I am so humbled and grateful for the kind praise that I have received for this story thus far. I give you my sincerest apologies for the delay of this chapter. I go to school full time and work two jobs so finding spare time is not always easy, but I have grown quite fond of this story, so I will try to update much more frequently. I have many things planned for this story other than actual written text. I am not familiar with this website and it's take on links and pictures, but I plan to incorporate that into the story to provide you all with visual stimulation as well! Another reason for the delay of this chapter is because I am a film editor and I have been working on a small film for this. It is nothing spectacular, but it is something fun to go along with the story and I hope that you will all enjoy it when it is completed.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, every chapter I have written has been inspired by a song so if the site permits, I will post a link to the song that the chapters were inspired from so that you may all make the comparison and maybe also discover some great music along the way!

Okay, enough of my babbling; I know what you've all been waiting for. Please enjoy the following chapter!

Chapter 3: The Beast and the Harlot

His cold, green eyes darted from the soldiers pointing their guns directly at him to the woman he was tightly grasping in his arms. A cunning smile was plastered across his face at the feeling of being in control of the situation. His double had disappeared, so there was no longer any confusion as to which of the two Loki's was the real one.

"I said, stand down or we will not hesitate to shoot!" shouted one of the soldiers in the doorway.

"Give it your best attempt, I urge you," Loki replied calmly. He knew that they would not attack while he held the sister of Tony Stark.

Loki leaned in to whisper in Cassie's ear, "You see, power is not difficult to acquire. You simply need to know when and where to make your move." Wanting her to feel pain he grabbed her arms even tighter knowing how easily humans bruised. "I ask you, do you now find me threatening?"

"Take your hands off of me," Cassie hissed in retaliation, fighting the urge to cry out from the pain in her arms. She felt the unsteadiness in her voice betraying her effort to sound brave.

He laughed darkly at her demand. "I would love for you to make me."

"Loki, do we really have to do this again?" asked a familiar voice from the doorway. Loki's attention snapped from Cassie to the man layered in royal shades of red, white and blue.

"Your ability to sense trouble never ceases to amaze me, Captain. Do tell me how you easily seem to make an appearance when trouble arises."

"Threats are everywhere, all the time. You just have to know where to look," Steve said casually.

A slight jab on his foot distracted Loki for a brief moment. He smiled when he realized what it was. "Did you honestly presume that stomping on my boot would cause me enough pain to release you?" he asked Cassie, highly amused.

Her lack of response confirmed his suspicions. He chuckled before saying, "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that. I am a god, you ignorant quim. I am practically invincible to you pathetic mortals, and you think you can escape my grasp with a weak attack of your foot? Pitiful," he finished with a sneer.

Cassie knew it was a feeble attempt, but she was far from ignorant. What Loki did not consider was that her intentions were not to hurt him, but to distract him, which she accomplished.

As Loki scoffed at her endeavor, Steve sent one of the other soldiers for backup, hoping it would go unnoticed by the god.

Once Loki's attention was turned back to the soldiers, Steve urged him once more to surrender. "Haven't you learned anything by now?" Loki asked angrily. "I will surrender to no one. I am not one who easily falters. I refuse to lie down and be driven into the ground by such a low race of beings. You will be under my rule and I will be king of this world. You do not have the means to contain me forever. There is not a single doubt that dwells in my mind that you shall all fall to my glory, beginning with this wretched excuse for a life in my grasp," he spat as his gaze fell on Cassie.

"You can go to hell," she retaliated against him, though still in immense pain from his grip.

He pressed his face against her so that she could feel his smile against her ear as he whispered, "What you fail to realize, Cassie, is that I have already been there. You know nothing of hell, but I promise you this…" He said as he leaned in impossibly closer to her. "You will."

She had never considered Loki's presence to be threatening until that moment. With those words her blood seemed to turn cold as her breath became shallow and frightful as she remained stiff against his body.

He was pleased as he took notice of her fear and laughed silently to himself.

Cassie looked towards the soldiers wondering to herself if they had heard Loki's cruel words, but by the confused and intrigued face of the Captain, they had not. She finally felt a bit of relief when Logan had pushed his way through, a livid expression upon his face.

"Ahh, the love-sick soldier coming to claim his harlot. I believe that now is your chance to rip my eyes out and watch me bleed to death. If I recall correctly, that is what you had desired my punishment to be, was it not?" Logan's breathing was heavy and his body was shaking with what was either fear or rage. "I would imagine such a fate would be quite painful, if you could physically manage to tear out the eyes of a god. Allow me to show you what pain really is," he growled as he took hold of Cassie's hand.

Cassie watched wide-eyed as he carefully grasped her hand, taking a moment to inspect it with what appeared to be curiosity before placing his fingers around her hand in an abnormal way. She heard a sickening crunch before she noticed the immense, excruciating pain. She couldn't help but cry out as she fell forward in agony, almost landing on her knees if Loki had not had his other hand around her waste to hold her steady.

Logan lurched forward but was pulled back by Steve and the other fellow soldiers. "You bastard!" Logan cried out, fuming.

"Mortals are so weak," Loki spat with loathing as he watched Cassie hold her hand close to her body for support. "Your lack of pain tolerance is comical. Perhaps I should break something of more importance." He placed his hand on her head in an odd fashion, positioning it to snap her neck with ease.

"No!" Logan and Steve shouted in unison.

Pleased with the desperate expression on their faces, Loki slowly removed his hand and brought Cassie closer to him. She groaned in refusal and leaned away, but was no match for his strength. Loki was not finished with his game and he had planned to drag this out for as long as possible.

He wanted to get a rise out of Logan for his earlier remarks and in doing so, he slowly tilt down to gently place his lips on Cassie's neck, kissing it softly, eyes never leaving Logan's enraged face. He knew that it was taking all of the soldiers to hold him back, but they could not hold him back forever.

Upon feeling the god's lips on her neck, Cassie ripped away, disgusted. A bit surprised by her sudden strength, he pulled her back, laughing. "Your courage is short-lived, mortal. Tell me, do you fear death?"

Cassie ignored him, still concentrating on the pain surging through her hand. She glanced up to read Logan's expression. He had an odd look on his face. It was as if he was not even looking at her, or Loki, but past them through the window. She looked to Steve only to see that he was looking past them as well. She did not dare glance behind her in fear that she would give away whatever they plan they may have been creating.

However, Loki was aware of his surroundings and took notice of the direction the soldiers were looking. Intrigued, he took a moment to turn around to observe what the others had been so captivated by.

He did not even get the chance to fully turn around. He felt a large blow to his head, releasing Cassie from his grip. He did not fall to the ground for something had shattered through the glass behind him, pushing him with such force that he fell through the hard walls of the room. Irritated, he pulled himself out of the debris and brushed off his clothing as he faced his assailants.

Iron Man stood before him, guns blazing with Captain America by his side, his own shield raised in defense. Loki tightened his lips together in thought as his eyes wandered past them to observe Cassie, carefully huddled under Logan. What a pathetic creature, he thought to himself.

"I was beginning to think you would fail to make an appearance, Stark," Loki huffed.

"I wouldn't miss a chance to battle with the Rock of Ages," said Stark, trying to cover his anger with humor.

"By all means," Loki smiled, attempting to prod him into action, "Enlighten me with your combat expertise."

"I plan to," Stark simply spoke, signally to Logan to remove Cassie from the room.

Loki's watched intently as his eyes followed the soldier carrying what he would soon destroy, His plan had not yet been completed.

The moment they had left the room, Loki was blasted back into the wall by an explosive to his chest. He growled with irritation as he once again crawled from the debris. He smirked as he quickly multiplied himself into at least twenty different Loki's scattered all over the room, laughing menacingly. Steve was fighting air as he searched for the real Loki.

Stark turned on his heat sensor to scan the room to find the real Loki. Before it was complete he was assaulted from the back of his head, causing his suit to spark from the impact. He quickly turned for a counter attack, but was unsuccessful for when he had turned Loki was cursing and squirming for he had been held tight within Thor's arms.

"Release me, you ignorant brute!" Loki seethed.

It hardly seemed to be a struggle for Thor to keep Loki locked within his iron tight grip. "Be reasonable, brother. This is for your own good and for the good of everyone on this ship."

"You do not actually believe that, do you?" Loki argued against Thor, still trying to wriggle from him. "We are gods! I should not be treated so lowly! These humans think that they can contain me with their contraptions? They will soon learn otherwise!"

"Take him back to the holding cell," Steve demanded. "We'll set up 24 hour surveillance to watch other him in case he tries anything else.

Thor held Loki in position while one of the soldiers bound his wrists in chains. Loki sighed in irritation as he refrained from struggling any longer.

He allowed Thor and a team of soldiers to escort him back to the cell he had come to know so well. On the walk back to the cell, his eyes wandered to a room where Logan was embracing Cassie tightly. When her eyes met Loki's he was baffled by her expression. It was not angry, or hurt. He could not place her expression. Was it curiosity? He took that moment to give her a wide, wicked smile before he winked, attaching a silent promise as he passed the room and continued to his holding cell.

I am not entirely pleased with this chapter, but it was really a filler chapter before it starts getting to the good stuff. The next chapter will be much more fulfilling, I promise! I just really needed to crank out a chapter, so I hope this was decent. I know that Cassie seemed a bit "helpless" in this chapter, but I am trying to make her a realistic character. Honestly, what would you have done in that situation? I myself may have passed out in fear, haha!

Please let me know your thoughts! I take them seriously and it really affects the writing. Reviews are a large booster for further chapters. I am so humbled by the amount of reviews I have received and how many people are following this story. Your dedication is greatly appreciated and I only hope that I can keep you entertained!

Thank you again!

-LostInParadise