"In the end, you will always kneel."

Twirling a knife in her hand she thought hard about Loki's last words before he won the war. On the wall was a perfectly proportioned picture of the god of mischief himself. Still twirling the knife, her anger brewed inside and quickly boiled. She threw the knife, hitting between his emerald green eyes, as she always had.

"Miss Black, Fury has asked for your presence in the control room-"

The man stopped, looking at her latest throw at the mad man's head.

"Nice!"

She couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiasm he gave her. She got up and followed him out the door.

Everyone had always admired her, her entire life she was always popular. In middle school she joined the cheer team, and participated in the show choir. In high school she joined an elite cheer team as well, but she remained in the choir and on the school team. People just always seemed to be pulled to her, there was something about her that they found admirable but she never knew what.

"Right this way."

She followed him down the halls, trying hard to ignore the wandering eyes in her direction. He motioned her towards the door as he opened it.

"Ah, Victoria, just who I wanted to see."

"Save it Fury, you called me down here, what is it that you need?"

Tori looked around the room and saw all of her friends in the room.

"Please sit, it is an important matter we must discuss." The blonde god asked, trying not to sound like he was demanding because he knew the reaction from Tori would be just below unpleasant. Women were complicated creatures but there was one thing he knew for certain about her, she did not like being told what to do.

She sat, eyeing Fury cautiously.

"We most do something concerning Loki, we have let it go far enough! If we don't do something to loosen his grip on our planet now, there will be no later. He's already close to finding the only base we have left. Our time is running out, we need a plan of attack." Fury burst, spilling his guts to all of the Avengers. Tori wasn't an official member of the team but she was a trainee. If she proved worthy one day she would get Dr Banner's spot. Unfortunately during the loss of control over Earth, Loki killed him, as a warning to the rest.

"We will never beat him on the outside, we need someone to be on the inside..." Tony stated.

Everyone thought about it and turned their heads towards Tori. She stared back in disbelief.

"You guys think I could do it?"

"Who thinks you couldn't do it?"

Tony pushed and they both looked around and no one made a peep.

"If anything, you would make a great spy. You're slick, and with your backround of gymnastics, it would make it that much easier. All you need to do is pretend to be a servant and just gather information on his next moves. Simply simple." He assured.

"I agree with Stark, now go to your quarters and get ready! We will provide you with your uniform to blend in." Fury snapped starting to get annoyed.

Thor's eyes widened as the realization set in.

Tori's gaze was hot, piercing and they began to smell a fire.

"Fury, your trousers are a flame!" Thor shouted running towards the director.

Natasha quickly got up to cover Tori's eyes with her hand. But she swatted it away.

"I hoped you all enjoyed my trick I've been working on.. Took some practice but now it's perfectly solid. First it was sparks but now it's a fire."

She walked out of the room feeling quite happy with herself. No one owned her and she would do as she pleased. No one. Told her what to do.

-:::-

Tori's costume was delivered to her room shortly after the incident. She quickly got dressed and headed towards the dining hall. Because if she was leaving, she was going to get one more good meal before living the life of a slave.

Her bold, dark brown hair faded to a light blonde close to the bottom and shined in the artificial lighting of the underground base. It was slightly wavy and had long layers that gave her hair some body but not too much. Her creamy, lightly tanned skin glowed slightly.

Tori had been craving adventure for months now, she felt like a caged animal in the base but we all knew what would happen if we left it, and now she was finally getting her chance even if it meant becoming a mistreated slave for a while.

Tonight the chefs were serving Italian. Which pleased her greatly, after all, it ran through her blood, even though she wasn't born there.

Scanning through the feast that laid before her, she saw pastas, pizzas, hand tossed salads and bread. They even laid out wine but she decided against it, she would be needing complete concentration.

-:::-

"Miss Black, are the instructions clear?" Fury asked, making sure everything will go as planned.

"Once again.. As I confirmed earlier the answer to that question is a yes." She groaned sarcastically. She never had any patience and he drew a thin line.

"Alright, we will board you onto one of our last helicopters that can camouflage in the air so you better hope this goes smoothly."

Ignoring Fury's last statement, she turned to her friends and they all gave her reassuring smiles. Tori hugged them all because whether she wanted to think about it or not there was the possibility of her never returning.

She gave one last look in their direction before birding the helicopter.

-:::-

"Victoria.. Remember your training." Were the last words Fury said before she was roughly tossed out of the aircraft into the concrete in front of Loki's palace.

She pulled herself together and brushed off her uniform. If she wanted to get away from this alive she had to remain low and not make a big deal for herself.

-:::-

"What are you doing! Get back to work!" A tall man yelled at her from across the pavement. Tori followed him inside and was shocked by what she saw.

It was beautiful! Marble and granite painted the building, complimenting it in every way possible. Green and gold seemed to run throughout the place.

Tori gathered her thoughts and walked into the servants' quarters, there she would wait to do duties for whom ever needed them.

"You! Go to the kitchen! We need a meal prepared for the King!" The same man called and once again she followed him. Anger was set a flame inside of her at the command he had given. She couldn't resist.. She had to.. And she did. In less than a moment's notice the man was on fire but much worse than Fury had been. Tori could smell his sizzling flesh and decided to distinguish it. All it took was an icy glare and it was out.

The people around her stood in shock. They didn't know how he caught fire but all they were concerned about was getting him to a healing room.

Tori walked faster to the kitchen so she could make a meal for the person she dispised the most.

Could she slip poison into it? Would it kill him? Tori didn't know but she decided against it. It was far too risky.

When she reached the glamorous kitchen she couldn't help but think about what to make him.

Tori got out a recipe book so she could make an Italian delicacy. She loved to cook! Even if she had to do it for him.

-:::-

"Are you finished?" A superviser asked.

"Y-yes."

"Okay, there are no other servants available at the moment so you will be taking that to King Loki."

Tori's eyes widened at the name and she slowly nodded as she walked away with the tray that held her hard work.

Stopping next to a maid, she whispered so no one could hear, "Do you know where the King's chambers are?"

She whispered back and pointed, quickly leaving her presence.

Many eyes watched her approach his door, some were casual but others were cautious.

Tori slowly raised her hand and knocked twice on the green and gold door. The gold was cold, and solid unlike the green wood that was beneath it.

Slowly, she twisted the knob to his room and walked in. In the corner was a man with black hair that pointed out at the ends, pale skin and emerald eyes that pierced right through her when he looked up. But her confidence did not falter not even the slightest tremble and he sensed that.

He closed his book not breaking eye contact and sat up, clearly intrigued.

"Your confidence is one to impress me." He smirked at her seeing her sudden reaction. "I see that is where you made your mistake.. None of the servants would even dare to look in my direction let alone glare at me."

"I understand now that that was foolish yes but it's obvious now why I'm here."

"So it seems, let me guess.. SHIELD.. The group of freaks." He began walking towards her, hands clasped behind his back. "It's a shame you let them convince you to come because now I cannot let you go." His smirk turned to a more sinister one now and he teleported in front of her. Loki stared at her eyes for what seemed like minutes.

"Is there something that suits your fancy." She bit at his annoying stare.

"Your eyes, my dear, they are nothing like I have ever seen before. They have pure hatred in them, very irregular for a Midgardian."

Her eyes flared at his insult, and she knew he saw it because he narrowed his freely moving stare.

In an instant, Loki doubled over in pain. Tori had not yet even laid a finger on him and she already had the upper hand.

As quickly as it happened it stopped but she didn't stop it..

Confusion plastered her face as he got back up and glared at her. A smirk now covered his features again.

"Impressive." He snickered at her expression then continued. "Dear, I am thousands of times stronger than you. I can mentally block you as I just did."

She stared at him with sarcasm written all over her. "I'm trembling at your feet because you blocked me.."

He watched her with a glint of amusement in his eyes. He knew she had another talent, he could feel it. He observed carefully before deciding what it was. Fire.

Tori knew she couldn't set him on fire but she could set his room on fire to try and ensure her escape.

Her glare shifted to his private library by his bed, his gaze followed and his eyes widened when he realized what she was aiming for.

Loki rushed towards her and grabbed her throat, lifting her into the air.

"You petty mortal! You have pushed my nerves for you past the limit."

This is it, this is when all those years of military grade training would come to good use.

She swung her legs to his chest and kicked his grip off her. Tori kicked and punched until there was enough distance for her to run. She leaped off the balcony and rushed into a pool of water, colder than she had presumed.

Something grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the water. She was certain he had got her. Until she saw Natasha, she pulled her into a jet this time and as she climbed aboard on the balcony she saw the unamused King, glaring at her. Determination covered his face and she knew, this wasn't over.