I feel that there's some explanation needed for this one...

This is actually an angsty re-telling of one of my previous one-shots, 'Loki's Lullaby' which was inspired by a prompt for fluff on norsekink. (I have the fill here on the site if you want to check it out. There's fluff galore, I promise.) But the inspiration for this one came about from a short lived musical that I fell in love with which is the musical version of 'A Tale of Two Cities' and one of the songs is called 'Little One.' (Lyrics for the song are in this one-shot.) It starts simply enough; Little Lucy, the daughter of Lucie Manette and Charles Darnay, is saying her prayers before bed and Sydney Carton sings her a lullaby which is the beginning lyrics, but it then shifts to the funeral procession of a young boy who has been trampled to death by an aristocrat's carriage and his father is carrying him off to be buried while the rest of the peasants continue the song and follow to mourn the loss of an innocent child...

(You can watch the scene on Youtube if you type 'Catherine + Miles - Tale London Concert' in the Youtube search. It's not the greatest video quality, but absolutely heart-breaking...)

After hearing that song, the idea for this story came in my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. I had originally planned that Thor and Loki take the child back to Asgard to be buried and have a Norse funeral, but then it started getting drawn out so I decided to go with this instead.

Reviews are appreciated!

"But she cried...I heard her cry...She's alive." Loki said quietly, his eyes betraying the tears that were threatening to start .

"For now. It's a miracle she's hung on this long." Bruce softly corrected, his hand resting on Loki's shoulder in sympathy. "But the Tesseract's energy has done too much damage to her body. That and..." He swallowed hard, remembering the thrashing he had given Loki just hours before. "There's nothing we can do..."

Loki could tell that Bruce partially blamed himself for the child's current state and it would have been easy for him to do so as well. But if there was anyone to blame, it was himself. Had he even known she existed, he would have never made the deal with the Chitauri in the first place. None of this would have even happened. He had allowed the desire for 'unlimited power' to overtake him and now she was paying the price.

"C...can I hold her?" he asked. "They took her away so quickly, I didn't really get a chance to see her."

The request was so simple, it almost threw Bruce for a loop. He had expected a complete meltdown from Loki at this news at the very least, considering the past few days. It was almost unnerving to see him this calm. Still, he saw nothing wrong with his request, so he nodded his agreement before lifting the tiny body out of the incubator and gently placing her in Loki's arms.

Looking down at her frail figure, he couldn't get past how small she really was. 'Much smaller than she felt coming out...' he thought as he adjusted her in his arms. He had hardly expected her arrival when he collapsed in pain after the Hulk's bashing and was nearly as surprised as everyone else was when she arrived a short time later. After that, it all became a blur; blinding waves of pain followed by bone-chilling silence, a room full of doctors hovering over the tiny, bloody form that had come forth, Thor being forced out of the room shouting that he would not leave Loki and his niece when they needed him most.

Niece...

It was a girl...

He had brought forth a daughter and now he was losing her.

All the wires enveloping her body hours before had been removed except a small tube in her nose to keep her breathing easily and it was now all he could watch, the simple rise and fall of her chest that let him know she was still hanging on.

"How long?" Loki asked quietly after a moment.

"An hour... Maybe two."

He paused for a moment before letting out a long breath. "Can I have some time alone with her...to say good-bye?"

Slowly, Bruce nodded. "Of course. I'm so sorry..." he said before leaving the room, wiping his eyes as he walked away.

0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O 0O0O0O

Finally alone, only now did he really get a good look at her. Despite being 10 weeks premature, he could tell how much she had taken on his features; his familiar pale skin and wisps of dark hair already showing themselves.

"You are a pretty little thing, aren't you young Kesi?" he said softly, running his finger across her bruised cheek. He had almost forgotten what it was like to hold a child in his arms; a feeling that he hadn't felt since Sleipnir. But this...no. He had already had one taken from him; he wasn't going to lose this one too. It wasn't too late. She was a fighter; even Bruce was amazed that she was still hanging on. He could take her away, escape to Jotunheim, anything to save her...

But she wouldn't survive the journey and he knew that better than anyone.

If these were going to be his last moments with her, he was going to make them count. He sat with her, rocked her in his arms, told her how much he loved her...and that he was sorry. As the minutes ticked on, he could sense her energies growing weaker, her body heaving with struggling breaths as she fought to stay alive. Every gasp tore at his heart. He wanted more than anything to ease her pain, to let her know that she could let go. When all else failed, his mind drifted back to his childhood in Asgard; a lullaby that he had remembered his mot...Frigga singing to him when he was very young. And feeling he had nothing to lose, began to sing as he gently rocked her in his arms.

'Little one, ease your heart

Close your eyes

And let dreams take you far

Far away from the storm

To a summer day, warm and fair

Hardly a care finds you, little one...'

At the sound of his voice, he could feel her relax in his arms and he softly smiled despite himself; thankful he could give her some relief as he continued.

'Little one, ease your heart

Close your eyes

And let dreams take you far

Far away from the screams

And the smell of death in the air

Hardly a care finds you, little one.'

Slowly, her breathing became more shallow as he kept going to keep from spiraling out of control.

'Little one
Mind your way
Don't let people without hearts step on you
And toss you away. If you'll wait and you'll pray
Papa will save you and hide you away.'

Only now had he realized that the rise and fall of her chest had stopped under his touch. No please... Not yet...

'Little one
Heed my voice

Little one
Mind your way

Just you wait...'

Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and let out a choked sob when he finally accepted that she was gone...

'Just you wait...'' he choked out before dissolving in tears, the tiny body clutched to his chest as he screamed; his heart ripped in two.

The End

Wow... That's probably the angstiest thing I've ever written... I seriously need to write some mpreg fluff now...

Reviews are greatly appreciated!