Loki and Tony return from their trip to the park to the stares of the rest of the team. Loki slips back into his normal appearance and regards Thor with a resigned acceptance. He knows what he must do, for the sake of his daughter, his pride and righteous anger be damned.
"Anthony would you mind watching Valeria for a little bit? I need to speak with Thor." Loki asks politely.
"Yeah sure." Tony takes the little girl into his arms and smiles at her. She's so damned cute when her spit bubbles up on her lip like that. Thor sits up at Loki's words.
"Would all of you mind giving us our privacy?" Loki asks.
"We'll be in the next room." Steve says. Everyone is hesitant but they do as they are asked and file out of the room. Loki sits down on the couch near Thor and faces him, his hands folded neatly in his lap. He looks down at his hands, searching for the words he knows he needs to say. The tension in this place is too much. It needs to stop.
"I know you are angry, and rightly so, and that my apology comes far too late, but I have come to say I'm sorry for what I put you through. I am sorry I didn't listen to you. We can't keep fighting like this. Valeria is young but she'll pick up on it as she gets older. You and I need to form a truce, for her sake. Can you do that?" Loki asks. Thor contemplates Loki's words. He's tired. He's tired of being angry all the time, and he wants to spend more time with Valeria and do more than just tumble on the floor with her. He nods.
"I can do that." Thor says. His lips look to move as Thor looks down at his hands searching for words, but they don't come. The silence carries on. Finally Thor settles on a statement, "Thank you, for not withholding her from me." He says.
"You're welcome." Loki says. He gets up feeling relief. He didn't get an apology from Thor, but then he hadn't expected one. He did this for Valeria and to bring peace into this house. Hopefully going forward, life will be a little less stressful.
XxXxXxXxXx
"Cyborgs." Tony says as he lays out the schematics stolen from the tech firm and the autopsies of the dead bodies found at the warehouse.
"More super soldiers." Steve laments. It seems to be a recurring theme that all the bad guys want to reproduce the serum that created him.
"He's trying to create cyborgs that don't need an external power source to recharge their mechanical components. But human bodies just don't conduct electricity like that. The interface is failing." Tony explains.
"Doom can conduct electricity pretty well without getting harmed, unless he faces off with Thor. Thor's got him beat by a mile. I'm surprised Doom hasn't tried to clone his own DNA to create these soldiers. He's got the facilities to pull it off." Bruce says.
"Not anymore. We've got him on the run. We won't be making any Cyborg soldiers for a while." Steve says.
XxXxXxXxXx
Loki chases after his darling girl as she squeals and runs down the hallway on her chubby little legs. Her little arms flail in excitement. She almost makes her escape, but her big blonde daddy catches her at the other end and scoops her up, making her squeal even louder. Her baby fine blonde hair has beautiful wavy curls in it that now reaches her shoulders. Her big blue eyes can be seen for miles.
"Dadadada!" She fusses to be let down to run again. She takes off again, looking over her shoulder to make sure her mother is still chasing her.
"I'm going to get you!" Loki says.
"EEEEE! Mamamama!" She runs to Steve and hides behind his leg, hugging it like it is a tree trunk.
"Oh ho! You chose the wrong place to take cover little angel." Steve reaches down and picks her up, tickling her to get a laugh. She screams and squeals and squirms, begging for mama to save her.
"No! No Stebe!" Her little brow furrows and her bottom lip pokes out.
"Oh, she's angry with you." Thor says.
"What? You're not mad at me? Are you Little Bit?" Steve makes sad puppy eyes at little Valeria and she buys it like a sucker. She kisses the soldier on the cheek and squeezes his neck really tight, causing him to choke a bit.
"Your little girl has a strong grip Thor." Steve says. Thor beams with pride. Steve isn't just saying that. He'll have bruises tomorrow. Loki takes Valeria into his arms and snuggles her. He hands her off to Thor for their little father, daughter outing.
"Make sure you take her coat with you. And make sure you take the fish gummy snacks and not the bear gummy snacks. And she can only have one pouch. She'll get sick on too much sugar if you give her more than that. And make sure she drinks plenty of water. And make sure you keep her away from the sandbox. That thing is filled with diseases."
"Loki, she'll be fine. We are simply going to the park." Thor lies. He's taking her out to the country to play in the mud. They are going to get absolutely filthy! Clint already left a half hour ago to get the car ready so they can make their escape.
Valeria is nine months old now. The time with her has passed so quickly. Thor picks up Valeria's diaper bag and slings it over his shoulder. The damn thing is massive. Loki acts like they are going on a space expedition or something.
"Is all of this really necessary?" Thor asks as he pilfers through the bag. "We're only going to be gone a few hours. Why do I need a dozen diapers?"
"You never know." Loki says as he crosses his arms. Thor rolls his eyes. Loki can be a little too overprotective. Thor intends to let his baby girl show her tough side today. They are going to go ride something called an ATV. Clint says they are awesome. Thor puts Valeria on his shoulders and grips her little feet as her pudgy hands grip his beard roughly.
"We'll be back later." Thor says.
"Be careful! Watch her head. You're really tall you know!" Loki yells after him.
XxXxXxXxXx
Valeria squishes the chocolate mud pie she made between her little fingers, relishing the feel of it. She is completely naked and covered head to toe in the earthy brown goo. Thor is in a pair of tighty-whities that is no longer white.
"You look like a real hillbilly." Clint chuckles as he slings an arm around his wife. Clint's family is a closely guarded secret that not even all the members of the Avengers know about. Clint's little girl is next to Valeria showing her how to use mud to make a beauty mask. Clint's son is making mud angels.
"He looks like sasquatch." Clint's wife says.
"Loki would have a fit if he saw her right now." Clint says.
"Which is why this is so much fun." Thor says. He picks up his baby girl and holds her to his chest. The squishing sounds from the suction between them makes Valeria giggle that happy loud laugh that only a baby can make. Thor looks over at Clint and his wife snuggling in the mud. They have a beautiful life. Their secret little farm and their two beautiful children are a miracle given the type of work Clint does. He lives a warrior's life, just like Thor. Thor's face falls. He's not jealous. He's not.