Chapter 45: Three Blind Mice… See How They Run!

"Oh bother," Loki exclaimed as he looked around, instantly recognizing his surroundings. "I really wanted to stay in Middle Earth."

"And perhaps we might allow that," a voice whispered in his ear.

He whirled around only to see nothing.

"All this bouncing around is getting a bit unsettling. And this time I appear to be alone," he remarked, knowing they were listening.

"All in good time," a different voice spoke, a bit louder than the first.

Loki realized he was still holding his glass of champagne. He finished it, then set the glass aside.

"Where did you put my wizard?" Thranduil shouted once he realized Loki was missing.

"He is not your wizard, he is my brother, and I did not put him anywhere!" Thor roared back.

"Gentlemen, really!" Frigga spoke calmly after seeing the shocked expressions on the hobbit faces. "You are scaring our hobbit friends."

"Sorry," Thor apologized instantly. Thranduil, however, simply closed his mouth and looked up at the sky. Tauriel snickered when she saw that response.

"Now let us discuss this like rational people. Thor, what exactly happened just now? Where did he go?" Frigga asked.

"We do not know," Thor replied.

"Yeah, it's been crazy ever since him and King Champagne over there showed up on my doorstep with the NYPD police escort," Tony added. "Told them to stay put in my complex, watch some movies, order take-out… and what do they do? Go out and party on the town… on my money no less!"

"Well, you did give him your credit card," Pepper replied.

"When did you get here?" Tony whirled around to see Pepper walking up the small hill towards them.

"Just now, why?" Pepper replied. "Have you been here awhile?"

"Yes," Tony replied. "You haven't seen Loki by any chance, have you?"

"Not since he bought the racehorse," Pepper replied. "I take it he disappeared again?"

"Yes, alone this time," Thranduil finally spoke up. "Someone has taken my wizard."

Thor rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but Frigga stopped him with a look.

"Wait, who brought him here?" a third voice spoke up.

"I thought you did," the first voice replied.

"No, I've been busy with some other issues…" the third voice trailed off. "And… who let Frigga go?"

"Frigga? She isn't where we put her?" the second voice asked. "I had her settled in quite nicely after that debacle on Asgard. Silly mortal haring off to places she did not belong. And why Thor even bothered to look at her…"

"Well, you can blame Loki for that. If he had not meddled with the Frost Giants…"

"Well, I took care of that," the first voice said.

"That still does not explain how he got here," the third voice piped up.

Loki was listening to their conversation, totally confused. He thought he knew who they were… but if they hadn't been responsible for his current situation, then who was? He glanced around, trying to see if he could locate the individuals who were speaking, but saw no one.

"No, it does not. I thought one of you was moving him about," the second voice stated.

"Well, I did move him after that horrid creature tried to kill him. It was not his time."

Loki thought this was the third voice, but he was not completely sure. He decided to sit down upon the ground and listen closely.

"What? You decided that it was not his time? You know that is not how we do things."

"Well…"

"Well is not an acceptable answer. We just do not arbitrarily decide to save some people and leave others to their fates."

"He was… is… so young… and adorable."

"Young?!" the first voice practically shouted. "He is over a thousand years old!"

"Well, he is Asgardian."

"Only half!"

"True, but compared to those silly humans he's old."

"I am not old," Loki muttered under his breath.

"And where is his mother now if she is not where I put her?"

"Which one?"

"Seriously? The one we were talking about. His birth mother could care less about him. The one who raised him you dolt!"

"I am not a dolt!"

At the mention of his mother, Loki perked up. "Ah, could you get back to the part about my mother?"

"You be quiet."

"Sorry, I was just curious. Who was my birth mother?" Loki asked.

"Seriously? No one has told you that yet?"

"Well, I do know I am a Frost Giant of sorts… or at least part," Loki replied. "Discovered that for myself. And no, no one bothered to even tell me I was adopted until a few years ago."

"Imagine that. The poor boy has lived this long and not known he was adopted."

"Poor boy? He had the life of a prince. And what did he do? Conspired to bring down his brother."

"Half-brother."

"Wait, Thor is my half-brother?" Loki asked.

"You keep out of this," one of the voices admonished him.

Loki frowned, uncertain how to respond to this. He considered the fact that Thor was his half-brother. He was curious if they shared the same mother or father.

"Now, where was I?"

"My mother. You were looking for my mother," Loki prompted. "Is she my real mother?"

"Oh, right. Where did you put her?" the voice ignored his question.

"I did not put her anywhere, just like I did not bring him here."

"Okay, okay. I will admit it. I brought him here. Are you happy now?" The second voice finally admitted.

"So that is why you were distracting us – by asking where Frigga was. And all this time you were the one to bring him here. Why did you?" the first voice asked.

"Well, can't we just keep him here? He is cute… and housebroken… I think."

Loki scowled at that comment.

"Housebroken? He is not a puppy! And remember the last time you tried to keep someone here?"

"Yes, remember that fiasco? You forgot to feed him and remember what he did to our house?"

"But… I promise this time I will remember to feed him…"

"Speaking of food," Loki picked up his discarded champagne glass and held it up. "You wouldn't happen to have any champagne around, would you? And some cheese and fruit would be nice."

"You stay out of this!"

"Well, I can tell you where Frigga is," Loki replied, hoping to placate these people. "If you'll feed me."

"Really? How do you know where she is?" the second voice asked.

"Because she was with me before you zapped me here," Loki replied sarcastically.

"And where was that?" the third voice asked.

"You mean you don't know where I was? Honestly?" Loki asked. "I thought you just implied you have been responsible for my, ah… strange journeys."

"Last time I moved you, I put you… now where did I put you?"

"Ah, so you've been moving him? I thought we'd agreed to all decide when to move him!" The second voice piped up, clearly peeved they had not been consulted on all the moving.

"Well…" the third voice stammered slightly.

"Don't start making excuses. Why were you moving him without consulting me?" the second voice demanded.

"You were too busy, and besides, you just wanted to bring him here anyway," the third voice retorted.

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

"Stop it! I told you he is not a pet. You can't just keep him here," the first voice cut in.

"Why not? I promise to take care of him. And if you're upset because you don't have one we could always bring his brother and that king, then he would have company."

"Half-brother," the first voice corrected.

"Half-brother, brother… what does it matter?"

"Ah… if you're going to keep me here, please don't bring my half-brother… he's such a bore. And honestly, I would far rather go back to Middle Earth," Loki commented, then realizing he might have insulted his hosts, he added. "I mean, I wouldn't mind staying here… or visiting on occasion, but I do like to eat and drink, and there do not appear to be any books here to read. I would hate to trouble you having to remember to feed me and such."

"See, I told you he'd be hard to keep. We have no room for books, let alone bringing any of those others up here," the third voice said smugly.

"But…"

"No buts. It is settled. We will send him back immediately. Now, where was he?"

But Loki was gone again.