Frozen Web

Chapter 13

Just a head's up-this chapter gets a bit violent.

Natasha spun around and raced through the door, sprinting for Clint's wall of weapons. She'd only made it three steps before Loki tackled her from behind and the two of them crashed into the ground. She managed to flip him over, straddling his waist and hitting him with rapid fire punches that left his mouth bloody. But he was able to pull up a leg and kick her square in her midsection, knocking her backwards onto the stairs. Before she could bounce back up, he hit her across the chin with a teeth-chattering punch. He punched her a second time, a kidney punch to the side that knocked the breath out of her, before hitting her across the face again hard enough that her vision started to swim, and she feared she'd pass out. She focused hard and hit him where it hurt, slamming a knee into his groin. He crumbled to one side with a surprised yelp.

She shoved him off her, twisting to the side and trying to get another swing in, but he caught her wrist. She was able to jerk him down and flipped him over onto his back, and as he was pushing himself up she kicked him hard across the jaw, the force of the blow snapping his head back. He scrambled to his feet and she hit him with another roundhouse kick that would have knocked out any human man. But he wasn't human, and when she went for a third kick, he was caught her leg and hurled her across the room, straight into Clint's gun case. The force of his throw was great enough that the glass shattered, raining down as she bounced to the floor. Clint's crossbows bounced down around her.

By now, it was almost impossible to focus as the room spun around her. Frantically, she grabbed one of Clint's crossbows and swung it up towards the demi-god. She didn't have time to aim accurately, pulling the trigger when he was almost on top of her. An arrow shot out and struck him right through his shoulder, and he howled in pain—but he kept coming.

He slammed a boot onto her ankle and there was a terrible crunch. The pain was almost overpowering, but she managed to keep her head enough to kick out with her other leg, solidly connecting with Loki's knee. This time he did crumple to the ground, mere inches from her. She grabbed a piece of glass, ignoring how its jagged edge cut into her palm, and swung it at Loki's throat, but he caught her arm and tossed her over him onto her back. She tried to scramble to her feet, only for her bad ankle to give way and send her crashing back to the ground.

As she tried again to pull herself to her feet, using the couch for support, she was achingly aware of her vulnerabilities. Loki was between her and the weapon table, and he was already hauling himself up. She needed a new plan. She glanced around the room, trying not to panic, and then she saw the door to Clint's freezer.

It was time to try a different tactic.

She let herself fall back onto the ground with a cry of pain that was mostly real, starting to crawl backwards towards the door. She needed Loki to think she was in worse shape than she really was. It certainly wasn't hard to pretend she was in pain.

Reaching the freezer door, she pulled herself up shakily and jerked it open, a blast of icy air chilling her to the bone. She let herself sway unsurely, catching her bearings.

"It looks like you're out of places to run," Loki spat out, breathing hard, as he staggered towards her.

Without a reply, she ducked into the freezer.

She knew it was a risky move. If he wanted, he could just lock her in, and she'd freeze to death. She just prayed he'd be angry enough to want to follow her and finish her himself.

The freezer wasn't extremely large, but it was large enough to fit several shelves packed with venison inside. The shelves went up about six feet, each with five or six dividers. It was a tight fit, and difficult to quickly navigate around the storage units. Since the door opened outwards, Natasha couldn't just hide on the side. Yet it would also be pretty easy to figure out if someone was hiding behind a shelf.

But Natasha didn't plan on hiding behind a shelf. Instead, she ran to the right of the freezer, outside of Loki's line of vision, and scrambled on top of one. Her broken hand screamed from her weight, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it. She swung to the top shelf just in time before Loki swept through the door.

"You're trapped in your own web, spider," he growled. "Do you think I can't find you in here?"

He started prowling around the shelves cautiously, meticulously. Natasha prayed he wouldn't guess to check on top. If he did, there wasn't enough room under the ceiling to maneuver quickly, and he'd surely be able to catch her.

"I am going to break every bone in your body," he continued, winding around a shelf. Natasha couldn't know exactly where he was, but she heard his footsteps drawing nearer, and she held her breath. "But I'll make sure you're alive long enough to watch me use your precious archer for target practice. I'm a good shot… I'm sure I could take out his eyes."

His threats made her heart freeze, but she refused to make a sound. Finally, she heard his footsteps walking away. But she didn't move yet—she had to make sure he was as far away from her as possible.

When he spoke again, his voice was definitely farther away—she guessed he was in the far corner.

"Maybe I'll just disembowel him and strangle you with his intestines. How does that sound?"

She ignored him, cautiously climbing down the shelf without a sound. But she couldn't make a run for the door without knowing better where he was. Carefully, she peered around the shelf: nothing. Where was he?

She inched closer to the door. She wasn't ready to flat-out run yet, since she knew Loki was faster. If she could only get a few feet closer…

Then, through the gaps in the shelves, she saw him.

But worse than that, he saw her.

The two of them stared at each other for a split second before Natasha turned and ran for the door. Her ankle throbbed, but she ignored it, helped by a handy dose of adrenaline. She could hear the demi-god barreling after her, but she kept her eyes on the door. Using the last bit of her energy, she flew through it and slammed it shut behind her, slamming the lock in place. There was a thud as Loki smashed into the door.

Loki pounded on the glass, screaming curses. "Do you think this pathetic door will stop me?"

Natasha took a deep breath, steadying her frayed nerves. "It doesn't have to. It just has to detain you for a while."

As if on cue, she heard voices upstairs. Her teammates had arrived at last.

"It sounds like the gang's all here," she said, and called, "Hey guys! Down here!"

"Your band of mortals is no match for me," Loki seethed, pounding on the glass harder. "I will destroy you all!"

"You forget, we're not all mortals," she replied. "Your brother's here, too."

There was a moment of silence as Loki comprehended this. Then he muttered one word:

"Damn."