Chapter 10

The next day, at Sleipnir's request, they returned to the rec room. It was empty when they entered, leaving Sleipnir to explore the books and games curiously while Loki watched from his perch by the window. He eventually settled to look through some books that had been left out on one of the side tables, and Loki searched through the bookshelves for one in particular. Finding it he sat on the couch near to Sleipnir who looked up at him curiously. "Would you like to hear a story?" Loki asked and Sleipnir all but leaped up onto the couch.

"What is it about?" he asked, his eyes peering at the printed cover.

"It's a Midgard tale. And as for what it's about you will have to wait and find out for yourself. You will have to be patient though, it's a rather long tale." Sleipnir just grinned and made himself comfortable at his side. "Very well, chapter one." he began. " 'Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense…' "

By the time Harry had acquired his wand, Sleipnir was enraptured by the tale. He was so taken in by the story that he hadn't noticed that someone else had entered the room and was listening from the door. When the chapter ended, Loki paused in his reading to greet the man properly. "Good morning Dr. Banner."

Sleipnir bounced up from his seat to look over the back of the couch. "Hello Bruce!"

The man smiled easily at the child, "Hi Sleipnir. Taking advantage of everyone being gone huh?"

"Where did everyone go?" The boy asked.

Banner paused, glancing at Loki before answering. "Most of them are uh... working. Don't worry, they'll be back eventually."

"Do you remember how I told you how the warriors of Midgard lived here." Loki asked and Sleipnir nodded. "They are out defending the peace now. I'm sure when they return they will regale you with the tale if you ask."

"Especially if you ask Clint." Bruce added.

"Why didn't you go with them? Mama said you were a warrior too."

"Oh well," the man blushed a little, likely from being referred to as a warrior. "The mission they're on now requires a more delicate hand, and I uh, I don't do delicate well."

Sleipnir still looked puzzled but nodded anyways. "Would you like to play a game with us?" he asked suddenly. "Steve showed me how to play checkers but he said there were a lot more games to play."

"Um sure, why not? How about you pick the game alright?" Sleipnir's smile was blinding as he slid off the couch and ran over to inspect the collection of board games. "I can't get over how much he looks like you.," he said quietly and Loki nodded.

"He has much of his father in him as well though." he admitted and Bruce glanced at him.

"Who was he? I know it's not the horse now..."

"Not the horse but the horses master. A man by the name of Sumarlidr." Loki watched as Sleipnir pulled a game out off the shelf, inspected the picture on the front and put it back. "Sleipnir may look like me but has Sumarlidr's temperament. It is probably why he likes your gift so much. He shares his father's desire to build."

"He likes the Lego?"

"Very much."

Sleipnir came over then, a box held in both hands. "What does this one say?"

Loki looked down at the small box, "It is called Jenga."

"I've played that, ages ago now but the rules are easy." Bruce took the box from Loki and poured the rectangular blocks inside it onto the coffee table. He then started to build them on top of each other to make a small tower with Sleipnir watching on avidly. The rules were indeed quite simple, and they played several games in a row, Loki included.

It was actually quite fun, and Sleipnir took it very seriously, especially when the tower grew tall and began to wobble. Bruce was a good sport when he lost the game, admitting that he didn't have the steadiest of hands. They were having such a good time that Agent Phil Coulson had to clear his throat twice to be noticed.

"Loki, if you would please follow me, we have a situation that requires your help." he said with his usual benign smile and Loki tensed, glancing at Sleipnir then back at the human. Bruce must have picked up on his sudden unease because he was suddenly saying "Hey, don't worry about the kid, I'll look after him till you get back. We can grab something to eat in the lunchroom and meet you back in your rooms when you're done. How's that sound? You hungry Sleipnir?"

"No," Loki said before he could answer. "He will come with me."

"Actually it would be better if he remained up here." Coulson said and Loki turned a dangerous glare in his direction. To the human's credit, he didn't look to be intimidated.

"I am not going anywhere without my son." Loki stated firmly.

"While I understand your concern-"

"No." he said again, cutting the man off.

"Loki-"

"Mama?"

Loki looked down when he felt Sleipnir's hand slip into his. His face was tight with distress and he looked up at him with worry clear in his eyes.

"Loki," Bruce said quietly, "Nothings going to happen to him up here. He's safe, I wouldn't let anything happen to him, you know I won't." but Loki shook his head. "He can't go down to the lower levels. You don't want him around that many soldiers with guns and whatever they're dealing with down there. It's all right, he's safe with me. Trust me."

Loki glared at the man and gritted his teeth together. Agent Colson remained quiet but it was an oppressive silence. Loki knew he had to go. He gave his word to lend his assistance in exchange for his protection, and that protection included Sleipnir now as well. But the idea of leaving his son, even for as little as a few minutes, had his instincts raging.

Sleipnir was pulling on his arm now and Loki looked down to meet his fearful gaze. "What's wrong?" the boy asked and Loki swallowed thickly. Sleipnir was afraid, and he was the reason for it.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. "Nothing is wrong Sleipnir.," he said, kneeling down so that he could be at eye level. "I am needed somewhere else in this building, and children aren't allowed there. You will have to stay here with Bruce, I won't be long, I promise."

Sleipnir wasn't fooled by his calm tone and shook his head. "I want to go with you."

"I know, but you can't. You must stay here. I will be back as soon as I can." He kissed the boys forehead and stood to meet Bruce's eyes. "If anything happens-"

"You'll invent a whole new level of hell just for me, I know. Don't worry. Come on Sleipnir, I'm going to introduce you to one of the lesser known culinary masterpieces. Its called the tuna melt."

Sleipnir looked between them a few times, his eyes lingering on Loki before taking Bruce's offered hand.

"Let's get this over with." Loki bit out after they left and Coulson was smart enough to remain silent as he led them from the room. The agent had to use a special card to get them through several security points, but eventually they ended up in a large hangar.

"I do apologize for taking you away from your son." Coulson stated as the large hanger doors began to open. "I hope you know that we understand that with his history, leaving him in the care of an Avenger must be very difficult. But we thought considering the sensitive matter of this situation, it would be best if he remained behind."

"As clever as my son is Agent Colson, I doubt he would understand much of your terminology." he responded in his driest tones, watching as three large helicopters flew in and landed in the center of the room. Whatever he was to help with must be on those helicopters because Colson began striding towards them, with Loki easily keeping pace.

The machines were truly enormous, with two sets of blades and multiple entrances. "It's not so much the information we were worried about," Coulson said over the slowing engines. "It's the subject matter."

One of the side doors opened on the middle helicopter and Loki was surprised to see Thor climb out. His hair was matted and wet, and his cape hung off him heavily, but he was smiling as wide as he could. "Loki!" he greeted.

"Thor? What are you-"

"I've been fishing!" he declared, and Loki had to wonder if somehow his brother had lost his mind. He certainly looked it, standing there in soggy armor and grinning like an idiot. "Come see what I've caught!" he said as he reached back into the helicopter to pull a small figure bundled in a large brown blanket.

"Mama!" the thing in Thor's arms screeched and leaped out of the large blanket it was swaddled in and suddenly Loki was looking down at a pair of sea green eyes as Jorgumand attached himself firmly to his legs.

"Watch it, that kid bites." Hawkeye warned as he climbed out, pointing at Jorgumand with a hard look.

Jorgumand wrapped his arms more tightly around Loki's leg. "He threw me into the sea!" he replied petulantly.

"No, I dropped you because you bit me, then you fell out of the helicopter into the ocean."

"He threw me out of a ellicoper mama!"

"You little brat-"

"Barton! Are you seriously still arguing with a four year old?" the Black Widow asked with a certain amount of exasperation that lead him to believe the argument had been going on for a while.

"To be fair, the kid started it." reasoned the Ironman, but Romanoff just silenced him with a glare.

Loki ignored them all and hauled Jorgumand up into his arms and held on. Thin arms wound around his neck and his hand came up to cradle the back of his head. His hair was as damp and as wild as Thor's and he smelled strongly of the sea, but it was undeniably Jorgumand.

Thor stepped forward with the discarded blanket and covered the boy's naked figure with it. Loki tucked it around him and pulled back enough to search his sons face. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently but Jorgumand just smiled hugely.

"I was swimming! I fell into the sea and then I was in a big metal room and we were flying!" He explained with no small amount of enthusiasm and Loki could only return his smile.

"You look surprised Loki." Thor commented and Loki looked past his son's happy face to meet Thor's eyes.

"I thought you went back to Asgard." Loki confessed and Thor frowned.

"Why would I go back when I still had two nephews and a niece to find?" Loki found he had no answer for that, and Thor shook his head at him. "You thought I would be content with returning only one of your children? I told you Loki, I wish to make things right again. I am off to Asgard next, my friends the warriors three and Sif have been searching the catacombs for Fenris' chamber. After I find him and free him I will retrieve Hela next."

Loki knew his mouth was open, just as he knew Jorgumand was falling asleep on his shoulder but he found he was unable to do anything other than stand and stare at Thor in shock. He'd thought he would have to convince Thor to help him free his children. Thor was already going to be in enough trouble with Odin for loosing him his steed, and Loki was sure that he would have had to bargain and guilt Thor into helping him.

"Thor, I-" he began but the Thunderer just waved him off. The rest of the Avengers had come out of the helicopters by now and Loki realized they were all either soaking wet or covered with sea spray. "Thank you.," he said without really thinking about it.

"Just keep him muzzled around me." Clint muttered and Jorgumand clicked his teeth together a few times from his shoulder.

"No biting mortals Jorgumand," he commanded gently, "You might catch something."

There was a soft laugh that turned into a small snore, signaling that Jorgumand had fallen asleep. Coulson offered to escort him part of the way back to his rooms and after nodding a quick farewell to Thor and his sodden friends Loki was soon back in his empty rooms. Sleipnir was still with Bruce, likely eating lunch which gave him some time alone with his second son.

Under the blanket Jorgumand's skin was cold and wet so Loki took him into the bathroom first and filled the tub with warm water. Careful of keeping his head above water, Loki washed away the layer of sea salt that coated the boy. Jorgumand warmed up in the water, his skin returning to a healthy pink as Loki gently eased the salt and knots from his hair. It was longer than Sleipnir's, nearly to his shoulders so he took his time with it.

When he was warm and clean Loki wrapped him in towels, drying him off before dressing him in one of his short-sleeved shirts. It was large enough to be a nightgown on the boy but it would do for sleeping until Jorgumand had his own clothes. He put the boy in his bed, tucking the blankets around him and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Jorgumand hadn't woken since he had fallen asleep in the hanger, but his face was constantly moving as he dreamed. Now he smiled softly and Loki let one of his hands stroke through his hair.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the door, and from the open doorway Loki saw Sleipnir run in towards the pile of Lego that had been left out. Casting one last glance at the sleeping body on his bed, he stepped out to see Sleipnir showing Bruce some of the things he had made with his toys. The scientist saw him first and was looking at him with a carefully blank expression.

"You knew." it wasn't a question.

Bruce blinked a few times before answering. "I knew they were looking for him. No one told you anything before because we didn't know if we'd find him, or even if we could change him back. Is he ok?"

Sleipnir was looking between them curiously, his Lego forgotten for the time being. "He is fine, he is sleeping now." Loki admitted and held a hand out towards his son. Sleipnir came over and allowed him to run a hand through his short hair. "Did you eat?"

"Yes, and we saw Steve again. He said you would be back."

"I'll get out of your hair," Bruce said. "See you later Sleipnir."

Sleipnir smiled and waved goodbye but that was it. He waited until the mortal man had left before looking back at Loki with a serious expression.

"What's wrong Sleipnir?" Loki asked, kneeling down to be at his level again.

"I don't know." The boy replied and Loki frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone was acting strange, but they all said everything was ok and that I shouldn't worry, but it only made me worry more."

Loki felt a genuine smile stretch across his face. "You are my son," he declared proudly and some of the uneasiness faded from Sleipnir's expression. "Something has happened, but it is a very good something. Come with me." he led the boy into the bedroom and Sleipnir peered at the figure slumbering under the sheets. Loki sat back down on the edge of the bed and pulled Sleipnir up to sit sideways on his lap. "He is your younger brother," Loki explained as gently as he could.

Sleipnir's brows drew together in confusion. "But you said it was a baby." he reasoned, glancing down at Loki's stomach.

"I am still with child, and in time you will have another brother or sister. You slept for a very long time Sleipnir. During that time I had other children. You are my first born, but you have two younger brothers as well as a sister. The man who took you away from me took them as well."

"Why?" Sleipnir asked.

Loki sighed and pulled the boy closer. "He has given many reasons now, and I don't know which one is the truth. But none of those reasons were because of you. None of you did anything do deserve what happened to you. Do you understand?"

Sleipnir nodded slowly and looked back at the sleeping figure. "He's my brother then?"

"Yes, his name is Jorgumand." Loki said and watched as Sleipnir crawled off his lap to sit on the bed next to his brother.

"Is he still under the spell?"

"No, the spell is gone, but he will sleep for most of the day. He will be well by tomorrow." He paused as Sleipnir reached out and touched Jorgumand's hand. The sleeping boy stirred and Sleipnir froze when his brother's eyes cracked open.

The two boys stared at each other for a long moment as Loki watched on, and eventually Sleipnir offered up a shy smile. Jorgumand blinked slowly, his face lax from sleep before his lips twitched up in a returning smile. The small smile remained even as the boy's eyes drifted shut and he fell back into slumber, but Sleipnir turned to Loki with a large grin on his face. "I like him! Is he going to stay?"

"Yes," he answered with a laugh and Sleipnir crawled back over to him.

"What about my other brother, and my sister, are they here too?"

Loki felt some of his joy fade but tried not to let it show. "No, but hopefully your other brother will be here soon."

"What about my sister?" he pressed and Loki sighed.

"You will meet her one day, but not for a very long time. She lives in a place that is very hard to get to, and she can not leave It." he explained.

Sleipnir frowned at the news and Loki pulled him to his side but there were no more questions coming. It didn't worry him though; Sleipnir would corner him with a hundred questions once he'd had time to sort through what he knew. "I brought the book back," he said instead. "Bruce said I could because we didn't finish the story. Can we read more of it now?"

Loki nodded, and Sleipnir climbed off the bed, careful not to jostle his brother, and walked off into the main room to retrieve the book. While he was gone Loki adjusted the blinds to let a little light in and then sat on the bed against the headboard. Jorgumand slept on his left and when Sleipnir climbed back up he took a seat at his right, handing the book over.

"Should we start from the beginning?" he asked, glancing at the slumbering Jorgumand.

"I think we can continue on where we left off, perhaps you could tell him all about Harry tomorrow when he is more awake." Sleipnir nodded and after finding his place Loki began to read.

The rest of the day passed as such, with Sleipnir either being quietly read to, or entertaining himself on the floor with his Lego while Loki kept watch over Jorgumand. He woke briefly after dinnertime, but didn't do much other than wrap himself around Loki's leg. When it became late he sent Sleipnir to brush his teeth (a new experience for the child) while he changed his clothes and the both of them slid under the covers to join Jorgumand. He fell asleep with a child in each arm and dreamed of dark winding caves. It would be the last peaceful sleep he was to have for a long time.

Oh my gosh I'm trying so hard to get this story finished before the Avengers movie comes out! Please please please give me your thoughts on this chapter! It was agonizing to get it right!