hell out of him.

"Listen to me, agent," she hisses. "I've taken on equal threats on my own, and I've trained more years than any of you or even Steve himself. If you doubt for one moment that I can't lead you or that I'm not doing what is right then you can leave because Steve left me in charge with his orders and I'm going to do my damn best to follow them." She raises her voice. "That goes for all of you!"

As she steps back she sees the fear of God in Vision's eyes and he nods his head. "Of course, of course I trust you."

"Anyone else have any objections?" she asks. Everyone shakes their heads. "Good. If we're going to fight like a team then you all have to act like a team, and that means following the Captain's orders. In this case, this battle, I am the captain, and you follow me." She lets the edge off of her voice. "You all are my friends, and it has been an honour to train with you, and I don't want any of you to die. That's why we have to work together, alright? Things will be harder without Steve, but we can do this."

"Ready to follow orders, ma'am," Rhodey says. The others chime in, even Wanda nodding.

"Good. Then let's go kick some Giant ass." She continues walking toward the valley edge, the others now following her.

"We attacking under radar?" Sam asks.

"Nope. Sam, give me a lift. Rhodey, take Wanda. Let's just give it a go." Sam and Rhodey pick up the girls and Vision flies himself down. They land hard, Wanda throwing out her hands to push back all immediate threats from the group and the others drawing out their weapons.

A loud laugh causes Natasha to whip her head to the right. Loki is lounging on a throne by the side of the valley, his whole green and gold reindeer getup on (is it her imagination or does his horns on his helmet just keep getting longer and longer?). The scepter sits across his lap, though instead of the blue orb it now has an orange gem in it. Probably another Infinity Stone, but Natasha doesn't have the time to think it over.

"Welcome, welcome," Loki says amiably. "I've been waiting for you. Where's your Captain, though? Did he fall and hurt himself?" He laughs again, as if he's the most hilarious guy ever.

But part of Natasha is relieved. If he doesn't know where Steve is then it means Loki and the Giants don't have him. Something else happened to him, and it could be better or worse. Natasha hopes it's better, though she doesn't have much time to dwell on it.

"The prisoners are over there," Wanda says, pointing. Natasha sees the two brunettes tied under a make-shift shelter.

"Sam, you're to get the prisoners out and away from here. I'll go for Loki, and the rest of you hold the Giants off."

Nobody questions her orders or hesitates; they work in sync, Rhodey flipping the visor over his face and raising his arm, allowing the guns and missile launchers to flip up and ready. Sam pops his goggles into place and spreads his wings, one hand switching the safety off his machine gun.

"You can try, but you won't beat them. They're the best of the best, my finest warriors." Loki readjusts his seating. "But it will still be a great show, so go ahead. I'd like to see you try."

Natasha trades glances with Wanda. "You're more powerful than they are," she reminds the girl. "You took down a vibranium robot with all the intelligence of the world, you can kill these guys. They're physically like Thor, but you're stronger."

Wanda nods, her gaze steeling itself as she turns away from the spy and starts running towards the Giants. She dodges a breath of icy air and throws her red power hexes toward them, pushing them away.

Vision starts floating towards the Giants, high enough that he's over their heads. The gem on his forehead glows as he fires beams towards the Giants.

Natasha starts running towards Loki. He snaps his fingers and two Giants instantly run between him and the spy. She takes them in, all twenty feet of each of them, and snaps on her widow's bites.

"You can surrender now," Loki calls from behind them, though he doesn't sound like he's serious. He wants a show, just like he always.

"Not a chance," she hisses, and she sprints towards the first Giant. She draws two knives from her catsuit and raises them, jumping straight onto the Giant. The knives dig into his leg, and she uses them like spikes to climb up onto his shoulders. He shakes himself, trying to throw her off, but she holds on tight. Then he starts clawing for her. Natasha starts using her acrobatics training to evade his fat fingers and finally she gets in a position to swing herself up into the air and onto his shoulders. He thrashes hard, but she grabs his long, stringy hair and pulls hard on it, hard enough to draw his head on the side and start stumbling sideways. As soon as his balance is offset she jumps onto his face and jabs her widow's bites into his eyes. He screams out in pain as he's electrocuted, his eyeballs exploding all over her in a nasty liquid form.

She jumps off his corpse onto the ground, spitting out the liquid eyeball. The other Giant looks at her apprehensively, though not with fear. He raises a large spear and rams it towards her. She ducks and rolls out of the way, barely missing it. She stops in a crouch, but he's already swinging his fist at her, so she flattens herself on the ground and covers her head with her arms. The moment his fist passes harmlessly over her pops up and sets herself in a fighting stance.

This giant isn't going to go out as easily as the other one. What she really needs is one of Clint's explosive arrows to go off in his thick skull, or even a simple grappling hook to help her climb up to his face.

She runs forward, but he turns, lightning fast, and backhands her. She goes flying across the valley, hitting one of the stakes in the shelter. It collapses on Jane and Darcy, and she hears muffled shouts. She herself is hurt, huge splinters in her back and shoulders, one of her ankles twisted unnaturally.

Dammit, she thinks. Where's Sam?

Just then she sees a Giant swatting at a flying form that is definitely not War Machine. There are just too many of these guys, and not enough Avengers. Why did Steve have to leave them?

The Giant that had smacked her comes bumbling up, a triumphant smile on his face as he lifts his arm with his spear back. It's aimed right for her. He throws his arm down, and she rolls to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit. He stomps the ground hard, and the ground shakes. She is thrown up in the air a few feet by the shake, and her back explodes in pain when she hits the ground again.

The Giant leans down, frost coming out of his nostrils. He opens his mouth to breathe on her when suddenly the sky erupts into lightning, dark clouds instantly covering up the sun.

There's a loud thud heard across the valley and a crack, and a caped figure touches down in a kneeling position, a hammer in hand. The dust clears and he looks up, danger in his clear blue eyes. He stands, and his fair hair is blown back by the breeze.

"Give it up, brother," he says in his low, deep voice.

"Why?" Loki taunts. "It's just getting fun."

"You should know better than to anger me." Thor begins moving forward, towards the shelter where Jane and Darcy are still struggling under. The Giant about to attack Natasha turns to face the new threat, a smug smile on his face.

"I will be rewarded richly for defeating you," the Giant rumbles, picking up his spear.

"What are you waiting for?" Thor challenges, raising his hammer. Lightning comes down from the heavens and hits his hammer, then shoots out towards the Giant. The lightning shatters his spear, sending the remnants everywhere. Natasha covers up to avoid being hit by the shards, and when she unrolls the Giant is a smoking mess on the sand.

The rest of the Giants turn to face the new threat, and Rhodey flies in, machine guns blazing and missiles smoking towards them. Wanda runs to the demigod's side, hands out and shooting her wisps of red, pushing the Giants back. Sam, finally free from his opposition, lands next to the shelter and pulls the thing off of the women. Natasha tosses him a small knife and he cuts their bonds. He puts an arm around each to fly them off, but not before shooting Natasha a worried look.

"Will you be okay?" he asks. Natasha shakes her head and motions violently to go. He takes off, flying Jane and Darcy off to safety. Natasha clenches her teeth and reaches to pull out the splinters in the her shoulders. It hurts at first, but then fades to an ache. She can't reach the ones in her back, but she'll have to live without. She stands up on her bad ankle shakily, then decides it's only sprained and sets off at a limping jog to Loki.

In the center of the circle of Giants Thor is blasting and hitting them, keeping them occupied with Mjölnir. Wanda is covering his back, and she's faring pretty well. Vision and Rhodey attack from the sky, and between the four superheroes they're being distracted pretty well.

Natasha makes it to Loki, and she stands in front of his throne, drawing out a knife threateningly. "Where's the party you were talking about?"

Loki smiles, though in a way that shows he's disgusted by her. "So how's the process of getting all that red out of your ledger?" he asks. She lunges forward, a cry a anger on her lips, and right when she should made contact with his body he disappears, and she falls onto the throne hard, her knife scraping against the metal.

She immediately whirls around, and he's standing where she had been a second ago, his annoying smile still on his face. "Miss me? My, my, you're getting sloppy."

A growl escapes from her throat. She crouches on the throne and then uses it as a springboard to help her momentum as she jumps. He disappears mid-jump, but she twists her arm with the knife to the side, and it makes contact. As she lands she pulls the knife out. Loki stares in surprise at the growing red circle on his side.

"Not this time." She stands, pushing the knife up at his throat. "Call off your Giants."

Loki still smiles, though this time weakly. "What's the point in that? My brother is already about to finish them off."

Natasha lets the snide comment slide. "What did you want our attention for? Why did you do this?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" He beams like a child at Christmas. "You see, there's two reasons. One, I am the god of mischief, and there's been a lot of mischief going on at Earth lately, especially having to deal with all these lovely little secret corporations. HYDRA, SHIELD, AIM—they're all in chaos right now. The other reason is one you probably don't care too much for, but Asgard is getting a little surprise right now." He tilts his head. "And guess who isn't there to help defend the realms? My dear brother."

"You're lucky he cares for you so much, otherwise you'd be dead." Natasha presses the knife closer, but she and Loki both know she won't be able to actually use it again.

"Well, before this morning I was dead." Loki laughed. "Guess I made my entrance quite dramatically, though, don't you think?"

Natasha narrows her eyes. She's about to reply when she suddenly remembers something. "Where's the spear? And who did you get it from? And what gem is in it now?"

"Again, I'm so glad you asked." Under her arms he flicks his wrist and she barely moves to avoid getting speared through the heart. It still hits her though, colliding with her shoulder. She cries out in pain, dropping her knife and falling to the ground.

There's an explosion in the valley, some shouts, and suddenly Thor is grabbing Loki. Not in a restraining way, though. He's hugging him. Natasha wants to puke. How the guy can still love his brother after everything he's done—it's a type of love Natasha doesn't ever want to have.

"I'm glad you are not dead," Thor says. "But why did you not tell me?" He pulls away, holding Loki by the shoulders.

"Because if I told you you would have dragged me back to the Asgardian prisons. Please, brother, I'm not stupid. Not like you." Loki grins suddenly. "You really should have finished off that last Giant."

A scream cuts across the valley, definitely feminine. Wanda. Natasha staggers to her feet, pain spiking everywhere. She stumbles toward the sound, barely staying conscious, her vision spotted. She's losing blood too fast, but she knows Steve would have never left his troops alone, so she has to do the same. Natasha has to put past her own pain to help the others.

When she sees the sight she almost lets herself fall. War Machine is completely frozen, at least the suit is, Vision is crumpled at the bottom of a tree, barely moving, and the last Giant is clutching Wanda is his fist, slowly crushing her despite her red tendrils of power leaking everywhere.

Natasha finds hidden energy within her and she runs forward, yelling pain. She hears Thor yell, "Here!" and an object flies her way. A weapon. Natasha grabs it and slams it into the Giant as hard as she can. He yells and stumbles, and as he falls she hits him repeatedly with it. Finally she drops it, right on him, and only after seeing Wanda crawl out of his lifeless fist does she allow herself to collapse on the ground. Seconds later she's consumed by darkness.