Monsters and Magic

Chapter 31

 Frigga wasted absolutely no time opening the barrier of your cell. You could barely open your eyes and didn't bother just for Frigga. Not even when she stepped in and carefully lifted you into her arms. You should have been concerned. You should have cared, but you couldn't even muster that much. All you could manage was a tiny whimper, while you tried to ignore the call of the hot blood in her veins. A call you were too weak to answer if you'd wanted to.

You should have also cared that Frigga had lifted you in her arms, but Asgardians were strong, you were small to begin with, and you could barely care about anything but not being in pain, and the call of the hot blood in her veins. It took more effort than you wanted to admit to fight back those thoughts. You knew it was understandable given what you'd been through, and you also knew that it was only because you could scarcely move that you weren't automatically acting on that impulse, despite that it was something you'd never do.

You felt the swirl of magic around you and you found yourself laid on a soft bed that smelled of Loki. It smelled so safe and comfortable that you relaxed into it and barely noticed that Frigga was trying to get you to tell her how to help you. She was the strongest healer in the realm, but she didn't know how to help a vampire. So there wasn't much she could do until Loki arrived.

/How is she, Mother? I will be there as soon as I can. Thor and I are on our way to the Birfrost now/

He found Thor and only had to tell him "She's been found," before Thor was running with him wherever Loki needed him to go. Thor would follow him to the ends of the realms if that's what it to to get you back safely.

"Where?" Thor asked as they ran past the other Avengers.

"Asgard," Loki replied, loudly enough that the rest of the team would hear and know what was going on.

/She is in dreadful shape.../ Frigga wouldn't insult her son by mincing her words. /I do not know how to help her and she either cannot or will not tell me. All I've been able to do is take her to safety. We're in your suite/ she added, sounding sad that she couldn't do more.

/We'll be there soon/ Loki promised and broke the connection so he could focus on returning to Asgard as quickly as possible.

They were already outside and to the Bifrost circle. He grabbed the hammer from Thor and raised it impatiently to the sky to call Heimdall. The Bifrost opened an instant later and they were soon in Asgard again. He finally got his head on straight and remembered there were faster ways of getting places than running and grabbed Thor's arm to teleport them both to his quarters.

It didn't surprise Loki at all when Frigga had a blade drawn at their sudden arrival, or the bolt of golden magic in her other hand. She was prepared to defend you from whatever danger might threaten you. You were her charge. She sighed in relief when she realized it was her sons who had arrived and only long years of training kept her dagger from clattering to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I did not know how to help her besides to bring her somewhere safe," she told Loki. He nodded gratefully at Frigga for even that much help before he spotted you on the bed and his heart broke at your condition, how emaciated and frail you were, especially since you hadn't even opened your eyes at the commotion.

Loki ran to your side, sitting on the bed next to you. "Darling? Y/N, wake up, dearheart. Come on darling, open your eyes!" he bid you so very worriedly.

You made a pathetic noise as you fought to crack your eyes open to look up at him. "Loki?" you croaked through a hoarse throat and cracked lips.

Tears were in his eyes at how frail you looked and sounded. "It's me, I'm here. You're safe now, sweetheart. What happened, darling? Tell us how to help you," he bid you, though he knew. You saw in his eyes that he knew how to help you, of course he did, but he still needed to know what had happened. He needed to know if you were still in danger before he got to helping you.