Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Every move you make

And every vow you break

Every smile you fake, every claim you stake

I’ll be watching you

Every move you make, every step you take

I’ll be watching you

Director Coulson called another video conference with what remained of the Avengers. “My question to you guys is, who would Tony Stark trust enough to take away with him, if anybody?”

Steve Rogers answered first “Happy Hogan, Director. He normally acts as his chauffeur, pilot, collects his food orders, that sort of thing. He’s also his Head of Security.”

“Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, US Air Force. Long time friend and confidante.” Nat spoke up “Pepper Potts would have both of their contact details, sir. She is, was, friends with both. I'm not sure of their current status in relation to Miss Potts.”

“Anyone else you can think of?”

“Not that Tony trusts, he’s not the trusting type.” Steve commented.

“Thanks guys, I will contact Miss Potts and see if I can get in touch with either or both of the above. There is a chance Tony is out there with someone else, whoever it is might help us track him down more quickly. I’ll update as soon as I have any new information.”

<<>>

Loki and Engel had had a simple bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast with a glass of milk. They had then headed to the amphitheatre and completed three run throughs of their forms, at least Loki had. Engel could now manage five of the exercises really well, and a sixth to a lesser degree. Forms finished they headed to the newsagent to pick up a couple of bottles of water then headed back along The Parade towards the beach. Loki was wary of letting Engel into the toilets on her own to get changed, but he really didn’t have a lot of choice. He hurried to get changed so he was hanging around outside when she came out. 

Once she was out of the toilet block he took hold of her hand until they were on the beach. There was hardly anyone else around now, if Loki had been aware the schools had now returned as it was term time, it was mainly older holiday makers about now and most of them didn’t venture on the beach as much as the families. He placed a protective ward around their things and they headed into the water, romping around in the shallows to start with, then striking out to swim with smooth, sure strokes. The tide was heading out, so Loki kept a careful eye on Engel, but she was a strong swimmer. When they got out of the water, he used a little seidr to dry them off and they played catch with the ball for a short time, then built a sand castle as usual. This time it was long and low as they had space to themselves. A woman spoke to him “Shouldn’t your little girl be in school, dear?”

“My sister is home schooled. We spend so much of each day outdoors when the weather permits, then the rest of the day is bookwork. This afternoon we are going to be tackling physics. I have to go and pick some supplies up from Newton’s for our experiments.”

“Isn’t physics a bit advanced for her?”

“No, it’s one of her favourite subjects, isn’t it Angela? That and mechanics.”

“Yes, I want to be a mechanical engineer when I’m older, like my father. He’s a genius, bad tempered, but a genius.” Engel smiled at the woman who managed a tentative smile back. Girls had such strange ideas of what they wanted to be these days! She carried on with her walk. 

They packed their things up and headed back to the toilets to get changed back into their shorts and tops, Loki rushed to make sure he was outside once more waiting for Engel. Was he getting paranoid? His relief when he saw her was huge. He took her sandy things from her and buried them at the bottom of the rainbow patchwork bag, underneath the beach toys. He grasped her hand as they headed towards the shops. 

“Are we really going to Newton’s, Jack?”

“Yes, angel. I want to see if I can get you some ball bearings for your physics experiment.” She looked puzzled. “Your maze, angel.” He winked at her. Engel grinned, her Dada was smart. The hardware store had a variety of ball bearings, all different sizes. Loki bought her a selection, the woman at the till looked at him strangely “They’re for a science project.” 

“We’re using magnets.” Engel chimed in. The woman smiled at her.

“That sounds like fun.” Engel nodded enthusiastically.

They picked up four pints of milk and some fresh apricots at the supermarket. Then sandwiches and sausage rolls at the bakery. The sky was getting dark “I think it’s going to rain this afternoon, angel. We may be stuck in. At least we have things to do.” They headed back home via Brook Tea Rooms and into the sanctuary of their apartment. Loki unpacked their shopping and put most of the stuff away. The sandwiches and sausage rolls went onto plates for their lunch, along with mugs of hot fruit tea. 

<<>>

James Rhodes had a lazy morning, and after a late breakfast in the hotel had explored the pier, then headed up onto the green park above the amphitheatre. It was a pleasant enough place, but boring. There was nothing to do here. Apart from the beach, what was the attraction? Rhodey could not figure it out at all. He headed back down into the small town and into the White Swan, ordered a pint of lager and a cheeseburger and fries. He spoke to Tony, briefly, they were down in a bar in the centre of town. They were bored too. It struck Rhodey that the only two that weren’t bored were the two they were tracking. They were living their best lives.

<<>>

Loki and Engel spent several hours clicking together brick after brick. Loki’s project seemed to be a garden of some sort, he still had no idea what it represented, but something within him kept him moving the project forward, layer by layer. Engel had found a ball bearing she was happy with, and was building her maze around it. Outside it was grey and the rain battered against the french windows.

“Why don’t we take a break for a while and read? I’ll make us a drink and we can cuddle up on the sofa. We can come back to this after our dinner if you like?”

“OK, Dada. I’ll go and get my book from the bedroom.” Engel disappeared down the back hallway and Loki filled the kettle. He put rosehip teabags into two mugs ready to pour boiling water on them when the kettle boiled. Engel settled herself down on the sofa with her book and Fenris Wolf. Loki brought their hot drinks over and put them on the small coffee table, he picked up the journal and unwrapped the leather ties and delved back into his former self's childhood wanderings. The descriptions were absolutely meticulous, the maps detailed. He was quite sure he could turn up in Asgard and find his way around using these subterranean tunnels and get from A to B without any problem. What would he find as he got into the later journals? And how old had the other Loki been when he wrote this, not too old judging by the writing. Engel tapped his arm “Dada, where is that?”

“It’s some of the servant’s tunnels in Asgard. This one leads to the gardens, the kitchen garden, flower garden, then it branches off here and goes to the kitchen and laundry. That one leads to the Royal quarters, the princes suites, the nursery, then on to the kitchen and laundry via this little dog leg here. So that means by using that dog leg the other Loki could leave his quarters and get out into the gardens without anyone but the servants seeing him. From the gardens he could get out of the palace completely and no one would be any the wiser apart from Heimdall.”

“Wow! So he could explore wherever he wanted whenever he wanted?”

“More or less. This journal has lots of these maps, and they are all incredibly detailed. I don’t know if he was just exploring because he was bored, looking to escape or trying to find something in particular. Maybe I’ll find out as I go through them.”

“Maybe he was trying to get away from Grandpa.”

“Maybe, angel. We’ll set the table and then I’ll go and get us fish and chips as we are eating out on Saturday.” They stood up and took the mugs into the kitchen and rinsed them out. Engel laid the table and Loki got the plates ready. He pulled on his coat as it was still raining.

“Can I come, Dada? I don’t want to be here on my own.”

“Get your coat on then, sweet girl. It’s still raining out there.” Engel went and put on her brightly coloured raincoat, she left Fenris in charge of the apartment. They hurried along to the fish and chip shop and placed their order, Loki got Engel a can of coke. He hung their coats up in the bathroom to drip while they ate their dinner. Then finished the last glass of wine with his fish and chips while Engel drank her coke. He felt a little guilty, it was a lazy meal, he should have cooked, but on the whole what they ate was good food, and they had apricots for dessert. Loki cleared away their plates and brought through the apricots, he then brought himself a glass of water. 

“What are we going to do tomorrow, Dada?”

“It depends on the weather, angel. If it’s nice I thought we could get the bus up to the upper High Street and pick up the Priests Way Trail to Worth Matravers. Then get the bus back after lunch, there’s an interesting pub up there and you can also get out on the cliffs as well. But if it’s not so good we can have a lazy day at home, have lunch at Earthlights and go and pick Rufus up. We have to collect him at some point over the next couple of days, and see if we can get you a birthday cake for Saturday.”

“I’m getting a birthday cake?”

“If I can get one, angel. We’ll get something special anyway for Saturday after you have been to the Salted Pig Too for dinner.” Engel grinned at him “Go and wash your hands, you are covered in apricot juice. You can’t touch your Lego like that, it'll get all sticky. I’ll clear up.” Engel headed off to the bathroom and Loki washed the dishes after disposing of all the apricot pits. When she came back Engel started to dry the dishes he had already washed and between them they put everything away. Loki pulled the curtains after he switched the light on, it seemed pointless hanging on, it wasn’t getting any brighter outside. The two of them sat down at the table and started working on their projects, Engel kept checking that her chosen ball bearing would run freely through the maze she was creating. Loki had built several flower beds by now and pathways wound between them. There were benches started and partially built bushes and trees and a circular object. 

Loki stopped and made them their hot chocolate, he brought the drinks through to the table and they sipped as they clicked away with the coloured bricks, oblivious to the world around them. “Engel, sweet girl, it’s time to go to bed. I’ll come through and read to you in about ten minutes. Put clean pyjamas on, I’ll do the washing tomorrow at some point.”

Loki rinsed and soaked the dishes, and went into his own room and put out his own clean pyjamas, putting his dirty ones in the linen basket in the bathroom. He headed through to Engel’s room and read her the penultimate chapter of her book. He tucked her and Fenris in and stayed with her until she fell asleep, then he switched off her butterfly lights. 

<<>>

Pepper wasn’t altogether surprised when she received a phone call from Phil Coulson. She gave him both Happy and Rhodey’s phone numbers and wished him luck. 

Phil tried both numbers, but just got a recorded message from FRIDAY saying that they were unable to be contacted at present as they were away on business. Phil took that to mean that Tony was not on his own in this venture, whatever was going on, he had two others with him. He appraised the team, all of them. Nat sent a message to Loki, hoping he would pick it up the same day so he would be prepared. The more he knew, the better.

<<>>

Loki was tired, although they hadn’t really done much but play that day. Although the temptation was to have an early night he knew he had to check in with the SHIELD team to let them know that they were both OK. He signed into his email account on his Kindle and let his messages load. There was nothing from Phil, but a message from Nat. He half expected the usual chat, but his blood ran cold when he read her warning that wherever Tony was he had Happy with him and a man called James Rhodes. Nat recommended strongly that he carry his phone with him daily now, that he change his SIM card every day and if he saw anyone he was suspicious of, take a photo and send it in as soon as he possibly could. Loki emailed back to the daily email address and told her he understood and would ensure he always had spare SIM cards. He fished his phone out of his pocket dimension and put it on to charge. He checked his SIM cards, he had six, enough to keep them going for a good few days. He would make sure that every time they went to the newsagent or the supermarket he would get a spare one.

It was time to seriously think about going back to the safety of the compound. But first he wanted Engel to see Brownsea Island, after they had done that he would ask for extraction, he couldn’t keep her at risk, they would be safer with the others. He rubbed his face wearily and closed down his Kindle. He was just about to stand up when he heard a noise and turned quickly, dagger in his hand.

“Dada, can I sleep with you? I can’t stay asleep.” Engel stood there in her pyjamas holding Fenris by one ear.

Loki quickly flicked the dagger back into his pocket dimension. “Of course, angel. Go and get yourself into bed, I’m just about to come through myself.” Engel headed into his bedroom and climbed into his bed, shuffling over until she was near the window. Loki switched his dragonfly lights on, they softly lit up the bed. Loki put Rhubarb on his pillow and then quickly undressed and put his pyjamas on, he dropped his dirty clothes into his linen basket in the bathroom and then slid into bed beside Engel. He switched the lights off and put his arm around his daughter and pulled her towards him. “Come, angel, Dada will keep you safe.” He cuddled her and Fenris into him. Rhubarb snuggled up against the back of his neck. His weariness soon had him slipping off to sleep, Engel joining him, safe in his arms. 

Be vigilant, and remember who you are

<<>>

The sun woke Loki up, Engel was curled up at the other side of the bed, all that was visible was the tangle of her hair peeking out from under the covers. He smiled as he got out of bed and padded into the ensuite, the water was warm as it cascaded over his body, the soothing fragrance of his shampoo and body wash easing him into the morning. He cleaned his teeth and ran his wide toothed comb through his damp hair. He slipped on the turquoise robe and headed into the bedroom to sort out some clean clothes. Engel poked her head above the covers “Good morning, sleepy head. Are you going to have your shower?”

“Morning, Dada. I’ll go and start my shower.”

“Good girl, it’s a nice day, we’ll go up to Worth Matravers, but I’ll take our coats in my pocket dimension just in case. Trousers and walking shoes, angel.”

“OK, Dada.” Engel grabbed Fenris and headed through to her own room, pulled out her clean clothes then switched on the shower, she had slept well curled up next to her Dada.

Loki pulled on the new jeans that Lore had bought for him with his green Mantaray t-shirt, he pulled on his socks and walking shoes then headed through into the kitchen to cook breakfast. Sausages and tomatoes went into the oven to cook while he cracked some eggs into a jug and beat them with a fork ready to scramble them. He sliced some granary bread from the bakery for toast and dropped some of it in the toaster ready for Engel to deal with. They would need more bread, he could sort that out when they got back when he went to ask about a birthday cake. 

Engel came through in red trousers and one of her broderie anglaise blouses. She popped the handle down on the toaster and automatically laid the table for breakfast. She buttered the first two slices and put another two in the toaster then poured two glasses of milk and put them on the table. Loki started off the eggs and as soon as they were cooked he dished everything up and brought the hot food over to the table.

“Are we still going to get Rufus today, Dada?” Engel spoke before she took the last bite of her toast.

“We are, angel. Bakery first, then Corfe Bears as soon as we get back. There is only one bus back from Worth Matravers, so we need to be on it.” They quickly cleared the table and washed up. Engel headed into her bedroom and put her walking shoes on while Loki made his bed and opened the curtains. There wasn’t time to do their forms today, it was a brisk walk to the bus station for the first bus out to Poole, which would take them to Upper Swanage and the start of their walk.

<<>>

Happy walked with Stephen Strange to the bus stop in Bournemouth to have a break away from Tony who seemed intent on drinking himself into an early grave. He had never seen Tony this bad, even when he first came back from Afghanistan and his PTSD was really bad. It was a beautiful morning, yesterday’s rain had freshened the air and Happy felt glad to be doing something, even if it was keeping this man company, Strange by name, Strange by nature. 

The bus pulled in, and Happy said that he would see Strange on Friday morning, but to keep in touch with Tony as agreed. “Of course I will. I know what I am here for. I will find them, then hopefully we can get back to New York before Monday if possible.” Happy nodded and stood and watched the bus pull away. He headed down into the gardens just for a quick walk in the fresh air he told himself. 

He walked for around fifteen minutes then found himself a bench to sit on and scanned the scene in front of him. It was quite a nice place. No Central Park, but not bad for a place like this. He played with his phone and realised he had a text message from Pepper. She was trying to get hold of Tony as she had important documents for him to sign, did Happy know where he was?

Happy sent her a message back ‘We are on an impromptu business trip to Europe, hopefully back early next week. Tony doesn’t want to be disturbed. I’ll let you know when we are back in The Tower.’ Not only did Happy’s message go to Pepper, it went straight to SHIELD, and both Skye and JARVIS started to trace Happy’s phone, fighting against FRIDAY’s firewalls. Happy took a slow walk back to The Nici to see what sort of state his boss was in today, after his sensible breakfast had been followed by several whisky chasers.

<<>>

The Priests Way Trail took them across open countryside high above Swanage. It was a nice easy trek past Langton Matravers on to Worth Matravers, the views over the coast and the countryside were absolutely stunning. They made good time, Loki had his phone tucked safely in his pocket dimension, easy to call to his hand if he needed it. They soon reached the lovely little village at the end of the walk, sitting around a duck pond. The village pub, The Square and Compass, was where they would have lunch before they caught their bus back. There was also a tea room. They headed down a footpath that took them towards the cliffs, and they walked along the cliff path for a short while, Loki keeping a firm hold on Engel’s hand as the path was narrow and there were rabbit holes along the way. 

As it got close to twelve o’clock they turned back and headed back to the Square and Compass. Loki sat them at a table in the pub garden which was the most fascinating place, the tables and benches were made of stone, and there were strange wooden structures in the garden. Loki went inside and thought he had stepped inside a museum rather than a pub, there were cases full of fossils and skulls of different animals. Taxidermy animals abounded. Food consisted of pies or pasties. He ordered them a pastie each, a pint of local cider for himself and an apple juice for Engel. He asked if it was OK to bring his little girl in once they had eaten to look at the fossils, the publican said that it was fine. 

The food came out quickly and was good, hearty fare. There were other people out in the garden now eating and drinking. Loki checked the time on his phone, they had twenty minutes before the bus was due on the other side of the duck pond. “We can have a quick look at the fossils inside, but we can’t miss the bus back, angel, otherwise we will have to walk back to Swanage.”

“OK, Jack. We’ll keep a close eye on the time.” He took her inside and they gazed at all the different fossils on display. Everything was labeled and was totally fascinating. There was five minutes to go, and they reluctantly left, walked around the pond and joined the others waiting at the bus stop. The bus pulled up relatively on time and everyone got on, Loki and Engel headed upstairs to take in the view as part of the journey was different to the normal route. 

<<>>

Stephen Strange met up with James Rhodes in the Reception area of the hotel and dropped off his bag in Rhodey’s room until it was time to check into his own room. “Have you managed to discover their whereabouts at all or have you just kept a low profile?”

“After the episode in Corfe Castle I’ve kept a low profile. I think I’ve only seen two other coloured people in this town since I got here, I stand out like a sore thumb.”

“You need to get out there, otherwise he will just get more suspicious of you quite frankly. Look more like a tourist. Take photos of stuff, even if you're just pretending, browse the gift shops. I’ll try and ascertain where they are living, we won’t meet up outside of the hotel. We’ll come and go separately. Does that work for you?” Stephen looked at Rhodey.

“Yeah! You have no idea how he looks at you. It’s like he can see right through you.”

“That’s probably just because he has green eyes. There are all kinds of superstitions about people with green eyes, mainly to do with witchcraft and the supernatural. It’s just the way they scatter light, nothing spooky at all.”

“You head out now, then I’ll walk to the other end of the beach and make like a tourist in about fifteen minutes. I’ll see you later, Stephen.”

“Yeah, OK James.”

Stephen wandered around the town, just over fifteen minutes later Rhodey walked along the seafront to Ulwell and grabbed lunch at the cafe there. Stephen ate at the bakery, he just happened to be at the Post Office when the bus from Poole pulled in and two familiar figures got off and started to walk in the direction he had just come from.

<<>>

Jack and Angela walked straight past Stephen Strange without noticing him, and why would they? He was just an average man, nothing stood out about him at all, he was just checking out the goods in the Post Office window. Loki checked the time on his phone, they had ample time to get everything done before he needed to cook. They called into the second hand bookstore to see their friend there. “Hi, have you any more Alan Garner books, we are nearly finished the Weirdstone of Brisingamen?”

“Let me just check what I have for you, I’m sure I have another one.” The old man headed off into the far reaches of the shop and came back clutching two books “Here we are. I have two. The Moon of Gomrath and The Owl Service. I can put one to the side for you if you like.”

“We’ll take both, we have a bookshelf in our new apartment that is begging to be filled, so there is plenty of space for both.” The old man smiled, he liked these two. He popped the books in a brown paper bag and Loki handed him cash for the books. 

Next stop was the newsagent and Loki picked up a SIM card, he let Engel browse through the children's magazines and he quickly scoured the birthday cards. He found a pretty one with butterflies on it that was three dimensional. He quickly paid for everything and tucked them in the brown paper bag with the books. “Anything you want, angel?”

“No, Dada. I’m fine with the Lego.” They left the shop walking out past the tall man with the dark hair that was greying at the temples. He had a goatee that was almost the same as Tony’s, Loki thought. It must be a fashion choice, something he would never understand as he seemed to be incapable of growing facial hair. 

They headed into the bakers and the task of trying to get a birthday cake at short notice. Loki spoke to the woman at the bakery end of the shop and asked if they did such a thing as a birthday cake. She let them know that they didn’t do birthday cakes as such, but they could buy a whole cake which was iced that would perform the same function if it was just for family rather than a party. She explained that the most popular was the chocolate cake, which was sandwiched and iced with chocolate buttercream. She mentioned a few other choices but Engel’s tugging at Loki’s t-shirt made the chocolate her clear preference. “Can we order a chocolate cake for Saturday, please?”

“Of course, can I take a name please?”

“Yes, of course. My sister will come to collect it. Her name is Lauren Edwardson. Can we collect in the morning?”

“Yes, that’s no problem. Any time after we open. If you want candles for the cake they sell them at Newton’s.” The woman smiled at Engel, she knew exactly who the cake was for, and what little girl didn’t like candles! Loki bought a loaf of bread.

“OK, angel. Next stop is collecting Rufus, we’ll get your candle tomorrow.” Loki and Engel headed off to Corfe Bears, Stephen Strange shadowed behind them stopping every now again to browse shop windows while watching where they were going using the reflections in the windows to track them. They walked into the shop and spoke to the woman who took their small box down from the shelf, she opened it up to check that it was indeed Rufus inside, and Loki handed over his card to pay the remaining £100. He tucked the little box and its precious cargo into Engel’s backpack. As they were leaving the shop Loki glimpsed a familiar face crossing the road heading towards them. He positioned Engel next to the giant bear, took out his phone and took several photos. Only one of which was of Engel and the bear. He took a firm hold of her hand and crossed the road away from Rhodey and they headed down the lane towards Chococo. If he tried to follow them it would be very obvious that that was what he was doing. Loki’s heart was pounding rapidly, he didn’t know who the man was, but his bearing unnerved him. 

He took Engel across the main road to Newton’s “I thought we were going to do this tomorrow, Dada?”

“I changed my mind, angel. It’s just pasta for dinner, so it’s nice and quick to do. And then we have everything we need other than the cake itself!” He smiled down at her, trying not to let her see his tension. “And we can stop at the supermarket and get something for dessert for tonight and tomorrow as there aren’t many apricots left.” They found a selection of cake toppings in Newton’s and finally settled on a candle in the shape of the number seven rather than seven small candles. Loki also got a box of Household Matches so that he could light the candle, instead of using a witchlight, that way it would blow out properly. 

When they came out of Newton's, the coloured military man was nowhere in sight. Loki relaxed a little and they headed into the supermarket. He picked up another four pints of milk, they could never have too much, extra bacon and tomatoes, an apple pie and a carton of double cream. He pulled a carrier bag out of his pocket and packed everything away and they headed down Station Road to Brook Tea Rooms, then onto The Parade after he checked that the man was nowhere in sight. He inwardly heaved a sigh of relief once they were safely in their own space. As soon as he had put everything in the fridge he started to send the photos he had taken to Nat.

“What are you doing, Dada?”

“I’m sending Nat the photos I took of you with the bear so she can see how much you are growing. She asks about you every day.” It was only part of a lie. 

“I’ll take some on your birthday and send her those, she said we are safe as long as we only use the SIM card once a day.”

“You need to get the girl at the restaurant to take a photo of both of us so she can see how pretty you look in that dress.” Loki laughed at Engel, but he would do it so his little girl felt safe and Nat would like the photo of them both dressed up. Now the photos were sent he took the SIM card out of the phone and cut it up with the kitchen scissors, then threw it in the rubbish. He would put a fresh one in tomorrow morning. 

<<>>

Stephen was sitting in the hotel bar when Rhodey got back. He sat and had a drink with him “I’m sure he spotted me again, he was taking photos of the kid outside the shop with that big bear outside. We need to let Tony know, he should be able to track his phone surely.”

“Yeah, with all that tech at his disposal and now FRIDAY isn’t searching half of the south of England for the two of them it should be child’s play to find them. They didn’t do a whole lot when I was following them today. A bit of shopping, they didn’t head for wherever they were living that’s for sure.”

“Do you think he knows he’s being followed or do you think he’s just careful with their time?”

“I think he’s just careful with their time. I mean how is he to know he’s being followed? No one knows where we are, FRIDAY has that covered and we only communicate with each other on these phones, any outside calls are rerouted via FRIDAY.”

“That’s true. OK, let’s get you checked into your room and we can move your luggage. Do you want to eat in here again tonight or at the pub just down the road, it looks OK?”

“We’ll try the pub. I’ve no doubt we’ll be eating here all the time when Tony arrives.”

“True, although he’s hoping we’ll be on our way out of here ASAP.”

They put down their empty glasses and headed for Reception, unaware that Happy’s message to Pepper had already been intercepted by SHIELD and that both JARVIS and Skye were working to break through FRIDAY’s firewalls and defences.

<<>>

Loki and Engel spent an hour playing with their Lego before he got up and switched on the oven to warm up. In a pan he put a little olive oil and a crushed garlic clove to gently cook through, then added a finely chopped onion. Once it was turning transparent he added a tin of chopped tomatoes, black pepper, a drained tin of tuna and measured in some fusilli pasta. Once it was all mixed together nicely he added it to an oven proof dish and grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese over the top. It went into the oven to cook thoroughly. He tossed together some baby salad leaves in a bowl and chopped some cherry tomatoes and radishes up and added them into the mix. He went back to play with the Lego while his Tuna Pasta Bake cooked. 

About ten minutes before everything was due out of the oven he pushed everything to one side “Angel, set the table for me while I finish everything off. Apple pie for dessert, and we need forks and spoons for dinner, I think it may be a bit messy!”

He wandered into the kitchen and tossed the salad after adding a little lemon juice to it to brighten it. He added it to the centre of the table then took the pasta out of the oven, it was bubbling fiercely. He served it into big bowls rather than onto plates then put the apple pie on a tray and put it in the oven to heat through while they ate. He dished up some salad for each of them and they sat down to eat. It was very simple, but tasty. He ate the remains of the salad then cleared the plates and rinsed them before he put the kettle on to make them tea. While it brewed he dished them up a quarter of the apple pie each and a generous amount of double cream. He knew Engel’s preference would be ice cream, but he would try and fit that into her day tomorrow. He brought the steaming mugs of tea over and they indulged in their dessert, once again something very simple, but good fuel for both of them and it was made with proper apples not a pie filling, so it was relatively healthy. 

<<>>

Nat was teaching her first class of the day when she felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her judogi. She quickly glanced at the screen and when she saw who the message was from she excused herself and told the class to just keep repeating the exercises while she took an urgent message. She opened the photos that Loki had sent her, two showing James Rhodes quite clearly, the third of Engel standing next to a giant stuffed bear with Rhodes just visible in the background. “JARVIS, can you distribute this message to everyone urgently, please.”

“Of course, Ms Romanov. Do you need me to do anything further?”

“Not at present. I’m sure Director Coulson will have instructions for us later.”

“Is Mr Ash safe, Ms Romanov?”

“I hope so, JARVIS. I hope so.”

Nat returned to her class and put them through their paces. She looked forward to Loki’s return so he could see how she had incorporated his forms in with her own and created something new. She felt he would approve, and how lovely Engel looked in her brighter clothes and fresh faced look.

<<>>

Once they had washed up the temptation to play with Lego instead of a game or a film was just too great for them both. Parent and child sat across from each other, one raven haired, the other chestnut haired but both with the same silky soft waves to their hair and intense green eyes now they were behind closed curtains. They were both deeply concentrating on the projects for different reasons. In Engel’s case it was ensuring the ball bearing could flow freely through the maze from one level to the next. Loki was still working on building up his layers, the benches were nearly completed now, as were most of the shrubbery, the fish pond and part of the tree trunks. In the fish pond he had used tiny bits of seidr to create the fish underneath the clear blue blocks. 

He stopped what he was doing to make them their hot chocolate and as he brought it to the table he casually said “Are you sleeping with me tonight, angel?”

“Is that alright, Dada?”

“Of course, sweet girl. Whenever you need to. I’ll do the washing in the morning before we go out, so make sure you put everything in your linen basket before you come through, OK?”

“OK, Dada. What are we doing tomorrow?”

“We’ll walk along the beach to Ulwell and have lunch there at the cafe. And ice cream on the way back. Sound good?” Engel nodded enthusiastically. They sipped their drinks and continued with what they were doing until Loki decided it was time for Engel to go to bed. She got changed, grabbed Fenris and slipped into Loki’s bed. He read her the final chapter of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and tucked her and Fenris in, leaving his dragonfly lights on. “I won’t be much longer, sweet girl. I just need to check in with SHIELD and see to a couple of things.” He kissed the top of her head, put Rhubarb on his pillow and headed back into the living room. 

He rinsed and soaked the dishes, then put Engel’s dirty clothes into the washing machine ready to add his own things to in the morning. He settled down with his Kindle, there was a quick email from Nat to say how much Engel had grown and how lovely she looked. A soft smile crossed his face. Then he opened the email from Phil Coulson and his worst fears were realised. Phil identified the man in the photos as Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, best friend of Tony Stark, also known as War Machine, possessed of a suit as powerful as Stark’s Iron Man one. SHIELD needed Loki and Engel to be extracted as soon as possible.

Loki felt the cold finger of fear run down his spine, his precious alone time with his daughter was coming to a close, they were at risk. A stray tear slid down his cheek, he would not let her know, she was seven years old in two days time, let her have those last few days of freedom before she became closeted inside a building yet again. He replied to Phil that he would pack their things up over the next couple of days if Mack and Hunter could extract them on Sunday they would come back to the compound. 

Loki looked around at their comfortable living room, their familiar things and allowed the tears to flow quietly for a few minutes before he dried his eyes, headed into his bathroom and splashed his face with warm water. Then he changed into his pyjamas and slipped into bed cuddling Rhubarb into him. Engel was deeply asleep, he switched off the lights. He listened to his little girl breathing on the other side of the bed, and tried to match his own to hers. His emotions kept betraying him, but gradually his eyes grew heavy with sleep and Rhubarb nuzzled him affectionately as best as she could.

Be brave, winter child, you have things yet to discover about yourself and your daughter…

<<>>

Tony, as always, had gone to bed full of alcohol. The last few nights his dreams had been very disturbing, nightmarish in fact. He repeatedly dreamt that his beautiful Lore would turn into that killing machine of a Loki whenever she turned towards him in the middle of the night. Several times she had flickered from one form to the other repeatedly as she had that first night, driving him from his bed to vomit. Most frighteningly because they were facially so similar. Obviously bodily they weren’t, he didn’t know which aspect was worst. 

He got up and downed a coffee. Hopefully today or tomorrow they would find their lair, and then they could capture her and force her to remain in her female aspect. Strange was convinced he could achieve this without any problem using a facility he already had in the Sanctum in New York. Tomorrow afternoon, Happy would drive him to the hotel in Swanage, and the Lodge he had booked. He would meet up with the other two and hopefully by then they would have all the intel he required. He opened what at first glance looked like an earbud container, nestled within was a couple of pieces of nifty nanotech that he had invented. Let’s see Loki deal with that with his sneaky magic! Tony stumbled back to bed and fell back into the drunken stupor that he called sleep. This time it was dreamless.

<<>>

Loki woke early, it wasn’t even dawn yet, Rhubarb was snuggled up against his neck. He pulled her down to his chest. How was he to explain to Engel that they were leaving on Sunday and had to start packing things up, it would break her heart. The only saving grace was that they were going back to people who genuinely cared for both of them. He moved carefully across the bed until he was closer to her, he could feel the warmth coming from her, but he wasn’t actually touching her, therefore she didn’t wake. He started to doze again as his mind sifted through the things they had to do. If she kept sleeping in his bed they could pack up most of her room, just keeping out the clothes she would need for the next few days. Likewise he could pack most of his clothes and the majority of their books…he went back to sleep. His internal alarm woke him up at more or less his normal time and he shuffled across the bed so as to not wake his little girl up. He padded into the bathroom and after stripping off stood under the soothing warm water of the shower. He dried off and slipped on his lovely robe, cleaned his teeth and combed the tangles out of his hair.

Back in the bedroom he pulled on his grey chinos, grey and white striped shirt, and grey tweed waistcoat. It was a little cooler this morning. Socks and walking shoes went on his feet. He emptied his linen basket and loaded everything into the washing machine, pushed a detergent pod underneath the pile of clothes and set the programme. He sliced bread ready for toasting, cracked eggs into the jug and whisked them thoroughly before putting them to one side. He warmed the grill and added bacon to the grill pan ready to go under the heat once Engel came out of the shower. Obviously the noise from the kitchen had roused her and she padded through the kitchen towards her bathroom, wishing him a ‘good morning’ on her way through, Fenris in her hand. 

As soon as he heard the shower switch off he put the bacon under the hot grill. He added butter to a large frying pan and added the eggs to it over a lowish heat. He added a handful of cherry tomatoes to each plate, gave the eggs a quick stir and poured out two glasses of milk. Engel came through dressed in russet trousers and a cream t-shirt. She popped the bread in the toaster and took the milk over to the table. Loki started to stir the eggs properly, creating fluffy scrambled eggs, quickly checking the bacon. Everything was OK. Engel laid the table, set the second two slices of bread off to toast and buttered the first. Loki smiled gently at her. Engel noticed his smile was a little sad, she wondered what had upset her Dada. She buttered the second two slices of toast and took it to the table. Loki switched the cooker off, dished up the scrambled eggs, then added the bacon, more for him than Engel, then took the plates over to the table. 

They ate the food while it was still hot, Loki cleared the plates, then brought them over the last of the apricots to finish off with. “Angel, I have told SHIELD that we will go back with Mack and Hunter on Sunday as they are worried for our safety. I know it’s not what we really wanted, that we love it here, but keeping you safe is the most important thing. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Dada. Is that why you are sad?”

“I guess so, angel. I wanted you to see as many things as possible. We will start to pack away our things and I will store them in my pocket dimension.” 

“It’s OK, Dada. I have had the best time. But I will miss doing things with you outside. Do you think SHIELD will let us go outside sometimes?”

“In the grounds, certainly. And Clint said they would take us to Central Park Zoo sometime. We have lots of memories though, and I will sketch them in my art classes with Steve. I’m sure he will want to see them.” Loki stood up and began to clear up the plates and glasses and carried them through to the kitchen. He started to wash the dishes and Engel dried them and put everything away. The washing machine started its spin cycle. Loki put his glamour in place and became Jack, and opened the curtains and the french windows to let some fresh air in. 

The two of them hung their clean clothes up then headed into Engel’s room. Loki pulled down her suitcase from the top shelf of her wardrobe. They put to one side her clothes for her birthday and some jeans, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt for Sunday. Then they packed up the rest of her wardrobe into the small case as best they could, Loki left space for her lights, unclipping them from the Command Hooks and wrapping them in a t-shirt to protect them. He did the same with her snowglobe, wrapping it in a couple of her blouses. They started on her drawers next, taking out what clean underwear and socks she would need for the next couple of days. He stuffed what he could into the little places in her case then zipped it up. There were a couple of blouses left, her sandals, her raincoat and all the clothes that were drying. “We will need to pick up a big bag of some kind to fit everything else in. We should be able to get something at Newton’s on the way back from Ulwell, and some boxes to put our Lego in. I will put our books in a carrier bag, they can be stored now.” Engel looked a little tearful, he pulled her into a hug, holding her close to him for quite a while. Needing comfort from her as much as she needed it from him. 

“Are you up to helping me, angel? Or do you just want to play?”

“I can help you, Dada.”

He wandered into the kitchen and found a strong carrier bag. “Can you pack our books into there for me, sweet girl? I will sort mine and Lore’s clothes out. Leave my journal out and whatever you are reading, and your bedtime book.” 

“Yes, Dada.” She took the carrier bag from Loki and headed to the bookshelf. 

“Don’t touch Henry, sweet girl. He will be the last thing we pack.” Engel nodded in understanding, he was part of their protection. 

Loki opened his bedroom curtains and quickly made his bed. He brought his case down and left a pair of black jeans and his green Mantaray t-shirt on the bed for Sunday. He started to fold jeans, trousers and shirts into the case, there wasn’t much room left. Like in Engel’s room he unclipped his lights and wrapped them in Lore’s teal striped t-shirt, he wrapped his angel snowglobe in his grey t-shirt, then he added his beautiful robe into the case. He filled the gaps with some underwear and socks. They might need two bags, depending on how big they were. He zipped up his case. And put it in the wardrobe out of sight. He checked on Engel, she had finished, he took the carrier bag from her and headed through to her bedroom. Her wardrobe was bigger than his, he put the carrier bag in the bottom and her case to keep everything tidy.

“OK angel, if we put the clothes we are going to wear tomorrow and on Sunday into an empty drawer, we know that everything else has to be packed up later on. It just keeps things tidy. I’ll empty the food out on Sunday morning after we have had breakfast while we wait for Mack and Hunter to get here. I’ll just lock the windows up and we can go out for our walk.” He gave her a quick hug and walked into the living room and closed the french windows and locked them. Engel was just behind him. Loki cautiously checked out of the front door before they stepped out onto The Parade, there was no one there. He closed the door behind them. They headed out onto The Parade and then onwards to the promenade in the direction of Ulwell. There was a slight autumnal bite to the air, but the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Loki kept a tight hold of Engel’s hand. It was a walk they had done several times, it was perfectly safe, but he felt the need to keep her close. 

<<>>

Yards behind them on the opposite side of the road, a tall distinguished looking man strolled along with a copy of The Times tucked under one arm. He was dressed simply in a white cotton shirt, a pale blue Ralph Lauren sweater and navy blue trousers. He seemed to be minding his own business, occasionally glancing at the seascape to the side of him. If he happened to catch a glimpse of the young man and the little girl who were walking along hand in hand, well that was pure coincidence.

Stephen Strange had left James Rhodes wandering around the other end of the small town, towards the pier and park until Tony arrived. He had headed through the town centre and decided to explore the beach area, the newspaper was a disguise. It made him look more English as did the choice of clothes. He had no idea where Loki and Engel had come from, they were already ahead of him when he spotted them, but he had soon made up some ground. Now all he needed to do was keep them in sight as casually as possible. Maybe he could even get a bonus out of Stark for this!

The pair walked at a steady comfortable pace suited to the girl’s shorter legs, sometimes stopping to watch something out at sea, one or other of them pointing out things, but at no point did the young man let go of the young girl's hand. Strange hoped that when the time came to take them that Stark had a way to separate them to make his task easier, he didn’t want to have to deal with the child. His focus was purely on the adult, the shapeshifter. And now he had him in his sights he was fascinated by him. He would enjoy studying this individual once he was in containment. 

He watched as they stopped at a cafe at the end of the promenade. Here was an opportunity to observe further, he could stop as well, it was perfectly natural, there were others sitting outside in the autumn sun as well. He crossed the road and found a seat not far from the pair. He glanced at the menu. The waitress had already taken Loki and Engel’s order, Stephen ordered an Americano and a ham sandwich. He spread the newspaper on the table and pretended to read while he kept an eye on the quarry.

<<>>

Loki and Engel had stopped and watched a black headed gull trying to swallow a fish it had caught, the fish was huge! It was having a lot of trouble swallowing it but eventually it managed to get it into its gullet and then it could swallow it. “I didn’t think he would manage that, Dada.”

“No, angel. Neither did I. I thought he was going to have to let it go. That just shows that he knew more than we did.” They reached the cafe and took a seat and looked at the menu. Even though they would probably order what they normally did. The waitress came to take their order and Loki ordered two bottles of sparkling water, a cheese and chutney sandwich, a ham and tomato sandwich and a portion of chips. The water came out straight away and Loki poured it out for both of them into the glasses they had been given with ice. They sat and sipped while they waited for their food to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long, neither did the man with The Times who was doing the crossword, who would take a bite of his sandwich, then continue filling in answers, ballpoint pen in hand. Loki tried not to stare, he was wary of absolutely everyone at the moment, but this middle aged man looked harmless enough. Paranoia was creeping in. He swapped a sandwich with Engel so they had one of each variety and they began to eat. 

“Angela, do you want some chips?” 

“Just a few, Jack. I’m saving some room for my ice cream.” Loki laughed softly, he put some chips onto her plate and she stopped him when she had enough. He took the rest for himself. They sat close together, their knees touching under the table, seeking the closeness of each other.

<<>>

Happy had packed both his bag and Tony’s into the car and Tony had settled the huge hotel bill without even flinching. They walked down to The Real Greek for the final time and had lunch, Happy settling for water while Tony downed several beers. He kept patting the pocket of his jacket, Happy wondered why. After lunch they picked up the car from The Nici car park and drove to the chain ferry at Sandbanks and then on through the countryside to Swanage. Rhodey met them and they went down to the Red Lion for drinks after Happy parked the car. Rhodey let Stephen know where they were.

“Where is he?” Tony asked.

“Out trying to spot our two fugitives. I hope he has better luck than we have had so far. We have seen them, but have no idea where they are living.”

“I want us out of here as soon as possible, so the sooner we track them down, the better. Let’s hope the magician has some luck.”

The Sorcerer Supreme was indeed having some luck. He watched the two youngsters pay, then leave hand in hand. He folded up his newspaper and put the pen in his trouser pocket. He paid his bill, let them get some distance ahead then followed them, crossing over to the other side of the road again. 

They stopped at one of the concession stands and the little girl left with an ice cream in her hand. Stephen looked into the window of the Tourist Information Office, he could see their reflection in there, he watched them head towards Station Road. He turned and followed, keeping a sensible distance away on the opposite side of the road, sometimes using shop windows as mirrors to observe. He watched them head into the hardware store, he didn’t venture in, he needed to see where they went from there.

<<>>

Loki and Engel wandered around Newton's, they picked up a couple of plastic boxes to pack their Lego models into, then they found some large laundry bags that they could pack the remainder of their things into. The cashier packed everything into a large carrier bag for them. Loki thought to himself that that would come in useful to pack their dirty clothes into to keep them separate from all their clean things.

They headed down from the shop and round the corner by Brook Tea Rooms. There were several people sitting outside in the afternoon sunshine, and a man stood and glanced at the menu. Loki glanced down The Parade, there was no one around other than the patrons of the tea room. He inserted his key in the lock of number twelve and Engel stepped inside first. Loki followed, closing the door behind them. They headed upstairs and into their flat. They were totally unaware that they had been spotted. Loki dropped the bag into Engel’s bedroom and made them a cup of tea and they sat and played with their Lego projects for just over an hour.

<<>>

Tony’s phone rang, it was the wizard. “Where are you, Stephen?”

“I know where they are. At least I know what building they are in. Rhodey will tell you where to find it, they are on The Parade. I’m at Brook Tea Rooms. I’ll stay here.”

“Fuck me, wizard! You're brilliant! We’ll be there real soon.” Tony turned to Rhodey “We need to be somewhere called The Parade, Brook Tea Rooms. Strange has found the building they are in.”

“It’s only about a ten minute walk from here, Tone. No distance at all. Let’s finish our drinks. I’ll text Stephen and let him know. He can keep an eye on the place and let us know if they leave.”

“Good thinking, Platypus. Looks like we won’t be here for long at all.”

<<>>

After Nat had let Hunter know that they would be extracting Loki and Engel on Sunday she sat in the communal lounge and gave out the orders she needed completing in time for the two of them coming home. 

“JARVIS, I need you to unlock the apartment and arrange to get it thoroughly cleaned and the bedrooms and bathrooms made up for Engel and Ash to take up occupation from Sunday. I don’t care if we have to pay them overtime.”

“Order sent out, Miss Romanov.”

“I am going to type you out a list of toiletries and foodstuffs to stock up the apartment and the panic room. Again, delivery as a matter of urgency. We need to change the access code on the panic room as well. We don’t want Tony to be able to get in there.”

“I have set it to 0000, Miss Romanov. When you are ready I will talk you through the procedure to set the new code.”

“Thank you, JARVIS. I will discuss with the others and agree a new code. Sorry it’s short notice, but I know that you are more than capable of dealing with this.”

“It will be good to have them back in the compound, Miss Romanov.”

“Yes, it will be JARVIS. Keep me updated on progress please.”

“Of course, Miss Romanov.”

<<>>

Loki stretched. “I’ll make us another cup of tea and we’ll take a break and I’ll read to you if you like.”

“Yes, please Dada! I’ll get my new book, and Fenris.”

“OK, angel.” Loki rinsed out their mugs, boiled the kettle again and made them a fresh drink. He carried them through and put them down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He sat down and put his journal on the end of the table closest to him to read later. 

Engel came through with Fenris under her arm and a book in her hand.

“What are we going to be reading, sweet girl?” He asked as she snuggled up to him, Fenris on her knee.

“The Moon of Gomrath, Dada.”

“OK, let’s get started then.” He opened the book and started to read the first page in his soft baritone.

<<>>

Happy had opted to stay behind and check them in at the hotel and put their luggage in the lodge they were going to be staying in.

Tony and Rhodey walked down the High Street, across the road and along The Parade to join Stephen at Brook Tea Rooms. “Well, where are they?” Tony was as direct as ever.

“They are in the second house down from here. I don’t know which floor they are on, but that’s the building.” Stephen remained calm. 

“Well, let’s go and check it out. Shall we gentlemen?” Tony mockingly waved his arm in the direction of number twelve. They wandered along and stood outside the three storey house. The ground floor was unoccupied. It was hard to tell if anyone was on the first floor or the second floor. Tony pulled the earbud box out of his pocket and took out a tiny nanobot. “FRIDAY, activate Goldeneye.” The tiny little bot spread out gossamer wings, Tony issued instructions for it to fly up to sit on the balcony railing, they all watched as the tiny little bot alighted on the railing. “OK, let's get out of sight somewhere in case someone looks out of the window.” The three of them headed down towards the outside eateries and grabbed coffees and sat with them and watched what was unfolding on Tony’s phone.

At first the picture from Goldeneye was blurry, but FRIDAY adjusted the image for them. In a corner the golden sunlight of the afternoon streamed through the french windows filling the room with a soft glow. A bookshelf sat in an alcove next to a comfortable looking sofa. Beside it was a coffee table with a couple of steaming mugs of tea on it. Sitting nearest the bookshelf was Jack Edwardson looking calm and smart with his mousy brown hair and gold rimmed glasses balanced on his nose. He wore a neat grey waistcoat over a grey and white striped shirt and he held a colourful paperback book in his hand. His other hand gently rested on the shoulder of his little sister, Angela, who was cuddled into his side. She had wavy chestnut brown hair and curious eyes, and her much loved toy wolf, Fenris, was sitting on her lap. As Jack read to her he smiled softly showing how much he cared. The warm light around them almost looked like a glowing halo showing how strong their bond was. But there was a quiet worry too. Jack held her just a little too tightly and on the table in front of them was an old black leather bound journal and hidden within its pages were maps that hinted at secrets from their past. The moment felt peaceful and safe yet full of things left unspoken, a mix of love, protection and quiet strength.

Rhodey took a deep breath “He doesn’t seem to be much of a threat to me, Tone. She seems perfectly safe and dare I say content with him.”

It was the wrong thing to say “Don’t you remember The Battle of New York? That’s the fucker that pushed me out of the window of the Tower, that brought an alien army to New York. And you are telling me he doesn’t look like much of a threat! And that’s my daughter he has there.”

“Cool it, Tone. She is not afraid of him. Every time I have seen that child with him she has been happy, content and safe. I am perfectly willing to help you get her back, but he is not a threat to her is what I am saying.”

“Just make sure you are on my side, Platypus. Otherwise we will cease to be friends once this operation is over.”

Stephen intervened “Does the child have powers?”

“No, of course not. She’s perfectly normal.”

“Good, then it’s just the young man I have to deal with. That’s just a superficial glamour he has over himself, I observed him in action today, all he has done is change his eye colour, hair and add glasses. An incredibly simple disguise. He seems to expend minimal energy, what can you tell me about him physically?”

“He’s fucking fast, and strong. He is thin, but there is muscle under there. He does some fancy martial art stuff. His preferred weapons seem to be daggers, but we have kept him well away from any blades.”

Stephen gave a short nod. “I will create my spells of binding to compensate to keep us all safe until I can get him in containment. It will work like clockwork. You just need to get us inside there so we can capture him.”

“Goldeneye will monitor them from now on. Once we know they are out of the apartment for any length of time, I have a handy little tool that will get us through any normal door lock with minimal fuss. How will you get him out of there, Strange?”

“Portal straight to the Sanctum in New York.”

“Can you take me and Engel too?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Great. That means no one will think we are kidnapping her. Rhodey, you can fly back to DC with Happy, then he can come back to New York once he’s dropped you off. OK, guys, let's head off and get ready for dinner and let FRIDAY and Goldeneye do their stuff.”

<<>>

The light had started to dim, Loki got up from the sofa and switched on the light and pulled the curtains over the french windows. He dropped his glamour, half lowered the blind in the kitchen and started to prepare their dinner. It was fairly simple tonight as they were eating out tomorrow, so bought salmon encroute with roasted vegetables, and they had some left over apple pie to use up.  “Angel, can you set the table for me?”

“Yes, Dada. Can we play with our Lego later?”

“Of course we can, sweet girl. Pour out some milk for dinner, we can get a couple of pints tomorrow when we go to get your cake. They sell it at the newsagent.”

Engel finished laying the table and poured them a glass of milk each. Loki dished up their dinner as soon as it was finished and carried the hot food over to the table. “Eat what you can, angel. There is apple pie for dessert. I can finish what you can’t manage.” She did quite a good job, and Loki finished off what was left of her salmon, it was an adult portion, he hadn’t expected her to eat everything. He cleared their dinner plates and fetched over their apple pie and cream, unaware of the insect that was floating around outside the kitchen window. 

After they had eaten Loki washed up and Engel dried the dishes and put them away. Once everything was neat and tidy they headed back through to the table and worked on their Lego. They had their usual halfway break of hot chocolate, worked some more, then Loki chased Engel off to his bed. He read her one more chapter of The Moon of Gomrath, then tucked her and Fenris in. There were no pretty dragonflies to provide a soft light tonight, so he used the light above the mirror in the ensuite, so there was just a gentle glow. She would hopefully sleep soon. 

Loki settled back down on the sofa and switched on his Kindle. There was a message from Nat to let him know that they were getting the apartment ready for them coming home. They were going to reset the code on the panic room, was there a four digit number he would like to use? Where the number came from he had no idea, it just popped into his head - 1712 - he typed. He also let her know that they were looking forward to seeing everyone. He didn’t mention that they didn’t want to leave! He signed out of his email and put his Kindle on the bookshelf next to Henry so it wouldn’t get forgotten.

Then he pulled out of his pocket dimension the card he had bought for Engel. It was covered in butterflies, he retrieved a pen from the same place and wrote in it. Then put the card in its envelope and placed it on the table for the morning. Then he picked up his journal and carried on reading where he had left off. He found his younger self exploring Asgard’s Library, with detailed descriptions of each section, where his favourite books were held, and the various tapestries. He started to yawn. Time to get some sleep.

Loki headed into the bedroom, Engel was fast asleep. He undressed, put on his pyjamas, switched off the light in the ensuite and slid into bed carefully so he didn’t disturb his little girl. He cuddled Rhubarb into his chest, and soon slipped into a fairly sound sleep. At some point during the night both Loki and Engel moved together in their sleep and cuddled into each other. All was peaceful. Outside the kitchen a small insect shaped bot settled on the windowledge to rest its wings until morning.

<<>>

Tony could barely sleep and as he was sharing a lodge with Happy it was a bit of a problem. He took a bottle of whisky into his bedroom with him and poured a generous measure into the glass. He soon knocked it back. He had watched the footage from Goldeneye several times over now, seeing the change from Jack to Loki, watching him cook for Engel and himself. The more he watched it, the more angry he became. He vowed that tomorrow he would be rid of Loki forever, that Lore would take his place for good, then he could have his perfect family around him. His lovely, well behaved daughter and her beautiful, vivacious mother.

He slumped on the bed, glass in hand, and when it was empty he filled it up from the bottle. Unlike Loki he had completely forgotten that it was Engel’s birthday. There was no JARVIS to remind him, and FRIDAY was unaware. He finally started to feel drowsy again, and put the empty glass down and laid down still on top of the covers. He couldn’t wait to be back in his own bed in the Tower with a room that was a constant temperature. How did the English cope with all these fluctuations throughout the day and night? Weird country.

<<>>

Loki woke up and carefully untangled himself from Engel and Rhubarb. He padded through to the bathroom, undressed and switched before she stood under the gentle waterfall spray of the shower. She washed and conditioned her hair before she dealt with the rest of her. She wrapped her hair in a towel to soak up the moisture and then dried herself before she put her pyjamas back on. She cleaned her teeth, then ran her comb through her damp hair. Lore then headed from the ensuite into the living room and opened up the curtains to let the morning light shine in, then she fully opened the blind in the kitchen. The movement woke up Goldeneye’s sensors and the bot started transmitting again. 

Lore opened up the fridge door and took out the bacon, she switched the grill on to heat up and put four slices of bacon on the rack ready to cook. She cracked two eggs into two cups ready to fry. Engel walked into the kitchen. “Good morning, birthday girl.” Lore picked her up and swung her around and then kissed her on the cheek.

Engel giggled. “Good morning, Dada. Why are you wearing your pyjamas?”

“So our good clothes don’t smell of cooking, sweet girl. Now go and have your shower and put your pyjamas back on. We’ll get changed once we have done the washing up. OK?” Engel nodded enthusiastically and headed off down to her bathroom. Lore heard the shower start and cut four slices of bread and buttered them. She stuck the bacon under the grill to cook. She added oil to the frying pan and let it start to warm up, ready to turn high when she heard the shower switch off. While she waited she set the table and poured out their glasses of milk. She heard the shower switch off, turned up the heat under the frying pan and as soon as it was hot she added the eggs one at a time to fry them. Engel came through into the kitchen and Lore told her there was nothing to do, she could just sit down. 

Lore made up their bacon and egg sandwiches as soon as everything had finished cooking and brought them over to the table. She had added a small number of cherry tomatoes to each plate, leaving just enough for Sunday’s breakfast. They ate quietly concentrating on their food, unaware that they were being observed by the small insect that was now resting on their balcony. Food finished, they drank their milk and Lore handed Engel her birthday card. Engel opened it and was delighted by the 3D butterflies, and then she read the message ‘To my darling daughter, have a wonderful seventh birthday, you make me proud every single day. I will protect you every day of my life, Dada xxx’

“Thank you, Dada. That's beautiful.” Engel put the card back up on the table, she would have to pack it in the morning, but then it would go up in her bedroom in the compound. They finished off their milk and cleared everything off the table and Lore filled the sink with hot soapy water and washed the dishes.  Engel dried them and put them away and once Lore had wiped down the benches, cooker and table the place looked spotless.

“Right, we just have to pack away our clean clothes and the remaining stuff in our rooms and then we can get changed into our new dresses.” Engel grinned, she was so excited about putting on her fancy new things and going out in them. “Get everything that's left in your drawers and wardrobe and put it on your bed and I’ll gather my remaining clothes and bring them through to your room and then I can pack them up in one of the bags we bought yesterday.”

Engel ran through to her room, she hadn’t very many things left, Lore on the other hand had a lot and her armfull was pretty big. She opened up one bag and folded up her clothes and Loki’s first, and put them in the bottom of the bag, then she added Engel’s. Then she went into the child’s room and took the clean clothes from the clothes horse and folded everything and packed it away carefully in the bag as well. There was still space in it, but not enough for their Lego models, but certainly enough to take the finery they would be wearing today and their toiletries after their showers in the morning. Lore put the bag in Engel’s wardrobe. “Do you want me to help you with your dress, angel?”

“I think I can manage, Dada. I’ll come through to you if I can’t.”

“OK, I’m going to make my bed and get changed. I’ll see you soon and we will go and get your cake.” Lore walked back into the living room and then into her bedroom, she put Rhubarb on the floor, then made her bed. She picked Rhubarb up and settled the rabbit between the two pillows, touching the rabbit’s nose gently with her fingertip. She pulled out her beautiful black silk underwear from the chest of drawers. It was a strange thing to have found in her pocket dimension, but it was obviously hers - it fitted her perfectly. She got her new dress out of the wardrobe and stepped into it. It was cotton, but had a sheen to it that made it look special, a very deep navy, sleeveless fitted dress, the shape was simple, but the pattern was anything but. From the fitted waist up to the neckline, and down to the middle of the length it was a riot of small flowers of various shades against a plethora of leaves of different shades of green. It elevated the simple into something very special and very grown up. She pulled up the zip, the length fell to just above her knee, on others it would be longer. She slipped on her sandals then pulled open her bedroom curtains. She changed her nail colour so it matched the rose pink of her lipstick, just a shade darker than her natural lips, then she brushed her hair until it gleamed. 

“Dada, can you fasten the sash on my dress for me?” Engel wandered into the living room in her very pretty deep rose pink dress, made up of many layers of gossamer thin material that swished about as she walked. Lore fastened the satin ribbon in a big bow at the back making sure it fell as evenly as possible. She then took her brush to Engel’s hair to bring the same gloss to her daughter’s chestnut waves.

“”I’ll take a photo for Nat.” Lore grabbed her phone and inserted a fresh SIM card then placed both of them by the french window so that the sea was in the background and took a selfie. She emailed it straight to Nat using the last email address she had been provided with. “I’ll get someone to take a proper photograph later on for her. Let’s go and get your cake and the milk and then we can enjoy your day.” 

Goldeneye followed them across the road to the bakers where Lore picked up the cake put to one side for Lauren Edwardson. It was neatly boxed up and tied with string, the girl behind the counter popped it carefully into a carrier bag for Lore after she took payment for it. The pair headed along to the newsagent and picked up a two pint bottle of milk and then crossed the road to head back home.

<<>>

Just outside of Wareham, Mack had finished his breakfast and got behind the wheel of the inconspicuous black 4x4 that belonged to the farm they were using as a hideout. “I won’t be long, Hunter. I’ll just fill her up for our trip tomorrow and grab some supplies for the flight home for the four of us.”

“OK, Mack. I’ll get as much straight here as possible and check the Quinjet. It’s going to be a long flight for those two, they aren’t used to it, so I’ll stick some pillows and stuff in to make it a bit more comfortable for them.”

“Yeah, good thinking. See you in about half an hour, bud. Don’t work too hard, I would hate you to exhaust yourself!”

“Go on, get outta here, Mack!” The pair laughed as Mack headed out of the driveway and Hunter went back indoors to assess what needed to be done. He would be far happier once they had Loki and Engel safely in their hands.

<<>>

Tony had joined the others for a late breakfast in the hotel dining room, he had spent most of the morning so far nursing both a hangover and his StarkPhone watching the footage from Goldeneye unfold on the small screen. Footage of his very beautiful Lore, and his daughter.

“Well, I can see what the attraction is, Tone. But isn’t the age difference a bit awkward?” Rhodey broached the subject of the elephant in the room.

“Age difference, Platypus? Don’t be fooled by how she looks. She’s over a thousand years old. Remember she is an alien being.”

“Then there is still an age difference, Tone. But as your friend, I will point these things out to you, and always have your back. You know that.” Rhodey tapped the table with his finger.

Strange looked at Tony, “When are we going to take them?”

“Tonight, when it’s dark. I think they’ll go out to eat, then we will go in and capture them when they come back. Everyone pack your gear up, Happy will load it in the car. Once we have Lore and Engel, Strange will take the four of us straight to New York. Rhodey will go in the car with Happy and fly to Washington in the Jet. That’s our plan and we stick to it. It will distance us from each other. Nobody can tie Strange to this. I will have Engel with me in the Tower. Rhodey will be back where he should be. Lore will then come to me of her own free will in time as far as the world is concerned.” Tony stretched with a satisfied grin on his face. It was all coming together quite nicely. The fact you could drive a bus through his plan was irrelevant, everything always worked out for him, he was Tony Fucking Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist!

<<>>

Lore put the milk in the fridge, then carefully took the cake box out of the carrier bag. She put the bag in the cupboard, that would come in useful tomorrow for the remains of the cake. She carefully undid the box that held the cake and slid it onto a plate, then inserted the candle on top. She put the matches next to it and a large knife. Then she added a couple of small plates and forks. That was everything set up for later. 

“Get your backpack, angel. We are going out to show the world how beautiful you are and then we are going to have lunch. It’s a nice day, so I thought we could have a stroll along the pier in our finery. What do you think?”

“Yes, Dada. I will miss walking along the pier, so that would be perfect.” Engel almost ran to her room and stuffed Fenrir into her backpack then slipped it over her shoulders. She was back in the living room in no time at all and the two of them headed downstairs and onto The Parade, followed by Goldeneye. They walked hand in hand to the pier and purchased their tickets, getting a cheery smile from the man at the ticket office. As always they read the brass plates on the planks as they walked the length of the pier and back. This time they headed into the shop and cafe at the end of their walk. 

“I would like to buy a plaque on the pier, please.” Lore said to the woman in the shop. The woman told her it would cost £50 and the money went towards keeping the pier repaired. She handed Lore a form to complete. In the space for what they wanted on the plaque she wrote ‘Loki Odinson & Engel Starksdottir 2015’, the form went on to say that they would post out a photograph and certificate. Lore explained to the woman that they lived in the USA, could it be emailed? The woman said that it could, so Lore put down the Edwardson email address. She handed the form to the woman and paid their fee by card. “We have left our mark on this pretty little town, my angel. I hope we can come back one day to see it.” Lore kissed the top of Engel’s head. 

Holding Engel’s hand tight they walked past the amphitheatre for the last time and up through the park and crossed the road to walk along Marshall Row past The Studio. They both nodded their heads gracefully at it like the royalty they were as they went past, then they headed down onto the bottom of the High Street, past Serendipity and Corfe Bears to cross the road by the library and headed into Earthlights. They sat by the side window watched over by the ever vigilant Goldeneye. Lore ordered them sandwiches, a greek salad to share and pink lemonade to drink. She needed extra food to maintain her energy levels so she had a piece of coffee and walnut cake and Engel had ice cream. They ate leisurely, there was no need to hurry, they had nowhere to be. 

They finally headed back to the apartment and they sat at the table with their Lego. Lore stood up after an hour and made them a mug of tea each. She then carried on clicking her bricks in place, she was at the final stages, this was delicate work. Each branch on the weeping tree was a different length. She sat back and sighed when she finished. Engel looked up from the fourth layer of her maze. “Dada, that’s Grandma’s garden, even down to the fish in the pond. I remember those!”

“Its a real place?” Lore looked puzzled.

“Yes, Dada.”

“Why do I keep making models of real places?” Lore tipped her head on one side.

“Maybe it’s your memories trying to come through.” Engel gave a surprisingly adult answer to Lore’s question.

Lore sighed “I wish they would come through in the right order and in the same format, it would make life so much easier. And it would also help if I knew where these places were and what they meant. I suppose it will all come together eventually, perhaps the journals will help with that. How is your maze coming along?”

Engel demonstrated the layers of the Lego maze she had constructed so far. Lore had a go and got the ball bearing stuck twice, the third time she got it right. “So clever, my little girl. Imagine what you will be able to do when you are older.” Engel gave her a hug in return. “It’s nearly time for us to go out, then when we come back it’s cake and hot chocolate time.” Lore lifted her up and Engel laughed.

“I love you, Dada.”

“I love you too, angel.” Lore put her back down on the ground and ran a hand lightly over her daughter's hair affectionately. 

<<>>

Sitting in the garden of The White Swan Stephen, Rhodey and Tony watched the footage over beers as it came through from Goldeneye.

“You can see there are very minimal glamours in use here.” Stephen pointed out “The lips are slightly fuller, as is the face, making it softer in appearance from the boy. The nails have had a colour change, all just superficial things. The body is female though, so definitely a shapeshifter.”

“Well that’s really reassuring.” Tony replied sarcastically “I would hate to think that the mother of my child was a man 100% of the time, it’s bad enough that he’s a man most of the time.”

“Are you sure that separating them is a good idea, Tone? They are very close.” Rhodey looked at his friend questioningly, the affection he was seeing on the screen was all too evident.

“They will only remain separate until Lore comes to understand that being female is the best way forward. Then we will be one happy family.”

“Right, OK, I guess.” Rhodey fingered his bottle of beer.

“Now, Strange, you see that rabbit on the bed there. That is a magical rabbit and could cause problems, it doesn’t vanish like the one at the party.”

“That was a mouse, Stark, and a clever illusion. That is a store bought toy rabbit from what I can see. Why would it cause problems?”

“It’s ears and whiskers twitch. I’ve seen it happen at night.”

Both Rhodey and Strange looked at each other, they had both seen how much alcohol Tony consumed each night, it was unlikely that the toy rabbit did anything of the sort. Then they saw Lore and Engel leave the apartment, Goldeneye followed them and they saw them enter Salt Pig Too and after a chat with a server who took their photograph they were seated at a table and given menus.

“OK guys, this is our cue to move. FRIDAY, alert Happy to get into position on The Parade in two hours from now to pick up Rhodey. We’ll finish our beers and head out to their apartment and our surprise welcoming committee.”

<<>>

Lore and Engel were both having Venison burgers, something nice and simple. Lore was having cider to drink, and Engel was having apple juice. While they waited for their food Lore checked her phone and emailed the new photo that had just been taken to Nat. She handed the phone over to Engel so that she could see the photo herself. 

“Oh, that’s lovely, Lauren. We should get that printed out when we get back.”

“That’s a good idea, Angela. It will be a lovely memory of this trip. I’ll ask Steve, I’m sure he will help.”

Their food arrived, and they started to eat.

<<>>

The three men approached 12 The Parade. Tony pulled out the earbud case again and pulled out a small tool. He approached the downstairs door and set his second nanobot in place and it started the task of unlocking the door for him. Once through the door they moved upstairs quietly and the little bot did its thing on Seaspray's front door. The three men walked through, and unbeknownst to them a tiny little gadget registered that there were more than two people in the apartment and triggered the microphone attached to Henry the Duck sitting on the bookshelves.

In Loki’s bedroom something else also registered that there was something wrong. Rhubarb moved from the middle of the bed and dropped gently to the floor, she moved under the bed and hid as close to the window as she could get, tucked into the darkest corner. She stayed perfectly still, to all intents and purposes the stuffed rabbit she always appeared to be.

The men moved from room to room, the apartment was immaculate, there was very little out of place. Tony face palmed when he saw both the birthday card on the table next to the Lego models and then the birthday cake with the candle waiting to be lit in the kitchen. Perhaps his daughter’s seventh birthday was not the best day to do this, but he would make it up to her later. He would buy her a lavish cake and lots of presents. He moved into the bedroom and saw the Father’s Day card and picked it up to read. He was furious when he read the message in Engel’s simple hand ‘I know you are really my mama, but you are more father to me than my real father. I love you always, your Engel xxx’ His instinct was to tear it up, but Rhodey walked in, so he just slammed it down instead. Maybe less presents.

Rhodey stayed in the bedroom doorway, hidden from sight. He would only get involved if necessary. Strange and Stark hid in the hallway that led out of the kitchen towards the back bedrooms. They made not a sound. 

They heard the door of the apartment open and Engel’s excited voice in the living room. “Can we light the candle on my cake now, Dada?”

Then that soft velvety voice “Just let me close the curtains first, angel, then I’ll do that for you. Then you have to make a wish as you blow it out.”

“I know what I want to wish for”

“Don’t tell me, if you tell me, it won’t come true, sweet girl.”

Tony heard the curtains close and then heard the footsteps change as they went from carpet to floorboards, the lights came on under the kitchen cabinets. Then he saw Lore moving in front of him, she had her back to him, totally unaware he was there. Her glossy black hair falling to her shoulders. He watched her strike a match to light the candle on the cake. Then Engel came into view and Lore stood to one side to let her blow out the candle.

“Did you make your wish, angel?”

“Yes, Dada.” 

“Good girl. Go and sit at the table. I’ll cut some cake and make us some hot chocolate.”

Engel turned to go and Tony gave Strange a quick hand signal. They both moved fast. Strange created orange glyphs of magic that encased Lore who cried out in shock as Tony grabbed hold of Engel.

“Mama!” Engel cried out, despite her panic she remembered her codeword. But then sharp fragments of ice seemed to fly from her at Tony and Strange that stung as they hit. Tony shook her.

“Baby girl.” Lore sobbed “Don’t hurt her, she’s just a child, she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Can’t you see she’s terrified.” Lore was frantic, struggling against the magical restraints that bound her to try and get to her frightened daughter. “Baby girl, my angel, take deep breaths.”

Engel tried to follow Lore’s instructions and the ice stopped and Tony held her tight, spots of blood dripping from his face and hands where his skin was exposed. Safely hidden in the bedroom Rhodey was OK. Strange had also been hit by the ice, as had Lore, but she was more concerned for her daughter. 

“Get us out of here, Strange. Rhodey, you need to rendezvous with Happy and follow your plan.” Tony grimaced as Engel wriggled and kicked out. 

Suddenly there was a big orange circle appeared in the living room, Lore recognised it as a portal as she could see what lay beyond, Strange motioned for Tony to go through, then Strange followed with Lore firmly restrained, her seidr bound and totally useless to her.

<<>>

The codewords rang out across all of SHIELD and Mack and Hunter were on the road within thirty seconds of receiving them, but it was thirty seconds too late. By the time they arrived at The Parade and Seaspray everyone was long gone and the apartment stood empty. Hunter put the light on, there were drops of blood and water on the floor, Engel’s birthday cake stood virtually untouched on the kitchen counter. He banged his hand on the counter in frustration. Mack was on the phone to Steve as he checked the bedrooms to let them know they were too late. He handed the phone to Hunter.

“Cap, there are no real signs of a struggle, I think they were taken completely by surprise. But there are blood drops on the floor.”

The voice on the other end retained his composure and issued orders. Strip the apartment of all their belongings and bring them back to base, throw away all the perishables. Blot up the blood and bring that back to base for testing to see who it belonged to. Hunter handed the phone back to Mack and ran his fingers through his hair.

“She didn’t even get to have any of her birthday cake.” Mack patted his partner on the back, he knew Hunter had spent more time with these two than he had which was why he was on this mission. Hunter pulled himself together and grabbed the kitchen roll and dropped a square at a time on the floor to soak up the spots of blood. Mack searched through the cupboards and found some plastic sandwich bags. He put one square into each bag then stowed them in his pocket. He then used damp kitchen roll to wipe the floor and threw it away in the rubbish. They started in the back bedroom and opened the wardrobe and found virtually everything neatly packed away in cases and big bags. Mack carried the full bags down the stairs while Hunter took the hardly used bag and went from room to room and started to pack things in it. He found the plastic boxes for the Lego models and packed them away. In Loki’s bedroom he found the Father’s Day card which went in the bag and Rhubarb, who was sitting on the floor by the side of the bed. She went in the bag too, then back in the living room he added Henry the Duck, Loki’s Kindle and journal. 

Mack looked at Hunter “Is there much left to do?” 

“The rubbish to sort out. The Lego and this bag to go downstairs. What do we do with Engel’s cake?”

“I vote we take it with us back to SHIELD. Better than wasting it.”

“OK, I’ll fold the box back up. You take this back downstairs. I’ll sort the cake out and deal with the rubbish, then we will haul the Lego downstairs, it’s pretty heavy!” Hunter started to fold the box back up around the cake and found a carrier bag to put it in. He then emptied the fridge and cupboards of any food, there was very little left, Loki had obviously kept everything run down ready for leaving tomorrow. He took the rubbish downstairs with the cake and opening the front door put the cake carefully in the car, then wandered around the building until he found the bin. When he got back upstairs Mack was waiting for him. He had opened the curtains, they went around checking that they had everything then moved the Lego box onto the landing. They closed the door behind them after they switched the light off then humped the heavy box downstairs. After a short breather they lifted it into the back of the car, then packed everything else in. Mack started the car and they drove back to the outskirts of Wareham in the dark. They would load the Quinjet in the morning and head back to the compound.

<<>>

Lore looked around her, wherever they were was subterranean. It was cold and damp, cells lined the room hewn by hand from rock, the walls facing into the room were of glass or some other crystalline substance. She shuddered, Engel would not cope in this place. The man holding onto her, sorcerer, she corrected herself, pushed her towards one of the cells. 

“This one has been specially set up to contain you, it’s designed for a shapeshifter, to stop then shifting from one form to another. You will have the use of your magic returned to you once you are in the cell, but you won’t be able to shift.” Stephen Strange looked at her as if he was giving her a gift.

Lore looked at him aghast “You are sentencing me to death.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You will just stay in this form until you accept it as your true form, then you will be released.” Strange talked down at her as if she was an idiot.

“You don’t have much experience with shapeshifters do you?” Lore asked as Strange pushed her into the cell and sealed her in, then released the glyphs that bound her “We have one true shape, and one true shape only. This is not mine.” Lore looked sorrowfully at Engel, what must her little girl be going through at the moment, she must be terrified and there was nothing she could do to help her. She mouthed the words ‘Angel, I love you. Remember that.’ to her precious child. 

Engel kicked and struggled in Tony’s arms, she screamed “Dada!” 

Stephen Strange looked at Tony “Right, we had better get you home.” He created another portal and Tony saw with relief the familiar sight of the lounge in The Tower. Home.

Lore gazed on in despair, at least Engel still had her butterfly backpack, and tucked within it was Fenris. At some point in the future, her little girl could hopefully find Nat and their spell book. By that time Lore would be dead and the resurrection spell could begin again. There was only one other hope, but it was the most unlikely of all…Thor.

Outside her cell a small winged nanobot watched her and an AI recorded her every moment.

Every move you make, every step you take

I’ll be watching you