4

Milkshakes and Hamburgers

"A...gift?" Odin asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, he said with a nod then held up Morrigan.

"Is that a hell hound?"

"Yes, Hela sent me a litter of them as a gift. She said she couldn't be bothered raising them and said I could either keep them myself or give them away."

Odin slowly rose from the throne as he walked to the children and looked at Brenna.

"Who is this?"

"This is my friend, Brenna," Loki said, seeing the puzzled look on Odin's face.

"Your...friend?"

"Is that so hard to understand?" Brenna asked.

Brenna saw Loki looking at her in astonishment. Sometimes she astonished herself with what came out of her mouth. But she possessed an odd sort of courage that only emerged when someone she cared for was threatened. She found that she had begun to care for the lonely God of Mischief very much. Loki, her first real friend, who didn't think her freaky or odd because she had magic and who made her laugh and treated her like a person and not a charity case or a burden to be gotten rid of. For him, she would dare anything.

Loki waited for Odin to lose his temper and order the guards to take both of them to the dungeons to be beaten, but Odin only arched his eyebrows up and barely smiled.

"Well met," Odin said then lifted the puppy out of Loki's hands.

"Hey, watch the hands, One Eye!" Morrigan yelped.

"Morrigan! Behave!" Brenna said and the puppy whimpered.

"Morrigan?!" Odin asked.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out!" the puppy said and Loki tried hard not to smile.

"Uh... Father...? Would you like to keep her?" Loki asked.

"She's actually very sweet but she does have a sassy side to her, Your Majesty," Brenna told him. "Volstagg said she would make a good watchdog."

"She speaks the truth," Huginn said, ruffling his feather.

"Whoa! That raven spoke!"

"I speak as well," Munnin said, preening.

"Cool!"

Brenna gazed at the ravens in amazement. "I feel like Lucy in Narnia with the Talking Beasts. Have you ever read that book, Loki?"

"Yes, I have," Loki said with a nod. "I am rather fond of Tumnus."

"Oh, yeah. The actor who played him in the movie was really cute."

"There is a movie about him?!"

"Yeah. When we get back, I'll see if I can find the movie on Netflix," she said and he nodded.

Odin looked at the children when he walked back up the stairs then sat down and placed the puppy on his lap. Morrigan settled down as she placed her chin on her front paws and Odin felt the slight warmth coming from her spread across his legs.

"Thank you for your gift, My Son," Odin said and Loki's eyes widened.

"You're...welcome," Loki said with a bow.

Brenna looked at the bier when she titled her head to one side and blinked.

"Um, Your Majesty, what is this?" she asked and Odin looked at the bier.

"It is a bier," Odin said. "My brother's body lies upon it."

"It's what we place bodies on when we cremate them," Loki said as he thought about Thor's cremation. "We did that when Thor died."

"Oh," she said with a nod then looked at Odin. "I'm sorry to hear that he died."

"Yes, he died a true hero," Odin said then saw the sadness in Loki's eyes.

"But . . . I thought you gods lived forever?" she asked puzzled.

"Even gods die," Odin said, eyeing Loki.

"Why is he looking at you like that?" she asked and Loki frowned.

"Because I died," Loki said in a soft voice and she gasped.

"You did?!"

"Yes," he said with a nod and told her about his death. He then told her about Thor's request to bring him back and her mouth fell open.

"I am glad they listened to him." She smiled at him. "Can't you ask for Thor to come back? Or is there some kind of limit on how many gods can be resurrected at a time?"

Loki looked at Odin for an answer, but the AllFather just stroked Morrigan's head.

Brenna eyed Loki curiously. "Do you-do you remember what is was like when you were dead? You don't have to answer if you'd rather not."

"I can't really say," Loki admitted. "When I came back I didn't remember anything, not at all. Not who I was. I thought I was a mortal boy living on the streets of Paris. Until Thor came to find me. I still don't have any real memories of what I was before."

"Maybe because you aren't supposed to," Brenna said sagely. "If you are reborn, you should be able to start over. And whatever you did in the past-is done. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Odin eyed her thoughtfully. "You are quite astute for one so young. Did they teach you this in your schools?"

Brenna shook her head. "No, Your Majesty. It's just what I think. It's like when you say you're gonna forgive someone. Either you forgive them and let it go . . . or you don't and keep letting yourself be angry over it. You can't say, well I'll only forgive you for this and not that. It's all or nothing."

He eyed the child before him curiously. "How did you two meet?"

"We met at the Yule Feast yesterday in Asgardia, Father. The AllMothers allowed the people of Broxton to come to it." Loki explained.

"Then should you not be home celebrating the holiday with your family, child?"

"I don't have a family, Your Majesty," Brenna answered frankly. "I'm an orphan nobody wanted to adopt. So nobody cares where I am or what I'm doing."

Or if I'm dead or alive, she thought but did not say aloud.

Odin looked disturbed when Brenna spoke so cavalierly about having no family or indeed anyone who was looking after her. It bothered him for some reason that he could not put a name to. Because no child should grow up without a family or a guardian.

Loki noticed the look on his father's face and wondered what Odin was thinking, but stayed silent.

Finally, Odin asked, "If you have no family, then where are you living?"

"Uh . . .wherever I can find a dry place to stay," Brenna hedged, not wanting to get Loki in trouble by admitting she was currently staying in Loki's room.

"I see," Odin said while Munnin and Huginn hopped onto the arms of the throne and whispered in Odin's ears. Nodding, Odin looked at her and smiled.

"Father?" Loki asked.

"What if someone adopted you?" Odin asked and Brenna sighed.

"No one wants to do that. They think I'm trouble," she murmured, looking down.

"Why?" Loki demanded. "Because of your magic?"

"Yeah. They say I'm hell spawn and my mother was a ho."

Odin scowled. "That is ridiculous. Anyone can see you are not a demon. Do you know who your parents are or were?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "They found me on the church steps wrapped in a pink blanket in basket, But there was nothing else with me. No note or anything like a bracelet or necklace. So the priest took me to the orphanage." Brenna related.

"Do you still have the blanket?"

"I did, but one of the other orphans took it and set it on fire."

"Why?" Loki asked angrily.

"They just wanted to," she said then sighed.

"Who named you, child?" Odin wondered.

"The priest that found me. Father O'Connor named me after his mama," she replied.

"And you are sure there was no note or anything to identify who your parents are?"

"Yes, there was nothing."

"Well, I believe I might have an idea. How would you like to live here?"

"Me?! But I'm not a god!"

"It doesn't matter. There are many here who would love to have a child like you."

"You mean have someone adopt me like you adopted Loki?!" she cried, and in her voice was the echo of a hope lost long ago. Loki looked at Odin.

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

Brenna couldn't breathe or think as sudden tears streaked her cheeks and Loki wrapped his arms around her.

"Is she alright?" Odin asked.

"Ye... Yes, I'm fine," she said and sniffed. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Father," Loki said.

Brenna sniffled again and went to wipe her face on her sleeve.

"Don't do that. Use this," Odin said and gave her a blue silk handkerchief.

"He's always telling me not to do that," Loki whispered in her ear. "Says its unsanitary."

She gently took the handkerchief, wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She smiled as he shook his head after she tried to hand the handkerchief back and she tucked the silk square into her pocket.

"Now, I suggest you go take her to get something to eat," Odin said as he stood up and held Morrigan in his arms. They watched him leave when Loki puffed out a breath of air and Brenna glanced at him.

"How do we get back to the palace? Where is this place?"

"It's a place Between realms," her friend explained.

"Okay. But we took the Rainbow Cyclone from Oz so how do we get back to Asgard?"

"We call Heimdall to open the Bifrost," Loki replied.

"Ah," she said with a nod of her head.

"Heimdall, open Bifrost," Loki said and the light appeared around them. He held tightly onto her as the light lifted them upward and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

They emerged on the bridge and walked a few feet to the Watcher's small office. Loki observed that the girl didn't get sick traveling the Bifrost the way some mortals did.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Do you...? Do you feel alright?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Most mortals tend to become ill when they travel using Bifrost."

"It was a little freaky with the lights swirling around us, but I didn't feel sick,"

"Interesting," Heimdall said.

"It felt sort of like riding a roller coaster when it goes up a hill," Brenna mused.

Loki smiled then took her hand and they headed toward the palace. Heimdall watched them leave, then he sighed and lightly shook his head.

Loki led Brenna to the doors to the palace, opened them and entered the throne room. "Whoa!" she said while looking around the room and Loki smiled.

"This way." Loki called, leading her down another corridor to the kitchens and the cooks stopped what they were doing to look at them. "Hello."

"Can we help you, my Prince?" asked one.

"Yes, my friend and I would like something to eat," Loki said.

"Of course," one of the cooks said and Loki and Breena sat down on the wooden stools near the large wooden table.

The cook placed plates with some roast chicken, roasted potatoes and green beans in a butter sauce. She placed two mugs with goat milk down next and Loki nodded. They started eating as Brenna smiled then shyly looked down.

"Do you really think your dad will be able to find someone to adopt me?"

"Yes, he wouldn't have said so if he didn't mean it," Loki said, taking a long drink of milk.

"But why would he care? I mean nobody in Broxton ever did. I can't even get decent clothes from the donation bin." She ate some chicken. "This is so good I could lick the plate. I never get food like this over there. Just scraps outta the trash."

"Shameful," one of the cooks said when she placed a plate with a piece of apple cobbler in front of her and lightly patted Brenna's head.

"Odin adopted me because I was left to die in a temple due to my being small," Loki said, eating some of the roasted potatoes.

"So he might think I'm worth saving, too?" Brenna said.

"Yes," Loki said with a nod.

"That's a first," she remarked, eating her green beans.

"We should finish then get back to Thori and Brutus."

"Okay. Before Brutus rips up more pillows. Umm, are we gonna have to clean that up?" She asked, eating the rest of her dinner rapidly. Then she ate the apple cobbler.

"No, the cooks will clean it up," Loki said as he finished his milk. "Or do you mean the feathers?"

"Both," she teased and he laughed. They got up and thanked the cooks for the food and left the room.

"Who are you going to give Brutus to?"

"I was thinking of Mephisto," Loki said and she frowned.

"Who?"

"He's a devil, one of the Lords. He helped us defeat the Serpent. He's not really trustworthy but. . . he will take a hellhound."

"You sure?"

"Yes," he said with a nod.

"How do we contact him?"

"I have a token he gave me." Loki said and showed her the old gold coin with Faust on the face and the obverse had the devil's star.

They arrived back in their room as Thori and Brutus lifted their heads and wagged their tails.

"You came back!" Thori said as he ran to Loki and Loki patted the puppy's head.

"I see you didn't eat any more pillows," Brenna teased and Brutus growled.

"I wasn't hungry," Brutus said with a smug look.

"Guess what?" Brenna said to him. "We found you a new master, Brutus!"

"Who!?"

"Mephisto," Loki said and Brutus' eyes widened.

"That's a Hell Lord!" Thori barked.

"Yes, and he helped us defeat the Serpent. So, I thought he would like to have a hell hound," Loki said.

"I would be the hound of a Hell Lord?!" Brutus asked then panted while his tail wagged. "Wow!"

"He hasn't said yes yet," Thori said.

"When can you call him?" Brenna asked.

"Now, if you want," Loki said.

Brenna sat on the bed, looking nervous. What if this devil looked at her and said she was kin to him? A part of her wanted to believe Loki and Odin were right but what if they were wrong?

Loki saw how nervous she looked ]and he placed Thori on the bed next to her then picked up Brutus.

He tossed the coin on the floor and said,"Mephisto, Loki Laufeyson summons thee."

The coin twirled around in a circle on the floor then fell and landed on the devil's star. A thick black smoke filled the room when Loki saw glowing eyes in the black smoke and a soft laugh filled the room.

"Well, what do I owe the pleasure?" Mephisto asked as the smoke faded and Brenna looked at him with wide eyes.

"I have a gift you may be interested in," Loki replied.

"What sort of gift?"

Loki held Brutus up as the Hell Lord looked at the hell hound pup and Brutus gave him a serious look.

"Is that a hell hound?"

"Yes, it is."

"Where did you get him?"

"I got him from Hela. Her Garm had a litter and Hela didn't have time to raise them. She said I could keep them or give them away."

"Have you found home for the others?"

"Yes, but I did keep one," Loki said as he pointed to Thori and Mephisto looked at Thori then at Brenna. Something about her caused fear to run through him and Mephisto growled.

"This is some sort of trick!" the Hell Lord said. "There is an angel here!"

"No, there isn't," Loki said.

"Yes, there is!" he said and pointed at Brenna.

"I'm no angel," Brenna said.

"Then you have a Guardian," the Hell Lord stated. "I can smell the holy stench nearby. Ugh! It's making my eye twitch!"

"If you take him, you can leave," Loki said and the Hell Lord looked at Brutus.

"What is his name?"

"I'm Brutus!" the puppy barked.

"Interesting," he said then smiled. "Alright. I will take him."

Loki handed Brutus to him when the black smoke appeared and Mephisto looked at Loki.

"This better not be a trick, Trickster. If it is, you will not like what I will do," he said then vanished in the black smoke and Loki sighed.

"Nice guy," Brenna said.

"He is a bit of a hothead," Loki giggled.

Brenna laughed as Thori yipped and Loki sat down on the bed.

"I guess we better get some sleep," Loki said with a yawn and Brenna nodded.

"What do you think he meant?"

"Mephisto?"

"Yeah. What if there is an angel around here?"

"If there is, I hope it's Thor," he said with a sad expression.

"Me too," Brenna agreed.

Loki gave her another of his tunics to sleep in. Brenna changed behind the screen, feeling her tummy ache. But she didn't want to seem like a baby in front of Loki. So she didn't say anything.

She came around the screen, her stomach doing flipflops. She resolutely ignored it then climbed onto the bed and Thori jumped up to lie next to her. She noticed Loki was making something when he walked to the bed with a cup and handed the cup to her.

"Drink that," Loki said.

"Why?"

"It will settle you. Seeing a Hell Lord can make mortals ill."

"Oh," she said as she took a sip of the gray liquid, but whatever it was didn't taste too bad. Her nausea went away almost instantly. She finished the drink when she suddenly felt sleepy and she settled down on the bed.

"It also makes sure you don't have any nightmares," he said, tucking the blanket around her. "Night, Loki," she murmured as she drifted off to sleep. He watched her sleep for a few minutes then went to sleep on the floor and waved his hand to darken the room.

The next morning she woke to Thori licking her face. "Eeww! Your breath stinks!"

"I drank out of the toilet!" Thori yelped and she gently pushed him away.

"That is disgusting," Loki remarked from the floor.

"I do what I want." Thori said.

"That's my line," Loki said, standing up.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Brenna asked, getting up and went behind the dressing screen.

"I need to pee," the puppy said.

"Not on the bed!" Loki cried. "Outside or on the paper." He pointed to the pieces of parchment.

He picked up Thori and placed him on the parchment. The puppy sniffed and squatted.

Thori peed then pooped on the parchment as he looked at Loki and wagged his tail.

"Good boy!" Loki said and patted the puppy's head.

"What did he do?" Brenna said.

"He peed and pooped on the paper," Loki said.

"Sounds like someone deserves a treat," she said and walked around the screen.

"What sort of treat?"

"How about some Mickey Dee's?"

"What?"

"McDonald's. We could go get some Big Macs! They are the best!"

"What are they?"

"They are two hamburger patties, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions and a special sauce between three hamburger buns," she said, licking her lips then remembered they didn't have any money.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't get any. We don't have any money."

"Oh. You mean mortal money." Loki sighed.

"Yeah. Did you think they'd just give them to us?"

"Yes," he said then smiled. "What if we found a way for them to give them to us?"

"Oh! I have an idea! What if we teach Thori the Big Mac song and tell one of the cashiers he can sing?!"

"What is the Big Mac song?"

"It goes 'Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun!'!"

"Hmm...," Loki said and looked at Thori.

"Would I get a Big Mac, too?" Thori asked.

"Yes," Brenna said.

"What was the words again?" he barked and they smiled.

Soon the puppy was howling the lyrics and Loki shushed him. "You are going to wake people up!"

Sure enough a boot thumped against the opposite wall and Fandral yelled, "Shut that dog up, brat! My head is killing me!"

"Hangover," Loki mouthed. He waved a hand and the soiled parchment was sent to the dungheap by the stables.

Brenna laughed as he hushed her and they headed out of the room. A short time later, they arrived at the local McDonalds when Loki opened the door and they went inside. Brenna had Thori on a leash as they headed for the counter and the cashier looked at them.

"Uh, you can't bring a dog in here unless it's a service dog," he said.

"He's going to perform a service for you," Loki said.

"Really?"

"Yes. What if we told you he can sing?" Brenna asked.

"Dogs can't sing."

"This one can," Loki said.

"And, if you give us three Big Macs, we'll prove it"

"Get lost! I'm not going to be conned by two kids and their ugly dog."

"I'll show you ugly," Thori muttered.

"This isn't a con! He can sing!" Brenna said.

Loki noticed a crowd was gathering as the cashier looked at them then at Thori and sighed.

"Fine. Show me," the cashier said and Loki knelt down in front of Thori.

"Go on," he said and Thori sang the Big Mac song. The crowd gasped then clapped as the cashier sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I am going to get fired for this," he muttered then went to get the Big Macs and placed them in a paper bag.

One of the customers laughed and handed the cashier a twenty. "That was a cool trick! How did you do it? A chip in his collar?"

"Something like that," Loki said as they headed for the door and left. They carefully went across the street when they sat on a bench and Thori settled down at Loki's feet. Loki opened the paper bag when he removed the boxes with the Big Macs in them and placed one of the boxes in front of Thori. He handed Brenna the other box then he opened the last box and they started eating.

"Aren't they good?" Brenna asked as she bit into hers.

"Yep!" Thori said then went back to eating.

"They are tasty," Loki said as he wiped some of the tangy sauce off his chin.

"Too bad we didn't get anything to drink," she said as he waved his hand and two plastic bottles of water appeared.

As Brenna was drinking, Thori's empty box blew away. "Darn! I need to pick that up." She darted after it, grabbing it as it landed on the street. It was then she saw the green corner of some money. "Wow! Loki, I found twenty dollars!" She picked it up and pocketed it.

She returned to the bench as she showed him the money and he smiled.

"What do you want to do with it?" Loki asked.

"We could go get some more to eat," she said as she looked around and saw the ice cream shop. "Lets go get some shakes!"

"Shakes?" he asked as they got up and he placed the boxes and the paper bag in the trash can.

"Follow me and find out," she said, taking hold of the leash and they headed down the sidewalk.

"You can't come in the ice cream shop, Thori," she told the puppy. "But if you're good and wait nicely I'll bring you some dog ice cream."

Thori barked as he wagged his tail and she hooked the leash around a pole in front of the ice cream shop. A silver bell jingled as Loki opened the door and they walked inside. Brenna noticed some boys she knew as she sighed and they walked to the counter. Loki looked at the menu when the worker walked over and smiled at them.

"What would you like, hon?"

"Can we have a cookies and cream milk shake and one doggie ice cream?"

"Sure," she said and they watched her make the milk shake.

She put whipped cream and a half an Oreo on the shake and the doggie ice cream in a cup.

Brenna got two straws while Loki found a table by the window and sat down. Brenna stuck the straws in and they each sipped the shake.

Loki had never tasted anything so good. The creamy deliciousness spread over his tongue and he sighed rapturously. "This is wonderful!"

"Just don't drink too fast. Or else you'll get brain freeze " Brenna warned.

Loki laughed. "Cold doesn't bother me," he said, and sipped again.

Suddenly, a big boy of about fourteen loomed over them. His name was Bert Evans, and he was on the football team at the local high school. "Hey, freaks! We don't serve your kind here!"

"Leave us alone!" Brenna snapped.

"Why?" Bert smirked nastily. "Number one-you're in my seat. Number two-your mama made out with the whole town, and number three-you belong in the street like the trash you are, Brenna NoName!"

"Brenna is not trash!" Loki snapped.

"She is if I say so, freak!" Bert sneered. "You're part of that cult that thinks they're gods out of myths."

"It's not a cult, dweeb!" Brenna growled.

"Move!" He ordered.

Brenna glared at him. "Make me."

Bert reached for her.

Loki put his arm in the way. "Back off! Now!"

"Right!"laughed the bully. "I've never kicked a god's ass before!"

"And you aren't now!" Brenna cried picking up her chair. "Go away before you get a chair to the head!"

He went to grab her and Loki saw red.

He might be small for his age and less strong than the Asgardian boys, but even the weakest Asgardian could go toe to toe with a mortal and win. It was simply how they were made. So despite the fact the mortal boy was taller and heavier, Loki was much stronger and faster. He was also furious that this walking mountain of blubber dared to threaten a girl half his size over the fact that he wanted to sit where they were when there were plenty of other seats in the shop.

"I SAID-back OFF!"

The next thing he knew he had pulled his fist back and slammed the other boy right in the chin, remembering at the last minute to pull his blow because this wasn't an Asgardian he was facing.

Bert was knocked off his feet, across the floor and into a table, which promptly fell into the window and almost shattered it. As it was as large crack appeared in it.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed the worker who had seen the whole thing. "That skinny kid just beat up Bert the Bruiser!"

The rest of the kids in the shop just remained with their mouths open.

Brenna quickly lowered the chair, but people were focused on Loki and didn't notice.

Loki blinked, coming out of the red mist. He surveyed what he had done and winced. "Oh, Norns! Now I'm in for it! Come on, let's get out of here!"

Brenna grabbed the doggie ice cream and followed. "Loki, you were defending me. Everyone saw it. He started it."

"Doesn't matter. I'm supposed to keep a low profile, not nearly knock mortals through windows," her friend shook his head. "The AllMothers will not be pleased."

"How will they know?"

"They have their ways. I'm sure the owner will come to them to demand reparation," Loki sighed.

"How much trouble are you in?"

"Enough," he answered untying Thori's leash.

"What happened?" barked the puppy. "And where's my ice cream?"

"Here." Brenna knelt and gave it to him. "Come on, we have to get back to Asgardia."

Thori gobbled the sandwich down in one gulp. "I like it! Another!"

"Not now!" Loki snapped and they ran down a street.

"Thank you for standing up for me," Brenna said as they ran. "Maybe you should have just let him throw me out. Now you're in trouble and it's my fault."

"No, it's not. And it was worth it. What sort of friend would I be if I let a thug like that beat you up?"

"What do you think they will do?" she asked worriedly.

Loki shrugged. "I have no idea. But I'm not sorry."

"Loki . . ." she bit her lip.

"I'm not! That idiot was going to hurt you! He deserved what he got."

"I know. I just don't you to get in trouble."

"I've been in trouble lots of times. Don't worry about it," he said breezily, though he felt his stomach clench into a knot as he wondered what the AllMothers would do to him for breaking the peace between the Asgardians and the citizens of Broxton.

A/N: So what do you think will happen to Loki?