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"...a man no more virtuous than yourself."
Lucky for Loki, Natasha Romanoff was a superb spy and managed to quell her immediate interest in silencing him—permanently.
Loki could take Clint's mind and do whatever horrific things to it a crazed demigod could think up. He could take Clint's will and make Clint do horrific things, but no matter the skills came from a life of being a top-notch assassin, there was no pretending that Clint was more virtuous than Natasha. Clint had a conscience. Clint strove to protect and keep alive because he cared in a way that life and Mother Russia had beaten out of Natasha long ago.
Clint may not have been a virtuous man, but Loki presumed much if he thought he knew how unvirtuous Natasha could be when her own mind was under another's control. He presumed more if he thought Clint's brainwashing lessened her regard for him.