Last Time on BPoT:

Thor settles them both on Loki's couch, knees just touching. "There was once a young trickster."

"Really, Thor –"

"He lived in a golden city," Thor presses on, "and was said to even walk the stars. Though the nobles grew jealous of his influence over the heir t the kingdom, yet the common people loved him."

"Fools."

"Wisdom." Thor clasps Loki's wrist as another attack twitches through him. "They saw the honor in the young man. The way he would make sure the future king would not forget his people. They saw hope."

"Thor."

"Hush, I'm telling a story. Now, it happened that one day the heir determined to prove himself by going out to kill a bilgesnipe. Of course, the Trickster came along, for he feared the heir might be reckless."

"Not reckless, young."

"It tis the same."

"Only to some."

"It was only thanks to the Tricksters magics that the heir and his companions escaped with their lives that day. It was the first time the heir had ever seen the true extent of that power. It frightened him."

"But you saw me do magic before."

"Only parlor tricks; changed hair, snakes."

"Do I truly frighten you?" Loki's heart sank.

"No. And even then, it was not really fear, but jealousy. You see, the heir thought that, with such magic, the Trickster would win the people to his side. That the people might begin to think him a better king, than what they had been promised. It was mere folly. A petty feeling of a spoiled child."

"You…you were jealous of me?"

"Yes."

"Are…are you still?"

"No. Humbled."

"…"

"You have such limitless power at your fingertips, Loki. You could rip Asgard asunder, rule the worlds, but yet you choose to stay at my side."

"I don't think you appreciate just how much paperwork would come from ruling the galaxies."

"I'm lucky to still have you, brother."

"You've become maudlin in your old age."

Thor squeezes his wrist. "Appreciative

And now:

As is the way with karma, the world, and life, since everything is going so well with the Avengers, it's time for a good dose of bad. Whether it will be an outside attack – HYDRA is still out there –, some news report – as much as they help clean up after their battles, some people still argue they should do more –, or Loki having a particularly ruthless flashback, no one knows. Yet, they all feel the threat of the hanging sword above their heads. Tony's become even more paranoid with his security updates. Steve's been sketching strategic areas from the roof. Phil's made everyone go through a mandatory physic eval – Tony and Clint had to go twice.

0/0/0/0

"It's not your fault," Phil tells her.

She glares harder as the gun she's cleaning. She has four more after this one, then she'll set them throughout the two upper floors.

Phil sighs, sitting beside her. "It's not your fault, and you know it."

"Do I?"

"Yes."

She slams the gun down on the table. "It's all our faults. We let ourselves become lax."

"No, we didn't."

"Yes." She smiles at him, all teeth. "We did. We became so distracted by Loki that we forgot to keep an eye out for intruders."

"Who had magic on their side."

She picks up the gun again, sliding the magazine in.

"Natasha, stop." Phil doesn't touch her – he knows better – but he does lay his hand near her arm. She stills. He clears his throat. "I can't have you operating like this. It's unhealthy."

"You think my work is compromised?"

"Yes."

Her body tightens as memories flood her. But Phil's not like her old handlers. He never will be. She glances at him. "How?"

"You twitch at every little sound. You've got more guns and knives scattered in this building than I think SHIELD has in its armory."

"Then maybe they should update their inventory."

"Natasha."

"…"

"Even Loki mentioned it to me, when he found one of your knives in his room. Wanted to know what we were preparing for." Phil raises an eyebrow. "Mind letting me in?"

"You can feel too. Something's wrong."

"Yes, but not enough to warrant this much overkill." Phil sighs. "I think it's time we all did our yearly physic eval."

"Now?" She scoffs, then blinks when she sees he's serious. "You want to do that now?!"

"Yes. It'll let everyone get things off their chest, scream if they need to."

"Everyone?"

"Including Thor and Loki." Phil stands. "If they want in on our team, they'll have to do the course too. And Natasha, no skimming on the therapist. I'll know."

0/0/0/0

So, yes, Natasha is expecting something to drop into their laps anytime soon. She's prepared for it even. The physic eval does help, but they've been caught off-guard once, she'd rather not have that embarrassment again.

"Tony's put the building on lockdown again," Clint whines as soon as he drops from the vent.

"Deal with it." She flicks her pad to the next page of SHIELD's annual report. There's something wrong here. Her – as Parker calls it – 'Spidey senses are tingling' so to speak. She's not sure what's tweaked them, but perhaps Jarvis will help her hack deeper (he's taken a liking to her).

Clint leans over her shoulder. "Didn't you already read this last week?"

"Yes."

"What stood out?"

"Nothing really."

"Uh-huh."

"Yet." She goes back a page. "Something's not right."

"What?"

"Some of these expenses and missions make no sense. Especially the ones with Ward."

"Isn't that the new kid? The one Phil wants to nab?"

"Yes."

"Who's his handler?"

"Garrett."

Clint stiffens. "There's something off with that man."

"I know. I told Phil."

"How'd he take it?"

"They're old graduates."

Clint blinks. "He ignored you?"

"He's looking into it."

"Good."

Clint kicks back on his chair, which rolls back a bit, and thumps his boots onto the table. She glares at him. He grins back. She sighs. He must be bored, if he's willing to antagonize her. In a way, she understands. Clint is like a kid…puppy…whatever…he doesn't do well cooped up inside for very long. Oh, have it be a cover for a mission and he's fine (the roleplay helps cut down on the boredom), but that's the extent of his good graces.

The boots wiggle beside her elbow.

"Fine," she says, shutting down her pad. "Let's spar."

"Yes!" Clint sprints off for the training room.

Natasha pauses, considers, and pages Steve. The man picks up after the second beep.

"Natasha?"

"Clint's crawling up the walls, literally. The others aren't doing much better. It might be a good idea to train a few hours."

A rustle of paper – he was probably sketching again on the roof – and then: "I'll make the announcement."

She likes that about him. He could, very easily, have Jarvis to tell everyone, but he thinks it too impersonal. He wants to reach out to the team to let them know it matters to him if they join.

"Natasha," Steve's voice says a minute later. "Thor wants to know if it would be a good idea to include Loki."

Her first reaction is to say 'no', but she stops in the hall to mulls it over. It's been two weeks since Wanda told them Loki was no longer a threat to half the city. His mind is stable enough to keep his magic at bay…with hers and Xavier's help. She did hint that it is still killing him, slowly, day by day.

It would be good for Loki to have more social interactions. Make him focus on something other than his dying body.

"Yes," she concludes, "but only for half an hour."

"Right."

She continues to the training room to find Tony and Bruce, surprisingly, already there. They're sitting in a corner, muttering to each other, and stretching. Huh, progress. A month ago, you would have to drag Tony to these, or send Phil. A smile skims across Natasha's lips. Progress indeed.

She can't see Clint, but she knows he's in the rafters somewhere.

Phil strolls in not soon after, migrating to her. "I set a few eyes on Garrett."

"He'll know."

"Undoubtedly."

Natasha stretches her arms. "We can't afford to have him go underground."

"You really think it's that bad."

"I have the same feeling I had in Budapest."

Phil takes a deep breathe through his nose. "Right. I'll put Stark on Garrett too."

"It's worth the crowing he'll do."

Phil grins, and then sits on the floor, reaching for his toes. His rehabilitation is going well, though Bruce cautions against too much strain just yet, which means no missions (other than monitoring from the tower or helicarrier).

Steve enters with Thor and Loki, the latter's hands twitching. So, a semi bad day. She fights down a sigh. It's to be expected. And, all told, he is doing much better since Wanda and Pietro came. Speaking of which…

"The twins not coming?" she asks Phil.

"Not today. Something about a feeling and headaches."

Then it's not just her.

Thor and Loki jog around the room, warming up. She catches snippets of their conversation as they pass her.

"…not so bad," Loki says.

"Indeed," Thor answers, managing to sound unconvinced and supportive at the same time. "Shall I inform Mother of such?"

Loki tries to trip him up.

Thor laughs and skips out of the way.

Not many people realize just how limber and quick Thor really is. They see muscle, height, and blond hair, and immediately think 'dumb jock'. A mistake many of their enemies have lived to regret. Oh, he's no Loki – she has trouble keeping up with that quick wit and mind on his good days – but he's not stupid, not by any stretch of the imagination. Together, Thor and Loki are an unyielding force of nature.

Loki, the shadows and smooth words; Thor, the fire and charm.

It's good they have each other.

0/0/0/0/0

"Ugh!" Tony groans as they file in two hours later. "I smell like good BO and sneakers."

"Good BO?" Clint prompts, grabbing a cold drink from the fridge.

Tony smirks. "As if my BO could be anything, but."

Clint rolls his eyes, while Bruce just snorts.

Natasha punches Tony, just to keep him humble.

"Ow! What was that for? I call abuse!"

Loki peers over his book at them from his spot on the couch. Green eyes blink slowly several times before he hides behind the pages again.

Thor is nowhere to be seen. Odd. He's usually with his younger brother. Something must be up. Natasha snags two ice teas, weaves her way between Clint and Phil, and nudges Loki over with her foot, so she can sit too. The alien pulls his long legs in, curling up like a kid.

She tunes out the rest of the noise as she hands him a tea bottle. "Are you feeling bad?"

He nods.

"Is it your head or bones?"

"Head."

"Flashback?"

"Two. But not severe. I kept my surroundings for the most part." He sips his drink. "Thor helped."

"Good." Natasha cracks open her drink. "Where is he?"

"Calling mother." Loki turns a page. "He's worried."

She lets the slightly sour taste of green tea slither down her throat. "He's your brother."

"Yes."

"It's Game Night," she tells him. "You up for it?"

"If only to beat Phil at chess."

She snorts. "No one beats Phil at chess. Ever."

"I will."

She sends him a sympathetic smile.

"Cynic." He mock snarls at her, before turning back to his book.

She laughs.

The invisible sword above them wobbles precariously.

So, yeah, it's more a filler chapter than anything else. I'm sorry for that. But it's been so long since I updated, I wanted to give you something. Plus, we needed a small breather.

Review? Tell me you don't hate me.