These naps weren't short.. but Elsa's body had been used to longer periods of rest. That was going to catch up to her eventually. But the chatter she'd heard from the earpiece on the stands had awoken her. A few minutes later, Thor had shown up, knocking on her door and had asked, politely, for her to come with him.

Whatever it was, it must have been important.

"Loki is your brother, right? she asked as they walked.

"Yes. We grew up together, in Asgard."

"Does he really have a daughter, Hel, who is in charge of the Dead?" she asked.

Thor looked at her in confusion. "No. The dead are as beyond our reach as much as they beyond yours. What gave you that idea?"

"The Edda. I've read a translation." Reading was one of her favorite past times, after all.

"As much as some of us would like to think," Thor said with a wry chuckle. "Asgardians are not Gods."

"Were you close to your brother?" Elsa asked.

"I thought so," Thor said. He sounded wistful. "He wasn't as strong as I was, but he knew how to fight. He knew how to be in the right spot at the right time. He was always a step ahead of us in games, finding flaws and exploits in the rules. He was a friend."

"Was?" asked Elsa.

"He said I was not worthy to be king. It galls me now, but he was right. I did not know what it was to care for the inhabitants, to be able to truly lead people. To put their desires ahead of my own. When my father, King Odin, exiled me to Earth, I learned these things. It gave me a desire to protect them, and I understand now."

Thor took a breath, and continued. "This is not what Loki meant, he meant he was more worthy based on intelligence, and that we deserved to rule. He does not understand the truth of ruling. Of the sacrifices that must be made. If he could…" Thor trailed off. "He would make an excellent king."

"You still love him, don't you?" Elsa asked.

"He is my brother," Thor said simply. To Elsa, it answered everything.

They'd arrived at… well, Elsa wasn't sure what kind of room it was. Loki's scepter rested on a table on the far wall, but nothing else looked recognizable. There were what appeared to be magical displays showing… something. English that Elsa didn't recognize.

Tony glanced up as she walked in, then turned back to Captain Fury. "I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" he asked, turning the display towards him.

"It means," Captain Rodgers said, pushing a cart in that Elsa had to step quickly around. "SHIELD uses the Tesseract to make weapons." He glanced at Tony. "Sorry, your program was running a bit slow for me."

Elsa was looking curiously at the larger box the Captain had brought in. Was that… "Olaf?" she asked. "Why is he in the…" there was a word missing. She gestured.

"Refrigerator," supplied Rodgers. "Keeps him from melting. You saw what heat did to your structures."

Tony looked at her. "You didn't say you could construct golems. Intelligent golems."

Rodgers turned to him, "Fury knew."

Elsa shook her head, and pulled the handle , opening the door. She adjusted her bracers. She wanted to put some of her power into… she let it loose. A very miniature cloud appeared over the now freed snowman's head, and he toddled out in awe.

"My own personal flurry!" he exclaimed, delighted.

"Intelligent golems," insisted Tony.

Elsa stood, her own temper starting to rise. "I don't fully understand my own magic, Mr. Tony. I've managed these golems only three times. Once right after I ran from home," she nodded at Olaf. Then she realized. "Dr. Samson lied to me… I didn't mention Olaf in my sleep, he was here the whole time." She spun to face Natasha, who'd snuck into the room a second time. "And you knew."

"Elsa, you should consider removing yourself from this environment, as you should you, Banner."

"What?" asked Dr. Banner, who'd be minding his own business in the back of the room. "You rented my room."

Elsa felt… something grab her hand. Olaf led her to the front of the room, away from where the words were becoming more heated with each exchange. "It's so good to see you again, Elsa! Where's Anna?"

Elsa winced, the anger flooding out of her, "You mean, you don't know?"

"No… she was trying to find Kristov, I couldn't fight my way through the storm."

For the second time today, Elsa told the end of the story.

"Oh, Anna." His eyes locked on Elsa, "Elsa…" he said, mournfully. "It was Hans. It wasn't you." His twigs pressed against Elsa's hands. "You would never have done that. You loved your sister."

Elsa nodded, though it was fury at Hans that was threatening to overwhelm her this time. She looked up, Mr. Stark and Captain Rodgers were in each others faces, almost yelling. "What's going on?" she asked. She'd lost track of that conversation.

Olaf looked over to them. Apparently, he didn't think much of their debate, until his eyes narrowed at Loki's spear on the other side of the room. "That… stick is angry. And it's making other people angry." So saying, like a small child, he toddled towards it.

Banner had already reached it, and Elsa stood up, moving to escort Olaf away from the dangerous object when a buzzer sounded.

Bruce put it back down, and went to examine the source of the noise. The argument stopped, and was replaced by an argument about the cube itself. Apparently it had been located. Banner was looking very intently at the screen, though still looking very angry.

Now the Olaf had been reclaimed, she was ready to extricate herself from this situation. She was sneaking toward the door when a loud noise and an explosion fired her through the air, through a pane of glass, and with another crack, landed spread eagle on the floor.

A quick glance told her Dr. Banner and Natasha had been thrown through the glass with her. Olaf was nowhere to be seen.

Her imagination was already filling her with terror, what could have caused that calamity? A brief shock of pain brought her attention to her wrists, lightning danced across the now obviously broken bracers. In horror, she looked up, ice was beginning to coat the floor of this storage room.

"We're ok, right?" asked Natasha.

"The bracers," Elsa said, her voice quaking. "They're not working."

Natasha glanced at her, then turned back the other way.

"Bruce, you've got to fight it, this is just what Loki wants."

Elsa rested for a second, focusing on Natasha's voice. She could hear grunts of pain from her other side. Don't feel. Don't feel!

Carefully, Elsa picked herself up from the ground, and began carefully walking to the pinned Natasha.

"...you will walk away…"

"YOUR LIFE?" came the roar. Elsa stopped dead. What could have made such a loud noise? Then she saw it. It was… Banner? His body, swelling, growing uncontrollably, staggering away from Natasha.

"What is that?" asked Elsa. And the monster heard it. It turned to face Elsa. The green giant was furious. Elsa let loose a cry of alarm, and blasted a wall of ice, filling the passageway between the two women and the monster.

WHAM! Ice chunks flew from the wall as cracks appeared.

Natasha looked at Elsa in relief, as the Ice Sorceress hurried forward to get the weight that pinned Natasha to the floor. "What is that?" Elsa repeated, straining against the weight.

WHAM! The cracks grew deeper. Even ice had its limits when it came to force.

"The Hulk," whispered Natasha as she pulled her leg out, and rolled to her feet. "And he'll just get stronger! Up those stairs!"

Elsa turned and ran, leaving small patches of ice in her wake as they sprinted for the stairwell. She'd reached the top when she felt the metal stairs lurch from beneath her. She instinctively jumped and passed through the opening at the top.

"Natasha!" Elsa cried. Natasha had fallen back to the ground level where that beast was.

"RUN!" Natahsa's voice echoed back at her.