Loki and the Witchling

Chapter 27

    You already had an illusion in place over the two of you when you appeared back in the same spot you had vanished from earlier that afternoon. You weren't surprised that there were people here with cameras hoping to catch a glimpse of Thor and Loki. Your illusion was of you and Loki looking exactly as you had when you left in the portal. The illusions waved and posed for pictures while you teleported Loki back into the compound. The illusion would vanish in a minute.

You and Loki appeared in the livingroom and you cursed when you weren't alone. The team was still there. "Um..." you greeted them, unsure. They were bound to notice that Loki was wrapped in chains.

"What'd he do?" Tony demanded staring at the captive Loki.

"What happened in Asgard?" Cap asked at the same time.

You pushed Loki down onto his spot on the couch. He glared and grumbled something behind the tape. "In a minute," you replied, assuming he was demanding to be freed. You turned your attention to Cap. "Odin confirmed Loki's story. My real name is Sigyn Freyadotir and I am full-Asgardian," you had yet to come to terms with that for yourself.

"What did he do?" Tony demanded again, more loudly.

You glanced over at Loki who glared back at you.

"Y/N, why are you bleeding?" Cap asked. Your wound was dripping through the bandage onto the floor.

"It's nothing," you brushed off Cap's concern. He gave you a look. You knew that look. It was his 'team mom' look. "I'll take care of it in a little bit," you told him, trying to sound reassuring. You don't know if Cap actually forgot that you couldn't heal yourself, or was just trusting you to take care of things, but he nodded, accepting your words. Loki at least had the grace to look ashamed.

"Stop answering Steve's questions and ignoring mine!" Tony shouted like a petulant child. "WHAT DID HE DO?"

You sighed, not wanting to actually explain Loki's behavior to them. You were sure he'd get over it now that he was home. "He became in need of cognitive re-calibration," you finally answered. Neither Cap nor Tony were satisfied with that answer. You didn't care. You went to the dining room, collected two bowls of the Russian stew Nat had made, somehow balanced them in one hand and went back to Loki. You were surprised Cap hadn't tried to free Loki while you were gone. You touched Loki's shoulder and teleported the two of you up to his bedroom. "Sorry, I should've brought you straight up here. I thought you'd like something to eat, though," you told him sheepishly. He was sitting on his bed. You set the stew on his desk and sat in his desk chair, facing him. With a flick of your hand and a bit of power all of his bonds were gone.

You both sat in silence for a minute. You stared at the floor, trying to figure out how to start this conversation. It needed to happen. You passed him the bowl of stew to postpone starting it for a minute longer. He looked up surprised when you did.

"Thank you," he murmured. Another minute passed. "Are you going to unbind my magic?" he asked softly while he ate his stew.

"Depends, are you going to teleport out of here before we have this conversation?" you replied just as softly. "And don't try to lie to me, Trickster," you told him firmly. You were too exhausted to put up with that nonsense.

"I will not," he replied. You weighed his words, but they were the truth. You knew him well enough to spot a line. You pulled out your phone and typed in the command.

"Verbal authorization is required, Miss," Jarvis announced.

"Authorized," you replied. There was a ding in reply from the piece of tech on Loki's wrist. You took a bite of stew, but set it aside. You couldn't eat right now. There was too much going on, too many emotions, and too much you hadn't been able to process yet.