Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers.

Fifth to Forgive: Natasha

"On our side?" Natasha questioned in disbelief.

Tony explained what had happened, and when he was finished, Clint gave a snort.

"He was hiding from the fight, like a damn coward." Clint snapped.

"He wasn't." Steve spoke up. "That's his style, he told me about it. He evaluates the situation, and comes up with a plan before he fights, when he can. That's part of why he wasn't valued as much as Thor, he was seen as a weakling because he didn't rely on physical strength, even though he won plenty of battles."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't sound that different from some people I know." She gave the quickest sideways glance at Clint, which the archer unfortunately noticed.

"I do not hide from a fight." Clint grumbled, frowning at his partner.

"I didn't say you did, but it sounds like Loki didn't either."

"Are you taking his side Nat?"

"I'm not taking anybody's side."

"There's no point in arguing about it. Loki helped, saved a lot of lives, and he did it without being forced. Give the guy some credit." Steve cut in, looking sternly between the two agents.

Silence fell, and after a few moments, the elevator door opened at Natasha's floor.

She gave a quick nod to everyone in the elevator, and stepped out, heading for her bedroom, glad to be on her way to getting some rest, although she would probably be up in a few hours.

While her room was as large as the other bedrooms in Stark Tower, it was simple and minimally decorated. A couple paintings she liked, of landscapes and mountains, but that was it aside from the essential pieces of furniture.

She decided not to bother changing out of her uniform; she was used to sleeping in it anyway, and was just settling into bed, when one of the cell phones on her bedside table started beeping. She sighed and sat up to look at it. She had two cell phones, a personal one, and one for communicating with S.H.I.E.L.D., since she didn't always wear an earpiece. The one beeping was the S.H.I.E.L.D. one. She answered it, trying to keep the sleepy tone out of her voice. "Agent Romanoff."

"Romanoff, we have a problem." It was Fury's voice, and he sounded concerned.

"What is it Director?" Natasha asked, instantly back into duty mode.

"One of the agents present at the battle scene tonight let word get out that Loki was there. The council found out."

Natasha's eyes widened. "Do they know where he's staying?"

"Not at the moment, but I doubt it will take them long to figure it out." Fury said. "I'm sure you know what will happen when they do."

Natasha did indeed know. The council would send a swarm of agents to capture Loki, and then after that… Well, Natasha was all too aware of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s punishments, and Loki's punishments would be especially unpleasant. There was another part of the equation though, and that was that Tony, Steve, Bruce, and Thor would try to defend him, and possibly succeed, which would make them enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D., and make them have to battle the organization for the rest of their lives. No matter what happened, it wouldn't end well. "Is there a plan sir?"

"Keep Loki in the tower, and carry on as normal. At the moment there is no plan. The way things are now, we're going to have a miniature war on our hands." Fury's pessimistic voice answered. "Inform the other Avengers, and don't take any chances."

"Yes sir."

"Fury out."

Natasha hung up the phone, and set it back on the bedside table. She bit her bottom lip, thinking over what she had just been told.

All hell would break loose if Loki was taken into custody. Four of the six Avengers would strike back, and they would strike back hard. These were the people who had managed to contain an entire alien army, and who were already on S.H.I. .'s threat list. Clint would probably reluctantly fight against the Avengers. And where did she stand?

Was Loki worth defending? Worth risking death for? She may be able to help try to make things run as smoothly as possible, but which side would she be on? Fighting with her teammates, or against them?

"I've got red on my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out."

That statement she'd spoken to Loki rung in her head, and she turned the thought over again and again.

Finally, after nearly two hours, she came to her decision.

"The council knows Loki's on earth." Natasha didn't even bother with a hello, or a good morning as she walked into the kitchen area and found Steve, Thor, and Clint.

All the Avengers were aware of who the council were, and they all had different reactions to this information. Steve and Clint frowned, although they were very different kinds of frowns, and Thor instantly narrowed his eyes, drawing himself up into a protective posture, as if ready to battle at that moment.

"How'd they know?" Steve asked, running a hand through his already messy hair. Obviously he hadn't gotten any sleep either.

"An agent on the scene last night let the word out." Natasha answered simply, folding her arms.

"They will come for my brother, will they not?" Thor growled.

Natasha paused. "Most likely, after they find out where he is, which probably won't take them long."

"I will not let them touch him. I understand if you do not help, but I will not let him be punished further for something he had no blame for."

"No blame? He came here and killed-" Clint started.

"We're not going through this again Clint." Natasha warned, looking at him sternly.

"Loki's been through enough. It wouldn't be right to let S.H.I. . take him. If we have to defend him-" Steve started, addressing Thor.

"None of that may be necessary Steve." Natasha interrupted.

Steve looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have a plan?"

"I'm in the process of forming one. I need a little time though, so we should keep him inside and do everything possible from making it obvious he's here." Natasha then turned to Thor. "Nobody's going to touch Loki."

"Do not make promises you cannot keep, but know I bear you no ill will whatever happens Agent Romanoff."

"No, I can't promise it, but I'll do my best to keep that from happening." Natasha replied.

Everybody in the room gave her puzzled looks.

"Why?" Clint asked, sounding almost betrayed.

"I'm making a different call." Natasha didn't elaborate as she left the room before anyone could say anything, knowing exactly where she had to go next. "JARVIS?"

"Yes Agent Romanoff?"

"Where is Loki?"

"He is in mechanics lab eight with Mr. Stark."

Natasha said nothing more, heading for the lab. Upon arriving, she glanced through the glass windows as she tapped in the security code, seeing Tony and Loki bending over something on one of the tables, deep in conversation, but they both looked up when she entered the room.

"Jesus, Nat, could you please use the chime?" Tony said, pulling up the goggles he was wearing. "I installed it for a reason."

"Sorry. I just came to inform you two that the council is aware of Loki's presence on earth. We had a loose lipped agent on the scene last night." Natasha replied, coming over to the table they were standing at and noticing that they were working on the next model of the Iron Man suit.

"Shit." Tony swore loudly, putting down the tool he'd been holding. "Do they know exactly where he is?"

"No, but it probably will only take a day or two for them to find out that he's here." Natasha replied. "We can delay them a bit, by keeping Loki inside the tower, and even away from any windows would be ideal. You should probably do a security check."

"Right." Tony said. "JARVIS?"

"Already working on it sir."

"I am still here you know." Loki said suddenly, obviously losing his patience at being spoken of like he wasn't in the room.

"Sorry buddy." Tony replied, looking for a moment like he was going to clap Loki on the back, and then thought better of it.

"I apologize. I should probably explain who the council-" Natasha began.

"I know who the council are. Barton told me." Loki said, not needing to specify when Clint had told him. "So they're going to find me?

"Most likely." Natasha said.

"I would not ask any of you to defend me. You have done more than enough. Perhaps it is time for me to face Midgardian justice."

Tony opened his mouth, but Natasha cut him off. "As I already told Steve, that might not be an issue."

Both Tony and Loki looked confused.

"What've you got in mind?" Tony asked.

"I have an idea for how to keep Loki here and the council off all our backs, but it's not something I can do. In fact, only one of us can do it."

"And who's that?"

"Clint."

"WHAT?" Tony exclaimed. "Clint wouldn't do shit to help Loki!"

"I know that, but I haven't been able to come up with any other ideas that don't involve bloodshed."

"What exactly is your plan?" Loki said, his fists clenched on the table in front of him.

"To tell the council that Loki is under the protection of Asgard, and that Asgard asked us to keep Loki here for a while, under surveillance. Thor can probably help vouch for the plan, but it needs to come from an agent, and they won't buy it if it comes just from me because of my area of expertise." Natasha explained, ignoring the new string of curses her plan made Tony start giving.

"Area of expertise?" Loki questioned.

"Interrogation. In other words, lying." Natasha said with a slight smirk.

Loki bit his lip and nodded. "Do you think you can persuade him?"

"I think I can."

"Well you better try, because I'd rather not have my tower blown to bits by a bunch of thugs." Tony grumbled, picking his tool back up, and gesturing at Natasha with it.

"Have a little faith in me Tony. My methods always work, don't they?" Natasha replied with a slight smirk.

A look of surprise passed over Tony's face, as he didn't fail to notice the use of his first name.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some files regarding my next mission to go over." Natasha gave a quick nod and left the lab. She was about ten paces down the corridor when Loki's voice stopped her.

"Why are you doing this?"

She turned around to see the god looking seriously at her, not surprised he'd followed her out of the lab. She thought a moment before she spoke. "I told you once that I have red in my ledger and that I'd like to wipe it out."

He nodded slowly.

"Your response was to tell me that it was pathetic, a child's prayer."

"I still believe that."

Natasha wasn't phased by the bluntness of his response. This was still Loki after all. "You have red in your ledger. And I think you'd like to wipe it out too."

Loki fidgeted slightly. "What I said about such a feat applies to me as well. There is no point to such an endeavor."

"If you really believed that, why did you go help last night?"

Loki said nothing.

"Someone gave me the chance to at least try to clean the blood off my hands, the chance at a new life. Nobody gave you that chance, not until now."

"I don't deserve it Agent Romanoff."

"Neither did I." Natasha replied. "Now, stay indoors and away from the windows, like I said. Maybe we can buy a few hours."

"I will. Thank you."

Natasha gave him the barest hint of a smile before going back on her way. "JARVIS, where is Agent Barton?"

"Agent Barton is in the main training room with Captain Rogers."

"And how's the security sweep?"

"Mr. Stark is in the process of writing an updated security program for me. It should enhance all security features."

Not feeling the need to thank a computer for a response, she continued to the training room in silence.

No, she wouldn't die for Loki. But she'd give him a chance. A chance that she did honestly believe he deserved more than she had. Hell if she'd tell him that though, he'd never agree with her anyway.

End Chapter

A/N: I'm sorry about the wait for this chapter guys, I've had a lot of craziness going on in my life lately.