DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the events or characters from the film Thor, nor MARVEL'S The Avengers – I am just borrowing them for play.

WARNINGS: This pairing will contain Dom/sub elements, simply due to the nature of their respective roles and also because of the perspectives I perceive as present in the relationship. Though unsure about the extent of Mature Content this fic might delve to include, the elements aforementioned above include:

petting, hand-feeding, irrational possessiveness, public displays of ownership, and subservience

These chapters are excerpts from my series Compare and Contrast the Following – they cannot be read without the context provided there.

Despite Circumstances

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This excerpt is from Enlightening Nuances, Chapter Four: Extraction. A continuation of Clint's thoughts and a change in Loki's entrance.

-~S~-

Chapter One: Assertions

Under Him, it wasn't any different from SHIELD, really. It was better. And I don't know if these thoughts are 'cause of the memories I have of His influence or not. But it was the same in that I'd be told who was opposing us, who to kill, and without asking for any further reasoning I'd obey. I was trained as an assassin – that's what I do. But to have the whole thing flipped around and a parallel situation presented…

Now I have my mind back, but if I weren't with the Avengers I'd be doing the same things for SHIELD that I was for Him. There's no morality that occurred to me – it's the same thing. Loki's the 'evil' one – right now. Since He lost. If He'd won then where would I be? I'd still be His slave – or maybe He'd release me. Because what threat would I bring if He ruled the world? Would I have even tried to oppose Him, or would He have explained things as I'm working them out now? Would I be grateful that He'd taken me?

And what's worse… He wasn't a bad handler. I wasn't abused or downtrodden by Him. I had to fight for my skills to be recognized by SHIELD, but He just waltzed in and appreciated my work. I was His favourite, He'd said. His Deputy. And He might've just been looking through my mind and knew that I was expendable at SHIELD, so played on it… But it doesn't change how His words affected me. Plus the fact that He was my god while I was controlled… Praised by your god? Yeah, that's a sensation you can just dismiss.

And… I'm worried about what this DVD'll show. I was completely under his control, and there was that time…

I had offered myself to Him. He was my god and so I had offered my body for His use.

But He hadn't taken it – me. I was confused at the time. He'd given an odd smile and shook His head, cooing as He ran His fingers through my hair, "You're not thinking clearly, pet."

And I'd been crushed, because I'd wanted to serve Him in every way – but I wasn't good enough, of course not, not to a god...

He'd dissuaded those notions by continuing to pet my hair and praising my work, making excuses about how He was busy and couldn't afford to be distracted – and so I'd continued to devote myself to Him.

But it makes sense now.

And no matter how much I want to hate Him for the control He had over me, how can I, really, when He didn't take advantage of it?

And that was different. With SHIELD I'd have to torture kids or kill innocents for leverage over whatever target I was following, it didn't matter my objections – but here was one who had my mind – heart – in His hand, one who had to only say the word and I'd be happy to obey Him. I would've done anything and been happy through it all.

But He didn't abuse that power. Each target had a purpose, each hit worked towards something. And when I practically threw myself at Him He only talked me down gently.

If I'd been in control I'd never have handed that level of trust over to anyone, but I did with Him and when He didn't prove that that was misplaced… Even when I awoke and was horrified with what I'd done… I was grateful.

Because if anyone had raped me it might've broken me. But if He'd taken advantage of me while I was under His control, I'd have been forced to enjoy it and reciprocate – I know it would've slowly driven me insane. It would have destroyed me.

And I don't know what to do with this, because I hate that He was able to turn my beliefs inside-out on a whim, but love that He appreciated my skillset. And I can't help but want to kneel before Him and cry at His feet in thanks because He didn't sleep with me even though I asked Him to.

"Hawk," Loki called, and Clint wasn't sure if he wanted it to be in his head or not.

His gaze refocused to find the god casually leaning with His back against the edge of the table looking up at him. Clint glowered and gruffly asked, "What?" because Loki had left before him, which implied He had something on His mind to do, and Jarvis had not announced Phil's return yet. He forcefully pushed away the acceptance he felt at having received no strange look from Loki at his perch.

"I had something to ask you, but perhaps we should talk about what's on your mind first," Loki suggested with a smirk, a pointed glance sent towards Clint's hands.

He relaxed his fingers from where they had reflexively clenched over the opposite hand's knuckles, narrowing his eyes at the god before climbing down. He was planning on confronting Him about whatever it was the god wanted to ask, but once his feet touched the ground and he was officially not in his comfort zone and had to look up at Loki due to his height, his pulse sounded in his ears and a scowl twisted his mouth. Aware but dismissive of the foolhardiness of his actions, he marched over the few steps separating them to fist his hands at the collar of the god's leather overcoat. "Yeah? You want to talk?"

Loki merely raised an eyebrow, humming in interest at the change in attitude from when they had interacted on the Helicarrier as Clint was packing. Consciously seeking to be aggravating, he remarked idly, "Are you experiencing a hormonal imbalance?"

Clint growled and reeled back a fist to slam it into the god's face, consequences be damned, when it was stopped by Loki's palm. He held the force of the attack at bay seemingly without any strain as Clint tried to drive it forward, and then Loki asked, curiously, "What instance in particular were you dwelling on that compelled you to break your hand against my face just to appease your urge for retribution?"

He drew back with an enraged snarl and put a couple of paces between them, hissing, "Everything! And you're being a bastard about it all and confusing me 'cause you should've just let me break my hand instead of stopping me! Wouldn't that teach me a lesson about your superiority?!"

"What do you believe my thoughts regarding you to be, pet?"

"Don't call me that!"

Loki moved closer, not cautiously but as one would when approaching an injured wildcat, perhaps; he was prepared to dodge any desperate attack that was forthcoming. He came to stand in front of Clint, whose muscles were taught with anger and confusion, and stooped slightly so to meet his archer's eyes without him having to crane his neck upward awkwardly. "It doesn't matter to me that you're free from my influence. I know you, through invasive and unprecedented force, maybe, but have come to know you and your talents, and I will have your loyalty if it takes an age of persuasion to convince you that I am worthy of it.

"Because you are the type of warrior who is treasured throughout the Nine Realms, and having met you I will not allow you to escape me so easily into hands that will not care for you properly. So I shall call you whatever I like, my Hawk, because though you don't see me as your owner now, you are mine."

And Clint glared at the god, hating him for sparing his sanity, and realizing his talents, and knowing that, though he stared up at him now with rebellion and defiance filling his eyes and stance, Clint could not escape his memories of the utter devotion he had felt for Him.

He dropped his gaze and glared at the floor for a moment before stepping back again, deciding to abandon the issue for now since Phil would likely be returning to the tower soon and this would be cut short. Clint's eyes rose to meet Loki's as he dismissed the previous conversation from his mind and tried to question politely, "What did you want to ask me when you came here?"

The Trickster's eyes glinted in amusement at the avoidance of the topic instead of the expected rebuttal to his claims before he calmed and began, "Well, I had heard something interesting that implied that your team had received a disc previous to this one…"

AUTHOR'S NOTES: And here's the start! Warnings are at the top of each chapter under the disclaimer so you know what to expect.

This won't be developing steadily as a separate fic. Their relationship will progress in the main series, and then when any scene comes involving their development as a pairing I'll post it here and gloss over the gap in the other fic. Lengths of chapters will vary accordingly, and at the top of them I explain where the scene would fit in.

Drop a review and let me know what you think!