Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 87

Steve hugs his hoodie tight as he walks, keeping his head down and hopefully out of sight of anyone who might alert SHIELD. He glances up to navigate the complicated hospital halls, looking for that one specific vending machine...

There it is.

He steps in front of it, eyes scanning the top row for the gum he knows to look for. It's all gone – and with it, the flash drive he'd hastily concealed behind them.

There's movement behind him, though it takes a few seconds for him to focus on the reflection in the vending machine glass. Standing over his shoulder is Natasha Romanoff, chewing some very familiar-looking bubble gum.

Steve turns around, and, after briefly weighing the pros and cons of attempted kidnapping in the midst of a hospital, grabs her arms and pushes her through the door behind her. The way her brows shoot up makes him think it wasn't entirely expected, though her calm demeanor seems to imply otherwise. He shoves her into the wall, his eyes narrowed in a glare.

Don't trust anybody, Fury had warned him.

He really meant it, didn't he?

"Where is it?" Steve demands.

"Safe."

"Do better," he growls. Safe doesn't mean a damn thing. Safe is with him and only him.

"Where did you get it?"

"Why would I tell you?" he hisses. After she stole it from him? After she lied to him on their last mission, completely indifferent to the jeopardy it put them in? Yeah, she's not the most trustworthy person on the planet right now. Not with Fury's words ringing in the back of his mind.

It only takes her a moment to figure it out. "Fury gave it to you. Why?"

"What's on it?" he demands.

"I don't know," she says.

Steve grips her tighter, squeezing her arms together. "Stop lying!"

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," she tells him.

"Will you two just kiss so we can move on?"

Steve jumps, accidentally dropping her arms in the process. He looks around, eyes frantically darting across the room. "Loki?"

Natasha hits her head against the wall, exasperated. "I thought you went home, Loki," she deadpans.

"I lied," he says simply. "My options were to spend the time with Stark or spend the time here. You can't be surprised that this was the more appealing option."

Steve furrows his brows and looks at Natasha. "What is he...?"

She just shakes her head. "I have no idea. He just showed up when I was stealing the flash drive."

Steve sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. "Go home, Loki."

"I am home," Loki says, adding as an afterthought, "though I am rather reluctant to call this a home. It's not very... homely."

Steve ignores that. "You shouldn't be here," he says. "This is SHIELD business."

"Am I not also SHIELD business?" Loki asks. "I would say that qualifies me to be here."

"You'd be wrong," Natasha says. "Get lost."

"Look, Loki," Steve says, "none of this has anything to do with you, okay? So there's no reason for you to be here."

"And there would be no reason for me to be anywhere but here," Loki says. "Now, what is this little USB drive you're both trying to hide from each other?"