All Over Again (Sequel to Wanted Man)

Chapter Fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The smell of frying bacon brought Loki burrowing out from beneath the covers and as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, Selig said, "Good morning, Daddy."

"Morning, Selig. How did you sleep?"

Selig yawned and nodded at the same time. "Good, Daddy. No more bad dreams."

"Good." Loki rolled over and sat up. "Do you remember what they were about?"

Selig shook his head. "Just that Mommy was hurt. And she was yelling for you, but you didn't listen."

"She was yelling for me or at me?"

"For you and at you." Selig frowned, playing with Cap as he said, "She kept saying, 'Don't hurt us, Loki! Don't let them hurt us!' and you just laughed."

Selig looked up then, his blue eyes filled with accusation. "Why would you hurt Mommy?"

"Selig, I wouldn't hurt either one of you. Ever." He wrapped his arms about Selig and pulled him into his lap. "That's the thing about bad dreams, little man. They seem so horrible and so real, but they aren't. Dreams can't hurt you physically. All they can do is scare you and you call me or Mommy and we'll come."

"You didn't in my dream. You had a gold stick in your hand. Like Bestefar's, only it had a blue stone in it. A stone with water in it." Selig's eyes widened and glimmered. "And you held it up, like you were going to shoot Mommy with it. And she was rocking me, turning away from you."

Loki swallowed hard at Selig's nearly perfect description of the scepter he'd been given by the Other, the one he'd used to possess Clint Barton and Erik Selvig. The one powered by the Tesseract. A wave of regret crashed over him as he instinctively tightened his arms about his son. "Oh, darling boy," he murmured, "It was only a dream. I promise you, I would never hurt either one of you."

"I know, Daddy, but it seemed so real." Selig sniffed, looking up at him as he snuggled closer. "Daddy?"

"What?" Loki smoothed Selig's bushy dark hair away from his face.

"You're squishing me."

"Oh, sorry, little man." Loki loosened his hold on Selig and added, "Are you hungry? Smells like Mommy is making bacon this morning. Maybe we can talk her into some pancakes to go along with it."

Pancakes were Selig's favorite breakfast, and this suggestion was met with a brilliant smile and an excited, "Yes!"

"We should probably go down before Mommy has a chance to make something else."

That was all the push Selig needed. He kicked of the covers and bounded from the bed to race out of the room. Loki managed to smile at the little boy's energy as his own feet his the floor, but even as he followed his son below, he couldn't help but be disturbed by Selig's dream. How was it possible for him to know about the glow stick of destiny, as McKenna and Tony Stark referred to the scepter? He supposed Selig could have seen an old news clipping. After all, he was responsible for the destruction in New York City and that certainly made the local news, if not news on a national level. There were probably some photographs of him somewhere.

But where would he have seen them? Did McKenna have any press clippings? She might, considering the historic nature of the battle, and the fact that she hadn't met him yet.

He tried to push the dark thoughts from his mind as he caught up with Selig on the landing at the top of the stairs and swept him up into his arms. "So you don't fall down the stairs."

Selig laughed as Loki lifted him onto his shoulders. "Careful, Daddy."

"I'm always careful with you, little man." Loki held him by the hands as he carefully descended to the first floor and into the kitchen, which was filled with the wonderful smells of frying bacon, brewing coffee, and-Loki smiled-pancakes cooking on the stovetop griddle. McKenna liked to remind him how she considered herself a lucky girl, but he knew who the lucky one really was.