When they returned to Stark Tower, Natasha and Steve were greeted by the sight of Frigga having tea with Bruce in the living room. She had gotten up instantly when JARVIS announced that they were back, looking with glassy eyes at the child form of Loki.
As soon as Loki saw her, he sat up in his stroller and called out, "Ma! Ma!" Frigga rushed to him, unstrapped him from the pram and swept him into her arms.
After taking a moment to adore her son, she put her index finger to his forehead and closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment. Loki seemed unfazed. After a minute, Frigga turned to Bruce.
"Would you gather the others? I need to discuss Loki's…..condition with all of you." Bruce nodded and called JARVIS to do just that. In the mean-time, baby Loki yawned widely, eyes drooping. She kissed his cheek, "I think someone needs a nap. Is there somewhere we can put him down to sleep?"
"Of course, I'll take you up there. It's the same floor as Thor." Natasha commented gesturing to the elevator. Before they did however, Loki pointed to the stroller where his bear resided and whined, "De!"
Frigga smiled and knelt to retrieve it. "Of course, my love. We won't leave it behind."
Once they arrived on the correct level, Natasha showed her the door where the nursery lay. She smiled at the decorations, before laying Loki in the cot. Humming, she put Loki's stuffed animal near him and pulled up the covers. She gave him one more kiss on the head before whispering, "Goodnight, my darling." Much to Natasha's surprise, Loki did not fuss at their departure, he just closed his eyes and went to sleep.
When Natasha looked slightly bemused, Frigga just smiled. "He's always been a calm baby. Almost never fussed when we left the room. Thor on the other hand..." and she chuckled.
They headed back to the communal level of the tower, where the others were waiting and all stood when she came into the room. "Loki is taking a nap." She gestured to them to sit.
"I have examined Loki." She began, and Tony sat at the edge of his seat. "Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with the magic used on him." There was a collective groan. "However, I can do more research on Asgard and perhaps discover more. I do not know if he will remain this age and grow chronologically or disproportionately This sort of magic is unstable, so I would guess the latter."
"So Loki will be growing un-evenly?" Steve asked, looking puzzled. Frigga nodded, "I guess we can't enroll him in a school if he grows up." Tony rolled his eyes.
"Then there is the other problem of what we'll do with him if we're called to a mission." Bruce pointed out.
"That'll be easy," Tony remarked, "We'll get Pepper to babysit, or maybe Hill will do it."
"I will try to learn more about the type of spell placed on him. But from what I could gather, it may not last very long." She stood up to go. In an after-thought, She turned around, "Take care of my son, will you? Both of them." Frigga smiled.
"Yes m'am we'll do our best." Steve assured her.
The first night, Thor was groggily dragged out of bed by JARVIS who announced that Loki was crying in his crib. Groaning, Thor stumbled into the nursery across the hall. The baby turned his head as Thor came in, eyes still filled with tears.
"Shh...Loki." He hummed, picking his little brother from the crib and taking the child into his arms. "What's wrong, bróðir, hmm?" He took Loki to the kitchen on his level and warmed the bottle as Clint had showed him. The Thunderer hummed all the while and Loki's tears stopped, seeming interested on the goings on around him. When the bottle was warmed, Thor went back into the nursery and sat in the rocking chair, feeding his little brother. He remembered when he was just three years old; his mother was holding an infant Loki and feeding him. He watched with interest at his dark-haired baby brother while his mother hummed a little tune.
Remembering the song, Thor sung in a low tone:
Himmelen er mørk og åsene er hvitt
som storm-kongen hastigheter fra nord til-natt,
og dette er den sangen på storm-kongen synger,
som verden over sin kappe han kaster:
"søvn, søvn, lite søvn,"
Han rasler hans vinger og gruffly synger:
"søvn, lite søvn.*
When Loki eyes began to flutter shut, Thor carefully placed him back in the cot and pulled a tiny blanket over his brother's shoulders. He smiled gently,
Yes. Thor thought, It's just as though we are children again. Or rather one of them were.
Shutting the door, Thor left him in peace to sleep and went back to his own chambers.
The next morning after breakfast, Thor went up to Bruce's lab as he had requested earlier in the day. When Thor and Loki entered the workshop, the Thunderer was dismayed and slightly ill at the site of several hypodermic needles set aside on a cart. Thor remembered when he was in the Midgardian healing rooms when he was struck with one and found himself restrained in a bed.
"Ah, good timing," Bruce said, looking up from his work. He patted the metal table. "Here, put Loki on the table."
Thor looked somewhat uncomfortable. "What do you intend to do, friend Bruce?
The physicist looked at Thor with a serious expression. "We don't know if Loki's magic shields him from human illness. It's better to be safe then sorry, since we're around kids. I'm gonna give him a few vaccinations so that he doesn't get sick and he doesn't get anyone else sick either."
Bruce bent enough so that he was now eye level with the baby.
"Now, now smabarn*" Bruce spoke gently, while Thor grinned behind him at the use of Old Norse. "How would you like a lollipop?" He pulled the candy from his shirt pocket and handed to Loki, who's eyes began to sparkle. The baby happily slurped the lollipop. Bruce continued, "And if your brother acts a little more brave, maybe he'll get a one too." he grinned at Thor.
He picked up a disinfectant pad which Loki took no notice of at the time. When the innaculation was injected, Loki's eyes filled with tears, then the child burst into very loud bawling.
"Oh, my Loki!" Thor yelled, sweeping the baby demi-god into his arms and bouncing him up and down. Meanwhile, Bruce had an idea. Going around the table, Bruce picked up another syringe, "Thor, keep him busy."
Thor put a lollipop in his mouth, making a face as he didn't know that the candy was sour, which made Loki laugh. Seeing this, Thor continued with the silly faces.
In the meantime, Bruce completed the injections without any crying by either Asgardian. Bruce rolled his eyes, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
TBC...
A/N: I know, it's been a long time and this is a short chapter, but the holidays were hectic!
Would you all mind if I start doing these chapters every two weeks?
Next time will be the conclusion to this little adventure.
*smabarn-little child, baby
The sky is dark and the hills are white
As the storm-king speeds from the north to-night,
And this is the song the storm-king sings,
As over the world his cloak he flings:
"Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep;"
He rustles his wings and gruffly sings:
"Sleep, little one, sleep.
