Updated so quick!

Eighteenth Installment: One Hour

Despite Stark's poorly-veiled suggestion he stay somewhere out of sight, Loki made his way to the entry ramp of the ship. Outside, he could hear the sound of an extending boarding hatch from the ship above them, heard it attach to Heart of the Nine, and heard the unmistakable sound of depressurization.

Ten distinct presences entered the tube, and when they were near enough Loki palmed the entry hatch's release. The ramp lowered, and he laid eyes on the 'Myrkdon' for the first time. Their lower halves, including four clawed legs, reminded very much of a Midgardian crab.

Their upper halves were covered in what looked like fine leathery skin. Their three eyes were large and the color of burnt copper. They wore no clothing, but each had a sash tied around their middle with insignia embroidered onto it. Rank, he assumed.

The one in front with the most colorful markings on its sash stopped short when those three eyes landed on Loki, Stark, and the Aether.

"Humans," it said. "What in Bhargest's name are three humans doing all the way out here? Where did you get such a ship? It's not safe for you outside the Temperate Field!"

Outwardly, Loki didn't react to being called a human. Following the instincts that had never once betrayed him, Loki inclined his head and adopted a somewhat meek posture. "We've only just escaped. We were trying to find a safe way home."

"What?" Stark hissed, at least having the presence of mind to keep his voice low.

"By Vasithan!" the creature spat. "Those filthy Taigen just can't keep their hands off our Harmonizers!" It pointed with a three-fingered hand to Loki's arm. "Gragat, tell the medic we've got another one infected with energy sickness." It scuttled forward on its crablike legs. "Come with us, you're safe now. I'm Captain Grigin."

"Don't fight them," Loki warned his two companions. "They aren't hostile, they actually want to help us. Apparently, humans are in danger in this solar system."

Though Stark didn't look particularly happy, he allowed the escort to lead them off the ship. "What did we just escape, exactly?"

"Apparently, there is a conflict between these people and another called the Taigen."

Grigin abruptly put a hand on Loki's arm and hurried him along more forcefully. "I know it's comforting to link with your Dominant, but you must refrain. The energy sickness will spread quicker."

All kinds of curiosity sprang up in Loki. He wondered if these people truly knew of a condition similar to his. Energy sickness isn't an inaccurate description of what's wrong with me, he mused. He filed the term 'Dominant' away for visitation later.

Neither Stark nor Skaði remained quiet, however, when the Myrkdon tried to separate him from them. Skaði hurled her escort into the nearest wall and planted herself between Loki and the remaining. Her eyes were blood red, glowing an angry contrast to her pale skin.

Guns came up.

"Stop!" Grigin exclaimed. "They're just frightened from their escape." It looked up at Loki. "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes," Loki said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid she's become very protective of me." To the Aether, "Peace, dearest. These people do not mean us any harm. In fact, I think they very well may be able to help me."

Skaði didn't relax. "I'm not letting them take you from me!"

"I'll be fine," Loki soothed. "I need you to stay with Anthony. Out here, he is far more vulnerable than I."

Stark twitched. "I don't like this."

She looked up at Loki, and he could feel her weighing her options. "Fine. But I'm tearing this ship apart if they hurt you."

He couldn't quite stop the smile. "I'm counting on you, my dearest one."

She relaxed.

Grigin was watching. "She understands?" it inquired.

"Yes," Loki said, nudging her to return to Stark's side.

Grigin now faced Stark. "I promise, we're going to help your Thrall. Please go with my Enforcers. They'll see you're properly fed and rested while we tend to him."

Curiosity piqued further by this new term, Loki simply nodded to Stark. Though his dark eyes burned with distrust, he surprised Loki by offering no protest to being led away. The threat of violence lingered in the tension radiating from his strong frame.

Apparently satisfied, the captain once more took Loki's arm and hustled him along. "Good. Now let's get you to the medic. How long have you been like this?"

"Five months," Loki replied.

"Bhargest's breath," the creature muttered. "You must have suffered so much. But don't worry. The condition isn't irreversible until after eight. We can still cure you."

Wouldn't that be wonderful, Loki thought with an internal smirk. "If you don't mind my asking," he said in a soft voice, carefully modulated to sound tired and perhaps a bit weak, "how is the conflict going?"

The captain made a wet, snorting sound. "Conflict is a nice term. This damn war will last another one-hundred cycles, I'll wager. You've been prisoner to those filthy worms for far too long, clearly. But don't you fret. We'll get you back to the Temperate Field and they won't be able to lay their disgusting hands on you again. Is the father of your child at least your own Dominant?"

Now amused, Loki kept it off his face. "Yes."

"Well, that's something," the Myrkdon said, growling. "At least she's not some half-Taigen whelp, product of one of those filth forcing itself on you."

Apparently, Loki thought with a measure of distaste, conflict was a nice term to apply to the situation. Assuming it knows I'm male, it's a matter of course for human men to become pregnant here? How interesting.

They reached the infirmary, and Loki quickly took stock. It was large and clean, everything tucked into a proper place.

"Gorgon!" the captain barked.

A slightly smaller Myrkdon came scuttling out of the back. "Here, captain! I just finished setting up the neutralizing pod. You must be the poor Thrall infected with it? Dreadful, what those Taigen do to our Harmonizers! Just dreadful. I hope the captain didn't seem too rude. She can be very gruff."

The revelation of the creature's gender startled Loki a bit, but he retained his neutral expression. "No. Thank you, Captain, for helping us. It's . . . been a very long journey home."

Grigin nodded. "Think nothing of it. Gorgon, take care of him. Once treatment's underway, look over his Dominant and their child. Make sure they're both in good health. These three have been through enough."

"Yes, Captain," the medic said, crossing both fists in what Loki supposed was a salute. As soon as she was gone, the medic turned to Loki. "Now come, poor thing. Let's get you in the pod."

o0o

The crablike people ensconced Tony and Skaði in a very large and comfortable cabin. Their language, unlike the people of Vign, sounded like nothing he'd ever heard. It was weird and gargly and throaty, as if they were half choking on every sound. Skaði's eyes remained blood red, a sure sign of her anger.

"I don't like this," she growled, immediately beginning to pace.

"Me, neither," Tony muttered, trying to have faith in his love. "You can still sense Loki, right?"

She flashed him a brief glance. "Yes. You should be able to, as well, if you focus a little bit. The bond between you two has grown stronger since you came here."

Tony blinked. "Really? How can you tell?"

Some good humor returned to her face. "I've been inside you both, remember?"

True enough. Perching on the edge of the bed, Tony did a quick inventory of the room. There was only one bed, but it was large. There was a console with a holo screen and a desk, two chairs tucked against it. A bathroom with a commode and shower. What looked like a closet. There were no trinkets of any kind except a strange-looking thing in the corner Tony suspected was a plant.

His eyes scanned every inch of the walls and ceilings, but he couldn't see any immediately-evident monitoring devices. He didn't relax one iota. They were in an alien galaxy with alien tech. At least these 'Myrkdon' hadn't taken anything from him and Skaði. Reaching up, he tapped his ear bud.

"Jarvis? You reading me, buddy?"

"Yes, sir," the AI's voice came through a bit tinny.

"Where's our ship?"

"It was installed in the hangar and left untouched," Jarvis replied. "No guards. There appears to be no frequency jamming."

Well, that was something. At least these people weren't treating them like prisoners. He really, really fucking hated not being able to understand the language. Only hearing one-third of a conversation sucked more than he could express.

All he could do was trust Loki knew what he was doing.

"Think you could do any scans without it being detected?" he asked.

"Doubtful," Jarvis said after a moment. "Proximity scans would be less likely to trigger warnings."

Rising, Tony padded to the console. "Right." He had nothing with him he could use to plug Jarvis into this ship's network.

Skaði had followed him. She slipped her hand into his. "Can I do anything?"

Anyone who didn't know what she was, he thought, would see a little girl seeking comfort from her father. Tony somehow knew she was straining to stay calm for Loki's sake. She wanted to destroy everything and everyone on this ship.

Patience, he supposed, was a new virtue to the Aether. Under any other circumstance, it would have amused him.

"Not just yet, princess," he said. "Jarvis, are you recording the speech patterns of these people?"

"Yes, sir," Jarvis answered.

"Good. See if you can work anything out. Who knows how long it will be until Loki can write a translation key."

Then he plopped down on one of the chairs. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand any of the writing on the console. Fucking useless.

A soft, sweet-sounding chime filled the air for a few moments, then the door slid open. Tony rose at once, and Skaði's hand tightened on his. He put his free hand on her shoulder. One of the ugly Myrkdon trotted inside, its clawed feet clicking on the floor. It said something in its wet, garbled language, pointing at Skaði.

"I guess it wants you to go with it," Tony said, squeezing her hand. "Hopefully taking you to Loki. Go with it, princess."

She looked up at him. "Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about him at the moment."

She nodded vigorously before letting go of his hand. The ugly creature led her away, and Tony tried to ignore his anxiety.

o0o

As soon as she was out of the room, Skaði broke into a run. No way would she wait for this fat, weak creature. Her mind's eye played over gloriously morbid images of tearing its fleshy body apart and smearing body fluids all over the bulkheads.

Guided only by her senses, she dashed through ugly creatures and ignored their exclaiming. She knew her so-called escort was chasing after her, but she was too quick and determined for it to catch up. She didn't stop until she came to the last door standing between her and her beloved, and she knew enough to recognize she didn't have the appropriate hands to make the control panel open it.

She smashed her hand through it.

The door obediently slid out of her way. The only creature inside let out loud gurgles as she bolted past it. Her headlong plunge forward only halted when she saw Loki. Half reclined in a contrivance with a sort of egg-shaped base, he looked unharmed.

And his smile upon seeing her was more than a little amused. He held out a hand, and she clasped it tightly as soon as she was close enough.

"Are you all right?" she asked, looking him up and down. He was naked from the waist up, and she could feel his body was in no pain.

None at all.

"Of course, dearest," he soothed, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it. "They call this a neutralizing pod, and even though it's not really removing any energy from me, it's actually taken away the pain. All of it."

She cradled his hand against her cheek. "What's going on here?" she asked.

Loki glanced at the hovering medic. "These people are called the Myrkdon. They've been engaged in a war for one-hundred years with a people they call Taigen. It seems humans are rare in this solar system, and they possess very special abilities no other race possesses. It has made them something of a commodity. They call humans Harmonizers, and it would seem they're all telepaths."

Skaði blinked. "Really? Well, that explains why they were so happy to see us."

Loki chuckled, reaching over and cupping her chin with his free hand. "If you knew that, then why were you so panicked to get to me?"

"No one takes you away from me," she said, feeling renewed anger boiling up. "You're mine. I don't care what their intentions."

He lowered his hand and leaned back, his smile content and loving. "I am yours. But be patient for me, my dearest one. I am exceedingly curious about how humans live here. The living energies of this solar system are very strong and strange. I might find what I'm looking for."

She held his emerald gaze, taking comfort in his calm serenity. And, she reasoned, no one could handle things the way her beloved could. Even helpless to use his magic, he was still in control of everything around him.

And anything he couldn't control, he had her to destroy it. So she nodded and allowed herself to relax. "All right. Tell me more."

o0o

They made him wait about an hour. He tried to keep telling himself it wasn't that long, he could be patient. Even so, he nearly attacked the stupid ugly creature who came to collect him. He followed it along the windy corridors of the ship, making note of everything he saw.

He got the distinct impression this was a battle ship. Everyone he saw had some manner of insignia, and they all moved with proficiency and a sense of urgency. If they weren't so damn ugly, Tony might have appreciated it.

The infirmary was huge, and his escort handed him off to the medic. The medic then led him to an isolated room, and there was his love. Skaði was sitting beside him, and her eyes had returned to their normal coal-grey.

The bed on which Loki relaxed had a base shaped like half an egg. There didn't appear to be a mattress, but rather a sort of gel-like substance that conformed to Loki's body and actually looked quite comfortable. Various instruments aimed down at it from above.

Ignoring the ugly Myrkdon, Tony hurried to the other side of the bed and grabbed Loki's free hand. "Hey," he murmured, leaning down and pressing his lips to Loki's forehead. He somehow doubted his love would allow a real kiss. "You okay?"

"Of course," Loki replied, voice low and perfectly relaxed. "What must I do to assure you two we're in no danger?"

"I can't help it," Tony thought back. He'd gotten very good at communicating like this. "Humans like certainties where I'm from, remember?"

Loki snorted softly.

The medic gurgled at him.

"He wants you to sit down so he can scan you," Loki said. "Make sure you're unharmed."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "They clearly have advanced tech. How haven't they noticed you're not exactly human?"

"They haven't scanned me at all," Loki answered. "It's visibly apparent what's wrong with me, and I've done nothing to persuade them to the contrary. They call this bed a neutralizing pod, and its sole function is to neutralize pain and alien energy from this illness they call energy sickness. So far it has done the former, but nothing for the latter. The energy poisoning me is rather different from anything they'll find here." A small, rueful smile.

"Loki told me these people think he's my mother and you're my father," Skaði said abruptly, sounding definitely amused.

Allowing the medic to commence his scans, Tony grinned at her. "Well, aren't we?" He winked.

She giggled. "And he told me they call you a Dominant. Apparently that means you're a male incapable of becoming pregnant. They call Loki a Thrall, which means he's a male who can. So you're his Dominant, and he's your Thrall. Meaning, he's your mate." With a wide grin.

"Hm, I like the sound of that," Tony said, nodding, lifting the hand he still held and pressing kisses along each knuckle.

Loki gave him a mellow look. "I knew you would. I still don't know how human men here can become pregnant, but the medic did say I'd have access to an information terminal. It will only be another hour until we reach the planet where they built something they call the Temperate Field. I'm assuming it's something designed to keep unwanted enemies out."

The medic gurgled something, this time directed at Loki.

"What's it want?" Tony demanded. "I'm about ready to kick it in the teeth."

Skaði giggled again, a ribbon of red swirling through her eyes.

"For us to stop communicating like this," Loki replied. "It would seem the Myrkdon aren't telepaths, but they do have the ability to tell when we're using thought to speak. Apparently, telepathic communication speeds the spread of energy sickness."

"Yeah, well, that ain't what you have," Tony said, folding his arms and glaring at the ugly critter. Aloud, "So you can stuff it up whatever passes for your asshole."

Skaði bowed forward, giggling helplessly.

The creature blinked its three eyes at Tony before looking back to Loki. Who looked suspiciously close to laughter, himself.

"He says he understands and will stop badgering me," the beautiful god said to the Myrkdon.

"What!" Tony exclaimed. "I certainly did not. Don't make things up. I'm your Dominant. Do what I say."

"Of course, my darling," Loki said, his voice a dagger coated in poison and wrapped in silk. The promise of torture glittered in his verdant eyes as his lips curved up in a sweetly homicidal smile.

All of which conspired to set off various physical and inappropriate reactions in certain parts of Tony's anatomy. "Fuck," he hissed. "Always call me that, babe. From now on."

The ugly medic jabbered something, making a few weird gesticulations.

Loki's lips twitched into a smirk. "He says verbatim: you're to keep your lustful genitalia to yourself. I'm too sick for such arduous activities."

By this point, Skaði had collapsed over the bed.

Tony folded his arms once more, leveling the medic with a monster scowl. "You, shut the fuck up and get out before I rip your damn crab legs off." He pointed to the door.

With some clearly disgruntled sounds, the Myrkdon said something else to Loki before finally leaving them alone. Tony sat down on the weird bed's edge.

"So, what does this thing feel like?" he asked.

Loki shrugged one shoulder. "Like I'm surrounded by a warm static field. I can feel a slight tingle on my skin. It's rather pleasant."

"Really?" Tony mused. "Huh. I can't feel anything." He nodded to their joined hands.

"I can," Skaði piped up.

"Good for you, princess," Tony said, patting her head. Mindful of surveillance, he stopped talking aloud. "So we got an hour before we've reached wherever we're going. Let's think up a plan."

Loki's smile returned, and he surprised Tony by leaning over and brushing a light kiss over his lips. "Don't worry, my darling," he purred. "I already have one."