The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 47

You told Thor quickly that you were returning to Asgard to see if Mama Frigga could come up with any solutions to the mark on your hand. He agreed without complaint. You weren't expecting that he would complain about returning home. You packed quickly to go to Asgard and planned to leave the following morning.

Which left a long night of worrying, fretting, and praying that you would be able to find some cure for the cursed mark.

Or it would have, had it not been for your amazing friends.

Of course they knew you were suffering, knew you were mourning the loss of your familiar. It didn't matter that she was being reborn, that she wasn't truly dead. You were still without a familiar. You tried not to let them see how much that affected you, how much you needed the emotional support of the magical creature. How much her loss hurt you.

But they knew.

They were your family. Of course they knew.

You had planned on hiding in your room mourning over recent events, taking everything in and finally dealing with the emotional aftermath. You figured that Loki would spend the evening supporting and comforting you. Hell, you slept in the same bed more nights than not and had for months. Your room had become a shared space at some point and you weren't quite sure when that happened.

So you were expecting Loki, who sat beside you on your bed. His arm was around you and you both pretended to watch what was on the TV. Instead, you wrapped your arms around him, taking comfort in his presence, his purrs, his reassurances. He was so supportive and caring and you couldn't believe you had gotten so lucky.

You weren't expecting the knock on your door after dinner. You looked over at Loki, your eyes puffy from crying over Sera. He nodded and kissed your forehead. He would deal with whoever was knocking. He stood from the bed and went to the door, cracking it open. He spoke quietly to whoever was on the other side for a moment, shielding you from view as he did. A moment later, the door was shoved further open and Loki was bowled over as Nat came into the room.

"Lady Natasha!" Loki protested, but he wouldn't hurt her, so he got bowled over so she didn't hurt him to get him out of her way. Poor Lokitty defeated by a tiny redhead who he couldn't fight. It was not only suicide to fight Nat, but she was a lady and Loki was a prince. He wouldn't fight a lady unless more thoroughly provoked than her barging into your room.

She gave you one look and grabbed your hand. "C'mon, you're not sitting up here wallowing with boyfriend," she told you firmly and dragged you out of bed.

"Nat!" you protested. She proceeded to ignore you and dragged you from your room and down to the common room. You could have made her let go.

If you were suicidal

The entire team was gathered around the common room. They sat up with you all night. You played games, told stories, consumed a few adult beverages to ease your nerves. You laughed and cried over the stories you all told and you couldn't be more grateful for their support.

*

The next morning you, Loki, and Thor made your way back to Asgard, taking the Bifrost bright and early as soon as Loki vanished his cat ears and tail.

You wondered briefly if Heimdall ever slept? Or was he just always there in the Bifrost chamber? That was something you'd have to find out at some point. You felt bad for the guy if he never got to sleep. He greeted you as you returned to Asgard and you made your way back to the palace, cooing over your mare as you mounted her to ride to the palace.

Loki helped you down from the saddle and you made your way straight to the healing wing and Mama Frigga. She hugged Loki when she saw him, kissing his cheek. He didn't even pretend to be embarrassed this time.

You spent a long time telling her everything that had happened since you left Asgard. Or at least it felt like a long time, since everything was so horrible: the return of the witch hunters and fighting Sera. Frigga listened with the gentle caring calm of a healer as you told her what had happened. She didn't judge you for what had happened. She did no more than coax you to keep talking when your words failed and offered you plenty of tea while you spoke.

"Let me see the mark," she said gently when your story was over. You stripped off your glove to show her the symbol inked in your skin.

You saw Frigga recoil, cringing back from the inky, slimy, disgusting feeling of the spells. She waved a hand over it, investigating it with magic without touching the cursed mark. "I'm sorry, darlings. This is beyond my skills to remove," Frigga told you gently.

"There's nothing you can do?" Loki asked, horrified. His mother was supposed to be able to fix anything, any magical problem. She was the queen. She was his mother. She should be able to fix any problem he came to her with. That she wasn't able to was rocking his world in a way he couldn't accept. "Please, there must be something! She can't keep that mark,"

Frigga sighed. "There may be a way, but it's a long shot..."

Loki jumped to attention "Anything. I'll do anything," he wouldn't let you suffer and wouldn't let you keep compulsion spells etched into your skin.

"Very well-"