The shouts of the archer were impossible to miss as he demanded explanation from Loki about why-how-when did it happen and what the fuck was even happening? He cracked his hand decking the demigod when Loki suggested Natasha and himself weren't close enough, the former spy able to hear it in the next room. Though they'd been making good progress, Natasha thought, it wasn't enough to keep her brain from overloading itself as it fought to keep up, without anyone else Natasha's subconscious thought was strong or close enough to her to carry some of the burden of her memories. There was only so much that magic could do, after all, according to Loki. Physical proximity, creating new bonds as well as maintaining old ones, all were important to the process.

Clint instead put his fist through the wall, making Natasha jump, when Loki explained just how he proposed forming the strong bonds with Natasha. That was going well. She turned away from the noise of it all after that, not wanting to be the cause for any more fighting, but every time she closed her eyes all she could damn well see was the bloodied gums and teeth of Ivan-of Clint-of whatever, and the black teeth. Was it just a result of them not being close enough, she wondered? Loki didn't seem to think so, though perhaps once all her memories were back it would be in the past. She certainly hoped. And if she lost the memories of the monster in the process . . . well she wouldn't mourn, would she?

Loki found her huddled in bed, a book in front of her that she wasn't quite reading, but more or less looking at for the lack of something better to do. It didn't help to take her mind off, but at least it looked as though she wasn't ready to be disturbed.

"Are you doing alright?" He asked, voice quiet as he stepped towards her, movements slow and telegraphed even if her back was to her. She appreciated it, not bothering to mark the page as she shut the book and placed it to the side, sitting up to look at him. She let the sheet shift off of her, revealing that she wasn't wearing anything, and Loki's eyes did a double take as he fixated on her bare breasts. She swallowed hard, watching as he forced himself to return his gaze to her own, and she offered him a smile as she held out her hand. The smile was shaky at best, and it was all she could do to keep her arm from being the same.

"Natasha, what're you doing?" Loki asked, voice thick with concern as he stepped towards her, taking her hand in his. He frowned. "Your skin is freezing."

"I need you to help me, Loki," she said. "I want . . . I heard what you said. About the physical proximity not being enough. I mean, it's what you started saying from the beginning. If we want this to work then some level of intimacy is required."

"I didn't say it to force you into something-." Even as his heart pounded through his veins and his gaze swept back over her breasts. She arched her back slightly and watched as his adam's apple bobbed.

"You're not forcing me to do anything," she promised, pulling him a little closer. Why did it feel like this was simply muscle memory? Even as her fingers roved upwards, traced over the finely toned parts of his abdomen, felt the muscle beneath the skin as she ran her nails over his, she couldn't help but feel as though she'd done it a hundred times over. Maybe not with him, but with others.

At least this time she would enjoy it, she was certain. It was of her own volition, her own choice as she'd told him, and she looked forward to it. Loki shuddered and his eyes grew glassy as he watched her cheeks flush under his attention, though her own gaze never lowered. Her lips found his, pushing pas them with her tongue as she had a half dozen or so times. He tasted sweet and of confusion, as if he still wasn't convinced of what they were doing, even if he'd been the one to suggest it. At least he was sweet enough to make sure he'd never pressured her, she supposed. One of her hands snaked down past the top of his jeans, massaging him through the fabric as he shuddered beneath her attention. Actions always seemed to work better than words anyway. His shirt was easy to shuck off when they parted for breath, and she tugged him closer with a hand on his hair when they finally pressed together once more. He leaned atop her when she pulled him far enough, bucking her hips up against his and grinning when he moaned, low and guttural. The noise reverberated inside her.

"Still having second thoughts?" She teased, gasping for oxygen.

"Shut up," he muttered, drawing a line from her lips to her throat with his teeth and tongue. She shuddered and her hands found his belt, slipping it off from his jeans and tossing it to the side, his pants following shortly afterwards. He didn't believe in underwear, apparently, and Nat just couldn't find it in her to complain. She'd been looking forward to this for so long, looking forward to exploring the strong connection that had thrummed so deeply inside them for so long, crescendoing into a roar that deafened her.

She was slick enough that, as she wrapped her legs around his hips, he filled her right up without any issue. She gasped, eyes wide and his groan was shared between them both, her name ghosting over her skin as he kissed down her throat. It was exquisite, better than the making out they'd done, better than falling asleep together.

"Wh-why haven't-hng-we don't this before?" She gasped the last word as he pulled out from inside her, then thrust back in. Her ankles locked behind him, drawing him even further to her with a whimper.

"Hush," he teased. "Just enjoy." He shot her a half grin as he moved once more within her. She whimpered, biting down on her bottom lip as he kissed and nipped at her neck and collarbone. She'd have marks the next day, marks that would inflame Clint she was certain. Perhaps that was what Loki was going for, the added bonus, driving into her at such a quick pace it was all she could do to hold on. Her nails left half moons on hs back, the marks red and nearly cutting the skin as her whimpers grew in volume.

"So tight," he groaned in her ear, hips snapping against hers harder, the blunt head of his cock hitting a bundle of nerves deep inside her. She didn't know she could feel this way, but at least her body knew how ot react, falling into an easy, fast rhythm that Loki set without issue. Her whimpering turned into a low keen of pleasure as she felt something strange starting to overcome her.

"L-Loki," she stuttered, feeling her cheeks heating up when his eyes fixed on hers, mouth hanging open. What the hell was happening? "I think-I don't know what's-."

He grinned and kissed her deep. "Come on, love. Come for me."

Her question was cut off as he angled his hips downward once more, hitting that same, strange bundle of nerves. At the same time one of his hands moved between them, thumb pressing hard against her clit.

Her vision whited out as she felt her body tighten around his, back arching and his name forced out of her throat in a choked scream as he hurried to join her. She felt hot, too hot for her skin, and aching in the best sort of ways in the strangest of places, her chest and head hurting the moment. As her vision went white she thought she saw a hundred or so different faces flash before her eyes, some of them familiar-Clint, Ivan from the Red Room, a man she knew only as Winter Soldier from one of her other memories, but most of them blurred together.

She was shaking when she finally came down to her body, Loki trembling inside of her as he stilled and fought to catch his breath. When he pulled out of her she let him go with a loud, almost pained groan, and the onslaught of memories ceased immediately. Curious, but she didn't have the mind to consider it. Not then. No, she felt the exhaustion hit her as though she'd been slammed into by a truck, her eyes draping halfway as she watched him roll off to the side. She grinned.

"I ask you again," she slurred the last two words. "Why didn't we do that before?"

She fell asleep soon after, Loki having used magic to clean them off, and this time she dreamt of the past. At least, she thought so. It felt that way, familiar in a strange, nostalgic sort of sense, but everything was just a little too dark, as though someone had turned down the sun and the stars, and the lights around them. A man sat in front of her that wasn't supposed to be there, his dark curled hair an unruly mess atop his head, dark bags under his eyes showing how little sleep he'd gotten, and when he looked up at her his eyes were as black and beady as the ones that Ivan had had prior. Even in her dream she felt her heart speed up, her body go tense, as he rose from the bed he'd sat on and stepped towards her with even footsteps.

"You're a tricky one to get alone," he said, voice deeper than it ought to have been. She would've guessed his age around early twenties, yet he sounded as though he'd come from the dawn of time, each word ringing with an awful finite nature, his footsteps echoing the steady drum of her heart.

"You shouldn't be here." She said, and she, too, sounded far too young to her own ears, as though she was a child again. Her feet dragged her backwards, away from the encroaching man, and as he neared she found herself having to look up to him. Her brain struggled to wrap around the realities of the situation as she swallowed her fear and struggled to put on a brave face. He snagged her chin in his cold, clammy hand and tightened his grip. She shuddered.

"I was put here to bring chaos, and so chaos you shall become. You're so close now." His lips parted in a horrifying mimic of a grin, teeth blackened with old blood and his eyes bugging and near popping out of his skull as he leered down at her. Her lips opened to scream but no noise came out, even as the oxygen left her lungs and they cried out for more. His hand holding her chin forced itself into her mouth, tightened on her tongue as though he meant to pull it out, and-.

She flipped Loki onto his back, her hand pressing hard against his steel coated windpipe as she snarled down at him, hair falling into her face as her thighs tightened on either side of his hips.

The very real fear in his eyes was more than enough to snap her out of it, and she scampered back away from him so quickly she fell off the bed, a tangle of trembling limbs and whimpers that threatened to escape her naked form lying prone on the ground. The noise had attracted the attention of the other guys, who burst into the room just as Loki had joined Natasha on the ground, trying to coax her into his arms. She wasn't having any of it, yet this time when Clint tried to move him, thinking he might be able to pull off the feat once more, Loki refused to budge. He closed in on Natasha as she pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed, sniffling into the privacy of her lap as she took fistfulls of hair and tugged. If she felt pain it was real-it had to be-right?

Loki's eyes were beaded and blacked and he lunged for her when she finally forced herself to look back up.

She woke up to bloody palms and Loki trying to shake her away as she blinked back furious tears of pain, her eyes darting around. Was she awake?

Would she ever be again? And how the hell was she supposed to be able to tell?

A/N: This is where things start to get fun, and again take a turn towards M as far as content is concerned. I am a huge fan of Teen Wolf, and if anyone reading this is up to date with the show . . . well you might have an idea of where this is going.

Also I continue to get comments about Clint being able to hold Loki up before, and I realize that it is incredibly unrealistic, though within the heat of the moment regular humans have done some very incredible things, especially in defense of another whom they care about. I hope that the end of this chapter shed a little light to the idea that Loki wasn't fighting against Barton when he did that, and that Clint was only able to do it because Loki allowed it, and that we can move on from that hiccup.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed and you stick around for the continuation of this!