Now we're really getting into the Frosthawk. Whoop! Happy Tuesday and enjoy xo.

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Clint woke up to Loki speaking soft, foreign words into his ear. He arched back into the solid line of the god's body and listened until he could discern what his lover was doing. The words were sure but his voice was reluctant. "You're sending me home, aren't you?" Clint asked.

Loki's words paused and then a kiss fell to his shoulder. "I had hoped to finish before you woke. Being separated from your true shell, your world, for too long can cause irreparable damage."

Clint turned to face Loki and slid a hand up his back to hold him closer. "I'm not going to argue with you, but I don't want to leave you yet." The words seemed to hit Loki like a spear to the chest and the air left him in a whoosh. He set his forehead against Clint's and breathed him in.

"I will be home to you as soon as I can."

"I know," Clint agreed, "but in the meantime, you'll be here." He rubbed his palm up and down the long line of Loki's spine, relishing the sigh it got him. "Is the link broken?" Clint wondered and when Loki nodded, he said, "You want to know what I think?"

"Always," Loki assured.

"I think," Clint answered, "you were meant to come here. This Clint needs you. I've never-" He shuddered. "I've never felt someone need you as badly as he does...besides maybe me, of course."

Loki shared his smile and kissed his cheek. "He does," Loki confirmed. "I want to help him, but it isn't truly me that he needs."

"What do you mean?" Clint questioned.

The god shifted onto his back and pulled Clint onto his chest, stroking through his short hair. "I am merely his substitute like he is mine for you in this world. He needs his Loki, but he is so far from accepting it that if I leave him here like he is now, he will live his entire existence in self-hatred."

"So help him," Clint urged, one leg slipping comfortably between Loki's thighs. He leaned down and pecked Loki's lips. "And don't come home until you do."

"Clint," Loki warned, not a fan of the joke.

Clint continued, "I mean it. I want you to help him. If he's anything like I was before I had you, then I wouldn't want anyone to live like that. You have to help him, and then you can come home to me."

Loki wrapped and arm around his lover and pulled him down to rest on his chest, cheek pressed to the hollow of his throat. "I can't say how long it will take me."

The archer sighed, nuzzling into the warmth of him. "I know, but I'll be waiting." Loki only hummed and kissed his hair, smoothing a hand over Clint's arm. "Go ahead, babe. Send me back. The sooner he gets to his body, the sooner you come home."

"I don't-" Loki broke off and Clint lifted his head at the suspicious sound of emotion. Sure enough, Loki's eyes were wet but the tears wouldn't shed. "I don't want to."

Clint smiled sadly, pushing himself higher to bring Loki into a deep, soothing kiss. "I know," he whispered against his mouth. "I'll be waiting," he reminded. He lifted one of Loki's hands and placed it over his head. "Do it."

Loki grimaced like the words physically hurt him but began to chant nonetheless. His fingers traced the age-old runes in the air above Clint's head as he spoke until Clint's eyes fell shut and he slumped back down to lay on Loki's chest. When he was alone, Loki finally let a tear fall.

Clint startled awake, sitting up with a jolt and panting for air. He felt like he'd been hit by a Helicarrier and groaned as soon as his voice would operate. "Fuck," he mouthed to himself and rubbed at his head, a splitting headache pounding at his skull.

"Hey, buddy. You're okay." Clint flinched, the familiar voice too loud in his state. "Ope, sorry," the voice whispered. "Here you go, want some water?" Then, the cool metal of a straw was pressing against his lips and he parted them to suck down the blissful liquid, barely holding his eyes at slits. 

He swallowed down the water and sighed as it lubricated his sore throat. "What hap-" He stopped at the sound of his voice, rough and raw, and touched his throat. 

"Yeah, Loki said you'd be sore. Whatever that bastard did to you, don't worry, we're taking care of him."

Clint squeezed his eyes shut again; he couldn't handle the visual onslaught as well as the information. "Wait," he croaked and rubbed at his throat some more, trying to ease the feeling of being stripped to the bone. "Where?"

"You're in your room. You're safe. I'm here. Bruce is here. Natasha and Steve are with that lunatic."

Finally, the archer forced his eyes open and took in the scene before him. Tony held the cup of water on his lap and was looking at Clint a little too intensely. Bruce was standing behind him, a cool pack in one hand and looking his usual calm self- though they all knew how deceiving that could be.

"Where is he?" Clint asked, some of his last memories finally coming back to him. He'd switched bodies with someone- not just someone...himself. He groaned again and Tony must've taken it as fear because he placed a gentle hand on Clint's covered knee.

"He's being taken care of. That's the last time we ask you to intervene with him. Fool us once, right?"

Clint didn't understand. "Taking care of him?"

Bruce came forward and delicately pushed Clint back onto his pillow and placed the cool pack on his forehead. It was delightfully cold and Clint's immediately relaxed. Bruce answered, "He's in the Hulk's holding cell. He can't get to you. Natasha and Steve are making sure of it."

Loki was in a holding cell. With Natasha and Steve. Taking care of him? Clint shot up again, launching the pack onto the bed. "No!" he shouted and tried to pull the covers off his body but Tony and Bruce's hands were on him in a heartbeat.

"Relax, Clint. You're okay."

"No," Clint urged and struggled harder. "He didn't- Loki didn't-"

"He can't hurt you," Tony assured him. 

He was missing everything! Clint pushed Bruce off of him, knew the scientist would fight him the least and climbed off the bed on the opposite side as Tony to stand. "He didn't do anything."

Tony scoffed, but then must have realized how rude that sounded and sighed. "You don't have to hide from us. We found you two on the floor after Loki finally lowered his spell on the door. We saw what he-" Tony cut himself off and lowered his eyes to the floor. "I'm so sorry," he implored. "I'm sorry we couldn't get to you faster."

Clint was slowly but surely stepping closer to the door as he spoke. "You have no idea what you're talking about, Tony. I appreciate the help but-"

"We saw the cage, Clint," Bruce interrupted. "We saw your face and the scratches, the bruises. We're not holding anything he did against you."

Clint froze halfway to the door at being confronted with everything that had happened. It had happened to someone else, after all. He'd felt it, it was his body, but it wasn't him. "You don't understand..."

"I know," Tony agreed, sounding disgusted, and Clint hated to think that it was directed towards him. "We can't possibly try to understand what he did, but he won't ever touch you again. We'll never ask you to go near him again. That's on us. We're so sorry."

The archer shook his head. "You don't understand..." was all he could say. They never would. "I have to go." Tony moved to block him then, but Clint ran across the bed and maneuvered around the engineer, ignoring the aches in his body. "Trust me," Clint called back as he opened his bedroom door, and then he took off running, grateful to them for at least putting him in joggers so he didn't streak through the whole of the compound naked.

The Hulk's holding cell was multiple floors down and Clint suspected Tony might stall F.R.I.D.A.Y. from letting him use the elevator, so he slammed open the door to the stairs and ambled down the steps as fast as he could. 

Of course, they'd found him naked and marked up with Loki's arms around him. Of course, they took the god and threw him in a cell. Of course, they thought Loki had abused him, raped him and worse. Of course...Of course, Clint couldn't let them hurt him for something he'd begged for.

He pointedly ignored the obvious freedom of his now uncaged dick, didn't want to think about the interaction that happened while he was unconscious. He momentarily mourned the loss before focusing and jumping over the railing to get to the next flight. When he saw the appropriate floor he slid to a  stop and yanked on the door handle. 

Locked.

Clint sighed shorty and slammed his palm on the door. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., open this door."

"Boss's orders, Mr. Barton."

Clint yelled, frustrated and tired, and banged his fist against it. "Tony can't make my decisions for me, F.R.I.D.A.Y. I want this door to open. Now!" A long, tense few seconds of silence and then a clicking sound of door unlocking filled the stairwell. "Thank you," Clint sighed and wrenched open the door.

The only thing on this floor was the holding cell and just on the other side of the control room, he saw them. Natasha was standing over Loki's body on the floor, electric baton in hand, while Steve wiped Loki's neck with a rag. Loki was curled up, not hiding but simply taking his undeserving punishment.

He was the first to notice Clint's arrival, the other's backs were facing him, and he pushed himself to sit up. At Loki's movement, Natasha turned and her face went form stone to concern in a second. She shook her head, telling him to go, but Clint set his jaw and pressed the button to open the door.

"Clint," Natasha warned, on her guard now that Loki had an escape plan. 

He ignored her, ignored Steve who stepped between him and Loki, and walked numbly over to the god who was blooded and still looking up at him. He looked down at Loki, taking him in and somehow feeling better just seeing him, despite his state. Clint lowered to his knees and lurched forward, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist and burying his sweaty face in Loki's neck. 

Loki gasped, taken off guard at the touch, but quickly moaned in relief and wrapped Clint up in his arms, shifting to pull Clint into his lap. "You're okay," the god whispered into his ear and Clint audibly heard Steve's gasp. Clint didn't realize he was shaking until Loki squeezed him and whispered a few unknown words to still him. 

"I'm sorry," the archer spilled, voice shaking but he couldn't care, wasn't aware of anything but how badly he needed Loki and what they'd done to him because of Clint. 

Loki shushed him and kissed his temple. "No, darling. I'm well. How are you?" The dark-haired god's hand tenderly graze down his back, running along the raised lines his nails had left. Clint hadn't even had the mind to feel the pain that radiated through his back until Loki called attention to it.

"Hurts," he admitted, hoping he was quiet enough that only Loki could hear.

"I know," Loki acknowledged. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up." He wrapped his arms tighter and Clint melted against him. "Let me soothe them," he offered, but Clint shook his head.

"No. Let me keep them," he pleaded, lifting his head to look at Loki's emerald eyes. Blood was trickling down beside one of them and Clint lifted a hand to wipe it away, making Loki smile softly at him. "I know they aren't really mine, but..."

"They are just as much yours as they are his. You earned them," Loki emboldened him. Clint bit down on a smile, couldn't quite contain his pride, and stretched up to kiss Loki. It wasn't urgent or needy or any of the things he had been before he passed out. Loki let Clint press their lips together and only took what Clint offered to him. 

Clint barely had enough time to register how Loki tasted when Loki's chin jerked up and Clint saw the smooth black metal of Natasha's baton pressed to his neck. Loki swallowed shallowly. "Let him stand before you do. It will hurt him," Loki entreated, eyes pushed down to keep Clint in sight.

"I'd never hurt him," Natasha seethed. "Unlike you."

Clint lifted a hand and placed it on Natasha's slim tool. "Nat, please," he beseeched. "Don't hurt him."

The redhead shook her head. "I don't know what he's done to you, Clint, but we will fix it. I need you to back away." Clint stared back at her and refused to move. "Clint, please, stand up."

"Natasha," Steve tried. Clint wrapped his hand more firmly around Natasha's baton and pulled it to his own neck.

The assassin growled and pulled the baton away. She glared down at Loki and spat, "Haven't you done enough. Leave him alone."

Steve stepped forward then and placed a hand on Natasha's arm. "I think we need to back off." Clint was surprised by Steve's tone and when he looked up to him, he knew Steve had caught on. He didn't look happy about it but at least he was beginning to understand.

Natasha ripped her arm unnecessarily hard out of Steve's hold. "I'm not leaving Clint with that monster," she fumed, eyes never leaving Loki. "Steve, will you please take Clint out of here so I can finish what I started."

Steve stepped around in front of Natasha and blocked her view of the pair. "I don't think we fully understand what's going on here," he tried again, pulling a scoff from the redhead.

"I have no idea what's going on here, but I'm going to find out if I have to beat every single word out of him."

Clint actually felt a pain in his chest at her words and gripped Loki's shirt tight. Loki murmured a 'you are well' in his ear. Steve puffed out his chest, truely getting into Natasha's face now. "You are letting your emotions control you, and I believe we may have misjudged the situation. Let me speak with Clint and Loki alone."

"Not a chance, Cap."

"Natasha," Steve warned. "I don't want to fight you."

The assassin smirked and tilted a hip out indignantly. "You can try."

"Stop," Clint barked from behind Steve and they both turned to look at him. "You're not listening, Nat. I'm okay. I'd- I'd like to talk to Steve alone for a minute, please."

"Clint, come on..." she urged, but Clint just kept his gaze steady, trying to exude assurance. When he didn't fold, Natasha raised her baton towards Loki in anger, but he didn't fold either, and she lowered it with a pained sighed. "Fine." She looked at the blond. "But if anything happens to him on your watch then I'll have a new victim to play with."

Steve nodded and waited patiently at Natasha stepped back out of the cell, leaving the control room and vanishing out of sight. The captain turned around and placed both hands on his hips, taking in the two men tangled up together below him. "You want to explain to me what's going on between you two?"

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I'm so happy. Things aren't anywhere near okay, but I'm still happy. P.s. if you didn't catch the extra chapter, GO BACK! Mwah! Xoxo, Jess