Okay so i rather liked this one although it is quite long! I hope you enjoyed it! forgive me if some of the mythology isnt exactly perfect, ive tried to keep to it as well as I can, but tbh i wanted it to be quite fluffy, and my imagination changed things a bit :P Enjoy :D I own nothing

3: Children

Loki sighed, tucking his legs up a little further on the soft leather sofa. Today was the anniversary of Jormungandr's birth, and he ached to see him. However, they still had debriefing with the angry one to go through, before they would be allowed to part and go their separate ways. Thor had agreed to keep to himself where they would be travelling this evening, and for that Loki was glad. He was in no way ashamed oh his children, let that be known, but he was afraid that others would shun them, and fear them as Odin did. He felt tears prick at the backs of his eyes as he thought of those children Odin had more completely taken from him, such as Vali and Narfi. Vali, who had been slain, and Narfi, who had cast himself out in shame after being transformed into a wolf and slaying his own brother. Hle Sleipnir was perhaps the easiest but most hurtful to see, always being locked away for Odin's personal use. Fenrir had been found by Thor only a few years earlier, and had been released onto a magically created island, unreachable by anyone not expressly permitted by Loki to see his son.

But Jormungandr dwelled in the seas of Midgard.

It was never hard to find him, but he always worried that they would be seen, and so chose to call his son to emerge at the shore of Fenrirs island, so that he might be sure they were out of sight. No one had ever bothered him there before, and he could come and go as he pleased to see at least those two of his children.

If only his new team mates weren't so infuriatingly well-meaning.

The debriefing finally took place, everyone gathering in what would inevitably turn out to be an argument, as usual. Loki sat stoically through the entire briefing, ignoring the concerned looks being sent his way by both Tony and Thor. He noticed his boyfriend trying to discreetly ask his brother about him at one point, shutting him up with a glare, the only response they got out of him all meeting. As soon as they were given leave for dismissal, Loki teleported to his room, collecting the deer he had procured for his son. Jormungandr had a particular preference for deer, but living beneath the sea, found himself hard pushed to get any, so Loki made a point of always bringing him treats from the land whenever he could, especially on his birthday. He swiftly made his way back to the communal area, snapping impatiently at his brother for not being ready to leave immediately, when he was stopped by his fellow avengers.

"We were all going to go out to eat, aren't you guys coming?" The Captain spoke up, pulling what Tony had deemed his 'puppy dog eyes' on them, designed to guilt the recipient into doing whatever the good Captain wanted. Thor looked as though he had been kicked, looking between his brother and his friend as though he could not decide, and Loki wrenched his mouth open to deliver a harsh blow. He did not have time for his companions now. He wanted to be with his son.

"Hold up, Loki, why are you holding a dead deer?" That was Tony, stepping forward to stare into his boyfriends angry eyes. He hadn't seen Loki this riled up in a long time, hair wild with his fluster, cheeks red, eyes glinting. He knew something was up since they woke, Loki being far less responsive to his chaste kisses than usual. However, the alarm had called out for the Avengers to assemble before he could confront his troubled lover about it. He had seen it again in the debriefing, but both Loki's glare and Thor's surprisingly subtle signalling had told him now was not the time to approach him either. He flinched slightly, but stood his ground as Loki barked at him, more venom in his tone than Tony had ever heard.

"Well you don't expect me to feed him a live one do you? Thor, we must go! I refuse to be held back any longer, he probably thinks I've forgotten him!" Loki wiped the furious tears from his eyes at the prospect of his little Jormy waiting for his father to call him, thinking he had been forgotten. Thor pulled him close against his side, running a hand over his hair, calming him only slightly.

"Loki, Jormungandr would never think that of you, he loves you and knows you love him. You are a good father, he knows this. Sleipnir also thinks you a glorious mother!" Loki cringed as the eyes of the Avengers automatically either snapped to him or widened to an incomprehensible size.

"Father? M-Mother?" Tony stuttered, looking almost on the verge of panic at the notion. "You're a mother? You never told us that!"

"You never asked."

Thor laughed, clapping a firm hand on Loki's shoulder. "Loki is a marvellous father, and mother! He visits his children as often as possible, those whom he can. He was even a wonderful father to Vali and Narfi befor-"

"ENOUGH!" Loki screamed, clapping his hand tightly over his brothers mouth, eyes glowing green. "Hold your tongue, brother. It is no concern of theirs. Now, I am leaving to see my son, whether you come or not. I have been kept from him long enough."

Stalking towards the door in his fury, Loki's automatic reaction when he felt the hand on his wrist was to swing around to throw a fist in the face behind him. Luckily, Tony knew the Trickster well enough to anticipate this, bringing a hand up to catch the fist.

"Easy, Lokes, relax. We're sorry. We're not trying to stop you going, and we didn't mean anything. We were just surprised. W-We also wanted to know..." Here he trailed off, biting his lip.

Loki grit his teeth, trying to refrain from using his magic to burn the hands of the other, forcing him to release the grip he had on his wrists. "Yes?" He forced out through clenched teeth.

"If we could come. Meet your kid. Or Kids, whichever. I'm sure they're awesome, and you know, if we know them, we can protect them if they ever need protecting. Not that they will." He added hastily, seeing the flash of steel in his boyfriends eyes.

Loki deflated. They wanted to meet his children. They would want to protect them. But they didn't even know them! All they knew was that they were the spawn of Loki, and already they wanted to help them. they had not scorned his freakishness for having mothered a child. Looking at his companions he registered that they all looked fairly excited at the prospect. He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Fine. But know this, if any of you ever mock, or endanger one of my children, the myths of Ragnarok will sound like paradise compared to the anguish I will unleash on your souls. Nothing means more to me than they do." He scowled at the room as a whole, only slightly satisfied when the team nodded their agreement. "And we must leave now"

The Avengers, dressed in casual clothes -no-one wanted to even risk suggesting bringing weapons near Loki's kid- held tight to each others hands as Loki teleported them to the island. He then whispered to Thor, who disappeared off to summon Hela for his brother, as the others sat in a crescent on the sand. Loki pulled his boyfriend up to stand with him, addressing his team.

"I will introduce you to Jormungandr first, for he is closest to us now. I will introduce each of you individually, but before you I shall introduce Tony, who I care most about them meeting. Then I shall summon my other Children, or Thor shall summon them for me. When they all have gathered...I shall request time alone with them. It has been a long time since we were all together, and I do not want them feeling hindered and awkward with you all near."

The Avengers agreed, understanding shining in their eyes. They sat quietly as Loki whispered softly in an unknown language, drawing symbols into the sand.

After a few minutes, Loki stood, the symbols glowing green and then silver on the sand, as he moved back from the waves. The Avengers tried not to crawl backwards as a massive snake head appeared from the water, followed by part of the body, resting on the sand. Loki rushed forwards, embracing the massive head, kissing the snout of the great serpent, crooning to it in the unknown language. He then turned to Tony gesturing for him to come forwards.

"Tony, this is Jormungandr Lokison, my son. He will not hurt you, and he will understand if you speak with him. Jormungandr, this is Tony Stark, the man I have come to love. He asked to meet you and your siblings. Happy birthday, my son."

"Happy birthday" Tony breathed out, letting Loki guide his hand to stroke the scaled nose head of the snake, his entire being just in awe at what he was seeing. The creature was magnificent. And Loki seemed so tame in his presence. If he had ever had any doubt as to whether this was Loki's son, seeing his caring and their beauty when stood together had knocked the doubt right out of his mind. Loki introduced his child to each of the Avengers in turn, with varying reactions. Steve seemed most afraid out of the Avengers. Natasha was kind to his son, probably a maternal instinct towards children. Bruce had taken to him well, fascinated by the way Jormungandr had of making his words known, even when he did not speak. It was almost like being spoken to in your head, except he heard no voice. Fascinating.

Clint had promptly gotten a smack round the back of the head by both Loki and Tony after asking Jormungandr if he could ride him, but surprisingly Jormungandr consented, lifting his tail from the water to coil near his head, giving Clint a way to climb his body. The Archer got along best with his child, Hawkeye's antics prompting laughter from his son that made Loki's heart warm.

A flash of blue announced Thor's arrival with his other children, one of which he had had to summon from Asgard, one from Helheim, and one of which had been on the island. They approached the Avengers, shell shocked at the sight of them, especially at the fierce, black wolf that was Fenrisulfr, and the corpse-like half of Hela. Loki introduced each of them in turn, once more, and he was startled by how well the Avengers interacted with his children, consent to sit and watch, Jormungandr and the archer were content to make fools of themselves together, and Hela had taken to talking to Natasha as she braided her hair at waters edge. The Black Widow had been fascinated to learn that his daughter ruled over the land of the dead, immediately questioning her about her realm, questions which Hela was only too happy to answer. Tony was playing an invigorating game of fetch with Fenrir and Thor, Thor and Tony throwing tree branches for Fenrir to hunt, who would bring them back with his tail wagging and his eyes lit in joy. The most intriguing fellowship of all, however, was that of Sleipnir and the Captain, who had been speaking quietly all evening. Loki had not tried to listen in on their conversation, knowing the if Sleipnir wanted him to hear his mind-speak, he would, but he kept a close eye on his first born nonetheless. There had been some teasing on Loki's part when it was revealed that he had mothered the eight legged stallion, but since then the Avengers had come to realize how much Loki loved his children, and they left him be.

Loki was just content to see his children so happy.

The Avengers all offered to give him the requested time alone with his children, but he had declined, realizing now that he didn't need it. He could combine his two families, instead.

"Hey"

Loki's eyes flickered up to meet those of his boyfriend, taking a seat next to the conjured fire.

"They're really great you know. Everyone thinks so. They can only have gotten their beauty from you."

Loki scoffed, brushing errant hairs from his face as he drew lines in the sand beneath him. "They are beautiful, but you seem to be the only other one to think so. Asgard shuns them, calling them monsters and I the mother of monsters. I just want them all to find happiness. After Vali-"

Here he choked off, unable to continue. Tony pulled him in and held him close, dotting his forehead with kisses. "Thor told me about Vali and Narfi. I'm so sorry, Loki. But it isn't your fault, Odin's just a dick. And look at the others, they look pretty happy to me." At this Loki gave a watery chuckle

"Yes, they do. I cannot thank our friends enough. They get so lonely, each of them, and I miss them so. I was so afraid you would all fear them, hate them. That is why I didn't want anyone bringing weapons...i feared you might react badly and hurt one of them. Particularly Fenrir. He is so big, and people fear him so easily."

"Are you kidding? They're great! They're-" Tony was cut off by Steve yelling for them to come over and join them. It was getting pretty dark by that point, and Natasha, having brought along a camera, wanted to get a picture with the sun setting, and Loki's magic meant they could all be in the picture. They all gathered around Jormungandr, sat with most of his enormous body still in the depths of the sea. Clint sat atop his head, next to Thor who was sat atop Fenrir, who held a soft spot for his uncle. Sleipnir stood off to the right, with Steve's hand stroking his back fondly. Natasha and Hela stood at the left, both with their hair intricately braided. And in the middle of it all was Tony and Loki, locked in an embrace, both overwhelmed to be surrounded by so much love. A love that would ensure that these children would be protected to the death by each and every Avenger present.

The love of their family.

Hope you enjoyed! read and review, dont forget to include any prompts you want done!