Ella stood up after checking on Jane once they had reached The Dark World. She pulled her cloak tightly around her body before nodding to Thor. Jane was alive, but she was barely just holding on. Ella folded her arms around her waist, looking to her brother as she stood opposite Thor and Loki navigated the ship.

"Her pulse is weak," Ella commented. "She needs to get it out of her sooner rather than later."

"Hopefully that is what will be done," Thor said and Loki looked over to Jane.

"But the power that she has in those veins," Loki mused, "imagine what I could do with it."

"Do not even think of it," Ella said, pointing to him as he managed a smirk in her direction. The new realm they had entered was quiet and cold. The sun was setting slowly and there was wreckage of ships everywhere.

"The power would consume you," Thor said.

"She is coping," Loki said. "At least for now."

"Then you should say goodbye."

"Not on this day."

"This day…tomorrow…next year…it matters not. It is a heartbeat. You will never be ready to love her. The only woman you have ever loved will be taken from you," Loki said and Ella's mouth gaped as she stood up straight and looked to him.

"Loki," she snapped.

"And will that make you happy?" Thor demanded from Loki, also rising to his feet.

"I'm not often happy," Loki responded.

"And I'm not one to admit to defeat," Thor said and Loki rolled his eyes.

"The son of Odin," he said in response as Thor stepped closer towards his brother.

"No, not just the son of Odin, but the son of Frigga. Do you think that you alone mourn for her? She might have gifted you her tricks, but I held her trust," Thor said, his voice rising as Ella shook her head.

"Don't fight," she urged the pair of them, but it was too late as her pleas fell on death ears.

"Trust?" Loki spat out the word. "How could she trust you? Where were you when she was under attack? Did she trust you when you let her die?"

"And what help were you?" Thor demanded as Ella shook her head.

"Who put me in that cell?" Loki snarled back at his brother. "Who put me there?"

Moving to grab hold of Loki by the lapels of his cloak, Thor pushed him backwards until he was off of his feet and resting against the side of the ship. Ella moved then, grabbing hold of Thor and tried to haul him away from Loki. She struggled with his weight as Loki remained silent, not bothered at all by Thor's brutish behaviour.

"Stop it!" Ella snapped at them, finally managing to find a gap between Thor and Loki as she inserted herself there. "If you both want someone to blame for mother's death then blame me, but do not fight. She would not want that."

"No one blames you," Loki said in a small voice.

"But you blame Thor?" Ella questioned him. "Why blame Thor and not me? Loki, if you are saying these things out of spite then stop. Both of you need to realise we need to work together to save Jane."

Thor and Loki eyed each other with contempt. "She is right," Thor announced with a nod of his head. "Mother would not want this."

"Well, I doubt she would be shocked," Loki said with a nod of his head.

"Probably not," Ella agreed, "but you both know as well as I do that we have bigger things to worry about now."

"Aye," Thor said and sat back down on the side of the ship. "So what is the plan?"

…

Ella kept an arm around Jane once the ship had landed and they were on ground. She kept her arm fixed around her shoulders as the young woman stumbled forwards, following Loki and Thor towards the site where Malekith had landed his own ship. Gulping, Ella wondered if they were wise keeping Jane in the dark of the plan, but she suspected it was the only way.

As they hid over the lip of the hill, Ella felt a hand take hold of her arm and she turned to see Loki. Bending down, he brushed his lips against her cheek, whispering in her ear as he pulled back.

"Don't do anything foolish."

"I could say the same thing to you," she responded.

The four of them stood at the foot of the hill before Thor released Loki from the handcuffs that had bound him. Ella stayed with Jane as Loki and Thor moved down the hill, talking to each other in hushed tones. Jane managed to look to Ella, her eyes hooded and her breathing uneven.

"What is the plan?" she asked from Ella.

"Just know that the plan is to keep you safe," Ella responded to her. "That is all we are trying to do, Jane."

It was only as she said that when Thor screamed loudly and Jane looked up, the sight of Loki with a dagger in his hands enough to make her scream his name in fear. Loki plunged the dagger into Thor's side and he tumbled down the hill. Loki followed after him as Jane moved to her feet and ran down the hill towards him, stumbling behind Loki as Ella kept up with her pace, knowing she had to keep by her side.

"Do you really think that I cared about Frigga? About anybody?" Loki demanded, kicking Thor in the stomach and watching him roll over. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

Thor moved his arm out, calling for his hammer that he had dropped, but Loki was quicker than his hammer. In a moment, he had cut Thor's hand off at the wrist and Jane finally came to his side, bending down and taking hold of him. Ella kept back, standing just behind Loki as he took hold of Jane by her midriff, hauling her up and against him as Malekith approached them.

"Malekith, I bring you a gift," Loki called out. "I ask only that I have a good seat to watch Asgard burn."

Loki tossed Jane to the floor then, hearing her grunt as she fell before Malekith and the Dark Elf spoke to the creature next to him, clearly discussing the proposal. Ella stayed behind Loki as he turned his head over his shoulder to look to her, urging her to stay calm as she gave him a knowing glance.

Malekith walked towards Thor and kicked him until he lay on his back. "Look at me," he demanded from Thor as he moved a hand out towards Jane and then turned his gaze to her. She rose into the air and red matter seemed to come pouring out of her body. Ella suspected it was the Aether he was transferring from her to himself. Ella gulped as she saw the final bit of it transfer from Jane and the mortal fell to the floor. It was then when they made their move.

"Loki! Now!" Thor called out and Loki moved his hand in front of him, his magic disappearing to reveal an uninjured Thor who conjured his hammer back to his hand.

Ella took that as her note to get to Jane as the Aether remained in the air. Rushing to the woman, she flung her body over hers as Loki covered Ella, his chest on her back as his hands held her upper arms. Lightning came from Thor's hammer as he harnessed his power towards Malekith and the Aether, a huge exploding suddenly occurring as smoke came up from the ground. The four of them peered around, wondering what was happening as shards of red lay on the ground. The pieces made their way towards Malekith and Ella shook her head.

"He has the Aether now," she whispered.

"Get her away from here," Jane demanded from his sister as he moved to his feet.

Ella took hold of Jane by the arm, hauling her to her feet as she pushed her away from the battle as the Dark Elves gathered, preparing for battle. Ella managed to get Jane to the foot of the hill before turning to see three of them converging towards her. Ella gulped and used her magic to conjure up a blade. Stepping forwards, she twirled it between her hands before she saw them pull out their own weapons. She moved with haste, keeping her distance and slicing the neck of one before ducking out of the way of a blade heading towards her.

She stood then and plunged the blade into the second creature's stomach before looking to the final one. She gained control of the weapon and engaged in combat, finally getting the upper hand when she managed to knock it off balance and stab it in the chest. Panting for breath, she barely noticed the hidden creature moving towards her.

"Ella!" Jane roared loudly.

But she was too late. The blade nicked at her shoulder, slicing the skin as she yelled out in pain and fell to her knees. The creature kicked her in the back as she lay on the ground, rolling onto her front in time to see it raise its sword above its head. She kicked it in the stomach, seeing it stumble back as she moved to her feet, her shoulder aching as she reached for her dropped blade. Grabbing hold of it, she hunched over in pain as the creature seemed to smirk.

"No!"

Ella had no idea where the noise of Loki had come from, but the next thing she saw was a blade protruding through the creature's waist. Ella sighed in relief, but she hadn't anticipated the creature's next move. He turned around and took hold of Loki by the shoulder, impaling him onto the same blade as Ella screamed loudly as her brother fell to the floor.

Loki looked up as the creature turned back to Ella and the next thing he saw was the sword he was holding ram into her stomach.

"No!" Loki roared loudly as his sister fell to the floor near him.

Loki heard Thor roar loudly, approaching with haste and using his hammer to hit the creature, sending it flying back. He engaged in battle with it as Loki managed to crawl to his sister's side, seeing her hands holding onto her stomach, the blade still stuck there. He moved his hands to her cheeks, cradling them softly as he saw her close her eyes.

"Ella, don't you dare," he demanded from her.

Her eyes opened again and she looked to Loki as he continued to turn pale and she shook her head, moving her hand out to take hold of one of his.

"Don't you dare die," she demanded from him.

"Ella, I need you to stay with me."

"I can't," Ella said with a small whimper. "Loki…I can't…"

"Ella! Loki!"

Thor's booming voice entered their ears as he moved in between them. He said nothing as he watched his sister look to Loki, tears in her eyes as Loki continued to watch her, his mind wandering what the hell he should be doing. There was no chance that Thor would move if he were still alive. Despite his tendency to bicker with his brother, Thor would never leave him.

"I'm sorry," Loki said with haste, knowing that he had to be quick and convincing. "I'm sorry for everything…"

"No," Ella said with haste. "Loki, don't you dare."

"I love you," Loki said quickly, looking between Thor and Ella. "And I always have done. I'm sorry."

It was then when Loki closed his eyes and Ella shook her head as Thor shook his brother, but nothing happened. He didn't open his eyes. He didn't move. He was still. Ella began sobbing loudly, pain coming through her stomach where the blade sat as Jane knelt by her side as Thor let tears fall down his cheeks at the sight of Loki's body.

"Thor, we need to get her to a hospital," Jane said to him, knowing that it was cruel to take him from his brother, but he needed to save his sister. "We need to get her back to Asgard."

Thor nodded, looking to Loki as Ella kept her eyes fixed on his corpse. Thor turned his attention to his sister as she shook her head.

"No," she said quickly. "He isn't gone. He isn't gone…Thor…"

"Ella, listen to me," Thor urged from his sister. "I need to take you."

"No," Ella snapped. "He needs to come with us."

"I will come back for him," Thor promised his sister. "But I need you to live, Ella, and that isn't going to happen if we stay here. Loki wants you to survive. He loves you, just as I love you, but we need to go."

Ella continued to protest, but Thor moved quickly. He took hold of her, grabbing her gently as Jane fretted around her, trying to keep the blade steady, knowing that they couldn't take it out now without the correct medical equipment. Ella looked over her brother's shoulder to Loki's body, tears still falling down her cheeks as she saw his body becoming smaller in the distance as she mourned him.

…

Thor knew that Odin would be angry when he returned to Asgard. He would be disappointed with everything that he had done and stop him from going after Malekith. That was why Thor had sent word to Heimdall to meet him at the edge of the waters to take his sister back. Thor knew that he had to continue to Midgard and the only way to do that was to use the portal Loki had shown them. He had handed his sister over to Heimdall before leaving with Jane, promising to come back to her.

Ella had vaguely recalled her brother leaving her. She had been in and out of consciousness, her eyes closing and then fluttering open. She had been put to sleep once she had returned to Asgard. She only awoke when she was in the process of being healed. She was somehow in her own chamber, covered with her duvet and resting against her pillow. She managed to open her eyes and look to the side, the sight of her father by her bedside enough to make her contemplate what he was going to say to her.

"Ella," he whispered her name as she gulped, her mouth dry as her stomach ached. She tried to sit up, but Odin held a hand out to stop her. "Don't move. You need to rest."

"Thor?" she managed to ask.

"Fled for Midgard once he had returned you," Odin said. "I have sent some guards to The Dark World to find Loki."

Ella shook her head. "He died," she whispered, tears once again forming in her eyes. "He died."

Odin saw her move her hands to her face as her body shook up and down. He moved a hand out and took hold of her fingers inside of his, holding them tightly as she continued to sob. Odin said nothing. Instead he chose to keep silent, his hand holding his daughter's hand as he mourned silently for his adopted son alongside his daughter.

….

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