And to my wonderful readers: a second chapter!
Natasha wanted to scream. To jump up and down, rip her hair out and scream from the top of her lungs. Instead she paced. She was going to make a rut in the damned room that Tony had designated as hers. It was designed to mimic her code name: black widow. Which the art had to be picked out by Pepper because it was sleek and beautiful abstract with reds and blacks. Though they were a tantrum away from being out the window.
The last three days had been nothing but irritating. Aside from Loki, everyone was allowed to leave the tower but her. Clint had taken full advantage of the situation and had hardly been seen in the last three days. After dealing with Loki he had practically vanished. This left no one to really spar with.
She had called Steve and even left him some text messages but the Captain had yet to answer. Bruce and Tony were busy going over the computers trying to find the wavelength or source of Loki's magic. They claimed they were close and continuously snagged the god of mischief away. At first Natasha had thought this a good thing. She didn't want to deal with him after she had kissed him, but now she had to deal with another horrible fact: she missed his stupid ass.
If she ever was alone with Loki then Thor showed up. Then it was a toss-up on who would dart of first, her or Loki. Natasha stopped in front of her dresser and picked up the flower that was wilted. She frowned at it and set it back on the dresser instead of tossing it in the wastebasket. I'm losing my mind being cooped up here.
Loki pulled off one of the blackened sensors and handed it over to Bruce. Bruce sighed and held it up in the light. "Well, these are useless."
"You should have enough now, shouldn't you?" Loki questioned as he pulled the others off.
"Is that why you torched them?" Tony took one of them and eyed it.
"It was an accident," Loki shrugged. He leaned against one of the tables as Bruce tossed the sensors in the trash.
"Is your magic based on emotion?" Bruce asked.
Loki tilted his head and furrowed his brow.
"When you get angry, are you likely to use magic on accident?" Bruce offered.
"I was not angry," Loki sighed. "But yes, my magic is much more temperamental when I am."
"So, Thor pissed you off and you burned the sensors," Tony offered.
"No," Bruce and Loki said at the same time.
Loki glanced at Bruce, and Bruce sighed, "the sensors indicated that Loki was asleep before they…stopped working."
"Wait," Tony smirked. "Are we talking a nightmare?"
Loki rolled his eyes, "I don't get nightmares."
"Everyone gets nightmares," Tony told him. "Actually I've had at least seven involving me being tossed out a window."
Loki smirked.
"So," Bruce decided to change the subject. "So, it's possible that spikes in magic may just be you being emotional."
"Possibly," Loki tugged his tunic back on. "When I was small I would have to be calm to perform spells. Emotions made it more erratic. As I got older, I became more proficient. Though performing a spell when angry….could lead to possible side effects."
Loki flopped down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. They knew what had happened immediately. He had been asleep and then everything around him had gotten scorched. He had thankfully kicked off his fur blanket at the beginning of the nightmare but he had to use a spell to fix the bed. Lately, every time Loki fell asleep he would be back in that hell with Thanos looming over him. Thanos tearing him apart piece by piece. Thanos laughing. Loki sighed, it must be because he was feeling anxious that the evil bastard was due to be here in just four weeks. And that was if Loki's calculations were correct.
The elevator dinged and he decided not to move. Darcy had been trying to get everyone to play this game with her call 'Dance, Dance' and he didn't want to deal with it. He could hear the fridge open and then someone cursing in a different language: Tasha.
Loki called over his shoulder, "there's the tiny cakes in the left cabinet."
Natasha made her way over and looked down at the god, "the cupcakes are gone. Thor ate them this morning."
"We need more food then," Loki grinned at her.
"Maybe if you Asgardians didn't eat so much," Natasha turned and headed back to the kitchen.
"Are you angry with me?"
Natasha turned to see Loki had sat up to look over the back of the couch. "No." She turned again and went to get a sandwich.
"You're going to lie to the god of lies?" Loki questioned.
Natasha took a deep breath and turned, "Why do you care?"
Loki shrugged. "Considering there are only a few people in this tower that are willing to hold a conversation with me-one of them I can't stand and the rest are busy."
Natasha opened her mouth to answer but her phone buzzed. She looked at the text and then back at Loki, "consider me busy too." She headed out of the room without another word.
Natasha kicked the dummy that was in front of her and it flew several feet to her right. She clenched her fists and went to go get the damn thing. She stopped when she saw Loki leaning against the wall of the gym.
"I thought you were busy," Loki said.
Natasha pursed her lips, "Fury wanted to see me about a mission."
"And?" Loki tilted his head.
Natasha looked at him and shrugged, "I no longer protect you but I am to make sure you don't kill Clint."
"That's no fun," Loki smirked.
Natasha put the dummy back up and started to punch at it again.
"I assume also collect information on me?" Loki made his way over to the angry Avenger.
Natasha continued to punch the dummy, "If you could just give me a list of your greatest weaknesses and fears then I might be able to get out of this horrible fucking place."
Loki raised his eyebrows at her.
Natasha shook her head, she didn't want to explain this to him.
"You want to spar?" Loki offered.
"You hate sparring," Natasha sighed.
"No, I hate sparring with Thor," Loki began to circle her. "I will not do any magic."
"Going to take it easy on me?" Natasha frowned.
Loki shook his head, "no."
Natasha made her way to the god, laying into him with punches. He deflected most of them. She was certain that the few she did land didn't hurt him much. She kicked at him but he was able to deflect most of those too. It was almost like she was fighting against a moving dummy. Something that took her blows without her having to chase after it or worry about it breaking. She was able to attack him at full force which she enjoyed immensely.
Then he began to spar back. He fought smart, like she had seen him do with Thor. He wasn't out to throw wild punches hoping that he might land a hit. He would whip around blocking her moves until he found an opening and took it. When he took it she knew about it. He wasn't kicking at her, but landing punches only. And those punches hurt. Though when Natasha pulled back she realized that they should have hurt a lot more.
"You're taking it easy on me," she accused.
"I am matching your strength, Tasha." Loki informed her.
Tasha made a running jump, wrapped her legs around Loki's head and sent him to the floor. She smirked down at him. He smirked back up from the floor.
"I must say, that is possibly the best way to be thrown to the floor."
"Shut up," Natasha rolled her eyes.
Loki pulled himself up into sitting position and looked up at her. "I know of a better way to get rid of that stress."
"I'm sure you do," Natasha held her hand out for him. Loki took it and allowed her to help him off the floor.
"Contrary to popular belief, I don't extend that invitation to everyone," Loki told her.
"Our beliefs have you extending that invitation to anything that moves," Natasha grinned.
Loki shook his head.
The gym door opened, "hey Nat-"
Loki and Natasha turned to see Clint in his workout clothes. His hand went into his gym bag where Natasha knew a gun was.
"Thanks for sparring," Natasha told Loki.
Loki shrugged and headed for the door. He winked at Clint as he walked by which earned him a glare.
As soon as the door shut Clint turned, "You're sparring with him?"
"I was sparring by myself and he showed up," Natasha told him. "What's wrong with sparring?"
"He's the enemy," Clint frowned. "You don't show your best moves to the enemy."
"He already knows my moves, my past and a bunch of other things thanks to you," Natasha bit out. She sighed and looked up at Clint who was glaring at her. "Sorry, I've had a bad day."
Clint shrugged, "Let's just spar or something."
Natasha crossed her arms, "Fury still won't let me leave. He thinks that the criminals in Manhattan know who I am because of the press footage from when SHIELD stopped."
"He told me," Clint frowned. "We need you to fight this upcoming war, Nat. We can't lose you to some idiot on the streets."
She pursed her lips. Sure it sounded like he was worried about her but it felt like they didn't think she could take care of herself. Didn't I get the bad guys last time? All on my own! Well, Loki helped-But you don't know that!
"Come on, let's train a bit," Clint smiled at her.
Within a few minutes, Natasha found herself having to keep herself in check. Clint was giving it his all but with hand-to-hand combat he was clearly outmatched. She wished she had sparred longer with Loki. That way she could get more of her pent up energy out.
She knocked Clint to the floor. He groaned before getting up and she realized the only way she was going to get rid of her pent up energy with Clint was to screw him. He was not challenging her enough here in the gym. Honestly, he wouldn't challenge her anymore in the bedroom but at least she would get what she needed out of it.
Anticipation began to drive her. That knowledge that she would be getting a release to her rage and frustration made her fight harder and longer. She was going to wear him out until he needed her like she needed him.
It was midnight when they realized how long they had been at it. Hours on end with nothing but combat. Sweat poured off of them. Clint's wiped his forehead and grabbed water out of his bag. He tossed one to Natasha. She grabbed it and they made their way out of the gym.
The walk to their rooms was filled with heavy breathing and the sloshes of water in their bottles. Clint started to pause at Natasha's room but she continued down the hall. They made it to his door and he opened it. Just as Natasha started to follow him he turned.
"Good night, Nat," he said and closed the door.
Natasha gripped the wall of the shower tightly and frowned. She honestly sucked at being able to do this herself. She moved her fingers against the bud which made her arch. But continuous rubbing did nothing but make her whimper with no sign of release. She sighed and gave up, now feeling more on edge that she did to start with.
She finished cleaning up and donned on a bathrobe. She contemplating trying to finish herself off again as she dried her hair. A few minutes later Natasha set the hair dryer aside and decided against it. If she tried again she would get more frustrated and end up in the gym again. She tossed the robe aside, enjoying the freedom of walking around her room nude. She had inspected the room countless times for cameras and had not found anything yet. Probably because Tony knew that all hell would break loose if she did find one.
The red head headed for the bed when something caught her eye: the black and red wilted tulip still lay on the dresser. Natasha picked it up and frowned. She tossed the flower into the wastebasket.
Please review! I'll probably post tomorrow (hopefully) and if not it will be the next day. I hope you guys like these and the next one to come. :D