Disclaimer: Don't own anything!

Warning: Dark themes, but never anything explicit.

AN: My longest chapter yet! I am very exited about this one and I feel things are running along nicely (though Loki is probably cursing my very existence at the moment). Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. They are what keep my posting so quickly!

On with the fic!

~ Stolen ~

Chapter 4

Damn.

Loki repeated the word a hundred times in his head. Damn. Damn. Damn. He switched from one side to another and ended up laying on his back, but the pain did not ease away. It had started a few hours ago, but it had only intensified since and Loki had given birth enough times to understand what was happening. He hadn't thought it would come to this, but there he lay.

He clenched his hands into fists and kept telling himself that holding his breath only made the pain worse, but he couldn't help it. His eyes darted towards the small red dot to which he had grown used to and he knew someone was watching him behind that camera. He was trying to conceal his pain, trying to hide the fact that he was in labor, but he knew he was thoroughly failing.

It was only a matter of time before Mr. Petersen would enter the room and then Loki would watch him take away his child, his little monster. He had not expected it, but that thought made him angry. No matter how little he cared for it, he did not want it to fall into Mr. Petersen's hands. He'd rather have Thor take care of it. That thought made him laugh without humor and tears began to leak from his eyes. It was the first time he actually cried. He wasn't ready for this situation and he felt terrified to face it alone.

For the umpteenth time, he cursed Odin, Thor and the rest of his idiot Avengers-team. What good were they in the end?

Another contraction made Loki grunt in pain and he sat up, pressing his back against a wall. He forced himself to breathe steadily, but it was all becoming rather difficult. Loki had not been able to prepare properly for the birth, let alone keep up his strength. Not having had any daylight for so long had made him weak and the food had been almost devoid of protein. Loki, feeling the pain subdue a little, allowed his eyes to fall shut for a moment. With his luck, the birth would last a whole day and he didn't know if he could survive the hardship. He didn't have magic to fuel his energy after all.

This was the first time he would give birth as a - almost - human.

The door swung open and Mr. Petersen entered with a large grin on his face. Loki wanted to scratch the man's eyes out and when he saw him approach, he flinched away. The thought of Mr. Petersen's hands on him made him gag, but Mr. Petersen did not seem to notice. "It's time, Loki," he announced, rubbing his hands in excitement.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Loki snapped, feeling another contraction growing. He moved his hands to his lower stomach and pressed down, feeling the child within him shift. His contractions might be coming on a regular basis now, but the baby was not yet in the correct position. It made the whole thing extremely painful.

"Let it happen," Mr. Petersen encouraged, "you'll see that in the end, all will fall into place." He stretched out a hand an placed it on Loki's cold one.

Loki instantly pulled back and hissed like a venomous snake. "Don't touch me," he warned, feeling exhausted and craving sleep.

Mr. Petersen only chuckled. "I understand," he said softly, "but I am here to support you. After all, this is our child."

"No," Loki said through gritted teeth, "this child will never be yours!" Norwilliteverbemine, he added silently.

Mr. Petersen shook his head, almost in disappointment. "Honestly, Loki, who will stop me? I don't see a rescue team anywhere. Your beloved brother does not even know where you are or that you need his help. And you?"

Loki hated himself for whimpering as the pain became almost unbearable.

"My dearest Loki," Mr. Petersen took both Loki's hands into his own, "you have not been able to stop me in nine long months. What makes you believe you can do so now?"

Loki spat in his face. He knew he shouldn't have, but he regretted nothing. A hand slapped across his cheek and his head turned to his left due to the force. It was a pin prick compared to the pain he experienced giving birth and so he laughed, knowing full well how maniacally he sounded.

Mr. Petersen backed away, never letting his eyes slip away from the trickster God.

"I will kill you," Loki threatened almost casually, "one day, one way or another, I will kill you."

"And I believe you," Mr. Petersen said, "but let's focus on our child now, shall we?"

Loki groaned, another contraction claiming his entire focus.

-o-o-

Steve narrowed his eyes. "So technically, what you're saying is that you don't who is there or what is happening, but you want us to check it out anyway?" He sounded cautious about the whole matter and honestly, no one could blame him.

"Yep," Tony said, standing before the seated avengers, "because according to Hank something weird is going on in there. Sources told him that it's protected and I'm talking about the supernatural sense of that word."

Bruce frowned. "Which means?"

"Which means that other than a whole bunch of heavy guys, it is also magic free," Tony explained, "Hank told me that they have been tracking this guy who caused a lot of trouble already, mostly in northern Europe. However, he has been laying low lately. He was spotted at this building and when Hank ordered it to be checked out, he discovered it's nearly impenetrable."

"So they tried magic to check it out," Natasha understood.

"Exactly," Tony nodded, a smile curving his lips upwards, "but it didn't work. Hank contacted me immediately because we know a certain magic-user that might be involved."

"If Loki is in there," Thor spoke, leaning his elbows on his knees, "than he is likely to be trapped there if it is magic-free. He would not give up his magic, never willingly."

"It would explain why we haven't heard from him in so long," Steve said.

"So your brother might be involved," Tony said, focusing solely on Thor, "but perhaps not in the way we thought originally."

"So it is safe to assume the monsters we have been battling lately are linked to this," Clint said, shifted his gaze between his fellow team mates.

"It's too big of a coincidence," Steve agreed.

Thor jumped to his feet and roared. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Fury's approval?" Natasha offered reluctantly.

It was true that any mission had to be approved of by Nick Fury, but Thor clearly identified this as an exception. He grabbed for Mjolnir and straightened his back. "If my brother is in trouble, then I will aid him. I can not wait another hour as I have waited long enough. There is no telling how long Loki has been trapped inside that building. We shall go now and face the consequences later on. Who is with me?"

Tony rolled his eyes before lifting a hand in the air. "I'm with Thor on this one. We shouldn't wait any longer."

The others rose from the couch at once and began collecting their weapons and other necessities. They were trained for these kind of emergencies and it only lasted five minutes before they all stood gathered before Tony Stark's mansion. They knew their destination and they were ready to fight.

Thor was ready to defend his brother.

-o-o-

Loki glared at Mr. Petersen, daring him to come closer. He was imagining how his hand would fit around his throat and the sensation of squeezing all life out of that man gave him utmost satisfaction. It was the only distraction he could offer himself as he closed his eyes, beginning to feel like this birth would never end.

"It is nearly over," Mr. Petersen encouraged him and Loki kicked out a leg. Of course he could not actually hit the man since he stood on the other side of the room. Mr. Petersen was a wise enough man to stay away from Loki at this point.

"Shut it," Loki yelled, "just shut. Your. Mouth!"

More pain made Loki groan. He wanted to role onto his side and curl up into a little ball, but his body aches too much. He wanted to scream and kick and scratch, but there was no point. In stead he kept quiet between contractions and focused on his breathing and his new favorite fantasy. Oh how he wanted Mr. Petersen near him now. He opened his eyes again and looked into those brown eyes he despised and dared the man to come closer.

Mr. Petersen grinned. "You're doing wonderfully on your own."

A new, yet very familiar sensation filled Loki and he hated it. "No, no, no, no."

"What?" Mr. Petersen instantly straightened his back, tension gripping his shoulders as his arms dropped beside his body.

"No, not yet," Loki breathed, but he could not stop it. Nature was doing its work and Loki simply had to push the child out. It was fully turned and ready to leave its warm and safe nest and Loki wanted to keep it in. He wanted to do anything to prevent it from being born and fall into Mr. Petersen's hands.

"Oh yes," Mr. Petersen smirked, "come on now, Loki, no time for games."

And so Loki pushed, snarling as Mr. Petersen stepped closer. There was nothing he could do, however, but push again.

-o-o-

Steve hid behind his shield as bullets rained down on him like fire. Security was indeed very tight, but at least they had managed to enter the building. He rolled to his left and fired a few bullets himself. Two heavy thuds told him he had taken down two men. Steve looked behind him and saw Tony battling three guards of his own and for a moment, he considered to help him, but he decided he should press on.

They needed to get deeper into the building if they wanted to find out what was happening here. Steve ran for the next door and suddenly arrived in a spacious office. Another well trained guard headed towards him, but Steve pushed him aside forcefully with the aid of his shield. The guard slumped down against a wall, his eyes closed. Behind Steve, more footsteps approached, but he had gone on enough missions to recognize Tony's iron footsteps.

He was right and the Iron Man joined him in the office. "Come on, let's move!"

Steve could only agree and followed Tony to the next room. It was not what they had expected. It was a small room, only place for three men maximum and it was filled with little TV-screens. On it, they could witness Thor fight a dozen men. Bruce had hulked out and was currently trashing the parking lot just outside the building while Clint and Natasha were backing each other up as they fought nine men on their own.

That was not what made them stare at the screens. The sight of Loki inside a room, his legs spread and his brow filled with sweat, was. Another man was with him, probably the one Hank had told them about earlier, but he was only observing Loki who seemed to be yelling something vulgar at him.

"Is Loki..." Steve couldn't finish his own sentence.

"He appears to be."

"But...how?"

"Let's find out."

"Do we want to find out?" Steve turned to look at Tony, knowing that he too did not understand the situation. However, they knew someone who would. They exited the surveillance room together, fought another six men and ran towards Thor who seemed to have a joyous time taking on twelve guards at the same time.

"Thor!" Tony yelled. Thor did not even pause to acknowledge their presence. "Thor, we found Loki and we're pretty sure he needs our help!"

It seemed those words changed Thor's state of mind instantly as he threw around his hammer, knocking out his opponents effortlessly. The God of Thunder walked towards them, fury written in his eyes. "Where is he? What has he done?"

"Euhm," Steve bit down on his lip and looked at Tony for help. The Iron Man only shrugged. "As far as we could tell he is a level below and there is a man with him. Loki looked to be...giving birth?"

Thor growled, but said nothing as he pushed past Steve and Tony. They had expected a different kind of reaction.

"Thor?" Tony asked carefully, "Thor, what are you going to do?"

"Find out what's happening," Thor replied through gritted teeth before exiting the room, leaving Tony and Steve alone with four new guards to deal with. It would be easy to take them out , but the two avengers would rather follow Thor. That is why Tony used one of his missiles, even though it earned him an eye-roll from Steve.

They were able to pursuit Thor instantly, however, and they weren't sure if they were ready to face what was coming next. Or understand it.