Loki wandered through the all too familiar halls of the place he once called home. First thing was first, he had to pay his darling brother, Thor, a visit. The golden thrones were currently unoccupied. Strange. Loki had taken pride in sitting upon Odin's chair. He turned and began walking, only further irritating Thanos.

"Where are we going now? Is this not where your King should be?"

"The King will be elsewhere," he said as he proceeded to the dining hall. Surely, Thor would be there.

"I needed to talk to you about my conditioning," Natasha began as she sat in front of Nick Fury's desk.

He flipped through a manila envelope. "Your next appointment is in a week. Is there a problem?"

"Do you remember Stefanya Melankova?"

"Is there a reason you choose to bring up a fallen agent?"

"It doesn't necessarily concern her death." She hesitated. "Though, at the time, she happened to be pregnant." She looked Fury in the eye, wondering if he could see where she was leading him. "My body… it's not possible to have children."

He shook his head. "It's too late for this sort of change, Agent Romanoff. I understand what had been done to you in the past can't be reversed."

"That's my point. It's not impossible, though."

"Agent Romanoff…" he continued, looking a bit irritated.

"Commander Fury, I'm going to have to temporarily resign." She stood up and stared at him.

"My best agent…" he growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you trying to tell what I think you're trying to tell me?"

"I had Dr. Banner confirm it."

"May I ask if another one of my agents is involved in this… union?" he wondered. He already had his guess and it involved an assassin skilled with a bow and arrow.

"No," she began. "And I'd like to be the one to let the others know. I apologize for the inconvenience." Before could he say anything else, she quickly left.

"Why the sudden need to talk?" Tony wondered as he poured himself a drink.

Natasha sat on the couch, avoiding eye contact with him. "I need you to contact Thor."

Tony strolled over to accompany her on the couch. "You know he can't just keep popping back here. Tell you what? I'll send a carrier pigeon to him with letters that teach him to use his phone. He never has that thing on!" he rambled. "Must be the reception there…"

She clenched her fists on her lap. "This isn't the time for jokes. It's an emergency."

He raised a brow as he swigged down the contents of his glass. "Nothing we, here, can't handle."

"No. This concerns me," she stated.

"And the big guy?" he prodded.

"I need to talk to Loki," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"Again with that guy?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bring this up with Fury. I don't want to be responsible."

"I'm pregnant," she suddenly blurted out.

Tony stared at her, wide-eyed. "Yeah, I'm gonna need that second drink." He got up and went to the bar to fix himself something strong. "And so the dad is Mr. Crazy-god? Can you tell me how this happened? No, don't-I know how, but why?"

She buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe I'm having a baby," she breathed. It was all still sinking in.

"I can't believe you slept with Thundergod's brother. Was he crazy in bed?" he prodded. "I actually don't think I need to know that…"

"Goddammit, Tony!" she snapped. "Can you please be serious? I need to talk to Loki- we're having a baby!" Saying it aloud just made it sound so wrong.

"Did Banner verify this?"

"Why would I lie about this!?" she exclaimed.

"It sounds like a joke," he began with a smile. "Sorry," he quickly added. "Come on," he told her. "We're going to contact Thor."