Loki's children.
I don't own the Avengers. This deals with Transgender issues (at least in a sort of sideways fashion).
Tony walked through the Avengers Mansion from his lab to the kitchen. He wasn't sleeping tonight, and he needed coffee, his fingers itched to get back to his latest project. He was expecting the kitchen to be empty, it is two in the morning after all. The only other night owls in the group are Nat and Bruce, and Nat was staying in a bunk at S.H.I.E.L.D because she had a concussion and hated them fussing over her, and Bruce had been out like a light because he'd Hulked out earlier.
"Hey buddy, you alright?"
Thor was sitting at the kitchen table, staring off into nowhere. He was pale and his hands were twisting in the strap of Mjolnir. He didn't respond to Tony's question. Tony set the coffee pot going and went over to the table and sat next to his teammate.
"Thor, buddy? You okay?" Thor still didn't respond. "Hey, what's going on?" Thor finally turned to meet Tony's eyes.
"My brother is pregnant."
"What? Wow, that's... wait, your brother?"
"Loki."
"Loki. Loki is pregnant. How exactly did that happen?" Tony was a understandably gobsmacked. Thor grinned a little.
"Well, when a God and a mortal love each other very much..." Tony laughed at Thor's grin and shoved his shoulder at the sarcasm.
"No, seriously. I mean, how does that even happen?"
"We all thought he was over it." Thor was serious now, and he chewed his lower lip in a display of vulnerability the Tony hadn't seen on the god before.
"Over it?"
"The woman thing."
"You're going to have to help me out here, buddy. I'm not getting you."
"I know the stories are told on this world."
"I'm not exactly an expert on Norse mythology." Although, he really needed to remedy that. He made a note to remember to ask Jarvis to remind him.
"Loki has a reputation." Thor twisted his hands together.
"A reputation?"
"I guess it started with our sister, Freya."
"I didn't know you had a sister! She hot?"
"She is a great beauty and you shall not defile her!"
"Whoa, okay. Easy." Tony held up his hands in surrender, and Thor grunted in approval. "What does this have to do with Loki's woman thing?"
"Our father, he promised Freya's hand to a Frost Giant. The Giant had stolen Mjolnir," Thor paused to stroke the hammer, "and insisted on Freya's hand in payment." He smiled fondly. "Freya refused, of course. We didn't know what to do. Loki came up with a plan. He would dress as the bride."
"Oh!"
"Indeed. But he looks nothing like Freya. I do, however."
"So, you dressed as Freya instead?" Tony tried not to laugh, he really did.
"I did. But I am not exactly womanly. I drew attention to myself, and people did not believe I was my sister. Loki had accompanied me dressed as a bridesmaid. No one doubted he was a woman. And he came up with reasons for why I was not as womanly. We got the hammer back and I thought that was the end of it."
"But it wasn't?"
"No. It wasn't."
The coffee was ready. Tony got up and poured them each a mug. He also grabbed a pint of ice cream from the fridge and two spoons.
"What happened next?"
"I guess the horse thing."
"The horse thing? And this is related to the woman thing? Do I want to know this?"
"We needed a wall building. A great wall. And we couldn't do it ourselves because we were at war at the time. We were all needed to fight. The wall was to be part of the defences."
"Okay, with you so far..."
"The man we hired demanded Freya's hand in payment."
"Really, again? Wow, I really need to see this sister of yours!"
"Freya didn't want to marry him. But we needed that wall built. We had about eight months before our intel said a major siege was going to take place. We needed the wall."
"So you agreed that Freya would marry him?"
"Loki said that she'd only marry him if the wall was completed in six months."
"What did the wall guy say?"
"That he'd only agree if his horse could help him."
"Ah. The horse thing!"
"The horse was the biggest, strongest stallion we had ever seen. We knew with this horse to pull the stone from the quarry..." he trailed off and shrugged.
"And Loki...?"
"Loki said not to worry. He said he had an idea."
"Yeah?"
"He did a spell and turned himself into a mare. He was irresistible to the stallion and led him away from the wall. I was waiting nearby to kill the horse, but Loki persuaded me not to."
"What happened?"
"The wall wasn't finished in six months, although it was finished in time for the siege."
"What happened with Loki and the horse?"
"Well, that was the first time he got pregnant." Thor said it so matter of factly that it took a moment for it to register. When it did, Tony froze with a spoonful of ice cream between his bowl and his mouth.
"What?"
"Sleipnir," Thor said with a fond smile. "He's amazing, eight legged and faster than the wind. I knew I should have talked to Loki at the time. But I thought he was only did it because it was the plan. And then he had to stay female for the duration of the pregnancy. We teased him about it later, and he seemed fine. Sleipnir still calls him Mommy." Tony snorted. The arch villain and demi god who almost destroyed the world was a Mommy. It was too cute. Thor continued. "I thought it was a good thing, after what happened with..."
"With who?"
"Loki's other children."
Tony was shocked again. It seemed like he was going to spend this entire conversation in shock.
"Loki has other children?"
"We did wrong by them. My father... no, all of us. We were afraid of them."
"Why?"
"Fenrir, his eldest, was a huge and deadly wolf. He grew so large we could barely feed him. We chained him to protect ourselves. Then there was Jormungarder. The world snake, we call him."
"Oh, this one I've heard of!"
"You have?"
"He's the inspiration for the Ourobourous, which is a pretty big deal as a symbol in maths. The snake which eats his own tail."
"That is him. We threw him into the waters and he grew so large he could encircle the whole world. It is said, and I do not know if it shall indeed come to pass, but it is said that when Ragnorok comes I shall take up Mjonir and cleave his head."
"Oh. I didn't know that part." Tony took a sip of his coffee. He wasn't entirely comfortable with this conversation, but he was trying to be better as a human being. Something that Cap had been forcing on him.
"His third child was Hel, a girl. She was half living and half dead."
"Like a zombie?" Thor gave Tony a look that was both confused and annoyed. "Sorry, continue."
"She was cast down to Niflheim. It's a place of the dead. It is a dark realm, a very bad place. And she was left there to care for those poor souls."
"Yeah. Wow. But Sleipnir, you didn't cast him out?"
"No. He was not frightening the way the other children were. We had pride in Sleipnir."
"What about the new kid? If it looks weird are you going to throw it away?" Tony's voice was harsher than he intended.
"No! Besides, this one is different. This child shall be half human."
"How did that happen? I thought Loki was male the last time he was here!"
"As did I. He does enjoy changing his shape. I have been told that his form is an androgyny."
"You mean transgendered? Or hermaphrodite."
"Do I?"
"So, what? He appeared as a male but had female reproductive organs?"
"Yes. He claims he was fully female when he had coitus, but that he knew he was with child when he went to return to his own form. He kept the womb to keep the child safe."
"I guess I should say 'congratulations, Uncle'."
"I am to be an uncle. I fear for the child."
"With that family history, I can see why. Have you talked to Loki about what happened to his other kids?"
"I have not."
"Maybe it's time you did. And maybe you should talk to him about the whole cross-dressing, shape-changing, transgender thing as well. But be nice about it!"
"I should talk to him about Nari, too."
"Nari?" Tony asked around a mouthful of ice cream.
"Nari is another son. He was killed, and..." Thor paused. "I didn't realise until I came here how barbaric my people are. They are far advanced in many ways. Killing is forbidden within Asgard."
"What happened?"
"They turned Vali, Nari's brother into a wolf. He didn't know what he was doing. They were trying to punish Loki for being rude at a feast. It seems so petty now. But Vali, he tore into Nari, ripped out his throat. He didn't mean to! They said it was Loki's fault."
"Loki's fault. For being rude."
"I tried to stop them. They bound Loki with Nari's entrails. They said it was his fault, not theirs. There were too many of them."
"Oh God."
"Yes."
"Go. Talk to him. Be supportive. And take care of the child."
"You are right. I shall return to Asgard immediately." Thor stood and walked out of the kitchen. Tony was left alone.
Tony looked down at the ice cream melting in his bowl. He stirred it idly.
He would never say that he thought Loki's attempt to take over Asgard, and subsequently Earth, were justified. But he thought he could understand the god a little better now. He'd lost so much, and the way the other gods treated him... Tony swallowed and considered adding some scotch to his coffee.
Maybe it was because he wasn't like them, and they knew it. Maybe they were afraid of what he'd become and saw every fault or mistake as a realisation of their fears. So they were harsher with him than they would be with their other children. And when that turned him cold and dark they could say they'd seen it coming.
And it was even worse because Loki was different.
Tony dumped the bowl in the sink and refreshed his coffee before heading for his lab. There was even less chance of him sleeping now.
Yeah, just something that came into my head. I'm by no means an expert on Norse mythology, so let me know if you see a mistake.
Norse mistake one: Freya is apparently not Thor's sister in the mythology. Thank you LightIron! Also the story of Sleipnir's conception doesn't happen quite the way I described it. LightIron has put a more accurate version in their review if you'd like to know more.