Thor and Ella didn't know what to do as soon as they heard the news. Both of them had been summoned by Odin to the Throne Room as soon while they had been wandering the gardens. Thor had been particularly attentive as of recent to his younger sister. He forfeited time training with Lady Sif and the Warriros Three in order to be with his sister. Ella had not been herself since that night, but Thor was trying to put things right.

He knew that she blamed herself for everything that had happened with Loki, but he knew that he was the one to blame. If he had only treated Loki differently then things may have been different. He may not have resented him like he did. But, on the other hand, Thor knew that Loki placed a great deal of anger on Odin, as did Ella. She had barely conversed with their father since Loki had fallen, blaming him for Loki letting go.

"What do you think he wants?" Ella enquired from Thor as she walked towards the Throne Room by his side.

"I do not know," Thor responded to her. "It may be nothing."

"Then why could it not wait until dinner this evening?" Ella asked him back.

Thor's lips quirked as he peered down to his sister. "You are always so willing to think the worst, sweet sister."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Because the worst is usually what happens recently. We both know that."

Thor let out a rueful shrug in agreement with what she was saying. He suspected that she had a point. Keeping still as the doors opened to the Throne Room, Ella and Thor looked into the room before walking in, hearing the doors close behind them. Moving closer to the throne, Ella turned to see her mother stood on the bottom step of the platform. Frigga had her hands holding her cheeks, her eyes wide and wet.

"What is it?" Ella was the one to ask, concern etching her voice as she moved to her mother and Frigga took hold of her gently. "Mother, what is wrong?"

"Your brother has been found alive," Odin spoke, his voice echoing around the room.

Thor and Ella looked confused at the news before letting it sink in. It was then when Ella let her lips quirk and a smile broke out on her face as a hollow laugh escaped her. Turning back to her mother, she saw that her face was still forlorn. The tears she shed were not ones of happiness. Confusion instantly took hold of both Thor and Ella once again.

"But is that not good news?" Thor demanded from his father, refusing to stop smiling at the news that Loki was still alive. "Loki is alive!"

"Loki has betrayed us, son," Odin said and Ella's brows furrowed as Frigga increased her grip around her daughter, refusing to let go of her out of fear. It was a moment or two before she even looked to her father as he continued speaking. "Loki is on Midgard. He has killed humans…he has the Tesseract."

Both Ella and Thor had heard stories of the Tesseract. They knew the powers that it held and they knew that it had been in their father's vault before he had taken it to Earth. Ella said nothing for a few moments, not entirely certain what she was hearing. Loki had killed. Loki had gone to Earth and killed.

"You are lying," Ella said confidently, releasing her mother. "Why would Loki do that?"

"Ella…" Frigga sighed her daughter's name.

"No," Ella said before Frigga could say anything further. "He would never do that. You have to be mistaken. I do not believe you."

"Well, you should," Odin was the one to snap, wondering how much longer he was going to row with his daughter. "I have seen it myself. Heimdall has confirmed it. Loki has the Tesseract. He destroyed a base on Earth and killed people."

"But why?" Thor demanded. "Why would he do this?"

"Because he wants power," Odin said. "He wants to rule. He could not rule Asgard, so he will rule Midgard."

"No!" Ella snapped out, realising that she sounded like a petulant little child as she shouted at her father, hands balled into fists by her side as she watched him, peering up to him with rage. "Loki would never do that. He would never willingly kill. You are mistaken…or it was not him…this is not Loki."

"Ella," Frigga tried to call her daughter once more and this time she listened. Holding her hands out, Frigga watched on as Ella moved towards her and took hold of her hands. Ella held onto her mother's hands as she closed her eyes and Frigga did the same, using her magic to show Ella what she had seen.

Visions of Loki flashed before Ella. She saw him on Earth. She saw him with a sceptre in his fingertips and a smirk on his face. She saw him use the sceptre to hit a man. She saw a blue light flash from it as it flung someone to the ground. She heard the screams of the men as their last breath left their body. She saw all of it.

Recoiling from her mother's hands as she stepped backwards, Ella looked to Thor. He was still in disbelief of it all. He didn't believe it. But the look on his sister's face told him that it was true. It was no lie. Loki had done the things that he was accused of.

"But why?" Ella managed to croak out.

"We do not know truthfully," Frigga said, still hoping that there was some redemption for her son. She hoped that he was being controlled. She hoped that he was not himself. "That is why we need to find out."

"How?" Thor asked. "How can we do that when the Bifrost is destroyed?"

"I have enough energy to send you to Earth," Odin declared. "I need you to bring him home before he does something he will regret."

"I want to go," Ella was the one to speak. "If Thor is going then I want to go with him. I deserve to be able to go with him."

"No," Odin said. "It is too dangerous."

"Because I am not a man?" Ella demanded. "In case you forget, Asgardians are stronger than any human. I may not be as strong as Thor, but compared to the humans, I am strong."

"Ella is right," Thor said. "Perhaps not about the strength, but about coming with me."

Ella looked to her brother as Thor took a step up towards the Throne, speaking to Odin in a reasoned tone. He would never have been so mature prior to everything that had happened. He was different. He was no longer the immature, spoiled Prince of Asgard.

"We all know that Ella is the only one who may be able to reason with Loki," Thor continued. "It was Ella who always had Loki's ear. It was Ella who always had his confidence. He is my brother and I adore him. I want him home. But I know that he may not listen to me, not like he will listen to Ella."

Odin seemed to consider what he was hearing from Thor before he nodded once. "You are to take care of her," Odin spoke, voice strong.

"You are to take care of each other," Frigga spoke instead, looking to her children. "And take care of Loki…bring him back to us…please…"

…

Ella had to confess that she felt ill as she held onto her brother's hands. She had changed into a dark blue dress with a black swirled pattern, but the bodice was metal armour, intricately decorated while a blue cape flowed down her back. She had pinned her hair behind her ears, keeping it from her face. Thor held onto her hands tightly, realising that his sister had never travelled beyond Asgard.

"Just hold on," Thor urged from her in a gentle tone. "We will be there before you know it."

"I know," Ella said, managing a smile for him.

Ella looked to her mother one final time, the elder woman offering her daughter a smile and a nod of her head before Odin used all of the powers that he had inside of him. She waited for the feeling of falling and it came before she knew it. She didn't scream. She remained silent as she closed her eyes, not daring to open them in fear of what she saw.

Before she knew it, she heard lightning echoing around her and she was moving through the air. It was cold and dark as she struggled to get her surroundings. Saying nothing as she realised Thor was holding his hammer in front and flying, she looked around. All that she could see on the ground were trees. She bit down on her tongue before she felt Thor land on something that was moving.

"What is this?" Ella demanded, standing on the flying contraption as she looked down to it and Thor let his lips quirk at her shocked tone.

"Wait here," Thor demanded and he moved along the top of the plane while Ella remained stood up, looking around and wondering how fast she was going.

It was another moment before she saw Thor emerge, but he was not alone. Loki was in his grip. Thor had him by the scruff of his neck as Ella watched him. Loki's eyes made contact with hers and she instantly felt herself tearing up as Thor took hold of her by the waist and all three of them began hurtling to the ground.

Thor dropped Loki first, watching him fall to the floor before he gracefully landed alongside Ella. Moving towards her brother, Ella helped Loki to his feet and wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck, her body pressing against his as she buried her face against his shoulder. Loki stiffened at the contact before looking down to the top of his sister's head. He looked up once more, his eyes meeting his brothers as Thor wondered what Loki was doing.

Loki would never have hesitated to hold Ella when she was in such distress. He would comfort her through the most trivial of things. Yet there he stood, his hands by his sides as he refused to comfort her.

"We thought you dead!" Ella finally snapped out, pulling back and pushing at Loki's shoulders as he stumbled back a step, shocked by her strength. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks puffy, but there was a rage inside of her. She moved to hit at him again as she continued to yell. "We thought that you had died and here you are! What are you doing, Loki? What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?"

"Do not lie to me," Loki hissed, pushing his sister's hands away from him as he turned on his heel and began to move around the ledge of the cliff they were stood on.

"We do not lie," Thor was the one to snap as Loki turned back to face them. "We speak the truth, Loki."

"And how am I to believe anything either of you say?" Loki demanded.

"Because you are our brother-"

"-No," Loki interrupted, holding his finger up. "I am not your brother."

"We were raised alongside each other, Loki," Thor said. "We fought together, we did everything side by side. Does that mean nothing to you?"

"I remember a shadow," Loki said and Ella almost heard sorrow in his voice. "I remember constantly living under your shadow. Everything that I did was never good enough. It was never good enough for you or father."

"And me and mother?" Ella wondered of him as her skirts flew in the light breeze and she met Loki's eye once more. "We did nothing but love you, Loki. We adore you. We want you to come home. Give up this ridiculous plot of yours."

"I mean to rule Earth," Loki responded. "It is as it should be."

"Because you think these people beneath you?" Thor enquired.

"Yes."

"Then you do not understand what it means to rule," Thor responded. "Listen to me, Loki, you give up this notion. You give up the Tesseract and you come home. Whoever is controlling you will not prevail."

"No one rules me!" Loki snarled at him.

"Then how did you find the Tesseract?" Ella demanded of him.

"I found it because I…"

Loki trailed off as something seemed to fly out of nowhere and tackle Thor from the cliff that he stood on. Ella's eyes widened as she saw him move from the cliff and fly into the clearing beneath, a man in some kind of metal suit pushing him. Ella looked down to him as Loki did the same, both of them stood on the edge of the cliff.

"I believe that is the one they call Iron Man," Loki informed his sister.

"What?" Ella wondered as she watched Thor duel with him. "What is that?"

"He is a hero on Earth," Loki responded. "Then again, Midgardians are desperate to have someone to worship."

"I do not think so," Ella said, looking to him once more. "They do not want someone to worship. They want someone there that they can look to in times of need…that is a hero, Loki…not someone who demands praise and worship."

Loki looked back to her then, his eyes showing something different as both of them remained still. Ella folded her arms over her chest, knowing that she couldn't do act like Thor. She couldn't be brash and demanding. Loki didn't respond to that.

"What is the plan, Loki?" she asked, her voice soft. "You cannot take over a planet by yourself."

"I have an army," Loki said. "The Chitauri."

"So what will you do?" Ella enquired from him. "Summon this army and kill people who do not want to be ruled? Whatever has happened…whatever you have done…it is not too late, Loki. You can come home."

"Asgard is not my home and Odin is not my father," Loki declared.

"Then I am not your sister."

"We have established this."

"Then I mean nothing to you," Ella said.

Loki said nothing further. He remained silent before looking away, his eyes closing for a brief moment before he felt Ella take hold of his arm, gripping onto it tightly.

"Loki," Ella whispered his name. "If I ever meant anything to you…if you ever loved me…then do this for me…do it for mother…come home. Please."

"Join me."

His words were completely contradictory. Ella didn't know what more she could do apart from drop his arm from her grip and look at him like he had gone completely crazy. But Loki was fast. His hands went to take hold of her by the shoulders gently as he bent down to look her in the eye.

"We worked well together on Asgard," Loki declared. "You know that, Ella. We can do the same here. We can step out from Thor's shadow."

Ella almost felt herself scoff. She tugged her shoulders from him and stepped backwards. She looked to him and shook her head before she heard footsteps approaching. Loki knew her answer and he could see the look of hurt on her face. But he did not care. Hurting his sister was never what he longed to do, but he had done it. He had hurt her and he had ruined her.

"Ella."

Thor's voice snapped her eyes to him and he saw the tears threatening to spill.

"A sister?" the man in the iron suit spoke and Ella looked over to him as a man in a blue, red and white suit stood behind him. "I can see who is the black sheep in the family."

"We are working with them," Thor informed Ella in a gruff voice before taking hold of Loki by his arm once more and Ella furrowed her brow. What was going on? They were supposed to take Loki back to Asgard.

But Ella said nothing as her brother and the man they called Iron Man walked on the other side of Loki. The one with the shield in the suit remained stood behind, his arm in front of him as his blue eyes met Ella's eyes.

"After you, ma'am," he said in a polite tone and Ella moved in front of them, wondering exactly what was going to happen.

…

"We need to bring him home."

Ella implored from her brother as she stood with him in the corridor of the hellicarrier they had been brought to. She looked to Thor as he stood with his hand on his chin and his other hand holding his hammer. Ella stood across from him, both her hands by her side.

"I know," Thor said to her. "But why did he not run?"

"Excuse me?"

"When I was fighting," Thor said, "why did Loki not run? He could have ran away from you."

"I do not know," Ella said. "Maybe he just…maybe…deep down…he wants to come home?"

"No," Thor said with certainty. "Loki has a plan. We need to find out what it is. I need to find out what he has planned and take him back to Asgard before he can go through with it."

"Then you need to talk to those people in there."

"And where will you be?"

"Talking to our brother," Ella said. "He is still our brother, Thor. He will always be our brother."

Ella began to walk down the corridor in an attempt to find her brother. Thor moved in the other direction. It was she walked down the corridors when she realised the people she were passing were looking at her with peculiar glances. She suspected she knew why, but she did not comment or look back. Wandering towards where she had seen Loki being taken, she saw a familiar figure in the distance.

The man with the blue, white and red suit was walking towards her, but his hood was pulled down. His blond hair was neatly coiffed and parted on top of his head. He looked to Ella and offered her a small nod.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier," he spoke. "My name is Steve Rogers."

"Ella Odinsdottir, Princess of Asgard," Ella said and the man's lips quirked.

"That's quite a mouthful," he commented.

"Is it?" Ella asked, brows furrowing together. "Well, most people just call me Ella."

"Nice to meet you," Steve commented.

"Likewise," Ella nodded once back. "Anyway, I need to go and speak to Loki…see if I can get to the bottom of what is happening."

"Do you think that you can?"

"I can only try," she shrugged. "He was not like this…this isn't him…the brother I grew up with."

"No offence, ma'am, but he seems quite unstable."

Ella scoffed and nodded her head. "I think that has something to do with what happened in the past. It is a long story, but I just want someone to believe that Loki can be saved. I know he can be. I just need to get through to him."

Steve frowned. "He has killed eighty people in two days," he informed her and she felt her chest tighten before looking away. "If you can persuade him to stop then that would be great. We all want that. I just don't see a man who can be reasoned with."

"You do not know him," Ella snapped. "None of you know him."

Before Steve could apologise for upsetting her, she was already storming away from him and towards the room where her brother was being held. Watching her go, Steve wondered if she felt just as out of place in this world as he did.

…

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