Natasha followed him out of the hotel and her eyes widened at the sight of Clint standing outside, waiting. "Clint!" She found herself practically running over to the bowman. "Where have you been?"
His expression was unreadable, especially since his eyes were concealed by a pair of sunglasses.
"Clint?" She reached out to touch his face, but Loki's hand on her shoulder pulled her away.
"Make sure Selvig is positioned at the Tesseract," he informed him. "Tell him to unleash the power."
Barton nodded and without a word, he ran off in the direction of Stark tower.
"He's not the same," she said quietly, sadness in her voice.
"His mind is in a much better place," Loki informed her.
"I'm still the same person I was- why is Barton so different?" she demanded.
"As I said, the Tesseract opened up his mind."
Before she could say another word, a dark cloud loomed overhead, followed by thunder and a smashing sound against the pavement sounded behind them.
Loki's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists. He looked ahead to see Thor, accompanied with the two other costumed men.
Natasha noticed the disgusted look on his face and whirled around.
"Thor was the first to make an advancement towards Loki. "Surely, you have gone mad, Brother!" he shouted.
"You're going to cause a scene," smirked Loki.
"You aren't hurt, are you, ma'am?" Steve called out to Natasha.
She shook her head. "What happened after I left? Banner-"
"He's calmed down after a nap," Tony assured her. "Our main concern right now is you. How is he controlling you without his magic wand?"
Loki shook his head and laughed. "Oh, there's been no magic used," he assured Stark.
"You seem to have her under your control," Tony remarked.
"I am not!" she snapped at him.
Thor threw his Mjolnar at Loki, hitting him in the chest and pinning him to the ground.
"Well, that's one way to do it," Tony shrugged from within the Iron Man suit.
Loki, now rendered useless, tried to effortlessly shove Mjolnar off of him.
"Right where we want you." Iron Man approached Loki and hovered over him.
"Listen to me, Stark!" Natasha yelled at him. "This Tesseract-it showed me there's good in him. If you'll give him the chance-"
"Where is it?" he asked her.
"Stark Tower."
"You know where to go. Big guy!" he indicated at Thor. "Grab him. We're going." He grabbed Natasha by an iron arm.
"Let go of me!" she yelled, hitting her fists against the suit.
"We're taking a short cut. Don't scratch the paint job," he added. With that, he took off into the air with Thor, who had Loki thrown over his broad shoulder.
They soon landed atop Stark tower. Once there, Thor threw Loki against the ground, held in place with his hammer.
Iron Man set Natasha aside and went to take off his Iron Man suit.
Professor Selvig and Hawkeye both turned their attention from tinkering with the Tesseract, to Loki.
"Someone tell me what all of this is," Tony began as he sauntered over, his eyes glued to the towering machine which held the Tesseract. "You," he continued, staring at Loki. "Any comment?"
"We're all gathered for the big show, it would seem," chuckled Loki. He shot Selvig a knowing stare.
Selvig nodded and activated a lever, activating the contraption holding the Tesseract. The machine whirred to life and the Tesseract emanated its blue glow.
"Shit!" growled Tony. "Hammer that!" he shouted at Thor.
Loki found this all too enjoyable and chuckled loudly, especially after Thor grabbed his hammer to throw at the Tesseract, only to have a force field reject it. "Try stopping me now!"
Thor grabbed him by the collar. "Loki!" he growled.
A blue flash of light shot upwards into the sky and opened up a hole in the sky.
Tony ran back up a platform and was instantly suited up, ready for battle.
From the sky, armoured creatures began flying out by the dozens.
"Marvelous, isn't it?" mused Loki. He shoved Thor off of him and went to Natasha's side. "What say we make this world ours?"
"What are those?" she asked him, staring up into the sky.
"The Chitauri," he explained. In his peripheral vision, he noticed Thor staring dumbly at the sky. "They're here to help me."
"You don't have to be this way." She stared into his eyes and placed a hand on his arm. "You're better than this, Loki."
"If you'd rather not join me, then we must be enemies, Ms. Romanoff."
"What's wrong with being the good guy? I know how you feel, Loki-you're in pain, you're hurt!" She tightened her grip on his arm. "Stay with me. Fight this loneliness, Loki. I'm here." She wrapped her arms around him and held him against her. "I love you. Before, I saw us together-the good guys—"
"I'll tell you a piece of truth, Ms. Romanoff," he whispered into her ear. "That Tesseract I showed you was a fake. I conjured up those visions you saw."
Natasha looked up and suddenly shoved him away. "What?"
"You have so much to offer. What better way to convince you to join me?"
Her gaze hardened as she glared at him.
Loki outstretched his hand and Barton handed him an exact replica of the Tesseract. "This is what you saw. Everything you saw was a lie. I've made a fool of you, it would seem," he mused.
Her mouth fell open. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked from the blue cube to those devious green eyes.
"You are a beautiful creature," he admitted. "This is true. The rest, well," he chuckled, "lies."
Her knees felt weak and she sank to the ground. "Is this how low you have to fall?"
He stared down at her groveling figure, a rather pathetic sight, but amusing, nonetheless.
"Stop lying to yourself." She stared up at him with a tear-streamed face. "Admit that you're hurting- you're all alone and you need someone!" She rose to her feet and embraced him. "You made me see those things for a reason, didn't you? You did it so I would love you… I'll stay with you, Loki," she promised. "Just stop hurting yourself."
"Enough!" Sick of her pleading, he grabbed her by the neck. "You don't know how I feel!" he snapped. "You don't know what I feel inside-stop acting like you know everything about me!"
There in his eyes, she could see the evident traces of pain and sadness.
"I'm going to rule this world! I'll rule it and prove to my Father that I'm much more fit to rule than Thor!" he spat. His grip tightened around her neck as his hand shook from the rage.
"This is good," she whispered to him. "Let it out…"
His eye twitched. He couldn't take any more of her know-it-all attitude. Furious, he lifted her up and readied himself to throw her over the side of the building. "I deserve to be king! To rule! Not Thor!" he hissed.
"Loki, put her down!" Thor ordered.
Loki regained his composure and turned to his brother. "Choose your words carefully, now. If I let her fall… Well, it's all over," he coolly informed him.
Iron Man suddenly grabbed Natasha and flew away, just as Thor threw his Mjolner at Loki, sending him over the edge falling at a dangerously fast speed.
"LOKI!" she cried. "Put me down-save him!" Natasha shouted at Tony.
"He tried to kill you!" he shouted. "You're insane!"
"Goddammit, Tony, you save him!"
"He'll handle the fall… We've got bigger things to handle," he reminded her as a Chitauri on a flying board soared past them. "These guys first."