An Interesting Arrangement

Chapter Three

One year later

Loki turned and frowned at Steve. "Is Natasha ever going to unlock the door of your guys's room?" Loki asked as he tried to open the door for the fifteenth time that day.

Steve sighed and leaned against the door. "Who knows? She's not exactly the most uncomplicated woman in the world."

Bucky grimaced as he examined the door. "Too bad it doesn't open the other way. We could take off the hinges and open it that way."

Loki gave him a disgusted look. "Well if I knew that I was allowed to break and enter, I would've picked the lock hours ago." Loki got his lock pick set out of his back pocket. "One open door coming up."

Steve took the lock pick set out of his hands. "And that's a straight up no. In her current mood, if you were to open that door by picking the lock, she'd probably break your neck."

Loki grimaced and sat down on the floor. "No thanks. I'm particularly fond of my neck."

Bucky slumped against the door frame. "Steve, did you and Tasha have a fight recently? About anything?"

"Did you insult her rather annoying habit of breaking into song at random moments?" Loki asked dryly, rolling his eyes. Natasha had a fantastic singing voice and she would often break into song, which sometimes annoyed Loki while he was trying to nap. Ok, she did purposefully to annoy Loki during nap time. That was just a Natasha thing.

"No." Steve said, shaking his head. "There hasn't been anything out of the ordinary except..." Steve slapped his forehead. "I'm such an idiot!" He sank to the floor and put his head in his hands.

"Well I think we can all agree on that." Loki teased. Bucky gave him a look and sat next to Steve.

"What happened, Steve?" Bucky asked softly.

Steve sighed. "We were talking last night about things we'd hoped for when we were kids and ... I made the mistake of telling her that I wanted kids."

"Ooh." Bucky and Loki winced in unison. Everyone knew that Natasha couldn't have children. It was one point that no one ever mentioned.

"Boy, did you mess up." Loki muttered, earning him a dark look from Steve and a whack on the head from Bucky.

Steve sighed. "I honestly don't know what to say. Or do. Boy, I can't believe that I was stupid enough to do that."

Loki sat quietly for a moment before getting up and walking into his room. Bucky and Steve watched him go. "What do ya think he's up to?" Bucky asked him.

Steve shrugged and got up. "No idea. All I know is that I need to make a call to Clint and see if he knows any way I can make it up to her."

Bucky snorted as he watched Steve walk away. "Sure. Cause reminding your wife she can't have kids is such an easy fix." He climbed to his feet and walked into Loki's room. "Hey Loki..." he trailed off when he couldn't see his friend. He glanced up at the ceiling and saw Loki suspended upside down reading a book.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked worriedly.

"Reading." Loki replied irritatingly.

"Reading what?" Bucky pushed, getting a sword out of the corner of the room and trying to whack Loki off the ceiling. "Is that comfortable?"

Loki shrugged. Or at least, as much as someone hanging up upside down can shrug. "Yeah it's almost ridiculously comfortable. And as to what I'm reading ... FOR CRYING OUT LOUD WILL YOU PLEASE STOP POKING ME WITH THAT SWORD?! ... I'm reading a book that may be the solution to Natasha's problems."

Bucky reluctantly dropped the sword. "Really? How do?"

Loki shrugged again.

"Ok you have got to stop that, it looks really weird with you being upside down."

Loki smirked a little, then went on to explain. "Natasha had some kind of procedure done to her in the Red Room, right? Well, I don't know what kind of procedure she went through, but I'm pretty sure that if I imbue her with magic, it will heal her enough to have kids."

Bucky grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go tell Tasha!" Loki flipped off the ceiling and put an arm on Bucky's.

"No, don't!"

"Why not?" Bucky asked, confused.

"Because there's kind of a side effect of this particular spell. If I do this, Natasha and any kids she may have will have magical properties."

Bucky frowned. "Is that bad?"

Loki shrugged. "Depends. It's not that difficult, but there's two different types of magic. Magic that can't be learned and magic that you're born with. Magic that can be learned is no big deal. You can learn it at any age. But magic that you're born with is like what Thor and I have. You have to teach the magic wielder to use it almost from the time they're born, or imbued as it may be, or disaster can arise."

Bucky shrugged. "Doesn't sound too bad."

"They also may develop a little bit of my personality."

"That is bad." Bucky teased.

Loki shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just not comfortable telling them this and getting their hopes up when they don't understand how much care a magical child can require."

"Why are they not normal?"

"No, they're normal. That's the problem. They're susceptible to the same mood swings as a normal child. But with enhanced powers..." Loki shook his head. "Let's just say that one time when Thor was upset, he managed to destroy the entire west wing of the castle."

"And you managed to clear out the armory and hide it all in the ballroom right before a peace gathering ball for revenge against Father telling you you couldn't sleep with your stuffed unicorn anymore." A deep voice came from the doorway.

Loki rolled his eyes. "That was also the time he told me to read less and become more like you, brother." Thor chuckled and walked into Loki's room.

"Incidentally, do you still have Glimmer Girl?" Thor asked mischievously.

Bucky turned to Loki and his face lit up. "Your stuffed unicorn was named Glimmer Girl?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, Thor. Anyways, that's not the point. We were talking about magical kids."

"Ah, yeah, they're tough. But if the Rogers really want kids, then you should at least present this possibility to them." Thor told his younger brother.

Bucky sighed and walked out of the room while Thor and Loki continued their debate. After he left, they both flopped on Loki's couch.

Thor fist bumped his brother. "You, brother, are a genius."

Loki smirked. "Captain Rogers will definitely take this possibility better from Sergeant Barnes than me."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "And who's going to present this possibility to Natasha?"

Loki grinned. "See ya!" He tried to run for the door, but Thor caught him by the shirt collar.

"No, you are going to tell Natasha, and I'm going to go get the first aid kit ready."

"For whom?"

Thor grinned. "Depends on whether Natasha is in a good mood or a foul one and if Steve likes the idea or hates it. But one way or another, it'll probably be for you."

Loki gulped. "That's what I'm afraid of."