The persistent ringing from Natasha's phone woke her up earlier than expected. Just from hearing the ringtone, she knew it was Stark and when it came to his calls, she tried her best to ignore him. The ringing persevered and she quickly grew sick of it. Without bothering to open her eyes, she grabbed her phone and answered it. "Stark?"
"Thanos is gone!" he warned her.
"What?!" Taken by surprise, she bolted upright.
Loki had also been awake but no longer feigned sleep the moment he heard the shock in Natasha's voice.
"Yeah, the Tesseract's gone, too," continued Tony. "Fury said that you told him Loki gave it to him."
"Yeah, a fake!" she protested as she stared at Loki.
"Fake? Then where's the real one?!"
"We're heading over now." She snapped the phone shut and glared at Loki.
"Nata-…"
"What the hell did you do?!" she shouted. "You gave him the real Tesseract?"
His brows knitted together in confusion. "He was given the fake."
Natasha looked him in the eyes and could see nothing but an almost child-like innocence. "You're sure it was a fake?" she asked.
"Commander Fury possesses the real one in a secret location," he reminded her. "Unless Thanos has sent his army…"
She grabbed her phone and gave Fury a ring. "Check the security footage from last night!" Her message seemed to go straight to his voice mail. "Fuck!" she growled.
Loki watched her leave the bed and change into her Black Widow suit. "You intend to wear your battle attire?"
"Still fits," she muttered as she attached her holsters. "If these Skrulls are really here, they'll take me for defenseless if I'm not suited up."
Loki, already dressed in his Asgardian attire from his previous encounter with Thanos, went over to Natasha's side. "Defenseless is a suitable role for you." He stood behind her and the two faced the full-length mirror near her closet. "You're a target now," he hissed.
Natasha took a good look at herself and lowered her eyes. "I know."
"You'll only bring harm to you. To our child," he continued.
"You have my back," she reminded him, turning to face him. "I'm only going to fight from a distance if I have to."
His fists clenched at his side. "I trust you not to be so foolish."
She placed her hands over his fists. "I know what I'm doing. Just promise me you won't get too overprotective." Before he could speak out in protest, she continued. "Those creatures don't know about us or the baby. If you get too clingy, they'll only want to target us even more."
His cold gaze softened as he heaved a sigh. "I'll take your word for it."
"Thank you." After a kiss, they were off to meet with the other Avengers.
Steve was the first to greet Natasha and Loki at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. He was already suited up as Captain America with his shield strapped across his back, ready for battle at a moment's notice. "You won't believe this!" he exclaimed as he walked inside with them. "After looking over security footage, a Skrull infiltrated the base disguised as an agent!"
"That's who let Thanos out?" asked Natasha.
Steve replied with a nod.
"Did Fury get my message? He didn't answer his phone," she added.
"He caught the Skrull who did it and has it in custody. That's where we're headed now," he informed them.
"I believe Anthony Stark mentioned the Tesseract has gone missing?" Loki prodded.
Steve's voice was brought to a whisper. "Fury told me he has it."
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. At least Loki wasn't lying to them anymore.
"We're playing off the fake Tesseract as the real one. Good job, Loki," he quickly added.
Loki managed a small smile. "Part of the plan."
Natasha brought a hand to her face. "Stark scared the shit out of me with that call! It's not even six," she groaned.
"At least we got on this quickly," Steve responded as they joined the other Avengers in a small briefing room.
There was a wide window in the room which looked out into the interrogation room where Fury was busy dealing with a green, alien-like creature that Loki, Natasha, and Thor were all too familiar with.