Hela looked on the scene with wide eyes and the great green giant shielded her father from the other Avengers and rocked him slowly; the baby had settled down and was sleeping again. She lowered her axe as she watched.
"Hela? Did Loki birth the infant?" Thor asked with a soft tone as he walked slowly up behind her. The other Avengers quickly took note of the question and awaited the response.
Hela slowly turned toward her uncle, looking him in the face and nodded her head. Then she spoke. "He's not like me, though. He has another sire; not just Loki."
Thor shook his head in disbelief. "How?" Thor suddenly got angry. "Did someone take liberties with his person while he was imprisoned?" Thor looked ready to smash someone with Mjolnir.
"No, uncle." Hela threw her hands up towards Thor to try to placate him. "Father said he used the same spell he used to make me. This time he also used the essence that he possessed of the other sire; I think it was a lock of hair. The child is biologically his and the other parent. He wove the spell to grow the life within him and used an illusion to hide it from the guards and other prisoners."
Thor closed his eyes and nodded his head in understanding.
The other Avengers looked at each other in disbelief. If what they were hearing was true, then the unbalanced alien prince they came to collect had magically impregnated himself while in prison and had given birth to said magically created child, yesterday.
"If this is true, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'go fuck yourself'." Tony shook his head.
"Stark." Steve chastised.
"That doesn't explain why they are here." Natasha said.
"Hela, how did you come to be on Midgard?" Thor asked, taking up Natasha's line of questioning.
Hela had turned back to watch Hulk cradle her father in his arms. Loki had drifted to sleep as the Hulk held her father and new brother close to his chest to keep them warm.
"He was taken from Asgard. I felt father's magic send out a cry for help to me. I knew who had taken him and knew that I had to get him back." Hela explained.
"Who had taken him?" Steve asked, showing that the others were following this conversation closely.
Hela looked over the Avengers and her gaze settled back to Thor. "Thanos." Thor's faced blanched at the mention of the titan. Hela continued. "Thanos took Loki to exact punishment for failing to bring him the Tesseract. I think it was a bounty hunter that snatched him from the dungeons." Hela moved to sit on a log that was placed close to the fire. "I used stealth to get into the territory of Thanos and found my father. I planned on stealing him away quickly; not much damage had been dealt to him yet and the illusion was still holding, just barely though. They had not discovered that Father was incubating a child. I can imagine the horrors that would have occurred if they had. I used pathways that I knew to get closer to Yggdrasil so I could teleport between realms. The babe was born on Nidavellir. I procured us shelter for the 2 days from a dwarf who owed me a boon and I shielded us from detection. Father birthed the infant yesterday. I had the strength to move us to Midgard and we arrived here a few hours ago. Our hope was to shelter here until my magic stores were regenerated enough to move us to Alfheim. We planned to petition Uncle Frey that he might grant Father sanctuary with the babe. But, somehow you have detected our presence. I was not aware that Midgardians could sense magical signatures."
"Well, not all of us, just one genius here, with the help of the other genius that is currently large and green and not so ragey, right now." Tony interjected. "Anyway, it's more of detecting energy surges. We were tracking the energy that Loki had given off last time he was here. Our readings indicated the same energy Loki had given off was also being emitted at this location. But, I guess it was you giving off those signals."
Hela nodded her head in agreement and absently said "My father and my magical signatures are almost identical since Loki is my only parent." Tony got a perplexed look on his face. Just then, the baby started crying again.
Loki stirred, as Hulk moved to slowly adjust Loki to a more sitting-up position. "Baby hungry?" Hulk asked quietly. The Avengers were amazed by the change in demeanor Hulk had demonstrated during this whole situation.
"Yes." Loki said with a hoarse voice. "I have to feed him."
Hulk scooted around so that Loki was shielded from the view of the other Avengers as he adjusted his shirt so that he could nurse the baby.
"Is he going to do what I think he is going to do?" Clint asked as his eyes widened. Tony and Steve both gave equal expressions. Thor looked perplexed as if he was trying to figure out the "how" of the situation.
"The milk ducts are small and temporary. Father said they would produce milk for about a week and then he would need a different source of nourishment for the baby." Hela explained.
Hulk stopped shifting when he felt that Loki would have enough privacy to nurse. Loki unwrapped the swaddling blanket a little and brought the newborn to his chest. He didn't have breasts like a woman would; instead the milk ducts formed inside his chest cavity with his nipples and areolas swollen with milk. The baby latched onto the nipple and began hungrily drinking.
"Baby cute." Hulk said to Loki.
Loki smiled down lovingly at the child. "He's beautiful." Loki switched the babe to the other nipple and the child continued to drink his fill.
"I have so many questions; I don't think I know where to start." Steve said as he looked on. The Avengers could only see hints of movement as the Hulk was totally shielding Loki from the team.
After a few minutes of silence, the team saw Loki shifting and heard the small sound of a baby burp.
Hulk turned his head towards his team. "Banner says Loki and baby need checked out. Says baby cannot stay out in cold. Hulk not want team to hurt Loki or baby."
"Oh, Big Guy." Tony said as panels started shifting on the back of his suit and he stepped out. He approached Hulk carefully. "Hey buddy. We couldn't tell like you could. We didn't know about Loki being the mommy until you told us. And you know us, Big Guy. You know we would never hurt a baby." Tony tentatively reached his hand up and patted Hulk's arm.
Hulk nodded his head in agreement.
"So you and Bruce are talking to each other now, in there?" Tony asked, pointing to Hulk's head.
"Hulk make Banner wake up and see. Need to tell Hulk what to do. Hulk keep Loki and baby warm."
"So Bruce wants to come back out to check them out?" Tony asked.
Hulk nodded and began shifting around so that he was facing the team; Loki still cradled in his lap.
Loki whimpered slightly in fear as he drew closer to Hulk's chest.
"Loki, you have my word that I will protect you and your babe." Thor called out to Loki. Upon not hearing a response, he continued. "Loki, I will do just as I did with Hela. On my honor, I will let no harm befall this child nor you. I will help you get to our uncle, the King of Alfheim, and seek sanctuary if that is what you wish."
Loki sat up and peered over Hulk's arm. "Truly?" He asked with desperation in his eyes.
"Yes. Loki. Come, Banner wishes to return and inspect the health of you and your little one." Thor responded.
Loki glanced up at Hulk and then with Hulk's help, maneuvered until he was standing. Hulk steadied him with one finger on his back. Loki adjusted the baby so that his head was resting on Loki's shoulder as he looked out on to the Avengers assembled. The group saw the tuft of blonde hair on the baby's head and rosy cheeks along with eyes that moved around on the surroundings, not focusing on any one thing. Steve would have to agree with Hulk, the baby was cute.
Thor stepped to Loki and steadied him, while leading him away from Hulk so that he could revert back to Banner.
"Loki, another glorious child you have created." Thor exclaimed in a quieter tone than was unusual for him. "What is your son's name?"
"Vali Heidir." Loki said smiling as he stroked the baby's hair and adjusted him to a cradling position so Thor could see the child.
Natasha noticed the looked on Thor's face when Loki said the baby's name. Natasha, being the expert she was at reading people, noticed the uneasy surprise on Thor's face before he cooled his features. Loki didn't notice because he was gazing down at the infant, giving soft coos and stroking the child's hand with one of his fingers.
"You've given him two names, as Midgardians do?" Thor questioned.
Loki looked up, smiled and nodded his head.
Natasha noted the tone that Thor had used here and had been using since talking to Loki. Something was up and she knew Thor knew more about this situation. She would be inquiring about this later.
"Is he named after his father, Loki?" Thor asked gently.
The smile slid off Loki's face and his gaze fell to the ground. Loki clutched Vali closer to his chest.
"Oh, Loki." Thor slid his arm all the way across Loki's back and pulled him in close, careful of the swaddled bundle in Loki's arms. He kissed Loki's temple and tightened the embrace.
Through whatever means of cooperation Bruce and Hulked had worked out during this situation; Bruce remained awake and alert after the transformation back. He was wearing the special undershorts that Tony had designed to withstand the Hulk transformations. Tony went back to the suit and pulled out the emergency clothing he had tight-packed into a special compartment. Bruce got redressed and pulled on the shoes that he had somehow flung off before he fully changed.
Once Bruce was dressed, he joined the group of Avengers, minus Thor to discuss the current status of the situation.
"Have our mission goals changed?" Steve asked.
"No, our objective was to locate the source of the energy pings and bring Loki in if he was here." Natasha stated. "I say we still bring him in."
"I think, we need to rethink where we are bringing him in to." Tony added.
"The Other Guy isn't going to settle for anything other than bringing him into the med bay at the Tower. I'm going to have to agree with him on this. A newborn cannot be out in this climate. I want to check them over. I don't know how Loki carried and gave birth to the baby. He needs to be checked out for that and any other wounds from being captured." Bruce said.
"I don't think Thor is going to go for anything else, either." Tony said nodded towards said Asgardian, who had sat down in the same area as Hela and brought Loki down to sit next to him.
"I don't know if I like the idea of Thor just deciding that Loki can seek sanctuary on some other planet. He needs to face justice for what he's done." Steve explained.
Clint had remained unusually quiet throughout this exchange. Normally, he was an active participant in discussions during missions when parameters or objectives needed to be changed.
Natasha had noticed this. "Clint, what's your view?" She asked him bringing into the discussion.
Clint didn't answer for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was time to tell the team some of what he knew. "I think that the invasion was probably not Loki's idea or his choice. I don't know specifics; but we know Thor said that the healers on Asgard found traces of the scepter's control in him. I'm pretty confident that he was tortured sometime before he came through that portal. I…I saw the evidence of it."
The team was silent as they processed the information they were just told.
"I've been working through this with the shrink. I know I should have told you all sooner. But Asgard was dealing with him and I thought we would never see him again." Clint added.
"This does change things." Steve said. "You think we might be dealing with an enemy under duress and potentially a torture victim. I think we are going to need to follow Bruce's lead and start with the medical treatment as a priority."
"Cap, I think Thor knows more about this situation. He's treating Loki with kid-gloves. He was ready to haul Loki back to Asgard before we got here and he seems to have done a complete 180, without much in terms of explanation." Natasha explained.
"So we need a debriefing from Thor, as well." Steve added in, as the group discussion broke apart and they moved towards the seated beings.
Thor saw the rest of the Avengers break about from their impromptu team meeting. He knew to let him team discuss the situation without him. No doubt they would have questions about why he had vowed to help Loki seek refuge off world and not take him back to Asgard. He would tell his team information, but first, he needed to make sure Loki was at least physically well.
Bruce approached Loki and crouched down in front of him. "Hey Loki." He began with a quiet, even tone. "We want to get you out of this cold and make sure you and the baby are okay. We want to bring you back to the Tower and set you up in the med bay so I can check you two out. Hulk wants me to tell you that it will be safe and warm."
Loki looked over to Thor, questioningly.
"This med bay they speak of is like a healing room, brother. I have faith that Banner's other self speaks the truth, as well as the doctor." Thor reassured Loki.
Loki looked over toward Hela.
"It is your choice, Father. I will help you in any way I can." She replied.
Loki looked down at the baby and then back to Bruce. "I will accompany you to the healing room in Stark's tower." Loki said softly.
Thor rose and he and Bruce helped Loki stand. Thor removed his cape and wrapped it around Loki, who cuddled little Vali Heidir close to his chest.
Thor and Bruce flanked either side of Loki and supported him as they walked back to the AvengerJet.
Once they got to the jet, Bruce led Loki to a bed they had set up for injured team members. He walked to the other side of the jet and then came back with a medium size plastic container. He placed some padding inside and placed a folded soft towel inside. Loki placed Vali in the makeshift baby bed and Bruce secured his swaddling and placed a smaller towel on the baby as an extra blanket. The container was placed on the bed next to where Loki would lay. Bruce and Thor helped Loki lay back and Bruce took out an extra blanket from the cupboard. Loki clutched Thor's cape close to him as Bruce and Thor spread the extra blanket over Loki.
"The flight will be a couple of hours. You should try to rest as best you can. I know that isn't much for the baby, but it will keep him secure. It's actually pretty close to what they use at the hospital for newborns." Bruce started to make his way to the seating area of the jet.
"Rest well, brother. I will keep watch." Thor said as he followed Bruce towards the seats.
As the jet took off, the team put on headsets so they all could communicate easily during the flight.
"Thor, buddy. What the hell is going on? You know something about what's going on. We're willing to treat Loki as a potential victim in all of this, including the invasion, based on what Hawkeye has told us. But, you've got to fill us in." Tony started the conversation.
Thor and Hela were seated next to each other. Thor thought for a moment. He put his arm around his niece and pulled her to his side.
"I suppose I should start with how Hela came into being…"
A/N: So Thor thinks, he knows who the other daddy is…hmmmm…but he's not telling…not yet, at least.
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