Chapter 66: Asgard

A/N: Tony finally gets to Asgard! Only took him literally traveling back in time and doing everything differently to secure the invitation, lmao.

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If Tony were more insecure, the fact that this was his first time traveling on the Bifrost in either timeline might have made him question his and Thor's relationship. But truth be told, he knew it had less to do with whether he and Thor were really 'friends' or not, and a lot more to do with Asgard being a rather xenophobic place.

They were the 'nice' kind of xenophobic at least, but they were still quite the insular, holier-than-thou-art type of people. At the end of the day, to be Asgardian was to be the cream of the crop in their eyes, and to be fair they weren't entirely wrong. The knowledge of their own superiority had gone to their heads, and even Asgard itself was less of a planet and more of an artificial planetoid. Unlike Earth, Asgard really was flat, by design.

Regardless, Tony's first time on the Rainbow Bridge is relatively short. Traveling from Earth to Asgard is not instantaneous, but it is extremely fast. In less than half a minute, they've gone from the roof of Stark Tower all the way to the edge of Asgard, arriving in what Tony assumes is the gate room. The first thing he sees is… gold. A lot of gold. Almost too much gold to be honest, though the alien architecture and flowing lines go a long way to making it look a little bit less garish and over the top than it would have back on Earth.

The second thing Tony sees is Asgard's Gatekeeper. He never got to meet the man himself, but he knows enough to know that the golden-eyed, dark-skinned Asgardian wearing all gold armor can only be Heimdall, the all-seeing and all-knowing Gatekeeper of Asgard and the guardian of the Bifrost.

Pulling his sword from the center of the platform, Heimdall cuts off the Bifrost behind them as they're all finding their footings.

"Welcome your Majesties, to Himinbjorg."

Himinbjorg must be the name of the gate room. Rather than let himself get drawn in by his inherently curious nature, however, Tony does the responsible thing and checks on first his wife and then their 'retinue'. After confirming that Pepper is just fine, he looks to the two suits they've brought with them and raises an eyebrow.

"J? You with me, buddy?"

There's a brief pause and then the 'eyes' of the Vibranium Nanotech Armors both light up in sync.

"Indeed I am, Sir. The distance is great, but not so great that the transponder cannot reach. I am at your side, while also back on Earth at the same time."

Tony grins, not quite breathing a sigh of relief as he nods to JARVIS' words. That was good… great even. Though before anything else can happen, Heimdall speaks up once more.

"You exist in far more than just here and on Midgard, Spirit. Your reach extends across the entirety of Midgard's planetary system at this point in time."

… Well, that didn't sound TOO accusatory, but it was definitely a correction. Both Tony and JARVIS turn to Heimdall, only for the Gatekeeper to rest the tip of his sword on the ground before him, clasping his hands atop its pommel.

"Know that I am aware of your capacity for expansion Spirit… and while I do not fault you for it, your place in the Golden Realm is as a guest. My eyes see all and my ears hear everything. Remain in those suits and confine yourself to protecting your master and we will not have a problem."

Tony's tempted to step in and kick up a fuss, but honestly… Heimdall's concerns and warning are kind of fair. He's well aware of JARVIS' spread back in their Solar System. In fact, Tony encourages and supports it every step of the way. The more of JARVIS that exists, the less capacity that anyone, no matter how strong they are, has to do him harm. At this point in time, even destroying Earth itself wouldn't be enough to kill JARVIS anymore and that… Tony is happy with that.

Still, Heimdall is right to fear JARVIS somehow sinking his roots into Asgard. And with nanites, he could do so quite easily. On top of that, the Gatekeeper is speaking peer to peer here, addressing JARVIS directly over Tony as JARVIS' 'monarch'… so ultimately, he doesn't really have a way to interject if he's reading things right.

At the end of the day, JARVIS simply inclines one of the suits' heads in Heimdall's direction.

"Your warning is received and understood, Gatekeeper. I shall heed your words."

With that bit of discomfort out of the way, Thor escorts them out of Heimdall's territory and onto the Rainbow Bridge itself. Tony lets out a low whistle as he gets a proper view of both the bridge and Asgard for the first time. Honestly, the place earned its title of 'The Golden Realm', that much was for sure. Asgard glitters off in the distance, while the waters surrounding the Rainbow Bridge are so crystal clear that it almost makes Tony envious.

Then again… oh, now he was getting ideas. And why not? Why shouldn't he go ahead and clean up the Earth's oceans when he got back home? Not like anyone else was doing it in any sort of reasonable time frame.

Thor, meanwhile, looks down the length of the Rainbow Bridge, then to his hammer, and then to Tony and Pepper.

"Ah… ahem, I can call for horses if it pleases you?"

Tony chuckles, while Pepper smiles and shakes her head.

"That won't be necessary Thor. We'll follow your lead."

Both of the Starks step back in unison… allowing the two Vibranium Nanotech Suits standing at their backs to open up and flow over them in one smooth motion. Thor blinks and then grins as he begins to twirl his hammer in preparation for flight.

"Very well then! Let us make haste!"

And with that, the God of Thunder launches himself into the air. Not at his fastest possibly speeds, Tony notes, even as he and Pepper zip after him. Perhaps Thor wants to give them time to truly appreciate the splendor of his homeland. Or perhaps he just doesn't want to get in trouble for flying too fast in Asgardian 'airspace' again. It could honestly be either or where the Asgardian Prince is concerned.

Arriving at the other end of the bridge, which Tony notes leads right up into the massive Royal Palace that dominates so much of the artificial planetoid, they find people waiting for them outside. Some are just Asgardian Guards, the Einherjar if Tony recalls correctly. But there are also two women waiting for them to descend, and Pepper barely allows JARVIS to flow off her body before she's landing and racing forward.

There, standing near the entrance into Asgard's palace, is Lady Sif in a dress, holding a baby in her arms. And next to her… well, Tony can only assume from the gravitas that the woman in a crown carries with her that that's Asgard's Queen, Frigga. Thor's mother.

He doesn't have to assume for long, of course. As he and Thor land as well and Tony steps out of the suit, Thor is already nodding to the regal-looking woman.

"Mother."

Smiling softly, Frigga spares her son a glance and a warm nod, but truly has eyes only for the interaction between a slightly uncomfortable Sif and a cooing Pepper.

"She's so beautiful! Oh! She has Tony's nose! But that's definitely your jawline."

As Thor and Tony cautiously approach with the knowledge that approaching three women with a baby between them is always a dangerous idea, Sif smiles briefly… and then holds out her daughter. Their daughter.

"Would you like to hold her?"

Pepper's eyes widen in delight and excitement and she nods rapidly. The dress-wearing warrior woman is quick to let Pepper take the baby from her arms… at which point she moves past Tony's wife and over to Tony himself with clear intent in her eyes and-

SMACK!

-a hand reared back to slap him across the face. Tony doesn't try to stop it of course. He figures he probably deserves at least a little bit of punishment for his part in putting her out of commission for nine months. Longer, actually, considering she's still not wearing armor even now a few months after what should have been the end of her pregnancy. Although, he's not feeling too repentant about it.

The other reason he doesn't try to stop the slap is…

"Shit! What in the Hel is your face made of, Stark?!"

Hissing, Sif grabs the hand she used to slap him with her other, pulling back as she winces in pain. Tony just smiles, even as the Queen of Asgard looks over with a frown and a sharp reprimand on her lips.

"Lady Sif. You will watch your tongue while a child is present, even if it is your own child!"

Tony can see from the number of different expressions that Sif's face goes through that she really wants to say something to that. But also she can't because she's facing down the Queen of Asgard. In the end, she lowers her head and mumbles out an apology that has the Queen watching her for a moment longer disapprovingly before nodding once and turning back to Pepper and the baby.

While Pepper and Thor's mom bond over their love for the child that he and Sif made together, Tony waits until Sif is looking his way again before mouthing a one-word response to her previous question. Vibranium.

He enjoys the way her eyes widen in disbelief at that answer. Tony can tell that she wants nothing more than to call him a liar… or maybe a bullshitter, hah. Not that she'll do either with the Queen standing right there. And of course, there's the fact that her hand is still no doubt stinging. Asgardians are strong. Tony knew that from experience, especially from all of the sparring he and Sif had done during her years on Earth.

But Vibranium is pretty damn strong too, and now Tony's entire skull and spine are reinforced by the stuff, along with the Aether flowing through his veins to support it.

Regardless, with that moment between him and Sif done with, he does step up to her and place a hand on her shoulder. She tenses a little bit at the gesture but doesn't try to brush him off. Instead, she leans into his touch as he gives her a smile.

"It is good to see you again, Sif. I'm only sorry it's been so long."

Letting her eyes drift shut, Sif lets out a rough sigh.

"… Agreed. Her name is Kara."

Tony accepts the olive branch for what it is, giving Sif a nod of thanks. Then, stepping past her, he arrives at Pepper's side and looks down into his second daughter's eyes. Kara has his eyes, he notices. Dark brown and filled with an inquisitive light to them. She looks at him and Pepper with neither fear nor trepidation, reaching for them and wrapping one of her small fists around Pepper's finger when his wife offers it up in response.

"She is a beautiful child, King Stark. You have much reason to be proud."

At the formal address, Tony looks up into the eyes of Thor's mother and smiles softly.

"Thank you, your highness. I came as soon as I knew of her existence."

He keeps the reproach out of his voice, but even with his tone warm, the meaning of his words is not entirely lost on the Queen of Asgard. Still, she simply raises a single eyebrow and looks to both Thor and Sif… both of whom look abashed and glance away, averting their gazes under her judgmental eyes.

"… Hm, indeed. I suppose it's not entirely unexpected. The Lady Sif's pregnancy caused quite the stir."

Tony chuckles at that, imagining how Asgard must have reacted to finding out that Sif of all people was pregnant. Hell, Sif herself must have been horrified, warrior that she is. And then there would have been all the rumors about it being Thor's or perhaps the child of one of the other Warriors Three. Honestly… Tony glances to Sif with a raised brow.

"Do people know who the father really is?"

Sif colors and shakes her head, her lips forming into a thin line even as Frigga gently steps in.

"The people of Asgard by and large are not entitled to such information. They love to gossip, but in this case they are not aware, no. Some know, of course. Though I think you do not understand exactly why Lady Sif's pregnancy caused the stir that it did among our healers."

Tony furrows his brow at that. He'd thought the stir was because of Sif herself, or perhaps because of who she laid with. But Frigga's meaningful tone made it clear there was something more to it than all of that. Finally, Thor is the one who clears his throat and speaks up.

"Shield-Brother…"

Tony turns to Thor, assuming that he's using a title because of his mother's presence. The Prince of Asgard looks to Sif's daughter in Pepper's arms, his face softening… but his expression also troubled as he looks back to Tony.

"Until Lady Sif's pregnancy, it was not thought possible for an Asgardian and a Midgardian to reproduce."

Wait, what?

Ever the diplomat, Frigga steps back in with a soft smile still on her face.

"Indeed. Though that may just have been for lack of trying. Even still, it was commonly accepted wisdom among our healers and scholars that Asgardians could not comingle with the denizens of Midgard. Other races in the Nine Realm, yes… but Midgardians, or as you call yourselves, humans… were considered too fragile and frail."

Frigga's eyes fall upon Sif's daughter, growing warmer for a moment. Then, she turns those eyes onto Tony and they grow considerably less warm and considerably more analytical.

"There were concerns that the child, born of Midgardian Seed, would not survive past her first moon. We know better now, of course… though that just raises more questions about what exactly you've done to yourself and your loved ones."

In that moment, Tony isn't looking at Frigga, an excited mother gazing upon another mother's baby. In that moment, Tony is looking at the Queen of Asgard and feels like he's being studied like a bug. It only lasts for a moment though before she smiles and waves her hand dismissively.

"Ah, but that would be for you and my husband to discuss. Please Thor, take the King of Midgard to your father for me. I will remain here and help his Queen to their accommodations so that she does not have to put down her precious cargo."

Tony and Pepper don't even have to look at each other to make sure the other will be okay. A quick communication through technopathy and they're both set. Do the Asgardians notice that? Tony can't tell, but it doesn't seem like they pick up on it.

Either way, Pepper and Sif take the baby and go off with Frigga, while Thor leads Tony into the Royal Palace of Asgard itself. As they move through the corridors, Tony quickly realizes they aren't going to the throne room. But then, Thor had said it himself back on Earth. Meeting Room. Not Throne Room. Not an audience between a supplicant and the King… but rather, a meeting between peers. Because apparently Tony had earned enough of Odin's respect to qualify for that.

Well fuck. No pressure, right?

-x-X-x-

A/N: I'm likely taking liberties with Asgardian/Human reproductive compatibility btw. Sorry, not sorry.

Next time, Tony and Odin finally meet face to face!

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