Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 89

"I'm sorry," Natasha says. "Did I step on your moment?"

Taking down these officers, stopping Pierce's grandiose speech, it's been easy. It almost feels too easy. But here she is, disabling SHIELD's security protocols and revealing to the world what they truly are, and nobody is trying to stop her. So maybe "too easy" isn't always a bad sign.

"If you do this," Pierce says, "None of your past is gonna remain hidden."

Natasha pauses, her fingers hovering above the keys.

The world is going to know everything.

The Avengers – her friends, her family – are going to know everything. None of them are saints, but her past is certainly worse than anything they've done. How long will it take for them to find out what she's done? That the Black Widow's past is even darker than it seems?

Well, she'll find out soon enough.

She continues typing.

There's no turning back now.

"Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?" Pierce asks.

She raises her gaze to meet his, a small smirk on her lips to hide her nerves. "Are you?"

The process goes smoothly. It's exactly as she'd expected it to be. But then she hits what appears to be a roadblock.

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order," Pierce tells her, like that's some "gotcha" moment for him. "It takes two Alpha Level members."

"Don't worry," Natasha says. "Company's coming."

And, like the dramatic son of a bitch he is, Fury's helicopter lands then. The room is silent as they wait, but they all know what's going to happen. Even after Fury's supposed death, they know what's coming — or, more accurately, who.

When Fury steps into the room, his gaze is glued to Pierce's face, wearing a steely glare that would terrify an ordinary person. Pierce is unphased.

"Did you get my flowers?" he quips.

While the two of them sort it out – mostly consisting of Fury's questions, Pierce's answers, and Fury's glares – Natasha preps the program, so when Fury drags Pierce to the retinal scanner, it's all set up for them. That goes by without a hitch, too.

Wow.

This really is easy.

If Steve and Sam are doing even half this good, this is going to be the easiest mission she's had in years.

"Done," she says. She glances down at her phone. "And it's trending."

Without warning, the councilmember's pins begin to glow, seering into their sternums. It kills them in seconds.

Natasha and Fury both point their guns at him. That was a bad move on his part.

Pierce's gaze drops to the pin that Natasha wears. "Unless you want a two-inch hole in your sternum," he says, "I'd put that gun down."

Natasha glances down at the pin she wears.

Okay, maybe this isn't quite as easy as she thought.

But then the pin unclips itself from her jacket and falls on the floor. Natasha and Fury glance at each other uncertainly. They look over at Pierce, but he looks just as confused.

"Now you can shoot him."

Natasha cracks a smile at that. "What took you so long?"

Loki materializes in front of them, much to the surprise of both Fury and Pierce. There's a cocky smirk on his lips, though she gets the feeling he's just excited to be here. "You looked like you knew what you were doing." He looks at the two men in the room, though his gaze passes over Pierce with little reaction. "Director Fury. Welcome back to the land of the living."