Loki sits, with his back leaning against the cell wall, gently running his fingers through a sleeping Clint's hair.

Clint's head rests on Loki's chest. His mouth hangs open, Loki finds it all too cute that a small pool of drool had formed on his shirt.

Clint had started out sucking on his own fingers, but Loki removed them from the boys mouth. After seeing how raw baby's fingers were he made it his goal to get baby to kick that habit.

"You're so beautiful" Loki says softly to Clint, running his fingers along the boys jaw.

He's stuck between desperately wanting to wake him up, and being transfixed by how peaceful he looks when he's sleeping.

Clint had let out all of his welled up emotions, crying til he was gasping for air between sobs. The whole time clinging to Loki, who kept repeating some variation of "It's going to be all right,".

"Don't leave me daddy," Clint had demanded in his fit of tears, almost breaking Loki's heart. Because when he really thought about it, Loki didn't know if he would be able to leave prison to care for the boy. He wanted to leave on best terms with Odin, he did not want them to be hunted after. He hated the idea of Clint having to live like an escaped criminal. He would have to find a way around it. He had to, for Clint.

Eventually, Clint did fall asleep. Loki had held him close, rubbed his back in soothing circle motions, and gently hummed lullabies into his ear. What Clint really needed was to know that Loki was there. He need to feel Loki's heart beat, to know that this was real.

After hours of waiting Thor is unable to stay away, and he must check on the two. He makes his way down to the dungeon.

He's shocked at what he finds. He watches outside the cell as a smiling Loki whispers praises to Clint, who sleeps on Lokis chest. He stands silently watching for a few minutes. Loki doesn't even detect his presence. Usually he'd have noticed right away, it confuses Thor. He isn't used to see his brother like this.

"Loki," he finally says, entering the cell.

Loki's face drops when he hears Thor's voice, and he looks up. "Brother," he says. He's a skilled liar, a master of words... But he doesn't lie. He isn't ashamed of what he has with Clint. He does, however, plan his words carefully. For he is at his brothers mercy, he can't give Thor any reason that would suggest he was in any way harming Clint. He needs Thor on his side to convince their father to allow this to continue.

Loki remained lost in thought, until Thor finally spoke up. "What have you done to him?" Thor asks. It isn't accusatory, he's genuinely confused.

"I suppose we've fallen into some unusual form of love," Loki says, his eyes fixating back on Clint. He smiles down at him, and strokes his hair.

"Loki, I do not kid with you" Thor says sternly.

Loki trusts Thor. It became apparent during their time on Midgard that Thor did not have the capacity to hurt Loki. "Nor do I" Loki answers. "Listen to me brother, and I'll explain".

Thor nods, "I just want the truth brother".

"Clint's come too far for me to tell you anything else. I will be honest with you, that I promise" Loki states, being completely genuine with Thor. He continues to explain everything to Thor. Skipping the minor details, such as the diapers. Sure enough Thor fill figure that part out eventually, but now is not the time. It would only add to the confusion.

"He needs me," Loki says when he's through with the story.

"I understand" Thor says, "You're like a father to him now". He doesn't really completely understand it. And he's mad at his brother for doing this to such an innocent man, forcing him to become so helpless. But Thor can't change it by being angry. He's almost proud that his brothers finally owning up to his mistakes, and trying to fix them.

"Just, please don't take him away" Loki pleads. "I need to go back with him... To Midgard. I need to fix this".

"I believe you. And I'm sure Father will too. But for now you mustn't do anything to give Father a reason not to allow it" Thor says.

"Thank you, Thor.. For standing with me on this" Loki manages to say. It's hard for him, but he wants Thor to know how much he appreciates it.

Thor smiles. "Of course brother, I'll do everything I can to help you. But for now, I think it's time Barton goes to his own room".

"I suppose I should have expected that, we can't exactly have him sleeping in a cell with a convict" Loki says with regret, it seems too soon for him to have to say goodbye. Even if it's only til tomorrow. "Goodnight my boy," Loki says softly as he places a kiss on Clints forehead. "Be gentle with him," he says, passing the boy to Thor.

"I will brother," Thor says. Thor takes Clint into his arms, and carefully holds him.

"Thank you" Loki murmurs.

"You should get some rest too" Thor says, as he leaves the cell.

Thor carries Clint through the palace, headed towards Clint's guest room.

Clints head rests against his chest. Its unusual but.. Whatever relationship Loki has with Clint, he's glad he's happy.

He opens the door to Clints room, and places him on the bed. He covers him with blankets.

"Goodnight Barton," he whispers, and tries to stay quiet as he walks out of the room.

...

Clint wakes up surrounded by hot blankets. Too hot. He pushes the heavy blankets away. He's still in his clothes from yesterday, and his diaper reached its capacity and leaked during the night. He's completely uncomfortable.

He doesn't remember falling asleep here. He was with Loki. He looks around the unfamiliar room for Loki. He isn't there.

"Daddy," he calls out softly. No response.

"Loki?" he says, louder this time. He's scared. He doesn't know where he is, he's not familiar with Asgard.

"LOKI!" he screams. He's really frightened now.

He continues to scream out for Loki. It's too much for him. Coming so far, and being so close to Loki. He's scared it was all just a dream. He needs to know it's reality.

"Barton," Thor says, storming into the room. He looks Clint over with worry, he's red from screaming, his face and hair are wet with sweat, and he's crying. "What's the matter?".

"I want Loki" he demands. He's done pretending to be an adult. He wants his daddy.

Thor is a little taken back. He saw them yesterday, but he had not realized how strongly Clint felt for his brother.

"I will personally bring him here myself, Barton" Thor says, trying to calm Clint. "There's no need for tears".

Clint ignores that bit, and continues on with his crying.

...

Quickly Thor ushers Loki into Clint's room.

Clint only sobs harder when he sees Loki, out of relief.

"Oh baby, come here" Loki coos at him, "Yes come to me,".

Clint crawls to the edge of the bed and holds out his arms. "Daddy," he says through the tears.

Loki picks him up, and cradles him. He sits down on the edge of the bed with Clint in his arms. "Now, what's got my boy so upset?" he asks as he wipes the tears away from Clint's cheeks.

Clint's shy with communicating his needs, he lets out a moan and buries his face in the crook of Loki's neck.

It's not hard for Loki to see whats wrong. Or smell. Clint's been sleeping in a pool of his own urine. Loki feels horrible for overlooking such a large detail last night. He was supposed to be looking after Clint.

"Someone needs a bath" Loki says, tousling Clint's hair.

Loki guides Clint to the bathroom attached to the room. It was a rather impressive bathroom, made mostly of marble and feature a rather large bathtub. The servants had placed Clint's bag on the counter.

"Just wait here," Loki says to Clint. He quickly finds a servant, and requests she change the bed sheets. Before she enters the room he enters the bathroom and closes the door, doubting Clint would like to be seen as responsible for the wet bed.

Loki starts running the bath water, and slowly the bathtub starts to fill.

"Come on," Loki says, "While we wait lets get you out of these wet clothes".

Clint's relieved. Wet jeans and an overwhelmingly swollen diaper were not the comfiest clothes. At the same time though, he couldn't help but blush. It wasn't going to be the first time Loki had ever seen him naked, but it was the first time Clint would be completely conscious of it.

He blushes as Loki removes his shirt off, "Arms up," Loki commands. Clint obeys, and Loki proceeds to help Clint step out of his jeans.

Clint is left shivering in only the diaper. The diaper hangs loosely on Clints hips.

"Oh baby," Loki says, "Daddy will fix you up".

Loki proceeds to remove Clint's diaper, he promptly folds it into a ball and throws it in the trash. "Oh baby, we need to get some cream on you" he says when he sees the rash that had developed on Clint's bottom, and part of his crotch. Loki feels a pang of guilt, it was his fault Clint had become dependant on the diapers. How was Clint to know how to properly change a diaper? "Daddy's going to take care of you now," he says, stroking Clint's cheek.

Loki helps Clint into the tub. Clint winces, his rash being agitated by the hot water.

"I know it hurts now, but we need to clean it or it wont get better" Loki says, trying to reassure Clint.

Clint settles into the water. Loki rolls up his sleeves, and grabs a bar of soap.

He rubs the soap over Clint's body, gently cleaning every inch of his skin.

Clint relaxes, allowing Loki to take over. "Close your eyes," Loki instructs. Clint closes his eyes tight, and Loki pours water over Clint's head to wet his hair.

"Your hairs gotten so long," Loki says, as he lathers in shampoo to Clint's hair. And it has, it covers Clint's ears now, and instead of spiking out at the front of his head it hangs down to his eyebrows.

Clint is tempted to start splashing the water, but he's too warm and too tired to play. He's happy just knowing his daddy is with him.

Loki rinses out the shampoo, and continues to clean Clint's skin, and when he's satisfied with his work he picks Clint out of the bath.

"I'm cold!" Clint whines as he's lifted out of the bath and into the cold air.

"Hold tight, we'll get you warmed up". Loki wraps Clint up in a towel, and proceeds to towel dry his hair. He pulls the towel away from his head when he's convinced it's dry enough. "We're going to keep you out of your diaper for a bit, to let your rash breathe, and then we'll put some cream on that".

"Okay daddy" Clint says, crawling onto his freshly made up bed. He lays down on his tummy, and Loki sits next to him and rests a hand on his back.

"Can I put my diapy back on?" Clint says after only minutes, "I gotsa go".

Loki chuckles, "Well, of course baby, just hold tight and I'll get the supplies". So much for giving it some air.

"Okay, we're just going to put some of this on it" Loki says when he returns with a diaper, and a bottle of cream in his hands. "Just hold still," he commands as he spreads a thick layer of the cream on Clints bum, where the majority of the rash is. He spreads a thick layer on Clints crotch as well.

The cool cream feels good against Clints rash. "Does that feel better?" Loki asks. Clint nods. "Okay, now lets get this diaper on you" Loki says, lifting up Clints legs and placing the diaper beneath his bum. He pulls the front of the diaper forward, and tapes it snug against Clint.

"We're all done" Loki announces.

Clint takes the time to inspect Loki's work, "I guess I've been doing a really bad job at that..." he proclaims.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore," Loki says, picking up the boy.

"Thanks, daddy" Clint says, resting his head on Lokis shoulder.

...

That night a couple guards rush down to Loki's cell, and insist he is immediately needed in Clint's room.

Promptly he is escorted there, though the guards aren't as trusting as Thor is, and Loki is kept in hand cuffs as they walk to Clint's room.

"I can't sleep," Clint says, as the guard removes the cuffs from Loki's hands.

"Oh, you had me worried" Loki says, exhaling a sigh of relief and wrapping his arms around Clint. "Well, we'll see what I can do about getting you to sleep" Loki says, he grabs Clint's hand and leads him to the bed.

Loki pulls back the covers, and ushers Clint underneath them.

"Have a servant bring us a bottle of warm milk," Loki tells the guard who stands awkwardly at the door. "And if you must stay, please wait outside the door".

The guard nods. He's kind of freaked out by whatever is going on, and while Odin demands Loki not be free to use Clint as an excuse to roam the castle freely, he feels he'll be fine keeping guard outside the room.

Loki tucks Clint in tightly and sits down next to him, "Now, tell me what troubles you".

"I'm scared" Clint responds.

"Scared of what?" Loki asks, running his fingers soothingly through Clints hair.

"They're not going to let you come home with me, they're going to keep you locked up and I'm going to be alone" Clint says, his face a mixture of sadness and worry.

"Clint, baby, they're trying to punish me. Not you. I may not be on best terms with my father, but I know he wont want to hurt you. Doing this to you, that's one of the biggest mistakes I made on Midgard. He'll want me to fix it" Loki says, desperately wishing it to be true.

"Please, don't lie to me. I'm a wreck, if I have to live like this on my own, if I can't have you with me- it's just not worth it" Clint says, Loki can hear the frustration in his voice.

Loki picks Clint up, blankets still wrapped around him, and holds him. "I don't have the ability to lie to you. Not anymore. It tears me apart that I've hurt you, and I promise you I'll fix it. I swear Clint- everything's going to be alright".

Clint is content to lay in Loki's arms, "I believe you" he says. And that's all Loki needs.

A nervous servant knocks at the door, and Loki places Clint down on the bed so he can retrieve the bottle. He knows Clints still not comfortable with people seeing him in such an infantile state.

He takes the baby bottle from the servants hand, who tries to sneak a peak into the room. No doubt rumours have spread, of the Midgardians sudden arrival and his relationship with Loki. Loki halfheartedly thanks her, and closes the door.

He sits down again on the bed, and Clint crawls onto his lap. Loki cradles him in his arms, and feeds him the bottle.

After he finishes the bottle he falls asleep on Loki's chest. There's something about the rhythmic beating of Loki's heart that soothes Clint to sleep.

...

Loki isn't there in the morning. He never is. And it's the same every morning as it was the first. Clint's left confused and alone. He's angry at himself for it, for being so needy. He had lived through Loki not being there, horrendously- but he had lived. But now that he is so close, both psychically and mentally, to Loki he can't stand not being with him all the time.

It's hard throughout the day, but it's the worst in the morning.

Not today, Clint will tell himself, Today I can handle it. But it never works.

He wakes up, groggy and alone and he can't help it. He cries out for his daddy.

Loki is always brought to him in a hurry, lest the Asgardians feel they are being inhospitable to their guest.

Loki calms him down, gives him a bath and changes his diaper. But Loki can't always be there. And Clint is always left feeling as if he's slowly loosing control of himself.

The servants try to take care of Clint themselves, offer to change his diaper. But his adult side wont let that happen. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself, I just prefer he does it" he tells them, almost insulted they would even ask.

Thor is helpful in the matter. One morning he comes to Clints room while he's asleep, and waits for the boy to wake.

He watches as Clint falls out of sleep. "Barton," he says softly.

"Mmff" Clint mumbles as he stretches his arms.

"You want to go see daddy?" Thor asks. He feels weird referring to his brother as a grown mans "daddy", but he's seen enough of their relationship to understand that's what Clint refers to Loki as.

"Ya," Clint says, still not really awake.

"Okay, be calm and we'll go" Thor says. He puts together a bag for Clint with clothing, and a diaper and his supplies. He's reluctant grabbing the diaper, that's one aspect of Clint and Loki's relationship he doesn't completely understand.

"Come here little one," Thor says as he picks up Clint. Clint rests his head on Thors shoulder. He's going to see daddy, and with that knowledge he is comforted. He easily falls back into sleep.

There's something about the vulnerability Clint is showing that Thor finds almost cute. He can't help but smile as Clints grip loosens on him, and he starts to snore. It's sort of rewarding to have someone feel so comfortable in your arms.

Thor sits down when they arrive, and holds a sleeping Clint in his arms.

Eventually Clint wakes up, and when he sees where they are he's ecstatic.

"Shh," Thor says holding a finger to his mouth, "Daddy doesn't like being waken up".

Clint listens, and sits outside his cell. Cross legged, with his hands resting on the cell bars.

"Daddy!" Clint cheers when he sees Loki's eyes finally start to open slowly.

As Loki's eyes adjust and his mind becomes less foggy he registers that his baby is waiting patiently for him, and he smiles. "Clint," he says.

"Get up daddy!" Clint commands.

Loki forces himself up, and walks across the cold floor to Clint. Clint reaches in through the bars, and grasps onto Lokis hand. "Uncle Thor brought me here!" Clint says.

Loki smiles at his brother, who sits propped against the wall. Thor takes back all doubts he'd ever had about Clint's regression when he hears him call him uncle. And his heart just about melts.

Thor unlocks the cell door for Clint, and Clint is in Loki's arms within seconds.

...

Quickly this becomes routine. Thor wakes up early, and brings a sleeping Clint down to the dungeon. Loki falls into the rhythm of it, and is always awake waiting for his baby. Clint will waken, either in Thor or Loki's arms, and smile. The morning tantrums completely cease.

He starts spending more and more time in the cell with Loki. He'll fall sleep in the cell, and be carried to bed by Thor, only to be brought down in the morning.

Odin grows tired of it. For such privileges are not allowed for other criminals. He fears he'll be seen as an unjust king, favouring his son in such a way.

He knows he must put an end to it.