Settling into the wrought-iron chair with an almost inaudible sigh, Natasha adjusted the seat cushion under her and let one hand rest on the table. The waiter, impeccably dressed and a small and professional smile on his face, came up beside her and quietly asked what she would be drinking. She murmured to him in Italian and leaned back in her chair as he left, watching people stroll by the little restaurant.

It was a beautiful day- sun shining and no harsh wind barreling through the roads. The Mediterranean some yards away over the cobblestone walkways was calm and blue, seagulls flying over it in search of food.

The waiter returned with her drink and took her order, swiping the menu away that she had barely glanced at. Looking back out over the throngs of tourists and locals, she took note of a couple that appeared while she had looked away. Two men, one tall and lean, dark-haired and leaning against a stone wall; the other that sat atop it- blond and muscled. Natasha's breath left her in a short huff and the corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile.

A year of searching finally at it's end and she did nothing but watch the pair smile and laugh, too far away to hear what they could be talking about. After SHIELD dissolved and she and Fury began rebuilding a service only people like them could provide, Tony Stark and the other Avengers included, and they scoured the planet for others, loyal others, to work with. Only two who they especially wanted had eluded them. Not that Clint and Loki were hiding, really. Their exploits were all over the news, though they never left a sign of who committed the crimes- nothing was ever really linked together. And who would believe that the people who executed a ring of human traffickers on video were the same ones who broke into the Louvre and drew a mustache on the Mona Lisa and put bras and jockstraps on every naked statue?

Tony had a folder in his computer systems labeled 'Birdbrain' with all the news he thought was Clint and Loki's doing, but he refused to talk about where he thought they were hiding. Jarvis was under orders not to speak of Lucia or Clint's whereabouts as well.

Finally with the time to spare, Natasha was able to weasel the locations of Tony's vacation homes from Pepper and weed them out. And here she was, watching the two look out over the sea without a care in the world. She thought Clint looked happy, happier than she'd seen him in a long time, and she was content to let him slip through her fingers. He smiled at Loki the way he used to smile at her- big and with calm, content eyes. He stood out from the people with his blue jeans and tight black shirt, and a mark on his neck she squinted at to make out: a paw print tattoo. She snorted and rolled her eyes, because of course Clint would be smitten enough to have a tattoo of his lover's 'spirit animal'. She wouldn't report to Fury that she'd found them, though he would most likely know she had. They wouldn't be able to bring Clint back and keep him on a leash.

Loki rustled in his pockets and brought out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and passing another to Clint when he held out his hand for it. With his butt against the half-wall, Loki held the stick of tobacco daintily in the V of his fingers, elbow resting on his other hand and looking like the stars in black and white films of old- posh, stylish, untouchable. He looked and acted the part, while Clint sat beside him as a kind of modern greaser; tattoos and cigarettes and tight T-shirts. Natasha didn't bring any high tech devices with her for this trip to listen in. She let herself have this vacation while she searched for her AWOL partner, bringing only her guns and knives. There were daggers strapped to her thighs under her blue and white sundress, a small gun in her purse on the table, ready to kill if need be. But she'd yet to encounter any problems. It was a vacation, after all, where she could travel the world, dress to make herself comfortable, and sit in the sun on a restaurant patio in Italy while she watched her old partner kiss their one-time enemy.

No one would ever catch them, she thought. Too wild, too carefree, and too driven to stop for anyone but each other, they'd do whatever they wanted and nobody could stop them. They'd been found by Natasha because they let themselves be found, that she knew. Whether Clint knew she was there or not, it didn't matter- Loki knew.

As Clint hopped down from the wall, sticking the end of the smoke in the corner of his mouth, he reached for Loki's hand to drag him away down the waterfront, not taking notice of anyone around them. But as Loki let himself be pulled, falling into step with the archer, he turned his head in her direction, seeing her far away down the street in her pretty dress and cocktail in hand, and he smirked. She kept her face blank and tipped her head to him, acknowledging his glance. He looked away and waved his fingers behind him as the pair walked down the pier, and Natasha tried to keep her heart from fluttering in excitement when a small paper burned into existence on the table, folded in half and waiting. She looked at it for a long time, until her plate arrived and she touched it finally to move it out of the way- fearful, exhilarated, anxious, and happy all together at the correspondence. So it was true, she thought. Loki had gotten his magic back. She flipped it open and read, and the smallest smile tugged at the corner of her red lips.

And that's the end. Thanks for reading, letting me know what you think. I think my writing has changed at least a little from the beginning of this thing and I'm happy. I actually had this chapter, this epilogue, written the day after I wrote chapter 1. Been dreaming about reaching it for a long time.