"I am impressed by what you have accomplished here so far. The theater is even grander than I had come to believe from your diagrams and explanations." The Allfather commended as we strolled down the great set of steps that led up to the theater as we were readying to leave. Below us on the cobblestone streets, the Einherjar were preparing our horses.
Lord Baldur bowed low as we came to the bottom of the stairs, "Your praise is too high, my king. None of this could have been brought about without your patronage. Both Lord Bragi and I are endlessly grateful for your sponsorship of this project."
"Indeed, my king." Lord Bragi agreed, dipping into a smooth, low bow as well.
Odin-Loki mounted Sleipnir, taking his reins and pulling him around to face the artistic lord, "And I have high expectations for your upcoming triumph of the grand opening performance."
"You shall not be disappointed, I assure you." Lord Bragi bowed low again. He then bowed towards me as I gathered up my reins in my hands, having mounted Kari with a little help from the nearby guard, "And be looking for correspondence from me, my lady."
"Yes, of course. It'll be a hard decision choosing a song..."
My mind started shifting through the songs I knew from earth, trying to weed out the songs that weren't in my range or that wouldn't fit such a grand stage as Asgard's new theater! The more I thought about the songs, though, the more I remembered singing in the shower and having Grams join in a duet with me through the bathroom door to tease me, or listening to music from the last handful of decades with Steve, or lazy Saturdays where I'd be cleaning or chilling and just have songs playing in the background. I twisted my reins between my fingers as a lonely weight like heavy fog grew inside my chest. Huh, homesickness... I had wondered when it would find me again...
"I am eager to see what your realm has composed." Lord Bragi broke through my thought process as the four of us offered our formal farewells.
"Farewell gentlemen." The king said with a final nod before pulling Sleipnir around and we started riding off through the city in the same way that we had come.
I rode silently beside him, my attention drawn inward, trying to suppress the unwelcome homesickness and focus on starting to pick a song. If I was going to sing for such an elite crowd, I needed to make sure that I chose a good one! I couldn't make a fool of myself up there. Oh gosh, what was I thinking allowing myself to get swept up in this? This wasn't singing in the privacy of my own home where there was no one to judge or even just singing for a trusted loved one, this was far bigger! Much bigger and much farther from home than I'd ever expected to be! I glanced over at Loki, trying to remind myself of his support, when I saw that he was already eyeing me pensively.
Surprised, I blurted out, "What?"
Loki shrugged, feigning casual interest while his intelligent eye inspected me closely, trying to read my expression. "What is on your mind?"
I sighed dramatically, trying to hide the nervous melancholy I'd seemed to have fallen into, "So much. All the time."
"We are both similar in that I think." Loki chuckled, but I could tell that he was unconvinced. The man knew me too well. I swear that he could read me like a book. He contemplated me for a second or two longer before he nodded his head to the side, giving Sleipnir's reins a quick tug and veering off course. His voice had the tone of a decision having been made, "I would like to show you something."
I raised a brow at him, turning Kari around to follow him, "Okay. What is it?"
"Allfather?" One of the guards behind us ventured to ask, obviously confused why he was leading us off the course they had been escorting us along. It now looked like instead of heading towards the huge golden palace we were heading in a completely opposite direction.
"We are changing courses." The king answered vaguely, glancing out of his peripheral vision at me to flash me one of his slightly mischievous smiles, "Just a little side stop."
My curiosity was thoroughly piqued now, "Is this going to be one of your surprises?"
His only response was for his smile to grow wider across his face.
He led us through the streets of Asgard around the massive golden mountain of a palace, heading in the general direction of the sea. After a while, we came to a wide main road that led between the palace and the long rainbow bridge that would end at the Bifrost. I looked over in surprise at Odin-Loki as he started following along this road, heading towards the great golden globe that was sitting far out into the waters. Why was he taking us to the Bifrost? Weren't we trying to avoid the direct attention of Heimdall, who was the one man in all of Asgard who could listlessly look our way and end up discovering Loki's whole ruse? Why were we riding right up towards where he guarded the gates of Asgard?
I kept my peace and followed after him, marveling as we started riding over the flashing multitude of colors that was the rainbow bridge. Far below us, the ocean's waves undulated and crashed against the bridge and off in the distance was an unmistakable sound of the huge waterfall that was literally the edge of this world! As we approached the Bifrost, I started being able to see the intricate carvings like rays of sun that were carved into the orb's overlapping gold disks, and after a little while longer I could see the figure of a golden guard standing watch at the Bifrost's opening.
Stopping just outside of the huge golden orb, Odin-Loki motioned for me to dismount as he gave orders to the guarding einherjar to remain out here with the horses. Taking my arm he led me the last dozen meters towards the awaiting guardian of the Bifrost, he called out his greeting, "Hail good Heimdall."
"My king." Heimdall bowed his head, not moving from his position otherwise as we approached. His stoic featured showed no emotion, but his tone was questioning, "What brings you here?"
"Homesickness." The Allfather answered. I stiffened as soon as I heard the word. I guess I hadn't hidden my melancholy thoughts as well as I'd hoped. Odin-Loki smiled down at me as he felt my hand tighten on his arm, "My companion is too good to me to complain, but I know that she has sacrificed much to come here and bear the responsibilities that she has. I thought that checking up on her home world might bring some joy to her heart."
"Seriously?" I asked, looking up at him in surprise. I could do that? I could get a few snippets of info about those I'd left behind? See how they were doing, know that they were all right?
Odin-Loki was careful to offer me only a sort of grandfatherly smile as he nodded, "I have told you that Heimdall is blessed to be able to see and hear all that occurs in the nine realms if he chooses to turn his attention there. Where would you like him to look for you?"
I considered this for a moment before turning to the golden-eyed guard, "If it's no trouble... would you check up on some of my friends?"
"As you wish, my lady." Heimdall obliged in his deep voice before he picked up his sword that he'd been holding almost like a cane in front of him. He then led the way into the huge orb to another opening on the other side of it. I gasped as I came to a stop beside Heimdall, staring off into the infinite expanse of space. Here, on the very edge of the realm I could see a cosmos of stars like it was nighttime and there was nothing between me and that swirling void of the galaxy. The Allfather stepped up beside me, staring thoughtfully into the expanse as well as Heimdall gave me a patient look of askance, waiting for my request.
"Steve first... he should be in the apartment building close to where I was bifrosted from when I first came here." I hardly had to think about who to check in on first. I knew that Steve would probably be the first to know that I'd disappeared. I wanted to know that he was alright. That he was dealing with my sudden disappearance well. Hurriedly, I started describing my dear friend so that Heimdall would know what to look for since he most assuredly didn't know Steve. "He's blond and tall and muscly kinda like Thor but more clean-cut."
Heimdall stared off into the distance for a few moments, his eyes shifting as he looked through the lightyears of stars to reach little ol' earth. After a second or two he said, "I see no one like that in this building."
Mild panic bubbled in my stomach. Not there? Had he... he hadn't moved, had he? No, calm down. He was probably at the Triskelion then. I started describing as well as I could where the S.H.I.E.L.D. building was. When Heimdall found it, he alerted me that the building was looking kind of worse for wear, which worried me, but I tried to focus on where Steve probably would be, "Maybe he's in the training gym?"
A second later, Heimdall replied. "I see him."
"How is he?" I asked, taking a step closer to the golden guardian, staring into his face as he stared off into the distance.
Heimdall caught on to the concern in my voice, the corner of his lip curling into a kindly smile as he assured me, "He is well, training with a woman with red hair."
"Nat!" I whispered excitedly to myself. So, whatever conflict they'd been having had dissipated! Good. It was good that neither of them was alone
"They are both holding their own against each other." Heimdall commented.
"I don't doubt it." I grinned, imagining the two pitting themselves against each other. I remembered when Clint and Nat had coaxed Steve and I into a friendly duel months ago. Was anybody doing that now? Was Rumlow or the other agents chanting at the super soldier and the assassin? "Is there anyone else with them?"
"There is a man with a bow watching them and laughing." Heimdall chuckled, "He is goading them on."
Clint! Barton is back! Who else would be toting a bow around except for Hawkeye? When had he returned?
"I'm glad that he's with them." I sighed with relief before glancing over at Odin-Loki to explain my obvious excitement, "He'd been gone so long on a mission, I was worried that something had gone sideways."
Heimdall's brows rose up his forehead, showing surprise as he spoke up again, "Sire, you may want to know that Prince Thor just walked in. He is talking with the archer and the two combatants."
Thor was there too? I thought he was still supposed to be in the UK with Jane! My mind started whirring as I tried to figure out what could've happened that would have made S.H.I.E.L.D. call Thor in to the U.S. Was something important going down?
"Ah, my son." Odin-Loki responded coolly, though I could feel the muscles of his arm tense. I looked up at him from the corner of my eye to see that Loki had maintained a very Allfather-like expression, his act not slipping for a second. Releasing my arm, he strode over to the other side of the gatekeeper. "How is he? Does he look well?"
"He seems determined. They are training for a recovery mission of some kind." Heimdall nodded, glancing at his king for a second before returning his eyes to the expanse of space, "The two men who walked in with Prince Thor are talking with him and the archer."
"What do they look like?" I had my suspicions as to who these two men were, and it turned out that I was correct as Heimdall described two men with dark brown hair, one with a trimmed beard and the other nervously adjusting his glasses. Tony and Bruce, there was no doubt that it was them! If S.H.I.E.L.D. had called Thor in along with Clint, Nat, and Steve, then it only made sense to complete the set and assemble all the Avengers. I nodded, satisfied as I pictured them grouping together in the Triskelion gym. "So, they're all together."
I was smiling as I gazed off into the starry expanse, and yet I noticed a thin trail of warmth run down my cheek. Raising my fingers to my face, I felt the wet warmth of the tear that had escaped my eye. Was I crying? I suppose I was as another tear fell from my other eye. I wiped at my face as my vision blurred with more tears, sighing softly as I felt my breath hitching in my throat.
"Penelope." Odin-Loki's voice was soft, almost questioning as he seemed to notice my quiet tears.
Heimdall turned his attention to me, offering me another kindly, knowing smile, "You care very much for them."
I nodded as I turned my face down, brushing away the evidence of my tears, "I do. They're my closest friends... it was so hard to leave them. I didn't even get to say goodbye to most of them." I cleared my throat, sniffing before I lifted my face again to regard the stars, looking straight ahead, "Do they... do they look happy?"
"They seem in good spirits."
My lips still quivered a bit as they drew themselves into another soft smile, "Good."