Existence

Unsavory Assignments

The next morning saw the return of the rest of the crew. Natasha and Clint had found proof that linked the symbol on the papers Willow had gotten to the KingPin. All that was left, was to bring him in.

As Natasha and Clint walked into the briefing room, they were greeted by Tony and Peter, who had just arrived, Steve and Bucky, who were discussing Loki's odd change of behavior, and Sam who had just joined the conversation with Bucky and Steve.

Natasha grinned, "So how was it with the Will'o'the'Wisp?" Bucky shrugged, "We hardly saw her. But we think Loki spent some time with her. He has been acting odd." Clint raised a brow, "Doesn't Loki always act odd?" Steve shook his head, "This is a different kind of odd." Tony piped up, "Did jolly green giant say anything?"

Steve shrugged, "That's just it. He hasn't said anything at all." The arrivals all shared a glance, Clint chuckled, "That is odd." At that moment Thor walked in with Loki, it seemed as though they had been in a heated discussion as Thor huffed heavily and Loki dropped down hard into his chair. Bucky looked at Thor, "Everything all right?"

Thor glanced at his adopted brother before looking at Bucky and replying, "Do not worry yourself. Simple family matters." Loki was looking at the table, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Before any further comments could be made, Fury walked in with Agent Hill. He began immediately.

"Romanoff and Barton completed finding the evidence we needed. All that remains is to apprehend KingPin and bring him in." Steve crossed his arms, "And what is the plan for how we do that?" Fury looked toward Hill, who responded, "You don't. In fact, most of you don't." Bucky raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

Fury tossed a file towards Loki, "We will brief Will'o'the'Wisp on the assignment later. Loki, you and her will be going in alone." With a look of disbelief Loki took the file and began reading it. Sam stood, "Seriously?" Fury glared at him, "Yes." Tony leaned back in his seat, "And what about back up?" Hill responded, "Banner has recently returned with good results from his experiments. If they require back up, he will handle that."

Natasha crossed her arms, "And the rest of us?" It was Hill's turn to toss files onto the table, "The rest of you will be taking down his chain of gangs working for him. If we take down the KingPin, we will need all the loose ends tied off." Tony scanned through the files, "There are a lot of names on this list."

Fury nodded, "That there is. You have 3 days to prepare." Then he and Hill left. Most everyone filed out, except Loki and Natasha. Loki sat with a furrowed brow, his gaze almost burning a hole in the file he held, Natasha sat beside him, "You okay?"

Loki's gaze met Natasha's, he shook his head, "No." Natasha shifted closer, "What's wrong? Is it Willow?" Loki sighed heavily as he tossed the file onto the table. "Precisely." Natasha shrugged, "The way everyone was talking about it seemed as though maybe you were getting somewhere with her." Images of the previous evening he had held her while she cried flashed through his mind. But he would keep his word to Willow.

He shook his head again, "I am not so sure that is how things occurred." Natasha raised a brow, "You aren't sure?" Loki nodded and looked away, "From what I have gathered from comments or insults she has uttered, her reasons for despising working as a team stems from a prior team she was perhaps a part of."

That got Natasha's attention, "You figured something out about who she is?" Loki shook his head, "I did not say that. I merely made an observation to her comments." Natasha sat back in her chair, "Hmm...assuming your guess is correct, what could have happened on her team? Or to her team?" Loki collected the file and stood, "I am not sure."

Natasha stood and they both began to walk out, "Did you manage any sort of conversation with her?" Loki scoffed, "We had a very unpleasant exchange in the hall. One that prompted my brother to engage her in conversation sometime after. She became exceedingly defensive the next time we were in the vicinity of one another. I have the bruise to prove that." He touched his chest.