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Chapter Text

Before this story can be told, I must warn you, traveler, that this tale of Yggdrasil is different from the tree with which you are familiar. It diverges from the point of the giant Ymir, as before he perished at the hands of the barbaric Aesir, he established a hereditary line of families that would influence every realm. These families were ruled by the way of the Wolf, a set of pheromone driven genders. The social structure of modern humans evolved with these biological factors to form specific familial roles for each member of a family.

However, these families are not always blood related. “Family” may have a different definition to you, traveler, so we shall call the groups of blood-relatives Broods, and the unrelated groups Packs.

The brash Aesir, ruled by Bor and his wife Bestla, defeated Ymir and kidnapped the members of the families that they found attractive. As the lines of heritage elongated, the Wolf dynamics of Ymir began to infiltrate the Aesir. At the same time, the Jotnar of Ymir fought with the realm of Midgard and interbred, leaving their traits on the planet even after their defeat. 

These dynamics are complicated, but I will try my best to explain them to you, traveler. As said before there are two types of families: Broods (blood relatives) and Packs (non- blood related). 

There are three personality types; Alpha (confident leader), Beta (mild and loyal), and Omega (emotional and protective).

Alphas are often male due to the need to produce strong offspring. Female Alphas must mate with a male Beta in order to reproduce. Omegas, both male and female, possess a fertile uterus. Though male Omegas possess male genitalia, they are unable to get any dynamic (even a female Omega) pregnant.

Omegas go into Heat twice a year, where their body burns until they are sated sexually and physically. This is when an Omega is most fertile and gains a mate. Betas experience a Heat once a year, but only need to be physically sated. 

Mates are formed by a Marking bite on the neck and an emotional bond. Bonds are the connection between mates where the emotions of one influences the other partner. Many couples take vacations in order to spend the most time with each other and create a strong tether between them. A bond can be broken by taking a probiotic supplement (ex. BondBreaker pills) that break it down over a period of three weeks.

Both sets of families share the same hierarchy of members: In order from the top of the hierarchy to the lowest level.

1. Alpha: The dominant member of the family who oversees all members, all plans, and financial stability. Alphas are common, making up 37% of Yggdrasil's population.
2. Beta: Subordinate member that cares for the health of the family and recruiter for the pack. There can be multiples of this member, depending on the size of the family. Betas are extremely common; they make up 33% of Yggdrasil's population.
1. “Gamma”: The physician of the pack that handles injuries. These are Betas that have technical training in the art of healing.
3. Omega: The caretaker of the emotional health of the family. All Omegas are gifted with Empathy and Fertility. Most likely mated to the Alpha. Omegas are not common, making up 30% of the population. 
1. “Breeders”: Omegas that are used specifically for breeding purposes. They have never been Mated and are usually part of human trafficking schemes. 

There! That is all the information you shall need to begin this tale, traveler. 

Chapter Text

Loki led the guards into the gilded throne room, letting his chains scrape the marble runes beneath his feet. They hadn’t even let him change from his invasion robes. Dirt smears the mirrored tile with each of his steps and he hopes he looks as gross as he feels. He's been in a gilded birdcage cell for the past however long; no one's told him how many days have passed since the Invasion and he has a feeling even more time has passed on Midgard than he knew.

He was forced to halt beneath the Hlidskjalf's dais, mocking his guards' kick-heeled salute to the Allfather. He laughed at the fury encapsulated in Odin's reaction. Serves him right.

"You may keep those wrinkles if you keep that frown any longer, Allfather." Loki bit.

"This is not the time for jokes, Loki!"

Loki laughed again, taking a step forward. "Is it not? This farce of a trial?" 

"Loki," Frigga intoned, "Please do not make this any worse."

His glance turned to her beside the throne. "Hello, Mother--" He began but was cut off by Odin's roar.

"Frigga! Leave us at once if this is how you will distract him," Odin bellowed, dismissing her with a frustrated gesture.

She turned to face her husband, stepping onto the top stair to be level with him on his throne. "I am merely reminding our son to keep his tongue in check. You shall not banish me from this judgment. Do not forget I have as much power as you, husband." She turned back to Loki, resuming her regal posture.

Odin's lips hardened into a fine line. "Fine then, wife." He snapped. "Loki Laufeyson, you are here because of your crimes against Jotunheim and Midgard. Your formal charges are attempted genocide of an underpopulated race, inter-realm warfare, and the casualties of over a hundred Midgardians. Do you have any defense?"

Loki sneered. "I have not committed any crimes. Tell me, Allfather, was attempting to rule a planet considered illegal when Bor defeated Ymir-"

"ENOUGH, You cruel beast!" Odin seemed to fly down the dais. His staff connected with Loki's cheek and sent the disgraced prince flying into the guards behind him. "You have done nothing but disappoint me in every way! I should execute you right here." Odin turned around and headed back up to the throne.

He ignored Frigga as she ran to Loki and helped him to his feet. "For the tantamount of charges you have compiled, the fate of death would be yours…but the Allmother has deferred her ruling, which redirects the extent of punishment."

Frigga had not let go of Loki, holding his shackled hands. Odin said flatly. "You are being stripped of your magic and immortality and banished to Midgard. You will earn your worth by both my and Heimdall's discretion." He flicked a hand to Frigga. "Strip him."

Frigga's crystal eyes sparkled with tears. "I refuse to. When I deferred my decision, we had agreed to imprisonment!"

"You shall not allow this greedy child to get away without the fullest punishment of Asgardian law."

Frigga whirled towards Odin with an aura of fury. "Stripping a mage of their seidr is worse than condemning them to death! Seidr is the spirit of their soul. Do you not remember my sister’s fate?!"

Odin stormed down the dais once again and threw Frigga into Thor's arms.

The blonde held her tight, calling out, "Father! Please, Loki does not deserve this! We have evidence."

The Allfather glared at his true son with an eye stormy with madness. "How?! You have been a victim of his trickery for centuries. Surely he has not corrupted you as well?" 

"Loki speaks of the Mad Titan, Thanos, and of The Other. Midgard has staved them off, but Heimdall has spoken of Thanos still being alive." Thor gently pulled his mother into her handmaidens' waiting embraces. “Thanos will return, and Loki has information--”

"Loki. Speaks. Lies!" Odin thundered. "He has twisted these nonsensical threats that were extinguished long ago into a trick to save himself from punishment! Thanos has been dead for a century! I have seen it." He turned to face Loki. "I hereby strip you of your seidr and immortality and banish you to the realm of Midgard until you can earn an ounce of my respect." He raised Gungnir, a flame of molten gold consuming the disgraced prince. Loki’s screams mixed with Frigga’s sobbing, her tears growing louder as the now unconscious prince was hauled to the Bifrost. 

Heimdall activated the newly rebuilt Bifrost with his sword, eyes creased in concern for his king’s overwhelming madness. “My King,” He spoke after Loki was thrown through the channel to Midgard, “I worry for you and the young Prince.”

“He is the Prince of nothing but himself, now.” Odin gesticulated dismissively at the Gatekeeper, sweeping back towards the bridge to return to his steed, Sleipnir. The stallion whinnied in distress as Odin approached him, dark green eyes darting to the Gatekeeper.

Heimdall called out once more, “Odin, Sleipnir may not be the best choice as your steed at the current moment.” 

Odin ignored the golden-clad man, roughly mounting the stallion and forcing him to ride back to the castle. Thor and the Warriors Three awaited him at the Palace dais, Fandral taking hold of Sleipnir to lead him back to the stables. Sleipnir bucked as Odin dismounted, hitting the Allfather in the chest plate.

“Ungrateful horse!” Odin roared. He whipped Sleipnir’s smooth stomach with the pointed shaft of Gungnir. 

Thor pulled his father away from the steed. “Father, please! He is just in distress!”

“He is just a steed! You and your mother let this horse get away with anything, just as Loki did.”

“He is my nephew! Your grandson!” Thor thundered back. “I shall take care of his punishment with the stablemaster. We all need to take rest after the distress of the trial.” He met Odin’s eye, feeling hatred towards his father for the first time in his long life.

Thor sighed as he secured Sleipnir in his stable, removing the outer reigns. “Your grandfather is traveling into madness; I swear he does not mean to treat you as such. Besides, Mother has almost finished unraveling this shifting spell he has you under. I’m sorry it’s taken this many years.” 

Sleipnir huffs loudly, his eight long legs folding gracefully under him. Thor joined him on the bed of hay, gently soothing the bruising that stood out on Sleipnir’s silky coat. Sleipnir nudged his hand for head scratches and curled around the thunderer’s frame. Light footsteps halted Thor’s petting until the smell of his mother’s perfume floated into the stable. 

“Sleipnir,” She called, Sleipnir at once clamored to his hooves, jostling his uncle into a heap of hay. 

“Mother…” Thor groaned as Mjolnir hit him in a sensitive area.

Sleipnir let out a delighted huff from his juicy peach slices, glancing at his uncle in mischief. 

“Oh, you were hiding in here too?” Frigga smiled softly, holding out another slice to her grandson. Her cheeks are glistening with tears. Her face fell more as her light eyes found the bruising. “Sif told me Odin whipped him again.” 

“With Gungnir this time. I would have stopped it had he allowed me to come to the Bifrost.” Thor sighed, getting to his feet and dusting the hay off his armor. “I worry Father slips into the same mentality that befell Loki before his fall.”

Frigga nodded. “My pleading with him does not matter. Loki would have been executed had he not had a moment of clarity to listen to me. I fear what the consequences of stripping Loki are along with the influence of his Dynamic.”

Sleipnir’s omega mark was hidden beneath his curled mane. Sleipnir finished the peach slices and nuzzled Frigga before settling back onto his bed of hay.

Frigga's blue eyes met Thor's concerned ones. "Loki has been through much in the past centuries." 

"Aye. But he has always been resilient." 

She smiled sadly, cupping Thor's stubbled cheeks. “Because he has a wonderful brother looking out for him, even if he gets distracted sometimes. Speaking of distractions…how is your lady?"

"You should know Sif is well." He nodded.

"Lady Sif? I was asking about Jane."

Thor blinked. "Oh! She and I are no longer courting. I have Father's blessing to begin courting Lady Sif. Jane and I found that we are much better as companions than wedded. I still treasure her so."

Frigga pinched his cheek playfully. "Why have I not heard this?! You are maturing more by the minute! I am so proud that you have figured out the best for both of you. Loki would be proud as well."

Sleipnir snorted at Thor's light flush.

"Oh hush." Thor groaned at the horse.

“You’ll be free soon, my darling. I’ll be back tonight.” Frigga scratches behind the horse’s ears and opens the gate for her eldest son.

Thor gave the stallion an affectionate hug to his neck, then locking the gate and joining his mother. 

Chapter Text

Tony Stark did not cry. He had a sad past, but he tended to ignore it unless it was too close to home for him to bear. Unfortunately, this was one of those times.

Virginia "Pepper" Potts, his beloved mate and almost-fianceé, was walking away from him. From their Pack. 

The promise of BondBreaker pills floated back to him along with her accusations of his lack of self-preservation and vanity. "Pepper, please! Please...I can't lose you…" He reached for her, grabbing her wrist.

She pulled her deceptively dainty wrist away. "Tony, grow up!" Her strawberry-blonde hair swished as she stormed to the elevator. "Pull yourself together. Maybe when you learn some common sense and self-preservation we can be together, but I doubt you'll be able to do that. Goodbye, Tony." 

Tony felt the hot dribble of tears run down his cheeks, but he made no move to wipe them away. Maybe crying for a moment would keep him from draining his favorite whiskey. It was a pain to order since it has to be aged for so long. A slight breeze alerted Tony to the agent that had silently leaped from the air conditioning vent above the kitchen counter.

“You and Pepper, huh?” Clint asks, nudging the scotch away from Tony’s hand. For a deaf person, the blonde agent sure eavesdropped a lot.

“Yeah,” He sighed shakily. Tony yanked off a paper towel and furiously wiped his eyes. “She accused me of cheating on her, on top of being vain and lacking self-preservation. You know I would never do that! She especially knows that the tabloids will twist any affection I give anyone.”

“Well, sometimes you do come off a bit flirty…” Clint shut up at the red-rimmed glare aimed at him. “Okay, so you lost Pepper. You still have us!”

“It’s not the same!” Tony yelled, running unsteady through his hair. He moves away from the kitchen to the long, uncomfortable, white sofa in the living area. “I can’t...I can’t take the pills with the Reactor. The chemicals will cause the Palladium to corrode inside my veins.” He admitted quietly. 

Clint went silent and mulled over the problem. “Why haven’t we tried to magic the shrapnel away. Thor has those magical nurses that fix up the major injuries he’s gotten during battles. Surely they can fix you up since Thor is in the Avengers.”

Tony goes quiet to think it over. It is odd none of them have thought about that in the year since the Battle of New York.

“If it helps, Sir Odinson is still in Asgard.” JARVIS cut in. “He relayed to me that he will return tomorrow after Loki is tried in court. Perhaps I could run some scans in the meantime?”

The engineer shrugs hopelessly. “Go ahead, buddy.”

“Well, now we have a reason to celebrate! I can’t wait to hear how that bastard dies. Nat bets it’ll be an Asgardian firing squad. Personally, I think it’ll be sucking all of his magic away and leaving him like a zombie.” A cruel quirk of his lip caught Tony’s attention.

“Well, any of those outcomes means that Thor will be a snotty mess like me. Maybe we can see if pot works on calming a god down.”

“That would be hilarious!” Clint laughed heartily.” Can you imagine how crazy Thor’s cravings would be? He’d truly eat you out of house and home.”

Tony smiled and started towards the elevator. “See you tomorrow, Clint.”

“Wait, Steve called a Pack sundae night at nine tonight! He’ll turn JARVIS against you if you don’t come.” Clint called from the kitchen. “I promise it’ll help, Tony.” 

“Okay, okay. I’ll come.” Tony lied as the steel doors closed in front of him. He groaned and trudged to his messy bed, face-planting onto Pepper’s pillow. 

-

He sobbed like a baby for a few hours until Steve dragged his ass down to the communal kitchen.

“Tony,” Steve sighed in his "dad" voice. 

“Leave me alone!” Tony grunted as he was heaved over Steve’s shoulder. “I want to cry in peace!”

“Tony, you know that grieving a mate is more painful alone.” Bruce said gently as Tony was shoved onto the plush pull-out couch. Bruce draped an Iron Man blanket over Tony and settled beside him.

Steve grabbed a large chocolate sundae and wrapped Tony’s hands around it. The soldier stretched out beside Tony, Bucky curling up on the other side of Steve. Natasha and Clint took up the loveseat turned bed adjacent to the large couch. Rhodey was unfortunately out in Washington, D.C. conducting a meeting with the president. Tony mumbled unhappily that Rhodey wasn’t here, but Steve promised Tony could skype him after the sundae/movie night was finished. 

Tony curled into Bruce and slowly ate his sprinkle-drenched sundae. Clint turned on the Men In Black movie, then curled back up into Natasha’s arms under a fuzzy blanket. Tony tried to keep his tears as silent as possible, but Bruce’s gentle hugs caused him to choke on his sobs. The whole Pack felt the weight of Pepper’s loss. Tony knew he was broadcasting his emotions too willy-nilly, but Pepper was the first thing he thought would stay forever; and they created the Avengers Pack together. Pepper was even talking about marriage just a few weeks ago! How could it have gone so wrong? “I was gonna propose tonight..” He mumbled.

“Wait, you were?” Bruce’s eyebrows raised. 

Tony nodded and fished out the engagement ring from his pocket.

Bucky carefully took the velvet box and set it on the coffee table. “It’s beautiful, Tony.”

“I built it from the first reactor. I should melt it back down.” He finished with a hiccup.

Steve shakes his head, “No, don’t destroy it. Keep it for someone who actually deserves you. That’s a symbol of you that someone will be proud to wear.”

The engineer sighed shakily, pulling the red and gold blanket over his head. “Like that will ever happen.”

-

Tony was very rudely awoken by JARVIS's alarm.

Bruce jolted from his cuddle position between Tony and Bucky, tripping over the empty boxes of ice cream on the coffee table. Natasha and Clint were gone, probably already suiting up.

Bucky was groggily scrubbing his eyes, reaching over Tony and shaking Steve from his snoring. 

"Fuck, J, what's going on?" Tony slurred as they all bumbled for their rooms to get their weapons. He yawns as JARVIS opens the glass terrace

"Stark, get your ass over to Central Park. We’ve got a Loki sighting." 

The suit assembled around him, blasting through the open window as soon as the locks clicked shut. "What's he doing?" He grumbled as the park quickly approached. 

"At the moment, just kind of lying there." Coulson piped up from his HUD comm. "He hasn't moved."

Stark landed beside the SHIELD Quinjet; Agent Coulson speaking with Director Fury as a swarm of men-in-black crowded around a large crater. Fury waved him over. "He's pretty much dead. Motherfucker was probably thrown out of fairyland, or he tried to off himself."

A loud snort from behind them announced the other Avengers' arrival. "Some people just need that little push." Stark's nose twitched at Clint's anxious scent. "Is he dead?"

"Not quite. There’s a small set of vitals and a heat signature." Coulson answered dutifully, "Although a little push from any of us probably would kill him."

The Avengers made their way to the crater, JARVIS scanning the debris and the broken figure in the middle. It didn't even look like Loki or a human at all. "How'd you ID him, J?"

"By the Bifrost’s magical signature, sir. He has no current magic signature close to my records of the invasion or the tesseract. Thor is also not within 100 miles of Central Park.”

"Huh, so cast out and his brother isn’t coming to help? Asgardian capital punishment involves a lot of body-throwing." 

"He is showing signs of consciousness." JARVIS alerted, his repulsors aiming at the figure as Loki dry-heaved and slowly sat up. 

"Hands in the air!" Came the shout from Fury. "You can't outrun these new blasters, Loki!"

Loki's hands shakily moved above his head. His pupils were dilated, giving him a haunted stare. As the black suited swarm advanced hungrily into the crater with cuffs, that was when Stark smelled him. 

Loki reeked of unmated omega.   

"Fury, they're going to jump him!" The engineer yelled as the group of soldiers converged. Stark ripped away manhandling agents from the fallen god. He rushes faster as fear scent overwhelms him. 

"Stark, stand down!"

Tony looked around as he cradled Loki's form to his metal chest, seeing the guns trained on him now.

"Put him down!" Fury yelled, holding a plasma enabled rifle aimed at the Arc Reactor.

Stark shook his head, trying to clear himself of the instinctual fog. He set Loki down even as he shook trying to restrain himself. He stepped back, holding up his hands. 

Fury, Agent Hill, and Bruce stepped into the crater, Bruce making his way to Tony. "Hey Tony, let's go home, okay?" His warm eyes grounding Tony. 

Tony saw Fury put handcuffs on the unconscious Loki, snapping his control. "Don't touch him!" He raised a repulsor at Fury. JARVIS was speaking in his helmet, but he paid him no attention as Loki was being hauled to a SHIELD van. "Stop!"

He tore away from Bruce when his repulsor refused to fire. He vaguely feels the hit he lands to Steve's cheek. Tony's world spins as green walls crush him. Rumbling from all around him knocked away his instincts as the Hulk restrained him.

"Tin man need a hug." The Hulk justified. Tony felt Hulk set him down with a beefy hand, stumbling from the aftershocks of going into Rush. Hulk pet Tony's head in his almost-too-hard way, then slowly shrunk into Bruce.

Clint jogged over with a robe for the scientist. Bruce wrapped himself up and smiled at Clint in thanks before turning to Tony.

Tony shook his head. "I know, I know I’m reckless and stupid but h smelled like complete panic, and I just went into overdrive."

Clint scoffed. "It's Loki. The psycho-ness should've kept you clear." He sauntered back to where

Fury was eyeing Stark and Banner suspiciously. “We’ll talk about this stunt later.”

Bruce laid a warm hand on Tony's tense shoulder. "Hey, let's just go home, okay?"

The engineer stared at SHIELD's retreating black swarm of vehicles with a distant look. "He’s an omega." He mumbled. “Loki was standing in my living room, snarling about his glorious purpose and I never fucking smelled that he was an omega?!”

Bruce's hand hadn't moved, which was good, because it was the only thing keeping Tony's mind in his noggin. "We were all under duress during the battle. Studies have shown that dynamics become secondary in times of stress." He explained, sending soft waves of calm to Tony. 

"Sir, Thor has landed at the tower." JARVIS spoke into his earpiece. "He is wondering where the Avengers have gone. Shall I tell him?"

"No. Tell him Bruce and I are in our way back. Want a lift? Tony looked to the Gamma Beta beside him. "

"Sure. I've always wanted to be that girl from Megamind." He grinned and wrapped arms around Tony's neck. 

Tony held Bruce's waist and blasted off, Bruce and him laughing about Tony and JARVIS as Megamind and Minion. 

-

Thor was drinking heavily from a keg of Asgardian Mead he's magically produced. "Yo, Thunderstruck!" Tony called as he landed, setting down Bruce and unsuiting. "What's caused the drinking?" 

“Loki.” Thor rumbled, taking another hefty swig.

Bruce sat down next to him. “Hey Thor?  He just landed here in New York. Why’s he here?”

“Loki was exiled; his immortality, seidr, and lies taken from him. Mother and I are worried because of his..other gender.” He said quietly. “My father was furious during the trial and does not believe the mind stone evidence I presented.”

“Mind stone evidence?” Bruce asked.

“Mother and our sorcerers found traces of the influence of the mind stone within Loki’s memories. Father didn’t believe it because he thought Loki had manipulated them into seeing altered memories.” Thor ran a hand through his long hair. He looked like he had aged several years in just a few days. 

“Like Barton?” Tony asked nonchalantly as he poured himself a few fingers of Scotch. 

"I assume so. Loki has not been talkative about his experience to anyone...not even our mother." Thor's usually golden hair had dulled to greasy strands reminiscent of his brother. "I worry about him. Where is he now?"

"SHIELD has him. He's probably going to be placed in a containment cell." Bruce shivered, pulling his robe tighter. "I'm gonna go get changed, it's cold in here." 

Tony smiled at him as he left, collapsing onto the couch. "Thor, I almost lost my shit when I smelled Loki." He blurted.

"Lost your shit? Did you defecate-"

"No! It means I wanted to…y’know,” Tony makes a circle with his left hand and sticks his right finger through it.

“…Play Midgardian Basketball with him? I’m not sure I understand your analogy.” Thor answers confusedly.

“You know what basketball is and not what this means?”

The Thunderer shrugs, “Darcy was more forthcoming with riddles.”

Tony's laugh was borderline hysterical. "It means I wanted to mate him, okay? Feel free to kill me now."

Thor sighed and set down the keg with a thud. "I am grateful for your restraint. Others have not been as kind to him. Because of the famine killing off the Jotnär, their dynamics have evolved to become stronger to attract mates. It is not fault of you. You would make a fine mate for Loki, so that may have been a part in why his pheromones were so strong to you." 

"Me and Loki?! As mates?! I think you've drank too much, Point Break." 

"Ah, that may be true. But yes, you two are so wild I think you would mesh your personal chaoses very well." Thor belched. "You would love Sleipnir also. But I shall bring my gray tidings away from here as I wish to think on this matter. I bid you farewell for a few nights, Man of Iron." He clapped a solid hand to Tony's shoulder and smiled, the sadness slowly forcing the quirk of his lips downward. "Please make sure Loki rests well for me."

"Always." Tony mirrored.

Thor huffed an amused laugh and walked to the elevator, where he departed to the terrace. 

Bruce and Steve appeared out of the elevator as it returned.

"Thor just leave?" Steve gestured upwards. 

"Yeah, we talked about his brother, got drunk, and now he's off to go do some poetry by Walden Pond." The engineer raised his glass before downing it. 

Bruce snorted and started the coffee maker.

Unfortunately, the fuzz of scotch could not be enjoyed because Bruce’s cell phone was ringing loudly. Tony groaned as Bruce got up from the couch. Bruce was such a nice pillow.

“Hello?” He answered, fixing his askew glasses. “Sure. Is it serious? Because Tony’s buzzed and-Oh. Yeah, I’ll get Steve too. What do I do about Thor?” He paused, listening. “Yeah. I have her number; I can call her. Thanks, Clint. We’ll be over in twenty.” He hung up and ran a hand through his hair. “We need to go to SHIELD.”

“What?” Tony slurred, head nestling back into the beige couch pillows. “JARVIS, tell them to fuck off.” He mumbled. 

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Tony, c’mon. It’s just a little meeting. I’ll get you a doughnut afterwards.”

The engineer perked up at that. “The ones with bacon and maple syrup?” He asked suspiciously.

Bruce nodded. “I’ll get you two if you get up right now while I call Darcy.” He turned back to his phone and dialed Thor’s ex-lover. He heard Tony’s unhappy grumbling as he pried himself from the couch blankets. 

“Hello?”

“Hey Darcy, it’s Bruce Banner.” 

“OH MY GOD, JANE, IT’S BRUCE BANNER!” Darcy screamed. Several large thumps sounded in the background. 

Bruce laughed nervously. “Yeah. Hey, um, is Thor there with you guys?” 

Darcy made a huff. “Jane and Thor broke up like a month ago.”

The phone went static for a moment as Jane forced the phone out of Darcy’s hands. “I haven’t seen Thor since we broke up. That was a few weeks after the invasion. I think he left for Asgard for Loki’s trial."

“Yeah, he just came back today, but he said he needed to think and disappeared. We were wondering if he had come to visit you, because he didn’t tell us about the breakup. Sorry for bothering.”

“It’s fine, Bruce. But no, we haven’t seen him. I can see if I can trace his signature for you though.”

“That would be awesome. Can you text it to me if you find anything?”

Jane’s smile was audible. “Of course. Have a good day, Dr. Banner.”  The phone call ended with a soft click. 

-

Tony, Bruce, and Steve walked into the SHIELD briefing room. Tony flopped into a high-backed chair and curled up, complaining about Fury. Clint snorted at the look on the Director’s face. 

“Okay, so now that Stark’s semi-conscious ass is here, we have a few things to discuss.” Fury started, he nodded to Agent Coulson, who changed the graphics of the large screen to a map of upstate New York. “We have a new player on our radar after some of our agents have seen possible connections to underground weapon sales and human trafficking.”

Tony immediately sat up. “Who.” He growled. 

“The leader of Sakaar Specializations.” An image of a man with wiry silver hair and twinkling brown eyes. He was old, around mid-60s, and looked like a complete slime ball. “Sakaar deals with customization services, from custom weapons to custom cars. Their founder and CEO, En Dwi Gast, has been arrested several times for the unauthorized sale of weapons. We had a report come in of new blueprints for one of his new inventions, a Melt-Stick, a device that is superheated with nuclear fusion and can melt human flesh on contact.”

“Damn. We get rid of one supervillain and another one shows up.” Bruce groaned.

“Weapons aren’t the only thing we think he’s doing illegally.” Fury pointed to a list of transactions to a company listed as “O.E.D.” The payments were in the thousands.

“Dude, that looks like my payroll, it’s probably nothing.” Tony sighed. “He’s a CEO. He has to make money somehow.”

“But do you know who these payments are coming from?” Coulson asked quietly. “O.E.D. stands for Omega Educational Distributors, they’re companies that deal in the trafficking of unmated omegas for breeding purposes. They’re legal in the Middle East and certain parts of Asia. Afghanistan has the largest one in the world.” The room was silent for a moment, before Tony got up and stormed out of the room.

“I’ll get him.” Bruce got up and scurried after Tony.

-

Bruce found Tony curled up in an alcove a few hallways away. His pheromones were tangible, hanging in the air like a poisonous cloud of tear gas. Bruce knelt next to his Alpha. He rested a warm hand on Tony’s back, feeling the quaking of the man’s body as he panicked. “Hey, Tony.” He called quietly. He took out Tony’s phone and dialed JARVIS’s operator number. He held the phone up to Tony’s ear.

JARVIS started speaking in soft tones to Tony through the phone. Bruce sighed and settled next to him, gently pulling Tony into his lap and stroking the man’s back. Bruce rested his head against the side of the alcove, waiting patiently until Tony had calmed down.

Tony relaxed into Bruce’s hold after twenty minutes of listening to Jarvis. Bruce took the phone and hung it up for Tony. “We can sit here for a few more minutes before we go back.”

The engineer nodded into Bruce’s chest, clutching at his purple button up shirt. “Thanks.” He whispered.

Bruce smiled softly. “Anytime, Tony. I understand. This is crazy.”

Tony sighed and uncurled himself from Bruce’s arms. He sat on his haunches and used the wall to slowly rise to his feet. “Let’s just get this over with.” Bruce nodded and followed him back to the briefing room.

-

Fury’s dark eye watched them warily as they reentered the room. Coulson was speaking to Clint in a calm voice, Clint’s pheromones slowly settling along with Tony’s. Tony forgot how much his scent would affect his pack. Especially since Pepper is no longer around to ground him. Bruce and JARVIS could try to calm him down as much as they wanted, but it could never compare to Pepper.

Tony could sense the question within SHIELD over why they haven’t seen Pepper. “Can we get this over with?”

Fury stood with a flourish of trench coat, nodding at Coulson to resume his station at the screen. “So, O.E.D.s were sourced within the payments given to En Dwi Gast’s company. It’s sourced in upstate New York with its main factory. His house next to the plant looks like a horrible rendition of the Playboy Mansion. For once, Stark has better taste in architecture.”

Tony couldn’t help but snort at the image of the ostentatious golden palace in Albany.

Fury shot Tony a smirk. “Gast attends these auctions for his customizations twice a month. The payments from these companies show up a few days after these events. It is possible he sells the offspring of the omegas during these auctions. We are not sure if it is simply breeding, or if there is any “customized” genetic experimentation going on as well.”

“Recently there have been numerous reports of missing persons in the New England area. The last known cases were of those missing persons going to New York for a Craigslist ad for a factory job.” Coulson added.  “We can assume all we want that is him, but we have no concrete evidence that the factory mentioned is indeed his factory.”

“Are only omegas missing?” Bruce piped up.

“No. There are also missing Alphas and Betas.” Fury said. “Though from what we can tell is that is a majority of omegas. We also cannot assume that all of these disappearances are connected.”

“New England is huge, though,” Steve murmured. “What are our steps?”

“We need more information before involving an offensive, so I’m putting Romanoff and Barton on the case for the moment and I would like Stark to use his connections to dig up some demons.”

“Glad I get away from Babysitting duty,” Clint grumbled.

“Babysitting?” Steve asked.

Clint huffed. “Sitting in the interrogation room while watching Loki. It’s the most boring job in the world.”

Fury sighed. “Anyways, one of you contact me once Thor reappears so I can brief him on all this. Also, we need the details on what the deal is with Loki’s punishment.” He looked at the nods of approval from the team and nodded himself, leaving the room.

Clint let out a deep breath. “So, I guess no pack dinner tonight?”

Tony smiled softly. “Nonsense. Just stop by before you leave, and I’ll have to-go boxes for you both.”

A ghost of a smile appeared at the corners of Natasha’s thin lips. “Thanks, Alpha.” She teased.

Tony shrugged. “I gotta take care of my pack. Be safe on your mission. Come back to our pack.” He hugged them both, scenting them, before Bruce and Steve helped Tony to their car.

Chapter Text

JARVIS chimed at them as they entered the elevator to go to the residential levels. “And I do not mean to add onto your stress sir, but Miss Pott’s prescription arrived an hour ago.”

“Oh great.” Tony groaned.

Bucky met them in the kitchen, whipping up a meringue pie with his mecca hand whisking. “Hey.” He grinned. Steve kissed him in greeting and stole a dollop of meringue. “JARVIS told me that Fury’s found a new supervillain?”

“Yeah, some weird dude upstate who likes to customize weapons. They think he’s delving into human trafficking.” Bruce sat down on a barstool at the kitchen island.

“What’s his name? HYDRA had a shit ton of links to O.E.D.s.”

Tony looked up from his tablet. “Please don’t tell me this linked to HYDRA. It’s En Dwi Gast from Sakaar Specializations. He used to try to up me during my weapons time.” Tony groaned. “I could have sworn he was dead.”

JARVIS piped up. “Sir, you are mistaking En Dwi Gast with his brother, Taneleer Tivan, the illegal Art Collector who was killed in a mafia shootout five years ago.”

Tony nodded. “Thanks J. Weren’t they twins or something? His picture was really familiar.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bucky poured the meringue over the crust. “It doesn’t immediately ring any bells. What’s the O.E.D?”

“The SHIELD file is so encrypted I cannot get inside of it, Mr. Barnes.” JARVIS said, a tint of confusion in his accent. “I will update you as I work to open the file.”

“Thanks JARVIS.” Bucky smiled at the ceiling. “I just hope it isn’t Knowhere. That place was one of HYDRA’s biggest supporters. They had some messed-up shit going on. Thank goodness I never had a chance to be involved in it.”

“Dr. Banner, your Randy's Doughnuts order has just arrived.” JARVIS spoke, a box of donuts appearing in the elevator.

“Thanks JARVIS.” He walked over and picked up the box, handing one of the warm, glazed doughnuts to Tony.

The man dug into his treat, curling up on the couch with a cup of coffee. “Man, heaven is a doughnut…” He mumbled.

Steve grinned and pet Tony’s head. “You okay after all that?”

Tony shook his head. “Nah.” He sighed. “Probably won’t ever be. “He paused and chewed thoughtfully. “At least when I made weapons I never experimented on people-oh wait.” Tony groaned, an eye peeking up at Steve.

“Wasn’t you!” Bucky called from the kitchen.

“If I have the same name and look almost the same, then it was me!” Tony called back. “People mistook me for him so I grew the beard so people could tell the difference.”

“Cheers to that.” Bruce mumbled, raising a doughnut in solidarity. Tony huffed a laugh and started in on his second doughnut.

Steve sat in the corner’s armchair, sinking into the weathered leather. “I love leather.”

Bucky’s laugh could be heard joining Tony and Bruce’s.

-

Rhodey arrived back at the Tower after a few days, Tony declaring an obligatory movie night to celebrate. “Hey Tones,” Rhodey beamed and embraced Tony heartily. “I missed you, dude. Meetings are so boring without you.”

Tony smiled and kissed his cheek playfully. “Missed you too, Honey Bear. How did they go?”

He shrugged. “I mean, you know what the ‘Crats are going to do. Speak in circles until they got what they wanted. “ Rhodey reached for a bottle of water from the fridge and a wrapped slice of Bucky’s pie with his name on it. “Did Buck make pie?”

“Yeah, it’s the best recipe yet. He made sure not to exchange the sugar with salt this time.” Tony laughed. He pulled out the entire pie and cut himself a slice.

“Is he in heat? He usually doesn’t bake unless he’s stressed.”

Tony nodded and scarfed down his treat. “Yeah, they’re down on Steve’s floor. Started yesterday morning so only a few days. Hopefully they’ll bond so they can stop with all the scenting.”

Rhodey smiled and put away the pie on the middle shelf. “You’ll find someone. Speaking of omegas, I was there when Fury had to tell WSC about Loki. I have some…news.”

“That must’ve been interesting.”

Rhodey nodded, exasperated. “It was complete chaos. One of the councilmen said to put Loki in Alcatraz.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “Alcatraz?!” He wiped away a tear. “Loki; the new Al Capone.”

Rhodey joined him, both of them letting themselves float in their laughter. He sighed after a few minutes, dark eyes sparkling. “Anyways, they voted the best way was to keep Loki in the Heli-Carrier in the Hulk Tank. That way there’s no solid location so no one can attack them from the ground.”

“That could work.” Tony hummed. “But what about when he goes into heat?”

“That’s what I need to tell you, Tones…Fury recommended you become his mate. They’re doing some labs on Loki to figure out when.”

“Fury too?!” Tony groaned, scratching at his cheeks. “Thor said we were compatible.”

Rhodey’s eyebrow raised. “I could see that. Loki is kind of a version of you that went down the wrong path. Thor also presented the Mind Stone crap.” Rhodey stretched out on the leather armchair. “I don’t know about any of this.”

“He’s definitely an omega. Did Fury talk about what happened when he landed?”

“Yeah, when you went nuts over him?”

Tony sighed. “He smelled so good. Like when we went to that bakery in school. I’ve been in Rut and it’s never been that strong before. Something about him…”

Rhodey smirked at him. “Ooh, someone’s in love.” He sang.

“Shut up. And no, I’m not. You know how scents work.”

“I do, and they don’t work like that.” Rhodey looked at the television in thought. “I think you should do it though. You obviously have an attraction to him, we need him to stay tamed, and you get over Pepper. He seemed different from New York. Thor said he was no threat and he’s basically human.”

“Mating with him isn’t going to help anything.” Tony crossed his arms and curled up on the leather sectional. “I don’t want to.”

Rhodey sighed. He got up and pulled out two beers from the beer fridge below the kitchen island. “I know there’s no good option; but I wouldn’t be saying this if I didn’t believe it would work.” He sauntered back over and plopped back down into his armchair. “You have a few days to make your decision before they go with an alpha from Planned Parenthood.” Rhodey cracked open his beer and turned to the football tv station.

Tony tried not to think about the looming decision over the next few weeks. He did anything and everything he could to distract himself, even going to meetings for Stark Industries. Pepper was there, and it was boring as hell, but it was better than moping around the Penthouse with Rhodey ‘s presence reminding him. And Besides, Pepper had finished the BondBreaker prescription, so all she could really do was glare him into submission instead of scenting him like she used to be able to do.

She smiled at him now, and though her eyes were never as bright as they used to be, the pain no longer weighed down her proud shoulders. Tony was happy for her, she deserved only the best.

Tony smiled too, because of the exhausting sex he had with random betas after these meetings. Rhodey met his eyes every night when Tony eventually stumbled back with a green-eyed brunette, and every time, Tony knew Rhodey was right.

He hated it when Rhodey was right.

Chapter Text

Loki did not fight the rough handling of the SHIELD armed guards as they dragged him into the containment cell in the middle of the Heli Carrier. He kept his limbs loose, hoping the harsh grips wouldn’t fracture anything; he had never felt like he was porcelain before. They shoved him inside the cage along with a pair of wrinkled, grey medic scrubs.

Luckily, Loki managed to roll instead of faceplant as he was pushed, saving him from a possible broken nose and already ruining his only clothing. He looked up in distaste at the few Avengers who stood behind the glass barrier. He lifted himself slowly and picked up the wrinkled set of clothes.

“Thank you for cooperating.” Director Fury spoke from the mounted speaker on the ceiling. “Maybe this won’t be hell for you.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.” Loki replied, sitting gingerly on the bed attached to the middle of the floor. It had a standard mattress, with flat pillows and a warm blanket at least. “What are my rules? I was not privy to the end of my hearing.”

Loki could feel Clint’s snort more than hear it. “You’re stuck in here until you go crazy or die.” Clint stole the microphone from the Director and pressed a hand against the glass. “The moment you fuck up, I’m pressing that button over there, and sending you to the bottom of the ocean in this pretty little coffin. You understand me?”

Loki scoffed, ignoring Clint for unfolding the set of light-colored scrubs and seeing if they were even remotely close to fitting his tall form.

“You’re going to be drowning pretty quick if you keep this up- “

“Clint, that’s enough.” Natasha interrupted, snatching the mic and handing it back to Fury. Clint rammed a hand against the glass, anger simmering as Loki did not even so much as flinch or look up.

The dark-skinned director sighed and re-racked the microphone on the control stand. “You will be monitored 24/7 from several angles to ensure the best visibility. To the back of the wall behind you is a bathroom with a toilet, shower, and dresser with clothes. When you move into the bathroom section, the walls will fog for your privacy.” Loki took a moment to inspect the adjoining section. “However, we have ways of seeing your movements. Do not think you can fabricate an escape plot just because we cannot physically see you.”

Loki touched the frosted glass of the retaining wall. It was as smooth as the regular transparent glass. He looked over the appliances, opened the shower curtain, and opened the cabinets that were full of folded scrub outfits. At least they gave him a toilet, which was better than Asgard. He sauntered back to the front of the room. “Thank you for your hospitality.” He said simply, picking up his scrubs and disappearing back into the bathroom.

By the time Loki had showered and dressed, the Director was gone, leaving Loki entirely and utterly alone. There was not much for him to do other than twiddle his thumbs without his seidr. If he had his magic, he could do anything to entertain himself with: casting spells to transform his look, play with different essences to form shapes and act out his favorite book scenes, or even conjure one of his many books from his personal void storage (which was most likely destroyed when his seidr was stripped and sent back out into Yggdrasil).

He lays on his back on the thin mattress, uncaring of his wet hair sticking to the back of his neck. He dozes off and on for several long hours until Fury once again clicks on the overhead speaker.

“How are you enjoying your first day of Midgardian prisoner hospitality?”

Loki rolls over to his side. “Decent, yet the boredom only makes me more murderous. It gives me more motivation to break out.” He says sarcastically.

“I can get you some magazines. Have you ever heard of Playboy?” Fury smirks.

The mage rolls his eyes and sits up to face the Director and Agent Coulson. “I’m not interested in your Midgardian beauty standards. I’ll find a way to prick my finger and write out Shakespeare with my own blood on the glass if you don’t bring me something to do, Director.”

“Promise you won’t use them as a weapon?” Fury gestures for Coulson to leave and perhaps fulfill the request.

“Words have always been my weapon, however, I don’t believe I can smash my way out with a tome of Coriolanus. That would be a waste of energy for both of us.” Loki sighs.

-

The next morning, the usual guards pushed a large stack of different books into the cell; a book on Norse Mythology innocently positioned on top.

Chapter Text

Thor walked out of the elevator two days later, shrugging off his armor on his way to his master bedroom. 

“Mr. Odinson, it is good to have you back.” JARVIS greeted, raising the lights. “Director Fury requests your presence at SHIELD at your earliest convenience.”

The god sighed and continued to disrobe into a pair of light washed jeans and a henley shirt. “Must I go? I am sure the son of Furious can call me to explain his problem.” 

“I shall relay the message to the Director at once, Mr. Odinson.” Thor settled onto the leather couch in the room’s spacious living room. Just as he began to relax into the weathered cushions, JARVIS spoke once again, “Director Fury says that the material concerns the wellbeing of your brother and is too sensitive to be transmitted where it can possibly be recorded. He firmly requests your presence this afternoon.”

Thor sighed, bringing a hand up to wipe his eyes. He stood and picked up Mjolnir, taking the elevator to the rooftop. He spun his beloved relic, reluctantly flying to the hidden headquarters of SHIELD.

Landing with a grace not known to people his size, Thor was escorted inside to where Director Fury was looking over a scan of Loki’s vitals. “Thor, my man, your brother is something else.” The dark man turned, gesturing to the containment cell before him and the scientists. “We need an explanation as to what exactly Loki’s punishment is.”

“My brother was exiled to Midgard as a human. It was handed to him in order to recognize the inaccuracies of his madness’ monologue.”

Fury turned back to face the glass wall. “Is there a time limit?”

Thor took a deep breath. “That is a complicated answer. There are three ways that Loki’s punishment will be lifted; his madness recedes, and he returns to his previous state of mind, he learns the value of Midgard, or…” He couldn’t make himself finish the declaration.

“Or what?” 

“Or...if he dies.” Thor exhaled, hands shaking in his pockets. “If it is self-inflicted, Loki cannot be revived to his former status. If it is by another force, then it will be the Allfather’s decision whether or not Loki has gained enough penance to be revived. Otherwise…he shall stay dead, and not be allowed to enter any of the after-realms, including Valhalla.” 

“Wow.” 

Thor smiled sadly at the man. “Yes. You cannot imagine how distraught our mother is. She was always closest to Loki.” Thor took his first look into the cell.

Loki picked at his nails, face projecting utter boredom. He sat on the cot and only looked up once Thor addressed him through the microphone. “Brother,” Thor started.

“Yes, Thor?” Loki crossed his arms, his legs folded elegantly beneath him.

“What are your thoughts on the possible union of yourself and the Man of Iron?”

Loki’s back straightened, his eyes wide like a terrified kitten’s. “You cannot possibly believe I would rather spend my heat with a mortal than suffer it alone!” His emotionless stare burned into hatred. “Put him anywhere near me and he shall not have another breath.”

Fury stepped up beside Thor. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you were in heat.”

Loki’s hatred turned to the Director. “I would rather kill myself than have an alpha or pups.”

“So, all this is about pups and not just Stark?” Thor asked, eyes sharp. 

The mage faltered for a bare moment. “I,” Loki started, “Do not want to risk any more pups to fall to a fate of experimentation. And if that means killing my alpha, then so be it.” He finished, gaze hardened. 

Thor made a soft noise in the back of his throat. “Loki, you know that will not happen again-”

“Am I not being punished? How do I know that the AllFather will decide to take them as another form of penance?! I had saved Asgard from the Builder when I had Sleipnir, but my son is still being paraded around as a horse!” Loki stood, towering over the Director and Thunder God from the elevated cell. “Force an Alpha onto me and they shall never live to leave the cell, just as I am damned to.” He walked to the bathroom section and turned on the shower. 

Fury turned off the microphone, setting it down with a sigh. “So, what was all that about?”

“Loki’s son, Sleipnir, was given to the AllFather as penance because Loki had played a trick on Asgard for the Lady Freya’s hand in marriage. Since my mother would have defied my father and freed Sleipnir from slavery, the AllFather transformed Sleipnir into a war steed. It is a spell so ancient and complex not even Loki can master it.” 

The Director’s eyebrows shot up. “Damn, okay. What do we do about his heat?”

Thor crossed his arms in thought. “It is possible that Loki will allow Friend Tony to become his mate if there are ways he can be given contraceptives.”

“Contraceptives? Will they even work on Loki?”

“Yes, or at least in theory. He is fully human.”

“We’ll get on that then. Do you think he will really harm Stark?” Fury recorded some of Loki’s hormones. They had been able to get Loki to wear a port so they could regulate his omega heat hormones. 

“It...is a possibility. I cannot tell how strong Loki is in this form, but I believe that Stark can overpower him if he must.”

-

After a week in his cell, Loki could feel his heat starting to begin. He was supposed to be being given an extreme amount of contraceptives in order to prevent any chances of Stark getting him pregnant. Loki was against Stark; he was certainly handsome, and utterly brilliant, with a healthy amount of recklessness.

All three traits appealed to Loki, and the way the mortal had stood one-to-one with him during New York was a memory that had appeared in a few wild dreams. Resisting Stark was the only way he could keep himself away from the chance of more pups.

As the hormones started to pump through his veins, Loki found himself imagining how lovely a child from Stark would be.

Director Fury had departed from the Heli-Carrier to meet with Agents Barton and Romanov to discuss how their beginning research into Sakaar ’s possible links to human trafficking. “Agent Romanov, is there any significant information?” 

The redhead flicked through the files and pulled out the pictures she took of the mansion. “We witnessed the leader, En Dwi Gast, leaving the mansion and heading northeast. We contacted SHIELD to move Helicarrier, as is protocol, and followed the movements of the armored car until we were called back to Headquarters. All movements are noted in precise hour increments within this file.”

Fury nodded, examining the photographs. Gast was seen wearing a long, gold, flowing robe with sandals. His hair was combed upwards with what looked to be gel. His face seemed to never be able to focused on though. “How come neither of you could get a clear shot of his face?"

Barton huffed and leaned back into his chair. “The guards kept moving him. We were in a tree.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I got a clear shot.” She pulled out another photo where she had managed to get two-thirds of En Dwi Gast’s face clearly.

“Good." Fury sent a glare the male agent. “Did you manage to get a tracker on any of the materials?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Natasha interrupted, typing in the PIN number for the GPS. A blinking dot appeared on the global map, slowly moving northwest in the direction of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia. 

“Is there something going on between you two?” Coulson asked as he entered the meeting room. “None of the reports I have match.” 

“Match?” Fury turned and took the stack of files in Coulson’s hands. “Agent Barton’s responses are completely different from the reports of Agent Romanov. It is almost as if you two were on different missions.”

Romanov looked at Barton, a tendril of suspicion sneaking into her dark eyes. “We stayed together the whole time. Look up our own trackers and you’ll see.” She typed in the number for her own personal SHIELD tracker. It appeared on the time slot for their week-long mission. 

Fury’s eye narrowed as the playback continued throughout the length of the mission. At four in the morning, Barton’s tracker moved 2 miles west of the stake-out points, then back at six in the morning where both trackers would move in sync. Natasha’s genuine shock led Coulson to look toward Agent Barton.

“Clint, what the fuck were you doing?” Fury began. 

“I was trying to get closer info-”

Agent Hill’s video call broke through the GPS map, showcasing a frazzled and bloody Maria Hill. “We’re being attacked!” 

Fury, Natasha, and Coulson had already run out of the room by the time Clint had stood up. He left the room after a moment, the broken structure of the Helicarrier’s control room gaining a small upturn of his lips. 

Chapter Text

Loki was actually enjoying a dreamless sleep while his heat started to ramp up for full-on hormones. This was his last reprieve before the real madness started, where he couldn’t breathe because his body was absolutely boiling. He sort of wishes for the ass-freezing realm of Jotunheim now or a way to shift into his Jotun form. Something to give him respite from this biological event he would suffer through in a prison.

After a few minutes of blissful darkness, Loki felt the sudden blast of weapons firing at the belly of the Helicarrier. He bolted upright, looking to the control panel outside his cell to see if Agent Barton was finally going to make good on his promise of dropping Loki into the ocean. However, there was not there. Even the lazy SHIELD agents that were usually patrolling the cell’s concourse were missing. His straight pile of ‘to-be-read’ now lay scattered on the floor beside him as the ground shook.

It's odd that there are no men rushing to man the controls or anyone seemingly in his vicinity.

Another wave of what sounded to be plasma cannons rocked the carrier, jostling Loki into the back wall as the large picked up speed. Loki wheezed as the drawers on his dressers slid out and hit his chest as the Helicarrier made a sharp turn.

Loki got to his feet and dragged himself around the corner of his cell to look back outside. Before he could distinguish if he knew the men dressed in black at the controls Loki felt his stomach lurch as the floor dropped from underneath him and sent him sprawling into the ceiling. The cell spun as it was released, dragging a hoarse scream from Loki’s throat as he was thrown around like a doll. He could hear his skull crack as he hit the metal corner of his bed.

Blood splattered pages spun around him, his vision going in and out.

In a split-second of clarity, he could see the dark waters of the freezing Atlantic Ocean rushing up to meet the thick glass of the cage. Loki could feel the hard surface of the water as it shattered the glass upon impact. He slipped on seawater and took the last bubble of air. If he died, at least Clint and Thor could go on without him taking up parts of their consciousness. Glass was encrusted into his hands and feet as he tried to swim past the jagged opening, the seam of his shirt caught on a massive shard of glass, anchoring Loki to the wall as it sunk to the bottom of the ocean. 

He could feel his heart racing as he struggled to free himself from what would have been easy, with either a flick of his magic or even a small pull from his Jotun strength, and now he could see the blackness creeping up on the sides of his vision. Not to mention the sight of the blood in the water around him as shards of glass encrusted themselves under his fingernails and in the soft flesh of his right side. Loki felt the cold, gut-wrenching sadness of dying alone creep up his throat as he let out his last breath. He fell limp against the shattered and bloody wall of his cage, resigning himself to the salty taste of death.

-

En Dwi Gast grinned as his men released the glass cage into the water. He steered his car-turned-speedboat towards the wreckage, leaving his men to deal with the swarm of incoming Avengers while he retrieved his newest prize. A scuba diver, one of his favorite betas, was getting dressed behind him. Gast’s own gamma beta physician was on stand-by in the seat next to the diver for when they were able to retrieve the currently drowning omega. 

Pausing above the bubbling cage, Gast nodded to the diver, handing him the rope and sharp pliers he would need to break into the cage if it hadn’t shattered upon impact. The beta strapped into his face mask and dove into the frigid water, submerging quickly. En Dwi Gast leaned back in his chair as his doctor prepared his medical supplies in case the omega was in a stage of drowning. “What’s his name again?” Gast asked out loud, glancing at the doctor.

“Loki Odinson.” She replied, setting out a shock blanket. “I was able to download the files on his hormones and determined he was in the early stage of heat.”

“Wonderful.” He grinned at the water as they could see the incoming shadow of the diver as he rose to the surface. His smile faltered. “Uh-oh, looks like blood.” 

“You know I will fix it. I think he may have been cut while trying to escape.” Amora spoke calmly, used to blood as she worked as the head physician at Gast’s mansion complex. She rolled up her sleeves as the diver broke the surface, dragging a limp Loki over to the side of the boat. The gamma beta reached over and tugged the body onto the heavy-duty towels on the floor of the boat. The diver clambered in at the back of the boat as Gast gunned the boat back towards the meeting point on shore. He could see half of his men still fighting with the Avengers to their left on the shore, SHIELD vehicle backups racing towards Gast’s meeting point. 

“Typical.” He tutted, reaching down to pull out one of his favorite inventions. A plasma-infused bazooka, with extra fireworks, because why not kill people in style?

He pressed the auto-pilot button, focusing the aim of his bazooka on the bank in front of the incoming stampede, and taking into account the wind speed. He fired, not even stumbling as the massive shell hurdled into the sandy dunes. He laughed as it exploded, sending blue flames high into the sky and onto the thick canopy of oak trees. He set down the weapon and shored up the boat, converting it back into his vehicle. Amora and the diver were joined by a second physician to help remove the glass while also keeping Loki’s lungs free from swallowing back the seawater. 

“I need to get him on a blood transfusion back at the med bay.” Amora called from the back.

“Gotcha! We’ll be there in about ten.” He pressed the radio and relayed the message to his right-hand-woman, Topaz, who was waiting for them back at his mansion. 

“Affirmative, Grandmaster. Opening the underground passage as you approach.” Topaz affirmed. 

3 miles to their left was a forested area with only enough room between the trees to a vehicle that knows the exact path needed to avoid the tree trucks. An armored vehicle containing half of Gast’s men, fell into speed behind them, firing at the SHIELD. Gast swerved as the SHIELD truck exploded behind them, avoiding a large chunk of burnt roof. He continued driving through the forest with his men behind him.

After a few minutes a further piece of trees began to hinge simultaneously upwards and down into the earth like the mouth of a mountain bear, swallowing the two vehicles and quickly closing. Gast drove the fifteen miles underground to the underground central complex of tunnels underneath his 4,000-acre estate. The domed central hub of the complex was outfitted with a large garage of ammunition and vehicles in case of invasion or a quick escape. His favorite blue color ran around the edges of the ceiling lights, adding an ethereal glow as the headlights of the vehicles flashed around the vaulted room.

Striding forward was an Amora's medical team, pushing a gurney and carrying large bags of supplies. Behind them at a slower pace, was a stout woman with dark hair pulled tightly into a bun. The silver marking on her cheeks gave away her ranking as the assistant general to the "Grandmaster." En Dwi exited his seat as the medical staff hurried off with Loki strapped to the gurney. His dark eyes watched as the group disappeared through the main corridor across the room. He grinned and turned to his general, placing a wiry hand on her short shoulder. 

"I have done it once again, Topaz." Gast nodded. 

"You certainly have, Grandmaster. He shall be the jewel of your collection." She replied drily. 

"I cannot wait to see how beautiful these pups are going to be!" He moved towards his private elevator next to the main corridor, selecting the level for his collection. His beautiful glass elevator opened out onto a grid pattern of doors, compiled into five main sections. Furthest away were the two long hallways full of identical 7×7-foot cells. Then came the reinforced cells for the dangerous or possible escapees. Next came the Breeding Rooms, a hallway of hotel-esque rooms for copulation purposes. Closer was the Birthing Units, within that was the medical rooms for both gynecological and various injuries. Closest to the elevators was Gast's favorite part, the Baby rooms. These hospital-Ish rooms were outfitted with anything needed to take care of the infants produced before they were to be sold. He liked to go and play with the cute babies when he wasn't busy in the Breeding Rooms or occupied with business above ground. 

He walked the winding, 20-minute path towards the more reinforced cells, nodding to his guards as he passed them. Cell no. 965 was Gast's (almost) most prized possession. It's incredibly thick metal door was at the very end of the main cell corridor, set back into the wall with a seven-inch-thick window in the middle of the door. He typed in the two passcodes and verified his handprint, opening the door into the cell. It was two feet larger than any other cell, complete with a thin mattress nailed to the back wall. A set of sturdy chains were secured to the drain in the middle of the concrete floor, the handcuffs laying on the bed, ready for its newest resident. He felt the cold walls, focusing on the strength of them. 

Yes, this would do nicely. 

Amora and Topaz appeared in the doorway to Gast’s personal Baby Room. He looked up from the adorable dark-skinned omega baby in his arms. “He is healing nicely. He may have some scar tissue but not enough to be noticeable on his palms.” Amora started, coming closer to smile at the baby. The baby girl grinned toothless up at her and Reacher for Amora’s long blonde hair. “This one should get quite the price.”

“I know, right! Such a pretty little thing. HYDRA will pay me so much for this one.” Gast kissed the baby’s cheek, receiving a gurgling laugh. He set back down the baby in her crib as the wet nurse approached to feed her. He then stood and followed Topaz and Amora to the medical unit. “How long until we can start breeding?” 

Topaz opened the door to the small hospital-esque room where Loki was laid on the gurney. Gast approached the bed and ran a hand through the freshly washed black curls. “Such a specimen. I will have to raise the combat team’s pay after getting this one.” 

“Certainly, Grandmaster. His hormones are the highest we have seen in the collection.” Amora handed him a chart of Loki’s vitals. “His heat will be intense. He also has the possibility for triplet sets. He can be bred in about five days when his will begin.”

“How so with triplets?” Topaz asked from the doorway.

“His womb is suited for a much larger mammal. He also has a higher rate of ovulation and produces more eggs.” Amora checked Loki’s heartbeat. She listened for a moment then wrote down a few numbers on the chart. “He very well may have twice the output per breeding session.”

“Excellent!” Gast rubbed his hands together excitedly. “We will certainly be richer than Stark then.”

Amora placed the chart on the doctor’s table and called for the guards to take Loki to his cell. "Let him settle for a day and he will be healed." She flipped her long hair, watching as Loki was carried out of the room. 

Chapter Text

Thor was on his knees as the Gast’s caravan disappeared into the dense forest. “No!”  

Tony disengaged his helmet, setting an armored hand on the god’s shoulder. “We’ll get him back, Thor. We just need to re-analyze our strategies.”  

“Loki will not be safe until we do something! There is no time for thinking.” He rose to his feet and picked Mjolnir out of the shallow dent it made in the ground. “Loki’s heat is due any day and as his brother, I refuse to let another pup be ripped from his arms.” 

“Whoa, whoa there! Hold on a second.” Tony kept Thor’s feet on the ground as he began to hover with Mjolnir. “We cannot go in there without a plan. This isn’t Asgard and Loki doesn’t have any strength. How do we know that storming in there won’t cause more problems?” 

Thor slumped into Tony’s grip and wiped away the blood splattered on his cheek. “I cannot fail him again, Anthony…I have been such a horrible influence on his sense of self-worth. His madness is my fault. He would not have fallen into the Mad Titan’s clutches had I been a reputable sibling.”

Iron Man went quiet at the god’s confession. “We’ll get him back.”

 “I fear that we will be too late if we do not act now. I am a disgrace and I have killed my baby brother.”

“Look, Thor, I really get it.” Tony turned back towards him and put an armored hand on Thor’s shoulder. “But I can bet you right now that they’re fixing up his wounds and if we disrupt that, there’s a huge chance he won’t survive. Gast doesn’t want him dead.”

Thor still wasn’t looking at him, staring off into the far distance where the crafts disappeared.

“We’re going to get him back, but I need you to stand down and listen to us right now.”  

Thor’s baby blues stared sorrowfully into Tony’s. After an extended moment, Thor nodded, a tear creating a clear trail down his stained cheeks. “Okay.” Thor wiped his hand on his trousers, following the suited man back towards the scattered agents.

“Let’s go get debriefed and find out what we can do together.” Tony guided the god over to Director Fury and Coulson, a visible frown on Coulson’s pale features. “Hey. JARVIS, has the scans of the mechanism that lifted the ground for the convoy.”  

“That’s the only good thing I’ve heard today.” Fury grumbled. “I don’t want to talk about this until I know we aren’t bugged. Can we hold this in the Basement at the Tower?” The dark-skinned man looked at Tony. 

Tony shrugged. “Sure, unless you count JARVIS as a bug. I can let you all in once I de-suit.” Fury nodded, eye closing briefly. Tony could recognize the throbbing vein beside his eye as a sign of a migraine. “I’m going to grab Bruce and head back then.” 

Fury dismissed him with a small nod and turned as a lieutenant came up with reports.  

Tony sent a smile to Thor before walking off in the direction of ultimate destruction to find the exhausted body of Bruce. He leaned over the smaller Hulk-sized crater, throwing down a bathrobe he kept stored in the thigh compartment of his suits. Bruce shot him a tired grin as he slipped the robe on and crawled up the ledge with Tony supporting some of his weight.  

“So, debriefing?” Bruce cleared his throat. 

“Fury doesn’t want whatever happened to get out in case this area’s bugged.” 

“Got it. Seems likely if there’s an underground tunnel system this far away from the main estate.” The scientist pulled the robe a little tighter. “Can you give me a ride? Thor isn’t a good pilot.” 

Tony secured a safety strap around Bruce’s waist. He put a hand around his middle and initiated his boot thrusters. “So, I’m the smooth Mary Poppins ride, then?”  

“Don’t almost run into a skyscraper because of an eagle and you’ll win.” Bruce grinned as they set off into the air.  

- 

The Basement was a fragment from the paranoid mind of Tony post-Afghanistan. His glass enclosed towers became a window for the media to try to get any press on him-be that of helicopters, fake window washers, or in one instance of a camera-strapped pigeon. He needed a place in the tower that did not have any cameras, bugs, or access by anyone except Tony himself. Having that safe space placed anywhere above the ground led to possibility of air or ground attacks. So, Pepper suggested a basement level below JARVIS and the energy core for the power generators that would take away almost every possibility for attack.  

Referring to the level as ‘The Basement’ made sure that anyone who was able to overhear them would think of the underground level that held the Arc Reactor’s generator. Tony hated the fact that Fury not only knew about the Basement but also had been in the secret service shaft that led down to level itself. It felt like it was opening the possibility for Fury to blackmail him. So, Tony built an addition onto The Basement that no one-no, not even Pepper- knew anything about. Tony built the small room by himself during his bouts of night terrors.  

He bomb-proofed. He fire-proofed. He added canned foods, protein shakes and a mini bar of his favorite comfort alcohol.  

No one knew about it until the Battle of New York. Tony had holed himself up in it for two weeks following his escape from the Chitauri portal. The nightmares were so real to him that it was the only place he felt they couldn’t penetrate. He watched endless hours of CCTV of the battered Manhattan streets and inside the Stark Tower. He followed Pepper’s movements through the different floors until he thought she was safe.

It took hours of convincing from JARVIS and Pepper through video calling for him to finally unbarricade himself. Even after that, he mostly lived in his private workshop. At least then she could see him.

This probably had a big impact on their relationship now that he thinks back.

Tony led the team into the small conference room that made up The Basement. He plopped into the high-backed leather chair at the head of the table, kicking his feet onto the table. “So, anyone want coffee?” 

A mumble of agreement came from the general room. The carafe clicked on by JARVIS, a stack of sugars and creamers appeared out of the wall pane next to the coffee maker’s table.  “Thanks, J.”

Fury gave a weary glance to Tony from the other end of the table. “Well, I guess I’ll need a redesign of the Helicarrier. How long for a schematic?”  

“I’d say two days if you take me out on a date. Tomorrow if you get me dessert.”

The director sighed and nodded. “Okay, but you get to pay.” 

Tony grinned, “Deal! I’ll make a reservation for 7.”

Thor cut in, “Friend Tony, I enjoy this back and forth but can we discuss my brother now?” 

Fury turned to the god, who hadn’t even bothered sitting down, still pacing by the elevator doors. “Fine. So, the intel from the security footage is that it was definitely Gast.” A tablet in his hand played the shaky footage from the hood of a SHIELD vehicle chasing the boats. “They were unmarked hydro vehicles rigged with at least three types of weapons not known to SHIELD or the ATF.” 

“I shall tear them all apart!” Thor spoke lowly, gripping Mjolnir tightly. He stalked to the coffee machine and grabbed a steaming cup from Tony as he made a second cup. He sighed after a long sip of the burning hot coffee, seemingly not bothered by the temperature. 

“As much as I hate to say this—Loki is a hostage.” Steve couldn’t take his eyes off the shiny surface of the table. “I mean, if we talk to this guy and get some sort of compromise--” 

“There will be no compromise!” Thor rounded on Steve and threw the coffee mug against the wall. “You dare to kneel to a kidnapper who is connected to Omega trafficking?!” “If you believe that I will stand for that, then I will hand over your precious Omega to him-” 

Steve stood up, posture ramrod straight as anger filled him. “Touch Bucky and you’re dead, god or not!”  

Natasha splashed water in Steve’s face, pushing his back into the chair. “Bucky’s not going anywhere, and we’re not compromising with Loki’s safety. What do you suggest we do, Thor?” 

The god took a deep breath. “My thoughts were to immediately storm the base, but I realize he has firepower that is unknown to us.” 

She nodded, sitting back in her chair next to Tony. “What would Loki do in a situation like this?”  

“I don’t know! When there was a problem with Omega trafficking-he handled it on his own! I was too busy being a spoiled prince at galas... He was gone for almost a year. I assume he was just stealthy like he always does.” 

“So, he likes to watch from afar then?” Fury asked. 

“Yes. His symbol is a snake for a reason.” Thor nodded.  

“I can build a snake robot with a camera.” Tony piped up. “It wouldn’t take me more than a day to get a working model.” 

“Let’s start with that. At the very least we can then do surveillance around the estate to find a new plan.” Fury nodded. “Can you get started now?” 

Tony dramatically smelled under his arms. “With this kind of funk? Yes.” He grinned as Bruce wrinkled his nose.  

“I have literally turned into a topless hairy beast, and I somehow smell better than you.” 

Tony laughed, standing up. “Well, with…Haven’t really had the motivation to shower.” A small gleam of sadness turned down his smile. “I’ll be in the lab.” 

- 

Thor followed the group to the upper levels, Fury leaving at the ground entrance, Tony disappearing into his workshop. The god sighed heavily as the rest of the group reached the living space. “I need to contact my father for guidance. I shall be back by tonight.” 

“Hey Thor?” Steve called, standing from the couch. 

He turned back, eyes watching the soldier warily. “Yes?” 

Steve walked closer, blue eyes tired. “I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I didn’t understand how important he is to you. I shouldn’t think of Loki like of that.” 

Thor enveloped him into a hug. “Thank you Steve. I apologize for my words as well. I will do better to not let my anger to cause harm to my teammates and listen.” 

Steve smiled at him. “We’ll get him back.” 

Thor’s smile turned sad. “Yes, we will. Then you can hate Loki all you want. He’s quite the asshole.” He pulled away and took the stairs to the rooftop.  

Bucky appeared out of the stairwell a few minutes later, a confused dip in his eyebrows. “Why did Thor just apologize to me?” 

Natasha shook her head and pat his shoulder as she walked to her rooms. “It’s a long story.” 

Steve sighed, falling back onto the couch. “Can you grab me a beer, first?”

- 

Fury entered the keypad onto the interrogation room. He took a deep breath before opening the door, Coulson entering after him and locking the door.  

“So, Clint,” Fury began, pulling up two chairs to the small table in the center of the room. “Why did you do this?” 

The man folded his handcuffed hands the best he could. “Why not? He invaded New York! He killed almost a hundred people because of a temper tantrum. He enslaved me!” 

Coulson nodded, face impassive. “You wanted him to feel the same way you did.” 

Clint’s dark eyes met Coulson’s, relief flooding his features. “Exactly.” 

“How did you find the information on Gast to send him the coordinates?” 

“I asked Bucky about Hydra’s OED’s. I went through files while Loki was being transferred so one would be in their office.” 

Fury’s eye narrowed. “So, you contacted an Omega trafficker through SHIELD’s encryptions?” 

Clint’s easy smile faltered. “Well...yes.” 

“I don’t think you realize how serious this is, Barton.” Fury rubbed his head, dirt and blood coming away on his fingers. “We now have no control over where a demi-god is, possibly pregnant with magical beings, and we have another demigod who will no doubt come after you if he finds out you were behind this. You’re in more danger now than you’ve been on any of your goddamn missions,”

“Thor doesn’t know?” The archer asks.

“Thor believes this a planned attack by Gast, not an inside job by a packmate.” Fury emphasized the last word. “I almost want to let him loose in a room with you.” 

Clint leans back in his chair, self-satisfied, “I’m too valuable, Director. ”  

“I should smack that silly-ass smirk off your face. You’re now a threat. If you’re willing to endanger lives like you did on the Helicarrier and give out coordinates to an enemy; you can’t be trusted. There were 200 SHIELD agents that could have died on the Helicarrier alone.”

“Tasha won’t stand for this. You can’t keep me here! At least let me talk to her.” Clint watched them as the two stood. 

Coulson shook his head. “You’re being isolated as we investigate.”

Fury glanced at Coulson. “Don’t you think that now that Gast knows he can take down a Helicarrier, he can come after Natasha? This has become a world-wide manhunt because you needed revenge. I don’t give a flying fuck about packs or broods, but nothing could have been this horrible to turn on your pack like this. You’re a fucking Avenger, not a toddler upset because someone took his applesauce away!” 

Clint struggled against the handcuffs secured to the table. “And what will you say to the public when you get Loki back? That The Battle of New York’s family members' deaths are invalid because their murderer was going through teenage angst?! You’ll put their family member SHIELD agents in harm’s way to interfere with Asgard’s punishment?” 

“That is beside the main point of the mission. We have to first handle the possibility of Thor destroying who he thinks the enemies are and having rogue magical children blending into society.” The director spoke, folding his chair against the far wall.  

“Asgard may get involved as well. This could be counted as interference in corporeal punishment. We won’t protect you if they come against you.” Coulson said lowly. “I personally won’t say anything, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be described in mission reports for Thor.” 

Clint’s face drained. “Can I at least talk to Natasha?” 

“I’ll see if she wants to, but don’t get your hopes up,” Fury said, closing the door behind himself and Coulson. 

Chapter Text

Loki woke slowly to a thin mattress and cold shackles. His eyes felt heavy, the white room around him blurring as his eyes swept around the room. He reached a hand up to his face to rub away the fog, but clenching his hands only resulted in prickles of sharp pain running up his arms. He tried to see what was wrong, but his eyes wouldn’t focus on his hands. All he saw was blurry flesh tones and white. A noise of locks unclicking and a door opening caused Loki to recoil back into the wall the mattress was attached to. A flash of flesh and gold appeared in his foggy peripheral.

“Hi there, Loki.” Came a soft woman’s voice. “I’m Amora, the head medic of the facility. I’m here to look at your injuries. Can you move away from the wall for me?”

“Where the hell am I?!” He demanded, keeping himself coiled and moving away from the gold flashing of her earrings.

“You’re in a safe room. My colleague and I rescued you from some slavers who attacked the SHIELD ship you were on.” She spoke gently, reaching out to touch his wrist.

Loki winced at the pain in his arms. “Slavers attacked SHIELD, because of me?”

“Yes. They dropped your cage, and you got trapped inside when you hit the Atlantic Ocean. We were able to fight them off and save you.”

“So, you’re SHIELD? I demand to see my brother.”

Amora made a soft noise he couldn’t decipher in his foggy state. “We’re one of their safe housing companies for Omegas. Like Witness Protection, but for those who are too vulnerable for their bases. Thor is talking with Director Fury about the incident.” 

He allowed for the warm hands to slowly help him uncurl. “Why are my eyes fogged?”

“It’s so you don’t see the other protected residents. It’s a safety protocol.”

“That sounds ridiculous. I have no idea where I even am, let alone who these Midgardians are, ” He mumbled.

She gave a small laugh. “Yes, it is. I personally don’t like it, but it helps during heat. Which, yours should be starting soon, right? I’m glad we got to you in time.”

Loki bit his lip, tasting blood that he didn’t realize was there. “I think I’m already in pre-heat. Mine usually lasts two weeks from pre-heat all the way through.”

“That makes sense.” She placed something cool on the palm of his hand, soothing the aching. “Does that feel any better?”

“Yes.”

Amora wrapped cloth bandages around the cool gel. “There. You really tore up your hands from all the glass.” Another shuffle then the sound of a wheeled cart being pulled closer to him.

The smell of roasted stew wafted over to his nose. “What smells good?”

“This is a stew that will help to settle your stomach and give you some protein. It has some roasted beef in it.” A spoon appeared at his lips.

He resisted the temptation, still not trusting this mystery woman. “I’m not eating until you un-fog my eyes. Surely if I’m in a room I can have them undone.”

“That’s not negotiable. You would be putting other omegas at risk.”

“Then I won’t eat.”

“Loki…” Amora sighs.

He goes to curl back up against the walled corner. He’ll do whatever it takes to be safe, even if he has to starve. He hears her shuffle around and she speaks softly to someone or something a distance away.

Suddenly, Thor’s voice appears in the room. “I cannot fail him again…I have been such a horrible influence on his sense of self-worth. His madness is my fault. He would not have fallen into the Mad Titan’s clutches had I been a reputable sibling.”

“Thor?” Loki’s head whips around to see his brother’s intimidatingly broad stature, but there’s no one other person-shaped blob in the room than Amora.

“This is them in the SHIELD meeting right now,” She says. “He’s worried about you, as all of us are. I don’t want to report to him that you aren’t eating.”

Loki stared at the blurry image of the wall in front of him. “Fine.”

He allowed her to lift the spoon again. A warm, spiced broth filled his mouth.

“The Grandmaster only hires the best cooks. We try to make sure to give you food that will give you protein since you’ll be going to Heat and expending a lot of energy soon.” 

Loki allowed her to feed him until the shallow bowl was empty of any stew. His stomach gave way to a settled and full feeling as if the stew expanded as he ate it. He felt her place the bowl to the side of the mattress and turn back to him.

“I know this will be hard. Do you remember anything from the kidnapping?”

“Nothing after the cage hit the ocean. I thought that was truly the end for me.” Loki tried to remember the attempted kidnapping, but nothing came up in his memories.

“I’ll give you an injection for the pain from your head. I’m sure your head is kind of filled with cotton, right?” She had the lilt of a grin in her voice.

“It is. What will the shot do?” He got suspicious as she moved away to get the syringe.

“It’s a calming agent. Because your mind is trying to familiarize yourself with the new scents too quickly, you’re going into shock and your brain is reeling from it.” He felt her warm hands on his face. She shined something bright at him and pressed against his cheekbones.

“Will my eyes still be fogged after it?”

“Unfortunately, yes. But don’t worry about that. You’ll feel better soon, Loki.” She moved his neck to the side and quickly injected it into his arm. She pulled away, making shuffling noises. 

Loki felt a warm wave of calm wash over him, leaning back against the wall as he relaxed. It was a nice sensation, unlike the horror his suspicions kept screaming at him. Perhaps she was simply a medic hired out of SHIELD. She hadn’t lied to him yet (although he couldn’t tell without his seidr’s instincts).

Amora had returned by the sight of her blonde blob moving back towards him. “See? I bet that feels nice and warm. I brought you a pillow and blanket. We were so worried about your injuries that we forgot to give you some when you were rushed in.”

She maneuvered his limbs down into a horizontal position, placing a soft pillow beneath his head. She laid the standard issue blanket over him.

He sighed into the pillow; the scent of fresh linen filled his nose.

“That’s it, Loki.” Amora ran a hand through his hair after she tucked the blanket around his feet and sides. “You’re so good for me. I want you to get some rest, okay? I’ll have someone check on you in a few hours.”

“That sounds nice...” He mumbled, eyes closing.

Amora made sure he was deep asleep before standing from her kneeling pad. She quietly collected the trash from the syringe and locked the door behind her as she left.

She walked down to the Baby Rooms, where the Grandmaster was bouncing a chubby baby boy on his lap. “I have completed the initial injection.”

“Ah, Amora!” He grinned blowing razzberries on the baby’s fat cheeks. “How is he?”

“He’s calm and currently sleeping. He put up a little fuss at first but calmed when I said I was part of SHIELD.”

“You are a superstar, have I ever told you that?” En Dwi Gast smiled.

“Many times, actually.” She disposed of the syringe, washing her hands. “He’s about a day away from Heat. Preferably 28 hours but that’s negotiable with another round of injections.”

“I think I can go another day without touching him, right, cutie?” He spoke to the curious infant. “And you’re going to your new home tomorrow! Isn’t that exciting, 00024583?” He cooed as the baby chewed on its tiny fist. 

“Where is that one going?” She asked.

“To the Outer Rim. They’ve ordered some kiddos to repopulate after Arkanis was destroyed.” He bounced the baby, the red wisps of hair bouncing as the baby laughed.

“You’re going to be a strong little soldier!” The Grandmaster stood, placing the baby back into the bassinet, covering it with a black blanket.

A nurse stepped up from her place against the wall and bowed before wheeling the bassinet out of the room.

-

Loki felt someone’s hands roving over his back as his mind slowly rose from the drug’s effects. He jerked away blindly but found he couldn’t move. “What’s going on?!”

“Shh, you’re okay.” A man’s voice spoke from somewhere to his left.

“You won’t be if you don’t stop touching me!” He yelped, fighting restraints he couldn’t quite see through his blurry vision. He could feel the pheromones in the sweltering temperature of the room. “Why am I bound?! Who are you?!”

“Hey now, let’s not get feisty. If you stop yanking at the restraints, I can answer anything you want.” A moment went by, and the voice moved closer. The man-thing-alien smelled like an alpha and he was just sitting bait. “Well, mostly anything. I can’t tell you passcodes or-”

“Who are you?!” Loki interrupted, turning his head towards the voice. Gold and electric blue stood out against the cream-colored walls. He was not going to let himself 

Was this even human? He couldn’t see any skin.

“You can call me the Grandmaster, it’s uh, sort of my nickname around here.” 

“I’m not calling you that.”

“Then I guess you don’t want to know why you’re, um, so tied up, Loki.”

Loki groaned. Another dramatic agent, I see. I wonder if he’s met Tony Stark. “Fine, Grandmaster.”

“Good! See? That wasn’t horrible.” A hand caressed Loki’s forearm which was trapped against the cot. “Now, um, let’s see where we were. Yes, you’re restrained in one of our Pre-Heat rooms, so you don’t cause other guests to go into their Heat, especially with your advanced pheromones. That could just be a right mess, you see.”

“Okay, so then why am I tied up? I get the isolation but really?”

“That is for your safety. We don’t want you ripping anyone a new one.”

“New one of what?”

The voice sighed. “Look, Loki, here at this facility we have to speed up your heat, so the pheromones aren't, let's say, traceable for the people trying to find you. Part of that involves, um, some more vulnerable measures.”

Loki felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. “No, I’ve gone through this already-”

A hand once again laid itself on his arm and he jerked it away the best he could. “Loki, this isn’t what you think it is. You get to pick the Alpha you want! I’ll have Amora bring in some scent cards and you can ask about their, um, preferences. It’s all professional. We’re not monsters.” He explained as if it were a hook-up service.

“How do I know? You won’t let me see!”

“Hey now, don’t let your hormones twist anything here, hm? This will be an enjoyable process for everyone, especially you. We don’t want to hurt you while you're in protective custody unless that's your thing. We’re the professionals here.”

“I’m not going to do this, you’re all insane! SHIELD dares try to wrest with a god?! My brother will slay you all!”

“Yes, yes, to all that. Let’s calm you down and get you an alpha, Loki. It will be nice for you to let go of some of the tight muscles." A needle pricked his neck. 

Tingling exploded in his toes and fingers, bringing a coldness throughout his body. “Wait, what is in that?!”

The voice whistled. “Blue? I haven’t seen a Frost Giant in a while. Nice.”

Blue? The needle must be revealing his true skin! “Don’t!”

A sharp pinch resounded from his midsection. “Cute. You flush purple. Did you know that Loki? You’re such a nice little giant, aren’t you?” 

“I hope your cock shrivels up!” He mustered through the ringing growing in his ears. 

The wiry hand rubbed the spot on his stomach, with almost a fondness. “Let’s chill out for a while,” A bark of a laugh, “I’ll be back with Amora soon and we’ll find you a scrumptious Alpha, isn’t that right?”

“I’ll kill you, all of you!” He called as the voice moved away. His vision was closing in. “I won’t...Let you…” His head fell back against the pillow, soundly unconscious. 

Chapter Text

“Heimdall!” Thor shouted from the Avengers Tower; eyes raised to the clouded skies. He felt the static of the air pick up as the wave of magic enveloped him in the Bifrost. He shot up through the clouds and landed in the golden-domed room of Heimdall’s post.

The Bifrost had been repaired since Loki’s genocidal attempt at destroying Jotunheim. It had taken the work of every mage in Asgard, Alfheim, and Vanaheim since they were missing the power and skill of Loki. Thankfully though, the seams of magic threaded through the edge of Asgard were open to mending as the mage’s worked, not being cauterized by the destruction of pure energy almost two Earth years before.

Thor met Heimdall’s dark eyes as he landed. “Greetings, Heimdall.”

“Good evening, Prince Thor. Shall you be needing a steed?” The dark-skinned man spoke. 

“No. I will fly. Have you seen any of what has happened?”

Heimdall’s bright eyes seemed to dim for a moment. “Somewhat. I was given orders to only look when I felt something wrong. He has been clouded from me since the cage was dropped.”

“Do you think he is the one shielding himself, like the past few centuries?”

“No.” Heimdall’s gaze moved back out to the stars, “This is a different wall. Loki was able to disappear from my vision completely. This is a fog of whiteness that blocks my senses. You may be dealing with another mage.”

Thor snorted. “Of course. Nothing with Loki is ever easy, is it?”

“But it makes his love more rewarding.”

The god smiled. Even through all of their childhood pranks on the Gatekeeper, the sentry has never held personal ill-will towards him or Loki (even though it was quite obvious he favored Thor).  “I bid you a good eve, Gatekeeper.”

“Good eve, Prince Thor.” Heimdall nodded, eyes focusing on some part of the universe.

Thor nodded and gripped Mjolnir’s leather strap; swinging her until he was able to take flight towards the glittering palace in the distance.

Odin and Frigga hurried to the throne room where Thor was speaking to the Warriors Three and Sif. Frigga waved off the five warriors’ bows. “I do not need that. What has happened?” Her blue eyes searched Thor’s grim expression. 

“I need guidance for how to handle a situation involving Loki.” He took his mother’s shaking hands. “He was captured while in his holding cell and taken into a Midgard sex auctioneer. The authorities and the Avengers have no idea what we should do, and I fear for Loki’s safety.” 

“You should not take any action.” 

Frigga turned to face her husband with a gasp. “You would leave our son in the hands of someone who would use his dynamic against him?!” 

Odin placed a hand on where Thor’s hands covered Frigga’s. “If we were to interfere, Loki would never learn his lesson and learn how the subjugation he craved is wrong. This must be a part of the path he must go on. If Asgard becomes entangled, then we would be violating the law of exile.” 

“Laws be damned, Father!” Thor roared. “You will not believe us about Loki’s torture, so will you help him when he is forced to have another offspring? My friends have violated laws and did not have any reprimand, yet I cannot save a Prince from sexual torture?” 

“Loki must face this alone, Thor. I cannot have Asgard’s army interfere with the Norns’ plans.”

Thor looked repulsed. “You cannot or you will not?”

“I will not discuss this matter anymore. I have given you counsel, Thor.” Odin gestured for the courtier to bring him paperwork. He dismissed the Warriors and Sif with a wave, signaling for Frigga to leave. She shook her head in disappointment at her husband.

Frigga gripped Thor’s hand tightly, leading him out of the throne room towards her leisure chamber. Her ladies-in-waiting were gathered with their looms, disturbed from when Frigga was called to the throne room. “Is everything alright, my lady?” Espira spoke up from her cushion near the center of the room.

“Loki was captured on Midgard and my husband will not allow Asgard to intervene. I need to consult the Norns for our next move.” She sat down on a golden cushion. Two women made a seat for Thor to sit next to her. He tried to curl up on the pillowy materials, seeing how comically large he was compared to the women around him. 

“May I have a basin of water and my loom, please?” Frigga asked, gracefully folding her robes so she could cross her legs underneath herself. A woman with long red curls placed a small bowl of rose water on Frigga’s left side. Another woman with straight blonde hair carefully handed Frigga her Tamber frame loom, while a third woman placed a basket of thread and beads beside the loom. 

Frigga kissed their cheeks as they blessed the items with small bursts of gold seidr. The four of them then all held onto the bowl and lifted it, holding still for a moment, then poured the water over the thread and beads.

Thor watched as the water was seemingly soaked up into the thread, creating a glow within the skeins. 

“Thank you,” Frigga spoke. 

The three women sat back down, bowing their heads. Thor remembered this was the part when he needed to bow his head too, though he was tempted to watch his mother weave. However, he had ruined many visions from the Norns by asking questions or not showing respect during the weaving and invocation.

Frigga settled the loom’s legs on either side of her legs and took a deep breath, closing her eyes with her hands on the side of the loom’s frame. “Spin truth into words, Spin words into doom,”

Frigga’s hands pulled out a black thread, beginning to weave.

“Spin doom into fortune. Spin fortune into life,”

She plucked a cream-colored thread and added speckles.

“Spin my life fine and strong, O Lady with the spindle, w hose thread is my beginning.”

Frigga then used a dark brown to create fur.

“We’ve truth into vision. Weave vision into mind. Weave mind into spirit. Weave spirit into life. Weave my life with depth and color.”

Her hands finished the tan thread and reached for an emerald green

“O Lady with the shuttle, whose tapestry is my existence; cut truth away from falsehood. Cut falsehood away from illusion. Cut illusion away from matter. Cut matter away from my body and cut my body away from my life.”

Frigga finished with warm colors framing the loom’s edges.

“When the time comes, O Lady with the shears, whose knowing hand is my doom a

Thor looked at the finished piece. There was Loki in the middle, with his black hair and green armor. Four animals curled around him, with Loki’s hands surrounding them in a hug. A black and white-dappled horse stood to Loki’s left. That must be Sleipnir.

Curled around Loki’s neck was a thick, emerald, green viper. Its head sat on top of Loki’s with its forked tongue tasting the warm sunset behind it. In front of Loki’s knees sat a wolf with a large fluffy tail. Its green eyes seemed to stare directly through Thor. Finally, on Loki’s right was...a human-skeleton girl.

Thor took the loom from his mother as she trimmed the edges. The girl’s body was split in literal parts, with her left side bearing long dark hair, while her right side was rotting flesh clinging to her bones. 

“Mother, what is this? I recognize Sleipnir and Loki but not the other three.”

Frigga’s eyes were weary as she took the loom back from her son’s hands. “I fear that this is Loki’s future. With the news of his taking, this may be his life soon.”

“These three are his future children?” Thor traced the silky curls of the wolf’s fur. “They are quite beautiful.” 

The queen smiled sadly. “True. Their smiles are wide and content.” 

Thor held the newly finished weaving and rose from his place beside his mother. “I should return to Midgard and tell the Avengers to watch for these children of Loki’s.”

“You should take Sleipnir with you.”

The prince gave his mother a look. “Father will kill me if I steal his war steed and disobey him.”

“When has that ever stopped your brother?” Frigga kissed his forehead. “I will distract him. Sleipnir will carry you to the Tower, so you will not alert Heimdall.”

“Thank you, mother. I wish you well. I shall keep you and Heimdall informed.”

She smiled, though it was tighter than a few moments ago. “Please tell Loki I love him.” She was then sweeping away with her handmaidens back towards the throne room.

Chapter Text

Natasha sat across from Clint. He couldn’t meet her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should be saying that to.” She replied. “You’re insanely lucky that Thor doesn’t know yet.”

He shifted in his seat, trying to reach for her hands. She pulled them off the table and into her lap. She idly played with the hem of her civilian shirt.

“Steve almost got attacked by Thor when Steve said we should partner with Gast to get Loki back.”

“I’m so screwed...”

Her mouth turned sour. “Bucky doesn’t even know what you’ve done. We’ve had to isolate him until Fury and I can figure out a way to tell him without him feeling like this is his fault.”

Clint put his head in his hands. “Surely, we're not that powerless.” He mumbled. 

“Clint, Gast has harnessed nuclear fission on a micro-scale for hand weapons. We don’t even know if that’s the worst thing he’s ever made. I don’t even know all the weapons Stark used to produce.” 

“Are you not going to help me get out of here to help? It’s no use making me feel horrible when I can’t do anything to make the situation better,” He looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since she walked in.

“No. If you’ll do this to Thor, then I can’t imagine what you’ll do to me. Loki’s probably being raped around the clock until he gets knocked up and then is sold off. I’ve seen girls get bought and sold by Gast’s O.E.D. They don’t live very long before they’re trying to jump off rooftops.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that! He would be knocked around then Fury would get him back. Gast promised.”

“Did you talk to him?”

He splutters. “It was on a burner phone!

She stood, chair slamming against the wall behind her. She yanked at his collar and lifted him out of his chair. “I’ve seen Gast’s prisoners, Clint! Red Room bought omegas and children from him! Yelena was a product of his OED with Red Room.” She leaned into his face. “I may love you, but you give away secrets to get revenge like this crosses too close of a line for me. I have been trying to take down OEDs for twenty years, Clint. You just showed me that you have the possibility to send me to one when I’ve done worse things than Loki.” She let him fall back into his chair.

“How do I know you won’t do this to me?” She asked quietly.

“I won’t! I would never do this to you! I didn’t think it would be this serious, Tasha-”

Natasha slapped him. “Do not try to bullshit this! You knew what you were doing, you knew exactly what you wanted to happen to him. You asked Bucky about HYDRA connections! How do I know you aren’t planning more? How am I supposed to protect you when I myself am terrified I’m going to get kidnapped because you were selfish and went behind all of our backs!”
He closed his mouth around a rebuttal. “I love you.”

“If you did, you would’ve talked to me.” Natasha turned and walked out the door. Coulson and Fury were waiting in the hallway for her.

“Thanks.” She took a tissue from Coulson.

“What’s the next step?”

“We use Stark’s snake camera to get a surveillance around the facility, and if possible, sneak it underground.” Fury answered. He started walking them back towards the entrance. “We’ll meet up tonight at seven. I’ve already had the coordinates sent to the Avengers comm.”

“What if Thor isn’t back by then?”

“We continue as planned. We aren’t using firepower yet. I want to know if we have Asgard’s backing before sending in anyone.” 

She nodded, throwing away the used tissue that had a smudge of foundation on it. “See you two tonight then.” 

Coulson nodded and gave her a small, upturned smile. Fury saluted her.

She turned and walked through the doors of the SHIELD headquarters, trying to fend off her grief.

-

Tony looked at the documents updating Pepper’s BondBreaker prescription. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, (well no shit), higher risk of stroke or heart attack in those with immunocompromised systems. 

Not like I can take them anyway…

He couldn’t risk the prescription due to the possibility of corrosion of the Palladium core of his reactor, not to mention the heightened risks of strokes. Either way, Tomy was fucked.

Tony put the box of prescriptions in a small bag and folded the large sheet of instructions with it. He stood and walked to the front door, where he gave the pills to Happy so he could deliver them to Pepper’s apartment on 37th Street. 

Happy laid a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder, giving him a sad smile. “It’s not your fault, Tony.”

Tony didn’t even want to argue that it was, because why wouldn’t it be? Pepper’s been with him for almost seven years. She’s stuck with him through Afghanistan and Stane. Maybe she’s met someone else.

The next month was going to be extremely difficult with Tony going prescription-less during the breaking of their bond, not to mention divorce. The media was going to absolutely overwhelm him at the next charity event.

By the time Tony realized he was staring off, Happy was gone and the door was shut in front of him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting grayer with all of this stress, and he either needed to learn how to dye it darker or embrace the gray. Maybe he could be a silver fox?

“I need to go work on that robot,” Tony muttered and went to the elevator down into the lab. 

Bruce’s perpetually subtle sense of unease met Tony when the glass doors of the elevator opened into Tony’s personal lab. 

“Bruce?” He asked when he couldn’t immediately see the scientist at any of the workstations. 

“Hey, I’m on the floor,” Bruce said from one of the desks in the far back corner, hidden behind an OLED screen of blueprints. “I’m seeing what kind of camera lens we would need for a perspective from the ground.”

Tony looked over the tabletop full of lenses and zooms, finding the gamma beta scientist adjusting some springs between cameras. 

“You smell different.” Bruce mused, glancing up.

Tony hoisted himself up onto a clear worktop. “Pepper started her prescription today, so get used to it. I think I’ll buy the new Burberry Hero cologne.”

“It’s called Hero and you’re not on the cover?”

The engineer actually found himself laughing. “I guess I’m not as good-looking as demure Adam Driver. And besides, everyone goes nuts over anything with a connection to Star Wars.”

“Yes, there is certainly nothing demure about you, Tony.” Bruce met his smile. “Now get over here and help me figure this out.”

Chapter Text

“Sir Odinson requests your presence on his personal level.” JARVIS’s voice brought Bruce out of his concentration operating on a lens. He looked over the desk where he had discarded his stretchy band watch, noting a total of seven hours had passed since Tony came to help him.

He stood up straight, cracking his back and stiff fingers. Tony’s mug of coffee sat chilled and unbothered to his right. Did he leave before me?

“Where is Tony, JARVIS?” He saved the file for the lens and shuffled together some of the 

“Sir is asleep by his workstation.” DUM-E booted up in response to JARVIS’s voice, trundling over to poke Tony’s slumped form with his claw. Two “smoothies,” probably mixed with motor oil, sat on the baseboard of DUM-E’s wheel system. Bruce leaned over and picked up one of the silver thermoses and sniffed it carefully. 

“Hey, be careful with that crazy arm of yours, DUM-E. Thanks for the drink, bud.” Tony mumbled. He lifted an arm to pet the casing of the robot’s claw. “What’s up, Bruce?”

“Thor wants to meet us on his floor, hopefully, he has some information from Asgard.” Bruce pulled Tony up and out of his chair, placing the smoothie in the engineer’s hands. 

Tony sighed at the coolness of the smoothie, sipping in case there was any trace of motor oil. “A good smoothie, bud.” He gave the robot one more touch before moving towards the elevator doors. He bumped the upward-facing arrow with his hip, hitting the power-down button on his desk projector as the chrome doors opened behind him. 

Bruce walked in next to him, relief flowing over his face as the doors cut their sight off from the cluttered space of the lab. “It seems safe.” 

“He’s been trying hard recently.” Tony grinned down at the drink. His first AI had come so far in the forty years since its “birth.” DUM-E really means well but doesn’t understand that Tony can’t drink his favorite ingredient, motor oil, but has been trying hard to work with JARVIS to find new recipes to make up for the tainted drinks.

Floor 78 arrived quickly as JARVIS rushed them past the Tower’s other Avenger floors, meaning the other Avengers were either already with the Thunder God or were taking the stairs like losers (in Tony’s opinion). As the doors opened, Tony strolled out, only seeing Natasha, Steve and Bucky. 

“Where’s Clint?” Bruce asked, seeing the twinge at the corners of Natasha’s mouth. 

“I’ll tell you once Thor gets here.” She answered, leaving no room for discussion as she leaned against the wall next to the elevator. Her eyes glanced to the helicopter pad that was stamped with the Bifrost’s swirling crest.

Static raised on Tony’s arms, signaling an incoming landing from Asgard. He could hear parts of the screws for the bulletproof glass doors rattling as the rainbow tunnel slammed into the terrace. Thor’s form landed gracefully; Mjolnir clutched tightly in his right hand. His face was twisted in rage, but the Avengers didn’t have enough time to focus on that before another form landed beside him. 

“Is that a horse?” Steve groaned.

Thor laid a reverent hand on the horse’s dappled flank. “Friends, this is my nephew, Sleipnir.”

Everyone except Natasha’s mouth dropped open. “Please tell me you have a sister we know nothing about.” Bruce gaped.

The god shook his head. “No. My mother helped me smuggle Sleipnir out of Asgard to help us get Loki back. His seidr will hopefully help us against the Grandmaster.” He reached up to take off the intricately woven leather bridle strapped around Sleipnir’s snout. “Let me release you from this, nephew.” He lifted Mjolnir.

“Wait!” Tony called. “Don’t hit him!”

Thor’s brows furrowed and he lowered the hammer. “I was not going to strike Sleipnir, I was merely using Mjolnir’s metal as a circuit.” He rested the Odincrest of Mjolnir’s flat face panel against one of the large silver roundels, a bright zap! Resounding through the room. 

Sleipnir shifted some of his gaggle of legs but otherwise remained calm. Thor paced around to his other side and redid the procedure, grinning as the tangle of leather and metal clattered to the tiled floor. “There you are! I am afraid I cannot help you with the shift.” 

Sleipnir shook his mane of midnight hair. He nosed at Thor’s shoulder and chuffed at the blonde hair. “You’re welcome. Take your time in the shifting.”

“What happens now?” Steve asked, sinking back into the couch. 

“Sleipnir needs to shift into his Aesir form. The Allfather’s seidr may take some time to dissipate before he can access his own.” Thor led Sleipnir over to the sunken living room, placing pillows and a blanket as a nest for the massive horse. 

Tony had to look up at Sleipnir’s head as the demi-god passed him, the flank of the animal reaching at least five feet tall. 

Sleipnir trotted down into the blanket nest, tucking his eight long legs underneath him and plopping down. “JARVIS do we have any apples?” Thor asked the ceiling.

“In your refrigerator in your kitchen,” JARVIS responded, prompting the god to search through the many drawers in his large refrigerator.

Meanwhile, Steve looked back to Natasha, who hadn’t moved an inch from her place farthest away. “Where’s Clint?”

“Before I tell you that, all of you have to promise that you won’t do anything drastic, and you’ll listen to everything I say before you talk.” She deadpanned, meeting all of their eyes.

Sleipnir sniffed in her direction.

“Did he get kidnapped too?” The good captain yelped, ready to spring to his feet. 

“No, and Thor, sit down.”

Thor startled from his place feeding Sleipnir Honeycrisp apple slices. “I will continue feeding Sleipnir while we talk of friend Barton.”

She steeled herself more visibly than usual. “Clint wanted revenge on Loki, so he gave blueprints and access to Gast so he could kidnap Loki.” She held up a hand as everyone in the room jumped to their feet around her, including the horse demi-god. “He asked Bucky for how HYDRA contacted Gast, and this is in no way Bucky’s fault, he used that line of communication to contact Gast and set up the beach fight. He said he only wanted Loki to get “knocked around” and Fury would save him on the same day.”

“Well now he’s getting knocked up,” Bruce mumbled, against his better judgment. 

“I have done everything to clear my brother’s name, and Barton goes and sets him up with a trafficker?!” Thor yells, hand clenching around Mjolnir’s leather grip. “I will go to SHIELD at once.” 

“Thor, that won’t help-” Natasha started, but Thor was already lifting off the terrace. “We need to stop him from killing Clint.”

Tony looked up from where he was petting Sleipnir’s flank to calm the thundering creature down. “You want to get in between an angry thunder god then go ahead. Take a car if you want. I’m not helping if Clint is willing to give over that level of security. I have to reprogram all of my files to see if they’ve been compromised because of him and design a new Helicarrier.”

Natasha turned to Bruce, now feeding Sleipnir the rest of the apples with shaky hands.

“Don’t even.” He says.

Steve sighed and walked over to Natasha, pressing the button for the lift. “We all make mistakes. Clint needs to realize this is wrong, but Thor could kill him over this.”

“We all make mistakes,” Tony mocked. “Thor could mistakenly kill him for good reason?”

“We’ll talk about this after we hear Clint out, Tony,” Steve warned. The two men were met with their reflection as the chrome doors of the elevator closed around the two Avengers.

Fury sighed when the surveillance satellite picked up Thor’s form flying in the direction of the base. He was just about to eat his lunch, which he did in silence, in his office, with the office door locked; so, he replaced his leftovers back in his mini fridge under his desk and walked out to face the angry god with grace.

Maria was jogging down the hallway towards him, talking into the comm attached to her cheek. “Banner says Natasha told Thor about Clint.”

“Of course, why else would an angry over-protective god be flying at thirty miles an hour towards a secret base? Which direction is he flying in from?”

“Southwest. I doubt he knows exactly where the cells are.” Fury groaned. Thor would tear through the building if he didn’t land where the cells were. “Is there any way to get in contact with him?”

“Coulson is flying towards him in a helicopter to try to calm him down.” “Already in the air?” He asked, taking a look at her tablet which showed the forward-facing camera of the helicopter approaching Thor. The god noticed the machine, eyes blazing. He slowed to a hover a few feet out of range of the helicopter’s whirling blades. “Son of Coul!” He shouted over the noise as Coulson slid open the hatch door. “Show me to Clint Barton.”

“Thor, he’s already imprisoned! Fury has him under arrest.” Coulson spoke through the loudspeaker connected to the top of the copter. “Hurting him would only create more problems!”

“If I promise to not harm him, can I talk to him?” Thor calmed mostly, watching Coulson intensely.

Fury picked up the phone at Maria’s desk and dialed in the code to Coulson’s nearly invisible earpiece. “Tell him to swear and maybe I’ll be nice.”

Coulson held his ear for a moment, then repeated the message to the God. “We need him unhurt to see what information he’s leaked, Thor. If you hurt him, we can’t use him as bait. He knows how to contact Gast.”

Thor hovered for another moment, before he looked back up. “I accept your terms. No harm will come to Barton if I can talk to him.”

“Good.” Fury nodded. “Lead him back to the station and let him in. Escort him to the interrogation room above the cell block and I will meet you there with Barton.” He put down the phone and turned to Maria’s worried look.

“Do you think he’ll keep his promise?”

“That depends on how much of an asshole Clint is to him.” The two mustered together a group of soldiers to meet Thor, even though any chance of stopping the God if he decided to get physical, would be fruitless.

“We could tranquilize him if he wants to fight?” Maria suggested during his silence.

Fury shook his head. “I don’t believe he would kill Clint if he thought Clint could be used to get Loki back, but if I was wrong about Loki, who knows what I could be wrong with about Thor.” Both of them continued deeper under the base’s above-ground offices. Fury scanned his thumbprint on the door’s sensor, then allowed the guards behind him to hold the door open for him and Maria to go into the wing of cells. The cells were separated into long hallways that all looked identical, in the very slim chance one of the criminals was able to overpower their guard and escape.

Clint was being held in one of the closer cells though he wasn’t straightjacketed like some of the more dangerous prisoners. He was allowed to keep his hearing aids, but no one came to talk to him other than the guard who slid in his food three times a day.

The archer didn’t even look up from where he was reclining on his standard-issued cot.

“Thor has agreed to not hurt you if you talk to him.” Fury started, ducking down to see around one of the horizontal bars.

“I have nothing to say to him,” Clint replied. “He can bash his way in all he wants.”

“Do you really think this is a fucking game? You gave away confidential information and handed a magical prisoner to a trafficking agency! What do we do if Loki’s kids get trafficked to HYDRA?” Fury yelled.

Clint huffed. “Look, it was not supposed to be that bad. I thought you guys would have him back on the same day, not my fault you can’t get him back.”

“You know what, you’re going to explain this to Thor. I don’t care if you don’t want to talk, he deserves to tell you what’s been going on. Natasha went too easy on you.” Fury unlocked the cage, and two guards reached in and handcuffed his wrists and legs.

The men forced him out of the cage and into the elevator with Fury and Maria.

-

Clint was startled as Mjolnir broke the metal table he was leaning on, collapsing under him. “Hey man! What the fuck-”

“You have utterly disgraced yourself, Barton.” Thor picked up the hammer from the pile of metal. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you as a grievance for the crimes you’ve committed against myself and Asgard. My mother has half a mind to come here and kill you herself.”

“Look,” Clint started, holding up his handcuffed wrists. “I honestly thought that Loki would get slapped around and we would get him back on the same day. Nat’s been hunting him for years. I thought we could do it and then Loki’d be all good.” He leaned backwards, disbelieving Thor couldn’t do anything. “Why can’t Asgard help?”

The god groaned. “My father believes this is a part of Loki’s fate-”

“See?” Clint interrupted. He stood to face the Thunderer, waving his handcuffed wrists. “Your father, King of Asgard, doesn’t even think this is that big of a deal!”

“Sit down before I kill you, Barton.” Thor growled, electricity raising the hairs on the back of Clint’s neck. Oops. Clint sat down slowly, eyes meeting the metal of Mjolnir’s top face. “This is a grave matter. My brother’s fate has been seen by my mother.”

“So, you already know what’s going to happen-”

Fury huffed in exasperation from where he and Coulson were standing near the door at the back of the small room. “Clint, shut the fuck up and listen.”

The blonde god sat himself down in the chair behind him, pulling out the rolled tapestry from a hanging fur-lined bag on his arm. “My mother chastised my father for refusing to help Loki and disregarded his orders. She conducted a special convening with the Norns and wove the vision she received in answer.” His hands gently unfurled the cloth, smoothing it over his knee. “It depicts Loki’s future children from this situation.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked over the smiling group. 

“They look happy.” Coulson said quietly, looking over God's broad shoulder, when silence filled the room.

“He is a wonderful mother to Sleipnir, and I know he will be to these future children, but I worry about what damage you have caused to his mind. He was still suffering from the effects of the Tesseract.” 

“Look, man, I know the Tesseract firsthand, and there was no way he was under it all.” Clint loosened a little. “And besides, if she saw a vision of the future, then we know how to get him out, right?”

Thor kept his eyes down on the tapestry. “My mother went into his memories and my father refused to even hear any of Loki’s rebuttals. He sentenced him without a true trial.” Odin’s words to his brother rang through his ears and he couldn’t keep his throat silent. “I know my brother has done horrible things to you...and I know you deserve penance for the trauma he has caused, but Loki....he doesn’t deserve this fate, Clint. Sleipnir was a child of assault as well. I’ve failed him twice.”

“Sleipnir? The war steed?” Fury asked. 

Thor nodded. “It’s a long story that I will not go into, but yes, my mother freed him from the stables, and he is at Friend Stark’s tower. He may be able to help us rescue Loki since he has inherited his mother’s seidr.” His finger traced the horse’s stitched, flowing mane. “I want you to understand that we are from different worlds, Clint. Asgard is much older and more traditional than your world, and more children of Loki will cause repercussions for him that you cannot imagine.”

“So then let me out and I’ll call up Gast-”

“No, we have another plan.” Fury announced, looking up from the sudden appearance of a tablet in his hands. “You’re staying here until we can determine all that you leaked.”

Thor stood, carefully rolling up the tapestry and placing the roll back in the sling around his arm.

“Surprisingly, Clint is still alive.” Maria remarked that Steve and Natasha met her at her office. “Coulson says Fury has a plan and the three of them are escorting Clint back to his cell.” She listened closely to the earpiece attached to her head.

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his messy locks. He needed to learn how to drive if he didn’t want to have to suffer through Natasha’s crazy driving down the highways. “How long is Clint going to be held? What if something happens?”

“He’s being held until the full extent of the leak can be determined. We need Stark to process it before we even start dealing with Agent Barton.”

“He and Pepper broke up. She’s on BB and he’s going cold turkey. He’s barely able to focus on the Helicarrier proposal. He’s more of a mess than usual.” Natasha said quietly. 

“What?” Maria groaned and held the microphone on her earpiece. “Stark’s broken up with Potts.”

Fury stopped in his tracks bringing Coulson and Thor outside of the cell blocks. “That motherfucker. Did you know about this, Thor?”

Thor nodded. “It is indeed true. Friend Tony’s suffering has been widespread. I hope Sleipnir will give him some comfort.”

“Comfort? Like as in sexual…” The man was bewildered. 

“No!” Thor held his head. “I have forgotten about the double meanings in your language. In Asgard, when a couple separates, a common practice is for the Alpha to take in a child to keep their emotional control intact. It also shows the community that they are learning from the mistakes of the relationship.” 

Chapter Text

“I can’t fucking believe Clint would do this!” Tony knew his emotions were all over the place as the withdrawal symptoms of Pepper’s bond-breaking prescription took effect, but this was a whole different level of added emotions. If Gast got Loki pregnant and those babies ended up under his control, they could infiltrate HYDRA and the world with demi-god brainwashed children who could use magic… “Man, I need a drink.”

“Don’t. It’ll just make your emotions worse while you’re in withdrawal.” Sleipnir chuffed in agreement with Bruce. His dark eyes were molten with sadness over his father’s plight. “I know, buddy. We’ll get your dad back.” Bruce sighed.

“Hey Sleipnir, do you want to see my laboratory?” Tony got to his feet, there was no use moping around in the living room. The horse chuffed against Tony’s shoulder, then down towards the blankets. Tony gathered half of them, Bruce getting the rest into his arms. “Sure, we’ll get the blankets too. Seems more comfortable than hay.” Three of them and the several blankets barely squeezed into the elevator, but thankfully Sleipnir’s legs didn’t get tangled in all of the blanket ends falling out of Tony’s short arms when they stepped out of the elevator. 

“I have a pile of old rags that can serve as a place for you to use the bathroom, over there in that corner.” He grabbed another blanket he kept on the couch in the small lounge area and added it to the pile for Sleipnir to lie down in. “Um, make noise if you need one of us okay?” Tony shrugged.

Sleipnir nodded his massive head, settling down once again. This time he laid mostly horizontal, stretching his legs one after another. 

Bruce asked JARVIS to resume the work on the spider and snake camera robots, falling into his own rhythm as Tony began searching through never-ending lists of computer codes for viruses JARVIS hadn’t detected.

As deep as his mind got when he was working through something this important, Tony’s peripheral sight still broke out every now and then to see if Sleipnir needed anything. He had gotten up once in a few hours to use the bathroom in the corner pile but had slept the rest of the time he had looked over. Ton eventually did find a bug, not one that had gotten access to anything too important, like codes or personnel records, but still had full access to the plans of the Helicarrier and the secret tunnel locations on the ship. He would have to completely rework this blueprint. Great.

He set JARVIS on thwarting any more attempts when Bruce quickly stood from his seat in front of him. “Sleipnir!” He strode over the mountain of blankets, noticing the massive form of the horse had shrunk to a vaguely human-sized lump.

Bruce pulled back the top cover, gasping at the blue-skinned teenager asleep underneath. “Sleipnir?” Bruce asked quietly. 

“Hm?” Came the sleepy reply. Dark brown eyes fluttered open and slowly looked around him. “Oh, I was able to transform.”

His voice was soft and accented like Thor’s. His skin faded from the pale blue into a pale white like Loki’s. The kid looked remarkably like the god, down to the cheekbones and dark hair.

“How do you feel?” Tony tried.

“Tired. I want to go back to sleep.” The boy mumbled; words shaky. He curled back up and took the helm of the blanket from Bruce’s outstretched hand. “Goodnight.”

A deep, yellow and purple bruise was splattered through the entirety of his left hip. Bruce filed that away to get it looked at once the kid was less tired, or Thor returned.

“You can sleep over here on the couch. It would be more comfortable.” Tony asked, rousing the boy lightly. 

“Oh,” Sleipnir nodded. He groggily stood and wrapped himself in the blankets, dragging the pile to the couch and laying down on the plush couch with a hum. “Thank you, goodnight.”

“You’re welcome, kid. We’ll be here if you need us.” Tony tucked one of the purple blanket’s ends around the boy’s foot that stuck out at the one end of the couch. The boy was small and an omega, most likely around thirteen years old. It was extremely difficult to believe this child was the same being as the massive war horse that was just occupying his spot under the blankets. DUME-E began to remove the waste in the corner of the room and Tony sent for a sub sandwich from one of the delis down the street for when the kid woke up again. He had a feeling SHIELD was not having fun keeping Thor away from Clint. 

Part of the reason Tony didn’t go to play damage control was because he knew he would absolutely try to kill Clint once he saw him. Loki was absolutely terrified when he landed in Central Park less than a week ago. He was unmated and in pre-Heat, reeking to where even the SHIELD agents on strict suppressants wanted to jump him. 

Loki was not getting out of Gast’s hands without being assaulted. If Tony and Thor barged into the fort that was Sakaar, they could potentially kill thousands, if not more, of the hostage omegas Gast probably has in his hands.

A horrible thought crossed his mind at that. Did Obidiah give weapons to Gast? Was part of this his fault? Was he the reason Loki is going to be raped and forced to have children?

“Tony!” 

Bruce.

Dark eyes and a twirling claw stared down at him. “Tony! You passed out for a few seconds. Are you okay, man?” His head ached, a dull stinging at the back of his head where he must have hit the concrete floor. He took Bruce’s hand to help him sit up. The beta went to work checking on the spot on the back of his skull, carefully touching the sore spot. 

DUM-E prodded his arm with a cautious claw, beeping worriedly. Even Sleipnir’s eyes peeked over from his blanket cocoon over him on the floor. “I’m okay, guys. Just forgot I was standing.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, sauntering back to his station. “Uh huh. Go get some sleep, Tony.”

“No, we need to keep working.” Tony stood and brushed off his t-shirt. “I need some coffee.” He walked to the coffee machine on the table near his workstation, groaning when the gleaming machine was retracted back into the wall. Away from his hands.

JARVIS chimed overhead. “Sorry, sir, but the coffee machine has been disabled by DUM-E. He would provide you with a smoothie or a glass of water if you agree to get some rest.” 

“We need to keep working! I have to finish the design of the new Helicarrier and figure out a schematic of Sakaar!” He sunk down into the chair beside his work desk. “I don’t have time to sleep.”

“You sound like Papa.” Sleipnir’s soft voice floated over to him. “He would visit me in the stables after he’d been awake for days. He would fall asleep sometimes in the middle of a sentence. I’ve always tried to get Uncle Thor to stop him, but Papa doesn’t listen to either of us, saying everything was too important to sleep.”

“Go get some sleep, Tony, I’ll have this done soon. Maybe without a Helicarrier, Fury will be forced to communicate with us.” A tight smile from the scientist. “Take Sleipnir and get him a real bed.”

“Fine. Let’s go, kid. Have you ever been in a skyscraper?” He helped the bundle of blankets into the elevator. 

Sleipnir shook his head. “At home, my stall is facing away from the city-overlook cliff. Grandfather says I’m safer closer to the palace.” He hefted one of the blankets over his small shoulder. “I like it though. That way, Papa can sneak in to see me easier, and Grandmother can bring me fresh pastries.”

“Your dad has to sneak in to see you?” Tony guided the boy out into the kitchen of his penthouse. 

“Well, Grandfather doesn’t like Papa and calls him nasty things if he sees him in my stable. His steed, Dafnr, is by Grandmother’s herd of sheep and cattle by the gardens. Grandfather says Papa distracts me from my duties. So, it’s easier for him to just sneak in whenever he can.”

“Sir, your order from Katz Deli has arrived.” JARVIS spoke, opening the elevator to a bag with wrapped sandwiches sitting on the metal floor. 

“Sweet! Food’s here. Are you still hungry?”

Sleipnir nodded, black curls bouncing. “What are these things?” He placed himself daintily on the edge of a stool top by the counter, resting a hand on one of the warmed, foil-wrapped forms. He pulled away slightly as he realized it was warm, looking up at Tony in confusion. “Do you eat the coating?”

“These are called submarine sandwiches. They come wrapped in a metal-treated plastic to keep them warm. You unwrap them. It’s just a massive sandwich. You those up there, surely.” He unrolled one of the massive sandwiches stuffed with roast beef and cheese. “Oh shoot. Are you allergic to any foods?”

The boy’s dark eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve never had one, but probably, and what are allergies?”

“Like things that your body doesn’t like. A lot of people are sensitive to the proteins in cow’s milk or peanuts.”

Sleipnir gave him a blank stare.

Tony nodded to himself. “Alright, so we’ll taste test some things, then.

-

Bruce emerged from the lab with the finished robot after four more hours of work, his brain fried and stomach growling. “Hey, JARVIS? Did Tony order any food?”

“Sir ordered submarine sandwiches from Katz’s Deli when he returned to the penthouse. The sandwiches are in his personal fridge if you would like one.”

“Awesome!” Bruce stepped out into the penthouse and set down the robot on the counter as he set about searching for the massive sandwiches. He noticed that all of them had been opened, with a few inches sliced off one end. “JARVIS? Why are all the sandwiches open?”

“Sir and Sleipnir tried all of the sandwiches until Sleipnir decided on a pastrami sandwich.” The AI replied. “They used a knife to slice off the pieces.”

“Oh, good.” Bruce selected a brisket sandwich, a rumble from his stomach (and probably Hulk too) agreeing with his choice. “Where are they?” He set out the sandwich and rustled through the cabinets for any chips.

“They are currently sleeping on the sunken couch in the living room. It is quite adorable.”

Bruce abandoned the sandwich to steal a look at the two sleeping together. The “conversation pit” part of Tony’s living room was a sunken circular couch that was extremely popular in the 1970s, as a convertible living room and sleepover spot. Blankets, fluffy pillows, and chip bags were strewn in the sunken circle in a half hazard “nest”.

Tony’s stout form was facing away from Bruce in the kitchen, a laughably miscolored quilt of Iron Man draped over his body. Bruce took a few quiet steps closer when he couldn’t at first see the boy, heart melting when he saw where the child was laying. Sleipnir’s body was curled tightly into Tony’s chest, with the man’s arm slung around the child’s waist protectively. The quilt was tucked under the boy’s back. His small hand was clutching Tony’s band t-shirt over the Arc Reactor, the shine of the light causing his hand to glow teal.

Bruce returned to his sandwich on the counter, smiling as he realized why there were no chips left in Tony’s snack supply cabinets. “Do you think they would mind if I joined them, JARVIS?”

“Sir’s heartrate is currently 60 BPM, and he is deep in REM. This is the best sleep he has had in a month. I’m sure you would only add to his current state of calm, Dr. Banner.” 

He nodded and cut the massive sandwich in half, eating as quickly as his chewing would allow. He filled three glasses with water and set them on the overly expensive, glass-encased coffee table that had been moved outside of the sunken area to make room for the mess of blankets. 

Bruce gently rearranged some of the quilts and blankets around the two so he could wiggle one of them free for himself. Tony's back was flush against one of the sunken walls, so Bruce hoped that Sleipnir didn't mind him lying on his exposed side. He settled himself down, finding himself facing away from Sleipnir. It was too forward to sleep like them, right? He and Tony were Pack, but that didn't give him the right to cage this child between two new people.

Bruce was about to close his eyes when a small hand touched his back.

"Mister Bruce?" A small voice.

"Hey, Sleipnir." He whispered, half twisting to face him. "Can I join you guys? You look comfy."

"Yeah, Mister Tony's really warm. You can snuggle too." Sleipnir had slept outside in the rain and with all of his stablemates before. A group cuddle was a nice change from his lonely stall on the rare days he was let out unsupervised. He untucked the end of the messily sewn quilt and lifted it up. 

Bruce smiled, ruffling the boy's dark hair. "Thanks, kid." He tucked the edge of the quilt behind himself and laid the blanket he had freed overtop of the three of them. "Did you like the sandwiches?"

Sleipnir nodded, resuming his position against Tony. "Much tastier than pellets."

"I'm glad. That's one of Tony's favorite places. He must really like you if he ordered from there." He kept his voice low as Tony snored softly beside them.

"He's as nice as Uncle and Grandmother said he was."

"They talked to you about us?"

The boy nodded. "Grandmother was the one who freed me. She sent a projection to tell me who to go with if Uncle wasn't able to stay with me." His arms bore freckles where the dapples on his other form’s legs blossomed. His hands were rough, calluses and ragged scrapes where the softness of a child’s youthfulness should be. 

Bruce stayed quiet. "Do you know what's happening with your father?" 

"Papa is my mother, actually." He flipped over to face the man, with his dark eyes too wise for his young appearance. "And, yes, Uncle told me Papa was stolen by someone angry with him. This isn’t the first time, so I’m not too worried, but Grandmother seemed really upset and she knows Papa better than me."

The boy’s hand found the hem of Bruce’s pullover, fingers curling in the dark green habit. Bruce felt a bit of movement in his chest, usually a sign of his other side emerging. “Sleipnir, um, did they tell you about the Hulk?”

“Your Berserker form? They said he was green and really strong.” Sleipnir didn’t shy away as if they were discussing something normal.

Bruce nodded, trying to quell the questioning in his ribcage from the Hulk. “Yeah. Can you sense him?”

The boy’s right hand moved closer to the source of the pressure in his ribs, fingers splaying. “He’s very curious about why you’re distressed.”

“I didn’t know he had emotions.”

“Your Berserker is a part of you, just like how Uncle has Mjolnir and Papa has his seidr. They are sentient. I remember Papa could talk to me in my head just using the seidr we share.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Can you talk to him from a distance?”

“I could try, but I’m really tired.” His dark eyes were drooping. 

Bruce pulled the boy closer as his body relaxed when he lost the battle with sleep a few moments later. “Goodnight, Sleipnir.”

Sleipnir mumbled quietly in reply, the pressure in Bruce’s chest loosening as the boy’s hand stayed tightly furled in his sweater.

Chapter Text

Loki awoke in a warm room, a soft, neutral-smelling blanket draped over his body. He raised his sore arms to push off the cover to see more of the room, but his wrists were handcuffed together under his stomach. They were already getting numb.

His hazy vision of the room around him was a haze of colors, the most surprising being the blue radiating off of himself. He was still in his Jotun form?! No wonder the room felt so overly warm to him. He pushed off the blanket with his feet, which surprisingly were not tied together. But, as soon as the blanket came off, the warm air hit him from all parts of his body. He was naked.

“Good morning, Loki.” The Grandmaster’s voice came from his right side. That must be where the door is. He stored that information away for later. “How are you, cutie? We’ve got some nice scents for you to judge.” 

“Leave me alone!” Loki shoved himself off the bed, running into the wall. So, the room was much smaller than he thought it was.

“Hey, hey. There’s no running from this.” Thin, but strong, arms circled his waist, lifting him with superhuman ease. “Let’s get you back in bed.” 

“No!” Loki lashed out with his feet, finding a knee and slamming his heel backward. A yelp of pain echoed from behind him and Loki fell to the floor, hard. He scrambled to get his legs underneath him without the leverage of his hands, but a different hand fisted in his hair and yanked backward.

“You...have lost all privileges, Loki.” The Grandmaster was wheezing from somewhere above him as Loki was pinned against the ground by his hair. “I’ve given you so many chances to go along with this...and pick an alpha you would like. You’re just really nothing but a brat, aren’t you?”

The hand pulled upwards as a boot pressed against his throat. He was struggling to hold in his tears as his nose was smashed against the warmed tiled floors. “I’m choosing for you. Maybe then you’ll appreciate me.” His voice turned away. “Bring in Angrboda.” The cold boot lifted off his throat, letting the growing scent of the air into Loki’s lungs. “I’ll be back after your Heat to see if you’re ready to behave. Amora, give him the shot.”

“No, no! I swear I’ll be good!” He begged as arms lifted him back onto the bed. He tried to follow the wiry arm of the Grandmaster, but a needle piercing his thigh froze him. “Please, don’t do this to me.” Heat raced through his veins like a runaway horse as he was laid down fully. 

“You should have thought about that.” Grandmaster spat. “Try not to tear him too much, it makes birth difficult.” 

“What?” Loki asked in horror. A blue shadow fell over his sweating form on the bed.

“I cannot promise how much he’ll fight.” Gruff words reached Loki’s ears, but the injection had rendered him sluggish and sweating as his Heat took full effect on his body. His arms wouldn’t cooperate and flopped at his side. “But he’ll accommodate eventually.”

“Good luck, Angrboda, he’ll make you a King if you do this right.”

The strong Alpha scent in the room intensified as the alpha drew closer to the bed. A cold hand broke through the heat running rampant through him, the blue skin of the new person blending into Loki’s already transformed skin. 

“Jotun?” Loki gasped weakly, not willful enough to pull himself from the cool touch on his thigh. 

“Of course, who else would be good enough for the son of our late king, Laufey?”  The Grandmaster laughed breathily, the door and the light of the doorway disappearing.

“You’re so small for a Jotun, Loki.” Angrboda cooed, his hand gripping the slick skin of Loki’s inner thigh to the point of blood welling to the surface. “What would Laufey do if you didn’t kill him? Part of this is revenge for Jotunheim, but I think you’re just delicious to look at.” 

Loki squirmed. “Please, let me go! I can get you anything else!” He didn’t even want to talk about his father at such a time like this!

Angrboda’s massive form hovered over Loki. “I heard you have a child already. Is it true you fucked a horse?” 

A cold hand pressed against his entrance. “Stop!”

“Maybe if you answer the question, I’ll stop.” He mused, two fingers sliding in.

The omega keened, skin crawling at the rush of pheromones racing through his veins at the intrusion. 

“So that’s a yes. How old is he now, eight centuries?” Angrboda’s fingers pulled away. He pushed up Loki’s thighs, avoiding the flail of knees easily. “Ten centuries is the age of consent under Bylestr, your sibling.”

Loki gasped, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Please don’t...he’s just a child! He doesn’t deserve that.” Pressure against his entrance caused him to cry out. 

“Then make this good enough to steer me away.” He rumbled. Teeth bit at the joint of his shoulder and collarbone, breaking the skin for his scent gland.

-

Loki groaned as a nose pressed against his ruptured scent gland. Angrboda kept putting pressure on the broken skin, the at-first pleasure at being bonded fading after the first few touches. “Get off me! You’ve done enough.”

The other Jotun rumbled a laugh under Loki’s sharp jawline. “Oh, c’mon. Can’t I cuddle my Bonded?”

He weakly pushed against the man’s sweat-soaked chest. “Do you want me to answer after you took me and bonded me against my will?” His arms were still heavy with the aftereffects of whatever tranquilizer Gast had given him several (hours/days/weeks?) He had been in this windowless room with Angrboda for however long now, multiple rounds of sex cooling some of his Heat’s burning, even though his mind was roiling in disgust. 

Angrboda’s hands were chilled against his abdomen. “Food for my sweetheart will be here soon. I need to keep you plump if you’re going to be having my welp.”

“You’re disgusting.” Loki swallowed nervously. One of the hands massaged his lower stomach where Jotunn's uteri were stored. His stomach felt bloated, and he wasn’t sure if he would even be able to choke anything down, though he knew he needed to eat something if he was going to survive this ordeal intact. Who knows what Angrboda would do to him if he was unconscious. He’s let himself have a few winks of sleep when the hormones after release wash over the other Frost Giant, jolting awake every few minutes from paralyzing fear in his throat from the emptiness where his seidr was.

“And you think too much. Have I been that bad of a Bonded? I’ve been gentler with you than most others I’ve been with.”

“I didn’t want this in the first place!” Loki huffed, exasperation bleeding through his rationality to appease the Giant. “You listening to these Midgardians-”

Angrboda laughed heartily. “Midgardians? Do you seriously think you’re still on Midgard? That Gast would be stupid enough to keep someone as hunted as you on a defenseless planetoid?”

Loki’s heart stopped, fogged eyes searching as best he could around the neutral walls of the room. “Where are we, then?” Angrboda was a mass of crystal blue in the corner of his eyes. 

“Not sure. I get a message on Jotunheim from the Grandmaster, and he sends a portal when I accept his invitation. I believe we’re in the Void.” He responded coolly. He 

“No!” Loki thrashed against the hold the Jotun moved over to hold him in. The scent of Angrboda permeating the room only served to make him more upset instead of the calming effect a new Bond should have on him. How come he couldn’t bring himself to be more upset though? Memories of his proposed mating to the promiscuous Tony Stark rose to the forefront of his mind. When he got out of there, he would be shoved back in the cage until his next heat, and SHIELD would bring Angrboda back; he was doomed.

“Whoa, whoa! Calm the fuck down. Why did you think Gast was Midgardian?”

Loki pushed against him as best he could.” They told me they were SHIELD. I’ve been taken by someone else?!” The Other lived within one of the doomed planetoids within the Void. No doubt it was already on the trail of his scent. He was probably already bargaining with the Grandmaster to buy him. 

Even worse than that thought was the hope he felt about SHIELD. Though the Midgardians seemed intent on seeing him suffer, they were filled with emotional ties, and he was technically a part of Thor’s Brood (adopted) surely his brother would want him back.

Can Thor even get to him?

Will Thor and SHIELD want to rescue him?

Was SHIELD the one who gave him to the Grandmaster?

Was his moth--Frigga even aware he was missing?

“Hey, don’t turn sour over there.” Angrboda tutted. The Giant was sitting at the edge of the bed, rubbing his shoulders from where Loki’s handcuffed wrists had hit him trying to push him off. “This is a good thing! I’m the best warrior in Jotunheim-our children will be the heirs to the throne! We can take over the Nine Realms together,” He shifted backward until his erection was pressed against Loki’s back. “I’d even have them spin pretty dresses to fit your continuously pregnant belly.” Fingers teased at his lower stomach, slowly dipping lower.

Loki smacked the hand with the handcuff, finding a small amount of strength. 

Sleipnir. His precious baby was alone in that pasture, forever staring at the servant’s door to the palace Loki would sneak out of to see him.

He growled, wrenching the mage onto his stomach by a fistful of hair. “Why can’t you just lie there and take it?! Don’t you realize what he’ll do to you if you continue fighting? You’ll have someone else-someone who’s not compatible and you’ll be screwed up permanently.” Angrboda straddled the scratched back of Loki’s thighs. His voice lowered, “You haven’t seen any other prisoners, have you?”

“No, they’ve put something in my eyes so I can’t see clearly. Every time they moved me they tranquilized me!” 

A large hand pressed the mage’s face further into the pillow as his voice rose. “You need to learn quickly and quietly, then. Gast is a trafficker, selling the offspring he forces through these Heats he’s created those drugs for.”

Though he was pushed face-first into the cotton pillowcase, Loki felt his lungs seize. “He’s going to steal them away?” He started to push upwards- “You keep coming back, making these monsters- forcing yourself”

“Hush,” Angrboda laid a cool hand on his back. “I do this because he would only get worse people. I’ve smuggled out all the children I can every time he calls me, citing them as miscarriages or stillbirths. Welp are susceptible to chill, and I can temporarily cool them to where the nurse thinks they’ve passed.” Angrboda slowly let off his back, allowing Loki to rise up on his cuffed elbows, though his hand hovered over the skin ready to push him back down. “And don’t call me a monster.”

“Why should I believe you?” Loki couldn’t believe this creature was saying all this with an erection pressed into his lower back. He held back the sound that threatened to escape him at the heated contact.

“You’re already pregnant; you don’t have a choice.” Angrboda’s red eyes met Loki’s green as the Jotun turned him onto his back to face him better. 

Loki swore loudly. “How can you stand yourself? Lying to keep me submissive and play along with your games, you’re just like all the rest of them.” He couldn’t access his seidr to see if he was already pregnant. Wasn’t there a period between impregnation and development? Surely Angrboda is just lying to get him to lower his guard more than he already has-

Bile threatened to rise in his throat at the situation. 

He was right back where he was all those years ago? 

This child would also be damned like Sleipnir; forced to pace eternally in one pasture until he was thrown into a battle then isolated all over again? His poor child, unaware that his last fleeting meeting will be the last he’ll see his baby. Maybe Frigga will continue to sneak him apples and sugar cubes now that he can’t anymore.

“Hey, come on, don’t cry again.” 

Loki knocked away the offending hand. “Let me deal with this in peace, brute! If all that you say is true, then I’ll never see him again.”

Angrboda sighed deeply and didn’t make any movements towards Loki again. “I’ll get you out of here somehow, Loki.”

The mage didn’t hear him, too busy trying to conceal his grief in the already damp pillowcase.

Chapter Text

Thor, Natasha, and Steve returned to the Tower with heavy thoughts. All three of them stood awkwardly in the elevator, unsure how to talk to each other in light of Loki's future.

"I know this is difficult to do, friends. Loki may have wronged you in the past, but you will never understand the depth of my gratefulness for this." The god began as JARVIS whisked them to the communal kitchen floor 76. 

"It's all good, Thor." Steve reached up and laid a righteous hand on the man's broad shoulder. "This will help a lot of people as well. Gast seems to be the root of a much bigger problem we've been trying to find the cause for."

"I just can't believe Clint did this," Natasha murmured. "After all this, he sinks to this level?"

"We don't know if he told us everything that happened during the Invasion." Steve shrugged. "I know you want to think you know everything about him, but there are things even I keep from Bucky." 

"Speaking of, where is Friend Barnes?" Thor inquired.

"He's been in his rooms. He's not quite over his Heat for some reason." Steve shrugged again. "He said he was fine, just a little sluggish and nauseous. I'll go check on him then meet you all for Fury's briefing later tonight."

JARVIS paused the lift, letting the super soldier off on his and Bucky's shared floor. 

"Hey," Bucky looked up from his place within a cocoon of blankets on the couch. His eyes didn't quite meet Steve's. "Where'd you all go? JARVIS wouldn't spill."

Steve plopped down beside him, pulling out a corner of the blanket to wedge himself underneath it. "Look, I need you to not freak out." He found Bucky's real hand underneath all the covers and clenched it tightly.

"Oh god, are we breaking up?" He blurts.

Steve's eyes bulged out of his head. "No! No, this is about Loki. Jeez, why are you so stressed out? You look upset about something" 

Bucky slumped back, chest heaving with relief. "Oh...good. Uh, what happened?"

The super soldier noticed the deflection but needed to tell Bucky before they all met for dinner, and something slipped out. “We found out how he got abducted. Clint bypassed SHIELD's security and reached out to En Dwi Gast. He set up the kidnapping."

The brunette stared at him. "He…what?"

Steve swallowed. "Yeah, Fury and Natasha confirmed Clint said he did it and there's even footage of him using your name in the contacts...I'm going to keep you safe, Buck."

Bucky dropped his head into his hands, "Steve...please tell me you're lying. This is one big joke. Haha, very funny. Pinch me on the ass or slap me to wake me up before Tony starts acting like a normal human being."

"Why would I lie about this?"

"There's no way this would happen right when I find out." He mumbled. "Just when things were getting better." His metal arm was resized to match the tight clenching of the arm muscles.

Steve pulled him closer at the tugging of Bucky's hands in his long locks. "What can I do?"

Bucky released his hair at Steve's gentle prodding, looking up at him after a deep breath. "I'm not the only one you're protecting, Steve."

"Well, of course. There's Natasha, Bruce-"

"I'm pregnant." A soft onesie with the words My dad is Captain America embroidered on the front was pulled out from under the various layers of blankets. "I found out this morning when JARVIS suggested I get tested after being sick so much."

"And I must extend my congratulations, Sirs. My tests have concluded you are two months along." JARVIS piped up a projection of three positive pregnancy tests displayed on the television. 

"I…" Steve stuttered, mind frantically trying to process this. "I didn't know this could happen after all…"

Bucky reached up and held Steve's cheek as the man's face split in two from his smile. "I know. Do you want even better news?"

"Oh lord." He leaned into the touch. "Nothing's better than this, Buck. You'd have to try really hard-"

"There's an apple pie in the oven."

The super soldier just about passed out from happiness. A bun and one of Bucky's amazing pies in the oven?

-

Tony had never had such a great bout of sleep, except for when they put him under for his wisdom teeth surgery when he was fifteen. But besides, he was warm, his brain comfortably forgetful about everything except how warm he was, and the smell of content pack members in the soft blankets around him. 

The snap of a camera shutter startled him to full wakefulness.

"What?" He garbled, unsuccessfully trying to sit up. The staggering weight of two people held him down and he looked around blindly to find out it was Sleipnir and Bruce practically on top of his chest. Sleipnir was curled into a tight ball in the crook of his neck, his head of wild curls blocking most of Tony's sight. Bruce was bear-hugging the boy from behind, his overarching arm around Tony's waist as an anchor point. 

Natasha and Thor stood at the outside edge of the sunken couch, a cell phone in the god's hands that he guiltily tucked into his sling. "Sorry." He whispered.

"How long have we been asleep?" Tony whispered back.

"Five hours," Natasha answered. “Fury wants to have a briefing in two hours.”

The engineer waved a hand at her and set his head back down against the pillow. Sleipnir pressed closer into his neck at the motion, hands fisted in his shirt clenching tighter as if he were leaving him in his sleep. Tony found his hand resting on Sleipnir’s back. He gently rubbed the boy’s back as he maneuvered in his sleepiness. He found his eyes slowly closing once again.

-

“Mister Anthony?”  Sleipnir’s face was hovering above him, his dark eyes bright with energy. “Uncle brought us food called Shawarma!”

Tony blinked, not realizing he had fallen back asleep. “Yum. What time is it, squirt?”

“JARVIS said it was seven o’clock, which is Midgardian time for supper.” Sleipnir busied himself untucking the engineer from the various quilts and covers. He helped Tony sit up with surprisingly strong arms. 

“Sleipnir!” Boomed Thor as if on cue. His arms were full of white bags filled with tinfoil-wrapped packages and side dishes. “I’ve brought you a new Midgardian delicacy to try!”

The boy scrambled to his feet and threw himself in the Thunderer’s arms as soon as he set down the massive pile of food on the granite countertops. Thor caught the boy with a beaming smile. “It is so good to see you limber and healthy again, my boy.”

Tony wobblily made his way to his feet as Bruce stirred beside him. “Hey, sleeping beauty. You were a great cuddle bug.” He held out a hand to the man as they both struggled to shake sleepiness out of their minds. Bruce seemed to be managing it much better than Tony, who felt like he could go back to sleep for another day.

Why was he still so tired? He felt rested, but his eyes kept trying to force themselves downward.

Oh. He’s still going through the withdrawal of hormones from Pepper.

He should check up on her. Maybe he’ll have Steve reach out to her after dinner.

Bruce had steered him to the elevator while he was busy realizing his sleepiness was from the loss of a Mate. He could feel the heaviness on his shoulders return after the chaos of Loki being captured had loosened it. Thor and Sleipnir had each taken a portion of the pile of food, following them into the elevator down to the communal Avengers kitchen level.

Steve, Bucky, and Natasha were already seated at the long wooden table. Placemats with each Avenger’s superhero persona were laid out where they usually sat, a present for each of them from Bucky last Christmas. Surprisingly, Bucky was able to find a placemat for Bruce that had both the Hulk and Bruce himself as a scientist. It made Bruce break out in tears when he opened it.

Thor and Sleipnir laid out the food on platters already placed on the table. Natasha used that time to quietly slip Clint’s placemat under her own. It had taken them a few times to get the table placements correct. The wooden table Tony had put in the original kitchen hadn’t been big enough when both Pepper and Bucky joined their Pack a few years ago. Tony handmade a two-seat extension to the end where he sat. Tony was on the right head of the table, and going to his right were Bruce, Thor, and Bucky. Then Steve was at the other head of the table and to his right was Natasha, Clint, and Pepper next to Tony. Because of the events of the day, two seats were now left empty to Tony’s left. 

Sleipnir sat on Tony’s immediate left, replacing where Pepper usually seated herself and left an open seat for where Clint was between Natasha and Pepper. The boy’s torso was not that tall, so he kneeled in the chair to reach the oval platters in the center of the table.

Bucky poured the various sauces like Tahini, Tzatziki, and hummus into bowls that could be passed around with their small serving spoon. Natasha transferred the vegetable side dishes to the large side dishes. Thor laid out the Naan on a plate, and Bruce unwrapped the rice bowls from the takeout boxes on a large spread. 

Steve began the passing of the dishes, serving Bucky and then passing the plates to Thor. As the table filled their plates, Tony gave Sleipnir a scoop of each different sauce, side dish, and meat, creating the most colorful platter of food for the boy to taste.

Sleipnir thanked him for each new scoop of food, helpfully passing the platters to Natasha after Tony was done taking both of their portions out. He plopped down on his bottom in the chair once all the food had been passed.

“Do you want something to sit on?” Bruce asked as the boy’s nose was level with the table’s edge. 

“Yes, please.” Tony was out of his seat before Bruce could stand. He brought over one of the backed barstools, placing it where Natasha helped Sleipnir move the chair out of the way. The boy climbed up on top, the stool the perfect height for eating at the table. 

It was interesting how small Sleipnir was compared to his other form’s massive size. Tony supposed it might be due to magic, like his magic was much more powerful than his actual body was, therefore making him smaller while he was not using the seidr in his Midgardian form. His freckles were concentrated around his cheeks, neck, and forearms. 

Tony’s mind kept ticking away as they all chatted. Sleipnir’s voice was higher than the rest of the group’s, but it kept floating to the forefront of his mind when he tuned into the conversation between Steve and Natasha. 

Why am I getting so enamored with this kid? I mean sure, he’s absolutely adorable, and he’s part of Thor’s brood; but like c’mon on man. You have things to fix to rescue his villain-turned-good father/mother. Stop wasting time, Stark.

He made the decision as he stood from the table. “I need to go to work. Dinner was great, Thunder Pants. See all of you when I have a solution.” He picked up his massacred bowl of falafel. 

“Hey! Sit back down, Stark.” Steve called from the table as Tony moved towards the kitchen. “We have a briefing in twenty minutes...and Buck and I have some news.”

Tony sighed. “A briefing? Just have Fury send it to J. And what news? Have you finally decided to get hitched.”

“That’s a great idea, actually.” Bucky whispered.

Steve stood and steered Tony’s smaller form back into his seat, keeping the engineer seated with a hand on his shoulder. “Do you want me to or-”

“I want to do it.” Bucky nodded. He took a deep calming breath. “I’m pregnant.”

An explosion of cheers from Bruce, Thor and Sleipnir rang through the room. Natasha smiled, like really smiled, and reached across the messy table to high-five him. 

“Congrats!” Bruce called. 

“Oh god, two Steves?” Tony fake cried, then burst out laughing as Steve punched his shoulder.

Sleipnir hopped down from his stool and ran over to Bucky’s side. “Do you have a bump?”

“I don’t know.” Bucky lifted up the end of his shirt and looked down. His once HYDRA-forced abs were replaced with a softness that wasn’t too noticeable. “A little bit. I guess I just thought I was gaining weight from all the baking.”

“Can I touch it?”

The soldier furrowed his eyebrows and turned to the others around the table. Thor nodded enthusiastically. “See if you can sense it, Sleipnir.”

After a shrug from Steve, Bucky smiled and nodded to the excited boy next to him. “Go ahead, little dude.”

Sleipnir beamed and laid his small, speckled hands on where the swell of the newfound pudge was located. He closed his eyes, focusing intently. A whispered string of words started to float out of his mouth and a chartreuse glow appeared under his splayed fingertips. He quieted as the glow progressed.

“What’s it like?” Bruce whispered, not wanting to break the boy’s concentration.

“Warm. Like I drank hot soup too fast.”

“Girl,” Sleipnir spoke suddenly, “says hi.”

“It’s a girl! Finally, another one.” Natasha smiled. 

Thor waited until Sleipnir had finished his casting and swung the boy up into his arms. “Wonderful work, Nephew! Did she say anything else?”

The boy laughed sneakily. “She said she was cramped in there and the shawarma was yummy.”

Bucky stole the boy from Thor’s arms and gave him a playful nougie. “Oh, are you now the baby expert?” He grinned through the excited laughter as Sleipnir pawed at him to stop the ruffling of his hair. 

“Of course, my nephew is the greatest baby whisperer in the entirety of Midgard!” 

The soldier plopped the boy back on his stool. “Thanks, kid. That is really sweet of you to do for us.”

Sleipnir nodded. “Papa and Grandmother would have me help the other animals when they were pregnant. This was much different looking through a Midgardian, but much more interesting than the pigs. They had so many babies it was hard to count them all. It’s so easy with just two.”

Bucky froze. “Two?”

Sleipnir blinked. “Did I not say that? Oops.” He sheepishly covered his mouth. “They’re both girls. One said hi and the other talked about being cramped. I forget you all couldn’t feel them as well.”

Tony stood as Steve turned a bright shade of crimson. “Time to sit down, Steve. Congrats on the fatherhood at 106.” A round of chuckles echoed as Bucky blinked back tears of happiness.

Chapter Text

Going to the Basement more than once a week felt strange. Tony only used it when he felt like no activity was going to derail his oncoming panic attack or paranoia. Which was about every ten days. So, this was weird. Bucky stayed in the communal room with Sleipnir since it probably wasn’t the best for the boy to hear about how powerless they were to rescue his already-raped dad. His skin itched from the agitation swirling in his head. He was like some anxious high schooler with all this worrying.

“Bucky’s out of commission,” Steve said before Fury’s mouth could open to say anything. 

“And why is that?” He asked, arms crossing. “We can’t afford to lose a soldier with this plan.”

“I... I can’t tell you why.” 

“I need a reason, Rogers.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be a dog for another terrorist group?” Tony snarked. Whoa, where’d that come from? Irritation from the already stalled meeting was growing into an ache above his forehead. He wanted more than anything to go curl up with Sleipnir and Bruce somewhere. Not even being around his entire pack was helping.

“Stark, I get that you and Miss Potts have broken up, but this plan seriously needs all of our available Avengers.” Fury scoffed, not phased.

“What’s the plan, then?” Bruce raised a peaceful hand, trying his best to scent the room with calmer emotions. “Maybe we can reassess without Bucky.”

Maria and Coulson appeared on either side of the Director. “We need to advertise that Stark was supposed to be mated to Loki and somehow get that news into Sakaar. Then, we set up Stark to go to one of the auctions and show face as part of this underground network of traffickers.”

“Fuck no! I’m not ruining everything Pepper has done for S.I. for some Omega!”

Thor bolted to his feet. “Take care of what you speak of Stark. You promised you would do anything it took to get my brother back--”

“Calm the fuck down, everyone!” Fury groaned. “Let me finish.”

Tony flipped him off and swiveled his chair the other way.

“Stark goes to the auction and shows face. It will probably take more than one auction, but we need to gain one of their trust to get him into one of the more secret meetings. Then, he brings up the plan of mating Loki and he acts as if this is the payment Asgard declared for him after defending Midgard or Earth during the Invasion.”

Coulson turns to Tony, uncaring that he’s facing the back of the engineer’s chair. “I understand this is quite a request, Tony. But there’s quite literally no other way in. All of the signals coming from our base next to the entrance of the tunnel have the same signals of the Bifrost. It’s possible this is connected to a different realm and we will not risk an invasion.”

“May I come to see some of the signals? I’m not skilled at seidr, but I could give the readings to my mother to decipher. I could also have her draw a contract for this ‘Bond declaration.’ I doubt this Grandmaster would challenge Asgardian authority.” Thor had calmed at Coulson’s forwardness. Thank goodness for professionalism.

“It’s probably too late to bring Asgardian contracts into the mix. He’d see it as a lie. But, if your mother or whoever is willing to help with the signals, then that would be a good step.” Fury steepled his fingers.

“I can leave right now if you wish.”

“Meet us where Loki was kidnapped. There’s a lingering magic residue from all that where we set up camp.” Fury nodded. “Stark; Talk to Miss Potts about this and discuss any possible outcomes. I’m sure you can bribe some of them quietly if word gets out.” Fury clicked off the transmission.

Tony leaned back in his chair and let out a long groan. "Look I'm all for crazy plans--but this is putting more than just me at risk in these auctions."

"Since when have you cared about that?" Bruce knocked him on the backside of his head. "Come up with a better plan, then. You knew this was going to be difficult."

"I will go talk with my nephew before leaving for the base site." Thor announced, heading to the elevator before Tony could make him upset again. He was worried that Sleipnir was in danger here on Midgard if they were to go undercover.

"I really don't know how I'm going to talk to Pepper about this. She's only a few days into the prescription." Tony said quietly where his hands were covering his face. “I need to talk to her through a phone call I guess.”

“Is it really that bad?’ Natasha asked quietly. Her pheromones had been snuffed out by the Red Room, so she was forever stuck smelling like an Omega in order to reel her targets in. She wonders what she would have been truly if the Red Room never got a hold on her scent. She could see how stressful it had made Tony, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around how deep the bond was between them. She and Clint always spent their ruts apart since they didn’t want to both be out of commission in case of an emergency meeting.

“I am going to do some foolish things if I get anywhere near her, I can already tell.” He responded. “She might not be affected, but I’m cold turkey on our Bond. This afternoon was the first time I’ve slept well since it all happened.”

“Tony, it’s been a week! How bad was it?” Steve went into his instinctual need to confront someone about their horrible habits. 

“Sir, got a total of seven hours in the past week, not including the sleep this afternoon with you and Sir Lokason.” JARVIS cut in, turning down the lights of the room. “I would advise you to rest. I can contact Miss Potts if that is to your liking.”

“No, I’ll talk to her,” Bruce said. “We don’t need an electronic trail for this, though that’s nothing against you, JARVIS. I can meet her down here in an hour to talk if you could just ask her to come without any context.” He pulled Tony to his feet. “Come sleep with Sleipnir, I’m sure Bucky wants to be with his mate after all the news today.” 

Natasha followed the two into the elevator while JARVIS instructed Miss Potts to meet Dr. Banner.

Tony tried his best to resist the pushing, but Bruce seemed to be channeling the Hulk into his arms. Either that or Tony was a lot more tired than he thought he was. The floors blurred together as the elevator rose in silence, Natasha staying blissfully quiet. She got out at the floor she shared with Clint, giving them both a tired look. 

Bruce smiled back as the elevator resumed. “Sleipnir talked about how nice you were to him.”

“That’s because Sleipnir is a child. Of course I’m going to be nice to him. He’s been through a lot.” Tony ignored him as the scientist shot him a knowing smile. “Stop doing that. I'm good to him because he’s a kid and part of Thor’s Brood and his dad is kidnapped.”

“I think he’s really helping you.”

“He is a sweet kid,” Tony admitted. “He was all over me this afternoon.” The doors opened onto the communal floor, revealing Bucky, Steve, and Sleipnir watching cartoons on one of the flat-screen televisions. A bowl of popcorn sat in Sleipnir’s lap. His hands shoved mouthfuls of the buttery treat into his mouth without pause, his eyes glued to the moving shapes. Laughter filled the room, worsening Tony’s headache. Maybe he should go to bed.

Bruce held the door open and called out to the three. “Hey, when you guys are done watching TV, Sleipnir can come up to the penthouse to sleep.”

Bucky nodded, “Have a good night, guys. We’ll have him home by nine.” 

Tony couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his mouth. “Tell J when you want to come up, Sleipnir.”

The boy nodded and waved to them with butter-soaked hands, promptly turning back to the singing sponge and starfish dancing across the screen.

JARVIS, finally, cut off the annoying cartoon’s laughter by resuming the ascent up to the penthouse for the two men. “Sir, I must say how proud I am of you for prioritizing your health.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I can’t rescue Loki if I’m not able to dazzle those assholes.”

Bruce pushed him out into the kitchen of the penthouse. “You’re also going through hormone withdrawal and the arc reactor. Your body needs to heal,” The two men made it to Tony’s room, which hadn’t been touched very much in the last week, still pretty clean, “and that also includes taking a shower. If I leave you here and go talk to Pepper, promise me you’ll shower and sleep.”

Tony shucked his t-shirt off into the hamper near the door to the bathroom. “Sure, Bruce. Is the kid staying with you?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I was thinking he would come up here with you. Do you want me to stay also?”

JARVIS interrupted before Tony could even open his mouth. “Miss Potts is waiting at the intake desk in the main lobby, Dr. Banner.”

“Only if you change and shower first.” Tony smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. 

Bruce smiled in return and turned to close the bedroom door as he left.

-

"Hey," Pepper's light eyes creased with worry as Bruce met her by the empty intake desk. "Is everything alright? JARVIS said he couldn't say what you wanted to meet about."

"It's an, uh, confidential. Can you follow me?" He hastily looked around the empty lobby and pressed the button for the normal work tunnel.

"Why are we going to the reactor? Where's Tony?"

"Tony and I thought it would be best if I told you about this since he, um, can't take the prescription." JARVIS allowed them out into the outer work tunnel, then into the hidden elevator down to the Basement. "We need to make sure no one's snooping in on us."

"What the hell is this?" Pepper spluttered as the second elevator opened to them from behind a water heater. "Is this some lab he kept from me?"

"This is a 'panic room,' Sir built in case of one of his panic attacks. It has been used for communications between SHIELD and the Avengers. It was built without anyone's knowledge except Sirs, Miss Potts."

She nodded and hesitantly stepped in behind the scientist. Unlike the other elevators, this one had silver walls covered by light grey blanket-type cloths. They reminded her of the heavy-duty cloths art galleries used to move paintings in their elevators. Maybe Tony actually was paying attention to all those times she dragged him through the complimentary back-room tours of the Met during all the galas for the different charities last year. It made her heart hurt to think of those times when she thought she was happy.

Her attention shifted back to the present as the doors opened into the main conference room where Steve was sitting in one of the high-backed chairs.

“Hey, Bucky said I should help you explain all this.” He rose as Bruce and Pepper walked in.

“That actually helps a lot, Steve, thanks.” Bruce ran a shaking hand through his hair. “The more I think about it, the more it stresses me out.” He sat down across from Steve, gesturing for Pepper to sit down.

Pepper sat down with a concerned frown. “Is Tony alright?”

Steve nodded. “Yes,” He pushed a stack of papers toward her. The manilla folder contained them in read Operation Tapestry. “This is as much of the plan that we can tell you.”

Her blue eyes read the stamped title of the document but doesn’t touch it. “What are you all talking about? Why is there a mission?”

“Loki,” Bruce answered.

“Thor’s brother? I thought he was in Asgard, receiving punishment.” Pepper crossed her arms. “Explain what’s been going on.”

Bruce sighed. “A week ago, Loki crashed in Central Park and Tony put him in the Helicarrier. He’s been punished by exile onto Earth and has all these regulations about how he can use his magic. Since he was going into Heat, and we didn’t want any of the SHIELD agents to find out about this, Thor suggested Tony spend Loki’s heat with him-” Bruce held up a hand as she opened her mouth to retort. “But that never happened because Clint gave the Helicarrier plans to Sakaar Specializations, who is an underground Omega Trafficker, and they kidnapped Loki.”

Pepper opened the folder and read in complete silence. Her eyes searched the pages and Bruce looked over at Steve nervously as she stayed quiet for the next five minutes. She read every page, front and back, including the photos of the kidnapping from the SHIELD security cameras. 

“How do we know this isn’t a trick from Loki? His whole show was about manipulating Clint.” She began.

“It’s not a ploy,” Bruce crosses his arms.

Pepper opened the folder but looked back up at them after only reading over the first page of the mission overview that JARVIS had typed up. “How do we know Loki didn’t make Clint do this to release him and then Gast got a lucky break? He’s been SI’s competitor since even Howard’s time.” 

“Look, Miss Potts, I understand you not trusting Loki, however, Clint used the HYDRA codes from Bucky to contact Sakaar specifically. He says he didn’t want Loki to be held hostage like this, yet even Natasha isn’t sure his reasoning is sound. This could link back to HYDRA.” Steve implored. “I really want to think that Clint wouldn’t do this. I don’t want to put Tony into this. I don’t want to risk your and Howard’s reputation if this all goes wrong...but if HYDRA gets a hold of these children, we could be looking at a new brand of magic super soldiers.”

“What happens if they get a hold of the Arc Reactor and kill Tony? What if we don’t even save Loki and Tony gives this horrible sacrifice?” Her perfectly painted lips were starting to curl inward.

“Pepper, I know this is a hard situation-”

“This is not a situation, Bruce. Tony will not be risking his life like this for Loki. Where is he?” She stood, black heels clacking against the tiles. “JARVIS, take me to the Penthouse.”

“I will not let you do that, Miss Potts. Sir is under strict instructions to stay away from you until your prescription has ended.” The doors to the elevator remained locked to her touch, the button dark.

“Can I talk to Natasha?”

“Miss Romanov is on the communal level if you wish to speak with her.”

“Miss Potts, I really think we all just need to absorb this-” Steve grabbed the folder

“I want to go to the communal level then.” Pepper cut him off, already stepping into the elevator.

“Very well.” JARVIS seemed to sigh in his own way at the sentence, waiting for Bruce and Steve to enter as well before taking them to the main elevator. This was only another instance where her loyalty to Tony trumped her own feelings about him.

-

“Pepper?” Natasha looked up from the book she had been reading over a cup of tea at the kitchen table. “You shouldn’t be up here.”

“And Tony shouldn’t be risking his life!” Pepper strode towards her, not noticing Sleipnir and Bucky sitting in the living room area to her left. “Are you really okay with this plan?”

“It’s a solid plan. Tony can pull it off and Thor is pulling in his mother to help with the magic if he slips up.” Natasha continued sipping from her ceramic mug, looking up at the woman through her eyelashes.

She shook her head, a manicured hand coming to rub at her temples. “Look, I know Tony and I are through, but you all need to keep him here. He’s too vulnerable! What if they get a hold of the Reactor? Are we going to let him die for someone who tried to kill him?!”

“Pepper, you need to go home and calm down. Fury and I have already agreed this is the best course of action,” Steve says. He gestures for Bucky to corral Sleipnir towards the elevator, but the boy is curious about the beautiful, angry woman who just arrived.

“Loki threw him out of a window, unarmed! I will not send Tony after someone who doesn’t even deserve to be alive! He locked himself away for months after the Battle, not to mention what happened to Clint that we still don’t know about. Thor’s problems are not Tony’s.”

A gasp to her left made her stop dead in her tracks. Sleipnir stared at her in shock, his dark eyes filling with tears. “Papa tried to...kill Mister Anthony?”

“Sleipnir!” Bucky tried to comfort the boy, but he broke out of his grasp and ran past Steve and Bruce into the still-open doors.

“Sleipnir, let us explain-” Bruce almost caught his sweatshirt hood but JARVIS closed the doors in his face, taking the boy to his whispered request for the penthouse.

Four sets of angry eyes turned back to Pepper. “Pepper, I know you might be CEO of this place you will not storm in here and accuse us of not caring about Tony!” Bruce huffed. He stormed over to the staircase and climbed the steps two at a time, slamming the door behind him.

“Who was that?”

“Loki’s child. We were going to try to explain why Loki was kidnapped to him tomorrow, but I don’t know what will happen now.” Steve sighed.

“And you’re letting him into the Penthouse, alone with Tony. Have all of you been brainwashed?” She looked from Steve to Bucky to Natasha.

“Sleipnir is a child, Pepper!” Bucky yelled. “I know you think this is a trick, but you need to realize that Gast is literally selling the children he creates from these rapes to HYDRA and the Red Room. Tony knows how deep this goes. He understands that this is for the greater good.”

“Then why don’t you go? Why does he need to keep almost dying in order for the Avengers to do anything?” Pepper snapped. “You are recognizable to them. Putting everything Tony has worked for at risk--”

“If you send my pregnant mate into this war because you’re too emotional-” Steve started, storming towards her,

“Everyone stop!” Natasha stood and pushed Steve back towards Bucky. “Pepper, go home. This has been decided already. Tony is the only one who can agree or not. And since you aren’t allowed to talk with him, that’s an issue for you and JARVIS.”

Pepper stood her ground. “I am not leaving until I talk to Tony.”

“Then talk,” Tony said, closing the door to the staircase.

Sleipnir was clinging to him and sitting on his hip, a protective hand from the engineer holding him close.

“You're not supposed to be here or even in the Basement, Pepper. I'll reprogram that loophole in J.”

“Tony,” She sighed, moving closer.

Instantly the air between them got thick with emotion. It made the hairs on Steve’s neck flare up.

Tony held up a hand. “If you come any closer, Steve will escort you out.” Tears leaked onto his dark band shirt as Sleipnir continued small sobs into his shoulder. “I’m doing this and nothing you say will change my mind. I made not only a promise to Thor, but to myself that I would hear Loki out on the evidence of the scepter.”

“But what about-”

“I don’t care. You said you weren’t ready to be in a relationship with someone who had no self-preservation instincts. Well, here’s me showing you that I truly don’t have any! I’m not going to sit here like a princess in my tower while Loki is stuck in Gast’s hands.” His other hand came up to rub Sleipnir’s back. “Pepper, I’m not going to die. I can handle myself.”

“You said that about Afghanistan and now you have shrapnel in your veins, forever relying on a magnet to not die. Do you think you can convince an underground world that you’re into Omega trafficking?”

“I convinced you that I was worth your time, didn’t I?” He chuckled lowly. “You know you won’t win this. You need to leave so I can handle what damage you caused.”

She tried one last time. “I’ve seen you think that you’re not worth saving, Tony. This is one of those moments where you feel you have to dive headfirst into anything to feel worthy. You don’t need to keep doing this for people who don’t deserve it.”

“JARVIS, please have Happy take Miss Potts home,” Tony says neutrally, turning his back on her to go back into the staircase.

Chapter Text

The argument with Pepper seemed to worsen Tony’s nerves. Bruce knew it would, but he didn’t expect the result to be so visible. Their trip to the penthouse afterward was only broken by Sleipnir’s marveling at the staircase’s artwork and Tony’s groaning at doing four flights of stairs.

By the time they reached the top level, Tony was a mess of visible shaking and high heart rate.

“Hey, let’s just take a seat for a moment,” Bruce guides him to a sofa by his king-size bed. When he seems to sit still, the scientist leads Sleipnir to the ensuite bathroom.

Tony sits until Bruce is out of eyesight. He stands and goes to his dresser to pick out a pair of boxers and a shirt for the young boy to sleep in.

Bruce was currently helping Sleipnir learn how to turn on the bathtub in Tony’s ensuite, subtly analyzing the wound blazing across the boy’s ribcage. “How hot would you like the water?” 

“I’ve only ever had cold baths in the stables. They use water right from the river since it’s always fresh.” Sleipnir shrugged. He dipped a hand in the half-filled tub, making a nod of approval. He stripped off the trousers he wore and the rope for a belt, placing them gently on the seat of the toilet. He had refused to wear anything else until now. “This is so odd. Do all Midgardians bathe in feeding troughs?”

Bruce tried his best not to laugh at the genuine confusion on the boy’s face. “This is called a bathtub. Humans only have feeding troughs for animals. This is strictly used for bathing.” And other things Tony has probably done. Thank god he cleans this at least. The scientist turned off the silver faucet as it reached a full level where it wouldn’t overflow once the boy stepped in.

He held Sleipnir’s hand to help him over the tall edge and settled him in. “Good?”

“It’s nice.” He beamed. 

Bruce moved over to the sink where he had taken out some bottles for him. “So, this is shampoo, and you put some on your palm and then rub it into your hair.” He set the grey-colored bottle on the flat edge by the jet button. “This,” a cream-colored one, “you lather all over your body and then sit back down and rinse it off.”

Sleipnir nodded, taking the two bottles and scrutinizing the words. Tony bought pretty expensive stuff, so there weren’t any pictures or fun graphics for him to look at. He set them back down and looked back up at Bruce. “Why are you leaving?”

“I’ll be out in the living room where we were earlier. Tony is right on the other side of the door, okay? Call out for one of us and we’ll come help you.” 

The boy nodded again, hand sliding through the water. He tapped the surface, laughing at the splashes hitting his face.

Bruce smiled and closed the door behind him. He let out a sigh. “Do you really have $98 shampoo, Tony?”

“Hey, it takes only the best to calm these curls.” Tony grinned from his place in the walk-in closet. He appeared holding a stack of clothes he thought may be small enough for the boy. He set them on the edge of the bed nearest the door to the bathroom. “How’s he doing? Does he like the tub?”

“He thought it was a water trough for horses. His ribs really worry me.”

“Is there any mark or anything? Like from whatever hit him?” 

Bruce shook his head, eyes creased with worry. “It is bothering him a little bit, but he barely notices it. I hope some of the water helps wash away any dirt that could be hiding anything.” The scientist stood for a moment, watching the other man scurry around the room to pick up any clothes on the floor. “Are you okay?” He asked softly. From losing Pepper, to almost having to marry a villain who turned out to not be a villain, then watching him get kidnapped to be sold into slavery, then having to take care of his kid, surely even Tony would know his limits by this point.

Tony tensed but continued his way to the laundry basket and dumped the sizable pile inside. “I’ll be fine, Bruce. Sleipnir’s been nice to have around. Reminds me of what’s at stake.”

“You know this wasn’t your fault, right?”

“Of course I do, Clint did this,” Tony says easily. He peeks into the bathroom and smiles at the sight of Sleipnir playing.

Bruce sat in one of the chairs by the opening of the bedroom. “But you feel like you’re responsible. I see how you keep placing yourself at the forefront of all the decisions. Thor knows how we have to wait.”

“But you didn’t hear him when they took Loki, Bruce. He was about to go suicidal. I can’t keep watching him mope while I can do something.” Tony sighed. He laid down on the freshly made sheets, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re making me go to sleep after that happened.”

“She came in and started accusing everyone. I can talk to Sleipnir about the Invasion tomorrow. He seems to have calmed down mostly.” Bruce rubbed his forehead, folding his small glasses into the front pocket of his shirt. “She’s not Pack anymore and had no right to talk to you like that.”

“She felt jealous, I mean, I see where she’s coming from. She still is my best friend. She wants us to be safe-”

“Mister Bruce?” A voice from behind the bathroom’s door. “I think I’m done.”

Tony was on his feet before Bruce was thinking of standing. “I got this, you go shower.”

“No, you need to sleep. I’ll help him and then shower up here.” Bruce laid a hand on Tony’s bare shoulder. He grabbed the stack of clothes and opened the door after a knock. “Hey, how’d it go? Is the water cold?"

Sleipnir peeked up out of a mound of pearlescent bubbles. “This was so fun! No wonder you Midgardians all smell so nice.” His dark curls were tousled in swirled patterns of lather.

Bruce grinned, pulling out a fluffy towel. “Baths are pretty fun. How did you do the bubbles with no running water?” He reached up and plucked the detachable shower head, proceeding to gently shower the boy with clean water. “How does your chest feel?”

Sleipnir bit his lip. He closed his eyes as the man ran the stream of warm water near the crown of his head. “It’s okay. It heals fast like the others.”

He watched the boy's movements as he stood and helped him out onto the fluffy rectangular bathmat. The boy wiggled his feet in the soft faux fur. “What happened?”

The boy shivered. “Um, Grandfather did,” He sighed into the soft towel Bruce wrapped his body up into. “I was scared when they threw Papa into the Bifrost because he just looked...so sick, and Grandfather said I was ungrateful for everything he had given me.” Tears were rapidly forming in his eyes. He wiped at them with the edge of the white towel. 

“Has he done it before?”

Sleipnir nodded. “It is standard for all stablemasters and steed riders to carry switches and crops. Grandfather usually wields Gungnir, his staff.” He knew that he wasn’t the best behaved of the steeds. He got spooked if there were any strange prowling creatures outside the pasture gates. He thankfully hadn’t been in War yet, but he could hear the rumblings of trouble brewing from the stable keepers who would rather gossip than give him food. “Uncle Thor is able to stop him most times, though, so this time I can handle it by myself.”

Bruce sat back on his haunches to meet the boy at his level. “I have some medicine that will help the pain go away and repair the muscles faster.” He gently prodded around the edges of the darkened bruise, watching for Sleipnir’s reaction to the touch. 

The boy winced at some spots that were concentrated on the upper left part. “Is it seidr?”

“No, this works with the blood stream of your body.” Bruce handed the boy the clothing and turned to the medicine cabinet to pull out the Ibuprofen pills. Sleipnir changed, almost putting the grey long-sleeve shirt on backwards. The clothes were too big, but they were better fitting than the ones he had put on himself earlier. Bruce gave him a glass of water with a subtle white powder floating in it. “This should help after a few minutes. Drink it all.”

The boy tipped the cup and swallowed it quietly as the scientist gathered up the dirty clothes. “Finished.”

“Great. Tony’s probably asleep if you want to join him.”

“You’re not coming too?”

 Bruce smiled. “I’m going to bathe and then I’ll join you two.”

Sleipnir grinned and peeked out of the bathroom door. Tony was laying on his side, facing away from them, but he wasn’t shifting so he was probably asleep. “Okay!” Sleipnir quietly padded to the other edge of the large king-size bed. Who knew Midgardians had such large sleeping hay bales? He ran a hand over the silky white sheets, marveling at how nice it felt under his fingertips. How would he ever be able to sleep on hay again? It would be torture trying to flatten down the pokey material under his long legs. 

He’s been on Midgard for a while, so surely Thor will drag him back to Asgard soon. He should sleep on the floor, so he can get used to his stall bedding again. Then, hay will still be comfortable! Sleipnir nodded to himself, pulling one of the folded blankets from their earlier naps off the end bench of the bed. He wrapped himself up the way he watched Tony do it to himself and padded over to Tony’s side of the bed. The man’s seidr was irregular right now. He seemed to have the same worried line between his eyebrows that Loki always had when he fell asleep in the stables with him. Sleipnir reached out and put a hand on the Arc Reactor.

“Master Sleipnir, please do not touch the Arc Reactor.”

Sleipnir spooked, backing away from Tony into the walk-in closet and falling over a pair of Tony’s shoes. “JARVIS?” He quivered, forgetting about the surveilling assistant.

“Yes. Sir is very uncomfortable with the device within his chest. Please refrain from touching it without his expressed permission.” The tone was gentle but firm. It reminded him of his mother…

Sleipnir sighed at the thought of Loki. His sole parent, who worked so hard he fell asleep in the middle of sentence, was accused of trying to kill someone as nice as Mister Anthony? Maybe he was too isolated in the stalls and didn’t know what his mother was really like. Uncle Thor and Grandmother always told him stories of Loki when he was forbidden to come to the stables. They had such wonderful stories of his cleverness and intelligence, saying that they knew Sleipnir would be just as fantastic.

Maybe that wasn’t a good thing.

He stood up from the mess he made when he tripped over the leather shoes. He would clean it up before either of the two men woke up at dawn. The boy laid down beside the bed. He bunched up part of the large blanket to fold under his head, cursing softly as his curls tried to tangle in his mouth when he settled. Maybe he could ask Mister Bruce for a haircut tomorrow. Papa would call him handsome like did after his other haircuts and braiding. 

Sleipnir had felt like he just closed his eyes when a warm hand was touching his shoulder. “Hey, squirt. Why are you on the floor?” Tony was looking over the side of the bed and Bruce was kneeling beside him on the floor. It was still dark outside the floor to ceiling windows. Bruce’s curls were damp.

“Grandfather would get mad at me if I slept in something nicer than the hay in the stall.”

Tony blinked. “Why would he be mad about that? You’re a guest here.”

“He says I’m not worth nice things.” He laid back down. “You’ve already been too nice to me, and he’ll get more upset if you keep doing this, so I’ll sleep on the floor here.” He yawned. 

“Bullshit. You’re sleeping up here on the bed. You’re with us now.” Tony swung his legs over the side of the bed. “C’mere.” 

Bruce helped the bundle of Sleipnir upright, untangling him. He walked back to the other side of the bed and scrambled up onto the soft sheets. 

This was like one of his winter blankets as bedding! Did all Midgardians sleep in this nice bedding? He might jump the pasture gate and stay in Mister Anthony’s bed forever. 

“C’mon over kid, there’s plenty of room in here.” Tony lifted the covers as the boy scooted closer to him but far enough that he had his own personal pillow. “Slumber party number two.”

Bruce laughed as he climbed in behind Sleipnir. “Goodnight.” He took off his glasses and placed them on the table to his right. 

“Goodnight!” Tony and Sleipnir chorused.

Sleipnir closed his eyes, trying to sleep like he had just a few minutes ago. But his eyes stubbornly opened again. He reached up to rub them, watching Thor do it many times as he became tired. But it did nothing to help. Tony and Bruce were sleeping on either side of him, but his mind kept thinking of how nice it would be for one of them to be his mother. After Tony brought him back to the Penthouse after Miss Pepper’s outburst, Tony had tried to explain what happened between him and Loki. He said that they would try to contact his mother tomorrow after they could fully explain the situation with Uncle Thor. 

Sleipnir felt awful for making that lady more upset than she already was. Maybe he could find his mum and then he and Uncle Thor could rescue him on his own? He needed to talk to Loki first.

He remembered the cool feeling of his mother talking to him through the branches of Yggdrasil, an invisible thread vibrating in the background.

He closed his eyes and concentrated hard. Inside his seidr was always confusing, so many different languages and instincts fighting constantly as he was changing forms. He pushed all of the distracting vibrating branches away, like the hunger for apples, and searched around for the thin cord near the back of his mind.

He felt around carefully when his imaginary hand caught on something invisible. There! He grabbed it and pulled, falling into a windy clearing between thick, tall trees.

-

“Mum!”

Wind slammed into Loki’s face as it blew between the thick forest of trees around him. The voice, the sweet voice of his baby, was embedded in the wind around him. His baby only called him ‘Mother’ when he was scared, his mind going blank to the point where he couldn’t remember the pact he made with Loki.

“Sleipnir! Where are you?” Loki’s wrists were cuffed with heavy Uru metal chains tethered into the soil below him. He yanked on them. No use, they barely even budged on the soft mossy floor under his knees. “Sweetheart! Please tell me where you are!”

“I’m so scared! They said you were a killer.” Sleipnir’s voice was no longer in the wind. It was closer, as if the boy was hiding behind one of the many trees surrounding him. 

A pressure behind him.

He turned as best he could with the chains. Looking up he met the terrified face of his darling son, staring down at him with tears dripping down his chubby cheeks. “She said you killed a lot of people for no reason...She said you almost killed Mister Anthony!”

“Anthony? Who are you talking about, sweetheart?” Loki tried to deflect from the question. Was this about the invasion? The time he went to Alfheim to catch the smith who cheated him of a gram of Uru? One of the many men who tried to grab him. He had tried to kill many people over his years. He knew he would have to explain his past to his son one day, but not like this.

“Mister Stark! His lady said that you threw him out a window…Did you really?”

Loki’s heart dropped. Was this part of Odin’s punishment? Tell his child of his manipulation under the Tesseract? “Sleipnir, that was a very complicated situation. Please, tell me how to get out of here.”  

Why did his son know of Tony Stark the Midgardian? Was he in custody by the Avengers?

Sleipnir shook his head and wiped his cheeks with his grey-colored sleeve. “I’m so scared...I don’t know who you are anymore. Why can’t you tell me?” Wind whipped around the boy’s form, shadowing him from the mage. “You’re not my mother! You made me this monster!”

“Sleipnir, please!” Loki forced his wrists forward against the cold bindings. He dug the balls of his feet into the moss, his left foot straining at the dew of the greenery. Was Sleipnir on Midgard? “Did they steal you as well?!” He cried desperately. 

The wind died, leaving his heart pounding in his ears. 

Instead of Sleipnir standing where he was moments before, his small form was now crumpled on the mossy floor, blood pouring from his eyes and ears. His sweet dark eyes were glazed over as they stared lifelessly at his parent. 

“No!”

A rush of movement from behind him and he looked over his shoulder. He wanted to keep the image of his baby pure, but he needed to know if he was still breathing. If he was dead, he had failed at giving his son any semblance of freedom in the vow he made when he first held the tiny foal in his arms.

This was only the first level of horror.

Purple skin glowed in the fog around the middle of the trees around them. Those familiar brilliant blue eyes gleamed as the titan stepped closer. “Do you understand your objective, runt?” Thanos laughed, his hand thrown out and calling the broken form of Sleipnir to him. “You’ve failed this pitiful creature as much as me, so it was best to give you incentive and release him from this horrible life you gave him.”

“He was a mere babe! He had nothing to do with this! I failed you.” Loki yelled, wrists straining. He tried again but cried out when one of his shoulders dislodged and rendered his right arm useless.

A deep laugh he felt through his heels in the dirt. “You will bring me the Tesseract and conquer the Avengers as specified before. If you fail, I will have you strangle the life out of those children in your stomach with your own hands. Be glad I gave this one a somewhat swift death.” He tossed the body into Loki’s lap.

The mage desperately cradled the cold form as the Titan disappeared between the trees. His sobs were swallowed by the encroaching mist.

-

Sleipnir awoke to a scream echoing in the room around him. He realized it was his own voice as Tony was desperately trying to shake him awake. “Mister Anthony!” He sobbed, reaching out for him.

The man breathed a deep sigh and pulled the boy close, tucking his head between his neck and his shoulder. Tony frantically looked over at Bruce, who turned on the lights and put on his glasses. Wrenching cries shook the small frame in Tony’s arms. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“Mum…” Sleipnir cried. 

“Loki?” Bruce mouthed over his shoulder.

Tony shrugged and continued to rub the boy’s back. After several long minutes Sleipnir had calmed down enough to let go of the tight fist he had in Tony’s shirt. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” Tony asked softly.

“I saw...Mum, and he was chained to the ground. And this man…this awful purple man grabbed me by the throat, and-and…” He burst into sobs yet again. 

“It was just a dream-” Bruce started.

Sleipnir’s head of curls shot up. “No! I.. I tried to contact Mum through the cord he uses to talk to me when he was forbidden to see me, and when I found it, it pulled me into a branch of Yggdrasil! Mum is somewhere inside it or else I would have never been able to feel anything.”

“But Loki is on Midgard.” Tony blinked.

“Fury said they had those readings…” Bruce mumbled.

Lightning struck outside the windows, scaring all three males. “Oh boy.” Tony groaned. “What’s happened now?”

“Sir, Master Odinson has returned with news. He awaits the Avengers in the Communal lounge.”

“It’s two in the fucking morning!” Tony yelled. “For once, I would like to sleep.”

Bruce shushed him. “Language! And besides, maybe this is connected.” He handed Sleipnir a few tissues to wipe the snot off his cheeks. 

“Fine.” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “We’ll be there soon, J.”

“Of course, sir.”

Chapter Text

The lip of a cup was pressed against his parched mouth, and he blindly grabbed the wrist of the person holding the cup up to him. His fingers met a chilled, muscled wrist. Was it a dream? Was Sleipnir really dead? His cheeks were slippery with tears.

“Easy there, it’s just water.”

Loki opened his eyes, to see the familiar navy-blue outline of Angrboda hovering next to him in the bed. He was propped up against the steel bed frame with the small, mostly formless pillows as the other Jotun held up water to him.

How long was he asleep?

He dropped his hand back against his stomach, the cuffs clicking loudly. He felt along his inner thighs for any warmth. He couldn’t feel anything other than the residue from the cleaning solution Angrboda wiped him down with after their couplings. Maybe the monster had kept his hands to himself for once after watching him sob. 

“How do you know they didn’t poison it?” He asked, weary but yearning for what looked crystal clear in the silhouette of the cup. “Is there any food?” 

“There is. It’s pretty high-class for what they usually give me during Heats. I guess you’re special now that you’re over a certain amount of trimesters. They’ve also never allowed me to stay this long after a heat before..” A bit of humor in his voice both upset the mage’s stomach and calmed some of the anxiety over how Angrboda would act towards him after seeing him so vulnerable. “You need to drink.” His usually gruff rumble was soft.

"I... can’t.” He closed his eyes against the temptation. His throat was still closing up.

“You’re pregnant. You need to drink, Loki. I refuse to watch you waste away.” The cup again.

“Why can’t you just kill me already?” Loki wiped his eyes with the hem of the pillowcase, turning away from Angrboda's outline. “I have no seidr, no idea where I am, and completely untethered to the children in my stomach. Aesir perish when stripped like this. Why do you insist on postponing the imminent?” His mind could not wrap around how much time had passed in this windowless, featureless room. Was Thanos here or was that a projection?

“You smell different. Do you not know anything about how your own race procreates?” Angrboda huffed as if he were talking to a toddler. “Jotnar are able to smell when another is pregnant. That’s how we know not to harm others that are pregnant on the battlefield.”

“What happened while I was asleep?” He blurted. “Was anyone in the room with us?”

Angrboda furrowed his hairless brows. “Nothing except you crying again. It’s only been like ten minutes. They slid food in through the channel under the door.” He busied himself with a tray of food.

Loki couldn’t see anything other than the bright green of the tray portioning itself into different sections.

“What were you crying about this time?”

Loki sipped at the water with shaky hands. It didn’t taste strange. He felt a little relief as he sipped more, and nothing seemed to be more inflamed than his crying had caused. “Does it matter?” 

“It does if it’s going to ruin our last days together.”

Wait…

“How many days has it been?” His left arm was colder than usual; he blearily sees a hanging bag of something connected to his elbow. So, they were drugging him after all.

“152 days but to us, it’s felt like a month. Days pass when we sleep. The IV sustains the welp while the time shifts around us.”

Loki almost dropped the cup. Thankfully, a hand caught it and set it somewhere next to the bed. He almost didn’t want to know how many days he had left with the other. He had been selfish, rude, and loud...but he was never cruel after the first round of coupling.

Angrboda had held him down, face first, fucking him until he passed out. It hurt. He knew he must have bled somewhat, but when he came to, the sheets underneath him were soft and cool. Afterwards, when the other saw him awaken, he pulled him close. He said that they watched them but couldn’t hear them in the room, and that he needed to make the first round appropriate.

Loki had weakly pushed away from him and turned his back on the giant. It had been just as bad as Svadlfari had been; except this time, he was trapped in the same room. He was able to slay the imposter beast for his sin against a Prince. 

Now he is just another body. He wants to be able to hold these children before they’re stolen away. He won’t give himself the hope that Angrboda is willing to risk anything for him.

Hope has never helped him.

-

His entire body was heavy as if Thor had rolled on to him like he used to in their shared chambers. It was a slight bit too much, compressing his arms, sternum, and ankles like someone was holding him down. He couldn’t get his brain to concentrate on his senses, his fingertips were dulled as if they were sawn off. His nose was blocked like someone was pinching it closed, and his ears were filled with ringing static. He tried to lift his arm.

“... This right here is the first baby, a boy…”

“Hey, hey. No moving.” It was muffled through the static, but the voice sounded familiar to his sluggish mind. A larger weight descended on his arms. He tried to move his fingers one by one. They felt so cold as if he hadn’t moved in quite some time. How long has he been asleep?

“.... second set of genitals, a boy…”

Loki drifted in and out as coldness seeped through the very core of his body. The two male voices spoke back and forth in the void around him. He felt the broken sentences flow through his mind and drift away the more he tried to concentrate on each word. It sounded too high to be Angrboda. Loki turned his head to the side and tried to remember why he hadn’t tried to open his eyes before now. 

“...third, seems to be a girl. However, this one is significantly smaller than the first two…”

His eyelashes fluttered against a rough thing over his face. His eyes now seemed to be absolutely useless…unless he was blindfolded. Why was he thinking so slowly? His heat should be over soon and never had he been this stupid even while being fucked. What did he do to be blindfolded and weighed down? 

Loki took stock of his body while he was laying there. He no longer felt feverish, in fact it was quite cold wherever he was strapped down. It was centered between his legs, like he was laying exposed in the cold underground rooms that preserved the roasted meats of the palace. The more he thought, the more he could centralize where he was so cold. 

He was trying to stretch his left foot to test the range of movement when he noticed the small shift of his leg brushed against something on the inside of his thighs. Panic suddenly overtook him, as if his mind had finally begun to work at his normal speed. The presence of cold within his lower abdomen retreated at his jerk.

" By this rate, he is already six months along. I wouldn't continue intercourse for risking a caesarean delivery. There is some leftover scarring from the first birth." The first man spoke.

The second voice, more familiar, came along with a tight pressure on his sternum. " He's a babymaker, not a good fuck. I'll take that into consideration, Doctor. I'll tell Amora what I decide, and she’ll update your records for the birth."

"Very well, Sir. The first two look very good for an auctionable litter."

A heat slowly built up in his chest, warming him through and reawakening his mind. His fogged vision slowly brightened until he could make out some of the room. It seemed to be more of the same cream, neutral wall color but there were different blinking lights around the room, flashing in disorienting pinpricks. 

" I paid a lot for him, and it would be a shame if they were not half as pretty as him. I'll be acquiring his grown child as well. That one's also purebred." A pause. "C'mon and wake up, sleepyhead." The voice sharpened beside him.

“Where am I?” Loki demands. He would struggle more but the added restraints have efficiently immobilized him.

The Grandmaster’s voice is to his left side, and he quickly focuses as hard as he can until he can pinpoint the blue paint on the man’s face. “You’re in one of the medical rooms for a wonder little scan inside you. We have to make sure, um, these babies are ready to bounce right out of you!”

He yelps as another cold gel was layered on him, this time on his stomach. “Get off me!”

“Hey, now. It’s just a scan. We’ve already done the internal view. I want a sonogram to brag with,” Gast remarks.

“You have no right! Not even SHIELD would violate someone like this!”

“You are far, far away from SHIELD, my dear Prince. Even your mother would have a difficult time finding where you are. It’s best if you stop talking and let this good doctor finish his scan.” The old man warns.

The machine wand presses all over Loki’s abdomen until finally the unknown medic finishes with the scan. “There we go. A solid picture of all three.”

“Three…?” He whispers to himself in horror. No wonder the past few days (days being loosely defined by whenever Angrboda forced him to eat) he’s felt like utter shit. Based on Aesir gestation, however, Loki shouldn’t be nearly pregnant enough for a Midgardian ultrasound yet.

“You’re such a good little factory, Loki. You’re already six months along! Though I want to get these kiddos for the September event, so I’m gonna need to speed up your time, uh, just a bit.” Gast’s blobby profile moves away from the bed to join the white blob of the doctor on Loki’s right side.

“What the bloody hell are you talking about? Only Mages can bend time, and last I checked, Midgardians didn’t have access to that—”

Gast’s laughter is laid-back and arrogant. “Perhaps I shouldn’t put too much hope into these welp being intelligent, huh? With all of your realm-walking, academic studies in Vanaheim, and tutelage under the Allmother herself, do you truly believe that I am a Midgardian?”

Loki falls silent. “No.”

“Exactly. I am everything you could have had if you hadn’t meddled with my work. An honest guy tries to work in Asgard, and the snotty-nosed prince steals your horse so Odin can short wages like he always does.” The Grandmaster rants. “I would have treated Freya with only the best meals, jewels, and stars of the Nine Realms!

“Freya? You’re the Builder?” Loki stares up at him. “Thor killed you!”

Gast shakes his head. “One blow from Mjolnir isn’t enough to kill when it’s a very, uh, realistic projection, right? Glamouring both Svadlfari and me was an easy job but difficult to do when the Mage Prince was constantly trying to slow you down.”

He shivers at the mention of the shapeshifting stallion. “So you’ve done all this for revenge on me?!”

“There’s the vain Loki Odinson I know,” En Dwi laughs again. “Thinking everything is about you. Of course there’s a bigger reason. When I had to flee Asgard, none of the Seidr Realms would take me in. I had to find asylum in Midgard and figure something that would, uh, fly under the radar. I smuggled a Light Elf’s kid and suddenly the Earth’s underbelly was begging at his feet.”

“The Avengers are coming after you. They were able to—”

“They aren’t coming to get you because one of your precious Avengers gave me the information themself.”

Loki balks at that declaration. “Who?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” He shrugs.

“Whoever it was, doesn’t matter. They want me more than you do. My brother is doing all he can just like he did to—"

“Are you about to say, ‘Stop the Chitauri?’ Because the Avengers did nothing but kill off the first line in Thanos and The Other’s army. They’ve been waiting patiently and are letting me have some fun with you before I get a swell paycheck when I hand you and the Winter Solider over.”

“He’s double-crossing you!” Loki shouts as Gast moves away from the bed, conversation over. “I was promised a throne and look at what he did to me! He promised you the Mind Stone, didn’t he?”

En Dwi Gast scoffs. “I’m too valuable to them; suppling them with the ultimate army and handing over their most wanted soldiers. Enjoy your stay here while you can still breathe.”

Chapter Text

Sleipnir's hand was shaking as he held Tony's in the lift down to the basement. None of them wanted to bring the boy in case Thor had found Loki, in less than alive means, but the boy was terrified and exhausted and none of the pack wanted to leave him alone after Pepper’s outburst.

They exited in the boiler room and climbed into the Basement elevator, the boy's head swiveling to take in all the panels and jungles of wires. 

As they descended more, Sleipnir grew confused. He’s never been this far underground before. "Why did we not go to Uncle Thor's room?"

"We don't know if people are listening to us upstairs." Bruce tried to soothe, but the boy only grew more scared.

"The people who took Mum are listening to us? Are they on the Hldjislaf?! Was Grandfather the one who took Mum away?"

"Um, no? I think-" Tony started.

Thor, Natasha, Steve, and Coulson were already seated at the table when the lift doors opened. "Young Sleipnir." Thor stood; his shoulders heavy with stress. He enveloped the eight-year-old in a hug that lifted his feet from the ground. "How do you fare?" 

Sleipnir bit his lip and looked back at Tony and Bruce. After the two nodded for him to speak, he turned back to his uncle. "I found Papa in Yggdrasil. It was so scary!" He buried his face as tears started up once again. "There was this ugly, purple man who held my throat and told Mum I was dead! He was so upset, and I couldn't do anything to stop his crying."

Coulson perked up. "You found him?"

"Yggdrasil is the core of the universe's existence. Metaphysical branches can be traveled to go between realms by Mages or those with natural gifts. It's not a physical finding but brings us to the possibility of what realm he could be in." Thor stroked the boy's hair. "How did you find him?"

"I went through the tether he used to talk to me at night with. I thought...maybe if I could find him myself, no one would have to get hurt and Grandfather would finally be proud of me." His breaths were interrupted by hiccupping sobs. His hands fisted in Thor's hair. 

Thor sighed and sat back down in the dark grey office chair he had vacated a few minutes ago. "After hearing this and reviewing the seidr at the site, we must go back to Asgard and discuss this with the Allfather and Heimdall."

Sleipnir bolted out of his arms, scrambling over to where Tony and Bruce were seated in their own chairs, where he clutched at both of their hands. "I will never return to Asgard!"

Thor stood but Sleipnir cowered away from the Thunderer. "We cannot access where your father is from here. Since we will be using seidr I must take you back, to have the Allmother help. Besides, you've only been here a few days. You should want to go home."

"No! Now that I've been with Mister Anthony and Mister Bruce, I know no one has to treat me the way he does. Midgard is my home now." Sleipnir crossed his arms, meeting his uncle with molten eyes.

"Your grandfather is just very stressed right now, Sleipnir. He loves you and Loki very much--"

"Please don't lie to me, Uncle." He sounded so much like Loki in that small, quiet sentence that it was almost as if they had merged into one. He had deflated at Thor's words and caved into himself. "He doesn't even say nice things about Grandmother, the most wonderful person in the universe. He kicks me when I get scared, and yells when I'm tired. He calls you and Mum horrible names! I don't ever want to go back or be his steed."

The second slip of ‘Mum’ in relation to Loki is concerning for how stressed the boy truly is about this.

Thor was about to reply when Tony held up a hand. "The kid can stay if he wants."

Everyone turned to the engineer, shellshocked.

"Has he imprinted on you?" Natasha asked quietly.

"I don't have a flying fuck if he has or not. If the kid is being abused, then hell no, you're not bringing him back, whether daddy demands it or not." Tony felt the anger rush all the way through his body to his fingertips. The poor child, so small and bruised. He had only been with them for six days and he would rather stay here.

Thor looked as if he would posture against the statement, his mouth and shoulders drawn tight. However, he kneels and takes the small child’s hands in his own larger ones. “Sleipnir, it is dangerous for you now that you have made a connection to Loki and we do not have a credible range on the Grandmaster’s abilities. Your grandmother and I want to make sure he does not use the tether against you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you put yourself in harm’s way when I could have helped you.”

“Mum taught me lots of tricks, and I’m not a little baby anymore, Uncle,” He says.

“Aye, you have Loki’s strength. I believe the Avengers will keep you safe, but if anything happens, you can always call for Heimdall, your Grandmother, or myself, yes?”

Sleipnir nods. After another hug, the boy sits in the empty chair between Bruce and Natasha and silently started to experiment with her pen and paper, conversation closed.

The spy picked up another pen and drew a smiley face in the top margin, prompting a sleepy laugh as she drew in a tongue sticking out of its mouth. 

Coulson cleared his throat, cutting the tension easily. "Listen. I'm not sure that we can allow Sleipnir to stay-"

"You or Fury?" Tony cocked his head.

"Fury would not allow the kid to stay. Especially not with what we're doing with the OED. " He tossed a set of notes to Tony. "Can we discuss this without him in the room?" He gestured towards the distracted boy that was slowly drifting off.

Bruce nodded. "Am I needed for this?"

"Not at the moment."

He stood and ruffled Sleipnir's hair. "Do you want to go sleep?"

Sleipnir nodded and quietly slid off the chair. "Can I take this with me?" He held up the notepad and blue ballpoint pen. He bit his lip, worried they wouldn’t allow it since the room was so secretive.

"Of course." Bruce smiled and nodded to Tony before he led the child to the elevator. 

Once the doors closed, Coulson scooted his chair closer to the dark table with a tensed brow. "We start the plan outlined in this memory stick tomorrow. I trust you have a private file that cannot be hacked?"

Tony snorted, putting his legs up on the table. He picked up the USB stick as it was slid across the table to him. "I'll look at it after this. Tell me what has to happen now."

The agent gave him a tight smile. "The whole objective of the mission is to involve you within the adoption ring to 'buy' back Loki, or the children that come from this situation. We need to create a media controversy that breaks up the Avengers.."

"I can definitely do that."

"The first step is to have a public communication breakdown in the team. More precisely, have you moved back to Malibu after a public fight between you and Steve. Many fans believe you two to secretly hate each other, so we will tap into that conspiracy for this."

"People think that?" Steve asked incredulously. "Sure, Tony’s annoying but I’ve never said anything like that before.”

Tony blew a kiss to him. “We do argue a lot during missions when you want to stand around and strategize. Sometimes you have to go ass-first into a problem.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “For the last time, if you had stayed with us, you wouldn’t have gotten knocked into that building. You totally put yourself in his range without thinking he would have a giant magnet!”

“Oh, so grouped together behind a concrete wall was going to stop a superhuman with magnet telepathy?”

The captain stands up, eyebrows furrowed. “You nearly struck a full office building!”

“I was able to maneuver around it!”

Coulson beams, “See? This is exactly the energy we need. Steve, you're the media fairytale of the Avengers. If Stark goes against you, he gets a villain title."

Natasha leaned her head onto her palm. "Tony gets angry, and makes a bunch of noise in front of the paparazzi, but where?”

“The Tower lobby is always full of people wanting a glimpse of the Avengers,” Steve calms himself down.

Tony shakes his head. “Too close to the business. I’m not going to risk dragging SI employees into breaking us up. Out in Central Park?”

“Too far away, you could get mobbed by people and not make it back. People would think it was staged since none of us go there together unless it’s for a battle,” Natasha says.

“What about the balcony? Where the Bifrost mark is?” Thor suggests. “Some of the Midgardian footage of Loki under the tether of the Mind Stone was captured by flying devices during the invasion.”

“Are we seriously going to hire a drone camera for a fake argument?”

Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I’ll have Pepper get one of those Manhattan aerial view guys. They’re always contacting her for a job to photograph and record the tower. So, I move to Malibu after making Steve cry, got it. What's next?"

"We introduce you to one of the bars we believe is a cover for an auction, and you talk your way into one of their pants."

"I'm not sleeping with an OED operative,” Tony shut him down immediately.

Coulson shrugged. "As long as you get them to trust you, then you don't need to. There's a list of people on that USB. One of the topics you need to use is that you want revenge on Loki for New York."

Thor huffed but thankfully decided to stay in his chair.

Coulson continued, "That's the main string that will tie this together when you eventually get into the auctions. We think if you stress this enough, then they'll possibly let you into the inner auctions." He went quiet for a moment. "The only problem is, we can't have you contacting any of the Avengers to let us know."

"Any?" Natasha balked, "Surely-"

"I know." He closed his eyes, letting some of the tension onto his face. "You're too well known now, and too close to Steve according to the public," A shudder from everyone in the room, "so, we have a magical connection. Sleipnir talks to Thor, Thor talks to us."

"My mother could come down-" Thor began.

Coulson shook his head. "Tony, you seem pretty attached to Sleipnir, so bring him to Malibu."

Tony smacked a hand down onto the cherry wood of the table. "No way! I'm not dragging Loki's kid into the auction of his mother! He stays here with the pack."

Coulson watched him with scrying eyes for a moment. "We could work it out that Bruce goes with you to Malibu. If Thor can’t be with you, I want protection for when you're not there."

"They could be in a gay relationship that Steve doesn't agree with." Natasha grinned, waggling her eyebrows at Tony, who met hers with a laugh.

Steve's perfect eyebrows raised, ever the polished man. "But I don't have any issues with-"

"I'm sure Tony can find something to make you angry enough." Coulson stood to rest a hand on Steve's henley-covered shoulders. "I'll talk to Fury about Sleipnir and Bruce going with you, Tony. I'll call you later today. We’ll put this into action tomorrow morning at 0800 sharp.”

Oh right, it's like three in the morning. Tony's brain clicked back into regular speed as the tension of the meeting broke like a bubble. He sighed as they all rose to their feet and pushed in the oversized office chairs. Thor looked more exhausted than when Loki was first captured. 

"I'm apologizing in advance for all this. It’s going to sound horrible the things that will be in these things." Tony looked up at the man's clouded expression. He couldn't imagine if this was what Rhodey and Pepper went through when the first month of Afghanistan passed. No wonder he's been giving Pepper white hairs

"You're a man of Honor, Tony. If you were lesser, you would never agree to slander your reputation for the sake of my brother who's wronged you. I am in your debt." Thor cupped a hand on the back of Tony's neck, the weight of what he was about to do coming to rest on his shoulders. 

He was about to buy a god.

-

JARVIS directed Bruce and Sleipnir up to the penthouse level, after expressing that the team was likely to be talking a while longer. Sleipnir asked to have all the level systems explained and Bruce's was the lowest to the ground of all the Avenger's residential spaces. Bruce only used part of the level since he spent so much time either engrossed in his and Tony's laboratories or in the small book nook next to the kitchen in the communal level. Bruce kept the space he did use pretty tidy since he felt guilty whenever Tony sent a maid crew through the Avengers' floors about once a month and the man invited him to stay in one of the penthouse guest rooms. 

A few stacks of papers had managed to land themselves on his counter as he went through his daily scuttling through his lab files. He dumped them onto the kitchen table before searching through the cabinets for some glasses to fill with cool water. 

Sleipnir rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He set down the papers as Bruce walked back over with water. "It is incredible that you all have such complex water pipes in your homes." He sipped with both hands holding the glass.

"I used to work in places that didn't have pipes like this. I used to be a Healer and live with them." Bruce's smile was bittersweet. 

"What made you leave? Surely the people are still in trouble."

Bruce paused at the question, brain spinning on how to express the delicate situation about the Invasion without making the boy upset once again. He led Sleipnir back into the bedroom, pausing every few steps to let him take a sip of water. "I promise we'll talk about all this tomorrow." He promised, setting the glasses on the far nightstand and settling beneath the covers.

"Can I see your Berserker?"

"I don't think you want to see it, kid. He's pretty...unstable."

Sleipnir's eyes peeked out from the covers with a quiet resolve. "But he's a part of you, so he can't be that bad."

Bruce melted at the comment, reaching over to pet the boy's hair. "Thanks, Sleipnir. I'll see how he feels about coming out."

The boy smiled and rolled back onto his other side and curled up in the covers as Bruce turned off the light.

Chapter Text

Bruce wakes to Sleipnir ‘slipping’ out of his blanket cocoon and leaving the bedroom. It’s late in the morning and the stress must be affecting him to allow him to sleep in so late. When he finds an empty living room and kitchen, JARVIS helpfully informs him that Sleipnir was headed to Tony’s workshop where the engineer has been since the meeting ended several hours ago.

Bruce is greeted by the familiar sounds of a Tony-inventing-bender: Metallica blasting over the ceiling speakers, a collection of Quarter Pounder wrappers by the man’s workstation, and the hissing of the welding tools from DUM-E’s workbench.

“Hey, JARVIS, turn down the music!” Bruce shouts when he can’t immediately see Tony or Sleipnir.

The AI does as told, and a very affronted Tony Stark pops up from a wall of floating screens near the Iron Man suit-up area. “J, what the hell, man?! I was in the zone!”

“Loud music isn’t good for kids,” Bruce chides.

Tony relaxes when he sees it’s Bruce and not JARVIS shutting him down for being in there so long. “Hey Pooh Bear, have a nice sleep?”

“Yes. Did you get any at all?”

“Nah, I don’t need it. I gotta invent things to save a demi-god.”

Bruce steps further in and spots Sleipnir curled up in Tony’s desk chair in a different pile of blankets. He seems to be sleeping soundly, even with the surround-sound noise. “When did the meeting end?”

“Like 5 am,” He shrugs.

“Tony…It’s almost noon.”

Again, all Tony does is shrug. “I got a working model of the spider cam by 8 and now I’m doing this goddamn Helicarrier. Fury has so many particular feng shui stipulations.” The architecture plans in front of him were a mess of blue lines and orange highlighting.

“What else did they discuss this morning?”

“Got it all figured out! No need to worry your cute little head about anything other than what you already know.”

Bruce raises an eyebrow. “Do I need to meet with Coulson?”

“Nope,” Tony pops the ‘p’ and continues looking at the calculations surrounding him.

The scientist nods (more to himself for reassurance) and waits for Tony to say anything more. When he doesn’t after a long awkward pause, Bruce clears his throat. “There’s seriously nothing I need to know about?”

“Exactly.”

-

The day passes.

Bruce still looks at Tony suspiciously.

Steve is weirdly absent from team dinner, apparently out to dinner with veteran friends. Bucky has the same suspicious look as Bruce, but he’s too busy inhaling his food to worry that much.

Natasha is quiet as usual, but the air of melancholy around her is still as thick as it has been since the Helicarrier incident. Bruce tries to ask her about what he’s missed, however, she simply says it’s all under control and goes back to her fries.

Sleipnir notices there’s something weird in the air as well. He observes everyone with large, dark green eyes. He encounters Steve by pure accident in the stairwell on his way back to Tony’s penthouse. “Hi, Mister Steve. You missed the yummy food Mister Anthony got for dinner.”

“Hey buddy,” Captain America’s face is oddly creased with worry. “I was out with some of my friends tonight. What did he get for you?”

“Cheeseburgers! I’m a little sad about the processed cattle but it did taste really good.”

Steve does his best not to laugh. “I guess eating meat is a little odd to you.” He gets serious after a moment and squats down to be face-to-face with the young boy. “I want you to know that you’re a part of our pack, okay? Nothing in the next few weeks is going to change how much Bucky, Natasha, Bruce, Tony, or even your Uncle love you.”

“Is something happening? Have you found my mum?!” Sleipnir’s hands twist in the hem of his new t-shirt from Tony.

“Not yet, but we’re doing everything we can.”

The boy nods. “Okay.”

Steve hugs him tightly. “I’ll see you soon, kid.”

Sleipnir blinks, confused, as Steve heads into the communal floor without another look.

-

Tony barely sleeps yet again. Bruce and Sleipnir’s calm scents keep him from getting more anxious, but his eyes only close for minutes at a time. So, he gets out of bed and heads out into the living room. He opens up his Starkpad and continues to work on new thrusters for the Helicarrier.  JARVIS reports that the jet will be waiting on the tarmac for the three of them at 9am. It was already 4 am, and it wasn’t even worth keeping his pajamas on to chase a delusion about getting any more sleep.

Tony would wait until he was off the tarmac to call Pepper. She would be reporting for work in her office on floor 37 at seven a.m., an iced coffee in her manicured hands as she swept through the cubicles to check in with her secretary. He could go talk to her face-to-face in another week if she even wanted to see him. And that was a very, very soft if. She’s off her medication now, probably completely over him since she didn’t have that crazy of a reaction during their argument about the mission.

He still feels the craving for her scent, needing to have something to take away the need for him to scent all of the pack and it leaves him restless at night. He tries to not think about the small vial of her perfume that sits abandoned in his medicine cabinet.

Yet somehow through all the planning and grief, there’s a calm in the air of the penthouse that hasn’t existed for months. He breathes it in with the air conditioning, kicking off his socks and slumping down onto the couch. He needs to think rather than distract himself.

Does he tell Bruce what’s going on? If he does, there’s the risk that if something happens to Bruce or Sleipnir, then Gast could get wind of their plan and shut down the operation before Tony can break through the outer trafficking ring. At the very least, Tony can’t do or say anything until his argument with Steve at 8 am and the three of them are safely in the jet on the way to California. He uses that frustration to play his part as he goes to kickstart their plan.

He stands alone in the regular elevator as the others stumble out onto their floors, Thor’s sad and equally grateful eyes burn into Tony’s brain. The Avengers (sans Bruce) would stay on the communal floor while Tony and Steve argued in front of the drone on the penthouse terrace.

-

Bruce wakes to Tony shaking him with his shoulder, startling both him and the boy curled in his chest. “Tony?” He yawns, then notices the anger in the man’s stormy expression. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re leaving and going to Malibu until Steve can deal with his fucking emotions like a normal person.” Tony goes towards the closet at the far side of the room, pulling out two identical duffel bags and stuffing clothes into each of them. “He kept talking shit about everything and Sleipnir doesn’t need to be around that. I’ve already packed you a bag.”

“Malibu? What about the mission-”

“I’ll fly out when they need me. I’m letting Fury decide on what I need to do rather than worry about it.” Tony huffs. He finishes the two bags by shoving Bruce’s house slippers and his own dress shoes into the respective bag. “Let’s go pack you up Sleipnir.” He held out a hand to the sleepy eight-year-old. 

For once, Sleipnir didn’t reach back to Tony. “Why did you and Mister Steve fight?”

“Because he thinks I’m a bad person. He was born in a different generation than me, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but I’m at least trying to better myself while he’s the same person he was seventy years ago. I’m not about to listen to him rant about how things should be done when we’ve already agreed on a plan.”

Sleipnir nods after a moment, sitting up and sliding off the side of the large bed. He kicks off the sheets tangled around his small legs and follows Tony out into the living room. They gather his notepad from Natasha and a handful of colored pens from Tony's office, the Iron Man quilt, and some clothes that Bruce had been meaning to donate to a homeless shelter but seemed to better suit Sleipnir’s smaller form. Tony could have anything else shipped to the seaside mansion, including more clothing for the boy. 

They’re in the town car with Happy piloting, Sleipnir squeezed onto a booster seat when Bruce and Tony’s phone blow up with “texts,” fake ones to keep the illusion for Bruce going. Tony guesses Coulson and Fury needed a way to keep Tony on his toes around one of his friends.

Happy’s no doubt seen the news and social media stories blaring the same headlines over and over:

ARGUMENT OVER TEAM DYNAMICS SPLITS AVENGERS TEAM IN HALF

Iron Man v Captain America: Does Billionaire show true colors or does Captain America have antique traditions?

Breaking News: Are the Avengers done? Has America lost its only powerful interrealm military force?

It’s plastered over flickering billboards as they pass around downtown Manhattan, the lights attracting all three men’s attention. “What’s going on, Tony?” Bruce’s gaze is locked on every single new flash of the headlines about the Avengers. His hazel eyes see the pictures Tony and Steve planted at every major news station before dawn. Steve, shouting at Tony from the doorstep of the Avenger common level’s deck, and Tony’s still dressed in his pajamas, flips him off. Another still image shows Steve slamming the glass door shut so hard it shatters onto the terrace’s metal floor. Tony’s hand covers his face, and he leaves, but not before flipping off the cameras of the paparazzi drone as well.

There’s a storm brewing over them as the tarmac of the JFK airport rolls underneath the car, the air a deathly calm. Bruce watches Tony’s back as he and Happy unload the trunk of the slick Mercedes, worry permanently creasing between his lips. “C’mon, Slip.” He calls, as he sees where Sleipnir is frozen at the bottom of the fold-out loading staircase, eyes turned upward to the rolling clouds. 

Bruce’s hand on Sleipnir’s tiny shoulder does nothing to tear away the boy’s gaze, instead seeming to harden it for several moments as he concentrates. 

“Three…” He whispers. Sleipnir’s pale skin grows a luminous quality in the overcast light.

Tony stands behind them, exhaustion suddenly appearing on his face as he notices the clouds threatening downpours. “What’s Thor upset about?”

Bruce shakes his head and places a finger on his lips as the boy repeats the number. “Three?”

“There’s three,” Sleipnir says, louder and more serious this time, “Mum had three babies.” 

Happy sighs as he sees both men freeze at the bottom of the stairs, not realizing the severity of the statement the boy just uttered. “I’m going to get out of the rain before it starts.” He mutters as droplets begin to thud around them. It was amazing how the man could ignore Tony’s impressive pheromones, but with the separation from Pepper, he may still be getting used to feel one without the other.

“How do you know?” Tony asks, ignoring the growing dampness on his shoulders and head, he sinks to the ground in front of Sleipnir’s still upturned face. “You can sense Loki?” He can’t imagine that the timeline of pregnancy for Loki or even whatever Jotunn was, the time for conception, growth, and birth would pass in a matter of days. However, this was a new world to them, and they had no idea what access to other universes and weapons to distort time Gast had. It was both entirely plausible and irreparably impossible to his logical mind as it spun trying to figure out how to speed up the timeline of the upcoming break into the 

“I feel their seidr.” He blinks and meets Tony’s concerned gaze. “One is about to die.”

That yanks the clouds above them open as if Thor and Frigga are listening in to the boy’s whispers. “Okay, time to get inside then,” Bruce says and pushes Sleipnir and Tony up the handful of stairs, grabbing the three bags and Iron Man suitcase and climbing in after them. He nods to Happy in the car and then presses the latch button for JARVIS to start the plane’s liftoff. 

“How?” Tony eventually asks, when Sleipnir has calmed off from his excitement over being in an airplane for the first time, the thought of his new siblings taking a temporary step back. 

“We’re dealing with gods, Tony.” That was all Bruce could say, trying to calm down the heady anger hanging in the cabin of the airplane. “I didn’t know they could reproduce in the first place.”

“I didn’t even think they existed in the first place,” The squeak of Tony’s shoe as his leg bounced erratically dominated the sound for most of the trip.

Chapter Text

The world was just as distorted as it was before. He could smell the acrid antiseptic of a medical room around him, however, everything was a bright white, like he was staring straight into a block of snow. As his mind came online, the “dream” or whatever happened last time he was conscious, he startled up into a sitting position until the pain in his lower abdomen stopped him in a jackknife.

It was a dull, throbbing line of pain followed by an unsettling pressure that met it at the skin of his stomach. It was not the same evolving pressure he remembered from the last snippet of time with Angrboda. 

“Easy, sleepyhead.” A familiar blur of skin came to his left. “Don’t want to rip any stitches, yeah?”

Loki stills as he recognizes the person next to him. “...What?” He croaks as a wiry hand pats the line of pain. “Stitches?”

“From your birth, of course. Don’t you remember? Silly Lokes, not even remembering he gave birth.” Gast’s voice is deeply amused, yet the situation feels anything but comical.

“Where,” He gathers the strength to look around, though he knows he won’t be able to see any details, “Where?”

“They’re right here, well two of them are.”

Loki’s weak hand is guided in a moment of kindness to the rim of a double bassinet level to the side of the hospital bed. Below his fingertips come the feeling of twin warmth and his heart stops in his throat as the warm presence under his hand wiggles in greeting. 

“They were quite blue at first.” Gast breaks the moment. “But then I remembered, ah hah! Their parents are Jotunn. Quite a, uh, dumb moment for someone like me. These are two twin boys.”

Loki revels in the sweet moment when his index finger finds smooth skin and eventually a suckling mouth. The sweetness of the smell of baby powder morphs into the sour bile of curdled milk. “Where’s the third?”

“That one…well that one was doing all great, but then wasn’t. Your mate took her to Jotunheim for a burial-”

“What?!” He jolts further upright, panic seizing his chest and overriding the need for calm. The shrill twin cry of infants startles him back into a somewhat more reasonable state, his hand returning to the bassinet. “One died?!”

“I’m not sure.” Gast laughs nervously. “Topaz, darling, can you contact ‘Boda about that baby?” A grunt and a door hissing closed were the only answers. “But hey Lokes, two out of three? I’d say that’s quite dandy for a first go-round.”

“You got me pregnant, cut them out, and then are letting one be buried in Jotunheim?” He started to cry, uncaring of the monster beside him anymore. 

“Lokes, Lokes, hey.” He coos, a hand smoothing down Loki’s greasy hair as he dodges Loki batting him away. “This isn’t the end of the world. These boys will be wonderful and treasured by their new parents. I’ll use some of the money to get you some cute dresses.”

Loki grappled at Gast’s hands, yanking the man across the bassinet and onto the opposite side of the bed. “What?!” He yells, feeling more anger than he’s ever felt in his entire life. Another child, this time three children, is being wrested out of his arms! Will he never give birth to a baby he can hold in his arms for more than an hour?

He wants to destroy the entire room, the entire world, and find his children. One of them is dead and he never even got to meet her. His only girl.

This betrayal digs deep inside of him and throbs to the same beat as the incision sutures on his lower stomach. It burns.

More than Odin’s admission in the treasury. 

More than Svadlfari killing himself before Loki could hunt him down.

More than not being believed about the Mind Stone’s influence.

Loki’s blindly wrestling with Gast on the bed, aiming for any patch of white skin he can discern. He must get a few hits in at the pained sounds from him. “You are going to auction my children like feeble cattle?!” 

He feels something snap underneath him before a large hand wraps around his throat and lifts him off the bed. “Loki, stop this madness at once!” Angrboda roars behind him. 

“He’s going to sell them!” He cries, still grasping at the air underneath where he knows Gast is. “He stole me and now will steal them! I’ll lose all my babies!”

“Calm down or else you’ll go straight into isolation for a year!” The other frost giant holds Loki’s back to his strong chest. “This is how this happens. We are not their parents anymore.” This is just hormones; he always tells himself. Frost Giants have hormones to match their large size, and Loki has the unfortunate task of having those hormones in a smaller frame.

Loki will calm down. He’ll understand that this has to happen if they are ever going to survive the Grandmaster’s trials.

“How can you hold me like this when your children are being sold to the highest bidder? They are being put in zoos, used as mail-order brides, forced upon? You are nothing but the brute stereotype of a Frost Giant!” He manages to shove an elbow into Angrboda’s chest, falling forward blindly. 

“They are going to loving homes,” The larger giant tries to reign in his anger, “The greatest gift for the universe is giving children to those who want one but cannot have one of their own blood!”

Not the right thing to say.

“What of me? Why must I give up my children for others?” He almost can’t get the words out. “I just want one child, and I’ve lost four instead.”

Silence.

“…Please, just tell me she didn’t suffer.”

Angrboda sighs and lets Loki sit back on the rumpled sheets. “She took one breath then passed peacefully.”

“Good…That’s good, right?” He feels Angrboda's fingers card through his hair, undoing tangles. Even through his extreme frustration at the other Jotunn, the cool digits ground him at the moment. “Can I hold one of them before you take them?” He whispers. 

Angrboda shifts and a squirming, swaddled thing is pressed into Loki’s bound hands. 

Oh. He’s holding his baby. 

He can only tell there’s a pale head peeking out from the blurry white of the blanket. His hand swipes gently over the face, feeling the short ridge of a tiny nose, long eyelashes (what color are they?), and a tiny mouth above an equally tiny chin. Loki cries as the child settles in his arms, falling asleep calmly. His twin brother snuffles upset at the lack of warmth in the bassinet. 

“Okay, Loki, time to put them down.” Angrboda’s hand envelopes Loki’s and pushes his arms towards a nurse who appears at the side of the bed. 

“No,” He pleads, “Please.”

“This is your sacrifice for being kept alive,” Gast says from somewhere in the room. He’s come back in without Loki hearing.

The baby wakes with a shrill cry as he’s lifted out of his mother’s arms. “No! Sell me! I can get you more money! They are innocent children!"

“No one is born innocent. We bear the burdens of our parents, even if we are unaware of them," Gast muses, strangely quiet and unstuttered. "And besides, why would I give up a Jotun prince? I’d never get a good return on my margins.” He returns to his usual mocking sing-songing.

“You stole me!” Loki tries while Angrboda holds him out of the swinging range of the Grandmaster. “I’m sure SHIELD would pay anything to have me!”

The crying fades as the nurse wheels the bassinet out of the room. Loki feels his heart shatter into something smaller than atoms. 

Gast's golden silhouette lingers near the door. “I’ll look into it.”

Chapter Text

Malibu’s ocean breeze is a balm to Tony’s nerves. Even though there are memories of Pepper here, all of the scent she would have laid are long gone with the redecoration and washing of everything. Sleipnir joins Tony on the terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean with wide eyes. 

“Is this the edge of your world as well?”

Tony cocks his head, is Loki some kind of flat-Earther? “Some people think it is, but Earth is a sphere. Going over the ocean will just follow the curve of the planet.”

“Asgard is a disc,” Sleipnir peeks over the railing and Tony lifts him up to stand on the lowest bar of the railing. “The water of the Infinite Sea falls into the roots of Yggdrasil and keeps the tree alive. Do you have waterfalls on this planet?”

Well, that’s interesting.

Tony grins. “Yeah. There’s this huge one far northeast of here called Niagara Falls. It’s like three normal ones put together.”

“Whoa!” Sleipnir’s eyes shine as Tony pulls up a picture of the famous landmark. “Can we go?”

“Maybe one day. It’s pretty far from here,” He says.

Looking at the rising of the sun means that Tony needs to start preparing his plan for getting into the auction tonight. He can watch the sunrise with Sleipnir tomorrow. “Let’s get some breakfast and sleep off the jetlag.”

By dinnertime, Tony’s been able to hack some deep websites with information about the requirements for entering one of the establishments that houses the auctions. One of them is a club he used to frequent in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Another is located in Las Vegas, then another in Utah.

L.A. would be the closest and with his cars parked under the mansion, he could make the 48-minute drive into 30. He knows the grapevine has reached the sector of Hollywood gossip and he has no doubt reporters are gathering at the gates far below the property. 

Bruce and the boy are exploring the workshop around him as he researches, looking through Iron Man prototypes with JARVIS’s input. Tony shuts his laptop and stretches his back. Bruce looks over when he hears the man move for the first time in a couple hours. “Finished?”

“Yeah, but I’m gonna need to go check something tonight,” Tony says.

“Check? I can come with you.”

Tony shakes his head. “No, solo mission. You need to keep the kid safe.” 

“I’m not a babysitter,” Bruce mumbles but he’ll take any moment to keep the Hulk from rampaging when he can, even with their new understanding of each other. 

“I’ll need to leave in an hour or so,” Tony says and takes the stairs two at a time, hoping his poker face is still intact.

-

Dressed in a black suit tailored to the extreme, shoes shined to the high heavens of Asgard, and expensive cologne masking the smell of Sleipnir and Bruce, Tony steers his Audi R8 down the driveway and out into the setting sun. 

He passes the flashing of cameras, hoping they can get the photos out in the next few minutes before he makes his way to L.A. The drive is nice but tense. His head is spinning with the thought of what he’s doing.

It just shows how much the Battle changed him. He’d never really been scared before Afghanistan and after falling from the Chitauri portal, he feels like he’s been nothing but anxious.

He does have a reason today, though. If he screws this up, there’s no going back. He’ll be ‘melted’ by this crazed man’s portable nuclear fission weapon, Loki will turn into a breeding dog, and magical children will wreak havoc throughout the Universe. 

He arrives in L.A. after spending twenty extra minutes in rush-hour traffic. It’s a bustling part of downtown, with paparazzi chasing celebrities as they barhop. There’s some kind of music award show filming and he has to take a different street to avoid getting caught up in the flow of arrivals. 

Cole’s is a well-known vessel for a hidden speakeasy named The Varnish, which was only accessible through a bribed waitress or an invitation. It was incredibly easy for young Tony Stark to get in. All of the waitresses would open their legs for him, and he would indulge them all before slipping into the unmarked door with lipstick on his collar. Nights at the Varnish were considered the highlight of his benders.

He hopes he still has it. If not, his wallet will speak for him.

Parking left to the valet, Tony hops onto the busy street, waving to paparazzi as they strobe him with pictures. He’s definitely in the right place if this many cameras are already here. But that means that someone really big is part of the auctions and that makes something heavy drop into his stomach.

He’s brought inside by a male host who is eyeing him hungrily.

Good. People know he’s on the market.

“Mr. Stark, it is incredible to see you at our establishment again,” Chelsea the bartender was Tony’s favorite out of all of the waitresses, and she gave the best blowjobs. “Are you looking at any of our specials tonight? First one’s in the house.” 

Tony holds back the cringe. Being monogamous for years has definitely changed his mind on one-night stands and back alley BJ’s. How far is he willing to go?

A glass of three fingers of whiskey is slid over to him. 

He drinks it all before he follows Chelsea’s plastic-surgery-enhanced form into the back hallway.

-

The Varnish is based on the rose-colored glasses of the Prohibition-era speakeasies. It has velvet barstools, thick curtains that cover nonexistent windows (it’s located in the basement), and filled to the brim with slutty celebrities. He used to call it a brothel for how many celebrities just started fucking randomly. It’s still like that as he slips inside.

He navigates through the crowd until he reaches the bar, seeing the wall of alcohol not have a single bottle under $2,000. He gestures to the top shelf where the Yamazaki 55-year malt Whiskey is calling him. 

It goes down smoothly and tingles all the way down to his toes. Well of course it should, this single glass of it is nearly $12,000. He doesn’t think about the money and surveys the crowd around him. 

A nameless woman slides up next to him. He’s seen her on one of those popular series about a dystopian society where she has to fuck zombies to find a cure. He doesn’t care unless she’s going to get him behind the next unmarked door and into the auction ring. 

“Mr. Stark-”

He cuts her off by taking her hand and kissing the wedding ring wrapped around her finger. “Call me Tony.”

She flushes all the way up to her fiery red hair and down to her low-cut green velvet gown. “Ariana Roberts, I’ve been a huge fan of yours.” She's a beta by how tall she is but isn't overly dominating as she bats her eyelashes.

Tony turns on the killer smile as her name does ring a bell. Listed on one of the websites as a newbie in the auction rings. She probably doesn’t know all the rules yet. “I’ve been one as well. It’s hard not to notice beauty when it’s all over Times Square. Congrats on that streaming contract with Netflix.”

Her green eyes are dusted with mascara and gold eyeshadow. She would look more beautiful in the lowlight if Tony knew she wasn’t involved in something horrible. It’s scary to think he was probably one room away from delving into trafficking. “It’s been an incredible experience. Everyone is so much nicer once you get in the door. But you’ve always been so kind.”

That’s a lie but he’ll take it. “I always try my best. Now that I'm done with all the Avengers shit I can finally get back to my favorite pastimes." He leans back on the bar counter, taking the new whiskey slid to him. 

"What happens if I'm not prying too much?" She looks genuinely interested, as do the eavesdroppers around them. There's probably also a mic hidden somewhere. 

"It's been me against Cap for a long time. Apparently, me coming out as Bi was too much for his poor little 40s heart and I couldn't stand doing all the philanthropy. You don't mind that about me, do you?" He brushes away a stray curl from her ear.

Ariana melts at his touch. "Of course not. I'd never think anything bad about you. Besides…that just means you can join me and my husband." She glances to her left at the thick, Australian man watching them with light hazel eyes. He has a rugged look that reminds him of Thor, and he wants to gag at the thought of getting fucked by the man. 

This might be the easiest way but oh man. That's a bit much. "I'd love to sweetheart, but I'm looking for something a bit more…taboo. Been ordered around Pepper and the Avengers for so long I want to control someone else's ass. "

Something registers as her green eyes get a bit darker. "You have something particular in mind, Tony?"

He pretends to think for a moment then leans in. "I've wanted to get revenge on Loki ever since the Battle in New York. I heard you might have a hookup for something in that territory." He says as low as he can without the music drowning him out.

She looks down at his lips and he grins, showing off bright teeth. "I…How did you find out?" She gets nervous, and he does his best to feign shallowness.

"I've been around for a long time, sweetheart. Lichen's website is one of my favorites to purchase from, but I thought I would come in person this time." Lichen was this horrific website on the deep web filled with purchases of a whole different kind. It's named after the fungi because no matter how many times the UN tries to shut it down, it always reappears with any kind of omega, beta, or alpha money that can buy or kidnap.

"You've bought before?" 

Tony laughs. "Of course I have. Do you think I was actually monogamous for three years? There's a reason I have so many bedrooms. I need an Omega or something connected to Loki to rub in Asgard's stupid face."

Ariana searches his eyes and then turns to look at the bartender, who proceeds to lead them from around the bar and down a hallway toward some bathrooms. 

The bartender leads them to the men's room and opens the key lock with a code that's almost 20 numbers long. Good thing he has a photographic memory. 

It spells: GRANDMASTER HIDEAWAY

Inside the door is not a bathroom but a large, dark, warehouse-like cellar lit by a single spotlight in the center. A large birdcage glistens in the light and an eccentric man that Tony recognizes as the En Dwi Gast is draped in golden robes announcing from beside the cage. 

Ariana hands Tony a full mask to don quickly. He slides it over his face and immediately feels claustrophobic.

You can do this.

You have to do this.

She leads him to the back of the crowd where she can whisper the rules to him. He already knows them, but he might be missing one:

1. Only bid if you're willing to pay. 
2. Don't look Gast in the eyes, only hand the money to the cashier in the green suit.
3. Bidding wars are his favorite and if you win, he might give you a token that's good for half off another purchase. 
4. Don't call them anything but their designation or purchase.
5. You have to stay for the entire auction. No leaving early. At the end is a table where you trade the purchase stub for the actual purchase.
6. No yelling or storming the stage. Guards have a right to use force.

"Any questions?" She says the first person to be purchased is brought on stage.

"No." He says. The person is voluptuous and only covered by a thin red robe as they are chained inside the birdcage. 

"We have a, uh, very special Omega here tonight. Around thirty-three years old, sexually mature female, with lots of fire. This is meant for only the most dominating Alphas out there." He reads from a projected text. 

The man is very charismatic from the audience. A bit goofy in his clothing choices and makeup, but it makes the auction feel more exotic. 

The starting bid is only $30,000. She's quickly bid on with bid fans until she's won at $100,000. 

Tony learns more about the ring the more he watches. Everyone around him is almost bored as if the matured omegas and alphas being presented are nothing special. They go through the age category where Loki was classified with SHIELD and Tony feels extreme disappointment.

However with each passing presentation, the purchases start getting smaller. Eighteen, fifteen, twelve, ten, six, four years old….

An abused, tiny Omega girl bought by some slimy movie executive that Tony is going to murder with his own two hands. He should've bid. 

Why is he just letting this happen?!

It's been three hours of bidding. The online rules say that the show only lasts for four hours. He's running out of time, and he never wants to come back here again, but he may have to wait another month until the next auction. Finally, Gast claps his hands. "I see many of you bored of my fine presentations. So, let's get to the more exotic finds, shall we?"

Ah. There it is. Not Loki, but certainly connected. 

A black pram, decorated with golden horns resembling Loki's helmet is wheeled out on stage. The camera showing the pictures of the purchases zooms into the twin babies' forms as two masked women hold up the infants. 

"A process long in the making of mine is to find suitable purchases from the Battle of New York. And I'm sorry to say that no, Loki the Villain himself is not for sale." A disappointed ripple runs through the crowd. 

"However, my breeding program was successful, and I am offering two infants from the Omega himself for $1 billion each. That each is very emphasized, people. I would prefer to sell as a pair." He opens the floor for bidding. A hand raises without a paddle.

"Do they have magic?" The woman calls, near the front row.

"Ah, yes. I'm not sure if they will do it for me, but let's see." One of the women pinches the cheek of the smaller baby and the infant emits a shrill cry and turns bright blue.

"Look at that!" Fifteen paddles go up to bid.

"Fuck," Tony mumbles. SHIELD better pay him back. He raises his paddle and freezes when the spotlight turns to illuminate him.

"I see we have a new bidder. First timer, since you're joining us, why don't you name your price?"

Tony thinks hard. He's got $300 billion right now and if he releases the new Stark phone by Spring he can recoup up to 30 billion in a year. "$20 billion, as a starting point."

Even Gast is taken aback by that number. "Whoa! Got a need for some magical babies, huh?"

"You could say I'm entitled to some compensation against Loki." He answers. 

Gast's eyes narrow and the suspicion passes. "I see, and is anyone willing to bid against our new friend?" 

Silence. $20 billion is a lot, even for these people. Some of the people he recognizes are only worth $20 billion.

"Then I think we have a winner!" Gast claps and the rest of the crowd joins him. The babies are tucked back into the pram and wheeled off stage. 

Ariana is holding onto his arm tightly. "Holy shit, you have $20 billion to spend?"

"Well, duh. I wasn't coming with only a couple of grand. I know what I want." He says quietly. Tony lets her cuddle him for the remainder of the auction until Gast announces the end. He calls for all of the bidders to go to the far end of the stage to pay the cashier.

Tony's one of the last in line and Ariana stays with him (which he's grateful for) and says she wants to help get the kids to his car. (I.e. she wants to see them for herself and still sleep with him.)

As they come up to the man in the velvet green suit, the pram is wheeled out with an adjoining bag of baby supplies. 

Gast gestures for them to unmask and Tony wants to hesitate but doesn't. Gast smiles cruelly. "So, your lust for revenge caused the split?" 

"Of course. He got off too easily. I need something if Asgard's going to let him roam free."

The man cocks his head. "Oh, rest assured that Loki is well taken care of in my facility. See, since you've been such a great bidder, I might offer you a tour; no Avengers included."

"They're no longer in the picture anyway," Tony looks down at the sleeping twins. "I'm through with the heroic bullshit. Too much money wasted, and no avenue for revenge. They want me to be some superhero. And that's just not who I am."

"I think you'll enjoy these. Unfortunately, there were complications with the third child, and it passed quickly. The boys here are all peachy and perfect Jotun purebreds."

"You have another Frost Giant?" Tony internally groans. So this is interrealm.

Gast bobs his head. "One not related to Loki, so there's no crossbreeding. I can put in an order for purchases if you wish."

Tony pretends to think it over. "Let me see the state of misery he's in and I'll let you know how many." He meets the man's eyes despite the rules, but the man only laughs effeminately. 

"I'm very glad you've decided to join the correct side of the Universe, Mr. Stark. Enjoy your purchase." He shakes Tony's hand with a wink and moves on.

Getting the babies out to the car is easy. There's a side entrance that's flanked by tall walls where the Valet pulls his R8 in with no questions. He slips him an extra $100 for secrecy. 

Ariana says that babies should be in car seats but for the quick drive, they should be fine in the passenger seat. 

"Look Ariana, I really appreciate your help tonight. I'll definitely swing by the premiere next month and sweep you into a dark closet." She flushes and he kisses her just to seal the deal of silence. It's a nice kiss.

Tony is rarely a good driver. Well, he can drift well, but a lot of the time he doesn't care about traffic laws unless someone could get hurt. So, when he obeys the speed limit the entire way home, it feels so agonizingly slow.

The babies stay asleep until he parks in the underground garage and the noise of JARVIS welcoming him wakes the twins. The smaller baby with tufts of dark hair cries, and it snaps into Tony's head that he literally just bought two infants with Loki's temperament and powers.

Good lord, what is he supposed to do now?

Chapter Text

Tony has never really held a baby before. Sure, people have thrust their children in his arms for pictures or for him to kiss like a god, but he's never actively held one before. Looking at holding two at the same time…he wasn't sure how to do it.

He needs one of those baby backpacks. All he really has here in the garage/workshop is a few metal trolleys. He lines one that has a deep enough lid with some clean shop towels and places the twins in the middle. The awake one snorts at him a bit but doesn't loudly complain. He rocks the trolley back and forth and the infant calms measurably. 

He gets the accompanying bag-no tracker or listening mic surprisingly-and has JARVIS move the car so he can push the cart into the elevator. As the doors close, he sighs and leans against the cool metal of the wall. 

Maybe he can get the babies to his room and figure out the frozen bags of milk then decide out how to tell-

The doors open to the main foyer, revealing a wide-eyed Sleipnir and a concerned, sleepy Bruce. It's 4 in the morning.

“You’re back! How did it go?” The scientist’s gamma instincts kick in. He looks over Tony’s face and body until he reaches the cart. "What the fuck is that?" Bruce groans.

Sleipnir is a cocktail of excitement as he sees his half-siblings. The babies awake with tiny noises as they feel the presence of another Seidr user. He gently moves the blankets to see their chubby faces.

"Let me get off the elevator and I'll explain," Tony sighs. He knows he has the smell of Ariana all over him when Bruce's eyes narrow.

The Gamma Beta lets him out though and Tony is ever grateful that Bruce's doctor-ness overrides him, so he starts taking in the babies' overall condition. "These are only a few weeks old! Where did you get infants?!"

"They're Mum's babies! I can feel their seidr.” Sleipnir replies, eagerly reaching out to use a finger to stroke at a squishy cheek.

Bruce presses two fingers around the smaller baby's wrist. "These are…Loki's children? They're surprisingly normal."

The older boy nods, "They can shapeshift, someone must have made them human-like rather than Jotun babies. Is Mum hiding in the elevator?" He asks the last part with shining eyes. He peeks into the empty carriage.

Tony has to clench his jaw. "No. He's not."

"Oh," Sleipnir sniffles. "Is Mum okay?"

"As far as I know, yes." He answers. He hates that he doesn't know more than that. Hopefully Gast will keep his word about a ‘visit.’

Bruce is checking over the baby with lighter colored hair. "Do you have any milk or formula? Any diapers? Wipes? What the hell were you thinking, Tony? How did you get them?”

"It’s part of the mission that I can’t tell you. They gave me this and JARVIS is having stuff delivered." He moves over into the kitchen, Sleipnir following along the cart with one of his hands gently holding one of his siblings. He puts the frozen bags of breast (?) milk into the freezer and finds a small can of formula. There's two pacifiers, two small blankets, and a pack of diapers. The order from the local baby store would arrive by lunchtime. 

Sleipnir perks up in a way that reminds Tony of a newborn foal (which is technically true) and looks over to the wall of glass that overlooks the main floor terrace. "Grandmother is coming!" 

Just as the boy says that, the same static pulsing that enveloped Tony during the Chitauri portal explodes on his skin as a large rainbow beam slams into the smooth concrete outside. As the light fades, a woman with golden curls and a richly green dress magically phases through the glass. 

"Grandmother!" Sleipnir calls and scrambles over. When he reaches halfway to her, a green light envelopes him and the large steed of Asgard replaces the boy's small form. The gaggle of eight legs flail in their scramble to lick Frigga's face. 

"Hello, my sweet boy," She laughs, caressing his elongated snout. She produces a few sugar cubes and lets him nibble them as she takes in the scene over his flank. 

Tony looks like a right mess and now the Queen of Asgard is in his living room. 

Frigga comes towards them until she reaches close for her to hold a handout to Tony. "I'm Frigga and,"

"You're Thor's mother," Tony blurts, exhausted and delirious at the goddess in front of him. "He looks just like you."

She raises her eyebrows in curiosity. "I'm glad someone saw it. Everyone always says he looks like his father, and I deserve some credit." She grins and shakes Bruce's hand.

"Oh, my little lovelies," She sighs, looking down at the infants.

Frigga hovers a hand above them and the babies respond with opening their eyes, showing brown eyes in the slightly larger child, and green ones in the dark haired one. "There is one missing. The Norns said three souls were allotted." She frowns.

"Gast said one had died during birth." He has no idea what the Norns are, but he's not going to argue with the magical lady.

Sleipnir trots over, transforming back into his human appearance at her side. "I still feel three babies."

"So do I," She murmurs. Her eyes are cautious as she pulls Tony aside. Her voice lowers, "Where did you find them?"

"En Dwi Gast’s auction.”

"The Grandmaster did this?" Frigga growls. "Thor told Odin and I that an interdimensional warlock had taken Loki, but he didn't mention who. "

"Are…there a lot of interdimensional warlocks?"

"Much more than even I or Loki know of. The Grandmaster is an evil, evil man. " Comes the cryptic answer. She waves her hands over the babies and their eyes follow eagerly, glistening red when her fingertips produce gold sparkles.

Frigga's mouth tightens. "They're pure Jotun…I will see if I can access Jotunheim to retrieve some milk but for now these will supplement any formula or Earthly substance. Cut into eight equal slices, half a slice for each baby at each meal ground into mush. It will keep them healthy until we get Loki back or find a suitable meal replacement." A basket of gold apples appears on the countertop in front of Tony. 

"Could I have a slice, Grandmother?" Sleipnir asks quietly, hugging her skirts.

"Of course, Sleipnir." She picks up one of the apples and plucks a slice from it as if it were precut. The boy chews it thoughtfully, eyes glowing red for a quick flash. "I need to research this new find, but I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to you, Anthony Stark. I am glad that the Norns chose you to watch over my grandchildren." And with that, she kisses Sleipnir's head and the babies before gliding over to the terrace where the Bifrost swallows her again.

"I love grandmother," Sleipnir whispers. 

Bruce hums, still in shock, "She seems very nice."

"I miss my Mum," The boy dissolves into tears, grasping at Bruce's jeans. Bruce lets the boy cry it out and guides him over to the couch. 

"We're going to get him back," Bruce reassures him as the scent of grief fills the living room. He scents the boy, pulling back before Sleipnir imprints into the small pack that he and Tony have built these past few weeks.

Twin cries fill the air and Bruce grins. "Have you ever changed a diaper, Tony?"

-

Tony Stark did see himself settling down with Pepper; a baby with light brown hair sitting at the kitchen island and eating small pieces of pancakes. He wanted to eventually become a father. Even through all his partying and lines of coke at celebrity afterparties, a part of him yearned to have the connection he never got with his own father.

Instead, there are two highchairs attached to the marble countertop: a green chair holding a baby that has dark, midnight black hair and bright green eyes and a blue chair holding a larger baby with light brown hair and brown eyes. Though the babies are only a month old, the two of them have already grown to the human-equivalent of six-month-olds. 

They cried most of the first week, only calmed down when Tony held both of them at the same time or Sleipnir rocked them. They ran out of Gast's supply of Jotun milk after 3 weeks when the growth spurts began to increase the babies' appetites. 

Frigga's gift of apples helped to curb that enough for normal amounts of human baby food to sustain them. 

Even though Sleipnir was trying to connect with Loki, it seems as though most of his attempts have failed. It was then up to the three of them to name the infants so Tony would stop calling them, "Baby A and B," like they were science experiments. 

One night in front of the television, the three of them sat with the babies on their tummy-time mat and discussed names. 

"We need some baby names," Bruce declared.

"I could ask Heimdall for any suggestions," Sleipnir added helpfully. He was itching to talk to the Bifrost guardian that had intervened many times on his behalf, even if the man never truly stopped Odin's wrath.

"Should we even name them?" Tony tickled Baby A (the slightly more pudgy, lighter haired one) until he giggled. "Do we have a right to?"

"We need to stop referring to them as test tubes. It's not for their development or Sleip's. If they're going to be in our care, then they deserve some semblance of an identity."

"Ok, this one is Tony Jr. and that one is Bruce Jr. Done. Isn't that right, little Tony?" A squeal agrees with him. "See, he likes it!"

"Those are horrible. Don't condemn him like that," Bruce groans, but his smile doesn't fade. "

"What about Fionan?" Sleipnir says. "It means, Fair."

"Like his cute little head! I like that. But that's mouthful so I'm going to call you, Fin."

Bruce nods, "What about the other one?"

Sleipnir lays on his side next to the dark-haired baby, a parallel of his own complexion. He was a quiet infant, preferring to take in the world with his large, bright green eyes. Though he was staring, he was so cute with his chubby cheeks that would break out into a smile when Sleipnir blew raspberries on his belly.

"Jörmun," The older boy said, "It means great or large."

Tony wrinkles his nose, "But he's smaller than Fin!"

"He's quiet and smart, like Mister Bruce, which makes him better."

"Aw, kid, thanks," Bruce grins.

Tony gasps dramatically, "So I'm not smart?" Sleipnir laughs as Tony gently tackles the boy to tickle him.

Newly dubbed infant Fin added his giggle then a loud noise that suspiciously sounded like he was filling his diaper. 

Bruce smirks, “I think Tony Jr. needs a diaper change.”

Tony sighs but picks the baby up and is unable to hide the smile that breaks out as Fin squeals.

Overall, the children had all the normal baby issues Tony and Bruce had read up on blow-out diapers, moments of nonsense crying and keeping the three of them up all night, hitting or grabbing at each other to explore textures, and loved watching nature documentaries and baby sensory videos.

Fin favored the ones focused on wolves, squealing whenever a wolf howled on screen. Jörmun was enraptured by jungle and ocean documentaries, watching with his eyes glued to the screen. Snakes particularly made his tiny mouth drop open in awe, green pacifier dropping to his lap.

It reminded Tony and Bruce of the missing Norse god. Tony tries to pretend he wasn’t that upset.

-

The first month of the twin’s lives went smoothly for two scientists and an eight-year-old demigod acting as parents. Gast’s offer of a tour through his facilities means that Tony should fess up to Bruce in the event that this is a trap. It's been keeping him from falling too deep asleep, throwing himself into entertaining the babies, Sleipnir, or trying to figure out his stupid snake and spider camera prototype that still doesn't work right. 

He's running out of time before something else worse happens to Loki; before there are more children.

The day before Tony drives out to L.A. for the next auction, he pulls Bruce down into the workshop and down into the wine cellar that he built for Pepper. All of the racks of wine are covered in dust. No one has been here in about two years. Tony bats down some cobwebs as he leads Bruce to the wine tasting kitchenette. 

“You’ve been hiding this from us? These are incredible bottles!” Bruce gazes around in wonder. 

"Technically they're Pepper's, but I won't tell if a few go missing," Tony winks but the warmth of the joke doesn't meet his eyes.

"Tony…" Bruce sets down the bottle and joins the man on a dusty stool. His scent immediately fills the air with a sense of concern. "What's wrong?"

The engineer rests his chin on his fist. "The reason we came out here was for me to infiltrated Gast’s auction. Tomorrow might be a trap, so I need you to hear me out. I went to Gast's auction last month and got the babies…but Bruce, he's selling all kinds of people, aliens, children." He stresses, "They're put in these cages and bid on like some carnival goat. They held the kids up like they were trophies. I'm worried I'm not doing enough, I guess. Every moment that I waste not finishing the prototype or chasing down leads about Gast, I'm scared there will be more children. Ones I can't save because the auction is only once a month." Tony finishes lamely.

Bruce's hazel eyes watch him with such empathy that Tony was to swipe at his own eyes before the tears form. "Whenever I would leave the camps out in the East to help another one, I was overcome with guilt knowing that I couldn't save them all. But the UN, NATO, and SHIELD, need to realize that we're just two men that are doing our very best. You're waiting for the auction, yeah? You're waiting for a somewhat safer time to chase Gast so the babies and Sleipnir are safe. Who knows what SHIELD has come up with. What you need to do is do what's best for the kids and Loki. And that includes taking care of yourself so you can help save him."

"God, Brucie," Tony laughs wetly, "You need a motivational speaking tour."

Bruce pulls him into a big embrace, scent filling the air with a comforting scent that mingles with the swirling smell of aged wood.

-

Tony wakes from the shared cuddle pile of his master bed, Sleipnir's fingers tangled into Tony's stretched out Blue Öyster Cult sleep shirt. He unsuccessfully tries to go check on the twins without waking the boy. 

"Mister Tony?" Sleipnir whispers, rubbing his eyes. 

"Hey kid, it's early, go back to sleep." He soothes the dark hair and smiles as those forest green eyes slip closed again.

Tony sneaks out to the room next door, opening the door as quietly as possible. Fin and Jörmun actually slept through the night but would only do it if they were allowed to sleep in the same crib. He tiptoes to the edge of the crib and his heart melts when bright brown eyes smile up at him. 

Fin wiggles in happiness at the sight of Tony, accidentally bopping a sleeping Jörmun. The smaller twin's response is funny, as his favorite learned facial muscle is to roll his eyes upwards in a mockery of actually rolling his eyes. Jörmun simply rolls his eyes and yawns at his brother's shenanigans. 

Tony picks up the squirming infant and presses a kiss to the growing and darkening head of mousy hair. He moves to get the baby slings when Fin shifts, slipping out of his grasp. He grabs at the child, but his fingers slide off silver fur that wasn't there a millisecond ago.

It happens so fast, as if Tony's instincts are a million times slower than usual, and all of a sudden there is a gray wolf pup sprawled by his feet like it was there this whole time. His jaw is hinged open as the pup shakes its body and paws at its snout with a huff.

"What the fuck…" He whispers. He glances to see if Jörmun is still calm and has to do a double take when a five-foot Ball Python Snake is coiled in the center of the blanket innocently. "What the actual fuck?!" He gasps.

The wolf pup yips at his exclamation, booping his wet nose against Tony's ankle. 

Tony thinks he's been shocked before, but this is a new level of ridiculousness. Can you have a heart attack from your adopted infants turning into wild animals?

Bruce must've heard the "wolf" and rushes in. He gasps as well when his eyes land on the crib. 

The "python" uncoils and slithers up to the slats of the crib, slinking onto the floor and towards Bruce. "Tony, why is there a snake and a wolf cub in here?" He squeaks out as the python wraps around his shin.

"They just poofed! Fin slipped out of my hand and was suddenly like this, and then I looked over to see Jörmun like that!" He reaches down to pick up the pup who happily stays still. Fin laps at Tony's jaw once high enough.

"I guess Thor wasn't kidding about their magic. How long do you think--Oh." Bruce mumbles. Jörmun has decided he's been a python for long enough and a flash of green reveals his human form clutching at Bruce's leg. At the sight of one human baby, Fin also transforms, forcing Tony to readjust his hold so he doesn't slip through his arms again. 

“I am too sober to think about this right now.” Tony sighs. 

Bruce picks up Jormun and places him back in the crib with cautious eyes. Jormun reaches back for him, another flash of light and the snake is back, slithering towards Bruce’s hands. He reaches out and the python curls around his outstretched hand and hangs off his arm. Jormun tightens slightly and settles with the closing of his translucent eyelids. 

They take the twins through their morning routine, thankfully avoiding the question of whether they should feed Jormun the baby food or food for snakes as Jormun transforms at the sight of his morning applesauce. 

Sleipnir joins them a few minutes after the babies are burped, sitting at the kitchen island as Tony slides a plate of sliced fruit and oatmeal which he heartily digs into.

-

That night, Tony readies himself with the small pill-shaped capsules containing his newly working spider and snake camera bots. They slip easily into his suit jacket’s inner lining within a pocket. He places a small piece of a prototyped nanotech gauntlet, fashioning it as a design on his Rolex’s wristband.

Bruce meets him in the workshop, the twins rocking in a bassinet carefully manipulated by Sleipnir. 

Tony throws Bruce a smile as he unlocks the key wall and chooses his reliable Audi R8. 

“Hey,” Bruce calls before Tony can get inside the unlocked car, “Come back safe.”

“Of course, Brucie Bear.” 

Chapter Text

"Loki," Angrboda whispers to the huddled forms under the thin blanket. The man had been hiding under the covers or even under the metal bed frame after Gast had informed them of the purchase of the twins. 

Loki only curls up tighter. "Leave me alone."

"I know who bought the twins," He says, waiting until a peek of red eyes meet him. "Tony Stark bought them both." He whispers, moving to 'his' side of the bed so the camera does not pick up his lips. 

"...Stark?" If there was one Avenger who somewhat believed him about the Chitauri, it was bound to be logical genius Tony Stark. He can breathe a bit easier. If he turns the babies to SHIELD, they'll at least be locked away safely. For once the government agency is his ally across the universe. 

"Did you come up with names for them?" 

Loki turns to face him, making out maroon eyes in his vision. "The one I held…Jörmungandr. The one spitfire in the bassinet, Fenrir."

"Those are strong names. The third one is a girl. She's ill, caught between shapeshifting forms. I have my sister looking after her in Jotunheim." He says lowly, having to look away when tears well in Loki's eyes. 

"Will she survive?" 

Angrboda sighs. "I'm not sure. She was very weak when I stole her away but the biome of Jotunheim helped ease her inflammation. It may be a chronic condition. "

Loki doesn't flinch when Angrboda kisses his forehead. It's a massive step in their relationship. After the things he's put the smaller man through, he's sure that Loki will never be able to love him. But maybe that's okay.

"Will I be stuck here forever?"

"No. I'm putting together a plan to escape or at the very least maim Gast. I'm stuck trying to figure out how they took away your vision."

Loki reaches up to feel his eyes, something he hasn't thought to do before now. They're hard. But he can blink each eye without any issue. Was there some kind of hard lens on top of his eye? "Am I wearing contacts?" He says more to himself. Pressing finger to the outside corner of his eye reveals the hard edge of a scleral contact lens.

So, this entire time he's been able to see? 

Angrboda pulls him closer, making it look like an embrace by any of the cameras and scrutinizes Loki's fogged red eyes. He blows a gentle stream of air. When Loki doesn't blink rapidly at the dryness he confirms it. 

“How can I get this out?” Loki asks as Angrboda holds his chin and tilts his head. 

“Hold still,” The bigger Jotun warns and Loki watches as his right eye is engulfed in the shadow of Angrboda’s hand. A cold pressure emanates from the shadow and with a dry pull that aches, Loki’s right side vision fizzles to crisp reality.

Angrboda’s fingertip is frozen to the glass lens by a tiny bead of ice.

It immediately makes Loki nauseous. The room spins in two different perspectives and only ceases when Angrboda holds his cheeks still with chilled hands. 

"This whole time…I never thought to check my own eyes?"

Angrboda's eyes are prettier than he thought. Instead of the intense, bloodthirsty red that Loki was used to hearing about, they were a simmering crimson. He wondered what the Jotun would look like in Aesir form. He could rival even Thor's physique. 

It stirs Loki's stomach in a good way, even though he's only a week healed from birth.

But with how fast the memories of his pregnancy passed, he’s not confident his estimate is accurate.

"How long has it been since…I gave birth?" He barely speaks the last part.

"In time you know or the Grandmaster's?" Angrboda responds.

"To me."

"Technically it's only been two weeks to us, but each day was sped up by a multiple of 3. So, it's been 42 days on Earth."

Loki nods, head working as fast as it can with the amount of information he can comprehend. "So, they're over a month old now."

The larger Jotun nods. "I just need another couple days to figure out a plan. This will be faster because we know how to fix your vision. They haven’t done this with the other Omegas. There must be something you would see and be able to exploit out in the corridors."

“What does it look like? All I can ever tell is white walls. I’m usually asleep whenever they transport me,” Loki carefully looks over Angrboda’s shoulder to the door. The small window barely has any view outside. All he sees is the blank tiling of the corridor’s ceiling.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Loki reaches up to touch Angrboda's face willingly for the first time. He's fought against the man's advances and screamed at him, and now this man is going to break him from slavery? Surely it’s a trap.

"I've been a part of a group that's been trying to take Gast down. He's lost millions of children because we steal them away under the guise that they're dying. We're trying to reach Asgard and Human leaders."

"Forget Asgard, Odin will be no help. If Tony Stark has my children, then you need to contact the Avengers or SHIELD. They may have a plan. If you need to tell them you know me, Stark called me Rock of Ages." Part of him doesn't believe they were really trying to rescue him but knowing that Stark was at least willing to help Loki through his heat meant something. The Avengers were a lesser evil than he initially thought.

Angrboda leaned in and kissed him. Loki responded for once.

-

Angrboda is delighted at the fact that despite Loki’s post-partum depression, the small Jotun has a bit of the fire back in his posture that he had heard of from Asgard. They trade whispered stories at night now, and Angrboda knows Loki isn’t stupid enough to reveal too much, he can see how opening up is doing him some good. He’s maybe one more message of back-up on standby from his sister before he can put his plan into action to break up Gast’s long reign of terror when the man himself announces they’ll have a special visitor the next day.

Angrboda feigns anger at having time with Loki interrupted. “I don’t like it when you try to interrupt my breeding time.”

Gast waves a wrinkled hand around. “No, no! This is good! This patron is the one that bought the twins, he wants more children!”

“You’re letting someone tour the facility?” The frost giant picks at his black nails, uninterested. 

“We need his full support. I am a bit cautious since he is so recently divorced from his little superhero group, but I believe I’ve shown him the winning side after I was able to steal Loki directly from them.” En Dwi Gast presses a large length of black braided rope into Angrboda’s hand. “I need you to tie up Loki really nice. Make him look like a present. Then, once Stark has had an eyeful--bind him up too. I’ll let you have him first.”

“I’m not getting any more involved in this than I have to. I’m here to get revenge for Jotunheim, not get sucked into your crazy schemes.”

“Angrboda, my dear boy, this is revenge for Jotunheim. Tony Stark is the wealthiest person on Earth and one of the brightest minds in the Universe. We have no idea what technology that mind can create for us. He could help us crush Asgard. You can be the reason that happens”

Angrboda does well not showing any emotion. “I’m not doing it, Gast.”

The frail looking warlock rolls his eyes, borderline whining. “C’mon! I just need your delicious strength to keep him sedated for a bit while I finish up his reinforced cell. Topaz is too melt-stick happy to be trusted with an annoyance like Stark.”

“Simple solution. Win him over with your usual persuasiveness and don’t kidnap him. I’ll make Loki nice and docile for him, but I won’t get involved with Stark.”

“Fine! You don’t have to touch him!” Gast calls to the Jotun’s retreating back, “But there is one condition, my dear friend.”

Angrboda pauses and looks back.

-

The Varnish welcomes Tony back, this time Gast himself is mingling with the guests in the main bar area. His cold eyes brighten as he makes his way past his talking partners to get to the engineer’s side. “Tony! So glad you could make it tonight. I was worried, uh, that those deep pockets of yours had run out.”

Tony shakes the man’s wiry hand, clasping his shoulder with his other hand. “Never. Needed a new hobby to spend all that money that keeps coming in.”

“Well,” He leans in a bit, “I was hoping you could stay after the auction today. I want to give you a tour of our facilities.”

Tony flashes him his press-release smile. “Would I be able to get a peek at Loki? I want to make sure he’s suffering enough.”

Gast bobs his head in agreement, “I might make you an offer, even.”

His heart thuds but he knows it doesn’t show on his face. Every step, glance, and smile from here on means the difference between Loki possibly walking free or Tony being melted by one of Gast’s crazy weapons. Gast floats away to new patrons and Tony orders a drink to gain some extra courage. He knocks it back just as hidden doors open on the far side to allow the crowd to filter inside. They must close these after it begins and force anyone new to use the other entrance he was ushered to last time.

Tony follows the mob of people with a blank expression, dropping one of the capsule-spider cameras just inside the doors to the auction room. The feed would immediately start recording audio back to JARVIS. This time, Tony is early enough he is given a chair near the front rather than standing in the back. It’s a bit more daunting to not have Ariana grounding him with the little bit more experience she has over him. He pushes back against the feeling of the black void pressing in around his vision.

The auction passes in the same manner as last time. Designated humans, from older adults to babies. He’s horrified at how young the humans are at this time, with one infant only being 9 weeks old. He swallows the horror and sits through the second part, the “exotic” section, where many species of aliens he didn’t know existed are being presented. Gast ends the auction after three hours, one of the showgirl presenters offering assistance to guide Tony to Gast’s awaiting vehicle. She doesn’t look like she’s in distress, but he now has a healthy amount of suspicion for everyone around him.

He is quite literally asking to be trapped and there's no backup waiting to rescue him.

-

“Welcome, Tony Stark!” En Dwi Gast greets the armored vehicle. His gold robe somehow sparkles with an internal light, even in the underground cavern. 

Tony internally cringes as the man’s wrinkled hand heavily sits on his shoulder. “This is quite the warm welcome for a bunker. I need the number of your interior decorator,” He remarks, eyes scanning the guards’ weapons and the three exit points. He can’t slip out. It’ll be a firefight either way. Maybe the guards will be lazy shots like Stormtroopers.

“Are you cold? I can, uh, get a snazzy little thing like I’m wearing. We could be robe twins.” Gast goes to order a robe so Tony stops him. There’s no way in Hell Tony is putting on one of the man’s chosen outfits. 

“Grandmaster-”

The old warlock scoffs playfully, “Please, En Dwi. We are friends now!”

Tony corrects himself, “En Dwi; this suit is made with the best thermal inserts, I’m fine. Shall we?” He cocks his head to the heaviest-armed exit corridor. “I’m a little antsy to see him. The nightmares have been bad lately; I’m ready for some vengeance.”

“Of course, of course! Right this way,” En Dwi (a heavily armed guard and the short woman with the scary-looking melting stick following) walks him into the middle exit and the large complex of nearly identical hallways and rooms.

Holy shit. He is so not ready for this.

It’s every nightmare hospital/psych ward horror movie combined into one massive funhouse maze. The worst part isn’t the blinding white of the overhead fluorescent, the metal identical doors, or even the sheer size that bothers Tony the most; it’s the smell of fear covered by industrial cleaners that permeates every molecule of the air around him.

Why was he doing this?

“A bit strong, yeah. Should’ve warned you about that,” En Dwi waves over the guard who hands Tony a mask sprayed with something that smells like fresh linen. 

No fucking way is he putting on some strange-smelling mask! He’d rather choke on the tangible pheromones of the man’s victims. It reinvigorates him. 

Because one of these rooms contains Loki. He’s smelling Loki’s fear.

He can use this. Tony feigns a large sneeze and shoots one of the smallest pinhole cameras down into the corner of the hallway. It looks like a small white disk, almost blending into the corner perfectly. It’d have to do for now. 

“I’ll get used to it, I’m sure,” The engineer smiles tightly and takes out his own handkerchief to wipe his nose instead of the guard’s offered tissue. 

They move down the first hallway and into a seemingly random door. However, Tony does catch a glimpse of glossy white numbers embossed onto the door’s white metal surface. So, there are identifiers, but you have to know what you’re looking for and look at them from a certain raking light.

Inside is what looks like a SHIELD interrogation room but coated in white paint. Thankfully the oppressive smell disappears with the door shutting. Three armchairs and a low table face to his left of what’s probably a one-way mirror into another room. En Dwi plops himself on the central armchair, patting the plush arm of the one to his right, bringing Tony further into the room towards the metal door at the far wall. He doesn’t want to look hesitant, so he follows and settles in the surprisingly comfortable chair, crossing his leg on top of his knee. He lowers his right wrist between his thigh and the armrest to deposit a small spider-like camera and recording device. 

“So, Tony, I must admit that I don’t have him that well-trained yet. I apologize in advance if he says anything out of line, and I’m sure Angrboda will let you punish him accordingly.”

“That’s the other Frost Giant?” Tony asks.

The older man bobs his head, “Such a stunning pair they make--you’ve, uh, seen how fetching those infants were.”

Tony’s stomach churns when he thinks of Fin and Jormun being in the Grandmaster’s withered, greedy grasp. “Which is why I want more. Do I get to meet the breeding alpha?”

“You’ll get to, don’t you worry,” En Dwi runs a hand over his slicked back silver hair. “Ah, there they are.”

Tony looks through the one-way mirror to the other room. Getting pulled inside is a cuffed, blue Loki and a large, muscled Frost Giant-Angrboda. He can tell immediately that something is wrong with Loki’s eyes: they’re the standard crimson that Thor had told him about, but they have no pupil, as if he’s been blinded.

Shit.

That would explain why Loki is so heavily leaning on the larger giant’s arm. Angrboda leads the naked villain to the side door and into the room with Tony, En Dwi, and the lady with the melting stick.

Angrboda has to duck to step into the room, towering over them and gently pushing Loki to his knees in front of Tony’s feet. “You must excuse Loki some, I was a bit rough with him last night and he is sore in his back.” The giant speaks, voice vibrating through the whole space. 

Loki doesn’t look anywhere but at the shiny tops of Tony’s dress shoes. If he focuses hard enough, he sees a blob that resembles his own reflection in the black shoes. He never thought he would yearn for the touch of an Avenger. Yet, Loki remembers the electric spark that arched between them when his hand wrapped around Stark’s throat on the day of the Chitauri invasion. Even through mind control, Loki felt the pull between them.

Tony’s toe nudges the inside of Loki’s thigh. “It’s good to see you on your knees, especially after you were screaming for it all those months ago.” The alpha engineer says. He can’t deny how attractive the raven-haired Jotun is supplicating himself.

Loki doesn’t hear or feel the malice in his words. Maybe he really is the same bright soul and this is a ploy? Loki reaches a hand to touch the soft fabric of the man’s black trousers. Judging by how Loki can feel the man’s heartrate pick up, he’s just as nervous as Loki is.

Loki raises his blurry eyes up, following the black cut of his pants to where he thinks Tony’s face is (judging by the mixed brown/pale/ and white of his teeth). He wonders if Stark can feel him shaking.

“Still beautiful,” Stark’s palm cups the dusty blue of Loki’s jaw, tracing how his cheeks have begun to thin from a lack of hydration and nutrients. 

“Since you, uh, seem so interested in him, I might be willing to make a deal with you,” En Dwi breaks the spell between the two of them.

Tony looks away to see Angroboda sitting in the last armchair, his form dwarfing the wingback velvet form. He’s watching Loki-but it’s not something possessive like Tony thought an alpha would, it’s careful and calculating. 

“A deal?” His hand still holds Loki’s chilled chin, the Jotun trying desperately to resist relaxing into the man’s touch.

It’s been so long since Loki’s felt true warmth.

“I’ll let you take a spin with him. If you like it--you could buy a key to return for more.”

Loki’s stomach drops. Suddenly the hand on his face feels like Loki is staring straight into the core fires of Muspelheim.

Tony Stark is not his savior. 

He’s another master.

Chapter Text

“A deal?” His hand still holds Loki’s chilled chin, trying desperately to resist relaxing into the man’s touch.

It’s been so long since Loki’s felt true warmth.

“I’ll let you take a spin with him, if you like it--you could buy a key to come back for more.”

Loki’s stomach drops. Suddenly the hand on his face feels like Loki is staring straight into the core fires of Muspelheim. Tony Stark is not his savior.

He’s another master.

-

But then again, could Tony do any more damage than Angrboda had done to him already? Tony is physically smaller than Loki, human, and though probably well-endowed, he doesn’t have the power to overpower Loki without the help of his Iron suit. 

It would destroy Loki emotionally; especially if he ever escapes and Thor finds out that his friend was now a part of this.

“How much?”

The Grandmaster plucks at some invisible hairs on the lapel of his gold-sequined robes. “$100,000 each time.”

Loki holds his breath. Angrboda could speak up! He said he had a plan! Or did the Giant double-cross him?

“Might as well start a tab,” Tony replies easily. “If that’s all it is, I’ll be here every other day.”

Loki is glad he’s spiraling so much that he can’t hear the glee in the Grandmaster’s voice, “Let’s get you two to a private suite, eh?”

Angrboda hauls Loki to his feet and hands the chain connecting the Jotun’s wrists and ankles to Tony, but the man holds up a hand, “I want to see him stumble.”

Dusky purple flushes Loki’s cheeks as Tony’s hand pushes him forward into the white nothingness of the hallways. He can’t put his arms up to feel the walls. He has no idea where to go, never allowed alone or to be in the white corridors without someone directly guiding him-Bam!

That’s the corner of the wall. Loki’s forehead pulses in pain. 

“Okay, so he’s lost a few brain cells. Good thing I was tired of him talking back.” Tony’s voice calls from behind him.

‘You try being blind in this hellish maze!’ Loki wants to bite back.

Angrboda takes the chains and tugs him into the right direction. They stop at a random room and Loki’s chains are transferred to Tony’s hands as they pass through the identical doorway. 

Tony surveys the room. It feels like a hotel suite, with a large bed on the far left, a couch and armchairs to the right. However, Tony freezes when he sees the floor-to-ceiling window wall directly across from the doorway.

Numbing cold snaked through his veins, up from his fingertips to what feels like his very core. JARVIS’ failed connection HUD’s battle for his attention between the ambulating electric blue and black of the wormhole and the approaching Chitauri cruiser-

“Stark?” It’s Loki’s voice, timid and anxious; he’s waiting for a punishment just for addressing the engineer. 

Tony tears his eyes from the window wall that stares into the heart of the space between realms. He’s looking at Yggdrasil. The very passageways that nearly swallowed him.

Loki is kneeling at the end of the bed, his hand nervously picking at the palm of his other. “Is everything alright? Your pheromones are all over the place.”

“Where the fuck are we? Have you seen this?” Tony breathes and walks to the windows. The two of them are alone in the room, but it doesn’t matter at this point. He’s completely out of his element now. 

“I can’t see what you’re talking about,” The enslaved man replies. Would he punish him for talking back, just like he said?

Tony nods, “Right, right, they did something to your eyes. Fuck, okay-um, we’re in a wormhole.” He doesn’t know how loudly he should be talking so he talks low enough that he knows only the man could pick up on it.

“Angrboda says he turned off the mics in here,” Loki whispers back when he sees Stark scrutinize the corners of the large room. 

Tony turns to him, “Is he trustworthy?”

Loki nods, a bit relieved at the man being more concerned over being eavesdropped on than hurting him, “He’s been with me for most of my time here.”

“Okay,” Tony hastily pulls the curtains shut to block out the terrifying existential crisis. The room dims into a soft, warm, amber colored atmosphere from the table lamps. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

Loki’s shoulders give a hopeless shrug, “Whatever you wish. You have me at your mercy.” 

“It doesn’t feel that great,” Tony mutters under his breath. “Are you sure they can’t hear us?”

“I trust Angrboda. He said that he couldn’t do anything about the cameras.” Loki’s eyes follow Tony's feet as he walks towards him.

He knows that En Dwi could probably read their lips, even if he couldn’t hear them, “Are there any in the bathroom?”

Loki shakes his head, “The Grandmaster says he likes to be respectful of the lavatory.”

“Get in the bathroom.”

“Stark, I know I’ve been horrible to you but please don’t kill me,” Loki pleads, mind racing that the man plans to take him on the cold tile floor without any prying eyes and then kill him.

“Get in the damn bathroom, Loki.” He grips the leash and tugs.

Loki is scrambling to his feet and moving into what he thinks is the bathroom, tripping over the rug and into the claw-foot tub.

Tony shuts the door, sliding in place the lock that probably doesn’t work. “JARVIS, scan.”

The small part of JARVIS he downloaded because of the offline capability, waves a blue wash of laser around the room before fading. 

“All clear, sir.” 

“Your kids are safe and healthy,” Tony’s blurry form seems to be sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. 

So now the man has locked them in here without any surveillance and is going to use his children as leverage to get him to behave.

Loki hyperventilates into where he’s brought his knees up to cover his face. “There’s no reason for you to be so generous, what can I give you? Sex? My seidr is gone, but I can broker with Thor for any potion you need.”

“Loki, you’re an asshole, but you don’t deserve this.” Tony moves towards him, trying to ignore the flinch when he leans over Loki to turn on the shower. “Here, this will cover any noise and you can stay warm.”

The spray of water gently hits Loki’s left side, and he huffs a wet laugh, “If you going to lie to me, please wait until after you’ve fucked me.”

Tony resists the urge to look at Loki’s lithe form, though skinny, Tony wants to kiss at the blue skin and dimples. “We’re not doing that.”

“But you said-”

“You're not the only one that can lie,” Tony murmurs, “like when I told Sleipnir that humans eat slices of lemons for fun. He asks Bruce for food recommendations now.”

Loki’s heart stops, “You have Sleipnir as well?”

“Yeah, Thor smuggled him out with the help of your mom. He’s a sweet kid, looks just like you.”

Loki finally lets the tears fall, “I had a vision that he was dead. I thought I would never see him again and he would never be free of that animal form Odin forced him into. Thank you for keeping him safe. I can’t believe I thought you were like the Grandmaster.”

Tony ignores the last comment. “Your twins on the other hand have figured out how to shapeshift. Nearly shocked me to death to find a wolf cub and a python in their crib the other day.”

“They’ve begun to shift at two days old?”

Tony’s eyebrows scrunch, “They’re a month old.”

“They were delivered only a few days ago,” Loki argues quietly. His brain is overworking so much he completely forgets about his earlier conversation with Angrboda. When will he have time to process and go through all this?

“There’s a fucking wormhole out the window there. Time here doesn’t matter, Loki. How long do you think you’ve been here?”

Loki recounts mealtimes, when Angrboda would take him to bed, when he would be yanked around the hallways, “A couple of months, right? It’s been about 42 days since I had the twins…Angrboda and I talked earlier but my head hurts from the hallway.”

“It’s been a year on Earth. I need to get you out of here.” Tony says.

Loki leans into the warm spray to wash away the chilled tears that run down his face.

Suddenly, Tony is so close to the edge of the tub that Loki can start to make out the man’s signature facial hair.

Things are always confusing for him now. Does he believe Tony that more time has elapsed since he gave birth?

“Tony Stark, is he not cooperating?” Angrboda’s voice comes from the other side of the door. 

Loki tenses. 

“No offense, big guy, but he smelled like you! I have to make sure that he’s all fresh linen-smelling.” Tony calls over the sound of the water. He helps Loki to his feet and fully into the water, squirting a glob of a random toiletry bottle into the Jotun’s hand to wash himself.

Tony opens the bathroom door some. 

Angrboda keeps a neutral expression as he takes in Loki, indeed washing in the shower scrubbing at the soreness of the metal cuffs. “The Grandmaster was worried that Loki had tried to harm you.”

Tony scoffs, “Nah, I’m still getting over my breakup so I’m just a bit sensitive to smells. But, hey, that just means that you’re doing your job of scenting him well.” Tony playfully raps his knuckles against Angrboda’s eye-level sculpted abs. 

“Good, uh, good. Like my big friend said, I was concerned because he can get a bit dramatic.” En Dwi’s head pokes out from Angrboda’s side. 

“We’re all good, man. Now I would like some privacy with him…you’ve heard about my escapades but never seen them, right?” He puts on the blinding grin that always reassures people. 

It works perfectly. 

“Right on, Angrboda, let’s let them have their space.” The Grandmaster beckons the giant away from the bathroom door. Though, there’s a lilt to the man’s joking atmosphere that makes Tony’s hair stand on end. 

So Gast does have an agenda other than taking Tony’s money. Tony’s probably walked right into a trap. Tony shuts the door, noticing there’s not a lock. Shit.

Loki looks pathetic in the shower. His undereye dark circles stand out as his hair is stuck to his high cheekbones. “You really look like shit,” He says before he can stop himself.

“There’s not many options for post-natal supplements around here,” Loki turns into the shower. The thin grey robe he was wearing was translucent with water.

Tony smiles at the murmured sass. It feels to know the demigod’s personality hasn’t been completely destroyed. He tries not to look below the belt too much, but he does need to know Loki’s condition if they’re eventually going to break out. “Okay, shower times over. I don’t know what they have planned but stalling won’t help.”

The raven-haired slave gulps and feels around for the faucet. Tony reaches to help him, their hands connecting on the spigot’s handle. “No matter what, I need you to trust me. We’re both going into this blind and I’m going to have to play along until I can understand what’s all going on, Loki.”

Loki’s foggy eyes flick upwards. “If you can’t get me out of here without putting yourself and the children in the line of fire, then kill me.”

“That would put me in the line of fire,” Tony says, “but yes. I’ll keep them safe.”

With the shower off, Tony hands Loki a fluffy white towel. Tony makes sure to spray bits of his cologne on his scent areas. “Time to face the music.”

Chapter Text

Tony won’t lie that seeing a naked Loki and having him wear his favorite cologne definitely interests his boner. The exhaustion present parallel the gauntly features Tony can vividly see in his memories from the Battle of New York. It feels like they're back in his penthouse, circling each other with skepticism. Tony at least sort of knows part of the game from the Aesir side this time.

En Dwi Gast and Angrboda are waiting by the exit of the hotel-esque room, blocking the immediate ‘run-for-it’ that flashes through his mind. Tony waltzes out and pulls Loki along by the arm, letting him stand once out of the bathroom. To try to show they did something, he lays a solid smack to Loki’s ass. The sound is music to his ears, even if it hurts his heart.

Angrboda’s red eyes narrow.

Gast beams. “What do you think?”

“I’m impressed with your work on him.”

The larger Jotun opens his mouth to retort, but the Grandmaster waves him away. “The pleasure is all mine. He was a tough one to break.”

Tony pushes Loki forward to have him kneel by the foot of the bed. The Jotun slides to the floor easily under his hand. “Easily trained now; I like that. Even obeyed me in the shower.”

Angrboda’s pheromones become a bit sour.

“I want some time with him, like really alone.”

Gast gets more excited, tipping over the edge of eagerness to obsessive. “Yes, yes. We can do that, uh, right, Angrboda?”

He grunts and moves towards the door. Gast follows him like an annoying dog, nearly tripping over the Jotun’s feet as pauses to open the door.

Tony watches to make sure the door is closed before turning back to Loki at his feet. “It’s kind of funny you’re kneeling right now considering our history.”

The joke lightens the tightness in Loki’s chest a tiny bit. So, he is just playing. However, even with Angrboda having taken the microphones out, there’s still cameras to worry about.

“J, scan.” Tony whispers using the side of his mouth so the cameras couldn’t read his lips.

Five vibrations from his watch. “So, we’ve got an audience then. Get on the bed.”

It’s just an act, it’s just an act, it’s just an act, Loki chants in his head. He stands and lifts a leg up to climb over the edge. The softness of the mattress is a welcoming feeling for the ache in his bones and soul. The bed he shares with Angrboda is like stable straw compared to this luxury.

“How do you want me?”

Tony shivers. “Jesus. Get under the covers.”

Loki peels back the unassuming comforter and sits back on his heels.

Tony lifts the edge higher, “All the way under.”

“Do you wish for me to suffocate?”

“Dramatic as always. I’m not about to fuck you in front of the Grandmaster,” Tony says in view of the camera before sliding under himself.

With the covers over both of their heads, Tony straddles the god. Loki tenses at the man’s intimacy, both of them sharing the humid air of their created fort.

“This going to be weird but trust me.” Director Fury’s directives included some Hollywood-esque devices such as a sound recorder, small speaker, and tiny motor in addition to the cameras.

Tony undoes the portable speaker fashioned as a button of his suit jacket, placing it at the open end of the covers, but still covered to not be seen. He queues up a video downloaded on his phone (that he totally didn’t know about until Coulson told him) and the sound of a voice eerily similar to Loki’s begins to moan softly.

Loki’s eyes widen dramatically, “What—”

“Because of your little stunt in the tower and Stuttgart, people have been writing fictional stories about us. Someone who sounds like you decided to fake us having sex.” He says under the growing noises of the audio. “I don’t particularly trust the no cameras guy.”

Next, Tony takes off his loafers, unhooking the black soles and slotting the long rods together.

“What is that?” Loki really has no choice but to watch with the man leaning overtop of him.

“A jack. It’ll move the bed. It’s not great, but it’ll work.” He reaches to the one side of the bed with no cameras directly on it and carefully places the contraption on the floor. It begins to rock the bed with its arm-like appendage.

Things get truly awkward as Tony returns to his place hovering inches above Loki’s face. He pulls out his phone and focuses on the screen. “I set up some cameras in the hallways that blend into the corners.”

“He’s going to find out. Blending into the wall isn’t enough to hide something from a sorcerer,” Loki hisses.

“They can move if they have to. If they get destroyed, it’s fine. I’ll talk myself out of it like I always do.”

“I used to say that and look at me now,” Loki deadpans.

Tony glances up at him, “You have circumstances beyond your control right now. Quiet, listen to someone pretending to be you pretending to have sex with someone pretending to be me.”

Loki quiets and stares up at their blanket ceiling as the rocks in conjunction with the moans emanating from his right.

The cameras are doing their job perfectly. Though the corridors are almost entirely identical, from the low perspective of the lens, the raking light of the hallway is actually revealing discrepancies in construction. Some doors are dented more than others. Some door thresholds are worn down from use. Tiles of the floor are cracked and chipped upon closer inspection. All useful. As the spider cameras scan, they create an outline of laser points.

They can’t scan faster because of foot traffic, having to pause and blend into the baseboards as guards and other prisoners pass. This is an active operation in a large, labyrinthine, interrealm structure. He looses two cameras when they get too close to the passing prisoners, and Tony prays that they didn’t make enough noise to be found out.

Loki stays silent as he dissociates. His hands have come up to rest on Tony’s thighs. Tony loses the last two cameras and decides that there will have to be enough recon for this mission. “Time for the big finale.”

He winds his watch and the audio begins to take on the more frantic noises of two lovers chasing an orgasm. Tony reaches up and musses Loki’s damp hair around, then guides Loki’s hand up to mess with his own.

Loki tries to not think about how interesting the texture of the man’s short hair is. No one he’d ever known has purposefully kept short hair like this, never mind spiked with gel. His hand pauses on Tony’s cheek. His thumb moves over Tony’s facial hair. Thor’s facial hair is coarse and scratchy to the touch. Tony’s is trimmed and conditioned but still has an edge of prickliness on his thumb pad.

He could have had this.

If he had accepted the offer of Stark as his alpha in the Helicarrier before it took off, would any of this had happened? Gast probably wouldn’t have touched Loki if he was mated.

Tony’s breathing heavily in tune with the roleplay audio. His pheromones are filling the intimate space between them as if they were entwined. Loki’s thumb presses against Tony’s lower lip.  “Loki…”

“Just once.”

He’s close enough that Loki can see his molten brown eyes flicker downward. “We can’t. Not like this.”

“They offered you to me…and I turned them down. How could I be so idiotic?” Loki breathes. “Please, Stark, just once.”

“We shouldn’t.”

Loki sees how the man’s arms are slowly lowering them closer together. “You already hold my hearts, and now you hold my safety…I want to show you how eager I am to comply.”

Tony’s arms are starting to shake with the strain of holding himself up, so he lets himself fully press against Loki. He gives in to the mouth (now blue) that he’s dreamt of for the past year and a half.

Loki’s hands drift back into Tony’s hair and deepens their contact.

Surprisingly, while Loki’s lips are chilled to the touch, the inside of his mouth is a blazing fire. Tony doesn’t resist the instincts to take dominance of the kiss, Loki rightfully adjusting to get pressed further into the mattress under his weight.

The audio reaches the crescendo of gasps and whimpers, just as Loki rocks up into Tony’s clothed erection.

“Fuck,” Tony breaks the kiss but stays close enough for their lips to brush.

This was so different from the times with Angrboda or even other Aesir and Midgardian lovers. Tony’s pheromones weren’t stinging his nostrils and instead working in harmony with his own somewhat diminished scent. Tangled together under this blanket was the safest Loki’s felt since he was a child still naïve and running amongst Asgardian palace corridors.

Loki moans, hips canting up in jerky movements. He gasps into Tony’s mouth as he cums.

When the man’s hips continue to move, Loki’s hand slides over expensive silk fabric until it can slip inside the buttoned waistband.

“My savior,” Loki whispers. “My alpha.”

The engineer chokes on a moan. His cock kicks in Loki’s grip and spills into his underwear. He swears under his breath. “Fuck, Loki.”

Both of them still to catch their breath. Tony replaces the button speaker on his sport jacket and the bed contraption fold back up into his shoe soles.

“This may work in our favor,” Loki whispers.

“Yeah,” Tony tries to play it cool. Sweat from his forehead drips down to Loki’s nose. He tries not to watch as it rolls onto the Jotun’s tongue. “I have to regroup then I’ll be back for you.”

Loki’s expression is still open. “You’ve already done so much. I can survive now that I have a glimmer of hope.”

Tony leans down and presses one last kiss to him. It threatens to deepen, so he has to break away. He sits up and pushes off the covers, breathing in the chilled air of the room.

To their surprise, the Grandmaster, Angrboda, and Amora are standing by the door to the room.

“Um, breach of privacy much?” Tony wipes at his face.

Loki’s hands deftly rebutton Tony’s pants, adding to the illusion.

“Why were you hiding?” Gast questions. “I don’t like it when my property is out of sight with a new customer.”

Tony moves off of Loki and sits on the edge of the bed. “And I don’t like it when I can’t fully enjoy a test run.”

“It looks like you did finish the test run, though,” Amora says.

He looks down to see smattered streaks of Loki’s cum across his crotch, as well as the his own cum at the hem of his white dress shirt. “Well despite you entering the room while I told you I wanted to be alone, I’m interested in him.”

Thankfully that changes the man’s mood right around. “Wonderful.”

“What’s your price?”

“Hmm?”

Tony repeats himself. “What’s your price for him?”

Angrboda fights himself internally to not growl. This could be the simple ending to the entire Loki issue. If Tony buys him, then Angrboda has one less thing to worry about while busting Gast’s operation. Yet his instincts wrestle to keep control of the fertile Jotun omega.

“He’s not for sale,” The Grandmaster shakes his head. “I’m not quite, um, done with him yet.”

Loki’s eyes flicker to the giant beside him.

Tony stands. He straightens his jacket, readjusts his watch. “Now that I’ve seen him, I’m not sure I want to leave without him. I’ve got more than enough for any price you can give me. I can buy out any offer you’d get for babies.”

“That may be true, but it’s a bit of a sentimental thing.”

Great. Plan A failed. Plan B activated.

“When’s the earliest I can leave with him?” Tony asks.

“After the next round of kits,” The Grandmaster says nonchalantly.

Tony’s expression hardens. “I want the next round to be mine.”

En Dwi Gast’s eyes light up with glee. “That’s exactly my thought. Amora, please take them to breeding room three.”

The blonde woman begins to step towards Tony. From behind her back she pulls out a syringe.

Even with blurry vision, Loki can see the vial’s bright blue contents of the shot always given before he was moved while unconscious.

Tony’s hands shoot upwards like a caught bank robber. “Dude, my legs work perfectly fine!”

Gast tuts, “Mr. Stark, I’m afraid that you’re worth more as a breeder than a repeat customer. Your billions are nice, but a billion children combining your intellect with Loki’s seidr is priceless. I hope there’s no ‘hard’ feelings.”

Amora advances and he successfully dodges her syringe. He stands his ground in front of the bed and shielding Loki. “I’m not into roofies, Gast. I’ll breed him. You’ll get all the children you want from me, but if I don’t walk out of here, you will learn why my nickname was the Merchant of Death.” It’s not necessarily a true threat; there’s not a team ready to charge in and save him if he can’t work his way out, but Tony did build the Iron Man suit in a cave in Afghanistan, and he does have an advantage with some nanotech on now.

The old man looks up to Angrboda, gesturing for the giant to take the man into custody. When the Jotun shrugs, Gast groans. “Fine! Fine, fine, fine. Amora put the needle away.”

Tony can feel Loki’s foggy gaze staring into his back.

The woman still stares threateningly at Tony but recaps the syringe and zips it away in a hip pocket.

Loki gets off the bed with a hand from Angrboda and the leash is reattached. He and Tony are marched out into the white hallways, where Gast practically parades them down the hall. They turn left once, then

“You know, you should really keep the syringe pointed down,” Tony makes conversation with the woman leading him. “You have a higher chance of accidentally sticking yourself through the crease of your hip then of the needle sticking to the thigh of your opposite leg.”

“That sounds like bullshit,” She responds.

Tony reaches to his jacket sleeve and tugs up to his elbow. “’Got a history of heroin. I had to learn how to store them when I was hiding a relapse from Mom.”

Amora’s hands are unzipping the pouch and as she takes the syringe out to turn it clockwise, Tony takes a good look at the liquid inside. It’s neon blue—the kind of shocking color advertising hipster bars and murals in Portland. There’s not a ton of liquid in it, only half an ounce. Gast was ready with it though, so it was probably dosed for a person of his bodyweight and size. Good to know.

They take a left turn down a hallway with a different kind of blank white door. These have silver kick shields for the bottom twelve inches. Some are more worn and dented like what he saw on spider cam footage. A detail he can use.

They stop at the fifth door on the left. Amora reaches forward and scans her hand on the small black screen next to the knob. It opens with a small ding.

The suite inside is more luxurious than the one Tony and Loki were previously in. It looked like an actual penthouse hotel room Tony’s been in before. He plays into it.

“Did you use the same interior designer as Hotel 32?”

Gast’s eyebrows furrow but he preens at the praise. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that hotel.”

Tony takes that in stride. “Really? Hotel 32 in Las Vegas? I need to show you some of the best penthouse suites on the strip. Either way, I like the digs.”

“That’s great, just great. Now, uh, let’s get things started here.” The old man nods.

Loki stands between Tony and Angrboda, unsure of where to look at so he simply keeps his gaze on the ground. Angrboda is still grasping the leash tightly.

“I’m not going to pop a boner with you in the room, Gast, no offense. You’re very much not my type. If you want some more babies, you gotta go stand outside and chat with the blue Hulk.”

Amora’s expression cracks a bit. The Grandmaster usually doesn’t get turned down.

Still, it doesn’t bother Gast on the surface. “This is highly unusual protocol.”

“And when have you ever seen me follow protocol? I literally just left the Avengers because I didn’t want to follow their protocol.”

En Dwi’s wrinkled hands come up to rest on his high cheekbones. He appraises Tony with a hum. “I’m still not feeling it. Angrboda at least has to stay in the room.”

Loki yelps as the leash suddenly pulls him closer to the giant. “No.”

“Angrboda! What’s gotten into you ruining all my deals today?” Gast stomps his foot like an angry toddler. “Get your head in the game.”

Tony watches the confrontation. “Actually, big boy, I want you to stay and watch.”

All of them except Amora look at him surprised.

“Really?” Loki asks. He’s choked by the collar for insubordination, but Gast repeats the expression.

“I mean, does it matter if you get more Jotun babies or half-human ones with me for the next round. If I’m here to stay, then I want enough time to really get into that womb at the peak of my testosterone. The Arc Reactor cycles it in smaller doses.”

Gast nods, thinking deeply. “I didn’t even think about that.”

Again, Amora calls his shit.

“Have you ever met someone with a Reactor? Don’t tell me how the machine I created functions, sweetheart,” He bites back. “Now, Grandmaster and woman-splainer, get the fuck out so I can watch the two of them fuck.”

Gast pats Angrboda’s shoulder as the two pass by on their way out. The Jotun tenses at the contact.

Finally, the three are alone.

“There’s no cameras or mics, but they’re going to watch from the mirror to your left.” Angrboda says lowly.

Tony scrutinizes him. “I thought you were against this.”

“I was trying to get him to leave you two in here alone. I’ve been playing along to take down this whole thing.”

The engineer turns his back, satisfied, and takes Loki’s cheeks into his palms. “What’s up with his eyes?”

“They’re sclera lens,” Angrboda guides the two of them to the fully stocked bar across the large suite from the bed and kitchenette. He allows Tony to peruse the bottles. “They’re easy enough to get out, but it’s noticeable if he doesn’t have them in.”

Tony nods, acting like he is having a hard time deciding. “The wormhole outside the rooms?”

“We’re in Yggdrasil between Muspelheim and Jotunheim. Only escape is using Bifrost, Seidr, or portals like I have been.”

“Okay, I only know about one of those, but I assume the other isn’t good either.” He picks out a vodka, easy enough to replace with plain water and act like he’s drunk the real thing.

Loki kneels by Tony’s feet, turning his face into Tony’s thigh to block any possible lip reading. He can’t see where the two-way mirror would be. “If we’re between branches, he has to have a base in one of the worlds we are between.”

“But we got here through Midgard,” He says into his drink. For extra play, he rests a hand on the top of Loki’s hair.

“It’s not Jotunheim.”

“Then Muspelheim,” Tony whispers.

“No one survives in Muspelheim,” Loki says gravely.

“Then it isn’t Muspelheim,” Tony states.

Angrboda’s posture straightens. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Midgardian.”

“I trust Loki’s knowledge. If you say no to the ice world and he says no to the Muscle world-thing, then it’s something else. Are you sure it isn’t Midgard?”

“No, that world doesn’t have the immense energy needed to stabilize between realms like this.”

Angrboda’s large form moves away from the bar to look out the window to the wormhole swirling endless out the large windows.

Tony looks down at the god. “Act like you’re giving me a blowjob.”

Loki nods, “I can give you a real one.”

His knees threaten to collapse. “I won’t be able to think. Rain check for now.” The half of Loki that probably visible to the living area’s large, mirrored wall should be fooled if the man moves his hands out of sight and bobs his head a bit. To help, he guides Loki’s head with a gentle grip of his hair.

“The only realms capable of what I think this place must be, energy-wise is Svartlheim or Asgard,” Loki again has to focus on not focusing on how weird this pretend motion is. “Svartlheim hates trafficking children but would participate in adult trafficking.”

An intercom beep rings overhead. “I’m not seeing much breeding.”

Tony gestures to where he’s making Loki’s head bob. “Do you not see me getting a very skilled blowjob right here? Geez, you must not have good foreplay.”

“Just get on with it, Stark.”

“Cool your jets,” Tony fakes heavy breathing. They’re running out of time. “So what’s your plan?” He asks Angrboda.

“I don’t have enough intel on his resources,” Angrboda says to the window.

“Well, we’re gonna have to work with what we got then. Is this Svart-hel-heim possibly a link?”

Loki shakes his head. “Frigga or I would have found it.”

Things go quiet in the room until Tony fakes a gasp, yanking Loki’s hand back roughly to simulate the man’s being surprised. They’re officially out of time. It’s either Tony has to watch the two Jotnar go at it and get Loki pregnant again, or die being found out.

He holds not only Loki and Angrboda’s lives in his hands, but those of their children and his pack who has no idea what peril he’s in right now.

Time for Plan X.

The one thing he didn’t want to do because it will truly be the greatest risk.

“Gast?” Tony says loudly.

The intercom again. “What’s the hold up?”

“What if I could offer you something equally as priceless in exchange for Loki?”

The door to the suite opens. Loki scrambles to undo Tony’s zipper enough to look like it was already open.

Gast strides in, gold robe sparkling in the corridor lights. “Nothing is worth more to me than him.”

“I know your history. How your twin brother was said to have been killed by the Italian Mafia, but it was really SHIELD. How they sold his collection without your knowledge to the highest bidder and then poured that money into spy missions that watched you constantly. I know how it’s affected your senses, to be constantly paranoid like that. I can give you ultimate power and wealth that you and I barely grasp.”

“What do you have that I couldn’t get?” Gast crosses his arms.

“The triplet daughters of Captain America and the Winter Soldier.”