Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, but I wouldn't mind Oden living in the back shed.
Loki grabbed the door handle to the throne room and stepped in, taking several confidant strides before realizing he wasn't alone. The room was bright and packed with people. People whose eyes where all staring in the same direction. People whose eyes where all staring at him. Loki tried no to gag as he worked on standing a few inches taller and looked at his father sitting on the throne.
"Is the silver tonged Loki without a few words to say?" Oden called out to his second son.
"Hardly, father. I am merely in search of good company to share them with. If you will excuse me?" It wasn't a question. Loki turned to leave.
"Stop." Oden commanded, rising while leaning on his golden spear "You have been gone for too long to simply vanish again. A feast!" Oden smiled as the crowd began cheering "To honor the return of my second son!"
Loki ground his teeth as his mind went through possible ways avert a feast happening. Finally he decided on the truth. He hoped they would be too shocked to say anything, and he could make his escape.
"My children have been kidnapped." Loki stated voice dangerously low "Saving time is necessary in order to rescue them." Loki drew some magic from his heart and down his right hand. Yellow sparks flashed as he used teleportation to take him immediately to his old study.
Back in the throne room every one stood in stunned silence.
Oden blinked a few times before deciding on the best was to help Loki.
"Would somebody tell Thor his brother has returned?"
….
Loki had trashed his old work room by the time Thor arrived. The nausea of teleporting twice in one day was working its way through his stomach, while the knowledge he was wasting precious seconds ate away at his brain. He knew where that vial was supposed to be. He had been seeing it in his mind's eye ever since he first recognized the sphinx's prints. It just… wasn't there. Now he was overturning every item in his old room, looking for the glass bottle filled with the brown, watery liquid.
And then he saw it.
Hidden behind one of his many bookcases.
Smashed.
Loki almost cried in that moment. As he stood staring at the dried remains of what would take him to his children he just about crumpled in a ball and wept.
Instead he clenched his fists and silently vowed vengeance on whoever had put him through his personal hell.
Thor came in at that moment. The blond man took in the sight of Loki and the broken room, then crossed the short distance to put his hand on his brother's shoulder.
"What can I do?" Thor said as he looked his brother in the eyes.
"…I have another plan." Loki finally said.
…..
"The potion I was looking for came from the roots of Yggdrasil," Loki explained as the two brothers hurried down the back alleys of Asgard, "Because the tree Yggdrasil spans the universe, liquid from its roots make good fodder for traveling potions. The vial that I had—the one that looked like it had been smashed a few days ago—contained distilled root juice. It holds many properties, one of which is the ability to open portals from the wrong side. It's the only potion of its kind. And the very potion I happen to need."
Thor nodded and made sounds of agreement in the back of his throat. The blond man hardly understood what Loki was saying, but it was one of the reasons he loved Loki so deeply—the dark haired man never considered Thor dumb. He always talked to him as if Thor was on the same level of intelligence as himself. Thor may not understand the finer aspects that go into honing a good insult, but he knew when the court talked at him as if he were stupid.
"But where are we going, brother?" Thor asked, trying to gain a better grasp on the situation. Would people need to be smashed? His hand itched to hold Mjölnir.
"We are going to see an old crone I know," Loki said as they turned down an even dirtier ally, and stopped at a dark wooden door "She has encyclopedic knowledge about different magical places in the universe. She was the one who first told me how to get the potion. I'm sure she has more hidden somewhere."
Thor grasped the handle of his hammer, getting it ready in case the old woman proved troublesome.
They were going to get those kids back, if it was the last thing the two brothers did.
…..
Review? Sorry it's gotten so solemn. This thing called "plot" took over. ;) And I'm thinking I'll be updating on a MWF schedule. That cool with everyone?