Thor felt solid floor beneath his feet once more. Heimdall greeted him with the usual curt nod and pulled his sword out.

'How are mother and father?'

'Well.'

'How is Jutonheim?'

Heimdall didn't look surprised at the funny subject. He looked more like he was expecting this.

'Shielded from my sight. The King had already sent scouts to see what is happening.'

Thor nodded.

'Have you told father of, Loki?' He knew well that Heimdall knows of this from the start. Loki couldn't hold a veil for long periods.

'No.'

'Do you plan to?'

'Its best not yet.' The Gate Keeper's eyes then glazed over with a curious expression. 'I have on my hand a very important letter for you.'

Thor perked up at the words 'letter'. Heimdall calmly pulled out from a pocket a chalky white scroll tied with an elegant strip of black silk.

He took the scroll in his hand.

'Who is this from?'

Heimdall shrugged.

Thor cautiously pulled on the delicate lace. The scroll unraveled and on it, in great flourishes and curves:

'Sorry uncle, but please allow me to have the pleasure of your presence in my humble palace at, hmm, I don't know, what do you think? Wait, you are writing all of this down? Damn! Ok, the moment you finish reading this.'

The parchment exploded into a cloud of black smoke. Thor gasped and tried to wave the smoke away, and then it cleared.

He stood in a path leading towards a majestic dark castle. The air was damp and musty. Water dripped here and there from the cave ceiling somewhere in the darkness above.

A black dog with three heads trotted up to him. The middle head tugged on red cape.

Thor followed the beast up to the magnificent kingdom of Lady Hela.

OOO

Heimdall let loose a rare playful smile on his lips as he picked up the forgotten ribbon from the gold floor.

Oh, the things Lady Hela request for.

OOO

Elixir squinted through the mist and fire. He definitely didn't recognize where he was. Tables were overturned and people were cowering and crying.

A boy lay sprawled on the floor in front of him. His open eyes clear of any life. A trickle of blood leaked out from his mouth as the carpet beneath him turned black.

Elixir reached forward to touch him, but a woman screamed and rushed forwards, cradling the boy's head in her arms in an effort to protect him.

People immediately grew protective of the mother and rushed forward, swinging things. One of them tossed something at him. It narrowly missed and shattered on the wall behind.

A man lunged at him with something sharp. Elixir closed his eyes and swung a punch. When he reopened them, the man was at the opposite side of the room, leaving a trail of blood as he slid silently onto the floor.

The people backed up, eyes frozen with fear. Then one of them raised a shaky arm and pointed, then said, in a dead whisper:

'Monster.'

OOO

Panicking, Steve ran down the empty halls.

Tony said something on the phone along the lines of JARVIS sensing Elixir is now awake.

Screaming.

Steve realized he took a wrong turn and quickly doubled up. He never visited to the metal room before. Usually he only needs to ask someone. But now in the dead of night, helpful people are hard to find.

He finally arrived at the correct door and tapped in the master code.

Error.

Now what?

He tapped it in again, only to receive the same result.

His phone vibrated in his pajama pocket. He took it out and find Tony texting him.

1849.

He tapped in the code.

Have a nice day (or night). : D

He frowned at the greeting that flashed on the screen.

Tony hacked more than just information.

He carefully pushed open the thick metal vault door. He peeked inside.

Elixir was where he was when the agents thrown him in. He had the blanket over his head, shivering.

'Are you alright?' Steve asked.

The form froze, as if just noticing someone was also in the room.

'Are you alright?' He repeated again.

'Alive.' A muffled voice answered him.

'Alive doesn't cut it.'

'You don't have to be here.'

'I don't have to leave either.'

The blanket was thrown off to reveal the kid, attempting to put on his best withering look.

'I am fine. You do not have to come in at midnight to check on me.'

'Were you having nightmares?'

'No.'

'Bad dreams? Flashback?'

'No.'

'Then what are you screaming about?'

'Something I don't remember. Please, just leave me be.'

'Tony's orders.'

'Tell Tony to stop.'

'Natasha said that.'

'Tell Natasha to stay away as well.'

'Elixir, no one minds whether you can turn into, something else. We did have experience with someone much worse.'

'Oh, as if.'

'A green raging giant?'

Elixir's eyes flashed in the dark.

'Nothing compared to it.'

'Then what?'

'Dragon.'

Steve frowned. How bad can that be?

'Very bad.' Elixir answered. 'I almost destroyed the city before I could recompose myself and force me to go elsewhere.'

'So you loose control when you shape-shift into other things?'

'More like inheriting their natural thoughts and instincts. Dragons are made to burn, serpents are made to overturn boats, hunters are made to hunt.'

Steve gulped.

'I want to go back to sleep now. Can you leave?' It came out more like a command than a request, but Steve silently walked out and closed the door behind him. Knots and bolts whirled and clicked together.

OOO

'Why did you request my presence, Lady Hela?' Thor asked, but Hela seemed to pay no attention to him as she poured tea out of a china teapot. The air smelled fresh and sweet in contrast to the ghastly, cold hall.

'Uncle, don't use that Asgardian accent of yours. It's just so out of date. I just seemed to be wondering if you heard from my father recently.' She replied gracefully and pushed the tea cup across the polished marble table. But Thor had no intention to drink it.

'What do you mean you haven't heard from my brother? Isn't he here?'

Hela looked up with a quizzical expression.

'No?'

They spent a few more moments staring at each other, then the truth dawned on both of them.

'So, he isn't truly dead?' Thor asked hopefully.

'Don't get you hopes up, uncle. It could be worse.'

The light-hearted feeling turned to dead weight upon Thor's heart.

'Did you see his body?' Hela pushed on.

'Yes.'

'Did the letters stop?'

'Yes.'

'When?'

'Before I arrived in Asgard and received your letter, I was in Midgard. Then a portal opened and Loki's body and another man by the name of Elixir came out.'

'Elixir?'

'He is funny. He didn't come from any realm in particular.'

Hela stared down in her own cup, deep in thought.

'Describe him.'

'He is skilled in combat and magic. I do believe he also have some natural gifts of his own.'

Hela frowned even further.

'Sounds like, what do the migardians call it? Mutant. Except, magical mutant. Hmm…'

Thor watched Hela rise from her chair. Her elegant silk gown trailed behind her like a shadow.

'Uncle, lets go to Midgard now.'

'Now?'

'That's what I said.' Hela strode over to him and grabbed his hand, than darkness swallowed them whole.

OOO

Elixir didn't know if these midgardians are a bit thick or what, but certainly the metal room is such an under-rated holding cell for someone that can transform into monsters that their brains must be stuffed with straw.

Elixir moved into the corner furthest away from the door, drawing his blanket around him. He wondered how long Loki could last inside of him without a physical body of his own. And of course not to mention the blue one. He must be wary of him at all times.

No one visited him. He sat there as frozen as a statue for most of the day, thinking over an escape plan, or simply blaming himself for overestimating his will-power. After so long without a transformation, he had weakened quite a lot, that perhaps he will have to practice from the beginning all over again once he got out.

If he got out.

The door suddenly swung open without warning, making he draw his legs closer. The arrow man stepped in with a bowl of porridge and a spoon.

He didn't seem to have any weapons with him.

'How, are you.' The man forced himself to speak.

'Fine.' Elixir replied shortly. The band aid on his cheek starting to itch.

The man set the bowl down in front of him.

How much memories had this brought? He thought. To the days when he was in chains in the corner of the throne room, when servants brought forth scraps and bones to feed him, when he tried to communicate with them, only to be rejected, when he howled and yelped when no one notices, and then gets whipped for it.

'-Hello? Are you paying attention or not?'

Elixir snapped back into reality. The man was crouching in front of him, his face only arm's reach away.

'I said, I am sorry for shooting you last time. Can you forgive me?' The words came out forced and harsh. His face twisted up in at least ten emotions, making it look deadly serious and hilarious at the same time.

Elixir nodded.

'I forgive you.'

The man's face looked relieved.

'Good.'

He turned to leave.

'Wait.'

He stopped, but didn't look back on him.

'How long will I still stay here?'

'Probably for a long time now that you demonstrated your awesome skills at turning into a monster and loosing control.' The man snapped.

Elixir brought himself closer together. Fear and desperation boiled inside of him.

'How many did I hurt?' He whispered.

'If you don't count the Chitari you- I mean, no one.'

He let the temporary relief wash over him.

'Ok.'

The man stood still for a moment, then left.

OOO

A nice stroll to calm down will be nice. Bruce thought as he left the facility building. The mixed emotions inside of him was hard to tell. Examining Loki's body simply worsened it.

Especially when he peeled open the eyelids to find the iris, not blue, but green.

He shuddered at the flashback.

Then there was an explosion and two people emerged.

'Thor!' Bruce sputtered, more out of shock as people around them started screaming and running at the sight of people popping out of thin air.

'Banner.' Thor greeted wearily.

'Uncle,' the young woman standing next to him said in a rush. 'I wish to see this Elixir now. There is no time to waste.'

'Uncle?'

'Banner, this is Lady Hela, daughter of Loki, and therefore my niece.'

Bruce simply stared at the girl, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish out of water.

'Uncle, there is no time!'

'Yes, of course.' Thor turned to Bruce. 'Where is Elixir?'

'Oh, she wished to visit him?'

'Yes, its an emergency.' Her green eyes pleaded.

'Well, yesterday, Elixir sort of, um, lost control. So Fury is now putting him under detention. I don't think you will be allow to-'

'Whatever you say.' Hela snapped her fingers and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Where did she go?' Bruce whirled around.

Thor let out a groan.

OOO

Natasha patted Clint on the shoulder.

'You did well.'

'I nearly snapped.'

'But you didn't.' Natasha retorted.

'I don't know why he would ask if he hurt anyone.' Clint looked up. 'Didn't he transform to hurt?'

'Maybe he didn't.'

Clint snorted.

'Yeah right.'

Someone knocked on the door. Clint walked over and opened it. A woman in a black dress stood outside.

'Hello, I think I am a bit lost. Could you tell me where the holding cells are?'

'Down stairs in the basement.'

'Thank you.' Then the woman disappeared.

It was after Natasha slapped him that Clint realized what he just did.

OOO

Sam swore he saw someone popped out off the shadows, but he simply shook his head and headed to the elevators. It must have been his lack of sleep.

OOO

Tony got the message from Bruce and rocketed over ASAP. Apparently the goddess of death thinks visiting Midgard without a note before hand is fun. Fury was still yelling hysterically at Tony to get his butt over when he landed in front of the doors.

OOO

Thor sat silent on the chair while Hill gave him lectures on bringing gods of death to Midgard without warning. Hill simply said its Fury's orders, but Thor personally think the maiden was scared out of her mind along with the rest of the people in the building who searched every nook and cranny for Hela.

Thor should have warned Hela of paranoid people, and not to teleport without telling anyone where she would go.

But obviously, his niece would have been curious about Shield and poke around. He just hoped she wouldn't do anything overly stupid.

Or overly Loki-like.