Last chapter because I'm a horrible person and I can't think of anything else to write for this fic. But while you read, let us remember that reviews are good for the soul.

~JM

"What did you do?" Loki growled between clenched teeth. He had fistfuls of Tony's shirt in his hands and held him so close they were nearly nose to nose.

"Don't freak out. Everything's fine." Tony promised.

"Don't you dare tell me it's fine." The god pushed him away and paced like a caged animal. "You…I trusted you above all else. Where are they?"

Tony drew close but was careful of the god's anger. "You're exhausting yourself. Relax, please. It's just for a few hours, a cup of coffee."

Loki turned on his heel, barely containing his rage. "I should kill you."

Tony spread his arms wide. "Well, do it then. No?" He dropped his arms and sighed. "I did is for you, because you're too stubborn to clean up your own mistakes. It's not like I let Clint and Natasha take the kids and go. Bruce and Thor are with them, in a public place. Nothing's going to happen."

Loki paused to lean against the wall. Closing his eyes and taking a breath, he demanded, "Take me to them."

The billionaire looked hesitant. "I don't—"

"I want to make sure they're alright. Can you understand that, Tony?" Loki snapped. "This is what parents do; they make sure their children are safe."

"You know what, let's have it out. Right here. Get everything off your chest." Tony grew angry, the tips of his ears turning a shade of red and his brow furrowed. "Why don't you tell me you really think."

The god looked away, jaw working in anger. "There is nothing to say."

"Bullshit."

"Tony, stop."

"Come on, admit it. You don't want me around your kids. I'm good for cleaning up blood and battle scars. It's alright if change a couple of diapers now and then but damn if I'm capable of making a decision involving them."

Loki shook his head. "That's not—"

"Don't lie. If you could, would you take them back to Asgard? Jotunheim?"

"No," Loki growled. "I would never take them from here."

"So, I'm just not a capable parent. Are you afraid I'm not going to love them enough for you? Or are you afraid I'm going to be Howard Stark 2.0?" It hurt him to think that he could be like his father but he had exorcized that demon a while ago.

Loki pressed his lips in a thin line, hands clenched at his side. "I'm finding it very hard to be patient with you."

Tony didn't care. He kept pushing because there was this cavernous expanse between them and after everything it hurt him to the core. "What did I do that made you not trust me? After everything that happened. You've got to tell me because I thought I was doing a bang up job. I did a complete 180."

Loki looked slightly hurt. "This domestic quarrel does nothing for either of us."

Tony gave a noise of frustration before he took a breath to calm himself. "Alright, fine. I've got work to do. So, if you decide that you want to be domestic, you know where to find me."

"I'm afraid."

Stark stopped with his hand on the door handle. "What?"

"You think that I would distrust you after the nearly four months we've gone through? I don't think you incapable and I don't doubt your love for them. You've done so much…"

"Then what are you so afraid of? You have to tell me because I am so lost."

"Amelie and David, they can fit in on this world. Maybe even Seth if he does not grow as large as Fenrir."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"What will happen when they realize cold does not affect them as it does others. What happens when they find out who I am? I am a monstrosity as your agent Romanoff has said. And I am afraid they will love you more when they find out. I am afraid they will cling to you and your Avengers more than they will me."

Tony inhaled slowly, and he felt his irritation shift to a dull ache in his chest. He should have seen it, the desperation for his children's ceaseless affection. "You," Tony breathed, "are such an idiot. You're not a monstrosity. You're an ass sometimes, and they're going to hate you for that, because you wouldn't let them drive a car by themselves or get a giant freaking boa constrictor. They're not going to love me more because I'm going to agree with you. I'm going to be the one who says 'go ask your father' and tells them they can't watch TV past midnight—"

"Ten."

"See! I'm going to screw up sometimes, and what if they hate me? They're going to find out I'm not their real dad. What happens when they tell me that I can't tell them what to do because I'm not their real dad? That's going to kill me. It really is. But this, today, can you trust me to do something right today?"

Loki hesitated. "It's…it's not you I don't trust, and I don't yet trust even my brother not to take them away. Perhaps I am overly worried but can you fault me for it?"

Tony gave a soft sigh. "Would you like to go see them?"

"You know I would."

As they passed by the picture window of the small café, Loki could see the other Avengers seated at a table with his children in their arms and his heart stuttered in fear.

Clint and Natasha had dressed casually, jeans and shirt. She held Amelie while Clint let Seth roll around within the confines of his lap. They seemed at ease and Fury was absent.

Tony's hand brushed Loki's as they entered and he said softly, "I'll get you something. Just…be nice."

"I'm not a child. I can be civil."

"Civil is not the same as nice." Tony held Loki's arm before he tried to make his way to the table. "Think of it as one nice long lie."

The god's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "I never thought I would hear you encourage me to lie."

"I never thought I'd have to just to make you play nice."

"Then lie I will."

The four Avengers were smiling, laughing in the ease of the café's atmosphere. Amelie smiled and Loki could the corner of his mouth lift. He made sure they saw him coming, smiles fading and an uncomfortable silence falling. Thor rose to his feet, pulling out a chair between him and Banner. All eyes were on the younger god as he took a seat, dividing his gaze between Amelie and Seth.

"It's good to see you here, Loki." Thor grinned and gave his brother's shoulder a rough squeeze.

Loki winced at the heavy hand and tight grip. He opened his mouth and nearly made a scathing remark but took a breath and simply replied, "Thank you."

"Cute kids," Natasha said, her tone clipped.

Clint looked between her and Loki with an almost bemused expression. "I'm not buying it," he said bluntly, shrugging unapologetically as the other Avengers shot him a glare.

"Regardless," Loki replied, "you're holding my child."

"Except you know it's not really a child," Clint shot back, glancing down at Seth. "What with the fur and all."

"I believe he looks like Fenrir," Thor interjected, "another of Loki's children."

Natasha shifted Amelie to a more comfortable position but the movement made Loki react instinctively, barely stopping himself before he reach out to take his child back.

"You had others?" She asked. "What happened to them?"

Loki pressed his lips tight but it was Thor that answered, "They're gone."

"Gone?"

Thankfully Tony arrived with his and Loki's drinks and sat down with a grin. "This is nice," he said jovially. "No fighting, cute kids. I think I've done good."

"What do you mean gone?" Clint pressed, not bothering to give Stark a glance.

Banner gave the archer a hard stare from across the table. "Leave it, Barton."

The other looked back innocently. "What? We're supposed to act nice. I'm just trying to get to know my housemate better."

"Obviously, I missed something," Tony muttered in his cup. "Knew it couldn't last long."

"So, Loki," Clint continued. "What happened to the rest of your kids?"

"Oh, damn." Tony sighed. "Clint, try not to be a dick for five minutes."

Clint looked mildly surprised. "I can't ask a question? Where's Cap when you need to defend Constitutional rights?"

"They're dead," Loki said suddenly. He stared down at his steaming cup of coffee. "Some of them died, others imprisoned."

"For what?"

"Damn it, Clint," Bruce whispered. "Shut up."

Natasha came to her partner's defense. "We have a right to know now that he's staying in the same building as us."

"Living," Tony corrected as he gave Natasha a cold stare. "Staying implies a temporary arrangement. He's living at the Tower, with me."

Thor answered Clint before the things escalated too quickly. "I confess his children had yet to do any wrong, Our—my father believed they were dangerous and had them confined."

The archer looked at Loki with malevolent interest. "Really? How could he ever believe that?"

Loki's carefully constructed mask of calm vanished and his lip curled in a sneer. "You think me docile because I've been weakened and made to look like you. I'm not human or Asgardian but a monster to most races. Odin rides my son like a common beast. So you see, my children and I are tools for others' benefit, scapegoats. I've risen above that and want the same for them."

His children, sensing their father's anger and upset began to wail piteously. Loki reached for Amelie as Tony did for Seth while Banner tried to calm David.

"Little bastard peed on me," Clint yelped at the sudden growing stain on his thigh.

"Bastard he may be but still far more clever than you," Loki replied as he turned to leave. "I believe this marks the end. It's has been enlightening."

Tony hesitated to turn around as he put the kids in their beds. But he did with the best innocent gaze he could manage which Loki matched with a glower.

"I'm sorry," Tony said with the deepest regret he could muster.

"He called my son a bastard," Loki said slowly.

"I know and you handled that way better than I thought you would." Tony sat on the bed and waited for the god to take a seat beside him. "Look, it doesn't even matter because with as much space as we have, you don't have to see them. We could even get out of here for awhile if you want, take a trip to Spain or France. Let's go somewhere warm and—"

There was a sudden knock at the door and Banner appeared in the doorway.

"What's up, Doc?" Tony asked.

"Clint and Natasha are here." Banner looked at Loki. "Clint wants to talk to you."

The god narrowed his eyes. "What does he want with me?"

"He just wants to talk. Alone." Banner added, looking at Tony.

"The hell he will." Stark replied.

Loki touched Tony's arm lightly. "I accept. You can direct him here."

The billionaire looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure? You don't have to."

"Will you be outside the door?"

"Of course I will."

"Then I can hear him out."

Tony looked as though he was going to argue but pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded as he rose to his feet. "I'll be right outside the door. You could whisper if you need me."

The billionaire passed by Clint on his way out but grasped the archer's arm before he could make it too far in. "Don't mess up," Stark murmured.

Clint didn't reply, but waited for the other to let him go.

"They're asleep," Loki said when Tony left them alone. "So, if you wish to throw more insults—"

"I'm sorry." Clint interrupted. "I didn't mean…What I said, it just slipped. I'm no good with kids anyway. Look, I don't like you. What you did…but they told us what happened, or parts of it, and I figure you paid your dues. And I wouldn't pass my dislike of you on to your kids. OK?"

Loki blinked in surprise. "I…that's extremely generous."

"Did I mess up?" Clint called over his shoulder.

Tony appeared in the doorway, hands tucked in his pockets. "I think that was good."

Clint nodded once. "Fury's taken you off his enemy combatant list. I suppose we'll be civil now that you're living here. With Tony."

"Wait," Loki said as Barton was about to leave. "Your apology should not have been for me. I neither expected it nor deserved it."

"I'm don't…whatever the hell you are, I'm not judging you or them on that. So, you can tell your kids I said sorry when they wake up."

"Then I accept your apology for them."

"Great, can I go now? This niceness is making me sick." He shifted uncomfortably.

Tony nodded, giving a sardonic grin. "Please, leave before we hug it out."

An expression of horror and revulsion crossed the archer's face and he spun on his heel to leave. As he did a smirk turned up the corner of Tony's mouth.

"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?" Loki asked suspiciously.

"I'm not pleased with myself." Stark replied lightly. "I was just wondering what it feels like to be off the naughty list."

The god took a breath, bowing his head slightly to hide the small smile. "How ever did I come to be in the care of such a strange mortal?"

"You like it."

"I love it."