Frozen Web

Chapter 6

The realization hit Natasha like a freight train: this wasn't Clint kissing the nape of her neck and slipping his fingers into her spandex. And if it wasn't Clint, there could be only one other person able to impersonate him.

Loki.

Natasha's mind felt like it went into a tail spin dive straight down, but impressively, she managed to control her reaction. She was a professional, after all. She knew this was a very bad situation. The last time she'd been alone with Loki, she had majorly ticked him off. And she was too much of a realist to ever imagine she could overpower the demi-god who was currently on top of her. She could hardly swing a fist in her current position. Her mind ticked through possible reactions and outcomes, each of them unpleasant. Finally, she decided there was only one way to play this.

"Oh, Clint," she moaned huskily, pulling Loki closer. She let herself started to gyrate against him, pleased to hear how his breathing started to speed up. He might be a demi-god, but he was a male demi-god, and there wasn't a man alive Natasha couldn't seduce. Inwardly, she shuddered at the close contact with Loki, but she forced herself to look at this as just another assignment.

She kissed him again, nipping at his lip while she ran a hand through his hair. With her other hand, she stopped his progress at her waistline by lacing her fingers through his.

"You're moving awfully fast, handsome," she teased, tightening her legs around Loki's hips. "Half the fun is getting there."

"I just know what I want," Loki-Clint purred against her ear, sliding a hand up under her shirt and towards her breasts.

"So do I," Natasha replied, smoothly yanking his arm out from under him and flipping him onto his back so that she was straddling him. "And I want it on top."

She was going to reach out and snag the lamp next to the bed to clobber him, but he simultaneously sat up under her and grabbed onto her hips, jerking her back onto his lap. She felt his hardness under her and tried not to wince. This new position left him about eye-level with her collarbone.

"Mmm, I like this new view," he grinned. "I'd like it better without the shirt, though. Let's see if we can fix that."

One hand started to work at her shirt while the other stayed firmly gripping her hip. He was holding her too tightly for her to lunge for something, and she couldn't stretch her arms out enough to hit him. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She head-butted him.

Loki's head snapped back with a sharp crack, and in his surprise, the Clint illusion fizzled and disappeared. Natasha barely noticed because she was already leaping off of him and whirling for the door. She didn't really have a plan at this point except to get as much distance between her and Loki as she could.

She flew through the bedroom doorway and dashed towards the couch, where her gym bag—and more importantly, her keys—still was. But before she could reach it, Loki had grabbed her by the hair and flung her into the dining room table. She flipped over the top and landed behind it, which, she admitted, was actually kind of nice since it offered a shield from the demi-god's anger. And he was angry.

"So, you saw through my little trick, Agent Romanov," he said, sauntering towards her casually.

"It wasn't hard," Natasha replied, even as she looked around for a possible weapon. "You're not nearly as clever as you think you are."

"Oh, I don't know," Loki answered with a smug smile. "I certainly got what I wanted from Agent Barton."

The words tumbled out before Natasha could stop them: "Where is he?"

Loki's grin stretched wider. "Ah, so there is love in the w***e's heart."

Natasha felt anger welling up in her heart, and, worse than that, fear—not for herself (she was pretty good at getting out of bad situations), but for Clint. She couldn't just leave him at Loki's mercy.

She had to get her gym bag. If she could grab her phone, she could call for help. But Loki was standing squarely in front of the couch. She'd have to force him into making a mistake, into lunging at her so that she could slide under the table and sprint for her bag. He was quick, but she was pretty sure she could be quicker, at least quick enough to grab her phone and dive into her car. She knew the car wouldn't keep her safe forever, but it would buy her time to call for help. Besides, her car was filled with an arsenal of weapons—surely there was something that would come in handy against a pissed off demi-god.

"I don't know what your problem is, Loki," she said, filling her voice with as much scorn as she could, "but we beat you once, resoundingly. Do you really want to be humiliated again?"

Loki's grin suddenly disappeared, replaced by cold fury. Obviously, she'd hit a nerve.

"That was only the first round," he hissed. "We have unfinished business, Russian. I may not control your precious hawk anymore, but he was kind enough to share a great many of your little secrets."

He suddenly shoved the table forward, pinning Natasha between it and the wall.

"I know what happened during all those years in the Red Room," he continued inexorably. "I know how many times you've been broken and cobbled together again. I know how your mind's been wiped and the shell's been refilled with your handlers' programming. I know how all of their experiments left your womb unable to hold life. I know about all your demons, little spider, and I will still kill you slowly, intimately, and in every way you fear."