Chapter Sixteen
When the Avengers returned to Tony's penthouse, they were surprised to see Tony and Loki sitting next to each other on a sofa- Tony with a glass of scotch, and Loki (un-cuffed and without mouth guard) sipping at either water or vodka, though no one could tell without smelling it closer.
Thor sent Loki an accusing glare which Loki returned with his most innocent expression. Even Thor wasn't stupid enough to not know what that look on his little brother's face was. He had just had sex. And judging by Loki's smile, it was glorious.
"What're you smiling at?" Barton demanded, the string of his bow already pulled but still aiming at the ground rather than Loki's head.
"Oh nothing, just the thought of life imprisonment knowing that Clint Barton will spend the next fifty years dreaming of me and jumping at every shadow, wondering when I will return to take what is mine." Loki grinned.
Tony snorted, and then pretended it was a cough instead. He did though feel a twinge of jealousy, even though he knew Loki was teasing Clint, who growled and lifted the bow slightly higher before shaking his head.
"As if. I'll just be glad once you leave this planet for good. Thor, when is he going?" He said while sending a glare at Loki before turning to Thor.
"We will leave as soon as possible. There is no point waiting about, we have already delayed enough as it is."
"At least let me finish my drink?" Loki pouted.
"Fine. Then we will go."
Loki proceeded to sip as slowly as possible.
It was about fifteen minutes later when Thor was about to put the restraints back on that Loki requested a word. In private. Tony told them that they could go to a room down the hall.
Loki clamped a hand over Thor's mouth before he spoke. "Thor, I'm pregnant. Tony is coming with us to Asgard."
Thor's eyes widened dramatically, his eyes darted down to Loki's stomach briefly, and then he stared to shout muffled words into Loki's palm. Once he realised that Loki would've move his hand until he wasn't shouting, he calmed down somewhat, until Loki let him go.
"The Man of Iron impregnated you?!" He asked, a mix or horror and shock evident on his face.
"Yes. And he is coming to Asgard with us. He will not be safe here. And I believe he would like to stay with me as I am with child. We shall tell the Allfather that he is an ambassador for Midgard, come to bear witness to my trial. You mustn't tell anyone of this, not even mother. They can't know until I am sure that Tony and the baby are safe. Do you understand? I'm trusting you, Thor."
"I-" Thor breathed out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his long hair before giving Loki a sad look. "You were with child all this time when you fought us? I am truly sorry that this has happened." He took a step forward and placed his hands on Loki's shoulders. "But I will do anything in my powers to make sure the tw- three of you are safe... " he smiled sympathetically then grinned widely. "So I am to be as uncle again?"
Loki couldn't stop himself from smiling, though he didn't mean to. It was harder than he thought to stay mad at Thor. None of it was even his fault anyway. "You are."
Thor embraced him in a hug that was surprisingly only slightly bone crushing. Thor was being careful for once, which only made Loki feel worse for being mad at him all this time. "But while we are on the subject of secrets," he waited for Thor to put him down. "I must tell you what made me do this and you must promise to keep it a secret. Even from the Allfather and even if I come to face trial for crimes against Midgard as well. You must promise me."
Thor nodded after a while of thought. "I promise."
So Loki told him about Thanos.
-Page break-
"They're taking some time, aren't they?" Bruce commented to no one in particular. Tony had started to get a little anxious at the time they'd taken, and was also expecting Thor to burst into the room at any second and strangle him. He glanced at his phone to check the time, then stretched and stood.
"Where are you going?" Natasha asked his, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion. Tony shrugged and thought quickly. "I'm... Toilet. Going to take a leak. I'll be right back." He said before walking into his bedroom.
Seeing as he had the time, he decided he may as well pack a bag for the trip to Asgard, because he would need things to entertain him, and changes of clothing for when his current ones get dirty.
It didn't take him long, and as he left the room, he placed the rucksack by his bedroom door so it was easy to grab. He then sat back down with the Avengers as they waited for Loki and Thor.
-Page Break-
"Thanos..." Thor said as his brow furrowed worryingly. He rubbed his beard in thought as he imagined what Loki had been through, and what this could mean for Asgard, should the All- Father decide to lock him away in a cell. "So there is a chance that he will be after you?"
"I hoped to make it look as if I tried my best, so that he will not think I disobeyed. And if he believes I am in Asgard being punished... I hope he will not return for me. I believe I am low down on his list of priorities. But if there is the slightest chance he is looking for me, Asgard is the safest place for Tony."
Thor nodded then motioned to the door. "Shall we get going then? Wait, Tony does know he's coming right? You're not just dragging him with us without his say so?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "Of course. He's going to offer to come along to oversee my trial and make sure I get a proper sentence. Or you could just suggest it."
"Unless he offers himself, I will not suggest it, in case someone else offers to come in his place." Thor nodded, then moved and opened to door for he and Loki to return to the others. When they got there, Tony nervously glanced at Thor before mouthing to Loki 'we okay?'
Loki nodded. Tony nodded back, then stood up and stretched again, as if trying to act as inconspicuously as possible. "You guys goin' then?"
"We must make haste. Director Fury will likely want to try and keep us here." Thor picked up Loki's restraints and muzzle.
As he was attaching them to Loki once more, Tony Casually moved closer to them as he spoke. "So, uh, I was thinking... Maybe one of us should come with you, y'know, to oversee Loki's trial and, uh, make sure he gets his sentence for what he's done?" He said to Thor.
"That may be a good idea, Man of Iron." Thor answered with a nod, locking his gaze with Tony's to assure him he was okay with this, seeing as Tony still looked like he thought Thor was going to punch him for Loki's situation.
"It should be me." Steve said from the back of the group.
"No, I'll go. I was the one who he forced into being his mind slave, so I need this more than you do." Clint said to Steve, before shooting a glare to Loki. Tony sighed, wishing he'd phrased that question better.
"What about me? It's my tower he used- I'm emotional because of it. And to be fair, he did try to mind slave me too." He shrugged.
"Why is everyone so eager to go?" Natasha said suspiciously.
"Well," Loki hadn't noticed Bruce standing there before, he had been so quiet. "I think Tony should go. He isn't part of SHIELD, so has no ulterior motive, and it will be more beneficial to the planet from a science perspective. I know I'm dying to get my hands on data from another realm."
"Thank you Bruce. So that's two votes for me, one for everyone else. I think we have a winner here." Tony smirked.
"Well I'm coming with you." Steve moved to stand next to Loki. "You're not exactly the most responsible of people, Stark."
"Hey!" Tony pouted. "I'm very responsible, just ask... Okay, yeah, maybe I see your point..." He said, trying to think up an excuse for him to go alone quickly, but before he could, Bruce spoke again.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind coming along too if I could? Like I said in my reasons before, I'm dying to get my hands of that data." He smiled. Tony sighed, knowing there probably wasn't much else he could say to persuade them.
"What about you two?" Steve asked, turning to Natasha and Clint as Tony inwardly flipped his hands in the air. 'How many more are coming?!' He thought to himself before turning to Loki and mouthing 'sorry'.
"The Bifröst is still broken, it will take too much power." Loki laughed. "I doubt the Allfather will be so willing to let you all come. That is if your bodies survive the journey." He was still smirking as Thor locked the muzzle in place.
"My brother is right. Five of us will be a struggle, but seven will be more than a challenge. I do not know how you will fare; it is unheard of for a Midgardian to travel to Asgard without the use of the Bifröst."
Tony smiled at their attempts to lessen the numbers, but adopted a straight expression when he realised it would look too suspicious.
"I have the super serum in my body, created by Tony's father, so I should be able to survive the journey as I heal quickly." Steve said surely, nodding as if to confirm it. "And Bruce has the Hulk to protect his body. Thought I don't know how you three would cope..." He said, looking over at Tony, Natasha and Clint. Tony shrugged.
"My suit will protect me, so I'll be fine."
"And do not worry about controlling the Hulk my friend. Odin's magic will protect you." Thor said, and then told the three that if they wanted to gather anything, to get it now before they left. Asgard would supply them with anything they needed, but he understood if they wanted anything else. Steve had said no, not wanting to be out of his uniform as they 'weren't going there for a holiday', which Tony had rolled his eyes at.
Bruce had stolen some clothing from a shop that had been blasted badly in the attack. He felt bad about it, but also didn't want to be left wandering around naked. But he too didn't have any other clothes or items that he had to take with him, so said he'd find something on Asgard if he needed it. He did, however, ask if Tony would let him take some scientific equipment, which Tony was happy to lend him for this trip.
Tony was the only one to bring his own stuff grabbing the rucksack he'd packed earlier, then going to a lab downstairs to get the Mark V suit, and packing some equipment into a bag for Bruce.
He was extremely nervous about going to Asgard, especially now as Steve and Bruce were coming. He didn't mind Bruce, but Steve annoyed him, and he didn't know how or when he was going to tell either of them about him and Loki- because they'd find out one way or the other during the trial when Loki revealed he was pregnant. He made a mental note to discuss how to go about this with Loki later on, then left to show the others the way up to the roof, so they would leave before Fury could object.
Once up there, he put on the mark V, handed Bruce the equipment bag, and shouldered his rucksack. He noticed Loki raising an eyebrow at his bag, but Tony had just shrugged in return.
As Thor was preparing the Tesseract for the trip, it was then that Tony thought he should call Pepper and tell her about this- because she'd be extremely mad if he didn't say and disappeared. He excused himself for a few minutes then flew to another building top nearby for some privacy before calling her as the others waited.
"Pepper? It's me." He said once he'd gotten through.
"TONY, THANK GOD. I saw you fall from the sky on the news. Are you okay?"
"Um, physically, I'm fine, considering." Tony replied shakily. "Although emotionally... Pepper, he's pregnant."
"What?!"
"Loki, he's... He's pregnant Pep. And I'm the father." He sighed, his voice cracking slightly. Because of trying to convince Thor to let him come to Asgard, and from trying to comfort Loki, Tony had momentarily bottled his concerns and fear about his and Loki's situation, and it was only now that he was away from them and talking to Pepper that the worry came out.
"Oh I keep forgetting he's an alien." There was a moment of silence on the line. "How are you not freaking out about this?"
"I am!" Tony almost snapped. "Sorry... I just... Fuck... I don't know what I'm supposed to do here! On one hand, I'm happy for him. For us. For our... Kid... But then again I'm also terrified about it. I don't know what to do. Hell, I'm not even mentally or emotionally prepared for this..." He lifted the face plate up and rubbed his face tiredly.
"And how does he explain attacking earth and killing all those people?"
"Oh, that wasn't him, he was being mind-controlled against his will. Ask Clint- he'll tell you what it was like. Although while he was under control, he tried to save me from fighting... So I think it was more against-his-will type controlling... But the guy behind it. From what I gather, he's bad news."
"Tony, be careful."
"Yeah..." He smiled, even though Pepper couldn't see him. "Oh, another thing, um, I'm going to Asgard for a bit."
"I can't say I'm surprised. Take care of yourself Tony, don't do anything stupid. I don't want to have to go job hunting."
"Well, if anything did, then you're already CEO so the job would still be yours." Tony chuckled, then glanced up to the roof of Stark tower to see the four others standing around impatiently. "I gotta go. I'll see you when I see you."
"I love you, Tony." She said before hanging up.
Tony stood still for a few seconds before he could move again, replaying Pepper's last words there over and over. He couldn't tell whether she had meant that in a platonic-friendship sort of way, or a more how-he-feels-about-Loki sort of way... But he hoped that for her sakes, it was the former. He liked Pepper, but only as a good friend. Probably his best. But they both knew a relationship couldn't work out between them, and he only hoped that Pepper realised this soon if it was the case. He shook his head then, without bothering to close the faceplate, he flew back to the roof of the tower.
Bruce grinned at him from beneath all the equipment he was carrying then looked back to Thor. "You don't think this is too much?"
"I'm sure it's of no trouble to the All-Father. And I'm sure we can give you a chamber in which you can store it all." Thor grinned reassuringly and patted Bruce hard on the shoulder, who very nearly dropped the equipment.
"Right, shall we go then?" Steve asked once Bruce had thanked Thor then shared a grin with Tony. Thor nodded then told them all to prepare themselves, as it would most likely maybe a rough journey.
With that said, he told the three to grab hold of him or Loki, with Tony reacting slow on purpose so he'd 'have to' hold onto Loki, who he was sure was smirking at him from behind his guards. The bags of equipment were equally distributed, so as to lesser the burden on Bruce. Once the Avengers secured their holds, Thor handed Loki one side of the Tesseract's holding chamber, then twisted the end and they were suddenly transported.
-Page break-
As the five of them arrived on Asgard, the three Midgardians immediately let go of the Asgardians and bent over gasping. For Tony it was a little more desperate, as his suit had compacted slightly during the transition. Bruce looked as if he was trying to calm himself down, and Steve just looked a little winded.
Thor and Loki truly looked like brothers then, adopting the same stance and amused facial expression.
Tony quickly opened up the suit, falling out of it and onto his hands and knees accidentally in front of where Loki stood. "I see... Why you... Warned... Us against... This..." He said between pants.
Loki chuckled behind the guard; finally he had got Tony Stark to kneel.
"Come friends, the Allfather will wish to speak with you."
Tony, although hearing what Thor said, didn't reply as he continued to breathe heavily. Nor did he hear if the others had either. Bruce and Steve had recovered and calmed down during this time, but Tony wasn't watching to see. His head pounded and his chest felt as if it had been punched hard by the Hulk. There was also a sharp stinging pain on the right side of his stomach, but his vision blurred so he couldn't see what it was.
He faintly heard someone ask if he was okay, their voice fuzzy and muffled, before he collapsed with a thud onto the ground beneath him.
AN: Cliffhanger ;D