Chapter 25

Asgard was like a labyrinth, a big gold labyrinth. But Tony would he damned if he asked a guard for directions. Tony Stark did not ask for directions.

Even though he'd made the journey to and from the kitchens a few times by now, he still didn't memorise the route. He swore it was the same guard he'd asked a few times too, and that they were secretly laughing at his inability to navigate.

He was no more than halfway there when he turned a corner and saw Errol Flynn walking towards him with three others, two men and a woman. Tony would be lying to himself if he did not say the woman looked attractive, but he barely managed to stifle a laugh at the sight of Fandral and the other two. Asgardians, oh they were a crazy bunch.

"Stark of Midgard." Xena greeted. "Have you escaped your jailor?"

Tony frowned. "Have I escaped my what now?"

"Loki." She deadpanned. Two of the others sniggered.

"No, I'm saying there of my own free will." Tony answered back quickly, then made as if to pass them by.

"Where are you going, his rooms are this way." She called after him.

The large one put a hand to her shoulder to silence her, "Come, I am hungry. Leave this mortal."

"I kind of like him." Robin Hood leant against a golden column to better admire him. Humming in approval as he checked him out.

Tony turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? When you know I'm taken? Wow, you have no standards." Says the one who, before Loki, would've probably have tried to do something similar himself.

"On the contrary, you are far better than most of his lays." The large one chuckled, earning a grin from the woman. Jackie Chan remained stoic.

"Awww come on, you must be bored of Loki by now. And that whole pregnancy thing, doesn't it get in the way?"

"Pregna- hey, isn't that supposed to be kept between the knowledge of the royal family only or whatever?" Tony scowled, his body tensing and fists clenched by his sides.

"We know what a pregnant Loki looks like, we've seen it before. Also, we are privy to a lot of royal secrets.

"Hmm." Tony hummed, as disinterestedly as possible. "Well that's nice to know, but I have to get his lordship breakfast now so..." He tried to leave again

"Ah, so you are not his jailor but his slave."

"Hey, I am not a slave!" Tony raised his voice slightly, pointing as if it were to help prove his point. What didn't help was the image of himself getting caught by Steve and Bruce the other week when he actually was Loki's slave. But that was just one day. Tony ignored the pleasured shiver that ran down his back as he forced himself not to remember that.

"Whatever you say, slave boy." Fandral winked at him suggestively

Tony turned a glare on him. "You, shut up. It's your fault Xena, Jackie and Tubsy know in the first place."

"Actually, I think the blame would be on you. Didn't Loki say not to tell anyone before you and Thor willingly told us?" Fandral answered, widening his annoying smirk. Tony wanted to punch it off him.

"Well the questions you, Steve and Bruce were asking weren't exactly helping us to not do that."

"Well I wanted to know." Fandral shrugged and tossed him a look that said 'sue me' "where are these two other mortals, and are they as utterly charming as you?"

"They went back a few weeks ago." Tony deadpanned.

"Ah, so the exotic mortal is an endangered species."

Tony rolled his eyes, ignored him, and tried to walk away for a third time.

"I urge you to reconsider accompanying me." Fandral called. "The kitchens are this way," he pointed to a small door to the side. "And the great hall is that way."

"Think I'll pass, Blondie." Tony called over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn.

"You're going the wrong way." Fandral changed over his shoulder as he followed his friends in the direction of food.

Tony stopped and frowned as he looked the way he was headed, then found himself blushing slightly as he realised he was going the wrong way. "Uh, I meant to do that." He said out loud in case anyone overheard and thought him stupid.

-Page break-

When Tony returned with his and Loki's breakfasts, he put the tray on the bed and sat down with a heavy, tired sigh.

Loki instantly plucked a roll from the plate and moved to Tony's side, resting his head on his lover's shoulder and rubbing comforting circles on his back. "Tell my why you are pouting, and if it's the same reason my roll is cold."

"Hm? What? No... I'm fine. Just a little annoyed, that all."

"Then why did you take so long to get me cold food." Loki sat up and looked at him teasingly. "Did my boy get lost?"

"Nearly." Tony ashamedly admitted. "That and I ran into Thor's band of merry men... And woman."

Loki chuckled. "Did Fandral try to seduce you?"

"Try being the main word there."

The chuckles turned into a grin.

"You find that funny? I found it annoying." Tony said back, but couldn't help a smile spreading across his face. He loved the way Loki looked when he smiled, even if it was at his expense.

"You can hardly blame him."

Tony pulled a thoughtful expression. "True..."

"You'd suit each other, you both share an ego the size of a mountain."

"You'd be jealous though." Tony turned around so he was now facing Loki and smirked. "And that'd probably get in the way."

"Me, jealous? Of you, or Fandral?"

"Hopefully of me. Getting my ass owned by another guy." Tony raised an eyebrow. "And a douche-y one at that."

Loki raised two eyebrows of his own. "You think I'd be jealous of you for being with Fandral?"

"You wouldn't?" Tony asked, leaning over to the tray to pick up some kind of meat-thing that he'd gotten for himself, only to grimace at the coldness. He held a hand over his heart as if he were hurt. "Way to hurt a guy's feelings, darling."

"Darling, surely I would be jealous of Fandral as he would be the one with you." Loki put a hand to his lover's forehead. "Are you feeling quite alright?"

"Oh... Wait, that's what I meant in the first place." Tony glanced up at Loki's hand. "I'm fine. You?"

"There must be something wrong, either that or your genius is wearing off in your old age."

"Hey! I'm not that old!" Tony pouted.

"Ehehehehe, you forget how much older I am."

"How old are you? I mean, in human years. You know, like 2 human years means a dog is 14... I think. 1 for 7 isn't it?"

"Younger than I'd care for you to know." Loki popped the last of his roll in his mouth and shuffled to sit back against the headboard. "Pass me more food."

Tony shrugged then reached for what was asked for. "Aw c'mon, you don't look like you'd be a day over thirty. Possibly mid to late twenties?" He guessed as he passed the food over.

"I'd probably be the human equivalent of about seventeen." He held his hand out for the food.

Tony's eyes widened and mouth dropped open as he dropped the roll into Loki's open hand. "S-seventeen?!" He yelped.

"Perhaps more recent years have had me appear older." Loki shrugged nonchalantly, ripping his roll in half and taking a bite.

"Wait... The legal age of consent in California and New York is 18 and 17, where else have we done it? Stuttgart... That's Germany... 14, okay that was one time though, which means I've had sex with and impregnated a minor..." Tony said quickly and in a panicked tone, only to then realise what he was worried about a few seconds later and calming down instantly. "Wait, why am I getting worked out about this? You're not actually 17... You're not even human. Don't know what consent laws even apply there."

"You have a minimum age for sex?" Loki laughed loudly. "When I was last on Earth, girls were getting married before they were teens."

Tony just shrugged. "We have laws now. Why are you surprised? I swear you told be something about consent in the Vaticans before..."

"Perhaps I did." After a tired sigh, Loki ran his fingers through his bed tangled hair. "I'm not at my best. Although I have a plan to give us more time."

"Aw, I think you look lovely." Tony crooned then leaned forward to place a long kiss on Loki's cheek.

"I meant my mind" Loki smiled, leaning forward to accommodate him. "But thank you. You are mistaken, but thank you."

Tony frowned slightly but still smiled, so looked as if he were giving Loki a disbelieving look. "You don't think so?"

"Look at me, I'm tired, my face is a mess, I'm heavily pregnant, and my hair is all over the place." He discarded his roll, no longer hungry.

"Well I'm three of those things too and I don't care about it. It doesn't make us any less how we usually are. And besides, just because you're pregnant, doesn't mean you aren't any less beautiful than you usually would be." Tony said while shifting closer and pulling Loki into a hug. "I love you, Loki. More than anyone I've met before. So don't think for one second that you aren't beautiful."

Smiling discreetly to himself, Loki returned the hug briefly. "Do you not want to hear my plan?"

"A plan for what? Sorry, I was distracted by your sexiness." Tony replied cheekily, to cover up the fact he wasn't listening when Loki hadn't mentioned it before.

"It's not much of a plan, more of an idea. So long as the Allfather believes me to be pregnant, my sentence will be delayed. And as no one knows how long it may be, so long as I keep up the appearance of pregnancy, we are free. The tricky part is avoiding Heimdall's gaze for so long a period."

Tony frowned. "But why would you want to stay looking pregnant that long? Surely the bump would get in the way? And don't you think it'd be weird if you were holding our child or something and this Heimdall guy saw you holding nothing? Bit weird."

"I would hide us all. Surely it would be worth it for extra time. It could be decades before I'd see you again, and our child could be all grown up."

"True... But we'd be constantly on the run. We couldn't hide here, it's too close to beardy cyclops. Same with earth- I'm too well known and SHIELD would find us. As for other planets... Well I don't know if I'd be able to survive there. Plus, there's the inevitable boredom we'll get. I'm already twitchy from being away from my tech too long. I need wifi."

"We could do it, if only for a week or so."

Tony smiled sadly. He felt pleased that Loki was trying to by them more time together, but he knew there was no way to delay the inevitable. Plus, running would most likely increase the time for punishment. Even if it were for just one week. And surely Odin wasn't so heartless as to throw Loki in prison the moment their child was born, was he?

Tony shook his head. "That's not a long enough time. You'd barely see him or her do anything but lie in our arms and cry for attention."

"I know, wouldn't it be wonderful? And we could stay here, we wouldn't have to run. I wouldn't be technically breaking and rules." Loki wasn't sure who he was convincing, but he knew he'd do anything he could just for a little more time.

Tony sighed then moved himself around Loki so that he now straddled his thighs, placing their child between them. He looked down at the bump for a few moments, letting his hands stroke the firm, round skin gently before looking up at holding Loki's gaze steadily. "I wish we didn't have to run or hide at all. Loki, I know what this means for you, or I can at least guess, and I don't want us to be separate for a moment... But it'll just make things worse."

Loki looked down at Tony's warm hands on his belly and sighed. "While you were gone, I felt some of the early signs of labour. I will have to do it today, or tomorrow morning at least. We have run out of time."

Tony's calm demeanour suddenly left him as his mouth dropped open and he stared at Loki in shock. "Y-you're already in labour?!" He yelped, leaning back slightly and holding up an arm in across his body. It looked like something a typical anime character might do when surprised.

"That's not quite how it works my love. I must complete the caesarean before my real labour starts, after all there is nowhere for the baby to actually come out and they will simply burst from my skin. I would appreciate if you left while I do this, it will not be pleasant to watch."

"Y-yeah, but..." Tony wavered slightly, glancing away and rubbing the back of his neck before looking back. "I know it's not going to be a... pretty thing to happen... But I want to stay with you. If only for comfort and support..."

"No." Loki said firmly, finally looking him in the eye. "My word is final." In all truth, Loki didn't want to be disturbed. He needed to concentrate and didn't need Tony to worry about as well. "You may wait in an adjoining room and help me afterwards."

"Right... So how long will it take do you think?"

"I cannot be sure. There are some things I will need you to find me first. You may have to ask a guard to help you."

"Right."

AN: Baby's coming. Enjoy the cliffhanger here ;D