Loki knew that it was too late. He had told the Frost Giants to attack. He had given them a way into Asgard. It was too late for him to go back now. All that he had to do was play the hero. He had to play the hero and save his sister and his mother. His mind was constant wandering back to Ella, his thoughts on what she had said to him the previous evening.

He did not know how much more he could take, but he knew that it would nearly be over. He would have his sister by his side through everything. He knew that. Ella might have betrayed him, but she did love him. Her love was pure and honest and Loki knew that. She was looking for the best in him. She looked for the best in everyone. She was his sweet, little sister.

"Loki," Ella spoke his name as she wandered through the corridors and found him on his way to the throne room. "Are you well this morning?"

"Better than yesterday," Loki confirmed to her. "Where are you wandering off to?"

"I thought that I would go and see mother," Ella said. "She is with father. I want to go and sit with them for a while. You do not need me, do you?"

Loki smiled at her turn of words, his hand moving to hold her cheek for a second. "I will always need you, dear sister, remember that."

Ella looked confused at what she was hearing. "Are you sure that you are well?"

"Quite," he promised her, letting go of her cheek.

She moved away then with a final smile, wandering towards her father's chambers. She let the guard hold the door open for her as she stepped into the room, slinking down to sit in the chair by her mother's side. Frigga offered her daughter a warm smile, moving to take hold of her hand in hers, resting it on her lap.

"Are you well this morning, my love?" Frigga enquired from her daughter.

"I am," Ella replied. "I spoke with Loki last night and he told me that everything is well between us. I hate fighting with him, mother. I just want him to realise that I never meant to hurt him."

"I am certain that your brother knows that," Frigga replied. "Listen to me, Ella, I know that we are all struggling right now. I…I know that all our relationships are strained, but our family is important. You are our daughter. Loki will always be your brother."

Ella nodded her head. "I know," she whispered in a soft and gentile voice. "I just want father to wake and Thor to come back. I want things to be how they were before all of this."

Frigga offered a slim smile. "I am certain it can be that way once more, my love," she assured her daughter. "I…I know that we have not always seen eye to eye, Ella. There have been times when I have pushed you…urged for you to consider things you might not wish to consider…marriage…love…I just want you to know that I am sorry. I never meant to push you."

Ella shook her head with haste, holding tightly onto her mother's hand inside of hers. She managed a small smile to the woman, her eyes wide and almost welling up. She had never heard her mother apologise to her before, nor had she ever heard her speak in such a heartfelt manner.

"It means nothing now," Ella responded. "Mother, I just…I am not ready for marriage. I do not know when I will be ready, but perhaps one day I will understand."

"Of course," Frigga nodded her head. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am," Ella assured her. "Well, I will be happy when all of this is over. I do not feel as though I need to be married to be happy. One day I might find love, but I am not in a rush."

Nodding, Frigga concurred with that. "Of course," she said to her.

They both lapsed into silence then and Ella felt her eyes close for a few brief seconds. She soon opened them again when she heard a worrying noise echo through the chamber. The doors turned into a blue colour and Ella began to move to her feet. Frigga stood too, the sound of yelling coming from outside the room.

"Mother," Ella began to panic.

"Stay back, Ella," Frigga responded.

Frigga moved to the bed, pulling out the sword that had been sheathed there. Holding it in her hands, she moved forwards as Ella stood by her father's side, wondering what was happening as her breathing became controlled and laboured. It was another moment before the doors opened and Ella let the scream escape her at the sight of the two creatures entering the room.

Swinging the sword in her hand, Frigga aimed it at the Frost Giant in front of her, but with one swipe of his hand across her body, she was rendered useless, the sword falling from her grip as she slid across the floor. Ella remained mute as the Frost Giants advanced towards the bed.

"Stay out of the way, little girl," it hissed to her.

"No," Ella said, refusing to move away.

It was then when the creature grabbed hold of her arm and she felt a searing pain move from her arm as he hauled her from her feet and tossed her aside, her back hitting the wall. She closed her eyes, her arm feeling as though it was on freezing off. The skin had turned black and she was winded as she felt her head become dizzy.

She saw the Frost Giant stand over her father's bed and she moved with as much haste as she could muster. Crawling on the floor with her one good arm, Ella tried to make it there in time, but she had no need to worry.

Looking to the door, the sight of Loki stood there with his sceptre in his fingertips enough to make her let out a breath in relief. Loki mumbled something before using the sceptre to destroy the Frost Giant. The creature fell to the floor and Loki once again hit him with the sceptre, the light filling the room.

Frigga pushed herself to her feet and took hold of Loki by the hand. "You saved us," she whispered to him.

"No, I didn't," Loki said, moving to sit by his sister's side as he took hold of her arm in his fingertips. He clutched onto it gently and looked down as Frigga also knelt by her daughter's side.

"I can stop the pain," Frigga said, holding her hand over the frostbite. "I do not know if I can heal the scar."

"Just make it stop hurting," Ella said and Loki almost felt himself break at hearing his sister's voice. He took hold of her around the shoulders until she was nestled by his side, her cheek pressed against his neck.

He could feel a tear slide down her cheek and onto his bare skin. Closing his eyes, he cursed himself for being too late. He never meant for any of this to help. He never meant to see his sister or mother harmed. He was a fool and he knew that now. It still hurt him. Of course it hurt him. He didn't want to see his sister in pain.

"Just hold still, my love," Frigga urged from her.

Ella nodded as she reached out blindly with her good hand for something to squeeze as her mother set about using her magic to heal her. Loki grabbed hold of her scrambling hand, gripping it in his fingertips and letting her squeeze onto it as tightly as she wished. Closing her eyes she screamed in pain once Frigga set to work. The noise echoed through the chamber and drowned out the sound of a new set of footsteps entering the room.

"What has happened?"

The new gruff voice came closer and Ella peeled her eyes open only to be greeted with the sight of her other brother. She managed a sigh of relief as Frigga finished working and Thor felt his mother wrap her arms around his neck.

"Thor," she whispered his name.

As both of them moved to their feet, Loki helped Ella to hers, letting her cradle her arm in her good hand. She swayed slightly as Loki kept his arm around her, not wanting to let go. But then Ella moved to Thor. She moved away from Loki's open grip and towards Thor, allowing him to embrace her. Loki felt his jaw clench.

"What happened?" Thor demanded once more.

"Frost Giants," Frigga answered. "They managed to get into Asgard."

"Or were they let in?" Thor asked, his voice harsh and demanding as he looked to his brother. Ella moved slightly as Thor took hold of her wrist, stopping her from going any closer to Loki. "Do you want to tell them what you did, brother?"

"What I did?" Loki echoed.

"How you came down to Earth and told me I had no hope of returning?" Thor questioned and Ella felt her brow furrow. "Or about how you sent the Destroyer to kill me?"

"No," Ella said with a firm shake of her head, pulling her wrist from Thor's grip. "No, Loki would never do that."

But then Loki stood there. He stood there and he said nothing. He remained mute, his eyes set on Thor in a glare. It couldn't be true. Loki would never stoop to such a level. She moved towards him and took hold of him by the upper arm, shaking him slightly and forcing his gaze onto hers.

"Tell him that you would never do that!" she demanded from her brother, her voice hoarse as she yelled at him and tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. "Loki. Tell him."

"He can't," Thor responded. "Because it is true. He let the Frost Giants here too. He did this to you, Ella."

"No," Ella said with a firm shake of her head. "He would never…"

"He did this."

"Stop it!" Ella roared, looking between Thor and Loki.

"Thor, this is quite difficult to believe," Frigga responded.

"It is impossible," Ella responded.

"All I ever wanted was for you to accept that I would have been better," Loki finally chimed in, voice laden with disgust as he spoke. Ella felt her stomach begin to churn at what she was hearing. Frigga looked aghast at the words she was hearing from Loki. "I would have been a better ruler than you. Look at you…stood there…but no…it should have been me. I would have ruled better than you ever could."

Looking down to his sister as she still clung onto his arm, she felt his gaze pierce hers and a moment of sorrow came over her. Had they done this to him? Had they made him feel this way? What was she supposed to think? A sense of sickness took over her and she looked away, doubling over slightly as her hand slid down Loki's arm. He caught hold of it in his hand.

"After everything that has happened," Loki said, his voice hoarse as he kept on watching his sister, "I just wanted to prove that I was good enough."

"Loki," Ella whispered and Frigga felt a tear fall down her eye.

"And the Destroyer?" Thor demanded. "The Frost Giants? Were they all part of your plan? Have you gone mad, Loki?"

"I was just enforcing father's final command," Loki responded, the sneer back in his voice as Ella dropped his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to Jotunheim and make the Forst Giants pay."

Before Thor had a chance to snap back, Loki had raised his sceptre and his brother went flying through the wall, the noise shattering as Frigga looked aghast between her two sons. Rushing to the hole in the wall, Frigga went to look for Thor, yet Ella rushed after Loki as he swept from the chamber, any pain in her arm forgotten about. She caught up with him, grabbing him by the arm and forcing him to turn to look at her.

She reacted with rage, her palm making contact with his cheek as she slapped him. Loki had the decency to tilt his head to the side, his mouth agape at his sister's actions.

"How could you?" she demanded of him, the rage inside of her too vast to contain. "He is our brother!"

"No," Loki responded, holding a finger up to silence her. "He is your brother."

"What has happened to you?" Ella demanded of him. "This is not you."

"No," Loki agreed with her. "That is because I am a Frost Giant, Ella. That is all I am. You need to accept that. You need to accept it and move on. Believe me, I certainly have."

He brushed his sister from him and moved off. But Ella was persistent. She was not going to let him run away from this. She would make sure of it.

….

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