When they came through the Bifrost Fenrir was gripping Thor's arm. The grip only tightened when he saw the gate keeper looking down at him.

"Heimdal" Thor said. "This is a glorious day for Asgard. My nephew has returned to us, alive and well." Thor pulled his arm free of Fenrir's grip and wrapped it around his nephew proudly.

"So I see." Heimdal said with a glance. "Sif is telling your mother about your discovery as we speak."

"She already came through?" Thor asked. "This is wonderful." Thor looked down at his nephew. "Come. Frigga will be thrilled when she sees you." With that Thor strode off, half leading, half dragging his nephew along beside him. They had barely entered the palace when Sif and Frigga came hurrying toward them. "Mother I—"

"Fenris." Frigga interrupted quietly. She stopped in front of Fenrir. Putting one hand on either side of his face she slowly moved his head up to face her. "You've changed so much." She said sadly. "You look so much like your father."

Fenrir, whose eyes had sought the ground the moment he'd heard someone coming, finally found the courage to look up.

"Do I really?" He asked.

"You have his eyes." She said, pushing a stray hair from his face. "It's so good to see you again." She moved to give him a hug and felt him tense up under her touch.

"Does my father know I'm back yet?" Fenrir asked, as Frigga pulled away.

"I'm afraid that we don't know where he is." Frigga explained.

"Is he on a quest?" Fenrir asked, confused.

"Fenris, I must speak with my mother. Would you go with Sif to the training grounds and wait for me?" Thor asked. Fenrir paled at the suggestion.

"Could I just go someplace to rest?" He asked.

"Of course, you must be tired." Frigga said. "Sif, will you take Fenris to Thor's chambers until we can have something else prepared for him?" Sif glanced at Fenrir briefly then bowed to her queen and moved to lead him from the room. Fenrir hesitated, and turned to look at Thor.

"I'll come to get you as soon as I'm done." Thor said. Fenrir seemed reassured and followed Sif. Once the two were out of the room Thor went to his mother.

"I know what you wish to ask me, though you fear to say it aloud." Frigga said.

"Am I wrong? Is this man an imposter?" Thor asked.

"He is who he claims to be. I felt him as soon as you brought him through the gate." She said, smiling sadly to herself.

"I wanted to believe him. I did believe him but, I admit, I still had doubts."

"It's a painful thing to accept when you have failed someone so greatly." Thor looked at his mother confused. "Your father and I should have seen through Auolies treachery. The man was always deceitful. We believed his lies and Fenrir was forced to suffer as a consequence."

"You didn't put him in that cell." Thor said.

"We didn't take him out of it either. You've done a wonderful thing bringing him home to us." Frigga began to walk across the room and Thor followed. "I know that you were planning to rejoin your friends on Midgard but, given the circumstances, I hope you'll stay on a little longer." Thor nodded his assent. "I'm glad. He already seems to trust you."

"Why wouldn't he trust me? I'm family." Thor asked with a laugh.

"He's been gone a long time, Thor, and I can only imagine what was done to him in those dungeons. Even you have to have seen the fear on his face whenever someone comes too close."

"Yes, but that will go away soon enough. Now that he's back with his family, and safe, he'll be fine."

"I wish it would be as easy as that."

"Why shouldn't it be?" Thor asked. Frigga looked at Thor with frustration. She loved her son but sometimes his naivety bordered on the infuriating.

"Leaving out the part where he's most likely been tortured throughout his entire childhood? Have you thought yet about how you'll tell him about Loki?" Frigga asked, pointedly. "Fenris always worshiped his father. It won't be easy for him to hear about the things that Loki has done."

"Perhaps we need not tell him at all. We could say that Loki is on a quest and then-"

"How long do you think you could keep a story like that going? He's his father's son, so I can't believe he would be fooled for long" Frigga said. "Thor, I know you mean well, but lying to him will only cause more pain. It won't be easy, but it's best that he knows the truth."

"Even this will be but a brief pain for him." Thor said, regaining his optimism. "Once word gets to Loki that Fenris is alive then he will want to come home to be with him. His joy will wipe away his rage and everything will be just like it was."

Frigga seemed prepared to challenge her son, but stopped herself. "The most reliable thing about Loki is his unpredictability. There's no way to know how he will react to this news. But we do need to find a way to tell him."

"No one has seen him in almost a year. When I return to Midgard I will increase the search. If I can find him I'll make sure he talks to me whether he wants to or not."

"I suppose that's the best we can do for now. In the meantime I think the more time that you spend with Fenris the better." Thor nodded to his mother and left the room. Frigga wanted to call out after him. To tell him how much fear she'd felt when she'd hugged her grandson. To warn him of her own fears that the man they were getting back from Svartalfheim might not be the same as the boy that they lost all those years ago. She wanted to but she didn't; Thor had always loved his nephew and would naturally do his best to make him feel welcome. For now she had to hope that that would be enough.

*/*/*/*/*/*

Thor entered into his rooms and saw Fenrir sitting, stiffly, at the edge of a chair.

"I thought I'd find you resting." Thor said.

Eyes pinned firmly on the ground; Fenrir said "I didn't know if I should."

"We have several hours till the evening meal. You could sleep until then if you wish." Thor said, gesturing across the room to his bed.

"Isn't that your bed?" Thor nodded yes. "I'd rather not. I'm fine here." He stammered.

Thor thought this was a strange response but decided to ignore it for the time being. "What would you like to do then?" Fenrir seemed poised to speak several times but always stopped himself before any words came out. "Come; don't be shy, anything at all."

"I was wondering." Fenrir stopped midsentence. "Do you think…Are any of my things still here?"

"I don't know. Come with me." Thor said, making his way back to the door. "If they are here then they'd be in Loki's rooms."

"No, wait." Fenrir said, jumping up from his chair. "You don't need to-I shouldn't be going into my father's room without-" Thor cut him off as he grabbed him by the arm.

"No worries. After all we're just looking for some of your old things. Loki would never deny you such a simple request." Fenrir still hesitated and, once again, Thor had to half drag his nephew down the halls of the palace. Even when they arrived at Loki's chambers Thor had to push him inside. "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know… maybe some of my old books." Fenrir said quietly. Thor smiled at the mention of books, yet more proof that it was indeed Loki's son he was dealing with, and began rummaging through the room. Fenrir didn't like that they were going through his father's things without his permission, but Thor did say that it was alright. He forced himself to look around the room.

There were so many things here that he remembered. Tools his father used in his magic, tapestries that had been hung before he was born, and the daggers. There, spread out on the table in front of him, were several of his father's throwing daggers. He'd just begun teaching Fenrir how to use them when he'd been taken away. Fenrir reached forward; wanting so much to hold something of his father's.

"Fenris!" Thor shouted. Fenrir yanked his hand back in terror. Of course he wouldn't be allowed to touch a weapon. He spun around to accept his uncle's punishment and saw him sitting across the room in front of a large trunk. "Come see what I've found." Fenrir sighed in relief. His uncle hadn't seen him. He walked over to the trunk. Inside he saw his toys, clothes, books, almost everything that he'd once owned. He reached in and pulled out a small, blue cloak that he'd worn when he'd been barely 100. "I'd forgotten he'd enchanted your things." Thor said.

"What?"

"After you died, um, were taken, Loki enchanted many of your things so that they wouldn't age. He wanted to preserve what he could."

Fenrir took another look at the cloak and saw that, indeed, it hadn't faded at all over the years. Everything in the trunk looked like it had just been put there by a little boy who might be coming anytime to retrieve them. He put the cloak back and gathered up his courage. There was something that he needed to know and he couldn't stand waiting any longer.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Thor said with a smile.

"Is my father dead?"

"No! No, your father is alive."

"Then where is he? Heimdall can find anyone in the universe if he looks, so how can Frigga not know where he is?" Fenrir asked.

"Loki learned years ago how to shield himself with magic. No one sees him unless he wants them to." Thor explained.

"Why wouldn't he want you to know where he is?" Fenrir asked. Thor quickly tried to think up an excuse, but Fenrir didn't give him a chance.

"I tried to ask your friend, Sif, about him and she said she thought you should be the one to tell me. If he were just on a quest there'd be nothing to tell. I know something's happened to him. Tell me, please." Fenrir begged.

"Loki is alive." Thor said. "But I'm afraid that he has greatly changed since you last saw him." This was the last thing in the world that Thor wanted to do. He could see the pain on his nephews face as he heard about his father. He wanted to lie, or at least delay the truth for a few days, but Frigga was right. It was secrets that had first put a wedge between them and Loki and he couldn't let the same thing happen again. So Thor sat his nephew down and began to explain about how his father had become a villain.

Authors note: Just a short chapter this time. Review my story and I will add longer chapters next time.