She didn't get much sleep with the Aether churning inside of her, ripping at her insides and tugging at her consciousness, trying to get her to rise. To move. To fight. She refused, keeping her eyes shut to try and block it all out and force herself to sleep, but that didn't seem likely.

Instead she listened to the two men near her bicker. Did they ever stop?

"What I could do with the power that flows through those veins," Loki mused, bordering almost on regretful that he wouldn't get the chance.

"It would consume you," Thor told him in a matter of fact tone, though Nat could practically see the way his eyes would roll at his brother's ever-present quest for power.

"She's holding up alright," Loki said, sounding almost affectionate. "She will for some time."

"Yes, she's very strong," Thor's voice was quiet and she felt him lean closer to her, brushing a strand of hair from her face and playing with the curl.

"When did you forget about your lovely Lady Jane?" Loki asked, bitterness filling his voice. Why?

"She's better off without me. I cannot offer her the stability she would want and deserves, the assuredness she needs, whether I stayed with the Avengers or could bring her here to rule at my side. It would bore her to tears and aggravate her to no end to be apart from her work."

"So what will you do, then, stay with Agent Romanov? Do you really think you could make her happy?" Nat could hear the sneer in his voice. "You? She'll grow tired of you and your lovely conversation. Once the passion goes between you she'll resent you, and you'll hate yourself for it. You see the best in people but she's only with you because F-. Because she was asked to take care of you. Of us."

"So what shall I do? Leave her when this is over?" Thor demanded, voice turning into a snarl. She could feel him tense beside her. "Then will you be satisfied?"

"Satisfaction's not in my nature."

"Surrender's not in mine." Thor squeezed Nat's hand.

Loki laughed though his next words couldn't have been dripping with more condescention. "The son of Odin-."

"No, not just of Odin." Nat felt Thor leave her and she snuck a peek at the pair of them, the Aether feeding on the strong emotions the same way tht the tesseract and Loki's scepter had fed on anger and tension.

"You think you alone were loved of Mother?" Thor demanded, advancing on Loki, whose full attention was on the bulky blond, standing his ground. Now who wasn't surrendering? "You had her tricks but I had her trust."

"Trust?" Loki sounded disbelieving, spitting the word out as though it were poison. "Was that her last expression, trust? Yet you let her die, Thor! She trusted you to defend her! I-."

"What good were you in your cell?" The two were shouting now, and Nat was grateful for the empitness of the land. the last thing they needed was to give their position away because the brothers decided to have a fight now.

"Who put me there, Thor? WHO PUT ME THERE?!"

There was a hard thud as Thor shoved him back against the ship. Nat sat up quick, afraid of Thor hurting his brother when they still needed him. What she heard instead was a choked sob, Loki held tight in Thor's arms, his slight frame shaking. Thor clutched him close and the sight struck Nat hard in the gut. Estranged they might have been, anger and betrayal might have been their bread and butter, yet brothers they still were. Blood or not, grief and affection for the woman who gave her life to defend her realm and Natasha without thought made family of them both.

"She wouldn't want us to fight," Thor murmured against his brother's crown. Loki let out a strained chuckle as he gave a muffled response that Nat couldn't hear but made Thor laugh as well. They pulled away slowly, Loki's eyes glossy and face paler than normal against the dreary backdrop. His lack of composure nearly hurt to look at. There was a man so run down by what had happened, by the life he'd been told he deserved. He alone had drove himself to this point, had cascaded magnificently over the cliff only to find that like Icarus his wings had been destroyed, and so crashed simply for trying to reach too high. It hurt, plain and simple, to look at, though the affection etched on Thor's face as he reached out to cup the side of his brother's face was just as painful.

"I wish I could trust you," the larger man said, voice quiet. The love and hurt on Loki's face, broken down for once, forced the wind from Natasha's lungs.

"Trust my rage," he murmured. Thor gave a small nod and turned back, looking surprised to see Nat awake.

"You two were really loud," she murmured.

"Apologies my lady," Thor pulled away from his brother to hunch down beside her, but Nat's eyes watched how Loki's expression faded from his face, the pain receding to fester and consume him.

"Do you wish to sleep more?" Thor asked. Nat turned back to him with the quickest shake of her head.

"No, I'm alright. It's your turn. Loki if you want to show me how to steer or where to go-."

"I've rested long enough, Agent Romanov, though your compassion is a boon."

Well he didn't have to be such a sarcastic asshole when she was trying to help, but fine. She nodded once and shifted so that Thor could take her place, the exhaustion finally hitting him.

"I assure you I am fine," Thor murmured even when Nat rubbed his back and felt him relax beneath her for what must've been the first time since they'd coupled.

"You're no use to us half dead, Thor. I mean it. Even a god has his limits," she teased, kissing him slowly before pulling away so he could rest. All the while she felt Loki's toxic jealousy on her back as he watched her. What more did he want from her? She offered him her help, but he'd rebuked her. She couldn't read his mind and so couldn't offer more assistance than what she'd already done. That was all there was to it. She turned to look at him, watching as he attempted to seem as though he'd been focusing on what he was doing the whole while. She tried not to smirk. Really? Hadn't he learned yet that he couldn't hide from her?

"I didn't mean any offense before," she told him with a quiet sigh, squeezing Thr's hand beside her. She'd done what she had to with him, yes, to help him through it all. But did she regret it? Did she worry about giving him the wrong impression? No. They weren't stupid. They'd bonded through grief and she had been more than happy to help Thor, her teammate, her friend. S he was glad to have been there for him and she'd tried to at least help Loki. His path was his own.

Loki simply rolled his eyes before turning his attention to her, done feigning as though nothing had happened. As if she hadn't caught him at his own game. "You didn't offend me, don't be daft."

"No, but you're upset that you didn't take the opportunity when it came up," she said, shifting towards him, meeting his green eyes with her own strong gaze. What did he think he had to prove? Aside from obviously wanting another chance to try and defeat her and gain justice for the humility she'd forced him to feel in the Helicarrier, what was he holding back from? "C'mon Loki, you know you can't hide from me."

His jaw set hard as he glowered down at her, one of his hands tightening on the steering rod. Oh good, she had irritated him. The more aggravated he got the more transparent he became, bless him for that. As unpredictable as he was famed to be, Nat would always be able to at least get a taste of what he was feeling so long as she pissed him off enough. Even if that was a dangerous line to be walking, well, it wasn't as though spying was the sanest or safest thing. She must've just had a knack for things that would get her killed in the long run, with pestering a demi-god coming pretty high on the list.

"Why should I bother speaking with you when you're so positive of how I am laready?" He asked, taking obvious pleasure in the way that Nat stiffened with his nearly on pointe observations. Maybe she wasn't the only one who could play after all.

"Because you love the sound of your own voice. You get a thrill out of holding the expectations suspended, and letting them down when you can," Nat said.

"And you thoroughly enjoy bringing others who are larger and stronger than you are to their knees," Loki countered.

Nat smirked, giving him a slow, deliberate up-down. Clever choice of words. "You tried to do the same, and don't deny you thought about forcing me into subservience." She watched him stiffen, shifting his hips so that they were at least mostly guarded from her gaze. He really should've known better than to get into something like this with her; she made a living off of reading men like him. "Tell me how it feels, though, being down there in the end."

"As if you do not already know." His face twisted with his words, obviously thinking it was a bluff he could call her on, as though it was something she was ashamed of.

"I've been there before and it's not necessarily a worrying position." She arched a brow. "But you know I have."

Barton had come clean to her about what had been shared between himself and Loki without Nat even having to prompt him, the guilt of his actions having eaten him alive. She hadn't blamed him, had soothed him and told him it was alright. There was no harm done in an idiot like Loki knowing about her past, knowing the dirtiest, most unpleasant secrets about her life, after all, because she hadn't intended on seeing him ever again. Well, that's what she got, she supposed, for attempting to make plans.

"And now what do you think?" Loki asked, leaning back on the ship. Nat rose and took the three or so steps closer to him, taking her time before maneuvering a steady hand over the steering rod, taking his place. He didn't fight it. With her other hand she pulled him closer by the front of his tunic, and pushed him down just as steadily. He didn't fight it.

"You tell me," Natasha said, and her voice was pure silk, just loud enough to be heard over the faint purr of the engine and the few gusts of wind that filled their ears. Loki's adam's apple bobbed as his head tipped slightly to the side, eyes slitted even as their gazes maintained connected. Her hand shifted to gently caress the exposed skin of his throat. He shuddered beneath her.

"Do you feel powerful now?" She asked, voice thick. He didn't answer, breathing shallow before she allowed him to rise and take the controls once more. They were bare inches from one another, her chest heaving as though she'd run a marathon. It was as close as they'd ever been, especially now that they were mostly alone, without anything between them. Not for the first time she felt exposed under his gaze, as though he was seeing who she was and there was nowhere, no lie she could ever conjure up that would cover her up again. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

She reached up and tangled a hand in his hair, tugging him without hurry down until his lips pressed to hers, hair soft as she took a great handful of it and pulled gently. He moaned, yielding without question, and giving a quiet whine against the invasion of her tongue as she licked into his mouth, forcing his submission with little contest. She pressed her body against his, the heat between her legs evident against the chilly leather of his outfit. There, now he could see what he did to her, the passion bubbling far too close to the surface for her comfort. If the hardness of his body pressing into her abdomen was any indicator at least the feeling was mutual.

She pulled away only when she had to, cheeks flushed from a lack of oxygen.

"Good," she said with a smile. "Thank you-."

"Don't you dare," he said, though he smirked and stepped away from her to look at the horizon. His brow knitted together. "Wake the oaf up. We need a plan, and quick."

A/N: Thanks for reading!