Chapter Fifteen: Easy

The air in the car had grown thick with heavy silence. The agents sat patiently, for once in their lives without a clue what to say. Barton snuck a peek at Natasha, her eyes stared ahead with the cool focus of a seasoned spy. He wanted to give her all of his attention, Despite the job at hand, she had most of it already. When he thought back on what he'd said before they left, about her being too focussed on her job, his heart filled with regret. He should have just swallowed the realization. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. He wanted her for more reasons than he could count-yet he chose to vocalize his one doubt in a sea of positives.

"Look," she said suddenly, "they're going somewhere."

His eyes were already pointed toward the house, but her statement caused the scene before him to come into focus. Graham and Eve were standing by the driver's side door talking until Graham broke off to get in the passenger seat. Natasha chuckled. "She doesn't let him drive either."

Barton laughed. "Someday you'll let me. It'll be a good day, Nat."

"Don't bet on it," she smiled and her energy flooded the car.

"Where do you think they're going?"

"Doesn't matter. We have to be fast, so let's assume they're going to the convenience store to get milk, and hope they talk about it when they get back." The moment Eve's sedan turned the corner at the end of the street, she sprang out of the car casually. Barton followed her lead and they strolled to the house. He held the backyard gate open for her and noted the dog house. "There's no dogs here," she informed him when she noticed him checking it out.

"Not like that would have been an issue," he replied breezily. He was suddenly worried she'd assume he had a fear of dogs.

"Better without it," she went on, "dogs make noise."

"Do they now?" He quipped sarcastically, relieved, before handing her half of the recording devices and adhesive. "What do you think? Two on the bedroom window, two on the kitchen window here...and the others?"

"Throw one in the bathroom window...there's another kitchen window the way we came back...I'll put mine up out front." She left expecting to finish before him. When he crept up by her side as she was applying her last, she remembered agility was his forte.

She pulled out her phone and checked to make sure each device was operational before sliding it back in her pocket. "All good?" Barton asked.

"All good," she answered and turned on her heels to leave. When he was by her side, she hooked her arm through his.

"In case anyone sees us?"

Natasha looked at him meaningfully. He met her gaze and faltered. Her hair was bathed in sunlight, each strand trying to mimic the star's glow. In her eyes he saw beauty and truth, her lips were full and smiling still. All he could feel was joy when she said, "No."

Elsewhere

Eve had decided to let Loki drive back. He'd insisted that he had observed her and was beyond capable. While nervous, she was delighted at the idea of being driven after the long, strange day that had preceded, and allowed herself to be persuaded by him. He operated the car with ease, as though he'd been driving since he was sixteen. She tried to imagine when he was a teenager-brooding and full of angst, she assumed. She let a giggle escape her lungs at the notion.

"What?" He asked without accusing. His genuine curiosity brought warmth to her heart.

"It's not important," she insisted.

"Alright," he accepted without a fuss, "just make sure you direct me properly-so that we don't get lost."

Eve paused and looked for a street sign, any street sign. The long road ahead provided no assistance. "I, uh," she smiled a toothy, guilty smile.

"You're not certain of how to get home?"

"Ahh, not so much. Just keep going, I'll figure it out as we get closer." Loki sighed and sped up slightly. "Wait! Oh!" She shouted. "I can use my phone, it has GPS."

"It has what?"

"A...map."

He wriggled the phone out of his pocket. "Show me. Do nothing else." She pulled up the maps app and presented the screen to him. "Is this a trick?"

"No, no tricks, just technology."

"Fine. But-"

"I know, I know." He seemed to be pleased with this, he offered no objection. "I just need to type in my address, okay?" Again, no objection. She hit the go home option on the app that had her address programmed in. With careful eyes, she checked Loki's expression and then slyly switched over to her text messages. She clicked on Sam's conversation and saw no new messages. The last one she'd received was him begging her to call him the night Loki had sent him a text on her behalf. The text before that one simply said "I'm hurt, but I just want you to be happy. As yourself. I guess what I mean is, you're not being yourself, and any guy who would change you doesn't deserve you." She scrolled up to see what Loki had sent to invoke such a reaction. The text read "I am too busy being pleasured by my lover to read the novel you've written me." She was suddenly very, very embarrassed. And to think Sam was ready to apologize when she'd frantically called him. She felt a strong desire to read what he'd sent her before, the 'novel.' She scrolled up and up, overwhelmed by the sheer number of words. She finally reached the top, and he had begun it all with a phrase that nearly brought tears to her eyes-My Eve. What had started as an inside joke, when they were children making fun of his older sister and her first boyfriend, had blossomed into a sweet thought full of sentiment, no longer a joke at all.

"How long is your address exactly?" Loki asked, accusingly this time.

"Almost done," she lied before switching back to the navigation app and flashing the screen at him.

"Just tell me where to go." Eve nodded and watched the animated car roll down the road on her cell. "You know, the real road might provide a better view," he offered quietly, a hint of concern in his voice. Her mood had changed rapidly and he found himself wondering why. Maybe it was the realization that soon she'd be back in her home-now her prison-waiting for him to go. It had to be challenging to wonder if there was an end date. For all she knew, his plan could have been to spend years with her. He considered this possibility, given that he was staying with her indefinitely. The truth was, he had no plan to speak of. After regaining his power, he wasn't sure what to do. Without an army behind him, it would be completely pointless to go against Thor and his comrades again. If he stayed with her, it would be a dramatically meeker life than he'd planned for himself on Midgard. Not a king, not a ruler, just a man with a woman.

"What's wrong?" He probed, realizing she hadn't spoken since he'd gotten lost in his own head.

"Turn left," she said, failing to hide her discouraged tone. She couldn't stop thinking about that text. It was humiliating, tasteless and spiteful. Cruel. It reminded her that Loki was not her friend. She touched her cheek where he'd kissed her. With all the emotion he'd conveyed through his eyes, she'd believed it to be sincere. Now she was second guessing her intuition-again. There was no real way to tell with him.

Loki turned the car and noticed her hand held to her cheek. When he looked, she quickly removed it. He could see the unadulterated conflict brewing beneath her skin. More than anything, it upset him. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, reassure her his intentions had not been to fool her. That was due in part to the fact that he's acted so impulsively. For once, he had acted with the knowledge that his actions would bring himself pleasure. The sight of her troubled by it annoyed him. Every single one of his movements had consequences, a simple concept to grasp. He didn't know what he wanted, he just knew it wasn't that look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He repeated with a bit more emphasis.

Eve took a deep breath and regained her composure. "I'm just upset you wouldn't let me bring Sasha home with us," she quipped.

"You shouldn't have named her, then," he scolded, "besides-Sasha is an awful name for an animal."

"Um. You saw how adorable she was, right?"

"But someday she will be a fierce beast, and she deserves a name that reflects that. Glory or something along those lines."

"Hate to disappoint you, but she'll pretty much always be adorable," she rebutted before laughing.

"I suppose, then," he paused, deliberating, "she's like you in that respect."

Eve's cheeks grew hot. She swallowed nervously and searched his face fervently for a sign that he was being truthfully sweet.

Loki saw that look in her eyes again. Again. It wasn't just a glimmer of doubt, it was all over her face. Eve though it made sense, even though it was his own doing, even though she had every right not to trust him...it infuriated him. A realization pierced his mind, he yearned to be trusted. Not by everyone, not by anyone, in fact, but her. He was certain that after all he'd done, to her and her people, it was not a possibility. Instead of facing the idea of failure, he chose his own destiny, accepting the reality for what it was and always would be. He took her hand in his gingerly as he stopped the car at a red light. "You are easy to excite," he commented, a light rouge still brushed over her cheeks, "you are easy to manipulate," her lips fell to that signature desperate frown, "and that is what makes you so easy to break."

A/N:

Sorry for the delay! Stayed with my mother for a few days and her internet is out, hard to write on my phone :P

I know not much happened here, mostly Loki fighting with himself and all that. There are a lot of super fun things coming up, I have a feeling you guys are gonna really enjoy the next few chapters! I know I'm gonna enjoy writing them. Thank you thank you thank you to anyone and everyone who's taken the time to read/follow/review this story. It helps me more than you know to share it and have it be appreciated.

PS: I edited this at six in the morning, let me know if you find typos :D