"So...You're our dad?"

He wasn't staring up at the man he'd been calling Dad for his whole life. Though this man also tall and had dark hair, he wasn't nearly as broad as Jack. He was a bit on the scrawnier, more lean side than anything. His dark, green eyes pierced Danny and Elle in place.

"That's funny," the man said. "I don't remember any of us being hard of hearing. No? Must be you then."

"Shouldn't you be trying to win us over or something?" Elle asked. The man shrugged.

"You're heroes. Heroes do what they always do. They save the day and they don't waste their time with villains."

"You're right, Loki," Danny said, standing up a little taller. "But you're not really a villain, not anymore. And you came here with the purpose of telling me you fucked my mom. So what you're not going to do is blow us off and walk away."

Danny's gaze was as piercing as Loki's, and just as cold in that moment.

The room's temperature was dropping exponentially, but it didn't seem to bother either of them. Frost curled at their toes, and every time they took a breath there was a white puff.

"I...I don't know what I can do for you. But you deserved the truth. I know what it's like, thinking that the one who raised you isn't really your parent."

"What you can do," Danny said evenly, coldly, his gaze never leaving Loki's, "is you can be here. You don't get to just walk away now, Loki."

"Well-"

"-No. Stop. I'm not going to sit here and let you play these fucking games. You're either here or you aren't. You either strap up and play the part, or I don't ever wanna see you again. I'm not going to sit here and-and have some kind of wasted relationship with somebody. Not again. So are you in or are you out?"

Loki was surprised with the ferocity that the boy spoke with. He was practically foaming at the mouth, preparing for the worst.

Because that was the worst, wasn't it? To drop the news but then reject him like an insect. It was cruel and uncalled for. And Danny had every right to be angry, because Loki had tried to kill him at some point. That kind of trauma doesn't just go away over night. But with time it could be mended, and Loki...Loki wanted to do just that.

When he met Danny's eyes he was met with ferocity, but it was a thin veil to the fear hiding behind it. He was afraid of another one leaving him. Another one just wasting his time as they played his heartstrings like a violin.

Loki felt a familiar pang in his heart and he just...He knew what it was like. Odin had always treated him differently, treated him worse, than Thor. And he was wrong for that. He didn't want to do the same for Danny.

So he squared his shoulders and met Danny's gaze with just as much ferocity as Danny, before giving him a small, genuine smile.

"I'm in."