Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When you’ve been in Valhalla for as long as the long-suffering Hunding has, there isn’t much you have yet to experience, there are not many things that can catch you off guard. Not many, but not none, either. 

Hunding learns this on a warm July day in Valhalla, only a few short months since Ragnarök was postponed by the inhabitants of Floor 19, when he is walking through the halls of the warrior’s paradise, just minding his own business, trying to hide from Helgi who no doubt will find a reason to yell at him. When seemingly out of nowhere, he hears running following the crash of the doors behind him being flung open, and before he knows it he is almost knocked down by a blur of pink and green, sprinting towards the rooms of Floor 19. 

It takes Hunding a moment to realise the pink and green blur is Alex Fierro, quickly followed by Samirah al-Abbas, who is also running but not quite as fast as her sibling. 

“Sorry Hunding!” Samirah apologises, turning to look at him over her shoulder as she continues to jog down the corridor, soon disappearing around the corner, after Alex. 

Yes, Hunding has been in Valhalla a very long time, but never once has he almost been knocked to the floor by a resident sprinting to their room quiet as fast as Alex Fierro just had, and little does he or anyone else know, just how many never before seen events, will happen over the next few months. 

With one hand clamped over her mouth, Alex yanks open the door to her bedroom with her free hand, not even thinking that the door might hit Samirah who is following right behind her. (Thankfully, it doesn’t.) 

Alex bursts into the room and runs straight to her bathroom, collapsing on her knees in front of the toilet, just in time for her to begin vomiting up last night’s dinner, the nausea having hit her like a brick wall the second she stepped into the dining room for breakfast. Usually the scent of fried goods is heavenly to Alex, but this morning it might as well have been dumpster juice that was being served for breakfast, for how horrendous the smell made her feel, how it made her stomach churn and decide now is a good time to reject the last thing she ate the night before. 

As Alex coughs and splutters, the acid burning her throat and leaving a vile taste in her mouth, she is thankful to feel two warm and soft hands gently pull her green hair back from her face, followed shortly by a warm and comforting hand rubbing soothing circles on her back. 

Finally after a minute or two, Alex is feeling confident that her stomach has finished revolting, and she lets herself lift her head up, and turn to sit with her back against the toilet. 

When she does, she sees Sam crouching behind her, her dark hair loose and free around her shoulders, her green hijab like a scarf around her neck. Her eyes filled with worry and concern. 

"Are you alright?” Sam gently asks, handing her sister a bottle of water from the dining hall, which Alex is extremely grateful for, now feeling parched. 

Alex nods as she takes a tentative sip of the water, not wanting to just end up throwing it right back up. 

“Yeah.” Alex sighs in a tired tone, her eyes now feeling heavy with fatigue. “Feel better now I’ve thrown up, it’s so much worse to feel like you’re right on the verge of puking but nothing happens.” she continues in a weak tone, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her green jumper. 

“Alex, I'm worried about you.” Sam admits “This isn’t the first time this has happened, it’s been going on for almost a month now.” Alex shrugs, not really knowing what there is to be concerned about. Einherjar don’t get sick or permanently injured, it’s probably just from the stress of just casually saving the world a few months ago. 

“It’s not like anything can be wrong, it’s probably just stress, or maybe it’s dear old mom punishing me or something for stopping Ragnarök and dating Magnus.” Alex lightly says, knowing that no doubt wherever Loki is, he is not happy that Alex is dating Magnus, who Loki hates so much. 

“Well I’ve been thinking about it lately, about you being so sick, and… I have a theory.” Samirah hesitantly tells Alex, feeling foolish for even considering that this theory could be even remotely possible. But so many things that shouldn’t be possible, are possible where the Gods are concerned. 

“Oh yeah? You got a PowerPoint presentation made up about it?” Alex teases, not taking the situation anywhere near as seriously as her sister. 

Sam smiles and lets out a short breathy laugh. “Oh shut up. Look, I… I know this is going to sound absolutely ludicrous but… well stranger things have happened.” Sam admits, usually not so nervous around her sister, but she knows that the hypothesis she is about to propose sounds plain stupid, but she has a niggling suspicion that there’s something more going on here than meets the eye.

“Ok, well tell me.” Alex urges, hating it when Samirah tries to beat around the bush like this. 

“I have to ask you an awkward question first.” Sam awkwardly admits, briefly meeting her sister’s gaze before looking back down at the floor, knowing Alex will likely be pretty annoyed at this question, but it is an essential part of her theory. 

“Alright… well, better ask me now when I don’t have my garrotte.” Alex says, eyeing the garotte lying on her bed just a few feet outside the bathroom door. 

“Ok, here goes. Um… you were… you… you were born… you were… you were assigned female at birth, right?” Samirah finally blurts, not usually being one to find it so hard to frame a question, but she knows Alex doesn’t talk about things like what sex she was assigned at birth, and normally Sam wouldn’t ask, but her answer will either completely dismiss Sam’s theory, or re-enforce it. 

“Yes, why?” Alex asks in a clipped tone, scowling at her sister, wondering why she asked that, and what business is it of hers anyway? 

“Uh well… have you um… gotten your period since you arrived at Valhalla? I-I know some Einherjar do and some don’t.” Sam asks, answering her own question when she spots a packet of opened pads sitting in the cupboard under Alex’s bathroom sink. 

“I have… do you think this-” Alex gestures to the toilet behind her, then to herself “Is related to that? That would actually make sense, I had endometriosis, it would make me sick like this sometimes, you think my endo could be playing up again?” She asks curiously.

Alex is lucky that she was able to even get diagnosed with endo, she’s highly aware of how difficult it is to get diagnosed, to have your pain and symptoms not taken seriously by any medical professional.

Her own diagnosis was a thing of pure chance, she had had symptoms for as long as she can remember, but of course her father and step-mother did not take her seriously at all. It was only when she was 14, shortly after she became homeless, that Alex ended up collapsing at a homeless shelter, from pain. That resulted in a trip to the ER and a full body MRI (She had told them to send the bill to her father), where endometriosis growths were found on Alex’s kidneys and her bladder, thankfully the growths weren’t too severe, and Alex was able to avoid surgery for the time being. But before it could get any worse, she ended up here in Valhalla, where she’s had none of the symptoms and effects of Endo, that she did in life. 

Endo is certainly nothing pleasant, it can be absolutely debilitating, however here in Valhalla you can be impaled at noon and be back to normal by dinner time, Alex is sure they must have, if not a cure for endo, a very effective treatment. 

“Well not exactly, I um…” Samirah bites her bottom lip, trying to think of the best way to phrase this. “Ugh I hate asking this, it’s so awkward because you’re my sister but… well..” Sam sighs, takes a deep breath, then looks up at Alex and without any further hesitation, she says “Is there any chance you could be pregnant?” 

There is a few seconds of silence, before Alex cracks up laughing, like Sam thought she might. “That’s your theory? Really? Come on sis you’re smarter than this! I’m an Einherji, I can't get pregnant, and even if I wasn’t an Einherji I probably couldn’t get pregnant anyway because of my endo, at least not without medical intervention.” Alex laughs, surprised that Sam would think something so ridiculous, so impossible. 

“Look I know it sounds ridiculous, I get it, I just… hear me out Alex. Yes, it’s assumed that Einherjar can’t reproduce and that makes sense, but… I mean… I think it could be different for children of Loki, and children of Frey.

I mean Loki carried and gave birth to you, but fathered me, I mean for goodness sake he had a kid as a freakin’ horse!

And Magnus… well he’s the son of Frey, obviously, God of Fertility. I just…. I think another ‘power’ of his is… well… being able to conceive as an Einherji, even with a partner who had/has fertility problems.” Sam explains, trying to stay calm and patient. She could be completely wrong, but she could also be completely right, in the world of Gods and Goddesses, Giants and dwarves and elves and undead warriors and more, it’s not such a crazy concept. 

Alex’s face has gone pale now, her eyes wide with disbelief, her thoughts swirling through her mind, panic and fear and worry and so many other emotions clambering to the front of her mind, because as much as she really, really does not want to admit it, Sam made a pretty good argument, she’s right, of course she’s right. If Loki can be Alex’s mother but Samirah’s father, then who’s to say Alex can’t be pregnant? 

“Well… crap… what do I do?” Alex asks, panic creeping into her tone as she looks at her sister for help and guidance. 

“I think the best thing to do first is take a pregnancy test, I can go buy you some in Midgard and bring them back here, then whatever the results may be, we’ll take it from there, ok?” Sam softly tells her sister, reaching out to cover one of Alex’s hands with hers. She can only imagine the absolute panic and fear Alex must be feeling right now, there’s unplanned pregnancy and then there’s unplanned miraculous pregnancy. 

“Ok.” Alex agrees in a breathy tone, nodding her head slightly, as she tries to process this. 

“Alright, I’ll be back soon, you know where the others are if you need anything. No matter what happens I’m here for you, ok? I love you.” Samirah gently says, getting to her feet and quickly dropping a kiss to Alex’s head. Alex smiles slightly and grabs Sam’s hand to give it a squeeze, the most physical affection she can muster up right now. 

“Love you too.”

And so only half an hour later, Alex finds herself counting down the longest 3 minutes of her life (or rather, afterlife) as she waits for the pregnancy test results to develop. Sam had had the foresight to buy two digital tests, so Alex doesn’t have to worry about trying to properly read the results, or waste time making sure the dye doesn't bleed and cause a false positive, or that the glare of the light doesn't make it impossible to see if there's one line or two. 

As she waits, Alex can’t deny that she really is mostly hoping that the test is negative. Being pregnant would massively complicate things, like her duty as an Einherji and her relationship with Magnus, not to mention how would it affect her in terms of gender? Would the body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria she battled every day of her life, rear their ugly heads again? What would happen if Alex and Magnus had to go on another quest? If they had a baby, what would happen? They couldn’t bring a baby with them, who would look after the baby? If something happened to Magnus or Alex and they never returned to Valhalla, who would raise the baby? 

Before now Alex never really thought much about having kids, before she died she wasn’t sure if she ever wanted kids, and since arriving in Valhalla, the thought hasn’t even crossed her mind, until earlier when Samirah brought up the possibility of Alex being pregnant. 

But at the same time, Alex can’t ignore the images that pop up in her mind, of a chubby little baby with her dark hair and Magnus’ grey eyes, a big adorable gummy smile and an infectious giggle, little shrieks of joy, chubby arms waving around in the air, chubby legs kicking and flailing in joy. 

She can’t deny that as the minutes pass, and as the possibility of a baby really sinks in, Alex feels herself growing less fearful and more hopeful. If she is pregnant, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Yes there’s lots of reasons for concern but there are also lots of reasons for joy and excitement and hope. 

Alex can be a good parent, knows that she can love a child, no matter what, support them, protect them, give them everything that her father and Loki never gave her. 

The shrill ringing of the alarm on her phone makes Alex jump, pulling her from her thoughts, and letting her know it’s time to see what the tests say, and what her destiny is. 

“Do you want me to look for you?” Samirah offers from her seat at Alex’s vanity table and mirror, knowing how nerve wracking this must be for her sister. 

“Nah I can’t ask you to touch something I peed on, I need to be brave.” Alex sighs, sitting up from where she had been lying sideways across her bed, feeling the blood rush from her head and making the room spin for a few seconds. 

Slowly as she possibly can, Alex drags her feet and makes her way to the bathroom. She forces herself to stand in front of the sink, her gaze fixed upwards, though desperate to flick down and look at the two pregnancy tests sitting in the sink. 

Alex takes a deep breath, grips the sides of the porcelain sink, and in one quick movement, she looks down. 

And there, staring back up at her from the clear window in the middle of the two pregnancy tests, are the words she was so afraid of seeing. 

Pregnant, 10-12 weeks.

“Oh my gods.” Alex lets out a weak and shaky breath, her legs turning to jelly, all the conflicting thoughts, feelings and emotions swirling around in her mind. “No.” Alex whispers, shaking her head, as panic pushes to the front of her mind. “No no no this can’t be real!” Alex exclaims in a panicked tone, as Samirah walks into the bathroom. Sam quickly spots the two positive tests, and without hesitation she wraps Alex in a tight hug, letting her sister take the time she needs to process this. 

She presses a kiss to the top of Alex’s head, and quietly tells her “I’m here, I support you in whatever choice you make, no matter what happens I’m here for you.” 

“How did this happen?!” Alex exclaims in a wobbly tone, her breaths coming in short and sharp gasps as tears well up in her eyes. Of course she knows how it happened, but how could it have happened? It’s supposed to be impossible!

“Well like I said earlier.” Sam softly begins “I think that since Magnus is the son of Frey, God of fertility, it makes sense that he would have some sort of powers related to fertility in some way shape or form, it’s not a stretch to imagine that those powers could well be the ability to conceive even in death, with a partner who likely has fertility problems and is also dead.” 

Alex pulls back from the hug, and pushes her hair out of her face, now scowling in anger. 

"He’s going to be dead again in a minute, the fertile bastard! ” Alex growls in anger, thinking of all that’s to come for her as the pregnancy progresses, the mere thought of labor absolutely terrifies her, and she wants to relieve Magnus’ neck of his head, for being the one to put Alex in this situation in the first place. (Ignoring the fact that neither of them actually knew that the risks of sleeping together that would apply in life, also apply in death.)

“You do need to tell him though, regardless of what choice you make, I think Magnus has a right to know.” Sam says in a cautious tone, slightly fearful that her sister will yell at her for encouraging her to talk to Magnus, to let him in and let him support her too. Maybe she should get Gunderson to act as a bodyguard for Magnus, even though Alex can’t do any lasting damage to him here, Sam still feels it would be unfair to spring the news on him that Alex is pregnant, only for Alex to then temporarily kill him. 

“I know! And I’m going to kill him when I see him! I’m gonna drag his ass to Helheim myself!” Alex yells, throwing her head back in anger, and making Samirah wonder if there would even be any point to asking Gunderson to act as bodyguard for Magnus, she doubts even their beloved resident Berserker could stop an angry Alex with a motive. 

“Please don’t.” Sam softly begins “He’s my friend and I really like him, I’d miss him a lot if you did that, and Jack wouldn’t be very happy, not to mention how upset poor Hearth and Blitz would be.” At this stage, Sam is just trying to coax a smile or a laugh out of Alex, trying to distract her. 

To her surprise, Sam’s attempt works, and Alex smirks and lets out a short breathy laugh. “Well… I guess you’re right, I don’t wanna upset Hearth and Blitz, especially not Blitz. If… if I’m going to have this baby, then I’m going to need all the fashion help I can get from Blitz, these skinny jeans are already a little tight, I’m gonna need some maternity clothes soon, and baby clothes, lots of pink and green.” Alex concedes, placing a hand over her slightly swollen and rounded stomach, that she had attributed to too much falafel, until now. 

“Exactly!” Sam agrees enthusiastically “I think now is as good a time as any for you to tell Magnus, what do you think?” 

Alex sighs and walks out of the bathroom, sliding down onto the floor, her back against the wall closest to the bed. Sometimes you just need to sit on the ground,

“I guess you’re right, as usual.” Alex grumbles as Sam follows her out of the bathroom. 

“Naturally.” Sam smirks, standing a few feet away from Alex, keeping a safe distance now that Alex’s garrotte is within her reach. “So, do you want me to send him in? Tell him you want to talk to him?” 

Just the thought of telling Magnus this life altering news fills Alex with anxiety and uncertainty, but she knows she has to do it. 

“Yeah.” Alex sighs “Yeah, time for me to face the music.” 

A few minutes later there’s a light rap on Alex’s bedroom door, followed by the click of the handle being pushed down and the door creaking open just a bit. Even though Alex specifically asked for Magnus to come to her room, he still feels obligated to knock and announce his presence, to give Alex the choice of whether to let him in or not, regardless of the fact that she called him here.

“Alex?” Magnus softly calls. 

“Hey.” Alex greats him with a weak smile and a hoarse voice from all the yelling, crying and vomiting. “Come in, and close the door behind you please.” 

Magnus does just that, the door clicking softly as it’s closed all the way. 

“What’s going on? Sam said you wanted to talk about something?” Magnus gently asks, making his way over to Alex and sinking down onto the ground beside her, undeniably anxious about this talk Alex wants to have. Magnus is more than a little nervous that this “talk” is a breakup, which would really suck because he really really likes Alex, and not just as a friend. 

“Yeah, I… I need to tell you something, something pretty unbelievable.” Alex says, trying her best to keep the wobble out of her tone, which is so unlike her, Alex Fierro does not get nervous, especially not around Magnus, not around Beantown. But what if he gets mad? What if he doesn’t want the baby, doesn’t want anything to do with the baby or Alex? She can’t be a single parent, there’s no way she would be able to manage or cope, even though she wouldn’t be fully alone, she knows she will always have Samirah and Amir, the best sister and the best future brother-in-law anyone could ask for. But it’s not the same as having a partner, the baby’s father, the person Alex loves. 

“What is it? What’s going on?” Magnus gently asks, looking at Alex with concern, slipping his hand into hers, now less afraid of a break up, and more afraid of something that could trigger Ragnarök. 

Alex looks down at the floor, trying to form a coherent sentence in her mind. She looks up at Magnus and into his kind and loving grey eyes, and the words just flow out. 

“I’m pregnant.” Alex whispers, not at all surprised when Magnus’ jaw drops open and a look of bafflement crosses his face. She had felt exactly the same way just an hour or so ago.

“Wha_… I… but… wha_… I mean… how?” Magnus stammers in shock, not entirely convinced this isn’t a dream.

“Well Sam thinks it’s because you’re the son of Frey, God of Fertility, meaning you probably have some weird ass fertility related powers that means you can conceive a kid, even in death, even with a partner with fertility issues. It makes sense to me, you know I can’t change my physical sex to match my gender, like Loki does, so I doubt it’s related to any of my powers. Sam’s guess seems like the most reasonable explanation to me.” Alex explains, fighting to keep the fear out of her tone, not wanting Magnus to see her so afraid, in case it makes him think she’s weak. 

Magnus nods slowly, as he processes and takes in what Alex just told him. 

“So… uh… do you… do you want to continue the pregnancy, or…?” Magnus trails off, not sure how to ask these awkward but important questions. If Alex does want to keep the baby, will that be allowed? They’re very likely the first Einherjar to ever have to deal with a pregnancy, there are no strict and set rules in Valhalla, regarding pregnancy and kids, because it has always been assumed that Einherjar physically can’t have kids.

“Yeah, I do.” Alex quietly says, her tone soft and light and laced with hope and love. “I already feel connected to this little bean, I didn't know it could happen so fast, but I love them so much already. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to work here in Valhalla, but yeah, I want this baby.” Alex lays her hand over her slightly swollen stomach, feeling an intense rush of love as she thinks of her baby.

“Okay then” Magnus announces with a smile, his tone turning bright. “We’re gonna have a baby”. Just then a look of concern crosses Magnus’ face, as he realises how this pregnancy could possibly affect Alex mentally and emotionally. Majority of the language around pregnancy is femme centred, understandably pregnancy is seen as inherently womanly , and it can be of course, but what about for people like Alex, who either don’t identify as a woman at all, or who identify as a woman sometimes and other times as a man? Not to mention that all the maternity clothes are flowy frilly floral dresses and blouses, very much not Alex’s style. Though Blitzen will probably make Alex whatever kind of clothes she wants in whatever size she wants, he won’t even deem them ‘maternity’ clothes if Alex didn’t want that. 

And of course, all the changes that will happen to Alex’s physical body, how will that affect her? Will it upset her? 

“Alex… how will being pregnant affect your body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria and stuff? I know you don’t really feel dysphoria and dysmorphia a lot now, well at least not as much as when you lived with your dad, but will that change now you’re pregnant?” Magnus asks in a concerned tone, unable to imagine the absolute anguish that is body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria.

 He has certainly dealt with his own body image issues in the past, but he’s never looked in the mirror and only seen what he would have interpreted as his flaws and faults, overcome and consumed with shame, disgust, anxiety, embarrassment, like Alex has described to him a few times. 

He also has absolutely no clue what it is like to feel like your brain and body are completely mismatched, that your body is all wrong and being born into that particular body type was a huge mistake.

It must be absolute hell, a living nightmare, and he never wants Alex (or anyone else) to ever have to go through that again. 

Alex sighs and leans her head back against the wall behind her. “I dunno.” She admits with a shrug of her shoulders. “It’s so different for everyone, some genderfluid people get pregnant and feel no difference in their dysmorphia and dysphoria, some feel so so much worse, and some even feel better, more confident and happy with their body.

Some people have dysmorphia and dysphoria before pregnancy, but then it just seems to go away during the pregnancy, only to rear it’s head right back up after the baby is born.

I honestly have absolutely no idea what it’s gonna be like for me. I am a bit scared and nervous about it. The last thing I want is to feel those feelings again, but at the same time I really want this baby, and I can’t help but think that it will be worth it, for this little bean.” Alex softly says, her hand resting protectively and lovingly across her stomach. 

“Well” Magnus begins “I can’t and won’t pretend to know or understand exactly what it’s like to have gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia, but I do promise that no matter what happens I support you and I love you, if your dysmorphia and dysphoria start to flare up, I’ll do absolutely anything and everything I can to help you, I will do whatever you want, whatever you need. I can ask Sam and Annabeth to find a therapist in Midgard who specializes in that area, if you want. Whatever you need, Alex, I’m here for you.” Magnus softly promises, looking at Alex with all the love in the world. 

Alex smiles at the sweet promise, and lays her head down on Magnus’ shoulder. 

“Thanks Beantown, you’re pretty alright.” Alex lightly says with a grin. 

Magnus chuckles and then tilts his head down to kiss Alex, resting his forehead against hers for a few seconds, basking in their love, their bond, their connection. 

“I love you.” Magnus quietly tells Alex. Then he ducks his head to Alex’s small bump, and kisses it lovingly. “And you little one.” he softly coos. “I love you too.” 

Over the next few weeks, as Alex and Magnus really come to terms with and wrap their heads around the fact that Alex is pregnant, they also decide to not share the news of the pregnancy with anyone else until they feel ready and prepared to tell them. Hiding the pregnancy from people who don’t see and interact with Alex every single day, like Hearth and Blitz, is easier than hiding the pregnancy from Alex and Magnus’ 3 hallmates, Mallory, T.J. and Halfborn Gunderson. 

At first, Alex thought that all she would have to do to hide the pregnancy is wear slightly bigger and looser clothes, but as it turns out, the bump is not the only thing that is threatening to give away the big news. 

Alex’s morning sickness only seems to get worse, and is certainly not contained to just the morning. The nausea is constantly there 24/7, making Alex absolutely miserable. She can hardly stand to be in the dining hall at all, let alone eat anything. The only things she finds that she is able to stomach are cherry twizzlers, toasted ham and cheese, and mixed berry juice. But even then they don’t completely take away the nausea and they don’t always stay put, resulting in Alex getting a not so pleasant second tasting of the food when she vomits it back up. 

The fatigue and exhaustion Alex begins to experience are off the charts, she never feels well rested or refreshed anymore, and most days is fighting to stay awake by 9PM. As a result of the exhaustion, Alex spends most of her time resting and napping, which is not like her at all, and it begins to raise the suspicions of her hallmates. 

One day, when Alex is just a little under 3 months along, at 14 weeks pregnant, she and Magnus’ friends decide to confront them over the change in behaviour, and the couple know their cover is blown.

On this particular morning Alex and Magnus are sitting at the breakfast table in the floor 19 communal dining area for their hall, along with Mallory, T.J. and Halfborn Gunderson. (and Jack, who is in sword form and leaning against the table, having insisted on hanging out with everyone and being part of the gang.)

This morning the sight and smell of food isn’t making Alex actively vomit, but it has increased her nausea, and she feels like she hasn’t slept a wink, despite getting about 10 hours last night. 

While the others enjoy their meals and engage in conversation, Alex plays with her food, just moving it around the plate, cutting it up, until just the sight of a runny egg yolk makes her fear she’s about to throw up right then and there. 

Alex pushes her plate away, and lays her head on Magnus’ shoulder, letting her heavy eyes flutter closed for just a second, as her hands subconsciously come to rest on her belly, where she can now feel tiny little flutters of movement from the baby, making Alex even more certain that all these awful symptoms will be worth it when she has her baby in her arms in a few months time. 

Magnus kisses the top of Alex’s head, and slips an arm around her waist. Neither of them are usually keen on physical touch, especially in public, usually at most they’ll hold hands in public, but that’s it. But things feel differently now, with Alex being so ill now she finds comfort in Magnus’ warm and loving touch, and Magnus finds himself wanting to be as close to Alex as possible, probably some deep paternal instinct to be close to his child, and wanting to be close to Alex of course. 

From her seat across from Alex, Mallory squints her eyes in suspicion as she notices Alex’s repulsion of the food, and her out of character behaviour in not participating in the conversation. Something is going on with her, and Magnus. Mallory is determined to find out what it is. 

“Right! Well, I think we should discuss strategy for today’s combat!” Mallory loudly announces, making Alex wince and turn her face into Magnus’ shoulder, another odd behaviour from her. “Alex, I think you should lead the combat today.” Mallory decides, giving Alex a hard look. Mallory knows full well that Alex hasn’t participated in battle or combat for the past 4 or so weeks, something is going on with her and Mallory is determined to find out what. 

“No, I'm not taking part in combat today.” Alex says in a heavy, tired tone, overcome with a wave of intense fatigue. 

"Again?! Come on Alex please! We need you, you’re one of our best!” T.J. pleads, not understanding why on earth Alex has suddenly developed an aversion to battle and combat. 

“Yeah Fierro this isn’t like you at all, you’re letting the team down!” Gunderson exclaims, knowing that Alex will likely kill him for the small guilt trip, but at least that would be in character for her, he much prefers when Alex is her usual quick witted self. He’s not a fan of an Alex who doesn’t laugh at his jokes, pukes all the time and seems to only want to cuddle up with her boyfriend. 

“Tone it down or I’ll rip out your voice box myself!” Alex growls, having developed a heightened sensitivity to sound. Alex feels like she can feel Gunderson’s booming, rumbling voice rattling her bones. 

Her threat of violence just makes Gunderson laugh. 

“Now there’s the Alex we know and love! Come on, you love combat, it’s your favorite part of the day!” 

“Oh my gods, no is a full sentence.” Alex grumbles under her breath. “Look I’m not taking part in combat, that’s not up for discussion and I don’t want your opinions on my choice either. Besides, I’ll only be more of a hindrance than help on the battlefield, with how sick and exhausted I am.” This time Alex speaks at a normal volume, her gaze shifting from Gunderson, T.J. and Mallory, daring them to argue with her further. 

“For feck sake we’re not stupid, Alex!” Mallory suddenly exclaims in an exasperated tone. “We know something is going on with you two, you’re keeping something from us, something big! Something is up, specifically with you, Alex. 

You’ve not been yourself for weeks, don’t forget that your room is next to mine, I hear you retching and vomiting all through the day and night. And I’m not just talking about the nausea, the vomiting and the lack of appetite. Gods knows I’d vomit every morning too if I was waking up next to Beantown.” Mallory tells them in a tone that seems more pitying  than anything else. 

“Gee thanks Mack, love you too.” Magnus says with a light laugh. He knows Mallory loves him really, she’s practically his sister, this is just how she shows love. 

Magnus quickly regrets opening his mouth at all though when Mallory’s head snaps towards him and she gives him a look of disgust and anger, and a tiny hint of affection in there somewhere. 

“Shut up Magnus and don’t you ever say you love me again, you know I hate affection!” Mallory snaps. 

A loud and sharp laugh reverberates through the room, followed by Jack floating up to be at Magnus’ side, hovering by his shoulder. 

“Oooh she got you señor! ” Jack laughs. 

“Who put 50P in the eejit?” Mallory asks in a deflated tone, gesturing towards Jack. Magnus can’t help but snort with laughter, feeling like a misbehaving school boy who is laughing because his friend got in trouble. 

“Oooh burn Jack, she obliterated you.” Magnus laughs, as Jack’s runes glow red as though he’s flushing in embarrassment  

“Excuse me, I was in the middle of talking!” Mallory interjects in an irritated tone. Feckin teenage boys, they have not changed one bit in the 40 something years Mallory has been in Valhalla. 

“Sorry Miss Keen.” Jack and Magnus chorus in unison, knowing they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get one last joke in. 

Mallory rolls her eyes and mutters something under her breath about gobshites. 

“Right, as I was saying!” Mallory loudly continues “Something is up with you Alex, you’re not eating anything, you’re vomiting all the time, you’re nauseous all day, you’re sleeping all the time and still you’re absolutely exhausted constantly. You’re nowhere near as quick to jump into dangerous situations with these other three gobshites.” Mallory pauses briefly to gesture at T.J., Gunderson and Magnus, who all share a look and shrug, knowing they can’t deny that they usually act first and think later. 

“And!” Mallory continues before anyone can interpret her again. “You’re so much more touchy feely and cuddly towards Magnus, that is the very opposite of how you usually are! Something is very obviously going on with you Alex, so tell us what it is or so help me God I will drag it out of you if I have to!”

Magnus and Alex both share a quick look, knowing that there’s no point in denying it or trying to hide it anymore, soon Alex isn’t going to be able to hide her growing belly and they’ll have to tell people the truth, might as well do it now. 

Alex sighs and lifts her head from Magnus’ shoulder and runs a hand over her face, trying to summon up enough energy to have this conversation. 

“Okay, okay fine I’ll tell you what’s going on, but it’s a long and kind of confusing story, so please just let me talk, don’t interrupt me, just let me explain it all and after that you can ask questions, ok?” Alex asks, looking around the table with raised eyebrows. 

They all nod. 

“Ok.” Alex takes a breath, before calmly saying “I’m pregnant, that’s why I’m so sick and tired all the time now, and less quick to jump to action, I’m 14 weeks pregnant. I am not going to get into the nuances of gendered language and assigned sex at birth, I’m gonna go ahead and make a bold assumption that you all have enough brain cells to know that for a pregnancy to occur in me at all, I must have the ability to carry a child, even if I’m dead. 

As for how I got pregnant as an Einherji by an Einherji, that's pretty much anyone’s guess. Sam thinks that it’s because our lovely Beantown here is a son of Frey, God of fertility, meaning he probably has some miraculous fertility related powers, that means he can conceive even in death. 

As for how this will affect my gender- it won’t, I’m still genderfluid and I always will be, nothing will change in that regard. I’m female today so my pronouns are she and her . 

And yes, we’re keeping the baby, or at least we hope we can, we have absolutely no idea how it’s going to work here in Valhalla, we don’t know if we’ll even be allowed to keep the baby, but no matter what we are going to fight like hell for this kid because we already love them so so much, and we are never going to let anyone or anything separate the three of us.” Alex ends her explanation with a firm and sure tone, laying her hand protectively across her belly. 

Magnus smiles proudly and lovingly at Alex and nods his agreement, placing his hand over hers, showing that he, Alex and their baby are a team, a package deal, and nothing will ever change that. 

Their 3 hallmates look at Magnus and Alex in shock. Jack is still floating by Magnus’ shoulder, and his runes glow green as if in excitement. 

"Say whhaaaaatttt?!?!" Jack is the first to speak, his voice full of excitement. "Woah!! A baby?!! Oh man that is so exciting!!! Congrats, Señor!!" Congrats Alex!!" Jack can only think of how much fun a baby will be, a baby that’s half Magnus and half Alex, two of his favorite people! Maybe he can teach the baby sword to sword combat or something like that!

“I… have no idea what to say.” Mallory admits in a breathy and surprised tone, never having suspected that of all things.

“Does anyone else know?” Gunderson curiously asks, pleasantly surprised that finally something really exciting and big is happening in Valhalla, something that has literally never happened before. Maybe it won’t be so boring now, and he can hold off on getting his PHD in aerospace engineering, save that for another few centuries from now. 

Alex shakes her head. 

"The only other person to know outside of you guys is Sam, she helped Alex figure out about the pregnancy, but other than that we’ve kept it completely to ourselves. We know we’re going to have to tell Hunding and Helgi soon, and Odin obviously, but not just yet. We want to tell Blitzen and Hearthstone first, if we can.” Magnus explains, feeling just a tad bit anxious about breaking this news to Hearth and Blitz. 

He’s sure they’ll be very supportive, but they will also very likely kick his ass for not using protection. (Despite Magnus not knowing that protection is still necessary in the after-life.) 

Well, Blitz will probably be the one to give him a lecture about the importance of practicing safe sex and being responsible. Hearth, on the other hand, will most likely just give Magnus a disappointed look or two, which in his opinion is way worse than hearing a lecture from Blitz about the importance of using condoms. Hearth is very good at making someone feel a certain way just by giving them one look with those piercing grey eyes of his. 

“Well, I think it’ll be nice to have a baby around!” T.J. exclaims in a bright tone. “Your baby is gonna be the cutest kid in all 9 worlds, and having him or her around will be so much fun! I think I’ll be an awesome uncle!” Alex can’t help but smile at this, T.J.’s excitement for the baby is so sweet, and he’s right, he will be a great uncle, Alex knows that already this baby has at least 6 people who are always going to be looking out for them and who will always be ready to defend them.

“Just so long as you don’t let her chew on your bayonet when she starts teething.” Alex laughs, knowing how much T.J. loves his weapon. 

"Oh she is it?” Gunderson asks in an amused tone, raising an eyebrow at Alex, finding it oddly funny to see her already in mama bear mode. 

Alex flushes slightly, knowing she’s being more soft and vulnerable than usual, and hoping that Gunderson (or the others) don’t start to underestimate her.

“I dunno, I just have a feeling this baby’s a girl, but I could be wrong, and honestly I don’t care about the sex or the gender or anything like that. I’ll love this kid no matter what, always, I’m not going to be like my dad in that regard.” Alex firmly says, her hands still resting protectively over her stomach, hoping that already this baby can feel how much she is loved and wanted, and how much she will always be loved and wanted. 

A few weeks later Magnus and Alex are seriously beginning to think of how and when they are going to tell everyone else about the baby, given that Alex is almost more or less halfway through the pregnancy and it is becoming more and more difficult to hide the bump, she only has a few more outfits that at least somewhat hide the bump, soon enough they won’t fit either, and Alex does not want to have to start borrowing Magnus’ clothes, not with his boring sense of style. 

“Can you feel that?” Alex asks Magnus in a tone of awe, as they take a quiet moment to themselves, enjoying these last few days of their news being mostly private, sitting side by side on the floor at the foot of Magnus’ bed, his hand held over Alex’s bump where he feels the unmistakable kick of their baby against his hand, the most amazing thing he has ever experienced. 

Magnus laughs in awe and disbelief, looking up to meet Alex’s eyes that are filled with excitement. 

“That’s amazing .” Magnus whispers, fearing that talking at full volume will burst the bubble of this perfect, magical moment. 

Alex lets out a giddy giggle and leans her forehead against Magnus’. However, before she can say anything, there’s a sharp knock at the door, pulling the two of them from their little moment. 

Alex sighs in annoyance as Magnus gets to his feet to go open the door. She had really been enjoying the special moment, they don’t happen very often. 

When Magnus opens the door and sees Hunding standing there in his green Hotel Valhalla uniform, he instinctively knows that the jig is up, and word of the pregnancy has gotten out. 

“Oh hey Hunding, what’s up?” Magnus attempts a casual tone, on the off chance that the bellhop is just stopping by to say hi, and not to tell him that Helgi and/or Odin know about the secret he and Alex have been keeping. 

“Magnus, you and Alex have been summoned for an audience, with Odin and Frigg, in the lounge. Helgi says that I have to escort you there, make sure you don’t “stand up” The King and Queen of Asgard.” Hunding explains in a sympathetic tone, clearly of the opinion that  neither Odin nor Frigg are at all happy with the young Einherjar.

“And Frigg?” Magnus asks, only slightly surprised that The Queen of Asgard is requesting to see them too, Afterall she is also the ruler of Asgard, doing much work behind the scenes and in Odin’s absence. She is also the goddess of motherhood and pregnancy, so she is probably at least intrigued by Alex and Magnus’ situation. 

“Yes.” Hunding confirms with a nod, though offering no further insight into the Queen’s thoughts or feelings on the matter. 

Magnus sighs and turns to hold his hand out to Alex to help her to her feet, now she’s not able to move about just as freely and easily with the bump in the way. 

“Come on.” Magnus sighs, as Alex takes his hand and lets him help her up, brushing down her lime green leggings once she’s on her feet, the leggings being a replacement for Alex’s usual skinny jeans, which as of this morning, no longer fit her, as Alex discovered when her jeans would not budge past her hips. “Let’s go face the music.” 

Chapter Text

In silence, Hunding leads them down the corridor and to the doors to the lounge area of Floor 19. 

“You can go in, they are already waiting for you, good luck.” Hunding quietly says, holding the door open for Magnus and Alex. 

The two of them enter the room, Magnus with his hands in his pockets and his head down, like a child getting scolded, while Alex holds her head high and looks the rulers of Asgard directly in the eyes.

“Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro.” Odin’s low and deep voice greets them, his tone completely neutral, his face blank, giving them absolutely no hint as to how he is feeling or what he is thinking. “Please, take a seat.” Odin continues, gesturing to the sofa across from where he sits in an armchair by the fireplace.  

Frigg is sitting in an identical armchair to Odin’s left hand side, looking as she did just a few months ago on the train in Norway, when she let go of the disguise of the old woman. Now she appears middle aged with her hair still as red as Mallory Keen’s, styled in a single braid resting on her left shoulder. Her face is also neutral, showing no signs of her opinion on the matter at hand.

“I hear congratulations are in order.” Odin calmly says, as Magnus and Alex take their seats, instinctively reaching out for each other's hands. 

“Mmmm are they? Is it right to congratulate two teenagers on a pregnancy? Especially two dead teenagers?” Alex asks in a tone of genuine interest, making Magnus grow wide eyed and become filled with even more dread. Did Alex really just sass-talk Odin? 

Much to both Magnus and Alex’s surprise, Odin lets out a low, good-natured chuckle, as though he really found Alex’s tone and question humorous. 

“You pose a very good question Alex.” Odin admits with a smile. “Perhaps not congratulations then, but certainly not commiserations either. If what I hear is correct this is certainly not an unwelcome surprise for either of you?” He asks, gesturing with a hand to Alex’s stomach.

“N-no sir.” Magnus stammers, slightly shaking his head. “No not at all, it was a surprise, a shock at first, but now…” he trails off, a smile spreading across his face as he remembers back to just a few minutes ago when he felt the baby kick. 

“Unplanned- yes, unwanted and unwelcome? No, not one bit. The exact opposite, in fact.” Alex softly says, smoothing a hand over her stomach and looking down at the bump with eyes filled with love, the most intense and powerful love she has ever felt, everyday she thinks she couldn’t possibly love her child more than she already does, and every day it feels as though her heart grows and fills with more love. 

“I see, so neither of you knew this was a possibility for you?” Odin questions, not inclined to think that these two young Einherji before him purposefully set out to conceive a child, but stranger things have happened. 

“Ha! No, not me!” Alex laughs. “And judging by the look on Magnus’ face when I told him the news, no, he didn’t either.” Magnus nods in agreement, shocked that Alex actually laughed in Odin’s face, not in a disrespectful way of course, but still, maybe Odin would perceive it as disrespectful. 

If he does, the King of Asgard shows no signs of it, instead he just nods slightly, and steeples two of his fingers under his chin, as if deep in thought. 

“Hm, interesting.” Odin concludes after a few seconds. “I am sure you are aware that this is the first time of such a thing occurring here in Valhalla, ever . I and everyone else have always been under the assumption that my Einherjar cannot physically reproduce. Do either of you know how this happened?” Odin calmly asks. 

“Beats me.” Alex shrugs casually, deciding to let Magnus be the one to do the explaining since technically, as the one with the weird fertility powers, he is responsible for this situation. 

“Uh well Alex’s sister Samirah, Samirah al-Abbas has a theory.” Magnus begins.

“Oh yes? And what would that be?” Odin asks, while Frigg simply raises an eyebrow at the pair. 

“Um well Sam… she thinks that uh b-because my dad’s Frey, a-and he’s God of fertility, that I uh… well have powers related to fertility, and uh… I guess that means I-I’m able to conceive… even as Einherji with an Einherji partner.” Magnus stutters, feeling more than a little intimidated under the scrutinising gaze of the rulers of Asgard. 

“Hmm, yes that would make sense.” Odin agrees, while Frigg nods thoughtfully, her gaze now moving down to Alex’s stomach, making Alex want to grab a nearby cushion and hold it in front of herself, hating it when people stare at her.  

“Judging by your earlier words I am assuming you wish to keep and raise the child here in Valhalla, but I am not quite sure I should or could allow that. This a place for warriors, after all, a place to prepare for and wait for Ragnarök, not a nursery.” Odin’s tone is still completely calm, but also firm, making it clear that regardless of what Magnus and Alex may want, the final decision on the matter ultimately rests with Odin, however unfair that may seem. 

“We understand that, sir.” Alex begins, finally dropping the sassy attitude and bold behaviour. “But our child is likely going to be very very powerful, she could have one of a kind powers as the granddaughter of Frey and Loki, and the daughter of two Einherjar. 

She could end up changing the course of destiny at Ragnarök, whenever that happens. And if I’m right about that which it would make sense for me to be, then I think this kid’s best chance is here in Valhalla, where she can train and prepare and safely learn about her powers.

 I promise she won’t be a distraction to Magnus and I or cause any sort of disruption here at the hotel or anything. I’m sure we won’t want to leave her if you need us to go on another quest, but we will if you need us to. There are plenty of people outside of Valhalla who we would feel safe leaving our daughter with, like Magnus’ cousin Annabeth, or our friends Blitzen and Hearthstone. 

Please sir, Magnus and I want this baby so, so much, we’ve already fallen so completely and utterly in love with her, I feel her kicking inside me everyday, we talk to her all the time already and let her know how much we love her. If we had to give her up… it wouldn’t be right for us or for her. Please, we so badly want to be this sweet baby’s parents.” By the time Alex has finished speaking, tears are freely running down her cheeks, her hands have come to rest protectively on either side of her bump, a light laugh catching in her throat as she feels a kick from within, as if her daughter is cheering her on and agreeing with everything she said. 

The room falls silent for a moment or two, with Odin looking deep in thought, and Frigg now looking at Alex with empathy in her gold and white eyes, the tear-track-like scars on her face glowing slightly, no doubt she is thinking of the loss of her own child so long ago, the loss of Balder. 

“Well.” Odin calmly breaks the silence, his gaze going directly to Alex, who thinks she sees a flicker of understanding in his eye. “You do make a very good point, Alex, there is no telling just how powerful your child would be, it makes sense for her to be here in Valhalla, an honorary Einherji of sorts.

And I can clearly see that you have both bonded deeply with your child already, indeed it would be very cruel of me to rip the child from you at birth, and while I am many things, a cruel man is not one of them. 

You have my permission to raise your child here in Valhalla, but you must in turn swear to me that you will not let being parents distract you from your duties and priorities as Einherjar. Alex I know you have not taken part in daily combat since you discovered your pregnancy. I can understand that, I cannot be certain that while you carry the child they will not succumb to any permanent harm. I am allowing you to be excused from this singular duty for the foreseeable future, once the child is born we can discuss your return to daily combat. 

For now, I need both of your words, that you will not allow this to overshadow your priority as Einherjar.” Odin’s tone is now laced with understanding and empathy, as he himself knows the pain of losing a child all too well. 

“Yes!” Magnus hurriedly exclaims, nodding frantically, terrified that Odin will retract his agreement at any second. “We swear, I swear!”

“I swear.” Alex is much more calm than Magnus, though still wiping at her tears and holding her belly protectively with one hand. 

It is at this moment that Frigg sits forward in her chair and speaks for the first time. 

“Alex, have you at all thought about what you will do when the time comes for your child to be born? I’m sure you both know that going to a regular mortal hospital is not an option.” Her voice is as calm as Odin’s has been, only softer and perhaps conveying a hint of concern. 

“No, I’m trying not to think about it yet, honestly I’m still trying to fully wrap my mind around the fact that I’m pregnant in the first place.” Alex replies, trying to push away the thoughts of labor and the pain it will bring.

“That is understandable, however it is not something you can avoid thinking about or planning for, labor is a sacred and vulnerable time for both you and your child, trust me when I say that making arrangements is far less frightening than going into labour and having no clue what to do or where to go. 

As the goddess of childbirth, I would like to offer my help to you, Alex, when the time comes. I am well versed in labour and childbirth, I have had my own children and I have delivered many more. I have helped many others through labour and birth. I can help you create that safe and sacred space for you to bring your child into. It will be a challenge, as birth so often is, but with the right environment and the right support it is a challenge I do not doubt you can get through. 

The choice is yours dear, I will not be offended or hurt if you say no, and if you say no my offer will not be withdrawn, you may want to decline now but that does not mean you cannot change your mind and accept at a later time, if that is what you want.” 

Alex blinks a few times, processing and absorbing Frigg’s words. Alex never thought that a goddess would offer to help her with her labor and birth, and certainly not the Queen of Asgard herself. 

There is no one else though, not anyone who Alex trusts anyway, so far the only choice she has made regarding the birth, is that she wants and needs Magnus and Samirah by her side. 

And it is clear to Alex from Frigg’s kind and soft tone that she truly wants to help, and can help, that she will do everything she can to make labour and birth a less terrifying ordeal for Alex, and she will be able to help Alex safely bring her baby into the world. 

“As long as Magnus and Sam can be with me the whole time, then I would like to accept your help.” Alex decides a moment later. 

“Of course my dear, it is you who will be doing all the hard work, you who will be going through the challenge, and so it will be you who gets to control such factors. I will simply be there to guide you through and to help you bring your baby into the world.” Frigg assures Alex in a kind and motherly tone, surprising her when she reaches out and lays a comforting hand on Alex’s arm. 

Is this what it feels like to have a mom? One who actually cares about you and wants what’s best for you? Alex thinks to herself, looking at Frigg’s hand resting on her arm, then back up to the goddesses' warm and welcoming face. Alex has never known the love of a mother, not really, but in this moment with Frigg, the mother of all mothers, she gets a glimpse of what it really is to have a mom.

Alex nods and lets Frigg push a strand of hair back from her face. 

“When your labor begins you need only speak my name and I will be there.” Frigg gently tells her. “And in the meantime you are always welcome to seek me out should you have any concerns regarding the rest of your pregnancy, I very much doubt you will suffer any mortal complications and risks but with this being the first time we have had a pregnant person in Valhalla, one simply never knows. So as I said, if you feel anything is amiss, you need only ask Helgi to seek me and let me know you are in need of my help, and I will be at your side in seconds, alright?” 

Again, Alex can only nod, feeling slightly overwhelmed by Frigg’s kindness and care. 

“Well then with that said I think our discussion here is done.” Odin declares, looking to his wife who nods in agreement. “Alex, Magnus, you may go. I wish you the very best of luck with the little one, I will be hoping to be among the first to meet her when she joins us.” 

Alex and Magnus share a brief look, both sure they must be mistaken when they think they hear a hint of excitement in Odin’s voice. Who knows, maybe the Allfather is one of those people who's great with babies and kids and loves to interact with them. 

“Yes, yes of course absolutely, you can come meet her as soon as she’s born, o-or we could bring her to you for you to meet, a-and we can give you pictures and videos and stuff.” Magnus quickly offers, earning a glare from Alex, who has no problem with Odin being the first (or one of the first) to meet the baby, but not appreciating Magnus’ offer for Odin to visit the three of them just seconds or minutes after Alex has given birth. 

Odin chuckles while Frigg smiles at the young couple, finding it amusing how young Magnus is already every part the panicked anxious new father. 

“Good, now off you go, we will both see you soon.”

About an hour later Magnus and Alex are back in their room, having fully comprehended their conversation with Odin and Frigg, feeling mainly relieved that they know for certain now that they can raise their baby here in Valhalla, and also relieved that they now know who to go to when the time comes for the baby to be born. 

It was only a few weeks ago shortly after they found out about the baby, that the two of them decided to finally just share a room, move in together as much as they can when they live in suites in a hotel. Alex’s room is still assigned to her and still holds some of her things, and always will, but for now Magnus’ room has officially become their room. 

They spend the next few hours discussing all things related to the baby. They talk names, what kind of parents they want to be, what they want the baby to call them. (Magnus has known from the start that he wants to be dad/daddy/dada, and Alex decides that on her female days she wants to be mom/mama, and on his masculine days he wants to be Papi/ Papa)

They discuss what kind of stroller they should get, since there are about as many strollers on the market as there are cars. They’ll need to look into baby carriers too, slings and stuff, they’ve both seen parents out and about with babies tucked up in fabric slings, and they both think it looks like a great way to have the baby close, while having their hands free. 

Before they know it, time for dinner has rolled around. This will be Alex’s first time in the dining hall while visibly pregnant and not trying to hide it, it’s a little nerve wracking to think about. 

Word has quickly spread over the last few weeks, about Alex’s pregnancy. She and Magnus have both noticed other Einherjar gawping at and staring at Alex, with some snickering and whispering to each other when Alex walks past. It reminds her of her schooldays, and it takes everything she has not to lash out at them with her garrotte.

No doubt there will be even stares and whispers now in the dining hall, now that the pregnancy is so easy to see. 

“Ready?” Magnus asks Alex, looking at her before they step into the dinning room, knowing what a huge moment this is for her.  

Alex takes a deep breath, slips her hand into Magnus’ and nods. 

Almost as soon they step foot in the dining hall, the chatter and clamour of noise stops, and it seems like everyone’s gaze is drawn to Alex and her bump.

And then, the strangest thing happens. One of the Norns, the one who usually stands to the right- breaks away from the base of Læraðr, where the three Norns usually stand. Neither Alex nor Magnus have ever seen one of them leave their base. 

As the Norn draws closer, Alex begins to realise with sudden dread, that she is headed right for her. She wants to turn and run, but feels like her feet are glued to the ground. 

“Magnus.” Alex hisses under her breath, gripping tightly to her boyfriend’s hand, making sure that he doesn’t leave her side. “What’s happening?” 

Magnus just shakes his head, blonde hair flying into his eyes, feeling just as surprised as Alex. 

“I-I have no idea.” 

Then, The Norn stops just in front of Alex, and without hesitation reaches out and lays a cold, icy hand across Alex’s bump, making the young Einherji gasp, but still feeling like she can’t move. 

Then the voice starts, a soft but disembodied voice that Alex hears inside her head.

“Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, blessed is the child of two Einherjar. 

Foretold is the child, to lead the victorious ones at Ragnarök, destined is the child who grows within, to be the one who leads the win. 

And survive the end of days. 

And in the haze of what comes next, the new world they shall build and lead. 

Only one thing is unknown, one thing in doubt. 

Will the child fight with the Gods and Einherjar, or will they betray their kin, and lead Loki and the Giants to win?” 

From the looks on everyone else's faces, Alex is sure she was not the only one who heard the prophecy. She cannot begin to describe how she feels, though terrified and worried are certainly decent starting points. 

“Magnus…” Alex whispers, tears welling in her eyes. “Did you hear that?” Magnus nods, still in shock, himself. 

“Our… our baby…. Our baby’s gonna survive Ragnarök.”  Magnus quietly states, sharing a look of fear and uncertainty with Alex. 

“And lead the winning side…” Alex trails off, not wanting to even consider the idea that her child may well turn against her family for some reason, and end up leading Loki to victory at Ragnarök. Just the thought makes her feel sick. 

“You’re shaking.” Magnus notes, holding Alex’s trembling hand up for her to see. “Lets go sit down, talk about this with the others.” 

As the young couple make their way to the table where their 3 hallmates and Samirah sit, they swear they can feel every single persons’ gaze on them, following them as they walk through the dining hall. 

Once Magnus and Alex are seated, before either of them get a chance to speak to their friends, a loud voice rings through the room. 

“This… this prophecy is a warning! That… child that Alex Fierro is carrying could be the undoing of us all! We should nip this in the bud now before it has the chance to become a real problem.” Alex quickly learns that the voice belongs to Helgi, who has now stood up from his seat, a look of anger on his face. 

Immediately, Alex’s hands come up to cover her belly, and a scowl crosses her face. How dare Helgi speak about her baby like that?! Like she’s some kind of parasitic monster that needs destroying?! 

“If you come anywhere near me or my child I will become your worst nightmare.” Alex growls, glaring at the hotel manager, one hand lowering to rest on her pocket, where her garrotte sits. “I will not let anyone hurt my baby.” 

Helgi gives Alex a horrified look, as if he cannot believe that she just spoke to him that way, and is about to go on a rant about how teens these days have absolutely no manners. That or he’s going to scream for a manager, despite being the manager of Valhalla. 

But before Helgi can say anything, Magnus lays his hand protectively on Alex’s bump, right next to her own hand. 

“Neither will I, you wanna get to my kid then you’re gonna have to get through me first.” He firmly states, his tone laced with anger. 

Then, Samirah rises from her seat, standing tall and straight with a look of determination on her face. 

“I will defend my niece or nephew with my life, and my sister. If anyone thinks they can even look at this baby the wrong way, they’ll know the full force of a Valkyrie.” Sam’s tone is deadly quiet and calm, but there can be doubting how sincere she is.

Then, as if in a movie or something, Mallory stands up unsheathes her knives, holding them across her chest, her hard green eyes just daring somebody to try her.

“Aye what Sam and Magnus said. I’ll die protecting that wee baby, happily. I don’t mind going to Helheim one wee bit for that wee ‘un. I am not about to let anyone hurt my friend’s baby, my niece or nephew. I’m not afraid of ye lot, so go on and try me, I dare you.” Mallory never once raises her voice, and for once doesn’t throw in a curse word for good measure. Her voice is like Sam’s, deadly calm and quiet and completely serious. 

Once more the sound of a chair scraping across the floor sounds throughout the room, and up stands Halfborn Gunderson, one of his axes held in his hand as he calmly looks around the room.

  “Anyone who wants to lay a single finger on that little one’s head, will have to be stupid enough to try and get through this berserker. We Einherjar are supposed to be Honorable warriors. Do Honorable warriors go around threatening unborn babies?! I certainly don’t think so. If you ask me, it's an extremely cowardly act to threaten a child, a child who isn’t even in this world yet. 

If you want to get to that baby, you don’t just have 2 power demigod Einherjar, a Valkyrie and an Einherjar demi-god daughter of Frigg to get through, you have me to get through too, and like Mallory I will happily give my life to protect that baby.” 

Then, like clockwork, T.J. stands up. 

“Yeah, what the big guy said. Threatening an unborn baby is pathetic and cowardly, not to mention extremely dishonorable. You want to fight against a baby ? Someone who can’t even defend themselves? That’s the most un-Einherjar thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been here a really long time.  The real threat isn’t Alex and Magnus’ baby, it’s Loki. 

My brothers - and sisters- in arms and I will happily go down fighting to protect the baby, he or she is part of our Valhalla family now, and we don’t take too kindly to people threatening our family.” 

As T.J. speaks, his fingers linger on the strap over his shoulder that he uses to carry his rifle with him, like he’s preparing to pounce into battle at any second. 

“And!" Magnus adds, staying seated with his hand still on Alex’s bump. “We also have the backup and support of our friends, Blitzen Freyason and Hearthstone Alderman. And trust me you do not want to mess with either of them. Hearth is a powerful magician and trained under Odin right here in Asgard. And Blitzen is- if you ask me- the best crafter that Nidavellir has ever seen, heck that any of the 9 worlds have ever seen! 

You mess with them and you’re taking a big risk of being turned into a cockroach or something by Hearth, or you might find yourself strangled with an ascot that can turn into chainmail in just seconds, or you might find yourself crushed by an expando-duck.” 

Magnus doesn’t mention that actually Hearth and Blitz don’t know about the baby yet, but he knows that his two best friends, his brothers, will absolutely obliterate anyone who tries to hurt he and Alex’s baby. 

There is a brief silence in the room, after Magnus finishes speaking, but it doesn’t take long for the silence to be replaced with loud chattering and clamouring among their fellow Einherjar and the Valkyries. 

Alex and Magnus share a nervous and frightened look, wondering if they are going to have to go on the defence and fight for their baby’s safety. 

Just then, Odin wordlessly stands from his seat at the head table, and as he does, silence falls over the dining hall. 

“Nobody is to even think of harming Magnus Chase and Alex Fierro’s child. The son of Tyr is correct, the child is not the issue, Loki is. I have no reason to believe that the child will turn against us when they are older, but even if they do then that is a bridge we must cross when we come to it. 

I have already spoken to Magnus and Alex about their situation and their unexpected news. And I have granted them permission to raise their child here in Valhalla. And when the time is right, when the child is older, I will aid in their training and preparations for Ragnarök myself.” Odin calmly and firmly announces. 

Beside him, Helgi splutters in protest. 

“But My Lord!” he exclaims in an indignant tone “That child could be the undoing of us all! It could destroy Asgard! The Norns themselves have said it may well be fighting against us on the day of Ragnarök!” 

“Call my baby it one more time, see what happens!!” Alex snarls at Helgi, starting to stand up from her seat, only to be pulled back down by Sam. 

“Alex don’t, let Odin handle this, if you go on the attack you could hurt yourself and the baby.” Sam reminds her sister, ready to offer to go and punch Helgi for Alex, if he calls the baby ‘it’ again. 

Helgi starts to speak up, saying something about Alex being an untrustworthy argr . But before the hotel manager can continue on his rant, Odin holds up a hand to silence him. 

“Enough, Helgi. Nobody and nothing will harm Alex Fierro or her child, and that is an order from The King of Asgard. As our berserker friend said, threatening the life of an unborn child is extremely dishonorable, not a trait I like to see among my Einherjar. 

Yes it is possible that the child may turn to the enemy side when Ragnarök happens. But It is also an equal possibility that they will remain loyal to us and our cause, they have no reason not to- well not as long as certain people do not go around threatening them that is. 

As the Norns said, this child will not only survive Ragnarök and lead the side she fights on to victory, but she will also rebuild Asgard and the 9 worlds as a whole, and she will lead Asgard in my wake, whatever it will look like by then. 

Prophecies cannot be gotten around, and with the child being raised here in Valhalla by two of my best Einherjar, who have postponed Ragnarök at least twice before, it seems far more likely that the child will indeed be on the side of the Gods and Einherjar.” 

It appears Helgi has no reply to that, as he sits there in silence, arms crossed across his chest, like a pouting toddler who didn’t get his way. After a moment though, he does speak again. 

“Well in that case Sir, perhaps the child should be raised by you and Lady Frigg. If this child is so important and powerful it doesn’t seem right to allow two teenagers to raise it_ I mean… them.” Helgi suggests, looking Magnus and Alex up and down with distaste. 

“Let me go Sam, I just wanna talk to him that’s all, I just wanna talk!” Alex pleads with her sister, ready to go over there and at the very least, pour Helgi’s drink over his head. Who does he think he is?! Just deciding for himself that Alex and Magnus shouldn’t be allowed to raise their own kid?! 

Before Sam can reply, and tell Alex that she’ll go and give Helgi what he deserves, Odin begins to speak again. 

“That will not be happening. I have a great fondness for the child already but I have no wishes to raise a child again, nor do I have the time. 

The best place for the child is with their parents. It would be unnecessary and cruel to take the child from their parents, and would only give the little one reason to distrust us, to not want to help us or fight with us on the day of destiny. 

The child will be raised by her parents, Alex Fierro and Magnus Chase. Here in Valhalla. I do not wish to hear anyone else's thoughts or opinions on the matter, my decision is final and there is to be no more speak of this. If you have nothing helpful to offer the young soon-to-be-parents then do not bother them.

Anybody who decides to try and challenge my decisions would be very unwise to do so.

Now that is the last I will speak of this matter to anyone who is not Magnus or Alex, please everyone go back to your conversations and enjoy your meals.” Then, without another word, Odin sits back down and returns to his own meal, as though nothing at all has happened. 

Magnus puts an arm around Alex, who leans into his touch, resting her head against his sternum, letting the fear and anxiety wash through her. 

“You ok?” Magnus quietly asks Alex. Alex nods, letting out a shaky and shuddering breath. 

“Yeah.” She replies in a breathy voice. “Just… Gods, Magnus, that was so scary.” she admits. Alex isn’t one to spook or scare easily, but the very thought of having her baby ripped from her at birth, struck more fear into her than she has ever felt before. 

“Yeah, it was.” Magnus agrees, rubbing Alex’s back with his free hand, before putting his hand back on her belly, smiling as he feels a nudge to his palm, a kick from the baby. 

“Did they scare you too, huh?” Alex coos to her bump, having also felt the kick. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” 

“So will I.” Sam firmly says. “I meant what I said, I’ll always protect your baby with my life.” 

Alex nods, trying to hold back tears.

Surprising everyone at the table, Halfborn Gunderson leans forward and meets Alex’s gaze. 

“It’s alright Fierro.” He says in an unusually quiet and gentle tone. “Don’t bottle it all up, you’ll only end up driving yourself mad if you do that. Cry if you feel like crying, and don’t worry what anyone else thinks, if anyone tries to say anything they’ll be eating axe for dinner.” 

This makes Alex laugh, as the tears start to flow and the sobs begin, all the anxiety and worry flooding to the surface. 

“Do you guys want to go back to your room and I’ll bring you some dinner later?” Sam offers, knowing that Alex probably wants to cry in private, with just her and Magnus there. 

But, to Sam’s surprise, Alex shakes her head. 

“No, no it’s ok. I want to have dinner with you guys. Thank you, all of you, for standing up for the baby, it really means a lot.” 

“You don’t need to thank us.” T.J. assures Alex, while Mallory nods. 

“Exactly, that’s what family does.” 

Thankfully the rest of the evening and night passes by smoothly, and Alex and Magnus are both able to get a decent night’s sleep for once. No nightmares for either of them. 

The next morning, just after breakfast, as Alex stands in front of the mirror with an unbuttoned white shirt over her tank top, leaving her bump bare, she comes to a sudden and horrifying realization. 

“Magnus.” Alex begins in an unsure tone, not wanting to fully accept what she just figured out. 

“Yeah? What’s up?” Magnus asks, turning to look at his girlfriend in the mirror, her hands on her bump and a look of shock on her face. 

“My clothes don’t fit me anymore, at all !” Alex exclaims in disbelief, so sure she had a little bit more time before this happened. “I can’t button my shirt up over my bump, I can’t get my skinny jeans past my hips and none of my sweater vests fit anymore either!” Alex’s sense of style and how she chooses to dress day to day are so important to her, she can’t just walk into any store and pick up some flowery beige blouse. No this won’t do at all. 

“So you wanna go shopping?” Magnus guesses, cringing a little because he knows that they’re not just going to go to any random store in Midgard. He knows exactly where Alex needs and wants to go and that trip is going to be awkward and embarrassing, at least at first. 

“Yeah but not just anywhere and you know that, we’re going to Blitzen’s Best and asking Blitz to make me custom maternity clothes.” Alex firmly says, giving Magnus a look that just dares him to argue with her. 

Magnus groans. Usually he’s all up for a trip to Blitzen’s Best. Usually he's excited to see two of his best friends, but the thing is he and Alex still haven’t told Blitz and Hearth about the baby, they haven’t seen them much over the last few months, and anytime they did, Alex was able to hide her bump with looser tops, when the bump was smaller, and more recently as it got bigger, she carried her bulky coat in front of her stomach and had Magnus stand a little in front of her so her stomach was covered. Honestly it’s a miracle Blitz hasn’t figured it out by now, given that he would know all the ways someone can hide and conceal something with their clothes.

The only other person they have yet to tell about the baby is Annabeth. Magnus doesn’t feel like that’s the kind of conversation you can have over the phone. “Hey cuz how’s it going? So big news, despite both me and Alex being undead warriors, we’re having a baby! Apparently I have some magical super fertility powers or something thanks to my dad being the God of Fertility. Isn’t that great?!’

Oh man, if Magnus thinks Blitz and Hearth are gonna kick his ass for not following their advice and always using protection, he doesn’t even want to think about what Annabeth will do.

“Why do I have to come?” Magnus asks in a tone of dread. 

“Uh because you’re the one that made this-” Alex waves a hand in front of her bump “Possible, so you get to be the one to explain the situation and your weird fertility powers. Now quit whining and feeling sorry for yourself and let's go !” 

Chapter Text

“Blitzen and Hearth are gonna kill me!” Magnus complains to Alex as Alex rummages in the back of her wardrobe trying to find something that will fit her. 

Alex rolls her eyes at her boyfriend’s dramatics. 

“No they won’t, especially not Hearth, he’s way too calm and gentle.” Alex points out. 

“Oh Gods you’ve never seen Hearth angry, dude is freaking terrifying Alex, terrifying ! I’ve only seen him mad once and I never want to see that side of Hearth again, I mean he learned rune magic from Odin , for Fray’s sake! He’ll probably turn me into a plan or something.” Magnus frets, running a hand through his hair as if certain he’s facing grave danger, again .

“Mmm that would be unfortunate, I kind of need you around to help me raise this kid, the only other person I would even slightly trust around here to help me raise my kid is Mallory.” Alex sighs, not wanting to indulge in Magnus’ panic and dramatics. 

Alex then pulls out a white shirt and mauve cardigan and frowns at the clothes.

“Ugh I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought these, but they’ll have to do for now I guess. Turn around while I get changed, Magpie.” Alex instructs her boyfriend, making a twirling motion in the air with her hand. 

“Alex you’re having my baby, I’ve seen you without a top on, it’s nothing new.” Magnus laughs, earning a scowl from his girlfriend, quickly regretting his words. 

“Look Magnus I’m not feeling very confident today, the body dysmorphia is bothering me again, I’m trying to get used to and accept how my body looks now I’m pregnant and showing, but that’s easier said than done. I don’t even want to see myself without a top on, and I certainly don’t want anyone else to see me without a top on, especially not my boyfriend. Yeah you’ve seen me shirtless before, but you haven’t seen me shirtless since the bump got so big, so please, just turn around, ok?” Alex confides, glancing at her bump in the mirror and running a hand over across it, trying to just get use to it being there. She's finding it hard to get use to her pregnant body, especially because the bump keeps growing and changing, always stirring up new emotions in Alex. 

Magnus’ face drops in empathy and he flushes slightly at having been so thoughtless. 

“Right, of course! Alex I’m so sorry, that was so thoughtless and stupid of me, I didn’t think about the body dysmorphia or anything. Of course I’ll turn around, I’ll leave the room if you want.” Magnus apologises in a sincere tone, feeling like a truly awful boyfriend right now. 

Alex shakes her head, some of her green hair falling into her face, it’s getting a bit long for her liking, and her roots are getting a bit too grown out as well, she’ll have to look for hair dye that’s safe for pregnancy. 

“It’s fine, just turn around.” Alex tells Magnus, not upset with him per say, more so upset that she has to deal with this body dysmorphia bullcrap again. 

Magnus nods and does just that, turning to face out towards the atrium, a smile growing on his face as he thinks of Alex and how much he adores her. 

“Hey Alex?” Magnus calls. 

“What?” Alex replies, just about getting the buttons on her white shirt to stay closed. 

“I love you.” Alex can’t help but smile. She’s glad Magnus didn’t try and tell her she has no reason to feel dysmorphic or be insecure about her body. The thoughts aren’t based in any reality, Alex knows that deep down, but at the same time those thoughts still cause very real and very understandable feelings, and sometimes she just wants to be allowed to feel how she feels. 

“Love you too Magpie.” 

20 minutes later Magnus and Alex are walking through the streets of Boston hand in hand, heading for Blitzen’s best where they assume Blitz and Hearth will be, it will either be there or Chase Space.

As they walk, Magnus can’t stop thinking about Annabeth and how she deserves to know what’s going on too, he promised her no more secrets, he can’t go back on that. Given that it’s still relatively early in the afternoon, Magnus is sure if he texts or calls his cousin now, she’ll be able to make the journey up to Boston, have lunch with him and get back home to New York before it gets too late. 

“I have to tell Annabeth about the baby soon, like really soon, today if I can. Do you think you’d be up for meeting her for lunch or something?” Magnus asks Alex, knowing that she is still struggling with nausea and vomiting and lack of appetite. 

As soon as Magnus mentions the word ‘Lunch’, Alex wrinkles her nose up and shakes her head. 

“Listen I love Annabeth but even just thinking about food makes me want to barf right here and right now, I cannot be around all those food smells at a café or something. Why don’t you just meet up with her by yourself? It’ll probably take most of the day for Blitz and I to find some good clothes for me and design new ones, you could have lunch with Annabeth while we do that.” Alex suggests, knowing that Magnus doesn’t have the same level of interest in fashion and fashion design that she and Blitz do.

“Yeah I guess I could do that, you don’t mind not being there when she finds out?” Magnus asks, knowing that Alex prefers to tell people big important things like this, herself. 

“I'm sure, honestly I don’t have the energy to do two things today, and like I said, I love Annabeth but I need clothes that fit me more than anything else, and look good on me.” Alex grins, a hand resting over her bump as she thinks of all the amazing clothes Blitz will design for her, and for the baby when she’s born. 

“Alright here goes nothing.” Magnus takes his phone out and quickly texts Annabeth. 

Hey, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, I have something to talk to you about, nothing’s wrong so don’t panic! Any chance you could come up to Boston today or maybe tomorrow?

Just a few minutes later, he gets a reply. 

I hate it when people have to tell me things, it’s always something bad or wacky. Yeah I’m free today so I can come up, I’ll text you when I’m in the city ok?  

“Well no going back now, Annabeth is free to meet today.” Magnus tells Alex, quickly showing her the message from his cousin. 

“Aww lighten up Beantown I’m sure she’ll only almost kill you.” 

5 minutes later Alex and Magnus push open the door to Blitzen’s best, Magnus walking in first and Alex joining him at his side just a few seconds later, slipping her hand into his, undeniably nervous about sharing this big news with their friends, though also quiet excited. It's nice to have something positive to share, for a change.

Thankfully the shop is totally quiet after the lunchtime rush, and the only ones on the shop floor are Blitz and Hearth themselves. Blitz is standing near the cash register, tidying a rail of clothes that got messed up in the rush, while Hearth sits on a stool behind the cash register, just watching Blitzen with eyes full of love, clearly head over heels for the dwarf.

Alex still doesn't understand how Magnus was oblivious enough to not notice that Hearth and Blitz are in a relationship with each other, and have been the entire time Magnus has known them. He just never realised, and happened to never see them do anything more than hold hands or hug, which he thought was entirely platonic. 

When he hears the door open, Blitzen looks over with Hearth following his gaze, to see Magnus and Alex walk into the store, neither of them noticing anything out of the ordinary just yet, though Blitz does notice Alex’s unusual choice of clothing, well, unusual for Alex that is.

“Hey guys.” Magnus greets his friends, waving hello to Hearth who isn’t close enough to read his lips. 

“Kid! Good to see you! And you Alex! Where you guys been? It’s been a while!” Blitz exclaims, happy to finally see his good friends again, he really has missed them. 

“Yeah about that, we’ve got a secret we want to share with you.” Alex says, her tone a mixture of hesitation and excitement. It is pretty cool that she and Magnus get to surprise people and give them good news for once, and Alex is looking forward to seeing Blitz and Hearth’s reactions. 

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Blitz asks, judging by Alex’s tone of voice that this isn’t a bad surprise, thank the Gods. 

With a grin, Alex steps out from behind the rail of clothes in front of her, revealing her bump that is not at all hidden or minimised by the shirt, which is fit snugly against her stomach. 

“Surprise?” Magnus tries for a cheerful tone but it comes out more like a question when he sees the look of complete shock on his friends’ faces. 

“Alex… are you…?” Blitz trails off, moving his gaze from Alex’s stomach to her face. 

“Hmm?” Alex pretends not to know what  Blitz means for a second, just for the drama. She then laughs and points down at her belly “Oh! You mean this? Yeah, I’m pregnant.” 

Blitz stares at her for another few seconds, looking like he is questioning everything he has ever known, occasionally stammering out the beginning of a “What?” or “How?” He raises one hand to his forehead as if to check himself for a fever, his eyes growing wide as he tries to comprehend this news. 

Meanwhile Hearth frowns at them, certain he must have misinterpreted Alex’s signs, although that wouldn’t explain her rounded stomach. 

Hearth raises his hands as though he is about to start signing, then seems to rethink it and drops his hands, repeating this process a few more times. All of which Alex is finding pretty damn funny, she low-key wants to whip out her phone and film Blitz and Hearth’s reactions, to look back at in months and years to come. 

Magnus waves his hand in front of Blitz’s face, looking at the dwarf with concern. 

“Hey Blitz? You good, buddy?” Magnus asks in a tone of concern. Can dwarves turn to stone from shock? Is that what's happening right now? 

“I…. how?! ” Blitzen finally exclaims, his face still a mask of confusion and puzzlement. 

“I doubt you want the details.” Alex casually replies, fluidly signing as she speaks. 

A look of horror crosses Hearth’s pale face and he shudders in his seat, shaking his head at the thought of what Alex is implying, not something he wants to think about. 

Is this a joke? Hearth asks, not sure what answer he is hoping for. 

“No my friend it is not, as for how it happened; well as you know our lovely Magpie here is the son of Frey, who you also know is the God of fertility. So it means that Beantown here is Mr. Fertile and has the super cool rare power to knock someone up even in the afterlife, and I just so happen to be the unlucky person.” Alex sighs, laying a hand across her bump. Though she doesn’t really consider herself unlucky to have gotten pregnant. Sure if given the choice she likely wouldn’t have chosen to get pregnant, but she doesn’t regret it now for one second and is ready to make the best of this tricky situation. 

“Well… so… does Odin know? Will you be allowed to keep the baby, raise them yourself, if that’s what you want?” Blitz asks, simultaneously worried about how Magnus and Alex will handle parenthood, and also worried about how negatively it would impact them and the baby if they were to be forcibly separated. 

“It is what we want, and yeah we actually just spoke to Odin yesterday, and Frigg. Odin seemed hesitant at first but once Alex told him how much we love this kid already he agreed that it would just be cruel to take the baby from us after they're’ born.

And also.... yesterday there was prophecy from the Norns... about our kid." Magnus replies, a little hesitant  and nervous to talk about the baby's destiny and fate at Ragnarök. It's not something he has entirely wrapped his head around yet.

"What do you mean? A prophecy about what exactly? Can prophecies even happen to someone who hasn't even been born yet?" Blitz asks in confusion, clearly never having heard the story about Percy and The prophecy from when he was 16.

"Apparently they can.... Yesterday at dinner, one of the Norns came right up to Alex and put her hand on her belly. To summarise.... the prophecy said that uh... our kid is... well... they're gonna lead the winning side at Ragnarök." Magnus begins, his tone turning shaky with fear towards the end. The thought of he and Alex's child always having such a huge responsibility hanging over them is pretty frightening. What if the poor kid can't handle that pressure and ends up cracking under the stress? 

Isn't that a good thing? Hearth asks, not sure why Magnus seems so shaken up by this particular fact. If this baby is one day going to fight at Ragnarök, then surely they'll be fighting with the Gods and Einherjar? And if they're destined to lead them to victory, maybe it means a change of fate for others too. Maybe Odin will end up surviving, maybe all the Gods will.

"It would be... if that was the end of the prophecy." Alex clarifies, signing as she speaks.

"There's more?" Blitz asks. 

"Yeah... two more things actually... the thing is... the baby.... they're not guaranteed to fight with the Gods and Einherjar... there's a possibility that they uh... might side with Loki." Magnus hesitantly admits, not even wanting to think about Loki being anywhere near this kid. 

"What? But... why would they side with Loki? That makes no sense!" Blitz nervously laughs, trying not to think about the fact that Loki could easily trick and deceive this kid into siding with him. Much like he tricked Magnus, Sam and Alex into helping him get free of his bonds not all that long ago.

"We don't really know, which is the scary part. Maybe it's more of a technicality, since the baby will have free will- they could freely choose to side with Loki, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will." Alex theorizes in a hopeful tone. She really can't imagine her kid one day growing up and choosing to fight on Loki's side, especially when they inevitably find out about all the horrific things he's done to their family and so many others.

"I hope you're right, kid." Blitz agrees quietly, now understanding Magnus and Alex's fear.

You said there were two more things, what else?  Hearth asks, before anyone can forget. 

Magnus and Alex share a look, and then Alex takes a deep breath and without hesitation, says "Our baby is going to survive Ragnarök. They're going to be the one to rebuild Asgard.... and lead it."

No one speaks or signs or even really moves a muscle over the next few minutes, as Hearth and Blitz try to comprehend and process this last bit of news.

"Wow." Blitz finally says after a while, his voice soft and quiet. "That... that's a big deal." 

"It is... and it's scary, but getting pregnant with this baby has only made me more determined than ever to keep Ragnarök at bay for as long as possible. This kid needs and deserves a chance to grow up, they deserve to have a normal childhood before they have to start training and preparing for doomsday, and preparing to become the leader of the new world." Alex tells them in a sure and determined tone, looking lovingly down at her belly and running a hand across it's surface, feeling the baby kick in response.

"Exactly." Magnus agrees. "The best place for our baby to grow up is in Valhalla."

"We’ll split our time between there and Midgard, Samirah and Amir need to be really involved with her, Percy and Annabeth too, and you guys of course. We’ll still help out plenty at Chase Space too, though probably not till after the baby is born, because pregnancy is making me so sick.” Alex explains, still feeling just as nauseous and queasy as she had at the start of the pregnancy, at this point she’s used to throwing up practically everyday and always feeling queasy.  

Baby is girl? Hearth signs, noticing how Alex had called the baby ‘ her'. 

“Well we think so, Alex has a feeling that the baby’s a girl, but they could be a boy, we don’t know for sure and we don’t care, we’re just so excited to meet this little one, I want her to look just like Alex.” Magnus says in a soft and sweet tone, smiling warmly at Alex and laying a warm hand on her stomach. 

Alex rolls her eyes but smiles at how loving and sweet Magnus is towards her and the baby. 

Hearth interrupts the sweet moment (which Alex is grateful for, not liking public displays of affection) by clapping his hands once to get their attention. 

We will help with baby, excited to meet her, you are going to be great parents. Despite their young age, Hearth knows just by the way Magnus and Alex talk about their baby, that they’re going to be amazing parents, he knows they will love and protect and cherish their child no matter what, and never see them as anything less than perfect. 

“Thanks pal, we’re really excited for you to meet her too.” Magnus grins, as Hearth stands up and moves to embrace Magnus tightly. 

Once Hearth pulls back from the hug, Magnus sees Blitz smiling proudly at him. 

“Awww come’er kid, I can’t stay mad at you! Hearth’s right, you’re gonna be a great dad.” Blitz says, pulling Magnus in for a warm hug. The kid is just too adorable and innocent to stay mad at. 

“Thanks Blitz, that means a lot to me, I hope you’re right.” Magnus softly admits, while Hearth hugs Alex, though not really fully being able to with the bump in the way. 

Blitz pulls back from the hug and looks at Magnus with fondness and love, then he frowns and slaps Magnus on the side of the head, as if to knock some sense into the adorable but stupid kid. 

“OW! What the hell man?!” Magnus exclaims in a tone of confusion, rubbing his head while Alex hides a laugh behind her hand. 

“What did I tell you about always using protection, huh?! Didn’t Hearth and I teach you better?!” Blitz sternly asks, remembering when he and Hearth awkwardly sat Magnus down in a corner booth of a fast food place when they were living on the streets, and doing their best to give him a decent education on sex and all things related to it, unsure if Natalie had ever talked to him about any of it before she died.

“Blitz! Dude, come on ! I’m dead, nobody ever told me I would need to use protection when I’m dead! I didn’t know I could have a kid in the afterlife! That’s something my dad failed to explain to me.” Magnus defends himself, although Frey probably doesn't know about this power either. 

“Oh no, no excuses! We taught him better than this, right Hearth?” Blitz asks, signing as he speaks and looking directly at the elf. 

Hearth nods solemnly. 

Was very awkward conversation and you didn’t even listen to us. Should always use protection unless trying to have a baby. Hearth signs, cringing at the memory of the uneasy talk with Magnus.

“Hearth not you too! Come on, nobody could have predicted this could happen!” Magnus argues, hating it when Hearth and Blitz go all disappointed-dads on him.

Right, but didn’t know for a fact that it wouldn’t happen either, so should have used protection. Hearth replies, having an answer for everything, it would seem. 

“Kid it’s ok, you don’t need to be ashamed or embarrassed, we’re not mad at you honestly, just… a little disappointed.” Blitz kindly says, which just makes Magnus even more embarrassed. 

Hearth nods his agreement and signs Baby is big responsibility, have to be sure you are ready for that.  

Magnus wishes the ground would just swallow him up right now, even if it means going to Helheim, anything would be better than this embarrassing conversation. And he suspects Hearth and Blitz are finding it more than just a little funny to embarrass him like this. 

“Oh my gods you really are his dads!” Alex laughs, leaning back against the counter where the register sits, enjoying the show, an embarrassed Magnus is her favorite Magnus. Just then, she realises something and immediately perks up. “Wait! If you’re his dads then that means_” 

“Oh no! Absolutely not!” Blitzen interjects in a warning tone, clearly able to see where this is going. 

“That means you’re the baby’s grandparents! Awww Grandpa Hearth and Grandpa Blitz!” Alex teases, earning a scowl from Blitz and no reaction at all from Hearth.

“Absolutely not! Uncle Hearth and Uncle Blitz! I am way too young to be called grandpa, we both are! But on to more pressing matters, Alex what in Odin’s name are you wearing?!” Blitz asks in a distasteful tone, wrinkling his nose up at the terrible excuse for an outfit. 

Alex frowns and looks down at her outfit. “It’s the only thing I have left that will fit me, that’s the main reason we’re here, can you make me some pregnancy clothes in my style? Please?” Alex hopefully asks, knowing Blitz can get pretty busy with the store, and doesn't always have time to take custom orders. 

“Oh as if you even have to ask, I’d be a terrible friend if I left you to wear things like that atrocious get up, I mean come on, a cardigan and leggings? What are you, 60?” Blitz teases, going behind the counter to grab his measuring tape.

“No, just really pregnant, thanks to Beantown over here.” Alex sighs, making Magnus roll his eyes at the nickname.

Is baby going to call you dad? Or Beantown? Hearth signs to Magnus, his mouth quirked up into a rare smile, as he finger spells Beantown so fast that Magnus highly doubts it’s the first time he’s signed the nickname. 

“Oh shut up or I will teach the baby to call you grandpa Hearth.” Magnus grumbles. 

Hearth just shrugs. Ok, don’t care what she calls me, just want her to be happy . 

“Ugh you are impossible to black mail!” Magnus sighs, making Hearth smirk in amusement. 

What do you wanna do while Alex and Blitz are busy? Hearth signs to Magnus. Usually they keep eachother company and entertained when Blitz and Alex are working together like this. Oftentimes playing card games, or sometimes Magnus lets Hearth teach him about runes and their meaning and purpose. Other times they just shoot the breeze and talk about anything and everything.

Have to go meet Annabeth later, tell her about baby, she doesn’t know yet. What do you wanna do? Magnus replies, deciding to let Hearth choose this time, seeing as the last time  they hung out like this, Magnus got to choose their activity and made Hearth watch The Great British Bake Off with him. (A habit of his he will not be judged for, he loves the cozy vibes and the camaraderie among the bakers!) 

Hearth shrugs, not being too fussed on what they do, he just likes to spend time with Magnus, plus he’s still trying to really process that Magnus is going to be a dad soon. To Hearth, Magnus is still just a kid, though of course like Hearth himself he has had to grow up quiet fast and all too soon. 

Talk? He suggests. 

Sure, what about? Magnus asks, while Alex and Blitz go through to the back. 

You, Alex, baby. Tell me everything, when did you find out?  Magnus sighs and sits back in his chair.

Everything? Good thing we have a lot of time to waste . 

So for the next while Magnus tells Hearth all about how Alex discovered she was pregnant, how she then told Magnus, how they hid the pregnancy for a few weeks, trying to wrap their minds around it, before eventually telling their hallmates, and then being summoned for a meeting with Odin and Frigg themselves.

By the time Magnus has told Hearth everything, they both need to take a few minutes to fully process the enormity of the situation. 

While they sit thinking, Magnus hears footsteps behind him and soon feels Alex hug him from behind, looping her arms around his shoulders and leaning her head against his.

“Hey.” Magnus softly says, turning to kiss Alex on the cheek.

“Hi.” Alex replies, her tone breathy as she stifles a yawn. “Your daughter’s really craving some cherry flavoured candy.” she adds. 

“Oh so she’s my daughter when she’s kicking real hard and making you crave stuff, but the rest of the time she's our daughter?” Magnus laughs, remembering having a very similar conversation with Alex yesterday, when she was trying to work on her pottery, but couldn't get comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time because the baby was kicking so much and so hard.

“Mhm, that’s right. So since I’m the one who is, ya know, actually growing this kid from scratch and giving her life, I figured the least you can do is go to the store and get us that cherry candy?” Alex grins in a knowing tone, fully aware that Magnus would do this even if she didn’t ask, but she likes to poke fun at him anyway.

“Hmmm I guess that’s fair, but should we really be feeding her sugar before she’s even born? ” Magnus teases, earning him a laugh from Alex. 

“Chase, I’m like 5 months pregnant with your baby, your baby who is damn heavy I might add, because of your weird son of fertility God powers, get me the damn candy.” 

He gets her the damn candy.

He and Hearth walk down to the small bodega a few doors down from Blitzen’s Best, Hearth joining Magnus because he wants to see the cat that belongs to the owner of the bodega, who always hangs out in the store and seems to really like Hearth. 

A few minutes after leaving the bodega, as Magnus stands outside the store with Hearth, waiting for his friend to finish playing with the cat by dangling the ends of his scarf just a few inches above the cat's head, making the cat jump up and grab at the scarf, Magnus suddenly feels a weight land on his back and arms loop around his shoulders, like Alex had done back at Blitzen’s Best. 

Without meaning to, Magnus lets out a very long and very high pitched scream, freezing in place, even though his instinct should be to fight, especially now he’s an Einherji.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Hearth reach for his pouch of runestones, after of course, he has finished playing with Steve the cat, having turned around just in time to see the terror flash across Magnus' face.

Just then Magnus sees long blonde hair fall into his face and hears laughter, a loud burst of laughter as if someone has just witnessed the funniest thing they have ever seen. And he recognizes that laugh. 

“ Annabeth?! ” Magnus asks in a shocked and breathy tone, a hand going to his chest to make sure his cousin didn’t scare Jack so badly that he jumped off Magnus’ neck chain and fell into the gutter or something. “What the hell?!”

Annabeth is now doubled over with laughter, hands on her knees, her face scrunched up in amusement.

“Oh my gods!” Annabeth gasps, wiping at tears of laughter and fanning her face with her hand to try and calm down. Only, when she sees Magnus’ shocked and astounded face, she busts up laughing again, wheezing and stammering something about “Your face” and “Priceless.”

Hearth looks at Magnus, puzzled. What is going on? Hearth signs. He’s met Magnus’ cousin once or twice before so he know Magnus isn’t in any real danger, but he’s not sure why she jumped on Magnus or how she seemingly appeared out of thin air. 

Magnus looks at Hearth with an equally bewildered expression and shrugs. Think my cousin been possessed by The Joker. This gets a small smile from Hearth. 

Possessed by The Joker- good one. Hearth signs, the amusement clear on his face.

"Oh my gods, oh Magnus that was so funny, your scream, your expression, the fact that you just stood there…” Annabeth has to try really hard to hold back another fit of giggling. “It was priceless.” 

“Where did you come from?!” Magnus demands, still a little breathless from the scare. Thank Gods Alex isn’t here, or she would’ve filmed the whole thing and sent it to all their friends by now, probably captioned it something like Local Einherjar who previously postponed Ragnarök, jump scared by his cousin, screams in lowercase. 

“New York, duh.” Annabeth dryly replies with a smirk. Magnus rolls his eyes. 

“I mean how did you just… appear like that? Did you like… drop out of the sky or something?” Magnus asks, glancing up at the clear blue sky just in case it is raining Greek demi-gods. Hearth follows his gaze, like he’s worried about this too.

“My mom’s gift comes in handy for questing and pranking.” Annabeth grins, spinning her Yankees baseball cap around on her index finger, her other hand resting on her hip.

“I hate that stupid hat.” Magnus grumbles. This is not the first time Annabeth’s used her cap to get one over on him. Just a few months ago the two of them plus Percy and Estelle were playing hide and seek, Annabeth and Estelle against Magnus and Percy. Annabeth had not only used her hat to keep herself and Estelle hidden, (The invisibility magic of the cap worked on Estelle too because Annabeth was holding the toddler on her hip) she had also used it to sneak up on Magnus and Percy and practically make both boys jump out of their skin. 

Annabeth just laughs, then turns and smiles at Hearth and signs Hey, sorry if I scared you, only meant to scare Magnus.  

Hearth just smiles slightly and shakes his head.

Didn’t scare me, you are right, Magnus’ face, very funny.  

“Hey, quit talking about my face!” Magnus exclaims, signing as he speaks so that Hearth isn’t forced to read his lips. 

“Aww sorry cuz, your face is adorable!” Annabeth teases, lightly grabbing Magnus by the chin and planting a kiss on his cheek. “So what do you have to talk to me about?” Annabeth’s tone turns more serious and concerned, when she remembers she didn’t come up to Boston just to prank Magnus.

Magnus sighs and runs a hand through this hair. 

“I’ll tell you over lunch, we have a lot to catch up on.”

Chapter Text

Hearth. Magnus turns to his friend, who has looped his scarf back around his neck and put his runestones pack in his pocket. Can you give these to Alex please? Tell her I'm going for lunch with Annabeth- have my phone if Alex needs me. 

Magnus figures that he and Annabeth will be walking in the opposite direction of Hearth, heading towards a café about a 10 minute walk away, where the two of them usually go when they meet up in Boston like this.

Hearth nods and accepts the plastic bag of red candy from Magnus, slipping it into his coat pocket alongside his pouch of runestones.

Thanks man, you're the best. See you later. Magnus thanks Hearth, appreciating this simple but very helpful favour. 

If Annabeth doesn't kill you when you tell her news. Hearth signs, knowing that Annabeth is going to be as shocked and confused as he and Blitz were. (And still are to a degree.) 

What? What news? Why will it make me kill him? Annabeth signs, looking between Magnus and Hearth and trying to guess what Hearth meant, going off the looks on he and Magnus' faces. But as usual Hearth has a pretty blank look on his face, apart from a slight knowing smile, and Magnus just looks like he is dreading whatever conversation he needs to have with Annabeth. 

You'll see, bye! Hearth quickly signs, before giving Steve the cat one more scratch behind the ears. Then he turns and walks back towards Blitzen's Best, still occasionally smiling faintly, into the collar of his jacket, at the memory of the look on Magnus' face when Annabeth scared him, and at Magnus' joke about Annabeth being possessed by The Joker.

"What was Hearth talking about? What's going on?" Annabeth whirls on Magnus within seconds of Hearth leaving, her stormy grey eyes boring into his- demanding answers. Magnus forgot that Annabeth can be pretty scary sometimes. 

"Woah personal space please!" Magnus exclaims, holding his hands up between him and his cousin, who is just inches from his face now. "I promise I'll tell you over lunch!" 

"Fine." Annabeth curtly replies, before grabbing Magnus by the wrist and pulling him after her as she starts walking. "Then lets go!"

Magnus and Annabeth make their way to the nearby local café with outdoor seating that has become their usual meetup spot, choosing to sit outside to both enjoy the nice weather, and because it’s less crowded out here.

“So come on spill the beans, what’s going on?” Annabeth prompts, sipping her coffee and looking at Magnus with raised eyebrows.

“Well… promise you won’t freak out?” Magnus hesitantly asks, knowing that it’s quiet a silly thing to ask, whatever Annabeth thinks he’s about to tell her, she’s most likely very very wrong.

“No! Tell me Magnus you’re starting to freak me out!” Annabeth demands, lightly tapping/kicking Magnus on the shin.

“Ok, here goes…” Magnus takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes. “Alex is pregnant.” There are several seconds of silence, and Magnus is slightly concerned that Annabeth has just up and left, so he opens one eye to see she is still very much sitting in front of him, her cup halfway to her mouth, slack jawed and looking completely flummoxed. “Uh… Annabeth? Did you hear me?” Magnus cautiously asks, afraid that he’s sent her into a state of shock, now that would be difficult to explain to Percy or Uncle Frederick. 

“I think I misheard you, because from where I’m sitting it sounds like you said ‘Alex is pregnant’.” Annabeth nervously laughs, already knowing that she didn’t actually mishear Magnus, but holding out hope that she did, because that conversation would be so awkward if she didn't.

“Uh yeah… that uh… that’s what I said.” Magnus sheepishly admits, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“But… I mean… you’re both…” Annabeth looks around to make sure no one is close by or listening in, then in a hushed tone she continues her sentence. “You’re both dead !”

“I know, that’s what we thought too at first, but uh well Samirah- and everyone else at this point- thinks that because my dad is God of Fertility, then I ah… have powers that… well basically, powers that mean I can have kids, even though I’m an Einherji, and so is Alex.” Magnus carefully explains, not wanting to go into a big long winded explanation, he’s getting pretty tired of having to explain this over and over. Maybe he should take a leaf out of Odin’s book and make a PowerPoint on it, he could call it Pregnancy: It can happen to einherjar too.

“Wow… a baby… Magnus, this is a huge deal.” Annabeth quietly says, looking at her cousin with worry, all magical godly stuff aside, Magnus is only 16, will he be able to manage the realities of parenthood?

“I know, I had no idea this could happen, that I had these powers. Even when Alex started getting sick and stuff, neither of us pieced it together, it was Sam who figured it out. It was a huge shock, still is of course but…” Magnus trails off as he again remembers the feeling of the baby kicking earlier that day, he and Alex’s baby that they made together, out of their love for each other, it doesn’t get much more special and amazing than that. 

“Annabeth all I can say is that I know this is gonna be hard in every possible way, I know having a kid is a huge deal and I probably won’t know the full extent of it until the baby is here. But oh my gods Annabeth the love I have for that little baby already…it’s amazing. I can feel her kicking now, and when I talk to Alex’s bump, the baby responds, she kicks and wriggles and moves all over the place. 

I know it’s not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows, I’m sure I won’t be so excited when I’m up at 3AM changing dirty diapers, but… I want to do all that, we both do, Alex and I.
You’re right, it’s a huge deal, but it’s not bad either. You know the whole world of Norse gods and folklore and all that is heavily linked with destiny, I feel like Alex and I were destined to become parents to this baby. Maybe not right now, maybe not for another few years, but hey what’s wrong with meeting such a great destiny, a little early?” 

Woah Magnus thinks to himself. Where did that come from? That was poetic as hell! Maybe Kvasir’s Mead takes a really long time to work.  

“Oh Magnus, that was so sweet.” Annabeth sniffs, tearing up a bit at hearing her cousin talk so beautifully about his unborn baby. Maybe he’s right, maybe this is exactly what has always been in store for him and Alex all along, maybe this is their fate, their destiny. 

“Do you wanna be Godmother?” Magnus grins, trying to lighten the mood a bit. 

“Like Christian Godmother?” Annabeth laughs, unable to imagine Magnus in a formal suit with a baby in a long white gown and bonnet, standing beside a priest and a baptismal font. 

“Nah I don’t think they let kids of undead Norse atheist warriors get baptised.” Magnus teases, also laughing, imagining the chaos of a bunch of Pagan Gods, demi-gods, undead warriors, mortals and  a Dwarf and an Elf crowded into a church. 

“How about I just be ‘Aunt Annabeth’? You and I are more like brother and sister than cousins anyway, and I assume your other friends will be honorary aunts and uncles?” Annabeth lightly asks, quiet liking the idea of being an aunty, she imagines the role will be similar to the big-sister role she plays in Estelle’s life, and she sure does love Estelle, and being her ‘Ambef’, as she calls her.

“Sounds good to me.” Magnus agrees with a grin and a nod. 

The two sit in comfortable silence for a minute, before Annabeth sets her coffee mug down and looks at Magnus, her gaze intense and serious. “Why didn’t you use protection?” she sternly asks, seeing no point in beating around the bush with such an important question. 

Magnus groans and puts his face in his hands. Not this again!

“Please Annabeth, I don’t need another lecture on this, I just got one from Blitz and Hearth!” Magnus begs, shifting his chair a little further away from Annabeth in case she decides to slap him like Blitz did.  

“Well you know what they say, third times the charm! Maybe you’ll think twice next time! You know there is never a good reason to have unprotected sex when you aren’t actively trying to have a baby!”

“I didn’t realise that would apply in the afterlife !! I’ve been at Valhalla awhile now, ok? Nobody ever told me that’s something to worry about, nobody knew this could happen! Please, Annabeth gimme a break.” Magnus implores, clasping his hands together as if in prayer, his forehead resting against his hands.

“Uh-uh, not good enough, no excuses means no excuses.” Annabeth states, folding her arms and giving Magnus a look that lets him know he’s not gonna win this one. 

“Ok fine, I was an idiot! There, happy now?” Magnus caves, not wanting to hear the rest of this lecture.

Annabeth grins satisfactorily.

“Very. Now run your name ideas past me so I can make sure they’re not verging on cruelty.”

The two cousins spend about an hour and a half together at lunch altogether. Magnus tells her about the prophecy surrounding the baby, how he and Alex's daughter is destined to survive Ragnarök and a whole bunch of other scary stuff. Annabeth is a bit shaken too, like Blitz and Hearth were. But she quickly regains her composure and promises Magnus that she will try and learn some more about prophecies like these. She tells Magnus that she'll talk to Chiron, at Camp Half-Blood to see if he has any advice or knowledge on the matter.

Of course, Chiron is extremely well versed in Greek prophecies, and not so much Norse ones, but Annabeth figures they can't be all that different, and it's worth asking him, anyway.

Soon they are all talked out, and Annabeth has to get back home and get back to studying. Magnus has no idea how she’s going to make it back before tonight, but Annabeth assures him she has her ways and promises to text him when she gets home, to let him know she’s safe.

They part with a hug and promise to see each other again soon, and while Annabeth walks one way, Magnus walks the other, back towards his girlfriend and their baby, his whole world. 

By the time Magnus gets back to the store,  Blitzen has taken all of Alex’s measurements and the two have agreed on designs and colors for the clothes, which will be ready in a few weeks. In the meantime Alex has been able to find a few things off the rail that she doesn’t mind wearing until the custom clothes are ready. 

They have also come up with a few designs for some baby clothes, mainly a few onesies (at least 2 in pink and 2 in green), and a few dresses since it will be Spring when baby is born, and regardless of if they’re a boy or a girl, a dress on a baby is just adorable. 

Once they finish up at Blitzen’s Best, Magnus and Alex head back to Valhalla. When they get back to the hotel, Alex decides to lie down and sleep for a while, feeling completely exhausted from the busy day, while Magnus goes to hang out with T.J., Mallory and Gunderson in the lounge area. 

Unfortunately Alex’s nap turns out not to be as peaceful and restful as she hopes. 

The moment she drops off to sleep and starts dreaming, she finds herself in the very last place she wants to be, her bedroom in her childhood home. To make matters worse, standing just a few feet in front of her, leaning back against the wall, is her mother- Loki. Dressed in a spotless white redsox jersey and black jeans with pristine white tennis shoes, his dirty blonde hair rumpled and messy as if he just got out of bed, the tips of his hair all varying between red, blonde, and yellow. His arms are folded over his chest and his scared face is twisted in a smirk.

Instantly Alex’s hand flies up to her stomach, while she is filled with an immediate and overwhelming instinct to protect her child no matter what. 

“Well well Alex, been a while hasn’t it?” Loki calmly says, his gaze drifting from her face to her bump. A look of intrigue flashes in his eyes and he lets out a low chuckle. “My my dear, you’ve been busy haven’t you? You and Fray's Brat?” 

Just the sound of her mother’s voice brings back some of the worst memories of Alex's life, and her breath immediately hitches in her throat, followed only seconds later by the horrendously familiar feeling of bile rising in her throat. Great, even in dreams she can’t escape the nausea and vomiting. 

Without a word, Alex covers her mouth with her hand, turns on her heel and sprints into the ensuite bathroom, collapsing on her knees in front of the toilet just as she begins to violently heave up the contents of her stomach. 

Seconds later Alex feels two cold hands brush her hair back from her face and rub circles on her upper back. She wants more than anything to slap Loki’s hands away, but of course she is too busy being violently sick to do so. 

Finally after a few minutes, the vomiting passes and Alex folds her arms over the toilet seat in front of her and buries her face in her arms, taking in deep and shuddering breaths as she tries to catch her breath.

“Ah I remember this part of pregnancy all too well, even Gods suffer with morning sickness, though why they call it ‘morning sickness when it lasts all day I have no idea!

I had it terribly when I was pregnant with you, you know. That's how I found out I was carrying you, I couldn't stop being sick. The sickness never let up the whole pregnancy, it was a very unpleasant ordeal I must say.

I likely should have warned you that you would probably experience a difficult pregnancy too, but then again I didn’t think you’d manage to get pregnant after you became an Einherji, very impressive of you sweetheart, though it was your summer-y boyfriend who is mainly responsible.” Loki calmly tells Alex, with a hint of sympathy and empathy in his tone, as though this was just an average every day mother-daughter conversation. 

Alex slowly lifts her head from her arms and turns to glare at Loki, shrugging his hand off where it is still resting on her back, as though he is trying to comfort her. 

“Loki, what the Helheim do you want?!” Alex growls, wiping her mouth with her sleeve and shakily getting to her feet.

Loki tasks as he also gets to his feet and leans back against the bathroom wall behind him.

“Now now Alex, is that anyway to talk to your mother?” Loki chides. “I need to talk to you dear, about that little baby in your belly.” 

Once again, Alex’s hand immediately comes up to hold her bump, as if she can shield her unborn child from Loki, with just her hand. 

“Don’t, don’t you dare talk about my baby!” Alex hisses, hating that Loki even knows about the baby, and clearly wants something to do with her. 

“Oh come now darling, you can’t expect me to just ignore my grandchild, but there is a problem, you see.” Loki detaches himself from the wall and walks right up to Alex, standing over her and smirking down at her. “You see dear, this baby growing inside you is without a doubt one of a kind, one of the most powerful beings ever created. A grandchild of two Gods, one Æsir, one Vanir, and the child of two Einherjar under the protection of Odin. 

As you have said yourself my dear, and as the prophecy says, she can and will change the course of destiny at Ragnarök. She could not only lead me to victory, not only possibly ensure I survive Ragnarök, but she will also be key in helping me takeover Asgard. She will help me become the new King of the Gods- the ones that are left. she will be the most valuable and useful weapon on that battlefield.” Loki lays his hand possessively across Alex’s stomach, his touch cold and sinister. His eyes light up in delight at just the mere thought of how powerful and useful this child will be one day.

Before Alex can reply she feels a powerful kick from within, and she can’t help but smirk a bit, clearly her daughter is not too happy at Loki being so up in Alex’s face. 

At the feel of the kick, Loki’s eyes brighten even further and he lets out a short laugh of delight. “Well hello there little one! Are you saying hello to me?” Loki says to Alex’s bump, his tone full of unbridled excitement. Though not normal grandparent-ly excitement, more like the way Alex sees T.J.’s face light up when he sees his riffle.

“Get off me!” Alex exclaims, trying to shove Loki’s hand away as hard as she can. “And do not talk to my baby! She is not a weapon, she’s my child!” Loki just chuckles lightly. 

“Oh but my dear Alex she is, and she will be a weapon. And not just at Ragnarök either, with her at my side I will never loose a fight of any kind ever again. Her powers will be like none other. I can tell already just by how hard she is kicking.” Loki presses his hand further against Alex’s bump, causing her to flinch and once again attempt to shove her mother’s hand away. 

“I said get off me!!” Alex grits out through ground teeth, finally succeeding in pushing Loki’s hand away.

“Oh Alex, don't be so tetchy! Anyway darling, shouldn’t you be glad I’m not threatening Fray’s brat to do the right thing by you and marry you, hm? Aren't you glad I’m not threatening him full stop for getting my daughter pregnant at only 16? Most parents would be absolutely furious, whereas I just want to help you.” Loki’s tone drips with mockery and persuasion, Alex can feel him trying to will her to just listen to him, to trust him. It’s harder than usual to resist, but not impossible. 

“You only want to help yourself! You don’t care about my happiness or doing “what’s right” by me and you never have! You just want to use my baby and that is not going to happen!” Alex loudly and firmly tells her mother, her chest rising and falling quickly as she breathes heavily, glowering at Loki. 

“Well you see dear therein lies the problem. I'm sure you can see why I’m not very fond of the idea of my grandchild fighting with the Gods and you Einherjar at Ragnarök, if she is not on my side she will be my downfall, if she is not on my side I face a fate far worse than being killed by that fool Heimdall. So you see darling, unfortunately I cannot stand by and allow you to raise this child, raise her to lead the Gods to victory. 

However I am not an unfair mother, I have two options for you from which you are entirely free to choose. 

You can carry on with your pregnancy, and when the child is born you can hand her over to me, so that I may be the one to raise her, to train her and teach her so she will lead the giants and I to victory on the day of Ragnarök.

Or... you can refuse, but if you do, I will ensure that this child never gets to see outside your belly.” With that final word, Loki prods Alex’s stomach, making her stumble back a few steps and protectively wrap her arms around her stomach. 

“No way! I will never let you anywhere near my baby! I wouldn’t trust you with my plants, let alone my baby! You are not going to harm a single hair on this baby’s head, I will stop you myself if I have to, I swear to Odin that nobody is laying a finger on my baby!” Alex’s voice is taught and filled with fury as she speaks through gritted teeth. 

“Alex dear I don’t think you truly understand, this is not just an essence of myself standing here before you, I am completely and 100% me. I escaped from that cavern once before and I have done it again, you do not stand a single chance against me my love. Not you, not your little boyfriend, not even your sister, or any of your little friends in Valhalla. 

I will give you one more chance sweetheart, to accept the first choice I offered you, nothing need happen to the child. You can continue the pregnancy peacefully and I’ll even do my best to take away that nasty morning sickness for you. You could even see the child from time to time as she grows up, as could your sister, and perhaps if I’m feeling extra generous, even Frey’s brat could see her. And you can go back to enjoying your afterlife, no need to worry or think about things like diapers and sleepless nights full of endless crying. You can leave all that to me.

All you have to do my dear girl, is simply say yes, agree to hand the child to me at birth and allow me to raise her. I will swear to you if you agree to this that I will never harm her, nor let anyone else harm her. But if you don’t agree, then I am afraid I will have to take more drastic measures.” Once again Alex can feel Loki trying to persuade her, trying to will her to just give in, just agree, it doesn’t have to be so difficult and such a fight, he could give her daughter a good life. But Alex knows it’s all lies and deceit, as it always is with her mother. 

Alex frantically shakes her head. 

“No! You’re not getting near her and you’re not going to hurt her either, I won’t let you!” Alex yells, making an attempt to twist away from her mother, but Loki is much faster than her, and quick as a flash he reaches out and grabs her arm, his fingers digging into her flesh and his grip as strong as iron. 

With a frown, Loki pulls Alex back so that she is standing in front of him again. Loki brushes Alex’s hair out of her eyes and looks at her with sympathy and a hint of sadness. 

“Then I am afraid I cannot let the child live Alex, I am sorry my darling but this has to be done. This is going to hurt, I’m afraid, though I will try and make it as brief and painless as possible for you.” Loki then presses a kiss to his daughter’s forehead, before he simply lays his hand over Alex’s swollen stomach. 

Instantly, Alex is overcome with an excruciating pain radiating through her stomach and into her back. She cries out in pain and clutches at her stomach as she drops to her knees, overcome with wave after wave of the most intense pain of her life. 

“No! No please!” Alex sobs, internally begging her baby to stay with her, not to let go. “Please make it stop!!” Alex begs, crying out in pain again as she is hit with another wave of pain. 

Loki frowns and kneels down beside Alex on the floor, putting an arm around her and pulling her into an embrace. He kisses her forehead again, and rubs her arm soothingly.

“I know darling I know. I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm sorry it has to be this way. Don't worry, it will be over soon dear, I promise. It’s time to wake up now Alex.” 

Seconds later Alex sits bolt upright in bed, the pain still searing through her, and a warm wet feeling spreading underneath her. 

“No.” Alex mutters to herself in a breathy tone, shaking her head in denial. “No no no no no!” 

Alex rips the covers off her, and sees blood pooling between her legs, staining the white sheets of the bed and completely soaking through her green leggings.

“MAGNUS!!!!!”

Chapter Text

Magnus bursts open the bedroom door and rushes into the room in a panic just seconds after hearing Alex scream for him, with Samirah, Mallory, T.J. and Gunderson all right behind him with their weapons drawn, ready to defend Alex. 

However when they get into the room, they find Alex is completely alone, sitting in the middle of the bed, doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach while her face contorts in pain. Alex’s hair is sticking to her face with sweat, tears pouring down her cheeks, a look of pure and utter terror in her eyes. Worst of all is the small puddle of blood gathering between her legs, her once lime green leggings now dyed red with blood.

“Alex!! Oh Gods, what happened, what’s wrong?!” Magnus asks in a frantic tone, dropping Jack (who will never forgive him for that.) and rushing to Alex’s side in sheer terror. 

“The baby! Magnus, you need to heal her!” Alex sobs, grabbing Magnus’ hand and placing it on her belly, knowing that this is the only way to save their baby, and they don’t have long to do so.

“Why? What’s wrong, why are you bleeding?” Magnus hurriedly asks, his voice completely overtaken with panic.

“I’ll explain later Magnus, we don’t have much time! You need to heal her!” Alex exclaims, pressing his hand further against her bump, trying to get across to him just how urgent and time sensitive this is.

“A-alright, okay.” Magnus places his other hand on Alex’s bump, takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and lets the power of Frey flow through him. Immediately, he can sense that the bleeding is coming from the placenta, which is falling apart right in front of his eyes. “Just hang on little one, you’re not leaving us.” Magnus mutters to himself, summoning more of the power of Frey, willing the placenta to mend, to piece itself back together. 

What feels like hours later, but is really only seconds, a minute at most, Magnus can tell the placenta is fully intact and right where it should be, the bleeding has stopped and when he feels Alex’s grip on him loosen, he knows her pain has stopped too. 

He lets out a sigh of relief, and sits back, nodding slightly to Alex to let her know everything is ok now. 

“Is she okay, did you heal her?” Alex weakly asks, still holding one of Magnus’ hands to her stomach, his warm and loving touch the only thing keeping her grounded right now. 

“Yeah I did, she’s ok now, it was a close call but she’s ok now.” Magnus softly assures Alex, trying to stop his hand from shaking as he reaches out and brushes her hair back from her face.

  “Alex?” Samirah’s gentle tone alerts Alex and Magnus to the fact that their friends are still in the room, standing by the doorway. “What happened?” Sam asks in the same gentle tone, as she sits on the bed next to Alex and places a comforting hand on her sister’s arm, looking at her with eyes full of concern. 

Alex closes her eyes for a brief moment, the image of Loki standing over  her still strong in her mind, tears still trickling down her face as she thinks of his words, his threats and ultimatums. 

“L-Loki.” Alex says in a shuddering voice. “I-I saw him in my dream, and it was really him, not just an essence of him. I don’t know how but he escaped the cavern again. 

He… he told me that he knows my daughter is destined to lead the winning side at Ragnarök, whoever’s side she’ll fight on will be the one to win, because of her powers as a grandchild of two gods, one Æsir and one Vanir, and the kid of two Einherjar. 

H-he said that this baby will be his key to taking Asgard, if she fights with him then he'll survive Ragnarök, and he'll be the leader of Asgard and the new world, and this baby will be... so loyal to him and so... so powerful that... he'll never loose another battle ever again, once she's on his side.

Then he told me that if the baby doesn't fight on his side, she's going to be his downfall, and he'll suffer a fate much worse than being killed by Heimdall.

Loki…h-he said that either Magnus and I could hand the baby over to him when she’s born, let him raise her and train her to fight with him and the giants at Ragnarök o-or… well his exact words were that he… he’d make sure she never got to see outside my belly.

I was so determined not to let him hurt her, and I would never agree to hand her over to him, I told him where to stick it but… I couldn't get away from him, he had this… this crazy strong grip on my arm, and then… then he just touched my stomach and I felt excruciating pain, and then I woke up and I was bleeding.” Tears are now rapidly rolling down Alex’s face again, as she recounts the story of what happened, terrified now for her daughter.

“Oh Gods, Alex, that must have been terrifying.” Sam quietly says, pulling her sister in for an embrace, rubbing Alex’s back as she cries into her shoulder. 

“That won’t be his last attempt, he’s going to keep trying until he succeeds, he always gets what he wants in the end.” Magnus quietly says, filled with fear and dread at what Loki might try next, wracking his brain for any way to stop him and keep him away from the baby. 

“Then we have to kill him, plain and simple.” Mallory decides, her arms crossed over her chest, still clutching her knives. 

“Yeah but how? And even if we do, he’ll just reform sooner or later, probably by the time the baby is born.” T.J. frets, also not sure how to best help to protect Alex and the baby. 

“Perhaps I can help with that.” An unfamiliar voice fills the room, and everyone’s gaze is drawn to the foot of the bed, where they see a woman standing, a woman with long flowing blonde hair cascading down her back, a pale, emaciated, leathery face with blood red tears constantly flowing down her cheeks. Dressed in an emerald green dress similar to those worn in the renaissance area, with long flowing sleeves and a black corset around her waist. 

“Sigyn?” Magnus asks in an unsure tone, only having a vague recollection of Sigyn from the last time he saw her, on Nagalfar.

“Hello again Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro, and everyone else.” Sigyn calmly greets them, her tone seems warm and Magnus swears he sees her faintly smile at him.

“Why would you want to help me? I’m your step-child, the product of your spouse’s affair.” Alex asks, sure that just like her mortal step-mother hated her, Sigyn does too. 

However, Sigyn smiles warmly at Alex and moves closer to her side. 

“That is not your fault Alex, you did not ask to be born from infidelity or to Loki, you are entirely innocent. And to be quite honest, by the time Loki met your father, I was no longer in love with him. You see, by then I had endured centuries of verbal, emotional and mental abuse from him.

At first he was grateful that I willingly stayed in that cavern with him, appreciative that I at least tried to keep some of the venom out of his face, but before long that wore off, and since he couldn’t take his anger out on the Gods, I was the next best thing. 

I won’t get into the details but needless to say I no longer hold any love for Loki, and to now find out he is threatening a baby, his own grandchild, especially after what happened to our own sons… well it makes me want him gone just as much as you do, Alex.” Sigyn’s voice is calm and warm as she explains her willingness to help, a look of deep, deep sadness in her eyes and all over her face.

“But how do we get rid of him? How do we even know where he is?” Gunderson asks. At this, Sigyn smiles slyly. 

“Well that takes a bit of explaining. 

I’ve been lying low for the past while, knowing Loki would no doubt come looking for me for one reason or another, which I absolutely do not want. I have been staying in Vanaheim with my dear friend Freya. Over time I opened up to her about the abuse I suffered at Loki’s hands, and not long later she gave me a gift, forged by some of her dwarven children. Twins blades that are infused with the power to kill Loki, though not forever. But for a long time, a decade or two at least. She did not tell me how exactly that was possible, but I do know that each of these knives can each only be wielded once, after that they dissolve. 

With the blades I have the ability to kill Loki, but I must get close enough to strike him with the weapon, and even then as I said, I only get one shot per knife.  It may take both blades to get the job done, or it may only take one, I'm not sure, but either way I would like to help you young heroes. If I can save another parent going through the pain I did, of loosing my boys, then I am only too happy to do that." Sigyn explains, a pained expression on her face as she thinks of her sons, the brief time she, Loki and their boys had together as a happy and content family. Before Loki really started to become hellbent on causing as much mischief and upset for the Æsir as possible.

“Ok but… how do we go about doing that exactly? It’s not like we know where Loki is or anything, and even if we did, how would you be able to get close enough to him?” Alex asks, laughing lightly as she feels a light kick from the baby, as if her daughter is backing up her question. She's never been so relieved to feel her baby kick her. 

“Ah well that is the dangerous part I’m afraid, or rather the most dangerous part.

The one thing that Loki wants right now more than anything, Alex, is your child, alive or not, he wants her.” Sigyn’s tone is cautious, aware that what she is planning on proposing is a big ask of Alex. 

“Woah woah woah hang on a second!” Magnus exclaims, sensing where this conversation is going. Please tell me you’re not about to suggest what I think you are! That Alex agrees to meet with Loki on the pretence of giving him our baby?!” Magnus’ tone is full of anger and disbelief now, hardly able to believe Sigyn would even suggest such a thing.

“I understand it is a frightening concept, Son of Frey, but it is our only choice, our only way of getting close to Loki. I am not as powerful as he is, and cannot harm him in a dream, as he attempted to harm Alex and your child earlier. Of course, you will not be alone in this, your child is under the protection of Odin so I do not doubt that he will agree to help us, and I'm sure Thor will too, seeing as you got his hammer back for him, and given that Sif is very fond of you, Alex.  And I’m sure your friends here are eager to help, too.” 

“Uh, excuse me… My Lady… I uh, don’t mean to be rude or disrespectful or anything but uh I doubt Loki is going to stay once he sees Odin, Thor and all of us. He’ll only want to see and talk to Alex, in private.” T.J. points out in a sheepish tone, terrified of upsetting the Goddess and getting turned into stone or something. 

“No! No way! Alex can’t meet with Loki on her own, that is way too dangerous!” Magnus exclaims in a tone of alarm, knowing that while Alex is more than capable of protecting herself and their baby, he can’t sit back and just let Alex walk into danger, especially not on her own. 

“You are right, son of Tyr, but worry not Son of Frey, we will not be sending Alex in alone. 

Magnus we all know that Loki is no fan of yours, he will want to get close to you too, try and harm you again in some way. However, if you are with Alex, she and the child will be his main priority, and he will be focused on getting Alex to agree to hand the baby over to him, after all he would prefer the child to be alive, so she can lead him and the giants to victory at Ragnarök.

I have no doubts that Loki will agree to meet with both of you. We will arrange a public meeting spot somewhere in Midgard, where Odin, Thor, your friends and I will hide. You will need to gain his full attention somehow, get him to let his guard down. That is when I will make my move and we will have plenty of backup should the need arise.” Sigyn explains. 

“That… is not a terrible idea.” Magnus admits, though still filled with fear and worry for Alex and their baby, wishing they didn’t have to do any of this and could just enjoy waiting and preparing for their baby’s arrival. “And Hearth and Blitz will definitely want to help too, the more backup we have, the better. Hearth alone has saved our asses so many times with his rune stone magic.” Magnus adds, knowing how upset and angry Hearth and Blitz would be if they tried to face down Loki without them.

“Yes, your Dwarf and Elf friends, they will be very helpful indeed.” Sigyn agrees. 

“So then how are we going to contact Loki and arrange this meeting then?” Gunderson calmly asks, hefting one of his axes onto his shoulder. 

“He’ll show up in my dreams again, I know he will, like Magnus said, he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. When I go to sleep tonight and he shows up in my dreams, I can arrange a meeting with him. Tell him Magnus and I want to meet him in Midgard so we can talk about us giving him the baby.” Alex quietly says, hating the idea of even pretending to be willing to hand her child over to Loki, 

“Are you sure that’s safe, Alex? For you or the baby? Maybe I should be the one to try and contact him, I’m his child too, I’m sure I can find a way to get in contact with him.” Samirah offers, looking down into her sister’s face, her arm around Alex’s shoulders, holding her close and tight, holding her protectively. Sam is only 10 months older than Alex, but still feels extremely protective of her little sibling, even though Alex is more than capable of protecting and defending herself. Alex herself is in return, extremely protective of Samirah, as is evidenced by the fact Alex pretended to be Samirah and pretended to marry the giant Thrym. 

“I’m sure, he’s not going to hurt me if he thinks I’m willing to give him the baby, but he could and would hurt you, he’s tried before. I know you’re stronger now and better able to resist his will but it’s still safer for me to be the one to contact him.” Alex reassures her sister, reaching up to lovingly pat one of Sam’s hands, beyond grateful for her and the love and support she’s given to her not only through the last few months of pregnancy, but from the moment Sam brought Alex to Valhalla. 

“Alex is right, Sam, it’s less risky this way because Loki wants the baby so much. If anything starts to go wrong tonight I’ll be right there with Alex and will be able to help her in seconds.” Magnus affirms, knowing Loki would not hesitate to hurt Sam if she got in his way. 

“Ok well then that’s sorted. Magnus you should go and talk to Blitz and Hearth before tonight, then we can all meet in the dining hall tomorrow morning. Tell Hearth and Blitz to come too, meet us in the dining hall.” Mallory declares, taking the lead as per usual. (Not that anyone is complaining.) 

“Yes boss!” Magnus grins, mock saluting Mallory and making her roll her eyes at him, but he notices the grin of amusement flash across her face. It just makes him want to tease her even more, about how she loves him really, but he’d rather not rile her up right now and risk making her annoyed, when they have so many important things to do to prepare for this confrontation with Loki.

“Where’d Sigyn go?” T.J. asks in a confused tone, just now noticing that the Goddess is nowhere to be seen. 

“Likely gone to talk to Odin and Thor, Gods aren’t exactly known for saying hello and goodbye.” Sam says. “She’ll find us again when we need her. Magnus you should go and talk to Hearth and Blitz now, I’ll stay with Alex.” 

“Are you ok with that, Alex?” Magnus asks in a concerned tone, looking at Alex with eyes full of worry and concern. 

Alex nods and lightly pushes Magnus. “Yeah I’m fine, I’ve got Samirah to keep me company, the best sister in all the 9 worlds. Go, go tell Blitz and Hearth I said hi and they’re gonna be great grandpas.” Alex laughs, hugging her sister tightly, cringing when Sam presses a kiss to the top of her head.

“Why is Sam allowed to hug but I’m not?” T.J. asks in a dejected tone, remembering how Alex almost cut his hand off the first and only time he ever tried to give her a hug. 

“She’s my sister, that’s why. Loki kept us apart all our lives, we gotta make up for lost time.” Alex replies, sharing a loving and affectionate smile with her sister. 

20 minutes later Magnus finds himself in Blitzen’s best again, arriving just as Blitz and Hearth are closing up for the evening. 

“Hey kid, what are you doing here?” Blitz asks, holding the door open for Magnus, slightly surprised to see him again so soon, figuring he’d be back in Valhalla putting a crib together or something. 

“I need to talk to you guys about something.” Magnus replies, as Blitz closes and locks the door behind him before hitting the button that makes the shutters roll down. 

What’s going on? Alex and baby ok? Hearth signs, an anxious look on his face, as Magnus joins him at the cash desk, with Blitz not far behind him. 

“Yeah, well for now anyway, but… they almost weren’t.” Magnus quietly explains, tearing up at the memory of Alex bleeding and crying in pain. 

“What do you mean “For now”, what happened?” Blitz urges in a confused but frightened tone. 

“Loki.” Magnus softly replies, choking up the more he thinks about what just happened, and how afraid he is for Alex and their daughter. 

Loki? What now? Thought we dealt with him? Hearth signs, his eyes meeting Blitzen’s, seeing his own fear and worry mirrored on Blitz’s face. 

“Yeah I thought so too, but… I don’t know how but he’s escaped again, but… the thing is he’s not trying to start Ragnarök any day now… he’s waiting for something… some one that is destined to lead the winning side at Ragnarök.” Magnus tells them, closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly, to rid himself of the image of walking onto that battlefield on doomsday, and seeing his own daughter ready to fight against him. 

“Someone… no, you don’t mean…” Blitz trails off, unable to bring himself to say what he’s thinking. 

The baby? Hearth signs, framing it as a question despite knowing the answer. 

Magnus nods. 

“Yeah, it uh seems... seems that... when uh… Alex and I um… conceived, we unknowingly changed the course of destiny at Ragnarök... for Loki, specifically. If... if this baby grows up to be loyal to him and fight with him.... then she might save him at Ragnarök, he could survive. And if he does, he's gonna take Asgard for himself, become the new King of The Gods. And he'll never loose another battle ever again, with this kid by his side. But... if the baby doesn't side with him, then... well I don't know how but she'll be his undoing, and doom him to a fate much worse than being killed by Heimdall." 

“So Loki wants your kid for himself.” Blitz realises. 

“Yeah exactly. Earlier today, when Alex and I got back to Valhalla, she went to sleep for a bit because she was so exhausted. Not even an hour later I heard her scream for me and when I got into the room she was… she was bleeding and in a lot of pain. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong at first, just that I needed to heal the baby. 

When she put my hand on her belly… I could feel and see that something was really wrong, after a second I saw what was happening… The placenta was literally crumbling away, cutting off oxygen and everything to the baby. 

Thank Frey my powers worked and I was able to heal the placenta and make sure the baby was ok.

That’s when Alex told me… Loki had been in her dream, he was the one to tell her how powerful our baby is and that her birth will be what solidifies that change of destiny at Ragnarök. He tried to make Alex agree to hand the baby over to him at birth but when she refused, he… he tried to cause a miscarriage, that’s why Alex was bleeding and in pain, when Alex refused to give him the baby, he said he couldn’t let the baby live.” By the time Magnus has finished re-counting the story of what just happened, he is actively crying and even shaking a bit, feeling a strong mix of anger and fear for his family.

“Magnus, kid… that’s…  I don’t know what to say.” Blitzen admits, putting a hand on Magnus’ back to at least try and give the kid some comfort. 

Have to get rid of Loki, keep him away from baby. Hearth signs, fully aware that the issue is far from over. 

“That’s what I came down here to talk to you guys about. We kind of have a plan for that.” Magnus sniffs, wiping at his tears. 

What is it? Hearth questions. 

“Well, after I healed the baby, we were all wondering how to keep her safe and keep her away from Loki. When suddenly someone else just appeared in the room… Sigyn.” Magnus begins. 

“As in Loki’s wife?” Blitz says. Magnus nods. 

“Mhm, we are all really shocked to see her, but she said she can help us, not only that but she wants to help us. She said she doesn’t love Loki anymore, and hasn’t, in a long time because of… well, the abuse he gave her over the last thousand years, in that cavern. 

She’s horrified by what he’s trying to do to the baby and that he plans to use her as a weapon, especially given that he knows the pain of losing a child, after what happened to him and Sigyn’s sons, Narvi and Vali. 

She explained that over the last few months since I beat Loki at that flyting, she’s been staying in Vanaheim with Freya. She told us that after she told Freya about how Loki treated her, my aunt gifted her with two daggers forged by the same dwarves who forged Thor’s hammer. They are both infused with the power to kill Loki, and keep him from reforming for a long time, though not forever. 

Sigyn said that if we can lure Loki out of wherever he’s hiding, get him to meet Alex somewhere in Midgard, then Sigyn will have an opportunity to use the dagger on Loki and we can be rid of him for at least a decade or two." Magnus explains to them, accepting a clean handkerchief from Blitz and wiping at his tears.

“But how will you lure him out of hiding? What could possibly make him agree to meet in Midgard?” Blitz wonders, not wanting to dash Magnus’ hopes, but not entirely convinced of this plan himself. 

“That’s the scary part. Alex… will pretend to agree to give the baby to him. Tonight, when she goes to sleep, Loki will be there in her dreams again. He wants our baby alive more than anything else, so he can use her as a weapon, so we know he’ll give Alex a minute or two to talk before he tries to hurt the baby again. 

She’ll lie to him, tell him we changed our minds and are going to agree to hand the baby over to him. But we tell him that he has to meet Alex and I in Midgard first, so he’s not more powerful than us like he is in the realm of dreams or anywhere else. 

If he thinks we’re going to agree to hand the baby over and the only demand we have is to meet in Midgard to seal the deal, he’ll agree to it, we're sure of it, and once there we just need to distract him somehow to get his full attention, so he won't notice Sigyn move to strike.

But we need and want backup there in case anything goes wrong. Odin, Thor and Frigg will hopefully be there, and Sam, Mallory, T.J. and Gunderson have agreed to be there too.” 

And you want us to be there too? Hearth guesses, once Magnus has finished telling them everything. 

Magnus nods. “Yes please. This is another team effort and our team just isn’t complete without you guys. Hearth, your runestone magic could end up really helping, and Blitz I know you could probably kill Loki yourself with one of your chainmail cravats or ties. I hate asking you guys to face Loki again, to help us again, but we just… we really need you there if we stand a chance at succeeding.” Magnus tells them, feeling terrible that once again he is asking his friend’s to possibly risk their lives to help him. 

“Of course we’ll be there kid, we love you and Alex and your baby, we would never let anyone hurt any of you, not if we can help it.” Blitz assures Magnus.

We will do anything for you, you are our family. Hearth signs, while Blitz nods in agreement and claps Magnus on the back by means of showing affection. 

“Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. Normally I would stay and help you finish closing up shop and stuff but I really need to get back to Alex. I know she has Sam and she’s more than capable of defending and protecting herself, but still, I just need and want to be with her right now.” Magnus explains, feeling a little guilty for not spending as much time with his friends as usual. He likes helping out in the shop, Blitz lets him match energies with rude customers, it’s usually the highlight of Magnus’ day, getting to tell rude entitled jerks to get out of the store.

“Nah you’ve nothing to apologize for pal, Alex and your kid are your main priority now, as they should be.” Blitz tells him while Hearth nods in agreement. 

Shows you are already a good dad. Hearth signs, smiling softly and proudly at Magnus.

“Thanks Hearth, that means a lot to me.” Magnus says in a hopeful voice, hoping that he can live up to his friend’s beliefs in him, that he can be even half the parent his mother had been, and give his child a good, happy life. 

“Oh hey kid before you go I’ve got something I want you to give to Alex, wait here a second.” Blitz instructs, holding his hand up in the air before turning and hurrying into the back room. A moment later he comes back out to the shop floor, holding a folded piece of green and pink fabric. 

“What’s this?” Magnus asks curiously, guessing it’s some item of clothing but not being able to tell exactly what kind, with it all folded up.

“It’s a hospital gown, for Alex, for when the baby’s born. I figured she wouldn’t want to wear something boring and plain so I made this for her. As you can see, it's her favorite colors, green and pink. It’s also way more comfortable than a typical hospital gown.

It’s got long sleeves for if Alex gets cold, but they also easily roll up and have a button to attach it to the shoulders of the gown to keep it out of the way, for if she gets too hot.

It’s made of cashmere so it’s soft and comfortable for Alex. And I put magnetic buttons here at the front so she can pull it down easily to do skin to skin with the baby.

I know it’s not a lot but I’m hoping it will help Alex feel at least a little more comfortable during labor.” Blitz rapidly explains, unfolding the gown and pointing out all the different features it has. This was one of his more difficult projects, but it will be more than worth it if it does its job and helps Alex feel a little more confident and comfortable during one of the most vulnerable times of her life. 

“Aww Blitz, man this is so sweet. Thank you so much. I know Alex is going to be thrilled, she’s been talking about how she doesn't want the baby to see her for the first time in one of those ugly uncomfortable blue hospital gowns.” Magnus softly says, embracing his friend tightly. 

“Anytime kid, that’s what friends are for. Now go on, go back to Alex and your kid, we’ll see you in the morning.” 

When Magnus arrives back in Valhalla he gives the gown to Alex, who is immediately thrilled with the gift and very appreciative, her face lighting up with delight when she sees the gown. Magnus doesn’t think he’s ever seen her so happy. He’s certain it’s at least somewhat distracted her from her fear of labor, and will help her to feel more calm and comfortable when it comes time for the baby to be born. 

That night, Alex and Magnus curl up in bed together, Magnus with his arms around Alex and Alex curled into his side, her head laying on his chest, trying desperately not to let her fear show. She’s certain Loki won’t attack straight away, and will give her a chance to talk, but she still can’t help but feel so afraid for her baby. 

Due to this, it takes Alex a while to fall asleep, but when she finally does and begins to dream, she finds herself right back in her childhood home, standing in her bedroom just like earlier that day. With Loki standing only a few feet away from her, and looking exactly the same as he did in her earlier dream. 

“Well well Alex I must say you were one step ahead of me for once, it was foolish of me to think your little healer boyfriend wouldn’t have time to heal the child, looks like I was wrong.

I see he is with you tonight, I wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible for you Alex, really I did. But alas I’m going to have to turn to a more drastic and painful way to deal with your… situation.” Loki’s eyes flick down to Alex’s stomach. “A way that is too much for even your beloved Magnus to heal. I am sorry my dear, this is going to hurt quiet significantly but it won’t be for long. And I'll be here with you the whole time, I can't let you wake up until it's over, just in case that no good boyfriend of yours attempts to intervene again.” Loki saunters over to Alex as he finishes his little speech, arm outstretched, ready to do irreversible harm to the baby with just a simple touch of his hand, but before he can actually lay a finger on Alex, she grabs his arm.

“Wait!” Alex exclaims, throwing her other hand up to block Loki from touching her. “I-I’ve changed my mind! Magnus and I, we’ve changed our minds, we’ll give you the baby, just please… don’t hurt her.” A smile spreads across Loki’s scarred face, and he drops his hand. 

“I knew you’d see sense, you’ve made a good choice my dear, I knew I raised you better than to think you can possibly defeat me.” Loki says, lightly patting Alex on the cheek, making her cringe. Her mother’s touch is so cold and possessive, nothing at all like Sam’s comforting and strong embrace, or Magnus’ warm and loving hold. 

“Y-You need to meet us in Midgard, Magnus and I, so we can talk about all this. There’s conditions to us agreeing to this, like you said you’d let me see the baby.” Alex begins in an unsteady tone, still shaken up by all this. 

“Yes I did, and I will give you my word on that dear, and as I said, I am a very generous mother, so I am even willing to give you my word that Frey’s brat can see the child, and Samirah.” Loki smirks, knowing this is a small sacrifice to pay for the price of having his granddaughter on his side when Ragnarök comes. 

“Th-thank you, but we still need to meet in person, we need to discuss how and when we’ll give you the baby and other stuff like that, it would be easier and more fair in Midgard, you’re way more powerful here in the realm of dreams.” Alex stammers, hoping Loki will agree to this plan. It’s very basic and simple, but sometimes that’s all you need. 

“Hmm, yes I suppose that isn’t a terrible idea, and I do want to see you in person my darling. Alright, as long as it’s just you and Frey’s brat then I have no qualms about meeting you in Midgard.

Lets see… shall we say 3 weeks from now, right here at your childhood home, yes that would be quiet fitting, I cannot enter Valhalla and you cannot go to a mortal hospital, so this is as good a common ground as anything else, and don’t worry I will make sure your father, step mother and younger siblings take an impromptu vacation, so when the time comes it will just be you, me and perhaps your boyfriend or Samirah, whoever you choose.” Loki determines, making Alex feel even more nauseated. She hadn’t expected Loki to invite himself to watch and witness the birth.

“You… you want to be there when she’s born?” Alex asks in a weak tone, hardly able to stand the idea of her mother being there watching Alex go through one of the biggest moments in her life. 

“Well of course Alex, you need your mother by your side while you have your first child, it’s a momentous occasion and you will need the support of someone who knows what you are going through. I know I certainly wished your grandmother was with me when you were born.” Loki tells her, wincing slightly at the memory of the intense contractions that gripped him during his own labor with Alex. 

“But… I mean you can’t expect me to travel between worlds while I’m in labor.” Alex replies in a breathy tone.

“Oh you’ll be fine dear, I carried and birthed you while bound in a cavern with venom dripping into my face. I think you can handle a little walk, and I won’t hear any arguments about it either, but we can talk in more detail in person. 3 weeks from now, as I said, here at your childhood home, might as well make it our meeting base from now on, it will bring things full circle. I brought and left you here as a new born, and now I will take my new born granddaughter from here, once she is born.” Loki’s tone is calm but firm and Alex knows she needs to pretend to go along with this part of the plan too. 

It’s a less than ideal meeting spot, she had been hoping for somewhere more vast and with crowds to blend in with, like a shopping centre. However her childhood home is far from small, and certainly doesn’t lack good hiding spots, some of Alex’s only happy memories of her childhood are of playing hide and seek in the gardens with her abuelo.

It shouldn’t be too hard for her friends and the 3 Gods to find decent hiding spots, though Gunderson may have to shave and wear camo, same goes for Thor. 

“Alright, fine.” Alex quietly says, looking up to meet her mother’s gaze. “3 weeks from now, here at my childhood home, 4PM.” Alex suggests a random time, given that Loki did not suggest one himself. 

“Excellent! Then I shall see you soon my dear!" Loki cups Alex's face in his hands and kisses her forehead, smiling proudly and gleefully at her. Then, he possessively runs a hand over her bump, his eyes gleaming with even more excitement and greed than earlier that day. "And I shall be seeing you very soon too little one, it won't be long before we get to meet for the first time!" Loki enthuses, making Alex feel sick to her stomach. She is so tired of people touching her bump without permission, especially Loki. 

Loki gives Alex one last affectionate pat on the cheek and surprises her when he pulls her in for a brief but tight hug.

"My Alex... soon you'll see and understand that despite what you may think, I truly do love you. How could I not when I carried you for nine months, and brought you into this world?  You'll understand soon enough, when you meet your own little girl. Just remember that, no matter what Alex, I do love you."

With those last words, Loki releases Alex from the embrace and disappears from the room in a cloud of green smoke.

When Alex wakes up a few seconds later, she is surprised to see that is already bright outside, sunlight streaming in through the windows, shining directly into Alex’s face (They must have forgotten to draw the curtains last night before bed.) She is also surprised to see that the clock on Magnus’ bedside dresser, to her left, reads 7:45 A.M.  Meaning they only have 15 minutes before they’re meant to meet the others. 15 minutes is hardly enough time for Alex to get dressed and fix her hair up, it might not be enough time to wake Magnus, who is still sleeping heavily next to her. 

Alex takes a moment to sit and think, looking at Magnus, contemplating waking him up with warm kisses and soft whispers, but then she remembers he’s the one who got them into this situation by knocking her up. So instead of kissing him softly, Alex shakes her boyfriend, hard.

“Wake up Magnus!!” She loudly says, expecting him to startle awake at the volume of her voice, but he doesn’t react at all. Lucky pendejo gets to sleep so easily and so heavily, while Alex is often woken up by rough and hard kicks, fake contractions, and the constant urge to pee. 

“Ooh that’s not gonna work my friend, he’s out cold!” Jack informs her from his position propped up on the wall across from the bed. 

“Do you have any suggestions?” Alex asks, contemplating whether it’s worth it to ask Jack to sing something to wake Magnus up. Only thing is, once Jack starts singing he’s not gonna stop for a while, and Alex is not in the mood to listen to a one man performance of M ama Mia . 

“Hmm, push him out of the bed?” Jack suggests, only half joking. Alex grins. 

“Jack, I like the way you think!” Alex declares, before promptly yanking some of the blankets out from under Magnus, causing him to roll right off the bed. 

“OW! What the hell?!” Magnus exclaims, pushing himself into a sitting position and rubbing at his head. He looks up and sees Alex trying to contain her laughter. “Alex, did you push me out of bed?!” Magnus laughs, surprised that Alex hasn’t done this before. 

“What? No! It was Jack!” Alex exclaims, pointing to the sword, who gasps in betrayal. 

“No it wasn’t!” Jack defends himself in an indignant tone. “ Señor I would never do that!”

“Well it was his idea , I just executed the idea.” Alex admits.

"Alex, I thought we were friends!" Jack exclaims, silently cursing Alex for snitching on him. “ Señor I was just kidding! I only said it as a joke!”

“I wasn’t kidding, I figured I’d help you recreate the somersaults your kid is doing in here.” Alex shrugs, laying a hand across her belly where she’s sure the baby must be doing a whole ass gymnastics routine. 

Before Magnus can reply, there’s a quick thumping sound on the door and they hear Gunderson call out “Rise and shine lovebirds! We’ve got strategies to plan!! And bagels to eat!!” 

Alex glares at the door.

“If he does that in a few months when we have a new born who won’t sleep, I will cut his hands off.” 

Chapter Text

A few minutes later the 5 residents of floor 19 along with Hearth, Blitz and Sam have gathered in the dining hall. 

“So? What happened in your dream last night, Alex? Did you see him, did you see Loki?” T.J. asks, itching to get to strategy plans. 

“Well…” 

Over the next 20 minutes, Alex relays the incidents of last night’s dream, though leaving out the part where Loki decided to make the birth a viewing party for himself, all things going to plan Loki won’t be a problem by the time birth rolls around. 

“Ok so we’re gonna need a visual layout of the house, so we can plan our hiding spots, mark everything out.” T.J. decides. 

“I can draw out a map if you can describe the place to me, Fierro.” Gunderson offers, having developed his artistic abilities over his many centuries in Valhalla. 

So over the next while, Alex describes her old childhood home in as much detail as possible to Halfborn, who turns Alex’s words into a very precise drawing of the house and its layout. They mark 6 hideout spots for Mallory, T.J., Samirah, Hearth, Blitz and Gunderson, going based on the assumption that Loki will meet Magnus and Alex in the living room.

They don’t mark spots for Odin, Sigyn and Thor, seeing as when Samirah spoke to Odin about needing his help earlier, the God had assured her that he and the other two Gods would determine their own hideout locations. 

As Gunderson marks out the important location on the map of the Fierro household, Sam can't help but notice Alex wincing and putting her hand on her stomach. At first she tries to keep her concerns and worries to herself, knowing her sister does not like to be fussed over. But after about the 6th time Sam notices Alex's pained expression, she can't hold back anymore. Who's to say that Alex couldn't be going into early labor? Sure at 33 weeks Alex still has 7 weeks at least until the baby is due, but baby's don't always come on time. 

"Alex are you ok? You're wincing a lot." Sam asks in a concerned tone, as Alex closes her eyes and scrunches her face up again, her hand resting as always on her bump.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine... just a mix of practice contractions and the baby kicking me. Seriously feels like I'm getting beaten up from the inside out." Alex laughs lightly, pressing down on the side of her bump lightly, to try and get the baby to at least not kick her squarely in the ribs. 

"We can actually see the baby kicking from the outside now." Magnus informs them all, half grossed out and half mesmerised when he remembers the ripples moving across Alex's stomach as the baby flipped and tossed and turned inside her.

"Really?" Mallory asks in the same half awed half disgusted tone as Magnus. Despite her mother being the goddess of motherhood and pregnancy, Mallory is thoroughly horrified at the idea of being pregnant, and is extremely thankful that her boyfriend is not some impossibly fertile half god. 

"Yep, you can literally see her foot poking out sometimes." Alex adds, smoothing her t-shirt over her stomach to see if the baby's foot is visible right now. When it's just her and Magnus she'll push her shirt up so that nothing is covering the bump, but she's not about to do that in front of all their friends. 

"I am so grateful not to be a woman... or person who can get pregnant." T.J. quietly says, trying not to stare in horror at Alex's swollen stomach. He's excited to meet and interact with the baby, just... not till they're here on the other side, not still inside Alex. 

"You and me both Jefferson." Gunderson agrees, shuddering as he thinks about what Alex is going through right now and how so very strange pregnancy seems to be. 

"What does it feel like, Alex?" Sam quietly asks in a curious voice, looking up from her sister's stomach to look her in the eye. 

"The kicking? Well at first, way earlier in the pregnancy it was like... like a fluttering feeling, or kinda like swirls. But now, now it just feels like a regular kick I guess, just... coming from inside." Alex does her best to describe the sensations of movement and kicks, but finding it hard to put into words. "Do you wanna feel for yourself?" Alex then asks, guessing by the look on Sam's face that she's been itching to ask to feel the baby kick. Normally Alex only lets Magnus feel the kicks, but she appreciates Sam not asking and feels comfortable letting her touch her bump for a minute or two. 

"Oh I... no you don't have to, it's ok." Sam assures her sister hurriedly, not wanting Alex to feel pressured or anything. Though she has been wanting to feel the kicks, she knows Alex doesn't like being touched and so never asked. 

"I know I don't have to but I want you to feel her kick." Alex insists. Before Sam can further protest, Alex reaches out and grabs her sister's hand which she then holds against the front of her bump where she's been feeling a lot of kicks today. 

Seconds later, Samirah feels a tiny little nudge against her palm, followed by another slightly more powerful one. It's amazing to know and realise that there's a little person in there, kicking at her hand, and before too long that little person will be here in the world with them all. Sam is growing more and more excited to be an Aunty and feels like she can hardly wait to meet her little niece. (Or nephew, but everyone in their friend group is certain the baby is a girl.) 

"Woah." Sam breathes in a tone of awe, sharing an excited grin with Alex. "That is... that's amazing!" 

"I know right? Don't get me wrong I am so eager to have this baby and get her out of me, but I am gonna miss these little kicks." Alex expresses softly, her tone fond and clearly full of love.

There can be no denying that pregnancy has been so incredibly challenging for Alex, but as she comes to the end of it she finds herself wanting to slow down, and just appreciate these last few weeks of carrying her baby, soon enough these little kicks will be just a memory. But on the other hand soon the feeling of little kicks will be replaced with the feeling of her baby snuggling up and into her.

Alex can hardly wait.

Three weeks later to the day, at exactly 3:55 P.M. Magnus and Alex step into the living room of Alex’s childhood home, hand in hand, both feeling sick with anxiety and nerves. The 6 of their friends and the 3 Gods had arrived earlier in the day to scout out the location and make sure nobody else was there, and to go over the plan and get into position, with Sigyn hiding the closest to the young Einherji couple. 

As Alex stands waiting for Loki to appear, her hand gripping tightly to Magnus’, she can’t help noticing how the baby has been kicking and moving and restless inside her all day, but even more so since arriving at the house. Clearly the little one can sense something is up and can feel her mother’s anxiety.  

Alex looks down at her belly, running a hand across its swollen surface in an attempt to soothe her unborn daughter. 

“I know.” Alex quietly says to the baby. “I’m scared too, but it’s ok, you’re gonna be ok, we both are.” 

Magnus looks over at Alex, concern and fear etched on his face. He places his hand beside hers, smiling as he feels the baby kicking, as if greeting him. 

“Your mom’s right, kiddo.” He quietly says “Everything’s gonna be ok, we’re gonna keep you safe, promise.” 

Just then as the clock strikes 4 P.M. exactly, a cloud of green smoke materializes in front of them, and fades away to reveal Loki, looking no different than usual.

When he sees the stance of his daughter and Magnus, each with a hand on Alex’s belly, Magnus with an arm around Alex’s waist, heads tilted together, Alex with unshed tears shimmering in her eyes, Loki smirks and places a hand on his chest. 

“Aww have I interrupted a sweet little family moment?” Loki asks in a tone of mock sympathy. 

Alex sniffs and wipes at her tears, as Magnus returns to a more protective stance, one hand holding Alex’s and the other slightly in front of her, as though he can shield her from Loki. 

“Mom.” Alex sniffs, by way of greeting. “No I just… just trying to calm the baby down, she’s kicking so much it hurts.” Alex rubs the side of her belly where she can feel a little foot tapping at her ribcage. 

“Ah the joys of pregnancy. Well Alex dear it is good to see you in person again. My look at how big you’re getting! Mustn't be long to go now!” Loki exclaims in a cheery tone, smiling at Alex and patting her stomach, his smile growing as he feels a kick right underneath his palm. 

It takes everything Alex has in her to not slap her mother’s hand away, as she swallows down the bile that rises in her throat. 

“No mom…. Only a month, 4 weeks.” Alex says, managing to keep her tone calm. 

“Ah the last month is always the most difficult, I certainly thought so when carrying you, anyway. I remember it like it was yesterday, you made a hurried entrance into the world my dear, but 2 weeks after I was expecting you to arrive. 

You were so unlike your sister from the start, Samirah was born just one day prior to Ayesha’s due date, she was so quiet and content as a child, never made a peep. 

Whereas you my sweet Alex, you came into the world screaming at the top of your lungs, so angry with the world already, and look at you now, you haven’t changed one bit, I’m so proud!” Loki’s tone is fond and nostalgic as his hand comes up to cup Alex’s cheek, a touch that almost feels affectionate, as he smiles proudly and smugly at his daughter. 

Alex forces the corners of her mouth to turn up into a smile, trying to act as sincere as possible. 

“So… about the… about the baby.” Magnus interrupts in a shaky tone, holding tightly onto Alex’s hand, terrified for her and their baby. 

Loki drops his hand and turns his gaze to Magnus, looking him up and down with a look of disgust and contempt, like Magnus is a filthy stray dog that Loki only barely tolerates for Alex’s sake. 

“Yes indeed Magnus Chase, about the baby. You know I will never hurt her as long as she remains loyal to me, which I have no doubt she will. I need and want her alive as much as you do, she is the key to winning Ragnarök.” Loki says in a calm, cool tone. 

“You said you’d let us see her, what about before that, before you take her? Can we hold her? Name her?” Alex asks in a tight tone, really wanting to put on a show for Loki, and hoping that maybe, just maybe if he sees how upset Alex is becoming, his motherly side will win out and he will let his guard down as he tries to comfort her, giving Sigyn the opportunity to strike. 

“Mmm, well I suppose you can hold her for a while, a few moments each, though I will be there the entire time to supervise and make sure neither of you try something stupid. As for her name… well a name is quite a powerful thing, isn’t it? 

Tell you what, I’ll meet you halfway. You may suggest a name you like and I will either approve it or deny it. I will have final say over her name but you will get some say.” Loki decides, feeling as though this is more than generous, and a small kindness he can show to his daughter.

“And what about seeing her? When can we see her? How often?” Magnus questions, which earns him a look of annoyance from Loki. 

“You never stop talking, do you Magnus? Yes, I will allow both you and Alex along with Samirah, to see the child and spend time with her as she grows up. As for when, and how often, well that’s something we can discuss at a later date, closer to her arrival. Loki sighs, tired already of Magnus’ irritating voice. 

“Ok, Alex said you expect us to come here when Alex goes into labor, so you can witness the birth?” Magnus asks, feeling sick at the thought of Loki being one of the first faces his daughter sees, one of the first voices she hears outside the womb, he can’t allow that to happen, today’s plan has to work.

“Well done Magnus you have the ability to recall conversations.” Loki says in a deadpan tone, rolling his eyes and making it very obvious just how much he hates Magnus. “Yes, that is exactly what I expect. Now Alex darling I know you want your sister and this… imbecile at your side, when you deliver the child, but my dear 3 is a crowd don’t you know? 

I will permit one of them to be at your side, but only one, we don’t want to overwhelm you or the little one.” 

Alex grits her teeth and bites down on the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from snapping at Loki and ruining the illusion of the well behaved daughter.

“Fine, then I want Magnus to be there.” Alex says in a clipped tone. 

“Very well dear if that’s what you want, I suppose he’ll be of use, he can focus on the medical side of the delivery, allowing me to focus on you Alex, I know you think you don’t need or want me there right now but trust me once you feel those contractions you will be begging me to stay by your side.” Loki smirks, knowing how easily and quickly Alex will prove herself wrong. 

“Fine, but do you give me your word that Magnus, Sam and I will be able to see the baby as she grows up?” Alex asks in a sceptical tone, knowing that even if she were to willingly let her mother raise her child, Loki would not stay true to his word, not unless he is forced to. 

“Yes dear I give you my word that you and your little sunshine boyfriend and your sister may see the child as she grows up.” Loki sighs, feeling like he and Alex have been over this a hundred times already. 

"Do you swear by your troth?" Alex prompts. 

A look of irritation flashes across Loki's face, but he quickly moulds his face into a tight smile as he takes a deep breath, making a real effort not to snap or loose his temper.

"If I must." He concedes. 

"Say it, say you swear by your troth." Alex presses, wanting a fail safe and backup plan in case, on the off chance that today's plan doesn't work. 

Loki sighs heavily. "Honestly Alex you and your trust issues, I blame your father, naturally. Fine fine, I swear by my troth that I will allow you, Magnus and Samirah to see your daughter as she grows up."

“Great, is that it then? Can we go?” Magnus asks through gritted teeth, knowing it definitely is not but needing to act as though he is desperate to get out of here, not desperate to stall and give Sigyn as much time as possible. 

“Oh no, not quite yet. You see I gave you my word that I would allow you both and Samirah to see the child as she grows up, now it’s your turn to give me your word that you will hand your child over to me when she is born. Alex, you first dear. Swear by your troth.” Loki firmly says, looking at Alex expectantly. 

Alex takes a deep, shuddering breath, and with her hand gripping tightly to Magnus’, through gritted teeth she begins to speak. 

“I swear by my troth that_ AH!” Before Alex can finish her sentence she cries out in pain, clutching her stomach as her knees buckle beneath her and she drops to the floor and onto her knees. 

“Alex! What is it?! What’s wrong?!” Magnus asks in a panicked tone, dropping to the ground by Alex’s side, one hand still holding hers, the other rubbing soothing circles on her back.

“I don’t know!” Alex exclaims, her breath hitching in her throat, her face crumpling in pain. “It hurts , Magnus, a lot .” 

“Where dear? Where does it hurt?” Loki’s tone is surprisingly soft and gentle, as he too kneels by Alex’s side and places a hand on her shoulder. 

“My back... my stomach… oh gods it’s like the worst period pain of my life.” Alex sobs, one hand braced against the floor and the other holding her stomach tightly.

“How long has this been going on for?!” Loki snaps at Magnus, seeing that Alex is clearly too overwhelmed to speak. 

“I-I dunno! A-a while… We were up half the night and all morning because Alex kept having pains, but she insisted they’re just practice contractions, nothing to worry about! I-I mean what else could they be? The baby isn’t due for another month!” Magnus frantically replies, his tone full of confusion and panic. 

Anger flashes across Loki’s face and Magnus can see him having to hold himself back from physically lashing out at him. 

“You idiot! ” Loki roars. “Really Magnus I know you’re not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed but even you must know that due dates are just an estimate! First you’re reckless and stupid enough to knock my daughter up, and then you can’t even do some basic learning about pregnancy and birth! You truly are an absolute imbecile! Ridiculous, stupid little boy!

Alex it’s alright, I’m here, everything’s going to be fine darling, don’t you worry,  come on let's get you comfortable.” Loki’s tone turns from as venomous as the poison that was dripped into his face for centuries, to soft and reassuring, as though he truly cares about Alex and wants to help her through this. 

Alex lets her mother help her to her feet, before she cries out in pain again, letting herself fall into a sitting position on the sofa behind her, as she holds her bump with both hands, tears streaming down her face. 

She half expects Loki to snap at her and tell her to get up, to toughen up, but instead he crouches down in front of Alex and places a comforting hand on her knee, reaching up with his other hand to cup her cheek briefly and wipe away her tears. 

“You’re doing wonderfully darling, my brave, strong girl. You’re going to be absolutely fine Alex, you and the baby both.” Loki says in a soft tone, truly sounding like a loving and supportive mother. 

“M-mom… I’m scared.” Alex tearfully and quietly admits through gasps, tears pouring down her face as she tries her best to work through the painful contractions. 

Loki gives Alex a sympathetic look, frowning slightly as he pushes Alex’s hair back from her face.

“What are you scared about darling, hm?” Loki softly asks, looking at Alex with what seems to be genuine concern and worry. 

“Everything, I-I’m not ready to have this baby! I-I’m not ready to go through labor, I’m not strong enough to push her out, I-I can’t do this!” Alex panics, doubling over as another contraction takes hold of her body, making her take in heaving and ragged breaths. 

“Oh Alex, my baby.” Loki quietly replies, moving from his position crouching in front of Alex, to sitting beside her on the sofa. He pulls her into a tight embrace, her head tucked under his chin and his hand protectively cupping the back of her head. Loki holds his daughter close, occasionally kissing the top of her head and soothingly rubbing her back, remembering the times he would visit Alex when she was a baby, and he would hold her exactly like this, trying to always remember the weight of her in his arms, the heat of her little body curled into him, everything about her. 

“It’s alright my darling, you’re safe with me. I told you you’d want me here for the labor and birth, hm?” He chuckles lightly, rubbing Alex’s arm. 

“Yeah.” Alex sniffs. 

“Alex you can do this, it won’t be easy but you’ve never let that stop you before. I’m going to be right here with you the entire time, supporting you and helping you through this, alright?  You’re my daughter Alex, you have my strength and determination. Remember that you’re doing this for your baby.

 When you start to get overwhelmed, I want you to picture your baby girl. Imagine her tiny and perfect face, imagine holding her in your arms for the first time, kissing her little nose and cheeks, feeling her curled up next to you. You can do that, can’t you?” Loki whispers to his daughter, still holding her tightly in his embrace. 

“Yeah… I can.” Alex agrees weakly. Loki presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Good. Now tell me Alex, are you feeling any pressure in your pelvis? Do you feel any heaviness or urge to push?” Loki firmly asks, noticing Alex once again tense up from pain. The contractions seem to be coming very fast and very close together. If Alex’s baby is anything like she was, this delivery is going to happen very fast.

“No.” Alex shakes her head. “No just… the contractions.” 

Loki holds back a sigh of relief, having been concerned that Alex was about to start pushing right then and there. Not that Loki couldn’t handle delivering a baby of course, but it’s hardly ideal for the baby to make an appearance now, when they have nothing prepared for her.

“Good, but it probably won’t be long before you do start feeling that urge to push. I think it’s best we move upstairs, start getting everything ready.” Loki decides.

“B-but there’s no one to deliver the baby!” Alex exclaims through tears.  

At this, Loki glances distastefully at Magnus, looking him up and down like he did earlier. 

“Of course there is dear, I’m sure even someone as dim as Magnus here can catch a baby, can’t be that hard.” Loki decides, startling Magnus out of his state of shock after being screamed at earlier by Loki. 

“M-me?” Magnus stammers, pointing to himself. 

“Yes you! You’re the one who put the baby in her in the first place, now you can be the one to get the baby out of her, besides Alex will be doing all the hard work, as I said you just need to catch the baby. Now go and make yourself useful and get some towels and warm water- clean towels that is, and find something loose and comfortable for Alex to wear, I imagine we won't be waiting too long for this little one to join us.” Loki orders, briefly touching Alex’s bump, his eyes glinting with excitement and anticipation. 

Loki then turns his attention back to Alex, his tone turning soft and warm again. 

“Now dear lets get you upstairs to your bedroom, you’ll be more comfortable when you’re able to lie down sweetheart.”
Loki stands up from his seat on the sofa next Alex, then turns around and bends down to help Alex stand from the sofa. 

Just then, he feels something cold and sharp press against his back. 

“Hello husband.” comes a familiar voice from behind him, as he slowly straightens up. Surely this is not who he thinks it is. 

“ Sigyn ?!” Loki cries in disbelief, catching a glimpse of his wife’s reflection in the window in front of him. “Sigyn, what the hell do you think you’re doing?! Now is not the time! Surely even you and your tiny little brain can see that Alex is in labor! My daughter is about to have a baby, you stupid woman! Unhand me!” Loki roars in anger, struggling against Sigyn’s surprising iron tight grip. 

“Oh but she’s not, that was just a distraction, a way for Alex to gain your full attention so that you wouldn’t notice me.” Sigyn calmly replies, her tone conveying no emotion or feeling at all. 

“Dear me, you really are as stupid and idiotic as I thought!! Just look at her!! She’s clearly having contractions!!” Loki yells, his gaze moving back to Alex who is still sitting on the sofa, head bowed, one arm across her stomach, the other digging into Magnus’ leg, as he perches on the arm of the sofa on Alex's left side.

“She certainly gives a convincing performance, doesn’t she?” Sigyn laughs lightly, as Alex lifts her head and smirks coldly at her mother. 

“Oh, didn’t I mention? I was a theatre kid as well as a potter, I’m an excellent actor.” Alex calmly says.

“ What?! Oh Alex… you conniving little…” Loki trails off, just about refraining from calling his daughter something horrible, stunned that he the God of tricksters and mischief, has been tricked by his own idiot of a wife and his ungrateful brat of a child, not to mention the insufferable whinner that is Magnus Chase. 

“Oh careful mother, your mask just slipped.” Alex says with a dry laugh, having known that all Loki’s previous gestures of concern were just an act. 

“Alex you cannot do this! You swore by your troth that you would give me your child, there is no going back on that!” Loki exclaims, panic now creeping into his tone, as Magnus helps Alex back up onto her feet.

“Actually I didn’t, I was about to, and then I faked going into labor to distract you and not swear by my troth. You’re not getting anywhere near this baby. Unlike you, I’m a good mother and I love my baby. I don’t plan on sitting back and letting her be raised by an abusive monster.” Alex’s voice is deadly quiet, but there can be no doubting her fury and rage. 

“And what makes you think you can kill me?! You never have before, and you certainly won’t now! Even if you pierce me with that blade, it won’t keep me gone for more than a few hours!” Loki exclaims, still struggling against Sigyn’s tight grip.

“Well you see dear husband, that is not entirely true. This blade was made specifically to kill you, and keep you from reforming so quickly, it won’t be a few hours before you reform, or even a few years, it will be a few decades , maybe 10, 15, even 20 years. 

This blade is destined to be wielded against you in order to kill you. For so long I knelt by your side in that cavern, I did everything I could to keep that venom from dripping onto you, to save you even just seconds of pain. Day after day I mourned my sons, my boys, who were punished for something you did, that they had no involvement in, nor did I. 

And all day, everyday, I had to endure the most horrific mental, emotional and verbal abuse from you, I had to listen to you scream at me, call me names, insult me, tell me how useless I am, how I deserved to be where you were. 

I had to listen as you threatened me, telling me all the things you would do to me once you got free.

Even when you were unfaithful to me, more than once, I never left your side, I never lost control of myself and let you know what I really was thinking and feeling. 

You were never any better than that snake that dripped poison into your face. In fact, you are worse than the snake, the snake only ever hurt one person, you have hurt countless people. 

I lost my children because of you, and I will not allow you to make your own daughter feel the pain and agony of losing a child, a child you intend to use as a weapon.

I will not let you go on hurting innocent people, ripping families apart. And I most certainly will not let you harm Alex or her child, because unlike you I actually care for Alex, I care for her well being and happiness, and that of her child. I will stop at nothing to protect them, because I am nothing like you, dear husband.  You are done.” With that final word, Sigyn thrusts the knife into Loki’s back, killing him in seconds. 

The color drains from Loki’s face and as Sigyn releases her grip on him, he drops to the ground, already dead, a pool of blood forming around him. Seconds later he disappears in a mist of green smoke. 

“I-is that it? Is he… is he gone?” Alex hopefully asks, clutching Magnus’ arm and looking between Sigyn and the pool of blood on the floor. 

“Yes, for now. As you know Gods are immortal and cannot permanently die, but due to the blade’s power he won’t reform for many years to come, precisely how many years I’m afraid I do not know, it could be as few as 10 or as many as 20. But I fear that your daughter is destined to face him down one day, I believe the second blade is meant to be wielded by her one day. At first I thought perhaps I would need both daggers to rid us of Loki, but evidently that was not the case. 

He will go after your child again, try to get her on his side, it makes sense to me that she will have to be the one to bring him down the second time, what happens after that I am not sure. 

But for now Alex, Magnus, I urge you to focus on yourselves and your child. Enjoy every second, treasure every moment. You have been given the most precious gift, cherish her always.” Sigyn’s tone turns soft and the tears flow more rapidly down her face, as she reaches out and lays a gentle hand on Alex’s stomach, to emphasise her point.

And much to Alex’s surprise, she isn’t overly bothered by her step-mother’s touch. Usually Alex hates when people try to touch her belly without permission, but something about Sigyn’s motherly touch makes her relax. 

“So what happens now?” T.J. asks, as everyone emerges from their hideout and crowds into the room.

“We spend the next 4 weeks preparing for this baby, we still have a lot of things to get and a lot to prepare, right Alex?” Magnus says, turning to look at Alex only to see her eyes wide with fear, her jaw slack with shock, looking like she’s going to be sick. “Alex what is it? What’s wrong?” 

“My… my water broke.” 

Chapter Text

Everyone’s gaze is immediately drawn to the puddle of water now collecting at Alex’s feet.

Magnus looks around, wide eyed and panicked, not sure what to do or say. As he looks around him, he locks eyes with Samirah who is standing across from him. She mouths Don’t freak out. Easy for her to say. 

“Oh gods, okay, oh crap what do we do?” Magnus asks in a panicked tone,  causing Samirah to sigh and facepalm. Normally Magnus would laugh at this, but right now all he can think about is Alex and their baby, and how the Helheim is Alex going to get back to Valhalla? There’s no way she can climb Yggdrasil while in labor, and the nearest entry point like the one in Forever 21 , is miles away.

“I am not having this baby here.” Alex says in a determined tone, teeth gritted in pain, her breathing heavy. She will not have her baby born in the house Alex was abused in and thrown out of, a place that is full of darkness, pain and misery, she won’t have her daughter born into that environment.

“Don’t panic, I can bring you all back to Valhalla in a matter of seconds.” Odin calmly says. Before anyone can say another word, Odin clicks his fingers and they are all back in Valhalla, on floor 19, standing in the empty common room. 

“Come on Alex, let's get you a change of clothes.” Sam softly says, slipping an arm around her sister and guiding her out of the common room. 

“I suppose I better go find me ma.” Mallory sighs, not overly thrilled with the idea of seeing her mother again, but knowing Alex needs her. 

“The rest of us will wait here.” Blitz tells Magnus, putting a hand on his back and guiding him towards the door. “Go on, you can’t miss the birth of your kid. If you need anything at all, you come get us, ok?” 

Magnus nods, trying to contain his anxiety and excitement. He can hardly believe that in just a few hours he’ll officially be a dad.

“Yeah, ok, thanks Blitz.” 

When Magnus steps into he and Alex’s room, he finds Sam crouching in front of Alex, who is sitting on the side of the bed, head bowed as she tries to bear the pain of the latest contraction. 

“You’re doing great Alex, you’ve got this.” Sam quietly says, rubbing her sister’s back comfortingly. 

Magnus makes his way over to the sisters, and crouches down opposite Sam, resting a hand on Alex’s knee. 

“Hey.” Magnus softly says, pushing Alex’s hair back out of her eyes when she lifts her head to look at him. “You ok?” 

Alex lets out a shaky breath and nods, relaxing slightly now the contraction is over. 

“Can you help me get changed, please?” Alex asks in a breathy tone, looking at Magnus with pleading eyes. Just like in the early stages of her pregnancy, Alex now feels an intense urge and need to be as close to her boyfriend as possible, she needs his warm, loving and comforting touch more than anything else right now. 

“Of course, do you wanna stay here or go into the bathroom?” Magnus quietly asks, slipping an arm around Alex’s waist. 

“I can go wait with the others if you want, or step out till you get changed.” Sam offers, knowing how much Alex hates getting changed in front of others. 

“No… no stay, please. I need you, I need you both.” Alex weakly says, reaching out for her sister’s hand. Sam grabs Alex’s hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. 

“Then I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here with you.” 

“Where’s Frigg?” Alex asks in a tight voice, knowing she won’t be able to fully relax until she knows Frigg is here and ready to help if anything goes wrong. 

“Right here, and right on time by the looks of things.” Frigg’s voice suddenly fills the room, and as if out of thin air, she appears by the door, presenting as a middle aged woman dressed in a loose, flowing royal blue dress. Her red hair is secured in a bun at the back of her head, and she is smiling kindly at Alex. “I hear you’ve had quite the busy day dear, and it’s not over yet. While Magnus and Samirah help you change, Alex, perhaps I could set up the room a bit? Make it a bit more comfortable for you?” 

Alex nods, sweat dripping down her forehead, the bright overhead light giving her a headache, the tight fit of her pregnancy jeans becoming painful and uncomfortable. 

“Yes please.” 

It only takes a few minutes for Magnus and Sam to help Alex change into the gown Blitz made for her, immediately making her at least slightly more comfortable. They stay in the bathroom for a few minutes while Alex works through a painful contraction. 

When the three of them step out of the ensuite bathroom, they are amazed to see how quickly and how drastically Frigg has changed the room.

The heavy forest green duvet lays neatly across the bed. At the head of the bed two brand new pillows have been placed one on top of the other, in between one single pillow on the left and the right side.

In the centre of the bed there are more pillows arranged in a variety of different ways, along with a fleece blanket folded up neatly beside the pillows. 

The lights have been dimmed so there is enough light to see and move around, but the light is now soft and warm, giving off a glow rather than a beam of light. 

From Alex’s phone on the nightstand, soft gentle classical music plays, music that Alex listens to when she's making pottery or trying to relax in some other way.

On the floor at the foot of the bed, is a nest of pillows and blankets, looking ever so soft and inviting. 

On the chest of drawers near the bed, sits a pile of fresh, fluffy looking towels, a pink and green polka dotted baby blanket, a tiny little white baby hat, and some plain white washcloths. 

Immediately, Alex feels more relaxed, more safe and less afraid of what’s to come. 

“What do you think, Alex? Is this to your liking or would you like to change anything?” Frigg offers, observing Alex taking in her new surroundings, looking out for any signs that she is unhappy or uncomfortable. 

“This is amazing.” Alex says in a breathy tone of awe, looking around her and admiring Frigg's work.

“I’m glad you think so, it’s so important to have the ideal environment for birth, a sanctum, if you will. 

What would you like to do now, Alex? Would you like me to do a physical examination and see how things are progressing?” Frigg calmly offers. 

“No.” Alex firmly says, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “No I don’t want any of that at all, you can check when I say I need to push but that’s it.” The idea of someone poking around down there every so often just to tell Alex where exactly she is in her labor, is very upsetting to Alex. She knows her body, she trusts her body, she doesn’t need a number to tell her how far into labor she is, she doesn’t want to know, she just wants to let her body do its job and get through this.

Frigg nods in understanding, folding her hands in front of her.

“Of course, no internal exams, not a problem my dear. Is there anything in particular you would like to do at this moment? Perhaps you’d like something to eat?” Frigg kindly offers, providing Alex with relief that the goddess didn’t argue with her over the internal exams.

“I wanna lie down, I’m so tired.” Alex says in a breathy voice, looking longingly at the comfortable looking bed. She just wants to grab all the pillows and blankets, make a little nest for herself and curl up and try to sleep.

Over the next few hours Alex tries her hardest to stay strong, but she has never felt pain like this before, it is extremely intense and every time a contraction hits it takes over her whole mind and body.

“Magnus?” Alex says in a breathless tone, leaning on the wall in front of her, arms outstretched and head bowed as the contraction reaches its peak and slowly begins to release its hold on Alex.

“Yeah?” Magnus eagerly asks, rushing to Alex’s side and placing a hand on her back, eager to do whatever he can to help her. 

Alex slaps his hand away, the last thing she wants right now is to be touched. 

“If you ever get me pregnant again, I will drag you to Midgard and I will cut your head off with my garrotte.” Alex growls, trying to catch her breath as the pain passes. 

“I love you too.” 

“Alex, perhaps having an idea of how far along you are in your labor would help you feel better, give you an idea of how long you have to go before you have your baby in your arms.” Frigg gently offers, not wanting to pressure Alex into anything either way, but knowing that some people do find it helpful to know how far progressed they are in their labor. 

“With all due respect, you touch me and I will cut your hand off.” 

“Alex!” Sam scolds in a shocked tone, looking between her sister and Frigg, terrified of what will happen now. “You can’t threaten The Queen of Asgard! She’s only trying to help!” 

“She can help by giving me something for this pain!” Alex yells, sweat dripping off her face. 

Thankfully, Frigg just smiles. “Worry not Samirah, I am not angry or upset. Labor is a very difficult time, if you were in as much pain as your sister is now you would no doubt be saying much the same.” 

“Doesn’t Hearth have a rune for pain relief or something?!” Alex asks in a tone of despair, desperate for any sort of relief from this pain, even if it means letting Hearth into the room and letting him see her in such a vulnerable place. She then tenses as she feels the start of another contraction.

“Afraid not.” Magnus hesitantly admits, pulling his hand back when instinct makes him reach out to rub Alex’s back. He doesn’t doubt for a second that Alex won’t hesitate to actually cut his hand off with her garrotte, she could do it so fast he wouldn’t even notice. 

Alex endures many more hours of painful labor, trying everything she possibly can to relieve the pain even the slightest bit. She alternates between sitting, standing, lying down, kneeling on her hands and knees, and more.

She tries standing with her arms around the back of Magnus’ neck, his arms around her back and waist, like they’re slow dancing. It doesn’t necessarily relieve the pain but it does help Alex to stay calm, being so close to Magnus, having his arms and loving embrace around her, holding her and their baby steady, supporting them in this moment of need.

“I can’t believe you did this to me, Chase.” Alex says in a breathy tone, her forehead resting against Magnus’ chest, her arms around the back of his neck, his arms her waist, slowly swaying side to side with her. 

Magnus drops a kiss to the top of Alex’s head, wanting to bring her any sense of comfort at all. 

“I know.” He replies quietly. “I’m sorry, I would take all your pain and feel it for myself if I could.” 

“Pity I don’t have that pain transference power like my mom.” Alex shakily says, only half joking. 

“Yeah a real pity.” Magnus murmurs. “You’re doing amazing Alex, I love you so much.” 

“I love you too, for some reason.”

Around the six hour mark, Alex is completely exhausted and worn out, she’s growing really tired of the pain and waiting around and just wants the baby out of her ASAP.

“Oh gods I can’t do this anymore.” Alex groans, leaning against Magnus for support, her head on his chest.  “I’m so sick and tired of this pain I just want this baby out of me, can’t you do a C-section or something?” she lifts her head to look hopefully at Frigg, who smiles kindly but sadly at her. 

“I’m afraid not Alex dear, we don’t have the necessary instruments here in Valhalla.” Frigg gently explains, sympathising with Alex’s pain, remembering her own labors all too well. 

“I could do it!” Jack pipes up, shifting from runestone pendant to sword, from where Magnus had set him on one of the bedside tables, earlier. 

“Uh… what?” Magnus wearily asks, hoping he didn’t actually hear Jack right. 

“The C-section, I could do it! It can’t be that difficult!” Jack eagerly explains. How cool would it be to help deliver Magnus and Alex’s baby?! It would be quite the story to tell all the pretty lady weapons, like riptide. And getting to help deliver the baby of his two best friends in all 9 worlds?! Now that would be an adventure! 

“You don’t have hands to pull the baby out with.” Alex points out in a breathy tone, scrunching her face up as the next wave of pain washes over her. 

“Frigg can pull the baby out after I make the necessary incisions and stuff!” Jack says. 

“I dunno Jack, it doesn't sound too safe.” Magnus says in a hesitant tone, knowing that while Alex is desperate to get the baby out, and while Jack is a very skilled and talented sword, this idea sounds too risky. 

“Oh give him a chance, I just want this baby out of me!” Alex exclaims, gripping tightly to Magnus’ arm as the pain intensifies. 

“Trust me Señor I can be real careful and gentle, look, I’ll demonstrate on this pillow!” Jack floats over to a pillow lying in a nearby chair. Slowly and carefully, Jack starts to make an incision lengthways across the white pillow. He makes it about 2 CM across, before he gets overly confident and excited, losing concentration for a few seconds and accidently impaling the pillow, leaving a gaping hole in the middle.

“Oops!” Jack says in an inappropriately cheery tone, as if he just made a little mistake. 

“That was just a one time slip up, I promise I’ll be way more careful doing the real thing! So, what'd'ya say Alex? You up for it?” 

Alex, Magnus and Sam all stare at Jack in horror, while Frigg pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head in dismay, like a mother watching her kid do something stupid like jump out of a tree. 

Magnus steps in front of Alex, covering her and the bump with his arm. 

“No way.” Magnus firmly says. He loves Jack for wanting to help, but this is just a ridiculous idea. 

“Aww come on Señor! I’ll be extra, extra careful, I promise!” Jack pleads, not wanting to give up that easily. 

Before Magnus can reply, Alex lets out a loud groan of pain and grabs at both his arms, almost pulling Magnus to the ground as she doubles over in pain. 

“Ahh! I need to push! I wanna push!” Alex exclaims in a pained tone, her face contorting in discomfort as she feels an unbearably intense pressure in her pelvis. 

“Alright let’s see if baby is on the same page as you Alex, shall we?” Frigg softly and calmly asks. 

Alex nods, and with help from Magnus and Sam she gets comfortable sitting in a reclined position on the bed, supported by a pile of pillows behind her.

Alex grips tightly to Magnus' hand as she throws her head back in pain while Frigg slips on a latex glove and takes her position at the bottom of the bed. 

“Sam.” Alex weakly says, reaching for her sister’s hand. “I can’t do this anymore, please, please just make it stop.” In this desperate, terrifying moment, Alex figures that if anyone can do something to help her right now, it’s her big sister.

Sam’s heart feels as though it will break, hearing her sister so afraid and in pain, she has never felt as protective of Alex before as she does in this moment. It’s almost making her want to shake Magnus or something, for being the one to cause her sister this much pain, even though of course it takes two to make a baby. 

Samirah takes Alex’s hand in hers and wipes her tears away, before taking a seat by her sister’s side on the bed. 

“It’s alright.” Sam softly says “I know this is absolutely awful, and you are doing amazing , you’re so close now, it’s almost over. You can do this, you’re freakin Alex Fierro, you can do anything you want to, I’ve got you, ok?” 

Alex nods, as more tears replace the ones Samirah just wiped away. 

“Don’t go anywhere, ok?” Alex pleads, her eyes shimmering with tears as she looks at Sam, knowing she needs her sister here just as much as she needs Magnus. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Just then, Frigg looks up at Alex, a faint smile on her face. “Alright Alex, just like you said, time to push. Are you comfortable as you are?” Frigg asks.

Alex nods, biting her lip as yet another pain builds up, while Sam brushes her hair back and whispers soft encouraging words to her. 

“Okay then, whenever you feel ready, push.” 

Alex tightens her hold on Magnus’ hand, and turns to look up at him.

“Ready to be a dad?” She asks in a light, shaky tone, feeling both massively anxious and nervous, and also so, so excited and happy. 

Magnus grins and nods, pressing a kiss to the back of Alex’s hand which he holds between his own. 

“Yeah, let's have a baby.” 

Alex pushes for hours before any progress is made, at least 2 if not 3 hours. The pains are still as intense as they have been all through the labor, and Alex would be lying if she said she isn’t struggling to keep up her energy and motivation. 

By this point, she is absolutely ready to castrate Magnus. 

“Alright Alex, I can see the top of baby’s head, nearly there now dear.” Frigg softly says, quickly glancing up to give Alex an encouraging smile. 

Alex groans, grips Magnus’ hand tightly, and pushes again as hard as she possibly can. Magnus has to bite his lip to stifle a shout of pain from how hard Alex is squeezing his hand. 

In a moment of madness and going against his best judgement, Magnus decides to step closer toward the end of the bed, and glance between Alex’s legs in an attempt to see their baby’s head. 

What he sees is both the most amazing and the most horrifying thing he’s ever witnessed. 

There, right in his line of his sight is a thatch of dark hair, almost completely covering the top of the baby’s head. 

On one hand it is the most bizarre thing he could ever imagine, a little uncanny and takes him by surprise. On the other hand, it’s his first glimpse of he and Alex’s baby, and it won’t be long before their baby is in their arms. 

He quickly looks back to Alex, unable to mask the look of shock on his face, but also a look of complete amazement and love. 

“She’s almost here Alex, you’re doing so amazing, keep going!" 

“Oh Gods just get her out!!!” Alex screams, trying to breath through the pain and the burning sensation.

“You’re almost there sis, you’re doing really well. You just need to keep your strength up just a little bit longer and then you’ll have your baby.” Sam softly says, wiping the sweat from Alex’s forehead with a damp washcloth.

“I can’t.” Alex says in a breathy, tired tone of defeat, letting her head fall back onto the pillows behind her as she tries to catch her breath. “I can’t do this anymore, it hurts too much and I’m so tired, I just can’t do it anymore.” 

“You can! You’re the strongest person I know!” Magnus encourages. Alex just shakes her head. 

“I can’t !” She stresses, beginning to fear that maybe everyone who never believed in her, was right to. No matter how much she wants this baby out of her she just feels completely defeated. 

“Alex, look at me.” Frigg’s tone is stern and firm, but not without compassion and kindness.

Alex meets the goddess’ eyes. “You can do this, I know it doesn’t feel like it, and I know you are exhausted beyond belief and so sick of this pain, believe me dear I know the feeling well. But you have to keep going, you are so very close to the end now, you just need to be stronger for a little while longer, your baby needs you to be strong for her Alex, you can do that, can’t you?” 

At the mention of her daughter, Alex remembers exactly who she’s doing all this for, and everything she has done for her daughter up to this point. If she can defeat Loki for the second time in less than a year, then she can keep up her strength for a few more minutes, and bring her beautiful baby into the world. A world where so many people are waiting, eagerly and excitedly to meet this sweet baby, where she will be so loved and cherished, where Magnus and Alex’s family can finally share their love with this baby they have all fought so hard to protect. 

Alex nods, her strength and motivation growing the longer she thinks about her baby, and how in just a few minutes, she will be holding her in her arms. 

“Good, now you are so close, your baby’s head is out, meaning the hardest part is almost over. Once her shoulders are out the rest of the body should just slide right out, so if you give me one more enormous push, maybe two, it should be over, alright?” Frigg gently says in a soothing tone. 

Alex gasps in pain as the contraction begins to build again, and starts to push again. She leans forward and puts all her strength and energy into the push.

She lets out one final cry of pain, and within seconds she feels a huge weight lift off her which is closely followed by a loud and sharp wail. 

Alex sighs heavily in relief and relaxes back into the pillows behind her, her face and hair damp from sweat, her chest rising and falling quickly as she tries to catch her breath. 

Magnus laughs in delight and disbelief, tears quickly dripping down his face as he bends down to cup Alex’s face in his hands and kiss her. 

“Alex! Alex you did it, you did it she’s here! She’s so perfect Alex, oh my gods I’m so proud of you, I love you, I love you so much.” Magnus' tone is breathy and teary and he doesn’t even bother to wipe away his tears as he kisses Alex again and leans his forehead against hers, feeling like he’s just fallen in love with her all over again.

He hasn’t even seen the baby yet, but he knows already that she is the singular most perfect thing in this entire solar system, along with Alex of course. He knows he loves his baby girl with all his heart, more than he ever knew it was possible to love someone. 

“I love you too.” Alex says, pulling Magnus down for one more kiss. She then looks toward the bottom of the bed, where Sam and Frigg are cleaning the baby down with the fresh fluffy towels Alex saw earlier. 

“Boy or girl?” Alex tiredly asks, curious to know if her hunch was right. 

“Girl.” Sam beams up at her sister. “You were right Alex, you have a beautiful, healthy and perfect little girl, congratulations.” Sam then ever so carefully takes the baby when Frigg passes her to her, and slowly and gently lays the tiny baby down on Alex’s chest, where Alex has now pulled the gown down, undoing the metallic buttons so she can have her baby as close as possible. 

Alex’s arms immediately come up to embrace her daughter and hold her as close as she can, never wanting to let her go. Tears well up in her eyes as she finally gets to see her daughter for the first time, her amazingly perfect daughter.

Alex had loved her baby so deeply and thoroughly while carrying her, and now as she looks into her beautiful little face, she feels herself falling in love with her all over again. 

As she gazes at her daughter, Alex begins to notice all her little features. She definitely looks more like Alex than she does Magnus, with her dark hair and beautiful brown skin the same shade as Alex’s, the same nose and eye shape. But she definitely looks like Magnus too, with his mouth shape and chin.

Tears well up in Alex’s eyes as she presses a kiss to her daughter’s mop of dark, curly hair. 

“Hi.” Alex sniffles to her baby. “Hi there baby, I love you so much.” She can hardly believe she made this baby, her and Magnus. She is without a doubt  one hundred times better than any piece of pottery Alex has ever made. 

“Oh my gods she’s so perfect.” Magnus says in a wobbly tone, stroking his daughter’s hair and looking from her to Alex in disbelief, amazed at how lucky he is to have them both in his life… well, afterlife. 

“Does she have a name?” Samirah softly asks, as Alex laughs lightly when the baby reaches a tiny hand out of her blankets and presses it against Alex’s cheek, attempting to snuggle further into her mother and be as close as she can be to her. 

“She does, this is Robin Natalie Fierro-Chase.” Alex quietly says, sharing a proud look with Magnus, both of them knowing now without a doubt that the name they decided on just a few weeks ago, is the perfect name for their child. 

At first Alex had debated with herself for a while, on whether or not she wanted to give the baby her surname too. It’s not like The Fierros were the most kind and loving people in the world. Especially not her father and step-mother.

But then she remembered her grandfather, her abuelo, who always accepted Alex and loved her for exactly who she is, and who taught her about pottery and showed her kindness and acceptance. Once she remembered all that, Alex knew she wanted to give her child the last name Fierro, too, to honor her grandpa. 

“Oh that’s beautiful, she’s beautiful.” Sam’s voice is quiet and low, not wanting to disturb the now calm baby, or the special moment between Alex, Magnus and baby Robin. She can feel tears of joy welling up in her eyes, her heart is just so full of love and joy for Magnus and Alex and sweet little Robin, her perfect, beautiful little niece. 

She is so proud of how hard Magnus and Alex both fought to bring Robin into the world, and could not be more happy for them now they are their perfect little family of 3. She has no doubt in her mind that Alex and Magnus are going to be amazing, wonderful parents.

“I am inclined to agree, she is simply perfect.” Frigg says in a gentle and warm tone. 

“Yeah she is.” Magnus quietly agrees, running his fingertips over the baby’s dark hair, before bending to press a kiss to her forehead. “My little Ro-Ro, I love you so much.” Little Robin chooses this moment to open her eyes and blink up at her father. 

“Hey she has your eyes, Beantown, I was hoping she would.” Alex laughs in a hoarse voice, looking down at her daughter’s amazing big grey eyes, just like Magnus’. Alex carefully takes one of Robin’s unbelievably tiny hands in hers, and presses a kiss to her palm, so overcome with love for this baby it feels surreal. She never knew she could love someone this much, and she could not be more grateful to Sigyn and everyone else who helped them kill (even temporarily) Loki, and fought right along with Magnus and Alex to keep Robin safe.

Alex is certain that if she had had to hand her daughter over to anybody else, but especially Loki, her heart would have shattered into a million little pieces and never be mended again.

“Oh come on, not in front of the baby! I don't want her to grow up calling me Beantown.” Magnus laughs.

“Too bad, I’ll call you whatever I want, I feel like I’ve been to Hel and back multiple times all because you knocked me up.” 

“You’re never going to stop using that excuse are you?” Magnus sighs. Alex grins and shakes her head. 

“Nope, they’ll be my last words at Ragnarök. ‘This is Magnus’ fault, he knocked me up!’” Magnus laughs and leans in to kiss Alex’s temple. He then looks down at Robin who Alex has a tight grip on, and hopefully asks;

“Can I hold her now?” 

“Mmmm, if you must.” Alex teases, sharing a grin with her boyfriend to let him know she’s just teasing him, and doesn’t really have any objections to him holding Robin.

She carefully places Robin in Magnus’ arms, making sure he has a good grip on her, before sitting back to watch them, the two people she loves most in the universe. 

Magnus holds Robin with extreme delicacy and care, as if she is made of glass and might shatter at any second. Like he is holding a sacred, precious gift, which to him and Alex, Robin absolutely is. 

Tears well up in his eyes as he looks down at his daughter for the first time, taking in her adorable little face, a perfect mixture of he and Alex. He takes a moment to just appreciate the weight of her in his arms, to listen to her precious little coos and gurgles and to watch her stare up at him with big grey eyes identical to his own.

The love he feels for Robin washes over him like a tidal wave, and the tears start falling again, as he lets himself relax for the first time in so long, and lets himself feel the sheer joy at finally having his daughter here safe and unharmed. 

In this moment he finally understands just how much his mom loved him, and why she sacrificed herself for him. He would do the exact same thing for Robin, without a second of hesitation, even if it meant going to Hel, he would do anything for his child. 

“Hey there baby girl.” Magnus whispers. “I’ve been waiting to meet you, me and your mom both. I never thought I’d have kids, didn’t think I wanted them until your mom told me about you, you are without a doubt the best thing ever to happen to me Robin, you and your mom, I love you both so much. 

Your middle name, Natalie, is after your grandma, your grandma Natalie. She was the most amazing person in all the nine worlds, Ro-Ro and the best mom anyone could ask for. She protected me with her life, and I swear I will do the same for you.

Your grandma Natalie would’ve loved you so much Robin, but it’s ok because I promise to always love you enough for both of us.” 

Watching Magnus with Robin makes Alex feel as though she’s just fallen a little bit more in love with Magnus, which she didn’t know was possible. Seeing how attentive, gentle, sweet and loving Magnus is brings her so much peace and joy, and excitement for the adventure of raising Robin together. She never doubted that Magnus would be a wonderful dad, but to see it in action is something else.

“Sam.” Alex quietly says to her sister, careful not to disturb Magnus and Robin. “Can you get some pictures?” She turns to see Sam already snapping away with her phone, grinning ear to ear. 

“Way ahead of you, this is too cute.” Sam replies, also very much enjoying seeing Magnus so head over heels in love with his daughter. 

About half an hour later at Alex’s request, Magnus heads out to the common area where all their friends are waiting, to let them know the baby is here safe and sound, and it won’t be long before they can all come in and meet her. 

Walking into the common area with a big grin on his face, Magnus finds his friends exactly where he left them. 

The TV above the fireplace is on, playing some generic movie, with the volume on low, with subtitles running along the middle of the shot, as well as ASL interpretation in the bottom right hand corner.

Hearth and Blitz themselves are sitting on the small 2 seater sofa together, hands intertwined and Blitz with his head on Hearth’s shoulder. Magnus is tempted to snap a photo of them, but he left his phone back in the room. 

Halfborn and T.J. are sitting at the chess table, heads bent and brows furrowed in concentration as they each try their damndest to beat the other.

And last but never least, Mallory is sitting in the armchair by the fireplace, her legs pulled up underneath her, with a notebook on the arm of the sofa and a pen in her left hand. She seems to be deep in thought, staring at the notebook and chewing on her pen. 

Everyone looks up when Magnus walks in, all eyes on him, eager anticipation on everyone’s faces. 

“Kid!” Blitz exclaims, standing up and rushing over to Magnus. “Is everything ok? What’s going on in there? We heard a lot of yelling!” Blitz’s tone is troubled and uneasy. He knows birth isn’t pleasant, but he did not expect to hear all that yelling and screaming. 

Magnus laughs lightly and puts a reassuring hand on his friend’s arm. 

“Yeah dude everything’s fine, we’re fine, all 3 of us.” 

“All 3 of you?! Does that mean the baby’s here?!” T.J. excitedly asks, standing up out of his seat, restraining himself from running down the corridor to meet the newest family member. 

“She sure is, made her big entrance about half an hour ago. She’s perfect guys, just totally perfect. Alex did amazing, she was so strong and unbelievably brave, it was pretty damn tough for her, our baby girl really took her time in making her appearance but Alex persevered like the badass she is. 

Alex and baby girl are bonding and resting right now, so you’ll have to wait just a little longer to meet baby girl and see for yourselves that Alex is fine.” Magnus assures his friends, feeling absolutely euphoric and on top of the world right now. 

“Aw pal, that's great news, congratulations!” Blitz beams, clapping Magnus on the back with pride. 

Does baby have a name? Hearth signs, curious to find out what kind of name Magnus and Alex have chosen, given that names are such a big deal in their world. 

“She does but I’m gonna let Alex tell you guys when you meet the baby, she did all the hard work, fought like hell to get our baby girl here, I think the least she deserves is to announce baby girl’s name.” Magnus informs them, laughing lightly as they all groan. For a bunch of people whose main job is to wait , they’re all pretty impatient. 

“So when can we see them both? Alex and the baby?” Blitz eagerly asks.

“Soon.” Magnus promises. “As soon as Alex gives the go-ahead, I’ll come get you all.”

Half an hour later, it’s not Magnus who steps into the common room, but Samirah, with her arms crossed and looking like she means business, because she does, she insisted on being the one to bring the gang in to meet the baby, so that she could give them all a warning beforehand, a warning Magnus is too nice to issue to their well meaning friends. 

“Alright everyone I’m going to say this and I’m only going to say this once. Alex says she’s up for visitors, but we need to lay some ground rules first.

Number one, no crowding Alex, Magnus and the baby, keep a decent distance until and unless they invite you to move closer. 

Number two, keep your hands to yourself, remember the kindergarten rule of ‘Look but don’t touch’. Even though she’s the child of Einherjar the baby is still like any other new born, she doesn’t have much of an immune system yet so any germs you may have picked up that are harmless to you, could make her really sick. 

Number three, respect boundaries and listen to Magnus and Alex. It’s fine to ask if you can hold the baby, but if they say no don’t push back on that, you’re lucky Alex is even willing to have visitors so soon after the birth. 

If Alex or Magnus ask you to leave for any reason, you leave, you don’t argue or linger, you say goodbye and you leave. 

Number four, if you don’t like the baby’s name, shut your mouth and keep it to yourself, Magnus and Alex like the name they’ve chosen and that’s all that matters. 

Well, I think that about covers everything. Do we understand each other?” 

Sam’s voice and manner is firm and unmoving, these aren’t suggestions on how to behave, it is very clear that they are hard and fast rules, and if anyone steps even a toe out of line, Sam will not hesitate to remove them from the room. 

“You don’t mess around, do you, Al-abbas?” Halfborn chuckles. From the way Samirah is talking, anyone would think they were all going to storm in there and cough all over the poor kid or something. 

“No I do not, especially not when it comes to my sister, she’s just basically performed a miracle. Usually Alex could easily keep you all in line, but right now she’s too exhausted and focused on her baby, naturally, so it’s my job to make sure you all behave.” Sam confirms, her tone never wavering, her gaze never softening. 

You sound like a school teacher, back up career if flying doesn’t work out for you? Hearth signs to Sam, unable to resist the perfect opportunity to tease her. 

Sam just rolls her eyes. 

I will back you up in a minute if you don’t shut up. She signs back, earning a look of bafflement from Hearth, given that that wasn’t her best come back line. 

Blitz taps Hearth on the arm just then, and once he has his partners attention, he signs

Stop giving sass, silly Elf, come on, let's go meet the baby.  

Hearth can’t help but grin as he always does with Blitz, and lets his boyfriend take him by the arm and lead him down the hallway.  

Chapter Text

Just a few moments after Samirah had volunteered to go round up the troops to come meet baby Robin, Alex and Magnus hear hurried footsteps and the sound of voices getting louder as they approach. 

“I think your aunts and uncles are excited to meet you Robsy.” Magnus quietly whispers to his baby daughter, who is laying contentedly on Alex’s chest, her face turned towards Magnus, her eyes occasionally fluttering open. Both she and Alex look absolutely blissed out, and to Magnus, Alex has never looked more radiant. Just as they both fell in love with Robin all over again once they saw her, they have also both fallen in love with the other all over again too, seeing each other in a new light now they’re parents. 

Alex laughs softly and gently strokes Robin’s hair with the tips of her fingers. 

Before Alex can make any comment of her own, there is a faint knock at the door, and soon the room is filled with their Valhalla family. 

“Alex, Magnus, can you please tell Halfborn that I should get to hold the baby before he does? He's probably going to drop her, he needs to watch and learn first!” T.J. asks by way of greeting, having argued about this with his berserker friend for the last 6 hours. 

“I’ll have you know Jefferson, that I am great with babies! I used to help my mother occasionally look after the neighbours' kids, and they always smiled at me, they absolutely loved me! It’ll be no different with the newest addition to the family! Whereas you, well you’ll probably terrify her with stories about your time in the army! I should get to hold her first!” Gunderson loudly argues, causing the baby to stir. 

Sam drops her face into her hand, while Mallory whacks Gunderson on the arm and glares at T.J. “Whist the pair of ye! You’re scaring the baby!” She hisses, throwing an apologetic glance at Magnus and Alex. 

“Actually.” Magnus interrupts the argument, holding back a laugh, finding it sweet and endearing that T.J. and Gunderson are both so eager to meet and hold the baby. “We want Hearth and Blitz to hold her first, you two can flip a coin or something.” 

Really? Us? Hearth signs, his face a mask of apprehension and skepticism.

“Are you sure? That’s… that’s a pretty big deal, getting to be the first ones to hold your kid.” Blitz asks, surprised that Magnus and Alex would make this gesture to he and Hearth, who both have hardly any experience with kids. 

“Of course we are, you are her grandpas after all.” Alex jokes, earning a groan from Blitz who really isn’t loving that both Alex and Magnus are finding the whole ‘grandpa’ title for him and Hearth so funny. 

"Well…” Blitz looks at Hearth and signs You first pal! Before lightly pushing his boyfriend by the back, making him stumble forward. 

Here, you sit here. Magnus signs, getting up from the chair he had pulled up beside the bed earlier, and going to sit on the foot of the bed. 

Hearth’s eyes flit up to Alex, as if asking permission to sit. 

“Go on.” Alex encourages, unable to sign with the baby in her arms, nodding at the chair. “Get your ass in the chair and stop delaying, someone wants to meet you.” 

Hearth’s eyes widen slightly and he curtly nods, before dropping into the chair. 

You know how to hold baby? Magnus signs to Hearth, who nods in response, having got the gist of it from TV shows and movies. 

Alex leans forward, wincing at the pain stretching causes in her abdomen, and carefully and gently lays the baby in Hearth’s arms. 

“Here we go.” Alex says in an uncharacteristically soft tone, looking up at Hearth once the baby is settled in his arms. 

“Do we get to know her name now?!” T.J. eagerly asks, practically bouncing on his toes with excitement. 

Magnus and Alex share a grin, and while Alex speaks, Magnus signs.

“Everyone, this-” Alex runs a hand over the baby’s hair. “Is Robin Natalie Fierro-Chase.” 

Hearth smiles softly down at the small being in his arms, feeling overcome with love for her. 

Ever so carefully he sits back in the chair, and slowly lays the baby down in his lap so that his hands are free to sign. 

Hi Robin, you are so beautiful. He then looks up at Alex and Magnus and signs She is so perfect, just like her parents. Hearth finds that he can’t stop smiling, he feels so elated for his friends, and is incredibly proud of them. 

“I knew there was a reason I liked you the most.” Alex grins. 

Hearth looks back down at Robin, and takes a minute to just look at her, and think about what it means now to have her in his life. In some ways it’s frightening and painful, he’s never cared for someone so little and helpless since Andiron, whose death he still feels such immense pain and anguish over, and who he will always miss and wonder what life would have been like if he was still alive. 

And on the other hand, having Robin around gives him a chance to take his pain and experiences of abuse from childhood, and use them to be the right kind of support for Robin, someone who loves her no matter what, who is kind and wants to listen to her. The kind of person who wants to see her succeed and thrive, and feels excited about teaching her about nature, and being kind and respectful to everyone and everything, and so much more.

I promise to be the best uncle you could ask for, Robin, I love you. Hearth signs to Robin, who is now looking up at him with her eyes full of wonder and curiosity. 

“ One of the best uncles she could ask for, can’t go forgetting me, pal.” Blitz grins, coming to stand behind Hearth, putting an arm around his shoulders and resting his head against his while they both look down at Robin, bursting with excitement and pride. 

For Blitz, seeing his Hearth with a baby is the most heart warming thing in all 9 worlds, Hearth has so much love and care to give. Blitz knows his Elf will be an amazing father one day, something they’ve discussed briefly but know that they both definitely want in the future, but for now their focus has to be on the kids at Chase Space who really need them, as well as Magnus, Alex and the rest of the gang, and now baby Robin, too. 

“Or me! Don’t forget me!” T.J. points out, raising his hand like an eager school boy. 

“Or me! I’ll be her personal bodyguard! Anyone so much as looks at her wrong ….” Halfborn trails off, patting the flat of his axe against his palm, ready to chop down anyone who ever hurts Robin in any way. 

“Me too!” Jack suddenly chimes in, shifting from a runestone pendant on the bedside locker, to sword, floating up on Hearth’s other side to see the baby. His runes glow brightly with excitement, and he starts to visibly vibrate, as if shaking with excitement. 

“You guuuuuyyyyssss!” Jack exclaims “She’s incredible! Hi Robin, it’s amazing to meet you! I’m Jack! I’m your dad’s sword, we’re like best friends, he’s my brother from another mother, know what I mean? 

Your mom is pretty dope too, you’re a mix of my two favorite Einherjar so I just know you’re gonna be the coolest most amazing little señorita in all of the 9 worlds!!! I know that seems like a lot of pressure, but don’t worry I’ll be there to guide you and help you! Just don’t turn out like your grandpa Frey, ok?” Jack rambles enthusiastically to the baby, his tone full of unbridled excitement and joy. 

Robin blinks up at him, then scrunches her nose up and looks away from him, her intrigue caught by something else. 

“Aww don’t worry about it Señorita, just never give me away and we’ll be cool for life, deal?” Jack eagerly asks, still buzzing with excitement. 

“You know she can’t answer you?” Magnus asks in an amused tone, finding Jack’s fascination with Robin to be very endearing and also quite funny. 

“She can’t? Geeze kids these days, you probably let her have too much screen time.” Jack says in a knowing tone. 

“Dude she’s barely 2 hours old, the closest she’s come to a screen is her reflection in your blade.” Magnus exasperates, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, not appreciating being judged on his parenting skills by a sword. 

Jack grumbles something about “Just trying to help” and “Keep my mouth shut from now on.” before shifting back into pendant form and settling back onto the bedside locker. 

By now, pretty much everyone else is engaged in their own conversations with each other, T.J. and Halfborn still bickering about who gets to hold Robin, with Mallory keeping the peace between them, telling them to just “Get a bloody coin and toss the feckin’ thing for Frigg’s sake!” While Samirah and Alex are engrossed in their own quiet conversation, leaving just Magnus, Hearth and Blitz to start up their own conversation. This time it’s Blitzen who starts the talking. 

“Hey kid.” he says, nudging Magnus who is just gazing at Robin in absolute adoration. “Her middle name, Natalie, after your mom?” Magnus’ smile grows sad at the mention of his mother, and a pained look crosses his face, but it doesn’t erase the love and joy in his expression either. 

Magnus nods. “Yeah, we chose Robin because it’s a gender neutral name that we both like, and Alex wanted to give her a gender neutral name because she’s always liked having a name that works for her whatever her gender is at the time.

Then we weren’t sure if we were gonna add Fierro to her name, because of Alex’s dad and step-mom, but Alex decided she wants Robin to have the Fierro name too, to honor Alex’s abuelo. Chase is pretty self explanatory, we both wanted her to have my family name from the start. 

And then Natalie, for my mom. I know she would’ve been an amazing grandma, and would have loved Robin so much. 

Now I’m a dad and Robin is here, I finally understand just how much my mom loved me. I feel the same way about Robin, and I would literally throw myself to the wolves for her, any day, no questions asked. Like my mom did for me.” Magnus laments, a few tears making their way down his face, his throat tightening as he thinks of his mom and how she should be here for this special moment, here to meet her first grandbaby. 

“Aw kid.” Blitz says in a soft, sympathetic tone, sitting beside his friend and putting a comforting arm around his shoulders. “She would’ve been so proud of you pal, I know I am.” 

Magnus sniffs and smiles weakly at Blitz, grateful for his kind words and comforting embrace. 

“Thanks Blitz, that means a lot to me.” Magnus replies, wiping at his tears. Blitz gives him a fond smile and lightly pats him on the cheek. 

“You’re a good man Magnus, don’t you ever forget that ok?” Blitz usually isn’t one to get so serious and affirming but he can tell that right now, Magnus needs someone to remind him that he should be proud of himself. 

Magnus wipes at his tears, nods and smiles feebly, heartbroken that though this is undoubtedly the happiest day of his life, it’s also tinged with sadness, because his mom should be here too.

Sensing that the kid needs a minute on his own to gather himself, Blitz moves back to Hearth’s side where he is still happily cradling Robin, both of them just looking at each other, in fascination. 

He taps Hearth lightly on the arm to get him to look up so he can sign to him. 

You got a new best friend? Blitz teases with a smile, seeing clearly how much Hearth is loving just hanging out with Robin.

Hearth gives him a lopsided grin and nods. He carefully lays Robin in his lap again, and signs 

Yes, she is much cuter than you. While Blitz and Hearth are now in a very happy and loving romantic relationship, Hearth still considers Blitz one of his very best friends. 

Or her dad . Blitz signs back, his grin growing when out of the corner of his eye he sees Magnus process what he and Hearth have been saying. 

Rude! Magnus signs, his face screwed up with mock offense. Was going to ask you- he gestures to Blitz If you want to hold Robin now, but think I’ll ask Halfborn instead.

Oh, now the kid has the leverage of a cute baby and he’s using that to his advantage. Smart boy, Blitz and Hearth taught him well. 

Blitz hmphs. Was going to offer to bring you falafel later, maybe not, now. Blitz shoots back, quickly coming up with a counter argument for this fake squabble between he and Magnus. 

Magnus gasps as if Blitz had just told him Ragnarök is starting. 

You wouldn’t! Magnus signs quickly, really getting into the spirit of the fake fight, while Hearth just watches on in amusement. 

Blitz nods. I would, I will.  

Truce? You hold baby, I get falafel? Magnus hopefully suggests, figuring this must be what it’s like to broker deals with powerful people. 

Blitz pretends to think about it for a minute, just to annoy Magnus, before he grins and nods. 

Deal!  

Hearth sits forward and starts to hold his arms out to pass Robin to Blitz, but Blitz holds up a hand, as if to say Hang on just one sec , then turns to Alex who is just holding Sam’s hand and looking out the window, clearly deep in thought. 

“Hey Alex, kid?” Blitz says in a low voice, not wanting to startle or scare Alex. 

“Hmm?” Alex responds, breaking out of her thoughts and turning to look at Blitz. 

“You ok with it if I hold Robin for a bit?” To Blitz it feels like basic respect to get permission from both of the new parents, before holding the baby, he knows Alex likely won’t have any objections but he feels better asking. 

“Yeah of course, absolutely.” Alex nods.

Blitz turns back to Hearth, who carefully passes the baby to him. When Blitz has the small bundle in his arms, he too is overcome with love for Robin. He knows he will always care for and protect her. He’s filled with excitement for what’s to come over the years as he gets to watch Robin grow and help guide her and teach her. 

“She really is perfect.” Blitz softly says, smiling at Robin. “You two did a good job, a great job, she’s amazing.” he adds, looking up at Magnus and Alex fondly. Hard to believe Magnus is the same terrified, shaken little 14 year old boy deep in grief that he and Hearth first met on the streets all those years ago. 

Magnus and Alex share a grin as Magnus sits by her side on the bed and puts his hand in hers. 

“It was Alex who did all the hard work.” Magnus credits, tucking a strand of Alex’s hair back from her face, looking at her with absolute adoration and beaming pride. 

“Yeah but I’ll give you partial credit, I think 5% is more than fair.” Alex teases. Magnus laughs and kisses the back of her hand. 

“Hey Blitz, did you see what Robin’s wearing?” Magnus asks with a grin, knowing that Blitz will appreciate Robin’s first ever outfit. 

Blitz has to admit, for the first time in his life he didn’t take much notice of what someone else is wearing, he had been so excited to meet Robin but also so worried about Alex and how she would cope with the pain and challenge of labor, that it never occurred to him even once, to look at the baby’s outfit. 

Now, when he looks down he almost instantly registers that Robin is clad in a small onesie that has a pattern of green and pink stripes throughout. One of the outfits he made for her. He had almost forgotten about the few pieces he had made for Robin just a few months ago, when he and Hearth first learned of Alex’s pregnancy. It feels like a lifetime ago. 

He couldn’t be more proud or thrilled that the two young Einherjar chose something he made, to be Robin’s first outfit. It means a lot to Blitz, to have his craft taken so seriously. 

“The first outfit I made her!” Blitz grins gleefully, noting that his concerns that the outfit might be too small for Robin, are unfounded. If anything the outfit is a little big for her, given that she wasn’t due to be born for another month. 

“Sure is, when I told Magnus to get something ready for her, when I was still in labor, he grabbed the first thing he saw and thought that was good enough. A plain white onesie. Naturally I had to intervene, I can’t have my daughter poorly dressed.” Alex explains, shaking her head in mock exasperation. It was hard to decide on the perfect first outfit between contractions, but she isn’t gonna let her daughter have Magnus’ fashion sense. 

Pink and green suit her . Hearth signs, gazing dreamily at Blitz, imagining the day when the baby in his boyfriend’s arms is their baby, and they are the proud new parents. 

“Everything suits a face as adorable and sweet as this!” Blitz beams, already planning more clothes for Robin. 

A while later, T.J. and Gunderson finally make a choice on who gets to hold Robin first between the two of them, by flipping a coin like Mallory suggested. In the end Gunderson won. So with permission from Magnus and Alex, Halfborn happily takes the new born into his arms, truly surprising everyone with how careful and gentle he is with her. 

What surprises everyone even more, is when the berserker begins to gently bounce Robin in his arms, cooing over her, telling her stories about Flåm. 

It is very endearing and sweet to see someone like Gunderson, a big burly man, being so sweet and gentle with a tiny new baby.

“Don’t you worry little lass, no one will dare mess with you when I’m around. If anyone ever gives you trouble, you just tell them that your uncle is Halfborn Gunderson of Flåm, and that I don’t take too kindly to people upsetting my favorite niece.” Halfborn’s tone is so uncharacteristically soft and gentle, Magnus still finds himself wincing in anticipation every time the berserker speaks, expecting him to speak as loudly as he usually does. 

Robin coos lightly, and when Gunderson goes to stroke her little palm, her tiny hand clasps around his thumb, making him grin and laugh. 

“Showing off your strength already, are you lass? You’re a strong little one!”

“Oh God forgive me for saying this, but that is possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. Seeing you so soft and gentle with the wee baby makes you even more attractive, you big oaf.” Mallory sighs, unable to take her eyes off her boyfriend. She secretly loves to see Gunderson’s soft and caring side. 

“Oooh careful Mak or you might be the next one pregnant.” Alex taunts with a good-natured laugh. 

“Oh no, no no no no. If you knock me up Gunderson I will cut it off, and I don’t mean your beard.” Mallory threatens, her hands resting on her knives in their sheaths at her side.

Gunderson just laughs. 

“Don’t worry Mak I don’t have any weird son of fertility God powers like Beantown does.” he assures her. 

Magnus groans at the nickname and covers his face with his hands briefly, then gives his friend a fake dirty look and shakes his head in dismay. “You are the worst, Gunderson, the absolute worst.” 

“Oi! Watch it Chase, only I get to insult him.” Mallory warns, and Magnus isn’t quite sure if she’s fully serious about that or not. He decides it’s best to just assume she is, and refrain from lovingly insulting Halfborn for another while. 

Not long after that Robin is happily situated in T.J. 's arms, while he and Mallory fuss over her, Mallory having passed on the opportunity to hold Robin, not wanting the pressure and anxiety of holding this tiny little fragile human. But she is happy to fuss and coo over Robin while T.J. holds her.

“You’re going to be a very impressive wee warrior one day so you are, Robin. 

I’ll teach you all you need to know to get rid of that Loki fella for good, yes! Yes I will!” Mallory laughs as Robin attempts to grab at her hair. “Ah ah no you don’t pet, no you don’t, if you're gonna pull someone’s hair, let it be your da.” Mallory presses a quick kiss to Robin’s forehead, before she steps back and gathers her hair into a ponytail so Robin won’t be able to grab it as easily. 

“I’ll teach you too Robin, when you’re a bit older I’ll teach you how to use a rifle, I think you’ll be a natural with a rifle!” T.J. exclaims.

“Can we maybe not talk about who’ll be teaching my new born how to use what weapons, T.J.? Getting a bit ahead of yourself there.” Alex lightly laughs. 

“But she’ll be so good with a rifle! I can tell!” T.J. protests.

“In the future, she’s a little young yet man.” Magnus adds. 

“Fine, I’ll stick to stories about my time in the army.”

Not long later, T.J. passes Robin back to Magnus, so that Magnus can soothe Robin when she starts to fuss. 

It only takes Magnus a few minutes to settle Robin down. As he soothingly pats Robin on the back, Magnus glances at Samirah who is still sitting loyally at Alex’s side, ready to do anything she can for her sister. 

It’s only when Magnus notices Sam looking longingly at Robin that he realises she hasn’t held her yet, not really. Sam had been the one to help Frigg clean Robin down a bit and had been the one to lift Robin onto Alex’s chest, but she hasn’t had a chance to really hold her yet. Magnus feels a little guilty for not realising sooner that Sam had been focusing solely on Alex while the rest of them gushed over the baby. 

“Sam, you wanna hold Robin?” Magnus asks, grinning when Samirah’s face lights up. 

“Can I?” She hopefully asks. She’s been longing to formally meet her sweet little niece and really get to hold her and spend time with her, but she also wants to make sure Alex is okay, as okay as someone can be after everything Alex has been through. 

“Of course, you should’ve asked.” Magnus tells her, placing Robin in her arms. 

Sam just shakes her head and gazes down at Robin in wonderment and amazement. She really is the most amazing little being ever to exist. 

“Hi sweet Robin, hello beautiful girl. Do you know who I am? I’m your aunty Samirah. I love you so much already, and I promise no matter what happens I’ll be here for you. You’re certainly gonna have a very interesting life, I can’t wait to watch you grow and get to know you.”

Robin coos and reaches up to grab at Samirah’s hijab which she has kept on since finishing her prayers not too long ago. 

“Oh you want one of these huh?” Sam lightly laughs “When you’re older maybe, I’m sure your Uncle Blitzen will make you one.”

“Absolutely I will! Free of charge of course, for my favorite niece!” Blitz joyfully says. 

“I think somebody loves her Aunty Samirah.” Alex grins, watching as Robin keeps her gaze fixed on Sam, and attempts to cuddle closer into her. 

Sam looks up from the cherubic face of her niece, smiling softly, looking very content and happy. 

“I love her too. I know everyone keeps saying it but Alex she really is perfect.” 

“I know right? She gets it from me. Hey, thanks for all your help and support while I was in labor, I’m sorry if I was mean to you, I didn’t mean anything I said.” Alex sheepishly admits, a bit embarrassed at how harsh she was to anyone around her during her labor. 

Sam shakes her head and sits down on the bed next to Alex. “That’s what sisters do, plus you didn’t say anything mean, well not to me anyway. You did threaten to behead Magnus a few times, and then you threatened The Queen of Asgard, said you’d cut her hand off.” Sam is still shocked that Alex did that and that Frigg was so unbothered by it. 

“Oh no those weren’t threats, those were promises. Robin will firmly remain an only child because I am not going through all that again.” Alex feels a wave of fear wash over her as she thinks back to her labor and how terrifying it was. “But I am really glad you were there with me the whole time, having my two favorite people there made it all a little bit easier. I couldn’t do it without you.” 

Sam puts one arm around Alex’s shoulder, the other still cradling Robin. “Yes you could.” she drops a kiss to the top of Alex’s head. “But you never have to. Took us 16 years to finally meet, I’m not leaving you again.” she quietly says, holding her sister tight and close, as if she might disappear if she doesn’t hold on tight enough. 

“Love you.” Alex quietly replies, laying her head on Sam’s shoulder. 

“Love you more.” 

Chapter Text

Magnus has always been a heavy sleeper, you kind of have to be to get any rest on the streets. You get accustomed to sleeping through car alarms, shouting, yelling, and a lot more. 

So it comes as a shock to him when he wakes up around 4AM the night after Robin’s birth, just in time to hear the low, snuffling cries coming from the bassinet by the side of the bed. 

Not wanting Alex to be woken, Magnus quickly hops out of bed and makes his way over to the bassinet, where Robin is lying, wriggling about and looking around as if to check someone is coming to tend to her. 

“Hey sweet girl.” Magnus quietly says, reaching into the bassinet and picking Robin up. “You hungry? Is that what’s wrong?” Robin continues to cry. “Alright let's not wake your mom, let's go get you a bottle.” 

Carefully, Magnus crosses the dark room and goes into the kitchen, where Sam had made and refrigerated a few bottles of baby formula for Robin, so that Magnus and Alex didn’t have to worry about making up formula during the night, and could just grab a bottle, heat it up and give it to Robin.

He quickly grabs a bottle from the fridge and sticks it in the microwave for a minute to heat it up, while he gently bounces Robin and pats her back to keep her calm. She certainly seems to have Magnus’ appetite and impatience for food. He can’t help but smile, liking the idea of Robin taking after him already. 

“I know kiddo I know, mean old dad making you wait a minute so your food can be warm, huh?” Magnus jokes, not even phased by Robin crying almost directly in his ear. 

Once the bottle has been warmed up, Magnus decides to take Robin into the common area of floor 19, so they don’t wake Alex up accidentally. 

While he sits on the sofa with a now perfectly content Robin drinking her bottle, he hears the doors to the lounge open and turns in his seat to see Alex standing in the doorway, somehow without a hair out of place, looking stylish as ever in a pink cardigan over a white t-shirt, paired with green pyjama bottoms and black socks. 

“Hey Chase.” Alex quietly says, walking over to the sofa. “You know it’s very rude to get up and sneak off from your boyfriend in the middle of the night.” Alex teases, confirming as Magnus sensed, that Alex has at some point between when the two of them fell asleep and now, shifted to male. 

Magnus laughs lightly as Alex leans over the back of the sofa to kiss him on the cheek. 

“I figured it was only fair I take the night shift for now, since you’ve done all the hard work in growing Robin and bringing her into the world.” He says, as Alex comes around and sits beside him on the sofa. 

“Damn right, but when I woke up and realised you weren’t in bed I figured I’d come find you and Robin, I don’t want to miss a second of her life.” Alex softly replies, resting one arm on Magnus’ shoulder and leaning over to run a hand over Robin’s hair with the other, absolutely mad about his baby girl, who he could just sit and watch all day. 

“How you feeling?” Magnus asks, as Robin finishes the last of her formula, and Magnus sits her upright in his lap, one hand supporting her head and the other patting her back to help bring up wind. 

Alex grimaces slightly and puts a hand to his stomach, where he is still experiencing some postpartum contractions that aren’t all that much less intense than the ones from early labor. 

“Sore.” Alex admits “Feels like the worst period ever.” 

“Is there anything I can do?” Magnus asks, feeling more than a little guilty that he can’t really do anything to take Alex’s pain away, since nothing is wrong per say that he can try and heal. It’s all part and parcel of pregnancy, birth and everything that comes after. 

“No, but I’ll be fine, it’s worth it to have Robin.” Alex’s voice is filled with love, and he knows he would happily go through every second of his pregnancy all over again, to have Robin. 

Not long later Magnus successfully gets Robin to bring up wind, and then he passes her to Alex, who he can see is eager to cuddle with their baby girl. 

“I love seeing the two of you together.” Magnus breaths, watching as Alex peppers Robin’s face with kisses and tells her how much he loves her. 

“I love her so much it hurts, I don’t know how anyone can not love their kid.” Alex quietly replies, thinking back on his own childhood and how little love, care and attention he received. If there’s one thing that both of his parents taught Alex, it’s how not to be a parent. Whatever and whoever Robin grows up to be, Alex knows that he will always love and support her. 

“Me too.” Magnus agrees. 

They sit in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, just gazing at Robin and taking in this moment of love and bonding. It’s Magnus who eventually breaks the silence, with a yawn he just can't stifle. It makes Alex snicker a bit to see Magnus’ eyes begin to droop and his head begin to drop as he struggles to stay awake. 

“You ok there Beantown? You wanna go back to bed?” She asks with a laugh, knowing just how tired Magnus really is when he doesn’t react to his least favorite nickname. 

“Yes please, or else I’m gonna fall asleep right here right now.” 

“Come on then, you need all the beauty sleep you can get, doesn’t he Robin? Doesn’t your dad need his beauty sleep?”

Over the next few days and weeks, Magnus and Alex settle into life as new parents, taking everything slowly and easily while Alex recovers from the pregnancy and birth. The first few days are undeniably a bit rough, but also undeniably the happiest and most fulfilling of Magnus and Alex’s existence. 

Neither of them could possibly love their baby girl more than they do. She is the absolute light and joy of their lives, and forever will be. They both know they would happily face down Loki every day between now and Ragnarök, if it meant keeping Robin safe and happy. 

Two weeks after Robin’s birth, Magnus has an errand to run in Midgard. He thought he would feel much more reluctant to leave Alex and the baby, even for only a few hours, but he actually finds himself looking forward to his task- especially because said task involves going to Blitzen’s best and seeing his two best friends. 

“Don’t forget we need diapers and formula.” Alex reminds Magnus through a yawn, from her comfortable little nest of pillows and blankets on her side of the bed, Robin asleep on her chest and a book in one hand. 

Magnus looks over at her from his spot in front of the mirror. The sight of Alex in her white t-shirt paired with an oversized pink cardigan, and a pair of emerald green Hotel Valhalla Pyjama bottoms, and Robin in a light yellow long sleeved vest, with a white peter pan collar, is possibly Magnus’ favorite sight in all 9 worlds. 

“Don’t worry I won’t, formula and diapers, anything else we need?” Magnus asks, making his way over to the bed and sitting on the edge, reaching out to stroke Robin’s cheek. 

“Mmm… oh, pads, at least 2 more packets of the really thick postpartum ones.” Alex remembers, recalling that when she checked her stash this morning, she only had a few pads left.

“Pads, got it. Is that it? Do we need wipes or anything?” Magnus questions, looking at the little diaper station they have set up next to the bed, to see how many packets of wipes they have left. 

“No, we have at least 6 unopened packets of wipes, and more than enough diaper cream. Just need the pads, diapers and formula.” Alex says, gently patting Robin on the back as she stirs in her sleep. 

“Ok, I shouldn’t be gone too long. Love you both.” Magnus leans over to kiss Alex on the lips, before ducking his head to kiss Robin’s forehead. 

“Love you too. Say bye to dada, Ro-Ro, tell him to be good.” Alex croons to the baby, who crunches her face up and buries her face in Alex’s chest as if trying to burrow away from the sound of her parents’ talking. 

Magnus and Alex share a laugh, and Magnus is unable to resist giving Alex and Robin one more kiss each. 

“See you soon.” He promises Alex, pushing her hair back from her face. 

“Love you.” Alex softly replies. 

“Love you too.” 

Once in Midgard, Magnus makes a quick stop at a small locally owned business that sells art prints, picking something up that he ordered a while ago. 

Once that’s done, he heads straight to Blitzen’s best, glad to see the store is pretty quiet, with Hearth and Blitz both at the front of the store at the cash desk, where Blitz is finishing up a transaction with the only other person in the store, while Hearth finishes refolding a small pile of clothes that had gotten knocked down at some point through the day. 

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” Magnus greets his friends as he approaches them, signing along the whole time. 

Hearth quickly sets down the jumper he was folding, and signs to Magnus How is Alex? How is Robin? They ok?  

“Is something going on, kid?” Blitz asks, knowing Magnus has hardly left Alex and Robin since Robin was born 2 weeks ago. 

“Whatever happened to hello?” Magnus laughs, though from the look on Hearth and Blitz’s faces they don’t find it too funny. 

Hello. Alex and Robin ok? Hearth repeats. 

“Yeah yeah hi kid, what’s going on with Alex and Robin?” Blitz adds, not all that worried about Magnus himself, since he’s standing right in front of him. 

“Nothing’s going on with them, they’re fine.” Magnus tells them, watching as they both visibly relax with relief. 

Then why you here? Hearth asks. 

“Geeze can’t a guy come visit his best friends because he misses them?” Magnus grumbles, realising that he’s been bumped down a spot on the list of Hearth and Blitz’s favorite people, by his own new born. 

Hearth looks like he’s considering the question, then simply shrugs. Yes, but you usually need our help . 

“Yeah he’s got a point.” Blitz agrees. Magnus sighs, knowing Hearth’s statement is very true. 

“I just need help with something and it’s kinda embarrassing that I need help with it at all.” He admits. 

Need refresher on lesson about protection and how to properly use it? Hearth signs, making Magnus turn bright red. 

“That better not be it! Robin’s not even a month old!” Blitz exclaims, hoping that Magnus and Alex aren’t doing something that could result in a sibling for Robin before she’s even one.

Magnus is so glad nobody else is in the store right now. 

“No! Nothing like that! I’m not an animal, goddamn.” Magnus defends himself. 

“No but you are the son of a fertility God.” Blitz points out “That’s how Robin happened in the first place.” 

“Uh yeah and you’re the son of the Goddess of sex!” Magnus replies. 

Yes but Blitz is gay man in committed relationship, no surprise babies for us. Hearth signs, very thankful that starting a family for them has to be very intentional. 

“We’re getting off topic! Look, I… I need some help wrapping a gift I got for Alex, I read about push presents, in that guide you got me, the guide for new dads. I wanted to get her something to celebrate her carrying and giving birth to our daughter, and to say thank you for making me a dad. I just… don’t know what the best way to wrap it is.” 

“You don’t know how to wrap a gift? Really?” Blitzen asks, wondering how he never noticed that before. Though it’s not as though they’ve had many occasions involving gifts and gift wrapping since he and Hearth practically adopted Magnus 2 years ago. 

“I know how to wrap gifts normally, but this is different, this isn’t something I can just layer in wrapping paper and stick a bow on, it’s really important and it’s kinda delicate too.” Magnus explains, feeling a little embarrassed at having to come ask for help on how to present a gift to Alex. 

What is it? Hearth signs, glancing at the large brown paper bag in Magnus’ hand. 

Magnus sets the bag down on the ground, and takes out a rectangular white canvas in a black frame, about 24CMX34CM. 

He sets it very carefully on the counter so Hearth and Blitz can see a map of the stars and night sky of Boston.  Just underneath the map of the stars, are the words;

“The Sky the night Robin came into the world and lit up our lives.” .

“I got it from the new place down the street that sells art prints. I saw these in the window of the shop a while ago and asked Sam to go in and order this for me, when Robin was born. Like I said, it’s a present for Alex. To celebrate her and all she’s done the last 8 or 9 months, and to thank her for being her and for making me a dad.” Magnus explains, grinning ear to ear as he thinks about Alex and Robin, h ow deeply and intensely he loves them both. 

“Aw kid, that’s a really sweet idea.” Blitz softly says, feeling so proud of the young man Magnus is becoming. “Yeah I can help you wrap this, you just need some tissue paper and a gift bag, if you put the print on its side it’ll fit in a gift bag. Hang on, let me go get the bag and tissue paper, I’ll be right back.” 

So over the next 20 minutes or so, Magnus lets Blitz show him how to carefully wrap the print in green tissue paper, before carefully and gently setting it in the pink gift bag where it fits pretty neatly. 

Hearth then uses his magic to make the glass of the frame practically shatterproof, so that the gift can last and hopefully not get damaged if it falls. 

Magnus thanks Hearth and Blitz, and then spends a while just hanging out with them, telling them all about how Robin and Alex are doing, feeling like he could burst with pride when he tells them how Robin is absolutely thriving, gaining weight like she should, feeding perfectly and often, and even letting Magnus and Alex sometimes get as much as 2 whole hours of uninterrupted sleep, which feels miraculous. 

By the time he arrives back in Valhalla with the gift for Alex, (and the formulas, diapers and pads) as well as 2 bars of chocolate for Hunding, Magnus has been gone for about an hour and a half, having got caught up talking with Hearth and Blitz. 

He heads straight to he and Alex’s room, wanting to give Alex her gift today, as well as a letter he wrote for her, that he tucked into a green envelope and placed in the gift bag along with the art print. 

When he opens the door to their room and walks in, he is met with an image that will always come to mind from now on when he thinks about and talks about his family. 

Alex is curled up on her side of the bed, fast asleep, one hand drooped into Robin’s bassinet, where the baby is just beginning to wake up. 

Alex looks so at peace in her sleep, her green hair rumpled and not perfectly styled for once.  She has the covers pulled up to her waist, with her cardigan now gone, revealing her green t-shirt dotted with white stains here and there, mixes of spilled formula and un-caught baby spit up. 

She has never looked more radiant, to Magnus. 

When the door creaks open, Alex stirs and her eyes begin to flutter open. She’s about to throw something at whichever of her hallmates just disturbed her nap and likely woke Robin, but when she sees it’s just Magnus she decides not to throw anything at him, instead giving him a soft, fond smile. 

“Hey Beantown.” she croaks, her voice hoarse from being so tired, all her energy caught up in caring for Robin and recovering from birth. 

“Hey.” Magnus softly responds, closing the door behind him. “How are my favorite roommates?”  

Alex laughs softly at the joke, having been referred to as ‘roommates’ by Percy’s step dad Paul Blowfis, a few months ago, before Robin was conceived, when they met Sally, Paul and Estelle for the first time. 

“Mmm tired, what you got there?” Alex gestures to the bag in Magnus’ hand, as he comes to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. 

“A present for  you.” He tells her, passing the bag to Alex who looks genuinely surprised.

“A present? What for? It’s not my birthday for another 4 months.” 

“It’s a push present, a gift to celebrate you, for all you did over the last 8/9 months to get Robin here safely, and for making me a dad. I want to show you how much I love and appreciate you.” Magnus explains, picking Robin up from her bassinet as she starts to fuss and cry. 

“Hi baby girl, do you wanna see what mama’s gift is?” Magnus coos, settling Robin in his arms and sitting back against the headboard of the bed, on Alex’s right hand side. 

Alex reaches into the gift bag that Magnus set between them on the bed, and pulls out a heavy but beautifully wrapped rectangle in green tissue paper. 

Making quick work of the tissue paper, Alex soon reveals a white canvas in a black frame. On the canvas, in black ink is a map of the stars in Boston, on the night of Robin’s birth, April 14th.

Below the drawing of the stars, is engraved a small inscription; 

“The Sky the night Robin came into the world and lit up our lives.”

“When I saw this new place in Boston that sells art prints, and I saw they sell prints of maps of the sky on whatever day of the year, I knew getting one of the night Robin was born would be the perfect gift, since I know you like astrology and are interested in all things space.” Magnus clarifies for Alex, smiling fondly at the memories of all the times Alex has read his horoscope to him, or the times they lay out in the atrium together to stargaze. 

“Magnus…” Alex trails off, tears pooling in her eyes which she will later blame on her hormones. “I’ve never been given something so meaningful, not in a long time anyway. I… thank you, I love it, I love you .” 

Magnus takes one of her hands in his, raising it to his lips and kissing the back of her hand. “Thank you , for loving me, for everything you did to make sure our sweet Robin arrived here safely, I know how hard pregnancy was for you.” He murmurs. 

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the best. Isn’t it wild how she was still inside me less than a month ago?” Alex breathily replies in awe, running a hand over Robin’s hair, hard to believe that only a few months ago, she had existed inside of Alex,  and Alex hadn’t even realised for a few weeks. 

How the little feet that are now pushing against Magnus’ arm as Robin stretches and yawns, were the very same little feet that not even an entire month ago, Alex had felt kicking her from the inside, the kicks that she let Sam and some of their other friends feel, resulting in laughter and talk of how excited everyone was to meet the newest family member. 

“It really is, oh and there’s a letter for you in there, from me. I’m no Bragi or anything but I figured I would try and be all romantic and write you a declaration of my love for you and for Robin.” Magnus sheepishly admits, afraid that Alex will laugh at him or think the letter is too much. 

Alex reaches into the bag, grabs the green envelope and rips it open, pulling out the letter written on plain white paper, with the green Hotel Valhalla logo at the top. 

Alex begins to read:

Dear Alex, 

Right now it’s been 4 days since Robin was born, I just finished giving her her 2AM feed, then I told her a story about my mom, and cuddled with her for a bit before putting her back in her bassinet. 

I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn’t, I couldn’t stop thinking about how perfect everything feels with Robin here. 

So I decided to write you this letter, to tell you how much I love you and Robin, and how grateful I am for everything you did and went through when you were carrying Robin, and when you brought her into the world a few days ago. 

Robin really is our miracle, the best surprise of my life. I didn’t even realise I wanted to be a dad, till you told me you were pregnant. And now not only do I get to be a dad and raise our beautiful daughter, I get to do it with you, we get to be a team, we get to be Robin’s team. 

I know carrying Robin was difficult beyond words, I still wish I could have taken all your pain and suffering and felt it myself, if it meant you wouldn’t feel it. 

Your pregnancy being so difficult makes me even more grateful and appreciative of what you went through for our family, and I will spend every second from now until the end of time and beyond, showing you just how much I love and appreciate you. 

I’m so excited to watch with you as Robin grows up, every time I think of all the endless possibilities of what she’ll be like, I get giddy with joy and excitement. I wonder if she’ll be creative and artistic like you, I see her watching you at your pottery wheel sometimes, she seems so interested and fascinated in how you work. I know I am, I could watch you work all day everyday. 

I know Robin is going to be sensational, no matter who or what she grows up to be. I know life won’t always be beautiful and peaceful, no matter how much I wish it was. But whatever happens I feel confident in saying that Robin has the best mom/papi anyone could ask for, and a lot of family who would literally die for her. 

Watching you with our baby girl is pure magic Alex, you are everything and more a kid could ask for, in a parent. Watching you bring her into the world was better than any sorcery I’ve ever seen, it really was like watching you perform a miracle. I feel like I should get you a medal or a trophy for what you achieved and did, but I hope this art print is just as good if not better. 

Thank you for being my friend, for being my girlfriend/boyfriend, and thank you for making me a dad to the most perfect baby ever to exist. 

I love you more than I could ever put into words, my existence would be pretty boring and lackluster without you and Robin, I am so glad I don’t have to live in a world without you.

Love you always Alex.

- Magnus (not Beantown!!) xoxo.

When Alex finishes reading the letter, she has tears streaming down her face. She has never had someone say so many kind and loving things about her, never had anyone acknowledge and appreciate something she’s done, and she hasn’t felt this loved since her abuelo passed away. 

Undoubtedly the last 9 months have been incredibly difficult for Alex in every sense of the word. As Magnus said multiple times, carrying Robin was so incredibly difficult and scary, knowing that one day, hopefully many many aeons from now, Robin will have to make the biggest decision of her life, and quite literally either rebuild and lead the world anew, or serve at Loki's right hand side and help him become King of Asgard.

Looking down at her tiny sleeping baby girl, Alex finds it impossible to believe that she alone has the power to determine what happens at and after Ragnarök, in fact it’s too much to try thinking about, especially at only 2 weeks postpartum. So she decides to put these thoughts aside for another time, when she is of clearer mind and not sleep deprived and doped up on love for her precious baby girl. 

Alex wipes at her tears, then grabs Magnus by the front of his shirt and pulls him down for a kiss. 

“I love you, I love you so so much.” Alex whispers against his lips, resting her forehead against his. 

“I love you too, more than I could ever put into words.” Magnus softly replies. 

“I want to tell you to keep kissing me but last time that happened, Robin happened.” Alex lightly laughs, which also makes Magnus laugh.

“And much as I love our Robsy, I’m very happy with being a one and done family.” 

“Good, because those threats I made in labor weren’t threats, but promises.” Alex warns, though unable to hold back a laugh at the memory of Magnus’ expression of horror. 

Magnus grins. “So what should we do for the rest of the day?” he asks, as Alex lays her head on his shoulder and lets Robin grab her finger. 

“Stay in bed cuddling and fussing over Robin, have dinner in bed and go to sleep early?” Alex suggests, amused by how boring she and Magnus have become now they have a baby. 

“Sounds perfect.”

A month and a few days after Robin’s birth, Alex is feeling physically well enough to leave Valhalla for the first time since giving birth, to go to Midgard to introduce Robin to Annabeth and Percy, and to stop in at Chase Space for a while and help out for a bit. 

They bundle Robin up in an adorable pink jumper with little ducks embroidered all over it, over a white vest top to keep her warm, along with some emerald green trousers made specifically to go with the pink jumper. Then they top the outfit off with a pair of adorable green booties in the style of a frog, as well as a pink hat made to go with the jumper. All custom made by Blitz of course. 

Once Robin is dressed, Magnus helps Alex put on a fabric baby carrier that they had bought for either of them to wear so they can carry Robin hands free, and helps him get Robin settled and secure in the carrier. Magnus is eager to try the whole baby-wearing thing out too, but right now for Robin’s first trip to Midgard, Alex feels the need to have her as close as possible to him, given that not even a month ago he was still pregnant. 

Once they’re both sure that Robin is warm enough and secure enough in the sling, they step out of one of the many doors of Valhalla, right into California which is only a short walk from New Rome, where Percy and Annabeth are lodging during the school year, while they study at the College of New Rome. 

They get through Camp Jupiter with no difficulties, and soon arrive at Percy and Annabeth’s apartment, where Magnus knocks on the door as Alex tries to calm a fussy Robin, who is likely getting hungry by now. 

A few minutes later the door swings open to reveal Percy, his black hair a wild mess like he’s ran his hands through it a million times, wearing a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt, along with ripped black jeans and black socks. 

He looks from Magnus to Alex with a friendly smile, before he spots Robin tucked up in the sling around Alex’s chest and his eyes grow wide. 

“Hey again seaweed brain.” Alex greets. “You gonna let us in so you can meet your niece?”

Chapter Text

Percy looks from Magnus to Alex and back again, confusion written all over his face. 

“Wait… where did you get a baby?” Percy asks in a puzzled tone, wondering what the hell he missed since he last saw Magnus and Alex.

“My uterus, unfortunately.” Alex deadpans, suppressing a shudder at the memory of labor. 

“But… I mean… how?” Percy questions.

“Well Percy when two people love each other very much….” Alex begins, speaking slowly and deliberately like he’s speaking to a toddler.  What part of this is Percy not getting? 

“I-I… B-Bu_ but you’re… you’re dead, both of you.” Percy stammers. 

“Hang on… did Annabeth not tell you?” Magnus asks in an unsure tone. It wouldn’t be like Annabeth not to mention such big news to Percy. Percy shakes his head.

Just then, Annabeth walks up behind Percy, her face lighting up when she sees Magnus, Alex and Robin.

“Hey you three!” Annabeth cheerfully greets. “Magnus I got your message the other week, congratulations! I can’t believe you’re a dad!” 

“Um, Annabeth?” Percy turns to look at his girlfriend. 

“Yeah?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that Alex was pregnant? Or how?” Annabeth’s eyes widen and she slaps a hand over her mouth in disbelief as if she’s just done something really stupid. 

“Oh, oh no I didn’t tell you, did I?” Annabeth quietly asks, shocked at herself for forgetting something so big and important. 

“Uh no, I think I’d remember you telling me your dead cousin and his dead genderfluid boyfriend/girlfriend_” 

“Boyfriend right now, he/him.” Alex interrupts, correcting Percy.

“Right of course, Annabeth, I think I’d remember you telling me that your dead cousin and his dead boyfriend are expecting a baby.” Percy finishes his sentence, feeling more than a little baffled and exasperated.

“Oh my gods I-I… I have no idea how that slipped my mind, I guess I’ve just been so busy making sure my dad is ok now he’s lost Uncle Randolph as well as Aunt Natalie.” Annabeth explains, lowering her hands from her mouth, still shocked at herself for forgetting to tell Percy such important news. 

Before Percy can reply, the conversation is interrupted by a low cry and snuffling sound coming from the sling around Alex’s chest, drawing everyone’s attention to Robin, who seems to be wondering where her food is, still being impatient when it comes to waiting for her bottle. 

Alex can’t help but laugh at the scowl his daughter is giving him, as though Alex should have had the bottle ready 5 minutes ago. 

“Hey don’t look at me like that girlie pop, your dad is the one with the sunshine-warm powers, he can heat your milk up, not me.” Alex then looks to Percy and Annabeth. “Hey I hate to be a bother- wait, actually no I don’t, I love to be a bother! Anyway it’s freezing out here and this girlie needs a warm bottle, can we come in please? Before we freeze and starve?” He raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow at the two Greek demi-gods. 

“Right! Yeah of course, come in!” Percy says, stepping back and opening the door wider.

“Come through to the living room, it’s small and messy but it’s warmer than the kitchen.” Annabeth says, opening a door to a room on the left of the hall just inside the front door. 

“Yeah sorry about the mess, that’s what happens when two ADHD college students live together.” Percy laughs. They try to keep the place relatively neat, but one of them always ends up misplacing something and tearing the place apart looking for it, only then to not have the mental energy to tidy up again. 

“Hey no judgement here, you should see our room in Valhalla, actually the whole of our corridor on floor 19, somehow everyone has ended up with baby stuff in their room. I found the stroller in Halfborn’s room the other day, for some reason.” Magnus laughs lightly, suspecting that their berserker friend had taken Robin for a stroll around the hotel when he babysat for an hour so Magnus and Alex could nap after a particularly rough night with Robin. 

“Helgi gets annoyed by it but we just show him Robin and ask how anyone could possibly be annoyed at such a perfect and adorable little baby and he forgets all about it.” Alex grins. Even at only one month old, Robin is undoubtedly the most popular resident of Valhalla, and has had many important visitors including Odin himself, Frigg, and even Heimdall swung by Valhalla when he heard about Robin. 

“So Odin is just… chill, with you guys having a baby?” Percy questions, trying to imagine how Chiron and Mr. D would react if someone brought a baby to camp. Maybe Mr. D would teach the kid how to play pinochle. 

“Surprisingly yes, it’s not like we did this on purpose or anything, plus I... kinda cried when he said he wasn’t sure if he could or would let us keep her.” Alex sheepishly admits, not one to so openly talk about his feelings. 

“Was he ever seriously considering that? Not letting you keep her?” Annabeth asks. 

“I dunno.” Alex sighs “And I don’t want to think about it, she’s here now, and we won’t ever let anything separate the 3 of us.” He adds, carefully lifting Robin from the sling around his chest, and accepting the now warmed bottle of milk, from Magnus. 

“Oh you guys!” Annabeth softly says, finally getting a proper look at Robin. “She’s so cute, she looks just like you Alex!”

Magnus and Alex share a proud grin, as Magnus sits beside Alex on the sofa by the window. 

“Yeah, we make pretty cute babies.” Alex grins. 

“Hell yeah we do.” Magnus agrees, putting an arm around his boyfriend and their daughter. 

“So like… is anyone gonna tell me how all this happened or…?” Percy trails off. 

“Gods, it's kind of a long and complicated story.” Magnus sighs, tilting his head back as he thinks of the best but shortest way to explain this all to Percy. “Okay, so you know I’m a son of Frey? God of Fertility?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Well it turns out that I have some powers related to fertility, because of that. And so that means I can… have kids… even as an Einherji with an Einherji.” Magnus explains, wondering if he will ever get to stop having to explain this every few weeks. 

“Huh, and so… because Robin is the kid of two Einherjar and the granddaughter of two Gods, does she have any unusual powers?” Percy nervously asks, eyeing the baby skeptically, not entirely sure she’s not about to shapeshift or make crops sprout inside. 

“Yeah but we don’t know what exactly those powers are yet. But we do know that whenever Ragnarök does roll around, Robin is going to be the one to lead the wining side. She's been prophesied to not only lead the winning side to victory at Ragnarök, but also... to survive Ragnarök herself, and rebuild and lead the new world afterwards."  Alex explains, choosing not to go into detail about how Robin may actually end up leading Loki to victory. He quickly pushes the thought of Ragnarök out of his head, not wanting to think about how one day his daughter will walk onto that battlefield and change the course of destiny forever, she will either fight side by side with Magnus and Alex, or she will fight against them.

“No pressure or anything.” Percy jokes, knowing what it’s like to literally have the weight of the world on your shoulders. 

“I think she’ll be able to handle the pressure, she has a whole floor of Einherjar, multiple Gods, a Valkyrie, an Elf who is pretty handy with magic, and a Dwarf who can be pretty deadly with inflatable ducks, to love her and support her everyday between now and Ragnarök.” Magnus softly says, running his fingertips over Robin’s dark hair, so so glad that she has so many people to love her, you can never have too much love and support. 

“And us.” Annabeth adds, also willing to fight for and protect Robin at all costs. 

“Aww you hear that Ro-Ro? You’re Aunty Annie and Uncle Percy love you just as much as your mom and I do.” Magnus lovingly coos to his daughter, earning himself a death glare from Annabeth when he calls her by that nickname. 

“Magnus Henry Chase, don't you dare call me Annie!” Annabeth firmly warns, fixing her cousin with a hard stare. 

“Henry?! Your middle name is Henry?!” Alex eagerly asks in delight, always happy to have something new to tease his boyfriend about. 

Magnus flushes. 

“My mom really liked British History ok?! And no I wasn’t named for the fat asshole who killed a bunch of his wives.” Magnus defends himself, remembering reading about Henry the Eight when he was younger, and worrying that he had been named after such a monster, fears his mom was quick to put to rest. 

“Call me Annie again and I’ll tell Alex why your main nickname was Maggie for a few years.” Annabeth warns. She really hates the nickname Annie, and really hates when Magnus uses it to tease her with. He picked it up when he had called Annabeth camp Half-Blood earlier this year and overheard Mr. D. call her 'Anniebeth', yelling that phones were not allowed and at camp and she better put it away before Chiron finds out and lectures her. Now anytime Magnus wants to be annoying he calls her Annie, while nicknames like ‘Mags’ and ‘Maggie’ no longer phase him. 

“So what’s it like being parents?” Percy changes the subject before the two cousins can really start bickering, and trying to picture himself and Annabeth with a baby. 

“The best thing I’ve ever done.” Alex is the first to reply, gazing lovingly at his daughter, his perfect, precious baby girl. 

“Feels like having my heart outside my body, she’s the embodiment of Alex and I’s love, and if you ask me there’s nothing more amazing than that.” Magnus adds on, his tone full of adoration and contentedness. 

“Does it make you want to have more kids in the future?” Percy asks curiously, earning a horrified look from Alex. 

“ No. ” Alex firmly says “Robin was a huge surprise, and carrying her was… the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, I was so sick and miserable most of the time, I don’t ever want to go through that again.” 

“Especially not after everything that happened with Loki.” Magnus quietly adds.

“Loki? What about him? What did he do?” Annabeth frets, knowing that anything involving Alex’s mother is not good. 

“A lot.” Magnus replies in a hoarse voice, trying not to choke up at the mental image of a pregnant Alex sitting alone in their bed, crying and bleeding and sobbing about Loki trying to harm their baby. 

“He wanted Robin to raise himself so she would fight with him and the giants at Ragnarök. He knew whoever’s side Robin fights on, will have their destinies changed by her. He expected me to just… hand her over to him, like she’s nothing. So when I wouldn’t he… tried to make me have a miscarriage. Almost succeeded too, if Magnus hadn’t gotten there when he did to heal Robin, I… no, I can’t think about it.” Alex quietly explains, tears welling in his eyes as he remembers that horrible, terrifying day. 

“By the Gods, Alex, that's horrendous, how could he do that to his own child and grandchild?” Annabeth asks, her tone filled with disgust and anger. 

“I don’t know to be honest.” Alex replies. “He just… he always gets what he wants, and if he couldn’t have Robin then in his mind, nobody could.” Alex’s throat tightens with tears, his grip on Robin tightening, a choked and breathy laugh escaping when Robin reaches a hand up and pats at Alex’s face, as if trying to reassure him. 

“What happened in the end? Is he still a threat? Is there anything we can do?” Percy questions, willing to do whatever he can to help his friends, even facing down a God from an entirely different and unrelated pantheon than the one’s Percy himself is used to dealing with.

“To make a long story short, with help from Loki’s wife Sigyn we got rid of him for at least the next decade or two. She was gifted blades that were enchanted with the power to kill Loki, and that would stop him reforming so quickly. I lied to Loki, said I’d give Robin to him and told him to meet me here in Midgard so we could talk about it. When he did, Sigyn was hiding nearby and while I distracted him, she made her move and killed him. 

But like I said he’s not gone for good, at some point in the future, Robin is destined to face him, and she’ll have to use the other dagger to get rid of him again, what happens after that we don’t know yet.” Alex explains, knowing that until Ragnarök they’ll never be fully rid of Loki. 

“That must have been terrifying, probably still is.” Percy sympathises, knowing that if anyone ever tried to hurt Estelle like that, he would send them to Tartarus faster than they could blink. 

“It is, but we’re just so grateful that Robin is here and she’s safe and perfect and so loved.” Magnus tells them, taking one of Robin’s tiny little hands in his and pressing a kiss to the back of it. 

Annabeth and Percy nod in understanding, and the 4 of them are quiet for a while, the only noise being Robin’s gurgles and snuffles. 

“So how was the birth, Alex? Sally told me that both her labors were pretty quick and painless, and well I wasn’t exactly born , being a child of Athena and all, I’m curious to know what I might have in store in the future if seaweed brain here and I have kids.” Annabeth asks. 

“Oh it was awful, it was so painful and it lasted for what seemed like forever. Not to mention I was terrified the whole time that Robin wouldn’t be ok, I couldn’t relax until I had her in my arms, and she sure took her time in getting here.” Alex shudders, knowing he will remember those 8 hours as clear as day, for the rest of his life. 

“He threatened to cut my head off in Midgard if I ever got him pregnant again.” Magnus laughs. 

“I meant it, I still mean it. But it was all worth it when I got to see and hold Robin for the first time, she’s worth every single second of what I went through.” Alex says in a soft and loving tone, gazing down at Robin in his arms as if she is the most precious thing in all 9 worlds. Which of course, to Alex, she is.

“Annabeth are you gonna cut my head off if we have kids?” Percy wearily asks. Annabeth just shrugs. 

“Maybe, but probably not.” 

Magnus, Alex and Robin stay with Percy and Annabeth for a few more hours, with Robin napping in the sling cuddled up against Alex’s chest, before they head to Chase Space for a while. 

When they step through the front doors to Chase Space, Magnus and Alex are met by Samirah who is just coming down stairs. Her face lights up when she sees the 3 of them. 

“Hey it’s my favorite sibling, my favorite niece and my favorite son of Frey! How are you?” Sam cheerfully greets them all. 

“Tired, so very tired. How’s everything been going here since last time we were here?” Magnus asks, rubbing at his heavy and stinging eyes, while Alex once again tries to settle a fussing Robin. 

“Want me to try settling her?” Sam offers, having been able to settle Robin pretty easily a few times over the last month. 

“Knock yourself out.” Alex says, carefully lifting Robin out of the sling and passing her to Samirah, who bounces her gently and pats her back gently. 

“Ooh hi sweet baby, are you feeling grumpy huh? Do you want to hang out with Aunty Sam for a bit, hm?” Samirah coos to the baby, who quickly seems to settle and calm down, blinking up at her aunt and even gracing her with a small smile as she snuggles closer into her. 

“Aww did you miss your Aunty Sam, Robsy?” Magnus coos, grinning at Sam, and thinking how wild it is that not even 2 years ago he and Samirah didn’t know each other at all, and now she’s practically his sister, and one of his best friends, and a loving and doting aunt to his daughter. 

“Her Aunty who is a baby whisperer! Keep this up sis and you’ll be her favorite Aunt in no time!” Alex exclaims, holding his hand up for a high five from Sam, who grins and high-fives her brother. 

“Come on, everyone’s in the kitchen, we’re just finishing up dinner. Then Amir is coming by to talk to some of the kids about business, while Hearth and I are on homework and paperwork helping duty, and Blitz is packing some things up for the food run tonight, which he and Hearth are covering this time.” Sam explains as they head through to the kitchen. In addition to the shelter, two people from Chase Space go out for a few hours in the evening and hand out food, blankets and hygiene products to homeless people.

“Sounds like a busy evening, normally we’d offer to stay and help but we have our hands full with just the one kid.” Alex says, taking Robin back from Sam and settling the baby back in the sling. They’re extremely lucky to have so much help with Robin, with their hallmates always bringing them food from the dining hall, so the crowds and noises don’t frighten Robin, helping out by making bottles, washing bottles and dishes, doing laundry and more. 

“I bet it’s fun too though, I can’t wait to have kids.” Sam confesses in a dreamy tone, watching Alex as he stops by each of the dining tables to say hi to the kids and introduce them to Robin.

“You got baby fever huh?” Magnus knowingly asks, grinning at the whimsical look on Sam’s face. She nods. 

“So bad, I can’t even look at a stroller without feeling like crying and wanting a baby right now, Amir thinks it’s absolutely hilarious.” Sam tells him, smiling to herself as she imagines years in the future when she and Amir do start their family. 

Magnus and Sam make their way over to a small dining table in the corner of the room, where Hearth and Alex now sit, with Robin still tucked up in the sling, and Alex sipping a cup of coffee to try and keep his energy up for another hour or two. Even Einherjar's stamina isn’t much of a match for a new born baby who wakes up multiple times a night. 

How do you feel? Hearth signs to Alex, as Magnus and Sam approach the table. 

Getting better everyday, still sore, very sore. Alex signs back, wincing as a cramp chooses that moment to move through him. If  I ever say I want another kid, someone needs to stop me and remind me what I went through to have this one. Alex rests one hand on Robin’s back once he finishes signing, laughing lightly. He’s sure he won’t be quick to forget his pregnancy and labour and all the unpleasant things those brought along. A lot of people say you forget about the pain of birth soon after, but so far in the last month Alex certainly has not forgotten a single moment of it. 

She was worth it though? Hearth asks. Alex smiles softly and nods, dropping a kiss to Robin’s head. 

Yeah, more than, couldn’t love her more. Alex replies.

A few minutes later Robin is now lying in Hearth’s lap, looking all around her in awe of her new surroundings. As Magnus begins to talk about how Robin has taken to giving her parents dirty looks when she doesn’t get her bottle fast enough, they’re interrupted by a familiar but joyful voice. 

“Magnus! Alex! I thought I heard your voices, how are you guys? How’s my favorite niece?” Blitzen eagerly asks, walking up and taking a seat beside Hearth.

“I'm still in pain.” Alex sighs, gratefully accepting a packet of over the counter painkillers from Sam. 

“And we're both tired, so tired, I thought babies were meant to sleep a lot.” Magnus adds, rubbing a hand across his face in an attempt to waken himself up. 

“But Robin’s perfect as usual, I think she likes being out and about.” Alex softly smiles, watching Robin take in her new surroundings. “Parenthood is damn hard, but it’s worth it for the cutest baby in all the worlds.” 

“I bet, hey Hearth you seriously hogging the baby again?” Blitz teases his boyfriend, knowing that Hearth would be content to sit and hold Robin for hours. 

She likes being with me, I’m her fun and cool Uncle. Hearth defends himself. 

“Hey no way I get to be the fun and cool one! You have to be the responsible one who makes her eat vegetables and do her homework and stuff!” Blitz protests with a laugh.

At that exact moment, Robin starts to fuss and cry, making both Hearth and Blitz share a guilty look. 

That was your fault. Hearth quickly signs, pointing at Blitz, who jokingly bats the Elf’s hand away. 

“How dare you, it was not! Robin loves her Uncle Blitz! She’s crying because you’re hogging her.” 

“Actually.” Alex cuts in. “She’s crying because she’s hungry, I can tell by the way she’s giving us all the stink eye, give her here.” 

Hearth happily places Robin in Alex’s arms, who begins to gently bounce her while Magnus heats up a bottle. 

“Hey mija it’s okay, how are you so good with those dirty looks already?” Alex laughs, as Magnus passes him the warmed up bottle. 

“She gets it from her papi.” Magnus grins, using Alex’s preferred parent name for his masculine days. Alex just grins and leans over to give Magnus a quick peck on the lips. 

As the young parents sit feeding their daughter, they can’t help but notice that Hearth and Blitz have started lovingly bickering over something again, poking at each other and laughing between signs. 

“Aww look at them Robsy, your grandpas are such an old married couple.” Magnus quietly says to the baby. 

“Hey I heard that!” Blitz exclaims, while Magnus and Alex just share a bemused smile. 

Later that evening the little of family 3 arrive back in Valhalla after their busy day in Midgard, Alex and Magnus feeling ready to collapse into bed and Robin seeming more awake now than she has been all day, ready to keep her dad and papi up all night. 

When they trudge up the stairs to floor 19, they see a nervous Hunding standing outside their door. 

“Hey Hunding ‘sup man? Come to join the babysitting squad?” Magnus jokes, rubbing at his heavy and bleary eyes. 

“Sadly not.” Hunding responds with a melancholy shake of his head. “I wanted to set up a nursery for the little one, so I could offer to watch her for you while you guys are in combat and staff, but Helgi vetoed the idea.” He replies in a sullen tone. “You have a visitor in your room.” 

“Oh, ok thanks man. Oh by the way, got these for you in Midgard.” Magnus says, pulling two large bars of chocolate out of his jacket pocket and laying them in Hunding’s gloved hand. The Saxons' eyes light up in delight as they always do around chocolate.

“Thanks Magnus! I knew you were my favorite resident for a reason!” 

When Magnus and Alex step into their room, they are immediately met by a tall man wearing a blue flannel shirt open over a white t-shirt, ripped blue jeans and hiking boots. His hair is the same shade of blonde as Magnus’ that rests just below his shoulders. 

“Dad?” Magnus asks, surprised to see his father has turned up here in he and Alex’s room. He had sent Magnus a message not long before Alex went into labor, to tell him that he had business to attend to in Alfheim and that he probably wouldn’t be reachable for a while. When he said a while, Magnus kind of suspected he meant a few years, not a few weeks. 

The God smiles kindly. 

“Hello son, and Alex, good to see you both again. I apologise if I’ve shown up at an inopportune time, I’m just eager to meet my granddaughter. My dear sister is also very eager to hear all about her, and has asked for photos.” Frey calmly explains, still hearing Freya’s voice in his ear reminding him to bring back photos of their new family member and instructing him to tell Magnus and Alex that they and baby Robin are always welcome in Vanaheim.

“We’d love for you to meet Robin, right Alex?” Magnus asks, turning to look at his boyfriend to make sure that this impromptu visit is also ok by him. 

“Yeah absolutely. Here, you can hold her, just be careful she’s a hair puller already.” Alex lightly says, carefully passing his daughter to Frey, who smiles softly down at the little girl and strokes her cheek with the back of his finger, and runs a hand over her dark hair. 

“Hello little one, little miracle.” He quietly says. “What is her name, son?” 

“Robin, Robin Natalie Fierro-Chase.” Magnus proudly says.

At the mention of Natalie, tears begin to well in Frey’s eyes. Natalie Chase will always hold a special place in his heart, he truly did love her and care for her. It hurt him deeply to have to leave her and Magnus, when Magnus was only a few weeks old, for the child’s own safety. Everyone knows that demi-gods draw the attention of things nobody wants around, having a God there would only make things worse, more intense. It was better for Magnus and Natalie to live as normally as possible. 

“What a beautiful name, it suits her.” Frey smiles in a breathy tone, trying to hold back the tears. It feels so wrong that he is here with his son and granddaughter, and Natalie is not and likely never will be. “It’s very nice to meet you Robin, I hope I can be part of your life little one, I quite like the idea of being a grandfather.” 

Just then, Magnus feels Jack in his pendant form, buzzing and tugging at the neck chain around Magnus’ neck, a sure sign he has something to say. 

Magnus reaches up and detaches Jack from the neck chain, watching as he seamlessly shifts to sword form and flies up to hover just in front of Frey.

“Hey pal you got some nerve showing up here!” Jack exclaims, vibrating with anger, his runes glowing red. “Where were you when all that stuff with Loki trying to claim my new little bestie for himself, was going down huh?!” 

Magnus and Alex exchange a weary look, neither of them in the mood to listen to Jack yell at Frey. 

“Jack, dude just… leave it ok?” Magnus sighs. Though he can’t deny that he does to an extent agree with Jack, he had prayed to his father plenty throughout Alex’s pregnancy, and to the best of his knowledge never even got a sign that his prayers had been heard. 

“It’s alright son, he poses a fair question.” Frey calmly says. “Old friend, I did try to figure out a way to help. I proposed bringing Magnus and Alex to Alfheim or Vanaheim before Robin was born, but Freya pointed out that it wouldn’t make much difference, Loki has as much access to all 9 worlds as any of the rest of us. 

I owe a great deal to Sigyn for saving my granddaughter as she did, and I will forever be indebted to her.

And I am very glad that Robin has you to care about her and for her, Jack. You were a very good friend to me and I did not appreciate that enough, for which I can only apologise. Your friendship to and protection of my son and granddaughter means much to me, old friend.” 

When he speaks, Frey’s voice is calm and filled with understanding and empathy, and perhaps even a trace of guilt.

“Yeah… well… I guess it all worked out in the end, Magnus is pretty cool, and Robin’s even cooler.” Jack admits, turning slightly to look at the baby laying in Frey’s arms. 

Alex snorts with laughter and elbows Magnus in the ribs. “Hear that Beantown? Our 2 week old baby is cooler than you. Bet that boosted your self esteem huh?” He teases. 

“Oh shut up.” 

“So… you’re gonna be comin' round here more often now?” Jack questions Frey, as though Magnus and Alex never spoke. 

“I certainly hope so, old friend, as long as it’s alright with Magnus and Alex, I would very much like to be more involved as a grandfather than I was as a father. We all know this little girl hasn’t been so fortunate so far when it comes to grandparents.” Frey responds, returning his gaze to Robin and imagining her in a year or so’s time, toddling unsteadily around the gardens of Valhalla, where he can teach her all there is to know about nature. 

“Now that’s just Blitzen and Hearthstone slander, they more than make up for my crappy parents.” Alex laughs, wondering if there will ever be anything even better to tease Blitzen with. 

Frey laughs lightly. “Yes I owe them a great deal too, Freya is so very proud of Blitzen and is eager to be formally introduced to Hearthstone, as the goddess of love she is very eager to meet the man her son has fallen in love with.” He explains. He knows his nephew has a complex relationship with Freya, and he understands that, he can only hope they too are able to become closer and bond, just as he and Magnus have done. 

“We owe them too, we owe everybody who helped us defeat Loki, twice in the span of less than 2 years. The three of us are really lucky to have them all in our lives, I just hope the next 16 or so years can be peaceful and Robin can have at least a semi-normal childhood, till she’s destined to face down Loki herself.” Magnus sighs, fear and anxiety in his voice and on his face, as thoughts and images of Loki towering over Robin, creep into his head. 

“I certainly hope so too son, but whatever happens I will be around to help train and prepare Robin for her destiny, and when the time comes for her to face Loki again, I will not let him harm a hair on her head.” Frey firmly says, making a quiet vow to his granddaughter to be there for her and to protect her from this moment onward.

“No one will, not when I’m around.” Alex agrees. 

“Robin’s got 2 parents that love her more than words can possibly say, she has Jack, you, 6 Uncles including Percy and Amir, 3 Aunts including Annabeth, she’s under the protection of Odin and Frigg, and she has multiple other Gods including Heimdall who adore her and will also look out for her. 

Whatever happens I don’t doubt she’s going to be absolutely fine.” Magnus adds, meaning every word. 

He knows that whatever the future may hold, nothing can or will change the fact that Robin is going to grow up surrounded by people who love her more than anything, and who will do anything for her. 

She may have a very big future and destiny ahead of her, but she will not be facing it alone.

Chapter Text

1 YEAR LATER.

During his time in Valhalla, Magnus has grown accustomed to waking up to the sun streaming in on his face, with it now being over 2 years since he arrived in Valhalla on that cold January day, he is used to being woken up by the sun. 

So when one morning he is dreaming peacefully of a picnic in the woods with Alex and Robin, he is hugely shocked to be woken to the feeling of a weight landing across his ribcage, knocking the wind out of him. 

With a cry of surprise, Magnus opens his eyes and finds rosy cheeks, curly dark hair and big grey eyes looking back at him. A face he would recognise anywhere in any of the nine worlds. Robin. 

“Woah hey Robsy, how’s my girl hm?” Magnus asks, his voice a little hoarse and croaky from sleep. 

Robin babbles something with a huge smile on her face and throws her arms up in the air in delight before laying herself down on Magnus’ chest, her little way of giving him a hug. It melts his heart every time. 

Magnus runs a hand over Robin’s dark hair and kisses her forehead. 

“Aww birthday cuddles with dada huh Ro-Ro?” Alex’s voice suddenly fills the room, and Magnus looks up to see her standing in the doorway to the kitchen, grinning at he and Robin, not a hair out of place as usual. 

“Sure is, told you she’s a daddy’s girl.” Magnus teases as Alex comes over and lays down beside him and Robin. 

“Mmm well I can’t say I blame her, you are pretty great.” Alex laughs, leaning over to kiss Magnus, somehow even more madly in love with the dork after their first year of parenting together. He is such a loving and attentive dad to Robin, it brings immense joy to Alex every time she sees them together. 

“How’d she get out of her crib, by the way?” Magnus asks, putting one arm around Alex as she lays her head on his shoulder, and keeping one hand on Robin’s back as she stays cuddled up on his chest. 

“Well it seems that for her first birthday our little girlie pop gave herself the gift of climbing. I watched her climb out of her crib a few minutes ago, like it was the easiest thing in the world.” Alex tells him. 

Magnus sighs. “Oh we are so in for it now.” 

Meanwhile, the common room of floor 19 has been overtaken by Mallory, Samirah, T.J., Gunderson, Blitz and Hearth. 

Sam, Blitz and Hearth had all come from Midgard this morning, while Mallory, T.J. and Gunderson somehow managed to quietly sneak into the living room early this morning before Magnus, Alex or Robin got up for the day. 

The 6 of them have spent the last few hours decorating and setting up for a party they have planned to celebrate Robin’s first birthday. 

As far as any of them are aware, neither Magnus nor Alex have any idea that they’ve been planning this for a while now, so hopefully it should be a complete surprise. 

“Hey guys, what did everyone get for Robin? What kind of presents do you get for a one year old?” T.J. asks the room as he and Mallory hang up a ‘ Happy birthday!’ banner over the door. 

“I made all her gifts myself actually, a couple of outfits and some cuddly toys, we all know how much that kid loves to cuddle.” Blitz grins, his tone full of fondness. Robin is a very affectionate and sweet little girl, she always wants to hold someone’s hand, sit in their lap, cuddle them, etc. Most often when he and Hearth are babysitting, Hearth will carry Robin around on his shoulders, according to him, Robin “Likes to be up high” and it also means Hearth has his hands free to sign with. 

Blitzen figured some cuddly toys for Robin to curl up with at night are the perfect gift for her. 

I got her some coloring books and building blocks. And made her some ASL flash cards, to help her keep learning ASL. Hearth signs, patting his pockets once he’s finished signing, to make sure he did remember to put the home made flash cards in his pocket before leaving Midgard. 

Knowing ASL has proven very helpful for Magnus and Alex when it comes to communicating with Robin, they and everyone else have used signs with her from day one. 

Robin is yet to speak her first word aloud (though Jack insists he heard her say his name a few times.) but she has signed a few times, mainly things like More and Food . 

“Aw man! Why didn’t I think of something like that?!” T.J. exclaims, slapping his knee in annoyance. 

“Were we supposed to all get her more than one thing? I only got her the one thing, a book on Irish folklore and legends like Oisín i dTír na N’Óg, Cu Chulainn , stuff like that.” Mallory explains, hoping that Robin will love the stories as much as Mallory did at her age, and still does. She may be in a Norse afterlife and the daughter of a Norse God, but she still holds a lot of space and love for her Irish culture and heritage.

“I only got her one thing as well, I got her a wooden jigsaw of some birds and flowers and stuff.” Sam adds, having spent a while with Amir debating what to get their niece for her first birthday. 

“What did you get her Jefferson, a mini rifle?” Gunderson jokes. 

“Oh ha-ha, no I got her some play-doh, though I’m kinda second guessing that decision now, she’s probably too little for it.” T.J. admits in a tone of doubt, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“Oh no I’m sure she’ll love it, though I doubt Magnus and Alex will. She’s gonna make an absolute mess with it, probably try and eat it too. They are gonna kill you.” Mallory laughs, making T.J. feel even worse. He never considered how messy play-doh can be, or that Robin is going through a phase where she seems to think everything is food. 

“Given that she’s tried to eat clay before, yeah I’m sure she’s gonna think bright colorful clay is definitely food.” Gunderson laughs, still able to clearly see the image of Magnus begging Robin to spit out whatever she had in her mouth, into his hand, and Alex having to get up from her potter’s wheel every few seconds to keep Robin away from it. After that they set up a playpen for Robin in their room and the common area so she can have a safe place to play and hang out without the risk and worry of her getting into something she shouldn't'.

“I thought it would be a great gift because she’s a potter’s kid!” T.J. defends himself, wondering if there might be something more suitable in the Valhalla gift shop, maybe a snow globe or something. 

“Don’t listen to them T.J. Play-doh is a great gift for Robin, I mean I’m sure she will try to eat it but she tries to eat everything, it’s just what babies do. You two are so mean.” Sam assures T.J. before shaking her head in mock dismay at Mallory and Gunderson, who are both notorious for teasing poor T.J.

“Awk I’m allowed to be mean to T.J., sure he’s basically my wee brother.” Mallory laughs, folding her arms and resting them on T.J.’s shoulder.

“I’m older than you! By like 100 years!” T.J. exclaims. 

“I know but you just… you just have little sibling energy!” Mallory shrugs, always forgetting that not only was T.J. older at his time of death than Mallory was at hers, but that also they were born centuries apart. 

Before T.J. can reply, the doors to the common room swing open and in step Magnus and Alex. Magnus with a green and pink diaper bag slung over his shoulder, and Alex with Robin on her hip.

It’s still strange even after a year, for everyone else to see their friends with a baby, but at the same time it can be easy to forget that Robin hasn’t always been here. 

A look of surprise crosses both Magnus and Alex’s face as they take in the scene before them, and even Robin seems intrigued by the balloons tied to a chair near the door, reaching out her little hands to bat at the balloons, laughing as she watches them bob around. Though she quickly tires of the balloons and soon looks for something else to grab at.

“What’s going on in here?” Alex asks, as she steps further into the room, wincing as Robin grabs a handful of her hair.  

“A party of course, for the hotel’s most adorable resident!” Sam enthuses, walking up to Alex’s side and leaning in to kiss her niece on the cheek, before carefully and gently prying Robin’s hand from Alex’s hair. 

Robin giggles as Sam’s breath tickles her, and she quickly goes from trying to grab at Alex’s hair, to trying to grab Sam’s hijab .  

“The place looks amazing, how long did it take you guys to set this up? I was in here only a few hours ago and none of it was like this.” Magnus asks, looking around him, very impressed with how quickly his friends pulled this all together. 

“About an hour or so, Hearth may or may not have used a little magic to speed things along.” Blitz says with a knowing smile. A faint smile graces Hearth’s face and he shrugs nonchalantly, as if his use of magic is something simple and unimpressive. 

Not really supposed to use it unless I have to, but willing to break rules for Robin, would do anything for her. He signs, quickly spelling out Robin’s name and feeling very grateful that Magnus and Alex didn’t give their daughter a long and complicated name that would take Hearth forever to finger spell. Though even with Robin being a relatively short name, Hearth still has a unique name sign for his niece, the letter R followed by the sign for bird. It’s like his own personal nickname for Robin, and with her being as clever as she is, she already seems to know when Hearth uses her name sign, and actively responds to it. 

“Aww guys, this is awesome, thank you so much. We weren’t going to do anything much today since Robin won’t remember her first birthday, but this is lovely.” Magnus beams, his tone full of appreciation as he runs a hand over his daughter’s mop of dark hair, while she chews on her hand and looks around her in awe. 

Teething, they have found out, is a horrible time for the parents and the child. 

“She deserves a celebration whether she’ll remember it or not!” Gunderson loudly proclaims, making Robin jump at the volume of his voice and grip tightly onto Alex’s pink jacket, while Alex glares at Gunderson.  Robin is pretty used to hearing her Uncle Gunderson speak so loudly, but sometimes he still ends up shocking her, scaring her and even sometimes making her cry. Which in turn makes him feel extraordinarily guilty and feel like crying himself. 

“Oops, sorry Robin.” Gunderson sheepishly says in a much quieter tone, while Alex continues to glare at him while lovingly and protectively cupping the back of Robin’s head and gently swaying her side to side to help her calm down. 

“I know baby, your Uncle really needs to remember that I once threatened to rip his vocal chords out myself, and I meant it then and I mean it now.” Alex coos in a false bright and cheery tone. 

“What do you think of all this Robsy? Did your Aunts and Uncles do a good job setting up a birthday party for you, huh?” Magnus softly asks, his face lighting up with joy when Robin grins up at him, showing off her two lower front teeth and her one upper front tooth.

“No Percy, Annabeth or Amir?” Alex asks, setting a now happy Robin down, so she can crawl around and explore her environment. 

“Unfortunately not, Amir volunteered to stay back at Chase Space, and I couldn't get permission from Odin for Percy and Annabeth to come to Valhalla even for a few hours. 

But the three of them do want to have a celebration for Robin in Midgard later this week, they all really want to see her soon.” Samirah tells them. 

“Will there be falafel?” Magnus hopefully asks. 

“Naturally.”

“Then I’m in!” 

While everyone else talks, Robin rapidly crawls across the floor of the living room, making a beeline straight for her Hearth, a huge grin already on her face. 

Hearth notices her coming towards him immediately, and with a smile of his own he kneels down on the floor and holds his arms out in encouragement. 

Robin soon reaches him and throws herself into his arms, almost knocking them both back from the force with which she launches herself at her Uncle, making Hearth give a rare quiet laugh.

Happy birthday! Hearth signs to Robin, his gestures grand and big to emphasize his excitement and enthusiasm. You are 1 already! How?! Feels like you were only born yesterday! 

Robin smiles up at Hearth and clumsily brings her hands together in an attempt to clap. 

You want present? Hearth asks Robin with a knowing smile, fully aware that Robin loves opening things, Hearth and Blitz wrap up ordinary household objects that they already have lying around, and let Robin rip the paper off them, just to keep her amused. She doesn’t care too much about what’s underneath the wrapping paper, she just loves the act of ripping the paper off. 

Robin’s eyes widen as Hearth reaches behind him and pulls out her first gift, a rectangular shape wrapped neatly in sky blue wrapping paper, tied off with a yellow ribbon. 

Hearth sets the present in front of Robin and signs Here you go, happy birthday Robin! Love you very much!  

Robin immediately sets to work on ripping off the wrapping paper, having the time of her life shredding and pulling and everything else. When she gets to the box of stacking blocks that are the actual present, she looks up at Hearth and tilts her head to the side like a confused puppy. 

You know what it is? Robin shakes her head. 

I’ll show you. Hearth lifts the box of blocks up and holds it between he and Robin, so the little girl can get a better clearer view of the gift. See this? Hearth points to the image of the blocks on the front of the box. Blocks, to stack, make things with. Want to open it?  

Robin nods, and watches intently as Hearth  attempts to pry open the top of the box ( why do they have to make things so unreasonably difficult to open?!)

Just then, Hearth feels a tap on his shoulder and looks up to see Blitzen. 

What you up to? Blitz signs, crouching down next to his husband and Robin, but refusing to sit on the floor and crease his paisley waistcoat and trousers. 

Showing Robin her birthday present, stupid thing hard to open. Hearth signs with a frustrated look on his face. 

Blitz looks at Robin and shares a grin with her, shaking his head slightly and jokingly rolling his eyes which makes her laugh and clap in delight. 

Silly Elf, let me do it.  Blitz signs to Hearth, reaching over and plucking the box from his boyfriend's hands. 

In a matter of seconds he has opened the cardboard box and pulled out a plastic bright yellow and red tub. When he flips the lid of the tub open he sees it is filled with brightly colored wooden blocks. 

Blitz can’t help but frown in distaste at the color of the blocks and the tub, and the intensity of the color. 

Why such bright colors? And only primary colors. Why no pink or purple or even orange?! Blitz signs to Hearth, as the Elf tips the tub over, spilling the blocks out onto the floor, making Robin grin even wider and clumsily clap her hands in delight. Or maybe she’s signing more , it can be hard to tell with a toddler who doesn’t have great hand eye coordination just yet. 

Hearth just shrugs, as he begins to help Robin stack some of the blocks. 

Robin is enthralled by the blocks for about half an hour, before she seems to get tired of them. She leaves the blocks to one side, then grabs one of her favorite books from the coffee table behind them. Corduroy by Don Freeman, a book that Alex bought on a whim when Robin was a few months old, which Robin has since grown to love, and it is usually her first request when wanting to hear a story.

Robin clumsily drops the book in Blitz’s lap. (he conceded and sat down after about 10 minutes of crouching, getting his outfit creased is worth it to spend time with Robin and entertain her.)

Robin then crawls over to Hearth and up onto his lap, slumping down and resting her head on his chest and looking at Blitzen expectantly. 

Blitz laughs lightly. “Oh you want me to read to you while you cuddle with your Uncle Hearth, huh?” Robin simply nods. 

So for the next few minutes, Blitz reads to Robin while she dozes in Hearth’s lap, her dark eyelashes fluttering against her brown skin like butterfly wings on a flower. 

Hearth continuously soothingly strokes her dark curly hair, looking down at her sleeping form with eyes full of love, feeling immensely grateful that this is where he has ended up in life, surrounded by friends who are family in all but blood, his boyfriend at his side and precious little Robin in his lap, so comfortable and secure in his love and care for her that she can just curl up on him and sleep. 

Across the room, Alex nudges Magnus and nods at the little trio of Hearth, Blitz and Robin.
“How stinkin cute are they?” She quietly says, gesturing towards their friends and their daughter. 

Magnus follows her gaze, and breaks out into a grin of his own, his heart lifting and warming at the sight. His two best friends, his brothers, and his miracle baby girl. Life (or is it afterlife?) doesn’t get much better than this. 

After waking up from her brief nap in Hearth’s arms, Robin is full of energy again and enjoys a very long but very fun game of peek-a-boo, with Samirah, who uses her green hijab with it’s camouflage powers, to make the game more entertaining, though it still gets tiring after a while. 

“I love her so much but thank Allah she’s done with peek-a-boo.” Sam laughs to Amir, as Robin joins T.J. on the sofa, where he begins to attempt to teach her how to use the control for video games, cheering her on when she correctly moves the joy sticks or hits the correct button. 

“So no risk of you deciding not to be a pilot and become a nanny or something instead?” Amir teases, knowing that Sam hates when people notice she’s good with kids, and find it unbelievable that she could possibly want a career that doesn’t involve children. 

Sam rolls her eyes lovingly and lightly shoves Amir, before leaning in to give him a quick kiss, not noticing when Alex snaps a picture, whispering to Magnus about a photo album of Robin’s life. 

When Robin loses interest in the video games, she crawls over to Halfborn, who is sitting in an armchair near the fireplace, playing a game of cards with Mallory. 

Feeling something brush up against his legs, Halfborn glances down, and grins when he sees Robin blinking up at him. 

“Hello little lass!” he happily exclaims, setting his cards down and reaching down to pick Robin up and set her in his lap. “How’s my favorite honorary berserker eh? Are you having a nice birthday?”

Robin babbles incoherently and then holds up an uncapped pen, like it is the greatest treasure in all the worlds. 

“Ahh is this your weapon of choice hm? Interesting choice little bird!” Over the last year, Gunderson has taken to calling Robin ‘Little bird’, given she shares a name with the flighted animal, and certainly moves about as fast as one. It’s a name that really only he uses for her, everyone finds it absolutely adorable that he has his own nickname for her, the way Hearth has his own name sign for her. 

“They do say the pen is mightier than the sword.” Mallory notes. 

“So they do! What do you think of that Robin, are you going to be a fighter in a different way than us? Are you going to play Loki at his own game? Defeat him with words, is that the plan?” Gunderson asks, lightly bouncing his niece in his lap, making her giggle loudly. 

“Or the power of friendship, like your da.” Mallory chuckles, thinking back to the flyting between Magnus and Loki, on Nagalfar. 

“DADA!” Robin loudly exclaims, causing Mallory and Gunderson to freeze in surprise and exchange a wide eyed look. No. way. Robin just ever so casually said her first spoken word. 

“Did she just…?” Mallory trails off in shock, looking between Gunderson and a brightly smiling Robin. 

“I… think she did. Can you say it again little bird, who’s that?” Gunderson encourages, pointing to Magnus just a few feet away. 

“DADA!!!!” This time Robin’s exclamation is even louder and catches the attention of everyone in the room. 

“Oh my gods!” Alex gasps, grabbing at Magnus’ arm in excitement. “Did you hear that?!” 

Magnus takes a second to respond, but he laughs lightly and nods, feeling like he may cry with pride. His baby girl just said her first word, and it was dada . This, Magnus thinks to himself, has to be the most amazing feeling in the entire galaxy. 

“I did! I heard her, she said dada, she said my name!” Magnus exclaims, his tone breathy and teary with joy and honor. 

When Gunderson sets Robin down on the floor so she can crawl over to Magnus and Alex, Magnus crouches down as Hearth had done earlier, and scoops his baby girl up into his arms when she crawls into his lap.

He kisses her cheek and takes a moment to just take in and appreciate the feel and weight of her in his arms, and to bask in this amazing feeling of love and pride he feels. 

“Dada!” Robin exclaims again, breaking Magnus from his thoughts. 

“Hi Robsy! Oh I can’t believe you said your first word, on your first birthday! You are so clever aren't you? I love you Robin, I love you so much!” he coos, kissing her cheek again, making her laugh and push his face away, his breath tickling her cheek. 

“I always knew she was a genius, aren’t you Robin? Aren’t you the smartest baby in all nine worlds?” Alex adds, tickling her daughter lightly under the chin, making her scream with laughter. 

About an hour later, just before the party starts to wind down and just before Robin starts to come down from her sugar rush from the small birthday cake Sam made for her, the doors to the common room swing open and in steps Odin. 

Everyone freezes on the spot almost instantly, not quite sure what to do, or why the Allfather is here. Is Odin perhaps mad at them for hosting a party for Robin, despite the fact that many other Einherji throw parties all the time for no particular reason? Or  perhaps he has come to join the party and wish Robin a happy birthday? 

Afterall Odin is surprisingly fond of the little girl, he usually comes to visit her at least once every few weeks, often bringing a gift for Robin, a toy of some sort, and telling her stories about the nine worlds and all Odin himself has seen and done in his life. (In a child friendly way, of course.) He is very gentle and kind to Robin, and extremely patient, never minding when she gets curious about his eyepatch or anything else. 

In return, Robin wholeheartedly trusts him. She absolutely adores him, loves him even, and really enjoys Odin’s visits, always mesmerized by his stories. There is no doubt that she will always remain loyal to him, and fight on the side of the Gods at Ragnarök. Not just because her parents are Einherjar, but because Odin and Frigg (and many other Gods) are so kind and good to her, making sure they earn her loyalty on the day of Ragnarök, and not assume they have it, or demand it from her.

“No need to stop the celebrations on my account.” Odin assures the small group. “I won’t be staying long as it is, I simply stopped by to wish my favorite little honorary Einherji and my favorite Valhalla resident, a very happy birthday.” he adds with a smile, walking over to the sofa where Robin is sitting with Magnus, where they had been reading a picture book. 

When Robin sees Odin, she beams up at him and lets out a little giggle of excitement, as she pulls herself to her feet, gripping onto the sofa with one hand while Magnus places a hand on her back to help her keep her balance. Robin has been able to stand for a while now (though is still yet to take her first steps.) but she’s not entirely steady on her feet and often ends up falling, which is fine on the grass or indoors when she’s on flat flooring, but falling off the back of the sofa would not be a great way to end her first birthday. 

“Hello little one.” Odin says in a fond tone, smiling warmly down at Robin and running a hand over her hair, the way a grandparent might. “A little birdie tells me it’s your first birthday today, what a milestone!” Robin giggles. “I have a gift for you little warrior, two gifts in fact. One from myself and one from my wife, Queen Frigg.” 

At the mention of her mother, Mallory grows stiff. Over the last 2 years since finding out that her mother is Frigg, Mallory has tried to accept this fact and bond with her mother, but it’s never as simple as that. 

“Is… is Fri_…. Mam here?” Mallory asks, trying to keep her tone steady and neutral as she looks around the room. 

“Not today Mallory, no. But she does wish to see you, remember you are always welcome in Asgard, your mother would love to spend more time with you, it would make her day if you visited her. And I would not be displeased either, you are after all one of my best warriors.” Odin calmly tells her, briefly taking his attention off Robin, to glance at his stepdaughter. 

Of course, Odin is not thrilled that his wife was unfaithful to him and bore a demigod child, but that issue is between him and Frigg. His wife’s relationship with another man was not and is not Mallory’s fault, she did not ask to be born from an affair. So, unlike other Gods from many other pantheons, Odin harbours no ill will towards his stepdaughter. 

“Aww you could introduce Gunderson to your mom! See if she approves of your choice of boyfriend!” Alex teases, earning a glare from Mallory and an amused smirk from Gunderson, who happily accepts when Alex holds a hand out for him for a high-five.

“Shut up you!” Mallory orders making Alex laugh even harder, before turning her attention back to her stepfather. “I… thanks… for the invitation. I’ll eh… see… I’ll think about it.” She says in an awkward tone, rubbing the back of her neck nervously as her cheeks flush about as red as her hair.

Odin simply nods, then turns his attention back to Robin. Seemingly out of nowhere, Odin produces two plush toys. In one hand he holds a plush raven, and in the other he holds a plush robin. He holds up the plush raven, first. 

“This one is from me. The raven is my sacred animal, and for a whole year now, since you were born, little Robin, the raven has been sacred to you too. Upon hearing of your birth and safe arrival into the world, I ordered all crows in all 9 worlds to keep you safe wherever you may go, and to watch over you. Wherever there is a crow, little warrior, you will be safe.” He then hands the raven to Robin, who’s smile only seems to grow and immediately she starts chewing on the toy, which makes Odin chuckle affectionately. 

Next, he holds out the plush robin. 

“And this is from my wife, from Frigg. The very Queen who helped guide your mother as she brought you into this world, helped you transition from one side to the other, as it were. 

A robin for a Robin, our favorite Robin. I am afraid we were unable to order all robins in the 9 worlds to look over you little one, but still, Frigg thought this plush robin  would be a nice gift for you, and I must say I agree with her.” Odin passes the toy to baby Robin, who coos in delight and hugs the plushie tightly to her, clearly having two new favorite comfort items. 

“Thank you sir, that is so kind of you and the Queen, I think it’s safe to say Robin really loves her gifts already.” Magnus thanks the God in a grateful tone, smiling as Robin holds her new toys up to Alex to show them off. 

“Yeah raven’s are pretty cool, I’m kind of glad no one got her a toy snake though, bit too close to home.” Alex dryly says, suppressing a shudder at the thought of her mother, and how different today could have been if Loki had gotten his way, and taken Robin from Magnus and Alex when she was born. Today would have been a day of pain and mourning, instead of celebration and cheer. 

Mostly though, she’s glad that they made it a whole year without any more attempts to start Ragnarök and no more trouble from her beloved mother. Hopefully they can make it a decade or two before Robin is destined to face down her grandmother.

Odin chuckles. “Yes I have not been much of a fan of snakes myself for some time, Alex.” 

“Robin, can you say thank you to Lord Odin? Can you tell him how much you love your presents?” Magnus gently encourages his daughter. 

Robin brings her hand to her chin and moves it downward and forward a bit, ASL for Thank you.  

Odin grins and affectionately ruffles Robin’s hair. “Ah I see Hearthstone has been teaching you well!” He exclaims. “What a clever little warrior you are.” 

Odin would never admit it of course, but secretly this little girl absolutely melts his heart with her sweet little face, her infectious giggle, sunny smile and joyful and sunny disposition. He is very glad he allowed Magnus and Alex to keep her and raise her here in Valhalla; she adds a certain joy to the place that has always been missing. 

Not long after Odin’s departure, the party really begins to wind down. Everyone insists that Magnus and Alex go back to their room with Robin, and let them worry about cleaning up. 

Neither of them argue, as they are both exhausted from not getting much sleep last night, due to Robin being kept awake by teething, making her fussy and clingy. It had been a long night for both Magnus and Alex, who alternated turns in staying up with Robin, trying to soothe her, dozing for an hour here or there on their chest, until finally Robin drifted off into a deep sleep around 5AM which allowed Alex to place her in her crib, after which Alex herself crawled into bed beside Magnus to try and get a few consistent hours of sleep. 

When they walk back into their suite, Magnus sets the diaper bag down on top of one of the dressers, where they usually keep it, and takes Jack in his runestone form, off the chain around his neck and places him on the bedside locker so he can decide for himself if he wants to stay in rune form or transform into sword form. 

While Magnus does that, Alex sets Robin down so she can crawl around and re-explore her surroundings, something she loves to do everyday.

“Magpie, can you keep an eye on her and I’ll go make us some coffee?” Alex asks her boyfriend, laying a hand on his arm and keeping one eye trained on Robin to make sure she doesn’t somehow get into something she shouldn’t, even though the suite is baby proofed. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Magnus agrees, kissing Alex on the cheek before going to sit at the foot of the bed where he has a clear view of the entire room, and can therefore see Robin wherever she goes. 

A few moments later, Robin grabs her box of building blocks and tips them out onto the floor in front of her, at Magnus’ feet. 

“Oh yeah I saw you building something with your Uncle Hearth earlier, do you love your building blocks huh? Are you gonna be an architect like your Aunty Annabeth, when you get older?” Magnus wonders, looking at Robin and making an impressed expression, always ready to hype up his baby girl and his favorite big cousin.  “You guys could start your own architect firm! You could call it…. Chase-ing dreams! Or something.” 

Robin just gives him a blank look, then randomly selects a yellow block and offers it to Magnus. 

She then opens her hands and turns them upwards, so her palms are facing the roof, and furrows her brow. Using the ASL sign for ‘What’, to ask What’s that?

“This is a block, Robsy, a block. Buh-law-k, block.” Magnus informs her, sounding out each syllable for her, something Sally Jackson advised them to do with Robin to help her as she begins to learn to speak aloud. 

“Boq!” Robin repeats, just as Alex comes back in with a mug of coffee in each hand. 

“It’s official, she’s a genius!” Alex exclaims in a giddy tone, grinning with Magnus and feeling like she could just burst with pride, 2 words in the same day! They really did make the smartest baby around!

Before Magnus can reply, a different male voice rings out from beside the bedside locker. 

“Señorita, can you say ‘Jack’?! Or ‘Sumarbrander’?!” Jack asks, now back in sword form and leaning up against the nightstand

Robin looks at him questionably.

“Hey come on I can say the name of things too, your dad isn’t the only one who can name stuff! In fact, I can do you one better! That’s not just a block, bestie, that’s a yellow block!” Jack proudly announces, thinking that will get Robin to say his name. Like, maybe she’ll say “By my grandpa, Jack! You’re a genius!” 

But once again, he is met by silence. Jack sighs internally, wishing that Robin’s power was something like telepathy, that would be so cool. But so far the only power she seems to have is being able to heat things up, like Magnus.

“Ok good talk bestie, we’ll try again tomorrow!” 

Over the next hour or so, Magnus and Alex sit together at the foot of their bed, sipping their coffee and watching Robin crawling around, still fascinated with everything in her surroundings, like she’s never been in this room before. As if she wasn’t born on the very bed her parents are sitting on, exactly one year ago today. 

“I can’t believe how much I love her.” Alex quietly says to Magnus, laying his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Over the last year since Robin’s birth, since seeing her perfect face for the first time, Alex has somehow found himself loving her more and more everyday. His heart grows more every day, to give him room to love his beautiful and wonderful daughter more each day. It really is amazing. 

“Me neither, she’s so perfect and amazing. This last year has been the best year of my life… afterlife? Both! I cannot wait to spend every second of every year between now and Ragnarök loving you and our baby girl. I’m so excited to keep raising her and getting to know her more and more. I can’t wait to see what else her little personality will be like, I hope she’s as brave and as confident as you.” Magnus gushes in a soft voice, wrapping an arm around Alex’s waist and pressing a kiss to his head. 

Alex beams. “And I want her to be as sweet, gentle, warm and kind as you.” 

“And I want her to have my sense of humour!” Jack interrupts their sweet moment, having stopped what he was doing, describing the plot of Shrek to Robin (It was Natalie’s favorite comedy movie, Magnus often watches it with one earphone in during long late nights with Robin, and Jack often joins him.) and turns to face the young couple. 

Magnus groans, while Alex scowls at Jack, contemplating picking the sword up and throwing him as far out the window as possible, losing him for another millennia. Or maybe just finding Frey and giving him his sword back. 

“Jack! You ruined our sweet moment again! You always do that!” Magnus complains, thinking to himself that actually Robin’s conception and birth are a miracle, but not because Einherjar aren’t supposed to be able to reproduce, but because he and Alex never get a second alone without Jack interrupting them. Or so it feels, anyway. 

“Oh well excuse me Señor! I was just trying to get onboard the whole ‘Hopes and dreams for Robin’s future’ thing! But no, no no I see where my opinion is not wanted, that’s fine, that’s cool, just trying to support you two delinquent teen parents, but fine, fine!” Jack rants, trying to downplay how he really feels. 

“Hey Jack?” Alex says. 

“Yes, Señor?” Jack asks in a hopeful tone, thinking Alex is going to say that he hopes Robin gets Jack’s sense of humour, too. 

“Shut up.”

“RUDE!!!!” Jack loudly exclaims, before quickly turning back into a runestone pendant and settling back down on the bedside table. 

“Gods you’re hot when you’re bossy.” Magnus teases with a grin, his eyes and face clearly displaying his devotion to and love for Alex. Alex, in turn, smiles proudly. 

“I know, you told me. That’s how Robin happened.” 

Magnus throws his head back and laughs deeply, before leaning in and kissing Alex. 

“I love you so much.” 

“Love you more, Beantown.” 

Chapter Text

For as long as she can remember, Robin Fierro-Chase has always had pretty vivid and realistic dreams, and while certainly some of them were not pleasant, they also weren’t scary per say. At least, not until recently. 

As of her 16th birthday just a few weeks ago, Robin has started having dreams of events that happened before she was even born, that she has only heard snippets of conversations about. Like her father slaying a dragon, a dragon that had formerly been her Uncle Hearth’s father.

She dreamt of her grandfather Frey, breaking the rules and changing his own destiny, by sitting on Odin’s throne so many centuries ago, in order to find his missing sister, Freya.

There is only one person in her family who Robin is yet to dream about, but it doesn't stay that way for very long, not very long at all, as she finds out on a warm Spring night in Valhalla. 

As the daughter of a Vanir demi-god, Robin is very drawn to nature. As a kid her parents would often camp outside in the Atrium of their Valhalla hotel suite, where the weather was always whatever they wanted it to be. Robin never felt as peaceful and safe as she did tucked up between her parents underneath the stars, knowing she was and is loved more than anything else in any of the 9 worlds. 

So when Robin struggles to fall asleep on this particular night, she decides to take her book and go lay in the grass and read, hoping to fall asleep there, like she used to as a child. She also grabs one of her comfort items from when she was a baby, a plush robin, a gift that was given to her on her first birthday from The King and Queen of Asgard, Odin and Frigg themselves. A lot of 16 year olds would be too embarrassed to admit to still having their childhood comfort items, but to Robin, the toy is a reminder of how safe and protected she is. 

Not long after laying down in the grass, Robin does in fact drift off to sleep, and it doesn’t take her long to begin dreaming.

At first, she thinks she’s again seeing something that happened before she was born, as she finds herself standing in a large and cold room that simultaneously feels unfamiliar and familiar, which is really weird. 

Looking around the room, Robin notices that the place is decked almost entirely in pink and green. Two of the four walls are painted green, the other two are painted pink. One curtain is pink, the other is green. The duvet on the bed is pink, while the sheets are green, and the striped pillowcases are also green and pink.

Really, the only thing that isn’t green or pink, is the pottery wheel sitting on a rectangular table in the far corner of the room, next to a hand painted pink and green chest of drawers, on top of which are a bunch of tools that Robin recognises as pottery tools. 

“Feels familiar does it?” A man’s voice that Robin does not recognise, pulls her from her thoughts. 

She jumps in surprise, gasping involuntarily, her hand flying to her chest where her heart is pounding, ready to either run or stay and fight this perceived danger, as she turns around to where the voice came from.

Just a few feet away from her, leaning against the wall behind him, is a man whose age Robin cannot tell. He is tall and thin, dressed in a spotless white Red-Sox jersey, black jeans and white tennis shoes. His rumpled hair is blonde with the tips varying in color between red, blue and green. 

Across the bridge of his nose and his cheekbones, are bright red scars, the skin seemingly peeled or burned away leaving only the damaged tissue behind. All around his mouth are red welts, like piercing holes that have closed over. 

Much like the room, the man in front of Robin both looks and feels somewhat familiar, though Robin knows she has never seen him before. 

The man laughs softly when he sees her jump. 

“Sorry deary, didn’t mean to scare you.” he chuckles. 

“Um….” Robin trails off, at a loss for words, despite being, as Odin has often calls her ‘A polymath.’ She is never usually at a loss for words, she always has something to say. But right now she feels like her mind has just gone blank.

“Ah yes I forget, social situations are not your strong suit, so unlike your parents in that way. Well dear let me explain to you just why this place feels familiar to you. 

You see Robin, you are a very powerful young lady, always have been. One of the impressive yet odd things about you, is that you have and had the ability to form memories from before you were born, deeply subconscious ones but memories nonetheless.  

For instance, this room seems familiar to you because you technically have been here before. Only, you were in your mother’s womb. 

When your mother was pregnant with you, I met her here in her childhood bedroom, multiple times, actually. 

It felt fitting to meet you here, after all it is the very place where you first heard my voice, first responded to my presence.” 

Now Robin is even more confused. Subconscious memories from before she was born? How is that even possible? 

“I… I am so confused.” Robin begins, feeling a little frustrated. “Who are you? Why are we here?” she decides to just be bluntly honest and not beat around the bush, that’s what her mom has always taught her to do.

“Who am I? Oh sweetheart, don’t you recognise me? You have my nose after all.” The man replies in a faux hurt tone, before smirking at Robin again. Clearly for some reason he is finding all this rather amusing.

“Your nose… uh… so I’m assuming we’re related somehow, then?” Robin questions. Maybe this guy is one of her mom’s mortal siblings? But no, that doesn’t make sense, how would he be able to invade Robin’s dream like this if he’s mortal? 

“Oh much more than ‘somehow’, Robin! If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t even exist, darling! Though I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that you don’t recognise me, after all you never did get to meet me, nor I you. Not really anyway, not after you were born. Thanks to your parents and my wife, they wanted to keep me away from you, deny you a relationship with me. 

But I suppose we should let bygones be bygones, shouldn’t we dear? I’m here now and so are you, we can make up for lost time! 

Let me have a look at you.” Before Robin can respond in any way, the man swiftly crosses the room until he is right in front of her. His hands come up and cup her face, his smile growing and pride glinting in his eyes as he looks her over.

“You are so very grown up now Robin, aren’t you? You got my good looks that's for certain,  you are so beautiful my darling girl. Where does the time go, hm?” At this, he tilts his head down to kiss Robin on the forehead, before tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, in an almost loving gesture. 

The kiss sends shivers down Robin’s spine and she smacks the mans’ hand away, glaring up at him. 

“Do not touch me you ghoul!!” She snaps, her tone firm and angry, remembering all the times her mom, Aunt Samirah and Aunt Mallory taught her what to do if someone touches her without consent. Well, mostly it was her Aunt Sam. Her Aunt Mallory told her that if someone touches her without permission, she should cut their hands off, while her mom told her she should cut the head off anyone who touches her without permission. 

The man just chuckles lowly, but makes no move to step back or anything. 

“Well now love aren’t you the little hot-head? Honestly dear there’s no reason to be so rude to me, I just wanted to see how my favorite granddaughter is.” Granddaughter? It takes a second, but soon the pieces fall into place and Robin realises exactly who this man in front of her is. 

“You’re Loki… you’re my grandma.” Robin concludes in a shocked voice, though her shock is quickly turning to anger.

“Ah and finally the penny drops! Really Robin, I thought you were much smarter than that. Don’t tell me you inherited your father’s singular brain cell, those Chase’s… mad as hatters they are, and not very bright either, I don’t know what Frey saw in your grandmother, or why Athena would think that dear old Freddie would be appreciative of a baby, not exactly the best parting gift is it?” 

“Why did you say I’m your favorite granddaughter if you hate my dad so much? What about Layla?” Robin asks, folding her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling the need to stand up for her cousin Layla, her Aunt Samirah's daughter, one of Robin's best friends, who is only 3 years younger than her.

Loki laughs lightly. “Oh Robin, you needn’t get defensive on your cousins’ behalf. I love all of my grandchildren of course, including Layla and even little Arkeem- especially Arkeem, he’s a mischievous little thing, and we all know I love mischief. " Loki chuckles as he thinks of his two other grandchildren. Of course, Samirah is not aware that Loki knows about her children, she doesn't know that Loki began to reform when Layla was born, and as such he had been able to gather enough energy to ever so briefly appear in Samirah's hospital room, and greet his new granddaughter, while Samirah slept on, completely oblivious.

Nor does Samirah know that by the time her son Arkeem was born just 2 and a half years after Layla's birth, Loki was able to summon enough energy to occasionally appear by his grandson's crib, and soothe the child back to sleep before he woke his parents or sister.

Indeed even Layla and Arkeem themselves do not know that they have briefly encountered and interacted with their grandfather before, and that he has been keeping an eye on them over the years, as he has done with Robin, though he has been unable to gather enough of his essence and energy to visit Robin in Valhalla, which is filled with many magical protection systems. Even when Robin occasionally stayed overnight in Midgard, she almost always had a protection spell over her, thanks to that annoying Elf and his runestones. 

But now, finally after 16 years, Loki has enough energy and strength to appear like this in a state between awake and asleep, not quiet a dream and not quiet reality, to finally at long last meet the girl who weather she likes it or not, will help him survive and win Ragnarök, and aid him in taking Asgard and finally becoming King of Asgard, King of The Gods. 

"Ah but Layla and Arkeem don’t need me yet dear, nor I them. You see, after what your step-grandmother did to me before you were born, I’ve become a bit rusty with my powers. I didn’t want to waste my energy visiting Samirah’s children  too often, when I have much more pressing matters to attend to regarding you!” Loki continues in a cheerful tone.

“What matters? Are you going to try and kill me again? The way you tried to kill me before I was even born? You were just ranting about how stupid the Chases are, is that why you did it, because you hate my dad and his side of the family so much?” Robin bluntly asks, having made her parents tell her that story when she overheard bits of it from a conversation between her Uncle Gunderson and her Aunt Mallory.

“Oh is that what they told you? Oh my darling girl, that is simply not true. Of course I wasn’t happy that Magnus Chase got my teenage daughter pregnant, but who would be? It wasn’t my decision or choice to attempt to prevent you from entering the world, I gave your mother a choice that would have kept you perfectly safe, but she chose to do otherwise.” Loki explains with a weary sigh, thinking of how easy things would have been if Alex would just have obeyed for once in her life. 

“What are you talking about?” Robin asks in a confused tone, unsure what her grandmother is trying to tell her.

“Well that’s a long story, but I suppose we have time! 

You see, from the moment you were conceived, something shifted within the nine worlds. We all felt it, felt that something, somewhere had just altered the course of destiny at Ragnarök.

I had a feeling it was something to do with my children, my demi-god children that is. So I opted to keep a close eye on them both. I could sense something was different with Alex, but couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. 

Not until she started being sick, most often in the mornings, having food aversions, fatigue that is not supposed to happen to Einherji. I didn’t think it was possible, nobody did. Not until Alex took those 2 pregnancy tests and found out that you my dear, were growing in her belly. 

I knew then alright, what had shifted and changed, what had changed the course of destiny. You.

You are one of a kind, a child of two Einherji, a grandchild of two Gods from two different tribes. I knew right away how powerful you were and are destined to be. You are fated to lead the winning side at Ragnarök, but it is yet to be seen whose side you will fight on. 

When Odin found out about you and that you were not guaranteed to fight with him and the other Gods and Einherjar at Ragnarök, well he just wasn’t able to live with the possibility that you may not be loyal to him. At the same time he did not want to personally upset your parents by refusing to allow them to raise you in Valhalla.

So he lied to them, telling them he would allow them to keep you and raise you in Valhalla. But later that night, when I visited your mother in a dream much like this, I warned her about Odin’s lies. As the God of lies and deception, I always know when a lie has been told. 

I knew you were not safe in Valhalla, and Odin would track your parents down if they went on the run with you. 

So, I offered to take you and raise you, I could shield you and keep you safe from Odin, keep you alive. I knew it would of course be painful for your parents, but I was sure they would agree to anything to keep you safe. 

But your mother refused, she refused to believe me, accused me of wanting you because of the powers you were destined to have. 

I pleaded with her, Robin, told her that Odin could not be trusted, just look at what he did to my poor boys, poor little Narvi and Vali. I stressed to Alex that I wanted to protect you in a way I could not protect my sons. 

But again she just would not listen to me, she would not believe me. Before I could try to make her see the truth,  she suddenly collapsed in pain. I tried to help but she woke up before I could. Odin had used his runestone magic to try and prevent your birth from happening at all.

He pinned the blame on me, darling, I only ever wanted to help you and your parents. I tried to warn them that the Gods are not to be trusted.”

Robin didn’t know it was possible to feel so sick in a dream, or scared and confused. She knows she shouldn’t trust her grandmother or his story but… for some reason she does, she feels compelled to believe him. Finding out that Odin had been the one to try and harm her… it’s like everything she has ever known has been a lie. 

And Narvi and Vali… she knows the story of what happened to them, it doesn’t seem like such a far cry that Odin would try to harm her. 

“Even… even if that is true… that doesn't mean I’ll fight with you at Ragnarök, it’s not just the Gods I’m loyal to. It’s my parents and my Aunts and Uncles and my cousins and everyone else I love. I’m not going to fight against my mom and dad at Ragnarök.” Robin decides, remembering that the Gods are not the only ones who will fight against her grandmother and the giants at Ragnarök. 

Loki sighs and frowns, like he’s disappointed in Robin, like she’s made a bad choice. 

“I was afraid you would say that deary, I was hoping not to have to use this… incentive on you, but I can see that hope is not going to come true.” With a snap of his fingers, Loki summons a projection onto the wall behind Robin, putting an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to turn around and look.

The image projected on the wall shows Manhattan, under the cover of darkness. More specifically, the image is just outside a place that is very familiar to Robin, her Uncle Percy and Aunt Annabeth’s house. Where Robin has had occasional sleepovers with her cousins Luke and Silena since they were kids. 

Standing just in front of the house, is a giant, about 4 meters tall, made entirely of flames, humanoid in shape but no doubt extremely dangerous. 

“See this fire giant?” Loki calmly begins one arm still around Robin’s shoulders, as she stares in horror at the scene in front of her. “They are entirely under my control, they will do anything I tell them to without a second’s hesitation. 

Now I’m about to dish out some orders to our fiery friend here, but what those orders shall be is entirely in your hands, Robin.

If you agree to fight with the giants and I at Ragnarök, if you agree to do exactly as I tell you to from now on, then I will tell the fiery gent to leave, go back to Jotunheim and forget all about your beloved cousins. 

But, and listen to me when I say this, Robin Natalie, and know I mean every word, if you do not agree to swear loyalty to me, if you remain on the side of the Gods, then I will tell this giant to burn that house to the ground with everyone in it, it will only take a moment at most and there will be no chance of stopping it. 

So the choice is yours granddaughter dear, what will it be?” 

Panic rises in Robin’s chest, her sternum feels like it’s closing in on itself, her heart rate increases as adrenalin pumps through her body, making her feel like throwing up. Her thoughts swirl through her mind at a million miles an hour. What is she supposed to do?! She can’t and won’t betray her family or the Gods, but she also can’t just stand by and watch the lives of her cousins and Aunt and Uncle be snuffed out within seconds. 

Loki stands patiently at her side the entire time, watching her intently but never speaking or moving, apart from the smirk on his face which only intensifies. Clearly he is enjoying watching Robin’s panic. 

Before Robin can even open her mouth, a sudden loud crash makes the room shake, and the very next thing she knows, she is lying in the grass of the Atrium staring up at the dark and starry sky, her chest rising and falling rapidly while her heart continues to race. 

She sits upright, pushing her dark hair back from her face, and looks around for the source of the noise, wondering if her Uncle Gunderson has decided to practice his axe throwing at 3A.M. again. 

When she spots nothing in her immediate surroundings, she gets to her feet and walks back inside to her bedroom. She looks around to see if something fell off a shelf but again, she can see nothing out of the ordinary. 

Then she walks to the door that leads right out into the corridor and opens it, which is when she discovers the source of the crashing. 

Coming around the corner, behind a tower of chairs, is the hotel’s bellhop/doorman, Hunding. Just a few steps behind him, Robin sees a chair on the ground. That must’ve been what made the crashing noise that woke her. Hunding may have just inadvertently saved the Jackson-Chase’s lives.

“Hunding, what’s going on? Why are you carrying a stack of chairs around in the middle of the night?” Robin quizzes, quickly crossing the hall and helping the older man set the stack of chairs down before anymore fall, or worse, before Hunding himself falls. 

“Oh! Miss Fierro-Chase! I’m so sorry did I wake you?” Hunding’s tone is tinted with anxiety and fear, worrying that he has just upset Odin’s favorite resident. If Robin complains to Helgi or worse, Odin himself, Hunding can’t even fathom how much trouble he’ll be in.

“Oh Hunding please call me Robin, you’ve known me since I was a baby, you don’t need to be so formal with me. Why are you moving chairs around at this time of the night?” Robin repeats her question, not wanting to tell Hunding that he actually did wake her, but that she is extremely glad he did. 

“Helgi told me to, says we need more seats in the dining hall for breakfast, but he only told me this about half an hour ago and insisted I do it right now, couldn’t possibly wait till morning.” Hunding grumbles, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing at his sweaty forehead. 

“Dude he needs to lay off you, do you want me to talk to him?” Robin offers, knowing how ridiculous and cruel Helgi can be to Hunding. She really doesn’t like bullies, and that seems to be exactly what the hotel manager is. 

Hunding shakes his head, his eyes wide as his wild hair flies all over the place. 

“No! No really that isn’t necessary Mi_… Robin, honestly, but I appreciate the offer. Your kindness is help enough.” He hurriedly reassures her, knowing that if she did go to Helgi, that hotel manager would only come down harder on the doorman, and make his afterlife even more difficult. 

“Are you sure?” Robin asks, her tone laced with concern. Hunding nods. 

“Yes, but really, I do appreciate the offer.” he repeats. “I really should get these chairs to the dining hall, before Hunding accuses me of slacking off.” He sighs, turning back to the large tower of chairs at his side. 

“We need to get you a forklift or something man, but in the meantime try taking them in a couple smaller stacks, sure it’s more work but it’s less difficult.” Robin encourages, grabbing a pile of chairs from the stack and setting them aside, so that Hunding will be able to see over the chairs, as he carries them to the dining hall. 

“A forklift? Like something to lift forks with? How would that help?” Hunding questions, his brow knitting together in confusion. Robin holds back a sigh, sometimes forgetting that most of the people around her are technically dead, and have been for many, many years. 

“Never mind, just… have a good night man, yeah?” Robin says half heartedly, suddenly remembering the dream she just woke up from, and the danger her cousins are in. 

“Oh yes you too Miss Robin!” 

After her interaction with Hunding, Robin makes her way to the lounge area of floor 19, knowing she won’t be able to think properly in her room and will be more likely to fall asleep there, no doubt her grandmother will be in her dreams again, and Robin is no closer to figuring out what to do. 

When she opens the doors to the lounge and steps in, she is slightly surprised to see her Aunt Mallory Keen, sitting on the sofa with a book in hand, her long red hair free around her shoulders, looking exactly as she did the day she died some 60 odd years ago. 

“Oh Aunty Mal, what are you doing up?” Robin asks in a tone of surprise, knowing that usually Mallory is one of the last ones on their floor to get up in the morning.

“Your Uncle sounds like he’s sawing logs in his sleep again, it was driving me up the bloody wall, I had to get away from the noise before I broke his neck or something.” Mallory sighs in an exasperated tone. 

Robin can’t help but smile and laugh a little, being well used to Mallory and Gunderson’s odd ways of showing and expressing their love. 

“What about you pet, what are you doing up?” Mallory asks, folding down a corner of her page and closing the book as Robin comes to sit beside her on the sofa. 

Robin sighs, and looks down at her hands, not sure where to begin. 

“I… had a bad dream, but… I think it was more than just a dream.” She starts in an anxious tone, finding it difficult to talk about what she just went through, while she has still yet to fully process and comprehend it herself. 

“What do you mean?” Mallory wearily asks, hoping it’s not what she thinks it is. 

“I… met my grandmother, and I don’t mean the one I’m named after.” 

Mallory’s expression darkens and she starts to scowl. “Loki? Loki was in your dream?” 

Robin nods. “Uh-hu.” 

“Christ… what did he say? Or do? Are you ok?” Mallory questions with concern in her tone, looking Robin up and down to check for any evidence of physical harm. 

“I’m fine he didn’t hurt me… but he’s threatening Uncle Percy, Aunt Annabeth and Luke and Silena. I don’t know how he knows where they live or anything but he’s got a fire giant outside their house and he said if I don’t agree to fight with him at Ragnarok and obey him from now on, he’ll have the fire giant set fire to the house and burn it with everyone inside.” Robin hurriedly explains, the enormity of the situation finally starting to hit her. Her family’s lives are in danger and she is responsible for what happens to them. 

“I… what did you say? Did you say anything?” Mallory asks, a little afraid that Robin had no choice but to give in to Loki’s demands, which would cause a huge dilemma and mess. 

“Nothing, I woke up before I could say anything, but I don’t know that that will be enough to keep Loki from ordering the fire giant to attack.” Robin frets, her throat tightening and tears welling in her eyes. 

“Oh Robin… ok it’s ok try not to panic, we’ll figure something out.” Mallory attempts to comfort her niece, starting to feel uncomfortable when Robin tears up, having never been very good at dealing with other people’s emotions. 

“How?” Robin questions. 

“Eh… right well…” Mallory lets out a big sigh as she quickly tries to formulate a plan. She’s a good strategist there can be no doubting that, but she’s never had to factor Robin into the equation before. She’s too young for unexpected untrained combat at only 16, and of course all those years ago when Mallory and her hallmates were stalling Ragnarök, Robin wasn’t even a twinkle in either of her parents’ eyes. 

“Ok, we need to let the others know about this, your folks, Sam, Hearth, Blitz, Gunderson, T.J. and probably Odin and Frigg too, and maybe Thor. Are you ok to be here by yourself for a few minutes while I gather the troops?” Mallory asks, knowing that there’s no point in coming up with a plan when the majority of the people involved in the plan are absent.  

Robin nods, knowing that her grandmother can’t just appear here in Valhalla which is designed to keep the likes of him out, and she’s fairly certain and hopeful that her cousins, Aunt and Uncle will be safe for the time being, too. Loki needs them as leverage over Robin, if he kills them before Robin can even consider his request then he has nothing over her, nothing to ‘motivate’ her with, as he put it earlier. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” 

Not even 5 minutes later, Robin hears fast approaching footsteps and muffled voices, then the doors to the lounge room fly open and in charge her parents, the legendary Magnus Chase and Alex Fierro. 

Alex rushes right to Robin’s side and without a second’s hesitation pulls her into a tight embrace, with Magnus not far behind, protectively putting his hand on the back of Robin’s head as he joins the embrace. 

“Robin! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?!” Alex frantically asks, pulling back from the embrace and holding Robin by the arms, looking her over like Mallory did, feeling sick at the thought of Loki laying a finger on her precious daughter. 

“Did he say anything to you, Robin? Who am I kidding, of course he did. What did he say? I’m so sorry you had to see him, baby girl.” Magnus’s tone is equally as frantic as he keeps one arm around his daughter’s shoulders and plants a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Don’t worry Señorita, I won’t let him hurt you! No one messes with my bestie and gets away with it! I’ll protect you!” Jack exclaims as he shifts from a pendant on Magnus’ neck chain, to a sword floating at Robin’s side. Robin knows that a lot, if not most, people find Jack slightly irksome, but she’s always loved him and found him endearing. 

“Mom I’m fine he didn’t hurt me at all. Jack, you’re very sweet but I’m fine honestly! And dad I will tell you what Loki said if you and mom let go of me and let me have some personal space!” Robin exclaims, trying to wriggle out of her parents' iron tight embrace. 

“I’m tempted never to let you go again!” Alex declares, reluctantly letting go of her daughter, but not before pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

Alex has always been extremely protective over Robin, from the moment she was born to right now. And of course Robin loves her mother for it, but sometimes it can be a bit much. 

“Mom it’s not me you need to be worried about, it’s Aunt Annabeth and Uncle Percy, and Luke and Silena.” Robin sighs, sitting back a bit on the sofa, in case her mother decides to grab her in an embrace again and really not let go this time. 

“What about the Jackson-Chases?” The familiar voice of Robin’s Aunt Samirah, comes from the lounge doorway and when Robin turns to look, she sees not only her Aunt Samirah coming into the room, but also her Uncles Blitz and Hearth, as well as her Uncles Gunderson and T.J., with her Aunt Mallory bringing up the back of the line, and closing the doors behind her. 

With everyone now gathered and in one place, Robin repeats her dream and Loki’s ultimatum, watching the panic and fear grow in her dad’s eyes with every passing second. 

“We need to get to Manhattan, now !” Magnus insists, once Robin has finished telling her story.

Annabeth may be two years older than Magnus, but that’s never stopped him feeling protective of her, she’s more of a sister than a cousin, and ever since they reunited at 16 and 18 they have been incredibly close. They have always had each other's backs. 

Annabeth was there to help talk Magnus through his parenting fears, often keeping him company over the phone, on long nights where Robin wasn’t sleeping, always helping he and Alex find educational resources for Robin, who being the daughter of two legally dead people, can’t really be registered for and go to public school. 

When Annabeth and Percy got married when Robin was 2, Magnus had the honor of both walking down the aisle with Annabeth and standing by her side as her man of honor.

He and Annabeth have been through thick and thin together, and he is not about to let some measly fire giant hurt her or Percy and the kids. 

“I agree, but someone should stay back here and let Odin know what’s going on, he needs to know Loki is back, and he might be able to send reinforcements to Manhattan, some Gods and Einherjar.” Sam calmly says, always the cool level-headed one. 

“Robin and I can do that, you should get back to the kids, Sam.” Alex offers, knowing that her sister rushed here from Midgard, leaving Amir and their two kids asleep at home. 

“Layla and Arkeem are fine with Amir. Loki’s focus seems to solely be on Robin, he doesn’t seem to have any interest in my two, not yet anyway.” Sam replies, hoping that her daughter and son never have to deal with their grandfather. So far it seems that neither Layla nor Arkeem have inherited any powers from either their grandfather or their mother, they can both see through the mist and know all there is to know about Gods and Goddesses and all that, but apart from that they seem to be pretty regular kids.

“Right, ok, how about this? Sam, you stay back here and talk to Odin, you’re his favorite Valkyrie. The rest of us will go to Manhattan. T.J., Gunderson, Blitzen and I will deal with the fire giant, while Magnus, Alex, Hearth and Robin figure out a way to get into the house unseen and unnoticed by the fire giant, and work on getting the 4 of them to safety, escort them to that Camp for Greek Demi-Gods or something, Loki might be unable to reach them there.” Mallory suggests, her tone calm and collected as she forms a plan in her mind. 

Everyone asserts their agreement and it’s decided the group will take 10 minutes to gather weapons and stuff, before finding a door out of Valhalla that leads to Manhattan. 

The only ones who don’t leave to gather arms are Hearth and Robin, seeing as Hearth always has his bag of runestones with him, and Robin has not had much training with weapons at all, so it’s safer for her not to use any, she’ll be protected by her family. 

You ok? Did Loki scare you? Hearth signs to Robin, taking a seat beside her on the sofa, noticing her staring into the distance with a blank expression. 

Robin blinks, breaking out of her thoughts, and turns towards her Uncle, trying to not show just how scared she really is, knowing they don’t have time for a big conversation about feelings and emotions right now, like they usually do. 

I’m ok… just… Robin trails off, unsure of what to say next. 

Just? Hearth prompts, raising his eyebrows in question. 

I don’t know… shaken… scared. Robin answers, figuring it’s better to at least admit to her feelings right now, instead of trying to hold them back until later when they’ve made sure the Jackson-Chase’s are safe. 

Hearth nods empathetically and simply holds his arms out for Robin. Without a second’s hesitation she moves into Hearth’s embrace, letting herself just feel like the scared kid she really is, and to take some comfort in her Uncle’s warm embrace and the way he soothingly strokes her hair. 

Hearth is thrilled that even after 16 years, Robin and he are still very close and she always comes to him for help and comfort, or just when she wants company or even just wants to spend time with him specifically. It’s always been pretty clear that Hearth is definitely one of Robin’s favorite people. 

15 minutes later everyone is gathered again in the lounge room, strapping on Armor, checking weapons, talking strategy and all things combat. 

"Everybody ready?" Magnus asks after a few minutes, looking around at everyone, at Blitzen lovingly straightening out Hearth's scarf, and Hearth helping Blitz change from his regular waistcoat and ascot, to a waistcoat and ascot that can turn to chainmail in seconds, acting as both weapons and shields. At Alex helping Robin put on a chainmail jacket of her own, that once worn looks like a regular jacket, but still will protect her and deflect any weapons. And at Gunderson, T.J. and Mallory with their heads bent over a map, murmuring and pointing at various points on the map. 

"Who said you're in charge?" Mallory challenges, raising an eyebrow at him. 

"When it's your cousin and her family's lives at stake, you can take the lead Mak, how about that?" Magnus swiftly replies, not in the mood for joking or teasing right now. 

Mallory looks surprised, but impressed too. 

"Aye fair enough Beantown." She agrees, putting her daggers back in their sheaths. 

"Good. Alex and I will take the lead, we know where the door to Manhattan is and we know how to get to Percy and Annabeth's place from there. Remember the main thing is to get Annabeth, Percy and the kids out of the house and to Camp Half Blood as soon as possible, once that's taken care of we can go about sending this fire giant on a visit to Hel. Everyone got that?" Magnus' voice is firm and commanding, assertive and confident. He is not messing around when it comes to family. 

Everyone nods and murmurs their agreement. 

"Aye aye Captain!" Gunderson laughs, which makes Magnus crack a smile for the first time since hearing about Loki's reappearance. 

"Alright then let's go kick some fire giant ass!!" 

Chapter Text

Twenty minutes later the gang of 8 are standing in the streets of Manhattan, having emerged from Valhalla just around the corner from the Jackson-Chase house. 

“This way.” Magnus quietly says, keeping his voice down so as not to draw attention from the mortals, gesturing for the others to follow him.

When they reach the moderate sized 2 story house, they are all surprised to find not a single fire giant or other monster in sight.  

“Maybe Loki called the fire giant off for now, since I didn’t get a chance to agree or to not agree to be loyal to him, before I woke up. But he’ll probably send it back soon, probably the next time I go to sleep.” Robin guesses, looking around anxiously, afraid that any second now a fire giant will step out of the shadows and attack the house. 

“I think you’re right, little bird, but Mallory, T.J., Blitzen, Magnus and I will do a sweep of the block just to be safe. You, Alex and Hearth go check in on the Jackson-Chase’s.” Gunderson agrees, trying his best to keep his booming voice down.

“No, I need to go check on Annabeth, Percy and the kids myself. And I’m not leaving Alex and Robin while there’s a fire giant on the loose out here.” Magnus firmly states, slipping one hand into Alex’s and putting the other around Robin.

“Uh-uh no you don’t, don’t go all protective knight in shining armour on me, Beantown, I can protect myself and Robin perfectly well, I carried Robin for 9 months and gave birth to her, I am more than capable of keeping her safe.” Alex says in a warning tone, hating to be perceived as helpless and needing a man to protect her. Especially when it comes to Robin and keeping her safe, Alex would give her life for her daughter, and would do absolutely anything to keep her safe. 

Robin can’t help but laugh at her mother’s nickname for her father, which makes Magnus blush slightly with embarrassment. Now Robin is getting to that stage where she doesn’t think Magnus and Alex are cool and she’s a little embarrassed by how they fuss over her, he’s even more unfond of Alex’s favorite nickname for him. 

“Alex no, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry. I know you are more than capable of protecting yourself and our baby girl, I have never doubted that for a single second. I just meant that if we’re going to fight a fire giant tonight, then we’re doing it together, not apart. And, I need to see for myself that Annabeth, Percy and the kids are ok, so I’m coming with you. You guys can manage without me, right?” Magnus questions, turning to look at Mallory, Gunderson, T.J. and Blitz. 

“Of course.” T.J. nods. 

“We fought many battles before you, Beantown, when it was just the 3 of us, we can do it again.” Mallory agrees.

“Good, ok, if everything is clear we’ll meet at the house in about 20 minutes? Then we can work on getting everyone inside the house, to safety, probably to Camp Half-Blood, like Mallory suggested.” Magnus sighs in relief, glad that nobody has protested him going with Alex and Robin. 

“Sounds like a plan.” Gunderson says with a nod, drawing an axe from the sheath at his waist. 

As the 3 Einherji and the dwarf head off around the block, Robin takes the lead in hurrying across the quiet road and knocking none too gently on the door of the Jackson-Chase house. 

Within seconds the door swings open to reveal two teenagers around Robin’s age, a girl and a boy, both sleepy and bleary eyed. Right in front of Robin stands a girl with long dark hair, tanned skin, an athletic build and stormy grey eyes just like Robin’s. 

Her youngest cousin, Silena Sally Athena Jackson-Chase, named for Silena Beauregard who died in the Titan War many years ago, and for both her grandmothers, Sally Jackson and The Goddess Athena.

Standing just behind Silena, is a boy just a few inches shorter than her, with tangled curly blonde hair, and skin just as tanned as Silena’s. He has wide sea-green eyes, and is in that awkward tall and lanky phase most teens go through. 

Silena’s brother, Luke Chiron Jackson-Chase, named for Luke Castellan, who in the end sacrificed his life to prevent Kronos winning the Titan War. And for Percy and Annabeth's teacher/mentor, dear friend and father figure to them both, Chiron. 

“Ro?” Silena says through a yawn, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Before Robin can reply, she hears the familiar voice of her Aunt Annabeth calling out from inside the house. 

“Silena!! Did you really just open the door in the middle of the night when we aren’t expecting anyone?!”  

Silena winces at her mother’s angry tone, knowing she’s about to get the lecture of her life. 

“Hang on, be right back.” She tells Robin, before turning and walking inside. 

Luke looks at Robin with confusion, blinking sleep out of his eyes. 

What’s going on? Luke signs Why you here in the middle of night?  

Luke communicates through ASL, like Hearth. Luke was born 2 months premature, and as a result he was born deaf. Thankfully he has always had the best support and access to whatever he needs. Percy and Annabeth already knew a lot of ASL before Luke was born, and made sure to keep learning after his birth, too. They educated themselves on how best to teach Luke ASL, even as a baby, making sure he had a communication tool from day 1. Upon learning of Luke's diagnosis, the rest of his family immediately set to work on learning or improving on their ASL, with Sally and Paul already knowing a decent amount of ASL, and Frederick being keen and quick to learn, eager to teach his grandson everything there is to know about military history.

Thankfully growing up deaf has been an entirely different experience for Luke than it had been for Hearth. Luke's family never tried to force him to use spoken language or communicate through writing, or anything else. He's always been given the same opportunities and experiences as his sister, Silena, and treated like a regular kid who just happens to be deaf, and communicate differently. Luke has always known how loved he is and how wanted he was and still is. 

Luke was born after Annabeth had been diagnosed with PCOS at 19, which resulted in fertility difficulties for her and Percy over the next few years, as they began thinking about starting their family. It had taken them quiet a while to have Luke, who in the end was conceived via IVF. As such they have always called him their 'Work of ART', as he was conceived with Assistive Reproductive Technology. They've never let Luke forget just how precious he is to them and what a little miracle he is. 

Long story, can we come in please? Robin replies, gesturing behind her to her parents and Uncle Hearth now just a few paces behind her.

Luke just nods and opens the door further, letting Robin step inside. 

When she steps inside, Robin sees her Aunt Annabeth standing off to one side, quietly talking to Silena, while her Uncle Percy is standing at the top of the staircase, hands on the railing as he leans over slightly to see what the commotion is downstairs. 

Percy is the first to spot Robin, and when he does, his eyes widen with concern. His niece showing up at his house in the middle of the night can’t be a good sign. But Magnus and Alex are with her, he can see them through the open front door, so it doesn’t seem like Robin has run away or had a big argument with her parents or anything. Percy sends up a silent prayer to any God who will listen, that nothing major is going on. 

“Robin, what are you doing here? Are you OK?” Percy asks in a worried tone, making his way down the stairs and catching Annabeth’s attention, who’s head snaps over to the front door where Robin is standing with Luke. 

Silena takes the opportunity of no longer being her mother’s sole focus, and slips past Annabeth and over to Robin and Luke.

Just then, Magnus hurries through the door, hair dishevelled, terror and fear on his face. “Annabeth?!” He calls as he runs in, looking around for his cousin, afraid that the reason they didn’t see the fire giant outside was because the monster was attacking from the inside out. 

“Magnus? What are you doing here? What’s going on?” Annabeth asks, her eyes going wide as her cousin pulls her into a tight hug. 

“Thank the Gods.” Magnus sighs in relief, pulling back from the hug and looking Annabeth over to make sure she really is unharmed. 

“Magnus what is going on? Why are you and Robin here? And Alex and Hearth? Why do you look and sound so worried and afraid?!” Annabeth demands, hating when she feels left out of the loop like this. 

“It’s a long story, can we talk?” Magnus hopefully asks, relieved to know that at the moment everyone seems to be ok. 

“Fine, come on, let's go into the living room. And someone shut that door, it’s freezing! Oh and Silena, don’t think you’re off the hook for answering the door to a stranger in the middle of the night, but we’ll talk later.” Annabeth sternly warns her daughter. 

“But I didn’t answer the door to a stranger ! Robin’s not a stranger, she’s my best friend!” Silena exclaims, putting her arms around her cousin, who she has always been close to, and grew up alongside, with Robin only being 4 years older than Silena and 3 years older than Luke, who himself is only 18 months older than Silena. 

“Can’t really argue with that, can you, Wise Girl?” Percy teases, sharing an amused grin with his daughter, who is so very like her mother, stubborn but incredibly intelligent and wise, always with an answer for everything. He couldn’t possibly love her more. 

Luke goes wide eyed and signs to his father Bad idea to give mom sass.  

“Thank you, Luke! I’m glad someone around here has some sense! Come in, into the living room.” Annabeth says, while fluently signing along as she always does, never wanting to force Luke (or Hearth, in this instance) to read her lips.

The small group files into the living room, and once everyone gets settled, Annabeth speaks up again. 

“Ok, now somebody please explain what is going on here!” She exclaims in an exasperated tone. 

“You guys are all in danger unless I agree to betray the Gods and fight with my grandma at Ragnarök!” Robin blurts out, anxiously eager to explain the situation and get her family out of here and to safety. 

“Your grandma? You mean Natalie, Magnus’ mom?” Percy asks in a puzzled tone, looking at Robin skeptically. 

“No seaweed brain, her other grandma. That is who you mean, isn’t it?” Annabeth replies, lightly smacking Percy on the arm. 

Robin nods. “Yeah, I mean Loki. Just a few hours ago I fell asleep and Loki appeared in my dreams. He told me and showed me that he had a fire giant at his command, standing right outside your house, right here, ready to attack at a second’s notice. But that I could stop anything bad from happening, by just agreeing to be loyal to him and fight with him and the giants at Ragnarök.” Robin explains hurriedly. 

“Why? I mean… I don’t get why he wants you on his side, is it just to cause as much chaos and hurt as possible?” Silena questions. 

No Luke signs, his gaze on Robin. Wants her on his side because she change course of destiny at Ragnarök, whatever side Robin fights on, will win, because of her. Luke is more aware of what his cousin’s destiny is and how massively her birth changed everything, the two of them talk about it often enough, it’s a lot of pressure on Robin, and while Silena will try and fix everything or change things, Luke will just listen.

“Yeah.” Robin agrees, nodding solemnly “What he said. Only thing is, when we got here we saw no fire giant in sight, in my dream I didn’t get a chance to agree or not with Loki, I woke up before I could. So I think you’re at least somewhat safe for now but probably not for long.” 

“We think the best thing for you 4 is to get to Camp Half-blood as soon as possible, even if it doesn’t put you entirely out of Loki’s reach, you’ll still be a lot safer there.” Magnus clarifies, hoping Annabeth and Percy will agree and not try to stay and fight. 

Before anyone can reply to that, they hear the front door open. Magnus’ hand immediately goes to Jack, in pendant form on his neck chain, until he sees Mallory, Gunderson, T.J. and Blitz walk into the room, and his shoulders slump with relief. 

“No sign of the fire giant anywhere, you must be right Robin, Loki must’ve called it off till he can get to you again and force you into an answer.” Mallory announces. 

“Hang on, how did you get in here? I made sure the door was locked!” Annabeth asks in an exasperated tone. Mallory simply shrugs. 

“Picked the lock.” She explains, holding up to hairpins which she used to pick the lock. 

“Couldn’t have just rang the bell, Mak?” Magnus asks in an amused tone. It’s just like Mallory to jump to the more complicated solution. 

“Ok look I know most of us in this room have issues with attention, but can we try to focus on the situation at hand? What are we going to do? We can’t stay at Camp forever, and even if we could, that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods, there’s still plenty of ways Loki could force Robin to be loyal to him.”  Annabeth frets, trying to keep her cool and not lose her patience. 

“Like I said last time, we have to kill him, plain and simple.” Mallory states, leaning against the doorframe and folding her arms over her chest. 

“Ok but how are we gonna do that?” Percy asks.

“Robin’s destiny, we’ve known for a long time that she is destined to face Loki down one day, around the age she is now. I think she has to be the one to kill him this time, using that other dagger Sigyn had.” Alex quietly says, looking at Robin with eyes full of fear and worry. The thought of her baby having to do something so dangerous, is really quite terrifying. It had been easy to ignore that this has always been Robin’s fate, when she was a baby and toddler, even as an older kid and young teen, Alex figured that they still had more time to prepare in all ways for this. 

“But nobody has seen Sigyn since the day Robin was born, when you went into labor after Sigyn killed Loki the first time.” Magnus points out. 

“Then we have to find her, plain and simple.” Alex states. 

“And how do you propose we do that? She could be anywhere in any world.” Mallory asks.

“My mom.” Blitz interjects in a sullen tone, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. 

“Huh? Your mom?” Magnus wrinkles his nose up in confusion, not quite seeing how Freya fits into this. 

“My mom, she’s a good friend of Sigyn’s. Last time Sigyn went into hiding, she stayed in Vanaheim with my mom, it makes sense that she would go there again. Or if she isn’t there my mother probably knows where she did go.” Blitzen explains 

So we’re going to Vanaheim? Hearth signs. Blitz sighs and nods. 

“Yeah pal, we’re going to Vanaheim.”

“Okay so who is “we”, exactly?” Magnus asks, as Hearth slips his hand into Blitz’s and gives it a loving squeeze, knowing that this can’t be easy for him, given his difficult relationship with his mother. 

“You don’t have to come Uncle Blitz, it’s ok I know you don’t like going to Vanaheim, I know you hate when your mom asks you to get her jewellery from Nidavellir. Mom, dad and I can go, this is my destiny after all, I can explain everything to Freya and I’m sure she’ll be willing to help, she is my great-aunt after all, and I’m sure she’s as eager as the rest of us to delay Ragnarök and get rid of Loki for another few decades.” Robin pipes up, remembering hushed conversations between her parents and Uncles Blitz and Hearth, about how Blitz feels about his mother and how almost every time he sees her she asks him to go back to Nidavellir and get jewellery for her. 

And Robin knows that her Uncle Blitzen doesn’t necessarily like going back to Nidavellir either, given that he’s not taken seriously, and looked down on by most other dwarves, for his craft being clothing and not something more traditional like forging. 

Blitz smiles affectionately at Robin, feeling a rush of love and pride at what an amazing kid she’s turned out to be, how empathic and caring she is, and whip smart and wise too. He wishes he had been like that at 16. 

Blitzen ruffles her hair affectionately, like he used to when she was a toddler and it would make her laugh her little socks off. 

“Don’t you worry about me kiddo, your offer is very sweet and I appreciate it, but I think it’s best that I come too. Freya may be your great-aunt but you don’t know her as well as I do. I think it’s more likely that she’ll help us if I’m the one to ask. And besides, if she decides she needs some jewellery in exchange for helping us, I don’t want you to have to go looking for it. But you’re a good kid Robin, a real good kid, don’t forget that.” Blitz tells her with a sigh. 

Hearth leans in and kisses Blitz on the cheek.

I am coming too, want to be there for you, support you. He signs to Blitz, which makes the Dwarf smile and briefly rests his forehead against Hearth’s. 

“Thanks pal, I’m always stronger with you by my side.” Blitz softly says, before giving his husband a quick kiss on the lips. 

Even though Hearth and Blitz have been together for over 16 years now, neither of them are very big on typical romantic pet names, like ‘Babe’ or ‘Honey’. Occasionally Hearth will refer to Blitz as ‘love’ and Blitz will refer to Hearth as ‘Dear heart.’ like he’s from the 1940s or something. But most often, Blitzen uses terms like ‘Buddy’ or ‘Pal’, which he uses for pretty much everyone, however there’s a particular way he looks at Hearth when he says it, that makes it clear it means something more, in regards to Hearth.

“But what about getting Annabeth, Percy and the kids safely to camp?” Magnus asks in a concerned tone, knowing they don’t have unlimited time to do everything, he can see Robin is quickly running out of energy and she’ll need to sleep soon, which is when she’ll have to confront Loki again. 

“Don’t worry about that, I’m gonna go send an IM to Camp now and ask for them to help, we’ll be fine, you guys worry about Loki and all that, once we get to camp and we’re safe we’ll send another IM to let you know we’re ok.” Percy decides, standing up from his seat on the sofa beside Annabeth, and making his way out of the room, patting his pockets and muttering something drachmas. 

“IM? Like… instant message?” Robin asks in confusion, not being fully up to speed on her Greek studies yet. 

“Iris Message.” Silena clarifies for her cousin. “If you make a rainbow and throw a gold drachma at it, and ask the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, to accept the drachma as an offering, you can talk to anyone anywhere face to face through the rainbow. Like Godly facetime.” 

“Wow, that’s cool.” Robin breaths in a tone of awe, wondering why the Norse Gods don’t have anything like that, at least not as far as she’s aware. 

“Well we aren’t leaving Robin, so Hearth, Blitz, Magnus, Robin and I will go to Vanaheim and talk to Freya, and hopefully Sigyn will be there or nearby. Mallory, T.J, Halfborn, you guys ok to stay here until Annabeth, Percy and the kids leave for camp?” Alex questions.

“Sounds like a plan!” Halfborn happily agrees. 

So the two Einherji and the three honorary Einherji go back to Valhalla through the door they exited from less than an hour ago, and from there make their way to Vanaheim. 

Before they know it, they are walking through Freya’s palace, soon finding themselves standing in front of the Goddess herself, who really looks no different to when Magnus first met her about 16 years ago. 

Robin has not seen her great-aunt Freya in person since Robin was a toddler, so when she sees the young woman before them, who appears to be no more than 20, with golden blonde hair, tanned skin and sparkling brown eyes, she finds it hard to believe that this woman is her great-aunt, and her Uncle Blitzen’s mother. But then again, Robin’s own parents don’t look any older than her, with them both being forever 16.

“Blitzen! My darling boy, it's wonderful to see you again!” Freya happily greets them with a smile, pulling Blitzen in for a tight hug. "Oh! Magnus, my favorite nephew! Hello darling!” Freya moves from hugging her son, to pulling her nephew in for a tight embrace, making Alex and Hearth take a step back, for fear that they’ll be the next to be pulled into a hug, neither of them being big huggers. 

“Oh goodness, Hearthstone you’re here too! And Alex, lovely to see you again dear. And Robin! My goodness you have grown since I last saw you! Oh you are so beautiful sweetheart, how are you?” Freya smiles warmly at her great-niece, placing a loving hand on her cheek, finding it hard to believe it’s really been so long since last she saw her brother’s granddaughter, when Robin was an adorable curly dark haired toddler, grey eyes twinkling in the sun, her laughter echoing all around them, as she excitedly ran as fast as her legs would carry her, to her grandpa Frey, or 'Afi' as she calls him. 

“Hi Aunt Freya, I’m… ok.” Robin confesses, not feeling up to putting on a fake happy façade. 

“Just ‘ok’?” Freya asks, brow furrowed. 

“Mom, is Sigyn here?” Blitzen cuts in, getting right to the point, wanting to get out of here before his mother can send him on an errand for jewellery. 

“Sigyn? Now why would she be here?” Freya calmly asks, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow. 

“This is where she came last time she went into hiding, after Loki escaped and almost started Ragnarök. She told us about the daggers you gifted her, infused with the power to kill Loki, at least for a few decades.” Blitz replies. 

“Yes and as I am to believe it, she used those blades to kill Loki 16 years ago.” 

“She only used one of them, she still has the other one.” At this point Freya folds her arms over her chest. 

“And what of it? Blitzen I love you dearly, but I am not going to let you or anyone else bother Sigyn for no reason, she has been through more than enough and deserves a chance to live in peace.” Freya firmly states. 

Blitzen opens his mouth to speak, but before he can get a word out, Robin speaks up.

“We need that second dagger, Aunt Freya , I need it, because Loki is back and he’s threatening my family in Midgard, who have nothing to do with the Norse world or the Norse Gods and Goddesses. He’s using his threats against them as blackmail towards me, to make me swear loyalty to him, and fight with him at Ragnarök. I’ve always been destined to have to face Loki myself one day, I have to use that second dagger to get rid of him again, for another few decades, so we need to talk to Sigyn… please.” The words flow out of Robin like she’s had them stored in her memory for a long time, or like she is reading from a script. She had no idea her tone or words could be so persuasive. 

“I see.” Freya coolly replies, her arms still folded across her chest. “Well then… I suppose I will have to allow you to ask Sigyn for her aid, but if she does not wish to speak to you, you must leave immediately. We will find another way to deal with Loki, without having to involve Sigyn. Is that clear?” Freya doesn’t raise her voice or anything, but the firmness with which she speaks makes Magnus think of both a strict school principal, and a military general, which in a way, Freya is a military general, as the ruler of half the honoured dead. 

Everyone agrees, and Freya leads them through a series of corridors and staircases, till they finally come to a simple wooden door on the left of the corridor they currently stand in, somewhere deep within the palace.

Freya knocks on the door, and a female voice calls out for her to come in. 

When the door opens it reveals a standard size bedroom, the walls painted a dark green while the bed to the left of the door, is covered with an olive green bedspread and pillow cases. 

By the back window of the bedroom, in an armchair, sits Sigyn. She looks much the same as she did 16 years ago, though significantly less emaciated. Her blonde hair is clean now, and spills down her shoulders and back like a waterfall. She wears a beautiful emerald robe with golden embellishments and while blood red tears still stream down her face, she seems less pained, and healthier- being around the literal venom of the snake and the venomous words of Loki can’t have been good for her. 

“You have guests my dear friend, visitors I should say. They wish to seek your help, would you like to speak with them or shall I send them away?” Freya gently asks, standing in the doorway and blocking the other 5 people from entering. 

“They may come in.” Sigyn calmly replies, closing the book she holds in her hands and placing it on a small side table next to her. 

When the 5 of them step in, Sigyn rises to greet them, while Freya steps out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Young heroes, has it been 16 years already?” Sigyn asks by way of greeting. 

“Yes, it has… ma'am.” Magnus awkwardly replies, unsure of the right way to address the woman who saved his daughter’s life. 

“My how time flies, I knew this day would come, and soon, but I had hoped we had more time.” Sigyn sighs. It is then that she spots Robin, nervously lingering behind Hearth. Sigyn smiles warmly at Robin, and Hearth steps to the side so the Goddess can better see Robin. 

“Ah and you must be the baby I helped save, though not so much a baby anymore, are you, dear child?” Sigyn softly asks. Robin smiles shyly and shakes her head. 

“What is your name, my dear?” 

“Robin. Robin Natalie Fierro-Chase.” Robin quietly says, feeling very shy and nervous around a Goddess, a Goddess who saved her life. 

“What a lovely name, a lovely name for a lovely young girl. It is very good to finally meet you Robin. So, I take it my dreaded husband is back?” Sigyn asks with a sigh. Robin nods. 

“Yes and he’s threatening and targeting the lives of my cousins and Aunt and Uncle in Midgard. He’s trying to blackmail me into being loyal to him, to fight with him at Ragnarök, to help him take Asgard.” Robin explains for what feels like the millionth time. 

A flash of anger crosses Sigyn’s face. She knew and knows her husband can do and has done many horrific things before, but it never occurred to her that he would emotionally manipulate and blackmail his own teenage granddaughter, though why it never occurred to her she doesn’t know. Perhaps she had been holding out hope that after 16 years Loki would have changed, but clearly he has not. 

“Oh my dear I am so sorry. It is not right that you should have to bear the burden of dealing with your grandmother, when you are still just a child.” Sigyn empathizes, placing a gentle hand on Robin’s cheek and looking at her with concern and worry. 

Robin smiles slightly and shrugs. “Thank you, I don’t like it either but it’s not like I have much choice, if I’m the one who’s destined to delay Ragnarök again, then… so be it.” Robin tries to sound brave but really she can’t disguise her fear and worry. She has no love for her grandmother, but she doesn’t want to kill him either, or have him tied up with the guts of his murdered sons (Robin’s own Uncles) and have venom dripped into his face. She would like to see him safely held in some sort of maximum security prison, for the rest of time. With no torture tactics employed. 

But that choice has never been hers. The only thing that makes it all a little less horrific, is the fact that as an immortal being, Loki can’t permanently die, at least not yet, not until Ragnarök. What Sigyn did all those years ago and what Robin must do now, will only be a temporary solution. 

“You are as brave as your parents I see, you ought to be proud of yourself dear. Now, am I right in guessing that you come seeking the second dagger?” Sigyn asks. Again, Robin nods. 

“Yes, though I haven’t figured out how and when to use it yet.” Robin admits with a sigh. 

“That’s something I’ve been thinking about, actually.” Alex pipes up. “I think the most efficient way, Robin, is when you sleep tonight and Loki appears in your dream, you  persuade him to meet you in Midgard.”  

“How do I do that?” Robin questions, imagining it isn’t going to be easy to persuade Loki to meet in a realm where he isn’t quite as powerful as he is in the realm of dreams.

“Play him at his own game, trick him. Robin… as Loki’s granddaughter you have powers of persuasion, charm speak, like me. Normally it wouldn’t be quite so simple to use those powers against Loki, but he is so eager to have you on his side that I think he'll be willing to do anything you ask, pretty much, even without the charm speak.

You need to persuade him to meet you in Midgard, because you want to talk in person to discuss you swearing loyalty to him, or something like that. Then you do something to distract him and take that opportunity to attack with the blade.” Alex tries to force herself to be steady and calm, but it isn’t easy. The idea of Loki being so close to Robin, where he could easily force her to conform to his will, like he did with Sam all those years ago, is absolutely terrifying. 

“Your mom and I will be there as backup. We’ll have to hide, Loki won’t want us involved, but we’ll still be able to help if anything goes wrong.” Magnus assures Robin, wishing he could do this for her.

“So will we.” Blitz adds, gesturing between himself and Hearth. “We’re not about to let you face Loki alone, we never have before and we aren’t about to start.” 

“And your Aunts and other Uncles will be there too, I have no doubt about that. And I’m sure Odin will be there too.” Alex says, knowing that their family of friends will want to do everything they can to help, just like last time, when Alex was pregnant with Robin. 

“And I will be there too, I know my husband better than most, there is every chance I may be able to help. I will remain concealed until and unless it becomes apparent I should intervene.” Sigyn determines, before going to a drawer in the bedside locker and pulling out something wrapped in dark blue cloth. 

She then makes her way back over to Robin, and unravels the cloth, to reveal a singular dagger. About 16 inches long, the blade itself is silver with black runic designs around the hilt. The pommel of the dagger is a simple black leather. 

Sigyn holds it out flat across both her hands, offering it to Robin.

“This is the dagger you must use, you only get one chance to use it as intended. Once it strikes any target, it will dissolve instantly. You must be very, very sure when you take aim at Loki, that you will be able to strike a killing blow. Do you understand?” Sigyn firmly asks, locking eyes with Robin. 

“I understand.” Robin confirms, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Sigyn places the dagger in Robin’s hands, then presses a kiss to her forehead. 

“Go now young Robin, and as your mother said, play Loki at his own game. Be brave, bright hero, and remember how very far from alone you are.”

When the 5 of them arrive back in Valhalla, they are greeted in the lobby, by Samirah. She informs them that Odin is aware of the situation and will make it his business to be in Midgard with them, in hiding, when Robin faces Loki. Odin has also taken it upon himself to arrange for more Godly backup and he will visit the Fierro-Chase’s and co. in the morning to discuss everything. 

They all agree to catch Sam up on everything that happened in Midgard and in Vanaheim, tomorrow, as Sam is now eager to get back to Amir and the kids. Especially seeing as Layla and Arkeem have school tomorrow, and she wants to keep a sense of normalcy for them, they don’t need to know about Loki’s return or that while they will be sitting in math class, Robin will be saving the world. 

On her way out, Samirah lets Mallory, T.J. and Halfborn know the plan, so that Magnus and Alex can stay with Robin and give her some much needed love and attention. They can both tell their daughter is starting to feel the pressure of her mission, and want to be there to support her however they possibly can. 

The family of 3 head to Robin’s bedroom, with Magnus and Alex refusing to leave their daughter’s side while she is about to face Loki. 

Normally, Robin would object to this, tell them she’s not a kid anymore and she doesn’t need them to guard her, but right now she is so exhausted that she does not have the energy to argue with them. 

Almost as soon as Robin’s head hits her pillow, she is sound asleep and soon finds herself back in the same location as her earlier dream, with everything looking the same, including Loki who is standing right where he was when he first showed Robin the image of the fire giant outside the Jackson-Chase household. 

“Ah there’s my favorite granddaughter!” Loki exclaims in an amused tone, smirking at Robin. She cringes at the use of the feminine term ‘grand daughter ’, something about it feels very…. Wrong. She cannot deny that she has been questioning her gender identity lately, and despite growing up with a genderfluid parent and in a very trans affirming and accepting environment, Robin still feels very confused about how she identifies. She hasn’t said anything before, as she was hoping to figure it out on her own. But it looks like that isn’t going to happen. She needs to talk to her mom.

“Don’t call me that.” Robin quietly says, which just makes Loki laugh. 

“Oh what’s the matter dear? Ashamed of dear old grandma are you?” It is only then, that Loki recognises the look of pain and discomfort on his granddaughter’s face, how she specifically flinched at the word ‘Granddaughter’. It’s a look he has first hand experience with. 

“Oh, oh now wait. I recognise that look on your face my darling. I’ve seen that look on my own face throughout my life, and I have seen your mother make that same expression many times throughout her life. I’ve just misgendered you, haven’t I?” Loki asks, still a hint of amusement in his tone. 

Robin shrugs. “I… don’t know yet.” 

“Ah, of course it can be very difficult to figure out your gender identity. It’s all part of growing up dear, but don’t worry, if anybody can help you figure out your gender identity it’s me. 

But first we do have some unfinished business to attend to. I see your cousins have made it to their Greek training camp, but fortunately for me it will take more than some magical borders to stop me. There is no place in any of the 9 worlds, where they will be safe from me. There is only one way to keep them safe, Robin, you know that.”

As Loki speaks, Robin’s mind races with a way to have Loki meet her face to face. She doesn’t speak, just lets the silence hang in the air as she wracks her brain for what to do. 

“Time is ticking my darling, I don’t have all day to wait for you to make a choice. Come on, snap snap!” Loki chides. 

“I… uh.. I…” Robin falters, her mind going blank and her panic and fear intensifying. 

“Oh for the love of_!" Loki snaps, his anger starting get the better of him, making Robin step back in fear.

Seeing his granddaughter flinch, Loki takes a deep breath and forces himself to calm down. He can't risking scaring her too much, that will only make her more reluctant to comply.

"Oh mother, give me strength." He mutters, looking up and hoping that wherever his dear mother is now, she can grant him the patience he needs to deal with his bumbling granddaughter.

"This is what happens when you let Magnus Chase raise a child." Loki mutters to himself, before turning back to his granddaughter and giving her a tight smile. "Really Robin, we are going to have to work on your decision making skills if you are going to be of any use! Perhaps you need a little more motivation. It would be such a shame if something were to happen to Layla or Arkeem, wouldn’t it dear? I don’t think they would enjoy a visit from some not so friendly wolves? The ones responsible for your other grandmother’s death?” 

It is then that Robin makes what she feels to be a very big mistake, something that could see her fail, and become the great threat to Asgard that people have always feared her to be.

“I challenge you to a flyting!!”