Okay first I want to apologize for taking so long to update, I've had exams for the past two weeks and just been feeling really deppressed and not really wanting to write so there's that. Anyway, here is the last chapter, I intend to write a sort of epiloge, but this is where the story really leaves off... I hope you guys enjoy it! When I upload the epilogue I'll give you an idea of what a sequal might look like and you guys can let me know if that sounds llike something you would want to read. Thank you guys so much for following/favoriting and reviewing, really you guys make my day! I didn't really grow up in the fandom/nerd community and I never understood why I felt so out of place, but you guys (fandoms, followers, strangers on the internet) are some of the most accepting people that I have ever (technically never) met! Thank you so much for your support through my first fan fic!
Also, all the credit to marvel except my plot and OC
Natasha watched anxiously to see Steve's reaction, she had shown up in his room ragged and dirty, with an equally dirty and bell ragged Loki by her side. Sneaking into the tower hadn't been very difficult, especially with everyone so distracted with the construction going on. Loki had wanted to grab Scarlet and get out before anyone saw them, but Natasha had said no. They couldn't do that to her friends, not after everything else they had put them through. "Hi…" she finally said uncertainly when she realized that Steve was not going to speak first.
"Hi?!" he repeated incredulously "Hi? That's all you have to say?" he started to pace around his floor of the tower. "You show up in my apartment looking like you've walked through a war zone and He is with you and all you can say is hi?"
She shrugged and sank down onto the couch sheepishly. "It seemed like a good start. Look Steve I know you have questions, and I know that everyone in this tower probably hates us right now, but I need you to hear me out. I need your help… everyone's actually."
Steve turned to face her, both hands on his hips, she thought for a moment of how much he looked light a father talking to his wayward daughter. He really is like the parent of the team… and Lord knows we need one.
"Alright start talking then," He instructed impatiently
She took a deep breath "I will tell you the whole thing once we are all together, for now does it suffice to say that Loki is not actually at fault? When I snuck up to Asgard to see him I convinced him to help me carry out a plan to save Scarlet. "
Steve sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose "Not really, but fine… do you want me to call everyone together?"
She nodded as she stood and started to raid his fridge. "Please, and have them come here… I already disabled your security cameras and I don't want to have to do it again somewhere else." She started to make a sandwich and nodded to Loki to ask if he wanted one as well. "Oh, and have Scarlet come too."
Steve glanced from her to Loki "Are you sure that is a good idea? She isn't too happy with either of you…"
Natasha nodded as she bit into her sandwich "that is why she needs to hear this."
Natasha and Loki stayed out of sight as the Avengers gathered. Natasha noted with a smile that Clint and her daughter came in together. It seemed that the team had accepted Scarlet as one of their own, it was good to know that she would always have people who cared for her, even if Natasha and Loki were gone. I almost wish we could stay she thought dismally. Once they had all gathered she stepped out, giving Loki a pointed look to remind him to stay out of sight.
The teams reactions were mixed, Tony and Pepper seemed delighted, Bruce who must have recently returned to the tower looked tired, but happy to see her, and Clint's face darkened suspiciously. Scarlet seemed excited to see her, but she also seemed a little hesitant, a lot had happened since Natasha left with Loki. "Hi guys…" she said quietly.
Questions bombarded her, how was she? Was she okay? Did Loki hurt her? Why had she left….
"Okay, okay," she said motioning for them to quiet down so she could talk. "I want to answer all your questions but I don't have much time. Please just hear me out, there are some things that all of you should know." She took a deep breath and started to tell them how when they had arrived at the compound Natasha had guessed that they might be there because of Scarlet, and after Fury told them all about her she noticed that things didn't seem to add up. Why was Scarlet in such a secure facility? Surely they could have left her with her family and just monitored her… and why had Fury kept it so secret? "Then I realized that Fury was holding you like an Ace of spades… like a stolen relic to be bartered with…. I need to know what his plan was, and I knew that it must involve Loki, so when Thor arrived I convinced him to let me go visit his brother." She nodded to the large man in thanks. "I had a plan… if Fury thought that Loki was free, and trying to wreak havoc on the world again, he would be forced to show his cards. Unfortunately this meant giving Loki power… and the only way I could do this safely was to have him kidnap me."
Most of the Avengers were nodding now, they could see where this was going, but Clint still looked angry. "The plan was for us to make enough trouble that Fury would move Scarlet to the tower, to draw Loki out. Then we attacked the tower, and compromised the hulk." She glanced apologetically at Bruce. "Once Fury had played his hand Loki would claim that Scarlet meant nothing to him." She paused and locked eyes with Scarlet "You're father didn't mean it, he never would have said those things if I hadn't made him…. But if we couldn't convince Fury that your could not be used as leverage against Loki then you would have been stuck in a high security compound for the rest of your life, and I couldn't let that happen."
There was a silence as Natasha finished, finally Steve spoke "So you are telling us that this whole thing… it was fake? Loki never meant to unleash the Hulk on New York?"
Natasha nodded, "Actually, Loki didn't want to do any of it… I only was able to convince him because I told him that it was the only way to help Scarlet." She glanced around to make sure every one was relaxed. "Actually, Loki is here…." Immediately all the avengers jumped up (except Cap) and looked around searching. Scarlet just looked shocked, and maybe a little betrayed. Loki, taking Natasha's cue stepped out from behind the wall with both hands up.
"Before you guys try to kill him" Natasha said in a tired voice as she watched Clint and Tony rush foreword while Thor and Cap tried to hold them back. "As punishment for what he did Odin took away all of his powers, he is harmless." Thor and Steve managed to get Tony and Clint to sit down and Loki walked foreword slowly, but he wasn't looking at the Avengers, he was looking at his daughter.
"Scarlet I want you to know that I am so sorry about what you have been through because of me, and what I said before… it wasn't true, not at all." He knelt down in front of where she sat on the couch and smiled, "I would really love a chance to get to know you, and to show you that I am not that monster you saw the other night."
Everyone's eyes were on Scarlet, Natasha wasn't sure what she would do but eventually she nodded and Loki smiled. "Anyway," Natasha said trying to take the attention away from her obviously uncomfortable daughter. "I may or may not have threatened Fury and quit S.H.I.E.L.D. so we need to get out of here."
Steve looked at the three of them "All of you?" he asked in disbelief.
She nodded, smiling at her daughter and Loki as they stood and came over to her. "I think we could all use a new start."
Tony grabbed his tablet and started typing furiously, Bruce smiled back at them. "How long?" he asked sadly.
She shrugged "Not forever."
By then Tony was jumping up and going to print something out. "I was saving this for a rainy day, incase any of us every needed a place to lay low for a week or two. I imagine that you'll be there longer but that's fine, you guys can be like the care takers."
"Care takers of what?" Loki asked.
Tony paused for a moment, obviously not used to the presence of the villain in the tower. "Oh, of the Avenger's safe house!" he said after regaining his composure. "I bought it after New York, I wanted to be ready if any of us ever needed a place to hide, or just a place to take a vacation. Here, I have plane tickets and passports too…. Just tell me what names you guys want to live under."
Natasha smiled warmly at the superheroes as they each started to rush around the tower collecting things that they might need, or even just things to remember them by. Only Clint seemed to disapear before she could say goodbye, her heart hurt for him but she knew she couldn't force him to forgive her, and she was not going to let him ruin her new start. She pulled Scarlet in close to her and kissed the top of her head, maybe this was what family felt like.