Faye couldn't possibly have been responsible for the attack on Asgard. Hermione refused to believe that Faye had had anything to do with the attack. Then again, Faye's reaction told all. There was no denying that Faye had been part of the attack. Now, when it came to Nolan, that was a bit easier to believe. The guy had seemed nice when the two first met, but that had changed pretty quickly. Now, the two were in the dungeons of Asgard, in the same kind of cells that Loki had been in when Hermione had first arrived.

Hermione was pacing back and forth in her room. She had been doing so basically since she had stepped through the door. Loki was sat in her room, watching her. He sighed and leaned forward in his seat. "Hermione, darling. Please, stop pacing." He grabbed her hand gently, making her freeze and turn to him. Her whole body was tense. When their eyes met, she relaxed. Loki looked at her with sympathy.

"Sorry," she sighed, taking a seat next to him. "I just don't know what to think about this." Hermione's eyes were to the ground, sadness within them. Loki gently took her chin between his fingers and turned her face towards him.

"Hermione, look at me, please." Hermione obeyed, her brown eyes moving to gaze into his green pupils. "I know you are having a hard time processing this. I do not blame you for reacting in this way, but you must know that what they have done is their own fault. They did this, knowing what would happen if they were caught. They are criminals, and clearly, the girl you believed to be your friend, is not your friend." Hermione nodded, her eyes once again leaving his. Loki sighed and wrapped his arm around Hermione before gently pressing a kiss atop her head. "I do not like seeing you like this, darling. Please, tell me what I can do to make you feel better." Hermione just shook her head. She wasn't sure there was anything he COULD do to make her feel better.

"I just need time, Loki. I need time to think and process this new information."

Loki nodded his head in understanding, knowing that Hermione would be fine later on. "Alright, darling. Take as much time as you need. I'm here for you when you need me." Loki stood up and stopped in front of Hermione. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up before gently pressing his lips to her forehead. "I will be in the next room if you need me." Loki walked out of the room, silently closing the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone in the room.

...

It was a little while later that Hermione decided to go down to the dungeons and talk to Faye. She needed to know why Faye had done what she had done. Hermione had trusted Faye and now, that had changed.

The guards were hesitant to let her pass, but Hermione managed to get into the dungeons to speak with her once friend.

Faye was sat alone in one of the many cells in the room. Nolan was a few cells down from Faye, probably Odin's idea to keep the two away from each other. Her back was turned to Hermione, yet she still sensed Hermione's presence. "The guards let you pass?" She asked, not turning around.

"They were hesitant, but yes," Hermione replied. She crossed her arms over her chest, biting her lip gently as she looked at the girl's back. "I want to know why, Faye. Why did you and Nolan let those creatures into Asgard?" Hermione wasn't hesitant with her questions. She knew that she wanted answers and that was exactly what she was going to get. "Faye, don't ignore me. Answer me," she said harshly after Faye hadn't spoken.

Faye sighed and stood up, turning to face the witch. "My name isn't Faye, Ms. Granger. And Nolan isn't actually Nolan."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. "Who are you really?" She asked, taking a step closer to the cell.

"My real name is Zeya. Nolan is actually Nikolai. Faye and Nolan are real people... well, they were. We killed the real Faye and Nolan and took their identities in order to get into the castle. We went through so much just to get here." Faye shook her head. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. We were never supposed to get caught."

Hermione bit her lip. "How long have you been planning this? The attack, I mean."

"We had been planning this since before your arrival," Faye replied. "If that's what you're worried about. It was just bad timing." Hermione nodded, slightly relieved that they hadn't started planning as soon as Hermione got there. She didn't want to think that the attack was because of her, and now she knew that it wasn't.

"Why did you do it?" Hermione asked. "What was the point of it all? And why did you lie to me?" Hermione had a feeling Faye was getting tired of all of the questions, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to know, and she wanted to understand why Faye had done this.

"Nolan," Faye stopped. "Nikolai and I were both taken from Midgard at a young age. We were both raised by the Dark Elves. He was the only one who ever understood me." Faye sighed. "He showed me kindness. He cared about me." Faye began walking around the cell as she spoke. "We started out as just friends, but as we got older and got closer to each other, things changed between us. We ended up falling for each other and that kicked off everything."

Hermione listened intently. Memories of all of Nolan's advances flooded into her head. "You're boyfriend kept advancing on me earlier on. Did you know that?" Hermione asked. Faye looked at her calmly.

"Of course I knew. It was part of the plan. When you came along and made things more complicated than they already were, we needed a distraction. We needed some way to keep you from finding out about our plan. I asked him to advance on you. He was hesitant at first and didn't want to do it, but I convinced him. I know it was wrong of me, but I panicked and immediately went to Nikolai. I didn't even think when I asked him to advance on you as a distraction."

Hermione tilted her head to the side. "You asked Nolan to harass me?" She asked. Faye just nodded, a sigh escaping her lips. "That is all kinds of messed up, Faye. Or Zeya. God, I don't even know what to bloody call you." Hermione groaned in frustration.

"Faye is fine," she replied. "I'm really sorry, Hermione. I wasn't thinking at the time. I want you to know that my intention was never to hurt you. In any way. I-I just wasn't thinking at the time."

Hermione put her hand up to stop the girl. "Faye, please. It's alright. I understand. Just, tell me why you let the Dark Elves into Asgard." Hermione didn't care about why Nolan had harassed her, she just wanted to know why Faye had let in the Dark Elves.

"They were my family. They were Nolan's, too. We were just trying to help our family get the aether back. Malekith wanted it and we felt responsible for getting it back. I mean, we weren't the ones who lost it in the first place, but we still felt like we needed to contribute. We were just trying to help our family. You understand that, don't you?" Faye asked. Her voice cracked at the end and she looked at Hermione with sadness.

Hermione tried not to sympathize with the girl, but she couldn't. "I understand, Faye. I do, really, but you killed Queen Frigga. Loki suffered immensely because of your actions."

"Loki deserved it," Faye said.

Hermione was taken aback. "What? What do you mean by that?" She asked. Anger swelled within her.

"There's a reason for everything," Faye replied simply.

"And what reason would that be?" Hermione asked, her hands clenching into fists at her side. She took deep breaths, trying to control her anger. She was aware of the things Loki had done in the past, but even Faye knew that Loki had changed. Faye couldn't possibly believe that Loki deserved to suffer in the way that he had. He had been through too much, Hermione knew that.

"I have my own reasons for why I think Loki deserved to suffer. You don't know him as well as you would like to, Ms. Granger. He wasn't always the sweet little boy that you turned him into. He used to be cruel, and all because he was 'royalty' and he could get away with whatever he wanted." Faye crossed her ams over her chest. "My friends and I were tormented by him, treated like garbage because we were nothing but servants to the royal family. Nolan and I may have had a plan when we got here, but that doesn't mean we weren't allowed to make friends and care about people. For a long time, Loki got away with so many things, all because he had a royal title. After the truth about Loki was revealed, he only became more cruel. True, Asgard didn't have to deal with him for awhile, but when he returned, my friends were frightened. He had lost his title, but he was still a cruel and manipulative man."

Hermione shook her head. "Faye," she said with a sigh. "I understand that Loki wasn't always a good person, and I'm sorry that Loki treated you and your friends the way he did, but those times have passed. He's not the same man that he used to be, and I know that you know that. You may feel like he deserved that pain, but after everything that he has been through, hurting him in the way you have was not the right thing to do."

Faye scoffed. "I don't care whether or not it was 'the right thing to do.' In my mind, he still deserved it. You can't make me change my mind, nor can you make me feel bad about what has happened. We didn't get what we wanted, but we got as close as we can. It's up to Thor and Loki now if they want to take the next step. Malekith wants the aether back and one way or another, he will get it."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. All this time, she had believed that Faye was her friend, a good person who would never want to harm anyone. This wasn't the Faye she knew. That Faye had died a long time ago, killed by this girl that was standing in front of her. Hermione wanted to cry, mainly out of anger. She had been betrayed, lied to by someone she thought she could trust. She knew now that she would have to be even more careful with who she trusted, lest she just keep getting hurt.

Without another word, Hermione left the dungeons, tears threatening to fall. No, she would not cry. She refused to let anyone see her this way. That's when she ran into someone. "I'm so sorry," Hermione said as she looked to see who she had just ran into. Jane was standing there, a look of concern on her face. "Hermione, are you alright?" Jane asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything is fine," Hermione replied. "I just have something in my eye."

Jane sighed. "Honey, those are called tears. I'm a woman, remember? You can talk to me." She gently grabbed Hermione's arm and sat down with her on a pair of chairs in the hallway. "I can tell that something is bothering you. Please, talk to me." Hermione knew that she could trust Jane, yet she couldn't find the right words to tell her about what Faye had said to her. Jane sighed before speaking once more. "I'm not going to force you to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm here for you if you want to talk to someone about it."

Jane began to stand from the chair, but Hermione stopped her. "No, wait! I'm sorry, Jane. I'll tell you what happened." Jane sat back down in the chair, a gentle smile on her face. Hermione proceeded to tell her what Faye had said and it took everything in Hermione to not cry. Jane assured her that it was fine for Hermione to cry, but Hermione held off, wanting to appear stronger than she was.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," Jane said, gently placing her hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Even I know that Loki is a changed man. I may not exactly trust him, but even I don't think he deserved to go through what he did. This Faye girl clearly has it wrong. She will be punished for her crimes, we both know that. You have nothing to worry about." Hermione nodded, knowing that Jane was right. Faye would get punished for her crimes, though Hermione didn't wish to inflict any kind of pain on the girl. She would never want that for anyone, no matter how cruel they were or how much they deserved it.

"Hey," Jane said, standing up. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. So is your friend, wherever she's run off to." Hermione had almost forgotten that Luna was here.

"Thank you," Hermione said with a slight nod of her head. Hermione watched Jane walk away before sighing. She slowly stood up and walked back to her room. Loki was standing by the door when she returned.

"Some things never change, do they, wandering child?" Loki smirked at her.

"Oh, great. Back to that nickname, are we?" Hermione asked as she opened the door to her room. Loki followed behind her, closing the door behind him and walking over to one of the chairs and taking a seat. Hermione sat down on her bed with a sigh, to which Loki asked her if everything was alright. "Yeah, I'm still processing everything that's happened," Hermione replied, dragging her hand through her hair. Loki stood up from his seat and walked over to Hermione's bed. He kneeled in front of her, taking her chin gently in his fingers. Their eyes met, and Hermione easily got lost in them.

"You should rest," he said quietly, leaning in to press a light kiss on Hermione's forehead. Hermione nodded, knowing he was right. "I need to go converse with Thor and Odin, but I will return to check up on you later." Loki straightened up and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Hermione laid down on her bed and attempted to fall asleep.

...

Thor and Odin were conversing quietly when Loki approached them. "Have you located the building in which the attack was planned?" Loki asked.

"We believe so," Thor replied, turning to the god. "It matches the description the woman gave us perfectly." He turned to his father. "What is our plan? You do have a plan, don't you?" Thor asked Odin.

"Though the culprits have been caught, I do believe there is more. Search the building. There may be things in there that could be of use to us. After you have searched, burn the building to the ground," Odin spoke with a slight nod of his head. He turned to Thor. "Bring the warriors three and Sif with you. If I recall correctly, you told me about how good Sif is with fire."

A cheeky grin appeared on Thor's face, to which Loki rolled his eyes. "Go collect your warriors, Thor. I will join you all soon."

"You should stay here, Loki. Ms. Granger may need protection," Odin said.

"Is that implying that she needs to be protected from something?" Loki asked, his jaw clenched tightly. "You have done enough damage already, Odin, and if you plan on hurting Hermione in any way, I will make your life hell."

"That's enough, Loki," Thor said, placing a hand on Loki's shoulder and squeezing it slightly. "Hermione will be fine, won't she, father?" Thor turned to Odin, who simply nodded.

"You have nothing to worry about from me, Loki. No harm will come to Ms. Granger. I simply think it will be more comforting for her if you are here instead of going on crazy adventures," Odin replied.

Loki crossed his arms. "Frigga died in that attack. Going to that building and helping out is how I will pay my respects." Loki turned to Thor. "I will meet you and your friends back here in twenty minutes."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the room without another word.