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When Frigga appeared on the roof of Avengers Tower, she caused a lot of commotion among its residents - especially the very young Loki, who practically flew to her side. She gathered him up and went inside, where the others were gathering, wearing various expressions of excitement, relief or worry.
"I've heard a lot has happened," she told the boy in her arms. "It's good to see you again at last, spell or no spell. Now what shall we do about this mess?"
"Don't put it back," he told her. "I don't want to be grownup-me." He shook his head frantically.
She frowned at him, pain and concern in her eyes. "This is a thornier problem than I had realized," she said. "Heroes of Earth. Thank you for caring for my son in his time of need. It could not have been an easy choice. And now I seem to have a choice to make."
"You do," Bruce agreed. "We'd like to talk through it before you decide anything."
"We'd like to keep 'im," Clint told her bluntly. "Keep helping."
Frigga pulled Clint into a quiet corner, needing to talk with him away from the others. They sat, speaking low and intense.
"How could I trust you to protect him after all the harm he did you?" Frigga asked earnestly.
Clint shifted somewhat uncomfortably. "Dunno how I'm gonna convince you but I am. I promised to teach him how to be a hero and I'm gonna keep my promise."
Frigga watched him warily. "And your lessons bear some weight that mine did not? Would you make them heavy with the crimes he has not yet done?"
Natasha came up suddenly, looming over the both of them. "I think I'm the person you ought to be talking to," she told Frigga.
"And how is that?" the queen asked her somewhat coldly.
Natasha dredged up her oldest, most dialectical Russian for what she spoke next, because she needed this to come out sincere, from deep in her heart, and she knew Frigga would understand her no matter what language she spoke.
<When Clint found me, I was barely more than a lost child,> she told the queen. <But I had so much blood to my name. I knew my place and it was to kill people like Clint. I was too dangerous. He'd been sent to kill me - but he didn't. He wouldn't have, not until he knew for sure. I tried to manipulate him, used everything in my power to try and trick him into helping with my mission. Because my mission was all I knew. And he didn't give up on me. Hasn't yet.>
Frigga's eyes were jewel-bright as she listened. "And you think your friend will do the same for my son?"
<He already has,> Natasha responded. <The idiot trusts that paranoid, broken little scrap of brainwashed child.> She sighed. <It was a bad idea then, and it's a bad idea now. But it's how he is.>
Frigga contemplated the Black Widow for a long time. "I did my best for him," she told her. "But it wasn't enough. Even while Asgard was at peace, as we are not now. Even while Odin held the burden of the throne, which I must now. There is too much which demands my attention. He is my responsibility. But I think, now, that Asgard needs me far more than a boy who is twice a foundling, and may have had better fortune in being found the second time." Her eyes were undeniably wet now.
"Loki, come here," she called across the room. Thor hugged his brother once more before releasing him. Loki's steps were hesitant, but he looked on both his mother and Clint with trust in his eyes. Frigga pulled him into her arms. "Loki, I love you and I will always be your mother," she said. "But Asgard isn't safe for you right now, and they need their queen. I must return. Would you stay with these brave heroes of Midgard?"
"I want you to stay here," Loki said quietly.
"I know," Frigga answered, voice warm and pained. "I wish more than anything that I could stay, but I am the Queen of the Nine until Odin wakes, and I must protect the peace of all the beings of all the realms if I am to keep you safe."
Loki sniffed, and didn't speak.
"But I will visit you when I can, or send Thor when I cannot. Do you truly wish to stay a child, to grow from where you stand? Even if I cannot always be here?"
Loki's eyes strayed to Clint, and Clint reached out to take his hand. "Yes," Loki said to his mother, nodding solemnly.
"And will you be his guardian, for as long as he might need you?" Frigga asked Clint.
"Yes, Ma'am," the archer answered.
"Then it will be done," the queen intoned, and she leaned down to kiss Loki on the forehead. "The spell is set."
Clint felt oddly as if he'd just taken part in some kind of marriage ceremony, but it was a different kind of family he had gained.
Phil would have understood.
Frigga held her son for a moment, tears running freely down her cheeks. Then she took a breath. "Now, as to the young Anthony Stark," she said. "I could stabilize the spell upon him, as I did for Loki, or I could take it away. It would, however, be dangerous for a human child. The spell has only strengthened since it has been cast."
Bruce and Tony looked long and hard at each other.
"I'll be here either way," Bruce told Tony. "But if keeping you the way you are is safer for you, I'd like to do that."
Tony smiled.
"Stay," Loki agreed. "Thor's big and I need someone to play with."
"Your choice," Clint told the rest, smiling encouragingly at Bruce. "If we're gonna raise brats, the more the merrier." He caught Bruce's eye and the two of them shared a bright twinkle.
"I want to stay," Tony agreed.
"Then come," said Frigga. When he did, she settled gentle hands on his shoulders. "Thank you," she said, "for being a friend to my son." Then she kissed him on the forehead, and petted his hair.
Tony ducked his head. "Thank you, Your Majesty," he said, then studied her for a while. "Will you still teach him magic? I wanna know more than what he knows now."
Frigga smiled, bright and brittle. "When I can," she answered, holding Loki close. "But I think there are more important things for you both to learn here on Midgard."
She sat with the two of them for as long as she could justify to herself, and then she returned to Asgard, Thor at her side, so that they might better deal with any problems that had occurred during her absence.
It took a long while for it to sink in that the two of them were safe in their child bodies, that they really got to stay.
"So the whole tower's really mine?" Tony asked. "What else is in it besides superheroes' houses and the workshops and offices and stuff?"
"There's a few shops," Bruce answered, "and some Stark Industries labs, and a gym with a pool."
Tony grinned wide at that.
They spent the afternoon playing in the pool, and after a while Clint came to sit next to where Bruce was perched on the steps.
"So I guess we're keepin' 'em?" Clint asked, knocking his shoulder against Bruce's.
"I guess we are," Bruce agreed. "I'm not sure if this was the right thing, or of anything right now, really, but I couldn't turn him back. Not if he wants this. I'd turn back time for my younger self in a heartbeat."
Clint sighed. "I know the feeling," he agreed. He slipped an arm around Bruce. "I wouldn't trade a better past for what I've got now - what I've got now is pretty much the best - but Tony's got the future he built and the friends he made, and a chance to start over again. I think you did right." He kissed Bruce on the shoulder.
"I feel like I've walked right into my daydreams," Bruce said, leaning into Clint a little. "Everything I wanted - a partner, kids who need me, the best lab facilities I could ask for, all just kind of fell into my lap. I'm still afraid I'm going to wake up."
Clint leaned in to kiss Bruce deeply and wetly. "Let's never wake up," he said against Bruce's lips.
"EEEWWW!" Tony exclaimed from the middle of the pool. "Get a room!"
They just laughed, and leaned against each other.
The next afternoon, Director Fury came and paid them a visit. It wasn't so much a surprise - Natasha had gone to report to him about the changes in their little situation. They were on the common floor, the kids coloring with the pencils Steve had given them after lunch.
"Whose call was this?" Fury glared around at everyone in the room. "Tony, specifically."
Bruce gave a little handwave. "That would be me."
"Doctor, can we have a conversation? In private?"
Bruce stood, giving a reassuring squeeze to Tony's shoulder before stepping away, only as far as the dining area. "Forgive me if I don't want to let him out of my sight right now. We're all a little on edge."
Fury shook his head. "I don't need them to hear this."
"I can pretty much guarantee that if it happens inside the tower, they'll hear it." Bruce shrugged helplessly.
"What the fuck kind of daycare are you running here?"
"The kind where Jarvis is always at Tony's disposal."
"Can't you do anything about that?"
"Jarvis was built with one directive. To serve Tony Stark as best he could figure out how. Trust is a big part of that. Jarvis is the only reason Tony didn't try to leave the Tower within twenty minutes of this spell being cast. So Jarvis maintaining that trust with Tony? That's important to all of us here, even if we don't always agree with Jarvis's decisions."
Fury narrowed his eyes, but then nodded in acknowledgement. "So Frigga came down to Earth, and she told you, what, exactly? That she couldn't do it?"
"That it would be dangerous, but that she could do it if we asked her to."
"You had the solution in your hands and you just let it go? Just let it walk right out of here, no, ma'am, thank you, ma'am, this spell we've been trying our damnedest to lift is fine right where it is?"
"There were a lot of factors. It wasn't a decision we made lightly."
"It better not have been! The Tony Stark we knew and depended on is gone, and you did that. That affects the entire world."
"Director Fury, there is no imminent threat. The world can benefit more from forty extra years worth of his inventions than it can from having the Iron Man we knew back in the suit and on the job, and I think you know that."
"I'd also think you'd be a little less blase about playing god with your friend's life."
"Maybe so, but don't we all, Director? Isn't that what science is? I've created life. I try my best not to destroy it. But Tony Stark has two lives now and this was the one in front of me to preserve. And if you get down to it, I didn't do this. A goddess did, at Tony's request. I just didn't argue."
Fury flared his nostrils in aggravated acknowledgement. "Let's say I give you that. You still had some pull. I know that and you know that. And you also know Tony. What would the Tony Stark we both knew have had to say about all this?"
"He'd have wanted his memories, yes," Bruce acknowledged, voice careful and a little stilted with the depth of the emotion behind it. "Every last ache of betrayal, every last moment of torture. Are you really going to tell me that that wouldn't have been self-destructive? I'm Tony's medical proxy. I'm aware of what he would have wanted, but I'm also aware that he had a lot about his childhood that he wished were different, and that he trusted my judgement above his own on some topics. He wanted me to make my own calls, not his. He knew there'd be factors he couldn't foresee. And now? We have a Tony here who wants something else out of life. Who are we to say no to him?"
"Listen, Doctor, I spent a lot of time around Howard Stark...."
"I don't give a FUCK about Howard Stark!"
Nicholas J. Fury had faced a lot of dangerous situations without flinching, and this wasn't going to prove an exception. There were signs, though, for those who looked, that a suddenly very angry Bruce Banner standing two feet from his face had come close.
Bruce continued, more quietly but just as angry and determined to get his point across. "Whatever genetic claim Howard may have had on him, it died with Howard. Okay? And it has nothing to do with being a good parent to the kid, anyway! If you're going to hide behind that excuse, if you're going to continue his tradition of seeing Tony as nothing more than a toy... tool... experimental subject!" Bruce stopped for a moment, breathing deeply. "Then you can get the fuck out of our home."
Fury held his hands up in surrender. "All right," he said lightly, almost flippantly. "So, I'm not gonna go there. But from what I know about the Starks, they tend to be pretty adamant about keeping all the knowledge that they can get their hands on. You wanna be the one who took all that away from him? And his ability to fight? You really think this is gonna keep him safer?"
"When has being Tony Stark ever been safe?"
"Being able to pilot the Iron Man armor seems to help." Fury shook his head. "Hate to say it, but the world is a lot more vulnerable without Iron Man in it. Not to mention having Hawkeye and the Hulk on semipermanent babysitting duty."
Bruce watched something outside the window, then smiled a bit before he spoke. "I think you'll find that heroes will always step up."
There was a clattering from the landing pad, and two armored figures stepped forward, one in the red-and-gold of the Mark III, the other in a new red-and-silver armor of a subtly differently shaped design. No one was surprised when Rhodey and Pepper were revealed under the armors as they disassembled - who else would Jarvis trust to pilot his creator's work?
"Director," Rhodey greeted Fury. "I understand you have some concerns about who's gonna be filling Iron Man's shoes for the foreseeable future."
"Colonel," Fury answered with a nod. "Always good to have you in the skies. But you're not always around when the big jobs come up. And Miss Potts over there has a company to run. A great goddamn big one. So yeah, you could say I'm concerned."
Rhodey made a face. "Well," he said, "not a Colonel anymore. I'm retired. Suddenly my other responsibilities seemed more pressing." He inclined his head in the direction of young Tony, who was now chatting at Pepper with wide eyes.
Fury raised his eyebrows. "Really? 'Cause I had you pegged as one of those sons of bitches who never takes off the uniform, not even to sleep."
The former Colonel gave him a smirk. "Could be right about that," he responded. "But there's duty, and then there's family."
"Is that what this is?" Fury eyed him.
"Yeah," said Rhodey. "No question. For the foreseeable future, I go where I'm needed to keep Tony safe."
"In that case, Iron Man," Fury told him, holding out a hand, "good to have you aboard."
Rhodey took his hand and shook it firmly.
A few yards away, Clint sat on the back of a sofa, his watchful eye on everything that was going on in the room, but especially Loki and Tony, who had long since abandoned their coloring pages to gawk as the adults argued over Tony's fate. When Pepper came to greet them, she smiled warmly and introduced herself, holding out a hand for Tony to shake. "Hello, Tony," she said. "I'm Virginia Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, but you can call me Pepper if you like."
"Do you have a queen mama too, after all?" Loki asked in a hushed voice. He heard the title as a position of authority, though he was hazy on the details.
Pepper laughed gently, looking flattered. "No, I'm just a friend, but I am used to taking care of Tony. I used to be his personal assistant." She held out a hand to him, too, slightly nervously but mostly successful in not letting it show. "It's good to meet you, Loki."
Loki nodded regally. "And you as well," he replied.
"So you do company stuff now," Tony said, slightly disappointed. "It's okay. Bruce and Clint said they'd take care of me."
"Oh, Tony," she said, and sat down on the couch next to him, bringing them a little more even with each other. "I do spend a lot of time doing boring business stuff. It's what I'm good at, and that's why you hired me. But none of it is ever more important than you being safe and happy." She frowned at him a little sadly. "Is it okay if I give you a hug?"
Tony nodded dumbly.
Pepper gathered him up close, scrunching up his hair with one hand and pulling him in with the other arm around his shoulders. "Tony," she said, "I'm going to do my very best to help you have a happier life this time around, okay? And that does mean making sure your company is stable, but if you ever need me, just tell Jarvis and I'll come, all right?"
Tony snuggled into her embrace, sniffing a bit. "Okay," he said. "Pepper?"
"Yes, Tony?"
"Really ever?"
"If you really need me," she said, "yes, any time."
Tony climbed up into her lap and curled there, breathing raggedly.
"Having a rough time, huh?" she asked, not totally at ease with a small child in her lap, but willing to try anything, for Tony.
"I like it here," he said. "But I miss my mom."
"Oh," she said, tone low and pained and understanding. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Tony."
Loki tapped Pepper's arm, and when she moved it, he crawled up onto her lap beside Tony. She managed not to stiffen... much.
Clint finally moved, uncurling a little from his perch on the back of the couch, and Loki's attention was drawn to him immediately.
"She was friends with Phil," the archer said quietly.
Loki looked up at her in alarm, hand tightening on Tony's arm. "No," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Lady Pepper." He made to climb down again, but she held him there. She looked him in the eye without flinching, wearing her unshakeable businesswoman face.
"That's nothing you have to worry about right now," she told him firmly. "You're just a kid. And there is no one in this room who hasn't made a mistake that led to people dying." She sighed, pulling them both close. "Sometimes, things just spin out of our control. But right now, all you are to me is the best friend of my best friend. So you just stay right here as long as you want."
Loki relaxed again, mostly, leaning into Pepper with relief.
Pepper looked up at Clint, then back down at Loki. "I brought papers to legally transfer custody of the two of you to Bruce and Clint," she said. "...Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Clint doesn't lie to me," Loki said solemnly. "He's going to teach me to be like Hawkeye. And Bruce makes good food."
Tony nodded in agreement. "Bruce is the best," he said. "And Clint makes him happy."
Bruce approached the group, having calmed himself down a bit after the confrontation with Nick Fury, but now wanting the reassurance of Clint's touch. He stood behind the couch and wrapped his arms around the archer. "We're making it official?" he asked. Clint smirked at him in response.
Pepper gestured to the briefcase she'd brought. "Thankfully, I've already got durable power of attourney over Tony, and Bruce is his medical proxy, so declaring you to be Tony's guardian for the duration of his... condition is fairly straightforward. Clint is just slightly more complicated, but nothing we can't handle. We're going to need to combine the concept of adult adoption with guardianship, since there's really not much precedent for this. Then, with Loki, you can file jointly for temporary guardianship, and we'll discuss more permanent options with Frigga the next time she visits. Does that sound all right to you?"
Clint looked at Bruce, shrugging. Bruce tilted his head a bit. "So we'll be declaring Tony incompetent, essentially?"
"We're declaring him to be a minor, I'll make sure all the language is clear on that, but yes, we'll be going through a lot of the same channels. I'll make sure it's all reversible once he comes of age again."
Bruce nodded. "I'll have to trust you on that. I haven't had the best experiences with people trying to decide whether I can be considered responsible for myself or not."
Clint turned to pull Bruce farther into his arms, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "This'll work," he said. "We've got the most devious people on our side."
Bruce smiled at that, and so did Pepper. "Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said, shifting just enough under the weight of children that she could open her briefcase and indicate the folder on top. "It's all in there."
"Well, I got the lowdown from Natasha while she was your assistant," Clint said, scooping up the folder and sitting down properly on the couch. "When the Black Widow is impressed with your skills getting paperwork to do what you want it to do? Then you've got skills."
Meanwhile, Rhodey had finally managed to rid the tower of Nick Fury, and he came over to join the rest of the group. "Hey, Tony," he greeted with a wave. "Enjoying being the right size for laps again, huh?"
Tony nodded a bit shyly. Even he was starting to get overwhelmed with all the attention he'd been receiving. He turned his eyes to Bruce somewhat imploringly, and Bruce scooped him up out of Pepper's lap before taking a seat between her and Clint. Loki resettled against her, stretching out a foot to perch on Bruce's knee. Bruce patted his ankle fondly.
"It's been a big few days," Bruce said apologetically to Rhodey. "It'll be great to have you around, though. He'll get used to you."
"Yeah, I gotcha," Rhodey agreed, but he couldn't quite hide his disappointment.
"Rhodey," said Pepper, "remember how long it took for you to find his real personality under all the bull-crap the first time around. And now he trusts you with the suits. He will come around."
"Yeah, okay," Rhodey said, and this time the smile that came with it looked genuine.
After Rhodey had left, chatting with Jarvis about armor maintenance, and Pepper packed up and returned to her office with the signed papers to file, Tony and Loki curled up together in the corner of the couch, exhausted, while their freshly minted legal guardians made them dinner.
"You know," murmured Loki, "I think your Lady Pepper is a Queen Mama after all."
"Maybe," said Tony, before he nuzzled his face into Loki's neck and drifted off to sleep.