Like any true love, it drives you crazy,

but you know you wouldn't change anything

Welcome to New York, Taylor Swift

"Bambi!"

Loki started, and sat up, hands immediately searching his sleeves for his (no longer there) daggers, and in his confusion, he slipped off the couch onto the floor. He sat up, blinking, wondering where in the Nine realms he was, when the guard robot hit him straight in the face with a blast of some sort icy cold foam. Loki leapt up swiping his face and sputtering. Stark rolled on the ground and howled with laughter.

"What… what is this… stuff?" Loki gasped. "I thought… why aren't I dead?"

Stark sat up, wiping his eyes. "Dum-E isn't a weapon! All he could shoot you with was the fire extinguisher! Oh my God! You should've seen your face!"

Loki growled impatiently. He'd been played.

"That was a cruel trick to play, Anthony." Sigyn spoke up from where she was seated on the couch, but she, also, was laughing.

"Okay, okay." Stark stood up, clutching his sides, and threw Loki a towel. Loki irritably wiped the frothy substance off his face. "Okay." Stark repeated. "Jarv, summon the Avengers to the lobby."

Five minutes later, four of the remaining five Avengers were standing in the lobby, excluding Thor, of course. "What happened, Tony?" Barton asked immediately, then his eyes landed on Loki, and there was an arrow aimed at his eye quicker than he could blink.

"Calm down, Katniss!" Stark grinned, looking around at the very-not-amused faces of his teammates. "He's not dangerous! Well, yet… I mean, I could technically weaponize him…"

"Tony…" The Captain glared at the billionaire. "You do realize who this is, right?"

And, so, the story came out, for the third time in twenty-four hours, and by this time, Loki was completely bored of it. Sigyn picked up his helmet, and placed it onto her own head while Stark was talking. Loki lowered his brows at her, but she just grinned. He sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her, and leaning his head on her shoulder.

"So, I'm leaving it up to you guys. A vote, see? Capsicle, you go first. Rock of Ages stays or goes?"

Rogers sighed, giving Loki a look that seemed to bore into his soul. "Stay. Everyone deserves a second chance."

Loki gave him a grateful smile, and then looked back to Stark. "My vote, he stays." The engineer announced, taking a sip of something that was probably alcohol. "I think I'd enjoy a new lab partner, especially if said lab partner is an alien with hyper-advanced technology. Brucie?"

The quiet man was leaning against the doorway, and Loki hadn't even noticed he had been standing there. "Go. Sorry, but he's freaking me out, just sitting there cuddling his wife."

Loki gave him an evil grin, to which he stared back, unamused. "Don't think you're going to be able to pull that stunt again."

Loki shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"Go." Barton spoke up, as he sharpened one of his arrows. "Pregnant wife, or no, this guy's dangerous. Also, God of Lies. He could've just pulled a random girl off the street, and mind controlled her so that he could infiltrate our tower."

"Random elf?" Stark asked. "Without affecting the eye color?"

Barton shrugged, giving the Trickster the stink-eye. He was so very, very dead.

"Well, that leaves you, Nat. What's your tie-breaker decision?" Stark asked.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, tapping her chin thought. "His ledger is gushing red." She announced. Loki widened his eyes, not expecting her to reference the conversation they'd had while he was in the containment unit. "That much red's going to be hard to wipe out, but… I'd like to help him try. Stay."

Stay… They'd allowed him to stay! He honestly hadn't expected that. The back of his eyes stung, and he clung to Sigyn, shaking like a leaf. "I… I thank you. Thank you all. I don't know what I've done to deserve this."

Barton shot him another glare, but leaned back against the back of the couch, not objecting. The beast pinched the bridge of his nose, and walked out, as the Captain stood up, giving Loki an understanding look. "We've all done quite a lot of things we regret, Loki. You've just… done a bigger thing."

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

The soldier shrugged. "Sort of." Sigyn giggled, affectionately tousling her husband's hair. "Anthony, is Loki to sleep in the same room as I did, last night?"

"Room?" Stark scoffed, as the remaining three Avengers drifted off about their business. "Heck, no! You two are residents of Star- I mean, Avengers Tower, and you're getting your own floor."

"Our own floor?" Loki gasped, sitting up abruptly. "Stark, that's… that's not necessary, I razed your city! You don't have to show me this kindness."

"Maybe, but I want to." He picked one of his tablets, turning it on, and handing it to Sigyn. "You know how to work one of these?" Loki nodded. "Okay, then shop for your furniture. If you go quickly, it all ought to be delivered and in place by tonight. Get some new clothes, while you're at it, you look like something out of a Ren Fest."

"But the price would be astronomical…" Sigyn started.

The engineer gave her a grin. "Billionaire, remember? Money is no object."

Loki and Sigyn glanced at each other. "We'll never be able to repay you this kindness, Anthony."

"Don't worry about it." He grinned, heading towards the elevator. "If you're done before breakfast is ready, ask Jarvis, he'll take you up to the communal floors. If you're not, he'll tell you when the food's ready, and you can go back to shopping at your leisure. Tower's open to you, except for the personal floors, which, Jarvis will tell you which ones are which. Your floor will be number eighty-seven. You got that?"

"Purchase our items until breakfast, don't go into the personal floors, and ours is eighty-seven?" Loki repeated. "Do you mind…" Sigyn spoke up. "Before we purchase our furniture, could we see our floor?"

"Yep, you got it." Stark nodded. "Go right ahead."

Sigyn glanced at Loki, again, as the billionaire stepped into the elevator. Loki slipped his boots on, scooped Sigyn up into his arms, and carried her to the elevator, as he explained how to work the tablet.

The floor was very spacious, the elevator opening onto a wide room, with moss green carpet. The walls were unpainted, and there were four doorways, one in every wall. They found the one to the north led to a kitchenette kind of room, with a fully stocked refrigerator, but no place to sit and eat. Another, to the west, had hardwood flooring, and a large floor-to-ceiling window, across the entire room. Sigyn found a dial on the wall, that if you turned it, the window would darken until no light could enter at all. They decided to have this be their bedroom. Adjacent to this room was a walk-in closet, a small room painted in pastel blue, where Sigyn wanted to have the nursery, and a washroom. The washroom appeared to have a small pool in it, along with a shower, toilet, and two sinks. Jarvis explained that the "pool" was actually a bathtub. The room to south was entirely empty, with narrow windows and navy-blue carpet, softer than the main room's and much thicker. Loki claimed it as a library, and Sigyn had absolutely no objection to that. The last room, to the east, was actually two rooms, adjacent to each other. The first had mirrors along one wall, and waxed wooden flooring. The sun shone in brightly from the two windows, giving it a cheery appearance. Beyond this room, was another room with navy carpet, smaller room, about six feet by ten. They agreed to turn this into the playroom, and Vali's room, respectively. They then sat down in the middle of the first room, and set about buying their furniture. It became obvious that Loki was looking for pieces that were similar to the furniture they'd had on Asgard, but Sigyn was trying to make it look more like her room on Alfheim.

Eventually, the came across the Midgardian invention of the "crib", which Loki thought was brilliant, much better than a cradle, but Sigyn said it looked like a prison.

"Think about it, Sig." Loki pointed out. "It allows for much more movement for the baby, and there's far less risk of sudden death. It may look like a prison, but any time we choose we can take her out of it. And if she's naughty, we can put her back into it for short periods of time."

"We can't count on her being naughty…" Sigyn objected.

Loki snorted, thinking of his experiences with Vali. "I'm just going to wait until you realize what a horribly incorrect statement that was."

Sigyn chewed on her lip. "We… can count on it?"

"Children learn by being naughty, Sigyn. Discipline for the naughtiness is what teaches them right from wrong." Loki stated. "Yes, we can count on her being extremely naughty."

"Oh." The princess slumped. "Well, that's discouraging, but I suppose you're the voice of experience."

"I'm surprised you didn't know that, already, what with Arwen, and all." Loki pointed out, pushing the "purchase" button on the crib they'd been looking at.

'I guess I did." Sigyn admitted. "I just don't like thinking the worst of people. Especially before we've even met them."

Loki gave her a look. "that's not thinking the worst of her. Thinking the worst of her would be that she grows up to be just like her father."

Sigyn glared at him, her eyes blazing. "I don't want you to ever say anything like that, again."

"Why not?" Loki asked, somewhat disturbed.

Sigyn stared at him coldly. "Until you tell me exactly what happened, and I'm sure you will, I refuse to judge you, let alone hold you as the paradigm of evil. Or let you hold yourself as such."

Loki sighed, fiddling with his fingers. "I… I'll tell you tonight, all right?"

"Thank you." She smiled. "Now, how lavishly furnished are we wanting Vali's room to be?"

"Princess Sigyn, Reindeer games, Sir has asked me to inform you that breakfast is ready for you. He extends his invitation to join the team, on the sixty-fourth floor, for the meal." Jarvis suddenly announced.

"Thank you, Jarvis." Sigyn pushed herself onto her feet. "And… stop calling my husband by Anthony's nicknames, please."

"What would you prefer to be called?"

Loki shrugged. "Prince Loki is fine."

"I'm sorry, but I have been forbidden to acknowledge you as any form of royalty. Is there another name I could call you by?"

"Just Loki, then."

"Preference set." Jarvis cheerfully replied, opening the door to the elevator.

Waffles. That was what Anthony had said this strange food was called. It was a very fun word to say, and Loki had dug into them as if he hadn't eaten since he fell off the rainbow bridge. Actually… had he?

Sigyn turned to Loki, who was now eyeing her untouched waffle with positively ravenous eyes. "Melleth, when's the last time you've eaten?"

He glanced up at her sharply, his brow furrowing in thought. "I… cannot recall. Who keeps record of that, anyway? Are you going to eat that?"

"Wait, you can't remember when the last time you've eaten something was?" Steven spoke up.

"Can you?" Loki challenged.

"Yeah." Steven nodded. "Last night, just before bed, I ate two bowls of spaghetti."

Loki stared at him for a long minute. "You're very privileged, Captain." He finally said, quietly. "Not all are so blessed. Or so deserving."

"So, Sigyn? What's your story with Mr. Mischief?" Anthony asked. "How did you two meet?"

"It was an arranged marriage." She explained. "We met on our wedding day, and I fell on my face, figuratively and literally, in front of all Asgard, and much of Alfheim."

"Ouch." Anthony winced. "That was how many years ago? And how old were you?"

"About two years ago, by our time." Sigyn replied, cutting her waffle in two, and taking a small bite. "We were fifteen."

Clinton choked on his coffee, and everyone stared at the couple in shock. "You were how old?"

"Fifteen." Sigyn repeated. "What's the matter?"

"So…" Natasha spoke up. "You're only seventeen, now?"

"Well, I'm still sixteen, and I shall be for another three months. But yes, Loki's seventeen."

Loki glanced at his hands folded in his lap, slightly embarrassed.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Steven gasped. "Arranging a marriage between… kids? That's…"

"Before Steve goes off on a tangent about injustice," Tony interrupted, "I just want to say that's one of the most appalling things I've ever heard."

"It was for the good of our realms." Loki pointed out. "Since then, the peace between Asgard and Alfheim has been flourishing."

"But you were-are still teenagers!" Clint snorted. "That's… that's sick."

"I thought you didn't like me." Loki pointed out.

Anthony gestured around the room. "Look around, Rudolph. Nobody here 'likes' you. We just think your parents are sucky."

"But…" Sigyn spoke up. "Why are you being so kind to us, if you don't like us?"

"No changing the subject allowed!" Tony announced. "First rule of important conversations, Siglet."

"Siglet?" Loki snorted. "Sounds like 'Piglet'."

Sigyn burst out laughing, and made pig noises at Anthony.

"Alright, not my best." He admitted. "Give me time. Anyway… your parents. What were they thinking?"

"We were not… unhappy." Loki said, turning to Sigyn for confirmation. "Once we got to know each other, we were very good friends."

Steve shook his head. "I'm really sorry for you guys."

"Don't be." Sigyn told him. "Loki's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"And the worst." Loki grinned.

"Actually, yeah…" Sigyn rolled her eyes. "About ninety percent of the pain in my life wouldn't have happened if I hadn't married him."

Loki stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"But it was worth it." She quickly added. "I'd do it all the same, if I had another choice."

"Wait a minute…" Natasha spoke up. "You're sixteen, and you're pregnant?"

Sigyn nodded, a tiny smile on her face. "Yes…"

Anthony frowned. "Isn't there something wrong with that, to you? "

They both shook their heads. "I mean, we're married. So… No?"

There was an awkward silence. "Are you saying…" Loki started, "that I shouldn't have… you know… impregnated her?"

"No." Pepper shook her head, speaking up for the first time. "You are married, after all. So, there's nothing wrong with that. When are you due, Sigyn?"

"Two months hence." She beamed, laying a hand on her stomach.

"Congratulations." She smiled. "Girl or boy?"

"Girl." Loki answered proudly.

"Pep, you can't just ignore this!" Tony protested.

"It wasn't their fault what their parents forced them into." Pepper replied smoothly. "And there's no use making them guilty about their love. They obviously want this, so this line of conversation is entirely pointless, and possibly destructive."

"I think, if you hadn't married me…" Sigyn turned to Loki. "You probably would've eloped with Angrboda."

"It's a possibility." Loki admitted. "Except that I've never felt that way about her."

"True." Sigyn admitted, finishing her waffle. "But I think that may have been because you were never allowed to."

"Wait, Angrboda's real?" Clint asked, hopping of the counter.

Loki turned to him in surprise. "You know of her?"

"I read the Edda." He admitted. "Did you guys really…"

"No." Loki bit out. "Never. We never did. That book is a pack of lies."

"You'd know." Clint shrugged.

Loki narrowed his eyes dangerously at him. "Yes. I would."

"Hey, Lokes." Anthony spoke up, trying to cut the tension. "I noticed, on your order, you got three beds. One king sized, a crib, and a twin. What's that about?"

"Oh…" Loki glanced at Sigyn who bit her lip nervously. "I suppose we should have verified with you before we promised this, but…" Loki trailed off nervously, wringing his hands apprehensively in his lap.

"We promised Loki's son, Vali, that he'd be allowed to visit us, sometimes, so… we readied a room for him." Sigyn finished, glancing around at their faces. "Is… is that alright?"

There was another heavy silence.

"This isn't your first?" Steve asked.

"It's my first, but not his." Sigyn explained. "He made, what I believe Midgardians would call, test tube babies, with Angrboda, and raised them as sons. Vali's the younger, and he lived with us, on Asgard. His elder by just a few seconds is Narfi, who lives on Jotunheim with his mother."

"Oh, cool!" Anthony grinned. "I had a feeling you were into science!"

Loki tilted his head to one side, shocked. "You believe that story?"

"Is it fake?"

Loki shook his head. "No… but you'd probably be the first. Nobody believed he wasn't some illegitimate bastard of mine, so they all treated him awfully, on Asgard. He's terrified of people, because of that."

"Aw, poor little guy!" Pepper shook her head. "How old is he?"

Loki thought for a minute. "Almost seven, now, isn't he?"

Sigyn nodded. "So, can he come?"

"Yeah, sure!" Anthony agreed. "I should probably let you two get back to shopping, right? Oh, but first…" He set a plate with another waffle on it in front of Loki. Loki's face lit up, and he dug in. It wasn't until then, that Sigyn noticed his sunken cheeks, his almost skeletal hands, the way his clothes hung off of his gaunt frame, and the way he hovered over his plate as if someone was going to take it from him. She shook her head, closing her eyes in reflection.

SMASH!

Sigyn looked up to find Steven staring at his empty hand, where there used to be a coffee mug. Now there was nothing but a bit of handle, and there was coffee and shards of porcelain all over the floor. "What just happened?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sigyn exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth in distress. "It's my magic, it's going mad, because of the baby. I can barely control it, anymore, I'm so sorry!"

The captain smiled at her. "No harm done. I'm just a little startled."

"Is it just in sporadic bursts that you can't control it?" Anthony asked eagerly. "Can you show me something cool?"

"Yeah." Sigyn nodded. "What do you want to see?"

The engineer shrugged. "What about shapeshifting? Can you do that?"

"Not to myself, without hurting the baby, but I can do it to others." She smiled, as a pink haze went over Clint as he sat on the counter. When the sparkles cleared, Hawkeye was, well, a hawk. "Cool!" He cawed, as he changed back to a person.

"Can you do Telekinesis?" Natasha asked.

"The art of moving things with my mind?" Sigyn asked, as the dirty plates on the table moved into one stack in the center.

"Woah!" The Captain applauded. "How about Telepathy?"

Steve's eyes suddenly went wide, as she thought the words, Isn't that speaking into people's minds? into his head. "How did you do that?"

"Sedir." She grinned, wiggling her fingers theatrically. Loki beamed in pride, as he finished off his waffle. "But I can't use it too much, or the times I can't control it will become more often."

"Oh, I see." Anthony sighed, disappointed. "Well, I'll let you get back to your shopping. I mean, we've all got places to be."

"And how." Pepper agreed, picking up a stack of papers on the end of the counter. Steven and Natasha said they was going to go work out, Anthony said he had science stuff to do with Bruce, and Clint didn't even make an excuse, merely climbed up into the ventilation shafts.

Okay. Barton, you're weird, you know that? I love that line: "I mean, I could technically weaponize him..."

Anywho, Next time, you'll have Loki making fwends! Yaaay!

A heart lets you have a room in Tony's tower, a Review lets you have a whole floor.

TheOnlyHuman.