Author's Note: This is where we're going to branch out from the movie!verse to AU. Most of the background details are still based on the movie.
Warning: Male/Male relationships, Mpreg, Tony's language, a few spoilers from the movie
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, seriously.
Summary: Tony had always been careful with who he sleeps with. Man or woman, he always makes sure that there will be no accidents. Still, who really knew how potent a frost giant sorcerer was in bed? Well, now he had some idea.
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Messenger butterflies were hardy little bits of magic, traveling through the nine realms without exhaustion or complaint, their speed depending on the strength of their spellcaster. Very little was needed for the tiny creatures and they were mostly undetected by most mages and sorcerers – as long as there was enough distance between them.
A new traveler sailed out of Asgard, a spell woven into its fragile wings to bypass Alfheim, the realm of the Elves where spells and magic abound. It flew undeterred and entered another realm far less cold than the Mist Homeworld where it would surely perish.
The tiny butterfly fluttered its wings, unaffected by the sharp winds and the stinging cold of a once great realm, moving about with no thought to any threats but its sole purpose. It weaved around frozen pillars and great spires of ice, nearly invisible in the frigid darkness.
It turned around a corner going about its way, when a hand far larger than its creator's sealed it in its fist, crushing it and turning it back to its original shape.
"My brother grows careless," hissed a low voice as the hand uncurled and revealed a tiny note. With a wave of the other hand, the note grew in size, the message within revealed. He laughed then, filled with dark humor, bitterness and malice. "And so Asgard will open its doors yet again. My time for revenge is nearing and soon, Asgard shall fall and I will slay the traitor who killed my father, the one who caused our downfall.
"I will await more news from you, Loptr, my brother… When the time is right, we shall strike and I will destroy you and everything you hold dear."
The note reverted back to its own size, the spell rewoven as if it were never broken and another spell laced within where one unversed in magic would not sense. The butterfly flapped its wings experimentally and lifted itself from the wide, freezing, blue palm it was perched on and went on its journey, unknowing of the coming danger it would bring.
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Loki walked through the golden halls of the palace, followed as unobtrusively as possible by two guards, passing the closed doors of the banquet hall where most of the honored warriors of Asgard chose to dine in a venerable feast. He could hear the sound of songs and general shouting, of playful squabbles and breaking furniture — a regular occurrence in the banquet hall where tempers would always run high. When he was a child, he had enjoyed the company of the others until he had become too different from them and preferred dining in his chambers whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Shaking his head to rid himself of old memories, he strode through the familiar path and went through the open doors that led to his mother's gardens where his family had chosen to dine since he and Thor had returned from Midgard. The gardens were his mother's treasure, an extensive display of towering marble pillars, ferns, flower bushes and ancient trees that she personally tended to with little assistance from her handmaidens. It truly hasn't changed much except for the Midgardian plants he had given her that had flourished under her care. Thor had not noticed the new additions, thankfully enough.
He stepped forward, the gravel crunching under his boots as he took one step after another, remembering the sensation from when he'd hidden from the other children's taunts and how his mother never failed to find him hidden in the trees' branches or a makeshift nest from the bushes. He remembered when he and Thor would nap under the sky, their heads in her lap as she stroked their hair and hummed them a lullaby. He remembered picnics in their youth where they would switch their goblets with their father's to get a taste of the strong liquor, how he had laughed as they sputtered and groaned at the bitter taste and how their mother would scold them all for the imps that they were.
He smiled a little bitterly. Things were different then. Too many things had happened and they all knew that nothing would ever be the same and yet they would try.
"Hey, take it from me; I'd kill to have the chance you have, if only so I could tell my dad what a bastard he was. And who knows what'll happen? Maybe things would get better, maybe it won't, but that's better than not knowing, right?"
"Relax, I have your back. You can come over anytime, not that you don't already."
And he imagined Tony's face as he said so, a cocky smirk on his lips and a thumb up for encouragement. He smothered a laugh.
There at the end of the path, awash with warm light from torches, were his family, sitting at the makeshift dining table under the open sky, the servants bustling about to bring food to the table. Thor was standing, a goblet in his hand as he regaled their parents with stories they have heard so many times, Frigga laughing behind a dainty hand while Odin smiled indulgently. When he approached, the servants began to scurry out of sight, leaving only two to service them, and Thor was beaming at him like he'd done in the past.
The table was wide and circular, filled with decadent food that he favored (though he found himself wanting more of that pazza—or was it pezza—or the deep-fried fowl covered in batter that Tony had fed him before): roasted meats in thick sauces, freshly cut fruits plucked from his mother's garden and different varieties of wine from his father's vineyards. It was always like this for the past six months and even though there was still discomfort among them, it wasn't as terrible as it was before. He even participated in dinner conversations now.
"Baby steps, oh omniscient one, baby steps. You don't know what that means? Seriously? Fine. I meant: do things a little at a time. What? You did not just call me a pot! I thought you don't know what our slang means!"
Loki would always sit between Thor and his mother and across his father. He tried to smile but it always came out a little strained but Frigga paid no mind and cupped his face with her hand like she always did, leaning towards him to kiss him on his cheek and Odin nodded at him with a smile and pride (what was there to be proud of, he still wondered) in his remaining eye.
The Allfather raised his hand and the remaining servants began filling their goblets with wine and each one filled their plates with food.
"Thor was telling us that he'd be returning to Midgard soon," his mother began as she straightened herself on her seat, turning her eyes to Thor. "There appears to be trouble again."
"There is always trouble in Midgard, I fear," Thor answered, a little sadly. "But this one is much more dangerous than the others. I do not know much but it involves machines that bring fire and destruction. You need not be worried though, Mother. I am in the company of my shield brothers and sister. We will be victorious."
"I am a mother. I will always worry about my children," said Frigga. She still looked worried, laying her hand on her elder son's arm. "Nevertheless, you will be careful."
"I am always careful, Mother," he told her, a little patronizing that she swatted him in the arm. "Ow!"
She nodded, satisfied, before turning to Loki who was watching while he randomly stabbed at something on his plate. "What of your task, my son?"
He couldn't stop the thrum of pleasure he felt at those simple words, words that she used over and over to reassure him of his part in her life. He was thankful more than they could imagine.
"The runes have been completed. It needs to be written and cast in Heimdall's domain and will require time to gather the magic needed to rebuild the bridge. It will take a few months but it will be done," he answered readily.
"A few months are nothing to the people of Asgard," said Odin, his voice deep and lulling, a low rumble that Loki had not realized he missed terribly. "You have done admirably and your deeds will speak well for you among the people."
His only eye glowed with such pride and love that Loki felt his breath catch at the sight of it, the beginning of a genuine smile lighting his face.
Unlike his mother, his father need not express his thoughts through words. Since his return, when Thor had brought him before their parents, he only heard Odin call him his son once and it was heavy with such grief, mourning, happiness and relief that he realized that he had been and would always be a son of Odin despite everything that happened between them. It hadn't erased the why, but that had been addressed later.
He recalled that fateful day, everything clear in his mind.
Return to Asgard...
A swirl of light and blinding colors flashed before his eyes as he remained at his brother's side, carried in a current that would finally bring him to his fate. When it stopped, he landed unsteadily on his feet, his vision still swimming and blurry, the chains heavy on his wrists and the muzzle on his mouth digging painfully in his face. He had expected that he would be brought immediately into trial, to face the punishment of his crimes in Asgard. He had not expected that he would be brought to their family's shared chamber, where memories of his childhood prevailed.
There Odin and Frigga stood, his so-called parents and he cursed himself for not being able to meet their gazes and staring at the floor like a child being chastised.
Thor was silent through that hellish moment, they all were, until Frigga covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders shaking as tears poured from her eyes. Without a second thought, she ran to him, long blonde hair and white silk trailing behind her. She collided with his chest with enough force to knock him back a little and wrapped her arms around him tightly as if she would never let go.
"My son, oh, my son," she whispered fervently, over and over, looking up at his face, cupping her hands on his cheeks and looking at the wounds on his head and across the bridge of his nose before staring into his eyes. "My son, you are home. You are finally home."
Her voice was so broken, her pale cheeks streaked with tears that he couldn't stop the moisture gathering at the corner of his own eyes. He refrained from holding her as he yearned to do and instead allowed himself to be dragged to the floor as she held onto him.
"Remove these chains and this horrid thing! Remove them now," she commanded, tugging at the chains and touching the muzzle with the tips of her fingers. "Oh, my son! My baby boy!"
Thor shared a look with Odin and with a slight nod, Thor did as he was told, freeing his brother from his bonds and stepped away, letting his mother have her fill of her wayward younger son.
She brushed his hair back with her fingers and looked at him as if she could not believe he was finally there with her. When she had calmed enough, Odin approached them both and knelt on the floor with them, his arms coming around Loki as his wife let him go and he sighed, his shoulders losing tension as he pressed a hand at the back of Loki's head, pushing his face against his shoulder. He turned his head and kissed his temple, his arms tightening almost painfully around him.
"My son," he whispered, just as low and soothing as Loki remembered, so heavy with emotions he couldn't place but broke what was left of his heart all the same. "Don't you ever scare us like that again, do you hear me?" he said his voice turning into an angry growl.
He held Loki at arm's length then cupped his cheeks, brushing the tears that had fallen unheeded from his green eyes. "You are home at last."
And Loki couldn't believe what he did, would have thought it impossible if he didn't see it with his own eyes.
He made his father, the mighty Odin Allfather, cry.
Back to Present...
He had thought then that getting beaten up by that monstrous, green creature ("His name's Bruce and he's a really nice guy under all those anger management issues. Now, be nice or you can forget about KFC.") for all eternity was preferable to seeing his parents shed tears.
"I shall leave in three days' time," Thor announced, dragging him from his thoughts. "I also worry for one of my shield brothers. He has not been feeling well as of late and I would like to bring him some of the tea you make, Mother."
"Of course. Now which of them requires it?"
"Tony Stark."
It took quite a lot of effort for Loki to restrain himself from saying anything and he was successful, keeping his mouth shut as Thor began to tell stories about the "Man of Iron". He wanted to go back to Midgard, just for a second, to assure himself that he was alright but knew that he couldn't, not with the repairs well underway and needful of his keen eye and expertise.
Just a little while longer, he promised. Just a little more.
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Dr. Jenner had gone away for the day, taking a vial of Tony's blood with her for some required tests, all the results and diagnoses to be sent directly to Tony's personal server. They had all decided not to include her in the planning process of their cover-up, just so she wouldn't be dragged down with them, in case something went wrong. Before she left, she made sure she had her rules for Tony known: no caffeine (ugh), no alcohol (he's been sober for more than three months now), no oily junk food (aw…), no raw foods (and yes, that included sushi and sashimi), no jumping off of windows (it was that one time and it wasn't even his fault, ironically enough) or anything beyond five inches and absolutely no flying off in the armor for any reason.
They all sat together in the living room, Pepper taking up the single chair with a pillow over her lap while Clint and Tony shared the couch, the archer giving him all the pillows to lean on. Sulking a little, Tony sat with the others for a late lunch and some brainstorming, looking enviously as they had pizza and soda while he had a salad. A freaking salad.
"Is this for real?" he asked, looking at the bowl of vegetables on the low coffee table as if it would jump and bite him. "You do know that you're going to starve two people to death, right?"
"Dr. Jenner said you'll have to eat healthy food from now on," said Pepper seriously.
Tony raised an eyebrow at her. "Grass isn't healthy, no matter what veggie health nuts say."
Clint snorted and Pepper giggled as she handed him a paper bag from behind her. "Here you go, Tony."
He took the bag and opened it warily, a thick delicious smell wafting in the air. Inside was a large, grilled turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes, light on the mayo and heavy on the cheese just the way he liked it. He didn't bother taking the sandwich out of the bag and just took a big bite, closing his eyes in bliss.
"Finally, some real food," he sighed dreamily, looking at his sandwich like it was a miracle.
Pepper shook her head at him. "You're going to have to eat the salad, too. Doctor's orders."
He waved his hand at her flippantly and took another large bite.
"While Tony's still making faces at his sandwich," Clint began, taking a bite off his slice of pizza, "maybe we should start figuring out how we can hide this until baby-daddy shows his face."
"We can always claim fatigue and dehydration. It wouldn't be too surprising with Tony's habits," said Pepper as she poured hot sauce over her slice. "And we can use that excuse to keep him from doing anything too strenuous while we're at it, including any superhero work."
"Yeah, but Doc said that'll work for about two weeks, maybe a month if we push it, and there's no guarantee that Loki would be dropping by anytime soon," Clint argued. "Fury might allow it for a while since he's all for efficiency and he doesn't want any liability on his operation but that's not gonna be enough in the long run."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure I'm going to make it worth his while," Tony cut in while he looked at the salad cautiously.
"Jesus, Tony, stop staring at the salad and just eat it," Pepper snapped at him as she watched him poke the bowl with a fork.
For once, Tony relented and stabbed a cut of tomato and some lettuce before popping them in his mouth then grimacing as he chewed and swallowed it down.
"You were saying?" the archer asked as he tried to get the billionaire's attention.
Tony glowered at another piece of lettuce dangling from his fork and dripping with dressing before answering. "I have that part covered. Let's just say I won't be completely out of commission."
"Okay, since you're not gonna say anything else, any suggestions on how we can inform Loki that – Surprise! – he's gonna be a dad?" Clint asked, taking large gulps of soda.
"We could always ask Thor to pass it on," Pepper suggested.
"Hell, no! Not Thor!" Tony objected, standing too abruptly that he felt his head spin. He held on to the table and steadied himself ("Tony, sit down, for heaven's sake!"), blinking a few times and taking deep breaths before sitting back down. "Christ!"
"We'll be in deep shit if Thor cracks and he will crack," Clint supplied factually at Pepper's questioning gaze. "He'll be too excited to keep the news to himself. There's no doubt the whole world and Asgard will know about it."
"Well, if we can't tell him then we'll just have to wait for Loki to come back on his own," Pepper said, leaning back on her chair. "Whenever that is."
"Hey," Clint exclaimed. "You promised to tell me all about Loki's other kids."
Tony chuckled. "So I did."
"Kids?" Pepper squeaked. "Please don't tell me that he really gave birth to a horse."
Tony burst out laughing. "Nah, he didn't and I'll show you the look on his face when I asked him about that. JARVIS?"
'Already pulling the file, Sir.'
And without another a second, a holographic visual of Loki's face hovered before them and Clint and Pepper couldn't resist chuckling at the sight.
Loki's eyes were wide as saucers, his face blank except for the way his jaw dropped open like he'd been slapped by a dead fish over and over. A pair of chopsticks with a dumpling was frozen on its way to his mouth.
"Let me tell you a little bit about what happened."
Flashback
"So, is there any truth to the rumors?"
Loki looked up from the interesting book he'd plucked from Tony's library, a little frown crossing his face from being interrupted just when the Potter child was confronting his family's betrayer. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, pinning a finger between the pages of his book as he laid it across his lap, following Tony's movements as the tinted, glass door slid shut behind him with an audible beep.
He watched as Tony placed a bag on the table, pulling two boxes out along with several covered platters on the surface. Ah, today was the so-called Chinese Day.
"Rumors about what?" he asked curiously.
Tony opened his mouth to reply but another audible beep interrupted him.
"Tony," an exasperated male voice echoed from the little box by the door. "Not that I'm unhappy you're eating like a normal person but you took my steamed dumplings. Again. Give them back."
He recognized the owner of the voice as Steven Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, and kept silent as he opened the boxes and chose which one he'd prefer, accepting the pair of eating sticks Tony handed him.
"JARVIS, open intercom," he commanded a little distractedly as he took the covers off the platters, sweet smelling sauces filling Tony's workshop with scents strong enough to cover the smell of metal and motor oil.
'Communications are open, Sir,' intoned the AI from somewhere above them. Loki was not surprised anymore.
Surely enough, the steamed dumplings were there among their food. Loki knew Tony stole it often enough not to be a coincidence, especially when the name "Steve" was labeled across the cover in thick, bold letters and he merely shook his head at their odd weekly ritual because there was no doubt in his mind Rogers was aware this was intentional.
"I dunnow what you're talking about, Cap," Tony replied gravely, pushing the platter of stir-fried vegetables in Loki's direction.
There was a resigned sigh and Loki imagined that Rogers would be shaking his head by now. He certainly would if he had to deal with this every week. "Okay, as long as you make sure to eat everything, Tony."
There was another beep and Tony said, "JARVIS?"
'Already done, Sir.'
"So, what were we talking about?" Tony asked himself and brightened up when he remembered. "Oh, right, rumors!"
"I do not know any rumors," said Loki as he stirred the contents of his box with his chopsticks.
Tony snorted. "It's all over mythology books! Come on, you have to answer some of my questions!"
The god glowered at him imperiously, "and why should I answer your inane, mortal inquiries?"
"Because you're in my house, you're eating my food and we have nothing better to talk about," he suggested with a light shrug. "Besides, aren't you the least bit curious about what our ancestors say about you?"
"I have no interest in mortals' inaccurate stories," he stated sternly, gingerly picking some vegetables with the sticks and cursing its difficulty. He had half a mind to demand a fork but Tony's gloating face as he scooped his food up with the infernal sticks with practiced ease made him change his mind.
Tony waited for him to take a bite of his vegetables, smiling mischievously before he said, "even the ones about your kids?"
The billionaire had been hoping for a reaction but had not expected something as explosive as Loki spitting his food out (thankfully facing away from the rest of their dinner) in a torrent of undignified coughs and sputtering. He tried to stop himself from laughing and might have even felt a little sorry but damn, if he was ever going to let the god live this down. Oh, God, his face! JARVIS had better catch this on video.
"What? Children?" he wheezed comically, eyes wide. "Why would they think –?" he paused a little in thought, brows furrowed in thought before he scowled fiercely. "This is all Thor's fault! That unconscionable, lying brute!"
"Okay, judging from that, I'd say he made those up, huh?" Tony asked, trying to keep his face straight.
"Of course, he did, that vile cretin," he snarled. "When I get my hands on him…"
He growled under his breath and Tony cleared his throat to hide his chuckle because seriously, who would've thought Thor made stories up like that? Of course, he had to make sure Loki didn't leave his workshop, seeing as he's already staring at the door and his brother was right up the stairs.
"Please remember that he's not supposed to know you're here – in fact, no one in my team knows you're here and they're all outside that door," he reminded. "Now, aren't you glad I opened this up?" he asked with a smug smile. "Now you have a chance to clear up thousands of years old gossip your brother passed on to humans."
"I am almost afraid to ask what lies he had spread about me," Loki said as he calmed himself enough to lean back and pick his dinner up.
"And that is the most ironic thing I've heard in a while, coming from you," said Tony as he gleefully picked a dumpling and popped it in his mouth. "So how do we do this? I know! I'll say a name, you tell me who or what it is and then I'll tell you what I know."
"Very well, seeing as I know for sure you would never stop annoying me if I didn't," Loki huffed, plucking some rice from his box.
"It's scary how you know me too well," the billionaire said offhandedly, picking another dumpling.
"More like your habits have become predictable," said the god as he speared a dumpling instead of picking it up.
"Yeah, have to work on that. On the other hand, using your chopsticks that way is considered rude," he informed, picking some noodles off another platter expertly.
"I do not care," said Loki as he glowered at Tony while he ate it.
Tony rolled his eyes at him and picked some more noodles. "Okay, how about… Sleipnir?"
"He is my father's favourite steed and a loyal friend. What of him?" he asked, reaching for the last dumpling before Tony could make a grab for it.
"Well," Tony began, his eyes focused on the noodle dish, "stories say that he's your lovechild with another horse."
Tony chanced a look at his face and stifled his laughter as Loki's eyes practically bugged out of his head, the dumpling halfway to his open mouth. Still stunned, he put the dumpling inside his box and took a deep breath.
"You humans think that I would willingly bed a horse?" he asked slowly, more to himself than Tony. "Or that I had a horse for a child?"
Shrugging, the billionaire answered him anyway. "Yeah, kinda. Not only that, you were the mom."
Loki closed his eyes as if he was in pain. "Sleipnir was especially attached to me because I was the first thing he saw after his mother died. Anything else?"
"The Midgard Serpent."
"Jörmungandr is here, hidden under the depths of the ocean as he should be. Hence, he is called the 'Midgard serpent'." Loki searched Tony's face and sighed in defeat. "Please do not tell me that he is supposed to be one of my children."
"Okay, I won't. What about Fenrir and Hel?"
"I will kill Thor once he is back in Asgard. He need not know why since he'll be dead by then."
"That's not exactly an answer."
End of Flashback
"Wait a damn minute! You mean to tell me he was there on Chinese Thursdays?" Clint asked, startled while Pepper tried to calm herself from laughing too much.
"He comes for Indian Tuesdays, Chinese Thusdays, Friday Shawarma Day and Saturday Pizza," Tony supplied.
"So every time you went to the workshop, he was there?" the archer asked in wonder. "This all makes sense now that I think about it."
"Oh, God!"
They both turned to Pepper who looked a little pale, all signs of humor gone.
"What is it, Pep?" Tony asked her.
"I just had the strangest thought. Loki's not really from Asgard, right? I mean, he's a frost giant from the legends, isn't he?" she asked and Tony looked a little uncomfortable honing on such a touchy subject.
"That's right," Clint agreed, eyes widening in realization. "I mean, he's tall, almost as tall as Thor but he's not exactly a giant. We can't exactly say the same thing about Junior there."
It was a valid point but Tony liked to think that his baby was still half-human and genetically speaking, the little one (from hereon would be called Jellybean since he or she looked like one on the hologram) has his (or her) father's short genes (for a giant anyway) and Tony's biologically-shorter-compared-to-a-giant (but perfectly normal for a human) genes so there's a very high probability that Jellybean was going to be as tall as Loki.
Of course, it was hard to tell right now without the DNA results from Dr. Jenner and that won't be in a couple of days so all they could do was speculate and he said as much to both of them.
"Anyways, back to more important things," Clint interrupted, getting their attention back. "How are we going to tell Loki he knocked you up? Do you even think he doesn't know about it?"
To tell or not to tell… Tony sighed. "Let's just keep this between ourselves, alright? Loki didn't know that he's a frost giant until recently. I'm not sure if Thor knows yet but I haven't really asked or anything. It's why I know he wouldn't know. Even if it's common knowledge for other frost giants, I don't think he's aware that he could get me pregnant since he grew up in Asgard."
"How can he not know that he's a frost giant?" Clint asked incredulously. "It's known here on Earth for a long time."
Tony shrugged. "Maybe humans were more perceptive back then, I don't know. All I know is it's a touchy subject for him and I'd appreciate it if no one comments on it."
The archer whistled. "Wow, dude, you've got it bad."
"Got what bad?"
Clint shook his head at him and refused to answer while Pepper avoided his eyes.
"Didn't Loki tell you when he'll be coming back?" Pepper asked. "It's going to be dangerous if we go beyond a month. You'll be showing by then."
"He didn't tell me and I know it's dangerous, Pep, so you really don't have to remind me," said Tony, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "Let's give it a month, okay? If he doesn't come back in a month, I'll get Thor to bring him here."
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Tony was finally alone. Pepper was gone for an emergency meeting at their California Headquarters and Clint was having the time of his life with his video games.
He didn't know what time it was and didn't really care since he felt so tired after everything that he just wanted to go to bed and call it a day. He might wake up later and start on his new project but for now, sleep was really something he wanted to do.
He had already taken a bath, submerged in his bubble-filled bathtub for like an hour, and was now dressed in a clean, white shirt and a loose pair of boxers. He was standing alone in his walk-in closet, looking at the full-length mirror and already feeling stupid at what he was about to do. He approached, taking a deep, calming breath as he stood before the mirror, his heart racing for some reason.
As if in slow motion, he turned to the side and observed his reflection. He held the hem of his shirt in one hand, still debating with himself and wondering if he should just let this go and sleep on it.
Fuck this!
He lifted the hem of his shirt with one hand and his other hand hovered nervously below his navel.
Come on, Stark, this is not the time to chicken out. This is your kid.
With another steadying breath, he placed his callused hand over his stomach and felt his heart skip a beat as he felt the barely noticeable bulge there that could easily be mistaken for muscle.
"Hey there, Jellybean, it's… dad," he said softly. He didn't know why but he just had to say something. "I hope you're okay in there. It's probably a lot better than being out here." He sighed. "I'm a little scared because I don't know if I'm going to be a good dad for you but I'm gonna make you a promise, okay? I'm going to do my best and I won't ever let anyone hurt you. I don't know what else to do. I never really had a good role model but at least, I know what not to do so that's a good start. You're going to have to go easy on me, okay?"
He could've sworn he felt a tiny flutter from somewhere inside him and he smiled.
"I'll take that as a yes. Oh, and JARVIS?"
'Yes, Sir?'
"Delete everything I did in the past ten minutes and not a word to anybody about this."
'Of course, Sir,' the AI replied and if JARVIS had eyes, Tony was sure he'd roll them.
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Tony,
My task is nearly complete. I only need to observe the spell's stability and I will be able to come visit you. It has been too long since I've seen you and hard it is to believe, I miss your mindless chatter.
Two weeks. Allow me two weeks and I'll come to you as soon as I can.
Loki
Tony grinned as he read through the piece of parchment, shaking his head as Loki continued to be creative with his little notes. He'd woken up to JARVIS announcing the temperature in Beijing and realized he'd slept a grand total of twelve hours, the longest sleep he'd had for the past how many years with a butterfly perched on his pillow.
Feeling unbelievably energized, he decided it was time to start on his new project.
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Author's Note: Finally done! Sorry for the long wait, really. Been awake for more than seventeen hours with only five hours sleep the night before. Wow. So tired.
KaosChild: He'll get there soon, I promise.
Skycross: I'm glad you liked it!
Ian Periwinkle: Well, I hope this answers your questions. Well, except for the other Avengers finding out. Next chapter maybe? :D
THANKS to: SebastianLove21, KaosChild, water kangaroo, izzabella11, aryaarsay, MarineLvr84, alexandra101, andthendeathsaid, Doryan, naruke3176, Wolf-Of-Herkimer, icis182, Subtlelife, Shlebs18, ladynarutochan, Kichi Hisaki, BlackStormShadow, My Reality Is My Own, Shiro Demon, skycross, whatshouldntbe, Mitternacht, xSerenityIsn'tAlwaystheAnswerx, Radioactive Rubber Duck, Luna's moon1100, kalhisto azula, Jedi-Bant, Nikotehfox, Mistrust, Laurenke1, Deatheaters-Anonymous, Horong, jsquare18, Malkah1999, FireChildSlytherin5, Hiddleston Fan 1, IanPeriwinkle
Thanks to everyone who put this story in their FAVES and ALERTS lists!
Thanks to all the readers!