"I was going to ask," Loki spoke up a couple of days after their last conversation. It had taken a while for him to get his head around the fact that he was adopted. Not that Odin or Frigga had ever treated him differently. It was the rest of Asgard that had trouble accepting how different he was "Where did you come up with the name Loptr?"

Loptr bit her lip, looking around the room she had been placed in. She was getting sick of being stuck in here. Thankfully, Eir had placed her in a private chamber off the side of the healing ward "It was the name given to us by our mother – our birth mother. I did some research just before… Just before everything went to Hel."

Loki sat down on the bed next to her, resting his hand on her blanket-covered leg "You know that you can talk to me – to any of us if you wish to. We won't judge you for what happened in your world."

"How can you know?" Loptr asked quietly, not trusting the peace "I did some really bad things. I killed so many…"

"How much of that was actually you?" Loki questioned. A part of him was curious but the other part was trying to keep calm. What had been done to Loptr was awful and he didn't even know most of the story. Whenever he thought that things couldn't get worse, another detail about her life seemed to come to light.

Loptr shook her head "It doesn't matter."

"If it bothers you then it does matter," Loki told her firmly and stood up, tugging at her hand "Come on. I want to show you something."

"What about Eir?" Loptr frowned, looking around for the healer.

Loki grinned mischievously "What Eir doesn't know won't hurt her."

"I don't want to get into trouble," Loptr pointed out quietly. She had gotten into trouble more often than not and it always ended badly for her. Even the times she had tried to help had turned into new nightmares for her.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," Loki laughed lightly, ruffling her hair "I asked Eir whether it's okay for you to go out for a little while. You've been cooped up in here for far too long already."

Loptr gave in and rose from the bed, stumbling a little when her legs started giving out on her "Hmpf," she groaned when Loki caught her.

He steadied her until her legs got used to carrying her weight again "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Loptr nodded, taking a couple of careful steps away from the bed "I'm okay."


"Will you tell us a bit more about yourself?" Loki asked quietly, leaning forward to look at his female counterpart "I heard the stories on Midgard but... You said there was truth in them?"

Loptr looked down at her hands "They're rather bloody, aren't they?"

Loki let out a snort "I have always thought that Midgardians made up all those stories about Asgard. They're all true in your world?"

"Most of them are," Loptr nodded, fiddling with the blanket in her lap. While she wasn't with Eir anymore, she was still on bed rest for the most part. Loki had taken to showing her around Asgard whenever she felt up to being around people but so far it hadn't happened too often "The ones about me anyway. What do you want to know?"

"Vali and Narfi," Loki chose two of the names he remembered of his supposed children. He really wanted to hear the story behind all of them but… Loptr was already traumatised. Talking about how she lost her children probably wasn't the best idea. Even if they supposedly were monsters. Not that he actually believed it to be completely true. After all, there were always two sides to a story.

Loptr ran a hand down her face. She peaked up at Frigga and Odin before she looked back down, leaning slightly closer to her counterpart. She was just glad that Thor wasn't here. The blond had been trying to talk to her more and more but similar to Odin, she just didn't trust the quiet "It's not a nice story," she whispered.

"You don't have to tell us anything, dear," Frigga told her, reaching out to touch Loptr's hand. She drew her hand back when the younger woman flinched away from her. It hurt to have her daughter – and it didn't make a difference whether Loptr was hers or another universe's version of her child – not trust her enough to be touched. So far the only person she allowed close to her was Loki and even he couldn't touch her without Loptr initiating the contact. They had been getting closer over the past month since she had appeared and if Frigga was right, Loptr was slowly starting to realise that Odin, her and Thor weren't playing with her. That they really did care for her.

"No, I…" Loptr chewed on her lip harshly. She took a deep breath before she once again started picking at the blanket "It was supposed to be a punishment. I don't really know what I was supposed to have done but… My version of Odin decided that turning Vali into a wolf was the perfect punishment after what he did to my other children. He made Vali attack Narfi and Sigyn, killing them. I don't really remember much of that time but I was tied up with… with Narfi's… his…" Loptr broke off, hugging herself tightly.

Loki shifted closer, stopping a small distance away from her "I'm sorry," he told her quietly "I shouldn't have asked but I was curious…"

Loptr looked over at him with a small smile, wiping at her eyes "It's alright. You can't help it… Trust me, I know. I never talked about it and I really don't want to."

"How many children have you lost?" Odin asked quietly, surprising Loptr. She still wasn't used to this version of Odin… It had taken her a long time to even let him close to her, never mind stay in the same room as him.

"Hela, Vali and Narfi are dead. The others… The others were taken. Counting Hel, Vali and Narfi, he took six children from me. Only Vali and Narfi were conceived voluntarily," Loptr whispered the last part as if trying to make the impact less somehow. It didn't work.

Frigga's eyes teared up as soon as the words registered in her mind "They…"

"Raped me?" Loptr finished when the Allmother's voice broke "Yeah. And no one cared. They – the other people on Asgard – shunned me for bearing children out of wedlock. Even after I married… I was still ergi."

Loki made a noise at the back of his throat and pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring the flinch it earned him "You aren't," he told her firmly "None of this was your fault, Lo."

"I still brought them into this – into my world. It is because of me that they suffered," Loptr sniffed, hiding her face in Loki's chest "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Frigga smiled sadly and squeezed Loptr's hand "That's alright, dear. You're so brave, you know that?"

Loptr turned her head to face Frigga "I'm weak. Always have been," she argued quietly.

"You are not," she shook her head "And one day you will understand that they were the ones in the wrong. Loptr, you may not be from this world but you are as good as our child. If anyone treats you badly, you come to us."

"I…"

Odin moved, causing Loptr's head to snap over to him "Frigga is right," he pointed out "We wish for you to feel welcome."

"You really…"

Loki rested his chin on top of her head "We mean every word of it, Lo." He waited for a moment but when she didn't say anything, he sighed "So what about Sigyn? I have met her once or twice but I never really spoke to her."

Loptr relaxed in his arms, a small smile lighting up her face "I loved her," she told them "She was the most beautiful and kindest person I knew… She never cared that anyone disapproved of our relationship."

"She sounds like a wonderful young woman," Frigga remarked.

"She was," Loptr nodded, her eyes taking on a faint glimmer that had been absent for so many years "I wish she were still alive. She didn't deserve to be killed because of me…"

Odin closed his eyes for a moment and debated whether or not it was a good idea but in the end, he moved closer, sitting down at the end of the bed "It wasn't your fault," he pointed out "None of this happened because of you."

"But if I hadn't…"

"The only person at fault was your version of Odin," the Allfather pointed out.

Loptr looked up at him with wide eyes, blushing a little when she caught his concerned gaze. It felt so weird that he actually seemed to care.

Loki squeezed her hand before looking at his parents "I was thinking of going to talk to Laufey if that's alright?"

Odin's eyebrows shot up "Why?"

"I want to know why he left me," Loki admitted "I know your story but maybe there was more? I don't know…"

"That's understandable," Frigga told him with a small smile "Are you going to take Loptr with you?"

Loki shrugged and glanced down at her "It's up to you whether you want to come or not."

"I - I think I want to know why," Loptr whispered, leaning her head back against Loki's shoulder as her eyes slipped close.