Frost & Fire

Chapter 10 (Abigail)

My father and I had stayed up all night, fine tuning the system of the SCUs to be able to be reprogrammed for everyone who would wear them, especially mine. I hated to admit to it, but I was probably not going to be able to return as quickly as I wanted to, but I also knew that we were on the right track again. As my father added the vibranium to my unit, it started to spark and then settle into its new home.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, definitely. Let's try it."

"Wait!" Banner called out as he came running to us. "You shouldn't be using that yet. Christ, I didn't think you'd be rushing this quick to put it back on!"

"Of course I would. You don't know what it's like to know you should be somewhere else, but instead you're stuck alone!" Banner sighed and just stared at me and I remembered what I was told about his time on Planet Hulk. "Shit, I'm sorry, Banner."

"Language!" Steve hollard as he and Bucky came over to us.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "You should know I never listen." I smirked and held up my unit. "But, okay, if I can't wear it yet, who's willing to be my tester?"

"I will." Bucky said without missing a beat.

"Okay, I have it set for the temperature I need on Jotenheim and since I can't be in freezing temperatures right now, we'll have to send you into another room to make sure it works."

He nodded and went into a control room where we put the temperature down to freezing and he activated the unit. Once we were pleased that it was in fact working to the best of its ability, we let Bucky out and put it in a safe place. I wasn't going to be able to use it until my next scan at least, but with everyone waiting between earth, Jotenheim, and more than likely Asgard, there wasn't as much of a rush for Loki and me to get back.

As the sun came up, my father and I winced at the light but weren't surprised the other three were up before dawn. We said goodnight and went to get a power nap, though I wasn't all that tired and was just a ball of nerves. As I stepped into Loki's and my room, I saw him lying in our bed with my pillow in his arms so that his face was buried in it. I couldn't help but smile as I sat down on the bed, not even bothering getting changed yet, and ran my fingers up and down his bare back. My gods did I miss this; staying up all night as I hyper focused on something and finding him asleep in our bed. I knew there were plenty of times that we swapped and I had been the one who fell asleep first.

"Mm..finally coming to bed, Kitten?" He asked sleepily, rolling to his side so he could pull me into his arms.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, we got caught up with everything."

He kissed me softly, slowly opening his eyes. "Don't be sorry, Kitten, we still have all day."

"Hmm now that sounds like a promise of not having to leave our bed."

"We don't have to." His voice was raspy and very seductive.

I playfully pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. "As much as I want you inside of me, Daddy, I also just want this.." I let my sentence trail off as I leaned down to kiss him. His arms instinctively wrapped around me, holding me in place.

As his tongue penetrated my mouth, I let out a soft moan, pushing my body against his even more. His hands grabbed hold of my ponytail so that he could play with my locks, making my body relax even more. I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could, completely afraid that if I would let go, he would disappear.

"I love you." I whispered when our lips separated.

"I love you too, my Queen. Oh how I have missed you." He said softly and I laid my head on his chest. "I am never letting you out of my sight again."

"I'm holding you to that." I said with a smile and fell asleep.

The weeks that we were separated felt like a lifetime, but being here in this moment made it so much better. I fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating, sleeping deeper than I had been.

We woke up a few hours later, mainly due to the noise outside of our bedroom and I assumed it was the warriors three and Thor starting their day drinking. It didn't take us long to get dressed in our normal earth clothes. I had chosen a pair of denim daisy dukes and a half shirt since it was getting a little warmer out. It was freeing to say the least to not have what felt like three layers of clothes on.

"I thought we were going to try socializing today?" Loki questioned with a growl in his voice.

"Oh we are. I just wanna make sure you don't forget what I look like." I said with a smirk as he pulled me in close and kissed me again. "Come follow me. I know Pep would love to see you again."

"How is she doing?" He asked as we stepped out of our room, just barely missing Mjolnir.

"Thor Odinson, I swear to your father, if you hit me with Miljnor I will beat you!" I yelled, shooting him a glare. "And to answer you, Daddy, she's doing great."

"Did-Did she just try to correct you like Frigga used to?" Fandral asked, dumbfounded.

"Yep. Dearest sister in law.."

"Don't try that. You will learn what it's like to have a bratty sister."

Loki let out a laugh. "Trust me, Brother, she can put me to shame with the pranks some days."

"Okay, truce. I'm sorry for almost hitting you with my hammer." Thor said as he put his hands up and Mjolnir came flying back to him, but I reached up to grab it. "Whoa, what the-"

"Language!" Steve called out as he stopped at the top of the stairs. "Whoa..."

I looked at my hand and realized what I had done and laughed. "I guess I really am worthy." I said as I threw the hammer back to Thor. "Now, I'm going to go make something to eat. If anyone wishes to have anything, I suggest you follow me."

I held onto Loki's hand as we made it downstairs and into the kitchen. I pulled out a mixing bowl and the pancake mix along with bacon and some eggs. I wasn't surprised when almost all of the guys in the house followed us down, still dumbfounded that I had grabbed hold of Mjolnir as if it was nothing. Cooking, I couldn't help but smile as well as feel a little saddened.

I could imagine having a family, but knew that it would take a lot of time before we could. There was no saying that our children would be able to withstand the weather on Jotenheim and therefore until they were old enough to be able to use a unit, we would either be separated or would have to return to ruling from afar. And look at how well that worked out this time.

The one person we should have been able to trust to rule in our absence betrayed us. He kidnapped me and if Loki hadn't found me in time, he knew that my death would make Loki spin out of control. And to be honest, I didn't even know what our time apart was doing to him. He seemed so tense when he returned to earth and I didn't think that was only because of the news that Nydr had betrayed us.

"What's the possibility that Nydr is hiding in another cave? And how did you find out it was him?"

By the way Loki tensed, I got all the answers I would need. He had started to resort to his old self to get the information he needed. "We will find out sooner or later. I have plenty of our soldiers looking for him. As for how, you do not want to know that answer, Kitten."

"No, I want to know. How did you find out, Daddy?"

"You didn't!" Lady Sif hollard. "I know that look. That's the same look you would get when you had a plan to stab us all in the back!"

"Lower your voice!" I shot back. "And that was the old him. Right?"

"I did." Loki said finally. "But, Kitten, I had to! He wasn't going to talk any other way."

My heart broke with the knowledge that he had resorted to his old self. "You promised you would never do something like that again." I said softly as I started to dish out the food. "You promised me that you'd be a different ruler. I don't want everyone so afraid of us that we only have our people's fear to keep them loyal. I want them to trust us.."

"Kitten, I promise, I had no other choice. I couldn't let you come back with a threat out there that would take you away again."

"There is always a choice.." I told him sadly.