Sif and the Warriors three stood in a ring of glyphs the middle of the parking lot. They looked about curiously, taking in the asphalt and the tall blocky buildings, the sunlight gleaming off their armor. Seeing Thor, they all waved madly and Volstagg called out "Found you!"

Thor ran up, gathering all four into his arms. "How I have longed to see you!" he said, pulling them into a crushing hug. "But what are you doing here? Have you been sent to bring us home?"

"Alas, no," Sif told him when released from his powerful embrace. "Heimdall sent us to save your lives."

"Are you mortal still?" Hogun asked, and when Thor nodded yes, his companions all looked stricken.

"Never fear!" Volstagg braced his hands on his hips, readying himself for a magnificent speech. "We have not abandoned you, Thor! We, the Warriors Three, joined by the incomparable Lady Sif, have journeyed across time and space to stand beside you in your hour of peril-"

"Thor," Coulson interrupted as he walked up behind them, "who are these people?"

Loki, who was a step or two behind Coulson, answered for Thor. "Volstagg. Fandral. Hogun. And Sif," she said drily, pointing to each in turn.

"Ah, a familiar face," said Fandral, smiling at Loki. "Has Earth changed you, milady?"

"You have no idea," Loki said, snapping her cape around her.

"And who is this lovely vision?" Fandral asked, spying Darcy peeking at him from behind Loki. "Thor, you must introduce us to your Midgardian friends."

"Of course!" Thor beamed. "Fandral, meet Darcy..."

Fandral dropped a courtly bow and kissed her hand. Darcy giggled. "Hi."

"Lady Sif, meet Doctor Jane..."

Sif towered over Jane. Nodding her head, Sif clasped Jane's small hand in her much bigger, more powerful one. "My pleasure, doctor."

Jane giggled. "Hi."

"And Volstagg and Hogun, this is Erik, a scientist, and Son of Coul, a warrior for SHIELD, guardians of this realm." Thor seemed greatly pleased at seeing his old battle companions again. Coulson eyed them with some trepidation, mentally calculating the difficulty of managing the fallout of four additional extradimensional warriors in what was already a highly unstable situation, while Barton simply stepped up and introduced himself.

"All right," said Coulson, trying to take control of the situation once more. "We still need to get as far from populated areas, including this hospital, as possible. Thor, Loki, you come with me." Pausing, he nodded at Hogun and Volstagg as well. "The both of you will ride with us."

"Okay, that means you're with me," Barton told the civilians. Unclipping a set of keys from his belt, he climbed into the driver's side door of the sleek black government-issued truck. Erik sat shotgun next to him, while Sif and Fandral took the back seat, with Jane and Darcy wedged between them.

"This is so boss," Darcy said, grinning up at Fandral.

"Yeah," said Jane dreamily, her eyes still locked with Sif's.

Volstagg, however, was troubled. "Should we allow the mortals to seperate us?" he asked Thor as they approached the other vehicle. "Surely t'would be safest to face a threat united!"

"Aye," Thor said, but he encouraged Volstagg to climb into the vehicle regardless. "But we must not put the mortals into danger. Loki's evil brother Helblindi will follow us wherever we go, and we must not lead him here. Once they are safe, we will be reunited."

Loki sat next to Thor and clung to his arm, her breathing unusually shaky, her eyes downcast. Thor shifted closer to her, his lips brushing her ear. "Be not afraid," he whispered. "I am beside you. I will let nothing harm you."

"That is what I fear," said Loki, her voice cracking, "that you will be killed trying to defend me."

The two vehicles made it out of the hospital without much incident, and were nearing the proverbial 'fork in the road'; the county line road, where left led out towards SHIELD's base in the desert (near where Coulson planned to transport Thor and Loki), and where right led back into Puente Antiguo and Jane Foster's base-of-operations at the Smith Motors building.

Coulson grimaced at the insane crackling of static on his cell phone, but finally managed to get into contact with Agent Barton via the vehicle's inbuilt short-distance radio communications device. "What's your status?" Coulson asked.

Aside from the overwhelming levels of sexual tension radiating from the back seat, Barton couldn't think of anything that was wrong. "Still got all our fingers and toes," Barton replied. "We stayin' in ranger file until we reach the county line, or-"

Barton's reflexes saved him. His keen eyes spotted the shadow cast long before the actual weapon came into view. He slammed on the brakes so hard that the seat belts locked up. A moment later, a tremendous ice-mace split the pavement directly in front of the vehicle's bumper with a mighty CRACK like the sound of the world breaking in two.

In the back seat, Darcy shrieked. Cursing, Fandral fought to open his door, while Lady Sif cooly kicked her door off its hinges and stepped out to face Helblindi, hefting her spear and readying for battle.

"Reverse, reverse!" Erik cried, shaking Barton by the shoulder. Fandral's door finally popped open and he stepped out as well, Darcy screaming for him to be careful.

Helblindi ambled out from his hiding place between two storage sheds, grunting as he lifted the ice-mace; it was the height of a man, one-fourth his own size, so heavy it could crush a human or shatter an Asgardian's bones. "LOKI!" he roared. "I can SMELL you! I know you're here!"

Fifty meters or so in front of Helblindi, Coulson's vehicle screeched to a halt, its occupants twisting anxiously in their seats to see what had happened to their companions. Loki's sharp intake of breath was audible. "My brother," she whispered. Thor grabbed for her, but Loki opened her door and stepped out, shifting back into Jotun form as he did so. His iPod was left behind on his seat.

"I'm the one you're looking for!" Loki called out. That caught Helblindi's attention. He swung around, smiling toothily at Loki. Kicking a shattered piece of ice at Helblindi, Loki slowly walked towards his brother. "Leave the humans alone," he said. "Leave them out of this. I'm the one you want."

"Ah, you've chosen to wear your true face!" Helblindi said, sounding almost proud. Loki shuddered, a memory coming to mind, unbidden: five or more centuries ago, Helblindi snatching him up and shaking him as a predator shakes its prey, to snap its neck, Byleistr sobbing and begging him to stop, looking about fearfully for Laufey. Sure enough, Laufey had happened upon them, and a stern cuff from their sire had made Helblindi drop Loki, saved Loki for that day. But now Laufey and Byleistr were both dead, and there was only Helblindi and Loki left.

Behind Helblindi, Loki could see Fandral and Sif flanking Helblindi, waiting for a moment to strike. Though he dared not look behind him, he hoped Volstagg and Hogun were restraining Thor, keeping him from charging headfirst into certain death. In his Jotun form, Loki had the best chance of any of them of surviving a fight to the death with Helblindi.

While Loki and Helblindi spoke, Barton cautiously put his vehicle into reverse, slowly backing up, trying not to rev the engine and attract the monster's attention. He glanced over at Erik, who was white-knuckling his seat, not taking his eyes off the gigantic monster. "My bow," said Barton.

"Wh-what?" Erik mumbled, eyes flickering over to him.

"Under your seat. There's a case with my bow." Barton glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Jane and Darcy clutching each other. "Pull it out. I'm gonna park this thing. You get the girls to safety."

With every exhale, Loki murmured an enchantment, trying to call on whatever magicks were left to him after all these days on Earth. His heart pounded in his chest, joined by the much tinier heart hidden below.

Helblindi took a step closer, so large he almost seemed to bear the sky on his shoulders. "You reek, big brother," he said. "You smell like the Asgardians, their stench pouring from your body." And then he launched himself forward, his ice-mace swinging down down down, even as Sif drove her spear through the back of his knee.

Helblindi roared, his pounce turning into a tumble as he twisted in midair, trying to pull the spear from his flesh. Fandral was on him in a moment, cutting him here and there, nimbly dancing out of the way as Helblindi's claws raked at him. Loki's enchantment caught him full in the face, momentarily blinding Helblindi; Sif took the opportunity to retrieve her spear, making Helblindi scream in pain.

But not for nothing was Helblindi the second-most sorcerer in all of Jotunheim. His vision had not returned before he cast an enchantment of his own, a powerful shockwave that sent Sif flying through the air and smashing into the windshield of Barton's vehicle, and Fandral sprawling almost twenty feet away, dazed.

The shockwave blew Loki off his feet, but he rolled with the impact, Helblindi's ice missiles slicing into the ground where he had been only seconds before. Staggering towards Loki on his injured leg, tripping on the crumbling pavement and the overgrown roadside weeds, Helblindi rubbed the yellow and black spots from his eyes. Jane and Erik pulled Sif from the cracked windshield, dragging her behind the vehicle, using it as best they could as a shield, while Barton climbed up one of the storage sheds, taking aim.

Noticing Fandral laying at his feet, struggling to lift his head, Helblindi savagely kicked at him. "Is this for whom you fight?" he yelled at Loki. Fandral cried out in agony. "These nasty, stinking freaks!"

"Leave him be!" Loki cried, but his hands trembled. He could summon no more magicks.

"I swear," said Helblindi, planting a foot on Fandral's chest, preparing to crush him, "it'll be worth killing you just to have an excuse to send them all to the underworld-" A burst of blue-white electricity ripped through Helblindi's injured leg. Howling in pain, he stumbled away from Fandral, turning this way and that trying to see who had attacked him.

Darcy dropped her taser in terror as Helblindi's eyes locked on her. When she had seen Helblindi kick Fandral, she had lept from the car and run towards them, desperate to save him. Jane, who cradled the semi-conscious Sif's head in her lap, cried out, "Darcy, run!"

"You, you-" Helblindi's breath smoked, but Darcy realized it wasn't smoke, but frost. He took a deep breath, and dimly she could hear Fandral moaning her name and Loki screaming it.

Before Helblindi could freeze Darcy with his breath, an arrow lodged itself in his trachea. Two bullets quickly followed it, and Volstagg and Hogun tackled his legs, sending him crashing to the ground. So frightened she could barely move, Darcy collapsed next to Fandral, clinging to him.

Coulson ran towards Darcy and Fandral, firing as he went. "Get back! Get back!" he yelled, putting himself between the girl and the monster, noticing with dismay that the bullets barely seemed to pierce the Frost Giant's flesh. Helblindi snapped off the arrow, then reached down and snatched up Hogun and Volstagg, one in each hand, sending them flying into the storage shed. The shed collapsed, taking Volstagg, Hogun, and Barton down with it.

Now it was Loki who attacked Helblindi, in a desperate rush - he saw Thor and Erik pulling Darcy and Fandral out of the way while Coulson laid down cover, and he knew that they'd all die the moment Helblindi's attention returned to them. He clambered up Helblindi, clawing at his belly, his neck, his face, trying to stab a nail into one of Helblindi's devilish eyes.

Helblindi grasped Loki by the neck and slammed him into the pavement with such force that the world went white.

The next thing Loki was aware of was the sheer pressure of his brother's massive bodyweight, four times that of his own, bearing down on top of him, crushing the life out of him. Helblindi's cold breath. And the blood gushing from the arrow wound in his neck. "You and all your wretched little friends," Helblindi snarled, his face that of which nightmares are woven. "Why won't you just die, die, die-"

Loki jabbed his nail into the gaping wound. Helblindi choked above him as blood filled his throat, his mouth, his nose. Loki's lungs burned and he could feel his ribs bending, his bones struggling against the intense weight. Tears sprang to his eyes. I can't let him kill Thor, Loki thought. He'll kill Thor - he'll kill them all-

"Loki!" Thor. Loki's eyes looked to the side, and through the dust he could see Thor running towards him, arms reaching towards him. Reaching out to him. Come to save me.

Loki stretched a hand out towards Thor.

The world around them quaked. For a second, Loki thought this must be what death was like - a sudden silence, followed by an intense noise that shook the very bones. But then Helblindi went flying off him, and Thor straddled him, a red cape caressing Loki's battered body.

Mjolnir. Thor had regained Mjolnir.

Loki was choking and writhing on the ground, so he did not see all of what happened next. There was thunder, and lightning; that he was sure of. And then Helblindi lay dead, and Thor was alive, sitting by his side, pulling him into an embrace, heedless of Loki's Jotun skin blackening his own. Belatedly, Loki managed to shift back to his Asgardian form.

"I almost lost you," Thor wept into his neck.

And I you, Loki mouthed to him.

Volstagg, Hogun, and Barton were, fortunately, more bruised than anything else as they climbed from the wreckage of the collapsed shed. Fandral felt well enough, cuddled against Darcy's voluptuous body, to joke that Volstagg's bulk had taken most of the impact, and Volstagg gave back as good as he got. Sif was on her feet again in minutes, one arm thrown across Jane's shoulders, although Jane was so tiny that try as she might, she couldn't possibly have supported much of Sif's weight. But she did try.

"So this is the real you," Coulson said. Thor still crouched upon the ground, Loki's head tucked under his chin. His blue eyes shone as he looked up.

"Aye, it is."

"You're everything I hoped you'd be," Coulson admitted softly. Barton staggered past them and silently offered a flask containing a suspicious liquid to Hogun. Hogun accepted just as silently.

SHIELD was crawling over the site by nightfall. Darcy and Fandral fell asleep in the backseat of Coulson's vehicle, while Sif, Hogun, and Volstagg regaled the other humans with tales of Thor's prowesss on Asgard. Coulson was finishing writing up a report when he got a message from Tony Stark.

Hey, what'd I miss?

Coulson let out a long-suffering sigh.

Loki sat on the tailgate of a SHIELD truck, legs swinging a little as Dr. Taylor took his vitals. Although Coulson had offered, Loki refused to return to the hospital; his neck had been half-crushed but would heal quickly. It was for the tiny thing inside him that he worried.

Thor hovered anxiously as Dr. Taylor listened for a fetal heartbeat. Now that he and Loki both wore their Asgardian regalia, Thor resplendent in a red cape and Loki elegant in his green cloak, they looked otherworldly.

"Well?"

Dr. Taylor smiled as he looked up, and Loki took his first deep breath in what felt like years. "Coming in loud and clear," he said, setting aside the odd little intrument and wiping the goo off Loki's belly.

Thor embraced Loki tightly. "We will be returned to Asgard now," he said, kissing Loki's forehead. "The dining halls, the forests, the warm sunlight... it will be a beautiful home for our child. You will be pampered..."

"I think not," Loki said, his brows arching. "Do you forget that I am now the rightful king of Jotunheim? No longer am I to be merely Thor Odinsson's consort. I have my own kingdom to secure, and I am not going to spend my reign confined to women's quarters with my feet propped up on a pillow."

"Jotunheim," Thor said slowly, as though this had just occured to him. "I suppose this means I am now consort to King Loki of Jotunheim?"

Loki chuckled, resting his cheek in the cup of Thor's hand. "I suppose so."

Thor's face fell, and he asked in a rush, "I know your kind do not marry... you will not abandon me for Jotunheim forever, will you?"

"After all that we have been through, you ask me if I am to abandon you now?" Loki was aghast. "You should have no fear of that. But be warned, it will not be an easy life as consort to King Loki."

"No," said Thor, "but it will never be boring." And he gave Loki a tender kiss on the lips.

"Oh, look at the time." Dr. Taylor checked his watch. "I gotta be going. Best of luck to you both. And hey, plenty of parents have balanced busy schedules with children. I'm sure you will, too." For a moment he seemed to be trying to salute Thor, but gave up and offered his hand to shake. Thor gave him a hearty shake and Loki gave him a grateful smile, and the doctor shuffled off.

Agent Coulson approached them as the doctor left. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything will be fine," Thor told him. "We are ready to return to Asgard, and from there to Jotunheim."

"If you can spare a few minutes," Coulson said, sitting on the tailgate next to Loki, with a computer perched on his lap, "I'd like to talk to you both about the Avengers initiative."

Nearby, Barton had finally finished his debrief, narrowly escaping death by papercut or a permanent cramp in his hand from signing thousands of signaturss, and went to join the Asgardian warriors. Hogun and Volstagg sat at a makeshift table, Volstagg happily devouring fast food one of the SHIELD agents had given him, Hogun folding the paper bag into tiny cranes. "Hey, where's Fandral and that Darcy girl?" Barton asked as he walked up.

Volstagg and Hogun exchanged a meaningful look.

"Oh, wow." Barton was impressed despite himself. "Sif and Jane?"

Another meaningful look.

"You're kidding!" Barton cursed the cruel fates that had caused him to miss that to fill out paperwork. He slumped next to Volstagg and Hogun and began to eat from Volstagg's container of french fries.

Between them, Barton and Volstagg had finished off the fries before Agent Coulson and Erik Selvig appeared, followed by Thor and Loki. Thor grinned at his friends and pumped a fist in the air. "The child yet lives!"

"Great success!" cheered Volstagg, and in a second he and Hogun were slapping Thor on the back and congratulating him and Loki. Even Barton shot them a thumb's up.

"I'm so glad to hear that, Thor," said Lady Sif as she and Jane walked up, hand-in-hand. A moment later, Fandral and Darcy came stumbling out of the twilight shadows, noticeably sweatier and more rumpled.

"Hey, I knew it'd all be okay," Darcy told Loki. "And if you ever need a babysitter for the little prince or princess, give me a call."

"The prince or princess-oh, no!" Loki moaned, clutching at his head. Thor ran to his side, startled.

"What is wrong, Loki?"

"Nothing, it's just - I just realized our child was conceived in an RV! In New Mexico!" Loki looked distraught at this realization.

Jane's mouth fell open and her brows quirked in horror. "Hey, wait... it was conceived in my RV?" she cried. Fortunately, Sif distracted her with a passionate kiss, and Jane forgot about the whole thing.

"Does this mean you have to go home now?" Darcy asked Fandral. She was trying to put on a brave face, but her insides twisted at the thought. Thor and Loki, and now Fandral and the other Asgardians, they were something special, her connection to a beautiful and amazing world way more epic than endless polisci classes and the grind of daily life. Maybe it was a little selfish of her, but Darcy wasn't quite ready to give that up yet.

"It will not be for long," Thor assured her. "We must return to Asgard and set aright what has gone wrong. We will never abandon Midgard, or you." He regarded Erik, Darcy, and Jane. "Long have I known the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three would stand beside me against all threats. Though Loki and I were strangers to you, the three of you gave to us your time, your friendship, and your protection. I am privileged to have found your like in this world. You are, and will ever be, true friends to Thor."

"And to Loki," added Loki.

Sif caught Jane's hands in hers and pulled her close, whispering something into her ear that made Jane choke out a little sob. Fandral kissed Darcy's hand and said, "I will see you soon, milady."

"You better," Darcy said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Thor nodded to Erik. "Dr. Selvig," he rumbled.

"Thor, god of Thunder," said Erik, and he shook Thor's hand.

Barton looked about him, and pointing to himself and Coulson, asked, "What about us?"

Loki smirked at him. "We will be getting to know one another better soon enough, Hawkeye. I hope you are all that Coulson assures us you are."

At hearing that, Barton shot Coulson a curious look, but Coulson kept his face perfectly blank and said nothing in response.

After goodbyes were exchanged, the Asgardians and Loki stood in formation and Thor called out, "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

The next thing they saw was Asgard.

Heimdall greeted them at the Observatory, but the next Asgardian they laid eyes on was Frigga as she came galloping up on her horse. Seeing Thor, she slid from her saddle and threw herself into her son's arms, breathless and flushed.

"How I've missed you," wept Frigga.

"And I you," Thor said, stroking his hands through her hair. Stepping back, he asked, "And what of Father? Does he yet live?"

"Barely," said Frigga, her lips trembling. "He clings to life by a thread." She laid a hand on Thor's arm, as though trying to comfort him. "And there is more. The Frost Giants have been threatening war."

"I'll see to that," said Loki, and before their astonished eyes his cloak folded across him, wrapping around and twirling down, swallowing itself and him with it. In a twinkling, Loki vanished from this world.

"Should we be concerned?" asked Frigga, her eyes wide.

Thor smiled. "I trust that Loki will return. For now, let us see to Odin." He spun Mjolnir and took off like a shot, Frigga galloping behind on her horse and Sif and the Warriors Three bringing up the rear. Thor burst into his father's bedchambers to find Odin laying abed, so still that the only sign he still lived was a telltale heartbeat. Kneeling at his bedside, clutching Odin's hand in his, Thor began to speak.

"I have returned to Asgard from exile," he said. "My time on Midgard has taught me much, most especially how to love and respect. Loki and I can never repay the lessons we have been taught." His voice cracked, but Thor forged ahead. "In my rash youth, I longed to be king. Now, I know that no son ever had so wise a father, nor has any man served so brave a king..."

Odin's chest rose as he took a breath, and Thor thrilled to feel his father's fingers gently squeezing his own. "Nor has any man had such a son," Odin murmured.

Frigga, who had just arrived, ran in and burst into tears at seeing her husband and son reunited. Reconciled. She and Thor helped Odin sit up, and for the first time in several days they looked on each other with fondness and joy. "I've so much to tell you both," Thor said, his eyes shining.

Though he had lived in Asgard since the day of his birth, Thor doubted he would ever take its splendor for granted again. Everything about Asgard seemed new again: it's air seemed fresher, it's water purer, it's spires and towers more awe-inspiring. He ached to share it with Loki. But a day passed, and then two, and Loki did not return. Thor became frantic. He could not believe that Loki would abandon him, not after all they'd faced together, all they'd shared together, but perhaps something terrible had befallen him on Jotunheim. Thor would never forgive himself if he let Loki go to his doom.

On the third day, as Thor began to plan, with the assistance of Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, a rescue mission into the heart of Jotunheim itself, Loki returned as unexpectedly as he'd departed. He appeared out of the billowing smoke of the great hall's fireplace, stepping out of the flames and brushing ash from his clothing. He seemed much the same but for a jagged scar across his forehead.

Loki refused to explain where the scar came from. "It matters not now," he said cryptically. "I am undisputed king of Jotunheim, and as a monarch in my own right, I may come and go as I please. And I may keep some small secrets to myself. Why, do you find my scar ugly?"

"I could never turn from you," Thor told him earnestly, "because of some small marks upon your face."

At last, they were alone again in Thor's bedchambers, able to kiss and love one another freely, become accoustomed to holding one another in the night. Much to Thor's relief, Loki's feet were not cold, although he discovered that Loki stole the blankets as they slept. Thor resolved to accept his consort's small failing.

Sif and Fandral yearned so for their human lovers that Thor decided to return them to Earth, as an 'honor guard' for Jane and Darcy in his and Loki's absence. Thor and Loki themselves would remain on Asgard for the remainder of the pregnancy, although convincing Loki of that turned out to be the hard part.

Two weeks into the pregnancy, Loki became odd, or at least odder than he had been. He started building little hideyholes in out-of-the-way places, sneaking off in the form of a snake or a horse for hours at a time, and once Thor even found him crying over a song on the iPod Darcy had given him. Thor was at his wit's end until Odin sat him down.

"Fear not, my son," Odin assured him. "Jotuns become broody when they're pregnant. They build nests, become emotional, weepy, blame you for things you knew not you had done, threaten invasion of the Earth realm..."

Thor had been nodding along until this last bizarre tangent. "Father, how do you know all this?" he asked.

Odin was overcome with a coughing fit. "Er, no reason."

Despite what he had thought at first, Loki's pregnany lasted eight weeks, two weeks longer than a normal Jotun pregnancy. Though a human or Asgardian woman might've counted herself lucky to come to term in only two months - Frigga loved reminding them that she had still been nauseous at the two month mark when she carried Thor - Loki pouted and fretted. The only thing that could distract him from how huge and miserable he felt was studying books on Earth magick, for as he explained to Thor, "If we're to spend so much time on Midgard I need to know how to tap into their magicks."

"Could you not before?" asked Thor.

Loki shook his head. "What you saw in New Mexico was but the residual power I had left from Jotunheim and Asgard. I could've tapped Midgard's magicks, aye, but I knew not how to master them. I might've collapsed all of Midgard into a singularity, and us with it. But now I will prepared."

So it was when Thor awoke just after midnight to find Loki gone from their bed, he assumed Loki had snuck off to pore over his books. He stumbled down to the study to find Loki's favorite book open at the spine, its pages still warm from Loki's fingers. A strange intuition led Thor to the belltower, which he climbed by torchlight, up a thousand and one winding steps to the top. There he found Loki curled in a bundle of furs, in her female form. Feeling the warmth of Thor's torch on her skin, Loki flickered her eyes open, and brushed aside her hair to reveal a baby tucked in the crook of her arm. Thor knelt and peered down, feeling as though this were all a dream and he might awake at any moment.

The baby slept peacefully, lips a little open, warm next to his mother. From the thatch of hair upon his head, Thor saw that he would be dark-haired like Loki. Thor brushed a knuckle against their child's cheek, then looked up to see Loki watching him warily, like a mother cat watches he who handles her kittens. He wondered why, then thought of an answer himself; Jotuns did not partner to raise their young. Loki's instincts told him to fear others around his little one, even Thor himself.

"He's beautiful," Thor said softly. He kissed Loki on her lips. "I love you."

The tension in Loki's body seemed to melt away, and she stroked Thor's hair and kissed him back hungrily. Between them, the baby whimpered, waving his tiny fists. His eyes cracked open, newborn blue of course, but Thor suspected they would stay forever blue. He dropped another kiss on their son's forehead.

A year later, Midgard

Sturm Thorsson awoke from his nap and rolled onto his belly. He wiggled to the wall of his playpen, and grabbing two handfuls of netting, pulled himself into a standing position. Looking about and seeing no one, he called out. "HOOOYAAAH!"

A figure came into sight; not his father or his mother, but Sturm's third favorite person, his uncle Clint. "C'mere, viking baby!" Hawkeye said as he plucked Sturm from his playpen.

Tony Stark, who was slumped across the counter in a kitchen alcove a few feet away, groaned. It was too early in the morning and his hangover was much too intense for this. Unlike Clint, who'd adored Sturm from the moment he laid eyes on him, Tony had no liking for babies. They were messy and loud and worst of all, they didn't come with an off-switch. "Isn't someone supposed to be watching the kid?"

"Thor and Loki are right down the hall," Clint told him, sitting in a cushy chair so he could bounce Sturm on his foot. "Ride the horsie! Ride the horsie!"

At Sturm's delighted squeals, Tony staggered off in search of someplace quiet and dark. For all that he technically owned Avengers mansion, it seemed like all sorts of gods and mutants and robots and babies had the run of it most days. He supposed he should just be grateful that Loki had bound Sturm's Jotun powers so he didn't turn them all into blocks of ice every time he had a tantrum.

Thor stuck his head in the door. "Ah, Hawkeye! What are you doing with my son?" Even as he spoke, Loki strolled around him into the room, keeping one eye on Sturm but making no move to take him away from Clint.

Earth residents for a year and a handful of days, Thor and Loki were a case study in how deceiving appearances could be. Loki had adjusted amazingly well to the modern world, but notwithstanding how nice he - and sometimes she, what a lucky bastard Thor was - looked in a double-breasted suit, he never quite seemed like he fit in. Thor, on the other hand, remained an Asgardian to the core of his being but wore a pair of blue jeans like he was born for it.

"Ah, we're just havin' us a good time, ain't we, Sturm?" Clint asked. In reply, Sturm burbled at him happily. Loki crouched on the floor next to them and combed back Sturm's black hair. Clint grinned at Thor over his shoulder. "We deserve a little downtime between supervillains, don't we?"

"Speaking of that..." Loki trailed off. Clint groaned.

"You're kidding! Who is it this week? The killer robot with the Oedipal complex? The German guy in the pink mask? Don't tell me it's Doc Banner on a rampage."

"I believe the king of Atlantis has declared war on the surface world again," said Loki, lifting Sturm from his place on Clint's foot.

Thor sighed. "I'll call Darcy and ask her to babysit."

Loki considered this. "Invite Fandral while you're at it. He'll come along anyway."

Clint playfully pinched at Sturm's belly. "Sorry kid, gotta go save the world again with mom and dad. Hey, when you gonna get tall enough to come along with us?"

Sturm blew bubbles at him.

The End