DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the events or characters from the film Thor, nor MARVEL'S The Avengers – I am just borrowing them for play.

WARNINGS: This pairing will contain Dom/sub elements, simply due to the nature of their respective roles and also because of the perspectives I perceive as present in the relationship. Though unsure about the extent of Mature Content this fic might delve to include, the elements aforementioned above include:

petting, hand-feeding, irrational possessiveness, public displays of ownership, and subservience

These chapters are excerpts from my series Compare and Contrast the Following – they cannot be read without the context provided there.

Despite Circumstances

-~S~-

This excerpt is from Enlightening Nuances, Chapter Twenty-Five: Unprecedented. A dismissal of Thor's inaction and a rewrite of causation for Loki's return.

-~S~-

Chapter Seven: Imploring

"Is there any other way to call his spirit back?" Thor interrogated.

"No," Frigga answered, returning her focus to the adjustments being attempted by the others. Thor pursed his lips and fixed his stare onto the area of the ritual, his helplessness wrenching as if something gnawed within his stomach. He resolutely stepped back and met the gaze of each of his teammates, nodding towards the exit.

They followed him out and then down the staircase to the ground floor, his excuse: "We are no use there, but there might be another way."

"Frigga said there wasn't," Tony retorted before speculating aloud, "Are we breaking out a magical weapon that can help? Or does Loki have some secret magical thing you know of that'll make a difference?"

"No."

"What about the Tesseract?" Pepper suggested.

"He is not corporeal for us to find and bring here," the god explained. "Even if he was within some Realm where we could go to him and explain what's happening, his travel to his body would be independent and just as unmanageable as following the link currently present."

"If we let him know, he might become more aware of his body – and could find it easier," Clint proposed.

"We need to locate him first."

They stepped out into the stables to the greeting of 'my prince' and bows from the stablehands brushing down and feeding the horses, the closest asking if there was anything they required. "Just my father's horse," Thor informed.

"The eight-legged one?" Natasha asked warily as Bruce queried quietly, 'Isn't it one of Loki's children?'

"Yes," Thor answered as those grooming the aforementioned steed cleared the stall for their prince's use. He refused the proffered bridle, reins, and saddle as he undid the halter and handed it off, leading the horse out of the stables by a hand on his neck.

"Careful-" Tony warned as he divided the group in two to walk on either side of the animal, "if he's anything like his father he'll kick you in the ribs."

Sleipnir huffed and glanced back at the man, flicking his tail in his direction to Tony's surprise.

"He can understand you, friends," Thor chuckled.

"What are we, um, going to do with him?" Steve speculated carefully while darting his eyes up to the horse's. "Can he help?"

"We will see."

Once circled away from the eyes and ears of the stable, Thor came to a stop and stood before Sleipnir.

"Do you know where Loki is?"

He nodded before jerking his head down to himself, then towards Natasha, as the group had gathered at Thor's sides.

'Uh, what?' Tony muttered as Thor interpreted, "He's with Hela?"

At the others' confusion, Thor elaborated in distance from the answer, "My brother is able to communicate easily with him due to the related frequency of their thoughts, but with any other it is more a matter of his willingness to reply and understanding his gestures."

"So, like charades."

"He said 'yes', then indicated himself and implied a female," Pepper surmised.

"And you got Hela from her being his sister, another child of Loki's," Bruce concluded.

"The only female one."

"Yes."

"Doesn't she… rule the dead?" Steve questioned.

"Yes," the god answered morosely, falling into thought for a moment before he asked, "Can you carry me to them?"

"What?" Steve reproached flatly, Sleipnir shifting before giving a shake of his head.

Thor furrowed his brow in puzzlement, but responded to the Captain. "Sleipnir is the only steed that can cross into the Realm of the Dead and return safely. The Allfather has journeyed to Helheim to speak with Hela. I would be able to speak with Loki."

"But you can't?" Tony made clear.

"Why?" the blond thundered.

Sleipnir tossed his head over his shoulder back towards the palace before shaking it again.

"Because you are my father's?" Thor guessed. "Please – this is to save a parent of yours! I can't abandon Loki when all of this is because of me and Odin and everyone here-"

"Thor," Pepper chastised gently, "this isn't your fault-"

Sleipnir whinnied to call attention onto himself before he trotted forward a couple of steps from Thor and bumped his nose against Clint's chest.

"That had better be you using me to point to something that totally isn't me," he remarked.

"I can't go, but Clinton can?" Thor interrogated.

He received a nod.

"How's that going to work, exactly?" Natasha asked.

"And why?" Bruce added.

"I don't know why," Thor replied, "but there is the same risk as if I were to go – it is Sleipnir leading."

"But you've more of a chance to talk Loki into getting a move on back here," Tony countered.

"I don't know if I do…" he muttered.

"You're telling me to just sit on the horse, let it walk to the Realm of the Dead, somehow convince Loki's spirit or whatever to come back to his body, then ride back?" Clint reiterated.

"Absolutely not," Steve interjected. "I wouldn't have let Thor go – but the rest of us don't know anything about any of the realms. No." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is the only way we can do something, Steven," Thor insisted.

"Look – it's really about me, here," Clint intruded. Even if there's the risk of me getting lost and dying somewhere, we have to do something. Thor thought of this and was prepared to take off – and I don't know anything about Asgardian beliefs, but he didn't see it as a trade. He trusted he'd return. If he was going to trade himself for Loki then I would think there would be an easier way to get to the Realm of the Dead than by horse.

What seems trickiest to me is the turnaround. If Thor says Sleipnir can get me to Loki, I do believe that – but it's the Realm of the Dead. I've watched enough supernatural shit that only the dead are supposed to be there. Super special steed or not, I don't know if Hela's going to let me go.

Nevermind Loki.

He's her father, and if Thor's thoughts on His love are shared by her to Him, then will she even let Him go?

It's either this, or go back up and sit around while His body's avoided by His magic like the corpse it is.

"We've got to try," he said.

"Clint," Natasha cautioned, while Thor echoed the name in gratitude and clasped his shoulder.

"We don't really have time," he countered with a shrug, Sleipnir folding his eight legs under him and lowering his body to the ground.

"As more elapses, the connection grows weaker," Thor confirmed.

"Just be careful," Pepper voiced as Steve frowned in disapproval, Natasha's stare conveying the same sentiment.

"When am I not?" he asked with a smirk, throwing a leg over Sleipnir's back. He was lifted as the animal stood, grasping onto the long hairs at the base of his neck for stability. "Why didn't you grab the reins and saddle if you were planning on riding him?" he asked astride the large horse he was now forced to ride bareback.

"The servants will be less likely to inform my parents of us taking him if it only appears as though we are speaking with him, and not intending to travel anywhere," the god explained.

"Great." The circus is coming back to me, he thought as he bent his knees further to strengthen his hold on the breadth of the animal's ribs, deprived of stirrups.

Thor stepped forward and gently lowered Sleipnir's head, cradling it in his hands as he ordered, "Take care of him, and bring him safely back – along with Loki."

He nodded before shoving at the prince's chest, Thor running a hand over his nose before backing away.

Sleipnir pawed at the ground with a front hoof as the space around him grew distorted, Clint tightening his hold as he felt his muscles tense. He launched into a trot and then swiftly began cantering, the two phasing out of the streets of the Realm as the group behind stood watching on.

"We shouldn't have done that," Bruce sighed in regret.

-~S~-

Clint strained to keep his eyes open and alert, taking in the colours that tore through the deep shadows that pressed in all around them. Sleipnir was the only solid object he could grasp, the surroundings seemingly seeping with a nothingness that threatened to suffocate them both before they managed to wade through even a fraction of it. It was as though they were suspended and Sleipnir's muscles were pumping his legs to try and find some friction to push off of.

Time was in flux as they travelled, but abruptly between one second and the next hooves touched ground and the dry air of the dusty ground was inhaled through their noses. Sleipnir tossed his head and began to trot over the landscape, a wide path to a large pair of gates in front of them flanked by immense guard walls and breaking the stream of the swift-flowing river below. When they paused before the doors, Clint shifted and thought briefly about dismounting before dismissing it on the obvious risk of touching anything of the Realm of the Dead.

The doors creaked open and Sleipnir walked in, the paneling of the mansion extended in front of the two. But the horse immediately turned from the entrance and journeyed along the grounds confined by the fortifications, faint voices heard conversing. Clint saw a group gathered close to a withered yew tree as Sleipnir's ears perked.

"How long will you stay?" the voice of the blond asked excitedly.

"Nothing is certain yet," the sole woman answered, antlers curling up over her head from her temples as hair pale as moonlight fell over her shoulders. She tilted her head towards him inconspicuously and met his stare, the fraction of her left side shown to be blackened and charred bone instead of the corpselike flesh of her right profile.

"What's happened?" the young man questioned again, pulling the group over to the base of the tree. He sat cross-legged, pulling Loki to settle beside him- Loki!

Though worn and tired, cracked scars of lightning still ripping through his skin, the dark god's muscles were relaxed and his expression content.

A wolf curled around behind the blond with his head between him and Loki as the female knelt in front of the three, and Clint, noting the evident abdominal wounds of one, the blood on another, and the appearance of the third, gathered that these were Loki's children.

Hela beckoned him suddenly. "Come join us."

Clint suppressed a wince at having to intrude on the congregation, though Sleipnir happily trotted forward.

"Clinton," Loki identified in surprise, appearing to want to greet him though immobilized with shock.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, sliding off Sleipnir's back to the ground once he had folded his legs under him to lower himself. Loki rose slowly to his feet and gazed at him for a moment, before he took a hold of his wrist and sat again, drawing him down to settle himself as well.

"It's rude to stand when you're to speak with those who are seated," he explained. "These are my sons Nari, and Vali, and my eldest, Hela – who rules over this Realm." He indicated each with a motion of his right hand, his left still clasped around Clint's wrist.

"It's a pleasure to finally have you here," Hela greeted him with a small smile, absentmindedly combing through Sleipnir's front locks.

"Why have you come?" Loki questioned immediately as Nari repeated, 'What's happened?'

"His magic was taken from him unjustly, by Odin of course," she answered the latter.

Vali growled as he shifted to lie behind Loki possessively, his head nosing Clint's side in secondary concern and curiosity; Nari's lips frowned in dismay at the statement and he leaned over to embrace the injured god. "I am sorry, father – mother always spoke of how much seidr was a part of those chosen."

"Thor came back for all of us after though, and we fought with Odin until he agreed to give your magic back," Clint interjected, to an eyebrow raise of Loki's.

"That's absurd – the Allfather can't revoke his decision," he argued.

"There's a lot going down," he justified with a shrug. "He shouldn't be making more enemies."

"What do you mean?" Loki redirected. "My death doesn't affect the defense of Thanos," he commented blithely, though his fingers combed through Nari's hair as he shifted to lie his head in his lap.

"Uh yeah, it does," Clint returned.

"They must need you for something," Nari interjected.

"The Ӕsir have only recognized you when it benefits them," Hela confirmed.

"No – though it's stupid for Odin to think you couldn't make a difference," Clint muttered. "When the healers heard about what happened to you they rioted. There's a civil war that's tearing the place apart."

Loki recoiled, releasing his hold on him and ceasing his contact with Nari, though the movement pressed him firmer into Vali's side. "What?"

"How interesting," Hela drawled. "They have finally reacted to the tortures you've endured."

"Well, that's certainly unexpected," he said slowly, "but I can't leave here."

"Why not – you're not dead!" Clint objected.

"You are not yet fully dead, no – but you have been suspended from your body for days," she declared. "I can't release you without something in recompense – not when you're so close to me."

"That's bullshit," Clint growled.

"They always hurt him in Asgard," Nari contributed. "He might be happier here."

"We're here for you now though – we know Asgard's fucked up with you, but you're not staying there. You're coming back to Earth with us. You're ours," the archer pronounced. Please.

"Haven't you been pestering me to leave you alone?" Loki queried, staring up from under his lowered brow. "Why are you even here? SHIELD needs me for experimentation and for improving the offense of Midgard, but I'm not worth the risk of war between Asgard and her. You must be worth even less to them to be forced to come here to fetch me."

"I volunteered," he combatted blandly to the narrowing of the other's eyes. "Your magic's not going into your body, and there's nothing we could do – so Thor thought up this to get your attention and get your ass moving back to your body, but Sleipnir said he could only carry me. So I came.

"And sorry that you don't feel wanted by SHIELD or whatever, but you know you've been having fun with Tony and Bruce, and we need you back even if you return to the cranky, crazy, son of a bitch that fights with Thor and kills people and just uses those around you like puppets-" I don't care if You don't show any more interest in me – that's not what this is about-

You have to come back to us. It's like You wormed Your way into all of our lives by being just as broken and emotionally screwed up as all of us. But You're also brilliant and cunning and powerful and oh-so-fucking amazing that You can't just leave me like this!

"Clinton!"

'What?' he muttered, but there was a numbness that was seeping into his fingers and toes, and he blinked to the realization he had slumped forward and was staring more at the ground than those around him. His thoughts began to circle around Loki and, if not a threat, how His presence always called his eyes to Him anyway. And if he wasn't looking at Him, in an argument with Him, then there was something off.

"Clint!" Loki repeated, Nari having sat up and Vali on his feet beside him, Sleipnir huffing as Hela's gaze was cast away. The archer blinked languidly without focus, though the god had him grasped by the upper arms. "Hela," he growled swiftly, turning his head towards his daughter, "release your hold on his soul, now."

"It's not within my control, father, you know that," she said. "He has been here too long."

"Why did you bring him? You know how mortals' are affected here," he interrogated of Sleipnir, whose thoughts drifted to him easily in the high concentration of magic and relation of the environment.

There were enchantments binding him to the Allfather, the animal's unique powers something to be protected. Only those with the permission of the king could make use of his ability to cross the borders of the Realms. Loki is an exception to this because of his parentage and strong magical signature, but there was no other. There would have been no way for the group to have ventured into Helheim if it had not been for Clint.

The remnants of the connection of the Mind Gem caused an imprint on the archer's soul of that of Loki's mind and core. A parallel of the same yoke forged when a magic-user vows to take another as their permanent partner or spouse, thereby allowing him the same exception to Sleipnir's capabilities. It was also something his child had viewed as the importance of him to the archer, and therefore took it upon himself to allow Clint his perceived place at Loki's side, whether inevitably on Asgard, or in Helheim.

"Hela," Loki addressed again, "what would it take for you to release him?"

"The same as to release you. He cannot depart on his own, his soul is too anchored to this place – you need to accompany him back."

"I am sorry, my darlings," he said, bracing Clint against Sleipnir's side as he hugged Nari, then Vali, before turning back to raise him to his feet. "It seems there's something I have to do."

"Visit us again soon," Nari said, "and tell us about all these Midgardian friends."

"And either destroy or fulfill the bond between you and the archer," Hela added, helping Loki stand and supporting Clint's increasingly limp body as his eyes slipped shut. "It's an undeserved protection for him and a danger for you."

Clint was placed astride Sleipnir, Loki getting into place behind him on the steed's back as he fell to lean against his chest, head lolling back against his collarbone. Sleipnir stood to Loki wrapping an arm around Clint's waist to secure him as he shifted on his eight legs.

"What do you propose in trade?" Hela asked.

-~S~-

Sleipnir landed as though from a jump on the street he had departed from on Asgard due to the speed which he was spurred to travel at, the side of the palace outside the stables empty as his hooves clattered on the ground. Loki's hold on Clint loosened as the environment of the Realm seeped into his pores and began to revive him, the god himself grimacing as his image quickly withered and faded.

"If we live through this, we will speak," the god whispered as his shade flit into the air, Clint stirring at the sound, and then jostling as the horse walked on solid land.

His awareness returned slowly, but when Sleipnir approached the entrance to the stables he snapped to attention in recall of events and threw his eyes around in search of Loki. Where- When did I- What happened? Loki where the fuck are you?!

"Clint!" Thor called, him and Steve having caught sight of him and rushing to his side, the rest of the group following.

"Are you alright?" Natasha asked as he dismounted, Thor snapping his fingers authoritatively and passing Sleipnir to a stablehand to return to his stall with a firm pat to his flank.

"What happened?" Tony questioned.

"I don't know- Give me a sec-" he answered, gaze never ceasing scouring his surroundings as he carelessly pushed through his teammates into the stable. They followed to his grabbing of Sleipnir's face and interrogating, "Where is he?!"

"Clinton," Thor chastised, pulling him away from the horse. "You are distressed."

"Hell yeah I am – Sleipnir!"

The animal huffed before jerking his head in a high nod. Clint's sharp eyes followed the motion up before freezing, his arms abruptly elbowing the group from his sides again as he sprinted into the palace.

The group ran up several flights of stairs following him, before he led them to skid into the room of the ritual. The magic contained within the circles thickened in wisps and waves of colour before diving into Loki's body.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was so fun to explore - Hela's Realm as well as the interactions between Loki and his children, and then, well, Clint's panic. The last will be elaborated upon further next chapter ;P

Drop a review and let me know what you think!