Eeeeyyyyy! Update in less than a month! Heh, I should not be so pleased about that, but I am ^_^

Thank you all, as ever, for all of the faves and follows, but most especially for all of the reviews. Seriously, no matter how bad a day I am having a simple 'that was cool' makes me so so happy. And there are some of you out there (you know who you are) who have been here from the start and always leave detailed reviews of all your favourite bits. I LOVE that! So thank you all – you guys rock.

A bit of a filler chapter here, but keep an eye open, there are some tiny clues for later plot-lines.

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It tasted no different to normal bottled water, but burnt the throat like the finest aged whisky. Tony coughed, completely taken by surprise, which caused Loki to laugh.

"Well?!" Evie asked eagerly. "Feel immortal?"

"I feel like I've just drunk bleach, if that's what you mean." Tony quickly resealed the flask, still coughing. "That water's been sitting around for a while!"

"Only you would complain about the life-giving elixir of Shangri-La."

"Yeah, well," The man cleared his throat again. "That was some bad mojo-juice." He grinned at Loki. "How do I know if it's worked?"

"You will not particularly feel the effects. What do you think, Evelyn? Has it worked?"

The girl scrutinised her father for a moment, then beamed. "Your wrinkles are going!"

"I didn't have wrinkles to start with!"

Both his lover and daughter gave him an identical look of disbelief that made Tony shrug. "Okay, fine. Maybe a few."

"Still, they have gone. Most of them at any rate." Evie leaned across to take a look at the side of his head. "Hey, and you're slightly less grey!"

"I'm not grey!"

Loki smiled. To be honest, there was not all that much in the way of outward changes. Tony hadn't been looking all that old to begin with – more tired due to all his existing health problems – and it was the tiredness that was being erased. UV damage, exhaustion, stress, all those little things that add to aging were vanishing from Tony's face – and presumably everywhere else too.

"So it heals all damage?" The man asked in interest.

"It will not do anything about the arc reactor – that is a foreign body, as is the shrapnel. However, that benign tumour in your colon will have gone."

"The what?"

"And those beginning signs of osteoporosis. And arthritis. You have not been kind to your body. Oh and do not get me started on the damage your alcoholism has done!" Loki looked rather judgemental. "Your liver has taken a pounding. And that experimental phase with drugs, the failed Prince Albert piercing – do not think I did not notice that scarring – all those broken bones and torn ligaments you have had over the years and you may notice various other aches and pains vanishing. It will not do anything about the excess weight though – you will have to sort that out yourself."

"I'm not carrying any excess weight!"

Loki smirked whilst Evie sniggered loudly.

"I'm not."

"Suuure." Evie drew the word out as she poked him sharply in the stomach. "That's just your T-shirt then, is it?"

"…Shut up Birdy!"

Tony was secure enough in his body image to know that his family were simply taking the piss. He was actually in extremely good shape, all things considered, and there was very little spare weight on him that he hadn't turned into muscle throughout his years of being Ironman. He was definitely feeling…different, though.

More energetic if anything.

"Was that it? No bolt of lightning? No golden glow?"

"I can set you on fire if you like?" Loki grinned, all innocent charm.

"…no. Thanks, but no." Tony stretched his arms out, still half-expecting to see them sparkling or something. That was what always happened in films wasn't it? He felt rather cheated in that respect. "So that really was it? I'm…okay now?" He didn't wait for a reply and picked up his phone. "Jarv? What's my status, what's going on in there?"

There was an unusual pause before he was answered – which was strange since usually Jarvis was there immediately.

"There are some very odd readings, sir." The tinny voice sounded extremely confused. "I do not quite understand what they mean yet…"

"Is there still a rip in my heart?"

"…There does not appear to be one, sir. Which is frankly impossible. Infact, everything seems to be…normal. It appears that your heart is entirely healthy." Suspicion crept in. "What did you do?"

"Why do you assume I did anything?"

"I am sorry, sir. I shall rephrase that; what did Loki do?"

"And again the blame is laid at my feet." Loki rested his chin on his hand with a bored sigh.

"Uh, that's because it is all down to you." Tony nudged him with an elbow. "Stop sulking. So, Jarv, am I dying?"

If a voice could smile, Jarvis' certainly was. "It would appear not, sir."

"Oh Jesus Christ!"

"Why does he always get the credit?! I'm the life-saving deity around here!"

"Figure of speech! Sorry!" Tony's eyes were sparkling with repressed vulnerability as he dropped the phone into his lap. "What's my life expectancy then? If I'm not dying now I assume that means I've got a bit more than five years left?"

"Do you not understand the term 'immortal'? So long as you are not killed by illness or injury you will not die. You have the same life-span as Evie. And as myself."

The man gaped at Loki for a long moment. Evidently it hadn't really sunk in that he would be more than just healed. Immortality was that impossible dream of mankind. It wasn't something that was meant to actually happen.

"I'm gonna live forever?"

"Pretty much."

Tony was shaken out of his befuddled daze as Evie suddenly and quite noisily burst into tears.

"Birdy!?"

"Evelyn?"

The teen was still sitting on Loki's lap so it was very easy for him to simply wrap his arms around her waist. "My darling, what is wrong?"

"Absolutely nothing! Everything's right! For the first time in years, everything's right!" Evie reached out to pull Tony into the hug too, so that the small family unit were all clinging to each other. "Everything's perfect!"

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Fandral thumped his mug of ale down on the tavern's bar-top with a sigh, sloshing it everywhere.

"Thor should be here!"

"He has better places to be." Volstagg looked equally as down-trodden, although was far more careful with his own drink. "Better people to be with too, apparently."

"Well, 'better' is a phrase I would hesitate to use. The humans have their merits I suppose, but certain other people are less than savoury."

Sif was playing with a bowl of crisped beetroot, not really eating it, and looked up to glare at the two men. "'Certain other people' happened to save us all yesterday, if you do not recall."

"It was hardly a proper fight though –"

"Enough!" The bowl went flying, skimming through the air to bounce off of Fandral's arm.

"Hey!"

"Is it not enough?!"

"What are you on about, Sif?" Volstagg asked, his mouth full of salvaged beetroot.

"Are we still going to do this? After what he did yesterday, are we still going to pretend that Loki is so beneath us that we degrade his very presence?"

Fandral stared at her open mouthed. "Since when were you so fond of Loki?"

"I am not, but I can recognise that it is high time we either start to appreciate what he can do, or else next time he loses it he could take down Asgard in its entirety."

Volstagg dropped the remaining crisps and started laughing. "You must be joking! Loki could never manage that! The next time he goes crazy we will simply let Thor throw him off the bridge again."

Sif scowled, but didn't need to respond because Hogun beat her to it.

"I would rather that there was not a 'next time' at all. Sif is right; Loki has more than proven that he can take out any and all opposition. He did not need to be anywhere near those creatures yesterday to kill them all."

"That was just -"

"Tricks? I would like to see you take on an army alone like that. I would like to see Thor manage that! He is more than capable of destroying us all, should the fancy take him. The days of underestimating Loki are long gone."

"Precisely! He is a danger!"

"That is not what I am saying." Hogun said patiently. "But simply that Loki is not the person we used to know. He is not Thor's little brother who used to run along behind us all. We need to understand that things have happened over these past years and that the trickster we used to know is gone. Perhaps we should get to know this new Loki."

"Loki is Loki, always will be. Now he simply has a human and mongrel tagging along behind him."

"I assume by 'mongrel' you are referring to his child?"

"Who else? What kind of name is 'Evelyn' anyway? Sounds like some tavern wench."

"She is a sweet girl. The Allfather and Queen seem quite taken with her."

"And if she has Loki's perchance for chaos and mayhem?"

"Then she is Loki's problem. He can deal with all the crap he put Asgard through as a child. Call it a penance."

Fandral suddenly snorted with laughter, breaking the tense atmosphere and drawing his friend's gazes. "Oh, can you imagine Loki running around after his own child like his parents did after him? Remember that time he managed to lock all of the foreign dignitaries into the Grand Hall and the Allfather spent over a week trying to salvage the peace treaties!"

Sif grinned too, and Volstagg's booming laugh made it clear that he could recall the incident quite well.

"You know, I believe that maybe we should get our hands on this Evelyn and gently persuade her into some mischief. I am certain there are many ways a young girl can send her parents into a panicked frenzy." The large warrior chuckled.

"That is certainly a plan. I bet we could 'accidently' pull Sleipnir into a plan. He has grown close to his sister apparently."

"At least Evelyn looks normal. No extra legs or anything. A bit short, but that never hurt anyone. Hardly looks like Loki really."

"It is in the eyes. She has his eyes. It rather puts shivers up my spine to be honest."

Sif nodded in agreement, settling down now that the conversation seemed to be growing calmer. "You do realise that Thor would have our heads if anything happened to his niece."

"Loki will have our heads if anything happens to that girl! Infact, I dread to think what he would and could do to us."

"One can get into trouble without getting hurt. We all certainly managed it often enough. She knows next to nothing about our culture – I am certain we could trip her up there."

"This is only theoretical, correct?" Hogun looked around at his grinning friends. Fandral sighed.

"Oh, I suppose so. Still, it is nice to dream. I would love to see Loki fret for once."

"I rather think he has fretted enough these past few years. Leave the girl alone, it is hardly her fault she has a delinquent parent."

"That is one word to describe him! Fine, we shall simply plot and scheme as a way to pass the time." Volstagg sighed melodramatically. "You did not really think we would wish the child ill, did you?"

"No, just Loki."

Fandral looked into his mug and to his dismay found that it was empty. "To be fair, yesterday was pretty impressive…I had not thought he was quite that powerful."

"Nor frightening." Sif added.

"Maybe…Maybe we should ask him about it some time? I would certainly feel safer in battle knowing that was able to back me up."

"It was not exactly controlled."

"No, but he might get better with practice."

"We will ask him about it then. Tomorrow, though. I feel like another drink."

"Yes, tomorrow."

They all knew that it was extremely unlikely 'tomorrow' would ever happen, but it made them feel better about it. Chances were they would never like Loki, nor willingly wish to speak with him, but they didn't truly wish him, or Evie for that matter, any harm. After all, everyone day-dreams about screwing over the people they don't like.

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When the family trio left the library it was to discover that the Avengers were significantly depleted. Put another way, Fury, Steve and Natasha had decided to bugger off back home.

After seriously quizzing Hawkeye about this, Tony determined that it was less 'Fury, Steve and Natasha' and far more 'Fury issuing demands like a diva'. Apparently there had been a mission due and Fury had intended to be back on Earth long ago. As it was he'd been on Asgard way longer than intended and so to compromise had taken Steve and Natasha with him to help out. As far as Clint was aware, they had to steal some data file off of a ship – although the master archer definitely had his nose in a sling from not being asked to join the team too so hadn't bothered to listen to much more than that.

To be honest, Tony was slightly put out too when he heard that because A) They hadn't bothered to say goodbye or anything and B) When it came to getting hold of data through illicit means, he was certainly the master around here. They could have at least asked for some advice or something.

However, it didn't take long for them to both stop grousing after Clint mentioned that he thought Tony was looking different, and asked if he'd changed his hair.

"Dye, maybe? I think you've lost some of the grey." He surveyed the inventor critically, with the eye of someone used to spotting every little detail. "No, you've lost all your grey, and believe me, there was more than you'd like to think. What did you do? Magic hair-formula?"

"Something like that." Tony grinned, wide, and watched as his friend's gaze was drawn to the corners of his mouth.

"It's more than just hair; you've got rid of some wrinkles, what've you been up to? I feel like hell after yesterday and you're fresh as a daisy! No way is that fair! You're like fifteen years older than me!"

"Oi! Nowhere near that much!"

"Seriously though man, what have you done?!" By this point Clint was actively circling him and even went so far as to poke him quite hard in the chest.

"Ow! The hell, Clint?"

"Well, the reactor's still there at least."

"I could have just told you that!" However, Tony couldn't keep the huge smile off of his face.

"I must admit I was worried about you after yesterday – I think we all were! What with the heart thing and all. But you look fine! Better than fine – so what gives?"

So Tony sat him down and explained all.

It…took some explaining. To begin with Clint thought he was taking the piss.

After nearly half an hour, a lot of expletives and both men deciding that strong alcohol was necessary, Tony managed to get the crux of the situation across. To be honest, he could barely process it himself. It was very much a case of emotionally shutting down on the whole thing. Last night he'd been struggling to understand that he was going to die in a day or so, now he had to come to terms with the idea of eternity.

It was going from one extreme to the other really. How does the human mind process going from imminent death to living forever? It would have been bad enough had he had a normal life-span – but he'd been dying for years now, and had accepted the fact.

Clint seemed to recognise this.

"Do you need to go and talk to Bruce or something?"

"He's not that kind of doctor, remember?"

"Well, from the PTSD look you've got going right now, I'd say any doctor is better than no doctor."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're teetering on the edge of a psychotic breakdown. You need to talk to your crazy boyfriend."

Tony looked down at his hands, which were shaking. "Yeah, maybe I need some time to process all of this. Man, last night I had a life expectancy of two days and now…"

"Now you're in for the long haul."

"…Yeah…" Tony glanced back up at him. "Actually, I forgot to mention, you could be too, if you want. There was enough there for all of us puny mortals." He managed a weak grin. "The Immortal Avengers; has a good ring to it, don't you think?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm serious; there's enough for us all. Although I think Bruce and Steve are kinda already immortal. And Thor of course."

"Jesus! You're serious?! You want to, and can, make us all live for ever?"

"It's up to you guys. I'd figured you'd want to talk to Nat about it, but she's buggered off back to Earth so that'll have to wait."

"Does the stuff have a Best Before?"

"Doubt it."

"Then I'm gonna really need to think about that."

Tony smiled wryly. "I didn't get much of a chance – it was swig or die really. But, yeah, think on it."

He left Clint standing like a statue mouthing 'immortal' to himself.

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"No, no, no, left foot. Oh goodness, you really are hopeless, you weren't simply being modest!"

"I did say!"

"Left foot! Do I need to paint it bright yellow or something?!"

Tony entered Loki's rooms to the sounds of laughter and Evie's near-hysterical giggles.

"Oh my God! This is ridiculous! How do you people do this?!"

"By using the correct feet!"

He rounded the doorway into the main living space to find his partner and daughter in fits of laughter, attempting to maintain what looked like a ballroom hold. Evie was evidently failing magnificently, and was only upright because of Loki's hand on her back as she giggled helplessly.

"Tony, how in the Norns did we manage to produce a child who cannot tell left from right?!" The trickster's voice was one of stern disapproval, but his broad grin gave away the humour in the situation.

"What part of 'I can't dance' didn't you get?"

"I assumed you were being modest! This is one of the simplest dances in Asgard!"

"Well I can't do it!" Evie collapsed back onto one of the couches, still laughing. "This is not going to happen."

"It is not as difficult as you are making it out to be!" Loki held his hand out towards Tony, who looked at it like it was a primed bomb. "Come here; let us see what you make of it."

"Uh, I don't dance."

"You are consorting with a Prince of Asgard; you are going to have to dance." Said Prince didn't give his partner much of an option, simply grabbing Tony by the hand and pulling him into a tight dance-hold.

"I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Just follow."

To be fair, the dance that Evie had found so difficult was very similar to a waltz, at least to someone like Tony who knew very little about classical dancing. He could grind like a champ, but ballroom was not his forte. However, the steps were far faster than he was expecting so when Loki began moving he tripped over his own feet.

"So this is where our daughter gets it from!"

"Hey, I can do this!" Tony pulled back enough to be able to see their feet and attempt to mirror what Loki was doing. That was easier said than done when he was spun out and away from his partner, so that he didn't have anything to copy. He was so focused on his feet that when he was suddenly pulled back in he managed to punch himself in the face.

"Tony!"

"Oh my God, Dad!" Evie began laughing even harder. "That takes some skills!"

The inventor pulled away from Loki to gingerly cup his nose. "Jesus! Am I bleeding?"

"Only a bit." Loki was laughing as he pulled Tony's hands out of the way to see to the nose-bleed. "I take it all back, Evie; you are a million times better at this than your Father." He tapped Tony's nose once with his finger, eliciting a drama-queen-like 'ow' from the man, before the flow of blood slowed. "Never mind, I shall just have to forgo dancing since my family seem incapable."

"Dance with Thor, I'm sure he'd be thrilled."

"You jest, and yet it is true." Loki said with an affected sigh. He waved his hand to vanish the rest of the blood on Tony's face. "There we go, how does that feel?"

"Oh I suppose I'll live." Stark couldn't keep up the pretend sulk when Loki leant in and kissed him on the nose.

"You two are adorable." Evie's statement was accompanied by the shutter noise of her phone's camera. "That one's for FaceBook." Tony didn't comment since he knew that she didn't actually have FaceBook, or Twitter. Evie was sensible enough to know that as the daughter of Tony Stark anything she did was scrutinised to death by the media and it just wasn't worth giving them ammo. "Really though, it's sickening how cute you are."

"I dislike the term 'cute'." Loki said with visible distaste.

"Adorable? Sweet? Darling? I have any number of adjectives."

"I am the dark God of Chaos and Mischief, I refuse to acknowledge those sort of descriptions."

"Nah," Evie took another photo. "You're adorable. Hate to break any illusions you may have of yourself, Möðhy, but you're adorable."

Tony laughed. "Never argue with The Birdy." He slung an arm around Loki's waist. "She always knows best."

The teenager's own laughter died to a fond smile as she watched her parents together. "I do always know best. And right now you two have that goofy look that says I'm going to end up with siblings."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh please, I know what it means when two people look at each other like that. All gooey-eyed. Totally getting siblings." She frowned when Loki's and Tony's smiles simultaneously dropped. "What?"

Tony nudged his partner slightly. "Well, might as well get this conversation over with sooner rather than later. Do you want me to, or are you okay?"

"I'll do it." Loki said softly. He left his partner's side to go and sit next down next to Evie on the sofa.

"Why do I have the feeling this won't be a happy talk?"

"Because you're perceptive."

Evelyn tilted her head, scrutinising the trickster. "I'm…not getting siblings, am I?" Her voice had gone quiet now, the humour entirely gone. "I am perceptive, and you look sad."

"Did you want siblings?"

"Yeah, I guess I thought about it. Would've been nice to be a big sister. But…that's not going to happen, is it?"

"I'm afraid not." Loki drew one foot up onto the cushions so he could lean on his knee. "I will not go into details; you're a smart girl with an active imagination. Needless to say, the chitauri were an evil race that deserved everything they got. They were less than kind whilst I was their prisoner and as a result of their…mistreatment, shall we call it, I am no longer able to have children."

Evie's expression was stuck somewhere between horror and sadness. "So…Does that mean you can't conceive, or can't hold to full-term? Because things can be done about those! There's IVF and stuff!"

"Birdy-"

Loki held up a hand to stop Tony's admonishment before it started. "It is not as simple as that, my dear. I cannot conceive because I do not have a reproductive system left. The medics did what they could, but there are some things that cannot be healed."

The girl was silent for a long moment, watching her mother's expression. From the overbright gleam to Loki's eyes it would be fair to say that there were possibly tears there.

"Did you want more kids?" She asked finally.

"I never had much chance to give it a thought, but in time I most likely would have done, yes."

Evie smiled sadly and wriggled up close to wrap her arms around Loki's waist. "Don't worry, Möðhy, I'll have kids when I'm older; you'll have tons of grandchildren to spoil and none of the added fuss. Just all the fun."

She wisely didn't comment when she felt tears soak into her hair.

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"She's happy with just having a big brother, you know. She adores Sleipnir already, and they've only known each other for a few days." Tony said quietly. His words were somewhat lost in the darkness of the bedroom, but he felt Loki's warm weight shift slightly.

"I know." The answer was short, but the soft voice stopped it from being curt.

"I think she's worried she upset you."

"I'll reassure her tomorrow. It's simply a sensitive subject."

Tony wanted to hold his lover, but he was stuck lying on his stomach, Loki partly draped over him and had no way to roll over. He settled for turning his head enough to find a bare shoulder to kiss.

"As I say, Evie is thrilled to have a big brother. And Sleipnir's wonderful with her."

"He's missed having younger siblings around." Loki's voice was a sad sigh, and Tony wished that there was light enough to see the trickster's expression.

"He's your eldest, right?"

"Correct."

"Do you…do you want to talk about anything?"

Loki's next sigh sounded more exasperated this time. "What is there to talk about? I cannot have more children, even if I wanted to and there is nothing I can do to fix that. The one thing I actually enjoyed about being neither one gender nor the other, and even that has been taken away from me. What else is there to say?"

"You haven't mentioned this earlier."

"I was somewhat preoccupied by the chitauri, and you, and Evie and trying to sort everything out. There wasn't all that much time to really assess just what I am going to have to live with."

Tony took a few moments before answering. "You're going to have to live with me, too." He felt a hand find his, fingers lacing through his own.

"I know. That is what makes all of these things bearable."

"We could always adopt, you know, if we decide we really do want more little horrors. Or find a surrogate mother."

Loki laughed softly. "It's more than just that, Tony. Call it a female thing if you must, but there is no feeling in the world like carrying your own child for nine months, feeling it grow, begin to move, that feeling of life inside you. Yes, there are other ways to have children, but I need to mourn what I have lost."

"That's…yeah, that's fair enough. God, I'm sorry, you don't deserve all of this!"

"Life is a bitch. Never take it for anything less, and then it can't surprise you." Loki nudged his nose into the hollow between Tony's shoulder-blades. "Yes, there have been some terrible moments these past years, but none of that matters when I know that I have you by my side. I can get through anything if I have you."

Tony wriggled and managed to roll over so that he could stare at the trickster draped over him. "Hey, I stormed all the way across the known universe to get you back, don't talk like I'm about to vanish right out from underneath you."

"I'm not! I just…It is hard to come to terms with everything that has happened recently. You shall have to forgive me if I cling." Loki traced around Tony's goatee with his finger, then smiled slightly. "Your wrinkles really have lessened."

"I didn't have that many to begin with!"

"There were enough, and I loved each and every one of them. However, you will not have to worry about getting any more."

Tony laughed quietly. "That hasn't really sunk in yet. Phew! Immortality! What happens if we get fed up with each other two hundred years down the line?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. If we ever come to it."

"Evie will keep us on track."

"That she will. And I'll talk to her tomorrow; reassure her that I am not upset. It had never occurred to me that she might have wanted to be a big sister. I would have tried to talk to her about it sooner."

"It's not like there's really been the time or place."

"I suppose not."

Tony reached up to brush Loki's hair back so that he could see the trickster's face better in the dim light of the arc reactor. "Can I ask a question? Since neither of us seem to be anywhere near wanting to actually sleep."

"Go on then."

"What happened to your other three children? I obviously know about Sleipnir, I read all the myths on Merlin, and Thor told me about the twins. What about the other three? Hel, Fenrir and….Gor…Yor…"

"Jormungandr."

"Yeah, uh…what you just said." When Loki paused for slightly too long Tony quickly shook his head. "You don't have to tell me, if it's painful or something."

"No…It is a painful subject, but you should probably hear the story at least once." The prince rolled off of his partner to lie beside him, one hand still resting on top of the arc reactor. "Do you really want to hear this now?"

"Only if you're comfortable in telling me."

"No time like the present, I suppose." Loki sighed heavily, staring up at the high ceiling. "Hel and Fenrir reside in Niflheimr together. It is the realm which Hel presides over – it also happens to be the one realm which I cannot reach. Jormungandr is on Earth, as the myth says."

"Do you ever see them?"

"No. They detest me." Loki heard the sharp intake of breath from his lover and shrugged slightly. "It is true, sadly. They would sooner kill me than speak to me."

"What happened?" Tony asked quietly.

"I never quite rightly worked that out." The trickster said softly. "They didn't live with me and…oh it would just be simpler if I started from the beginning."

"Usually the best place to start."

"I had…a dalliance, a fling, with a woman called Angrboða. For my part it was simply an amusement, and I had assumed that it was for her too, but to my cost I was wrong." He smiled wistfully. "She had magic, which was what drew my interest to begin with and we were very compatible personality-wise. However, at the time I was still young enough to want to please my Father, and I was well aware that I could never have a relationship with a view to marriage. She, however, refused to see my point of view when it came to that and spent much of our time together trying to convince me otherwise."

"Pushy girlfriends, oh boy I have been there!"

"Quite." Loki laughed. "However, I doubt any of your girlfriends had magic at their disposal. Angrboða had very advanced knowledge of various medical spells and used one without my knowledge to conceive. Usually we both had contraception charms up, but she rendered them useless without my knowledge. Needless to say, magic and fertilisation do not mix well, and it resulted in triplets. I begged her not to go through with the pregnancy – which I am ashamed of now – but she refused because she saw it as a way of tying us together."

"Bit of a dick move really, I've had a couple of ladies try the same with me; although they faked their pregnancies."

"Unfortunately I didn't have that reassurance." The trickster sighed heavily. "She had the children and it was obvious that the magic used to conceive them had had an…unusual effect, much as I had seen when I had Sleipnir. Hel was a normal little girl, but Fenrir was a wolf and Jormungandr a serpent, as your myths say. There was no way I could let anyone know about them, but Angrboða had a place on Muspelheim and she took the children there on the condition that I visited regularly. I believe she had convinced herself that I would eventually either fall in love with her too, or feel obliged to marry her."

"Did that happen?"

"Not as such. We were very happy together, despite the secrecy, but there was little beyond affection on my part, although I adored my children. Eventually, when the triplets were the human equivalent of about fifteen, Angrboða and I had a huge row about it and she attacked me. At the time I didn't know what the spell was, and it was only when I had stormed off that I realised she had managed to impregnate me."

Tony half sat up with a jerk. "Oh! Merlin, right? That's how it all joins up!"

"Yes, that was Merlin." Loki sounded amused at his lover's reaction. "Once I realised the situation I was in I went to Midgard to have the baby. I was there for about, oh I don't know, sixteen years? He was an adult by their standards when I left, so probably about sixteen years. During that time I hadn't had chance to go back and see Angrboða and the other children, but I had thought through our future."

He paused for so long that Tony had to prompt him. "And…?"

"And I wanted to marry her." The whisper was tiny. "I don't think I ever truly loved her, not like I love you, but she loved me, and I was very fond of her so who knows? It may well have worked. We never had that chance though."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I arrived to find the entire house in flames. There were signs of a fight, a terrible one, and Angrboða had lost. I never found out what had happened or why, but Boða was dead and I don't know why. There were hardly enough remains left to bury, but at the time I was only worrying about my children. The entire place was an inferno, but I was adept with water spells and made a path through."

His voice was beginning to audibly shake and Tony reached out to grasp his arm. "Hey, you don't need to continue if you don't want to."

"I have started, I should finish. I found the three of them scattered throughout the house. It was obvious that whatever battle had taken place, they had tried to help their mother. I…I thought they were dead too when I first found them. Have you ever seen burn injuries, Tony?"

The direct question took the human by surprise. "Burns? Yeah…Yeah I guess I have. There have been some missions and such – a forest fire most notably."

"Imagine that, and then worse. My children were creatures of magic, and like me could survive a lot; more than you would be used to a person surviving. Even so, I thought I was going to lose them." Loki scuffed a hand across his eyes with a shuddering breath. "I took the three of them back to Midgard. I had heard – during my stay – of a place there that could heal all ills and grant everlasting life to mortals. It's where I went yesterday so that I could save you. I found it – which took some doing – and the guardian there agreed to save my children."

"That's…that's good, right?"

"Yes. Yes it was." Loki sounded like it was anything but. "To begin with. Whilst you were healed instantly, it takes longer for an immortal magic-user. I don't know what had happened, or what she saw, but upon waking Hel took one look at me and…well, she went berserk. I never had a chance to get a word in edgeways…"

"How do you mean?" Tony realised that he almost didn't want to know.

"She thought it was me! She thought I had attacked them! I have no idea why she could think that! There was never even a chance for me to defend myself!" Loki shook his head hopelessly. "My own daughter was terrified of me. I have never to this day found out who did attack them or why, but for whatever reason, Hel thought it was me. Her mother and I had argued and fought when we last saw each other, but I just could not comprehend her hatred. All I can assume is that their attacker used magic, that's the only way she could have thought I did it."

"Couldn't you tell her it wasn't you?"

"She never gave me a chance…Fenrir backed her up – he always followed her anywhere – and I was just lost!" Loki shrugged hopelessly. "They were still so injured, I didn't know what to do. Hel had been burnt all down one side of her body, she had lost an eye, the burns went bone-deep, and yet she still had the strength to stand there and vilify me for something I had had no part in. How could I defend myself when she was that injured? Fenrir was just as bad; he had had the majority of his fur burnt off, I could see his teeth through the holes in his jaw! It was awful!"

"What about Jor…min..ganadar?"

The mispronunciation made Loki smile slightly. "Jormungandr, honestly Tony, it is not that hard to say. He was on my side. Of the three he was the most injured, but that didn't stop him from leaping to my defence. Literally. He confronted Hel, which really only resulted in him hurting himself even more. When Hel realised that to attack me was to hurt her brother she simply up and vanished, taking Fenrir with her."

"To Nifll…no, I got this! Nifiliyfilifully…"

"Niflheimr."

"Yeah, there. They went there?"

"Yes. I don't know what it is about Hel's particular brand of magic that lends itself to ruling the realms of the dead, but from what I know she does a good job."

"Is Fenrir still with her?"

"As far as I am aware."

"And have you seen them since?"

"No."

"Damn…" Tony looked horrified in the pale light of the arc reactor. "That's awful! I'm so sorry! What happened to…the snake?"

"His wounds were too great. He just wasn't healing. Eventually I realised that all I could do for him was make him comfortable and allow him to mend in his own time." The prince rolled onto his side so that they were face-to-face again. "He needed somewhere cold and dark so I took him to the safest place I could think of that is cold, dark and unlikely to be discovered."

The pause made Tony realise that his partner was expecting him to work it out himself. Well, he knew the myths said that the serpent circled the world, and whilst that wasn't physically possible, there were some things in the story that might be accurate.

"Mariana's Trench, right?"

Loki smiled. "The pressure is no problem to him. It is still so unexplored down there, and I imagine he has now grown so huge that even if anyone went down there they would assume that he was an unusual rock formation. I haven't seen him since, so I believe that he sleeps still. I hope that one day when he has finally healed he will reach out to me and I can see him again."

Tony shook his head disbelievingly. "Man, the shit you've had to put up with…."

"This is what happens when you live forever; there is time for a lot to happen."

"You don't sound…particularly sad."

Loki smiled at him fondly. "It's been nearly three thousand years – you learn to deal with things in that amount of time."

"But still…I couldn't cope if Evie suddenly decided to hate my guts for no good reason!"

"I had Jormungandr to worry about. He kept me focussed and I was able to cope with everything that had happened. And afterwards I was able to go back and see Merlin again so that helped too."

"What happened to Merlin? He just sort of vanished in our legends."

"Oh he's still there. I used to visit occasionally, but he likes his independence. Last time we saw each other he had turned his hand to storytelling; mostly using his knowledge of the other realms."

"Anything I might have read?"

"Oh I don't know." Loki's grin finally warmed. "Elves, Dwarves, Men, Dragons, Midgard…"

It took a moment, and then Tony slammed his head into the pillow. "Oh for God's sake! Are you seriously telling me he wrote Lord of the Rings?! Merlin wrote Lord of the Rings! What, was Tolkien just a pseudonym?"

"Indeed."

"It's got to the point where I wonder why these things keep surprising me. Next you'll be introducing me to Jesus."

"I never met Jesus, I'm afraid."

"Probably a good thing; Cap's still quite religious. You'll have to introduce Evie and I to Merlin at some point though – the myths are good, but it would be great to actually meet him in person." Tony noted that his partner was looking a lot more cheerful and smiled fondly. "And thank you for telling me all of that, I know it must have been tough to talk about it."

Loki studied the man's face for a few moments. "You need to know these things. If we are to work as a family, you should know the things that have made me what I am."

"Is that the Loki way of saying 'these are my triggers, step away from my triggers'?"

That made the trickster laugh. "Stay away from mine and I shall stay away from yours." He leant in and kissed the tip of Tony's nose. "I do not think we really need to worry about it. We will be fine."

"You think so? Our track record says this is going to be one eventful relationship."

"First date in Stuttgart?"

"Nothing says First Impression better than blasting you onto your arse accompanied by an epic rock soundtrack."

"I still believe that the special moment we shared with your window was the moment when sparks really flew."

"I don't think you should use the phrase 'sparks flew' in the same context as that battle…Lots of sparks flew, and not exactly all the right ones."

"The right ones were in there though." As if to prove his point a sparkle of purple erupted from his fingers, lighting up the tiny space between them. "Somewhere in all that mess and all that horror, something went right, didn't it?"

"Yeah. God knows how, since it's us and all, and nothing ever seems to go right for us, but something did then. Kinda glad it only took one world domination attempt, though."

Loki laughed and kissed him. "Well, if you ever need me to try it again I am sure I can dig up another army from somewhere."

"I have an entire arsenal of Ironman suits if that helps?"

"Do not tempt me."

"Tempt you? Hell, I need people constantly reminding me every day not to do it myself. I practically own the world as it is." Tony suddenly sat bolt upright, both hands over his mouth. "Oh my God!"

"What?!" Loki raised himself up onto his elbows in alarm. "What is it?!"

"I'm healed, right? No more heart problems?"

"Yes you are healed…"

"I can use the Ironman suit again!"

Tony's statement, spoken like a papal mandate, didn't seem to have the effect he expected as Loki just blinked at him.

"Do you not use it anyway?"

"No! I've not been allowed to – it was far too risky! Coming to rescue you was the first time I've worn it in the past five years! Infact, I've worn it more since coming to Asgard than I have since my accident."

Loki seemed surprised at the revelation. "I did not know that you couldn't use it. What have you been doing these past years then?"

"Remote control." Tony looked like the Virgin Mary had appeared before him, his eyes full of the sort of zeal that was usually only found around religions. "I've got my suit back!"

There was very little warning before the man simply launched himself on top of his partner, laughing. "I can use my suit again!"

The surprise attack made Loki laugh too, feeling Tony's weight settle over him. It was quite heartening that by now it didn't hurt – he was finally nearly fully healed. The pure joy on Stark's face was contagious, and definitely a balm to chase away the dark feelings left behind by the memories the trickster had dug up.

"You are an idiot."

"I believe the phrase is; Your idiot."

"Oh I suppose I can put up with you."

"You make it sound like such a chore." Tony leant in and, rather than kissing as was expected, decided to lick the tip of Loki's nose instead.

"What are you doing?" The prince laughed, pretending to try and push his lover off. "Humans are disgusting!"

"Don't give me that; you had sex with a horse!"

"Is that going to haunt me my entire life?!"

"Pretty much."

Loki shrugged. "Well, at least it was good then."

"Oh my God!" Tony started laughing again, burying his head in his lover's shoulder. "That is awful! I'm going to be spending the rest of my life trying to live up to your one-night-stand with a horse!"

"Wild stallion, please."

"Oh. My. God!"

"Are you crying?"

"Yeah…" The man rolled back onto the mattress, wiping away tears of laughter. "Oh, ow, I think I pulled something…"

"You are impossible!"

"…It's like, three in the morning, we are never going to get up tomorrow."

Loki burst into fresh chuckles. "I am rather well known for not surfacing until gone noon, no-one will really comment."

"Awesome!" Tony propped himself up on one elbow with a hopeful grin. "Does that mean we have time for sex?"

"And it seems that the romance has already died in this relationship."

"If you want romance you'll have to wait until we're back in the tower and I've got all my tech. Then I'll knock your socks off in the romance-stakes!"

"Well I suppose that shall have to do." Loki laughed, leaning in to kiss his partner.

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"I still do not understand why he cannot talk to women." Sleipnir was lying down on the rug in Evie's room, his half-sister sat down so that she was using him as a cushion. Her StarkPad was propped up on her knees so that they could both see the screen.

"Because it's a cute little personality trait that moves the plot forward."

Sleipnir wrinkled his nose. "No, I do not get it." He watched the characters on the screen for a few more moments. "And why is that one acting so childishly?"

"Look, if you can't cope with the Big Bang Theory, I can find something else to watch. I've got most of the Netflix library saved on here." Evie stopped the episode they were struggling through and began hunting through the list of other shows and films. "What do you feel like? Action? Horror?"

"What do you mean by horror?"

"Scary movies, mostly. I'm a wuss so I'll probably spend the whole thing hidden behind a pillow to be honest."

"I am not very good with frightening stories. I can ride full charge into battle and trample people to death, but I do not like scary stories."

"High five!" Evie held up a hand and Sleipnir lifted a leg so he could gently knock his hoof against her palm.

"What does Midgard have by way of love stories? Romances?"

"Seriously? Well, I'm not showing you Twilight, that's for sure." The girl sorted the library by genre and looked down the list of RomComs that had shown up. "Do you like bad singing? Mama Mia's a hoot if you do. Or Bridesmaids is good. Love Actually makes me cry every time…uh…27 Dresses? That's not so bad if you don't mind idiotic bimbos…"

"Alright, what about tragedies then?"

Evie grinned. "Les Mis it is!" She searched the film by name and brought it up on screen. "Not bad singing, some eye-candy in the form of Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway has, like, the best song ever! I challenge you not to cry!"

"I do not know those people, but alright, challenge accepted!"

"…Can you even cry?"

"I have tear ducts, yes."

"Cool…" Evie pressed play and Sleipnir jumped a little at the sudden opening blast of trumpets then settled back with his head resting on the girl's shoulder. The sound system on the StarkPad was excellent, as should be expected of Tony's work and the grand opening song still held a pretty big impact even when on such a small screen.

"I do not understand, is he saying he did not do the crime he is imprisoned for?"

"No, he did it, but to save a child from starving."

"And that is considered a crime?"

"It was then."

Sleipnir managed to be quiet for a whole ten minutes before;

"So why did he tear the paper up? I thought that was important."

"He's expressing his freedom and throwing away his old life."

…

"How did he get so rich so quickly?"

"Oh my God you are difficult to watch a movie with!"

"But how did he?"

….

"Are they prostitutes?! Should you be watching this if it has prostitutes?"

…

"What did she even die of?!"

"Shut up!"

…..

"That woman should not be allowed to look after small children. Or any children. Or anything in general."

"That's Helena Bonhem-Carter, she's awesome!"

…..

"France is a huge country; how do two men manage to keep running into one another?"

"You are ruining this film!"

"I mean it, how do they keep finding each other?!"

….

"How did he find Marius?! There must have been hundreds of barricades in the city and he just so happened to pick the right one?"

Evie glared at her brother irritably. "I thought staying up to watch movies would be fun. More fool me."

…

"Oh look, they are all dead. I am so surprised."

"Do you want me to stop the film?"

"No, I am enjoying this."

…

"So let me get this straight…" Sleipnir said slowly as the credits rolled. "Everyone dies or is completely and utterly miserable, apart from the crooks, who seem to get away scot-free? That does not seem right."

"Welcome to Revolutionary France. From what I can tell, it sucked." Evie flicked the screen back to the film library again. "Did Möðhy ever go there?"

"Probably, he has been about a bit."

"What about you?" Evie looked up at the horse. "Where've you been in human history?"

Sleipnir snorted in amusement – an apt noise for a horse. "Apart from Scadinavian myth? The last time I was on Earth it was still World War One."

"Oh yeah, I remember Möðhy mentioning that. Didn't you step on a caltrop?"

"Oh yes."

The girl winced. She had read up on the First World War, and knew exactly the damage a caltrop could do. The evil little pieces of metal were shaped like stars so that no matter how they landed they always had one spike pointed up and if they were stepped on would go straight up into a horse's hoof and into bone. Sleipnir was lucky he had had Loki there to look after him – caltrop damage usually resulted in the horse being put down no questions asked.

"That must have…hurt?"

Sleipnir looked at her like she was stupid. "No! Really?! A three inch spike going through my foot? Not at all, I hardly knew it was there!"

"Alright, alright, sarcasm noted. Where else have you been?"

"What? World War One was not enough? How about Agincourt?"

"As in 'we few, we happy few, we band of brothers'?"

"I do not know what that is. I mean as in the battle of Agincourt, French against English, overwhelming odds, the archers saved the day for the English."

Evie grinned. "What side were you and Möðhy on?"

"German mercenary for the English. I actually did not receive any injuries in that encounter, although Möðir took a lance through his shoulder."

"Owwwww…."

"Yes, he was not particularly happy about it." Sleipnir nudged her in the shoulder. "What about you? Have you seen much of the world?"

The girl shrugged. "Not really. It's hard to go out much when your Dad's a super-rich, super-famous superhero. The media hound me as much as they do him. More really, since they know I don't have any firepower on me. I've done all the Disney parks in America, and the one in Paris; I'm trying to persuade Dad to take me to Tokyo next birthday, but other than that I've not really done much."

"Never mind. You are young and will live forever, plenty of time to get out there and see the universe. I will ask Möðir if I can take you to Vanaheim sometime."

"Roadtrip, cool!"

"So…can we watch something else?"

"It's, like, 3 AM."

"And? I have never seen television – or anything similar – before, I believe I have some catching up to do."

Evie laughed and began scanning through the library again. "Frozen? See if you can spot some similarities with Möðhy and Elsa." She began humming Let It Go as she brought the film up. "And no ruining this one. Yes it has plotholes, and I don't care, it's awesome! Not quite as awesome as Tangled, but still awesome!"

"Alright, I shall try to refrain."

….

"How by the Norns is she meant to learn to control it if she is told to hide it away?!"

"Sleipnir!"

"Okay, okay, sorry."

…

"She would have both hypothermia and frostbite by now. And that horse needs a blanket in those temperatures."

"You are impossible!"

…

"I am sorry, but there is no way they would have survived that fall!"

"…If you keep talking I will turn this thing off."

…

"The evil lying bastard!"

"Yeah, I'll give you that one…"

…..

"That is so unhygienic! Get that snowman a new nose!"

"I am going to cut you in a minute!"

"But that moose ate it! And then regurgitated it, that's disgusting!"

"It's a fucking cartoon, Sleipnir!"

"Alright, alright…"

The horse actually managed to stay quiet for the last few moments until the credits began to scroll up the screen. Then he rested his head on Evie's shoulder.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

"…I regret ever introducing you to modern technology."

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Arrivederci!