Bearing the Trickster's Heirs

by Mon-Kishu

"Do you want to hold her?" "Yes, of course." The way Loki's face lit up brought Banner almost to his knees. That man loved his daughter so dearly... It was a good thing that they were fighting for the life the god had created in his madness. He was broken but his family was able to bring back the love for the innocent lives. Even after all that Loki had done in the past, he...

14. Chapter 13: Too early

Bearing the Trickster's Heirs

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I'm so sorry for being gone for so long. More details will be on tumblr and fb soon, dpeneding on what questions you'll ask. But I can say, for all my fanfics: I am back.

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Chapter 13: Too early

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"What is wrong with him?" Natasha screamed, fighting Banner of who tried to calm her down. "Loki!"

Stark, alarmed by her screams, stormed into the room. "What...?" Loki lay still on the floor while Natasha was sobbing in pain.

"Tony, I could use your help here." Bruce felt the Hulk awakening by all the resistance the assassin put up.

"Of course." He knelt next to Loki and checked for a pulse. "He's still alive. Maybe just exhausted. What has happened?"

After hearing these words Natasha stopped to struggle and only moaned in pain as her thighs suddenly felt damp. She tried to see what was wrong and probed herself on the elbows.

"Loki has tried to re-awake the magic in the children and I think it has worked out." He looked at Natasha again and recognized her shocked expression, following her glance he saw the wet sheets, not only wet from blood like the last times. "Oh, no..."

"What's wrong?" Tony asked as he had lifted Loki's unconscious body onto the bed next to them and turned back. "Shit..."

Natasha felt dizzy as the pain subsided. "I... No. NO! That can't be happening." A wave of pure terror let her scream out loud. "It's too early. Please, save them."

Banner braced himself for what could not be stopped anymore now. "We have to do this now, Natasha." He grabbed her hand and tried to comfort her. "Maybe the children are already far enough. There is no other way."

"But I need him. Loki has to be with me. I can't do this without him." She started struggling again, feeling how her body tried to push the children out as the next contraction hit her. She held her thighs together and slipped a hand between them.

"No, don't, Natasha. You can not stop it anymore." Banner repeated and put on some rubber gloves while Stark forced her onto her back again. Natasha screamed in denial as he checked the progress. "Three centimeters. They are coming fast."

"Is that good?" She asked, feeling too dizzy to start struggling again and with two strong men holding her down her strained body, it was futile anyway.

Banner didn't want to scare her, so he nodded. "I will perform an ultrasound now. Maybe we are lucky and can still see the children although they are magical again." He quickly finished the preparations and looked at the screen, suddenly the concern in his eyes turned into relief. "They are fraternal. Only one water broke. Maybe we can manage to only deliver this one child. It could help the others to stay inside you for longer."

Natasha knew that this was a two-edged sword. "But what will happen to this child?" She asked, breathless and full of fear.

"It looks big enough to be almost fully developed, if we go by the size of a human child." Tony muttered as he too stared onto the screen.

Despair hit her as the next contraction came. "But the child is not human..."

"We can think about that, as soon as it is here. Now try to remain calm and breathe." Banner stroked over her hair with the back of his hand, the gloves already tainted in her blood and fluid.

Natasha bit onto her lip to stop her cries and tasted blood. After a few minutes she voiced her concern. "What if the others will come too?"

"That is why we have to make this quick." He checked on her progress again. "Four. We will wait until you reach ten and then all will be over soon, I promise." He pulled her gown back over her legs and prepared everything he needed.

Tony stayed with Natasha and held her hand. He knew that Loki should be the one doing this, but that was not an option at the moment. When the god had used all his magic, it would surely take him a while to wake up again.

"I'm fine, Stark. Please, look after Loki. I promise to remain calm, for the children's sake."

Tony nodded and went over to the unconscious man. "Hey, wake up, buddy. You said that you would never want to miss the birth and now you're oversleeping it. Shame on you." He hit Loki with half of his force, but the god remained still. Deciding that a medical surveillance would be the best when Natasha went further into the birth, he wired him up to check his vitals. Then he ventured back to the other bed.

The sound of Loki's constant heartbeat calmed the assassin. She lifted her hand to touch her lips, blood coated her fingers and she felt sick with fear of the crimson color.

"Here." Tony ripped a piece from the bed cloth and handed it to her. "You're gonna need it for later when the pain is getting stronger." He added as she looked up at him in confusion.

Natasha opened her mouth to 'thankfully' decline but as she felt the next contraction she gripped for the cloth, knowing that she could bite through her own lips with the force her children were flooding her body with. Her screams were muffled now as she clenched her eyes shut.

"Remember to breathe," Banner told her, as she started to sob again. After a couple of minutes he checked her progress again. "You're doing great, Natasha. Just three to go." He pulled the gloves off and used a damp cloth to dab the sweat from her forehead. "You know, some women would be grateful if their bodies adjusted so quickly. The force of the children is surely helping you."

She took the cloth out of her mouth as she grew more used to the pain. "But if that is really... just the first birth." Everything sounded so strange. How could she bear only one child when there were more inside her womb? "How will the... next be?"

"Your body will be prepared already. You will know what is coming, even though they will be bigger in size. The first is always the worst. But you're doing fine." He checked the ultrasound again to see how the others were fairing and sighed in relief as he saw their sacs still intact and their heartbeats strong.

"You're gonna be a mommy soon." Stark mentioned with a grin that left her with a pale and stunned expression. "Yes, the Spider..."

"Oh, stop it or I'll rip your head off." She wanted to slap him but only squirmed under the next contraction. "I want Loki to be with me..." she muttered breathlessly after she lay still for a couple of minutes.

"He may wake up soon. And even if he takes his time. He will surely be more than impressed when you can show him his first child." Tony encouraged her while Banner slipped on new gloves to check on her again. "Two to go. Maybe in less than 15 minutes you can start pushing."

"Why does that sound like a lot of work?" Natasha asked with an exhausted laugh.

"You're a strong woman. It will surely not take long." Banner reassured her again as the door opened.

"What the...?" Barton gasped as he saw the four of them. He had tried to clear his mind with a walk but had quickly returned, knowing that something would be amiss.

"Stay calm, Clint, please. For Natasha's sake." The doctor saw the fear in the woman's eyes.

"Is it happening?" 'Did you finally decide to get her rid of this problem?' Was the question behind the question.

"We will deliver one child now. Only the water of one of them broke. We couldn't stop it, but Natasha is doing fine." Stark said and got up, knowing that the Spider needed something between the archer and her while she was helplessly lying in child-bed.

"And what about him?" Barton wanted to know, his voice like ice.

Banner knew that they had get him out of the room soon so that he could not upset Natasha too much. "He gave the children their magic back and drained his own entirely for that. And I think you should leave. We can do this on our own. One more man in here would be too much for her. This is not the right time for an argument."

Hawkeye overheard the last words and walked towards the unconscious man.

"You will not touch Loki!" Natasha screamed at him and tried to get up, but was pushed back by Banner while Stark tried to stop the archer.

"Get out, Clint. You can settle this after the birth." Tony's voice was calm and authoritative.

Bruce checked on her progress again and his lips formed a thin line. "Okay, Natasha. It's ten. You can push after..."

"You bastard did all of this to her. YOU made her suffer!" Barton shouted and ripped his arm free from Tony's grasp. Before anyone could stop him, he had beaten Loki into his side with all force he could muster.

All they heard was a female scream in agony and desperation as Loki's heartbeat stopped.