A/N: This chapter starts off as a sequel to its previous chapters. Thank you to all my readers w You are very loved!

I just realised that it's not putting in the proper spaces between Loki and Natasha's points of view . Sorry for that. It all seems jumbled together now

Darkness was all Loki knew. He wasn't sure just how long he had been shackled up in the Asgardian prison. There, he lost all track of time. His mouth was still kept in a muzzle and his wrists were shackled and bound behind his back. The shackles were made to insure that all of his powers were restrained. Under Odin's orders, he was to be kept in isolation with visits from the servants to make sure hadn't been trying to pull any tricks.

In the darkness, the only thing he could make out was the golden horned helmet of his. To mock him, Odin had him restrained in his Asgardian costume and allowed for him to keep his helmet on, saying that he could be 'King of his cell.' Loki managed to shake the helmet off of his head in anger. He was furious Odin would humiliate him even further. That and his cell was to be kept heated to add further discomfort.

In the distance, he could hear footsteps nearing. Unlike those of the servants sent to check up on him, these footsteps were much louder. Curious, Loki sat up straighter within the dark confines of his cell. He wondered if it could have been Thor coming to his aid. Or someone that would show him mercy by lowering the temperature.

"We had a deal," a deep voice echoed.

Loki's blood ran cold and his eyes grew wide with worry.

A looming figure clad in blue and gold armour grabbed the bars of his cell.

He sat there, staring up at the purple-faced creature. He was for once grateful for the cell and muzzle. He was protected and being unable to speak showed his defenselessness.

"You made a promise to me," the man growled. He pulled apart the iron bars with ease and allowed himself in.

A rare moment of fear froze Loki's body.

The man grabbed the iron muzzle and ripped it from his face.

Loki's throat was so dry he couldn't even bring himself to scream.

"Tell me, god, why do you fail me?" He grabbed Loki by the collar and shook him.

"You shouldn't underestimate them," he gasped.

"Who?" he hissed.

"They call themselves… The Avengers," he breathed.

"Okay, how are those readings, Pepper?" Tony asked from within the Iron Man suit. His picture was displayed on the laptop Pepper had on her lap.

"Looking good," she said into her headset. "Light it up."

Clint tapped Natasha on the shoulder and motioned for Natasha to look ahead to the Stark Tower.

Currently, Pepper, Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bruce were all aboard one of Tony's yachts, waiting for him to relight the Stark Tower. After six weeks, the city's destruction was on its way to being built anew. Tony made it a priority to have renovations done on Stark Tower, starting with having it made into a place for The Avengers. 'Stark' was apparently too flashy for the others, and after much nagging from the others, he was forced into having just a glowing 'A', which was now alight and ready for business.

Iron Man rose up from the water and landed on deck, where his iron suit was removed. "I personally think 'Stark' would make more sense. I mean, a glowing 'A?' What's that say about us? 'A' for 'assholes?'"

"That's just you," Pepper told him playfully.

While the others were laughing and popping open a bottle of champagne, Natasha had gone to the opposite end of the boat where she leaned against the edge and stared up at the blue, cloudless sky.

"You okay?" Clint asked as he suddenly approached her. He held out a flute of champagne for her.

Her head shook as she held up a hand to decline the drink offer.

"Come on, we're celebrating," he reminded her.

"This boat's killing me," she remarked as she leaned against the railing and folding her arms.

"I didn't know you got seasick."

"Maybe I'm just sick of Stark," she shrugged.

He began to laugh, but then couldn't help but notice the sad look on her face.

"You haven't been yourself since they've left," he noticed.

"Not now, Barton," she warned him.

"That day," he continued, "you were helping him…"

"Not now!" she shouted. "Just shut up, Clint!"

He blinked and stared at her, a bit embarrassed.

It wasn't until then that Natasha realized that everything seemed a little too quiet. She turned to see the others staring at her. She shook her head and went into the yacht's cabin area where she sat on the couch to brood.

"What's eating you today?" Tony wondered as he sauntered in.

"Go enjoy your party," she told him tiredly.

"We need you to do that," he reminded her as he finished a glass of champagne.

"I'd prefer to stay here now," she informed him. "I never agreed to come here in the first place."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Leave it to the woman of our group to drag us all down."

"I'll drag you down!" she snapped at him.

He held his free hand out in front of him. "I'm not asking to start any fights here."

"I would prefer to be left alone, if you don't mind."

He continued to strut about the room, pretending to admire the newspaper clippings on Iron Man that were framed to the walls. "You're still hung up about that guy? You know, you always struck me for a bad boy type, but a psycho—"

She abruptly stood up and began to yell at him. "Why is everyone bringing this up? Stay out of this!"

"You seem a bit overly fond of him," he noted. "Are Katniss and I the only ones seeing this?" he wondered aloud.

"I felt bad for him. Let it go!" she growled.

"Look," he sighed. "We're part of a team. We need you. And ever since he left, you haven't been yourself."

"Can we talk about this later?" she asked as she sat back down and ran a hand through her short, auburn hair.

"How about joining the party?" he asked her. "We're all friends here."

"I'd rather lie down." After that, Tony finally left her alone, leaving her mind to wander. As usual, she thought about Loki and wondered what happened to him. She had no way of contacting him and surely, he was enduring his punishments back on Asgard. Then there was her physical health to think about. Her body had always been stronger due to her conditioning and she hadn't tried remembering any past memories to give her a reason to feel sick. She laid down on the couch and fell asleep, only to have Clint shake her awake sometime later.

"Natasha," he whispered. "We're back home. Come on." He gently shook her shoulder.

Still half asleep, she followed him back into the 'Avengers Tower'.

"What do we all want for dinner?" Tony asked the group. "We never did get my shawarma, yet. Hey, Sleeping Beauty," he called to Natasha, "what do you want for dinner?"

She rolled her eyes and glared at him, walking off into the direction of her suite within the penthouse.

"Okay, we'll have our fun without you," shrugged Tony. "Guy time, right? Pepper, you gotta leave now," he warned his fiancé.