We were taken via private jet to a secret passageway. Apparently to use the Bifrost to get back to us, Thor and the others had to fight their way through the city. No wonder they looked horrible. Anyway, we were sucked through the secret passage into an enormous camp. Waiting where we came out was Heimdall and I squeaked happily and threw my arms around his waist. "Hi, Heimdall!"
"It is good to see you again, Lady Ellie," Heimdall replied, taking my behaviour all in his stride. I let him go and stepped back, taking in the surroundings. The rebellion had many people in it; and they were clearly poorly equipped. The clothes were dirty, armour ragged, and bodies malnourished.
"This is our rebellion army?" I hummed, looking around before looking back up to Thor. "And what do the king's forces look like?" Thor's grim expression was answer enough and I exchanged a concerned glance with Steve, the soldier. "We're in trouble."

"Only if we go up against the king's army," Thor countered, attracting all of our attentions. "That is not our plan."
"We have a plan?" Tony wondered. He was wearing his Iron Man suit.
"Yes. We're going to sneak into the palace and kill the king."
"We're going to sneak in?" Bruce echoed dubiously. Thor nodded. He led us all through the camp with Heimdall at his side and his four warrior companions directly behind him. We were ushered into a tent at the far back of the camp where magical balls of light floated at shoulder-level… Thor's shoulder-level, which is closer to my eye-level.

"Alright, Thor. What's our strategy?" Steve asked, crossing his arms across his chest sternly. I sat down cross-legged on the empty floor by Steve's feet, looking up at Thor like a pre-schooler at story time.
"Sif, the Warriors Three and myself will lead a daring attack on the palace. Whilst we have the citadel guards distracted, the rest of you will infiltrate the palace by means of various secret entrances."
"How are we supposed to find the entrances?" Tony demanded. Thor took a roll of parchment that Sif handed him and unrolled the scroll on the table in the center of the tent.

"I have chosen a path for each of you to follow and marked them accordingly. The Man of Iron and the Black Widow will use the protrusions of the architecture to mask their flight, and then they will enter via a concealed trapdoor in the side of the top spire. The Patriotic One and the two Bird Men will take this pass here, up the side of the cliffs, and make the jump to this balcony. There is a door that you may break through." Thor traced the paths with his fingertip, looking at those of us in question. "Lastly, Lady Ellie, the Soldier of Winter, and the Doctor will take this path underneath the palace and come up through a secret panel into the treasure room. When you are all inside, you must split up and search the castle. Once you have located the false king, you will use your tracking devices to summon the rest and you all shall remove the deceiver."

The rest of the meeting went through the rooms in the palace, and what we should all do. When night fell, Thor rallied his little army, and the siege began. Bruce, Bucky and I went through the side streets to circle around the golden castle and find the hidden tunnel into the palace. While we crept through the long, dark, dank passage, we were told of the successful arrivals of both the other teams. The only light we had came from my little pocket torch, which is why when the tunnel suddenly ended, I was unable to save myself from walking into the wall with a small bump. I sighed as Bucky lifted his arms and felt about the ceiling for the opening panel. There was a small grating sound like stone on stone and we all held our breath as Bucky carefully pushed on the roof, lifting a square up and sliding it sideways out of the way. Before we could say anything about who would go first, Bucky jumped, pulled himself out of the hole, and turned back, peering down at me over his mask and holding out his metal hand. I grasped it on both of mine and he cautiously raised me out of the tunnel, setting me beside himself and offering his hands to Bruce.

I looked around at the strange alien artifacts in the enormous treasure chamber we found ourselves in with mild interest. When Bruce had been helped out of the tunnel and the panel had been slid back into place, we all stalked forward carefully and made our way up the massive staircase, Bruce and Bucky pushed open one of the titanic doors and I looked out hesitantly before slipping through the gap. The two men followed me out and we traipse off along the corridor, alert for any signs of trouble. We reached a turnoff that had been shown to us on one of Thor's maps, and the three of us looked at each other. I smiled wistfully, shrugging. "This is my stop," I murmured. The new branch led directly to the inner chambers of the castle, and my talent for stealth meant that I would be the one to try and make my way through those halls and attempt to locate the false king.

"I don't like this," Bucky grumbled, shaking his head and staring at me with concerned eyes surrounded by black war paint. I smirked, rolling my eyes.
"This is war, Buck. You aren't supposed to like it… Bye, boys." I sent a quick smile between Bucky and Bruce, turned on my heel and loped away down the dim hallway, without leaving any more room for discussion. I slipped through the hallways quietly, keeping my eyes peeled for anyone who looked even remotely regal. As I got closer to the grand hall, I heard shouting from inside. Pausing, I peeked out at the doors from behind a wall and watched as they were flung open and guards marched out with an angry voice following them.

"Destroy that idiot and his pathetic army or I will destroy you! And be sure to check the palace for intruders!" I ducked back and crouched down low underneath a table as a few soldiers marched swiftly past me. I held perfectly still until they had passed out of sight and looked back the way that they had come. There was no further movement, so I slunk from my hiding place and took shelter behind the now open door, listening. It was clear that I had located the false king, now it was a matter of trying to get him as undefended as possible, which meant drawing out any guards that he may have left.

"Bruce," I whispered into my earpiece.
"Ellie, is something wrong?" Bruce responded.
"I've found the pretender. He's in the throne room, but there are guards in here. I need you to release Hulk and draw them out for me. Please," I added.
"Alright. Don't forget to contact the others," Bruce told me. A deep rumbling started up through my earpiece before it gave way to static. Somewhere to my right, a loud bang sounded and a slight tremor shook the floor.

"What is that?"
"I don't know, Sire."
"Well, go and find out! If the palace has been breached, I want these trespassers eliminated! Go, all of you, now!" A stream of guards flowed from the throne room and I pushed myself as far into the hinges of the mighty door as I could to avoid detection. The heavy footsteps faded away down the corridor, and I stepped out of my hiding place, ready to contact the others, only to come face-to-face with another person.

"Ellie?" I froze, staring wide-eyed at the tall man with Odin's sceptre absentmindedly held out towards me like a spear in loose hands as startled blue-green eyes examined me intently.
"Loki," I whispered. He shifted his position so that the sceptre was held at his side, point resting against the floor. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts in the wake of this tremendous shock. I stepped towards Loki slowly and he watched me closely. "Loki, you… You Cur!" I screeched, kicking his arm so the sceptre flew from his grasp. "You scoundrel! You absolute CAD!" I threw everything I had into my attack on Loki; punching and kicking him viciously. Loki managed to block and dodge some of my strikes, but he was still getting a good taste of my fury in the hits that he took.

"Easy! Easy, Ellie! Calm yourself!" Loki protested through my barrage. Suddenly, he gripped my hand, stepped into me, and hooked my legs from behind, sending me falling to the floor with him on top of me, hands pinning my wrists to the floor on his knees. I struggled fiercely, snarling. "Ellie, cease!" Loki grumbled. I stopped, looking into his face angrily. I abruptly brought my knee up to connect between his legs violently and Loki's eyes widened as his breath rushed out of him. His grip on my wrists tightened and he lowered his head so his forehead was resting in the hollow between my lower ribs. I panted from exertion, still trapped under Loki as he drew deep breaths that hissed between his clenched teeth. Finally, he inhaled deeply and lifted his face to look me directly in the eyes. "Well, you're still as spirited as ever," he remarked wryly.

"I thought you were dead," I growled. As I said it, relief swept through me and I breathed in sharply. Loki, noticing the change in my demeanour, sat back, pulling me up with him before releasing my wrists. I looked him over intensely, taking in his black hair, longer and less slick than it had been before, his pale skin and slender figure dressed in black leather and gold plates, highlighted by green accents. "I thought you were dead!" I squeaked. Loki clicked his tongue sympathetically and lifted his hands. I stepped towards him and he gently pulled me to him. I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed tightly, tucking my face against his chest as he rested his chin on my head. "I thought you were dead," I repeated in a whisper, shaking with emotion. "I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry," Loki murmured, stroking my hair softly, folding his arm around my waist. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ellie. It was a necessary deception, my dear. Thor rejected his claim to the throne, and I knew the only way I could get the people of Asgard to follow me was to take Odin's form and place. You could not have known, and any clear interest I showed in you would have only given rise to suspicion. I fabricated my demise for the good of Asgard, Ellie. I am so deeply sorry to have caused you pain, dear, sweet little mouse." My earpiece buzzed and I sighed, pressing the button.
"Ellie? Is that you?" Steve asked anxiously. "You haven't checked in."
"I'm sorry, Steve. I'm with the false king." Loki stiffened at my words, pulling back slightly to look down at my face.

"Do you need help? I can be right there," Steve told me earnestly, in spite of the fact that I could clearly hear the sounds of fighting through the earpiece.
"No. No, I don't. It's Loki, Steve. He's alive," I squeaked again, pulling Loki closer again and pressing my face into his chest.
"Loki?! Are you serious?" Steve demanded.
"Yes," I replied. "Hang on; I'll get him to call of the attack dogs." I looked up at Loki and he sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again.
"It is done."
"Thanks, Loki," I acknowledged. "Steve, get the others and meet us in the throne room. Get Thor first; he has to know."

"Alright, Ellie. But you be careful. Loki cannot be trusted. I mean, he pretended he was dead!"
"I know; and I kneed him in the crotch for it." There was silence on Steve's end of the line while Loki's breath rumbled in his chest, expressing his displeasure with my advertisement of that fact. I patted him on the chest dismissively, making note of the fact that I was still cradled in his arms.
"I'm going to get Thor," Steve responded after a while before disconnecting his earpiece.

"Wait," I said, pulling away from Loki so I could get a good look at him. He blinked, taken aback by my sudden distance. "If you took on Odin's aspect, what happened to Odin himself?" Loki thinned his lips coolly as his fine brows drew together, giving him a sinister appearance.
"Odin was a fool," Loki hissed, curling his lip in distaste. "He was no longer fit to rule Asgard."
"Loki, what have you done?" I whispered, covering my mouth with my hands as I stared at Loki, stepping back nervously.
"I killed him."