Loki looked on with curiosity as Alex pieced together the metal bracelets around his wrists, tiny wires and circuitry snaking around and fitting together seemingly of their own accord under Alex's magically magnified vision.

They had returned to the safety of Owen's apartment with the Phoenix Gate as soon as they left the mists of Avalon. Reluctantly, Loki had changed back into his Midgardian clothes and had been sitting for what felt like several hours while Alex reconstructed his magic-suppressing bracelets.

"There," Alex announced, fitting in the last piece of metal casing onto the bracelet with a practiced flourish, "Good as new, except, you know, they don't actually do anything except track your location."

Loki lifted his hands, examining the bracelets.

"They're exact replicas," Alex continued, "the only difference is here." He placed a finger to a point on the smooth metal just inside Loki's wrist. "Do you feel the magical controls inside?"

Loki pressed his other hand against the bracelet at the point Alex had touched. He closed his eyes briefly and nodded.

"You can use those to reprogram them to provide false tracking data whenever you want."

Loki raised an eyebrow, "You have some hidden talents, young Xanatos."

Alex grinned brightly, "Is that a compliment, Loki?"

"Just an observation," Loki said simply, standing up from the armchair to stretch his legs.

Owen walked over to Alex, setting his backpack down on the sofa next to him, "Ready to return the Phoenix Gate?"

The enthusiasm instantly drained from Alex's face, "Oh, come on... Can't we keep it?"

"You already agreed to return it," Owen said frowning, "Those were the conditions for me agreeing to help in this little adventure, remember?"

"It's just such a waste," Alex muttered, half-heartedly pulling the backpack closer to him to remove the artifact, "After all the trouble we went through to get it."

"You could always let me keep it," Loki chimed in, smiling pleasantly.

Owen sighed, raising his hand to massage his forehead, "Please, Loki. You're not helping."

Loki smirked, sitting down again in an armchair, "Well, it was worth a shot."

Owen folded his arms across his chest as he stood in front of Alex, "Our best chance to avoid arousing suspicion is to make it look like there was never a crime. Especially after the whole Hulk thing."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Alex said impatiently, rising to his feet. With a whispered spell, he reapplied his security guard disguise from the robbery and picked up the Phoenix Gate.

"Your parents want you home by dinnertime," Owen added.

Alex rolled his eyes before speaking the incantation and vanishing in a mass of flame.

Loki settled back into his chair, looking up at Owen, "Tell me something, Puck. What did you do that was so bad that you got stuck serving that mortal brat?"

"Serving Alexander isn't my punishment. I would have served him willingly."

Loki's eyes widened in surprise, "You'd willingly serve a mortal?"

"Yes, I'm quite fond of him and his family."

Loki looked disgusted.

"Mortals are not so bad once you get to know them. Well, some of them anyway," Owen said, sitting down on the sofa across from Loki, "You see, when I first met Alex's father, David Xanatos, twenty years ago, he hired me as you see me now, as the mortal Owen Burnett. Naturally, before long, I couldn't resist revealing my true nature as Puck to him. I gave him a choice: one wish from the Puck or a lifetime of service from Owen. A simple enough bargain, I had thought. Mortals are so predictable. Imagine my surprise when he chose Owen. I have to admit his choice impressed me. However, Lord Oberon of Avalon was less than pleased when I sided with Mr. Xanatos against him. He banished me and restricted my powers."

Loki hummed thoughtfully, "And you've been serving the Xanatos family all this time? How can you stand it? If it were me, I would have had those weaklings kneeling before me long ago."

"It has nothing to do with one's strength. You've seen my magic. You know but a fraction of the power I possess. Would you think me weak for choosing to serve instead of lead?"

"It's in your nature," Loki muttered offhandedly.

"Hardly," Owen said, leaning back into the sofa, "You saw me when I was younger. You know that's not true."

Loki rested his chin on his hand, offering a soft non-committal grunt.

Owen looked away, pausing for a moment before speaking again, "I think I simply found the right person to follow."

Loki watched Owen, considering him thoughtfully.

Owen took a deep breath and straightened up in his seat, looking at Loki again, "Once you've had your fun with the Avengers, if you ever need anything, feel free to look us up. You have my card. Mr. Xanatos has plenty of room in his own building. In fact, he's already housing several guests who wish to keep a low profile. He'd be happy to have you."

Loki smiled knowingly, "Only if I do something for him, right?"

Owen chuckled, "Well, yes, of course. That's how these things work." He grinned broadly, "But I can assure you working with Mr. Xanatos will never be dull."

"I can imagine," Loki answered cheerfully as he stood up to leave, "I shall keep that in mind."

"Oh, before you go," Owen said quickly, "May I ask one more favor of you?"

Loki nearly laughed out loud, "Haven't you asked enough of me today?"

Owen looked almost solemn, "I know, and I apologize. It's... it's a personal request, and I thought perhaps – "

"Make your request, Puck," Loki said with a bemused smile, settling back into his seat.

Owen cleared his throat before leveling Loki with a serious gaze, "I would ask you to show me how to perform magic."

Loki's eyes widened in surprise, "You want me to teach you magic?"

"Yes."

"But I've seen your magic," Loki said, furrowing his brow in confusion, "If anything, your magic is just as strong as mine."

Owen sighed, "I believe I mentioned the current limitations on my magic?"

Loki nodded.

"Lord Oberon has decreed that I can only transform into Puck in order to train or protect Alexander. However, I suspect this decree works by preventing the manifestation of my magic and not cutting off my connection to it. After all, I can still transform into Puck under the right conditions. Therefore, Owen's mortal form must still possess a natural affinity for magic."

"So you mean to make Owen a user of magic in his own right?"

"Precisely," Owen nodded, "Now, I'm not an expert on mystical lore – "

Loki rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Why am I not surprised?"

"But I suspect that the magical circuits you draw on for your own magic are different from mine, or at least different enough that if I could learn to tap them then I could bypass Oberon's decree. After all, surely Oberon can lay no claim to your powers as he can to mine."

Loki leaned forward in his seat, undeniably interested. The study of magic had been a life-long passion of his, but he had never really considered the magic of other races and how it related to his own. "I'm impressed... That may actually work," he said eagerly, "How do we test it?"

"We could start with a basic spell. You teach it to me, as you learned it yourself."

Loki proceeded to walk Owen through one of the first spells he had ever learned, a simple fire spell. The theoretical explanation alone took several hours and many pages of scribbled notes on the coffee table. Yet, not surprisingly, Owen was a quick study and once they had progressed to the practical application of the spell, it took Owen less than an hour of intense practice before a small spark of fire erupted in his hand.

Loki watched with increasing envy as first fire crackled in the palm of Owen's hand, then a slender ice crystal formed, then lightning danced on his fingertips, all of which were spells that had taken Loki months of practice to master. "How can you do that without knowing the incantations?" Loki muttered with unrestrained awe.

Owen turned to him, surprise in his voice, "I don't know. I can just feel them."

With the fire spell as an anchor, it seemed as if the entire scope of Aesir magic was gradually opening up for Owen. He stood and paced around the room, trying different gestures and hand rotations. His experimentation produced various effects from brightly colored mists to a small explosion that ignited one of the armchairs, leaving Loki scrambling to summon enough water to put out the crackling flames.

After another half an hour of trial and error, Owen froze in his tracks and turned to Loki, "Ah, that's what I was looking for." His body shimmered and glowed briefly as he melted into Puck's elvish form. He grinned, "An interesting way of doing it, but I suppose it works."

Recognizing one of his favorite illusions, Loki let out a small laugh. "But you're not your immortal self again, right?"

Puck's smile faded slightly, "Indeed. I'm still merely the mortal Owen Burnett masquerading in Puck's form. But who knows? Maybe your magic has some way of allowing me to truly become Puck again. Perhaps I can find it in time." He twirled around, stretching his arms out happily. Loki noted that his new form seemed to let slip his original personality. "I almost feel free again. You have my sincere gratitude."

Loki smiled in recognition as he watched Puck sprawl out on the sofa continuing to try out different spells, humming quietly to himself. Loki had felt the same joy earlier after finally being reunited with his magic after being so long without it, and he had a strange sense of satisfaction at seeing Puck's honest reaction.

Loki rested his head in his hand leaning on the arm of the chair, lost in thought. He couldn't remember the last time he had just sat with someone like this. No expectations, no agendas, just the simple company of another person. It was almost a moment of peace.

The minutes slipped by until Loki was startled by a loud banging on the door of the apartment. He quickly stood up, cursing under his breath. He had lost track of time and completely forgotten that the tracker in his bracelets was working again. Puck jumped up from the sofa, glancing briefly at Loki before leaping into the far corner of the room where he couldn't be seen from the door.

There was more impatient pounding on the door, and Loki could easily tell who it would be before he opened it to find Thor standing there looking very anxious.

Relief washed over Thor's face when he saw his brother across the threshold. "Loki," he panted, sounding like he had just run a marathon, "Your curfew... What happened? Are you well?"

Loki sighed. Leave it to Thor to assume this was all not Loki's fault. "I'm fine, Thor. I just lost track of time." For once, he could tell the truth.

"But why are you here in this strange place?"

Loki was about to respond when a deep authoritative voice traveled over from the corner of the room where Puck was hiding, "I was the one who called him here." An appropriately grumpy looking Nick Fury emerged next to Loki in the doorway, "Just checking in."

"Oh, Director Fury," Thor said, unchecked surprise showing on his face, "I thought Stark said you were traveling."

"Does Tony look like the one who's running everything here?" Fury said in annoyance.

Thor's brow furrowed, but he said nothing else.

"Well, we're done here," Fury stated matter-of-factly, "I trust you can escort Loki back to Stark Tower?"

Thor nodded, and Fury gave Loki a small shove towards him.

"Oh, and Thor?" Fury added, "Tell Tony to stop being such a dick."

Thor blinked in confusion, and Loki had to fight to keep a straight face.

"But seriously," Fury continued, leaning closer to Thor and lowering his voice, "This stays between the three of us. You didn't see me here. Are we clear?"

Thor nodded solemnly before turning away, "Come, brother."

Loki caught a glimpse of Puck's unrestrained grin on Nick Fury's face before the door to the apartment swung shut.

"Mr. Xanatos."

David Xanatos looked up from his desk and leaned back calmly in his chair, "Ah, Owen. How did Alex do on his little adventure?"

"Truly, sir, he takes after you in every respect. Including having things miraculously work out in his favor."

Xanatos smiled as he shuffled through some papers on his desk, "Any progress on getting Loki as a future consultant?"

"I believe you might be hearing from him soon."

"Excellent. And the Phoenix Gate?"

"Back where it belongs."

"Good. Well, we can't let that go to waste. Let's move to get it back in our possession as soon as possible, shall we?"

"I'll organize something within the week, sir."

–:) fin (:–

A/N: Finally done! This is officially the longest piece of fiction I've ever written. It grew out of the desperate need to see Puck, Owen, and Loki interacting, so I wrote the first chapter, and somehow it spiraled out of control from there. Anyway, thanks for reading ^_^