Knights

I should probably be working on my chapter stories, but this just popped into my head, and I had to get it out. :) Please enjoy and review:)

No Warnings.

LOOK AT END AUTHOR'S NOTES FOR UPDATE!

Disclaimer: Don't own any of these lovely characters, besides my little OC.

Muzzle or no, they wouldn't listen to him. He was, after all, a monster. That is all he had ever been, though he had hoped...

No. There was no hope for him now. Heimdal surely knew, but he would never tell. Justice became skewed when you made an enemy of the Greatest Witness of Asgard. Now he would answer for crimes that both belonged to him and those that did not.

His mind was his own, even if his body was not, not completely anyway. Sometimes, he could break free, for just a minute or two, his own will overriding that of the Other. If he could, he would thank the green beast for flinging him about so carelessly. He would also have to thank the good Doctor Selvig and Lady Natasha for severing the connection. The scepter's powers were gone now, but again, what did that matter?

The shackles weighed heavy on his wrists, and the muzzle tasted bitter against his tongue, though that might be his coppery blood. It was just another reminder of how far he had fallen, that his own brother had placed the restraints on him, and he had not fought them. They would not care to hear the truth anyway.

"Wait! Mr. Knight!" Loki froze at the child's voice, and his eyes widened in surprise. He stepped back, away from Thor, and turned in time to see a little girl running towards the group of heroes. Captain America and Black Widow both tried, and failed, to grab her and stop her. She dodged their grabs expertly, her little blonde piggy tails trailing behind her. Loki jerked at his chains and mumbled harshly behind his muzzle when the heroes tried to grab her, and Thor gave him an odd look.

"Isabelle, stop!" A young woman holding a dirtied stuffed rabbit was running behind her, also failing at keeping her in place.

"Little girl, wait!" They couldn't stop her, as unprepared as they were for a tiny girl to suddenly run in the midst of a prisoner exchange.
Isabelle was now three feet from Loki and Thor, and the Thunderer pulled up close to his brother's ear.

"Do anything to hurt her brother, and you will never be allowed near another living being again." Loki was startled by the click of the muzzle releasing.

He sucked in a deep breath- which stuck in his throat when he felt two tiny arms wrap around his knees.

"Don't go! Pwease!" Loki's mouth fell open, as he is sure everyone else's did, when little Isabelle hugged the monster. The little girl pressed her face into the leather covering his knees and squeezed tighter. Slowly, Loki felt his body moving of its own accord, but this time for good reasons.

He knelt before her, so he was eye level with her, and gently wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Why don't you want me to leave, Little One?" The little girl's eyes blazed with sparkling tears and utter sincerity.

"Because you're my fwiend, and fwiends don't weave!" Loki could not stop the smile from creeping onto his face. This little girl was braver than most.

He had come across her hiding behind a car and hugging a stuffed bunny close to her chest. Seeing such a defenseless child had been enough to free him for a few moments. Loki had killed the Chitauri foot soldiers that had been about to destroy the street and carried her to a safe spot behind an already fallen building.

"Where is your mother, Little One?" She was trembling like a leaf, but had not started crying at all.

"I don't know. We wun away from monsters, but I fell, and Mommy got lost...I can't find her." Loki's eyes grew dark as he drew on his magic for a difficult locating spell. Finally, he found a signature and picked the young girl up.

"I have found your mother." He looked her straight in the eye and smiled. "Now, I want you to hold on tight. This may tickle." Then he teleported them next to a more complete structure with more screaming persons about. Despite all of the chaos around them, the little girl giggled.

"That did tickle." Loki gave her a small smile again, then set her down on the sidewalk.

"I will escort you to your mother, but we have to be careful. Have you ever played soldiers before?" She was a little girl, but he could hope.

"I pway pwincess and knights." That would work. He knelt before her.

"Well, My Lady, I will be your knight for today, and we must make our way around the dragons to get to the queen. Are you brave enough?" The little girl straightened up and hugged her bunny close to her chest.

"Yes. We must get to Queen Mommy." So, the two, Loki holding tight to the girl's hand with one of his own while the other held his scepter at the ready, made their way around burning rubble and bodies (they are sleeping, Little One) towards a shop crowded with people. One of which was a frantic young woman.

"Please, I have to find my baby!" A man in a suit was holding her back from the door.

"You can't go out there! You'll get killed."

"Isabelle!" Loki released the child as she ran towards her mother. He had time to see the little girl wave at him and smile, before his body tensed and he turned back to become the villain once more.

This time the little girl wiped both of her tiny palms across his cheeks smearing his tears away as best she could. He collected both of her hands into his own and clasped them tight.

"I am sorry, Little One. I am no brave knight, and must leave your kingdom." Isabelle shook her head and looked up pleadingly at Thor.

"No! He's a good guy! A knight! Don't take him away!" Loki would have laughed at Thor's terribly uncomfortable state, had Isabelle not started crying.

"Hush, Little One. Hush. I am not much of a knight, but do you see these people?" Loki pointed to all of the Avengers, including a very angry looking Fury and a terrified Dr. Selvig. Isabelle nodded and looked back up at Loki, her little pig tails swinging.

"They are knights of the greatest caliber, and will protect you. Now, I must go, for if I never leave, I can never come back. Understand?" Isabelle slowly nodded, but her lower lip trembled, threatening another bout of tears, that if Loki didn't head off would most likely terrify the group of heroes still standing as statues around them. He pulled from every little drop of magic he could still access and presented Isabelle with a small daisy.

"Here. This will remind of you of me even while I am away. It will grow as you will grow and will never fade. As long as you keep it safe, it will keep you safe." Isabelle threw her arms around his neck one last time. As she pulled away, she managed to surprise the Trickster one last time with a small peck on the cheek, before she ran to her mother. Fury ushered the two away and Loki stood, a few fingers touching the spot where he had been given the small show of affection.

A hand once again descended on his shoulder, and this time he was in too much of his own shock to shake it off.

"You were right brother. You are not a knight." At that, Loki shot his brother a glare, but Thor was offering him a small, knowing smile.

"You are a prince."

Picturing Loki being great with kids makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

4/5/14

I decided to update down here for those who put this story on alert. Due to a flooding of my email for a follow up...I will be working on a sequel. As of right now I don't know how long it will be, because this whole thing took me by surprise. I have been trying to work on other avengers stories, but they aren't really going anywhere. :/ This though, I think I created a cool new option and series direction for myself without even meaning to.

It won't be for a little while, but keep your eyes peeled! :) Thank you to all who read and favorited and reviewed :) Luv you all!