Chapter 12

Loki was wondering if he would ever sleep again. The last five days had been simultaneously wonderful and disheartening, and the change between the two were entirely dependent on the time of day. During the waking hours Loki spent his time with his two sons, watching how they fell into step in a modern Midgard without pause. Both Sleipnir and Jorgumand were naturally curious, and met each new discovery with enthusiasm. On Jorgumand's second day in the Avengers tower, Peter had come prepared with a bag full of DVD's, and Loki's sons were introduced to television and 'the magic of the movies'. The boys were instantly enamored, and Loki found himself on the couch rather than his armchair, a son leaning on him from each side while a small blue creature learned about 'Ohana'. There was but one small hitch when Natasha Romanof pulled one of the movies from the bag and took Peter aside to tell him to remove it from the collection. Loki waited until the young man was alone before cornering him and asking why. His answer was surprising; apparently the Black Widow was concerned because the small mice friends of the princess were turned into horses at one point, and she worried for Sleipnir. He'd been rather touched by the woman's thoughtfulness.

Clothes for Jorgumand were acquired along with toys to add to the boy's growing collection, but in the end it was Steve who discovered that while Sleipnir had no mind to draw, Jorgumand would gladly adorn any flat surface available with his art. Now the coffee table in their apartment featured a healthy stack of colouring books and boxes of crayons.

The boys themselves got along like they'd known each other their entire lives, and were best friends rather than brothers. There was no fighting, or demanding for more of Loki's attention than the other. It was wonderful and Loki had never been more relieved.

The days passed mostly in the common room playing games or reading. Loki taught his sons the English alphabet and within a day they were both reading through their collection of children's books. For lunch they would eat with the rest of the tower's occupants in the dining hall, but breakfast and dinner were taken in their own apartment. Loki may have been raised as a prince but that did not mean he did not know how to cook. After dinner the boys would share a bath, dress in their nightclothes and the three of them would sit together on the sofa while Loki told them stories.

Unfortunately, it was after they went to bed that things always took a turn for the worse. Sleipnir and Jorgumand had suffered from nightmares all week, ever since Jorgumand's first night. Loki found he had to sleep between them so that one didn't set the other off. That, and Sleipnir had a habit of kicking about in the middle of his nightmares and nearly knocked Jorgumand out of the bed once. Whatever they dreamed though, they forgot upon waking. Which meant that while they weren't haunted by their night terrors throughout the day, it also meant that Loki had no idea what to do to assuage them of their fears or whatever was causing them.

He wished for his magic, if only he could glance into their minds for a moment to see what troubled them, to clear away the horrors so that either of them could sleep through the night without waking three or four times. Instead all he could do was be there to comfort them when they woke, and ease them back into slumber.

Jorgumand whimpered quietly in his sleep, curling closer and Loki rubbed his back and made soothing noises. It worked, at least for the moment, as the boy settled and Loki closed his tired eyes. It seemed only seconds later when he heard someone knocking at the front door. He waited, not sure if he'd heard correctly, but then the knocking came again only slightly louder. Detangling himself from the bed without waking the boys took some effort, and he half ran to the door before the knocking became any louder and woke them both anyways.

Steve Rogers was on the other side looking apologetic. "Sorry, I know it's late."

"What is it?" Loki asked irritably, glancing at the Shield agent that stood nearby before looking back at the Avenger.

"Thor's back." Steve said bluntly and Loki felt his glare fall right off his face.

"He's back?"

"Yeah, and they need your help downstairs. This is agent Harris, he can take you down to where your brother is. I can stay here with the kids, if that's ok?"

"What is it they need my help with?" Loki asked.

Rogers grimaced a little. "They found your kid Loki, but..." the man paused and Loki's patience snapped.

"What happened? They couldn't reverse the spell? Is that it?"

"No they got it, he's human shaped and everything."

"Is he hurt?"

"We don't know," the mortal said and before Loki could demand a better answer he continued. "He's freaking out Loki, and we don't know if he's injured or if it's magic or something else entirely. You need to get down there now and calm him down so one of the doctors can see if he's even ok. I'll stay up here with the other two, just get moving will you?"

Rogers didn't really have to tell him to move faster. Upon hearing that his son was in the building Loki was already pulling his shoes on. "They are sleeping, but there have been ... nightmares." he said quickly as he let Rogers in.

"I'll listen for them, now get going."

The agent remained silent while he led Loki down to the medical center, and when the elevator doors opened on the correct floor Loki blew past the useless man. He didn't need directions anymore; he could hear the crying echoing down the halls. The medical wing was lit up and filled with a number of men and women in white coats, as well as several Shield agents. They were surrounding the easy to spot Thor and his friends. Thor saw him enter and with a gesture the small crowd parted and Loki strode through. Thor's arms were empty, as were Sifs. Instead it was Volstagg who was trying in vain to comfort a wailing toddler.

The moment he was within reach, Loki snatched the boy from the warrior's arms and tucked him close to his body. Almost instantly the angry wailing became quiet whimpers as Fenris clung to him, pressing his face into Loki's shoulder. He could feel his shirt become wet as the child continued to cry softly, and he did his best to comfort him while their audience watched on.

"Thank the Norns!" Fandral said suddenly, looking very relieved. "He's been at that all day. For such a small person he can make quite a racket, I'll give him that."

"Be kind," Volstagg said with a reproachful tone. "He can't help being frightened."

"Still, I'm glad I don't have any of those."

"How do you know you don't? You know I saw Sigdis just the other day and she had a fair haired child." Thor teased but Loki ignored the banter. Fenris' cries began to taper off, and Loki looked up to see Sif watching him with a strange expression on his face. "Lady Sif." he said in greeting.

"Loki." she said in return.

He realized then that the last time he'd been in a room with Sif and the Warriors Three was in the throne room, as they asked him to end Thor's banishment. And then shortly after that he'd sent the Destroyer after them and Thor. They certainly owed him no favors, and yet here they were, dirty and tired looking, with deep gouges in their armor probably made by a large set of claws.

"Thank you." he said sincerely and Thor beamed at him.

"Think nothing of it." Fandral said gamely and Volstag nodded but they all were giving Loki strange looks.

He wondered what it was that they found so strange, if it was the sincerity in his voice? Or perhaps it was his appearance, dressed only in thin Midgardian pajamas. He knew his hair must be an alarming sight by itself. His usual slicked back hair was now in its natural form, curling up and sticking out in random directions from bed.

Then he saw Fandral's eyes glance down towards his navel and it became clear what they were all looking at. The shirt he was wearing made his condition quite obvious. Loki set his jaw and met their eyes, daring any of them to speak a word on the subject. Not that they would, not with Thor standing beside him, beaming obviously at his nephew. A nephew who was crying weakly, his face hidden from all the curious stares around him.

Only Volstagg seemed to notice Fenris' upset and stepped forward, concern colouring his face. "I think it might be this crowd of strangers that's got him all worked up," he said with a reproachful look towards the agents that were standing about.

Loki allowed a small hint of a smile to grace his lips as Thor turned a fierce scowl onto the mortals in the room, amused as some of them even began to shuffle away to a safe distance. Only one of the doctors dared to come close enough to suggest the use of one of the small patient rooms for privacy. Loki smirked and followed his direction towards a room that was identical to the one he had first found Sleipnir in. No one had followed them, and Loki shut the door for good measure. Now alone with his youngest son, he let the smirk drop from his face and allowed the real concern show. Fenris was still crying pathetically so Loki sat down on one of the chairs in the room and sat the boy in his lap, gently pulling his fists from his clothes. Fenris' face was red and blotchy from crying, and Loki wiped the tears away making soothing sounds. It took some time but the crying tapered off slowly as he looked around and realized they were alone.

"It's alright my son, your safe, I have you," he said gently as Fenris leaned into his chest with a tired moan. Loki stroked the boy's dark hair, his fingers slipping through the curls easily. Out of all of his children, only Fenris had inherited his hair. He skillfully moved over the child's scalp, checking for bumps or cuts and found none, placing a kiss to the top of his head when he was done. "Let me look at you," he said quietly once it seemed that he'd calmed down a little. Fenris allowed himself to be drawn back with only a hiccup of protest and Loki found he had to dry the boy's eyes again. "There you are," he said, stroking Fenris' face. He eased down the blanket that covered him and methodically checked over his limbs for injury. There were none that he could find and so he covered the boy once more in the soft material and brought him back to his chest.

Slowly Fenris began to relax against him as Loki quietly reassured him that everything was all right, they were safe, soothing him until the toddler's eyes began to droop. Of course it was with perfect timing that Thor chose to enter, looking rather disappointed when Fenris began to cry again.

"Is he hurt?" the blond idiot asked, completely missing the glare Loki was leveling him with. "Should I send in one if these healers?"

Loki stopped himself from letting loose several verbal barbs, only because he knew the tone of his voice would only upset Fenris. "No Thor. There are no injuries for them to treat." Thor looked at the crying toddler with an expression of frank disbelief. "Truly Thor, he is frightened and over tired, he will be fine if I can only get him to sleep."

His foster brother seemed to consider that and finally nodded. "I am glad he is not injured. I was sure that when he would not calm, that he had become hurt somehow. That I had... it was particularly hard to remove fathers seal this time. I thought perhaps I had stuck him with Mjlonir." he admitted guiltily. He looked so disquieted by some imagined injury that Loki could only roll his eyes.

"Fortunately your aim remains ever true." he said, his voice sounding tired to his own ears. Fenris' cries had softened again but Loki suspected it was more likely that he was simply running out of energy rather than that he was becoming comfortable with Thor's presence. Personally he thought his son might take to Thor better if the man would sit down or something rather than loom in the doorway, but if his shifting feet were any indicator, Thor did not plan to stay long.

As if reading his thoughts Thor said in a quieter voice, "I would like to stay, but I fear time is running out. Father could wake any day now, so my friends and I are making for Hel as soon as we can. But perhaps when I return I might meet this young man when he is a better mood? And his brothers as well?" the question came out weakly, as if Thor thought he would not allow him to see the children he had rescued.

Loki supposed Thor might be suddenly unsure of his welcome might have something to do with the expression that he was currently wearing. "Of course." Loki assured him, and did not move away when Thor clasped his shoulder in farewell. He was determined to hold his tongue, but when Thor reached the doorway he found himself speaking anyway.

"You won't be able to save her." The words were spoken softly, but he might have screamed for the way Thor froze. Loki sighed and held Fenris closer. "There is no seal on her for you to break."

The room remained silent, and Loki could not look up to meet Thor's eyes. The silence stretched on, broken only by Fenris' weak cries and Loki stroked the boys hair in an offer of comfort.

"I must try Loki." Thor said finally, pausing for a moment to see if there would be a response. When there was none Loki heard him turn and leave, the door shutting quietly behind him.

Alone again, Loki rocked his son in his lap, holding him close until the child's remaining tears faded away. He continued the motion well after Fenris became heavy in his arms having finally fallen into a fitful sleep. When he eventually left their small sanctuary there were only a handful of Shields staff about, and he paid them no mind as he strode out of the room and made his way back to his apartment.

Steve Rogers had moved the armchair into the bedroom and was watching over the two sleeping boys with a vigilance that Loki found himself admiring despite himself. Jorgumand and Sleipnir were curled up together under the sheets, still asleep though Sleipnir's cheeks bore traces of tears. The captain stood when he saw Loki, and smiled gratefully at the sight of the child sleeping in his arms.

"He's ok then?" the mortal asked.

"Yes, thank you for watching over them while I was gone. Did they wake at all?"

Steve grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, Sleipnir woke up a while ago, he was pretty upset when you weren't here."

Loki nodded and walked the Avenger to the door, thanking him once more as he left. Back in his rooms, Loki blindly pulled one of Jorgumand's shirts out and dressed Fenris in it as a nightshirt, taking care not to wake the child. Sleipnir stirred when he slid under the covers beside him, and Loki looked down at his sons sleep filled eyes with a small smile.

"All is well Sleipnir, go back to sleep," he said quietly but his oldest stubbornly sat up.

"You were gone."

Loki laid back onto a pillow, adjusting Fenris so that he was held closely to his chest. With his other hand he reached out and pulled Sleipnir to lay beside him. Jorgumand shifted in his sleep and made use of the free space, sprawling onto his stomach with all of his limbs spread in different directions. "I know," Loki said addressing Sleipnir. "and I am sorry for worrying you. I had to leave to retrieve your brother."

Sleipnir peered at the little form on his chest before tucking himself closer to Loki's body. "Ok," was his sleepy response and soon enough his breathing evened out as he fell back into slumber.

Loki sighed and stared up at the dark ceiling, listening to the quiet breathing of his three children.

So when I first started to write this story, I was all SAVE ALL THE CHILDREN! and basically make everyone happy love kittens. But that ended up being too much fluff even for me, so I slid in a mini bit of angst cause I figure who's gonna live for hundreds of years as a monster and NOT have issues?

And for those who were interested in it, here is the link for the marathon locations. I'm in Toronto so if any of you are going there message me!

go dot amctheatres dot com / marvel

Thank you for everyone who reviewed! And raise your hand if you think Steve would have been the best babysitter EVAR!