Choices

Chapter 121
When she entered the tower, Cephera was not met with friendly greetings.
The tower was empty.
"JARVIS?" She asked.
"Welcome home Mrs. Drogo," he answered as if just noticing her. Usually he only ever said hello to Tony right away anyway.
"Where is everyone?" She had moved from the main room to the newly expanded kitchen area and still no one was to be seen.
"Miss. Potts has gone back to the office and Mr. Stark is down in his private workshop with Dr. Banner."
Cephera wanted to slap her own forehead. She hadn't even thought of the workshop, and really she should have. Tony spends more than enough time down there.
"Thank you," she told the AI despite the fact he was not human. She always tried to remember her manners.
"You are very welcome."
Cephera shifted a slumbering Ikol in her arms and decided she'd lay him to rest before going to see what everyone was at downstairs.
He stirred when she laid him down, but thankfully he didn't wake. She kissed his forehead, and headed downstairs.
XxX
"I hope the two of you have been behaving." She teased upon her arrival.
"She means you," Tony said to Banner without looking up. Bruce half rolled his eyes and then settled for smiling at Cephera.
"Tony said you went back home to celebrate the birth of Ikol. Congratulations by the way."
"Yes I was and thank you." By the look of things Banner was working on his usual DNA analysis and Tony on his armor.
"I was meaning to ask, what's up with the whole 'Children are the be all end all' with your people?" Tony grabbed a very small screwdriver and began tinkering with his invention.
"My people have trouble procreating." She frowned at the thought.
"Why?" Dr Banner asked taking his attention off his slide sample.
"We don't know," she shrugged.
Banner looked to Tony who was also looking up. It's almost like an interesting idea passed between them. "What?" She asked them looking back and forth to each of them.
"We could help," Dr Banner offered.
"Help?"
"Well, we could examine some volunteers, see what's clogging you guys up." Tony smirked.
"Examine? I'm not sure I want my people becoming test subjects." The idea seemed alien to her.
"Volunteers. I'm sure you can find some of your people willing to go the distance if it meant possibly having more babies." Tony was still grinning. "Unless you feel that your well off, which I doubt."
"No, we aren't well off. For centuries my people held their breaths for my father to have a child. If the royal family dies, our whole world dies and everyone with Mechanivian blood do as well. Me and my sister were the only children conceived before she and I became pregnant." Tony gapped, his grin dropping.
"So for the last like 500 years or so, your people have had no children." She nodded. "How have your kind even lived this long?" Tony seemed baffled in a way only he could pull off.
"Lots of sex with different people, and luck." She replied.
"Huh," Tony tapped his chin with the same screwdriver. "You need us," he shifted to wagging the screwdriver between him and Bruce.
"I'll mention it to my people and see what they say. Anyone who volunteers are to be treated with the utmost respect. We are not lab rats." She warned.
"I think Tony would agree that we'd do our best to not offend anyone. I personally, would love to help."
Cephera just nodded.
She couldn't imagine a world full of her people who could just decide to have a kid. It's never been how they lived. She wondered how that would be treated. Would they lose their focus on treasuring life?
Everything they were, was based on the fact that life was precious. Their combat training was to try and keep as many of them alive as possible for as long as possible. They all lived in the palace because there really wasn't enough to spread out.
It wasn't as if they didn't have room to allow everyone to move off to other parts of the world to expand, if they could have kids so easily, but she worried their entire economical structure would change.
Such a huge change would be for the best or the worst.
Cephera became suddenly ashamed of her political thinking. Everyone has a right to children and expansion of their family. As a mother she knew the joy of having a child. She knew many women who never knew that joy and many more who were in that very position now.
This offer was a good thing, not something to worry about. Besides, the political evolution of their lands came from her father and sister. They were the current rulers.
"Thank you both," she said shaking herself from her thoughts. "It's such a foreign thought to me I wasn't sure how to react." She apologized for her hesitation.
"No biggie, but as a way to make it up to us, how about making supper?" Tony suggested with a hint of bossy.
Cephera laughed loudly. "You do not want to eat anything I cook," she said between laughing. "How about I order Chinese, or pizza."
"That'll do, but really that's JARVIS being useful." Tony pointed out. She shook her head at him as she walked away. "You will deliver it to us down here, right?"
She didn't reply. Let him keep wondering.
(Old Loki/Tyr)
"Did you hear," one SHIELD Agent said to his buddy. His friend turned to look at him for the juicy gossip. "That alien girl Fury got working downstairs in data entry, she's Loki wife."
"Director Fury wouldn't have allowed that. Loki is a wanted war criminal, why would he let her in?" The other guy looked confused and concerned.
"I don't know. Some guy in weapons heard it from a friend of his downstairs in the labs."
Tyr smiled as he watched his rumors spread like wildfire throughout the facility. Humans were all the same. It took only telling one person and already half of the building had heard the news.
Tyr enjoyed watching it spread from his invisible shadows.
He thought he was finished with his alternate wife, but her revelation that Ikol took after his genetic code told him that she at least knew he was a frost giant. It wouldn't be long before she may uncover the real truth.
He couldn't allow that.
So now he would make trouble for her on Earth to take her mind off her babies mystery daddy. With any luck she might kick the bucket although he didn't really plan to see her dead.
He was hoping she'd be around to see her reality drown in her own husbands hatred.
He was very concerned over the fact he has no idea what might have happened while Cephera was alone with Frigga. His tainting of his younger self relied heavily on his separation from his wife.
Cephera was Loki's voice of reason. She was the calm to his storm.
Tyr thought she wouldn't cause anymore problems being sent away, but he hadn't expected Odin to allow her access to the castle. Odin hadn't even consulted Tyr with the notion.
He thought that taking the form of the dead advisor would secure his place to manipulate the king to do his bidding, but he was wrong. It was frustrating.
It would seem that Odin was not so easily made a puppet where his family is concerned.
Oh well, he loved a good challenge.
(Steve)
He stretched after his gym workout, even though he didn't really get sore. He'd gotten used to the stares he got from those who hadn't seen him in the gym before.
At first it was awkward, then annoying, now it was just life.
He quickly showered and headed out of the gym only to be hauled aside by Natasha Romanov the second the gym doors closed behind him. "Woah," he said in surprise and stared at the agent questioningly.
"Is it true?" She asked him.
"Is what true?" He replied.
"There's a rumor circulating that Cephera's married to Loki." She eyed Steve with suspicion.
Steve frowned. "Does it matter?" He asked in return.
"So it is true, and you knew." She narrowed her eyes.
"Her father said a few things in front of me. I put two and two together but she never actually confessed it to me. Really it's not fair to judge her by who she's married to." Steve put his hands in his pockets.
"It makes sense now. The conversation I had with her. Her sneaky tip toed answers." Natasha look as though she felt the tip toeing was enough to condemn the woman.
"Loki's in prison, Natasha. Cephera's here on her own. She doesn't owe us an explanation on how or why she's married to him. She doesn't need to divulge her private life to anyone. If anything, the way you're acting now might be the very reason she didn't bring it up." Natasha threw him a glare. "I don't question your past." He noted.
"I didn't try to take over the human race, killing hundreds along the way." She retorted.
"Neither did Cephera." Steve countered. "All I'm saying is we wait for her to do something to condemn her, not judge her by what her husband did. She deserves a fair chance, just like anyone else." Steve stood by his decision. When he'd figured it out he hadn't brought it up.
"I'll be keeping an eye on her, you should too. Does Fury know?" She asked looking around.
"He probably does now." Steve noted. Natasha considered that and nodded agreement. She let Steve go from the spot she'd been holding him and walked away. He watched her go with a frown.
How did everyone find it out anyway?
Maybe, by the time she came back, the news will have become old news and most will have forgotten about it. Steve knew what it was like to be the odd one out.
Being the one and only super soldier and sleeping for 70 years encased in ice made everyone around him fascinated. He could only imagine it would be the same for her only instead of curiosity it would be scrutiny.

Notes

A.N: I have decided that I will not be incorporating Ultron into this storyline. The events of Cap 2 and Thor 2 will be upcoming though their timelines may be a little different from the movies. :D