Chapter 41

Tony landed on the Hellicarrier but I refused to land. I was scared I'd freeze the engines and cause the whole thing to come crashing down. I stayed floating about 15 feet below it and in the middle of the sky.

"Alex, you good?" Fury asked over comms.

"Um, no, not really." I replied as I held back tears. My hormones being uncontrollable wasn't helping the situation either.

"I had Tony start monitoring your temp once he told me what was going on, seems you're just cold enough for us to contain you in the cage." He explained.

"In Loki's old cage?" I asked as I rubbed my hands up and down the sides of my shoulders.

"Yep. I want you to get in here and there as fast as you can." He replied.

"I can't, Fury. I could freeze the engines." I argued as I furrowed my brows.

"We've got the heat cranked as high as it can go and back up heaters in the engine rooms as we speak. Come inside and get in the cage." He argued back.

"Fury..." I sighed. I didn't want to be responsible for the destruction of the Hellicarrier and the lives of everyone on and below it.

"That's an order, Avenger." He sternly replied. I exhaled hard and clenched my jaw as I stared up at the Hellicarrier. I inhaled and then held my breath as I quickly flew up and through the bottom of it. I landed in the cage and it immediately filled with ice crystals and covered the glass in a layer of ice and frost. I exhaled and relaxed my body, thinking I had managed to get in without hurting the engines. But the Hellicarrier began to shake and fell from the sky. I used the side of the glass cage to steady myself and then the Hellicarrier stopped moving. It became stable and I fell back on the bench as I relaxed again.

"Engines got a little stuck, but we managed." Fury chuckled. I stood up and wiped the frost from the ice on the glass and he smiled at me while his eye examined my face.

"So, you're blue now huh?" He half laughed.

"Seems it." I nodded.

"You haven't been on any missions in the past month and Loki hasn't gone off world." He said as he furrowed his brows, thinking of reasons as to why this was happening.

"Apart from Asgard." I added.

"Just saw Thor yesterday. Nothing weird going on there, he would have mentioned it." He replied.

"She hasn't eaten anything weird either." Tony chimed in.

"Maybe something the other Thor brought over?" Clint asked as he walked into the room.

"And it took thing long to show itself?" Fury asked. The other Thor went back home about a week after he arrived. He told Tony that a band of rebellious slaves freed him from his dungeon and he managed to find the technology the other Loki was using to get to the other universes. He said he used it to travel around and help the rise up against the other Loki and he had tracked him here. But when he found out we killed his Loki, he said there was nothing left to do but rebuild. Tony told him to visit us and bring other Avengers from other universes and Thor said he would, but that was almost 2 months ago and it's been pretty quiet since.

"Plus, we were all in contact with him and nothings happened to us." Tony added.

"We'll do some tests and figure this out." He said as he looked back over at me. Frost began covering the spot I had cleaned off, so I cleaned it again and nodded in agreement.

"First test I want done is a blood test." Fury said as he turned and walked over to the control panel by the door. He pressed a small red button and the overhead comms to the whole ship turned on.

"Dr. Cunningham to deck C." He ordered. He released the button and Tony said he was going to grab the supplies they needed for the blood test. I sighed and sat back down on the bench as he left the room.

"You feeling okay?" Fury asked me as he raised a brow. I waved the frost off of the cage wall, a bigger area this time, and nodded when I saw his face.

"Physically, I feel fine." 

"And mentally?" He asked me.

"How would you feel if you suddenly turned blue and started freezing everything around you?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"I'd probably be scared as Hell." He nodded while raising his brows.

"Buuuut." He said as he dropped his crossed arms and smiled a little.

"I'd be more scared if I didn't have a whole ass organization behind me trying to help and figure it out." He added. I looked down and sighed before nodding in agreement. I was terrified, bit he was right. S.H.I.E.L.D and Tony will figure this out.

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Dr. Cunningham and Tony came back into the room and the Doc was decked out in full snow gear. She looked like she was heading to Antarctica or something.

"Alright." Tony smiled as he clapped his hands. I cleaned the frost off again and watched as two agents carrying two portable heaters walked in. They set the heaters by the entrance to the cage and plugged them in before leaving the room.

"Doc is gonna go in and take some blood. The heaters are so we can try and contain the cold to stop it from spreading." Tony nodded as he flipped the switches on the heaters, turning them on.

"They also cranked the heat up in here." Peter added as he walked in wearing only a tank top and shorts. 

"They called me for backup." He smiled.

"I feel like I'm dieing. Let's go." Dr. Cunningham groaned.

"Alright. Porker, you're in charge of the door. Open it enough for Doc to squeeze in there and then close it asap." Tony nodded.

"How cold is it in here anyway?" I asked Tony as I wiped frost away from the glass. Tony looked down at his Iron Man glove sitting on his hand and read from the tiny screen.

"Looks like you're clocking in at about -60 degrees Fahrenheit." He answered as he nodded.

"Jesus. Can you even survive if you come in here??" I asked as I looked over at Dr. Cunningham.

"I can but I have to be fast." She replied as she nodded.

"In and out." Peter added.

"Take a step back and get ready." Tony said as he took a few steps back from the entrance. I did the same and he nodded over at Peter. Peter pressed down on the red button and the glass door creaked open, breaking the ice around it. Ice immediately escaped through the entrance and overcame the heaters, freezing them. The glass syringe in Dr. Cunningham's hand froze and then shattered as the ice traveled around the room. Her eyelashes immediately frosted over and she exhaled hard, like she couldn't breathe. Tony and Peter backed up more as the ice engulfed the whole room.

"C-C-Close t-the d-door!" Dr. Cunningham gasped. Peter shot a web and it hit the button, causing the door to slam shut. Tony opened the room entrance and Peter grabbed Dr. Cunningham with another web, pulling her out of the room with them. The door closed shut and I sighed as I sat back down on the bench.

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It took 4 hours and a lot of heaters to thaw out the room I was in. Tony and the others finally came back in and I cleaned the frost from the glass as I sighed. Dr. Cunningham was no longer wearing her winter get up, meaning she wasn't going to try and get in here with me again.

"Now what?" I asked them.

"Well, we didn't want to give up on getting that blood sample. So, we were talking and Porker mentioned your abilities." Tony started off.

"Yeah, we figured if we can't open the door, we can just send Doc in by having you bring her in." Peter added.

"Buuuut, with how fast the ice was spreading, it might be dangerous." Dr. Cunningham finished as she crossed her arms.

"You're reading at -67 degrees now. That's still tolerable for humans but this frost seems to...I dunno, have a mind of it's own." Tony shrugged.

"So?" I asked.

"So, we got something to test it out." Peter smiled. He left the room and returned in a few short minutes, carrying a dead pig.

"Um?" I asked as I watched him set it down by the cage.

"Is that-?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded.

"You're gonna bring it into the cage with you and we'll see how the cold reacts with it. Pig is pretty close to human." He shrugged. I held my hand up, palm facing the pig, and pulled it off of the ground and into the cage with me. It quickly froze to a solid mass.

"Wow." I sighed as I pushed it back out of the cage. It hit the ground with a thud and Tony crossed his arms as he stared at it with his brows furrowed.

"This must be so hard for you, Porker." He said as he looked over at Peter. The man rolled his eyes at Tony and Tony laughed as he looked back over at me. His smile fell when he saw my face.

"Now what?" I asked him.

"What if we just give her the needle to take her own blood?" Peter asked as he crossed his arms.

"Could work. But the syringe shattered last time." Dr. Cunningham pointed out.

"We could use a plastic one." Tony nodded. He spun on his heels and left the room in search of what he needed. I sat back down on the bench and put my hand on my stomach. I felt the baby kick a little and smiled as I looked down at it. The baby started kicking a little here and there a week ago but Loki hasn't been able to feel it yet. He's either busy with Asgard or Avenger stuff and when he is around, the baby's sleeping.

Tony came back into the room waving a plastic syringe around with a smile on his face. He held his palm out, syringe and a rubber band to wrap around my arm to find the vein easier. I reached out and grabbed it from him and brought it into the cage with me. I stood up and tied the band around my arm, pulling it with my teeth to make sure it's tight enough. I felt for a bulging vein and placed the needle right above my arm as I inhaled. I exhaled and pushed the needle into my skin but it snapped in half.

"Fuck." I let out a defeated sigh as I dropped my arm and untied the band. I angrily tossed it on the ground and harshly threw the broken needle at the wall before running my hand down my face. I threw it so hard the plastic broke into pieces before hitting the floor.

"Okay, tough skin." Tony nodded as he put his hands on his hips.

"Oh! The Hulk needles!" Dr. Cunningham excitedly said.

"The what?" I asked as I raised a brow. Tony quickly left the room and Dr. Cunningham smiled as she crossed her arms.

"Years ago Bruce was testing his blood for a cure. He would turn into Hulk and take samples from that blood as well but normal needles wouldn't cut it against his hard skin." She explained.

"So he had to make better ones. Normal needles are made from steel, so, Bruce used vibranium."

"That's the metal from Wakanda, right?" I asked as I tilted my head a little.

"Yep." She happily nodded.

"And it worked?" I asked as I wiped the incoming frost away from the glass.

"Like a charm. He was able to take blood samples while being Hulk." She nodded. Tony walked back into the room with a plastic syringe and larger needle attacked to it. He held it out and I brought it into the cage as I picked up the rubber band from the floor. I tied the band around me again and inhaled as I placed the tip of the needle against my vein. I exhaled and shoved it into me, my blood rushing into the plastic syringe. I filled it to the top and pulled the needle out, quickly bending my arm to stop the bleeding. I pushed the syringe out through the cage and Tony took it in his hands but quickly dropped it.

"Jesus, it's freezing." He said as he looked down to his red hand. I watched the syringe on the ground frost up from the inside and then the area around it quickly get covered in frost too.

"Fucking Christ...." I groaned as I reached out and pulled the syringe back into the cage with me.

"Okay, okay, okay, we'll figure this out." Tony assured me as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. I wasn't sure if I could believe his words. Nothing we tried so far worked and I had no hope anything would. I sat back down on the bench and clenched my jaw as tears fell from my eyes. I closed them and exhaled as I put my hand on my stomach, feeling my baby kick again.

*Meanwhile. Loki's POV*

"I seriously can't believe I got to see you go all Frost Giant!" Bruce laughed as the jet landed on the Hellicarrier.

"Makes me feel better about ol' Green." He added.

"I have not been in my Frost form in years but when Dr. Anthony bit me, I had to." I shrugged.

"Yeah. Still can't believe you managed to make your body colder than the Artic air." He chuckled.

"Lucky cold killed it though, Alex woulda been pissed if you turned all zombie on her." He smiled as he crossed his arms. The jet engines finally turned off and the side door opened, letting us off.

"How is she and the baby, by the way?" Bruce asked me as we walked off the jet.

"She has been suffering intense morning sickness but I am told that it's normal. She has been very tired as well, sleeping at abnormal times." I replied as we walked away from the jet and over to the side entrance. That entrance lead us to the contamination room where we could be decontaminated before going anywhere else.

"Any weird cravings?" Bruce chuckled as we walked into the room, the door closing and locking behind us.

"She asked me to conjure up a pickle with chocolate spread over it and a side of peaches covered in hot sauce." I cringed as I remembered the horrible smell from her meal a few nights ago.

"Gross." Bruce laughed. We walked through the mist and into a small white room where the walls were covered in nozzles. We put our hands up in the air and the nozzles sprayed our bodies with a harsh disinfectant.

"Excited to be a dad though?" He asked as we dropped our arms and closed our eyes. We held out breath and another spray of disinfectant hit us, covering our heads and faces this time.

"It is quite exciting, yes." I smiled a little, my eyes still closed. I did truly feel excited to have a child on the way, especially since Alex was the mother. She was everything to me and I was curious as to what our child would be like. What their powers would be like. So far my Frost Giant DNA hasn't caused us any issues, which calmed my nerves a bit.

"She's far along enough to tell what it is, right?" He asked as water began to pour from the top nozzles, drenching us and washing away the disinfectant. We wiped our eyes off and opened them.

"She decided she does not want to know the gender of the child until birth." I shrugged. I wanted to know, but she said she wanted it to be a surprise and I felt bad for arguing with her.

"Awe, I was hoping for a gender reveal party." Bruce sighed.

"Loki, you done with decontamination yet?" Fury suddenly asked over the comms. A huge gust of hot wind hit both Bruce and I, drying us off.

"Yeah." I shouted over the wind. It died down and I ran my fingers through my hair as I put it back in place.

"Come to Deck C." Fury ordered.

"What? Why?" I asked as I furrowed my brows. I had no reason to be on Deck C ever. It was where they kept my cage.

"It's Alex."

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