Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows!
Unbeta-ed.
Warning : Miscarriage.
"Loki! What the hell happened here?! Loki?" Bruce yelled when he saw the state that the young prince was in when he rushed into the room. He quickly made his way to Loki to check on his injuries. Hogun only stared at Loki and the doctor, unmoving and lost in his own thoughts.
"Loki, can you hear me?" The doctor asked as he kneeled and softly patted Loki's cheek as if to rouse him.
But the young prince was not unconscious and he whimpered pitifully, "Bruce... please... my child..."
Bruce took note of Loki's state of undress and the bruises that were beginning to form on various parts of his body as he held back the urge to vomit when he realized that the prince had been abused. "Okay, hold on, Loki. I need to get you to the medical bay, okay? Just hold on to me," Bruce picked the young prince up and continued, "Jarvis, tell Steve that he needs to come home now. Tell him it's Loki. And that it's bad."
"Yes, right away, Dr Banner," Jarvis replied.
"And Jarvis, please direct the Lady Sif to the medical bay please," Bruce commanded as he shuffled his way out of the room carefully with Loki in his arms. The doctor's small size certainly did not help with Loki's long and lean limbs but the urgency of the situation probably pumped more adrenaline than he needed.
"Yes, Dr Banner," was Jarvis' short reply.
At the medical room.
"Okay, Loki, tell me what's wrong, where does it hurts?" Bruce asked as he gently put the young prince on the examination bed and then quickly moved the scanner over Loki's body to check him for any internal injuries.
Loki whimpered in pain but he managed to give a small explanation, "We had a fight, and he hit me in my stomach. Please... please... I can't feel him."
Bruce stiffened when he realized why Loki was worried and then gently asked for confirmation, "The baby? You can't feel the baby?"
Loki looked away as if he was ashamed that he could not protect his child and then he nodded.
Bruce closed his eyes and swore softly, and then slowly counted backwards to keep his temper in check. When he had calmed down enough (for the sake of everyone), he wordlessly pulled the ultra-scan machine towards them and then gelled Loki's torso for the examination. He couldn't help but flinched at every wince Loki made when he touched his skin.
Sif arrived at the medical room just as Bruce started with the scan, "What happened?"
When she saw Loki, she gasped, "Loki! What happened? Who did this?" Loki only shook his head sorrowfully at her question. Sif cursed; she didn't need a verbal answer to make a guess of what happened. 'Be damned with you, Hogun,' she cursed. But she stood by the prince and took his hand in hers for reassurance.
After the scan was done, Bruce gave himself a soft sigh but Loki heard him.
"Bruce?" Loki whispered as his heart pounded in anticipation of a good news; that his child was fine and that both of them were fine.
Bruce took off his glasses and looked at Loki sadly. Then he shook his head.
Loki pulled away from Sif, shook his head fervently and pleaded, "No, no... Please, say it isn't so... Please, Bruce... I cannot lose him... Please, save my child... please..."
Bruce put a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder and said, "I am very sorry Loki. But I can see the hemorrhaging in your womb. Whatever hit you, hit you too hard and..." But Bruce couldn't bring himself to continue, to say that Loki's baby was killed, at least not now. When Loki still looked at him expectantly, he shook his head again and said, "I am so sorry, Loki. I truly am. There is nothing more that I can do for your baby."
Loki's face crumbled as he shook his head and wailed, "Please.. no... please... not my child..." But he knew. Even before the doctor reached out to him in his room, he knew. And so, he cried. He cried for the child that he would never get to see or to hold. He cried for all the things that he couldn't teach his child and for all the things that his child couldn't teach him. He cried for the future that might have been if the child had survived. 'I am sorry, my child. I am sorry that I couldn't protect you,' Loki cried.
Sif took Loki's hands in hers and pulled him into her embrace and whispered reassurances to calmed him down.
When Loki's sobs quietened and he fell into a fitful sleep, Bruce checked the young prince's pulse and blood pressure. When he was satisfied that Loki was just resting, he beckoned Sif to lay him back on the bed and let Loki rest.
Sif complied with the doctor's request and then turned to doctor for some answers, "What happened?"
Bruce sighed, "They had a fight, Loki and his husband. Jarvis told me that he needed help and I found him like this in the room."
Sif's expression hardened and she narrowed her eyes, "And what of Hogun? Did he not follow?"
Bruce shook his head, "Has this happened before?"
The warrior frowned, "The miscarriage? I do not think so. Not that I know of. At least, not with Hogun."
The doctor shook his head and clarified, "No, I meant the fight. I would call that abuse but you know what I mean. Has it happened before?"
Sif sighed deeply and turned her gaze towards the sleeping prince, "Yes. He came here because of a fight with Hogun. We believed him to be in danger around Hogun then and I am saddened to find out that we were right."
"Lady Sif, I need to know something. We cannot let the fetus stay inside Loki, it will be harmful to his body. As far as I know, Loki does not have a female genitalia, so I am not sure how his body would dispose of the blood. Do you have any insights?" Bruce asked.
Sif frowned and shook her head, "I am not well-versed in magic and furthermore, Loki is not Aesir. He is Jotunn. And unfortunately, I am not familiar with their, ah, body. You should ask Loki when he awakes."
The doctor gave another sigh and shook his head, "He wouldn't know. He lost his memories, remember? He didn't even know HOW he got pregnant in the first place."
Sif cocked her head and nodded, "Yes, I was much surprised to hear about the pregnancy. He doesn't appear to have his magic with him. Perhaps it had something to do with the All-Father."
Bruce was tending to Loki's other injuries when Steve and Thor sprinted through the door. They were followed by Clint and Natasha who had their weapons drawn.
"Brother!" "Loki!" Thor and Steve both gasped as they took in Loki's still form on the examination bed.
"What happened?" Thor asked as he stood beside Loki's bed with worry.
"They had a fight, Loki and his husband," Bruce answered as he applied a bandage on Loki's right arm.
Steve stiffened and asked the dreaded question, "And the baby? Is the baby okay?"
Thor frowned as he took in Steve's questions, "What baby? What are you talking about? My brother is pregnant?!" And then thunder boomed across the sky.
Bruce stopped what he was doing and then slowly shook his head at the Captain. Steve closed his eyes in denial as he whispered, "No..."
"What of the child?" A voice from behind startled them as then turned towards the newcomer.
"You!" Steve snarled and before Hogun could blink, Steve threw his shield at the Aesir warrior. The force blasted him to the wall where it cracked and Hogun fell to the floor. But the Aesir chuckled and said, "Why the anger, mortal? Did you bed the Silvertongue and thought that the child is yours?"
Before Steve could do anything, Thor picked Hogun up and rammed him onto the wall again, "This again, Hogun?! You promised me that you would be better!"
"Do better?! For a whore? Yes, thunderer, your brother whored himself out again! He betrayed me, yet again! Even when he is pregnant with my child!" Hogun sneered at the thunderer.
"How do you know for sure that you're the father?" Steve countered angrily.
Hogun laughed and spat, "What? You think that his betrayals begot this child? Impossible! I am the only person that can give him a child! I am the only one that can impregnate him!"
"What in All-Father's name are you talking about?" Thor snarled as he shook the warrior harshly.
Hogun gave them another chuckle as Thor rammed him onto the wall again, "You are right. The All-Father made it possible. Loki was without his magic but he was still a Jotunn. His Aesir form was kept by the All-Father. And he taught me a simple spell to chant during our couplings. Only that would make Loki's womb ready to take my seeds."
"And Loki didn't know?" Bruce asked as he looked at the large Aesir in contempt.
"He is mine, it is within my right to ask for an heir," Hogun yelled as he struggled in Thor's hold.
"Father would not do that! He knew, he knew what happened to Loki's other children! He would never permit this!" Thor argued as he tightened his hold on the warrior.
To which Hogun sneered, "You think the All-Father would permit another monster to be born? Do you think your father's magic would allow that? Loki's other children were born out of wedlock, out of the All-Father's supervision, do you think he would make the same mistakes again?" When Thor did not answer him, Hogun continued, "My strength and Loki's magic, do you think your father would say 'No' to that, my prince?"
Well, everyone who knew the All-Father also knew the answer to that question. But who would have known that Hogun the Grim, the one who usually kept his silence, would know which buttons to push or what points to make to let him get his way. Hogun was right, a child of his strength and Loki's magic, the King of Asgard could hardly say 'No' to that.
When Thor finally relinquished his hold on the older warrior, Steve decked him and they grappled on the floor. In the midst of their struggle, Steve threw a punch and then yelled, "Well, you just killed your son, you son of a bitch!"
Hogun stilled and then snarled, "You LIE!" Steve punched him again. None of the other occupants in the room were in a particular mood to separate the two.
Disturbed by the sounds and yells in the room, Loki's eyes fluttered open and he whispered tiredly, "Steve? Hogun?"
Sif exclaimed, "He is awakened!" Sif's remark quickly separated the Captain and the warrior and Steve quickly make his way towards the younger prince. But he lingered behind Thor to give the thunderer a chance to speak to his brother.
Thor stood by his brother's side and softly said as he kissed his temple, "Brother! I am glad you are alright!"
Loki looked at his brother with confusion and then asked, "Steve?"
Steve looked at Thor apologetically and took his seat by the young prince, "Hey, Loki. I'm here. You're okay." As he gently swiped Loki's hair from his forehead.
Loki hissed in pain as he tried to move and when he remembered what happened, his face crumbled, "Steve, my son. I lost my son." The Captain pulled him into his embrace and whispered, "I know, Loki. I know and I'm so sorry about your son, Loki. I am so sorry. But you're okay, you're okay now." Loki sobbed as the Captain slowly rocked him in his embrace.
"Loki?" A harsh voice interrupted them.
Loki flinched and then chanced a look at his husband. His lips quivered but he let go of the Captain and held out his hand for his husband. Steve reluctantly left Loki's side and he glared at Hogun as the warrior came and took Loki's hands in his. When his husband neared him, Loki flinched and shrunk into himself before he looked up with a determined expression. There it was, he could feel it in his fingertips, the tingling feeling of a familiar yet strange energy. He beckoned it to surface and it complied.
And the next second after that, both the younger prince and the warrior were gone in a swirl of green and black as frantic cries echoed in the medical bay.
Okay, I'm sure some of you wondered why the baby didn't protect himself during the fight? Well, because Loki was scared and he wasn't thinking about protecting himself (a case of misplaced guilt) and the baby's emotions tapped into that. Also, the baby had raw magic, therefore, he wouldn't know how to control it or how to protect himself yet. I hope that makes sense.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. =) Reviews are definitely appreciated!