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.

Sander coughed and took a breath as his eyes shot open. Something wasn't right. He looked around, becoming aware that something was wrapped around his legs preventing him from moving. When he looked up he stopped moving, seeing the grinning face of Adir.

"You are a lot like your Father, the sorcerer, that's not had to notice." Adir started to slowly circle him. Sander pushed himself up to stand, wanting to at least look confident. "Your magic is tinted with the color of his, you have his eyes, you also have his misplaced confidence."

"I also have a healthy hatred of you," Sander threw in. "And I'm usually called the nicest of all my siblings."

"Of which there are many, too many in my opinion."

"Thankfully your opinion doesn't matter," Sander threw out.

Adir let out a laugh. "My opinion is the only one that matters. I am the Creator of your little Universe, of your world, I am the reason that you live." He let out a breath. "That was not the point that I was getting too. I wonder if you're going to be as much fun as your Father, before he overstepped his bounds."

"They're going to know that you've taken me, you know," Sander watched him walk around behind him again. "That's going to be unforgivable."

"You mistake me for someone who cares." He stopped in front of Sander and looked at him. "I'm thinking that maybe you should get a little closer to your other Dad, the unfortunate Norn, who by rights shouldn't be alive." Sander frowned watching him. "I think that you should walk a mile in his shoes." He put his hand on Sander's head and there was a flash of white.

Sander gasped when something rocked him around. He blinked his eyes around and saw that he was sitting in a truck, and what looked like the desert around him. There was yelling and loud sounds. He ducked his head when an explosion outside of the vehicle broke the glass in the windows. Scrambling out of the car he ducked down when dirt and sand went flying over the car.

"Holy shit, what the fuck." Sander started to move, looking around. He saw soldiers running around, a lot were no longer moving. He recognized the uniforms as American, but they hadn't been used in years. He blinked a little, realizing that these uniforms probably hadn't been used since his Dad was young.

Some bullets hit the ground behind him and he yelped, starting to run. he kept low, skidding on the dirt road until he hit the sand on the other side. Sander ran for the large boulder to take some cover, vaguely noticing the small metal rocket that landed in the sand. Something pulled his attention, facing the rocket and he frowned when he saw the Stark logo on it.

"Shit!" He scrambled up, remembering how Tony said that his company used to make weapons. Either someone was still making those and he needed to talk to Eindride and Tony, or something was very wrong. The blast threw him back, the sound causing a ringing in his ears. He coughed, feeling pain in his chest again before he whited out.

A scream was pulled from him when he was abruptly pulled back to a semi-conscious state. There was a blurred light above him, several people talking in a different language. There was a pain in his chest, and he started to pant heavily. He could think, couldn't focus. All he knew was pain and confusion. He couldn't move, couldn't sit up and he started to thrash his shoulders. Voices were yelling, he couldn't tell if they were yelling at him or at someone else. A white rag was descending down over his nose, soon taking him back to unconsciousness.

Sander blinked his eyes open and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He almost shot up, but a pain in his chest was stopping him from moving too fast. The voice didn't belong to Adir, though.

"What did you do to me?" Sander looked over and he felt his mouth slowly fall open. That voice definitely belonged to his Dad. He hadn't expected to see a much much younger looking Tony though. He saw gauze and wrappings over his chest, and a hole had been ripped to see something round and metal in his chest, but there was no glow.

Sander looked down, blinking when his eyes were met with the familiar blue glow of the arc reactor. "What I did," Sander's head shot up, the scene in a cave no longer around him, but Adir was walking towards him. "What I did was let you understand the pain that your family goes through. What they will always go through." Adir leaned down in front of Sander, putting a hand on his chest. He hissed out in pain, the skin around the reactor sensitive. "And you're going to live through everything. But this," he tapped the reactor, "this is never going to go away now."

Loki stood next to a chair that Melisande stood on, both looking over Sander. Melisande was watching Loki's hand as they glowed, trying to help her brother. She was sure that he could help, because her Dads were able to do anything. And when her brother woke up, he pick her up and tickle her, and they would go and see Key.

Loki tried not to scowl as he was unable to grasp the lingering power he could feel. He could feel Adir's power, and he was trying to keep down the roiling fury inside so that Melisande didn't have to see it. Melisande wiggled over, leaning against the bed, and put her small hands over Loki's hand. He looked over at her and saw her eyes closed tightly in deep concentration.

Her little hands started to glow a pale blue, and Loki could actually feel extra power being added to his. He was almost surprised, that the pure determination of his young daughter could actually tip the balance. All she wanted was for her brother to wake up, to call her munchkin again, and she would do anything to get that back.

Loki started to slowly lift their hands, pulling out a string of energy. Loki grasped it quickly before it could seek a path back to Sander, or even to Melisande. Loki wasn't going to let Adir get away with anything else.

"Go tell your Dad and Nana that we've helped," Loki said to Melisande. She carefully climbed down the chair and ran back through the lab. Loki looked at the power, grinding his teeth together a little. What Adir didn't know what that now with a sample of his power, Loki could create spell targeted at the Creator. He knew he had the power to hurt him, but now, he could put a concentrated target into the mix, and that was the most dangerous aspect to Loki's magic.

"Now, I'm coming for my son." Loki let a smirk cross his face. "You're going to regret your actions."