Faces That You Meet, 8/8. 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 chapters:
One - Disturb The Universe
Two - Spread Out Against The Sky
Three - The Corners of the Evening
Four - Descend The Stair
Five - Moment Of My Greatness
Six - Decisions And Revisions
Seven - Insidious Intent
Eight - Waves Blown Back
Natasha practically beamed with pride as Bucky unlaced the back of her dress. "Your mission was a success, then. And as for mine... Well, those society ladies aren't particularly fond of me, but they like the royal cachet I have. I'm considered one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, if you can believe it. Not that she asks me to do anything."
"Yet," Bucky purred, leaning in and nipping the side of her neck. "She's trying to figure out how best you would fit." He cupped her breasts as the outer layers of dress fell to the floor in a puddle of silks and laces. Only a fine lawn separated his hands from her skin, making her shiver. "I think the idea of spies bothers her."
"Thor and Odin don't seem to mind."
"They're used to war." He ran his teeth along the slope of her neck on one side, then switched to the other. "They know the utility of having us around."
"Mmmm. I like that. I've missed you."
Bucky rubbed her nipples through the fabric. "Threatening people doesn't have the same thrill lately. Mostly 'cause they don't fight back."
"This is a realm at peace," Natasha chuckled, reaching behind her to palm his burgeoning erection through his breeches. "Though that just means the elite are scheming to keep themselves busy. It's not like we wouldn't have been doing similar things on Earth."
"True enough." He licked a stripe along the back of her neck, making her drop her chin down toward her chest. Pinching her nipples lightly, Bucky smiled at her gasp of desire. "Think being here would keep us busy enough?"
"We have servants that send us information. But I'm sure we could convince Loki to set up a network of girls in servant quarters or at court. Make up a network here like the Red Room had it," she said, breath fracturing as one of Bucky's hands dipped down to caress her mound through the thin fabric. Natasha ran her nails over the outline of his erection and pressed her ass against his thighs, reminding him of how ready she could be.
"Sounds like you want to stay," Bucky commented. He almost added too, but held his tongue at the last moment.
"I think you do, too," Natasha murmured, writhing prettily in his grasp.
Blowing out a breath, Bucky tore the thin fabric from her frame and bent her forward, making her shift her stance and reach out to grab the side of the dressing table for balance. She gasped as he roughly handled her hips, lips drawn back in a smile. "You missed me, huh?" she teased.
"Yeah," Bucky admitted, skimming his fingers over her bare skin. "And I like it here. That it's new and we can be together like this. And you in those dresses..."
Her laugh turned into a groan of pleasure as his fingers found her, slipping inside her and starting to stroke her. "So you like court intrigue?" she gasped, clenching down around his fingers.
"No, not that part," Bucky said, grinning at her reaction. "That's boring. But the rest of it's okay."
"Mmmm. I like that," she purred. "But I want your cock where your fingers are."
"Think you can kiss me with that filthy mouth you have?" he teased, grinning and nipping at an earlobe playfully.
"Kiss you and more," Natasha replied, reaching behind her to grasp at his hip. Bucky didn't stop her, of course, and she followed the waistline of his breeches until she came to the front ties. She tugged at them impatiently. "Get those off and get inside me."
"So eager," he growled, shifting his hips to rub his covered pelvis against her ass.
"Yes, yes, yes." She was growing more impatient. "Just get in me."
"I think you better show me what you want," Bucky taunted.
She wrenched herself from him with a sigh, then turned and pushed him toward the bed. The look in her eyes was smoldering desire, making him lick his lips with anticipation. They made short work of his clothes, and Natasha straddled him with a smile. She eased herself down over him, teasing him with a swivel of her hips and slow movements.
As she did this, the door to the bedroom opened. They both knew it was Loki; he had barred his personal body servants from entering his bedroom, and they all knew that the mortals shared his bed. They were all sworn to secrecy, and may have peeked a time or two; those were all relatively controlled situations, staged for their benefit and to add to Loki's whispered prestige below stairs. As Natasha's maid, Eira knew by now, and was flattered to have been taken into Natasha's confidence. Though she was scandalized by the thought of three people together in a sexual relationship, she understood the devotion involved in it and was honored to protect her prince and his favored companions.
"Any particular event you're celebrating?" Loki asked in arch tones.
Natasha arched her torso backward slightly, giving both men a look at the line of her body, her breasts high and nipples erect. "That we want to stay here rather than eventually go back to Earth." She grinned at his indrawn breath. "Celebrate with us."
Loki approached after shedding his clothing quickly, boots tossed aside and laces tearing in his impatience to be naked. He stalked forward until he could come up behind Natasha, clasping her breasts in his hands for himself. He nuzzled her neck, teeth scraping her skin. "You've always accepted that you're mine."
"And you're finding a place for us here," Bucky said, shifting his hips to thrust into Natasha when her own stilled. "So, we'll stay. We'll be your playthings."
"No," Loki growled, letting go of Natasha. He touched her hip with one hand, then reached down with his other to grasp Bucky's neck. "Not playthings. Not toys, like you're disposable or have no worth for me. You matter, and you're mine, and I would rather accompany you to your miserable, backwater realm than let you both go."
"Then get on top of him," Natasha purred, lips curling into a smile. She cupped her own breasts and swiveled her hips. "Right? It'll be fun with us all at the same time."
"Shit," Bucky groaned, hips jerking beneath her. "C'mon, then, Loki. I'll suck you off."
Loki's lips parted at the words, his cock getting a little hard at the very thought of what Bucky was offering. "You willingly submit to me," he breathed, letting his fingers trail along Bucky's chest. "Without thought of yourself, without concern for what others would say."
"Shut up," Bucky growled, taking one hand from Natasha's body to tug on his arm. It pulled Loki over, unbalancing him, sending him sprawling over Bucky's body. Bucky nipped at whatever flesh he could reach with his mouth. "I don't care what other people think. I don't care if your people say this is wrong. It's nobody else's business if I want your cock in my mouth while Natasha fucks me. It's your cock and my mouth and it should be happening right now."
He laughed, still seeming a little startled by Bucky's fierce declaration. Natasha helped Loki with his balance as he moved to straddle Bucky's head. He guided his cock to Bucky's mouth, and hissed in pleasure when Bucky's sensual lips closed over him. Bucky held Loki steady with his metal hand and reached down to touch Natasha with his flesh and blood one, thumb brushing against her clit as a reminder to start moving again.
Loki grasped Natasha's arm and pulled her closer so that he could kiss her. She rocked over Bucky, moans swallowed by Loki's mouth. He palmed a breast, roughly abrading the nipple, and grasped the back of her head to keep her still enough for his kiss. Natasha kept one hand on Bucky's chest, nails scratching his flat nipple lightly, and snaked her other around to grab Loki by the back of his neck. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the sensations flooding her, and sped up as much as she was able to. Loki managed to keep from bucking his hips into Bucky's mouth, mindful not to choke him, and simply tightened his hold on Natasha's body, enough that she hissed and shuddered, coming abruptly.
Bucky shifted his hips, not quite ready to come himself, growls muffled by Loki. Natasha took the hint and continued to rock her hips against him. She continued until his own counterthrusts grew erratic and his grip on her was painfully tight. Breaking her kiss with Loki to gasp for air, she tucked her head down and leaned her forehead on his shoulder. Bucky's face was flushed, and he sucked hard on Loki's cock as he moaned, entire body rigid. She stroked his chest, then ran her nails down his pecs. That was enough to tip him over and come inside of her, a strangled sound coming from his throat. Natasha turned her head to press her lips to Loki's throat, and scraped the nails of her other hand down the nape of his neck. "Your turn," she said, voice thick with passion.
When he finally came, Loki sagged against Natasha, his eyes sliding closed. He hissed when Bucky swiped his tongue across the head and sucked hard, making sure he swallowed everything down. Loki had to move off of Bucky, sprawling across the bed face first, limbs splayed and his body utterly relaxed.
Natasha moved to lay between the two men, her cheek pressed against Bucky's metal arm, and her thigh next to Loki's head. She giggled when Loki rested a hand on her ass and kissed her thigh reverently. "Nice way to celebrate, huh?" she asked with a lazy smile.
"Far better than a boring ball," Loki agreed, kissing her thigh again.
There would be details to discuss, no doubt, and arrangements to make with the Red Room back on Earth. Just a little effort, and then they could pull the strings and ensure that Asgard ran the way they wanted it to.
***
"I may have been mistaken about your intelligence project," Thor told Loki sourly as they rode through the outskirts of royal grounds. At Loki's triumphant laugh, Thor scowled. "May have."
"You consider my so-called trickery to be of use. It is victory indeed for me."
Thor frowned now, visibly disconcerted. "I did not seek to wage battle against you, brother."
"Did you not? Every glory of my own, overshadowed by yours. Every honor bestowed upon me, dashed and rendered worthless by you."
Looking away, Thor sighed. "I had not considered it to be such." He turned back to look at Loki with a concerned expression. "I had not thought of it at all. I didn't consider your feelings at all."
Loki scowled at him. "And now?"
"There is much I do not know of Asgard," Thor admitted uneasily. "I know even less of other realms. I know nothing of Midgard. And all I know of Jotunheim is that it's full of monsters."
"We learned far more than that as children," Loki chided, shaking his head.
"Yes, but I hadn't bothered to recall lessons outside the classroom. What does it matter if I could best others in battle?"
"What changed your mind?" Loki asked curiously.
"You and your mortals," Thor admitted, still uneasy. "I thought it dishonorable, unworthy of a Prince of Asgard. But there were indeed whispers about Varinn conspiring against Father's most trusted advisors. He sought to bilk his bride's family of their wealth, and was corrupting his household. There was also talk of argr most foul."
Loki froze, stilling his horse. "Indeed?"
"I hesitate to repeat such whispers..."
"Oh, Thor, you're acting like an eager fishwife. Do tell."
"He not only behaved as a woman with his manservant in the bedroom, he has desires to truly become one." Thor swallowed and looked away, discomfited. "Bad enough to risk his manhood in a tryst with his servant, but it's done. But to be a woman..." He looked back at Loki. "Sif fights as well as any man, and I think the world of her skill. But I would not feel so easy with a man in skirts and a corset."
"There is only so much that our people would be able to tolerate."
"Just so. And I would not feel comfortable with such a man at my side. I would wonder if he was indeed a man, or brave enough to defend our home."
"You think Sif unable? Our mother?" Loki asked sharply.
Thor flushed, embarrassed. "Of course not."
"I think there is much still for all of us to learn," Loki said diplomatically. He nodded toward the outer fields. "We could disguise our faces, have the people meet commoners and see how they behave toward us. See what we would learn of our people."
That eased the tension from Thor's shoulders. "I can do that."
"And the people that my friends had trained with have others like them," Loki murmured. "I could set up a network here, a web of trained girls working for the good of our House, to make sure that traitors and conspirators like Varinn are found before they work their evil. You focus on the dangers outside of Asgard, and our web would focus on the dangers within."
Thor followed Loki's horse and shivered when the seidr settled across his skin, changing him into the appearance of a higher karl. "That would be best. I believe you know what these girls are capable of, what they would find on Asgard. Would they be happy here, you think?" he asked as an afterthought, almost as if he was afraid of the answer.
Loki nodded after a moment. "Their lives were not easy in Midgard. Even in a menial servant's position to spy for the court, they would not be in danger of being harmed."
He looked at Loki, disturbed. "If Midgard is as dangerous as all that, we should save them from themselves. Asgard is the shining jewel of the Nine Realms. We should teach them the way to peace and prosperity."
"Perhaps when you are King, we could open diplomatic relations with some of them," Loki temporized. "I don't believe they're ready to know of us now."
"Too petty and tiny?"
"Precisely."
"Ah," Thor nodded and then kicked his horse into a faster gallop. "Then let us learn of Asgard, brother, and the common folk we will rule. Let us see where to place these spies you will gather for me, and where we will cement my rule."
Smirking a little, Loki nodded and followed his lead. "Of course, my King," he teased.
Thor laughed and shook his head, grinning at Loki. "Not yet. But soon. And we will be the greatest rulers Asgard has ever seen."
***
Natasha sat down in front of Yelena with a slight smile. "You've done very well. This seems to be a role you excel in."
"I do," Yelena replied. There was a satisfied air about her, though there was also a thread of unhappiness in her expression. "I am the best, Natalia Romanova. I bested your scores in all tests, and I have the best response time."
"But not in the field," Natasha murmured. "That's the problem, isn't it?"
Yelena drew her lips back into a snarl. "I have protected the girls and the babies here for nearly a year, and I truly doubt you could have done the same."
"Babies?"
Leaning back in her chair, Yelena nodded. "We've had a few girls choose to try motherhood. A few of those found it did not suit them. But we have other girls who find that it does. There are children here, and we are raising them to be more than what they would have been."
Natasha gave her a genuine smile. "I'm glad. This life is too hard for many of the girls given to the program. It's a wide world out there, and there should be the chance to experience it."
"You're not coming back," Yelena realized, looking at her with a stunned expression.
"I don't want it," she confirmed with a nod. "I have what I want. I am who I wish to be. I'm not here to take your job from you, Yelena," Natasha said gently. "I came to say goodbye. So you didn't think I'd died and didn't fulfill my promises to you and the girls."
Letting out a slow breath, Yelena contemplated that. "I won't force you to return."
"It would be interesting to see if you could," Natasha replied with a smile.
Yelena laughed and shook her head. "I'm younger, faster, stronger and better. I could do it."
"Scores on paper aren't the same as being in the field, and we both know that. But I'm not going to challenge you. That's not my intention. You are more than a collection of scores. All the girls are. It's taken me time to see that. I'm more than my programming. I'm more than my skills. I have something to offer others, and I intend to try to do that. I think you should, too." She leaned forward, a half smile on her face. "Go in the field. See how it is, see what the girls do. There's no better way to lead than to understand what it is that you ask them to do."
Folding her hands together on the desktop, Yelena leaned forward a little as well. "We are extraordinarily difficult to find. In that, you've done your job well, you and the Winter Soldier and our mysterious benefactor. No one seems to be able to follow our people. We're safe, and every agency in the world hires us. We're independent and powerful. Our benefactor has hired on some of the girls for a permanent position elsewhere, but he won't discuss it."
"His home country," Natasha replied, eyes twinkling as she smiled. "They'll be taken care of."
"You're going there, aren't you? That's why you won't return here. You and those girls, creating a network of spies under his control."
"Perhaps." Natasha shrugged and leaned back in her chair with a fond smile on her face. "But I'm also in the position of doing what I wish there. I don't have to spy. I don't have to threaten or continually be on my guard. I am, it's who I've learned to be, and I don't trust all those smiling faces just yet. It's a different way to be, and I want to try that."
Yelena contemplated that for a moment, then nodded. "And if it doesn't work out for you, there will be a home for you here. All Black Widows have a home here."
Natasha gave her a delighted grin. "Thank you. I do appreciate that."
Both women stood, and Yelena was startled when Natasha approached her and gave her a swift hug, genuinely showing her fondness. "And let us know if you ever want to see the stars or another realm. It's wild and amazing."
Giving her a look as if she was crazy, Yelena shook her head. "Someone needs to keep these girls in line, and that's going to be me. I have enough to do here." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go. See the stars and these fantastic places. I have no need for that, and it isn't what I want."
But then, that was what they both had wanted. It was what all of the girls in the Red Room had ever wanted: choice. They could choose what they wanted to do and what kind of person to be, and there would be support for it.
The future was unknown, but they would never be alone or afraid of it.
The End
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 chapters:
One - Disturb The Universe
Two - Spread Out Against The Sky
Three - The Corners of the Evening
Four - Descend The Stair
Five - Moment Of My Greatness
Six - Decisions And Revisions
Seven - Insidious Intent
Eight - Waves Blown Back
Natasha practically beamed with pride as Bucky unlaced the back of her dress. "Your mission was a success, then. And as for mine... Well, those society ladies aren't particularly fond of me, but they like the royal cachet I have. I'm considered one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, if you can believe it. Not that she asks me to do anything."
"Yet," Bucky purred, leaning in and nipping the side of her neck. "She's trying to figure out how best you would fit." He cupped her breasts as the outer layers of dress fell to the floor in a puddle of silks and laces. Only a fine lawn separated his hands from her skin, making her shiver. "I think the idea of spies bothers her."
"Thor and Odin don't seem to mind."
"They're used to war." He ran his teeth along the slope of her neck on one side, then switched to the other. "They know the utility of having us around."
"Mmmm. I like that. I've missed you."
Bucky rubbed her nipples through the fabric. "Threatening people doesn't have the same thrill lately. Mostly 'cause they don't fight back."
"This is a realm at peace," Natasha chuckled, reaching behind her to palm his burgeoning erection through his breeches. "Though that just means the elite are scheming to keep themselves busy. It's not like we wouldn't have been doing similar things on Earth."
"True enough." He licked a stripe along the back of her neck, making her drop her chin down toward her chest. Pinching her nipples lightly, Bucky smiled at her gasp of desire. "Think being here would keep us busy enough?"
"We have servants that send us information. But I'm sure we could convince Loki to set up a network of girls in servant quarters or at court. Make up a network here like the Red Room had it," she said, breath fracturing as one of Bucky's hands dipped down to caress her mound through the thin fabric. Natasha ran her nails over the outline of his erection and pressed her ass against his thighs, reminding him of how ready she could be.
"Sounds like you want to stay," Bucky commented. He almost added too, but held his tongue at the last moment.
"I think you do, too," Natasha murmured, writhing prettily in his grasp.
Blowing out a breath, Bucky tore the thin fabric from her frame and bent her forward, making her shift her stance and reach out to grab the side of the dressing table for balance. She gasped as he roughly handled her hips, lips drawn back in a smile. "You missed me, huh?" she teased.
"Yeah," Bucky admitted, skimming his fingers over her bare skin. "And I like it here. That it's new and we can be together like this. And you in those dresses..."
Her laugh turned into a groan of pleasure as his fingers found her, slipping inside her and starting to stroke her. "So you like court intrigue?" she gasped, clenching down around his fingers.
"No, not that part," Bucky said, grinning at her reaction. "That's boring. But the rest of it's okay."
"Mmmm. I like that," she purred. "But I want your cock where your fingers are."
"Think you can kiss me with that filthy mouth you have?" he teased, grinning and nipping at an earlobe playfully.
"Kiss you and more," Natasha replied, reaching behind her to grasp at his hip. Bucky didn't stop her, of course, and she followed the waistline of his breeches until she came to the front ties. She tugged at them impatiently. "Get those off and get inside me."
"So eager," he growled, shifting his hips to rub his covered pelvis against her ass.
"Yes, yes, yes." She was growing more impatient. "Just get in me."
"I think you better show me what you want," Bucky taunted.
She wrenched herself from him with a sigh, then turned and pushed him toward the bed. The look in her eyes was smoldering desire, making him lick his lips with anticipation. They made short work of his clothes, and Natasha straddled him with a smile. She eased herself down over him, teasing him with a swivel of her hips and slow movements.
As she did this, the door to the bedroom opened. They both knew it was Loki; he had barred his personal body servants from entering his bedroom, and they all knew that the mortals shared his bed. They were all sworn to secrecy, and may have peeked a time or two; those were all relatively controlled situations, staged for their benefit and to add to Loki's whispered prestige below stairs. As Natasha's maid, Eira knew by now, and was flattered to have been taken into Natasha's confidence. Though she was scandalized by the thought of three people together in a sexual relationship, she understood the devotion involved in it and was honored to protect her prince and his favored companions.
"Any particular event you're celebrating?" Loki asked in arch tones.
Natasha arched her torso backward slightly, giving both men a look at the line of her body, her breasts high and nipples erect. "That we want to stay here rather than eventually go back to Earth." She grinned at his indrawn breath. "Celebrate with us."
Loki approached after shedding his clothing quickly, boots tossed aside and laces tearing in his impatience to be naked. He stalked forward until he could come up behind Natasha, clasping her breasts in his hands for himself. He nuzzled her neck, teeth scraping her skin. "You've always accepted that you're mine."
"And you're finding a place for us here," Bucky said, shifting his hips to thrust into Natasha when her own stilled. "So, we'll stay. We'll be your playthings."
"No," Loki growled, letting go of Natasha. He touched her hip with one hand, then reached down with his other to grasp Bucky's neck. "Not playthings. Not toys, like you're disposable or have no worth for me. You matter, and you're mine, and I would rather accompany you to your miserable, backwater realm than let you both go."
"Then get on top of him," Natasha purred, lips curling into a smile. She cupped her own breasts and swiveled her hips. "Right? It'll be fun with us all at the same time."
"Shit," Bucky groaned, hips jerking beneath her. "C'mon, then, Loki. I'll suck you off."
Loki's lips parted at the words, his cock getting a little hard at the very thought of what Bucky was offering. "You willingly submit to me," he breathed, letting his fingers trail along Bucky's chest. "Without thought of yourself, without concern for what others would say."
"Shut up," Bucky growled, taking one hand from Natasha's body to tug on his arm. It pulled Loki over, unbalancing him, sending him sprawling over Bucky's body. Bucky nipped at whatever flesh he could reach with his mouth. "I don't care what other people think. I don't care if your people say this is wrong. It's nobody else's business if I want your cock in my mouth while Natasha fucks me. It's your cock and my mouth and it should be happening right now."
He laughed, still seeming a little startled by Bucky's fierce declaration. Natasha helped Loki with his balance as he moved to straddle Bucky's head. He guided his cock to Bucky's mouth, and hissed in pleasure when Bucky's sensual lips closed over him. Bucky held Loki steady with his metal hand and reached down to touch Natasha with his flesh and blood one, thumb brushing against her clit as a reminder to start moving again.
Loki grasped Natasha's arm and pulled her closer so that he could kiss her. She rocked over Bucky, moans swallowed by Loki's mouth. He palmed a breast, roughly abrading the nipple, and grasped the back of her head to keep her still enough for his kiss. Natasha kept one hand on Bucky's chest, nails scratching his flat nipple lightly, and snaked her other around to grab Loki by the back of his neck. She closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the sensations flooding her, and sped up as much as she was able to. Loki managed to keep from bucking his hips into Bucky's mouth, mindful not to choke him, and simply tightened his hold on Natasha's body, enough that she hissed and shuddered, coming abruptly.
Bucky shifted his hips, not quite ready to come himself, growls muffled by Loki. Natasha took the hint and continued to rock her hips against him. She continued until his own counterthrusts grew erratic and his grip on her was painfully tight. Breaking her kiss with Loki to gasp for air, she tucked her head down and leaned her forehead on his shoulder. Bucky's face was flushed, and he sucked hard on Loki's cock as he moaned, entire body rigid. She stroked his chest, then ran her nails down his pecs. That was enough to tip him over and come inside of her, a strangled sound coming from his throat. Natasha turned her head to press her lips to Loki's throat, and scraped the nails of her other hand down the nape of his neck. "Your turn," she said, voice thick with passion.
When he finally came, Loki sagged against Natasha, his eyes sliding closed. He hissed when Bucky swiped his tongue across the head and sucked hard, making sure he swallowed everything down. Loki had to move off of Bucky, sprawling across the bed face first, limbs splayed and his body utterly relaxed.
Natasha moved to lay between the two men, her cheek pressed against Bucky's metal arm, and her thigh next to Loki's head. She giggled when Loki rested a hand on her ass and kissed her thigh reverently. "Nice way to celebrate, huh?" she asked with a lazy smile.
"Far better than a boring ball," Loki agreed, kissing her thigh again.
There would be details to discuss, no doubt, and arrangements to make with the Red Room back on Earth. Just a little effort, and then they could pull the strings and ensure that Asgard ran the way they wanted it to.
***
"I may have been mistaken about your intelligence project," Thor told Loki sourly as they rode through the outskirts of royal grounds. At Loki's triumphant laugh, Thor scowled. "May have."
"You consider my so-called trickery to be of use. It is victory indeed for me."
Thor frowned now, visibly disconcerted. "I did not seek to wage battle against you, brother."
"Did you not? Every glory of my own, overshadowed by yours. Every honor bestowed upon me, dashed and rendered worthless by you."
Looking away, Thor sighed. "I had not considered it to be such." He turned back to look at Loki with a concerned expression. "I had not thought of it at all. I didn't consider your feelings at all."
Loki scowled at him. "And now?"
"There is much I do not know of Asgard," Thor admitted uneasily. "I know even less of other realms. I know nothing of Midgard. And all I know of Jotunheim is that it's full of monsters."
"We learned far more than that as children," Loki chided, shaking his head.
"Yes, but I hadn't bothered to recall lessons outside the classroom. What does it matter if I could best others in battle?"
"What changed your mind?" Loki asked curiously.
"You and your mortals," Thor admitted, still uneasy. "I thought it dishonorable, unworthy of a Prince of Asgard. But there were indeed whispers about Varinn conspiring against Father's most trusted advisors. He sought to bilk his bride's family of their wealth, and was corrupting his household. There was also talk of argr most foul."
Loki froze, stilling his horse. "Indeed?"
"I hesitate to repeat such whispers..."
"Oh, Thor, you're acting like an eager fishwife. Do tell."
"He not only behaved as a woman with his manservant in the bedroom, he has desires to truly become one." Thor swallowed and looked away, discomfited. "Bad enough to risk his manhood in a tryst with his servant, but it's done. But to be a woman..." He looked back at Loki. "Sif fights as well as any man, and I think the world of her skill. But I would not feel so easy with a man in skirts and a corset."
"There is only so much that our people would be able to tolerate."
"Just so. And I would not feel comfortable with such a man at my side. I would wonder if he was indeed a man, or brave enough to defend our home."
"You think Sif unable? Our mother?" Loki asked sharply.
Thor flushed, embarrassed. "Of course not."
"I think there is much still for all of us to learn," Loki said diplomatically. He nodded toward the outer fields. "We could disguise our faces, have the people meet commoners and see how they behave toward us. See what we would learn of our people."
That eased the tension from Thor's shoulders. "I can do that."
"And the people that my friends had trained with have others like them," Loki murmured. "I could set up a network here, a web of trained girls working for the good of our House, to make sure that traitors and conspirators like Varinn are found before they work their evil. You focus on the dangers outside of Asgard, and our web would focus on the dangers within."
Thor followed Loki's horse and shivered when the seidr settled across his skin, changing him into the appearance of a higher karl. "That would be best. I believe you know what these girls are capable of, what they would find on Asgard. Would they be happy here, you think?" he asked as an afterthought, almost as if he was afraid of the answer.
Loki nodded after a moment. "Their lives were not easy in Midgard. Even in a menial servant's position to spy for the court, they would not be in danger of being harmed."
He looked at Loki, disturbed. "If Midgard is as dangerous as all that, we should save them from themselves. Asgard is the shining jewel of the Nine Realms. We should teach them the way to peace and prosperity."
"Perhaps when you are King, we could open diplomatic relations with some of them," Loki temporized. "I don't believe they're ready to know of us now."
"Too petty and tiny?"
"Precisely."
"Ah," Thor nodded and then kicked his horse into a faster gallop. "Then let us learn of Asgard, brother, and the common folk we will rule. Let us see where to place these spies you will gather for me, and where we will cement my rule."
Smirking a little, Loki nodded and followed his lead. "Of course, my King," he teased.
Thor laughed and shook his head, grinning at Loki. "Not yet. But soon. And we will be the greatest rulers Asgard has ever seen."
***
Natasha sat down in front of Yelena with a slight smile. "You've done very well. This seems to be a role you excel in."
"I do," Yelena replied. There was a satisfied air about her, though there was also a thread of unhappiness in her expression. "I am the best, Natalia Romanova. I bested your scores in all tests, and I have the best response time."
"But not in the field," Natasha murmured. "That's the problem, isn't it?"
Yelena drew her lips back into a snarl. "I have protected the girls and the babies here for nearly a year, and I truly doubt you could have done the same."
"Babies?"
Leaning back in her chair, Yelena nodded. "We've had a few girls choose to try motherhood. A few of those found it did not suit them. But we have other girls who find that it does. There are children here, and we are raising them to be more than what they would have been."
Natasha gave her a genuine smile. "I'm glad. This life is too hard for many of the girls given to the program. It's a wide world out there, and there should be the chance to experience it."
"You're not coming back," Yelena realized, looking at her with a stunned expression.
"I don't want it," she confirmed with a nod. "I have what I want. I am who I wish to be. I'm not here to take your job from you, Yelena," Natasha said gently. "I came to say goodbye. So you didn't think I'd died and didn't fulfill my promises to you and the girls."
Letting out a slow breath, Yelena contemplated that. "I won't force you to return."
"It would be interesting to see if you could," Natasha replied with a smile.
Yelena laughed and shook her head. "I'm younger, faster, stronger and better. I could do it."
"Scores on paper aren't the same as being in the field, and we both know that. But I'm not going to challenge you. That's not my intention. You are more than a collection of scores. All the girls are. It's taken me time to see that. I'm more than my programming. I'm more than my skills. I have something to offer others, and I intend to try to do that. I think you should, too." She leaned forward, a half smile on her face. "Go in the field. See how it is, see what the girls do. There's no better way to lead than to understand what it is that you ask them to do."
Folding her hands together on the desktop, Yelena leaned forward a little as well. "We are extraordinarily difficult to find. In that, you've done your job well, you and the Winter Soldier and our mysterious benefactor. No one seems to be able to follow our people. We're safe, and every agency in the world hires us. We're independent and powerful. Our benefactor has hired on some of the girls for a permanent position elsewhere, but he won't discuss it."
"His home country," Natasha replied, eyes twinkling as she smiled. "They'll be taken care of."
"You're going there, aren't you? That's why you won't return here. You and those girls, creating a network of spies under his control."
"Perhaps." Natasha shrugged and leaned back in her chair with a fond smile on her face. "But I'm also in the position of doing what I wish there. I don't have to spy. I don't have to threaten or continually be on my guard. I am, it's who I've learned to be, and I don't trust all those smiling faces just yet. It's a different way to be, and I want to try that."
Yelena contemplated that for a moment, then nodded. "And if it doesn't work out for you, there will be a home for you here. All Black Widows have a home here."
Natasha gave her a delighted grin. "Thank you. I do appreciate that."
Both women stood, and Yelena was startled when Natasha approached her and gave her a swift hug, genuinely showing her fondness. "And let us know if you ever want to see the stars or another realm. It's wild and amazing."
Giving her a look as if she was crazy, Yelena shook her head. "Someone needs to keep these girls in line, and that's going to be me. I have enough to do here." She made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go. See the stars and these fantastic places. I have no need for that, and it isn't what I want."
But then, that was what they both had wanted. It was what all of the girls in the Red Room had ever wanted: choice. They could choose what they wanted to do and what kind of person to be, and there would be support for it.
The future was unknown, but they would never be alone or afraid of it.
The End