One day Natasha and Clint are in a slightly worse situation than normal. A bounty's been put on their heads by a certain gang that they just barely escaped a few hours ago, and about half the city they're in would be willing to kill them to retrieve it. Their hideout is in a hotel room they haven't even paid for, where the real occupant will probably arrive in an hour or two and may very well be willing to kill them. He's a known contact of the gang. They probably should have found a better place to hide, but there's no need to get civilians involved in this if they don't have to.
All of these are factors they could probably deal with. After all, they are the best of the best. Natasha is more concerned about the shape Clint's in. He was tortured for information, and he's too weak to confront any attackers right now. Natasha knows that she isn't at her best either. She wasn't tortured but she hasn't eaten in twenty rigorous hours, and she has Clint to protect.
She has been in bad situations before, but never with Clint's life at stake. And Loki always showed up in the end.
This time, she's not so sure, so she does something she's never needed to do before. She stares up at the ceiling (Loki said that Heimdall could see everything, through miles of space, through walls and through dimensions) and she says, loud and clear but not loud enough to be heard outside the room, "Loki, help me."
"What?" says Clint. He's lying on the hotel bed so his body can recover slightly. He needs hospital care but they can't risk it. He hasn't realized yet just how hopeless the situation is, that Natasha doesn't have a plan. He's too dazed to think about it, and Natasha hasn't tried to rouse him.
Natasha looks at him with concern and says, "Go to sleep, Clint. It's been a long day." Then she looks back up at the ceiling and says. "Loki, help me. My teammate's in trouble too. He's not a liar but he's sly enough. And I am your follower, and I am asking for your help."
Clint frowns and forces himself to sit up. "Natasha, what are you doing? There's no one here but you and me."
"You could say I'm praying," Natasha says. "But that wouldn't really cover it. Loki, help me. Heimdall, send my plea to Loki. He will want to hear it, I swear. He will reward you for telling him. Tell him I need him. I need Loki. Send Loki to me. I need him now."
"Natasha, you're making me worried," says Clint. She's told him before that she's not really religious, and he apparently has remembered. He tries to stand up and can't manage it.
"Loki," whispers Natasha. "I need Loki. Loki, come. Please."
/…/…/
Loki is studying in his room when the knock comes. He is often studying, but not in the way of a student. He is a scholar, and he rereads texts again and again until he sees things in them that even the authors did not know they put in. This is how he learns the secrets of the universe. This is how he gains enough knowledge to pull off all his schemes.
He supposes it is Thor at the door. Hardly anyone else bothers to disturb him. Of course, it is possible that it is one of Thor's friends, come to pester him and pretend they are his friend as well. It is also possible that it is Odin or Frigga. They prefer to talk to him at dinner usually, or when he is with Thor, but occasionally they do bother to come down to his room.
He is most surprised when it is Heimdall. He did not know that the man ever left the bridge, and he has never expressed any liking for Loki. Admittedly they do talk sometimes, when Loki convinces Heimdall to tell him of happenings on Midgard, but that does not mean they are on good terms. Loki thinks Heimdall probably sees him mostly as an annoyance, and one does not seek out an annoyance on purpose.
Heimdall does not even step through the door. Instead, he just looks Loki in the eye and says, "One of your mortals is calling for you."
Loki stares at him. "What? Who?" Back in the old days, there were Midgardians who would call his name for aid, his most devoted followers. He does not think there is anyone who would do that these days.
"It is the woman with the red hair, the one you named Natasha," Heimdall answers gravely.
Loki's eyebrows furrow but he steps out the door to join Heimdall in the hall, shutting the door neatly behind him. "Natasha? She would never call for my help."
"I suspect she calls not on her own behalf," says Heimdall. "Her partner was injured. She knows you can heal him."
Loki frowns. "How presumptuous of her. The hawk is not one of my followers. Why should I help him?"
Heimdall frowns and starts to pull Loki down the hall. "If you do not help both of them, your follower will die. Her partner will be a weak spot and she will not desert him. I have seen their situation and it is grave." They come to a flight of stairs. Heimdall lets Loki go but stares at him. "It becomes you ill to turn down a request for your aid."
Loki glares at the giant. "I do not intend to. I merely think it is presumptuous of her."
"Of course," Heimdall agrees. Loki thinks the man is quite as good at acting as Loki is himself. He knows Heimdall does not believe Loki, yet he pretends he does so very well.
He sighs. He supposes he really must help Natasha, as she is his brightest follower. Besides, he is rather fond of her. The research he was doing on the weaknesses of Jotuns will have to wait until the crisis has been resolved.
He is a bit worried. From Heimdall's words it seems the situation is desperate. But it takes him a full day to reach Midgard if he travels along the branches of Yggdrasil, his typical route. If he hurries, he could reduce that time to about eight hours, but if he takes that long Natasha will still probably die.
He will simply have to take the more orthodox route. No matter how much it hurts his pride.
He turns to Heimdall. "I fear I must travel using the Bifrost," he says in a carefully neutral tone. "With your permission."
Loki knows that Heimdall does not like him. This cannot be stressed enough. A few decades ago one of his favorite followers had been part of a black equality movement, and Loki had put such a spell on Heimdall that his skin would be black for the next five centuries in order to show his approval. Ever since then Heimdall has refused Loki access to the Bifrost unless he is escorted by Thor, and has been his enemy in matters at court (although he seems to actually enjoy the color change. Particularly since it has given him a very nice beard).
But Heimdall does not comment on things past. He merely nods his head once and says, "Who am I to deny a man whose follower calls on him?" And Loki remembers that there was a time when Heimdall, too, had followers on Midgard, until his duties had prevented him from leaving Asgard anymore.
They run across the transparent bridge. Usually Loki would ride a horse at this point if he was with Thor, but he has never liked horses and he does not see the point of bringing one on this particular trip. Few mortals ride horses anymore, and Loki thoroughly approves.
Inside the Bifrost, he takes his position with his nerves on edge. Part of him suspects Heimdall will take this opportunity to send him flying off to Jotunheim, or Muspel, or somewhere even more unpleasant. He takes no pleasure in putting his life in the man's hands.
Heimdall pauses before activating the Bifrost. "By the way, the woman promised you would reward me for telling you of her plight."
He should have known. "What do you wish, Heimdall?" he says as pleasantly as he can.
"We will discuss that later," Heimdall says with a small yet terrifying smile. "I am sure I can come up with something…interesting."
"Oh, I do not doubt it," Loki says a little shakily.
Then, thank goodness, the Bifrost starts up and he has no more time to ponder what Heimdall may be scheming because lightning is crackling around his body and then, suddenly, he is hurtling through a dark and frighteningly empty sky.
He hates travelling by Bifrost.
He lands just outside a city. He can't tell what the country is, but from what Heimdall told him he knows Natasha is in a hotel somewhere inside the city, and besides, he can feel her. There is a pull in his chest whenever he is near one of his real followers, and he can feel it now. He can follow it, and find her, and that is enough.
/…/…/
Natasha has been talking at the ceiling for about an hour now and there has been no answer. Clint has given up on trying to stop her but from where he is lying on the bed he looks disturbed. Her throat is getting as sore as her feet (there was a fair amount of running involved in the escape earlier) and she is considering just giving up.
Then Loki appears right in front of her and says, "Why did you tell Heimdall I would reward him?"
Her eyes widen and it's an effort not to gasp or gape, but after years of seeing Loki appear at random times she can manage. Clint, who has no such experience with Loki, lets out a shriek.
"Silence your hawk," Loki says. "Really, why did you tell Heimdall that? Now the man will expect a favor from me, and it will probably be difficult. You could have said you would reward him yourself."
"Well," says Natasha. "Ah. I've never been to Asgard."
Loki shrugs and turns to Clint. "How did he get so banged up?"
"Who are you?" Clint manages to sputter through obvious shock.
Loki, always willing to introduce himself, sweeps an elegant bow and says, "I am Loki. How did you damage yourself so badly? I know you aren't as clever as Natasha but I did not think you quite this foolish."
"He was tortured for information," Natasha cuts in sharply. She does not like how Loki looks down on Clint. Of course, Loki looks down on everyone including his fellow Asgardians and Natasha herself, but with Clint it is particularly pronounced.
"And he said nothing?" Loki murmurs. "As I said, foolish." But he starts to heal Clint's wounds, starting with a knife slice on his shoulder. Natasha gives a sigh of relief, but then Clint jerks away.
"What are you doing to me? Natasha, who is he?"
"Clint, calm down," Natasha says. "Loki won't hurt you." Probably. "He's trying to heal you but your moving isn't making it easy."
Clint holds still for Loki to do his work, thank goodness, but he still asks, "Who is he, Natasha? How do you know him?" and his eyes are full of suspicion.
There is no easy, believable way to explain this so Natasha just jumps right in and says, "He's the Norse god of mischief, trickery and liars. He's been helping me since I was twelve." And stalking her and just visiting sporadically, but no need to go into that right now.
Clint makes a clear sound of disbelief.
"Silence, mortal," says Loki. "I am trying to heal a fairly complicated knife slash here and I don't need distractions." He frowns in concentration. "By the Norns, how did they even manage to do this? I am quite curious about their technique."
Clint winces in memory and Natasha glares at Loki. "You aren't exactly being sensitive here, Loki."
"You did not call upon me to be sensitive," Loki says as he seals the last wounds closed. "You called upon me to help. Now, how do you expect me to do that? What is your trouble?"
Natasha summarizes their situation as briefly as she can, and Loki's face is thoughtful when she is done.
"I can see two ways to resolve this, my dear," he says. "The first one is that I kill everyone in the city. That way, no one will be left to try to collect the bounty, and you will be safe."
Natasha sees Clint's face go pale out of the corner of her eyes, and she grits her teeth. Sometimes she forgets that Loki is not a mortal and does not think the way they do. He is a wild god. People call him a god of mischief now, but that is merely a tamer way of saying that he is a god of chaos. Things like human lives or human values mean little to him.
"I see you don't like that option," Loki notes cheerfully.
"Who are you?" Clint snarls.
"That's the third time you've said that," says Loki. "My other option is to transport both of you to safety. I assume this is the option you prefer?"
"Yes," Clint says immediately, without giving Natasha time to think it over. She really shouldn't need the time, she knows, but her early training means that she still has trouble choosing human life over all else. He continues, his brow furrowing, "How do you plan to do that? Got a helicopter?"
"My dear hawk," Loki says with a touch of annoyance. "You saw how I arrived. We will leave the same way."
Natasha blinks. She has seen Loki appear and vanish many times but she assumed it was a Norse god thing. She had never considered travelling the same way herself.
Loki heaves Clint to his feet abruptly. Still holding Clint's arm, he grabs Natasha's hand as well. "This requires physical contact," he explains. "Unless you want to risk accidentally being flung to Vanaheim as a result of disruption in the magical field."
"No," Natasha says deadpan. "We do not want that."
"Good," Loki says brightly. "Let's go." Then he stops. His eyes get a glint in them. "You should probably be unconscious too, actually."
Natasha narrows her eyes. "Loki, what are you…" And then she starts feeling ridiculously drowsy and realizes Loki will not be taking any dissent in the matter. That jerk.
/…/…/
When Loki hears his follower and her hawk stirring, he knows he is going to be in trouble. Of course, Loki is in trouble rather a lot. Being in trouble uses up approximately twenty-five percent of his time. But he has never been in trouble with a mortal before, particularly not one of his own followers, so this promises to be rather interesting.
The first one awake is the hawk. Not too surprising, seeing as Loki's charms, including the sleep charm he used on them, are more potent on his own followers because his magic knows them. In contrast, Loki's magic has only touched the hawk once before, when he healed him earlier, and is familiar with no more than the basics of his anatomy.
The hawk is bewildered as he blinks awake. He stares at the room around him, and then stares at Loki. "I thought you were a dream."
"You are not the first," Loki reassures him. "Most would prefer to think me a nightmare." Though most of those who wish to think that are either dwarves, Vanir or Jotuns, and Loki is not concerned with their opinions.
"Are you really a god?" The hawk says, only half awake still.
Loki says, "It's complicated."
It is at this point that Natasha's eyes open and she slowly sits up. Loki put her on the bed when he got in, leaving the hawk lying on the floor instead. It probably isn't good for the man's injuries, but most of them are already healed and comfort is reserved for ladies.
Natasha says, "Loki."
Loki smiles and says, "Natasha. You are awake."
Natasha says, "Loki. Where are we?" Her tone is steely. Good, the being-in-trouble part is going to start now.
He says, "You're in my bedroom, Natasha."
For a moment, the two spies are perfectly silent as they process the information. Barton is slightly puzzled and disturbed but the whole thing has been puzzling to him. Natasha is more confused than him, but she is the first to speak.
"Loki," she says calmly. "You live in Asgard."
He claps slowly and sarcastically. "That would be correct."
"Loki," Natasha says, and her voice is now beginning to crack. "You brought us to Asgard?!"
Loki is somewhat annoyed at how slowly his follower is absorbing information. Then again, it is her first time off-planet, so perhaps it can be excused. Still, he nods instead of speaking because he is honestly too annoyed to continue clarifying aloud.
"Where are we again?" the hawk says. He looks confused still, but at least he doesn't look as furious as Natasha is.
"You are in my home," Loki explains. "Of course, it is on a different planet than you were on before but I believe I can safely say that no one after that bounty will find you here."
He had needed to carry them for twelve hours through the branches of Yggdrasil to get here, since his teleportation only worked at short range and apparently Heimdall thought one favor was enough for the day. It was tiring, of course. But it is all worth it to see the look on Natasha's face. And the hawk's, of course, but that is secondary.
Natasha says, once she has recovered from the shock of being in a different realm than she blacked out in, "And why did you bring us here? We would be just as safe in SHIELD headquarters. Safer. And we'd actually be able to report."
"Well," Loki says. "I am not actually sure where the SHIELD headquarters are right now. Seeing as they're mostly contained in submarines and helicarriers, if I teleported to the wrong location we would end up drowning or falling to our deaths. And that would not be pleasant. In any case I have meant to show you Asgard for some time. I thought you might be interested in seeing a bit of my world, since I have seen so much of yours."
Natasha glares at him. "You did it just for fun, didn't you."
"Well," says Loki. "That is one way to put it." She can hardly be a follower of his if he doesn't occasionally play tricks on her, right? And he is doing them a favor, after all. They asked to be brought somewhere safe. How he chooses to fulfill their request is up to his own discretion.
His faithful follower who is now officially his follower because he has played a trick on her lets out a long sigh. "I should know better than to trust the god of mischief," she says.
"I did heal your hawk," Loki points out.
"True enough," Natasha admits. "…Thanks."
"Wait," says the hawk. "What hawk? I didn't know you had a hawk, Natasha." He's being somewhat stupid, but then he just woke up a few minutes ago, so Loki mentally excuses him. He may possibly have put the sleep charm on him with a little too much vigor.
"He's talking about you," Natasha says.
The hawk makes an annoyed expression. "Could you not do that? I'm not a hawk, and I don't belong to Natasha, so the name doesn't really fit me at all."
"Very well," Loki says. It is a nice name, but he is courteous enough to comply with the man's preferences. "Have I permission to call you Clint instead?"
"Um. Okay. Natasha, how does he know my name?"
"If you're going to ask questions about every little thing," Loki interrupts. "We will never get anywhere. And I had hoped to show you and Natasha around the palace before this visit was over. I am sure your partner can explain everything thoroughly…later."
He really does not like having to explain himself. Unless he's unveiling an evil plan. Then it's fun. Otherwise, it's completely dull and he does not feel the need to do it right now.
"All right," says the hawk (Clint), sounding slightly intimidated. Maybe Loki accidentally purred a little too threateningly on that last part. Maybe it wasn't completely accidental.
Natasha glares at him.
He ignores her.
"If you feel completely awakened, perhaps I can give you the tour now." The two stand up, and Loki's eyes widen. "Never mind. I fear I have been forgetful. The two of you look ridiculous as you are; you will have to bathe and change first."
Clint narrows his eyes. "What do you want us to wear, long green robes?"
He seems to be making fun of Loki's own clothing. Loki snorts. "I will find something more to your taste than what you are wearing now, rest assured. Unless blood and sweat is the new black and I just hadn't noticed."
They haven't changed since leaving Midgard, and probably not for a while before that. Healing does not take away bloodstains and the hawk looks completely horrible. Natasha a bit less so. But still.
Eventually he talks them into using his personal bath (his room is more like a suite) before going on a tour of the castle. After all, this is the first time he has shown Thor one of his followers in more than a century. He can't have them looking as disgraceful as this.
/…/…/
Natasha is annoyed. She is annoyed partially because her patron god of liars has kidnapped her from the planet, partially because this means her mission has been more or less postponed (and she can't even tell her superiors what's going on) and partially because of the clothes Loki has left with her to wear going around the castle.
The problem with them is that they are gorgeous. Natasha thought she was over pretty dresses when she became a spy as the age of about six, but it turns out that maybe that part of her never went away because she has been given a floor length green dress. It is probably going to be all kinds of impractical but instead of just putting her old clothes back on she finds herself slipping into it anyways and wondering why SHIELD uniforms aren't more like this.
Maybe Loki cast some sort of spell on it to make her want to put it on.
In any case, when she shows it to Clint a few minutes later, he has no complaints, so maybe she should wear dresses around him more often. He himself has been given a green robe with drapey sleeves. Natasha suspects Loki has done this out of spite.
"Why would anyone make this kind of clothing?" Her partner fumes. "You can't fight in it. And isn't that pretty much what Asgardians do? Or did the myths just get it all wrong?"
"The myths were accurate," Loki says, appearing out of nowhere. "But fashion is fashion. And I could fight in that just as well as in the ridiculous uniform you were wearing. Ugly thing."
"Does he always do that?" Clint asks.
"Do what?" Natasha asks in turn. "Insult everything Earth has ever invented or appear out of nowhere whenever he makes an entrance? The answer is yes to both."
"Oh, okay then," Clint says.
"Are you ready to meet my brother?" Loki asks. "While you prepared yourselves I went and told him that I wished to introduce you to him. He is curious, in a crude and elementary sort of way."
It is then that Natasha remembers that Loki doesn't just insult everything about Earth all the time. He insults everyone else too, only more behind their backs.
"I would be delighted to meet your brother," she says diplomatically. Inwardly she wonders if she is even wearing her dress correctly. It is gorgeous, but the buttons are so complicated. And one cannot meet the prince of a country-who incidentally is legendary throughout multiple realms and known as a god of thunder-wearing one's outfit incorrectly.
"Oh good," Loki chirps. Then he disappears again.
Ten seconds later he reappears grasping someone by the arm. The someone is a tall, blond man who somehow manages to be even more beautiful than Loki. He also looks rather mad and is shouting, "Brother, release me! You know I have forbidden you to teleport with me!"
"Hello," Natasha cuts in. "You must be Thor."
Thor pauses in his shouting and steps away from Loki, snatching his arm away as well. "Indeed I am. And you are…?"
"I am Natasha Romanoff, Loki's follower and skillful liar," she says with a smile. "It is good to meet you." She holds out her hand to shake.
Thor frowns, probably at the liar part, but he says, "And I am Thor Odinson, Loki's brother and prince of Asgard." He bows deeply and then kisses her hand.
Clint looks annoyed, so Natasha tries not to show that she feels flattered and instead merely puts her hand back at her side and says, "And this is my partner, Clint Barton. Or you may call him Hawkeye."
"Partner?" Thor looks at Loki. "So you are not courting this woman?"
"Ah, I mean my partner in my organization. We work together on missions," Natasha says hastily, before realizing that while Thor has misinterpreted her words, his assumption is actually quite accurate. "But I'm not dating Loki either, and I may possibly be dating Clint, so…yes."
"I have always said you have a way with words, my dear," says Loki with a smirk. Not helping.
"So your follower is a lady warrior," Thor says, sounding slightly disbelieving. He blinks a few times, and then chuckles. "I imagine Lady Sif would be very interested in meeting her. She has always wished more of her kind were warlike."
Natasha smiles as if Thor isn't just talking to Loki and completely ignoring her and says, "I would love to meet the Lady Sif, if it is possible."
"Of course," says Loki and he disappears.
Thor glares at the empty space where his brother was standing a minute ago. "It takes about five minutes to walk to the lady's room in the castle," he growls. "Why must my brother use magic when simple physical means would work?"
Clint suddenly grins. "You know," he says cheerfully. "I think I like you. This whole-vanishing-and-then-appearing-out-of-nowhere thing gets to me too. So not everyone in Asgard does that?"
"Certainly not," Thor says with dignity. "I have never teleported in my life. I am an honorable warrior."
"Really? So am I. I'm a spy, but I mostly do shooting and stuff. I bet we're really a lot alike," Clint says excitedly. Natasha thinks he might be faking a bit of the eager sincerity he is putting in his voice. Then again, maybe he really is that glad to find something familiar in a different realm.
"Perhaps," says Thor. "I know little of the people of your realm. But if you are an archer, come with me. I wish to see your shooting at our range."
"Okay," Clint says. "It's a deal. But wait; won't Loki wonder where we are?"
"The woman can tell him," Thor says dismissively. "We won't take long anyways."
The two men then walk off together, still talking, and Natasha is left alone in the hallway. She leans casually against a wall, waiting.
Loki appears with a firm grip on the arm of a tall, muscular woman. She is not as beautiful as Loki, Natasha thinks, but she is still very attractive, with a sort of warlike elegance. She wears her hair up but it still cascades halfway down her back. She is protesting nearly as loudly as Thor but stops when she sees Natasha.
"I am Natasha Romanoff," Natasha introduces herself. "Some call me the Black Widow. I am a warrior where I come from."
Sif half closes her eyes as she scrutinizes Natasha. Abruptly, she turns to Loki. "I thought you said you brought your follower, not your lover."
"How dare you?" Natasha hisses before Loki can respond. "Loki told me you fought hard for the distinction of being a warrior in this land, and you dare to disrespect me so for my gender."
"Yes, Sif, how very hypocritical," Loki puts in. "And how could I ever love a mortal? They have the life span of fleas. When I choose a woman, she will be a true blooded Aesir, and naught else."
And as always, Loki is Not Helping.
Sif actually looks a little abashed, but says, "Well, what was I supposed to think? You didn't tell me your follower was a woman. I didn't know you even had any woman followers."
"I told you about her when I first made contact," Loki says. "Of course, she was twelve at the time, but she still had red hair so you should have recognized her from my description."
"Ha!" Sif snorts. "You wanted me to make a fool of myself, Loki. But I care not. I will talk with this woman, for I am interested in the affairs of her world."
So Sif and Natasha both lean against a wall together and have a girl to girl talk while completely ignoring Loki.
It is marvelous.
/…/…/
A few hours later, when Loki is content that his follower has seen all he wishes her to see and has recovered in body and mind from her earlier troubles, he gathers her and her hawk and they set out to return to Midgard. This time he has no need to put a sleep charm on them, since he knows they will not protest at returning home as they would have protested going to Asgard in the first place.
He is not sure if the journey is easier or more difficult this way. True, he does not have to carry both the Midgardians on his back like a pack horse, but he also has to keep them out of danger. Travelling the branches of Yggdrasil is perilous, and no mortal could do it alone. He tells them of this so that Natasha won't try it later. Otherwise, he does not know what she would do. She is his follower, after all.
She is annoyed but after the first few times she gets attacked by monsters or almost falls into the void, she agrees that without his protection she would probably die. She is a warrior of her people, but her people do not have to deal with threats like these. Loki is an Aesir and a sorcerer, and he is better equipped.
He does not rush this time, and indeed he cannot rush. The mortals cannot travel as quickly as he can. It takes them a whole day to reach Midgard, and in the end they spend seven hours sleeping in turns so that the mortals do not succumb to exhaustion. It is a good idea for Loki as well. Even the air in this in-between realm puts pressure on him and his magic, and he has done much work today. He is more tired than he believes, and sleeps longer than the hawk, who laughs at him. He makes a mental note to curse the hawk with baldness as soon as he can pass it off as natural and not antagonize his follower.
They arrive in Midgard early the next day, and he teleports them all to a SHIELD base in the backstreets of New York.
Natasha gives him a baleful look and rebukes him, saying, "I thought you said you knew of no SHIELD bases not in helicarriers or submarines."
"I exaggerated," he admits easily. It is not like she believed him earlier anyways, but clearly she does not like being reminded of the trick he played.
She snorts. It's not elegant, but it is typical of her so he does not bring it up. Instead he says, "What do you think of Asgard, then?"
"It's beautiful," she says with a shrug of her shoulders. "But old fashioned. You still have tapestries up in the hallways, and wear long skirts, and have such old styled architecture. If you've developed interplanetary travel, shouldn't the rest of your civilization be more advanced?"
Loki purses his lips. "Well for one thing, I certainly do not wear long skirts. That is for women."
"You do wear long robes though," the hawk says. He clearly has not gotten over Loki's clothing choices for him. He is lucky that Loki gave him and Natasha less conspicuous clothing to wear now that they are back on Midgard. It is for Natasha's sake, of course.
Giving the hawk a look that shows that he does not need to be part of this conversation, Loki is about to give a cutting repartee when he stops. Actually he does want to ask the hawk something, so he is polite instead and says, "I do indeed, sometimes. Hawk, you spent a fair amount of time shooting with my brother. What did you think of him?"
The hawk grins. "So. First of all, call me Clint. As for Thor? He's a good guy. A bit rough around the edges, and he's big on the whole warrior thing, but cool. Like, if I ever get a chance to become some god's follower, I'm following him. Not you."
Of course the hawk would find an opportunity to insult him. Loki grins and bears it, and says, "You would be glad to follow him. Do you think he is prepared to be a king of Asgard?"
"Uh. King?" the hawk says, hesitant. "You guys still do that monarchy stuff? Okay, then. Isn't he a bit young for that?"
"He was around in ancient Scandinavia," Natasha says drily. "I don't think that could be an objection." She pauses. "He does act a little young, considering that."
"Well, it's not like he's gonna be king too soon, right?" the hawk asks. "He told me your dad's still in charge. Unless he's really old and dying."
Loki rolls his eyes. "Of course he's 'really old'. We all are. But he's not dying. For some reason, though, he's decided to crown Thor as soon as possible. I personally do not think this is a good idea."
"Well, yeah," the hawk says. "He's not the guy I'd want running my country. I mean, he's cool and I'd take his orders, but he acts a little wild. I think he'd probably just declare war on everyone or something."
"For a mortal not my follower," Loki muses. "You are a surprisingly good judge of character. I think the same. But it seems my father is determined to have Thor crowned in just a couple years. Unless, of course, something were to happen to show how immature and unprepared Thor is."
"Well then," the hawk says. "Good luck with that. C'mon, Natasha."
Natasha's eyes are narrowed. "You go ahead, Clint. I'll follow in a couple minutes. I need to tell my patron a few things."
The hawk beams. "You tell him, Natasha. Just make sure you follow in a sec."
He walks off, clearly eager to get away from Loki as soon as possible. Loki wonders why he is so disliked. Maybe the man thinks he intends to court Natasha like Sif assumed. He is certainly good looking enough. Then Natasha speaks and draws him out of his thoughts.
"I heard what you said," Natasha says. "You have some qualms about Thor, huh? You're scheming something."
Loki smiles in the most innocent way he knows. "Of course I am."
He teleports away before she can respond.
/.../.../
/.../.../
AN: I like writing Heimdall. The tension between him and Loki is very fun. I also like writing Clint, though I am not sure I pull it off.
Next chapter-See how the events of these two chapters change the events of the movie Thor.