Pink or Blue
"Cap, looks like we've got a new player in the game. Rock of ages just appeared on the bridge." Iron mans voice sounded in the Captain ear.
Steve Rogers, aka Captain America rolled his eyes. This was not the best time for Loki to show up. The Avengers were knee deep in Doom bots right now. "Affirmative iron man, what's he up to?"
"Well, up to now he's blasted a few bots but other then that he's eating popcorn."
"Ok, keep me posted."
Steve considered Loki for a moment. Since he returned from Asgard, he has been little more then a pest, unlike other so called super villains. That and the revelation that he had been just as much under the control of the Chitauri as Clint rather then the other way around, meant the Avengers never really bothered him as long as he didn't bother then. He had over stepped the mark a few times and they brought him in, but he always seemed to escape after a few days (Thor) and that was that. He also provided, discreetly, information on some of the other Super Villains more dangerous plans, which the Avengers used carefully to save lives and to make sure Loki wasn't found out.
Steve's attention was called back to the present when Dr Doom decided to run a rant on how important he was, before making more bots raise from his ship. These, like their predecessors, were dispatched, but by that time they had done this, Doom was gone.
"Cap, Loki gotten bored, he just taken a pot shot at Clint." Iron man reported back.
"Right, a time out I think. Thor, would you be so kind?" asked Steve of the god of thunder and Loki older adoptive brother."
Thor didn't answer but the Captain could hear the battle start. After removing a few straggling bots, the Captain began issuing clean up orders.
"Hawkeye, Widow. Head back to the jet and get it ready for transport. Iron man, can you go find Hulk. That gas the bots had seemed to knock him for six. Might be worth finding out if there is any left for Bruce to take a look at. I'll go see if Thor needs a hand." The Captain removed his ear piece sure his orders would be carried out.
Steve got up to the brothers, just as the fight was ending. Thor blindsided Loki and caught him hard. Loki dropped like a stone.
"Thor!" Steve shouted. The god turned looking as surprised as Steve was. There was a lot Steve wanted to say but had to settle for "is Loki contained?"
This seemed to bring Thor to his senses. "Aye Captain. I will bring him down to the jet"
Steve took several deep breaths. They were in public. Steve would get into this later.
"I'm just saying, Thor needs to leave Loki in the cells a little longer. Just because we don't see him as a threat, doesn't mean SHIELD has forgotten him. We need to be careful." Natasha said. The avengers had headed off to different parts of the tower but Natasha, Tony and Bruce were sharing a night cap. Bruce was nodding.
"It's not just shield. If were going to keep up the idea that he's not feeding us titbits, we need this to look more convincing." Agreed Bruce.
Tony also agreed. "Ok, I'll get Cap to have a word with Thor. They're brother in arms or something. Can you remember the last time you saw one without the other? I'm sure it's been months. I think Thor even takes him to visit Jane, they're always gone at the same time."
The others nodded. Both knew how close Thor and Steve had got, often tucked away in corners talking. It was possibly because they were both out of their element in modern Earth and stuck together in sympathy.
"By the way, how is Reindeer Games? He was really out of it." Tony asked Bruce.
"To be honest, I don't know. I can't use any equipment near him; his magic keeps shorting it out. All I can say is that there is no visible injury. I'll have to wait for him to wake up before I know more. I'm keeping him in the medical bay for now." Answered Bruce.
The conversation started to wide down after that and Tony decided to find Steve. He made his way to the training room, where you could guarantee to find the Captain relaxing after a mission. He was surprised to hear raised voices as he enters.
"...not just his. You need to more careful, Thor." Steve had shouted at Thor.
"Maybe not so pally, pally after all." Thought Tony.
"I will try my friend but I am unsure what I did." Replied Thor calmly.
So Steve was upset and Thor was trying to reassure him. Both men spotted Tony then. Tony watched Steve give himself a mental shake before whispering something to Thor. Thor nodded before heading out the room, greeting Tony ask he went. The captain went to his locker to remove the straps from his hands. It was then Tony noticed the remains of the punching bags littered around, at least half a dozen. This was more then winding down, this was damage control.
"Is everything OK, Steve." Asked Tony. This put the Captain on edge. Tony only called him Steve when he was worried. He would have to be careful.
"I'm fine, Tony. Just a little hyped up at the moment." Steve replied trying to sound relaxed.
"OK, my gym says otherwise. What about just now with Thor? What's he done? I can't remember the last time you shouted like that at anyone." Tony tried again.
Fearing the worst, Steve shut Tony down. "Look, I've said I'm fine so just drop in, OK. " He slammed his locker shut (which bent the door) and stormed off after Thor.
Tony stood for still for a moment then ran off to talk to Bruce.
Steve wondered through the hall until he was sure there was no one about. Then he slipped into the medical bay. Loki lay on a bed on the far side. Steve checked the camera, noted it was off and went and sat on the chair by the bed. He reached out to grasp Loki's hand. Loki coughed and slowly opened his eyes.
"Steve." He said his voice almost a whisper.
"I'm here babe, I'm here."
Tony had been pestering Bruce for an hour now.
"I'm telling you something isn't right. If I didn't know better, I would swear that Steve was under the influence of some evil master mind."
"Yes, Tony" said Bruce. Bruce found he was missing Pepper right now. She would have taken pity and dragged Tony off him by now, but she was out of State for the moment. Bruce was on his own.
Tony had missed Bruce's lack of enthusiasm and carried on. "The question is, what's the problem? Thor knows, but he won't tell, I've tried."
"Look, I need to check on Loki. You can come with me but I want quite in the medbay. Clear, Tony"
Bruce walked to the elevator, with Tony in tow still talking. Outside, he gave Tony a clip on the back of the head which shut Tony up long enough for him to open the door. He needn't have bothered, what they saw next stunned them both into silence.
Steve Rogers , Captain America, the leader of the Avengers was tucked in bed, wrapped around Loki, the former prince of Asgard and god of mischief, fast asleep. As they watched, the pair shifted slightly with Loki trying to snuggle in closer to Steve, not difficult in a single bed. At least they still had their cloths on.
Who knows how long the pair would have stood there had Thor not entered the room. He took the scene in one glance and cleared his throat loudly. This not only disturbed Tony and Bruce, it also woke Loki. The god shot up. He stared for a moment at the group staring at him and then elbowed Steve in the chest.
"Dear, we have company" Loki said trying to sound whimsical. He missed the mark by a way.
"hmm." Replied Steve still groggy. He opened his eyes and meet Tony and Bruce's "shit." He tried to see if there was a way out of this, but gave up. He was tired of hiding anyway. He put an arm tightly around Loki's shoulders.
It was Thor that broke the ice. "How do you fair, brother." Thor tried to sound like everything was normal, but he also failed.
"Wait Thor, you knew that this was going on." Said Tony, finding his voice at least.
"He is my brother. Of course I knew. Why do you think I brought him back from Asgard?" answered Thor.
"You said he escaped." Said Bruce sharply.
It was Steve blushed. "I may have talked Thor into speaking on my behalf. As long as he did nothing to hurt the people of Earth and helps the Avengers, he was free to return Earth so we could be together"
"Hold on, so all this time Loki has been on Earth, you two have been having a relationship behind our backs." Tony couldn't think straight. This was the sort of thing he would do, not the XXL Boy Scout.
"Well, yes." Said Steve simply.
"How did it start?"
Steve thought about the question for a moment. "I don't really know. After Thor took Loki back the Asgard, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I've got books full of sketches of him. When Thor came back and told me that Loki was in prison, I asked him to take me to Asgard. I had to know. When I saw him again, we realized we both felt the same. So I got Thor to petition the King to have Loki moved to Earth to make amends for his crimes here. It took some work but we got there."
"But why hide? If he was sent here by Odin, he could have had the protection of the Avengers and Shield." pushed Tony again.
Loki had been quite though this whole thing. Now he pulled away from Steve and said "It was I who wanted to keep the truth hidden. I did not want Captain America tarnished by association with me. It has proved useful to you, has it not?"
Bruce nodded. "I have two questions. Was it true about the Chitauri were controlling you, or was it a ruse to get us to trust you?
"It was completely true; it was Steve's main argument with Odin. That and the fact he would be getting the embarrassing Jotun off Asgard." Replied Loki, looking Bruce straight in the eye.
"And why did you get yourself captured all the time?"
"You never noticed that I was always captured after a run of hard missions or if Steve had been on a long solo mission. It was the only way I could spend time with him. By the way Stark, it is very easy to fool your computer."
"Loki" warned Steve "look we have places to meet out of the tower, Loki has an apartment on Manhattan Island, but sometimes it was impossible so Loki would cross the line. It was a few days when we were at least in the same building and could talk to each other if nothing else."
"So he wasn't visiting Jane at all, then. Very clever," thought Tony
All though this discussion, Steve and Loki were becoming a little more emotional. It was clear that they loved each other and had tried to make the weird situation work. After the shock of being lied to for months had evaporated, Tony and Bruce found that the idea of Steve and Loki being together wasn't so bad. It might be harder for Clint and Natasha to accept but they would come around. It's not like the Avengers were classing Loki as evil any more. In fact, he could be an assist for the team.
Tony made his decision. "No more sneaking around. I'll let JARVIS know you are on the OK list and you can move in, if you want. You can sleep in the Captain apartment and you can use the training facilities and common rooms. The labs are off limits till I say so. I also don't expect to find Super Villain poker nights going on in my living room." This was the closest thing to a welcome Tony ever gave and Steve was ecstatic.
But Tony wasn't done. Just as he was about to leave, something else clicked into place. "Steve, what is 'not just his'."
The three conspirators looked even guiltier, if that was possible. After a nod from Steve, Loki stood up and muttered something under his breath. The glamour that hid his Jotun form changed. Instead of a flat abdomen, Loki now had a discrete baby bump.
Bruce went into Doctor mode. Picking up the medical scanner Tony had equipped his lab with, he began to examine Loki "and you let Thor hit you? How far along?"
"5 months. Jotun normally carry for 10 months but there is human DNA as well." Said Loki. Steve had moved behind him resting a protective arm around his family.
"Right then" said Tony "a nursery, it is. Pink or blue?"