Chapter 7
Loki bit back a aggravated sigh and reminded himself for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes that murdering the Ironman with his own breakfast spoon would reflect badly on the contract he had with Shield. But the more the man spoke, the more he became convinced that he would be doing Shield a favor.
Tony Stark had apparently decided that they had reached a level of familiarity where he was now comfortable asking him any number of personal questions. Loki did his best to ignore him but luck was not (if ever) on his side. He had awoken with a hopeful start to the day, it would seem that the usual bout of morning sickness was not forthcoming. He had in fact felt hungry and decided to seek out food in the dining hall. That had been his first mistake.
His second mistake was informing Steve Rogers that he was feeling well that morning when the man had politely asked. His third mistake was not getting out of his seat and leaving the room as soon as Stark began asking his ridiculous questions. His latest being "Will you grow breasts?"
"No but if you would like some yourself I'm sure I can find a way to grant you your own pair."
"You'd think you would need magic for that."
"Not the way I'm imagining."
Unfortunately, instead of backing off, the threat only seemed to amuse the idiot. Loki gripped his own spoon and mentally began listing the many different ways he could kill the mortal with it. He was up to seventy two when the mortal known as Coulson arrived. His appearance triggered odd reactions among those gathered. Most seemed to tolerate him, but given the opportunity they would go into detail about the tortures of his debriefings. Clearly these mortals had never been faced with true torture. But then after thinking about it, being forced in a room with Tony Stark and unable to silence him would probably classify as an effective form of cruelty.
Most conversations tapered off as the suited man approached and Loki spotted a few worried faces and wondered whom the man was to discipline today.
"Loki, if you'll come with me?"
Loki blinked in surprise. He hadn't done anything. He had of course thought about it but unless Shield was suddenly employing telepaths there was no way for them to know that. "I wasn't actually going to give him breasts." he said carefully, leaving out the silent yet at the end. While at the moment he had to play nice, the second he got his magic back, all bets were off.
His sharp eyes caught the small twitch at the corner of Coulsons mouth but the man remained otherwise pleasantly passive. "You have a visitor, if you would please follow me I will take you to him."
Oh, well that was unexpected. Loki was sure Shield wouldn't be foolish enough to let in one of their enemies, or even someone from Asgard, and he couldn't think of anyone else who would come to visit him. He briefly thought of his mother (and Frigga would always be his mother) but immediately disregarded the idea. If Odin was asleep, she would not leave his side.
Thankfully he didn't have to remain guessing for long. He had followed Coulson out of the dinning room and was barely halfway down the hall when Thor's instantly recognizable figure appeared at the other end. "Brother! There you are! Hurry, you must come!" he shouted and Loki felt his feet slow to a stop.
"Thor? What are you doing here?"
But Thor wasn't listening, he had bounded up to them and before he could twist out of reach, he had taken hold of one of Loki's arms and was practically dragging him back down the way he had come.
"Thor unhand me! What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be in Asgard?"
"I was, but I have returned!" The blonde idiot replied. As if that statement weren't obvious.
"Yes, but why? Isn't the king in the Odin sleep? Did you tire of being King so quickly? Too much duty and responsibility and not enough time to hunt down trolls?"
"I have been busy Loki, but not in the way you would believe. Father is still in the Odin sleep, and Mother believes he will remain so for some time. So you can at least take comfort that while he sleeps you might relax a little."
Loki ignored the last comment and latched onto the one before. "Thor if Odin still sleeps and you are here, who sits on his throne?"
"Balder of course." Thor replied easily as he pulled Loki down another hallway, Coulson long since gone.
Loki gaped at the back of Thors head. "Balder? You left Balder as king?"
"I did not leave him alone, my friends have sworn to help him as he needs it, and mother is there as well. I needed to come back Loki, something has happened that is more important to me than my duties to the crown."
"What could possibly be more important?" Loki demanded as Thor led them into an elevator and released his arm to push a button to direct them down.
"I visited Sleipnir." He admitted and Loki felt all of his ire vanish.
"How was he?" he asked quietly. Odin had forbidden him from visiting his son, not that he'd ever listened. Sleipnir was the only one of his children he had access too, and he would sneak into the stables as often as he could to sit with his son. But after the destruction of the Bifrost, and all the events that followed, he had not dared to go back to Asgard. He hadn't seen his son in years.
"He was happy, for a horse." Thor responded simply and Loki grit his teeth. "I noticed though that I have never seen him without his bridle on, even at night."
"Its how Odin keeps him there. No one can remove it." Loki explained as the elevator slowed and the doors opened to a floor he had yet to visit.
"I know. I saw the seal. It looked like someone had tried very hard to destroy it. There were marks all over it. Was that you?" Thor looked to him, appearing more amused than anything, though Loki didn't see what was so funny about their discussion.
"Of course it was me. I tried everything to get that blasted bridle off of him. But even when I was king it made no difference. No magic can break Odins seal."
"I thought as much." Thor said with a smug smile before beginning to walk down a white tiled hall, trusting Loki to follow. "That is why I decided to see if Mjolnir would make a difference."
Loki froze. Surely Thor didn't mean… but then of course that's what he would do. If something was in his way, his natural response was to hit it with his hammer.
Thor was still ahead of him, and he hadn't turned back to see if Loki was following, so he didn't see the blow coming until he was pitching forward as Lokis fist connected with the back of his head. "You did NOT take your hammer to my sons face!" he seethed as Thor stumbled away from him.
"I was very careful, I did not strike him once." Thor insisted and Loki went to attack him again. "It worked brother!" he shouted, stopping Loki in his tracks. "It worked, the seal broke under Mjolnirs might. The bridle is gone."
Loki stared at Thor, his hands still curled into fists as his mind struggled to catch up. "He's free?" he asked, not caring that there was a desperate tinge to his voice.
Thor's smile grew warm. "Yes Loki, he is free. He is here as well, I thought you might like to see him."
Loki felt himself divided in two. One part of him rejoiced in the opportunity to see his son again, without worry of being caught by a stable boy or worse, Odin himself. But the other part of him feared what Shield would do with an eight-legged horse. He imagined they would want to study him, and Loki couldn't decide if that would be a worse fate than the one he'd just escaped.
"Where is he?" he asked and Thor just smiled and led him down one last short hallway. It ended up leading them into the medical wing and Loki felt his heart lurch in fear that they had already begun their examinations. But Thor pushed him towards a small room that was mostly made of windows covered by cream coloured blinds. The door was open and inside the small room were two small armchairs, a bedside table with a lamp and the bed itself. Certainly no room for a horse. But then he saw the dark head of hair on the pillows and realized a child slept in the room. And then he recognized the child.
For a long moment, he could only stand there and look at the slight form on the bed. Blankets covered him up to his chest but his face was turned toward the door and Loki stared. Distantly he realized someone behind him was talking, but that barely registered because he was stepping forward. With an unsteady hand he was reaching out to feel what his eyes were seeing but his mind was telling him was impossible. Sleipnir's hair was as soft as he remembered it, and he tucked a few short strands behind the delicate shell of his ear. His skin was warm with sleep as Loki traced his fingers over the contours of his face. He was unblemished and unharmed, no mark from the bridle or a hammer or anything. He was exactly as he was when he'd been taken.
Sitting sideways on the edge of the bed, he leaned over to place a kiss on Sleipnir's brow, then his temple, then his cheek. His arms slipped under the sleeping body and the child did not stir as he was pulled out from under the covers and into his lap. He cradled the boy to himself, despite the fact that he was almost too large to do so. He just relished in the feel of the familiar weight, the smell of his child. Sleipnir's hair soon grew damp but Loki could not stop the tears if he tried.
He sat like that for a long time, at times rocking the both of them back and forth, or else just stroking Sleipnir's hair as he watched his son's sleeping face. Time faded away entirely, and Loki just wanted to stay in this small room forever.
Eventually the rest of the world came into focus and Loki realized Thor was sitting in one of the chairs, his elbows on his knees, his large hands clasped in front of him. Sleipnir slept on, and Loki felt a twinge of worry. His son was never this heavy a sleeper before. "Why won't he wake?" he asked suddenly, his voice sounding hoarse and raw.
Thor blinked from the daze he had fallen into and took a moment to think about his question. "Oh, Eir said he might be like this for a while. She thought it might be a side effect of Fathers spell being removed after so long. He's fine, he just needs some rest that all."
Loki nodded numbly and went back to staring at Sleipnir's face. "How is this even possible?" he asked.
"I'm not sure exactly, spells aren't really where my talents lay. But Eir believes that the bridle did more than keep Sleipnir tethered to Asgard. She said a spell like the one Father cast on him to turn him into a horse, it's a powerful thing and takes a great deal of energy to maintain. She thinks the seal acted as both a tether and permanent source of magic to hold the spell in place. Once the seal was destroyed…"
"And with Odin still asleep and unable to maintain the spells, the enchantment fell." Loki finished, and it made sense. Sleipnir shifted in his sleep and Loki adjusted his arms to accommodate him, his smile growing all the while. He was aware of Thor watching him.
"Was he this way when you last saw him? Before father…" Thor didn't have to finish.
"He hasn't aged a day." Loki admitted with wonder as he carded his fingers through the child's short hair. "Look at him, he's perfect."
Thor smiled in agreement but it waivered for a moment and Loki's sharp eyes caught it.
"What is it?"
Thor looked reluctant to speak so Loki pinned him with a look that demanded that he get out with it. "On Asgard, he woke briefly. Eir was with him at the time, but I was near enough to hear that he was asking for his mother." He winced at the last word but Loki just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Thor, I carried and gave birth to him. Did you think he would call me Father?"
Thor stared at him for a moment before letting out a relieved laugh. "Fair enough." He stood and stretched. "I must go Loki, but I promise to return soon. I have already spoken with Fury, and Sleipnir has been granted amnesty by this country. He now has the same protection as you."
"Odin will not forgive this Thor, you must know that."
Thor just gave him a wry smile that looked strange on his honest face. "A brother of mine once taught me that sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. And even if that forgiveness never comes, I will never regret my actions today." With that Thor stepped forward and clasping him behind the neck so that he couldn't escape; he pressed a kiss to Loki's forehead. "Take care brother, I will see you both again soon." With that he stepped back and turned to leave, pausing only when Loki called out to him.
"Thank you Thor." He said quietly, but with every ounce of honesty he had. Thor just smiled at him one last time before stepping out and shutting the door behind him.
Alone, Loki gazed back down at his sons sleeping form and didn't bother to hide the smile that threatened to split his face in half. Toeing off his shoes, he maneuvered them both under the covers, clothes and all, pulled Sleipnir close and let the delirious joy overcome him.
Holy cow! I hit 100 reviews! You guys are amazing! I loved the feedback, please keep it up and tell me what you think of Sleipnir! I'll be posting the next chapter soon so you can see his personality a bit more. But seriously, this chapter is my favourite chapter. I have gone back to read it and re-read it over and over. I really hope you like it, please tell me what you think!