~Chapter two~
The weeks following, Loki was back to his old tricks, just little pranks here and there. A few flying pigs, dancing mailboxes, and a purple fire or two. Thor a reassured the group that Loki was just testing out his magic which had been drained from the exchange and he promised that nobody would be hurt.
They were skeptical at first but, as promised nobody was really hurt by his little pranks and since Coulson's return Loki had never appeared in front of them. Really, no one had even seen him, he didn't make a scene with his pranks, even YouTube had no footage of trickster, not that SHEILD would allow the video publishing site to have video footage of him anyways.
"Thor, really?" Natasha complained she had just got back from another one of Loki's little stunts. Thor looked at her forlornly "I am sorry Miss Romanoff, if I knew where my brother was I would command him to stop." She huffed, wiping off the green marshmallow gunk off her suit. Clint reach over taking a litte bit on his figures and placing it to his month "I don't know, maybe Loki was doing you a favor." He joked, but the fun stopped there, when her swatted a dirty towel at his face "Uf" Clint took a face full of towel before falling to the floor. The group laughed.
Tony and Bruce, who had been spared the drama upstairs, were down in the lab running test on the various samples SHIELD had given them. There was a slight knock on the door, the men turned around "Pepper, welcome to the man cave." Tony struck a ridiculous pose, showing off his muscles, while Bruce just looked at him amused at the display of stupidity, "Mrs. Stark," Bruce greeted "Hi Bruce, Tony could I borrow you for a second." Tony looked around, as if she were talking to someone else "Me," he pointed, Pepper simply giggled "Oh sure," he looked back at Bruce "Hold down the front, duty calls." Bruce shook his head and laughed, returning back to his work.
The newlyweds walked down the hallway to the small lounge room, which nobody used. Probably because Tony never told anyone about it. "Tony," he looked around and he pointed to himself, stealing a kiss from a delighted Pepper. "Tony, focus." She placed her soft hands on Tony's stubble cheeks "Tony, I'm pregnant." at that second a jolt of energy shuck through Tony's body, his knees gave way. Pepper catching him just in time, lowering him slowly to the ground "I'm going to be a daddy?" he was still in shock "Yes," she cradled Tony's head kneeling on the floor beside him "We're actually doing this." he blinked but the stars wouldn't disappear. "Yes Tony." He looked up at her "Right now," he said almost like a rough whisper "Yes Tony Stark, we're going to have a baby."
The following sounds heard were several loud screams and shouts. Bruce ran from the lab down the hall but when he saw the couple dancing and twirling he shook his head, amused, and headed back to the lab. "This is great news," he said between kisses "We have to celebrate." he grabbed her closer nipping and kissing her neck. "Yes, yes" she pulled away, managing to stop her lover from his assault of kisses and hugs "But after this press meeting." He groaned, but she knew that face and turned away from him "I have to go," he groaned again "You can join me if you want?" knowing that Tony would never follow her to a press meeting. He kissed her again "Nah, I'll pass." he kissed her again "I'll hold down things down here." He turned her around, her back resting on his chest, holding her tight "How far are you?" they rocked slowly together "Three months." he stopped moving "Wow, damn I'm good." she broke away blew him several kisses and went upstairs.
It was just a small press meeting, discussing the company's plans for the future and their involvement if any in the Avengers' project. Cameras snapped shots of the redhead as she spoke clearly but slowly to the crowd of reporters and guest. "Mrs. Stark, does the company plan to continue producing weapons for the US military?" She directed her attention to the brown haired man "We plan on aiding the defense department in anyway possible, through the Iron Man project." She pointed to a short blonde haired woman "Does to company plan on releasing any information in their involvement in the Avengers' project?" She smile at the woman "That information is strictly classified and can not be released at this time."
Loki watched the crowd fighting for dominance, desperate to have their questions answered by the redhead. He chuckled at their silly questions, but he admired how the woman, handled herself always looking calm and collected. She had never even once, through out the hold tiresome meeting, raised her voice. Tony Stark had chosen a women not to be reckoned. He had been so involved in the meeting that he had forgotten about the angry man sitting next to him. The man had been mumbling things under his breath the hold meeting, surely planning something interesting. Which was one of the reasons why Loki had stayed as long as he did.
Then suddenly the man stood up, among the other reporters and cameramen, already standing and threw a small brick sized object to the front. The events that followed felt like slow motion to Loki. The object flew carelessly over the crowd of people, almost making it to the stage where the business woman was standing. Then it exploded.
The bomb had such a force that it blew the crowd and everyone in the room right out of their seats. Smoke and fire engulfed the room, chairs and bodies scattered everywhere. Loki shook his head slowly, feeling very groggy from the blast. He looked up staring at the ceiling, drops of water falling on his face. He leaned up, holding his head and rubbing his back. The room was a mess surely, there were no survivors. He looked around for the man, but it would appeared that he some how managed to crawl away. He looked around once more, seeing little movement before he remembered the redhead, who had been talking before.
He struggled to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in the back of his head. The smoke and dust was thick and he covered his face with his arm, he found her. She was laying on the ground, eyes glassy, slowly fading. He bent down immediately, in a desperate attempt to heal her, but his already weaken magic had used it's self up trying to heal himself. He cradled her head looking around, his hearing getting stronger as he began to become more aware of his surroundings. He stared into her eyes, which were losing life at each passing second, hoping the authorities would make it in time. He placed a hand on her chest, to check her heart when he felt two pulses.
She was with child. That's when Loki panicked, he knew now by her dwindling condition that she was, sadly not going to make it. He concentrated all is energy and magic on one last spell. He had never performed a transferable spell before, he didn't even know if it would work, but he was going to try.
He placed one hand on Pepper stomach and the other on his, and began chanting fiercely. A green aura appearing around them, he had to hurry, spells don't work well on the dead. And as much as he would have liked to save them both, he knew her life force had reached it's limit. He continued chanting, ignoring the pain of his body changing quickly, puffing up and making room for the new baby. He clinched his teeth, barely completing the spell, and it was done. He gasped for air, holding his now slightly bulging stomach, he wanted to retch so hard and he was having troubling fighting of the waves of dizziness but he couldn't stay here. He couldn't let them find him here, they would have too many questions him would not be well enough to answer. He struggled to his feet, looking down at the body beneath him. Her once fiery eyes, now cold and lifeless, staring deadly at the ceiling. He frowned, bent down and closed her eyes. "Rest in peace, Mrs. Stark." he teleported away
That was quick, I have Chapter 3 almost done, but it needs to be proof read. If you see any errors feel free to comment and as always Thanks for reading.