Tony still spent time in the labs, but was better with his time management. He succeeded in making it to most meals and would reappear each evening to spend some time with whoever else was in the tower at that moment.

Scott had returned home; on call but not currently needed, and Bucky was back out in the field. Again, reachable, but utilising his skills elsewhere. Everyone else was in and out as and when they wanted to be. Something was still going on between Natasha and Sam, although whether something serious or just a mutually beneficial relationship, no one was certain. Even Pepper was away most of the time; keeping Stark Industries at the top of the stock exchange with whatever pieces of tech Tony would remember to throw her way.

There was a palpable tension throughout the group. It wasn't even that they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop; there was Hydra still buzzing around, surely aggravated at the loss of the helicarrier, there was the threat of if Earth was to be invaded, and then there was Loki.

Loki was still holding up a glamour when he was around anyone outside of his immediate family circle, but it was getting more and more clear that he was struggling. There were many moments when he would remove himself from a conversation or situation rather than let someone see that it was beginning to irritate him. Food had become less of an issue though – as long as coconut wasn't involved – and he mostly ate proper meals again with the others.

Other people were jumpy around him too. Woe betide he try to lift anything heavier than a plate without someone swooping in to try and help. And with no magic he was reduced to sleight of hand to get anything done without people flapping around him.

"I wanted to check if you were okay." Tony announced his entrance as if he needed an excuse to be in their bedroom.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You left rather abruptly during that conversation and Clint thinks it's his fault-"

The look Loki sent him could have soldered iron. "Why must people assume that every single interaction is going to have some adverse effect on me?!"

"Because we all conform to stereotypes?" The man said cheerfully. "And therefore expect you to be a weepy, hormonal mess. Aren't you?"

"Do I look like a weepy hormonal mess?"

"You look like you want to kill me."

"Exactly. I am a furious hormonal mess. And I am currently doing everything I can to stop everyone from realising that. By running after me each time I try to take myself out of a situation you are drawing everyone's attention to it."

"Sorry for being concerned." Stark neither looked nor sounded repentant.

"What is there to be concerned about?! There is nothing out of the ordinary going on right now. Hormones are a natural thing that happens; I am doing what I can to keep them in check."

"I know. But more fool me because I love you, and you're pregnant, so it kinda goes without saying that I'm going to worry."

Usually something so obviously soppy would draw an exasperated smile at the very least, but Loki just looked unimpressed. "Well don't. I have enough on my mind without having to assuage your concerns as well."

"Fine. Excuse me for wanting to help." The line was a throwaway as Tony took himself over to the desk and turned the computer on. There wasn't much he wanted to actually do on it, but it gave him the excuse to stay in the room. If he had learnt anything from becoming one half of a married couple it was to not storm out of an argument when there was a hope of salvaging the conversation. Plus he knew Loki, and knew that after an initial burst of temper the trickster was likely to cool down.

It was a good ten minutes or so of pretending to work before his theory paid off.

"I hate being scared." The admission was quiet and filled with anger. "I hate it."

"No one likes being scared. Well, there's some weirdos out there maybe, but in general…" Tony kept his tone light, still focussing on the screen in front of him.

"It's too much."

The edge to Loki's voice was enough that Stark swung his chair around to engage properly in the conversation. "What's too much?"

"Most things at the moment." Loki said softly. "Jarvis called it…Jarvis? PSTG?"

"PTSD, sir."

"Yes, that. I remember you mentioning it when we were still in Asgard. I think I dismissed it as a human folly at the time."

"Yeah…you weren't very receptive to the idea." Tony said.

"Maybe I was a little hasty in that decision."

Since Loki admitted a mistake slightly less readily than a blue moon appeared he had evidently put some thought into this.

"What's Jarvis been saying to change your mind?"

"Just…making sense of some things. Putting a name to things I otherwise couldn't understand." The trickster shrugged as if admitting the slightest emotion was a bad thing. "It makes things more understandable, even if they're still hard to deal with."

Stark nodded. "Sometimes putting a name to something makes it easier to face down. It took me a long time to come to terms with my diagnosis, but once I did I actually found it helpful to have something to blame. If I was feeling shit I could say why. What made you and Jarvis decide to discuss this?"

"I was on the edge of losing my calm earlier. That's why I came up here; I needed a moment to ground myself."

Well, Tony had kind of called it, but saying so wouldn't go down well. "Do you know the trigger? Did Clint say something again?"

"Not at all; One of the twins was turning somersaults and that's…there's still quite a strong memory attached to that sort of movement. Kicks are okay, I can cope with being kicked. But when the movement is larger the memory has a habit of taking over. I didn't want to let that happen in front of everyone."

Stark didn't require an explanation of what said memory was. The jars with the foetal remains would be etched into his mind until the end of eternity – and Loki had lived through that hell.

"Given nearly every member of the team has triggers and knows exactly what it's like to have one set off I don't think anyone will think any the worse of you for needing some time out."

"I don't like needing time out."

"Yeah, and now you sound like a petulant three year old."

Loki silently re-ran the sentence then shook his head with a laugh. "Okay, yes. I will give you that one."

Tony smiled as he watched the tension visibly fall from his husband's shoulders with the humour. "All things considered, I think you should be allowed to sound like a three year old if you want to. You're growing two new people; that's a big deal!"

"It's a nuisance and I'm not intending to do it again for a very long time! Condoms next time Mr Stark!"

"Condoms? I'm not taking any chances! Abstinence from here on out."

Loki laughed. "I don't believe you know what that word means."

With the tension in the room dissipated, Tony left his chair to join his husband on the bed, slinging an arm around the taller man's shoulders. "Well I have another three months to figure it out. You're already pregnant, and since we can't get you more pregnant we're good for now."

"Oh are we?" Loki twisted, grabbing Stark's wrists and pushing the man down onto his back in one fluid movement. "It should also be noted that you can't get pregnant at all, so maybe that's the route we should be going."

"Huh." Since things had been near enough non-existent in the bedroom for months now Tony was taken by surprise, but hardly going to complain. It had been a very long time since they had been intimate, and even longer since Loki had taken the dominant role. "I could be amenable with this."

"I'm sure you could."

Stark reached up to nip at his husband's neck, gently tracing along the steady pulse there. "You definitely on board with this right now? Because it's been a while and I am completely on board for this!" Wandering hands made it very clear what 'this' was.

"As you say; it's been a while."

More than a while really. Loki had been in too bad a mood and too sick for anything in the two months leading up to disclosing the pregnancy for anything intimate. The illness had then continued to be debilitating and then Tony had left for Asgard. For a relationship that had been initially based on sex they had barely touched each other in a long time.

"Six months…" Loki murmured.

"Sorry?"

"It's been six months since we last laid with each other."

"What?! Half a year? That can't be right!" Tony half sat up, forcing his husband to back up a little. "How did we let that happen?"

"Well…I suppose I have been unwell. And then you were away –"

"Yeah, yeah. I know how it happened. I just can't believe it." The man ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe we didn't notice. Or, well, I can't speak for you, but we both know my libido – I can't believe I didn't notice at least! You may have been a little preoccupied." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry for neglecting my spousal duties, I guess."

"I suppose I may forgive you, with my forgiveness being conditional on your performance over the next hour or so."

"Ooh, a challenge. Prepare to feel the full weight of my apology!" Tony knelt up on the mattress so that – for once – he was the taller. It put him in prime position to cup the prince's face and kiss him, Loki's hands finding his hips in response. Whilst they had long moved past biting to the point of drawing blood there was still an element of that original conflict in the form of nips and nibbles that let them war for dominance. "You are as sexy as the day I met you." The man hissed.

"In Stuttgart? Well, that was a very expensive suit."

Tony groaned in response, his fingers tightening in Loki's hair. "It looked good. Looked damn good." His lips found the trickster's throat as Loki's head tipped back and he nipped at the pulse point there. "How do you want this to go? I will admit that in my wide experience, pregnancy sex has never actually featured."

"Let's just go with it and see what happens. As a strategy it has never seemed to fail us before."

WMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

"What are you doing?"

Evie looked up from the project she was working on to see her mother stood in the doorway to the lab.

"Hey. Working on stuff." She turned off the music so that she could hear him properly. "What did you want?"

Loki pulled up a nearby stool, eyeing the soldering iron the girl was holding. "I simply thought we haven't had much time together recently. Things have been –"

"Shit?"

"Difficult."

"Things have been shit. Really, completely and utterly shit. With a side order of crap thrown in. Cover plate please."

For a moment Loki thought the demand was aimed at him as the girl held her hand out without looking up. However, there was a rustle from the heap of scraps at the end of the work bench and Arthur appeared, his trunk unfurling to hand over the requested piece. Evie slotted it into place and began soldering again.

"Well, yes. Life has been very difficult recently and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"About what? That my Grandma is dead? That Asgard is gone? Or how about Uncle Rhodey still in a coma and possibly never waking up? Hydra is back? Oh! And then there is the ever present threat of global destruction at the hands of some un-named monsters that we haven't a hope in hell of defeating. And you're pregnant. And I'm worried about you." She looked up and smiled bitterly. "Which bit did you want to talk about, Möðhy?"

It was his own sharp sarcasm being thrown at him and Loki wasn't prepared for it. The acidic phrasing, ironic questioning and insincere grin were all his own techniques that he usually used to try and put down the person he was speaking to. To have it aimed at himself was disconcerting.

"All of it, I suppose. Is there anything particular you wanted to talk about?"

Evie shrugged, fiddling with one of the smaller components of her project. "Dunno. Are you going to go to Jötunnheim once the twins are born?"

It wasn't what Loki expected but he gave it due consideration. "Not immediately, of course, but I will be at some point. Why?"

"Why did the Aesir go there? Why not come here? Uncle Thor always said the Jötnar hated Asgard. Micro-screwdriver."

The trickster watched as Arthur scrambled back over with the requested implement and was rewarded from the plate of cookies on the desk.

"From what Thor and your father told me of the battle I would assume Heimdall had to make a difficult decision and had no time in which to make it. Jötunnheim is geographically closer to Asgard and it takes far less time to travel between the two. They would also be aware what was happening on Asgard and unsurprised to have refugees turn up even if they hated them."

"Still seems like a huge risk."

"It was, but Heimdall had mere seconds in which to decide and he went with speed of evacuation over destination."

"I want to go with you when you go there." Evie glanced up briefly.

"What? No. Norns, Evelyn, I'm not taking you to Jötunnheim!" Of all the things, that was the last thing Loki expected to hear. "Have you any idea-"

"I'm half Jötunn. Everyone keeps saying Asgard was partly my home, but it's not, is it? I'm from Jötunnheim. At least half of me is."

"Well, yes, but-"

"So I want to see my actual homeworld."

"No! For a start it is an extremely dangerous place! The cold alone is more than you could handle, not to mention the political situation and –"

"Do we have family there?"

Loki stared at his daughter as she glared at him, wondering where the hell the antagonism had come from. "I…I don't know. Possibly?"

"You don't even know?!"

His temper was beginning to flare, which was never a good thing. "Well, I don't know if anyone ever told you but I killed my biological mother, so I doubt the rest of my blood family wish to know me!"

No, Evie hadn't known. The way her eyes briefly widened in horror said that much. However, her own temper was inherited straight from her mother, and like him it was hard to make her back down once she got going. "People don't tell me anything about Jötunnheim! Other than apparently people hate the Jötnar. I only know what they look like from the rare times you've turned blue!" She threw the project she'd been working on down on the desk, tiny pieces of machinery flying in all directions. "Do they have their own language? What do the markings mean? What do they eat? How long is a year? How many moons are there? What's the atmosphere? What's my home like?!"

"This is your home! For goodness sakes, Evelyn, for all intents and purposes you are human!"

"Except that I'm not! I'm some weird hybrid that Hydra want to experiment on! Everyone has tried to pretend that being half alien is normal. Nothing about this is normal! I've got random extra organs, my eyesight is apparently insane and my reflexes are off the charts. I'm not human!" She hissed. "And you guys introduced me to the wrong bloody culture because you don't like the one you're actually born to! You might hate the Jötnar, but I don't!"

"Because you know nothing of them. Nothing of their world." Loki snapped back. "And I wanted you protected from it!"

"What's there to protect me from?!"

"This."

There would probably be a day, somewhere far in the future, when Loki would be able to make a decision not based on an emotional outburst. Probably.

But not this time.

"Möðhy!" Evie jumped back with a yelp. She had seen Loki in his true Jötunn form a few times, but she still wasn't used to it, nor did she expect it.

"Jötunheim is a barren wasteland of ice and snow. There is barely any sunlight for most of the year and the air is so cold it would freeze the blood in your lungs were you to try and breathe it." Loki rolled one of his sleeves up to reveal more of the deep blue patterns that ran along his skin. "I doubt I could survive there since I am so small for a frost giant. I don't know if it was being brought up in Asgard or if I am just a runt, but I my species are usually near ten times my height."

"Möðhy, you're using a temperature charm-!"

"Well you would freeze if I didn't!"

"But-"

"Your eyesight comes from me. In this form I can see far clearer in the dark – I believe I utilise more of the visible light spectrum like this." Loki's red eyes blinked, the sharp black pupils contracting against the harsh lights of the lab.

"Okay, okay, great, go back to normal!"

The demand was at such odds with what she had just asked that it made the trickster pause for a moment in confusion. "What?"

"You're using a temperature charm! Stop it and turn back!"

A sudden wave of dizziness made him realise what his daughter was concerned about, and Loki quickly dropped the barrier. This meant the lab instantly dropped by nearly 20 degrees but also wasn't quick enough to stop him from going lightheaded.

There was a whirring noise and then something metallic was pressing against the back of his skull, gently encouraging him to lower his head between his knees.

"You're an impulsive idiot, I hope you know that." Evie sounded annoyed, and he couldn't blame her.

"I have been told it once or twice before." His head was clearing, so that was hopeful. A cracking sound and then the tinkle of broken metal hitting the ground drew his attention and he glanced to the side. Dummy was stood beside him, now mournfully surveying the remains of it's claw-grip that had shattered on contact with his frozen skin. It saw his attention and made a mechanical beep at him that sounded rather put out.

"You know where the spares are kept, just go get another."

The little droid whizzed off at Evie's suggestion, allowing Loki to sit back up again. The dizziness had passed thankfully – the spell hadn't had enough time to have too bad an effect.

"I'm sorry about that – I didn't think it through."

"Obviously not." The girl reached out to indicate at one of the designs on his arm. "Do all frost giants have the same patterns?"

Since she seemed keen to continue the discussion instead of drawing more attention to what could have nearly been a very bad situation, Loki went with it.

"I never paid too much attention, I'm afraid. The Jötunn I saw up close all had the same sort of marks, but I never cared to see if they were in the same design or not."

"Huh." Evie rested her chin in her hand, staring at the blue lines that stood out on her mother's arm. "Is it actually part of you, or is it like tattoo or scarification or something?"

"It's part of me, I believe. I suppose they may be scars; although I find it hard to believe any race would do that to so small a baby, and I was very young when Odin found me."

There was a rustle beside them and Arthur pulled himself out of his nest of scraps and threw himself into Evie's lap. Despite the animal's thick coat he was shivering badly and burrowed into her arms.

"It's not that cold you drama queen."

Loki glanced at Dummy's frozen claw where it lay shattered, then at the circle of thick frost that was edging out from him in an increasingly larger halo. Evie's desk was sparkling with it, and the ice had reached the far end. Arthur's breath hung heavy in the air as a thick fog.

And Evie's didn't.

"Well. That's interesting…"

"Uh…" Evie had noticed what his attention was drawn to and was beginning to look increasingly confused. "Möðhy?"

"What's the coldest you've ever been Evelyn?"

"It can hit 10 or 11F in winter here. That's pretty cold, isn't it?"

"Not compared to me it isn't." Loki glanced at the camera on the wall. "Jarvis, how cold is it in here right now?"

"Given that the petroleum in the cannisters is freezing, I would say about -40, sir."

"Minus 40?!" Evie stared down at her bare arms in horror. "What the hell?!"

"My thoughts exactly."

The girl carefully placed Arthur down on the floor, where he scampered for the door as fast as his stubby legs could take him, and experimentally laid her hand flat on the desk.

"It feels wet, but not actually cold as such…I'm not hypothermic am I?"

"You're speaking and thinking clearly, and you never started shivering to begin with, so I highly doubt it."

Evie looked from her hand to Loki's blue arm, then back at her hand again.

"Well this is weird then." She reached out, tentatively hovering her fingers over his larger hand. "What do you think?"

The girl's pale hand looked washed out against the rich blue of his own and Loki frowned at her. "As you said; this is a very strange occurrence. Are you certain you want to risk frostbite?"

"You're not going to tell me not to?"

"I think you're old enough to decide whether scientific curiosity is worth risking frostbite over."

Evie grinned – and the expression was a mirror of her father's trademark 'I'm gonna do something stupid' smirk – and placed her hand down on top of Loki's.

The trickster could vividly recall the moment he had first seen his own skin run with blue, and all he had been concerned about at the time was that he was about to lose his arm to the biting cold. Evie's grin held all the anticipation and enthusiasm that he had never felt towards his race.

However, the girl's expression dropped to bitter disappointment when nothing happened.

"What?! But…How the hell is that fair?!"

"Well, you haven't burnt yourself, so I would say that's an impressive thing within itself."

"Yes, but I'm not blue either!"

Loki laughed "Evelyn, you currently have your hand placed on a surface that Jarvis has read as at least -40F and you still have all of your fingers attached. I believe that should reasonably be considered superhuman, do you not?"

The girl scrunched up her nose and surveyed her hand – still a disappointing flesh colour. "I guess. But it's a bit anticlimactic, don't you think?"

"Maybe not. Jarvis, can you turn on a black-light for a moment?"

There were hand-held UV lights on the desk, but Loki suspected the cold had probably messed up the batteries. Instead the main lights dimmed and then turned to a familiar violet.

"Ooh, that's new!" Evie brightened up again. Where they had appeared normal under the usual visible light, in the UV light her arms were now displaying the same lines that Loki's did. The patterns weren't raised like her mother's, and lay flat on her skin, gleaming a bright white. "Look, Möðhy! How did you know they'd be there?"

"I didn't, I was making an educated guess."

The pattern was the same as Loki's, parallel lines and spirals moving up the girl's arms.

"But…But I feel cold if I'm outside in the winter. This doesn't happen if it's snowing."

"I imagine that's because it wasn't cold enough. I must have hit a temperature that triggered a latent response in you."

"So…this is only useful if I'm in the Antarctic or something?"

"Something like that."

They both jumped as there was a sudden sharp crack behind them and a spider web pattern appeared in one of the glass doors. The reminder that just because they weren't affected didn't mean everything else was safe caused Loki to return to his more familiar colouring and the temperature began to rise again. Going from one extreme to the other, the door completely shattered.

"Your father is going to kill me."

WMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

As it was, and unsurprisingly, Tony was far less concerned about the lab infrastructure than he was about their daughter's apparent latent Jötunn traits.

"Frankly, beyond not needing gloves to handle liquid nitrogen, life really isn't going to be any different for her."

"I get that, but it's still a bit of a big deal." Tony's hair was up on end from the amount of times he had run his hands through it by this point. "You're saying essentially if she gets cold enough her entire biology changes. That's kinda important!"

"But no one except us would know; she looks no different."

The man sat down heavily in his chair with an exasperated sigh. They were in his rarely-used office – Pepper had wanted him to sign some pieces – and the movement shifted a pile of paper so that it went everywhere. "Look, I know having kids with latent magic tendencies is run of the mill for you, but it isn't for me! I was freaked out when you told me she was immortal, remember?"

"Quite clearly. However, I can't change this. She is what she is. And this means it's even more likely we'll have to deal with some genetic traits in the twins too." Loki had had to very consciously train himself not to keep doing the hands-on-the-belly thing every time he spoke about the babies, in his bid to not conform to stereotypes. "This was as much as a surprise to me as it is to you, by the way."

"What sort of genetic traits?"

"How should I know? Merlin has the full range of my powers, Sleipnir has extra legs, I'm not even going to start on the triplets. Narfi never displayed anything untoward, but now I wonder if that was just that he never had a chance to. And Váli…"

"Yeah, Thor told me what happened there. Years ago."

"With Evie having appeared so normal I had put from my mind what can happen if magic goes unchecked."

Tony remembered the story. How Váli's magic had twisted him, turned his mind inside out until he killed his brother and attempted to kill his father.

"Those were different circumstances though; they were conceived with magic, right? These two were whipped up the good old fashioned way. No magic in their creation at all."

"I suppose so."

Tony smiled sadly. "Look; we know they aren't dragons or something, so that's a good start. We'll have to take every day as it comes, and if we notice something, we deal with it. It's not just you this time. Unlike your wife, I actually quite like you." He tapped a finger to his lips. "What actually happened to her, anyway? I know you got divorced, but then what?"

"She died in the recent attack on Asgard."

"Oh…huh. Sorry?"

Loki shrugged. "It is what it is. It wasn't like we were close." He winced and shifted awkwardly. Given that he was perched on the edge of the desk it wasn't the most comfortable of places to be sat as it was.

"Being kicked again?"

"No, false contraction. Apparently humans call them Braxton Hicks? They're quite normal. I had them something dreadful with Evelyn." Loki stretched forwards, trying to ease the pressure on his back. "Norns, never again! This pregnancy is absolutely miserable!"

"Sorry? Hopefully the labour will go easier."

"When is anything easy for us?"

Tony snorted with laughter. "Okay, point taken. But you know what I mean. Actually, I had a thought about that, too."

"Need I be worried?"

"Not at all. So; human anaesthetic doesn't work on you, right?" The man waited for his partner to nod in confirmation then continued. "Right, but magical anaesthetic works. I saw them use it on you in Asgard and it worked."

Loki nodded, but with a frown. "Yes, but all of those magic users are either dead or on Jötunnheim with no way of getting here."

"What about Merlin?"

"Merlin?"

"Yeah, your magic-using kid. What about him?"

"I'm not having my son in the room while I'm giving birth!"

"Yeah, you wouldn't need to. You start going into labour, he casts a quick spell, there you go! Magical epidural!"

Loki had to laugh at the enthusiasm. "Tony whilst I agree with you that some pain relief would be welcome, Merlin has stated himself that it is not his forte. And we've already had the discussion over the dangers of magic mixing with pregnancy; I don't want to risk anything if I don't have to."

Tony slumped in his chair with a thoughtful frown. "Okay, but what if we only called him in if something goes wrong? We all know you can deal with normal labour, the problem will be if something goes wrong and Bruce needs to intervene." He noted the wince that inadvertently crossed his husband's face. "So we could have Merlin on speed-dial if things get messy." Another thought occurred and he sat up straight again. "Or we could get him in right away and do a scheduled C-section."

"No magic unless necessary."

"I'd say reducing your pain and stress is pretty necessary. Do you want to naturally give birth to twins?"

"I want to keep them as safe as possible. We've already been through my pain levels – I can cope with a lot. I don't want any more magic around them than needs be."

Stark sighed. "Fine. Can we at least agree to have him on speed-dial though. For emergencies. Go natural if you want but there's no way in hell I'm letting you go through with anything surgical without anaesthetic if there's another option. And frankly I don't want to put Bruce or Jarvis through that either."

The mention of making mild-mannered Bruce Banner perform an un-anaesthetised caesarean seemed to be the deciding factor, but mostly because Loki had a streak of pride a mile long. "Yes, I can agree with that."

"Glad to hear it." Tony smiled as he saw his companion scowl and press a hand to his stomach again. "I think the sooner those two make their grand entrance to the world the better."

"Yes, it will be worth it when they're here, but right now…never again. And when I change my mind in three years' time I am telling you here and now to remind me of this moment!"

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

It was likely Tony wasn't going to have to remind him much. With all of the problems he was having Loki was getting generally more miserable, and therefore more unbearable to be around than usual. By the eight month mark he could cause a room to clear just by scowling. A glare usually meant imminent death and with no magic at his disposal he had only grown more creative.

In the end Tony relegated him to helping Evie move rooms.

They had decided as a family that it made sense for the twins to go into Evie's room; it was next to Tony and Loki's and they could knock the doorway through again for the first few years. Likewise, Evie was more than old enough to have her own suite of rooms like everyone else who lived in the tower and had been hinting about it anyway. She was more than happy to move out of her childhood room, and it gave her a good chance to declutter.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWW

By the time summer had rolled around Hydra had reared their ugly heads a few times, but nothing too serious. Steve and Bucky had tag-teamed one of the incidents – their first time working alone together in about seventy years – and to all intents and purposes it had been a success. It didn't look like Hydra had managed to regroup from the Helicarrier incident.

The Helicarrier itself was still in its bomb-proof safe, the size of a toy. Tony had enlisted Scott's help to retrieve one of the gas canisters from the ship and had determined that it did indeed contain mustard gas. The canister itself had been identified with a registration mark which Natasha and Clint were now chasing down on the Black Market. The aim was to find out where the hell Hydra were sourcing the chemical agent, but any disruption to the supply train would be good.

The Avengers had found themselves trapped in a very strange form of limbo. There had been a time, not so very long ago, that Hydra had been the biggest threat out there. When they had thought that that was all they needed to worry about.

But now, oh now they had the threat of full on inter-galactic invasion hanging over their heads and no one else knew about it! Hydra had made the news. People knew the name. No one knew about Thanos. No one else on the planet was aware of what could be coming for them any day.

In lieu of Loki being able to, Merlin was keeping an eye out for anything that might look like the first sign of an attack, but so far things were eerily quiet. Just the endless waiting for the other shoe to drop.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

Sir, your husband has asked if you could join him. He's in the bedroom.

Tony hadn't expected to see that certain line of text scrawl across his phone screen as he absently checked it. It wasn't like Jarvis to speak to him through a written medium these days, particularly with the AI now inhabiting a body. There were a handful of others in the kitchen with him, either putting together or already eating lunch, but no one had noticed the message come through and he backed out into the corridor to type a hasty response.

On my way. He alright?

He just asks that you hurry.

That was enough to get him moving, although he made certain that no one took note of his departure. Just because he jumped at every little thing Loki said didn't mean everyone else had to as well.

"Well, is he okay?" It was a few floors up, which gave him a moment to quiz Jarvis in the elevator.

"He won't say."

Tony went cold at those simple words; an overactive imagination didn't always serve him particularly well. "Does he look okay?"

"He's curled up on the bed. He could just be tired."

"You're useless."

It was a harsh thing to say to his oldest friend, but Jarvis knew not to take it personally. Tony was concerned and that always made him snappish.

Loki had left the lights off and blinds drawn so Stark had to give his eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom. He didn't raise the lighting level though – his husband had obviously left them off intentionally.

"Hey; Jarvis said you wanted me." He sat down next to the huddled lump under the blankets. "Any reason you're doing your best impression of a burrito? It's not even mid-day yet." He felt Loki's shaky breath under his hand where it rested on the Trickster's shoulder. "Capricorn? Are you okay?"

There was movement under the covers and Loki pulled the blankets away from his face just enough so that he could look up at his husband. Usually pale skin was flushed, his eyes red and glazed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tony's question was soft, like speaking to a frightened animal. His hand found Loki's forehead, feeling for the raised temperature like he always did when Evie was ill. "What's happened? You look really unwell."

"I…" Loki's voice was a dry croak which broke off into a sudden groan. He blindly reached up to pull Tony's hand away from his forehead and gripped it tightly, eyes squeezed closed.

It was that little gesture that told the man everything he needed to know. He had seen such a response before and knew that telling mixture of pain and terror that was written across his husband's face.

"Okay, I'm going to ask Jarvis to fetch Bruce, alright?" There was a well of fear opening up inside him, but it would do no good at all to let Loki hear it, so his voice remained soft and steady.

"No. No, it's just…it's not…" The Trickster's eyes shot open in panic, searching out Tony's gaze pleadingly.

"How spaced apart are the pains?"

"Close." The single word was a bitter sob. "They're close. It's too soon. It's far too soon!"

"No it's not, no it's not. You're just over eight months and Bruce said twins are often early. This is fine. It's all fine." Tony didn't quite know how he was managing to sound so calm. "I'm going to need you to take a few deep breaths, okay?" He glanced up to make eye contact with Jarvis' camera. "Bruce is on his way."

"I can't do this…"

"Of course you can; you've done it plenty of times before."

Loki shook his head hopelessly. "I can't. Tony, the last time I gave birth it ripped me to pieces!"

"I know, I know it did. But these are two normal little babies right here. Just like Evie; and she was straight forward and simple, right? No claws, or teeth or anything here. Just two blobby blobs who want to see the world."

"I know that. But I can't convince myself of it."

"Can I convince you of it?"

Loki didn't respond.

"Do you need me to get hold of Merlin?"

The trickster let out a shaky breath. "No…No, we've discussed this. It's too dangerous. Magic is too volatile."

"Sure thing." Tony was keeping his voice low and soothing. "Yes, you have told me before."

"Stop being so reasona-" Loki cut the word short with a harsh gasp, his mouth slamming shut into a thin line as his face screwed up in pain again. Tony was alarmed at just how quickly the contraction came after the last one.

"Sir, Doctor Banner is at the door." Jarvis said.

"Yeah, let him in." With Loki incapacitated with pain Tony took charge of the situation, making the decisions.

"Tony. Jarvis told me Loki's condition on the way up here." Bruce sounded as unruffled and calm as ever. He was followed into the room by Jarvis himself, who was pulling a large medical cart of equipment behind him.

"Hey Doc." Tony kept his own tone as light as possible, keeping his own concern firmly tamped down. He rubbed Loki's shoulder. "Here we go, the cavalry's here. Everything's gonna be fine."

The trickster was tense under his touch, pain and fear clenching every muscle tightly. Bruce crouched down beside the bed, eye level with his patient as he evaluated what he could see.

"Hi Loki. Have things started a little early?" It didn't take a medical degree to know the answer to that, but he needed to establish the dialogue with his patient. Hazy green eyes made tentative eye-contact before Loki gave a short nod non-verbal as the pain ripped through him. Bruce glanced up at Tony, a gentle smile on his face for both parent's benefits. "Okay. Cool, that's nothing to worry about. Twins are often early, and you're over eight months – the scans show they're healthy. Everything should be fine – they may need a little while in an incubator but we're equipped and prepared for that, and it's not unusual."

The trickster had calmed slightly; the pain receding and the doctor's words getting through to him. He nodded again, showing that he had heard and understood.

"Okay, brilliant. Now, I can see the pains are bad. Are they close together?"

Nod.

"A few minutes apart. Maybe three?" Tony supplied quietly. He felt Loki squeeze his hand gratefully.

"Quite close then. How long has this been going for now?"

Stark couldn't answer that one and felt the trickster take a couple of deep breaths before answering.

"Since this morning. It wasn't strong to begin with; so I didn't want to accept what it was, but the pains are strong now. And as Tony said, they are close.

Given that they had established early on that Loki seemed to typically follow the usual human patterns of labour it gave Bruce a good idea of what was going on.

"Have your waters broken?"

"Yes." The trickster smirked slightly as Tony wrinkled his nose. "In the bathroom, Stark, so stop worrying about the carpet."

"I wasn't-"

"Yes you were. Jarvis didn't know since he's banned from the bathroom, and one of the household robots cleaned up. That was about two hours ago."

"And you didn't call anyone then, because..?" Tony asked.

The slight smirk vanished. "Because I didn't want it to be happening."

Because the prince infamously stuck his head in the sand when he wanted to avoid harsh truths. Tony didn't need that spelling out.

"Well, I'm afraid it is." Bruce said gently. "Loki, I'd like to do a quick examination – I want to check that the babies are presenting the right way, and that you're dilating properly."

Jarvis was already sorting out the little ultrasound scanner that came with the medi-cart. It was yet another new piece of Stark tech – designed for on the spot scans in emergencies, but useful for what Bruce wanted to do. He turned it on and wirelessly linked it to the large TV screen up on the wall. In the time it took him to do so Tony had helped Loki move onto his back, his swollen stomach almost comically large in such a prone position.

They had done so many scans by this point that the trickster had no qualms about Bruce lifting his shirt out of the way and pressing the scanner hard against the bump. The image up on the screen made far more sense to Tony these days, and he could see the images of the two babies quite clearly.

"They're both looking good." Bruce said, moving the scanner again so that one came more into view. "Both positioned nicely – did you not feel them changing position?"

"I…was aware of some movement. But they're so active I discounted it." Loki said softly. "They are correctly positioned for a natural birth?"

"Looking as good as they can get."

"And the dilation?"

"I'll need to check that manually."

"No."

"Well, I can't say I didn't expect that." Bruce said with an understanding smile. "I'll be very quick, I promise."

"No. I've never needed it before!"

"Okay. Fair enough." It wasn't a necessity, and Bruce wouldn't push the point if Loki was that against it. "But we won't be able to pre-warn you before you enter the transition phase."

"I won't need warning." The words were short and sharp as the next contraction rolled in and he grasped Tony's hand again. "I'll know."

He'd birthed enough children that his companions believed him.

"Okay, even if we're not monitoring you, I insist that we monitor the babies." Bruce held up two small discs that meant very little to Loki. The scientist seemed to realise that. "They'll monitor their heartrates; I just need to stick them to your stomach. They run on WiFi so there won't be any wires or anything to annoy you. Okay?"

"Fine."

Stark found himself trying to compare things with Evie's birth, all those years ago. He had joined Loki at a later stage this time, thanks to the trickster's reticence, but even so things seemed to be progressing in about the same way. With Loki taking the lead on just what Bruce was and wasn't allowed to do the trickster seemed to feel more in control of the situation and was calming.

Tony wasn't paying too much attention to how much time was passing, although he knew it measured in the hours. He had ended up sat behind the trickster again – just like Evie's birth, with Loki leaning back into him. However, as things progressed to the home stretch the Doctor seemed to have other ideas.

"Okay, Loki, when you next can I'm going to ask you to move." Bruce's voice stayed at the same calm level throughout, a good point for grounding.

"Move? Move where?" It would be inelegant to say it was a shriek, but it would have been hard to describe Loki's outburst in any other way.

"All fours, or kneeling if it's more comfortable. You've got a lot of pressure on your back; a different position will take that pressure off and hopefully help with the pain."

The explanation probably didn't sink in, but any promise of pain relief was going to be readily accepted by this point. When Loki next sagged back against him with a gasp Tony immediately pushed at his back, encouraging him to move.

"Come on, you heard the Jolly Green Giant; shift it."

"Can't."

"Bullshit, move your ass." The words were harsh, but Stark's gentle insistence wasn't. He pushed against Loki's back again as the trickster began to comply, helping him to sit upright, and then supporting his shoulders as Loki slowly rolled over. It was an extremely ungainly manoeuvre for the usually elegant prince. "There you go; any better?"

Loki managed to nod, before pressing his forehead into Tony's shoulder with a deep groan as the next wave hit.

"You're doing so good, Capricorn." Stark braced his hands against Loki's shoulders in turn so that the trickster could lean right into him if need be.

"Next time…you get to…have the uterus."

"Uh…Yeah, let's talk about that at a later date."

The trickster's short laugh ended with a pained whimper. With Jarvis silently monitoring the twins from the corner where he'd parked the medicart and Bruce's gentle persona, Loki had noticeably calmed down. And unlike Evie's birth he wasn't letting his pride rule him – Tony had seen him at his very lowest, Jarvis didn't really count in his mind, and Banner was a master at making other people feel comfortable in his presence. Loki didn't feel judged when the pain grew too great to stay silent.

Time passed in strange leaps and bounds – seeming to crawl by from Tony's point of view each time his husband let out an expression of pain, and then surprising him with how much had actually passed whenever he glanced at a clock. It was about an hour – which felt in equal parts like an eternity and bare minutes – before Bruce noted a sudden change in how things were progressing.

"Okay Loki, the baby is beginning to crown."

"I…can feel it." The trickster had his head bowed right down into Tony's shoulder, so his voice was muffled.

"Good. I need you to stop pushing, okay?"

"…What…?" Because Loki had never had a medical professional with him during a birth before. Only Tony had been with him for Evie and he'd been alone for the others – he'd never had the benefit of medical advice. Thankfully Bruce understood that.

"Stop pushing. It's counter intuitive but I need you to stop, okay?"

"But…"

"Stop. When the next contraction comes I want you to breathe like you're blowing out a whole lot of candles. Slow, deep breaths."

Loki didn't understand the logic and was in no state to try and work it out so he had to go on blind faith that the doctor was right. It went against all instinct; his entire body was screaming at him to push as hard as he could, and that had always worked in the past. However, Tony was pressing kisses into his hair – regardless of the state of it – and whispering over and over how it was going to be okay, and how well he was doing. It would be a shame to let the man down by not listening to medical advice.

"That's it, that's much better." Bruce received a pained grunt in response.

From Tony's point of view all he could see over Loki's back was Bruce sat between the trickster's legs, his face a mask of concentration. However, his attention was recaptured by the mess of hair directly under his chin as the trickster's harsh panting breaths suddenly broke into a scream, his back arching.

"There we go! That was the worst; that was the head. Keep up the breathing, Loki. Little pants, like blowing out candles." Bruce was leaning forwards, hidden from Tony's view, but presumably supporting the head of the baby.

"You got this Capricorn." Stark whispered. "Nearly there." He felt Loki nod against him, a hand moving to grip his thigh tightly as the prince focused on breathing.

It took another long few moments before Bruce let out a sudden delighted laugh and Loki sagged forwards into Tony with a sobbing gasp.

And a baby started crying.

"Oh my God! Oh Goat-horns, you did it!" Stark was hugging his husband tightly as Loki's harsh breathing slowed. "It's a baby!"

Bruce sat back with a big smile on his face as he finished wrapping a blanket around the whimpering little bundle.

"It's a boy."

"It's a boy! Oh my God it's a boy!" Tony was laughing in absolute joy. "We have a son! Capricorn, we have a son."

Loki didn't respond, already trying to roll back over so that he could see the baby. His husband belatedly realised how difficult the movement was and helped to support the trickster so that he was sat with his back to the man's chest again. He was in pain, he was exhausted, he knew it was all going to happen again very soon, but all he could think of was the bundle Bruce passed him.

"Oh look at him!" Tony was gushing, but Loki found he couldn't say a word. The boy was tiny, but his little face was screwed up as he howled indignantly at having to face the world. Loud and strong. "He's perfect! Capricorn; he's perfect!"

Ten little fingers, ten little toes. Loki had to agree.

"He sounds more than healthy but I'd like Jarvis to give him a quick check over – he is still a little early." Bruce gave the new parents a few moments before good medical sense had to take precedence.

"He can be right beside you, sirs." Jarvis was already moving the incubator up next to the bed so that the newborn would be as close to his parents as possible.

"Just give us a moment." Tony sounded like a man who had found God, staring down at the tiny baby in his partner's arms. However, Loki shifted uncomfortably, a wince going across his face.

"I don't think we have a moment…I thought you said there'd be a gap between the two of them!"

"I said there might be."

The trickster pressed a kiss to the crown of the baby's head before allowing his husband to take him from his arms. Tony was still gushing over the tiny boy but recognised that the situation was rather running away with them. When Loki gasped again, with quite an edge to it, the man grudgingly passed the newborn to Jarvis.

Bruce had the little hand-held scanner pressed to the base of Loki's stomach again, looking up at the image on the TV screen.

"Baby is already well en route. You don't hang around, do you?"

"I imagine Jötunnheim is not a place for prolonged labour…" The trickster hissed through gritted teeth.

"True." Banner glanced towards Jarvis, who was competently weighing and wrapping up the tiny boy. Confident that the droid had everything in hand he could turn his full attention to Loki. "Right, let's get you comfortable again before this really kicks off."

Water was welcomed, and Tony helped remove some of the dirtied sheets. The assumption that number two was deciding to make a quick entrance was definitely correct and the pain was already being to build again.

"Baby is in a good position so far, and you won't go through all of labour again; all you'll need to do is push."

"Good to know." Loki was gritting his teeth again, but there was a sparkle of humour there at the definition of 'all'.

"Stop being a smartass." Tony smirked.

"I mean it Stark; next time you're having the uterus!"

"I thought we said no more for a while."

The trickster wasn't able to continue the well intentioned argument and his hand found Stark's thigh, gripping hard enough to cause some serious bruises. Tony wisely didn't complain. He wasn't sure what time it was anymore; it had been lunchtime when he had gone to check on his spouse – it was probably early morning by now. Time was running away with them again. Bruce suggested Loki change positions again, but the idea was quickly turned down. Exhaustion and pain were taking their toll.

"Nearly there, nearly there…" Tony was whispering the phrase into the mess of hair under his chin, arms clasped firmly around his partner's stomach. He could physically feel the muscles under his hands squeezing and contracting, matching the moments that a groan of pain would become a harsh cry. "You're doing amazing. So nearly there…"

Loki nodded, his hands coming up to grasp Stark's, drawing the support from that contact. "Can…feel…"

"Can feel baby beginning to crown." Bruce finished for him. There was an edge to the scientist's voice that made Tony look up to stare at him. A frown was drawing across Banner's face.

"We good, Brucie?"

"Just a moment. Loki, I need you to start with those smaller breaths again, okay? Blowing out candles." The trickster obeyed, but Bruce's frown deepened and he pressed the handheld scanner low down against Loki's abdomen again. "Damn."

"Bruce?!"

"Okay, Tony, I need you to move out of the way. Loki, we're going to get you to lie flat, alright?"

Stark did as he was told, helping to move the pillows out of the way. "Bruce, what's wrong?"

"Baby is a little stuck; the shoulder isn't passing through properly."

"…what…?" Loki half sat up, looking horrified. The even breathing Bruce had talked him into began to break down into panicked gasps. Tony froze, a pillow still in hand.

"Brucie? How bad is this? Do I need to call Merlin in?"

"No!" The absolute terror in Loki's voice brought their attention back to him.

"No, hold on calling Merlin. There's some things we can try first. Loki, you need to calm down, okay?" Bruce was the epitome of calm as he spoke.

"How, exactly, do you expect me to be able to calm down?!"

"Breathe, don't push and just listen to me. We're going to get you through this, and it will be okay." Whilst the doctor didn't have any of the military conviction that someone like Steve had, he could take complete charge of a medical situation like it was the most natural thing in the world. The quiet authority was what was needed and Tony at least took notice.

"What do we do?" He had Loki's hand clenched tight in his own and it would have been difficult to say who was holding on harder.

"Loki, you need to lie flat. Tony, sit next to him, you're going to need to help." Bruce issued the instructions in his usual controlled manner, but it didn't go unnoticed that he was changing his latex gloves at the same time. "And for this to well I'm going to have to get hands on."

"Afraid…you were going...to say that." The trickster was gritting his teeth, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "Whatever…whatever you need to do…do it."

"This will be simple mechanics, just do what I say."

Bruce received a nod in response and took that as understanding; he really couldn't expect much from his patient by this point. Loki was pushing every one of his limits, and was having to gear up to facing what was at this point his very worst fear over childbirth. Banner couldn't give any indication that surgical intervention might be a very real possibility.

"Right, Tony you're going to need to help out here."

Stark followed the doctor's calm instructions, helping Loki draw his knees up tightly to his chest and holding them there. When the trickster curled his shoulders up as the next pain hit Bruce had Tony gently but firmly encourage him to stay down

"Flat spine, widened pelvis. I'm going to help guide baby's head, so you're going to feel that." Banner explained. It was doubtful if the trickster had really heard him but Tony nodded at least. Loki was pushing again, panic removing reason and nature taking over.

"You've got this Capricorn; you've totally got this."

"Tony, I need you to place a hand here on his stomach and apply pressure." Bruce instructed. "Firm and consistent." His face was a mask of concentration as his friend quickly followed the order. It was a very difficult task having to work with a panicking patient, but with the baby possibly becoming distressed he had to prioritise.

Loki's cry of pain suddenly sharpened to a scream, his back arching despite the order to stay flat.

"There we go, that was the head. Worst part is over." How Bruce could keep such a calm tone was beyond Tony. "Back to the breathing now. Little pants, blowing out candles."

"Fuck...your…candles!"

"Or swear at me, whatever works for you." Banner's voice held a smirk to it. "One more push now. You're so nearly there. One more push."

It was a long moment, and another drawn out sound of pain. Then Loki suddenly relaxed, his legs falling back to the mattress, gasping for breath.

"There we go!"

"You did it! Capricorn, you did it…" It was possible to see the tension visibly draining away from Tony as he leant down into his partner, forehead to forehead. "You did it…" Loki's hand came up to briefly clasp the man's shoulder before he moved away, trying to look at Bruce.

"It's not crying…"

The doctor was focussed on the infant that neither parent could see yet, but spared a glance up. "That birth was traumatic for both of you, but just give her –" There was a sudden small cry and a beaming smile broke across his face. "And there she is, hello baby."

"She?" Tony had sat up again at the sound.

"She. Looks like you guys managed one of each."

Whilst Bruce quickly made sure the baby was breathing properly, Stark grabbed a couple of the scattered pillows and helped prop his partner up against them.

"You are an absolute fucking legend." The man pressed a kiss against the crown of his husband's head. "Seriously; legend."

"Here she is." Satisfied that the baby was no worse for wear Bruce carefully passed her over. "Ten little fingers and ten little toes."

She was still making little grizzling noises, waving her tiny fists around angrily.

"Hello little one." Loki held the precious bundle with practiced ease, his voice thick with tears as he looked down at his daughter.

"She's so beautiful. They're both so beautiful…" Tony had his arm tight around his husband's shoulders. "Oh God Capricorn, well done, you're incredible!"

"Half your DNA, I suppose I can let you take a little credit too." Loki laughed tearfully, then tilted his head up and kissed his husband's cheek. "I can't believe they're here…"

"You did a hell of a job!" Stark glanced up at he heard Jarvis approach and held out his arms for the older twin that the droid was holding.

"I shall need to check and weigh the young lady in a moment, sirs, but I think you should all have a moment together first."

Both Bruce and Jarvis were skilled at staying unobtrusive when needed. Not that the parents would have noticed them regardless, all of their attention was taken up with their two tiny babies. There were quite a few tears being shed; happiness at the beautiful additions to their family and relief – particularly on Loki's part – that the ordeal of the pregnancy and birth was over with such perfect results.

"We still good with our name picks?" Tony asked softly. "You don't want to name baby-girl after your mum?"

Loki tickled the girl's cheek and she snuffled at him in response. "No, I think our choice would please mother. It's something we all need right now." He smiled, with a tinge of sadness. "Hope."

Tony leant into him, cradling their son close. "Agreed. Our little Hope."

"And you're happy with our boys name?"

"Well, one of our kids had to have a Viking name, I guess. I still like it." He grinned up at the trickster. "Brandr, our little firebrand."

With the fall of Asgard and the uncertainty of her people Loki knew the importance of naming the next generation.

A beacon of light and hope for the future.

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