Pairing: Tony/Loki, Thor/Sif, Clint/Darcy

Rating: M

Word Count: Don't know and don't care

Summary: While his palace is under siege by Odin and his army, King Laufey sends his infant son away with a powerful and much sought-after weapon. His hope is that when he is old enough, the boy will be able to wield it and defeat Odin to save not only Jotunheim, but as well as the other realms that have fallen to the tyrant's rule.

Warnings: Loki has more feels. And Elves.

Don't own The Avengers or Lord of the Rings. I got tired of making up reasons.

Story Alert: Michi-chan2

Part 1: Chapter 6

"What's this? A Ranger caught off his guard?" The woman asked in a mocking tone.

"Ranger! He's a Ranger!" Clint hissed.

"I have been looking for you for two days," she said, slightly irritated, before sheathing her sword. "Tyr and four of his men are following you. I have not seen the other four." She added the last part in a whisper so only the man could hear her.

"Stay with them. I'll send horses," the blonde said, looking at her intensely.

"I will take him. I've always been the faster rider."

"The road is too dangerous."

"What are they saying?" Darcy asked.

"I don't know. They're speaking Elvish," Clint replied.

"If I can get across the river, he will be under my brother's protection." The blonde seemed thoughtful of this. "I am not afraid of Tyr or his horsemen."

"Sif. Ride hard, and don't look back." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Those things are still out there!" Tony shouted when he saw the woman lift Loki up onto her white horse's back. "Five of 'em!"

"Five to one? That's child's play," she deadpanned before snapping the reins. She didn't want to tell him that there were actually nine.

"Now what?" Darcy asked once the horse was nearly out of sight.

"Sort through your possessions. Only bring whatever is absolutely necessary. Everything else will be burnt so we cannot be tracked as easily." Before anyone could protest, he turned to Tony. "Because you have nothing, you will be in charge of Loki's belongings."

After burning their nonessentials, it was decided that Darcy would ride with the blonde, and Tony and Clint would ride on Fenrir's back. Even though Fenrir was still cautious of him, Tony was the only one he somewhat trusted.

xXxXx

Clouds of dust were flung with every hoof fall created by the Elf and her pursuers. As the thunderous noise grew louder, Sif glanced over her shoulder and saw that the number of horsemen had increased.

"Well, that accounts for all nine," she said flatly.

She entered a wooded area and whispered words of encouragement into her horse's ear, giving her the strength to run faster. They weaved between the trees, and she cringed when a branch cut her across the face.

"Loki, stay with me! We are almost there!" She yelled when the body in her arms began to feel heavier, despite the fact that it was losing blood. "Once we cross the river, we will be in Alfheim."

At one point, Tyr rode up until he was next to her and he reached out his hand towards Loki. Sif would have drawn her sword and cut off the limb, if she had a third arm. All she could do was urge her mare forward and avoid losing Loki to the monster.

When the river was in her sight, she continued on until she was halfway across before turning to face Tyr and his men. They appeared to not like water because they halted at the shoreline. In order for this spell to really work, she needed them closer. She reached down and drew her sword, pointing it towards them as a challenge.

"You want him, Tyr? Enter my brother's lands and take him from my cold dead fingers."

As she had hoped, the nine horsemen urged their steeds into the river and she slowly eased hers backward. Uttering an Elvish spell, she pulled Loki closer just to make certain he was still there. She repeated the incantation again and again and again until a large tidal wave, drawn by what appeared to be horses made from the water, completely consumed the horsemen. When Loki slumped forward, the Elf sheathed her sword then tugged on the reins and set her horse at a quick gallop.

"Damn. Don't you even think about dying, Loki."

xXxXx

When Loki opened his eyes, he was in a room he'd seen many times before in his dreams. And inside this room with him was a man who was just as familiar.

"Hello, Father."

Loki was somewhat shocked to hear his normal voice, because every other time he'd dreamt of his father he was an infant. He looked down at himself to see if he still retained the wound inflicted by Tyr, only to see that the flesh of his arms was blue with strange raised markings on it.

"Come closer, Loki. Let me get a good look at you."

Loki approached his father and remained still as the man cupped his face in his large hands. His head was turned this way and that, and Loki swallowed at the expression of adoration on Laufey's face.

"The last time I saw you, you could barely open your eyes, and now you're a young man. And you've grown your hair out." A choked sob ripped from Loki's throat and he looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry I could not be there for you when you were younger."

"It's okay. Really," Loki replied as he reached up and wrapped his fingers around one of his father's wrists. "I…I need to know. Am I dead?"

"No. You have merely lost consciousness."

"Then Tyr and his riders are still going to come after me."

"Yes. But as long as you are under the protection of Heimdall, he cannot harm you." Loki nodded, but still seemed a bit confused. He had no idea who or what "Heimdall" was. "You need to wake up, Loki."

"What? But I don't want to leave yet! I just got here!"

"You cannot remain in a dream forever. Nothing good ever comes from it."

"But I finally got to meet you…"

"I am not going anywhere, so long as you wish for me to stay." Loki nodded and uncurled his fingers. "Now, open your eyes."

xXxXx

Loki's eyelids were heavy when he tried to open them, and he found that he immediately wanted to close them again due to the brightness of…wherever he was. He noticed that he was lying on something soft and just the atmosphere itself enveloped him in comfort.

"Welcome to the world of the living. You gave us all quite a scare." He knew that voice. Somewhat.

"Phil? What happened? Why didn't you meet us?"

"It's nice to see you, too." Loki blushed. "I was delayed. It happens to the best of us. What matters is I'm here now and you're not dead."

"I dreamt about my father."

"He's quite the character, isn't he?"

"How did you two know-?" A shuffling on the mattress made Loki look at the foot of the bed where Fenrir was curled into a ball.

"He refused to leave your side. Or should I say 'feet'?"

"Ah. Welcome back, Loki," a deep voice said.

Loki looked to his right where a large dark-skinned Elf with gold eyes had walked up to stand next to Phil.

"This is Heimdall, Lord of Alfheim," Phil explained. "He's the one who mended your wounds."

With curiosity, Loki rolled both of his shoulders and found that they were no longer in any pain. He then reached up and pressed at his stab wound before wincing.

"That one will need some more time to heal." Loki had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"We shall let you rest now. Come, Phillip. We have much to discuss."

Loki waited for both men to leave before sitting fully up. Fenrir cracked one eye open and followed every movement he made.

"Shh. Don't tell anyone," Loki whispered, bringing a finger up to his lips. The wolf's eye slid shut again as if nothing happened.

Loki slowly got out of bed and walked out onto the balcony, inhaling the aroma of the flowers and fruit trees that were scattered around the estate. A mild breeze blew past him and he had to set his braid over his shoulder to keep it from flapping everywhere. He heard voices below and saw his three traveling companions in some sort of courtyard. Clint and Darcy were arguing again and Tony was trying to ignore them.

"Tony!"

The brunette looked up, slightly perturbed that someone was yelling at him. Then his eyes widened and he disappeared from view. Loki furrowed his brow, wondering if he had upset him, then jumped slightly when he felt arms wrap around him.

"Tony, that kind of hurts."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Loki said with a chuckle. He raised an eyebrow when Tony tangled his fingers in his hair and pressed their foreheads together. "Tony?"

"I'm sorry."

"I know. It's okay, it didn't hurt that bad."

"I'm not talking about the hug, I'm talking about you nearly getting killed."

"What?" Loki remarked, pulling away from the other male. "Tony, you messed up my hair. Now I have to re-braid it."

"I screwed up, and you ended up getting hurt."

"Screwed up? What are you talking about?" Loki asked as he unwound his braid.

"I'm supposed to protect you, remember?"

"Oh. I was kidding when I said that."

"Well, I decided that I wanna do it. We had to meet for a reason, and I don't think it has anything to do with stealing your shoes."

"Okay Tony…if you say so."

"Oh my gosh, Loki, you have such pretty hair. Jealous!"

"Um. Thanks, Darcy."

"Can I touch it?"

"I guess."

"Darc, can you not be weird for, like, five seconds?" Clint deadpanned.

"Don't tell me what to do," Darcy said as she halted in her petting of Loki's wavy hair.

"So how long was I unconscious?"

"Nearly a week," Tony answered.

"Oh. No wonder I'm so hungry."

"Let's go downstairs and I'll see if I can bring you something."

TBC

ALL THE FROSTIRON! Fenrir and Loki are total bros. Since they don't all know each other as well as the four Hobbits in LOTR, I couldn't exactly write a hug fest like in the movie. And instead of Bilbo hugs it was Laufey angst. Not gonna lie, I cried while I was writing the scene between Loki and Laufey. DAMN LOKI AND HIS FEELS.