Last time...

"Are you certain you wish to attempt this?" Jareth asked, mildly alarmed, though he knew he couldn't take it back. What was said was said. "You understand just who this wolf is, do you not? Surely Thor will win his run. You need not endanger your life unnecessarily."

"I'll be fine." Hera insisted, waving off his concern with such a practiced ease that he now was worried about what other manner of horrors she could have possibly faced to be so blasé about facing off with the World Eater, remembering what he'd seen before. "I told you that should I feel it necessary, I'd rescue myself, and you've just given me the perfect chance to do that. I'd rather take my chances with Fenrir than let Thor rescue me from the danger he put me in."

"You know you're not actually in danger here, do you not?" Jareth asked, regarding her carefully.

"I do" She replied as she smirked at him, something deliciously wicked and mischievous. ", but he doesn't."

TRIGGER WARNING! ANIMAL FOUND IN CRUEL CONDITIONS!

Chapter 48

Standing in an office of the Californian branch of Gringotts, Tony was so mad, he couldn't see straight. So when the light explosion of glitter happened and the High Fae that was their king appeared, Tony thought nothing of leaping forward and punching the guy square in the face. It was the only clear shot he was going to get, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to make it count. Snape managed to stop him with that immobile spell he now hated, and the king himself cautioned the goblins in the office to back off. It was only when Tony got a clear look at the guy that he debated the foolishness of his idea.

"Where is Hera?" Tony demanded, once Snape had freed him of the spell. "Who wished her away?"

"Who are you to be demanding these things?" The Fae asked, not bothered by his anger.

"I'm her brother." Tony snapped. "Now where is she?!"

"Your name. Give me your name so that I may address you properly." The Fae countered.

Tony frowned at the wording, remembering how his mother talked about the old stories, and replied. "I'm not giving you my name, but you can call me Tony."

"Very good. Never give your name to one of the Fae, but allow them to call you your name. Many a mortal have been caught by the Fae in this manner." The Fae nodded in approval. "One such as you should definitely be careful with the way you banter it about."

"Where's Hera?" Tony demanded. He would get his answers, damn it, even if he had to repeat the question a thousand times.

"We should talk." The Fae ordered, even as he waved his hand to create a small but opulent table with three matching chairs.

Tony and Snape looked at each other for a moment before silently agreeing to the 'request' made by the High Fae before them.

"Hera spoke to me of a potion she'd taken, and the continued effects of that potion, that when she dreams she is both here and not. It is in a way what lead her to be wished away to my kingdom in the Underground, and why I have moved the stars to accommodate this event." The High Fae began. "If you have not guessed this by now, I am known as the Goblin King. You may call me Jareth."

"Certainly explains why you look like David Bowie." Tony noted, unable to help himself. "What does the potion Hera took have to do with being wished…oh…"

"I see you've realized what happened, at least in part." Jareth concluded, sitting back to observe the proceedings.

"What?" Snape asked, not having gotten it yet.

"Hera said…that Thor hadn't helped his brother even before the command was given." Tony replied, turning to the man. "She took Loki's punishment into herself, because no one else could help him. Her lips were suddenly sewn shut, allowing them to heal him and then her." Addressing Jareth now, he asked. "Why did Thor wish her away?"

"A chance to go on a quest for a sword." Jareth explained, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. "You see, the book always finds those who want to rush something they should wait for, those who are selfish and spoiled, demanding things they think they deserve. Some learn their lesson. Others do not."

"How do we get her back?" Tony asked, trying not to panic, shaking internally. "I am uncertain what I could offer a king, but I would give anything…do anything…whatever is needed. She's my sister. I can't just leave her there."

"There is nothing I need that you could give me, and nothing you could do besides." Jareth shook his head, raising his hand to silence Tony before he could even offer a protest. "The sort of contract that Thor has trapped her in can not be undone by anyone but him, and I have been informed that should she feel the need to be rescued, she certainly isn't going to wait around for him to do it."

"There is a loophole to every contract, even goblin made ones, if you know where to look." Snape observed. "What's the loophole here?"

"I take it you are the 'most paranoid bastard on the face of the planet' she spoke of?" Jareth asked, to which Snape gave a subtle nod. "There isn't one, not in the way you think. Thor wished her away, and as per the rules of the contract, the Wisher must make the Run. If they do not make it to my castle beyond the goblin city within the time limit, the Wish Away becomes one of us. Incidentally, if the Wish Away chooses not to be rescued, other arrangements can be made."

An image of a sword with a large ruby at the hilt appeared before them.

"This is what Thor seeks; a weapon that shifts as to the wielder's needs. It is currently trapped in the form of a sword, shoved in between the teeth of the World Eater after he was bound by Gleipnir, deep within the heart of the Labyrinth, in a place even I can not go." Jareth explained. "If she takes care of the wolf, she may keep the weapon, and leave the Labyrinth. If she can do so before Thor completes his run, he will automatically lose even if he manages to make it to the Castle beyond the Goblin City in time, and she will become Goblin Friend; a subject of my kingdom in the Underground, and thus one of us. Such a pity."

Both Snape and Tony sat there for a moment as they tried to absorb what they'd just heard, when Snape turns to him, and wonders. "Think she'll manage it?"

Tony can't help himself, grinning a touch as he responds with. "Think she won't?"

"Merlin's sagging tits, she's going to be insufferable after this." Snape groaned, pinching the space between his eyes. "As if she wasn't bad enough before."

"You two seem oddly confident she'll succeed." Jareth noted, looking from one to the other.

"You clearly have no idea who you made a deal with." Tony replied knowingly. "Now, is there a view screen somewhere, or am I going to have to go home and play the worried parent until she pops back into existence in her room?"

...

As she walked through the Labyrinth, Hera had to admit to herself that she was being unnecessarily petty. Thor, when it came down to it, was a good hearted person. His problem was that while he was naive and far too trusting for his own good, he was also thick headed and more stubborn than any mule. At least when Hera was a reckless dumb arse, it was with her own life, and not anyone else's. She hated pulling other people into her troubles, and it felt strange to her that Tony and her friends would want to get involved in her troubles to support her; she kept expecting the other shoe to drop, that they would leave her; her deepest fear.

Thor would most likely win his Run for her freedom, but something within the core of Hera's very being rebelled against the mere idea of being rescued by the thoughtless idiot that had put her in danger in the first place; for a sword! She knew exactly what she was doing by taking the Goblin King up on his offer. If she got to Fenrir before Thor got to the castle beyond the Goblin City, he would have no way to win the run, because she'd have already fled the Underground. The Goblins did love a good loophole. They got their runner, a problem solved, and a new citizen of the Underground: bonus points for keeping the weapon Thor had risked her life for. Perhaps she was still sore about the dwarves of Niðavellir, even though they had done her no direct harm in this life, but she would take the Goblins of Gringotts and the Underground over them any day.

The citizens of the Labyrinth itself were wonderfully kind. The cornish pixies all seemed to love her, which she found just as odd as always: the incident in Lockhart's 'lesson' came to mind. Hoggle was one of her absolute favorite people, and she was calling him Hogwarts foreeever. She's pretty sure he's not nearly as offended by it as he pretends to be. Everyone she meets warns her away from her task, and now that she's nearing her goal, she can understand why.

The further along she goes, the fewer beings she finds, until there is no one. Nothing lives here. Nothing grows here. It is getting increasingly hard to breathe. It isn't until a strong odor hits her nose that she even knows what is wrong. Iron ore was everywhere, which would explain why Jareth had not made an attempt himself. A High Fae, even one as strong and powerful as he, would die if too much was absorbed into his system. It does not seem to be doing her any favours, come to think of it, but that was a later problem.

...

"Shite." Severus curses, realizing what she has by the composition of the stone around her, but sees also the physical effects it is having on her in a way that she does not, and something clicks.

"What?" Tony asked, now looking at the scene closely. "What's wrong?"

"Look at her." Severus demanded in a hiss, before turning back to the scene. "I always wondered…"

Both Tony and Jareth were looking at him now with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

"Potter always buys the finer supplies, rather than the simple iron ones that are standard for beginners." Severus explained. "When I first realized this, I thought it was because she'd been spoiled, that she was used to the finer things in life, and thus didn't understand why one used the simple iron ones first. Since she removed the Dark Mark from my arm, I have spoken with the Weasley Twins Fred and George on a number of occasions, as they were the ones who first alerted me to what was going on with regards to her magic. She does things instinctively, to the point where she doesn't notice it isn't normal for others, and everyone else just assumes she knows the reasons for her own actions. If she gravitated to crystal rods instead of iron, or copper skillets instead of cast iron ones, everyone would have assumed it was a preference. If she were allergic, and her magic simply protected her instinctively, would she even know?"

Jareth now looked sharply at the large apparatus the scene was being shown through, while Tony began looking more worried.

"I would not have sent another of the Fae to this, had I known." Jareth sighed. "How does she not?"

"Fae?" Severus asked, right about the time Tony objected with. "Hera isn't Fae."

"There are few other species that react to iron the way she is now." Jareth objected, before turning back to observe her. "Her skin is already sallow. The more she breathes in, the worse this will get. What is she, if not Fae?"

"If things go in typical Potter Luck TM fashion, you'll soon find out." Severus replied cryptically, just as Tony grinned that damnable smirk of his, and replied. "That would be telling."

...

Breathing was definitely becoming harder, burning even, and that later problem was very quickly becoming a now problem. This is usually when Ron would start trying to talk her into going back because he was bored, and Hermione would scold her stubbornness. It was nice to know they worried about her, and tried to hide that worry with excuses close to their natures. She was definitely not telling them about this later, if she could get away with it. That wasn't likely, but still one could dream.

It was by happenstance that she looked down, but what surprised her was her own footprints in the dirt. The sight of them made her pause. If she was being repelled somehow, maybe by notice-me-not spells or wards, then she might have wasted more time than she'd previously thought. There was a resistance to her right, a pressure she hadn't really noticed earlier. Testing this, she stepped left, and the pressure was gone instantly; a step to the right, and the pressure returned.

This was a magic she'd not been able to see before, and given it's nature she shouldn't be surprised. Since discovering the ability to see magic others couldn't, she'd used it as often as she could, and perhaps she had gotten complacent with it enough to assume that she could see any and all magic. That was an oversight on her part, one hopefully not to be repeated. Keeping this in mind, Hera focused on the area her mind was telling her she did not want to go, and with great effort stepped through.

It was quite the shock then to see a wall of black fur suddenly fill her vision. There was a low rumble that followed, and Hera couldn't have stopped her decision to look up if she'd wanted. The black wolf before her was unimaginably tall, even restrained as it was, and he growled low when she slowly approached. She saw the rage in his eyes; the fear, the distrust, the agony. She saw the rope they'd bound him with pulled so tight in some places there was fresh and caked blood on the rope and patches of fur missing. The sword in his mouth as described, but so was blood, puss, and scar tissue.

"Oh, Fenrir." She whispered, remorse etched into her face. "What have they done to you?"

...

"What is she doing?" Jareth interjected fearfully, watching the scene before them with clear disbelief. "I said to take care of the wolf, not befriend it."

"There's several ways of interpreting the phrase 'take care of', you know." Tony pointed out, managing to hold back his grimace when Jareth glared at him.

Jareth turned back to watching the girl, who had crouched onto the ground, revealing the back of her neck to the World Eater. Next to him he heard the others swear, more so when the World Eater began sniffing at her hair. She giggled as the large wolf made to sniff as much of her as his nose could reach, trying to put his nose under her to lift her up. This was a far more friendly reaction than he had expected, even with the sword in the wolf's mouth. Her words were more sound than actual substance, calming, soothing, almost nonsense; at least until she made for the thin rope that made up Gleipnir, causing the World Eater to try and pull away.

"I know you want to hurt them. You want to kill them. You want revenge for what they did to you." She says softly to the wolf. "You deserve it, but you won't get it by killing them."

The wolf's huff told them exactly what he thought about that.

"You're angry, I know. It sits in your stomach like a poison, because that's exactly what it is. You growl, and plot, and dream of tearing into them, and that anger consumes you until it's all you are." The girl continued, undaunted. "In doing this, you give them power over you. You make them right about you."

The wolf growled low and angry, a warning.

"Think about it!" She snapped, and the wolf became still. "They are the source of your anger, your pain. They made you powerless when they placed these chains on you, and so you think you can take the power back by killing them. It won't work, because after they're all dead and gone, you'll still be angry. You'll still be in pain, and they'll still have power over you."

The wolf looked like anger radiated off of it now.

"The best revenge is living well." She continued, and the wolf snorted, letting her know exactly what he thought about that. "I didn't believe it either, but I managed it, and I can show you how."

The wolf eyed her with disbelief now, clearly thinking she had lost leave of all her senses.

"If you had a choice between living a long and fulfilling life, or dying by getting even, which would you choose?" She asked, almost pleading it seemed. "Think about when you were very small. What was it you wanted? Before you were taken before Oðin, and he feared what you could become, what did you wish for?"

The wolf seemed to consider her more closely now.

"I'm sorry you were taken before Oðin. I'm sorry he didn't give it a second thought, especially after what happened to Jörmungandr." She apologized, as she struggled not to cry, tears falling regardless of her efforts. "I can't change what happened to you, but I think I could talk Tony into letting you stay with us…if we can figure out how to shrink you down. You give him the puppy eyes, and he'll totally cave to whatever you want."

"I didn't think she'd noticed that." Tony whispered fondly. "She's asked for so little…"

"But I have to tell you, removing the sword is gonna hurt, but I can't start healing you while it's in there." She went on to explain. "I'd rather leave this thin rope stuff on for that, and then remove it once you've been healed from the sword. After that, I can heal the lacerations caused by the rope, and you can come live with me…I mean…if you want…"

"Where's Thor at right now?" Severus asked suddenly. "We need to keep tabs on him."

"You just don't want to have a heart attack while watching her heal the World Eater." Tony accused with a grin; and while Severus glared, he didn't deny it either.

Jareth just shook his head at the two, before switching the view screen to Thor. The heir apparent to Ásgarðr didn't look like he was fairing too well. Sir Didymus and Ambrosius had just charged at the prince, causing the young man to lose his footing, and fall into the Bog of Eternal Stench. Both Severus and Tony cringed, not quite understanding what it was the young prince had fallen into, but Jareth just threw back his head and laughed outright. What made it even better was when Thor managed to get himself part of the way out, just so he could grab both Sir Didymus and Ambrosius, and hauled them in too.

"It can't be that amusing." Severus scolded, which just made Jareth laugh harder.

"It is if you know what I know!" Jareth tried to explain as he laughed, both men now looking at him expectantly. "That's the Bog of Eternal Stench!"

"You can't really mean…" Tony trailed off, slowly grinning now.

"He'll smell like that foreeeever!" Jareth gasped, crying laughing now. "Even if Frigga manages to get rid of it, he'll always smell like that, just a little."

"What about the other two?" Tony asked, breathlessly chuckling.

"Those two are immune!" Jareth admitted gleefully, trying to calm down with little success. "They even…They even make it a point to find things to add to the stench!"

"I have spoiled potions and things that could add to the ambiance of the place," Severus added, and it doesn't take effort to hear the absolutely malicious glee in his voice. "if they're taking suggestions."