Thor had eventually found his parents locked up in the dungeon where Loki had once been held prisoner. Odin had no knowledge about the 'Skrull' race, so Thor had decided that it was time to return to earth his Loki, Natasha, and a Skrull corpse.

"'Skrull?'" Nick Fury asked curiously.

"They were after the remaining gems," Natasha continued.

"And they had taken the appearance of our parents," added Thor.

"We'll have to get on this," said Fury. "I'll have Stark and Banner start researching the body."

"Allow me to get the doctor for you," Loki said as he took Natasha by the hand.

"Wait, Loki!" She followed after him, much to her dismay.

"He should be the one to confirm if you are well."

There was no point in arguing anymore. Loki could be just as stubborn as she was. While she had changed out of his Mother's dress earlier on, he noticed a bruise and began to worry.

Bruce was sitting at his desk in his office, reading away, when Loki and Natasha interrupted.

"Doctor Banner, was it?" asked Loki.

"Yes?" Bruce looked up and adjusted his glasses.

Natasha began to speak before Loki could say anything. "Can you look at a minor injury for a sec?" she asked.

"How minor?" he asked as he rose from his desk.

She lifted up her shirt halfway to expose her side.

Bruce went into professional mode and began to touch her exposed skin. "No pain?"

"None," she said with a straight face.

"Looks okay," he began. "However, I'm not an OB-GYN or anything like that."

Loki was standing off to the side, clueless as to what that was.

"I have an appointment soon," she informed him.

"As long as you're not bleeding, I'd say you're okay. Anything else?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

"Fury's got a new science project for you," she said. "Tell Stark. I'm sure you guys will have a blast," she remarked before she left with Loki.

Loki and Natasha had settled into bed, however neither were sleeping. "Loki?" she asked quietly.

"Yes?" He rolled onto his side to better face her.

"I think we should talk…" She kept her eyes fixed on the gritty texture of her bedroom ceiling.

Loki laid there in silence, waiting for her to speak.

"We never really talked about this baby or anything."

"Do you want names?" he asked.

She shook her head and sat upright. "I really don't want a baby."

He also sat up and eyed her curiously. "We are having one, though."

"But I don't want it," she admitted. Her green eyes met with his and the hurt look in his eyes meant that she had definitely said the wrong thing.

"So you plan to abandon it?" he asked. "How about you give it away to a family of Skrulls and have them raise it as their own—"

"Loki, wait!" she interrupted.

The tone of his voice grew darker as he spoke. "They can raise it as one of them and lie to it about what it really is!" He thought of his own upbringing and the pain he felt upon learning of his true parentage. Without realizing it, he had tears in his eyes.

"Loki, I didn't mean that!" She had caught on to what his story was really about and she felt awful. She then remembered how she had thought that a baby would make Loki a better person since it would give him his own family and she felt even worse.

"Oh, you didn't, did you?!" he spat.

"I only meant that I'm not ready!" He had paused, so she kept talking. "I'm an assassin, Loki. I'm the Black Widow, not some kid's mom! This isn't in my training!" She buried her face in her hands. "I just feel so conflicted!" Her hands worked their way into her hair.

Loki's hard glare softened as he saw her in such distress. Something inside of him questioned if he was even ready to father a child.

"I feel like I'm split," she continued. "There's Natasha that kind of wants a baby, but then there's the Black Widow who doesn't have time for any of this bullshit!" The next thing she knew, hot tears were falling from her eyes. She had gotten so worked up that she was actually crying. Never in her life had she felt so weak that it left her in tears and vulnerable in front of the man she cared about.

Loki pulled her body against his. "Who are you now?" he asked softly as he stroked her hair.

She looked up at him through her long lashes with tear-filled eyes. "Natasha," she choked out.

"Then let's work hard to make this work." A small smile played at the corners of his lips. His hand touched her face and he wiped a tear away with his thumb.

She found herself hugging him tightly and burying her face against his bare chest. "I'm scared," she admitted. Loki had to have been the only person to hear her utter those words.

"There is no reason to be," he assured her with a gentle squeeze.

"I lost my first baby," she said unexpectedly.

He anxiously stared at her, unaware of this side of her.

"I was married years ago. To Alexei," she calmly continued. "I found out I was pregnant…" The memory of her waking up in bed, merely seven weeks along, to a blood-stained night gown and blood trickling down her thighs made her cringe. "My body just didn't accept it as part of me… But the medication I'm on helps."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked poignantly.

"Because I want you to know everything about me," she admitted.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he admitted.

"Maybe we really deserve this," she mused. "This kid might be a way of wiping the red off our ledgers…"

"An interesting point…"

"Let's hope for the best, right?"

He lay down on the bed and pulled her down with him. "Yes."