As she looked out from her balcony, a slight movement in the center of her garden caught her eye. Frigga frowned; her husband was in the council meeting being held to discuss the results of the fruitless chase after Amora and Angrboða and Loki was on Midgard, resting, she was told, after exhausting his magic in a successful attempt to save the life of his godchild and her mother while Thor watched over him. Hurrying down the spiral stairs to access the gardens through her private entrance, she disguised her presence with an illusion as she crept down the path, then sighed, shaking her head in vexation as the hulking form of her eldest was revealed. "I didn't realize you'd returned so soon," she told Thor as she dropped the veil of magic.

He managed a wan smile, leaned down to kiss her cheek, and then continued on his way to the bench that faced the waterfalls. "All was well there," he said, far too quietly for her comfort. Thor was rarely quiet, even when stealth was required.

"What is wrong, my son?"

"Nothing."

"No wonder your brother regards you as the worst liar in the Nine Realms. Come now, tell me."

"Second worst," he began and then hesitated. "Though technically, nothing of the Titan remains in the Nine Realms so I suppose Loki once again would consider me the worst."

She laughed softly at her son's disconcerted expression. "It matters not; what troubles you?"

"I'm not troubled, mother. Not really…perhaps confused is the better word? You saw my other half, did you not?" He sighed. "I know, you cannot answer, but I assume you did since you knew Jane was not she. Can you tell me if my other, perhaps, was a mortal with auburn hair and eyes as blue as the sapphire in the clasp father gifted you with on your last name day?"

A mortal? Her own confusion must have been evident on her face as his expression fell. "Thor, don't despair, son. I will tell you that you must yet wait for your other half to come along and that she is not mortal."

"I don't understand, then. I met a mortal female; she had auburn curls and beautiful deep blue eyes and I could swear she is mine. There was this simply all-encompassing connection…I've never felt the like. Are you certain?"

Oh dear. He was convinced, but unless her sight was suddenly failing her, it could not be. "I am sorry, my son, but your other is not mortal." He bowed his head and leaned forward with a groan, his forearms resting on his thighs. Stepping behind him, she gently rubbed the slumped shoulders. "Take heart, dear one. You will find her and she will love you beyond all others. I see the four of you ruling Asgard some time hence. You on Hliðskjálf with your fated love by your side and Loki and Kara standing with you honored by all of Asgard for their service and their wisdom and loved dearly by you both."

"It is just…mother, I was so certain."

"Give it time, Thor. Give it time."

… …

"Where were they all, Nick?"

Nick Fury gave Raj a sour look. The man had just returned from Avengers' Tower in the pissiest mood he'd ever seen him in. "On assignment."

"Ridiculous. You have half a dozen physicians in this sector alone; I'll ask you again, where were they when Natasha Romanov needed them?" The psychiatrist and Council of Regents Chairman's dark eyes were narrowed in a flinty glare.

"The Avengers are not S.H.I.E.L.D. assets; I asked for medical volunteers and got none."

"I-Why?"

"Romanov didn't make many friends here, you know that."

"What should friendship have to do with it? We are talking about the life of a pregnant woman and her innocent child. There are a good many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who would not be alive today were it not for her efforts, and that isn't even counting Natasha being the one who actually shut down the portal during the invasion of New York!"

"Don't you think I know that? I called you back from Quebec as soon as I realized none of our people on duty could be trusted to help if I ordered them to do so. Raj, she wasn't simply not liked; she was envied and feared."

The doctor grimaced. "You were sending her after rogue agents, I take it?"

"When necessary."

"Further isolating an already isolated woman. Did it not occur to you that was more than a tad irresponsible?"

"After Agent May retired from field work I had little choice. There were a limited number of agents who could successfully bring down agents who had gone rogue. Barton and Romanov were at the top of that very short list."

"And as a result, once they were given another option, that list became shorter still. Nick, things need to change or S.H.I.E.L.D. will crash under its own ponderous weight. You need to first clean house and then begin delegating."

"I know." He frowned at his old friend. "It's time for our secret weapon to go back into the field."

"You need to tell the Avengers first."

"They're not cleared for it."

"Then clear them. Nick, this isn't a council recommendation, this is my personal advice. Though they aren't truly a S.H.I.E.L.D. asset, you need them as allies. Tell them."

"I can't. Not yet."

… …

"They will hate me again," Loki said in a distant voice.

Kara was worried. They'd celebrated her pregnancy with lovemaking. It was a short but very tender session since they were both still exhausted; then they'd slept the day away. Bruce had returned while they were sleeping and when they awoke Jarvis informed them that the geneticist was sitting with Nat and Clint. Steve had just stopped by with a tray full of breakfast food but after politely thanking him, Loki had placed the tray on their table and sat down in a chair staring out the window. This had been the only response she'd managed to drag out of him in fifteen minutes of trying to get him to tell her what was wrong. What was truly frightening her was that whatever was bothering him was so far buried that she couldn't read anything but a quiet despair. "Who will hate you…and for what?"

His green eyes were unusually dull and his brows were drawn together. "Barton and Romanov, of course."

"There's no of course, why should they hate you? You saved Brianna and Nat. They're totally grateful."

A deep sigh escaped him. "I've ultimately taken their child away from them, Kara. They will never see her fully grown as she'll mature so slowly in comparison to a human."

Oh. Shit. She hadn't thought about that. Clint was in his mid-thirties, he'd be in his seventies before his daughter could no longer be considered a teenager. "Yeah, that's going to be tough for them, but really, there're advantages, too."

"Name one."

"She'll be immune to the normal childhood diseases kids get here. A lot of human children die every year from things as simple as the flu. They won't ever have to worry about that happening to Brianna."

"But will that be compensation enough?" He shook his head; the look in his eyes even more lost than when he'd first sat down. "I must tell them, today." Loki abruptly rose from his seat and headed for the door.

"Let them get over their close call first. They need that time together."

He paused and his frustrated disbelief poured over her. "And have them discover it in some other manner? Then they will accuse me of hiding it from them; they will hate me enough if I am honest now."

"No one is going to hate you and no one will tell them; we're the only ones here who know. I'm not saying never tell them, just give it a few days."

"What is to stop Bethany from running routine tests on what she thinks is a normal infant? She's seen the results of your scans as you changed. Despite her lighthearted nature, she's quite intelligent. Our soon to be physician will quickly realize what she is seeing."

"I'll ask her not to tell them anything other than Brianna is healthy."

"Fine. And if Thor returns with his friends or worse, with my mother; think you they will not reveal it?"

She rolled her eyes at the dramatic gestures he made as he began pacing back and forth across their living room. Tony was right; she loved Loki, but the man was a full-tilt diva. "They won't do anything of the sort; they're not out to get you, they'll respect your right to tell them."

"What? I was suggesting no such thing. Kara, they will see this as a great boon and will no doubt gush about how fortunate Clint and Natasha are to have an Æsir child. They'd not intentionally try to cause trouble for me; I simply do not believe they will be able to contain themselves in their excitement."

Crap. He had a point. Even Frigga might inadvertently spill the beans when she realized that her forthcoming grandchild would have an Æsir companion of nearly the same age to grow up with. "Oh. Damn."

… …

Thor slid into the remaining seat in the small audience room. The Grand Vizier and Lady Eir had already joined his parents. "My apologies; there was an issue in the training arena."

Odin waved off the excuse. "Now that we're all present," he began, giving Thor an only slightly chastising look, "what did you need to speak with us about? Are the child and mother still in danger?"

"I cannot speak to the mother," the Grand Vizier stated pompously, as he put most things. "But the child is in no danger other than that of discovery. She should be raised in Asgard."

Thor eyed his parents. Both seemed as confused as he. "Why should a mortal child be raised in Asgard?" Frigga asked. "It is not that I have any objection; she is the godchild of our children, but they will not be here often for what will likely be the girl's entire lifespan." Odin harrumphed in agreement.

"That is not exactly the case, my queen," Eir said, sounding a bit apologetic. "There was, ah, an unusual result to Loki's use of his power to save the infant's life."

Odin and Frigga stared at the goddess of Healing and the Grand Vizier with annoyed looks as neither of them seemed inclined to elaborate. "Explain this unusual result, and what it means both to Brianna and to us," Thor finally asked, unwilling to wait for his parents to become irritated enough to do so.

"It is wholly unprecedented," Eir said.

The Grand Vizier snorted. "Impossible, or so I'd say if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

Odin's fingers began to tap on the arm of his chair; that was never a good sign. "And what, exactly," the All-Father demanded in a hard tone, "is so unprecedented and impossible?"

Eir shrugged. "For all intents and purposes, my liege; this child born of two mortals is Æsir."

Thor felt his jaw drop but he could not bring himself to change his expression. He turned to Frigga whose smile was growing. "I did tell you she would not be mortal," his mother said with a smile.

… …

Kara had convinced him to wait two days or until Jarvis alerted them that someone was on their way from Asgard; whichever came first. By that time, she had reasoned, all of the Avengers and their support staff would have returned to the Tower and after the parents were apprised, the rest could be told all at once. The time had passed and he walked down the stairs to the floor occupied by Romanov and Barton, feeling very much as though he was walking to his execution. He could all but feel the weight of the shackles he had worn in Asgard on the way to his original trial, the one from which Thanos had stolen him. He took a deep breath as he stopped outside their door and let it out slowly. "Jarvis, please announce me."

"Of course, your highness."

It only took a moment for the door to open and Clint Barton's smiling but slightly strained face looked up at him. "Loki! Hey, man, come in. Your goddaughter's been running us a bit ragged. Never realized babies slept this little."

From what Kara had told him human babies slept a great deal more than their Æsir counterparts; likely because they matured so much faster and used more energy in doing so. He followed the archer into the living area and stared around at the atypically untidy mess it had become. While it was less disordered than Thor's chambers were wont to be when he did not have servants putting things away for him, for the usually compulsively neat former assassins, it was an unmitigated disaster area. Natasha was sitting in a softly upholstered loveseat with her baby resting in one arm. The other held a bottle that the child suckled on noisily. "I thought you had intended to breastfeed?" he was startled into asking.

"I had," she agreed. "Unfortunately my body can't keep up with my daughter's appetite so we're supplementing with organic baby formula that Tony had flown in."

He winced. When he and Kara had first decided that they would eventually like to be parents, he'd done some research. Æsir infants consumed nearly three times the amount of mother's milk daily during their first two years of life before introducing solids than human young did while they were milk dependent. Additionally, human infants relied on milk for only their first six months. Natasha had little hope of managing the task. "I see."

"I'm glad someone does. Beth is stumped. She's trying to find a trustworthy Pediatrician to keep on call. For some reason S.H.I.E.L.D. can't come up with one."

"Perhaps you'd best sit down," he suggested.

"I am sitting. What's wrong? Maybe you should sit down?"

"Geez, yeah. I never thought a baby could be the one thing that freaked you out," Clint added. "You look like sh…uh, crap." The archer grinned sheepishly. "I'm trying to watch my language in front of the kid."

He sank down onto the ottoman that sat in front of the loveseat. "Clint, please sit down as well, I need to talk to you, to both of you."

The pair exchanged uneasy glances as Clint joined Natasha on the loveseat. "If you're trying to back out of being Bree's godfather, forget it. You're going to be joining me in diaper duty if I have to get Bruce to make you," Barton insisted.

That almost made him smile. "No. I-I really don't know how to tell you this, so…"

"The infamous silver-tongue is at a loss for words?" Natasha said incredulously.

Sighing, he shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Is something wrong with my kid, Loki?" Barton shot back up to his feet and his hands were clenching as though he wished he held a weapon.

"No, please sit back down. Brianna is fine. Look, during the birth you both know how close we came to losing her…to losing both Brianna and Natasha, correct?"

Barton shrugged. "I guess," he muttered. "It's kind of something I don't want to think about, you know?" Natasha put the now empty bottle down and shifted the baby to her shoulder and reached out to squeeze her lover's hand before patting the infant's back gently.

"I do know. It was closer than even you might think from what you saw."

"Not closer than what I might think," Natasha stated, quite matter-of-factly. "I died, at least for a few seconds, I'm fairly certain."

"Fuck," Barton muttered and then gave Natasha an apologetic glance. "Sorry. Is that right?" he asked Loki.

"While I was fighting to save them both, Hel arrived; oh, not in corporeal form, she traveled astrally. She knew they were dying and was there to take their souls to her realm. Because you are both important to me, she wished to see that both Natasha and Brianna's souls had a kind place to…rest."

"You didn't let her take us."

"No, Natasha. I-I hadn't given up on you or Brianna so I warned her off, quite emphatically. She's probably a tad annoyed, I'll need to go visit her and explain myself."

"Wow, Loki. I knew you'd saved them, but I didn't know it was that damn close. Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, Clint."

"You're not inspiring confidence, Loki," Natasha grumbled as the baby burped.

He tried not to sigh. The new mother competently wiped her child's tiny mouth, handed the now messy towel to her partner and wrapped the baby in a blanket, all while staring him down. He had to admire her ability to remain so focused while multi-tasking. "The magic I used to save the two of you; it was…instinctual, not something I had time to research or plan out, you understand."

"Nice instincts. Now, what is the problem?" she said in a hard voice. Brianna began to fret and she fussed with her gently until she settled.

Loki wished fervently that he had accepted his lady's offer to accompany him. Though it would have been cowardly, her confidence in him would have given him more focus. "I inadvertently altered her DNA," he told them and then tensed as he awaited the expected outburst.

Both former assassins frowned, but neither seemed to be preparing to either attack or berate him. "In what way?" Natasha finally asked.

"You aren't angry?"

"I might become angry if you don't explain quickly."

That was better than he'd hoped for. "I'm not sure how it happened; the experts from Asgard tell me it should have been impossible. They don't understand it either, but I somehow changed her DNA from human to Æsir." Loki found himself holding his breath again as he fell silent.

"Lemme get this straight," Clint began. "Brianna is going to be like Kara?"

"Well, no. She'd be more like Sif, but hopefully less warlike. Kara is a highly gifted Æsir as she was a highly gifted human." He frowned at the pair. "Though Brianna may well have gifts; neither of you are exactly average amongst human-kind."

… …

Kkrovavyĭ ad. Natasha glanced down at the baby sleeping in her arms. Letting her mind go on automatic, she quickly parsed through everything she had learned about the Æsir and Asgard over the past two years to come up with a list of pertinent questions. A quick glance at Clint showed that while he was calm, there was a good bit of silent processing going on in his mind as well. "How long do Æsir live, on average, Loki?"

The god winced. "Most Æsir live seven or eight thousand years if they do not die in battle beforehand. Odin is a bit more than eight thousand of your years in age. If he continues to husband his energy using the Odinsleep, he'll make ten thousand, easily."

"So that's a bad thing?" Clint asked.

"If they live that long, how slowly do they age as children?" Loki winced again at her question. Ah, now they were getting somewhere.

"For the first forty or fifty years, at less than half the rate of humans."

"So Brianna will just be reaching adolescence in maybe twenty or so years?"

"Exactly. After they reach young adulthood, at about fifty of your years, their aging slows considerably."

"Bozhe moy." She frowned at the floor, not wanting to make Loki more nervous than he obviously already was, and took a deep breath. "You've said something about being immune to our diseases. Do the Æsir have diseases of their own?"

"Not really; at least, none that aren't easily curable by our healers."

"I'm still not seeing the bad; Nat, what am I missing?" Clint asked. "I mean, parents are always saying their kids grow up too fast, ours won't. She won't get sick either. What's so bad about that?"

"Hawk, you'll never see grandchildren; not as things stand. She'll barely be an adult when you're near eighty."

"Unless she starts a little young, but…"

"No, Clint," Loki interrupted. "Æsir are not fertile in their first hundred years or thereabouts. Volstagg and his wife's brood notwithstanding, Æsir are not particularly fertile at any point, but in the first hundred years it is impossible for them to sire or bear offspring."

Clint swallowed. "Oh." Natasha quickly turned and placed Brianna in her bassinet and prepared to intercept him. Much to her surprise, instead of attacking Loki, her Hawk leaned back in his seat and nodded slowly. "Okay. So, I don't get grandchildren, but my kid is durable, disease resistant and will live practically forever. Seriously, man; I wasn't even expecting to ever get to have a kid, so this isn't a big deal. I mean, I was worrying about people trying to hurt her and all because of us. But she's not gonna be so easy to hurt."

"As a baby and small child even a human could seriously harm her, Clint. But I swear to you that Kara and I will protect her with our lives."

"That's not a good idea," They both turned to stare at her. "Loki, you and Kara are linked; if one of you dies the other dies. I need you to be around for Brianna when we're gone. Even though I'm aging slowly compared to most humans, I am aging. I want my daughter to have family she can count on."

"Yeah, she's right. How about you two just do your best, okay? Your best is pretty freaking awesome," Clint agreed.

Loki was staring at both of them now, looking totally flabbergasted. "You're not angry with me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Did you do this on purpose?"

"I didn't even know I had done it until Kara read her energy and called in Lady Eir and the GV."

"We're not going to be angry with you over an accident. We'll deal with it; it's better than Brianna and I taking up residence with your daughter. No offense."

"None taken," Loki said faintly.

… …

Kara frowned as the drinks were passed around. "It's not fair," she grumbled. "Everyone gets to drink champagne but me."

Sif raised an eyebrow. The warrior and Nyvorlas had managed to escape Ljósálfheim for a few days to attend the bridal shower and bachelor party. Pepper and Darcy had planned the shower, everyone else had just shown up…with presents. Presents were a good thing. "Why not you?" she asked.

"It's not good for…oh." Damn. She hadn't told them yet. Oh well, no time like the present. Pulling out her phone, she speed-dialed Loki. "I'm going to tell them," she advised as he answered. "Yes, now. You can tell the guys. Okay, bye, I love you too." Sif was still staring at her, but now both eyebrows were up. Kara sighed and pushed to her feet. "Everyone, I have an announcement."

"You changed your mind about marrying Loki?" Darcy asked. "It's okay, because if you did we've got about a hundred thousand women on FacePage alone that would gladly take your place."

"No, I haven't changed my mind. Besides, he's already my husband whether we get married again here or not." Darcy was snickering. "Ha-ha. No, this is not about the wedding; this is about why I'm not drinking."

Natasha looked up sharply. "Is Loki going to ask Logan to stick around for another year more than he's already promised?"

"Yep."

"Wait, what's that got to do with anything?" Darcy demanded.

"Oh my God. Should I just trade specialties and intern in Obstetrics?" Beth asked.

"No, Asgard will handle it; the Pediatrics, too." The blonde nodded and relaxed back into her chair and quaffed down half of her champagne.

"Hey, how come they know what you're talking about and I don't? How am I supposed to handle the social media if I'm the last to know what's going on?"

"I don't know what's going on either," Jane offered.

"Nor I," Sif agreed.

"Kara, are you…" Pepper asked.

"Yes; I'm pregnant."

… …

"Kara is pregnant with our child," Loki finished.

Tony stared at him. "Son of a bi…basket," he finally managed. "I thought you were going to wait?"

"We were; this is all your fault."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…I had nothing to do with it; she's like a sister to me."

"Idiot. That's not what I meant as you well know. We were awaiting word on your condition and were rather…distracted. We both forgot to invoke the contraceptive sigil."

"I think this is excellent news, brother," Thor boomed. Yeah, boomed, and he wasn't even trying to make a pun. Tony shook his head. No wonder big bro got on Loki's nerves. Though the Lokester, for once, didn't look pissed at Point Break. In fact, he was actually smiling…damn.

"It is, though I must admit that Natasha's close call makes me rather apprehensive." The younger god turned to Spangles. "Steve, would you advise S.H.I.E.L.D. that Kara and I will need to spend the last few months of her pregnancy in Asgard? Since she is so newly Æsir and I have mixed genealogy, it would be prudent to have her close to the healers best suited to care for her should complications arise."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Uh, Loki? Have you discussed that with Kara?" Clint asked.

"Yes; I actually discussed it rather than decided for her this time. I am trying to learn from my mistakes, you know." Tony kept his jaw closed by sheer force of will as Loki smiled kindly at Master Archer and Clint smirked back at him.

He shook his head. "Wow; I've officially fallen down the damned rabbit hole."

"Don't use that language in front of Brianna," the two of them chorused.

Staring at his empty whiskey glass he sighed. "I don't suppose this merits a refill?" No one answered.

… …

"What has that to do with champagne?" Sif asked.

"Alcohol isn't good for the developing baby," Beth responded. "It can cause all kinds of birth defects, development issues, and other problems."

Sif bit her bottom lip as she thought about how to explain. "Expectant mothers in Asgard drink mostly what everyone else does. Almost all of our beverages are fermented in some degree, even if they are comparatively weak in strength to our ales and meads. It causes no harm to their child."

"Wait," Kara interrupted. "You mean I can drink champagne?"

She shrugged. "You can drink most anything you please save our ales and meads; which, as I recall, means our meads since you spat out our finest ale."

"It tasted like I was trying to drink liquid cotton it was so dry." She picked up the oddly slender glass that had been placed before her. "Huh. I'd better check with Loki and make sure he knows that. Otherwise he might have a hissy if he sees me drinking." Kara punched buttons on her small calling device again and waited for a response. "Loki, do you know that it's okay for me to drink pretty much anything I usually drink except for Asgardian mead?" The new goddess rolled her eyes. "Yes, I mean alcoholic beverages. Oh. Yes, Sif told me. Okay, just checking, bye." She grinned and took a sip of the bubbly wine. "He knew; he just forgot I didn't know. Thanks, Sif."

"You are welcome." She eyed the stack of packages that sat by Kara's chair. "When do you open the presents?"

"Um, now, I guess." Kara reached down for the nearest package. They were all covered in what Darcy had called 'wrapping paper'. This one's covering was a glossy white decorated with golden bells. It seemed a bit wasteful. When gifts were given in Asgard, a pouch or fine piece of cloth was used to hold it; one used something that added to the value of the gift when they were not simply handed over as is. She watched as the honoree carefully lifted the paper away, handing it off to Beth who then flattened it out on a nearby table. How odd. Would it be used again at some point? Her eyes were drawn back to Loki's lady as the woman chuckled. "Nice," she said with a quiet chuckle. "Come on, Darce, do you really think I'll need this? Loki doesn't exactly have any problems in the performance department."

"What is it?" she had to ask. The package had a picture of what looked like a man's member on it.

"A vibrating dildo," Darcy replied promptly. "I told you about vibrators; this one is insertable, you know, just like…"

"Enough," she interrupted, clapping a hand as gently as she could over the mortal's mouth. Sif really didn't want any more of an explanation. Not in public. She frowned as she stared at the box…such a thing might actually come in handy if one were not in a relationship. It would avert the necessity for finding a discrete partner to gain sexual relief. Of course, she was in a relationship now, but she knew other women amongst Asgard's warriors.

"It could still be fun, Kara," Darcy continued after twisting out of Sif's light grasp. "Couples use toys all the time even if they don't have sexual issues."

Sif shot a look at Kara who had buried her face in one hand. A slight flush of pink was suffusing the covered cheeks. "I don't even want to think about what Loki would do with this and how gleefully he would do it, but I do appreciate the thought. I know it's a serious gift, but I think I'm going to tell him it was meant as a joke."

"Absolutely not," Sif told the woman. "You'll have him targeting your friend with a return jest and you do not want that."

"It's okay," Darcy insisted. "He'd have to go through Bruce first."

"Okay, okay…let's just kind of, um, huh." Kara trailed off and frowned at the package.

"Just tell him it's traditional to give the bride one of these, especially if she doesn't need it." This bit of wisdom, surprisingly, came from the blonde healer. Sif her nodded agreement. "That way he won't get any ideas about payback and he'll be grateful that someone is making sure all of the traditions are followed for you."

… …

"Perfect," Kara said in relief. "Better yet, that's even kind of true so he won't hear a lie." She set the embarrassing box down and reached for the next gift. This one was from Pepper. It, at least, should be a lot safer to open. The professionally done wrapping parted with a flick of her fingernail and a box from one of the designer shops was revealed. "Lingerie?" she guessed before lifting off the lid. Pepper just gave her an enigmatic smile. "Oh. My. God." Lingerie, yes; safer to open, no. The garment, if it could be called that, revealed as she unfolded the tissue paper, was made from a lovely forest green silk edged with matching lace, but it was a teddy with open cups and an open crotch. "Seriously, Pepper? I'd expect something like this from Tony, but from you?"

The strawberry blonde CEO shrugged one elegant shoulder. "He rubs off on you after a while."

Kara stared at the thing for a minute more before noticing the black satin material behind it. Lifting out the teddy she found a bustier and matching G-string set. "I sense a pattern here," she commented dryly. Peeking out from behind the black satin was a wisp of metallic gold lace. "You do realize that Loki is going to insist I wear these on a regular basis?" The gold proved to be a strapless shelf bra and thong.

"The gold set is to wear with your wedding gown. Your strapless bra wasn't cut low enough, the cups showed to anyone who was standing close to you. The others, well, a girl's just got to have fun. Before he gets to the point where he starts demanding you wear them for him often, Loki's eyes are going to bug out and he's going to drool like a teenager."

"Uh huh; and what do I get out of this?"

"You will get to revel in the power you have over his libido."

"Huh. Okay, that's fair." She looked down at the rest of the presents with a feeling of dread. "Do I really want to know what's in the rest of these?" The laughter that greeted her only semi-serious question was not reassuring.

… …

Loki looked down at the baby sleeping in the crook of his right arm. She'd been fussing and after watching Clint unsuccessfully try to quiet the infant, he'd offered to take her. Brianna had fallen asleep almost immediately with not so much as a smidge of magical assistance. The other men had been impressed. He glanced around the large conference room in one of the lower floors of the Tower, designed when it was intended to be the new headquarters for Stark Industries. A group of nubile young women dressed in short pants and barely there tops with lighted representations of the arc reactor were dancing in what Bruce had informed him was called a chorus line. Everyone but him was watching the girls with varying degrees of interest or embarrassment. Roger's, unsurprisingly, looked the most uncomfortable. "Every last one of you has a woman that outshines the lot of them; why do you stare so?" he asked Banner.

"It's a testosterone thing," Bruce replied, "kind of hard-wired into our brains. Regardless, it's not every last one of us," the scientist added, nodding in the direction of the Æsir guests, particularly Thor.

"Brother," he said, knowing that would catch Thor's attention faster than his name. "Where were you last night?"

"Fabio had a date," Tony told them as the Ironettes finished their performance. The man stood, clapping and took a few steps towards the girls. "Absolutely stunning, as always, girls. There are snacks and drinks for you all next door, movies, whatever. Enjoy yourselves, hang out if you want. Just tell Jarvis when you need your rides called, okay?"

"Thank you Mr. Stark!" and the like chorused from the girls as they filed out, all smiles. Several stopped by Loki's seat to coo over Brianna before they too took their leave.

Loki shook his head and looked up at Thor. "So, with whom? The lovely Eleanor or the delectable Olivia?"

His brother sighed. "Olivia."

A very short and not terribly informative answer; not at all like Thor. "And what did you and our favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent do on your date?"

"We attended a musical play about a false Prince, a Princess, a Djinn and a magical lamp."

"He means they saw 'Aladdin' on Broadway," Raj Nassar supplied. They'd all been surprised when the psychiatrist had shown up for the bachelor party. They were also rather relieved that Fury had not accompanied him. They'd only invited the Director out of courtesy.

"Sif and I also attended," Nyvorlas offered. "Though I do not remember seeing Thor there."

"Olivia arranged for seats in the back in case she should be called away for emergency duty. She did not wish to disturb others in the audience."

"So, you saw a Broadway Musical. Then what? Dinner? Dancing? Oh, no, you can't dance." Loki tried not to smirk at Thor's blush. "Hmm, though I hear you do a passable job at the horizontal dance." The smirk emerged as his brother glowered at him, face now brick in hue.

"You are perilously close to being offensive, Loki," he growled.

"Then I must try harder." He laughed as Thor's jaw dropped. "Come now, Thor; this is a night of telling tales of our prowess with women. I am simply attempting to get the boasting started."

"You are attempting to embarrass me."

"No, I've totally succeeded in embarrassing you; there's a difference." Thor groaned and Loki was treated to the sight of his brother's chin dropping to his chest.

"Okay, if we're boasting, who has been with the most women at one time?" Clint asked.

"Oh, that would be me," Tony claimed.

Loki doubted that. "Really? How many?"

"Eight. It was fu…freaking amazing."

"Good catch," he approved, looking back down at his sleeping godchild. "But no, you don't win. Anyone else had more sexual partners at one time?"

"Hey, orgies don't count, only times when everyone was there to please you or be pleased by you, not just a bunch of people doing each other," the reformed playboy complained.

"Again; you don't win."

"Bull…hockey."

Thor chuckled. "He does not lie, friend Tony. You are not the winner. Is he, Nyvorlas?"

"No, and I would also like to know if any of the others can claim more." No one spoke. "Then Loki wins."

A flurry of disbelieving comments flew about the room as Loki smirked widely. The night in question had angered him at the time, but now…he might just forgive his brother and his friend for arranging it. "Okay, Casanova. Out with it; how many?" Stark demanded.

He shrugged. "You'll believe Thor before me. Or better yet, ask Hogan or Fandral. They were not part of the plot."

"An even dozen," Fandral volunteered immediately. "One for each name day of Loki's adulthood at the time."

Tony frowned at him. "Uh, what does that mean?"

"Until we reach fifty years of age in Midgardian terms, we are what you consider children or teens and we celebrate our name day once every five years. Thereafter, we are considered a young adult and our name day is celebrated every ten years until we become fully adult at two hundred and fifty." He gave Nyvorlas and Thor a quelling look. "When I was one hundred and seventy in your years, these two miscreants decided that since I was rather withdrawn and, to their knowledge, had not indulged in any sexual liaisons, that they would provide me with a willing partner for every one of those name days, all at the same time."

"Fandral told us that you had not," Thor said defensively.

"Fandral, contrary to popular belief, does not know everything that happens in the Valhöll, you should have asked Volstagg."

"Wait, so you made it with twelve women in the same place, the same night?" Clint's eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

"They weren't certain of my preferences, so no, they were not all women." Silence reigned as the humans all turned to stare at the five of them who were not.

Nassar finally broke the silence. "All right, I'll regret this, I'm certain, but did you really have all of them?"

Loki chuckled. "I think you'll find upon closer questioning that Tony did not actually have, ah…" he trailed off as he glanced at the baby. "Have, ah, physical congress, with all eight of his partners, but that some were simply kissed, fondled and the like while, ah, congress was going on with a select few. Correct, Tony?"

The self-proclaimed 'international playboy' blustered a bit and then sighed. "Yeah, correct."

"It was much the same for me, though those select few may have numbered fully half of them."

"Holy shit…take," Clint muttered.

… …

Darcy finished taping the last piece of wrapping paper around Kara's annoyingly fit form just as Beth held out the bouquet made from the bows and ribbons that had decorated the packages with a flourish. "Ta Dah!" Beth said with a wide smile.

"Good job. How does the dress look?"

"Picture perfect." the blonde said. "How's the veil coming, Pepper?"

"Almost done, Beth. Darcy, why don't you get the camera ready while Jane and I finish pleating this tissue paper."

Kara blanched and Darcy stifled a giggle. "Pictures? Seriously? Oh my God."

"Of course, pictures. You look gorgeous, don't sweat it." She set up the tripod for a still shot and then began snapping some candid pics.

"I still do not understand," Sif told them. "I thought her wedding dress was being made by a man in the village and that it was made of fine fabrics, gold and gems."

Darcy sighed as she tried to find another way to explain the tradition to the Asgardian. Flailing her hands she looked at Pepper. "Can you take this one?"

Mrs. Stark, and Darcy still couldn't get over that, nodded. "It is, Sif. This is a pre-wedding dress made of the good wishes of her friends, it's meant to be good luck."

"Ah, a superstition to bring good fortune. We have many of those. Thor is invited to most weddings; touching Mjölnir to the bride's belly is supposed to guarantee fertility. Total nonsense, but it reassures the common folk." The warrior frowned. "Hmm, many of the nobles request the blessing as well, but I think they do so seeking to make him feel important and thereby curry favor."

"We don't really believe in the superstitions," Darcy told her. "It's just fun and a good way to laugh and tease the bride to be."

"By all means, laugh at me. I don't have enough problems," Kara grumped. "And we definitely don't need Mjölnir. The fertility thing is a done deal.

"You need the laughter, Kara," Natasha said dryly. "We all do."

"What Nat said," Darcy agreed as Jane and Pepper pinned the tissue paper veil into Kara's hair and Beth placed the ribbon and bow bouquet into the goddess's hands. "Now look this way and say 'Loki's got diaper duty'." She snapped the picture when Kara reflexively smiled. "Ha! Knew that would get a big smile out of you."

… …

"I am never going to live that down," Kara said morosely, as she stared at the photo gracing her FacePage.

"You were right; you do look rather…odd," Loki agreed with her.

"I didn't say odd, I said stupid."

He shrugged. "You're brilliant, therefore I will never say that word in relation to you. But odd, most definitely, love." A huff of breath caught her attention and she turned in time to see him forcing back an outright laugh. "Oh my."

"What? What are you looking at?" she demanded, dismissing the holographic image of her FacePage account. "Oh that little sneak." Loki was watching a YouTV video that Darcy had posted. Apparently their intrepid social media director had Jarvis film the entire Bridal Shower and had then edited choice moments into a short film. "She's going to pay for that," Kara promised.

Loki let the laughter emerge. "That's more my department, Kara. Unless you aim to scar the woman, physically or psychologically, you'd best leave retribution to me."

"Darcy didn't post video of you opening a package with a vibrator in it; I mean, really. What the hell was she thinking?"

"At least she included your comment; thank you for that."

"You're welcome, and it's true." Kara gave him a considering look. "You're not upset about the gift?"

"Hmm? No, why should I be? Bruce tells me it is a tradition to give such things to a new bride regardless of the sexual prowess of her groom."

"Oh. Well, yes, it is; I just didn't think any of the guys would think to warn you."

His smirk wasn't annoying for once. "They also told me you'd likely be regaled with ideas on how to best tempt me into not straying from our marriage bed."

"Ha. You stray and you'll be one toasted Frost Giant."

"Damn; and here I was hoping you'd demonstrate some of the wiles you were taught."

She made a raspberry sound and wrapped her arms around his lean waist, resolutely turning her back on the video which was now showing a curious Sif, examining the sex toy with a frighteningly thoughtful expression. "You've taught me more wiles then that group has ever imagined." Giving the video a second glance to confirm what she'd just seen, Kara shuddered.

"Sif's interest in the gift bothers you?" Loki asked.

"No; I'm just glad she asked Darcy to take her shopping and not me. Do you think batteries will survive the trip on the Bifröst?"

His impossibly green eyes widened. "Does she mean to take…sweet Yggdrasill. I foresee a cultural upheaval in Asgard."

"Humph. That started the day your father married us."

"Hmm, yes. Therefore, it is all Odin's fault."

… …

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, guys. It's a long one to make up for it; hope it was worth it! It may be a couple of weeks before the next chapter, I am headed back to Disneyland (hope the cute guy is still portraying Thor!) for Valentine's week with my hubby. It's nice to see some of the Fire & Ice readers are still with us. Oddly, that story is still gaining favorites (and followers)…though I suppose some of the newbies there have read a bit of this one and then went back to pick up the earlier part of this saga.

"Kkrovavyĭ ad"means "Bloody hell" and"Bozhe moy"means "Oh my God" if you're keeping track when Natasha lapses into her native Russian.

The Wedding is coming…the Wedding is coming! Who would you like to see in attendance? Speak now, or forever hold your peace!