Abandoned

Loki cut his eyes over at Bucky, and Bucky could see that Loki had switched moods. He had gone from laughing about being one of Fennie's 'daddys' to really pissed in about 2.3 seconds. 

"Hold her." Loki gently pushed Fennie toward him, and Bucky did as he was told. 

Suddenly, Loki's hands were wrapped around Tony's throat, and Bucky didn't know what to do. He wanted to stop him, but there was nothing he could do with the tiny kitten in his arms. 

"So help me, Stark you had better not be fucking with me right now," Loki said through gritted teeth. 

"Loki, stop," Bucky pleaded. "I don't think he's doing this to screw with you, man. And even if he is...it's not worth it. Think of Fennie."

"I'm...not fucking with you," Tony choked. "I think I found...Jorm...Jormu...just let me go and...I'll tell you."

Loki was infuriated. He couldn't believe his own ears. How did Tony even know Jörmungandr's name? 

Loki wanted to strangle the metal man. He wanted to choke the life out of him just for allowing his son's name to pass through his mind. How dare he? How dare he even mention Jor's name? Loki thought the mortal would have learned his lesson after making that tasteless comment about Fennie, but evidently he had far less sense than even he could have predicted. 

His hands tightened on Stark's throat as he considered the idea that the man was actually trying to prank him. Had Steve told him about their conversation at Petsmart? Had Bucky? Loki allowed his eyes to slide toward the soldier for a moment. The look on Bucky's face told him that he knew nothing of this. Steve. Loki gritted his teeth as he felt Stark's feeble attempts to shift underneath his hands. 

"Loki...please, just let him go. He'll never let us go to Petsmart again," Bucky whispered.

Loki felt his fingers give way; heard Tony gasp for air, and immediately moved away from him. 

For a moment, Loki's knees felt as if they would give out. He didn't trust himself to move, so he simply stood there staring at his feet. 

"How do you even know his name? Who told you?" Loki muttered. 

"While you were gone, I asked Steve for help. I didn't want to get your hopes up if I couldn't actually do anything, but after some extensive searching and illegal hacking, I found information that might help." 

Tony took a deep breath. He had known Loki wouldn't react like a normal person, but he didn't realize he would be in a life threatening position. However, he could understand where Loki was coming from after the way he had treated the god in the past. Tony absolutely would have fucked with him about his kids had he known about them when Loki had first moved into the tower. In that moment, he was glad he hadn't known. He would probably be dead. 

Loki finally looked up, and Tony saw that his eyes were slightly glassy. He reached over to take Fennie from Bucky's arms, running his long fingers over her back. She stretched and yawned, and Loki blinked a few times. It seemed Banner had been right; Fennie was like a therapy animal for Loki. 

"Stark, you do realize that my son is not...a mortal child, right?" 

Bucky was nervously glancing from one man to the other, wondering how long it would be before he had to break up a fight. He resisted the urge to snort when Tony replied. 

"You mean, he's a god, like you?" 

Loki closed his eyes and let out a breath through his nose. "Go do some more research, Stark. When your feeble brain finally grasps what I mean, come tell me if you've really found my son."

 Bucky wasn't surprised when Loki stalked to his room and slammed the door behind him. He made no attempt to follow his friend, even though he wanted to. Loki obviously needed to be alone for a few moments. 

"Tony, what did you find? Do you really think it might be Loki's son?" 

Bucky rarely spoke to Stark. Their relationship was unsteady to say the very least. Stark didn't trust him, and Bucky knew it. That made speaking with the guy really uncomfortable, even though Bucky tried to be civil with everyone in the tower. 

It was difficult when every threat; every new blip on the radar just might be Hydra, and everyone thought he might have something to do with it. Bucky hadn't had any contact with Hydra in a very long time, but he was tainted. He would never be able to shake the reputation he had gained as a Hydra assassin, and he hadn't even wanted that. He'd never even known it was happening to him. 

Tony rubbed his face angrily. "I don't know. I just don't know. What did he mean? How is Jorm- Jor- whatever his name is- different than other kids? If he's not a god," Tony said the word with obvious disdain, "then what?" 

Bucky glanced toward Loki's closed door. He didn't want to say anything because Loki should have told Stark himself. Then again, if Tony thought Jörmungandr was just some regular dude, this situation was going to go downhill very fast. 

"Steve knows. Go ask him. If he thinks it's okay to tell you, he will." 

Tony rolled his eyes. "Fuck."

Loki sat on the edge of his bed holding Fennie as close as she would allow. He needed her warmth next to his body. He could feel her quick breaths and her tiny fluttering heartbeat in his hands, and it comforted him more than he ever thought possible.

He felt guilty for getting so angry with Stark, but he couldn't help thinking the metal man had been playing a cruel joke on him. Now, he was almost certain Tony wasn't pranking him, but Loki knew there was no way he would find Jor. Odin had cast Jor out of Asgard decades ago, and no amount of Midgardian internet searches would be able to locate him. It was a lost cause. 

Fennie wriggled in his hands, and he loosened his grasp on her. Her bright eyes focused on his face, and he imagined that she understood his pain. 

Tony caught Steve in the middle of watching The Wizard of Oz- again. He never understood Cap's fascination with the movie, but then again, he hadn't lived through that era either. 

"Steve, I need some more information," Stark said, sitting down next to the soldier. 

"Hold on...this is the good part," Steve gestured to the television. 

Evidently, the 'good part' was when Dorothy walked into the world of color for the first time. Tony thought there might be some kind of metaphor for Steve's life there, but for the life of him he just couldn't think of it at the moment. 

"Alright, shoot." Steve faced him. 

"Well, I just talked with Loki. He tried to kill me. Would you like to explain exactly how his kid is different from any random person on the street? Apparently, that's important."

Steve burst into a fit of laughter that surprised Tony. He hadn't seen Cap laugh that hard in ages. Not since Bucky got his metal arm stuck in an elevator at Macy's trying to wave at a pretty girl who worked in the men's department. 

"Oh, he's different alright. Tony, Jörmungandr is a giant serpent," Steve gasped. 

No. Tony didn't believe that. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Come on, Steve. I'm not that gullible. Loki put you up to this. There is no way he has a horse child and a serpent child. No fucking way." 

"Actually, he does. Then there is the giant wolf, Fenrir. That's where Fennie got her name." 

Both men turned to see Thor standing in the doorway looking amused. 

Tony's eyes bulged from their sockets before he recovered. "Well damn. I guess my lead in New Mexico wasn't really a lead at all. It's a good thing we didn't take the jet out there to meet him. He's probably just some gamer whose screen name is Jormu- Jorm- whatever the fuck his name is."

Thor cocked his head to the side, staring at Tony for a moment. 

"Wait. Are you actually searching for Jörmungandr?" 

"Yeah, but I'm at a dead end now. I mean, where the hell am I going to find a giant serpent in the database?" 

Tony had really wanted to help Loki out. Even though he was still mad as hell about his taking-over-the-world shenanigans, Tony thought everyone should be able to communicate with their kids. Even Loki. He almost understood why the guy brooded all the time. 

"I know where he is," Thor muttered, stopping Tony's train of thought in its tracks. 

"What?" Both Steve and Tony yelled at once.

Thor laughed. "Sure. He's in some lake... in a place I believe you mortals call the Land of Scot, or something like that. Every once in a while he breaks the surface and scares the hell out of some tourists before diving back down. Then it seems no one spots him again for another ten years or so. I think he does that on purpose. He is a lot like his father; always full of mischief." 

Stark shook his head in amazement. "Are you talking about the fucking Loch Ness Monster?" 

Thor's face lit up. "Yes! That's it. Where exactly is that again? Father keeps watch over that part of Midgard to make sure Jor doesn't escape."