It was only a few weeks later that she found herself surrounded by healers, her head pounding and back hurting with every move she made. The glow Loki was so concerned about turned out to be a glow of a pregnant woman – lighting up every little nook of the room, as Eir told her, for those who studied magic. Not very different from a glow of being newly, happily married.
Loki was unnerved, because for him it seemed that she found someone who made her shine brighter than ever.
Aesir pregnancies were long and dangerous, tying future mothers to their beds for months upon months, but Eir told her she had no idea what to expect. It was the first ever case of an Aesir woman impregnated by a Jotun she's ever seen and stories told Eir was the one who delivered the Allfather himself.
Yrsa was scared beyond belief – there was another life growing inside her, one unlike any other before and the healers weren't sure what was supposed to happen and what wasn't. They weren't sure which kinds of medications they could use, if magic was helpful or harmful, what she needed to eat and what she was supposed to avoid at all costs. There were things that could hurt her unborn child, but there was also the possibility of her child killing her by accident – it could have a Jotun's strength or magic and by mistake hurt her from the inside with its powers.
The worst thing of all was that none of them had any idea how long the pregnancy itself might last. It was unknown how long Jotuns carried a child – gender and sex were incredibly fluid in Jotuns, and those pregnant never showed any visible signs of a life growing inside them, Loki a perfect example of this.
She gave birth to a healthy, petite boy only a week later, who in the arms of Eir turned into a serpent – he was quickly given to Yrsa, who calmed and fed him, coaxing him back into his Aesir form. She named him Jormungandr, already seeing his features will resemble the ones of his father.
Counting from Jormungandr's birth to the night she shared with Loki, she told Eir her pregnancy was much shorter than regular Aesir's – only a full year had passed.
Yrsa wasn't sure whether or not she should tell Loki about him. He had to already face the loss of Sleipnir – she couldn't possibly force him to live knowing that another one of his children will grow up without him by its side.
But it turned out it wasn't exactly her decision.
She was incredibly surprised when Frigga visited her, a warm and loving smile on her face.
"How are you feeling, child?" She asked kindly, walking up to her bed.
"Marvelous, your highness" She forced a practiced smile onto her face.
"There's no need for stupid titles, Yrsa" The woman put a gentle hand on Yrsa's arm. "And no need for lies, either."
"I'm terrified and confused" She sighed, her thumb stroking Jormungandr's little fist. He was asleep, snuggled into her mother's warm body.
"It's understandable" Frigga took her hand off of Yrsa. "He's beautiful. Just like Loki, maybe a bit bigger – he was such a tiny babe, especially for a Jotun. And his skin would turn awfully cold whenever he cried – and oh, did he cry! I had to carry him all the time, otherwise he wouldn't sleep at all!" The Asgardian queen sat on the edge of her bed. "Thor, on the other hand, wouldn't stop moving. When he stood, instead of taking single steps, he'd run as fast as his little legs would let him. There are times when I wish they were back to being so tiny and innocent, just two careless children" Her smile disappeared, showing how tired she really was. "Oh, my dear Loki, what have you done?" She sighed, putting her finger on her grandson's hand, brushing against Yrsa's. "What's his name?"
"Jormungandr" She answered, licking her lips. "Is… Is the Allfather going to banish me?"
"Why would he, love?" Frigga's eyes were focused on the newborn.
"I don't know. But nothing makes sense anymore. It's just, I'd rather be banished than have my child taken from me."
"Ah, I see. You fear he'll share Sleipnir's fate" The woman looked up, smiling sadly. "Odin is afraid of fate. He knows what was predicted: Loki's children will bring his downfall. But from what I gathered, they're not a threat in the least. But, of course, by taking them away from their parents, he makes them resent him."
"A self-fulfilling prophecy."
"Exactly. And I'm afraid he'll try to do the same to Jormungandr as he did to Sleipnir. But, there's a solution" Frigga stood up, clasping her hands together. "I can coax him to let you two reside on Midgard."
"You would?" She shifted, causing Jormungandr to fuss. "I'm sorry. Shhh… That would be so kind of you, your highness."
"I already told you, call me Frigga. No need for this silliness, we're a family now" Her eyes clouded over, as if she was reminiscing. "Or, we could have been one for years now. Oh, these foolish rules" She sighed, leaning down and leaving a kiss on Yrsa's head before doing the same for Jormungandr and walking out.
Yrsa's mother wasn't happy about her moving to Midgard, but it was the Allfather's will. She kissed her daughter and grandson, wishing them a great life, knowing they'll probably never see each other again. Yrsa left her childhood home with only her son at her side, not knowing what to expect of her new life.
She met the Allfather and Thor in the throne room, bowing to the king.
The Allfather was silent when he used dark magic to send them to Midgard. They landed in New York, as Thor told her, smiling.
"I'm going to ask a friend of mine for a favor" He explained, tugging her towards the city. He didn't seem to notice the Midgardians stare at the three of them, but she did. They whispered to each other and made huge eyes at the bundle in her arms. She tried to ignore them, but couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Tony Stark, like many other people, had his specific Sunday rituals. One of them was that he spend the wee hours of the morning working on prototypes, doing his research or other scientific stuff he loved, before collapsing on the couch in his workshop around five, sleeping till noon and then eating some Chinese.
He loved his Sunday rituals.
So it wasn't unexpected that he was ready to rip apart the asshole that started to 'ring his doorbell' at around ten, disrupting his sleep.
"JARVIS, get rid of the nuisance" He growled, turning onto his other side. He needed it more than usual, seeing as he finally rebuilt his tower the prior week.
"I'm afraid I'm not capable of doing that, sir" The AI's voice didn't really lull him back to sleep. "One of your guests is Thor Odinson."
Tony already regretted letting the Avengers come to his tower freely.
He fell off the couch, slowly standing up and dragging himself to the elevator, cursing the God of Thunder under his breath.
"Why can't Bruce handle this one?" He complained, resting his head on the elevator's wall.
"Doctor Banner specifically asked for your assistance, sir."
"I'm going to dissect his green ass for this one."
He wasn't really sure how it came to be, but he somehow offered Bruce to stay at his tower and Bruce somehow agreed.
The door of the elevator opened and Tony, still half asleep, walked out.
"This better be good, blondie" He yawned, rubbing the kinks out of the back of his neck.
"Believe me, it is" Bruce back came into Tony's view, doing nothing to block out the sight of the enormous Asgardian.
"Man of Iron!" Thor hollered, a goofy smile on his face. He reminded Tony of a five year old, and even Tony Stark had a heart – he couldn't stay too mad at a five year old. "I'll have to ask you for a favor, my friend."
"Yeah, sure, how much is it?" He was ready to just whip out his checkbook and get back to sleep.
"I don't need your treasures" Thor walked closer to him, Bruce side-stepping to not get squished in between them. The Asgardian put a hand on his shoulder, his face serious. "I'm looking for a shelter for two of my kin."
"What?"
Thor turned, so that he was no longer completely blocking Tony's vision. Right there in his living room stood a woman in full Asgardian gear, a newborn in her arms.
"Told you it's important" Bruce rubbed his forehead, groaning.
The woman took a deep breath and walked over to Tony, doing a small bow.
"I'm sorry for bothering you, Sir Tony of Stark" Her manners were almost as infuriating as those of Thor's. "I wouldn't ask you for help if it wasn't a necessity."
"Yeah, sure, sure, let me talk with the big guy here for a second" He completely ignored Bruce's alarmed stares and took a hold of Thor's arm, tugging him towards the kitchen. "What is going on? Why am I supposed to house a newborn baby with its mother?"
"The Allfather gave her an ultimatum. She could either give her child up, to be raised in a distant realm with no connection to its parentage, or she could be banished to Midgard with it – as you see, Man of Iron, she chose the later."
"And is there any reason a powerful ruler of an alien species wanted to send that baby the hell away from her and its daddy dearest? Cause I don't see the other loving parent, those are rather needed for baby making."
Thor sighed, his whole posture deflating just a little.
"Its father's in the palace dungeon, paying for his crimes against Asgard, Midgard and Jotunheim."
"Is it bad that this sounds familiar?"
"My brother's the father of this babe."
"Nope. No way in hell. She's probably as psychotic, unstable and dangerous as her babycakes."
"Tony" Thor's face suddenly looked as old as time, his eyes no longer sparkling with their usual happiness. "You shouldn't judge her by who owns her heart. She was probably the most wounded of us all. She loved Loki with all her might and now she'll forever see the reminder of who he once was – of the times when I could call him my brother. I wouldn't be asking this of you if I wasn't sure you'd be perfectly safe and able to handle the situation."
Tony didn't like it when people expected him to be reasonable, mature and completely selfless – yes, he grew to care about the well being of the world's population, but it wasn't until recently and he still thought his business was much more important than those of other's. But there was Thor, completely sure he chose the right man for the job, the one who was brave, chivalrous and caring, enough so to take in his enemy's child and it's mother. No one – except for Thor, of course – would expect that much humanness out of him.
And if Tony loved one thing, it was to prove people wrong.
Thor disappeared not long after that, explaining that he had a lot of business to attend to. Tony wasn't sure if he didn't want to be left with the Asgardians or if he wanted Thor as far away from him as possible before he asked for another favor.
Tony learned that the woman's name was Yrsa and that she was a good millennium older than him, but only now has given birth to her first child, who she named Jormungandr. Jormungandr Lokison.
That was a mouthful.
So, instead, he referred to the baby as 'Jorm'. He was mostly thankful that Jorm was incredibly quiet for a newborn, but maybe it was just that Tony's imagination was this wild, unexplored territory of his mind where every child ran around screaming at the top of their lungs while simultaneously crying.
Bruce, surprisingly, turned out to be great with kids. Yrsa spent most of the time glued to Jorm's side, but it turns out that even Asgardians had to use bathrooms every once in a while – that's where Bruce came in. He'd just take Jorm and go off to read a book on quantum physics or something out loud, which instead of putting the newborn to sleep, would actually make him more alert – as if the words really interested him, but maybe it was just the scientist's deep voice.
Tony found himself rather fond of the little rugrat – once when Pepper was grilling his ass for something he screwed up, Jorm changed into a small serpent and climbed his way out of his swing, onto Tony's arm and up to his shoulder, hissing at her, his little forked tongue flicking.
Pepper, thankfully, instead of taking it personally, fell in love with the little alien, cooing and smiling whenever he was around, but Tony learned one thing – the little shit stood by him and that was probably the most important thing he could imagine.
Yrsa, on the other hand, wasn't half as social as her son. She kept to herself, occasionally exchanging a word or two with Pepper.
It changed at the end of the first month she lived in his tower. It was an incredibly hot night and Tony couldn't get any sleep – of course he had AC, but he hated sleeping with it turned on – so he walked to the kitchen to get some water and then to the balcony.
That's where he found Yrsa, still in her daily attire, sitting on the edge, her feet swinging 90-stories above the ground.
"It's not very safe, unless you know how to fly" He took a sip out of the bottle in his hand, jumping over the barrier and sitting next to her.
"Where's your armor, then?" She turned towards him, her face emotionless.
He pointed to the two metal bracelets, shining on his wrists.
"After what your baby daddy did, it's never too far away."
She visibly shivered, turning back towards the city, buzzing with life beneath their feet.
Tony shifted, feeling, for once, kind of sorry. He heard Thor's booming voice - She was probably the most wounded of us all – and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Okay, listen" He sighed, trying hard not to just ignore the fact that he made a woman feel like shit. "I'm not good at this kinda thing – being nice, that is. So, let me try again – how was your day?"
"It was fine" Yrsa nodded, still looking down. Her voice cracked.
"No, no, please, don't cry- we can talk about other things, just please, I can't stand it when women cry,"
She rubbed her eyes, sighing.
"We can talk about Loki" She smiled, but it was deprived of any emotion. "I know you've got questions – believe me, I've got my own – but I'll try to tell you as much as I can."
He was surprised, to say the least. He surely wasn't expecting her to not take him up on his offer, instead trying to feed his curiosity.
"How could you love such a monster?"
He was probably going to get slapped.
He could practically taste the blood – she was an Aesir, for God's sake, she could probably hit almost as hard as Thor – but instead saw a smile – not a forced one, but a genuine grin.
"I've never loved a monster" She answered, looking straight into his eyes. "I've loved a man hurt by his life and people he trusted enough for him to lose sanity" Tony took another swing of his drink, squirming under her gaze. "Tell me, Man of Iron" Yrsa scooted closer, the smile not leaving her face. "You know how it feels when the ones you call your family turn out to be traitors" He stopped thinking about Jebadiah a long time ago, but suddenly the man's face came to his mind, the way he smirked when he tossed his arc reactor away from his body, leaving him to die. "Tell me, how did you feel? You wanted to get your revenge, didn't you?" She moved so fast he couldn't pinpoint the moment she stood up and jumped back to safety, behind the balcony's barrier. "And you did. Now answer me: how is Loki different from you?"
She left, melting into the shadows of the hallway.
Maybe she was right, thought Tony. Loki thought of himself as a god, no wonder he wanted his revenge to be impressive – what was it for a guy that was a millennium old to kill some low-class species that years earlier bowed at his feet. Humans were like ants for him, and he wasn't afraid to squash a hundred or two under his boot. Showing he could trick them all, trick them into believing that Earth was what he wanted – why would he get an army when he could create one out of his own copies. He was surely no match for the Avengers, only acting as if they could stand a chance against him. It was all for show, to play on Thor's and Odin's noses.
The question was, why did he let them capture him?
Jorm was growing rapidly fast.
It had to be those alien genes, because although Tony has never seen a child grow, he was sure outgrowing clothes in two weeks wasn't human. He voiced his concerns, but Bruce just rolled his eyes.
"Perfectly normal" Said the doctor, going back to his book. "For humans, at least. I've never really studied other humanoid species."
"Good to know" Tony walked over to the tiny three months old alien and pocked his stomach. "What do you think, baby momma?"
"Asgardian babies do grow slower" Yrsa was cooking a 'splendid dish' as she called it, but her voice carried from the kitchen with ease. "But I'm not aware of how fast the Frost Giants grow. It can be another thing he inherited from his father."
Tony bit his tongue before he could say that he hoped it was the last one.
Tony has never thought he'd even remotely enjoy spending time with a child, especially one who still wore diapers. But there he was, an Iron Man figurine in his hand as he made weird noises and moved it around Jorm, to the child's uttermost delight.
"What are you doing?"
Tony jumped, startled, making Jorm change into his serpent form and wrap around his arm.
"For Christ's sake, wear a bell around your neck or something" He stood up, trying to calm the child. "You scared him."
"Who's that?" Steve slowly walked towards the two of them, only making Jorm tighten his grip.
"Ouch, step back" Tony coaxed the baby off his arm, running his hand down his body. "Shh, little guy, it's okay. I'm here" Jorm slowly morphed back into a humanoid child, but there were tears running down his cheeks. "I know, Cap scarred the two of us shitless, but it's okay, he's an okay guy to be honest."
"Tony, once again, who's that and what are you doing?"
"This is going to sound bonkers, so better sit down, your old heart might not take it well" Instead of commenting, Steve sat down on the couch obediently, raising his eyebrow. "This is Thor's nephew, Jormungandr. He's almost six months old now."
"But Thor-" Steve's eyes widened momentarily. "Tony."
"Believe me, I know" He sighed, wiping away Jorm's tears. "His mother's alright though. Makes bitchin waffles, although she's never eaten waffles before. Anyway, he's really not that bad."
"Not that bad?" Steve stood up and started to pace. "His father is a mass murderer!"
"And my father didn't give two shits about me" Tony hugged the baby to his chest, knowing the hum of his arc reactor would lull him back to calmness. "It's a baby, Steve. He's never even seen his father and if there's one thing that makes kids turn into villains, it's believing that they're destined to be them from the start" He still couldn't shake off the words Yrsa said to him on the balcony. "Cause that's why Loki turned out to be like that, you know?"
"Since when are you on Loki's side?" Steve brushed his hair back in frustration. Jorm's skin started to grow tiny scales, but Tony hugged him tighter before he could turn into a snake once again.
"I'm not on Loki's side, you dumbass" He growled, rubbing soothing circles into the child's back. "I just don't want this kid to turn into a fuck up just like his father."
That seemed to shut Steve up effectively. He sighed, before once again slowly walking over to Tony and Jorm.
"Hi there" His bright smile seemed to put Jorm at ease and his scales started to disappear. "I'm Steve."
Jorm looked up at Tony uncertainly but when the man nodded, he turned back to Steve and pocked his nose.
"Clint is going to freak out."
"I know."
Surprisingly, after being reassured that Jorm didn't have any mind control powers, Clint immediately took a liking to the child. Tony suspected that maybe after all Loki passed on some of his 'charm' to Jorm.
After meeting Natasha, Yrsa started to come out of her shell even more. When Tony questioned her about it, she just said that Natasha got her in a way not even Loki could. He didn't risk asking Nat about what exactly that meant.
The more Tony thought about the reason why Loki let them capture him, the more unnerved he became. There was so much he could do from within the palace walls, which made Tony lose those precious few hours of sleep he got each night. He asked Yrsa about the possible reason.
"Maybe he started to miss Sleipnir."
"Sleip-who?"
"His firstborn son" She played around with her cereal. Bruce almost spat out his coffee.
"Wait, he's got more kids?" Bruce put down his cup, openly staring at her.
"Other than Jormungandr, there's just Sleipnir" Yrsa put down her spoon. "Loki was incredibly young when he gave birth to him-"
"Wait, Loki gave birth to him?" Tony suspiciously eyed Jorm. He knew Yrsa was the one to squeeze out the brat, so he wasn't really sure how the whole downstairs of Loki could work. "But isn't he… Male?"
"In a way" She shrugged. "Jotuns' gender is very complicated. But as far as anyone's concerned, he's Sleipnir's mother."
Bruce clearly decided not to dwell on the gender of the trickster, instead inquiring her about Sleipnir.
"He's been taken away from Loki soon after his birth. After all, it would raise too many questions. You see, while changing ones gender isn't impossible while you're an Aesir, it requires powerful magic, more powerful than most are physically capable of. However, it's pretty easy for Jotuns, since their identity and biology are very fluid. Maybe the Allfather feared that Loki would figure it out" She shook her head. "Either way, it would be foolish of him. The Allfather would never let him see his son after this. I barely managed to visit him when he came back."
And suddenly something inside Tony clicked and he looked at Yrsa in an entirely different light.
After all, how many women could say that they were the reason why Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, let himself be captured and imprisoned.
He told the news to Bruce and then called up Steve, repeating the same thing.
"She's the reason" He shook his head, watching through the balcony doors as Yrsa played with Jorm, kissing his little feet and tickling him. "We have one of the most powerful women kneeling on our living room floor, covered in baby saliva."
"Gross and weirdly specific. I hope to get that image out of my head" Steve sighed on the other side of the line. "So, you called to just tell me that or…"
"We have a great asset if things go wrong" Tony looked down at Jorm, something in his heart bursting. "But there's no way I'm ever letting him even find out about the kid."