And We Meet Again

"Agent Lokison, do you copy?" Director Nick Fury's stern voice sounded over the ear piece.

Leif Lokison gazed around his surroundings with a light and arrogant air about him, giving a tiny grin as he did so. Groups of hostile looking men were dutifully patrolling the large factory he was now in, heavily armed with weapons and keeping an alert watch for any signs of possible intruders. However, the agent had managed to remain invisible from their sight, delicately hiding himself behind a humongous machine emitting whirring noises as he coolly contemplated his next move. If it wasn't for the fact that he had infiltrated into the base of a dangerous weapon-smuggling syndicate on a top-secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D, one might actually mistake the man's nonchalant facial expression and carefree attitude as that of a bored boyfriend's, asked to accompany his lover while she was shopping for her prom dress. Leif's hand reached up slowly, pausing for a moment before pressing down on the button of his communication device.

"Crystal, Sir." The man answered in his usual smooth and silky tones. As Leif leant casually against the cooling metal of the machine, waiting for his superior's reply, his eyes flitted towards a short, balding man dressed in a smart black suit and standing on a platform at the second level of the factory, gazing down at the hundreds of workers toiling away with the assembly of various weapon parts.

So that's Damien Gustov?

In a split second, Leif recognised the midget as the ring leader of this syndicate he was sent here to destroy, his mind still fresh with the images of photos and information from the criminal's case-file that S.H.I.E.L.D had provided him with.

Oh dear, he seems to be tinier than I had expected…

The agent gave a low scornful laugh as he noted how miniscule his supposed target looked from a distance, supervising his employees' work from above and barking out orders to his considerably larger henchmen. With a build of that size, he was confident… no, sure that Gustov would be easy to apprehend. Leif may have excelled in many skills, but humility was clearly not one of them. They say that arrogance will lead to one's downfall sooner or later, but Leif Lokison had never been someone to pay heed to that wise bit of advice; not even if it means causing his superiors and teammates considerable grief with his flippant actions. The man was just musing about how this mission would be another piece of cake when Fury's impatient voice sounded over the communication device once more.

"What is your position, Agent?"

"I am inside, Sir," Leif answered smoothly, an amused smirk creeping over his face as he kept his eyes trained on the dwarf-like man. "In fact, the rabbit is right in front of me. Should I snare him now?"

"Negative, Agent. You need to wait for back up before rounding up on our target. He cannot be allowed to scoot down another one of his burrows again." Leif listened to Fury's grim voice and responded with a roll of his eyes, which (fortunately for the rebellious Agent) the director was unable to see.

Really, Fury underestimates my abilities…

"Lokison, do you copy?" The Director asked irritably again, obviously annoyed by Leif's lack of response. "You are supposed to break into enemy headquarters and obtain documents I have briefed you about earlier. You have orders, Agent; follow those orders!" Fury's last sentence was heavily lined with warning and Leif gave a peeved huff. The man had never been one to obediently follow orders. However, one of the key criteria of being an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (as Phil had attempted to drill into him in the past) was to obey his superiors dutifully. Despite his usually unruly nature, Leif enjoyed his job too much to do anything that would possibly get him fired. And besides that, Fury had not so discretely threatened to kick the man's ass out of S.H.I.E.L.D if he managed to screw up any more missions during the earlier briefing. Leif was not frightened, nor intimidated, however being a smart fellow, he had decided that he would follow some orders; Well, at least to the extent where he would not jeopardise any missions.

"Roger that, Sir." Leif replied reluctantly, shooting one last grudging glance at his target.

I will get you… soon.

"Alright Agent, get those documents pronto, and report back to me once you do. Backup will be arriving shortly." Fury commanded and Leif spitefully (and childishly) decided not to grace his boss with an answer. The man's attention turned to a small locked office at the top level of the building, located strategically such that Gustov would be able to observe all proceedings in his little factory with ease.

Leif smirked, and closed his eyes in concentration, willing his mind to focus on transporting his body into the room. A familiar tingling feeling shot through the whole of the man's body and when Leif opened his eyes once more, he found himself standing in the middle of a small, tidy office. His intended destination.

Wonderful. Father's tricks really are convenient.

It has been 5 chaotic years since Leif learnt about his true identity as Loki's son and met the Avengers. After working with the group of superheroes to stop his father's diabolical plans to freeze New York City, Leif had unsurprisingly been accepted as part of the team. Despite being an unofficial member of the Avengers, the young man had continued to live and work with them, as well as irk Tony Stark to no ends. And two years ago, on Leif's 21st birthday, the day when he became legally adult, Phil Coulson had presented him with his most coveted gift yet: A S.H.I.E.L.D identity card. No longer was Leif an outsider, no longer was he a boy who merely tagged along uninvited for missions; he was now a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, and an official part of the team.

After all the touched tears, cheerful congratulations and half-hearted grumbles (no prizes to those who can guess who it was), a rather troubling problem emerged: So what will Leif's codename be? The members of the Avengers had varying attitudes towards this question, ranging from seriousness to outright ridicule, and after Thor insisted that a warrior's title is 'no laughing matter', all of them chipped in and suggested different titles, some more ridiculous than the others.

Leif rejected Thor's proposal of 'Leif, the Shrewd' outright, much to his uncle's disappointment because to be honest, he had no desire to sound like some ancient warrior. Phil had also dryly pointed out that the purpose of a codename is to conceal an agent's name, not flaunt it. ("Yeah Pointbreak, I thought you were the one who said that this is no laughing matter?") Tony Stark smugly mentioned something like 'Spawn of Satan', or 'Satan's Spawn', which only resulted in Thor pointing out that Leif's father is Loki, not Satan. The slice of cake the billionaire was holding also 'mysteriously' flew up and smashed into the man's face with a sickening splat, and everyone present, even Thor, could deduce who the culprit behind this stunt was simply by the gleeful smirk on Leif's face. After a few more unsuccessful suggestions, Phil Coulson finally decided to step up and save the day.

The S.H.I.E.L.D agent first explained that since all previous assassins and superheroes were given titles based on their best-known abilities, Leif's codename should reflect his signature move. As Leif's favourite move was a handy bit of magic that Loki had taught him during their first few lessons, it wasn't long before they decided on a title that pleased Leif and satisfied all of the Avengers as well: The Illusionist. Even Tony gave an unknowing grunt which everyone interpreted as approval when Pepper poked him in the ribs while the billionaire was busy wiping cake off his face.

In the following years, Leif proved to be a valuable addition to S.H.I.E.L.D, completing missions allocated to him promptly (although sometimes with 'minor' accidents) as well as helping the organisation with his skills and magic that Loki had duly taught him over the years. However, no one is perfect and it was no surprise when Director Fury mentioned with aggravation on countless occasions that Leif needed to 'curb' his insolent ways. As expected, the man turned out to be as much of a drama queen as his father was and Nick Fury often found himself suffering from near cardiac arrests and wearing out hundreds of stress balls whenever his sassy subordinate chose to end a mission with a 'boom' (which was rather frequently).

Despite all this, even Fury and Stark could not deny the fact that Leif's heart was in the right place, or that his abilities and skills did help the organisation and team. Therefore, despite the numerous run-ins he had with the man, Nick Fury found himself continuously sending Leif out for missions to maintain peace on Earth. Missions like this one.

Time to collect the documents...

Leif gazed around his surroundings quickly, his emerald eyes scanning past the black leather sofa, mahogany desk and Gustov's revolting self-portrait before resting on a bulky metal safe. With a wicked grin plastered on his face, the man strode briskly across the room towards the safe and inspected it carefully, giving an amused chuckle as he observed the three keyholes and number lock on the safe.

Looks like someone is being ultra-cautious…

Shaking his head with a mock sigh, Leif placed his right palm over the door of the safe. The agent's brows furrowed with concentration and in a matter of minutes, the metal door of the safe was reduced to a puddle of molten silvery liquid on the floor, leaving the papers in the safe exposed and ripe for the picking.

So much for keyholes and number-locks…

A smug grin flitted over Leif's face as he casually picked up the papers in the destroyed safe and sifted through the pile, his sharp eyes glancing through the information on the documents. Perfect. This was exactly what Fury was after. With the information they would gain from these papers, it would not be long before S.H.I.E.L.D could round up on the entire weapon smuggling ring and take down the other minor ring leaders of this illegal syndicate. The agent tucked the papers protectively into his black leather jacket and strode over to the window of the office, peering down at the short man below him who was still distracted by his employees' progress.

Now there is only Gustov left to take care of.

"Director, I got the documents." Leif muttered into the earpiece quietly, still wearing a sly smile on his face. The communication device crackled as Fury's voice sounded from the other end.

"Excellent Agent! Backup is on the way to take down enemy base. Till then, remain out of sight and wait for further orders." Fury commanded firmly and the wicked grin on Leif's face grew wider.

"Oh? I don't think there is a need for backup," Leif replied gleefully as he continued eyeing his target.

"What?" The Director's voice was mixed with disbelief and tension. A considerable amount of tension. And considering the numerous times he had experienced Leif's erratic side on missions, it was a surprise that the man had not burst an artery yet.

"I said there is no need for backup," Leif repeated smugly. "I can take him down on my own." The agent gave a tiny snigger as some sputtering noise sounded over the communication device. It seemed as though Fury had choked in his haste to berate the agent for his defiance of orders.

"Don't worry, Fury old pal. Relax... I got this." Leif said soothingly and promptly switched off his earpiece before Fury could start a furious rant over his subordinate's 'blatant disregard for orders' and 'insolence'. The agent knew from past experiences that Nick Fury can be rather loud over an earpiece when he is pissed off, and he did not fancy losing his acute sense of hearing.

Turning away from the window, Leif walked out of the office with a semblance of cool, cocky calm. As he strode confidently along the narrow corridor, brazenly approaching the location of Gustov and his numerous henchmen, multiple duplicates of the agent flickered and materialised behind him, all wearing identical devilish smirks.

Yes, the Illusionist was ready for battle.

XXX

Clint Barton stared with bemusement at the flaming red glow in the distance. Dark grey smoke spiralled from the burning remains of what should have been one of the biggest weaponry factories of a smuggling ring and Hawkeye could still hear another deafening explosion from within the building as the quinjet landed. In the short 45 seconds Clint took to unbuckle his seat belt, grab his bow and exit the aircraft, the figure of Leif Lokison materialised amidst all the smoke along with a limp figure in tow. As the younger agent strode gleefully towards his partner, dragging his unconscious captive along, Clint could not help but grin at the smug look on his friend's face.

"You came too late for the party." Leif informed him lightly as he released his hold on Gustov's collar and allowed the short man to land on the dusty ground with a thud.

"Sure seems that way," Clint muttered as he stared at the immobile body of the criminal. "He's not dead right? Fury wanted him alive." The marksman added warily and Leif gave a nasty smirk.

"He's not," The young man quipped as he gave his captive a kick in the shin, eliciting a moan of pain from the man. "Well, at least not yet." Leif added with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and Clint shook his head wearily. He has worked with Leif over the years, and although he was much more tolerable towards Leif's methods compared to Fury, the young man's reckless antics still bugged him in one way or another. Hawkeye was used to it, but it didn't mean that he agreed to it.

"Get him into the quinjet," Clint ordered one of the agents who had trailed out after him and was now staring at the motionless body with surprise. After a stunned second, two S.H.I.E.L.D agents came over and lifted the unconscious Gustov up by his arms. "Oh! And remember to cuff him!" Clint called out after his two comrades, although he himself doubted the need for any restrains on the incapacitated man. Hawkeye turned back to Leif, who was still wearing a big conceited grin on his face and decided that yes, restrains was unnecessary. He was sure Leif had taken care of that fact.

XXX

"So… do you mind telling me what happened in there? I was supposed to write a report too, you know?" Clint mentioned dryly, as Leif, who was sitting next to him on the quinjet, flashed him an unconvincingly apologetic grin. The duo was now heading back to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, and even though this entire fiasco had not been his fault, Hawkeye had a sinking feeling in his stomach about reporting to Fury later.

"Don't worry, you didn't miss much," The younger agent smirked as he patted Clint on the shoulder. "Just some bullets flying through my illusions, unearthly high pitched screams, blasting up the generators," Leif listed his heroics contentedly while Clint listened with exasperation. "A series of wonderful explosions and last but not least, a well-planned, stealthy escape along with my prize." Leif concluded gleefully with a nod towards the feebly stirring Gustov. Clint heaved a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fury's gonna murder you." The marksman mumbled, ignoring the Cheshire cat grin that Leif was annoyingly still wearing on his face. Obviously the kid had no sense of urgency, or danger. A furious Fury is dangerous.

"And I thought Fury should be pleased, considering how I saved him precious time and manpower by completing this task alone," Leif argued. "I don't understand why he insists on wasting resources on backup when I can obviously handle this by myself." The young man ended with a huff.

"Maybe it's because he wants the targets captured alive, and not toasted into a crisp like last time." Clint reminded Leif with amusement.

"That was an accident." The young agent replied sourly and the older agent gave a chuckle at the look of resentment on his face. What Leif said had not been a lie, after all. It had been a pure stroke of rotten luck and bad timing that the furnace door opened when it shouldn't have. However, it had also been unfortunate that Fury wasn't one to pin blame on misfortune either. Someone had to take responsibility for being a tad reckless as well.

"Besides, I completed this mission perfectly well by my own, didn't I?" Leif added with a hopeful shine in his eyes. "Maybe Fury will see this time that I am fully capable of acting solo." Clint gave a laugh of amusement at the young man's words.

"I doubt that," Hawkeye grinned as he gazed at the questioning look on Leif's face. "After hearing Fury's colourful vocabulary when you announced that you 'got this', I'm fearing for your safety when we get back to base." Leif gave a wicked smirk after listening to his friend's statement.

"Really? So what did he say?" Leif inquired.

"Something along the lines of 'cocky bastard', 'blatant disregard of orders', and 'little fucking piece of shit'," Clint recounted absent-mindedly before a puzzled frown appeared on his face. "Wait, how could you not know what he said? I had to remove my earpiece halfway through the flight and even then, I could hear Fury's voice blaring when I held it an arm's length away." Leif grinned and quickly hid his mirth with an unknowing shrug when Hawkeye looked at him with suspicion.

"Must be the explosions in that place," Leif replied, struggling to contain his amusement at the thought of Fury's apparent frenzy. "Yep, those explosions were deafening."

"Uh huh," Clint stared at the evil gleam in the young man's eyes, unconvinced. The marksman's attention then turned towards the unblinking light on Leif's earpiece. "By the way, did you know that your communicator is turned off?" The young man's eyebrows shot up comically in mock surprise after hearing Clint's question.

"Now how did that happen?" Leif asked innocently as he reached up to switch his earpiece on again. Clint gave a groan at the young man's flippancy. Yep, they were dead meat once Fury gets his hands on them, no doubt about it.

"Fury's going to kill you," Clint mumbled bemusedly once more as Leif continued grinning, undaunted by the threat that lay ahead. "And Fury's going kill me too; I am supposed to be your mentor." The archer rubbed his face exasperatedly, lamenting the day Leif was assigned to him as his trainee. No wonder Natasha smirked like the cat with the biggest bowl of cream when Fury announced that Leif will be under Clint's charge.

"Damn it kid!" Clint exclaimed at last after another silent 5 minutes of mourning his bad luck. Leif, who had his eyes closed in relaxation by then, opened them again and turned to gaze at his 'mentor', generously deciding to ignore the marksman's slip-up at referring to him as 'kid'. Leif is a grown-up now, after all, even if he doesn't act like one. However, despite that, some nicknames will stick to a person no matter how old one gets, and most, if not all of the Avengers, still seem too used to calling him kid when they talk to him.

"I mean, can't you just follow orders for once? Do you have any idea what continuing to disregard Fury's commands would mean?" Clint asked in vexation. Leif simply flashed him an infuriating grin once more.

"Of course, it means that I will be home in time for dinner." Leif replied smugly and chuckled at the look of disbelief on Clint's face.

XXX

Fury had not been happy. Even after Leif presented the documents and Gustov to the raging director, along with his most sincere apologies, the young agent's poor eardrums had not been spared from his superior's wrath. And now, with his ears throbbing painfully and marvelling about the strength of Fury's lungs, Leif was merrily on his way home, driving back to the apartment he shared with Loki.

After Loki left five years ago to think things through by himself, Leif and Thor had returned back to Asgard to account for all the events that happened on Earth a month after the boy's recovery. Thor had volunteered then, to travel across the realms in search of Loki and to bring his brother back to Asgard. However, much to the surprise of Thor, Leif and everyone else in the hall, Odin had refused Thor's suggestion.

"But, Father-" Thor had protested but to no avail when Odin silenced him with a raise of his hand. The look of disappointment on Thor's face was indescribable, and even Leif, who was relieved that his father would not be hunted down by an army of warriors could not help but feel discouraged by the fact that Odin did not seem to think that his wayward son was worth searching for any longer.

"It would be futile to bind Loki's body to Asgard if his mind is not with us," Odin explained wisely. "We all have to learn from our past mistakes." The god added and Leif had an idea that Loki was not the only one his grandfather referred to by that sentence. "Loki may have left us once more but I am sure that he will return one day, and when he does, we will have to do all we can to keep him with us." Odin concluded. Leif did not miss the knowing look in Odin's eye when the god gazed at him after his speech and he knew that somehow, this sentence was meant for him.

Later that day, Leif secretly asked Thor in private if the Thunder God understood what Odin meant with his words, but all his uncle could say was: "Father always has a reason for his actions."

Sure enough, as Odin predicted, Loki returned later that year on Christmas day itself to partake in the festivities and in the coming years, appeared more and more frequently on Earth to spend time with Leif. However, the god never remained on Earth for long even with Thor and Leif's continuous coaxing and it was not until his son's 21st birthday when the trickster finally succumbed to Leif's request of staying with him.

In order to avoid any possible future conflicts between his father and his friends, Leif moved out of the Avengers' Tower (which was set up as living quarters for the Avengers because Tony simply could not stand them any longer), and rented a nice little apartment nearby. Loki had kept his word and came to live with his son, which was approved by the Allfather himself as long as Loki promised not to cause trouble on Earth. Therefore, Leif had been leading a happy but not so peaceful life in his apartment along with Loki, and joined by the occasional presence of Thor whenever his uncle came down from Asgard to visit, much to Loki's disgust.

Yes, life was great, Leif thought as he reached the front door of his home. And he was sure Loki was waiting impatiently for him to return for dinner.

"I'm back!" Leif grinned as he swung the door open. Greeting him was the sight of his father, slumped down on the sofa and staring at the television screen with an extremely sour look on his face. Loki's expression did not change upon hearing his son's arrival either, and Leif found himself grinning at the grouchy god as he turned to face him.

"So… what's bothering you today?" Leif asked teasingly. Before Loki could reply with a scornful remark, a loud clatter of pans in the kitchen told the man all he needed to know.

"What else?" Loki hissed in annoyance as a quick patter of footsteps sounded and a joyful Darcy burst out from the kitchen.

"You're back!" Darcy Lewis squealed in excitement as she wrapped her arms around Leif in a hug. The woman then proceeded to ruffle her lover's hair playfully. "I am going to make Vegetable Lasagna today, it's a new recipe I learnt!" Leif grinned at Darcy's enthusiasm, even after all these years, she still acted adorably like a child.

"That sounds great, Darcy!" Leif replied warmly and Darcy beamed at him before bouncing back to the kitchen.

"Yep! Just relax for a moment! Dinner will be ready soon!" The woman called out cheerfully and Leif chuckled as he plopped down on the seat next to an extremely irritated Loki.

"Come on, Father, cheer up!" Leif grinned as he stared at the grumpy expression on the god's face. "Darcy's cooking isn't that bad." Loki made some sort of an intangible hissing, grumbling sound and Leif smirked at his father's apparent displeasure.

Looks like it's going to be another long evening indeed.

To be continued…

Yes... after close to a month of not updating and posting anything... I am back! And no, I am not planning on abandoning my prequel or this sequel... or anything like that... I am so sorry for taking so long to update! Things have been popping up lately D: And I couldn't complete the chapters I had started... I just managed to finish this one today. I will try to keep frequent updates in the future, but no promises, since my university term is starting.

Yep, but what's most important is that Leif is back! :D So many of you have been asking me for the sequel... yeah... I am really touched 8) And many of you have given me suggestions on what to add for the sequel... I will be using some of them, and the rest will be keep in my head for future stories... no worries.

Just one point to note though, in a review on my one shot sequel A Very Leify Christmas, a reader suggested that I added Sigyn to my story. However, Son of Loki had been a story based more on the movies and all the characters in the movies... and since Sigyn hasn't appeared yet, it's not likely that I will include her in the story as I don't really know enough of her to write about her. Well, not in the sequel, but maybe a couple of one shots in the future if it does not affect the major story line. :)