Chapter 37 –
Loki remained still next to her, his dark green eyes gazing adoringly at the sleek perfection of her body as she slept. Her back was long and beautiful, her strawberry curls tangled around him, and his heart ached with a staggering burst of pain at how much he loved her, how much he needed her. She was lying by his side but she still was not completely his. The idea that she had invited the archer into her bed made him seethe in anger and jealousy. It took every ounce of self-control that he possessed not to strike the man down on the spot the second those words had left his lips. He tightened his grip around her waist possessively as he kissed her neck softly. She was here with him and he knew that she loved him even if the words were scarce to leave her lips. He knew that she did. Despite everything that they had blocked from her mind, somehow her affection for him had found its way through but she didn't trust him. He breathed in her scent as he rested his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. He should take advantage of the good night's sleep that he knew he would get from having her body so close to his. It had been so long since he had felt the peace that came with holding her all night.
He felt his body stretching languidly as his eyes began to flutter back to consciousness. He moved his arm across the bed in his half-slumber and jumped up immediately at the feel of the empty sheets at his side. Where the hell was she? She wasn't in the apartment but she wasn't very far away. He rose from the mattress adorning himself in his Asgardian attire as he began his spell to take him to the control room.
She was standing inside the Titan's cell as Loki walked toward her. There was a syringe in her hand and she was preparing to inject it into the immortal. The thought occurred to him that the beast was already asleep and the color of the liquid was different. "Natasha, what are you doing?" he questioned as she pushed down on the needle releasing the dose into his veins. "Natasha!" he barked and she turned toward him suddenly, a look of bewilderment on her face as she stared at him. "What are you doing?" he asked again as she looked at the syringe in her palm as if she had no idea how it had gotten there. Abruptly Thanos was awake as he backhanded the Black Widow across the face with one arm while he grabbed Loki around the neck with the other. This time the young prince did not lose his wits, he called the scepter to himself immediately, a large green beam firing into the mad titan causing him to fly back against the glass. In a second, Loki threw up a force field around the purple beast and watched in near horror as the monster raged against it. He might be cut off from magic but his massive strength was not diminished even slightly by the collar around his neck.
"Natasha, are you alright?" he gasped as he moved toward her. She was rising to her feet gingerly as he reached her.
"I'm fine," she instructed in her businesslike tone as she dusted herself off. "What happened?"
"Why don't you tell me?" he gaped. "What did you give him? Why would you want him to awaken?"
The room shook with every pound of the Titan's fists as he thrashed at the invisible wall that contained him. "This won't keep me from you forever, boy!" he growled as he rushed his entire body against the magical barrier. The floor trembled at his weight as Loki tried to keep his balance.
"Perhaps, we should continue our discussion on the outside of this cell so you can reseal it?" the young prince replied sarcastically as he did his best to ignore the beast's threats. Natasha worked the control panel locking the doors in place as Fury and Hawkeye walked into the room.
"What the hell is going on?" Fury bellowed as he took in the sight of Thanos slamming his fists forcefully as the room shook around him before the director's eyes fell upon Loki. "What is he doing here? I thought my orders were clear concerning him?" He bellowed as he pointed at the trickster.
"I don't know what happened," Natasha replied hesitantly, a tiny bit of emotion escaping from her usual façade. "The last thing I remember I was…" her blue eyes glancing toward Loki before she turned away," I was in my rooms and then I was here and Thanos was awake."
"She injected him with something," Loki revealed, "Amora wanted him conscious for some reason." He turned toward Natasha, a pleading look in his emerald eyes as he continued," You have to let me heal you. Who knows what other orders she has placed in your mind?"
"The only person messing with her head is you," Clint spat out accusingly as he forced his way forward so that he stood next to the Black Widow. "How convenient it is that you're always around when something happens." Loki's wrath reached epic proportions at the sight of the archer as he placed his hand on her shoulder asking her if she was alright. The moment the sound of the word 'Tasha' reached his ears he lost all semblance of self-control as he grabbed Hawkeye by the neck and tossed him across the room.
"I have had all I can stand of you!" he seethed as he moved toward where the archer had landed. "Don't you ever put your hands on her again!"
"That's up to her, not you!" Hawkeye needled as he stood up from the floor, rubbing the back of his head.
"Stop it!" Natasha yelled," My god, Loki! What do you think you're doing?"
Loki saw the smirk on the archer's face at the sound of her displeasure and he knew that he had played right into his hands as the Enchantress' words echoed in his mind.
You will drive her to him all on your own
"I'm tired of him pawing all over you whenever he pleases," the young prince admitted, "Is that so hard to understand?"
"Let's get back to the business at hand," Fury ordered," Hawk, I want you to go get a few arrowheads filled with some serum to knock that beast's ass back out before he finds his way out of there."
"I'm on it," Clint answered as he maneuvered past Loki giving him a wink as his smirk grew wider. "I'll be right back, kiddies."
"Nat, I think we're going to have to take you off the clock until we figure out what's going on in that beautiful brain of yours," Fury instructed," In the meantime, I don't want you left alone."
"She won't be," Loki advised as he twirled the scepter that he held in his hand between his slender fingers before letting it dematerialize back to its hiding place.
"Pardon me, if that isn't a comforting thought. The only reason I haven't sent an army after your Asgardian ass is because your brother insists that you're innocent. I for one am not taking any chances. I don't want you on the helicarrier and I don't want you near my agents especially this one." Fury reiterated as he stared at his number one spy thoughtfully. "I had someone else in mind to look after her."
"The archer isn't going anywhere near her." Loki commanded.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not even here." Natasha snapped, "I'll decide who I spend my time with."
"Natasha, please let me help you." Loki entreated once more. "In a few moments the confusion you are feeling could all be gone and your memories returned. Everything could be back to normal."
"You mean things could be back to the way you want them to be," she snipped, her blue eyes filled with anger and distrust.
"That's just the trigger they planted in you talking," he replied frigidly," Every time I mention your memories or our daughter your walls go up. Why do you think that is?"
"Maybe because she doesn't want to be your pawn anymore," Hawkeye added as he sauntered through the doorway, his bow in hand and his arrows swung across his back.
Loki did his best to ignore the archer as he gazed hopefully into his wife's eyes. "In your heart you know I would never hurt you, my little spider. You know you can trust me above all others."
"That's a laugh," Hawkeye quipped as he strung the first arrow onto his bow.
"Barton, did you ever have any contact with Amora while you were on Asgard?" Natasha asked abruptly. The Archer's eyes opened widely at the question as his grip on the bow tightened visibly.
"She told me what he did to you the night of that big meeting with that crazy looking elf," Clint answered as he fingered the arrow. "I never saw her again after that. Why?"
"I don't know which one of you is telling me the truth," she said frankly as her eyes moved between the two men before her.
"When have I ever lied to you, Tasha?" Hawkeye lamented before he raised the bow and arrow and aimed it towards the sealed doorway. "Open the doors, sir," he directed toward Fury, "And drop whatever that thing is you've got going." He added to Loki as he pulled the string back.
"When I get my hands on you, boy, I'm going to ring your neck," Thanos grumbled as he watched the glass doors slide open. "Your death will be slow and painful and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."
"Malekith sends his regards," Loki called out with a wicked smile set across his lips. He watched the tightness of the immortal's features at the mention of the dark elf's name. The young prince released the shield as Hawkeye's arrow shot through the doorway and into the Titan's shoulder. He came barreling forward as the archer released his second shot and the crazed beast slumped to the ground, his fingers just grazing the outside of the cell door.
"That was a little too close for comfort," Hawkeye jested as he kicked the large purple digits back behind the door frame. "Tasha, all the years I've known you I've never lied to you. Even when you were playing me, I always had your back. You know that. Don't let this guy keep screwing around with your head."
Loki stared at the fallen Titan thoughtfully. Why the change in tactics? He wondered as he watched the cell doors seal shut once more. First, they had her attempt to attack the beast while he lied there defenseless and now she had been sent to essentially set him free aboard the helicarrier. What game was Malekith playing?
"What do you hope to gain from keeping him here?" he asked as his emerald eyes bore into the Shield director.
"That's none of your concern," Fury replied heatedly. "And you're no longer welcome aboard this ship. I find you here again and believe me I will make sure you and Barnie over there are roommates."
"I would love to see you try," Loki grinned," I hope you were smart enough to destroy that yellow gem so it can't be used again or are you hanging onto that, too?" The mischievous prince didn't wait for a reply as he turned his attentions back to the Black Widow. She was talking with Hawkeye in hush tones and Loki's ire immediately shot up to near boiling. If only he could prove to her somehow that the archer had been the one to give the Enchantress access to her mind. He could sever her from that relationship once and for all.
"Yes, I know you're right," he heard her whisper. He was right about what? He mused as he watched them carefully. He needed to find a way to get her away from this place entirely, somewhere that the archer couldn't follow. If she wouldn't let him use Dr. Ivanovich's expertise, than he had to get through to her some other way.
"I'm grateful that you were here," her voice breaking into his thoughts as he focused his attention on the petite agent in front of him. "But I really think you should go."
"I'm not going anywhere without you," he replied simply. "Don't attempt to pretend that you are indifferent to me for their benefit. We both know that isn't true."
Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated her next words, her voice lowering to a near whisper. "Fury doesn't want you here and… I think I need some space."
"Absolutely not!" his voice like stone as he towered over her, he was not about to let her push him away again.
"You have no say in the matter," she hissed, still attempting to keep their conversation private. "I'm telling you to go."
"You should have thought of that before you let me back in your bed," he replied dryly, the tone of his voice deliberately louder than the soft hush she was using. He saw the irritation fill her eyes but he didn't care. He was not going to hide their relationship from anyone this time around.
"This is hardly the place," she rasped indignantly as she pushed him out the door and into the corridor. Her eyes brimming over with fury as she seethed under her breath," and it's beside the point. I want you to leave."
"Stop acting like I'm the enemy!" he infuriated as shield operatives brushed past them in the hall going about their business. He hated being in this place. They should be home with their daughter not arguing amidst these lowly creatures.
"All I know is that twice I've found myself inside the cell with that Titan and both times the last person I was with before I blacked out was you." She spat out accusingly.
"This is ridiculous," he remarked as he shook his head in disbelief. "If I had that much control over you than you'd be back in Asgard right now. You think I wanted you to wake him so he could strangle me to death? Don't you realize the absurdity of what you're implying?"
She paused for a moment as she seemed to consider his words before she continued, her tone less harsh but the mistrust was still burning brightly in her sapphire eyes. " I don't recognize myself when I'm with you. I'm not one to be ruled by emotions, to be so… so… needy and easily affected. Last night I behaved contrary to every rational thought that I had inside my head and this morning I paid the price for my mistake."
"Love isn't rational, my darling," Loki divulged sympathetically as he grasped a strawberry curl lightly between his fingers. " And being in love can be quite scary, I know, but you never have to fear anything when you're with me, my little spider."
"I never used the word love," she refuted, her cold façade rising to the surface. "Love is for children and I'm no child."
"Actually, you did. Albeit, in the throes of passion but the words did leave your lips nonetheless," he jested, his smile growing larger as he continued to play lovingly with the lock of her long red hair. She slapped his hand away angrily as she took a step backward, putting distance between them, nearly bumping into an agent in her haste.
"Stop it," she declared sharply, "and pay close attention to what I'm telling you. What happened between us last night…"
"And yesterday morning," he interrupted with a wink of his eye as he gazed at her humorously. Did she really think she would be able to get rid of him so easily?
"Will never happen again," she vowed, "I'm never giving you another opportunity to tamper with my mind."
"Shall we make a wager on how long your resolve will last?" He inquired coyly, a half smile set against his features as his green eyes sparkled in amusement.
"My god, you are so arrogant, so cocky," she admonished venomously as she turned her body as if to go back into the control room," So sure of yourself? Is that supposed to change my mind?"
"I'm sure of us," he divulged as he stepped in front of her, blocking her way." I'm certain of your love for me. Stop thinking so much, listen to your heart and let me help you."
"Tash," Hawkeye called from the doorway, "Are you ready to go?" He leaned against the frame leisurely as he flicked the edge of his bow string with his finger.
"Go where?" Loki inquired as he turned back to face his wife.
"Fury is sending us on a mission," she replied stoically, "Some place far away from Thanos, the where and why is none of your business."
"You might as well tell me. There is nowhere you can go that I cannot track you." He maintained as he gazed down at her. "And I'm certainly not leaving you alone with him."
"Watch out, here comes the crazy," Clint chuckled behind them. "With a little side of obsessed and a dash of bloodhound thrown in the mix, quite the combo. I wonder why she would want to get away from you, big guy. It just boggles the mind, doesn't it? Hey, Tash, you think if we fly through some water we can confuse the scent?"
"I can't stop you from following me," she remarked coldly, ignoring Barton's remarks. "But I meant what I said and shadowing me isn't going to change my mind. Perhaps, you should concentrate on your daughter." She moved past them both as she re-entered the control room. Hawkeye remained unmoving staring at him with a slight smirk on his face as he continued to strike his finger against the string monotonously.
"Your friend did quite a number on my wife but it's not going to last forever and when she realizes what you have done she is going to hate you. Only it isn't going to be some phony feelings implanted that you can hope one day will fade." Loki rasped as he strutted towards the archer until he was looming over him. "She will hate you with every fiber of her being for taking her from her daughter, I promise you that."
"Still spouting that BS? How's that been working for you so far?" Barton drawled casually as his eyes took in a tentative glimpse through the open doorway, "Not too good from where I'm standing. She knows I would never do what you're implying. You, on the other hand, well, we all know what you're capable of."
"Enjoy your moment ," Loki advised as he clenched his fist tightly at his side. How he longed to wipe that sneer off Hawkeye's face. "It won't last."
"You know she lied to me when we first met, played me like a fiddle but I forgave her. I understood her, I helped her. We have had years together now, partners, friends, lovers, and occasional enemies, the whole package. The things we've been through it bonds you for life," Barton revealed, a faraway look in his eyes before his gaze became more focused as he stared at Loki brazenly. "I'm not talking about some magical crap like what you did. I'm talking about the real thing. There is nothing that you can do or even anything I could do to break that connection or separate us from each other and that's a fact. I'm always going to be in her heart. So why don't you chew on that while you have your nose to the ground tracking us and I'm all alone with her, just like the old days." Clint's smile broadened as he began to move from the doorway. "You want to hit me don't you," he laughed. "But you can't," his voice emphasizing the last word with a childish tease in his tone as he brushed the trickster out of his way. "She wouldn't like it, would she?"
"I swear to you, you insolent little circus prat that you will get yours," Loki frothed," I'm going to make you suffer for every single second you kept her from me and Rowan. You will wish you were dead when I'm through with you."
"You're threatening him? Why am I not surprised?" Natasha exasperated as she walked through the doorway with Fury at her side. "Why are you still here?"
"I'll meet you up on deck, Tasha," Clint advised as he began following Fury down the corridor. The ease with which he left her alone with him only infuriated Loki more. As if he hadn't a care in the world, not even the slightest worry that she might change her mind about going. He could take her right now, he thought, back to the Russian scientist and give her back her memories whether she wanted him to or not. He felt the weight of her icy stare upon him and his fingers twitched with his desire to do just that but he had made her a promise and he had to keep it.
"We both know I'm going to follow you," he said finally, "So what's the point of this anyway? You want to see how far you can get before I catch up?"
"I'm just doing my job," she stated simply, "I go where they send me."
She seemed calmer than she was just moments before. He wondered if the absence of the archer could have anything to do with it. Could his mere presence be a trigger for her to be angry and distrustful toward him? He knew for certain that mentioning regaining her memories or seeing their daughter definitely activated some kind of programming in her mind against him. He had to be very careful with the words that he chose.
"When I first realized that I had this bond or whatever it is in my head, I didn't like it," he admitted, "I had a lot of plans for myself and being hopelessly captivated by a mortal was not among them. I understand what you mean about not recognizing oneself. It can be quite unnerving realizing that there were things that you've always wanted that you didn't even dare admit to yourself." He extended his arm hesitantly as he took her left hand into his. "You were that for me and you've made me happier than I probably have a right to be. " He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently as she stared at him thoughtfully.
"What are you doing, Loki?" she inquired. He could see the softness return to her eyes that made him hopeful that perhaps she wasn't so firm in her decision to stay away from him.
"I'm wooing you," he grinned," Is it working?" He stepped closer to her as he entwined their fingers together.
"You're impossible." She jested as she began to smile. He brought her other palm to rest against his chest as he held it in place with his own. "I have to go on this mission, it is important," she told him as she brushed a finger along his chest.
"Then bring me with you, my little spider," he entreated, "I'm only going to follow you anyway."
"You make things so difficult," she intoned playfully as he leaned forward placing a chaste kiss against her lips.
"Difficult in a good way?" he teased as his lips hovered over hers. She closed the distance, kissing him deeply, her hands moved around his neck as she stroked her fingers through his long ebony hair. Their lips locked together in harmony as his arms settled around her waist tenderly. Her kiss was so warm, so passionate, erasing all conscious thought from his mind as his heart beat accelerated at the silky touch of heat from her lips. She sighed against him as she moved away from him slightly. She placed her hand against her temple as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. "Are you having headaches again?" She positioned both of her hands against her forehead as she took a step backward. He placed his fingers gently on her shoulder and she shook it off immediately as she looked at him as if she had just seen a ghost.
"You were going to have him kill me?" she gasped, a look of complete horror in her blue eyes.
"What are you talking about?" he puzzled, "I would never hurt you."
"Slowly, in every way that I feared," she repeated. His face falling at the realization of what she had just remembered. "It's true? It really happened? It wasn't enough that you turned his mind to mush but you were going to have him torture me. Knowing how he felt about me, what we meant to each other."
"I…I was just trying to unnerve you…I never really planned to…" he sputtered, all the things in the last year she could have remembered and it would have to be the worst moment in their history.
"Why, because you had other plans for me?" she shrieked. "Barton was right there is no way that I would have ever willingly let you...not in my right mind." She turned quickly and began walking swiftly down the corridor towards the stairwell to the upper deck.
"Natasha, I've changed a lot since then," he pleaded as he followed behind her. She stopped short as she whirled around to face him once more.
"Really, you were just threatening Hawkeye less than five minutes ago," she snapped reproachfully, "I can't believe I actually doubted him for a moment. He was absolutely right, these feelings I've been so torn about they were just left over from your manipulations. Well, I'm not going to let you fool me anymore."
"Natasha, please." Loki insisted, "That's one memory, one small part of our time together."
"Yes," she hissed, "The part where I was coherent and rational and not the jumbled up mess that you've made of me now. Go ahead and follow me if you want to. I promise you that I will never let you touch me again." He watched in dismay as she ran up the stairs and threw open the door to the deck.
"That was quite the little scene," her voice falling upon his ears like nails scraping along a chalkboard. He stood there unmoving at first, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of even acknowledging her presence. "She's quite the little spitfire isn't she?" Amora continued in her lighthearted tone, "And you came so close to reaching her. I really almost thought you had."
"You were watching us?" he seethed as he whipped around to face her. Amora stood there proudly her bright metallic green robes sparkling from the lights overhead. She smiled at him smugly as she brushed her long blond hair behind her shoulder.
"Quite a few people were," she revealed as she took a casual glance at her surroundings. "After all, you were standing in a very busy corridor filled with mortals running all about."
"You had her remember that on purpose didn't you?" Loki snapped as he stalked toward her.
"I had set it for her to remember at some point but I must say it was a sheer stroke of luck for it to come out right then," she chuckled mirthfully, "I think she was all set to take you with her which would have really put a crimp in my plans."
"And what plans are those?" the young prince probed irately, "Haven't you done enough?"
"I'm feeling like Frejya," she snickered as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "I have this uncontrollable urge to bring together old lovers."
"There is no way that I'm ever going to let that happen," he vowed his face in a scowl as he stared at her evilly.
"Give me the gauntlet and then we both can have what we want," the Enchantress offered. He took a step toward her angrily and she disappeared immediately.
"Amora," he called out hoarsely as he surveyed the empty stairwell, "I know you haven't gone very far, you fool. You haven't learned to cloak your abilities yet? I can still sense your magic."
She materialized a few feet away from him as she eyed him cautiously. Loki sensed that Natasha was on the move, the jet must have taken off. Perhaps, it would serve him well not to have her aboard this ship for a little while as he brought the Chitauri scepter to his side once more.
"What do you want with the gauntlet?" he queried as he turned the handle deliberately in his grip. He noticed the apprehensiveness in her eyes as she gazed at the staff and he smiled fiendishly. "All this work you are doing just to lay it into the hands of our two faced friend? Do you really think he is going to bother helping you once that power is his?"
"Your concern for me is touching," she inflected mockingly as she fingered the edge of her long green cape.
"Malekith's troubles are just beginning," the mischievous prince revealed as he glided his finger along the edge of the scepter's blade and for a moment it seemed a red glint flashed in his eyes. "Lack of water is going to be the least of his problems when I'm through with him. But perhaps we can make our own deal."
"And what could you possibly offer me?" she questioned, strands of her blond locks falling across her shoulder as she moved about the small space but she didn't seem to notice as her eyes remained fixed on the trickster.
"Thor," he smiled broadly as he moved his slender fingers along the gems imbedded in his scepter, "I have two infinity gems, more than enough to suit your purposes. Let go of the hold you have on my wife and I can make your deepest desires a reality."
"Please, you expect me to believe that you would use that on your own brother?" she chortled as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Besides, if it was such a simple feat, why not use it on your precious little mortal?"
"Because I don't need to, she already loves me of her own accord." He snapped before regaining his composure. "The object of your affection, however, can't stand the sight of you."
"You would never do it, what kind of fool do you think I am?" she professed crossly as she stood still before him.
"Why wouldn't I?" he expressed maliciously as his fingers continued to glide across the jewels, "I want him out of the way of the throne, why not let you occupy him for me? Think good and hard on my offer but be quick about it. It won't be on the table for long." In a snap of his fingers, he disappeared from the stairwell. Let her stew on that for a while, he thought as he materialized in the control room. The guard on duty immediately shot up from his chair.
"Fury gave strict orders for no one to be here, especially you." The soldier spouted nervously as he raised his weapon cautiously. These pathetic mortals and their little toys, Loki contemplated petulantly as his eyes glanced at the figure of the sleeping Titan behind the glass cage. He grabbed the man's rifle by the barrel as he pushed it aside, pointing the blade of his scepter at his heart in one swift motion.
"I have new orders for you," he rasped as he watched the man blink before nodding his head in compliance. "Open the door to the cell."
The soldier moved quickly to the control panel as he punched in the codes to unlock the glass entry. His blue eyes staring up at Loki as the doors slid open. The young prince maneuvered himself in front of the immortal resting the point of his blade at the unconscious beast's temple as he watched him keenly.
"Now, be a good boy and tell me everything you know about Malekith." Loki hissed as a devious grin spread across his features.