Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started out as a normal day. Well, normal for Tony at least, which isn't saying much in the way of normalcy. The fact that things were going well for Tony this morning should've been a hint that something was about to fuck that all up. He was sitting on the couch with his StarkPad, getting ready for some nonsense meeting when there was a huge crash that shook the whole building. Tony jumped up, knocking over his cup of coffee in the process, grabbed his repulsor off the table and yelled "Jarvis? Talk to me buddy"

"There appears to be a body on the roof, sir"

"What?! A body?"

"That is what I said"

Rolling his eyes, he moved towards the elevator "This is not the time for sassing, J, anything you can tell me about this body?"

"Apologies, sir, I can't get a proper reading from his location. He appears to be alive, but unmoving"

Tony pressed the button for the roof "Ok, that's good. I think. Any clue who he is?"

"According to my files, the gentleman on the roof is Loki Laufeyson"

"Loki..."

"Laufeyson, yes"

"Loki. As in the alien God that invaded our planet in the not so distant past? That Loki?!"

"The very same"

"Fuck"

"Aptly put, sir"

Ignoring every part of him that told him to not go to the roof, he continued on his way and hesitantly stepped out of the elevator. Holding the hand with the repulsor up at the ready, he walked towards Loki whose back was facing him. At first look, he could tell that this was not the same Loki that invaded Earth. Obviously it was the same man, but the body laying before him was not the crazy haired, fancy armored, put together God that he remembered.

The clothing was the first thing that caught his eye, he was wearing a torn and bloodied tunic with equally torn and bloodied pants. His hair was frizzy and unkempt and there were scars on his body. So many scars. Tony couldn't see all of the God's body, but what he could see was riddled with scars. Some old, some very very new. Moving around to face Loki, he saw something that made him drop the repulsor and rush to the God's side.

"Shit. Jarv, send my suit up, I've gotta get him to the med bay and I can't lift him on my own"

"It's on it's way, may I suggest restricting access to the elevators and locking down the med bay?"

"Great idea, you're truly brilliant, do that"

"Thank you, sir, it's done"

Barely a minute later, his suit arrived and he quickly stepped in and picked up Loki. The God didn't move and was just a limp body in his arms. Tony rushed to the elevator and headed to the med bay, quick to put Loki down on the bed and step out of the suit. Without hesitation, he cut open Loki's shirt and started assessing the damage. There were bruises and cuts, but nothing that seemed to require immediate attention. What had caught Tony's eyes originally was the black thread that kept the God's lips shut. He looked around for a pair of scissors when Jarvis interrupted him.

"Sir, there's something odd about the thread that was used for Mr. Laufeyson's mouth"

"Odd how?"

"I'm getting a magical reading from it. It's similar to the readings I have of Mr. Laufeyson's magic, but not quite the same"

"Magic thread. That figures. I'm not going to be able to simply cut it off of him, am I?"

"I do not believe so and I worry what would happen should you try to do so"

"Ok, so we'll back burner that for now then. Take some scans, let me know if there's anything that needs my immediate attention"

"Of course, sir, this will just take a moment"

Tony started pacing while he was waiting for the scans to finish. A thousand things were running through his mind, starting with the magical thread. He didn't have too long to think because Jarvis was pulling up the scans.

"Shit. What the hell happened in Asgard?"

"My readings show internal bleeding, a few broken ribs, broken jaw, slight concussion, bruising on his abdomen, open wounds on his back, sprained ankle and minor scrapes throughout his body. This is all in addition to malnutrition and dehydration. His body does appear to be healing itself at a rapid rate so I would say that the most pressing matters would be the dehydration and malnutrition."

"Fuck. Fuck. Alright. Start an IV then, get some fluids in him. I can do that"

Silently, Tony got Loki hooked up to a couple of IV drips to get him hydrated and work on the malnutrition. Once that was all setup, he started looking back through the scans that Jarvis had taken. These were not just old wounds, a lot of it was very recent, though the majority were old. Last Tony had seen Loki was when Thor brought him to Asgard to be imprisoned for invading Earth. The subject of Loki had come up again a few months ago when there was new evidence showing that the invasion may have been led under mind control.

There were so many images of the invasion and in all of them, Loki's eyes were blue. The images from the pent house, after Hulk made a Loki-sized dent in the floor, showed Loki's eyes as emerald green. Tony looked through the photos so many times wondering if he was seeing things before he managed to get ahold of Thor. He remembered the look on Thor's face when he saw the two photos side by side. He was beside himself that he hadn't noticed before and took off without even saying anything to Tony.

Since it had been a few months, Tony assumed that Thor presented the evidence to the Allfather and Loki was back to his old life up in God land. Clearly, he had been wrong on thinking that though based on the very battered Loki in front of him. Tony instructed Jarvis to get ahold of Thor, but to not tell him why he was being requested. Thor didn't exactly have a phone so they usually went through Jane Foster to get ahold of the God of Thunder.

"Sir, Mr. Laufeyson appears to be waking up"

Tony jumped out of his chair and walked over to the bed where Loki was coming back to consciousness. Loki's eyes fluttered opened and he seemed to quickly realize that he was not in a place he recognized and jumped to a sitting position against the headboard.

Holding his hands up to show he's not there to hurt him, Tony got his attention "Calm down there, Reindeer Games, I'm not going to hurt you"

Loki's eyes widened for a moment and his mouth moved ever so slightly before his hand reached up to touch the thread on his lips. His eyes slowly closed for a moment and he brought his knees to his chest. He looked around the room before his eyes settled on Tony with a questioning look.

"I'm assuming since you're not strangling me that you know I didn't sew your mouth shut?"

Loki nodded in confirmation, making Tony relax a bit.

"Great. Yeah, ok. I have a ton of questions for you, but it's not like you can answer me too easily right now. I'll have to get you something to write on. In the meantime, I'll catch you up to speed" Tony explained the events of the day from Loki crashing into the tower to now and made sure to include the list of injuries.

"So, I guess my main question is what the hell happened to you?" he looked over to Loki giving him a non-amused look "Right. Can't answer me. Did you come from Asgard?"

Loki nodded

"Were you in prison?" another nod "Is that where you came from? The prisons, I mean" Loki nodded again with a slightly confused look on his face.

"I'm clarifying because the last I talked about you, it was to prove your innocence for the invasion" The God looked absolutely shocked to hear Tony say this "You had no idea, did you?"

Shaking his head no, he sat up straighter and looked to Tony expectantly.

"I was going through photos of the invasion and all of them showed you with blue eyes. Here's the kicker, the photos of you after your one on one time with the Hulk showed your eyes as green. I confirmed with Thor that your eyes were in fact green normally which means that scepter of yours was controlling you too"

Tony stepped closer to Loki and took a seat on the side of the bed, smiling slightly "It's nice to know that I was right. I don't usually say things like this to homicidal alien Gods, but you have hauntingly beautiful green eyes. Suits you with the whole pale skin, black hair emo look you have going on"

Loki rolled his eyes, causing Tony to laugh. They both sobered and Tony patted his hand "We'll get this figured out, Bambi, I have a feeling that Thor isn't aware what happened to you either so I have a call out to him. Don't worry, he doesn't know you're here. Just told him it was urgent to talk to him."

"You're probably wondering why I'm doing this" Loki nodded "I'm not too sure on the why, just a gut feeling that I should help you. Worst case scenario, you end up killing me. Best case scenario, I get on the good side of the God of Mischief"

Tony got up and clapped his hands together "Now, how about we move upstairs. I've got a tower full of Avengers and I'm guessing you'd prefer to be somewhere that they won't just pop up"

Loki immediately got off the bed, wincing when he moved too fast, but Tony was quick to get to his side and help him stand. They got to the elevator and went up to Tony's penthouse. Tony got the God comfortable on the couch and had just moved to join him when there was a flash of lightning out of his window.

Chapter Text

Tony was surprised by the look of terror on Loki's face when they saw the lightning. Being afraid of Odin would make sense, but Thor? He knew there was a story there, but no time to ask it.

"Sir, Mr. Odinson is on your balcony and is requesting entrance"

"Stall him for a minute Jarv" He took hold of Loki's arm and pulled him off the couch "You can wait in the bedroom while I talk to Blondie. I won't let him know you're here unless you want me to"

Loki nodded and followed him back to the bedroom, but grabbed his arm before he could walk away. Tony gave him a questioning look so Loki pointed to his mouth.

"Right, I'll get you something to write with when I'm done wi-what?" Loki pointed to his mouth again and then pointed in the direction of the living room "You want me to tell Thor about it?"

Loki quickly shook his head no, but was interupted by Jarvis "Sir, Mr. Odinson is currently in the living room waiting for you"

"Ok, tell him I'll be there in a minute" He looked back to Loki "You don't want me to tell Thor about it?" Loki shook his head "Should I ask him how to remove the thread?" A nod yes "Ha! I'm learning Loki-speak"

Ignoring Loki's eye roll, he told him to stay put and asked Jarvis to pull up feed of the living room so that Loki would know what was being said. Tony walked out to the living room to find Thor standing with his armor and Mjolnir in hand. He gave Tony a bright smile when he noticed him.

"Friend Stark! How have you been?"

"Good, bud, it's been awhile"

"Yes, I've been off world until recent. It was fortunate you called my Jane when you did, I had just arrived"

"You said you've been off world. How long have you been gone?"

Thor took a moment to think "It's been about two months or so"

"Huh. So, I haven't seen you, I was wondering whatever happened with Loki?" He motioned for Thor to sit and he followed suit.

"After we spoke I went to my father and told him of the evidence you had to prove my brothers innocence. My father was surprised, but once my mother got involved he agreed that it was mind control. I was then sent to other realms for dealings on behalf of the Allfather so I wasn't there for Loki's release"

Tony was nodding slowly "And you're positive that Loki was released"

"I have no reason to believe he would not be. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, Point Break, are you heading back to Asgard now?"

"Yes, I've been away for awhile and need to report back to my father. I am also anxious to see my brother again"

"Great, I won't hold you up then" They both stood and Thor started walking towards the balcony when Tony stopped him "Hey, so, I was reading up on the norse myths and I wanted to run one by you if that's ok?"

Thor let out a boisterous laugh "You Midgardians have creative tales, you must not believe everything you read. What in particular were you curious about?"

"There was a story about Loki getting his mouth sewn shut" Thor's expression turned serious very quickly "Did that really happen?"

"It was a long time ago that happened, my mother was furious when she found out what my father had done. He swore to her that it would never be done again"

"Odin did it?" Thor nodded "How could he do that to his own son?"

"He said he would hear no more of Loki's lies." he said through gritted teeth

"Fuck, that's awful" Tony knew he had to tread lightly on the subject "Couldn't your mother have just taken the thread out for him?"

Thor shook his head "No, the thread was made of blood magic. The only one who could undo it was Odin himself or someone of his bloodline. I was under strict instruction not to help"

Tony nodded and patted Thor's arm before walking away. He only made it a few steps before he realized that Thor hadn't moved. Tony had never seen the God look so sad before.

"I know it appears that I often do wrong by Loki, but I truly love my brother" Thor didn't wait for a response and left through the balcony door before calling Heimdall to bring him back to Asgard.

Turning to head back to his room, he almost ran right into Loki who had snuck up behind him.

"Shit, you move like a fucking ninja"

Loki didn't make any indication that he had heard Tony as he was staring past him out the window where Thor just left. Tony gently patted Loki's shoulder and walked past him to find a notepad and pen so they could finally communicate properly. With a cheer of triumph, he held the notepad up in the air for the God to see and handed it him. Tony waited patiently for Loki to write what he wanted to say.

Is there somewhere that I can bathe and rest?

"Yeah, of course, sorry. I should've offered you that sooner. Not a great host, am I?" He motioned for Loki to follow him and led him to the guest room, across the hallway from Tony's room.

Tony assumed that Loki wouldn't know how to operate a normal Earth shower so he showed him how to operate it. He could tell that it wasn't really what he wanted and remembered that showers probably weren't a thing on Asgard so he offered to let him use the bathtub in his own bathroom. The God was quick to accept so he had Jarvis get the bath started and got some clean clothing for Loki to change into before leaving him alone.

"Jarvis, keep an eye on him. Let me know if he needs help or anything"

"Of course, sir"

There were so many logistics that still needed to be figured out, the most pressing was how to remove the thread on Loki's mouth. He seemed uninterested in letting Thor know he was in the tower so that was a no go and there was no way that Odin was going to have a change of heart. Deciding he'd re-approach the subject of getting Thor's help later, Tony moved onto the other issues that needed to be addressed.

Where to keep the God? The guest room seemed appropriate for now even though Tony wasn't too keen on the idea of having him so close to him. How to keep his presence unknown from the rest of the Avengers? That was more difficult. They didn't currently have access to the penthouse so that was fine, but they were bound to notice that something was up eventually. Problem number three made itself known with a ding of the elevator.

"Do you make it your number one priority to dodge all of my calls?" Happy asked with a less than amused look on his face

"Your job wouldn't be as much of a challenge if I cooperated all the time"

"That's definitely true, boss" He got out his phone and started scrolling through things "So, you've got a 2 o'clock meeting with Japan then you have a 3:30 meeting with the Stark Industries board and then-"

"Let me stop you right there" Tony held his hand up to silence Happy who looked annoyed, but amused (his signature look) "I'm gonna need you to cancel all of that. Well, not cancel, but count me out. Pep can handle it all"

"Boss-"

"Something came up that needs my immediate attention. I'll let you know when I become free again"

"Will you actually let me know?"

Tony laughed "Jarvis will at least"

"I will keep you informed Mr. Hogan"

Happy sighed "Fine. I guess I'll let Pepper know you'll be MIA again for the foreseeable future?"

Tony patted his arm while leading him to the elevator "That'd be great, Hap, you're a real trooper!"

Shaking his head, Happy got in the elevator and turned back to his phone. Tony let out a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed and descended. He headed back to his room and saw that the bathroom door was open and Loki was gone so he walked across the hall and quietly opened the door. The God was fast asleep so he closed the door and headed down to the lab after giving Jarvis instructions to inform him when Loki woke up.

Time always flew by when he was working on anything in the lab so it was easy to forget about meals and sleep. If Jarvis didn't remind him to take a break Steve usually ended up finding him and forcing him to bed. Steve was practically a mother hen when it came to Tony and the rest of the team, always making sure people ate and had a semi-normal schedule to adhere to. It was sweet, but it did pose an issue for someone try to hide an alien God.

Right on schedule, Steve walked into the lab with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.

Tony eagerly took it with a smile on his face "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me" Steve looked alarmed which made Tony laugh "Don't worry, Spangles, you're not my type"

"I thought that anyone breathing was your type"

"Look at you working on your humor! And, to answer your question, breathing is definitely my type"

Steve shook his head and then looked up at the screen Tony was looking at "Uh, Tony, whose is that?"

"What? Oh-th-that's nothing. Old files, just doing some spring cleaning on the system" Tony said while quickly minimizing the screen

"The date on those files were today's date"

"Man, you have good eye sight" Tony mumbled

"What's going on, Tony? Those were serious injuries"

"Any chance you can just trust that I'm handling things and that no one is danger at this moment?" Steve had crossed his arms and was staring at Tony with a serious expression. Sighing, he continued "Alright. I'm going to tell you, but I need you to allow me to explain and not freak out"

"I can do that"

"Wonderful" he hesitated for a moment "Those scans are Loki's"

"Loki's"

"Yes"

Steve was shaking his head with furrowed brows "Are you telling me that Loki is here?"

"Not here in the lab-"

"Tony!"

"Ok, ok! Yes, he is currently in the tower"

"Loki is in the tower. Loki. Thor's brother, Loki. The man that invaded our planet, Loki. That Loki."

"Unless you know of another tall, dark and handsome God of Mischief, then yes, that Loki"

"Jesus, Tony, what are you thinking?!"

"I wouldn't say a ton of thinking was involved, but this is the part where you adhere to your agreement and let me explain" Steve sighed, but nodded for Tony to continue. Tony went through the whole story, making sure to not leave any details out.

After pacing a minute, Steve stopped and looked at Tony "What do we do now?"

"We?"

"Yes, we. I'm involved now, I can't just pretend that I don't know he's here. Besides...I owe you for all of your help with Bucky"

"Cap, we've been over this, you don't owe me for that"

"I know, but I still feel that I should help you with your Loki problem"

"I don't know how thrilled he'll be about that, but I appreciate it. I'd also appreciate it if you were to keep this between us for now"

"I'm not going to lie to anyone, Tony"

"Ugh. Come on, Capsicle, work with me"

"I'm not going to lie. But, unless someone explicitly asks me, I'm not going to say anything about Loki"

"That's probably the best I'm going to get from you so, I'll take it"

The first thing that Tony decided he needed to do was to order a white board to make it easier for Loki to communicate. He also instructed Jarvis to run some diagnostics on the 'magic thread' to see if there was a way around the blood magic. He doubted there'd be another solution, but he couldn't just accept no as an answer. The two of them started discussing how best to deal with Loki and whether or not they should get Thor involved when Jarvis interrupted them.

"Sir, I think you should get to Mr. Laufeyson's room as soon as possible"

Chapter Text

"Sir, I think you should get to Mr. Laufeyson's room as soon as possible"

"What's going on, Jarv?"

"He appears to be caught in a nightmare"

"How can you tell?"

"There's the obvious signs of a nightmare such as: sweating, grumbling in his sleep, rapid breathing-"

"Ok, ok, I get it"

"I should also mention that the temperature in the room has dropped twenty degrees"

Tony and Steve looked at each other and then both walked quickly to the elevator. They made their way to the guest room and had to push heavily on the door to get it to open, it had been covered in ice. Looking around, they noticed that most of the room was now covered in ice as well. Loki was thrashing on the bed so Tony ran over and softly shook his arms. When that did nothing, he shook him a little more forcefully.

Loki shot up, eyes wide and breathing heavily. He was grabbing at his mouth and was struggling to get control of his breathing. Tony put his hand on the God's chest to get his attention. Loki was staring at him, but wasn't calming down.

Tony took Loki's hand and put it on his own chest "Copy my breathing. Feel my heartbeat. You're ok, you're safe, Loki" Slowly, he started to relax and breathe normally "That's it, you're alright"

Loki inhaled slowly and closed his eyes while loosening his grip on Tony's chest. He took another couple of breaths before he opened his eyes and nodded his thanks. Tony gave him a smile and patted his shoulder before getting off of the bed and gesturing to Steve who was watching silently from the doorway.

"So, before you panic, Capsicle here knows about your situation"

Loki never took his eyes off of Steve while he grabbed his notepad off of the bedside and started writing. He turned it around to show them once he had finished.

I thank you and bid you farewell

Tony's eyes went wide "Woah, wait, you're leaving?" Loki nodded and moved to get up, but Tony put his hand on the God's shoulder and pushed him back down "You're in no condition to go anywhere, Frosty, just Steve knows. No one else in the tower is aware that you're here"

Steve stepped forward "I told Tony that I would help and I intend to keep that promise. He helped a very good friend of mine when he needed it so I feel that I owe it to him to help you now."

Loki hesitated for a minute before looking down at the notepad and scribbling something new:

Tell me about your friend?

Steve smiled and nodded before sitting down in a chair that was near the bed, clearing his throat before starting.

"His name is James. James Buchanan Barnes, but I always called him Bucky. We were friends before I was given the super soldier serum, he was my best friend. There was an incident where he fell from a train and I thought him dead. A long time after that, I saw him again. He was sent to kill me and others and he had no memory of me."

"Bucky had been captured by an organization called HYDRA and was turned into a weapon after giving him the super soldier serum. They called him the Winter Soldier. Something I said to him triggered his memory of me and he backed down. Eventually, we got him away from HYDRA and into SHIELD custody, but he still had trouble with his mind and not obeying the commands they wired into him. SHIELD didn't want to take him in or help him, but when Tony Stark and Nick Fury make a personal request they tend to listen."

"Tony spoke on his behalf and forced them to help Bucky. It was a long and painful journey for him, but he's finally out of their control and is once again his own person. I owe Tony everything for giving me my best friend back."

Loki looked thoughtful while he wrote Does James still suffer from his memories?

"He does. Somedays are worse than others, there's still times where he thinks he's back there and it takes him some time to adjust"

Have you had anyone look at his mind to heal it?

"I'm not sure what you mean. Look at his mind how?"

With magic. A mage could lock away the bad memories if not repair them

Steve looked shocked "That can be done?" Loki nodded "We don't exactly know any mages so, no, no one's looked at his mind like that"

Perhaps I could be of assistance

The Captain looked too stunned to answer so Tony got Loki's attention "You could go into his mind and repair it?"

Yes and no. It is within my power to do so, but at the moment, my magic is bound

"Shit. I was wondering why you hadn't just poofed out of here" Tony was pacing now while Steve was in thought "It's that damn thread, isn't it?"

Loki nodded

"Fuck" Tony muttered "Odin is doing his best to make it to the top of my shit list"

Tony was busy pacing so Steve looked over to Loki "Only blood relation can remove the thread, right? I think we need to discuss telling Thor"

Loki was shaking his head no which made Tony stop pacing "Look, Reindeer Games, I don't know what the problem between you and Thor is, but it seems like he's the only one who can help us with this mess" He said while motioning at Loki's mouth.

My brother has never been able to disobey the Allfather's orders. If he finds out that I'm here, he will report my location to Odin and then I'll end up back in the prisons if not executed

Steve's eyes widened "Executed?! But, you were proven innocent for everything that happened here. Why would you go back to the prisons?"

Loki was looking down at his hands while Tony moved to sit on the side of the bed "It doesn't matter"

"What do you mean it doesn't matter, of course it matters Tony. He-"

"It doesn't matter to Odin" Tony looked back to Loki who had looked up at him with weary eyes "It never mattered to him, did it? Everything that happened on Earth was an excuse for him to punish you. He never cared whether you were guilty or not"

I've never been good enough for him. I'll never be Thor

"Dads can be the worst, believe me, I get it. Obviously my dad wasn't some crazy powerful God or anything, but he was a shitty dad" Tony patted Loki's hand "We'll figure something out, Bambi, I have Jarvis running tests on the magic thread as we speak"

"Sir, Director Fury is calling a team meeting. He wants everyone in the conference room in ten minutes"

Tony groaned "Of course he is. If he was a God, he'd be the God of Bad Timing. Loki, the penthouse is completely locked down, no one but myself and Cap are being given access to this floor while you're here. Stevie and I will be back as soon as we can, let Jarvis know if you need anything"

Steve hesitated leaving "Tony, how can he talk to Jarvis?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Just snap your fingers to get his attention and then hold up your notepad to any of the cameras"

Loki nodded and waved the other two out of the room. Tony and Steve were the last ones to get to the conference room and quickly took their seats. Fury looked as disinterested as always as he got everyone's attention.

"I'll keep this short and sweet. Loki's missing. He is no longer on Asgard and no one seems to know where he is. I know that he's been exonerated, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a powerful individual so we will be treating him as a threat"

Clint nodded in agreement "Fine by me, I still don't like the guy"

"You don't have to seem so eager to lock him up" Nat said while smacking the back of his head

"Yeah, Clint, you of all people know what it's like to be under mind control" Bruce said quietly

"Because of him! He put me under mind control. Under his control. I'm just saying that it won't be a hardship to treat him as a threat"

"Alright, alright" Fury was hitting the table "Let's focus up here. I want regular patrols and to be immediately informed of any sign of his presence. Thor should be here within the next few days and will hopefully have more information for us. That's all for now"

As soon as Fury left, Steve stood up and gave everyone their marching orders. Teams of two would go out every night to keep a watch on things and they would have Peter Parker keep a watch as well, but he was not to engage should he see anything. Everyone started filing out of the room except Tony, Steve and Bucky.

Bucky looked between the two of them "What's going on with the both of you?"

"Nothing, Buck, why?" Steve said immediately.

"Neither of you looked surprised by the fact that Loki is back. I've also never known Tony to be that silent during a meeting"

"Hey!"

"He's right, Tony, you love interrupting people. Especially Fury because you know how mad he gets"

"Once again, Hey! I just have a lot on my mind. You know, work and stuff"

Bucky didn't looked convinced, but dropped it. He left with a final glance at both of them.

Tony sighed in relief "I'm surprised you didn't tell him, Cap"

"I promised that I wouldn't"

"I know, but he practically just asked you if you knew anything and you said nothing. Why?"

"Honestly? I feel bad for Loki and I see a lot of similarities between him and Bucky. What would've happened to Buck if we hadn't intervened? He just needed someone on his side to get a second chance. If not us, then who does Loki have on his side?"

Humming in agreement, Tony ran a hand through his hair "First thing we have to do is get that damn thread dealt with. Fury said that Thor would be here within the next few days. I'm going to talk some things out with him, see what I can find out"

"Tony, Loki doesn't want Thor involved. he made that very clear"

"I know that and I'm not going to give away his location or anything, but I want to get to the bottom of all of this. If I can find out for sure that Thor won't betray his little brother than maybe he can help. You must admit that it'd be a lot easier with his help"

"Of course it would, but we'd be betraying Loki to get his help. I think he's dealt with enough of that in his life"

"You're right. Let's just re-group tomorrow?"

"Sounds good, looks like I have patrol tonight anyway. I'll see you tomorrow, Tony"

"Yeah, see ya Cap"

Jarvis informed Tony that Loki had fallen asleep again so he decided to head down to his lab. Working on various projects always helps him get his mind flowing. His thoughts kept going back to Thor and wondering how many times in the past he's looked the other way while Odin punished Loki. There was that obvious fear in Loki's eyes when his brother had first shown up which said a lot about Loki's past.

To pass the time, Tony started looking into the different myths and legends of the Norse Gods. Oddly enough, the myth about sewing Loki's lip shut was an actual myth. This begged the question, how much of this information was actually true? The ones about Loki being a trickster were easy enough to figure out, but what about Loki having kids? The myths say he was married to a woman named Sigyn and had twin boys. There was also mention of him having a son who was a wolf, a daughter who was the queen of Hell and another son who was a giant snake.

Tony immediately took note of the many questions he had for Loki and moved on to the ones more specific to Thor and Loki's relationship. There wasn't any mention of them outside of battles and "glorious wars" which always involved Thor's friends. The only thing that remained consistent was the fact that Loki loved his mother and that she was always his advocate. Now Tony had the issue of trying to communicate with someone from another realm. Sure, he could go outside and start yelling to Heimdall, but that would put a big spotlight on Loki's whereabouts.

He now had three main things he had to deal with:

1. Find out the truth of Thor and Loki's relationship. IE: Will Thor help or will he turn Loki in?
2. Does Loki have a wife and kids that are wondering where he is?
3. How does one get in touch with the Queen of Asgard without alerting anyone else?

Letting his head hit the desk in front of him, he sighed "Jarvis, how is my life always this complicated?"

"I'm under the impression that you enjoy the chaotic nature of your life, sir"

He huffed out a laugh "That's true, J, my life would be quite boring otherwise"

"We definitely would not want that"

Tony could do nothing but shake his head and wonder how he managed to create an AI that was sassier that he was.

Chapter Text

The smell of coffee woke Tony up and the crick in his neck was enough proof that he'd once again fallen asleep in his lab, bent over the work table. Without opening his eyes, he grabbed the mug and took a long sip from it before stretching him himself. He expected to see Steve standing there with his patented look of disapproval, but instead found a slightly guarded and nervous God of Mischief. Tony thought how strange it looked to see him in sweat pants and an old band t-shirt with his hair curly and slightly unkempt. He gave the God a grateful smile, holding up the mug.

"Thanks, Bambi, I didn't know you knew how to make coffee"

Loki didn't have his notepad on him and looked up at the camera before Jarvis spoke up.

"Mr. Liesmith asked what the wretched substance you drink all day was and how to make it for you"

A startled laugh escaped from Tony's mouth "Well, I appreciate it. Wait. Liesmith? Are you being sassy again, Jarvis?"

"Not at the moment, sir, our guest was unhappy with the name I greeted him with so we decided on Liesmith"

"Don't want to go by Laufeyson?" Loki shook his head "I'm assuming Odinson is a no-go as well?" The scowl he received was answer enough.

"Sir, this is basically the same conversation I had with Mr. Liesmith this morning. He is probably reluctant to repeat himself"

"Man, I'm going to have to keep an eye on you two. Soon you're going to have Jarvis helping you with pranks"

"A little mischief never hurt anyone, sir"

Shaking his head, Tony got up from his stool and motioned for Loki to follow him. They got into the elevator and went up to the penthouse where there was a stronger smell of coffee, making Tony hurry over for another cup. He was busying himself with that so it took a few minutes for him to notice that Loki had followed into the kitchen and was standing at the stove. The weird part was that it looked like he was making pancakes. Walking closer, he noticed that the God was in fact making pancakes and handing a plate to Tony.

He couldn't help but think how normal and...domestic this all felt. Looking back at Loki, he seemed to really take in the God's appearance for the first time. He was muscled, but not in a body builder way. His legs went on for days and his ass-wait. His ass?! Tony was definitely not thinking about Loki's ass. No. Nope. No way. Sure, he looked at men just as much as he looked as women, but this was Loki. His thoughts immediately halted when he looked up to see Loki staring at him with a raised eyebrow and slight smirk.

Tony quickly looked away and settled himself at the kitchen table. He was just about to dig in when he noticed Loki settling down next to him with a book in hand. He had somehow forgotten about the fact that Loki was unable to open his mouth.

"I feel really rude eating in front of you. How are you meant to eat? You were malnourished when you got here, should I give you another IV? Shit, I didn't even think of that before-" Tony was half standing when he felt a hand was on his arm, gently pushing him back into his seat.

He watched as Loki snapped his fingers and started using sign language. Tony was about to question it when Jarvis started talking.

"Mr. Liesmith says: calm yourself, Anthony, my body is healing itself and that includes the malnourishment. I will be alright for a little while longer"

"That's great, but when did you learn sign language? Also, Anthony? No one calls me that. How does your super healing work?"

Loki had an amused look on his face while he started signing again "I learned it this morning. Anthony is your name, is it not? It is not 'super healing', it is just how God's bodies work. We're more...durable. We wouldn't do nearly as well in battle if we were as breakable as you mortals are"

"Well, yeah, my name is technically Anthony, but only my mom ever called me that. How the hell did you learn a whole language this morning?"

"Tony sounds like a little boy's name or an under-developed man, which does describe you actually. I learned it quickly because I am a God, Anthony"

"Man, I can not wait until you can actually talk. No one's ever able to keep up with my rambling like that, it's refreshing"

Loki had a fond smile on his face while Tony went back to his coffee and pancakes. The rest of the morning was spent in a comfortable silence, Loki with his book and Tony with his StarkPad. Tony ended up ordering a whole new wardrobe for the God and some things to make the guest room seem a little more personalized. He didn't know how long Loki would be with him, but he also didn't want him to feel rushed to leave.

The God had left to rest some more, he explained that sleeping helps his 'Godly' body recover faster. Tony had to hold back his many follow up questions/remarks and instead went to the living room to continue his online shopping. Of course, everything he was ordering for the spare room was green and gold to match Loki's aesthetic. He knew that he was probably going overboard, but he also felt that this was a kindness not many showed to Loki.

There was a bright flash of light outside, causing Tony to lookup just as the Bifrost touched down on the landing pad.

"Jarvis, inform Loki that Thor's here, but wait until he wakes up. No need to disturb him. You can let Thor into the living room"

"Of course, sir"

When Thor entered the living room, he didn't have his usual look of excitement. Instead, he looked distant and...sad. No one had ever seen the Thunder God anything other than exuberant and elated towards all things. Thor came in fairly silently and made his way over to the couch, taking a seat. Tony wasn't sure if he was going to say anything so he turned towards him.

"Hey, big guy, what's going on?"

"I come bearing unfortunate news, my friend" He finally looked up at Tony with sad eyes "I fear that my brother may be dead"

"What? Why do you say that? I thought that he was just missing..."

"That is what my father told me, but I do not believe that to be the case"

"You think your father is lying to you?"

Thor nodded his head "I've come to find out recently that he's lied about a great number of things. When I arrived in Asgard after our talk, I was informed of Loki's absence. Asking around, I learned that Loki had been kept a prisoner even after proof of his innocence. My brother was most likely never informed of our discovery."

"So, Odin didn't care that Loki was innocent?"

"It seems not. My father did not even seem disturbed that Loki was being tortured. My mother was beside herself when she heard of all of this"

"She didn't know what was going on? She lives there!"

"My mother is not informed of all things that my father does. She was aware Loki was imprisoned, but she was not aware that he was proven innocent nor was she aware of what was being done to Loki in the prisons. She was forbidden to see him while he was there"

"Wow. I don't know what to say, Point Break, that's all horrible"

"It is. My mother is what your people call a prophet of sorts, she weaves and in her weavings she sees bits and pieces of the future. She can no longer see my brother"

"That doesn't mean that he's dead though, just that he's...hidden"

"Your optimism is appreciated, Man of Iron, I want nothing more than to find my brother and make up for the many injustices that he's had to deal with"

"You say many injustices. I have a feeling you're not just referring to the most recent events"

Thor sighed "No, I have had time to think on the past of late. There were so many moments of our youth that I did something without thinking and Loki had to clean up my mess. He was always cleaning up my messes" He had a fond, but sad smile on his face "Everyone talks of my glorious battles, but I would have never survived most of them if my brother had not been there. Acting without a plan was my usual tactic. Loki, he was a master strategist, he would have these intricate plans but I wanted nothing to do with them because they didn't use brute force."

"I tended to let my anger get the best of me which led to Loki having to smooth things over so that we were not all killed. He was always looking out for me" Thor was shaking his head "It should have been the other way around. I was the big brother, not he, I should have been the one looking out for him. Failing my brother seems to be something that I am an expert on"

Tony wasn't sure what to say, but he didn't have to say anything because Thor got up and started slowly pacing the living room before speaking again.

"Did you know that I was frightened of Thunder as a child?" He let out a small laugh "This was much before I received my Godhood. There was something about the loud crack of thunder that was followed by a bright lightning strike that I hated. On those nights, I would seek out Loki. He never made me feel bad about being frightened, he would just lift up the blanket and motion for me to climb into bed with him"

"You felt safe with him"

"I did. I keep trying to go back in my mind and figure out when I stopped being so close with him, but I can not pinpoint it. My friends seemed to try and get me away from Loki as much as they could, maybe that was the start of it. They alienated him and I wanted to fit in so I would join them in picking on him for his use of magic"

"Is magic uncommon on Asgard?"

"It is. My mother uses magic, but that is normal. You see, it is seen as woman's work so people see men using magic as unmanly. It did not help my brothers case that he tended to prefer the company of men as well."

"Are you trying to tell me that Asgard is full of homophobic assholes?"

"Unfortunately, yes. There are obviously people that are gay on Asgard, but they are not usually very open about it. I truly never cared who my brother decided to bed, he is still my brother and I always respected the fact that he never hid who he was"

"Well, that's good to hear. Does he know that you're ok with that?"

"Of course he-well, I-I do not know" He stopped pacing and looked at Tony with a thoughtful look "I suppose that I never actually said it to him. Now, I may never get the chance to."

They both stayed in the silence for a few moments. Tony was trying to give Thor some time to think before he spoke again.

"So, what happens now?"

"This, I am not sure. I am furious with my father, but I don't want to abandon my mother. Being in Asgard right now, though, would not be a good idea. I am far too upset to be there in his presence. Maybe I'll go visit with my Jane, I'd like to keep the people I have left in life close by"

Tony felt bad, looking at Thor, knowing that Loki was just in the next room. The sight of such a powerful God on the verge of tears was heart breaking. He couldn't betray Loki's trust though so he decided to help in any other way he could.

"Thor, why don't you bring Jane here?" Thor looked up at him with hopeful eyes "That way you can have Jane close by as well as your friends. I can give her access to a lab so that she can continue to work as well"

"Thank you, my friend, I will ask her to stay" The God walked over and pulled Tony into a tight hug before smiling at him and walking out to the landing pad. He used Mjolnir to carry him away this time while Tony sighed and turned to go back to the couch.

Before he could move more than a couple of steps, he saw the bright rainbow lights again in his peripheral vision.

"Forget somethi-" Tony stopped dead in his tracks when he finally turned around and saw a woman standing there "Uhh, hi, if you're looking for Thor then you just missed him"

She smiled as she stepped closer to Tony "I'm not here for Thor, I'm here to speak with you. My name is Frigga, I am Thor and Loki's mother and I believe you know the whereabouts of my youngest son"

Chapter Text

Tony had been in trouble a lot in his life, but there was something about having the Queen of fucking Asgard in your living room and accusing you of something you most definitely are guilty of that makes you want to jump out of the closest window.

He finally realized that he was staring at the woman with his mouth gaping open "Uhh...welcome. Your Majesty" Tony did a combination of a princess wave and bow that Jarvis would forever keep a clip of.

She gave a small laugh "No need for formalities, Mr. Stark, shall we sit?"

"Yeah-yes-of course" His words came out fast and jumbled, but he quickly took a seat on the couch opposite of Frigga "So...just taking a stroll through Midgard?"

"Not exactly. You see, Mr. Stark, I have seen some interesting things in my weaves. Specifically, interesting things about you"

"Right. What do these weaves say about me?"

"They do not say anything, they are better described as small pictures of future moments"

"So, what? You're seeing pieces of my future? Why me?"

"I have asked myself this same question, but when I looked back on these moments they all had one thing in common" She gave Tony a small smile "Loki"

"Loki. Any chance you'll give me more specifics? Reindeer Games and I have a complicated past with the whole throwing me out a window thing and can't forget about the invading my planet part-"

He stopped when Frigga started laughing "You are used to avoiding topics at hand, are you not? I raised the God of Lies, Mr. Stark, I am not so easily fooled. Do not worry though, I am not here to punish you if that is what you are worried about"

"I must say, that's a relief. What are you here for then? If you're here for Loki-"

Frigga held up a hand to stop him "I am not here to take my son, I am here to help. Do not look so surprised, Mr. Stark, I hold nothing but love for my Loki"

"Listen, I know you're the Queen and everything, but I've gotta say that I find this a little hard to believe. Thor caught me up a bit about Loki's past and the things that he's been through are horrible. How could you have let that happen to him?"

"We have all done a great disservice to Loki, myself included. You see, a Queen is meant to support her King no matter what. That includes whatever decision is made for their children. I am not saying that it is right, but this is the way it has always been"

"So, what changed? Why are you here now?"

"I believe it is long overdue for the Queen to take a stand"

"Hell yeah. Oh shit-I mean, heck yeah?"

"Relax, Mr. Stark, your foul mouth does not upset me. I have something to help Loki" She held her palm out and a golden dagger appeared in her hand "The blade is embedded with Odin's blood so it will be able to cut through the thread" Placing it on the table she gave him a smirk "Yes, I am aware that you do not like to be handed things"

Tony looked shocked "I have a lot of questions, but I'll just stick with one. No, two. How did you get Odin's blood without him knowing? Why are you giving this to me? Don't you want to see Loki and do it yourself?"

"That was three questions, Mr. Stark" She laughed while he rolled his eyes "I am a witch, boy, I can do a great many things without people noticing. This is not when I am supposed to see my son, I will see him when the time is right. I do not have any answer for 'why you'. I've learned to trust instinct and the instinct this time is telling me that you and Loki's journey has just begun"

"Huh. That's a little ominous, but I'll roll with it for now. I can't say it's been horrible having Bambi around. Speaking of, I'm surprised he hasn't realized that you're here yet"

"Worry not, he will awake when I have parted" She stood, causing Tony to stumble to do the same "You have a kind heart, Anthony, thank you for caring for my Loki"

"Uh, yeah, no problem. He hasn't been any trouble this time, but it's debatable if that'll last when he can talk again"

"I am most certain it will not" Tony groaned, but Frigga just smiled at him "I am also certain that you can handle it. I really must be going, my absence will be noticed if I do not part"

"Thanks for the magic dagger. I feel stupid asking, but is it safe to assume that Odin will not be coming for our slumbering prince?"

"He will not. Loki's magic is shielding him from the Allfather and I may have been less than truthful about the nature of my weavings" Frigga took Tony's hand in hers "There will be great change in Asgard, do not shy away from your role"

Tony was about to open his mouth to speak when Frigga disappeared in a shimmer of gold. He laughed to himself and shook his head, not fully believing what he had just seen and heard. Now he was left with what he assumed were words of wisdom, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. Walking back to the coffee table, he grabbed the dagger off of the table and headed back to Loki's room.

"Jarvis, can you wake up Frosty without alarming him?"

"Mr. Liesmith just woke up, sir, he is already walking towards you"

Loki met Tony halfway in the hallway and gave him a questioning look. Tony held up the dagger with a smile and nodded his head towards the elevator. The God didn't say anything, he looked stunned and quickly followed into the elevator. They got to the med lab and Loki sat down on the bed, waiting as patiently as he could.

Tony took a breath and held Loki's chin in one hand "I'll be as quick as I can. Stop me if I'm hurting you"

Loki nodded. Before he could decide not to, Tony started cutting away the thread. Luckily, the dagger was sharp so it didn't really pull too much at Loki's lips. He was able to cut through it all cleanly and carefully pulled the thread out. The second that the last piece of thread was out there was a bright green glow that covered the God's body and caused Tony to jump back. Loki's magic washed over him and healed the remainder of his wounds including the mess that was on his lips.

Instantly, the God looked a thousand times better than he had the whole time he'd been in the tower. His magic must be more a part of him than anyone had realized. Loki took a few steadying breaths before opening his eyes and looking at Tony.

"You met with my mother this morning?"

Tony gave him a bright smile "It's so weird to hear you talk. I forgot how Shakespearean and formal you sound. Yeah, your mom just kind of appeared in my living room this morning, she said she's tired of Odin's bullshit and gave me that dagger to help you"

Loki snorted out a laugh "I am assuming that the Allmother did not use such foul language"

"No, she's very proper, I'm adlibbing here"

"Of course. Well, I think it is safe to assume that you have a million questions for me, but maybe we can speak after I eat something?"

"Oh, yeah, right. You must be starving, I'll order something in. Do you want Italian, Mexican, American, Japanese...?"

"Yes"

They ordered up a full buffets worth of food from a bunch of different restaurants. Tony wasn't sure how much food to get so he settled on a Thor-sized portion of everything. The two of them feasted and Tony tried his best not to stare at Loki, but he couldn't believe the change in his appearance already. Loki must've felt eyes on him because he looked up and gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry, Bambi, it's just crazy how much better you look already. Is it because of the magic? How does it work? Is it something you were born with or is it like a skill you acquired?"

Loki dabbed his mouth with his napkin like the proper prince that he is and sat back in his chair "Yes, my magic has healed me which is why I look better. I was, in fact, born with magic so it is a part of me" He held out his hand, making little green swirls of magic dance around "My magic and I are one so when my magic is depleted, my health is depleted as well"

"Damn. So, binding your magic is basically torture for you"

"That is one way to look at it, I suppose"

"You suppose? How else would you look at it?!"

"Calm yourself, Anthony, I am well now"

Tony tried to hide the fact that hearing his name being spoken sent a chill throughout his body. Loki gave him a smirk "Anthony, I think it is time that we pay Steven a visit"

"What? Why do you want to hang out with Spangles?"

"I offered him my assistance with his friend, did I not?"

"Completely forgot about that, had a lot of other stuff going on you know"

Loki waved his hand in dismissal "Yes, well, dealing with my family can take a toll on ones mental stability. Could induce memory loss."

Tony laughed and stood up "You know, aside from your homicidal beginning, I feel like we really get each other. You're not so bad, Rudolph"

"I would feel more inclined to say the same of you if it were not for those infernal nicknames" Loki stood as well and walked past Tony to the elevator, looking back over his shoulder "Come along, we have a soldier to help"

"So bossy" Tony mumbled before catching up to the God. The pair went to Steve's floor and knocked on the door. The door opened a minute later, revealing Bucky, who was staring at Loki with wide eyes. Loki didn't look alarmed by this at all though and took a step closer.

"You must be the Winter Soldier, it's a pleasure to meet you"

Chapter Text

Bucky was standing in the doorway staring at Loki when Steve stepped up to his side and took in the situation. He opened the door wider and motioned for Tony and Loki to come in while gently pushing Bucky out of the way.

Steve looked surprised when he looked at Loki "I clearly missed a lot, you look better. A lot better"

Tony moved Loki away and towards the couch "Alright, Cap, stop ogling him. He's not a piece of meat!"

"I wasn't! I'm just surprised given how he looked during our last visit"

Bucky finally got himself together and looked at Steve "So, he's been here and you knew about it? What the hell is going on?"

"Just relax, Buck, I'll explain everything. He's not a threat, he actually offered to help you"

"Help me with what?"

Loki stood at that "The Captain has informed me of your past and how it still affects your day to day life. I offered my assistance as a mage to look into your mind and repair what damage is there"

"Why would you help me? Also, how do I know that I can even trust you? You're on the watch list for SHIELD"

"I believe you were once on that list as well, were you not?"

Bucky turned away while Tony huffed out a laugh "He's got you there!"

The God put a hand on Tony's shoulder "Ignore Anthony, he seems to have a love for interjecting" Ignoring Tony's pouting, Loki walked up to Bucky and spoke so only he could hear him "I see that you are a man that appreciates honesty so allow me to be honest with you. My offer to help was slightly selfish, if I help you then I get the respect of the men behind us. Seeing as I am currently seen as a threat to your world, I can use some people on my side"

"My second reason for helping is that I see a lot of myself in you. Classified as a villain when you were given little to no choice in the actions that made you one. Things are not as black and white as people want to believe. Villain vs hero. Good vs evil. These are just basic classifications. You see, not everyone who is bad is truly bad and not everyone who is good is truly good"

Loki stepped back and turned so that his back wasn't facing the others "I will not force your hand, if you want my help than you have it. If not, I will leave you alone"

Bucky was hesitating so Steve put a hand on his shoulder "You could finally be free of HYDRA, Buck, I think it's worth a shot"

Bucky sighed and turned to Loki "What do I need to do?"

"Nothing, I just need you to not fight me once I am in your mind. Other than that, I will handle the rest"

"Great. That's great. When can we start?"

"Right now if you'd like?"

Steve looked alarmed "Wait. Now? Loki, you were severely injured only a day ago. Are you sure that you can handle this?"

"Please remember that I am a God, Captain Rogers, I have my magic back which has already healed me. I would not offer to help if I could not"

Everyone was silent for a moment to long for Tony's liking so he jumped off the couch "Well, Bambi, let's get to it. Make with the magic fingers and fix Bucky's head"

"Anthony, do you not have other things to attend to?"

"Hey! Are you kicking me out? How come Spangles can stay?"

"I know that Captain Rogers will remain silent if I ask him to. I can not say the same for you"

"Rude. I'm capable of being quiet. I'll sit here quiet as a mouse, you'll have no idea that I'm even here"

"I will still be able to smell your cologne that you so heavily douse yourself with"

"Oh my God. You are such an asshole! It was so much better when you couldn't talk"

Bucky looked between the two and leaned closer to Steve "They're sleeping together, right?"

"No!" Loki and Tony both answered at the same time before huffing and rolling their eyes in sync

"Yeah. Sure you aren't..."

Steve cleared his throat "Ok, maybe we should get started?"

Loki nodded and sat down on the couch, motioning for Bucky to sit next to him. He turned to Steve and Tony "I require silence in order to concentrate and get done what I need to get done. Do not interrupt me, it could cause me to damage something in his mind"

Tony leaned close to Steve “How would we know the difference?”

Loki glared “Anthony.”

“Sorry, sorry! Couldn’t help myself. Staying quiet now!”

“I need absolute silence now.”

"Of course" "You got it, Bambi"

"This will not hurt, but you will feel a slight tingling sensation. Do not worry, it is just the feeling of my magic"

Bucky closed his eyes while Loki held his pointer fingers to the soldiers temples with green swirls of magic surrounding his hands. Delving into anyone's mind was tough work, but Bucky's mind was especially tough. There was so much trauma and torture to heal that Loki felt as if he was going into his own mind. One by one he healed the bad memories that were causing the man pain.

Loki understood the feeling of mind control so he was delicate with what he looked at or where he lingered. Some memories come up naturally though and it was hard to just ignore it when it was right in front of you. There were the obvious memories of Bucky being in the military with a young Steve Rogers, but there were also more personal memories that came with it.

There was an aura of happy feelings and thoughts that surrounded any memory of Steve so it wasn't a huge leap to think that Loki misjudged their relationship. He was able to feed off of this aura and heal the remainder of bad memories before he pulled out of Bucky's mind. He had just removed his hands from the soldiers face when he heard Tony shout something, but he couldn't make it out as he collapsed on the floor.

Bucky was still in a little bit of a daze so Tony and Steve were the ones to jump into action and flock to Loki. Tony was cursing and panicking while Steve calmly picked the God up and headed to the elevator to bring him to his room. He laid him on the bed while Tony instructed Jarvis to do a scan to make sure the God had just passed out.

"Sir, I believe that Mr. Liesmith simply overexerted himself and just needs to rest"

"Ok, good. I should've tried to stop him or something. I should've known he wasn't healed enough for this"

"Tony, you can't blame yourself for this. Loki said he was fine and we had no reason to doubt him. Let's give him some space, it won't do him any good having us hover"

"You're right, you should go check on Bucky. I'm going to go to the lab for a bit"

"Let me know when he's awake?"

"Yeah, yeah, will do" He waved him off and headed to the lab

Steve got back to his apartment to find Bucky sitting on the couch, holding his hands in his lap with tears running down his face. Steve rushed over to his side, sitting next to him.

"Buck? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Stevie. Absolutely nothing" He looked up at his friend and gave him a watery smile "They're gone. All the bad thoughts and memories and just...gone. I never thought I would feel this kind of peace again"

"That's amaz-" Steve was cutoff with Bucky's mouth on his. He didn't even hesitate in kissing him back with just as much enthusiasm. They both pulled back, but stayed close together with matching smiles on their faces. For the first time in a long time, Bucky thought that his life was pretty alright.

Tony was busy with his face buried in a repulsor glove. He knew worrying wasn't going to help anything or anyone so he did what he did best and busied himself. He was so busy with distracting himself that he missed the flash of green that appeared behind him. The clearing of a throat was enough to make Tony jump up and shoot off the repulsor without thinking. Luckily, Loki had good reflexes and was able to stop the beam from hitting him.

"Fuck! You need to start wearing a bell or something, Snape, you're going to give me a heart attack and I already have heart issues"

"My apologies, Stark, I did not realize that you were so easily spooked"

Rolling his eyes, Tony put down the glove "What happened back there? You scared the hell out of me when you fell like a ton of bricks"

"I should've taken a break, but I was determined to fix the soldier’s mind. He did not deserve to have those memories haunting him"

"I'd be expecting a gift basket if I were you, it clearly drained you to help him like that"

"It is done, no need to dwell on it"

"If you say so"

They both fell into a comfortable silence and eventually Tony started showing Loki around the lab and telling him the projects he was currently working on. The God seemed eager to learn about it all and Tony was more than willing to go into extensive detail. He loved having someone whose mind kept up with his and he usually had to wait for Bruce to be around for that to happen.

Loki was currently introducing himself to Dum-E and U when Tony had an idea "Hey, Bambi?"

"Yes, Anthony?"

"You remember the time that I offered you a drink. What do you say you take me up on that now?"

Chapter Text

Tony poured two big glasses of his best scotch and walked back to the couch where Loki was waiting for him. After handing Loki one, he sat down opposite the God and held his glass up in a silent 'cheers'. They remained in silence for a couple of minutes before Tony sat up straighter and turned to fully face the man across from him.

"Aren't you wondering why I wanted to have a drink with you? If I were you I'd be asking a million questions"

Loki laughed "I am over a thousand years old, Anthony, I have learned some patience in that time. There is no need for me to question your intentions when they are rather obvious. You are not a subtle man, Anthony Stark"

"I can be subtle!"

"Something tells me that you have never been subtle in your entire life. I mean, your suit alone is so flashy and gaudy-"

"Alright, asshole, that's enough of that. You're impressed by my suit, no need to lie"

Loki gave him a smirk "Yes, of course" Tony rolled his eyes, causing the God to laugh again before sitting up straighter and clearing his throat "You wish to know my past"

"Well, yeah, it's not every day that I have the God of Mischief living in my guest room..."

"You are requiring truths as payment for your hospitality?"

"What? No! This isn't a hostage situation. I'm just curious. You don't have to answer anything that you don't want to answer"

"Very well. What questions do you have?"

"I guess that I'll start with the obvious one, did you really give birth to a horse?"

It took every ounce of willpower that Tony had to not laugh at Loki's disgruntled look.

"You Midgardians have over active imaginations. I believe I am going to need more alcohol to get through this conversation"

"Good thinking, Rudolph" Tony got up and grabbed the bottle of scotch from the bar, bringing it back to the living room. He re-filled Loki's glass and left the rest of the bottle on the coffee table between them. "Alright, so no horse?" Loki shook his head no "what about the serpent, wolf and queen of the dead?"

Loki sighed "They were not born that way" He paused a moment to take a sip of his drink "They were triplets: Jörmungandr, Fenrir and Hela. The boys were shape-shifters, like myself, and their preferred forms were a serpent and a wolf. Hela was not a queen of the dead - in fact, she despised dead things. She loved nature and flowers and seeing things grow"

"You keep talking in past tense"

"That is because they are no longer with us" He downed the last of his drink and filled his glass again before continuing "After they were born, there was a prophecy that the three of them would be the cause of Ragnarok. Ragnarok being the death of Odin and the fall of Asgard. Rather than ignore said prophecy or taking a moment to realize that they were just children, Odin sentenced them to death"

"What?! He sentenced his own grandchildren to death? How old were they?"

"They would have been the equivalent of eight in Midgard"

"And people just went along with this?" Tony asked while pouring himself another drink

"No one usually questions the Allfather. There is a lot that my brother has done wrong but, he truly loved my children. He and my mother begged Odin to stop and to not go through with it, but he was convinced that they were evil. Thor was banished to his chambers surrounded by guards so that he could not interfere as was Frigga" Loki knocked back the rest of his glass "No mother should have to witness their child dying"

"Fuck, Lokes, that's horrible. Their own mother had to watch? They had a public execution for children?"

"It was not a public execution, no. It was not a requirement, but I could not just let my children die alone and scared-"

"Wait, hold up, you're their mother? How the fuck does that work?"

Loki huffed out a small laugh "Yes, I was their mother. I am a shape-shifter myself and, I believe the proper term here is, gender fluid. I can change my gender rather easily and I do so depending on how I feel"

"I'm definitely going to circle back to that later. You couldn't, I don't know, run away with them and hide somewhere?"

"The Allfather knows me enough to know that I would do that so he locked me in the dungeons before he made his decree. I was allowed to be at their execution as a 'mercy'" He said the last part through gritted teeth "I was bound in chains so I could not even hold them one last time. All I could do was tell them how much I love them and apologize for allowing this to happen"

"It's not like it was your fault, tell me you don't blame yourself..."

"How can I not blame myself, Anthony? They were slaughtered for the sheer fact that they were my children. Nothing good can ever come from the God of Lies. Something I heard many times in my youth. I should have known better than to think I could be allowed to keep anything that I love"

Tony got up and went to grab another bottle and decided that two more was probably best based off of how this conversation was going. If Loki was anything like Thor in terms of drinking, it would take a lot to actually affect him. As they finished the next bottle together, Loki told Tony about his time spent in Alfheim visiting his uncle after the death of his children. He went there to attempt to get some peace and he simply couldn't be around Odin anymore. He spent three hundred years away from Asgard before finally going back.

"Alright, so that myth was partially true. How about the one where you have a wife?"

"I was married for a little bit, yes, that was one of the reasons why I went back to Asgard. For political reasons, I was forced to marry a woman named Sigyn. She and I had known each other since we were young, we had studied magic together. She was of noble blood, born into the royal family in Vanaheim and Odin wished to further our alliance with them"

"Are you still married to her?"

"No, Sigyn died in childbirth"

Tony stopped mid pour to look up at Loki "What...what happened to the kid?" He asked quietly

"Kids. Plural. Sigyn gave birth to twin boys, Narfi and Vali, they are still alive" Loki cleared his throat "This was right before I found out about my true heritage. Imagine it, a single father who just lost his wife, finding out that he is not actually Odin's son and was rather an abandoned frost giant runt. I may have lost myself for a bit there and then the events of Midgard happened as you well know and here we are"

At some point during his story, Tony had moved onto the same couch and was sitting next to Loki. He reached out and held the God's hand, squeezing it. Loki gave him a small smile "They are safe. My mother saw to it that they would be somewhere that the Allfather could not find them. I will see them again. If it is the last thing that I do, Anthony, I will see my sons again"

"I'll do whatever I can to help, Loki, whatever you nee-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"That is the first time that you have called me by my actual name"

Tony couldn't help but redden at the way that Loki was looking at him. He was looking at him as if he was the most precious thing in the world. His mind went to Loki's lips and how badly he wanted to kiss them. This must be the alcohol talking, right? Loki couldn't possibly want the same thing, but Tony could've sworn that he saw the God's eyes flicker to his lips as well.

Before he could make a fool of himself, Tony cleared his throat and moved slightly away from Loki. He thought he saw a look of disappointment on the God's face, but it was gone by the time Tony looked at him again.

"So, explain this magical shape shifting to me"

"It is fairly simple, Anthony, I am sure that even your brain can keep up"

"Oh please, you know that I'm a genius!"

"If you say so"

Tony was about to complain again when there was a shimmer of green over Loki's body and there was suddenly a woman siting in his place. A very beautiful woman to be exact. Loki's features were still there, just more feminine. His hair was longer and his cheekbones were still just as stunning, but he had more curves now. Just looking at her, you wouldn't know right away that this was Loki, but Tony would recognize those green eyes anywhere.

Loki giggled "Stop ogling, Anthony, it is unbecoming"

"Sorry, Elphaba, but I tend to admire a piece of art when I see one"

"Is this the infamous Playboy Tony Stark making an appearance?"

"To be fair, he's always making an appearance, you're drop dead gorgeous in either form sweetheart" He said with a wink. Loki blushed which Tony decided was his new favorite sight. Tony was in trouble if he kept along this line of thinking. "Should I call you something else when you're like this?"

"I am still Loki, no matter what form I take"

Tony nodded "I guess that I'll have to have Jarvis change my online order to include some feminine clothing as well"

"Already done, sir, Ms. Liesmith informed me of her gender fluidity when we first spoke"

"You told Jarvis before you told me? Where's your loyalty?!"

Loki giggled "Apologies, Anthony, how ever can I make it up to you?" She purred, leaning closer

"Oh, I think I can come up with someth-"

"Sir, I apologize for interrupting, but Mr. Odinson has just arrived back in the tower and is requesting to speak with you.

Chapter Text

"Sir, Mr. Odinson has just arrived back in the tower and is requesting to speak with you."

Loki immediately tensed, moving away from Tony and started to get off of the couch, but Tony put his hand on her arm and gently pushed her back in the seat.

"Don't worry, gorgeous, I'll go deal with him and you can stay here" He re-filled Loki's glass of scotch and handed it to her before walking away.

"Anthony, could you not wait until the morning to speak with my brother?"

"I won't be gone long, keep a drink waiting for me!" He yelled from inside the elevator, giving her a wink right before the doors closed

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What the fuck am I doing?"

"I believe you are going to see Mr. Odinson and Ms. Foster"

Tony rolled his eyes "I meant with Loki. What the fuck am I doing with Loki? Was I just flirting with her? Was she flirting back?! Do I want her to have been flirting back?"

"There was an equal and obvious account of flirting from both parties, sir"

He groaned "I don't know if that's better or worse"

Tony didn't have a lot of time to contemplate things when the elevator arrived on Thor's floor. He took a steadying breath before walking up to the door and knocking. The door flung open barely a minute later to reveal a very happy looking Thor.

"Friend Tony! Come in, come in!" He pulled Tony in by his arm and clapped him on the back, causing him to lurch forward.

"Jesus. Easy there, Point Break, I'm a lot more fragile than you"

"My apologies. Please, come and have a seat, I'd like for you to meet my Jane"

Jane rounded the corner just as Tony was about to sit down, she smiled at him and offered her hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stark, thank you for your invitation to stay here"

"Jane, right?" She nodded as they took their seats "If it keeps the big guy happy, I'm all for it. I've got a lab all setup for you to work in, I can show it to you tomorrow. You'll have full access to Jarvis if there's anything that you need as well. Say hi, Jarv"

"Good evening, I look forward to working with you, Ms. Foster"

"It's an honor to meet you, Jarvis, I hope you're ready for the millions of questions I will most likely have for you" Jane said in a giddy voice

"Do not fear, I am rather used to it. Your queries can be no worse than Sir's daily musings, Miss"

Tony cleared his throat "Alright, time for bed Jarvis" He looked to Jane "So, tell me what it is that you do exactly"

Jane went into a full explanation of what she does which Tony was more than willing to ask questions about. Thor was sitting next to Jane, smiling at hearing her talk about her work, but Tony assumed he had no idea what she was actually talking about. Normally, Tony would have no issue making sense of astrophysics, but he was a bit drunk from his chat with Loki so he wasn't retaining as much as her normally did.

Thor must've noticed after the fifth time Tony started to squint to pay attention "Tony, are you well? You're usually much more talkative than this. I've never know you to be so silent"

"Yeah, yup, I'm good. Sorry, I was drinking with a...lady friend before I came to see you guys. I didn't realize how much I drank, if I didn't know any better I'd say Bambi was trying to get in my pants"

"Bambi?"

Tony was definitely awake now, his eyes shot up to meet Thor's piercing stare "Huh?"

"You said 'Bambi'. As in you were previously drinking with someone that you would refer to as Bambi. I have heard you use similar nicknames before. Who were you drinking with, Stark?"

"Like I said, I was drinking with a lady friend. You know me, playboy and all" He waved his hand dismissively

Jane put her hand on Thor's arm to attempt to calm him "Thor, he said lady friend, he's clearly not talking about Loki"

"My brother does not associate himself with just one gender, he occasionally takes his female form"

"When did you get so woke?" Tony mumbled to himself "Listen, Goldilocks, it was just an expression. A poor one, clearly, maybe we should call it a night yeah?"

Thor jumped up to blocked his exit "If I went upstairs to your penthouse right now, would I find my sister there?"

The God had spoken to softly and with such hope in his voice that Tony could've crumbled on the spot. He took half a minute to weigh his options. Everything in him was saying to run away and say nothing, but then there was the very sad looking Thor in front of him.

Tony sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose "Yes"

Thor didn't say anything as he slumped back into his seat on the couch. Jane and Tony decided to give him a minute and when Thor finally looked up, he had tears in his eyes.

"Loki's alive?"

"Yeah, bud, he's alive"

Nodding, he ran a hand through his hair "What happened? How long has Loki been here?"

Tony recounted Loki's story, he started from the crash landing on the tower and told him everything from Frigga's visit to helping Bucky. Thor listened patiently and looking shocked by what he was hearing. He barely held back a growl when Tony told him about the thread through his lips.

If Tony wasn't so drunk, he probably would've stopped there but that was not the case. He then went into some of the things that Loki had just told him about his past including his children and the treatment he received from his own father. Jane looked appalled by what she was hearing while Thor became even more somber.

When Tony finished, he waited for Thor to say something, but the God seemed to be processing everything so he stood from the couch "Maybe we should finish this discussion in the morning?"

Thor's head shot up "No, I must see Loki for myself"

"Oh, well, I-I don't know. I already broke my promise to not tell you, I'd rather not be defenestrated again-"

"Sir, Mr. Liesmith asked me to relay the following message to you and your guests: 'Anthony, return to our floor and bring the oaf'"

Rather than looking offended by the name, Thor looked thrilled and grabbed Jane's hand before rushing out of the room. Tony could do nothing but shake his head and follow them out. He was terrified of the possibility of being on the receiving end of Loki's wrath, but he had hopes that Thor would attempt to protect him. Worst case scenario, he'd hide behind Thor throughout the conversation.

Tony was fidgeting the entire way to the penthouse and he could've sworn that Jarvis made the elevator go as slow as humanly possible. Probably by Loki's request since they were apparently BFF's now and Loki was most likely pissed at Tony for talking to Thor. He made a mental note to both; thank Jarvis for being so kind to Loki and yell at him for choosing the God over his own creator. Clearly, he needed to teach Jarvis about loyalty.

The three of them walked into the living room of the penthouse, but there was no Loki to be seen. Thor looked confused and was just about to question Tony when they heard a voice behind them.

"Hello, brother"

Chapter Text

The first thing Tony noticed was that Loki was back to his usual, male form and the second thing was that he was wearing some of the clothing that Tony had ordered for him. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a dark green V-neck that was just tight enough to show off his muscular form and make Tony's mouth dry. Loki was also standing tall, head held high looking like the prince he was.

To Thor's credit, he refrained from rushing over to Loki's side and pulling him into a hug. Instead, he was standing as if he was glued to his spot, staring at his brother. Tony looked between the two of them and then walked over to Loki who was holding out his scotch glass for him.

"Does this mean that you're not pissed at me?"

Loki finally looked at Tony with a small smile on his face "No, I am not angry with you Anthony"

Sighing in relief, Tony kissed the God on the cheek before throwing himself onto the couch. It took him a minute to register what he had just done, but tried to pretend like it was completely normal. The act seemed to knock Thor out of his stupor though.

"The two of you seem...familiar...with one another"

Loki rolled his eyes "Anthony is a friend, Thor"

Thor was about to argue when Tony spit out his drink and yelped "Fuck! What was in that?!"

Loki gave him a mischievous smirk "That was for breaking your promise, darling"

"You just told me that you weren't angry at me, sweetheart!"

"Do you not remember what I am the God of, love?"

Tony laughed and shoved his glass as far from him as possible, leaning back and putting his feet up on the coffee table "Such an asshole. You're lucky you're gorgeous"

Loki laughed while Thor and Jane looked on with amusement. Tony patted the seat next to him which Loki was quick to oblige as the other two sat down across from them hesitantly. Thor was the first the break the silence.

"Brother, I am so relieved to see you and to see that you are well. Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yes, I am not positive as to how I came to be here though. Anthony found me on the roof in a rather disheveled state"

"He told me" Thor said through gritted teeth "Brother, you must know that I had nothing to do with your punishment, I would never-"

Loki held up a hand to stop him "Peace, Thor, I am aware now that you were not involved"

"What happened to you in the prisons?" Tony was about to object on Loki's behalf, but Thor beat him to the punch "Please, Loki, it is important for me to understand"

Sighing, Loki told Thor every nitty gritty detail of his time in the prisons. He told them of first arriving after the events of New York and how he pleaded, begged, his father to listen to him. Odin didn't even fake listening to his story though and refused to think that Loki was mind-controlled. As the weeks went on, the punishments got worse. It started with whippings, trying to get Loki to confess to his actions on Midgard, then evolved to withholding food/water and giving the guards a free pass to whatever they felt necessary.

Loki had tried to get them to allow his mother to visit, but they refused him and told him that she wanted nothing to do with him. Asking for Thor resulted in the same outcome, leading Loki to believe that they had sided with Odin and abandoned him. Thor looked like he was on the verge of tears throughout the whole conversation, but hearing that seemed to open up the flood gates. Tony quickly moved to another chair as the thunder God got up to sit next to his brother.

Thor clasped the back of Loki's neck, bringing his forehead to rest on his own "I would never abandon you, Loki. I have made many mistakes in the past, wronged you many times. These are not mistakes that I will make again, brother. You have my word. I will fight for your freedom and rightful place on Asgard"

Loki looked shocked as he pulled back "You would go against your own father?"

"Odin has wronged you for the last time. There is to be great change on Asgard, brother, I will be by your side as will mother"

Loki looked at his brother, sensing no lies in his words. He sighed "I am finding it difficult to believe you" He got up and went to the bar to get a drink, causing Thor to stand and look unsure.

"I understand. Unfortunately, I have given you no reason to trust me"

Everyone went back to their seats and sat in an uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Tony thought of something "Point Break, I might know a way that you could prove yourself"

Loki furrowed his brows while Thor was sitting on the edge of his seat with anticipation "Anything. What can I do?"

Tony looked at Loki for a moment before turning back to Thor "Well, I'm thinking that it would make your brother pretty happy to have his children living with him..."

"Antho-"

"His children?" Thor looked truly confused "I-I do not think you understand, Tony, it was a great tragedy what happened to my niece and nephews-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the whole horrible story. I am obviously referring to the living ones, I don't expect you to travel to the land of the dead" Tony was laughing, but stopped when he saw Thor with his mouth open and tears in his eyes.

"Narfi and Vali live?" He said just above a whisper

"Shit, Lo, I thought he knew!"

"It is not your fault, Anthony" He looked to his brother "Yes, they are alive, mother ensured their safety and that no one would be able to find them save myself and her"

Thor was shaking his head "She told me that they did not make it. I thought you had lost the boys as well as Sigyn, it made sense to me why you invaded Midgard. Foolishly, I assumed that you did it for revenge"

"Thor, I had no reason to believe that you would keep them safe from the Allfather after what happened to the triplets"

"Brother, I would never harm your children. You must know that"

"I know that you would never intentionally harm them, yes. However, I have seen no evidence to prove that you would betray a direct order" He turned to Tony "Anthony, while I find it honorable that you are trying to reconnect me with my children, I fail to see how that can be accomplished. I do not have a home on Midgard nor can I return to Asgard with them"

"What do you mean you don't have a home? You live here, don't you?"

"Well, yes, at the moment. I do not expect you to house me indefinitely. I assumed that I would be no longer welcome once I was healed"

"Man, Asgard really fucked you up huh?" He reached out and grabbed Loki's hand "Lokes. I ordered you an entire wardrobe, which I clearly have great taste, Jarvis and I ordered all new furniture in your green and gold colors. I-I like having you here, I guess that I was hoping you would stay..."

Loki cleared his throat "That is very generous of you, Anthony, but I am sure that it would cause a lot of trouble for you. The Avengers are not exactly my biggest fans"

"Not gonna lie, kinda forgot about all of them for a minute...But! Capsicle likes you! and I'm sure Bucky is team Loki now, Thor is trying to make amends. It should be a piece of cake to get the rest on board"

Loki was shaking his head so Thor leaned forward "I will help in any way that I can, I was planning on staying here for awhile. Being away from Asgard right now is a good thing, I believe"

Tony motioned to Thor while looking at Loki "See?! Between us and Steve, we can get the others to accept you"

"Alright, I will allow you to try. The second that they try to lock me up, I am leaving"

"You are always so positive, aren't you?"

"It is more that I have little to no faith in you" Loki said with a smirk

"Such an asshole. Why do I want you here?"

"It is rather obvious that you are trying to bed me"

Tony snorted out a laugh "Wow. Just because you're gorgeous and funny and smart does not mean that I am trying to get in your pants-"

"Sir, I would suggest not attempting to lie to Mr. Liesmith, and based on the reactions from present company I am inclined to also believe that you are lying"

"Shut up, Jarvis, no one asked you!" He then looked to Loki who was laughing "That's enough sass out of you!"

Loki pulled himself together and stood up, looking to his brother "Thor, I would appreciate talking to you alone for a moment. Perhaps out on the balcony?"

Thor jumped up and followed Loki outside, leaving Tony and Jane alone in the living room.

Jane cleared her throat "So...you and Loki, huh?"

"No! No. We just happen to get along well and talk in flirtations. I mean, I barely know the guy"

"It seems like you know him pretty well. He's flirting back, you know"

"This is crazy, he's a God. How am I even considering anything between us? He's got kids and I've never been great with kids"

"Doesn't mean that you can't learn. I never thought that Thor would ever be interested in pursuing a relationship with me, but here we are. I find it best not to question it, Thor is the most loyal and loving person that I know. Plus, I've never witnessed such sexual tension before this evening"

Tony was shaking his head "Loki's been through a lot. He should be focused on starting over and being a dad. I'm just here to help, that's it"

Jane looked like she wanted to say something, but the brothers walked back into the living room. They both looked a little tense, but made no indication that they wanted to explain what they spoke about. Thor and Jane called it a night and agreed to sit down with Steve to make a plan to get the other Avengers to accept Loki. Tony offered to stay up and talk with Loki, but the God said he was tired and wanted to go to bed.

Tony was exhausted, but decided to go to the lab rather than go to sleep. He needed to figure out what he wanted to do about getting the Avengers to not lock Loki away. There was also the issue of Asgard and what to do about the Allfather. Loki made no indication that he wanted to go home, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't have the option to return. Frigga had also told Tony to 'not shy away from his role' and he still had no clue what that meant. Tony had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong, it was just a matter of which shoe was going to drop first.

Chapter Text

Thor was known to wear his heart on his sleeve so it was no surprise that following his conversation with Loki, he looked somber for the rest of the evening. He was walking outside the compound the next morning when he thought back to his conversation with Loki on the balcony.

Loki was pacing so Thor stopped him with a hand on his shoulder "Brother, what is wrong?"

"I can feel something is wrong, but I do not know what"

"That's ominous"

Loki rolled his eyes "While I am shielded from Heimdall's gaze, I have still been keeping an eye on Asgard" He stopped and took a breath "Odin is preparing the Einherjar, but I do not know for what purpose"

"What? Why haven't I been informed of this?"

"That is what concerns me. I am worried for mother, I am worried for my sons and...I am worried for you, brother"

Thor looked confused "You think father means to attack us?"

"I would not put it past him to come after me. If he knows that you and mother wish to help me-"

"He would never attack mother!"

"Wouldn't he?! He had no issue locking up and torturing his son. Sentencing three children, his own grandchildren, to death. What is to stop him from harming mother?"

"You are right" Loki looked shocked by Thor's confession, but Thor ignored it "We must get mother to safety. I will leave first thing in the morning"

Without another thought, Thor held up Mjolnir and called to Heimdall to bring him home. The rainbow lights engulfed him and a minute later he was standing in front of Heimdall. They exchanged pleasantries, but Thor felt that the gatekeeper seemed to be more sullen than usual. He pushed the feeling down and started towards the palace. There was a weird feeling in the air that Thor couldn't quite place.

As he got closer to the palace, he noticed that there were not a lot of people in the streets. On a normal day in Asgard, the streets were always full of people moving about and various vendors selling their goods. However, today seemed to be the complete opposite. It could've been his imagination, but even the palace itself seemed less vibrant in color than usual.

He was just about to turn the corner when he was grabbed and pulled into an alcove.

"Thor, thank the Norns that you're here"

"Fandral! It's good to see you, my friend, what is going on?"

Fandral looked around and shook his head "It is not safe here, we will discuss elsewhere"

Nodding, he silently followed his friend through the woods until they stopped in front of a dilapidated hut. Thor didn't get a chance to ask any questions before Fandral opened the door and motioned him inside. Walking inside, he gasped, looking around in awe of what he was seeing. The outside was completely broken and falling down, but the inside looked like a room you would find in the palace.

"It is good that you are here, my son"

Thor whipped around to find Frigga standing there with open arms. He quickly made his way to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Reluctantly, he let her go and stepped back to look at her properly.

"Mother, what is going on? What is this place?"

"Come, Thor, let us sit and talk" The two of them sat while Fandral stood guard by the door "It is no longer safe for us to be here"

"Loki said something similar, did you know he was alive?"

"Yes, of course" She held her hand up when Thor looked like he was going to protest "I could not tell you, darling, it was safer for him at the time"

"Why is Asgard no longer safe?"

Frigga nodded to Fandral, causing him to bow and leave the house. She then told Thor how Odin found out that she was hiding information she found in her weaves. Specifically, information regarding Loki and his whereabouts. Soon after that, he started training the Einherjar even harder and had given them all instruction to kill Loki at first sight should he return to Asgard. Frigga pretended to understand Odin's reasoning and so far, he hasn't suspected her of any foul play. The Allfather assumed her behavior was explainable by being an over protective mother.

Once Frigga realized that he was going to such extremes, she decided to start planning her escape. She had also overheard him speaking with the guards about detaining Thor should he be found helping Loki in any way. Fandral had gone to her to express his own concern which is how they ended up together. The number of Einherjar were multiplying at an alarming rate and people no longer felt safe to be out in the streets. Any little offense could have you sentenced to prison or even death.

"I am going to stay with my brother in Alfheim, I will be safe there"

"When did you plan to leave?"

"As soon as you got here"

Thor laughed and shook his head "I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised that you saw me coming"

She smiled and stood, causing Thor to rush to his feet as well "Heimdall is on our side as well, but I will not give him reason to lie to Odin. We will skywalk there once Fandral returns"

Not even a minute later, Fandral came back in with a small bag which he handed to Frigga. She checked the contents before closing it and vanishing it to her pocket dimension.

Frigga held her hands out "Shall we?"

Neither of them hesitated in grabbing a hand and with a flash of gold, they disappeared from Asgard and reappeared in Alfheim. Thor hadn't been here since he was a boy and he was in awe of how beautiful it was. There were mountains in the distance with trees and foliage everywhere you looked. He remembered as he was looking around that Alfheim was always known for their flowers and that the people here were very in tune with nature.

He heard a small fizzle and turned around just in time to see a figure materialize in front of the three of them. Frigga touched Thor's arm before he could take a defensive stance and walked towards the man, greeting him with smile.

"Alrick. It is so wonderful to see you again, you are looking well"

"As are you, sister, you are as punctual as always" He said with a small laugh before turning to Thor "My, you have grown quite a bit since I last saw you, Nephew"

Thor gave a small bow "Uncle Alrick, it has been too long"

"Aye, I wish we were seeing one another under better circumstances though. Tell me, how is Loki?"

Frigga grabbed onto his outstretched arm and they all started walking towards the palace "My Loki is doing well, he has found sanctuary on Midgard"

Alrick hummed in acknowledgement. During their walk, Thor noticed many different people using magic. He also noticed that it was not just women, a lot of men were using magic as well. Thinking back to when Loki came here for a few hundred years, he was struggling to understand why he would ever leave. This seemed like a place where Loki could truly be himself without judgement. Loki could be happy here.

His uncle explained how back when Odin's father, Bor, was the Allfather, he made a treaty with Alfheim that they would be left alone and have no dealings with Asgard other than for trade. Frigga would be safe here because Odin would not be able to step foot in Alfheim without breaking said treaty. The realm was also guarded by strong magic, making it near impossible to penetrate its borders. Thor worried that this was part of the reason the Einherjar was growing in size, but he pushed that thought back for now. They arrived at the palace where Alrick informed them they had rooms already prepared for Frigga.

"Uncle, I must thank you for keeping mother safe. Please, do not hesitate to call for me should you have need of me"

"Thank you, Thor, I will keep that in mind"

He nodded at his uncle and looked to his mother "Now that I know you are safe, I really must be getting back to Loki"

"Your brother will be just fine for awhile, I would like for you to stay and see the realm" Thor hesitated for a moment, but nodded in agreement "I was also thinking that you might like to meet your nephews"

"What? Narfi and Vali are here?"

"I brought them here not long after they were born. Alrick and his wife were very generous in caring for them when Loki could not"

Alrick smiled at his sister "They are both wonderful, it has been a pleasure to have them here. Why don't you go ahead and I will meet you all for dinner later"

They said their goodbyes and Frigga led Thor and Fandral to a beautiful patio that was surrounded by trees and had a small pond nearby. It was the small pond that had Thor's attention as there were two small boys laughing loudly there. He couldn't help the huge smile that grew on his face as he took in the sight of them. They looked so much like Loki, with jet black hair and pale skin. The boys were young, the equivalent of Midgardian three year olds.

The two maids that were with them greeted the group which cause the boys to finally notice them and rush out of the water to run into Frigga's arms. She kissed their heads and held them closely before holding her hand out to Thor, beckoning him closer.

"You both remember me telling you about your Uncle Thor?" They both nodded and looked to the God

He knelt down and smiled at them "It is so wonderful to meet you, Nephews"

One of the boys didn't hesitate in stepping up to Thor and hugging him. Thor couldn't help the tears that fell from his eyes. Vali was full of confidence while Narfi seemed a little more quiet. Narfi reminded him of a young Loki and he even had the same green eyes. Vali must take after Sigyn as she was remembered to be outgoing and a kind spirit, he also had her blue eyes.

The boys managed to convince Thor to go swimming with them and immediately latched onto him, making him swim around like that. They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with Narfi and Vali. Thor was thrilled to have nephews again and couldn't wait to tell Loki how wonderful his boys were doing. After putting the boys to bed, he made a vow to himself that he would do whatever was necessary to reunite Loki with his children. For now, he would soak up every moment he had with his nephews.

Chapter Text

Three weeks passed by before Tony even considered calling a meeting with the Avengers. He had spoken to Steve and they both agreed they needed to have a fool proof plan before they brought everyone together to discuss Loki. Normally, Tony hated waiting but he had grown used to the God's presence in the penthouse and he was reluctant to do anything to cause Loki to leave. After the night of the brothers reunion Tony had wanted to give Loki some space, but he found himself unable to do so.

Loki had gotten into the habit of making breakfast every morning and took over Steve's job of making sure Tony took breaks and went to bed at a reasonable hour. After the first few mornings, he had even started to invite Jane to join them for breakfast. Thor was off-world and Loki felt bad that Jane was alone, she seemed to be getting along well with Loki and even started asking for his help with some of her work.

When Loki wasn't in the lab with Jane, he ended up in Tony's lab. He was in there so frequently that Tony had invested in bookshelves and a comfier couch for the God to sit on. The two of them grew more comfortable around each other, but never crossed the line of light flirtation. The flirting was always initiated by Tony though as well as any form of touches. Tony had always been told that his love language is touch, but he never realized it was true until Loki came along. He seemed to have a constant need to have the God close by as well as touch his shoulder or pat his hand. Occasionally, he would test the limits and put a hand on the small of Loki's back when they were standing near each other.

Loki never seemed upset by the contact, but he also never initiated touch on his own. Tony assumed that his past with the homophobes in Ass-gard were the cause of this. He made a mental note to ask Thor about it at a later date. Right now, he was finishing compiling all of the evidence he had on the invasion to show everyone that Loki was innocent. He was sure that the evidence along with his, Steve, Bucky and Thor's testimonials that they had this in the bag. Thor had just returned from Asgard last night so this was as good a time as any to have the meeting.

"Jarvis, assemble the Avengers"

"Are you certain, sir?"

Tony stopped mid step and looked up at the camera "Why are you asking, J?"

Jarvis seemed to hesitate for a second "I have looked back on previous meetings about the invasion and it leads me to believe that they will be unwilling to see your side of things. I am worried for Mr. Liesmith's freedom, sir"

He couldn't help but smile "You're trying to protect Loki"

"Yes, sir, I am. He is important to you so he is important to me"

The AI had become attached to the God and Tony couldn't help but feel a bit of pride "You know that he can't stay here or get his kids back if the Avengers aren't on board though"

"I am aware. I would like to make my own testimonial if you insist on going through with this meeting"

"You got it, J"

Tony had the AI give Loki a heads up that he would be unavailable for awhile and to be on standby. Nerves usually weren't an issue for him, but he couldn't help but feel nervous going into the conference room. Everyone was already gathered around and seated, waiting for Tony to get there. He started handing out folders to everyone before standing at the head of the table and looking to Steve who gave him a nod.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called this meeting"

"Yeah, it sounded urgent, are we needed somewhere?" Nat asked from his left

"No, but it is urgent. I want us to discuss Loki"

Clint was the first to get upset and rip open his folder "You're joking. We're here to discuss that homicidal maniac? What more is there to say?"

Steve stood up "Let's all take a breath and let Tony explain. He has my full support on this"

They all looked shocked and quickly became quiet while reading over the evidence in the folders. Tony gave them all a couple of minutes before continuing.

"Right. So, I was looking through photos and videos from the invasion and it became clear to me that Loki was also under mind control" He pulled up photos on the screen to show Loki's blue eyes "These are all before Hulk's interference" He then brought up new photos "These are from after he was pummeled into a Loki-sized crater. His eyes are green"

Clint was shaking his head "He's a mage. He could've faked the whole thing!"

Bruce looked thoughtful as he watched the images on the screen "Clint, you had said yourself that Loki didn't seem right when he first came through the portal. That he looked sick"

"Yeah, but maybe that was all a part of it"

Nat put a hand on a hand on Clint's shoulder to try and calm him down "You know, I saw something as I was closing that portal. Someone was definitely pulling the strings, I always had a feeling there was more to the story"

"Ok, so we got one more on our side. How about you Brucey-bear?" Tony looked to Bruce with a hopeful expression

"The evidence is compelling, but I guess I'd like to hear why you're so invested in this..."

Everyone in the room turned to Tony expectantly. He sighed, running a hand through his hair "Let me tell you a little story" Tony then went into the whole story of Loki arriving at the tower and the state that he was in. He went to as little detail about his time in the Asgard prisons as he could to protect some of Loki's privacy.

The room was silent as they thought over what Tony was saying before Clint started shaking his head again "Tony, you're telling me that he's been living in the tower for almost two months?"

"Yes. He's done nothing to anyone the whole time he's been here. Well, that's not correct, he's been a little shit but that's usually just with me"

"He helped Bucky" Steve said from his chair "No one asked him to, he just offered without a second thought. He didn't have to do that"

Before Clint could argue again, Thor stood up "I know my brother has wronged you, Barton, I am sure that he would be willing to make it up to you. He knows better than anyone what it is like to have someone else in their mind"

"I don't see how he can make it up to me. It wasn't just me that he endangered, it was my family. It was all of you. My kids Thor. What if he let that slip out that I have a family and gave their location to someone?!"

Thor looked at a loss and sat back down when Jarvis decided to speak up "Agent Barton, if I may help ease your mind?"

"Don't see how you'll be able to, but go for it"

"I have been closely monitoring Mr. Liesmith throughout his stay here and he was never seen doing or planning anything nefarious. In fact, he has asked for my assistance on a few things. Mr. Liesmith is aware of your hesitations in trusting him so he has begun 'making amends' if you will. He has already helped Mr. Barnes free his mind and in turn, gave Mr. Rogers his friend back"

"Furthermore, he has made something for Dr. Banner which should materialize in just a moment-"

The room gasped and Bruce hesitantly reached out to open the box in front of him. It was small enough to fit in his palm and he carefully opened the lid, looking at the camera in the corner in the room with raised eyebrows.

"Dr. Banner, that is a music box. It has been made with Mr. Liesmith's seidr and should have a calming effect on yourself, or rather on your counterpart. The hope is that it will make the transition from Hulk to Bruce much easier"

Bruce was in awe "Wow. I-I don't know what to say" He went back to inspecting the box while Jarvis continued.

"Ms. Romanoff, you recently sought out SHIELD to shut down the Red Room. There is a file waiting for you in your room, but let's just say that you no longer need to be concerned about their continuation"

Nat was a trained spy so she always held her composure, but this information had her jaw dropping "What?!"

"I am still monitoring the situation in case anything should arise again, but I am confident in saying that the Red Room is officially shut down"

Clearing her throat, she looked up at Tony with teary eyes "I still want to look through that file, but...you have my support Tony"

Tony smiled and nodded while Clint was shaking his head again "This is all sounds great, but I don't see how this is supposed to ease my fears. He still knows where my family is. I will not just forget-"

"Mr. Barton, if I may continue?"

"Yeah, yeah"

"Mr. Liesmith is aware of your concerns for your family, as he is a father himself he understands your situation" Clint looked shocked at that information, but remained quiet while Jarvis kept going "He will await your permission to do so, but he is willing to cloak your families home. No one, including himself, will be able to find your home or family unless you give them permission to do so. I understand it is similar to how he cloaks himself from the gate keeper in Asgard"

Clint looked to Thor "He can really do that?"

"Aye. My brother is the most powerful mage in the nine realms, that would be rather simple for him to accomplish"

"Shit. If he can do that then I'll try. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I will try, Tony"

"That's all I'm asking. Give him a chance. I mean, think about it, if he joined the Avengers? We'd have a huge advantage when it comes to magical beings"

Everyone was silent as they looked around at each other, but eventually nodded in agreement. Tony let out a breath of relief and looked to Steve.

"What do you say to a family dinner, Cap?"

Steve looked ecstatic "I've been trying for months to get you to agree to team bonding. Yes, let's have a dinner together tonight and we'll have Loki join?"

"I don't see why not, gotta bite the bullet eventually"

Slowly, the group filtered out of the room except Tony, Steve and Thor. The minute that the three of them were alone, Loki materialized in the room right next to Tony who jumped, grabbing his chest.

"Fuck! I'm getting you a bell!"

Loki chuckled, but turned his attention to Thor "Brother, what news do you have of Asgard?"

Thor's smile vanished immediately "Asgard is worse than I imagined it to be"

They all sat back down while Thor explained everything that happened in his absence. He described the feeling he got from walking around Asgard and finding Frigga hiding out from Odin. Loki looked surprised that they all travelled to Alfheim and that Thor had remained there for so long. The most troubling part was the fact that the Einherjar were almost tripling in size and no one seemed to know why.

"Thor, are you positive that we can trust Fandral?"

"Yes, brother, I am sure that we can. Mother trusts him and he has been helping her despite the consequences" Loki nodded and raised his eyebrows at Thor's huge smile "I got to meet my nephews while I was away. I should've asked you if you were ok with it first though, I apolog-"

"Peace, Thor, I do not mind. Are they well?"

"They are well cared for. They are very kind boys, Loki, you should be proud. Oh! The Lady Darcy gave me this device to take a photograph, I took many of my trip!" Thor was fumbling around with the camera and Loki looked like he was loosing his patience so Tony carefully took the camera from him and put the memory card into his laptop. He asked Jarvis to display the photos.

The first photo was of Thor's thumb and you could slightly make out a figure behind his finger. Tony didn't have a good feeling of how these photos were going to be based off of how it was starting. Luckily, the next photo was finger free and showed Frigga with her brother Alrick. Thor was narrating for Steve and Tony who didn't know who anyone was. The next few photos were of Alfheim and the landscape. Finally, Thor got to a photo that had Loki leaning forward. It was Frigga who was knelt on the ground with a young boy on either side of her.

Steve was smiling at the sight and looked to Loki "They look just like you. What are their names?"

Loki swallowed thickly "On the left is Narfi. Vali is on the right"

Tony put a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder, slightly pulling the God into his side. For once, Loki melted into the embrace while he was staring at the picture displayed on the wall. Steve and Thor were talking amongst themselves so Tony spoke softly to Loki.

"I'll have Jarvis print this out for you, we'll get it framed for your room"

"Thank you, Anthony. I miss them terribly, I always do. I did not expect to be so overcome with emotion at seeing their photograph"

"It's understandable, Lokes, why don't we bring them here?"

Loki turned to face Tony "I want nothing more than for them to be here, but it is unsafe right now. We have to figure out what Odin's goal is before I relocate them. We need him to be oblivious of their existence. For now, I have to be ok with the fact that they are safe with my mother"

Tony agreed and they all left the conference room to prepare for dinner. Family dinner with the Avengers to get them to accept Loki should be a totally normal and simple affair, but Tony knew better than to expect that.

Chapter Text

Tony had gotten to know Loki pretty well over the past month that he'd been around so he knew that the God was nervous about the team dinner. Tony couldn't blame him though, it was basically putting Loki under a microscope against his will. The good thing was that Thor had this way of taking attention off of others and he had a knack for sticking up for Loki even when it was unwelcomed.

Walking into the dining room, Tony noticed that mostly everyone was already there and they were talking amongst themselves. He also noticed that Loki was not there yet which was not a huge surprise to him. The only open seats were next to Steve which he was grateful for, assuming the God would be more comfortable sitting between himself and Steve. Tony had a roll halfway to his mouth when Steve cleared his throat next to him, giving him a look of disapproval. Rolling his eyes, he dropped the roll and leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed.

He didn't have too long for pouting because the room went silent, causing Tony to look up in confusion. It didn't take long for him to see that Loki was in the doorway looking very unsure of himself. He looked like he was about to bolt so Tony sat up, waving him over.

"Come on, Lo-lo, Cap saved you a seat"

Loki gave him a grateful smile and made his way to the chair, quickly taking a seat and sitting up straight. Thor was beaming at his brother while Jane gave him a comforting smile. The rest of the room was openly staring at him though.

"You're all acting like you've never seen an attractive man before. Jeez, no need to ogle him"

"You would know all about ogling wouldn't you, Anthony?"

"Oh shut up, asshole"

"I can not say that is my favorite of your infernal nicknames"

"No? Do you prefer Bambi?" Loki made a disgruntled look "Rudolph? Frosty? Snowflake? Babe, Sweet Cheeks, Schnookums-"

"Enough, Anthony" They were both laughing, but sobered when they realized that everyone was staring at them.

Tony cleared his throat "Right. So, uh, you obviously already know. But, this is Loki" He gestured to the God next to him "Not the crazy haired maniac we met previously, the new and improved. Loki 2.0"

Most of the group nodded in acknowledgement or gave a little half wave. Not wanting anymore tension, Steve started passing around food and making small talk that was not about Loki. This lasted for all of five minutes before Clint decided he had to ruin the peace.

"So, what? Is he on the team now? We're just going to be one big happy family?"

Thor put a hand on the archers shoulder "Worry not, Eye of Hawk, Loki is just here as a guest of Stark"

Tony wanted to leave it alone, but he just simply couldn't "Would it really be such an issue if he was an Avenger?"

"Tony-" "Yeah, obviously it would be a problem!" "Maybe we should discuss some other time"

Everyone was overlapping each other so Tony started yelling over them "Ok, ok! Relax!" Finally, they all silenced "I'm just saying, he's a powerful space wizard, he'd really help us out"

Loki put a hand on Tony's leg "Incorrect description aside, that is very kind of you Anthony. But, I fear that my presence on the team would do more harm than good"

"Finally, something we agree on, boss" Clint sneered while holding up his cup in a mock cheers

Loki took a steadying breath before looking at Clint "Is there something that you would like to say to me, minion?"

They were in the middle of an intense stare down before Thor broke the silence "Brother, you know better than most" He flashed his eyes to Tony quick "how annoying unwanted nicknames can be..."

"Oh, I know. He clearly felt it ok to use my moniker from the invasion so it felt appropriate to do the same to him since we are clearly not going to be able to be on friendly terms"

Clint told the group how during the invasion, they were never called by each others names. Loki called everyone "working" for him his minions and they all called him boss. He was clearly very bitter about the whole thing and was glaring daggers at the God the whole time. Loki was surprisingly not glaring back, in fact he had a rather soft expression on his face.

"I did not use your given names to try to protect you in a small way. Yes, I was under mind control as well, but I had a little more control over my thoughts than you all had. I felt that if no one, save myself, knew your names then maybe...you would be able to go about your lives when it was all over"

"Tha-that kind of makes sense" There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes "Was Jarvis serious about you being able to shield my home and family?"

Loki nodded "I would have already done so, but I did not want to do it without your permission. It would require me to physically be there for it to work"

Clint nodded to himself and then extended his hand out to Loki with a small smile on his face "I'd appreciate it, boss"

With a mischievous smirk on his face, he shook the archers hand "It would be my pleasure, minion"

After that, they easily fell into a rhythm of jokes and stories. Clint still seemed wary of Loki, but he was actually trying to involve him in conversation rather than ignore him. Thor seemed like a puppy, full of excitement at having his brother here with his friends. It was nice to forget that there was ever tension in the group. Loki offered to clear the table and used his magic to send everything to the kitchen. Steve gave him a grateful smile and Tony offered to wash the dishes if Loki dried.

They were silently going about their chores when Tony felt eyes on him. He turned to see Loki smiling at him which had Tony flustered for a minute and looking away like an embarrassed pre-teen who was caught writing their crushes name in their diary. Tony shook his head to try and push down the stupid thoughts he was having. They weren't in high school, so what if he had a crush on Loki?

Tony finished the last of the dishes and stepped closer to Loki, hesitantly taking hold of his hand. The God didn't say anything, just looked at Tony with a questioning look on his face.

Taking a steadying breath, Tony looked him in the eyes "Um. So, I was wondering something"

"Go on"

"I know that we have this fun flirting thing going on, but is that all it is?"

Loki looked genuinely surprised by the question "I suppose that I assumed it was just flirtatious banter between friends"

Tony backed away and held his hands up in a mock surrender "Right-yeah-ok, that's what I thought" He awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away.

"Anthony, I was under the impression that you like women. I did not entertain the idea that this was something more because of that"

"Oh. Huh. Well, I mean, typically I date women. Yeah. But, I'm bisexual" He shrugged

Loki hummed in acknowledgement and stepped a bit closer "So, you are interested in courting me?" He had a smug smile on his face

"Alright, Romeo, relax. I don't 'court' anyone. But, If you're asking me if I want to kiss that smug look off your face and take you on a date, then yes. I do. Want that."

Taking a step closer, Loki put his hand on Tony's hip and started to lean in when a shout was heard from the other room. The two of them jumped back from each other in alarm just as Thor was rounding the corner.

"Brother, you need to come see this"

Loki and Tony quickly followed him out of the room and into the living room where the rest of the team was. At first they didn't notice anything was amiss until Thor nodded towards the balcony. Sitting on the balcony railing were two ravens and they quickly set their eyes on Loki. The God didn't hesitate in waving his hand, causing the ravens to vanish and blinds to magically appear on all of the living room windows.

"Uh, Bambi, what's going on? Do you have something against birds? Or Just felt like redecorating?"

"Those are not just birds, Anthony, they are Odin's ravens. Hugin and Munin"

Thor gasped "Brother! Do not speak their names!"

"It's fine, Thor, I am cloaking us from them now" He turned to face the rest of the group "Basically, they are spies. They answer directly to our father. They tell him everything that they see and hear"

"Shit. Now daddy dearest knows that you're here"

"Precisely. I am no longer safe here"

"Woah, woah. You can't just leave!"

Thor got up and put a hand on Loki's shoulder "I believe that Stark is right, you are safe within the tower" Loki looked like he was about to object so Thor continued quickly "Father can not attack the mighty Avengers of Midgard without causing a disruption between the realms. He would be starting a war for no reason, he is a better strategist than that"

Steve cleared his throat to get their attention "So, what do we do now? Should we be prepared for a battle?"

Loki shook his head "No, his problem is with me. I will not let it come to a battle"

"Loki, you're a part of the team now. We look after our own"

Tony nodded and smiled at him "Yeah, Lokes, you're stuck with our help whether you want it or not"

One by one, the rest of the group agreed which seemed to truly stun the God before he schooled his emotions. He thanked them and told them everything he knew about the ravens and his theories on why they were here. It was getting late so they all agreed to come up with a game plan sooner rather than later, just in case. Everyone seemed concerned that the Einherjar was multiplying without reason. Tony was about to suggest having a drink with Loki when Thor pulled his brother away to continue discussions. The God had thrown him an apologetic look before allowing Thor to drag him away. Tomorrow he would get that kiss if it was the last thing he did.

Chapter Text

Two more minutes. If Thor had waited just two more minutes before announcing the stupid ravens, Tony would've gotten to kiss Loki. Sure, it was important information, but it could've waited another two minutes. Tony barely got any sleep that night because he kept thinking about the 'what if's'. He rushed out to the kitchen after taking the worlds fastest shower, hoping to find Loki there for breakfast. The God tended to get up way earlier than him and this had been their routine.

He sighed when all he saw was Jane sitting at the bar with her face in a tablet. She looked up and gave him a quick smile.

"I guess Loki doesn't feel up to cooking today, we became kind of reliant on him haven't we?"

Tony laughed "Yeah, I never consistently ate breakfast before he started forcing me into a chair and shoving food in front of me"

"So...what had you rushing out here? Thor told me that he may have interrupted a private moment?" Jane asked while wiggling her eyebrows

"Yeah, I meant to yell at him for that actually. Where is the big guy?"

"He's in the training room with Steve, you could go join them"

"Oh God, no. That sounds horrible. I will seclude myself in my lab like a normal person" He held up his mug of coffee as a silent goodbye and headed towards the lab. Usually, after awhile of being in the lab, Loki would come in and force Tony to take a break or to see what he was working on. Today didn't seem to be one of those days though as hours passed by with no sign of the God.

Tony decided to go find Loki on his own since he clearly wasn't coming to the lab today. The first place he looked was the library, but it looked like it had been vacant for hours. After that he searched the common floor and Loki's room, but had no luck finding him. After the fourth location that Tony tried, he was starting to get worried and felt like Loki was avoiding him.

Walking into the training room, he spotted Thor who was just wrapping up. Thor gave him a warm smile as he called out to him.

"Stark, are you here for training?"

"Absolutely not, I don't need you throwing me around like a ragdoll" Thor gave a boisterous laugh "I was hoping you could help me with something though"

"What can I help you with, my friend?"

"Uhh...well, you see...normally Lokes comes down to the lab to hang out or force me to eat which is usually annoying, but I've kinda grown used to it at this point. Anyway, I haven't seen him around and he wasn't at breakfast like usual either-"

"Peace, Stark, my brother is not avoiding you"

"I didn't say he was avoiding me"

"You did not have to" He gave Tony a knowing smirk, but it vanished rather quickly "This is a hard day for my brother. Today is the anniversary of his children's deaths. He usually keeps to himself and mourns them in private. I am sure he will be back to his usual routine tomorrow"

"Oh, shit. I had no idea. he should've told me, I could've been there or something"

"That is very kind of you, but knowing Loki, he would not want to burden you with his troubles"

Tony nodded and made his way out of the training room. He felt terrible that he had no idea what today was even though he would have no way of knowing that without being told. Making his way to the lab, he decided he would try and do something for Loki to show his support. It took him a couple of hours, but he was proud of his work and didn't want to wait to give it to Loki.

"Hey Jarvis?"

"You would like to know where Ms. Liesmith is, sir?"

"Always one step ahead of me, bud, I love that about you. Any chance you think she'll want to see me?"

"I have seen nothing from her to indicate that she would turn away your company"

"Great. Just what I was hoping. So..."

"You will find Ms. Liesmith on the roof, sir"

Grabbing the bag with his gifts, he made his way to the roof as quickly as he could. The first thing that Tony noticed was there was grass on the floor of the roof that he was pretty sure wasn't there before as well as a pretty elaborate garden. In fact, the garden took over the whole roof and there were all kinds of flowers that he had never even seen before. He almost forgot why he was there when he heard Loki.

"Anthony?"

Loki was sitting on a bench in the middle of the garden next to a fountain. Tony gave her a small smile before slowly making his way over.

"Hey, Lo, love what you've done with the place"

"These are my mothers gardens on Asgard, it is where she taught me magic. I spent a lot of time there as a child"

"It's beautiful" They remained in silence while Tony looked around for a moment. He finally decided to sit down next to Loki, taking her hand in his "I can leave if you want to be alone, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright"

"Thor told you what today is?" Tony nodded "I am...sad, Anthony. I miss them"

"I can't even imagine how it feels to lose a child. I'm here if you want to talk though"

"May I-May I show you something?"

"Sure"

She shifted to face him and put her hands on either side of his face, hovering just far enough away to not touch "Do you trust me?" Tony didn't hesitate in nodding, causing Loki to smile before making contact.

Tony was standing in the same garden, but they were no longer on the roof. He looked around at the beautiful landscape before he heard shouting behind him, causing him to turn around.

"Modhy! Come on!"

Two young boys were running into the garden with Loki following, carrying a young girl. She motioned to be let down and went chasing after the boys as soon as her feet hit the ground. One of the boys quickly transformed into a wolf and started jumping around in a small pond while the girl went to a row of flowers that looked freshly planted. She was kneeling down when her other brother transformed into a snake and wrapped himself around her shoulders.

Loki slowly made his way over to the two of them before looking to the boy in the pond "Fen, do not go too deep"

"Modhy, do you think my flowers are going to last?"

"Of course, darling, you have been taking great care of them"

The little girl beamed at him before making a small watering can appear and carefully watering the row. Loki sat down on the ground next to her, watching her with a fond smile on his face. The little snake relocated to his shoulders as Fen came running over, gracelessly throwing himself on the ground next to Loki.

Slowly, the image around Tony faded and changed. They were still in the garden, but Loki was sitting on the side of a fountain with the three kids curled around him. Fen was cuddled into his side, the snake was around his shoulders again while the small girl was in his lap. He was reading them a story, causing them to giggle every once in awhile. Once again, the image changed. This time, the girl was holding the snake in her hands while tears were running down her face.

Loki knelt on the ground when they got close "What happened, Hela?"

She sniffled "I was running after Fen and I thought that Jor was inside, but he wasn't and I stepped on him. I didn't mean to! I didn't know he was there!"

"Shhh, it's alright love, let me see" Hela handed him Jor with thick tears still running down her face. Loki held a glowing hand over Jor before setting him down on the ground. The snake quickly climbed up his sisters arm and nuzzled into her cheek "See, Jor is alright. He is stronger than a regular snake, I think you just scared him"

Hela cuddled Jor close and reached her free hand up towards Loki. He leaned down and picked them both up, holding them tightly to his side as Fen ran over and hugged Loki's leg.

Slowly, everything faded away and he was blinking to refocus on the real Loki sitting in front of him. She had a sad smile on her face and laced her hand through Tony's.

Tony gave her hand a squeeze "You were a good mom, Loki. Those kids clearly loved you, thank you for showing me that"

"It is nice to remember them, I do not wish to forget the good memories I had with them. They loved the gardens as well, we always spent time there"

"I uh-I have something for you. It might be a little silly, but I wanted to do something for you and I wasn't really sure what" He took out the bag he with me and handed it to Loki.

She opened the bag, pulling out three small metal figurines. There was a wolf, a snake and a bouquet of flowers. Loki was looking them over carefully when Tony noticed a tear run down her cheek. Without thinking, he reached out and gently wiped it away.

"This was a stupid idea, wasn't it? I should've thought it through more-"

"Anthony, this might be the nicest thing that anyone has ever given me. These are beautiful. Thank you"

"Oh. You're welcome, Lokes. I had some scrap metal lying around and figured painting them black just kind of made sense"

"You made these?" Tony nodded "They are amazing, Anthony, truly. It will be nice to have a reminder of them with me" She gave them one more look before slowly vanishing them to her pocket dimension.

Loki softly caressed Tony's cheek before slowly leaning in. He didn't hesitate in meeting her halfway in a gentle kiss. Tony didn't want to push things so he started to back away before Loki put her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in to deepen the kiss. They continued until they had to pull away to catch their breath, but stayed close with their foreheads resting together.

Tony gave a small laugh "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that"

"I might have some idea" She leaned in for another kiss, shifting to get closer. Tony pulled her in, resting his hands on her waist when Loki whispered in his ear "Take me to your room, Anthony"

He let out a huff of breath he didn't know he was holding in "Lead the way, gorgeous"

Chapter Text

Tony was so happy that he assumed everything that happened must've been made up in his mind. Sure, he didn't want everything to be false, but his life just didn't work out this nicely for him so the only logical conclusion was that the gorgeous woman he spent the night with was imaginary. Luckily, that was not the case, but that didn't stop Tony from barely sleeping and keep looking to see that Loki was still there. Part of him expected the God to leave in the middle of the night or just vanish and pretend it never happened. Jarvis displayed the time and the days weather forecast, but Tony quickly waved his hand to make it vanish. The weather? How could he possibly care about the weather right now?

Slowly, he rolled over and smiled at the sight he saw next to him. Loki was sound asleep and her hair was fanned around her, somehow still looking perfect. Before he could change his mind, he slipped out of bed and went to make some coffee and to attempt to make breakfast his slumbering princess. Humming to himself, he wasn't really paying attention nor was he expecting all of the Avengers to be in his kitchen. He'd forever deny the little yelp that he let out upon discovering them all sitting there, staring at him.

Holding a hand to his chest, he tried to get his heartrate under control "Jesus! What the hell are you all doing here?!"

Everyone looked amused as Steve was shaking his head, looking at the rest of the group "I told you he wouldn't read his emails"

Clint was laughing "Yeah, that was partly why I told you to email him rather than text him, this is way funnier!"

Rolling his eyes, Tony walked further into the room "What's going on? Why did you email me and more importantly, why the fuck are you all in my kitchen?"

Nat got up, patting Tony on the shoulder on her way to the coffee pot "More team bonding, Tony, you seemed on board with the idea so we decided we should spend more time together. Today is breakfast hosted by you. Tomorrow is dinner hosted by Steve and Bucky"

"Naturally. Ok, well, you obviously seemed to know I would not check my email. Therefore, I would not have breakfast ready for you so again, I ask. Why are you all here?"

"Relax, we already made the breakfast knowing you wouldn't be awake to do so. We were hoping the smell of bacon would wake you up"

"You're not wrong, that's usually a good move to get me up. Here's the thing though, I kind of have compan-"

"Anthony?"

Tony's eyes went wide as he heard Loki's voice from behind him. He quickly spun around to see her rubbing the sleep from her eye, but what made him lose the ability to breathe was what she was wearing. She was wearing her jeans from yesterday, but had thrown on one of Tony's band shirts. His favorite, to be exact and if it hadn't already been his favorite, it definitely was now. He swallowed thickly and was pulled back to reality when Clint spoke from behind him.

"Damn, Stark, you could've told us you had a visitor. A beautiful visitor at that"

Shit. They had no clue that this was Loki. Well, that's not completely true. Someone in the room knew that this was Loki and when Tony turned around, said person was fuming and looking directly at him.

"Stark. I think you should explain yourself. Quickly" He said slowly and little too calmly.

"Right, yeah, sure. I'll do that. Uh-" He was cutoff by Loki placing her hand on his back and leaning in to kiss his cheek. He sent her a grateful smile in return. She stepped further into the room, away from Tony.

"Relax, brother, I believe we are all adults here. If you have something to say than you can speak to me privately about it" Loki gracefully made her way to the coffee pot, ignoring the rest of the room who were very slowly figuring out what just happened. Unfortunately, Clint was the first to recover.

"Holy shit! That's Loki? You slept with him?! Well, er, her?"

Tony groaned as he let his head fall into his hands. Thor cleared his throat, causing everyone to look over at him.

"What exactly are your intentions with my sister, Stark?" As mad as he seemed earlier, there was a hint of amusement in his features now.

Clint was not even trying to suppress his grin "Yeah, Tony, what are your intentions with the God of Thunders little sister?"

He looked to Loki for help, but she was smirking over her coffee mug "Yes, Anthony, I believe I would like to hear that as well" She gave him a wink as he was just gapping at her.

"Alright, this is insane. It was a one time thing! Why is everyone jumping down my throat?" He hadn't realized what he said until he looked at everyone's expressions which were varying between confusion and wariness. Looking over to Loki, he felt his heart drop into his stomach. She looked hurt, but it only lasted for a second before putting on a face of indifference. "Wait. No, that's no-"

"I should be going. Captain Rogers, is your offer for a training partner still good?"

Steve looked pleasantly shocked "Yeah, yes. I would love that. Meet me in the training room in about an hour?"

She nodded "Very well, I shall see you there. Enjoy your breakfast"

Without another word, Loki vanished from her spot, leaving behind a very frustrated Tony. He cursed to himself before grabbing himself a cup of coffee and plopping himself into a chair at the table. He was repeatedly hitting his head on the table when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Tony, what's going on?" Bruce's quiet voiced asked from beside him

"I'm a fucking moron. That's what's going on Brucie"

"That was rather obvious, I meant what is going with Loki?"

"Rude! You're supposed to be on my side, science bro code!" Bruce gave him an unimpressed look so he sighed and sat back up "I really like her. Him. Them. Why did I say it was a one time thing? I guess I kind of meant that it had happened only once - you know, one time- but, like this was new. Not that I never wanted it to happen again, you know? I should've just kept my mouth shut is what I should've done. I've been pining after him since he got here and now I fucked it all up AND I'm completely oversharing. So, yeah, I'm gonna shut up now before Thor decides to hit me"

"I will not strike you, Tony. However, I can not say the same for my sister. She is not exactly known for her forgiveness"

"She's going to kill me, isn't she?" He looked to Steve "Cap, you gotta really push her in training. I'm talking, not able to move again when she's done. This could be life or death, Capsicle"

"You are aware that she's a God, Tony? I have a feeling I won't be able to do that. Also, I see no reason to stop her from kicking your ass" He gave Tony a small smile as he got up and headed towards the elevator.

Tony watched after him in shock "Cap cursed and no one said anything! What is happening today?! I should've never gotten out of bed"

"Sir, Miss Potts has been trying to get through to you" Jarvis announced, causing Tony to groan

"Fine, I'll call her from the lab"

"Very well, Sir, I've relayed your message"

"Looks like I have to go, I'll see you guys later. Oh, and Clint? Next time you want to send me an email for something important, remember that I have the capability to turn all of your arrows into glitter arrows" He smiled overly sweetly and quickly made his way to the lab.

He gave himself a moment before asking Jarvis to call Pepper back. As per usual, she yelled at him for never having his phone on him and never responding to important messages. He agreed to sit in on some meetings later in the day to appease her though, he figured Loki wouldn't want to see him anyway. After showering and putting on a nice suit, he made his way to the garage where Happy was waiting for him.

"Hey, Boss, I have to admit that I was surprised to hear you were going to these meetings"

Tony gave a small laugh "Yeah, well, you know how convincing Pep can be when she wants to"

"She is definitely not a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure"

Happy opened the door for Tony and waited for him to be settled before pulling out of the garage. He was telling Tony about the upcoming meeting and who was going to be there, but Tony couldn't concentrate on that at all. The image of Loki's hurt expression was haunting him and he knew he had to do something to fix it. The problem was that fixing things such as relationships had never been his strong suit. There was even a long line of people that could attest to that.

After awhile, Happy realized that Tony wasn't listening "Boss?"

"What's up?"

"You seem distracted today. More than normal that is, I don't think I've ever seen you go this long without a phone or tablet in your face"

He sighed "I am distracted. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Of course"

"Do you think that I have the capability to be a good boyfriend?"

Happy hesitated a moment "I think you have a kind heart, Tony, and I think you have a lot of capacity to care for others. Relationships have never been your thing in the past, but I know that if you put your mind to it that you could have a very happy relationship"

Tony cleared his throat "Wow. Thanks for that, really. You're right though, they never seemed to interest me before. I was always faithful in my relationships, but no one ever truly accepted me for me. My time locked away in the lab and with the Avengers was all too much for people to handle"

"It can't be easy to know that you're going to constantly put yourself in danger, a lot of people won't be able to handle that. You're also a total insomniac and can be a bit of an asshole at times-"

"Hey! I'm still your boss you know"

The man just laughed, pulling into a parking lot and putting the car in park. He turned to face Tony "You're a good man, Boss, someone will see that and be able to look past the other things"

Tony nodded and patted Happy's shoulder "Thanks, Happy, I needed to hear that. Stay close by in case I need an escape?"

"Always, Boss, I'll even have a cheeseburger waiting for you"

"Bless you!"

He quickly made his way up to the meeting and made a big show to Pepper that he was not only time, but early. She patted his cheek like a child and told him she was proud of him. The meetings took forever and he did stop halfway through to get that cheeseburger from Happy. The only thing he could fully focus on was that he needed to do something to make things up to Loki and he figured out how he could do that. Sure, he should've been paying attention to meetings, but he knew Pepper could handle things better than him anyway.

To the rest of the room, it looked like he was diligently taking notes when he was actually making design plans for the roof and messaging Jarvis. He finalized everything and had Jarvis get a crew to rush over to the tower to make things happen. Pepper caught Tony's eye at one point and gave him a raised eyebrow in question of his exuberance which he just waved her off politely. In truth, he was giddy for his surprise and couldn't wait for it to be done.

Finally, the last meeting ended and Tony didn't hesitate in rushing out of the room and down to the car waiting for him. Happy handed him a coffee and quickly got on the way back to the tower. With a quick 'thank you', Tony rushed away up to the roof where the last of the workers were just filing out. They greeted him politely and silently left him alone. Tony could've jumped up and down out of excitement, but he kept himself together as he asked Jarvis to call Loki to the roof.

He was a little surprised that the God agreed to come, but he pushed that down and waited. Loki opened the door and was about to say something to Tony, but the words got stuck in his throat as he looked around in awe. Tony had almost perfectly re-created his mothers gardens. Loki stepped further out and was walking around, taking it all in. After looking everything over thoroughly, he looked to Tony with a questioning look.

"Your mothers garden holds a lot of good memories and emotions for you, I wanted to try and create a space like that for you here. Obviously, the flowers aren't the same but I sent the pictures to a few dozen florists and this is what they gave me. I know I fucked up this morning, Lo, hopefully this serves as an apology"

"You created all of this for me?" Tony nodded "I must correct myself from yesterday then as this is the nicest thing anyone has ever given me"

"It's no less than you deserve"

"Thank you, Anthony, truly. I think mother herself would even approve of it"

Tony laughed "Wow, that's high praise"

They smiled at each other for a minute before Loki went back to admiring the flowers.

"Loki, about this morning. I'm sorry-"

"No, Anthony. It is I who is sorry" Loki walked closer, but kept a decent distance between them "I overreacted this morning when I had no right to do so. We never said that what happened between us was a recurring thing so I should not have reacted so poorly. I apologize for doing so"

"You're right, we never defined this or gave it a label or anything, but that doesn't mean that it didn't mean something" Tony stepped closer, taking Loki's hand in his "I would like to define it now, if that's alright?"

"Of course, Anthony, I am fine with whatever you decide"

"This isn't just up to me, Lokes, it's a partnership. If you want that! I don't want to pressure you or put words in your mouth or anything, but I would like to think we're on the same page and-"

He was silenced by Loki kissing him which he quickly melted into. They pulled away with smiles on their faces, but Loki was the first to speak.

"Yes, we are on the same page"

"Cool" Tony cleared his throat "Awesome. So, boyfriends? Sometimes boyfriend/girlfriend?"

Loki laughed "As you wish, Anthony"

Chapter Text

- Loki's POV -

"Alright, this is insane. It was a one time thing! Why is everyone jumping down my throat?" Loki felt as though her throat had closed up, causing her to lose the ability to breathe. She allowed a quick moment of hurt to show on her face before plastering on a look of indifference instead "Wait. No, that's no-"

"I should be going. Captain Rogers, is your offer for a training partner still good?"

The Captain seemed startled by the question "Yeah, yes. I would love that. Meet me in the training room in about an hour?"

She nodded "Very well, I shall see you there. Enjoy your breakfast"

Without another word, Loki let her seidr wash over her and take her away. Landing in her bedroom, she made sure the door was locked and slowly crawled onto the bed and under the covers. The fact that the bed was cold and did not smell like Anthony made her even more upset. Why was this getting to her? It was one night and they never said that they were going to start a relationship together. Still, It hurt to know that Anthony didn't even seem to consider the thought.

"Ms. Liesmith?"

"Yes, Jarvis?"

"It has almost been an hour, I believe Captain Rogers is expecting you shortly. I can tell him you are unwell if you do not wish to join"

She smiled "Thank you, Jarvis, but that will not be necessary" Getting off the bed, she stopped a moment and looked to the camera in the corner of the room "You have always treated me with kindness. Please, call me Loki, I believe we are past the formalities"

"Of course, Loki"

With a quick wave of the hand, Loki had donned his battle armor and made his way to the training room. He had shifted back to his male form since he had more practice fighting that way. Steve was stretching when he arrived, but stopped upon spotting Loki.

"Hey! I'm glad you took me up on this. I'm curious to see how you fight, your strategy"

"I am efficient with hand to hand combat, but I typically rely on my magic. I was actually hoping you could help me strengthen my combat skills"

Steve looked surprised "Yeah, I would be honored. Let's get started"

Loki motioned for him to walk ahead "After you, Captain"

The two of them began their drills with Steve occasionally offering a suggestion or asking Loki to show him how he did something. It was a lot of give and take that the God was not used to. Growing up with Thor and his warrior friends, he learned early on that not having big muscles or using brute force was frowned upon. Being so much smaller than everyone else, he had to learn to adjust and typically favored magic as a weapon or knives. Both of those things were laughed at on Asgard. The fact that the Captain seemed genuinely interested in learning Loki's technique was heartening.

He got distracted for a moment too long, allowing Steve to get a hit in which sent Loki to the ground. Steve rushed over with concern written all over his face "Loki, are you ok?" He reached a hand out to help Loki up, which he accepted.

"I am well, Steven, just surprised me is all"

"Do you have someone you can talk to?" Loki gave him a look of confusion so he continued "Look, I know it's none of my business but I feel like I need to let you know if you ever want to talk, you can talk to me. It can't be easy being surrounded by people who are warry of you"

"You are correct in that. I know everyone claims to have accepted me here or admitted to try, but I know that doing so is easier said than done"

"They'll come around eventually. You're not a bad guy, Loki, they'll see that too"

Loki smiled "Thank you, Steven, I appreciate it. I think I would like to go and shower now, could we do this again sometime?"

Steve beamed at him "Absolutely. I'm in here every morning, join me whenever you want"

With a final nod, Loki left the training room and got into the elevator. He was about to press the floor number when he remembered that his room is on Anthony's floor. Before he could think too long on it, he decided to go to Thor's floor instead. Jane would be in her lab at this time of the day so he knew he wouldn't be disturbing her at least. Thor didn't look to be around either so Loki made his way to the bathroom and settled on a bath.

He wasn't sure how long he had been laying there when he heard heavy footsteps coming closer before stopping at the foot of the tub. Loki slowly opened his eyes to see Thor standing there with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

"I thought it was rather obvious that I was enjoying a bath"

"I can clearly see that, I think you know that I meant what are you doing in my bath?"

Loki sighed "My bathroom is in the penthouse"

"I am aware of the location of your bathroom. This still does not answer my question, brother"

"Anthony is in the penthouse"

Thor sat down on the side of the tub "Loki. What is going on?"

"Nothing"

"Loki"

"Alright, alright. I admit to a small moment of weakness" He glanced up to see Thor giving him a very 'big brother' look, causing Loki to roll his eyes "Anthony made me little figurines to represent Jor, Fen and Hela after finding out why I had disappeared for the day. His kindness was unexpected and it was very touching. So, one thing led to another. I suppose I should have assumed that it was just a one time thing"

"I think you had every right to think that it was not a one a time thing"

"How do you mean?"

"It has been quite clear that since you arrived, Tony was infatuated with you. He probably got caught off guard this morning. He tends to speak without thinking, I am sure he did not mean it. Loki, he seemed very worried that he could not find you yesterday and then he made gifts for you" Thor waited for Loki to understand, but all he got was a blank stare "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one"

"Hey!"

"Come on, let us go into the living room so I do not have to continue speaking to you while you are nude"

Loki rolled his eyes, but quickly dried himself off and dressed before meeting Thor in his living room. In the past, he would never even consider talking to his brother like this, but he couldn't say he was unhappy with the development. He sat down on the couch and faced his brother.

"What did you mean when you very rudely called me unintelligent?"

Thor laughed "Brother, you need not worry about Tony and his affection for you"

Loki was just about to argue when Jarvis spoke up "I apologize for the interruption, Loki, but sir is requesting your presence on the roof"

He looked over to Thor who was wiggling his eyebrows at him, causing Loki to groan "Thank you, Jarvis, tell him I will be there momentarily"

Loki opened the door to the roof and was about to say something to Tony, but the words got stuck in his throat as he looked around in awe. Tony had almost perfectly re-created his mothers gardens. Loki stepped further out and was walking around, taking it all in. After looking everything over thoroughly, he looked to Tony with a questioning look.

"Your mothers garden holds a lot of good memories and emotions for you, I wanted to try and create a space like that for you here. Obviously, the flowers aren't the same but I sent the pictures to a few dozen florists and this is what they gave me. I know I fucked up this morning, Lo, hopefully this serves as an apology"

"You created all of this for me?" Tony nodded "I must correct myself from yesterday then as this is the nicest thing anyone has ever given me"

"It's no less than you deserve"

"Thank you, Anthony, truly. I think mother herself would even approve of it"

Tony laughed "Wow, that's high praise"

They smiled at each other for a minute before Loki went back to admiring the flowers.

"Loki, about this morning. I'm sorry-"

"No, Anthony. It is I who is sorry" Loki walked closer, but kept a decent distance between them "I overreacted this morning when I had no right to do so. We never said that what happened between us was a recurring thing so I should not have reacted so poorly. I apologize for doing so"

"You're right, we never defined this or gave it a label or anything, but that doesn't mean that it didn't mean something" Tony stepped closer, taking Loki's hand in his "I would like to define it now, if that's alright?"

"Of course, Anthony, I am fine with whatever you decide"

"This isn't just up to me, Lokes, it's a partnership. If you want that! I don't want to pressure you or put words in your mouth or anything, but I would like to think we're on the same page and-"

He was silenced by Loki kissing him which he quickly melted into. They pulled away with smiles on their faces, but Loki was the first to speak.

"Yes, we are on the same page"

"Cool" Tony cleared his throat "Awesome. So, boyfriends? Sometimes boyfriend/girlfriend?"

Loki laughed "As you wish, Anthony"

They stayed wrapped each others embrace for awhile, enjoying the feeling of being together. Something occurred to Loki and he couldn't help himself when he let out a small laugh. Tony pulled back and looked at him in question.

"My apologies, Anthony, I was just thinking that for someone who was so against courtship you have done a wonderful job at courting me" He said with a mischievous smirk

Tony's eyes widened "Woah, hold on! How was this courting you?"

"You gifted me something of your realm, the small figurines that you made in your workshop. Then, you gifted me something of my realm" he motioned around at the garden surrounding them "I believe you also sought out my brother to check on my whereabouts as well as have met my mother. In Asgard, we would basically be betrothed"

"Simmer down, Shakespeare, run me through this"

Loki pulled Tony over to the bench, sitting down to face one another "Traditional courtship requires the acceptance of the pairs families. As your parents are no longer with us, Jarvis would be your closest living relative. He has already accepted me as your friend and companion. You already know Thor; and Frigga would not have assisted you in helping me if she did not approve of you"

"Then, you are to gift the other something from your own realm. If they accept that gift than the courtship officially begins. Usually after about a year, you gift them something of their realm and if they accept that then you are considered to be engaged and begin preparation for the wedding ceremony"

Tony looked beside himself "So, I unintentionally proposed marriage to you"

"That is correct. You did not even get down on one knee nor did you present me with a diamond ring, it was rather disappointing as far as proposals go Anthony. I assumed you would be much flashier in your proposal"

"If I proposed, you would know it! Hell, the whole world would know it. Tony Stark doesn't do anything less than 110%"

"I know that, darling"

Shaking his head, Tony laughed and took Loki's hand in his "You really are an asshole, but you're my asshole"

"Such a lovely sentiment" Loki said dryly, but the gleam in his eyes betrayed him as he leant forward to kiss Anthony "I do expect to be taken on a proper date, Anthony. I am a prince after all"

"Of course, your highness, I will call for my horse drawn carriage" He gave a mock bow before kissing Loki's cheek "Don't worry, sweetheart, you will get the official Tony Stark first date experience"

"I look forward to it"

The two of them remained on their rooftop garden for a couple of hours, just chatting about anything and everything. Loki couldn't remember the last time that he felt this carefree and genuinely happy. He was watching Tony who was passionately explaining his latest project and he could do nothing but smile at the inventor.

Chapter Text

- Tony's POV -

Tony made good on his promise and brought Loki out on their first official date. The Avengers were acting like parents watching their only daughter go off to the prom, trying to take pictures of the two of them in their formal wear and telling them to be home before curfew. Surprisingly, Loki didn't try to murder everyone and just shook his head at them all before teleporting the two of them to the garage. Happy was ecstatic to be asked to drive them to the restaurant. When he realized that his talk with Tony was about Loki, he was proud of himself for the advice that he gave.

They went to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city and had a table right next to the window so they had a view of the entire city. Loki was a prince so Tony assumed he wouldn't be easily impressed, but he seemed genuinely happy by everything that Tony put together for them. In the past, Tony had to worry about the paparazzi following him and how his date would react. With Loki, they could use his magic to shield them so they wouldn't be recognized. Also, the God was used to unwanted attention so he didn't seem concerned about it at all. It was refreshing and Tony made a mental note to make a list of very public things they could do that he would've hesitated doing before.

Luckily, the group was not waiting for them when they got back to the tower that night and they could enjoy a lazy evening on the couch. There were so many shows and movies that Loki had to be introduced to and Tony had a very long list. They fell asleep on the couch, curled around one another, during one of the many Star Wars movies and that's where Clint and Steve found them the next morning. The Captain had to hold Clint back from doing something to piss them both off. Steve was about to approach them when Loki spoke without opening his eyes.

"If you are here to harm or prank either of us, I recommend rethinking that as I have no qualms about retaliation"

Tony stirred at the sound of his voice, briefly opened his eyes to assess the situation before burrowing back into Loki's chest. He patted the God's cheek "It's ok, honey, just pretend you're asleep and they'll disappear"

Steve sounded slightly amused "Tony, we can hear you and you know we wouldn't bother you unless it was important"

"Not true, you all bother me constantly. On a scale of one to ten - one being Thor dropped his pop tarts and ten being Thor is completely out of pop tarts - where does this dilemma rank?"

Clint laughed "That was a bad day for everyone, I definitely do not want a repeat of that"

Loki cracked a smile "My oaf of a brother does not take it well when his food is not readily available. He made many servants cry due to his tantrums in his youth"

"Damn. Thanks for the heads up, Boss, I'll keep it in mind to never try to take food from his plate"

"That would be wise, Minion"

"I would say that this ranks at about a seven, based off the reaction we got from Thor" Steve said "We're all meeting on the common floor in fifteen" He patted Clint's arm, slightly pushing him to start walking before they both left.

Groaning, Tony rubbed his eyes before giving Loki a kiss and getting off of the couch. He looked down at himself, noticing that he was still in his suit from last night. Before he could think about changing, a warm glow ran over him and he was suddenly in his jeans and t-shirt. He was grinning at Loki when a cup of coffee appeared on the table in front of him which he quickly moved to grab and took a long sip from it.

"Keep this up and I'm never letting you go"

"You say that as if it is a bad thing" Loki kissed his cheek, taking his free hand and leading them towards the elevator.

Entering the common floor, they noticed that everyone seemed fairly relaxed so it couldn't be nearly as bad as Steve made it sound. There wasn't a lot of seating left and Loki was about to summon another chair when Tony pushed him into an armchair before unceremoniously dropping himself on the God's lap. Loki had to quickly grab onto him so that he wouldn't fall off. Tony waved his hand in a 'let's get this going' motion, causing most of the room to roll their eyes. Thor stood up and cleared his throat, looking more nervous than Tony had ever seen him.

"Brother, we received a summons. Well, more accurately, you received a summons"

"Odin?"

Thor was actively wringing his hands and looking everywhere but at Loki "No"

Loki huffed "Brother, say what you must before I lose my patience"

"Jotunheim"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Jotunheim, Loki, they are the ones that have summoned you"

Everyone was silent as the two brothers looked at each other. Thor looked worried while Loki looked confused and slightly annoyed. He tightened his hold on Tony to try and ground himself "They have no right to summon a prince of Asgard-"

"About that"

Loki's eyes snapped up to meet Thor's gaze before he swallowed thickly "Odin denounced my title"

The thunder God looked terribly pained while the rest of the room was shocked "I am so sorry, brother, I only just found out about it"

Slowly, Loki rose from his seat and shifted Tony to sit where he had just been and started to pace "Yes, well. I am not your brother, am I?"

"Loki! How can you say that?"

He held his hand up in mock surrender "I did not mean it as a slight, just stating a fact" Loki stopped pacing after a minute and faced Thor "I can not go to Jotunheim, brother" he said barely above a whisper.

Tony felt the weight of his words and got up to stand next to him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze "How serious is this summons?"

"A summons can not be ignored if one does not wish to bring about a war or imprisonment"

Clint waved his hand to get their attention "Uh, boss, what's Jotu-place and why are you being summoned there?"

"Jotunheim. It is another realm, realm of the frost giants. I assume I am being summoned there because I killed their King who also happened to be my biological father"

Tony shook off his shock faster than the rest "Naturally. Ok. There's a lot to unpack there, Babe. So, you think they want you to answer for killing daddy dearest?"

"Actually" Thor spoke up "It appears that Laufey lives"

"Laufey lives. How is that possible?" Loki looked shocked

"Apparently the blow from fathers staff was enough to incapacitate him, but only for a short while. As you then turned to attacking me after that, he had the chance to escape back to Jotunheim. Brother, we have no way of knowing that wants to punish you or that he knows who you are. You did introduce yourself as 'Son of Odin' did you not?"

"A brief error in judgement, yes. I might go just to tell him that Odin is nothing to me"

Thor rolled his eyes "Must you be so dramatic?"

"Yes"

The two of them started arguing in Asgardian, causing the others to watch in alarm and fascination. Finally, Steve seemed to be unsettled enough to interrupt.

"Ok, guys, let's just take a breath here. So, if I have this right, you can't ignore this summons now that you no longer hold the title of Prince of Asgard. How dangerous is it for you to be going there?"

Loki crossed his arms and looked to the ground so Thor decided to explain for him "No, he can not ignore it since it is coming from the King himself. Whether or not it is dangerous depends on how much they know. You must understand that we were raised to fear the Jotuns, we were told that they were monsters and they were the focus of our childhood stories to scare children into behaving. When Loki found out that he was one of them, he tried to prove to our father" there was a growl from his side so he quickly rephrased "my father, that he was worthy and planned to destroy all of Jotunheim."

Tony gave a bitter laugh "Let me get this straight. Odin takes you as a baby, knowing that you are Jotun, raises you as his own son and teaches you to fear the very thing that you are. That is so fucked up, Sweetheart"

"Yeah, Loki, that's horrible. I feel like this helps us understand you and the invasion a lot better" Bruce added quietly

"Brother, what I do not understand is why you did not come to me about this before you started destroying realms"

"Thor. You had just vowed that you would slay every single Jotun. Why would I think that I would be safe?"

Thor looked absolutely devastated and stuttered a bit "I-I was angry. They had attacked us. Loki. Brother. If I knew, I would have never said that"

"My entire life had been turned upside down, everything I knew and believed was a lie. For all I knew, you were in on the charade. I know now that you were not, but at the time I had no such assurance"

Nat looked around before leaning forward "So, you're no longer a Prince of Asgard. But, you're still technically a Prince of Jotunheim. We have no way of knowing that this Laufey guy wants to punish you."

Loki sighed "I suppose you are correct, but I'd rather be prepared for the worst" He looked to Thor "What exactly did the summons say?"

Thor handed him the small scroll, carefully unrolling it.

King Laufey of Jotunheim formally requests an audience with Loki Friggason, former Prince of Asgard
We will expect his arrival in a fortnight
Furthermore, he will be allowed two guests to accompany him

Loki read it over a few times, still staring at the scroll in his hands "Friggason"

"I suppose they guessed that you would no longer wish to be associated with Odin"

"Well, they were right about that at least" He handed the scroll to Tony and started pacing again.

Tony looked from the scroll to his pacing boyfriend who was now muttering to himself as well. Shaking his head, he held out a hand "Lo? Come on, honey, we're not going to solve anything like this"

"You think I do not know that?" Loki snapped. At the look of alarm on Tony's face, he took a breath and accepted the outstretched hand "I apologize, Anthony, I am just worried"

He allowed Tony to pull him down into a chair. After making sure that Loki was settled, Tony looked around the room "Alright, so who is going to join us?" They all looked confused, causing Tony to roll his eyes dramatically "Obviously, I'm going with him. Who else is going to go? They said he could bring two people"

"I will accompany you and my brother" Thor said definitively

Loki met his gaze "Thor, you do not have to come-"

"No, I do not have to. But, I am going nonetheless" The brothers nodded at each other before Steve asked for more explanation on Jotunheim. Thor was going to let Loki lead the discussion, but Tony motioned for him to do it.

They were all gathered around, listening intently to Thor as he told them everything he knew. He started with a story he was told about his grandfather, Bor, and his dealings with the realm. Then he went into to Odin's experience with the war and brought them all up to what they knew currently. Unfortunately, it was not a lot of information in regards to what they could expect from Laufey, but it was better than nothing. The whole conversation, Tony kept looking at Loki who was curled into Tony's side looking out the window.

The second that Thor was finished, he made an excuse to leave and pulled Loki along with him. The God didn't resist and allowed Tony to drag him away and back to the penthouse. Clearly, Loki was afraid to be going to Jotunheim and seeing his father, but Tony didn't know how to reassure him. Pushing it all aside, he brought Loki to his bedroom and dragged him into bed. He held Loki tight and stayed in silence, just stroking his hair comfortingly.

"I want to go swimming"

A laugh started out of Tony "Uh, sure, ok. Right now?"

"Yes" Loki got up suddenly and was going through all of Tony's drawers and closet until he found a bathing suit and threw it at Tony, looking incredibly impatient.

"Slow down there, Michael Phelps, what's the rush?"

"I want to go swimming"

"Believe it or not, I was able to keep up with that. Listen, if you want to go swimming, I-I will go to the pool with you but I'm not going in"

Loki hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving the room. Tony threw his hands in the air dramatically before scrambling after him. They made their way to the pool in silence and Loki used his magic to change into a bathing suit that looked like the one he had thrown at Tony, but green and black. The God didn't hesitate, just walked right into the water and started swimming laps. Tony took a seat to the side and started looking through a tablet with an occasional glance at Loki.

Finally, Loki got out of the pool and used his magic to dry himself off before standing next to Tony's chair with hand held out. Putting his tablet aside, he took Loki's hand and stood up in front of him with a questioning look.

"I wish to show you something, but you must promise not to panic"

"No panicking, got it"

Loki took a step back and closed his eyes. Tony was about to question him when a soft green glow shimmered throughout his body and he slowly went from his usual pale skin to blue. It took every ounce of willpower that Tony had to not gasp. Instead, he waited patiently and started looking at all of the raised lines that ran throughout Loki's body.

The God still had his eyes closed so Tony took half a step forward "This is your Jotun form"

His eyes opened and Tony's gaze was met with red eyes "Yes. This is the skin that I was born with"

"Can I touch you?"

"What?" Loki looked shocked and confused by the request "You wish to touch me when I look like this? Are you not scared?"

"Yes, I want to touch you. No, I am not scared. I stopped being scared of you a long time ago, Sweetheart. You still look like you, just blue. Hell, one of my best friends turns into a big, green rage monster and you thought that this would scare me?"

"You are a very unusual mortal, Anthony Stark"

"Took you long enough to figure that out" At Loki's ok, he stepped closer and started running his fingers along the lines on the God's arms and forehead "Do these lines mean something?"

"I am not sure, I assume they are similar to a birth mark. Unique to each person"

"Cool. Literally. You're chilly, but not uncomfortably so"

"Without my magic, you would not be able to touch me. My skin is below freezing temperature, you would get frostbite"

Tony cupped Loki's cheek and leaned in to capture his lips with his own. Loki hesitated for a fraction of a second before melting into the kiss.

"You taste different like this, like frost and mint somehow. I like it" He kissed Loki again and when he pulled away this time, Loki was back to his Asgardian form.

"I do not enjoy looking like that for long, it is not the skin I am comfortable in"

"I get it. If you ever feel like turning blue to get used to it, I have no issue with it. You're still just as gorgeous"

They decided to put off all talk about Jotunheim and blue things until tomorrow. Loki was worried about it and Tony would be lying if he said he wasn't panicked as well, but tonight they could just pretend that everything was normal.

Chapter Text

The time flew by, but also dragged at the same time. Somehow, it was the day they were meant to leave for Jotunheim and Tony wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all day and pretend that this wasn't happening. They made a plan and he was going to stick to said plan, but it didn't stop him from worrying that Loki would be taken from him. There were so many concerns and unanswered questions about this whole thing that would make anyone's head spin.

Reluctantly, he got out of bed and got himself ready for the day. He stopped by the lab to get one last look at his suit to make sure he was ready. Jarvis eventually told him that he needed to get upstairs to meet the others and that he would make sure the suit was on the landing pad for him. There was some light banter when he arrived outside, but the worry was clear on everyone's faces except Thor's. No matter how dire things seemed, he always managed to have puppy-like energy.

He noticed how differently Thor and Loki were dressed too. Loki was in his Asgardian armor, not the one that he wore for the invasion though. This one was all black with hints of green and a long, green cape to match. Tony would be lying if he said he wasn't admiring how tightly it fit to his body. Thor, on the other hand, was in his typical armor but he had a thick fur cape in place of his normal one. He was about to question it when Loki stepped up to him and wrapped a fur cape around his shoulders. It looked identical to Loki's, but was fur lined like Thor's.

Tony smiled up at his boyfriend "Thanks, babe. Marking your claim on me?"

Loki leaned in, brushing his lips against Tony's cheek "How can I resist when you look so ravishing in my colors, darling?"

A shiver spiked up Tony's back and he had to clear his throat when he backed away "Please don't turn me on when I have your brother smiling at me like that" They both turned to see Thor beaming at them, he waved when he saw them looking. The two of them couldn't help the laughter that came from it.

Tony shook his head, kissed Loki's cheek and walked over to the rest of the group "Alright, guys, you know the drill. Mommy and daddy have to go on a trip, we can only take one kid so we picked our favorite. If you're all really well behaved, we'll bring you home souvenirs!"

"Yes! I'll be good, mom!" Clint shouted

"Wait. Why am I the mom?"

"You're shorter"

"So? Loki's...hair is longer!"

"You have a motherly attitude"

"Loki literally transforms into a woman"

Clint looked like he was debating "I'll change my mind based off who gives me the best souvenir" He held his hand out to Tony.

Tony rolled his eyes, but shook the archers hand "You're on"

Steve being the typical mother hen that he was, cleared his throat to get their attention back on track "We'll be on standby in case anything goes wrong. Jarvis will be on the lookout for any sort of distress"

Thor clapped Steve on the shoulder "Worry not, Captain, I will take good care of my brother and Stark. No harm shall come to us"

Tony put hand on his iron man suit and the grabbed Loki's hand with the other. Thor came over and put a hand on Loki's shoulder, nodding at him that he was ready. With a final goodbye to the Avengers, they all vanished in green smoke. Loki had been walking the paths of Yggdrasil since he was little, it was a means of travel between the realms that mages could manage. Without access to the Bifrost, it was their only means of transportation. A minute later, they landed on the frozen realm.

Loki and Thor had been here once before, but it looked nothing like what they remembered. The last time they were here everything was dark and cloudy and you could barely see a few feet in front of you. Now, everything was bright and clear. The realm was still frozen, as was its nature, but it seemed to be thriving. They were all looking around in awe when someone slowly walked in their direction. The Jotun was a good two feet taller than them and was a lot more human looking than what the princes remembered.

The three of them stayed close while one of the Jotuns stepped up to them "Welcome to Jotunheim. I am Helblindi, second son of Laufey" He took a minute to look between the three of them before his gaze settled on Loki "You must be Loki, the lost prince"

Tony scoffed "Being abandoned doesn't count as being lost"

"You know not what you speak, mortal. Everything will be explained at the palace. You were allowed two guests, why are there four of you?"

"This is just my suit, it's not a person" Tony pressed a button on the side, opening it "See, all empty"

Helblindi nodded and turned, motioning for them to follow him. It was a decent walk to the palace and the only thing that felt like an accurate description to Tony was Elsa's castle. Everything was made of ice, but somehow it felt warm when they stepped inside of it. There were a decent amount of guards, but not an overwhelming amount. Helblindi suddenly stopped in front of large double doors, turning to look at all of them.

"You will remain here until you are called. Your...suit...will stay in the hall. No weapons allowed in the throne room" He left without waiting for an answer.

They were silent, waiting for the doors to open. Tony made his grip on Loki's hand a little tighter, he could tell that the God was nervous. None of them really had any clue what to expect from this trip and somehow it was already vastly different than what they were thinking. He was about to open his mouth to say something when the doors creaked open and a couple of guards were motioning them in. Thor and Tony looked to Loki who was just staring straight ahead. He started walking with his head held high and a tight grip on Tony's hand.

Getting closer, they could see a throne atop a set of stairs which was all made of ice. King Laufey was sitting on the throne with Helblindi standing off to the side with his hands behind his back. Laufey looked more regal than Tony thought he would, if he looked close enough he could see similarities between him and Loki. He had very short black hair, but the same chiseled cheek bones that Loki had. The three of them stopped a few feet away from the stairs and waited. Laufey looked them over before looking to the guards and instructing them to leave the room.

"I am King Laufey and you have already met my son, Helblindi"

Loki took a steadying breath "You have summoned me?"

Laufey had a slight smile on his face "I think introductions would be a good start, do you not agree?"

"I am Loki, former prince of Asgard as you seem to already know" He motioned to his brother "This is Thor, Son of Odin, crown prince of Asgard" Loki let go of Tony's hand to motion to him next "This is Anthony Stark of Midgard"

"You have chosen these two to accompany you here. What do they mean to you?"

"How is that relevant?"

Laufey raised an eyebrow at Loki that was very 'father scolding his child' which made Loki very quietly growl before answering "Thor is my brother and Anthony, my partner"

"Your partner? In what sense of the word?"

Tony spoke before Loki could say anything "You know, boyfriend/lover/sex-companion, that sort of thing" He winked at Loki while Thor coughed to cover up a laugh and Helblindi was trying not to smile.

Loki rolled his eyes "He has a penchant for speaking without thinking, do be quiet Anthony" He glared at Tony before looking back to Laufey who just looked amused by the interaction.

"You got it, Sweetheart"

Laufey gave a small laugh "I like this mortal" His face became more serious as he sat forward slightly "You are aware that you are my son, yes?"

"I am aware"

"What were you told of your origins while you were being raised a prince in the golden realm"

Loki let out a bitter, almost manic laugh "Nothing. I was raised to believe that I was Odin's son. His less favored son, but his son nonetheless. I was told many lies for over a thousand years, I found out the truth after coming here with Thor"

"When one of my men grabbed your arm" Loki nodded "He knew that you were a Jotun when he grabbed you, but he did not know who exactly you were. I am curious to know what Odin told you about how he came to find you"

"He told me that I was abandoned. Left to die because I was too small, a runt"

Laufey growled and clenched his jaw "Lies!" He took a moment to calm himself before speaking softly "You were not abandoned, little one, you were stolen from the temple"

Loki seemed to be unable to form words anymore so Thor stepped forward "How can we know that what you say is truth?"

"Loki will have to listen to my tale, he of all people should be able to sense if I am lying. Come, let us sit down where we will be more comfortable"

They were all led to a smaller room off of the throne room, it looked similar to a conference room. Laufey took a seat at the head of the table, motioning for the rest to take a seat as well. Once they were all settled, Laufey leaned forward and began his story.

"You were born right before the war. It was unfortunate timing, I will admit, but we were all under a lot of stress so you arrived a bit early. Farbauti, your mother, desperately wanted to keep you safe so we had you both secluded in the temple. It is away from the palace and not a well known place so we thought you would be safest there. The two of you were with a half dozen guards, but Odin seemed determined to get inside. He and his men slaughtered all of the guards and tried to get to you next. Farbauti put up as much of a fight as possible in his condition, but ultimately was overpowered."

Laufey took a steadying breath before continuing "We had no idea why Odin was so determined to take you. He did not even hesitate, he grabbed you and swiftly left the temple. Your cries could be heard for miles the second you were out of your mothers arms, but right before the bifrost touched down you were silent. I was under the impression that Odin had killed you. Not only had he taken the casket of winters, but he stole my first born. Without the casket, our realm fell into ruin and everything started to decay and wither. Even our bodies had morphed and changed to be able to survive in the climate"

Loki finally looked up from the table at his father "You have the casket back. How?"

"Frigga"

Thor's eyes widened "What?"

Laufey had a small smile on his face "She is a very brave woman and fierce. Frigga came to me a few months after the both of you came and told me a very interesting tale. She had not known that you were stolen, she was told the same story as you. I suppose that she was tired of Odin's lies and wanted to mend bridges so she brought us the casket and told us that you were indeed alive and were unaware of your origins"

Tony huffed out a laugh "Damn. I knew I liked your mom, but she just flew right to the top of my list. She's a badass"

Loki snorted, shaking his head "Yes, I am sure she will love to hear that" he looked back to Laufey "Why did you wait so long to contact me? Knowing my mother, she told you exactly where I was"

"She did indeed, but I did not think that you would come. Not on your own accord so when we got word that Odin denounced your prince status, we seized the opportunity and sent you the summons"

"No, I most likely would not have come. You are aware of what I have done or attempted to do to Jotunheim?"

Laufey nodded slowly "I am aware and I did not bring you here to punish you, Loki. Frigga told me everything about that time and the invasion afterwards, I understand why you did it. I can only apologize that Odin did not see in you what I see"

"And what do you see?"

"I see a broken man. Someone who is desperately trying to find his way in the world, but keeps being forced into situations that make him the bad guy. I see a scared boy that the Norns have turned their back on many times. There is more to you than meets the eye and I very much would like to get to know the man you are becoming."

"Hold up" Tony leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at Laufey "You said 'he' before when referring to Loki's mother"

Laufey looked confused "Well yes, all Jotuns have both sexes even though we present as male"

Tony's eyes widened slightly "Huh. Learn something new every day" he turned to look at Loki and was not subtly looking him up and down with interest.

Loki glared and flicked his ear "Cease your staring. That can not be the most surprising thing you have heard today"

"I mean, kind of. What? Can't I be interested in my alien boyfriend and his anatomy?"

The God sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose while Laufey continued to look confused "You are partners, but you were not aware of his anatomy?"

"Well, yes and no. I have seen him in all of his naked glory, but he was female at the time and I have not had the pleasure yet of being with him in his Jotun form"

Thor groaned "Can we please not discuss my little brothers anatomy?"

"I would also like to stop this discussion" Loki grumbled

Tony had another thought pop into his head and couldn't stop himself from asking "You also said that Farbauti fought to keep Loki safe, but was unsuccessful. What happened to him?"

"He was gravely injured and had just given birth so he was very weak when I got to him. Our healers spent weeks with him, if the casket had not been taken things would have been much easier. It was very touch and go, but Farbauti survived. He is very anxious to meet you, Loki"

Loki looked conflicted "Why am I so much smaller than everyone else here?"

"You were born with magic. All Jotun mages are smaller in stature than the rest of us. We have very few mages left and it is rare now to birth a mage. You were not a runt, my son, we knew the second you were born that you would grow to be very powerful. I have been told that you are one of the most powerful mages in all the realms" He said with pride

Thor smiled and clapped Loki on the back "Aye, my brother is very impressive"

They sat in silence for a moment before Laufey stood "You all must be tired from your journey, I will show you to your rooms and then we can meet again for dinner"

As they walked through the palace, Tony noticed people looking at Loki with awe. The God seemed to be unaware as he was staring ahead of him. Thor was given a room next to Tony and Loki so they parted ways. The second that the two of them were alone, Tony pulled Loki into a tight embrace which he quickly melted into. No words needed to be said, it had been a very overwhelming morning for everyone.

The both of them laid together for a couple of hours before there was a knock on the door and a guard informed them they were invited down to dinner. Tony got up, pulling Loki with him, and made his way out of the room. Thor was waiting for them and silently, they followed a guard down to a small dining room. It was Laufey and Farbauti's private dining space for family meals. If Tony thought Laufey looked like Loki, he had nothing on Farbauti who was almost identical to the God. He was also beaming at the sight of Loki with tears in his eyes.

"It is so good to have you home, my son"

Chapter Text

"It is so good to have you home, my son"

Farbauti looked like he wanted to run over to Loki and hold him tight, but was trying very hard not to. Instead, he smiled at him and motioned for everyone to come into the room and sit down. Loki's mother was slightly shorter than Laufey and not as muscular either. In general, he was smaller in stature than Laufey, but still a good foot taller than Loki was. He had long, wavy black hair like Loki did and had the same mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Laufey pulled the chair out for his husband, a gesture that Tony was not expecting based on what he had been told about Jotun's. This all seemed so normal and if the people across from them weren't blue, you would think you were back on Midgard. Tony hesitated a minute too long so he didn't have the chance to pull Loki's chair out for him. When he really thought about it, these were Loki's parents and he wanted to make a good impression. Loki was giving him an odd look when he noticed that he was still hovering next to the God's chair so he quickly sat after kissing Loki's cheek.

The beaming smile from Farbauti was worth it so he knew he did something right. They all settled in a comfortable silence as the food was brought out and placed in front of everyone. Throughout the meal, someone would ask a random question but for the most part they remained quiet. When the meal was finished and all of the plates were cleared, Farbauti cleared his throat.

"Laufey informed me of your earlier discussion, but I was hoping that you could tell me a bit about your childhood?"

Thor immediately looked like he was going to come to Loki's defense, but Loki put a hand on his arm just as quickly. The exchange was not missed by the Jotun's, they seemed amused by the pairs relationship.

Loki gave a small laugh "I am afraid it is not a very pleasant story"

"I understand if you do not want to discuss it, I would just like to get to know you better"

"Understandable" Loki replied slowly "Thor and I were raised together, raised as brothers. My magic was not valued on Asgard, it was seen as feminine, unmanly. It was just the beginning of my many faults in the eyes of the Allfather. When I was younger, I tried much harder to be what Odin wanted. I constantly studied subjects I thought would interest him, but nothing was ever good enough. I was always in the way or a burden so eventually, I kept to myself."

"I did not exactly have a lot of friends and when I did try to insert myself in conversation I was ridiculed or punished. Thor usually stuck up for me, but Odin still found reasons to punish me. My only solace was Frigga, she was my only confidant for so long. It took me a very long time to realize that Odin did not have an issue with my actions, rather he had an issue with me, but I did not know why. He raised me to fear and hate the very thing that I am and condemned me for my use of magic."

Loki's fists were clenched as he continued "I am one of, if not the most, powerful mages in the nine realms and he could not care less. He never saw anything other than a monster and in turn, everything I touch is tainted. My own children were taken from me based on a bullshit prophecy that he most likely made up in that crazy mind of his" He took a steadying breath "My life has not been an easy one. I am at fault for many horrible things and I have atoned for those sins, but no one has done more wrong than Odin Borson. I will not bat an eye at his death."

Farbauti looked stunned, while Laufey was fuming. Tony took Loki's hand in his and kissed the God's knuckles. He could feel a little bit of tension roll off Loki at the contact, but Laufey was full of rage when he spoke.

"What did Odin do to my grandchildren?"

The grip on Tony's hand tightened "My firstborn were triplets. Jormungander, Fenrir and Hela" Loki swallowed thickly "Odin claimed that there was a prophecy that the three of them would bring about Ragnarok. He was enraged and terrified at the prospect so he did not even stop to think that they were just children. They were sentenced to death and there was nothing that could stop it. My magic was bound and I was chained so that I could not interfere. I had to watch as the guards took their lives"

Farbauti reached across the table and held one of Loki's hand in both of his as Loki cleared his throat to continue "That was many years ago, but it still hurts as if it was yesterday. I do have twin boys as well, Narfi and Vali, they are with my mother currently"

"Is this mortal their father?" Farbauti asked

Tony choked on his drink while Loki laughed "No, this was before I met Anthony. I was married to a woman named Sigyn at the time, she died in childbirth"

Thor started laughing, causing everyone to look over at him "I am just picturing Tony with two infants" He was laughing even harder and Loki started chuckling as well. Soon enough, both brothers were in hysterics. Tony looked offended and slapped Loki's arm.

"My apologies, Kaerasti, I am sure you would do just fine"

"You bet your fine ass I would. Sure, I don't exactly know what to do with them and I definitely curse too much and drink too much...fuck. I would be terrible with children. Loki! Your kids are going to hate me"

"Relax, darling, this is not something we have to deal with presently"

"Yeah. True. Ok. I'm alright. I will be researching 'how to handle your alien boyfriends children' later though"

"I would expect nothing less, Anthony" He kissed the mans cheek and turned back to his parents "What exactly are you hoping to gain with me?"

Farbauti and Laufey looked at each other before looking back to Loki. Laufey had a serious look on his face "Loki, we want nothing from you. We just wanted to meet our son and get to know him. Ideally, you would spend some time here and get to know your own realm and family. I understand that you have a family of your own to consider though"

"With Odin still actively searching for me, it is not safe for me to have my children with me. Truthfully, I have not seen them in a few years. Point being, I have nothing keeping me on Midgard other than Anthony" Thor loudly cleared his throat, causing Loki to roll his eyes "Anthony and my brother, of course"

"You still refer to Odinson as your brother, has he not wronged you?"

Thor was clenching his fists, but trying to not speak for Loki. Loki looked at his brother, giving him a small smile before looking back at Laufey "He has wronged me in the past as I have wronged him, but he was always there for me when I needed him. We may not be blood, but we are brothers"

Thor looked absolutely stunned while Laufey nodded in understanding "Loki, I would love to show you around the town if that is ok?"

"Of course" They all got up, but Loki stopped Thor and Tony "I think I would like to go alone if that is alright"

Tony looked uncertain "Uh, yeah, that's fine. Are you sure, Sweetheart? I have no issue tagging along"

Loki softly caressed his cheek with a smile on his face "I am certain, Kaerasti, how about you explore the palace? I will meet you back in our room later"

With a quick kiss goodbye, Loki turned and left the two of them alone. Thor decided that he wanted to go back to his rooms since Loki didn't need him so Tony went on an exploration by himself. As he walked through the halls, he would have some people nod at him or even bow in some occasions. Apparently, dating the lost prince made you kind of important here.

He tried not to compare the palace to Elsa's frozen palace, but it was hard not to see the comparisons. Everything was made out of ice and had similar architecture even. He was walking down an empty corridor when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning back around, Tony noticed that there was a little girl that was not doing the best job at hiding behind a small table.

Not wanting to scare the girl, he stepped a little heavier so she would hear him coming and knelt down to her level. She didn't exactly looked scared, but annoyed that she was caught. The girl couldn't be older than eight and was a lighter shade of blue than the other Jotun's with shoulder length auburn hair.

"Hey there, kiddo, what are you doing under here?"

"Sitting"

He couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his mouth "Yeah, I can see that. Are you lost?"

"No"

"Ok, that's good. Where are your parents? I can walk you back to them"

She was quiet for a minute, her brown eyes watching him carefully before she very quietly answered "They're gone"

"Gone? Like they went out somewhere and are coming back-?" He stopped at her shaking her head no

"Mama and Papa are gone" There were tears in her eyes and now that Tony was really looking at her, she had dirty clothes and some dirt on her hands and face. She must've been alone for some time.

"What's your name, honey?"

"Cassie"

"Huh. Wasn't expecting such a normal name...Alright, Cassie, I'm Tony. How about we come out from under the table? If not for you than for the sake of my back?"

She nodded and allowed Tony to take her hand and help her up, but didn't let go. Tony found somewhere they could sit down and asked Cassie what had happened to her. The details were fuzzy as well as few and far between, but the girl was eight so he couldn't expect too much from her. From what Tony could piece together based off the information he got, her mom was Jotun and very ill. Her dad took care of Cassie's mom, but eventually got sick as well.

The way she spoke about her dad led Tony to believe that he was not Jotun. It would also explain her coloring and the fact that she was female. If this happened before the casket was returned then it would make sense how they might not have been able to survive. The unfortunate part was that meant the girl had been on her own for more than two years. He figured he'd ask Laufey to find out information on the girl, but in the meantime he needed to get her settled.

He flagged down a servant and asked them if they could bring them some food and if he could get some clean clothes for Cassie. The Jotun gave Tony a funny look, but eventually did as they were asked. He suggested asking for the servant to bathe Cassie, but the little girl panicked at the thought of leaving Tony so he decided to do it himself. The two of them went back to Tony and Loki's room and he started the bath.

Cassie seemed so excited at the prospect of a bath with bubbles which made Tony's heart ache for her. Clearly, she had not led an easy life so far but it was obvious she was a strong little girl. When her bath was finished, he got her dried off and into the new clothing which Cassie immediately started twirling around in. After a little bit of food and a bath, she was a completely different person.

The sound of the bedroom door opening had her panicking and she ran to hide behind Tony's legs as Loki entered the room. He smiled at Tony, but it quickly faded into a confused frown when he spotted the little girl.

"Anthony. I know you were upset at Thor and I's comments, but you did not have to kidnap a child to prove a point darling"

"Shut up, asshole, I did not steal her!" He knelt down to Cassie's level "It's alright, snowflake, we like Loki"

Loki was watching with amusement as the girl nodded and Tony looked back at him "So, this is Cassie. She's uh, my new friend"

"Is that so?" The God knelt down next to Tony and smiled at the girl "It is very nice to meet you, Cassie, I am Loki"

"Loki? You're the lost prince they were talking about"

"Yes, but I am not lost anymore. Cassie, do you mind staying here while I talk to your new friend?" She shook her head "Wonderful, how about you sit on the couch and I will get you something to drink"

Cassie allowed Loki to lead her to the couch and she watched in awe as he conjured up a mug of hot chocolate and a blanket for her. She beamed at him and curled into the couch under the blanket. Loki took Tony's arm and pulled him into the hallway. He crossed his arms and looked at Tony, waiting for an explanation.

"I know this probably looks really weird, but I just kind of found her while I was looking around" Tony told Loki everything that the little girl had told him and his theory on what had happened "So, do you think that Laufey could help? Maybe figure out if she has some sort of family somewhere?"

"Possibly. I will ask him and see what I can find out. Tomorrow we need to discuss Odin"

"Odin? What has the crazy one eyed asshole done now?"

"Nothing yet, but Laufey wishes to be prepared for the worst. He thinks that Odin is gearing up for some sort of war"

"Wonderful. Ok, so is it just us talking about worst case scenario or is this an official war council?"

"I would say it will be an official war council as he has asked me to invite representatives for Midgard. He has also asked my uncle and mother to come to speak for Alfheim"

"Damn. This is getting serious. Ok. Who is going to speak for Midgard?"

"The heroes of Midgard should suffice"

"As in the Avengers?"

"Yes and no. Bringing them all here would be too many opinions. Typically, it is two people from each realm so they choose the two most worthy and capable of speaking for the good of their realm"

"You seem to already know who is going to speak for Midgard. If you think that Fury is going to loosen his eye patch and come here to support us in this then you're out of your mind, sweetheart"

"The two representing Midgard will be Captain Rogers and you, kaerasti"

"Me? Why not Thor, he's already here and way more used to stuff like this. Ask literally anyone, I shouldn't be in charge of things like this. Not a team player, remember?"

"Thor is of Asgard, he does not understand Midgardian politics. Plus, we'll need him to speak on behalf of Asgard. You love your world, Anthony, I know you would do anything to protect it"

"Thanks, Lo" he said quietly "Alright, we gotta talk to Cap then"

"Already done, I sent a clone to speak to him. He will be waiting for me to get him in the morning"

"Ok, cool. Now, we just have to settle the issue of Cassie" Loki nodded and they both went back into their room to get the young girl. However, when they walked in, she was fast asleep on the couch.

They didn't want to wake her up so Loki left to speak with Laufey while Tony stayed in the room so Cassie wasn't alone if she woke up. The poor thing must've been exhausted. When Loki returned, he told Tony that he spoke to various servants and found out that the girls family had all passed on.

Her parents had died of an illness as Tony suspected and did not have the means to seek help. The servants of the palace had been leaving food for her and trying to help, but she was terrified of everyone. They all sounded shocked that she allowed Tony to help her. Farbauti said he would ask around and see if there was a family that was willing to take her in.

Looking at the little girl, Tony had the thought that maybe he could adopt her. Then, he immediately had the thought that it was far too soon to ask Loki to adopt a child with him and also, Tony had no idea how to be a parent. He knew that her best chance at a happy life was to find a Jotun family that could raise her, but in the meantime, he would make sure she had everything she could possibly want.

Chapter Text

Tony woke up to a little hand poking his arm. He slowly opened his eyes and looked over to see Cassie standing at the side of the bed with her blanket wrapped around her.

"What's wrong, snowflake?"

"I don't want to be alone" She whispered

"Alright, hop up then" He lifted the blanket and was a little surprised at how fast she climbed onto the bed. Tony had started to slide closer to Loki to give her more space, but she crawled over him to lay in between the two of them. She wrapped her arms around Tony's arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Within in a few minutes, she was fast asleep and Tony wasn't far behind.

The next time he woke up, he was alone in bed and walked into the sitting room to see a very adorable sight. Loki was sitting on the couch with Cassie on the floor in front of him so that he could braid her hair. It took Tony a minute too long to realize that Loki was in his Jotun form. The little girl was smiling and laughing at whatever Loki was talking about. Tony stood there for a couple of minutes, just watching until Loki looked up and gave him a hesitant smile.

Cassie waved at Tony when she noticed him "Look, Tony, Loki's making my hair pretty! Did you see that he's blue too?"

It was crazy how different she was already with just a little bit of kindness "I see that, kiddo" He walked over to the pair and gave Loki a kiss on his temple "You're gorgeous like this, Lo"

Loki blushed and kept his eyes concentrated on the braid "Thank you, Kaerasti" He tied off the braid and patted Cassie's head "There, all done"

She ran over to the mirror to admire it before running back to Loki and giving him a hug "Thank you, Loki!"

"You are very welcome, little one" He stood up and held his hand out for her "It's time for Tony and I to get to our meeting" Before Tony could say that he wasn't dressed or ready, Loki waved his free hand and fixed the problem "There's some kids your age that you can spend time with while we are busy"

Tony moved faster to catch up to the two of them and said goodbye to Cassie when they got the pseudo daycare that Farbauti had found for her. Cassie seemed a little hesitant, but went without a fight. Loki took Tony's hand and started leading him somewhere else.

"We can not get attached to her, Anthony"

"Who said that I'm getting attached?"

"You did not need to say anything, I can see the way that you look at her. She is not your child, you can not just simply take her in and everything will be perfect"

Tony stopped walking, pulling Loki's hand to get him to stop too "Woah, pump the brakes. I never said I wanted to keep her, she's not a library book I can just check out and return when I'm done. What's your problem?"

"I do not have a problem, I just do not want you to make any false promises to her"

"Is this all because you think that I wouldn't be a good dad? You don't know me like that and who are you to tell me what I can and can not do?"

"No one said that you would not be a good father, Anthony, but it is much harder than you seem to think"

"Look, I don't know what crawled up your ass and died, but I can do whatever the hell I want and you don't get a say"

"Is that right? So, you're just going to take her home and raise her? It's just that easy?"

"Yeah! Maybe! I don't fucking know, but I know that I don't need your god damn permission to do anything"

"Fine!" Loki snapped and pulled his hand away

"Fine"

Tony shook his head and was about to say something, but Thor rounded the corner with Steve. Thor hesitated for a moment when he saw Loki, but stepped closer.

"Brother, I have not seen your Jotun form before. Blue suits you"

"Oh, shut up, Thor" Loki turned and walked into the room behind them, leaving a very confused group of people.

"Not that I am surprised by my brother yelling at me, but is there something going on?"

Tony sighed "We got into a stupid fight so he's pissed at me" Thor nodded and Tony looked to Steve "Hey there, Capsicle, ready to talk inter realm politics?"

"As ready as I can be. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am currently on another realm"

Tony patted his shoulder and they all made their way into the room that Loki had gone into. Laufey and Farbauti were the only other ones there besides Loki. They seemed wary of Loki's mood, but were trying to hide it. Steve, Thor and Tony said their hellos and waited for the rest of the guests. It wasn't long before Helblindi got there with Alrick and Frigga following him in. They bowed to Laufey and Farbauti, saying their respectful greetings before Frigga locked eyes with Loki.

She ignored everyone else in the room and quickly, but gracefully, made her way over to him. Loki had a big smile on his face as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Hello, mother"

Frigga pulled away enough to look at his face, cupping his cheek with her hand "My sweet Loki" she said quietly "I always hoped the day would come that you would be comfortable enough in your true skin. You're stunning, my son. I haven't seen you like this since you were a baby"

Tony noticed that Farbauti looked sullen at the sight of Loki with his mom, he couldn't blame the guy though. Someone else raised his son and Loki is a huge momma's boy, it must be hard for Farbauti to see. Frigga reluctantly let Loki go to say hello to Thor, Steve and Tony before sitting down at the table with Alrick. It was a big conference table and each realm was seated together. Alrick and Frigga were there to speak for Alfheim, Thor and Loki would speak for Asgard while Tony and Steve spoke for Midgard.

Once everyone was situated, Laufey stood "You are all aware why we are gathered here and I thank you for taking the time to travel to our realm. I understand the difficulty of the situation so let us get started. Odin has denounced Loki of his title of Prince of Asgard and is actively searching for him. What else do we know of Asgard's plans?"

Thor sat up straighter and looked to Loki quickly before continuing "When I was last in Asgard, the Einherjar were tripling in size. Unfortunately, I do not know the reasoning behind this. My father seems...troubled by the fact that Loki escaped his imprisonment and will do anything to return him to his jail cell"

"Understood. Queen Frigga, what are your thoughts?"

"Odin wants nothing more than to punish Loki, I believe he will stop at nothing to do so. I believed him to be war hungry when I married him, but he had always had a level of fairness. Now, I can not say that is the truth. With the casket returned to Jotunheim, Odin sees this realm as his biggest threat. The fact that Loki has been reunited with his birth parents has Odin spiraling. He assumes that Loki will persuade you in attacking Asgard"

Laufey hummed in acknowledgement "He is preparing for war against Jotunheim"

"Yes"

"We assumed as much and we will be prepared. With the casket back, we are back to our full strength. However, Jotunheim can not fight this battle alone if we intend to survive"

Alrick cleared his throat "Myself, my queen and Alfheim stand beside you in this battle. Odin has been out of control for long enough" He looked to Frigga "No offense, sister" she smiled and patted his arm.

Laufey nodded and looked to Tony and Steve who looked at each other before Steve stood "Midgard works a bit differently and I can not speak on behalf of our realm as a whole. What I can assure you is that the Avengers are prepared to fight" He looked to Loki "We will stand beside our friend and fight for his realm and his freedom"

Loki smiled "Thank you, Captain"

Steve gave a very Captain America nod "'Til the end of the line"

Loki looked to Thor "What say you, brother?"

"I will not claim that this will not be difficult for me because it is. I love Asgard and I love my father, but I vowed to always stand up for what I believe in. So I, Thor Friggason, will stand with my brother and defend Jotunheim" Loki had tears in his eyes when Thor looked to him "We will stand together, brother, as we always should have"

Laufey looked around at all of them "Thank you all for your support of my realm and my son. I know that Loki and I do not know each other very well yet, but he is still a prince of Jotunheim and will be treated with the respect that he deserves" he looked to his other son "Helblindi, I believe you received word from Vanaheim?"

"Yes, father, I have a scroll from them" He took a moment to unroll it before reading it outloud:

The King and Queen of Vanaheim offer their support to Jotunheim. Our treaty with Asgard became void as soon as our daughter, Sigyn, died. As our grandchildren, Narfi and Vali Lokison, are half Vanir and half Jotun; we stand behind our son-in-law, Loki Friggason, and his realm. Our soldiers will be waiting to assist.

Helblindi rolled the scroll back up and looked to his father "That is two realms and the Avengers on our side, but father, I do not know if that will be enough. The Einherjar are not a force to be reckoned with. They easily overpowered Jotunheim last time and that was before their forces multiplied. Do we have any other realms that we could persuade to join us?"

"Muspelheim would be rather difficult, they have not allowed so much as a visitor in over a thousand years. Nidavellir is similar, the dwarves have never been known for their kindness or hospitality. I will send word to them either way and will wait for their answer"

"That is a great plan, father, but are you not forgetting a realm?"

Laufey sighed "There is a chance with Svartalfheim, but there are many...conditions to consider"

"What are these conditions?"

"For starters, they are known as the Dark Elves for a reason. However, they are fiercely loyal when it comes to one of their own"

Tony was quickly becoming impatient "Ok, so you know someone who is from Swartle-place? What's the issue?"

"The issue, mortal, is that this person is just a child"

"What? Who is-oh. Oh, fuck. Really?"

Everyone was looking around rather confused so Farbauti put a hand on her husbands arm before speaking to the group "Tony found a young girl, Cassie, she is half Jotun and half dark elven. We did some digging when Loki asked us to look into her family and she happens to be a relative of the royal family. Not a direct heir or anything, mind you, but still. It seems her father left Svartlfheim when he met Cassie's mother and moved to Jotunheim."

"Damn. Ok, so isn't that a good thing then? They should want to help, right?"

Laufey shook his head "I fear that they would just take the girl and not give a damn about the war" he took a breath "To ensure that they would fight with us she would need to be connected to our royal family as well"

"What do you mean? How would she-? Oh."

Thor looked confused and slightly annoyed when he looked to Tony "Can you stop doing that? What have you realized?"

"For her to be connected to the royal family, she would have to be adopted by the royal family"

"Oh. Huh. Ok, that does not seem to be too bad. What is the issue?"

Loki slammed his fist on the table, causing everyone to jump "The issue, brother, is that she would be adopted for political gain" He was seething at this point, but continued "Does that not sound familiar to you?"

"She would get a family, would she not? It sounds like she would be better off than if she were to just be an orphan roaming the streets"

"Because that turned out so well for me? Are you saying that I was better off?"

"Loki, it is not the same"

"I am struggling to not see the similarities"

"Must you argue everything?"

"Everything that needs to be argued"

"You are so droll, brother"

"Look at you and your fancy words, Thor"

"Enough!" They both turned to look at Tony who was standing between them now "This bickering isn't getting us anywhere. Stop acting like two year old's and let's think about this"

"He started it" Thor mumbled

Tony rolled his eyes "Yes, you're rubber and he's glue. Grow up!" He sighed "You know, for Gods, you're just a bunch of babies sometimes. Let's think about this logically, do we think that we can win this fight without Swartle-wherever?"

Laufey leaned forward "It is a possibility, but we do need all the help that we can get especially since we no longer have eyes in Asgard"

"Right. And there is no other way to gain their help?"

"We can see if they would be willing to join our cause, but no, I believe this would be our best course of action. They denied us during the last war, they are not inclined to help others"

"Ok. So, next question. Who adopts her?"

"Farbauti and I would adopt her ourselves, but it would be rather obvious to the dark elves what we were doing and our children are grown now, I do not think we would know how to handle a small child anymore" He gave a small laugh "Besides, they do not know that Loki has returned. For all they know, he could have come back and adopted her long before all of this"

Tony sighed and looked to Loki "Remember that fight we had earlier? Seems kinda funny now, huh?"

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose "You know how I feel about it, Anthony"

"I know, I do. I get it. You're getting shitty childhood flash backs, but Lo" He had said the God's name so quietly that Loki's eyes snapped up to his.

"You love her. By the norns, you will be the death of me Anthony Stark. You have known her for one day, darling"

"I know that. But, hey, I wouldn't be Tony Stark if I didn't make super spur of the moment-sometimes-catastrophic decisions and hope for the best! How do you think we ended up together? You threw me out of a window and I still wanted to get in your pants. Jarvis would back me up if he were here."

Loki gave a short laugh and shook his head "Very true. However, I would be the one adopting her, Kaerasti. I know that you are fond of her, but you would have not be the one legally responsible for her"

"Valid points, Bambi, but I saw you with her this morning" Tony leaned over and poked Loki in the chest "Are you trying to tell me that she didn't thaw that frozen heart of yours, Elsa?"

"A moment of weakness, I assure you. You know better than anyone how I feel about sentiment, Anthony"

"That was not a moment of weakness, Sweetheart. You willingly showed her your Jotun form so that you would have something in common" He bumped shoulders with Loki, giving him a smirk "Come on, Frosty, you know that I'm right"

"You truly are going to be the death of me"

"See! I knew you'd be on board. Just wait until the little blueberry hears about this! Alright, Loki-daddy, let's make this thing official before the princess changes his mind"

Laufey looked so much like Loki when he was shaking his head disapprovingly at Tony "You truly are a peculiar mortal" he looked to the rest of the room "I will be reaching out to the other realms as discussed and will keep you informed of any responses. Let us meet again in a fortnight to regroup and discuss battle strategies"

Everyone agreed and said their goodbyes, they all had their own realms to return to after all. Steve was going to stay the night in Jotunheim and go back home with everyone tomorrow. Tony, Loki, Laufey and Farbauti were the only ones remaining in the room and they were waiting for someone to bring Cassie in. Tony was oddly nervous about it and starting to question if this was the right move for the little girl. Those fear were washed away as soon as Cassie entered the room and ran over to Tony to hug his legs.

"Hi Tony! I played with so many kids and they all said that my hair was pretty and I learned new games and got some snacks!" She stopped long enough to take a breath and climb into Tony's lap, looking over to Loki "Hi Loki!"

Loki smiled at her fondly "Hello little one"

Tony poked her nose to get her attention "So, listen snowflake, Loki and I have been talking and we wanna run something by you" she nodded "I know you don't know us very well and this is the only place you've ever known, but Loki and I need to go back home tomorr-"

"No! You can't leave" Cassie looked horrified and already had tears in her eyes

"Hey, hey, it's alright. We're leaving, but we were thinking we'd bring you with"

She perked up at that "I can come too?"

"Yeah, um. Well, this is oddly hard to explain. I know your parents are gone and kids shouldn't be on their own, you know? Loki here is already a dad. Well, and a mom, it's a whole thing but it makes sense once you know him. Jesus. I'm not making any sense here, am I?"

"I don't have parents, but you want me to have parents"

"Yes! Thank God that you're smart" He looked to Loki who was watching with a fond exasperation "Truth be told, snowflake, I don't think I'd be a very good dad. But, Loki here is already a great dad and I know you'd be in good hands with him. I'll be around too, of course, just a less formal title"

"You don't want to be my dad and you want Loki to be my dad"

"Not exactly. I'm not going to lie to you, kid, there's a whole messy political system that we have to worry about and the best thing for everyone is for Loki to adopt you. When you get older, I promise that I will explain it all to you and you can always ask me questions. It's also important for you to know that we aren't just doing this out of obligation, we really like you"

"Ok"

"Ok? What are you thinking? What are you feeling? Lay it on me, let's talk it out"

"I don't like being alone" She said very softly "Loki is nice. He made my hair pretty! He's a prince. Does that mean that I get to be a princess? I like the color purple, it's my favorite. Do I get to have a tiara?"

Tony couldn't help but laugh at how innocent she was "Yes, little blueberry, you would be a princess" He looked over to Loki "The princess wants a tiara, Lo"

"A tiara she shall have then" He stood up with all of his princely elegance, holding his hand out to Cassie "My lady" She giggled and took his hand, hopping out of Tony's lap to stand in front of Loki. He conjured up a silver tiara with beautiful diamonds and purple gemstones mixed in. Loki carefully placed in on her head and in the same moment, a green shimmer washed over her and she was wearing a purple princess dress "There, now you look like a princess"

"Wow! You have magic?"

"Yes, little one, I have magic" He held out a hand and little green wisps started flowing around his fingers

Cassie gasped and reached out to touch it, laughing when it tickled her "Best dad ever" she whispered.

Tony didn't miss the misty look in Loki's eyes when she said that, but it was quickly replaced with a small smile. Laufey and Farbauti introduced themselves to Cassie and talked with her a little bit about what it meant to be adopted by Loki. They were very kind with her and seemed to be quickly on their way to being wrapped around her little finger. They were heading out early the next morning so they called it an early night. Tony was excited to go back home, he missed his workshop and his very sassy AI.

Chapter Text

The weeks flew by once they got back to the tower. Cassie took some time to adjust to how different everything was here, but she was a quick learner. The team fell in love with her, especially Thor and Jane. She was Thor's niece after all and he made sure that everyone was aware of that. Typically, you could find Cassie on the rooftop garden with Loki or in the lab with Tony. At first, Tony had a strict rule about her not going into his lab, but at the sight of her puppy dog eyes he relented.

Bruce had made sure to make the lab as safe as possible for her and she had to always wear safety goggles while she was there, which she asked Loki to make purple for her. The whole tower, including Jarvis, were wrapped around her little finger. Loki had changed back to his Asgardian form when they arrived back in NY, but once Cassie asked him to do the same to her he rethought it. He didn't want her to be ashamed of who or what she was so he remained in his Jotun form when he was in the tower.

Tony had been thinking a lot about their arrangement and Cassie calling him 'dad' one day forced him to talk to Loki about their future. The little girl had gotten into a habit of calling Loki 'Papa' which Tony found adorable. It was after a particularly long day in the lab that he found Cassie on the couch watching TV. He walked over and plopped down on the couch next to her.

"Hey there, squirt, shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"Papa said I could wait until the end of my show, but he didn't say which show"

"You've been spending too much time with the God of Mischief" He laughed and patted her hand before grabbing the remote and turning the TV off "Come on, it's bedtime for little blueberries"

She took Tony's hand and followed him to her bedroom. They renovated Loki's old room to convert it to Cassie's room when they first got back to Midgard. It was purple, of course with all kinds of fuzzy carpets and blankets. There were many stuffed animals and way more toys than she could even play with. Tony got her tucked into bed and made sure her nightlight was on before kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight, Snowflake"

"Goodnight, Dad, I love you"

His breath caught in his throat, but he recovered quickly "Love you too, kid" She smiled and rolled over so Tony backed out of the room, closing her door quietly behind him. Walking into his room, he noticed that Loki was still awake, reading. He gave Tony a smile when he saw him come in.

"Did Jarvis finally kick you out of the lab?"

"He did. Quite rudely, actually" He said while giving a slight glare to the camera in the corner of the room "Did you know that the little miss was still awake?"

"I was aware, who am I to discourage a little mischief?"

"You are a mischievous scamp, Lo-lo" He crawled onto the bed and laid his head in the God's lap. Loki immediately started to run his fingers through Tony's hair, drawing a sigh from him.

"What is on your mind, Kaerasti?"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know that I'm overthinking"

"I just know you, Anthony. Now, what is troubling you?" Loki put his book down to give Tony his full attention.

"Cassie called me Dad"

Loki stiffened for a moment "Is that an issue?"

"No, of course not. You know how much I love that little girl, but it just made me think about how I'm not actually her dad"

"You know why we did things the way that we did. It does not make you any less her father though, darling. If she thought otherwise she would not have called you such"

"That makes sense, but I guess that I'd like it to be official" He sat up to face Loki "More than that, I want us to be an actual family. I'm trying to think of the bigger picture and think optimistically, but it's hard. We're talking about an actual war here, Lokes. There's a chance we could lose and what happens if we lose and I never got to call you my husband?"

"What are you saying?"

"I think I'm asking you to marry me"

"No offense, darling, but you are doing a terrible job at it"

"Shut up, asshole!"

Tony quickly got off the bed, pulling Loki up with him. He took the God's left hand and slowly got down on one knee "Loki, I have been enamored with you since you first threatened me in my penthouse. It got worse the more I got to know you and soon enough, you were the only thing that I could think about. I think you know me well enough by now to know that I jump first and ask questions later, but nothing has ever felt more right than asking you to be my husband. I love you, Loki Friggason, I love everything about you. Male/female, blue/pale, mother/father, the list goes on. The only thing I don't love is your last name and that's because I've always felt it should be Stark"

He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out a small pouch. Turning it upside down, two rings fell into his hand, but he only held up one. It was a black wedding band with a ruby red inlay.

"So what do you say, Lokes? Will you marry me?"

Loki let out a breath "This proposal seems pretty spur of the moment, how do you have rings?"

"I made them after I made you the garden"

"You never cease to amaze me, Anthony Stark"

"So...is that a yes?"

"Yes"

Tony slid the ring onto Loki's finger before pulling him into a kiss. He reluctantly pulled back to hand the other ring to Loki which was also black, but with an emerald green inlay. Loki didn't hesitate in sliding it onto Anthony's finger and continuing their kiss. After lots of celebrating, they were laying in bed holding each other while Tony was playing with the ring on Loki's finger.

"Do you think Cassie will be excited?"

"Of course, darling, I think she will be thrilled. She will want the wedding to be purple, however"

"Green, red and purple. What a combo!"

"Oh yes, we will be the envy of all wedding planners"

"I know it sounds very Tony Stark-esque, but I want a big wedding. Like, picture a big wedding and then triple it" Loki hummed in acknowledgement, causing Tony to look over at his thoughtful expression "What's wrong, Lo? If you don't to make it a huge thing we don't have to"

"I am not against a big wedding, I quite like the idea of showing you off to the world as my husband"

"Ok, great. Awesome. So, what has you making that little frowny face?"

"I do no such thing"

"Sure you don't, just like you don't deflect"

Loki sighed "It is just that I do not want to get married without my sons present"

Tony cupped Loki's cheek "Hey, that is totally understandable. Of course you want your kids there" he hesitated for a minute before continuing "Please don't hate me for asking, but why can't you bring them here to live with us?"

"The boys have a...magical signature. All magic users do, but once we master the art we are able to shield our signatures. Only the caster can shield their own signature, unfortunately. If they were to be moved, I fear that Odin would sense them and then know where to find me"

"But, they were moved to Alfheim. Wouldn't he have sensed them then?"

"My mother moved them after he had fallen into the Odin-sleep"

"I see where you get your sneakiness from" He held Loki a little tighter "We'll figure it out, Sweetheart"

Tony didn't want to lose the happy glow of their engagement so, they decided to wait and figure things out tomorrow when they could think more clearly. The next morning, Tony walked into the kitchen to see Thor, Jane and Loki sitting at the dining room table together. He walked over and gave Loki a kiss before sliding into the seat next to his fiancé. Before he could ask about Cassie's whereabouts, she skipped into the room and climbed into Loki's lap.

She gave him a wet kiss on the cheek before stealing a piece of bacon off his plate "Morning Papa!"

"Good morning, little thief"

"You said that it was nice to share"

"Yes, sharing. Not stealing" He said with a flick to her ear. She sat patiently as Loki cut up some of his pancakes for her to steal when Jane noticed something.

"Holy crap!" They all looked to her in alarm, but she looked excited "What's that?!" She was pointing to the ring on Loki's finger.

Cassie grabbed Loki's hand and looked at it closely before looking over to Tony "Took you long enough, Dad"

Loki raised an eyebrow "You knew about this?"

"Of course! He asked for my permission"

Tony laughed "The blueberry drives a hard bargain"

Thor was looking between everyone, trying to piece together what was happening when Tony took pity on him "I asked your brother to marry me"

"By the Norns! This is wonderful news!" He then looked to Tony "How come you did not ask my permission?"

"Because Loki would be insulted by my asking permission to marry him. He is not owned by anyone"

"You asked Cassie's permission. She does not own Loki"

Cassie glared at Thor "He's my Papa"

Loki held up a hand to silence Thor before he could have a comeback "Last I checked, Thor, I did not adopt you. Silence yourself before you are uninvited to the wedding"

"Papa, do I get to be the flower girl? The flowers can be green!"

"Not purple?"

"No, it's your wedding and you like green. So, green flowers" she smiled up at Loki

He squeezed her tight and kissed her head "I love you, darling"

"I love you too, Papa"

"How about a purple dress then?"

"To match my tiara!"

Loki laughed "Of course"

They continued eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence before Jarvis interrupted.

"Miss Cassie, that store that you wanted to go to is now open"

"Thank you Jarvis!" She put on her best puppy dog eyes and looked up at Loki

Before she could even ask anything, he rolled his eyes "Go get dressed and we will go"

Cassie quickly ran off while the others laughed at her antics. Loki shook his head and kissed Tony's cheek "You should have never introduced her to Jarvis, the two of them are thick as thieves"

"Now you know how I felt when you moved in. Do you need my credit card?"

"I already have it"

"Oh good. Wait. What?" Loki was already half way out of the room and just waved goodbye in response. He looked over to Thor "Your brother is going to bleed me dry"

Thor just laughed and patted Tony on the shoulder "Loki has always liked the finer things"

"He should've come with a warning label or something" He sat up straighter "So, Thor, I need your help with something"

"I will not get the credit card back from Loki"

"No, no. I don't actually care about that. He doesn't want to get married without Narfi and Vali, but I have no way of making that happen. We can't bring them here without your dad finding out about it so is there a way that we can go to them?"

Thor looked thoughtful for a minute "It is possible" He said slowly "You want to get married on Alfheim?"

"It wasn't in my original plan, but I figured we could have a small ceremony there with the boys and have a big party once we're back on Earth. What Frosty wants, Frosty gets"

Thor couldn't help but smile "You truly love my brother"

"Of course I do, did you doubt that?"

"At first. You do have a reputation after all, Tony. After spending time with the both of you, it is clear the love that you share"

"Thanks, big guy. That's nice to hear"

"I will leave for Alfheim and speak with my mother, if anyone can make this happen for Loki it is her" He got up from the table and ran outside to summon the bifrost.

Tony gave Jane a surprised look "Well, he didn't waste any time"

"He loves Loki and I think he's still trying to get on his good side. Thor will do just about anything to prove his loyalty to his brother"

"Loki knows it. He may not show it in the same way that Thor does, but he knows it" Tony was about to continue, when Thor ran back into the room with a huge smile on his face.

"Mother will handle everything, we just need to give her a date!"

Tony matched his smile "Looks like we're planning a wedding!"

Chapter Text

Thor loved being on Midgard and he loved doing 'human' things. Whenever he was visiting the realm, he would dress the part and looked forward to learning about their culture. He quickly learned that food was a very big part of their lives and he was all for trying out new foods. Tony first showed him pizza and that became his favorite Midgardian food until he discovered breakfast foods. Thor didn't exactly have a sweet tooth like Loki, but he could see the appeal.

One morning, Captain Rogers decided to make pancakes for everyone and Thor was thrilled. At first, he was wary of a sweet breakfast food, but he was hooked after one bite. After that, they made him try french toast and he loved that just as much. The best day was when Clint showed Thor a delicacy known as Pop-Tarts. They were in a rush to be somewhere and there was no time to make breakfast so Clint threw a package of Pop-Tarts at Thor and told him to eat on the way.

Thor practically inhaled the food and was disappointed that there weren't more. He told Tony how much he loved the breakfast rectangles so they were added to the weekly grocery list. There wasn't a day that went by that Thor didn't have his strawberry Pop-Tarts and everything was great. Then, there was a string of bad luck.

Clint had informed Thor that they were much better when toasted, but didn't show him how to do it. Thor figured it wouldn't be difficult so he tried it and ended up burning them beyond recognition. Finally, with the help of Jarvis, he got the settings just right and had a perfectly toasted Pop-Tart on his plate. He was mid-bite when the alarm went off and they had to leave on a mission.

The mission lasted the whole day and when he returned to the tower, he was determined to eat his Pop-Tart. He threw another set into the toaster and was leaning against the counter, half awake. He must have fallen asleep for a minute because the toaster popped up and scared Thor so much that he fell backwards, pulling the toaster with him causing it to smash on the floor.

Tony was quick to order a new toaster (and back up toasters, just in case) so Thor didn't have to wait long until he could enjoy his toasted Pop-Tarts again. The issue was that once again, they had to rush away somewhere so this time he brought them with him to eat on the way. Eating while traveling via Mjolnir turned out to be a bad idea. He almost choked and then ended up dropping the remainder.

After that, he was promised that he would not be interrupted and he could eat his Pop-Tart in peace. He was so excited and went to the kitchen with a spring in his step until he opened the cabinet. Apparently, the store got their order wrong and had forgotten to add Pop-Tarts so the cabinet was bare. Thor was gripping the cabinet door so hard that he pulled it off its hinges. Jarvis informed the rest of the Avengers that there was a problem.

They all ran into the kitchen to see Thor yelling and summoning Mjolnir, before they could stop him he had thrown a lightning bolt at the cabinet and destoyed half of the kitchen. Once he settled down and had slowly slid to the floor, Tony approached him.

"You ok there, Point Break?"

"My apologies for destroying your kitchen"

Tony gave a small laugh "Eh, don't worry about it. It was time for a remodel anyway. Want to tell me what happened?"

"We are out of Pop-Tarts"

"We're out of-seriously? You threw a hissy fit over Pop-Tarts?!" Thor scowled at him, causing Tony to throw his hands up in surrender "Right. Sorry. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again, bud"

"I thank you"

Needless to say, there was never a lack of Pop-Tarts in the tower again after that day.

Chapter Text

Keeping secrets and plans from Loki was not an easy task. How does one trick the God of Lies? Not easily. That's how. Tony was sweating so much it was disgusting, but he was determined to keep everything a surprise for his lovely fiancé. Cassie, on the other hand, was a born liar it seemed. Tony probably should've been worried about that, but it was harmless for now. Loki was definitely suspicious of Tony's behavior, but he luckily didn't ask any questions.

Tony had been working tirelessly for the past few weeks to put together a trip to Alfheim as well as a pseudo-wedding. There would still be a normal wedding ceremony, of course, but not the huge crowd that Tony was originally hoping for. At first, he thought it would be nice to just do something small meaning just Loki's family. When he really thought about it though, the Avengers were family as well. Loki may not always think of it like that, but he had significantly softened to the idea of them.

Today was the day that they were supposed to leave for Alfheim and Tony was uncharacteristically nervous. Cassie seemed to pick up on that and was staying by his side more than normal, holding his hand. The two of them were waiting in the living room for Thor and Loki to join them. The rest of the group had left for Alfheim a few minutes ago and it was Thor's job to entertain Loki long enough to not notice the bifrost.

Finally, the two Gods entered the living room and Tony breathed a sigh of relief at the soft smile on Loki's face. He walked up to him and kissed his cheek lovingly before grabbing his hand and leading him outside.

"Anthony, what is going on?"

"We're going on a trip"

"We are?"

Tony stopped once they were on the balcony, turning to Loki "Please don't be mad, but I planned something for us"

Loki furrowed his brows "Why would I be mad by that?"

"Well, it involves a lot of stuff that you didn't get a say in and you may or may not like. Now that I'm saying it out loud, I can not believe I did this without consulting you and maybe you should be mad"

Thor's booming laugh cut him off from his rambling "Worry not, Stark, my brother will appreciate the thought that went into all of this"

Loki looked to Cassie "Did you have any involvement with this as well?"

She smiled "Yup!"

Loki nodded and looked back to Tony "Very well, let us go then"

Tony looked a mix between confused and appalled "That's it? You ask the blueberry if she helped and all is good?"

"Well, yes. She knows what I like and dislike and would not allow you to do anything too ridiculous"

"Huh. Alright then. I haven't travelled via rainbow beams before, should I be nervous?"

Thor shook his head "No need to be nervous, but you may want to hold onto Loki"

Cassie took the hint and walked over to Loki who picked her up, holding her tightly while Tony wrapped an arm around Loki's waist. Once everyone was in place, Loki nodded at Thor who called to Heimdall to open the bifrost. Tony stumbled slightly when they landed, but Loki was holding him tightly so he stayed upright. Fandral was standing nearby, clearly there to welcome everyone which Loki seemed surprised by.

Fandral walked right up to Loki and dipped into a bow "It is good to see you again, Prince Loki" He said as he stood up straight.

"I am not your prince any longer, Fandral"

"Odin may have stripped you of your title, but you are still my prince and my friend"

Loki looked stunned, but hid it quickly "I must thank you for all that you have done to help my mother"

"I will always help your Lady Mother when needed. Now, how about you introduce me to your chosen family?"

Tony stepped forward and held a hand out "Tony Stark, fiancé of the God of Mischief and the one and only Iron Man"

Fandral laughed "So humble too. Exactly what I expected when I was told Loki had a beau"

Tony joined his laugh "Yeah, we're pretty similar, I'll give you that" He then motioned to the little girl in Loki's arms "This little blueberry is Cassie"

She waved at Fandral who smiled back "Well aren't you a beautiful little thing. You are Jotun?"

"Yes, just like Papa!"

"Indeed, just like your Papa" He stepped back and looked at everyone "Well, shall we head to the palace so everyone can get settled?"

They all agreed and followed Fandral to the palace. Tony was looking around in awe of everything, he glanced over at Cassie and noticed that she was doing the same. Growing up in Jotunheim, she never saw trees and flowers quite like this. Loki hesitated a step when he walked into the palace and saw not only the Avengers and his mother, but Laufey and Farbauti as well. He looked to Tony with a questioning look on his face.

"So, you know how I told you that I planned some stuff?" Loki nodded "You wanna tell him, Snowflake?"

"It's your Big Fat Multi-realm Wedding!"

Tony high-fived her while Loki rolled his eyes "You have been showing her more ridiculous films"

"Of course. She has to learn the culture"

"Yeah, Papa, I have to learn the culture"

Loki groaned while the rest of the room laughed "What am I going to do with you two?"

Tony bumped his shoulder "Marry me, hopefully"

"You planned a wedding all by yourself? On another realm?"

"Well, no. I'm good but, not that good. Frigga planned everything after I told her what I wanted and she knows you well enough to handle your demands"

"I do not have demands"

"Sweetheart, you always have demands"

Loki smirked "This is very...mischevious of you, darling"

"What can I say? I learned from the best" he said with a wink

It was Cassie's turn to groan "You're doing that gross adult thing again"

Loki kissed her cheek before setting her down. She quickly ran over to say hi to everyone, making sure everyone got a hug as well before motioning to Farbauti that she wanted to be held. He looked slightly surprised, but obliged the little girl. Frigga stepped forward, giving Loki and Tony pats on the cheek.

"I will get everyone settled, I think you should bring Laufey, Farbauti and Cassie out to the patio. There are a couple of people that are anxiously awaiting your arrival"

Without another word, she had everyone following her out of the room. The second they were gone, Loki made quick steps out to the patio. They all had to jog a little to catch up to him, but no one could blame him for his eagerness. Loki's breath caught in his throat when he saw two little boys huddled together on the ground playing with blocks. The God had told Tony about magical signatures and he had a feeling the boys could sense Loki's as their heads snapped up the second he was near.

They looked surprised at first, but soon enough the biggest smiles spread across their faces. The two of them scrambled to their feet and started bolting towards Loki. The God crumbled to his knees just in time for Narfi and Vali to launch themselves into his open arms. There were tears flowing down Loki's face and when Tony looked over to his parents, they were in a similar state. Tony wasn't sure how long they sat like that, but eventually Loki pulled away while still keeping them close.

He looked between the two of them "I am so sorry for not being here for you both"

Vali smiled "It's ok, Papa, don't be sad"

Narfi wiped away a tear from Loki's cheek and snuggled into his side. Loki kissed the tops of their heads before turning them to face the others in the room.

"There's some people I would like you both to meet" He motioned to Laufey and Farbauti "These are my parents, your grandparents" Then he nodded to Tony "This is Tony, he is my svass" Finally, he held a hand out for Cassie to join him "And this is Cassie, she is your sister"

Tony noticed that for the first time since he met Cassie, she was acting a little reserved but slowly she walked over to Loki. She was keeping her distance though which Loki noticed as well. Tony decided to intervene and got closer to the boys, pulling Cassie with him. They all stayed out on the patio for a couple of hours before both boys started yawning.

Loki smiled at them softly before scooping them up and turning to Tony "I am going to get them to their beds"

"Snowflake and I will hang here until you get back" Laufey and Farbauti followed as well and once they all left, Tony turned to Cassie "What's going on my little blueberry?"

She shrugged "Nothing"

"Come on, don't give me that. What's wrong? Do you not like having brothers?"

Cassie was quiet for a long time, getting her thoughts in order "Loki really missed Narfi and Vali, huh?"

"Loki? You haven't called him that in a long time"

"He has his family back, what does he need me for?"

Tony was shocked by her words then noticed the tears running down her face "Hey, hey. None of that. He's not going to get rid of you!"

"You don't know that"

"I do know that!

The little girl was desperately trying to hold back tears "Why would he want some girl that he was forced to take?"

"Clearly, I have failed in my duties as a father" Loki said from the doorway with a large sigh, causing Tony and Cassie to look over. He kneeled down to Cassie's level and put his finger under her chin to make her look at him "We promised from the beginning that we would not lie to you. In a way, I was forced to take you in, but I have not once regretted it. I know better than anyone what it is like to be raised by someone who does not want you and that is not the case with you"

Loki wiped the tears away from her cheeks and kissed her forehead "You have brought so much joy and laughter to our lives that I so missed. You have taught me to not only accept my Jotun form, but to flaunt it"

She sniffled "I taught you things?"

"Of course. You are very wise, little one. I know that our story did not start in a normal way, but I do not know what I would do without you. I love you very much, Cassie. Blood does not matter, you are my daughter and nothing can take you away from me" He told her firmly

Cassie threw her arms around Loki and held onto him tightly "I love you too, Papa"

Tony threw himself into the hug as well "My favorite blueberries" They stayed in the embrace for a minute before Tony pulled away "No more sadness, this is a happy occasion!"

They decided to all go for a walk together and enjoy the sights before calling it an early night since the wedding was the next day. Tony wasn't thrilled about spending the night away from Loki, but Cassie insisted on tradition so they reluctantly obliged. Tony felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve, he couldn't sleep because he was so excited for the next day. He just had to wait until the morning and then he could finally call Loki his husband.

Chapter Text

Tony was seriously regretting telling Cassie about wedding traditions. He wanted nothing more than to wake up next to Loki and smother him with kisses, but they had to be 'proper' and stay apart until the wedding. It was actual torture and Tony really didn't have anything to do in the way of setup or getting ready. Frigga was handling everything for setup and decorations while Thor, Bucky and Steve were handling Loki.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door so Tony went to answer it. Opening the door, he saw James Rhodes standing there in a very nice suit. Tony was too shocked to say anything, causing Rhodey to roll his eyes and open his arms.

"Are you going to hug me or what?"

"I'm still trying to determine if you're real" Tony laughed but quickly embraced his friend. Reluctantly, he pulled back and shook his head "How is it that you're here? Not just here at my door, but here in Alfheim. I don't see you for months and then you show up on a different realm?!"

Rhodey walked past Tony, looking around the room "I'm still working on the whole believing thing, myself" He turned back to Tony "Your fiancé thought it was important for you to have your best friend here so he made some calls. A lot of calls. Some were threatening, but it made my boss listen and here I am. I can't believe you were going to get married to a God on an alien planet and not invite me"

"It was a fairly last minute thing and I know how hard it is for you to get off of work and..." He stopped when Rhodey gave him a look "Right. You're right. I should've called. I'm an asshole for not calling. Forgive me and be my best man?"

"Fine. But only because I've put in a lot of time on this friendship and want my money's worth. Also, you have a daughter now and after today will have two stepsons? Who even are you?"

"I don't know, Platypus, my life has changed drastically. I used to fuck around like crazy and drink myself into a coma, but those days are behind me. I'm so deliriously happy, it's scary. I can't wait for you to meet Loki and our little blueberry, Cassie"

Rhodey laughed "Happy looks good on you, Tones. I will be giving Loki the shovel talk, don't think that because he's a God that he gets out of it"

"Can I please be there to see it?"

"No. But, I may have Thor nearby just in case..."

Tony laughed loudly and pulled Rhodey into another hug "I'm happy you're here"

"Me too, Tones, me too"

The two of them took some time to catchup and get Tony dressed before Steve came to find them and let them know if was time to get started. Tony was blown away by how beautiful everything looked. The ceremony was setup outside in one the biggest gardens; Loki always told him that mages feel most at home when they're among nature. The flowers and plants were similar to the ones that Tony had seen in Loki's memory so it was perfect. The best part was the subtle green and gold mixed into everything.

There was a long, green runway that lead to a delicate golden arch. The arch had green, black and red flowers mixed together which Tony was worried would look like Christmas, but the shades that Frigga had chosen didn't clash. There was not a ton of seating because this was a small ceremony, but Tony had asked that three seats stay empty in the front row to honor the triplets. The metal figurines that Tony had made for Loki were placed on the seats.

Walking down the aisle, he noticed the people standing at the altar. Frigga was under the archway as she was performing the wedding ceremony. Thor, Steve and Bucky were standing on Loki's side as his chosen groomsmen with Thor as his best man. On Tony's side were Bruce, Happy and Rhodey who smiled at him as he walked over to them. Before he could say anything, music started playing and Narfi and Vali were walking towards him in little suits.

Truly, they were the cutest little ring bearers and looked so proud to have a job. They brought the rings to Frigga and high-fived Tony before taking their seats next to Farbauti. The music changed slightly and Cassie rounded the corner, basically skipping down the aisle with her basket of petals. Of course, the petals were purple, but she was wearing a gold dress that flowed out like a princess dress and she was even wearing the tiara that Loki had given her. She had the biggest smile on her face and made Tony kneel down to give him a kiss before standing next to Thor.

Tony's breath hitched when he saw Loki step into view. He was wearing a sleek black suit with gold accents and even had a burgundy pocket square to match Tony's emerald one. Loki's hair was down with his natural curls, but had one side section pulled back in a small braid. The main thing that he noticed though, was the pure look of joy on Loki's face as he walked towards him on Laufey's arm. Normally, Loki probably wouldn't have wanted to walk down the aisle like a bride, but he was terrible at saying no to Cassie and Laufey was more than honored by the idea.

After what felt like an hour, Loki was finally right in front of him. Laufey kissed Loki's cheek and nodded to Tony before taking his seat next to Farbauti. Taking Loki's hand in his, he gave it a squeeze and smiled at him.

"Damn, Lo, you look gorgeous"

"As do you, Darling"

Frigga stepped forward and motioned for everyone to take a seat "The Norns have blessed us with a beautiful day to celebrate Anthony Stark and Loki Laufeyson as they are joined together in marriage"

Initially, Tony was surprised to hear 'Laufeyson', but Loki was trying to get to know his birth parents so it made sense. He had been so busy staring at Loki and his perfect face that he missed whatever Frigga had just said, causing Rhodey to elbow him slightly.

Tony cleared his throat "Sorry, I got lost in Loki's eyes. What was that?"

The crowd laughed and Frigga smiled at him knowingly "Do you, Anthony Stark, take Loki as your life partner for now and through Valhalla?"

"Absolutely, I do"

She turned to Loki "Do you, Loki Laufeyson, take Anthony as your life partner for now and through Valhalla?"

He would deny it later, but Loki's eyes were a little watery as he looked at Tony "I do"

"Thor, bring forward the thread please" The oaf was openly crying, but wiped his eyes as he brought the thread over to his mother. He gave Loki a squeeze on the shoulder before returning to his place "Loki, if you will place your hand on Anthony's"

She wrapped a golden thread around their arms and hands before placing her hand on top "Will you both swear now, before you friends and family, to be devoted to one another? Swear to be patient and understanding. Swear to be loyal and treat one another with kindness. Swear to be equals and fight alongside one another. Will you swear all of this?"

Tony and Loki looked at each other before saying together "I swear"

As Frigga lifted her hand away, the thread glowed and slowly disappeared "It is sworn. It is my greatest honor to pronounce you married. Now, seal your union with a kiss"

Tony had no hesitation in grabbing Loki and pulling him into a kiss. The two of them were smiling into the kiss and there were cheers and applause surrounding them. When they finally pulled apart, Frigga put a hand on each of their shoulders and looked to the crowd.

"Join me and the Norns in celebrating Anthony and Loki Stark"

Tony's head whipped to look at Loki who was smirking at him "Stark?"

"You did say it was the one thing you would change about me, Darling. I am honored to be a Stark"

He was breathless and pulled Loki in for another kiss which caused the Avengers to start doing catcalls. When they separated, everyone swarmed them to give hugs and congratulations. Thor was first and was now sobbing, but all they could do was appreciate his love for them and hug him back.

Everyone was able to get a hug in and once they were done, Frigga waved her hand and the space transformed into a reception area. There were now small tables with seating and even space for a dance floor. Since they weren't on Midgard, there weren't DJ's or anything like that but there were a group of people playing instruments. Tony was most excited for the servers walking around with trays of food and alcohol.

A few glasses of champagne later, he heard a bunch of people clinking their glasses and yelling 'kiss'. He spotted Loki across from him and practically ran over to him, pulling him in for a kiss. He may have made the kiss longer than appropriate, but he couldn't care less. When they reluctantly pulled away, there was another clinking of a glass but this time it was Rhodey and he had a microphone in hand.

"Hey everyone, nice to see you all. It's probably nice for you all to be here with a heads up whereas I was informed of this wedding a couple of days ago so I'm rushing to wrap my head around everything" Tony groaned, causing Rhodey to wink at him "Relax Tones, I'm not actually upset, I'm pretty used to your last minute extravagant tendencies by now"

He looked around the space at everyone "For those of you who don't know me, I'm James Rhodes. Also known as Rhodey-"

"And Platypus!" Tony yelled

Rhodey rolled his eyes "And Platypus. Tony and I have been friends for awhile now, he just kind of appeared one day and then never left. I was on a mission and things went south, I crash landed somewhere and that's when Tony showed up; In his Iron Man suit. He never really questioned me and just helped me get out. There's a lot that can be said about Tony Stark, most of them are quite unsavory and definitely true.

"However, above all else, Tony is fiercely loyal and will do anything to protect the ones he loves and considers family. I am forever grateful to have been chosen to be a part of his family. Now, I don't know Loki and I'm sure there's also a lot that can be said about him as well, but there's really only one thing that matters. Loki did everything within his power to make sure that I was here today and he did it for the sole purpose of making Tony happy. I mean, the guy threatened my boss. Do you know who my boss is? That's right, he threatened the President of the United States for Anthony Stark."

There were laughs and Rhodey shook his head before continuing "All you have to do is spend two minutes in a room with them and you can just see the love between them. Tony's always protected everyone around him and I always worried about who was protecting him." He turned to look at Loki "I don't even have to ask to know that you're looking out for him as much as he's looking out for you. The two of you are truly partners and equals and I wish you both nothing but the best"

He raised his glass in the air "To Tony and Loki"

"To Tony and Loki!" Everyone else yelled

Rhodey walked over to Tony who quickly wrapped him in a tight hug. Then, he turned to Loki and shook his hand with a nod. Tony was about to make fun of Rhodey for being too scared to give the shovel talk when there was a horrible feedback noise from the microphone. Loki groaned when he saw it was Thor looking only slightly sheepish at the noise he made.

"Hello friends! Rhodes has informed me that it is customary for the best man to make a speech" Loki and Tony looked to Rhodey who smugly held up his glass in a mock cheers before Thor continued "My brother asked me to be his best man and I have to admit that I was surprised. You see, Loki and I have not always seen eye to eye. We are very different in many ways. Typically, you would think it is the big brother that is keeping the younger out of trouble but it was the opposite for us.

"In our youth, Loki was always cautious and had to get me out of trouble constantly. There was always a reprimand to follow, but I secretly loved that. If he was reprimanding me and telling me to be more careful then that meant that he cared. The two of us grew apart as we got older, I focused on battle training while Loki focused on his magic. I made fun of him for his use of magic, but mainly it was because I was jealous.

"The things that my brother can do are incredible. I am ashamed to say that I never told him how impressed I am of his achievements. His biggest achievement so far was finding a family, a chosen family. As Rhodes said before, there are many things that can be said about Loki. He can be cruel and viscous, but only when necessary. If you look at him when he is with his children or Tony, you will see the man that my brother truly is. Loki is kind, gentle, and loyal. He is a great man, a great father, and will be a great husband" He raised his glass "May the Norns bless you both, skol"

Tony could hear Loki let out a breath next to him and was shocked to see him grab Thor in a hug. Once again, the tears were streaming down Thor's face but no one could blame him. The night continued and Tony was finally able to hold Loki close in a long overdue dance. They made it halfway through the second song before Cassie ran over and joined them. The little girl mainly stayed with Loki all night, rarely letting go of his hand.

With some prodding, Loki agreed to put on a fireworks display for everyone. Tony loved how the big, bad God of Mischief was so easily taken down by three young children giving him the puppy eyes. The fireworks were beautiful and he made sure everyone was represented in some way. Cassie gasped loudly when there was a purple firework of her twirling in her dress. Soon enough, everyone started to make demands which Loki was quick to oblige.

The group had been so invested in the display that they didn't notice Helblindi running up to the group until he yelled "Odin's attacking Jotunheim"

Chapter Text

There was a flurry of motion around Tony as everyone jumped into action, but he felt Loki grab his face and force him to look at him.

"Anthony, I need you to focus"

"Yeah, ok, cool. I can do that-"

"Papa? What's going on?" They both looked down to see Cassie on the verge of tears, clinging to Loki's leg.

Loki bent down to her height "We have talked about this, little one, I need you to be brave for me right now. You, Narfi and Vali are going to go inside the palace and stay there with Jane until myself or Anthony return. Do you understand?"

She nodded "I'm scared, what if you don't come back?"

"It is ok to be scared and you will not be alone. Your dad and I will do everything in our power to come back to you and your brothers"

Tony knelt down then and pulled her into a hug "I love you, little blueberry, take care of your brothers for us?"

"I'll make sure they're not scared, Daddy"

"I know you will, kiddo" He kissed her head before standing again.

Loki picked her up before turning to Tony "I will get her and the boys inside, find Thor and wait for me"

Tony nodded and started looking around, finally spotting Thor in the distance talking to Cap and Fandral. He ran over to them as quick as he could. Thor noticed him immediately and started looking around behind him.

"Where is Loki?"

"He's making sure the kids are safe, he'll be here any-" There was a swirl of green and Loki was suddenly standing next to him in his Jotun form, wearing his Asgardian armor "minute" Tony finished lamely.

Thor nodded at his brother "Jane and the kids are safe where they are?"

"Of course, brother. The room they are in is heavily warded, if it is somehow breached I will know immediately"

"Good. Alrick has the rest of the Avengers with him and his army while Laufey and Farbauti got a head start to Jotunheim with Helblindi. Mother is..." He sighed "Mother is trying to join us"

"Tell her no"

Thor rolled his eyes "You try telling her no!"

Frigga walked over at that moment "It is not either of your places to tell me no"

Loki looked to Thor who gave him an 'I told you so' look, causing Loki to groan "Mother, please, we do want you to be harmed"

"Do you think that I want my sons to be harmed?"

"Of course not, but Thor and I have trained for battles since we were young"

"I went through similar training before I married Odin, I am not helpless. Do no treat me as such. I am coming with, end of discussion"

Thor nodded while Loki looked like he was still debating "Fine, but you must allow Fandral to stay with you"

"Acceptable"

Loki nodded and turned to Tony, looking him up and down "While I think you look quite fetching, Darling, you do not appear ready for battle"

"Right. About that...I was hoping you could magic me up a new outfit and call for my suit?"

"Married for a few hours and already making demands of me. Very well" He waved his arm, changing Tony into a set of Asgardian armor that looked similar to Loki's. The difference being that this was red and gold. He grinned up at his husband and noticed his suit flying towards him in the distance.

Steve stepped forward "I'm going to make sure everyone has ear pieces to stay connected, we'll meet in front of the palace in ten minutes. Then, we head out"

They all followed Steve except for Tony and Loki who were waiting for Tony's suit. A minute later, it landed behind Tony and opened up to let him in. It only took him a minute for everything to turn on properly and to get the system connected to Steve's communication devices. He had never been so relieved to hear Jarvis's snarky voice.

"Hello Sir, I believe congratulations are in order"

"Thanks, J, I'll show you pictures sometime. Are you ready for this?"

"Always, Sir"

Tony retracted the face piece to look at Loki "Strange concept for a honeymoon, but we've never exactly been normal"

Loki laughed "Yes, a battle as a wedding gift from Odin is not exactly surprising"

"This is why people use a registry. It's the thought that counts?"

"Something like that" Loki stepped up to Tony and caressed his cheek "I will be very cross with you should you be harmed"

"Aw, Lo, you say the sweetest things. I think there was an 'I love you' in there somewhere?"

"Perhaps"

He leaned forward to capture the Gods lips "I love you, Sweetheart"

"I love you, Darling"

"Now, let's kick some ass"

Loki's smile slowly morphed into a mischievous grin as he took Tony's hand in his and teleported them to front of the palace where everyone else was waiting. After doing a quick mic check for everyone, they were pulled into the rainbow lights and dropped into Jotunheim. At first, it didn't look like much, but Heimdall had dropped them far enough outside of the main city that they wouldn't be detected right away.

As they approached, they could see the Einherjar in the distance standing at the ready. Laufey noticed their approached and made his way over to them.

Loki stepped up to him "Father, what news do you have?"

Laufey hesitated ever so slightly, but smiled at the greeting "Odin seems to be waiting, I have a feeling he is waiting for you and Thor to approach. Vanaheim soldiers arrived just moments before you, they're getting into position now"

"I guess I should approach then"

"Son, you do not have to do any such thing"

Thor stepped forward "He will not be alone. Perhaps we can settle this civilly" He chuckled at the look on Loki's face "It is a long shot, I am aware"

The brothers nodded at each other and started walking towards the middle of both groups. Odin along with Sif and the rest of the warriors three were walking to meet them. Thor gave them his usual bright smile.

"My friends! How wonderful to see you all"

Odin raised his hand so that none of them would respond and took a step closer to the brothers "I will tell you this once. End this pathetic show of rebellion and come back to Asgard"

Loki was standing tall, but looking utterly bored "No, thank you, I do not think that we will do that"

"I will hear nothing from you, Laufeyson"

"Actually, it is Stark now" he said while holding up his left hand to display his wedding band

"Am I supposed to be impressed that you married a whore?"

"I suggest you state your demands before I become even more impatient and remove your other eye"

Thor put a hand on Loki's shoulder "Father, there is no need for all of this. Please, let us end this peacefully"

"There will be no peace until every Jotun is struck down from this wretched realm" He said while staring at Loki

"I will not allow you to harm my brother"

"He is no brother of yours, Thor"

Thor shook his head "I have turned my back on him a great many times, but I will not make that mistake again. If you insist on going through with this than you will have to fight me as well"

"Now who is the fool?" Odin looked at Thor for a moment before summoning Gungnir and banging it on the ground twice. All at once, the Einherjar rushed forward and Loki grabbed Thor, teleporting them back to their team.

Tony took just long enough to make sure Loki was ok before blasting into the air alongside Rhodey. The first thing he noticed was that Thor's friends had immediately turned on Odin and started fighting against the Asgardians.

"Thor's friends are fighting against the Asgardians. Treat them as friendly's" He paused a second "At least, for now"

Tony continued his fight from the air, blasting soldiers out of the way and trying to thin the line. The problem was that they were just as strong as all other Asgardians so they didn't go down easily or without a fight. He saw a flash of light from the corner of his eye, but ignored it until he kept seeing small flashes of light. Tony stayed suspended in the air, watching for it again. Finally, it happened and he realized that the Einherjar were using magic.

"Shit" Tony muttered to himself "Guys, we have a slight problem. They're using magic"

"That is not our only issue" Loki said

"Care to elaborate?"

"They have weapons that drain ones magic. The magic they are using is not their own, they are siphoning it from others to use against them"

"Fuck! Ok, Cap, what do you think?"

"I say we pull back the magic users, have them fight from afar to keep them away from the weapons"

"Great. Lokes?"

"I concur. The magic users can use hand to hand combat should they come in close range"

Steve immediately giving orders to everyone and the soldiers shifted, sending the magic users to the back of the fight. Tony noticed that his husband was the only one that didn't listen to those orders and was still fighting alongside Thor. He reminded himself that Loki was a trained warrior and that he would be ok and forced himself to move on. Going back to Rhodey's side, he heard someone yell in pain through the comms.

Natasha swore in Russian "Clint's down, I need some help here"

"What happened, Nat?'

"He was hit in the leg then stabbed in the chest before I could get to him" She gasped "I'm applying pressure, but he's quickly loosing blood"

Tony landed next to them just as Loki appeared. The God lightly pushed Nat out of the way and knelt down next to Clint and hovered his hands over the archers chest. Clint looked up at Loki as the God's hands started glowing green.

"I'm sorry, Boss"

Loki looked at Clint for half a second before focusing back to his work "Whatever for, Minion?"

"For...not believing you...for taking so long to...give you a chance...you're a good guy, Loki..." He said through jagged breaths

"Do not get sentimental on me, Clinton, you are not dying. Not on my watch" Loki looked up at Tony "I am not a healer. I am keeping him alive, but I need someone who knows healing magic. Find my mother"

"I'm on it" Tony took to the sky again, looking for Frigga but was hit with a blast of energy. He hit the ground, hard and turned just in time to see a spear coming towards him. Tony rolled out of the way and blasted the soldier, sending him flying back.

"Sir, your suit has taken damage"

"Yeah, no shit"

"I will refocus the suits energies, but I recommend avoiding being struck again"

Tony rolled his eyes and went back to his search for Frigga "It's not like I got hit on purpose, J"

"Of course not, Sir"

It didn't take long to find Frigga and Fandral as he saw the golden glow from her hands. She was trying to heal soldiers and Fandral was working very hard to keep the Einherjar away from her. Tony was about to help when one of the Jotun mages stepped forward and hurled a ball of magic at the Asgardians, turning those in the proximity to ash. Fandral took a deep breath of relief and nodded to the Jotun.

Frigga noticed Tony immediately with a look of alarm at the state of his suit "Are you well, Anthony?"

"I'm fine, but we need you to heal a teammate. Loki's doing what he can to keep him breathing"

She put her hand on Tony's arm and grabbed Fandral, teleporting them to Loki's side. Frigga knelt down next to her son and placed her hands over his, letting her magic mix with his. He watched in awe as Clint's wound was healed and looked as if nothing had happened. As soon as it started, it was done and everyone was quick to get back to the fight. The battle was brutal and it didn't look like there was going to be an end in sight when a dark portal opened to Tony's left.

Slowly, an army of dark elves walked through it with their leader at the front. Laufey walked up to Malekith and the two nodded at each other before joining forces. Finally, the fight turned in their favor and they were getting a leg up on the Asgardians. Tony had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually he heard the Einherjar instructing men to fall back and go back to Asgard. Odin looked pissed and was yelling demands, but some of the warriors weren't listening.

With a small amount of Einherjar left, Odin turned his sights to Loki and slammed Gungnir on the ground twice. A bright flash of light came from the staff and suddenly everyone was frozen in place except for Odin and Loki. Tony and Thor were close by and were fighting hard to try to move, but had no luck.

Odin laughed lowly and held out his arms, motioning around him "Look at what you have done, Loki. This all could have been avoided"

"Your own warriors have ignored your commands, you will have nothing when you go back to Asgard"

"I need only to rid myself of the traitors and begin anew. I have no disadvantage, Laufeyson"

"So, what then? You kill everyone here including your son and your wife? Are you truly so cruel?"

"You know, Loki, you may have been right when you intended to destroy this realm. It is a realm full of monsters, after all, I plan to finish what you could not" Odin lifted Gungnir and pointed it Loki. A blast of gold hit his body and bounced back. It was slowly pulling Loki's magic from his body and there was nothing that Loki could do to stop it. Loki fell to his knees, breathing heavily, and the golden ball morphed green with Loki's magic. Odin held the magic in his hand and grinned at Loki before turning to look at Tony.

Everything after that, happened in slow motion. Odin pushed the magic towards him and he braced himself for the incoming impact, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a wall of green in front of him, causing the ball of magic to fizzle out. The wall faded away and he heard a heavy thud. Tony quickly looked around and saw Loki had fallen to ground and wasn't moving, his arm still extended out towards Tony.

Odin stalked towards Loki's body and raised his staff to strike. Tony was fighting as hard as he could against the invisible restraints, tears pouring down his face. He could barely hear Thor and the others yelling over the ringing in his ears.

Suddenly, Frigga screamed and managed to break free from her hold, teleporting to Loki's side in an instant and throwing a blast of magic at Odin. It caused him to stumble just long enough for her to pull out a blade.

"You will not touch my son" She growled before slashing Odin's throat.

Odin's eyes had widened and he slowly dropped to the ground. In the same moment, everyone's hold was released and Tony sprinted to Loki's side. He pulled his husband into his lap and started shaking him.

"Come on, Loki, wake up" Tony was trying to stifle his sobs "Lokes?"

Loki's head dropped to the side and Tony held him tighter, rocking back and forth. Slowly, everyone approached the two of them looking sullen and unsure. Thor slowly approached and tried to take Loki from Tony who immediately pulled Loki closer to his body.

"Don't touch him!"

Thor held his hands up in surrender "We need to get him to a healer, Tony, allow me to carry him"

"No" he sniffed and started standing "I'm not letting him go"

Laufey led them into the palace as quick as he could and started commanding the healers. Two of the healers rushed forward and motioned Tony towards a bed to bring Loki to. Reluctantly, he let go and stepped back to let them get to work. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Laufey staring past him at his son. The King said something to the healers before looking to Tony.

"Your husband is in good hands, Anthony. I know you do not wish to leave his side, but we need to meet with the others and discuss everything. I promise that you will be notified the second there is news"

Tony nodded and stepped up to the bed to sit next to Loki and gently pushed the hair out of his face. He leaned down and rested his forehead on Loki's "I love you so much, Sweetheart, come back to me"

He kissed his husbands head and followed Laufey out of the healing wing while the healers got back to work. They walked into the meeting room where everyone was already waiting for them. Laufey took his place next to Farbauti and kissed his hand before turning to everyone.

"I must begin by thanking you all for your assistance today, Jotunheim could not have done it alone. We lost good people today and we will be sure to honor their sacrifice properly. Malekith and his people left as soon as Odin fell. I can not say that I am surprised by this, but I am a little curious why they rushed away" He turned to look to Thor and Frigga "You both have my sympathies for your loss. While I do not regret the outcome, he was still your family"

Frigga gave him a half-hearted smile and a thank you while Thor nodded.

"How is my brother?"

Laufey looked to Tony before looking back to Thor "Loki exhausted his magic. He and his seidr are one, his seidr runs through his veins and keeps him alive just as much as his blood and heart do. I have no news yet, but I have hope that my son will recover. Our healers are doing everything that they can"

Tony was sitting in his chair, staring off in the distance and playing with his wedding band while everyone discussed their next steps. Truly, he couldn't care less what was going on as he could only think about Loki. One of the Alfheim warriors had come into the room at some point and was speaking lowly to Alrick.

"Where is Jane now?" Thor asked loudly, causing Tony to look up.

"She is with our healers, your highness, she has a minor head wound"

Tony furrowed his brows and looked around "Wait, what happened to Jane?"

"The Lady Jane was hit in the head, knocking her unconscious"

"Jane was with the kids. Where are my kids?"

The guard looked sheepish for a moment before finally meeting Tony's eyes "Narfi and Vali are with the Lady Jane still" He swallowed thickly before continuing more quietly "We do not know the whereabouts of Cassie"

"What do you mean you don't know where Cassie is?" Tony asked overly calm and quiet

"The warding that Prince Loki used dropped suddenly and not long after, two unknown soldiers came into the palace. They killed some of our guards and entered the room Lady Jane and the kids were in. We believe they knocked Lady Jane unconscious so that they could get to Cassie. The young boys were unharmed, they are just frightened"

Tony slowly stood from his seat "Why they fuck are you here and not looking for my daughter?!"

Alrick excused the guard and looked to Tony "I understand that you are upset, but I have already sent out guards to look for Cassie. Do you have any idea who would want to take her?"

"No! She's just a kid! Why would anyone wan-" He paused and thought for a minute "Malekith"

Laufey's eyes widened "Malekith left right after the battle was over. He would have had time to get there without our notice"

Steve stepped up to Tony, putting a hand on his shoulder "What do you want to do, Tony?"

"We're going to get my daughter back, is that even a question?"

"Of course, we are. But, Tony, everyone is exhausted. We can't immediately go off to another battle that we are not even close to being prepared for"

"That's my kid, Cap!"

"We will get her back, Tony. I am just suggesting that we take a moment to think this through"

Tony fell back into his chair and dropped his head into his hands "I can't believe this. I was getting married yesterday and now my husband is basically in a coma and my daughter was kidnapped"

Thor stood up and glanced around the room "I need to go to Asgard and let the people know what happened to Odin. If you have need of me, call to Heimdall and he will notify me. Tony, I will be back as soon as I am able"

"Yeah, of course, you gotta get that straightened out. No worries, big guy"

Thor and Frigga left and everyone else followed them out of the room as well. There was a lot to be dealt with and on top of it all, they had to figure out how to get Cassie back. Tony took a steadying breath and walked back to the healing wing and sat by Loki's side. He stayed there for a long time, gathering his thoughts before he made up his mind.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Activate Protocol: Precious Snowflake"

Chapter Text

Tony was walking towards the living room when he heard voices coming from the couch. He slowly walked closer and saw Cassie curled up on Loki's lap while he read her a book. The little girl was wearing her favorite purple pajamas with matching slippers. Her hair was in a loose braid that Loki must've done for her and she was half asleep, clinging to Loki's shirt. This was their routine ever since they brought Cassie home from Jotunheim.

One of them would read to her each night and she always clung on to them as if they would be snatched away at any moment. The more Tony thought about it, the sadder it was. Clearly, she was still worried about them leaving her or abandoning her in some way and that broke his heart. He must've been lost in his thoughts cause he startled at Loki clearing his throat.

"Are you alright, Anthony?" Loki asked in a whisper

Tony gave him a small smile and moved to join them on the couch. He reach out a hand and softly brushed a piece of hair out of Cassie's face "She thinks we're going to leave her, doesn't she?"

"I am afraid that is an accurate observation" Loki sighed and carefully shifted to hold Tony's hand "All we can do is reassure her that we will not leave her and eventually, she will believe it"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just sad, I feel like I'm doing something wrong"

"It is not you, Darling, she has lost both of her parents in a short amount of time. I would be surprised if she did not worry about losing us as well"

"Let's bring her to our room? I don't want her to wake up alone"

Loki smiled and nodded, picking Cassie up carefully to not wake her and followed Tony back to the bedroom. As soon as they were settled in bed, Cassie started to stir slightly. Loki lightly ran his hand through her hair and started softly humming a tune from an Asgardian song he said his mother sang to him when he was young. Cassie quickly settled again, but reached for Tony's hand to hold onto before cuddling further into Loki.

Tony startled awake and quickly looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. He sighed when he saw he was not in his memory foam bed but sitting in a chair next to Loki's hospital bed. Tony always hated hospitals, but he was actually starting to miss them now. There was always a constant beeping from machines, but that was not the case here with mage healers. Somehow, he missed the sound of the beeping and would take that over the deathly silence any day.

The very soft, blue glow surrounding the God's body was the only thing that Tony had as assurance that Loki was ok. Healers informed him that should the glow go out, that Loki was deteriorating. There was more magic mumbo jumbo that he didn't quite understand, but he knew the most important parts. Blue glow equals Loki is still alive and breathing. Tony sighed and took Loki's hand in his, running his finger over the wedding band.

"If you were awake, you'd be tearing the world apart to get our little blueberry back. I'm torn, Lo. Part of me wants to sit here with you and not leave your side until you open your eyes. The other part wants to say fuck it all and go after our girl. Cap wants us to wait and regroup and I know that he's right, but is he? She's out there all alone and needs me"

Tony got up and started pacing, he only had to wait a little bit longer for his other suits to arrive. It reminded him of the moment he knew he needed to create Protocol: Precious Snowflake.

Him and Cassie were in the park near the tower, enjoying an impromptu picnic when there was a group of kids playing nearby. They were throwing a ball around and it had gone past them and rolled over to Cassie's side. The kids asked if she could throw it back, which she happily did. Tony encouraged her to go join them and she hesitated for a minute, but ran over and asked if she could play. It warmed Tony's heart to see her playing with kids her own age, she was normally around adults.

A couple of teenagers had come up to Tony and asked him for his autograph which he happily obliged. They started talking about some Stark Industries invention, distracting Tony from watching Cassie and the kids. By the time he looked back to their direction, they were gone. He quickly scanned his surroundings, but didn't see her or the other kids anywhere. Panic set in and he was running around the park yelling her name.

After what felt like an eternity, he found Cassie and the kids playing by a swing set. She smiled when she saw him, but quickly frowned at the look of horror on his face. Tony ran over to her and scooped her up, hugging her tight.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't ever do that again! You don't leave my side without telling me, I thought someone took you!" It came out more stern than he meant it, but he had been terrified for those few minutes

Cassie's lip started wobbling "I'm sorry, I just wanted to play and they were all going to the swings"

Tony sighed and shook his head "I didn't mean to yell, Snowflake, I was just so scared that I lost you"

The second the two of them got back to the tower, he went to his lab and started working on schematics for two new suits. The thought of losing Cassie horrified him and he wanted to do everything in his power to not let that happen again. Ultimately, he made two new suits that had tracking capability and were mainly made for stealth and escape. One was taller than his usual suits, was designed to be more sleek and was painted in green and gold.

Tony honestly had no idea if Loki would be pissed that he made a suit or not, but he didn't care. He wanted the ones he loved to be safe. The second suit was much smaller and was purple for obvious reasons. Tony even made a new AI system, FRIDAY, which was implemented in these suits for when Jarvis was unavailable. Both of the suits were given tracking devices that synced with bracelets he would have each of them wear so that they could find them should they need to be located.

Loki always valued his privacy so Tony hadn't even breached the subject of having him wear the tracking bracelet. The God was annoyed at the thought of having a Stark phone that had location services turned on so Tony could imagine how the conversation would go. Luckily, Cassie had no qualms about the tracking and was willing to wear the bracelet. He just prayed she was still wearing it right now.

"Sir?" Jarvis pulled Tony from his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

"What's up, Jarv?"

"Mischief and Snowflake are about to land outside of the palace"

With a final kiss to Loki's forehead, he headed out of the healing wing and quietly made his way outside of the palace. Protocol: Precious Snowflake was in affect and Tony only had a short window before the others started to notice that something was going on. Tony didn't really need Mischief since he knew where Loki was, but he figured he could plant it in Loki's room to stand guard. Snowflake would hopefully track Cassie's bracelet and bring him to her location.

The protocol had never had a test run and Tony was hoping to never need it, but he was out of options at this point. Steve wanting to wait to regroup made sense, but Steve wasn't a dad. He couldn't understand what Tony was going through right now. Walking outside of the palace, Mischief and Snowflake landed softly and waited for instruction. A new suit for Tony arrived a minute later since his was damaged in battle and Jarvis would definitely sass him for trying to use it now.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Tony jumped and spun around to see Bucky leaning against a pillar, watching him "Shit. You and Loki both need bells or something. Run along, soldier, this doesn't concern you"

"Stevie told you to stay put for a reason, Stark"

"Uh-huh. But, here's the thing, he's not in charge of me and I do what I want soooo" He waved his hand in dismissal, but Bucky stepped closer and lightly grabbed his arm "Watch it, bionic man!"

"If you insist on doing something stupid then at least let me go with you"

"You'd ignore Cap and come with me?"

Bucky shrugged "Stevie's used to me ignoring directives when I can help it" He looked at Tony seriously "Cassie means a lot to all of us and I'd like to find her"

Tony couldn't help the smile that spread across his face "Alright" Nodding, he looked back to the suits "You can use Mischief since Loki is out of commission and there's plenty of guards around his room already"

"Green isn't exactly my color, but I'll make it work"

They quickly got situated in the suits and moved away from the palace. The sooner they left, the more time they had before someone noticed their absence. Tony was not in the mood for someone to tell him that he needs to wait to go after Cassie.

"Sir, I have mapped a route to Svartalfheim, there appears to be a direct path through the woods"

"Awesome, J, let's do it. Bucky's on autopilot?"

"He is, Sir, he is currently speaking with FRIDAY"

"Any chance Snowflake has a location on Cassie?"

"It is not a strong signal, but there is a general location that has been found"

Tony sighed in relief "Thank God. I'll take general location, it's better than nothing. When we get her, I'm never letting her out of my sight. Never."

"I will be having a discuss with Loki about allowing me to track the both of them"

"Wait. Really?"

"While I do not have emotions, I have found it...distressing to hear that my family has been injured and captured. I will not allow it to happen again, Sir"

"Your family, huh?" Tony was fully beaming at this point, he never imagined his AI to evolve like this. Truly, he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Of course, Sir, you are all my family"

"Hell yeah, we are. This works out perfectly for me anyway, Loki will take it better coming from you"

"That is true, Sir, you have a way of frustrating him that I tend to avoid"

"Rude"

"I would love to tell you all of the reasons why it is not rude and in fact accurate, but we are arriving"

They landed within the trees and slowly walked towards the edge of the wood. When they looked out they saw a desert-like sight in front of them and there was nothing but boulders and sand for miles. The tracking was showing that they needed to head towards a cluster of boulders a few yards in front of them. As they got closer to the cluster the more confused they became. Tony threw his hands in the air with frustration while Bucky stepped out of Mischief to get a closer look.

Tony had Jarvis scan the area for any living thing and he came back with nothing. He was close to throwing a tantrum when Bucky got his attention and called him over.

"Stark, I think these boulders are fake"

"Fake? They look like rocks to me"

Without another word, Bucky used his metal arm to punch the boulder in the middle which caused it to immediately turn to dust. He gave Tony a look and wiped away the dust to reveal a metal door handle. The two of them worked quickly to destroy the other boulders and uncover the full door which they yanked open. Without thinking about it, Tony jumped down and landed with a thud. Bucky wasn't far behind him and nodded at Tony to continue.

Jarvis was actively scanning the area to try and find a route to where Cassie was. Suddenly, a soldier walked around the corner and raised his gun to aim at them. Tony was faster though and blasted him backwards, knocking him unconscious.

"Sir, I have located Cassie"

"Thank fuck, bring up the route"

"Bringing it up now, but there are some issues"

"What kind of issues?"

"There are about fifty enemy soldiers on the way and she seems to be in a heavily guarded room"

Tony sighed and looked to Bucky "You get all of that?"

"Can Mischief operate through FRIDAY?" Tony nodded "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Absolutely. Let's get our girl"

A few moments later, Mischief arrived behind them and they gave the instruction to get to Cassie. Snowflake was waiting outside of the hatch until they had Cassie since the suit wasn't made with weapons. Tony and Bucky followed Mischief through the hallways, taking out soldiers along the way. This was the first time that Tony got to fully see the Winter Soldier in action and he was relieved that he joined him.

There was so much adrenaline pumping through Tony's body that he was barely thinking and just acting on auto pilot. They were taking out soldiers left and right and Tony was finally getting hopeful until there was a strong grip on his shoulder. His suit started beeping and the controls were going crazy, flashing errors. Due to a fail safe in the suit, it released Tony and dropped him to the ground. He quickly jumped up and noticed that Bucky had been knocked unconscious and was being dragged away.

Tony continued to fight as hard as he could and managed to get a gun away from someone. All too soon, he ran out of ammo and started using the gun as a club. There were too many soldiers surrounding him and he was quickly running out of options when something struck him in the back of the head and the world went black.

Chapter Text

Tony woke with a groan and his head pounding. He slowly blinked his eyes open and looked around at the dimly lit room. Slowly, he started to sit up when he heard a muffled shout next to him. Shaking his head to try and clear it, his vision cleared and he could see that he was in a small jail cell. There was no time to worry about that though because there was Cassie sitting in the cell next to him. She was standing at the bars which separated her cell from his and had tears running down her face.

"Cassie!"

"Dad! You came for me"

"Of course I did!" Tony tried to get up and walk towards her, but was held down by shackles around his wrists that were attached to the ground. He sighed and looked back to Cassie "Are you hurt?"

"No" Tony was relieved to see that she was not in chains like him and could freely move around her cell.

"Good. Good. Where's-" He stopped when he noticed Bucky in the cell on the other side of him, sitting rather unbothered "You ok, Buck?"

"My head is pounding, and my arm is missing. You tell me"

"Your arm is missing?" He squinted to see that Bucky was in fact missing his metal arm "Great. That's just great. Ok."

"You're rambling, Stark"

"Yeah, well, my head feels like it went through a meat grinder so cut me some slack" Cassie started crying harder and curled herself into a ball "Hey, hey, it's ok. Please don't cry, honey, I just need a minute to come up with a plan. Ok?"

She sniffed and nodded "I don't like it here"

"I know, Blueberry, I'm going to do everything I can to get us out of here. I promise"

"Is Papa coming for us?"

Tony swallowed thickly and gave her a sympathetic smile "No, he's not" Her eyes widened and he realized how that must've sounded to her so he quickly shook his head "Not that he wouldn't! He'd be on a murder spree right now if you saw you like this. Please don't panic, but Loki got hurt in the battle. He has a lot of people taking care of him though"

"Papa's hurt?"

"Yes. He's going to be ok and we are going to get out of here" He said definitively

"Ok, Daddy, I believe you"

"I feel like you're placating me, but I'll take it"

There was a sound of keys jingling which caused Cassie to sprint to the corner of her cell and sit with her knees pulled up to her chest. Tony stood the best he could with the shackles, trying to shield Cassie from view. Malekith entered with a couple of guards and slowly made his way to Tony's cell. He looked him over silently before nodding to one of the guards. The guard stepped forward and unlocked Tony's cell and then his shackles.

He gripped Tony's elbow hard and dragged him forward, out of the cell and led him to another room where he was shoved into a chair. The second he was seated, the guards put more restraints around his wrists and ankles before leaving the room. Tony pulled on the restraints and looked around the room. He felt like he was in an 80's cop show with how old everything looked. Malekith slowly stepped forward and walked around Tony, looking him up and down.

"You are the child's father?"

"Yes. What's it matter to you?"

"She is from my realm and from my direct bloodline. It matters a great deal to me"

"What do you want with her?"

"The girl could be raised by my people and taught how to be a Queen"

Tony was shaking his head "No, absolutely not. You can't have her"

Malekith laughed "I care not for what you want, mortal. With Odin gone, we stand a chance at bringing our realm back from the brink of death. While we do not need the girl for that to happen, we saw an opportunity and we are taking it"

"She's my daughter, you can't have her"

"You are nobody. Her other father however; he is somebody"

"Loki would rather rip his own limbs off than let you have his daughter"

"It is that dedication to her that I am counting on"

Tony furrowed his brows "What? You want Loki to come here?" He started laughing "How could that possibly end well for you?"

"It is quite simple. We have something he wants. He will either agree willingly to our terms or we will take the girl and kill you"

"You said you don't need Cassie. What is it that you want then?"

"Magic"

"Magic. How exactly do you plan on achieving that?"

"We are elves, mortal. Elves have always had magic; before the war of our people that is. There were not light and dark elves many centuries ago and my father had a vision of something greater than what the elves were known for. The other elves disagreed and a war was started which divided us into the light and dark elves you are familiar with today. The cost of war was our magic and we were banished here.

In order to bring us back to our full might and be as great as my father envisioned, we need magic. Odin was using devices to siphon magic and we just so happened to take some. Loki is a very powerful mage, there is a lot that we can do if we harness his power."

Tony was shaking his head "So, you took Cassie to lure Loki here so that you can steal his magic. Well, hate to break it to you but Loki isn't coming"

"Of course he will. He just needs some incentive"

Before Tony could say anything, more guards came in and moved him from the chair to be strung up on the wall. Not long after, they brought Bucky in and put him in the chair that Tony had been in before and had him facing Tony.

Malekith roughly grabbed Tony's chin and forced him to look up at him "If you care for your life and the life of your friend then you will not struggle. Jotunheim is vulnerable right now. We will not hesitate in attacking if you do not cooperate" He shoved Tony's face away and left the room, leaving behind two guards.

At first, Tony thought that they were going to torture Bucky to get Tony to agree to their terms. He quickly realized that he was wrong about that as the guards turned to him instead. It started with punches to his stomach and gradually turned to making small cuts throughout his body. They were careful to not harm him too much since he was human, but enough damage to knock him unconscious.

He slowly woke up back in his cell to low voices and a hand on his. The hand squeezed his own as he started opening his eyes and looked to see Cassie watching him anxiously. Tony tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it was more of a grimace that immediately made her lips tremble.

"Shh, it's ok, Blueberry"

"They hurt you, Daddy, it's not ok. Bucky told me what happened"

"He did, did he?" Raising himself off the floor very slowly, he turned to glare at Bucky who looked a little sheepish. Turning back to Cassie, he realized something "Wait. How are you in my cell?"

She shrugged "I was upset when they brought you back and then they let me come in here if I agreed to be good" Tony held his arms open which Cassie was quick to run into and hug him tightly, making him wince. She jumped back "Sorry!"

"It's ok, honey, just a little softer"

Hesitantly, she went back and hugged him more lightly. Tony pulled her closer until she was in his lap and curled into him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Blueberry?"

"Why don't you let them take me?"

"What?" He couldn't have possibly heard her right, he looked down to see her avoiding his eye contact.

"They will stop hurting you and you can go home to Papa and Narfi and Vali"

He grabbed her chin and made her look at him "Listen to me. There is no scenario where I hand you over. Do you hear me? You are my daughter and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and bring you home. I don't care what they do to me, I'd let them cutoff all of my limbs before I gave you up"

"You don't mean that"

"I do! They can even shave my goatee" Cassie laughed lightly at that, causing Tony to smile but he sobered quickly "I'd give up all my tech and never invent again if it meant keeping you safe. You mean so much to me, Cassie, I love you"

"I love you too, Daddy. Thank you for finding me"

Ignoring the ache in his limbs, he squeezed her tight "I will always find you"

They quietly laid together, after awhile Cassie starting snoring lightly and it broke Tony's heart to know that she probably hadn't gotten any sleep. He was exhausted and in pain, but he was content to hold the little girl for awhile and pretend everything was ok.

The next day brought more of the same. The guards would bring Tony and Bucky into that room and continue beating Tony while Bucky sat by being forced to watch. He kept thinking of Cassie and how he had to be strong for her and figure out a way out of this hell. On the fourth day, they turned to water boarding which Tony was all too familiar with. When it was finally over for the day, Malekith entered the room and looked at Tony before standing in front of Bucky.

"Are you willing to cooperate, Winter Soldier?"

"I don't know what you want from me"

"It is simple, really. You will go back to your group and tell Loki what is happening to Tony. He and he alone will come here and willingly give over his magic in exchange for his husband and daughter"

Bucky looked at Tony who was barely breathing at the moment before looking back at Malekith "You'll stop hurting him in the meantime?" The elf nodded "Fine"

Wasting no time, Malekith got the guards back in the room and they took Bucky away. Tony knew he should have put up a fight and tried to stop things, but he was far too tired and weak to do that. Instead, he allowed himself to be dragged back to his cell and quickly fell asleep with his little blueberry curled into his side.

The next few days went by slowly and Tony was dividing his time between keeping Cassie entertained and plotting his way out. He was slowly gathering anything he could get his hands on to try and create some sort of weapon. Guards brought them food three times a day, but otherwise left them alone. Tony had come up with silly games and stories to occupy their time and when Cassie went to sleep each night he would get to work on his escape plans.

Days turned into weeks and Tony was trying desperately to hold onto hope. He was starting to think the worst and wondering if Bucky had even made it back to Jotunheim on his own. Cassie was too smart to be fooled, but she seemed to be trying to be optimistic for Tony's benefit just as much as he was doing the same for her. It pained him to do so, but he decided that Cassie needed to know how to defend herself and was teaching her the basics when the lights went out each night.

Tony decided that things were going to change today and he was going to get them out of their prison. The typical guard came by to bring them breakfast and he would be in the cell for exactly ten seconds and that was the window of opportunity. As soon as the tray of food was put down, Tony leapt to his feet, grabbed the tray and knocked the guard unconscious. Tony grabbed the weapon he had made and pulled Cassie behind him out of the cell.

The next guard they came across had their back to them so Tony easily knocked him out and continued down the hallway. He was going slowly and listening for any signs of other guards. Just as he was about to make a turn he heard distance shouts and thuds. With a small amount of hope that someone was there to help, he took Cassie's hand and starting running in the opposite direction to find a way out. His heart was beating quickly as he picked up the pace.

Rounding the next corner, he saw a guard in the distance that noticed him at the same moment and started sauntering towards him. Tony picked up Cassie and started running in the opposite direction just to almost run directly into Malekith. Holding the little girl tightly to his chest, he backed into a wall and starting thinking of ways to spare her when there was a big blast in a nearby room. The blast caused the room to shake and everyone to fall to the ground.

He got back on his feet as quickly as he could, but hesitated when he saw smoke starting to surround them. Malekith and the guard stopped as well, looking around to see where it was coming from and what was causing it. There was a figure walking towards them, but the smoke was keeping them somewhat hidden. Tony's eyes widened when he saw the figures glowing green hands.

Chapter Text

It felt like time was moving by in slow motion for Tony. More guards were running towards them while the figure was stalking towards him. He realized a moment too long that the smoke was harmless and was definitely for a dramatic effect. One by one, the guards were being taken out with ease and all Tony could really hear were shouts and groans. He was trying to cover Cassie's ears while she had her head buried in his chest. The guard closest to Tony tried to reach for him, but was blasted into the wall with a burst of green magic.

His gaze went from the guard squashed into the wall to the figure that was finally stepping into the dim light. Tightening his hold on Cassie, he backed into the wall and steeled himself for a fight when his breath caught in his throat. He let out a strangled breath as Loki walked into view looking like the fearsome God of Mischief that Tony hadn't seen in a long time. His eyes were filled with rage and his whole body was glowing green with his magic. Loki was taking out guards with little effort and even less remorse.

Tony was so happy to see his husband that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and didn't see Malekith approach. The dark elf had a hold on the back of Tony's neck and a gun nestled against his temple. Malekith shoved Tony forward a little bit and shouted to Loki.

"Enough"

Loki clenched his fists "What is the meaning of this?"

"Your one armed friend was supposed to tell you what the meaning of this was"

"Yes. He informed me that you have not only kidnapped my daughter, but you have been torturing my husband in order to get me to show" He held his arms out "I am here. Speak before I lose more patience."

"I do not want to harm the child, but I will do so if you do not cooper-"

"No"

"No?"

"I do so hate repeating myself. You will let them go immediately before I kill the rest of your people and you have so little of them to begin with"

Cassie had finally unburied herself from Tony's chest when she had heard Loki's voice and was watching with fear in her eyes. Loki caught the scared look on her face, causing his expression to immediately soften and he looked absolutely devastated. The last thing he would ever want to do was to scare Cassie and make her fear him. Malekith decided to take advantage of his obvious weakness.

"See? Your own child is afraid of you, would you truly risk her regard of you when you could just do as we ask?"

Loki thought for a moment and finally looked away from Cassie to meet Malekith's gaze "Yes" The elf truly looked confused, but Loki continued "There is nothing that I want more than for her to be happy and safe. If the price of that is that she is afraid of me then I will gladly pay it"

He looked to Cassie with a small smile on his face "There is nothing I would not do to keep you safe. I told you before that there was nothing that could take you from me. I have failed you and I will not allow that to ever happen again."

Giving Tony a look, he turned to Malekith and stalked forward. He flicked his hand and the gun that was pointed to Tony's temple disappeared and with another hand motion Malekith was flung backwards into the wall behind him. Not wasting any time, Tony ran behind Loki and he saw a shimmer of green surround him and Cassie. Loki grabbed the elfs throat, lifting him off the ground.

"You will serve as an example of what happens when you threaten what is mine. I am not a benevolent God"

The same second that Tony turned Cassie's face away, Loki snapped Malekith's neck and threw his body to the ground. When he turned around, he had nothing but fury in his eyes and motioned for Tony to follow him. They all headed out of the torture dungeon and Tony was a mixed of stunned and aroused watching his powerful God of a husband take out soldiers left and right with little to no effort. He had never seen Loki like this and was more impressed by his magic than he had ever been before.

"Take her back to the palace" Loki yelled to Tony while fighting off the soldiers

"What about you?"

"I will be fine, Anthony. Go. Now."

Tony hesitated for a moment, but then started running back towards the woods that would lead him to Jotunheim. He had never run this much in his life, but there was no way he was going to slow down. Get to the palace, drop Cassie off and get back to Loki. That was his plan and he dared someone to try and stop him. As he was leaving, he noticed the three suits smashed to pieces on the ground. His anger only made him go that much faster.

The palace was in the distance now and he went even faster, ignoring the looks of alarm of the Jotun's they passed. Helblindi spotted them and quickly rushed to meet them halfway.

"Tony, thank the norns. We thought you were dead."

"It's gonna take more than an angry elf to keep me down" He tried to put Cassie down, but she was clinging to his legs tightly "Blueberry, I need you to let go"

"No!"

Tony sighed "Cassie, I need to go back for Loki"

"What if you leave and don't come back?"

Tony looked up when he felt Helbindi's hand on his shoulder "I will go for my brother, you get yourself and Cassie to the healers"

"But-"

"Now, Tony"

"You Laufeyson's are so pushy" He picked Cassie back up and fully turned to face Helblindi "You better bring him back"

"You have my word" He ran off in the direction that Tony had come from without another word.

Tony sighed and started back towards the palace. Walking inside the healing wing he heard Steve scolding Bucky for taking off without telling him. They both stopped and looked up when Tony entered the room and rushed over to him.

Bucky got to him first "I'm sorry Tony, they stopped me before I could leave and held me in a separate cell. I only made it back here this morning"

"What? They wanted you to find Loki, why would they hold you longer?"

"I guess they were worried that I would tell everyone here and bring back an army. They wanted to ensure that I wouldn't do that"

Tony looked Bucky over and noticed new bruises that he didn't have last time he saw him "Are you ok?" Bucky nodded and Tony noticed his lack of arm "I'll whip you up a new arm when I'm back home. You can help me design it this time"

Bucky thanked him and gave Cassie a small smile "I'll go get a healer to come take a look at you both"

"Good thinking, thanks"

Steve led them over to an empty bed and was going to take Cassie from him so that he could sit down properly, but she started crying and just held onto Tony tighter. Tony rubbed her back and kept telling her that she was ok and that he was ok until she calmed down enough to let a healer look at her. Luckily, the little girl hadn't sustained any injuries and just needed to hydrate and get rest. The healers also fixed the wounds that they could reach on Tony around Cassie, but would have to wait for the rest. He dismissed the healers and somehow got Cassie to lay down and fall asleep.

She was clinging to Tony's arm as she slept, but he didn't care as long as she calmed down. Steve and Bucky were still sitting close and listening to Tony's story about what happened. As much as he was trying not to, he couldn't stop looking at the door and wondering where Loki was. Every part of him was telling him to go after his husband, but he knew that he needed to stay close to Cassie. Finally, the little girls grip softened to roll over and burrow further into her blankets.

Laufey and Farbauti had come in to check on them and tried to reassure Tony that Loki would be ok, but he was still worried. After an hour or so, Tony and Cassie were left alone to rest. He heard some hushed voices in the hall and was about to go investigate when Loki rounded the corner. Without thinking about it, Tony ran over to him and pulled him close. Loki didn't hesitate in holding him just as tightly back. Pulling away just enough to look him over, Tony put his hand on Loki's cheek.

"Are you hurt? What happened? Where have you been?"

The God smiled and held Tony's hand on his cheek "I am just fine, Darling. Helblindi got to me rather quickly and we dealt with the rest of them. They will not be a problem any longer"

Tony was about to ask a thousand more questions, but Loki leant down and kissed him. He happily obliged and moved his hand to the back of Loki's head to hold him close. Tony abruptly pulled away and punched Loki's arm.

"Don't ever do that to me again! I had to watch you collapse on the ground and I could only assume that you died and left me alone to raise three kids. I can't be their sole parent! I'm a mess, you're supposed to even me out or some shit like that. Fuck you very much for scaring me"

Loki looked alarmed at his husband's yelling, but laughed softly and kissed his hand "My apologies, my love, I will try my hardest not to die"

"Good. Asshole"

Tony grabbed his face and pulled him in for another kiss. Reluctantly, Loki pulled away and looked behind Tony at Cassie sleeping on the bed.

"How is she?"

"Physically, she is fine. She's been terrified, Lo, she won't let me leave her sight"

"Is she" Loki sighed "Is she afraid because of me?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I tried to keep her occupied and distract her while we were stuck there, but all of that commotion and fighting was a lot for her"

"Perhaps I should not be here when she wakes"

"No-"

They were cutoff by the sound of Cassie moving around. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking alarmed and wanting to find Tony. Her eyes met Loki's and he did everything in his power to stay still and not look intimidating, giving her a small yet sad smile. Tears immediately poured from her eyes and she got off the bed, running over to Loki. He was surprised, but quickly knelt down and took her into his arms.

"I am so sorry, little one, I never meant to scare you"

"You didn't scare me, Papa"

Loki pulled away to look at her, putting a piece of hair behind her ear "I thought that I had frightened you"

"I was scared that you would get hurt again or that they would take you away from us"

"You were scared for me?"

She nodded "I know that you would never hurt me"

Kissing her cheek, he pulled her back into his arms "I do not what I have done to deserve you. No one can take me away from you" He tugged on Tony's arm to get him to join them "We will always find you, Cassie"

They stayed huddled together for a little bit until Loki insisted on Tony getting checked again by the healers before he would leave the healing wing. They healed the remainder of his wounds and said he could go back to their room. It didn't take long for the three of them to fall asleep.

The following morning, they joined everyone for breakfast and recounted their stories. Loki told Tony that he had gotten his magic back the morning that Bucky returned to the palace. Laufey had apparently tried to join him or get him to wait, but Loki wouldn't hear it. Tony told them briefly what had happened to him, he didn't want Cassie to have to keep re-living it. After that, they all feel into somewhat normal conversations. Laufey, Farbauti and Helblindi were making plans to honor the fallen warriors while the Avengers discussed going back home after breakfast.

Finally, Loki looked around and realized that he had forgotten to ask about Thor. He caught Steve's attention "Where is my brother?"

"He had gone back to Asgard with Frigga right after the battle"

"Has anyone heard from him?"

Laufey cleared his throat "Yes, son, I have gotten word from Thor. I was waiting until you were better, he wants you to travel to Asgard"

Loki looked confused "Go to Asgard? Why?"

"He did not say. The scroll just requested that you, Anthony and Cassie join him in Asgard as soon as you are well enough to travel"

"And what of my sons?"

"They are awaiting your arrival with Frigga"

Nodding, he looked back at Tony who was watching him carefully. Tony knew how much Loki hated Asgard and the way they regarded him his whole life. This would not be an easy trip for him, but the request had come from Thor and he wouldn't intentionally put his brother in harms way.

"What do you think, Lo?"

Loki sighed "I think that we are going to travel to Asgard"

Chapter Text

Loki was pretty quiet through the rest of breakfast and during their goodbyes to the Avengers. They were all finally heading back home after everything and Tony and Loki weren't sure when they would see them again. Thor's scroll inviting them to Asgard had given them little to no information so they weren't sure what they were getting themselves into. Tony had a feeling that if Narfi and Vali weren't in Asgard waiting for them then Loki would've made an excuse to not go.

Tony wasn't too thrilled about the idea of going to Asgard either. The stories that Loki had told him were horrible and people had ostracized Loki since he was a kid. Not to mention that it was the realm where Loki's triplets were sentenced to death and he had to watch it all happen. The only people that were guaranteed to be on the God's side were Frigga, Thor and Fandral. It was the other part of the Warrior's three and Sif that Tony wasn't so sure about (the idiot brigade as Loki called them).

Ever since they were kids, Thor and his friends would pick on Loki and make him feel less than them. Obviously, Thor had changed his ways and even Fandral came around, but there was no guarantee that the others would do the same. They were always worried about Loki's use of magic and his tricks, causing them to distrust him and cast him out. If Tony had any say in the matter, the three of them would all receive a swift kick in the face for ever speaking ill of his husband.

Cassie seemed excited about the idea of going to Asgard since she had no prior experience with the realm. They were careful not to ruin her perception of Asgard as things have changed and Odin was gone. Plus, Loki and all of his family is from Asgard so she should get a chance to see it at least once. She could sense Loki's mood though and refrained from asking all the questions she had about Asgard and instead stayed close to his side and offered a smile whenever she could.

It was hard for Loki to say goodbye to his Jotun family, he knew that he would be back but it was difficult to leave a place where he was accepted fully. Farbauti shed a few tears and held Loki tightly, reminding him that things would work out and he could return whenever he wanted to. Promising to visit again soon, they made their way out of the palace to be able to summon the bifrost.

Tony put his arm around the God's waist and Loki held him back tightly with Cassie in his other arm, tucked into his side. Before he could talk himself out of it, Loki called for Heimdall to bring them to Asgard. The familiar rainbow lights engulfed them and a minute later, they were in the observatory with Heimdall looking at the three of them.

"Welcome home"

Loki nodded, took Tony's hand in his and started leading them towards the rainbow bridge. Cassie was looking around at everything in amazement while Tony was gauging Loki's reaction. As always, the God was a closed book and had a face of indifference on. There was a skiff waiting for them and Tony had to stop himself from asking a thousand questions about the flying Viking ship. He could bother his husband with science questions when things were more settled.

Before they arrived at the palace, Loki used his magic to change everyone into Asgardian style clothing. He was in his casual leathers and had given Tony an emerald green tunic with matching pants while Cassie had a light purple dress. She beamed at her father and kissed his cheek in thanks, causing Loki to soften a bit. Getting out of the skiff, they were surprised at the crowd that was gathered in the town and Tony could practically feel Loki's body stiffen in anticipation of bad remarks.

Tony took his husbands hand in his, holding it tightly while Cassie did the same thing on the God's other side. Together, they stood tall and started walking towards the palace. Looking around at the crowd, he was expecting to see frowns or angry looks, but he saw smiles and looks of awe. Finally, there were low cheers and clapping that slowly became louder. Loki hesitated for a moment, but continued walking and tried not to look stunned by the reactions he was receiving.

People were excited to see him and some were even bowing to him and saying 'My Prince'. This continued their entire walk to the palace and Loki was in a daze, not knowing how to react to all of the positive attention. Reaching the throne room, the doors were opened for them and they were greeted with even more applause. Loki was finally looking around at all of the people that were gathered in the room to welcome him back and quickly looked straight ahead to stop the tears from coming to his eyes.

Approaching the throne, they saw Frigga and Thor standing together and smiling widely at them. Tony had been given a quick tutorial on proper etiquette so they all dropped to a knee with their heads down as they arrived before the throne. Frigga put her hands up to silence the crowd and looked back to the three of them.

"You may rise" She was smiling fondly at the three of them "I have asked you back to Asgard to thank you for your service"

Loki looked confused "What service do you speak of?"

Thor stepped forward "Asgard was falling to ruin and had become a hostile place to live before your assistance. With the Allfather gone, Asgard has gone back to her full might"

There were more cheers at that before Frigga silenced them again "Asgard has not treated you kindly in the past, my son, it is time that amendments are made. For starters, you will be given back your status as Prince of Asgard. This was your home for many years and now you are free to come and go as you please as is your family. Secondly, I hope that this statue will serve as a reminder of the wrong that Odin has caused not only to you, but to Asgard as a whole"

Frigga motioned to her right and a statue shimmered into view. It was a life-size golden statue of Loki and his triplets, huddled together reading a book, similar to the memory that Tony had seen.

"This will be placed in the gardens with a plaque to tell the story of Jörmungandr, Fenrir and Hela; the children of Loki Stark that were the heart and soul of Asgard before taken from us far too soon. Everyone will know the true story of what happened and how they were wronged. Lastly, we are holding a feast tonight in your honor as a thank you for defending Asgard and her people"

The crowd went wild and Frigga and Thor were clapping along with everyone now. Loki was overwhelmed and emotional so Tony pulled him close and kissed his cheek before joining in the clapping. Cassie was quick to follow suit and was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

Eventually, the crowd was ushered out of the throne room, leaving just the family behind. Loki walked over to the statue and very gently touched each child's face with tears in his eyes. He said a quiet prayer in Asgardian that Tony didn't understand, but he could feel the love behind it. Cassie slowly walked up to Loki and looked up at him with a small smile.

"Papa, will you tell me about them?"

He smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder while motioning to the boy on the left "This is Fenrir. He was loud and rambunctious and full of life. He loved playing in the woods, jumping in the ponds and frequently was found in his wolf form, running around the palace" Then he motioned to the next boy "This is Jörmungandr, or Jor as we called him. He was Fenrir's complete opposite, quiet and thoughtful and calm. Snakes were his preferred form and he usually was found with Hela" He pointed to last figure, a small girl.

"You remind me a lot of Hela. She was sweet and caring, she always seemed to know when people were upset and would do anything in her power to fix it. The gardens were her favorite place, she loved tending to the flowers while her brothers played nearby"

"Do you miss them, Papa?"

He gave her a sad smile "Everyday"

There was a sound of little feet running behind them, Loki turned just in time for Narfi and Vali to collide with his legs. Stumbling slightly, he laughed and knelt down to embrace them properly. They spotted Cassie then and ran over to her, hugging her tightly. Tony walked over to the group, smiling at the kids antics when he became their next victim. They all tackled him to the ground, yelling 'Dad!' which practically melted Tony's heart.

When Tony was finally let up from the ground, he saw Thor sobbing but trying to hide it. He held his arms open and Thor practically ran into them, pulling Loki along with him. When Thor finally released them, Frigga dismissed them all until the feast. Loki took Tony and the kids on a tour of the palace before the kids needed to take a break. The three of them were fast asleep on the couch together so Loki took Tony's hand and led him out to the balcony.

Tony wrapped his arms around Loki from behind and settled his chin on the God's shoulder. Loki let out a content sigh and rested his head on Tony's.

"So. This is where Prince Loki did his brooding?"

"Brooding? I do not brood, Darling"

"Sure you don't, Sweetheart, now tell me where baby Loki hung out" Tony couldn't see, but he was positive that Loki rolled his eyes.

"Baby Loki? I could not exactly dictate where I went when I was an infant, Anthony"

"True. Ok, how about young Loki then?"

"I have told you this before"

"Yes, yes, you told me your whole life story. But, I can actually see it now. You know, your rooms are exactly as I pictured them. A hoarder-booklovers paradise"

Loki was laughing now "I am not a hoarder, Anthony"

"You are, babe, you have stuff in that pocket dimension of yours from centuries ago. It's ok, I love you anyway"

"I love you, Darling"

"Now what do you say we get the kiddos up and go to your feast?"

"It is not my feast"

"Sure is, it's in your honor and everything"

Loki continued arguing that it was not his feast while Tony kept arguing the opposite until they were both ready and had the kids ready to go as well. They all made their way to the dining hall where Thor was waiting for them. He walked over and picked up both boys and tossed them over his shoulders, causing them to laugh loudly. He knelt down and let Cassie climb onto his back and led them into the dining hall with the kids hanging all over him.

They were seated at the head table with Frigga and Thor and the dinner was started off by a speech from Frigga who announced that she was taking over the mantle of Queen of Asgard. She told them that the plan is for Thor to take the throne when he is ready for it, that she was just the current torch bearer. Asgard went absolutely crazy at that, they all loved Frigga and were fully on board with her being in charge. She had always proven herself to be working for the greater good of her people.

It seemed like Asgard was finally going to be making some much needed improvements and Frigga was the right lady for the job. Thor was happy to delay the duty until he was ready and Loki was happy for both his mother and brother. He finally felt like an equal and part of a semi-functional family. Throughout the night, various people came up to Loki and thanked him for everything he did or even apologized for thinking of him poorly in the past. The most impressive part though was when Sif and the idiot brigade apologized for treating him badly.

Tony could tell that his husband was getting overwhelmed by all of the attention so he pulled him to dance floor and held him close.

"You know, we never got a honeymoon"

"Indeed we did not, min elskede, perhaps we should rectify that"

"We should. Anywhere you want to go, Bambi, I'll make it happen"

"It does not matter where as long as I am with you" Tony sniffled "Darling, are you crying?"

"No. Yes. Shut up, asshole"

Loki laughed and held Tony tighter to him. They were laughing and dancing around the floor until three little bodies bumped into them and demanded to join. Tony took Vali while Loki took Narfi and they each held one of Cassie's hands. Soon enough, others joined on the dance floor and were smiling at the group of them. The feast went late into the night and they decided to call it a night when the boys were fast asleep under the banquet table.

Frigga had changed Loki's suite slightly before they had arrived, adding an additional room to it for the kids. Once the kids were tucked into bed, Loki walked back out to sitting room where Tony was looking at something on the table.

"What do you have there, Anthony?"

"I'm not sure, Lo, it's for you" Tony picked up a golden apple and held it out for Loki to take and looked back down at the table for a note or something. When Loki didn't take it from his hand, he looked up at him, confused. "What's wrong, Sweetheart? Have something against fruit?"

"That is not a normal apple"

"Well, obviously. It's gold. I just assumed it was some weird Asgardian thing. I mean, everything else here is gold. A bit too much, if you ask me"

"It is one of Idunn's apples"

"Right. Ok. Is she a friend of yours or something? Forgot your birthday so she sends an apple?"

Loki stepped closer, taking the apple from Tony's hand "You do not understand. This is a very special fruit and it is not a gift for me"

"Huh? How do you know that? There wasn't a card or anything-"

"Idunn's apples are rare gifts, they are not just given to anyone. This expands ones life-force" Tony still looked lost so Loki continued "I am 1,080 years old, Anthony, and I am considered to be young by the Aesir. This apple gives the gift of a God's lifespan"

"Apples of immortality are real?"

"Indeed they are, Darling. Immortal is the term Midgardians gave us because we practically are immortal to them"

"When you said it was not a gift for you..."

"It is a gift for you, Anthony. You eat this and you will have my lifespan as well as a more durable body and immunity from most diseases"

Tony sat down heavily on the couch "Holy shit. You said you were considered young, how long do you people live?"

"About 5,000 years, give or take"

"This was just left out here in the open where anyone could take it?"

"I assure you that my mother is more crafty than that. The Queen of Asgard is the only one who could gift such a thing and it seems that she has chosen you for such a gift. She knows me well enough to know that I am a selfish being and I would not want to live my very long life without you"

"You really mean that?"

Loki sat down next to Tony and took his hand "Of course I do. I married you with every intention of finding a way to get you one of Idunn's apples. Our children will live just long as I will, I was doing it for them as well"

"You must really love me to want to be stuck with me for 5,000 years"

"I love you very much, Anthony Stark"

Tony leaned over and kissed Loki soundly "I love you too, Loki Stark" He kissed the God's cheek and then reached for the apple, holding it up in a mock cheers "Here's to eternity" Without another thought, he took a bite.

Chapter Text

Tony woke up feeling refreshed and feeling better than he had in years. After eating the apple, his wrinkles and minor aches and pains went away within minutes. He went from looking like a man in his early 50's to a man in his early 30's in a matter of hours. Finally, he didn't look like he was robbing the cradle standing next to Loki. Tony had not yet fully wrapped his head around the fact that he'll live for thousands of years, but he was excited for all of the time he'll have for new inventions.

The thing he was most excited about was the fact that he could remove his arc reactor from his chest. Loki told him that he would setup a visit with the healers, but the apple would repair everything in his chest. Not having a huge whole in his chest would be exciting and there would be so much more he could do without worrying. He rolled over, put his arm around Loki's waist and slid closer to kiss his neck. It took him a minute to realize that Loki was in her female form, he almost had forgotten what she looked like since it had been so long.

Loki slowly looked behind her and smiled when she saw that Tony was awake "Good morning, Darling"

"Good Morning, my gorgeous wife" Loki nuzzled into his chest, making Tony laugh lightly "You're always more affectionate like this"

She hummed in acknowledgement "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, I also love being taller than you for a change"

"You do know that I could make myself taller?"

"Don't you dare, asshole"

Loki laughed and kissed him lightly before moving to sit up in bed. Just as she got settled, their bedroom door swung open and the kids were barreling towards them. Narfi and Vali only hesitated for a minute when they saw Loki, but her magical signature was still there so they knew it was still him. Tony was always impressed by how easily the boys took change and new information, it must be from growing up in Alfheim and always being around magic. Cassie had seen Loki in her female form once before so she just climbed on the bed and kissed her cheek before settling into Tony's side.

Some servants came in awhile later to inform them that the Queen requested them for breakfast so they quickly got themselves ready and headed towards her private dining quarters. Thor was already there and Jane was with him now. The kids ran over to her, giving her hugs before they went to do the same to Thor. Frigga came over to Tony and Loki, taking Loki's hand in hers.

"I am so happy that you finally feel that you can be yourself, my dear"

"Thank you, mother"

Frigga went over to the rest of the group while Tony pulled Loki aside "What does she mean? You've always changed forms depending on how you feel"

"Not on Asgard, I have not. The last time the Allfather saw me in this form he threw me in the dungeons for a week to ensure I would not do so again. He was worried that I would tarnish his image somehow"

"Fuck, Lo, that's horrible" He pulled her in for a quick kiss "Never again, Sweetheart"

"Ugh, gross! Save it for the honeymoon!" Cassie yelled from the breakfast table causing Narfi and Vali to giggle.

Loki rolled her eyes, walking to join everyone "One day you will want to kiss someone and I will not refrain from having a similar reaction"

"Mom!"

"Kidding, Darling, I would not embarrass you. Your father on the other hand..."

Tony gave a look of fake offense "I would never embarrass our little blueberry. However, it is important to remember that Jarvis is always watching and I have no qualms about busting your door in, young lady"

Cassie sighed, shaking her head "You are both ridiculous"

Thor laughed "Sister, have you given thought to how long you will stay on Asgard?"

"Just long enough to remove that device from Anthony's chest then we are leaving on a much needed vacation"

"You both deserve a break, where will you go?"

"I believe we will go to Anthony's house in Malibu, I'm sure the kids would love to see the beach"

The kids cheered, causing Thor to laugh "That sounds wonderful, but you and Tony will make time for yourselves as well, yes?"

"We will figure something out, I am sure"

Tony kissed Loki's cheek before turning to Thor "Don't worry, Point Break, I'll treat your sister like the queen that she is"

"I have no doubt of that, Tony, Jane and I could come and stay to watch the kids if you would like? That would give you both time to be alone"

Loki looked slightly surprised, but quickly hid it "That is very kind of you, brother, we would appreciate that"

Thor gave her a beaming smile before returning to his breakfast. Frigga offered to take the kids while the healers worked on Tony, he was told it would be fairly quick and there was no recovery time. The healers put him in a catatonic state and when he woke up, he was breathing better than he ever had. Immediately, he reached out to touch his chest and was amazed to see a completely normal looking chest. Just looking at him, you would never know that he had an arc reactor in his chest for so many years.

After Tony asked about a thousand questions about the healing process, him and Loki got the kids and said their goodbyes. Thor was emotional, which was nothing new, and even Frigga got teary eyed. Loki promised to visit once they were settled back home which made her feel better. Tony took one last look at the golden realm before Heimdall wished them a good trip and he was landing outside of his mansion in Malibu. Happy was waiting to greet them and instantly started asking questions about their trip to Asgard.

Tony was barely listening to Happy as he walked in and looked around at the cameras, waiting for the greeting he was anticipating the most.

"Welcome home, Sir"

"It is so good to hear your voice, J"

"Likewise, Sir, Captain Rogers had called ahead so three bedrooms have been prepared for you all. I was not sure what Masters Narfi and Vali would like in their room, so I took an educated guess. Miss Cassie's room has been painted her favorite shade of purple, of course"

Tony laughed "I'd expect nothing less from you"

The kids had run upstairs to check out their rooms with Happy trailing behind them. Loki stood next to Tony, wrapping her arms around his waist "Anthony has missed you terribly, Jarvis"

"His presence has been missed as well as yours, Loki"

"That is very kind of you, Jarvis, I am sure you will be missing the peace and quiet soon enough"

Jarvis stayed quiet at that, causing Tony to laugh. He looked around the house and was starting to get slightly antsy, but he thought he was hiding it well. Loki rolled her eyes and patted his cheek.

"Go on, go to your lab"

Tony kissed her deeply before smiling and running down the stairs towards the lab, waving as he left "Love you!"

Things got back to normal after that, Tony would spend a lot of time in the lab but made sure to keep a normal schedule. Breakfast and dinner were always eaten together as a family and most days would have either games or movies involved. Tony was surprised that the kids loved the beach as much as they did, he thought with them being Jotun the heat would bother them. Loki was just as surprised, but had no issue bringing them to the beach almost every day. Water was still not Tony's favorite thing so the times he joined, he stayed under the umbrella with a Starkpad.

Thor and Jane kept their promise and came to visit them for about a week and would watch the kids so Tony and Loki could have a date night. Loki had been in her female form the entire vacation which surprised Tony a little, but he didn't want to upset her by pointing it out. Each night that they had alone, they usually went to a nice restaurant and Loki would start to tell Tony something when a fan would interrupt or a waiter asking for an autograph. Once the person was appeased with a photo or signature, Tony would apologize and ask Loki what she was going to say to just a get a reply of 'I will tell you later'.

Another week or so went by before Loki tried again, just to have the same result. This time, Bucky and Steve were watching the kids and they were all cuddled together on the couch when Loki stormed into the house. They all looked alarmed when she didn't say anything and rushed past them to the bedroom. A slightly disheveled and confused Tony followed into the house, giving them all a sheepish smile and a shrug.

"Hey kiddos, what movie are you watching?"

Vali looked up briefly to answer "Lilo and Stitch"

Narfi looked at Tony with concerned eyes "Is mama ok?"

"Yeah, bud, your mom is just upset"

Cassie shook her head "What did you do this time, dad?"

"Why do you assume it's my fault?!"

All three of the kids looked at him with a 'duh' expression which made him laugh "You all look just like your mother when you do that" he sighed "Don't worry, I'll fix it"

"Good luck!" Bucky called after him with a wave

Tony took a deep breath before slowly pushing the bedroom door open. Loki was sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair and pointedly looking away from him. He sat down next to her, took the brush away carefully and put down.

"Talk to me, sweetheart, what's going on?"

"Are you aware that I have been trying to talk to you for two weeks now?"

"What do you mean? We talk all the time"

"I know, but I meant that every time we have been out together I would start to say something and then we would get interrupted"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, it's hard to keep the fans away. We're alone now, what's going on? You wanna go back to Jotunheim, see your family? We've been alone here longer than we originally discussed"

"No, not yet. I am enjoying our solitude. I-"

Tony's phone started to ring and he gave Loki a guilty smile before ignoring the call. Just as Loki started again, the phone rang again.

Loki jumped up and threw her hands in the air "By the Norns, Anthony, this is ridiculous" She stomped away, out of the bedroom with Tony chasing after her.

"Babe, I'm sorry! I can't help that people want my attention. I silenced my phone, ok?"

Everyone in the living room stopped what they were doing and were watching the drama unfold. Tony finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm "You have my full attention"

"Sir, I apologize for the interruption, but Ms. Potts is insisting on speaking with you"

Tony looked to Loki who was fuming "J, not a great time. Read the room, buddy"

Steve looked alarmed at Loki's fury "Is everything ok?"

"Well, I don't think I'm getting Husband of the Year awards anytime soon, Cap"

Everyone started talking over each other and Loki was slowly about to lose control when she decided enough was enough and shouted "I am pregnant!"

The room fell silent and Tony whirled around to look at her with his jaw dropped "Holy fuck"

The End!

Chapter Text

It has been five years since Loki dropped the pregnancy bomb on Tony and life had yet to settle down. Morgan Maria Stark was everything you would expect from the child of Tony and Loki Stark. She had her dads brown hair and brown eyes with her moms mischievous smile and sass. No one could have prepared Tony (or the world) for the chaos that was Morgan, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Apparently Jotun pregnancies were longer than Midgardian ones which meant that Tony had a hormonal Loki on his hands for twelve months.

Morgan took her sweet time coming into the world as well which Loki was constantly pointing out to him. As if it was Tony's fault that the little girl was born two weeks past her due date or that Loki had never experienced morning sickness until this pregnancy. Tony thanked every higher power he could think of when Morgan was finally born and Loki's hormone levels evened out, allowing him to shift back to his male form. Thor usually got on Loki's nerves, but for some reason she could tolerate him much easier when she was pregnant and often would seek him out for hugs or curl up next to him on the couch. Thor always was a warm guy and apparently Loki was very cat like for those twelve months, wanting to be in the warmth.

To everyone's surprise, Loki still sought his brother out for an occasional hug or late night couch cuddle but they all knew better than to mention it. Not long before Morgan was born, they had turned the Malibu mansion into their fulltime dwelling. It was more comfortable than the tower and it allowed the family to be together without the distraction of Stark Industries or other Avengers. The tower in New York was officially renamed the Avengers tower and Steve was fully charge of the team.

Most of the Avengers lived in the tower and the penthouse was still kept for Tony and Loki whenever they wanted to visit with the family. Thor and Jane moved into a house close by the mansion with the help of Tony and they were in the process of planning a wedding of their own. Tony decided to take a step back from Avenging and was only called on if absolutely needed. He and Loki decided to be more involved with Stark Industries which Pepper was thrilled about.

Loki was co-CEO of Stark Industries and between him and Pepper, things ran smoother than ever. Pepper was happy to not have to chase Tony for signatures and Loki enjoyed being in charge, but also having a flexible schedule for the kids sake. Tony mainly focused on designing new products and Loki encouraged him to start a mentoring program which is where he met a young Peter Parker. Peter had applied for the internship because he had been obsessed with Tony and Iron Man for as long as he could remember.

As much as Peter wanted to keep the fact that he was Spiderman a secret, Loki was too observant for that. After a slight panic on Peter's part, Loki promised to not tell anyone other than Tony as long as Peter agreed to learn hand to hand combat from him. The Stark's very quickly grew to love Peter and ended up adopting him only a year after meeting him. He and Tony had just finished his afternoon of internship and went back to the mansion to get ready for dinner.

Loki had been in Jotunheim with Morgan and Cassie for two weeks and Tony was desperately missing them. It was not easy being royalty in two realms and having family split in three realms. They did their best to see everyone, but it didn't always work out that the whole family could go at once. Narfi and Vali had chosen to go to public school while Cassie and Morgan were being home schooled with magic lessons mixed in. Tony and Peter walked into the living room to find the boys huddled together, playing videos. They both looked up when the door opened and jumped to their feet, running to Peter.

"Peter!" they both yelled while squeezing him tight

Tony shook his head with a light laugh "I'm starting to feel like you have a favorite"

"Sorry, dad, we love you too!" Vali said and gave Tony a hug which Narfi was quick to do as well before they pulled Peter into the living room to join their game.

Tony prided himself on learning how to cook and usually ended up making dinner every night. He could barely remember the days where he solely ate take out and drank scotch. He was busy finishing up a pasta dish when the bifrost touched down and heard the boys yelling 'Papa'. Tony was like a kid on Christmas and rushed out of the kitchen just in time for Cassie and Morgan to collide with his legs.

"There are my girls!" He scooped them both up and held them tight "I missed you two, I know your brothers did too"

"We missed you too, daddy" Morgan said before giving him a wet kiss on the cheek.

"How about you both get cleaned up for dinner? I made your favorite"

Morgan was quick to scurry away while Cassie gave him another hug before following behind. Tony barely had a chance to turn around when Loki pulled him tight and kissed him soundly. He didn't hesitate in running his fingers through the God's hair and deepening the kiss.

They eventually pulled back, but stayed close "How's your family?"

"They are good and they send their love"

"They aren't upset that me and the boys didn't go?"

"No, love, they understand. Plus, Morgan was more than enough to keep them occupied"

Tony couldn't help but laugh "Weren't prepared for the Maguna Tornado?"

"No one can be, darling, she is quite the handful when she wants to be"

"Yeah, but would we want her any other way?"

Loki kissed his cheek "Absolutely not, she is perfect"

"Obviously, look at her parents"

"Your humility is one of your best qualities, elskede min"

"Don't I know it! Now, get your gorgeous self into the dining room so I can serve dinner"

"Yes, dear"

They all gathered together around the dining room table, talking about their time apart. Tony was always happiest during dinner time, having his family all together and discussing their lives. His definition of family had changed drastically since he was a kid. A younger Tony would tell you that family was those people you get stuck with and see occasionally just to disappoint them. An older and (sometimes) wiser Tony would tell you that family was chosen and always had your back, no matter what.

Bedtime was another favorite of Tony's as he got to spend some quality time with each of his kids. First on the bedtime routine was Morgan as she went to bed slightly before the others. Her room was closest to theirs and she had a crazy mix of green and red in her décor because she couldn't decided which she preferred. Morgan's room was as chaotic as her, things were everywhere and she was constantly changing the layout. She had just wiggled herself into bed when he opened the door and she held her arms out for him.

He quickly melted into the little girls arms and kissed her head "What story would you like tonight, Maguna?"

"The window story, daddy"

"Again? Haven't you heard that one enough by now?"

"It's my favorite one" She said with a slight pout

"Alright, skootch over and I'll tell you"

It should be no surprise that Morgan's favorite story was the one where Loki threw Tony out of the tower window. She's heard it so many times that she could tell it herself with heavy detail. As always, she was sound asleep before he had finished and he took a moment to just look at this perfect little girl that was somehow his. Gently, he kissed her head and got out of the bed so he didn't wake her.

He made his way to the boys room and peeked in to see Loki reading to them while they were curled into his sides. Tony leaned against the doorframe and listened to his husbands voice read about a mouse getting a cookie. The boys were struggling to keep their eyes opened so Loki tucked them both into bed and wished them a goodnight.

Tony held Loki close when he got to the door and kissed him lightly "They missed you and the girls. They tried to claim that they were fine, but I caught them sleeping in Cassie's room the one night while wearing a shirt of yours"

"I missed them as well, they are growing too fast"

"You say that about all of them"

"Does not make it any less true. I may have only given birth to one of them, but they are all my babies"

"I know, Lokes, I'll see what I can do to make them stop aging so rapidly" he said with a wink

"That is all I ask, Darling, now go say goodnight to Cassie so you can hurry back to me" with a lingering kiss, Loki sauntered back to their room while Tony tried to pull himself together enough to not immediately follow.

Clearing his throat a couple of times, he knocks lightly on Cassie's door before walking in. She was sitting at her desk with a laptop, closing it when she saw him come in and giving him a smile.

"Hi dad"

"Hey there, little blueberry, how was the trip?"

"Good. Grandma wants me to visit on my spring break"

"Oh yeah? Do you want to go?" He asks while taking a seat on her bed, across from her desk

She looked a little shy and nodded "I'd like to"

"What aren't you telling me?"

Rolling her eyes, she sighed "How do you and Papa always know?"

He laughed "We're your parents, it's our job to know. Come on" He patted the bed next to him "Tell me what's going on"

Slowly, she made her way over and was wringing her hands "There's...a boy"

"A boy, huh?"

"Are you gonna tell Papa?"

Tony furrowed his brows "You don't want him to know?"

"It's not that. I just don't want him to...you know...be Loki"

"I'm not following, kiddo"

"Papa is protective and I'm worried he'll scare Steffan away"

Tony sighed and pulled her close "Honey, do you have any idea how much your Papa loves you?"

"I know he loves me-"

"You know about half of it. Remember your first day of school when we brought you back from Jotunheim, before you decided to be home schooled?" She nodded "He was worried sick for weeks leading up to it, he was sure the other kids would give you a problem. You left for school on the bus as you requested and he used his little magic mojo to follow you without being noticed"

"He did that?"

"Yup. He was with you all day just in case you needed him. There was also the time that you were sick with that weird Jotun flu and Loki went to three different realms in record time to get herbs to make a healing tea"

"But, I didn't drink it. I told him I felt fine"

He gave a small laugh "I know, but he wanted to be prepared in case you needed it"

Cassie shook her head "I can't believe he did all of that"

"He loves you very much, blueberry. So yeah, he might make sure Steffan knows not to hurt you in any way shape or form if he doesn't want to have the God of Mischief to deal with, but he'll always make sure that you're happy above all else"

"Thanks, dad" She gave Tony a hug and pulled away, getting off the bed "I think I'm gonna go talk to Papa"

"Good idea" He smiled when she ran out of the room.

Tony looked to the ceiling as he was leaving the room "Who would have thought that I'd be ok at this whole parenting thing, J?"

"I would say that 'ok' is selling yourself quite short, Sir"

"Thanks, Jarvis"

"Of course, Sir"

Tony walked into Peter's room next and was only slightly surprised to see him hanging upside down from the ceiling. Peter was quick to jump down and give Tony a hug.

"Sorry, I was testing out my new webs"

"I see that, looks like it works"

"Yeah, it's great! So, there's this thing at school at the end of the week and I was thinking that maybe you and Papa would be able to make a little time or something. My science class is having like a fair to showcase our work and all of the parents are invited. I know how busy you both are and you definitely don't have to come-"

Tony put his hand on Peter's arm "Just tell us where to be and when. We'll be there. We wouldn't miss it, Pete"

Peter flung his arms around Tony "Thanks, dad"

"You don't have to thank me. We're proud of you, kid"

"I have so much more to get done, I'm gonna stay up a bit"

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning"

Peter didn't hesitate in throwing himself back into his project and Tony couldn't help but be reminded of a younger Tony Stark doing the same thing. The difference is that Howard would've never taken the time out of his busy schedule to go to his schools fairs. He would never be that way though, there isn't much he wouldn't do for his kids.

Cassie ran past him out his bedroom and she had a smile on her face so he knew the conversation went well. Hopefully, this Steffan kid has a tough backbone and can handle Loki threatening him even if it's only slightly. Anyone that messed with any of Loki's kids were as good as dead. Loki was sitting against the headboard, reading a book when he walked into the room. Tony jumped onto the bed, snatching the book out of his husbands hands and putting himself in the God's lap.

Loki smiled and pulled Tony close "Hello, Anthony"

"Hey Bambi"

Kissing his husband slowly, he kept thinking back to when they first met and then the second time they met. Back then, he had no idea how important Loki would be to him or how he'd end up a dad to five kids with the God of Mischief. There wasn't a single thing he would change about his life or any of the events that led to where they are now. Being here, laying in Loki's arms, was the happiest Tony had ever been in his entire life.

"I love you so damn much, Lo"

"I love you as well, Anthony. Minus the cursing"

Tony snorted "Can you not be an asshole, for like a minute. Just a minute"

"I could, but I was under the impression that you love me just the way I am" He had a smug smirk on his face

"Yeah, yeah. Now shut up and kiss me, I had two weeks without you so we have lost time to make up for"

"As you wish, Darling"

Chapter Text

Without Odin it was a lot easier to visit Asgard but Tony knew his husband still had his reservations about spending time in the golden realm. It's not easy to just forget a thousand years of bad memories after all. Frigga was always understanding of their infrequent trips and tried to make them as painless as possible. Part of that meant that Thor and Jane always tagged along on their trips which was both helpful and not helpful all at once. Thor was fairly good at keeping unwanted attention away from Loki but he also had a tendency to thoroughly piss him off at the same time.

The brothers relationship was still mending and Jane was a huge help in that. She seemed to be able to calm Loki down in a way that only Tony had been able to before. Everyone was surprised at how quickly Loki had warmed up to her, it seemed he really enjoyed having a sister in his life. It had been a few months since their last visit to Asgard and the kids were all very excited to go back for an extended stay. One of the perks of Asgard was the lack of packing that had to be done. There was a whole suite for just the kids that was separate from Loki and Tony's chambers and each kid had their own room with a whole Asgardian wardrobe as well.

While the kids were old enough and didn't require watching after, there was an army of servants in the palace that could keep watch of them all as necessary. Not to mention the many guards that were assigned to their safety as well. Tony woke up and immediately reached a hand out next to him to find the other side of the bed empty. Sighing, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before searching for his husband. Stopping to grab a cup of coffee, he made his way through the living room and spotted Loki sitting on the balcony.

Stepping through the doorway, he saw that Cassie was curled into his husband's side and smiled at the sight of them. Not wanting to startle them, he knocked lightly on the threshold which caused them both to look over at him.

"How come I wasn't invited to the cuddle party?" He said with a dramatic pout

Cassie shook her head "I doubt you would've liked me waking you up"

"That's true, I need my beauty sleep after all" Tony leaned over to kiss Cassie's cheek before settling down on Loki's other side "So, any reason for the early morning?"

Loki leaned back into his husband "Just woke up early and did not wish to disturb you, Darling"

"What about you, little blueberry? You usually sleep in"

"I heard Papa get up and decided to keep him company" She said while giving Tony a knowing look

He hummed in acknowledgement "Are you excited to show Steffan around Asgard?"

"Yeah, I guess"

"You guess? You've been talking about it for weeks"

She sighed and sat up "You know I love you both but you have a tendency to intimidate him"

Tony was gaping at her "What? I do no such thing"

"Oh please, Dad! You always claim that Papa is the dramatic one but you're so much worse. Always showing off your gadgets and suits so he knows just how powerful and scary you are" Loki started laughing, causing Cassie to glare at him "And you! You purposefully teleport into the room next to him so that you startle him and have this intense stare if he gets 'too close' to me"

"Darling, you are making us sound ridiculous"

"Because you are ridiculous. Can you please, for once, try to channel less controlling parents"

Loki took her hand in his "We will be sure to be on our best behavior, Cassie, you have my word"

She looked skeptical but nodded before looking to Tony "You know that Lokes will keep me in line"

"Dad..."

"Alright, alright, I promise too. Best behavior. Anything for you, Snowflake"

"Thank you. I'm going to go to shower, I'll make sure Morgie gets ready on time too"

"Thank you, Love" She kissed both their cheeks before leaving the balcony. Tony pulled Loki close and rested his chin on the God's shoulder.

"When did our Blueberry become an adult? I don't remember giving her permission for that"

Loki chuckled "We knew they would grow up eventually, Anthony, we cannot keep them small forever"

"Yeah, I guess they need to live their own lives and stuff but the thought of them moving out is horrifying. I'm already a mess with Peter being in college and the kid commutes. What if they don't come back?"

"Darling, of course they will come back. We are their parents and they seem to like our presence at the moment at least"

"Alright. But if they start to hate us I demand that you do some God-like magic to fix it"

Loki patted his cheek "Of course, Dear"

The two of them stayed cuddled together until they needed to get ready to leave. Tony did a quick check on the kids to make sure they were all up and ready to go before heading out to their designated Bifrost area. They all huddled close and Tony took Morgan's hand in his just before the rainbow lights took them away. It was always a strange experience to go through the Bifrost and he seemed to never fully get used to it. Heimdal gave his usual stoic greeting before the kids rushed to the skiff.

Tony couldn't help but smile at Steffan's continually shocked expression. The boy was Jotun so before he had met Cassie, he had never left Jotunheim but quickly fell in love with Midgard and seemed to be on his way to loving Asgard as well. The boy was sitting next to Cassie with her hand in his and Tony was about to forcefully put himself in between them when Loki pulled him to the other side. He gave his husband a glare and forced himself to not stare the poor boy down, he did promise his daughter he would behave.

A guard was there to greet them when they stopped in front of the palace and bowed to them all "Welcome back, your highnesses, the Queen is expecting you in the throne room"

Loki exited first and nodded at the guard "Thank you, Haraldr, come along everyone"

The kids all knew to listen to Loki when on Asgard, he was stressed enough and they learned the hard way to not push him further. More guards opened the throne room doors as they arrived and soon enough they had Frigga smiling brightly at them all. She stood from the throne and held her arms open as the kids all ran to her.

"Hello, my Darlings, I am so glad you made it" They all gave various greetings before she hugged Loki tightly and then Tony "I am sure you are all anxious to get settled and explore so I will not keep you. Thor and Jane arrived just moments ago as well. I have things to attend to but I will meet you all later"

As soon as they were dismissed, all of the kids ran off in different directions leaving Tony and Loki alone to do what they wished. Without hesitation, Tony pulled Loki into their chambers and slammed the door shut. Asgard was one of the few places they went where they could truly be alone and Tony wasn't going to waste the opportunity. A couple of hours later, the two of them were laying on the bed when an envelope appeared in a mist of red and green. Loki reached up to grab it while Tony sat up.

"What does Maguna want?" Her magical signature was hard to miss as it was as chaotic as she was

"She is inviting us to the gardens"

"That's weird and not at all suspicious. That's all it said?"

Loki started getting up to change "Well, no, it actually said 'you have had plenty of time for sex so do not complain and come join your children in the gardens'"

Tony snorted out a laugh "Where does that kid get her sass from?"

"I do not think that girl has a serious bone in her body"

With the help of magic, they were dressed and walking out to the gardens hand in hand. Approaching the gardens, they saw a big balloon arch and the back of a banner. As soon as they were close enough they saw all of their children as well as Thor, Jane and Frigga who yelled 'Surprise'. Tony just looked confused and only moved because Loki was pulling him forward. Looking around, he saw that the banner said 'Happy 10th Anniversary' and his confusion deepened which caused Loki to roll his eyes.

Morgan ran over and gave them each a hug "Are you surprised?"

Tony nodded slowly "Yes. I am definitely surprised" He looked around and saw Cassie with her arms crossed, glaring at him "What?"

"Dad, are you serious right now?"

"Yes?"

Thor laughed loudly "Brother Tony, I would have thought you remembered the day of your anniversary. I also thought the banner would have given it away as well"

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking to his husband with a guilty expression "Happy Anniversary, Babe?"

Loki scowled "You forgot"

"No?"

Turning back to the children, Loki exchanged his scowl for a smile and held his arms out for them "Thank you, my Darlings, this was very kind of you"

Cassie was the first to reach "You're welcome, Papa, I'm sorry Dad is a moron"

"Hey!"

"It's true, Dad, you managed to forget that today was your ten year wedding anniversary"

Tony looked to his husband who was looking at him with a blank expression "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry"

"It is fine, Stark"

Loki walked over to his mother before Tony could say anything else. Cassie shook her head at him and grabbed Steffan's hand before going to Loki's side while Thor and Jane approached him. Thor clapped him on the shoulder while Jane just gave him a shake of her head.

"He called me Stark. That's never a good sign"

"Worry not Brother Tony, I am sure that all will be forgiven"

"Have you met your brother?"

"Yes. I was trying to be supportive"

"So you don't actually believe that it will be forgiven?"

"Not at all, no"

Jane laughed at Tony's groan of frustration "I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to him, Tony"

Before he could think too much on it, Farbauti and Laufey were making their way towards them and joining in wishing them a Happy Anniversary. He was happy to have all of the support but it just made him feel that much worse that he forgot an important date. Morgan skipped over to her grandparents who didn't hesitate in hugging her tightly. Tony knew Morgan wasn't just being social, she was Loki's child after all and was looking to cause some mischief. She had a big smile on her face causing Laufey to ask what was going on.

"Oh, it's just that Dad forget that it was his and Mama's ten year wedding anniversary"

Tony walked up to her and put his hand over her mouth, glaring down at her "Don't you have someone else to bother?"

"Nope!"

Farbauti raised his eyebrows in a very Loki fashion "You have forgotten your anniversary?"

"Possibly. Alright, I definitely forgot about it but I'm a busy man!"

Laufey laughed "Come now, Far, I am sure our son is punishing him enough we do not need to as well"

"What are we laughing about?" Loki asked as he approached the small group, kissing his mothers cheek

Morgan had no hesitation in answering "Just how much trouble Daddy is in"

"Stop trying to cause trouble Morgan Stark"

"But Mama, he's the one that forgot!"

"I am aware Darling but no one likes a tattletale"

She huffed and ran off to harass someone else; while Loki was catching up with his parents, Tony corralled the children together.

"Alright, kiddos, we need to do some major damage control"

Cassie furrowed her brows "I think you mean that you need to do some major damage control"

"Yes and since you are my children and you love me very much and don't want Loki to murder me, you're all going to help"

She laughed and shook her head "Alright, what do you need?"

He quickly gave each kid a task but told them to wait until the party was over so that no one would be suspicious. Being the God of Mischief's children made them very good at sneaking and being secretive. Even Cassie had picked up a thing or two just by living with them for so long. All of them were great at being sneaky; everyone except Peter that is. He was always worried that he would get in trouble or that something would go wrong. The poor kid was going to give himself an ulcer one of these days. Tony kept seeing Peter out of the corner of his eye looking suspicious and a little sweaty.

Before Loki could notice and swoop in to be mama bear, he pulled Peter aside and out of the way "You need to relax, Petey, you're being real weird"

"I'm sorry. You know that I'm not good with secrets, it makes me itchy and nervous"

"I know but it's not like this is a bad secret, right? We're trying to do something nice for Loki"

"Right. Yeah. You're right. We're doing this to make Papa happy and less murderous"

"Exactly!" He said while patting the kids back "Try to relax a smidge. Drink some water or something"

Peter nodded and walked away looking no less suspicious than he did before. He somehow managed to look even stranger and had this weird smile on his face. Looking around he sighed in relief that Loki had his back to Peter and decided to make sure he stayed that way. Eventually, the party was over and they all started to go their separate ways which gave the kids the opportunity to accomplish their important missions. Tony bolted the second he could and asked Frigga for help as well. She very quickly agreed and only gave him a slight amount of sass which was better than he could have hoped for.

When they first started coming to Asgard, Loki had a lab built for Tony so that he could continue his work while he was away from home. He implemented FRIDAY in this lab and kept JARVIS at home with him. It took a few years but he managed to get the systems connected so that FRIDAY and JARVIS could at least share information back and forth even though they couldn't technically communicate to one another; not yet at least. He was hard at work on his project and didn't realize how much time had passed before Peter found him and told him they were all ready.

Frigga had one of the small family rooms available for him and she did not disappoint. The entire room was decorated beautifully in different shades of greens with gold accents. Cassie, Steffan and Morgan had put together floral arrangements that sat throughout the room while Peter had somehow found a vinyl player with different vinyl's of Loki's favorite music. Narfi and Vali were currently in charge of keeping Loki busy until Tony was ready for him. With the help of Morgan's magic, he was wearing a deep burgundy suit with a black shirt and tie.

He heard Narfi and Vali before he saw them so he quickly lit the last of the candles and shooed the kids away. Loki entered the room right behind the boys and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Tony. Vali waved a hand and changed Loki's clothing to match Tony's but his suit was emerald green. Before Loki could say anything the boys sprinted away, closing the door behind them. Tony walked up to his husband with a smile on his face and gently pulled him further into the room.

"Sweetheart, I can not apologize enough for not remembering such an important day"

Loki sighed and shook his head "I should not have been so upset"

"No, Baby, you had every right to be angry with me. It's not like me to miss anniversaries and I guess I was so focused on the kids growing up too fast that I let something precious to me slip through the cracks"

"Well, it appears that you have made up for that"

"It's a start" He walked over and started the music before turning back to his husband, holding a hand out for him which he quickly took. Holding his husband close, he rested their foreheads together and couldn't help but smile "I often think about our wedding day, you know?"

"Is that right? What about it?"

"You looked so damn gorgeous and I kept wondering what I did to earn you"

Loki pulled him closer "It is I that earned you, Anthony. I have done a lot of wrong in my life and made many mistakes but somehow my repenting led me to you and I thank the Norns daily for such a wonderful gift"

Tony chuckled "Silver tongue"

"I love you Anthony Stark"

He pulled his husband in for a deep kiss, reluctantly pulling away to look into his emerald eyes "I love you Loki Stark"

"Thank you"

"For what, Sweetheart?"

"Everything. For taking me in when I first landed at your tower. For believing in me and helping me find my way back to my children. For giving me a life and a family and a purpose"

Tony sniffed "Fuck, Lo, you're giving me too much credit"

"Not at all. You are wonderful, my Anthony, and I am proud to call you mine"

"Would it be an inappropriate time to write a poem about your ass?"

That startled a laugh out of Loki "And you wonder why Morgan can never be serious"

"What? You have an amazing ass, Loki, it deserves all the praise"

"Silence you infuriating mortal"

"You need to find a new insult, Sweetheart, not exactly mortal"

"You will always be my mortal"

"Careful, Bambi, your sentiment is showing" Loki silenced him with a kiss which Tony was happy to melt into. He reached back to the table, grabbed a box and handed it to Loki "Happy Anniversary, Lokes"

Loki kissed his cheek before opening it box and gasped when he opened it. It was a metal figurine of Loki and Tony standing with all the kids around them.

"This is beautiful, Anthony, thank you"

"I remember how much you liked the little figurines I made for the triplets so I thought I would add to the collection"

"I will treasure it, Darling. Now, hold out your hand"

Tony was quick to follow instructions and grinned widely when a small box appeared in his hands a moment later. No matter how many times Loki or the kids used magic, it always amazed Tony and made him giddy. He ripped the box open and found a thin bracelet inside with six small stones on it. Without hesitating, he put it on his wrist and felt a slight buzzing for a moment. He looked up at Loki with a questioning look.

Loki took Tony's wrist in his hand "These stones represent each of the children and should one of them be in harm it will glow and buzz"

"You're kidding, that's amazing. Is because I've been panicked about them leaving? I'd lock them all in our house forever if I could, you know. But, wait, there's an extra one here, is that for you?"

"No, you would feel if I were in danger through our bond" Tony nodded in understanding, the two of them had gone through a bonding ceremony for their first wedding anniversary. The closest way Loki could describe it was a binding of souls and it was an important right of passage for mages. It would allow Loki and Tony to feel when the other is near, apart, upset or in some sort of danger.

"Oh, right, so what's this then?" He looked up to see Loki smiling at him and it took Tony a moment before his eyes widened and he was reaching out to pull Loki closer to him "Holy shit, Lo, are you-are we having another baby?"

"Yes, Darling, it seems that we are"

He laughed and kissed his husband "This is the best anniversary present. The magic bracelet is great and all but this takes the cake"

"You are happy about this, then? I know we did not exactly plan for it"

"Are you kidding? I've been dying to have another baby in the house, I just was nervous to bring it up"

"There was no reason to be nervous, Anthony, we will live for thousands of years. I think it is safe to say that this will not be our last child either"

"Fuck, I love you. I love you so much. You and the little bean. I don't think the world is ready for our army of children and I'm going to need a bigger bracelet"

Loki kissed him and pulled him close "Happy Anniversary, my Anthony"

"Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart. Ten years down, five thousand to go"