S.H.I.E.L.D had finally located Loki after his tenth (or was it eleventh?) escape from Asgard. Tony had mercilessly teased Thor about it as the other had returned with the news that Loki had once again escaped his guards, until Steve had forced him to stop before Thor bashed his head in with Mjölnir. This time Loki had not crashed in the US, or even in North America, but in Sweden. As such, Thor, Captain America and Ironman, got into one of the javelins and travelled to Northern Europe.
It was easy to find Loki. It was as if the man wasn't even hiding. He was sitting outside when they landed the Javelin, draped over some tree-branches in a great oak.
"Brother! Do you never tire of this?" Thor asked. Loki looked up, as if he had been deep in thought and had not noticed the approaching heroes.
"Thor? What are you doing here?"
"Right back at ya!" Tony yelled, "are you going to come quietly or not?!"
"I will most certainly not accompany you anywhere." Lokis eyes narrowed. "And you can not make me."
"Loki, why not do this the easy way for once?" Captain America stepped forward.
"Cause he's Loki, that's why." Iron man answered before loading his cannon and firing a single blast... Only to be knocked out of the sky by a large tree trunk. Thor instinctively raised his hammer, but found himself restrained by several large roots, suddenly spurting from the ground, holding all of the heros in place.
"What is this witchcraft?!" Thor yelled, looking at Loki, who looked honestly surprised.
"Do not try to blame Loki for this." A new voice interrupted the conversation. The Avengers looked over to see three shadows emerging from the forest. Two of them, a woman and a man, was as tall as Thor, if not even more so, the man could easily rival the Hulk. The woman - though slim in built - was almost as tall, both of them wore something that looked like green army uniforms. Between them walked a woman in a suit, looking dwarfish next to the giants, but her face betrayed no emotion as she walked up to the super-heroes.
"Who are you people?" Tony grunted, still trying to push the trunk of his chest.
"We are with the Swedish Security Police. This is Ask." she gestured to the man who nodded in greeting. "And Embla." The woman waved slightly. Tony waved back. "I am Pernilla Andersson, in charge for the safety of Loki Odinson, until all threats against him has been removed. "
"In charge of Lokis saftey?! I would laugh, but this trunk is making it hard to breath."
"There has obviously been some sort of misunderstanding." Steve began. "Can we talk miss... Anderson was it?" The woman in the suit gave Embla a short nod, and the taller woman made a gesture with one hand, and the roots withdrew into the ground again.
"There isn't much to misunderstand really." Pernilla continued. "Loki is under the political asylum of Sweden. We are not going to give him over to any organisation controlled by another state. Especially since S.H.I.E.L.D has proven so eager to turn him over to Asgard, who as far as we are aware, has not signed any of the treaties concerning the fair treatment of political prisoners, and from the accounts we have heard, still uses torture as a method of interrogation and punishment, not to mention the danger to his well-being from the fact that he is Joutun, and therefor a minority in Asgard, and not a very well treated one at that." She paused for a moment. "Nor has Asgard signed any of those treaties either, and since Loki could technically be referred to as a prisoner of war, there are several other treaties that could apply to his situation. None of which Asgard has signed. They haven't even signed the UN decleration of Human Rights! The Swedish government could not possibly allow Loki to be handed over to the Asgardians, unless all these requirements are filled in, and we can be assured that his well-being won't be endangered by a transfer.
To Thors credit, he actually squirmed a little when all eyes focused on him for a moment.
"But Loki is a villain." Captain America started. "He's tried to take over the world! He needs to be taken care of."
"Well is he trying to take over the world now?" Embla suddenly spoke up, staring down at the man in the blue and white suit. "As far as we are aware, Loki has been doing nothing but reading stories about Norse mythology and discussed political ideologies with me and Ask since he was placed under our care."
"Eeyup." Ask agreed.
"Besides, who wouldn't want to run from Asgard, from what we have heard, you weren't very kind towards him even before he tried to take over this planet." Embla continued, now focusing on Thor again. "Just because he doesn't wave around a weapon doesn't mean..."
"Embla. Enough." Pernilla sighed, and the tall woman grew quiet once more, still standing protectively between Loki and the Avengers. "As you can see." she said, focusing on Captain America once more. "We have our own heroes to deal with the situation, should it arise. But until Loki breaks Swedish law, he is under our protection."
"Listen lady, we could take him right here right now.." Ironman started, boosting his suit again
"Come on and try little man!" Embla replied, roots again spurting from the ground, stretching after the mechanical suit.
"Tony! Stop it!" Steve yelled.
"Unless you wish to cause an international incident. I suggest you remove your team from Swedish ground within the next hour." Pernilla Andersson said coldly, focusing on Captain America.
"Brother..?" Thor looked over to Loki, who had left the tree, but remained silent during the exchange.
"What can I say?" he smiled, a bit sadly. "I got tired of running. Life here is simple. And there is so much I have to catch up on. Do you remember the altar they built to father not far from here? I've been there. I'm rediscovering us." He threw out his hands in a gesture to the land around them. "Miss Andersson says there is even a fighting chance that I can bring my little ones here! There is a deep lake a bit up north Jörmugand would love, and the forests here are deep and full of game. Fenris would love it!" Loki looked back at his former brother and shrugged. "Asgard and it's business do not concern me anymore. Leave me be Thunderer."
"Thor?" Steve put a hand on the others shoulder. The Norse god looked positivly crushed when he followed Steve back to the Javelin, Tony already there, still fuming with irritation. Steve went to the front to contact Fury, but Thor stared at the closed door, long after the plane had left Swedish airspace behind.