(A/N: Hello folks! I'm sorry that I have been gone so long when I promised you a sequel like forever and a day ago. So anyway, this is the sequel to 'Hands in Mine' which basically means that you'll have to step back from the canon quite a ways at this story used the first 'Avengers' movie as its starting point. If you haven't read the first one then I suggest you do that. Typical warnings for gay relationships, mpreg, poly ships, and gratuitous fluff. Anyway, on with the show!)

Hands in Mine 2

Part 1

Loki could not help but curse aloud, his arms wrapped tightly around Tony's shivering form. The other man was six months pregnant and suffering from yet another panic attack. Very rarely did Tony overlook the minute details of something, but with something as complex as pregnancy it seemed impossible to account for everything. Pregnancy complicated mental illness; Tony was living with mental illness, and had been doing so rather quietly for some time. Loki allowed the other man to curl in as tightly as he was able and continued to hold him close.

It seemed that every time the other Avengers were required to respond to a situation, Tony was reduced to a state of panic that nothing could combat. So it had fallen to Loki to remain behind, caring for Tony and Steve as well as his own children. Truly Loki did not mind being the caretaker, but he was beginning to worry for the sake of Tony's unborn baby. It was true that Odin had stopped tormenting them, truer still that Odin now granted them a measure of protection. Loki would not address the idea that someone as powerful as Odin could have his mind influenced so easily, but the matter was being looked into, after all, it was several millennia old and the original controller might not be at the helm any longer.

"Anthony, come back to me," Loki breathed his voice low and soft, trying to reach Tony in the hell that his mind inhabited.

"He's not going to be okay until Bruce comes home," Steve said, his expression was drawn with nerves, but he was not on the verge of a panic episode. Loki swore again and pulled away from Tony, letting the other man sink into the couch.

"I don't want to lie to him," Loki's voice cracked and he looked to Steve for some form of reassurance.

"It's that or you shock his brain again, and I don't think you want to do that," Steve said and shifted, grunting at the now persistent pain in his lower back. The Super Soldier Serum had clearly never been intended to accommodate pregnancy.

"No, I don't. Damn," Loki said and with a snap of his fingers and a flash of golden light he assumed the guise of Bruce Banner, Tony's fiancée and the only one truly capable of bringing him out of a panic. It should have felt shameful to wear another man's face, but Loki had been doing it for eons. Only, now that he was impersonating someone that he considered a friend and whose well-being directly affected the person that he was deceiving, something about it twisted his stomach.

"Thor and Bruce will understand," Steve assured, seeing Loki's hesitance. The God of Mischief nodded to himself, sinking onto the couch to wrap his arms around Tony once again. It took a long moment in which Tony did not move at all, but then wide brown eyes stared up into perfectly replicated hazel ones and the panic began to visibly recede. It was not perfect, it never had been, Bruce could bring him back from the depths but it never erased the underlying cause. Still, Tony's breathing was leveling out and his alarmingly high heart rate was dropping. Loki did his best to reach out to the unborn child without giving away the presence of his magic, just to assure himself that nothing had happened due to the protracted state of panic.

"Bruce," Tony whispered, there were tears in his eyes and he lunged forward, kissing Loki open-mouthed and desperate. Of course he did not know that it was Loki and Loki had to behave as if he were in fact Bruce. So he responded to the kiss with fervor, sliding his fingers into Tony's hair as he had seen Bruce do a million times. In the back of his mind he felt the wrongness of the action, but he shoved it down and cradled Tony's face, kissing him deeply.

"You're alright," Loki assured softly and ran his thumbs along Tony's cheek bones. For a moment Tony hesitated, his expression shifting as he struggled with the sudden appearance of his lover. Something was wrong; he had been upset for a reason. Or had he? No, the other Avengers had gone but Bruce had stayed, right? Tony's head swiveled and he looked up at Steve who was seated on another couch.

"Why don't you go lie down in bed Tony? That's probably best for the baby, right Bruce?" Steve said, his eyes shifting ever so slightly as he observed both of them. Tony looked at Loki, he knew what was best for himself, but he listened more readily to his lover.

"He's right Tony; would you like me to walk you there?" Loki asked softly and Tony's expression shifted to something like a pout.

"No I am still able to take myself. Thank you very much. You stay here and take care of Steve, but…maybe come and get me when the others get back? Just so I know that they're alright?" Tony said and Loki nodded his agreement. At least it would give him the opportunity to explain the situation to Bruce so that the other man could play along.

Loki watched him go, still tasting him on his lips and tongue, hating himself that his body had begun to respond to Tony's passionate kisses. As soon as the door to his room clicked close, Loki dropped the illusion that was Bruce and fell back against the couch. He could not keep the conflict off of his face and Steve watched as guilt warred with compassion on sharp features.

"It's okay Loki," Steve said gently, he didn't believe that there had been any other means of averting the crisis short of Loki abusing a power that could have long-term impact on Tony's mental acuity.

"I've never wanted him like that. I shouldn't desire him," Loki said, struggling to put his thoughts into words as guilt swelled in his chest. He thought of Thor and their children, of how he was wrong to betray that love.

"It happens Loki; you're not the only one that's ever been caught up in a moment. It doesn't have to mean anything," Steve said and Loki blinked, tilting his head as he considered that possibility. It was true; perhaps his concern for Tony's health had let him get too wrapped up in the physical aspect of what he was doing. He loved Tony in some way, but it was not the way that he loved Thor; he would not betray Thor for anyone. He would be confessing his transgression as soon as he and Thor were alone.

Strange how he had changed over the years, deception was still his greatest power, and yet his attitude towards using it had changed radically. He'd never experienced so much guilt over the use of his powers. Perhaps that was something that he would bring up the next time he had a meeting with his therapist. Certainly it was worth covering. All of them had things to hash out and work through; this was simply one more on the pile of things.

(A/N: That's all for now. I'm sorry to leave you here, but I have a very limited pool of inspiration lately and I wanted to give you something because you've waited so long. Leave me a comment to let me know what you thought of it.)