Bruce's work-shop was nothing like Tony's.

For a start it was tidy, but that was an obvious difference. To a casual observer it was basically a neater version of the infamous Stark Work Space, but to someone who knew what they were looking at there were subtler differences. There was less of an inclination to engineering – most of the machines were more suited to traditional physics, and a few were medical in nature.

A separate area was set up in the corner where the medical accoutrements were placed, with a small sample of biology bits and pieces that wouldn't look out of place in a research lab. Some of the test tubes were labelled but empty – a reminder back to the days before Bruce had made his peace with the Hulk.

"So, sit down, let's see what we can do." Bruce gestured to the examination bench whilst he seated himself at his desk.

It was just the two of them; Loki had insisted on that, clarifying to his husband that everything would be explained but only after he had spoken to Bruce. Tony hadn't been happy, but acquiesced and Jarvis had promised not to spy and relay the conversation.

The trickster sat down on the edge of the bench. It was quite obvious that this was the last place he wanted to be – and given his recent history with the Chitauri's idea of medicine that was hardly surprising.

"Alright then; how should we start? Do you want to tell me about this spell you're running?"

"It's not as easy as that."

"Why not?"

Loki sighed, rubbing a tired hand across his eyes. "I cannot really call it a spell as such. I do have some spell-work running on a background level but that is not what is causing this exhaustion."

"Do I need to know about that spell work?" Bruce waited for a reply, and when one wasn't forthcoming he attempted to guess. "Is it something to do with your Jötunn ancestry? I know you had problems with it bleeding through back in Asgard, is that happening again?"

"No, no I think that's under control at the moment."

He sounded quiet. The past few weeks he had seemed to be buzzing with underlying anger and tension, but now he was just quiet and sad. Bruce couldn't say that he knew the trickster particularly well – they didn't exactly spend time together – but he could tell when something was wrong. Really wrong.

"Thor said you were casting an over-large Searching spell to find this Thanos guy you think is behind the attacks. Was he right? Is it a searching spell?"

"No. It was a reasonable guess, but no."

"You aren't being much help here. I usually make a diagnosis on what someone tells me. If you don't tell me anything I can't really do much."

"I really do not think there's anything you could do."

"At least tell me what's wrong. If you aren't casting some over-powered searching spell you must be doing something to cause the magic depletion. What's wrong?"

It was hard to say what the clue was – the downcast expression maybe, or the white knuckled grip on the edge of the bench. Bruce was very familiar with sadness, and was very perceptive of it in others, but even more so he knew fear when he saw it. His patient was hiding it very well, but it was there, a low-lying under current that was simmering quietly.

The doctor pulled his glasses off and sat them on the desk as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What are you doing to yourself, Loki?"

"Pardon?"

"You're apparently expending huge amounts of magic on something, hiding something that is quietly scaring the crap out of you…What's going on? Are you ill?"

A thin smile crossed Loki's face. "Ill? No, not exactly."

"So…?"

"I'm pregnant."

Bruce sat back in his chair with a surprised 'oh'. Well that explained quite a bit really, but…

"I thought…uh…Tony said that you couldn't have any more kids?"

"Quite. I can't. Or at least that's what I was told and what I believed right up to the point that I realised what had happened."

"But…" The doctor stared at his patient in utter confusion. "But this is good, isn't it? Why on earth are you hiding it?"

"Because it can't possibly be viable!" Loki's hand had migrated to his stomach, a small but protective movement. "Traditionally I have never had horrendous symptoms, and although my magic is weaker it is a negligible difference. But now…" He gestured helplessly. "I can't keep anything down, I can barely sleep and you've seen with your own eyes what using magic is doing to me! My body is fighting tooth and nail to hold onto this child and…and I don't think I can."

"You said you thought that 'this' would only last a little longer. Are you suggesting you think…?" Bruce didn't articulate the thought fully, and didn't need to when the trickster nodded despondently.

"As I said; I know my body and this is not right. I can't believe that this pregnancy will progress much further."

"So all these past weeks; the terrible mood you've been in…you've been sitting there waiting to miscarry? Why in God's name haven't you said something?! Why haven't you told Tony?!"

"And give him a false sense of hope? How could I do that to him?!" Anger was the predominant emotion, but possibly only because Loki was battening down the hatches on the flood of grief at the situation. "He would love to have another child, and how could I tell him I'm carrying one when I'm going to lose it any day? I cannot give him the false hope that's torturing me right now! If I tell him after it's gone, he can grieve without any emotional attachment."

That wasn't Bruce's place to argue. He didn't agree, and didn't like the reasoning, but it wasn't his place to make that decision. The difficult part of being the team medic/counsellor/sounding board/nanny was that he had to separate himself in such situations and listen impartially without giving his own opinion unless asked.

However, some of his thoughts must have appeared across his face because Loki's expression became a furious glare.

"Don't you dare judge me for this! Do you not think I have gone through this decision over and over from the very beginning?! This is it, this is what I am dealing with and I will not second guess myself now!"

"Okay, okay, sorry." Bruce held his hands up momentarily in a visual backing-down. "I'm sure you've spent more than enough time going over this, I didn't mean to insinuate otherwise." He could almost see Loki's hackles slowly subside. "Look, I believe you when you say you are, but how are you pregnant? I was under the impression that was now impossible."

"So was I." The prince shrugged with a stilted little gesture, still wary and angry. "I don't know how this happened, and to be honest I have not put much thought to it. I was told it was impossible to regrow my reproductive organs."

"They regrew a whole lot of other stuff."

The made Loki smile, even if only a little. "Well, yes, but that wasn't easy. The healers struggled with my eyes for a long time because Jötunn physiology is so different to Aesir or human. The Jötunn reproductive system is extremely complex – I'm still not entirely sure how it all works – and they did what they could but agreed that the remaining damage would leave me infertile."

"Have you been able to have a look? I'm sure there are spells or something to have a quick poke around inside and see what's going on."

"No. Given what a mess my organs are supposedly in in that area I didn't want to cause even more problems. And besides, healing magic is not my forte and the after effects wouldn't have been worth it."

"That's understandable." Bruce had pulled his notebook over and began to jot down what they had already discussed. "Is using magic just draining you, or is it possible you're causing harm to the foetus too?"

"Just me. I wouldn't use it at all if there was any other risk."

"Have you been bleeding at all? Any spotting?"

"No."

"You do know my knowledge-base really only covers humans, right? I don't quite know what's normal or not for you to comment on danger signs."

Loki nodded, looking down at his stomach. "Another reason I was so reticent about speaking to you, or anyone about this. From my previous experiences I know that the amount of sickness I'm suffering from is extremely abnormal, as are the problems with my magic. I feel like I am caught in the middle of a civil war inside my own body; it is fighting with every scrap of energy within me to hold onto this child and it does not feel like it will be enough."

"Well, I'm obviously no ante-natal expert but if we know what the problem is there may be things we can do."

"You're talking about surgery?"

"I have no idea." Bruce ran his hand through his hair in thought. "I'd need some time to work out the scenarios here, but I could already make a few guesses. From what you said about the healing it may well be that your uterus reformed itself after the medic's attempts, but did so imperfectly. There could be things we could do – yes, surgical intervention – that may help. Or perhaps it's an ectopic pregnancy. Or there could be something wrong with a part of your system humans don't even have. I mean, you're a male who can carry children; I'm already way way out of my league here trying to diagnose what's normal and what isn't."

"That is true."

"Of course, it's possible that nothing's wrong. Have you considered that?"

"I've hoped it, certainly, but all my symptoms would suggest otherwise. I've never been this ill before."

"Huh. Well, I suppose our first port of call should be to have a look at what we're dealing with. Don't you?" Bruce called one of the lab-bots over (Tony had gifted him with some when he'd first moved in) and directed it to go and dig out a piece of equipment for him. "Now, I haven't actually asked the most obvious question of all; how far along are you? Do you even know?"

Loki smiled wryly. "A day shy of nine weeks."

"Wow, that was specific. Okay, well that should work for ultrasound then. You're familiar with that, right?"

"I know of the concept, and seen it in shows and such."

"Are you okay for me to do one then? It would let us know what's happening." The bot had already trundled over with the machine (a useful thing to have when the Hulk had the perchance to swallow random inedible objects now and then). Since it was a Stark piece it was simply a handheld device which was connected to Bruce's laptop via the WiFi.

"Well, it will hardly take long." Loki sounded less than happy about it.

"Not long at all – and since it's a new design on the old ones the hospitals used to use it doesn't even need the jelly."

"I suppose that's something to be thankful for then."

Loki lay back on the examination bench and very grudgingly pulled his shirt up when asked to. It was far too early to have a baby bump, but his abdominal muscles didn't quite have the sharp definition that was usually evident.

"Right, hold still."

Bruce made the obvious assumption that Loki carried children in the same way mammals did and therefore that the womb was where he thought it should be. No doubt he would have been sharply corrected if he'd got it wrong. He also made sure that he'd turned his computer screen away so that only he could see it.

There was a long and somewhat awkward silence between the two of them as Bruce moved the small machine over Loki's stomach to find what he was looking for.

"Ah, hmm."

"Yes?"

"I'm not certain yet, give me a moment." The doctor was watching his screen intently, but his expression gave away nothing. "So, this thing with your magic; you said that you usually find it decreases a little, why is that?"

"I don't know, but my guess is that part of it goes towards sustaining the child, or maybe as another supplement for the child."

"So a harder pregnancy, your magic suffers more?"

"Yes; there was a significant decrease when I was carrying Sleipnir, but still not this bad."

"Huh." Bruce was frowning at whatever it was he was seeing, but more in confusion than concern.

"What? What is it?"

"Don't move, I'll lose the picture! Right, stay put, I'll swing the screen round." He did so, revealing the familiar grey and black smear that even the best tech couldn't render any further. "So, at nine weeks the best we can see is blobby blobs. Defined blobby blobs, but still."

"Yes, I understand." Loki was already trying to pick out shapes from the image, but didn't know how to interpret what he was seeing. "What does this tell you…?"

"Well," Bruce pointed to a lighter area, and then moved the machine slightly so that the shape resolved into a much more familiar one. "There we have a blobby blob. See? Head, body, one apparently normal looking blobby blob."

"Oh…"

"A normal looking blobby blob in what seems to be a healthy uterus."

"But…" Loki looked like someone had thrown a grenade in his face; absolute shock warring with terror. "But how…"

"I suspect the problems you're having are because of this." Bruce pointed at the screen again, outlining the foetus. "Because this seems to be one happy little blobby blob," he moved the machine slightly to the left and the picture lost focus. However, that meant another portion came into focus. "And here is a second happy little blobby blob."

"Second!"

Bruce had the foresight to save the image on screen as Loki sat bolt upright, looking horrified.

"Second. The official term is twins."

"Twins…But…But that can't…I can't…"

"Hey, whoa!" Banner leant forwards quickly, his hand on Loki's shoulder as his patient swayed alarmingly. "Deep breaths, head down."

"I can't be…this is insane…"

"Okay, seriously, breathe! You're hyperventilating."

"I'm losing one, I can't lose two…!"

"LOKI!" Bruce very rarely shouted, to the point that there were still quite a few people who lived in the tower who had probably never heard him seriously raise his voice without transforming into his alter-ego. It worked though; the trickster quieted, staring at the doctor with glassy eyes. "Right, you need to calm down and control your breathing okay? Keep this up and you'll pass out."

"I can't be having twins…I'm not even supposed to be able to carry a child! How is this happening?!"

"Right, lie back down and just take a moment, okay? Stop talking, try to stop freaking out and just…chill." He emphasised the order with a firm hand on Loki's shoulder, pushing the trickster down.

"How the hell do you expect me to calm down?!"

"I'm working on that. Now lift your shirt again and since we know what we're dealing with I can look to see what's really going on."

Loki might have been on the near edge of hysteria, but he could still see sense. He did what the doctor asked and Bruce placed the scanner on his stomach again. Even without gel it was cold.

"This isn't fair…"

"Do I really need to remind the half-a-million-year old God that life isn't fair?"

Antagonism was the key. No matter the situation Loki had proved time and again that he couldn't deal with someone making fun of him or brushing his emotions aside – Tony had long reasoned that it was a left-over from his less-than-fabulous childhood. It wasn't exactly a healthy response, but it switched him from panicking to incensed and from Bruce's point of view that was better.

"You're right; you hardly need to remind me of that! But forgive me for being slightly emotional over the thought of losing not one but two children!"

"Who said anything about losing them?" Bruce was looking at the screen again with a small frown.

"But I-"

"You're making assumptions. I said there may have been another explanation for your symptoms and maybe this is it."

Loki huffed angrily, glaring up at the ceiling as if it had personally offended him. It was hard to ignore the scanner pressed hard against his abdomen but he attempted it, trying any technique he had to focus on something else.

Twins.

The past weeks had been so so hard; spending every moment since realising what had happened for it all to be over. The stress and fear of every twinge, expecting at any moment for a sudden rush of pain to herald the end. And the secrets. Hiding the dizziness as best he could, hiding the sickness – and morning sickness was such a misnomer, it was sickness no matter the time of day! – hiding the sudden lack of magic…

He was exhausted, emotionally and physically; grief stricken for a death that hadn't yet happened but that he couldn't control.

And now to learn it wouldn't be one, but two…

"Here."

It was only when Bruce handed over a tissue that Loki realised he needed one. It would have been embarrassing, but the single word had been entirely non-judgemental.

"Do you think…should my assumptions still be correct, do you think it better to terminate the pregnancy or let nature deal with it?" It was quite something that he managed to keep his voice steady as he asked the quiet question. "I had never planned to go down that route, but now that you know, I may as well ask for a medical opinion…"

"What? No. Good grief, no." Bruce finally looked away from his computer screen, his expression surprised and concerned. "You haven't already tried, have you?"

"Of course not! I've done everything I could to keep this going!"

"Good. That's good. Look." The doctor swung the screen round again. This time he had managed to find an angle with the scanner that meant both little blobs were in view. They looked like they were fluttering.

"Why are they out of focus like that?"

"Huh? The movement? Those are the heartbeats you're seeing." Bruce used his pen to indicate again. "Now, without getting too optimistic, I can't see anything out of the ordinary here. Two strong heartbeats – that's the fluttery effect you're seeing – separate membranes so not identical twins I'm afraid, and you're looking healthy too. I was worried it could have been an ectopic pregnancy given your concerns, but both you and the blobs look normal and healthy."

"Healthy?" Loki was fixated on the little quivering shapes on the screen. "How can that be possible?"

"I don't know. All I can tell you is what I'm seeing on the screen, and everything looks good. I think it's very likely you've been struggling with the symptoms because you're healed but not as perfectly as you should be."

"So you believe I can carry to full term?"

"I don't want to make false promises, but I can't see why you wouldn't be able to."

"How can…" Loki's hand moved back to his stomach, almost reverently. "This cannot be true…"

"I can only tell you what I'm seeing here. Everything looks healthy. That isn't to say you shouldn't be cautious but…but it looks good."

"But I've been so ill…" He was clinging to the only thing he still knew. "Things can't be well, they just can't."

"As I've said – maybe you've not healed to the fullest extent. I can't see any, but that doesn't mean there isn't scar tissue. And have you ever carried multiples before?" Bruce gestured back to the screen when Loki dumbly shook his head. "Well, there's another possible explanation then. You've got a reproductive system that is still recovering from severe trauma and now has double the strain a normal pregnancy would put upon it." He froze the screen again and put the scanner back on the table. "I don't know what a Jötunn pregnancy should look like of course, so I don't know what to look for with regards to blood pressure and iron levels and such. However, you haven't been eating right which may be contributing to how ill you've been feeling."

Loki managed a wry smile. "Eating is tricky when you cannot keep anything down."

"Nothing at all?"

"Not often. I try when I can. I've found snacks here and there rather than full meals seem to settle better."

"Little and often. Yes that can work. There are some herbal teas and such I could recommend that may help too."

"That's what they use on Asgard too." The trickster sat up again, pale and shaken. "I must admit to not feeling particularly well now, actually."

"You aren't looking it either." Bruce casually pulled the small bin out from under his desk and handed it over. "But to be fair you've just had one hell of a shock so that's understandable."

Loki placed the bin to one side – unused – and hunched over to bury his head in his hands. "I just cannot believe this is happening. I've been mentally preparing myself for a miscarriage these past months…"

"I know it's a lot to take in all at once. Do you want me to call Tony in?"

"I…I don't even know what to say to him…"

"Tell him the facts." Bruce said gently. "Just tell him what you feared, and now what you know."

Loki nodded, an abrupt little movement that was barely seen given how he was sitting. Bruce took that as an agreement and glanced up at the ceiling.

"Jarvis? Can you let Tony in? I know he's been hovering outside since we came in here."

"Certainly sir. Just Mr Stark? Miss Evelyn has been most anxious too."

"No, just Tony for now."

The doors at the other end of the lab quietly opened, and they could hear voices outside on the cusp of hearing before there were quick footsteps across the floor. Tony knew better than to run in a lab, but his speed spoke of his concern. He appeared around the large bookcase, knocking a neatly filed sheaf of paper off the shelf as he did so. Bruce rolled his eyes, but given the circumstances didn't comment on the carelessness.

"Jarvis said I could come in, what have you –" Stark stopped dead when he saw Loki; pale, shaken and close to tears. "Oh God, what's happened? What's wrong?!"

The trickster opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut again, turning away with a hopeless shrug.

"Loki?" Tony's hands found his husbands shoulders, trying to find some clue in the trickster's expression that would explain what was going on. "Loki, what is it?"

"I…"

Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer easily, Stark turned to the Doctor. Bruce had removed the image from the screen, but the scanner was still sitting on the desk-top and drew Tony's attention. He frowned at it for a moment, trying to determine why on earth it would have been necessary before he turned back to his husband.

"Loki…? Please, what the hell is going on? Are you ill? Is it serious?"

"I'm not ill." The prince said softly. He managed to smile, although it was tenuous. "But yes…this is rather serious."

"So what the hell is wrong then?!" Tony grasped his husband's hands. "Look, you can either tell me, or I'll get Jarvis to. Or Banner. Banner; what the hell is going on?!"

Bruce looked alarmed at being drawn into the conversation and in turn looked to Loki for what to do. The trickster nodded towards the blank computer screen, unable to articulate his permission to put the scan back on the screen.

"Um, well, we did some scans and things, like we said we would. Um…Loki already had some idea of what was going on and…well…look…" The doctor gestured towards his computer, re-opening the pictures.

Tony frowned at the screen, his usually-quick brain scrambling to discern what the abstract images were. Tumours? Growths of some sort?

"I don't understand. What am I seeing here?"

"What does it look like, Stark?" The prince asked quietly.

"I don't know! Kidneys?"

"What?! Oh for Norns sake, I thought you were meant to be intelligent!" And despite the fact that he looked shell-shocked, Loki laughed. It was shaky and still somewhat disbelieving, but there was no doubting that there was joy in the sound. "It's an ultrasound, Stark, do the maths!"

"What? You mean…? But no, you can't be!" Tony looked at the scanner again, as if it could possibly tell him any other reason an ultra-sound might have been required. "That's…No. No. You can't be. You were too injured! They said you were too injured!"

"I know. Apparently they were wrong." The trickster waved a shaking hand towards the screen. "Doctor Banner said that…that despite it all…"

"Despite it all, everything looks healthy. Loki's recent health problems are certainly related, but not in the way he assumed."

"Oh my God…" Tony slumped down to sit next to his husband, staring white-faced at the computer screen. "Oh God…" Loki seemed to find something amusing in this reaction, managing a watery smile towards the man. "So this…You're…How far along?"

"Three months." The prince said softly.

"Three months? Why the fuck didn't you tell me?!"

"Tony, now isn't the time for that discussion, we-"

"Now is exactly the time for that discussion! Loki, you're pregnant! Three months pregnant! Oh God…" The inventor felt a tentative touch to his hand and snatched it away. "No! You can't be, this is impossible!"

Loki laughed bitterly. "Oh, and you don't think that's been my reaction?! Three months of waiting to miscarry. Three months of jumping at every pain and twinge and slight discomfort as I waited to lose this pregnancy."

"Lose?! Is that likely? Are you going to miscarry?!"

"I don't know. But Doctor Banner thinks not."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Oh God. Okay, okay. Right. Okay. Pregnant. Okay."

"Tony…this is, this could be a good thing?" Loki's hand was tentative on his husbands shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't." With his gesture rebuffed the prince turned away again. "Do you know what it's like to have your dearest wish made reality, and yet spend every day fearing its loss? I could feel it growing, every day, and every day I have been feeling worse and worse. The sickness, the dizziness, the loss of my magic. Everything so far has suggested that as miraculous as this pregnancy is, my body can't support it. I've been anticipating a miscarriage since I first realised what was happening." He shrugged hopelessly. "It's been hell. The horror of what I've faced losing…I couldn't do that to you! Better that you didn't know until after the event. The waiting, the fear, the grief; I wanted to spare you that."

Stark had his head in his hands, shaking it furiously. "That wasn't your call to make! We're a partnership here; we're meant to support each other!"

"And we're meant to spare each other pain when we can! I would have told you the moment I lost the child, but I didn't want you to bear the burden of waiting for it to happen! Better you grieve for what might have been then grow to love something that could never happen like I have had to do! Do you even know what a miscarriage is like, Tony?! All that pain, all that blood and pain and heartbreak, and nothing but a broken dream to show for it!" Loki had turned away, his back to his husband, so startled when arms suddenly clasped around his waist.

"And I'd never want you to go through that alone."

"I always have before."

"I know. But no more."

Loki laughed softly. "Hopefully not at all, if this holds." He glanced towards Bruce, still seeming to need the confirmation that things weren't as dire as he thought.

"There's no reason that this one shouldn't hold." The Doctor took that as permission to enter back into the conversation, indicating back to the scan. "Despite the unusual nature of the pregnancy."

"Unusual nature?" Tony jumped on the phrasing with all due concern, so was put off by Bruce's sudden grin. "Seriously, what?" The doctor did a little 'go on, tell him' gesture at Loki.

"Oh, uh…" The trickster looked at the screen again, glanced at Bruce, then cleared his throat.

"Is this the point where you tell me it's healthy, but is also a dragon? Because I swear I can totally raise a dragon."

"It's not a dragon, Tony." Finally, finally Loki laughed, the tension breaking. "Although that would be marvellous. But no."

"So what then?!"

"Look." The trickster pointed at the ultrasound image again; the patches of light and dark. "There. Not so clear, but you can make out the little form." He smiled as his husband leaned forwards, enraptured with the picture.

"It's tiny…"

"It's only nine weeks old."

Tony wasn't daft. His gaze moved from the lighter image Loki was pointing at to the other little fuzzy blob. "So what's that?" He glanced at his husband, catching Loki's sudden bright smile. "Capricorn, what is that?"

"The other one."

"The…" Stark's head turned from the trickster to the screen and back again as if he were watching a tennis match. "No way…" His jaw dropped. "Two? Twins? You're seriously telling me it's twins?!"

"It's twins."

"Oh my God it's twins!"

"Tony?"

"It's twins! You're pregnant and it's twins!" Tony jumped to his feet, spinning on the spot and almost knocking the screen off the desk in the process. "Oh my God! What the hell?! How the hell?!"

Loki glanced at Bruce who shrugged. "I'm struggling to decipher if this is a good 'what the hell' or a bad one."

"A good one, you stupid ass! Oh my God twins! You're not even supposed to be able to have children anymore!"

"I know!"

The man spun around again and then sat back down beside his husband with a thump. His hand was shaking as he ran it through his hair. "How. Seriously, how. This shouldn't be possible! We've discussed it over and over so many times; all the medics in Asgard said it was impossible!"

Loki spread his hands in a hopeless gesture. "I don't know how. But Bruce said everything is healthy so I'm not going to question a miracle." He glanced at the doctor again. "You are sure everything is alright?"

"No promises, but it all seems to be normal and healthy. It's just affecting you pretty badly." Bruce tapped his pen against his lips. "I do wonder how much of that is psychosomatic though. Let's see how your symptoms do now that you know you probably aren't going to miscarry."

"But how…" Tony didn't seem quite able to let go of the pivotal question. "I mean, how…"

"Well, you've heard of sex, yes? It's usually through this act of copulation that-"

"Alright, alright smartass, you know what the hell I mean!" The man waved a hand around, taking in his husband, the scanned image and himself in the gesture. "Until recently we were both certain that you didn't even have a reproductive system, let alone one that's apparently functional. What's happened? What's changed?"

Since 'I don't know' wasn't a reply Stark was hearing, Loki tried a different tact. "Nothing. I have not done anything that could have done this – you know my healing magic is not that strong. Even the best of Asgard's healers couldn't fix the damage done; how could I hope to?"

"I'm not saying you did, I'm just trying to work this out."

"Can we not just be happy?"

Bruce – as with most of the tower's occupants – had grown very adept at learning the warning signs that preceded a fight between their resident genius and bag-of-cats-crazy God so headed them off before they could start. "Look, whilst Loki's right that you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth maybe there's something in finding out how this was possible. If we understand how it happened then it could give us some clues as to how high risk this pregnancy may be." He turned to Loki. "You've been to a handful of different realms recently – was there anything there that could have done this? Some magic that has the power to restore full health?"

The trickster shook his head. "No, nothing. Maybe the Infinity Stones themselves, if wielded by someone who knows how to use them, but I've not been in contact with one since the tesseract all those years ago."

"Are there any spells at all, of any sort that can heal the unhealable? Anything you could have been in contact with?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"You healed me." Tony said. "Healed me and made me immortal. That magic water you got hold of – did you drink any?"

"No." It had been a long time since they'd even needed to think about that – other things had happened in the intervening time. Tony could recall the conversations they'd had in Asgard on it; the discussion of Loki's other children and how he had taken them to the mythical sanctuary to save them. Given what wounds the waters had healed then it seemed conceivable that they could have healed Loki. Although if he didn't drink anything that was also a dead end.

"There wasn't anything there? Nothing that could have been slowly healing you since then?"

"Nothing." It was quite obvious the line of questioning was irritating the trickster. "I sat with the guardian of the waters, we talked at length over a pot of tea and then I left with the gift. You cannot just take the waters – it is powerful ancient magic, they must be a gift given, not taken, otherwise they will not work."

Tony and Bruce looked at each other, as if each trying to gauge if the other had heard the same thing, and Loki frowned, sensing that something was going over his head.

"What?"

"You and the guardian talked for a long time, right?"

"Yes…?"

"Sat there, chatting, over a pot of tea, yes?"

"Tony, where are you going with this?"

Stark laughed, as if he couldn't imagine someone could be so idiotic. "You twit! How do you make tea?!"

"What? You…Oh. Oh. Oh by the Norns…!" And Loki's hand flew to his mouth in complete astonishment at his own stupidity. "Water. You make tea using water."

"Wow, and you're considered the brains of Asgard? 'You make tea with water', honestly, how did you survive childhood?"

The trickster laughed breathlessly, too caught up in the realisation to hear his husband's antagonism. He hadn't trusted that he had healed slowly of his own accord, he hadn't trusted that some spell or such like from the medics could have slowly healed him, but this…This he could trust. This he could believe in.

"Loki?" Stark had realised his husband wasn't listening and gently prodded the prince's arm. "Hey Capricorn, you still with us?"

"I wanted this so badly…." Loki pressed both hands against his stomach, gently, reverently. "All these months of dreading what would happen and now…" He startled when his husband's hands suddenly covered his own.

"And now we've got hope." Tony met the prince's gaze and grinned. "How's that for a name? Hope?"

"A rather unfortunate name for a boy, but if one of the twins is a girl then it is lovely."

"Quit with the gender norms! It's a great name for a boy!"

Loki laughed.

WMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

It was too raw and too new to tell everyone – especially since Loki still couldn't quite take it at face value that his fears of miscarriage were unfounded. Even Evie was avoided; they reasoned waiting a little longer to make sure things were safe. Loki had wanted to spare his husband the pain of a loss; they both wanted to spare their daughter that if there was still a chance of losing the pregnancy.

"Hope…" It was the first word either of them had said in over two hours. They were splayed out across their bed, Tony's head pillowed on Loki's stomach, fingers tracing across the skin as if he could already speak to the children there. "Hope…Joy?..."

"Are these emotions or prospective names?" Loki asked softly, carding his fingers through the man's hair.

"Hmm, both. Grace?"

"These are all girls names. They may well both be boys."

"Or one each? One each would be nice. What do you think?" Stark raised his head up to look at his husband.

"Healthy. All I want is for them to be healthy."

Tony laid his head back down on Loki's bare chest, rising and falling with the God's gentle breathing. His hand was pressed against the trickster's stomach and although there was little sign of swelling he still fancied he could feel something there.

"Are you happy?" Loki asked softly, his fingers moving through the man's short hair.

"I'm going to be a father again….Happy doesn't even begin to cover it." Tony shook his head slightly, voice choking up. "After all we thought…we get to be parents again. Parents together."

"And we'll do as fine a job as you did with Evelyn."

"Oh god I hope so…I never thought we'd ever get this chance again. What did I ever do to deserve something as amazing as this? As you?"

"You deserve everything and more Tony."

"…I'm so happy right now."

Loki laughed, although it sounded tearful. "So am I. This is more than I ever hoped for either."

Tony moved enough to press a kiss to the mostly-flat stomach. "God, Capricorn…This is just…oh god I love you."

"I know. I love you too Tony."

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

"What do you think, Jarvis?" Bruce asked quietly. "I mean, you've had a few minutes of raiding medical databases to become an absolute expert. I gave a diagnosis based on the information at hand. Do you think I was right? Will Loki be okay?"

"It's hard to say Doctor Banner. He's not human so that doesn't help." Jarvis wasn't there in person (or droid-body, or whatever) so to all intents and purposes the computer was flicking through the handful of scans Bruce had taken all of its own accord. "As you have said yourself; these scans indicate that both he and the foetus' are healthy."

"But…?"

"But he's not human. And is a 'he', so we don't quite have all the information required here."

"Mmm. Did you notice how he described a miscarriage to Tony? That sounded far too much like the voice of experience. We're going to need his medical history."

Jarvis affected a small laugh. "Whilst I would agree in most circumstances, Doctor Banner, Loki is somewhere around half a million years old. That is an extensive medical history."

"Okay…we'll need his abridged medical history regarding child bearing and birthing."

"That might be somewhat more attainable."

Bruce tapped on his keyboard and the final image he'd taken appeared on the screen; both little blobs clear in the picture. "Well, they aren't sharing a placenta so they aren't identical twins, which removes some of the possible complications, but this is still going to be a very high risk pregnancy."

"He is also still only nine weeks – we should wait until twelve before truly ruling out spontaneous miscarriage."

"True." Bruce peered at the image again. "Twins…Poor old Loki, he's going to have a tough few months ahead of him."

"Oh I wouldn't worry; he will make sure that if he is having a bad time Mr Stark will certainly have a worse one. And I believe the next eighteen years will certainly be considered tougher in the grander scheme of things."

"Oh God…" Bruce's head hit the desk with a thump. "Evie's been bad enough…"

Jarvis laughed again. For an advanced stream of code he certainly had a sarcastic sense of humour.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

Tony was woken at about three o'clock in the morning, leading him to the realisation that he and his husband must have fallen asleep where they were, mid-conversation. Well, Loki at least had an excuse although Stark could only claim to be emotionally worn out. This meant they had been locked away in their room since leaving Bruce's lab and assuming that Banner had kept quiet about their news, no one knew why. They should probably talk to Evie first thing, but no doubt everyone else would wonder where they'd been. Loki's near-collapse been unfortunately public and at the very least Thor would be worrying – and Jarvis had probably spent a large part of the day refusing to give him any information – so there would be questions when they reappeared.

For now, at least, that wasn't a problem. What was a problem was the damn email notification that had woken him up. Of course, he could mute it, but then he would just stay awake wondering who the hell it was.

Why had he set Smells like Teen Spirit as his notification tone again…?

"Turn that damn thing off or I will break it." The grumpy snarl made it clear that Loki wasn't pleased to be woken.

"Okay, okay…"

Tony fished around in the dark for his phone on the bedside table, following the music to give him an idea of direction. The screen was obnoxiously bright and he squinted at it with only one eye open. Then he groaned and thumped Loki on the shoulder with it.

"It's your kid. You need to get your own email address so he stops emailing me!"

"Huh?" The trickster managed to pull the phone out of his husbands flailing hand. "Merlin?"

"Yeah, bloody UK times!" Tony rolled over to lie face down in the pillows, making it clear he wanted to go back to sleep. The mattress shifted next to him and he figured Loki had sat up to read through whatever his errant son had written. He had almost dozed off again when the trickster gently shook his shoulder.

"Here, look at this."

"Wha'? Can't't wait?"

"No, look."

Tony removed his face from the pillow only to be met with his phone screen right by his face and painfully bright. He groaned and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "What? What am I looking at?"

"I sent Merlin a photo of Evelyn and he's sent a selfie back. Look."

Stark groaned again – more for emphasis than reason – and pulled himself up on one elbow to take the phone back. He peered at the screen, still squinting.

When Loki had said selfie that usually implied a jokey image, maybe in a mirror. This wasn't a fun jokey selfie. The young man in the image was staring out of the screen solemnly, a warm red scarf wrapped around his neck to show he'd been outside for the photo. He had Loki's intense green eyes and dark hair, although his was cropped close and his gaze didn't hold the promise of mischief and laughter the Loki's usually did. He looked in his mid-twenties, although Tony knew not to take that at face value.

"Huh, looks like you. Got your eyes. And hair." Tony sat up a little to look at the phone properly. "The scarf is a bit hipster though – if it turns out he's carrying a Starbucks coffee in his other hand I refuse to ever meet him."

Loki laughed quietly. "He likes scarves. I don't believe he is fond of coffee though."

"He really does look like you – far more than Evie does. There's something in that 'I could kill you with a thought' look he's got going."

"You can imagine what our arguments can be like then."

It was strange to see Loki's features in another face. Evie hadn't inherited much beyond the eyes and Sleipnir didn't have any physical similarities at all, but Merlin looked familiar. Tony didn't feel any connection to the face on the screen though. He and Sleipnir had bonded over their worry for Loki and the horse had already been thinking of him as a step-father before meeting him. Merlin seemed cool to the point of hostile towards him if the emails were anything to go by.

"Are you going to tell him you're pregnant again?"

"Oh Norns no! Not until I'm much closer to the due date!"

"Think he'll appear here and try to kill me for defiling you?"

"We're married; you can't defile me anymore, I'm very sorry to say. No, he's just jealous and childish."

Tony had left the phone too long without interacting with it and the screen went dark, taking away the main light source in the room. Stark shifted over to drop his head onto his husband's chest.

"Speaking of telling people, are we going to have a word with Evie tomorrow?" He asked quietly. When there was no reply he lifted his head to try and make out the prince's expression in the dark. "Capricorn?"

"I don't think it's such a good idea. Not yet."

"No? But Bruce said-"

"Bruce said that things look normal; normal pregnancies are still in the danger zone up until twelve weeks. I don't think we should tell anyone until we're past that point and things look a little more stable."

"That's another three weeks away." Tony immediately regretted the complaint when he heard how much of a whine there was in his voice. Loki had certainly picked up on it because he laughed quietly.

"Yes. Three whole weeks of this being our little secret. Of just you and me knowing about it and no-one else butting in or worrying or tip-toeing around. Just us."

"And Bruce."

"Well, yes, and Bruce, but he is the least annoying of you humans and will at least give us the space we need."

Tony smiled in the dark, his hand finding Loki's stomach again. "Three weeks…given there's a teeny tiny bump already you're definitely going to be showing by then."

"My magic may be deplorably weak at the moment but rest assured I have enough to hold up a glamour. I refuse to look like a bloated whale for the next nine months."

"Seven months. Math; it's a wonderful thing."

"…Shut up Stark."

"Don't worry, apparently 'baby brain' affects a lot of expecting women." Tony suddenly froze, a horrified thought crossing his mind. "Oh God…are you going to be hormonal? Will hormones happen? Am I going to have to deal with you crying all the time?! I can't handle that!"

"Three…no, four things; I'm not a woman, yes, yes and no you won't."

"You were really hormonal after Evie was born – don't think I don't remember that!"

"You only saw that for one night."

"Trust me, it showed."

Loki laughed softly. "I have never historically been terribly hormonal; you should be safe."

"You've also said that historically you haven't had much by way of morning sickness and apparently that's changed so I'm going to be careful either way. If you decide to take over the planet again I'll put it down to hormones."

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWMW

The tower had a superb gym – of course it would, since Tony designed everything – but sometimes Steve just needed to feel actual concrete under his feet. Seeing some different scenery was welcome as well and whilst Captain America wasn't one for a sneaky Starbucks, going out gave him the option should he want it.

He'd already lapped Central Park and was contemplating a second when he felt the unusual presence of someone keeping pace with him. Now that in itself wasn't unusual, but to find someone who could keep pace whilst not sprinting was rare.

They were in a busy section so he could only glance out the corner of his eye and glimpse a dark nondescript hoodie that hid all immediately identifiable features. The person was still keeping up though, and without seemingly tiring so Steve swerved off the usual track and out into the denser trees. He wasn't surprised to see that his unwanted companion followed his lead.

He wasn't getting that little prickle of threat that usually happened just before a situation went sour, but Steve definitely felt that they would be better off without innocent bystanders in the way.

The area they'd veered off into wasn't one he was very familiar with, so he soon slowed to a halt, allowing his companion to do the same.

"Is there a reason you're sneaking up on my morning jog, Bucky?"

"We're in a public space, I'm hardly sneaking."

"What do you want?" Steve was pretty certain his former friend wasn't about to try and kill him, but it paid not to be complacent.

"Jarvis told me that some updates should be done in person. A show of good faith and all that." Bucky looked better than when they had last seen him, although all things considered that wouldn't be hard. He didn't seem threatened by Steve's presence at any rate, casually kneeling to tie his loose shoelace. "But since the last time I went to the tower an angsty teenager and secretary with attitude shot me I thought this was a safer option."

"Don't call Pepper that; she's the CEO of Stark Industries."

"And the pint-sized menace with the gun?"

Steve smiled slightly. "Nah, I'll give you that." He saw a fleeting grin cross Bucky's face. "So, what did you want to update us about? I'm assuming Hydra?"

"They're planning something again. Slowly, and without much success because I've been pretty efficient at removing their bases, but they're still up to something."

"Huh." The Captain brushed the debris from an old tree stump and sat down with a sigh. "Why can't they just stay dead?"

"You are familiar with the idea that you cut off one head and-"

"And two more grow, yes, I know."

Bucky smirked. "So you did listen in Classics then."

"More than you ever did. You used to doodle pictures of Marcy Wainwright in questionable lingerie in the back of the text book."

"Did I? I don't remember that."

"Probably for the best. So; Hydra."

The soldier's wry grin faded. "Yes. I've been following what leads I can find and managed to clear out a load of files from the last base before they could destroy it all." He pulled a USB stick out of his pocket and flipped it to Steve. "Here. That's got it all on there."

"Anything big to worry about?"

"There's something that looks an awful lot like a new helicarrier design, but with different weaponry. From what I've seen of the plans and such I think they're already starting production."

Steve frowned down at the small stick, concern heavy on his face. "A helicarrier? Reinventing Project Insight maybe?" He just got a shrug in return. "Zola's gone, but that doesn't mean they didn't have a basic understanding of his algorithm. Do you know where they might be building this thing?"

"I've got an idea, but it's too big; I hate to admit it, but I can't take this thing down on my own. Well…I probably could, but I run the risk of not succeeding and in this case that'll be too dangerous. They already know someone's out for them."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Didn't think I'd hear you admit that.

Bucky shrugged, looking off back into the trees. "Hydra did a good job in wiping my memories. What's gone is gone, but like your pet magician said, there're bits still there and they keep popping up at random times. I remember the Howling Commandos. Team work has its benefits."

"You're offering to work with us in this?"

The Winter Soldier smirked slightly. "You currently have the guy who tried to invade this planet with an alien army working with you. I only tried to kill you. And that girl."

"And Sam."

"And him. Three people; not so bad in the grand scheme of taking over the world. And I dragged your sodden ass out of a river so that cancels out at least one count of attempted murder."

"It's because of you I ended up in that state in the river in the first place." Steve slapped his hands on his knees and rose up to his feet. "But; I'm happy to work together on this if you are."

"Do you have the authority to make that decision?"

"Eh. As you quite rightly put; we've let Loki in, it's only fair we give you a chance as well. Do you want to drop by the tower later? I'd offer for you to come back with me now but I should probably give the others a bit of warning first."

"Yeah, sure." Bucky sounded like it was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was the one who had asked for the team-up so it was up to him to follow through. "Have a look at the data, or get Mr Stark to. It will give you all of the information I found and you can see if you come to the same conclusions as I did."

"Will do."

Steve didn't add any qualifier. 'See you soon' was a bit too hopeful and the last thing he wanted to do was send his former friend running. It must have taken a lot of cajoling from Jarvis for Bucky to have turned up in person rather than using the AI as a messenger. He could only hope the winter Soldier would actually turn up later in the day.