Looking at the group around her, Ella didn't know what she should say to any of them. She had not conversed with any of them truly, nor did she have any great willing to do so. She was dressed in her usual grab of her dark blue dress complete with steel bodice. She had managed to brush her hair and tug it back from her face thanks to two pins. She had watched her brother speak with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner while Natasha and Clint stood and whispered to each other.

Loki was stood in the middle of them all, his mouth gagged and his hands bound. Thor held the tesseract in his fingertips and Ella knew that once they used it to go back to Asgard, she had no doubt Odin would lock it away. She had been stood off to the side, knowing full well that Loki was watching her when she heard a familiar voice next to her.

"So what's the plan when you go back to Asgard?"

Turning to the side, Ella folded her arms over her chest and shrugged to Steve. "I do not know," she admitted to him. "I have to admit, being on Earth has opened my eyes, truly. It is so different to Asgard. No one expects anything of you here…no one knows you…"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Steve replied to her. "Apparently we're all over the news. Chances are someone is going to find out more about us."

"Perhaps," Ella nodded her head. "You have fun with that."

Shoving his hands into his jean pockets, he leaned back slightly as he laughed and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll try."

They both lapsed into silence for a moment as Ella let her eyes fall onto Loki. Catching his gaze, she held it for a few moments, wondering what was going on in his mind before turning back to Steve. Looking up to him, she caught him watching her back as she nodded once.

"Just try not to get into anymore difficult situations," she urged from him. "I'm not going to be around to save you anymore."

Steve arched a brow, feelings his palms begin to sweat in his pockets. "You don't think you'll come back here again?"

Ella shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps," she said. "But at this moment in time I don't know how I would do that without father sending me back and, after this week, I doubt he would want me to come back for a while."

Steve nodded. "Understandable," he said, "but, hey, if you ever do decide to come back and need a tour of the city…well…I don't think I'll be too busy."

Ella smiled at hearing him before reaching up, pecking him on the cheek once as she took hold of his arm to steady herself. Steve closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her warmth, but before he could say anything she had pulled away and was turning on her heel, walking away and back to her brother. Standing there, Steve watched the back of her head, wondering what he was thinking as he felt a sense of sadness take hold of him. Was it normal to feel that way? It had been nice to meet someone who knew what it was like to be the odd one out. They both came from different times and places. True, Steve knew earth better than she did, but he still felt like a fish out of water.

"Are we ready?" Ella asked, taking hold of Thor's arm as she saw him finish conversing with Tony and Bruce.

"We are," Thor informed her.

They bid their farewells, Ella smiling politely as Thor spoke. Taking hold of the handle of the glass cylinder that the tesseract was stored in, Ella saw Loki take the other handle while Thor held the one with her. Glancing over to Steve, she managed one final smile which he returned warmly before she looked to Loki and Thor turned the handle, activating the power of the tesseract.

A sense of nausea passed through Ella as they suddenly disappeared from the Park. It didn't take long before she felt her feet hit the ground again and she opened her eyes. Peering around, she saw that they were at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge which was in the process of being rebuilt. Before she could say anything, the palace guards were swarming around them, grabbing hold of Loki before he could make any movement.

"Odin has requested he be taken to a cell until morning," one of the guards explained to Thor, completely ignoring Ella as she watched him being dragged away.

He didn't put up a fight nor did he complain. He walked willingly, his hands still cuffed in front of him and his mouth still gagged. He didn't turn to look back at them as Ella heard that their presence was requested by Odin in the Throne Room. Rolling her eyes at hearing about her father's demands, Ella followed Thor towards the palace, walking behind the guards who remained in front.

"It's odd, right?" Ella commented, feeling the need to make conversation with Thor as the silence was eating away at her. "Being home is just odd?"

"I like it," Thor responded. "Although I wish that I had time to find Jane."

"So do I," Ella replied with a nod of her head. "I would have truly liked to have met her."

"Maybe one day," Thor nodded his head. "When the Bifrost is rebuilt and the Rainbow Bridge back to how it was."

"Sounds ideal," Ella whispered.

She suspected being anywhere but on Asgard right now would be ideal. She could run away from her problems. She could live somewhere else and forget all about what Loki had done. To her, that sounded like a dream come true at that moment in time.

They conversed idly on the way to the palace, only becoming silent when they stepped into the Throne Room. Ella looked up to see her father sat in his chair while her mother stood at the bottom of the steps. Looking to Frigga, Ella felt some form of comfort as her mother stepped forwards, embracing Thor tightly.

"Mother," he greeted her.

"My darling son," she responded, kissing his cheek as Thor turned to Odin.

"Father," he responded.

Ella let her mother wrap her into a warm embrace, holding her tightly as she kissed the top of her head. Ella felt her arms move around her mother before Frigga pulled back, cupping her daughter's cheek tenderly. Nodding once to her, Frigga seemed to be conveying something but Ella didn't know what. She remained silent before looking to Odin.

"Thor…Ella…" he greeted them. "Thank you both. What you have done cannot be underestimated. Without you then Midgard may have perished with thanks to Loki. He has gone too far in his actions."

"It was not just us," Ella was the one to say. "Earth has a group of people who are able to defend it. Hopefully they will not need us again."

"I doubt that," Odin responded. "There will always be those who seek to bring chaos. Your brother was one of them. There are many more who are like him."

Ella shrugged. "And what of Loki?" she was the one to ask. "What do you intend to do with him?"

Odin looked to Frigga who remained stood with her lips pursed. There was a sense of tension between the two of them as Ella felt her mother take hold of her arm. Odin looked to the motion and sighed, peering away and to the ceiling before nodding his head to himself once.

"It is only because of your mother why Loki will keep his life."

Ella felt herself turn cold at hearing him speak like that. Thor's demeanour shifted as he moved from one foot to the other, his hands by his side as he looked to Frigga. It was then when Ella shook her head.

"You would have him executed?" Ella demanded from her father and he looked down to her.

"For the crimes he has committed, execution would be a fitting punishment."

"He is your son!" Ella yelled at him, moving one step closer to the throne. "Do you still not see it? Do you not see why he is the way that he is? You lied to him since he was a child. You have done nothing but lie to him…telling him that he may one day become King…kidnapping him and using him as a pawn in your games. Loki is the way he is because of you. You could have saved him that day on the Bridge. You could have stopped him from this descent if you had just said the one thing he needed to hear!"

"Enough!" Odin roared at his daughter, his voice booming throughout the room as Thor moved up the one step, taking hold of Ella by the arm to try and control her. "Do you think that Loki is so innocent in all of this? He made his choice, Ella. He chose to go Earth and he chose to try and rule."

"He would never have been there if you had saved him," Ella responded.

Odin shook his head. "I saw you on Earth, Ella. You told Loki that he needed to take responsibility for his actions. You told him that he needed to stop blaming everyone else for his actions. Yet you do the same. You blame everyone else but him."

Ella ground her teeth together and shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "I blame Loki for what he did on Earth, but I blame you for driving him to it because of your lies and secrets."

"Ella," Thor hissed at his sister.

Looking to him, she realised that he had no idea before she began to speak. "You do not know everything, do you?" she said to him. "Do you know how our father had intended to form an allegiance between the Frost Giants and Asgard?"

"Yes, that was why he took Loki."

Ella let out a hollow laugh. "No," she shook her head. "He took him because he thought that it would be good in the future if the Prince of Jotunheim could marry a Princess of Asgard."

"It was a foolish plan."

"But it was still a plan," Ella said. "You took Loki and you planned out his future but never gave him any hope. This goes further than New York."

"You speak out of turn," Odin said to his daughter.

"Perhaps," Ella mused, "but he is still my brother and you sit there and speak of how you would execute him if it was not for mother…your own son…as if you hold no responsibility for the man he has turned out to be. You would wash your hands of him as though he meant nothing."

"Do you think that this does not torture me?" Odin demanded.

"You do not act as though it does," Ella responded. "And I don't know what to think about that."

Ella shrugged Thor from her and began moving out from the Throne Room.

"Ella, do not walk away from me."

But she was not listening. Leaving the room, Ella stalked towards her chamber and once again found herself shut away.

…

Frigga knew exactly what was going on in Ella's mind. She had tried silently to convey that to her, but she had failed miserably. Instead she had watched on as her daughter argued with her husband and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop them. Ella was deflecting and Frigga could see it. While she was angry with Odin for what he had done, Frigga knew that Ella put most of the blame on her own shoulders.

Stepping into her daughter's chamber after using her magic to unlock the door, she found Ella curled up on the long chaise longue on her balcony. Stepping towards her, Frigga perched down on the end of the seat and moved her arm around Ella's shoulders. Without much persuasion, her daughter nestled into her side and allowed her mother to hold her.

"I do not blame him…not entirely," Ella muttered.

She had changed into her white nightgown and tied her hair behind her face, pinning most of it to the nape of her neck.

"I know," Frigga said. "I know how you blame yourself."

"How do you know that?" Ella wondered, her voice inquisitive as Frigga's lips tugged upwards.

"Because you are my daughter," was all that Frigga said to her. "I know you better than you think. You were always the one who was closest to Loki. You were the one he understood and you thought you understood him. You did not fail him, Ella. You could never fail him."

"But I did," Ella protested. "I couldn't stop him from doing what he did, mother. I couldn't stop him."

"Neither could I, your father or Thor," Frigga responded. "Loki's mind was made up and he chose the path that he did. I…if anyone is to be to blame then it should be your father and I for how we treated him."

"You did everything for him," Ella responded, pulling back slightly to look her mother in the eye as Frigga offered her a sad smile, her hand moving to hold her cheek tenderly. "You taught him your magic. You adored him."

"And as a mother, I still failed him," she responded. "Believe me, sweetling, you are not the only one who feels guilt over his actions. I just need you to know that none of this was caused by you. You did everything you could. You always have for Loki."

Closing her eyes as she let her head rest on her mother's shoulder, Ella said nothing further as Frigga considered her actions for that evening.

…

Frigga had taken a seat in the chair in the cell while Loki stood on the other side, hands behind his back as he watched his mother. She had placed a stack of books on the table by the small bed and had said nothing before taking her seat. Loki had quirked a brow but remained mute, knowing that the woman in front of him knew him better than he liked to think.

"Your sister has been wracked with guilt," Frigga finally broke her silence. "She is not the only, mind you, but I know that she is the one you adore the most."

"She is not my sister," Loki responded.

"She will always be your sister," Frigga quickly shot back. "To pretend anything otherwise would be naïve and I know you are anything but naïve, Loki."

Loki let out a deep breath and shrugged, moving around the cell. "Why does she feel guilt?"

"Because she betrayed you during your time on Asgard as king," Frigga responded. "Because she could not stop you on Midgard."

"No one could have stopped me."

"But she thought that she could," Frigga said. "She had faith that you had a strong enough relationship. I always thought that you did. She has been nothing but loyal to you, Loki, even in front of Odin, she defends you. She blames him…herself…"

"Last night she informed me that I was the only one to blame for my actions."

"And you are," Frigga nodded her head. "It still doesn't stop her for looking for excuses for your behaviour. Did you truly wish to hurt her like this? Did you wish to see her suffer?"

Loki looked away then, his fingers forming into a fist and then flexing back out again as he paced once more and Frigga watched his movements. She said nothing for a moment before moving to her feet, patting the pile of books she had brought down to him.

"Your sister never enjoyed studying," Frigga continued to talk. "I used to think that marriage was the only path for her…it would make her happy…but now I see differently. Ella has her own path to follow. Regardless, you might enjoy these more than she did."

Loki looked to the books before looking to his mother. There was a moment of vulnerability in his eyes as Frigga stepped towards him, looking him in the eye.

"I am still your mother, Loki."

"But you're not," he responded, a sadness to his voice and Frigga almost felt a pain in her chest at hearing him.

"Perhaps not by blood, but in every other sense I am," she responded. "I taught you everything…raised you…"

"Lied to me."

"I never wished to," Frigga replied. "If I could turn back time then I would. Perhaps then I would not have to watch my three children suffer as they do in this moment in time."

Loki said nothing further as Frigga knew she should go before Odin questioned her absence.

"Would you like me to send a message to Ella or Thor?"

"No," Loki simply said and sat on the edge of his bed. "I have nothing to say to either of them."

"Loki-"

"-I asked her to stay," Loki interrupted his mother. "I asked her to stay with me through everything and she made her choice. She decided to go with Thor instead of me. She abandoned me."

Frigga arched a brow and shook her head. "No, Loki," she shook her head. "Ella never abandoned you. Ella did the right thing. You chose not to. You abandoned her."

Before Loki could protest, Frigga had disappeared, leaving him alone in the cell. He took a moment to calm his erratic breathing before laying on his back, looking to the ceiling and knowing that his sister was somewhere above him. Despite all of his bravado and talk, everything he had said was a lie. There was one person he missed and that was the one person he had hurt the most.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think as we move into The Dark World!