Chapter Fourteen

The three men found themselves standing in a small park within the confines of a metropolitan area. Loki cast his gaze slowly about, taking in their surroundings and not recognising any of it.

"I don't suppose you happen to know where in Midgard we are?" His question was directed to neither of his companions in particular but it was Thor who offered up an answer.

"No, but I do not think it really matters. Every time I have shown up in this realm it hasn't been long before they have located me. I suspect all we will have to do is wait."

Thor was not wrong, within ten minutes of their arrival a Helijet roared into sight and descended slowly to land on the open grass before them. Loki quickly lowered his arms and held his hands together in front of him before using his magic to manifest a pair of thick metal shackles around his wrists, joined together by a heavy metal ring from which a length of chain then ran and appeared in Thor's hands. Thor looked down in confusion at the length of chain that now filled his fist. His gaze followed its length until it joined the shackles at Loki's wrists, his eyes then flicked up to meet his brother's and noticed that Loki had also fashioned himself with a metal muzzle much like the one Thor had given him when he returned him to Asgard after his attempt to destroy New York. The gaze that met his was not one of anger or resentment but one of understanding. Despite any difference of opinion the two brother's held they were both prepared to put all of that aside for the moment and take the best shot they had at reclaiming their kingdom.

The Helijet hovered slowly until it landed with precision on the grass. The whirring of hydraulics and the hiss of the large rear access door were the only sounds that broke the stillness of the park once the huge engines had shut down. Agent Coulson emerged from behind the Helijet with a large menacing gun held firmly with both hands, along with another agent carrying a similar weapon and an intense looking Hawkeye who already had his deadly bow trained on Loki's chest.

"It's good to see your allies offer you such a friendly welcome."

Jareth leant over and whispered to Thor under his breath while keeping his eyes trained on the approaching agents. Thor shot Jareth a stern look from the corner of his eye before taking a few slow even steps towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, arms held out before him with one palm open and the other tightly gripping the length of chain connected to Loki's shackles.

"Why are you here? And more importantly… why bring him with you?" Agent Coulson motioned towards Loki with his elbow as the continued to train the gun on the small group. "You realise he's a wanted war criminal here don't you? We let you take him back to Asgard on the condition that he would be dealt with appropriately through your own processes."

"And he was."

Thor paused, thinking carefully about how best to quickly explain their current situation. He needed Coulson on his side so that he would agreed to take them back to headquarters; there would be plenty of time to tell their story in length there.

"Circumstances have since changed."

There was a long silence that hung in the air. Coulson's gaze shifted from Thor, to Loki, to Jareth and then back to Thor again. He wasn't entirely sure what they were doing here but he suspected that the reason for their arrival was something that Fury would want to hear about.

"Very well. Come with me. But your friends here are both going to have to be restrained. Loki for obvious reasons and….." Coulson motioned to Jareth with a lift of his chin "the other one because we don't know who he is, and I don't trust anyone I don't know."

The agent to Coulson's left stepped forward and tentatively clamped a set of heavy-duty metal cuffs over Jareth's outstretched wrists. The Goblin King did not take issue with the restraints. Really he did not need his hands to perform most of his magic, he did it mostly for show, but in the interests of getting where Thor seemed to think they needed to go he was happy to pretend as though the cuffs rendered him powerless.

The small band was escorted around to the back of the helijet where they boarded the craft through the rear cargo door. They were then taken deep into the belly of the helijet and up towards a row of padded seating lining both sides of the small aircraft.

"Please. Sit." Coulson motioned for the men to take a seat along one wall. The three of them sat down and were each swiftly buckled into a five-point harness just as the helijet lifted into the air. The craft ascended effortlessly into the clear afternoon sky, with only a few bumps and jolts before levelling out and setting off for their destination.
"So, who have you brought along with you this time Thor?" Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow twisted around in her seat at the controls of the helijet, a teasing smile on her face that was quickly replaced by a look of horror. "What is he doing here?!"

Loki's eyes betrayed a cocky smile beneath the metal muzzle as he watched Agent Romanoff's face drop.

"It has been a long time Natasha." Jareth's silky voice in fluent Russian cut through the tense silence and both Thor and Loki looked across at the Goblin King in surprise.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here. Who brought him here!" Agent Romanoff had to return her attention briefly to the control panel in order to make a few minor changes to the flight controls before returning her attention back to the Goblin King, her cold look boring into him. Jareth smirked as he noticed the confused look on his companion's faces.

"Natasha and I go way back. Don't we my dear." Jareth flashed her a sly smile and was rewarded with a fierce glare directed through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.

"You see, Natasha once attempted to complete my Labyrinth… after she had wished her foster brother away to me first of course."

"You were why they gave me up. You can count yourself more than partly responsible for destroying my life."

"With all due respect my dear. I am not the one who chose to grant me their young sibling."

"Do you really think that anyone would ever willingly wish their kin over to you if they truly believed you would actually appear and take them away!?" Agent Romanoff was now talking through a clenched jaw and with a tight grasp on the controls as she tried to focus her attention on flying the helijet.

"Of course not. But then what mortal would ever truly believe in the existence of an evil Goblin King who turns young children into goblins when they are wished away to his kingdom by selfish siblings?"

Jareth took the lack of response from Natasha as a sign that she knew he was right and a satisfied smirk spread slowly across his face.

"Are you saying this guy isn't a friendly?" Coulson leaned close to Natasha so that the others on board couldn't hear him.

"He steals little children away from their families at night."

"I am not the bogeyman." Apparently despite their whispers Jareth had overheard at least enough of their conversation to decipher what they were talking about.

"Then what are you?" Coulson turned his attention to Jareth. Their eyes met and a heavy silence hung in the air. Loki's gaze travelled slowly from Jareth to Coulson and back again, while Thor glanced over at Natasha whose eyes were trained on the skies outside with a white-knuckle grip on the steering column.

"Have you ever heard of the Labyrinth?"

Coulson did not betray a thing, his stony gaze remained fixed on the Goblin King.

"And what if I said I hadn't?"

Jareth's mouth tugged up slightly on one side.

"Well, then I would say that you're colleague has quite a wild imagination but that she must have mistaken me for someone else."

"And if I had?..."

A small chuckle escaped Jareth's lips.

"Well… then you know who I am."

"Coming up on the new base sir." Natasha reached up and flicked a few switches above her head in preparation for landing.

Coulson now had a better idea of what he was dealing with. He had developed his suspicions when Natasha had started blaming Jareth for kidnapping her foster brother. S.H.I.E.L.D had an entire file on 'The Goblin King' but until now no one had encountered him firsthand, every record they had of him had passed through several others before being recorded by the top secret agency and yet… here he was, sitting casually before him as though his existence meant nothing more than his own. Coulson rubbed a hand across his forehead as the helijet settled onto the landing pad on the roof of their new, albeit slightly more budget, headquarters. He had been in this job for sometime now but it would seem that there were still things out there that could surprise him.

The brown brick building had been constructed sometime in the 1960s and had all the hallmarks of a government building of its time. For all intents and purposes it appeared to be the home of the Department of Research, Innovation and Alternative Energies but within its walls it housed the rebuild remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agent Coulson and a handful of other agents lead Thor and the two 'prisoners' down the maze of dull green corridors with their worn linoleum floors and heavy metal doors until they reached a row of cells, deep underground nestled in the foundations of the building. Loki allowed himself to be escorted into one cell while Jareth was directed to enter the cell to the left of his. Jareth lent casually against the bars once the agent who had been leading them down the halls closed the heavy cell door behind him.

Loki made a muffled request beneath the muzzle he wore just as an agent was about to close the door to his cell. He held his shackled hands out and mumbled beneath the muzzle again. The agent looked to Coulson for confirmation as to what he should do but Thor swiftly interrupted.

"Allow me."

Thor stepped through the doorway to the cell and removed the metal muzzle from Loki's face, leaning in close to his brother as he did so.

"I suggest you keep the shackles on your wrists… for show."

Loki's eye's flicked briefly to the side to meet Thor's. A small nod indicated to Thor that Loki had heard and understood him. Thor stepped back from his adopted brother with only the muzzle in his hand. Loki lowered his shackled hands to his thighs and stepped back as Thor shut the cell door behind him.

"Fury wishes to see you upstairs." Coulson gently griped Thor's ample bicep as he led the God of Thunder back down the corridor.

Loki and Jareth exchanged a look as Thor and his escorts disappeared into the darkness. Then with a small flick of his wrist Jareth sent the door to his cell slowly swinging outward on silent hinges.

"So you say your father has been taken prisoner?" Nick Fury stood with his arms folded behind his back while his attention remained focused on the world beyond the grimy window before him.

"Yes. There was a differing of… political opinion."

"Well, that could be bad for all of us."

Fury turned to face Thor, a stern look setting his features. Silence hung uncomfortably in the air and just as Thor opened his mouth to break it Fury jumped in instead.

"But all of that doesn't really explain why you brought your brother, the war criminal who we told you that you could take back to Asgard on the provision that he never return to our world, or who the other sinister looking blond man is."

"I might be able to answer that question for you sir."

Agent Coulson spoke up from the far side of the room. Fury didn't answer but he gave Coulson the benefit of his attention.

"I've had our men looking into it since his arrival sir. I believe he may be the Goblin King."

"The Goblin King?! Are you being serious Coulson? The man is figment of children's imaginations, he's a fairy tale."

The words hung in the air with the awkward truth of what they represented.

"He used to be of Asgard." Thor's deep voice, usually loud enough to command the attention of Asgard's great hall was now barely above a whisper.

"Oh…" Fury paused as he strode purposefully across the room to stand before Thor. "I'm dying to hear this one."

"It's somewhat of a long story." Thor refused to make direct eye contact with Fury, preferring instead to look at him from the corner of his eye, strong arms folded across his broad chest.

"I've got a minute or two to spare…." Fury trailed off indicating to Thor that he was prepared to make the time to hear what the God of Thunder had to tell him.

Thor told Fury all he knew about Jareth and how he became the Goblin King. Most of the story came from what his father had told him but the rest he was able to fill in with what Loki and Jareth himself had told him. Fury stood patiently through the entire explanation and only when Thor finished by telling him that was all that he knew did he rub a hand thoughtfully over his chin as he stared passed Thor, lost deep in thought.

"So he's like your great uncle then?" Coulson broke the silence with his innocent question.

"Something like that." Thor's voice sounded flat as he continued to watch Fury out of the corner of his eye, waiting for a reaction, waiting to see if the final pieces of their plan would come together.

"I'm afraid I've been somewhat of an absent relative, though not entirely all on my part."

Jareth's silky voice floated across the room but was quickly replaced by the loud clicking of guns being armed and trained in the direction of the Goblin King. The red dots of many laser sites settled quickly in the centre of his forehead but Jareth remained completely unfazed, striding slowly ever closer to Thor and Fury.

"How in the…?" Fury barked while motioning for the agents in the room to lower their weapons.

"Did you not stand here less than an hour ago and tell me that he had been locked away along with…."

"Me?" Loki's smooth voice floated from the other corner of the room where he appeared to have materialised out of nowhere. "I presume that's to whom you were going to refer?"

"What is he doing up here!?"

Fury yelled at the collection of agents in the room and threw his arms in the air. Those who had seen the pair locked in the cells looked across at each other in confusion. Fury shot an expectant look over at Coulson, raising a questioning eyebrow above his one good eye.

"I can assure you sir that both of these men were safely locked away when I left."

"Well you can see how I could be confused about that now don't you Coulson?"

"Sir yes, it appears to be ah….. quite the confusing situation."

"Perhaps I can shed some light on your confusion?"

Loki looked up from studying his nails in a disinterested fashion and smirked subtly as he drew the attention of the room.

"Did it not at any point cross your simple minds to question how we mysteriously turned up in your pathetic realm?"

"It's not like we haven't been blessed with your unexpected arrivals before." Fury shot back at Loki.

Loki's smirk widened and a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Yes well I suppose you would have come to expect that sort of entrance from Thor and myself but surely after hearing Thor tell you all about our dear King being over thrown by his own Council and our dramatic escape from Asgard you paused for a moment to wonder, how did they get here then if their realm and all of it's powerful magic and technology was under the control of the Council?"

The question lingered in the air as every agent present along with Fury realised that they had let assumptions guide their decisions from the moment they had picked the trio up in the park.

Fury closed his eyes and let a long, slow breath out.

"I suppose you best enlighten us as to how you got yourselves here then." Fury said with a further sigh of emphasised exhaustion as he chose to slump in a large chair situated at the head of a number of out-dated monitors.

"I brought them here." Jareth said casually as he approached Nick Fury. "Thor was of the belief that you, or your organisation may be able to help him defeat those that have overthrown his father… and win his kingdom back."

"And what makes you think we would be interested in getting involved in the affairs of those beyond our own world?" Fury's one good eye focused intently on Thor.

"Because they will not be satisfied with Asgard. For years the Council has advised my father to expand his realm by conquering others while father has always ruled through other means, preferring instead to expand the reaches of his realm by strengthening ties with various allies."

Thor looked Fury in the eye, his voice full of sorrow.

"With the Council in command of Asgard I can no longer guarantee the safety of the Earth."

"We have faced threats from your world before and pulled through just fine."

Fury shot an accusing look in Loki's direction as he spoke; the God of Mischief responded with a smug smile, even though he knew he had lost that little encounter it amused him greatly that Fury was still bothered by it.

"What makes you think that this time will be any different?"

"I cannot say what they what their plans are but I would not think it beyond their doing to unleash terrors upon this realm far greater than any you have defeated here before."

Nick Fury closed his eye momentarily and let out a long breath of air. He slowly rose from the chair and grasping both hands behind his back paced deliberately towards a grimy window.

"So what you're telling me is that it is in our best interest to help you with this political upheaval, otherwise we may find ourselves doomed to some unnamed fate."

Thor crossed his thick arms across his muscled chest and shifted uncomfortably.

"It would be something of that sort, yes."

"And what if we refuse? What if I told you that I don't have that kind of manpower anymore… I might not be able to offer you the help that you seek."

A long heavy silence filled the air. Thor had been hoping beyond hope that, after all of the help he had rendered the Earth they would be able to return the favour this time around. He was starting to see that his chances of finding a solution here were fading fast and that himself, Loki and Jareth may have to come up with an alternative plan, one that perhaps relied only on the three of them.

"What of your little band of superheroes?"

Loki had until now remained silently off to the side of the room. Now he stepped forward and approached Fury and Thor.

"You know the ones I mean."

He allowed an amused look to breakout across his features, tugging the corner of his lips into a smirk and igniting a tiny spark in his eyes.

"They took so much joy in defeating me I can only assume that they would leap at the opportunity to wage war against an equally powerful foe."

Loki stood before Fury, arms outstretched and hands open, welcoming the once director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to challenge the truth of his proposal.

Fury watched Loki carefully for a few short moments before he responded.

"Well…. If this foe is equally as powerful as you then why seek my help? Why not simply join forces with your also rather powerful brother and this Goblin King fellow who, form all accounts is also quite powerful, and defeat them yourselves?"

The smirk slipped from Loki's lips and his features hardened into an insulted frown, one that darkened his eyes, thinned his lips and creased his brow.

Jareth chuckled quietly and Loki subtly shifted his narrowed gaze to glare at him out of the corner of his eye. Jareth winked slyly at the dark haired adopted son of Odin. Fury meanwhile had focused his attention on Thor, waiting patiently for a response from the God of Thunder who had now been standing silently with his arms still folded across his chest for some time.

"Would they help?"

Chin down on his chest he looked up at Fury through stray locks of golden hair. Blue eye shone with hope and desperation. He needed the Avengers, without their help it would fall to him, Loki and the Goblin King to take back Asgard and if he were honest with himself….. he wasn't so sure they would succeed.

Fury turned his back on Thor and gazed out of the window. He clasped his hands firmly behind his back, his brow creased in deep thought. Thor glanced uneasily across at Loki who looked as though he was fast losing patience with Thor's half hatched plan. Tension hung think in the air and Jareth almost dared not breath as his eyes wandered around the room, taking in the second hand equipment set up in the room on tables that weren't quite level surrounded by layers of dust that no one had bothered to sweep away before setting the equipment up.

"I may have to make a few calls."

Fury turned only his head to look at Thor.

"You will all stay here until we decide how this is going to work."

Thor opened his mouth to express his appreciation but Fury was quick to continue.

"And I don't want to hear about you" a finger was pointed sternly at Loki before moving across to the Goblin King "or you, causing any problem while you're here. Got it."

The look Fury directed at Loki and Jareth said he meant what he said and Jareth suspected a second trip to the cells in the basement would be the least of their worries if Fury decided they had over stepped a mark.

"Someone organise these three somewhere to sleep for the night…."

Fury was cut off sharply by Natasha Romanoff storming out. Her boots echoed loudly through the room as they fell heavily on the dusty wooden floors. The door slammed heavily behind her as she exited. Agent Coulson threw a look Fury's way, he nodded swiftly in response and Coulson then quickly followed Natasha from the room.

"Did I not ask for some sleeping arrangements to be organised?"

The sound of Fury's frustrated voice sent agents scurrying from the room. Fury meanwhile returned his attention to the scene beyond the window; his thoughts turning to how he was going to get the various members of his Avengers assembly to agree to help Thor take back Asgard.