Quintessence || An Avengers FanFiction

Chapter 11: That's Your Play

Natasha could hear Loki's shoes clicked on the floor as he walked back and forth in his cell, a bit too comfortable for anyone's liking. But he suddenly stopped, feeling Nat's presence behind him. "Hm, there's not many people that can sneak up on me."

"But you figured I'd come." She replied, perfectly calm.

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate."

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton. The same thing you tried to do to Agent Hart."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind." Loki responded smugly.

"And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" Natasha wondered.

Loki smirked, "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children. I owe him a debt." Nat stated plainly.

"Tell me."

"Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh—well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call." Natasha explained, leaving out that that was the same mission where they discovered a baby, Katrina. It wasn't just Nat that owed Clint a debt, the young girl owed both of them her life. But she didn't want Loki's attention to be set on the girl. She tensed when he mentioned her before, which she successfully hid, and she didn't want to give him even more curiosity about the girl.

"Well, I'm quite sure the child feels differently. What did you say her name was...ah, Agent Hart? Or should I call her Katrina? She seems fairly attached, perhaps the same debt owed... Such power in that little girl, and she hasn't even reached her full potential yet, has she?" The god asked, the woman opening her mouth to respond but he continued. "And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki questioned, seemingly in genuine curiosity.

Natasha shook her head, "Not let you out."

"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?" He chuckled.

"Regime's fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian...or I was."

"And what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you?" Loki taunted, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child, a prayer. Pathetic...You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away." The god then slams his fist against the glass, getting as close as he could to Natasha's face as possible, staring her right in the eye. "I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him kill Katrina right in front of your eyes, her cries for help and calls of your names echoing, then I will make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear." He rants, causing Natasha to turn away to hide her tears, "And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

The unfamiliar sound of Natasha's crying echoed through the room, the woman's head handing low, "You're a monster." She whispered.

Loki's smirk grew into a malicious grin, "Oh, no. You brought the monster."

Suddenly, Nat's crying seized, and she picked her head up, facing Loki again, "So, Banner? That's your play."

"What?"

Without giving the god another look, she exited the room, speaking into her earpiece, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She then halts in her tracks and looks back at Loki one last time, "Thank you for your cooperation."