Of Stolen Hearts and Silver Tongues Chapter Three: You spin me right ’round, baby, right ’round
Story Summary: What if Loki was enamoured with Earth and had a secret life on Midgard, including an entire lineage of secret identities where everyone on the family tree was a version of themself? One alias in particular decides that MIT would be the perfect place for her to experiment with attending Midgardian college, and Columbia would be a fantastic choice for a PhD.
Note: This is chapter three. Make sure you don’t miss out on Chapter One: Loki has her Cher Horowitz moment. Happy reading!
Author’s note: Hey. It’s been a while. Bet y’all forgot all about this fic, BUT I NEVER DID. Short chapter, and I’m sorry about that, it’s just that what I’m setting up for needs its own longer chapter after this. Also there’s a big time jump but TRUST THE PROCESS PLEASE BESTIES I’M DOING MY BEST. And I absolutely promise though that it won’t take me over 2.5 years until the next update. One year at the most. (I’m kidding, I’M KIDDING, STOP THROWING TOMATOES, I’M ALLERGIC!)
Chapter Three: You spin me right ’round, baby, right ’round
September 1994
Stephen Strange was nervous on his first day at Harvard University. He was only 15 years old, and younger than everyone else he could see. He knew that other people had started college even younger than he had — Tony Stark had begun college at only fourteen years old. His father liked to compare him to Tony Stark. This was something of a sore point for Stephen, and one of the reasons he had specifically chosen to go to Harvard as opposed to MIT, where he had also been accepted.
Still, Stephen was not exactly expecting to make many friends at university. He did not have much experience in making friends, or in keeping the friends he had made. Still, he had promised his mother that he would make an attempt. So he went to all of his freshman orientation events, and tried to bond with the other students in his year to the best of his ability. But not many people were willing to befriend a 15 year old scholarship student.
The only person approximating a friend that Stephen had succeeded in making by the end of his first week was not in his year at all, but actually a senior by the name of Bruce Banner. Bruce was actually able to keep up with Stephen, and did not mind his sometimes brash demeanor. Bruce also had very few friends on campus, and did not mind showing Stephen around both the school and around Cambridge and Boston, which he had never been to before.
Privately, Bruce had very unkind things to say about Stephen’s parents for letting their 15 year old live unsupervised in a city on the other side of the country, but he felt it was not his place. While nothing was said explicitly, Bruce became very protective of Stephen, and the two of them adopted a role that was very much that of an older and younger brother. Neither of them were particularly close with their biological families, and so this was a revelatory experience for both of them.
When Bruce graduated from Harvard, Stephen was both happy for him and somewhat devastated, because Bruce would be leaving Massachusetts to head for Culver University in Virginia. Nevertheless they stayed in touch as Stephen finished his degrees at Harvard, and Bruce began to collect PhDs at Culver.
Part of Stephen had wanted to go to study at Culver with Bruce upon graduation, but Stephen was also smart enough to know that he should not shape his entire life around another person. So, with Bruce’s encouragement, Stephen made the decision to head to New York for graduate school, where he would be getting a joint MD and PhD from Columbia.
At seventeen, he expected to be the youngest person in his program, and he was. What he did not expect was for there to be anyone even close to his age in the graduate classes. Before they actually started classes everyone in their cohort was invited to an informal orientation party as a way to get to know the people that they were old be working with over the next several years. Normally, Stephen hated parties and socializing, especially being so much younger than everyone else, and so he kept to the side of the room, away from the larger crowd.
Much to his surprise, someone joined him at the table where he had retreated.
“You look like you could use some alcohol,” the woman unceremoniously dropped herself into the chair next to his. She was somehow holding two unopened beers and a plate of cheese and grapes, and managed to not spill any of it despite the chaotic way that she sat down.
“I, ah, don’t usually drink. I’m only eighteen.”
Why on earth did I say that, could I be any more awkward.
“No problem! More drinks for me. I just thought you could use a friend and as I understand it, drinks are a form of bonding. Though,” she lowered her voice conspiratorially “between you and me, I’m not really supposed to be drinking either. At least in this country. According to my current birth certificate I’m only nineteen.”
Her current birth certificate? Maybe he wasn’t the only person who had issues with communication.
“Ah well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Stephen reached for the drink but she pulled it away.
“Ah, ah, no. Question first. Are you saying yes because you are feeling pressured or yes because you honestly want one?”
Stephen stared at her open expression. Her question was genuine— she clearly wanted to be sure that she wasn’t putting pressure on him, but there was also a playful glint to her eyes. Stephen rolled his eyes and snatched the beer from her.
“Alright then, I’ll take that as my answer. What’s your name then?”
“Stephen, and yours?”
“You can call me Lois.”
Stephen reached out his hand to shake hers, noting the mischievous glint in her eye. Something about her countenance told him that he had just gained a new friend. One who was perhaps a little more dangerous than Bruce.
—
February 2000
Loki had expected Tony to react poorly to her revelation that she was an alien who had lied to him about her entire existence. She had gone into the interaction expecting it to be the end of them. She expected that the secrets she had been keeping would pull them apart.
She was wrong.
Tony was a mortal, and also one of the most fascinating and revolutionary people she had met in her millennia of existence. He defied expectations in any way he could, and so sharing her secret, rather than driving them apart, pulled them together. After a few months of getting comfortable with Tony knowing the truth, she also shared the secret with Rhodey. The three of them had been through so much together, it did not feel right to keep up with the lie. After a year, she also revealed the truth to Stephen. And Loki was… happy. It was a startling realization, when she discovered that she was genuinely happy with her life on Midgard. Happy with her studies, happy with her friends. Eventually Bruce, Maria, and Monica were folded into the little family they had made together, along with Pepper Potts and Harold (Happy) Hogan, two people who had started as staff and grew into true friends.
Her relationship with Tony had also grown in the past few years, into something… more. And they were happy. These mortals were more family to her than anyone on Asgard. At the same time, Loki knew that her time on Midgard was nothing if not limited. She would have to return to Asgard soon, to prepare for her brother’s coronation. Where before she would have perhaps wanted the crown, she now realized that everything she had ever wanted was on the planet she now considered to be her true home. Which is why, when she cast the spell that confirmed her fears (and her hopes) something in her shattered. All at once the dream of her life came crashing down, and she was both devastated and felt not being what she thought herself capable.
Collapsing on the floor she simply stared in the mirror.
Tony, having been alerted of Loki’s distress by JARVIS, ran into the room.
“Loki? Darling? What’s going on, what’s happening?” Tony joined her in the floor, hovering close but not touching without her permission. “Talk to me babe.”
“I— Tony I— we— I’m—” Loki took a deep breath.
“Tony, I’m pregnant.”
He stared at her uncomprehending for a moment. His brain, which typically worked at speeds that defied the laws of physics, was moving as slow as molasses. Loki, similarly seemed unable to speak, the two of them frozen with their eyes locked, both feeling terrified and a little bit excited. After a long moment Tony pulled her into his arms and spoke.
“Ultimately it’s your choice what you want to do with your body,” Tony took a deep breath, “but if you want my opinion—and if you don’t, that’s okay too—there’s no one else in the universe I’d rather have a baby with.” Loki took a few more deep and shuddering breaths before leaning in to Tony.
“I can’t stay on Midgard forever, my love, I have to return to Asgard, you know this.”
“But you’re not leaving forever, are you? You have the power of skywalking, you’ve explained it to me before.”
“Yes, but a child of two worlds… I would not wish to deny them their heritage, either of them.”
“So don’t,” Tony smiled sadly. “I’m not immortal, Lokes.” Loki frowned, looking like she was about to interrupt before he cut her off. “Whoever our child grows up to be… I’m willing to bet they’ll live a lot longer than I will. So stay on earth for a little while, let us grow together, and when the time comes, you can introduce them to Asgard.”
“Anthony—”
“That’s not to say that I don’t want to see Asgard too! You know I do, but, I think, you’re already my family, so let’s be a family? Ugh, I’m getting this all mixed up, I told Rhodey I was going to blow this—” Tony was holding Loki in his arms while also wiggling to get something out of his pocket. It was all very undignified, especially considering they were both on the floor.
“Anthony I don’t—”
“Marry me, Lokes. Loki. I was going to ask at dinner but here I am, jumping the gun again, do you like this ring, Pepper thought you would like it—” Tony was cut off with a kiss as Loki pinned him to the floor.