Author's note: Hey guys, it's update timeee, thank you so much for 5k! Hope you're all doing okay in lock down/quarantine; hopefully this will all be over soon! :( Here's chapter twenty five, enjoy! :) (I know this gif is from the great gatsby but this is what the mansion looked like in my head when I wrote this sooo)x

...

"A drink ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you."

You were in. Nat's fake identities had passed the guest list test and got you past security, and subsequently you were now being offered a drink by an extremely fancy looking waiter, which you accepted eagerly.

"Don't drink that. You need to be alert." Loki, no: Lewis, muttered to you. You were hanging on to his arm tightly, trying not to look as nervous as you felt.

"It's for the nerves." you muttered back, before knocking back the whole glass in one and detaching your arm from his. If you were going to be alert you weren't allowed to be distracted.

"Y/N, if you get drunk this whole mission is futile."

"Stop it, I'm not getting drunk, I had one glass of champagne. And it's Louise, not Y/N."

'Lewis' rolled his eyes, and you smiled at the expression of annoyance which you had become so used to.

"Let's split up, we need to scope this place out." you heard Nat say through your earpiece (a tiny one, so that it was almost invisible unless you were looking for it), and Bucky and Clint agreed. It took half an hour to explore the mansion, and that was only the first and second floors, let alone the gardens, which housed two pools and a jacuzzi. The majority of the guests were now inside however, as it was dark, cold and had begun to rain outside, and as the front doors were closed with a resounding thud you couldn't help but feel like you were being trapped.

"I've got eyes on Ricci and Penelope, they're in the lobby." Bucky said discreetly. The lobby was so huge that, although you were also in there, you could spot neither Bucky nor your two targets. Two identical and elaborate white marble staircases swept down from either side of the upper floor, which was open plan and visible from the bottom floor, and were currently swarmed by guests, all drinking and laughing. Finally you spotted Bucky on the upper floor, who nodded in the direction of Ricci and Penelope.

You finally spotted them near the bottom of the right staircase. It was odd seeing them for the first time in person when you'd spent almost two weeks studying them. You knew almost everything about them, right down to how they danced, because there would inevitably be dancing later on.

"I see them." you said, wondering if Bucky could even hear you over Nat talking to a random guest and Tony and Thor discussing something from the jet, hidden half a mile away from the mansion. This earpiece technique wasn't working out so well at a busy party.

Suddenly, you had the weirdest sensation in your head, like someone was pressing softly against the back of your skull. You raised your hand to your head in confusion, before realising what was happening. Mentally bracing yourself, you took the wall down from around your mind and heard Loki's voice in your head for the first time in two weeks.

It's just for tonight, don't make a fuss about it. Where are you?

In the lobby with Buck. Why don't you just use your earpiece? I'll hear you on there.

There's too much going on there, it's easier like this.

Maybe for him, but now you had to concentrate on keeping your mind half shut off while also holding up an illusion and kidnapping a criminal mastermind. You weren't sure if you were up to this. Of course, you could always completely let your guard down around your mind and trust Loki not to go prying, but you didn't want to risk it. You also weren't sure if you trusted yourself not to think something so audibly that he accidentally heard something you didn't want him to.

Okay.

This was so, entirely not okay.

For the next hour or so it was a waiting game, and you watched alongside the others as Ricci and Penelope got more and more drunk, and more and more affectionate, you noted with displeasure. Ricci could hardly keep his hands off of Penelope, and you were not looking forward to being in her shoes. And not just because she was wearing stilettos similar to the ones you'd been wearing all week.

Finally, Penelope whispered something in Ricci's ear and made her way painstakingly slowly away from him and up the stairs, stopping at least every three steps to talk to someone, swaying dangerously in her heels as she laughed and hugged people along the way.

Follow her.

You could see Loki as Lewis standing metres away from Penelope as she crossed the landing to get to wherever it was she was going, and you walked as swiftly as possible up the stairs after her without making it look suspicious. She went down one of the many corridors which branched off from the landing and disappeared from your sight; you looked at Loki for reassurance.

Go, I'm right behind you.

You were shaking slightly as you followed Penelope down the corridor. You'd been over this so many times you couldn't quite believe it was happening for real.

"Hey, excuse me?" you called after her, running awkwardly to catch up with her. Penelope turned around in surprise and smiled politely as you approached her.

"Can I help you?" she asked in that clipped English accent.

"Well, I'm actually having a bit of trouble... I was wondering if you have any, erm, sanitary products you'd be willing to give up? I wasn't expecting..."

Penelope held up a perfectly manicured hand to stop you talking.

"Say no more hun, come with me."

"Thank you so much, you're a life saver." you told her, only half faking your relieved tone.

"Nice work Y/N." you heard Tony say, right as Loki informed you that he was right next to you, invisible, though your mind, and simultaneously Penelope began talking to you.

Your brain struggled to comprehend what was going on for a few seconds, and you smiled at Penelope as you walked alongside her, hoping that the conversation wouldn't require you to talk. Her words were slightly slurred, you noticed. That was good, she was less likely to remember what was about to happen to her. You almost felt bad as she held open a door which presumably led to her bedroom and gestured for you to enter with a friendly smile. You hesitated for a fraction of a second before entering, allowing Loki to invisibly slip through the door ahead of you.

The bedroom was huge, and she directed you to a door on the other side of the room which obviously led to an en-suite.

"You should find what you need in there, but be quick, I'm bursting for a wee!" Penelope said. And then she collapsed.

Loki reappeared behind her and caught her as she fell, picking her up and placing her on the massive bed which dominated the room.

"I feel bad." you told him, fighting down the ridiculous surge of jealousy you had just experienced.

"We don't have time for feeling bad, there was CCTV in the corridor outside and if you're in here for too long it'll look suspicious." Loki replied, looking at you expectantly. Apparently he had no problem with knocking someone out and wiping their memories, although, you reminded yourself, he'd probably done a lot worse.

You moved around the bed to look at Penelope properly for the first time. She was exceptionally pretty, and you had to push down some more jealous feelings towards her before you took a deep breath and performed the illusion.

"How's that?" you asked Loki when you were done, who was watching you with a glazed look on his face. Snapping out of it, he looked down at Penelope then back at you.

"She has more make up on than that, and the hair is a shade too light."

You made changes accordingly, and then looked back to him for approval. After a few more adjustments to the dress and hands, you were ready to go.

"Come on guys, you've been gone ages. Ricci will get suspicious if you're much longer." Nat said through your earpiece.

"Almost done." you replied, and then reached up and took your earpiece out. Loki saw this and smiled.

Is that a good idea?

It's getting annoying, I can't keep up with you in my head, and them in my ear and other people talking around me.

How will you know what's going on?

You've got your earpiece in, right?

I see, I'll be your correspondent shall I?

You nodded at him, grinning, before realising Loki's silence probably sounded odd to the others.

"Will she stay asleep?" you asked Loki, moving towards the door.

"Until I let her wake up, yes." he replied, stopping you with a cool hand on your arm before you opened the door.

"What?"

He looked as though he was internally wrestling with himself, opening his mouth and closing it again twice before finally speaking.

"There's CCTV outside. It'll look pretty suspicious if Louise and Penelope walk in and then Penelope comes out with a random man." he said, transforming into Louise in front of your eyes. He made it look so easy.

"Hah. I'm taller than you." you smirked.

Get going.

Why hadn't he answered you out loud? There was no time to dwell however, because as you left the room you saw that Ricci was walking down the corridor towards you. Shit.

"There you are babe, you've been gone ages! And who's this?" Ricci asked, sliding an arm around your waist and looking inquisitively at Loki, disguised as Louise. You suddenly had the overwhelming urge to laugh, this was surely the weirdest situation you'd ever been in.

I hate you.

Suddenly the situation was a lot less scary.

"This is Louise, I was just showing her around. Let's head back downstairs, yeah?" you said, perfectly matching Penelope's English accent and steering your 'boyfriend' back towards the party, attempting to get back to the safety of the crowd as quickly as possible.

"Sure, and oh, I found Smithy, there's this other girl who he..." Ricci started talking about something meaningless as you headed back to the lobby, and you chanced a glance over your shoulder. Loki was gone, probably somewhere out of sight of the CCTV to transform back into Lewis.

You spotted Nat on the other side of the landing as you emerged from the corridor, who pulled a face at you and mouthed 'sorry', nodding at Ricci. It would have been nice to have some warning about his whereabouts, but it was pretty busy and her, Buck and Clint were trying to blend in.

As you walked down the staircase with Ricci, you were overcome by a sudden wave of anxiety. You felt as though you were in a dream, and not a good one.

Loki?

What?

Where are you?

On the landing, I can see you.

You looked up briefly and saw him as Lewis again, observing the scene below with a haughty air. It was reassuring to know he was there, and you could see Nat too, watching you.

Stay where I can see you.

Why?

Just in case.

Just in case what?

Just... please Loki.

You didn't care that it sounded needy and pathetic, you were worryingly close to panicking.

As if I was going to let you out of my sight anyway. You know I wasn't happy about this plan from the start.

Your heart performed a small backflip. You had known alright, you'd thought of little else for two weeks. Ricci was leading you towards a large group of people who you would evidently be expected to talk to, so you abruptly finished your conversation with Loki.

Thank you.

Now it was time to test your knowledge about Penelope.

"Are you okay? You're kind of quiet." Ricci informed you in his thick Italian accent, stopping you before you reached the noisy group of people and looking at you in concern.

"I'm alright Al." you smiled, employing the nickname Penelope used for Ricci to throw him off the scent. It seemed to work.

"If you say so." he said, kissing you on the forehead before leading you over to the group. You prayed that that would be the extent of kissing you would have to do, before plastering on a huge smile as you were introduced to a load of new people. Thankfully you found a drink in your hand, and one in Ricci's too. That was helpful.

You ignored Loki's protests as you necked another drink and smiled at the cheers it provoked from the crowd of people around you.

It was for the nerves.