"We should prepare ourselves," Loki remarked, taking a deep breath. I nodded against his chest.
"Aye; we should," I agreed. Loki sighed, patting my ribs.
"Come." We broke apart and I followed him from the balcony down to the ground level and into the small room where we'd stored out gear. Sif was there already, running a whetstone down the blades of her double-ended sword-staff thing. She inclined her head seriously as Loki and I entered and I nodded to her, moving across to my gun belts. There, on the table before me, was my earpiece. Loki and Sif both received earpieces themselves; courtesy of Tony Stark. I started buckling my gun and ammo belts about my person; two around my hips with one gun each and multiple clips hung from them; two over my shoulders, one gun each, lined with clips; two guns in my boots, clips wound on leather straps around my thighs.

With a sigh, I settled the belts around my body and activated my earpiece. "Carter: Online," I announced plainly, pulling on my clawed gloves with a sense of reassurance.
"Hey, Kid. Welcome to the Thunderdome!"
"Trust you to open with a sassy remark, Stark," I snorted, rolling my eyes.
"Loki: Online."
"Sif: Online," Sif echoed uncertainly. I glanced over at the other two, fully equipped and ready for war, and a wisp of song ran through my mind.
'Drink with me to days gone by. Can it be you fear to die?' I shook my head as a voice sounded in my ear.
"Just in time; we're making our charge now."

"Which one's that?" Sif asked.
"Captain America," I told her.
"We should go and collect the others in our groups," Loki sighed, making his last dagger vanish. I nodded, leading the others out of the room to the small side door at the back of the palace where the other ready sneaks were waiting. Phillips approached me immediately, looking me over with a regretful, caring smile.
"You've always looked so much smaller covered in guns," he remarked, running one of my twin braids through his fingers.
"Only because you're used to seeing them on hulking man-mountains like yourself," I retorted playfully, grinning and shoving at his chest with my palm. "Where's Eric?"

"He's on a balcony with a sniper rifle and barrels of bullets," Phillips informed me.
"He's not coming with us? He's one of my most trusted companions," I hummed in puzzlement, half addressing Phillips and half addressing Loki.
"He is not one of mine," Loki rumbled. "As I understand it; he is not your partner, either. This one refused to let you go without him." Phillips and Loki stared at each other, and while I was not entirely certain what passed between them, I am reasonably sure that it contained a mutual respect for the other's fighting prowess and desire to watch over me. I rolled my eyes again, shaking my head.
"Sif, do you ever have problems with the men wanting to look after you in battle?" I asked, looking at the warrior woman as she organised her troops.

Sif glanced over to me before lifting her eyes to the ceiling pensively. "Yes; I suppose the Three do tend to watch my back more than each other's… but they know better than to let it take over or get in my way."
"Huh. Wonder why."
"Natural instincts?" Sif suggested with a shrug. I smiled slightly, inclining my head.
"Perhaps," I agreed.
"Are we all ready?" Loki inquired sternly, his eyes scanning over everyone in the room. We all separated into our groups; mine being led by Loki and the other by Sif. "Good." Loki waved his hand and the door opened silently. We all filed out, keeping low to the ground, and with a nod to Sif, Loki took us out into the streets of Asgard, Sif and her group going in the opposite direction.

The fighting was loud; there was screaming, and creatures roaring, and explosions, gunfire, metal clashing. It reminded me of the battle in Miami, only so much more. "Like as not; if they have means of communication, the main command will be at the edge of the realm, far from the fighting," Loki commented as we made our way through the streets, occasionally picking off stragglers. "However, the second level of command directly responsible for the positioning of troops will be closer to the battlefield. The question is whether it will be more effective to take out the overall command, or the closer command."
"Who's to say they won't have back-ups for the closer command should something happen to them?" Sif's voice replied over the comms. "We should go for the real leaders."
"I had thought so," Loki agreed. "But I think we could cause some real damage to the enemies faster if we took out their middle men."

"Why don't we do both?" I asked. "Go for the middle men first, then head on out to the top dogs?"
"What happens if the middle men alert the 'top dogs', as you put it?" Loki challenged.
"Like as not, they'll think we're just trying to cut things off there. So, we leave people to cause trouble for the middle men, and take our elite off to finish the real powers that be." Loki glanced at me from the corner of his eye, stabbing what I think was a Nornheim-whatsit in the face as it approached him from a side street.
"Her theory is not invalid, Loki," Sif remarked.
"Thank you, Sif," I said, smiling.
"Sometimes I think you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for," Phillips commented from his place at my right. I frowned at him.

"That's only because people confuse not caring with not knowing," I grumbled, annoyed.
"I have always thought Miss Carter's high level of intelligence rather self-evident," Loki drawled, turning down another street. I brightened again.
"Thank you, Loki."
"Turning here," he announced, gesturing for our group to take a street that led in the direction of the battlefield. "We will attack the second level of command, then split our groups and continue to the main command, as Miss Carter suggested."
"Understood," Sif replied. "Turning here." We all turned off our earpieces once communication ceased. As we approached the battlefield, the sounds of fighting grew louder, punctuated with the deep booming that signified the impact of a large projectile. As we crept swiftly along a street running parallel to the battlefield, I caught glimpses between the buildings. The once pristine grounds had already been churned to blood-blackened dirt and debris.

I spotted Tony and Sam both flying overhead, shooting at the enemy, and there was a flash of lightning not far from where we were which was a clear indicator of Thor's presence. "Should we ask those already active in battle if they know where the command is?" I asked Loki. Loki pressed his earpiece.
"Can anyone see where the orders are coming from?" he asked quickly. There was a slight echo in my own piece.
"What, can't you use some sort of freaky magic trick to find out?" Tony huffed.
"I could use one to crash your suit," Loki retorted aggressively. "You are not so important to my plans that I am unwilling to sacrifice you, Stark."
Tony snorted. "If you did that, Ellie would kick your ass. Wouldn't you, Kid?"
"I doubt that I could if I wanted to, without taking him by surprise," I responded. "But I would certainly be very choked up if he killed you. Not like I'd cry or anything, but still."

"Gee, thanks, Sweetheart. You made my day," Tony drawled.
"Seriously, though; where should we be heading?" I asked sternly.
"There's some sort of set up to the north of the palace," Sam cut in. "Looks like the orders are coming out from there, judging from the little scouting people around it. There are a few ships that seem to be serving as their army tents."
"Ta, Falcon. That's helpful," I acknowledged.
"Any time, Sweetie."
"Sif, did you get that?" Loki demanded.
"Yes; heading north," Sif confirmed.
"Good," Loki stated before pressing his earpiece. I did the same, sighing.

"Well, this is going to be fun," I muttered sarcastically. We skittered along the edge of the battlefield as projectiles flew, dirt was scattered and blood was shed. I had all of my focus on keeping up with the group, avoiding obstacles and reaching the metallic ships I could see before us that I couldn't tell you precisely what happened. I can tell you that it was loud, muddy and I received injuries that I don't even remember getting. We made it to the ships and broke inside. Both Loki and Phillips entered in front of me, and I stuck close to my partner, protecting his back.
"Stay behind us, Carter. You're our cover," Loki informed me as we rushed into the hallways, picking off the soldiers that confronted us there.
"Not my first fight, Loki. You don't have to walk me through this," I growled impatiently, shooting an unfamiliar creature coming up on Phillips's left while he took out the one on his right. Loki glanced at me quickly before turning his focus on our surroundings again.

The next few moments consisted of Loki barking out orders over the comms to our group whilst I tried to keep an eye on him whilst having Phillips's back and protecting myself while the strange alien creatures flooded the hallways, screeching in their own tongues and attacking us with Chitauri spear-things, laser guns like blasters out of Star Wars and all sorts of bladed weapons and heat rays and I'm not even sure what else. We fought our way to the control panel at the centre of the ship and Loki tossed a little metal ball to me. "Jane Foster created these. She called it a 'Pinch'. It is supposed to disarm electronics whilst leaving organic bodies and mechanics untouched. Press the button, destroy the controls, and leave. I'm going to the engines. Anali, Haror, with me." Two of Loki's underlings broke off from the fighting and followed Loki down another corridor deeper into the ship.
"If I set this off, our comms will go dark," I pointed out, weighing the bomb in my hand as Phillips kept the surrounding aliens at bay for me.

"Miss Foster told me that our comms will restart soon afterwards; something about a collaboration with Stark," Loki told me.
"We have separated, Loki. If I set this off, and you need help, you won't be able to…"
"Arm the pinch, Carter!" Loki snapped. I pressed the button on the ball and wedged it into a gap between consoles.
"Armed and placed; let's get out of here," I said, shooting an approaching alien and stalking past Phillips who fell into step with me easily as we fought our way out with the rest of our group. We exited the ship just as a blast that shimmered like heatwaves pulses out from the ship. I winced as my earpiece crackled and buzzed, pulling it from my ear as those around me had similar reactions. Any Chitauri within range of the pinch collapsed and I smirked at the unexpected effect the charge had on their cyborg bodies. That smirk quickly faded as I looked around in an attempt to locate Loki in the still struggling soldiers around me.

Sif appeared at my side with her group not far behind her. "Where is Loki?" she demanded, stabbing a Jotun in the belly before cutting its throat. I shook my head, shooting a couple of… I'm not sure; but I think they were fire demons… as they clambered over the rubble I was sheltering beside.
"I have no idea; he went to the engines with two other Asgardians before I set the pinch off, and I haven't seen him since." I shoved my earpiece back in my ear, waiting for the electronics to start up again. There was an explosion not far off and I blinked in astonishment as everything within its radius started to crumble in on itself before vanishing in a flash of light. "That is not Stark technology," I muttered to myself.
"Carter, focus!" a sharp voice commanded as something shoved me to my knees and an icy blast went over the top of me.

"Oh, there you are," I sighed as Loki tossed a dagger at the Frost Giant that had attacked me. "Did you know the pinch would take out the Chitauri?" I wondered as we pushed ourselves to our feet again and I shot another alien coming up behind him. Loki shook his head, looking around vigilantly and Phillips stood at my back, reloading his handguns.
"No, that was a fortunate by-product of our attack; but they are not dead, merely unconscious." There was a crackling in my ear and I smiled as the comms went back online.
"…deer Games? Kid? Can any of you hear me?"
"We can now, Tony. The pinch wiped our comms; they only just rebooted," I replied to the voice.
"You okay, Ellie?" Steve asked, breathing heavily.

"I'm fine, Cap. You just keep yourself alive; let me worry about my own hide." I pressed the button to disconnect my earpiece and looked back at Loki, Sif standing just behind him readily. "What now, Loki?" I asked.
"Sif; you and your group remain here and take care of the middle men. You take my squad, too. I don't want to risk too many of us being seen going for the upper command. Carter, Phillips; you'll come with me." Phillips and I nodded and Sif began relaying the plans to the others before diving back into the fray. "Are you ready to continue?" Loki asked.
"We are," Phillips confirmed as I nodded determinedly. We launched ourselves back into the fighting in order to get away from the battlefield. As we went, I was only half paying attention to the transmissions going through the comms until a panicked voice caught my attention.
"Cap's been hit! I'm going to get him."
"Careful, Falcon," Tony warned. "Watch your wings… On your left; left!"

"Mayday, mayday! I'm going down! I'm going…" The transmission cut off in static and I stopped in my tracks, turning to try and locate Sam, pressing my earpiece.
"Sam?" I asked anxiously.
"He's gone, Kid," Tony stated grimly and I gaped in shock at the violent abruptness of it all.
"Steve," I choked, shaking Phillips's hand off my arm as he tried to pull me along.
"Thor's got him; he'll be fine. Shoulder wound; I think," Tony grunted.
"Tis but a flesh wound," Thor panted. "The Captain will be fine."
"Carter; we have to go!" Phillips growled, seizing me by the shoulders and roughly pushing me in the right direction. I blinked, shaking my head to clear it, and shot at a couple of creatures attacking Loki ahead of us. We slipped into the surrounding streets again and I moved on autopilot, attacking anything that moved that was not Phillips or Loki. If I hurt any soldiers on our side, I couldn't tell you. I have no idea. As we got closer to the rainbow bridge, the concentration of enemies got stronger.

"Patrols," Loki growled. "We must be getting close. Stay down, Carter. Take this." I was handed a device that was alien in appearance, with a texture that made my skin crawl at its unfamiliarity. "When the time comes, you infiltrate the ship, destroy it, and you come back to us. Do not sacrifice yourself for any reason; you are far too important, Carter. Earth's Mightiest Heroes would be lost without their little mascot."
"Is that some roundabout, stoic way of begging me to stay alive for you, Princeling?" I cooed teasingly, smirking. Phillips chuckled as Loki glowered at me until a purple flicker off to my right drew my attention. I turned my head with a curious frown and yelped as a trio of alien archers took aim at me with arrows lit by purple fire.
"Take cover!" Loki snarled. Phillips dived behind a wall and Loki shoved me carelessly to the ground, raising his arm over his head in a sweeping motion. A screen of green light formed before him as a bowstring snapped. I looked up at Loki, my vision of him obscured by his swaying cape as the light before him rippled, and stared as the dark green material swung down to reveal a black arrow shaft embedded in Loki's lower-right abdomen.

I gaped in absolute astonishment as two more arrows flew, the purple light flashing through Loki's shield and hitting him in quick succession; upper-right, upper-left abdomen. Loki lowered his arm, the green light vanishing instantly, and I surged to my feet, lifting my guns and firing rapidly at the archers, emptying my mags into them viciously. I turned away from the bloody masses to find Loki standing frozen with his hands pressed against his belly between the arrows. "Loki?" I spoke shakily. Loki lifted his bright blue eyes to me, swallowing tensely. "Please tell me you're faking." Loki's lips twitched in a weak smile as he shook his head slowly.
"Not this time, Mouse," he murmured huskily. I darted forward as he fell awkwardly to his knees with a grimace, sliding behind him and letting him lean back against me with his head on my shoulder, tugging his body over to shelter behind the wall with Phillips. Phillips himself crouched over us with his weapons at the ready.
"You fool!" I hissed at Loki. "They were aiming at me! You should have let them get me! You're a better fighter than I am!" Loki shook his head quickly, staring up at me.
"No. No, Mouse. Not you. It couldn't be you." I shook my head in confusion.
"What are you talking about? Of course it could be me. It should have been me."
"You shouldn't even be here," Loki argued, panting and trembling. "The Captain was right; I led you into peril… I couldn't… live with myself if something happened to you, my only friend… My Little Mouse." I clicked my tongue impatiently.

"Sappy nonsense; you're supposed to be an infamous strategist, Loki!" I pressed on my earpiece. "Hello! Can anybody hear me? Help!"
"Ellie! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tony demanded sharply.
"Not me; it's Loki. There were these archers, and he protected me, and… Tony, help!" I pleaded as Loki hissed in pain, squirming.
"Hang on, Kid. We'll be right there. Come on, Big Man. Your favourite ragdoll needs our help." The transmission ended and I disconnected my earpiece, turning all my attention on Loki, smoothing his hair back soothingly and kissing his forehead.
"You're an idiot, Loki. I am seriously beginning to question your reputation as an evil genius."
"You think me… evil?" Loki slurred in between breaths.
"You know I don't. Certainly not after this display of weakness; sacrificing yourself for a mere pawn? Hardly the stroke of a master chess player. Your soft heart betrays you, Princeling."

"And yet yours is hard as steel and cold as ice," Loki hissed in retort with a strained grin. "You are… softer than I am, Mouse. Your bleeding heart had you imprisoned." I heard a familiar whooshing sound and looked up as Tony hovered over us, pounding footsteps approaching as Hulk drew nearer. "Mouse." I looked down at Loki as he grabbed my arm, squeezing painfully and staring at me intently. "We must abandon the mission. You cannot go. We need you… More than you know."

"Alright, Rock of Ages. Let's get you to the infirmary. Hulk; grab him."
"Gently," I insisted as Hulk moved to follow Tony's instructions. "Gently, Hulk. Be careful." Hulk snorted, carefully lifting Loki with both hands and tucking him into his arm as Loki cried out softly at the aggravation to his wounds. I stood and Loki grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't risk your life, Mouse. Come back with us." I shook my head, slipping out of Loki's grasp.
"I can't, Princeling. We have a mission. I can't give up now. Go," I told Hulk, looking up at him. "Go now; get him to safety."
"Kid, you…"
"I have a quest to go on, Stark. You know how I feel about quests," I said, half-playful and half-serious. Tony sighed, shaking his head.
"Be careful, Ellie. I don't want to lose you."

"There are always casualties in war; but I have no intention of becoming one. Come on, Phillips. We've got a kingdom to save." I turned and rushed away quickly with Phillips's footsteps behind me, ignoring Loki's protests as Hulk carried him in the opposite direction. We crept quickly towards the massive ships that swarmed around the end of the rainbow bridge. Phillips and I halted and I scowled. "There is nowhere to hide on the bridge, and we have no way of causing a distraction."
"Yes we have," Phillips disagreed, pulling a high-tech looking bomb from his belt. "We can time these explosions; draw their attention away from our crossing." I smiled up at my partner fondly.
"I love you."
"I know. Here; take these. Set them for two minutes. Meet me back here."
"Yes, Sir," I acknowledged, taking the offered bombs and slipping away in amongst the buildings. "I hope these folks took all their valuables with them," I sighed as I scattered the explosives before going back to the bridge. Phillips joined me moments later and we waited until the fiery blasts erupted.

"Go," Phillips encouraged, nudging me forwards, and we raced down the bridge as quickly as our modified legs could carry us.
"You know, I never could have done that before the operations," I panted as we caught our breath, sheltered by the dome directly beneath the largest ship; a black monstrosity of a strange design. "Now we climb?"
"Now we climb," Phillips confirmed. I turned and dug my claws into the golden dome, scrambling up the cracks like a rat and perching on the top, waiting as Phillips followed at a slightly slower pace. Phillips knelt and cupped his hands. I stepped into them and he threw me into the air where I sank my claws into the ship, digging in with the toes of my boots. I clambered up the side of the ship until I reached the sealed gap of the door and applied one of Stark's devices to open it. I hauled myself inside quickly and pulled a chord from my belt, securing it and dropping it to Phillips as guards approached me.

I huddled in amongst some pipes, shooting at them until Phillips joined me and we finished the aliens off. "Plant the bomb and let's get out of here," Phillips said briskly. I nodded and we loped off down the corridor.
"You know which way we've come? Because I am hopeless at directions…"
"Yes, Carter. I remember," Phillips sighed, longsuffering.
"Oooh; this looks important," I grinned, poking my head into a room full of blinking lights and technological monitor-things. I slunk inside and armed the bomb, carefully lodging it in between two monitors.

Thirty seconds.

There was a shout and I looked up to find a Chitauri standing over me with his gun aimed. There was a sharp bang as Phillips fired his weapon and chaos bloomed. I darted towards the door, firing, when suddenly there was a sharp crack and I paused, half turned to look back. There was a shove against my ribs and I fell through the door as something spluttered wetly. I sat up quickly, looking back inside at the smoky interior. "Phillips?" I called hesitantly, crawling inside the doorframe. I froze when I came upon the bodies just inside, skin bubbling and smoking with acid leaking from one of the technological monitor-things. "Phillips!" I whispered, staring at the pale hair and vacant, familiar eyes of the closest body, his lower-jaw, neck and shoulder already dissolving. Swallowing dryly, I closed the lovely eyes with a pained frown and stood, running back the way we had gone. Arriving at the open door, I jumped, landing on the dome and tumbling down the side to land in an awkward heap on the bridge as the ship above me exploded, the fire and shrapnel causing a chain of explosions and damages throughout the ships. The line fell in flames and smoke and debris as I huddled next to the dome, too shocked to move. I do not know how long I sat there, heart fluttering and limbs cramping, but ships started flying overhead, leaving Asgard, and the bright sky faded into twilight. Finally, I roused myself, ignoring my multiple injuries, and made my slow, lonely walk back to the palace.

Mission Accomplished.