When an Asgardian paces the floor nervously, it isn't a quick, quiet shuffle of the feet back and forth; it's a heavy-footed, thumping stomp that could be felt through the structure around him. Thor wasn't accustomed to the feelings that were churning in his stomach, and the dark, fatalistic thoughts rolling through his mind. Even in the worst situations, he had some semblance of self-assuredness, and a way of finding a solution either through or around any problem. But this...this was new territory for him, and he had never felt the incompetence and lack of faith in himself that was happening now. His only child had been taken from him, and he was blinded by terror of what you were going through with every minute that passed without you.

"Thor, you have to sit down. Or take off your boots, or anything that will take that damn incessant noise away. I can't be the only one getting a headache from that," Tony grumbled. He wasn't trying to be insensitive; he had been working for hours to find you, and a headache would only slow him down.

"I can't rest until she's found."

"You don't have to rest, just stop wearing a hole in my floor."

Thor groaned and moved to lean slightly against a nearby wall, very animatedly stripping away his boots and tossing them to the ground with a loud thud. He was staring at Tony without so much as a blink to ruin his point, and as soon as the footwear was no longer a problem, he went right back to his pattern of pacing the floor.

"Thanks," Tony nodded. "Now, with that disaster momentarily averted, I might be able to pinpoint a signal that might be her tracer. Bet you're happy that I insisted on that now, aren't ya?"

"If it works, then yes," Thor agreed. He took a few final steps of his path before he turned back, moving to stand next to his teammate. The god was an imposing figure just to be next to on a good day, but when his anxiety had hit a peak and his concern had never been so raging, Tony would have preferred to get the headache from the pacing after all.

"Thor, I know that I asked a huge favor in taking off the boots-"

"Yes, I was very generous in appeasing you."

"Totally, and it meant a lot to me for sure. But, if I might ask just one more, tiny, little...really small...request?"

"What?" Thor sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"Could you maybe stop breathing down my neck? It's a convoluted mess of overheated, creeped out, and if we're being honest here, a little aroused, and the last person in the universe that I want to make jealous is your wife. She scares me, Thor."

~~~

Being taken from your home should be a terrifying thing; being whisked away in the darkness of night, with no way to see who was taking you should be traumatic and horrifying. But it wasn't. Sure, the act of being taken was unsettling and you did have a few minutes of true fear, but it was quickly washed away when it became obvious who it was who was doing the taking.

You had been in the same room for a few hours now, at your best guess, anyway. You hadn't seen anyone and your surroundings were silent, like it could be a torture method for someone who might fall prey to it. If you were scared, it might have worked. What did finally work, however, was when a man burst through the door in a startling explosion, grabbing you and tossing you across the room like you weighed nothing.

"Get up!"

"This is what we're doing?" you groaned, pushing yourself up on unsteady feet. "I thought this abduction would be more civilized."

The man bolted forward to grab you again, but your only defense was to put your hands up to try to stop him with an involuntary squeal escaping your throat. Neither of your parents had trained you for anything like this, and any time that you had asked to try, they shot you down. Oh, how you couldn't wait to rub this in their faces that you were right. Your hands just barely connected with his chest and he stopped, another hand coming from the dark to grab his shoulder to stop him.

"Leave us. There's been a change of plans."

"Then why did you even try?" you snorted. You took a step back and dusted the dirt from your clothes with a few waves of your hand. "If this is all it took to cancel your big kidnapping plans, then that's just a waste of resources."

"I was unaware that you were so helpless."

"I'm not helpless," you argued, taking a step forward to try to see him, but the sound of his voice finally clicked in your mind with recognition. "I just haven't had a chance to be...helpful."

"Your father is the God of Thunder and your mother is a Valkyrie, so how is it that you aren't skilled in protecting yourself?"

"I think you answered your own question, Uncle Loki. With them around every minute of the day, I really don't need to be. Believe me, I've asked, and they just don't think that now's the time. Although, maybe I should thank you for the abduction. I bet it changes their minds."

"That wasn't my intention," he mumbled under his breath, but you caught it nonetheless.

"Please don't tell me that you were going to use me in some stupid plot against them. Dad said that you didn't do things like that anymore, and to have it be me is just cruel. Come on, do better."

Loki turned away, thinking about what he was going to do; he still had his plans that were now effectively ruined, and his conscience was beginning to creep up on him enough to bother him. You were related, after all, and yes, this was a cruel thing to do after Thor had finally come to trust him. Your mother was truly terrifying, and he still carried pain from their last meeting many years before. He had to ask himself if this was really worth what he had planned to carry out.

"Is the morality that hard to figure out, Uncle?"

"For me, it often is. However, I will return you home," he relented, with a wave of his hand to bring light to the small room you were being held in. "But, I have a proposition for you."

"That sounds encouraging," you scoffed, but his expression seemed like he was actually being genuine, and you couldn't risk taking advantage of this surprise. "I'm sorry, please, go ahead."

"I would appreciate if you would refrain from mentioning to your parents why I have you here, that it wasn't of honorable intent. In exchange, I will offer you my services as teacher, so that you might learn to defend yourself should something happen where it is needed. I will take a role as your protector, since Mommy and Daddy don't seem to be pulling their weight."

"Because you were doing such an admirable job of protecting me by kidnapping me?"

"Consider it an...apology...if that makes you feel better."

"Fine, I'll take it, but I'm not sure if they're going to willingly let you do that, Uncle Loki. It seems a little suspicious that we would just happen to show up back at home at the same time. They're going to put it together that you were the one who took me."

"True..." he sighed. Loki brought a hand up to his chin as he thought, opening his mouth every few seconds as if to speak of a solution, only to close it again when he changed his mind. "Okay, what if we tell them that I'm the one who found you and brought you to them safely? As a thank you, I ask to spend more time with my niece, whom I rarely see, and in our time together I will teach you. Perhaps we can work in a magic lesson here and there if you so choose. Your grandmother would smile upon us to know that her skills are passed along."

Loki knew that he had won you over when your eyes lit up at his offer, but you still extended your hand to shake on the agreement. When your hands connected, the room filled with a blinding light, and you were both gone.

~~~

"Stark, I did not blow in your ear," Thor sneered, "perhaps your overactive imagination believed that I did because there's something that you're not telling us. Is there some secret that you wish to share with the group?"

"What?! No!"

"Wow, Tony," Natasha joined in, "that was a really fast answer. Is this something that's been on your mind? Really, it's okay if you need to share. This is a safe zone."

"Shut up, Red," he ordered, with a pointed glare. "Believe me, you'd all know if I wanted to get up on that-" But he couldn't finish his thought, even though everyone in the room had his full attention and hanging on the conversation. The room around him filled with the same light as you had seen when you left with Loki, and the two of you materialized next to Thor.

"Hey, Dad-OOPH!" you gasped, taking a solid hit as his arms wrapped around you and he lifted you from the ground. "Dad...you're choking...me."

"Where were you? What happened? Are you alright? Are you injured?"

"I might be now," you panted, trying to catch your breath again. "I'm okay...Uncle Loki brought me home. Please stop trying...to suffocate me."

Loki then took the opportunity to carry through on his plan, stepping forward to stand at your side, putting a firm hand on Thor's arm to get his attention. "Yes, brother, perhaps you could release her now? She's beginning to look as if she is under duress."

"Laying it on a little thick, Uncle," you whispered, "don't give yourself away."

"Darling, the stories you've heard are nothing," he smiled back, with his trademark mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "you have no idea what I'm capable of."