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After the Asgardian spacecraft arrived at Earth, Thor and Bruce went to meet the rest of the Avengers while Valkyrie helped the Asgardian refugees establish themselves in their temporary shelter.
Thor insisted on bringing Loki with them, after all, they could clarify everything that happened to his brother and his innocence in the whole Chitauri invasion thing. Loki insisted it wasn’t necessary, that he wasn’t welcome and was as guilty as the true responsibles, but Thor still wanted to discuss it with him and the others.
When they say Bruce, they all seem relieved, thankful, to say the least. Banner started talking about what happened in the time he’d been out while Thor noticed Loki’s absence, leaving the room to search for him. The others observed as the god dragged Loki to enter the room, his brother still hesitant about the whole thing. They all pulled their hidden weapons, as if preparing for an imminent fight.
Thor, though, insisted it was alright. He explained (poorly and lacking some important details) about what happened to Loki. He mentioned their conversation in the spaceship on their way to the Earth, blabbering about Loki’s innocence. Banner’s expression was of pure disbelief, as if refusing to believe any of this.
“Is this true, Loki?” Steve demanded, placing his shield down, his guard still on though.
Loki nodded, sighing reluctantly as he mentioned Thanos and the Black Order, as well as all he had gone through after he fell off the Bifröst. Of course, he emitted a lot of details, including his torture, manipulation and other stuff, but they weren’t necessary in the conversation. The others seemed to forgive him, but Barton still seemed hesitant to have him close, suspicious of his trickster nature and possible lies.
“Are we really believing in him? He is the god of lies and trickery.” Clint added, shocked by the others' initial acceptance of the whole thing.
“I wished it wasn’t true as well, mortal. Unfortunately, I am not your biggest problem. The man who planned all the invasion and used me to achieve it is still out there, looking for the tesseract.” Loki hissed calmly. He didn’t want to admit he was as tricked as the other ones, his own memories being manipulated by someone else… It was utterly ridiculous. He was a god.
The focus of the conversation went back to Bruce and Thor as they started blabbering about what they experienced since Banner went missing and Odin died.
“Wait… Hela? Like, Hel, the Norse goddess of death?” Tony mumbled, curious, “I was pretty sure she was Loki’s daughter in Norse mythology.”
Loki gasped in his drink, coughing as the rest of the Avengers looked at him with a mix of shock, confusion, and curiosity. Bruce seemed frightened, to say the least. But it kind of made sense; after all, these two quite looked like each other. Pretty much, actually. They were both terrifying and plotted world domination, so…
Thor, on the other hand, seemed suspicious of his brother, forehead furrowed with unamusement as he uttered, “Loki…”
The god of mischief sighed, speaking up with a bothered expression: “Well, yes. She is in fact my daughter, alright?” He mumbled. “And by the way, her name is Hel, not Hela.”
“When she was born, Odin was furious with me for having a daughter out of marriage, furthermore a ‘monster’, as he would call her.” He explained. “He exiled her to rule Helheim and forbade me to speak about it, but now that he is gone, that curse is gone. When she was freed, he was ashamed to tell anyone about her being my daughter, so he said she was his own.”
“Wait—and you never told me that? Even after all this time?” Thor debated, his voice slightly raised.
“Well, you never really asked me, so…” Loki mumbled, that mischievous voice of his back again. “Furthermore, having a daughter makes me seem old.”
Loki didn’t really care about that, though. He pretended he did, but he just wanted his daughter back; he wanted to raise her, to take care of her. But Odin, of course, seems to hate him feeling any hint of joy.
“And you didn’t even bother about your own daughter getting killed?” Steve brought up, his eyebrows raised in shock. He had seen a lot of things in his life, but that all was… certainly something else.”
“She isn't dead, though. She only returned to Helheim, where she was cursed to reign. She couldn’t break that curse; not even I can, I fear.”
The whole group seemed surprised, taken aback by shock. Even Natasha looked quite stunned.
“Who is her mother, by the way? You mentioned you weren’t married by then.” Bruce inquired, tilting his head to the side. The scientist used to be frightened of Loki back then. Still in Sakaar, he was already scared to share the room with the god of lies.
“I am.” Loki answered, as if it was obvious from the start.
They all knew about Loki’s gender-fluid nature. He had always been unpredictable in every way, so his gender wasn’t really an exception. They all were shocked when they saw an unknown woman in the tower for the first time. Most of them were already ready to fight, but when they realised it was Loki, they would all be too stunned to speak.
“How the fuck—“ Bruce mumbled, speaking out without even thinking. “I’m sorry—“ He paused, recomposing himself. “How exactly? I thought your magic thing only changed your appearance.”
“That applies to most of the mages and wizards in the galaxy; Loki, though, is an exception. Because of his… Well, his jötnar blood.” Thor explained briefly, bringing up even more confusion to the rest of the group. Loki sighed in response, his fingers brushing his temples lightly as his eyebrows were furrowed.
“His what blood?” Steve inquired, observing Loki’s bothered expression.
“Jötnar.” Tony answered. “They are frost giants from Jötumheim.” Loki was as surprised as the others by Stark’s demonstration of vague understanding of his origin. “What? I research about the enemy. I mean, Jarvis did. I found an article about it while researching about Asgard.” The genius explained.
“Well. Thank you.” Loki mumbled, coughing briefly before adding, “Yes, I’m a jötun, which is a gender-neutral species. My magical abilities are a complement to my biology. Basically, even the most powerful mages, even the ones specialised in shapeshifting, have to waste large amounts of energy, what we call seiðr, to keep their disguised form.” The god explained.
“But to me, only the change requires seiðr. Keeping the glamour comes pretty natural to me.” Loki finally added before finishing.
“That makes sense,” Natasha nodded, taking quick mental notes as she absorbed the information.
“So… Who’s the father, then?” Barton finally spoke up, his eyebrows lifted as he waited for the revelation of the year.
“That doesn’t matter.” Loki debated with a sarcastic smile, his emerald green eye expressing his displeasure at going on with that conversation.
“You mentioned she couldn’t die… So that means she might come for revenge, doesn’t she?” Natasha brought up, ignoring Clint’s and the others’ curiosity,
“I don’t think so. She was technically reborn. She doesn’t carry those memories and lies anymore.” Loki muttered, low and clear, to the spy. “She was pissed at Odin for the lies he told her, though she didn’t know they were lies. She is reborn, and now that Odin is gone, perhaps I can raise her… If I go to Helheim and find her, perhaps I can learn how to break her curse. If I raise her, she won’t grow drowned in hatred and death.” Loki seemed dreamful, completely lost in the idea.
“You should search for her and bring her here. You could raise your daughter in the Stark Tower.” Natasha suggested, her usual cold gaze now gentle and compassionate.
Tony murmured in response, seeming unamused by it. “Of course, offer living for someone in someone else’s house. Very mindful.” He teased, his voice not carrying its usual venom. Instead, it was just his usual sarcastic tone.
“I appreciate your kindness, Lady Romanov. Thank you for your hospitality as well, Stark.” Loki hissed to the other man, as sharp as the other one. “I’ll consider it.”
…
“Wait a moment,” Natasha suddenly brought up, already hours later when they were all dining together. “How didn’t Thor know about your daughter, but Tony and the Norse Mythology myths know?” She inquired, her question lighting up curiosity on the others’ heads.
The Valkyrie didn’t join them; she insisted on aiding the wounded because it was her mission, though both Thor and Loki knew she didn’t want to socialise.
“Well, you see…” Loki coughed lightly, clearing his throat. “We already came to the earth millennia ago. We used to frequent the northern area of Europe, so our tales and stories were told and passed through generations. They were preserved, and we were worshipped. Sometimes, these sorts of stories escaped, which probably was the case. Odin probably mentioned it when he believed it wouldn’t pass ahead.”
They all nodded as a couple of ‘oh’s rang in unison. The rest of the night went on quickly; Thor and Loki returned to the shelter after they finished some necessary paperwork and planning to establish the Asgardian population on Earth.
Steve and Natasha were chatting on the sofa, drinking coffee as they discussed some archives. They were taken aback by the joyful voice of the little girl, running from Clint as she held his bow.
Her long and silky black hair cascaded down her small figure, almost reaching the girl’s ankles. Steve noticed how quick it grew back; they cut it two weeks ago, and it already doubled its length. He noticed Natasha’s smile as the girl rushed to them.
She flew above them, landing on the other side of the sofa right in front of them instead of walking through the stairs that led to the inferior room. She had Loki’s bright emerald eyes and pale skin, leaving parts of her body showing skeletal features. He was trying to hide from Clint.
“You are as sly as your mother, aren’t you?” Clint hummed across the room, rushing towards her to avoid her getting hurt. “Where did she run to?” Clint asked the two on the sofa.
“I’ve seen her going to the kitchen.” Natasha answered, chuckling quietly with the girl and Steve as the archer rushed towards the other room. The little girl hummed quietly in reply: “Thank you, Auntie Nat!”
Months have passed, and they all grew fond of the child, even Clint, who also started to tolerate Loki even more. He used to resent Loki for messing with his mind, even if it wasn’t the god’s will and he was brainwashed as well, but since he learnt about Loki’s situation, he started to forgive him.
Since Odin died, Thor had to return to the newly established New Asgard to claim his throne and become their king. Loki decided to stay, claiming it was safer for his daughter on Earth. Whenever necessary, he could cast a glamour over him and his daughter in the presence of other people to avoid calling attention.
A bright green light flashed in front of the three, quickly taking Hel in their arms as the figure kissed her head gently. It was Loki, in his female form and casual black clothes. “There you are, you little menace.” He cradled the child in his arms, noticing the bow on her hands.
Loki lifted a finger, and the bow started to float away from her, from a safe distance. Clint appeared through the doorframe, sighing as he muttered, approaching the others: “Finally… I’ve been trying to get this in the last twenty minutes.” He took the bow as he took a seat beside Natasha.
“Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.” Steve added, amused by the situation. The last months have been peaceful, with them alternating in missions, playing with Hel, and living like some sort of family. It was a truly odd and weird kind of family, to say the least.
Loki also seemed to be happier, finding solace in their company. She had been healing on Earth, learning to cook with Steve, shopping with Natasha and even helping Stark or Banner with their inventions and research. Her magic was pretty useful, and her knowledge admirable, being able to solve a lot of problems Banner found in his physical theories involving space and magic. The goddess was also a great aide in their missions, being able to help them in any kind of situation. After everything, they were all learning how to heal, also helping each other in the process.