Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 23

They didn't find out why Odin wanted Morgan kept on Asgard, at least not before they returned to Midgard. They spent a few more days on Asgard. Their days were spent in much the same manner, magic lessons in the morning, plenty of rest for Morgan while she recovered from the transition, Sif taught her some new tricks in the training yard, and Morgan enjoyed dinner and dancing with Loki every evening.

Unfortunately, they had to return to Midgard.

Loki knew it, but still hesitated to broach the subject until he absolutely had to. They eventually ran out of time and he reluctantly brought it up. He sighed when he did. "Your father is probably worried sick for you, Ana," he told her gently. That was part of the reason they had to return to Midgard. The rest was that he was still serving penance for the alien invasion of New York. Not that it was his fault, but Odin didn't care when it came to punishments.

Morgan nodded. "I'm sure he is. Especially since he'd barely seen me since I got out of the hospital," she paused, considering. "Thor said he sent a raven home to tell him I'm ok, but that's not going to be good enough for dad. Not for long,"

"I would think not," Loki agreed. He knew how Stark was on a normal day. He could only imagine how the man was when he thought his daughter was in danger. "We should prepare to return to Midgard,"

She nodded again and considered something. "I'm surprised Thor hasn't burst in here already to drag us to the Bifrost. He said he wanted to return as soon as your mother cleared me to leave the realm..." that had been days ago, but Frigga had wanted to keep her a little longer to make sure she had a strong foundation on her magic. It wouldn't do to send her to Midgard with no training.

"Mother and I made him wait. You needed time to learn your magic," Loki explained.

"I doubt that will help much longer," Morgan said softly. She liked Asgard and wanted to experience more of the realm, but she knew as well as Loki that they were out of time.

"Probably not," Loki replied.

On cue, Thor came bursting into Loki's suite, despite the fact that such an action would lead to bodily harm. "Brother, we must be returning to Midgard!" he announced too loudly and too jovially.

Luckily, Loki was amused instead of angry, due to Thor's timing. He chuckled at Thor's dramatic entrance. "Right on cue, brother," he teased. Morgan giggled at the silly boys and got to her feet as Loki did.

Thor laughed and grabbed Loki's arm. "Come along, brother. We must return to Midgard, we have delayed too long already,"

Loki ripped his arm out of his brother's hold. "We're coming," he grumbled, growling softly and there was the distinctive 'shing' sound of a dagger being drawn. Morgan couldn't help giggling at the silly boys. Loki relaxed at her mirth. "Come along, Ana. We should be getting back," he said. He touched her hand and let her trail it up his arm so he could escort her. She took his arm, sliding her hand up to rest her hand on his elbow.

"Before dad just kills you on sight when we return?" she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Yes please. I'd rather not die today," he replied with a laugh.

Morgan giggled at the three of them headed out of Loki's suite. "You were so confident before now that you can take dad," she teased.

"You're his daughter. I am quite sure he will try his best to kill me. I can take him," he said with confidence. He could handle Stark. He was a god after all.

"I don't think he's going to be too pleased with recent events," Morgan agreed.

Loki couldn't disagree on that particular point.

The three of them found Frigga at breakfast and enjoyed a peaceful meal with her before they said their goodbyes and headed to the Bifrost to return to Midgard. Heimdall wished them well and opened the Bifrost, which set them right beside the tower as usual.

Tony was there in an instant, yelling. Luckily for everyone involved, Thor positioned himself to get Tony's attention and therefore Tony's rage. So he was the one who got berated about what took them so long to come home.

"Let's get you inside before your father decides to turn his anger onto me," Loki whispered to Morgan when Stark started yelling at Thor.

"Good idea. Before he figures out we're dating," Morgan replied.

"Please," Loki didn't want to kill Tony today. It would make Morgan sad if he did. He herded her inside quickly. Somehow it worked as Stark was getting a long-winded story from Thor. Thor was stalling so Loki and Morgan could get away safely. They owed Thor a favor for it.

As they walked up to Morgan's suite, both of their clothes shimmered from Asgardian court-wear to Midgardian casual clothes. Morgan gave Loki a look when they were safely in her suite. "The oaf won't be able to stall dad for long before he comes hunting me," she reminded him, giving him the chance to leave her suite now and escape before Tony could kill him.

Loki shrugged, and she could hear the rustle of fabric as he did. She'd learned to identify his body movements by how his fabric moved. He expressed himself a lot through actions before words. "I know, but I don't plan to leave you unless you ask me to,"

She nodded. "Your funeral," she teased and let him into her suite. He chuckled as he followed her into the suite. She bustled around her little kitchen and made hot chocolate for them before settling on the couch in her living room. Loki had taken to hot chocolate since she'd introduced him to it and had come to love the sweet beverage. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he settled next to her on the couch. She smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. They chatted and sipped contently on their drinks while they waited for her dad to inevitably come bother them.

It wasn't long before there was a pounding on her door. Morgan sighed. "That would be dad..." she said warily and got to her feet. She didn't need her cane in her own rooms. Frigga had taught her a spell to know where all the furniture and obstacles were in a room. She was only up to using it in one room at a time right now, but it was one of the most useful things Frigga had taught her.

"It'll be alright, love. We can handle this," Loki reassured her warmly, though his voice held the lie that he didn't believe this would really be alright.