An Interesting Arrangement

Chapter 17

"I can't believe you just left him there!" Stephanie cried for what must've been the thousandth time.

Loki sighed. "Not this again. Stephanie, we didn't have a choice. I couldn't teleport him if he was injured and we couldn't risk you killing the Avengers."

Stephanie glared at him. "The world would be better off without them!"

"And would they be better of without Captain America too?" Loki shot back, disgusted with Stephanie's attitude. "Because wiping out the Avengers would mean killing your own father along with them." He could see immediately that his words had an impact on the teenager and he waited to see what would come of his blunt statement.

Stephanie whirled on him, tears brimming in her eyes. "Don't you think I know that? Dad is the entire reason that the Avengers should go away! They've been stealing away his time from us for years! If Dad is ever going to come home, the Avengers need to die!"

Loki sighed, got up, and hugged his young friend. "Steph listen. Your dad has an important job keeping the world safe. And even if you could destroy the Avengers, your father would take it on himself to train more heroes. Besides, even as annoying as the bird men are, would you really want to knock off Sam or Clint?"

Stephanie chuckled despite herself. "Clint is retired."

Loki snorted. "He's about as retired as your mother."

"I heard that!" Natasha told him, walking in, holding a laundry basket under one arm.

"Hi Mom." Stephanie said quietly. After she had found out that Jace was with the Avengers, she'd said some very hurtful things to Natasha and they'd barely spoken for almost a week. "I'm... I'm sorry. I was just so angry."

Natasha smiled and gave her daughter a one armed hug. "I understand. But I thought you guys would like to know that Steve just called from the Tower. Jace is ok, except for a few bruises, and he wants us to head over there when we can."

"Yes!" Loki said, pumping his fist. "That means I don't have to cook dinner!" He ran out of the room whooping as Natasha whacked his butt with a towel.

Oki walked in eating an ice cream sandwich that no one knew the origins of and singing Road Trippin by Dan+Shay.

"This oughta be a blast." Oki said smugly.

Bucky grimaced as he walked in, wearing his tac gear. "Yeah like walking right into a hornets nest is fun."

"As much as I hate to agree with the human magnet, this is going to be a horrible trip." Loki added, handing Bucky three duffle bags. "Nat, you get to pack your own bag."

"Whose bags are those?" Bucky asked curiously.

"Jace, Steph, and Oki's."

"Don't you need one?" Oki asked, licking melted ice cream off his hands.

"Nope. I'm staying here." Loki said firmly. Stephanie and Oki gaped at each other. Since they'd been born, they'd barely ever been separated from Bucky and Loki, and certainly not for long periods of time.

"Loki..." Natasha began, but Loki held up a hand to stop her.

"Believe it or not, I've thought this through, Tasha. Someone has to stay here to take care of the animals, and there is no point in getting the Avengers any more riled up than they're already going to be. Besides, Barnes will be there to help you guys out."

Bucky nodded along with Loki's reasoning. "He makes a good point." Bucky told them.

Natasha sighed. "Fine, but keep the house clean."

"Yes ma'am." Loki turned to Oki and Stephanie. "You guys going to be ok without me?"

Oki hugged Loki. "I'm going to miss you." He whispered.

Loki hugged him back. "I'm going to miss you too buddy. But you know how to call me, yeah?"

Oki nodded, burying his head into Loki's shoulder. It was no secret that Oki was different from the other kids. He tended to have problems with strong emotions. When they got too strong, he would shift uncontrollably. Loki was pretty much the only who could get him to stop. Oki finally pulled away from Loki and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, pretending that he wasn't crying.

Loki turned to Stephanie and smirked. "You gonna hug your poor uncle bye bye?" He asked.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Grow up." But she hugged him anyways.

"All right." Natasha said, tossing her duffel bag to Bucky who grunted under the weight of five duffle bags. He tossed two of them to Loki and felt better. "Let's get this show on the road."
*
Hey guys! This chapter is a little bit shorter than what I would normally post, but when I continued on it was going to be over 2,000 words instead of the normal 1,000 but that just means that the next chapter will be up sooner!!