Woo, Chapter fifteen! If you enjoy this chapter, please tell me, because I'm really not liking it. Also thank you to everyone who got me to fifty reviews, you guys are the absolute best, and you'll all get Loki for Christmas. Happy reading!

Chapter 15

"Loki." He rasped, his exhaled air swirling before him like smoke. Loki looked around desperate to find some sort of weapon to defend himself with. Out of pure instinct he shot an arm forward, pushing Natasha behind him, even though he knew she didn't need protecting.

The Other grinned manically. "It's been far too long Laufyson. Did you think that I had left you for good? Did you think that the metal man succeeded in destroying me? Have not your dreams long disproven that theory?" He paced the room like a ravenous wolf, staring down its prey before the attack that was surely coming. It took everything Loki had to stop his hand shaking. Before him was the only creature that had ever inspired fear in him. Not fear of death, not fear of failure either. No. Being around The Other always made Loki realise that he wasn't truly evil. And that thought had terrified to distraction.

The Other nodded to one of the guards, who then proceeded to gingerly place the Berserker Staff inside a contraption that Loki had not noticed before. The room filled with a harsh blue light, and they were not on Midgard anymore.

"They'll report back any minute, Clint you'll see." Bruce said, trying to comfort the anxiously waiting group. They'd been given strict instructions to not interrupt the mission, unless Natasha called for back-up, which Clint repeatedly said she would.

"Thor has faith. That should be enough for us." Steve interjected. Thor gave him a half-hearted smile.

"You know what's driving me crazy?" Clint spat, banging his fist on the window.

"Do tell." Tony answered, taking another sip from his glass. He'd used up all his arguments in Loki's favour. Now all that was left was fatigue and sarcasm. And whiskey.

"I actually thought it was just me being paranoid. That everybody else seemed to think Loki was doing better, so I should. Majority rules, right?" He laughed bitterly.

"And all I can do is hope that I'm wrong about this."

"Sometimes," Thor said, unusually quietly, "there comes no satisfaction with being right."

"Guys." Steve called their attention back to the window. "Something's, not right." They watched as hundreds of birds, flew in the opposite flew overhead as if they were trying to get to something as fast as possible. Or were trying to get away.
Suddenly a terrifyingly familiar, line of glowing blue shot up to the sky, tearing a hole in the dark clouds to reveal thousands of stars, and what looked like the silhouette of a ship.
"I think it's time to suit up." Steve murmured to everybody's agreement.

"Nothings coming out." Bruce mumbled, pulling on his glasses with one swift movement.

"Which means, that something's going in." Tony finished.

Natasha knew they were in trouble of a serious kind. Like the kind where an agent let that tiny voice that was supposed to stay quiet speak. This is it, it kept repeating. This is how I'm going to die. But all the same, she couldn't help but squirm in delight at the fact that she was probably the first human to set foot on an alien spaceship.

So the Russians won the space race after all… She thought to herself smugly. Not that she would live to tell the tale, obviously.

Finally they stopped outside a narrow door. The Chitauri guard hauled them into the room by the shoulders, before sliding the door closed behind him.

"He seems pleasant." Natasha said sarcastically, massaging her shoulder where the guard had pulled her. "A friend of yours?"

Loki didn't seem to acknowledge her, only paced the tiny room back and forth.

"Natasha, I'm sorry. I should have told you." Loki said bitterly, placing a hand on her elbow, drawing her closer to him.

Natasha felt the colour drain from her face. She shoved him a way sharply.

"You knew this was going to happen? Are you a part of this, is this some sick way to get your revenge?"

"Heaven's no, I'm not behind this… but yes I did have an inkling that this was going to happen."

Natasha's face softened when she figured out what he meant. "Loki they were nightmares! Even if you had tried to tell me about it, I'd never have believed they'd come true."

Loki sighed, pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

"Natasha I'm no stranger to premonitions. And the nightmares have varied since I last described them to you."

Natasha raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Oh? What's change-" She never got to finish the sentence, because Loki pulled her into an embrace, kissing her fervently, desperate to hold her before she left him forever.

"They're going to kill you Natalia."

Loki's words repeated in Natasha mind, over and over, as she tried to mangle some meaning behind them. Of course she understood what Loki had said, but how to get out of it. It was always the same. Always, when she was faced with death did she remember her passion for living.

They had been separated seconds after Loki's outburst, Natasha dragged out of the room by her hair. Usually she would have fought tooth and nail, but not this time. Where had she to run to?
After endless hours of waiting and wondering, the heavy metal (Natasha could only assume it was metal) door slid open revealing a procession of guards and then The Other himself.

"Romanoff, am I correct?" He snarled, his voice grating as if it hurt him to speak.

"One of my many names." Natasha answered, deciding to play it safe, keeping her expression cool bordering on indifference.

"So I've heard. I've been watching you. I cannot fathom why a being as primitive as yourself can captivate a God so fully."

"I'm good at my job." She answered with a shrug. The Other made some sort of attempt at a smile.

"Another thing I've observed about you is that you're good at deciding what's best for you in a situation, as all animals are. So, I'm going to offer you an ultimatum, and I trust you won't let any personal regard for Loki get in the way?" He wheezed. He finished with a loud cough, some dark, thick fluid spewing from his mouth. Natasha began to wonder if he had been injured when Tony blew up his planet. But she was more curious about his offer.

"I'm all ears." She said, her voice disinterested, though she felt the complete opposite.

"You can stay here, in this cell, and take all the torture that was meant for Loki, while he is let free, to live the rest of his immortal life in peace, knowing that you, the woman that he very clearly loves, is being slowly, brutally, torn apart, inside and out." He said, wiping his mouth that was still dripping slightly.
"Or you can walk away, out that door, be transported back to your imperfect Earth, while Loki remains here to bear his punishment, knowing that you saved yourself, and let him suffer." He finished with a mad glint in his eye, knowing that either way she chose she could not win.

Natasha only deliberated for a moment, before she stood up and made her way to the door.