- Chapter 62 -

"That concludes this file. The next file is from April 29, 2023," McCorrmick said as he switched the two files. Once they were switched he looked around the room again. For being so quiet, it was still very noisy. The vexed Queen's silent crying was draining away leaving an odd calm in its wake. He thought it was like the calm before the tornado hit. It was too still. It wasn't like the silence that surrounded her brother. That was an absence of noise like the vacuum of space. Hers was more akin to someone grabbing hold of the sound and forcing it to be still. McCorrmick shook his head lightly and looked back down at his computer. Being born and raised as Satska Soledras meant things the emmika considered strange were commonplace to him. The problem he was having was that normally other people saw the same things he did. He was the only one now. What he needed was Eidesh, or any of the deshar, to explain this to him. Thinking about why he was seeing and hearing things no one else seemed to be didn't make him comfortable.

Yes, my grandchildren are treasures, Odin thought, and you don't belong near them. He worried not only over how Loki was being treated, but how his grandchildren were being treated as well. Stark appeared devoted, however he still openly confessed to neglecting his own son. This man didn't belong near any of Odin's grandchildren, in his opinion, any more than he belonged near Loki. He ground his teeth for a few moments before taking a breath to try to calm down. He wanted to be able to remove Loki from Stark, then toss Stark in the dungeons and forget about him. His teeth ground together for a few moments more. That probably couldn't happen.

She's happy. She? Frigga wasn't ready yet to think of her son as a woman. That wasn't the person she'd known for more than a thousand years. She glanced to Odin who looked equally irritated as her. Frigga was very excited for Loki. A new baby was always something to be celebrated. Despite the excitement, she found herself simultaneously irritated and not as displeased with Loki's husband. He was ill-mannered and coarse, but deeply devoted. While she appreciated his care of Loki, she also disdained his dragging Loki about, his demanding and overbearing nature, his blatant disrespect. His constant pushing of his seidr onto Loki was deeply disturbing. This man was the opposite of what she thought Loki would be attracted to. He needed to be taught some respect. Frigga's children were royalty.

That Loki had borne children to a commoner was bad enough, but she strongly suspected that he'd forced that on Loki. That thought both troubled and angered Frigga. He isn't a common Midgardian, is he though? If he's what I believe, is that any better? Frigga was careful to keep her anger in check. She realized painfully that she didn't have a say in Loki's life anymore. If Frey accepted this man as Loki's husband, then there had to be some redeeming quality about him. Frigga always trusted her brother's judgment on the character of people, though it was rare that she needed it. She could wait. There was more to see, more to learn. Loki would only stand behind this man for a powerful reason. Frigga would wait to see what that reason was. She would reserve her judgment until then.

Sighing, Frey sat back in his chair. He could hear a forced calm come over his beloved sister's seidr. She only did that when she was angry and contemplating. He could almost hear her thoughts on it. She didn't like Anthony. The reasons for it were all very obvious. She doesn't understand, he thought. He wasn't sure he wanted her to anymore. It'd only been a short period and he was already tired of hearing the grief and shock crying out through her seidr. Frey took a deep breath and held it for a moment. It didn't improve his mood but did help him to find patience. While he could hear his beloved sister's pain, he couldn't do anything about it. His whole body ached to get up and move to her, to begin the process of relieving that pain. There was simply nothing he could do at the moment. Frey grit his teeth and turned his attention back to the screen.

.-.-.-.

Finally! Tony swiftly exited his sons' bedroom. It took over an hour to settle the unruly toddlers into their cribs. First came their demand to sit in the rocking chair with him. Next came their demand for second story, and then a lullaby. Their grandfather spoiled them. He almost lost his patience with them when they started trying to climb into one another's cribs. His first set of twins were so demanding that he secretly hoped the second set of twins would be different.

He tried very hard not to be stern with his children. Tony had far too many bad memories of his own father yelling at him to be truly comfortable using that tone of voice. He did have a 'Daddy voice' that he used sparingly. When his children heard it, they knew that Daddy's patience was wearing thin, and they were about to be put in time out. Tony had already resolved to never spank his kids. He would reason with them instead. Loki scoffed at that notion when Edward was born. As he tried time after time and failed time after time to reason with his triplets then his first set of twins, he began to understand. Tony still refused to allow spanking, but he'd become quite fond of timeouts. Timeouts for the kids. Timeouts for toys. Timeouts for everything!

Peering down, Tony looked at his wristwatch. He had just enough time to tinker a little on his ship designs before he needed to get to bed. I hope Loki gets home before then. She was out all day working on one of her projects. He disliked letting her out of his sight. Her safety was always a concern. If it hadn't been for the saplings, he wasn't sure he would've agreed to it. There was always an uncomfortable tightness that spread through his chest and shoulders when they were separated. It was becoming more noticeable. Tony knew he wouldn't be able to catch much sleep without her by his side. He sighed and walked down the hall towards the stairs down to his workshop. A familiar tingling spread out from the base of his skull as he got to the stairs. He turned to see Loki coming in the front door. She was wearing a black pencil striped pants suits with green accents. Dust covered most of the suit and her high heeled boots were muddy. Even the leather briefcase she was sporting had some odd stains. Despite the dirt, she had a very pleased look on her face.

Discomfort prompted Loki to uncurl a little more seidr from her core. Her chest was beginning to ache. She'd used a little too much seidr during her trip. It was starting to become tiresome. A Restoration Spell composed quickly. It released to swirl frothy emerald light about her that cleaned away the dirt and muck. She composed a Conjuration Spell next. It released to alter her pants suit into a long silken tunic and a comfortable pair of loose pants. Her boots were gripped with her seidr and dismissed to her interdimensional pocket. Her seidr curled quickly back into her core then. Her bare feet made no sound on the cold stone floors. A broad smile touched her lips as she saw Tony walking towards her. She set her briefcase down on the kitchen island counter and immediately went to give him a hug. "Hello, Love," she said. It was always comforting to be greeted by the love and anticipation she could hear in Tony's seidr. It was all for her.

Bending down, Tony gave his little wife a hug. He loved that she loved wearing silk. It was as soft as her skin and the natural sheen was enticing. "What was all the dirt from?" he asked.

"Oh, I've been busy today," she said. Loki went back to her briefcase and pulled her laptop out of it. She scooted both bar stools back up under the counter so they wouldn't be in the way. Then her laptop was set up on the counter. She motioned for Tony to come over. "It was a long day, lots of constructs and lots of dirt, but I got it done. Everyone is on the same page. All the contracts have been signed and we're going to be moving forward very quickly now."

It was with casual interest that Tony looked over the contracts on the laptop. They looked like standard employment contracts. It wasn't until he reached the terms and conditions that things started standing out. His interest went from casual to serious very quickly. "What?" he muttered. Each contract had different terms and conditions, and some of them were more than a little blood curdling. A no forced sexual contact clause. A no maiming/mutilation clause?. A no forced labor/slavery clause? No kidnapping clause? A no enticing through bribery or coercion of children to train as child-soldiers clause? What the fuck? When he reached the fourth contract the name on it stood out. He went back and checked the names on the first three contracts, then checked the names on the rest of them. Tony knew these names. He'd seen them on a SHIELD watch list. "Loki, you were in Africa today, right?" he asked carefully.

"That is what we discussed." Loki leaned against the counter.

"Loki, are the names on these contracts accurate?" Tony saw the cheshire grin spread across her face. That was the grin that meant Loki went and did something naughty. That wasn't what they discussed.

"Very accurate," her grin gained a sharp edge.

"Loki, did you just hire a bunch of African warlords?" Tony asked with only a little bit of a frown.

"Oh my, would I do that?" Loki looked positively mischievous.

"You did! Why did you do that?! That was not what we discussed!" Tony retorted. He didn't think there ever be a time when she couldn't surprise him.

"They already have the roads secured and people in place to handle food and medicine distribution, law enforcement and personnel protection, and the beginnings of government in the destabilized areas. They have armies built up. I don't want to slaughter half the native population to aid the other half. We're going to save them all. Or in this case, hire them. They, and their people, now belong to Stark Industries," Loki said proudly. She downsized the folder with the contracts and brought up the folder labeled 'Africa - 5 Years'. It was the beginnings of her plan for the Kingdom of Midgard. Loki didn't know if she would be able to complete the plan. She didn't think that she would. That wouldn't stop her from moving forward. Her King of Machines would have his kingdom. In the fires of a newly forged kingdom under the watchful eyes of her King of Machines would the most magnificent of her works come into being. However, all she could do was set all the pieces in motion. The outcome was never something that she would have a chance to see. She still grieved to know that when it happened she'd already have left. Loki pushed those thoughts aside as ruthlessly as she always did. "Take a look if you want. It's in the five-year plan for Africa. It's under 'stabilization efforts'. This was always my plan. It started moving last July and is proceeding smoothly." Last July was simply when she started moving openly, but Tony didn't need to know that.

.-.-.-.

As Loki talked about hiring warlords for a five-year plan Director Fury's ears perked up. Africa had been unstable for longer than he could remember. Does Loki believe that Africa can be stabilized? Working with warlords, most of them were guilty of crimes against humanity, seemed an odd way to go about it. Even the local governments in Africa were mostly corrupt. What are you up to? Are you our enemy? If you're not, then what are you?

A hard smirk slipped past Frey's control before he assumed his calm expression. Their trips to Darkfire Caverns certainly taught Loki how to handle some little Midgardian warlords. He almost wished he'd seen it. It was sure to be giggle-worthy.

.-.-.-.

"You found, cowed, and hired every major warlord in Africa in a single day? Can we trust these people?" Tony asked incredulously. We can't trust these people.

"As reasonable people, no. As self-interested cowards, definitely," Loki was confident in her actions. "I gave them all a simple choice. Do as they're told or die a gruesome death and be replaced. It took a few displays of wrath, but all of them felt that following orders and being compensated for their work was better than being feed to a herd of bilgesnipe, one bit at a time. I don't trust them, but I do trust their self-interest. They'll do as instructed. All of them were briefed on the code of conduct that they and their people will be following. It's a Stark Industries approved code, so you don't need to worry. They were also briefed on the severe consequences of not following the code of conduct. Each contract was a bargain, and they entered into it as representatives of their people. All the enchantments are in place, since all the bargains are sealed."

.-.-.-.

An even harder smirk slipped past Frey's control before his calm mask fell back into place. He continued keeping his seidr well contained. There might be awkward questions about his amusement from his beloved sister should she hear it. Yes, he thought, you would know about bilgesnipe. I taught you well enough. The ache wasn't deep enough yet to release his seidr. He wasn't going to be the one to give himself away.

When McCorrmick glanced over at King Frey he saw another dark mark appear on his heartstring. It brought a frown to the young man's face. He stopped looking and turned back to his laptop when the King caught him looking. Trying to explain that he was seeing things that no one else was wasn't an intelligent idea. There was only so much he could use the elder aunt to cover before she disallowed him her cover. He especially didn't want to do that in front of Director Fury. More than his security clearances would evaporate like water in the Sahara at that point. The safety of his clan would go with them.

.-.-.-.

Perusing the five-year plan again left Tony remembering his doubt when this began. He wasn't sure when Loki told him, "I'm going to fix Africa in five years." The continent was one giant demilitarized zone. The most recent wars displaced millions of people and killed hundreds of thousands. A vicious drought followed by more famine and several viral epidemics compounded the problems. Several governments collapsed leading to massive crime waves as lawlessness spread. "Can we really do this?"

"I've already set up a meeting with UN representatives for you next month. Between the UN and us, we're going to start relief aid flowing into the worst hit areas. Once they see that the aid is going to the people and not just the armies, I'm hoping to convince them to send doctors, teachers and eventually engineers for infrastructure building. A modern highway system and train network spanning all of Africa is in year four of the plan. Economies can't be built or grown without transit systems. Well designed and maintained infrastructure is one of the cornerstones of a stable society." Loki cut herself short when she realized that she was lecturing him again. Lecturing was an old habit from when she'd tried to educate Thor. It never worked. As a businessman, Tony didn't need that lecture. He already understood how products spread. "I'm hoping that when the surrounding areas begin to stabilize we'll be able to temp Wakanda out of its isolation. They could be a powerful ally. The possibilities that would come from an honest diplomatic alliance with Wakanda are too tempting to ignore. Hopefully, we can turn T'Challa's friendship into a political ally." Many nations in Africa lost the people in the wars, famines, and epidemics that they needed to rebuild. Tony made it sound like Wakanda had those people in spades. Loki was hoping to coax them out of their own borders. What her husband described made them seem like they could be a powerful engine of change for the entirety of Africa. They sounded like just the people she needed, just the people Africa needed.

.-.-.-.

T'Challa's friendship? Director Fury wondered if Stark had managed deal successfully with Wakanda and their obstinate King. He'd received reports about Stark Industries making overtures to the Wakandans. Nothing about them succeeding had made it across his desk. He certainly hadn't seen anything about Stark spending enough time in Wakanda to befriend T'Challa. If Stark could succeed in bringing Wakanda into the fold, that would be a huge victory.Whose victory it would be was yet to be decided.

.-.-.-.

"I also checked on the waterspouts; they're already carving out new aquifers. The drought effected lands with be restored within two years, and the African fae tell me that the seedlings are doing fine. They're all very enthusiastic about their bargains. The seedling's growth is on schedule. In a few months, the trees will become more noticeable to the African populations. It may take them some time to realize what the trees are," Loki said. She rubbed at her temples then. The large amount of seidr she'd used that day was wearing on her.

.-.-.-.

And you've bargained with multiple fae? Frey's calm smiled widened a touch. What did you tempt them with, my dear? More importantly, how did you convince Anthony to allow it? He worried slightly over Loki bargaining with the fae. It was only slightly because he knew that she wouldn't go against Anthony's wishes. His nephew-by-law had a poor view of bargaining in general, so he wouldn't have allowed her to act foolishly.

Loki having gone near any of the fae disturbed Odin. The thought of one of his children dealing with something so volatile and gleefully violent brought him an unwelcome unease. He wanted to know what seedlings Loki was talking about, as well as what bargains were made. Almost no one bargained with the fae because they almost always required the mage's life be offered as the premium. The fae had no such care for their own lives as normal folk did. They would use this to hold hostage the life of any fool tried to bargain with them. It made bargaining with them wickedly dangerous. Odin grimaced as he realized uncomfortably that Loki didn't have the same care for his life as most folk did. The beast within him whined at the thought of Loki's life being in the hands of something so unstable. He kept his shoulders back and his chin up though. He wouldn't cry here. He would wait until he was in his private chambers. It was only Frigga who was allowed to see his tears. For what could he hide from his own heart?

Keen alarm flowed through Frigga thoughts again followed shortly after by keen displeasure. She'd never allowed her children near fae from any realm. The fae of Midgard were certainly the tamest of any of them, but even they were still fearsome and capricious. She wanted to know what bargain was struck and with which fae. The terms were very important. More than likely they held her child's life in them. That was just another uncomfortable consideration. She frowned slightly as another thing presented itself for consideration. Stark was again unconcerned by the seriousness of what Loki said. It was ignorance on his face, and Loki seemed to be using it. A little frown twisted her lips. Frigga decided that she probably would've taken to lying were she married to such an overbearing beast. Small acts of ire and deception could hardly be faulted with such foul spouse.

.-.-.-.

"Why not take the mask off? You'll feel better." Tony cupped her face in his hands. Let me worship my goddess, his seidr whispered to her.

Closing her eyes then, Loki peeled back the glamour. Alabaster gave way to cobalt and a pleased sigh eased out of her. When she opened her eyes again they were a bright ruby red with tiny flecks of gold ringing the center. "That does feel better." The way that Tony was looking at her made Loki suspect that this evening would be far more pleasurable than the day. Despite the many facets of the action that had to be considered, she still wondered, Will I stroke your crown tonight?