Book One: Worlds Apart (Loki)

Chapter Twenty Five

A/N - THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER THEN I AM ALL CAUGHT UP, I WILL ADD IT TO MY WEEK ONE SCHEDULE, WHICH SHOULD BE NEXT WEEK (4TH - 10TH MAY)

1945ish: Katri strokes Ark's hair as he lays with his head in her lap, he and Jack had come home rather broken, the war is over, the war is won but...but Bucky and Steve, their friends, did not make it back, Ark's lost people before, of course he has, but this time. He and Bucky and Steve along with Jack had become a team, along with others rescued, they were a good team, efficient. Gone. Jack sits on the end of the couch drinking from the bottle.

"It's time we move on" Katri tells them looking to Carlisle who offers a small smile from the doorway, he understands better then anyone their need to keep moving around. Ark nods in agreement running his fingers through his hair.

.............

Ark throws his duffel into the trunk of the car in front of him before adding Jack and Katri's too it. Jack is already in the car with monkey Jack, drinking, again. Katri is talking to Carlisle and Esme, his wife.

"Mother" he states, Katri nods and then hugs Carlisle who hugs her back before she is moving to the car, Arkin climbs into the passenger seat as Jack the monkey bounds over his knee into the back, Katri takes the drivers side and closes the door with a sigh. She glances to Jack, both of them and then to Arkin who nods with a small smile, she nods back and takes a breath before starting the car and driving away.

...............

1960: Arkin loves his mother, he does. But seeing her broken, for as long as he has done, and knowing that she's been hurting for longer, it aches, it pulls at his heart. So he's been doing research, bringing himself up to speed with Norse mythology, and trying to find anything he can with a link to Asgard. He wants to find Loki, to contact him, he doesn't know why yet, to yell, to hug it out, to kill him, Arkin honestly has no idea what he is going to do when he sees him. But he needs help, he needs to get to Norway, he needs to leave his mother to do this without letting her know what he's up to. He takes a breath and drops his bag at his feet, Katri looks up from the book she's reading and frowns.

"What are you doing?" she asks him.

"I want to go travelling" he answers. "The world has changed since the last time I did it....Just..."

"You want to leave" she whispers.

"No" he argues. "No, I'm not leaving you" he assures her. "Not forever, just...for a bit, I will come back" he promises her. "You know I will, I lost you too, you know, all those years ago, I went without you for 900 years, you really think I'm going to spend all that long away?" she nods and looks down at her book. "I love you" he tells her, she hums a little, he knows she still has trouble with those words, the last time she'd said them that person had abandoned her and run away. Of course she has trouble feeling it, admitting it, letting it in. but he knows that she does love him, she shows him, how worried she gets, how she comfort and cares him. He knows. Jack appears behind Arkin and Katri glances to him, notes the bag he has. "Jack's coming with me" Arkin offers, Katri nods and looks down again, there is a tick to her jaw that lets them know how she feels about this but Arkin needs help, and Jack wants to travel again, the pirate in him gets sick of lingering in one place too long. "We won't be gone long" Arkin assures her, Katri stands closing her book.

"Have fun" she comments, but her eyes don't share the sentiment. She walks away, brushing past them to leave the room.

"That went better then I thought it would" Jack mumbles, Arkin sighs and picks up his bag.

"Yeah" he agrees, Jack shoots him a look, if Arkin would just tell her why he's going, the real reason, then she wouldn't be this upset with him going. Nope. She would scream and yell and scold him for going after Loki.

.................

Katri watches out the window as Arkin and Jack drive away from her home, leaving her alone, it's the first time in a long time she's been truly on her own. She turns away and moves to where a bottle of whiskey sits on her dresser, picking up she walks out of the room to find another to sit in and drink.

................

Klaus finds Katri curled up in her armchair 2 days later with an empty bottle and a blank expression, she wouldn't let it show, but Ark and Jack leaving hit her pretty hard, fighting a war is one thing but leaving, to travel, to do their own thing, it's something else. She knows she's not the best company, or the happiest person, far from it, she didn't think she'd be enough to drive her own son away. Klaus pulls her up and sits in her seat instead, pulling her down onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her. He knows better then to ask her what is wrong, it's better to just let her get on with it, and when she comes out the other side he'll be there. So he'll stay and drink with her and after he'll take her out and find her someone to feed from. And then everything will be better, not great, they never will be, not with the hurt in her heart but she is surviving. And Klaus swears if that thing she once loved ever shows his face to him, then Arkin will be without a father completely.