Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 5

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Clint asks with a groan, smacking his head against the kitchen table.

Natasha leans back in her chair, lolling her head back and closing her eyes. "Because you love me?"

"Not anymore," Clint says, though he clearly doesn't mean it. She's dragged him into much worse situations and their friendship has survived. This certainly isn't going to break it. "I still can't believe Fury left you on babysitting duty."

"Especially when there's no baby to babysit," Natasha adds. She glances at the clock on the microwave. It's well past three o'clock in the morning. Where is he?

"At least it's any easy job," Clint says.

"It was until Stark stuck me on kitchen duty," Natasha deadpans. Loki only ever seems to come out at night and Tony was getting sick of JARVIS waking him up every night, so now they're taking turns staying up all night to keep an eye on him. Tony very graciously took last night (because Natasha made him), but now it's her turn and she's absolutely miserable.

Clint nods sympathetically. "It's like a stakeout but without the fun."

"Really," she agrees. She covers her mouth with her hand and yawns, and Clint does the same shortly after. "Hey, thanks for spending the night with me. I know this isn't exactly your idea of a good time."

Clint scoffs. "Are you kidding me? Hanging out with you is always my idea of a good time."

Natasha smiles. That's why he's her best friend. He'll put up with anything for her.

"Ms. Romanoff, Mr. Barton, Loki has opened his door," JARVIS says.

"Finally," Clint mutters. "Let's get this over with."

They wait in silence for Loki to show up. It takes a few minutes, but, sure enough, he walks into the kitchen and straight for the freezer...

And then he pauses, and it's clear he's noticed Clint.

"Oh, my god," Clint whispers, and he bursts out laughing. Natasha doesn't even know what he's laughing about, but it makes her laugh, too. "Look at him! Look at the little prison uniform!"

Loki looks down at his clothes, and, with a glow of green light, they change back to what he'd been wearing when he tried to take over the world.

"Oh, now he looks like he's going to Comic-Con!" Clint says, and Natasha laughs even harder.

Loki just shakes his head to himself and heads to the freezer without a word.

"How's it feel, Loki?" Clint asks with a smirk. "You're stuck on Earth now. Karma's a bitch, huh?"

Loki clenches his jaw and turns around to look at him. "I may have lost my freedom, but my mind is still my own. Am I truly in a worse position than you?"

Natasha knows even before Clint moves that, if left unchecked, this could end badly — and, realistically, Clint will probably get the worst of it. She puts a hand on his arm, a gentle reminder to hold back. "It's not worth it," she says quietly.

Clint clenches his teeth, but he doesn't get up, just glaring at Loki with a murderous glint in his eye.

Unphased, Loki turns his attention back to the freezer. He pulls out a bag of chicken nuggets and starts laying them out on a plate.

"Are those dinosaur chicken nuggets?" Clint asks, and any anger he may have felt a few moments ago has been replaced by pure amusement.

"Mm," Natasha hums. "Tony has decided to treat this like he's babysitting a bratty child, so..." She gestures to him vaguely. "Dinosaur nuggets."