Frost & Fire

Chapter 9 (Loki)

"Thank the Allfather you're safe. We found out who was behind your kidnapping, it was Nydr."
She stared with both shock and hurt on her face.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. "I've missed you Kitten. You have no idea how cold an ice planet is until the one person you love isn't there beside you. Let's get you inside and warn the others. I don't know if he left yet or not but Hredr couldn't find him so we assumed he came here to hurt you some more."

Abby held tight until we started to move and then she shook her head. "Why would he want to kidnap me though? I did nothing to him."

"You made me different, before you I was content being an asshole that no one really liked but they dealt with because I was a necessary evil. Then you happened and I was suddenly seen as a threat to his ruling as Castellan because I might want to return to rule. The black rings didn't make it any easier for him either because once we both survived them he didn't have anything else to hope for so he took you."

"That would explain how he knew to keep checking my SCU to see if it was working and how to turn it off and on. I mean yeah they all knew we had them, but he knew where it was and so did the giant that kept turning it off and on."

I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I am so sorry I didn't get to you sooner Kitten. I really am." We walked into the house and Tony stood there with Steve and Bucky flanking him. "We've got a problem. The giant that kidnapped her is the one who has been ruling Jotunnheim in my stead as Castellan."

"Isn't he the one that came to the wedding?" Tony asked, when I nodded he cursed. "That sonofabitch was there to celebrate your happiest day and then he did that. I'll kill him."

"You'll have to get in line." I said darkly. Already I was debating how I wanted to torture and kill the bastard for what he'd put Abby through. "Let's just get everyone inside and get ready in case he does come here."

We went to the armory in the basement and Tony pulled up the other Avengers as holograms. Clint and Nat were on a mission in the Ukraine and Sam was on leave. Roadie was still recuperating from being hurt by Vision accidentally and Vision and Wanda were on the run from one country to the next as they did a world tour.

"So what do we know about him?" Steve asked. He looked happy to have something to focus on.

"Well he was leading our people for a few years now, he's got an unknown number of helpers in the rebellious giants. He also has access to Utgard and everything inside of it so he could have a literal arsenal that he can arm those troops with."

"Does he have the casket?"

"No, luckily I was smart enough to keep that cloaked and hidden somewhere only I was able to access."

"Mark one for you then." Steve commented.

"Okay so he has an arsenal and an army. What do we have that we can use against them?" Tony asked.

"Well we've got the Avengers, and the giants who are loyal to the crown. That alone should give us a good bit of soldiers to fight with."

"Should we call Thor?" Bucky asked, his mouth pulled up into a cocky grin.

"Actually that would work. He can bring Lady Sif and the Warriors Three to help us. There's no such thing as too many soldiers." I said. "Were you able to figure anything out with your SCU Kitten?"

"A little, we think that it needs recalibrated so that it can work for a longer period of time. I only made them to be short term use devices so with how long I was using it day in and day out it really put a strain on the system. Dad was actually about to tell me how we could recalibrate it so we can get it to work long term."

"Uh, yeah...look this is very experimental okay? I'm thinking that we can use the same element that was in my chest to power this. Now if we use that it'll have basically a forever battery because that thing just keeps going and going. So you'll never have to replace it and it should give it that long term effect you're looking for. Now there is one thing I don't know about. That's your hypothalamus, I don't know if it'll interfere with that or not."

"That would be a question for Bruce, speaking of...where is he?" She asked no one in particular.

"I believe he said he was going to the zen garden." Bucky said.

"Okay so let's work on synthesizing that element and talking to Bruce. If we can figure that all out then I might be able to come live with you on Jotunnheim Daddy!"

"I would be so happy for that Kitten. Let's go find Bruce and see what we can do."

We found Bruce out back on the lower level where there was a zen garden Tony had brought in for the big guy to use to stay somewhat calm. "Hey big guy how are you feeling?" She asked him.

He opened his eyes and smiled. "Abby. Well I'm not angry so there's that. I've been using this place and I've never felt better. But I'm guessing since he's here that isn't really what you wanted to come talk about."

"Well, I do want to make sure you're okay after all you're family. But that's not the only thing I wanted to ask about, no. I wanted to know if I found a way to power the SCUs to the point that they were basically limitless, would I still need to worry about my hypothalamus?"

"Well yeah. The hypothalamus is what controls your body's temperature and how much you need to eat and drink. If that's out of whack the rest of your body would be too. So while you could use those things for a lot longer than normal I would still want you to come back here to get it tested at least every month. If it looks normal then we can move to every three months, but I want you to be safe."

"Thank you Bruce. That's explained a good deal." She said. We walked back into the house, "So we can do it. If that works as a power source then we can be together there all the time if we wanted."

"Did you not hear where he said he wanted you to get tested every month to ensure it was still working correctly?" I countered.

"No, I heard him. But I don't think I really need to worry. Plus if anything it's a quick trip here thanks to Heimdall and if anything it'll just mean that I'll have to be away from Jotunnheim for a short period of time."
I grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "We. You mean that we would be leaving Jotunnheim for a time. I won't leave you again Kitten. Not until the day I go to rest on Vanaheim, and on that day I pray that we will be reunited."

"I pray that day isn't for a long time. Now let's get working on those devices."

While she went to the armory to work on the SCUs I used the bifrost to summon Thor and his friends, the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. They appeared on the front lawn and Thor looked happy to see me at first, then his face turned dark as he realized I was not in a good mood.

"What has happened brother?"

I ran down what all had happened as I led them inside and tried to keep my voice stable. When I'd finished I looked each of them in the eye. "So you see, we need all of the help we can get. I was hoping you'd all be willing to stay and fight by our side once more."

"Of course I'll stay brother." Thor said enthusiastically.

The three warriors looked at each other and smiled. "Well it wouldn't be a party without us would it?" Fandral asked.

"There will be food afterwards right?" Volstagg asked. When I nodded yes he smiled. "Then I'll fight beside you."
Hogun just nodded his assent.

"You have been much better since meeting Abigail, I will help you defend her." Lady Sif said.

With each of them adding to our growing army I knew we would have a fighting chance. There was no way we were going to lose. I just hoped we were able to create more of the SCUs for them so that if we had to go to Jotunnheim to fight they would not freeze.