"You came back without him?" Asked Heimdall, the keeper of the Bifrost and arguably Thor's closest friend.

"I have much to tell father, can you keep an eye on Loki on Midgard? I want to know if he gives away any valuable information." Thor asked.

"Of course, my prince." Heimdall replied.

Thor walked the length of the Rainbow bridge to the palace, noticing a lot of confused looks from civilians. Of course, they knew what Loki had done, but they didn't know why Thor was alone when he meant to return with his brother in tow. Ignoring them, Thor entered the palace, seeking out his parents.

Having asked a few guards, he was pointed to the Throne room, of course his parents will be waiting there for the verdict. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the large doors, and walked in.

He kept eye contact with his father all the while, hoping to convey that he didn't lose by returning without Loki. He knelt in front, placing Mjolnir on the ground.

"My son, you have returned without him." Odin said.

"Because I need you to hear the whole story before judgement is passed." Thor said.

"Very well." Odin said. "I trust you wouldn't try to protect someone guilty of a tremendous crime as had been commited, not even your brother."

"Thank you, father." Thor stood up. "When I first intercepted Earth Greatest Heroes, the Avengers, and took Loki from their custody, he claimed I threw him of the bridge. I should have said something then but I didn't, which is my mistake. But... when I fought Loki on the battlefield, I saw his eyes were a shade of blue similar to those he reigned control over, such as the Avenger, Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye."

"So he was being controlled. By what? The tesseract has no such ability." Odin said.

"Maybe it was something similar." Thor said, then he snapped his attention to Frigga, who looked semi-relieved about the turn of events. "Mother used to read stories to us, about the Infinity Stones. Wasn't one of those the Mind Stone, which does have that ability?"

"Indeed it does." She replied.

"The Sceptre. Loki's Sceptre. It glows like the tesseract." Thor said, remembering the close up look he had of it.

"Bring it to me, my son." Odin said.

"Father. Loki's sentence? Will you leave him to be free if I found out everything from him?" Thor asked.

"Only as I see fit. As long as you do not keep him from Asgardian Justice." Odin said sternly.

"I will bring him as soon as I am able." Thor said. "Thank you."

Then he turned to leave, back to Midgard.

"My son. It makes me proud to see that you have learned fairness and justice. You will make a great king." Odin said.

Thor turned and smiled, before leaving, a bitter taste in his mouth at those words for some reason.

OoOoOoOoOo

Agent Romanov, give me one reason why I should not drop that cell immediately?" Fury asked as he eyed the containment cell holding Loki, through the computer screen.

"Because Thor believes him innocent. So do the Avengers." Natasha replied.

"You better explain yourself." Fury said, angry.

"We believe Loki was under some kind of control just as he controlled Doctor Selvig and Agent Barton." Natasha said. "So as long as he is here, I am to make sure SHIELD doesn't take out their anger on him. I saw his eyes when we mentioned Phil, he regretted it."

"He probably regrets getting caught." Fury said.

"All the same, if anyone on this Helicarrier has any intention of killing Loki, I will kill them and free him myself." Natasha said.

"You better be right about him, Romanov." Fury said as a gesture of dismissal.

Natasha left the room, heading towards Loki's holding cell, where he sat and stared into space.

She sat on a chair, very much like before, where she managed to gain vital information from him, even if it was a bit late. She saw what Thor meant about his eyes- they were bright green now unlike before when she stood merely a foot away from him, his blue eyes full of hatred and venom.

"Does he not buy it? I wonder why?" Loki asked sarcastically.

"As long as you're here, I am. I won't let them get close enough to you. It's just you, me and the Avengers." She said.

"How wonderful(!)" He said.

"Thor said you'd been missing a year, presumed dead. Where were you all this time?" Natasha asked.

Loki remained silent.

"Who controlled the would be king?" Natasha asked, having been told about the encounter on the cliff from Thor. She thought it would press a few buttons that could get him to spill information.

"My actions were my own." He said.

"Are you protecting someone?" Natasha asked, standing up.

"There is no one to protect." He replied.

"No one but yourself. A lot of Earth criminals tend not to give up names of their drug suppliers, or associates of the same crime. Why would this be any different." Natasha asked.

"Because I work for no one, with no one, I. work. alone." Loki emphasized.

"Right, because that Chitauri army was yours to begin with." Natasha said, clearly showing she didn't believe him.

"What do you hope to walk away with today? Knowledge of which you fragile humans have no idea how to handle? Knowledge of the Sceptre? What?" He asked, standing up to intimidate her.

"All we wanted was the story, but I guess if you are so terrified of someone as to not give them up, then we will find out ourselves. You did, after all, give me a clue." Natasha said.

"What?"

"The Sceptre, you mentioned it, not me." Natasha said, leaving the room, but not without thanking him for trying.

He had no idea how to react, so he sat back down, to stare into space some more.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Doctor Banner, good, you're here." Natasha said as she entered his new lab on the aircraft, his old having been destroyed. Clint, Tony, Steve, and Thor were all there too.

"I just got back, the others were telling me about your interrogation of my brother." Thor said.

"You were watching?" She asked.

"Course, we wanted to know everything too." Tony said, popping blueberries into his mouth and offering them out, to which only Clint and Bruce accepted.

"That's why we all gathered here. With the Sceptre." Bruce said, looking at the weapon uneasily.

"My father wants me to bring it back to Asgard with me, along with Loki." Thor said.

"But not before we analyse it here, surely?" Steve asked.

"I doubt he would mind as long as it stays in one piece." Thor said. Immediately all eyes were cast on Tony, who smirked at the implications.

"Okay then, how do we go about this?" Clint asked.

"The Sceptre, we suspect, held some kind of influence over Loki's mind. He used it to take over Clint's mind too." Thor said. "I suspect it channels the energy of yet a similar signature to the tesseract, which is otherwise known as the Space Stone. We think the Sceptre has links to the Mind Stone."

"Mind Stone, huh? So we shouldn't touch it." Bruce said, keeping his distance.

"Quite right, Banner, no one has ever held two Infinity Stones at the same time, let alone one." Thor said.

"So this Mind Stone inside it was controlling everyone?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I suspect it is trying to control us even now." Thor said.

"Maybe it already has before." Natasha said. "Before Loki escaped the first time, we were all in the middle of a huge argument."

"Damn, you're right." Tony said. "Okay so we know that, Loki can be proven innocent on your own planet then."

"It is not quite that simple. He can be cleared of all charges of his crimes on Earth, but unless he was under the same influence on Asgard before he attempted his death, he is still held accountable for crimes committed on Asgard." Thor said.

"Then we tell Lokes what we figured out, tell him we can broadcast his innocence across the planet and maybe persuade him to tell us the rest." Tony said.

"Get on his side." Steve said, understanding the idea.

"Exactly." Tony said, clicking his fingers.

"Loki is perhaps just as stubborn as I am, if he is withholding information, it will be difficult." Thor said.

"Can you do it?" Bruce asked.

"I can try." Thor said, leaving the room.