Stark's tech was good, but not good enough to find a rogue immortal when he didn't want to be found. They'd searched for three weeks and not heard a single trace of the whereabouts of either Harry or the Tesseract.

When Thor announced that he intended to return to Asgard, Natasha was not surprised.

"There is trouble brewing," Thor informed them. "My mother has sent me a message asking for my return. I must make haste."

"Need any help?" Stark offered, not looking up from the screen he was tapping away at. Natasha exchanged a look with Clint when Steve frowned at him.

"I'd be happy to help too," Steve added. Natasha hoped that they soon tire of their rivalry.

"You're not going to Asgard, Stark. None of you are," Coulson said with a sigh. After they'd made little progress those first few days, Fury had delegated their weekly meetings to him. They took place in the same meeting room in which she'd first been briefed on Phoenix. Coulson did not seem to be glad of his new job role.

Thor shook his head. "Thank you for your offer, my good friend. But no, 'tis not the place for mortals. My father would not allow it."

Stark seemed to have anticipated this answer, as he merely nodded.

"What exactly defines a 'mortal'?" Natasha wondered, leaning back in her chair. Thor and Harry often used the word, but she knew that the Allspeak did not translate exactly.

"All earth dwellers are mortal," Thor said, then frowned. "Well, bar the Master of Death, of course."

"If he's still on Earth," Stark grumbled.

"No, no, this is a valid question," Bruce said. Natasha turned her full attention to him, although she was always aware of his presence. Bruce rarely spoke, but when he did his input was valuable. "Is the definition 'someone that cannot be killed'? Does it just mean that you have longevity, or that you are harder to kill than the average person?"

"I am of the Aesir," Thor answered. "You are of Midgard. Therefore, you are mortal." He looked dissatisfied with his answer, as though he knew that it was not a sufficient explanation. "My apologies. My brother wields the Seidr. Perhaps he would know."

Natasha had very little inclination to take up the discussion with Loki and knew that Bruce would have even less. Stark, however, had been following the conversation, even if he was pretending not to, and she thought he might eventually become intrigued enough to ask.

"Truly, I must go." Thor stood, hammer jumping into his hand from the floor. "Son of Coul, I require your assistance to free my brother so that I may return to Asgard with him."

Clint, who'd been silent the entirety of the meeting, snorted. Natasha quirked a brow at him but he shook his head in answer.

The group of them proceeded to Loki's cell, drawing attention from all they passed in the corridors. It seemed that not even three weeks could get SHIELD staff used to the sight of Thor in his cloak or Captain America in his stars and stripes.

Loki was reclining on his bed, staring sightlessly at the ceiling. "All of you? What a treat," he drawled. "I do hope you're here to entertain me."

"Loki, danger approaches Asgard," Thor said, striding up to the cell they'd used to contain Loki. "Cease your quarrelsome ways and assist me in helping mother and father."

"He's your father," Loki said with a snarl, before schooling himself calm."No."

Bewilderment crossed Thor's face. "But we are still brothers, are we not? Enough of this nonsense. Son of Coul?"

"Allow me," Clint said. He hit a few buttons on the control panel and the door slid open. Natasha shot him a look. "What? I've been bored. I spent the last few weeks watching his cell from the rafters."

Thor strode into the cell and grabbed Loki's arm, pulling him to his feet. He tried to drag Loki out the door, only to run into some kind of translucent barrier the moment Loki's body exited the door.

Clint snorted. "Loki tried escaping two and a half weeks ago. He didn't get any further than Thor did just now."

"And you didn't say anything?" Steve said. Natasha turned to arch a brow at Clint. Stark was chortling in the corner, still tapping away at his device. Clint shrugged at them in return.

"What is this sorcery?" Thor muttered. He tried to yank Loki through the door, but only managed to send himself tumbling to the floor, Loki still stuck on the other side, looking like an angry, irritated cat.

"The Master of Death has seen fit to contain me," Loki said. He spread his hands, gesturing to his cell, expression impassive. "I will go nowhere he does not wish for me to go."

Harry hovered on the doorstep to Clint's bedsit, debating whether to knock. The other man had only ever been friendly to him, but SHIELD were undoubtedly unhappy with Harry at the moment. He'd be putting the other man in a difficult situation.

The problem was solved for him when a dog began barking from the other side, having sensed Harry's presence.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Clint hollered, before yanking open the door.

They both stared at each other for a long moment before Clint shrugged, pulling the door open wider and catching his dog by the collar before it could bound out.

"I suppose this is the infamous Lucky?" Harry asked, regarding the mongrel. "If it touches me, I will not be held responsible for my actions."

"More of a cat person, are you?" Clint said, then shook his head. "Of course you are. Come on, Lucky, come on now. She's harmless, I promise." He jerked his head and Harry followed him in. Lucky was led to a dog bed and she curled up there, watching the two of them with bright eyes.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Clint said. It was a studio flat, a bed in one corner, a TV and sofa at the centre of the room, and gully kitchen with a sink piled high with plates against one wall.

"Cosy," Harry said.

Clint glanced around and snorted. "Sure. Take a seat, if you want."

The sofa looked safe, so Harry threw himself into one corner of it. Judging by the masses of cushions and a blanket over one arm, he'd bet that Clint occasionally slept on it, or had someone over that slept there. It was comfortable enough.

"Fury is not best pleased with you," Clint said, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

Harry smirked. "Is that so? Can't imagine why," he said.

After a beat of silence, Clint snickered. "You jackass. I thought Fury was going to have an aneurysm when he realised that you'd trapped Loki in his cell."

"Perhaps he should have done a better job at containing him, then, if he didn't want my assistance." Harry shrugged. "Loki would have escaped weeks ago if all that had been in his way was glass."

"For some reason, me saying that didn't make Fury any happier," Clint said. He ambled over to one of the kitchen counters and poked at several takeaway menus that were piled up there. "Want some food?"

Harry tilted his head but decided against accepting. Sure, Clint was being friendly, but he wasn't about to push his luck. Instead, he withdrew a mobile phone from his pocket. He chucked it at Clint, who caught it without looking.

"What's this?"

"A cell phone," Harry deadpanned. Clint looked at it and frowned.

"You know, I really should be reporting this in."

"I'll be out of your hair in a heartbeat," Harry said. He wondered if Clint would report to SHIELD, or if he'd withhold in an attempt to gain Harry's trust instead. "Don't make me have to lose that number, whatever you decide."

Lucky barked, before getting up to nose at the menu in Clint's hand. He snorted, ruffling a hand through her fur. Harry was just glad she was well behaved. He wasn't a fan of dogs; Sirius had been the exception that proved the rule. Still, he could appreciate the charms of a faithful pet and Clint had told many stories about her when they'd been assigned to missions together, before Harry had left SHIELD.

Clint looked up at him and nodded. "Alright. I'm going to send you endless cat photos," he said, gaze daring Harry to argue. "So, so many cute pictures of cats."

"I look forward to them," Harry said. He turned to Lucky, fixing her with a stern gaze. "Don't let this one get into too much trouble."

The dog panted. Harry took it as agreement. "Nice seeing you, Clint," he said. "Call me if you need me."

"You too, jackass. Try not to upset any other multinational intelligence agencies."

Harry winked. "No promises."

When Natasha's phone beeped, she'd expected a message from Clint or Coulson.

Instead, an unknown number popped up on her screen.

Agent Romanov, I require your urgent assistance. A beautiful woman gave me her number, but I'm not certain as to whether she'd welcome the idea of a date. —HG

To Natasha's horror and surprise, she found herself blushing. She tucked the phone into her pocket and continued onto her morning meeting. It was a dull discussion upon what clearance level the information regarding Harry should be given; not something that she had much of a say on, even if she'd been asked to attend. Her phone burned a hole in her pocket the entire morning and her fingers itched to reply, even if she wasn't certain what to say.

"Romanov?"

Natasha snapped to attention and nodded at Sitwell.

"Would you like a coffee?" he said, obviously repeating himself. He was eying her curiously. She supposed she rarely let down her guard enough to ignore someone speaking to her.

"No, thank you," she said. With a subtle glance around the room, she could tell they'd come to a decision and would only spend the next hour confirming it with various departments. "I'm needed in the gym," she said. "If you'll excuse me."

Natasha exited the room before anyone could answer and strode to her quarters. Allowing herself a moment of weakness, she collapsed onto her bed and drew out her phone. The text still sat in her inbox, teasing her.

Eventually, she decided to reply. After all, what harm could it do?

I imagine she'd be delighted. And please, call me Natasha. I'll be in London in three days time if you'd like to meet.

Natasha sent the text before she could second guess herself and grinned at the metal ceiling of the room. She thought about the curve of Granger's lips and snorted at her whimsy. Instead, she rolled onto her stomach and added the woman's number to her phone.

It was nice to have a piece of normality to look forward to.

I received a bewildering amount of abuse when last chapter I implied that this story was likely going to become slash. Fuck you those of you that hated and your closed-minded attitudes. I didn't touch this story for over a year because of the response I got to me simply asking if I should ship Harry with Loki or Clint.

I can confirm this will be both Harry/Loki and Natasha/Hermione. There will also be straight pairings and I'm considering a triad.

Those of you that have stuck with me, thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter and any more to come that I may post.