Thor stares at his mother, speechless, a deluge of emotion overwhelming him completely. She glides up from her seat and moves towards him, pulling him into an awkward hug which he can only return with a brief pat on the back. He doesn't entirely know what to feel.

"Hello, Thor," she says with a smile, oozing warmth and love like honey, like syrup, and Thor's never liked sickly things. It puts him on his guard straight away.

"Hello, Frigga," he responds, using her first name to express the coldness he feels towards her. His mother has never liked her children calling her by her first name, or her husband for that matter. As far as Thor can remember in fact, Frigga has never really liked anything Odin did, or he or Loki. It makes Thor wonder why she kidnapped him in the first place.

"I suppose you're wondering why you're here," she says smoothly, moving back over to sit on the chair and gesturing to the empty one beside it for Thor to sit down. He takes the seat, sitting stiffly with his eyes on his mother as she crosses her legs and gives him another brilliant smile. He thinks the love is genuine, but he can't be sure. How can someone who loves him destroy his family twice over?

"It's because I missed you." Thor's mouth falls open. "Because I missed you, and I wanted to see you, and provide for you, like a good mother should."

Thor can think of a million comebacks to that, but manages to swallow them all, closing his eyes as he does so, and raising an eyebrow to encourage her to continue.

"That's why I made sure you kept up your studies, and I've entered you in your GCSEs as well. I hope everything you've been given is all right for you."

Thor feels his hands start to shake in fury at what she's saying. That she could dare claim to be a good mother after taking him away from his family. That she could even consider what she'd given him in terms of accommodation 'all right', when he'd been perfectly happy at home.

"Where am I?" he asks, keeping his voice controlled as best he can, and not doing a very good job of it.

"You're home," she responds, offering him a sandwich from the plate on the coffee table beside her. "I know the move was a little bit dramatic, but it'll be all right once you've settled in."

Thor looks horrified, and he can't quite understand how this woman can claim to be his mother after all she's done. "This is not my home. This is not my home."

He rises out his chair and makes for the doorway, but it's locked. The window is open a crack, so he heads towards that and pushes the pane upwards, but it's no use. It won't budge, and now Frigga has started to walk over to where Thor is, curling cool fingers around his wrist and pulling him back towards the chair with surprising strength.

"Listen, Thor, I know this is sudden, and I know you're upset, but you have to believe me. I'm your mother, I want what's best for you. I want you to be safe and happy, and do well in your exams, so I've brought you to live with me so I can look after you." Her expression grows more desperate by the minute, but Thor can't feel any remorse, not after what she's done to him, to all of them.

"If you want me to be happy, let me go."

She lifts up her head, eyes wide with surprise. "I can't. I'm your mother, I can't let you go."

Thor bites back another comeback, not sure how much longer he'll be able to restrain himself. It was easy enough the first time, he thinks furiously.

"Let me go."

Frigga shakes her head, and pushes a button on something he's only just noticed is sitting next to the sandwich tray - something like a baby monitor or walkie-talkie system that she's using to communicate with the men she hired to kidnap Thor for her. Two of them barge into the room, grabbing his still-bound wrists and dragging him away into the corridor. Thor twists in their grip, catching them off guard, and seizes the opportunity to run in the opposite direction down the corridor. He sees daylight and hears outside noises - a car, and voices. It turns out he's not being kept prisoner in some classical mansion, like in a bad mafia movie, but in a big house on an ordinary road. He bolts through the side door and onto the front lawn, stopping to take in his surroundings and squinting against the sunlight.

.

Loki and Odin are watching the news again, this time alone. The night following the report explaining that the body wasn't Thor's had been rough, though more for Odin than for Loki. Neither of them had got much sleep, but while Loki was used to feeling the stabbing pains of uncertainty, Odin was not. It had taken him a long time to silence the worries going round and round his head.

Since it's a Friday, none of Loki's friends can come over for the evening, but Fandral's promised to visit when he can on Saturday to catch up on the news. They're watching an earlier bulletin tonight, and it's national news as opposed to the usual South Today. Because of this Odin isn't expecting much, but the first words the reporter speaks are Thor's name, and his head snaps round to focus on the screen.

Loki looks up at him in surprise: neither of them saw this coming. He doesn't know what to think - is it a good or a bad thing that Thor has made national news? Does it even mean anything? Loki's been numb for so long he can't tell if whatever new breakthrough that has caused Thor to become such a big thing will actually affect him or not.

And then they see the footage.

It's taken on a mobile phone, and there's lots of background noise, the image distorting and pixelating as both the camera and the people being filmed move around. The clip is only thirty seconds long, but it's enough for them to work out what's going on. They can make out Thor from his stature, shorter than the other two men hurrying after him as he bursts out the side door of a large house in a quaint little suburb of some large city.

Loki watches, enraptured, taking in every detail of Thor's movement and embedding the images into his mind so he'll never forget the moment he knew his brother was really alive. He watches Thor stop, staring at the sun, and then turn to run from the two large men that explode out the door after him. They tackle him, and Loki stops breathing at that moment, eyes focused on the pixels of his brother as he's pulled back towards the door, and then the footage ends as a policeman jumps out and runs towards the others.

The reporter turns away from the screen and smoothly begins to explain how the police had been in the area when they'd heard the struggle, one passer-by calling out to an officer when she witnessed the start of the incident herself. Police had managed to disable the attackers and release the victim, who was in mild shock but showed no signs of damage other than bruising. He'd been taken to the police station to be looked over, whilst the other men were arrested and taken to custody to be questioned.

Odin finds himself weeping only because Loki looks up at him and swats the tears from where they're dripping from his father's chin. For the first time since Thor disappeared, his younger son is smiling. Really, really smiling.

"I think we need to make a trip to the police station."

.

Loki is greeted warmly with a smile from DI Symmonds as he and his father arrive at the station at eight in the evening. They'd been too excited to think properly, frantically calling their friends to tell them the news. But of course Sif and Hogun and Brenda had already seen the article, and for a while there had been a clash of phone connections as everyone tried to talk to everyone else at once. In the end, offers to accompany them to the station are declined, because the last thing they want is to swamp Thor when he's in shock.

Loki had insisted on bringing Thor's favourite red hoodie and his bedding, in case he needed the comfort, and then they'd been in the car, driving off towards the station with the radio on top volume, Odin still with tears in his eyes.

Odin shakes her hand, thanking her over and over for what she's done, words eventually failing him. Loki simply smiles, and the officer finds herself smiling in return. Even if it's just one small life, it makes her endlessly happy to know that that brave, frightened teenager that had come to her around a month ago has finally had the pieces of his life put back together.

Odin is hesitant to approach the subject of seeing Thor, since he doesn't doubt there will be complications. He knows Loki is expecting them to be able to walk in, collect him, and walk out again. But these things never happen. He'll be sleeping, or too unwell to be moved that evening, or already be in a hospital, or there'll be forms to sign, or...

"Do you want to see him?" Symmonds asks, and Loki's face lights up even brighter, making the flickering fluorescent tubes on the ceiling above them look like candles next to a roaring fire. She takes that as a yes and opens the door at the back of the reception room to a narrow corridor. In the end room is a table and chairs with paper laid out and a row of pens beside it.

"You need to fill in some of these first," and Odin couldn't suppress a strained sigh. He hadn't been wrong. Forms.

"And Thor isn't feeling very well. You can move him, but he'll need attention from a doctor first thing tomorrow. We've planned for someone to visit here in the morning in case you didn't see the article and our telephone message wasn't received, but if you want him to come home then that will be fine. Which would you rather?"

Odin looks at his son. His expression of delight has faded into one of doubt, and Odin can tell he's at war within himself. To take Thor home now, or to let him get checked over so he's really better.

"I...I think it would be better if we took him tomorrow," Odin begins, and is surprised to see Loki nodding in agreement. "We'll collect him as soon as possible."

The inspector smiles. "All right. I'll give you a call once he's ready." She lets Odin fill in the forms, watched by his curious son, and rubs her hands together. They've nearly sorted it.

Odin returns the forms to her and she takes them gently, opening the door and saying goodbye as they leave the station. Loki falls asleep briefly in the car whilst surrounded by Thor's duvet and pillows.

It was less than two hours' round trip, and once they're home Odin makes celebratory hot chocolate. Sif calls again and they tell her everything, the sounds of electronic laughter and crying filling the room from the speakerphone. They hang up at midnight and Odin tells Loki they both ought to go to bed. Loki agrees, but neither of them manages so much as a wink of sleep.

.

It's eleven in the morning when the call comes through. Thor's been given the all clear, and he's able to come home.

It's like a dream as they hop in the car, duvet and all, and drive back down to the station. Loki can feel the sound growing fainter, the edges of his vision whitening just like in a movie, when it's an emotional moment of both joy and tragedy, and everything fades out to make your mind go numb. He can almost hear the lamenting sound of a flute in his mind, completing the moment, except this is a happy thing, not a sad one.

The sound comes back in a rush as he races down the corridor after the detective, and the door bangs open, and he sees his brother smiling weakly at him from on a small bed attached to the wall, and the first word he's spoken in a month tumbles from his lips...

"Thor."