Chapter 4

"Go greet him as your lover - that's just perfect," Natasha thought to herself. There were so many ways this could go wrong. "Here goes nothing."

Natasha walked up behind Loki, slipping her arms gently around his neck as she pressed a light kiss to the side of his face. "Lucas," she whispered, using SHIELD's agreed upon alias. He imperceptibly tensed, before bringing a hand up to stroke her arm as he smiled.

"Is everything alright, Darling." He smiled, reaching out to finger a red curl, flirting with her as he made eye contact.

"I am ready to go," she replied.

Loki pushed his chair away from the table. She thought he would get up, but instead, he pulled her into his lap. "Something's wrong," he tried, his brows furrowing into a frown as he probed for an explanation of her strange behavior.

"You're ignoring me with work again," she pouted. "I just want to go."

"My apologies." He turned off the screen before pressing a gentle, completely believable kiss, soft and warm, to her lips. "Your wish is my command."

Natasha stood, feeling warm and fuzzy. She had not expected such a gentle gesture. It was as though he had been waiting for permission to kiss her and had eagerly taken the opportunity. Loki slid the phone into his pocket and then wrapped an arm around her, holding her smaller form against his as they walked out of the café and into the adjoining alleyway. As they rounded the corner where a van was now waiting, rough hands grabbed the pair. Durov shoved Loki face first into the wall and pressed the muzzle of a pistol into the back of his head.

"What's your name?" he demanded

Natasha tensed, waiting for an eruption of green magic from a very angry God of Mischief. She had to admit that it would be highly amusing, but thankfully, Loki continued to play his part.

"Natalie?" his voice stuttered. Damn, he was good. He actually sounded terrified.

"Answer the question!"

"Get them into the van," a man yelled in Russian from the driver's side of a van. "We don't want to make a scene."

The pair climbed into the van at gunpoint. Loki glanced at Natasha as the door slid shut, and she offered a negative nod to keep him from reacting.

"Now, we try again." Durov said. "What is your name?"

"Lu … Lucas Laufeyson," Loki babbled. "Take my wallet, my phone, me even - just don't hurt Natalie."

"What is it you do, Mr. Laufeyson?"

Durov removed his phone and wallet from his pockets and looked through the driver's licence and credit cards supplied by SHIELD, all under the name of Lucas Laufeyson.

"I'm a consultant … ancient languages. I am translating an artifact for a client right now … Sino-Tibetan runes …. on my phone if you wish to see … really quite fascinating …"

"Okay, enough," Durov barked. "How did you meet 'Natalie'?"

"Natalie?" Loki glanced at her, a small innocent smile twisting his lips. He looked completely in love with her. "She interviewed me for a contract - actually, it was more of an interrogation than an interview." Natasha choked to hold back a bark of laughter. "I got the job, of course. She asked me out to lunch nearly a year later, drawing me reluctantly away from my work, but I suppose it was beneficial in the long run that I went with her."

Durov looked at Natasha, rolling his eyes, before speaking to her in Russian. "He has no clue, does he?"

"No," she responded in Russian.

"If you cooperate, maybe Kiriyev won't hurt him," he continued in Russian. Natasha nodded in return. "I will leave you to think about that."

Durov got out of the van, leaving three of his lackeys with guns trained on the pair. The van started up and rumbled out of the alley before pulling into traffic. After a moment, Loki whispered something under his breath then laughed out loud. Natasha shot him an irritated glance.

"Relax, Darling," Loki practically purred. "They can't hear us and all they see is a very distraught man holding the love of his life. Now perhaps you can enlighten me … did you truly ask me to breakfast or was it just an elaborate ruse to get me to participate in this mission ..."

"Believe me, all I wanted was food and maybe conversation," Natasha interrupted. " I thought I left these thugs behind in Kiev. I usually don't have to worry about being jumped so close to the tower."

"So I assume you want to see where their base of operations is, and that is why we are going along with this charade," Loki prompted.

"Yes."

"A familiar strategy … I may have seen it before … allowing oneself to be captured in order to compromise the enemy's lair."

Natasha laughed and rolled her eyes at Loki.

Suddenly, in the distance, Loki heard thunder on what was an otherwise a clear and sunny day. "Damn," he murmured, glancing up. "Heimdall, I insist you tell Thor that I am not in any danger and that his intrusion in this matter may greatly jeopardize Lady Natasha's mission." The next thing they heard was the distinctive rumbling of the Bifrost tearing open the sky in the distance. "I hope he listens," Loki murmured.

"Or at least gives us enough time?" she added. Subtlety was not one of Thor's strengths.

"I have questions," Loki said, glancing at her. "What is our objective and what is the appropriate amount of force to use once we arrive?"

"I need answers from a man named Yegor Kiriyev, gray hair, beard. I need to know why he risked setting foot in New York. The rest … if they attack, feel free to use whatever force is needed. They will be trying to kill us, after all."

A small, wicked looking dagger materialized in his hand, and he looked the blade over. "I'm jealous," she whispered. He smiled and handed her the knife to conceal.

"I have others," he replied as the van came to a halt. "So, " he sighed. "Spare the one that looks like Odin and show no mercy to the rest. I think I can handle this. I will wait for your signal."

The door to the van opened and Durov motioned with a pistol. "Alright, let's go." Loki jumped from the back of the van, turning to take Natasha's hand and help her down, still playing his part. She knew he was dissecting every detail of his surroundings, yet still managed to look absolutely terrified. They entered a warehouse and were led upstairs to an open area where two chairs were waiting. The spy and god allowed themselves to be bound; then, the one with grey hair and beard, Kiriyev, approached Natasha.

"You eluded me in Kiev." A hand sharply struck her across the face. "But, I finally have captured the famous Black Widow."

"Natalie … what is he talking about?" Loki asked with heightened alarm in his voice.

"Silence," Kiriyev said, smiling as he turned his attention to Loki. "They tell me that Mr. Laufeyson here is dear to you." He pulled out a pistol and chambered a round. "I expect you to answer my questions."

"I will cooperate," Natasha replied, sounding resigned and defeated.

"Now, why were you in Kiev?"

"I was following a stolen shipment of missiles. Our intelligence said they were going to a man named, Dima Vasiliev ..."

"You lie," Kiriyev interrupted. The Russian grabbed Loki's hair and used it to pull his head back so that he could press the muzzle of a pistol to the side of the god's head. "I have been careful to not use that alias in Kiev."

So, Kiriyev was Vasiliev. That solved one mystery and made it all the more important to capture him. He knew more than she could tease out of him under the circumstances. "Are you good to go, Love?" Natasha asked Loki.

"I am way ahead of you, Darling." The response came as Natasha felt the ropes binding her wrists cut behind her.

Kiriyev fired off a shot, the illusion of Loki vanishing as two daggers fired off with a burst of green, embedding themselves in the necks of the men to either side of him. Natasha rolled before he could fire at her. Springing to her feet, she attempted to find her place in the maelstrom that was Loki. He was a blur of emerald energy, fast with those knives, already taking down two more men before Natasha could even get her bearings.

Another lunged at her, Natasha used his arm to swing up and wrap her thighs around his neck, pulling him down to slam his head to the ground. At the same time, she lifted his gun, firing a shot off to another approaching guard.

"Kiriyev made a run for it" she yelled out to Loki.

"I'll find him," Loki called back before disappearing in a flash of green.

Five more guards flooded into the space. Natasha picked up a gun and one of Loki's dagger, but stopped her assault when a familiar shield flew by, slamming into two of them.

"There's a helicopter approaching on the upper level," Captain Rogers called out.

"I can't let Kiriyev escape …"

Natasha was cut off as Loki appeared, threw an arm around her, and suddenly she was stumbling on the roof, dizzy from the abrupt transport. A shot rang out and Loki spun her around, the bullet bouncing harmlessly off his back - when had he put on armor?

Loki went to throw a knife, pausing as Mjolnir flew by and splintered the blades of the helicopter. Kiriyev fired another round at Loki, hitting him dead in the chest with each shot. Yet another illusion vanished, and the god was standing behind Kiriyev, dagger to his throat.

"You only live because she needs you alive," Loki hissed as he pushed the Russian over to where Natasha was waiting.

"Brother!"

Loki groaned as Thor approached and clasped his shoulder.

"Heimdall was to relay to you that we were well."

"Aye, he did, but I was excited to see you as part of the team. It's been so long since I fought at your side."

"I am not part of the team, Thor," Loki grmbled, armor fading back into the clothing he had worn to breakfast. "I just happened to be with Agent Romanoff." Loki glanced at Natasha. "She needed my help."

"Fury wants to talk to you," Rogers said to Natasha. "Quinjet's waiting for you to take Kiriyev in."

"Do you want to come with me?" Natasha asked Loki. "You helped take him down."

"If it is not crucial, I think I will return to the tower," the god replied, obviously uncomfortable with the extra attention. "I would like to make more progress on the artifact."

"Okay, I will check in later."

"Brother …"

"Later, Thor," Loki snipped as he blinked from existence, teleporting back to the safety of his rooms, Natasha assumed.

"Give him time, Thor," Natasha told the bewildered Norse god.

"I apologize - we missed that Kiriyev was on the move," Fury said as Natasha entered his office.

"I'm glad he's in custody - maybe we can get some of these arms off the black market."

Fury pinned her down with his uncovered eye. "I'm impressed - you got Loki out of the tower. Care to share anything?"

"I was able to establish some trust … we talked."

Apparently her body language conveyed she wasn't going to share much. "Anything I should know about?" Fury asked.

"He was definitely under duress when he came for the Tesseract - much worse than we could have imagined." In truth, his descriptions of what had been done by the Other still rattled her. "I would have broke," she offered. "But, he continued to fight it even while he was here."

"And now?"

"He's stable," Natasha told him. "I don't think we have anything to worry about from him."

"So, you've seen him in action now," Fury continued, leaning back in his chair. "Tell me about his skill set."

"I don't know where to start," Natasha said with a dry laugh. "He's a natural as a spy, followed my lead on the fly and fell right into his part."

"Combat?"

"Nothing brash like Thor - fast, deadly, surgical," she said. "I couldn't keep track of him, and I don't think I've seen even half of his magical abilities. He can actually teleport from one location to another. It is glaringly obvious now that he wasn't even trying when he attacked New York."

"Do you trust him?"

"After our talk last night - after today … absolutely," she replied.

"Let him finish with the artifact - keep talking, gauge his interest." Natasha stood, nodding an affirmative. "Barton was your partner for a long time, and I know he's irreplaceable. But, I don't like you out there without backup."

The room used by the Avengers for training was blessedly empty this late at night. Loki hoped he would not be interrupted. Although he was accomplished in magic and combat, both still required practice. Between the titan's 'hospitality' and Asgard's dungeons, he had trained very little. It had felt good today to stretch his magic and let his blades fly, and with such a worthy companion. After conjuring and throwing daggers for a while, he sat down on the floor in the middle of the room.

Loki's seidr glowed green and then spread out from him, trees rising from a carpet of green grass to a sunny cloudless sky. He turned his head, stretching the illusion to form a small ivy-covered terrace. Frigga sat in her favorite chair, weaving at her loom. She lifted a hand to wave at him, a bright smile creasing her eyes as it always did when she saw him.

"This place is beautiful."

The illusion flickered, surprise straining his concentration for just a moment. Loki doubted Natasha even noticed.

"It's my mother's garden," he replied, not bothering to disguise the fondness in his voice. "I came here often on Asgard, when I wasn't in the library. I practiced a lot of magic here, especially as a young child."

"I didn't mean to intrude," Natasha said softly. "I will leave you to your mother's garden."

"You are not intruding," Loki replied. "I did not expect to find anyone here in the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep - still a bit jet-lagged from Kiev." The garden faded away to the barren walls of the training room. "Would you show me somewhere else?"

Loki thought for a moment, then magic surged out from him again, bathing the floor and walls in glimmering gold, pillars rising to vaulted, muraled ceilings. In front of them stood the throne of Asgard, in all its splendid glory. Natasha's eyes lit up in delight, a soft awestruck smile creasing her features. Loki felt like he would conjure anything to see that smile again. She approached one of the pillars and touched it, her hands passing through it.

"It is only a simple illusion," he told her. "A memory, really."

"But you can make an illusion solid - that's what you did today when Kiriyev had a gun to your head?"

"Yes," Loki replied, or at least a Loki that appeared behind her. Natasha whirled around to face it. "It requires more complex magic and concentration," the double said as it picked her hand up to show her it was more solid. "But, I seldom have need of anything that elaborate. A simple illusion is usually enough. And besides," he stood up from his spot on the ground and twenty different Loki's appeared across the room. "I can create more illusions, when details are not as pressing. Can you figure out which is the real me?"

"Of course, you are standing right there."

She reached to tag him, but her hand passed right through, dissipating the double. All the Loki's laughed lightly in unison. One by one they faded, Natasha whirling around to find the real Loki standing directly behind her.

"Shall I test your mettle?"

"I am hardly a match for a god," she replied.

"Training outside our strengths, with different partners pushes us," he said with a smirk. "I have often sparred with Thor, without my magic, simply because he is stronger than I am."

"How's that usually work out for you?"

"Not well," he admitted. "But, I learn a lot."

"So, hand-to-hand combat, no weapons, no magic?" she asked. "I still think you have a distinct advantage. I at least want my widow's bites."

"Very well."

The pair stepped to the center of the mat, both circling each other as they studied the opponent. Natasha attacked first, Loki easily sidestepping the advance. He whirled around to attack, but Natasha dropped to the ground, sweeping his feet out from under him with her leg. The god fell back, but rolled and quickly sprang to his feet. Both assailants exchanged jabs until Loki knocked her to the mat and pinned her by the neck. Her eyes widened in fear, lips trembling, and he eased up on his grip.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

To his surprise, Natasha smiled and abruptly launched him over her head with her legs. He landed with a thud. "I can't believe I fell for that," he groaned.

"Well, at least chivalry isn't dead in Asgard," she said, springing forward and trying to pin him.

The game continued, each exchanging jabs and kicks until Natasha took Loki by surprise, grasping his wrists and throwing her whole weight against his body. They toppled over with the momentum, Natasha jolting his body with electricity from her widow's bites as he fell to the ground flat on his back. Hands still around his wrists, she straddled his body to pin him to the ground.

"Stay down," she growled, leaning in close to his face. Her eyes were lit with determination and her cheeks reddened from exertion. Despite her sweat-drenched hair, she was beautiful.

Though Loki could have easily thrown her, they froze that way for a moment, both suddenly aware of their proximity and position but neither moving to do anything about it. They were close, so close, they were breathing the same air. Loki knew he needed to move, needed to break her spell and remove himself from such a compromising position. The mage began reciting the recipe for a sleeping draught in his mind to maintain focus but stumbled over the ingredients, highly aware that if he were just a little closer their lips would meet in a kiss every bit as sweet as the one he had stolen earlier in the day. Loki lifted his head, realizing Natasha was leaning in closer as well. Her hands slid upward from his wrists, fingers threading with his as he gently brushed his lips against hers.

"Brother?" came Thor's hesitant voice from across the room.

Well, that definitely broke the spell.

"The Norns hate me," Loki whispered breathlessly against Natasha's lips as he disappeared from beneath her, teleporting back to his rooms.