#manoutoftime

STEVE AND TONY :

PLEASE READ THIS PRIVATELY :

I TRUST YOU TWO MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE ON ERTH MIDGARD : YOU WERE BOTH PRESENT WHEN THE TWINS WERE BORN : YOU HAVE STOOD BY MY SIDE IN MANY BATTLES : I AB APOL AM SORRY FOR THE GREEF FANDRAL HAS CAUSED : AND I AM SORRY THAT HE HAS NOT ANSERED FOR THESE CRIMES :

FOR THE SAFTY OF MY FAMILY I MUST RETURN TO ASGARD : THIS MAY BE COME PERMANINT : I CAN NOT RISK SOMTHING HAPPENING TO JANE OR THE TWINS : NOR DO I WANT HER TO SIGN ANY DOC THING UN TIL IT I CAN ENSHUR HER PROT SHE WILL BE SAF :

NO ONE ELSE NOWS OF HER POWERS : I DO NOT WISH FOR THIS TO CHANGE : PLEASE TELL NO ONE : IF YOU NEED ME CALL FOR HEIMDALL :

I HOPE YOU TWO WILL STILL STAND AT MY WEDDING :

THOR ODINSON

Thor looked it over a few times and figured it looked okay. He spent years trying to figure out their written language, and he thought it was legible. He put the note in Tony’s lab; he didn’t want to hand it over personally, that was too much pressure.

– –

Steve was torn between putting the jet on autopilot and piloting the jet to get to the hospital faster. He'd never delivered a baby himself, but his mother had been a nurse, so surely in a pinch he could remember something if he had to?

He opted for the latter; he definitely wasn't qualified to address whatever else Killian may have done to her, and if her anguished wailing was any indication, she was going to need more than a hot towel and some morphine after all of this was done.

Upon landing, Thor and Jane disappeared with the rush of medical personel, leaving Steve to power down. On his way out of the jet, he scooped up his shield from the seat next to where Thor and Jane had been and latched it to his back. He found Thor still on the roof with a nurse and set a hand on Thor's shoulder as he joined him. While generally unswayed by the simple application of "protocol," Steve set his jaw and simply nodded to Thor as they followed the nurse inside.

"We should give 'em room to work. She'll be all right now that she's here."

The nurse saw them to the waiting room and promised to return as soon as she had news. Steve remained standing and returned his hand to Thor's shoulder, this time with a firm squeeze.

– –

It definitely wasn’t hard to track the movements of the Quinjet down to the hospital where it had landed. Killian’s words kept echoing inside Stark’s mind as he flew to his destination: Jane wouldn’t survive the special Extremis dose she’d been administered. With some people, you can just tell. And what the hell did that mean?

Well, Stark knew exactly what it meant, but he refused to see it as anything other than mind taunting until he managed to get some sort of confirmation. Maybe he should speak to the doctors. He tried calling in, but not even  ”I am Tony Stark” got him anywhere fast, especially considering how he didn’t want to give anyone details about Extremis. In the end, it was decided that a SHIELD doctor would come in as well, as soon as possible.

As he was led to the same waiting room as Steve and Thor, Tony’s undersuit disappeared into his skin and he was back to the jeans and Rolling Stones T-shirt he had been wearing earlier that afternoon, his armor was left on the roof with the Quinjet. The tension in the atmosphere was easily noticeable, and the fact that Thor was waiting outside was a bad sign. Didn’t they usually let the father be in the room when the mother was giving birth? At least they did if everything was going normally.

Silly to have hoped everything would be.

“Sorry it took me a while, traffic was terrible,” he said as casually as he could, slapping an easy hand on one of Thor’s shoulders, then he pulled it back and shoved it into his pocket. He still felt the bruises on his body, but the look on Thor’s face numbed some of the pain as Tony forced himself to stop worrying about it. “Did I miss anything?”

– –

The wait was agonizing. The nervous laughter from a family on the other side of the room was putting him on edge. They probably planned everything down to the T and knew exactly what to do if there were complications. Jane was kidnapped and went into labor in some crazy guy's basement and he had to fight them off to get her safely away. He saw what he assumed to be the father going in and out of the birthing room which was incredibly irritating. Why was that guy allowed in but Thor wasn't? He just wanted to be by Jane's side. It was his fault she was in this mess, and he had to see it through to the end.

Tony showed up shortly after they arrived. Some of Thor's worry melted away knowing that two of his best friends were sitting there with him. That still didn't stop him from standing up to start pacing around.

“Was everything...taken care of?” He asked, eyeing a group of interested individuals who looked like they were eavesdropping. The Avengers weren't exactly inconspicuous.

“I can't see her, they won't let me in,” He put his fist up to his mouth and bit down on his knuckle. “What does that mean?” He turned back to Tony and Steve with pleading eyes. He was so afraid something was wrong. If it was just the fact he was had scorch marks on his armor or that he was wearing armor at all he would have changed, but they wouldn't tell him anything.

– –

Steve dropped his hand to his side as Thor walked away, then took hold of his belt buckle as he glanced at Tony. Thor's question was a damn good one, and frankly, Steve didn't see any reason why Thor shouldn't have been allowed in.

"We don't look like we should be in a delivery room," Steve offered, glancing down at the streaks of ash and blood (most of it not his own) on his gloves and sleeves. It was a weak shot at consolation and he knew it, but he supposed that, as far as the nurses were concerned, a large burned-and-bleeding man should have been seeking medical attention himself and definitely shouldn't have been anywhere near a woman in labor.

He inhaled deeply and propped his hands on his belt, a deep ache slowly spreading across shoulders and down his back now that the adrenaline was ebbing from his system. He noted it, then ignored it in favor of returning his attention to Tony. Thor's first question was also pertinent, though he expected Tony wouldn't have been there if he hadn't taken care of things.

"Where's Killian?"

– –

When Thor asked what it meant that he hadn’t been allowed to be with Jane, Stark did have an answer but he hesitated to verbalize it at first. He let Steve take a stab at a light-hearted consolation instead, even if it might have been an empty one. He directed his focus to the next question, but even so, he couldn’t elaborate much on the answer, not in public. “Killian’s been handled,” he replied.

He wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, and although he started pacing as well, he didn’t seem as openly nervous as Thor. He was trying to steel himself, considering the worst case scenarios. He thought Steve was probably at least a little aware that this was bad news, this was all very bad news. Thor seemed to be more disoriented, understandably so. Tony himself would have had some type of breakdown if he was kept in the dark about anything like this. It was probably even worse for Thor, who, as far as Tony knew, might not be acquainted to this kind of Earth hospital procedures.

“Complications,” he suddenly broke the silence, addressing Thor’s previous question. “They wouldn’t let you in if they expected there to be complications.”

– –

Complications? Thor's hands lowered to his side and he stepped over to Tony whispering, “What did Killian do to her?”

The door to the delivery room opened up and a doctor walked out. Thor pushed past Tony and the doctor lowered his surgical mask.

“Where is she, how is Jane?”

The doctor hung his head slightly, “I'm sorry, sir, there was nothing we could do to help her.”

His eyes started sting. “What? No...” That couldn't meant what he thought it meant. He shoved the doctor out of the way and opened the door to the delivery rooms.

It was a short hallway with a couple doors on each side, and there was a group of doctors on the very end by a glass door. A few nurses came up saying he was in a restricted area, but he ran down to the end of the hall anyway. Everyone moved out of his way and continued reiterating the fact he wasn't supposed to be there. He turned at the corner and peered into the room, seeing Jane laying limp on the surgical bed. There was blood all over her and on the ground and her eyes were closed.

“Jane...?”

“Sir, you really shouldn't be in here,” Another doctor stood up and pressed on his chest trying to push him from the room. Thor couldn't take his eyes off Jane. This was their fault. They were too incompetent at their own job to save the life of a pregnant woman that was forced into labor. He reached his hand up and grabbed hold of the doctors, taking it firmly in his own and crushing it as he balled up his fist. The doctor yelped and fell to his knees.

“You did this,” Thor murmured. “You all did this! You let her die!” He lifted the doctor by his hand and  flung him across the room.

He turned to the group of scared nurses who began running screaming down the hall as a team of security officers were coming towards him. “Where are my children? I demand to see them now!”

– –

There was nothing they could do. Well-worn words, and yet they sounded unfamiliar. Jane should have been fine; they had gotten her here. The worst-case scenario Steve had anticipated was delivering those children on the jet...not losing Jane.

Within seconds, Thor was tearing down the hall.

"Thor!"

Steve followed Thor as quickly as he could without bowling over the startled doctors and nurses that the thunder god left in his wake, but he lost time as a wave of nurses rushed out of the ward at the end of the hall. He ended up reaching the ward just ahead of the security officers but not before a pained yelp followed by a loud crash echoed down the hall.

"Hold on, hold on." He stopped between the security officers and the door, one hand raised as a clear indication for them to stay put. "We'll handle this."

The lead officer was clearly disgruntled, but he ordered the others to wait as Steve darted into the room and nearly slammed chest-to-chest into Thor. Across the room, one of the doctors lay semi-conscious against the wall, and Steve grit his teeth as he realized that Thor had become a danger to the medical staff.

"Thor, calm down." Lacking a proper shirt to grab onto, Steve took hold of Thor's cape where it was fastened to his armor instead and kept himself between Thor and the door. "Hurting them isn't going to bring her back."

– –

Tony inhaled, closing his eyes as he took in the news. Expecting or preparing for the worst case scenario never seemed to make the process of accepting it easier. However, he didn’t have time to think on it or adapt to the news in any significant way before Thor stormed down the hall. Steve was quick to respond, and Tony followed behind.

They made past security. Through the glass, Stark saw Jane’s body on the surgical bed. The amount of blood made his stomach churn, but he was able to somehow swallow his own instability back as he rushed to help the doctor that was laying semi-conscious by the wall. The man was badly bruised, and at the very least some of the bones in his hand were broken.

Stark was at a loss for a second as to who had done that, but then he turned his head to see Steve talking to Thor, and then it clicked. Thor. “Steve’s right. This is not their fault,” Tony’s tone was almost cold. His jaw was set as he signaled for one of the officers to come and remove the doctor from the scene. After seeing that done, he approached Thor and Steve. “More importantly, I personally guarantee that you won’t go anywhere near the kids unless you take three deep breaths, count to ten, and help Steve and I convince everyone over there ,” he pointed angrily to the group of nurses, doctors and security personnel observing the scene, “… that you’re not a threat to anyone in this hospital.”

– –

Before he could go any further down the hall, Steve swooped in and slammed him right into the wall. Thor wanted to push him back – he really did. But he couldn't. Instead he grabbed hold of the straps on the Captain's suit so hard he could feel his veins popping out of his arms.

“You don't get to tell me where I can go! I am the Pr-” He stopped.

He wasn't the Prince of Asgard. He wasn't anything. He was an Asgardian and an Avenger, but he had no status. But most of all, he had no right to hurt anyone, especially when the mortal doctors job was to heal, not necessarily save from death. His lip quivered and instead of tossing Steve across the room like he did the doctor, he pulled him in for the tightest and most back-breaking hug.

“She was the only family I had and she's gone. She wouldn't want me hurting anyone.” His voice cracked and he let out a whimper. “I'm so sorry.”

His apology was more for Jane, though she'd never hear it. A tear rolled down his cheek and landed with a splat on Steve's shoulder. “Please, let me see them. I need to know they're okay.”

– –

For a fraction of a second, Steve was sure he and Thor were about to come to blows, which was exactly the last thing he wanted to do with Jane's body still on the bed and a small fleet of human security officers gathered outside the room. He braced himself as Thor took hold of his suit, stood his ground as Thor raised his voice -- and then Thor fell silent as abruptly as he'd stormed away earlier. Steve watched, in equal parts relief and anguish, as Thor's rage ebbed only to give way to grief, then met Thor's sudden embrace with all the strength he could muster.

To one side stood Tony; on the other lay Jane. She hadn't moved. She hadn't spoken. And as Thor's voice broke, the full weight of Jane's death seemed to settle over the room. Steve inhaled through his teeth and looked skyward to stave off the sting in his own eyes; Thor needed him, needed both of them to help him face this.

"No, she wouldn't." He gently pulled away from Thor, just far enough to look him in the eye. Thor didn't look like he was going to hurt anyone, but seeing him so resigned and broken was almost worse. Keeping Thor from his children wouldn't help anyone, though, and when he was reasonably certain Thor wasn't seeing red anymore, he nodded.

"Let's go find your kids."

– –

Tony had already braced himself for more backlash or another rash reaction coming from Thor. On the roof his armor was already on standby and ready to be deployed at a microsecond's notice. Fortunately that wasn't necessary, and Stark exhaled as his defenses backed down when Thor did the same. The relief was short-lived, however, and quickly replaced by an uncomfortable tightening in his throat. Thor's evident pain made him all the more aware of the lingering smell of death in the room.

As soon as Steve spoke, Tony moved toward the wall of officers to reassure them that everything was okay, then asked one of the nearby nurses on Thor's behalf if it was all right if he saw the children now. The nurse replied that the children were out of danger, but probably still going through standard testing procedures. And they would all have to clean themselves and get changed first.

"You heard that?" Stark called out to Thor and Steve. "I can head back home and pack for an overnight stay, but for now I guess you two will have to settle for hospital robes. I'll just... go and take care of the legal and financial stuff concerning..." He cleared his throat, waving vaguely to the environment around him. "... this."

– –

“I want to see them now,” Thor said as he pulled further away from Steve. He wiped his eyes with his hand, noticing how dirty and singed his arms were. His children were half Asgardian – nothing on him would hurt them, but he could also stand to wash his hands. He couldn't leave them alone, not with Jane laying dead in the room right next to him.

The nurses weren't really sure what to say. The doctor that delivered the news came up to him and said, “I'll take you to get cleaned up. You won't be able to touch them like...this. But you can get close.”

He nodded and turned to Steve, “Change if you would like. I don't want to leave them alone.”

Thor followed the doctor down the hall to the room where they prep for surgery. There was a deep sink and lots of soap. He unhooked his scale mail sleeves from his chest piece and slid them off of his arms, laying them down on the side of the sink. He turned the hot water on and let it warm up.

“So you're really Thor, aren't you?”

Thor didn't acknowledge him, and he just held onto the edge of the sink. It started steaming and he put his hands underneath. He squeezed a bit of soap on his hands and began to scrub.

“She was asking for you. She wanted you there, but it wasn't my call to let you in or not.”

When his hands were sufficiently clean, he went back out in the hallway. Steve and Tony weren't there anymore, so they must have gone off while he was washing his hands. They would be back. He walked to the next room over, where the babies were being kept. He saw two little bassinets right next to each other, one pink and one blue. He lingered in the doorway for a moment. It was real. They were real, and they were squirming around.

Thor stepped slowly into the room, and he looked over the side of the bassinets and saw two little baby faces wrapped in blankets. They were all wrinkly, and the girl was moving around a lot. The boy was laying still, and he opened his mouth wide to yawn. They were his tiny little children.

“If you change your top, you can hold them,” One of the nurses said.

He shook his head. “No. I don't...I don't think I should.”

I'm not worthy enough to hold them. Not yet.

– –

Steve nodded to Thor, then watched him leave...then turned to Jane. The doctors had lain a blanket over her, but her face and shoulders were still exposed; if she hadn't looked so pallid, he could have believed she was asleep.

He was still looking at her when he spoke to Tony.

"I'll meet you at the nursery."

He walked with Tony as far as the end of the maternity ward hallway before they parted ways, with Steve following a nurse into one of the bathrooms. Another nurse appeared with a towel, a paper bag from the gift shop, and a set of scrubs -- "We thought these might be more comfortable than a gown" -- and then the two of them left Steve to wash up and get changed. Fifteen minutes later, he left the bathroom with his uniform folded into the bag and his shield under his arm and made his way back through the maternity ward to the nursery. Through the glass, he saw Thor standing between two bassinets, and he stopped short of entering the room.

Despite having arrived a month early, at least for human children, they looked strong and healthy, and only then did it really hit Steve how special these children were. They were half-human, half-Asgardian, setting a precedent that even Thor had never seen before.

And their mother was gone.

Steve dropped the bag at his feet, then leaned the shield against the wall next to it and stepped into the nursery, stopping just inside the door.

"They look healthy," he said quietly. "When Tony gets back, maybe we can see about taking them home."

– –

After getting to the nurses’ station, Tony was greeted with a heap of something he never really got along with: paperwork to be filled in. He tried to get as much information about the circumstances of Jane’s death as he could, which wasn’t much, because no one would release anything to someone who wasn’t family (and the information hadn’t yet been input into any computers that he could hack in). He wished he could express the dangers and uncertainties of the situation without saying the words “Extremis” or “unique half-Asgardian-half-human babies that might be a liability to this hospital considering how they’re coveted by bad guys.”

But again, he didn’t get very far in gathering information. They would have to call Jane’s mother, the next of kin, at some point, which was bound to be fun. By the time when Stark got to the nursery, he felt as though he had accomplished next to nothing, which on turn made him edgy. He had trouble looking at the motherless babies. He had trouble looking at Thor as well. He could look at Steve for the whole of two seconds before he gave up on that as well.

“They’ll grow up happy,” he offered. “We’ll all make sure of that.”

– –

Somehow Steve and Tony's remarks didn't make him feel any better. How could they be happy when they were growing up without their mother? There was no guarantee he wouldn't try and control their lives like Odin did to him, and he needed that second voice to keep him in line. Sure, he others would help him, but that wasn't enough. They needed their mother – he needed Jane.

“Mister...Thor,” A nurse called from the hallway, “We need you to sign some documents, if that's all right.”

He glanced between Tony and Steve for a moment before walking out into the hallway to the nurses station. There was a clipboard handed to him, and he saw some scribblings that Tony must have filled in when he was taking care of paperwork.

The nurse flipped over the top few pages and she said, “We need you to sign the birth certificates.  There's one on this page and the next. Did you discuss any names? If not that's okay, we can come back to it.”

Thor stared blankly at the page. They hadn't discussed names...at least none seriously that he could remember. Jane briefly mentioned the names Luke and Leia, after they watched that movie together. Those were the only two he could think of that she would agree to. He nodded and wrote in the name LUKE on one page and LEIA on the other.

“Oh, don't forget about the last name,” She pointed out with a smile.

“Last name?”

“Yeah, like, the first name and the last name.”

Like Odinson, he imagined. If that was the case, Thorson and Thorsdottir would be traditional. That also meant they would live for potentially thousands of years as the children of Thor, and in a way that took away their humanity. They were half-human, and no one could take that from them; however, giving them Asgardian surnames would be cutting off that bond. That last remaining thought of Jane, the mortal woman who gave her life to bring them into this world. This universe. He slowly wrote in the name FOSTER next to both names and dropped the pen, handing it back to the nurse.

“We still need you to sign the form here, at the bottom. This box right here,” She said making a check mark.

He didn't have a particular signature for Midgardian usage, so he used the one he learned for Asgardian documentation. He didn't wait for her to say anything else before he pushed the clipboard back to her and turned around and headed back into the room with the babies.

Steve and Tony were still standing there, and he had no idea what to say to them. He went back over and looked into the cribs, and both babies were soundly sleeping.

“Luke and Leia are their names,” He said softly, staring down into the bassinets.

Leia seemed to respond to her name already, because her eyes opened slightly. They opened wider, and she blinked a few times at him. And then she smiled. It was a wide grin, and her mouth opened slightly and she wiggled around in her blanket.

Thor couldn't help but smile back. She was so innocent, both of them were. She had no idea that there was anything wrong or that their mother had just died. She didn't have a care in the world as she continued wiggling happily. He put his hand in the bassinet, gently running his index finger along the side of her face, and then he pulled away. His smile faded and he felt hot tears stinging the back of his eyes.