Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers.

Authors note: Thank you to those of you who reviewed and welcome to the new followers and favourites.

Chapter 29

"Are you sure you didn't see anyone?" Falcon asked as he paced outside the royal chambers. The family had quickly gathered and while Dahlia's father, brothers and niece were waiting patiently, Falcon seemed not to be able to keep still, worrying too much about his wife inside the quarters who was getting checked over.

"I've told you the last three times you've asked, no," Dahlia replied. "The guards on that corridor said they saw Hela go in alone and no one went in after her and they haven't seen anyone else in there all day."

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Falcon," Loki said calmly. "We're all worried, asking Dahlia the same the question over and over isn't going to change the answer. Until Lady Saida is finished with her examination, we don't know what happened. Hela is alive, she has no visible injuries and she is awake and answering questions. She is safe and okay, think about that."

Falcon stopped pacing and gave a slight nod and he looked down, taking slow breaths as all he wanted to do was to be told what was the reason for his wife being found unconscious and if someone was behind it, he would hunt the person down and make them suffer. The double doors to the room then opened and it was Saida's assistant who gestured that they could go inside.

Falcon was the quickest. They all went inside to see Hela sat up in the large royal bed, looking much better, fully awake and aware as Saida put back all her medical essentials in her bag.

Falcon quickly walked to the bed and sat down as he took Hela's hand and kissed it. "I'm okay," Hela said. "You worry too much."

"You're my wife, I have every right."

"Is she alright? What happened?" Loki asked as he looked at Saida.

"I'm right here, you can ask me," Hela replied, smiling.

"Yes, I can see but you also have a nasty habit of lessening the situation when something happens in order to have us not worry, a nasty habit every member of this family shares. Now, Lady Saida," Loki said and raised a brow to the healer.

Saida only briefly glanced to her queen to see that she was slightly amused before she answered. "The Queen is fine. She simply collapsed from exhaustion, very little sleep and she hasn't had anything to eat or drink all day. The remedy is that she needs to eat and drink plenty of fluids and spend the rest of the day in bed."

"I have things to do, especially with what has happened," Hela said.

"You'll stay in that bed until Lady Saida says otherwise," Loki said with authority, as any father would.

"Papa," she almost said in a childlike tone.

"Hela," he said firmly. "You will stay in that bed until you are told otherwise."

"Fine. But it doesn't mean everyone should be fussing and not doing their jobs. Lady Saida shouldn't have even been called to check up on me, she has bigger things to be worried about, one of which is Akio who needs her much more than I do. Falcon should be collecting souls and you and Jora should be finding a way to break the werewolf curse now more than ever. I will stay in bed but you need to all get back to what you were doing. I'm fine, it was just a simple dizzy spell like Saida said."

They all glanced to one another, and although they were worried about Hela, there was little any of them could do when she just needed to stay in bed. "Fine," Loki said. "But I'll make sure someone comes to check on you and I'll speak to your guards. If any of them lie to me about you leaving this room, I'll know."

"Yes, okay," Hela said and almost rolled her eyes. "Now off with you all. I need to be resting like you said."

Saida and her assistant left, going back to caring for the injured soldiers and Loki and Jörmungandr were right behind them returning to the Apex. Falcon left but didn't return to the in-between collecting souls, he went to get something for Hela to eat and drink and to find Baelen, Hela's maid, so that the woman could watch and attend to Hela, knowing Hela would listen to her after having her since being a child.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" Dahlia asked.

"I'm fine, really," Hela said with a smile.

Dahlia gave her a hug. "Talk to me through the necklace when Falcon stops fussing and he goes back to the in-between. I'll come back and keep you company. We both know you're not one to simply relax."

"I will, thank you," Hela said and they let go.

Dahlia walked to the door and opened it before she looked back to Fenrir and Isolda. "You coming? She needs to rest."

"Hela and I need to have a discussion, perhaps you should stay too, sister, and talk some sense into her," Fenrir said tensely.

Dahlia could see that they were both tense. Both her older brother and sister were practically glaring at each other as Hela gripped onto her covers and Fenrir stood tense and stubborn. Clearly, he was not going to leave until he said what needed to be said.

"Shut up, Fenrir," Hela snapped. "You gave me your word."

"And you gave me yours that if this happened again you would tell the family and you haven't. You had Saida lie," he snapped back.

"Hang on," Dahlia said and shut the door and she walked back to them. "This has happened before? Hela, what's going on?"

"You had no right," Hela said as she shook her head, still looking at their brother.

"I have every right," Fenrir replied. "If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to Dahlia. You can't keep this a secret much longer and you're a fool if you believe you can, I won't keep this a secret for much longer either. Tell her. Let's go, Isolda."

Fenrir held out his hand and Isolda jumped off the bottom of the bed where she was sat and took his hand. As they walked out, she gave a little wave to her aunts but Hela was looking away at the windows and Dahlia gave the little girl a small smile.

As the doors closed, Dahlia climbed onto the bed and sat in the middle and crossed her legs. "So," she said.

"If I tell you to stay out of it and forget what Fenrir said, will you?"

"I think you already know my answer," Dahlia replied as they both knew she wouldn't. "Hela, if something is wrong, you can tell me. Are you sick?"

Hela gave a shake of the head but still wouldn't look at Dahlia.

"Hela, if something is wrong, you can tell me. I'm your sister, I'm here to help you and if something is wrong then let me help."

"I can't tell you," Hela said, her voice almost cracking under the emotions she was trying to keep at bay.

"Do you want me to try and look into your future? Maybe I can find out myself if you won't tell me."

"Don't," Hela said and finally looked to her sister. Her eyes filled with tears and her lip trembled. "You can't know, no one can know. Please, forget about it."

"I can't forget that you're having Saida lie to our family, that Fenrir is lying to us and that you have passed out before. Hela, Fenrir isn't going to stay quiet forever and I need to know that you're okay. If you don't tell me, I will try to look into your future and if I fail, then I will tell dad and Jora and Falcon, I'll even tell Alec and grandma and grandpa, I will tell everyone you consider family that something is wrong with you and you're not telling us. Hela, you can't keep on passing out, especially with all the enemies this family has so if we know what's wrong with you, we can help."

"You're right, Fenrir isn't going to stay quiet," Hela said as she wiped the few tears away that streamed down her cheeks. "If I tell you, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone, I know I can't keep it a secret for much longer but I want to be the one to tell everyone. Can you promise me that, can you give me the chance to tell everyone before you or Fenrir do?"

Dahlia moved and crawled up the bed until she sat close to Hela, beside her legs so she still faced her. "I promise you'll have the chance to tell everyone, as long you don't collapse again and worry everyone."

"I…it…erm…" Hela mumbled not knowing where to begin so she took a few deep breaths before she spoke much clearer. "It all started about two months ago. I started feeling different, at first it was my magic, I was getting frustrated with everything that is happening and a glass shattered and I didn't even want it to. I then started to feel different and I had these dizzy spells so I went to Saida and she confirmed what I suspected but disbelieved. I didn't want anyone to know, not yet, so I put a spell on me, cloaking me so no one would know but Fenrir found out. His stupid wolf senses sensed a change in me and I had a dizzy spell, this time I collapsed just like today and he caught me and I begged him not to tell anyone and he promised he wouldn't as long as I took care of myself. That was two weeks before the winter solstice."

Dahlia frowned before she questioned. "What did Saida confirm?"

Hela didn't respond and just began to pick at her covers nervously.

Dahlia reached for one of her hands to hold and that stopped her. "Tell me, what did she confirm?"

All kinds of thoughts ran through Dahlia's mind. Something was wrong with Hela's Aesir power, something was wrong with her connection to Niflheim and the power she was given or maybe some alien illness that Dahlia had never even heard of. She expected a lot of things, but she never expected what Hela told her.

"I'm pregnant".

"What?" Dahlia said in disbelief as her mouth dropped open.

"Twelve weeks today actually. I used a cloaking spell so I didn't look pregnant and so that Falcon wouldn't sense the soul like I started to but I didn't hide my smell. I didn't even think about Fenrir and Isolda and in wolf form they could smell a change in me, one they said they only smelled on pregnant people."

"You're pregnant, oh my gods," Dahlia said happily and moved to hug Hela but it was while she was hugging her that she realised that Hela wasn't hugging her back.

She pulled back, confused.

"What's wrong? I know you were told you couldn't have children but, Hela, this is a miracle. You and Falcon as parents, you'll be amazing parents".

"No, we won't because it's going to die," Hela said as she busted into tears.

Dahlia immediately reached out to hold her hand and comfort her. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Tell me what's wrong. Is something wrong with the baby?"

"No, it's me," Hela wept. "I'm not supposed to have a child, my powers won't allow it. After I found out I was pregnant, I sent word to Frigga that I wanted the journals of the past gods and goddess of death, it is my right to have them and she brought them. Nowhere does it say they ever had a child before, some tried for centuries to conceive but they couldn't even do that and now this. Saida believes I have only conceived because Falcon is Death but the dizzy spells, Dahlia, they're not normal pregnancy dizzy spells… my power causes death, not life. It's fighting this pregnancy and the fetus is trying to fight back, I can sense its magic but it won't survive against the power of a goddess."

"Hela, you should have told us."

"Why? So, you can all look at me with sympathies? I don't want that."

"Hela," Dahlia said calmly and reached to wipe her tears and Hela sniffled as she tried to stop crying. "We're your family, we're here to help. This baby and its survival are our priority now and we will find a way to help. Yes, you are a goddess but dad is a god and I am the goddess of destiny, I will do everything within my power to tilt fate into allowing your baby to survive."

"But the fetus-"

"Baby," Dahlia interrupted. "Calling it a fetus isn't going to help distance yourself further from the baby. It's growing inside of you; you can be no closer to it."

Hela glanced down to her stomach before she replied. "I can't. If I think about it that way, I think about what it will look like, the colour of its eyes, how happy Falcon will be and what an amazing father he would be and I can't think about that if there isn't going to be one."

"But you don't know that. We can help. People have problems all the time with pregnancy on Midgard and I am sure they do on other worlds too and children that are predicted to die in the womb are quite often successfully born and healthy. I am sure Saida already has a plan, right…right?"

Hela gave a slight nod.

"Exactly and if it is your power that's causing the problem then we will find a way to fix that. But, Hela, you have to tell the rest of the family, most of all Falcon."

"I can't. If I tell him and it dies, he'll hate me."

"He will not hate you; the man loves you more than anything in existence. He will find out about this baby, if it lives or dies. From what I can gather, the baby already having magic, it fighting against yours and the change you've been feeling, the baby already has a soul, one that will go to the in-between, doesn't it?"

Hela didn't need to answer, Dahlia already knew.

"Then Falcon is going to find out when he collects its soul. You don't think he's going to collect his child's soul and not feel some kind of connection to it, do you?"

Hela didn't answer but she did look towards the windows and spoke calmly. "You know children's souls of those not born don't come here looking alive like others. They come as little balls of light, light that you can sometimes see in the corner of your eye. Before I took over, Alec told me that they didn't last long; they disappeared, faded because of their innocence and how dark Niflheim used to be meant there was no place for them here. After I created all of this, the souls of those not born began to stay. The souls of babies not wanted, souls of babies loved so much but gone before they even experienced life, all of them come here. Sometimes you can see them in the streets but because of the busy life, you miss them, believe it's something in the corner of your eye. But there is a place north beyond the mountains in the distance called Svenariel with mountains and a forest of its own and no one knows why but they gravitate towards there. It's so peaceful and tranquil and you can see the little balls of light as clear as day and if you focus, you can even hear humming, as if the babies are talking, happy in a world of their own. I see parents visiting and sometimes you'll see a soul go to them and you know that soul was supposed to be their baby. I see them carving names onto trees, the names of the children that should have been…I see them grieving and I know if I lose this...this being then I know Falcon and I will be another one of those parents visiting if we get close to it and attached."

"I think you already are," Dahlia said and Hela looked back to her. "Hela, he is going to find out eventually and even if the baby dies, he needs to be prepared. Drop the cloaking spell."

"No," Hela said firmly.

"Drop it."

"No."

"Drop it or you're proving my point that you are already attached to this baby, that you're trying to hide all of the evidence of this pregnancy just so you can fool yourself that it isn't happening."

Hela waited a few moments before she allowed flecks of her magic to surround her and as they disappeared, the cloaking spell disappeared with it. The bump wasn't big, but it was clear that she had one through her night gown.

Dahlia took Hela's hand and placed it on the growing bump and Hela looked away. "What are you doing?" Hela asked as she tried to pull Dahlia's hand away, still not looking.

"This is your baby," Dahlia said and finally placed Hela's hand on the bump. "Look at me."

Hela soon did.

"This is your baby, yours and Falcon's and nothing is going to change that. You can try to hide from the truth but if you lose this baby, you will crash and fall just like all parents do and you will grieve for your child…" Dahlia then gave a small smile. "But if you don't, if you don't lose this baby, then you have a baby boy or baby girl growing inside of you and when it is born, the baby will be innocent, uncorrupted by the universe and its opinion of our family and it will look at you and love you immediately because you're its mother. The question is, do you want this baby?"

"Of course," Hela said quietly.

"I can't hear you."

"Yes," Hela said more clearly.

"Yes what?" Dahlia said, smiling more.

"Yes, I want my baby," Hela said shocking herself that she finally referred to the fetus as her baby.

Dahlia removed her hand from Hela's on the bump and Hela kept her hand there and finally looked down and even moved her thumb up and down, as if she was stroking her baby. "Then we will do all we can to help you and the baby," Dahlia said. "We do everything we can for family and as dad always reminds us, love is the strongest magic out there and this family is never short on our love for each other."

"I'm scared," Hela admitted and looked to her sister. "Not just about my power and the survival of the baby but after. I'm half Jotun, a goddess, and while Falcon was born on Midgard, he sacrificed every part of himself when he accepted the power of Death. That makes him the only living being truly connected to Niflheim. I am because I chose to be, and I am, in a way, connected to Niflheim through being Queen but he is connected completely, making him the only true living Niflheim. Our baby will not only be a child of two worlds but will be the first child born connected to this realm. I don't know what that means, what power the baby will have or how others will view it."

"Who cares what others think? No one in this family does or you all would have thrown me to our enemies the moment I was born. The way I see it, the baby and I are a lot alike. Both children of two worlds, both with powers we don't know how to control or what they mean and the universes opinion on us that we're monsters. You handle and protect me well, I'm sure you will do a much better job of this baby and the challenges he or she might bring when born."

"Do you think I'll be a good mother?" Hela questioned in doubt, letting all the insecurities she had and what others told her and made her feel about herself, sneak their way into her thoughts and she began to doubt if her even having a child would be good idea.

"I think you'll be an amazing mother. Look at all you do for me, you protect me, give me advice, help me when I need it, tell me when I mess up and are happy for my achievements. You do it all not just because you're my sister but because you help fill the role of mum and I love you."

"I don't know how she did it," Hela said thinking of Lily. "Mum always knew what to do with you when you were crying when no one could figure out why and even me, she always knew when I was upset or angry and she had a way of making everything alright. She was once a simple Midgardian who knew nothing of the life outside of Midgard and when she found out what was out there and the threats she faced…she handled it all and here I am, scared."

"Just because mum knew about the threats to herself and our family and didn't look scared, doesn't mean she wasn't. If you look at her memories, they show that sometimes she was scared but her love for our family is what made her strong. Just like your love for your baby will make you strong enough to face whatever challenges come. Mum didn't have the answers for everything, but she had you and dad to help just like you have our family and all those loyal to you to help. You're not alone, Hela. Come on, do you really think I'd let you be a bad mum; you should worry about Fenrir corrupting the baby with his mischief," Dahlia said with a grin.

"I think he's maturing with Isolda but I also think he's corrupting our niece so maybe soon we should start watching out for the both of them. Thank you," Hela said taking a deep breath, allowing her sisters words to reassure her. "I think Fenrir was right about me listening to you, I just needed someone to talk some sense into me."

"Well, I'm always here for you," Dahlia said just as the door opened.

Hela was quick to put the cloaking spell back on not wanting anyone to really discover her pregnancy yet but then realised that it was her husband.

Falcon had come back into the room and spoke. "Baelen will be here soon. She's gone getting you something to eat, she said she is going to instruct the chef to make your favourite and bring it along soon. Are you feeling better? Do you need anything?"

"I need you to stop worrying," Hela said and held out her hand towards him and he quickly approached and took her hand.

"I should get going," Dahlia said and hugged Hela. "Tell him," she whispered before she pulled away and climbed off the bed and left.

"Sit with me," Hela said and pulled him onto the bed. He quickly kicked off his shoes before getting under the covers with her and wrapped his arms around her as she cuddled up into him.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he placed a kiss to her head.

She looked up at him and replied. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Don't think I haven't noticed how tired you've been recently, how you've been sick. You claimed it was all the feasts and celebrations but I don't believe that. Please, Hela, I love you and I cannot bear it any longer, not knowing what ails you."

"It's nothing bad. In fact, I believe you'll be happy, excited even," Hela said then took a deep breath and sighed. She then took his hand and placed it on her stomach and waited for his reaction but he seemed not to put the pieces together.

"Hela, just tell me what's wrong."

"Use your power, sense what's beneath," Hela said as she dropped the enchantment.

He felt her stomach grow beneath his hand, not by much but enough to gather his attention. It was the power of a soul, a pure soul untainted by the living that he sensed even before he felt the change in stomach size. But this was different, unlike all unborn children he had sensed before, he felt a sense of kinship to the one that lay beneath his hand. His child, his and Hela's child, a child of their love. He couldn't look away from her stomach in wonder.

"I thought this was impossible," he said in disbelief.

"Seems we're to be the first. There has never been record of any Death or anyone who holds the title of God or Goddess of Death that have had a child, not even one who has conceived a child. It has always been thought impossible but Saida believes that because of our connection to each other, our connection to this realm and because I am your goddess, she believes that somehow a connection is between us that allows us to have a child. No one who has held my title before has been King or Queen of Niflheim or had relationship with Death, so-"

"We're the first," he said and looked to her with the biggest smile she had ever seen. "We're having a baby."

She was barely able to nod before he leaned down to kiss her, his lips covering hers in a gentle but passionate kiss. One arm wrapped tightly around her while his other hand lay on her stomach. He only broke the kiss when he sensed a jolt of magic beneath his hand, a magic unlike any souls he had encountered before.

"What was that?" he asked as he looked to her belly.

"Magic. Our little one already has magic," she said as she looked away from him.

He noticed that Hela didn't seem as pleased as he thought she might be that their little one was so special to already have magic, in fact she seemed cautious, if not scared. He looked to her and lost his smile as he moved his hand from her stomach so that he could tilt her chin upwards so she would look at him. "What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing or not to worry because I will. It's not just you now, it's also our baby, so tell me,"

"I just…What if the baby doesn't make it?" she said holding back her tears.

"Hela," he sighed.

"No, don't do that," she said as she moved out of his arms and sat across from him on the bed so she faced him and they weren't touching. "Don't look at me like I'm imagining it or thinking the worst because of what's happened in my past. This isn't me overthinking what's happening, this could actually happen…Falcon, we might lose our baby."

"What are you talking about? Is this why you're sick?" he asked suddenly worried, knowing now it wasn't her insecurities.

She nodded and hoped he could handle the truth. "We were never supposed to have a baby. We are both beings of death, we shouldn't be able to create life. The baby, the power it has, the power you felt, it's fighting my power to destroy it. It's why I was found unconscious, the dizzy spells that I get sometimes go one step further and my whole being needs to sleep in order to regain strength."

"Dizzy spells you get? This has happened before?"

"Yes," she said and Falcon shook his head and looked away from her. "I know I should have told you but I wanted to think first and try to find a solution. I am so sorry; this is all my fault."

Falcon's head shot to look at her and he quickly moved to gather her into his arms as her tears started falling. He pulled her into his lap and his arms circled around her. "Sorry? Why are you saying sorry to me?"

"You've always wanted a family. I know you accepted like me that we couldn't have children but now that we can," she said trying to control her tears. "You'd be an amazing father and because of me, our baby is fighting for his or her life."

"And you would be the most amazing, brilliant mother, but, Hela, this is not your fault. We both believed we couldn't have children, we did not willingly seek to have a child, especially when we don't know the effects. You blame yourself for our child fighting but this could all be my fault. I spend half a life with the living and the other half in a place where only the spirits of the dead may enter. Our baby may be effected by my powers and could struggle to hold onto life when I so easily sacrifice that part of myself to travel to the in-between."

"No, you can't blame yourself for this."

"Then nor should you. I assume what Saida has told is only one theory she has," he said and she gave a slow nod. "Then there you go. We don't know why this has happened."

"But we know for sure the baby is fighting to live-"

"But not why. Hela, my love, we are both responsible for this baby coming into existence so we are both responsible for what is happening. Whatever happens, we are in this together."

He held her close, her forehead leaning on his as her hands were on his neck/ his arms were still wrapped around her as she remained on this lap. They were silent for almost a minute before she spoke. "I want our baby, Falcon."

"As do I," he said and held her even tighter if it were possible.

"I thought it would be easy to distance myself but telling you, it makes it all the more real. Falcon, what are we going to do?"

"We have to have hope and faith it will all turn out okay. That our child shall be born healthy into a happy, loving family."

"…and if it doesn't?"

"Then I will collect the soul of our child and make sure that our child is happy and at peace here, so that it shall not feel like the children of old and it will know that no matter what, Niflheim is its home and he or she shall never be alone and shall always find peace here."

Hela then moved slightly back, still sitting on his lap but his arms loosened around her waist and she moved her hands to put them on her stomach. "We're having a baby," she said now allowing happy thoughts of their child to enter her mind.

"Yes, we are…Are you okay? I didn't even ask. The fainting spells, the baby's magic, is it having any negative effects on you? Are you healthy?"

She looked up to see his panicked expression. "I'm fine. Saida believes the baby's magic might get a little intense the bigger the baby gets but I don't care. All pregnancies come with risk and as long as this baby lives, I'll take that risk."

"Well then," he said and moved them over so she lied down on the bed and he was on top of her between her legs. He kissed her briefly on the lips before moving down to kiss her stomach. He then spoke to her stomach. "Now listen here, little one, we can't be scaring your mother now."

"What are you doing?" Hela asked with a smile.

"Talking to our baby. I heard they can hear inside the womb."

"Not yet."

Falcon shrugged. "Doesn't matter, our child is special and I have no doubt our child will hear me and listen. Now let me get back to it…I am your daddy and that wonderful amazing beautiful voice you might hear is your mother. We are going to do all we can to keep you safe and protected and loved and I promise I will spoil you if you do two things for me. One, hang on, because you're everything your mother and I have wished for. The other thing, take it easy on your mother. She is the most caring, loving person you will ever meet and she's so strong but she's worried about you so take it easy. I'll take care of you and your mother, I swear it."

"Daddy, that's what our child will call you?" Hela questioned as she raised a hand to his head and began to run her fingers through his hair.

He looked up from her stomach. "I called him pa and I never gave a title to Ari. I don't want to be a pa or papa to our child so why not something more modern like daddy," he explained and Hela knew who he was talking about, his birth father, the one who left him to die in the woods.

"Well, I'm momma then," Hela said trying to draw his mind away from his past. "I don't want you talking to our child with the wrong title, mother is far too formal for a baby."

Falcon smiled and looked back down as she continued to massage his hair. She smiled tearfully at him speaking to their child. "That beautiful voice is the one I was talking about, your mother or momma, and if you are even half as brave and stubborn as she is, well I will surely turn grey with worry before you are of age. Let me tell you when I first met your mother, we were very young…"

Hela knew there was no use getting Falcon to return to the in-between to collect souls, he wouldn't leave now and she didn't want him to. His place in that moment was with them and with every story he told their child, the dark thoughts of what might happen to it moved further and further into the back of her mind. Perhaps she would tell him to do his job tomorrow or the day after but in that moment, it was just the three of them and Hela wouldn't change it for all the realm.

Authors note: Please review