A/N: Thank you to my new reviewers, followers, and favers! :D

The faint sound of nearby footsteps startled Natasha from her slumber. She sat up in bed and looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. It had taken her a second to remember that she was with Loki on Asgard. She lay back down and rested her head against Loki's chest. The footsteps seemed to draw nearer, but she disregarded it and focused on returning to sleep. There was a moment of silence and Natasha couldn't help but grow suspicious. She looked towards the closed door and the next thing she knew, the door had flung open and Odin and Frigga burst through the door.

Loki bolted upright at the sound and instinctively threw an arm out to shield Natasha.

"Where are the remaining gems?!" demanded Odin.

"Father, what is this about?!" Loki growled.

"Thor has them, doesn't he?"

"Fa-…" Before he could finish, Natasha had her chest pressed against his back as she whispered into his ear.

"The rest of the gems. Fury," she reminded him. "You said your parents were acting strangely…"

Loki looked at his parents. They certainly appeared to be his Father and Mother, but something wasn't quite right.

"Seize them!" Odin pointed a finger at the two in the bed.

Two of Odin's bodyguards appeared from out of nowhere and entered the room, each armed with long, pointed spears.

Natasha reached for her pile of clothes on the floor to grab her wrist blasters, but a bodyguard had already seized her.

"Let her go!" Loki snapped as he fought off his captor.

Natasha threw her head back and into the face of the bodyguard. He was caught off guard for a second and Natasha swung her leg up, aiming for the man's face. The bodyguard regained his senses and smacked her in the side with his spear, sending her to the ground.

"Natasha!" Loki cried. He elbowed the guard in the side and rushed to her side.

"Where have the remaining gems been taken?" Odin demanded.

"Natasha!" Loki reached out to brush her hair from her face.

She winced and grabbed her left side. "I'm okay," she breathed. She sat up and felt her side near her ribs. Nothing felt broken- just bruised.

"Answer me, boy!" Odin struck Loki over the head with the guard's spear.

"Ah-!" Loki collapsed into Natasha's chest.

As Natasha glared up at him, his appearance changed to that of a green, alien-like creature. Frigga and the two guards also transformed into the same creature.

"Tell us!" the creature shouted. He raised the spear over his head and Natasha pulled the unconscious Loki close to her. Before he could strike, Loki's eyes opened and he outstretched his hand. In a second, the spear had become a snake and the green-skinned creature leapt back as the snake fell to the floor and turned back into a spear as it hit the floor.

"What are you?" hissed Loki. He grabbed the spear and grasped it tightly.

"Our race is known as Skrulls," he began. "You've returned the Infinity Gauntlet, however three gems are missing. Where are they?!" he questioned.

Thor suddenly appeared in the doorway. "What became of our parents?!"

"You!" the Skrull whirled on him. "You must possess the gems!"

While his back was turned, Loki impaled him straight through the heart. Thor threw his hammer towards a Skrull off to the side who had pretended to be his Mother and pinned it to the floor. The two remaining Skrull found themselves cornered. Natasha grabbed her wrist blasters from her pile of clothes on the floor and shot the two who posed as bodyguards, leaving Loki to finish them off.

"Tell us who sent you!" Thor shouted to the Skrull who he had pinned down.

"Thanos," it breathed.

Loki tensed up at the mention of the name. This was all his fault. He turned to stare at Natasha, who had been injured because of this. His gaze fixed upon his Brother, who had died because of Thanos. His knuckles turned white around the bloody spear he grasped. "How many of you are there?"

"Hundreds," it replied, turning to Loki with a grin.

Before they could further interrogate it, Loki stabbed it through the chest. "We need to return to Midgard."

"Loki, we were getting answers!" Thor protested.

"Hundreds, Thor!" he shouted. "You heard him! Thanos is commanding an army!"

"Fury needs to know this," interrupted Natasha. "He has what they're after."

"The unanswered question is how they took the appearance of our parents," continued Thor. "We need to know that, Loki!"

"They tried to kill us, Thor!" growled Loki.

"You had no right to just kill-!"

Natasha got in between the two to stop them from any physical contact. "Whatever the case, they'll be coming back. They think one of us has those gems, right?" she asked. "So it looks like we're the targets."

Loki hung his head in defeat. "This is my fault. Your lives are in danger because of me."

"Loki, no. Don't blame yourself," she said sadly.

Thor couldn't help but feel bad for his Brother. "I will find Mother and Father and then we will deliver this news to Asgard." He turned on his heel and left the room.

Natasha ran a hand through Loki's hair, feeling his head where he was hit.

"Don't touch me," he quietly warned her.

"You really took a hit back there," she reminded him.

"So did you." His worried eyes met with hers. "I can't lose you." He held her hand in his. "You mean more to me than anything else." His hand gingerly pressed against her injured left side. He noticed her slightly cringe at his touch. "I did this to you."

"Loki, I'm fine," she promised. "We'll deal with these guys, okay? And then," she smiled, "we can finally have some peace."

He chuckled at her comment. "I don't believe 'peace and quiet' puts you at ease."

"You know me all too well," she remarked before kissing him.