After the incident in the weapon's vault, Astrid walked around aimlessly, trying to clear her mind and make sense of the new information she had been told. It didn't work.

By the time she made her way to her father's side, her mother told her that Loki was now officially king of Asgard until Odin awoke. She also informed her that Loki had already been by to talk to her about his parentage.

"I tried convincing him that we are his family and that we love him, but I fear he does not believe me," Frigga glanced up at her. "Perhaps you could convince him."

Astrid looked away, not being able to meet her mother's gaze. "I don't think he wants to see me right now," she admitted sadly.

Her mother saw the look in her eyes, but did not press further.

Most of her time was spent next to her father's side, along with her mother. The few times she did try to approach Loki, the guards told her that he was busy and did not wish to be interrupted. Astrid reluctantly left every time. She wished she could go back to that moment in the vault and change the way she reacted. She would give anything to change what had happened if it meant that this rift would not appeared between them.

A day later, Astrid watched the sky of Asgard darken for the night as she approached her father's side once more. He had not changed.

Frigga sat on his other side, eyes watching her husband protectively, yet sadly.

"I'm here now, mother. You can go rest."

Frigga glanced up at her daughter and gave her a weary smile. "Thank you dear, but that is not necessary."

"You need to rest, mother. Please," Astrid pleaded quietly as she went to her mother's side and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

Frigga squeezed back in response. "I will soon. I promise."

Astrid sighed in defeat, but nodded. As she headed to the other side of the large bed, she heard something outside the door.

Her head whipped towards the closed doors as she heard a loud thump and watched in horror as ice slowly started to spread from the center of the two large golden doors.

Frigga immediately jumped into action and grabbed a sword that rested by the bed, but all Astrid could do was stare as the doors burst open to reveal two Frost Giants.

"Run, Astrid!" Frigga demanded as the first giant came towards her. Astrid backed away, glancing around desperately for another weapon.

Frigga slashed the sword across the chest of the first giant and he went down, but before she could swing the sword up again, the other giant knocked her out of the way with his large arm, sending her rolling across the room.

"Mother!" Astrid cried as she ran to her side, fearfully looking up at the Frost Giant that towered above them. And she recognized him. Laufey.

Laufey barely spared her a glance before heading towards Odin.

Astrid spotted the sword that her mother had dropped and reached for it, clasping it in her hand.

Frigga grabbed her hand in warning, but she ripped away from her and approached the king of the Frost Giants.

He had just made it to Odin's bed when Astrid slashed the sword down his back.

Laufey let out a howl of pain as he turned around, locking his blood red eyes on her. The same shade as Loki's.

She backed away to raise her sword again, but his blue hand shot out and grabbed her throat.

Astrid sputtered as she lost her grip of the sword. It clattered to the ground as Laufey gripped her throat tightly and Astrid began to feel the burn from the cold. Her hands reached up to pry his hand away from her neck, but it was so use.

Astrid saw an ice shard grow in Laufey's hand and she heard her mother cry out desperately as she charged Laufey, but he simply laughed and kicked her away.

Laufey smirked at her and glanced at Odin, who was still asleep in his bed. "It is said that you can still hear what is going on around you," he turned back to look at Astrid, as she struggled in his grip. The lack of air and the burn around her throat made her see black around the edges of her vision. "I hope it's true. So you can hear me kill your daughter before I kill you. And before you die, you will know that her death, as well as yours, will come at the hands of Laufey."

Astrid met his red eyes, fear creeping up her body as the shard came into her line of vision. A whimper escaped her throat as he brought it closer to her body.

Before the shard could plunge into her body, a bright blast knocked Laufey away from her and Astrid fell to the floor, coughing, before glancing up to see Loki standing in the doorway with Odin's staff, his golden horns proudly resting on his head.

"And your death came by the son of Odin," Loki declared before he pointed the staff at Laufey, before another blast shot out of the tip, disintegrating Laufey where he lay.

As the embers from what was left of Laufey died, Loki and Frigga both hurried to Astrid's side.

Her coughs had subsided and she was no longer gasping for air as Frigga checked her over, pausing as the slight burn mark around her neck, before pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

Astrid looked at Loki over her mother's shoulder and gave him a small smile, grabbing his hand and squeezing in thanks. She saw the small smile cross his face and the relief bloom in his eyes as he gave a small squeeze back.

As Frigga pulled away, Loki looked at her and his eyes turned serious. "They will pay for what that have done today."

Frigga looked at her son before pulling him into a hug as well.

"Loki!" a voice called from the doorway. Astrid turned her head to see Thor standing there.

"Thor!" Frigga exclaimed as she let go of Loki and raced to her oldest, pulling him into a hug as well. Astrid smiled in relief, seeing her older brother safe and back home. His concerned eyes met hers for a moment, but when he noticed she was fine, they turned back to Loki.

Thor hugged his mother with one arm, the other holding his hammer, but his eyes were locked on Loki. As Frigga let go, Thor took a step towards him. "Did you tell her?" he questioned him. "How you sent the Destroyer to kill my friends, to kill me?"

"What?" Frigga gasped, turning to look at Loki. Astrid faced her brother as well.

"I was simply enforcing Odin's last command," Loki explained calmly.

"You're a talented liar, brother. You always have been," Thor seethed.

"It's good to have you back," Loki smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go destroy Jotunheim." With that, he aimed the spear towards Thor and sent Thor crashing through the wall of the tower with another blast.

Astrid gasped loudly and Frigga reached towards Loki, but he brushed her away as he strode out of the room. "Get her to the healers," he commanded as he left the room, cape flapping behind him.

Frigga looked torn, but as she looked down at her daughter, the burn in the shape of a hand print wrapped around her throat caught her attention and she pulled Astrid to her feet and started to lead her to the healing room.

"But what about Thor and Loki?!" Astrid demanded as she tried to escape her mother's iron grip.

"I will deal with them. But you need to get that looked at. And that is final," Frigga finished as she saw Astrid open her mouth to protest.

Astrid grimaced, but closed her mouth and allowed her mother to take her to the healer. There was no arguing with her mother.

As they approached the healing ward, Astrid's mind turned back to her brothers and what they were doing at that very moment.

Loki's POV

Loki was lying on the Rainbow Bridge with Thor's hammer sitting on his chest, holding him down, preventing him from moving. He let out a groan at the pressure it put on his chest.

Thor was trying to stop the Bifrost from destroying Jotunheim. A twinge of satisfaction went through Loki as he watched him trying to approach the Bifrost, but it was filled with so much power that it did not allow him to get close to it.

He will never be able to stop it. Then father will be proud of me, and not him. He will realize that I am his son. Loki thought to himself. I will finally be more that a tool to use whenever he deems fit.

"Look at you, the mighty Thor," Loki taunted him. "with all your strength. What good does it do you now, huh?" He convulsed in pain from the weight of the hammer, but watching Thor realize he was helpless was even better.

"Do you hear me, brother?" he spat. "There's nothing you can do!" He shouted, a small smile on his face.

Loki gasped as the pressure suddenly disappeared and he sat up to see Thor the hammer down onto the Rainbow Bridge, sending cracks throughout the entire width of the bridge.

He stared at Thor in shock, as he hit it repeatedly, breaking it even more.

"If you destroy the bridge, you'll never see her again!" Loki shouted, disgusted at Thor's feelings for the Midgardian mortal, but hoping to use his feelings as a way to get him to stop destroying the bridge. But Thor kept smashing away.

Loki stood and grabbed his staff and right when Thor paused for a moment, he lunged at Thor, spear outstretched.

Thor smashed the bridge a final time, and a shock wave of power rippled through the air, sending them both flying backwards.

Then, he was falling. He grabbed a hold of his staff, just as Thor grabbed the other end, and then suddenly, they were no longer falling.

Loki looked up to see Odin had grabbed Thor's foot, keeping them both from falling into an eternal abyss.

Loki glanced around him, at his failed plan. He saw the Bifrost fall into the abyss, no longer shooting its beam of power into Jotunheim.

He looked up at his father with a pleading gaze. "I could have done it father. I could have done it! For you! For all of us….." Loki's eyes were wet with unshed tears, but Odin didn't seem to notice.

"No, Loki." Odin said simply.

Loki looked at him in shock. I am not his son. I never was. The truth hit him like Thor's hammer. What is the point now? I'll only be put in prison for the rest of my life. I'm not even his son. I can't watch Thor become King. I would rather die.

Loki stared up at Odin and Thor, his face expressionless.

"Loki, no!" Thor gasped out, sensing what he was about to do.

I'm sorry, Astrid. Thor will take care of you. You don't need me. No one does.

The thoughts finished in his head, and he let go and watched as Thor was getting farther and farther away from him. The last thing he heard were Thor's cries for him as he fell away from them and everything he ever knew.

Astrid's POV

As the healer finished placing a healing balm on her wound, she gave the healer her thanks before she jumped off the table and out the door. Her mother cried out after her and followed her out into the hallway.

"Where would they have gone?" she demanded as she turned to face her mother.

"I will find them, but please Astrid. You need to take it easy. You were just injured a few days ago," Frigga pleaded.

Before Astrid could reply, she heard the Bifrost activate. But it sounded a bit different than it normally did.

Astrid glanced outside, and saw the Bifrost shooting a beam out into space. "They are at the Bifrost." She said before running away from her mother's calls going on deaf ears.

She raced to the stables and grabbed a horse that was already saddled and ready to go.

She rode out across the bridge, pushing the horse as fast as it would go.

She heard a loud crack, and shock waves shoved her back, sending her off the horse, and landing hard on the Rainbow Bridge. She grunted from the pain, but pushed herself up and watched the horse run in the opposite direction, frightened from the noise and the shock wave, before turning to look at the Bifrost.

Except, there was no Bifrost.

Wait, what? How could the Bifost be gone? There was only a place where it should have been.

Astrid ran the rest of the way, aggravating her wound a bit, but she pushed through the pain and as she neared the end of the bridge, she saw Odin and Thor starring down into the abyss, where the Bifrost fell.

She reached their side and looked down, seeing some remnants of the Bifrost before they disappeared into the vastness of space.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at Thor.

He didn't look away from the space below them, but responded quietly. "Loki was trying to destroy Jotunheim. The only way I could stop him, was to destroy the Bifrost."

Astrid startled for a second, but realized that he was trying to destroy the race that he was. The monsters that they always thought they were. Did Thor know about Loki's heritage?

"Where is Loki?" She asked, looking around for him, before turning back to her father and brother when she didn't see him.

They never took their eyes off the abyss. She saw a tear fall down Odin's cheek.

She glanced down into space, confused, before the reality hit her.

Astrid backed away slowly. "No, that can't be true!" She looked to her father and brother, hoping they would tell her she was wrong. That what she was thinking was not what had actually happened. That Loki had fled in fear of what they would do to him. That he was somewhere on Asgard and not floating in the unending cosmos beneath them.

They stayed silent.

Astrid started gasping for air and her lungs closed up, her legs wobbling, barely able to hold her body up. "He's not dead! I would have known!" She was practically shouting now, her vision blurring with tears.

Thor finally looked up at her and she finally saw the red-rimmed eyes filled with unshed tears, and enveloped her in a giant bear hug.

While his warmth would have been comforting on any other day, she didn't want it now. She wanted Loki! Thor never cared for her as much as Loki did. Thor was always too busy training to become King and would always insist that he did not have time to play with his little sister, but Loki always had time for her! Loki was the one who was always there for her when she needed him, so where was he?

Astrid pushed him away, and he let her. She turned to look at her father, the tears slowly starting to descend down her face. "Is this true, father? Please tell me it's not true!" she begged.

Odin slowly met her gaze and nodded.

Astrid felt her heart stop and she fell to her knees and started sobbing, her face in her hands.

Thor approached her again and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to his body. Astrid was too distraught to pull away.

After a bit of sobbing, she looked up at them. "How could you do this? How could you let him die?" Astrid was shouting at them, her grief mixing with her rage.

"He was your son, no matter if he was a Frost Giant!" She yelled at Odin. She didn't bother to see Thor's reaction to the news, and she didn't care.

"He was my brother, no matter what!" It felt as if her heart was shattered, and nothing could fix it.

Finally, she stood on shaky legs and looked down where Loki fell, but she turned away, not able to see the place where her brother fell. Where his life had ended. The tears still streamed steadily down her face.

A memory passed through her head.

When Astrid was small, she had a reoccurring nightmare that a Frost Giant had killed her family before turning to kill her. She would wake up screaming almost every night from this dream.

Odin and Thor barely ever came in to comfort her anymore, after it became a routine, and were secretly tired of dealing with it.

Frigga came a few minutes after he scream to soothe her terrified daughter, but Loki was always the first one there.

He would burst through the door, quicker than anyone else, and just hold her shaking form. She would cry in his shoulder, and he would just let her, whispering soothing words into her ear as he rubbed circles on her back. He would tell her that everything would be okay, and that he would never leave her. He promised her many times during nights like those, that he would never leave her.

Her father and brother appeared before her again, as the memory faded and she started sobbing again, wrapping her arms around her torso, as if she could hold together all the pieces of her that had been broken.

He didn't keep his promise.

I'm really sorry about this one. I know it hurt. It hurt me to write it. But now, we start heading towards the events of The Avengers, which is exciting and I hope you guys enjoy where this leads. Thank you for reading, my dears, and I will see you soon with the next update. :)