Clint wasn't sure how long they'd slept- he felt more rested than yesterday and he had to peel his cheek away wetly from his pillow, so he knew he'd slept hard, but there were no windows in his room. It was perpetually dark. He groaned and rubbed his nose against Loki's back, fumbling behind him to find his phone and check the time, barely illuminating the area with the light. It was early, before dawn even, but they had gone to bed just as early too.

He dropped the phone back onto the nightstand and groaned again, starting to stretch and wake up, and he rubbed a hand up and down Loki's side before wrapping it around him. The god breathed deeply as he awoke with Clint's touch and turned under his arm, shifting close to press his face into Clint's neck. He tucked one leg in between Clint's and used his weight to push him onto his back, thigh pressed into the apex of Clint's legs and suddenly very awake, breathing in the archers scent. Clint was already getting hard, running his hands under the god's sleep shirt to feel the smooth skin. Loki had moved in for a kiss and Clint held him there, fingers in his hair holding him hard, as Loki pushed his own pants off and then moved for Clint's shorts.

With their bodies exposed, Loki laid himself on Clint and rocked against him, running their hardening lengths together in a dry drag of skin. He broke the kiss when Clint pulled him away by the hair, and he flushed hotly when two fingers were pressed against his lip, embarrassed and turned on at the same time to let them slip into his mouth and rest against his tongue. He knew his task and sucked around them gently, wetting them and giving Clint a tease with a flick of his tongue to the skin that connected them. When the digits retreated, Clint pulled Loki's mouth to his again and pressed his wet fingers over Loki's opening, circling before dipping in playfully. Loki almost whimpered, grabbing the teasing hand to push Clint's fingers deeper, and the archer took the hint, beginning to pump them into him while he nipped at Loki's jaw.

"Want it?" Clint panted. "I didn't bring the lube."

Loki didn't answer with words, panting as he slid down the archers body, bending over him and grabbing Clint's erection with a gentle, preparatory squeeze. He lowered his mouth to it and licked at the head before dropping his jaw and taking in its entirety, just keeping it from bumping the back of his throat. Clint lifted his head to watch his cock disappear into Loki's mouth, and the sight and sensation had him groaning, dropping his head back onto the pillow. Loki gave him one final suck, letting the length of his tongue slide off in one wet lick before setting up on his knees to put Clint's erection between his legs. Clint held onto the gods hips and guided him down with Loki holding the length up until it touched his entrance, and then sitting as it pushed into him. Clint's hips jerked up to meet him, making the god gasp at the sudden fullness and let his head fall back.

Clint sat up suddenly, wrapping his arms around the god and mouthing at his chest, soothing the bites he gave with laps of his tongue. Loki buried his fingers in Clint's hair and rode him slowly, breathing through his nose in attempts to get it under control, but it couldn't be helped when he sat down hard over the archer's cock. The movement seemed to spur Clint on as well, tipping Loki back and laying him on the bed, legs around his waist and head hanging over the edge. He began to slide into the god himself, holding him by the top of his hips and letting Loki grab onto his shoulders as he panted.

"Can we be heard from out there?" Loki asked breathlessly.

The question made Clint shiver, hips stuttering a little and humming in anticipation. "Let me hear it," he groaned in answer. "Like what I do to you, baby?"

Loki's eyes slid closed and he sighed. "Oh, yes..." He tightened his legs around him and moaned, "Mmm-more... Faster."

Even as Clint immediately obeyed, Loki was voicelessly whispering his command over and over until it petered out into nothing but moans, both his and Clint's pants mingling together. Loki's sounds turned Clint on more than he imagined, spurred on to push into him at a frenzied pace.

"Harder, Clint," the god whispered. Loki was lost in this, eyes closed and body loose but still working to hold himself around the archer; he got everything he wanted when he was with Clint, all he had to do was ask for it. He swept his hand up to his forehead, smoothing his hair back in an unconscious gesture as he moaned again when the motions became brutal, rocking his whole body with the force of Clint's thrusts. His mouth fell open to release shameless pants and moans as the archer pushed them out of him.

"Shit- you love this," Clint panted, starting to sweat with the pace. "Tell me, baby. Say how much you love it."

Loki sighed, completely pleased with his position, and almost too far gone to answer his lover. But not quite. He moaned and dragged his nails down Clint's shoulders and chest.

"I- I love it! I love it. Ohhh- please, more."

Clint was pounding into him, hard and fast enough that he could barely catch his breath, and Loki's words helped him no amount- feeling his length twitch with the demands.

"Want this cock? Fucking you blind, baby? Shit- you're so fucking hot..."

"Oh Clint. Please-"

"Want me to make you come-"

"Yes! Yes, yes-"

"Make you come on my cock- Fuck!" Clint was losing it, shoving erratically into the god and finding he just couldn't go hard enough. He loved every word out of Loki's mouth, blood draining into his length and making him dizzy, and he could tell his own cliched dirty talk was fueling Loki's ecstasy. Loki held onto Clint's waist, pulling the archer into him to help him along as his moans became flustered huffs. Their sounds became a litany of curses and pleas, no longer able to concentrate on talking coherently. His cock was swelling again, just minutely, and he growled as he pushed and pulled Loki over him.

"Fuck, I'm gonna come," he panted. "I'm gonna come! Ah, fuck-"

Clint pounded into the god until he felt a surge of heat from his balls to his cock and he groaned, slowing to push into him with slow and harsh force, making his orgasm last in long bursts. He never wanted to stop, he knew that much. He sincerely wished they could stay right there forever, on a constant orgasm until there was nothing left of them. But Loki had already told him to never say forever.

With the sound of Clint's climax, Loki's body was burning, and he wasn't sure if the room was getting warm or if he was simply too hot as he started to reach his peak. His thick length was bobbing against his belly, somehow cool to the touch and he loved the sensation. He held it hard in his hand and squeezed, letting Clint's thrusts move his hand for him, making sure to rub his thumb against the head. His other hand went to his hair again, pulling at the roots as his body tensed, pushed right to the edge of orgasm until the next thrust did him in. His breath caught in his throat when he felt the surge in his length and released it in a harsh cry as his seed pumped out of him, his entrance tightening around the archer. The hand around his shaft trembled as he squeezed and pulled, They slowed all movement to a stop, catching their heaving breaths and letting the sweat cool, spent and elated. Clint watched Loki gently pull on his softening flesh, reaching for the last vestiges of pleasure, and he wished he could get hard again just to watch Loki jerk himself off.

Loki's hand fell away to dip his fingers into the shoots of come on his belly, one pool slowly running up the center to his chest. Clint snorted at the sight, leaning down to lick at the drip as it reached Loki's rib cage.

He shuffled backwards, dragging Loki with him to pull his head back onto the bed, and he curled over him to push his fingers into the mess of black hair. He was welcomed by Loki's arms around him and a slow kiss. When he pulled away he only lay limply on the god, sighing tiredly. Loki skimmed his fingertips over a scar on Clint's back, sliding up to scratch into his short hair with a pleased and breathless hum.

"Will it be like this every morning?"

"God I hope so," Clint moaned into Loki's shoulder.

They lie there for another few minutes, enjoying the dark and calm of their private room and almost fell asleep again until Clint has to pee. They dress and go down the hall too the dormitory bathroom and wash up a little, mostly to wipe away the jizz on their fronts. They brushed their teeth side by side, Clint vigorously and Loki calm and slow. It was too early in the morning again for anyone else to be up and in the showers. At the sinks while Loki began combing his hair, Clint stared into the mirror, sometimes glancing at the god's reflection beside him. He furrowed his brows and drew Loki's gaze with his stillness. Loki waited for him to speak, seeing his concentration. Clint made his decision with a tap of finality against the edge of the sink.

"We're not coming back." He looked back at himself in the mirror with hard determination. "After all this shit is done, we'll just disappear."

"What has prompted your decision so suddenly?"

"Got a bad feeling... There's nothing for us to do here- we're just being pulled around by SHIELD and not getting shit out of it except the stuff we've stolen. I think-" Clint sighed, "I think I've gone as far as I can go here, and it's time to start something new. Something that I don't have to answer for."

Loki smiled into the mirror and nodded.

"I know we've already been planning on this and we're pretty much set. I guess I had to find the point at which I was just done with SHIELD. If we stay any longer after all this Prophet stuff, we'll just be strung along for something else and I'll feel obligated and we'll never leave. This way-"

"They are practically telling us to leave."

"Yeah."

Loki stowed his comb away in the small bag that held their toothbrushes and deodorant and toothpastes and he looked at Clint.

"Then the faster we begin this journey, the faster we can escape them."

In the parking garage, Loki strapped the saddlebags onto the back of the bike, wiggling them around to test how well they would hold in the movement of the bike, He adjusted them until he was satisfied and Clint chuckled at him. At the last minute, as they were about get on the bike, Clint turned on his heel and practically ran to the elevator, leaving Loki standing by the motorcycle, confused. He was gone for a few minutes, but when he returned, he carried his SHIELD issued bow and quiver with a smug look on his face. He raised the bow above his head as he came back to the bike.

"I want this."

Loki only chuckled and moved aside so Clint could figure out how he was going to stow it on the bike. Kneeling beside it, a tiny light flickered on the display and the machinery inside started to whir, little hooks sliding out of the side of the bike ready for the bow to be fitted in. Clint was skeptical about it but he set it into the hooks gently, hearing the insides of the bike whir again and retract the hooks to lock the bow firmly at its side.

"That Stark," he scoffed and got up, a smirk on his face.

Loki smiled and went to the other side where similar hooks waited for the quiver. He beckoned for it and Clint passed it over, letting the god hook up the arrows as well.

"I dare say you may have bedded Ironman were I not with you- he seems to know you quite well. Thinks of your needs."

Clint barked a hysterical laugh. "Bang Tony? Uh... Well, he makes work easier, but he's a fucking drama queen. It'd be a full on fight to see who took it in the ass every night!"

"Must you be on top every time?"

"Well, no." Clint shrugged and zipped up his jacket. "I just usually am."

"Do you seek out those who prefer the bottom?"

"No, they just end up happening to be those kind. Why, do you wanna switch it up?"

Loki put on his own coat and picked up his helmet. "I am merely trying to understand you sexual preferences," he said in a not-answer.

Clint noticed and squinted at the god curiously but he didn't comment on it, putting on his own helmet and climbing onto the bike. Loki settled on behind him, hands on the blond's hips. Clint kicked the bike to life and rumbled with the engine, feeling a sudden squeeze to his crotch. He looked down and saw Loki's hand retreating to settle on his hip again and he shook his head. It was going to be a long trip.

Clint drove them out of New York and through Philadelphia over the freeways, watching the sky slowly brighten with the sun rising behind them, the roads becoming clogged with the morning commuters. It was a long few hours, not quite boring or plain- the freeway was banked by large still-green trees though it was coming on to autumn, fields in every shade of pastel covered in dew. Buildings of course: they were driving through New York and Philly, Baltimore and Washington, there were structures and skyscrapers galore. Every couple hours they stopped at a convenience store to stretch and get drinks or snacks. Leaning against a wall with their leather jackets on, biking boots- one of them ate Ho-Hos with coffee, and the other ate a muffin and drank a bottled and flavored tea. They got a few strange looks.

As they went through the capital, Clint named off the monuments and they drove past the front yard of the White House. Loki had no interest in them and neither did Clint. He'd seen them all before anyway. But it was in Arlington that they stopped, Loki asking his partner what they were going to see and he was getting disturbed by Clint's silence. The archer led Loki down the white stone walkways and pillars of the National Cemetery, taking the first road leading away into its depths and thats when Loki saw the first sets of grave markers. He was confused but he stayed quiet, keeping at Clint's side. They came to a stop eventually and looked down the veritable valley of gravestones, all stark white and uniform, and Loki was almost frightened, though he kept his expression in check. Clint looked casual, hands in his coat pockets, rubbing his finger on the teeth of the motorcycle key as he looked out at the graves.

"Phil's in there," he said. "Dunno if his body is, but he's got his own headstone."

Loki was stunned that Clint would bring him here and say that- he knew Clint had no strong relationship with the late agent.

"You don't bury your dead, do you?"

The god shook his head, turning around to see the graves behind them, around them. "No, they're burned. The sheer amount of land it would take to bury all our histories dead is incomprehensible."

"There are over four-hundred thousand people buried here, and this is only one cemetery. There are thousands all over the country. All over the world."

"Why?"

Clint thought about it, shrugging. "I guess because humans want to be remembered, be mourned for. Everyone wants to leave their mark on the world, be a name in history... Sometimes a name on a slab of rock is how it happens. Most times."

They looked over the sea of white blocks from the road, other visitors, tourists, walking behind them, stopping near them to take pictures.

"Everyone who died in the invasion in here," Clint murmured. "If the families didn't want them buried somewhere else."

"I want to see him," Loki said suddenly and Clint took it in stride, leading him onto the grass of the burial grounds. He walked in a line between rows of headstones, looking straight ahead. Loki read the slabs as they went.

"There are so many 'unknown'," he mused aloud, neither to Clint nor even himself; he was in awe of the numbers. He nearly bumped into the archer when he abruptly stopped and he looked down at the bright white stone at their feet: Phillip J. Coulson, his birth and death date under it.

"You think Thor or Odin or whoever is watching? Maybe they'll think you're being repentant."

Loki was staring don at Coulson's headstone sadly, thinking about that day and trying not to imagine a body rotting underneath his feet. If there was a body under there at all.

"Is that why you brought me here?"

"No, just had this thought that..." Clint huffed and crossed his arms, "That you should see it is all. Was it a bad idea?"

Loki couldn't understand why, but he was becoming more saddened and melancholy the longer they stood there. He thought maybe it was because he was surrounded by dead names, reminded that he was not immortal- reminded that Clint was not either. He found that he almost couldn't get his words out, opening his mouth to take a deep breath and then clear his throat.

"No," he whispered. "But I can tell you I don't want to be here any longer."

Clint actually chuckled and smirked at him. "I get cha. Come on- got more ground to cover before the end of the day."

They wandered away from Phil's grave and Loki had to force himself not to look back at it. They were slow to leave the cemetery, feeling like walking too fast would be seen as running away. If the dead of the Manhattan attack could see them leaving hand in hand, Clint wondered what they would think of him- beginning a relationship with the one who either killed them himself or had a hand in it, and going so far as to forsake his duty to protect just to be with him. And then he though 'fuck them'- they had never known him or Loki and when he thought of Phil, he knew that the agent wouldn't have been surprised. He would have rolled his eyes and asked Clint not to do anything that would force him to write a report.

They drove on, out of Arlington and down the freeway again. Clint had first marked out the secondary roads on the map for them to go place to place, and then right before leaving had decided against it. It would take longer by the lesser roads and, while he wanted to do some sightseeing with Loki, he didn't want to take weeks about it.

They stopped in a small city in Virginia and checked around for places to eat; they'd eaten nothing but gas station snacks since dawn. Clint moaned about a restaurant that wouldn't be open until later that night and so they settled on something quick and easy- a burger joint called Spelunkers that apparently had famous frozen custard. Clint explained the meaning of the name of the place while they ate and admitted that he had no experience in cave diving or exploring. It ended up being a perfect choice of eatery as they had come into this particular town to see a set of caverns. There were actually quite a few stops for them along their trip for caverns Clint had marked out on their map, and he hoped it wouldn't end up too monotonous for the god.

In the caves of Virginia, Loki tread lightly, almost reverently, and he inspected as many columns and formations as he could; searching for some hidden secret it seemed. Clint let him explore to his hearts content, happy to see his lover's enthusiasm, and he followed behind him through it all. The bright man-made lights built into the cave walls illuminated every detail, making the pools of water reflect the ceiling in a perfect mirror image. From where they stood, Loki commented that he actually couldn't tell where the water ended and the actual formations began. It was a trick of the light; a trick of the eyes, and Loki loved it. He squatted at the edge of the water and touched his fingers to the surface, watching the ripples extend out until the water was still again. And then Clint tossed a rock into its depths, making a splash and distorting the stalactite reflections into jagged spikes. The splash echoed throughout the cavern and somehow it made Loki laugh though he didn't know why. There was no reason as to why; they could do as they pleased whenever they felt the urge.

When they drove on, passing fields and near mountain ranges, they began to see giant satellite dishes, valleys of them, and Loki had them pull over to see them. Clint told him they were deep space satellites, taking pictures of the universe one inch at a time. The dishes were slightly menacing to Loki's eyes- such large and still man-made structures sitting silently in the lap of nature. Clint brought up on his phone pictures of what the satellites saw, showing them to the god. Loki took the phone from him, looked at a picture, and then promptly looked up into the sky, and he was reminded that there on Earth, the stars couldn't bee seen during the day. He looked at the picture again and wondered aloud if that was what Heimdall could see, and he couldn't fathom how the gatekeeper would be able to focus enough to see such insignificant beings like themselves. It was another moment for Clint to be reminded that they weren't alone in the universe, and even his lover wasn't human, no matter how closely he resembled one. Loki had known his entire life about other sentient beings, he just hadn't imagined that they could be as monstrous as he'd experienced. The two contemplated their existences there on the side of the road, staring at the satellites in the grass while cars whizzed past.

Quietly, Loki sighed, adjusting the helmet under his arm. "You know I'm truly not Odin's son, yes?"

"Yeah. Thor said you're adopted?"

"Something like that. I'm not even one of his species... It pains me to think about it. When I discovered it, my sense of reality was thrown into disarray. I felt like I couldn't trust anything I'd once thought was truth. And no one could fix it. No one could fix me. I had become an animal- relying on instinct, and my base instincts have always been destructive to some degree."

"So?"

Loki glared at the archer and Clint tried to hold in his snickering.

"What, are you trying to scare me? You think I care that you're not... whatever the hell Thor is? That you're another weird-ass alien not like them, not like the Chitauri- you're something else?" Clint scoffed. "Gonna have to try harder than that, babe: I've gone head to head with a gaze of raccoons."

Loki didn't bother questioning Clint as to how he knew the term for a group of specific animal. "Do you want me to scare you?" he asked defensively.

Clint was arrogant and challenging, and he very nearly laughed in Loki's face. He had no idea why this conversation was egging him on for this, but it just was.

"Give me your best shot!"

Loki glowered at him and held his breath, tensing his body slowly muscle by muscle with Clint waiting cockily. He strained himself, face starting to turn red, and then all the fight left him, exhaling hard and releasing the blood that had gathered in his face. Clint really did laugh that time, bending over to hold his knees as he laughed it out. Loki fumed as he looked down on him.

"Oh-ho-ho my god. You forgot you don't have magic!" he wheezed.

Loki's nostrils flared and he whipped around so he didn't have to look at his lover. "Oh- eat dirt, you child!"

The archer straightened up and went to him, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face to the back of the leather jacket. "Okay, I'm sorry," he pleaded, winded from all his laughing. "I didn't mean to laugh at you, I just can't believe you forgot."

Loki sighed and let his helmet fall just to catch it by the end and let it dangle in his fingers. "I can't believe it either. I'm... becoming human. It's disgusting."

"Damn, babe: hurtful."

"I'm disgusted with myself," he clarified harshly. "How human I've become in knowledge and being... I could pass as any human in the street with everything I've learned, and Thor couldn't even pass if he were wearing your own clothes, the hulking, golden son of Odin!" Loki clenched a fist and his whole body shook in rage. "I used to be a GOD!"

Clint rubbed his hands down Loki's leather protected sides, letting him steam and stew after his outburst. He huffed a breath and blew at a lock of black hair that escaped the back of Loki's jacket.

"You're having an identity crisis- again. In all honesty, you're whoever you want to be. You're still an alien-god-thing to me, it's just that your magic is gone for a bit."

Loki sighed as he gazed up at the sky helplessly. "I will get my magic back," he whispered.

"I know."

Loki turned to face his lover who looked up at him expectantly.

"You okay now?"

"For the moment."

"Okay," Clint chuckled. "Let's get going. There's a big stretch where we're not gonna stop." Clint mounted the motorcycle and reached out for Loki when he didn't follow. The god grabbed the offered hand and sighed again until Clint grabbed the front of his coat and pulled him down for a kiss. Loki pulled away with a smile and Clint snorted at him.

"Get on, Lo."

He put his helmet on and waited for Loki to get settled behind him before starting away again down the long road. They rode for five hours along the freeway with no major city in sight- all small towns, fields and orchards. They passed a few national parks but they didn't stop, just as Clint said they wouldn't, but Loki was able to see the trees just fine. When the sun finally set, they pulled off into the outskirts of a small town in Tennessee and took up a room at a hotel right off the freeway. The receptionist was pleasant and only raised her brows when Clint told her they would need only one bed. She made no fuss and Clint was grateful. He thought her only surprised look was seeing them come through the entryway with saddlebags and duffel over Loki's shoulder, and the bow and arrows Clint carried.

In the room, they dropped everything and showered, washing away the dirt of the road and then getting distracted by each other's skin, running through the hotel's hot water. Clint kept Loki pinned against the shower wall, fingers buried inside him and his other hand wrapped around their cocks. Afterwards, sated and clean, they dried off and Loki dressed in his silky pajamas. Clint lounged on the end of the bed naked but for the towel wrapped around his shoulders. He found the remote to the television and flipped it on, staring at the mindless, grainy shows for a moment before making a sound of disgust and turning it off again, falling back on the bed. Loki chuckled at him from the bathroom, setting his comb on the vanity.

"Movies are better, aren't they?" he asked and Clint agreed.

Loki climbed up on the bed and leaned back, setting the balls of his feet on Clint's forehead. He sighed and gazed down at the top of Clint's head as the archer glanced up at the toes in his line of sight.

"I think I'm gonna eat your toes," he decided calmly, to which the god replied:

"You had better not."

Clint hummed and stayed still, holding back the chuckle that was trying to burst out of him. He flashed his hands to one of Loki's feet, and Loki was almost able to pull them away in time, but one was caught in Clint's grip and pulled to his mouth where he made a big show of chewing on his toes. Loki yelped and kicked at him with his other foot, trying to twist away and also trying not to laugh. He knew he lost the battle when Clint nibbled up his calf to the back of his knee, shoving up the pant leg to pull at the skin with his teeth. Loki howled and tugged at Clint's hair, using his free foot to choke him.

Clint was rumbling with chuckles as he bit up the god, struggling to stay on the wriggling leg. He ended up losing his grip, laughing too hard under the pressure on his throat and becoming dizzy. It gave Loki the upper hand, getting Clint onto his back, pinned down under Loki's hands and knees.

"I told you not," he wheezed, letting Clint catch his breath.

"Don't make 'em look so good then."

Loki chuckled breathily and smiled when Clint started to yawn, turning his head away to not breathe in Loki's face.

"Sorry. Long drive."

"I know. Let's sleep."

The god let off of him and flipped off the lights, snuggling under the covers beside Clint and sighing contently. Clint turned on his side, nearly chest to chest with him, and pulled his face close for a kiss before touching their foreheads and letting them rest. Loki watched him, Clint's blond hair lightly outlined in the light through the hotel room curtains, until he closed his eyes and settled even closer, touching their noses to breathe the same air. Clint huffed and cupped the back of Loki's head, tangling his fingers in the damp locks and finally sleeping.