"Lokes, you okay?" Tony asked as the couple of the hour rejoined them in the banquet hall. Loki looked sick, vomit-worthy sick. "What's going on?"

"Fine. Amora was retrieved by Malekith." The god sat down heavily. "At some point I'll have to go after them or this will never be over."

"We'll go after them," Kara said as she took a seat beside him. "Hey, with your magic and my fire it will be a piece of cake."

Loki frowned and Tony held his breath, expecting his honorary brother-in-law to put his foot in his mouth by trying to tell Kara she would do no such thing. "You…ah, you'll do as you wish, no doubt. I'd prefer you stay out of it, though."

"Damn, good save, Taz."

"I do try to keep my word, Anthony."

Tony chuckled. "You know, that's starting to grow on me."

"Shall I make something else grow on you, or perhaps shrink?"

"Loki; no magic-based payback."

"There are mundane methods that will do the trick," he snapped at his wife. Just as Tony was beginning to think he should worry Loki sighed. "But I will not resort to them; not for something so petty. I apologize, Tony."

"It's fine. I know you're stressed, bud. So are we," he told Loki and gestured at the rest of their group. "After they amended your sentence, and congratulations on that, by the way, we were hoping we could all just go home and relax, have a few weddings, get a baby born, and you know, live."

"I fear the universe has never been that kind to me and now that you have all chosen to accept me, you have been drawn into the madness that is my existence."

"Whoa, bitter much?" He shot a look at Kara, who seemed to be biting the inside of her cheek and had a tight grip on Loki's hand. Her expression wasn't otherwise showing it, but he'd bet she was upset. "Look, we'll get this asshole and bury him, his blonde floozy, too. You're not alone anymore. It's not you against the whole fucking universe. You've got family, you've got friends, and they're a group of pretty bad ass motherfuckers. He'll crawl out from under his rock at some point and we'll nail him, end of story."

"I hope it is that simple."

… …

"We'll make it that simple." That rejoinder, surprisingly, did not come from Stark. Loki looked up to meet Steve Rogers' resolute gaze. "We're on board with this, Loki; even the new recruit." A sudden smile softened the soldier's normally hard expression. "That woman rubbed him the wrong way."

"She pissed me off. Hate liars."

Loki choked back a laugh at the Wolverine's disgruntled expression. "Ah, you do realize that I'm the god of Lies?"

"Who almost never lies, or so I hear."

Good point. Someone was actually spreading truth about him…what a novelty. "It's far easier to tell the truth in a way it won't be believed or to otherwise mislead someone into lying to themselves about what your words meant than to keep track of a tangled web of untruths."

Logan shrugged. "If they're stupid enough to fall for that, then they deserve to be fooled. Me, I don't fool easy."

"I don't suppose you would. You have a practical mind and a stubborn personality. I'd have to, ah; pull out all the stops, I think is the phrase, to make you believe something untrue."

"You'd have to lie convincingly with a completely straight face."

"I can do that, but it's so boring." He grinned. "Where's the fun in it?"

"Is that what it is to you?"

He shrugged. "I'm also the god of Mischief and of Chaos."

"Wait, so you had four of these titles? How come big brother was the famous one?" Logan grimaced. "That's fucked up."

"I've always thought so, but it no longer matters. Seriously now, all of you; Amora is no one to be trifled with. She is a powerful sorceress. What's more, much of her spell work is created to enthrall the unwary. She could turn you against one another with relative ease."

"Kind of like your glow stick of destiny?"

"That's getting old, Tony. No, it would not impose her will or anyone else's upon you. You would think her your one true love, your guiding star and all of that romantic rubbish and would do anything to please or protect her."

"Uh, actually, Loki, that's kind of what the scepter did. Well, without the romantic side of it, considering I'm straight," Barton told him. "Did you control any women with it? I could ask them what it did from their perspective."

"No. I think I was rather afraid of what their reaction might be. I had no time to be fending off anyone wanting to please me in that manner. Interesting point, though; I'd never looked at it as an entrancement. I'll have to research that one day."

"Not so fast, Magic Man, I thought daddy-dearest took that part of its power away."

"He did take away the connection to the Titan, Tony. But…ah, never mind." Kara was frowning at him with narrowed eyes that promised they'd be discussing the subject later. "Just be careful around her, all of you. She wields greater sorcery than Malekith; he is more dangerous only because he is also a warrior."

… …

"Oh my God, is this place over the top or what?" Darcy hissed as she grabbed Beth's arm.

"It's something, all right. Where were you guys? You missed the big announcement."

"Um, well, hmm."

"Wait, you didn't…no, of course you did. Where did you do it?"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Back in our rooms, duh. Bruce isn't any more likely to do the nasty in public than Captain Spanglypants."

"Stop calling him that, it's mean…if descriptive," the almost doctor said, trying to suppress a grin.

"Ha, I knew you weren't that stiff. Come on, Beth, drop the act. Stevie Wonderboy needs to be dragged into the twenty-first century."

"Knock it off, I love the guy and I'm not going to make him uncomfortable. He's getting there. Sure, it'll take time, but I know he's worth it."

"Whatever, it's your sex life, or lack thereof. Wait, what announcement?"

"Loki gets to keep his magic, they amended his sentence."

"Wow, that's huge. Huh, gonna have to have a big…oh, man. How am I supposed to spin this when I don't have internet access? Crap. I'll figure something out. Hey, you should see our rooms, they're huge. There's like an office, a conference room and a reception room and that's besides the huge bedroom, a breakfast room and oh my God the bath. It's like a freaking swimming pool!"

"Wow. Jane and I have a bedroom, a living room and a bath, but nothing like that."

"Thor said we're in Ambassadorial Chambers. I guess because the big guy is going to be arbitrating the treaty and trade talks."

"Pretty awesome. Wow, it's going to be strange not having you guys around the Tower for a couple of months."

"Ha. You'll never notice; you're too busy with school. You barely have enough time for the Great Captain America Seduction as it is."

"Will you stop?" Beth's fair skin was now a very interesting shade of red. "We're waiting."

"That's no fun. Hey, you've got maybe two months to fix that situation, girlfriend, or I'm going to have to do something about it."

"Don't even think about it."

"Two months and counting…"

"Darcy, you are such a brat."

She snickered. "Yeah, it's part of my charm."

… …

"Do you not wish to congratulate them?" Nyvorlas asked her.

Sif grimaced. "I'm not certain how I feel about it. I think it is better to say nothing than to say something I do not mean. Loki and I have found a tentative peace between us; I would not damage it with a lie."

"Fair enough; I, on the other hand, am glad for my friend. I understand how empty he felt without access to his magic. Why don't I go and speak with them and rejoin you later?"

She thought about it. There were a few things she could honestly say that might be appropriate. "No, I am no coward. I'll go with you." The Ljósálfar all but beamed at her. "But if I am silent, do not push me to speak."

He chuckled. "I know better. I have felt the lash of your unhappy words; I'd rather not inflict that upon others."

"Nyvorlas…" she trailed off, frustrated. In the past few weeks they had indeed exchanged unhappy words. This feeling that was growing between them was strange to her. It was wholly unlike what she had felt for Thor; that, she was beginning to recognize, was naught but hero worship. That she could feel something like this for a man, and one who was not Æsir, at that, frightened her no small bit. Her frustration eased as he stopped and drew her back into an alcove, raising her hand to his lips as they moved. The gentle romantic gesture from the otherwise hard and sarcastic Álfar made her melt inside.

"No one will hold it against you if you stay away, least of all Loki," he assured her.

Her resolve firmed. "I will hold it against me. Denying him this moment would be churlish. And I will not deny it to Kara."

"Ah, there you go; I'll congratulate Loki, you can speak to Kara."

"You don't like her?" That was strange. Most everyone liked or at least respected the woman. Amora had been a notable exception. There were a few others, but Sif did not care much for those individuals either and could understand why the former mortal's blunt honesty and strength dismayed them.

"It's not that. It's more the forces that move around her, perhaps because of her that put me off. My people would call one such as her a World Maker. On the other side of the coin, World Makers are also often World Breakers. It makes me uneasy."

"Child of Destiny is our phrase. I suppose we are easier with such things than the Álfar. We expect to shape or to be shaped by destiny; that is why we designate gods among us to honor and recognize the hand of destiny upon them."

He huffed out an exasperated-sounding breath. "Ragnarök itself could be reshaped by that one."

"Considering we have all long expected to die during Ragnarök, is that not a good thing?"

… …

By the time they had made their way to the celebrated couple, Sif had slightly swollen lips and the crowds of well-wishers had thinned. Loki was draped wearily in an overly large chair usually occupied by Volstagg and his lady was curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder. The woman's eyes were only half open and Loki did not appear all that much more alert. "Perhaps you should both retire," he suggested.

The disgusted look his old friend gave him spoke volumes. "We have not yet been given leave to do so. Father wants to milk this as much as possible, I think."

"Too bad your power does not allow you to create a solid copy. You could retire with none the wiser." Nyvorlas frowned as Loki's eyes sparkled with repressed humor. "Or have you overcome that limitation in recent years?"

"I could not create solid copies of both of us," Loki returned, not truly answering the question. That was something to keep in mind. "Sif, I see that you have decided to give our visiting Prince a chance."

He glanced at Sif to see how she was taking the mild teasing; fairly well, judging by her expression. "Since it seems I am not likely to win our bet, I decided there had to be more than one way to gain the prize I sought," she returned with a perfectly serious mien.

Loki nodded. "Very practical, my lady. Of course, that way you gain two worthy prizes."

His Sif grinned. "I'll admit to that." She shot him a look that made him very glad he was wearing a long loose formal tunic.

Recovering, he smirked at the two ebony-haired Asgardians. "Will you claim my ring of invisibility as a bride-price, Sif?" She flushed. While she'd been enjoying their dalliance, she'd carefully not brought up the possibility of a formal relationship. It was time to push for that, he thought.

"You should probably offer it to her as an engagement ring," Kara said sleepily. Her odd eyes were fully open now and a slight smile curved her lips.

"She means a betrothal token," Loki supplied in a helpful tone.

"Yes, I'm aware. The subject of her and Pepper's rings was discussed exhaustively during my visit to Midgard. Are all Midgardian women so…talkative?"

"You mean gossipy," Kara corrected. "No, but Darcy and Beth are, most definitely. Pepper's fairly quiet, but then Tony never shuts up. Steve and Bruce on the other hand are low key guys. I guess Darcy and Beth just feel the need to fill the silence."

It made sense, he decided. Or as much sense as anything. "So it seems. Loki, I am glad of the decision to release access to your magic. I'd feared, at first, that Edansyr would be hard to convince. Your friends from Midgard spoke eloquently, their words, even those of the ones who admitted to not particularly liking you, changed his mind."

"I can't believe they talked to Nick and he didn't nix it." Kara asked.

"Actually, Director Fury was quite passionate in support of the amendment. This latest invasion opened his eyes as to what could have happened the first time without Loki's intervention. However, he does call your husband a, and I quote, 'truly annoying motherfucker'. Of course, he does not think any differently of me."

"Well, you did ruin the desk he'd just replaced after Loki destroyed the original one."

"He deserved it for implying Loki and I had been pillow friends in our youth and had reverted to that behavior."

"Pillow…oh. Were you?"

"Excuse me, I'm right here," Loki grumped at them. "And no, we were not. I was interested in another at the time."

"Another man?"

Nyvorlas snickered at Kara's shocked expression. "Despite my anger with Fury over the accusation, it isn't uncommon in either of our Realms to be involved with someone of the same gender. Warriors often have shield brothers with whom they share everything, even sexual relations."

"Oh my God," Kara muttered, her face paling save for two red splotches on her cheeks. "Does that mean that Helblindi and his…? Oh my God."

Loki sighed. "Doubtful. It's more an Æsir and Álfar thing. And the Vanir, of course, though they have a different term and it applies to non-warriors as well. So far as I am aware, my half-brother and his companions do not have such a relationship."

Nyvorlas shook his head at the ridiculousness of it. "I don't see why you are so perturbed, princess. It is not uncommon among any living species."

"I-it's just something I don't really think about, I guess. I mean, if two people care about each other it shouldn't matter, it doesn't matter." She shrugged. "Until I was shanghaied by S.H.I.E.L.D., I was pretty much on my own, I stayed away from sexuality of all kinds; I couldn't risk it."

"Unnecessarily as it turned out," Loki commented.

"No, not unnecessarily; I was waiting for you," she claimed.

"Of course you were. It matters not," he added as she began to protest. "I am glad of it. So, Lady Sif; you are more quiet than usual this day."

Nyvorlas wasn't surprised by her immediate glare. "I am glad to be out of the line of fire, for once," she claimed.

"And what do you think of the amendment to my sentence?"

She shrugged. "We could not leave you without the means to protect yourself. Obviously the All-Father's initial attempt to deal with that problem was not sufficient. There was little other choice." Her expression softened. "I am glad that Kara will not need to worry overmuch about your safety now."

"I-I understand, Sif. Thank you for your honesty." Loki was frowning, but did not look angry. "Will you willingly invite me to your wedding, I wonder, or will such an invitation only be for Kara and Thor's sake?"

"What wedding?" Sif's face turned bright pink. "We, I…that is…Ohhhhhh!" She all but stomped her foot in frustration.

"Sif," Nyvorlas said quietly as he slipped his arms around her waist and drew him back against his chest. "You know that I am serious in my pursuit of you."

She sighed and let her head drop back to rest against him. "I know. But everyone seems to think things should move much more quickly than I can be comfortable with."

Loki grinned at the two of them. "So, is that a yes?" He laughed aloud at the renewal of Sif's glare. "To the possibility of a willing invitation when and if you two agree to wed."

"I'll think about it," she growled.

… …

The celebration had finally ended and they'd managed a few precious hours of sleep. They'd likely still be abed if they did not need to return to Midgard this day, well, once Tony was released from the care of the healers. Odin and Frigga had been pleased to allow him to be treated for the liver disease in thanks for his support of their son and new daughter and had turned him over to Lady Eir well before the end of the festivities. They'd saved their celebratory lovemaking for this new day. It had been slow and tender and oh so perfect. He smiled as he finished washing up. He was a fortunate man to have such a woman to love. "Kara? Where are you?" he asked as he returned to the bedroom with his clothing.

"Out here." Kara was standing on their balcony, staring out over the morning sun illuminating the vista by the time he'd finished dressing. She smiled up at him when he joined her. "Is this always so spectacular?" she asked.

"I suppose it is. Though I hardly notice anymore, I've had the same views from my chambers for nigh on eight-hundred years now." Her eyebrow went up. "Thor and I had shared chambers closer to our parents before we were considered fully adult."

"So you're not considered fully adult until you're…"

"About two-hundred and fifty Midgardian years."

"Wow. I guess I'm still considered a baby, then."

He smiled at her shocked expression. "Our bodies age slowly in our youth, too. I was physically what you would call a teenager for nearly twenty of your years and a young boy for another twenty before that. We age at about half your rate until we've lived nearly ten cycles and then it slows further."

"So you're a kid until you're close to fifty? Why does it take another two-hundred years to be considered an adult?"

"Fully adult. You, physically, are what we could consider fully adult and have been for about three of your years. After we reach the young adult stage is when our aging slows dramatically, it takes two centuries to age the equivalent of what took you perhaps five to seven years." He shrugged at her incredulous stare. "You'll see what I mean for yourself. You'll look no older once my sentence is fully served than you look today."

"If you say so." She cuddled into his side and he wrapped his arms around her. "So, you become adults and you get your own room. That's it?"

"No. There is a celebration to mark the event. For Thor's coming of age there was a hunt and a grand feast; all of Asgard joined in on the festivities." He tried to dampen the bitterness, but by the way she stiffened in his embrace, he'd failed.

"But not for you," she guessed.

"There was a family celebration; a few close family friends joined us for a private feast, gifts and such."

"God damn it, Loki. What the hell is wrong with Odin? No wonder you grew to hate him."

"It wasn't Odin's doing." They both froze at the sound of Frigga's voice. "Son, I-I'm sorry. You seemed so uncomfortable at public feasts that I thought you'd prefer a private celebration. I did not realize you'd feel slighted."

He turned to face her, shocked beyond all measure. "The public feasts were always to honor Thor. Of course I was uncomfortable. Each one was a reminder that I wasn't good enough, that I was only his shadow, that no one ever celebrated anything that I had done."

"Loki! That's not true."

"Is it not? What about when I saved Thor and his friends from the níðhöggr? It was wholly ignored. Thor killed a single rampaging bilgesnipe and was feted for it."

"It was not ignored; you received your dress helm at court."

"Um, Frigga? That's not the same thing. Loki did something truly heroic, risking his own life to save Thor from his own idiocy and you didn't celebrate that heroism with a big feast? That's seriously a double standard."

His mother stared at his wife. A lone tear slipped down Frigga's cheek. "You don't understand; we could have lost him, how could we celebrate such a thing?"

"You could have celebrated that you didn't lose him, and that because of him, you didn't lose Thor either. Damn, it wasn't just Odin and Thor."

"Kara, don't. I always felt that mother loved me."

"She still perpetuated…oh, never mind. There's nothing that can change what happened."

His mother's expression was horrified and lost. "Loki, I am so sorry. She's right; I did contribute to your pain and never realized it. I was so sure I knew what you wanted."

"You should have asked," he told her gently and took her in his arms. "I-given the option, I would probably have preferred the private celebration for my coming of age, but you gave me no choice. That's what hurt; it seemed you didn't think me good enough to offer the public celebration. But for saving Thor and his friends; that would have raised everyone's opinion of me and it seemed that the celebration was denied specifically to ensure that I never outshone Thor. I know," he added hastily as Frigga began to protest. "That wasn't the case at all. I said that was the way it seemed to me."

"I am so sorry, my beautiful son. Will you ever forgive me?"

He sighed. "I love you, mother and I forgive you. Even the greatest of seers is blind to what is too close to her heart."

Frigga gave him a slightly teary smile. "So they are. Thank you." She returned his hug and then gasped. "Oh, I almost forgot. Your friend was released from the healer's wing a short while ago. He'll be joining you all for the midday meal."

"He's fully recovered?"

"Yes. There is one, ah, slight complication."

Kara swallowed. "Okay, what is it?"

"The elixirs used may have slowed his aging a bit. Not by much, but he's likely to live perhaps twenty-five years or so longer than the average mortal." His mother frowned as Kara began to giggle. "Why is that so humorous?"

… …

They entered the small dining hall where the midday meal was being served and found a lively discussion in progress. "Clara," Natasha said. What the heck? "Clara Barton."

"Clara kind of sounds like somebody's maiden aunt," Tony said. "Definitely not a good name for the kid of two kick-ass Avengers." Tony looked less tired than usual. Probably another side effect of the healing.

"Clara is a perfectly good name," Pepper scolded. "But, Natasha, it does sound a bit too close to Kara."

"Good point. Kara, what do you think?"

She blinked. "I take it you're discussing baby names?" Nat nodded. "I'm sorry; I've never thought I'd have a baby, so I've never given it much thought."

"Kara, you do realize that my parents expect grandchildren from us eventually," Loki told her.

"I was talking about before we met."

"Ah. True." Loki frowned. "Perhaps Ariphia?"

"Is that a name?" Clint asked.

Natasha's mouth twitched. "It's part of the Latin name for a type of spider. Nice try, but no." Loki gave her a hurt look, but Kara could feel his mischief running under the surface; the suggestion had been a prank and it felt like he was impressed to have been caught so easily.

"Katie?" Beth suggested.

"Oh, please no," she said faintly, giving Natasha a pleading look.

"Okay, why not?"

"It's a derivative of Katherine, which was my birth-mother's name. I, uh…"

"Say no more. Katie and all other derivatives of Katherine are out."

"How about Sophie?" Darcy suggested.

"Or maybe Sophia," Bruce chimed in.

Natasha and Clint exchanged glances and Clint nodded before Nat responded. "Okay, Sophia goes on the possible names list."

"We've already ruled out Leila and anything from the Russian dynasty," Clint added. "Not my choice, Nat doesn't want her daughter to have her name in a song about a doomed relationship even if it's with a different spelling and she doesn't want the memories that the Russian names bring up."

Kara sighed. "Drat. I really like Alexis, is that too Russian?" Nat grimaced, so apparently it was.

"How about Merida?" Steve asked.

"I like that. A little redheaded archer girl; that would be kind of for both of us," Clint said.

"Hmm. Okay, it's on the list, despite the Disney connection."

"There's nothing wrong with Disney," Tony insisted. "Well, except for the fact that I don't own it."

"What about Arionna?" Pepper suggested.

"It's Greek," Loki said in a positively scathing tone. Note to self, Kara thought; ask Loki what he's got against the Greeks.

"So is Sophia," Nat pointed out.

Thor was chuckling. "What's so funny, Thor?" Clint asked.

"It's not just Greek, it means 'most holy'; I think possibly that is not appropriate for the child of two assassins, ah, former assassins. Sophia means 'wise', which is a bit better. It may be Greek but there are no negative, ah, never mind," he finished as Loki gave him a warning scowl. "Perhaps Brianna? It is a Celtic name, and means strong and honorable."

"Hmm. What do you think, Clint?" Nat said.

"That could work. Okay, so on the possible list, we've got Sophia, Merida or Brianna. Anyone else? Nick? No? Raj, you've gotta have an idea. Damn. Erik? Jane? Rhodey, my man, how about you? No? Uh…"

"Before ya ask, no," Logan growled.

"Yeah, be a spoilsport. Kara, you got any more suggestions?"

"Not that aren't Russian, sorry. But those three are all good."

"You can go with the Russian names when you two have a child," Natasha told her.

"I might have totally different ideas in a hundred and ten years," she said dryly.

"Kara, do you truly wish to wait that long?" Loki sounded and felt surprised. Why?

"We have to wait that long."

"In point of fact, my love, we do not. Since you will no longer be binding and releasing my power, there will be no danger to you, and you've completed the conversion to Æsir, so that is also not an issue, any child of ours conceived now would be three-fourths Æsir and one-fourth Jötnar just like Odin." She could feel her jaw drop as she turned to stare at him. "Unless… was I mistaken? Did you not want children?" Children. A baby. She actually could have it all. Her mouth moved, but she couldn't get the words past her throat. Frustrated tears filled her eyes. "Kara? What's wrong, sweet lady?" She felt Loki's arms gather her close. He cupped her cheek with one long fingered hand and looked worriedly down at her. "Talk to me."

"I-it didn't even…I mean, I knew, but that part…I didn't even think, oh."

The dratted man smirked at her. "Would you like to try that again, coherently this time?"

Giving him her best glare, she smacked his arm. "Not funny; I'm stunned here."

Loki laughed out loud this time. "Oh, Kara; after all that you have been through with me, this is what it takes to render you all but speechless?" It didn't help that most of the others seemed equally amused.

"Yes, it's all so funny. Go ahead, all of you; laugh at the woman in shock. Humph. Just see how sympathetic I am to any of your problems from now on."

"Kara." Loki waited until she looked at him and then waited some more until she relaxed. "What do you say? Should we make my parents happy by giving them a grandchild soon?"

Oh, wow. She reached out and felt the anxious need under his surface calm. "Let's get settled a bit first. We haven't had our Midgard wedding yet, let alone our honeymoon."

"Good point; and perhaps we should wait until Natasha has returned to the team. But after that?"

She could feel a blush heating her cheeks. "Um, yes?"

"Definitely, yes."

As their friends smiled or laughed and called out what she thought were premature congratulations she saw Raj Nassar out of the corner of her eye hold out his hand and rub his thumb against his fingers. Nick glared at him, pulled out his wallet and handed over a twenty dollar bill as the doctor smirked. "It's about time I won a bet," Raj told the director.

"Don't get used to it, doctor; not with this team."

… …

Logan came off of the last piece of equipment with a grunt and glanced at his time. He gave Barton a superior grin and headed to the elevator. The archer grumbled behind him. "Get over it, junior. You may be a whiz-bang with the arrows, and have superior eyesight, but that don't do squat for you on this stuff."

"It'll do just fine for me to pepper your ass with arrows."

"That's enough out of both of you." They turned to glare at the redhead sitting in the corner with a tablet resting against her now very prominent baby bump. "Logan, lay off it; we can't all be mutants with enhanced strength and agility. Clint, suck it up; he's doing us a favor by sticking around."

He smirked as the pregnant former assassin reamed them both a new one. Ah, redheads. It was kinda bittersweet working around three of them after Jean…well. But maybe it would desensitize him to it. That's what their resident psychologist goddess claimed anyway. She could be right. "Whatever, just don't go into labor over it." He ducked behind the suddenly closing elevator doors as a knife thudded into them. "Thanks, Jarvis."

"You are most welcome, Logan," the disembodied voice replied. It had taken two months after their return from Asgard but he'd finally gotten it to use just his name. He swore up and down that Stark had programmed the thing to be as annoying as possible, but at least it was helpful while being annoying. He could deal.

"Do I got time for a shower before dinner?" he asked.

"I would suggest that you make time, sir. Prince Loki might take the liberty of making you more presentable again if you do not."

"Gotcha." He'd showed up at a meeting without grabbing a shower and a change of clothes after patrolling. Kara and Loki had both stared at him with horrified expressions and edged away – he hadn't thought that he stunk that bad. Then Loki had swept his hands apart, some weird-ass green glow had emerged and he was suddenly dressed in a clean uniform decorated with rhinestones (bedazzled, Kara had called it with a smirk) and he smelled of some girlie shit. Yeah, he'd shower first. No sense giving the crazy sorcerer an excuse to fuck with him. And the guy was crazy. Sure, not take over the world crazy, but he had some serious problems. Logan sniggered to himself. Hell, the whole team was chock full of nuts. But hey, they got the job done, and with a lot less aggravation then he'd had with the X-Men. Well, with Scott. Course, he wasn't in love with any of the Avengers' girlfriends, either. He rubbed a hand over his face. Ah, hell. Striding into his suite, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Xavier Institute," a voice answered.

"Rogue, is that you? It's Logan, is Summers around?"

"Hey, sugah! It sure is good to hear your voice. No, Scott's out with Storm, checking out a report of some trouble. Should I tell him to call you; is it urgent?"

"Nah, don't bother. I guess I was just getting stupid."

There was a shuffling sound on the other end. This time the kid's voice came across hushed. "You okay, Logan?"

"Sure, kid; just thinking too much. You know what? Tell Cyclops I'm sorry. That's it. I never really said that, I, hell."

"You were wrapped up in your own pain, hon; it's okay. We understood."

"Still wasn't right. Anyway, I'm doing good. They've got a shrink on the team, can you beat that? And she's not just a team doctor; she's a real Avenger, one of their powerhouses. Don't have to do no pansy therapy sessions, she does her thing on the fly, kind of."

"Wow. Hey, do you work with Loki?"

He rolled his eyes. Of course Rogue would ask about Loki. The public was treating the damn god like a rock star these days. "Yeah, and he's a real pain in the a-uh, backside and married to the shrink. Well, Asgard married, they're gonna have a wedding here in four months to make it Earth-legal." He tried not to cuss when he talked to the kids at the academy, really.

"Is she the redhead with the wraparound shades from the YouTV video?"

"Uh, yeah. Her eyes are kind of…different."

"Well, poop. He's gorgeous, of course he's taken. How come they're waiting so long for the wedding?"

"Gotta have Stark's first. Also, one of the women in their wedding party is five months pregnant; it'll be that long before she'll fit in her dress again."

"Got it. Captain America is cute, but he's too…goody-goody. What about Thor? He single?"

"Yeah, but he's stuck back in Asgard learning to be king." He snorted. "Needs all the education he can get from what I hear."

"Dang. Guess the guy situation isn't any better there."

"Hey, these guys are all too old for you. Stick with the guys in your class at the academy."

"Yeah, yeah. You coming back anytime soon?" Her voice sounded hopeful.

Hated to let the kid down, but…damn. "No, sorry. I'm committed here for at least a year, maybe two."

"How come?"

"The pregnant woman is an Avenger; I said I'd stay until she's ready to go back on active duty. Another Avenger is planning a pregnancy after this one comes back. If they don't get too much on my case I might stay for that one too. Seeing the baby's daddy frantic for nine months and then changing diapers would be a riot."

"Oooh, babies! Who's pregnant now, is it the Black Widow or is it Hellbringer? Come on Logan, you can tell me!"

"No can do. You'll see it in the media just like everyone else."

"Party pooper."

"Yeah. Hey, I gotta go. You take care and keep up with your schoolwork."

She heaved the kind of full of pathos sigh that only a teenaged girl could manage. "I will. You go ahead and call anytime, you hear?"

"Sure, Rogue. Bye."

… …

The rest of the team on Midgard, sans the Black Widow, was out patrolling and he and Tony were waiting for their fiancés to join them for an evening of movies and snacks. Tony was staring at him. "What?"

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Angry, you mean?"

"Yessss."

"Noooo." Loki couldn't resist mimicking the mortal's word exaggeration. "Now what have you done? Why should I be angry?"

"Because I asked Rhodey to be my best man for the wedding."

He sighed. "Tony, we are friends. I am not your closest friend, not by a long shot. I was expecting no such invitation."

"Okay. Because if Rhodey weren't available…"

"You'd ask Dr. Banner, as you should. Thor will be standing for me at my wedding here, so what is your problem?"

The man's expression was confused. "I don't know, I just feel guilty about it for some reason."

"You're making even less sense than usual. Now, if you'd chosen, say, Barton or Fury over me, then we'd be having words."

"Bite your tongue."

"Why?" he asked, knowing full well what the saying meant, but enjoying the opportunity to bait him.

"Wh…it's a saying."

"I…see," he said, his tone and carefully contrived expression conveying that he did not. Tony groaned and his head thumped down on the seat back as he apparently failed to find words to explain his comment.

"Loki," Kara scolded as she came back into the lounge from the kitchen with a bottle of her glögg and three glasses. "Stop teasing Tony."

"Teasing? Oh, you ass. Damn and I fell for it."

Loki laughed out loud at the annoyance on Stark's face. "Are you ever not going to fall for it? And Kara, if teasing is all I get up to, count yourself fortunate."

"Uh huh." She filled their glasses and left the bottle on the low table that sat in front of the couch. "Pepper's on a call; she'll be out in a few. What movie are we watching?"

Tony perked up. "Heaven Can Wait."

"Seriously? I wouldn't think you'd go for the romance."

"Well, noooo, but it's got football. And farce. I thought the comic mayhem might appeal to Loki."

"Hmm, could be." Loki frowned at her. "I think you'll like it," she assured him and dashed back into the kitchen only to emerge a moment later carrying trays of snacks to set at each seating area. "Pepper is bringing the plates." She dropped down beside him and fitted herself into his side. "This is nice."

Pepper hurried into the room carrying a tumbler with Stark's allotted portion of Scotch on top of the snack plates and another bottle of glögg. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nope," Tony replied and grinned as she joined him. "Just about to start it up. Thanks," he said as he took the glass from her. "You know, it's just not the same when I don't get to drink enough to get drunk."

"We're not letting you undo all of Lady Eir's hard work. I want your liver to stay healthy this time." Pepper sighed. "I don't have to worry about you dying of old age before me now, and I don't want to have to worry about you dying of liver disease, okay?"

"Hey, I get it. I wasn't…okay, yeah, I was complaining, but just a little. It's still taking some getting used to. At least I can blame my sobriety on the love of a good woman."

"Thank you, Tony." Loki smirked as the couple shared a disgustingly romantic kiss.

"Jarvis, go directly to opening credits," Tony ordered once they'd come up for air.

"Of course, sir."

They settled in with their women, their drinks and their snacks, ready to enjoy what was evidently a romantic farce on film. Loki looked down at his beautiful Hellbringer, the love of his very long life and smiled. "Yes, this is very nice."

finis

… …

Author's Notes: Honestly, when I started writing this story I thought the whole thing would take about twenty chapters…boy was I wrong! Early in the process the secondary characters stood up and demanded their stories be told as well. I mean, really; would YOU argue with these guys?

Are you sad to see this story end? No Worries! The characters and relationships from the "Fire and Ice" 'universe' will be sporadically continued in a series of loosely related one-shots. Keep an eye out for the also M-rated story titled "Life, Avengers' Style" coming to a fan fiction site near you.

Additionally there will be a smut-laden story (different 'universe' and OC's) published on AO3 and Adult Fan Fiction dot net called "Loki does Las Vegas". It started out as a simple PWP one shot and grew into a full story with a real plot after all (not quite sure how that happened). Two thirds of it is nearly ready to be uploaded. I'll post the link on my profile here when it's up. I've also plotted out but have not yet begun writing another story called "Karma Chameleon" to be posted on this site which will feature yet another Loki/OC dynamic, a vastly different outcome from Loki's return to Asgard in manacles and muzzle, and such that has been developing in my head. I also am dabbling with a Labyrinth fic featuring Jareth and an OC (because I lurve me some Bowie!). All of these will be announced on my profile when I begin posting them. So keep your socks on, more writing to come!

Thank you to everyone. Those who have been reading and waiting patiently for each installment since I began this journey nearly a year ago, I salute you! To those who have discovered Fire and Ice recently, welcome, and thank you for joining in the madness so enthusiastically. You, all of you, are the reason we creative types actually write down the stories that float around in our subconscious. Without you, this and other fan fiction sites would be very sad places. Special love to those who leave reviews. We'd get discouraged without your support. Numbers of views are nice, but reviews are gifts from heaven!

Until the next fic - Kiera