The goodbyes had not been tearful, thankfully. Loki wasn't sure that he could have handled seeing Maisy or Linn cry over him. Having someone worry over his well being was not something he'd experienced for a long time. Even when Frigga was concerned, she never feared for his safety - she knew that he and Thor were well prepared for any dangers that might come their way.

Now on the quinjet, Loki was sharpening his daggers and silently observing how the others prepared for the mission ahead of them. Perhaps their actions would give something away about their secret objective.

Thor was lazily swinging Mjolnir and seemed as at ease with battle on Midgard as he was on Asgard. He had a confident smile on his face and from time to time he would joke with Rogers about some reference that Loki didn't get.

Captain America was standing straight and proud as ever, chin held high, eyes stern. A slight smile played at the corner of his lips whenever Thor would make a joke and he played along well, but Loki could tell he was deep in thought. Rogers had long ago polished his shield and donned his uniform and he seemed ready to jump from the plane at a moment's notice.

The Widow sat directly across from Loki and had not stopped staring at him for the hour they'd been flying. The only motion she'd made was to occasionally take a sip from her smoothie or nod at something Barton said. The woman seemed to trust Loki with this mission about as much as he trusted her with anything. Though she had accepted him the most (apart from Thor) she was too smart to let her guard down.

Hawkeye was drumming absently on a control panel with two arrows and making some quick beat that probably went along with whatever song he was listening to on his music device. He shot Loki an irritated glare every once in a while and Loki tried not to smile to creepily at his former "employee". Out of all of the Avengers he knew Barton was always going to give him troubles. None of them would ever trust him, but Barton wouldn't even ever be civil, it seemed.

Banner, who had not changed out of his typical button up shirt and slacks, was sitting peacefully in the corner and reading a book. Thor had said that the Hulk was never called upon unless absolutely necessary. It was too much of a risk - as Loki well knew - to have the green beast loose. Though, Loki had heard a rumor that a member of the team was working on a way to calm Hulk down when needed and that Stark had a contingency if that plan failed.

Iron Man was flying the jet. Babbling ceasely as per usual and not caring that it was ridiculously early in the morning. He recounted the thrilling tale of his newest suit updates and no one paid him any attention. Of course, Loki was storing the information away carefully, even if he wasn't fully processing it at the moment. One never knew when one would need to know about the ins and outs of the Iron Man suit.

"So, Loki," Black Widow suddenly spoke up and Loki glanced at her and then back at his knives, "You haven't trained with us."

"I have not," he nodded, "But never fear, Romanoff, I've been at combat long before even Rogers was born."

"I'm not worried about that," she snorted, "I know you can handle it. What worries me is that you have never seemed like the team player kind of guy to me. Am I wrong?"

"Now, my dear assassin, why in the nine realms would you think that?"

"Because you and I have many things in common," she replied with a shrug and a slurp of her smoothie, "And I prefer to fly solo."

"And yet you find yourself playing at being friends with this group of misfits," Loki gestured around the jet, "And before that, at SHIELD. You seem to function within a group quite well."

"Because we train together," she said, "And like you said, you haven't trained with us."

"I've trained with Thor," he pointed out.

"But not the rest of us," she leaned forward and gave him a chilling look, "How are we supposed to know if you are going to have our backs?"

"Thor," Loki called and his brother turned to them, "Have I not always had your back?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Thor crossed his arms and raised a brow.

"Alright fine," Loki put his hands up, "I get it, you don't think I will help you, Widow."

"I really don't."

"But let me tell you why I will help this mission reach completion," he made his daggers disappear with a flick of his wrist and then leaned back and smiled at her, "Maisy wants me home safe and I hate to disappoint my wife."

"Oh really?"

"I know you think I intend to kill her or use her horribly," Loki rolled his eyes, "But what motive would I have to stay with her this long? What plan could possibly cause me to care for her when she is sick and ensure she is comfortable and safe at all times? Do you really think that even I, god of lies, am such a good actor that I could keep up such a facade this long and this well?"

"Well, you tricked Thor into thinking you loved him for over a thousand years, so I don't find it that hard to believe," she smiled cruelly at him and Loki clenched his fists.

"I never said that I did not love Thor," he caught his brother's smile out of the corner of his eye, "I may have tried to kill him a few dozen times over the past few years, but that does not mean I've stopped loving my brother."

"People like you and I don't make that sort of attachments," she argued, but there was something in her voice that didn't sound convinced by her own statement. Whether she had her own paramour or simply some sort of familial bond with her teammates Loki did not know. But the Widow had gone against her own argument. She definitely had some sort of attachment. Loki had to stop himself from plotting ways to exploit it and respond to her with a roguish wink.

"Then perhaps you and I are not as similar as you thought."

Everyone in the jet fell silent - except Tony, who hadn't shut up even to listen to the argument. They remained silent for several hours and the whole time Loki and Black Widow stared each other down. It was absurdly uncomfortable for the other passengers.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination and chatter began again. Plans were laid out by the Captain and instructions were given. Loki was meant to stick with Thor as they fought off anyone on the outside of the base. Stark, Romanoff, and Barton would be infiltrating the base and getting what electronic information they could while Rogers fought the agents inside. Banner would wait in the jet unless it seemed that he was needed.

"Any objections?" Rogers asked, looking at each of them.

"I think Nat should go to the lower level to get intel and I should go to the top floor," Barton pointed at the holographic blueprints, "You know I do better high up."

"Right," the Captain nodded, "Makes sense. Barton goes second floor, Romanoff goes basement, Tony, you've got the ground floor."

"Works for me."

"Anything else?"

Loki wanted to pick apart the plan and find flaws, but it was a decent plot. He could have done better, obviously, but he hadn't been aware of the mission or blueprints until the day before.

"For future reference," he commented, "I do better with subtle attacks rather than being a bulldozer like Thor."

"I know," Rogers crossed his arms, "But I want two heavy hitters on the outside and I don't want to risk the Hulk if we don't have to."

"Ha!" Thor clapped a hand on Loki's shoulder, "Hear that brother? On Midgard you are a 'heavy hitter'!"

"He's stronger than the rest of us humans," the Captain pointed out, "Is it going to be a problem?"

"No," Loki twirled a dagger around his fingers, "But if I had known I would have brought a more suitable weapon along. Something more fit for fighting in the open rather than close quarters."

"Is that all?" Thor went to the lockers on the side of the quinjet and threw the one with his name on it open with a loud crash, "Take your pick, brother!"

Loki went to investigate and found that Thor had stashed a small Asgardian armory in his locker. He selected a spear and a sword, strapping the latter to his back. He nodded his thanks to Thor and then went back to hear the rest of the captain's plan.

A note from the author: Wow! Chapter 50! That's pretty exciting, eh? Thank you so, so, so, so, so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and favorited this story and Till Death Do You Part! I probably would never have had as much fund with these characters and plots if it weren't for you guys and I really appreciate your support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep sticking with me till the end of the line! Or, at least till the end of this story. :)

Special thanks to the reviewers of last chapter:

Guestanewone: Gotta love some fluff, lol!

Guest: What other Marvel characters do you have in mind? I haven't ever written any Marvel fics about anyone other than Loki because he's easiest for me to write, but I am open to the idea. The problem is, I mostly ship the canon pairings so it might be hard for me to find a character to pair with an OC. But maybe. I think it would be fun to give it a shot!

CheetahLover: And so Loki turned into an octopus, because he knows Hydra loves octopi, and then when Strucker went to pick him up he turned back into himself and stabbed him and said "bleh it's me!" XD

Ninja Squirrel: *Loki wrinkles his nose in disgust at human diets and proceeds to down a gallon or so of coffee*

Dragoncat: I'm glad you liked their quiet time together! It's so much fun to write the lovey dovey stuff between them even though I know nothing about relationships lol. XD

You guys are the best!