Frigga found her way back to the living room. She paused before entering, taking a moment to peek in and observe the two men sitting in silence at opposite ends of the couch. Thor was idly flipping through a magazine; Tony was just sitting with his elbows propped on his knees and his hands clasped together. The look on his face was one that Frigga knew well—it was the look of a man worried about his mate. She grinned a little. Poor Loki. He was so perceptive except where he, himself, was concerned. She wondered how he could have missed the obvious love and devotion the mortal man was harboring for him.

They both looked up when she walked into the room, and she gave them a reassuring smile.

"How does he fare, Mother?" Thor asked anxiously.

Tony opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"He's going to be fine," Frigga said firmly. Thor's face transformed into a golden visage of joy and he jumped up and threw his arms around her, but Tony looked like a balloon stuck by a pin as he sat back, slumped in relief. "He's exhausted and needs rest and quiet, but he should be back on his feet by the morrow," Frigga continued around Thor's shoulder.

"What was wrong? What happened to him?" Tony managed to ask.

"It seems he's suffering the after effects of a recent... event," Frigga explained diplomatically. "But, the worst is over, I'm certain."

"Praise the gods!" Thor said happily. "May I go see him?"

"He's probably asleep. He needs rest. Let's wait a bit, all right?" Thor looked disappointed, and Frigga reached up and cupped his chin. "My son, this ordeal has left me drained. Do you think you could manage a cup of tea for me? You know how I like it."

"Of course!" Thor gave his mother one more massive hug, leaving her tottering, and he hurried off toward the kitchen.

"Tea's behind the Pop Tarts, Point Break," Tony called after him.

"I know! By the way, you might wish to replenish your supply of that delicious pastry..."

Frigga waited until Thor was out of earshot and then turned to Tony. "Mr. Stark, is there a chamber where we could be assured of privacy? I need to speak with you."

Uh-oh. Frigga definitely looked as if she had something to say that Tony didn't want to hear. Plus, he knew his being ignorant of Asgardian etiquette meant he might accidentally offend the Allmother, which was probably a worse diplomatic offense than being culturally insensitive toward a foreign business associate, what with the zapping and the magic and all... Tony felt the tension return to his gut.

He led Frigga to what he laughingly called his office, or what Pepper referred to as "Tony's man purse," the place he stuck everything he didn't want to deal with at any given moment. He brought his guest inside, closed and locked the door, and then cleared away piles of papers and debris from a small couch. "Sorry about the mess. Let's sit, huh?"

"Thank you." Frigga glided in and seated herself on the couch, and Tony pulled up a chair. He wasn't sure what the protocol of sitting next to an extraterrestrial member of royalty might be, but he was willing to bet sharing a love seat uninvited wasn't it.

Frigga drew herself up, looking reserved but kind. "Mr. Stark—"

"Tony, please."

"Tony. First, I want you to know how profoundly grateful I am for everything you've done for Loki. I can't thank you enough for helping my son, particularly after he suffered such a grievous injury."

Tony felt a bit of relief. Maybe Her Royal Alienness was just going to offer him an outer-space knighthood or something; he could roll with that. "Aw, I was glad to do it. I mean, he's Thor's brother, and now we've gotten to be pretty good friends ourselves. He was in a bad situation, plus it turns out he kind of saved my planet for a change, so you know—quid pro quo and all that."

Frigga was looking at him with an indulgent smile. She nodded. "Yes. Well, he's indeed fortunate to have a friend like you here on Midgard."

Tony gave a self-deprecating shrug. "Yeah, it was the right thing to do."

"Mm." A delicate blonde eyebrow was raised. "In fact, according to Loki, your relationship extends a bit beyond friendship. Yes?"

Tony's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Frigga now had an impish smirk. "I understand the two of you have become... quite close."

Tony wasn't an idiot. Well, he was, but not about discerning the hidden meaning behind a term like "quite close," when it came to describing his relationship with the hot alien space-god. But he was damned if he was going to be lured into admitting that he'd been boning the guy to the guy's mother. He didn't know how things went on Asgard, but he for one didn't consider that at all proper. So, he played dumb. "Oh! Sure, of course. We like a lot of the same things, football, pizza, movies, stuff like that." Tony felt sweat pooling under his armpits.

Frigga didn't say anything, just continued to regard him with amused benevolence.

Tony squirmed. He cleared his throat, and snuck a glance at her, wishing she would get to whatever point she was going to make. It seemed hours, but finally, Frigga decided to let him off the hook. "You love him," she said gently.

Thereby impaling him on an even bigger, pointier hook.

Hearing the words shocked Tony into silence. He just stared at her open-mouthed, and Frigga laughed apologetically.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me for being so brash, I can see you haven't quite come to terms with your affection for him. And, I'm afraid he's just the same." Frigga's humor faded and she took a deep breath. "I wish things could unfold naturally between you two, but I have only a limited amount of time here on Midgard—I came surreptitiously, to avoid upsetting my husband—and while I hate to play the meddling mother-in-law, I feel it's necessary under the circumstances. Loki has never been good at trusting people, understandably. He also isn't one to acknowledge weakness within himself, no matter how justified."

She paused to study Tony's expression, wondering if she was just bewildering the poor man needlessly.

For his part, Tony had given up trying to read the lady and was simply sitting in a cornered animal pose, feebly attempting to gather what was left of his depleted mental defenses. He felt as if he were going to either scream or burst out crying if he got any more bad news, and he could sense that Frigga was about to lay a doozie on him.

Frigga forged ahead. "There's something I need to tell you, but before I do, please understand—Loki will soon need your love and care more than ever, but it will be up to you to offer it to him. He'll never ask. Are you willing to do that?"

Tony forced a placid expression onto his face. "Huh, that sounds exactly like him," he said with as much bravado as he could muster. "And of course, I'll do what I can. I promise. But I can't stand the suspense much longer—what's going on with Loki?"

Frigga's voice was soft. "Has he revealed his Jotun form to you yet?"

"Uh... you mean the going all blue and red-eyed thing? Yeah, he has." Tony was beginning to feel a tendril of hope snake around in his mind; if that was all she had to tell him, he was home free.

"What do you think of that?"

"It's cool. I mean, it's weird and freaky and would take a little getting used to if it happened a lot, but it's not a bad thing. What, is he going to, you know, be blue all the time now or something? 'Cause, that'll make going out to dinner a little challenging. It's okay, we'll just order in until I figure something out..."

Frigga impatiently waved a hand, thinking to herself, Honestly, Tony Stark is such a typical male. No appreciation for subtlety. "No, no, not at all. Loki will always maintain the outward appearance you are accustomed to, unless he chooses to do otherwise. No, what I am trying to say is that there are... other noteworthy features of the Jotun anatomy which only they possess."

"Riiight," Tony said. "Like the cold skin? That totally freaked me out the first time we, uh... Sorry, never mind."

Frigga narrowly avoided rolling her eyes. "Well, yes... That is one thing. But there is another—the thing I am in fact attempting to explain to you—which is not so apparent. And, it is rather... startling." Frigga waited, giving Tony a second to prepare himself, but he seemed utterly unconcerned and was now actually worrying at a hangnail. When he realized Frigga had stopped speaking, he looked up and smiled.

"Oh, go ahead, I'm listening."

"Good. Because what I am trying to tell you is that the Jotun are intersexual."

Tony froze. Then he lowered his hand and slowly turned to face Frigga, his face screwed up in a grimace of sheer incomprehension. "Excuse me?"

"Tony—the Jotun have the reproductive organs of not just one gender, but... both." Frigga let her words hang in the air a moment.

"I'm sorry?"

"Male and female, Tony. Internally, physiologically, Loki is both."

Tony sat back and absorbed that information before speaking. Without meaning to, he managed to sound a bit condescending. "Uh... Okay. Not to be crude, but I'm pretty sure that's the kind of thing I would have noticed. I mean, I've looked him over pretty thoroughly, and—"

"I'm sure you have," Frigga said dryly. "And, because of the spell cast upon him by the Allfather, his outward features look as any other man's would. And, indeed, until his encounter with the Tesseract, I believe his body was like any other. But as he learned to shift between forms, the hard edge of the spell weakened. Something slipped through," she added meaningfully.

Tony was now staring at Frigga's face. She looked somber, and her previous light tone was completely gone. Something in what she was saying niggled at him; it didn't make sense, but he could feel that it was important.

Life-changing, maybe.

"Frigga," he said softly. "Please. I don't understand what you're getting at. You said Loki was fine, that he's going to be okay. But now you're telling me there's some weird sex thing. I don't care about that, I'd take him any way he was, I just want him to be all right... Is he going to be all right?"

Frigga looked up and met Tony's eyes. "Yes. But what I am trying to make you understand is that... Oh, gods. Loki really should be the one to say this to you, but he..." She drew in a deep breath and then said simply, "Loki is with child. Your child, Tony."

Silence fell over the room like a wool blanket, thick and heavy. Slowly, Tony grinned.

"Oh, brother. Wow. Now I see where he gets it, damn little trickster—or did he put you up to this? If he did, I'm gonna kill him, just so you know. Daaaamn, you really had me going there..." Tony chuckled and Frigga sighed.

"I can only imagine how difficult this is for you to grasp. I understand; here in Midgard, this is an utter impossibility. But Loki is Jotun, and it is the way of their race."

"Sure, sure. Man, you two must have kept ol' Odin hopping, right? Haha, good one. I—"

"It's not a joke."

"Yeah, right..." Tony glanced at her, expecting a gleam of mischief to be reflected back at him. But Frigga was dead serious.

She held out her hand. "Tony, will you allow me to help you to understand?"

"Huh?"

"Please, come over here. Sit beside me."

"O...kay." When Tony had settled in, Frigga took both of his hands in hers.

"Please, trust me. This will feel strange, but it's neither painful nor harmful to your Midgardian constitution. Just relax."

Tony eyed her warily. "What are you going to do?"

"Close your eyes and listen."

Tony obeyed, expecting Frigga's soothing voice to continue. But, she didn't speak. Instead, for a long moment, there was nothing.

Literally nothing.

Tony felt as if he were in a sensory deprivation chamber, with no sounds in the room, nothing to see but blackness, his sense of touch registering only the warmth of Frigga's hands. But, slowly, his mind seemed to latch onto something, some sort of energy force, and he felt a drop in the pit of his stomach as though he were tipping over the peak of a steep roller coaster. He felt himself jerk, attempting to avoid the fall.

"Don't fight me, Tony," Frigga said from somewhere in his mind. "Let me show you. Don't be afraid." Tony's mind settled and a soft white light illuminated his thoughts. It shimmered and slowly took shape, and now he was with Loki. "Put your hands on his belly," Frigga directed. "Touch. Can you feel the energy within his form?" Tony did as instructed and he felt the cool surface of Loki's bare skin. Suddenly, he was plunged into an endless sea with electricity sparking all around him. He gasped out loud.

"There, Tony," Frigga said. "There. That is your child, alive and growing inside your love. Do you doubt its existence now?"

"No," Tony said, a great sob welling up in his throat. "No, I feel it, I feel it..."

Abruptly, the connection was broken and Frigga dropped his hands. They both sat there for a while, breathing heavily, Tony's mind frantically grasping for something solid to ground itself with. Then he heard Frigga's voice, and he came back to himself.

"It's all right, Tony. We're back. You're all right."

Tony opened his eyes and saw Frigga looking sympathetically at him. He felt tears running down his cheeks, and he wiped them away, amazed to find that they were real.

He felt like he'd just popped out of the rabbit hole.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. "Shit, what the hell was that? What did—what did you do? How? I—"

Frigga patted his shoulder. "I know. It feels strange to me, too. But, I know of no other way to convince you of the truth, and you need to know."

Tony nodded slightly. "Okay," he said weakly. "Okay, so I'm going to be a daddy. Kind of didn't see that one coming—ever—but, yeah. Okay. I can deal with this, hey, there's a guest room adjacent to the master bedroom, I can knock out a wall and turn it into a nursery. Pep's great at decorating, we'll do something non-gender-specific, bunnies maybe, I like bunnies, and—"

"Tony." Frigga's voice had a warning tone to it. "Stop. Listen to me. Loki does not intend to go through with the pregnancy."

Tony gaped at her, his mind reeling in a sharp U-turn. What the HELL? That selfish, cowardly little fucker! How could he make a decision like that without even talking to me first? This is my kid too! And he lets his mother do the dirty work? This is bullshit! I... Anger and disappointment roiled in Tony's heart and he snarled, "What? He... Why did you bother to tell me, then? What's the point, if he's just going to kill it?"

It was odd, but Frigga looked ashamed. "I... I'm afraid my motives are in good part self-serving. I have hopes that you might be able to talk him out of it. But, even if not, he will need you to see him through it. He will struggle and he will hate himself even more than he already does. He needs you, Tony. Are you able to be there for him? No matter what his choice?"

Tony frowned, his anger diffusing as he tried to put himself in Loki's place. Okay. He hadn't been expecting this any more than Tony had. Has to be weird, being a guy all your life and then being told you're knocked up. Poor kid, he must be in shock. Probably not thinking straight, probably scared... Tony had a sudden urge to run to him, but he took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Frigga. "Well, yeah. But, why does he want to kill it?" he asked in bewilderment. "I mean, right, kind of a big deal having a kid and all that, but he has me. Why doesn't he want it?"

Frigga smiled ruefully. "First, I don't believe he knows that he has you, yet. As for the child, he fears for its future. And, he's right. A half-Jotun infant will undoubtedly have a strange appearance. It would be difficult to find acceptance in any of the realms other than Jotunheim, and there... Well, there, it certainly would meet a harsh fate. Loki himself could never go there to raise a child, even if he wanted to. And you, yourself, can attest to how well such a child would be received in Midgard."

"But, what about Asgard?" Tony didn't even want to contemplate Loki going off to his home planet, especially with their kid, but... if that's what it took... they'd work it out. Tony squared his shoulders as he reluctantly finished his thought. "I know Loki can't go there right now, but one day, maybe—couldn't your husband do the spell on the kid? You know, make it look like... an Asgardian?"

A flash of pain went through Frigga's eyes. "It's... unlikely. Odin has had reason to regret bringing Loki from Jotunheim in the first place. I'm afraid he would reject the child out right. And, he will give no quarter to Loki, and Loki is unfortunately far too disposed to getting into trouble to think he can get through probation without giving the Allfather an excuse to extend his banishment. In truth, I suspect Odin would just as soon Loki never returned."

Tony was staring straight ahead, glassy-eyed. "Wow. My mind is officially blown. How does a father treat his kid like that?" Well, Tony knew. It was a rhetorical question and probably really insulting, but he couldn't contain his disgust for this Odin guy.

Frigga dropped her gaze to the floor. "It's complicated."

"Yeah, I know all about complicated." After a long silence, he gave Frigga a helpless look. "So, what do I do now?"

"Go talk to him, dear. Listen to him, try to understand. From what Thor tells me, you're a hero." A soft smile came over Frigga and she put a hand on Tony's. "Be Loki's hero. Help him through this, no matter what course he's chosen. Can you do that?"

Tony nodded, reflecting. "I got a feeling I'm gonna need a better suit."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Okay, I'm going to go see the father of my child, a phrase I never thought I'd say."

Frigga reached for her satchel. "And, I must go find Thor. It's time we left. I'll return soon with a potion to... take care of the matter, as Loki wishes. If he changes his mind..." Frigga gave a wistful look. "Well. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Tony. Please don't give up on Loki. He's trying so hard to change. I think you make it easier for him."

"I'm right there with him, Your High—Frigga." Tony pursed his lips thoughtfully. "You're right, you know."

"About what?"

"I... love him." Tony chuckled. "Guess I ought to tell him that, huh?"

"It couldn't hurt."

A tap came at the door. "Mother?" called Thor. "Your tea is getting cold!"

Tony unlocked the door and Frigga stepped out. "It's all right, dear, I think I'll skip it. We should go back now."

"Oh. Very well." Thor looked slightly bewildered. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, it's great," Tony said, trying not to sound sarcastic. "You two have a safe trip. Oh, and Thor—remember you said you had some documents about what Loki did on Trondheim?"

"Yes."

"Could you bring those with you next time you come to Midgard?"

"Certainly, I'll be glad to." Thor beamed at Tony, but then he frowned. "May I say goodbye to Loki?"

"Let him rest, love." Frigga said. "You'll be back soon, I'm sure. Jane will miss you if you're gone too long." She gave him a playful wink and then they headed up to the roof of Stark Tower.

Tony heard a clap of thunder and the building shook for a moment, leaving the air feeling super-charged.

Tony took a deep breath and went to talk to Loki.

A/N: I apologize for not getting to Loki and Tony's conversation. That will be the start of the next chapter.

Seds