AN: There has been a six-year time jump; it had to do six years because of how I did the earlier chapters. I ended up a year behind the MCU plot, so I had to sleep an extra year to make it 2023; plus, I wanted to make Fenrir 9 years old. This chapter is just Loki and Fenrir. I wanted to show how their relationship is.
Disclaimer I don't own anything.
Chapter 78: Six Years Later.
Loki opened the bedroom door and walked in; his son Fenrir was still asleep, snuggled to his plushie of Saphira, wearing a pair of grey pajamas; behind him in bed were his two giant pet wolves, Hati and Skoll; they followed Fenrir around everywhere; Hati was the biggest and a dark grey, with almost white eyes, Skoll was light grey, with pale blue eyes; they had been good pets for Fenrir over the years, very loyal and protective Loki reached out and shook Fenrir's shoulder.
"Fenrir, time to get up," Loki told him, moving his hand to Fenrir's hair and running it through his curls. "Fenrir, it's eight o'clock time to get up."
"I don't want to, it's too early," Fenrir said, rolling over; Loki rolled his eyes with a slight smile and shook Fenrir's shoulder again.
"Come on, Fenrir, it's time to get up; you need a bath then breakfast before starting your schoolwork," Loki said; Fenrir groaned at schoolwork, something he hated to do. "Fenrir now, or you can start your schoolwork before ten o'clock."
"Alright, I'm getting up," Fenrir replied, and after a moment, he did; he rolled over, yawned, then sat up and gave Loki a dirty look. "I don't know why I have to get up so early; it's not like I go to school; you teach me."
"It's good to keep a routine; it helps you stay organized," Loki said, "Now, pick out something to wear; I'll get your breakfast ready; what do you want?"
"Pancakes," Fenrir replied, sitting aside his plushie and standing, "I have to pee." He left the room.
Loki stood there waiting for him to come back so that he could get his bath ready; he looked around the room; above Fenrir's bed hung an old movie poster, one of the movies Saphira was in; her picture was the biggest, she stood in the middle, with the other actors around her in smaller images, and the name of the moves at the bottom, Loki turned away, and his eyes fell on the shelf hanging on the back wall; Fenrir had sat his plushies of the Avengers and Loki, the ones Thor had gifted him when Fenrir was a baby, of course, Loki's eyes dropped to Fenrir's bookshelf; a photo of Enid and Saphira at the Grand Canyon sat on top next to Saphira's movie award; Loki allowed him to have it; the kid deserved something that belonged to his mother; he would let him have his pick of her glass figures that she kept in the glass shelf in their house in Las Vegas if it hadn't been for Loki turning over the cabinet and breaking everything but the award that was in it. Hanging on Fenrir's walls were a couple of posters of Fenrir's favorite video games hung on the wall; on the other side of the room was a dresser; next to it was a television and a game console, next to that was a shelf full of games and DVDs. However, the few movies Fenrir owned were the movies starring Saphira.
Loki turned from Fenrir's bookshelf and chased the wolves off the bed so he could make it; Fenrir's cover and sheet set were that of The Winter Soldier or Bucky Barns, Fenrir's favorite Avenger; he took Captain America's place, carrying his shield and teaming up with Sam Wilson's Falcon and catching criminals and going on missions Natasha Romanoff sent them on, she seemed to have taken over being leader, Tony Stark moved his wife out of the city and hidden away somewhere, and Thor and Enid were ruling over the rebuilt Asgard, in Nevada of all places, right outside of Las Vegas, Loki allowed them to have the land that had belonged to Saphira and him, now instead of miles and miles of nothing but the desert was homes, businesses, schools, and even a healers office, all made possible from mostly Enid's own money, but Loki gave them a little of his and Saphira's to help out, and the rest came from donations from various sources.
"Alright, I'm ready to take a bath," Fenrir said, walking back into the room and going over to his dresser to get some clothes; he opened the top drawer, which got stuck a bit, knocking over a picture as it shook the dresser. "Stupid thing."
"I'll go run your bath, then go make your pancakes," Loki said, walking towards the door; he stopped to set up the picture; it was of him and Fenrir, but Loki was in his female form; last year, Fenrir begged Loki to let him go to a summer camp, he was bored and wanted to make friends, Loki, not wanting to let Fenrir out of his sight with strangers for a summer, compromised, taking suggestion Enid made; Loki and Fenrir had talked it over and decided Fenrir could go to a day camp; he would be able to get out of the house for a while and make friends but would be coming home in the afternoon; well, one day, they had a mother-son day; he didn't want to go because he'd be the only kid there who wasn't there with a mother figure, Enid was busy that day, Frigga didn't understand it and sending Mystique anywhere where they'd be a bunch of noisy kids wasn't a good idea, so Loki became a mother for a day.
Loki left Fenrir's room and headed toward the bathroom; it didn't take long to get Fenrir's bath ready since he didn't fill the tub too full, only enough for him to wash off since Fenrir hadn't used bath time to play since he was six, there was no need to watch him, Fenrir was responsible enough to bath himself and Loki not have to worry about him getting hurt; when Loki left the bathroom he passed Fenrir going to it carrying his clothes and a towel, their house wasn't too big, with three bedrooms and a room Loki had turned into a study for Fenrir to do his schoolwork and practice magic. The rooms were down a long hall; then, there was a living room and kitchen, which had no walls separating. Loki stepped into the living room; his eyes went to the fireplace. They never used it, and the rose in ice sitting on the mantel above it, which is one of the only things Loki wanted to keep out of their stuff that was on Mystique's spaceship, one of the other things he still had was the glass snake Saphira bought him on Xander and a few of her plants and vines, Loki had a greenhouse outside with them in it. Loki still had Rosey, too; now, she was over in a pot hanging in the corner; her vines were hanging down over the sides, not moving, which meant Rosey was asleep.
Loki went into the kitchen, got out everything he needed, sat it on the counter, and put a skillet on the stove. Then looked out the window; it was a chilly and cloudy day. Loki and Fenrir loved cold weather; so moving to Anchorage, Alaska, after killing Thanos had been a good idea; Kurt and Remy were the only two people who knew where Loki lived, and he wanted to keep it that way; it wasn't like he didn't visit everyone often, and Fenrir spent every other weekend with his grandparents and got to see Thor and Enid since they lived across the street from each other; Kurt calls a lot and stops in a few times a year but isn't on Midgard most of the time, having joined Mantis, Rocket, and Nebula as the new guardians of the galaxy. And Remy lived in New Orleans; he showed up every once in a while, mostly on special occasions, like holidays and birthdays, would stay a week or two, then head back to New Orleans to whoever was his girlfriend that month; Remy's way of dealing with losing Rogue was bouching between different Women.
Loki couldn't talk, though; everyone took loss differently, and for the first year, Saphira was gone. Loki had moved here, locked himself away from everyone, and focused on taking care of his son; after a while, they both grew to miss their family, and Loki took Fenrir to visit them, and Loki has kept in contact with everyone since, but only told Kurt and Remy where he lived, didn't want people just showing up unannounced, he wasn't ready for that yet, Loki was still very much grieving, always will be, His colors of choice went from green, black, and gold to just black; the only color on Loki anywhere was the copper curl braided into the front of his hair; the time Rogue had to cut Saphira's hair, Loki had kept a lock of it, and he now wears it in his hair, it somehow made him feel close to her. The outfit he wore was black jeans and a black t-shirt; his jeans had a hole in one knee.
"Are my pancakes ready?" Fenrir asked, walking into the kitchen; Loki turned to look at him; Fenrir was a little taller than average children his age, was thin like his parents, his hair was on his shoulders now and just as curly as ever, the top black and the curls were blue, was wearing black jeans with blue, green, and grey patches all down the legs, and a dark grey long sleeve shirt with a wolf howling at the moon, he wore a pair of gloves that were just like the gloves Remy wore; he was the one who gave them to him, and on his fingernails was black nail polish.
"Just got done," Loki said, putting them on a plate and sitting them on the table, where Fenrir was pulling out a chair to sit down; Loki went back over to get his before picking up the syrup and going back to the table.
After they got done with breakfast, Loki let Fenrir watch some cartoons; while he cleaned up; then, at ten o'clock on the dot, Loki made Fenrir go to the study to get started on his schoolwork; he has homeschooled him all his life; not trusting Midgardain schools with his son; Fenrir was brilliant for his age, wiser than most other children and even some adults. Loki fit magic lessons in with his schooling. Fenrir had inherited abilities from both him and Saphira, with a couple of unique skills. He had Saphira's ability to grow plants and her connection to animals and Loki's shapeshifting though it's limited to animal forms only; he did have a jotun form. He was good at magic. One ability he had Loki didn't or never heard of was he could change animals into different shapes. A few days ago, Loki caught him transforming a mouse into a snake because they were cool, and nothing could eat him then. That last answer had put Loki in mind of Saphira so much.
Fenrir sat at the table that was in the middle of the room as Loki got out his books for his morning lessons; he would have an hour of History first, then an hour of reading, then lunch at twelve, a little outside time, then back to work with a half-hour of writing, and an hour of Fenrir's least favorite subject math, that was his Friday schedule, he had different subjects, different days of the week, Wednesday's were all about learning magic, and Fenrir's favorite days.
Loki sat next to Fenrir and opened his history book to where they were, and started reading to him, then explaining things and giving Fenrir an assignment to do; then, at eleven; they moved on to reading, something Fenrir didn't need help, so Loki sat on the other side of the table reading while Fenrir did; sometimes, he would get stuck on a big word, and Loki had to help him figure out what it was; Loki never straight out told him; he didn't think Fenrir would learn like like that. After reading, they take a break for lunch, Fenrir choosing to have a grilled peanut butter sandwich while Loki ate an apple, and when Fenrir gets done, he gets an hour outside for fresh air and to take Hati and Skoll out, and afterward, was writing, then when it came time to do the math, he started to argue with Loki about doing it.
"I would think you'd be more fun, being a supervillain and all," Fenrir said, glaring at Loki across the table with his arms crossed, refusing to do his work, which he did every Friday when it was time to do the math.
"That's retired supervillain," Loki replied, smiling slightly. Fenrir was not amused. "And rather or not, I am fun; it has nothing to do with you doing your math work."
"Math is boring," Fenrir replied, picking up his pencil and doing his math problems. "Dad, I need help."
"What problem are you having trouble with?" Loki asked, putting his book down and walking over to Fenrir's side of the table and explaining how to do it; Fenrir got stuck on math sometimes, but once he understood it, he usually got the problems right.
"Okay, I think I got it," Fenrir replied.
"I'm going to make a cup of tea. If you get stuck on a problem again, skip it. I'll help you when I get back." Loki told him.
"Okay," Fenrir answered. Loki kissed the top of his head, then missed up his curls before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen; it took him a little over fifteen minutes to fix himself a cup, and when he turned around, Rosey was running into the kitchen, her vines swinging around.
"Did you finally get up?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow as he took a drink of his tea; Rosey pointed down the hall with a leaf, and he understood what she wanted. "Alright, what's Fenrir doing this time?"
Ever since Fenrir got older, Rosey became a tattletale; whenever she caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to do, she ran and got Loki and dragged him off to where Fenrir was to show him like she was now, grabbing Loki's leg and trying to drag him out of the room.
"Alright, I'm coming; let me guess; Fenrir stopped doing his work?" Loki asked, leaving the kitchen; he made it to the study and opened the door to see Fenrir where he had left him; Rosey pulled on his leg again, making him enter the room, and she pointed a leaf at Fenrir; Loki had no idea what her problem was Fenrir wasn't doing anything, and it dawned on Loki maybe that was it, he wasn't doing anything, as in wasn't moving at all, not even his pencil.
"Fenrir," Loki said; his son didn't move or look up, and Loki sighed, walked over to the table, set his tea down, then touched Fenrir's shoulder; he flickered then disappeared in grey magic; shaking his head, Loki left the room, heading towards Fenrir's bedroom, he took advantage of Loki going to make a cup of tea to sneak off from his schoolwork, the kid was super smart, but he was also proof that not all intelligent kids liked school.
Fenrir's door was ajar; Loki could hear him swearing; he opened the door wider to see Fenrir sitting on his bed, cross-legged, his two giant pet wolves lying behind him, and Fenrir was playing the fighter game Thor gave him for his birthday last week while arguing with someone online he was talking to through a headset, he was winning, and the guy he was playing was not happy to be losing to a child.
"Oh, you're big threatening a little kid," Fenrir said, "Do you know who my dad is? My dad is the Loki; that's right, he destroyed your city once; he'll do worse to you, you rat-faced.."
"Fenrir." Loki snapped; Fenrir paused, then slowly turned to look at Loki; he grinned.
"Hi, dad." Fenrir greeted; Loki rolled his eyes and walked over and sat next to him; they were looking at the television.
"Why are we in here playing video games and not doing our math?" Loki asked.
"I got bored, and I hate math," Fenrir replied. "How long did it take before you realized it wasn't me this time?"
"About three minutes, your doubles are getting better. There was no flickering this time, but it wasn't moving; if it had looked like you were doing your work, it would have taken longer." Loki replied.
"I can't figure out how to get him to move," Fenrir complained.
"We'll work on it Wednesday or later today if you wish," Loki said, "Right now, you need to turn your game off and go back to your schoolwork. "
"Give me a minute; let me beat this asshole," Fenrir said.
"First, you need to stop with the language; that is not how a child should talk," Loki said, "Second, you already lost your game for the rest of the day and all of Saturday for sneaking in here; want to add Sunday to it."
"But, Dad, come on," Fenrir whined, "Just let me play, " Loki gave him a look, and Fenrir sighed and got out of the game, then took off his headset; he handed Loki the controller, then went over to turn the console and television off.
"And I heard what you said to that guy." Loki said, "What have I told you about using me to threaten people?"
"Only do it if I'm in danger," Fenrir replied.
"Exactly," Loki replied; he stood, "Come on, the quicker you get back to your schoolwork, the faster we get it done."
"Uncle Thor said he never had to do the math," Fenrir said.
"And that's why Uncle Thor is an idiot," Loki replied. "Now, schoolwork, come on." He nodded towards the doorway, and Fenrir groaned, then whistled for his wolves to follow him.
"Come on, boys, we have math to do." Fenrir turned to see Rosey in the doorway. "You need to stop telling on me." Rosey shook a leaf at him, and Fenrir kicked at her but purposely missed, but Rosey still smacked at him with her vine, and Fenrir dodged out of the way. "Stop, you stupid pile of weeds."
"Hey, hey, both of you, stop it, now." Loki had to raise his voice since Fenrir and Rosey started hitting each other, "Fen, go do your work, please, Rosey, go find something to do, please, thank you." Loki sighed as they both left the room to do what he asked. "I swear it's like having two children."
Loki shook his head as he left Fenrir's room; stopping at a hall closet and opening the door; on the inside of the door hung a little metal box with an unlocked lock; it was where Loki put Fenrir's controller when he was grounded from his game if he didn't keep it locked up, Fenrir somehow would sneak and take it back. Loki put the controller in it, then locked it, closed the closet door then, headed into the study; Fenrir was already in there doing his math, and Loki sat across from him, picked up his book, used magic to warm his tea, and he was about to take a drink when Fenrir spoke.
"I might have poisoned that." Fenrir said, "to get out of math; I'd do anything." Loki looked at him, then his tea.
"Guess I'll have to take that chance," Loki replied, taking a drink; he set the cup back down and started reading.
"It won't kill you; I would never do that; I might knock you out until Saturday morning." Fenrir continued.
"Then when I wake, it will be all day math lessons," Loki replied, smirking.
"That would be cold, Dad," Fenrir replied. Loki snorted.
"And poisoning your father isn't?" Loki asked, "Why is this our discussion anyway? You are nine years old; you should be threatening to run away."
"Do kids actually threaten that?" Fenrir asked; Loki shrugged.
"They do on television," Loki replied, "Now, quit stalling and do your math." Fenrir sat back in his seat and crossed his arms, and pouted; Loki hated when he did that; Fenrir knew Loki had a hard time refusing him when he did; Loki looked at his watch; it was ten to three; Loki didn't think he was hard on his son, he had few responsibilities besides schoolwork, cleaning up after himself, and the wolves, and keeping his room clean; Loki did everything else; he only had four hours of schoolwork a day, with breaks in between, and got to do whatever Fenrir wanted after, as long as he wasn't getting into trouble. His bedtime was nine-thirty Sundays through Thursdays and ten on Fridays and Saturdays, and he could sleep in as long as he wanted during the weekend.
"Fine, you can stop early today," Loki replied, "But if you have to make that up, your grade won't be affected, and you're not getting your controller back until Sunday; I was serious about that."
"Can I go outside? Work in the greenhouse." Fenrir asked, standing up and walking around the table.
"Go ahead," Loki said, "But make sure the back gate is closed and locked, and take Hati and Skoll with you; I'll be out in a few minutes to watch you."
"You are the best dad ever," Fenrir said; hugging Loki; it made him smile as he hugged him back; if it hadn't been for his son, he wouldn't have been able to make it the past six years; focusing only on him gave Loki someone to care for to love and live for; Fenrir was the reason Loki was still sane and not out there somewhere on a killing spree.
"You're the best kid ever," Loki replied.
"I know," Fenrir replied, letting Loki go and hurrying out of the room, his two wolves right behind him. Loki laughed; Fenrir had so much of Saphira's attitude.
Loki put away Fenrir's schoolwork and books, then headed outside and to the greenhouse; Fenrir was already in it, pulling weeds out of Saphira's star-shaped flowers; Skoll stood next to him, but Hati was lying just in the doorway; Loki grabbed a pair of garden gloves and walked over and started helping, the greenhouse was huge, and there weren't only flowers that once belonged to Saphira. Still, ones Fenrir had grown, you could tell his from Saphira's by how they weren't alive, and tended to be animal shape, plants, and stuff would start dying soon when winter starts approaching when that happens, Fenrir will move his favorites inside, then Loki and he turned to their Jotunn forms and froze the rest, they melted the ice when spring came. The flowers came back to life good as new. Loki and Fenrir worked in the greenhouse passed dinner time, so Loki took Fenrir out for pizza instead of cooking.
"What book would you like me to read to you?" Loki asked at Fenrir's bookshelf; it was night now, and Fenrir was going to bed; Loki usually read to him or told stories before falling asleep.
"Could you tell me a story about mom instead?" Fenrir asked Loki looking at him; it hurt him to talk or think about Saphira because of how much he still misses her; Loki misses her beautiful face, her beautiful eyes, her smile, her hair, her voice, her soft touch, the feel of her in his arms, her outrageous comments, her need to always hang all over him, there wasn't a thing about Saphira Loki didn't miss, even her ridiculous hatred for shoes, Loki still loved her more than anything, and his chest still feels as if his heart has been ripped out and stomped on, broken, unable to be fixed, because the one person that could fix it was gone forever.
"Of course, " Loki forced a smile for his son because his life was all about him now; his heart may not be able to be fixed, but Fenrir was the tape that was holding the broken pieces together. "What story would you like to hear."
"Just tell me about her," Fenrir said as Loki lay next to him; Fenrir snuggled into his dad to listen. Loki put his arm around him and told Fenrir all about Saphira, from her love for nature to how she hated shoes, something Fenrir found funny. Fenrir would as questions, and Loki would answer with the truth about his and Saphira's life and past. Loki never lied or tried to cover anything up; he told about the good things they did and the bad; he never kept anything from his son.
"Your mother loved you more than anything, Fen," Loki told him, "She was always walking around with you on her hip, she loved when you were helping her plant flowers, and you could get by with anything, her excuse Fenny is just a baby, he doesn't know any better."
"Mom was the best," Fenrir said, smiling.
"That she was." Loki agreed, kissing the top of Fenrir's head and running his hand through his curls; his son wasn't looking at him, so he didn't see the tears falling down his face.
"I bet mom wouldn't make me do the math," Fenrir said, and Loki started laughing.
"No, she probably wouldn't," Loki replied, smiling,
"Will you stay in here until I fall asleep?" Fenrir asked.
"Of course, " Loki answered; Fenrir smiled and snuggled into him
"Thanks, daddy; I love you," Fenrir replied; Loki leaned down and kissed the top of his head.
"I love you too, Fenny," Loki said; Fenrir smiled as he fell asleep; Loki didn't get any sleep; he stayed up all night holding his son, knowing he still had him was what kept Loki going.