"What, again?" Elsa asked herself as the beam of light hit the ground. She turned to Loki, who looked less than enthused.

"Stay here." She commanded, before running to for the door.

"Don't worry, I will" she heard him say as she exited the room. Racing down the hallway, she burst through the doors to the courtyard to see a man in full armor with a long red cape making his way to the castle. He carried what appeared to be a large hammer. Elsa stood in his way, blocking the doors.

"Stay back!" she held her hands out.

"I am Thor Odinson, who are you, and what is this place?" he asked, seeming much kinder than she expected from a man of his size.

"T-Thor…?" she repeated. The God of Thunder, brother of Loki. She dropped her hands, her eyes widened in disbelief; two Asgardians in her palace, how much stranger could this day get?

"I'm Elsa, and you are in the kingdom of Arendelle."

"Is there a ruler I may speak with?"

"You are looking at her."

Thor looked upon the woman with disbelief. "You have no king?" he asked curiously.

"My mother and father were the king and queen; they died at sea years ago." Elsa explained, her gaze dropping to the ground.

"I am sorry for your loss," Thor approached the steps of the castle cautiously.

"Thank you," Elsa smiled. "But why are you here?"

"I am looking for my brother Loki; Heimdall said the bifrost left him out here, near your kingdom. Have you seen him?"

Elsa's breathing hitched, she didn't know if she should tell Thor about Loki. No, she knew she had to tell him, whether she wanted to or not was up for questioning. There was something about the way Loki responded when she told him to stay in the castle; it was almost like he was afraid.

"Why are you searching for him? What has he done?"

"He's run away from his punishment in Asgard. I have to bring him home." Thor held his hands out in desperation.

"What crime has he committed? He is the God of Mischief, aren't you used to this by now?" Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"I do not wish ill will on my brother, but I have to obey the Allfather and bring him home." Thor pleaded.

Loki, who had been hiding behind the door listening in on the conversation, stepped out. "Why? So you can send me back to that cell?" he hissed.

"I thought I said stay put." Elsa muttered.

Thor looked from Elsa to Loki. "Have you been hiding him here?" he narrowed his eyes at Elsa.

"No! He fell out of the sky and found my kingdom!" Elsa threw her hands up in frustration.

"Then turn him over and rid yourself of him," Thor said.

Elsa glanced at Loki, who was now looking at her with wide eyes, silently pleading with her. She knew how it felt to be a prisoner, whether they were for the same reason or not. She sighed and turned back to Thor.

"No." she said, crossing her arms.

Thor stood in shock for a moment. "Do you have any idea what he is capable of? He is dangerous!"

"So am I." Elsa narrowed her eyes at him, clenching her jaw.

"He is not your prisoner to keep." Thor gripped his hammer.

"If I'm not mistaken, he did wander into my kingdom, and attacked my guards; he will be punished by my law." Elsa growled.

Thor sighed, realizing he wasn't getting anywhere with their pointless arguing, when he got an idea.

"I am prepared to make you a deal," he began. Elsa sighed and nodded, urging him on. "Loki was to be a prisoner in Asgard when he escaped. I, however, disagreed with said punishment, at the time I could not override the Allfather's orders. However, given he is now in your kingdom, he is untouchable by Asgard. You may keep him, as a slave, a servant, whatever you wish, as his punishment, so long as I am allowed to check on him periodically."

Elsa remained silent, going over Thor's proposition in her head. So Loki was running from a life sentence, whatever he did had to be serious to earn a punishment like that. Just how dangerous was he?

He's a god, with magic far more advanced than yours. Of course he's dangerous. You'd be safer turning him over to Thor. As logical as it sounded, something in her gut told her not to follow through. She didn't know what it was; perhaps she sympathized with him on some level. She was given a second chance by her sister when she came back, why shouldn't he get one as well?

She cleared her throat, announcing that she had made a decision. "Thor, I accept. I will hold Loki here, and you may check on him as you see fit."

Thor grinned, climbing the steps and offering his hand. "Then we have a deal." She carefully took his hand, and they shook on it.

As he turned away, he looked back at her once more. "Thank you, Queen Elsa."

"Thank you? For what?" she asked, taken by surprise at his statement.

"For saving my brother." He looked from her to Loki before nodding and making his way to the middle of the courtyard, where he looked into the sky as the beam of light shot down again and swallowed him.

Elsa huffed and shut the door of the palace behind her, coming face to face with Loki, who seemed rather pleased for someone who was almost whisked away to Asgard. He opened his mouth to speak when he was immediately cut off by Elsa, who slammed him into the wall.

"Before you even speak to me or anyone in this kingdom, I am going to make a few things clear with you." She hissed, jabbing a finger at him. "Do not think for a moment that just because you escaped whatever punishment awaited you in Asgard that you can run amuck in MY kingdom. You will behave yourself, no more tricks, or hurting people. You're going to start by apologizing my sister and the royal guard for your actions, and if you even think about pulling a fast one – magic or none – I will handle the situation myself before handing you back to your brother to deal with. UNDERSTAND?" her nostrils flared as she stared him down.

Loki rolled his eyes. "You're no fun."

"If that's the case, I'll just call Thor and tell him I've changed my mind-" she turned on her heels, casually strolling to the door.

"No!" Loki grabbed her arm, receiving an angry glare as she jerked her head around and he released his grip on her. "I mean…I understand."

Elsa's glare broke. "Good, I'll call for a servant to get a room ready, dinner will be served at 6," she pepped, waving a hand in the air as she made her way down the hall. Reaching the door, she turned. "Well? Are you coming?"

"Going where?" Loki asked, arching an eyebrow.

"You have some apologizing to do."

Loki groaned, maybe he should have begged Thor to take him back to Asgard.