The Trickster: Ragnarok

by: Shadow Chaser

Disclaimer:

I do not own any characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All characters belong to Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics, and Disney. I am not writing this story for profit, only for my own (twisted) amusement. I will try to return the characters unharmed, but some they might have a few scuff marks.

Story:

Chapter 2

"...You died..." it took a moment for Loki to realize that those words had come from Odin's mouth, and another second for him to utterly comprehend it and realize that the Allfather had actually spoken them. With a quiet start, he realized he had never heard Odin sound so shaken. There had always been a quiet confidence, of power behind his words, even mere whispers or commands spoken. In battle, there had been the flow of bolstering magicks, just an undercurrent, but nonetheless there to aid others. And the words spoken just now sounded utterly foreign to his ears.

"No, my liege," Sleipnir had turned and immediately bowed low to the ground once more, his head touching his hands held in front of him as he knelt on both knees. Utter supplication of authority to the Allfather, unlike how most greeted the Allfather with a single knee bent, arm across and head bowed until acknowledged by the Allfather. "As you had said, I live. I beseech an audience with you to tell you of the tale," the auburn-haired man said quietly and Loki frowned a little, the words sounding oddly familiar until he realized it was something he himself would have said to request a private audience with the Allfather.

Unlike the stupid oaf Thor who usually barged in and tried to request a private audience by saying something that would have usually alerted the Court of something wrong, Loki normally asked for a private audience in the rare times he wished for one, by some vague polite request that was as bland as indicating the daily astronomical weather patterns. It was...disconcerting to hear such smooth words coming from Sleipnir's mouth as if they were his own. He cast a faint spell, his senses stretching out to see if there was anything amiss and felt the normal ancient skeins and threads of wards surrounding Asgard and the throne room as well as the remnant of the void, and the faintness of a illusion spell as well as an explosive one already fading from Sleipnir's form.

His spellcasting must have been detected as he saw Sleipnir stiffen a little in response to his stretching awareness, but otherwise did not move from his position as he waited for the Allfather's response. Curious indeed...what was Sleipnir? Sensitive enough to feel him casting a faint spell? A part of his Sentinel abilities? What was a Sentinel? A title that Loki had never heard of in all of his life in Asgard nor in his research of the libraries. Granted there were books and tomes he had never read in Asgard's vast library, but he did have a good working knowledge of the realm's history as well as the other eight realms – which was extremely useful while he had been with his coterie.

"Granted," the Allfather said quietly before looking at the guards that had surrounded Sleipnir. They snapped to attention and lowered their weapons before unceremoniously cleared out the members of the Court, some of whom had returned finding that no battle had been fought nor any blood shed. It only took a few minutes, but after the last of the guards had cleared out the Court, silence filled the throne room. Even most of the Einhenjar had left, leaving only the barest of guards and especially those that Loki recognized would never ever breathe a word of what happened in Odin's private audiences. The faces Loki long recognized from the day that he had pleaded for mercy for his own coterie all those hundreds of years ago – and true to their word, they had not even spoken a single word about that particular audience.

"You may proceed, Sleipnir," the Allfather's voice had returned to its quiet countenance, "my son, Loki, has provided good council to me in the past."

A flash of annoyance passed through Loki as he realized that Sleipnir had been hesitating to speak and had stiffened at mention of not of the fact that he had provided council to Odin – something that had also surprised himself – but rather that the auburn-haired man had reacted to his name. Loki caught the minute widening of eyes from the other followed by the jerk of his head as he briefly looked up at Odin before looking back down. Sleipnir knew his place; as both an intruder and the fact that the Allfather had granted his request when normally anyone else would have instantly been questioned or placed in a cell to be questioned later.

So Odin truly believed that this Sleipnir was whom he claimed. Or not, as Loki saw Odin's grip on Gungnir tighten ever so slightly, tense and ready to strike. He kept his own weapon held loosely in his hands, his magicks relaxed, but ready to strike in case it was a ruse of sorts. It would not be the first time an assassin had made his or her way into the throne room on the pretense of having a private audience with the Allfather. Granted, no other assassin had walked the shadows of the void to do so, but there was always a first for everything. Jormungandr hissed softly from where he was still puffed up and coiled tightly on the throne itself, breaking the oppressive silence of the throne room.

"His name...y-you..." Sleipnir's voice cracked a little, making his already soft rasp even raspier, as he blinked rapidly before a sad smile flitted across his face, "O-Odin..." He seemed to compose himself as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the faint exhale audible in the silence. There was a momentary pause before the auburn-red haired man's lips quirked up in a small smile. "You have aged...Odin, er, Allfather. I...has it been so long?"

"Over four thousand years since," Odin had not moved from where he stood, "we thought you dead."

Sleipnir's bowed form twitched at that statement, "I...I am sorry, Allfather. If...if there had been any way for me to return, for me to let you know that I was alive..."

Something about what the other man was saying stirred something in Loki until he realized it was very reminiscent of his own conversation with Thor four years previous on the mountains called the Alps on Midgard. Filled with almost the same concern, the same warmth and affection-

"We thought you dead," the grip on his shoulder was full of warmth and affection and Loki sneered, roughly shrugging it off. He needed no one's pity, and certain not this idiot.

"Did you mourn?" he growled out, lips curling over his teeth at the hurt and shock that sprang up in Thor's eyes. Good, he did not need his feigned platitudes. He certainly threw him hard enough upon landing from the quinjet.

"We all did-"

"We mourned..." it was not the Allfather who had spoken the next words, interrupting Loki out of his reverie, but rather the Allmother and he turned to see her standing by the entrance of the throne room, Huugin perched on her shoulder. She looked out of breath and Loki surmised that she must have hastily dismissed her own Court to run here. There was another soft caw behind her and she turned slightly, revealing that Eir had also arrived, Muugin on her shoulder. The chief healer, however, looked more composed, yet Loki could see the equal shock in her eyes.

"Frigga-er, Allmother...Eir..." Sleipnir's voice was faint with wonder and shock.

But before he could say anything else, Loki watched as Frigga hurried forward, Huugin squawking his protest as he tried to keep a precarious grip on the Allmother's shoulder. He felt a sudden pull of worry, but ruthlessly quashed it as the Allmother boldly picked Sleipnir up from the floor, and gently brushed the dust off of the shoulders of his Midgardian military uniform. The Allfather had not reacted, had not even moved a single inch and if he was not worried for the Queen, then Loki had no reason to do so – except the remnant worry of the woman who had raised him from childhood. Instead, he tightened his grip on his glaive, ignoring the feeling of Jormungandr slithering his way up the base, curling around his hand before wrapping himself around his arm, a quiet hiss announcing his presence.

He watched as the Allmother gripped Sleipnir's arms tightly, staring deep into his face, her eyes tracing him with an affection that Loki had only witnessed between her and Odin. It was disconcerting to say the least and flicked a look to Odin to see him holding himself still, but caught the undercurrent of something there that he had never seen before. Was it...jealousy? Concern? A dismissive sort of concern that he mistook for jealousy?

"You've aged beautifully, Lady Frigga," Sleipnir murmured quietly and Loki saw Frigga's cheeks color ever so slightly before the corner of her lips turned upward as she finished her inspection and stepped back. She nodded as she released Sleipnir and looked at Odin.

"There was no body," she said quietly. "Even Hel," she faltered a little, "even Hel said she could not see him in the days following..."

Loki blinked once. Hel? As in Lady Hel of Helheim, the Queen of the unjudged dead? The same Hel that had freed Fenrir and Jormungandr from their prisons two years ago and was only punished with what had been a somewhat light sentence? That same Hel of his coterie? He opened his mouth to demand more information before closing it abruptly when his mother turned and smiled a bit sadly at him. He could read the open apology in her eyes, the understanding that he had questions, and he gritted his teeth together, ignoring her compassion and understanding that she was trying to convey to him.

"Let me see him, Frigga," Eir interrupted the moment and Frigga allowed the chief healer to replace her, taking a few steps back, but nonetheless kept a faint smile on her face.

"You have not aged much, boy," Eir had taken Sleipnir's chin in one hand and was moving his head back and forth in a gentle manner as she examined him. Her other hand was held up and Loki saw the brief flash of magicks flare in it at the same time Sleipnir visibly flinched from her grip, stumbling back a step-

Loki could feel the hum of an encircling spell ready at his fingertips-

And just as suddenly Sleipnir held his hands up, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I- I...I didn't, I did not mean to- I...I-I c-can't...please-" He swallowed and looked around him as he took a tentative step back, icy blue eyes wild with unadulterated fear before he shook his head at Eir whose hand was still raised, the uncast spell lingering on her palms. Munnin on her shoulder perch had leaned forward as if he was about to try to launch an attack on Sleipnir when he had moved. Sleipnir shook his head again, "I am so sorry Eir...p-please...it...it has been so...long since I felt..." He swallowed audibly, "He kept me deprived of magicks for so many thousands of years that...you...you startled me...that was all..."

"Who," Odin stepped forward, his lips thin and it was only later that Loki realized he had never seen such a cold furious anger in the Allfather's eyes, not even during the whole debacle with Thanos on the Rainbow Bridge, nor on the icy wastelands of Jotunheim when he had disobeyed the Allfather's orders. "Who did this?" the Allfather demanded with a quiet furious hiss.

Sleipnir's expression crumpled as he shook his head, "Baldr, Odin...Baldr...he's...he's alive..."

"Should we not return, Loki? The feast is about to start," Jormungandr's voice spoke up behind him over the rhythmic musical clip-clop of the horses' feet on the Rainbow Bridge.

Loki ignored Jormungandr's question as he saw the golden splendor of the Observatory rise up in greeting as they got nearer. He saw the small figure in resplendent gold-silver armor waiting for them at the mouth of the Observatory to the Bifrost as if expecting them. But then again, Heimdall saw everything, and they had been riding at the slowest walking pace the horses were able to bear before rebelling.

"Loki-"

"The feast is of no concern. The guest of honor is there and we won't be missed," he cut Jormungandr off with a look to which the former healer only huffed in annoyance, seemingly burrowing into himself before remembering that he was not in his serpentine form and instead, was once more human. The only reason why he was back in his human form instead of the punished serpentine form the Allfather had forced him into two years ago was because the horses did not like snakes. The Allfather had not said anything the first time Loki had released Jormungandr from his serpentine form, but the rest of the Court and even Thor for the rare times he had been on Asgard in the past two years, had been shocked. Loki considered leaving Jormungandr in his human form, but also knew that it would be inviting the Allfather to reproach him or worst, hand down another punishment even though he had technically not been involved in his coterie's revival. Loki did not want to chance it – knowing that the Allfather knew he had not escaped punishment for what had happened two years ago by virtue of having taken Jormungandr's core into his own to heal himself.

"Then what are we doing here?" Jormungandr asked, but Loki ignored him again as he got off of his horse and let it wander over to nibble a greeting to Jormungandr's horse.

"Prince Loki," Heimdall greeted neutrally, his golden eyes boring straight into him to which Loki only returned with a slight thin-lipped smile. The golden eyes slid off of him as he looked beyond him, "Jormungandr."

"Guardian," Jormungandr replied in careful neutral greeting.

"No need to be so formal on my account," Loki glanced back between the two and saw Jormungandr shift uncomfortably before nodding and a small smile appeared on the young man's lips, his icy blue eyes glittering with a contentment that Loki rarely saw.

"You saw?" Jormungandr glanced at him and Loki shrugged and did not answer as he moved past Heimdall, entering the Observatory. He was aware that the times Jormungandr was not by his side, he was at the Observatory, the greatest repository for magick energies outside of the heavily secured defenses of Asgard itself. As a magickal creature who had his very core flayed from him, Jormungandr sought comfort in the presence of anything imbued with magick – more often than not it was on Loki's work spaces or on himself from the spells tingling around him as he did his work. Sometimes it was on furniture that retained unusual magicks, like Odin's throne, but the Observatory had one of the highest concentrations – built by the Tesseract and weaved by Asgard's contingent of battlemages. Even Loki had been drawn towards the skeins and weaves of such powerful magick, but since he had his core, he did not quite understand what Jormungandr felt, but could somewhat relate to it after his fall from the Bifrost four years ago.

It was only natural that Jormungandr would find some comfort in spending time in the Observatory, letting the ripples and skeins of magick flow around him, basking and trying to absorb it through osmosis – to fill the emptiness inside that was related to the loss of his core. Apparently Loki had long surmised that Jormungandr had perhaps befriended or had even talked to Heimdall in the times he was at the Observatory. But the fact that Jormungandr had considered Loki's own feelings regarding Heimdall and tried to keep a polite distance would have normally touched him if it did not readily annoy him. He did not need consideration like that. It only served as an infantile weakness and idiotic attempts to soothe imagined slights.

He heard Jormungandr hum a tuneless song as he walked deeper into the Observatory, stopping for a moment to stare at the activation point before glancing towards where the transportation site was. He wondered if it was pointed at Midgard, ready to bring Thor back from Midgard on the Allfather's orders once more. What Sleipnir had said seemed to indicate it as such, but surprisingly the Allfather had not given the order.

Loki knew he was missing something significant and the flash of annoyance that passed through him was not relieved when he saw Odin shake his head vehemently in denial. His annoyance though, sparked into slight alarm at the furious anger he heard in the Allfather's next words.

"You lie. I saw him die! I-"

"Allfather, Odin, I do not lie. I..." Sleipnir swallowed again as he looked at him, Frigga, and Eir, "I- He...he made me his familiar. That...that is why I did not age as rapidly or as normally as you have." The red-haired man turned to Eir, "Please, Eir, you can check, you can scan. I'll...I will let you do so...just-"

Odin made a swift cutting motion with his hand and Eir nodded jerkily before moving forward again, her hand crackling a little with the magicks of her spell before she placed her other one gently on Sleipnir's shoulder. The man was trembling in fear and seemed to stop himself from shying away as she placed her hand right above his chest, almost touching, but not quite.

"Breathe, boy, breathe. It will not hurt..." Eir's voice was soothing like whenever she dealt with her patients in the healing ward. Sleipnir nodded once before closing his eyes, his fists clenching and releasing as he forced himself to breathe in and out in a steady rhythm as the spell flared in Eir's hands for a few seconds before she stepped back and the other man sagged visibly, and opened his eyes, looking for a second so horribly broken.

Loki gritted his teeth at the look, wanting to look away, unable to stand the expression, but a part of him was utterly disgusted by it. It was so... He forced himself to relax a little as he felt Jormungandr's body tighten around his upper arm in response before the snake also relaxed and flicked its tongue out, tasting the air.

"His core is gone, Allfather," Eir looked at Sleipnir with a compassionate gaze and Loki saw the older man drop his head a little in shame. "Shredded. Whence there used to be magick, there is none now. I felt the threads of age, of remnants of magick and the presence of another is forced unnaturally in there, but it has dissipated. There is definite spellwork cast about him, but those too have begun to fade. I can feel the tugs of servitude, but it seems almost...alive in an unusual sense... He is who he claims to be, Allfather."

"Baldr is not alive," Odin whispered angrily, his voice seemingly booming off the pillars and walls of the throne room.

"Odin-"

"I held him as he died in my arms, Sleipnir," Odin growled out, "He died. You saw it as well as I did when he- when he slewed him. When-"

"When we took our revenge. We took it and-"

"-you fell. You-"

"-And you became Allfather," Sleipnir finished quietly, looking up at Odin who had walked closer, Gungnir still gripped tightly in his hand, but there was something different in the Allfather's expression, "at least something good came of it..."

"Baldr's dead..."

"Baldr's alive," Sleipnir started again, taking a step forward into Gungir's physical range, "on Midgard all these years. I did not, and still do not know how he survived after...after what had happened, but I would never lie, Odin. He...he was the one who bestowed the status of a familiar to me in order to save my life after...well, after the darkness, the incomprehensible void-" There was something distant in Sleipnir's icy blue eyes that Loki recognized and silently revolted against, a shuddering twitch that seemed to shake the other man like a leaf on the wind before he came back to himself. The niggling sense that he should know what was happening was gnawing at him and it annoyed him to no end. But he could not, for the life of the Norns, understand what it was or why. Something about what Sleipnir was saying was utterly familiar, yet so bizarrely not that Loki could not quite wrap his head around.

And that in of itself made him suspicious of Sleipnir.

"Munnin," the Allfather suddenly snapped and the raven perched on Eir's shoulder flapped his wings hastily, "send word to Heimdall that he is to search for Baldr-"

"He lives as Vasily Karpov," Sleipnir supplied before the raven took off, headed towards the Observatory. The man smiled faintly, "It pleases me to hear that Heimdall took up his post after everything. And Munnin..." He turned to look at the raven perched on Frigga's shoulder, staring at him with beady black eyes. Surprisingly, Huugin had been utterly silent since arriving, not even a cackling caw as he was wont to do in any situation. Loki did not know the history of Odin's familiars, but now he wondered based on what Sleipnir said, were they too once human? Perhaps one of the members of the other realms forced into an animal form like Jormungandr and turned into familiars? It would not be a stretch to think so.

"Huugin?" Sleipnir guessed and the raven cawed softly as if affirming his guess.

"They are my familiars," Odin whispered and Sleipnir's expression turned a little sour, but he nodded, "it was the only way to save them after..."

"You do not need to justify your actions, Allfather," Sleipnir said and Loki's eyes widened at the same time he heard the rustle of cloth from the guards that had remained. Even Frigga and Eir both looked shocked at the presumption, the sheer incomprehensible fact of what Sleipnir implied. At the same time, it seemed that the man realized what he was saying before he coughed and opened his mouth to apologize-

"Your lapse is forgiven in absence of your presence for the last few thousand of years," Odin replied just as mildly, "but you would do well to remember who stands upon the throne."

"I apologize Allfather," Sleipnir bowed his head a little, "forgive me. I...it has been long since-"

"Why return now? If this Vasily Karpov, this Baldr is your master, why are you here," Loki did not know what compelled him to speak, but he met Sleipnir's sharp look with a tilted look of his own. The others, Odin included seemed to remember that he was still there, ever in the shadows, as they looked at him. But he kept his gaze on Sleipnir, watching as something seem to flit across the man's icy blue eyes – oddly hauntingly familiar as if he had seen those eyes before – before the auburn-haired man bowed to him.

"My Prince," Sleipnir greeted respectfully before lifting his head back up, "I was not sent by Baldr. I escaped the moment he gave me the power to do so. Even now, I can feel the tugs in which he wishes to summon me back, but I am glad that he only gave me enough power to walk the shadows of Yggdrasil once. Save for demanding Heimdall send me back by Bifrost, it is a saving grace that I cannot do anything else."

"Convenient," Loki was not convinced and Sleipnir smiled a little.

"Your son takes after you, Allfather," the other man said and Loki bristled. He was nothing like the Allfather. Odin was a man who never spoke what he thought, who put Thor, the precious Crown Prince, ahead of everything else- Had lied to him about his parentage; that he was a Frost Giant, monster, Jotun, the stuff of nightmares-

"He is as unique as his own," the Allfather replied mildly and Loki shot a look at him, which was ignored before glaring at Sleipnir who seemed a little surprise at his look.

"I...uh, I seemed to have said something-"

"Such slights are only as imagined as your addled mind on the planet of fools you have claimed to have lived on for thousands of years," he replied, acid in his tone, and saw Sleipnir's expression close before he nodded sharply and bowed his head again.

"That is true, my Prince," the other man said in a neutral voice, and Loki had the feeling that whatever hurt he had inflicted, Sleipnir had buried his own feelings deep instead of obstinately showing it for all to see. Curious...

"My master-er, Baldr, had sent me to disrupt the Avengers in his latest scheme. We learned of Thor's existence a few years ago when the Chitauri attacked New York, but we only knew as much as the intelligence agency SHIELD had kept on file for the Crown Prince. We knew of you, my Prince, but I did not believe that you were whom you claimed to be until now. Baldr schemed as the mortal Vasily Karpov to take over HYDRA, one of the enemies of SHIELD after its dissolution a year ago."

So it was true, what he had suspected when Thor started to spend more time on Midgard. He had no doubts that it was because of his precious Lady Jane, but more because to protect her when SHIELD could no longer do so as well as to fight with the mortal Avengers. Though he did not readily concern himself with the affairs of Midgard, he had been rather curious to see how the realm fared after his naive attempt to conquer it. Naive for him because in hindsight, it was a pathetic waste of his time and resources.

"Then why escape now?" he look pointedly at Sleipnir

"Because Baldr expected to capture the Crown Prince and have me walk the two of them through the shadows to Asgard," Sleipnir replied, his voice and gaze steady and unblinking on him. He turned his head slightly to Odin, "Allfather, it was Baldr who conceived of the plan years ago, and Baldr who risked everything to gain your throne. Your elder brother was not mad to slay him, for it is my belief that he might had had an inkling of what was to come. Odin, Baldr wants the throne, and he will do everything in his power to get it."

A loud crash behind Loki made him tear his gaze and thoughts from the vast starlight that always lead to nothing- to see Jormungandr tripping over his feet and falling to the ground before picking himself up. Already, two years since, and the young mage had adapted to his serpentine form better than his human one. He ignored the healer's antics and clasped his hands behind his back, "Tell me, Guardian, how is it that you could not have seen Sleipnir or even this Baldr until now?"

"I have yet to spy Baldr, my Prince," Heimdall replied a little testily, his golden eyes boring into him. "But if it is truly him, then either he has learnt magicks that hide him from my gaze," the Guardian stared at him shrewdly as if to associate him with the same magicks that had allowed Loki to cloak the Jotuns four years ago during Thor's coronation, "or it was very likely he cast an illusion upon himself that has not drawn my gaze for the duration of my watch."

"It is a wonder that you claim to protect the realms when you do not espy all the individuals on the realms," Loki shot back and saw Heimdall bristle at the insult, but did not respond when he knew that the Guardian wanted to.

"I watch those that would bring harm and danger to Asgard and the other realms, my Prince," he finally said after a few minutes and Loki snorted quietly, "or those of great import that is of concern to the House of Odin."

"Ah, yes...mortals," he walked aimlessly back and forth and gave Heimdall a thin-lipped smile that did not reach his eyes. Behind Heimdall, Jormungandr was absently holding his hands up to pluck at the skeins and weaves, his eyes closed in a blissful contentment. "Brief candled lives that flicker only for a heartbeat. They mean no harm in the realms. So why should you care for their individual greatness and lives that they have lived. Surely those of Muspelheim or Vanir have more pressing concerns-"

"You have great care for the mortals, my Prince," though one could not even hear the sarcasm in Heimdall's words, Loki stopped his ambling pace as he glared at the Guardian. He certainly heard the thinly veiled sarcasm and only chuckled bitterly before getting to his point.

"Sleipnir, Heimdall," he stated and saw the Guardian tilt his head to the side in acknowledgment, the attempt at pleasantries all but over. Loki had not forgiven Heimdall for betraying his trust while he was regent nor had Heimdall forgiven him for freezing him with the Casket of Ancient Winters. There were many other small slights before that, but it was something that made the two almost avoid each other whenever they were near. Thus Loki rarely traveled via Bifrost since his return to Asgard three years ago, preferring to use the paths through the shadows of the void.

"A good friend and competent battlemage," Heimdall replied, "certainly for naught as his mentor and teacher was the Crown Prince himself-"

"What can the Allfather know-"

"-Not Odin, but his older brother, your namesake," Heimdall replied, moving to stand by his watchful position, facing the stars. Loki paused and noticed that Jormungandr did the same, open shock on the young healer's face. He looked at Heimdall whose golden eyes were focused on the starlight, a wistful, yet somewhat melancholic expression on his face. "You were named after Odin's older brother Loki, when you were brought from the wastelands of Jotunheim."

"You knew..." Loki had long wondered if Heimdall had known he had been a Jotun babe, stolen from the temple he had been left to die after – if King Helblindi's tale was true – he had shown inklings of magick that was in a society who shunned and killed any who showed it.

Heimdall ignored his statement and continued, "Crown Prince Loki was Sleipnir's teacher, mentor, and confidant. Sleipnir was to become his Sentinel, his right hand, until the Crown Prince slew the youngest of the House of Bor, Baldr, his and Odin's youngest brother. Odin retaliated and slew Loki with the help of Sleipnir and the others before taking up the position of Allfather from Bor after his passing in the ensuing battle."

Again, just like when he had been in the throne room, Loki had the niggling sense that he was missing something, that he should know this because it had been told to him before. But he could not quite pinpoint when and where and pushed the feeling aside. Instead, he focused on Heimdall's words and realized something. "You were there..."

"I was," Heimdall inclined his head once, "and helped deliver the cleaving blow that ended the Crown Prince's life. We had thought Sleipnir lost in the aftermath, the Crown Prince taking him with him as he died, but-"

"Here he is..."

"Here he is..." Heimdall agreed, "and-" He suddenly frowned and leaned forward a little, eyes narrowing for a long second before he drew back sharply.

Loki only raised an eyebrow at the Guardian's actions before he saw a look of puzzlement flit across his face. "Perhaps there was merit to Sleipnir's tale...I thought I saw Baldr..." the Guardian leaned forward again, his gaze intent and focused as he peered through starlight and just when the silence was a little too oppressive Heimdall's eyes widened minutely.

"Crown Prince Thor has disappeared."

Author's Notes:

Readers of my previous stories know that I occasionally mentally cast actors in roles to give a visual frame of reference. Readers of Coterie know that I've cast Colin Morgan as Jormungandr. Sleipnir is no different – I've mentally cast Damian Lewis in the role. I do have a criteria for casting actors in roles – they must not have been associated with a very well-known Marvel or DC role, nor any future roles (so that rules out Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Christian Bale...sigh).

Cliffnotes on Frozen in Time (since there are readers out there not inclined to go through a very long story – I understand...):

- Thor's political standing on Asgard is kind of in jeopardy – he is beloved by the people, but the Court thinks he spends too much time attending to Midgard instead of the welfare of all nine realms. Thor personally does not see the problem.

- After Alexander Pierce's demise, HYDRA is run by Baron von Strucker. However, while Strucker does exists, but is being mind-controlled by Vasily Karpov from the shadows with Loki's sceptre that he left behind two years ago (as evidenced in CA:TWS movie stinger). It's revealed that Karpov orchestrated a lot of the behind-the-scenes regarding the Winter Soldier Project as well as Natasha Romanov's Red Room, and also the creation of both Bucky's vibranium-kevlar arm as well as Steve's vibranium shield – which he claims has unique magical properties.

- Karpov had Tony and Sam captured and sent Sleipnir disguised as Baron von Strucker to obstinately lure Bucky to be re-captured – his "weapon" so to speak. The Avengers, being who they were, decided the confront it head-on and rescue their friends, but realized it was a trap to ultimately capture Thor and Mjolnir. The Avengers don't realize this until the very end when Thor attacks them before disappearing with Karpov and the Chitauri sceptre.

Note: This is just kind of a bare minimum summation – there are some details I've left out, but I don't think they will be missed since I will be touching on some of those points throughout this story - but it does lend a different perspective, especially regarding Steve towards Bucky and how he muses it relates to Thor and Loki's relationship. Also, please do note that once we get more into the Avengers side of things, Frozen in Time and the events that happened in there will be referenced, but also summarized in a more narrative format. I do recommend at least reading the epilogue to Frozen in Time so you know how much time has passed since Thor's disappearance and Loki's eventual appearance on Earth.