I had this idea last year but haven't managed to work much on it since. Slightly AU in regards to timelines and characters but hopefully nothing too OOC. This looked much longer in word. I'm also posting this on AO3 at the same time and future chapters will be more explicit, so full versions can be found there.

Madrid had been messy. The job had been easy and quickly dealt with but it had ended bloodier than Natasha had anticipated. Instead of just one body, she had left five behind her. She left quietly and unnoticed but it didn't take long until she was being chased down by what she presumed to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She lost all but one of them in the streets. The night had been long and Natasha was growing exhausted the longer she was on the run. It was a big city and navigating it wasn't as bad as it could have been, knowing her way around by now, but she just couldn't shake her pursuer.

Despite the late hour and abandoned streets, she crashed into someone when she rounded the corner. She was about to disappear from sight without a word but another idea formed in her head once she looked the young man over. He was barely older than her, wealthy by appearance and possibly the perfect escape plan. She had put a considerable amount of distance between herself and whoever was still on her trail. It would leave her enough time to go for this. If it worked out the way she planned, they wouldn't know where to look for her anymore. Getting this man to help a lost woman in the middle of the night shouldn't be too difficult a task.

Natasha smiled at him sweetly and apologized in fluent Spanish. He was about to mutter a curse when he lifted his face to look at her and it immediately lit up with a smile. Perfect.

"It's fine. Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I was looking for a place to stay for the night but I don't have enough cash. My old place kicked me out and I've nowhere to go." She told him.

Her Spanish was good enough and her expression certainly got the point across. He barely hesitated before offering her his spare room, free of charge. Natasha's smile widened and she nodded gratefully, batting her eyelashes at him. He fell for it again.

"I'm Natasha."

"Rafael."

He led the way to his car then, quickly getting them out of the neighborhood.

"Don't worry, Natasha. I'll look after you."

She watched as the buildings passed them and rolled her eyes when he couldn't see. She wasn't surprised. She wondered if it worked on every woman he ever talked to and decided that it probably did. He was handsome, wealthy and looked strong enough to hold his own. The perfect knight in shining armor. The last thing Natasha needed. She continued her play of the damsel in distress though. She wasn't safe yet.

The ride to his place took a good half hour and he proved to be a rather curious fella, asking her all kinds of questions. He was obviously pleased when she told him she didn't have a boyfriend and he showered her in compliments afterwards. He was making it too easy for her. Rafael led the way up to his apartment and she followed, looking around curiously. They were clearly in the wealthier part of town and she was glad she had been right about that. It would prove useful. And more than that, she had gotten rid of her pursuers.

"You can stay here."

His voice ripped her out of her thoughts. They had reached the guest room already and she smiled at him brightly.

"Thank you so much. You really saved me tonight."

He returned the smile, then took a few steps closer to her until he was standing right in front of her. Before he even said anything, she tugged his face down for a brief kiss.

"Sorry, you're really not my type."

He pulled back when his ears registered the English but didn't have time for anything else as she knocked him out. His body fell to the ground and she stepped around him to check out his apartment for anything useful. There was a laptop in the kitchen and she turned it on, cracking his password without problems. Her next goal was to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database. It only took her a couple of minutes. They needed better security. She was certain she had seen one of the men before and needed to figure out who he was. Not long after starting her search, she got a name: Clint Barton.

She had left Madrid the next morning with some of Rafael's money, taking a train to Berlin before flying back to Moscow. She felt watched the moment she left the airport and a few detours later, Natasha had relocated them both to an abandoned warehouse.

"You travel lightly."

She turned around then, taking in the man in front of her. He was tall; really tall, the coat he wore falling all the way to the ground. He wasn't from here. She could tell as much even without his accent. He didn't speak Russian and he obviously knew she spoke English so she didn't bother otherwise.

"Who are you?"

A smile crossed his face and he bowed his head in greeting.

"My name is Loki. I'm here with an offer."

"I'm not interested."

"Are you certain? I think you will like it, if you'd just hear me out."

His smile was oddly charming. She frowned but remained silent and he took it as a sign to go on.

"You see, I've been following your work in Madrid. Very impressive. I particularly liked the use of that poor young man." He started and her frown deepened. She hadn't noticed him. "I think you and I would make a marvellous team."

"And why do you think I would be interested in that?"

Loki was left with no time to answer as Natasha went into the offensive, charging at him. He blocked and dodged her easily, not retaliating for now. He wanted her in one piece, unharmed. She was good though. Fast and skilled and a lesser man would have been knocked out cold by now. In his distraction, she landed a hit and in his surprise, he stumbled back a step. When he looked up again, he found himself staring into the barrel of a gun. He was curious as to where it came from. As far as he knew, weapons were not allowed in planes. Not that it was important.

"My, my, how rude of you."

She flinched when his voice came from right next to her rather than the man in front of her.

"What the-"

She turned to the source, only to find another Loki smirk at her. Natasha pulled the trigger without hesitation, the sound of her gun going off echoing through the warehouse. Instead of hitting its target, however, the bullet went straight through him. The illusion faded and the first Loki stepped forward, taking her distraction to approach her from behind and twisting her left arm behind her. The gun dropped to the ground and she hissed, struggling against his hold but he cut it short when he pinned her other arm behind her back as well and restrained her with a hand on her throat. She ceased her struggling when he tightened his hold on her.

"My dear, I did say hear me out. I want you to join me. The skills you possess will be of utmost help to me. In return, I can offer you everything you ever wanted."

"You don't know what I want." She ground out.

He eased the hold on her neck so she could speak freely. "It matters not. I can make it happen."

Natasha hesitated, silent for a few moments. He was clearly a nutcase.

"What do you want?"

He smiled at that, though she couldn't see it.

"I want the world at my feet."

She laughed in nervous disbelief. Definitely a nutjob. But there was something about him.

"You want to conquer the world? Are you serious?"

"Oh, I most certainly am. Plans are in motion as we speak. It will take time and I cannot do it by myself but with you by my side, Natasha, I will be successful."

She swallowed hard when she realized he was dead serious about this. It slipped her mind to ask how he knew her name, her mind swimming. He was either mad – and she had already established this much for herself – or some kind of supernatural being and with the magical display earlier – it had to be magic - her mind was slowly swaying towards the latter.

"Why me?"

"You have potential. You are like me. But does it truly matter why? It will not change your answer, no matter what I tell you."

Loki released her then and she took a step away from him before turning around to face him again. He wanted her help to take over the world. Talk about bigger jobs.

"And you will give me whatever I want?"

"Yes."

"You're crazy."

"Possibly." He chuckled, "Think about it. I will find you again."

He was gone before she could respond and she blinked in confusion. Never before had she met a man like him. She was intrigued.

Two weeks later, Natasha was back in Europe. Loki hadn't shown up again but she knew what her answer would be when he did.

She hadn't expected Barton to be there too and it compromised her job. She took out her target and then made a run for it. She couldn't navigate as well as usually and the blond seemed to know the town better than her. She didn't get very far. He had her trapped less than an hour later and she turned to smile at him. She wasn't finished yet.

"I've heard much about you, Agent Barton."

He readied his bow, the arrow aimed at her heart. His lips twitched in a smile, her gun raised at his head.

"You know why I'm here then?"

"To kill me."

Clint looked at her for a long minute, clearly hesitating. If she wanted to, she could kill him right then. He didn't want to kill her, it was obvious, and so she waited to see what he would do.

"I can give you a way out. Come with me instead."

"And then what? S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't just going to let me run free."

"You can work with me. With them. I'm sure the Director wouldn't pass up on having you on our side. Natasha… You don't have to die here. I know what you did here. You could have killed everyone in that room and you didn't. You made them step away from the guy so they wouldn't get hurt. You're not a bad person, Natasha. You can do good; make up for the rest. Just let me give you this chance." He pleaded.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at his speech but lowered her weapon. She had no plans to die today, neither any to kill him. She huffed with an amused smile. Between this and Loki's offer, she couldn't tell which one was the most ridiculous one.

"Are you going to kill me if I refuse?"

"If I have to."

"You're in luck then. I accept. Just know that, if this goes wrong, you're the first to regret it."

He grinned and put away his arrow before stepping closer. This should be fun.

"Let's go then."

They left and Natasha took one last look back. Loki's eyes rested on her and she found his right away. A smile was all the answer he needed.