Dustjacket

Date Finished: 5/4/2022

Rating: R

Keywords: Pregnant Loki, Female Loki, Doctor Strange/Loki

Spoilers: Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War, maybe some for Endgame, but not really.

Disclaimer: These versions of these characters are probably unrecognizable to anyone who knows the canon better than me, but they still belong to Marvel and Stan Lee. Any elements taken from the original mythology technically belongs to no one and everyone.

Summary: Thor returns to Asgard after the battle of Sokovia to find Loki occupying the throne. As a Queen. A very beautiful, very pregnant Queen. It's a long story...

Author's Notes: This was swirling in my head since I recapped the first Avengers movie and it solidified a few days after seeing Ragnarok. I am not at all well versed in this canon and this is my first MCU story, so apologies for all the things I will no doubt get wrong. I'm learning.

Destiny
by Diandra Hollman


Thor expected to find Loki on the throne when he returned to Asgard. Rumors that the citizens had begun to honor Loki as a great hero in the battle against Malekith pointed to him having some sort of presence. What he didn't expect was to find his brother occupying the throne as a Queen. An ethereally beautiful, extremely pregnant Queen.

Her smile was radiant as she welcomed home the "prodigal son" of Odin, but as she embraced him, she hissed in his ear "don't say a word, brother." As he saw no advantage to calling out the deception before he knew the extent of it, he didn't.

He followed her to the chamber that had once belonged to their mother and waited while she dismissed her guards.

"Loki..." he began once they were alone.

"It's Lorelei now, although you should probably address me as Your Majesty."

Thor snorted. "What sort of game are you playing at? More importantly, what did you do with our father?"

"Odin is dead. Or he will be sooner than later. He is very old and losing his faculties. You knew this would happen eventually." Thor opened his mouth, but Lorelei held up a finger. "Allow me to explain. When I took his place, I relieved him of his powers and brought him to the place where all of your beloved humans bring their elderly parents. I checked on him regularly. On my last visit it was made clear to me that he is deteriorating faster than I had anticipated. I couldn't maintain the illusion of his power much longer. And so, three months ago, 'Odin' announced that he had discovered an heir. An Asgardian living on a planet in a distant corner of the realms was carrying Loki's child." She ran her fingers over her swollen middle.

"Three months," Thor interjected, eyeing the swell.

"I can see what you are thinking, but I assure you this child is very real. I spent just enough time on a planet where time is significantly slower that I could return to Asgard like this."

"So the father is..."

"A very powerful wizard." She gazed down at her abdomen almost fondly, her fingers still absently stroking. "You see, I realized that ruling Asgard in the guise of the Allfather wasn't enough. You refused the crown and Loki died heroically defeating Malekith. Even if I revealed that I had survived, without an heir I would be vulnerable to our enemies. They would know that if they killed me, Asgard would be entirely without a ruler."

"And it never occurred to you to try to find a wife to bear your child?"

Lorelei hesitated, as if this had not, in fact, occurred to her. Then she sighed heavily. "This is no ordinary child. She will be powerful. Fearsome. A worthy Queen to rule Asgard in the event of my demise. Of course, after she is born I intend to reveal my true identity. Perhaps then I can consider more children, but it doesn't matter. I intend to live a long life."

"Wouldn't be so sure of that," Thor muttered.

"Was that a threat?"

"No, your majesty. It was a promise. You see, I know you. Your plotting and deceptions always catch up to you eventually. When the people of Asgard learn of your manipulations I doubt you will be able to maintain your hold on the throne. They will revolt."

Lorelei waved a hand, as if dismissing Thor's prophecy as ridiculous. "The people are easily led. They believe what they want to believe. You will not sway them."

"I don't have to. Heimdall can see everything. The people would believe him if he were to come out of exile and tell them what you have been doing these past years."

Lorelei glared. "You wouldn't."

"Of course it would be far easier if I simply reclaimed my own right to the throne as first born. I don't really relish the idea, but if your child is as worthy as you believe, I could always abdicate to her when she is of age. You, of course, would be banished."

Lorelei glared at Thor, her hands curling into fists.

"And before you get any ideas about killing me, I should remind you that Heimdall really can see all."

There was a long pause while Lorelei considered her options. "Well," she finally said. "What do you propose to do?"

"Take me to our father. I want to see his condition with my own eyes before deciding on a course of action."

"I am hardly in any condition to go traveling about the universe at the moment. You know how unpredictable pregnancy is for us. I could go into labor any day."

"Or not for several more years. Luckily we only need to go to Earth since you said you left him with the humans. You might still be wanted for your actions years ago, but your present form will conceal your identity."

She glanced down at her abdomen. "It will not fool the child's father."

Thor frowned. "You said he was a wizard."

"Yes. Earth's most powerful sorcerer."

Thor snorted. "You must be mistaken. Earth doesn't have wizards."

Lorelei/Loki smirked. "You have been away a long time, brother."

---

"Thor Odinson," the voice boomed.

Thor watched in amazement as the man - by all appearances a normal Earthen man - floated through the air toward him.

"I am Doctor Stephen Strange," the man continued, landing in front of Thor.

"You must be the wizard Loki spoke of," Thor said, dazed. "I didn't know Earth had wizards." Was this some sort of enhancement?

Everything shifted and Thor fell into a cushioned chair, the human calmly seated opposite him. "Tea?"

A cup filled with tea appeared in Thor's hand while he was still trying to get his bearings. "I don't drink tea," he muttered, sniffing at it warily and going to set it down. It disappeared and a mug filled with beer appeared in its place. He blinked at it, shrugged and took a tentative sip as the impossible human continued speaking.

"I keep a watch list of individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to this world. Your adopted brother Loki is one of those beings."

Thor swallowed a mouthful of beer and noted that this was fair. Loki did, after all, open a portal to allow the Chitauri attack on a major Earth city. He boggled as beer magically refilled the glass. It was a trick he had seen before, sure, but never on Earth.

"So why bring him here?"

"It's a bit of a long story, but we're looking for my father."

"Great," the sorcerer said abruptly. "So if you were to find Odin, you would all return to Asgard."

All. Thor set down his glass. "Where is Loki? Where are you keeping her?"

Stephen's eyebrow cocked. "Her?"

'He doesn't know,' Thor realized. Somehow, the sorcerer had taken her captive without knowing the full extent of her current condition. "Loki is Jotun. He can change his shape. He has been posing as the Queen of Asgard. She is pregnant."

The amused look on Stephen's face faltered. "Pregnant?" When he'd used the infinite loop spell he had intended to scare Loki. He doubted anyone would object to him simply killing a known global threat, but first do no harm and all that. He figured he would just torture the demigod a bit before handing him back to his brother and hope it would make him think twice about visiting this planet in the future. But if what Thor said was true...both Loki and the child could be killed. "Hang on a second."

He teleported to the Sanctum's library and located the book he vaguely remembered finding the spell he would need in. He thumbed quickly to the page, muttered the words under his breath, replaced the book and returned to the main floor with an obviously dizzy Thor.

"Stand back," he ordered before opening a portal in the air in the center of the room.

A dark haired woman in a very tailored maternity dress tumbled through the opening, screaming in alarm. Stephen gestured and she stopped, hovering in mid-air, the front hem of the dress just brushing the floor.

"I have been falling for thirty minutes," she spit angrily.

Stephen stepped closer. He knew that voice...that hair...the feminine curves... He reached a shaking hand out to push aside the dark hair that had fallen in front of her face.

She smiled devilishly. "Oh. Hello, Stephen."

Stephen stepped back, startled, and she grunted as she crashed to her hands and knees.

Thor rushed to help her up.

"Lorelei," Stephen murmured numbly.

Three months ago, when his on-again off-again relationship with Christine had been firmly in the "off" phase, he had met a gorgeous seductress who had been just as eager to dispatch with the formalities of dating as him. They had spent a very long, passionate night together. She had been insatiable, demanding and more than willing to pick up the slack when his scarred hands hindered him. He often thought of that night. How she had looked writhing on top of him. How she had sounded. How she had tasted.

He knew it had been Loki he had dropped into the infinite loop. But impossibly, it was a visibly pregnant Lorelei that faced him now. She had always been Loki, he realized. But he could have sworn he had used protection...

It didn't matter, he realized. Loki Laufreyson was a master of illusions. In fact...

He swiped his hand in Lorelei's direction and she gasped, startled, as her dress tore, exposing a patch of her bulging abdomen.

"Really," she laughed. "I know it was difficult for you to keep your hands off me before, but you could show a little restraint, Stephen. My brother doesn't need to - augh!"

Stephen's hand twitched and the tear widened.

"Enough," Thor snapped. "I can assure you the child is very real."

Stephen let his hand fall and Lorelei/Loki gathered the torn fabric, drawing it closed as best she could and then running her fingers along the seam, sealing it with a small burst of magic.

"How," Stephen demanded.

"You know very well how," she purred. "You were there."

Stephen glared and Thor looked away uncomfortably.

Lorelei sighed. "You also understand the concept of time dilation if the stories I've heard about you are any indication." She stepped toward him, her hands outstretched. "Look, I've no demands or expectations of you. We've simply come here to find our father."

This seemed to jolt Stephen back into action. He disappeared and reappeared moments later with a heavy book in his hands. "He's in Norway," he announced without looking up. He disappeared again and from somewhere, the sons of Odin could hear him give the name of a town on the coast.

The next time he materialized, it was right beside Lorelei. She hissed as he grabbed her by the wrist, although there wasn't much strength to his hold.

"Why," he asked, his voice low and icy.

She didn't pull her hand away, even though she knew she could do so with little effort. "It is not your concern."

"You are carrying my child. How can that not be my concern?"

"It is MY child. If my brother hadn't forced me to come back to this insignificant planet, you wouldn't even have known about her."

Something cracked in Stephen's expression. "Her..."

Lorelei bit back a groan. This was the other reason she had been apprehensive about returning to Earth now. Strange may have been the only human who would recognize her in this form - and he couldn't really be said to hold a grudge over the Chitauri incident - but humans were so prone to *sentiment*. He would feel compelled to lay some sort of claim to his offspring. "You've already done your part, Stephen."

A muscle twitched in Stephen's jaw and Lorelei's fingers gave an answering twitch, ready to draw a dagger if the sorcerer proved dangerous.

Not that she ever shied from danger. She leaned in close, tracing the forefinger of her free hand over his beard. "Although I did quite enjoy it. As did you. Five times, if I remember correctly." She had barely needed to use magic to keep him going. Even when he had been exhausted, he was still so eager and compliant. She leaned in until her breath warmed his ear. "Maybe one day I'll come back in my male form and we can try to break that record," she whispered.

The Sanctum disappeared suddenly, along with its master. Lorelei stumbled and nearly spilled face first into the grass underfoot.

"Not even a goodbye," she muttered. "Insolent human."

"Loki," Thor called.

Lorelei looked in the direction he was staring. Their father was sitting on a rock, gazing out at the sea. Right. She straightened. First things first.

---

Thor didn't know how Lorelei was able to bend the Grandmaster to her will, exactly. She assured him the Grandmaster had not made any advances toward her, though his desire was obvious. She figured he had just enough reservations to wait until she was no longer pregnant with another man’s child before making a move. He didn’t know how long that would be, but he could afford to be patient.

Lorelei managed to distract him long enough for Thor, Bruce and the Valkyrie to get a head start escaping Sakaar. Thor hadn’t expected her to follow so closely behind. If he hadn't been so busy battling Hela and her undead hordes, he might have been amused by the shock on the faces of their people as the pregnant queen of Asgard returned to fight beside its eldest prince. Arriving after nearly all of Hela's soldiers had been dispatched, she didn't have to be on the battlefield for long, but she had volunteered to summon Sutur to end it.

As they travelled to Earth, she had formally relinquished the title of Asgard's ruling sovereign to the first born son of Odin...for now. Thor wasn't sure if Loki would try to reclaim the throne himself after his daughter was born or if, given the drastic change in circumstances, he would be content with the new arrangement. Asgard may be the people, not the place, but Thor suspected ruling a band of refugees fell significantly short of Loki's aspirations.

Then Doctor Banner made a discovery that changed everything.

"I've been going through the records that were rescued before...well, before...it turns out Odin's wife Frigga only ever gave birth to one child. You."

Thor frowned. "Hela wasn't their daughter?"

"Not biologically. They adopted her when she was an infant."

"Like Loki."

"Yeah. Whether anybody else knew she wasn't related by blood isn't clear from the records. But it looks like Odin didn't know who her biological parents were. He had her DNA tested when she was a child. She wasn't Asgardian." Bruce hesitated before handing the device displaying the DNA result to Thor. "She was half Jotun and half human."

Thor frowned. "There was another?"

"That's the thing. See, DNA evolves over time. We can tell from certain markers generally when a person lived in human history. Hela was thousands of years old, but her human parent had markers that could only have come from someone who was born in Earth's 20th century."

Thor blinked at the display, not really understanding it. "How is that possible?"

"I don’t know."

Thor handed the device back and checked outside the private chamber to make sure nobody was listening before continuing. "Can you compare this DNA to the child Loki is carrying?"

Bruce looked wary. "It's too difficult and risky to test DNA before the baby is born.1 But...it has to be her, right?"

"You didn't find anything indicating how Odin came to adopt her or where he found her?"

"No. It looks like he tried to bury the evidence that she wasn't his. He may have suspected Frigga couldn't have children. Hela may not have known she was adopted." Bruce shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Could she really be Loki's baby? I mean...is that even possible?"

"Anything is possible."

"Right, but...she was thousands of years old."

Thor sighed. "I know. Keep looking. There must be some way to figure out where Odin found her and how she came to be there. Maybe talk to Heimdall."

"Should we tell him? Or...I mean...her? Lorelei?"

Thor thought about it for a lengthy silence. "Let me speak to her."

---

"I must admit, this isn't how I pictured us meeting again."

Lorelei sighed wearily. "I need to have a word with you, Stephen. Can I come in?"

The look in her eyes – and the fact that she was asking permission despite him abducting her during their last encounter – made Stephen hold back the snarky comment that had sprung to mind about the god that once tried to take over the planet asking to be let into the sanctum. He stepped aside and waved her in.

She stopped at the foot of the staircase – the same spot they had stood weeks...no months ago when this all began. She touched her bulging abdomen, feeling the baby move inside her, twisting and jabbing her with what might have been an elbow.

There was a small gust of air and she found herself transported to a sitting room, Strange catching her elbow as she tottered. He eased her into a chair. A mug of tea appeared in her hand. She thanked him meekly, but didn’t drink it.

"I heard about Ragnarok," Stephen said as he fell gracefully into his own chair. "Word is you played an instrumental part in saving the people of Asgard by bringing about an apocalypse."

Lorelei swallowed thickly, her fingers tightening around the mug, feeling the ceramic start to crack.

"Some are calling you a hero. The savior who raised Sutur to defeat the Goddess of Death."

Lorelei threw the mug across the room suddenly. It shattered mid-air, sending shards of wet ceramic into the floorboards, banister and nearby bookshelves. She screamed furiously and the table beside her chair skittered sideways and tipped over.

The surrounding sanctum disappeared, replaced by what looked like walls of mirrors set at jagged angles. Stephen was regarding her warily, his hands still raised after conjuring the illusion. She lunged at him, backhanding him viciously. He staggered and conjured a glowing shield between them before she could strike again.

He wasn’t fighting back. He was merely defending himself and the sanctum from her wrath. She knew it was because he feared hurting her and the child, which only fueled her anger. She threw a dagger at his shield. It bounced off harmlessly. She screamed insults to try to goad him into fighting. She lunged toward him, preparing to throw another dagger, but was stopped short when something wrapped around her. She looked down to find the sorcerer’s cape - imbued with some sort of sentience - holding her immobile.

"Get it off me," she screamed.

The doctor relaxed and the mirrored walls disappeared, his shield evaporating. "I don't control it."

She hissed and spat and struggled against the confining fabric until her fury expended itself and she went limp with a sob. The cloak deposited her back in the chair before returning to its master’s shoulders.

Another mug of tea appeared in Stephen's hand and he offered it to her. She hissed, snatched it and threw it in the same direction as the first, this time letting it shatter against the far wall.

She turned to find another steaming mug already being held out to her, this time in a metal cup.

"I can do this all day."

Lorelei glared defiantly.

"Fine." The mug disappeared. "You said you needed to talk to me about something. Is it related to that tantrum you just threw or was that an objection to something I said?"

"I killed our daughter." She said the words numbly, as if accepting defeat.

"You..." Stephen looked to her still rounded figure. "You mean you lost the baby?" Poor choice of words to equate miscarriage with homicide, but perhaps, if it happened during battle, she blamed herself. But that would mean she was still carrying a dead fetus...

"The child is still alive inside me," Lorelei murmured. "But I killed her."

Stephen frowned. "You're not making any sense. What..."

"She is Hela. The Goddess of Death. Banner found a DNA test that proves it, but I knew it from the moment I saw her on that cliff in Norway. I could feel it. She wasn’t Odin's daughter. She was mine." Lorelei ran her palm along the top of her rounded abdomen, remembering how the baby had squirmed at the sound of Hela's voice. As if she recognized it somehow, or simply sensed the wrongness of the intersecting of two timelines.

Stephen sank back into his chair. "You're sure about this? The DNA test..."

"Hela was part 20th century human and part Jotun." Lorelei attempted a weak smile. "I don't know of any others that could match that description, do you?"

She was grieving, Stephen realized. A confused, helpless grief over the loss of a child not yet born.

"I know I said she wasn't your concern, but...I don't know what to do. Banner offered to terminate the pregnancy. My brother fears the effect that would have on Asgard – and other realms we stopped her from laying waste to. He thinks I should let things happen as they must. Let her fulfill her destiny."

"And what do you want?"

Lorelei blinked as she realized Stephen was the first to ask her that before offering his own suggestions. "I don't know. I wanted to secure my right to the throne by producing an heir worthy to inherit. Now that I know she is a monster destined to claim the throne as Odin's first born and destroy all of Asgard..."

"You're looking for permission."

Lorelei snorted. "No. I could put a stop to this anytime just by reverting to my male form."

"But you haven't. Because you're afraid your brother is right."

Lorelei went quiet.

Stephen took that as confirmation. "There's a thought exercise humans sometimes employ. If you could go back in time to kill Hitler, would you? It seems like an obvious choice in hindsight. In theory you'd be saving millions of lives just by ending one. But when you take into account all the possible repercussions and other variables it becomes difficult. It's possible the war was inevitable, in which case somebody else would be responsible for those deaths - and maybe millions more. It's possible for the alternative timeline you create to be even WORSE than the one you were trying to prevent. Science fiction writers call it the butterfly effect - changing history through a series of cascading variables. The thing is, it could be argued that you knowing what will happen already has the power to alter the course of events regardless of what you do."

Another tin cup of tea appeared in his hand and he held it out to her. "You really should drink this. It will help you relax."

She took the cup slowly and sipped at it tentatively.

"How far along are you?"

"About ten months, I should think. Give or take a week." She waved a hand dismissively as the doctor looked wary. "Our gestations can be considerably longer than yours. Sometimes shorter, but that is obviously not the case here. I could be pregnant for years yet." She sighed. "I had hoped to spend those years on Asgard." Something dark twisted her features for a moment and she took another sip of tea.

Stephen unfurled from his chair and knelt in front of hers, gesturing toward her abdomen. "May I?"

Her lips twitched. She sat back, letting him ruck up her shirt and feel along the swell, watching his scarred fingers move.

"You might be closer than you think," he murmured. "It doesn't feel like she has much room to move around. Of course, I'm a surgeon so this isn't really my field." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't have any answers. I don't think there are any right answers here." He looked into her eyes and she was reminded of the power he seemed to hold just in his gaze. "Whatever you do is your choice. I will help you in any way I can."

"Why?"

Stephen blinked. "Sorry?"

"You know who I really am. What I've done to your world. I tricked you into siring a child that will one day destroy my world. Why would you help me?"

"You came to me for help, Loki."

The use of her real name jolted her. She set the half-drunk cup of tea down and stood abruptly, forcing him to move back. The second she was upright, however, the world seemed to sway and she teetered and would have fallen had Stephen not been fast enough to catch her.

She blinked in confusion for a moment, then glared at him. "You put something in the tea."

"Just something to help you get some rest. It won't hurt the baby."

She tried to wrench herself from his grip, but she was too unsteady to stay upright without his support. "I don't need to REST," she snapped. Her dizziness increased as the sitting room disappeared and was replaced by a bedroom. "Unhand me this second, you..."

Stephen let go abruptly and she stumbled and fell back on the bed. She struggled against him as he pushed her to lay down and drew a blanket over her, but her body felt heavy.

"Yes, I know who you are. I did some research since we last met and I believe I have a better understanding of the sort of person you are, Loki Laufreyson." He sat on the bed beside her as she stopped struggling. "Your allegiances may have put you in the position of playing the villain in the past, but not because you are evil. You are selfish and you crave power and adoration at any cost. You attacked Earth partly out of a foolish belief that we would submit to your rule. You destroyed Asgard to save your people from someone more ruthless. And now you've come to me because you are in over your head and desperate. I want to help you because I believe I can. And because I believe no one is beyond redemption."

She shook her head, but was too tired to argue with him.

"We can talk more after you've rested. We have time."

She was asleep before he even left the room.

---

The two sorcerers formed an odd sort of alliance in the days and weeks following their reunion. Lorelei was almost able to forget at times that she was carrying a child she was destined to destroy. Had destroyed. Unless she was willing to possibly risk everyone and everything in an effort to change that destiny.

When she had to face it, she and Stephen spent hours debating the ramifications of certain courses of action. All of them presented the same problem: even if they succeeded in changing Hela's future (which they clearly hadn't yet), they would be meddling with the past. They could drastically alter events or, if things were destined to happen as they did, they could risk inflicting even more damage. Stephen called it the "better the devil you know" argument. It might be kinder to let the child become the woman who would bring about Ragnarok than try to alter her course and risk her knowing her own destiny, or forcing another to take her place and cause even more destruction than she did.

When Lorelei needed a distraction from thinking about whether she had always been destined to unleash the destroyer of Asgard on the realm, she turned her thoughts to Stephen. She had designed her female form to be irresistible to him. The pregnancy may have distorted some of her feminine curves, but it hadn't dampened her beauty. Men and women had salivated over her on four worlds. She was sure the only thing that had kept the Grandmaster from inviting her into his bed was his respect for her condition. Or, perhaps, fear of the man responsible for it. She knew she could have pointed out that the father had no claim over her and the child and seduced him anyway, but she had found it far more effective to tease him with the fantasy. He was probably still imagining her when he found gratification with some floozy on Sakaar.

But Stephen...She had thoroughly enjoyed seducing him. She had chosen him because he was what Thor called an "enhanced". He was a powerful sorcerer. She believed (correctly, it would seem) that a child forged by their union would be a force to be reckoned with. The fact that Stephen was also attractive was just a bonus that made fucking him less objectionable. But it had proven one of the most enjoyable experiences of her life. Her pleasure hadn't been a requirement of achieving her goal, but he had been so eager to please her. His gratification seemed to stem directly from his ability to render her thoroughly mindless with passion.

Yet since she had returned, he seemed immune to her charm. They slept in the same bed, but almost never at the same time. Twice, she had woken to find him asleep beside her, fully dressed. The first time he had been turned away from her, a wide gulf between them. The second time had been exactly the same as the first, only the space between them hadn’t been quite so wide. She counted it as progress because when he was awake he was even more distant. Their only moments of intimacy came when they were discussing Hela or when she would join him as he practiced new spells.

It was during one of those latter times that she decided to test him, if only to prove that she could still seduce him if she wanted to.

She showed him how she changed clothing without the hand gestures he seemed to rely on. Then, at the end of the demonstration she made the traditional Asgardian dress she had changed into disappear, leaving her stark naked. She stretched her back, arching so her full breasts jutted out – impossible for him to miss – and sighed.

"I always forget how uncomfortable those things are."

She looked to Stephen and all her hopes of victory shattered. He looked *angry*.

"Oh, come on. It's not like you haven't seen me like this before."

Stephen waved a hand and a large, shapeless dress that could have served as a shelter covered her body.

"What," she snapped. "Is my body repulsive to you now? Swollen and stretched with your child? Is that why you can't bear to even look at me? The perfect body you mapped with your tongue is ruined? Or is it because you found out I was once a male? You humans love your idiotic labels. Does it sicken you to know that the woman you so enthusiastically fucked was once in possession of a pe-"

Her mouth kept moving, but her voice was suddenly silenced. It took a few moments for her to realize he had rendered her mute.

He waited until she stopped trying to speak – until she was actually listening – to begin. "Are you really so arrogant that you can't think of any other reason I wouldn't want to have sex with you? You lied to me. You manipulated me. And when I found out what you had done you bragged that I would never have known who you really were if your brother hadn't forced you to come back to my world. You used me, Loki. And now you want to prove that you can still play me for a fool."

She tried to speak, but her voice was still silenced.

"I'm not finished," he continued. "How DARE you suggest that the reason I am not overcome with lust around you is that I no longer find you attractive? That otherwise I would be so lacking in self control that I would have no choice but to fuck you if you waved your tits in my face? No, I must be a shallow asshole who won't touch a pregnant woman because she's 'fat'. And as for your other suggestion: my 'stupid human label' happens to be bisexual so you can take your assumptions and shove them up your ass."

There was a pause as he checked to make sure she had actually heard the words he said. Then he waved a hand to restore her voice.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Are you really? Or are you just sorry you have to deal with the consequences of your actions now?"

Stephen spun on his heel and stormed from the room, leaving her in stunned silence.

They avoided each other for the rest of the day, only speaking the next morning when Stephen asked after her welfare in the coolly professional manner of a doctor checking on his patient. She didn’t press the issue and she didn't want to talk about what had happened. Whenever Stephen got the urge to apologize for his final comment – as it had clearly struck a nerve – he reminded himself of Loki's ruthless attack on New York.

The next time they shared the bed, he awoke to find himself on his back with her head resting on his shoulder, the swell of her abdomen brushing his side as she breathed. He held perfectly still.

"I know you're awake," she said softly.

"What do you want, Loki," he asked, though he remained absolutely still.

She reached for his nearest hand, her fingers ghosting over the angry scars along the back of it. "I thought about you often. All those long nights spent waiting to feel our child growing within me. I thought about how gentle these hands were. How rough your beard was on the insides of my thighs..." She tilted her head so she could meet his gaze and her voice lowered to a whisper. "How you looked at me as if I were the most important creature in the universe."

Silence stretched between them until her breath was broken by a startled gasp and her hand went to her abdomen.

"What's wrong," Stephen asked in alarm.

Lorelei shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder. He reached for her, feeling along the bulge tentatively until he felt a tiny jab coming from inside. The baby was kicking. The baby who would turn into the woman Lorelei had already killed.

Stephen's resolution to not let Lorelei get to him cracked as he heard the tiny noises of distress she tried to muffle. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter against him. What she had done to him had been selfish and wrong, but she was already being punished for it. She had lost her entire world and almost all of her family. And now she faced an impossible situation.

"Nothing has changed," she murmured. "I keep making plans...I will raise her myself in the present. I will give her to anyone but the allfather. I look in on Thor and our people every day and I keep hoping that one day they will gone - back to Asgard. But it never changes. I can't stop Ragnarok."

"Plans aren't the same as actions," Stephen offered, stroking her hair. "Plans can be altered. Thwarted. It's possible you just haven't changed anything *yet*."

"Possible," she mumbled wearily. "Possible." She caught his hand and nuzzled into his palm. "I almost worked up the courage to change into my male form yesterday. But then I felt her move and I thought about that day on the cliff. How Hela reminded me so much of me. And I thought about what you said - how nobody is beyond redemption - and I just...couldn't."

They both knew that might not have made any more difference than her planning. Altering timelines was messy business. If they couldn't change Ragnarok, it didn't much matter whether they tried to alter Hela's destiny or stop her existing entirely.

"I'm sorry."

He twisted his head around to try to see her face. "What are you sorry for?"

"I'm...sorry I seduced you."

He snorted. "That's not really the part I had a problem with."

She looked into his eyes. Eyes that had fascinated her since she first saw him. With alternating colors that made them look like tiny galaxies. "I'm sorry I tricked you," she said slowly.

"No, you're not." There was no judgment or anger in his tone. He was simply stating a fact.

She started to pull away from him, but Stephen locked his arms around her, preventing her from leaving. "You have a reputation for doing whatever you believe is necessary to get what you want with little to no regard for those who get in your way. You use people. You are what most of us on Earth would call a sociopath. And yet you care what I think about you. You fear my rejection. At first I thought it was just respect for a fellow magician or maybe you were hoping to form an alliance. But just now when you were remembering our first encounter your pupils dilated, your breathing grew shallow and at one point you stared at my lips while licking your own. You're falling in love with me."

She snorted. "Love? I admit I enjoyed our rather spectacular fuck and I have entertained fantasies about repeating the experience, but I can assure you my feelings for you are purely carnal."

"I know that's what you want me to believe. I know you have probably even convinced yourself that the words you said - the part about me treating you like the most important creature in the universe - were just manipulation. But here's the thing: if it were just lust you would have given up by now. When I rejected you, you should have been angry, not hurt and desperate for my forgiveness. You tell yourself the connection we made - are still making - was purely physical because you can't admit to yourself that you might be falling in love with a member of a species you consider inferior because our ancestors worshiped you as a god."

He felt her body go taut, as if she would bolt if he relaxed his hold. He could see her brain working frantically, torn between denial and desire.

How many times had she disparaged Thor's sentiments for the mortal woman? All Asgardians knew it was folly to become too involved with humans. Probably because too many of them had made the same mistake. But now that the last of the Asgardians were probably destined to spend the rest of their lives on Earth, did it really matter? If she couldn't change the things that had already happened, then the future of her people was intertwined with the future of his.

"I've thought about that night a lot too," he admitted. "I've thought about how you kissed my scars as if they didn't repulse you. How you made allowances for my limitations without ever acknowledging that they *are* limitations. How uninhibited and insatiable you were. You made me feel whole again. Undamaged. Not the same man as I was before the accident, but something better. More worthy. I had given up hope of ever seeing you again after that night. And then when you did return and I realized who you were I was angry, but...now...I feel like we might have more in common than I thought."

"You're falling in love with me," she said flatly. It wasn't really a question. Humans fell prey to sentiment easily.

He shrugged. "I'm sure most of the people I've slept with would tell you I am incapable of loving anyone more than myself. But I don't think whatever is between us is just about sex."

She remembered the look on his face as she had ridden him. The wonder in his eyes. How his trembling hands had rested on her hips, not to guide her but to ground himself. To connect. It was one of the memories she had gone over in her head on nights when the pregnancy hormones left her aroused and frustrated. He had been entirely at her mercy then. He had been that way the entire night, really. Even when he had tied her to the bed so she would stop pulling his hair while his head was between her thighs. She could have broken the bonds easily, but allowing him to think he was in control for a while had been far more gratifying.

No, she thought. It wasn't just about sex. It was about power. And perhaps a recognition of how powerful an alliance they could make. Maybe she was wrong when she assumed a bond between them could only be powerful if it took the form of a child.

She fingered the hem of his shirt. "You realize I prefer my other, male form and will likely return to it once the child is born."

"I don't care. Changing the wrapping on the package doesn't change what's inside it. You're still Loki. Always have been." He sighed. "Maybe I was wrong about being bisexual. I mean, it seems like a pretty limited Earth label considering I'm falling in love with a shapeshifting alien."

A startled laugh burst out of her.

He chuckled along with her for a moment, then he reached a finger under her jaw and tilted her face up. "It's nice to see you smile."

Her continuing giggles died off. She searched his eyes for a moment and, seeing nothing but wonder and desire, she leaned in to kiss him.

It was awkward and tentative. And it was the most honest kiss she had ever been involved in.

He kissed her forehead and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I meant what I said," he murmured. "I will get you through this. Whatever you need. I mean...I probably can't hold your hand when you're in labor, but I can hold you and you can scream in my ear."

"Mmm." She let herself relax in his arms, allowed herself to pretend - even if only for a moment - that everything would be fine.

And that's when she realized.

"I'm sorry I tried to keep this from you," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

He didn't say anything. He just continued to pet her hair and hold her tightly, brushing his lips to her forehead occasionally. She took it as confirmation - as she drifted off to sleep - that she'd finally said exactly what he'd wanted to hear all along.


1. Pretty sure this isn't medically true, but let's chalk it up to plot convenience.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4