A note to get the time periods sorted: the X-Men part takes place sometime before M-Day, when the sun was shining and the birds were singing. The Thor part takes place before the film, when Loki was unaware of his true parentage and Thor was an arrogant idiot.
"Bobby, have you seen Remy anywhere?" Rogue hadn't seen Gambit since he left for England, and was wondering where he was.
"Yeah, I saw him sulking off to his room a few minutes ago. He looked very thoughtful, which is a new look for him! Did you guys have another fight or something?"
"Not that I'm aware of. I'll see you later." Rogue hurried to Gambit's room, wondering what was up with him. It wasn't unusual for him to be in a mood, but he normally made the source of annoyance obvious. Reaching his room, she knocked on the door.
"Sugah? Can I come in?" She peered round the door. Gambit was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He sat up when he noticed her, and motioned for her to come in.
"What's wrong? Bobby said you were in a sulk."
"Did you know that Emma Frost's wardrobe has been turned green? Every shade from acid green down to khaki. Even her underwear..." Gambit tried to change the subject. He wasn't successful.
"Remy, I don't think Emma's underwear has caused you to hide away in your room. Come on, you can tell me what's wrong."
"I'm a father."
Rogue gave a gasp and stood up. "Oh. I see. I suppose our relationship was too good to be true. I… I guess I'm happy for you, if you've found someone you can truly be with…"
"No! Rogue, it's not what you think, it's complicated, but there's no one else. That kid from England… for some reason he's got half my DNA. Hank thinks he's some sort of genetic experiment."
Rogue shook her head. "Seriously? So you think someone has stolen your DNA and made a kid with it? That's a bit far-fetched Remy, even for you."
Gambit groaned. "I know how it sounds. But it's the only explanation. It's just hard to come to terms with."
Rogue gave him a hug. "Sugah, I know it's hard, but imagine how the poor kid must be feeling. He's just found out he's an experiment. Maybe you should try and talk to him."
Gambit sighed and got off the bed. "You're right. I'll go and find him."
"Do you want me to come too?" Rogue offered.
Gambit pretended to look shocked. "In my understanding of father-son bonding time, women do not get involved! See you later chère." He smiled and left.
Rogue sank back onto the bed. She loved Gambit, but god help the kid who has him for a dad.
. . . . .
Loki arrived back on Asgard. Great. Now I have to tell Odin that I have a child on Earth. And that will quickly become common knowledge over the whole of Asgard. Thor will never let me forget this.
"Was your journey to Earth successful?" The question came from Heimdall, who didn't look like he actually cared about the answer.
"In a way, yes." Loki answered. "I'm just glad to be out of those human clothes." Heimdall merely nodded, and said nothing more.
Loki had thought the journey to see Odin would give him more time to gather his thoughts. What he hadn't counted on was running into Thor, who then proceeded to walk the rest of the way with him.
"So, brother; was your journey successful? How are the humans getting on?" Thor gave a laugh. "Still fighting their ridiculous little wars?"
"You should give the humans more credit." Replied Loki. "Some of them may surprise you."
Luckily for Loki, Thor's attention quickly directed itself back to himself, and he told Loki of all the fights and competitions he'd got into during the past weeks. Eventually they arrived at their destination. Loki turned to Thor.
"I'll see you later, brother" To his surprise Thor just laughed again.
"Oh no, I'm coming with you! Everyone's been waiting to hear about this mysterious Asgardian living on Earth. Sif, the Warriors Three, they're all waiting with Odin to hear your report. Better not keep them waiting!"
Loki's thoughts of a quiet audience with Odin vanished. To his credit, his expression never changed.
"Of course. I should have realised."
"Well what are we waiting for!" Thor threw open the doors and marched up to the throne, followed by Loki.
"Father! Your son has returned from his journey!" Thor boomed.
Ever the show off. Loki thought as he followed Thor. What possesses him to constantly be the centre of attention I shall never know.
Reaching the throne, Loki bowed to the king. At the side his mother gave him an encouraging smile.
"So. Loki Odinson. What news do you have? Who is this Asgardian who is living secretly on Earth?"
"A boy. He is only half Asgardian; his other parent is human."
"Who is his Asgardian parent? Surely you must have found that out" Odin's one eye stared intently at Loki.
I'd better not delay the inevitable.
"He is my son." As soon as he had said the words he heard the whispers and the gasps of shock.
"Your son? How can this be? Why did you not tell us you had fathered a child?"
"Because I did not know. I am still unsure as to how I have a son. The warriors of Earth, the X-Men, believe he was created as an… experiment."
"I see. Is this child born of magic then?" Odin's tone was challenging.
"You could say that, yes. He is currently staying with the X-Men." Loki felt he had gotten away with things relatively easily.
Right- I've explained the situation, father seems to be satisfied, that should be the end to that.
"I want to meet this boy. Loki, travel back to Earth and bring him here. We will then decide what to do with him. That is all." Odin stood up, as did everyone else. He led a procession out of the throne room. Loki quickly left to avoid having to speak to anyone.
It's no use disobeying father's orders. But what do I say to the boy? What is he expecting from me? And what will that Frost woman say when I turn up again? He sighed. Back to Earth then.
. . . . .
Gambit found Jari in the medical wing. He was sitting on a bench, talking to Hank. Gambit knocked on the door and went in.
"Er, hi. I thought I'd drop by."
"Gambit! Come in, we thought about sending for you actually. I think I've figured out what Jari's mutation is." Hank was carrying a radio and a Geiger counter. "Take a seat." He nodded towards another bench.
"I started by analysing what happened when Jari vaporised the wall. There was a brief spike in radiation levels, which completely disappeared afterwards. I then tested Jari for a number of other things: it appears he can turn invisible and interfere with radio signals."
"That sounds a bit crazy, even by X-Men standards." Gambit looked thoughtful.
"I don't know whether Jari was designed to be this powerful, or whether it's a side effect of being half Asgardian. But either way it appears that he can manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves, light rays, gamma rays; all those kinds of things."
"Wow. Really? That's awesome!" Jari looked excited.
Hank gave a slight smile. "Yes, I suppose, it is 'awesome'. But you must be careful- I'm not sure what your limits are and if you're not careful you may end up doing something very dangerous indeed. You saw what happened to that wall: make sure it doesn't happen accidentally to anything or anyone. I suppose asking a teenage boy to be sensible is a bit much to ask- but try."
Jari nodded. "No vaporising people. Got it."
"And no cooking them with microwaves either. Or changing the colour of their clothes." Hank looked sternly over his glasses at Jari.
"I could do that?"
"Well done Hank- at least I won't get the blame for planting dangerous ideas in his head!" Gambit was laughing. "Do you know what happened to Emma's clothes?"
"Yes, I heard about that. Which was why I mentioned it. Like father like son."
Gambit stopped laughing.
"Now, get out of here, I'm going to run some more tests."
Jari jumped off the bench and headed for the door, followed by Gambit.
"Jari, wait, could we talk?"
Jari turned around, looking uncertain. "Um, about what?"
"I hadn't got that far. I just thought maybe we should get to know each other. After all, you do have half my DNA" Gambit gave a laugh.
"So…" Jari was at a loss for words.
"Do you speak French?" Gambit latched onto the first topic he thought of.
"No… I gave it up 'cos I liked German better."
"Well mon fils, I think we have found our conversation topic."
. . . . .
Loki sat in his room. He didn't have to leave for Earth straight away, so he had time to collect his thoughts.
I have a son. What am I supposed to do? And how do I have a son? I wasn't even on Earth fifteen years ago so how could this be possible? At least going back to Earth will give me a chance to avoid the rest of Asgard.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.
"Loki? It's your mother. May I come in?"
Loki got up and opened the door. His mother swept in and gave him a hug.
"Mother… what?"
"Don't do anything stupid." She withdrew from the hug.
"I was not planning on. I'm simply going back to Earth." Frigga had always been more sentimental than Odin, but Loki wasn't sure what had brought this latest bout of affection on.
"I don't mean Earth. I mean don't do anything stupid with your son. I know you: you'd just leave him on Earth and try and forget him. Don't do that. You yourself know how important having a father is, and by the sound of things this boy hasn't had one most his life."
Loki sighed. "You're right. I'll try being a father."
Frigga smiled. "Thank you. You're doing the right thing." She got up and went to the door. "Good luck."
The door closed and Loki groaned. Why does mother always have that effect on me? Does she make Thor feel this guilty whenever she speaks to him?
So now I've got to persuade the X-Men to let me take Jari back to Asgard. It shouldn't be too hard. At least I won't have to wear human clothes this time.
I've tried to make this chapter longer… hope it suits. Let me know what you think!
