Logan's mind was on fire. Part of it was insisting that this was just lightning and thunder but a deeper, more instinctive part was sure it heralded the arrival of his abusive brother, Thomas. He was a grown man but the fear had been seared into his psyche.
Natasha was helping; her lithe body against his was doing wonders to distract him. The old longings he'd felt for her on the Bus and when they'd first arrived surged back to the forefront. He almost hungered for her touch, as if he'd been starved of human contact and she could fill that void.
Cold air gusted sharply into the little shelter as Phil got up and left. "Phil?" Natasha called but the man didn't stop or acknowledge her call.
"Something's wrong." Natasha pushed past him, leaving him in the makeshift structure. Thomas will find you alone in here. That was worse than the fear of the thunder and he quickly scrambled after her.
Phil walked steadily along the inner curve of the wall, ignoring the wind and rain. Logan spotted a soft purple glow ahead. He shielded his eyes against the rain and realized that the strange entrance on the wall was now emitting light.
Alarmed, he hurried to Natasha's side. "He's headed for the door and it's glowing."
Fear came and left Natasha's face. She dashed forward into a quick run, turning so that she could see Phil's face. The agent didn't register her arrival, his blue eyes locked on an unknown target. "Phil? Phil!"
"He's not there anymore." Logan moved to the other side of the man and caught her eyes. "Should I stop him?"
The Avenger thought for a second. "No. We stay with him. But grab him if he starts to do something dangerous."
"You grab him - I'll fend off whatever comes at us." Logan met her gaze when she shot him a glare. "I'm stronger, faster, tougher. You can take Phil but we don't know what's going to happen."
"Obviously, that's what you should do if there's actually something else." Her irritation morphed into dark amusement. "I was speaking to us as a group. It's cute that you thought I was giving you orders, though."
Logan ignored the teasing in her voice. He'd had enough of that from Ricochet. Tensely, he kept pace with the mind controlled Phil, shadowing him as he walked straight to the door. The purple light came from symbols hovering over the door. Logan frowned as he tried to understand the complex hatchwork of lines and circles, only to fail. It was more like art to him than any understandable language.
Phil understood it. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and touched the purple latticework at precise locations. When he stopped, the entire image flared once and disappeared. A second later, the door slid upward into the wall.
"Oh my God." Natasha gasped in shock only to lunge forward and grab Phil when he would have entered.
Logan joined her, stopping the other man simply by putting his arms around him and halting his movement. At the same time, he peered over Phil's shoulder to see a vast open space that was poorly lit. The lighting failed as he watched and soon the interior was cloaked in pitch black shadows.
Phil's hands curled up to grasp Logan's wrist. "Guys? What happened?" Phil sounded remarkably calm for a man who no doubt had no idea who he'd gotten where he was, particularly when held in another man's arms. Logan could feel the tremble in the agent's hands as he pulled on Logan's wrists to free himself.
"You went into a fugue state and opened the door while in it." Natasha tilted her head. "I think that we just had a lightning strike which seemed to have powered whatever this is briefly."
"Now the energy is depleted." Logan continued her thought, testing it aloud and finding it fit. He cautiously released Phil from his hold though he kept an arm around the agent's shoulders to support him.
"Something in here was controlling me?" Phil's voice shook a little.
Logan paused, not sure what to say. Natasha saved him from the trouble: "Yes, it appeared to. The good news is that we can now explore the inside of this tomorrow."
"Yeah." Phil didn't sound any less scared. "Good news."
"C'mon, let's get back to the shelter." Natasha had her arms around him and she used that hug to draw him back to their simple sanctuary. Logan followed, ducking in after the other two. Natasha leaned against Phil and the SHIELD agent wrapped his arms around her in return. With his better vision, Logan could see the fear on Phil's face.
"Here." Logan put his arm around Phil's shoulders and pulled him closer. He wasn't entirely sure why he did that, only that he knew what it was like to be jerked around by forces greater than yourself: his big brother and SHIELD, to name two. It must be worse if your tormenter had no name or face.
Phil sat stiffly for a second before leaning Logan. He shuddered in the safety of their embraces but Logan saw the fear fade.
You're getting attached to them, O'Dell. The harsh self-critique came to him in his brother's voice.
Logan shifted so that Phil lay more comfortably against him. I know.
You going to pussy out and let them go in the end?
Resting his cheek on Phil's head, he stared into the storm. In his heart, he knew that he wanted both of them. His own harsh words earlier today were to keep up appearances but he knew the truth. He had never felt so close to two people before. It was their situation; it had created forced bonds. If offered a choice, he'd take the one that kept him with them - not as a prisoner of SHIELD but as their peer and companion.
Impossible. His thoughts were tinged with sorrow. When you leave the island, this relationship - such as it is - dies. It can only survive here.
His eyes started to hurt in the unmistakable prelude to tears. Logan relaxed against the man he was comforting and banished his morose thoughts. Later. He'd deal with them at another time, when he was alone.
That thought bottomed out his stomach and left him feeling sick at heart - and helpless to change anything.
Natasha stared out into the night, unable to sleep. The storm had passed just after dark but they had six more gallons of drinking water. Her anxiety was due to Phil's mysterious actions during the storm.
They'd scared him and Loki, too. The Asgardian had hidden it well enough that Phil hadn't noticed but she could read him now. Natasha had listened to the two men toss and turn for a long time before they had fallen into troubled sleep. She hadn't been able to relax enough to rest.
Phil was on his side, his head pressed against her shoulder. When she'd put her arms around him, she'd found that Loki had curled around him in a protective huddle. Her hands played over Phil's bare shoulder. His undershirt had finally fallen apart two days ago, leaving him with the ragged remains of his dress pants. He stirred slightly and she stopped before she woke him.
Bored and wound too tight to sleep, she pondered what to do. Turning, she glanced out at the beach. If she couldn't sleep, maybe she could weave a basket or something. She'd gotten better at it, though Phil was still the best of the three of them. Loki was the one who'd surprised her by figuring out how to weave a mat together. His first one had been small but he was trying to make hammocks-
The two forms walking near the water's edge froze Natasha's thoughts. She held her breath, trying to determine if they were SHIELD or HYDRA. They were tall and male with heavy hoods hiding their faces. A second later she realized that she didn't recognize the armor. It wasn't foreign, it was actually alien. No earth armor had shoulder guards like that, or chest pieces - or at least they hadn't had them for centuries.
The door. She'd not worried about it because she'd assumed that if there were intelligent inhabitants inside the wall, they would have come out to investigate them long ago. Now she wondered if they had even been aware of them at all.
Carefully, she reached out and put her fingers across Loki's lips. Before she could shake him by the shoulder, he grabbed her hand and twisted it sharply away from his face. Natasha barely choked back a cry of pain as her wrist was forced the wrong way. Loki released her hand almost immediately but a steady ache from the joint warned her that he'd hurt her.
The godling peered at her and Natasha angrily put a finger across her own lips. Then she pointed out the opening of the shelter toward the strangers.
Loki moved carefully, shifted in near silence so that he lay on his belly. She saw him peer out into the darkness and then push up on his fingers and toes. Before she could grab his arm, he'd scuttled out of the shelter.
Natasha rolled her eyes. Damn alpha male Asgardians! Pressing her uninjured hand over Phil's mouth, she nudged his legs with her knee. He came awake with a gasp and a jerk, and Natasha wondered if he'd been having a bad dream. She pointed out the strangers, who were now peering into the shadows near the wall. Clearly, they were looking for whomever had opened the door.
After the shark, they'd made several spears and hidden them around the camp. Three of them were concealed in the structure of the shelter and Natasha found the haft of one of them by feel. Phil echoed her movements as he armed himself and followed her out of the shelter.
Loki found the invaders first. The moment they came close enough to the shadows for him to strike, he dashed over twelve feet of sand and buried his knife in one of their sides before they could react. The alien howled in pain as the Asgardian's blade sank to the hilt.
The other alien spun and raised a strange rifle toward Loki. Phil burst from his hiding place with a shout and charged the uninjured one. Natasha hung back, circling around to flank and remove the wounded one completely.
Phil's loud attack distracted the alien from Loki, who sidestepped and put his hurt opponent between himself and the other alien. Phil's charge was stopped when the uninjured fighter swept his rifle around and knocked his spear away. Phil hesitated only a second before closing to grab the rifle on top of the weapon and punch at the alien's jaw.
The one fighting Loki had his back to her as Natasha slipped up behind him. She gripped her spear tighter, set her feet, and thrust her weapon into the unarmored man's neck. His skin proved effective in turning aside the sharpened stick. What should have been a killing blow left a scratch on the man's flesh. He yelped and turned.
"Help Phil!" Natasha shouted to Loki as he pulled his blade free in a spray of blood. The Asgardian gave her an annoyed look that she couldn't interpret but amazingly did as she asked. He spun away gracefully to attack the one trying to beat up Phil.
Her opponent didn't have full use of his arm on his injured side; Loki's attack had been high and must have severed vital muscles. He turned toward Loki as the Asgardian moved away and Natasha leapt on his back, hooking the shaft of her spear against his throat. As he clawed as her arms, she leaned back, using her weight to throttle him.
He collapsed but she was expecting that and twisted with the fall. He found himself in a chokehold as the Avenger wrapped his good arm and torso up with her arms and legs. Natasha gritted her teeth as the stronger alien grabbed her hurt wrist and started to pry her arm away from his pinned arm.
In answer, Natasha dug her fingers into his good wrist, pinching hard on a pressure point - at least one in humans. There was some correlation as he moaned softly and let go of her wrist, attempting to break the hold she had on his other arm.
"Move your arms." Loki's voice in her ear made her jump but Natasha compiled after she saw Phil standing a few feet away, unharmed. She let go of the alien as Loki leaned in and slit its throat.
"So much for questioning them." Phil glanced at the other alien who was pinned to the sand by a wooden spear through the chest.
Natasha worked on catching her breath. "The door."
"I agree." Loki sounded furious. "Search them."
The corpses turned up a treasure trove of items. Each dead soldier had a globe that emitted light, batons that emitted a shock of purple energy at their tip, metal restraints, and various sharp blades. Though the tech was foreign, Phil was able to figure out how each one worked. Even better, the SHIELD agent was the same size as one of the fighters. "At least I get some new pants out of this," he said, joking to hide his uneasiness at wearing a dead man's clothing
"If it makes you feel better," Natasha told him as he snapped the front shut, "you look good in them." She smiled despite her own discomfort. The pants did look good on him, highlighting the additional leanness and toning forced on him by their situation. Natasha selected a couple of the long blades and the other rifle for herself.
"These aliens look human. They're stronger, faster, and better." Loki hadn't joined in the joking. Instead he crouched next to the corpses, nervously fingering the hilt of his knife. "But they look completely human."
Phil hesitated before he picked up the pieces of armor he'd looted with the pants. "We don't know how many more are in the wall."
"But we should find out." Natasha moved to help Phil, noting Loki's tension. Loki's green eyes shifted to them, watching Phil armor himself with something akin to anger in his eyes.
"Yes. Since I'm armored, I'll lead." Phil picked up the rifle and checked it over, handling it with strange familiarity. Natasha felt uneasy as she watched him.
As he walked forward, Loki caught Natasha's arm. "Phil's one of them," he hissed in her ear.
Natasha stared at him as his anxiety redoubled her own. "What?"
"He's a sleeper agent for these things. We have to be ready for them to trigger him." Loki stepped away, hurrying to catch up to Phil.
Natasha wanted to deny it but the facts stared her in the face. She knew it was too possible. She wasn't going to wait for him to be triggered and she jogged after him. "Phil. Phil, wait!"
Loki stared at her as Phil turned. "What?" the SHIELD agent asked and Natasha steeled herself.
"I love you." Her statement reddened his face as he shot a glance at Loki. "I trust you. We need you to-" She cut herself off and took a deep breath. "We need you to let us secure you in the shelter and do this alone."
The shock and hurt on his face pierced her to the heart. She kept her eyes on his as Loki said, "Phil, you know how to use their equipment. You figured out the flashlights, rifles, and energy batons. You're stronger than a human. You're healing faster. And you opened the door while controlled by someone or something else."
Natasha stared at Loki; she hadn't noticed the strength - until she thought about it. She was used to the men she fought with being much stronger than her but fighting with Steve had distorted her perceptions. Phil had always healed quickly and she'd just thought that was normal for him. Maybe it was normal but he wasn't what she'd thought he was.
Phil's shoulders slumped. "Right. You guys are right."
Natasha touched his shoulder. "Phil-"
"I'm okay with it." He managed a wan smile. "I can see it. You're right." He cleared his throat roughly and pulled one of the restraints off his belts. "One of these around my wrists and one connecting me to one of the trees should do it."
His attempt to be brave and stoic hurt. Natasha nodded grimly as her gut twisted painfully. "Let's do it, then."
Phil didn't struggle or even flinch as they secured him to the tree. He wiggled around until he was leaning against another tree. He attempted to be lighthearted as Loki tested the bonds to be sure they would hold. "I'm going to try to sleep. Have fun, guys." He grew somber and added, "Be careful. Both of you."
Natasha knelt and kissed him. It was the first really long, lingering kiss they'd shared since agreeing to dial it back. The spark - the one that she had felt the night she'd tugged open his tie in Budapest, the one that she'd felt the night she'd cooked for him - flared bright and hot, washing through her fatigue and sorrow.
Phil was grinning when she lifted her head. "You and I need to talk about how a restrained man gets you hot."
Natasha laughed. "Yeah, we will - before the cuffs come off."
He chuckled softly. "You're going to be the death of me."
"Worse ways to go," she murmured as she stood up.
Loki slipped past her and knelt next to Phil. He looped his arm around the other man's shoulders and whispered in his ear. Phil leaned his head against Loki's and nodded. Then the Asgardian rose to his feet, cold fury in his eyes. "Let's get this over with."