"You're sure you ain't mad at me or nuffin?"
"Of course we aren't. We love you and if you want to go then you should!"
"And you ain't using this as an excuse to banish me?"
"Why would we banish you?"
"Dunno."
Linn shrugged and squinted at Loki's new disguise. She didn't like it as much as the face she'd grown accustomed to, but it was okay. Still handsome, and the expressions were still the same.
"Stop staring at me like that, people will assume something is wrong," Loki snapped, switching to a guard's disguise. It would draw less attention than the new Dark Elf ambassador escorting the widowed princess. Not that anyone else was out on the Rainbow Bridge at the moment.
"Sorry, sorry," Linn sighed and picked up her bag. It had all of her clothes and any personal items she'd wanted to bring from Asgard back to earth. It was fairly light, but she planned on borrowing some of Maisy's belongings that she'd left on earth.
"We'll miss you," Maisy looked misty eyed and she swiped her nose with the back of her hand, "We'll miss you so, so much."
"Sweet Andromeda, don't start wif the crying or I'm gonna bawl," Linn sniffled, already feeling the tears coming on.
"Oh Norns, not tears," Loki rolled his eyes, "We'll see you in June! That is not far off at all."
"Hey!" Maisy wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "I can't help it, okay? I'm hormonal!"
"And crying is contagious!" Linn put in.
"We'd best get a move on, Skurge will be waiting for us at the Bifrost."
"Who the frick is Skurge?" Linn asked, her eyes drying, "What happened to Heimdall?"
"He… knew too much."
"You didn't!" Maisy gasped, brows furrowing angrily, "If you killed Heimdall-"
"I didn't kill him!" Loki rubbed his forehead tiredly, "I planned on locking him in the dungeon with a spell to keep him from speaking, but he escaped and I suspect he has run off to the mountains."
Linn whistled and then laughed, glad the man with the golden eyes had gotten away.
"Do you think he'll tell Thor?"
"No. He can't get to the Bifrost with the new Gatekeeper there and if Thor comes for a visit… well, I suppose I will have to think of an excuse for Heimdall's absence."
"Are you going to try and catch him?" Linn asked, curious.
"There would be no point. Unless I waste an enormous amount of magical energy to hide myself and guardsmen from him he would see us coming. Remember? He sees everything. Besides, I think he's had help from inside the palace."
"Who?"
"I've no evidence, but I strongly suspect Sif."
"Why?"
"Sif and Heimdall were raised together. They are close friends still. She might even know that I am not dead."
"You aren't going to arrest Sif, are you?" Maisy asked.
"Not unless I have to."
They continued walking along the Rainbow Bridge and discussing what the future might hold for the former Gatekeeper. Linn was glad of the distracting topic of conversation. That way she didn't have to think about the stupid thing she was about to do. Or all of the wonderful people she was leaving behind.
They'd discussed her options the night before, after Melantha had introduced Loki's new persona to the court and "Odin" had announced the trade agreement with Svartalfheim. Linn's options were staying in Asgard as Maisy's lady-in-waiting and training more with Lady Fulla - though Loki assured her that he wouldn't allow the hag to beat her - or going back to Midgard. As much as Linn wanted to stay with her dearest friends in Asgard, the more they talked, the more she realized that moving could be good for her. Not to mention she really missed her friends at the Midgardian high school and she missed her classes.
So, they devised a plan. Linn would spend her summers and holidays in Asgard, earning money as Maisy's lady-in-waiting (easiest job ever in Linn's mind) and baby sitter when the time came. During the school year, she would live on Midgard with the Avengers as her guardians.
This had been difficult to arrange, since the Avengers were a little bit frazzled after Tony had created a murderous robot that had tried to destroy all of humanity. However, Pepper Potts had assured Maisy and Linn that they would think of a solution that would work for everyone. And they had.
Even though most of the Avengers would be living in the new compound Tony had built for them, Natasha Romanoff needed her space sometimes. She was taking over Maisy and Loki's old apartment and Linn would live there with her. Linn worried this might be a tad awkward, seeing as Natasha Romanoff was a super spy lady with badass-ness galore and Linn was a glorified laundry maid from another planet, but then she remembered that the Black Widow was an honorary member of the club Linn and her friends had made. It would all be fine.
When Loki, Maisy, and Linn arrived at the Bifrost a bald man with black tattoos on his head came out to greet them, bowing slightly to Maisy. She smiled back at him and offered a hand.
"Hi! You must be Skurge. I'm Maisy."
"Princess," Skurge took her hand and kissed the back of it. Well, he really kissed the air above the hand, which was probably for the best because his mustache looked like it would tickle.
"This is my friend, Linn, who's going to New York. You know where to send her and everything, right?"
"Course I do, ma'am. She's in good care with me! I've been operating this thing for two days now and I've pretty much got it all figured out! Sure, I accidentally brought back a bilgesnipe this morning when I was trying to bring back one of our warriors, but it was fine."
"Oh," Maisy glanced nervously at Loki, who was pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Hey, long as you don't send me to Muspelheim I'm good to go," Linn high fived the new Gatekeeper and he grinned at her.
"Would you mind a bit of company wherever you go?" A quiet, shy voice asked from inside the golden dome. Linn yelped and Loki and Maisy rushed in to see who had spoken. Bjorn was standing in the Bifrost, wearing jeans and a slightly wrinkled button up shirt. He had a sack slung over one shoulder and he was rubbing his short hair as he smiled at Linn.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that that guy came in here. Looks a bit like a Midgardian, but I've seen him around the palace before," Skurge commented.
"Yeah, dat's me boyfriend," Linn told the Gatekeeper, "He's the best. But what's he doin' here?"
"Hi Bjorn," Maisy waved and he waved back.
"What are you doing here?" Loki, still disguised as a guard, asked.
"Who are you?" Bjorn shot back, straightening up, his hand going to his hip even though he wasn't wearing a sword, "I've never seen you around. And I made sure I knew everyone assigned to the princess. Your Highness, I think this man might be an imposter."
"I'm new," Loki said, "Just added to the detail."
"Why?"
"Well, clearly you are leaving with Linn. The captain had to bring in someone new to cover for you."
"No, no," Bjorn dropped his back pack and crouched into a fighting stance, "Ralph is taking my place. I made sure."
"Babe, it's okay," Linn said, putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "I know him. Dis guy is Haddock. He's Folkner's third cousin. Folkner is sick today."
"Oh," Bjorn's brow furrowed, but he relaxed, "You're sure?"
"Positive," Maisy chimed in.
"Okay then… that seems very much against protocol, but I suppose if you say so, Your Highness."
"Are you really planning on coming wif me to Midgard?" Linn asked, picking up his bag and handing it back to him, "Like, for real?"
"Err, yeah," he shouldered the sack again and smiled at her so sweetly that she would have swooned if she knew how to properly do so. "I talked with the captain. He agreed that you might need some protection down on Midgard. And I thought it might be a good learning experience to see how humans live."
Linn clasped her hands together and felt a squeal of excitement coming on.
"Really?"
"And, of course, it would mean I'd get to be with you, which is the best part," he said, face going beet red. Linn let the squeal loose as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He dropped his bag again in surprise.
"I may gag. Young love is the most revolting-"
"Shut up," Maisy elbowed Loki and whispered, "You aren't much better than her."
"I would never jump at you like that" he hissed back, "It's undignified."
"No, but you take pretty much every opportunity to show affection and you know it."
"You really mean it?" Linn asked Bjorn, ignoring her friends hushed voices, "What about your family peoples?"
"My mother is furious," Bjorn admitted, "But since the captain made it an official assignment there's nothing she can do. And my dad is proud of me for, uh, going to such a barbaric place. He says it's courageous."
"Barbaric!" Linn snorted, "I'm half Terran you know!"
"I know that, but Father doesn't."
"Well, he doesn't even know I exist," Linn said scoldingly, "Because someone won't take me home fer dinner and food wif his family!"
"I just don't want my parents to say anything horrible."
"But-"
"You two can discuss this at another time perhaps," Loki said, "For now we had better get Linn and you to Midgard. I fear goodbyes shall take an eternity."
Bjorn watched Loki suspiciously again but didn't say anything.
"Right, goodbyes and stuffs," Linn took a sharp breath and turned to Maisy. She'd thought all of her tears had dried up by now, but a few more trickled out when she saw her best friend starting to cry. "Aw, Maisy!"
"Linn!" Maisy pulled her into a fierce hug and they snuffled unintelligible sentiments against each other's shoulders. Linn was fairly certain they both said some pretty heartwarming stuff, but neither of them was sure what the other had said.
"I love you, you know that, right?"
"Course I do! And you know I loves y'all too, right?"
"Yes," Maisy wiped her tears with the heel of her hand and then offered Linn a hankie, "And we'll see you in June!"
"Will you be proper round by then?" Linn gently poked Maisy's stomach.
"That's only two months away! I'll probably be bigger, but not round."
"When's ya due?"
"October."
"But I'll be back in school by den! What if da baby pops outta ya while I'm gone?!"
"We'll beam you up as soon as I go into labor - if you want to come. Then you can be here as soon as the baby arrives."
"Okay. Sounds good," Linn nodded and then gave her another hug. She knew she probably shouldn't give Loki a hug for fear of giving away his secret, but she couldn't just leave without a hug. So she hugged him quickly and whispered in his ear that she'd miss him. He nodded briskly, but Linn caught a sweet smirk on his face.
"You must know him pretty well," Bjorn commented.
"Don't be jealous, babe," Linn held his hand, "I've only got eyes for you!"
He blushed again.
"Right! You two ready to go?" Skurge asked, clapping his hands awkwardly.
"I fink so," Linn took a deep breath, "I'll see you in June. Unless you need me sooner than dat! Feel free to call me up any time! Or visit!"
"Have a good rest of the school year!" Maisy called as the Bifrost began whirring. In a flash Linn and Bjorn were gone. Off to have their own adventures in Midgard… until they would come back for summer break.
A note from the author: Some Linn/Bjorn fluff for your Saturday! Linorn? Bjinn? Binn? Lorn? Idk, come up with a ship name if y'all want to, I'm terrible at this sort of thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! We're very near the end of the story now, with just a bit more drama to go. And when I say "a bit", I mean, we're looking at some severe dramatics going down folks. Batten the hatches in the Pillow Fort of Denial. No, no! I totally kidding. It's definitely going to be smooth sailing from here on out. Definitely. You have nothing to worry about. ;)
Thank you so much for sticking with me! I've got some really fun oneshots that I'll start posting when I finish posting all of the main story. I'm super excited for you guys to read them and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. And, I'm still writing some of them and plan to write more so if you have any fun ideas for adventures for Loki, Maisy, Linn, Bjorn, or any of the other characters that have shown up in this story let me know! I also might post some deleted scenes even though they are all pretty random. It'll be bonus features lol. :)
Special thanks to my amaaaaazing reviwers:
Ninja Squirrel: Duuuude, I can't believe how long it's been since I started this story! It's almost been two years since I posted the first chapter! That's ridiculous! Also, thank you very much for the well wishes for 2020, things have been going more smoothly since my last post, for which I am grateful. I hope you have a great start to the 20's as well. :D
Lwolf: I had a lovely holiday and I hope you did as well! Thank you for your review!
Dragoncat: HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY! I hope it was amazing and that you got to eat cake or whatever tasty treats you prefer! :) And you are right! Let's dub 2020 the Year of Writing. :)
nina del carmen: When I first read your comment I read "ice ice baby" instead of "yes baby baby" and I guess that is true since the baby will be half Frost Giant. XD
AnonymousMe: First of all, thank you so, so, so much for all of your lovely reviews! I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story! Secondly, I do apologize for my use of colorful language, I'm not typically one to swear, but since absolutely no one that I know in real life knows that I am the one writing this story, I gave it a shot just to try something different with my writing style. Not a great excuse, I know, but it's too late to go back and censor the whole thing now lol. Thirdly, if you are looking for Loki/Peter interactions I suggest the Ultimate Spiderman cartoon if you can find it. There are a few episodes where Loki is the villain for an episode and it's usually pretty funny. I don't know how you feel about cartoons, but if you like them then I hope you'll give that one a try. Fourthly, you are absolutely welcome in the Pillow Fort of Denial (well, I think, I'm not always welcome there myself since sometimes I write angst, but I'm sure the other readers will gladly let you in)!
You guys are all awesome and I'm super thankful for each of you and your kind words. :) Until next time!