12

In my original plan, I hadn't planned for this to be revealed so early, but I think it works better, so here is chapter 12 in Loki's POV (oh, and Lily POV later). Quite dialogue heavy, I'm afraid, but hopefully it'll clear a few things up. It's snowing here, and so I've had a day of no school, which is always nice, even if a little belated for a white Christmas! Hope you all had a great holiday, and that you are all revising hard for any exams you are taking (I should be revising. And again I'm writing fanfiction).

~Loki POV~

My head hurt. There was a dull ache throbbing across my temples that I usually associated with the morning after a night of copious drinking, and as I tried to raise a hand to my forehead I discovered that they were tied tightly at the elbows to a straight backed chair. I sighed inwardly, opening my eyes begrudgingly to see the faces of my captor swim into focus. Smiling, I straightened, attempting to recover at least some dignity while I used my newly-regained powers to sooth my head.

"You know, I've got a phone. I mean, very clever and all that. But you could just phone me. On my phone." I smirked – Lily would've been very proud of my quoting Sherlock (I quite liked that Moriarty character).

"When one is avoiding the attention of the so-called Avengers, one learns to be discreet." I blinked. Creatures from another realm and yet they were still up to date on Earth pop culture.

"I see you've done your research." I commented drily.

"In order to stage a covert invasion, blending in is imperative."

"You haven't done such a good job of that." My scoff earned me a sharp slap across the cheek – merely a warning now I was returned to my godlike state, but I understood it well enough. "I only mean to say that your body count is a little high for people attempting secrecy."

"There are always casualties of war."

"Oh, so this is war, is it?" My kidnapper leant forward suddenly, hissing violently. She was masquerading as an attractive woman of perhaps mid-twenties, but I could see a deadness in her eyes that told me it wasn't her true form.

"Of course it is." She pulled another chair up and sat straddling it facing me.

"And what am I in this 'war'?" Her eyes narrowed.

"An ally."

"And if I refuse?"

"That won't be an option." She smiled, and it was a strain to keep my face nonchalant.

"In that case, what am I to call you?" Her laugh was shrill and delighted – it would have made a lesser being wince.

"My name is Una, and I am the leader of our pack."

"I've never heard of you creatures hunting in packs before."

"Watch your tongue, Mischief, or I will have to cut it out. We are not like the others – they grew complacent, while we retained our recollection of our superiority." Una stood and stalked to the window, glaring out at the city. "We noticed your presence here, and hoped an allegiance could be made, as our aspirations are compatible."

"Perhaps the memo passed you by, but I'm supposed to be on my best behaviour now – world domination is off the cards for the next twenty years, I'm afraid, but I appreciate the thought." Una looked down at me, trailing her fingers down my cheek as she sat on my lap.

"Oh but I'm afraid you broke your parole, Mischief. The message you left on the wall of that alleyway...it really was very plain." Comprehension dawned on me as the woman whispered in my ear. "You were foolish to have trusted me, you said. I have joined your enemies, you said. I will rip you limb from limb, and when I have done that, my allies will bathe in your lifeblood, you said. A tad on the dramatic side, but you've certainly got style."

"You set me up." I growled and she laughed.

"Of course we did, Mischief, but are you really so incensed? After all, this is what you wanted, is it not? Freedom from those humans who gave themselves authority over you, freedom to instate yourself in your rightful position, freedom to take revenge on those who were foolish enough to trust you..." My jaw clenched. "Unless of course, something's changed?" Don't play coy, you bitch, get to the damned point, I know exactly what you're doing. "You do still want revenge, don't you?" Her face puckered into a perfect pout. "My dear Mischief, you don't care for any of them, do you? You know they are not worthy to clean your boots? Remember what they have done to you, what they forced you into..."

"They did not rob me of my powers, Odin did."

"No, but they aided him, and now you have regained your powers, Midgard is only the first step. We can use them to take Asgard, and become rulers across the realms!" Una smiled, and for a second I believed her, believed in what she was saying, before restraining myself.

"I have found out the hard way that some power is beyond anyone's reach, and to try to steal it is in vain."

"You are not the God you used to be, are you, Mischief? Why is that, I wonder? It's not because of one of them, is it? Not because of Lily?" She smirked as I glared at her.

"If any one of your kind harms her, or she gets damaged in any way because of you, I will end you." I snarled.

"My dear Mischief, then you will end us – she has already been harmed. Svetlana!" My eyes followed the tall redhead into the room suspiciously. There was a bandage wrapped around her shoulder, but it didn't appear to phase her. She noticed my gaze and gestured to it.

"Courtesy of Agent Lazarus. Quite a firecracker you've got there, Mischief. Of course, her blood stained the ground as well as mine." I strained against my bonds, but they held fast.

"I swear..."

"No need for that, she wasn't seriously harmed. Only a scratch or two." I focussed my magic on the ropes holding me and they began to smoulder, scorching my wrists but freeing me at the same time. I stood up, growing an extra foot or so as I melted into my deity form, and the two creatures looked at each other.

"I am going to kill you." I stated plainly.

"Lily is not only harmed because of us, Mischief." Una held her hands in front of her defensively. "Your betrayal has grieved her severely – she is injured to her very soul." I blinked, and in that split second Svetlana seized a small blade and ran it across my palm, splitting the skin open. She held the blade positioned across her own wrist, and I realised what was about to happen. "Don't make us do this, Loki." The redhead touched the blade to her skin without breaking it, at the same time forcing me to keep my palm open. "Now, how about we sit down and discuss this in a civil manner? I believe that diplomacy and negotiation are valued very highly on this planet." I glared at both of them, but shrank back to human-sized – it was either that or become enslaved; even I could not resist their compulsion.

"What is it you want me to do?" I asked as Una sent the clearly subordinate Svetlana away.

"Why, is that not obvious?" She smiled as she waved towards the two abandoned chairs, and we sat. "You know much about us, Mischief, and about how we act, and about what we need. Why do you think we waited until your magic had been returned to you to act?" Realisation filled my mind, and I definitively shook my head.

"I don't have that sort of power." My voice was firm.

"We both know that's not quite true, is it, Lies? Who is famed throughout the Nine Realms for his command of magic? Who can create an army of doppelgangers without blinking? Who fell from the Bifrost and survived?"

"I will have no part in making more of you despicable cretins."

"Oh, but you will. It would be so easy for Lily to have an accident, don't you think?"

"And why would you believe that I care?"

"Would you like me to test that? I can call Inga and Dagr, and have them kill her right now – they are quite simply mechanical in how they go about murder. Or perhaps Rakel – she is young and messy, Lily would not die quickly. Or my Sindri, whose torture methods were infamous as a human, and he has so much more at his disposal now. Well, Mischief? What will it be? Will you help our cause, and rise to your rightful position as a lord of this land? Or are you content to let your beloved die without a chance of redemption? Because I am telling you, Mischief, one word from me and she will be dead within a day, and you will be free to rejoin the Avengers...that is, if they let you through the door." She held my gaze for a long minute as I debated.

"As you wish." I said finally, tilting my head, and she frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean? I would enjoy killing Lily as much as I want you on my side – she spilt the blood of my second, and that is not something I take lightly. Give me your answer, Mischief, and no lies or trickery, because we both know what that will result in." I raised my eyes to the ceiling, sending a quick prayer to Heimdall, hoping that his gaze was focussed on Midgard, asking for him to tell Thor that whatever he may believe, my hands were tied, and I had no choice.

"I will need full and undisturbed access to your books, your files, your history, everything, if I am to help you." I spoke quickly, ignoring the part of my being that was rejoicing at the chance of controlling this race of mindless beasts, ignoring the part of my being that still called humans mindless beasts, and hoping that I could delay actually helping the Valkyris for as long as possible, because I knew that there was no way they'd let me live for very long afterwards.

~Lily POV~

I was sat outside the conference room in Stark Tower listening to the Avengers plotting against the Valkyris and Him. They were discussing a raid on the block of warehouses under the creatures' control to take place within the next few days. Bruce was staying quiet, clearly hoping that no one wanted him angry. Tony was being obnoxiously loud as always, constantly interrupting the forever tactical Steve, while Clint and Natasha cut in occasionally with ideas or advice. Thor was eating (which seemed to be all he had done since finding out about Him), and Fury was massaging his temples with the look of a weary schoolteacher. As Koli interrupted with yet another disparaging remark about how they weren't strong enough, I made my mind up. Moping would do me no good, and I was part of the team now. I stood up, wiping my hands across the seat of my trousers quickly before joining them around the table. The conversation instantly silenced – everyone was looking at me in much the same way as you might look at a primed bomb.

"I want in." I said clearly.

"Lily...are you sure?" Natasha asked gently.

"Of course I am. What's the plan?" Tony and Steve exchanged a glance, before the billionaire nodded at the super soldier to continue.

"Okay, we're not certain yet, because obviously we have to treat this situation carefully, but we were thinking we'd split into two group and enter the main warehouse-" Here he indicated a map of the area, pointing to a large rectangle that clearly was the Valkyris' main base. "-from both sides. It's unlikely we'll have the element of surprise on our side, but we will definitely be more prepared than they are. We take down as many as we can, but the moment things start to look a little hairy, we clear out of there, and return when they are least expecting it. The first group will be Thor and Stark, and the second will be myself, Clint, Natasha, and you, Lily. Bruce will be on standby; we'll call him in if we need to, but we're trying to keep this as low key as possible, we don't need the media on our backs, and the big guy is a little conspicuous." There were murmurs of approval from around the room and Steve looked really pleased with himself.

"So what happens if we retreat and they follow us?" I asked. Fury looked up.

"We'll deal with them. S.H.I.E.L.D still have some tricks up their sleeve asides from you band of freaks." Koli scoffed quietly, but he was ignored by everyone (apart from Hill, who seemed to be looking at him a lot more than she had before...hmmm...).

"Okay, so that's sorted then. When do we leave?" I was itching for a fight, and I think it showed.

"Well we can't just go waltzing straight in, sunshine, preparations have to be made, it'll be a couple of days before my new suit's ready anyway...you sure you're okay?" Tony actually stopped sipping his liquor as he questioned me and I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think, Stark?" My voice was cold, and clearly said that I did not want to be interrogated about my feelings, of all things. I wasn't even sure I had the capability of feeling anymore. "Natasha, will you give me some training? Just some sparring and such..." She nodded wordlessly and we left the room together.

Ten minutes later, we were in Tony's gym in training gear, and I was preparing myself for a beating.

"I'm not going to go too hard on you now, because we can't have you damaged going into the fight."

"Don't hold back, Tasha, I heal quick." I plugged my phone into the expensive speaker system and clicked onto a random album. As we began to fight, the lyrics of the song seeped into my mind...Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men, it is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!

I was angry, and I wouldn't let myself fall under his control again. This was a new start for me, and I was not going to let anything slow me down.

"OW, SHIT!" I cried, holding one hand out in surrender to Natasha as the other cupped my bloody nose. Well...okay, maybe some things might slow me down. Her fist, for example.

If you haven't seen Les Mis, you need to – the song is Do You Hear The People Sing? and I have major loves for it. Tried to end the chapter on a slightly more cheerful note, but please let me know what you think in a review; you will win a snow-woman, complete with three boobs (as is sung in the traditional Earth ballad 'Year 3000'). xx