Ella was fuming. She had never known anger like it. She had stormed into the Throne Room where her father sat. Looking at him as he lounged back in his chair, she wondered just what had been going on in his mind. What had he done? Her dress flowed behind her and she had her hands on her hips as her glare remained on her father. Loki sensed the anger inside of her and he knew what she was angry about. He had a suspicion that she would find out what he had done, but a part of him hoped that it would not be so soon.

"What did you do to Heimdall?" Ella demanded from him.

"Ah," Loki spoke, stroking his chin, "Heimdall proved himself to be a traitor, Ella. I had no other option but to banish him. He confessed that he had not been entirely truthful. He had kept secrets from us in the past."

"What secrets?" Ella demanded to know from him, moving up the steps of the Throne and folding her arms over her chest. "And do you truly mean Heimdall? He has been nothing but loyal to Asgard. He has always had its best interests at heart."

"I wish that were so, but it is not," he responded, voice terse. "We will not discuss this any further. There will be a new gatekeeper-"

"-And Thor?" Ella interrupted her father again. "I might not be as good as mother when it comes to magic, but I saw what is happening on Midgard. I saw how my brother has been involved in another battle with the Avengers. Did you not plan on telling me about that? Did you even know about it?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Ella's teeth ground together and she shook her head. "I have been so busy running Asgard and doing what I can while you sit here…completely in your own world…and you did not even think to tell me that my brother, your son, has been in trouble."

"No," he said, "I kept it from you because I knew that you would go to the Bifrost and go to him. You would put yourself in danger and I couldn't let you do that, Ella. I couldn't let you go to him."

"That is not for you to decide," Ella snapped loudly. "What is wrong with you? Who are you?"

"I am your father."

"No," Ella shook her head, "you're not my father…in fact, you're nothing like my father."

Loki was uncomfortable then. He began to wonder if he had been too lax in his activities. But he had done everything to control her. He would go to her dreams at night and he would use his own magic to wipe away any suspicion that she might have. He would placate her and it was like every day was a new day. But Loki knew it was not fair. He could not continue to enter her mind as he was doing. Plus, he knew that Thor would return eventually, despite his attempts to keep him away.

"Ella, watch your tone."

"I shall not," she responded, "not until you tell me the truth. Tell me what is going on. Tell me what you are…who you are…"

"Ella, you have to stop-"

"-Just tell me it's not you," she interrupted and she stood in front of him on the top step. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. He felt the guilt inside of him and he wondered how it could have come to this. How had he been so foolish? "Tell me that you haven't been tricking me this whole time."

"Ella…I…I don't understand."

"The Tragedy of Loki of Asgard," she said, naming the play he had been working on and commissioned. "The statue…it's not father. I thought that it was grief. I had thought that grief would do that to father, but then this happened. Father would have told me about Thor. He would have told me that his son…my brother…was in danger. There is only one person who would never tell me out of some misguided sense of wanting to protect me."

And Loki knew that she knew. The way she was looking at him was enough to tell her that was the case. He let his disguise slip, leaving him completely vulnerable to his sister's gaze. He stood up from the throne and sealed the room to make sure that no one could come and find them. He saw Ella step towards him and he kept silent, gaging her reaction. She raised her hand to his cheek, stroking it softly for a moment before she pulled back and slapped him.

The hit stung and Loki turned his head to the side as his sister balled her hands into fists and hit his chest. She pummelled against him and he let her, feeling her rage as she hit him, but he managed to stay upright.

"How could you?" she demanded from him. "How could you do this to us? You bastard. You selfish, heartless bastard!"

"Ella, stop," he urged from her, trying to catch her wrists in his grip. But she was pushing at him, her cheeks tinged red and her eyes wild with rage. "Ella, please."

"Do you know what it was like?" she yelled at him. "Do you know how we mourned you? Do you even understand how many nights we spent…me and Thor…talking about you and missing you? I still do. I go to bed and I cry, Loki. I cry because I miss you and all the time you have been here. You have been here and you have been lying to me. Why would you do that?"

"Because I knew that I would never be able to be free on Asgard so long as Odin was here," Loki told her. "After the Dark World I would gone straight back to the dungeon and I would have been locked away."

Ella stopped her hitting of him and she lowered her fists to rest by her side. "Where is father?"

"Safe on Midgard," Loki promised her that and she looked sceptical. But his gaze was earnest. He was telling her the truth. He would not hurt their father. He would not do that. "I had no other option but to do this."

"You had other options," Ella hissed at him. "You could have gone somewhere else. And you know that I would have helped you. You know that, but you chose to do this."

"Because it meant that I could come home," Loki said. "It meant that I could be with you, Ella. That is all I ever really wanted. You have to know that. You are the only one I truly have. You were always the only one I truly had."

Ella shook her head. She refused to believe that. "Even if that were true, how could you lie to me? How could you let me go on thinking you were dead when you're here? Did you not love me enough to tell me the truth?"

Loki reached out for his sister, grabbing her by the hand and stopping her from running away. He moved his other hand to her cheek, stroking it softly while she tried to push him from her, but he was stronger. He always had been. She shook her head, tears falling down her face.

"I did this because I love you," he said to her. "I came to you at night, Ella. The dreams you had were all real. I came because I couldn't stay away."

"That's even worse!" she roared at him. "You've been manipulating me. You've been content to use me because you were happy. You could have the best of both worlds. You could have the Throne and you could still see me. You didn't think what I wanted. You didn't think about father or Thor. You just thought about yourself."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is," Ella hissed. "And you are going to set everything right. You are going to bring father home."

Loki let out a sigh.

"I am going to go and find Thor," she said to him. "And when I get back, father better be here."

"Ella, you cannot be serious."

"I am deadly serious," she said, snatching his wrist from her and pointing up to him. "You are going to set this right. If you don't then I swear that we are done, Loki."

He watched her step away from him then. She gave him one final glare before turning on her heel and leaving for the Bifrost.

…

Ella looked up at the Avengers base and wondered what she was going to do. How did this even work? Did she just walk up to reception and ask to see Thor? She was cautious as she moved forwards after having landed in the field just outside the base. But she didn't even get into the building before she saw a familiar face. He was making his way outside, dressed in his red, white and blue suit. His hair was shorter than the last time she had seen him, trimmed neatly on the top of his head. He looked exactly the same and Ella swore she felt her stomach flip.

"Ella," he spoke her name, seeing her as she approached. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," she said, sensing that he had foregone the pleasantries.

But then Steve remembered himself. He shook his head and looked over to her, knowing that this had been the woman he had once been so taken with. He had thought that he could easily get over her, but he had to confess to himself that not a day went by without thinking of her. He eventually came to realise that he had feelings for her. He had deep feelings, but they were different to what he had felt for Peggy.

"I'm sorry," Steve said, shaking his head and standing in front of her, noticing that she was wearing normal clothes. She was dressed in a knee length black skirt with a black jumper tucked into it. Her hair was in a high ponytail on the back of her head. "It is good to see you, Ella. I've missed you around here."

"It's good to see you too," Ella said and she hugged Steve tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him, feeling the comfortable feel of her body against his. She pulled back and rested her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them in her grip. "I heard there was a battle."

"There was," Steve said. "We could have used you."

"I would have helped if I knew what was going on," Ella assured him, "but things on Asgard have been odd. That's why I'm here. I need to find my brother. Do you know where he is?"

Steve shook his head. "You just missed him," Steve said. "He said that he had business to attend to before he returned home to Asgard. He didn't say where he was going."

"Shit," Ella said and Steve arched a brow, wondering what had happened to cause her to swear.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked from her. "What's going on, Ella?"

She let out a deep breath. She felt as though she had been holding it in since she had been in the Throne Room with her brother. Shaking her head, she felt Steve brush a loose strand of her hair from her cheek and she looked at him and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Loki," she said to him, "he's alive."

Steve blinked a few times. Ella watched his face etch with confusion and she understood what he was thinking.

"I know," she said at his inability to speak.

"Come on," Steve urged from her. "I have some of that Asgardian wine you last brought here with you. I think you need a drink and we need to talk about everything that had happened."

…

Ella sat in the kitchen with Steve. He had gone to change into his shirt and jeans while she made herself comfortable. The kitchen was empty and Ella was glad for that. Having a reunion with Steve was enough right now. She didn't need to see anymore familiar faces. He returned and poured her a glass of the wine and he took one himself. He was able to get drunk on that stuff when he wanted to. He sat next to her and spoke first, telling her everything that had happened with ULTRON and assuring her that her brother was safe. She listened intently before Steve turned the topic around.

"So, how is he alive?" Steve asked her.

She shrugged. "That, I do not entirely know," she admitted, "but he has been impersonating our father this whole time. Apparently he sent father to Midgard…Earth…I have had him go to bring him home while I came to fetch Thor."

"He's been impersonating your father?" Steve asked, sounding appalled.

"Believe me, I'm still trying to get my head around it," Ella said, taking a sip of her wine. "And he has been walking around as if everything was normal. He's been lying to us."

"No offence, Ella," he said, "but you knew what he was like. He is the God of Mischief."

"But he's…to do this to me," Ella shook her head firmly. "He knew how his family mourned for him. I spent so many nights wishing that he was alive and crying over him. And guess what? He is fine. He is alive and well and lying to my face every day. I am so angry with him."

Steve leant back in his seat and took another sip. "I would be shocked if you weren't."

"And I think Thor might kill him when he sees him," Ella said. "I was on the verge of wanting to kill him and wanting to hold him tightly and have him reassure me that he was real…that he is alive still."

Steve had to confess that he never understood Ella's relationship with Loki. She defended him no matter what he did. She forgave him despite everything. But she loved him. She loved him and strangely enough, Loki did love his sister. He loved her and Steve suspected that he loved his brother. He just hid that more than he did his love for his sister. She had been the one he had been close to growing up. She had been the one who had always been there for him. But he had betrayed her.

And that betrayal was cutting her deep.

Steve reached out and rested a hand on top of hers on the table, seeing that she was trying to hide a tear that had fallen from the corner of her eye.

Looking him in the eye, she forced herself to smile and act strong, no matter how much she didn't want to. Steve didn't push her to keep talking. Instead he squeezed her hand continued drinking as he gave her time to gather her thoughts, sensing that she had a lot going on in her mind.

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!