The Hermit Herbalist

Chapter 27 - Clint Calls Out

When Clint put his head back in the house, he saw Loki just staring at him with wide eyes, their baby held protectively in her arms.  "Um... it would seem that your folks are here," he told her and her eyes widened.

"What?" she asked.  

"Yeah, and Thor's old man," Clint continued.  Loki's eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.  "Shit!" Clint exclaimed as he rushed forward to support his wife and his baby.  The door was partially open, and a tall creature tried to fit herself inside when she saw Clint struggling with the baby and Loki.  

"Give the child to me and you can take care of her," she said, holding out her hand.  

"Are you kidding me?  I don't know you from Adam," Clint retorted.  The giantess was surprisingly not insulted by Clint's statement, and instead, continued to shoulder her way through the door.

"Mother?" came a questioning voice before the door frame came off around Queen Jarnsaxa's large shoulders.

"Beloved!" Helbindi warned as he came up and removed the wood from her.  

"My first born child is in there with her first born child!  Get this hovel out of my way!" Jarnsaxa said angrily, more to Helbindi than to anyone else.  Once he removed the wreckage of wood, she crawled in and was by the bedside in an instant.  She looked down at Loki on the bed and her baby in Clint's arms, and her heart melted.  "She's so beautiful.  Oh!  My little girl!" Jarnsaxa wailed.  Clint looked up at the Jotun queen and saw a mother's love and sorrow in her eyes.  

"Maybe you did love her," he said as he carefully rocked Darian in one arm, and supported Loki with the other.  Jarnsaxa glanced at him and there were tears in her ruby eyes.  

"Come look, Elli!  Come look!" she pleaded to somebody outside.  A smaller, giantess put her head in and crawled along the ground to lay beside her mother.  "This is your elder sister," Jarnsaxa introduced.  The younger giantess smiled brightly and touched Loki's shoulder.

"She certainly is small; but so beautiful!  She's like an angel from Heven!" she exclaimed.  A second later, her eyes darted over to Clint and the baby he held.  "My... nephew?" she guessed.  Clint nodded and tilted the child in his arms a little so she could see better.  "Oh!  Mother!"  Jarnsaxa looked over and smiled at the sight of her grandson.  

"He is a precious gift.  A child of two realms.  Look upon him, Elli.  You will hardly see his like again," the Jotun queen stated.  Clint was about to comment on that when they heard another voice from outside.

"My dearest, I hardly think that house can hold you.  Come on out," said the King of the Jotuns and Jarnsaxa sighed.  

"We brought our own healer.  I would like him to examine her and the babe," Jarnsaxa said to Clint as she eased her arms under Loki's body and slowly began to back out of the cottage.

"Careful with her!  She's been through a lot," Clint said as he followed her out of the house.  Everyone looked at him as he stood there, holding their baby boy in his arms.  "Darian.  His name is Darian Talon Barton," Clint introduced, more to the Avengers than to anyone else.  Natasha approached first and her hand lightly touched the baby's head.  The little boy squirmed and made adorable noises.

"Hi there.  You're so cute and I'm sure you'll be just as annoying as your dad," Natasha whispered.

"Hey!" Clint exclaimed.  That was when the King of Jotunheim approached and looked down upon Clint and Darian.  It was all Clint could do not to gulp.  The large being narrowed his red eyes and glanced down at the infant.  The baby was trying to go back to sleep, his blue eyes blinking lazily.  He yawned and put his tiny fist in his mouth.  There was a collective 'aw' from all the women.  Of course, that was when Loki stirred in Jarnsaxa's arms.  The Queen of Jotunheim looked down upon the smaller woman and knelt on the ground, cradling her close.  When Loki opened her green eyes and looked into the blue face of the giant, she gasped.  

"My dear child!  There's nothing to be afraid of," Jarnsaxa said soothingly, her hand lightly touching Loki's forehead.  Her skin changed from pale to cerulean in an instant, and her emerald eyes became like rubies.  She also started to hyperventilate.

"Okay!  They'll be none of that!" Bruce declared as he walked over to her and snapped his fingers a few inches from her face.  Loki's eyes focused on him, which was what he wanted.  "Breathe in and out, slowly.  In through your nose and out through your mouth.  Focus on my voice," he told her and Loki began to do as he said.  Clint stepped up with Darian in his arms and when Loki saw them, she relaxed instantly and her skin changed back.  

"Please?" she begged.  Clint closed the distance and gave their son back to her.  Loki stroked his head and pressed a kiss to his temple.  Darian gurgled and looked pleased.  Suddenly, Odin cleared his throat and stepped forward.  The other Asgardians, Sif and the Warriors Three, also approached.  Clint got in front of Loki and Odin stopped.

"I mean her no harm," the All-Father said.

"I'll believe it when I see it.  I don't exactly have a glowing opinion of you, and your treatment of her in the past is not up to par with 'good parenting' standards," Clint remarked.  Odin's one eye narrowed.  "In fact," he continued, turning to Helbindi, "if I'm not mistaken, your track record isn't very good either.  Don't think for an instant you're free from scrutiny."

"I will not be lectured by a mere human," the King of Jotunheim retorted.

"Oh?  I shouldn't lecture you?  How about I lecture you about why you had Loki abandoned as a baby?  Left to die in the cold.  Why?" Clint asked darkly.  If Helbindi's eyes could have burned holes in Clint, they would have.  But, that was when Jarnsaxa stepped forward, icicle like tears in her eyes.

"I labored two days to bring her into this world," she said slowly.  "When she was finally born, and we saw she was small, the priests said her size meant she was cursed.  After all, the Mad Prince who killed King Laufey was a runt.  I pleaded," Jarnsaxa explained, glancing at Helbindi, "for her to be spared.  She was my first born, and only an infant.  But the priests insisted she would bring ill luck to our already weak land.  So... they took her from me and cast her into the darkness.  All these years, I marked the anniversary of her birth as the anniversary of her death and my day of mourning."  Jarnsaxa turned to Loki and knelt at her feet.  "I am not worthy to be called your mother, or to receive your love.  I am an unworthy soul... but, I will gladly spend the rest of my life in Helheim now that I have seen you again."  Loki's lips pursed.  This woman had carried and birthed her, as she had just carried and birthed her son.  A mother's love did not seem to temper or fade.  At least, for her, she could forgive?  Loki pulled away from Bruce and sat down in front of her mother.  She reached out, touched her cheek, and allowed her skin to become like a Jotun's again.  

"I think at least... you and I... can be friends," Loki said and Jarnsaxa burst into tears of joy.  She carefully pulled her daughter into her arms and kissed her repeatedly.  Clint smiled at this before he turned back to Helbindi and Odin.

"We are going to need to have a long talk."