A/N: Time frame wise, this is set 8 years after Burning Curve, for reference. :)
So updates might be a little slow as I deal with some big personal stuff. If you're interested you can read about it at my Tumblr. megaranoelle . tumblr . com
I don't own The Avengers, Loki, Iron Man, or anything of the like. Just the thoughts inside my head. And taking some personal freedoms with mythology and lore.
Tony was sitting in a chair, a sleeping Key in his arms, aware of Alex and some equipment behind him. Less than 12 hours after Adir showed up and they had managed to move everyone back to the mansion. Alex was setting up everything he'd need to monitor Key and Tony up in the lab. He looked up when the door to the lab was pushed open and he saw Dani walking in. She wasted no time and walked over, kissing first Key's forehead, then Tony's cheek.
Emma found Loki standing on the roof of the mansion. The moon was high in the sky, and they could hear the water lapping at the rocks below. Emma just moved in front of him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Loki just let his head rest on top of hers.
"I know what you're thinking,' she said quietly. Loki could tell that she had been crying. The general mood of the family. "It wasn't your fault, you didn't cause this to happen."
"I should have stopped him," Loki's voice was barely audible. "I had the spells ready, but I let myself get distracted. His sword, the power left over from it, it prevented me from healing him. I couldn't save my son."
"He has power that no one is able to combat," Emma said, reaching her hands up to rest on his cheeks. "This isn't like anyone else we've ever come up against. Look at what he's done to you, what he's done to Dad."
"I hurt him," Loki said, never meeting her eyes. "I found a way to injure him. I could have used it to stop him, I could have incapacitated him enough to save-" Loki stopped, feeling the burns of tears again. "I can still stop him."
"Dad, please, we need you here right now," Emma pleaded softly. "Please, stay with us." Loki closed his eyes, a couple of tears rolling down his cheeks.
A couple of hours later, Loki found Tony in their room, sitting at the edge of the bed. Loki sat next to him, gently rubbing Tony's back, wrapping an arm around him when Tony pressed himself to Loki's chest. "I saw Eir," Tony whispered. "She said that a Valkyrie had come for him." Loki's jaw tightened almost unnoticeably. "I begged her not to let him be part of the army. I begged her not to let our son become a part of that." He had begged to not let him forget everything about his family.
"I can talk to Thor," Loki said quietly. "He can pass a message for us, to possibly get an audience with the Valkyries." He ran his hand through Tony's hair. "Maybe... He'll at least be with Frigga, she'll take care of him."
"He did it to save Key. She was only two days old." Tony's hand gripped Loki's shirt. He didn't want to let him go, didn't want to lose someone else, again. "She's small."
"She's already been through a lot. I daresay she's going to be one of the strongest of our children." Loki rested his head on top of Tony's. Eventually they managed to get some sleep.
Melisande woke up to see Loki quietly walking into her room, shutting the curtains from the sun that was starting to come through. She let out a little gasp and jumped from her bed onto Loki, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Dad!" Loki jumped a little then swung her around to hold onto her. "You're back!"
"I am little one." He gave her a soft smile. "My, how you've grown. You're going to need to stop that before you get to big." Loki rubbed her back as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Everyone is sad." Loki blinked a little as she spoke. "I try to find San, but he sleeping. He wouldn't wake up." Loki froze at her words. "Can we go wake him up?"
"Sweetheart," Loki said softly, placing a kiss on the side of her head.
"Please," she practically begged against his neck. "He cold, and wouldn't wake up."
Loki was trying to figure out how she would have found him. He and Tony had refused to leave Sander at the hospital, not wanting to give Adir another opportunity to hurt them. Melisande must have woken up in the middle of the night. "Sweetheart, he's not going to wake up." Melisande lifted her head and frowned at him. "He got hurt, and he can't wake up now."
"We have to help him, please Dad, please." Her hands were gripping his shirt, her eyes big and pleading. Loki looked at her sadly.
"We may not be able to help him, love."
"We have to try," she said strongly. Loki couldn't deny her spirit, even if he dreaded the realization she would later have. He knew it was going to be hard to tell her.
"We'll try, love, we'll try." She wrapped her arms around his neck again as he headed for the stairs down to the lab. At the door he saw Eir talking with Tony and Alex and frowned. He set Melisande down at the bottom of the stairs. "Stay here for a second, sweetheart. I need to speak with your Nana, first." She wiggled her nose a little but nodded, sitting on the bottom step. Tony caught his eyes as he walked in, shutting the door so Melisande wouldn't be able to hear them. He had a bad feeling.
"I went to the Fields, to check on him," Eir's voice held a slight shake to it. "He wasn't there, no one had seen him. I went to the Halls to see if there had been a mix-up but he wasn't there either." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I even went down to Helheim, he wasn't there either."
"What do you mean?" Tony was watching her, his voice a little tight. "I thought a Valkyrie was coming for him."
She took a breath, meeting his eyes, then looked at Loki. "There was... When Adir," she made a motion to the words no one wanted to say, "he left that power there, to prevent you from healing him. That power still lingers inside of his body."
"Is that preventing him from entering Valhalla?" Loki asked. If that were the case he could try to pull it out, that he could try to do.
"Yes, and no," she said quietly. "I went to try and find the Valkyrie sent to get him..." She took a breath and Tony and Loki knew it wasn't going to be good news. "Adir had killed her. I'm sorry, he has Sander's soul."