A/N: There are feels – I'm sorry, but there are. Hopefully not too bad, and I'll try to be fluffier next time to make it up to you. Oh, and since I haven't reminded you for a while, sometimes I swear like a fucking sailor.
Hope you enjoy – honestly I have no idea how this fic has gotten so long and sprawling, but I'm very thankful to all of you for sticking with me so far. Love you! ;)
Loki's leg kept bouncing up-and-down nervously. Tony had tried holding his hand, but Loki had pulled away.
The waiting-room was crowded – not as badly as Tony had feared, but still crowded. No-one really gave them a passing glance. Tony was wearing glasses and a baseball cap – a touch cliched maybe, but it worked. Loki had new clothes – smart-casual (and goddamn sexy as far as Tony was concerned,) they fit him well but showcased how skinny he was. He had let his hair fall forward, shadowing his face from the stares of strangers.
Tony wished Loki would relax; they might have to wait a while. Sure, they had an appointment – but so did everyone else here. Omega Services were under-staffed and over-subscribed. Even smaller clinics, like this one, were always running behind schedule, not to mention over-budget. The bland waiting-room was packed with Omegas – a few younger ones with a harried Beta relative – a mother or a father perhaps, and one or two, like Loki, with an Alpha lover in tow. Most though were here alone. A few were pregnant. Several were bruised or bloodied. Most avoided looking directly at Tony whilst keeping a discreet tab on his location – their wariness of Alphas all too obvious on their faces.
At one point an in-heat Omega woman had stumbled through the doors. The staff had hurried to her aid, hitting the automatic emergency lock behind her to halt the stray Alphas who were chasing her. She'd been taken to the on-duty Alpha. On-duty Alphas were a life-line for Omegas - they didn't judge, simply dealt with the heat until either it was over or they could get in touch with an Alpha that the Omega knew and trusted. They never did anything without consent and would go out of their way to find an acceptable Alpha if you rejected them. Without them, vulnerable Omegas would have nowhere to go.
"Um, excuse me?" a woman's voice broke into Tony's thoughts via a British accent, she glanced down at her clipboard, "I think you're next – appointment in the name of Anthony and Luke Coulson?"
"Yeh," Tony replied, "that'll be us," he knew a Coulson-created alias when he heard it – particularly when Coulson was actually part of the name.
"Right," the woman said again, checking something off on a form. She turned to Loki, "Luke? I'm Dr Jemma Simmons. Follow me."
"I know who you are," Dr Simmons said as they followed her into her exam room, she sat down behind her desk, "Coulson called me and told me to take your appointment."
"You're with Shield?" Tony asked.
"Yes," Simmons answered with a fluttering smile, "but I do work here as well – two or three days a week usually. It means Shield can filter their more specialist Omega cases through to me – or at least through to my clinic, where I can pick them up off the other doctors if necessary."
Tony flopped into one of the chairs opposite Simmons' desk and motioned for Loki to occupy the other, "So," the Alpha said, looking at Simmons through narrowed eyes, "how much of what goes on in this room between the three of us gets back to Shield?"
Simmons flicked her hair behind her ear, "At the moment, my orders are to make factual reports monthly," she stated matter-of-factly. "These reports will only be seen by myself and Agent Coulson, though they may be provided to Fury on request. No-one else is authorised to even know about the existence of these reports – much less access them, and they will be much the same as Loki's medical records. Satisfactory, Mr Stark?"
Tony turned to Loki, "It seems ok to me," he muttered, "but it's your decision..." Loki gave a small nod, and Tony turned back to Simmons, "Agreed," he said.
"Right... well, now that that's out of the way – let's get started shall we," another bright smile from the pretty Beta doctor as she stood and moved around her desk, "I'll need to examine you, Loki – take off your shirt."
Loki stood and stripped off his shirt gingerly, not looking at either Tony or Simmons.
"If you want, Mr Stark could wait outside...?" Simmons suggested.
"Tony stays," Loki stated coldly, still looking away from them.
"Well, alright then..." she replied, moving to the exam table, "If you could sit up here, I want to take a look at this bruising..."
Loki winced as fingers pushed and prodded his torso, making bruises that had only just begun to heal spark throbs of pain around his abdomen. He gasped as the doctor felt around a particularly tender bruise, then felt fingers clutch around his. He felt Tony squeeze his hand, and gave a brief squeeze back.
"Alright," Simmons said gently, as Loki pulled his shirt back on, "not very pleasant, but not any permanent damage. Now I need to take some blood..."
Loki submitted, not looking as the doctor swabbed his arm; a sharp scratch bit into his skin.
"...Ok," the doctor sighed, taping a cotton swab over the small puncture wound, "that's done. I... I rather need to examine your entrance now... if... if that's ok...? Honestly, I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it were important to assessing your health..."
If Simmons noticed the way Loki's hands trembled as he stripped off his pants, she didn't mention it, "Alright, lie back here..." she instructed gently, "...legs up on here... yes, that's right... now try to keep still..."
Loki closed his eyes as he lay on the exam table, bare, vulnerable, trying to calm his breathing. He felt Tony's arm wrap around him tightly.
"Alright Loki," Simmons' voice, brimming with bedside-manner, "this is going to be uncomfortable I'm afraid..."
"Uggh," Loki groaned as he felt cold metal enter him, brushing against his insides, "Uggghh..."
"Shh Lokes," Tony's voice, soothing, "It's alright."
Loki's mind flickered to Asgard's dungeons and cellars. Lying on his back, exposed, unable to move as the sorcerors began their painful work... no, that wasn't where he was... the sting of the needle, the burn of the iron... no, that was the past, long ago...
"I'm on Midgard," Loki whispered to himself desperately. "Not Asgard – Midgard. Not my father's dungeons, not the cellars. On Midgard... with Tony."
"That's right Lokes, I'm here. You're doing great Lokes; honestly, you're doing fantastic. I'm here, we're on Midgard, and I'm gonna keep you safe."
"My father..."
"...isn't here Lokes. I'm here - Tony. You're with me in the Omega Services clinic, 'k? And Dr Simmons is almost done. I've got you baby, you're safe."
Loki moaned a little more at the discomfort from Simmons' examinations. Tony squeezed the Omega's shoulders.
"Done!" Simmons announced a few stretched-out minutes later, "I'll give you a moment or two to dress..." the sound of high heels walking briskly away, and a door swishing closed.
Loki opened his eyes to find his vision blurred with tears.
Tony kissed him on the cheek and held him as his trembling slowly subsided, "You have no idea how proud I am of you right now Loki," he smiled gently, planting another kiss on his lover's soft skin, "you are as strong as fucking steel babe."
"...So, the scarring remains regardless of a change of form?" Simmons asked.
"Yes," Loki answered, brows knit, "it remains in whichever form I inhabit. And it is unaffected by my magic. Even if I could reverse the affects, and I have tried many times Dr Simmons, the effort required to undo a cauterisation which has been sealed in by magic could prove fatal."
"But you still tried?" Tony asked from where he still crouched next to the exam table, his voice a little higher than usual.
"Yes," Loki replied heavily, "I still tried. I also tried to remove the binding of my Omega nature. Tampering with another spell-caster's magic is complex and highly dangerous... but there were times when I... I knew what it was doing to me," a pause, a deep breath, "at those times I would try to unpick the layers of magic," he looked over at Tony with wide eyes, willing him to understand, "I would've welcomed death if it had freed me from the suppression Tony."
Tony's breath caught in his throat, "Don't say that Lokes," he growled huskily, "please."
Loki leaned over to rest his head on Tony's shoulder, sighing contentedly, "I didn't know you then," he whispered, "I had nobody Tony, and I just... I can't explain how bad it was..."
Tony stroked Loki's hair gently, blinking and swallowing back tears, "Honestly babe," he said, voice cracking, "I was right – you're strong as fucking steel."
"Ok, so you have your prescription for the lotion – I want you to moisturise that scarring," Dr Simmons said by the door, counting off agenda items on her fingers as she spoke, "it will stop it from tearing or blistering. You have those pamphlets, you have a therapy session scheduled for next Friday - and I expect you to attend those Omega support groups," she fixed Loki with a no-nonsense stare.
"Yes madam," Loki replied, looking for all the world like an errant school-child.
Tony chuckled and threw an arm around Loki's shoulders, "I don't think Dr Simmons is going to let you get away with any shit Loki," he grinned.
Simmons joined him with a matching grin, "Look after yourself Luke," she said, a subtle reminder that the door was open, "and I'll see y- oh!" she broke off as Loki swept her into an unexpected embrace.
He released her, looking at the floor, "I apologise madam," he said softly, blushing, (thankfully he blushed pink – Tony didn't know what would happen if Loki turned blue in the middle of a public building,)"that was inappropriate."
Jemma Simmons beamed prettily, "Thank you Luke," she said kindly, putting a gentle hand out to touch his arm, "that was very sweet, I'll see you soon."
"Loki?"
"Mmmm?"
"Wake up babe, we're home."
"Home...?"
"Yeh, you know, the place where we live...?" Tony brushed strands of hair out of Loki's sleepy eyes.
"Oh," Loki yawned, "yeh... home," his eyes started to flutter closed again.
Tony chuckled and reached into the back of the car to shake Loki's shoulder gently, "C'mon baby," he grinned, "when we get inside you can head straight to bed – I promise."