My laptop is fixed! The world is good again! Thank you to everybody who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this rather long one. really, very sorry for all the mistakes you are about to find, I'm betaless and to tired to do a proper edit. I kinda just brushed over it. So enjoy and sorry again!

Chapter 25

"Are you ready?" Tony asked nervously, glancing around the large room with apprehension. Loki's expression remained grim.
"To leave behind my father's judgmental looks, and my mother's sympathetic smiles? Tony, I can't wait." The corner of Tony's mouth quirked up into a smile. They both turned sharply when Thor bounded into the room, with Natasha leaning heavily on his arm. He seemed to be making an effort to move slowly, but Natasha movements looked pained. Loki went to help her, but stopped after his first step. She didn't want him anymore.

It wasn't as if he had forgot, sometimes, that she no longer loved him. It was all he thought about night and day. But there were some things, little things, that were just a reflex, that he didn't even think about doing until it was done, and left Natasha more confused. Idiot he chastised himself, before swinging on his heel and feeling her eyes burn on his turned back. Finally Thor and Natasha had moved beside him, and all were awaiting Odin's arrival. Loki stared into nothing in particular, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned to find his Mother smiling at him.

"I wished you could have stayed with us longer, Loki. Your father and I have missed you, more than you know." She said warmly, her hand still resting on his shoulder. Loki forced a polite smile on his face.
"I have missed you to Mother. But I must complete my sentence on earth before I can return to the Realm Eternal." He said, knowing that he would never return to Asgard so long as Natasha walked the earth. He felt that Frigga knew that too. She pulled him into a tight embrace.
"All curses can be broken, Loki." She whispered into his ear. Loki pulled away gently.
"Not this one."

Natasha stared at Loki and his mother, uncaring if the others saw her. They both wore the same emotions- love, trust and a desperate, desperate sadness. Even though she knew that they weren't blood related, Natasha could see the similarities in their characters. She didn't know if this made Loki more trustworthy, or Frigga less likable. Either way, it was evident that Loki was a mommy's boy. Loki glanced up and Natasha averted her eyes quickly. She had accused him of staring at her- she didn't want him to apply the same back.

Finally, Odin marched through the doors with two armed guards. He didn't seem to want to say goodbye to either of his sons- he wanted to get them of Asgard while the planets were aligned or some shit like that. It was the reason why Thor, the ever cheerful golden retriever, had woken her from her sleep. He was lucky that she didn't have a gun with her, or he'd have a bullet between the eyes right now. Of course it wouldn't have killed him, but Natasha reckoned it would have hurt him a great deal. She amused herself with fantasies of injuring he who disturbed her slumber, until Thor nudged her shoulder.

"Take a hold of Mjolnir, Lady Natasha. It will make for a smoother journey." He said gently, holding Mjolnir aloft. They all reached for the hammer quickly. She shivered when Loki's fingers brushed against the back of her hand. It wasn't unpleasant, which worried her more that the fact that she was about to fly through space. She felt a desire to close her eyes, but resisted. Who knew when she would get another chance to see the universe in such a way? A nervous wave fluttered over her, and she giggled as a couple of lyrics popped into her head. Star-trekking across the universe, on the Starship Enterprise under Captain Kirk... Only going forwards, 'cause we can't find reverse...

Odin muttered some phrases that Natasha couldn't quite catch and the party were yanked into oblivion.

It seemed only seconds later when they landed in the middle of an open field. Thor and Loki seemed unfazed, but it took Tony and Natasha several minutes to adjust. Her sight had only just came back into focus, when Natasha registered that a very tired looking Clint was about to barrel into her. He through his arms around her, and she grunted in pain. He probably would have knocked her over if Loki hadn't grabbed his arm

"Barton, be careful, she's..." Natasha never would figure out the end of that sentence, as Clint swung around, pulled his arm back, and flung his clenched fist into Loki's face. He was about to go for another punch, when Steve and Thor restrained him. Loki righted himself, removing his hand from his nose, examining the substance that now covered his palm.
"I do think I'm bleeding" He said shortly, while Clint let out an almost animalistic cry
"You bastard! I thought she was dead! You say you care for her, apparently more that I do, and yet you take her right into the grasp of the fricking alien that tried to kill her last year? What the fu-" Tony jumped in front of him, a very grim expression on his face.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Hawk. A lot of things happened in the death-star that we'd all like to forget." He said, emphasizing the final word. Natasha rolled her eyes, trying to stop the snippets of Clint's rant that were floating around her head. Bruce, who had been trying to calm down Clint, looked around.
"What do you mean Stark?"
Tony shrugged. "I don't know actually, I can't remember what I was talking about."

Natasha let out a groan, shoving Tony in the arm.
"What Tony, is trying to say is that when I came to," she started ignoring the death glares that Clint was giving Loki, "I forgot the last couple of months. A blow to head, it can happen." she shrugged. "It's no big deal."
She had expected, some worried glances, sympathetic looks, but instead everybody looked at Loki. It was like they were all asking him a question that she couldn't hear. He gave the tiniest shake of his head, and they all gave his pitying look.

"You don't remember... anything?" Clint asked slowly, glancing at Loki out of the corner f his eye. Natasha ignored it. "Not a thing." He nodded, shaking off Thor and Steve.
"We should probably get you back to S.H.I.E.L.D then."

Natasha couldn't sleep. This wasn't strange for her, often nightmares kept her awake, but for once it was her thoughts. What had occurred upon their arrival back to earth, only confirmed her theories that something was being kept from her. She almost wished that she had been mistaken, but she obviously wasn't. Only two things she was sure of- Something had happened over the last three months, and it had something to do with Loki.

She was about to roll over for the umpteenth time, when she heard the loud shuffling of feet. She peered out of her door to see Thor padding down the hall off the Helicarrier. He glanced warily over his shoulder, then continued. She sighed. Thor was a lot of things, but one thing he wasn't, bless his heart, was stealthy. She followed him down the hall until he stopped at the room she knew was Loki's prison/chambers. He walked in, not closing the door fully behind him. They obviously weren't worried about being overheard- that or Thor was careless. On second thought it was probably the latter.

"I'm sorry I'm late friends, but as you know my room is quite close to the Lady Natasha's. I had to take great pains for her not to hear me." And a great job you did too. Natasha thought, rolling her eyes.
"It doesn't matter. Loki was just about to talk." Natasha heard Steve say. She hoped that Thor wouldn't answer, because she wanted to hear what Loki had to say as much as the next person.

"Thank you, Captain. I now know that you are all aware of eh... my relationship with Natasha-thank you for that Tony. You also know that after our interlude with the Other he forcibly removed all her memory of the last three months -a punishment for me no doubt. Knowing this, it would be difficult, nigh impossible, for Natasha to regain her memory through conventional means. As I earlier explained to Stark, her memories are not really forgotten but gone. Floating around space, or more likely, contained in his staff that was either lost or destroyed during our battle." He finished. Natasha's stomach flipped on top of it's self, turning and churning inside of herself. She and Loki had... were... she shuddered. Clint's earlier words returned to her
"You say you care for her, apparently more than I do..." She was beginning to struggle to breath. Clint began to speak, and she tried to focus on nothing but his voice.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a dick. Loki I know how you feel, and I know that your... intentions are honorable," he was interrupted by Tony's snigger, "but I think, that Natasha remembering anything wouldn't be the best for her. I think that you, that we, should just let her be." He finished gently. The room erupted with a burst of angry shouts. Steve yelled to shut them up. He sighed.

"Look Loki, your the only one who can really make a decision here. What do you want to do?" He asked softly. Loki took a while to answer.
"Clint's right." He said finally. Tony audibly gasped. "A relationship with me would only end in heartbreak. This is the best for her. I'll finish my last two weeks of banishment here, then return to Asgard. it will be as if i never existed. Thank you for your time" She heard a chair being shoved, and then her stalked out of the room, without even seeing her.