Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 113

It's quiet during the flight home.

The Avengers are scattered throughout the Helicarrier, sitting mostly in silence as they soar through the skies. It's a nice sort of calm after the chaos of the day, but it's hard to enjoy it.

Natasha has her head in Clint's lap, lying across three or four seats with her eyes closed. Clint strokes her hair absentmindedly, gazing out the window at the clouds pass. It's a calming sight.

"Clint?" Natasha says quietly.

"Mm?" Clint hums.

"You wanna go back to the farm?" she asks.

"Mm." He gives her a small shrug, but she doesn't see it. "We should probably go back to the tower with everyone else." He'd feel bad abandoning Wanda so soon after moving halfway around the world. He'd like to be there for her as she gets settled. Although there are other people in the tower, and he does miss his family, so he's not quite sure where he'd rather be.

"We should," Natasha agrees, "but..."

"Mm..." Clint thinks about that for a few moments. "I'll call Laura when we land."

"You could call her now," Natasha says.

Clint closes his eyes and rests his head against the wall behind him. "I'll call her when we land."

"How long do we have?" Natasha asks. "Until we land?"

"I dunno," Clint murmurs. "We'll land eventually."

"M'kay."

Fury pokes his head in a few minutes later to find Clint and Natasha fast asleep. He smiles to himself and walks away. As far as he's concerned, they've earned this.

~~~

Wanda and Pietro are much the same way. They're both seated toward the back of the ship, claiming a little spot in the corner, the most "privacy" this ship can afford. Wanda leans against her brother, and Pietro has an arm around her shoulder, holding her close.

"Can you believe we are going to live with the Avengers?" Wanda asks quietly.

Pietro shakes his head. "I hate it."

Wanda frowns. "I don't think it is that bad," she says.

"Can you imagine what mother and father would say?" He shifts in Sokovian as he continues, "'Of everywhere in this world, you choose to live with the man who killed us?'"

"Tony Stark did not kill our parents," Wanda says.

"Perhaps not," Pietro says, "but they would still be alive if Tony Stark was not."

"We do not know that," Wanda says. She rests her head on his shoulder. "It will be okay."

"That is easy for you to say; you've always wanted to go to America," Pietro reminds her. "I did not. I liked Sokovia."

"Well, I would rather live with the Avengers than with HYDRA," Wanda says.

"I would choose Strucker over Stark any day," Pietro says darkly.

"I would definitely not," Wanda says. "And I like Clint Barton. He seems nice."

Pietro huffs at that. "He is an idiot."

Wanda shakes her head to herself, amused. "Natasha seems nice, too."

"Mm..." Pietro gives her a small shrug. "She is very pretty."

"She is, isn't she?" Wanda agrees. And she has some nice clothing. This jacket is very comfortable. As nice as it will be to soon have her own clothes, she hopes this isn't the last time she gets to borrow from Natasha's closet. While they're talking about the Avengers, she decides to ask, "Are you at all scared of the Hulk?"