The next day, Loki is back up and active around Room and she watches Fen chomp down on a granola bar as she picks up an apple from the counter.

"Would you like a bite, my love?"

Fenrir nods and she slices a piece off for him with a knife, he eats it with a happy hum.

Loki bites in to her slice and winces. She reaches into her mouth and pulls something out. "Ah, finally. I was beginning to wonder."

Fenrir stands on his chair, so he can see what his mum is holding. "Bad Tooth? Can I have it?"

At first Loki wants to throw it away, but shrugs, "Sure, if you want it."

Later, he is watching nature documentaries while Loki cleans up from breakfast. He watches, fascinated as baby snakes emerge from the shells, poking their small heads out. Loki is tying up the trash bag and finds the discarded truck and realizes that Fenrir has destroyed it. She gives a small smile and puts the full bag of trash next to the door.

"Are snakes real?"

Loki's head shoots up: this is the first time that he's attempted to believe her about the world since the argument. She quickly runs to the couch, sliding next to him.

"Totally real. I had a pet snake. He was so cool, he was a green tree python. I named him Jormungandr. He was as long as you are tall."

Fenrir's eyes are wide, and he hangs on his mother's every word. The light coming back to her eyes as she describes the snake.

"Your Uncle Thor gave him to me for my 16th birthday. He went everywhere with me, Grandpa didn't care for that much but-"

On the TV: "We now see the cheetahs prepare their young for their first hunt, meanwhile the lions are settling down for a long nap."

"Lions and cheetahs-"

"They're all real, Fenrir."

He is even more curious now and switches the channel to a 1970s British sitcom, Are You Being Served?

"Real?"

"Ah, they're real people playing dress-up, pretending to be people who work in a department store. But nonetheless, those are real people."

Fenrir is puzzled by that, so he switches channels to Tom and Jerry.

"Just TV?"

"You're getting it! I'm so, so proud of you baby!"

Fenrir watches the slapstick violence with relish, giggling.

"When Thanos comes back, I'm going to beat him up."

This totally demolishes Loki's mood, and she marches over and shuts off the TV. "We can never do that, Fenrir. One night I tried to hurt Thanos. I stood behind the door with the lid of the toilet tank."

Fenrir glances over at the toilet, confused because the white toilet sits with the water tank exposed. It had always been that way, or so he thought. "What lid?"

"It used to have a lid, it was the heaviest thing in Room. When he came in I tried to smash it down on his head. But I messed up, Fenrir. He shoved the door shut and grabbed me by the wrist - that's why it's sore now."

There is a pause in the room, the silence heavy.

"We could wait till he's asleep and kill him dead."

She sighs, she had thought this too. Like mother, like son, she guesses. "Yes, we could, but then we'd have no more food - and we wouldn't know the code, on the door, to get out."

"The Grandma and the Grandpa and the Uncle Thor could come, you said Thor was a superhero with superpowers! He could smash Thanos!"

"They don't know where we are, Fenrir. Room's not on any map. That's why we haven't been found already."

This hurts and is a hard truth to realize. Fenrir's eyes slide to the blank screen, "Can I have more TV?"

"Fenrir, I want you to listen to me!" He looks up, his Ma looks like she is thinking, contemplating something. "You're old enough now and we can't wait any longer… Fenrir, you are going to help me trick Thanos like Jack in the stories is always tricking the giant after he climbs the beanstalk. Okay?"

A little later, water boils in a pot on the stove, Fenrir lies in bed. Loki has him wrapped in blankets as she explains what is going to happen.

"I'm going to make your face so scorching hot that Thanos will take you to the hospital, and the minute you get there you'll tell the doctors, 'Help! Police!'"

"You can tell it," Fenrir says defiantly.

"I'll write you a note to give them."

"You can give it to them."

"I won't be in the hospital, I'll be here," she explains sadly. "You have to go and do this. Thanos won't let me out, people will know who I am and it's too big of a risk for him."

Fenrir jumps up, rigid with panic, clinging to Loki. "No. No. I don't want to leave."

"It'll be okay, my heart."

"I want you to go!"

"He won't take us both. You'll go first, just to the hospital, so you can tell the police, and then…" her conviction falters at this point, but she fakes it. "Then you'll come rescue me. You'll come get me and we will live out in the world. Together."

Fenrir shakes his head, covering his ears.

Loki crouches down, pulling his hands away from his ears so he can hear her words. She needs to convince Fenrir. She fears it's his only shot. Her only shot to get him out. "We'll be free. Go on hikes, see all the birds. Ride in cars and trains and planes. I'll teach you how to swim in a pool and then maybe the ocean. We'll have friends. And a dog - we'll call him Rocket. A party with a cake and so many candles."

"Maybe next year when I'm six. Or maybe when I'm seven?"

"Tonight."

Fenrir starts shaking his head frantically, crying.

"It has to be tonight."

Fenrir flees to the wardrobe, trying to shut himself in. "No!"

"Listen to me Fen," she says stopping the door from shutting. "I'm going to tell him the powercut made you so cold, you got sick. We might not get another chance. It's a miracle he didn't come last night."

"Tomorrow."

"I'm your Ma. Sometimes I have to pick for both of us," slowly she pulls until his small hands release the door. "Okay, I choose this time. I would do this if I could, but I can't. You can. Go get back in bed."

Later, Fenrir winces, his face red. Loki holds a cloth wrung out with hot water over his forehead.

"Ow!"

"You need to feel hot when he touches you. I know it hurts but you have to be strong for me."

Fenrir begins to cry at the prospect. Loki strokes him as she presses the rag to his forehead. "Crying is good, it makes you look sicker. It makes your face look red." She moves the bag to each cheek in turn. "And stay floppy, remember. You're too weak to move or say a word. If he tries to talk to you, you say nothing okay? Only talk to the people at the hospital."

Quickly, she shoves her fingers down her throat to make her retch.

"Ma, what are you doing?"

Loki manages to vomit a little and she rubs it on the pillow beside Fenrir, which horrifies him, he tries to scoot away but Loki stills him.

"It will make you smell sick, another trick okay?" She checks her watch again and presses the cloth to his face again. "Remember when you get to the hospital you give them the note. Show me how you hold it out."

Fenrir fumbles in his pocket for the edge of the note. Something falls out with it.

"What's that?" Loki picks it up. Her bad tooth. She smiles and puts it in the opposite pocket as the note, that way he won't lose it. "See that's a bit of me you have with you all the time. I'll always be with you as long as you have that."

"I'm scared," Fenrir whimpers and Loki strokes his face.

"I know. Me too."

Suddenly the door beeps, startling them both. Loki shoves the wet rag and the pot of hot water under the bed. Fenrir hides his face in the pillow, goes limp. The door opens and Thanos steps in with a grocery bag.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Loki yells at the man.

Thanos scowls and slams the door shut. "You know the drill: not a peep out of you till the door is shut."

"Sorry, just - Fenrir's sick, I'm worried about him."

Thanos puts down the groceries, grimacing at the smell of the vomit.

"It was so cold, and we didn't have enough clothes."

"You brought that on yourself. You should have thought about the consequences before you dug your nails into my face."

"I couldn't keep him warm, and now he's burning. He's been vomiting all day, he's so weak."

"Give him one of those painkillers I gave you."

"I've tried, he pukes them back up. I don't know what to do…"

Thanos comes up close to Fenrir. His hand stretched out.

"Don't-"

He elbows Loki out of the way and lays his hand across Fenrir's forehead, who lets out a whimper of fear that passes for pain. "I'll get him something stronger."

"He's only five! He's dehydrated and with a temperature this high, he could go into convulsions any minute!"

"Shut up and let me think!" Thanos holds up a hand and Fenrir doesn't miss the way it makes Loki flinch.

"He needs antibiotics, please."

"I'll bring something tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night? You have to take him to the ER right now," she sobs.

"Enough with the hysterics."

"I'm begging you. Please!"

Thanos taps the code into the keypad, hiding his hand. Loki clings to him begging, tears streaming down her face.

"If you're even halfway human-"

As the door opens he thrusts Loki away and she stumbles. When the door booms shut, Fenrir lifts his head. Their trick didn't work… and he's relieved. Loki is crumpled against the wall where she fell.

Later, he sleeps sweetly and peacefully in Loki's arms in bed.

Loki just stares into the darkness, her mind void and empty.

The next morning, Fenrir is eating his cereal cheerfully. Loki hasn't touched hers in the slightest but she's been rambling on for a little while.

"So, Edmond pulls his friend's body out of the bag and hides it, and he climbs into the bag, and lies super still until the guards come," Loki recites and Fenrir nods along to the story. "And that's what you're going to do."

Fenrir stops eating.

"See? It's even tricksier than pretending to be sick: this time you're going to be dead."

Fenrir looks over at the folded paper bags and sighs in relief, "Our bags are too small for being dead in."

Loki stands and shoves the table and chairs away to one side.

"Is it time for Track?"

Loki starts hauling up the rug, testing how it bends, "Rug is going to be the bag, see?"

"I don't want to be dead."

"Pretending to be dead, that's all. Wrapped up so Thanos can't see that you're alive. But not floppy this time. All stiff like a robot. And not a sound. And I'll be in your head, talking to you all the time," she taps Fenrir's head. "He's going to carry you outside, all rolled up in rug, and he'll put you in the back of his pick-up and drive somewhere to bury you-"

"No!"

Loki shushes him, petting his hair. "It's okay. You'll wiggle free and jump out of the truck. You'll-"

"I don't like this trick. It's scary and mean."

"Come on, Fen, let's try rolling you up. Lie down for me."

"Uh uh"

"Please Fenrir, try just for a minute."

"Half a minute."

"Okay."

Fenrir lays down on the rug, and Loki rolls him up.

"Can you hear me, baby? Can you breathe?"

"Yes, Ma."

"Excellent! He'll pick you up - stay as stiff as you can," Loki explains, and Fenrir holds himself rigid as Loki picks him up. "Then he'll put you in his truck." Loki sets him down awkwardly and Fenrir bites his lip but stays quiet. "The second you hear the engine-" She makes engine noises and shakes him, "that means Thanos' busy driving, so that's your chance to start wriggling out. Now, Fen. Wriggle out."

Fenrir cries out, "I can't! I'm stuck!"

"Remember your superpowers, baby."

Fenrir cries even harder and Loki unrolls him fast and brings him to her chest. His harsh breathing shakes her entire body. "You are okay, my love. That was just too many turns. Up. Up. We will try again. I'll fold it over like this."

She quickly folds the end of the rug to make it narrower. "Now lie down and fold your arms like this." She folds Fenrir's arm across his chest, elbows sticking out. "Like a mummy."

Loki rolls Fenrir up again. "There, now push up your arms."

"I can't."

"Push, Fenrir," and his elbows scrape through and his fingers clasp Loki's. "Now roll."

Fenrir makes a feeble try, barely moves. He is panting and sobbing from inside the rug.

"Take a breath, Fenrir. You are doing so well."

"Get me out!"

"You are getting yourself out, darling."

"Out!"

"If you panic, Thanos will hear that you're alive and he'll be very mad." Fenrir groans. "I know you, Fenrir. I know you can do this for me, for us."

Fenrir clenches his teeth and starts to writhe and roll side to side. He rolls face down, and gets his butt slightly in the air, bending the cylinder of the rug. He rolls the other way, sits up: the rug opens. He claws his way out, his face red and smeared. Loki is looking almost as distraught as him, but she grins.

"You did it! Oh, my love. You did it."

"I hate you." Fenrir screams at her, his body heaving in anger.

Loki gasps, it's the first time he's ever said it. Loki pulls him into a tight hug and kisses his head repeatedly.

"That's okay. You can hate me, I understand. I brought you here to Room. I didn't mean to, but I did, and I've always been so glad to have you. And now it's my job to get you out. I don't care if it's the last thing I ever do. I am going to get you out."

Fenrir has been lying half rolled in the rug. They had rehearsed him rolling out of the rug several times, but now he rests. Loki crouches next to him drilling him in the plan.

Fenrir recites. "Truck, wriggle out, jump, run-"

"Wait till the truck slows down at the first stop sign - if you jump when it's going fast you might-" she stops talking so as not to cry. She checks her watch. She stares at the door as if she can will it to open so they can run free. So, she doesn't have to let go of him. "So, truck, wriggle out, jump when it slows down…"

"Somebody, run-"

"Jump, run, then shout to somebody and show them the note. Tell them your Ma is Loki Odinson and-"

"Who is somebody?"

"Anybody - the first person you see."

"An actual real person?"

Loki nods, worried about his lingering confusion.

"What if Thanos unwraps me?"

"He's not going to-" Loki falters and puts her head in her hands. She collects herself. "You got Bad Tooth in your pocket?"

Fenrir points to his cheek, "It's in here so I don't lose it."

Loki smiles and kisses his forehead. "You're going to love it."

"What?"

"The world. Living in the hammock house with your Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Thor."

"And you."

Loki nods, trying not to convey any of her doubt. If this works, she doesn't know how Thanos will react once he finds out. "I love you so much. Don't forget that Fenrir."

"Can you sing?"

Loki sits back up into position, kneeling next to the rug. She begins to sing and takes in every single detail of her little boy's face, his dimples and his eyes that hold so much innocence and life. She knows she more than likely she will never see him again. Her heart breaks one more time. She wills herself to pull a lullaby that Frigga had sung to herself and Thor when they were little.

"Kongen kan synge i sitt bittere fly, Træret kan croon til vintreet i kveld, men den lille snøfnuggen på brystet mitt. Som sangen jeg synger best, - sov, sov, liten en, sov; Trøtt du er, mitt hjerte. Søvn, liten,-"

The door beeps and Loki rolls Fenrir up, very fast. "I love you, Fenrir."

One last whisper. "I love you, Ma."

Thanos steps into the room, proud of himself. A proud smile adorns his face. "Antibiotics." The door shuts with a boom. "Are you nuts, wrapping a sick kid up in the that?"

Ma's voice is very close because she's bent over the rug. "He got worse in the night."

Loki waits, giving time for Thanos to figure it out. Fenrir lays perfectly still in the rug, waiting.

"He wouldn't wake up."

"Are you sure?"

Loki screams, letting seven years of frustration and rage out. "Am I sure? Why would I even joke about that? You bastard!"

"Oh gee. That's - poor girl. Guess it must have been serious, pills wouldn't have worked anyway."

"You killed my baby!" Loki screeches, flinging herself over the rug. Fenrir wills himself to not flinch at the sudden weight that is on him.

"Take it easy. Let me-" As the man reaches for the rug, Loki slaps his hand away.

"Keep your filthy hands off him!"

Thanos backs off, holding his hands up. "Okay, okay. He can't stay here, you know."

"Where will you take him?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking."

"Not here. I'd feel him. Take him away. Drive him somewhere nice, somewhere with lots of trees by the ocean so he can hear the waves."

"Trees, sure. Ocean, fine."

"Keep him wrapped up. Swear you won't even look at him with your filthy eyes."

"Loki-"

"Swear it to me, you monster, you did this to him! Swear!" she growls.

"Okay, I swear. It's going to be dark in an hour, I'll take him then."

"Now. I can't bear it." Loki screams.

"Jesus. Fine."

Fenrir is then scooped up by Thanos. The hold on him is awkward and it's hard not to wriggle into a more comfortable position but he stays still.

"Gently!"

"Get back and turn around!"

Fenrir is tilted head down as Thanos taps the code. He can hear Ma's moans and cries and tears fall from his own face. He can hear her voice until the boom of the door shuts behind them.