A/N: I don't own Loki or any of the Avengers, but it's ok because I'm not making money off of this story.
Chapter 3: A Few Adjustments
The newly female Loki was carried by Thor to the private quarters of the palace. He laid her on her bed and then stepped back, staring at her smaller figure, which now looked lost in the green silks and white furs of the massive bed.
"What do we do now?" Thor turned to Frigga, who had been silently waiting outside the smaller audience room, and had followed him from there.
"I don't know," she admitted. She passed a hand over Loki quickly. "As far as I can tell, he—she doesn't have any injuries. She's probably just exhausted from the shock of it." She reached down and brushed a lock of hair from Loki's face. Man or woman, Loki was still her child, and she would love her no matter what form she took.
Suddenly, Lady Sif barged into the room. "I heard the news," she said breathlessly, and came to join the small group next to the bed. "I did not believe it…" she said, her voice full of wonder as she looked down on Loki's sleeping form. She sighed. "But I brought these anyway." She lifted an arm, which had a set of her own clothes draped over it.
"That is very kind of you," Thor said, placing a hand on her shoulder. They stared at Loki a moment longer.
"Well, I must ask all the men to please leave," she said with a smile. "Frigga and I will try to make her more comfortable." She pushed gently on Thor, who blushed a little and left with only one backward glance.
Once he had closed the door she turned back to Loki and sighed. "Now here is something I never dreamed of doing in all my days…" she murmured amusedly.
Frigga smiled at her, her eyes twinkling. "Never? He was quite attractive."
Lady Sif laughed. "Well, even I'm not impervious to his charm, but after he cut my hair, when we were children? Not a chance." She frowned a little. "Why are we standing here speaking as if she is dead? Let us get that uncomfortable armor off of her."
Frigga nodded and began helping Lady Sif do just that. With some difficulty, they removed the stiff outer layers and began gently easing her out of the over-sized under clothes.
"What is this?" Frigga said absently as she noticed a necklace around Loki's neck. It was a large star ruby cabochon, almost the size of a small egg with a plain gold setting, on a leather cord.
Lady Sif frowned. "I don't know. It looks very valuable…" She picked it up and studied it. "We should probably take it off until we get her hair fixed." She lifted Loki's head and began to remove the necklace, when it flashed a little and jumped out of her hands, landing back on Loki's chest. Sif jolted back, startled.
Frigga frowned. "That is most unusual." She picked up the ruby, studying it. "It's magic, and it's bound to her, but I can't tell what it's powers are…" she closed her fist around it, a look of concentration on her face. Light flashed from between her fingers, and Loki moaned a little, as if in pain. Frigga glanced at her daughter, and laid the stone back down. "It is bound very tightly to her, I cannot sever it. It's not her kind of magic, in fact it is unlike anything I have seen. I suspect it may have come about in the change."
Lady Sif nodded. "Let us leave it for now. Perhaps she can explain it when she wakes." They continued their work, dressing Loki in Sif's clothes, a white cambric shirt and soft brown leather pants. They found they were slightly too large for her. Then they combed out her long, slightly curly black hair. When they were done, they lay her back down in a comfortable position, and Frigga sat on the bed next to her.
"Well… at least she kept her good looks," Sif said hopefully. "Although, she seems… small. I am rather petite, for an Asgardian, and my clothes are almost too big for her."
Frigga smoothed out some of Loki's hair. "Yes. He was always tall, although, to think of it, he was very small for a Jotunn. I wonder…" She picked up one of Loki's hands, and focused on it. Within a few moments she looked up at Sif in alarm. "She's not Jotunn!"
Sif frowned. "She's been made Asgardian, then?"
"No," Freya looked back down at Loki, who was stirring. "She is Midgardian… a human."
There was a cautious knock on the door. "May I re-enter?" Thor asked through the door.
"Yes," Lady Sif called, startled. She had forgotten he was waiting.
He peeked in, and when he saw for himself that Loki was fully dressed, he came walking into the room. "I heard you speaking…"
Frigga put a hand on his arm. "Yes, she is human. And look at this…" she lifted the ruby up on its cord.
Thor moved to get a closer look, and reached for the ruby. The instant he touched it, Loki shifted. They dropped the stone, and after a moment, Loki opened her eyes.
She blinked a few times, looking around. "Mother… Thor," her eyes lit up when she noticed him. "Did you awaken me, my prince?" She asked kindly.
He chuckled. "No, I think not. And since when am I your prince?" He frowned a little.
She sat up. "Well, I think it would be a little too ironic if I called you princess now," she joked. She looked down at herself, and saw the new, slightly large clothes.
"I thought you might like something that fit better," Lady Sif offered, "But I'm afraid they're still not a good match."
"That's very kind of you," Loki said sincerely, "But... I don't think it will be necessary." She held up a hand, which crackled with a little green energy. Reassured, she swiped it down her figure and the clothes were replaced with similar ones in green and black, which fit her perfectly. She handed the folded clothes back to Lady Sif. "Thank you, though."
The other three stared at her openly, surprised. She raised her eyebrows. "Ah, yes, I still have my magic. But I cannot use it for evil purposes or I will lose it. And I can no longer lie. But I feel… weak."
Her second revelation seemed to shock them more than the first, but Frigga merely placed a hand on Loki's back, stroking her hair and trying to think of a good way to put it. "Loki… the change… it made you human."
Loki looked up, eyes wide. "Human?" She lifted her hands, willing them to turn blue. They did not. After staring at them a long moment, she sighed and dropped them in her lap. "Thank you for telling me, Mother."
Frigga smiled sadly. "I didn't want to make the same mistake twice."
Loki nodded, and leaned over to put her head on Frigga's shoulder. It was so strange, so different from how the old Loki would have acted, but her mother was secretly a little tickled, and put a comforting arm around her daughter.
Loki looked up to Thor. "What do I do now?"
Thor frowned. She seemed so lost. "Well, SHIELD wants you to return to Midgard so they can observe you to make sure the machine… worked."
She smiled wryly. "Oh, it worked." She fingered the ruby absently, and a look of pain crossed her face.
"Loki, what is that necklace?" Lady Sif asked.
Loki looked down at the pendant in question. "A reminder. There are large gaps in my memory… so many holes, I feel like I've forgotten half of the last century… When I touch this, it reminds me of all the pain I caused, and I don't really want to remember anymore."
There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Thor held out his hand. "Come, if you can walk, we should return to Midgard as soon as possible."
She took his hand delicately and stood, slipping her arm into his. "I'm still a little dizzy, but I think I'll be alright like this." She turned back towards the others. "Thank you, Lady Sif, Mother. I will miss you."
"I'll miss you too, Loki," Frigga smiled. "I hope you… adjust well."
Loki nodded, and they left the room. Thor led her towards the front hall of the palace, and Loki glanced down the other way. "Father does not wish to see me before we leave?" she asked.
Thor looked a little uncomfortable. "No, Loki. He is still very angry with you, I think."
She sighed heavily, and slowly turned back towards the doors. "Not terribly surprising, I suppose," she murmured.
As they walked towards the newly repaired bifrost, Loki was silent, clinging to Thor's arm a little unsteadily. He felt awkward about it for some reason, and decided to strike up a conversation. "I must say, I think you're handling this whole thing rather admirably," he offered.
She frowned. "I have little choice but to accept my fate with dignity. But somehow, I'm not really all that bothered by it. The lying is the hardest thing."
He glanced down at her. "So you truly cannot lie?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm afraid to. I think if I do… something bad will happen."
Thor began to relax. Even though Loki would never have admitted such a thing to him as an adult, he had often come to Thor with such fears when they were young. Perhaps she had just gone back a few centuries or so. That wouldn't be all bad… a chance to start over, perhaps.
At the Eye, they met Erik Selvig. He turned to smile at Thor, and startled a little when he saw Loki on his arm. "Um, hello. Heimdall already sent the machine through, but I wanted to linger as much as I could."
Loki stepped away from Thor and towards Erik, reaching out and grabbing one of his hands before he could jump back. "Erik, I want to apologize for what I did. I don't remember a lot of it, but it must have taken a great deal of strength and bravery to resist that kind of magic."
"Er… um… sure. I guess." He stared down at Loki's hands on his, unsure if she was being sincere.
Loki frowned a little, and then returned to Thor, taking his arm again. "Alright, I am ready to go," she said.
Thor patted her hand. "I should warn you, the bifrost can be disorienting for humans," he warned.
"Human?" Erik said surprised, looking back at Loki. She blushed, her lips pressed together, and nodded tersely. He shook his head. "Yeah, I just about tossed my cookies when I came up. You're in for a rough ride."
Loki gripped Thor's arm a little tighter, but had a determined look on her face. "Let's get it over with, then." They walked the last few steps to the Eye, but at the last moment Loki turned, looking back at Asgard for a long while.
"What is wrong?" Thor asked, seeing what he thought might be the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
She blinked rapidly, angry that she gave herself away so easily that even Thor could read her. "It was the only home I ever knew. I don't think they'll ever let me back, will they?"
Thor looked up at Asgard in all its glory. "I don't know, Loki. We'll see."
Taking one last look, Loki swallowed hard, and turned back to walk into the Eye. "Heimdall," she said, her voice once more firm and commanding, an eerie echo of her former self. "We must return to Midgard now."
He nodded, sliding the sword into its slot. "I will be watching you Loki," he warned.
Loki smiled a little mischievously as the light began to pull them in. "I shall let you look, then. Perhaps you will see something you like." And with that, they were sucked into the rushing stream of light.
A/N: Well, there's the beginning! These first few chapters are a little stuffy, but that's only because they happen in Asgard (all the Asgard chapters are stuffy lol). I promise once we get back to Earth the tone will lighten right up. Also, don't worry, the original, male Loki will be back! However, it's going to be quite a while. I wrote up an outline of the first two thirds of the story this morning, and it's looking like we won't see him again until Chapter 17. But I promise it will be worth the wait! This is a LokixNatasha story, after all, and therefore things are going to get interesting.
For the time being, I plan to update once a week on Saturday. If people really like the story, I may be convinced to post more than one chapter a week, at least until guy Loki shows up again. Otherwise, if you're impatient, go check out my other LokixNatasha story, "Pity for the Devil." It's much more just fanservice than this. ^.^
