Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 68

The teens and Loki, who by Asgardian life equivalencies could be considered one of the teens himself, all stepped out of the Bifrost into the chamber where Heimdall was waiting for them. Heimdall looked over the three. "Welcome home, highness, Peter," he greeted the two Asgardians. "And welcome back to Asgard," he added to Wanda. Loki inclined his head in response to the gatekeeper, acknowledging the greeting. Peter's eyes went wide at the greeting, at the acknowledgment that he was Asgardian now, that he was a citizen of Asgard and would be treated as such.

Loki squeezed Peter's hand and led him and Wanda out of the Bifrost chamber. They had work to do before they could focus on Peter's admittedly well deserved existential crisis later. They needed answers on what was going on with Hela and Odin first. Loki swore to himself that he'd take the time to help Peter come to terms with what Loki had done and what it meant for the teen's future.

And how to tell Aunt May about it.

There was a lot they were going to have to come clean to Aunt May about, but that was a problem for a different day. The fact that she hadn't blown up Stark Industries or the tower to find Peter was a miracle in and of itself.

She must have really trusted that Loki would take care of Peter and it broke Loki's heart that he was no longer worthy of that trust. He'd failed Peter, he'd nearly lost his best friend, his blood brother. And had had to turn Peter Asgardian to save his life.

He'd changed Peter's whole life, destroyed everything just to keep him alive.

He would make the same choice every time.

But he definitely deserved every bit of backlash he got for it.

Well, every bit of backlash from those affected, Peter, Aunt May, even Wanda had reasons to be upset about what had happened to Peter. Odin didn't have that right, even though Loki had made Peter Asgardian. He'd had tacit permission from Frigga when she'd given him to golden apple to save Peter's life. Loki had known he would be allowed to gift it to Peter when he came of age to decide for himself. Frigga had clearly known he would need it sooner, and had given her permission when she'd given him the apple.

And she was the queen of Asgard.

Which was why Odin's punishment of Loki was so unjust.

That was neither here nor there at the moment. They had to get to the palace and find out what was going on. "Wait a moment," Heimdall told them. "She is meeting you here,"

Loki stiffened. Who exactly was Heimdall talking about? He could be annoyingly cryptic when he felt like it. Loki wasn't in the mood for cryptic. There was too much unknown going on.

A moment later, Loki shoved the teens behind him to protect them when someone teleported in. Heimdall had said someone was coming and Loki didn't know whether to expect Hela or someone else. He wasn't taking chances with everything going on. He wouldn't, couldn't, see Peter hurt again, especially not so soon. It didn't matter that Peter was even harder to hurt now, Loki had held Peter while he was dying in his arms. He couldn't do that again.

It would kill him to lose Peter.

Just as it would kill him to lose any of the few people he truly loved.

That was a large part of the reason that Frigga had given him the apple for Peter. She wouldn't lose her son again, not when there was something she could do to help him. She had lost him once when he'd fallen from the Bifrost when he'd killed himself and chosen his own way to die. It had been a superior death to being beheaded in front of the court for Jotunheim's crimes of going to war with Asgard (thanks to Thor's actions), at least in Loki's opinion at the time.

So it was for that reason that Loki shoved his blood brother and student behind him to protect them as the shape teleported into the Bifrost chamber.

He relaxed a moment later when he recognized Sigyn. He gave her a sheepish look and vanished the daggers he'd unconsciously summoned to defend the teens with.

Sig ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, my Loki. What did he do to you?" She fretted and pulled back enough to look up at Loki's sewn lips. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here. The princess of Alfheim was in desperate need of a healer and since I'm the second-best healer on the realm, my services were offered. I only just got back to the realm right before... Hela..." she cupped Loki's cheek, fretting and worried over her fiancé.

Loki closed his eyes and leaned into her touch with a purr. Her magic surrounded him, eased his pain, and strengthened him, for which he was grateful. He still had a lot of things to do before he could rest.

"Sig, we need to get to the palace. Mama Frigga is waiting for us," Peter said, drawing the attention back to him and back to their mission.

Sig's eyes widened when she looked at the team. "You're-" Loki made a noise and she stopped speaking. She didn't need to draw his attention back to being Asgardian and she'd get the story from Loki later. She nodded. "Let's go," she took Loki's hand and offered her other to the teens. Once they were all touching her, she teleported the group to the throne room. Peter and Wanda were both used to teleporting by then, so neither of them lost their lunch.

The team looked shocked and raised their weapons when the group teleported in. Clearly, everyone was on edge.

Loki only had eyes for his mama on the throne. She looked regal as ever, but was now in her rightful place, at least according to Loki. She would be a much better ruler than Odin ever had been.

She stood, gungnir still in hand and rushed down the stairs to hug Loki. "Oh, darling," she mourned over him and his injuries, at what Odin had punished him with. Even as queen, her priority was always her family, and her Loki was hurt and muted. Her son had been wronged and she wanted it rectified. Now. "Let's get those stitches out,"