Alex POV

"Magnus, it's the perfect solution. Have Jack drop it in the "weapons grapevine" that I'm angry Loki is talking about me and the baby all the time, and I want to meet with him to give him a piece of my mind and tell him to leave me alone. He'll jump at the chance. He'll want to convince me to let him in my life, who knows, maybe he'll even try to kidnap me, but you'll all be there, including you, Magnus. Have Thor there, have all the gods there, have everybody there, but I have to be the bait."

"No. Nada. Never. Not gonna happen."

The gang trade looks. "She's right, Magnus", Mallory starts, "She's the only bait Loki will go for."

"She's not bait! She's my girlfriend!", Magnus yells. Magnus doesn't yell. He cajoles, he pouts, he influences...he doesn't yell.

"Hey." I put my hand on his arm.

"Sheesh", Mallory pouts.

"Honey, listen, I'll have plenty of protection..."

"No!", he yells again.

I narrow my eyes. "Are you somehow under the impression, Beantown, that because we're dating you can tell me what to do?" I bark.

"Dating is all we're doing? You're pregnant!", he keeps yelling.

"You still don't own me, Chase!", I yell back.

Everybody else backs off, even Sam.

"No, I don't own you, but your body is filled with hormones! You're not thinking straight, sweetheart. You don't know what's best for you right now!"

"Holy shit", Mallory mumbles under her breath, and both she and Sam back up out of my range. Gunderson is too silly to know better.

Magnus jumps when he sees me fingering my garrote. "You're the stupidest, most discriminatory, chauvinistic, male idiot in any of the nine worlds! Don't come knocking on my door tonight!", I scream, and head for my room before I really do chop his head off.

"What? What did I say?", I hear him ask.

Magnus POV

"'You're not in your right mind, sweetheart'", Mallory mocks. "Magus, I thought you weren't this dumb anymore."

"Oh man, I screwed up huh?", I ask. I made her feel bad. I was...not evolved. I was insulting.

Sam puts her hand on my arm. "If you have one thing going for you, Chase, it's the purity of your honesty and that you admit you're wrong fast. She'll forgive you. And part of the reason she's so angry is because you're kinda right about the hormones, but if you tell her I said that, I'll deny every word."

"I love her, I don't want her to get hurt", I insist.

"It would have been better to say that", Halfborn offers, after the fact, stuffing his face with a taco.

"Thanks so much!", I yell again, "Half the time I don't know what to do or say. I'm responsible for all this yet I have no say in it!"

"Please go tell her that, Magnus, but calmly", Sam responds, like the mother she seems to be to everyone.

I shuffle off to Alex's room and knock on the door.

"Stay away!", she shouts.

"Please let me come in. I'm sorry! I don't know what to say anymore."

Nothing.

"I love you, and I word it badly sometimes..." That gets the door open.

"What do you want, Magnus?", she fumes in my face.

"I'm sorry! This is really hard for me, and I know it's harder for you, I've just never done this before. I feel like I'm responsible for you and the baby, but I have no say in what happens to you. I would rather die...again... than lose you, does any part of you understand that?" I wish I could rewind the clock ten minutes, I wish I could think before I speak, I wish...

I could think at all. But I can't with Alex's lips pressed firmly to mine. "Yes, I understand that, and I love you for it, and yes, you have say. I just think this is the only way to catch him. And catching him will make us safe", she insists.

"In my arms, you're safe. With all of Asgard watching you, you're safe. You're not safe any other way, you're not safe meeting Loki, I'm sorry, there is no "safe" with him. Think about it a second, don't you think he'll know we would never let you meet him alone? Don't you think he'll know we're all watching, and have something up his sleeve? I don't think we can take the god of mischief by surprise."

"You're probably right", she concedes, "I just can't think of any other way to capture him."

"You're probably right", I concede back, "But that doesn't make capturing him worth the risk. The rest of them can take care of themselves. You're the one I'm worried about...both of you."

I pick her up and carry her to bed. I don't want to talk about this. I want her closer to me.

"You have to be less good at this, Magnus", she moans as I lay her down the bed and kiss down her neck. "I find myself agreeing to anything you say."

"I like that", I tell her.

"Hah!", she laughs.

"So..." I kiss down her chest, her belly, "So how far along are we?"

"Ummm, for your own safety, Magnus, why are we asking this?", she questions.

"Because if you're four months, you can get an ultrasound. You NEED to go to the doctor. I understand you can't go to a regular one..."

"Magus, stop."

"No. You need to go. I want to know what's happening, and you know you do too."

"I'll go if you relax about meeting my mom...", she taunts.

"Alex!"

"Grrrr... okay you're right", she groans.

"Really? I need you to repeat that...I need you to write that down...", I say, and she jumps on me, pinning me to the bed, laughing.

Two weeks later, Doctor Skoge's Office

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this...", is Alex's refrain as she (still she) sits on the table in a see-through gown, open to the front, that she's clutching around her.

"I know", I tell her, putting my arm around her and rubbing her back. "It will be over soon."

"You're sooo warm", she says, leaning into my hand and for a moment. I think she may have calmed down, but she jumps as the door opens.

Our doctor is a Vietnam vet killed in the line of duty while treating patients near the battlefield. The scalpels in his hands served as blades. He's the best, or so Sam tells us Odin told her.

He holds out his hand, but Alex is worrying the handles of her garrote.

"Um, there are no deadly weapons allowed in exam rooms", the doctor says.

"It makes her feel safe", I offer.

"Her", he comments, slightly confused.

I step in before Alex loses her temper. "Yes, I believe Samirah Al-Abbas told you about us..."

"Oh yes right! I remember. So interesting circumstances in which to find yourself pregnant...", he begins. Alex looks daggers through him and he shuts up.

"Yep, bet you don't see too many pregnancies among the undead", I offer, with an awkward laugh.

"I'm not a fucking zombie, Magnus!", Alex barks.

"So anyway, just lie back, and we'll get started here", the doctor says. He opens her gown and she lays flat. I grab her hand.

"This is going to be a little cold", he warns squirting blue gel on her tummy. She jumps.

He moves the device around. "Okay, there we go", he says, but I don't see anything but a confusing mix of what's inside Alex on the screen. I can't tell a fetus from a kidney.

Alex is searching the screen furiously, looking as hard as she can.

"Oh wow", the doctor says, "Okay, wow."

"What?!", Alex cries. "What the hell does "okay wow" mean?"

"Calm down", I tell her.

"Sorry", the doctor offers.

"Can you tell the...physical...gender?", she asks, her voice shaking. I squeeze her hand harder. "I've been trying to sense it, but I keep getting different things..."

"There's a reason for that", the doctor says, grinning madly, "And a reason you look farther along than you are. You're having twins! A boy and a girl from what I can see."

"Twins!?", she gasps. "They do run in Magnus's family. Magnus? Magnus? Magnus?!" It's the last thing I hear.

I wake up lying on a table next to her, completely embarrassed.

"Not an uncommon reaction", the doctor laughs. "Fathers faint all the time."

I hop off the table and throw my arms around her. "Twins! I love you!", I can't contain myself.

She's crying softly. "I love you too. It's going to be okay, right?"

"It's going to be amazing", I tell her, holding her tight.

"See, one there, and another one...see, you can tell that's a boy...", the doctor points out.

"How will that change things? I mean, I still don't know how I'm going to give birth..." She sounds tiny and terrified. It breaks my heart.

"I don't know how either", the doctor shrugs, "It's a medical mystery right now, but if the gods made this happen, we have to believe they'll see it through, that there's a reason for this. Wait a second..." He sniffs her.

"Excuse me?", she barks, instantly back to her old self.

"Are you part...giant? Jotun?", he asks.

"Yes", she sighs.

"Should have told me that, and should have come in four months ago. I don't know that you should continue this pregnancy...it's dangerous for you. The babies' blood type may not be compatible with your own...", the doctor says.

If hearts can freeze and break immediately, that's us right now. We were soaring, we were thrilled, now...she shouldn't continue the pregnancy?

"Oh gods, no", I cry out, always the more obviously emotional of the two of us. She's frozen in silence. "How bad is it? Do we need to..."

"It doesn't matter if we need to, because I'm not going to. I'll be fine", she offers.

"Ms. Mr. Fierro...Alex", the doctor stumbles, "I recommend you think hard about this. I'm sooo incredibly sorry, but it's too dangerous for you to continue this pregnancy."

She's shaking, tears streaming down her face. "I've come this far fine. I'll be fine."

"Alex, I want this too, but if your life is in danger...", I start, but she waves me off.

"I have Magnus. He'll bring me right in if anything goes wrong", she says "Please Magnus, we can't disagree on this, please, please, be on my side."

I've never heard her beg before, and it chills me to the bone.

"I'm always on your side", I say, kissing the top of her black and green head a million times.

"This is against my advice, but if you insist on continuing, I want you in here every week", the doctor insists. "I'll need to keep close tabs on how you and the babies are doing."

"Done", I answer immediately before she can disagree. "I promise she'll be here."

Later.

We're sitting at Amir's restaurant in the transportation building waiting for the crew, to discuss the ultrasound and what to do about Loki.

"Magnus, please...", she starts.

"I know what you're going to ask", I interrupt, "But we can't keep it a secret. We're a team and everything we do affects everyone else. We have to tell them your pregnancy is...troubled."

"Troubled?" A tear rolls down her cheek and I wipe it away.

"What the hell does he know, right?", she adds, "Does he know me? No. Does he know what I'm capable of? No. Doctors are always overly cautious."

I want to agree with her, but Loki's warning keeps circling in my head.

I've changed my mind about one thing. Maybe it is a good idea to meet with Alex's dear darling mother.

"I think you should meet with Loki", I tell her.

"Really?!" Her jaw falls open.

Alex may have her mind made up, but I haven't. I need to ask the god of mischief a few questions of my own about the person I love more than my own life. Questions only he knows the answers to.