Captain Rogers had escorted the prisoner Loki to the 'Quinnjet'. They were met there by the person in the flying metal suit. The helmet retracted, and he took it off. The face inside was hairy, with brown inquisitive eyes that bored into Elsa. He bowed low, causing the metal to creek. He sported a wide smile on his face.
"I thought Fury told me everyone he was bringing in for this, but he certainly didn't mention anyone as lovely as you," he told her as she joined him on the jet.
Elsa recognized a lech when she heard one. She gave him a cold flat look and went to sit down. Loki and Captain climbed in after her. Loki gave her a thin smile and nod of recognition, his eyes darting to her bracers. His face widened into a mirthless smile.
"Queen Elsa, it is good to see you in person. I've read so much about you since we first spoke."
Elsa felt her temper beginning to rise. She gritted her teeth. "Freedom is no lie," she said in German. "In the end, choice is all we have."
Mr. Rogers gave her an approving smile. She turned her back and didn't respond even when the metal suited man sat next to her.
There was quiet for a few minutes after they launched.
"Queen Elsa," the man in the armor said. "of Arendelle?"
She looked over at him again, her eyes narrowing.
He shrugged a meager apology.
"Just Elsa is fine, but yes. Of Arendelle. You've heard of it?" she asked.
"City-state in the Northwest area of what is now Norway. Was considered lost when it was covered with a dozen feet of ice, and is now known as the Arendelle glacier." He frowned, "That was one hundred and fifty years ago." An eyebrow cocked in realization. "The last recorded ruler of Arendelle was Queen-Apparent Elsa, with a sister named Anna. That was you."
Hearing him say the name of her sister sent chills down Elsa's spine. She shivered, and clasped her arms to her chest. The temperature in the jet dropped several degrees.
"And did you know?" Loki added conversationally, "That Elsa was responsible for her sister's death?"
Elsa's wide eyes locked onto Loki's. His smile was wide, and his eyes danced mischievously. It had been a guess, and he knew that the barb's mark was true. Elsa lowered her head to hands and wept.
"Ms. Romanov," she overheard, "Exactly how high is the AC running? Jarvis says it is fifty five degrees in here… and actually falling slowly."
The bracers are not perfect. I've got to control it. Don't feel. Don't feel! Elsa forced herself to blink away the tears, to swallow, to regain control of her sorrow. Anna was dead, and nothing could change that. She opened her eyes and saw the Captain's eyes focused on her.
"It was an accident," she said quietly.
He bowed his head, wiping some frost off his shield. "Maybe you sh…" He glanced at Loki. "Nevermind. Not now."
They rode in silence, the air warming again, each lost in their own thoughts. Rain began to splatter against the forward window. Loki looked up at the flash of lightning through the windows, and for the first time, he looked nervous.
"Big guy like you, scared of a little lightning?" asked Rogers incredulously.
"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki replied, still appearing nervous.
There was a crack of thunder, a thud of something landing on the ceiling, and before Elsa had time to scream, a large man had appeared, tore Loki from his seat, and gone out the door.
"Now there's that guy," the metal man said. He replaced his face mask and went after him. A few seconds later, above Natasha's complaints, Mr. Rogers went too. Elsa was quiet for several seconds. "You don't have to worry about me," Elsa told her. "I'm staying right here."
Natasha's laughter echoed in her earpiece.
Captain Fury was waiting with guards to personally escort the prisoner, Loki, away down the airship. Dr. Samson and Phil Coulson, on the other hand, were waiting for her. After a moment's indecision, Captain Rogers followed along. Phil spoke to him quietly for a moment, but Mr. Rogers sounded insistent. Phil relented over whatever it was, and the four of them re-entered the room where Elsa had originally been interviewed.
Elsa looked at them, guessing exactly why they were here. "You think I'm a monster," she said. She tried to be stoic about it, but her voice cracked. She hadn't known these people for more than a few hours, but they'd been nice to her, they'd trusted her. And now they knew.
"I think it's pretty clear you think of yourself as one," Dr. Samson said. His voice was quiet and slightly reproachful.
Captain Rogers sat down in one of the chairs that were now in the room, setting his shield down on the floor. "I've seen monsters, Ms. Elsa. Monsters that wanted to take over the world because they had access to power. " He looked into Elsa's eyes. She looked away, unable to meet them. "Monsters like that don't feel sorrow for others, even their family members."
"Why not sit down, Elsa?" Phil said. "Tell us everything. I promise that we won't judge until you give us the entire story.
How could she refuse an offer like that? She told them everything, from the first accident striking Anna, to their growing up, to Elsa's coronation and beyond. How her sister Anna had tried to rekindle the friendship Elsa had spoiled. Through it all, the other three listened, only stopping her to ask for small clarifications.
"If it weren't for the downer ending, that'd make one interesting movie," Phil said, when it was over. Both Rogers and Samson gave him askew glances. "I apologize, you are a good storyteller, Elsa."
"In my professional opinion," Dr. Samson told her, "The accidents occurred because you had no control over a phenomenon that humans were not meant to have. As you thought that you should be able to control them, you blamed yourself for the damage, especially when others were hurt. That doesn't make you a monster."
"It makes you human," all three of them said together.
"The real question is what you do next," Doc said. In Elsa's opinion, he appeared to be fighting off a grin. "SHIELD has helped you with control, and I'm sure, after this crisis is over, they would help you even further."
"I can speak for SHIELD, and Dr. Samson is correct. All of our resources are tied up looking for the Tesseract. Afterward will be another story," Phil added.
This sounded very altruistic to Elsa, and what SHIELD wanted was obvious. They wanted her help against the looming threat of non-specific 'War'. "I don't know what I can do help," she admitted, "But if you'll have me, if you can help me control the storm inside, I'll do what I can."
Mr. Rogers held out his ungloved hand. Elsa took it, tentatively. She saw Mr. Rogers wince ever so slightly when their hands met, but gamely hung on long enough to shake it. "And if you're feeling better," he said, "Let's go see what Fury's managed to wring out of Loki."
Phil had other business to attend to, and Samson said something about taking a nap. Elsa, and Rogers returned to the bridge just in time to hear Fury make a sarcastic offer for a "Magazine". The other three that they had returned to the carrier with were watching, as was a fourth, a man that had come on with Mr. Rogers.
They were discussing Loki's next move, and Elsa did not interrupt. The names went right over her head. All that she got out of it was that Loki was a mass murderer.
"It's a stabilizing agent," said in a man in what looked like very formal wear, walking in with Phil. He swept his gaze over the room. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." His eyes rested on Elsa for a moment. It took her a second to recognize his face. The 'metal' man she'd seen on the quinnjet. "And the last queen of Arendelle. Ice to meet you."
Rogers gave him a hard look, rolling his eyes. The muscular vest wearing man gave her an appraising one.
"Might want to get used to it, you'll probably hear it a lot," the former metal man said.
"Mr. Stark, Thor, Dr. Banner," Rogers said, "This is Elsa. She has a magical talent that lets her control snow and ice." He looked over to the waspish man with glasses. "To a certain point, they're fueled by her emotions. Something you'd understand - no offense."
Dr. Banner looked at Elsa curiously, looking over his glasses at her. "None taken, Captain."
"Now as I was saying…" Stark began again. Again the words flew over Elsa's head. From the look that Mr. Rogers was wearing, she was not alone. The only thing she understood ended in "Lose control, and turn into a giant green rage monster."
Before she could interject, Fury strode back into the room. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." With some line about flying monkeys later, Stark and Banner left, to be about the business of doing just that.
"Ice magic?" asked Thor. "Like the frost giants? It is no wonder Loki took an interest in you. Would you be willing to demonstrate?"
"Might be good for you," Rogers said. "We seem to have some down time, we can always check in with the eggheads later."
"Eggheads?" asked Thor and Elsa together.