a/n: Oh no, the story is NOT almost over, we're just getting into the real stuff now. There will be plenty of Loki/OC stuff to come ;)

NINE

For the past few hours, Ellie had gone back and forth from going outside to learn what was going on and sitting on the couch inside. Outside there was a lot going on, but everyone knew exactly what they were doing and where to be; organized chaos. Loki gave eloquent commands here and there, but everything was so precise and well thought out, his supervision was barely needed. Dr. Selvig was quite the genius so setting up the contraption outside was no big deal.

Ellie spent the majority of her time alone inside. She went back and forth from freezing and unfreezing things to watching TV. There wasn't anything interesting on and the news wasn't reporting anything strange. Loki seemed to believe that she wouldn't run off if he wasn't by her side so he left her alone. Ellie was glad for it. The past two days, if that, had been so intense that she welcomed the break.

After a solid hour away from her, Loki came back inside, staring at her as she lounged on the couch. "I'm surprised you're still here."

She snorted and turned her head towards him. "Where else would I go?"

"Home."

"I was living at the mansion, but it was not my home," she replied and turned away. "Besides, SHIELD definitely wants me as a prisoner now. I have no intentions of being one. I like it right where I am."

"Good answer," he replied, letting his eyes rake over her.

She swung her legs over and sat up properly on the couch. "What exactly is that thing that Dr. Selvig is putting together? It looks like something straight out of Stargate."

His head cocked to the side as he sat near her on the couch. "I have no idea what that is."

"I know," she mumbled and waved her hand. "So? What is it?"

"It's a device that will open a portal and allow travel from one realm to the next. It is how I plan to get my army here."

She grinned and shook her head. "So, a Stargate."

"Whatever you want to call it."

She moved forward with ease, pivoting in her seat to slide her leg over his waist. Once she was comfortably straddling him, she let her fingers dive into his hair and tug back slightly. "What's the name of your alien army?"

"The Chitauri," he answered as she leaned down and placed her lips against his neck.

"Hmmm," she cooed as her lips nipped their way to his ear before her teeth took hold of his lobe. He involuntarily bucked his hips and she gave a hearty laugh, one that he felt go through him.

He moved his hands to her hips and pulled her off of him despite his growing desire. He got to his feet and straightened his clothes. "It's almost time."

Ellie frowned, but got to her feet. "Probably for the best. I don't want to weaken you, my king," she teased as she walked in front of him, her finger lightly grazing across his chest as she went.

He scowled at her, but didn't say a thing as they made their way outside. Ellie noticed an agent hand him the scepter and wondered if that had been in the jet this whole time. She didn't remember having it with them when they left the Helicarrier. "Are you ready, Dr. Selvig?"

The older man nodded and opened the silver briefcase. He pulled out the square blue object inside and lifted it into the center of the contraption he had been working on. "It will take a few moments to power up, but when it does, the portal will open."

"Good," Loki said and turned towards the members of SHIELD he had possessed. "I don't need any of you anymore." One by one he shot at the agents with the scepter and Ellie watched as they dropped to the ground, some fell over the edge from the force. All she could think about was the men she had killed back in the Helicarrier, but now was not a good time to bring up any guilt she may or may not have.

"Now what?"

"Now we wait," Loki said and watched the machine begin to power up.


They didn't have to wait long. Ellie thought it was a reflection from a plane, but as it got closer, she realized it was Iron Man flying in their direction. He stopped and hovered near Dr. Selvig's part of the roof. "Shut it down, Dr. Selvig."

"I can't. It's already on. There's no stopping it now."

Stark didn't say anything as he raised his hands and let a blast fly towards the device. A force field went up and sent the blast back at Iron Man, causing him to stumble in the air. Ellie watched as Dr. Selvig went flying backwards in the wall. Dead or not, the device was already up and running; clearly there was no stopping it now. Without a word, Stark landed on a different level of the patio and his machines began to strip away his suit. She followed Loki back into the Tower, entering the same time Tony did.

Tony was closer to the kitchen area as Ellie and Loki entered a separate door near the couches. Tony chuckled as Ellie saw him reach for a glass. " I would offer you a drink, but I see you've already helped yourselves." He turned around then to pour himself a shot and did a double take at the sight of Ellie as if realizing her presence for the first time. "Is that my shirt?"

She nodded. "My jumpsuit got ruined."

"I see that," he said, nodding to the pile on the floor where her jumpsuit remained. "Your friends are worried. We had no idea if you were dead or alive," he added and Ellie saw him snap something around his wrists.

"Now you know."

"Now we know," he returned and then directed his attention at Loki. "You won't win."

"I've heard that before," he replied.

"Yes, but now we've banned together, the Avengers. It's what we're calling ourselves. All of us together will be too much for you."

"I have an army," Loki reminded him.

"We have a Hulk," Stark said as he moved from behind the counter and began to approach the pair.

"And now I have you," Loki added and took a step in his direction, placing the tip of the scepter in the center of Tony Stark's chest.

Ellie knew it must have had something to do with the arch reactor in his chest when nothing happened to him. Out of frustration, Loki threw a punch and grabbed Stark's shirt. He launched the man out the window the same time he yelled, "Deploy!" to no one in particular.

Ellie barely had a second to react as her ears filled with the sound of more glass shattering. By the time she turned around, it was too late. The bright red metal capsule was already upon her, striking her down with enough force to have her bounce off the tile floor. She cried out, but as Loki turned to go for her, Iron Man was in his line of vision again, fully suited up. Without a word, he blasted Loki. As he slid towards Ellie from impact another blast rumbled the floor beneath them and as they turned their heads, they were rewarded with the sight of the portal activating. A large column of blue reaching out towards the sky before tearing a hole open in the clouds. Soon, strange looking creatures covered in metal began to emerge and fill the skyline of New York City. Looking at the bigger picture, Iron Man turned away from the two house invaders and made his way out into the city.

"It's beautiful," Ellie breathed as she continued to stare at the wormhole.

"You think so?" Loki asked, surprise clear in his voice.

She tore her gaze away to look at him and smiled sheepishly. "In a deadly kind of way."

The humor was short lived as another guest arrived on the lower level of the patio. Thor. He glanced towards the device and Dr. Selvig's unconscious form before taking in the sight of Loki and Ellie. "Turn it off!" he demanded.

Loki took a half step forward, putting Ellie behind him. "It cannot be stopped. There is only war." Ellie watched as he raised the scepter and saw the surprise in Thor's eyes as he watched his brother turn and raise the weapon in Ellie's direction. She cried out, but not in pain as the power of the Infinity Stone unleashed her own powers. The tingle she had felt in Germany was back and more intense than before. When he removed the scepter, Ellie stumbled back, realizing that ice formed on the ground wherever her feet touched. She stared wildly at Loki as her skin began to crawl. Skin. She looked at her hands and sure enough, they were blue. It was only a tint of icy blue, not like Mystique or Night Crawler, but definitely blue.

She didn't question his motives as she stared at Loki. Instead, she inclined her head and gave him a smile to say she was fine. Thor watched the interaction closely and stood his ground as Loki turned his way. Loki jumped towards Thor and the clash of their weapons made Ellie's thoughts focus. If Thor got the best of him, it was over. She raised her hands and shot off a few icicles in his direction, his hammer deflecting all of them. Not wanting to risk hitting Loki, she pushed out with her powers and created an icy bridge that would lead her down to their level. As she slid down, she thought of a sword and felt one forming of ice on her hand as if it were a part of her. When she reached the bottom, she swung her sword arm at Thor and managed to slice at his arm.

The action gave Loki an advantage, but Thor lashed back and sent her flying into the wall. The concrete barrier that stopped her crumbled, landing on her in a variety of chunks. She took a moment to compose herself before getting to her feet. Instead of going after Thor again, she stopped at the sound of an engine. She looked up to see a quinjet approach and Black Widow in the pilot's chair. The guns came out and aimed at Loki. Without giving it a second thought, Ellie raised her hands and threw all of her concentration at bringing down the jet. As the jet began to fall through the sky, Ellie's knees gave out from too much power use.

As her vision began to clear, she wished it hadn't. Thor had knocked Loki's scepter away from him and they were shoulder to shoulder as if trying to wrestle. Ellie gathered up as much strength as she could to make her way towards the duo. As she got within an arm's length of them, Thor gave a grunt and knocked Loki away. He and Ellie watched as Thor pulled a knife from his side and turned to Loki. Loki lunged and grabbed Ellie by the wrist before jumping off the side of the Tower. A scream tore from her lips as they fell through the air, the wind stinging them as they gained speed. A grunt of pain and relief came from both of them as they landed on one of the flying vehicles from Loki's army.

Ellie opened her eyes and immediately regretted the action. In her brief glimpse of her surroundings she determined that they were flying through the city. Now that she was aware of that she could feel herself being whipped around and it made her stomach turn. She also had seen Loki sitting in front of her. They had landed facing each other and as they rounded a corner she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"I hate this!" she hollered over the wind.

"Just hang on!" he yelled back.

As if she was going to let go.

She held him tighter at the sound of an explosion close to them. She felt the vessel they were on come to life beneath her as Loki fired its guns. She forced her eyes open then and looked around, forcing the nausea to go away. It would have been easier if her energy hadn't been drained from taking down the quinjet. "How many are there?" She asked.

"Not many," he replied and turned again.

Ellie turned her head and saw Black Widow buzz past them on a Chitauri vessel of her own. She reached out and shot an icicle at her, missing narrowly. It was then she noticed something coming towards them, but it was Loki who caught it. He turned his head and smiled in the direction of the archer as he held the arrow in his hand. Ellie followed his gaze, but was only rewarded with another explosion, one that sent her and Loki tumbling off the vessel.

Ellie didn't have time to scream this time as she landed shoulder-first onto the patio. The force bounced her up and sent her flying through the window. She didn't hear the glass breaking, but she felt it as she rolled through it, the tiny shards lodging into her skin with ease. She stopped after hitting the back of the couch and saw Loki roll to his feet like a cat in the middle of the living room. From the corner of her eye she saw something coming towards them and realized too late that it was the Hulk. In the time it took her to launch for Loki, the big green giant had them both flying through the room again.

Loki got to his feet quickly and pulled Ellie up with him. He turned to the Hulk as he geared up to attack again and yelled, "Enough!" The Hulk hesitated and Loki continued, his grip tightening on Ellie as she swayed on her feet. "All of you are beneath me! I am a God, I will not be bullied by-"

He was interrupted as the Hulk reached out and grabbed him by the ankle. He relinquished his hold on Ellie and she stumbled back, using what was left of the couch to hold herself up. She watched in horror as the Hulk brought Loki crashing down to the floor over and over again as if it were a troll bashing the floor with a club. Mustering up just enough strength, she blasted the green monster with blocks of ice. He let go of his hold on Loki and roared before fleeing the building. Ellie dropped to the floor and looked at Loki who was lying on his back in an indent his body had created during the beating.

Ellie wasn't sure how she did it, but she had made her way to him, collapsing on her side by his legs, facing him. He looked about as well as she felt. Now that she had a moment to breathe, even if she didn't know how long that moment would be, she began to feel the extent of her power consumption. The boost her had given her had faded too quickly and she could already see a faint black tint to her vision. She remembered he had mentioned something about their kind being stronger the colder they were and decided to put that theory to the test. She reached out and grabbed his hand. Her eyes closed and she concentrated, letting ice flow through her and into him. She forced herself to keep going even as she got weaker, refusing to let go until the darkness overcame her.