Hello, everyone! I am proud to say that I am back from my very, very long hiatus. I finally have a computer again, and am able to start posting again! I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still very much in love with this story and Eli. I've had this chapter halfway done for nearly two years, and have had a lot of time to think on where I will go with her story; and how she and other OC's will affect the MCU as we know it. Thank you again for being so patient with me, and Happy Readings!

Warnings: References to Violence and Adult Language

Chapter 23

Eli watched Sigyn carefully as the blonde woman led her to one of her common haunts. It was a quaint place. One that could only be found by someone who knew the area intimately. Like the unknown pubs of London or the back alley bistros of France. Like all things Asgardian, it seemed to lined with a fine layer of gold dust. As though the very stone was crafted with it. It was tucked away in a little nook of a busy street. The place reminded Eli of a poetry club mixed with fine dining.

Sigyn had a bright smile on her face. She had wanted to celebrate Eli's release from the dungeon. Odin was starting her small, only being allowed a few hours of the day, until he was certain she wasn't a threat. It was a small improvement, despite that this was the first time that Eli had actually been away from Loki since she was first sent to the dungeon. She could feel him in the back of her mind. Which comforted her in a strange way. She would have never thought that constantly having someone poking about her head would be comforting.

Eli smiled at Sigyn as they sat down in a more secluded area of the little pub. Eli assumed that it was because of the stares that they had both been receiving. They were both Loki's girls after all; and one of them was an Earthling. Eli noticed that she hadn't seen anyone who wasn't humanoid. To Eli it was a curious thing, but she pushed those curiosities to the side as she took in Sigyn's smiling face. Eli felt her stomach knot unpleasantly. She let Sigyn order for the both of them. This is going to be hard, Eli thought to herself; ignoring Loki who was making snide comments in the back of her mind.

He had been talking her out of telling Sigyn about their relationship since she had brought it up. Well, he had been trying to at the very least. Eli was proving to be quite stubborn. The blue eyed woman smiled softly at a thought that Loki pushed into her head. It was sweet, and probably what he interpreted as one of her dreams in life. Being his wife and having a family with him. Eli almost visibly scowled when Loki showed her another image. Something that she actually feared. She forced the image back at him and quickly plastered a smile onto her face.

"I like this place. I have a friend on Earth who used to take me to places like this. I think the two of you would get along very well." Eli said at a distant memory.

"Do you miss Midgard?" Sigyn asked, her voice sounding sweet and innocent. Eli thought for a moment.

"I miss certain things. Like waking up in the morning and checking to see what everyone is up to. I miss being a thorn in Tony's side, and seeing Pepper's face when she thinks that he and I are a little too similar. I miss having video chats with Hank. Hank was actually my mentor when I decided that I wanted to study biology. He's a good man. I miss hearing Jarvis's voice breaking through on my computer. What I really miss is not being able to drop in on people at a moments notice." Eli thought of Mystique. She wondered if her friend was coping, adjusting to her life as a human, or if she was floundering in it. Eli must have had a pitifully sad look on her face, because Sigyn took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I'm sure that the All Father will find a way to take you back home; and you'll be with your family again." Sigyn was gentle and good. The kind of person that is nice to others for the sake of being nice, because she was genuinely concerned with others. Eli could imagine Loki as a child, always trying to gain his father's approval, but somehow never being able to stand in the light because of Odin's favor of Thor. She pictured him withdrawing into himself, until his mother began teaching him magic; and then this adorable, blonde girl with big green eyes meets him. Eli knew that even as a child Sigyn must have been sincere. Sincere about how much she liked Loki, and she knew how easy it was to fall in love with someone who believes in you unconditionally.

"Sigyn, there's something that I need to tell you, and I'm really torn up about the whole thing…" Eli started. The words caught at her throat. She took a calming breath. "It's about what happened between me and Loki." Sigyn's brow furrowed, but she didn't say anything. Her eyes didn't have an ounce of suspicion. "I do have feelings for him," Eli whispered. "Even after all that he's done; I love him."

Sigyn was quiet for a moment. She was looking at her hands. "It's pretty easy to love him. Despite everything, I know I will love him to the very end of my days, because I see the part of him that wants to be good." She was smiling softly, and Eli felt her heart squeeze. Why did Sigyn have to be such a good fucking person! Eli thought to herself. If she had been some bitchy intern type then Eli would have no problem putting the broad in her place, but no, Loki just had to be fucking engaged to what was possibly the nicest person in the whole damn universe.

"Sigyn, you don't understand. I love him." Eli tried to find the right words, but the brunette knew that it would have to be a clean break. "I've been slee-"

"Stop…" Sigyn said abruptly. "The dungeon alarms… Something is happening."

"What?" Eli asking in confusion, and then she heard the distant buzz of sirens. Eli tried to connect to Loki, who was no longer concentrated on her thoughts.

"Come, I'll take you somewhere safe." Sigyn stood and pulled Eli with her.

"Wait! My watch with Jarvette is in the dungeon! I can't leave her there!" Eli said in disbelief.

"She should be fine-"

"No, you don't understand. Jarvette's universal programming is in that watch. If it is destroyed I could lose all her data, and the backup programming won't reach Earth in time to save her. She'll die!" Eli tried to explain. She had been keeping the A.I. with dupes while she was with Loki so she wouldn't have to deal with the judgement.

Sigyn pulled Eli away with surprising strength. "I know she's important to you, but I can't let you go-!"

Eli twisted her wrist out of Sigyn's grasp, and teleported before the blonde could react. In an instant, Eli was at Loki's side.

"What the hell is going on!?" Eli asked while searching the room for any damage.

"Someone escaped," Loki said to her as he blatantly ignored the chaos that continued to erupt around them. Eli looked at him for a very long moment.

"You didn't even try to stop them," Eli said unaccusingly.

Loki looked at her, "You disapprove."

"These people used to be your allies, at the very least."

"Now, you're my only ally."

Eli smiled and kissed Loki on the cheek and teleported to her own cell. One of the golden walls had collapsed, and all of her belongings were strewn about the room. Something hard connected with her head. The world turned on its side for a moment. The brunette teleported behind the attacker and extended her claws, three of them, and plunged them into the attacker's skull. Eli retracted the claws. Her knuckles ached where the extra appendages slid between her existing bones.

Eli shoved things around. She found what she was looking for, crushed under the frame of her bed. The white watch that held all the data that made up Jarvette. Eli lifted it like it was a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. Her throat tightened and tears welled in her eyes. She searched for the synced earpiece. It was on the floor with broken glass. She put it in, and choked out the A.I.'s name.

"Jarvette?" Eli whispered. "Jarvette…? Jarvette…?"

Eli teleported back to Sigyn.

"Can you keep her safe…" Eli begged. "Please…"

"What are you going to do?" Sigyn asked in shock.

"I'm going to do what I was trained for…" Eli said, rage building in her chest. Sigyn took a step back from her. Eli knew there was murder in her eyes. She knew that she looked every bit the monster Erik had made her.

She teleported back to the dungeon, where the fighting still ensued. The first prisoner that Eli saw, she concentrated on Kitty. She phased through the bandit's chest and squeezed his heart and pulled it out of it's spot. But it wasn't enough. It couldn't be enough. Jarvette deserved better. She didn't deserve to die in a dungeon cell. She should have been where she belonged, with Eli at all times.

Eli screamed in rage, she screamed in pain, she screamed in despair. Lightning erupted from her body killing everything in a ten foot radius around her; leaving her in a void of silence. Eli let her tears fall to the ground. Jarvette was dead because of her; because of the affair she had with Loki, but she knew that she couldn't give him up. Loki could kill everyone dear to her, and she would forgive him, because she was selfish like that. She was a horrid human being.

"Eli, are you alright?" Thor asked her. Eli jumped a little at the sound of his voice. Thor looked off put at her appearance. Which was probably ferral and frightening.

"I'm fine," Eli could hear the glass in her voice, the deep resonance of her power. She quelled her heart and forced down her anger. "What happened?"

"I do not know, but it isn't safe here for you." Thor said with concern. It almost made Eli laugh, but there was a loud explosion that shook the dungeon. "The shields!"

Eli closed her eyes and focused on the Professor's abilities. There were soldiers in black and white masks. They were killing everything in their path. One of them didn't have a mask. He stared at Odin's throne with loathing, and Eli could see his ambition written on his face.

"Asgard is being attacked. They are after something. Something powerful." Eli tried to explain what she was seeing in that man's head.

"Jane!" Thor bolted away from Eli and out of the dungeon.

"Wait, what?!" Eli called after Thor. She ran after him. She couldn't help but look for Loki as she left the dungeon. He looked at her with a mix of wonder and disappointment. Eli had to tear herself away from his gaze.

They ran past Asgardians and the soldiers in black, attacking only those that chose to attack them directly. The pair made easy work of any one that tried. They made their way to a corridor that Eli had never been to. There was a small platoon of soldiers. They seemed to be guarding the doors to whatever was beyond the hall. Thor seemed frantic. Eli sped in front of him and slapped her hands together creating a shockwave that knocked them down.

"Thor, go!" Eli yelled. "I've got this!"

Eli manipulated the metal of the swords to fly away from the soldiers and drove them back at them. Only one managed to dodge away, but they were unable to dodge the shockwave that slammed them into the wall.

Thor's yell resounded in Eli's chest and she could feel the crackle of lightning in the air. The young mutant rushed into the room, only to see Frigga dead on the ground. Hollow was a good word for how Eli felt at that moment. She had come to see Frigga as a friend, as a mentor, and as a mother. She looked at Thor; the despair on his face stabbed into her heart. She watched as Odin went to his fallen wife. She never imagined that she would ever see someone so heartbroken. Asgardian soldiers rushed up behind Eli.

"No, no," she whispered to the guard. "We shouldn't be here. Have someone get a healer."

The guard nodded solemnly. They left the room.

"Stay here with the guards," the soldier told her. Eli nodded. "You three set up a perimeter, and come with me."

"What happened?" Eli asked before the guard left. She looked at him. The soldier bowed his head. He couldn't answer.