A/N: Again, Marvel owns The Avengers, etc., the story's mine :P

"Only you." His words echoed in her thoughts as she attempted to get some rest. Every time she heard his voice, she reminded herself that he spoke of nothing but lies. Still, her mind kept thinking back to their conversation. Supposedly, he saw potential in her- and what about Clint? She needed answers. Now. Right now before the gnawing obsession to know would drive her mad. She slipped on a pair of jeans and her leather boots before throwing on a tan jacket over her black top as she left her room. She was going back to the enemy territory and she wasn't prepared to leave until he gave her answers.

Long fingers leafed through colourful pages of sports cars and scantily clad women. Any normal man would have found this subject matter appealing, but Loki found no interest whatsoever in the culture of these people. Machines, women… Where was the need for power, for a chance at glory? He tossed the magazine off to the side, along with several others Fury brought to humour him with. The unexpected sound of footsteps took him by surprise at this hour. More watchdogs. Was it all necessary? He raised a brow and stood up as his guest appeared. "This is quite the surprise, Agent Romanoff."

She seated herself in the chair nearest to the enclosure's entrance. "What did you say to Agent Barton to persuade him to come with you?" she demanded.

"Interrogations at this hour?"

"Cut the act!" she snapped.

He sat down on his bench and stared in her direction. "It wasn't so much as my words, rather, the Tesseract."

"And what did the Tesseract tell him?"

"It showed him things far greater than you could ever imagine. Knowledge, power… You should allow it to show you desires far beyond you."

"I'm not like you," she stated. "Neither is Agent Barton. We don't need power."

"What about memories?" he asked her.

A silence fell upon them as she registered what he had just asked.

"Memories of a past that was taken. Memories that rightfully belong to you. Do you not seek the truth of your past, Ms. Romanoff?"

Her nails dug into her palm as she formed a fist. How did he know all of this? No one should have known. "This Tesseract," she began after a pause, "it told you this- it gave you this knowledge?" she guessed.

"No." He shut his eyes as he shook his head.

"Then what?" she hissed. Clearly, a straight answer from him was proving to be difficult.

Slowly, he lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. "My Mother and Father," he said, green eyes filled with emptiness. "Laufey. Not Odin," he quietly continued as he rubbed his hands together.

Clearly, she was a sucker for his pity act… but he seemed so genuinely sad-lost, even. Thor had said Loki was misguided and she could see it now so clearly. "The other day when you were sleeping- were you dreaming about him?" she prodded.

He lowered his eyes and folded his hands together. "I dreamt Odin banished me. It wasn't so much of a dream as my own past…"

Right then, Natasha felt that she had grasped hold of the real Loki. Perhaps they wouldn't have to be enemies, so long as she could turn him around. "You don't have to go on."

He stared at her with a faint smile. "I recall bringing up your past in our previous discussion. Think of this as compensation."

She nodded in agreement and turned her head to pretend to examine a set of monitors lined up against a wall.

"I fail to comprehend how any of you can understand those," he noted.

"Hmm?" She turned to face him. "No technology back home? Must be difficult."

"Ignorance is bliss, is it not?"

She smiled and laughed weakly. "What is your home like?"

He began to chuckle. "Curious? Well…" He decided to indulge her with stories of Asgard and he even let slip a story of he and Thor as children.

Natasha listened, fully engaged in his vivid descriptions. She even found herself laughing at his story where he and Thor brought home a wild beast as a potential pet. She wasn't sure how long he had talked for. It was only when she felt her eyelids grow heavy that Loki stopped.

"Perhaps tomorrow we can continue if you enjoy this so much," he offered.

Her eyes flickered open and she checked her phone, only to realize that they had been talking for over two hours. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do." She got up and proceeded to leave.

"Pleasant dreams, Ms. Romanoff," he told her with a smile.

"Same to you. Loki." She smiled tiredly and walked towards her room. Not only did she just have a two hour conversation with the enemy, but she believed that she successfully managed to reach out to him. He needed someone. Someone to trust. Someone who would care. All he had was Thor, but Thor didn't trust him. No one did…