Above All Shadows [Loki Timetravel fic - Completed]

15. Clandestine

By the pace Fandral set, one would have thought he was the prisoner who was fleeing his captors. He led Loki and Baugi up the steep stairs and through several palace tunnels, glancing back only to prod Loki to keep up the pace. They passed through three more sets of guards, all incapacitated, before Fandral took a sharp left and flung open the door to one of the unused servant dormitories.

Frigga waited inside. Loki didn't even have the chance to greet her before she wrapped her arms around him in a suffocating embrace.

'Mother?' he struggled out.

Frigga smiled sheepishly as she drew back enough to allow Loki to refill his lungs. 'My room was guarded, that's why this took so long. And the materials I had to work with were... Never mind all that, it's done now. Let me get that collar off you.'

'Thank you.'

Loki couldn't see much of what his mother did, but after a few moments, the collar clicked and split into two parts. He ripped it off, then palpated the base of his neck. The collar had chafed and there were now several weeping sores around his throat. He left them as they were. Should any Asgardians see him, he wanted them to know what had been done to their prince and from a more practical standpoint, he planned to expend his magical reserves on more important things.

'We'd best not frighten the children any longer,' he muttered and with an exhale, warmth flooded his skin.

Thank the Norns.

Frigga's lips tightened. 'You don't have to do that.'

'It'll be easier to make our way around Asgard if I don't look like the enemy,' Loki said. 'Fandral, do you have a weapon to spare?'

While Baugi had chosen to skulk around the edge of the room, Fandral had positioned himself before the half-open door so they could have warning should they have company. At Loki's words, he finally pushed down the scarf covering his face and offered Loki a small dagger.

'You won't need a weapon,' Frigga said.

Baugi snorted. 'It is an insult to call that a weapon.'

As Loki turned the dagger in his hands, he found himself agreeing with the frost giant.

'I've arranged for a place on Alfheim where you'll be safe,' his mother explained. 'You can open a portal to Alfheim from this room and I'll send a message to you when it's safe for you to return to Asgard.' Loki's expression must have told her what he thought of that plan, because she went on. 'Or if Alfheim is not where you wish to be, go to Midgard.'

'I'm not running off into exile. Not while Thor is being held captive.'

Why do you think Baugi is here?

'No, Loki -'

He slipped the dagger into his pocket, then set his hands down on Frigga's shoulders and pressed his forehead against hers. 'He's my brother. Send me to Alfheim or Midgard or the farthest corner of the universe, I will crawl my way back to Jotunheim and find a way to set Thor free.'

'And if you get in trouble yourself?'

'You know me,' he responded. 'I find trouble all the time and, sooner or later, I find a way out of it.'

Frigga shook her head in exasperation. 'You'll be careful at least?'

'Of course, I will,' he replied. 'Let me think for a moment.'

He tapped his fingers against his thigh. The Bifrost was closed to him; the Einherjar would have commandeered the bridge for their purposes. It was the portal then. That too would be guarded, but perhaps not as heavily. From there, it was a long and unpleasant, but manageable hike to Laufey's house. And once he was there, things would only become more complicated. Thor wouldn't be kept unguarded.