GASPING FOR AIR

By spockslovechild

…...

Chapter Six – BERATED

She was an expert in covert and espionage, seduction techniques and martial arts. She was an effective strategist, tactician and field commander. Natasha could hack into most computer systems without tripping an alarm or even batting an eyelash. But it had taken her over an hour to track down one man on a helicarrier. He was in his nest as usual, working on grafting his tricks arrows to make them better. He didn't even know she was there until the wallet-sized photo was in front of him. And even then, he didn't stop right away, only glanced over what he was doing to notice it was there. He leaned forward to pick it up, and then looked over his left shoulder to see the woman standing behind him.

Natasha's hands were on her hips, but in no way did she look mad or disappointed. She looked confused. And that confusion was made all the more real by the notion it was Loki who gave that picture to her and not Clint. The fact the Hawk kept it in his pocket for so long didn't faze her as much as she thought it would. It was just a bit strange and discouraging. Despite the closeness she shared with her teammate and colleague, they had never moved past anything other than friendship and trust.

But this; this changed everything.

"That was in Loki's pocket," she quipped without missing a beat, or waiting for a question she knew was on Clint's mind. But she saw how his expression betrayed him when she mentioned where she got it, and was all set with a second answer before the question reached the assassin's lips. "Read the date, Clint. On the back."

Clint flipped it over. "This was taken over a year ago."

"Exactly." She grabbed the trick arrow out of his hand, which drew his attention to her face, so he could see her changing expression. "You've had this for over a year. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Tasha, I – " He meant to answer her question with something of an explanation, but that thought was pushed aside by another. One that revolved around the means in which Natasha acquired the photo. It was in his pocket for the longest time but he never once gave it to Loki, or even gave him the indication he had it. Even under the trickster's control. It bugged Clint enough to forgo giving Natasha an answer. " – Wait, why was this in Loki's pocket?"

"Does it matter?" Her arms crossed over the swell of her breasts.

"Well, yes, it does." For now, Clint had abandoned the project he was working on. He wouldn't have been able to concentrate with this thought pounding his brain; and he already had enough of Loki swimming around in there to make him sick to his stomach. It churned even now. "How did Loki get it if this was with me?"

"The whole time?" She pressed, knowing there was no way he could have been in control of what he did and did not have on him when he was being controlled.

Clint bit his bottom lip, and then pulled his upper jaw back. "Tasha, what did Loki tell you?"

"He… " She had to stop for a moment and consider her words. Conversations with Loki normally didn't last any longer than a few minutes to half an hour. "He said some things… about you." As Natasha uncurled her arms from her chest and sat down next to him, she kicked her legs over the side of the railing.

Intriguing.

"Really? What about?" This had pulled at Clint's mind enough to make him more than mildly interested, but also wary since it involved Loki and god help him should he hurt Natasha.

She sighed. "Well, he – " She thought about her talk with Loki; about how Clint was supposedly in love with her and she didn't see that. Natasha closed her eyes, but all she could see was the trickster god sitting on the cold floor twirling her knife in his most dominant hand. That wasn't all she saw. The next time she opened her eyes and looked at Clint, she saw Loki. For half a second, she considered the possibility that Loki was still possessing Clint's mind before dismissing that notion. Her lips tingled with the kiss he should never have given her. And her heart was beating hard, hoping said kiss would not become a scar. "Never mind."

Natasha moved to get to her feet, but Clint had reached out to grab her hand and effectively stop her from rising and leaving him there. "Don't you dare leave." He pulled himself to his feet but had yet to release the grip on her hand. "You can't just come in here, throwing stuff at me, telling me Loki said shit to you and expect me to ignore it because you changed your mind."

She shot a look over her shoulder, one that changed drastically. "Let me go, Clint."

"No." If possible, his grip tightened. "Don't just blow me off, Tasha. I won't let you do that. What the fuck did Loki tell you?" He watched her expression change but never once took his eyes off of her. It wasn't until he looked into her eyes and caught something there that his stance changed. "Tasha – " His tone lowered and the grip he held on her hand lessened. "…what did Loki do to you?"

"Clint, don't. He – " Natasha closed her eyes, and he could see the tiniest of tears escaping. This surprised him. She never cried before, and it got him thinking that he almost didn't want to know what happened.

"Nat… " He gave her hand a squeeze, but it was gentler than before. Clint stepped closer to her and brushed the tears away from her skin knowing how much she hated to show weakness.

Drawing in a heavy breath, Natasha opened her eyes and looked into his, which had softened considerably. She wanted to tell him exactly everything Loki told her but instead, she said something she knew would affect the course of everything.

"He kissed me."

…...

Clint was in a rage and barreling down the hallway before she could stop him.

…...

Loki was just coming from the bathroom, having finished relieving himself, when the door slammed opened and Agent Clint Barton stormed in; madder than ever, his hands balled into fist.

The demi-god smirked. "Why, Agent Barton… to what do I owe this amusing displease- "

Clint's right fist connected with Loki's jaw, forcing the trickster back a few steps. The trickster didn't have the luxury of recover before another fist was smacking into the bridge of his nose.

"Ow!" Clint went in for a third punch, but the demi-god had caught his fist in the palm of his left hand. Loki glared at him. He pushed the fist backwards to make the archer stumble in the same direction. "Would you mind explaining what your malfunction is?"

"You!" The archer harshly jabbed a finger in Loki's face.

He shook his head. "It's considered impolite to point at someone, Agent Barton."

Gritting his teeth together, Clint charged Loki and had him pinned to the wall with one muscular arm over the trickster's throat. His brows knitted close together. He pressed him close enough for Loki to feel Clint's heavy breathing against his face, and for Clint to feel Loki's pulse throbbing against his arm. Neither one seemed to give a shit.

"You're a fucking animal."

"Well technically, I'm a mammal but yes, you are correct."

Clint slammed him harder into the wall. "You may have been able to play your tricks with me, Loki, but not her. You stay the FUCK away from Natasha. You hear me?"

"I'm sorry." Oh, he was having too much fun with this. "Could you repeat that?" But as Clint's arm pressed further against his windpipe, the trickster found himself struggling to breathe.

The archer pulled a balled fist back and was about to round Loki in the jaw when he felt two sets of arms tugging him back. Clint didn't care to see who it was; he was just angry enough that it didn't matter. He fought against whoever it was trying to hold him away.

"Agent Barton!" Came the voice of Steve Rogers, who tugged on Clint's right side. "That's enough!

As he was pulled away, the pressure on Loki's throat lessened greatly and the demi-god started coughing up hard, and trying to regulate his regular breathing pattern.

Despite the archer fighting against his captors, Steve and Tony had managed to gain the upper hand. While Tony may not have been a physical math for Clint, he was definitely smarter. Steve was able to gain physical power over the younger Avenger with very little issue.

When Clint looked back over his shoulders, he saw not just Steve and Tony standing there retraining him but also Natasha, who stood side-by-side next to Thor and Bruce.

"I didn't realize this was a fucking party," he sneered. He violently tugged his arms out of their grubby hands.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Tony smirked. "Making Loki a punching bag. Literally."

"Shut it, Stark," Steve shot the loud mouth a glare, and then returned his attention to Clint. The archer's chest was quickly rising in tune with his rapid breathing. "Explain yourself, Barton."

Clint stared angrily at him. "This bastard over here – " he started explaining, jutting a finger in Loki's direction, and completely ignoring what the demi-god said to him before. " – has been playing Natasha."

"Well that is just not true," Loki quipped, but received a quick back hand by Clint for his comment.

"Agent Barton!" Steve grabbed for Clint's arm again but the archer had yanked it away before Stars and Stripes could get ahold of him.

Clint glanced over Steve's shoulder to where Natasha stood silent with Thor and Bruce. Seriously, why did she have to bring everyone? Or did they just come to see what sort of carnage could take place and takes bets on who would last the longest? Raising a finger over Captain America's shoulder, he pointed at her. "He kissed her."

Everyone stopped to look at Natasha.

"Clint…" The Black Widow lowered her gaze to the floor, either to avoid the embarrassment or to avoid his eye contact and the other judgmental looks directed at her.

Loki smirked. "Jealous, Agent Barton?"

Something inside Clint just snapped, and he didn't care who was holding him back. "Fuck it."

The archer disregarded anyone else in the room as he snatched a knife from his utility belt and spun around to bring the blade down into Loki's chest.

A/N: Muahahaha! Another cliffhanger! Y'all will just have to wait to see what happens in the next chapter. I'm not quite sure how long I plan to make this story, but probably only a few more chapters. Sorry kiddies but maybe if you're nice to me, I'll write a sequel once I'm finished with this one.