"The sun is rising." Loki muttered as he looked into the sky. It wasn't as cold, but Loki didn't mind either way. He was accustomed to such a cold feeling. Natasha yawned as she glanced up at the sky for the first time to see he was right. Her guess was that it was around 6:30. Loki had long been done telling his story and the two had found a comfortable silence to sit in. Natasha had moved up the scarf to allow more coverage of her face to protect against the cold. Her head was leaning against his shoulder; his head was leaning on her head.

"The portal…" He mentioned it cautiously; he felt her stiffen at the mere word. "You mentioned the portal in your sleep…" He muttered. He felt her take a deep breath while scooting in closer to his side. "I was knocked out by the beast when your team began to fight off my army." He was right. Natasha knew that. And it made all the more sense to her for him to be asking the question that came next. "What happened during the invasion, Stark?"

She paused, attempting to find a way to explain. Without moving her head, she glanced towards the Tower, which was still in view from where they sat. "The portal was opened exactly above the tower. However…" She glanced in the opposite direction and pointed subtly for Loki's eye's to follow. "It was all the way over there when the Council, basically the people Fury has to answer to, decided itd be a good idea to shoot a nuke at the city. To kill all the aliens. Even if it meant killing everyone in the area."

"A sacrifice play." Loki muttered.

"Hm?" Natasha heard him clearly, but was surprised by his working.

"You muttered that in your sleep as well, amongst other words that I couldn't quite pick up on. But I'm presuming you were referencing the nuke being sent to kill humanity." She gave him a bittersweet smile that caused Loki to stop talking immediately.

"I had an idea…" She paused, hoping to keep herself calm during the next few moments. She didn't want to have a panic attack with Loki sitting right next to her. It was enough that he knew of her night terrors. She didn't want him to know what plagued her through the day. She slightly frowned.

Or maybe she did want him to know.


"I can shut the portal down." Agent Romanoff's voice rang through the com. Natasha flew at her highest speed to reach the nuke. Captain America replied eagerly. "Do it!"

"No, wait!" She sounded insane. Even she knew that. "Iron Man, these things are still coming." The cut on her forehead burned as she tried to reach a solution. "I've got a nuke coming in and it's going to blow in less than a minute." She flew around the bridge and finally caught up to the oncoming doom. Fury sure had a thing for timing. "I know just where to put it…"


Loki frowned once more. "At the cost of your life."

"At the cost of my life." She repeated.


"Stark, Iron Man, you know that's a one way trip…" The Captain's voice resounded through the comm. She long stopped replying to comm questions as Stark. She didn't see it as important enough. They didn't need her. They needed Iron Man.

She registered the Captain's comment after a moment of thought. She knew all too well what she was about to do. "Save the rest for the turn, J." She said after latching the suit onto the nuke, redirecting its angle to be aimed above the tower. "Miss, shall I try Miss Potts?" At that moment it dawned on her what exactly would result from what she was doing. Her heart skipped a beat before replying. "Might as well…" She replied.

She flew to the sound of air rushing passed her. She heard nothing else until she reached the portal. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't the longest 7 seconds of her life. She felt relieved when she finally made it through; she had succeeded and she had won.

But she knew better than anyone that every victory comes with a price.


She paused, as she felt a hand lace with her own. An offer of comfort. She squeezed his hand subconsciously as she tried to maintain a calm demeanor. "My power went out. The call failed. Everything went dark around me but I could still see what was happening as the suit let go of the nuke. I was surviving on a single breath of air. I saw the whole army explode. It was weird because space was cold until the explosion happened. A warm rush washed over me as I felt myself close my eyes."

Loki rubbed his thumb over hers slowly. Reassuring her in a small way that she wasn't actually in the portal and she wasn't falling to her death. She was on a public bench.

"I remembered falling but I-" Her eyes widened slightly when she felt Loki remove his hand and instead place it on the side of her head. "Shhh." She felt that gentle petting that had woken her up. "You can stop now. Sleep." Loki hushed her. It was one of those rare moments when Natasha didn't argue and instead followed through when her eyes slowly began to drop.

Loki sat calmly as he continued to lull her to sleep. The day before, after Stark had gone to train, Loki found himself browsing through channels. He eventually found a film labeled Casablanca to watch. Before realizing, he had begun to softly hum the tune from that very movie. Natasha recognized the tune even in her have conscious state. Loki's soft humming of As Time Goes By was the last thing she remembered hearing before falling to her first peaceful sleep in a long while...

Across the street, Coulson stood on a street corner observing the two in silence. "Interesting." He said to himself with a small smile. "Phil?" He turned at the sound of name to see Pepper Potts standing a few steps away. "Pepper." He grinned as she walked closer to him. "Before we continue, I need to know if you talked to her yet or if anything got solved."

"I assure you, Miss Potts." Phil offered his arm once more as Pepper took it. "You'll be able to enjoy this date without any worry." He smiled warmly, setting Pepper into a calm state of mind. "I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you. I'm a hard woman to impress." Phil laughed.

"You'll just have to wait and see."


"You were gone this morning." Steve said as he noticed Natasha and August sitting in the second common room. It was midafternoon. "I needed fresh air." She replied indifferently, not bothering to glance up at Steve as Loki began to fiddle with a black piano that rested in the corner of the room. Steve was about to confront her about what Bruce had said, but decided against it. She had company in the room and it'd be best to wait until later. Steve left, leaving the door open.

"You also know how to play?" Loki eyed her with a smirk playing on his lips. "My mother taught me when I was younger. I haven't played in a few years though." She said as she sat herself on the piano bench. Loki leaned against the wall, observing and waiting for her next move. "You hummed a song from Casablanca earlier." She looked up at him with curious eyes. "Yesterday when you left to train, I asked Jarvis to play something for me. He had me going through channels until I settled on the black and white film. I liked the song." He paused. "Could you play it?"

Natasha wasn't expecting the request, but she began to play it nonetheless. At some point, she even began to sing…


"I had a great time, Phil." Pepper Potts said to Coulson on their way up to the floor the Avengers would normally be found. The two had gone ice skating, had found a little carnival where they two had won a stuffed animal, and even had a late lunch. "The pleasure was all mine, Pepper." Phil grinned as he swiped his card on the identification pad, opening the door automatically.

They walked into the kitchen to find Steve and Bruce sitting side by side, a coffee in both their hands. Pepper frowned slightly as she noted neither of them were in conversation but rather looking indistinctly at the wall. "Guys, what's-" She paused, realizing what their attention was focused on.

"As Time Goes By. It's from Casablanca. 1942." Steve said soft enough for everyone to hear while still listening to the sound of the piano playing from the other room. "I didn't take her as one to play in her free time." Bruce added before taking a sip of his drink. Pepper placed her stuffed animal on the counter. "She's not…" Pepper stared at the wall perplexed. "And she's singing along too." Coulson raised an eyebrow as he heard her voice.

"I haven't heard her play like this in a long time." Pepper said softly.

"When was the last time she played?" Steve frowned, turning towards Pepper. She listened for a few more seconds before replying. "The first time I heard her play was when I was an intern. Her mother asked her to play. The second time was after her parents died. The third time was after Iron Man came into the picture. She was drunk." Pepper was perplexed because going by the cycle, something horrible would have had to had happen but that wasn't the case.

"Did something bad happen?" Bruce asked slightly worried.

"Well…" Pepper paused before answering. "I don't think so. That's generally a nice song, the worst of it being bittersweet if anything. The songs she played before matched her mood. With her parents I know she played Piano Man. The night after-" She paused as she rethought was she was about to say. She momentarily forgot that while Coulson knew, Steve and Bruce didn't know about Iron Man. "The night after Iron Man handled Obadiah, I know she got drunk and played Goodbye Stranger. As Time Goes By doesn't fit with those songs."


"You should play more often." Loki said lightly as she continued through the song. Her fingers played each note as she looked up at him. A small smile played on her lips before she sang the last lines.

"It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by."

Loki had, at some point between the lines, had arched his back to make his head lean against hers gently. He looked her in the eye and couldn't help but let his eyes widened slightly at the sudden sensation in his chest. A subtle cough at the door caught both of their attentions as Loki stood up right and both turned to see who was at the door. Bruce Banner stood awkwardly; his cup of coffee still in hand.

"Does Nat like the guy that much to play for him?" Bruce thought to himself, still trying to figure out the reason behind her playing.

Bruce broke his thought to speak. "Nat, Steve needs to talk to you. He's kind of been waiting." He scratched the back of his neck as Natasha rolled her eyes. "I'll see what's up…" She mumbled, not really wanting to go but knowing if she didn't, it'd come and haunt her later. She gave Bruce a gentle pat on the shoulder, a practice that only she had the courage to do at the point. He watched her leave and turned his attention back to the tall man with a green scarf.

Loki stood with the same subtly surprised expression as he had before. He could only describe the feeling in his chest as something rough; something he hadn't exactly felt in a long time. It wasn't out of fear either. Along with that, it felt like the warmth of a summer's day. Without realizing, a subtle smile curled on his lips. Bruce watched wearily as his blood ran cold at the sight. He felt frozen in place as the other walked passed him without a word

Bruce Banner knew that smile all too well.


Next Chapter: Steve and Stark talk, fighting, and the big reveal.


AN: So I figure I'll stop here. The chapter was supposed to have a confrontation but I feel like it might be slightly repetitive so I think this is a nice place to end.

I shoved Casablanca in your faces because I feel like that's a fantastic film that Loki and Stark could talk about throughout the fic or I could even make a few parallels to it. I like making references to movies and stuff.

Also, for those of you who watch Supernatural, I also had inspiration from that to make this chapter based around that song. In a way, from the lyrics I put up there, you could even argue that the whole fic is like those lyrics but you know, that's just me.

I've had a rough few weeks and an even worse day so forgive me if my writing is off. Boy drama and family drama and I'm sure you guys don't want to hear about my stupid life problems so I'll stop here, haha.

I hope you're all having a better time than I am.

-H.