In Little Ways

Chapter 18

The clock was ticking. Loki knew that at any moment the monster would show up, putting in place the final stage of his terrible plan for "saving the world." He couldn't help but think about his family. About Lia and the girls, about Tony, Peter, and Harley, hell even Steven. He didn't want any of them to get hurt, even if they didn't care either way about what might happen to him.

The mayhem in the distance continued as a large red cloud fell over the field, killing a cluster of the aliens there instantly and Loki had to remind himself what was the most important thing right now. 

That he needed to make sure that his girls were able to live their life freely, without the fear of harm, even if he couldn't be there to see them have it.

"Any second now, you monster. Just show up already so that I can kill you and go back to that trash planet."

***

"What the hell do you mean, your water just broke?" Harley yelled, shoving his hands into his head nervously as he paced quickly around the room. Lia watched on calmly as he continued, a hand pressed softly onto her stomach.

"Harley, honey, it's okay. I just need to get to the hospital." She tried to get up then, pushing herself up from the couch slowly, a hand braced on her back as she huffed through the weight.

"Woah! Wait just a second, auntie Lia! It's chaos out there! What if you get hurt?" Harley asked, rushing forward to help her stand.

Lia paused before laughing loudly, scaring the poor boy. "Of course. It would only be fair that on another Earth take over I have the baby. Just like his father, showing up in the middle of a freaking war zone."

"What are you talking about?" Harley asked, helping her towards the door, since she seemed set on going to the hospital.

***

'Damn, of course I would only return in the middle of a war zone. Why can't I ever get somewhere without having to die, fight, or by accident? I need a vacation.' Loki mumbled, looking through the trees at the carnage that the behemoth left, throwing each Avenger to the side as he trekked closer and closer to the stone. 

He couldn't believe his eyes that that one woman was stopping the titan from continuing, and one handed at that. He could hear the stone breaking, even from the distance that he was at. He could also see the tears that streamed down the girl's cheeks and tried desperately to ignore the knife that sliced through his chest as she reminded him of Lia. Of how heartbroken she was when she found out about who he really was. 

His train of thought went completely off the tracks as soon as a large explosion crashed through the forest, throwing everyone to the ground as a cloud of dust exploded over the clearing, causing the view of everything close by to be completely obscured from their vision. 

All was quiet as the dust cleared, revealing not only the missing stone, but also that Thanos had activated one of the stones. The green one. And right before their eyes, the dust came back together, piece by piece, to create the man once more, and the stone that still rested in his head.

***

Chaos was right. Cars lay turned on their hoods, concreate practically shattered all around, prohibiting the easiest travel in the car, but gladly Tony had been smart enough to make the tower close to the hospital. Almost like he knew exactly what kind of crazy work he was going to get himself into with the creation of the Iron Man suit.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Are you still okay? Keep breathing!" Harley yelled, swerving the car around yet another crashed car as the girls screamed in the back seat.

"Everyone just shut up for a moment! Yes, Harley, I am okay! Girls! Stop screaming, we aren't going to die or get attacked by any aliens." Lia said, her hand on the handle at the roof of the car as her other pressed softy onto her stomach, breathing through another contraction.

"We are not afraid of dying from aliens, mommy!" Kami yelled, holding onto the strap of her seatbelt so tight that her knuckles had turned white.

"Right! We are scared that we are gonna die because Harley sucks at driving!" Bec added, her arms wrapped tightly around Kami, her seatbelt cutting into her neck softly.

Lia chuckled before cringing as Harley scowled, choosing not to remark, because he honestly did. Motorcycles were his specialty, not cars.

Just as they rounded the last turn to the hospital, Lia cried out, both hands pressing into her stomach as the contractions became stronger and stronger. The baby was coming, and it was not going to wait.

***

The man wouldn't have stood a chance. But Loki saw the look in his eyes. The same look he had had when he realized that he would never be able to be with Lia again. A look that said he was giving up. And in that moment, he felt a wave of his power flow forward, almost like somewhere out there, there were people who needed this man. More than people needed Loki in this moment. And he was going to die, while Loki stayed safe.

'Not happening.' Loki growled, pulling his twin daggers from their special pockets of space as he jumped up out of the bush. Right before Thanos was able to get a grip on the gem, the clouds parted, Thor soaring down, an axe raised and ready to strike. But Loki could see that he was going to miss. And as the axe sank into the titan's shoulder, Loki crept closer, knives raised. He made eye contact with the man then, sending a nod his way as he finally got behind the titan. 

"What did you say?" Thor asked, barely hearing the purple monster as he slowly rose his head, his hand prepared to strike the killing blow.

"I said, you should have aimed for the he-" He never had the chance to finish the sentence, because Loki had already stabbed the daggers through the soft areas right underneath the titan's ears, severing the brain from the body and killing him instantly. Loki almost laughed at the look on Thor's face as the titan's head rolled to the side, revealing Loki standing there.

"Oh, do shut up." Loki said, looking up at his brother as the titan fell, his rain of terror coming to an end as soon as he landed.

***

"It's a boy." The nurse said softly, wrapping the crying baby in a soft towel before allowing Lia to hold him. She was beyond tired, after a two hour birth, but in that moment, she had never felt more alive.

As she looked down at her son, she saw then what she missed so much. She could already tell that he looked so much like his father and her heart nearly broke at the thought. Her eyes watered as she remembered a conversation from what seemed like ages ago, long before all the mayhem and heartbreak. Back when their relationship had just barely began.

'Have you ever wanted children Tom?' Lia had asked one night as they lay in bed.

Above her, Tom had laughed, his fingers dragging through her hair lazily.

'I don't think I would be a good father. But I always liked the idea of being a better one than the one's I had.' He'd said, and then he sighed.

'I would be too afraid of being like them.' He'd whispered, making Lia shift so that she could look up at him. 'On the one hand, my birth father tried to kill me, and on the other, my adoptive father never praised me. I was never as good as my brother.'

'I think you would be an amazing father. And it all comes down to the name. What would you name them if you had a baby?' She'd rested her chin on his bare chest, running her finger up and down his stomach slowly, making him shiver as he'd hummed in thought.

He had only taken a moment to think it over before smiling. 'If it was a girl, I would name her after my mother, Frigga because I know she would be just as strong. But if it was a boy, I would name him-'

"Tobias. Welcome to the world, little Toby." Lia smiled down at him as he continued to cry, his eyes still shut as he screamed his anger over being brought into the loud world.

'It's what your father wanted to call you. And you are the last thing I have of him.'