Faces That You Meet, 2/8. NC-17
Title: Faces That You Meet
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Loki/Natasha, Natasha/Winter Soldier, Loki/Natasha/Winter Soldier.
Disclaimer: Not mine! Not even by a little bit.
Spoilers/Warnings: MCU AU. Based off of futurerustfuture-dust's initial dark!blackwinterfrost idea. I didn't use the written material you sent me exactly, but here's hoping you like this one, too. :) Russian words have hovertext translation thanks to Google Translate, so please let me know if I goofed something and I'll fix it. Title, epigraph and chapter titles are all from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.
Summary: A left turn instead of a right, and Loki tumbled down into the frozen tundra of Russia, right outside the Red Room. An honest mistake, but it soon changed everything. And he was never one to share his toys.
Prior chapter:
One - Disturb The Universe
Two - Spread Out Against The Sky
"You were there when I was a girl," Natalia said as they left the bar. Her eyes were sharp and clear, no hint of a question.
"What are you talking about?"
"There was an odd visit from Comrade Bezukhov one night during testing when I was a girl. He canceled the test he ordered the day before, and wasn't moving the same way he normally does."
Loki held out his arm in a gallant gesture. Natalia really was a tiny creature, and he didn't know if it was because of her deprivation as a small child or if she was truly destined to be that short. It didn't matter; that brought out almost protective instincts in him. The Red Room wouldn't have her back. She was his.
"How were you there as Comrade Bezokhov?" she asked when he remained silent.
"Do you believe in magic?"
She actually seemed to ponder that, making him want to laugh in delight. Such an inquisitive woman she was, and all his. "I think there are a great many things that exist that I wasn't trained for," she said finally.
"You still think I'm testing you, don't you?"
"Wouldn't you?"
Now Loki laughed outright, pulling her into an alley. It was out of sight of the Asset's crosshairs, and would likely drive him out of his mind with worry. Loki pressed Natalia against the wall, a hand around her throat. It was loose, not as warning, but to keep himself from devouring her mouth after the delicate taste he'd gotten. "I'm not one of your middling handlers, Natalia," he purred, letting a glamour settle on top of his skin. Her eyes widened fractionally before she reined in the reaction; it had to be real, then. "I am something very different."
"Why have you chosen to reveal yourself to me?"
"You're the best. Why shouldn't I have the best things?" Loki asked, lips curling in a mocking smile. "That's how they see you two, you know. Things. Objects to move around and play pretend with. You're not a person, not a real creature with feelings and thoughts and wants and needs. Whatever you might want doesn't even occur to them. They were going to send you to Shostakov, have him marry and bed your persona, and have you test him in subtle ways. A mission beneath your skill level."
"And what do you propose I do for you, then?" Natalia asked, a slight challenge in her tone.
He gave in to his impulse and kissed her, mouth open over hers, tongue sliding across the seam of her lips. She didn't bother to move the hand at her throat, and simply responded to the kiss that he gave her. "I could tell you to try to seduce me," Loki murmured against her lips. "But you've been trained to do that. You would determine what I like best and become that. A cipher, nothing more than smoke and mirrors, a malleable thing like magic itself."
"So what do you want me to be?" she asked quietly.
"You. I want your loyalty, your mind, your heart, your body, your soul. All of you."
"There are pieces you will never touch."
Loki laughed. "If they belong to me, I won't have to."
Natalia gently pushed at his shoulders and he allowed it, letting her searching gaze rake over his face for a moment. "I want my mind," she said fiercely, eyes flashing. "I need to have my mind my own." It made him think of those girls strapped down and fed all sorts of drugs and having to watch videos.
"What I meant," Loki said, moving his hand from her throat to caress her cheek, "is that you use your intellect to help me. That your clever mind will solve problems for me. That you will aid me in all things. I don't intend to warp your memories or leave you a drooling idiot. Where's the fun in that?"
She bit her lip, and the hint of vulnerability made him want to kiss her. Hell, he wanted fuck her right there against the wall and make her precious Asset watch. He was aching, and it made him realize it had been quite some time since he had visited the palace brothel.
"I will help you," she said slowly, her luscious lips pursing slightly, "because you ask it of me. Because you imply I have a choice."
"Of course you do. You could always go back to them."
There was striking out on her own, but he didn't think the Red Room would let her. For her to be free, Loki would have to raze it to the ground.
"That's not a choice I wish to take." She bit her lip again, and Loki wondered if it was genuine or not. Given her training, it could be impossible for him to tell. "What kind of man are you?" she asked quietly. "Ivan Petrovich sometimes thought of himself as my father, though no father would put his child through this, surely. You don't think of yourself that way. So what do you see yourself as?"
"Bored," Loki murmured. "In need of something to do, somewhere to be."
"You need to matter to someone. To be looked up to, but without having to constantly prove that you're worthy of it. That's why you don't like the day to day necessities of rule."
Ah, too perceptive by far. "I suppose," he replied with a shrug.
"You may call me Natasha." He vaguely understood it as important, and guessed it was a pet name only close associates would call her.
"Natasha," he murmured before kissing her again, and he could feel the difference in her response. She had been guarded before, and was more open to him now. Was this the real Natasha? Or was it the reckless abandon she'd had with the Asset?
Only one way to find out.
He created a portal to the room where the Asset had been waiting for Natasha; he was pacing, agitated when she went missing. He was startled, but froze when Loki held up a hand and subvocalized the trigger word he had heard one of the Asset's handlers talk about. As promised, it kept him alert but locked in place and unable to move. "She's safe. You're safe. Frozen, but conscious, aware, and will be able to move again in a few minutes. When I am ready, I will return to discuss a bargain with you." Loki smiled at the Asset, slow and sinuous. "I wager it will be more than fair, given how little they value your individuality."
With a nod at the Asset, he opened another portal and led Natasha through it. Her eyes lingered on the Asset, and again Loki wondered how her handlers missed it. Were they really that clueless and incompetent? Or were they simply biding their time until it was worth their while to punish them both for the transgressions?
No matter. They belonged to him. The Red Room couldn't have them, not now and not ever again. Loki didn't like sharing when it was something important like this.
This portal led to a small pocket dimension. He had created it after reading of such things in Frigga's library, and she had all but encouraged such things due to its complexity. "Some places that don't exist really should," is how she had discussed the topic when the theory came up in their discussion. It had taken him about three years to create the dimension, then make it large enough to be a small sized suite of rooms. He had then anchored it to a branch of Yggdrasil, using the power of the World Tree to keep it going even after he left it. That allowed him to store belongings in it and make it a safe place to retreat to if the palace wasn't enough. There were times he craved solitude; with the innumerable servants, courtiers and nobles floating about the palace halls, it was often hard to truly be alone. Here, he was.
Natasha looked about the area, eyes taking in the details. The walls were glittering ice, the furniture elaborately wrought in silver or platinum, furs and throw rugs everywhere. Taper candles and a roaring fire threw off light, and there were shelves with leather bound books, scrolls and ornate boxes. A sumptuous lacquered desk to the side of the massive room held ink pots and quills, rolled scrolls and parchment, more stacks of books. Doorways to the left of their entry point led to a bathroom and bedroom, both exquisitely done.
"This is your home," Natasha murmured, looking at Loki. Her voice was soft, a sense of wonder in it. "You brought me to your safe place."
Loki reached out and ran his fingers along the curve of her cheek. Natasha remained very still, her gaze level as he touched her. "Yes, I did. Do you feel safe here?"
Her eyes locked onto his. "I can be, I'm sure."
"But you're not quite sure of me yet."
"You want to rule. I can believe that. You want me to help you. I probably can. But here..."
"What do you wish to happen here?"
"The opportunity to be more than a nameless tool," Natasha murmured. It was possibly the most honest thing she said to him.
"Oh, I see many opportunities," he murmured, just before he bent his head down to kiss her roughly. "I think you will enjoy this particular opportunity," Loki murmured.
"Is this what you want from me?" Natasha murmured, holding onto his arms for balance.
"With you," he corrected. "One of the many ways I can think of for us to amuse each other."
"Is that what this is?"
Loki heard her carefully measured voice and pulled back, frowning. "Is this unwelcome attention, Natasha?" he asked. "I won't be angry with you if it is."
"So this is my choice?" she asked, still in that carefully measured voice.
"In this, you will always have a choice. I call you mine, and want you to consider yourself mine in turn. But I say that not because I expect your body at all times. I don't expect you to seduce me for your safety. I suggest this because I think we can satisfy our needs together. We all have needs, dear one," Loki replied, a sad smile on his face as understanding seemed to dawn in her eyes. "Some we can meet, some we cannot. Some things we can never have."
"This is my choice. As is working with you and not with the superiors I've known."
"Yes."
Natasha softened against him, molding her body to his and hooking a leg around him. "Then we can see if this would be of mutual satisfaction, yes?"
"Have you ever had the opportunity to be truly pleasured properly?" He let his lips curl in a sensual smile that usually got the noble ladies of Asgard panting. "To be treasured for your beauty and grace? Not as an operative, not for seduction, not for a test. But for yourself, what you enjoy, what you want in being bedded?"
Her lips parted enticingly as she shook her head. "No," she murmured.
And this would be how he seduced her to his side. Not with lies or trickery or flattery, but with choice and the freedom to choose. She would choose him if he gave her that illusion, if he let her think he ever intended any different for her.
"Let me show you what it is to be treasured, then," he said softly, bending his head down to kiss her. "Let me show you what it is your handlers feared, why they never wanted to let you know what was truly out there in the world." Her lips parted as he kissed her. Loki's tongue darted into her mouth immediately, probing at the recesses of her mouth and licking at her teeth. To his joy, she responded in kind, inherently graceful and deadly, no doubt born of her training and not her true desire. Yet. She would learn.
He could be generous when pleased, and right now she was pleasing him very much.
Loki whispered a spell against her mouth that made her clothing dissolve into nothing. He grinned at her gasp of surprise, elicited before she could suppress it. Everything he was doing was startling, overriding the tight control her handlers had trained into her. Oh, it was still there, but she didn't have any past programming to fall back on for this situation. He would see the true responses, know what her soul was truly made of. He already had the feeling that he would like what he saw, but he wanted to know and be sure.
He licked his fingers before reaching down and sliding them through her folds, then inside of her. Natasha clung to him, eyes wide and mouth parted in a gasp as she stared at him. "Did they prepare you, these teachers of yours?" She shook her head, not speaking as she gasped again when he curled his fingers enticingly. "Did they consider your sensibilities at all?" Loki asked, already knowing the answer.
"I was trained. I was conditioned. I was a tool for Mother Russia," she gasped. He growled, a low contented sound, and worked his fingers in and out of her.
"You are no tool. A fine instrument, if you must be compared to something," Loki told her, voice low and intimate. His lips stretched into a smile when Natasha cupped his face in her hands, an intense look in her eyes. "Would you play me in turn?"
She took the words as a challenge, her smile answering his. "Would it be play?"
"Play or not at all," Loki returned, bringing his mouth back to hers. "I would never force you, dear Natasha." He rubbed her clit with his thumb, knowing this was playing dirty but not caring in the least. "I am not the creatures you are familiar with."
"I see that," she said, pulling at his clothes and deftly moving them aside until her fingers met skin. Clever, just as he liked. "Then let's play."
Her kiss was possessive now, not shy in the slightest. Her nails dug into his sides when his fingers sped up, when he brought her to the peak of pleasure and pushed her over the edge. It was wonderful to see the flush in her cheeks, the way her eyes lit up. Ah, she hadn't been treated with any kindness, and the training had likely been clinical in nature. How to seduce and appear to be seduced. Idiots. Loyalty born of fear was easily broken.
Loki pulled his fingers from her and licked the taste of her off of them, then inclined his head toward the bedroom. His clothes disappeared along the way, and he found himself smiling as she crawled up onto his bed, a massive four poster that took up much of the bedroom. The sheets and fur coverings were luxurious, a sensual feast for his sensitive skin, and the sight of her on top of them made him want to bed her right there and then.
Natasha turned and looked over her shoulder at him, still on all fours, and let her lips curl in a sensual invitation. "Come, my lord," she purred.
"I like the sound of that."
"I thought you might," she replied, twisting so he could see the rise of her breasts as well as the curve of her ass. He ran his hand down the length of her spine, until he could cup that bottom for himself. "You seem that kind."
"Considering I like rule?"
"A would be king?"
Something in Loki's chest twisted at the sound of that. "Nay, I'm but a second son. Kingship is not my due, only advisory status."
Her head tilted to the side. "You're serious."
"Very much so," Loki murmured, reaching for her and turning her so that she fell onto her back on his bed. "I would be expected to keep this as mere dalliance, and to return to my duties, take my place behind the throne."
"But you won't," Natasha murmured as he lavished her breasts with kisses.
"I have my own plans in mind," he replied, moving down to kiss her belly, then place his mouth at the very center of her. Loki didn't care that she gasped and pulled at his hair. He licked into her, tongue deep inside her slit or pressed to her clit, the taste of her like heady wine. It was a pleasure to reduce her to this, to have her writhing beneath his mouth as he licked at her sensitive nub, as he lapped at her wetness. He was hard, aching to press into her, but he first planned to bring her to another peak of pleasure this way, get her slick and aching, begging for him to take her repeatedly. Perhaps he would even lace himself with magic, keep himself hard and able to bring her even more pleasure.
This time he didn't, and brought his mouth away from her after she cried out when she came. Her limbs splayed to the side, she was a vision of decadent perfection. Oh yes, she was very much the pinnacle of the Red Room's program, but Loki saw her as so much more than that. She was a finely honed blade, crafted to be beautiful and deadly if used properly.
He could take over any country on this pathetic realm, any organization, any group that thought to stand up in his way. He could even use her skills to cement his position in court on Asgard, if he ever truly thought his place would be threatened. So many possibilities, the thought of it was endless and dizzying and wonderful.
Sliding his cock into her wet heat, Loki grinned down at Natasha. She raked her nails across his chest and hips, pulling him in further. "You like it rough, little one?" he asked, amused.
"I want this," she moaned. "I need this now."
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "I can take my time with you. No need to rush." Though she tried to shift her hips and squeeze her inner muscles around his cock, Loki laughed in delight and moved slowly, agonizingly slowly, introducing the concept of lovemaking and not just fucking. Nothing wrong with that either, but it was all she knew from her frenzied couplings with the Asset. The thought of teaching her this, of it being new and as a result of his attention, was heady and exhilarating.
Holding her hands down above her head, Loki moved with deliberate intent, lips curled in a knowing smile at her whine of frustration. "Patience, Natasha," she purred. "Surely they told you there is no need to rush things."
"I want this," she whimpered, looking up at him with a desperate expression. "I want."
"Yes, you do. But there are no prying eyes here, no need to hurry. No one will hurt you ever again. I promise you." Whatever she saw in his expression must have convinced her, because she nodded and relaxed into his bed. Closing her eyes, Natasha let herself get caught up in the sensation of the fur at her back, his hand over her wrists, his cock thick inside her, his other hand cupping her breast and flicking the nipple with his fingers. Loki watched her closely, the hitch and rise of her chest as she gasped for breath, as she swallowed moans and fractured pieces of sentences asking him for more, more, more.
Her body tightened around him when she came, and he couldn't hold back any longer. He spilled into her, relaxed and grinning down at her. For all of her well-honed reflexes and training, Loki could tell she hadn't feigned her response. She laid beneath him, sated, smiling sensually. Eyes hooded in satisfaction, Natasha looked up at him, languor in her limbs and a pleased expression on her face. "There is likely something to this."
"So you like this, hm?" he asked, smiling smugly at her.
She pushed him over onto his back and straddled his waist, holding his wrists down against the bed. Grinning in amusement, she slid her sticky, slippery wetness against his softening cock, his seed smearing between their bodies. "I can be persuaded. And perhaps you'll let me persuade you to do things my way. To hold you down and take what I want from you. To make it so you can't remember your name or why we're challenging each other this way."
Loki laughed, delighted. "Yes, dear Natasha. Show me what you want to do. Show me what you like." His smile was a sharp, edged thing, full of teeth and quiet menace. The subtle display didn't cool her ardor in the slightest, something he appreciated. The last time he had visited the palace brothel, he had to curb the darker impulses he had to bind the girl and use her roughly to satisfy himself. With Natasha, he thought she would enjoy such a thing. And she might likely make him enjoy similar treatment.
As it was, she had to improvise with whatever leftover ties and laces from abandoned bits of clothing that no longer fit him. His boyhood leftovers possibly would fit her, breeches clinging to the round backside, to the shape of thigh and calf. Even imagining it brought the first stirrings of desire back to him; Asgardian women hid the shape of their bodies among folds of dresses, drapes and robes. It was too intimate a sight, reserved for bedrooms for most ladies, and for Sif on the battlefield.
Natasha tied him to the bed and covered his eyes with a length of hose, then moved with lips and mouth and hands, occasional sweeps of tongue and even a scrape of teeth once or twice. He was so sensitive to her touch, to the way she licked his soft cock and abdomen clean, the way she mouthed his balls and licked at his thighs reverently, the way she hummed as if it was a pleasant task she couldn't wait to continue. Loki could cheat with magic, could make it so that he could claim her again, more thoroughly than before. But this was the result of the theoretical teachings they had given her, and to have her enjoy the lessons given was a wonderful experience. He groaned as her mouth closed over his cock, licking and sucking, her hands kneading his balls and holding his cock steady. When he was hard enough, she pulled her mouth away and mounted him, her hands at his chest, scratching at his flat nipples lightly.
She continued even after he came, chasing her own pleasure, and it was an unbearably intense feeling to have her do this. By the Tree, she was exquisite.
Afterward, he broke free of her knots and pulled her down to the bed beneath him. "You could have done that at any time?" she gasped, but it wasn't quite fear in her voice. No, she was aroused; she liked the thought of his strength, that he could overpower her.
Loki only grinned devilishly at him. "You're mine, Natalia Alianovna Romanova, and of course I will do as I wish with you."
Her smile was an invitation, so he kissed her thoroughly. Her hands ran through his hair, holding him close, a leg hooked around his waist to keep their bodies entwined. "And I do as I wish with you, don't I?" she purred against his mouth.
"If you can."
"Then I'll put my imagination to the task and find all new ways to bring you to your knees."
"Do your worst, Natasha," he urged her, grinning. "But first, our business on Midgard isn't done yet." He pulled away from her, nearly laughing at her confused expression. "We shall dress and conclude the agreement we were talking about."
The Asset was still frozen in place when Loki opened a portal into his hotel room. Natasha ran to the Asset, casting an accusing glance at Loki. "Were they only pretty words, then? You kept him here to suffer while we dally?"
Loki quirked his lips at her; apparently she was constantly absorbing speech patterns from those around her. The natural ability to mimic allowed her to blend and appear as though she belonged. "No time passed here, Natasha. I made sure of it." With a wave of his hand in the face of her disbelief, the spell on the Asset fell.
He looked at Natasha, sliding an arm around her waist and ignoring the Asset's glare. "We need to come to an understanding, you and I," Loki told the Asset. "We both care about her, about the strength of your skills and completing missions you set out to do."
The words appeared to be contemplated at least, so Loki forged on. "Your current masters care nothing for your wellbeing. Or hers. Not past what they can have you do for them. They erased your memory and reshuffled hers like so much trash, and I propose a change of leadership."
"You control the Red Room?" the Asset asked dubiously. "That would only help Natalia. I am only on loan from Hydra."
Shrugging, Loki disinterestedly replied "Then they will be eliminated."
"It's not that easy. Their true identities are hidden," the Asset told him. "I don't know who they all are. They'll rebuild once it's safe to. They've done it before."
"You said it in jest," Loki told him slowly, "but if we did eliminate the current leaders of the Red Room, destroyed Hydra completely..." He smiled, an uneasy and almost manic grin to most people observing. These two weren't fazed by it in the least. "We can rule it. Why rule a country when we can take over the entire organization and bring the world to its knees?"
Though they both seemed rather doubtful, they didn't disagree. Loki opened a portal from the hotel room to the Red Room offices. It was easy to lock the doors with a minor spell, trapping the idiot officials inside. With a magnanimous wave of his hands, he smiled at Natasha and the Asset with a fair bit of menace. "Why don't we find out what your name is," he said. "I'm sure they know who you were before they got hold of you." The menace in his expression deepened as he looked over the cowering handlers. "Use whatever means you feel is necessary."
The two of them were utterly glorious in their ruthlessness. The Asset and Natasha worked in tandem, quickly, securing the men in the room. Most had started screeching in terror when they realized the room was locked and Loki wasn't going to help them escape. He gave Natasha one of the hidden blades from his formal armor, and smiled benignly when her eyes lit up. A simple gift to give, yet it clearly told her how much she was trusted. There was no need to give the Asset any weapons, when all of his were still strapped to his body, ready to be used.
Stepping back when she took it, Loki grandly swept his arms around the room. "Do what you will, my dears," Loki told them magnanimously.
The Asset narrowed his eyes at Loki. "You're not going to give us instructions?"
"Why? You know what to do," Loki replied with a shrug. "I don't care how it gets done as long as we get what we need. I have no interest in micromanaging you."
Natasha and the Asset had similarly eerie smiles, then set to work. It didn't bother them in the slightest that Loki watched them, assessing their skills. It was likely what all handlers and guards did anyway. He watched as Natasha used the blade to nick at nerves and arteries, inflicting the greatest amount of pain with the least lethality until her victim was sobbing and begging to be let go, spilling secrets like a waterfall. The Asset broke every bone in hands or punched hard enough to shatter ribs. It was watching a scalpel and hammer in action. These stupid men never dreamed that their tools could ever turn on them. Foolish idiots, one and all.
Sitting cross legged beside one bound man, Natasha looked up at Loki. "There are more officers that we need. This one will tell me who we should call, won't you?" she asked sweetly. She sounded like spun sugar, all sickly sweet, though her smile was frightening and the man's chest had already been skinned. Loki's knife was covered in blood, and it was poised at his throat; the threat that his face was next was clear.
With something like pride, Loki called all the handlers that were suggested. He wasn't sure if they were actually needed, or these men didn't want to die alone. It didn't really matter; while they were decimating the leadership of the Red Room and discovering who the Hydra members were, it opened up the organization to their leadership.
The Asset slammed his metal fist into a different man's face, shattering the bones of the orbit and zygomatic arch. Shards of bone were thrust into the soft brain tissue behind it, and the hapless victim collapsed once he pulled back his hand. "Useless trash."
Loki moved to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. The Asset was glaring down at the pile of men in his part of the room, so much meat mangled and torn. "Did any of them know anything useful, then?"
"Not a single name," the Asset growled.
"Not even yours?" Loki asked, frowning.
"Grigori might have known it," another cowering man muttered, pointing to the pile of dead. "But it's useless now."
Lifting the man by the front of his shirt, Loki fixed him with a bland expression. "I suggest you find out what my friend would like to know," he growled. "Else your death will be exquisitely slow and painful, enough that you would wish he ended it quickly."
That was a statement that terrified the man and garnered respect and the attention of the Asset. It wasn't simply lip service for Natasha's sake, then. Loki truly meant to help him as well, and he wasn't used to such things.
"James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes," Loki read as information was brought up on a computer screen. He flicked his gaze to the Asset, then to Natasha. "Does that mean anything to you?"
Both shook their heads, and Loki effortlessly threw the hapless man across the room. They all heard the crack of a spine breaking, and the man collapsed to the floor in a tangle of limbs. He wasn't moving, but none of the three spared him a glance. He wasn't important anymore, and Loki was already moving through the computer system. It was archaic even by Midgard's standards, and agonizingly slow to maneuver. But Loki soon found his way into different archives, and he scanned the information as it scrolled past. Allspeak was useful on the worlds of Yggdrasil, but translation spells he'd used earlier were far more helpful.
Bucky's expression shuttered as he saw some of the data Loki left on the screen for him to read; that drew Natasha's attention out of concern. The three huddled around the screen to look at what Loki had found. A close friend of Captain America, Bucky had been captured and experimented on by Arnim Zola. He and others had been rescued, and he continued to fight until his death during a mission in 1945. Memorials had been erected in his honor, his sisters and mother had gotten his military pension, and his best friend was soon lost in battle himself. Various notes were collected on the tactical skills that Bucky had, further training he underwent, the tests and enhancements he was given. Some of the notations on scanned pages of his files also made mention of other projects they could have been used on.
Natasha pulled away from them and picked up the knife on the table. She looked at the blood and gore smeared on the finely crafted blade, then lifted her head and returned to where she had been standing prior to reading about Bucky Barnes. Unceremoniously, she stabbed the man she had been torturing and walked over to the last one on her side of the room. Her steps were slow, methodical, her expression eerily blank as she walked. Blood dripped from the end of the blade, and the bound man made a soft whimpering noise.
"Comrade," she said, gracefully dropping into a squat. "The medicines we were given, the checkups, the injections. They all were to enhance us, were they not?"
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head.
She stabbed his thigh, not even flinching when he screamed. She merely lifted the knife as she stared him down. "I know who you are, Comrade. I remember you. So do not insult us both with these lies. You know full well what we are capable of. What I have done to your comrades will be nothing compared to what may come for you."
"There are more in store," he insisted. "I don't know what they gave you, what they're saving for the winner of your class. It's common knowledge that the Black Widow program includes modifications, but we were never told what was done. Kudrin and Chelintsov don't share their secrets," the man spat.
Without needing to be asked, Loki's fingers flew across the keys of the old computer looking for those two agents of the Red Room as Natasha slit the man's throat and stood. Soon enough, Grigor Ivanov Chelintsov and Lyudmila Antonovna Kudrin were summoned; Chelintsov was one of the men directing the memory reconstruction and enhancements that Loki had seen in the different labs, and Kudrin was apparently involved in bodily alterations. Chelintsov didn't break until Bucky came at him with fists and a tactical knife blade. Kudrin refused to release the passwords on her files even under torture.
Loki wracked his memory for spells that could change Kudrin's mind, but couldn't think of any that he had learned. Did any exist? There had to be something that the seidr could do for that, since it was all about illusion and trickery. Perhaps one of the higher order spells in Frigga's library that she hadn't shared with him yet.
Damn and blast. He wanted to know what Kudrin knew, needed to know if Natasha was safe, or if her body would turn on itself. Maybe he could convince one of the Healers on Asgard to study her with a Soul Forge, but tales might come back to his father that a mere mortal was in Asgard's hallowed halls. Loki wouldn't want to explain why he cared so much for Natasha's survival, why he needed to know she would be all right.
Angry, Natasha stood and let Bucky take over the torture and did her best to try to hack into Kudrin's files. It calmed her, let her fall into a state where emotions held no sway. And when she finally was able to crack the files wide open to see for herself what was done, Bucky simply killed Kudrin and returned to Natasha's side. They looked at the notations for enhancements to Natasha's immune system, muscle strength and bone density. It wasn't quite the same kind of healing that the super soldier serum could do, but it certainly meant she was harder to kill than most humans were.
She wasn't that fragile. Bucky definitely wasn't. Pleased, Loki grabbed Natasha and kissed her, heedless of the blood and gore coating her clothes, hands and arms, the smear of blood across one cheek. For good measure, Loki grasped Bucky by the back of his neck and then kissed him as well. Both belonged to him, after all.
"We have what we want, then," he told them, grinning widely. "This place is ours."
Natasha's smile was slow and sinister, but Bucky's expression remained blank. "Yes, it is," she said, voice low and husky. "And I know what our first missions should be." She turned to Bucky, eyes shining with perfect love. "We eliminate Hydra and make sure you're free."
"Perfect," Loki declared, pulling them both into a tight embrace. "Let's get started right away."
***
***
To Chapter Three - The Corners of the Evening
Author: Eustacia Vye
Author's e-mail: eustacia_vye28@hotmail.com
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Loki/Natasha, Natasha/Winter Soldier, Loki/Natasha/Winter Soldier.
Disclaimer: Not mine! Not even by a little bit.
Spoilers/Warnings: MCU AU. Based off of futurerustfuture-dust's initial dark!blackwinterfrost idea. I didn't use the written material you sent me exactly, but here's hoping you like this one, too. :) Russian words have hovertext translation thanks to Google Translate, so please let me know if I goofed something and I'll fix it. Title, epigraph and chapter titles are all from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.
Summary: A left turn instead of a right, and Loki tumbled down into the frozen tundra of Russia, right outside the Red Room. An honest mistake, but it soon changed everything. And he was never one to share his toys.
Prior chapter:
One - Disturb The Universe
Two - Spread Out Against The Sky
"You were there when I was a girl," Natalia said as they left the bar. Her eyes were sharp and clear, no hint of a question.
"What are you talking about?"
"There was an odd visit from Comrade Bezukhov one night during testing when I was a girl. He canceled the test he ordered the day before, and wasn't moving the same way he normally does."
Loki held out his arm in a gallant gesture. Natalia really was a tiny creature, and he didn't know if it was because of her deprivation as a small child or if she was truly destined to be that short. It didn't matter; that brought out almost protective instincts in him. The Red Room wouldn't have her back. She was his.
"How were you there as Comrade Bezokhov?" she asked when he remained silent.
"Do you believe in magic?"
She actually seemed to ponder that, making him want to laugh in delight. Such an inquisitive woman she was, and all his. "I think there are a great many things that exist that I wasn't trained for," she said finally.
"You still think I'm testing you, don't you?"
"Wouldn't you?"
Now Loki laughed outright, pulling her into an alley. It was out of sight of the Asset's crosshairs, and would likely drive him out of his mind with worry. Loki pressed Natalia against the wall, a hand around her throat. It was loose, not as warning, but to keep himself from devouring her mouth after the delicate taste he'd gotten. "I'm not one of your middling handlers, Natalia," he purred, letting a glamour settle on top of his skin. Her eyes widened fractionally before she reined in the reaction; it had to be real, then. "I am something very different."
"Why have you chosen to reveal yourself to me?"
"You're the best. Why shouldn't I have the best things?" Loki asked, lips curling in a mocking smile. "That's how they see you two, you know. Things. Objects to move around and play pretend with. You're not a person, not a real creature with feelings and thoughts and wants and needs. Whatever you might want doesn't even occur to them. They were going to send you to Shostakov, have him marry and bed your persona, and have you test him in subtle ways. A mission beneath your skill level."
"And what do you propose I do for you, then?" Natalia asked, a slight challenge in her tone.
He gave in to his impulse and kissed her, mouth open over hers, tongue sliding across the seam of her lips. She didn't bother to move the hand at her throat, and simply responded to the kiss that he gave her. "I could tell you to try to seduce me," Loki murmured against her lips. "But you've been trained to do that. You would determine what I like best and become that. A cipher, nothing more than smoke and mirrors, a malleable thing like magic itself."
"So what do you want me to be?" she asked quietly.
"You. I want your loyalty, your mind, your heart, your body, your soul. All of you."
"There are pieces you will never touch."
Loki laughed. "If they belong to me, I won't have to."
Natalia gently pushed at his shoulders and he allowed it, letting her searching gaze rake over his face for a moment. "I want my mind," she said fiercely, eyes flashing. "I need to have my mind my own." It made him think of those girls strapped down and fed all sorts of drugs and having to watch videos.
"What I meant," Loki said, moving his hand from her throat to caress her cheek, "is that you use your intellect to help me. That your clever mind will solve problems for me. That you will aid me in all things. I don't intend to warp your memories or leave you a drooling idiot. Where's the fun in that?"
She bit her lip, and the hint of vulnerability made him want to kiss her. Hell, he wanted fuck her right there against the wall and make her precious Asset watch. He was aching, and it made him realize it had been quite some time since he had visited the palace brothel.
"I will help you," she said slowly, her luscious lips pursing slightly, "because you ask it of me. Because you imply I have a choice."
"Of course you do. You could always go back to them."
There was striking out on her own, but he didn't think the Red Room would let her. For her to be free, Loki would have to raze it to the ground.
"That's not a choice I wish to take." She bit her lip again, and Loki wondered if it was genuine or not. Given her training, it could be impossible for him to tell. "What kind of man are you?" she asked quietly. "Ivan Petrovich sometimes thought of himself as my father, though no father would put his child through this, surely. You don't think of yourself that way. So what do you see yourself as?"
"Bored," Loki murmured. "In need of something to do, somewhere to be."
"You need to matter to someone. To be looked up to, but without having to constantly prove that you're worthy of it. That's why you don't like the day to day necessities of rule."
Ah, too perceptive by far. "I suppose," he replied with a shrug.
"You may call me Natasha." He vaguely understood it as important, and guessed it was a pet name only close associates would call her.
"Natasha," he murmured before kissing her again, and he could feel the difference in her response. She had been guarded before, and was more open to him now. Was this the real Natasha? Or was it the reckless abandon she'd had with the Asset?
Only one way to find out.
He created a portal to the room where the Asset had been waiting for Natasha; he was pacing, agitated when she went missing. He was startled, but froze when Loki held up a hand and subvocalized the trigger word he had heard one of the Asset's handlers talk about. As promised, it kept him alert but locked in place and unable to move. "She's safe. You're safe. Frozen, but conscious, aware, and will be able to move again in a few minutes. When I am ready, I will return to discuss a bargain with you." Loki smiled at the Asset, slow and sinuous. "I wager it will be more than fair, given how little they value your individuality."
With a nod at the Asset, he opened another portal and led Natasha through it. Her eyes lingered on the Asset, and again Loki wondered how her handlers missed it. Were they really that clueless and incompetent? Or were they simply biding their time until it was worth their while to punish them both for the transgressions?
No matter. They belonged to him. The Red Room couldn't have them, not now and not ever again. Loki didn't like sharing when it was something important like this.
This portal led to a small pocket dimension. He had created it after reading of such things in Frigga's library, and she had all but encouraged such things due to its complexity. "Some places that don't exist really should," is how she had discussed the topic when the theory came up in their discussion. It had taken him about three years to create the dimension, then make it large enough to be a small sized suite of rooms. He had then anchored it to a branch of Yggdrasil, using the power of the World Tree to keep it going even after he left it. That allowed him to store belongings in it and make it a safe place to retreat to if the palace wasn't enough. There were times he craved solitude; with the innumerable servants, courtiers and nobles floating about the palace halls, it was often hard to truly be alone. Here, he was.
Natasha looked about the area, eyes taking in the details. The walls were glittering ice, the furniture elaborately wrought in silver or platinum, furs and throw rugs everywhere. Taper candles and a roaring fire threw off light, and there were shelves with leather bound books, scrolls and ornate boxes. A sumptuous lacquered desk to the side of the massive room held ink pots and quills, rolled scrolls and parchment, more stacks of books. Doorways to the left of their entry point led to a bathroom and bedroom, both exquisitely done.
"This is your home," Natasha murmured, looking at Loki. Her voice was soft, a sense of wonder in it. "You brought me to your safe place."
Loki reached out and ran his fingers along the curve of her cheek. Natasha remained very still, her gaze level as he touched her. "Yes, I did. Do you feel safe here?"
Her eyes locked onto his. "I can be, I'm sure."
"But you're not quite sure of me yet."
"You want to rule. I can believe that. You want me to help you. I probably can. But here..."
"What do you wish to happen here?"
"The opportunity to be more than a nameless tool," Natasha murmured. It was possibly the most honest thing she said to him.
"Oh, I see many opportunities," he murmured, just before he bent his head down to kiss her roughly. "I think you will enjoy this particular opportunity," Loki murmured.
"Is this what you want from me?" Natasha murmured, holding onto his arms for balance.
"With you," he corrected. "One of the many ways I can think of for us to amuse each other."
"Is that what this is?"
Loki heard her carefully measured voice and pulled back, frowning. "Is this unwelcome attention, Natasha?" he asked. "I won't be angry with you if it is."
"So this is my choice?" she asked, still in that carefully measured voice.
"In this, you will always have a choice. I call you mine, and want you to consider yourself mine in turn. But I say that not because I expect your body at all times. I don't expect you to seduce me for your safety. I suggest this because I think we can satisfy our needs together. We all have needs, dear one," Loki replied, a sad smile on his face as understanding seemed to dawn in her eyes. "Some we can meet, some we cannot. Some things we can never have."
"This is my choice. As is working with you and not with the superiors I've known."
"Yes."
Natasha softened against him, molding her body to his and hooking a leg around him. "Then we can see if this would be of mutual satisfaction, yes?"
"Have you ever had the opportunity to be truly pleasured properly?" He let his lips curl in a sensual smile that usually got the noble ladies of Asgard panting. "To be treasured for your beauty and grace? Not as an operative, not for seduction, not for a test. But for yourself, what you enjoy, what you want in being bedded?"
Her lips parted enticingly as she shook her head. "No," she murmured.
And this would be how he seduced her to his side. Not with lies or trickery or flattery, but with choice and the freedom to choose. She would choose him if he gave her that illusion, if he let her think he ever intended any different for her.
"Let me show you what it is to be treasured, then," he said softly, bending his head down to kiss her. "Let me show you what it is your handlers feared, why they never wanted to let you know what was truly out there in the world." Her lips parted as he kissed her. Loki's tongue darted into her mouth immediately, probing at the recesses of her mouth and licking at her teeth. To his joy, she responded in kind, inherently graceful and deadly, no doubt born of her training and not her true desire. Yet. She would learn.
He could be generous when pleased, and right now she was pleasing him very much.
Loki whispered a spell against her mouth that made her clothing dissolve into nothing. He grinned at her gasp of surprise, elicited before she could suppress it. Everything he was doing was startling, overriding the tight control her handlers had trained into her. Oh, it was still there, but she didn't have any past programming to fall back on for this situation. He would see the true responses, know what her soul was truly made of. He already had the feeling that he would like what he saw, but he wanted to know and be sure.
He licked his fingers before reaching down and sliding them through her folds, then inside of her. Natasha clung to him, eyes wide and mouth parted in a gasp as she stared at him. "Did they prepare you, these teachers of yours?" She shook her head, not speaking as she gasped again when he curled his fingers enticingly. "Did they consider your sensibilities at all?" Loki asked, already knowing the answer.
"I was trained. I was conditioned. I was a tool for Mother Russia," she gasped. He growled, a low contented sound, and worked his fingers in and out of her.
"You are no tool. A fine instrument, if you must be compared to something," Loki told her, voice low and intimate. His lips stretched into a smile when Natasha cupped his face in her hands, an intense look in her eyes. "Would you play me in turn?"
She took the words as a challenge, her smile answering his. "Would it be play?"
"Play or not at all," Loki returned, bringing his mouth back to hers. "I would never force you, dear Natasha." He rubbed her clit with his thumb, knowing this was playing dirty but not caring in the least. "I am not the creatures you are familiar with."
"I see that," she said, pulling at his clothes and deftly moving them aside until her fingers met skin. Clever, just as he liked. "Then let's play."
Her kiss was possessive now, not shy in the slightest. Her nails dug into his sides when his fingers sped up, when he brought her to the peak of pleasure and pushed her over the edge. It was wonderful to see the flush in her cheeks, the way her eyes lit up. Ah, she hadn't been treated with any kindness, and the training had likely been clinical in nature. How to seduce and appear to be seduced. Idiots. Loyalty born of fear was easily broken.
Loki pulled his fingers from her and licked the taste of her off of them, then inclined his head toward the bedroom. His clothes disappeared along the way, and he found himself smiling as she crawled up onto his bed, a massive four poster that took up much of the bedroom. The sheets and fur coverings were luxurious, a sensual feast for his sensitive skin, and the sight of her on top of them made him want to bed her right there and then.
Natasha turned and looked over her shoulder at him, still on all fours, and let her lips curl in a sensual invitation. "Come, my lord," she purred.
"I like the sound of that."
"I thought you might," she replied, twisting so he could see the rise of her breasts as well as the curve of her ass. He ran his hand down the length of her spine, until he could cup that bottom for himself. "You seem that kind."
"Considering I like rule?"
"A would be king?"
Something in Loki's chest twisted at the sound of that. "Nay, I'm but a second son. Kingship is not my due, only advisory status."
Her head tilted to the side. "You're serious."
"Very much so," Loki murmured, reaching for her and turning her so that she fell onto her back on his bed. "I would be expected to keep this as mere dalliance, and to return to my duties, take my place behind the throne."
"But you won't," Natasha murmured as he lavished her breasts with kisses.
"I have my own plans in mind," he replied, moving down to kiss her belly, then place his mouth at the very center of her. Loki didn't care that she gasped and pulled at his hair. He licked into her, tongue deep inside her slit or pressed to her clit, the taste of her like heady wine. It was a pleasure to reduce her to this, to have her writhing beneath his mouth as he licked at her sensitive nub, as he lapped at her wetness. He was hard, aching to press into her, but he first planned to bring her to another peak of pleasure this way, get her slick and aching, begging for him to take her repeatedly. Perhaps he would even lace himself with magic, keep himself hard and able to bring her even more pleasure.
This time he didn't, and brought his mouth away from her after she cried out when she came. Her limbs splayed to the side, she was a vision of decadent perfection. Oh yes, she was very much the pinnacle of the Red Room's program, but Loki saw her as so much more than that. She was a finely honed blade, crafted to be beautiful and deadly if used properly.
He could take over any country on this pathetic realm, any organization, any group that thought to stand up in his way. He could even use her skills to cement his position in court on Asgard, if he ever truly thought his place would be threatened. So many possibilities, the thought of it was endless and dizzying and wonderful.
Sliding his cock into her wet heat, Loki grinned down at Natasha. She raked her nails across his chest and hips, pulling him in further. "You like it rough, little one?" he asked, amused.
"I want this," she moaned. "I need this now."
"I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "I can take my time with you. No need to rush." Though she tried to shift her hips and squeeze her inner muscles around his cock, Loki laughed in delight and moved slowly, agonizingly slowly, introducing the concept of lovemaking and not just fucking. Nothing wrong with that either, but it was all she knew from her frenzied couplings with the Asset. The thought of teaching her this, of it being new and as a result of his attention, was heady and exhilarating.
Holding her hands down above her head, Loki moved with deliberate intent, lips curled in a knowing smile at her whine of frustration. "Patience, Natasha," she purred. "Surely they told you there is no need to rush things."
"I want this," she whimpered, looking up at him with a desperate expression. "I want."
"Yes, you do. But there are no prying eyes here, no need to hurry. No one will hurt you ever again. I promise you." Whatever she saw in his expression must have convinced her, because she nodded and relaxed into his bed. Closing her eyes, Natasha let herself get caught up in the sensation of the fur at her back, his hand over her wrists, his cock thick inside her, his other hand cupping her breast and flicking the nipple with his fingers. Loki watched her closely, the hitch and rise of her chest as she gasped for breath, as she swallowed moans and fractured pieces of sentences asking him for more, more, more.
Her body tightened around him when she came, and he couldn't hold back any longer. He spilled into her, relaxed and grinning down at her. For all of her well-honed reflexes and training, Loki could tell she hadn't feigned her response. She laid beneath him, sated, smiling sensually. Eyes hooded in satisfaction, Natasha looked up at him, languor in her limbs and a pleased expression on her face. "There is likely something to this."
"So you like this, hm?" he asked, smiling smugly at her.
She pushed him over onto his back and straddled his waist, holding his wrists down against the bed. Grinning in amusement, she slid her sticky, slippery wetness against his softening cock, his seed smearing between their bodies. "I can be persuaded. And perhaps you'll let me persuade you to do things my way. To hold you down and take what I want from you. To make it so you can't remember your name or why we're challenging each other this way."
Loki laughed, delighted. "Yes, dear Natasha. Show me what you want to do. Show me what you like." His smile was a sharp, edged thing, full of teeth and quiet menace. The subtle display didn't cool her ardor in the slightest, something he appreciated. The last time he had visited the palace brothel, he had to curb the darker impulses he had to bind the girl and use her roughly to satisfy himself. With Natasha, he thought she would enjoy such a thing. And she might likely make him enjoy similar treatment.
As it was, she had to improvise with whatever leftover ties and laces from abandoned bits of clothing that no longer fit him. His boyhood leftovers possibly would fit her, breeches clinging to the round backside, to the shape of thigh and calf. Even imagining it brought the first stirrings of desire back to him; Asgardian women hid the shape of their bodies among folds of dresses, drapes and robes. It was too intimate a sight, reserved for bedrooms for most ladies, and for Sif on the battlefield.
Natasha tied him to the bed and covered his eyes with a length of hose, then moved with lips and mouth and hands, occasional sweeps of tongue and even a scrape of teeth once or twice. He was so sensitive to her touch, to the way she licked his soft cock and abdomen clean, the way she mouthed his balls and licked at his thighs reverently, the way she hummed as if it was a pleasant task she couldn't wait to continue. Loki could cheat with magic, could make it so that he could claim her again, more thoroughly than before. But this was the result of the theoretical teachings they had given her, and to have her enjoy the lessons given was a wonderful experience. He groaned as her mouth closed over his cock, licking and sucking, her hands kneading his balls and holding his cock steady. When he was hard enough, she pulled her mouth away and mounted him, her hands at his chest, scratching at his flat nipples lightly.
She continued even after he came, chasing her own pleasure, and it was an unbearably intense feeling to have her do this. By the Tree, she was exquisite.
Afterward, he broke free of her knots and pulled her down to the bed beneath him. "You could have done that at any time?" she gasped, but it wasn't quite fear in her voice. No, she was aroused; she liked the thought of his strength, that he could overpower her.
Loki only grinned devilishly at him. "You're mine, Natalia Alianovna Romanova, and of course I will do as I wish with you."
Her smile was an invitation, so he kissed her thoroughly. Her hands ran through his hair, holding him close, a leg hooked around his waist to keep their bodies entwined. "And I do as I wish with you, don't I?" she purred against his mouth.
"If you can."
"Then I'll put my imagination to the task and find all new ways to bring you to your knees."
"Do your worst, Natasha," he urged her, grinning. "But first, our business on Midgard isn't done yet." He pulled away from her, nearly laughing at her confused expression. "We shall dress and conclude the agreement we were talking about."
The Asset was still frozen in place when Loki opened a portal into his hotel room. Natasha ran to the Asset, casting an accusing glance at Loki. "Were they only pretty words, then? You kept him here to suffer while we dally?"
Loki quirked his lips at her; apparently she was constantly absorbing speech patterns from those around her. The natural ability to mimic allowed her to blend and appear as though she belonged. "No time passed here, Natasha. I made sure of it." With a wave of his hand in the face of her disbelief, the spell on the Asset fell.
He looked at Natasha, sliding an arm around her waist and ignoring the Asset's glare. "We need to come to an understanding, you and I," Loki told the Asset. "We both care about her, about the strength of your skills and completing missions you set out to do."
The words appeared to be contemplated at least, so Loki forged on. "Your current masters care nothing for your wellbeing. Or hers. Not past what they can have you do for them. They erased your memory and reshuffled hers like so much trash, and I propose a change of leadership."
"You control the Red Room?" the Asset asked dubiously. "That would only help Natalia. I am only on loan from Hydra."
Shrugging, Loki disinterestedly replied "Then they will be eliminated."
"It's not that easy. Their true identities are hidden," the Asset told him. "I don't know who they all are. They'll rebuild once it's safe to. They've done it before."
"You said it in jest," Loki told him slowly, "but if we did eliminate the current leaders of the Red Room, destroyed Hydra completely..." He smiled, an uneasy and almost manic grin to most people observing. These two weren't fazed by it in the least. "We can rule it. Why rule a country when we can take over the entire organization and bring the world to its knees?"
Though they both seemed rather doubtful, they didn't disagree. Loki opened a portal from the hotel room to the Red Room offices. It was easy to lock the doors with a minor spell, trapping the idiot officials inside. With a magnanimous wave of his hands, he smiled at Natasha and the Asset with a fair bit of menace. "Why don't we find out what your name is," he said. "I'm sure they know who you were before they got hold of you." The menace in his expression deepened as he looked over the cowering handlers. "Use whatever means you feel is necessary."
The two of them were utterly glorious in their ruthlessness. The Asset and Natasha worked in tandem, quickly, securing the men in the room. Most had started screeching in terror when they realized the room was locked and Loki wasn't going to help them escape. He gave Natasha one of the hidden blades from his formal armor, and smiled benignly when her eyes lit up. A simple gift to give, yet it clearly told her how much she was trusted. There was no need to give the Asset any weapons, when all of his were still strapped to his body, ready to be used.
Stepping back when she took it, Loki grandly swept his arms around the room. "Do what you will, my dears," Loki told them magnanimously.
The Asset narrowed his eyes at Loki. "You're not going to give us instructions?"
"Why? You know what to do," Loki replied with a shrug. "I don't care how it gets done as long as we get what we need. I have no interest in micromanaging you."
Natasha and the Asset had similarly eerie smiles, then set to work. It didn't bother them in the slightest that Loki watched them, assessing their skills. It was likely what all handlers and guards did anyway. He watched as Natasha used the blade to nick at nerves and arteries, inflicting the greatest amount of pain with the least lethality until her victim was sobbing and begging to be let go, spilling secrets like a waterfall. The Asset broke every bone in hands or punched hard enough to shatter ribs. It was watching a scalpel and hammer in action. These stupid men never dreamed that their tools could ever turn on them. Foolish idiots, one and all.
Sitting cross legged beside one bound man, Natasha looked up at Loki. "There are more officers that we need. This one will tell me who we should call, won't you?" she asked sweetly. She sounded like spun sugar, all sickly sweet, though her smile was frightening and the man's chest had already been skinned. Loki's knife was covered in blood, and it was poised at his throat; the threat that his face was next was clear.
With something like pride, Loki called all the handlers that were suggested. He wasn't sure if they were actually needed, or these men didn't want to die alone. It didn't really matter; while they were decimating the leadership of the Red Room and discovering who the Hydra members were, it opened up the organization to their leadership.
The Asset slammed his metal fist into a different man's face, shattering the bones of the orbit and zygomatic arch. Shards of bone were thrust into the soft brain tissue behind it, and the hapless victim collapsed once he pulled back his hand. "Useless trash."
Loki moved to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. The Asset was glaring down at the pile of men in his part of the room, so much meat mangled and torn. "Did any of them know anything useful, then?"
"Not a single name," the Asset growled.
"Not even yours?" Loki asked, frowning.
"Grigori might have known it," another cowering man muttered, pointing to the pile of dead. "But it's useless now."
Lifting the man by the front of his shirt, Loki fixed him with a bland expression. "I suggest you find out what my friend would like to know," he growled. "Else your death will be exquisitely slow and painful, enough that you would wish he ended it quickly."
That was a statement that terrified the man and garnered respect and the attention of the Asset. It wasn't simply lip service for Natasha's sake, then. Loki truly meant to help him as well, and he wasn't used to such things.
"James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes," Loki read as information was brought up on a computer screen. He flicked his gaze to the Asset, then to Natasha. "Does that mean anything to you?"
Both shook their heads, and Loki effortlessly threw the hapless man across the room. They all heard the crack of a spine breaking, and the man collapsed to the floor in a tangle of limbs. He wasn't moving, but none of the three spared him a glance. He wasn't important anymore, and Loki was already moving through the computer system. It was archaic even by Midgard's standards, and agonizingly slow to maneuver. But Loki soon found his way into different archives, and he scanned the information as it scrolled past. Allspeak was useful on the worlds of Yggdrasil, but translation spells he'd used earlier were far more helpful.
Bucky's expression shuttered as he saw some of the data Loki left on the screen for him to read; that drew Natasha's attention out of concern. The three huddled around the screen to look at what Loki had found. A close friend of Captain America, Bucky had been captured and experimented on by Arnim Zola. He and others had been rescued, and he continued to fight until his death during a mission in 1945. Memorials had been erected in his honor, his sisters and mother had gotten his military pension, and his best friend was soon lost in battle himself. Various notes were collected on the tactical skills that Bucky had, further training he underwent, the tests and enhancements he was given. Some of the notations on scanned pages of his files also made mention of other projects they could have been used on.
Natasha pulled away from them and picked up the knife on the table. She looked at the blood and gore smeared on the finely crafted blade, then lifted her head and returned to where she had been standing prior to reading about Bucky Barnes. Unceremoniously, she stabbed the man she had been torturing and walked over to the last one on her side of the room. Her steps were slow, methodical, her expression eerily blank as she walked. Blood dripped from the end of the blade, and the bound man made a soft whimpering noise.
"Comrade," she said, gracefully dropping into a squat. "The medicines we were given, the checkups, the injections. They all were to enhance us, were they not?"
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head.
She stabbed his thigh, not even flinching when he screamed. She merely lifted the knife as she stared him down. "I know who you are, Comrade. I remember you. So do not insult us both with these lies. You know full well what we are capable of. What I have done to your comrades will be nothing compared to what may come for you."
"There are more in store," he insisted. "I don't know what they gave you, what they're saving for the winner of your class. It's common knowledge that the Black Widow program includes modifications, but we were never told what was done. Kudrin and Chelintsov don't share their secrets," the man spat.
Without needing to be asked, Loki's fingers flew across the keys of the old computer looking for those two agents of the Red Room as Natasha slit the man's throat and stood. Soon enough, Grigor Ivanov Chelintsov and Lyudmila Antonovna Kudrin were summoned; Chelintsov was one of the men directing the memory reconstruction and enhancements that Loki had seen in the different labs, and Kudrin was apparently involved in bodily alterations. Chelintsov didn't break until Bucky came at him with fists and a tactical knife blade. Kudrin refused to release the passwords on her files even under torture.
Loki wracked his memory for spells that could change Kudrin's mind, but couldn't think of any that he had learned. Did any exist? There had to be something that the seidr could do for that, since it was all about illusion and trickery. Perhaps one of the higher order spells in Frigga's library that she hadn't shared with him yet.
Damn and blast. He wanted to know what Kudrin knew, needed to know if Natasha was safe, or if her body would turn on itself. Maybe he could convince one of the Healers on Asgard to study her with a Soul Forge, but tales might come back to his father that a mere mortal was in Asgard's hallowed halls. Loki wouldn't want to explain why he cared so much for Natasha's survival, why he needed to know she would be all right.
Angry, Natasha stood and let Bucky take over the torture and did her best to try to hack into Kudrin's files. It calmed her, let her fall into a state where emotions held no sway. And when she finally was able to crack the files wide open to see for herself what was done, Bucky simply killed Kudrin and returned to Natasha's side. They looked at the notations for enhancements to Natasha's immune system, muscle strength and bone density. It wasn't quite the same kind of healing that the super soldier serum could do, but it certainly meant she was harder to kill than most humans were.
She wasn't that fragile. Bucky definitely wasn't. Pleased, Loki grabbed Natasha and kissed her, heedless of the blood and gore coating her clothes, hands and arms, the smear of blood across one cheek. For good measure, Loki grasped Bucky by the back of his neck and then kissed him as well. Both belonged to him, after all.
"We have what we want, then," he told them, grinning widely. "This place is ours."
Natasha's smile was slow and sinister, but Bucky's expression remained blank. "Yes, it is," she said, voice low and husky. "And I know what our first missions should be." She turned to Bucky, eyes shining with perfect love. "We eliminate Hydra and make sure you're free."
"Perfect," Loki declared, pulling them both into a tight embrace. "Let's get started right away."
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To Chapter Three - The Corners of the Evening