All right! Another story with Robin set in The Fire's Illusion universe. XD I think I'll have a lot of fun with this story, and another one that I plan on writing as well once I get around to it. Obviously, if you haven't read The Fire's Illusion yet, I'd advise you to read that before you check this one out, otherwise you might be a little bit confused with this story. I've also decided to not name my chapters for this one because I ran out of chapter names when I did that for Permanent Scars. XD Never again! And the chapters are gonna be a lot longer than they used to be, so that'll be more reading material for you all.

Also, I'm obviously gonna have to make a lot of changes to the original story with this version, but that's a given considering how I ended TFI. XD Which means the ending might be completely different from the movie ending, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I hope you enjoy this story like I've enjoyed writing the chapters so far!

It had been a few weeks since the last major battle for Earth, and things had been going incredibly well. My friends and I had a nice leave of absence from catastrophic disasters, and the vacation was absolutely refreshing for me. It gave me plenty of opportunities to be with the man that I loved, a deity from Old Norse Mythology named Loki.

It was almost ironic, now that I thought about it. When I had first met him, he had been planning an attack on my planet to take control of it. The Avengers, a team of superheroes, defeated him. I became involved when I stowed away with Captain America to help him out, considering the fact that the first Avenger was my foster brother. Back then, I had hated Loki, but after a long series of conflicted and confusing events, I grew to love him. Sometimes, merely thinking about it made me laugh a little.

My friends, the Avengers, still had mixed feelings about my relationship with Loki, especially my brother named Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton. Natasha was still convinced that Loki couldn't be trusted, and Clint pretty much agreed with her on everything, plus, Clint still wanted to put an arrow through Loki's eye socket and use him as target practice. Steve was merely just being an overprotective brother and constantly made sure I was safe around Loki. All of those factors made it incredibly hard for me to get any true alone time with the God of Mischief, but combining his cunning mind and my devious plans, we managed to steal a few moments together. So far, in my eyes, the year had been going along pretty well. But, like most things, it didn't last very long.

The day had started out fairly normally. Loki and I were going around the city, bringing our gloriously creative chaos to the citizens while I admired my handsome man. All of it was entirely in good fun and was amusing to both of us. And then the sky suddenly erupted before us in a loud, thundering manner. Soon enough, a streaming column of bright, iridescent light cascaded down before us. Once the light had vanished, we saw a tall, muscular man with shoulder-length blond hair standing before us. That was Thor, Loki's foster brother and a fellow Avenger.

I stared at Thor in confusion, and then looked at the handsome, ivory skinned face of Loki, trying to see what his reaction was to his brother's sudden appearance. Loki's dark green eyes were narrowed in annoyance, "What are you doing here?" he asked Thor, his distinctively low and accented voice sounding harsher than usual. I guessed that Loki still had a major grudge against Thor, some things never truly changed.

"You know why I'm here, brother," Thor replied in his deep, rumbling voice.

"Well, I don't!" I said, butting into the conversation, "What're you doing here, Goldilocks?"

Thor chuckled softly at me, half-heartedly, "Nice to see you again as well, Robin," and then the God of Thunder sighed, "I am afraid that I do not bring glad tidings to either of you."

I noticed Loki tense slightly beside me and I instinctively hooked my arm around his, "What do you mean?" I asked warily.

"Our father has demanded that Loki is taken back to Asgard to answer for his crimes properly."

"Your father," Loki corrected bitterly, "He was never my father."

"What?" I asked Thor, my voice filled with disbelief as I still thought I had heard him wrong, "Why? Didn't you tell him about the time that Loki actually helped us?"

"I did," Thor said, "But Odin neither believes it nor does he trust Loki to stay on Midgard any longer. He is set in his ways, especially since Loki had escaped from his sentencing earlier."

"I'm not going back," Loki said stubbornly.

"That is why it is not up to you," Thor said quietly, taking out a pair of shackles and clasping it around Loki's wrists. However, the shackles, and my arm, suddenly met empty air as Loki quickly vanished from that spot.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki's voice said from behind Thor. I glanced around the tall Asgardian to see Loki smirking condescendingly at him.

Thor sighed heavily, "Do I look to be in a gaming mood, Loki? This is serious."

"Which is exactly why now is the perfect time for Robin and I to leave so we can continue our mischief."

"Hard to argue with that," I said with a grin, winking at Loki.

"Loki," Thor said a little impatiently, "If you do not leave now, father will only send more Asgardians to fetch you."

Loki rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Don't make this worse than it already has to be," Thor insisted.

Loki sighed and narrowed his eyes angrily, saying tightly through clenched teeth, "Fine."

Thor nodded briefly and then shackled Loki's wrists again, successfully this time. The chains were long enough that they only slightly restricted Loki's movements. Thor then looked skyward, "Heimdall, whenever you're ready," he called out.

"Wait!" I shouted, quickly dashing over to Loki's side again and meeting Thor's confused gaze, "You're taking me with you!"

"Robin," Thor said, "I do not think that-"

"Thor," I interrupted, "you and I both know how this song and dance goes. You insist on saying no, but then I argue all of the reasons on why you should say yes, then I threaten you and you agree with me anyway. It takes forever and we'll save more time if you just realize that I always win in these arguments."

Thor stared at me with a raised eyebrow, slightly irritated.

"Plus, I can give Loki a proper goodbye if you let me go with you guys," I added.

He sighed in frustration, "All right, all right! You can come with us!"

I grinned smugly at him, "I knew you'd come around."

I heard Loki's low chuckle behind me, and I let out a small squeak of surprise as he suddenly hooked me around the chain of his shackles and drew me close to his chest. I looked up at him, unable to help my slight giggling as my cheeks blushed. He smirked at me, "Truly, you are a blessing to this helpless realm, my dear agent of mischief." He leaned down and lightly kissed my forehead.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, lightly teasing his shoulder length, raven black hair. "Well, I only learn from the best."

"Indeed you do," he said a tad smugly. I rolled my eyes jokingly at him before I felt his arms tighten around my waist as much as the shackles allowed him. He leaned in close to my face and whispered against my ear, "Hang onto me." The feel of his breath on my skin made me shiver softly and blush again, but I complied with his command and held onto his shoulders tightly.

Soon enough, the three of us were encased in a beam of colorful light, the beam pulsing with every hue of the rainbow. Before I knew it, we were rushing forward at incredible speed, the colors whizzing past us just as rapidly. The sensation was dizzying to my eyes and I ended up burying my head into Loki's broad chest to try and steady myself. And then, before I could even process the whole experience, the trip was over.

We landed in a large, golden, spherical room with intricate etchings on the walls. As we entered the room, I nearly fell over from the rush of being pushed into the chamber by the Bi-Frost, but Loki's grip on my waist kept me from tripping. I was still a little breath taken from the rush of the travel, surprised that I didn't get whiplash from the speed we were moving at. "So that's what that feels like," I breathed quietly.

Loki chuckled and smiled at me in amusement, "What did you think of it?"

I looked up at him and laughed softly, happily, "It was kinda . . . fun! A little weird, but fun!"

He laughed softly and pecked my cheek lightly, "You'll get used to it."

I then heard a new voice cut in, a voice much deeper than even Thor's voice, "Welcome to Asgard."

I turned around slightly, letting go of Loki and looking up to see a tall, dark-skinned man dressed in golden armor and bright, golden amber eyes. He smiled slightly at my reaction to seeing the gilded chamber we were in. My eyes were wide, and I probably looked like a gawking fool. Beside the golden eyed man stood a young woman with mocha colored skin, long, dark brown hair, and the same golden eye color. She also wore golden armor, but her attire was splashed with a deep blue color, most notably a cape draped around her shoulders.

I looked at the golden eyed man in slight confusion at his welcome. Why were they standing there? "Uh . . . thank you?" I replied uncertainly.

The man chuckled slightly at my reaction, "You must be Robin Rogers."

I widened my eyes a little more at his words, "Yeah, I am," I turned to Loki and whispered to him, "How the hell does he know my name?"

The God of Mischief smirked at me in slight amusement, "That man before you is named Heimdall, the Gatekeeper of the Bi-Frost. His eyes allow him to see most things in the universe. The woman beside him is his daughter, Katarina. She inherited his gifts of sight and will take over as Gatekeeper eventually."

I looked at Loki and then glanced at the pair standing before me, "I'll need evidence," I said skeptically, "If you really can see everything, you can tell me what my brother Steve Rogers is doing right now, can't you, Heimdall?"

Heimdall chuckled and looked out into space, literally, "Currently, he is trying to look for you. You had suddenly vanished from his sight and he is panicking."

"Typical Steve," I mumbled, and then smiled at the pair, "That's pretty cool," I said quietly, but then I widened my eyes in realization, "Wait, since they actually see everything," I looked at Loki with a slightly frightened expression, "did they see what we did last night?"

Loki laughed and shook his head, "They cannot see past my magic if I do not allow it," he said smugly.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait," Thor suddenly said, and I looked towards his direction, seeing his confused and wary expression, "What did you two do last night?"

Loki smirked mischievously and said, "Well, brother, allow me to explain." He cleared his throat dramatically, "You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they-"

"OKAY!" I said quickly, interrupting Loki as my face turned a bright red, "That's enough from you, mister!" I said to Loki, who laughed at my reaction and kissed me lightly on the lips. I still had a bright blush on my cheeks and shook my head, "I think it's time to change the subject here!" I said, and then looked to the girl named Katarina, "So, uh, hi. Guessing it's 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day'?"

"It's that way every day," she said, her voice having an accent similar to my Asgardian friends, but maybe a little sassier. Katarina looked at me with a slightly raised eyebrow, "You're the one who took an interest in Loki?"

I shrugged and nodded, "Hey, he's not as bad as everyone seems to think."

"He froze my dad in ice," she countered.

I stared at her in silence for a few moments before I turned to Loki, "Do you see what happens when I try to defend you? Do you see what happens?"

Loki shook his head slightly in amusement and pulled me closer to him by the waist. "In my defense," he said softly, "that had happened long before I met you."

I sighed and smiled slightly at him, "I suppose that's a little better," I said teasingly.

It was then that a small group of soldiers had entered the room. The troops were armed with swords and shields and they all were clad in golden armor similar to Heimdall's. Three of the soldiers carried more shackles with them for Loki, who I had noticed suddenly take on a more serious and solemn demeanor. One of the soldiers stepped forward and eyed me warily, obviously assuming I wasn't to be trusted because I was in Loki's arms. "Step away from the prisoner," the guard ordered.

Loki glared at the soldiers fiercely and begrudgingly let go of me as I lifted up the chain connecting his shackles and ducked under it. I hesitantly and sadly took a few steps away from Loki as the soldiers clasped a shackle around his waist, two more around his ankles, and a final one around his neck. All of the shackles connected together through a series of interconnecting chains that led out to two soldiers to keep a hold of him at a safe distance. They really wanted to keep him restrained. I walked past the soldiers and stopped beside Loki, ignoring their cautious glares as I gave him a tight hug that lasted a few seconds.

As I unwrapped my arms from him, he took one of my hands in his, bringing it up to his lips so that he could gently kiss the knuckles. He had to bend down a bit because of the restraints he was locked in. Then, when he stood up to his full, looming height, we shared one long, solemn look into each other's eyes before the soldiers ushered him out of the room and down the Rainbow Bridge.

I watched him leave before I turned around and saw Thor giving me a sympathetic smile. He then turned and addressed Heimdall, "I'd love to stay and chat," Thor said, "but I'm late for the battle in Vanaheim."

Heimdall chuckled softly at Thor's words and nodded, inserting his sword into a slot and activating the Bi-Frost. I guessed that Heimdall's weapon also acted as a giant key, which was actually a pretty interesting concept. When the Bi-Frost was activated, Thor smiled at Katarina, "I shall speak with you later, my friend."

The future Gatekeeper grinned at him, "You better!"

Just as Thor was about to leave, I spoke up, "Hey."

Thor looked back at me in slight confusion, "Yes?"

I smiled at him a little half-heartedly, "Do the Hulk proud and smash the shit out of everything, okay?"

He laughed softly, "I shall do my best." Then, he stepped through the portal and instantly vanished.

As Heimdall was deactivating the Bi-Frost, I looked to him, "Where are they taking Loki?"

"Currently they are taking him to the throne room to receive his sentencing," Heimdall said evenly.

"Okay," I said, and waved to him, "Bye!" I ran out of the spherical room and rushed down the Rainbow Bridge, trying to figure out where the throne room would possibly be. Obviously it would be in the palace, so once I found the castle, I'd be golden. It actually wasn't too hard trying to find out where the palace was, the route was straightforward and when I reached the end of the bridge, I saw a huge, beautiful palace gleaming with gold and standing tall before me. I had to stop and stare at it, completely awestruck by its magnificence and beauty. No wonder Loki wanted to rule Asgard so badly.

I walked up the stairs and entered the palace, and, with directions from a guard, eventually made it to a grand room with a throne at the far end. Sitting atop the throne was an elderly man with snow white hair and a beard just as pure. He wore black armor laced with gold plating and had a golden eye patch over his right eye. What was it with leaders and eye patches? The man sitting on the grand throne wielded a large, golden staff and had two black ravens resting on his shoulders. I assumed that the man seated there was Odin, the Allfather of Asgard, and I also assumed that he had a thing for gold. Literally everything was gold, golden columns, golden throne, golden armor. Seriously, King Midas had nothing on this guy.

I saw Loki standing before Odin and noticed that he was close to a woman with braided blond hair and elegant blue and silver armor. I smiled slightly as I saw my handsome God of Mischief, despite the seriousness of the situation, and headed towards that direction. I got there just as I caught the conversation between Loki and the older woman.

"Loki," the woman had said, looking at him desperately.

"Hello, mother," Loki said flatly, "Have I made you proud?"

"Please, don't make this worse," she pleaded softly.

"Define worse."

"Enough!" Odin's loud and clear voice rang in the room, "I will speak to the prisoner alone."

Loki's mother was about to leave the room before she spotted me standing behind Loki. She furrowed her brow slightly in confusion and Loki, noticing her expression, turned around to face me. He looked at me in surprise, "Robin, why are you here? I thought you went home."

"Hey, honey!" I said quietly, "I just figured that I should stick around for the whole thing before I go home. I'm probably gonna go wherever your mom is going. I wish you good luck and, uh," then I whispered in his ear, "know that I'll be eavesdropping on this whole conversation."

He chuckled slightly at that last part, "Oh, my dear, you are a delight."

I nodded and grinned, "I know!" I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, "I love you!"

He smiled at me, his expression solemn, "I love you, too," he said softly.

I waved goodbye to him and then followed his mother out of the throne room. As we made our exit, I decided to strike up conversation with her, considering that I should probably introduce myself to her since I was with her son. "Hi," I said, almost a little awkwardly, "I'm Robin Rogers, your son's girlfriend."

"So I've heard," she said with a small smile.

"News travels fast in Asgard, huh?"

"Undoubtedly so," she said, "I am Frigga, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," I said, smiling slightly at her. As we exited the throne room and saw the large doors close behind us, I stayed behind and leaned my ear against the door, trying to listen in.

"What are you doing?" I heard Frigga ask. I looked up to see her questioning blue gaze.

"Just listening," I said softly.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Don't tell me you're not in the least bit curious as to what's going on in there," I said, unable to stop myself from grinning mischievously at her.

She stared at me for a few moments in silence before she shook her head in amusement, "I can see why my son has taken an interest in you," she chuckled and smiled, "Carry on."

I grinned, "Thanks! You're awesome!"

She laughed softly as she walked away, and I turned my attention back to the door, pressing my ear against the surface of it and listening carefully. I heard the clang of shackles crashing together before Loki's deep laughter reached my ears. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about," Loki said.

"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?" Odin asked, "Wherever you go there is war, ruin, and death."

Not all the time! I thought indignantly.

"And what of the last attack?" Loki questioned, "I seem to recall defending Midgard that time, not destroying it."

"Were it not for you, that would not have happened in the first place," Odin countered bitterly.

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you."

"We are not gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do."

"Give or take five thousand years," Loki said snidely.

What does that make me, then? I couldn't help but ask myself silently. Was I human? I had already lived past the average human's life span while still looking to be only in my late twenties. Whatever I was, I couldn't be human.

"All this because Loki wanted a throne," Odin said, his voice sounding like ice.

"It is my birthright!" Loki argued.

"Your birthright," Odin shouted, putting emphasis on birthright, "was to die!" His voice then softened to an indoor voice, but his tone still remained venomous, "As a child. Cast out onto a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me."

"If I'm meant for the axe then, for mercy's sake, just swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just . . . I don't love them," Loki replied snidely.

"Frigga is the only reason you're still alive, and you'll never see her again. You'll also never see that woman you claim to love ever again, and to ensure that, I am severing your telepathic connection with her."

I widened my eyes in pure shock, "WHAT?!" I shouted, unable to hide my anger or suppress my outburst, "Oh, that's bullshit!"

The throne room suddenly went silent and I gasped quietly, clasping my hands over my mouth. They had heard me. "Come out from there," I heard Odin demand.

"Oh fuck," I cursed under my breath before I pushed the door open and walked into the room, stopping beside Loki and raising my head up high at Odin.

"Eavesdropping on us, are you?" Odin accused me.

"In my defense," I said, "I feel like listening in here was perfectly justified considering just who this conversation concerns! And while I'm at it, I'm pretty sure you can't sever our connection considering how it was formed."

"Then I will do everything in my power to suppress it," Odin replied flatly.

I stared at him in dismay, "You can't just-!"

"I can and I will," Odin interrupted me. He then addressed Loki with a sharp glare, "You'll spend the rest of your days in the dungeon."

"And what of Thor?" Loki asked bitterly, obviously as pissed as I was, "You'll make that witless oaf King while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you've done. He'll bring order to the nine realms and then, yes, he will be King."

I watched hopelessly as the guards began to lead Loki away. The God of Mischief looked back at me and gave me one final long, saddened look before he had to face forward as they ushered him to the dungeons. I watched Loki until he had vanished completely from my sight. My attention snapped back to Odin when he addressed me, "You have overstayed your welcome, mortal," the Allfather said, "I did not throw you out earlier merely because of your reason to be here. That reason is no longer present. I expect to never see you in this realm again." He then raised his voice, "Guards!"

Two guards stepped forward and bowed their heads to him.

"Escort her out of Asgard," Odin ordered. One of the guards stepped forward and gripped my arm tightly, ready to drag me out of the palace if he had to.

"I can escort myself!" I snapped, wrenching my arm from the guard's grip roughly. I glared venomously at Odin before I turned on my heel and stormed out of the palace.

Oh! And one last thing that I almost forgot to mention!

Katarina is an OC that one of my good friends made, and she specifically asked me if I could use her in my story here, so I have full permission to use her as a character in this fanfiction.