An alarm sounded, and soon a good portion of the Avengers and SHIELD were on the medical room where Loki and Natasha had been sleeping peacefully just moments ago. Now they were still on the bed, the bed everyone was looking at, surrouneded by both enemies and friends.

There was a least a dozen of those green and purple...men and women? who held staffs and cloaks and all the likes. They did look human-ish except for the unusual skin color. They did look quite threatening but at least hadn't started attacking. The taller man, who seemed to be the leader, spoke in a hissing voice, with a weird tone of voice.

"We wish no harm to the inhabitants of this land. Hand over the trickster and we should leave you in peace."

"Well, that's a no brainer." Clint said, glad that this would be over soon."

Only it wouldn't.

"We will not give him to you." Natasha said, putting herself in front of Loki, between him and the alien leader.

"That would not be wise."

"Nat, you can't be serious! It wasn't real, none of it was real! You're putting everyone in danger over a trick!"

Natasha ignored Clint's voice and tightened his grip on the gun she'd hidden under the pillow when she came to Loki's bed.

"Loki is under our protection."

She was determined. So, maybe the deal was done, technically, and there was no need for this. Maybe this was just cheap sentimentality, and a bad move as Clint was constantly reminding her. Maybe this was a trick, another of Loki's trick to be able to escape punishment for his actions once again. Probably. But Natasha didn't care in this moment. If the person that was in danger was one of the Avengers they'd find a way to defeat those people. And Natasha would not lose Loki again - not so soon, not again. They'd find a way.

She was so busy staring the man down that she missed Loki going limp next to her, although she did see the change in demeanor in the green and pruple overlord. When it spoke, his voice had a familiar tone.

"Oh, but I like this. Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man."

She had heard that before. Not long ago when she was standing in front of a crystal cage.

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Loki?"

"Indeed" The purple and green leader put his staff on the second-in-command's neck, effectively proving that it wasn't their leader anymore, and putting all of those shadows on edge.

"It's called astral projection, an idea that came to me after our time underwater. It has a lot of advantages you see, because if you attack me in this form, I will simply go back to my body while you have damged your leader and if you go against my body... well, then probably you won't get your Draszhank back ever again."

The purple and green shadows understood, and some of them lowered their weapons. They were angry, but knew better than to risk it. Not when they had sever laws against attacking a leader. Something Loki had known, of course, before performing his little trick.

"So let's see how we could solve this, shall we? You can fight against the combined power of the dear Avengers, Midgard's polioce and myself in Draszhank body, lose a lot people, lose a lot of time, a lot of ressources and energy and become enemies with a dangerous planet that previously had no quarrel with you... or you can let me be. I will return your leader to you and ther will be no need for bloodshed."

"Typical trickssster, always avoiding an honorable fight. It shall not be that eassssy. The people of Mryasnhyak have forgotten what you did. You will be punissshed." Another of Draszhank's warriors said.

"So I tricked you out of some precious heirlooms. Go to Asgard then, demand them back. I don't have them anymore, nor do I have the power to give them back to you. But what good will a fight with a new world to you, huh? If you go back home without the gems and having lost Draszhank, do you think the people of Mryasnhyak will be happy? You have already been outwitted by me once, it wouldn't be wise to let me talk you into defeat again."

The warrior looked doubtful. Natasha smiled, despite the direness of the situation. This was the man she'd come to love, a master of words and manipulations, always with the upper hand. And he was back, despite the hell he'd lived through. She looked at the seemingly unconscious body of the trickster next to her wih fondness. Oh, how she'd missed this.

"Be smart, warriors from Mryasnhyak, and leave this land before you are defeated again. I am sure Odin Allfather will be glad to return what is yours, if you explain that you were hurt by me. What do you say, Biszwhek? Does that sound good?"

The second-in-command nodded weakly.

"Realease our leader and we shall leave you be."

"Good choice, dear."

There was a small, almost imperceptible white flash and a clear chang in the alien leader's demeanor. Natasha looked at the figure on the bed next to her and saw Loki weakly open his eyes and smile at her. It had been nice being on a whole body and on a position of power for once, but he was glad to be back on his own skin. His experience being both on the beach world and underwater, with body and spirit seemingly separated had given him the idea of the astral projection that had worked so well.

"That was a close call." Steve commented.

"Yeah, pretty convenient that he had Nat to stand up for him, right? Maybe if he hadn't he wouldn't have had time to concoct his little strategy." Clint commented. Maybe he still had a chance to make her see that she was making the wrong choice, that she was being used.

"I know where you're going, Clint." Natasha said, her voice remarkably soft. "But you're mistaken."

"He's using you! He using you to protect his sorry ass, to have someone to protect you. He feels nothing for you, he just wanted to have somewhere to fall back on, now that Thor and his family are no longer buying his crap."

"You really think it's that easy to trick me? You think I wouldn't realise if that was the case, huh? The fact that I'm convenient does not change what's underneath. And I know him - he uses all the ressources available, of any kind. If he had bonded with Steve he would have used him too, if he made friends with the Chitauri he'd used them. It's just part of who he is, but doesn't change what I know. What we fought against for months, what we didn't think wass really real. But it is. There is something else and I need to see if there is a future for us, if we can salvage something from those memories, if we can make them real."

"You shouldn't trust me so much, Natasha. Listen to your friend - he knows you better than I do. And his judgement is not clouded by... sentiment."

Loki said behind her, eyes strangely bright. Maybe it would better to go his own way, leave the Lady Natasha to her life. This couldn't end well, and he knew. It was based on a setting concocted by his enemies to get information, and she had a different, possibly better life out there. And besides, everyone had abandoned or turned on him eventually - maybe it was better to leave before she did that as well. Mantain the good (if not real) memories. The Avengers would be happy with that, he knew.

But not Natasha. She had spent too long ignoring her feelings and trying to make it work with other people with better pasts than her. With Loki she wouldn't feel like the worst half of the relationship, there would be more equality. A chance to help each other in their respective redemptions. She needed to at leat, try. And Loki needed someone to insist on him, go out of their way for him, convince him to use his considerable for the good people. Give him some support, just a tiny bit of affection. They both needed this.

"Are you sure about this, Natasha?" Steve asked.

He trusted his friend, despite how bad this could look. Loki had done so very bad things, but he believed in rehabilitation. He had to, to still harbour hope for his best friend. And Loki had potential, there had been a lot of hurt and want to prove himself in his previous evil fforts, if they could sway that to their side... Besides, maybe Natasha and Loki wasn't such a far-fecthed thing. Maybe they could share their spy and dubious antics, their love for ambiguity - maybe he would be more right for her than any of them could be. Maybe two wrongs did make a right.

"I'm willing to give him a chance on your behalf, Natasha, because of the help he's given us with the Chitauri and what he suffered for helping us. But that's it - only one chance Loki. Anything goes a bit wrong or we catch with other criminals and you go back to your cell in Asgard. Understood?"

"I thank you, Captain. Believe me, I do not want to go to jail - I will pose no further problems to you and your team."

"We'll see about that."

Clint left to South America soon after that, having made known his opinion to Natasha long and repeatedly. None of them convinced the other, so they decided the best course of action was to put some distance.

While Loki recovered from his last encounter with the Chitauri in the medbay, Natasha was engrossed in a different project. She had the help of Tony and his money - he'd been quiet while everything went down, but was more open to the idea than others had been. He'd been a villain in his time too, and love had been one of the main motivations to continue on the right path. He'd liked the idea Natasha had and had no problem helping her. It was good.

When Loki finally finished his stay on the hospital, despite still being weak, Natasha took him with her on her motorbike. It was bike feeling his warmth behind her again, like when they slept in the same bed. Knowing that they were there for each other, and whole. She drove as it nearing the sunset, into the Hamptons. Into the beach.

Until they arrived.

"Natasha..."

"Welcome back home, honey."

Tony had helped rebuild the house from her memories, just the way it used to be and gave it to them. It had just been a dusty storage place, anyways, and now it was back to being a home.

Loki's pale green eyes were overwhelmed. This was too much, too good for him. It was difficult believing this was not a trap, not another way to hurt him again. But for some reason, even if it could be bad, he trusted Natasha.

"We can make something great of our lives, Loki. Beyond torture and prison, beyond darkness and blood. We had something together here - a home, someone to support us, to help us through the nightmares, something decent after all the horrors we've live through."

There was a single tear falling Loki's cheek.

"You brought me back."

"I couldn't come back without you. I know there will be more people that will come after you, and I know there are things you still have to sort out with Thor and Asgard. I know things won't be easy - but I don't care. People will come after me, too. But we don't have to be alone anymore. We can build something together and silence all the people who hate this."

"Thank you, Natasha, for trusting me, for coming back for me, for caring. For bringing me back."

She smiled mischievously.

"Let's make those memories real, Loki."

"Nothing would please me more... love."

That night was a new start. They reclaimed the darkness for themselves, and made it their own sanctuary. They were back, and this time, they were not holding back.

This was their moment. This was victory.

AN: Who doesn't like a happy ending? Hope it does not disappoint too much:) I'm quite fond of this story despite the unexpected turn. Please do tell me your opinions, about the chapter or the story as a whole. You know you want to review!