Chapter 25-

"And how did you manage to do this?" Fayne asked, walking down to where Maura stood with her prisoners. He didn't imagine that she would have come back so soon, especially in this kind of company. In all honesty, he had much rather hoped that she would have stayed in Midgard to ensure the attacks went as planned, also being sure that the Avengers didn't get in their way.

She shrugged, a sly smirk creeping onto her face. She glanced towards the three in shackles and couldn't help but laugh internally. A change in plans were about to happen. Meeting Fayne toe to toe and snaking her arms around his neck, Maura explained, "I told them I'd be able to take them here to free Lina. An entire sob story brought them to their knees and they allowed me to help them with their plan of rescue. How else would I have been able to let them free me and get them here in shackles without a fight?"

Thor looked at Loki with cautious eyes. This wasn't what they discussed. He could sense the shift in power moving from the trio to the dark princess. What was she planning?

Loki shared the same expression with his brother, then turned to face Maura and Fayne once more. She was supposed to say that the Avengers had been defeated, leaving an open door for Fayne to attack Midgard. After that, Maura should have distracted him enough so Thor could break their shackles, they could get Lina, then return home.

"So what should we do with them?" Fayne asked her, wrapping his arms around Maura's waist. His smile grew wide and hungry as he allowed his eyes to roam over her figure.

Maura pondered for a while, then turned her head to look at her prisoners. "Tossing them in the dungeons should help…I do want some alone time with you," she purred, stroking his face with her right hand.

He smiled at her touch, but she noticed there was something different about his reaction. There was something holding him back—or the thought of someone. It clicked in her mind, and she knew the next few steps were crucial.

She pushed lightly away from him and walked towards Lina who was still backed against the wall, watching the scene play out.

"You're a liar and a cheat," Lina finally mustered. Her chest heaved heavier and heavier with every step Maura took towards her. Rage, anger, and frustration bubbled within her, wanting to get out.

Maura shook her head at her as she smiled. "You have no idea what I've done for you, have you?" Maura stopped walking, standing a few feet away from Lina.

"You've done nothing but cause me trouble since the day you attacked Asgard. Tell me, what was it like to finally be able to take over my life and be with Loki?"

Maura felt something catch in her throat. She could feel the energy radiating off of Lina like heat from an open fire. She had never seen Lina grow so angry. She couldn't let Lina see that what she had said affected her. "It was lovely. You have quite the nice life," she said with more perk than Lina anticipated. "It does get boring being good all of the time, though. The things I've learned about your fiancé, though…" She trailed off and looked over her shoulder to Loki.

He was fuming now as well. What Maura was insinuating was nothing of what had actually happened. Yes, Maura knew a secret about him that Lina didn't know, but she made it sound as if he had been unfaithful—as if Maura had finally won.

"…he's something else, I can tell you that," Maura finished, turning back to Lina.

Knowing what she had made the situation to be, Maura could now feel Fayne's eyes boring into the back of her head. "Yes, get angry," she thought to herself.

"So, are you saying that you—"

"Yes, I did," Maura interrupted, turning on her heel to face Fayne once more. "You wanted me to be convincing didn't you? Earn their trust?"

Fayne's face turned beet red as he walked over to Maura. "You—you—"

Maura watched as veins popped out of Fayne's forehead in anger. His fists clenched tightly and his breaths deepened. She stood her ground, her eyes never breaking contact with his. "Don't act as if your eyes didn't wander while I was gone. Do not act as if you intended to keep your promises to me as you said you would. You had other plans for me all along, didn't you?"

Lina wondered if it had simply been a ploy to get even, not with herself, but with Fayne. She could tell that Maura knew Fayne had wanted Lina now instead of her. It was a disgusting yet sad fact to behold. Maura was supposed to come home to this hero's welcome and be able to take her lover to new heights with their newfound power. Instead, she was coming back to find out that the prisoner that would bring them all that authority was the very one putting a wedge between herself and Fayne.

Even with that realization, Lina felt no pity for Maura.

She's lying.

Lina shot Loki the dirtiest look that she could create. At the moment, she was too angry to listen to him invade her thoughts.

Without warning, all Lina heard was a large cracking noise. It took her a second to process what had happened in such a short amount of time. All she saw was the end result: Fayne facing his back to Lina once more and Maura on the ground holding her face.

"Take her and the prisoners to the dungeons," he growled to one of his servants. Turning to Lina, he said, "I'll return soon." Fayne stormed out of the throne room without a word to anyone else. She could head his footsteps echoing down the corridor and doors slamming as he went on his way.

She then watched as Loki, Thor, and Zila were taken to the dungeons, Zila sending a longing look towards her friend. It was apologetic in a way, conveying a message that she knew they had failed in their attempt to rescue Lina. The servants then dragged Maura in the same direction.

Lina was now alone and all at once, she began to cry.

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As Zila, Thor, and Loki were guided into their dungeon, they watched as the servants laid Maura on the floor, then left and locked up the room behind them.

Maura groaned as she sat up, still holding the side of her face where Fayne had struck her. Zila could see the immediate bruising on her face, the shape of Fayne's hand outlined with the bruise.

"Why did you do it?" she asked in a whisper, kneeling near Maura and inspecting her face.

"What difference does it make?" Thor growled, walking towards the other side of the room and beginning to pace. "Because she interfered with our plans, we will be unable to save Lina!"

Loki sat quietly against the wall to the right of the door, shadows covering his face. He was trying to process everything that had just happened. There had to have been a reason Maura deviated from their plan. Was she turning their back on them?

No. He concluded that there was much more than her actions to that. She loved Fayne and now he was turning his back on her. She wanted to get even.

Out of nowhere, he heard a chuckle. It grew soon to be a giggle, then into a loud laugh. His eyes flitted up to see a broad smile on Maura's face, laughing like she had gone senseless.

Zila looked at the Sparrow sister that sat in front of her with wide eyes. She had no idea what had brought this on but suddenly she felt uncomfortable. She backed up on all fours until she hit the wall Loki was sitting at. Looking towards the prince with concern, she brought her knees up to her chin and watched the scene take place.

Thor's anger was getting the best of him. Maura's laugh was causing his mind to go insane. He grabbed Maura by her shirt and slammed her against the door they had just entered through, his nostrils flaring and his chest heaving hard. His eyes were even more icy than normal, piercing into Maura's brown ones.

The large smile was still plastered on her face, but the laughter had now ceased. "Upset that I'm not following the rules, Lightning Boy?"

With a loud yell, Thor dropped Maura to the floor and continued his pacing.

"What do you suppose we should do now?" Zila asked.

"Yes, what should we do?" Loki asked, his gaze fixed on Maura who was now dusting herself off.

After getting the last bit of her shirt straightened out, she looked towards Loki and said, "Now, we need to break out of here and sneak back into the throne room while Fayne is busy with his new pet."

It made Loki cringe to hear her talk in that way about Lina. He saw how she was dressed, the fruit next to the throne, and the chains attached to her wrists and neck. It was a painful scene to behold and it made it worse that after a while, it looked as if she didn't want him to have come and rescue her.

"And how do you suppose we do that? You did have us leave our weapons back in Midgard," Thor argued.

"Well…only you left yours…" Zila pointed out. "Loki and I don't really need—"

She immediately stopped talking when she saw the look of frustration on Thor's face.

"All you need to do is call your hammer and it'll come, but there's a time and place in which I need you to do it, and it's not now," Maura explained, starting to inspect the door and the walls of the dungeon cell they were in.

"What are you looking for?" Loki inquired.

Maura sighed as she finished inspecting the area. "I was right."

"You mind letting us in on what your new plan is? Need I remind you that I said no funny business before we left," Loki growled, his anger beginning to get the best of him. He was now on his feet, his hands balled up on his sides and his eyebrows furrowed.

Maura sighed as she turned to face the group. "Does anyone know what happens when people get angry and they have a lot of things to do? Things such as deal with prisoners and take over the world, for example?"

No one was in the mood for a guessing game, all of the hard looks from the trio not wavering in the slightest.

Maura released an exasperated sigh and continued, "They make mistakes."

Hello all! Hope you've been enjoying the story so far :)

RosiePosie15: Welcome back! And don't worry, I understand everyone gets busy. Main thing is that you came back and you're enjoying the story! :) S&Z's thing is something that may or may not unfold to be more. Depends on where I decide to take the story. Maura...hell I don't even know what she wants to be. I think she's going to be more good now, but I agree-I love to hate her ;) I enjoyed the long review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you all for your continued support and I can't wait to hear back from you all! Your reviews keep me inspired and help push me to keep this story going!

With Love,
sparrowlina