So, what can I say except life has soooo not been going to plan and I'm so incredibly sorry for the delay. I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to a better schedule from now on!

For a summary of the previous fic please see the last chapter. As to what happened in the last chapter: Tony and Loki stop a defamatory article being published about them and the children, the kids prepare to start school. It was kinda a slow beginning!

In this chapter:

Sleipnir starts school. It could be going a lot better.
Fury asks Tony for the arc reactor plans again. It does not go well.
Tony and Loki get donuts and make a plan to find Captain America.

So, thank you all so much for the follows, favourites and reviews, you guys are all so amazing!

04/02/19

Chapter Two - Donuts

Sleipnir slowly copied down what was on the board, his hand shaking from the fine muscle control needed to hold a pen, his writing messy and difficult to read. He was sitting at a desk in the back corner of the classroom, having decided that he liked being able to see as many people as possible as helped make up for his loss of peripheral vision as a human. Next to him someone that might have been called Ben who was loudly discussing a Christmas present called 'Call of Duty' with the boys sharing the desk in front of them.

"Have you ever played it?" one of them asked.

Sleipnir startled, not expecting to be addressed, and shook his head. If he remembered rightly Jarvis said it was a videogame about war that kids his age liked playing (even if, technically, they weren't supposed to). If there was one thing that Sleipnir knew for certain it was that he had had enough of wars, being Odin's warhorse had perhaps been the worst part of his life, and he didn't even want to even think about them let alone pretend to be in one.

"Do you want to come over and play it with us tomorrow afternoon?" Ben asked.

Sleipnir bit his lip. The whole point of school was to make friends, he had years to learn the academic stuff the others had to understand almost immediately. And, before she'd left for Asgard, Darcy had said that one of the things Midgardian teenage boys liked doing was going to each other's houses and gaming, often consuming a lot of junk food and energy drinks (whatever they were). But he couldn't, he couldn't play a game about war, but what if they hated him when he refused and-

Thankfully, his thoughts were cut off when the teacher, Mr. Allan, came back into the room. Sleipnir tensed immediately and followed him with his eyes. Everyone at home had said that teachers were nothing to worry about. But they were authority figures, and that meant they were automatically dangerous.

"I had thought I'd asked you all to work quietly while I spoke to Miss Moreno," Mr Allan said icily. "I'm sure that you've all finished doing the questions on the board and I won't need to keep you in over recess… Aaron and Jamie, what's so interesting about your conversation that you don't feel the need to listen to me?"

Sleipnir's gaze flicked over to where two boys sat slouched in their chairs a few rows in front.

"Basically everything, Sir," the one with short, light brown curls said.

Sleipnir's knuckles turned white as he gripped the desk. What did this kid think he was doing?

"Is that true, Jamie?" Mr Allan asked. "I guess you've got all of the work done correctly then, if this class is so pointless to you."

"No," Jamie said. "We were talking about football instead. I don't really see why I should give a crap about maths. Like I said last week, it's not really gonna help me in my future is it?"

"You won't be saying that when your GPA gets you kicked off the football team."

"Well, I don't really care do I, they're all assholes. If they wanted to win they would actually listen to me."

"Jamie, get out," ordered Mr Allan, pointing to the door, "I'll speak to you in a minute."

But he won't just speak to him, will he? Sleipnir thought. If it were Odin, if it were anyone from Asgard (except for, apparently, his dad and Uncle Thor) that amount of disrespect from a minor would have warranted a severe whipping at the very least. Sleipnir was distantly aware that his breathing had started to become very fast, but he could do little else other than stare at Mr Allan.

"Whatever," Jamie said, picking up his stuff and walking to the door.

"And this time you'll wait outside the door for me to come and speak to you."

Jamie snorted. "No, I won't. I'm going home." And with that he stepped out of the classroom and slammed the door behind him.

Sleipnir bit his tongue as the teacher strode towards the closed door. Oh no, no way was Jamie getting out of this without debilitating injuries.

"Are you…crying?" Ben hissed incredulously, tapping him on the arm. Sleipnir threw himself backwards into the wall.

The whole classroom stared.

-Q-

Tony was distracted from his welding by the appearance of a shadow, obscuring the wiring he was working on. He looked up to see Fury standing behind him, looking seriously down at him.

"Stark," he began. "Secretary Pierce wants to know if you're going to hand over your plans for your arc reactor technology and the Einstein-Rosen bridge. The World Security Council are becoming increasingly concerned with your lack of openness about the project."

Tony bristled. Not this again. Time to get straight to the point. "The World Security council can take their 'concerns' and shove them up their-"

"Stark!"

"What?" he asked lazily, years of practice at being yelled at by authority figures allowing him to take Fury's tone in his stride.

Fury looked down at him in disappointment. "Stark, you're making a lot of people very agitated and that's not going to end well for you. If your father were here, he would know the value of sharing what he'd created. The only reason your arc reactor works is because of him, because of his discoveries that he shared. So, why don't you get off your selfish ass and do something to help people?"

"Well, gee, I don't know, Nick, maybe because I don't trust what weapons you'd create with it?" he snapped. "I don't trust you all not to start dealing from under the table."

"Not everyone's like Stane, Stark. Sometimes you have to trust that people will do the right thing."

"This is coming from you?"

"Yeah."

"The 'the last time I trusted someone I lost an eye' guy?"

"Look, Stark, I know it seems hard to believe, but when you have allies, you have to work with them."

"I am. I'm working with Bruce and-"

"I meant Pierce and the Council."

"Them being trustworthy is news to me. I've trusted people way more than I trust those guys and look where that got me. Look at what Natasha did."

"Saved your life?"

"Forget it."

"Stark."

"No. If the world wants this technology, if they want a treaty with other realms, then they come to me, and my team. And that's final."

"Is that so?" Nick said slowly. "Then what assurances can you give that you'll use the technology to people's best interest, that you won't start dealing under the table. Trust works both ways Stark, and the world knows that you're not infallible. If people think that we're just letting you do this of your own will, with no checks, then they're not going to be happy."

"Then don't tell them, spin them a load of bs, isn't that what you spies are good at?"

"Don't walk away from me, we haven't finished here Stark."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Nick," Tony said, sauntering towards the door. "Were you saying something, I suddenly just got this real craving for donuts, think I'll head out to that nice place in Maine, be back in a few hours."

"Stark."

"Bye dear, don't wait up for me."

-Q-

Tony fumed as he flew through the air.

How dare Fury try to use his dad against him? As if he knew anything about the man? At this thought, Tony conceded that perhaps he did, everyone seemed to know more about his father than him, the good things about his father at least. Tony guaranteed he knew more about the bad, child-neglecting sides than they did.

But what had Howard Stark done, apart from working on the Manhattan project and cruelly wiping out thousands of people mostly just to see if the bombs worked, leaving the survivors with disabilities and cancers, and creating Steve, the 'super-soldier' that he'd so promptly lost and then spent the rest of his life looking for.

Oh, he had left him a video which allowed him to save his own life, he did have that going for him. But Tony would be delusional if he didn't think that it was just convenient how the new element didn't poison him, and the whole reason for getting Tony to create a new element would be to carry on his own legacy, to get people to believe he was so amazing even after death. Not that he particularly needed help with that, and Howard's plan had definitely backfired when Tony had decided not to go public with his new element. Lots of tests into its uses were needed before he could do that; he couldn't let a discovery with such untapped and unknown potential fall into the hands of those who wouldn't use it for good.

And that bullshit message for him, saying he was Howard's 'greatest creation' was clearly just designed to manipulate him and to manipulate anyone else who watched it into thinking that Howard was a good parent. As if he hadn't effectively abandoned him and never even told Tony that he liked him. Huh, maybe Howard's propaganda attempt was where Fury got his idea that Tony could be made to do what SHIELD and the Council wanted by throwing his father in his face, thinking that Tony should logically care about what his father would have done, and whether or not he would be disappointed in him. As if Tony hadn't been trying to block out his father's views for the majority of his life.

Tony grimaced as he thought of all the battles to come. People would keep trying to get the arc technology and the plans for the E-R bridge. And he might actually be afraid of this if he hadn't put into place his own state of the art security to guard it, handpicked everyone on the team working on it and had Jarvis run a million background checks on them, and if he didn't have Loki and his kids to succeed him. According to Loki they should live at least a couple thousand years longer, and Tony knew he could trust them to keep the planet safe to the best of their ability. The political climate would change, but if they wanted a closer relationship with other realms then trusting in himself and his friends was the best he could do right now.

When he landed in front of the donut place he found Loki outside, dressed in a dark green, almost Asgardian-style shirt and black skinny jeans, his arms folded and one eyebrow raised mischievously.

"Fury told me where you were, and I decided I wanted donuts too. He didn't sound pleased at your decision."

"Really?" Tony snapped sarcastically. "I thought he sounded thrilled that I once again refused to hand the plans over to him, Pierce and the rest of the Council."

Loki bit his lip, seeming to draw in on himself slightly, and Tony deflated.

"Lokes, no, I'm not mad at you, Fury just pissed me off."

Loki grinned wryly. "I know that, just the idea of people being angry around me seems to make me anxious still. Odin's been dead for months and I know that it will take time I just…" he sighed.

Tony nodded in understanding. "Fathers, huh? Fury tried to use mine against me today. Made out that he would be helping and giving over the plans."

"It doesn't matter if he would," Loki said, frowning. "We've all agreed that the plans don't get given out beyond our circle. This is too dangerous, and I know there is something about Pierce that sets me on edge, even though Jarvis hasn't been able to find anything. Though, they all set me on edge, I suppose. We can't trust anyone we're not certain about, not yet."

"I know," Tony sighed. "I just, I don't even want to think about him, I wish people would stop acting like I'll never measure up to him."

"You are easily the better man, I know you Tony," Loki said firmly.

"Tell that to the entire world."

"Tell that to all those who idolise you as a super hero."

Tony smiled despite himself.

"And my children definitely wouldn't prefer Howard over you."

Tony laughed drily. "No, I guess not… I think Fury's right though, Howard would have helped, even though it's the wrong decision, he wouldn't pass off an opportunity like this to show off his genius. He'd probably even stop searching for Steve to do so."

"We should find him," Loki said suddenly, his eyes alight with determination.

"Who?" Tony asked, completely bewildered by Loki's sudden pronouncement, something that didn't happen often.

"Steve. The man your father wasted his life and ruined yours looking for. With my magic and your technology, if he's to be found, we will find him. What better thing to get Hela to rub into your father's face in Helheim?"

"That is the single most insane idea I've ever heard. And I have at least a hundred insane ideas per day." Tony said, a grin spreading over his face.

Loki raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Let's do it."

They grinned at each other, and kissed in a way that could have turned into full on making out in the middle of the street if Tony didn't feel like his mind had been set ablaze by this new idea.

"Right, we need brain food," he said, pushing open the shop door.

"No, wait!" Loki said frantically, waving his hands desperately and muttering something.

"What?" Tony asked, confused, still holding the door open for Loki.

Someone screamed and something else smashed.

"Iron Man…" the cashier breathed as Tony swung round to gauge the situation.

"Can your suit turn invisible now?" a little boy questioned, clutching a plastic dinosaur and gazing up at Tony with an awed expression on his chocolate-smeared face.

"You cloaked us, didn't you?" Tony asked.

Loki shrugged nonchalantly, sliding past Tony to order donuts and leaving him alone with the tide of people that now wanted his autograph.

So, I hope you all enjoyed that!

BTW you guys have my express permission to literally come into my inbox and scream at me if I haven't updated in a week's time.

Next up: Sleipnir and Loki talk

The search for Captain America begins

(Um, so, it would be great if you guys could leave a review, even if it's just a word, just so I know that you're still reading and you're still interested in where this is going. Obviously, no pressure, I used to get serious anxiety about leaving reviews so absolutely zero pressure, it would just mean so much to me if some of you could!)