Loki made it home but knew he could not linger long. The police had his address from the incident earlier at the deli. There will be people at his apartment at any moment. Loki went straight to his safe to pull out all of his valuables and made a hasty retreat to the elevator going down just as the one next to it opened up to various members of the Avengers (minus Thor and Steve). Loki acted calm as he walked past many men in black suits all eyeing him with suspicion as he left the building./p

He walked to the nearest subway station and hopped back onto a train, not really caring where it went. His mind whirled with a torrent of thoughts and concerns. He needed to figure out his next move. Steve's assertion that Loki was not even Aesir shook Loki to his core. He didn't show it at the time, but such a truth would be both wonderful and heart breaking.

He couldn't believe the odds of what had transpired and he couldn't help but wonder if fate and destiny had a hand in all of this. He knew he should leave the city and run, but he couldn't help wonder about the man that let him escape. He checked into a hotel room for the night to plot his next move.

XxXxXxXx

"Alright soldier, now that Thor and the others are gone you mind telling me why you lied to me?"

"It was Loki. I told him what Thor told us, that he's a frost giant and that he wouldn't be executed or even in trouble. But Loki didn't believe anything of what I said. He thinks that Thor was lied to by their father and that Thor's dad is after the baby."

"So you let him get away?"

"I don't know who's right. All I know is that if Thor is wrong Loki will die and possibly the child with him. It was a risk I could not take."

"Do you think he's right? Do you think Thor lied to us?"

"Thor can't lie. He's terrible at it. But his father might be a whole different ball of wax. In the short time I spent with Loki, what I perceived of the man is that he is very intelligent and very perceptive. He seems accustomed to betrayal also, and very vulnerable. He's very protective of the baby already. I could tell."

"Our team went to the address the police were given. It looked like we just missed him. If he's as smart as you say he is, he'll run. Odds are Cap…that was it. That was our one and only chance and it is gone. We're not going to get a second opportunity. He'll flee the city and since he can wear any face he wants we are never going to find him."

"Are you going to tell Thor?"

"Fuck no! I don't have a death wish and I'd like to keep you around if it's all the same. As much as I would like to please a potential ally, a powerful one at that, Thor's personal problems are just that. SHIELD cannot keep using its resources to conduct an impossible search."

"What if Thor is right and Loki was wrong? What if I broke apart a little family and kept a kid from ever knowing his father?"

"You knew that when you made the call."

"Didn't make it easy."

XxXxXxXx

Loki looked in the mirror of the bathroom and tried to change his appearance, but he didn't know how. All of this could be resolved if Loki could just figure out if Odin was telling the truth or not. The idea of him being adopted isn't farfetched. In fact it would explain a lot. Loki had always wondered why Thor got all the strength and golden looks in the family.

It occurred to Loki then that being Jotun meant that Frigga was not his mother, that he is not a prince, and that he might even be a spoil of war. He growled at his reflection in frustration. He's been hiding in the same hotel room for two weeks.

He should have fled the city already, but something held him in place. Leaving meant he would never see Thor again, and he wasn't ready to take that necessary survival step yet. He had too much hope. He needed to make an informed decision and he couldn't do that without getting more information. He decided that he needed to return to the one and only source of information he could trust.

He got dressed and hopped onto the subway and made his way back to Brooklyn where the soldier lived. At eight o'clock on a Saturday night most mortals are out performing courtship rituals, but he had a feeling the soldier would be home alone. He was right. He watched the outside of the building but all appeared normal. No men in black suits or random people just lingering without purpose. Loki decided to take a chance and walked the five floors up the steps and knocked on Steve's front door. He let his illusion of a 22 year old blonde female drop.

Steve answered, looking shocked to see Loki just standing there bold and brazen.

"Loki?"

"Yes." They stood there awkwardly in silence for a moment. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Oh, yes come in." Steve closed the door behind Loki and the men, once again, just looked at each other. "What can I do for you?"

"How is Thor?"

"Depressed. Angry. But you can probably tell that from the weather."

"Indeed I can. Any news from my home?"

"No. Thor says your mother is planning a wedding ceremony but without you it is awkward. The servants are asking embarrassing questions."

"I want to believe that." Loki said. His survival and that of his unborn child was at stake. He could not risk being gullible.

"I do too." Steve looked at Loki's growing bump. "How does it feel?"

"Strange. The child grows and I…I feel whole in a way I did not know I was lacking. But at the same time I miss Thor terribly. I need his strong presence. It would calm me, but I don't dare go near him."

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm not sure. I need more information before I make a decision."

"Before you leave town and disappear forever?"

"Yes. Your words gave me a hope that I am foolish enough to entertain."

"Loki, you're going to have to take a leap of faith in this. Either you believe and trust your family or you do not." Steve said.

"Thor I've always trusted, but our father is a diabolical man. I could believe I was taken as a spoil of war to be used to unite two houses, but then why did he abandon that path? And if he did that because he so loves me as his son would he not see my union with Thor as an incestuous one?"

"It sounds like you need to talk to your dad, not to Thor." Steve said.

"Again, the risk is the same."

"The answer is the same too. Do you really think your father would have the heart to execute his own son?"

"My father has had to do many horrific things over the millennia to maintain peace and power. Our laws are concrete and binding. He will not flounce them just because he is King. It is a matter of honor. Even the princes of Asgard must obey the law."

"Perhaps he would do something else to keep you safe. Aside from your family no one else knows about your condition, except those your family chose to share the information with. There might be a third option being entertained."

"Ah yes, there is a third option. One I cannot abide. I would be shipped off to greater parts unknown and when my child is born it would be ripped from my arms and given over to a noble house to raise as a page. It would be denied its birthright and I would be shipped off to some distant patrol station to serve out my days in exile. Thor would be forced to marry some simpering maiden at court and I would be kept far away from him to avoid temptation."

"That's not much different from what you are doing now."

"Yes but here I get to keep my child and raise it as my own. I would have my child know me, and know that it is a prince of Asgard."

"You think it is a boy?"

"I hope it is, which is why it will probably be a girl." Loki smiles as he rubs his belly.

"So what is the plan now?"

"To keep hiding I suppose. You let me escape and that has earned my trust. I would ask you to spy for me. Ask Thor questions. Report to me any visits or developments that my brother may mention."

"I think I can do that." Steve said.