Okay guys, before we get started. Infinity War. It's a thing that has now happened (and one HELL of a thing!). Needless to say, it's obvious this story is heading down the Infinity Stones route too, and some similarities did crop up – I guess it's kinda inevitable. I've had this plotted out for about three years now and I'm not going to change anything, so whilst there might be some familiar echoes here and there I am going to continue with where I was taking this. If nothing else, I haven't included Dr Strange or Black Panther so the Time Stone is elsewhere and Wakanda isn't (currently) a thing (could be a thing. I'm debating it but this story is so huge already – let me know if you have any strong opinions either way). Please note as well: I'd already assigned which stone held which power before it was clarified in film. They don't match up – my bad but I can't really change it now. This thing is rolling!
Other than that, enjoy (and watch the film if you haven't yet, it's everything we spent all these years waiting for and I'm still emotionally traumatised!).
T/W for this chapter: discussion of child death.
"Miss Evie, your father has asked if you would like to join them upstairs."
Pepper and Steve had been keeping the girl company. Jarvis had informed the group about the imminent arrival of the twins in the early evening and had been providing the occasional update to try and alleviate any concern.
It hadn't really helped. Evie had picked up on her parent's fear over the past months and it had come as a little bit of a shock to the others just how scared she was when Jarvis first announced to them. As the night wore on she had refused to go to bed, choosing to lounge in the living room watching re-runs of the Simpsons with Arthur on her lap. Since she had a TV in her bedroom it was clear she wanted the company more than the distraction.
Jarvis' final announcement was very much anticipated.
"Is Möðhy okay?" Evie sat up from her slumped position on the coach, causing Arthur to jump.
"Absolutely fine, as are the twins. You can go up and meet them if you like."
"Are you kidding? The girl leapt to her feet, sending the münchrat scampering off. "Tell them I'm on my way!"
As the teenager ran from the room Pepper slumped back against the sofa with a sigh of relief. Steve grinned at her reaction, although he'd have been lying if he'd have said he didn't feel the same.
"Sounds like we have some new additions to the family, then."
"Frankly I'm just relieved it's all gone well." The group –particularly those who lived in the tower full-time – knew that things had been very difficult over the past months. A difficult birth wasn't beyond the realms of expectation. To know that things had gone well was relieving.
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"Miss Evelyn is on her way up." Jarvis announced.
"Was she still awake?"
"She's been watching the Simpson's solidly for nearly six hours."
Tony whistled and Loki laughed. The trickster hadn't looked so good in months. As with Evie's birth his magic had swiftly returned and he had immediately used it to clean everything up. Bruce was somewhat perturbed that it was possible to magically remove a placenta, but Loki was completely done with all aspects of delivery and over-eager to have his magic fully back at his disposal.
"How does that even work?"
"Biologically it's a foreign body, so it isn't difficult." With another careful wave the trickster cleared away all of the soiled bedlinen. His clothes also changed to something clean and comfortable.
Having seen this trick before, Tony wasn't surprised. "You've missed being able to do that, haven't you?"
"You don't realise how much you rely on a skill until it is gone." With everything sorted out to his satisfaction Loki settled back against the pillows and his gaze immediately going back down to the newborn he was holding. Jarvis had scanned both and deemed them healthy and although conventional medical advice would suggest keeping them incubated for a few days due to being early Loki had removed that need. Healing wasn't his forte – he was constantly reminding people of that – but he was competent enough to stabilise the babies and monitor them.
"Still can't believe how fucking amazing you are." Tony said quietly.
"Living beings have been reproducing since the dawn of time, Stark."
"True, but they aren't usually dealing with the shit you've been through. And twins! Hardcore!"
Loki laughed. "Still easier than Sleipnir."
There was a knock on the door at the same time that Jarvis turned to look at the doorway.
"Miss Evelyn is here."
From Evie's point of view the elevator could not have been any slower. For the first time in months she felt able to breathe easy – that underlying anxiety she'd hardly been aware of banished. The babies were okay. Her mother was okay.
The door slid open to reveal Bruce, sporting a huge grin and pulling the medi-cart behind him.
"I'm giving you five some space. Go on in."
"Five. We're a five." They'd been a two for so long. She had to step into the room to allow the doctor to get past but then was unable to do more than just gawp at her parents.
"You going to come and say hello, Birdy?" Tony could see the look on her face and accurately read it as being completely overwhelmed.
"Yeah…You're okay, Möðhy?" Her gaze move to Loki, who was admittedly looking tired. However, his smile was broad as he glanced down at the little blanketed bundle in his arms
"I'm okay. I could sleep for a week, but I'm okay." He held a hand out and a swirl of green enveloped it, materialising into a cloud of butterflies. The girl's face lit up in response.
"You can use your magic again!" And magic meant he could heal anything that needed it.
"See? All fine."
"And the twins?"
"Come and see for yourself."
Evie approached rather in the way she would a frightened animal, obviously not quite believing that things were okay after so long fearing they wouldn't be. Loki was sat in the bed with one of the bundles, Tony had been pacing up and down next to him gently rocking the second, but sat down to let Evie see.
"They're tiny…"
"A little early but no worse for wear." Loki moved aside and indicated for her to sit down. "Meet your little sister." He gently passed the wrapped up baby to his daughter, helping her position her arm to support the head.
"Oh wow…" Evie had never held a baby before and stared down at the sleeping face in awe. "I have a baby sister..."
"Baby brother too."
"Oh my God. They're beautiful!" She looked up at her parents, tears beginning to stream down her face. "What are their names?"
"You're holding Hope, and your brother is called Brandr."
"Hope…Brandr…yeah, I can get used to those." She looked back down at the tiny baby she was holding. "Hello Hope. Hello little sister." Her voice choked up with tears. "I have waited so long to meet you!"
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Loki consented to letting Thor meet his new nephew and niece first out of the Avengers. After such a long time of constant worrying about his brother, the Thunderer was as equally delighted to see the younger God looking well as he was to say hello to the twins. However, as he was getting acquainted, Loki quietly excused himself.
"This can wait; you have had a very trying time of it and been without your magic for a long time." Jarvis was always in the walls even if not in person and the trickster smiled wryly at one of the security cameras.
"This has waited long enough."
Rhodey hadn't shown any signs of consciousness since the doctors had operated and stabilised him. With the injuries from the battle on Asgard he was lucky be alive – thanks in no small part to Loki's initial healing work – but had been deemed unlikely to wake, and even less likely to have a form of recovery possible.
Tony had done everything possible to keep him comfortable; hired in the best round-the-clock care, brought in experts on a near monthly rotation but it meant little. Rhodes was in a coma and there was nothing human medicine was going to do to fix that.
Loki gently chivvied out the night nurse with the promise to call her should the patient's condition change. She had deemed it an empty promise since nothing had changed for months.
"Colonel Rhodes I apologise for the delay in this."
Rhodey was plugged into a whole hoard of machines, most of which the God couldn't work out what they were doing. Something was breathing for him, and something else was monitoring his pulse. There were IV drips, and cannulas, and so many medical pieces Loki couldn't name.
"I am sorry this happened. You needn't have gone."
"He's stable – this can wait." Jarvis tried again, still worried.
Loki smirked. "I've had nine months being unable to use my magic, it's stronger than ever. Today is a day of new life after all."
He crouched down beside the bed, carefully scanning the injured man.
"So how does this work?"
"A lot better if you don't keep distracting me, Jarvis."
"I'm just curious."
Loki rolled his eyes and glanced up. "Now is not the time for a self-aware moment, Jarvis. You can watch, film and take notes, but please shut up whilst doing so."
He took the AI's silence as acquiescence.
The God would no doubt one day get sick of telling people that he was no expert at healing spells, but after asking Jarvis to keep quiet there was no one to tell this time around. He ran a few assessment pieces and calculations before trying to find the best place to proceed. In the same way as a human medical operation would begin really.
"Right, Colonel Rhodes, let's see what can be done."
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"Where did you go?" Tony had the twins back in their crib, and he'd been sat on the edge of the bed simply staring at them when Loki rematerialized back in the room.
"I needed to use my magic, given how long I've been unable to. I thought it would be best if I did something productive."
"Meaning what?"
"Colonel Rhodes should be waking up in the next hour or so. No promises, but he should be back on his feet in a few days' time."
Tony gaped at him a few moments, before jumping up and grabbing the taller man into a tight hug.
"Thank you…"
"It's a day for new life, after all." Loki returned the embrace briefly, but his attention was already back on the twins. "Are they asleep?"
"For now. If they're anything like Evie was, we have almost exactly ten minutes before one of them cries."
The trickster was already sat back down on the bed so that he could stare down at the sleeping twins. "I missed so much with Evelyn…I am so looking forward to every little moment."
"You're getting up in the middle of the night with them then." Tony laughed. He sat down behind his husband to wrap his arms around the taller man's waist. "I sent Merlin a text by the way; he and Sleipnir send their best. I think he's happy but it's hard to tell with that guy."
"It is hard, yes." Loki didn't really sound like he was listening as he let one of the twins wrap their tiny hand around his finger. "He gets that from me I believe."
"You okay?"
"I am so happy…"
"You getting teary again?"
The trickster laughed, and yes there were tears in his voice. "For Norns sake Stark; they are finally here, safe and sound and I am full of hormones. Of course I'm 'teary'."
"Fair point. Did I tell you how incredible you are? Because you are absolutely incredible!"
"You mentioned it. Once or twice." Loki turned his head to smile at his husband over his shoulder. "But I won't tire of hearing it."
"Of course you won't. Your ego is possibly larger than mine."
One of the twins snuffled in their sleep, drawing the attention of both new parents again and the trickster gently pulled his hand from the tight little grasp. "Something else I can do now that I can finally use my powers again…" He made a complicated motion and a glimmer of pale sparkles materialised into two rattles. Wooden bulbs and stems, with the chime of tiny bells inside.
"Oh, like Evie's." Tony said softly.
"Just like Evie's. A gift of a mothers love."
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It was three days before Loki finally mentioned what Tony had expected him to bring up from the moment the twins were born.
"I need to visit Jötunnheim."
They were sat in the kitchen, it was three in the morning and Hope was not co-operating with the bottle at all.
"Is that because you want to check on Asgard, or you just need a break from the screaming demon here?"
Loki smirked slightly. "A bit of both." He was holding Brandr, who had taken to the idea of feeding much easier than his sister and was now asleep whilst Tony wrestled with the second twin. 'The screaming demon' was definitely apt.
"What would you do there?"
His smile fell away. "I need to see my father. If Asgard is destroyed it is only a matter of time before Jötunnheim falls too."
"Are you going to have a look at Asgard too?"
"I think I need to. Its infrastructure was far stronger than Alfheim's, something may have survived."
"And you're going to tell me I can't come with you."
Loki looked slightly abashed. "Am I that obvious?"
"Well, we have two new-borns, you're the only one who can travel between realms and it's your family trapped out there. One of us has to stay here and it was never going to be you." Stark shrugged nonchalantly. He had evidently already been thinking this through for some time. "All that really needs to be discussed is when you're going and for how long."
The trickster was silent for a few moments, looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms. Brandr had been born with a light dusting of fair hair, although still had that scrunched-up new-born look that made it difficult to tell which parent he more resembled. Hope's hair was darker, but still not Loki's black or Tony's deep brown. With her face screwed up in an angry wail it was also difficult to tell any family resemblance.
"The sooner I go the sooner I'm back."
"You going to take Thor?"
"I'll ask, but I doubt he'll want to go. Did you see anything of Jötunnheim when Heimdall sent you back here?"
"Nothing more than a blue blur as we went past. Bifrost is pretty quick, you know."
"It can be." Loki agreed. "Do you want me to try settling our little screech-demon?"
"Please! Swap!" Tony readily traded twins for the sleeping one. "Evie never cried this much, are you sure she's not ill or injured or something?"
"She's fine, just struggling to work out this whole 'life' thing."
"Yeah, her and me both. So, Ice Planet. When?"
Loki rose to his feet, Hope still screaming her tiny head off. "I don't know. Soon. In the next few days probably."
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It was nearly a week before they actually got the plan together though. The twins weren't settling into a sleeping routine quite as easily as Evie had and Loki didn't want to entirely abandon his husband with them. As they'd guessed Thor didn't want to go to Jötunnheim, at least not this time but when asked, Sleipnir was keen to go back to the other Asgardians's. He and Merlin could get along, but it wasn't a perfect arrangement and the horse was very tired of having to hide from the neighbours. When you can run at the speed a jet engine flies at even a large acreage could be too small.
Loki could have gone to fetch Sleipnir himself, but coming to the tower meant both the two older brothers could meet their new siblings.
"You said they were tiny, but they are really tiny." The horse was leaning over Tony, staring down at Brandr. "Are all human babies this tiny?"
"Not really, Evie wasn't, but they were a little early." Brandr vaguely waved a hand around, accidently catching his large brother on the nose. Sleipnir couldn't smile but the angle of his ears made it clear how happy he was and he rested his huge nose close enough that the baby could do it again. Given that there was no way he could hold his new brother it was the next best thing.
"How is Evie? Is she dealing with being a big sister?"
"She's loving it! She's not having to deal with getting up all night long."
The conversation between Loki and Merlin was a lot more subdued, the warlock holding his sister and staring down at her.
"And you are definitely okay?" His concern made Loki smile.
"I'm fine. There was a moment where it looked like it could have been bad, but all fine. Modern medical aid is a wonderful thing."
"Indeed. I am pleased for you." He glanced up. "I mean it, Möðir, I am pleased for you. They are beautiful, and I know how difficult the past months have been for you."
"As always, all of my children are worth any pain or discomfort."
"Norns, you're soppy when you're hormonal."
"Why does everyone keep bringing hormones into this? I'm sleep deprived, not hormonal."
Merlin passed the tiny baby back to her mother. "And yet you're insisting on going to Jötunnheim. And Asgard."
"Those creatures won't wait for a pair of babies to develop a decent sleep pattern. I don't like the timing at all, but the sooner I go the sooner I get back."
Tony and Loki had had many discussions over whether or not Evie should go and Tony was still deeply unhappy about it. However, they had compromised on making her wear a scaled down Ironman suit to protect her from the toxic atmosphere they Asgard would now sport and Loki was confident that her frost giant heritage would help protect her on Jötunnheim.
He felt slightly guilty about leaving Tony with the twins for an unspecified length of time, but the journey was important and Stark was fully on board with the 'sooner gone, sooner back' plan. Merlin had surprised him slightly by asking to join the small group going, but he reasoned that if Evie wanted to see the other realms his other Earth-bound child was probably thinking along the same lines.
Loki was use to inter-realm travel with passengers, but it was still a unique experience to have so many of his children with him at once.
He was utilising a rather strong shielding spell when they landed in Asgard's observatory, prepared for the expected radiation left behind by the destruction. He had very little idea of what to expect: the other realms they had visited post-attack had been decimated and although Asgard had a stronger infrastructure that Alfheim or Svartalfheim, he wasn't hopeful.
"Oh damn…"
The two little words did very little to sum up the devastation, but Evie didn't seem able to articulate it any better.
The observatory was a broken shell around them, open to the elements. The Bifrost itself was dim and muddied, but seemed to be intact enough to hold the ruin stable. Loki stepped out onto the bridge itself, silent as he looked at the home he had once known.
"I told you it was bad." Sleipnir's hooves were scuffing up dirt and dust as he came to stand next to his parent. "I'm amazed even this much is standing."
In the distance the familiar spires of Asgard were broken to jagged teeth. Smoke was visible still curling up out of the ruins. Sleipnir was right though; even ruins were unexpected given what they had seen happen to the other two realms.
"There was a time when I would have wished this on this place…" Loki whispered.
"A time? Please, you plotted this sort of thing at least every other week." The horse's voice held a hint of humour and he leant his huge head on his mother's shoulder. "I always knew you never meant it though."
"I would never have meant this." Loki glanced back to see how his two younger children were doing.
Evie's expression was hidden behind the blank mask of the armour they had insisted she wear, but her body language was telegraphing how scared she was. A few steps behind her Merlin was frozen, simply staring at the devastation. It occurred to Loki that the warlock had never even left Earth, and this was his first view of another realm.
"I want you three to stay here; I'm going in to see what is left." He expected arguments, and was surprised not to receive any.
Sleipnir was well aware that he was going to struggle walking through the ruins purely from a biological standpoint. He was too big, and had too many legs to easily navigate rubble. Behind him Evie had moved back to stand by Merlin, subconsciously placing herself with the nearest person who had the ability to protect her. Merlin himself looked grim, and simply nodded at his mother's statement.
Loki didn't give the three a chance to change their minds.
It was instinctive to teleport from the observatory to the palace; he'd done it from the moment he had learnt the spell. The landing was different this time, though, rubble underfoot tipping him off balance. Thick black smoke filled the air, which would have been a significant problem had he not put the protective spells in place to ward off such difficulties. With another wave of his hand the choking fumes cleared a little.
"Norns…" He'd known it would have been bad, but it was still something else seeing it in person.
The doors to the throne room should have been before him, but instead the whole front wall to the palace had collapsed, reduced to blackened rubble. The masonry looked like it had been put through a blast furnace. Even as Loki stood there a stale breeze brushed through and another section further along crumbled down.
Asgard had always seemed indestructible. Even at his most furious – when he used to envision the city burning around him – Loki had never really believed it would be possible to do. The entire realm was a fortress. A sudden shift of metal on rubble brought defensive spells to the ready and he turned towards the sound, not really expecting something to still be moving within the destruction but ready none the less.
But something was moving.
It was pure curiosity that stopped Loki from blasting the thing into another dimension on sight. To have survived the devastation and then the ensuing radiation that was saturating the realm said a lot. He wanted to know what could have managed it.
"He…Hell…o….sirrrrrrr…."
The fractured voice was barely recognisable, and the thing that staggered towards Loki wasn't identifiable at all.
"Jarvis?!"
It was one of the Iron Legion, or at least the remains of one. The left leg still had some shards of plating but the other was just the twisted remnants of the interior skeleton. An arm was missing – torn off at the shoulder joint – and a heavy hit to the abdomen had knocked out the internal gyroscope so the whole torso hung at an odd angle.
"Rep…report…ingggggggg…" The face had been smashed to pieces, broken shards hanging from the empty helmet.
"Reporting? Jarvis, what happened?"
"Lasssssst…last man…standddddd…ing." Loki strongly resisted the urge to step back from the thing as it limped a few steps forward, holding its remaining hand out. The effort was seemingly too much and the shattered suit collapsed, barely giving Loki the chance to grasp what it was trying to hand to him.
He didn't recognise the small item, but if Jarvis deemed it important enough to pass on then he was damn well going to make sure it got back to Tony.
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Merlin was pacing the remains of the observatory, sparks curling around his fingertips, when Loki returned.
"Did you find anything?" He sounded tense – interdimensional travel didn't seem to sit very well with him.
"Nothing living." Loki tossed the item Jarvis had given him in Evie's direction and she caught it with a yelp of surprise. "What's that?"
"Uh…Looks like one of the new memory cards from an Ironman suit. Dad updated it all recently – it holds significantly more data. Where did you get it?"
"One of the Iron Legion survived long enough to pass it on. What's on it?"
Evie looked down at the little chip again. "At a guess I'd say if Jarvis survived then he has been filming. Maybe he caught something useful. My phone can check it." She was already reaching for the technology, but Loki held up a hand to stop her.
"Not now. We need to get to Jötunnheim."
Merlin groaned. "Oh wonderful; more space travel."
"You were the one who wanted to come." The trickster sounded utterly unsympathetic. "Come on, I don't want this to take any longer than it has to."
Merlin scowled, and Evie didn't seem much happier. Sleipnir was really the only one who looked ready to leave the place. He more than likely had had enough of seeing the ruin of his home.
"Be prepared for this." Loki cautioned. "I've cast enough spells that you will survive in Jötunnheim's temperatures, but that doesn't mean you won't still feel it."
"I can cast my own spellwork, thank you, Möðir."
The look that passed between Loki and Merlin was an age old grudge between parent and adult child. It was only broken by Sleipnir thumping his younger brother in the back with his large nose.
"Shut up and don't act like you know everything, for once."
The brief moment of travel was nearly missed due to their bickering, and Evie stumbled on landing. It didn't help that they had landed in snow that was nearly up to her waist. Loki's grip on her shoulder kept her upright as she floundered for a moment.
It was so dark that it took a moment the girl's eyes to adjust and make sense of the shapes surrounding them. Once they finally did it suddenly became very clear that Loki's hand on her shoulder was more a protective gesture than steadying.
The towering shadows around them materialised into huge figures, standing some twenty feet or more over them. There were at least five, maybe more in the distance. Dark blue skin meaning they were nearly one with the surrounding snow and red eyes meaning that they weren't quite. Evie shrank back into her mother with a surprised yelp.
"And I thought you were joking about being a runt." Merlin's hands were up in a defensive posture, flames beginning to curl around them.
"Well I wasn't, and stand down unless you want to cause an inter-dimensional incident. They aren't here to hurt us."
"They look like they are!"
"They are here to escort you." The voice was a deep rumble, although it was just possible there was some humour there. "The Allfather asked us to watch for you."
Given the time difference between Earth and the other realms, the months it had been for Loki would have only been weeks on Jötunnheim, but it was still a decent length of time for them to wait.
"Your escort is appreciated."
He knew where he was going, but it wouldn't really do for the giants to know that. Evie was pressed close up to his side and he kept an arm over her shoulders as they followed the group. Sleipnir trailed behind them, similarly familiar with the land, Merlin sticking close to him.
"Is it far?"
Loki glanced down at his daughter. She had removed the Ironman helmet and he was faintly surprised that the Jötunn markings that had only been visible under UV light in the lab were beginning to show against her skin like faint silvery scars. He had assumed his shielding spell would prevent the cold from bringing her heritage out the same way it did for him. He quickly raised a hand to cloak her but one of the Jötunn glanced back and smirked.
"Don't bother, we know."
Loki stopped dead, which made Sleipnir bump into him. "Know what?"
"The Allfather told us that he stole you as a child. We know you are one of us. And therefore your children are at least part Jötunn." The giant shrugged nonchalantly. "Everyone is quite intrigued. It isn't often the prince of another realm turns out to be one of your own." He turned back and continued on as if he hadn't just thrown Loki's life on its head.
"The Allfather told you?!" It was Sleipnir who managed to find something to say there pushing through the snow to stand beside his mother.
"Yes? Is that a problem?" The same giant turned back and looked Loki up and down. "Don't understand why you're so small though; Aesir magic?"
"Not quite…" The trickster glanced at Sleipnir who lifted a front leg in his version of a shrug. "This is my normal height. I assumed I was a runt…?"
All six giants stopped, and Merlin quickly pulled Evie behind him so that she was at the back of the small group and easier to protect. However, it was shock and surprise that the family was faced with, nothing necessarily dangerous.
"This is the norm for you?"
With the sudden intense focus on him Loki felt that he had little choice but to cancel out the spell making him look Aesir. He could recall so vividly that moment he'd stood on Jötunnheim, a frost giant gripping his wrist and watching his own hand turn blue for the first time. This was no less nerve wracking and the disbelief on the Jötunn faces around them was no less frightening.
The height was the most obvious difference; Loki was no taller in his true skin and they towered over him still. Some of the Jötnar had hair, but in outlandish cuts that held no similarity to his style, and the Aesir outfit looked even more out of place against his blue skin then it usually did when compared to their clothing. There was a quiet snapping sound and Loki glanced down to see his metal bracers crack under the intense cold.
However, none of the obvious differences seemed to account for why the Jötnar were looking at the trickster God as if he had grown an extra head.
"What?" Self-conscious already, Loki began to change back to his more comfortable Aesir appearance but a large blue hand on his arm stopped him.
"No, don't." The giant looked to his companions. "How is this possible?"
One of the others shrugged in bewilderment. "It shouldn't be." There was an emotion there, something beyond the complete confusion, something that if Loki didn't know better he would have said was sadness.
"If you would be so kind; what are you talking about?" The prince snapped.
The Jötnar exchanged looks, an almost universal 'well I'm not going to tell him'. Finally the first that had spoken raised his hands in defeat
"This is neither the time nor the place." He turned and began leading the way onwards again. "You need to speak to the Allfather." He threw over his shoulder.
Despite Loki and Sleipnir's best attempts they were unable to get anything further out of their escort for the remainder of the short journey. Evie and Merlin remained silent behind them.
The city looked significantly different from how Loki remembered it; but then he had destroyed the original and they had had twenty years to rebuild. He rather hoped they didn't know that that was him.
They were escorted straight to the largest building – presumably the place – and led through the huge halls. Red eyes peered curiously from the shadows, quiet murmurs of shock echoing. The group had never been more glad to hear Aesir voices as they entered a huge hall.
The meagre group of Asgardian refugees were using what to the frost giants was a large meeting room, but to the Aesir was a substantial area that easily accommodated them all. The pitched tents and camp fires were a far cry from the gold and splendour that had been Asgard.
"Loki!" He had certainly never heard his name called with that much relief in it from that voice before. He had a brief glimpse of the rest of the room before his vision was obscured by wild black hair and a heavy body thumping into him in a hug.
"Sif…" It had been instinct alone that had him throw up the protective charm to stop her from receiving a nasty freeze-burn from the contact.
"I have never been so pleased to see you!" The warrior pulled away to grin at him. "Even when you look like that."
Of course, if the Allfather had told the Jötnar that he was a stolen child he would surely have told the Aesir at the same time. Sif must have been expecting to see him in his true skin, but her expression didn't quite hide her surprise at how he now looked.
"Yes, well, blue or not, I'm here to help." He glanced around, taking in the refugees, tents and general mass of quiet injured people. "Although I know I am too late to do much."
"Not your fault, for once." She grinned. "I assume that you being here now means a happy result?"
"A happy result. A healthy boy and girl."
Sif's grin turned to a true smile. "Thank the Norns; we really need some good news around here!"
"We do indeed." Odin sounded quiet, older. Tired. Loki turned to see his father standing there, looking as bad as his voice had suggested. Grief-stricken.
"Father…"
They had never been a demonstrative family. It hadn't exactly done Thor and Loki much good growing up, and still made things difficult now when they all failed to be able to talk to each other properly. So it came as a surprise when Odin pulled him close into a tight hug.
"I am so pleased things have gone well for you and the twins; your mother was so happy when Thor told us."
The mention of Frigga brought all of that pain straight to the surface and Loki had to fight it back into submission. As much as he was still mourning his mother, now wasn't the time. He pulled back when he was confident he could speak without choking up.
"I am sorry about the timing; I would have been there if I could."
"We know. It wasn't your fault."
"We came here via Asgard, it was…It was bad."
"How much was left standing?"
Loki explained what had happened on Asgard and how it looked as they made their way through the tents. The Aesir refugees barely spared him a glance, for all that he was now a completely different species. Shell shock.
There was an ever so slightly larger tent with two soldiers standing guard outside it. One of whom was very familiar.
"Heimdall!" The trickster had never been so pleased to see the watcher in his life, and Heimdall's small smile held a similar sentiment. "We had no idea if you had made it! Tony said he last saw you still in the observatory!"
"It was a close call and I'm only on half duties due to injuries. But I'm here." He glanced over Loki's shoulder and his smile widened. "Sleipnir, glad to see you made it!"
"Likewise!"
"And the young princess; good to see you again Evelyn." His gaze finally settled on Merlin. "And you…are hidden from me. I don't know you."
That drew Odin's attention – finally – to the young man, and he frowned as he realised he didn't know him either. Then again, he hadn't had opportunity to greet Sleipnir or Evie yet so the oversight wasn't too surprising.
Loki glanced back at his son and received a small nod in response. "This is Merlin. It's about time you meet each other, I suppose."
Grandson and grandfather appraised each other silently before Merlin held a hand out. "I wish this were under other circumstances."
Despite Loki's opinions, Odin was capable of picking up on social cues and could see that his grandson wanted to keep things professional. The warlock was not interested in expanding his family circle any further at this point.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, and I am also sorry it has to be like this." The Allfather looked between Merlin and Loki and smiled. "You two look so alike, blue or not."
"Speaking of: Why did you tell the Jötnar about what you did? About me?" Seeing the discomfort on Merlin's face Loki smoothly changed the subject, and asked what had been on his mind since they arrived. "And why are they reacting so strangely? I know I'm small in comparison, but you would think they've never seen a runt before."
"Yes…I believe there's someone here you should meet." There was an odd quiet quality to Odin's voice that made Loki look at the king twice.
"Yes?"
"Come; this won't take long and should answer your questions. It is best we get it out of the way now. The children will be safe with Lady Sif, and we won't leave the palace boundaries."
As if refusal wasn't even a thing. Loki supposed that in Odin's book it wasn't; his adopted father had certainly never allowed he or Thor to talk back as children, why would now be any different? He checked with his three children that they were alight with him leaving them with Sif, although it was Evie he most worried about. The girl shrugged her agreement, leaning back against Sleipnir. The Jötunn markings were still clear on her face, even though the hall was artificially heated. Any answers he could get on their heritage would be useful.
He followed the old king from the hall towards an icy corridor – not one they'd traversed so far.
The walls around them were shrinking, the whole hallway growing smaller in diameter as they walked down it. Elegantly made to decrease in size the further one went.
By the time they reached the carved door at the end it was on par with a normal sized corridor on Asgard and certainly not one a normal Jötunn could access easily.
"Father, where are we?"
"In what I have been told is one of the oldest parts of the palace."
Loki's eyes narrowed. In his birth-skin it was much easier to see the delicate patterns carved into the doorway – not something that he would have expected from the beasts that he knew lived here. Odin knocked on the carved ice and it swung open under his touch.
"Allfather, you have returned."
It was an ambiguous voice in the shadows and for a moment Loki was thrown by the size of the room; so much smaller than those high-ceilinged things in the main palace. Then a shape by the icy-glassed window moved and he simply gaped.
It was a Jötunn, certainly, but not one like he'd ever seen before. All previous experience – not that he'd had much – told him that the frost giants were huge hulking creatures, easily five times his height and more. Now one stood before him that defied all expctations.
It was the same height as him.
"You brought him." Again, the ambiguity made it difficult to determine anything about the figure, and the heaping furs around their shoulders hid any other clues.
"I said I would." Odin had stepped to one side, making it clear that he was not intending to be a part of this conversation.
"Yes, you did. I thank you." The figure pulled back their hood to reveal something else that hadn't been seen so far. This Jöunn was old. Wrinkles pulled at the eyes and mouth, and their hair was a shining lilac that appeared to be the frost giant equivalent of grey. "Loki. You are Loki?"
With his adopted father's presense Loki didn't feel it was something he could deny.
"I am. Who are you?"
"Skadi."
"I was told I should meet you. Why?"
The ancient Jötunn watched him with narrowed eyes. "You look like your father. And there's a bit of your mother there too, although Laufey wasn't much of a looker so be glad you don't take after him too much."
"You knew them?"
"They were the ruling monarchs, of course I knew them, boy."
Loki studied the intricate patterns, distorted as they were by time and age. They were different to his own, sharper angles and lines. "You aren't family." He said it with certainty, but found that he was disappointed to voice it. When Odn had said he needed to meet someone part of him had hoped…
"Your family have all died. Laufey in his misguided attack on Asgard and, your mother and siblings when the Bifrost took it's revenge."
There was something in the way that that was said that made the trickster realise Skadi didn't know. Odin hadn't told them who had been behind that Bifrost attack. It was small consolation now, though. He hadn't given a thought to any possible relatives when he had done it; to now hear the consequences…
"I'm sorry. I should have said it more sensitively."
"No. Dead is dead, no matter how you say it."
Skadi limped closer, and it was a limp. Old legs not working as well as they could have once done. "But still. I'm sorry. You've been through a lot, boy. Your father has told me some, and the rest I can guess." She – and Loki had to think of her as a she, there was a femininity that eluded the male pronouns – reached out to rest a gnarled hand against his cheek, blue on blue. "The universe has not been kind."
"Life is never gentle."
A smiled moved the wrinkles into new places and old red eyes lit up. "No. No it certainly isn't."
With her so close the size similarities were even more obvious. "Why are we the same height?" Loki asked quietly. "I was already under the impression that I was a runt."
The cracking, hacking sound was startling until he realised that it was a laugh. "A runt? Yes, yes I can see how you thought that. Not at all, dear one. Not by any stretch of the imagination."
"Then what…?"
"Allfather." Skadi removed her hand and glanced over at Odin. "Did you know that you saved this boy's life? By taking him when you did?"
"I had always assumed he had been left for dead, so yes. I thought he was a runt; too small to survive. Left because there was no hope."
"Yes, and yet no. You did the right thing, for all the wrong reasons." Skadi turned and began to shuffle towards the small table and it's accompanying chairs. "Come and sit with me, you can't expect an old giant to stand for a full conversation." She eased herself into the nearest seat with a groan and gestured at two of the others.
Loki ignored how all of the furniture was, again, sized correctly for someone of a much smaller stature as he sat down. "Why was it the right thing? Why was I left to die?"
"You are a sorcerer." Skadi indicated to the patterns that ran across the backs of Loki's hands. "Those are Sieðr Lines. Only magic users carry that pattern."
"So sorcerers aren't approved of here…?"
"You have such a low opinion of your own people."
"I don't know my own people."
Skadi's eyes twinkled with another, sadder smile. "How true that is." She sat back in her chair. "We were once such an advanced and cultured realm. All those millennia ago. And like all of the other realms our sorcerers and their magic that made that possible." She laid her own hand on the table, presenting the same patterns – same Seiðr Lines. "We were the back bone of our people's success. This place flourished under our care and support."
A very different picture to the Jötunnheim Loki was familiar with. "What happened?"
"War happened." The ancient Jötunn sighed. "You may have noticed that you and I are not exactly on par with our companions out in the main halls. Well, sorcerers are born tiny and we don't grow much from there. A normal Jötunn is built for speed, endurance and being able to survive in these harsh conditions. A sorcerer doesn't need those skills; their magic provides. It means we are immediately recognisable and our status known, but has its draw-backs."
"Drawbacks? What drawbacks?"
"So small a baby can't survive in this place. A normal child struggles, but to be so very small the cold just seeps in and takes the life straight out of them." Skadi looked over at Odin. "When I was young we had an agreement with Asgard. Our sorcerer children were sent to Asgard at birth to foster families who raised them until puberty and their magic could sustain them. We would then take in foster Aesir and train them in our ways of warfare and hunting – we were considered the experts in the realms then."
"I do not recall any of that." Odin said quietly.
"No, I didn't think you did. I was a few years older than you when I was sent there, but you followed me around where-ever I went, Allfather. A very sweet child." Skadi smirked at the look on the king's face. "But I was one of the last of such an arrangement. The realms went to war not long after."
"So without Asgard's help…" Loki quickly saw where the story was leading.
"We asked the other realms, but none would aid us. Muspelheim was a ball of molten rock with no life. Alfheim had no love for us and when we tried to take our younglings to Midgard – at that time a realm of huge reptiles – the Aesir fought us back and claimed it. The other realms had sided with Asgard." She shrugged. "There was no-one. We were alone. Oh we tried. We did everything we could think of to keep those tiny children alive. Our sorcerers expended so much time and energy into trying to heat rooms that were made of ice, trying to warm a realm of snow. And all the while they were being called to fight in the wars. We began to run out of magic users quicker than we could save the newborn ones."
"But…So why was I left…?"
"By the time you were born millennia had passed. Millions of years had passed. We were a broken realm filled with bitter and grieving people." Skadi reached out to rest her hand on top of Loki's. "Because even though we were unable to save them the same percentage of Jötunn were still being born with magic running through their veins. Parents had begun to hold funerals for their children at birth. Allowing the snows and ice to reclaim them rather than having to wait…to watch." She smiled with all of the heartbreak of one who had lived it. "When the Allfather took you he saved your life."
Loki found himself without any way to respond as tears choked his voice. He looked away, ice beginning to slide down his cheeks.
"Surely there were ways…" Odin's voice made it clear he had been similarly affected. "There are spells that can make ice impervious to heat, that can cocoon a person in warmth, that could-"
"There are spells now, Allfather." Skadi said gently. "But this was millions of years ago. And this is a realm of ice. Our magic was not as advanced as the magic of modern realms, and was not as diverse. Believe me, I was there; we worked as hard as we possibly could. By the time spell-work had caught up with our needs we didn't have the sorcerers left to perform the spells and no-one from another realm willing to teach us how." She gestured around at the icy walls of the room. "No doubt the war was our fault. After all; all of the other realms turned against us and something must have caused that, although we have no records left to say what it was we did. However, the result was that whilst every other realm advanced we have slipped further and further backwards. We Jötunn are all able to manipulate raw ice, but with magic we were able to build the most delicate and fantastical structures. We had machinery, energy sources, industry, all based on what our sorcerers could do. Losing them has destroyed us."
The image that Skadi was painting was of a Jötunnheim that bared no resembelence to the realm as it now stood. The ancient sorcerer turned her hands over on the table, palms up. Ice began to slowly climb up into a spindly little tree, standing only a few inches tall.
"I am the last. I have seen my homeland diminish until it is nearly nothing. And now the realms are being destroyed so any hope for the future and new ties is lost. Even if we could build a relationship with somewhere like Midgard or Vanaheim we have no idea how long they or we would survive."
"Not the last." Loki looked down at the Sieðr lines running across his hands. "Not anymore."
Skadi smiled sadly. "That would be true, child, but you care nothing for this realm. You were raised Aesir, and your life is now elsewhere. And even if you were to suddenly decide to come back here who is to say we will last any longer than any of the other realms out there?"
Loki couldn't exactly say she was wrong. He would never wish to live on Jötunnheim, and certainly not bring his children there. His life was elsewhere and he frankly knew nothing about the culture, traditions or people whom he was born to.
"I…can't refute anything you say right now." He said quietly. "My life is now on Midgard, my family is there and I owe that realm my allegiance. However…"
It had been on his mind since knowing he would have to go to Jötennheim. Niggling away that there was something he had in his possession that would benefit others a lot more than himself. He glanced at Odin, but the Allfather didn't seem to know what he was intending.
"However, I can offer something that can help."
Skadi's eyes widened in shock, a mirrored expression on Odin's face as Loki pulled his hands apart and a deep blue glow filled them.
"But that is…We thought that was lost to us."
"Not lost. Stolen alongside a baby." Loki's red eyes reflected the glow of the Casket of Ancient Winters as he gently placed it on the table. He glanced at his shocked father and shrugged. "I took it from Asgard's vaults years ago and done nothing with it since. It only seems right that if you are to shelter Asgard's people in their time of need that they return a stolen treasure."
It was somewhat impulsive, since he didn't know if she was actually the person to hand the ancient artefact to, but it made sense in the moment. He didn't know who was in charge of the realm now, and as far as he saw it; Skadi possessed the power to be able to handle it. If it was going to be used to help defend Jötunnheim, as he hoped it would, then it was going to need to be wielded by someone who could.
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It was day time when Loki and Odin finally returned to the main part of the palace. Or at least, as much day time as Jötunnheim could manage.
They studiously didn't talk about what they had been witness to. It was too raw and too open for Loki to want to process it just yet and Odin knew when to tread carefully. The unspoken acknowledgement that the Allfather had accidently saved one of Jötunnheim's most treasured resources without even realising hung heavy between them.
Loki felt the weight of the Jötunn stares bearing down on him as they made their way back. The realisation that many of them would have had lost children that had been born just as tiny as him was haunting. He knew the heartbreak; he had had two children die, lost three others before birth and knew just how deep that went.
The pain must have been written across his face because Odin didn't even try to bring up the matter of the Casket.
Sif was stood by the entrance way to the hall, obviously waiting for them, and the look on her face was enough for Loki to put his own whirling emotions to one side.
"What's happened?"
"Your daughter has found something. It's…well…" She shrugged, her usually stoic façade nowhere to be seen. "It's bad."
"Bad?" As descriptions went it hardly helped, but to see the warrior in such a state said a lot more than the poor choice of words. "Okay, where is she?"
Sif led the way back to one of the many tents, seemingly indestiguishable from the others if it weren't for Sleipnir lying down outside it. Evie and Merlin were sat side by side next to him, the girl curled right up against his side. Merlin had his hand on her shoulder, awkward and unused to comforting someone.
All three were staring at Evie's phone screen.
"You've uploaded Jarvis' memory card." Loki could already tell from their expressions. Only Merlin looked up to acknowledge him.
"You need to see this." The warlock had to actively pull the device from Evie's hands, she was so focussed on it. "It confirms a lot of theories." He handed the phone over.
It was a video clip, although rather poor quality. Merlin had taken it back to the pertinent point and it took Loki a moment to decipher the broken pixels and recognise a view of Asgard's training grounds.
The camera had been built into the suit's shoulder joint so the view of the action was slightly off centre. It gave the impression that it was the last of the Iron Legion standing, which quickly changed when the whole view spun over for a brief moment and the camera focussed on the ground as the suit landed face down. Another explosion and it was rolled again.
For a long moment there were only rolls of thick black smoke to be seen. Dark cloying clouds obscured the view of anything else that was happening as the camera struggeled with resolving the image, only picking up various shades of darkness.
"What am I meant to be seeing here?"
"Just give it a second."
The screen flickered a few more times then there was another tinny explosion and the clouds were blown apart by the blast. Loki frowned as more of the invading creatures materialised out of the murk, grouped as if in formation. And then behind them…
"What?!"
"Told you." Merlin said grimly.
The figure was tall. Taller than Loki, than Thor, almost as tall as the frost giants. It strode through the destruction as if it owned the world already.
He – body shape suggested at any rate – was already wearing armour, but was in the process of discarding one of his armbraces. The piece of metal fell to the ground and was kicked carelessly to one side as one of the guards passed him something much larger.
"The Gauntlet…"
It fitted his arm like it was made for him. With a wave of his other hand three bright lights appeared and settled themselves down into place along his gauntleted knuckles. Red, purple and tesseract blue.
"And those look like the Infinity Stones." Odin supplied quietly.
The figure on the screen flexed his hand with a large smirk, then gestured out and the screen went black.
Loki looked up at his children blankly.
"Yeah, that's when we assume he nuked the place." Merlin said. "With that amount of firepower I don't know how that much of Asgard was left standing."
"Asgard is old. Older than Alfheim, and certainly older than that Gauntlet. It's not that easy to destroy." It was Odin who answered. "Even for one such as him."
"Him? You know him then?" Sleipnir didn't have much ability to look shocked, but his ears were flat back against his skull.
"It's Thanos." Loki said flatly. When his father glanced at him in surprise he shrugged uncomfortably. "I met him briefly when the chitauri first had me."
"You never told me you met him!"
"Well I don't count an interrogation session as much of a meeting. I wasn't exactly co-operative when I was first captured and he had something to say about that."
The look on Odin's face at realising his youngest had been tortured by none less than Thanos made Loki quickly take charge of the conversation again.
"Okay. So this is proof it's him. And he's after the stones. And he has three of them."
"Which three? Can you tell?" Sleipnir was still asking the pertinent questions.
"The purple one was from Alfheim, that's the space Stone, red was Svartalfheim's and is the power Stone and the tesseract is the mind Stone." Loki happily took the change in conversation and ran with it.
"Space, power and mind. That's a potent combination."
"And what do they do?" Merlin still had his hand on Evie's shoulder – she was being uncharacteristically silent in the conversation.
"Space can obliterate organic matter, power changes matter to anti-matter and mind rather does what it says on the tin. It can manipulate, control or otherwise take hold over the minds of many." A small smile crossed the tricksters face. "I used it myself, although didn't have it long enough to really get the hang of it."
"You had it?"
"I stole it from Shield, used it to take control of various Shield personnel and built a portal over New York with it."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Oh I remember that; didn't thousands of people die?"
"Yes they did. And now we risk everyone dying. Everyone. Not a few thousand humans, but everyone across the nine realms." Loki snapped at him. "So don't try to bring that up now, because we have much bigger problems." He waved a hand and an image of the gauntlet they had seen Thanos put on appeared hovering in front of him. "That is now our main concern. That and the stones and where he is intending to attack next." The trickster clicked his fingers and the Infinity Gauntlet vanished again. "And what the hell we're going to do about it." He turned to his father. "I need to go back to Midgard and let Thor know. And the other Avengers; Earth could well be next on the hit-list."
"I thought we didn't have an Infinity thingy!" Evie said in horror.
"You don't; but the others are lost. If Thanos also doesn't know where they are he will more than likely rip the other realms apart to find them. So we need to warn them."
"What about the other realms? You can warn Earth, but what about Vanaheim? Nidavellir?" Sleipnir asked. "What about here?"
It was a legitimate concern.
"Asgard is in pieces, but there is a possibility of rebuilding…" Loki spoke slowly, as if the thought was only just occurring to him.
"To what end?"
"Refuge." He looked to Odin again. "Because the other realms will start to fall, and they will need refuge. The Observatory needs to be fixed, the gas clouds need to be cleared and the radiation must be sorted before anything about the structures can be done. Do we have any surviving sorcerers?"
"A handful."
"Then send them back and set them to work. Asgard has fallen once; there is no reason for Thanos to go back and the other realms are going to need somewhere to run to."
"That's a bleak outlook, Loki."
"It's realistic. The Aesir have fled here; what will happen when Thanos follows? Where do you go next? Where do the Alfheim refugees go once Vanaheim is attacked? Of the three realms that have fallen so far, Asgard has the most infrastructure left to work with."
Odin nodded. "And from the way you're phrasing that, I assume you aren't staying."
"I have two new-borns at home; I'm not staying."
The king's gaze moved to Loki's three children quizzically.
"I'm staying." Sleipnir's response was expected, as much as Loki didn't want to hear it. Merlin merely shook his head and as a teenager no one was asking Evie.
They had already spent more time in the realm than the trickster had intended – given the time differences – and they needed to be leaving. He and Sleipnir said their familiar farewells, used to parting and the siblings all had a quiet moment together. However, Odin asked for a private word before they left.
"You never mentioned that you had met with Thanos." He cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"I told you; it was an interrogation, not a meeting."
"Loki…" It was the tone of voice that stopped him, although Odin's hand on his shoulder helped. "You should have told me-"
"Why?!" The trickster took a step back, the movement shaking the hand free. "Why should I have told you anything? Do you think I want to acknowledge that I was tortured by the Mad Titan? That I want to remember what he did to me? Why do you think I ended up telling them where the tesseract was? It's not exactly a period of my life I want to remember!"
Odin paused a brief moment, then nodded. "Alright. I am sorry. But I am concerned for you."
"It happened nearly twenty years ago and worse things have happened since. It's far from my mind."
For a long moment Odin had no kingly bearing at all; just a tired old man bent down under the weight of a broken realm and pain for his children. "I just want to see you safe and well, Loki. I have let you down too many times in the past, and even now I find more instances of where I should have tried harder for you."
With everything else going on, with all of the complicated emotions and new realisations, it was not what Loki needed to hear in that moment. "I appreciate the sentiment, but things are too raw for us to have this discussion now."
The fact that the Allfather actually accepted that as an answer and nodded made the trickster realise just how far they had managed to come as a family.
"Thank you. And I do appreciate your concern for me. However, as it stands the universe really is bigger than our family dramas." He managed a shaky smile. "Now; I need to take Evie and Merlin home."
"Will you be back?"
"I reiterate: I have two new-borns and a possible intergalactic threat to protect them from. Most likely not. Will you take my suggestion regarding Asgard?"
The Allfather nodded. "I will look into it."
"Good. The other realms may depend on it."
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There is nothing as irritating as finally getting a pair of week-old babies to sleep than your family magically teleporting into the room and waking them up again.
"Look, I love you and all, but right now I want to kill you."
"Basis of our relationship." Loki pressed a kiss to his husbands forehead. "I'm sorry. How long has it been?"
"Three days. I'd say not long, but, y'know, sleep deprivation and two screaming babies. Who are now awake again!"
"Again, sorry." The trickster looked back over his shoulder to see that Merlin had already teleported away – presumably back home. He couldn't say he hadn't expected that. "How have they been?" He picked up the nearest crying twin from the crib – Brandr – leaving the other for Stark.
"Not too bad. Had a minor break through with feeding the screaming demon." Tony scooped Hope up to try and soothe her. "Should have thought of it sooner really: I was doing a night feed and sleep deprivation made me leave her bottle to cool down too much whilst I fed her brother. Turns out if you give her cold formula she's quite happy." He shrugged. "Not what the parenting books would suggest, but then they're written for humans, not part Frost Giants."
"We were overheating her?"
"Pretty much. Less blankets, cool milk and no socks and she's been much happier. It does go against instinct, but it works."
Loki laughed. "Accidental innovation is usually the best." He glanced at Evie at her amused snort.
"Are you kidding? I'm amazed I've grown up as well adjusted as I am."
"You're a half-alien billionaire heiress living with superheroes, Birdie, you are not well adjusted." Tony held an arm out to her, the other supporting Hope. "Come here, I want a hug with both my girls! I missed you."
"We were only gone a few hours." Given that Evie was still mostly wearing the smaller version of the Ironman suit – minus the helmet – it wasn't the most comfortable of hugs, but Tony didn't mind.
"Yeah, not from my point of view. How was the suit?"
"It would be better if you actually put boosters and stuff in it."
"Yeah, no. I'm not letting you actually have a working suit, I'm not stupid." He ruffled her hair before moving his gaze to Loki. "How was it out there? I wasn't expecting to see you blue."
Loki's smile faded and he readjusted Brandr's blanket as something to distract him. "It was…bad. We need to call the Avengers together to discuss what it might mean for Earth, and what, if anything, can be done. I also learnt a little more about my own heritage at the same time, which frankly I could have done without given everything else going on."
Tony nodded. "Yeah, I suspected it was going to lead to some bad news." He sounded so tired. "I'll put the twins to bed; you and Evie clean up then we'll call the group together for a catch-up."
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Nidavellir was a large realm, with an even larger trading base. Busy workshops, mills and factories that never slept and fires that never went out. A considerable portion of the weaponry, armour and metalwork for the Nine Realms was produced by the Dwarven craftsmen with the skill and meticulous talent only they could produce. The land was entirely taken up with the production facilities, and extensive mines stretched out underneath in every conceivable direction. There was nothing by the way of farming or livestock, but none of those were needed given the profit turnover. Anything Nidavellir wanted, it could afford to buy ten times over.
This was helped by the large amount of plastic Tony Stark had supplied them with back when they made the mirror for his telescope. Magic and technology and human ingenuity were melding in new and fantastic ways.
The other thing they didn't necessarily need was a standing army since wealth could hire anything by way of mercenaries. They had no quarrel with any other realms, confident that no one could function without them.
The explosion at the largest copper mine took everyone unawares; accidents a thing that never happened in the realm.
Being ill-placed to deal with an external threat was one thing. Nidavellir was entirely helpless. No army, no defence force, no way to protect themselves because they shouldn't need to.
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When Loki entered the kitchen the look on his face didn't require any explanation. Everyone had been expecting a debrief from Jötunnheim and it was clear that that was now the last thing on his mind.
"Where?" It was Steve, of all people, who asked the question everyone was thinking, and the trickster's wide-eyed gaze moved to the super soldier.
"Nidavellir. Small attacks at the moment; reconnaisense missions. They're searching."
"Does Nidivilly…Nidiliv…is there an Infinity Stone there?" The super soldier made a good attempt at the name.
"We don't know, none that we have ever heard of."
"So why…"
"I can only assume Thanos thinks there may be one. Or they're looking for something else."
"What is the damage so far?" Rhodey was looking pale and pained, but he had insisted on joining the others as soon as he was physically able to leave the med-bay. Having seen the devastation on Asgard he knew what the attackers were able to do.
"Not catastrophic. If they're looking for an Infinity Stone they need to make certain it isn't buried under the rubble of their efforts."
"Could they accidently destroy it?"
Loki gave him a withering look. "Sadly no."
Steve rested his elbows on the table, head in his hands. "Can we help? Can anyone help?"
"No. Asgard is gone, Alfheim is gone; Vanaheim are looking to protect their own borders. Midgard can't reach their own moon without Bifrost help; there's no one."
"So we're going to sit here whilst yet another realm is destroyed?"
"I am open to suggestions. If they don't find an Infinity Stone it may be that they leave Nidavellir alone as opposed to ripping it to pieces."
No one believed that.
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