Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Thor or The Hobbit
Beta: RoyalLadyEmma

Chapter 1

Soul bonds did exist but they were not only between soul mates as many believed. There were also soul bonds that occur between families, whether that family is formed by blood or is one of your own making. You will always know you have found your soul bonded family when they imprint on your heart.

As Loki hung from the Rainbow Bridge looking into the stricken eyes of his brother, Thor, a piece of him wished he felt that special soul bond with the blond who was so desperately trying to save him but he didn't and for some reason he knew he'd after examine at some point, that knowledge hurt more than Loki was willing to admit.

Loki knew that Thor felt that lack of bond between them as well for his brother had already experienced his own true soul bonds while he was on Earth. Thor had found his soul mate in one Jane Foster, and that cut far deeper than Loki would ever admit to, plus, he had also formed a family bond with Darcy Lewis and Erik Selvig.

Loki had even seen such a bond of two joined hearts when he snuck in to lie to his brother about their father, Odin, entering into the sleep between the agent known as Coulson and the man many referred to as Hawkeye.

Thor enjoyed and truly treasured the one thing Loki wanted more than anything, the family of his soul and it had become painfully clear that his family was not to be found in Asgard. 'It's time to let me go,' Loki thought to his brother as he pleaded silently with him. Even though there was much bitterness that existed in his soul he still loved Thor and Loki needed to leave before he caused his brother even more harm than he already had.

"I'm sorry, brother, but this is the only way I can find peace," Loki told Thor and he watched as the blond man's eyes widen in horror as he realised what Loki was planning on doing.

"Brother, please! There is another way," Thor pleaded with Loki. While it was true Loki had caused a lot of damage and he had tried to seize Asgard but they were still brothers and the Thunder God loved him and wanted to save him.

"There is no other way. I don't belong here and I never will; it's time I found the place where I do belong. But no matter where I end up you will always be my one and only brother, Thor." Try as he might Loki knew he would never be able to hate Thor just as he knew his solution was the best for everyone. "Good-bye, brother."

And with a final smile that came from the heart for the man he would always call brother, Loki freed his hand from Thor's grip and felt gravity take hold of him as he fell from the Rainbow Bridge.

A single tear fell from Frigga's eyes as she watched her youngest son fall; it didn't matter who had given birth to Loki, he was still her son and she would always love him. However, she knew that soon there would be another he would see as mother and that he would soon be with those he would call his family. "I hope you find the happiness with them that you could not find with us, my son, and I pray you will someday return to us with those your heart longs for with you."

Loki didn't know how long or how far he fell; time held no meaning and he had nothing but the empty cold to keep him company. He fell through the veils between the planes of existence until finally he felt a twinge he had never felt before. It slowly but inexorably filled his soul with a wonderful warmth that drove off the cold. Loki didn't know it at the time but it was the true feeling of home.

Bilbo Baggins knew that he wasn't like the other Hobbit children; he rather enjoyed going off on his little adventures, searching for hours at a time hoping to find elves or fairies and unlike his friends who were content to stay in the village, Bilbo often talked about someday leaving the Shire.

"Bilbo, don't go off too far, lunch will be ready soon," Belladonna called after her son as she watched him trek off into the nearby woods. She didn't mind him going alone; he was safe for there were very few dangers in Hobbiton and she knew that her little one would be safe as long as he stayed within hearing distance of her voice.

Bilbo's blue eyes sparkled as he looked over his shoulder; "I will, mum; I'll be back for lunch." He turned back around and skipped down the trail leading into the forest to see if he could finally find and meet an elf. 'That would be the coolest thing ever!'

Behind him Belladonna shook her head a smile playing at her lips, her son was turning out to be quite the little adventurer and she couldn't be more proud. Still he was just a fauntling and as such he was ruled by his tummy which meant that no matter how badly he wished to find an elf or a fairy he would be drawn back home by the call of food.

Bungo on the other hand couldn't help but worry about his son. While he'd finally accepted that his son was going to be an adventurer like his mother, it didn't mean that he still didn't worry about his son like every good father. There was a small part of him that truly hoped that as Bilbo got older he would get his wanderlust out of his system, settle down and be a respectable Hobbit, while the bigger part of him was proud that Bilbo took after Belladonna. After all, Bungo had always loved her adventurous spirit and he was happy to see it alive and well in their son, he just wished the other Hobbits could accept Bilbo and see that he wasn't different but special. 'Our son is meant for great things,' Bungo mused thoughtfully, 'I just know it.'

Belladonna smiled at her husband. "It's alright, dear, it's good for Bilbo to explore, and someday I will take him to meet actual elves, I'm sure Lord Elrond will adore Bilbo."

"Could you hold off going on adventures until he's a little older? I'm not quite ready for my little boy to leave the nest just yet." Bungo smiled to take any sting from his words; he knew that like Belladonna, Bilbo wouldn't be happy living in the Shire; he felt the same call his mother did, to see what was beyond the rolling green hills.

Pain, that was all Loki could feel as his body slammed into the hard unforgiving earth, and for several long minutes his world teetered on the verge of becoming black.

"Hey, mister, are you okay?" A small voice asked and as he forced his eyes open, the tiniest face Loki had ever seen appeared before him.

Loki tried to answer but he could not get his voice to work and as darkness snuck up once again and finally claimed him, the God of Mischief found himself welcoming it like an old friend.

Bilbo grew worried when the strange man's eyes fluttered closed without saying anything, and no matter how hard he tried he could not get him to wake up. The little Hobbit had bitten his lower lip in surprise when he'd heard the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth and he couldn't help but investigate the noise, hoping that he was finally going to meet an elf. Bilbo never counted on finding an unusual looking and clearly injured man lying awkwardly in the bushes. "Hang on, Mister, my mum and dad will know what to do. I'll be back, I promise." Bilbo gently patted the unconscious man on the shoulder before dashing off.

"Mommy! There's an injured man over here, we've got to help him!" Bilbo came rushing out of the bushes his breaths coming in harsh pants and his little face flushed from how fast he had been running.

Belladonna and Bungo shared a look. "Where is the man, Bilbo?" Belladonna asked catching Bilbo by his shoulders and trying her best to keep her son still.

"I'll show you!" Bilbo pulled away from his mom and grabbed her by the hands. "We have to hurry; I promised him I would be right back." Bilbo began tugging on her, trying to get her to move.

With a tolerant smile, Belladonna allowed herself to be pulled along by her son. It wasn't the first time that Bilbo had found something wounded on his journeys, but usually it was small animals; finding a man was something new and even a little worrying. Concerned about what his son might really have found, Bungo quietly trailed along behind them.

For his small stature Bilbo could certainly move quickly and Belladonna, knowing that she'd never be able to keep up otherwise, was thankful that her son refused to let go of her hand. She fought the urge to smile as Bilbo paused for a moment and his cute little face scrunched up as he looked around to make sure he was heading the right way.

"He's over here, mommy," Bilbo declared once he spotted a familiar flower and then he was off again, pulling his indulgent mother behind him again.

What Belladonna and Bungo had been expecting was not what they found; indeed there before their eyes lay a broken man, his arms and legs bent and twisted, dressed in the strangest outfit they had ever laid their eyes on. Alarmed by the sight, Bungo held Bilbo back as his wife moved forward to check on the man.

Belladonna may be a Baggins now but she was still a Took at heart and as she stared down at the broken man before her she didn't even hesitate in making her decision. As she began carefully arranging his limbs, she called over her shoulder to her husband and young son, "Help me with him, we're taking him home with us."

Bungo sighed in resignation. He knew that glint in his wife eyes; she was dead set on this course of action and nothing would sway her. "You do know that this will make us less respectable in the eyes of the others," he calmly reminded her. Not that he minded, of course, but it was a rather small village and people did tend to talk… a lot… about anything new or unusual.

A very un-lady like snort escaped Belladonna's lips; she was already a less-than-respectable Hobbit in the Shire due in no small part to her Took blood and the rather scandalous fact even at her status as a married lady that she still liked to go on adventures and worse, she was happily training her son to follow in her footsteps. Belladonna was not going to let Shire politics and the opinions of others who often couldn't see past their own noses tell her little Bilbo that it wasn't right to go on adventures and discover what life held outside of the Shire. If her baby wanted to meet Elves, then damn it, he was going to meet Elves!

Bilbo clapped his hands together as he came rushing over to help his mom. He'd known his mom wouldn't leave the poor man behind. "Is he an elf, mom?" he finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he'd found the strangely dressed man.

Belladonna shook her head a smile playing on her face. "I don't think so, my dear one."

A pout graced Bilbo's face; he had been so sure that he had finally found his very first elf. "Then is he a man? I've never seen one dressed like him before." In fact, he looked nothing like the Rangers that came to the Shire.

"I've never seen one dressed like him either," Belladonna admitted. "But it doesn't matter what he is, he's in need of our help."

Patting the unconscious stranger on the shoulder Bilbo made him a promise, "Hear that, Mister? We're going to take good care of you and I promise no one is going to hurt you again."

Above their son's head Belladonna and Bungo shared a quizzical yet concerned look, never had they heard their son take to someone so quickly, and the two of them hadn't even met yet. 'Well, I've always wanted to bring another child into our family, and something tells me you were brought to us for a reason,' Belladonna thought with a smile. She knew that Bilbo would not let the man go without using his sweet charm to try and convince him to stay with them; after all there was no one within the Shire or without who could resist a fauntling's pleading eyes.

It took some doing for two full-grown Hobbits and one fauntling to get the man moved but in the end they managed to get their guest to Bag End and into their spare guest room. Fortunately, it was the only room in the house big enough to hold a man-sized guest.

Once they got him settled, Bilbo crawled up on the bed with a wet cloth and began gently cleaning the dirt and mud off his face, taking extra care when cleaning out the dirt of the cuts and off the bruises. Belladonna couldn't help but smile at the look of focused concentration on Bilbo's face as he did his task; the way the tip of his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth was rather really adorable. 'I'll remember this moment and that look forever,' she thought fondly.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Bilbo asked his mother as he looked up from his task.

Belladonna nodded her head a soft smile on her face. "I'm sure of it, son, he doesn't look too badly wounded and I couldn't find any broken bones. I think he just needs a good rest and someone to look after and care for him, which I trust you will help me do?"

Bilbo nodded his head eagerly, his little chest puffing out with pride that his mother trusted him with such an important task. "I will, I promise!" The young Hobbit was thrilled with his new responsibilities; always before he'd only had wounded forest creatures to take care of.

Belladonna couldn't help but smile at how adorable her son was. "I know you will, dear heart." 'I have a feeling it's going to be next to impossible to drag you away from him. I wonder do you feel the pull to him? And if you do, what kind of bond will you have, family or something more?' Unlike most races of Middle-Earth, Hobbits felt a pull in their soul, an irresistible one that drew them to those who would be family by choice or be the one who completed the other half of their soul. She could feel the pull to the man, a family pull, but she wondered how the pull would feel to Bilbo. But for now Belladonna was happy to watch over Bilbo as he cared for their guest.

The first thing Loki registered was the pain, the white-hot burning pain that seemed to be engulfing his entire body. He couldn't remember the last time his body hurt so much. 'What in Odin's name happened to meee…' in a flash, Loki saw the worry and sorrow in Thor's eyes, felt the rush of wind as he fell back from the bridge, remembered the bone-jarring impact with the ground. 'Oh, yeah, guess I should have thought about the landing before I let go of my brother's hand,' he thought ruefully. 'I wonder where I ended up?' He tried to turn his head, but a tender hand stopped him.

"Shh, don't try to move, your body is still recovering," a soft and gentle female voice whispered softly in his ear.

Loki forced himself to open up his eyes as he wished to see the owner of the voice, it took all his energy to do so but it was worth it as Loki looked into the kind and warm eyes of the woman who was tenderly wiping his forehead with a cool cloth. Immediately he could feel the stirrings of a bond beginning to form and he found himself smiling shyly at her. Knowing in his heart that he would be safe with her he allowed darkness once again to claim him.

Belladonna shook her head not at all surprised that the man had used up all his strength in trying to open up his eyes. 'I can tell you are a stubborn one, which means you're going to fit in well with us,' Belladonna thought with a fond smile as she continued to stroke the injured man's cheek. 'My son clearly found you for a reason.'

This time when Loki awoke he noticed that his body did not ache as much as it had the last time and cautiously he opened up his eyes, grateful that someone had thought to pull the curtains close, keeping the light to a minimum.

"Oh, you're awake! I'll go tell my mom," a small voice chirped from his side. Turning his head rather gingerly Loki came face to face with the same small child he'd seen just seconds before he had fallen into darkness. Loki could only blink as the little ball of energy bounced out of his room and he wondered if he and Thor had ever had that much energy when they were younger, then he chuckled darkly as he realised that Thor was still as hyper as ever. He was surprised that it didn't hurt as much to think about Thor as it should have, although his soul still ached as he realised that he would never lay his eyes on Thor again.

"You are awake! I was worried Bilbo was seeing things; he's been sitting by your side for days hoping you would wake up." A kind voice pulled him from his thoughts and Loki looked up to meet a pair of warm, wonderful and welcoming eyes.

"Bi…" Loki coughed dryly and Belladonna rushed over to carefully lift Loki's head and hold a glass of water to his lips. Gratefully, the injured man took several sips of the cool refreshing liquid and then tried again. "Bilbo?" he asked and he caught sight of the smallest and cutest creature he had ever seen poking his head out from behind the woman's skirt.

Belladonna smiled down at her son and placed her hand on top of Bilbo's curly hair. "Yes, this is my son, Bilbo Baggins and I'm Belladonna Baggins; it's nice to meet you."

"I am Loki," and he smiled shyly at Bilbo, whose eyes widened just before he ducked back behind his mother. "Have you been taking care of me?" Loki asked, he couldn't remember the last time that anyone had bothered to take care of him.

"Of course we did! You were injured and needed help." Belladonna couldn't help but wonder what kind of home Loki had grown up in if he could be so surprised the little tenderness being shown to him.

Bilbo wasn't sure why he suddenly was so shy around his new friend but seeing the sadness in the man's eyes made him get over his bashfulness and move out from behind his mother. Wasting no time Bilbo crawled up on the bed and curled into Loki's side and curiosity shone in his eyes as he looked up at Loki, "Didn't anyone ever kiss your booboo's better when you were little?"

Loki smiled down sadly at the small fauntling, "It's been a very long time since I've had anyone kiss my booboo's, I'm afraid."

The sadness in Loki's eyes echoed in his voice and brought a lump to Belladonna's throat. 'Oh you poor, lost lamb!'

Well that just didn't sit well with Bilbo, not one little bit, so he leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto Loki's cheek. "Don't you worry, Loki; I'll kiss all your booboos better from now on."

Loki found himself choking on an unnamed emotion; that was without a doubt the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to him. "Thank you, Bilbo; I would like that very much," and for the first time in his life Loki felt the bonds of family filling his heart. 'Could I have found them, the ones that call to my soul? Could it really be as easy as falling off a log… well, a bridge?' Loki had never thought this day would come but as he looked into Bilbo's shining, trusting eyes and then over to Belladonna's smiling face, the God of Mischief vowed then and there that he would do everything in his power to keep them safe. 'Because that is what one does with family,' and the thought made him smile.

It hadn't taken long for Loki to figure that his magic behaved quite differently in the shire than at home and therefore, he wasn't healing like he normally would. Instead he found while he wished he could be back on his feet he was rather enjoying being cared for by the Baggins' family and more importantly by Bilbo, who seemed attached to his side. Loki found he rather adored the look of concern in Bilbo's eyes whenever he asked if he needed anything, and for the first time in a long time Loki felt like he was actually part of a wonderful family who truly loved one another. 'I don't ever want this feeling to go away.'

The warm weight of Bilbo resting against him pulled Loki out of his thoughts and as he looked down at the small Hobbit curled into his side the fallen god couldn't help but smile at how peaceful Bilbo looked in his sleep. There was just something so endearing about the child that made Loki welcome his presence at every turn.

"I see Bilbo fell asleep in here again," Belladonna commented from the entrance of the room that they had declared as Loki's. She wasn't at all surprised to find her son at his usual post; Bilbo firmly refused to leave Loki's side and more often than not when Belladonna came to check on Loki she would find Bilbo sleeping soundly with his little arms wrapped around Loki's uninjured arm. She got the distinct feeling that her son was clinging to his new friend as if afraid that if he let him go Loki would disappear from his sight.

Loki found himself smiling down at the sleeping Hobbit. "Yes, he did and I don't have the heart to wake him." He reached down and brushed the curls back from Bilbo's cheek. "He's really quite a special little boy, isn't he?"

It was at this point that Belladonna knew in her heart that Loki and Bilbo would have a family bond and she was happy, she was so very happy. She and Bungo had always wanted to have another child but nature had decided that it was not to be, until now. "What do you know about soul bonds?" she asked curiously.

Loki stiffened as he gazed at the female before him. "I know that while many believe that there is only one type of soul bond and that is your other half, your soul mate, the one who carries the other piece of your soul in his heart, the one who completes you. But there is another kind, the soul bond of the family, the one in which you find your family, a place to belong, the ones that fit so perfectly into your life and make you feel whole," Loki stated softly as he ran his fingers gently through Bilbo's soft golden curls.

For a few seconds, Belladonna said nothing as she watched the treasured moment. "Do you feel it?" she kept her voice soft not wanting to break the spell.

It was clear to the older Hobbit that Loki was fighting to keep his emotions under control. How did he tell her that he had felt the bonds between them all the moment they'd met but he hadn't dared to believe that at long last he had found his family. To hear that they felt the same way too filled his heart with a warmth he hadn't felt since he was with his mother, and that was so long ago. "Yes, I do."

The smile that graced Belladonna's face was warmer than the sun itself and much brighter. "We are so very happy to hear that, Loki, because we feel it as well and I want you to know that you will always have a place here among us. Besides, I don't think that Bilbo plans on letting you leave without a fight." She pointed to her son and Loki realised that at some time during their talk Bilbo had curled even deeper into his side.

Loki felt a true smile appear on his face as he gazed down fondly at the little Hobbit. "Trust me; I don't plan on going anywhere."

TBC...