"Holy water cannot help you now

A thousand armies couldn't keep me out

I don't want your money

I don't want your crown

See I've come to burn your kingdom down."

~ 'Seven Devils' by Florence + The Machine

The next thing Anja knew, she was being ushered at a miraculously swift pace through the decks of the floating fortress she had found herself on. Thor trudged on beside her, eyeing everything with the utmost interest… or perhaps it was suspicion. In truth, Anja still found herself suspicious of the mortals that surrounded her. They seemed to claim to be a force for good, protecting the earth, but her instincts pricked that there was so much more that they were hiding.

"Lady Anja," Thor said quietly. "It will be alright. Be strong." She looked up at Loki's older brother as ha smiled down at her kindly. The smile did not reach his eyes, though, and her stress levels only rose. Agent Romanoff was ushering the two down one of the upper levels by now after they had taken several elevators and a rather interesting game of dodge through the weight rooms.

"Director Fury wants to speak to both of you," Romanoff said quietly so the two Aesir could hear her. Thor nodded, grunting his agreement about talking to the mortal known as Fury.

"Who is he?" Anja asked. Her curiosity got the better of her and she felt the strong need to know exactly what she was getting herself into. There was still time for her to disappear if she had to, if this place was not full of the good intentions Rogers had claimed it to be.

The super soldier had disappeared somewhere along the lower decks, heading to his quarters, Anja figured. She had wanted him to stay since he had been the only mortal to at least attempt to make amends for their fight in the woods. Stark had not been seen since they had left the quinjet.

"He's the head of this branch of SHIELD," Romanoff said quickly as she glanced up at Anja. "He wants to ensure you two are here for the right reasons." Anja looked at the stoic agent, silver eyes meeting the red-head's blue ones. Just looking at the woman, Anja knew that she had led the life of a warrior. The way she held her shoulders back and determined showed just how powerful she was despite her small size. In that moment, barring Anja's magical abilities, she knew that the agent would come very close to defeating her should they grow at odds.

"I find that fair enough," Anja said quietly.

The agent led the two through a set of sliding doors, and Anja was met with a huge room filled with desks and many, many workers all wearing SHIELD jumpsuits. She had not considered the considerable crew size that would be needed to pilot a contraption such as the one she found herself on. She was out of her element, completely, and she was surrounded by the beings that Loki had told her were less intelligent than animals. An animal could not pilot a craft such as this. That she knew.

Thor was glancing around the room, taking everything in as Anja had. His gaze came to fall on the large glass window that showed a night sky, several wisps of clouds shooting past as the craft travelled through the air.

"Son of Coul," Thor said as a small, genuine smile came to his face and he shook hands with one of the agents that had come up when the two had entered.

"Hi," the little man- Son of Coul?- said to Thor. "We were wondering when you'd be back. What, with all this other stuff going on." Then, to Romanoff, "Thanks, Natasha, I've got it from here." The red-headed woman nodded as she backed away from the two.

Thor nodded solemnly. "I can assure you, my brother shall face Asgardian justice when this is finished. It is not his place to impose upon Earth in such a terrible fashion."

Anja had watched the conversation with interest as she took in the newest member of SHIELD she had come across.

"Ah," Thor said as he remembered she was there. "And, Son of Coul, may I present Lady Anja of Vanaheim, Loki's betrothed."

Anja felt like kicking either herself or Thor when he said that last part, but she knew it would do no good to keep secrets. Those were what ruined families, let alone large organizations dedicated to saving their world.

The Son of Coul glanced up at her in a funny way, but nodded to her all the same. Anja smiled briefly.

"Attention on deck!"

Her head snapped around to hear yet another female voice calling the agents in the room to attention upon the entrance of a man with exceedingly dark skin, almost as dark as Heimdall's. An eye patch covered one of his eyes and a few scars protruded from under the dark patch. Anja, as a healer, could not help but wonder what had caused such a traumatic injury. No doubt it was a battle wound from his many years of service. The same feeling she had gotten with Agent Romanoff, who had stepped off to the side when the Son of Coul had come to speak with them, resurfaced as Anja took the Director in.

"At ease," Fury said with a wave of his hand.

"Director Fury," Coulson said by way of address to the ranking officer. "Thor and a companion are here to see you."

"Thank you, Coulson," Fury said in a deep, resonating voice. "We'll take it from here." As Coulson retreated, Fury turned to Thor. "We've heard a lot about you around here, Sir. Your disturbance out in New Mexico caused quite a rile up in my department of SHIELD."

Thor crossed his arms as Anja realized that that must have been where Odin had banished Thor all those months ago. That seemed like a dark past to her now, something so far away and filled with painful memories.

"I assure you, I come to remedy that, as does Lady Anja." Thor spoke in a monotonous tone, keeping eye contact with Fury.

"Glad to hear that," Fury said after a moment. "Lady Anja, I assume you are on the same page as Thor?" He turned his single eyed gaze to her, and Anja suddenly felt like she was under the all-knowing stare of the All-father.

"Aye," she said quietly.

Thor looked at her for a brief moment, a sad smile on his face, but he did not mention to Fury about her reasons behind helping.

"But I do it for his son, not for you," Anja said after a brief pause. At that, Fury's head snapped around to look at her.

"Lady Anja is- er- was my brother's betrothed in Asgard," Thor said in an attempt to smooth over what had just happened. "But she has pledged her allegiance to protecting earth as long as the cause is just and true. She is a talented sorceress whose skills rival my brother's." If Anja had not felt so awful and distracted, she would have blushed at the compliment. As it was, she did not wish to have to go against her lover. She would give all of her powers to have her Loki back, not the monster that had been in the airplane with her.

Fury tapped his hand on the table that the group had made it to, eye cast down as he thought through what he had said. "Thank you for telling me," he said after a moment.

"Director Fury?" Romanoff's voice was reaching the group now.

"Yes?"

"We have him contained if you are ready for the interrogation."

"Thank you, Agent. Thor, Anja, if you will stay here with the others until I return." It was not a request, but an order. The two nodded and Anja went to take a seat as Thor began to pace.

A few minutes later, a man with skin slightly darker than Anja's and hair just as dark came through the doors, purple shirt sleeves rolled up as if he had been in the middle of something. Rogers came in as well, glancing at Anja before he sat down across from her. Thor kept pacing, back and forth, back and forth… Anja felt dizzy just looking at him.

"Heard the god was being interrogated," the dark skinned man that had come in said quietly. His voice was calm and collected.

"Yeah," Rogers said. "They got him in containment down below, deck 3 I think."

The dark-skinned man gave a wry smile. "Who are our new friends?"

"Thor and Anja from Asgard," Rogers said quickly. "They're here to aid us with Loki. Anja, Thor, this is Dr. Banner. He's helping us locate the Tesseract."

There was that word again. Anja did not remember much about the Tesseract that Loki had been working on, but she had little doubt that it was not the same thing. The power she had felt emanating from it was incomparable. There was no way there were two of its kind.

"Nice to meet you," Banner said with another smirk.

"And you, Friend Banner," Thor said before he resumed pacing.

"Guys, Fury's in," Romanoff said quietly as a screen before Anja's place at the table opened up to reveal a large, glass looking… fish bowl? Cage? Gas chamber? She was unsure, but she knew that Loki was currently sealed within it. Oh, that would do little to no good against him… Could these mortals not see that? But she kept her mouth shut as she watched Fury enter the room, completely unaware of the danger he was putting himself in.

Thor had stopped pacing by now, and Anja did what she could to keep still and watch the screen, praying to the Norns that Loki would not kill anymore, at least not tonight.

*o*O*o*

Fury had walked into the room mere seconds after Loki had been placed in the hulk's cage. He slipped into his best interrogation tone.

"In case it's in anyway unclear," he said as he strode up to the control panel situated in front of the cage. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…" With a fluid motion, Fury's thumb pressed down on a button that would open the door to the outside. Wind screamed and tore at Fury's clothing as the high altitude air came rushing in. Fury could feel the pressure change considerably, but he made no sign of the popping in his ears to the god. "Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"

With another press of a button, Fury had closed the doors… But instead of the look of fear he was going for, Loki merely gave a laugh, a chilling, unnerving laugh. This guy really was insane.

"It's an impressive cage," he said as he made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "But not built, I think, for me."

"It's built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury retaliated to the arrogant comment.

"Oh I've heard," Loki said quietly, a smile still dancing about his pale eyes. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Fury could feel his anger rising.

"Ooh," Loki said, a knowing look in his eyes. "It burns you to have come so close." When the Director did not respond, he kept talking. "To have the Tesseract, to have power- unlimited power, and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" He looked directly into the camera, how he knew where it was was a mystery to Fury. "And then to be reminded what real power is." His gaze returned to Fury.

"Real power that has a kid at home? Real power that kills for kicks?" Fury said with a final jab. He smiled when he saw Loki's reaction. He did not miss the complete look of surprise that flashed through the god's eyes for a millisecond before he had resumed his normal arrogance. Fury let out a subtle snort. "Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

*o*O*o*

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner said quietly after the screen in front of him shut down.

Anja sat in her chair, dumbfounded. "That is not him," she said quietly. "I… I've not seen him like that. Ever. Thor?"

"Lady Anja, my brother is beyond our help. I told you that." Thor's eyes were filled with sadness.

"And these mortals think that containment will hold him?!" she said, her voice shrill.

"Yes," Romanoff said. " 'Us mortals' know this will contain him." Anja pursed her lips, resigned for the moment.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Rogers said after a moment of thought. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," Thor said quietly. Anja's head pooped up at that. So that was the name that Loki had tried to keep from her. She had read about them briefly in her studies at the Academy… and she knew enough to know they were untrustworthy barbarians that had no sense of morality. They were murderers. "They're not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army?" Rogers said, disbelief etched in every syllable. "From outer space?" Anja's eyes met the captain's as he took in what Thor had said. She looked away quickly. "I wanna know why Loki let us take him," Rogers said after a moment. "He's not leading any army trapped in that cell."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner's calm voice radiated throughout the room. "The guy's brain is a bag of cats. You can smell crazy rolling off of him."

"Fury said he had a kid," Rogers said after a moment. There was a tad of disgust written on his face. "That poor, poor woman…" Anja chewed on her lower lip, eyes cast down. Rogers did not know and nor did Banner…

"That poor, poor kid is more like it," Banner replied.

Anja sucked in a breath at that, but it was Thor that spoke up first. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." Thor looked at Anja for a brief moment, noticing the tear that had formed in her right eye.

"He killed eighty people in two days," Romanoff said in a flat tone, her deep voice penetrating Anja's thoughts.

Thor started at that before shrinking back a bit. "He's adopted," he said weakly.

Romanoff reached to her ear piece, listening to a message that was being relayed to her. "Hey, uh, Anja?"

Anja looked up at the mortal woman as she rose. "I've been instructed to find you some better wear."

Anja furrowed her brow before she looked down and realized that she was still in Loki's tattered silk dress. A fresh set of clothes would be nice…

She nodded at the red-head. "Very well."

Where did everybody go? Haha I miss all my reviewers! Sorry this wasn't up sooner, but I had a busy week. Next chapter will bring some Loja back, but there may also be some Aneve… or staja… I don't even know. Since so many people want to see them have a little fling I might just do it. But, believe me, this won't be your typical love triangle. ;)

Leave me a note?

~Sirius