They Come on White Horses: Chapter 22

Requested by: NoVacancyMind and many wonderful others
Sequel to Knights.

Alright my lovelies! This is it! The last chapter of They Come on White Horses! Now, I already have an idea for a follow-up story, but between two others and college, I will not get to it for a WHILE. Wish me luck!

Please enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: Don't own. Never will. So sad.

Going Home

Loki assessed himself with his eyes closed, before he fully awoke. His magic was almost fully stabilized, and would answer to him if called, though he didn't want to stress it more than it had already been. Besides feeling sore and aching all over, Loki was not in any pain. His head only pulsed a bit, but the soft petting felt wonderful. No doubt his mother. It wasn't until he tried to move that he noticed. He was buried in something. Rocks? But-

He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of the ice. Still, his arms flew out, sending ice cubes flying every which way, and stopped dead when he saw his skin. Blue…he was-blue…nonononono. He was blue. His fingernails scratched at his skin to make it go away, but it wasn't working. Everyone was in the room; he knew they were. For once in his life he could not force himself to look at them. Not when he was…when they had seen…

"Loki…my son," Loki saw his mother's hand coming towards him again, and he flinched back.

"Don't touch me!" Frigga's movements halted completely, and she looked hurt and so dreadfully sad. "I'll burn you," Loki murmured. Frigga's pained expression turned into a sad smile.

"Oh my boy. You won't." She reached out again, and Loki only got out a 'No!' before her hand rested against his cheek. Loki clenched his eyes shut, waiting for her to recoil in pain and horror. Instead, everyone else watched as once the Allmother's skin met Loki's, his blue began to recede and return to his usual pale. She continued to pet his face even after he was entirely back to looking Asgardian. "Open your eyes, Loki." Loki slowly peeled them open and looked down at his hands. They were…they weren't blue.

"What-" Frigga smiled.

"As a babe you would change between forms whenever you got upset or scared. The first time I heard you crying, I did not hesitate to pick you up into my arms. Only once you started to change to Asgardian did I notice that you were your true heritage at all. You did not hurt me then, and I knew you wouldn't hurt me now." Loki cursed himself when a tear ran down his face at such a simple gesture. He was not a child; he was a prince. Princes do not cry in front of anyone. Frigga made no comment, only brushed it away with her thumb as gently as if he were a child. She stood then, and held out a hand to him.

"Come. I think you have soaked long enough, but you are to sit right back down." Loki felt a strong urge to roll his eyes, but could not help his smile. He put both hands on the edge of the tub and pushed himself shakily to his feet. Just when he felt like he would slip, two strong, familiar arms wrapped around his own and held him up. Loki scowled as he had to cling to his older brother to make his way out of the ice bath and onto solid ground.

"Do not get used to this, Thor. I will be able to walk on my own in a few minutes." Loki felt a smaller set of hands settle on his arm, and his daughter kissed his cheek.

"Oh, Father, let him dote. You hardly ever let anyone do anything for you." Loki smiled and threw an arm around his daughter's shoulders, dragging her close enough to kiss the top of her head.

The Avengers watched all of this as though a clear wall separated them from the royal family. While a bit of uncomfortableness came from witnessing such intimate moments, none of them could find it within themselves to turn away from the scene unfolding. It was like the crazed god of mischief they knew never existed, and instead was a damaged soul who held great compassion behind his biting tongue.

The older brother and daughter helped the younger prince to a cushion to rest, and though he had only walked (assisted) about ten feet, Loki sunk gratefully down. It was then, and only then, when his skin was pale and his eyes once more vibrant green, that he acknowledged the presence of the Midgardians.

"I…give my thanks, for standing by my side. I am in your debt." Steve shook his head.

"You helped us a lot when you didn't have to. Besides, you're part of this team now, and we stand up for each other." Loki smirked at the idea that he was part of a team of heroes. He would have loved to have seen Odin's face when Heimdall reported that to him. Loki's smirk turns into satisfied smile just at the thought of his face turning bright red with anger and spluttering that the frost giant was going to be a hero of Midgard.

"Oh yes, his face was quite hilarious." Loki shared a smirk with his daughter, who had been easily able to guess what he was thinking about. He held her hand tightly, and let out a deep breath before closing his eyes and asking what he dreaded to know.

"How much longer can you stay?" Hel clasper her hand tightly in his, and kissed their joined hands.

"Not long." Loki's heart hurt hearing that, and then started to break when he saw her hands already starting to fade from his own. Hel reached out and wiped a stray tear from his cheek and kissed his forehead like he had hers. The others watched as she whispered something in his ear, before stepping back and fading away completely.

The room was silent for minutes, as though they were all mourning. Loki's head fell forward until his forehead landed on his fists, and his shoulders shook with silent sobs. Frigga sat behind him and rubbed his back as he let it out.

"You will see her again, Loki. I swear it. You will see all of your children again." Bruce had to leave. His fists were clenched, and he quickly exited the room when his heart rate started to spike. To see Loki mourning over a child that wasn't dead because he was banned from ever seeing them was…it just set him off, and he needed to go before bad things happened.

Bruce heard the door open and close behind him after he had left and wasn't surprised when Tony's hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, I hate it too. No need to go Mean Joe Green." Bruce clenched his fists, took a few deep breaths and nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Just…needed a minute."

"I'm all for you taking a minute, if you need it Buddy. Just figured it'd get pretty lonely out in this giant corridor." So, they stood together in companionable silence. They were both pretty uncomfortable seeing Loki cry like that. For a few days, he had been like a guardian…father to them. A good one that neither of them had ever had. They weren't used to feeling the pain of seeing a….family member?…in pain. It was-different, and not at all pleasant. After a few minutes, the door opened again and Clint stuck his head out.

"Hey, Guys. Get back in here. Loki's not crying anymore." They heard his call of 'Ouch!' before the door shut, both knowing that Natasha had whacked him upside the head again. Tony smirked and Bruce shook his head, but they both came back inside the room. Everyone was still where they had left them, but Thor had migrated closer to Loki…and yes, Loki wasn't crying anymore. In fact, it seemed the roles had switched and the younger prince was comforting his mother.

"…It's time for me to go, Mother. You need to stop Odin from making anymore rash decisions, and that would work a lot better if I was not here." Frigga sighed, but did acquiesce. She kissed his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair once more.

"I know, My Dear. I just do not want you to go." Despite this declaration, she pulled away after one more embrace and hugged Thor. She gave him a stern look. "You will ensure that he rests, and don't let him convince you that walking about is a restful activity. And get some food in him, for goodness sakes." Thor chuckled as he agreed, and Loki grumbled complaints below them. She thanked the Avengers each in turn, giving Bruce and Tony 'significant' looks before gracefully exiting the room.

Thor helped a begrudging younger brother stand, and turned to his teammates.

"To depart we need to return to the Bifrost. How are you all with horses?"

Apparently, they were all decent horse riders, even Bruce. Well, decent enough that they all made it to the Bifrost observatory without falling off their animals. Loki was sharing a horse with Thor, too weak to ride one for himself, though he did all he could to appear regal when being huddled close to his older brother's chest to keep from slipping off.

Heimdall did not comment or even glance at them when they arrived, and Thor did not say anything to the gatekeeper besides, 'We are returning to Midgard.' The tension was palpable, but as long as they got where they were going all in one piece, Tony didn't care.

They did….arrive in one piece that is. However, Steve had to catch Tony's arm really quick because Heimdall had landed them on Stark's landing pad, and Tony was right on the edge. With one hand clutching Steve and the other clutching the reactor over his heart, Tony cursed and glared at the sky.

"He did that on purpose didn't he?" He saw both Asgardian's glaring up to the heavens as well, and knew his suspicions were confirmed.

"Heimdall has perfect aim." On that happy note, they all went inside the tower, to face an anxious Pepper and calm-on-the-outside-I-want-to-kill-you-on-the-inside Director of SHIELD. Pepper smiled broadly when she saw that everyone was back and okay, including Loki.

"Well, you've got Loki with you. Is it safe to assume there's not going to be another intergalactic war?" Steve nodded, while Tony let go of him to hug Pepper.

"We were able to convince Odin to drop the charges against Loki, with a lot of help from Loki's daughter, and now we're back." Thor moved, gathering Loki up into his arms, despite his brother's shouting to put him down.

"I am under orders from the Allmother to ensure Loki rests. He can speak with you tomorrow, Director." All Fury could do was get out of the way as Thor walked past him. Loki couldn't put up much of a fight, but he did grumble and complain as much as he could.

But despite all of that, Thor could only smile.

He had his brother back. They were going to fight side by side once more, and things were looking up.

The End

I want to thank all of you who have stuck with me through this story, and Knights! I promise there will be another story in this verse, I just have a lot of other stories in line first. But please, check out my other stories and leave a comment. :) Thank you soooooo much!

Please review! :)