Time flew by for Loki and Ingemar after they announced they were a couple to their close family. Eventually, they had announced to the Asgardians that their prince was dating someone. It seemed that the Asgardians in the city were pleased overall for the couple. There were some bumps, with people who could not understand why the pair were a couple but that had mostly faded to the background now.

One negative about revealing their relationship was finding out about all of the rules that they were to adhere to outside of closed doors. No excessive personal displays of affection, anything more than a chaste kiss being considered excessive. No discussing their relationship with anyone outside of the Allfather and his family, or Ingemar's family- neither good or bad, until they got expressed permission to share the news. They had to stayed focused during battles or else they would never be allowed on the same battlefield at the same time. Most importantly, they had to ensure that the image of the Allfather and his heirs was not ruined.

Even with these, the two were making it work. Daily training moving to when they had time rather than setting a time daily. After all, Ingemar was being called away for more solo medical based tasks. Loki was laying on his bed, sad about the cold spot on his bed. Ingemar had been gone for a questionable amount of time without even sending him a letter. Loki's stomach dropped as terrible thoughts of scenarios that could be the reason behind this.

After working himself up, Loki decided to toss away any plans of waiting longer as he marched to his father's chambers.

Odin was sitting in his throne, as if he knew his son was coming and was waiting for him. He could see the dark bags under his son's eyes, with clothes disheveled from being slept in. Under most circumstances, Loki would not dare let others see himself this way. His image was of the utmost importance to him. Leaning back in his chair, Odin waited for Loki to speak.

"Father, where did you send Ingemar?"

"Did Ingemar not tell you where she was going?" Odin couldn't help but slip a bit of his bemused expression out as he eyed Loki's reaction.

"Clearly not if I am here asking you." Loki spoke before he took a step forward with hands clasped behind his back. "All she said was that she was going to be called away for a short amount of time." Tilting his head, Loki looked at his father.

"I'm sure that you are able to tell me seeing as you do want Thor and I to be politically aware."

If Odin wasn't well aware of his son, he'd think that Loki was suggesting something. However, with Loki this was an underlying threat that if Odin did not tell him anything whatsoever, Loki would cause chaos in his path to find out what he wants. Loki always wanted it his way after all.

Loki would go out of his way to blackmail, torment or even slay people when they had wronged Loki or his close few of people. Odin decided that Ingemar was far enough away that
Deciding now that Ingemar was gone, it would be no harm, after all Loki could be of use.

"I am glad that Ingemar was able to keep this from you. It was a condition of the task." Odin smiled as he leaned forward. "Ingemar is currently infiltrating a group that has been kidnapping women and some children in some of the more sparse sections of our world. Ingemar has kept in contact so when they finally arrive to their home base, we can take it over and rescue everyone."

Loki's eyes widened a bit as he tilted his head to look at Odin for more answers."I assure you, she is fine according to her last communication."

"Father, are you sure this was the best decision?" Loki question as he raised his eyebrow. "Especially when you have more capable people available. Something smaller may have been better for her."

Odin leaned forward as he tsked. 'Loki, we were both well aware that she would be doing these kind of tasks when you started training her."

"Yes but I thought you'd send her with me on her first few tasks to ensure she wouldn't choke without me ."

"That wouldn't be wise for many reasons. Ingemar would not be able to grow and prove her strengths with you there to jump in. We both know you would jump in at any moment." Odin simply responded as Loki frowned. "And we are quite sure that there are injured people there that Ingemar can tend for."

Loki wasn't happy as he watched Odin, waiting for the next statement. "However, it is good that you came in. Ingemar missed her last check in."

"YOU JUST TOLD ME SHE WAS FINE!" Loki snapped as he waved his hand at Odin. "I am going to get her. "

When his father didn't argue, Loki almost wanted to thank the heavens for one less obstacle. "What is the information you have?"

Odin stood up slowly, it was likely drawing nearer for his Odinsleep from how he moved. Loki followed him into the map room as he listened for the needed information.

"The group was drawing nearer to the area that every other report lost them in; having confirmed the kidnapping of over forty children and women in this run alone. The warriors of Asgard had prevented them from getting back last time, so it seemed that they were making up for lost time"

The last checkpoint was about a day's journey away on steed, and Loki was not about that so he simply asked for a guard to bring Thor down. With Mjolnir, they could travel far faster. However, Loki hadn't thought it through as he was awkwardly clinging to Thor the entire time as they shot through the air. When they arrived, Thor smiled at Loki who was unimpressed as he adjusted his hair.

"So your plan…?" Thor questioned as he looked at Loki as his brother sigh.

"I've already started mapping out the area for a trace. I'll join Ingemar by shifting to make sure she is safe and ready. When we arrive at headquarters, I'll call upon Heimdall who will send in the troops. Meanwhile, YOU need to go home."

"What? Why?" Thor questioned, crossing his arms and almost pouting.

"Father is close to Odinsleep. It may be best for you to be near." Loki gave as his answer before adding. "If anyone sees you nearby or me in my normal form, then they'll grow suspicious."

Thor paused before nodding. "If you're sure brother." Loki nodded as he shifted himself. It was quite minor changes, slight lengthening of his hair, body shifting to a more feminine physique. In a heartbeat, Thor could still see his sibling, Loki.

Thor turned as he spun his hammer a few times before leaving.

-

Ingemar sat in the large cart as she sighed; it was well built, with metal reinforcements and wood to ensure the cloth couldn't be torn. Everyone had also been searched before they were thrown in here so no one could break the walls; unless you had magic. Ingemar had prepared for this as a back up to get everyone out if the worst happened. But she would rather complete her task as directed.

The cart halted as Ingemar raised her brow; they weren't supposed to stop any time soon. She stood up as the other women around looked at her curiously. They had come to understand that Ingemar was someone more than a simple farm girl but kept that secret for her. It wouldn't do them any good to expose her. During their travels, Ingemar had spent her time between tending to the wounded as best she could and entertaining the children to distract them from the current situation.

She stood in front of the rest as she gestured for the rest to get to the sides of the cart and the back as the door opened. Someone was tossed in before the door was slammed as Ingemar waited a moment before rushing over.

"Are you okay-" Ingemar spoke before seeing the woman's face. "Loki?" Leaning closer, Ingemar could definitely see that this was Loki.

Loki smiled at her as she sat up, brushing her dark hair from her face. "Hello dear." Loki answered as Ingemar sighed. "How'd you know?"

"Loki, I've been around you for years and with you when you chose different forms to express yourself. So it's quite familiar to me." Ingemar responded before bringing Loki to a free spot on the wall as the others returned into their groupings to chatter and mind theirselves. Ingemar whispered to her as she looked at Loki. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't check in, so the Allfather sent me." Loki responded under her breath, before leaning back. "We have the others on standby so when we arrive, you can continue as planned."

Ingemar nodded as she avoided eye contact with Loki. This confused Loki as she leaned closer to Ingemar and nudged her in the side gently with an elbow. "What's the matter?"

"I thought I had this and then immediately at the hint of problems, Allfather Odin sends you to come get me."

"Actually, I was quite persistent that he send me. He was going to wait I think but I was worried for you." Loki answered as she entertwined her hand with Ingemar. "I just worry is all."

"Why? Loki of all the people, you should hold my skills to the highest regard, yet you chased after me in concern?" Ingemar whispered back but continued holding hands.

"I trust you are capable of things, but I also love you and want to ensure you are safe." Loki spoke, looking at Ingemar. "I don't voice it about Thor, but I have the same concerns. I would argue my father many times about separating Thor and I in battle."

"I worry too but I trust your skills Loki. I know that you can do this and you will return to me." Ingemar spoke as Loki nodded and leaned back.

"Next time I will trust and only intervene if you ask, okay?"

"Thank you."

Hours passed by as Ingemar eventually moved away to talk with the children again. It was growing dark out, judging by the small cracks near the top. He could hear laughter as Ingemar was acting out something. Loki listened carefully to eavesdrop on what Ingemar was telling.

"So the mighty prince decided to go fishing. He wanted to prove that he could do better than his brother. The prince took the row boat to the middle of the lake. After putting on the best bait and using the strongest of threads, he casted his line. It was ages later, just as the prince was about to pull it in and head home for he was quite impatient."

Loki snorted at this. It was a familiar tale of Thor's misadventures.

"Suddenly, the prince was being pulled towards the lake; something was biting on his line!"

The kids gasped as Ingemar leaned closer. "So the mighty prince was nearly taken off of his ship but with his great strength, he tugged and he tugged. The boat rocked wildly back and forth until finally the water surface broke!" Ingemar exclaimed with her arms thrown in the air.

"Out came a giant serpent creature that was at least 30 feet long." Ingemar spoke as Loki couldn't help but snort. When Thor brought it back, it was measured to only be around 15 but of course it was exaggerated.

"The prince tried with his might as he pulled it into his boat. The serpent fought with the prince until finally he was successful in knocking it out. While in his boat, the serpent weighed it down to the point where the prince was afraid of his boat sinking; mere an inch or two further and he'd have sank into the middle of the ocean."

"What did the prince do?"

"Well, you see the prince was known to act before he thought so instead of maybe putting the serpent back and coming back, he tied the serpent into his boat and jumped out. He swam while dragging the boat to shore."

"NO!" The kids spoke as Ingemar nodded.

"The prince truly did. He then found his brother that who was still reading under a tree nearby; he begged his brother to help him. Although annoyed, his brother helped the prince out. The two princes spent most of the day dragging this serpent back towards the castle."

"Wow… how old was he when he did this?"

Ingemar turned and made a face at Loki before turning to the children. "He was around 400."

The kids burst into laughter thinking of a nearly full grown prince doing this instead of a small child that they had thought about previously. Although that was technically full grown, it did not mean he was anywhere near full maturity… Asgardians considered that around the 1,000 year mark. Some of the children began yawning as Ingemar stood up to leave them be so they could rest. She once more sat beside Loki.

Loki smiled at her before whispering. "You do realize that you forgot the best part that he brought it into the middle of the ball and it horrified some of Father's guests. Thor wasn't able to figure out why, he thought it was because they were all hungry and began to gut it in the ballroom."

"I think some details are better left unsaid." Ingemar responded as she patted Loki's cheek. "You should rest, it'll be probably tomorrow that we arrive."

-

Loki woke up when the cart stopped moving as she noticed that Ingemar was waking up slowly. Loki pulled her head off of Ingemar's shoulder before standing up and stretching. Ingemar joined Loki as the doors swung open.

It was a brute of a man that was standing in it; scarred and holding some sort of baton. He was booming orders, knowing his sized could be considered intimidating.

"Line up, it's time to go through sorting." the man boomed as Ingemar stood behind Loki. It was only due to this closeness that Loki could hear Ingemar calling for Heimdall, using the noise from everyone waking and shuffling to line up without question. The conversation was quick between the two as Ingemar tugged on Loki's sleeve twice before the two started walking slowly towards the front.

The group was completely led through the hallways; light up by torches every few metres on the walls. By Loki's estimates, it would be at most ten minutes until the Asgardian soldiers arrive to this location. Glancing around, it was strange to see the different windowed rooms or ones with doors opened. It was almost as if they were being taught?

Children need to always be silent unless spoken to. Was overheard as Loki cringed. They had all assumed this was a slavery ring… but what if they had been wrong? It was starting to look far more likely to be some sort of cult forcibly recruiting new members into their organization.

Loki mentally counted the time as they were brought into a large room, shoved to the front where a stage was. On top of it were a few men in vibrant colours, weapons on their sides as a smaller man came to the front.

"Welcome all of you!" He began. "You have all been chosen for a wonderful gift. To join the revolution of a higher power." Smiling he pointed in the crowd. It was between Loki and Ingemar as the pair looked at you. "Please come up." He called as Loki saw a man come forward to immediately grab onto Ingemar's arm and dragged her to the stage. Every instinct begged for Loki to simply stop them from taking Ingemar up, but knew images were more important until the troops arrived. Ingemar played along too, tripping and pretending that she could not get out of this grasp.
She arrived on stage as the leader seemed to lean close to her as she recoiled. Thankfully in that moment, a man yelled from the back.

"My lord! We're being attacked!"

Without skipping a beat, Ingemar threw her leg into the leader's stomach as Loki manifested his daggers and pushed towards the stage as he returned to his male form. He wanted them to definitely know whom was the one that took them down. A Prince of Asgard. Some of the guardsmen turned to him and lunge as Loki started attacking, circling the men with images of himself as he ducked the swings at him, stabbing when he got the chance.

The rest of the people in the room, huddled to the walls, trying to make themselves small as Loki turned to check on Ingemar on stage. The leader was knocked down on the ground unconscious as she was disarming one of the other men, elbow in the man's gut as she bashed another with a knee to the face.

"Loki focus!" Ingemar yelled at him as he turned with enough time to notice someone behind him with a sword as he jumped clumsily out of the way before rolling his eyes. Maybe it was best to focus on himself as he then noticed Asgardian warriors barging into the room. Knowing they were clearly surrounded, the men surrendered as Loki let out a sigh of relief.

The cult men were being escorted out in chains as they were slowly taking the recovered prisoners to all return to the capital. It was easiest to take everyone there with the Bifrost and then separate them to return to specific areas if they were well enough to travel. If not, they could easily be taken to medical.

After talking with the heads of the Asgardian warriors, Loki went in search of Ingemar; who was surprisingly tending to the wounded on the bridge. Thor was around as Loki raised a brow, so much for his brother staying in the castle.

Ingemar and Loki stayed there until every group of rescued Asgardians were on their way home or headed towards medical. Thor was grinning to the two as he raised his arms. "You were in your first battle Ingemar! Fantastic." Thor cheered as he tossed his arms around Ingemar and pulled her tightly into a hug.

"It went far better than expected." Ingemar spoke before she smiled at Thor as he wrapped one of his arms around Loki's shoulder.

"We must celebrate it."

"Thanks for the thought…" Ingemar began as shook her head and pretended to give herself a sniff. "But not tonight, Thor. I simply wish for a long bath tonight and a quiet meal before resting in an actual bed."

Thor seemed disappointed before she added. "I am positive that Lady Sif and the Warriors Three may be interested though. They were fantastic today."

This perked Thor up as he started talking about what she had missed while gone; it was mostly that he had gotten in a drinking contest that ended in a tie. Behind Thor's back, Ingemar felt Loki grab her hand as the two intertwined their hands; enjoying the nice walk back.

When they reached the castle, Loki sent an illusion of himself to ask an available maid to run a bath in his room with some bath salts before thanking her. The three made their way to report to Odin as they saw him waiting in the Throne Room. Ingemar hesitantly let go of Loki's hand as Thor removed his arms from their shoulders. The trio bowed to their King, a strange thing but technically still tradition.

Ingemar waited before Odin asked her to report as she started her notes. Although unwritten, it was quite precise for her- just like how her medics were since things needed to be precise to work."

"Although we believed it to be a way to get slaves, Allfather, it was more than that. It was almost a cult planning to challenge our2 way of life. So, with the ones we could, we have them rounded up in holding now for further discussion."

Odin seemed to approve of this as he decided to check on these men as he set the three youth to do as they pleased. Ingemar began walking to her room when Loki instead started tugging her to his room. She didn't argue as he pushed open the door and towards the bath. The tub was steaming with water and smelled floral from the bath salts used.

Ingemar let out a small moan from the idea of getting in the water as she immediately started shedding her outer layers. Loki turned to walk away as Ingemar called out to him. "Are you leaving?"

"I wanted to give you time alone." Loki spoke as Ingemar laughed.

"Join me. I did miss you after all." Ingemar replied as Loki decided to just roll with it, not wanting to argue her more that evening as he stripped himself. It could have easily been turned into a lustful moment but both parties were far more interested in each other's company and letting their aching muscles relax from the hot water.