- Chapter 74 -

Putting a hand on her belly, Loki waddled towards the kitchen. It became the default position for her left hand in the weeks before she gave birth. Bed sounded like a better idea than dealing with an angry husband since she was still sleepy. The rage rolling out through his seidr burned her being so near it. He was swearing under his breath and pacing. Before she got to him he tossed his keys across the counter. They slid off, hit the floor, and skidded to a halt near her feet.

I should leave them there, Loki thought as she looked at the keys. She bent over and tried to pick them up anyway. Then she huffed in frustration when she couldn't reach around her belly. Leaning to the left and twisting didn't put her closer to them. Taking a step right and trying again didn't achieve success either. They were so close to her fingers, but she couldn't stretch the extra inch needed to get them. Loki huffed again and stood up. She wasn't going to uncurl her seidr and cause her chest to begin aching again, not for a pair of keys. "I can't get them, Love," she said quietly.

A sudden noise startled Tony out of his angry pacing. He jumped and turned towards it. Loki was standing on the other side of the island counter. He frowned a little. "Hey, babe. I didn't see you there," he said slowly. He pulled in his seidr some, not wanting his anger to touch his babies. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then exited the kitchen to go to her. When he looked her over he saw her rumpled clothing and tousled hair. He noticed the quilt on the floor in front of the sofa. His eyes closed, and he sighed.

Fuck me. Tony wrapped his arms around her. His seidr pulsed out into her quickly, causing her skin to sparkle with it before feeding it back into his core. His head rested on hers. "I didn't mean to wake you up," he said softly.

Loki yawned and leaned into Tony's chest. She didn't bother to do more than rest her hands on his hips. "I can't reach them," she mumbled. Her eyes closed as she leaned against his chest. His warmth tempted her back to comfortable sleep.

"Hm, ok," Tony said as he scooped her up and carried her back to the sofa. After depositing her gently on the sofa and covering her legs with the quilt, he knelt in front of her. Little kisses were pressed into the backs of her hands. "What can't you reach? I'll get it for you," he said.

Loki looked back towards the kitchen. "Your keys. I couldn't reach them," she said.

"Oh," a vaguely angry look crossed his face. "I'll go pick them up." Tony squeezed her hands gently before letting her go to get the keys off of the floor. The keys were still lying on the floor where they slid to a stop. As he looked at them he remembered why he threw them. Scooping them up swiftly and tossing them on the counter didn't make him any less angry. Tony could still feel the tension in his shoulders from how angry he was.

"Come and tell me," Loki offered to listen. She could hear his desire for violence bleeding through his seidr. It was loud and harsh to listen to.

Before he walked over and sat down with her Tony huffed one more time. He took off his shoes and put his feet up on the coffee table. Then he patted his lap and waited while Loki scooted closer. When she was close enough Tony pulled her gently into his lap. She sat back against his chest and propped her feet up on the table one either side of his. The quilt was pulled over their legs before Tony rested his hands on her belly. She placed her hands on top of his.

"Tell me what's wrong," Loki leaned her head back against his shoulder.

Taking a moment to bask in her presence let Tony calm himself enough to tell her, "Doom attacked New York again."

"Damn," she said dryly. "How bad was it?"

Peering down over Loki's shoulder, Tony rubbed his hands over her belly gently. "He hit the city with waves of those armored robots of his. We were able to hold him back for long enough to get most of the combat areas evacuated, but there was a lot of damage. It took a few hours to get all the robots down. Once they were gone the coward teleported out. I want to put a pike through his chest so badly," Tony said. One would be enough, but he still wanted to unload an entire quiver into Doom.

.-.-.-.

Teleported? Frey arched an eyebrow at that. A pike, against a magic user? He didn't know that Loki was training Anthony in offensive magics. Anthony did no sparring or training when they came to visit. More often than not he was working on some machine design on a Memory Cube. The thought of Anthony learning such magics was a satisfactory one. It would make his nephew-by-law more able to defend his beloved niece and his grandchildren. That was never bad in his opinion. Frey wondered how far along Anthony was in his training. He was going to have to inquire. It wouldn't be so hard to lend his aid in the training if they wanted it. He was a Master in Battlefield magics. Although he hadn't taken the special training, he was still competent to teach. He also had more than enough experience to make a fine teacher.

A pike? Odin sincerely hoped that Stark wasn't learning offensive magics. The beast was fearsome enough without being well-trained. An untrained beast with only flaming talons was enough to destroy Asgard. A beast trained in Battlefield magics wouldn't even be able to be slowed down so people could be evacuated to ships for escape. Stark's wanting to use a Pike Spell made it seem like Frey was involved. It was one of Frey's most favorite weapons. Although his brother-by-law wasn't as well trained as Battlefield magics as he was, Frey was still lethal in combat. A scowl briefly crossed his face before his mask fell back into place. How much training does Stark have? That was another answer he was going to have to get.

At the mention of a pike being used against someone capable of teleporting Frigga's eyes narrowed. That was her brother's favorite weapon on the field of battle. Frey was almost as adept at Battlefield Magics as he was at Healing Magics. She'd never had a problem with him instructing Loki in a few things here and there. The possibility of him instructing Stark wasn't a welcome one. Frey making an already fearsome beast more dangerous just wasn't sensible.

A little frown from McCorrmick was aimed at Stark for his comment. He was glad Stark hadn't deployed that weapon. The Baron of Latveria wasn't enough of a threat to be worth deploying a weapon of that magnitude. He couldn't think of anyone who would be worth deploying that monstrosity for.

.-.-.-.

"That's too dangerous and it would give you away," Loki reminded him. It was hard for him to remember that he couldn't use his seidr when he was angry enough. It was all she could do to remind him that using his Gorgon Spell in the city couldn't happen. She could hear his desire for blood still growling in his seidr. He was at least managing some of the burn. "Something else happened?"

"Yeah, towards the end of the fight," he said. All of the anger was slowly draining away. What he thought was the curve of a baby's head under Loki's skin was a lovely spot to find. He caressed that spot and smiled. My babies, he thought.

"What was it?" Loki asked.

"That blonde bastard, that's what," Tony said bitterly. His hands stroked over Loki's belly again and he placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder.

"What did Thor do this time?" Loki sighed. When am I going to stop cleaning up his messes? The gentle massage that Tony was giving her eased away the sudden spike of tension.

"It wasn't him. Thor was fairly restrained in the city. He did pretty well," the words were still bitter in his mouth. Praising Thor for anything just felt wrong. He knew what kind of man Thor was. He wasn't the kind of man who deserved praise. It was only Tony's promise to Loki that kept his attitude friendly towards her brother. Even his understanding of why Thor was like he was couldn't erase the bitter burn of anger that Tony felt towards him. "It was Fandral."

"Oh, what did he do?" Loki was secretly pleased to hear praise for Thor from Tony. It was more than likely hard won. Well done, brother.

"He thought it'd be funny to taunt the Hulk," he said. The tension in his shoulders was easing out.

"He's an arse," Loki said immediately. "He always has been."

"Being an ass is fine, I'm an ass. I know that. This wasn't him being an ass. This was him being completely irresponsible! Taunting the Hulk isn't funny! It caused Bruce to lose control of him. Hulk knocked down several apartment buildings in a low-income neighborhood. Just plowed right through them while Fandral dodged and laughed, the bastard!" Tony voice rose a little at the memory. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek on her shoulder for a moment. He was careful to keep his seidr under control. He never wanted his rage to touch any of his children.

"I'll have the foundation on it first thing tomorrow. I'll also send a construct to speak through, so I can speak with Bruce myself. We'll make it right," Loki said. She liked managing the Stark Family Foundation's action teams. It let her enact so many positive steps towards the founding of the Kingdom of Midgard. Her King gave her the tools to make him into one of the Lords of the Realms. Loki wasn't going to stop until she'd done it, or she had to leave his side. She brought one of his hands to her lips and gave him a small kiss.

"Don't worry about it, I already have Jarvis coordinating relief efforts, our people are already out there taking care of things," Tony explained. He still had a hard time believing anyone could be so callously, irresponsibly destructive, and not call themselves a terrorist or an old monster. "He was laughing. There are hundreds of people, families with little kids, babies, who have no place to live now. He destroyed their lives and just laughed. Even Thor turned around and told him to get out of his sight." Tony sighed in frustration.

"We'll make it right," Loki assured him.

"We will. We'll build them new homes, make sure they're taken care of. That doesn't excuse it though. It shouldn't have happened," Tony said. He continued to stroke her belly. Caressing her belly was wearing all the anger out of him. His shoulders weren't so tight anymore. He kissed the side of her neck gently. "The worst part is that he won't get in any trouble for it. They'll be no repercussions, none. He won't even apologize to the people he's hurt. They're just 'little mortals' so why should he apologize. I'm thinking about telling Thor that when his friends come to visit they can stay somewhere else. They aren't welcome in my tower anymore."

Loki rested her hands at the top of her belly and let her husband continue to rub his hands over her. She wasn't cat, but it calmed Tony down to pet her like one. He craved the closeness that she was happy to provide. "Take Thor out with the volunteers. Introduce him to the people who've been hurt. I'm sure he could be convinced to lend his strength to rebuild. It would do well for him to understand reigning in those under him, even if they are his companions. A Lord cannot discriminate when applying the law. He must apply it to everyone, kin and stranger alike. This will assist Thor to understand that."

.-.-.-.

Looking away in disappointment, Bruce remembered changing back. He remembered Tony grimly telling him what happened, assuring him that it wasn't his fault, that his people would take care of it. "Don't worry about it, buddy. I'll fix it," Tony told him. It hadn't stopped the urge to run to the most unpopulated place he could find. His gaze drifted downward for a moment as he remembered that it was Lilith, the next day, who convinced him to stay in the tower. At least he thought it was her. "Don't let your other guy take your work from you as well," she told him. It took hours of discussions, arguing sometimes, for her to convince him. In the end, he stayed because he wanted to make the world better through science. I want to make the world better, but all I ever end up doing is destroying pieces of it. I hope Tony or Loki can help me. I don't want the other guy to be all I leave the world.

People lived in those ugly buildings? Fandral's eyes widened as he thought over what he'd done. Is that why Thor was so angry with me? We never spoke on it. I didn't know. His thoughts drifted to other homes. As a dear friend of Hogun, he'd assisted in defending Hogun's village from raiders many times. The village sat on the edge of Asgardian territory. It was in a vulnerable position. Hogun's people had lived there for more than four hundred generations. It was their home, and they weren't going to be driven from it; not when they'd survived droughts, floods, famines, and pestilence on their crops. A few raids every now and again weren't going to deter them. They weathered the raids like they weathered everything else, with patience and perseverance. Fandral had always admired their steadfast determination to carry on their lives despite the hardships thrown in their direction. The raids were almost as brutal as the natural disasters. People were always injured; homes were always burned. Fandral even lent his time and strength to rebuild some of the homes that were burned in the attacks. Did I act as dishonorably as a raider? I thought it but a jest. Can the mortals not put up their buildings as easily as they fall down? Shame burned a bright red shade into his cheeks. All of those people were harmed by my hand. I hope Stark did as he said and took care of them. He sat quietly and decided to speak to Thor about making amends to those he harmed. It was just a jest, he meant them no harm. A grimace crossed his face as he thought, Truly, everything about mortals is fragile.

Displeasure narrowed Odin's eye as he glanced over to Fandral then Heimdall. He wondered why Heimdall hadn't reported to him that one of his subjects had engaged in such blatantly criminal behavior. He could understand why his son hadn't said anything, even though it irked him. It was another matter he was going to have to handle. Companion of his son or no, he wasn't going to tolerate one of his subjects, one of his Royal Guard Captains, acting like a raider on Midgard.