AN: So has anyone been wondering what Loki's been up to since we last saw him?
After spending the morning listening to Fandral and Volstagg argue over who had killed more bilgesnipe on their last outing, "they'd both only killed two", Loki wanted nothing more than to find someplace quiet. Wandering through his mother's gardens he finally found a spot out of sight and sat down, leaning his back against a tree. The sun was warm overhead and Loki relaxed as he stretched his legs out on the grass. This was exactly what he had needed.
All too soon the moment was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. Loki closed his eyes and slid closer to the ground. Hoping that whoever was coming through would assume that he was asleep and leave him be.
"Papa? Are you out here?" Fenrir whispered, as he attempted to sneak through the gardens. Loki couldn't repress a smile at the knowledge that, if Fenrir was here, then he'd once again abandoned his weapons training.
"There you are," Fenrir said, hurrying over to where Loki was still lying. "Papa? Papa, wake up." Fenrir said, as he crouched down next to his father. Fenrir stretched out a hand to nudge him awake, and that was when Loki made his move.
In one quick movement Loki had jumped off the ground, grabbed Fenrir by the waist, and spun him around. Fenrir giggled for a moment before pushing himself free.
"That wasn't fair, I thought you were asleep," Fenrir pouted.
"You'll just have to learn to be more observant," Loki replied. "And speaking of learning, shouldn't you be training with Magni?"
"Magni… is," Fenrir struggled to come up with an answer. "Magni is dead."
"Dead? I hadn't heard," Loki raised an eyebrow at his son
"It was very sudden," Fenrir continued. "He was training and landed on one of his swords. It was very, very sad."
"You truly are a horrendous liar," Loki said with a smile. "I'll never understand where you get that." Noticing that Fenrir's hair had been mussed by his spin, Loki reached out to try and smooth it down. Fenrir quickly responded by jumping back and shaking his head from side to side.
"He was making me train with spears," Fenrir admitted, once he was sure that his hair hadn't accidentally been brought under control. "I hate spears. Besides I have something to show you."
Loki reclaimed his seat by the tree and looked at his son. "Show me,"
"Close your eyes first," Fenrir ordered. Loki did as instructed and waited. "Now look." Loki opened his eyes and found himself face to face with Thor, looking exactly the way he had when they'd been children.
"What do you think? Is it good?" Thor asked, in Fenrir's voice.
"I'm pleased that you're practicing your illusions," Loki admitted, admiring the affect. "But must you mimic such an ugly child when you do?"
"I'm not ugly, I'm Thor!" Fenrir insisted.
"My mistake," Loki said, holding out an arm and allowing Fenrir to sit next to him. "It's a very impressive illusion Fenris. But how in the nine did you find out what your uncle looked like at your age?"
"Frigga showed me a portrait of you all," Fenrir said, leaning against his father. "Why does Thor always look so angry in paintings?"
"Paintings require that their subjects stand still. Often for hours at a time. That is something that your uncle has never been very good at."
"It's good though? I look like him don't I?" Fenrir asked, looking up at his father hopefully.
"It's remarkable," The sound of heavy footsteps tramping towards them assured Loki that he had made a terrible choice in his quest for privacy.
"Loki! I need for you to come back and help me settle this argument. They're both insisting that they took down twenty each and now-" Thor stopped talking when he saw Fenrir. A smile quickly spread over his face. "Fenris, may I say that you look exceptionally handsome today. I knew you would grow into your looks one of these days."
Fenrir giggled for a moment before responding. "Do you like it?"
"It's very impressive. You know the first time your father tried an illusion like this he ended up with a pig face," Thor said.
"Really?" Fenrir asked happily, looking up at his father.
"It was an easy mistake to make. I was trying to mirror Volstagg," Loki replied.
"Let's go show this to the others. Maybe seeing you like this will get Volstagg and Fandral to forget about bilgesnipe," Thor said. Fenrir immediately jumped up to follow Thor but Loki held out a hand to stop him.
"First you need to return to Magni and finish your lessons," Loki said.
"Can't I do that later?" Fenrir pleaded.
"There isn't a later. Unless you've changed your mind and don't want to go to Svartalfheim with us," Loki said.
Fenrir dropped the illusion of Thor and stood pouting before his father. "I'll go,"
"Go finish your lessons, and we'll show off your illusions later," Loki said, kneeling down in front of his son. "We'll go in first. Tell everyone that one of my spells went wrong and that you're really Thor deaged." Fenrir's face split into a grin as he spun and ran off toward the training areas.
"So you're still set on bringing him to Svartalfheim with us. You're sure you can't be persuaded to leave him behind?" Thor asked.
"Yes, Thor, I'm sure," Loki said.
"He's going to be bored. I don't see why you're so determined to take him along. I wouldn't even be going to these discussions if I didn't have to."
Loki watched as Fenrir disappeared out of the gardens. "Thor, what do you see when you look at my son?" He asked, straightening up.
"I see Fenris, what kind of a question-"
"That's not how others see him," Loki said, interrupting Thor. "In the eyes of most of the court my son is a joke. A mistake that I refused to rectify."
"Anyone who spends time with the boy can see his value," Thor said.
"If my son is going to have a future here then I need to start building one for him now."
"You worry too much," Thor insisted, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders. "Parentage is not everything. On the field of battle any man can make a name for himself."
"Fenrir will never be a warrior, Thor. It's not in his nature," Loki replied.
"How can you think that, after the way he performed during our last hunt?"
"There's a difference between hunting stags and killing men," Loki said. Looking over at his brother he knew that he still hadn't made his point clear. "Illegitimate sons can't inherit titles. The best that Fenrir can attain in court is to become one of your advisors. Tomorrow we're going to Svartalfheim. In the summer when we go to Vanaheim I'll take him along as well. By the time Fenrir reaches manhood he'll know the ways and laws of the nine realms better than anyone else in court."
"If you want him to be an advisor so badly then when I'm king I'll make him one," Thor said, taking his arm away from Loki so he could stand in front of him.
"No. I won't have people saying that he was given his position for any reason other than his own worth. No one will ever be able to challenge his claim on this," Loki said.
"If you're sure. I still say that Fenrir is too young to be forced to sit through diplomatic talks," Thor said.
"I won't force him to sit through every discussion. I want him to begin to see how diplomacy runs between the realms but I don't plan for him to be by my side the entire time. If he wants to go off and play then he can. There will be plenty of other visits in the future where he can truly learn."
Thor clearly wasn't convinced, but he simply shrugged his shoulders before turning to leave.
"It's your decision." Thor said.
A bird shrieked as if flew overhead waking Loki up. It took a moment of scanning the area around him before he remembered where he was. Svartalfheim. He sat for a little longer as he continued to wake up. It had been years since he'd had that dream, but it shouldn't have surprised him that it had come back. He slowly stood up brushing dust off his clothes, the sound of his son's voice still echoing in his head.
Once he was sure his clothes were clean he began walking. At some point the night before he'd wandered into this field to sleep but now that he was awake he wanted to look over his handiwork. He had only been walking for a little while when he felt his foot hit against something solid. Loki smiled as he looked down at the staff. He briefly considered taking it with him before kicking it to the side. There was no point in retrieving it, he thought as he continued his walk. He'd known when he'd given the designs to the dwarves that the staff would only be good for one battle. That much power could never be sustained for long and, after last night, the staff would never be anything more than a highly decorated stick.
As he reached his destination he couldn't help but smile. He may have only been able to use the staff once but he didn't regret his decision in the slightest. Stretching out before him was nothing but miles of dust and rock. Occasionally you could see the remains of what had once been buildings; some of which were still smoking. No, looking over the smoldering ruins where the capital city of Svartalfheim had stood only a few hours before, Loki knew that he'd made the right decision.
Looking around he was able to find a rock and went to go sit and admire his work. This wasn't nearly enough to make up for what had happened but, for the moment, it made him feel better.
"You certainly were thorough," A voice said from behind him. "But then you always were one for grand gestures."
"Hello, Frigga," Loki said, without bothering to turn around.
"Have you thought about what you'll do now?" Frigga asked.
"What are you doing here?" Loki asked as he turned to look at her.
"You didn't think that your actions here would go unnoticed, did you?" Frigga took a few steps forward and, pushing the train of her dress to the side, sat down next to him. Loki looked over at her for a moment and shrugged. "I offered to come with a small team of soldiers and lend aid to the people of Svartalfheim."
"And you did a remarkable job," Loki said smiling and looking over the dead land in front of them.
"Heimdall was able to see that Svartalfheim was under attack but, as you may know, he was unable to see where the attack came from. I focused my efforts, and those of my men, on helping to lead the citizens of the city to safety."
"You should have left them all to burn," Loki said.
"The people of this city had no way of knowing what was being done to Fenrir. Most of them would have been horrified if they had. This place has already caused enough unnecessary suffering. I saw no reason to add to it." Frigga replied.
"I suppose that I should be grateful that your mercy didn't extend to the king and his council?" Loki snapped back.
"Tragically I was unable to find Auolies. Whoever was attacking the city not only cloaked himself, but the high council as well. Not even Heimdall could find them. His demise was a great loss but no one can say that I didn't try," Frigga said calmly. "I'll ask you again. Now that you've had you revenge, what will you do?"
"Alfheim's always beautiful this time of year," Loki said.
"Loki," Frigga began.
"Or maybe I'll visit Jotunheim. It really is past time that I learned more about my home world. Perhaps I'll even-"
"Loki, enough!" Frigga interrupted. "It's time for you to go back. You've had your revenge, now go and be with your son."
"That will be a bit difficult seeing as you've given him to Thor," Loki snaps.
"Fenrir was given a choice-"
"Oh, I've heard. A choice between him or going back to the dungeons. You knew what his answer would be before you ever made your offer so don't talk to me about choices."
"I made the best decision that I could for him," Frigga admitted.
"You banished him," Loki said.
"I sent him away so that he would be safe. I wanted him to have a chance at a new life. On Midgard he'll have that chance."
"A new life? And what kind of a life do you intend for my him?" Frigga began to answer but Loki stopped her. "I know about the deal you made. After my trip to Midgard I took the time to learn the terms of the deal you made with my son. How could you do that and still claim to love him?"
"I did it because I loved him. Every day that Fenrir was on Asgard his position became more dangerous. I knew that I needed to get him far away from Odin as quickly as possible. There weren't many places where he could go and be safe. Whatever you choose to believe about Thor I knew that he would protect Fenrir," Frigga said.
"There were other ways," Loki said, standing up from the rock and stepping away from Frigga.
"None that Odin would have agreed to. Anything else would have taken too long. It wasn't what I wanted but it was the best that could be done."
"The best you could do was to surround him with my enemies? Do you have any idea what has been happening to him there? When I last saw him he could barely stand!"
"Thor and his teammates weren't the ones who hurt him," Frigga said, smoothing her dress down before standing up. "I've been watching him as much as I can. You are right that they weren't happy to have him there at first-"
"Obviously." Frigga ignored Loki's interruption and continued speaking.
"But things are changing for the better. He is beginning to be happy there. He can be happy there," Frigga insisted, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. Loki stood quietly in front of her for a moment before speaking.
"They have no idea what it is that they really agreed to, do they?" Loki asked. Frigga took a moment before answering.
"When I said goodbye to Fenrir, before he left Asgard, I told him that I believed he could find a place for himself on Midgard. He just had to be good, and remember to listen to Thor. The way that he looked at me then…he doesn't know but I am sure that he suspects. As for Thor, no, Thor doesn't know.
"How could he not figure it out?" Loki asked. "Odin was willing to see him locked away. Tortured for a lifetime; and all to keep him away from Asgard and Thor. Did he really think that Odin would just change his mind so easily? That he would just let him go off to Midgard and that would be the end?"
"Being banished from Asgard seemed like punishment enough to him. Between that and his magic being locked away, it made sense to him," Frigga said.
"You've left my son in the care of an idiot," Loki replied.
"All the more reason for you to go and look after him yourself," Frigga said.
"As generous as you may believe them to be, I don't think the Avengers will take kindly to my coming to their home for visits," Loki said.
"You're clever, you'll figure something out," Frigga said, simply. Loki glared at her but she ignored him and continued talking. "Fenrir loves Thor, and he trusts him, but Thor isn't his father. He needs you, Loki. You've missed enough of your son's life already. Now stop wasting time and go."
AN: Yep, the whole chapter was Loki. Sorry for the short length, but I hope you liked it anyway. Let me know what you thought and I'll try and get the next chapter up faster next time.