Annnnnnd I'm back! Woot! I have like two more chapters ready to go after I edit them.

Natasha's eyes opened. It was insanely hot wherever she was. She looked over to see Loki sleeping next to her. Oh, he fucked me into a coma again. She smirked but it was short lived. Loki's face was contorted into pain and fear. Her skin prickled, it was scary to see those emotions on such a powerful god's face. She scooted toward the sleeping god and realized that he was the source of heat in the room.

Her mouth opened slightly as it dawned on her. When she would have nightmares of the red room, she was told that she clutched her gun in her sleep and had been known to even remove the safety without ever waking up. She had seen Clint reach for his bow in his sleep. When he didn't find it, he would sometimes begin to fight. It only made sense that Loki would cling to his magic during his nightmares.

Without making any sudden movements, she slid her hand forward and held his forearm. She slowly made her way up to his face. She would sometimes caress Clint's face when he had nightmares, thankfully it was also helping the sleeping god. Though Loki's face was still contorted into pain.

She began humming an old Russian lullaby; the only one she knew. It was a song she had heard a mother sing to her children before they went to sleep. She had listened to the woman's soft voice as she perched on the rooftop waiting for her mark.

Loki's face became less tense at her voice. After the first verse the room had cooled considerably. She continued to hum. Words slipped out then, though she knew they were Russian and he wouldn't understand even if he was awake.

"You will look like a hero

And be a Cossack deep in your heart.

I will accompany you and watch you go,

You will just wave your hand.

How many secret bitter tears

Will I shed that night!

Sleep, my angel, calmly, sweetly,

Bayushki bayu."

She smiled when she saw that Loki was no longer tense or looked in pain.

"For a cold blooded killer," Loki smirked without opening his eyes. "You sing pretty well."

Natasha scowled, "how long have you been awake?"

Loki shrugged. "You were singing."

"I wasn't singing that long," she muttered.

"What's a Cossack?" Loki opened his eyes.

Natasha raised a brow. An entire song of Russian and he asks about one word, not the entirety. "You understood that didn't you?"

Loki smirked and was immediately hit with a pillow. "Tasha's singing me love songs in my sleep."

"It's a lullaby for a child, and you were trying to burn the room down," Natasha scowled. "Quit calling me Tasha."

Loki looked surprised when she mentioned burning the room down but he honed in on the 'Tasha' part. "But you are Tasha."

Natasha glared at him. "I was not singing you love songs. And it's Natasha."

Loki smirked and wrapped the woman into a hug. "Tasha's love song."

Natasha wriggled against the god who suddenly was latched to her. She elbowed him in the gut, sprung free and whirled around to tell him he had lost his mind.

Loki was, on the other hand, clutching his sides as he howled with laughter. He was speaking in Norse (or so she assumed) and she was only able to pick up a few words between his laughter: 'andvarða' and 'ótti'.

"What in the hell are you laughing at," She scowled.

"I had to get you back for the spider," Loki managed between laughter.

Natasha looked at him in confusion.

"The only thing I knew you were afraid of was that you fear commitment," he dodged the book she tossed at him. Which only set the god off into more laughter.

"You are probably a bigger commit-a-phobe than I am you dumbass," She crossed her arms.

Loki smirked at her. He was not going to mention how that particular position of her arms crossed and her defiant spread out stance was extremely sexy when she was naked. "Commit-a phobe….I like that term."

"You would," Natasha rolled her eyes.

Loki glanced at the clock, "I have to run."

"Oh sure fuck me, try to burn down my room, and then leave." Natasha smirked.

"You wish for me to stay and cuddle?" Loki smirked.

"Get the hell out," Natasha rolled her eyes but smiled.


It was a good day. Ten days left until an amazing battle and she was pumped for it. Natasha smiled. Better yet was that she wasn't antsy because she had a fun toy to play with until she couldn't feel her toes. She could almost skip.

She smiled and nodded at Director Fury as he came into her line of sight. "Good afternoon." She nodded to him.
"Come with me," he ordered.

Natasha turned on her heel and followed the director. He was heading down the hall quickly. It was no surprise. He had been wringing his hands like crazy the past two days which was a sign of him being antsy as the large battle approached. She knew he didn't feel as prepared as he would like to be.

She entered the lab behind Fury and saw both Stark and Banner's heads go up. They seemed exceptionally surprised to see her.

"Stark and Banner have been making an interesting program that I thought you should see," Fury held his hands behind his back. "It's something that is supposed to tell us when Thanos is coming."

"Is he coming sooner?" Natasha frowned. She was starting to feel uneasy. The whole room felt uneasy. Tony looked almost livid and Banner looked like he was ready to bolt.

"Stark, turn it on." Fury ordered.

Tony paused, "you know it may be-"

"Turn. It. On." Fury barked.

Natasha turned to see a blue diagram up on the wall. There were black lines outlining the buildings. "It's all of Manhattan," she stated.

"People show up on this program as shades of white against the blue. The stronger the magic, the brighter the light." Fury crossed behind her.

Natasha felt a sense of dread. "You can see every type of magic in this?"

Fury snagged the tablet out of Stark's hand. Tony looked to Bruce but Bruce held up his hands as if to say 'what can we do?'

The image changed to show exactly where she stood now. Natasha raised her hand and she saw the smaller light move its hand. "You can't tell who is who though."

"I can tell who Loki is," Fury moved the toggle to show Loki in his room. He was almost completely white and the area around him was bright as well. "Performing magic yet again."

Natasha stared at the screen. You could tell what he was doing so easily. There was a deep sinking inside of her.

"Then again, he does more than that doesn't he?"

Fury was now looking at her, but she just stared at the screen.

"There's a playback feature if you are interested," Fury held the tablet out to her.

"I think now would be a good time to go," Bruce muttered. He quickly made his way out of the room but Tony began working on a few alteration to his forearm of his suit.

Natasha continued to stare at the screen without moving.

Fury tossed the tablet onto the nearest table.

"Please don't break my stuff," Tony glared at Fury.

"Why?" Fury turned from Stark to Natasha.

Natasha remained silent.

"Judging by the looks on Stark's and Banner's face when I found out, I'm going to assume this has been going on for some time."
"Assumption makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me,'" Tony remarked.

"It is nothing," Natasha stated.

"Nothing?" Fury raised his good brow. "This monster has been able to infiltrate some of our greatest minds within mere seconds. You have been alone with him for long periods of time. You don't think he might be trying to do the same thing?"

"He doesn't have the mind gem," Natasha told him.

"The mind gem?" Fury frowned. "His spear?"

"He no longer has it," Natasha stated.

"But he has more magic than Manhattan put together," Fury pointed to the screen. "He can turn into dragons, change his shape into other-specific-people, change elements around him, create portals to other dimensions, talk to people in their heads, and he's a hell of a liar."

"He wasn't trying to get into my mind," Natasha frowned but didn't dare look at Fury.

"Just your pants?" Fury asked.

Natasha turned her gaze on him and glared. Fury pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply.

"Because he is a known threat. Because he has controlled people easily before. And because you have spent so much time alone with him you are hereby suspended from SHIELD."

Natasha's mouth opened to argue but Fury held up his hand.

"After we are sure that you are no longer under his control-"
"I am not under anyone's control."

"You will be reinstated," Fury finished.

"I am still fighting," Natasha stated.

"Be that as it may," Fury told her, "you will receive no further communication from SHIELD and none of your passwords will work until you are reinstated."

Natasha glared at him, "I am not under his control." She turned on her heel and left.


Natasha shut her door and was about to sink into it when she saw the god of mischief sitting on her bed. He was twirling a necklace on his finger.

"I got you a gift," Loki smirked. He stopped twirling the necklace and tossed it at her.

Natasha caught it out of reflex and then looked down. It was a thin gold chain that held a crystal. The crystal itself had swirls of green and several red flecks in it. "I don't want this."

"I thought all girls liked pretty things," Loki grinned. It fell when Natasha looked at him angrily. He looked at it and then her and immediately rolled his eyes. "It's not jewelry. Not commit-a-phobe joke stuff. It's an amulet."

"Amulet?" Natasha eyed the crystal. It was small, about the size of a nickel.

Loki stood up and made his way to Natasha. "It makes you less likely to get hurt-that way I don't get punched in the nose when I heal you."

Natasha stared at it and then shoved it into Loki's hands, "I don't want it."

Loki blinked as Natasha walked right past him. "You are aware that earlier was a joke, right?" He frowned at the crystal as if it offended him and not her. "It's actually something that is really sought after for a battle."

"Then give it to someone else," Natasha told him.

Loki frowned. "It doesn't work on anyone else." He tried to make out the emotion on her face. Natasha was good at hiding emotions so it was hard to decipher. "I borrowed some of you hair-"

"My hair?" Natasha whirled around.

"It was on my pillow," Loki waved his hand dismissively. "I took it so the crystal would only work for you. I don't exactly want to make Thanos harder to kill."

"So, I will be crazy strong?" Natasha smiled. "Or will I just have some of your power?"

Loki knew that a smile from Natasha was bad news. That pretty smile was reserved for people on her shit list and he really wanted to know how he got on it. "It works for 24 hours. It's magic I gave up that will heal you more quickly and make you harder to hurt. Strength amulets are really hard to make and generally end up being rather useless."

"I don't want your magic," Natasha picked up her phone. She tried to message Steve.

Loki's brow rose and he felt even more irritation toward the small woman, "MY magic is the best. People generally would kill for something like this." The lights flickered near him as he felt rage because his magic was being questioned.

Natasha didn't notice. What she noticed is that her phone wasn't working. She couldn't dial any of the Avengers. Her email was asking for passwords because she had already been locked out. She ran through her contacts to see if she could contact anyone when suddenly a large box appeared asking for her password.

She looked up to see Loki extremely pissed about something and she noted he was still holding the damn necklace. "I don't want your stupid necklace. I don't want anything to do with you or your monster magic!" She flung the phone to the wall and it shattered. She felt a stinging behind her eyes she knew to be tears. She had essentially ruined everything in one stupid decision.

She took a deep shuddering breath and looked back to Loki and she felt every hair on her body stand on end. Loki was no longer angry; he was completely impassive. He looked as if she might have just told him about the weather. But she didn't. She had just referred to his magic as monster magic; essentially calling him a monster.

He walked to her. Natasha eyed him as he stopped in front of her. "It doesn't work on anyone else." He shoved the crystal back into her hand. He then walked right out the door and shut it softly behind him.

Natasha looked down at the crystal and then back at the door.


Bruce fidgeted with some of the supplies.

"Stop that," Tony swatted his hand away.

"Why did you stay?" Bruce picked up a pencil and played with it. It was obvious he was antsy but his watch had not beeped to warn them of scary heart rate levels.

"Wanted to make sure they didn't destroy the program," Tony told him. "Also wanted to see if it was a ruse."

"A ruse?" Bruce asked.

"They find out we know and they pretend like it's a big deal so no one talks about it," Tony shrugged and bent down to work on his project. "I don't think that's the case and I think it would be best to not be anywhere near Natasha."

Bruce picked up the tablet, it had a minor alert on it. It was an indication that Loki was on the high end of his range. He turned off the alerts temporarily so not to startle Tony when Loki went past the range. He then noticed that Loki was in Natasha's room. "That's weird."

"What?" Tony said without looking up.

Bruce blinked as he watched Loki walk out of Natasha's room, "he was in her room. Could Natasha really be under his-" Loki turned white. Then the white aura shot from him and expanded throughout the tower. As soon as this happened, Bruce felt his entire body tingle and then it was gone.

"Did everything just tingle or did I shock myself again," Tony looked up from his work.

"We should run." Bruce dropped the tablet onto the counter. The tower had gone back to their normal color but Loki's form was completely white.

"What?" Tony looked and saw Loki heading to his room. "He's going to his room."

"He talked to Natasha, that tingling was a blast from his magic." Bruce's watch beeped. "He's mad."

"Would you calm down if we went somewhere else?" Tony asked.

Bruce nodded as he tried to take deep breaths.

Tony quickly grabbed the tablet and headed out of the lab. It was time for more food anyway.


Thanos sat himself down on his darkened throne. He smirked to himself. Everything was perfection. In ten days he would lay waste to all the 9 realms. The Asgardians may be able to take out his Chitaurian army, but they would be exhausted by the time they reached his hands. They would die quickly.

A loud scream of tortured pain echoed to him from the chambers below. Or slowly.

Thanos grabbed his chalice and went to take a drink. He paused with the drink half-way raised.

"Miss me?" Loki smirked from the wall.

Thanos eyed the sorcerer. "You are not here."

"No," Loki chuckled. "And in ten days, you won't be either." He looked around the dark hall. "You will be where I am."

"Hiding where they would least expect you," Thanos set down his chalice. He tried to not show that seeing the sorcerer alive unnerved him.

Loki looked at him, "they already know I'm there." He pushed himself off of the wall. "I assume you mean the 'Avengers' when you say 'they'."

Thanos eyed Loki as the god walked closer.

"They know I am there. They know that I am powerful. They know that you want me dead. And…they know that I can easily kill your army." Loki paused five feet from Thanos.

Thanos sneered at Loki. He should have known. The way his ship had gone down was unnatural. He had felt a prickle of fear then and sent spies to look for anything 'unusual' but they had found nothing.

"They also know that I lie," Loki chuckled. "And yet they trust a monster such as myself."

Thanos tilted his head in question.

"They have 50/50 chance on winning with me on their side." Loki frowned. "Horrible odds really. We're not the underdog that will rise above to smash you nor are we towering giants come to slaughter you. I disdain even odds."

"You wish to change them," Thanos commented.

"Well, yes." Loki nodded. "I want them remarkable. I want to know that I am going to win." He began to pace. "But the only way to do that, is to help you."

"Why would I accept your help?" Thanos growled.

Loki paused and slid his eyes to him. "Because I have what you want."

Thanos eyed the god whom began to smirk deviously. "The infinity gauntlet."

"I have the gauntlet and three of the stones. I know that you have the others," Loki turned to look at him.

"What do you want?" Thanos eyed him.

"Freedom," Loki stated. "I want to never see you again or be bothered by you. I want to live my life without being under your rule."

"My rule will extend everywhere," Thanos told him.

"Then leave me in the darkest shadows."

Thanos rubbed his chin as he pondered the proposition.

"The Avengers are waiting for you. They know you will be coming in ten days. They expect your war," Loki moved closer. "I will come to you and put your gauntlet together-"
"NO!" Thanos jerked his head to Loki. "You will not be in charge of that." Thanos looked away from him. "You will keep your friends away as I put it together."

"Then when we win," Loki smirked. "I will be free."

Thanos looked at the god. "What of your brother?"

Loki rolled his eyes, "my so-called-brother will never see it coming. He wants me to return home with him. Play the good brother in my golden chains."

Thanos grabbed Loki by the neck. He knew the god could move his form away easily but he stared him down anyway. "You betray me and you will long for the days you were in my dungeon."

Loki smirked, "we are in agreement then?"

If you want the entire song you can find it here: ?t=es&p=1044&c=157

I am begging for reviews here people! Though we all know that I will post anyway-but still.

I AM