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Chapter Text

The Royal Wing, Palace of the Vanir, Vanaheim

The year 3710 of Odin’s Rule

"I must leave."

Freyja, the Queen of Vanaheim, looked at her daughter and sighed. The girl was well into her second trimester and though she had always been reasonably active, it was hardly a sensible time to start a life on the run.

"Don't be ridiculous, where will you go?" Freyja tried to reason. "If you cross them, nobody will give you sanctuary! And for what? To protect your husband?"

The younger woman turned around to face the queen. "Why shouldn't I? I swore before the Norns to stand by his side as his wife. Vows like those are not to be broken!" There was a note of anger in her voice.

"Daughter, be reasonable!" The queen replied. "That man broke his vows to you the day he made you flee! You came here desperate and hurt, as your mother I cannot forget what he did to you."

"I have told you not to make assumptions mother, and I stand by that. You do not know the facts, and so I will not stand for you slandering the man I love." Her voice was firm.

Freyja sighed, conceding the point. "Nonetheless I cannot agree with this course of action. It is foolish to even consider. What harm is there in giving evidence before the court? If you run will be seen as an admission of guilt, you will never be free of them. They will hunt you to the ends of Yggdrasil."

Her daughter nodded. "They will. But if I return I will be admitting to treason at the least. I cannot risk the life of my child by returning to that rotten place." There was finality in her voice. She pushed her golden-red locks from her face and turned her back, continuing to pack clothes and toiletries into a small satchel. The sheer volume of items could not possibly fit. But it did.

Freyja gave up and helped her daughter collect her things. "Would they really harm your child?" She asked. The queen was unused to feeling  so unsure.

Sigyn turned to face her mother, grief marring in the lines of her beautiful face. "Remember what they did to her siblings and repeat that question." She stated.

Freyja looked away. "Very well. I will tell them you never came here. Look after yourself, daughter. You carry the heir to the Vanir throne."

The pregnant woman looked dryly at her mother. "Is that a call to arms? Vanaheim never did well out of our last rebellion. I doubt a new queen would make a difference. Odin Allfather holds tyranny over eight of the nine realms mother. Accept that as long as he lives we will never be free of Asgard."

Freyja turned back to her daughter, complete sadness in her eyes. "And this is the man whom you intend to hide from. What hope is there for any of us?"

"That the old man will die in his sleep perhaps? We can only keep living, mother." Having finished her packing, she collected her bag and her travelling cloak, wrapping the fabric tight around herself. "Goodbye mother."

Sigyn Freyjasdottir left the room. She did not look back.

Chapter Text

Avengers Tower, New York City, Midgard
The Year 3711 of Odin’s Reign

Thor Odinson, Crown Prince of Asgard, was confused. It was a warm summer’s day and a light breeze was drifting in through the open window. J.A.R.V.I.S. had just informed him that it was noon, and the god of thunder had slept in. Thor had planned to awaken early enough to breakfast with his Lady Jane, but she had left to go down to the labs several hours ago. He had decided to make lunch to take down to Jane, but was hindered by the baffling mortal technology.

Thor found that, on the whole, most of the bizarre machines the mortals had developed to make life easier were simple to operate once he realised they were millennia behind those on Asgard. One of the great privileges of being a prince of the realm was that for almost his whole life Thor had had meals prepared for him and never had to use any of the kitchen ware at home. This meant that unless he was cooking over a fire when out questing or campaigning (a job he had frequently made Loki do) he was clueless where to start.

J.A.R.V.I.S. finally spoke up as Thor opened the microwave door for a fourth time, to find that the food inside still cold. “I believe the device is unplugged Mr. Odinson.”

Thor frowned in confusion for a moment, before reaching behind to find the cable was hanging loosely. “Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S.” he replied. After that, he managed the rest without too much difficulty, collecting plates and cutlery and placing it all on a tray. As he headed out of his apartments, he wondered about how different his life was now to what it had been several years before.

Prior to his failed coronation, Thor’s life had been simple. He had enjoyed questing, feasting and wenching, sometimes all at the same time. He loved his family, and was sure of their love for him. He was convinced he would be the greatest king that the realms had ever known, and would continue to do precisely what he pleased for the rest of his life. Only now could Thor see how absurd those thoughts had been.

Realising he was not the man he’d thought himself, that he may not make a very good king had shaken his entire worldview. His banishment had matured him, but it was Loki’s madness that had changed him. The year of grief following the shocked horror of his brother’s first ‘death’ had forced him to see how things really were. He’d tried to live by some of the last words his brother had said to him before everything had seemed to change, but it was a difficult task.

“Thor, stop and think.”

Loki’s seeming return had angered Thor. He had been grieving for a year, and Loki had apparently been making war plans with monstrous beings. Plans to attack an innocent realm. It was this that had made him forsake Loki when they returned to Asgard. Loki seemed to show no remorse for his actions, and it was easier to forget him in the dungeons, to not think of him at all.

And then mother had killed, and Loki had protected Jane and died to save Thor’s life.

Thor mourned his brother now more than ever. He felt overwhelmingly guilty that he had wasted a year of their time together ignoring Loki. They might have talked in that year. Things might have been different if he had asked his father to see Loki even once. Odin’s seeming indifference to the death of his youngest son had shocked Thor, but he had to admit that father had never really shown much care to any of Loki’s behaviour unless he was at fault.

The thunder god had been thinking much lately. The ways of Midgard were very different to the realm of his birth, their concepts of mercy and justice were almost alien to him. He wondered how appalled Jane would be if she heard even a fraction of what had been done to Thor’s little brother as ‘punishment’ in the past. By that margin, Loki’s punishment for attack Midgard had been almost tame.

Thor supposed it was a good thing that Loki’s children were no longer living in Asgard.

When Thor reached the labs he found Jane scrawling furiously in her notebook as Darcy sat nearby, tapping her foot to an unheard song playing through her headphones. The dark haired girl looked up, grinning and giving him a wink as she strolled out, presumably to find her own lunch. When he placed the tray on the largest desk, Jane looked up. There was a moment where Thor thought she might try to continue working, but as he took the lid off the container of food she sighed and moved over to help him set it out.

“How goes the bridge building?” he asked.

Jane looked frustrated. “We’re miles away from even considering testing a working Bifrost. I’m trying to work with the convergence data to see if I can find a way to track the ‘secret paths’, but it’s not making a lot of sense. It’s almost as though they’re too different readings, if I could just talk to someone who underst-”

Jane broke off, looking wary. Thor’s heart clenched with renewed hurt over his brother. Loki would understand, be able to help Jane. Though he probably wouldn’t. Thor’s understanding of magic was so very limited - another failing that.

“Loki used the secret paths for much of his life, from at least a thousand years before the most recent convergence. It would make sense for it to use different magic than the portals.” He said neutrally. Jane looked thankful that he had been the one to bring up Loki. She had been very considerate about sidestepping Loki’s name when he might come up in conversation. Thor was fairly sure she had spoken to the others, as they were all doing the same thing.

“I’ll look into that then,” Jane said. She changed the subject. “Tony said its Movie Night again tonight.” The astrophysicist looked exasperated.

Thor grinned. He enjoyed watching the saga’s that the others chose to educate him in Midgardian culture. “Are we continuing the tale of the nine wanderer’s quest to destroy the ring of power?”

“I think so. Bruce requested Return of the King in the first place of we’ll probably watch that one afterwards too.”

Thor smiled widely. He had found in the last few weeks since Tony had invited Thor, Jane, Erik and Darcy to come and live in the tower that he was happier in his time spent of Midgard than he had been in recent years in Asgard. Though Steve and Natasha were working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and so were rarely at the tower, and Barton seemed to spend even less time with them, it was good to be among his fellow avengers. Even the seemingly golden days of his childhood seemed to be marred now by his newer understanding of the sometimes cruelty of his home.

Knowhere
Some hours later

Zantha and Deireck were regretting agreeing to meet with this being. Things hadn’t been going well for the pair in the last year. A crack down on bounty hunters all over the galaxy had made it harder and harder for them to find semi-legit contractors. They were now having to move in decidedly not legit circles, and that was asking for trouble. Xantha was Xandarian, while Deireck was half Kree. They had made for an odd pair sitting in a dark corner waiting for their contractor to arrive.

The being was short, fully cloaked, and radiated an aura that inspired sheer terror. There was no doubt that this was the famed ‘Other’ that served Thanos. Deireck had received word from a contact who had told him that if he wanted riches beyond his wildest dreams, then to be here at this time. Naturally he came. Zantha had been less sure about the whole affair, but was hesitant to disagree.

“You are the hunters?” The Other asked. Deireck nodded, eyes wide in fear. Zantha sighed, giving him a ‘Really?’ look.

She spoke up. “That’s us. The message said you’d pay half now, and well.” The Xandarian gave him a bold look.

The Other turned his head to face her. It was impossible to see his expression under the dark hood. He passed her a data chip. “A relation of one who dared betray the might of Thanos. The Asgardian was leashed by an artefact that belongs to the Titan, but still defied him, allowing the mortals to survive and the Thanos prize to be returned to Asgard. A reminder of what happens to those who dare fail the Titan.” The message could not be clearer. “Bring us the girl, or her corpse. You will be payed once you do.”

With that, the being strode out. Zantha looked furiously at Deireck. “You got us into this mess, you can get us out of it!” She shoved the data chip at the half-Kree. “Talk to me once you’ve got the money.” She strode out, leaving a shocked Deireck in her wake.

Common Area, Avengers Tower, Midgard
That evening

Movie Night was proving to be as enjoyable as always, and Thor was beginning to relax fully, all thoughts of his late brother far from his mind. He was seated on the long white couch with his Lady Jane sitting next to him, leaning against his side. Darcy was sat at the other end of the couch, her legs stretched out onto the small table. Erik Selvig was seated in an armchair, whilst Pepper and Tony shared the other couch the Bruce. The gathered group were sharing popcorn and occasionally commenting as the small group of hero’s onscreen rode into Rohan, when it happened.

There was barely a sound to accompany the small flash of rainbow light and a woman seemed to burst out of the air, running. A cloaked man seemed to leap out behind her, grabbing her and attempting to stab her. The room leapt into action. Tony shouted “JA.R.V.I.S.!” even as Thor called Mjolnir, sending the man crashing off to the side of the room with a mighty blow.

Seeing that Iron Man was already suited and dealing with attacker, Thor turned to the woman. He wondered if his face showed the abject shock he was feeling. Not only did he recognise her, her pregnant state was hard to miss.

“Sigyn!” he cried, moving too her. He knew instantly something was wrong. Her face paling rapidly, and she seemed to sway on her feet. He reached her just as she started to fall, managing to help lower her gently the last feet to the floor. There was a rapidly growing wet patch blooming at her side, stark red against the pale blue of her travelling gown.

He turned to Bruce Banner, who was standing with the group of women and Erik, looking as though he were trying desperately to calm down. “He stabbed her!” Thor stated loudly, “Have you bandages?” Banner seemed to come to himself instantly, the crisis seeming to calm him faster than anything else. Thor was grateful, panic was currently overwhelming him. He kept flashing back to Loki lying blooded on the Svartálfheim sand. He vowed then to himself not to lose another sibling in such a way.

Bruce knelt beside them, taking Thor’s place pressing onto the wound. He was instructing Erik Selvig on what to bring up from the medbay, and asking Lady Pepper to grab the first aid kit. Thor turned back to Sigyn. Her gaze kept drifting around the room but finally he noticed her eyes lock onto him.

“Good Sister?” he asked, his voice desperate.

“Thor,” she whispered. “I made it.” The Vanir woman looked relieved to find herself with someone she knew and Thor wondered where she had been all these years. They had all assumed she had returned to Vanaheim after her estrangement from Loki, but Queen Freyja had declared she had never returned when Odin sent guards to search for her after Loki was brought back to Asgard in chains.

“Sister, stay with me,” Thor pleaded desperately. He could feel Bruce checking the wound as Pepper brought him fresh bandages but the doctor - though he often clarified he was not actually that type of doctor – was tense beside him.

“Miss,” Banner asked, “How far along are you? In your pregnancy?”

Sigyn’s gaze drifted to Bruce, looking confused for a minute. “I am late in my third year.” She murmured. Bruce looked bewildered.

“What… Oh, of course. Thor, how long do pregnancy’s last in Asgard?”

“3 years.” The thunder god replied. He was confused at the question himself, but remembered something Darcy had said about pregnancy only taking around 9 months on Midgard. He had thought she was jesting.

Sigyn looked weaker still when he looked back at her. “Sister!” he near shouted, desperate to get her attention. He could feel Jane knelt next to him, a hand on his shoulder in support. He loved her more dearly than anything for that. She alone must understand how this pained him. Pepper and Darcy were hovering across from him, seeming as though they wanted to help but didn’t know how too. Tony had returned, without the suit, and was helping Erik drag a wheeling board of some kind into the room.

Sigyn managed to find Thor’s face again. “You still call me sister?” she asked, her voice drifting.

“Until the realms burn!” Thor replied earnestly. How could she ask him such a question? “You are my sister.” He stated.

“Good.” She smiled. Her voice seemed marginally stronger, her eyes more intent on his face. “Please do something for me.” She asked, seeming desperate now, trying to reach up for him. Thor grasped her hand tightly in response.

“Lie still for me sweetheart.” Banner said firmly. “You’re probably going to pass out in a minute but that’s normal. I’m going to do what I can for you, but I think the shock is going to induce labour. Are you comfortable with me delivering you baby, or do you want us to try and get a real doctor through S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“If Thor trusts you, then you will be best.” Sigyn replied without pause. “Thor, please…”

“Anything, Sister,” He promised.

“Swear to protect my child,” She begged. “From anyone who might harm her. Please. From the Allfather if necessary. Don’t let them hurt her.” There were tears in her eyes.

“I swear it.” Thor said with strength. He could feel the Vanir’s Seidr binding his Oath to Mjolnir.

Sigyn’s voice was fading. “Don’t let her be taken away…”

“I swear it, Sister.” He repeated, the magic snapping closed, binding his words to his hammer. If he disavowed this, Mjolnir would deem him unworthy once more. Sigyn smiled as she felt the Oath bind, finally slipping into unconsciousness.

Bruce nudged Thor and he noticed that the rolling board was stationed next to Sigyn. “We need to lift her carefully onto the back board. Tony if you get her right shoulder…” he continued giving instructions, directing each of the men to reach under one corner and raise her off the ground and Jane slid the board under her. He then had them lift her onto the stretcher, and started rolling her to the elevator.

Thor followed, feeling the others close behind. He pushed into the lift with Banner and the stretcher, but Erik slid past Jane in next to him just as the doors shut.

“You said her name was Sigyn.” Erik stated. It was not a question. Thor answered it anyway.

“Aye. She is Sigyn Freyjasdottir, my Good Sister.” His voice was firm, broking no argument on this front.

“In Norse mythology she is the wife of-”

Thor cut him off. “I will explain everything later, but it is a long story. Please, I worry for her. Ask me no more until we know more.”

Erik nodded, looking like he wanted to know more but agreeing to wait. The doors of the lift opened and Bruce began moving Sigyn into the medical bay that was set up on one floor of avenger’s tower. Thor moved to follow, before Erik put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. “Just one thing,” he added. “What they did to the children in the stories, is it… true?” he asked.

Thor looked blankly at Erik, nodding. “Aye.” He replied quietly. “I read the entries that J.A.R.V.I.S. pointed me too when Tony asked about the wedding dress, and it is true. Where they differ from reality, the truth is the worse of the two.”

Erik looked green. “I think I’m going to be sick.” He said, striding into the bathroom next to the lift. Jane, Darcy, Tony and Pepper came careening down the stairs, joining Thor in walking to the door of the private room Bruce had stopped the stretcher just inside of. He was sorting through various objects, looking intently at what he was doing.

“Her labour has started, so I’m going to get this wound clamped for now, and then deliver the baby. Are you going to be there for that?” He looked questioningly at Thor.

“I…It would not be appropriate.”

“Wouldn’t it? Family are ok generally on Midgard, and I really need another set of hands in here. Just to hold things mostly, you wouldn’t need to do anything.”

“I would not want to damage my sister’s honour.” Thor said. “You are a healer, of sorts, on this realm, but no man except the father should ever been in the birthing chamber, it is…not done. There must be only female relatives and healers.” He finished, looking awkward.

“I’ll do it.” Said Jane, looking startled by her words herself. “I mean, if that would be ok? Because we’re together, would that count?” she asked, looking to Thor.

“I…Yes. Yes, that would be acceptable.” He took Jane’s hand in his, kissing the back. “Thank you, Jane Foster.”

“Well then,” Bruce said, as Jane stepped into the room. “If you could just wash your hands and get some gloves and we’ll start by…” He was cut off by the door swinging shut.

Tony glanced nervously at Pepper, before turning to Thor. “Right then. Baby in the Tower, Yay!” he let out a laugh that sounded more panicked than happy. Pepper dragged the two males over to a seating area in the corner of the medical bay, Darcy following them. She pulled out a tablet and started to find somewhere to deliver baby essentials at 10 in the evening on a Saturday. Thankfully, she was Pepper Potts so it wasn’t that difficult a task.

Thor prayed desperately to the Norns that he would not lose his last sibling. And that no harm would come to his brother’s last child.

Chapter Text

Private Treatment Room, Avengers Tower, Midgard

The 3711 year of Odin’s Rule

Some minutes after Thor’s prayer to the Norns

Jane would happily admit she was out of her depth here. Bruce had obviously delivered a child before, he seemed to know what he was doing well enough. But Jane was an astrophysicist with no female relatives her own age. She’d never even held a baby before, and hadn’t had any great desire too. Thor’s face had been enough to make her step forward to help. The god of Thunder had looked desperate, wanting to do anything that might give Sigyn a better chance of survival, but hindered by bizarre cultural rules.

It wasn’t the first time Jane had been reminded that Asgard was a very different place to Earth. There had been a time that a news report about child soldiers had been playing in the living room and Jane had had to explain to Thor why it was unacceptable to expect teenagers to fight in wars. Thor had explained hesitantly that young men were expected to enlist almost before they hit puberty. Crazy.

Bruce had done something clever with the woman’s bleeding wound to staunch the flow, and was now changing her into a hospital gown. He’d explained that he didn’t want to risk giving her any drugs to ease the birthing process in case she reacted differently than a human would. They’d have to work with the contractions, and be ready to do an emergency C-section if necessary.

Jane was setting up a cleaning and weighing station for when the baby needed to be checked over. Bruce had told her what to do but the astrophysicist’s hands were trembling as she wiped down the area. “I’ve never done anything like this before.” She admitted.

“I kind of figured,” Bruce replied. “To be honest, I’ve only ever delivered human babies before this.” Jane turned to stare at him. She broke out into hysterical giggles.

“I’m really not qualified for this…” she said as she gathered herself together again.
 
“You’ll do fine.” Bruce said firmly. “Thor needs you to do this for him yeah? You’re just passing me things and holding the baby, ok?” Jane nodded.
It was messy, slow and honestly terrifying. Jane really hoped Thor wasn’t expecting children in the next ten years, at least. If she’d been hesitant before then this had completely turned her off it. At least Sigyn was unconscious or this would be really uncomfortable for all around, having two complete strangers in such an intimate and embarrassing situation.

It felt like days – though had only been a couple of hours – when Bruce gently passed the baby to Jane. She took it as carefully as she had ever held anything, wrapping the clean blanket she was holding around it and taking it to the table. Her Jane realised. She was a girl. There was a few wispy curls of bright red hair stuck to her head. Jane tried to see a hint of her mother’s pleasant features, or even Thor’s characteristics in her face but couldn’t see anything of either of them.

Bruce came over after a moment, taking the baby back and checking her over. She was quiet, barely whimpering. When he placed her on the flat weigh board she let out a louder noise and opened her eyes. They were clear blue at first glance – weren’t all babies eyes blue? – Though there was a definite hint of green in their depths. And suddenly Jane was absolutely certain why Thor was so shaken. The features were hard to recognise but once it had clicked it was obvious whose child this was. Sister, Thor had said. Not a sibling, but his brother’s wife.

The Medical Bay Seating Area, Avengers Tower, Midgard

Meanwhile

“How long is this supposed to take?” Tony asked. He had spent the last two hours aimlessly playing on a tablet. Or so Thor assumed. The thunder god could admit that he was not paying a great deal of attention to his surroundings. Erik had returned for the bathroom some time ago, but Thor was barely aware of any of the murmured conversations the others had been sharing. He had not taken his eyes off the door.

“Tony!” Pepper Potts said exasperatedly. She threw him an unimpressed look, just as the door in question opened. (“Finally!”)

Thor stood up upon seeing Jane carrying a tiny white wrapped bundle. He strode over, hovering nervously and trying to see inside her arms. “Is she..? Are they both alright?” he asked.

Jane smiled at him. “Bruce is just finishing closing the internal damage done by the stab wound, he said she’s going to be fine, but might not wake up for a few days. This little one is fine though.” She made to pass him the bundle, and Thor took his niece reverently. She was tiny, but Thor supposed Vali and Narfi had been about his size when he first saw them. Hela and Fenrir had definitely been much smaller. The bright almost-green eyes seemed to look through him.

Thor cleared his throat loudly, trying to hide the huskiness of his voice, ducking his head so that the others would not see the sheen on his eyes. A part of his brother would live on in this sweet child. He vowed to himself then and there that he would not only protect her to the ends of Yggdrasil, he would make her happy. Whatever this little girl wanted in all the worlds he would do his best to provide.

Is this what it feels to be a parent? He wondered.

“I can’t believe you can hold a kid without dropping it Thor!” Darcy burst out, interrupting his deeply philosophical moment. “Come here I wanna see it.” She demanded.

“It’s a her,” Jane corrected her. Thor walked over to his gathered group of friends and shield-brothers. He smiled at them. His family.

“This is Sigynsdottir,” he told them clearly. “My niece.” They approached slowly, peering over at her. Erik stayed back, looking half wary, and half as though he were exasperated in himself for his wariness. Pepper let an ‘aww’ whilst Tony looked like the bundle might bite him. Darcy was bouncing up or her toes to see the babe.

“Are you gonna keep that name?” the dark haired Intern asked, “Cos I can think of like three ones that are better off the top of my head.”

“It is not right to name a babe until they have lived to their seventh day. How would you know them well enough to give them a name?” he asked, frowning. “She will be Sigynsdottir until then, though Sigyn always uses Sweetling as an endearment for her children, so you may also call her thus. Then she will know herself when her mother wakes.” He explained.

The others looked confused. “That’s…weird.” Tony stated. “But crazy alien culture, so sure.”

Jane smiled at Thor again, “Of course we’ll call her that. Sigyn should be awake by then, Bruce thinks so she’ll be able to name her.”

As though summoned by the mention of his own name, Bruce joined the group. “She stable, I don’t think there’s any worry at this point, but we’ll keep an eye on her all the same.” Thor felt relief wash through him. He would not lose either of them. The Norns had smiled upon him this day.

“Thank you, Bruce Banner. You may ask anything of me and I will do it in recompense.” He stated.

Bruce looked a little startled by the phrase, but nodded. “Okay. Could you maybe explain why I just delivered Loki’s daughter?”

There was a moment of stunned silence that lasted a lifetime. Thor closed his eyes in horror. He had hoped to put off this explanation for some time, at least until Sigyn was well enough to travel. The thunder god loved his friends dearly but had not illusions that they would allow the child of their enemy to stay in this safe place. He turned to Tony Stark, who looked utterly stunned.

“Tony Stark. I understand you will expect me to leave your home for this transgression, I would ask that you allow me and the child to remain until morning, for her safety.”

“I… what?” Tony replied, even more bewildered. “Why would you think..? Thor, buddy, we’re not going to kick you out! I like you living here, and I’m not some dick who’d make a baby sleep on the streets or something. It’s hardly her fault her dads a nutjob.” Thor felt hope rising in his chest. He pushed aside the anger at Loki being so obviously insulted, but could not blame the Man of Iron for such.

“You would allow Sigynsdottir and I to stay here? And Sigyn too, whilst she recovers? You would provide sanctuary.”

Tony looked thoughtfully. “I’m guessing that means something important?” he asked.

“Aye.” Thor replied. “It means you will provide shelter and security for one who is being unfairly hunted. I would owe you a great debt for such.”

Bruce stepped in. “Look guys, obviously this is a big deal, and I have no problems with Thor, Sigyn and the baby staying here - though it’s your call obviously Tony – but I think I’m justified in asking for some answers Thor. Your brother’s wife turns up here pregnant and under attack and asks you to protect her child like that’s who is under threat? Am I missing something?”

Thor sighed. “’Tis a long story, Friend-Bruce. Perhaps we can be seated.” The assembled group settled back into the couches, Jane sitting by Thor’s side. Darcy sat across for him where she could continue to stare at the baby with rapt attention.

“The tales surrounding Sigyn and Loki are long and complicated. Perhaps if we have a meeting with all the team tomorrow I will explain all I know then, but for now I will tell you what I can briefly.” Tony and Pepper nodded in understanding, and Bruce and Erik looked accepting of this. “Suffice to say that any child of Loki’s will never be entirely safe.

“For the past three years Sigyn has been estranged from my brother. There was an… incident which appeared to end their relationship. The shame that the rumours started by the situation stopped my father from enquiring further into it. He asked Loki if the rumours were true, and when my brother admitted that they were, he did not dare summon Sigyn to court for fear of even more shame being brought to his name.”

“Shame? What exactly happened that rumours would be less shameful than the truth?” Darcy asked.

“You must understand that the honour of the House of Odin is acclaimed throughout all the realms. To have it tarnished by truth would be far worse than the gossip of servants. I never believed the claims, even after Loki admitted to the whole horror of it, and some weeks afterward he took me aside and told me that if I had any care for him and Sigyn at all, that I would never go looking for answers, never allow any other to doubt the rumours. I can now see why he was so adamant.”

“What were they? These rumours?” Pepper asked, hesitantly.

Thor sighed. “It was several months before the coronation of mine that failed and resulted in my banishment to Midgard. The day that the Allfather announced that I would be the one to ascend to the throne, that my coronation would take place on my next nameday. I remember Loki stormed out of the courtroom looking to be in a foul mood, which was most odd as we had been informed of this months earlier and my brother had then shown only resignation.

“That evening he came out drinking with my friends and I, celebrating the announcement. He appeared to get exceedingly drunk within the hour, and had to be dragged home by one of the palace guards when he started a fight with one of my father’s lords by declaring the man’s wife as ugly as a hound and his hound a right bitch.”

Tony let out a snort. Thor continued, ignoring the outburst.

“This was also very out of character. Loki has never been one for drink, and his silvertongue makes all insults so sharp you barely notice them to start with. What happened next is heresy, but the servants say that he had a very loud row with Sigyn and disappeared off to the kitchens, drank another six bottles of wine before returning to his chambers and…”

Thor paused, unsure how to continue. “They say that there was screaming, and cursing, and the sounds of things being thrown around. They say that Sigyn shouted desperately for him to stop, but that he did not heed her words. Loki was seen riding out from the city at daybreak, he did not return for three days.

“Sigyn left the rooms a few hours later. They say her dress was torn half to shreds and she was holding a tattered cloak around herself - that she limped with every step. They say she was trying to hide her face, but that it was bloodied. She rode out to the Bifrost and has never stepped foot in Asgard since.”

“He raped her.” Pepper said emotionlessly, breaking the silence. The group looked horrified. Darcy was pale, and Jane looked sickened. Bruce was clenching his fists, looking as though he would soon have to leave. Tony was staring at his hands, deep in thought.

“No!” Thor cried adamantly. “I have never believed it!”

“The evidence is pretty damning, Thor.” Erik stated quietly. “You can’t say one way or”-

“They staged the whole thing.” Tony interrupted. “You said there children wouldn’t be safe right? And Sigyn said she was three years pregnant, but by your count if that was the night the kid was conceived then she’d only be two and a half. They would have already known she was, and needed to make her have a good excuse for leaving and never coming back. All the evidence fits cos they wanted it to fit.”

Loki storms out and makes a scene about missing out on the throne when everyone finds out, even though he already knew. He gets really obviously drunk in front of as many people as possible, and gets himself sent home. Then they make sure everyone hears a big fight early on, and then another lounder fight that sounds really obviously like he’s raping her.

“Isn’t your brother clever enough to stop her from being heard if he really was doing that to her? Would it be so obvious if it was true? And then he point-blank admits to it, no shame, no trying to hide it? Tells his own father that he did that?  No-one in their right mind would do that unless they were making sure everyone thought they had.” Tony finished, looking triumphant for understanding this.

Thor nodded slowly. “That is what I now believe, yes. They must have realised that no child of theirs would ever be safe in Asgard and made sure that none would question their story.” Jane squeezed his arm in support. Thor looked down at the child that Loki had been protecting. He would continue to protect her in his brother’s stead. If he could do one thing in Loki’s memory, then perhaps in this he could repay him for saving Jane’s life.

Darcy looked stunned. “That’s crazy! How nuts would you have to be to make everyone believe you were a rapist to get your wife out of the realm?”

“Aye.” Thor answered, “It damaged his reputation irreparably. None trusted Loki after that, which had a part in the events that changed him from the man I grew up with into the one who tried to conquer your realm. But they had good reason. Loki’s children are scattered, damaged and in some cases dead. This little one may never know her siblings.”

“So what they did too them in our myths that’s all true?” Bruce looked horrified. “I read up on Norse mythology after New York but I figured it must be mostly made up.”

The god of thunder nodded. “I will explain it in detail tomorrow. The hour is late and we must find a way to feed Sigynsdottir.”

“I ordered a few types of formula with the baby stuff, it’s on it’s been dropped off by the elevator.” Pepper told him kindly. Thor looked thankful, but also – weirdly – flustered.

“That is most kind of you, Lady Pepper. But she must feed from her mother’s milk, so that she can be gifted the Eidr she needs to grow strong and healthy.”

Bruce frowned. “Is this another Asgardian thing?” he asked. “Sigyn is still unconscious so it might be unnecessarily complicated.”

“It is crucial.” Thor stated adamantly. “The child will not be strong without the Eidr. Fenrir and Hela were so weak when they were born that it was only Sigyn taking them at her own breast that saved their lives. It weakened her greatly at the time to do it as she was feeding a child of her own body at the same time. I know only that the first week is crucial in this.”

Bruce looked like he was trying hard to understand the cultural barrier here. “The baby is very strong already, healthier than her mother at the moment, so maybe we can try her on the formula for now, and then when Sigyn wakes up in the next few days she can feed her herself?” he tried.

Thor nodded slowly. “That seems acceptable.” Bruce wandered off in the direction of the supplies, muttering about crazy Asgardians and how was this his life now? Thor continued; “I would not know how to go about it in any case, the gifting of Eidr is a deeply personal thing, to be kept between the mother and her child.”

Darcy cut it. “Wait, Asgard isn’t one of those awful backwards places where women aren’t even allowed to breastfeed in public are they?” she demanded.

“It is not that they are not allowed, it is for their privacy. None must infringe on something that is private to the mother. Only the child’s father is permitted to be present, and even that is at the mother’s choice. It is deeply wrong to infringe on this privacy.” Darcy looked more confused than anything at this but nodded anyway.

Thor’s niece squirmed in his arms, letting out a whimper and opening her near-green eyes once more. She stared at his face, a small hand stretching from the blanket to brush the armour that he still wore since the attack on her mother. Thor smiled.

“I believe I will introduce the little one to her mother.” He turned to Jane. “I would stay here with them tonight, if that is acceptable?” he looked so earnest that Jane nodded on instinct.

The assembled group started to diverse at this, Darcy and Erik following Jane up to Thor’s floor and Tony and Pepper up to the penthouse together. Thor stepped as quietly as he could into Sigyn’s room. She looked so pale and small laying on in the hospital bed, there was a tube coming out of the back of her hand, and clear mask over her mouth. The thunder god could not fathom the strange healing devises, but trusted in Dr. Banner’s skill.

“This is your mother, sweetling.” He told the tiny being in his arms softly, sitting himself close to her bedside so the child could hear her mother’s breathing. “She is Sigyn Freyjasdottir and she loves you very much. She will tell you herself when she awakens.”

The child let out another small noise. “Aye, it will not be long in the scheme of things. You will live for millennia, you will come to no harm from her missing your first few days. I will just have to keep you occupied so that you do not miss her, yes?” he told the child.

Thor could not remember having spent this much time with any of his brother’s children when they were so young. He had thought them quite boring really at such an age, bewildered as to why Loki was so enamoured with them. All but Sleipnir, who his brother had been banned from spending time with as soon as he brought him to the palace at around four weeks old. Thor had been used to pass messages between the two, and had become very close to the eight legged colt as a result, spending hours of his youth brushing him and bringing him stolen carrots from the kitchens.

Bruce knocked once on his way into the room. He held out a small bottle of white liquid which he carefully instructed Thor how to feed to the babe. Thor thought it was ingenious, the way these mortals had devised a way for the father – or in this case uncle – to feed a child. He could almost feel the bond developing between them.

Then she puked on him. Bruce let out something that could not be anything but a giggle. As Thor Odinson wiped the vomit of his niece from his pristine armour, he could not help but adore the child all the more for it. Just like Loki, the babe was already ruining his golden image in the most amusing ways.

Chapter Text

The Breakfast Bar, Common Area, Avengers Tower, Midgard

The Next Morning

Steve Rodgers and Natasha Romanov strolled into the common area, feeling they were reasonably prepared for any sight that might greet them. Tony’s message had come late last night, complete with a recording of the night’s events and Thor’s short explanation. The billionaire had sent his private jet to fly them over right away, certain they’d want to be here. It jet had dropped them off and then set course immediately to wherever Barton was hiding out.

They were not prepared to see Thor changing the soiled nappy of a new-born child on the breakfast counter. The smell alone was enough to send Steve off to heave into the sink, trying desperately not to throw up the bagel and coffee they had collected on the drive over. Nat, clearly made of sterner stuff than the captain, walked over to Thor.

“That’s not hygienic. We eat here. Go do it somewhere else.” One look at Natasha’s stern face had Thor scrambling to finish and move to the other side of the room. He disposed of the dirty diaper, and took Sigynsdottir to the small couch in the corner of the kitchen. Nat selected the largest bottle of bleach she could find and began pouring it over the counter. Steve went to help once he had gotten himself under control.

“Have you ever cleaned anything before?” he asked incredulously as she continued to empty half the bottle. Nat looked at him drily. He sighed and went to work finding something to wipe up the bleach.  There was no ‘evidence’ of Thor’s work on the counter, but he still cleaned it all unnecessarily thoroughly.

“Is that her?” Nat asked, staring hard at the pink wrapped bundle in Thor’s arms. She looked as though she were assessing a potential target.

“Do you see any other babies around here?” Tony answered as he came in from the elevator, Pepper following him, busily talking away on the phone as she did. “My tower was an infant free zone just hours ago, look at it now.” He sighed heavily.

“My friends,” Thor declared loudly. “This is Sigynsdottir.” He looked astoundingly proud, sitting there holding the baby to his chest. He had removed his armour at some point, and was now dressed in a loose grey t-shirt and jeans. At the sound of his loud voice the bundle squirmed, revealing a tiny hand that batted at his chest before gasping a long braid hanging down from his head and tugging.

“Carefully sweetling,” the god of thunder said, staring at the child with a near awed look on his face. “You will one day be a fine warrior, but may haps you can leave my hair attached to my skull? I prefer it there.” Steve and Natasha stared at Thor, astounded by the care he was taking with the baby. Thor regularly forgot his strength - destroying doors and furniture by accident.

“I know.” Tony said, staring at the two. “We were all shocked.” He dove into the paper bag Nat had just handed him, extracting his own bagel, passing Pepper hers when she came for it. “Point Break? Your bagel’s getting cold. J.A.R.V.I.S.? Tell Bruce and the others to get up here, Capsicle brought breakfast.”

Steve finally managed to get his head around Thor’s surprising baby-care prowess, asking the thunder god; “Are we really going to call her ‘Sigynsdottir’? It seems like an awful big name for such a little kid.”

“Aye. She must not be named until her character is known to us. Only then can we be sure the runes of her name suit her.” Steve nodded, looking no less confused.

“And remember,” Tony said, refilling the coffee cup Nat and Steve had brought him from the coffee machine. “They called her siblings ‘Jörmungandr’ and ‘Fenrisúlfr’ so she’s out o’ luck if she wants a short name.”

“Since when did you become an expert on Norse Mythology?” Bruce asked as he wandered in. “Don’t tell me, last night?”

Tony chuckled, nodding. Pepper hung up her phone call, turning to him. “I’ll be back about lunch for the team meeting. I’ve gotta go to work, finance are having a meltdown over something ridiculous.” She turned to Steve. “I am invited to the meeting, right?”

Steve blushed. He always blushed around Pepper. Or in fact, all women that weren’t Natasha, who seemed to get a free pass as a fellow avenger. “Sure. It’s not just a team matter anyhow.”

Pepper kissed Tony briefly and then left, saying morning to Jane, Darcy and Erik on her way past them as they entered.

“Morning Superheroes!” Darcy announced, wandering over to Thor. “Can I hold her?” she asked, eyes wide. Thor looked at her for a long moment.

Jane sighed. “You need to eat your bagel, Thor. And you can’t drink hot coffee whilst holding a new-born. She’ll still be there in five minutes.” She told him. Thor nodded, passing her gently over to Darcy who immediately started up a stream of baby talk, coo’ing at the infant.

“Do all women do that around babies?” Tony asked Steve in confusion. The soldier eyed Natasha guiltily. The assassin was still staring intently at the infant as though it might attempt to slit their throats in their sleep.

“No.” said Steve.

After they’d all eaten, and the baby had been passed to a hesitant Jane whilst Darcy ate, Natasha turned to Tony, taking her eyes off Sigynsdottir for the first time all day. “Do you still have the suspect in custody?”

“As if I’d let him go before he had the chance to meet you!” Tony told her drily. “I suppose we’ll leave you to get all the answers?” Nat nodded, turning to Steve for confirmation.

“Clint should be here by lunch,” the captain said, “so we’ll plan to meet then to discuss what we all know. Jane, could you look at any readings Tony might have on the portal that opened up here? We need to be sure it won’t happen again, until we know for sure we can’t assume the tower is completely secure so everyone keep on guard for suspicious activity.”

“I’ll see what I can find out.” Jane replied, looking reluctantly excited about having fresh data to work with. “Erik can help me go over it so I’ll have something for you by lunch.” Steve nodded at her in thanks.

Bruce spoke up. “I’m going to give Sigyn another check-up, see if I can get any readings on brain activity. Just as a precaution,” he assured Thor seeing the god’s concerned expression. “See if I can get a better idea on when she’ll come around.”

“I must attempt to assemble the many clever devices Lady Pepper purchased for the comfort of Sigynsdottir.” Thor announced, looking excited at the prospect of ‘building’.

“I better help hammer-time. I don’t think IKEA furniture can withstand a blow from Mjólnir.” Tony cut in.

“Are you sure?” Steve looked as though he wasn’t sure he could think of anything more concerning than Tony Stark, Thor and a new-born child attempting to build a cot.

“I’m an engineer!” Tony told him, looking offended. “How hard can it be?”

“Alright,” Steve said, conceding the point, though he didn’t look entirely convinced. “Perhaps Darcy can go with you to help with Sigy- err, Sigynsdotty- er… can we just call her Dot?” he asked Thor pleadingly.

Darcy beamed. “Aww! Little Dot! I love it.” She declared, taking the baby back from her boss now she had finished her coffee.

Thor nodded thoughtfully. “Very well. That is acceptable.”

Steve looked relieved. “Right. I’ll go with Nat to interrogate the prisoner. We’ll all come here for lunch and then have a meeting afterwards.” The group dispersed to their individual tasks.

The Common Area, Avengers Tower, Midgard

Lunchtime

Thor had thoroughly enjoyed making the small guest room fit for a new-born. They had chosen the room as if shared a wall each with his and Jane’s bedroom and another fairly sized room which Sigyn could move into once she was healthy enough. The small baby furniture had been entertaining to assemble, and the Man of Iron had been a huge help, redesigning some pieces to make them more efficient. Or so he had claimed.

Thor was unsure why an infant’s bedroom needed an area easily changed into a small lab, or a desk with a roll out section for a computer screen, but supposed any child of Loki’s could potentially develop rapidly.

Lunch was a loud affair, with the entire team assembled for the first time since New York. Jane was happily babbling about the data readings she had been working on with Erik Selvig. Tony and Bruce
immediately joined in as they sat down, and Thor was reminded strongly of Loki and his mother discussing magic at the dinner table that completely baffled Thor.

Steve and Nat were sharing a quiet conversation, concerned looks on their faces. They stopped when Clint sat down next to them, catching up with their fellow agent. The archer had barely looked Dot, other than to stare appraisingly at her when he had first walked in. Thor’s niece was currently being passed between Lady Pepper and Lady Darcy as they ate.

After they’d all finished, and Dot had fallen to sleep after Thor had fed her another bottle - this time prepared by his own hand under J.A.R.V.I.S.’s careful ever-present gaze – the team moved down the large conference room that they used previously for meetings like this one. The god of thunder settled the sleeping girl in the ‘Moses basket’ that Pepper had ordered where she had slept the night before. He had dragged it up here in the morning.

The Captain of America got everyone’s attention, and then started with, “So let’s start by recapping what we found out this morning. Bruce?”

The man who was also sometimes The Hulk cleared his throat nervously, taking off his glasses to fiddle with them. “Sigyn seems to be healing surprisingly well. Her wound is nearly healed, and although the blood loss is still a factor she should be almost fully healed by tomorrow some time. She’s almost fully recovered from the birth too, which is unheard of. I’m assuming this is an Asgardian thing, Thor?”

“Aye, I have often found the slow rate that humans heal to be odd. Was there any news about why she won’t wake?” he asked Bruce.

“According to her brain activity she’s in a deep sleep. There are signs of severe, prolonged lack of sleep though, so I’m going to assume she’s been prioritising over rest if she’s been under threat for some time, so I’m not massively concerned about that. I’ll look into it further if she’s not showing any signs of waking by tomorrow, but at this point I suspect her body’s just catching up on sleep debt.”

Thor nodded, thanking the doctor once again. Steve turned to Jane, asking if she had any news on the portal data. The astrophysicist explained that the portal didn’t match any data on the convergence, suggesting it was likely not a portal at all. She explained that it most resembled the Bifrost data she had gotten in New Mexico, though on a much smaller scale. “If I had to make a guess, I’d say that it was a pathway that Sigyn guided to Thor in some way. Would that be possible?” she asked her boyfriend.

Thor thought back to the many conversations about magical theory Loki and Sigyn had shared, most of which he had completely ignored. He remembered Sigyn jokingly asking Loki to teach her how to use the secret paths. “It is possible that my brother taught Sigyn how to walk the secret paths.” He answered. “It may explain her unconsciousness if my good-sister had travelled this way. From what I remember them discussing, it is a very draining type of magic to use.”

Jane nodded, looking pleased. “The coloured light when she turned up in sort of like what it looked like when Loki took us to Svartálfheim.”

“Aye.” Thor said, recognising the similarity now that she had pointed it out.

“So we’ll assume that Sigyn’s arrival was a spontaneous event. That lines up with what me a Nat found out.” Steve said.

“The guy was pretty quick to talk. Told us plenty with very little ‘persuasion’ necessary.” The black widow said. “He’s a bounty hunter, apparently sent to punish Loki as an example of what happens to those who fail as world conquerors.” She stated blandly.

There was a moment of silence. “Sent by whom.” Thor asked harshly. “Who dares threaten my good-sister!” the anger in his voice made the room tremble.

“A guy called The Other, apparently he works for ‘Thanos’” she replied. Thor let out a roar of rage and leapt from the table, turning and crashing a hand into the wooden cabinet behind him and splitting it in half. Dot let out a loud cry – the loudest noise she had made so far – and Thor immediately calmed. He walked over to her, lifting her gently from the basket and against his chest, holding her like a security blanket and apologising for waking her.

“Wanna explain that Big Guy?” Tony asked, hesitantly. “That’s coming out of your rent, by the way.”

“We don’t pay rent.” Jane said, looking confused.

“Damn.” Tony said, before adding. “It’s coming out of your Pop-Tart allowance then.”

“I apologise, Tony Stark, but that name does not bring me comfort.”

“We kinda figured.” Barton said. “What’s with this Thanos guy anyway?”

“They call him the Mad Titan. A being who achieved immortality, and then promptly went mad. He has destroyed whole worlds in his madness, sure that Lady Death is teasing him as a lover would tease. If my brother landed in Thanos’ court when he threw himself from the Bifrost, then it is no wonder he was the madman whom I hardly recognised when he came to your world. One does not deny the Mad Titan and live.”

“That’s basically what the bounty hunter said.” Steve added, when the room had silenced again at Thor’s proclamation. The thunder god had returned to his seat, but was still holding his niece to his chest, as though he needed her to remain calm. “He gave us some long spiel about how ‘The Other’ said that Loki had ‘slipped his leash’, that he’d been tortured for a year before the invasion and implied that he failed on purpose by getting us all to beat him down, and making the portal really small or something.”

Barton looked furious. “No way. I can believe that he was tortured, cos he was half-dead on his feet when he came through the portal, but no way am I gonna forgive the guy who took over my mind without some pretty hard evidence.” He said. Tony looked thoughtful, as though he was going over the invasion in his head and looking for discrepancies. Nat was blank faced as always, and Bruce was fiddling with his glasses again. Thor felt hope flooding through him.

It should not relieve him to learn that his brother had been tortured for a year, that he had been forced to commit horrors against his will and then locked away by a man he had once called father as punishment with no questioning as to why he had done any of it, but he could not deny the relief he felt. To know that is brother had not been as lost to him as he had thought hurt a great deal, but it was a fresh clean hurt, unlike the festering pain that had been there before.

Thor looked at the tiny bundle that was half-his-brother in his arms. Dot was awake, but lying quietly and staring at his face. He reached a hand to touch hers, and she wrapped his smallest finger in her tiny fist.

“He gave us this.” Nat said, interrupting Thor’s contemplations. She was holding out a strange data chip of some kind. “I’m sure Stark will enjoy working out how to read it. Genuine alien tech.” she passed it over to the engineer, who looked as though all his Christmas’s and Birthdays had come at once.

Steve coughed, trying to clear the awkwardness that had followed Barton’s words. “Right, we’ll leave the discussion about Loki for now until we know more.” He stated. “It’s obvious Sigyn’s under threat, and we’re not going to let any faction that had a part in the New York attack take revenge on an innocent woman and her daughter”-

Nat interrupted. “But we need to know why we shouldn’t just hand her over to Asgard if they come looking, Thor. We can’t afford to go to war with an advanced race.”

“Not without knowing what we’re getting ourselves in for.” Steve said. “We’ve been patient enough, but we need answers Thor.”

The god nodded, looking down at Dot. “Very well. It is a long tale, and I must ask that you do not judge me too harshly in my previous actions. Until I came to your realm I idolised my father and everything he stood for. I now see that all the glorious tales he told of the battles he won are but words to cover the horror of his deeds. My father is not a wise king who holds the realms in peace, but a tyrant that rules them with fear.”

Tony spoke up. “You’re gonna have to give us more than that, buddy.”

“After my brother was assumed dead from his fall from the Bifrost, I agreed to be the one to sort through his belongings. I found a book, handwritten by Sigyn herself where she had pulled together factual re-telling’s of the battles my father fought in throughout his whole reign. They were versions of the tales I had been told as a child that I had never heard before.

“I checked the history books she had sourced in her work and found that they all told the same truth; that Odin started nearly all the wars as means to conquer other realms. It was not, as he had claimed to me, as a means of bringing about peace but so that Asgard could hold the untied wealth of all of the realms, taking a tithe from each of them in payment for Asgard’s ‘protection’.”

“I…ok, so I wanna read the book, but how is this relevant to Dot?” Darcy asked.

“It is where the tale begins, with Vanaheim’s second rebellion. When we first heard word that the Vanir were growing restless, following the death of the Asgardian diplomat my grandfather, King Bor had instated as king, and that my mother’s sister, Freyja Skadisdottir had married in order to take her rightful place as queen, Father was concerned about Asgard’s defences. He put out word that Asgard would pay any price for the strongest wall to be built in the shortest time.

“Within the week a man came who said he could build a wall in a year that none would ever be able to tear down. He demanded the Moon and the Sun – great weapons from Asgard’s Vault – and the hand of the now widowed Queen Freyja, who is still said to be the most beautiful woman in all the realms. Loki was perhaps a hundred at the time, and I around a half that again”-

“How old is that?” Pepper asked. “We rarely ever live to a hundred, so that doesn’t mean much.”

J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up. “According to a conversation myself and Mr. Odinson had several days ago about the relative ages of Asgardians, Loki would be around ten years old, and Thor about thirteen years old.”

Tony did some quick calculations. “That doesn’t make sense.”

J.A.R.V.I.S. used the wall to project a list of ages, and the relevant Asgardian age. “We discovered, through the use of generic images of human children shown to Mr. Odinson, that Asgardians to not age in relation to humans in a linear fashion. Though they appear to age half as fast when they are infants, it changes to an eighth until they reach about 100 years. It continues to lengthen, until they hit ‘political maturity’ at 1100.”

“Political maturity?” Darcy asked.

“Is this like the child soldiers thing?” Jane asked Thor.

“The Asgardians appear to have different values of majority than humans, and can be considered old enough to go to war from as young as 10 or 11.” J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

Everyone took the time to let that sink in.

“Asgard is weird.” Clint broke the silence.

“Perhaps if J.A.R.V.I.S. can translate the ages as I tell you the story?” Thor asked. Steve nodded, looking pale at the thought of ten year old children going to war. “The price the builder asked for the wall was not one we could pay. But we needed the wall. Loki suggested to our father that we offer the builder the challenge to build the wall in three seasons, and only pay him if he succeeded. That way we would get ¾ of a wall for free, and could finish the rest at a very low price. The builder accepted the challenge, asking only that he be allowed the help of his horse.”

“Oh shit, no the horse thing happened when he was ten? Christ. This is not as funny as I found it last night. What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Tony asked incredulously.

“The horse thing?” Steve asked.

“Basically the guy nearly finished it in time so the King demanded Loki fix it and he turned himself into a horse to entice the stallion away, but it went wrong and he ended up knocked up.” The billionaire explained.

“What?” Clint asked in shock. It was mirrored around the table.

“That is what happened, yes. The builder revealed himself to be a frost giant, and I gained my ‘First Blood’ status by slaying him.”-

“’First Blood’?” Steve asked in confusion.

“No man is a man ’til he hath first drawn blood, no woman is a woman ‘til she first bleeds.” Thor quoted. “It is the age one is considered old enough to go to war, or to marry.”

“You have to kill someone as a rite of passage?” Clint asked, incredulous. “That’s crazy!”

Thor continued; “I was proclaimed a hero, while Loki disappeared for over a year. Father told us all he must be sulking in his failure and we were not to search for him. He returned a year later, looking thin and sickly, being followed by an eight legged colt.”

“He was ten…” Bruce said quietly.

Thor looked downcast. “Aye. Father banned Loki from seeing Sleipnir, and sent him to the stables. He was raised to be Odin’s greatest war steed, and I used to pass messages to him from my brother. He is the nephew I am closest to as a result.”

“That is sick.” Bruce said vehemently, looking disgusted. “It’s sick to expect a child to fix something like that. And then to take his kid away? How could anyone…” Words seemed to fail him.

“Father was furious about the whole thing. He took Loki and I off to deal with a rock giant skirmish so Loki could get ‘First Blood’, and then snubbed him when it came time to go to war with Vanaheim by leaving him behind. He was mocked mercilessly for the insult. It was then, I believe, that he first searched out Angrboda.”

“The giantess?” Erik asked. He hadn’t spoken up in some time, but looked equally as disgusted by the others at the new view on the stories of his people.

Thor nodded. “Loki had been trained in the magical arts from a young age by our mother, but shapeshifting into a mare far exceeded her skill, so I believe he first searched out Angrboda as a teacher. I do not know when their relationship turned romantic, but when we returned to Asgard triumphant in our defeat of Vanaheim, he told me quite smugly that had lain with a woman before I.

Tony snickered into his hand. Thor talked over him. “There was a long standing argument over the precise dates, as I had spent the last several years in a war camp and so was no longer innocent myself. We never did come to agreement over who won.” Thor looked down at Dot, brushing a tiny wisp of red fuzz back from her forehead.

“And then Sigyn came to court. My father told of how he brought her to Asgard so that she could learn greater magic from her aunt, my mother, but in her book Sigyn insists that she was little more than a war-prize. A hostage against her mother’s obedience. To ensure that Vanaheim would never again revolt.” Jane looked sickened.

“A few years later, Loki brought Jörmungandr to court. It was a great scandal, I believe he did it as revenge against father’s insult in not letting him come to war. He stood in the throne room, a great snake wrapped around his shoulders, and proclaimed an illegitimate child to be a Prince of Asgard. Father was beyond furious. I remember him screaming at Loki that if he wanted to run off with witches in the woods and bring back beastly children then he could at least do his duty as a prince and secure Asgard’s hold over the Vanir throne.”

“So they had arranged marriage?” Steve asked, frowning lightly.

“Aye. Loki was displeased, he confided in me that he didn’t think it was fair that Odin should give Sigyn no choice in the matter. They were somewhat acquainted, as Loki was always very close with our mother, and he said Sigyn had wanted to return home one day and this would trap her in Asgard forever.”

Thor looked down at the babe in his arms as he spoke. “He spoke of how he would accept any mocking he may receive for not laying with her if she did not choose to. And he would have been scorned for such an act. Either way, she obviously favoured him enough.”

Darcy spoke up. “It might have been her way of getting some control of the situation.” She suggested. “By accepting it and trying to make do with the situation, maybe he agreed to do something for her, if she was loyal to him? She would gain an ally in a foreign realm where she was only seen as a hostage.” She frowned at the groups surprised looks. “What? I’m a political science student! And I watch Game of Thrones!” she defended.

Bruce asked, “So what happened next Thor? We’ve had the Sleipnir and Jörmungandr, so is it the wolf next?”

Thor smiled. “Yes. When Sigyn was pregnant with her first child, Loki brought Fenrisúlfr to Asgard. He rode off into the great woods and disappeared for many nights, and Sigyn stole Sleipnir to find him. Sleipnir can find anyone and travel anywhere, so he tracked down Loki with ease and brought

Sigyn to him. She told me, years later, that Loki had been about to commit a dangerous working of magic to save Fenrir’s life.

“I explained last night that mother’s gift Eidr to their children by feeding them from their own breast?” Bruce nodded, looking interested. “Fenrir was born too soon, he was very weak. Angrboda had done all she could for him by summoning Loki to take him but it is seen as deeply wrong in giant culture to do anything to save a weak child. My mother said it is as wrong to them as incest is too us, it is never done.”

Steve looked horrified, trying to imagine a culture that didn’t just accept someone abandoning their child, but encouraged it. It was despicable.

“Men cannot gift Eidr to their children like women can, so Loki had planned to effectively mutilate himself in order to gift Fenrir with the strength to live. And then Sigyn did something amazing. She looked at the weak, blind, half formed wolf cub of my brothers and took it as her own. A child born because her husband had broken his vows and lain with another woman, and she gifted it her own Eidr. She told me that even if she faulted Loki for continuing his affair – which she did not, as it preceded his marriage to her – how could she take that out on an innocent, motherless child? How could she knowingly let him die?”

“So she’s definitely not Catelyn Stark.” Darcy murmured.

Pepper tried to imagine if she could ever do that for anyone. If she would have the strength to accept a child of Tony’s that he had conceived with another woman during their relationship. She wanted to believe she would, but had to admit she probably wouldn’t have been able too.

Natasha’s respect for the woman that her teammate called sister was also growing. To have thrived in those circumstances was a real show of strength.

Thor continued. “And so when Vali was born, he and Fenrir grew up as close as twins. They were quite the pair. Before he learned to transform into an Áesir form, Fenrir would carry Vali around on his back, charging through the palace halls causing mayhem. Fenrir grew large quite quickly, but it was nothing on Jör’s size. My nephew soon dwarfed the palace when in his serpent form. It was a golden time of my childhood. My brother adored Sigyn for what she had done for is son, he was the happiest I ever remembered him.

“Mother and I were overjoyed to have gained so much family, and even father was less angry with Loki. Though he made no move to hide his disgust of Fenrir and Jör, he seemed to think that Loki would finally be faithful to Sigyn, that there would be no more illegitimate children in his halls. We were happy. If only we had known how limited this time was.”

The picture Thor painted was a pleasant one. He thought back to those times, swearing that little Sigynsdottir would have such a childhood, and that he would let nothing ruin it. The girl was falling asleep in his hold now, lulled by the low constant tone of his voice. He remembered Hela used to do that we Loki held her, his brother had been able to simply talk her to sleep, where any other had to rock her, or sing to her.

“And then when I was perhaps 250, and Loki 190, the völur came.” The thunder god said darkly.

“Völur?” Pepper asked.

“A prophet.” Erik explained. “A speaker for the Norns.”

“Aye.” Thor agreed, nodding. “Centuries later, we found that she had been banished from the order for starting a war by making false prophecies. If only we had known that then.

“She asked for the right to speak before the full court, and my father granted it. She spun a grand tale of her wandering faraway lands and connecting fully with the Norns, and how they had gifted her the True Sight of the end of Yggdrasil. She said that Ragnarök was come, and that all the realms would burn with it. She said that Loki and his monstrous children would burn the worlds.

“I remember there was silence in the court, and Odin asked her to recount her vision. She spoke of how Jörmungandr would grow large enough to encircle Midgard’s oceans, of how Fenrisúlfr would be great and fearsome, how he would maul his teacher and be chained in the great valleys beyond Asgard. She spoke of how Loki would have a daughter who would be Queen of Death.

“And then she said that Fenrir would break free of his chains and swallow the sun, and Jör would swallow the Earth, and that I would do battle with my nephew and smite him dead, but that a great fang would piece my side and slay me. I would walk nine steps, bleeding, and die at Loki’s feet. She said that Fenrir would eat my father, and Loki and his daughter would lead the armies of the dead to destroy the realms.

“A great war would break out. The last great war. And Loki would slay Heimdall to open the gates of Asgard, but would take a grievous wound. That he would stand atop the pile of corpses, the last living being in all the realms, and he would laugh at his good work, before dying. And his death would be the wildfire that would burn Yggdrasil to ash.”

Clint broke the silence. “Well. That sounds like fun.”

“None really believed her words, the Allfather let her stay in Asgard, but demanded proof for her claims. She said that proof would show itself in time.”

Tony looked incredulously at Thor. “Has none of you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?” He asked. “Half that thing was very unspecific and the predictions that Loki’s already massive kids were going to grow were bound to come true! Your brother had four kids already at like- how old J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Between 14 and 15, Sir.” The AI replied.

“So as a teenager he had four kids, by two women and a horse. It’s a safe bet he’d have at least a couple more, and statistically he was due a girl right? So ‘Queen of Death’ was gonna fit no matter what happened. The whole thing was gonna be believed as soon as anything else happened cos people want to believe melodramatic stuff like that.” He said.

“And then when it did, everyone would jump to it being true so fast they’d probably alienate the kids, making them more likely to actually cause the end of the world.” Bruce finished.

“Yes.” Said Thor. “That is what happened.” He hoped his friends would not judge him too harshly when they heard what he had allowed to be done to his brother’s innocent children.

Chapter Text

The Conference Room, Avengers Tower, Midgard

The 3711 year of Odin’s Rule

The Same Day

“There is something you must understand about Asgard,” Thor began. The avengers were still seated around the conference table, feeling foreboding following Thor’s statement. Jane, Erik and Darcy were seated to his right, and Darcy had taken over holding Sigynsdottir as the babe had begun to fuss from a lack of attention. Natasha, Steve and Clint were gathered at the other side, all feeling the shock and horror of the tale so far, wondering how it could get worse. Bruce, Tony and Pepper had settled across from the thunder god.

“The realm is ruled by the King; Odin Allfather, but there are a great many lords and ladies of the court who own lands that supply the palace and so have some sway over the ruling. For all that any who knew Jörmungandr and Fenrisúlfr personally, the prophecy was laughable. But to the lords who had always scorned Loki for his study of the womanly arts of Seidr, the prophecy was the perfect excuse to smear my brother’s name.

“I do not know if the lords truly believed the words themselves, but they made it clear from then on that illegitimate children of Loki’s were to be seen as little more than beasts. The populace as a whole began to distrust the boys, become wary around them. The more they saw them as animals, the more distant they grew, the less they saw how very Áesir the boys were. I did not at the time have much interest in the politics of the realm, but in hindsight I believe my father influenced the lords into creating the paranoia and fear that the populace developed for my brother and his children.

“Perhaps a decade later, my friend and shield-sister, the Lady Sif overheard a conversation between Sigyn and Loki, where my brother told her that Angrboda was once more with child, that he would have a daughter by the end of the week. Sif did not think anything of telling her brother, the General Tyr, the news in passing and he passed on word to my father.

“I was told that Odin sent guards to bring her to Asgard –his reasoning was that the Iron Wood where she lived were under attack by rock giants - but the guards discovered she had already been attacked. This was what Sif told us when she came to tell Loki what her brother had informed her.”

“He didn’t…” Clint asked, looking stricken.

“Didn’t what?” Pepper asked, frowning.

Thor continued, shutting his eyes in grief. “I thought nothing of the tale at the time, and when Loki and Sigyn rode out to Angrboda’s house, they too expected to find a cottage surrounded by the corpses of the rock giants that the guards had slain, and Angrboda and the babe both long dead. But they did not.

“The returned at first light, Sigyn clutching a tiny, half dead girl to her chest, and my brother covered in the ash of a funeral pyre. To this day I do not know what magic they used to save Hela’s life, but they could only salvage half her body. One side of her was rotten, decaying. She was a horrifying sight. The necromantic arts are forbidden for a reason and Loki had done something terrible in keeping her alive.

“She was not all the daughter of Loki that had perished with Angrboda had died, she was a patchwork of Angrboda and the child, the pieces of living matter that Loki had managed to pull together in saving her. She was far cleverer than any child should be, and sometimes she would disappear into her mind for hours at a time. Sigyn said that half her soul was already in the realm of the dead, and her mind drifted between the two.”

Tony sighed loudly. “Right, I can deal with people turning into horses and giant snakes and insane immortal beings, but this is going too far! Give me some science to work with here, how could she be ‘half-alive’? It does not make any sense.” He looked harried, having run his hands through his hair a few times.

“I cannot explain it to you,” Thor replied, looking apologetic. “It is beyond my understanding. I only know that Angrboda had been dead for half a day before Loki and Sigyn arrived. For them to come back with a living being at all should be beyond any laws of nature. Perhaps when Sigyn wakes, she will be able to explain what they did.”

Tony looked thoughtful. He nodded. “Yeah, and she can explain the crazy ‘world-walking’ stuff too.”

Thor smiled, “I am sure she will agree to answer any questions you have.”

“Can we get back to this?” Nat asked. “I assume this pretty much added to everyone’s belief in the prophecy now Loki had a half-dead looking daughter as well?”

“Aye.” Thor replied, looking sorrowful once more. “Where people were wary of Jör and Fenrir, they were scared of Hela. She grew isolated, none but her family would even talk to her, could even stand to look at her. Her only friend was Narfi, the babe Sigyn birthed some months after Hela was born. The pair were often closeted together with their mother in those early years.

“The Eidr Sigyn had to give to Hela to sustain her as a babe was immense, and Narfi was born so soon afterwards that my good-sister was near bedridden for almost a year after the birth. The two often stayed close to her, for Hela was ignored by everyone and Narfi was a quiet, shy child. My nephew would barely speak in front of me for a decade - wary I think, of my height looming above him.

“The boy was somewhat shy even with his father, and Loki took to spending a great deal of time questing with me and my friends. He was still grieving Angrboda at the time, and Sigyn often kicked him out after growing frustrated with his hovering over her. We made quite the band of would-be heroes, and many of the youths of the realm had started to idolise our group.”

“Even Loki?” Jane asked. “I thought you said he was unpopular after the prophecy?”

The god of thunder tried to explain. “The older generation hated Loki, but the youths thought his magic was astounding and many of them fancied themselves the next warrior-mages. Time passed, and it seemed as though the matter of Angrboda’s death was closed. Fenrir and Vali had just turned 70”-

J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted. “Between eight and nine years old.”

Thor continued. “-and had begun training with General Tyr. I was there the day that it happened, I saw the whole thing. Tyr often used to throw insults and try to incite rage in young recruits when they are sparring to train them not to lose their temper in a fight.”

Steve nodded at the tactic, he remembered it being used at the camp he trained at.

“He saw that Fenrir was getting sloppy in his footwork and shouted out, “Come on boy, you’re as loose as your mother’s corpse was when I f*cked it!’”

“Christ.” Bruce said, looking green. Tony turned to him, putting a steadying hand on his shoulder and trying to calm him. Bruce seemed to get himself under control after a moment, turning to Thor. “Was that true?” he asked coldly.

Thor looked down in shame. “I do not know. I did not even consider it could be at the time. Tyr often made things up to say that incited rage. But now I cannot help but think of how shaken Loki was when he came back from Angrboda’s house. Whatever he and Sigyn found there was not a rock giant attack. And Tyr had been there….

“I remember an argument my father had with Loki decades before, after Fenrir came to court, where my father said ‘One way or another, I will have no more of your bastards shaming my house’ and then the day the Allfather’s most loyal general discovers that Angrboda is expecting Loki’s child, she is killed in a mysterious attack?”

“His son’s lover?” Pepper asked shakily. “His own granddaughter…” she sounded as though she could scarcely believe it.

The conclusion was too horrible for Erik to contemplate. For years he had idolised the idea of Odin, the great king in the skies, and upon learning that the stories were true he couldn’t help but wonder at the god-kings majesty. But now, to find that this man who called himself father to a boy and yet ordered his lover and child slain, Erik felt sick to the pit of his stomach. He knew the worst was yet to come, but this was reality-shaking itself.

“Tyr did not have long to regret his words.” Thor continued, talking over the deafening, shocked silence that had rippled around the room. “It happened in a flash of fur and fangs. Fenrisúlfr transformed and ripped off Tyr’s hand half way up his forearm. He lost the arm, the healers could do nothing to repair it.”

“And so they chained him up.” Darcy said, remembering the bit from the prophecy earlier.

“Aye. The people were horrified, they demanded that ‘the beast’, as they called him, be chained for all of their safety. Jörmungandr was banished to Midgard’s oceans, with the excuse that he had grown too large for Asgard. Loki was furious.”

“Of course he was! And you were just ok with it?” Tony asked incredulously. “You didn’t even think it was unfair? You heard that he was provoked! He was a kid.”

Thor dropped his head into his hands. Tony felt a little guilty for the obvious regret written in the lines of Thor’s frame, but shoved it away. He still couldn’t believe that the teammate he had thought so highly of and stood back and let two innocent children be sent away. Thor didn’t raise his head, simply speaking into his hands, his words slightly muffled.

“I was sure my father could do nothing to stop it. He told me it was necessary for the peace in the realms and I accepted that he was wiser than I. I never questioned my father, not once in all my lifetime, no matter what horrible things were done to Loki, Sigyn and their children, I accepted his word that they were for the best, and I did nothing.”

“You cannot hate me more than I hate myself.” He said simply.

Jane pulled him into her chest, wrapping her short arms as far around his bulk as she could while he broke apart a little. Steve spoke up. “You didn’t think anything different because you were brainwashed Thor. You never saw any other way, of course you believed your father was doing what was best for you all.” He threw Tony a look.

“Yeah, I’m sorry Point Break. I didn’t mean it like that. God knows I idolised my father for years and he was a monumental shit.”

Clint snorted, trying to hide it so as not to ruin the moment. Thor wiped his not quite dry eyes and looked at them all. “If I could change my actions in those days I would in an instant.”

Nat spoke up. “You can’t change the past, you can only make up for it. You’ve got red in your ledger Thor. Time to wipe it out.” She looked significantly over at Sigynsdottir. Darcy gently passed little Dot back to Thor, who took her gratefully, pressing her into his chest.

“I will repay it all back to you, sweetling.” He told the babe softly. “You shall want for nothing, none will ever harm you.” He said earnestly.

Tony tried to get them back on track. “So Loki blamed Sif in some way I suppose?” The others looked at him, confused. “What? We must be nearly at the hair-cutting off thing, and she did tell her brother about Hela.”

Thor nodded, looking back up from where he had been staring at his niece. Dot was now back to her favourite trick of pulling his braid. “He sneaked into her room late one night a few years later and cut off all of her beautiful golden locks. The Allfather sent him to Nidavellir, the great dwarven homeland that rests beneath the crust of what we now call Svartálfheim.”

“When he returned to Asgard, he presented the fine craftsmanship of the dwarven hair that he had had commissioned for Lady Sif, and once she placed it on her head it grew back black-as-night. Sif was still furious. She has never quite forgiven Loki, and I do not believe he has ever forgiven her for what happened next. It had further reaching consequences than any of us could imagine.

“Two of the dwarves came to court the next day, claiming that Loki had duped them. They claimed that he had made a bet with them and then cheated them, and that they demanded recompense. The Allfather was still angered at Loki’s trick with Sif’s hair. It had brought shame to her, and now the people of Asgard would never accept her as my future queen, which Odin had long planned her to be.”

“Wait, you were gonna marry Sif?!” Darcy asked incredulously.

Thor eyed Jane guiltily, looking embarrassed. “It was my father’s plan to cement my claim to Asgard’s throne – for I am half Vanir myself - by marrying me to a noble born Asgardian. Sif was of a similar age, and he had planned to arrange a marriage between us once I was crowned. I never felt anything but sisterhood for Sif and was never particularly interested in the prospect.”

Jane saw his look and smiled reassuringly. She could admit to feeling intimidated, Sif was tall, athletic and beautiful. But Thor chose me, Jane reminded herself. He’s just admitted he was never interested in Sif, and why should it matter anyway? It’s never going to happen now. She felt a reluctant surge of gratitude to Loki.

“So my father allowed Eitri and Brokkr to take their payment. Loki had bet his head, and so they spoke of cutting it off.” Thor swallowed audibly. “Loki argued that that would be harming his neck, which had not been part of the bargain. The dwarves were furious, and said that they would still his silver tongue. They held him down in front of the whole court and stitched his lips shut.”

Clint retched. He tried to imagine someone doing that to him and nearly vomited on the table.

Thor continued in his tale. “Nine stitches with enchanted thread. ‘9 weeks of stitches, 9 years of agony, 9 decades of silence.’ They chanted as they did it. And it held true. Loki could not open his mouth for fear of ripping his flesh open for 9 weeks before the stitches could be cut open. The wounds didn’t heal, they bled often and pained him for 9 years afterwards. And not a word passed his lips for 9 decades. He could not speak.”

Jane was disgusted. “If I ever get your father in a dark room he won’t come out of it!” she snapped “His own son! How old were you both when this happened?” she asked.

“Loki was less than 300, and I 64 years his elder.” Thor replied.

J.A.R.V.I.S. translated. “Loki would be nearly 16, and Thor half way between 16 and 17.”

Tony dropped his head to the table with an audible ‘thunk’. “Please tell me this is nearly over,” he said. “I don’t think I can take much more. How is it that the whole of Asgard isn’t doped up on Prozac if this shit is happening all the time?” he asked.

“I do not understand.” Thor said confusedly.

Darcy made a thoughtful hum. “You just said you were like 350 right? So maybe cos it was spread over so much time it wasn’t so traumatic. We get like, one major traumatic event per life or something, these guys just live so much longer…” she pondered.

“I don’t think that counts as an excuse.” Erik said.

Thor sighed, placing a gently kiss of Dot’s red curls as he gently stood to place the sleeping babe back in to her Moses basket. He could not bear to tell this final, horrible end to the tale with an innocent child in his arms. He wondered if the girl would ever forgive him when she grew old enough to understand the part, however small, he had played in the death of his nephew.

Erik watched Thor settle himself back in his seat, meeting his eyes. “So this is it then?” he asked. Thor only nodded, seeming beyond words. He tried to gather himself.

“My friends,” he started, morosely. “I asked you to forgive my behaviour in this tale at the beginning. I fear none could forgive my small part in the final tale, I ask only that you do not rebuke me for it. There is nothing you can say to me that I have not already thought, I promise you that.”

The avengers and friends murmured acceptance, and Jane took Thor’s hand in hers. “We’ve already said there’s no point blaming you Thor, if nothing else you were just a kid too by J.A.R.V.I.S’s count, whatever happened was not your fault. Only the adults can be held responsible.” The astrophysicist told him firmly, squeezing his hand. He smiled sadly at her, and then began his tale.

“At this point; we have Loki - silenced and furious - and Sigyn, my sweet good-sister, the loving parents of six children. Sleipnir; locked away and ridden as a beast, Jör and Fenrir; banished and chained, Vali; cold and calculating in the absence of his playful ‘twin’, Hela; different and isolated, and Narfi; still a shy boy of barely 100.”

“He was 10 years old.” Erik stated quietly.

“I spoke of how many youths had started to idolise our warrior band, but that their parents did not approve of them practicing magic and idolising Loki?” The avengers nodded, not wanting to interrupt verbally. “A group of boys and girls had taken to calling themselves ‘The Legacy of Asgard’. It was a large gang of some twenty children led by two brothers, Baldr and Hodr. The elder, Baldr said that he would one day be mightier even that the thunder god, Thor. And Hodr spoke of how he would learn magics that Loki Silvertongue had never even dreamed of.

“And one day, they were re-enacting some battle that we had told in a tavern the week before, and Hodr decided to use magic to copy the great fire Loki had conjured to burn our enemies.” Thor paused, looking shaken. “And it went wrong. The boy was no sorcerer, his father had allowed him no training, and so he lost control, and burned them all to dust.”

Clint had his head in his hands, looking sickened. Steve was white and pale. Tony’s hands were shaking.

“Their parents were beyond words. They demanded restitution, demanded Loki’s head as punishment for spreading the sickness that is Seidrcraft upon their children. Odin allowed them to stand as the peers in ‘The Thing’, which was a hand selected group of citizens that have leave to judge a suspect. He gave them only 3 restrictions in Loki’s punishment.

“They were not allowed to execute him, they were not allowed to cause him any permanent physical damage, and the punishment was not to exceed a decade. And so the parents conducted my brother’s trial. They were angry and grieving and they had found someone to blame. So they asked Loki to speak in his defence, laughing because dwarves work meant he could not say a word.”

“Oh god.” Pepper said.

“They would not allow Sigyn to speak, as they claimed she was biased. Hela was not even invited to the trial, as she was illegitimate. In hindsight, it was a relief that she, at least, was safe. Vali and Narfi were granted leave to speak in Loki’s defence. They mocked the children, talking over all of Vali’s carefully formed arguments and screaming Narfi into terror so he would not say a word.

“And then they summoned the Völur.”

“The one who gave the prophecy?” Steve confirmed. Thor nodded.

“She had gained much respect after Fenrir attacked Tyr, as she ‘foretold’ it happening. The parents asked her to judge and sentence Loki in their stead, and she accepted. She said that Loki had taken the children from their parents, had made them live through the horror of knowing one child had slain the other, and so he must live through the same thing.”

The god of thunder swallowed thickly, looking as though he was trying not to vomit. “And so she transformed Vali into a wolf, and the shock of it, the madness destroyed any clarity his mind had. He lashed out, and tore out Narfi’s throat.”

There was absolute silence in the room. Nobody dared speak. Clint tried to get the image of his own children being subject to such a fate out of his mind, but he couldn’t. Without saying a word, he strode out of the room, barely getting the door of the bathroom open before he was being violently sick. Revulsion roiled in the pit of his stomach. He felt Nat’s hand in his shoulder as he came back to himself, panting hard and wiping the taste from his mouth.

“I’d kill the man who let that happen to me.” He said simply. “I’d burn the worlds to ash if an entire city let that happen to my children. Didn’t anyone step in?” he asked incredulously.

“You’re not blaming Thor? I was one kid with an entire realm telling him he had to let this happen. There wasn’t a lot he could do.” She replied.

“Christ no. Thor could hardly have stopped it singlehandedly. I meant the entire court of ‘lords and ladies’ or whatever. Not one person.”

“Are you compromised, Clint?” Nat asked plainly.

“Yes.” He replied, just as simply. “I don’t care if it means a war with Asgard, that baby is not going anywhere near the place.”

Natasha nodded. “I know. Not sure S.H.I.E.L.D. will agree.”

Clint looked thoroughly angry with himself as he said, “Then I guess we better hope Stark gets solid proof that Loki was innocent as a lamb hadn’t we.” He looked at her sardonically. She smiled.

They returned to the conference room, where all the occupants looked visibly shaken.

“Just sum up the rest if you can Thor, I don’t think any of us can stomach much more today. We’ll have to meet to discuss more sometime tomorrow.” Steve said.

Thor nodded gravely. “They bound Loki in a cave in the roots of Yggdrasil itself, wrapped up and gagged in Narfi’s intestines, guarded by the great dragon-serpent Nidhogg, who dripped venom into his eyes for a decade. Sigyn sat by his side for ten long years, holding a bowl to catch the venom so that he only suffered for the seconds it took her to empty it. She has scars all over her hands from the venom still.

“They returned together, but without any announcement. Loki took Hela the same day he got back and did something none has ever managed, for her. The ninth realm; Nifleheim, is shrouded in icy mists and houses the dead who do not die with honour. Odin Allfather had sent dozens of armies to conquer it in his time as King, it was the last realm that he did not hold rule over. But all who ventured there never returned.

“A year later, Hela sat the throne of Nifleheim, as Queen of the Dead. All in Yggdrasil call it Helheim now, in respect for its first and only Queen. Loki chose to gift her a realm, for he knew she would never be safe in Asgard. She had started to fade more often in the time her parents had been away, barely amongst the living at all. There she sits, with her brother and near-twin Narfi at her side, waiting for the rest of her family to join her.”

Thor paused. “I suppose she had Loki with her also now, unless his last act in saving my life earned him a place in the eternal halls of Valhalla.” Thor glanced at Dot, as though reassuring himself that this part of his brother was still present. The avengers stayed quiet, allowing Thor his moment of grief.

“Sigyn stayed in Asgard only as long as it took to slap my father across the face, before stealing Sleipnir and tracking down Vali.”

Darcy let out a whoop. “You go girl!” she cheered, to much amusement. Tony reached over and high-five’d her.

“My good –sister found Vali in the Iron Wood surrounding the palace, where many Áesir had taken to trying to hunt the ‘prince-slayer’ as they called my nephew. Vali was rabid, trying to attack any who came near him, including Sleipnir who smelt of prey. He had known only pain and threat in this form, and trusted no-one. He must have recognised the scent of Sigyn as his mother though, for he did not try to harm her. 

“She managed to guide him to where Fenrisúlfr is chained. Vali recognised kin who is also pack and hunts for Fenrir, who had had to chew at his own flesh so as not to starve without Loki bringing him food. The last I spoke with Loki on it, he said that Vali has recovered some of his mind by constant contact with his brother, but that he will never be the boy he once was.

“I do not know what Odin said to Loki when my brother returned from Helheim, how he persuaded him that he could do nothing to stop what happened, but after an hour locked up in my father’s study together, Loki never spoke of any of it again. He barely spoke of his children to anyone, though I believe he and Sigyn still shared in their grief for all the time they were together. Father had the Völur executed at dawn for crimes against the Princes of Asgard, and the realm seemed to forget all about any of my nephews and niece.”

“Just like that?” Steve asked. “No-one even mentioned them again?”

“There were whisperings of sympathy among some of the common folk,” Thor answered. “But I think that they feared what would happen to their own children if they spoke out against what had happened.”

“The must have been terrified when they realised Sigyn was pregnant.” Pepper said sadly. “I can’t even imagine the panic.”

“I’m not even surprised they faked the rape scene anymore,” Darcy commented. “They must have been desperate.”

“Thor.” Nat started hesitantly. “I apologise what I said about handing Dot over to Asgard. It was callous, and I want to make it clear that I don’t stand for any of what was done to her siblings. It’ll take more than that to persuade S.H.I.E.L.D. but for what is worth, I’ll help you protect her.”

“Me as well.” Clint said, to general amazement.

“It’s sick,” Bruce stated. “I wouldn’t let any of it happen to that little girl.”

“Yeah, any lawyers you need or anything, Pep and I are in.” Tony said, Pepper nodding in agreement.

“That’s all The Avengers on her side. Me and Nat’ll work on S.H.I.E.L.D.” Steve added.

“I still wanna read Sigyn’s book,” Darcy said. “I might be able to give us some angle to work if I’ve got more knowledge on crazy Asgardian history and stuff. I won’t let them take Little Dot away. She’s like, the tower mascot now.”

Erik gave Thor one nod, staying silent. Jane squeezed his hand tightly, needed no words to communicate her being on his side.

Thor looked around them all, loving each and every one of them. There were no words that expressed the relief and joy he felt at their undying support. He tried all the same.

“Thank you, my friends.”

Chapter Text

The Common Room, Avengers Tower, Midgard

Two days later

Thor was once again feeding Little Dot a bottle. The god of thunder was beginning to worry that Sigyn would not wake before the week was out, and the babe would be permanently damaged without having her mother’s milk. Bruce’s constant reassurances that Sigyn had nothing physically wrong with her, and that it was just a case of waiting for her mind to get the message that all was well didn’t seem to help at all.

The previous day had been unanimously dubbed a ‘rest day’ in the Tower. The emotional rollercoaster that had been Loki and Sigyn’s Tale had shaken them all. Thor and Jane had spent the day out shopping for other various baby related items. Jane had suggested that Thor leave Dot behind with Darcy, who had proven herself more than capable of caring for the child, but he had refused. The Asgardian had been adamant that he would not be separated from the child until Sigyn had awoken unless absolutely necessary.

Darcy had agreed to come with them in the end, keeping track of the baby in her pram while Thor and Jane buzzed around the various shops searching for all the things they needed. There had been a long discussion about which of the many soft toys the babe would prefer. It was a toss-up between a fluffy wolf and a fuzzy snake.

After 20 minutes of Jane watching her boyfriend and intern argue over the merits of each, she threw both in the cart and wandered off to the checkout. It took them a further ten minutes to notice that she had and hurry after her. After another ‘active discussion’ over the colour scheme of clothes Jane took over completely, picking several of various colours to keep everyone happy. This included several ‘Avengers’ themed onesies, Hulk mittens and a pair of Iron Man socks.

The return to the Tower had prompted most of the Avengers to separate themselves from their various tasks and join them for an early dinner. Without discussing it, the group had all seemed to agree that Little Dot needed as much attention from each of them as humanly possible. Perhaps in knowing that she should be surrounded by a large group of exuberant siblings the Avengers had each taken it upon themselves to ensure Sigynsdottir wanted for nothing.

Steve had spent the evening drawing precise pencil sketches of each of her animal shaped siblings, with input from Thor. He’d carefully framed each of them and hung them in the room that Tony and Thor had prepared for Dot. Bruce had spent an hour carefully recording every measurement he could into a leather bound baby book. He’d left the more personal sections for Sigyn to add to later, but had filled the sections on height and weight and taken a few pictures for the ‘early days’ section.

Tony had approached the issue of something he didn’t have any knowledge of in his usual fashion: he’d scoured the internet for everything there was to know about new-born babies, parenthood and child development, and then started spouting random facts and pieces of advice to anyone doing anything even vaguely in Dot’s vicinity. Apparently Tony was going to be the annoying one who constantly fussed over ‘developmental milestones’.

Pepper and Darcy had taken to searching brochures and fashion magazines for the most beautiful outfits and dresses for once Dot was a little older. They’d been surprised when Natasha had joined them, but the spy was as engrossed as any of them within minutes. Jane and Erik had searched online for story books, both of the opinion that inspiring a love of reading at a young age was crucial. When Thor had commented that Sigyn was a lover of novels of all kinds they had expanded into favourite books of their own, including several fantasy series Tony had suggested.

Clint had been the biggest surprise, spending the hours of the evening quietly entertaining Dot, taking her two new toys and acting out stories for her with them, complete with voices for each of the characters. The assembled group had all seemed surprised by his clear child experience, except for Nat who just smiled fondly.

Tony and Bruce had both disappeared into the labs, intent on deciphering the data chip when Jane decided that Dot needed to be taken to bed and the group at large had dispersed, only Nat, Clint and Darcy choosing to stay and watch a film to while away some hours.

The thunder god had awoken early to collect Dot and take her for up for breakfast, expecting her to start crying and wanting to spare Jane the early wakeup call a second morning running. He’d just finished feeding Dot and had moved on to ‘burp’ her (with J.A.R.V.I.S.’s helpful suggestion of a towel to prevent milk-splatter) when Tony Stark stumbled in, carrying a small cardboard box which he placed on the counter when he collected coffee.

The engineer downed the first mug and was halfway through the second before he spoke up, “Found this online yesterday, it just arrived.” He gestured at the box which Thor noted looked to be a parcel of some kind. The god gently placed Dot in her portable carrier, before carefully opening the box. Inside was a small beautifully hand-knitted soft black horse. When he lifted it out Thor noticed that it had eight legs. He turned to the Man of Iron.

“I know,” said Tony. “It’s weird, probably just get rid of it, I was just searching and came across it. A little company in Norway hand makes them. It was stupid, just”-

“Thank you.” Thor said, interrupting the embarrassed ramble. “It was very thoughtful of you to find this.” He smiled, passing the toy gently to Dot who took it immediately, staring at it in fascination. “It is beautiful.” He finished honestly.

“Well everyone else was buying her things or playing with her but I’m not… good with kids. But I found that, and if she ever needs anything building then, sure - I’m your man, but I’m not good with…I’d probably scar her for life if I spent any time with her.” He finished lamely.

Thor smiled. “I do not know what I am doing either, only that I must do my best for her.” He said. “My niece is strong, I doubt you will scar her. Look how happy you’ve made her already.” He reassured. Indeed, Dot was intently focused on the toy Sleipnir, pulling on each of its legs and curling tiny fingers into its wool mane.

Tony coughed awkwardly. “I figure I better tell you first, but err, I worked out the data chip.” Thor looked up and Tony in thinly veiled hope. “Loki wasn’t exactly innocent, but he’s not nearly as guilty as we thought.” The god frowned in confusion, so the engineer clarified; “He had a ‘leash’ in that they were watching his every move, and if they doubted his loyalties they could put him through agonising pain.

“And they knew about Sigyn and the kid, so he was being threatened with their deaths as well. So he messed with Selvig’s equations to bottleneck the portal and gave us all little clues so we would work it all out. That’s what The Other had figured out anyway. The chip had everything about Loki on it, so the hunter’s would be able to track down Sigyn. There was also some stuff about the staff, but I’ll wait for the team meeting for that.”

Thor strode forward, throwing his arms around Tony in a crushing embrace. Steve walked in, freshly showered after an early morning workout in the gym, just as the genius was starting to go purple. He quickly separated the two, before heading to the coffee machine, stopping to tweak Dots toes and smile at her on his way passed. “So what was that about?” he asked Thor.

“My brother is innocent!” the god cried in joy.

“I didn’t say innocent, I said not entirely guilty. Those are two very different things.” Tony clarified. He reiterated his findings to Steve who nodded looking thoughtful.

“Might be enough to get Fury on our side,” the soldier considered. “That’ll help if Asgard ever takes an interest in the fact Sigyn and Dot are both here.”

Thor frowned, “Why would my brother’s guilt have any bearing on Dot’s safety?” he asked.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t quite so ‘guilty by association’ as Asgard is, but any alien on Earth is going to be view with intense suspicion. Sigyn being Loki’s wife isn’t gonna be in her favour, but if we have proof that he’s not straight up guilty then they’ll have to be more lenient in regards to her.” Steve explained.

“It’s all politics. We’re not gonna let either of them go without a hell of a fight either way, but it’d be one less concern if the head pirate was on our side.” Tony added. Steve frowned at him calling Fury a pirate.

“Avengers Assemble.” J.A.R.V.I.S. announced. Tony let out a curse. “There is what appears to be a flock of large, carnivorous sheep attacking Central Park. They have yet to attack any civilians, but several of the smaller wildlife have been consumed and two pets. Their appearance is causing panic and they seem resistant to both bullets and tasers.”

“Seriously?” Clint asked as he walked in, pulling his boots on as he did so, with his bow and quiver slung over one shoulder. “Bullet resistant, dog-eating sheep? How is this our lives?”

Tony sighed, shaking his head. He walked out onto the balcony, suit assembling around him, and set off in the direction of the Park. He hadn’t bothered to change into his under suit.

Natasha popped a head in, calling the others up to the roof where a Quinjet was stationed. Thor hesitated, looking at Dot, but Jane came in just then taking the baby to the couch. “I’ll keep her occupied, Bruce is gonna stay too unless you really need him. Figured you could handle sheep without him. He’s checking on Sigyn.” She explained. Thor placed a kiss on each of their heads before turning and throwing himself off the balcony to catch up with Tony.

In the end it took an hour to corral the sheep. Tony had argued about simply turning them into shish kebabs, but apparently PETA had already started on the NYPD for shooting first and asking questions later and The Avengers couldn’t risk the bad publicity if SH.I.E.L.D. tried to fight them on Dot living on Earth. That meant that they’d had to spend twice as long carefully herding the sheep into an enclosure that had been set up by shooting very close to them without hitting them.

Without bothering to hang around as the local zookeepers attempted to work out how to sedate the very thick skinned ovines, the avengers returned to the tower covered in sweat and smelling of sheep. It was a sorry sight. Bruce tried not to be too smug over missing out on the ‘fun’ but if the scowl Tony sent his way was anything to go by he didn’t succeed.

The group met up in the meeting room after shower’s all around, coffee and subs ordered from the deli on the corner. Jane brought Dot in, who was still clutching her Sleipnir toy. The soft knitted wool was easier to grip in her small hands that the Jör or Fenrir toys, so she appeared to have taken a liking to it. Thor greeted his niece warmly, before settling down and powering through four times as many sandwiches as the others in half the time.

Once the important business of eating had been taken care of, the meeting began in earnest. Tony repeated his findings from the data chip in full detail, unsurprised to see that everyone already knew the basics - Thor had told everyone he’d come across since he found out. Clint and Erik looked like they weren’t about to instantly forgive and forget, but as a whole most of the group were surprisingly open to the idea.

Perhaps it was having heard about Loki’s youth so much had forced them to see another side of the god, rather than the one-dimensional cackling lunatic he had come across as. It definitely helped that Loki was dead anyway, so it wasn’t as though this news would change anything but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s attitude to Sigyn and Little Dot.

Tony moved on to the disquieting information on the sceptre. “From what the chip said, it’s a lot more than just a mind-whammy/energy-blaster. The Other and this ‘Thanos’ used it to read every thought in Loki’s head – that’s how they found about Sigyn – and then used it to keep a ‘lock’ on his thoughts so he couldn’t do anything without them knowing. They knew the minute he decided to use the Hulk for ‘cognitive recalibration’ but couldn’t do anything to stop it cos Hulk dealt with it pretty rapidly after Loki provoked him.” He explained.

“So he was controlled in the same way as Erik?” Darcy asked.

“Not quite,” the genius replied. “From what it said, Loki was consciously aware of what he was doing, he just couldn’t betray them, whereas the rest of them were basically mindless drones.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “They also wanted the bounty hunter to try to find the sceptre.”

Steve frowned. “But S.H.I.E.L.D. had it destroyed.” He said.

“According to the chip it’s still around. It states that it can’t be destroyed.” Tony replied.

Bruce asked the question on everyone’s mind. “So you’re saying Fury lied to us?” he didn’t sound shocked at the notion.

“I’m not sure, but something’s not right. We can’t discount the possibility that Fury is lying, but I figured he’d have said something to Nat or Clint at least. It’s also possible that Fury thinks it has been destroyed and there’s someone else up to something.” Tony answered.

Nat looked at Clint. They seemed to be communicating silently. Clint spoke up. “When I was working for Loki I dug up some old contacts of mine who were enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D. as extra back-up. Thing is, an awful lot of them knew a suspiciously large amount of current intel. The sort of thing you only discover with an inside source. I mentioned it to Fury afterwards and I’ve been looking into it. They’re not the only assets of mine that know things they shouldn’t.”

Nat added, “There’s a mission planned for a month’s time which me and Cap are on. Fury’s given me a separate assignment to collect some information that could be relevant to all this. The sceptre potentially being out there makes this a much bigger deal than we thought. We need to tell Fury, this could go deep.”

“How deep?” Steve asked, shrugging off the news that Nat was being given private op.’s he wasn’t even aware of on his missions.

“Hard to say.” Nat said, not wanting to speculate further without more info.

Steve nodded. “So Nat and I will head back to D.C. first thing tomorrow, see if we can get to the bottom of this. Probably best if we bring Fury up to speed on Dot and Sigyn as well now we have proof of Loki’s coercion.”

The other’s nodded in agreement, Thor adding a thank you for their support of his niece. “When Sigyn awakes, I will ask her if she has any understanding of the sceptre. She has some knowledge of magical artefacts and may know what else it is capable of.

Bruce spoke up when the group fell silent. “I found some stuff too.” The group turned to him, looking confused. He coughed nervously. “I was looking into the readings we have from the invasion on Loki’s magic and I found an odd energy readout that is characteristic of him doing magic, as opposed to channelling energy through the sceptre.

“So I looked into the worldwide radiation scans we had going to find the tesseract, and found a few readout’s of the same signature dotted around. Some were obviously Loki; there was a lot concentrated on the Helicarrier and at the area Clint listed as the base they were using, but there was a few outliers.” He pulled up an image of a map on the protector with his tablet. There was a cluster of red dots in a patch of sea off the coast of Miami.

“The Bermuda Triangle? What was Loki doing there?” Pepper asked, looking confused.

“I don’t think it was Loki,” Bruce replied. “Here the readings I took last night off the same area.” The image overlaid several blue dots, all in the same patch of ocean. “Something is consistently using Asgardian magic in that area.” He explained.

“You found him.” Erik said, looking amazed.

“What? Found who?” Steve asked, looking confused.

“No way!” Tony exclaimed. “The Bermuda Triangle?” he looked bemused.

“Who?” Pepper asked. She was chorused by the others.

“I think I found Jörmungandr.” Bruce explained, looking embarrassed and pleased. There was a moment of silence, before Thor broke into a hearty laugh and stood up to clap a bone rattling hand on the scientist’s shoulder. “Careful, I’m not as durable as the other guy!” he burst out, trying to calm Thor’s exuberance.

“Sigyn will be overjoyed when she awakens!” Thor near-shouted happily. “To know that Jör is well will ease some of her fears. None has heard from him since the Allfather banned travel to Midgard centuries ago.”

“Once she’s well enough and we know we’ve got S.H.I.E.L.D. on our side we can go down to my place and take a boat out some time.” Tony told the god, earning his own slap on the back.

It took a moment for them to settle, Darcy asking how big the snake would be now, Erik looking as though he couldn’t decide if he wanted to go and see the Midgard Serpent of stay well away, and Steve looking vaguely horrified about the thought of a giant snake living in the ocean all this time without anyone the wiser.

Darcy summarised what she had read of Sigyn’s book so far in; “Basically Odin’s a sneaky jackass and I reckon it’s only a matter of time before he decides Midgard has developed enough for him to reinstate his sovereignty of it.” This caused another small discussion where they agreed for Nat to mention this side of things to Fury as extra encouragement that going against Asgard wouldn’t lose them any allies they really wanted in the long run.

They were just finishing up when J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted. “Sir, I am detecting some strange readings in the medical bay. They match Dr. Banner’s signature for Asgardian magic. They appear to centre on Miss. Freyjasdottir’s bed.” Thor leapt from his seat, ready to make his way straight down there, through the floor itself if necessary, when the door was flung open manually.

Sigyn, looking pale and weak, half bent over in clear exhaustion stepped into the room, eyes passing warily over them all but not lingering, before locking on Dot settled in her travel cot. She hobbled over with surprising speed before any of them could react, collapsing to her knees in front of the baby in clear relief when she saw she was unharmed, unable to stand any longer.

“Sister!” Thor cried, “You should be resting.” He hurried over to her, lifting her to her feet and helping her settle in the chair he had vacated. She went willingly, her eyes never leaving her daughter.

“I couldn’t find her,” the goddess said quietly. “I woke and she was gone and I couldn’t find her.”

“I am sorry,” Thor said heavily. “I did not think you would wake, and assumed J.A.R.V.I.S. would know if you did.”

Sigyn broke her gaze from her daughter with difficulty. She passed her eyes over each of the rooms occupants again, pausing on Bruce as though in recognition. She turned to look at Thor. “Brother.” She said. She rested her head against his chest were he stood in front of her chair, gripping his arm. “You kept her safe.” Her voice trembled with suppressed emotion.

Thor sniffed, wrapping an arm around her and leaning hold to kiss the top of her head. “Aye. I have done my best. My friends helped a great deal.” After a moment, he stepped back to look at her face. “Are you well, Sister?” he asked cautiously.

Sigyn looked at him for a long moment. “I will be.” She said simply. The Vanir looked back to her daughter. “I want to hold her.” She said. “I can’t… Can you..?”

Thor nodded in understanding, carefully lifting his niece from her cot, wrapping her blanket tighter around her, before placing her gently in her mother’s arms. He knelt to their level, staying nearby as the goddess still looked weak. Sigyn’s look of absolute joy and affection was enough to make some of the group almost uncomfortable to be here in this private moment.

Reaching up to stroke her daughters hand, the Vanir brushed her hand over the soft toy the girl was gripping tightly. Thor answered her unspoken question. “She appears to favour this one. It was a gift from our host, Tony Stark.” Sigyn blinked once, taking in this information and glancing at the humans. Tony gave a nervous half-wave in response.

“Thank you, Tony Stark,” she replied, looking intently at him. “It was most kind of you.”

“It was, err, nothing.” He replied.

Sigyn shifted her gaze to Bruce. “You also have my thanks, for delivering my babe.” She told him.

“You’re welcome,” he said, looking embarrassed. “Jane helped too.”

“Yes, Sister, this is my Lady Jane!” Thor introduced.

Sigyn smiled at the young woman, “So you are the mortal who has captured the heart of a god?” she asked. “You must be quite something to turn his eye from his hammer. I had a running bet going on how long it would be until he proposed marriage to it.” She smiled slyly. Tony cackled in the background.

Thor frowned. “I am surprised that my brother took a side more favourable to my character than you did.” He stated.

Sigyn looked back down at her daughter, absently replying, “He bet that you would attempt to marry a mirror, believing you’re reflection we’re a real thing.” He looked back at her good-brother. “I at least had some measure of faith in your intelligence.”

There was a moment of stillness, before the room at large erupted into laughter. Jane, at least, tried to stifle her giggles, but Darcy was struggling to breathe next to her. Thor pretended to look sullen faced, but smiled secretly at his good-sister, happy to see her getting on so well with his friends.

“Oh, you’re going to fit right in here,” said Tony between chuckles. Thor started to introduce Darcy, Erik, Nat, Clint, Pepper and Steve. Sigyn nodded and smiled at each of them, looking to be entirely comfortable with them.

Nat noticed that she gave each a quick, assessing once over. The same as the spy would do when meeting someone new, bellying that she was not entirely trusting of the strangers. Nat felt her respect rise, clearing this woman was no airhead; not that Thor’s tale had led her to believe she might be. Natasha supposed that anyone who had been wife and apparently love of Loki Silvertongue had to be intelligent.

Dot had instantly relaxed in her mother’s hold, Sigyn had her pressed up close to her chest where the girl could her heartbeat. She obviously recognised the sound as her eyelids were drooping as she slowly fell asleep. Sigyn looked up at Thor, her face more serious than it had been a moment ago. “Will we really be safe here?” She asked.

Thor looked at her earnestly, placing his hands on her shoulders. “None will harm you. I swear it. They will have no reason to look for either of you here, and if they do they will have a fight on their hands. Long have you predicted that Midgard will one day be just as formidable as any other realm. That day has come. My friends have too sworn that none will harm Dot here.”

Sigyn looked relieved, but asked. “Dot?”

“A nickname, that is all!” Thor swore. “My companions felt that Sigynsdottir was quite a mouthful, and so she has been Little Dot for the past days.” He explained.

Sigyn smiled, “’Tis a sweet name, perhaps it will hold true for her, but I feel it is not quite right. It is sweet as a nickname though.” She drew a strange pattern on the girl’s forehead leaving a blaze of gold in her path for a moment before it faded.

Tony leaned forward eagerly. “What was that? Was that magic? What did it do?” he asked hopefully.

Sigyn replied, smiling at him in a fond almost nostalgic way. “It was to check he health. Simple mothers-magic. There are lots of rudimentary simple spells dedicated to childcare, for magic has oft been a woman’s art and so most of the inventers of new spells are mothers.” She explained. She turned to Thor. “She is hungry. Is there somewhere…”

“Aye.” Thor was quick to reply, but Jane interrupted.

“Why don’t we go on up and get food sorted for everyone else, and Thor can wait in the hall to bring you up once you’re done?” she suggested.

“Thank you,” Sigyn replied, looking at her good-brothers girlfriend for a long moment again, “Would you stay for a moment? I would ask something of you.” Jane nodded, and the avengers filed out leaving the three alone. The Vanir turned back to Thor. “Did he suffer?” she asked simply. It would be impossible to understand who she asked about.

A look of grief and regret passed over Thor’s face. “It was quick.” He replied hesitantly. “He saved my life, and he avenged our mother which is what he would have wanted.” He explained.

Jane quietly spoke, “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Loki.”

Sigyn nodded, grief clear on her face, but thoughtful too. “I must ask something of you,” she said to Jane. “Do you love my brother?” she asked seriously.

“I…” Jane blushed, “Yes, yes I do.” She answered.

“Then, please,” The Vanir continued. “If anything happens to me, will you care for my daughter? Help Thor to raise her, keep her safe and happy?”

Jane swallowed, looking overwhelmed. She glanced at Thor, and then nodded firmly. Sigyn smiled, looking relieved. “Thank you, Jane Foster.” Jane nodded, before grabbing Thor’s sleeve and leading him out of the room to give Sigyn some privacy with her daughter.

Dinner that evening was sushi, as Thor had once mentioned it resembled a dish that Vanaheim was famous for, so it would be a safe bet Sigyn would like it. She did, eating more than most of the humans but not quite as much as Steve and Thor. The occupants were a little less relaxed around the new relative stranger, but soon found Sigyn to be a good fit for their group.

She admired Steve’s sketches as he showed her his sketchbook, she had noticed him drawing and expressed curiosity as a sometimes artist herself. Darcy asked about a few obscure references to Machiavelli in her book and Sigyn explained that she had in fact met them man on a few occasions, and found that although she didn’t agree with all of his principles she understood that they were necessary in some parts of ruling.

Jane had brought a set of three books to her at one point. “They were my favourites as a girl, and Thor said you like novels, so I thought I could lend you them until the others we found online get delivered.” She explained. Sigyn thanked her profusely, eyes bright. She immediately started reading the first one at a quite alarming speed. Little Dot was lying on the rug in front of her, with Barton once again acting out stories with the soft toys. The Vanir had smiled fondly, watching the man a while before returning to her book.

Thor took in the whole scene, from Tony and Bruce discussing the ‘signature’ of magic in the corner, to Pepper and Nat chatting quietly next to them. Erik Selvig was reading a science paper, Steve idly sketching, Darcy flicking through music on her I-Pod. The god of thunder felt real joy at seeing the last of those he considered ‘real’ family interacting with his surrogate family. He knew there was more danger to come, but on this night he relaxed, for all was well in his world.

Chapter Text

The Conference Room, Avengers Tower, Midgard

The 3711 year of Odin’s Rule

The 5th Day of Sigynsdottir’s Life

Thor Odinson sat between his good-sister and his girlfriend as he waited for Director Fury’s video-call. There was a nervous tension in the room. Clint had flown Natasha and Steve back to Washington D.C. at dawn that morning. After a quick discussion the night before it had been decided to send the bounty hunter with them, as a peace offering, in the hopes that it might soothe some ruffled feathers.

The Avengers had been hiding 3 extra-terrestrials in the Tower for five days, and whatever the reasoning and excuses, Fury was not going to be impressed. The bounty hunter would be an invaluable resource of information about the galaxy as a whole and the potential threat of Thanos. Along with a copy of the intel on the data chip, the prisoner might be enough to distract Fury from their decision to keep him in the dark.

Nat had sent a short message an hour ago that the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had agreed on a conference call with the towers occupants. Thor could admit to feeling nervous, though in years past he would rather die than admit to such. The safety of Dot and Sigyn relied heavily on the meeting. Thor might have to leave, taking them to find sanctuary on another realm if Fury was not agreeable to the current situation.

Sigyn looked much more like her old self today. After been given a clean bill of health from Dr. Banner, she had immediately retrieved her satchel from a ‘pocket dimension’. It was a trick Loki had often used for storing a few valued items such as his weapons. Tony, Bruce and Jane had questioned her almost none stop since they’d seen the magic. It seemed to have shaken their entire world view. Sigyn seemed amused, commenting that it was a relatively simple piece of magic.

The Vanir Princess was wearing a formal gown, as opposed to the casual travelling dress she had arrived in. Jet black and tight-bodiced, it gave her the air of someone not to cross. It was split from the waist down at the front, revealing tight black leggings and leather boots. The only adornment were two golden curved bars reminiscent of Loki’s horns that decorated the front from her sternum to her shoulders. There could be no doubt as to whose wife this was.

With her golden-red locks curled artistically around her face and flowing down her back Sigyn looked as though she were dressed for a day at court. Thor supposed it was her way of showing her strength. He was unsure if the direct reference to Loki was a good idea, but supposed there was no hiding this fact. Thor was wearing his own armour, making it clear he too was taking the meeting seriously.

Jane was seated on Thor’s other side, having finally stopped questioning Sigyn. She looked fierce, ready to shout down Fury if necessary, and Thor was immensely grateful. Darcy was next to Jane, also looking strangely serious. She was holding Sigyn’s book in her hands, several pages marked. Erik looked equally stern on the end of their side.

Across from them was Pepper, Tony and Bruce, each looking ready for a fight. Dot was settled in her travel cot next to Sigyn, who kept one hand resting on the bars for comfort. The mother had barely left Dot’s side since they had been reunited, though Thor had insisted that he would check on her if she required something in the night, for Sigyn still needed her rest.

It was another few minutes before J.A.R.V.I.S. informed them that there was an incoming call. Fury’s office came into view, the director himself sat adjacent to the camera behind his desk. Nat and Steve were seated in front on the desk, their chairs turned to face the camera to their side. Steve stood directly across from the camera, between the spies and the director.

“Someone wanna explain why the Tower became an alien day-care centre and none of you saw fit to tell me?” Fury asked, his voice raised.

“Didn’t seem relevant,” Tony replied, “Seeing as it’s mine.” Pepper stood on his foot. “88% mine.”

Fury looked unimpressed. He stared through the screen hard at Sigyn. She stared back; a bland look on her face. Fury raised an eyebrow in response.

“You wanna give me a reason why I should care about your problems when I got bigger stuff to deal with? Stuff like dealing with the mess caused your husbands invasion.” He asked her simply.

Sigyn gave him an assessing look. “Perhaps because I am the crown princess of Vanaheim?”

“I’ve got an alliance with Asgard. Do better.”

“Alliance? You mean Thor’s presence in your band of heroes? I doubt that would last very long if you allowed my child and I to be taken, and Odin Allfather cares little for allies when they would make better subjects.”

Fury narrowed his eyes, apparently conceding the point.

“I have knowledge of magic, of the realms, and I have power in a realm that would be happy for an alliance of mutual aid and support. We can offer you trade of resources you sorely need if The Mad Titan is threatening your world, and a sharing of knowledge. In years of your supposed ‘alliance’ with Asgard have they ever offered anything of the sort?”

“No.” Fury admitted. His face was emotionless, but Thor could see the spark of interest in his eyes.

“I could start negotiations tomorrow. You would be foolish to risk that. All I want is sanctuary on your world, for myself and my child. If it ever became public knowledge that you allowed an innocent child to be slaughtered for no crime but being born, would the people of Midgard stand for your organisation?”

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes.” Sigyn replied simply. There was stillness on both sides of the call as Fury and Sigyn both refused to back down. Thor was ready to step in, to explain to Fury that there would be no need for such, to weigh in his own position on the discussion, but the director surprised them all. His face relaxed into a satisfied smirk, and he let out a single bark of laughter.

“Romanov was right about you.” He said. “Alright. We’ll start negotiating. But first I got a few questions with Thor’s story. There’s gaps I’m not happy with, and I need to know the rest.”

Sigyn too had sat back, leaning comfortably against the back of her seat, looking unbothered by the previously tense atmosphere. “Anything at all.”

“What happened with Angrboda? Thor’s intel was inconclusive and mostly conjecture. I want the full story.”

“Yeah!” Tony agreed, “There was a load of magic stuff I didn’t understand.”

Sigyn looked thoughtful. “I suppose you’re referring to the circumstances surrounding her death?” she asked. At Fury’s nod she sighed. “It is not a happy tale. But I will speak of it.” She began.

“I remember it was the year after Loki had turned 200. When Sif told us that she had heard that Angrboda was dead from a rock giant attack, I was immediately suspicious. Pregnant or not, Angrboda was known to be one of the most formidable sorceress’ in all the nine realms. Loki had sought her out so he might learn from the best, and though he had in time surpassed her skill, it was no easy feat.

“For Angrboda to have been taken down by rock giants was laughable. It would have to be hundreds of them for any ambush to overwhelm her. Loki set out immediately, and I demanded to go with him. For all that he often came across as cold to the outside world, my husband was affected very strongly by things. I knew he loved the giantess, and I didn’t not want him to be alone in giving her a funeral. Though he resisted at first, on the grounds of my being with child, there was no real fight in him.

“When we arrived at the part of the Iron Wood where Angrboda dwelled it was clear that this was no ambush. There was no signs of any struggle outside, and we entered the house in some caution. The smell hit me immediately.”

“The smell?” Darcy asked, interrupting.

Sigyn cast a quick glance over the young girl. “Yes. It stank of blood and sex and misery.” She said simply. Darcy paled. It seemed as though Tyr’s words to Fenrir were true then.

“It was clear that the body was in the bedroom, so I asked Loki if he wanted to stay while I checked. We argued over it, he was adamant that he must see but I told him that he already knew what had happened, already knew what had been done. I asked him if he really needed to torture himself and see it to. In the end he agreed, I think perhaps he was relieved. It was horrible. There was blood everywhere, her body had been disrespected in several ways that I will not speak of.

“As I did what I could to clean her I found there were runes carved into her forearms. They were clearly self-done, and though I was no expert on magic I could see what they were intended for. Angrboda had channelled the last of her dying Eidr into her child, in the hopes of sustaining her for as long as possible. As soon as I called for Loki and he too understood what she had done, we were in agreement.

“Loki used some truly black arts to keep the girl alive, to draw her spirit back together and reanimate that which was beyond saving, and I pulled the girl from her mother’s womb. And so Hela was born. She was beautiful, even with all her scars. I was already with milk for my own child, and so I did what I could to gift Eidr to Hela, and she gained strength. I never had enough to bring life into the half of her which was already dead, but I gave her the strength to live.

“After that, Loki took her and I prepared her body for the pyre he had built. I pulled General Tyr’s dagger from her side, and cleaned her of the seed that the guards had left all over. There was more, but I will not speak of it. I promised her corpse that I would be a mother to her child, and I lived by that vow until the day it was no longer safe for her to be with us.”

Part of Thor wanted to know what other horrors had been done to the corpse of his brothers lover, but he could not bring himself to ask. Fury looked unbothered by the story, but the thunder god thought he was just hiding his horror behind a mask of indifference.

Bruce broke the silence. “Can I ask you something, Sigyn?” the Vanir woman nodded at him. “Why did you come to Thor only now? Why not before?”

“For all that I have been in hiding it is impossible not to hear the gossip from Asgard. There was talk of a fight after the dark elf invasion, that Thor had disagreed with the king, committed treason and only been barely forgiven. They say that the thunder god resides on Midgard now, for he had seen that his father is a monster. I had hoped that this was truth but did not want to risk it. Not until I was so desperate that I had no other choice.”

Bruce nodded, and Thor couldn’t help but feel grateful that the fight with his father had become public knowledge. It had brought Sigyn to him, and now he had a beautiful niece he might not otherwise know.

Fury changed the subject. “The intel about the sceptre is very concerning.” He said. “You know anything about it?” he asked Sigyn.

“Only that it cannot be destroyed. It is the same type of power source as the Aether and the Tesseract, neither of which can be destroyed.”

The director nodded in thanks. “Romanov and Rogers are going to continue here at D.C. helping me get to the bottom of this potential security leak. Banner and Stark can get searching for the sceptre. Any help you can give them would be appreciated.”

Sigyn smiled, agreeing to help if they needed it. With that the meeting came to a halt, the Avengers heading back to their daily activities, Tony and Bruce practically skipping on their way to the lab.

Secret H.Y.D.R.A. Base, Unknown Location, Midgard

The Next Day

Deireck, the bounty hunter, had been having a bad week. It started with the supposedly ‘awesome’ tip off he’d received from a friend which had led to The Other making it clear he was to bring in the girl dead or alive or be tortured to death, painfully. After an exhausting day hunting the b*tch down (without any help from Zantha, who claimed it was his problem) he’d been outsmarted, leading to him following her through the portal to Earth. He’d been smashed by a crazy hammer wielding lunatic, and then taken to a cell by a man in a metal suit.

The next day he’d been interrogated by a human woman and man. He told them everything, no point being difficult when they could withhold his food or something. After a few days of thinking he must have been forgotten about he’d been dragged out of bed to come to a different place where he’d been asked all the same questions about ten different times. And now he’d been dragged to another base, probably for some torture.

Deireck was not made for this life. Take down a few petty criminals and he was happy. But they’d ended up working in some dark circles, which had led to this. He was taken to a small metal room, a table in the centre with a chair that he was shoved into. After an agonisingly long wait, a man walked into the room.

He was clearly in charge; dressed in an expensive suit, his hair going slightly paler at the edges. The man sat down across from the alien.

“I’ve got an offer for you to take back to your employers.” Said Alexander Pierce.

The Common Area, Avengers Tower, Midgard

The 6th Day of Sigynsdottir’s Life

What had been an enjoyable Saturday morning in Avengers Tower was turned instantly to dread and fear when the Bifrost opened on the balcony. Thor immediately called his armour and hammer, standing between the arriving being and Sigyn, who was holding Dot. Tony called his suit to him, the newest model shaping itself around him in seconds. Bruce stood up as well. It would not be safe for the Hulk to come out inside the Tower, but he couldn’t help but stand alongside his fellow avengers, ready to help if necessary. Clint, who had returned with the Quinjet last night, readied his bow, notching an arrow.

When the light cleared, a single Einherjar stood on the balcony. “A message from Odin Allfather, King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms.” He announced.

“We will hear your message.” Thor replied, his grip not loosening on Mjólnir. Sigyn held her breath, frozen in place as she heard the guard speak.

“The Allfather will not summon Princess Sigyn and her child to court. Neither may leave Midgard until he decrees it. For the sake of peace within his family, and whilst there are beings that would make war on the Nine Realms the Allfather will allow the Princess to remain in the sanctuary granted by The Man of Iron.” Nobody spoke as they took that in.

“No harm will come to Sigyn or the babe?” Thor asked the guard.

“The Allfather will allow both to remain on Midgard without punishment for the Lady Sigyn’s treason in attempting to hide a Royal Heir from the court of Asgard.”

Thor was disbelieving, but also relieved. “Very well. Is that all you came for?” he asked the Einherjar.

“The Allfather has a private message for Princess Sigyn.” The guard held out a folded piece of parchment. She stepped forward cautiously, taking it. Thor watched his good-sister read the parchment. Her face ran through several emotions so fast he barely saw them. Shock, relief, anger and then acceptance. She looked more at peace than he had seen her since before she had fled Asgard when she looked up. There was no more fear or wariness in her face as she looked at the guard.

Sigyn smiled. “Please convey my thanks for his message. It is understood.” With that, the Princess walked from the room, heading to the elevator. Thor stared after her in bewilderment. The Einherjar nodded at the group once, before the Bifrost once again struck the balcony and he disappeared.

“What the hell?” Tony asked, to general agreement.

Sigyn’s Room, Avengers Tower, Midgard

Minutes Later

Sigyn stared down at the paper once more.

None shall harm you while Kaen still burns.

The rune, Kaen, was written in blood. It was impossible to write a rune that was not your own in your blood. Sigyn could write the rune of Fidelity, or of Honesty, but if she tried to write Marriage or Strength the parchment would burn to ash. There was only one being in all the universe who was Kaen.

Kaen was the rune of Wildfire. It was Chaos.

Loki.

Chapter Text

Hlidskjálf, The Throne Room, Asgard

The 3711 Year of Odin’s Rule
(The 1st Year of Loki’s Rule)

The 7th Day of Sigynsdottir’s Life

One could see all the nine realms from Hlidskjálf. Heimdall’s gaze was greater, the watchman could see beyond even Yggdrasil. But the view from the Asgardian throne was still immense. So from here, where he could also gather armies, make alliances and do his utmost to strategize in how to defeat The Mad Titan, Thanos, Loki watched.

The fallen prince – now king – allowed himself an hour each day to observe. No more, otherwise he would lose weeks simply watching. His daughter was beautiful. She was perfect. It physically pained the god that Thor could spend all his time with the babe and Loki could only watch. But it was for her safety.

If the attack on Sigyn had proved anything it was that Loki’s plans for Thanos must more forwards. The Mad Titan would pay dearly for threatening her. Loki would destroy him. He would wipe him out entirely, paint a smear across the universe of Thanos remains, so that none would ever dare to think of wishing harm on Sigyn, or on their daughter.

The throne was exactly the burden he had always imagined it would be. An endless cycle of council meetings, holding court and paperwork. The god of mischief had very little free time. He often found his feet leading him to the stables when he had a spare moment to himself. Sleipnir was the only one in Asgard who knew that the Allfather was no Odin Borson.

Loki revelled in finally being able to visit his eldest child. Though constrained by his guise (It would not do for anyone to question why the Allfather was so often visiting his son) Loki found himself spending a little time each day with the stallion.

On Earth, Sigyn was also visiting one of their children. Loki watched as the Avengers – his once enemies, how bizarre – stared in wonder as the great serpent rose from the water. Jörmungandr was immense. His size was hard for any human to comprehend. Jör shifted him for seamlessly into that of a man. Loki’s son was tall even in this form, half a head taller than even Thor. He favoured Loki in his looks greatly, his hair a much shorter Midgardian style, but equally jet black. His skin was pale, but bright green scales crept along the back of his neck and up one side of his face.

Sigyn greeted the boy with a tight hug, introducing him to his youngest sibling. Jör had always been solitary – unlike Fenrir and Vali, or Hela and Narfi, the age gap made the boy almost like an only child. He took his sister in his arms gently however, gazing down at her in adoration.

“I have chosen a name.” Sigyn said. The avengers and their mortal companions started talking at once. Loki as surprised to find they were taking bets. “This is Lyra. Lyra Sigynsdottir.”

Jane Foster, Thor’s mortal, gasped. “You read them!” she exclaimed. Sigyn smiled at the woman, looking pleased. “That’s sweet, I really like that name too.”

“What is sweet?” Thor asked, looking confused.

Jane explained. “In the books I leant to Sigyn, the main character is a girl called Lyra. Later in the book she gets given the title Silvertongue by one of the other characters for trickery.”

Norns, Loki thought he looks as though he might cry. The thought amused him, but was also a little concerning. Would Thor try to kill him when he found out he was alive? Possibly.

Loki was greatly touched by Sigyn’s choice of name. Naming their daughter after a Midgardian story was an unusual choice, but Sigyn seemed to have done it in Loki’s memory. She now knew that he was in fact alive, but had not changed her plans on the name of their sweet Lyra. The god hoped this meant he was forgiven for making his wife believe him dead, and not coming to her as soon as he was free.

Lyra Sigynsdottir, he thought. Lyra Silvertongue.

I will burn worlds to protect you, sweet daughter.

Chapter Text

The first chapter of the prequel is ow posted.

Sequel now posted :)