CHAPTER TWELVE

"He's mad!"

"Tony—"

"No, Steve. Don't defend him! We had the gauntlet right there and he sabotaged the whole operation!"

"Don't act like I don't get it, Stark—"

"Jesus Christ! Back to last names, are we?"

"I know Bruce is having the temper tantrum of his life in his cell, I know Clint is off sulking somewhere, and I know there's a reason you're here yelling at me instead of doing something productive like helping Natasha!"

"Meanwhile, you've stepped into the role of Loki sympathizer in Thor's absence quite nicely—"

There was a sound of something, most likely a fist, pounding into a metal cabinet.

"Just shut the fuck up for one second!"

The noise that came out of Tony's mouth was unintelligible but it did the job in shutting him up. Loki couldn't help but open his eyes in response, seeing as he had never heard anyone quiet the billionaire before. The fact that Loki himself was still alive was also shocking to him but he decided to put his shock on hold to see how the quarrel was going to play out.

Loki was also confused on where he was and needed more time to figure that out. All he knew was the lights coming from up above were quite blinding.

"You think I take any of this lightly? This is a team member- scratch that- a friend we are talking about here! I made the call to not only bring Loki on the team but I let him craft the plan. If you don't think I feel like absolute shit then you don't know me at all! And going after Loki isn't the solution because it doesn't matter what happens to him. Natasha's injury and our defeat is on me!"

Trying to get a better look around, Loki moved to sit up, still not knowing where he was or what was around him. The god's foot slipped off the bed, knocking over a nearby chair and as the clattering sound echoed throughout the room, he saw two heads snap in his direction from the other side of a glass. One was that of a shocked Tony Stark and the other a rather upset Steve Rogers.

Loki tore his gaze from the two to look around while his eyes adjusted to the brightness. What he had failed to notice before were the windows looking in on all four sides and the door, which separated him from the men who were looking on. Other than the bed he was currently on and the chair he had turned over, there wasn't much else in the room other than a monitor showing numbers that meant nothing to Loki and a tray holding a bowl of soup.

If it had been Loki's own call, he would have locked himself up as well.

"Show's over." Steve mumbled under his breath towards Tony before he turned on his heel and left.

The inventor didn't do anything other than watch his teammate go. Then, after some time, he turned to face Loki who had been silently watching. It didn't go unnoticed that Tony seemed both hurt and enraged as he approached the door. His voice never rose above a whispered but that only made his words more venomous.

"If I didn't know any better, I would let Bruce come in here and let him show you how he feels. We trusted you and you played us. I knew you were unhinged and could not be trusted but after we shared the tower with you, you still turned on us.""

Loki wanted to stop him and clarify that he never intended to hurt any of them. That is was Thanos who had told him to fire that destructive blow. But, as he continued to rethink the moment, Loki seemed to lack clarity on whether he was of sound mind or not. He hadn't heard the command from Thanos as it had happened so many times before and yet he hit the weakest point of the glacier with precision.

As much as he wanted to scream back that those actions weren't his, Loki chose to slightly lower his head and nod in defeat.

"You're locked in here until Thor can find you secure passage to Asgard." Something in Loki's heart sank as he realized even Thor believed he had meant harm. "In the meantime, you'll be lucky if Natasha doesn't pull through this and come down to kill you herself."

Without another word, Tony turned and walked out of sight, leaving Loki to wonder whether he would rather face death at the hands of the Hulk or face Natasha's wrath.


Turns out, he didn't have to wait long to find out.

The door swung open later that night to reveal Natasha standing at the doorway. She looked different out of uniform wearing sweatpants with a black hoodie that had a large SHIELD emblem on the back. However, her comfortable look did not soften her intense stare. As she walked in and closed the door behind her, Loki could see her injured arm was wrapped and placed in a sling.

Still saying nothing, Natasha took a seat in the vacant chair and looked intently at the god who sat motionless on the bed out of uncertainty and, partially, fear.

"I've been warned that you may have come to kill me."

Natasha remained silent but tipped her head slightly to the side as if she was examining the other's face.

Loki looked back in confusion. "So, you are not upset."

"If I were, you would already be dead."

To preserve his body, Loki made it a point not to explain that a mortal trying to kill him, a god, was virtually impossible. Instead, he tried not to squirm at the uncomfortable air growing between the two of them which was hard to do with Natasha's unblinking gaze.

"If you intend to raise a weapon against me, do know it was truly not my intention to hurt you, though, I understand how the situation looked—"

"I trust you."

Natasha's face showed no change which made her words even more surprising.

"I haven't really given you a reason to do so." Loki slowly replied.

Suddenly, everything shifted. Natasha's intense gaze softened as she let out a yawn and slouched into the chair, letting fatigue take hold of her body. "I am sure that if you wanted us dead, we already would be."

"This is true." Loki couldn't help but agree with a smirk though it disappeared as he watched Natasha subconsciously cover her sling with her good arm. Treading lightly on the subject, he asked, "Are you… is your arm…"

"If you're trying to ask me if I'm okay, then yes. I'm going to be fine." Loki tried to look indifferent at the news but even he couldn't deny the feeling of relief that swept over him. "You, on the other hand," Natasha continued, "are in a bit of a predicament as I'm sure you've noticed."

Just then, something broke through the god's carefully stoic facade. A look of sadness spread across his face and remained there as he asked, "Am I returning to Asgard?"

Careful not to chase away his vulnerability, Natasha answered, "Yes, and no."

"What do you mean yes, and no? Are you not sending me back?"

"Yes, and no."

That only irritated Loki further. "Am I being taken to Odin in Asgard and don't say yes or no."

"Well, the truth is the Avengers are having a fight right now. Some of us, as Tony probably made clear to you, want to kill you so they are trying to have you sent back to Asgard before they can do so. Some of us, which may or may not include me, think you should stay here and on the team."

Natasha couldn't help but notice Loki's confusion turn into disbelief at the information she had shared. When he looked at her with a complete loss for words, she merely smirked and shrugged back at him. It was intriguing to see the 'god of mischief' struggle with real emotions.

And it wasn't as though what she was telling was a lie either. Natasha had woken up in the medical bay of the tower to the sound of Tony and Steve shouting as SHIELD doctors finished up on the operation on her arm. While the injury had felt severe in the field, she was excited to hear that the wound was closed and would most likely be a speedy recovery. Less exciting was the conversation after with her teammates (minus Thor who was off trying to find a way to communicate with Asgard) that had ended in Bruce hulking out, Clint storming out in rage, Tony berating Steve's ability to lead, and the SHIELD doctors forcing everyone out of med bay to let her get some rest. Once she knew the coast was clear, she had snuck out of the room and down to visit the cells.

"If I am being honest," Loki said in a small voice, finding his train of thought once again, "I'm quite surprised you would vote to keep me on your team."

"Really. I'm not."

"Why is that?"

"Clint is my best friend. I watched him lose himself under that mind control shit and I sat with him after as he sorted through the wreckage of his brain to rediscover who he was." She turned to face Loki, "Obviously, you're not Clint but I see a lot of that struggle in you whether you agree with me or not. And Clint isn't one to take to new people but, you are somehow getting along with him just fine so I'll take that at face value."

A genuine smile slowly made its way across Loki's face and, this time he made no attempt to hide it from his teammate. In response, Natasha let herself smile freely as well.

Feeling a sudden burst of confidence, he continued to test his luck. "I thought you might be worried that I was coming in and stealing Barton away from you. It wouldn't be the first time."

Natasha's laughter echoed throughout the room. "The witchy boy's got jokes!" Loki's eye roll only elicited more laughter. "Good to know the god of being moody has a sense of humor. As for Clint, you can have him. Lord knows, he needs someone to assist him in those crazy schemes he's always trying to force me to do. I don't need him!" She joked.

"Of course not. Not while Banner is in the picture, at least."

"What did you say?" Natasha looked shocked at Loki who was just realizing that he may have over stepped. On any other day, the god would have ceased talking but something about her openness pushed him to say what was on his mind.

"You teammates are either idiots or pretending to not see what it going on between the two of you. My wager is on the first.

"Wait, what?" When Loki responded with a shrug, Natasha continued with a look of feigned naivete, "I don't think you know what you're talking about."

"Perhaps I do not. But I don't think that you- a decently intelligent human- would not be able to see his feelings for you."

Natasha thought about it for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. "Wait, what the hell is going on right now? Are you giving me relationship advice?"

"I'm rather good at it, aren't I." It wasn't a question. "Lady Sif used to confide in me a lot about her feelings towards certain men though, most of the time, she continuously pined over my brother." Loki made a face of disgust. "However, it was quite nice to be sought after for advice even if it was for something so trivial as love." A hint of sadness seemed to surface at the thought. "But that was many years ago in our youth before they all came to hate me."

Loki sat in the memory for a second longer before realizing where he was and who he was with. Looking over at Natasha he asked, "When did you stop talking?"

"When you decided to share that you have a heart." She replied with a smug smile.

The god rolled his eyes. "First Thor, and now you. Honestly…"

Natasha stood up from the chair, the smile never leaving her face. "Face it, you're one of the good guys now."

Loki raised his brow. "Do I need to remind you that I almost killed you today."

"All heroes have bad days. Just something to keep in mind."

And with that, she gave him one last nod and left the cell, leaving Loki alone with the unusual feeling of pride that came with being called a hero for the first time.