Tony and Bruce had been working in the lab on the ship, while Steve had disappeared off somewhere else. Nat, Thor, and Athalia stayed behind in the main room. The agents still typing away on the computers in front of them trying to locate why Loki had sent his mind-controlled victims.
A screen still had footage of Loki in his holding cell, playing live. He hadn't said a word or made a sound. From time to time he would get up and walk around the circle prison before sitting back down on the seat attacked on one of the glass walls.
The thought of why Loki let them take him so easily, still passed by Athalia's brain. He wasn't going to crack anytime soon and with being the master of mischief, reading his mind was almost out of the question. Athalia knew that he'd just show you a useless piece of information. Re-direct her magic to make it harder to find out the truth.
"As soon as Loki took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster," Coulson told Thor. His words caught Athalia's attention. An image of Jane's face was blown up on the screen next to them. "They've got an excellent observatory in Tromso. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe."
"Thank you." Thor thanked the mortal agent.
"It's no accident, Loki taking Erick Selvig." Athalia joined the conversation, making the two men look at her. "I dread what he plans for him once he's done."
"Erik is a good man."
"He talks about you a lot." Phil told Thor, "You as well," he added surprising Athalia. When the two of them first meet all those months ago, the goddess wasn't able to speak much to him. Seeing as Loki had sent the Destroyer after the Asgarians to kill them. But nonetheless, she felt honored.
"You changed his life," Coulson kept going. "You changed everything around here. Both of you."
"They were better as they were," Thor stated. As the three of them began to walk around the room. "We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced, but we come here, battling like bilge snipe."
"Like what?"
"Bilge snipe." Athalia repeated, "They're huge creatures, scaly, big antlers. Thor is terrified of them. I used to have one as a pet before Odin sent to have it killed."
"You don't have those?" Thor questioned.
"I don't think so."
"They are repulsive and they trample everything in their path," Thor added, moving to stare out the large windows at the night sky. "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here, and your people paid the price. And now again. In my youth, I courted war."
"War hasn't started yet." Fury interpreted. "You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"
"I do not know." Thor replied, "Loki's mind is far afield."
"It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance, not just upon Thor, but me, everyone who wronged him." Athalia added, "There's no pain that would prise his need for him."
"A lot of guys think that until the pain starts," Fury said,
"What are you asking us to do?" Thor queried.
"I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?"
"Loki is a prisoner."
"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" There was a moment of silence. Thor looked down at the ground, no one saying a word. It wasn't until Athalia spoke up did she grab the male's attention.
"I think I may have a plan. It may not get us the Tesseract but it'll get us something," she said hopefully. Athalia turned and looked at the redheaded agent a few feet away. "Do you want your friend back?" She asked the obvious question. The goddess speaking to her had caught the spy off guard.
She nodded her head, "Yes."
"Good. Follow me."
●○●○●○●○●
Athalia had explained her plan to Natasha. She wasn't completely sure if it was going to work, but if they wanted to at least try and have a shot at winning against Loki and his army, they needed to have faith and trust in each other. The plan was in motion.
Loki stood pacing around the cell, unknowing of Natasha's presence. He stood in his tracks, smirking her turned his attention to the redhead standing on the other side of the glass. Arms by her side, a grey, plastic chair a step in front of her. She was still in her black, leather suit from when she was flying the jet earlier. Her curly red hair, cut at her jawline, making a bob.
"There are not many people who can sneak up on me," Loki said, not fully turned around.
"But you figured I'd come."
"After," Loki said, "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate." He said, walking up to the wall of glass she stood behind.
"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton," Natasha told him, not moving even an inch.
"I would say I've expanded his mind."
"And once you've won," Natasha started walking towards the cell, crossing her arms across her chest. "Once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?"
"Oh... Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki asked,
Natasha scoffed, "Love is for children. I owe him a debt."
"Tell me," Loki said, taking a few steps backward to sit on the slap of metal behind him. Natasha sighed, licking her lips before sitting in the chair next to her. She explained her debt to Barton;
"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I uh... Well, I made a name for myself." She started, "I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.
"Not let you out," Natasha smirked. A big, evil, cocky smile beamed on Loki's face at the woman's words.
"No, but I like this." Loki said, "Your world is in the balance, and you bargain for one man."
"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian." Natasha shot back, "Or I was,"
"And what are you now?" Loki asked, yet another question.
The agent stood from her seat before answering his question. "It's really not that complicated." She started, making her way closer to the glass, arms crossed. "I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, Sao Paulo," Loki began to list off names. By the looks he saw appear on Natasha's face, he could tell she was getting nervous. The flashback, playing in her brain. Or was she just acting? Loki finally stood from the plank of metal, slowly strutting his way toward the glass.
"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 at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of lair and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away."
Loki's fist banged on the glass. The loud noise mixed with Loki's words, and the former assassin took a small step back. Her face only reads fear. "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows, you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull."
Not being able to handle any more of Loki's words, Natasha turned around. Taking a few more steps away from the glass. "This is my bargain, you mewling quim." The girl let out a shaky breath.
"You're a monster."
Loki chuckled, a smirk on his lip once again. "Oh, no. You brought the monster." In the blink of an eye, Natasha was fine. Not a single tear, no fear felt towards Loki.
"So, Banner." She said turning around. A familiar, lavender haze circled the agent's body. The Magic wearing off, finally revealing that the woman Loki had been talking to all along was in fact not Agent Romanoff but instead his twin sister. "That's your play?" Athalia asked. Loki looked shocked.
"What?"
Athalia smirked, holding a finger to her era. "Natasha, did you get that? Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'll be there as soon as I can. Send Thor as well."
"Copy that,"
"You know, brother. You would think, seeing as you are the god of mischief, nobody would be able to outsmart you at your own game. Trickery." Athalia said as she started to make her way out of the room.
"Thank you, for your cooperation."