"Sir, Miss Potts and the Avengers are on their way up." Jarvis informed.
"Crap!" He jumped up, "Alright you guys, time to go to the twins' room." He turned the channel to the news.
"Why?" Fenrir asked while the twins helped clean up.
"We secret" Galen put his finger to his lips.
"Come on, we can show you our room!" Aurora led everyone down the hall while Tony relaxed on the couch until the elevator dinged.
"Tony?" Pepper asked.
"Hey Pepper, guys. To what do I owe this visit?" Tony greeted.
"You have papers to sign." Pepper set a stack of paper on the table and left.
"Thor wants to talk to us." Clint said once the elevator doors closed.
"What about?"
The Avengers turned to Thor who was wearing his 'kicked puppy' look. "My father sent word that someone has stolen my brother's children."
"That maniac reproduced!?" Clint exclaimed.
Thor nodded, "He has four children that still live. They were each imprisoned, but it seems that someone released them."
"Why were they imprisoned?" Steve asked.
"When Loki birthed Sleipnir my father took him because he felt Loki too young. The other three however, grew too dangerous. He felt they were better off imprisoned."
"I don't see the relevance here." Tony said.
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
"Yes it's terrible that Loki's children got stolen, but why do we care? Are they coming after us or something? Are they going to break Loki out of jail and help enslave the Earth?"
"He does have a point." Steve said.
"I am telling you all this because I suspect you Man of Iron." Thor said.
"What?" Tony asked.
"You once asked me about my brother's children. You asked if I knew where they were. Why would you ask that if you did not want to find them?" Thor said.
Though he may have freaked out on this inside, Tony had a cool and nonchalant exterior. "Seriously Point Break? You're accusing me of stealing Loki's children."
"I am"
"Well, there's just one little problem with that theory. I have no way of getting to any of them. You said that all but one of them were in different realms, last time I checked I didn't have a rainbow bridge. Although, that would be awesome to build."
"Keep yourself away from alien tech Stark" Natasha said.
"As for why I asked you, I just wanted to know. I admit, I had a hard time believing that someone would do that to their grandkids, adopted or not."
"Why did Odin imprison Loki's children?" Bruce asked.
"Because he was afraid of them. Apparently they kill him during some great battle at the end of the world. It's not like he wouldn't have died anyway."
"Have care how you speak Stark" Thor growled.
"No! You told me Thor that you would protect your family if you had another chance. Here is that chance. Someone has released your niece and nephews, if they are safe you should keep them safe. If they aren't, then you save them from whoever dares to harm them." Tony shouted.
"You seem oddly invested in this Stark" Natasha looked suspicious.
"I read up on some Norse Mythology. Turns out that a lot of those legends are true. If I were Loki I would probably do the same thing he did."
"So what, you're just condoning his actions here? He killed hundreds of people Stark!" Clint exclaimed.
"So have we. I think all of us, well maybe not Captain Boy Scout, have killed people in a fit of rage."
"So you're defending him?" Clint spat.
"Yeah, why not. I understand his actions, doesn't mean I agree with them, but I get it. He was pushed down until he no longer wanted to get back up. Forgive me for having some sympathy."
"He's evil Tony" Steve said. He had a pleading look on his face which Tony ignored.
"The world ain't so black and white anymore Capsicle. If you were told you were a monster by everyone around you, wouldn't you start to believe it? It's hard to measure up to something you can never hope to achieve. So why bother fighting?"
Steve, Thor, and Bruce looked sad while Natasha and Clint were emotionless.
"That doesn't excuse his actions Tony" Bruce said.
"I'm not excusing his actions. I'm merely giving you reasons behind them."
"So you're on his side?" Clint asked. "That Bastard killed hundreds of people and destroyed New York and you're just forgiving him?!"
"I think someone's letting their feeling get in the way." He rolled his eyes. "Isn't it bad for a spy to let their emotions get the better of them?"
Natasha and Steve held Clint on the couch before he attacked.
"You really want him dead that badly?" Tony smirked.
"That maniac deserves punishment, instead he's sitting in some cell doing nothing." Clint said.
Tony glared at the team, he couldn't believe Steve and Bruce were condoning this. He turned back to Thor, "I think you got your answer Thor. Now if would please leave." He said stiffly.
Thor nodded and everyone got up and left. When the elevator closed Tony fell onto the sofa and ran a hand over his face. "Jarvis, tell the kids I won't be home till late."
"Don't do anything too dangerous Sir" Jarvis said.
"Don't worry J, I'm just going for a run. A really long run." He quickly changed and left for the garage.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Inside the twins' room it was silent. They had watched the entire argument and at the end Aurora was crying in Hel's arms while Galen was doing the same in Fenrir's.
"Is Mommy going to be okay?" Galen sniffed.
"He'll be fine Galen. He just needs to blow off some steam." Jor assured.
"I don't like them. They mean" Aurora whimpered.
"I understand why he hasn't told anyone yet." Sleipnir said.
"Mommy said they would do bad stuff to us if they found out. That SHIELD would test us." Aurora said.
"They probably would." Fenrir growled.
"How about you go see Father? I'm sure he will cheer you up." Hel suggested.
"What about you?" Galen asked.
"No need to worry about us. You go see Father and be cheerful."
The twins hesitated but nodded and teleported away.
Immediately after they disappeared Fenrir punched the floor. "Those Bastards!" He transformed into a smaller version of his wolf and started pacing. "Mother is their Shield-brother and Uncle just accused him without a second thought."
"His accusation was correct though." Jor said. Fenrir growled at him.
"Cease your growling Fenrir" Sleipnir ordered. "It was a just a fact. He is in no way supporting the accusation."
The wolf continued his pacing.
"If I had any doubts on Mother's worth, they were just put to rest." Hel said.
"Indeed." Sleipnir nodded. "Will you be staying with us tonight Sister?"
"Unfortunately no, I have business to attend to. I shall return in a few weeks." She stood, "Give Mother and the twins my best." She nodded at them and disappeared.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Tony got home around 10. He checked that the children were in their beds before taking a relaxing shower. His run was good, lasting a few hours. After that he drove around for a while before finding an abandoned playground where he sat on the swings for a few hours.
He fell into bed and made himself comfortable. He was almost asleep when he heard the door open. He lifted his head as tiny feet hurried to the side of the bed. "Mommy?" Aurora asked.
"Hey Minions, what's wrong?" Tony asked.
"We had a bad dream." Galen replied.
"What about?"
"Mean people came and took us away." Aurora answered.
Tony sighed and lifted them onto the bed, "No one is taking you away. Not ever" He promised.
They nodded into his neck. "How 'bout you two sleep here tonight. It's been a stressful night for all of us." The twins nodded so Tony moved to the middle of his large bed and put Aurora on his right and Galen on his left.
Tony sighed in content and got comfortable again. He could feel sleep come again, but adrenalin shot through his body when he felt something slippery slid up his body. "Oh my god!" He gasped and pulled the blanket up to see Jormungandr wrapping himself around Tony's waist. As a snake, Jor was about a foot taller than Tony if you spread him out. Not quite enough to circle the Earth, but still quite large. He coiled himself a few times around Tony's waist and wrapped the rest of him around his leg. "Comfortable there slick?" Tony snorted.
"Quite" Jor replied and settled his head right below Tony's arc reactor.
"Did you have a nightmare as well?" Tony asked.
"No, just thought you could use the comfort."
Tony smiled and scratched Jor's head. After that he heard the door open wider and a ball of fur jumped onto the bed jostling everyone. "Hey Fen" Tony greeted. "Come to join the party."
Fenrir huffed and took the spot next to Galen. He was smaller than Tony remembered his wolf form being. Only the size of a large dog now. He scratched behind his ears causing the wolf to hum.
"I guess there's one more." And he was right. A few minutes later, Sleipnir came in and joined them on the bed, taking the spot next to Aurora. The bed dipped significantly and Tony groaned, "You're kidding right Sleipnir. You are not in your true form."
His answer was a chuckle echoing in his head. "If I have to buy a new mattress you are in so much trouble."
"Fear not Father, your mattress will be fine."
"How do you even lay down with all of those legs anyway?"
"It's a skill" was the sassy reply.
Tony chuckled sleepily, "Thank you" He whispered. Jor squeezed him lightly.
Jarvis took a picture and printed it out for Tony to find the next morning.
I've always loved scenes like this in stories I've read and just had to add one. Thought it would be funny for everyone to be in their true forms too ;) especially Sleipnir.