The Soldier and the Spy.

Chapter 11

****Variel****

"Wait- we're underground, right?" I ask, breathing hard. "Maybe that's why they aren't working. Let's go back and find them, so we can figure something out. We need a way of communicating with Clint and Natasha."

We turn around, but the hallway that we just came down is gone, replaced by a wall.

"Steve!" I gasp, whipping around to face him. "We did come down that hallway, right??"

"Yes! We-we had to... there's nowhere else to go..." Steve trails off as we notice that the other end of the passage is gone too, and all the doors that led off of it have also disappeared. We are stuck in a shrinking metal box about five feet by five feet.

My breaths come faster and faster. This is just like my nightmares.

"Calm down! It'll be okay!" Steve says taking my hand, his calm voice almost disguising his own fear. Suddenly, the walls drop away, leaving a glass barrier instead. Both of us leap towards the center. Now, Steve and I are standing in the center of a cage in the center of a huge warehouse lit up with spotlights.

****Loki****

"How nice of you to join me!" I say, spreading my arms wide as I walk toward the couple huddled in the center of my cage. "Quite an ingenious trap, if I do say so myself. Is it cozy in there?" I ask, running the Chitauri scepter along the glass.

"You must be Loki," Variel says at the same time that Captain America exclaims, "Loki!"

"Yes, that is I."

"I've heard about you," she spits back, with surprising venom.

"Oh really? Please enlighten me."

"I know that you're the cause of a whole lot of trouble- Thor has been quite useful in providing information."

"Oh yes- Thor. My perfect brother."

"Well... if you want to go by most girls' views, he is perfect."

"Yes... but you're not like most girls, are you?"

"Oh dear, you caught me. How did I ever think I could hide it from you?"

I contained a grin at this girl's sarcasm. She could almost beat Iron Man! But certainly not me.

"Well I have heard much about you, Variel Romanoff! My, my, you are quite the dangerous girl, aren't you?"

"One you should be worried about, cow."

"These are not cow horns! And don't think of trying any funny business, like trying to escape- I see you back there, soldier." While I was speaking, Captain America had been trying to break the glass with his shield.

"Rats, you figured out my plan. Why can't I escape, oh Great Cow?" Variel replied, voice heavy with sarcasm.

I smirked."Well, we're going to have some fun, you and I. And if you try to escape -thus ruining my entertainment- I will kill lover boy next to you."

A flicker of emotion flashed across her face. It was so fast, I almost didn't see it- but I did. Fear. I found her pressure point.

"Oh, you don't like that, do you? Well, let's start now."

Before either of them can react, a wall grows between the two and the cage splits in half. As Captain America smashes against the glass, it sinks into the floor, and a trapdoor closes over his head with a clang.

"What have you done with him?" she exclaimed, her voice rough with emotion.

"Oh, one at a time, Princess, one at a time."