Hello, everyone! I know I haven't been writing notes on my chapters lately, but life has been… interesting. Writing is merely a distraction, honestly, and it helps. It really does. But I hope you enjoy these chapters and thank you for all the reviews and favorites and whatnot. I appreciate everything you all have to say. xx

Chapter 10: Monsters.

There was a loud crash.

Eleanor jumped to her feet and looked around. The whole room was shaking. The glass was rattling. She put her hand to it and her heart started beating unusually fast.

Her stomach suddenly lurch and she was thrown against the glass. Her head smacked it hard and she cried out. What the hell is going on? She needed answers fast – she needed them now. She needed someone to tell her what was going on!

Just as she wished for her prince to save her, the door opened and a man she was unfamiliar with lunged to the control panel and pressed the big red button, opening the door in her cell. She stood there for a minute, confused, and she stared at the man who had just opened her door. He stared back and she noticed something about his eyes. They were light and glazed over.

"Well?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. She had never seen him before in her life. "Are you going to stay in there or leave?"

Eleanor didn't question him. She ran out of the cell and the man followed behind her. When she stepped out into the hallway, hell was breaking loose before her. Agents were running back and forth, screaming orders in their little headsets. The Avengers were nowhere to be found, but she turned back to the man who had saved her. "Where's Loki?" she asked.

"Back in his cell room. That's where I left him."

"I don't know where that is!"

The man motioned for her to follow and she did. They did not try hard to hide from all the agents – they didn't even seem to notice Eleanor. That or they just didn't care. Beneath her, the ground was shaking and she had a hard time standing up straight and walking without running into things. Tables were being thrown at her and she already had a few bruises on her hips.

She followed the stranger down a long series of winding halls and into a room, where she saw Loki standing by the control panel. He was looking over all the buttons, stroking his chin slowly. He turned around upon hearing footsteps and he held out his weapon, aiming it at Eleanor's chest. He lowered it immediately and smirked.

He was back in his armor. The horned helmet rest atop his head and his body was about three times thicker due to all the metal and decorations.

The ground shook again and Eleanor fell to her knees, yelping. "What have you done?" she screamed and Loki wrapped his long fingers around her arm, pulling her up to her feet. He let her go almost instantly and looked at the man beside her. "What's going on? Who is this?"

"He's mine – I've used a bit of magic on him," Loki replied quickly, waiting for more questions to be asked. "The ship is going to go down, Eleanor."

She laughed nervously. "How am I supposed to survive this? There's no way –"

"I said I would get you out of here, did I not?" asked Loki and Eleanor shook her head and backed away from him. "I got him to get you out of your cell and now, I will escort you safely off this ship… but I have some business to attend to first."

Eleanor didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell if he was lying or telling the truth. He was too difficult to figure out and his face was void of emotion.

"Trust me."

"What about my mother? Are you going to save her, too?"

"Listen to me," he said quietly, grabbing her arms and shaking her gently. "I need you to go find Fury. Please."

"My mother!"

Loki clenched his teeth and gave in, sighing. "Fine, yes, we shall find her after! Now, go! And get me the Director!"

Accepting her small mission given to her by Loki, she ran from the cell room and headed off to find Director Fury. She took a detour, stopping in the lab and she found a floating monitor, pressing her fingers against the screen in thin air and messing around with it until she got a picture of what was happening.

The screen showed a picture of the airship in elaborate detail. The right jet was glowing red and Eleanor's stomach dropped. The ship was going to go down unless someone repaired it. Dots moved about in the ship, symbolizing everyone running around frantically.

Eleanor bit her lip and looked for Director Fury, finally spotting him. He was at the other end of the ship, in the control room. She closed the picture of the ship and the monitor disappeared before her eyes. She sped out of the control room and down the hallways, trying to remember where to go. But it was no use, she was going to end up lost.

There was another crash beneath her feet and then – a roar. A roar? Had Loki brought animals on the ship? Had he created some kind of monster? She stood still, convinced that Loki's creature wouldn't hurt her simply because Loki wouldn't hurt her – right?

The roars became louder and the ground was shaking more now. Turning the corner of the hallway was a large green monster, running towards her, ready to attack. She backed away as it tore pipes from the walls and she began to run, but hit a dead end.

She cowered up by the wall and closed her eyes as the monster raised a fist and prepared to knock her out, but there was a clanging noise and upon opening her eyes, Thor was standing there, his hammer drawn and the monster on the ground. Thor grabbed Eleanor's wrist and pulled her away.

"What is that?" she asked.

He retaliated. "How did you get out of your cell?"

"We have to get out of here!"

"Are you okay?"

"Thor!"

"Where is Loki?"

"Where's Director Fury?"

They stared at each other for a moment and Eleanor shook her head, shrugging. Thor could sense that it was a lie. Eleanor looked over her shoulder at the beast on the ground that had begun to stir again.

"He's that way," lied Eleanor, pointing off in a random direction. "I saw him."

Thor nodded and she heard the roars of the monster again. It was coming towards her and when it stepped before her with its left leg, the ground cracked and began to break. Eleanor screamed and fell to the ground below, along with the huge beast. She held her head, extremely faint and dizzy, but stood up and continued to move.

"What are you doing?" shouted a voice and Eleanor turned to see Natasha staring at her. Her guns were drawn, pointed at the best. The younger girl ran over to the red head and hid behind her, close to unconsciousness. She definitely wasn't used to running from monsters and falling almost to her death. She wanted to be locked back up in her cell where nothing could get her.

"What is that thing?" cried Eleanor over the loud roars and groans on the injured beast.

"It's Bruce," Natasha replied gruffly and Eleanor's eyes widened. "His heart rates get up and this happens." She shot at Bruce's chest a few times until Eleanor knocked the gun from her hand. Natasha elbowed Eleanor in the ribs and she fell to the ground.

"Stop!" she shouted. "If it's Bruce, stop shooting!"

"There's no other way!" Natasha yelled, picking her gun up again. "He'll kill someone! He's not himself, Eleanor!"

Eleanor sat up as she watched the bullets bounce off Bruce's chest.

"Go!" yelled the agent and Eleanor followed her orders, clambering up a staircase and finding herself by the entrance of the control room. Natasha followed behind her and Eleanor heard the firing of her guns close behind. Eleanor was running out of breath and she was breathing heavily, trying to keep steady on her feet. "Over here!"

Eleanor felt her arm get tugged by Natasha and she was pulled into a small space to her immediate left. Eleanor held her hand to her mouth, trying not to make a sound, but her breath was quite audible in the silence. Natasha was beside her, breathing just as heavily and she poked her head around the corner. "Is he gone?"

There was a roar and Natasha backed into Eleanor. The two girls held their breath and shook with fear. The agent aimed her gun as Bruce ran past, still huge and green. He destroyed everything in his way and when his footsteps were faint and far away, the two sighed.

"Where's Director Fury?" asked Eleanor quietly, still afraid Bruce was going to come out of nowhere and attack.

"Why?" Natasha cocked an eyebrow. "He's probably in the control room."

"What happened?"

"Engine three is blown and I think another engine is down," explained Natasha. "This ship is going down unless Stark and Cap can fix the ship."

"Do you think they'll fix it in time?"

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "Go somewhere safe for the time being."

Eleanor nodded, but had no intention of returning somewhere safe. Loki wanted Director Fury for whatever reason. But she wasn't getting Fury to follow Loki's orders. Even though the god had rescued her like promised, this was her time to redeem herself for lying. Director Fury would accept her into the S.H.I.E.L.D. family if she helped him find Loki.

She went the opposite way of Natasha and stopped before double doors as they opened automatically. She gasped. There was absolute chaos in the control room and it was loud – really loud.

Eleanor's pace was unhealthy. She stood up straight and walked past the frightened and panicked pilots, to the window, where she could see the jet and broken wing. Two people were out there at the moment; Steve was standing by a wall, but she couldn't quite see what he was doing. Another man in bright red armor was pushing the jet, trying to get it to start. Was that really Tony Stark? She watched in amazement as the robot type thing flew in the air.

The pilots in the room were flipping all kinds of switches and barking at each other orders. She looked around again; no one seemed to notice she was there. Not a single person had laid eyes upon her. Their eyes were all glued to their monitors. Finally, she spotted the man clad in black, yelling the loudest out of all of them.

"Director Fury!" screamed Eleanor and he turned around with a wide eye, snarling at her.

"How did you get out of your cell?" he asked angrily. "What happened to you?" He eyed up the small cuts on her face from the debris hitting her as she fell earlier.

"No time – Loki – you must follow me!"

Director Fury stared at her, obviously conflicted. "I need you to do something for me, Eleanor," he stated. "Can you handle that?"

She nodded bravely, sticking her chin up.

"Go get Loki and stall him. Keep him wherever he is. I'll be there in a few minutes – I have to deal with this first. Do whatever it takes – well, almost whatever –"

"I can do that," she agreed and Director Fury placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I promise he'll be there when you arrive. Maria, we need full evac on the lower hanger.!"

"I'm going!" shouted a woman. She stopped dead and pulled her gun out. Just as she screamed, something exploded and there were yells. "Grenade!"

Smoke filled the air and Director Fury pushed Eleanor to the ground and crouched over her. Metal sliced her cheek and she cried out, covering her head with her hands, attempting to protect herself. Director Fury shoved her behind a desk and she peeked overtop, seeing where the gunshots were aimed. Unknown soldiers were trying to get through the door.

"Director Fury!" Eleanor shouted.

"What is it?" he yelled back.

"I'm going!"

"Eleanor!" He reached for her sleeve, but missed. "Get back here!"

Ducking through the chaos and gunfire, Eleanor pushed her way through to the doors, a bullet just barely missing her.

Finally, she found him. He was standing in front of the open door to his cell, his hands behind his back and his posture straight. Thor was in the room and she wondered how he found him when she tried to steer him off in the wrong direction. Behind Loki was another one of his brainwashed members. Loki spotted Eleanor out of the corner of his eye and his insides bubbled. She wasn't supposed to come back – she wasn't supposed to see the evil man he truly was.

"Loki!" she shouted and Thor ran at him, falling through him. Loki grinned as Thor fell right through him, into the cell. Loki stepped back and watched as the cell door closed, locking Thor inside of it. "Loki, please –"

Loki ignored her as if she wasn't even there. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" sneered Loki as his brother attempted to break the glass with his hammer. The cell shifted and Eleanor started towards Thor, but stopped herself. Loki laughed. "The humans think us immortal. Shall we test that?"

Grinning, Loki opened up a glass box surrounding a small red button on the control panel. His fingers lingered above it and Eleanor locked eyes with Thor.

There was a cry behind Eleanor and she turned around. Her eyes widened as Agent Phil Coulson stood behind her with a giant gun. He motioned for Eleanor to stand behind him, but she refused to move. Standing in between Loki and Coulson, she was the only thing stopping the agent from shooting. Loki reached out and shoved her out of the way and into the wall.

"Move away, please," said Agent Coulson and Eleanor grinned. The brainwashed member of Loki's army was unconscious on the floor. Coulson stepped forward slowly, raising the gun. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He loaded the gun and it lit up. "Wanna find out?"

Eleanor's eyes moved from Coulson to Loki, but Loki was disappearing. She heard a moan and when she looked back at the agent, there was a spear through his torso. She clapped a hand to her mouth, tears filling her eyes and she sat on the ground, hurling on the floor. Thor banged against the wall over and over again. Loki removed his spear from Coulson's body and smirked.

Loki was slowly moving towards the control panel again and he stopped by Eleanor, who was wiping the vomit from her mouth. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to her feet, letting go when she regained her balance.

Without hesitating, Loki pressed the button and the floor around the cell creaked. The floor opened underneath the glass cell. Eleanor felt wind pulling her towards the exit, thousands of feet above ground, but instead, she watched as the cell – with Thor in it – dropped and began to fall.

Eleanor licked her lips, sweating. She latched onto Loki's arm. "What are you doing?" she cried and Loki pushed her away. "Loki, what have you done?"

"Get off me!" he cried and his voice echoed throughout the room.

"You – you killed him, Loki…" whimpered Eleanor.

There was a groan and Eleanor was shoved aside once again as the barely stirring Coulson fired the gun and it sent Loki flying back through the wall. Loki laid still on the ground for a few moments and Eleanor ran over to Coulson as Director Fury appeared in the doorway.

"So that's what it does," Coulson said softly.

Director Fury knelt down beside his agent and looked at Eleanor. Her bottom lip was quivering and her eyebrow was cut badly. "Talk to me," she whispered. "Keep your eyes open, Agent Coulson."

"I'm clocked out here," Coulson panted.

"I'm so sorry," breathed Eleanor, biting her lip. "This is my fault."

Loki stood up and brushed himself off, watching Eleanor comfort the dying man. "It's okay. It's not," the agent assured them both. "The plan wouldn't work if they didn't have something to avenge."

Agent Coulson's eyes closed and his chest was still. Blood oozed from the wound in his torso and Eleanor couldn't do it anymore. She stood up and backed away from the man, tears streaming down her cheeks. She covered her mouth and dropped to her knees, vomiting through the open floor and into the empty sky.

"You did well, Miss Bennett," Director Fury said, looking at her. "I think I may have doubted you –"

Arms wrapped around her waist, she vomited again, someone called her name – Director Fury – and everything went dark.

"Mother… mother… mother?"

Loki watched Eleanor wriggled on the bed. With a bit of magic, the cuts on her face were healed to the best of his ability. Too much magic on a weak mortal would hurt her even more. He walked around the room, looking at pictures of Eleanor and going through her things.

Eleanor heard a drawer open and shut. "Mother, is that you?"

"No."

Her eyes shot open. It was night. Loki was standing at the foot of her bed. Her bed. She sat up and looked around. She was in her room. She was tucked underneath her sheets from home. Pictures of her and her friends were posted on the wall along with her posters and some pictures of her and her mom were in frames, on top of the dresser and bedside table. Her closet doors were open, revealing the many fancy items of dress she owned. How the hell did Loki know where she lived? "Loki?"

"Hm?"

"Are you looking through my stuff?" she asked him harshly and he chuckled.

"I was curious."

"You don't do that!"

"I do what I want, my love."

She blinked a few times. Everything was coming back to her. Coulson. Fury. Bruce. What happened to her mother? What happened to everyone else on the ship – Eleanor felt like she was paralyzed. She pictured the ship exploding in midair. She pictured dead, burning bodies falling through the air and falling down onto the ground. She pictured the blackened and mangled body of her mother.

She jumped out of bed and turned to Loki, her eyes burning with anger. For the first time ever, Loki was scared of her. She looked so unlike herself. His eyes widened as she started towards him, tears in her eyes. He backed up against the wall and she slapped his face hard. He rubbed his cheek.

"You bastard!" she shouted, slapping him again. He grunted as the force of her hit made his head spin. "You did this! You killed her! You killed them all!"

"Eleanor – Eleanor, stop – I did no such thing!" Loki caught her wrists, making her tremble with rage. "I did not kill your mother –"

"You did! I know you did!"

"I did not kill her!" he yelled in her face. Eleanor quieted and slowly, Loki released her wrists. She brought them back down to her sides and sobbed. "Eleanor, I really did not kill anyone except that wretched agent. The ship did not explode. I promise you, the ship is still up and running and your mother and everyone else aboard that ship is alive."

She shook her head. "You're lying!"

"I am not," he replied gently. "Not this time."

"This isn't you, Loki. Stop this madness, now."

He shook his head and grinned. "I am afraid that is not an option."

"You're a monster!" she screamed, trying to slap his face again, but he held tightly onto her wrists, nearly bruising them. "You're an absolute monster! You killed your brother! You killed Coulson! You killed all those people!"

"But I got you out, did I not? I fulfilled my promise of helping you escape."

"That means nothing to me anymore!" sobbed Eleanor. "My mother… my friends… they were right about you! You manipulated me! Oh – I should have listened to them! They were all right! I was stupid – I thought you had changed!"

Loki threw his head back and laughed. Eleanor backed away from him. "You thought I had changed? Oh, that's good, truly! You have known me for a few short days and you actually believed you had changed me? A human – a mortal – have such an affect on me?"

"I – I –"

"Perhaps you would like to know," Loki sighed. "The ship did not explode. Stark fixed the engine before they lost too much altitude."

Relief flood Eleanor's body and she felt like falling to her knees and breaking down into happy tears. "Take me back to the ship!"

"I'm sorry?" said Loki, sounding rather surprised. "I thought you wanted to come home. Now that I have taken you home, it is not good enough for you? It is not what you wanted?"

"I thought I'd be back home with my mother," retorted Eleanor. "I don't want to be here with you! You told me she's safe so let me see her again! I never got to say goodbye!"

"And risk having you locked up in that cell again for who knows how long?" snapped Loki, shaking his head. "Is that really what you want, Eleanor?"

"I don't care where they put me as long as I can see her!"

"Nothing is good enough for you," Loki continued, inching closer to her. She ran into the dresser and swallowed loudly. She jumped as Loki held his hand up. She thought he was going to hit her, but he didn't. "You tell me you do not want to be on that ship anymore with Stark and all of your saviors. You welcome me into your quarters and kiss me. I bring you home – I do something nice for you – something you wanted – and you do not want it anymore. Tell me, Eleanor, what is it that you want?"

Eleanor stared at him. Was he playing games with her? She was much more aware of his manipulative nature now. She tried to pay attention to the words he said and the way he said them. Why didn't he just brainwash her? "I told you what I want," she replied quietly. "I want to be with my mother, no matter where I am! I won't stay here with you!"

It was truly terrifying to see Loki so angry while dressed in his battle armor. The horns on his helmet seemed so sharp and they could easily kill her if he stabbed her with them like some kind of bull. And his staff was glowing, ready to shoot some kind of magic – or he could just kill her like he killed Agent Coulson. "That is not possible," hissed Loki. "Do you want to know why I have decided not to control your mind as I have controlled the other agents?"

"Why?"

"Because," he paused and stroked her cheek. "You are weak. Easily persuaded. You cannot fight me because you have nothing to fight with. I can kill you whenever I want and it would be the easiest thing I have ever done."

"I – I don't understand –"

Loki grabbed her neck and she held her breath. "As long as you are weak and defenseless and worthless, then you will stay with me, do you understand? I intend to make you the queen of this useless realm – does that not sound appealing to you?"

"Earth can't be ruled," she replied harshly, grabbing his hand and prying his fingers from around her throat. "Just give up."

Loki smirked. "I am afraid that is not an option, either."