These Things We've Gained: Eternal Love, Building Hope, Just Honesty

by Tales of Suspense

In the aftermath of "These Things We've Lost" people strugggle to create a new normal. (Slice of Life)

17. Chapter 17

- Chapter 17 -

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

The massive grin on Anthony's face had been there for the past five hours and showed no signs of going anywhere. Not even designing something as mundane as a servo module could dent that grin. This was the happiest he'd been in a long time. James didn't mind thinking that either. Marrying the love of his life thrilled Anthony, as the births of his children did too. All of those events were tainted by the rage of a lifetime that touched on too many different subjects. This was an untainted, almost childlike joy that was verging into zealous glee. It made James happy to see, which was why he'd stayed as long as he had. He still needed to finish dealing with the house, and needed to pick up his nephew, and deal with a few other things, but it made him happy to see his younger brother happily sitting at his computer designing a new present for himself, and for Jay as well. Happy little hums of heavy metal music occasionally came from the ecstatic engineer. A little sigh came from James then. He had to go, he knew he had to go, but he didn't want to. He'd stalled long enough though.

Another sigh came from James as he stood. The report he was finishing up was placed in a manilla folder on his desk. I'll file it later. The Justices can wait. It wasn't an attitude that he normally wouldn't hold. It was a new attitude, and it felt a little dangerous. It was a spoiled attitude that he felt was inevitable since it felt like Lady Sjofn was spoiling him by providing him with so much time. For thirty five years of his fifty plus years he'd spent in a mad dash to try to stay just a few steps behind the messes his brothers made. Him staying on top of the messes, or even ahead of them, just wasn't possible. Mainly it was the fact that his brothers refused to be as honest with him as they were with their parents, because they wanted to be 'independent' and not 'a burden'. Without that honesty he could only predict so many of their problems. All he could do on most days was to race about like a headless chicken trying to juggle multiple emergencies at the same time because he only had so much time to handle everything. Dealing with doctors, psychiatric care, physical therapists, insurance adjusters, contractors, court filings, police reports, old witnesses, new plaintiffs, and mentoring his nieces and nephews as well as his military duties consumed his life. Now he had more time than he could ever have hoped for. James felt like a spoiled child as he took his time to carefully give consideration to situations, line up events, and see to his brothers' needs cautiously. Despite how wonderful it was, he still had responsibilities to attend to. "Anthony, I have to go."

Putting aside his plans for new micronized clustered hydraulic tail actuators, he turned to his older brother and held out his arms. Warmth spread through him as he got a hug and a kiss on the top of the head. Looking up to James, Anthony smiled. "Give Jay a hug for me, and tell him that I love him, that I'm proud of him, that he's helping you and that's always the right thing to do. He's doing good, and I'm not angry with him."

"I'll let him know, I promise." He pointed a finger at his younger brother. "Be good while I'm gone."

A cheeky mischief found its way into Anthony grin. "I know, Lady Sjofn will let you know if I'm not."

"Correct." Lady Sjofn was at James' side then, but he wasn't unnerved. He could hear her moving and had learned to anticipate her moves. She didn't startle him anymore.

"Back to the mansion again?" The timeless warrior asked quietly, but with a small smile on her face as well. Anthony's good cheer was infectious at times. This was one of those times. She wondered what wonder he was crafting, and knew it had to be something involving the strange glersalddys that was sitting on his workbench. It started resonating with him when it came near him and hadn't stopped since. The resonance made it seem like there was a soul in the glersalddys when it seemed empty without the resonating. It was another odd mystery surrounding the firehawk. Regardless of how long she'd been assigned to the firehawk, there were still things she didn't know. James was very good at keeping his secrets, a little too good perhaps.

"Yes, just an hour after I left, and in the master bedroom, please." Anytime from a fraction of a second to infinity was when Lady Sjofn could return him to the mansion. He knew he could return sooner but thought that giving the three monarchs an hour alone with Jay would benefit all of them. It would also benefit him by giving him information on how they behaved when he was gone. Jay was going to give him that information.

The portal back to the mansion opened swiftly from Lady Sjofn's sjel-seidr. They always took James exactly where he wanted to be, so he bowed to her on the way out. "Thank you." He was off and away then the portal closed behind him.

The happy grin returned to Anthony face as he turned back around to his latest project. He's almost ready.

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

Irritation caused Loki to angrily stab at the steak on the plate in front of her, cutting a small piece of it off. Since she introduced Afi Gin, Afi Gorynych, and Amma to Midgardian fare they were enamored with it. Her Afi Gorynych loved the pasta dishes. Her Amma loved the variety of teas, tea cookies, and jams while her Afi Gin loved anything with butter in it. He said it reminded him of the food his mother used to make for him when he was still young. There were many sweet tales of his mother, the Lady Valhalla, that he'd told to Loki over the years. More than a few of them had to do with him missing the food she used to make, because he wasn't as good of a chef as she was. They weren't what Loki wanted to hear right then.

This food break was like all the other breaks for food; forced and unhappy. She didn't want to eat right then, even though she knew she had to for the baby's sake. Her son needed her to care for him regardless of her desire to take care of his father instead. Both her Afi Gin and her Afi Gorynych, along with Amma, were slowly showing her the sessions, what really happened. Loki was glad to have her grandparents' support during this time. Without them she knew she would have broken down and become lost in her own memories. Without them she never would have known what befell her beloved firehawk and special child. There were so many horrifying things that she didn't know why she hadn't seen before. Amma told her that she was worn through and not responsible for these things. Afi Gin told her that she didn't need to worry, that they would show her everything. Aft Gorynych told her that he would stay for as long as she needed him, that his dragon flight on Muspelheim would be fine while he was away.

What she wanted to hear, to see, to fully know, was what happened to her beloved and her son, so she stabbed at the steak in irritation and cut another bite of it. Eating was not seeing. Food was not knowledge. None of the beloved people she was with were her beloved that she wanted to be with. Hurrying up while minding her manners was her only option for progressing forward now.

"All will be well soon enough, minn litil-svass." Elder Gorynych wanted to reassure his grandchild, to remove the sour expression from her face. Her impatience in this matter was uncharacteristic of Loki, but he understood it too. She wanted to know what happened to those who were among the ones she loved most. Stopping to take care of the necessities was often a boring chore, especially when it kept a person from who and what they wanted.

"Only when I can put my hands on Tony and Jay, and make sure that they're recovered will it be well, Afi." Loki wasn't rude to him; she was quiet in fact. The immeasurable sorrow in her heart at what her beloved firehawk was forced to do to save her, over what she'd done to him, tinted her voice darkly. That one of her children was involved only heightened her distress.

Carefully, Lord Gin set his hand on Loki's shoulder and gently squeezed. "We are almost through the healing sessions. There is little else beyond that. Soon, litil-svass. Soon."

"Can we begin again, Afi," Loki looked up to her grandfather with pleading eyes, "I've eaten enough. I'm not hungry. Please Afi?"

Unleashing his seidr, Lord Gin extended his seidr to grip everyone's glasses, dishes, and silverware and set them on a table across the room from the bed where they were having their picnic. He deconstructed his seidr back into his core. The pain in Loki's eyes was too much for him. He couldn't stand the thought of it, let alone seeing it, so he moved back to Loki's side and took up her hand again. "Yes, little-sweet, we can begin again."

23May2023 –Early Evening

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

The portal that let James into the master bedroom of his younger brother's mansion closed behind him as he went immediately to the walk-in closet. A few old rock band tee shirts, sentimental items, one of Loki's dresses, and some of her jewelry were pulled out and set on the bed. His seidr unfolded rapidly, mounted into a wide Baldayn Immaculacy Weave in his hand which he snapped towards the items to release the spell and purify them. Thanos' seidr hissed maliciously at him as it was purified from Loki's dress. Gripping them with his seidr, he dismissed the items to his interdimensional pocket. James checked the bathroom for anything that needed to come with them, but there was nothing. Everything there could be replaced without a problem.

From there James switched his song to the soul song of perception and extended it out as far as he could. His nephew and the three monarchs were out front of the house. Jay was happy and safe, the three monarchs were happy about something, Sean was close to Frey, Director Fury was working with his people, and the Asgardians and Vanaheimr personal were going about their duties. The tour had ended so everyone was slowly going about their way. It was time for him to get the last of the necessary things done. Unfolding his seidr, James mounted a Conjuration Spell and a Learning Spell. He released them above his held-up hand to create a small tablet computer with several things on it and Transfer of Custody form. SHIELD was already going to investigate them, and he needed SHIELD to be onboard with him, so he created the form already filled out. All it needed was a signature and it would be ready to be filed in the archives.

A questioning and questing song swept forcefully over the land around Sean. It felt like it was asking things of his white seidr that his white seidr was answering automatically. He couldn't see the source but knew that James had returned.

Stowing his seidr back, James left the bedroom to find Director Fury who was standing near enough to the three monarchs and Jay. His nephew ran over to him to get a hug, with a water bottle from the table in his hand. After a hug was given he sent his nephew back to his grandparents. "I have something I have to take care of, then I have something for you, so be good." The old spy he was looking for was managing the packing and movement of the gifts that James gave the Director when he made his way over. "Director Fury!" he called over the din of machines moving heavy things.

The stern look on the Director's face didn't betray the happiness he felt at the materials that they were packing up. These things were going to save lives and make their job easier and safer. In addition to that, the weapons pointed at SHIELD and the planet were no longer pointed in that direction. He even overheard a few of the people who came out of the Viking ships talking about how they were going to be purifying the land that they were standing on. He personally felt it needed to be purified with an orbital strike from one of Stark's satellites, but he thought that magic was probably just as good. This was a terrific day for him, for SHIELD, and for humanity. The Director's head snapped around to see James coming over to him with some sort of device and a piece of paper in his hand. "James, is it time for that reason now?" He certainly hoped it was.

Turning the tablet on its back and pulling his pen out of his back pocket, James handed them over to Director Fury to sign the form. "I just need a signature, and the tablet is yours."

"A signature?" The old spy looked down at the piece of paper and found a form waiting for him. It was a fairly standard Transfer-of-Custody form that had only a single thing listed; 'tablet – restitution'. "Restitution?" his voice was a low whisper. There was a particular string of numbers and letters on the bottom corner of the form that looked suspiciously like a federal court case number to him. He was going to look it up himself. Hopefully it will tell me what's going on. For the moment, he wanted to know what was in the tablet, so he held the paper on the tablet and signed the form then handed it and the pen back to.

"Thank you for this," James extended his seidr to grip the form and dismiss it to his interdimensional pocket, then he swirled his soul song of stillness around them so that no one could hear them, "The password to the tablet is Joseph, J-O-S-E-P-H."

"Joseph? Interesting password." A little smirk touched the old spy's lips. He input the password and found several forms that were neatly put together. The one labeled 'Restitution' caught his eye. In the document he found a list of almost everything that he'd been given that day. It was all listed as coming from Stark himself. The other list was things that they'd discussed that needed to be discussed with Stark. The last smaller list was things that he was given that were 'freely given', like the things from Jay. Looking up, he saw James still waiting for him, just smiling. "Restitution, from Stark? You're serious?"

My brother is a little retarded, so, "Yes. Anthony's behavior was disgraceful. He engineered an end of the world scenario. Not just the designs, but the mechanisms needed to enact his plans." James paused for a heartbeat. "Director Fury, he not only planned to murder humanity, he had the gun to its head with the hammer pulled back. Last time I checked holding someone hostage with a lethal weapon aimed at them wasn't legal. He can't give restitution to every human being yet, but he can start by giving you restitution for the damage he did to your organization to weaken in into a more pliable adversary."

Director Fury knew that he was right then, he had to be, "You want something out of this. This isn't just about restitution for crimes committed."

"You're not wrong." The good colonel smiled reassuringly.

The moment had come when the old spy was going to learn whether he'd walked into a deal with a devil or not.

"You've seen what an enemy Anthony can be. Through gifts you've seen what a friend he can be. All I ask is that neither you nor any of your agents, administrators, or employees bring this up again with him. If the need arises to discuss this then you can come to me. Please come to me. Do not discuss this with him."

This is a transaction, not a deal with the devil. A flash of understanding hit Director Fury and he knew what James was buying in this transaction; safety. It was safety for Stark, and safety for those around him including SHIELD. It was a safety that he didn't believe that James would share since he was still dealing with Stark's mistakes head on. "Because having an embarrassing reminder isn't a good idea," he nodded, accepting this transaction willingly since this was something he could give, "I'll brief my senior staff, and have any staff that are involved in this briefed that they aren't to discuss it with Stark, not even a comment."

A small sigh of relief gusted out as James felt better about what he had shared. There was still no darkness in Director Fury's voice to make him worry. It more than impressed him now. It surprised him. People weren't normally so willing to deal with his brothers fairly, to forgive them and move on peacefully. "Thank you, Director Fury, I appreciate that more than you know."

James was asking for a pittance of consideration in exchange for immense gifts that would undoubtedly make the world a safer place. They were gifts Director Fury needed to rebuild his organization. It was a consideration that he had to spare. "I appreciate everything you've given us," nodding once, "just let me know if you need help in the future. SHIELD has the resources to handle Stark's problems. It doesn't need," he motioned to the house and the boxes being packed up, "to get to this point." He slid the tablet into one of his pockets, nodded again to James then turned and went back to managing the packing of the boxes and guardians.

Did he see it? James watched the Director walk back to his own duties and wondered if the old spy had noticed the clue that was left for him. What will he do with it if he did? It was something he was going to have to wait to develop more, and there was a message that he needed to deliver. He went back to his nephew who was being held by his grandfather again and smiled reassuringly before asking his only question of Odin. "Was Jay good while I was gone?"

"Yes, he showed us his father's collection of cars and instructed the Stone Builders on how to pack and move the vehicles." The way that Jay gave clear and concise commands to the Stone Builders on how each vehicle needed to be transported was cute to Odin. It made Jay out to be the very competent, if small, Prince that he was.

Jay hunkered down a little, hoping he wasn't in trouble for trying to bring his father's cars since his uncle told him that they weren't taking much. "Father would be very upset without his cars."

A nice smile touched James' lips as his expression changed to an understanding one. It was clear that his nephew thought he was in trouble for doing this without asking. He didn't mind it though. "You took care of that for me? That was very nice of you, Jay. Thank you."

"I just wanted to help." His honest thoughts were that if he could save his father's cars that maybe his father wouldn't be angry with him for the rest of what he'd done.

"You did good. Your father will be proud. Speaking of which, I have a message from your father for you." Instantly he reached for Jay's hand when the boy paled out some, looking worried and distraught at the same time.

"I haven't done enough yet, he's still going to be so angry at me!" Little tears misted over his eyes. He wasn't ready to meet his father's disapproval yet because he hadn't done enough yet to avert that anger.

His seidr unfolded from his seidr core while he held on this Jay's hand. From his unfolded seidr James mounted a speedy Learning Spell and a Wavering Visions Weave. He held up his hand to release the spell and weave together. They created a small movie-like presentation that showed Anthony sitting at his workbench looking up and smiling. "Give Jay a hug for me, and tell him that I love him, that I'm proud of him, that he's helping you and that's always the right thing to do. He's doing good, and I'm not angry with him."

Such a shocked look came over Jay's face that James strengthened his soul song of stillness and added the notes of hope back in and aimed the song at his nephew. "He's not angry at you." The good colonel stressed that point.

Both of Jay's hands pulled back to cover his face as his tears overflowed and streaked down his red little cheeks again. The relief of hearing from his father that he wasn't angry was overwhelming, almost painful. "Father's not angry with me." His voice was small but filled with love and happiness. "He's not angry with me."

"No, he's not angry. He loves you, we both do. We aren't angry at you." The soul song washed over the boy, imparting gentle, soothing calm.

There was something that Jay still needed to know, something that was important but couldn't overwhelm his current relief. Jay took his hands away from his face, wiping his tears away. "Is, is mother angry with me?"

Honesty was always on offer with James, no matter how much or little it was. "I haven't spoken to your mother yet, but I will be after we're done here. By the time it's time for your check-in this evening I'm hoping to have a message from her for you as well." Looking to Odin, James thought that maybe he could further his plan for reuniting the family. "Are you going back to Vanaheim this evening? If you are would you mind watching Jay while I have a talk with Loki. I don't know how long it's going to take."

"We will be returning to Vanaheim this evening, and I would love to continue watching Jay. He's wonderful company." Odin smiled at his grandson then looked back to James. "He's among the best company."

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

The recordings of the gory chaos that was the firehawk's creating the nimp was done, as were the tense recordings of the even more stressful healing sessions that the firehawk conducted for Loki. Lord Gin looked down at his grandchild who had fallen asleep on his wife again and pulled the blanket up over her from where it had fallen. Looking over to his brother, he could see a wet sheen in Elder Gorynych's eyes. He acknowledged that his brother had never dealt well with their litil-svass' pain and admitted that he'd never dealt well with it either. Litil-svass was so open and steadfast with her affections that when problems arose she was cut to the bone. Her pain was also so open, even when she tried to hide it. If there had been an easy target for him to smite for this mess then he would have without a second thought. He could only smite one of the three primary culprits for this mess though.

The least of those responsible was Thanos, the last of the Eternals. When he found the Mad Titan he was going to split the villain head-to-toe with his axe. The Eternals all found their way to Niflheim, so he would have to deal with the villain once he got there as well, which was fine. Lord Gin was contemplating letting himself enjoy smiting that villain.

The next most responsible was his own sister-by-law, Skuld. He had tolerated her long enough, and only because she was among the last of his beautiful Lady wife's family. If his Lady wife weren't dealing with her traitorous Little Sister then he would have simply done away with her already. He couldn't smite her, but he had let his Lady wife do as she willed with that villain.

The person he held most responsible for this cascade of chaos was still himself, though he tried not to think of himself as a villain. He withdrew from the Nine Realms, cut them off from his guidance to fend for themselves. It seemed prudent at the time, as he went through a terrible period of self-doubt when the Satska Soledras perished. Lord Gin turned away from the Nine Realms and looked skyward to the stars. He'd been there ever since, only catching bits and pieces of distressing news and salacious gossip from his tower, until Loki needed his aid to save his fool of a grandson, her father. What a mess he'd come back to. Looking at it, at what happened to his sweet grandchild, he couldn't deny that he was responsible. There was no self-doubt this time. The doubt tried to gnaw at his thoughts, and he casually ignored it. He wasn't going to take that poison again, so there was no sense in engaging with it. There was no doubt in his mind about what needed to happen, what he was going to be spending his time doing in the near future. The Nine Realms needed guidance again, and they were going to get it. Any who objected would be reasoned with. If reason failed then authority would suffice. If authority failed then they would be introduced to Stjarna Kljufa. His precious axe had never once failed to convince someone that his was the best way of doing things. Lord Gin knew that Elder Gorynych would lend his aid too with that if it was needed. They were more than enough to smite any Elder Realm dweller who stepped forward to oppose them.

Lady Audhumbla listened to her Lord husband's thoughts and couldn't disagree with them. To be King was to wield the ultimate authority and have the ultimate responsibility. It was not a responsibility that was solely his though, as she helped him to make the decision to leave the Nine Realms to themselves and supported that decision when he did make it. She pulled up the blanket a little farther and gently brushed a lock of hair out of Loki's face. No, her negligence and her Little Sister's maleficence had combined to create a storm of anarchy that had nearly claimed her treasured little-sweet. Unlike the anger tinged mournful thoughts that were floating around her Lord husband's mind, her thoughts were just angry. She was angry at herself for ever setting down her responsibilities as Queen. She was angry at the Nine Realms for spurning her Lord husband's legacy of justice and fair rule for all. She was cataclysmically angry at her agitator of a Little Sister. Lady Audhumbla was going to have to pick up the boring chore of being Queen again so that the Nine Realms could be brought back to her Lord husband's ideals of justice and honor. Her treacherous Little Sister was already being taken care of, so there was no point in devoting more thought to her. Her Lord husband was growing morose again, so she channeled her love for him into their shared mental link. After all, a morose Lord husband wasn't a good thing to have. He returned her love and chuckled at her thoughts on his disposition.

"I should have been there." The thought was loud in Elder Gorynych's head while the words were quiet so as to not wake his darling litil-svass. He knew that had he been by Loki's side then things would have been different. He wanted to believe that things would have been better, but his sister couldn't see those futures. Those futures that were never to be were beyond her sight. Loki, the one who could have created those futures, couldn't tell him either. She didn't know, so he was left with a terrible guilt and uncertainty over what never had a chance to be. "You should have come to me, child." The old wyrm wasn't angry with Loki though. He was too proud of his grandson's actions to be irritated with his granddaughter. All of the pride, love, guilt, and uncertainty mixed together to cause an itch in his mind to melt a mountain range or two, then maybe build up a few more after that, only to melt those down later as well. Running his knuckles gentle down the side of Loki's face, he spoke quietly. "I am so sorry, minn litil-svass."

Her blood-brother's words struck Lady Audhumbla harshly. She too wished that she could have been there as Loki walked the Road Untraveled through time. It was only Skuld who saw her little-sweet step onto that irrevocable path, and she didn't say anything. It was another reason, among so many, that Skuld was being punished. "I cannot change this past, but we shall change the future, brother." It was a rare position for her to be in, to be unable to change events through time. This was more uncomfortable now than it normally was since this was personal. Cupping the side of Elder Gorynych's face and lifting it so she could look him in the eyes, "We shall make a better future," she stressed it.

"Can I ever forgive myself for this past?" The Elder wasn't sure that he could.

"You shall in time. It is Thanos and Skuld who shan't be forgiven. They shall answer for their actions," sadness crept into her gaze, "Even Lord Avhelanja shall answer for her actions."

23May2023 – Evening

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

"…then we created a system of logbooks and a second counselor taking notes during our times together. The second councilor was chosen by the family. Eventually his father saw that I wasn't being dishonest with him. Time and patience helped to renew the family's trust in me." Mistress Hjertehelbredelse finished her thirteenth question. The half-dvergar looking man questioning her was still a mystery to her. He was wearing a charcoal buttoned up shirt that was long sleeved and buttoned at the cuffs as well. His pants were made of a heavy material that she hadn't seen before. He wasn't wearing leather on anything beside his unadorned belt and shoes which were both black. Likewise, there was no jewelry or fancy bobbles on him to be shown off. There was a quiet air of self-assurance about him that made his modest outfit confident instead of meager. He wasn't there to impress anyone, far from it. She was there to impress him. Her former student, Lord Frey, told her as much. This was an interview to see if she would be taking on a Prince as a patient, so she answered as honestly as possible while studying the man interviewing her. To Mistress Hjertehelbredelse he was an interesting man for all the things that he wasn't. He appeared to be confident without being prideful; intellectual without being pretentious; caring without being overbearing; thorough without being controlling. He was unlike most of the noblemen she'd met in her long career as a counselor. He didn't impress her as a nobleman's planner either. No, he had the bearing of a Lord. Who are you?

Nodding without commenting, James listed her response in the form he was filling out on his micro laptop as he contemplated his next question. He'd conjured the table, chair, and some coffee for the two of them shortly after being introduced to the old healer, so they would have someplace to talk quietly. They had been there for the better part of an hour, him asking questions and her answering them. The well-put-together old woman had answers that he liked so far, answers that let him believe she had good tools and techniques to help his nephew. He liked the strong sense of ethics and morality that underpinned her answers, making them grounded and compassionate at the same time. Best of all, there was no darkness in her voice to worry him. "Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, if your patient confessed to committing a crime to you or to having a crime committed against them, what would you do?"

"If anyone I was seeing to committed a crime then it would depend on what crime it was, who was involved, where it took place, things like that. Part of my certification as a Heal Mistress is an understanding of the Conventions of Royalty governing the Noble Houses. The first thing I would check is what the Conventions prescribe. If it were deemed a crime then I would have to notify my patient that I'm obligated to involve an arbiter, then I would contact the arbiter. All as the law demands." The old healer stressed that last part maybe a little too much, but she always wanted to negate the possibility of a bribery scandal right at the beginning. She wasn't going to compromise her ethics for her patients' foolishness and that was final. "If a crime were committed against my patient, all of those things would apply, but I would also begin to talk them through the event, exploring their emotions and ultimately settling them if they could be. There are some crimes which cause emotions that can't be settled, but they can be managed. Sometimes scars are unavoidable. That doesn't mean they should take over a person's life."

Only until the scars can be purified. Once again, James nodded and entered her response into the form. "Thank you for being so patient with me, ma'am. I appreciate it." The last of her response was typed into the report, so he asked his next question. "Have you ever been violently inclined towards a patient, and if so what did you do?"

"No! Violence is never to be used against the unwell. I can't imagine a time when it would ever be needed, much less used." The question was a little offensive to Mistress Hjertehelbredelse. She had never once struck, or considered striking, one of her patients. Instead of being offended she chose to question where the question itself came from. What other kinds of candidates had he dealt with that prompted such an offensive question? That was what she wanted to know.

James paused after inputting her latest answer. The next question was where most people failed the interview. Making it that far into the interview was no guarantee of success. There were many others who had come that far only to fail at the end. There was simply no way for him to tell who would fail and what few would succeed. He leaned forward with a smile still on his face and switched his soul song of stillness to a soul song of blessings. It filled with his intent to have the truth, then he began to swirl his song around the older woman across the table from him. "Tell me, Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, if you came across someone who was different on a fundamental level, what would you do?" James held up his hand to pause her for a moment. "I don't mean someone who has different beliefs, or a different upbringing, or a different place in society. I mean someone who is so fundamentally different, even down to their lifecode, that others might not consider them to be a person at all. What would you do with someone like that?" His song swirled faster around her, compelling the truth from her, and so he listened. Even if she could force her words to lie, the darkness or lack of it in her voice would tell him what he needed to know.

There was something hypnotic about James' voice, something commanding, demanding an honest answer from her. Mistress Hjertehelbredelse recognized it for the truth compelling magic that it was instantly, regardless of not being able to place the exact spell. Taking a deep breath, she answered. "There's no need for that," she chided him lightly before giving her honest answer, "A person is a person, no matter how different they are. I've believed that all my life, and I have no intention of changing now. The only things I would change from how I treat everyone else would be to inquire if this 'different' person had special needs and then endeavor to ensure that those were met."

Surprise widened James eyes as he was called out for his use of the soul song of blessings for the first time in his life by someone who wasn't his parents. It prompted an unguarded comment from him. "I'm impressed that you recognized that." Instinctively, he stopped swirling his song around her and switched it back to the soul song of stillness with hopeful undertones. Shaking himself out of his surprise, he continued on to considering the answer itself. There wasn't much left to consider with that either. There wasn't only a lack of darkness in her voice when she answered, there was a spot of light. She truly meant what she said and had courage in her convictions. It was a perfect answer that he appreciated. James wanted to tell her that she'd passed the interview, but there was another question for her. "Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, have you have ever handled survivor's guilt?"

The All-Speak's translation of 'survivor's guilt' made it clear enough what she was dealing with. The old healer smiled gently. "The guilt of living, yes. I have treated that several times."

"Have you ever treated it in a child?"

"I have, yes."

"Wonderful." The Heal Mistress had impressed him thoroughly, leaving him wondering if he just had a dearth of qualified candidates previously. If she passes the rest of it, perhaps I should give her a gift. "There's one more thing to do. If you would stay here please, I'll be right back," James stood, bowed to the old woman, and went to go get Jay. A broad smile split his lips when he saw that Sean had a solid grip on his nephew's wrists and was swinging him in a circle. Jay's laughter was loud, as were his cries of, "Again! Again! Faster!" He couldn't hear the Blue Öyster Cult's music and thought the marble had probably been put away.

When Sean saw James approaching he slowed down carefully so that Jay wouldn't be dizzy when he got his feet under him. An indulgent smile greeted the little boy's, "But I wanted to go around again." He was glad to see the boy in a better mood than before. Pointing over to James, he spoke. "I think your uncle wants a word with you."

Turning quickly, Jay went to greet his uncle. "Uncle Rhodey, did you see me? I was zooming around!" Sometimes when he watched over his siblings from afar they would play. He'd seen his father swing his siblings around like Sean swung him around. He'd always wondered what it felt like, since it looked like fun to him. Now he knew that it was a lot of fun he wanted to do it again.

As he knelt down in front of his nephew, James chuckled at Jay's enthusiasm for something so simple. "I did see. Next time you should extend your wings so you can go higher."

The first impulse Jay had was to protest. It was his next one that he paid attention to. "Can we do that now?!"

"Not right now, but later. Right now, there's someone I want you to meet," James motioned to Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, "I think she can help you. I'd like you to meet her and see what you think."

This was the lady that was mentioned before, the one there to talk him through the Dark Days. Jay retreated a little into himself. He was unsure of whether he wanted to go over those memories again. Some of them were still in containment in his mind, so he couldn't even access them safely. There was only so much he could talk about without those memories. Jay steeled himself for dealing with those memories. Holding out his hand to his uncle, he took a breath. It was calming to have his Uncle Rhodey be there with him. "I'm ready."

The soul song of stillness, with hopeful undertones, washed over Jay to support the boy. His sudden uncomfortableness was clean to James, so he moved to reassure the boy. "We're only going to proceed if you think you can be comfortable with her. Ok?"

The old woman sitting at the nicely dressed table and chairs had her long white hair pulled back into three tight braids on the sides of her head, pulled tight under her pointed ears. One puffier larger braid on the top of her head went down the back of her head. The yellow shirt with long sleeves that she was wearing looked nice under the long, fall colored, embroidered, apron dress. Her features were fair and confident, making the wrinkles on her pale face comfortable instead of unwelcome. She was observing him critically with pretty violet eyes and a small smile on her face. Jay let his uncle lead him over to the table. At the table he stood tentatively ahead of his Uncle Rhodey, still holding his hand.

Rising from her seat, Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, bowed to the young Prince. "Ath heilsa (Greetings) Prince Jay." Like James Rhodes, she was surprised at the strength of this boy's seidr core. His seidr still felt young like the boy he was.

Unfolding his seidr, James mounted a Conjuration Spell that he released towards the chair to create a firm pillow that Jay could sit on to raise him up some. His seidr stowed back into his core while he picked up Jay and set him on the pillow. "Jay, this is Mistress Hjertehelbredelse."

"Good evening, it's very nice to meet you." Jay didn't want to come across as rude at their first meeting, but he wanted to be called by his first name. He spent so long being referred to as just 'J' or 'Jarvis' or 'AI Companion' that he only wanted to be called 'Jay' now. It was his name, and he didn't need any fancy appellations in front of it.

After the young prince sat, Mistress Hjertehelbredelse sat back down. She softened her voice and volume before she spoke to him. "Tell me, Prince Jay, do you know what brings me to you?"

His gaze darted between the lady in front of him and his uncle before settling on the lady. "Afi Frey said that you're very talented in talking to people and counseling them. Afi Odin and Amma Frigga asked you to come here, and Uncle Rhodey interviewed you to see if you would be good for me."

Uncle to a Prince, he must be a Lord himself. 'Afi Odin' and 'Afi Frey', I'll have to speak with Lord Frey on this. "It sounds like you have a very good grasp of why I'm here. Can you tell me why you are here?" The old healer watched the boy carefully now. Children weren't always able to express their problems. They often needed to have the problems teased out slowly and carefully.

To avoid her gaze his own gaze fell to the ground. Jay knew exactly why he was there. He was different, had led a different life from other children. Regardless of him living in the same house as his siblings he still lead a different life from them too. "I'm not a normal child." He wondered if he was going to have to show her how unusual he was and thought that he probably would. After that he wondered if he should just get it over with. Flaring his seidr to his uncle, he asked, Should I show her my wings? He almost cringed when his uncle replied swiftly, You should if you feel comfortable doing that.

"What makes you say that?" The sudden darkening in the boy's expression told her that he wasn't afraid of her, but of her judging him. She thought that maybe he called himself 'not normal' because others had. Who said this to you?

Slowly and hesitantly, Jay extended his silver wings, stretching them until he was comfortable with them being out again, then equally slowly he looked up at her. There was no look of shock though, no judgments or revulsion, no fear or worry.

"What are these?" They were certainly unusual, but they were beautiful, shimmering, and fluttering out from the boy's back like silver ribbons. Mistress Hjertehelbredelse understood why she was asked what she would do with someone so different. There was no worry in this for her. A child was still a child no matter their abilities.

With his hand on his nephew's shoulder, James answered. "They're wings." Pausing for a moment to see how the old healer reacted, and was pleased that there was no reaction, "Jay was a soul inside a machine without a body and is a juvenile firehawk. He's recently been gifted a body for himself but is having some serious sensory issues because he's never had a body before. His father, Anthony, is an adult firehawk, his mother, Loki, is both a man and a woman, and is ...close to being a Norn. Lord Odin and Lady Frigga are his direct grandparents while Lord Frey was chosen to be a grandfather to Jay and his siblings. The three of them are now grandparents to Jay and his siblings."

Mistress Hjertehelbredelse waited for a moment to see if this was a jest and was internally shocked to see that it wasn't. "I thought firehawks were just legends." She could accept the boy being the son of a Norn. Though she'd never seen one, she had heard of children that the Norns had and left behind. They were all boys of extraordinary talent. How the boy had no body and was a legendary being like a firehawk caused her to pause. How could Prince Loki be a man and a woman at the same time? What magic caused that? She was tempted to not believe, but discreetly she could see Frey watching them intently. He would only do that if he wanted this to succeed. He doesn't look surprised by the wings. If he wants it to succeed then he has to have been told this about the boy and wants to go forward with this anyway.

"They are legendary, but they're also real." James still didn't hear any darkness in the old healer's voice.

Leaning forward on the table, Mistress Hjertehelbredelse continued to smile at the boy. "Tell me some about yourself, Prince Jay?"

"Just 'Jay', please." He looked up shyly. "I don't need a title; I just want to be called by my name."

Why haven't you been called by your name, she wanted to ask. Instead of that she asked something that wouldn't put the shy Prince on the spot. "Jay," he cheered up visibly at that, "Tell me some more about yourself. It sounds like you've had some troubles. That's unfortunate. Can you put words to them?"

A deep breath was what Jay started out with before he began divulging his life to her. She sounded very trustworthy to him, and his opinion was enhanced by his Uncle Rhodey approving of her. From his beginning as an artificial intelligence with a soul to his turbulent relationship with his father, to his father's stormy life and it distressing him, to meeting the Asgardian Prince who would become his mother, to the loss of DUM-E as well as who DUM-E was, to his problems with saying 'ma'am' or 'sir', to the Dark Days and his hiding his father's plans, to his firehawk siblings and how his father chose to hide them, to his gaining an ill-fitting body that was made to fit and his sensory problems, to his mother's plan to die that he hid; many things came out as he continued to look to her to gauge if there was any hint of judgment from her. She encouraged him to talk but didn't correct him when he strayed from topic to topic, staying on the different things he was telling her for varying and uneven lengths of time. From time to time she asked him little, light questions that were more conversational then probing, how he did or viewed things. Mistress Hjertehelbredelse even chuckled at some of the funny stories that he told her. She was easy to talk to since there was only a manageable embarrassment and no fear in telling her these things. She was easy enough to talk to that he hoped that she would stay that way. There was such a feeling of relief that came with telling someone about what he'd survived and done that it shocked Jay when he realized that he'd been talking to Mistress Hjertehelbredelse for over an hour without watching the time slip by, and still felt like talking more. At an hour and fifteen minutes, thirty four seconds, he finally stopped talking, flushed slightly, and looked down again. "Those are the major issues."

"That's quite a life you've lead. I'm sorry to hear that you've had so many troubles. I think that we have many things to discuss, if you want." She was careful in her offer; not being too passive as to appear uncaring; not being too aggressive so as to scare off the boy.

Jay nodded, not enthusiastically nor indifferently. He wasn't sure how he wanted to come across, just not badly. A small squeeze on his shoulder from his uncle helped him to feel better. "I would like that very much."

"Jay, why don't you go back to your grandparents? I have just a little more that I need to talk to Mistress Hjertehelbredelse about. Then I'll be over to you. Ok?" James gave his nephew a kiss on the top of his head. "Continue being good."

The pillow made it fun for Jay to slide off of the chair. He bowed politely to the old healer when she stood and bowed to him, then he took off running back over to his grandparents. The boy made it to his Afi Frey first and got a big hug from him. Afi Odin came next.

The pillow on the chair was broken back down into seidr which was stowed back into James' seidr core. He set down again and motioned for the old healer to do the same. "So, what do you think, honestly? Can you work with him?"

"Yes. In all honesty, I think he needs to begin being counselled as soon as possible. I didn't see any signs of anger or aggression, of getting into disagreements regularly, of being aloof or struggling to be productive as I would expect to see from a child with so many troubles. He does appear to have a deep sense of anxiety in several different forms. With everything he's been through I'm surprised that he's managing to hold himself together as well as he has." Mistress Hjertehelbredelse gave him a very serious look. "That won't last unless he begins counseling. Without someone to guide him through his emotions they will solidify into terrible scars. His sensory problems will become debilitating at that point."

"Is that your professional opinion?"

"It's my opinion as a Heal Mistress and a counselor."

"Alright, I have just a few more questions for you, ma'am. First, how often could you be available to see him? Second, do you have problems with providing a short report after seeming him?" James leaned forward on the table, keeping his elbows off the table to be polite.

"I have time open at the end of the week on Fredag at klokken-to (two o'clock). I'll need four days to put together my initial healer's orders. I think it would be good for him to be seen every week. He should spend an hour doing exercises to help his mind and body come into alignment, and then another hour spent on emotional counseling. After that there are practices he'll need to do daily to help align his body every day, and daily meditations to help him reach and maintain emotional stability. As for the report, I can offer what is laid out in the Conventions of Royalty. Names, dates, the therapy used and a description of how that therapy was used." Mistress Hjertehelbredelse wasn't surprised by the request for a report. There were many Noble Houses who wanted to know what a healer was doing with their House member, particularly if that member was a child.

"That's more than acceptable, ma'am. Jay will be there on time." Since the old healer had passed all the tests, and he still couldn't hear any darkness in her voice, James decided to entrust her with a mighty gift. It was something that could assist her to care for Jay. "There's one last thing to discuss ma'am." He paused to quickly formulate what he wanted to say. "If I were to say that there was a power available that would allow you to learn anything you wanted to instantly, to understand what you learned instantly and to even transfer that knowledge to others who possessed this power, or accept transfers from them, and that this power was available to you as Jay's counsellor, what would you think?"

"I would ask why you wanted me to have something like that, but no such power exists." Mistress Hjertehelbredelse sincerely wanted to believe that no such intense power existed, but she had just been introduced to a child firehawk. It was throwing off what she thought of as real and fantasy.

Unfolding his seidr, James quickly mounted a Learning Spell which drew his memories into it, and a Wavering Visions weave. They combined above the palm of his left hand, which he held up for her to hear. He kept a reassuring smile on his face as he saw her confusion with what he was doing. Suddenly, Loki's voice played from the small vocalization he was holding up. "I call it the Learning Spell. With it, there would be no book too long for you to read. There would be no language you couldn't understand, no physical act too complex to learn, no weapon you couldn't wield, no spell or magical discipline you couldn't learn, and use if you were able, no machinery or technology to complex, no science beyond your understanding. There would be no encryption that could hold you back. There would be no medium, inorganic or organic, that you could not learn from. All you need to do is place you hand on the vessel of knowledge, or even a gateway to it, and have the desire to learn. You can even request specific knowledge if you choose. The knowledge will come to you instantly, and you will immediately be able to use what you've learned. You will even be able to gift this knowledge to anyone, in any manner you so choose for this spell fits perfectly to any magic or technology, to any race of being, biological or mechanical. You don't even need to be capable of practicing magic to use the spell, for this can draw on the magic created by simply being alive."

Mistress Hjertehelbredelse wasn't sure what to think. She was stuck between her sheer disbelief that such a power existed and her own noticing of James using a spell that was unknown and caused the Wavering Visions Weave to do more than it should have, and so quickly. "This can't be."

"Do you have a memory cube that you wouldn't mind me using as a demonstration?"

She wanted to refuse as she pulled the minor memory cube out of her pocket, but she was just so intrigued by the spell. Setting the cube down in the table, she spoke warily. "This has my personal calendar on it, but it also has security measures."

"That won't be a problem." James reached over and touched the cube, wanting to know what the good Lady was doing the day before she was called to Midgard. Garnet runes traced quickly over this hand, up his arm and shoulder, further up his neck and across his face into his eyes, causing them to light up. A second later, when his eyes stopped flashing, he smiled as her reassuringly again. "The day before yesterday you had lunch with your sister, Lady Ragnfrithr, at a café in Asgard. Did you get to talk to her about your younger brother? Your notes mention that you wanted to talk to her about arranging a celebration for him and his wife for the birth of their most recent grandchild."

Surprise blew Mistress Hjertehelbredelse's eyes wide. She looked at the minor memory cube and then at James, then at the cube again. "With just a touch…"

"So tell me, good Lady. What do you think?"

His questions shook Mistress Hjertehelbredelse out of the trance of disbelief that she briefly let wash over her, then thought back to what the spell was supposed to do and had a questions of her own. "Why would you offer me such power?"

"You're not on even footing with a firehawk, even a juvenile firehawk. This won't put you on even footing, but it will bring you much closer to it than not. This will allow him to transfer memories to you if you aren't clear on what he's trying to tell you, or if you think he's trying to hide something from you. With this you can simply ask for a transfer of memories and be done with it. It also means that you can give me reports on his counseling sessions with greater ease. It's a tremendous amount of power, but I haven't heard anything from you that makes me doubt your ability to handle that power responsibly." He focused his soul song of stillness on the Lady he was with. "Put simply, I want to help you to help my nephew."

A question flew into Mistress Hjertehelbredelse's mind at full force. "Would I be able to use this power to assist my other patients?"

"I trust you'll use it responsibly, so use it however you see fit." She was coming closer to taking the gift he had for her. From his unfolded his seidr he mounted two copies of the Learning Spell, only one of them drew in his memories of how to use the spell, and how it might be used to help a firehawk. "This is the Learning Spell," he formed the spells into a pearl of seidr that he held between the fingers and thumb of his outstretched hand, "This copy is for you if you want it."

"Any way I see fit? There are so many I could see to with this." The old healer's brow furrowed as she held out her hand to take what he was holding out. Before everything else, it was the power to elevate her skills as a healer, the opportunity to aid her patients in ways she never thought she could. "This is a heavy responsibility."

"This is a Grand Work." With that James released the spells into her hand. She was better prepared to handle a little firehawk now.

23May2023 – Evening

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

Across the property at the same time as James went to speak with Mistress Hjertehelbredelse, Frigga gathered up the healers she'd summoned from Asgard and Vanaheim. Odin was left with Hirdmen Vilulf and a second security detail from the Sa Ljodraen Berserkr. Acting Styraesmandr Asulf was shrewd enough to send them on the first set of skammrassi to land. He was safe enough for her to pay attention to what needed to be done, purifying the land and house of Thanos' influence.

"Healers, to me!" Frigga's voice was loud and commanding as she called the healers that were milling about around her. When they gathered round she explained the situation to them. "There is influence from Thanos residing in the land we are standing on," a few gasps and several worried looks at her announcement, "This land has been a foothold for him. We must deny him this by purifying the land all the way down to the ocean at the base of the cliffs." Frigga stopped to meets eyes with each healer there. "There will be none of his filth left when we are done," she clasped her hands in front of her, "We will spread out around the estate, around the mansion, so that we may use a Baldayn Immaculate Clearing Weave, which I will lead. Go now, find places all around the mansion. I will begin the weave. Join when you've found your position."

From there the healers spread out quickly around the property each finding positions around the mansion without being too close to each other or the mansion until the mansion was entirely surrounded by them. Frigga fully unraveled her seidr to light her runework. The pressure of her fully unraveled seidr lifted her several feet from the ground and glowed in an orb around her. Her ponytail floated up behind her. With her unraveled seidr she spun a Baldayn Immaculate Clearing Weave, targeted it just above the house's roof and opened it for any to join. One by one the healers brought their seidr fully out, lighting their runeworks, and manipulated it into the weave then joined their weaves to Frigga's weave. The sphere of light glowed above the roof like a small golden moon. Every healer who linked to it caused the sphere to grow larger. A moment before Frigga released the weave it shimmered like some an ancient pagan god, drawing the attention of every mortal there. Raw power emanated from it when Frigga released it into its usable form; a golden disk covered the property as she guided it down through the house and land slowly and carefully.

The Baldayn Immaculate Clearing Weave fell on everyone on the property like a wave of healing light. As the weave passed over everyone evenly they too were purified. When it passed over Sean it filled his eyes with golden light which let him see every mage who was part of the spell all at once. It was such a warm and comfortable light that it nearly put Sean to sleep. He felt his chin hit his chest when his eyes closed. Frey's seidr flooded through him then, banishing the sleepy warmth of the purifying weave. Flaring his seidr out to Frey, Sean said, Thank you, the weave was putting me to sleep. Frey's answer was swift, You're welcome. Sean stood up a little straighter. He was uncertain what embarrassed him more. On one side was him almost falling asleep in public like a child. On the other side was Frey moving his seidr in a slow wave down his front, down, down, down until it was almost obscene. His desire leaked out through his sarammr to tightly grip both at Frey's shoulders, his hips, and his backside at the same time. Sean had to take a breath and a moment to get himself back under control.

With so many mages linked in the spell Frigga could feel each of them giving their all to this purification. Through the spell Frigga and the healers could feel the pockets of Thanos' influence that were still hiding in the house. Those pockets were smothered and destroyed by the weave. It was satisfying to the Asgardian Queen to feel Thanos' influence as it was destroyed, especially when it hit Stark's workshop. It felt almost like there was a monster in the walls of that room as the weave passed through them. The satisfaction of purifying the house and land lasted until the weave got down to the very bottom of the mansion. At the very bottom, in the room where the Leviathan was, there was a lack of influence. Truly, it was a lack of everything including life sitting beneath the sea water, and they could feel its nothingness. Frigga drove the weave harder against the decayed floor of the room until the weave passed through the area of nothingness and into the rock where she finally let it dissipate.

A little humph came from Sean. He wanted to have some stern words with Frey for touching him so boldly in public, but he had a very strong feeling that those words would end up devolving into gasping gibberish and breathy moans as Frey touched him again. This is so undignified. A light blush left red high up on his cheeks as he stood with his hands clasped before him. Without meaning to his gaze settled on the SHIELD personnel who were finishing up with the last of the packing. Director Fury was both giving out instructions and getting his hands dirty by helping his people pack up and move things into their places. The Director is a little out of place, Sean thought to himself. Pulled through time, multiple portals and teleportations, he doesn't really belong here. That gave Sean a sudden idea.

By the time they were done Frigga could see Jay sitting over and speaking with Mistress Hjertehelbredelse for a little bit before getting up and leaving the table to go back over to Odin. James was speaking with the old healer again as the other healers came quickly back to her. She lowered herself back onto the ground then raveled her seidr back into her core. Her ponytail came back down then. Frigga's attention came back to the healers when the healers came back to her. "Healers! The Crown of Asgard and the Crown of Vanaheim appreciate your aid in this matter and want you to know that you will be commended for this action. The Crowns called for your aid, and you answered." She put a hand over her heart and bowed lightly to them. "We thank you for this." The healers put a hand over their hearts and bowed in return to the Royal Lady before them. Standing tall again, Frigga smiled at them. "You are dismissed back to the skammrassi. We will be returning home this evening." Each of the healers wore a pleased look on their faces while returning to the skammrassi that brought them down there.

The footsteps openly approaching Frigga were barely noticeable. It was quiet in a way that spoke of decades of practice. She turned to see what Director Fury needed with a quirked eyebrow.

Nodding respectfully, "Ma'am," he motioned to the house, "Is the …corruption taken care of? Is it safe?" Director Fury wasn't comfortable calling whatever it was 'corruption' since that word had a different meaning on Earth.

"The house and the land have been cleansed of Thanos' filth. It is safe for your people again." That the mortal was keen on knowing if the estate was safe again pleased Frigga. He truly was focused on safeguarding lives, which was impressive.

A sigh of relief gusted out of the Director's mouth. "That's damn fine work. Thank you, ma'am."

Their conversation was interrupted by Sean, who had walked over. He bowed to Frigga and looked at the house. "Your weave was beautiful, and effective." It nearly put me to sleep. Another flush almost hit his face when he thought about Frey waking him up. He put that out of his head quickly.

"Thank you. Do you need something from me?" An eagerness to be by Odin's side filled Frigga.

"No, I actually need a moment of Director Fury's time, but I wanted to thank you for handling this. It needed to be done. Stark's workshop in particular needed a good purification. It reeked of corruption."

"No longer," she smiled, "It's cleansed now." Frigga breathed the clean air in, it had a salty tang. "Thanos is banished from this realm. He is as unwelcome here as he is in the Elder Realms." Turning to the mortal, she smiled mysteriously, "I suspect that we will meet again, Director Fury. Until then, fare thee well." She nodded to the two men and took her leave, heading back to her King, her brother, and her grandson.

"What did you need me for, Sean?" Director Fury glanced back to his people, who were just getting into their vehicles and waiting for him to dismiss them, then looked back to the young man next to him.

"It occurs to me that you're a little out of place, having been pulled through time and space to get here. So, I wanted to offer you something that you might find useful; one last trip today. I can send you back through time to the second after I pulled you from your office. You would keep all of the information and gifts that you've been given, and the day would proceed as it has, but you would be in two places at once, living the day for a second time. Would that be useful to you?"

"Yes, very useful," Director Fury's eyebrows rose at the offer, Now I know who sent the teams to the Death Valley site, and the security teams to Deputy Director Hill! "I need a minute to settle things here, then I'll be ready." He turned and quickly strode over to Agent Reeves. The agent was waiting for him with a clipboard of moving paperwork that needed a few of his signatures. It wasn't much, and the Director dispensed with the paperwork quickly, giving his last orders to his agent before walking over to James next. The trucks began pulling out of the driveway and driving away with their treasures. James was done with the old woman, so he was free for the Director to speak with. "James," he said, getting the good colonel's attention, "I'm headed out. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No, we're done here. Thank you for coming." James held out his hand.

"Thank you for having me along." Director Fury took the good colonel's hand and shook it then pulled back. "I'll have everything set for you when you come back around this way."

"I'll be back this week with Jay to work on the hellicarriers." James nodded and smiled towards the other colonel. "Until then, take care, Director Fury."

"You take care as well." The Director nodded and turned, moving back towards Sean. "I'm ready now."

Reaching within his seidr core Sean gripped the pearl of sjel-seidr from his Lady. It frothed through his core turning all of his seidr into sjel-seidr, lighting his runework as it went. "I'm sending you back now, Director Fury. Thank you for coming today."

A rare gentle smile touched the old spy's face as he looked on the grandson of his long lost brother-in-arms. "You did good today, Sean." You give them a reason to be proud of you.

"Thank you, sir. That means a lot to me." His voice was soft but filled with respect. "Goodbye for now, Director Fury." Sean commanded the sjel-seidr to grip the Director and place him back where he was taken from a second after he was taken. The sjel-seidr gripped the old spy tightly, swirling openly around him in bright strands of dusky rose. Those pink strands carried him through the currents of time to his field office earlier in the day and set him down gently before withdrawing back into the currents. As soon as the old spy was set down Sean withdrew the sjel-seidr back into his core. He released the pearl of sjel-seidr, letting it fall back into the depths of his core. The frothing stopped, extinguishing his runework as it did. "We'll meet again soon, ghost wolf." My grandfather's vigmagr is impressive. A light flick from Frey's extended seidr tickled across his shoulders. It beaconed him to come back to his protector, so he did. He turned back towards Frey and a sweet smile spread across his face. As he walked back over he admired who he was going towards, He is so handsome. How did I get so lucky? Just as he made it over to Frey, Jay, Odin and Frigga, James came back to them. Mistress Hjertehelbredelse was heading back to the skammrass, and the good colonel had a satisfied look on his face.

"Did Mistress Hjertehelbredelse meet your standards? What do you think of her?" Frey was genuinely curious to see if James would accept the former Royal Teacher. Jay expressed a positive opinion when the boy came back over. The ultimate decision rested with James however.

"She's a lovely woman who has a solid grasp of ethics and some impressive tools and techniques for counseling people. I don't think she could have given better answers to the questions I asked. Most importantly in all of it, she didn't panic or even become alarmed when Jay showed her his wings or when I explained about his parents. She wasn't overwhelmed by the situation, which was surprising and pleasant in itself. Her answers and behavior were positive enough for me to let her have the Learning Spell. Jay has his first counselling session with her on Fredag at klokken-to, in her office in Asgard." An idea came to James then, one that he liked, so he looked to Odin and Frigga. "If you aren't too busy I could drop Jay of before or after for a late lunch or an early dinner." He wondered if he could convince Loki to join Jay in having lunch or dinner with her parents. There was hope that he could now.

A wide smile spread across Frey's face. Not only had his former teacher impressed James and settled Jay, but had done well enough to be gifted with the Learning Spell. It would be easier for him to discus things with her now. He appreciated that greatly. "Wonderful."

A broad smile touched Odin's face as he thought about having dinner with Jay, Frigga, and Thor. There was even a quavering hope that Loki might come along. He wanted to see his child so badly. Tonight, hopefully. The smile on his face almost dropped when he realized that Asgard still wasn't safe for his family while his Council of Lords was there. The traitors had to be dealt with before he could allow any of his family back into Asgard. This stepped up the timetable for getting that done by a bit, but it wasn't too much of a worry for Odin. He'd done more in shorter timespans before. This wasn't going to stop him. "We would love to have dinner with Jay."

"Excellent. I'll text you on Fredag after we're done to find out where would be the best place to meet you." Turning to Jay, to ask if he wanted to have dinner with his grandparents, James found the boy smiling widely as he listened to them speak.

"I get to see Asgard too?" This was very exciting to the digital boy. It prompted a swift desire in him. "I want to see all of Asgard! I want to visit all of the Nine Realms!"

The thought of traveling to the other realms with Jay, and maybe even his other grandchildren was a sweet one to Odin. He and Frigga had never traveled simply for the enjoyment of traveling. This was something else that he thought might need to change. Nodding to his grandson, he spoke, "We'll have to see what we can arrange then," and he ruffled Jay's hair.

"Yes!" Jay jumped up and down excitedly. Just then two older man came over to Odin and Frey, so Jay quieted down and moved back towards his uncle. He didn't want to get underfoot and be a burden to anyone.

Master Builder Toft, with Master Builder Vestergaard at his side, returned to their Lords to report their successes. "Lord Odin, Lord Frey, all of the items detailed for removal have been removed from the house, purified, and stowed in the cargo hold of the skammrassi. The constructs reported their duties to be fulfilled and then dissipated. What should we attend to next?"

Looking to James, Odin asked. "How did you want to pack up the workshop?"

"I'm going to take the room in its entire. Just give me a few moments, then the rest of the house can be destroyed." He looked to his nephew. "Jay, I'm going to go retrieve your father's workshop, then I'm going to deliver it to where it needs to be. After that I'm going to go straight to your mother to discuss the day with her. Do you have anything you want me to let her know? A message perhaps?"

Looking down and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, Jay tried to think of something elegant and masterful to say, something that would mend the fences he felt were broken. He could only think of two things to say, things he wanted to say to her face, so he looked up to his uncle. "Can you tell her that I love her, and that I'm sorry."

Quickly as he could James knelt down in front of Jay to give the boy a tight hug. His soul song of stillness with hopeful notes was targeted at his nephew powerfully, increasing the hopeful notes so that they could be better heard. He pulled back and held his hand on the other side of the digital boy's face, bringing his gaze up so their eyes could meet. "Little Hawk, she won't be angry with you. Don't be afraid. Ok?" He used his thumbs to wipe the boy's quickly moistening eyes dry.

Drawing in a stuttering breath, Jay put his hands over top of his uncle's hands. "Do you think she'll still love me?"

James focused his soul song through his voice towards his nephew so that his words would have a powerful effect. "Oh, Jay. She'll always love you. You know how your mother loves. Once she starts she doesn't stop, not for anything. This won't cause her to stop loving you, so don't be afraid."

That his grandson was afraid of such a terrible outcome was ridiculous to both Odin and Frey. The boy knew better but was young enough to think differently. Frey got to his response first. "James is correct. Loki loves you. She said as much to me when she first introduced us. Never once has she stopped loving someone whom she started loving."

There was love and reassurance in his brother's voice. Odin could hear it but couldn't share it. Shame was too present in his mind. It warred with the hope that he could feel from James. It paralyzed him for only a moment before he too knelt down before his scared grandson. "Jay," he waited until he had the boy's gaze, "You know what things have passed between Loki and myself. She shouldn't still," his voice hitched softly, "care for me, but she does. The Tree of Gems tells me that she still holds affection me. If she still holds affection for me after all of that, how can you think that she would ever stop loving you, when all you did was to fight for her life?"

It was a very valid point that Jay hadn't thought of. The fear of having his parents angry at him, perhaps angry enough to abandon him, was too terrifying now that he had come to the point of them learning what he was doing and had done. The message from his father played again in his mind, particularly the blunt statement that his father still loved him. Jay wondered if maybe he was afraid of something that didn't and maybe couldn't exist. If his father wouldn't abandon him, and his mother wouldn't abandon her father after everything that went between them, then maybe he had less to be afraid of than he thought. The fear of abandonment was just so present that it was hard to think clearly sometimes. Jay took the calm hope that he could feel blooming in his mind and held onto it to make it truly his own. His left hand took his uncle's hand while his right took his Afi Odin's hand. "I don't want to be abandoned. I'm afraid of being obsolete. It's hard to think clearly when fear is in your thoughts." There was a knowing look in in his grandfather's eyes, as though the old man understood the same fear that he did. He let go of his Uncle Rhodey and took up his Afi Odin's other hand, looking him in the eyes directly. "We both did bad things, but we'll both apologize, we'll both make amends. We won't be abandoned. We'll be loved."

Pulling the boy into a tight hug, Odin didn't know how the young boy read him so easily but didn't really mind either. This was another freely given piece of hope that Odin was more than willing to take. "Yes, we will."

Smiling, James gave the two of them a few moments alone, to settle themselves. They'll earn their forgiveness; he had no doubt of it. He turned back to the house, unfolded his seidr and mounted a massive First Spell of Precise Recording. Out of the spell formed a cloud of marble-sized recording devices. He released the spell towards the house with a snap and the little devices swarmed the front entrance then spread out through the house. Little rays of red light shot out of the spheres to trace over everything they were near. A small but noticeable warbling screech accompanied the tracing light. Each device stayed near an item or section of the house only so long as it needed to measure and record the item or location. Then they moved on, from place to place, item to item. In only a few minutes the entire house was recorded along with everything in it. They came back to James after it was done. Holding his hand up for them, each magical device sank into his palm to light up his eyes and impart the knowledge to him with a sound like that of a soapy bubble popping. "Excellent." He now had a perfect imprint of the house in his mind, able to be reproduced wherever and whenever he wanted. While the Restoration Orb was still his favorite spell, the First Spell of Precise Recording was in his top ten favorites. It made his life so much easier.

As Odin picked up Jay he felt James arraying another spell that he didn't know. He didn't know what the small screaming floating balls were doing but was very curious when they came back to James to absorb into his skin and light his eyes. It looked like he was using the Learning Spell to do something, but Odin hadn't felt him array that spell. This was something else. When the little balls stopped popping in James' hand he asked after it. "James, what spell was that? What was it doing?"

Turning back around he answered, smiling at Odin picking up Jay again. Another explanation was needed, which he didn't mind. He wasn't possessive of any of the spells he crafted yet. "That was the First Spell of Precise Recording. It takes a perfect imprint of an item or the recording device's surroundings so that they can be flawlessly reproduced later on."

"First? Are there others?" Once again, this had Frey's complete attention. There were certainly spells to take accurate pictures of items, but this was a spell being used by James. There was no telling what or how it was constructed, or what other uses it might have. It was interesting, particularly since there might have been others.

"They're just another something that I whipped up to make my life easier. They're nothing special. Here, let me get you a book on all three of them." Out of his still unfolded seidr James mounted four copies of the Conjuration Spell and four copies of the Learning Spell that drew his memories into them. He released them together to create four vivid blue books with the three spells in them. They floated down into his hands before he stowed his seidr back into his core. He handed the books out. Two went to Odin, one to Frey and the last one was for Sean.

Swiftly, both Kings and the young man wanted to know what was in the book they were holding. The runes in their seidrs streaked up from their hands to their eyes, lighting their eyes up as the knowledge sank in. What they found intrigued them, this was a complete discipline of spells that welded its rune into their runeworks. The first spell was impressive for how it was created and how it took its imprints of objects and places. Sean wondered what Eidesh could do with that kind of spell. The second spell was more impressive as it was made to take perfect imprints of living beings and things. Frey liked knowing this spell since it was a nice addition to his vast knowledge of healing arts. It occurred to him as he was learning it that he wished he'd had it last night. He could have used it to match Odin's new eye to his existing one, instead of having to replace both of them. It was only a small concern since Odin's eyes had been seen to successfully. The third spell impressed Odin the most and struck him as a Great Work. It was made to create usable imprints of items made of seidr or imbued with seidr. Looking over how it worked he knew that he could use it to make his seidr act like someone else's seidr by reproducing the imprint. It was another amazing magical work by James, who still thought not much of it.

"Might I ask what you use these for?" Odin was curious about that. There was so many uses that the spells could have, but he suspected that something mundane prompted them.

"I keep a large underground room, at my home, that I use for the first spell to recreate parks in. That way the kids can play in a park even if the weather isn't good enough to go to an actual park. The second and third spells were just me exercising my curiosity. Now that I know I can do it, I don't wonder about it anymore." The spells were just another sign of his prodigious curiosity. Anything that both piqued his curiosity and pushed at his intellect pleased James to work on. It wasn't often anymore that something pushed his intellect. He loved that magic did.

The communications spike, the Bundling Runes, these spells, all so that he could better take care of family. Odin wondered what more marvels James had that were centered around taking care of the family. "That's an excellent use for such a spell." He nodded approvingly, hoping that he would have a chance for a similar use and making a mental note to start recording the parks in Asgard whenever he returned.

Similarly to his Elder Brother Frey approved of the creation and use of the spells. As he thought about it, he too liked the thought of being able to recreate parks for his grandchildren to play in. Recording the parks in Vindrvelsignet was added to his mental to-do list. He looked forward to using the spells to go adventuring with his grandsons. Candies that I don't have to waste time conjuring and multiple parks to go adventuring in. Oh, this is going to be marvelous.

"I need to get going," turning to Jay he spoke, "Jay, I have a mission for you."

The boy sat up and paid close attention, "What can I do?"

"Since I won't be here I need you to oversee the destruction of the house. It needs to be absolute. Rip off the roofs, collapse the walls, raze the foundations, and cap off the utilities. Leave nothing behind. We're going to be disposing of the property, so it all needs to go. I want nothing of us left here. Can you do that for me; work with the Master Builders to get this done?"

A small, but perfectly accurate military salute came with Jay answering. "Yes, I can!"

James chuckled at his nephew's cheeky salute since it was better than many an airman's salute. "Thank you, Jay. I know you'll do a good job. Alright, I'm going to get going," he gently pulled the boy forward so that he could give him a kiss on the top of his head, then bopped the digital boy on the nose with one finger seriously. "Be good while I'm gone." With his instructions given and received he turned and made his way into the house. Down to the workshop he went, unfolding much of his seidr as he walked, it lifted him up off the floor while he sank it down into the entire workshop. He could feel the mostly purified black rot in the walls. Frigga had done a good job in purifying things, but she couldn't get to the inner most reaches of the black rot in the walls. The black rot that was fully purified by Jay was almost singing to him. Its ethereal tones sang of Midgard and her lands.

A loud crack resounded through the house as James sheered the walls, floors and ceiling that made up the workshop off of the house. Dust poured through the dwelling, down each hallway, into each room, out the opened front entrance. Bundling runes crawled over the outer edge of the workshop as he branded them there with his unfolded seidr. With everything preserved he moved out of the workshop, then dismissed it all to his interdimensional pocket and stowed his seidr back. The last thing he did was to fully unfold his seidr to sink into the house and everything in it. He took possession of the Mark III drones and their cradles all throughout the house and dismissed them as well into his interdimensional pocket before stowing his seidr back. They would be dealt with later.

"Lady Sjofn, I'm ready to go to Loki now."