Chapter 7

Loki was relieved when his archer returned to the house shortly. He moved to greet Barton and ask who wanted to speak to them, who was looking for him. Then a second man entered the house and Loki felt his heart jump into his throat. Even before he saw his face, Loki knew who was following Barton.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Father . . ." he croaked softly.

Odin looked over his son from his place in the doorway. Loki looked a bit pale but he seemed well. Quickly the god-king crossed the room and embraced his son tightly. "Your mother has been so worried about you. It is time you come home, my son."

Loki slowly and gently pulled from his father's embrace even though it was everything he had ever wanted. He slowly backed toward Barton who had walked around the kitchen island. "I cannot," replied Loki. He squeaked when he collided with Barton's strong chest. He felt Barton wrap his arms around him protectively. "I am in love . . ." he whispered. "I cannot leave him."

Odin sighed. "You and your brother are similar, falling in love with a human. You know that this cannot last, it is foolishness. He will die centuries before you."

Loki averted his eyes. It was a reality that he didn't want to face. He knew that he didn't age as humans did, that eventually Barton would grow old and die and Loki would be left without him on this plane. He had hoped that he could go to Valhalla then and be with Barton in the afterlife. Barton would have earned a place there if he wanted it and believed.

"With all due respect," spoke Barton. "It may be true that he will outlive me but that does not mean that we cannot treasure what we have now. That does not mean that he cannot live with me until he cannot bear seeing me wither away. We still have at least thirty or forty years of a life together."

Odin sighed and shook his head. "You are both foolish, pierced by Freyja's whims." He looked at Loki and then Barton. "I suppose that it cannot be helped then." He raised his cane.

Loki's eyes widened, "Father, don't!"

Odin's staff collided with the floor, magic rushed from the sapphire and Loki found himself yanked away from Barton. He gasped and attempted to break free, calling upon his own magic but it was no use. He collided with the floor of the throne room in Asgard. Loki pushed himself up and snarled at his father.

"I am not a child!" Loki pulled himself to his feet. A familiar object materialized in his hands and Loki looked to the staff. It was no longer powered with a shard of the infinity stone known as the Tesseract but instead an emerald-colored gem. Loki gripped the staff tightly. He turned to his father who sat wearily on the throne. "I am returning to earth. You have my brother, I would have visited if you had only asked, you cannot keep me here."

"Loki?"

The man froze before turning around. His grip on the staff slackened and it fell from his hand. "Mother . . ." he breathed.

"My son," she cried before rushing to him and holding him to her breast. "My dear Loki, I was so worried. You had lost your way, you were filled with such darkness and anger. I couldn't reach you, but you've come back."

Loki felt his mother's tears on his cheek and the anger at his father fled. Maybe he had been foolish to think that he could live with Barton on Midgard. His place was really on Asgard with his family. He had been gone so long and he had hurt them so much. Loki held his mother gently.

Slowly they separated and Loki turned to his father. "Can I at least say goodbye properly?"

"I have closed the ways. That place is merely a place that corrupts. You and your foolish prideful brother. Your place is here, there is a reason why I have forbidden travel between worlds. The rainbow bridge has already been shattered once, we have faced much hardship without our princes doing their duty." Odin gave his son a stern look. "You will find love here, with a proper lady, not that barbarian way of love that you were attempting on earth."

Loki felt like his heart had been gripped in a vice. Not only was he trapped here on Asgard but now his father was telling him he had to marry some woman? He had never been interested in women, he had never been interested much in people in general, not until he met Barton. "Father, please don't make me -"

"My decision is final," stated Odin.

Loki gripped his fist, a tear rolling down his face. He felt his mother pull him away and went with her without fuss. It seemed that he had finally been rescued from one prison of physical torture only to be put in one of the emotional kind.

When Barton awoke, it was nearly an hour later. He gripped his head and groaned softly, trying to shake the dizziness and remember why he was on his kitchen floor. He winced as he opened his eyes, the light of the kitchen making his head hurt worse. Had he been attacked? That seemed unlikely, he had nothing worth taking and he was still alive, his enemies wouldn't have left him alive.

"Hun?" he murmured and reached out for his lover. Barton's eyes shot open as things flooded back. "Loki?" he called, scrambling to his feet. He searched the house, futilely calling Loki's name. He knew it was foolish, that Loki would not have left him laying on the floor like that. If Loki had not been with him in the kitchen, he was not in the house at all.

Barton radioed the SHIELD operatives watching the house and soon his home was filled with them and his head was hurting even worse. He sat on his couch as men swarmed his kitchen with all sorts of gadgets. Barton felt adrift, he knew from the power and the way Loki responded to him, that the Odin that was there was the real one, so suspecting Sinister was out. Barton didn't understand why Odin would just yank Loki back to Asgard like that. Well, he sort of did, clearly Odin did not approve of their relationship because he was human. Barton sighed and rubbed his eyes. He could barely think with this headache.

"Here . . ."

A glass of water and some white pills swam into his vision. He took them gratefully. "Thanks, Nat. I needed these. Why is it that they always go for the head?"

Natasha gave a sort of humorless chuckle and shrugged. "So, his dad just came and took him home?" she asked.

"Seems like it," replied Barton.

"And what are you going to do?"

Barton let out a dark chuckle. "Oh, I'm going to storm Asgard and take him back. Wanna come?"

Natasha pursed her lips wondering if there was a chance that Barton wasn't being serious, but she knew that it was impossible. Barton was really going to fight a world of gods to get Loki back. "You really love him, don't you?"

"Yes, and I've already almost lost him twice. I'm not letting this third one stand. If he had wanted to return himself, I would have let him go but you weren't there Natasha, he fought to stay. He wanted to stay with me," Barton's voice was quiet and nearly broke on the last few words.

Natasha sighed and nodded. "Alright, alright. I don't know how much help I'll be but I'll come with you. I'm sure that when we get there Loki and Thor will help us, they are fighters but we're not going to have much of a chance to get to them if we go in half-cocked. At least not without bringing a heavy."

Barton shook his head. "I was thinking stealth. Even I'm not stupid enough to try and take on a world of gods to steal their prince even if he isn't popular. We don't need more than just us, as long as we can get in."

Natasha ran her fingers through her hair. She looked over at the SHIELD agents in the kitchen for a while before looking back at Barton. "We're going to need someone to get us there. Thor has been MIA for months and now I think we know why, there's no way that we can just call the bridge keeper and catch a beam. We need someone who can travel between dimensions."

"No."

Natasha growled and glared at Dr. Strange. "We can't get there without you."

"Good," replied the man as he continued his inventory of the medical facility. "I wasn't keen on Loki staying here in the first place. This isn't his plane, I allowed it only because he didn't seem to be a threat and Barton gave me those puppy dog eyes." Strange glanced at the man, "Which isn't going to work again, by the way."

Barton resisted the urge to knock an arrow. Natasha gave him a look that was at once sympathetic and threatening. Barton held up his hands in surrender. It was really freaky when she read his mind like that.

Natasha returned her attention to Dr. Strange. "Steven, you know how much they care for each other."

"Wrong angle, darling. I'm not one of those romantic types. Always more fish in the sea," replied Strange as he moved onto another cabinet.

"What is the right angle? Do you want money? A weapon? Information? A favor? Sex?" offered Natasha.

Strange nearly dropped his clipboard at the last offer. He turned to look at Natasha. "First of all, what kind of man do you take me for? Second, don't you have a boyfriend? And third, no, the answer is still no. I don't want anything and I don't need anything. This is just the way things are."

Natasha averted her eyes and muttered something about being on a "break" before trying something else. "It would be a great chance to research, explore a new realm."

"Pass," retorted Strange going back to his inventory.

Natasha rolled her eyes and looked at Barton. She didn't want to do this trick since she thought of Strange as a friend but he didn't leave much choice. "I told you that he was the wrong person to ask. I bet Stark can whip something up in like an hour that will get us there easily."

Strange snorted. "Sure, go ask Tony."

"We will, I bet he will be excited to do it as well. Stark has always been more adventurous and he's never shied away from something just because it's a little dangerous. In fact, I bet the reason why you're so insistent on not doing it is because you can't get to Asgard. All the other realms bend their wills to you but not that one. Stark won't have that problem," continued Natasha.

"This isn't going to work," warned Strange, though he was gripping his clipboard a bit tighter. He really did loathe Stark and his smug attitude.

"What work? I'm just telling you how I see things. I'm not trying to work anyone," replied Natasha in a carefree mocking tone. "If you could do it you would and prove me wrong. Seems like technology will always be better than magic." She shrugged and turned to leave.

Barton lifted his eyebrows and pushed off the wall he was leaning against. "Thanks anyway, Strange. I'll say hi to Pepper for you." He caught up with Natasha and they left the storage room.

Natasha grinned and held up three fingers. Slowly she put each one down and when she got to zero they could hear Strange throw down his clipboard. He strode from the storage room and leered at the two of them before opening a portal to Asgard. They stepped through it, Strange's clothing changing from his white coat and scrubs to his usual Sorcerer Supreme attire. Natasha's smile just grew wider when she looked over the landscape of Asgard.

"Shut - up," grumbled Strange.

The trio walked down the path before them and into a large forest that led to the capital city.

Natasha laughed softly. "I didn't say a word."

Barton left the two to their gentle pestering and focused his sight on the building that he was sure was the palace. "I'm coming," he murmured, hoping Loki knew that he was on his way.