A/N: This is it guys. The final chapter.

GASPING FOR AIR

By spockslovechild

…...

Chapter Eight – BOUND

She could never be certain of what kept her awake that night, but something was rummaging in her mind and no matter every which way she turned, every position she adjusted to, she could never settle down long enough to shut her eyes for more than a few minutes. Natasha relented to finding that one spot on her ceiling and fixating on it; the rest would take over. Her head rolled to her left. The bright red numbers on the alarm clock read three am, two hours after giving herself to her bed. Fuck.

Natasha sat up and threw off her covers. She dragged her hands down the front of her face, rolling sighs over the roof of her mouth. She swung her naked legs over the edge of the bed and slipped her bare feet into a pair of pink slipper crocks then reached out to her black robe and tossed it over her shoulders. The Russian spy left her room and took a right down the hall.

The helicarrier was dark and empty. Everyone else was either sleeping or at least two quiet to be heard. Natasha enjoyed the silence. She reached the end of the hallway and stopped outside Clint's bedroom. She put her hand to the knob then gave it a twist and pushed the door open.

When she looked inside, Clint was sound asleep on his back; one arm draped over his stomach and the other trailing down over the side of the bed. A tall glass of half-drunken water and a small bottle of sleeping pills on his night stand. It had been the only thing to get him to bed. Many sleepless nights had plagued him for days now. It was the least she could do. Natasha touched two fingers to her lips, followed by a deep sigh. Better to leave him sleeping. So she backed away from the room and pulled the door closed.

There were two ways she could go; back down the hallway to where she came from, or around the corner, either left or right, down another corridor. And considering she wasn't getting sleep any time soon, Natasha rounded the right corner. She had no destination in mind. She didn't even know where she was going until she found herself standing outside a security locked door, only accessible to those with SHIELD clearance. Natasha had such clearance. She typed in the access code and held her breath as the code was accepted and the door hissed open.

If she was angry, she'd hit the gym. If she was sad, she'd hit the fridge. But where would she go if she had bouts of insomnia?

She stood silent in the doorway whilst looking to the opposite end of the room. What the hell am I doing here? She asked herself. There was no legitimate reason or purpose for being there. This was crazy. She should have just gone straight back to her room and forced herself to get some sleep. At least in her bed she'd be safe.

Here, she was vulnerable.

Natasha studied him from her spot at the doorway then approached him with caution. The closer she got, the more apprehensive she became. Until she was towering above him and her eyes were on his body. He appeared to be sleeping. His thin chest rising and falling evenly. From this angle, he didn't come across as dangerous. But looks are always deceiving.

She reached out to touch him, but recoiled and put her hands to her hips. "I know you're not really sleeping," she said bluntly.

"Very observant." No, he wasn't sleeping. He heard her come in and just pretended to be asleep. Just like her, he didn't sleep much either. His eyelids shot open then he pulled his body upright and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this midnight visit?"

Shit, she cursed mentally. "I just wanted to be sure you were… comfortable." This was Fury's idea, until Thor could get him back to Asgard where he'd be put on trial for his crimes.

"Liar."

"I…" she swallowed a tiny lump in her throat, feeling uncomfortable about being in here, or so close to him that she could reach out and touch him. "I'm not here for a chat…"

"Are you sure about that?"

"W-What?"

Loki reached out for her hand. "You came here for a reason- " He smirked when she recoiled from his touch. " –and I suspect it wasn't to make sure I was 'comfortable'. Perhaps, you couldn't get enough of me in the Recovery Room?"

Her brows narrowed. "You're diluted if you think for one second I enjoyed you touching me."

"Oh but you did." Loki rose to his feet. "As I recall, you didn't even try to pull away." He saw she was opening her mouth to protest against him, when he raised two fingers to press against her lips. He could feel her breath falling against his fingers. Smirking, he dropped them from her lips to her robe. Loki wiggled his hand between the robe and her bare skin then pushed the robe off her left shoulder.

Damn you, Loki.

"No." Natasha lifted her hands to his chest, surprised to feel his breathing raged and labored. She gave him a push away from her, and then his hand angrily flew to her throat. He pushed her back against the wall, eliciting a groan from her throat.

"Admit you like it. You like me touching you." He could feel her pulse quicken under his fingers. He leaned in close to the side of her face and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. His breathing had become so erotic to her that Natasha had to close her eyes and force herself to think of other things.

Oh, fuck. Whatever this was he was doing to her was evoking feelings buried inside she didn't even realize. Her stomach churned in knots. Her mind reminded her of the kiss in the Recovery Room, and how her body had responded to it. She felt wet. And hungry, for him. But, no. She was an agent of SHIELD and wouldn't allow herself to be taken by such a monster.

"Get your fucking hands off me." The muscles in her throat vibrated under Loki's hand.

He slipped her ear from his mouth to whisper to her, "Make me." He pressed his lips to her throat and started seductively kissing her flesh.

Natasha's eyes started rolling back. She pressed her palms against the wall and fought to keep her breathing controlled. Everything in her body betrayed what she presumed she felt about him before; disgust, loathing, hatred. But what he was doing to her now, what she was letting him do, was unnatural. His hips pressed hard against her, his groin aching under the confines of his trousers.

She worked her hands between their bodies and pushed him away from her. Natasha readied a hand to slap him, but wrapped it around the back of his head, entwining his fingers in his hair, and drew him closer until their mouths were possessing each others.

Loki wormed his hands to her shoulders and lifted the robe from her body then pushed it down her arms. She found her hands lifting to cup his face as her mouth pressed harder against his lips, extracting a moan from his throat. He grabbed her leg and pulled it against his left hip. As she broke from his kiss, Natasha worked her hands under his light tee and pushed it up his chest. She was surprised to see how lean and built he was. Loki raised his arms above his head as the bothersome fabric was removed from his body and discarded to the floor. The trickster curled his fingers in her long shirt and pulled it over her torso. He tossed it to the floor then dipped his head to her chest where his lips peppered her skin between the swell of her breasts.

Natasha reached behind her for the bra clasp then let the thin straps slip down her arms. The trickster groaned as his lips fell to her right breast and let it fall into his mouth. Natasha's hand pushed between her body and Loki's, and reached for his trousers. She tugged the zipper down then worked her hands under the Asgardian clothing until her palms flirted with his naked hips. Loki looped one finger in her panties and ripped them down her legs. She pushed his undershorts past his hips and he wiggled his legs until the cumbersome fabric slipped down them. Loki stepped out of his trousers and undershorts then ran his hands over Natasha's backside. In a single move, he lifted her off her feet and pushed himself between her legs then thrusted himself inside her.

She gasped, and then drew his lips back to her own. He pounded into her, softly at first but then harder and harder still until she was biting her bottom lip to suppress screaming his name. Loki turned her away from the wall and walked her back to his bed. He dropped her down to the bed and immediately followed suit, as to not pull himself out of her. Natasha grabbed the sheets beneath her and bunched them in her palms, arching her back and moaning like a cat in the throes of heat.

When he eventually brought her to orgasm, she lifted her hips up to his until his entire body shuttered with his own. Loki's body continued to tremble even after he was completely empty. Natasha drew his head down her chest and curled her fingers in his hair. Her own chest rattled with heat. Loki cupped his hands under her shoulder blades and held himself to her, his body thick and sticky with a thin sheet of sweat, and her heartbeat thrumming inside his head.

What the hell did I do?

…...

They gathered together in Central Park to see them off. They all arrived in separate vehicles, along some had elected to travel together. Tony Stark pulled up in a fully restored black convertible 1991 Honda Acura NSX with Bruce Banner in the passenger seat and Eric Selvig in the back, Clint Barton in a dark red 2012 Acura TL Advance Package with Natasha seated next to him in a pair of black jeans, a tight red spaghetti strap and a long sleeved deep yellow jacket. Her hand in his, fingers entwined between themselves. He looked over to her and smiled, then lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.

Steve Rogers was the only one who came alone. Pulling up on the back of a modified black 1940 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The God of Thunder arrived in his usual style; using his hammer to fly. He planted his feet down on the bridge and released the arm he had wrapped around his brother's waist.

Everyone parked and bailed out. In Tony's right hand was a silver briefcase, the very same one that held the Tesseract. Eric popped the trunk and grabbed what looked like a hollow glass tube with two handles on either side of it. He walked across the bridge to join Tony and the others, where Bruce grabbed a large pair of tongs and used it to grab the small cube. Eric opened the glass container allowing Bruce to put the cube inside. Thor's eyes flickered to where his brother stood; bound and chained.

Natasha stood next to Clint, still hand in hand with him. She locked eyes with Loki, who stared right back at her. A shiver erupted down her spine as she remembered the kinds of things he did to her the night before. How he touched her and kissed her in the most intimate of places. The thought forced her to squeeze Clint's hand a little harder. Then she drew herself in close and whispered something inaudible in his ear. Whatever it was caused a playful smirk on his lips. Clint turned his eyes to her and leaned his mouth down to her lips. The trickster rolled his eyes at the site, since he could do very little else.

As the lid to the container rolled closed, Thor reached out for one of the handles as Eric and Tony backed away from him. The demi-god turned to face his brother; the container resting across his wrist, his hammer gripped tightly in the opposite hand, and silently prompted the younger demi-god to grab the other handle. Loki hesitated then muttered something beneath the metal gag over his mouth. His brother's eyes were prompting him. The trickster sighed and reached for the handle. Thor looked past his brother's head, and gave a quiet nod to the others, then a simple twist of the handle and he and Loki were gone.

…...

Natasha's eyes snapped open and her body shot upright, her throat gasping and clawing at the warmth radiating in his body. She dragged a pair of hands down the front of her face, and then realized one felt warmer and slicker than the other. Her stomach flip-flopped. Natasha threw off the covers from her body and jumped to her feet then bolted for her bathroom. Slamming the door behind her, she pressed her body against it. She looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink, and her eyes immediately located the wet spot in her panties. Oh god. Natasha buried her face in her hands, having this overwhelming feeling of embarrassment.

But as it faded, she exited the bathroom and fled to her dresser to change. She discarded the panties she wore into a metal trash bin then pulled on a fresh pair. Only afterward did she have this feeling of dread wash over her. Natasha slipped her feet into a pair of back crocks then rushed out the door. She barreled down the hallway, passing Steve's bedroom on the left and Clint's on the right, and then rounded the corner to another corridor. Her running came to a slow walk as she closed in on the security sealed door.

Natasha used her SHIELD agent security clearance to open the door. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest. When the door opened, she expected to see Loki sound asleep at the other end of the room. Like it was in her dream. He should be sleeping with his thin chest rising. She expected him to rise up and tell her he knew she was there.

But the bed was empty, and he was nowhere in the room to be seen.

"Mother fu-"

THE END

A/N: Thank you everyone for sticking with me through this whole story. I enjoyed every part of it. I especially enjoyed writing this chapter. I took pride in it. As always, read and review.

Until next time. CIAO!