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Chapter Text

Prologue

It was cold, or at least it was supposed to be. They were on the top of a mountain, hanging off the edge of a large cliff. The wind was blowing around and there was snow around.

So why wasn't she cold?

Probably because the adrenaline with what she was about to do fueled her veins more than anything in her life had before. As she hung off the edge of the cliff, knowing what would be in the next minute, she couldn't feel anything as trivial as cold.

"Damn you," Clint said, knowing he had lost.

He had tried to be the sacrifice, the last few years really taking a toll on him. But Natasha couldn't let him. He had a family, some of the people she loved most in this world. She couldn't leave them alone. Even with her only family without her, they would still be okay. Steve would make sure they were okay.

Oh Steve, the one thing she couldn't think about right now. If he entered her mind for longer than a second, she wouldn't be able to do it.

"Let me go," Natasha said to him, trying to convince herself just as much as Clint, and a tearful smile on her face.

"No, please, no," Clint said, trying to persuade her to do anything but, not wanting to lose his best friend. "Steve needs you. James needs you."

"They'll be okay," Natasha said, reaching up and securing a thumb drive and the chain around her neck with the dogtags and locket around them. "It's okay."

Without a second thought, she kicked off of him, and broke free from his grasp. As she was falling, her life flashed by in a series of words. Natasha had been described as many things in her life. Orphan, spy, assassin, traitor, agent, Avenger, wife, mother. She smiled at the memory of her two boys, the smile on their faces.

And then, nothing.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Discovered

Monday September 3rd, 2013

Washington DC

The last 72 hours had left a very bad taste in Natasha's mouth. One second, she was in Costa Rica, working on dismantling an entire drug ring from the inside out, and the next she was getting an encrypted message from Maria Hill saying that Hydra had infiltrated Shield and that Fury was heavily injured and needed backup. She had made her way straight to DC and the coordinates given, ditching the rest of the Shield members that were on assignment with her because she couldn't trust one of them. When she found the bunker, Fury was barely conscious, so Hill filled her in on most things. The Lumerian Star, Hydra, Rogers, and the Winter Soldier. Her heart dropped at the mention of the Winter Soldier. Her past intertwined with the assassin and her experience with the Red Room. Plus the fact of his identity not being revealed to Rogers right away was devastating. She was very familiar with Steve Rogers. She was on guard detail with Coulson when he was brought out from the ice, overseeing the defrosting project and making sure that America's most treasured person was kept safe. When he awoke, she donned the photostatic veil to try and ease him back into things, which didn't work well at all. It was the last time she had spoken to Rogers, and he didn't even know who she was. She couldn't help what she was starting to develop, a small level of attraction.

Then New York happened. She wasn't there, and she was pissed at all hell because of it. She was on a mission in Russia, which was very important she knew. But an alien invasion came barreling into New York, and Fury called up the team, which was supposed to include her, but she got left hanging. She spent the next couple of months working missions and training recruits, seeing Steve in the halls of the Triskellion when he joined Shield, but never saying a word to him. She was sent on a long mission about a month ago that Fury felt that STRIKE didn't need to be involved with, and then this. The second after Hill finished explaining, she sent Natasha out on a medical supply run while Maria went to get Rogers and the rest of them. She hadn't any issue with her mission, a small local hospital was nearby and it was easy enough to swipe the supplies. She was sure that the doctors and nurses there would understand why if she was caught, she just knew it wasn't the right time to tell them, should they ever get in trouble. She was back at the bunker when she heard voices in the main area. She kept to the shadows and looked out to see Fury out sitting at the table with Hill, across from Steve Rogers, Terra Montgomery, and a man that Natasha didn't know.

Natasha recognized Terra easily. She was an Agent of Shield, known as the Knight. She was one of the Avengers that fought at New York and she was powered up, able to absorb any metal and cover it with her body, also enhancing herself with it. That came in handy when your notably best friend carried around a Shield with the strongest metal on Earth. She went on a mission with Montgomery once in her past, to Odessa. That was when they were both attacked by the Winter Soldier and barely made it out, failing in bringing the scientist back. After that, she refused to go on missions with Montgomery anymore, knowing that she didn't want her past to harm anyone else at Shield. Aside from her past, she knew only what she heard about the Knight. She helped Steve a lot after New York, started a relationship with Bruce Banner, was pretty decent friends of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, all good things really.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave?" Fury said, interrupting her thoughts and holding his hands out at the less than luxurious hideout. "I noticed."

"Not soon enough," Natasha heard Terra murmuring around the straw of fluids that had been given to her. It appeared like she had a gunshot wound, probably from a fight with Hydra forces, maybe even the Winter Soldier.

"How many paid the price before you did?" Rogers said harshly, not missing a beat. He was pissed, about a lot of things Natasha could tell. His frustration and anger matched Natasha's own when she first heard about this. She decided now was the best time as any to make her return public to the rest of the group.

"He's right Fury," Natasha said, stepping out of the shadows. She tossed a large first aid kit on the table with a bang, the doctor that was probably working on Terra nearby scrambling up to grab in and look over what she had brought. He probably didn't have a lot to work with here to begin with. "I didn't trade the KGB for Hydra," Nat said, sitting down across from Hill.

Natasha could see that Terra and the man both jumped at her sudden entrance, and even Steve looked suprised. Terra nearly spilled her drink.

"Holy shit," she gaped, her straw falling out of her mouth.

The man just looked confused, obviously never meeting her before and if he had known Montgomery for any point in time, Natasha wasn't exactly a talking point. "Uh, who's that?" he asked sideways to Terra.

"That is Natasha Romanoff," she replied in an excited whisper. "She could kill you with a toothbrush."

The man contemplated that for a moment. "...Hairbrush?"

"Dead."

"Teddy-bear."

"Dead."

"Floss."

"Now you're just making it easy for her."

They continued to bicker/whisper while Fury just sighed and tried to refocus the group. "Captain, Agent Natasha Romanoff, can we get back to the matter at hand here?" Nick looked back at Steve and then dropped a bomb that hit Natasha hard. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

So Rogers knew the identity of the Winter Soldier, and by the looks of it, he found out by himself. Rogers didn't even address her, as the mention of the named made him even more upset than he already was. Fury was definitely on a roll here with making the greatest soldier of all time very upset with him.

"Even if you did, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too?" Steve spat, not sparing any mercy at this. Natasha was actually getting a kick out of Fury being chewed out and having to sit and take it. "SHIELD, Hydra, it all goes."

While Fury and Steve were hashing it out, Natasha leaned over to Terra. "How are you doing kid?" she asked quietly, worrying about a gunshot wound that she didn't know anything about.

Terra gave a shrug with her good shoulder, and Natasha could tell that she was trying to hold something back. Whether it was admiration or surprise, Natasha couldn't tell. "Ah, you know how it is. I would rather go on about my day without being shot in the shoulder, but beggars can't be choosers, eh?"

Natasha's attention was brought back to the other conversation when Fury's right hand, possibly his most trusted agent Maria Hill uttered two words. "He's right," she gave a small smile, agreeing with Rogers and basically giving her permission to end Shield.

Nick looked at Sam and Terra.

"Don't look at us," Terra mumbled around her straw.

"We do what he does, just slower," Sam finished.

"And with a lot more complaining."

Natasha saw it in Fury's face, he was beat. He had nowhere to go, and no way to get out of this. But Natasha knew better, and Fury wouldn't take this lying down. He already had a secret team that the Avengers didn't know about. How do you keep the resurrection of Phil Coulson from the Avengers without them making a huge uproar, well you just don't tell them and let him work in secret with his own team. She had been asked to think about joining, but she outright refused to even consider until Fury told the Avengers about Coulson, which he refused to do as well. So, they hit a standstill.

Fury sighed and looked back at Steve. "Well, looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

Natasha saw Steve deflate just a little bit. Might not have been noticeable for anyone else, but she saw it plain as day. Now that he won this small battle, his mind obviously went back to other things, and Natasha could guess who was at the front. Squaring his shoulders, Steve returned to holding his head high. "From here on out, we are not affiliated with SHIELD. We are just people trying to stop something very bad from happening. We are Avengers." He sent Terra a little secret smile. "We may not be able to search every carrier for innocent SHIELD agents, but we can get them to run or help if we can get them a message. Terra, Sam, Maria, and I will head to the Triskelion and access the P.A. system, broadcast a message to every shield agent in DC. If they make it out, great. If they help us, even better. Maria will stay behind to keep watch over surveillance and activate the virus once it's been planted into every carrier. Terra, Sam, and I will each take a chip and work on a separate carrier. Pierce is going to try to stop us. He's having a meeting with the World Security Council tonight. We have to infiltrate that meeting and make sure Pierce doesn't get away. We'll need his access code to hack into the SHIELD database. I want every secret SHIELD ever told, and the ones it never did, on the Internet. No more hiding. No more compartmentalization. No more working from the shadows." He turned to Natasha then, and looked her right in the eye "Miss Romanoff? Would you be up to the task?"

Natasha was suddenly hit with a fit of dread at what her orders were. Dump everything on the internet, and expose her very bloody past. She had given Shield a lot when she defected, and she knew that those files were behind a high level of clearance. But to give Shield that much, she had to sacrifice her own secrets as well. And while her deal absolved herself of those crimes with the other information and the contract to work with Shield, the rest of the American people may not be so kind. "I don't know Captain," Natasha said carefully. "There are a lot of things that SHIELD has on me that would make others very angry. My past isn't the cleanest, well that's an understatement. There will be an arrest warrant out for me for sure if I do this. With SHIELD compromised, I don't have anywhere to turn. My web is in flames because of Hydra."

"I understand that," Rogers said, equally careful. "But if we don't do this, Hydra can crawl back into the shadows. It can masquerade as SHIELD. Everyone gets confused. Who's SHIELD? Who's Hydra? Who can I trust? This is the best way to get Hydra - we cut off their biggest head, maybe even their heart, and hope it will be enough. I'm sorry, Natasha, but if you need a place to lay low, I know Avengers Tower will be open to you. No one would ever suspect it either. And if Mr. Stark has a problem with that, he can take it up with me."

Natasha's ears perked at Rogers calling her by her first name. Not many people did that, especially after having just met her. Not that she allowed it most of the time, but with Rogers it felt different. For one of the first times in her life, she felt like she could trust someone she just met. Some might say it was cheating because this person was Captain America, but she was going to count it nonetheless. "Avengers Tower huh," Natasha said with a smirk. "Well the last time I spoke to Stark he wasn't too happy about finding out who I was, but if I can get under his skin that way, then I'm in. Besides, it will be nice to take orders from someone older than me for once, if only by ten years."

One of the things that Natasha had kept from even the Shield files was her actual birth date. For the records, she was born in December of 1984, but in actuality, she was born in December of 1929. She was orphaned in World War 2, brought to the Red Room and trained, and given a version of the Super Soldier serum. Weaker than Rogers and the Red Guardian for sure, and even weaker than the Winter Soldier, but enough to slow her aging and give her slightly enhanced abilities.

"Mr. Stark is currently... away on business." Rogers said, obviously having trouble finding the words to explain Stark's situation. "I'll make sure to explain the situation to him when he comes back." He offered Natasha a small, reassuring smile. "Going undercover as one of the council would probably be most effective. I'll leave that part up to you, since this is what you do best." He returned his attention to everyone else in the room. "Is everyone clear on the plan?"

Terra also looked uncomfortable when the plan was to reveal everything on the internet. Natasha knew a bit about Terra's past and what was in her file, and it wasn't overly pretty, but she fought through it. "Yup," Terra popping the p.

"Wait, wait," the other man looked skeptically at her. "You can't do any fighting or chip-placing with that shoulder, I wouldn't let you lift a potato chip."

Terra waved him off. "If I put my armor over it, I'll be fine," she assured. "Good as gravy." Then she paused in silence for a moment and wrinkled her nose before looking at Fury. "You! I don't care how good of a reason it is," she slammed her gatorade bottle down on the table next to her and set her clenched hands down in her lap, her eyes piercing at Nick's. "Screw you for letting me think you were dead, Nick!" Fury was silent at that and at least had the decency enough to look a little ashamed at one of his secrets that genuinely hurt someone. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" Terra grumbled.

Natasha nodded as well, a plan forming in her mind on how to infiltrate, and actually being inspired by Steve in the room. Specifically the first time she met him. "You still have a Photostatic Veil lying around," Natasha asked Fury, wanting to make sure she didn't have to make another supply run before all of this.

"In the backroom. You should all gear up on whatever you need," Fury said and then Rogers left the room. Natasha could tell he had some thinking to do and it wasn't her place to go and talk to him at this point. Natasha started walking back towards the direction Fury pointed her in. Natasha began getting into the mission mode, gathering her equipment and looking for the Veil. She finally found one and had to dust off the cover of it. She was skeptical of it really working, but she didn't have much of a choice at this point. Nat made her way back into the main room, completely restocked on ammo and supplies. She was also carrying the box with the veil in it, getting ready to start calibrating it to the certain member on the world security council she was thinking of. She had to find out one thing first. She walked over to Fury and sat down in front of him and asked him straight away.

"Nick," Natasha said. "I need you to be honest with me. Completely honest. How many missions that I carried out were Hydra's. How many times did Pierce or someone else send me to do Hydra's bidding?"

He looked up at her approach and sat back, folding his hands together. He closed his one eye, and let out a breath. "As many times as me." He opened his eye to stare her down. "As many times as Montgomery. As many times as all the other agents of SHIELD because every operation we had? They had their own. Not every operation had... evil backgrounds or they would have been found out much sooner, but..." Nick sighed and shook his head. "It's impossible to tell. Not until everything had been spilled out." Then Fury seemed to harden himself. Now wasn't the time for a pity party, and Natasha knew that. He leaned forward and locked eyes with one of his best agents. "I may not be your boss anymore. But I need you to turn your back on what you did and focus on what you're going to do."

Natasha closed her eyes and clenched her fist that wasn't holding the veil. She wanted to yell some more, and wanted to say that she put faith into this organization and it crushed her and everything she was trying to undo. But she had a job to do and start to fix things again. "Fine," she relented. "But I'm not naïve like Rogers. I know you are going to reestablish Shield in some fashion. I'm out. This is the last time I'll take my orders from you."

Fury gave a terse, "Understood." And Natasha stood up, keeping her rock steady glare at him. "You need to find a helicopter and land outside the World Security Council floor," Natasha said. "Bring my suit and don't you be late." Without waiting for a response, she walked out of the room and headed towards her objective.

++++++

Ronald Regan National Airport

Natasha arrived at the airport and donned a striped hoodie and skinny jeans. Hydra could be anywhere at this point, and she didn't want to alert them that she was working with Rogers to take down Shield. She sat down outside the terminal that the councilwoman was set to arrive and just waited. She grabbed a magazine that had an interesting headline on it and began reading. It was about Stark and how he hadn't been seen in a while. Natasha chuckled as she thought of Stark's face when she showed up with Rogers to Stark tower to live there. She looked up and saw the council woman exiting the terminal and pushed that thought to the back of her mind. There would be time to brood later, right now she had a job to do. She tailed the group for about five minutes, to baggage claim and back. Just before they were about to leave the airport, the councilwoman stopped and turned towards the bathroom.

"I'll be right back," the council woman said and she was followed closely by a female guard.

Natasha walked forward and hid her face from the other guards standing outside, and ducked into the bathroom. She looked in and saw the stall that was holding the council woman, and the guard that was posted just outside. She walked behind the guard, all the while pulling her garrot out of her wrist gauntlet. Once she was safely past, she pulled the cord tight and spun around, wrapping it around the guard's neck. It only took a few seconds to knock out the guard, and once she did, she stuffed the guard in a closet and locked the door. Natasha turned back to the stall and waited for the council woman to finish.

The council woman flushed the toilet and stepped out and immediately met Natasha's eyes. Natasha moved forward in a flash, and pushed the council woman inside the stall and locked the door.

"Do you know who I am," Natasha said, taking down her hood.

"Agent Romanoff," the council woman said in realization.

"Very good," Natasha said. "Now, I don't have a lot of time, but here is the deal, Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD. Captain Rogers is innocent and is headed to the Triskellion right now to shut down Project Insight."

"How do you know about Project Insight?" the council woman demanded.

Natasha just raised one of her eyebrows and the council woman realized it was a stupid question and started putting the pieces together. "If Hydra has control of those helicarriers, that means..."

"You, I, and millions of others are dead," Natasha said, finishing for her. "Now Captain Rogers has a plan, but that includes me impersonating you, and infiltrating the Triskellion right under Hydra's nose."

"Why do you need to do that?" the council woman asked.

"Rogers wants all of the Shield files dumped on the internet," Natasha said.

The council woman was about to protest when Natasha silenced her with a glare, "these are the Captain's orders. You can either go along willingly, or I can force you."

The council woman thought and finally nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Put this on," Natasha said, handing her the veil. "And I'll need your clothes, don't worry I brought spares."

The council woman nodded and put on the veil. Natasha pressed a few buttons on the side and she could see the veil begin to calibrate to the council woman's face. The council woman began to take her clothes off as Natasha produced another pair.

"You are going to wait in here for an hour," Natasha instructed. "Then you are going to take a cab to the Capitol building. They should be able to take care of you there."

The council woman nodded and Natasha shredded her clothes, her scars showing to one of the few people that will get to see them. She quickly grabbed the council woman's clothes and slipped them on. They were a tad big on her, due to her small frame, but nothing noticeable. She then gently pulled the veil off of the council woman's face and put it on her own. The council woman was in shock as soon as the veil adjusted to Natasha's features and displayed the council woman's face.

"Remember what I said," Natasha said.

"You are a good agent," the council woman said, as Natasha began to walk out.

Natasha stopped and looked back. "I'm not an agent anymore." With that, she walked out of the stall and out of the bathroom. When she emerged, she was met with curious looks.

"Where is Agent Danbury," a man asked her.

"She was feeling sick," Natasha said. "Said she would meet us at the Triskellion and to go on without her."

The men found that acceptable and continued on. Natasha followed in their ranks, staying calm and remembering her training. They exited the airport and found the car waiting for them. One of the guards opened the door for her and she stepped inside, settling in the back seat.

"Is there any place you need to go first Ma'am," the driver asked.

"No," Natasha responded. "Continue on as usual."

The driver nodded and began to drive towards the Triskelion, and towards Hydra.

Chapter Text

The ride to the Triskellion was quiet, and Natasha had to admit to herself deep down that she was a little nervous. Her mission itself was very simple. Infiltrate the area and seize information and dump it on the internet. The biggest wild card was Hydra. She knew Pierce was Hydra and could guess a decent amount of the top soldiers were too, but she didn’t know who else. Was anyone on the Security Council?

There was also the fact that Rogers was going to be here with the rest of the team soon, and when they made their presence known, there was going to be a lot of noise and she was going to have a very small window to get what she needed to done. The car arrived at the Triskelleton, and Natasha could tell something was different. There was more tension in the air. More of a rush. She was guessing this was something to do with either Project Insight or Rogers making a mess of things. Or possibly both. The car pulled to a stop just outside the front building and she allowed the door to be opened for her. She stepped out and saw Pierce walking towards them. She wanted nothing more than to put two bullets right between his eyes, but she had to bide her time. She needed him anyway for her plan. She put on her best Councilwoman face as Pierce approached. The rest of the Council had also gathered the three other members that would be accompanying her and that she would have to keep safe, provided they weren’t Hydra.

"Council. A pleasure to have you all here. Welcome to the Triskelion," Pierce greeted and then gestured to the front doors. "Shall we?"

"It's impressive," Councilman Yen commented on the architecture, looking up at the building.

"That's thanks to the greatest SHIELD engineers and architects you'll ever see," Pierce replied modestly as they walked in the building. "And how was your flight?" He asked Councilwoman Hawley.

"Lovely," Natasha said, sizing Pierce up. "The ride from the airport, less so." She had only seen Pierce for a few times. She knew almost everything about him, but that came with the job. She had almost memorized his file, but she really couldn't trust anything that was written there. Hydra had infested everything and probably all records were falsified.

Pierce appeared to remain civil, but Natasha could see him bristle a bit. "Sadly, SHIELD can't control everything."

"Including Captain America," Councilman Rockwell said snidely. Definitely didn’t help his mood, but he still let it go. They walked up to a guard who held open a case with the rigged pins. "This facility is biometrically controlled, and these will give you unrestricted access," Pierce explained, gesturing them each to take a pin. Rockwell, Singh, and Yen each took a pin. Natasha knew there was something fishy about those pins. They had never used those before when other high ranking officials visited the Triskelion. The problem was that the rest of the council didn't bat an eye and just grabbed them. Natasha didn't have much of a choice as she also grabbed a pin and placed it on her lapel.

They took the walk over to the elevator, passing numerous armed guards along the way. Natasha took in every detail that she could, possible escape routes, guard posts, potential suspicious activity. There was just so much to take in with so much unknown. They all took the elevator to the usual conference room and Pierce had someone bring in a bottle of champagne and some glasses. He could still feel some glares at his back, that was expected. He has pulled some rebellious stunts for the "greater good," but now was the time to gain back that trust. "I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth," he admitted after pouring the champagne and handing out the glasses. "And some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way." That earned a slight smile from Rockwell.

"Finally we're here," Pierce raised his glass with a glint in his eye. "And the world should be grateful.

They were about to drink, and Natasha was too, when the intercom went off. Already she knew that Rogers was successful in infiltrating where he needed. "Attention all SHIELD agents," Rogers said. "This is Steve Rogers. You may have heard a lot about me in the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down... and I think it's time you know the truth. SHIELD is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader.”

That earned a look from the Council over to Pierce, clearly wanting an explanation as even if Rogers was a technical fugitive of Shield, his word always carried some weight. In the most honest response she had ever seen from Pierce in her few encounters with him, he just shrugged.

“The STRIKE and INSIGHT crew are Hydra as well. I don't know how many more. But I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury. And it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. Unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." 

She had heard rumors on the inspiration that Steve Rogers could inspire, but to witness it first hand was something else. It’s almost as if he practiced it beforehand. She didn’t know it at the time, but she fell a little bit more for Steve Rogers at that moment, and it certainly gave her a small confidence boost in what was to come.

"You smug son of bitch," Councilman Rockwell snapped in slight disbelief, but summing up the feelings of the Council appropriately. And right on cue, two Hydra agents marched in. But Signh thought they were SHIELD. "Arrest him," he ordered, pointing at Pierce. Singh was sorely mistaken. The agents point their guns at the council, not including Pierce. Alexander smiled. "I guess I've got the floor."

She was watching Pierce's every move now, knowing that he had a trump card hidden somewhere, he was too smart and prepared to not have one. She knew that she would make sure to have a safeguard in a situation like this. She kept analyzing when she started to hear explosions from outside. She glanced out the window to see the three INSIGHT Helicarriers rising from the Potomac. And they were all currently firing at something, looking like a man in a wingsuit. It had to be Wilson, who she was quickly filled in on by Terra before she left to collect the Councilwoman’s face scan. She held back a smile, as she knew the three were now in the fight and possibly causing a thorn in Pierce’s side.

"Let me ask you a question," Pierce began, stepping away from the window and moving towards Sing. "What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution?" He handed Councilman Sing a glass of champagne. "And you could just stop it with a flick of a switch. Would you? Wouldn't you all?" He addressed the rest of the room. Sing held the champagne glass tightly in his hand, his stare unwavering at Pierce. "Not if it was your switch," he bit out, tossing the glass to the floor where it shattered. Pierce let out a disappointed sign and held his hand out to one of the Hydra agents. The agent put a handgun in his palm. Pierce raised the gun and Sing stared down the barrel of it.

Der'mo ," Natasha thought. Well, it's now or nothing.

Natasha quickly kicked Sing out of the way and then grabbed the arm that Pierce was holding his gun in and jabbed him quickly in the face. On her right, a Hydra agent pulled out his sidearm, but he wasn't fast enough. Natasha flung one of her widow's bites at him, dropping him to the ground. She ripped the gun out of Pierce's hand and flung it at another Hydra agent, hitting him square in the throat. She pushed Pierce away and took on another agent, taking him down with a quick jab to the throat, a kick to the knee, and then using her enhanced strength to pick him up and immediatly slam him to the ground. She turned to find another Hydra goon turning to face her with his sidearm. She quickly grabbed his arm and slammed his head down on the table, knocking him out cold. She turned around to find the last Hydra agent standing and grabbed his arm that was holding his pistol and turned him around, elbowing him in the back and then slamming him to the ground in one motion, effectively taking him out.

She grabbed a fallen pistol off the ground and raised up pointing it at Pierce. She ignored the stunned looks from the rest of the council and stared down Pierce, not even breathing hard.

"Secretary Pierce," Natasha said.

She pressed a button on the side of the veil she was wearing and her voice started to change back as the veil turned off. She peeled the veil off, revealing her own face and took off the wig she was wearing, revealing her trademark red locks. The look of recognition on Pierce's face was one of confusion and disbelief. True she had kept a low profile, only carrying out certain missions for Fury the past couple months since New York. He probably was more focused on the Avengers anyway, considering her not a threat. Well, he probably didn't know her complete story, but now that she just took down a whole room of Hydra thugs, he probably was a little worried.

"I'm sorry," Natasha said, with a smirk. "Did I step on your moment?"

Natasha directed the other Councilmembers to grab the guns and make sure Pierce didn’t make any moves. She wanted him dead for what he did, but she needed him alive. She secured the thugs on the ground and then made her way over to the computer terminal. Natasha began typing furiously on the keyboard to the master computer in front of her. In the background, she could hear the explosions of the helicarriers that were currently raising out of the river, and she knew her time was limited. Now, she was working on dumping all of Shield's information on the internet. Numerous topics popped up, some that she knew about, and then the very few that didn't. The Raft, Roger's file, New York details, all of it. She stopped abruptly when she came to the next set of files. Her files. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Let's hope Rogers doesn't retract his deal Nat thought and kept powering through, spewing information upon information on the net.

"What are you doing?" Councilman Rockwell inquired at Natasha, looking at the screen. Pierce stepped forth, hands still up and guns still trained on him. "She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet." 

"Including HYDRA's," Natasha said cooly, getting to the really fun stuff. All of the black ops missions that HYDRA had ever carried out was on here, and Natasha would enjoy reading about them later. She was happy to note that she had only been in a few of these, unaware of the true goal obviously, but still pissed that she did missions for a secret Nazi death cult that had been presumed dead in 1945.

"And SHIELD's," Pierce pointed out. "If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?"

Natasha hesitated for a moment. He was right. While Rogers did say that she could stay with them, there was a higher percent chance that she could end up in a prison for the things she had done. Her dealings with the Red Room and the KGB would certainly make her an enemy of the United States. Hell, what she did to Stark wouldn't work out well. With the spying she did on him for the recruitment for Shield, and the fact that she helped deliver Ho Yinsen to a terrorist group in her last days as a KGB operative. She glanced up at Pierce and looked into his deceiving eyes. While he did make a point, he was also the enemy. Responsible for thousands of deaths, and if they did not succeed today, millions. She wasn't going to be responsible for that anymore. Even if it brought her down, she would go down doing the right thing.

With a coy smile, she fired right back at Pierce. "Are you?"

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order, it takes two Alpha Level members," Pierce informed her, unable to hide the hint of satisfaction in his voice. 

Natasha knew she would be denied. Honestly, if Pierce thought she was this dumb around hacking and security systems then the rest of Hydra would go down easily. "Don't worry," Natasha said, an equal amount of smugness in her voice. "Company is coming."

As if on cue, the sound of a helicopter grew gradually that made Pierce and the Councilmen turn around towards the helicopter pad outside. Sure enough, a military-grade helicopter kissed the ground and Natasha smiled internally. A figure exited the helicopter, one arm close to his chest and striding towards the door. And sure enough, Nicholas J. Fury walked through those doors with the tail of that damn black leather trench coat whipping in the wind behind him.

"Did you get my flowers?" Pierce managed to say. Silence. "I'm glad you're here Nick."

That changed Fury's expression to look annoyed as hell. "Really? Cause I thought you had me killed."

"You know how the game works."

"So why make me head of SHIELD?"

"Cause you're the best and the most ruthless person I know," Alexander said honestly.

Nick's eye almost twitched. "I did what I did to protect people."

"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick. Disorder, war. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago. Diplomacy? Holding action, a band-aid. And you know where I learned that; Bogota."

Fury didn’t say anything to that as well and Natasha knew the rough details about the Bogota mission. Where Fury disobey direct orders to save a bunch of people. Learning about that case is what made Natasha able to at least take orders from Fury, even if she didn’t trust him all the way.

"You didn't ask, you just did what had to be done,” Pierce continued. “I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing twenty million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."

Fury glared hard. "No. I have the courage not to." He grabbed his old friend's arm to lead him to the retinal scanner. Natasha hit the activation for the clearance test and picked up her own handgun and trained it on Pierce, making sure that he would confirm their authentication. The screen activated at their presence. "Retinal scanner active."

Pierce looked at him like he was joking. "You don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?"

"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary..." he lifted his eye patch. "You need to keep both eyes open."

They both leaned forward, Pierce looking a bit stunned about something that they actually managed to miss, and almost in disbelief that it actually worked and the computerized voice that came out.

"Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed."

Natasha, lowering the gun she had on Pierce slightly, looked at her phone and Googled Shield and kept the giant smile that she wanted to spread across her face, but she needed to keep her cool. "Done," Natasha said smoothly. "And it's trending."

The distraction on checking her phone proved to be very costly.

The council members suddenly convulsed as their pins activated and burned at their sternums, sending them unconscious to the ground. "Unless you want a two inch hole in your sternum, I'd put that gun down," Pierce said to Natasha, holding his phone with his thumb over a button that would certainly activate her pin. "It was armed the moment you pinned it on." His finger hovered over the button threateningly.

Natasha had the gun leveled right at him. She didn't flinch with the threat, but she cursed herself for being so stupid. I should have trusted my gut on those things, Natasha thought. I knew they were trouble. Natasha thought about putting the gun down, but she didn't. She didn't have much of a family left, only really a decent friendly relationship with Clint and his family. Coulson was a dear friend until his death. Fury was Fury, and she tolerated Hill. She had done the job she came here to do, and that was expose Hydra. She knew the risks that came with it, and if she could get a shot off while he pressed that button, she was surely going to take it. She glanced at Fury quickly, almost as if to send a message to shoot him in the head while he took her down.

Fury looked at her very apologetically almost, and it threw Natasha off. He slowly lowered his gun and gave Natasha the same look that she should do the same. She really didn’t think she was worth it, but she had already begun planning on her next move. But Rogers needed to get those Helicarriers neutralized now.

"Lieutenant, how much longer?" he asked in the computer's communication, moving over to the terminal while keeping both Fury and Natasha at gunpoint, finger still close to the button on his phone.

"Sixty-five seconds to satellite link. Target reengaged. Lowering weapons array now," Natasha could hear the Hydra agent respond, knowing that they were almost out of time.

Natasha watched helplessly now as the battle on the Helicarriers ensued. She had to hope that Rogers did his job now that she did hers. She didn't know if she would make it out of this one. Her coming plan was risky, but for some reason, she was okay. Getting approval from Captain America had to mean something, right? Out of all the bad she did, she knew she did a good job for America's symbol of freedom.

Just before the time was out, the Helicarriers seemed to stop as all of their guns rearranged and started to point at each other. Natasha knew the mission was a success at that point, and it only cemented in the fact as they started to fire on each other, causing mass destruction.

"What a waste," Pierce said scowling at the window.

Natasha smirked as the mission was successfully completed. The threat of Project Insight was neutralized and everyone was safe. There was only one thing to take care of. She had to find out how to get Fury to shoot Pierce. She had an idea. It was a long shot, but if she hit herself with one of her widow bites, it would maybe short circuit the chip long enough for Fury to get an opening. While Pierce was focused on the helicarriers, Natasha began working one of the bites from her gauntlet on her right wrist.

Pierce nudged her in the back with the pistol towards the landing platform and helicopter. "Time to go, Councilwoman. This way, come on. You're gonna fly me out of here." 

Fury just looked out the window with a bittersweet satisfaction. "You know, there was a time I would have taken a bullet for you."

"You already did. And you will again-" Pierce started before Natasha seized the opportunity.

With Pierce distracted with his small banter with Fury, Natasha brought her Widow bite up and activated it on herself. Oh shit , Natasha thought as pain radiated through her body. She dropped to the ground, hoping she woke up without a hole in her chest, before losing consciousness.

A few minutes later, she was roused slightly with someone saying her name. She opened her eyes to see Fury looking over her with some actual concern. If her entire body still didn’t hurt, she would have chuckled at the expression. Instead, she groaned. "Wow," Natasha grumbled, still feeling the effect of the widow bite. "Those really do sting."

She sat up and glanced over to see Pierce with two bullet holes in his chest and dead on the floor. Good riddance. She got up and headed with Fury to the helicopter, knowing that they needed to get out of here and fast.

Fury was flying the chopper around the Triskelion as the last helicarrier started shredding it to bits. Natasha had already changed back into her Black Widow uniform, the red hourglass shining on her belt. She had a radio on and listened to Sam.

"We are on our way," Natasha yelled. "Stay there!"

Natasha was about to ask where Rogers was when she saw a figure drop from the helicarrier. It was feminine in form. Shit, Natasha thought as she zipped her suit all the way up. Natasha grabbed a small breathing apparatus she had in her belt and turned towards Fury.

"Someone dropped from the helicarrier," she shouted. "Get Sam and wait for my tracking signal."

Before Fury could argue, she jumped out of the helicopter and into the water below. As she was on her way down, she knew she would survive. she jumped from higher spots before. She entered the water with a giant splash and headed right towards the person that dropped. she found Terra on the bottom of the Potomac and grabbed her, swimming towards the shore and hoping that Terra wasn't dead. Natasha dragged Terra out of the water and started to go over her injuries. First and foremost, making sure she was alive. She checked her pulse and found a weak one.

"Okay," Natasha said, wiping the hair out of her face. "Let's get you fixed up kid."

Natasha started to patch up Terra's more serious injuries and try to stabilize her before calling the medics. Natasha heard the slogging of water behind her and wheeled, bringing up her pistol in the process. What she saw was something she never thought that she would see. Steve was being drug through the water, with injuries that would kill a normal person. She was definitely worried about that and would take care of it as soon as possible. What she didn't expect was who was carrying him.

"James?" Natasha asked, lowering the gun slightly.

She saw a faint hint of recognition on the face of the Winter Soldier. She knew what they did to him each time they brought him out of the ice, but the fact that he was helping Steve at the moment and not killing him made her think that he was gaining something back. And her past was intertwined with his as well. He raised his arms in a sign of peace, obviously not wanting to pose a threat. He nodded at Steve. "Take care of him."

Natasha knew what he was going through. All of her time with the Red Room, her brain was jumbled all up. She could only imagine what he was going through was ten times worse. She holstered his weapon and came over to grab Steve.

"Go," she said, before working on Rogers.

She dragged Steve next to Terra and started to go over his wounds. It didn't look good. He had a nasty shot to the stomach that could prove fatal.

"C'mon Rogers don't you die on me," Natasha said. "I don't want to lose the leader of the Avengers because of my shitty patch jobs."

She took out her radio and called all of her frequencies. "This is Agent Romanoff," Natasha said. "I have Captain Rogers and Agent Montgomery on the bank opposite the Triskelion. Both are in dire need of medical attention, does anyone copy?"

 "This is Agent Hill, I copy. I'll send medical your way. What's your location?" Natasha heard through the frequency and sighed in relief. She was about to answer when she heard sputtering from Rogers. He opened his eyes widely and tried to find his surroundings. She placed herself firmly in his view, hoping that a familiar face would at least calm him down.

He coughed. "R-Romanoff?" His eyes flickered, darting back and forth and around. "Where's-?" He vomited more water off to the side.

"I'm activating my tracking beacon," Natasha said through comms, getting help on the way first. "Get here fast Hill."

Natasha turned back to Rogers, trying to help him through this. "Rogers lay back down," she commanded as he tried to sit up. "You have multiple bullets through you. Just relax and wait for the medics."

She comforted him the best she could and she heard a helicopter land a bit behind her and sirens blaring. There were EMTs all around a second later, and Natasha stood up and let them do their work. She made her way over to where Wilson and Fury were standing, decently covered with Steve and Terra's blood. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the damage that was caused to the Triskelleton. "Shit," Natasha said. "My cell phone was still in my office."

Sam went over to talk to Steve and Natasha took a second to gather her thoughts. The battle was over. Everyone was accounted for and alive. They won. The Triskelion was in shambles and who knew the number of casualties, but she knew they were for the better off. Right? After she let Steve and Sam have a moment, she walked over to make sure he was okay herself.

“Feel like shit,” she managed to hear Steve say at the tail end of their conversation.

Natasha came over to survey the rest of his injuries and huffed. "You'll be fine Rogers," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "With that serum in you, you'll be healed within the week."Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear, this wasn’t information that anyone else should hear. "James is fine," she said before standing up. "Anything you need?" she asked.

He squinted up at her, trying to see through the sunlight. There was no hint of a lie on her face, and she saw that he knew she was telling the truth about James. His features relaxed and he slumped into the stretcher the paramedics were maneuvering him into. "I need a beer," he quipped. They began loading him into the ambulance. "Wait." They paused. He looked directly at Natasha, struggling to keep conscious now. "The files you released... there has to be some on Bucky. He's out there now and I... I need to find him."

"I can do better than those," Natasha promised. She owed him a lot at the moment, and she had information that she could give him. She had a responsibility to, right? She turned back to Fury and the others. "Do you think you can handle the aftermath of this without me," she asked. "I need to make a trip to Kiev."

"I got this," Nick replied, already punching in some numbers on his phone. "Do what you gotta do."

"Good," Natasha said, already headed out. "Don't get me arrested when I come back."

Chapter Text

Natasha was sitting in the waiting area of Ronald Reagan airport in DC. They had just cleared all flights to take off and they were just about to let first class passengers board. Natalie Rushman happened to be a very frequent flyer here, so she figured that she should at least get first class. She had a flight directly to Kiev, and from there it would be about a thirty minute drive to the meeting point at an old Red Room safe house. She called in some favors, and the files would be waiting there. She glanced up at the television that was playing and watched the news report that was going on.

"There has been no statement from Captain Rogers or anyone from SHIELD as of yet," the reporter said. "With all of Shield's files out on the internet however, the CIA and Interpol have been collaborating on what to do with this. There is one person in the main spearhead of reports that the CIA want arrested and questioned. This woman, Natalia Romanova, or Natasha Romanoff. She is credited with numerous assassinations for the KGB before being brought to Shield, as well as numerous other crimes, but most noticeably, the kidnapping of Ho Yinsen more commonly known as the person that saved Tony Stark when he first became Iron Man. There has been no comment from Tony Stark or Stark Industries, but we can expect that they will back the CIA in the search for Romanoff's arrest."

Well shit, Natasha thought as boarding was called for First-Class passengers she got up to board the plane. This just got a whole lot more difficult. She might just have to go on the run after she got the files back to Rogers. There was no way Stark would let her in the tower now, and Rogers would probably just look at her in disgust.

There would be time to ponder that later and she showed her boarding pass and walked into the terminal that led to the plane.

Kiev, Ukraine
September 5th, 2013

After Natasha arrived in Kiev, she took a taxi to a small storage unit place in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. It was a small storage facility, nondescript and something that no one would glance at again. Mainly held units for families that needed just a little bit of extra space. She went to her unit and casually opened it up. Inside was only one thing, a pitch black Ducati Superleggera. Most people would be surprised with how much money she actually had. With her SHIELD salary and the jobs she did on the side, her web was pretty extensive and held a lot of money. There were also investments she made, and various safe houses and storage facilities all over the world that she had to keep up. Hell, most of this money wasn’t taxed, but she wasn’t about to let the government know about that part. Most jobs were under the table to begin with.

She zipped up her black leather jacket and slung her back pack over her back. She climbed on the motorcycle and placed the helmet on her head. It was a flat black helmet with a red hourglass on the back of it. It was a gift from Clint in all his humor. Normally she would refuse it, but he was sneaky and had his kids give it to her. That and she also kinda liked it. She started the cycle and took off out of the storage unit, not bothering to close it because she knew she would have to ride to Odessa after and she could store her bike there. Her payments would stop at this facility and they would take it over, but there was nothing left in there to claim.

The drive was decently silent the entire way. It was about 4am, and there were only a few trucks on the road at this time that she had to pass. It gave her a lot of time to think over the past couple of days and how her life had changed forever. She was a criminal, she had worked for the KGB for decades, and the American people wouldn’t allow her to stay. She was pretty sure she could go to one of her safe houses in France or Germany, maybe contact Fury and get some jobs to keep herself busy. She could still visit the Bartons occasionally, but she couldn’t stay forever. She might be hunted after all of this.

Maybe the Avengers would help her. Steve was a good man, she knew Terra looked up to her. But what about when they found all of this information? It was something completely different to work with someone for a mission when you needed them, and associate with a known assassin that had a lot of blood on her hands and vouch for them. Especially with the Yinsen situation, loyalty to the rest of the Avengers group was probably more prevalent than a random lady they had just met, and Stark already knew of her when she vetted him for the Avengers Initiative. To say he wasn’t happy with her to begin with might be an understatement.

Natasha focused up as she arrived at the drop off point for the files. She stopped the bike and took off her helmet. It had been some time since she had seen this cabin. At least 20 years or so. She had stayed here while on mission in the city for the Red Room. It didn’t end up pretty for her target, but it was a success for her. She walked to the small building, pistol out and ready to fire. She knew her contact wouldn't be here, but with the things that she just exposed to the world, you could never be too sure. She entered the building, and true to their word, there was a manila folder on a table. Natasha didn't waste anytime grabbing the folder and walking back out. She walked over to her bike and before putting it in her backpack, opened the folder. There on the first page was the Winter Soldier in cryosleep, and in the bottom left was James Barnes. She shut the folder and slipped it in her pack. It wasn't her place to read it, and she already knew most of the information inside. The one thing she was sure of, however, is that it was going to be a tough read for Rogers. She revved the engine and took off, not sparing another second there.

Odessa

Natasha knew the drive from Kiev to Odessa wasn’t that long of a drive, but she needed to take a bit longer to make sure that she wasn’t being tailed. She got some food and took care of some affairs in Kiev before making the drive and even then, didn’t even go to her storage unit in the city until about 1am. She had a flight back to the United States in about four hours. Red eye, little amount of people. She zipped up her jacket and closed the unit door after parking and securing her bike and helmet, starting the walk to where she could get a cab to take her to the airport. She was walking along the units when she felt something off, like she was being watched. She kept a brisk pace but started to lighten her steps every other one. She heard them, faint steps of someone that was clearly following her. She carefully unzipped her jacket and reached inside to grab the handle of her Glock.

Three.....

Two......

One.....

Natasha turned and fired three quick shots. A raven-haired woman quickly dodged the gun that was pointed at her and grabbed onto Natasha's arm, slapping the gun away. Natasha followed with a quick punch to the head. The woman stumbled back and Natasha got her first look at her. She was young, obviously Russian by facial and bone structure. She wore a catsuit just like Natasha did, more fresh than any of Natasha’s uniforms, practically new. The really terrifying part was the red hourglass logo that was on her belt. The symbol of the Black Widow.

Natasha didn't have long to look as the woman came flying back at her. She slapped away a kick that was aimed for her head, and tried to sweep out the legs of her opponent. The woman flipped over her attack easily and punched her in the back of the head. Natasha took the hit and rolled forward, turning to face the woman again. While she rolled the woman had pulled a knife and threw it at her. Natasha ducked her head back, but she only prevented it from embedding itself in her forehead. It grazed her, drawing a nice line on her forehead and cutting a little bit of her hair. She grunted at the slight pain and rolled to her right, grabbing her fallen gun.

She jumped up and pointed the gun at the woman, who simply raised her hands, a smirk on her face.

"Who are you," Natasha demanded.

"You don’t remember Natalia," she asked. “I’m insulted. Though you never did include me in any of your training. Always shunning me to the corner, as if my mother didn’t do that enough.”

It clicked then for Natasha as she got a really good look at the woman. It had been years since she’d seen her, and even then she was just a child.

“Anya?” Natasha asked, the name of her Headmistress’s daughter while Natasha was in the Red Room. She was more known as Recluse because the Headmistress would always keep her away from the others and never let her train.

“Very good Natalia,” Anya said, a smirk on her face now.

"That's the mark of the Black Widow," Natasha said, gesturing to her belt. "It's not possible. I made sure of it."

"When you wiped out the Red Room," Anya said. "Do you really think the Headmistress is that vulnerable? That she would let her legacy be destroyed so easily."

"The Soviets have fallen," Natasha said. "The KGB is in ashes. The Red Room has to be gone, there is no one to support it."

"Except there is," Anya said, with a smirk.

Natasha's eyes widened as she put the pieces together.

"Hydra," she breathed.

"There’s the intelligence I remember," Anya said. "The Red Room and Hydra have been working together for a while now. How do you think your precious Winter Soldier was a pawn for them."

"Why now," Natasha said. "Hydra is exposed. Everyone knows of its existence."

"And you released the files," Anya said. "So, as the true Black Widow, my mission is to remove you. By any means necessary."

"So why haven't you," Natasha asked.

"The ultimate mission for Hydra is to rid the world of everything that could compromise what it needs to accomplish," Anya said. "Right now, as we have found out, the Avengers are on the top of that list."

"I'm not an Avenger," Natasha said.

"But we can start knocking out two birds with one stone," Anya said. "Emphasis of birds."

Natasha's stomach dropped as the pieces lined up and she looked into Anya's eyes.

"Hawkeye," Natasha almost whispered.

"Agent Barton is quite comfortable right now," Anya said. "But I can promise you that it won't be for long."

"Why come here just to tell me this," Natasha demanded. "Why not just kill me and him and be done with it."

"Oh Natalia," Anya said. "There is more than one way of killing someone. I like the chase anyway, and now you know where to start."

Anya, as quick as Natasha could, dropped a smoke grenade down that covered her hasty retreat. Natasha fought through the smoke to try and find her, but Anya was already gone.

Shit, Natasha thought as she holstered her weapon and picked up her bag. Clint was captured, and she had no idea where he was, only the numerous Red Room locations that there were. Well, heading back to Avengers tower didn't look like an option now. She had to find Barton, fighting the Red Room and Hydra.

Shit

New Jersey
September 12th, 2013

Natasha was sitting in a diner somewhere in New Jersey. She had gotten an encrypted text from Fury designated the meeting space and time. She didn't have long though, she knew she had to get to Clint as fast as possible. In front of her laid a map of the world and red X's where the possible Red Room bases where Clint could be being held at. She didn't even know if they would keep him in a Red Room base, now that Hydra was in the mix. In her backpack on her right was the file about the Winter Soldier. It was priority one for Natasha, then get to Clint.

Natasha looked up at the news conference that was being held and saw Terra talking back to a bunch of senators and generals. She set aside the map for now and focused on the small meal in front of her.

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do,” Terra responded.

Terra took her seat, her hands folded on the table in front of her. The crowd was quiet except for the occasional click of a camera and the sound of scratching pencils from the press. The committee general cleared his throat and looked at her,  "Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers?" He demanded.

She crossed her arms. "He will make a statement to the public shortly. Though, I think the giant ships in the Potomac make his position quite clear."

The general's thick brows furrowed as he leaned forward. "Well, he could explain how this country's expected to maintain its national security now that he and you have laid waste our intelligence apparatus."

Terra leaned forward too. "Hydra was selling you lies, not intelligence."

"Many of which you seem to have had a personal hand in telling." Murmuring circled the room and Terra swallowed, her own guilt of unknowingly being involved with Hydra surfacing. She couldn't defend herself at that statement.

"Agent," General Scudder spoke up. "You should know that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service record and your past as a civilian, that you belong in a penitentiary, not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."

Terra's fingernails dug into the aluminum covering the wound on her arm. She relaxed her hands and uncrossed her arms, playing a pleasant smile on her face. "Gentlemen, let me make something very clear to you. You're not gonna put me in a prison. In fact, you're not gonna put any of us in a prison." She raised a brow. "Would you like to know why?"

Scudder looked exasperated at this point. "Do enlighten us," he said in a tight voice.

"Because you need us. Desperately," she added. She glanced at the recording cameras live-streaming this and looked back at the generals. "Yeah, the world is vulnerable and we help make it that way, but we are also the best qualified to defend it. So, please, by all means," Terra stood up, straightening her blazer with a playful smile.

"Arrest me, Generals. But you'll be wasting a lot of time filling out the paperwork to get me out of prison when you need me again."

She gave a short wave with her hand. "Ciao, gentlemen." Terra turned on her heel and walked through the press, shooting finger guns for pictures before she walked out the doors.

She chuckled at the last line and took a drink of her coffee.

"I would have said it differently," she said to herself. "Same jist, less flare. Maybe a little more sarcasm."

Natasha was about to leave when the news cut again to none other than Steve Rogers, seemingly on the steps of the courthouse where Terra was inside of. Natasha paused and then sat back down, wanting to hear what he had to say. He did look a little nervous, but in all of her time, she never knew Captain America to back down like that.

With a deep breath, Steve leaned forward. Everyone fell to a hush. He opened his mouth. "I stand before you today as Steve Rogers, not Captain America, not an Agent of Shield, not even as an Avenger. I remain an Avenger despite what happened. You guys are probably wondering what did happen. It's a long story. Back during World War Two, there existed a Nazi subdivision called Hydra. Hydra was run by a man named Johann Schmidt, who sought power from a mythical object many believed didn't exist. But he found it and he used it to create weapons - weapons that could disintegrate soldiers in the blink of an eye. Weapons that could make them implode on the spot with barely a trace. Weapons that were given out to Nazi troops and used against us. I knew a lot of good men who died at the hands of those weapons. Because of Hydra.

"All throughout the war, the Strategic Scientific Reserve worked to stop them, to meet them at every turn and prevent them from reaching their goal: world domination. I helped. I led a team, the Howling Commandos, to carry out the most dangerous missions. It took a while, but we stopped them. I confronted Schmidt on a plane that was going to drop a bomb on New York. In the ensuing scuffle, the mythical object was lost at sea and so was I. You know this story.”

"What you don't know is that the SSR, the precursor to SHIELD, found that object and kept it hidden from the public. No one knew they had it and that they were using it as a power source. Experimenting on it. They've kept it all these years and the public never knew. Why? Because Hydra didn't die with Schmidt like you- like I- like we had thought. Schmidt's second-in-command, Dr. Arnim Zola, struck a deal with the SSR to cooperate in exchange for conditional freedom from prison. He was the first and biggest seed of Hydra that would grow within SHIELD and spread like a virus over the years. Hydra became SHIELD's shadow, existing just under the surface all these years.

"On a recent mission for SHIELD, Terra Montgomery and I got suspicious. We did some investigating, went on the run because of it, were targeted because we got too close, we were almost executed for it. But we escaped and we learned of their plans. Hydra was going to use government funding to create helicarriers that would eliminate threats before they happened. It was preemptively punishing and I would not stand for it. I did not and do not want people to live in fear. We are a country of freedom and liberty and I will do my best to keep it that way."

He paused for the roaring applause and hoots and hollers. It appeared that not everyone in the crowd was a journalist and that not every journalist was afraid to let their opinion on this matter be known. When it calmed down, he continued. "With the help of Terra Montgomery, Natasha Romanoff, and my allies, we destroyed the helicarriers before they could fire, killing millions of people who had yet to do what Hydra predicted they would. That was the battle you all saw and I apologize for any property damage. I'm sure Stark can pay for... at least some of it."

There were a few chuckles at his lame attempt at a joke.

"In order to stop the plan from going through, we had to assume that everyone aboard those ships was Hydra. There was no efficient way to tell who was telling the truth. It could've been anyone - and it was. So we tore them all down. There were casualties. Loyal SHIELD agents and Hydra agents alike. I've been told there were no citizen deaths, for which I thank God every day. And now here we are. I'll take your questions now."

Immediately, all of the reporters surged forward a few inches, thrusting their devices at him. "Captain! What happens to SHIELD now that Hydra's been revealed?"

"SHIELD's been dismantled," Steve replied. "Director Fury was shot and killed by a Hydra agent and there's no safe way of building it back up again. SHIELD sacrificed itself to get rid of Hydra."

"And did they succeed?" came the follow up.

Steve hesitated. "No. A few escaped. SHIELD had branches all over the world, so Hydra did too. But just as not all Hydra personnel were killed, not all SHIELD agents were either. And even though SHIELD is no more, we will still fight for good. I know several agents here have applied to the CIA, some to Stark Industries, some to politics and other government positions. We as a people still exist and we still fight."

"Could you be more specific about how you plan to take down the remaining Hydra agents?" another reporter asked.

"Some of my Avengers teammates and I will head a team to track down one of their most powerful assets. He's in the wind at the moment, but as soon as we pick up his trail, we'll be led straight to many Hydra bases, I'm sure. And then we'll bring them down."

"Captain! Where were the other Avengers during this whole debacle?"

"Otherwise occupied. And our mission was relatively low key. Technology was being monitored. We couldn't safely call for back-up without alerting Hydra to the request so we kept them out of the loop."

"Do you think things would have gone better had you had Iron Man or the Hulk on your team?"

Steve's cheek twitched almost imperceptibly. "Maybe. But there's no use dwelling on what might have been."

"What happened to that power source Hydra was experimenting on?"

"That power source was the Tesseract, which was sent back to Asgard with Thor after the alien invasion."

"How do we know you're not Hydra? Or any of your team?"

Steve paused. He had not anticipated this question (he really should have). He couldn't help but be offended that after everything he did, they still doubted him. But really he couldn't blame them. After a while, he said: "You don't."

A murmur broke out among the press, whispering to themselves about whether anything he just said was true and whether or not they could quote him now.

Steve raised a hand for silence. "You don't," he said again. "You just have to trust me. I know you don't like it and I know it's not proof, but I'm asking you to please believe me when I tell you that I am not, nor will I ever be, an agent of Hydra. I fought them for years in the war. I watched as they slaughtered my friends and fellow soldiers. As they took the life of my best friend." His grip on the podium tightened enough that the leather of his gloves creaked. "They are Nazis. And I watched them commit horrors that I will never unsee and I refuse to ever let happen again. Never. I swear to you on my mother's grave that I will do everything in power to take Hydra down once and for all. Me and my team. And if you don't trust them, then you can hold me accountable. But you won't have to. No more questions."

Natasha was impressed by the speech. It wasn’t lost on her that her name had gotten mentioned there as helping tear down Hydra, and it might be a saving grace for her in the long run. If anything it couldn’t hurt her situation more. Natasha slipped on her sunglasses and left some bills on the table, putting the map in her backpack with the file. She walked outside and got onto her black Ducati and slipped her helmet on, red hair hanging out the back. She clipped her backpack across her chest and put the dark visor down on the helmet. She revved up the engine and sped off towards DC, still having about a three hour drive in front of her.

Three hours later……..

Natasha arrived at the cemetery and shut down the engine on her motorcycle. She put the kickstand down and took off her helmet, putting it on one of the handlebars. She glanced over to her right and saw the small gathering of people there, knowing Fury was going to try and get everyone he could. She shook her head in a smile as she grabbed the folder. She got there just as Fury was walking away, catching the last bit of the conversation. She didn't say anything to Fury. He knew her situation and she knew his. She didn't get this far in life without knowing a lot of other people's secrets. Shield was already rebuilding behind the scenes, out of the public, and Rogers' eye. Fury knew that if he really needed her for a mission, he knew where to contact her. Natasha was wearing her motorcycle jacket and dark jeans. Her hair wasn't too messy, but it wasn't the cleanest ever, and she had the appearance of a girl who wasn't staying around for coffee.

"You should be honored," Natasha called out, announcing her presence. "That's about as close as he gets to saying thank you."

Steve turned towards her and met her halfway. "You're not going with him?" he asked, at least trying to make small talk, which she had to smile at.

No," Natasha replied with a small smile on her face.

She had to track down Clint, and he could be anywhere. She didn't have any leads on his last whereabouts or any major Hydra cells still active. A few hours on a laptop could help with that. She also noticed Rogers practically inching to the file that she had in her hand. She respected that of him. Wanting only to find his friend more than anything else, even pursuing Hydra. That is something she hadn't seen a lot of.

She could practically hear Clint teasing her, saying she had a crush on Captain America and how, even the great Black Widow, could fall under the good Captain's spell. The real question she had to ask herself, was she falling under his spell? She respected the hell out of the man, his morals were in the right place and he was a great fighter. But she was surrounded by fighters, and here was a guy that only fought for someone else and not himself. And not to mention he was the peak of human perfection.

Stop it Natalia, she cursed herself and refocused on the people in front of her.

"Is that...?" He gestured at the folder in her hands and Natasha nodded

"Yeah," Natasha said. "That thing you asked for. I called in a few favors out of Kiev."

Natasha held out the file to Steve.

"I have to tell you," Natasha said. "I knew James well. I can try and help you fill in some gaps. He was a big part of my initial training, and we worked together a lot. Spent a lot of time together. I don't have long though. You have your ghosts and I have mine, and mine are causing issues at the moment."

He took the file from her, but didn't open it. Instead, he looked at her, a bit confused. "You did?" She could tell he had numerous questions about that bit of information, but the second part of her statement distracted him as well. "Anything I can help with?" He asked.

"You probably don't want to get involved," Natasha said, adjusting the straps on her backpack. "An old enemy has been hiding in the shadows after I thought that I wiped out. They have received funding from a major Hydra branch, and they have Barton. I know they are keeping him at a Red Room base, but there are so many scattered across the world, that I would need at least two years to go through all of them unless I guess correctly. My guess is that it is near a big Hydra base, but they have managed to stay hidden longer than the Red Room."

Natasha started to turn, figuring that this was too messy for these people. It was going to get ugly, real ugly. But she made Laura a promise to keep Clint safe. And with little Natasha on the way, she couldn't break that promise now. Her hand went to the silver arrow necklace that hung around her neck. Clint had gotten it for her on the one year anniversary of joining Shield, or as he put it, the one year anniversary of him deciding not to put an arrow through her skull. Like he would ever be able to anyway. Clint meant a lot to her, and it was necessary to find him as soon as possible.

"I don't suppose you had any recent contact with him," Natasha asked, figuring any clue would be helpful.

"I haven't heard from him since the Chitauri invasion," he replied honestly. "But if Hydra's got him, I want to help. They already destroyed the life of one of my friends. I won't let them do it again. And besides, that sounds like a big undertaking. Terra, Bruce, and I knew Clint. Not supremely well, but he's a good guy. We'll help you."

Bruce Banner, who Natasha had clocked immediately upon her arrival and his reputation interjected at that point, pretending not to eavesdrop earlier. "I know where a big Hydra base is. Terra found one while searching for one of Hydra's smaller leaders. He's got a base in... in Mexico City. She found it based on information from someone on the inside and there's no confirmation of this, but there may be ties to both the Red Room and A.I.M. It's as good a place to start as any and Terra and I were already headed there to take it down. We could all go. To be honest, we could use the help."

Sam and Terra walked over as well probably not being able to help but listen in either. "Who is Clint, exactly?" Sam murmured to Terra. "Another, uh, former special agent. Uses a bow and arrow," she replied and Sam didn't look surprised. "We'd be happy to help, but uh," Terra looked to Steve and crossed her arms. "What about Bucky?"

"Lemme take care of that," Sam spoke up, clapping a hand on Terra's uninjured shoulder. "I'll work on tracking him down while you guys kick some Hydra-ass. This sounds like an OG Avengers mission anyways."

Terra's brows furrowed and looked up at him worriedly. "Are you sure? You're a target now-"

"I'm sure," he insisted. "I know how to be evasive and I know a thing or two about finding some leads."

"Sam, you don't have to do that," Steve said even though it would be a big help. "You already dropped everything to help me once. I don't want you to give up your job or your reputation or your chances with the girl at the VA," he half-joked.

"I know I don't have to do it," Sam said. "But let's face it, she was out of my league anyways." Sam grinned. He looked to Terra. "Where should I start?"

Terra took out her phone and held her hand out for his. "I'll connect you to Jarvis to help you out when you need it." He gave her his phone and she punched the number in, tossing it back to him.

Natasha barely heard them though as her heart plummeted at the mention of Mexico City. Of course Anya would take Clint to the site of that facility. That could possibly be the source of the most pain in her life. She should have blown up that place when she had the chance, but it was too painful.

"He's there," Natasha managed. "I'll get him back to you." And his family, Natasha mentally added. She didn't include herself getting back. She knew she wouldn't be walking away from this one. Her journey would finally end, where she first established herself as the Black Widow.

Steve turned to Natasha then. "Yes, we will. We'll leave tonight. We'll rendezvous back at the Tower, catch a plane to Mexico City, and we'll execute a rescue mission." He almost smiled. "It's time to get the Avengers back together."

"Then I guess you guys have a plane to catch," Sam said. "I'll drop you off at the airport."

Terra bounced happily on her heels. "Hell yes. Getting the gang back together, leaving DC, gonna kick some more ass, it's like Christmas."

"Here." Steve said, holding out the folder with Bucky's files to Sam without looking at it. "As soon as you find him, you call me. And... here." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen, and scribbled a phone number directly onto the folder. "This is her number last I checked, but this is for Sharon Carter. She's- or she was a SHIELD agent and my neighbor. I heard about what she did during the battle and that she's looking for a job in the CIA. She'll help you if you need it. She's a good person."

There was some more conversation, but Natasha was still working her way through the Mexico City reveal. "I'll follow you guys there," Natasha said and she started walking towards her bike. She was almost out of sight when she remembered something. "And Steve," Natasha said. "With all that's gone on in James's life, be careful. Think things over real well, because You might not want to pull on this thread." Natasha continued off and walked towards her bike. When she reached it, she slipped on her helmet, and flipped down the dark visor. She revved the engine up and sped off towards the direction to where the car was parked.

Chapter Text

The ride to the airport was quiet for Natasha. Beside the fact that she was riding by herself, her mind was quiet. She knew what was going to happen, how her journey would probably end today. She was trying to make peace with it, but there was something in the pit of her stomach that was slowly rising. Natasha rolled up to the airport and turned off her bike. She leaned it over and kept it propped up with her foot. She took her helmet off and hung it on one of the handle bars. She glanced over to her right and saw Pepper Potts standing at the front door.

"This oughta be interesting," Natasha murmured, her mind still in other places.

The last time she saw Pepper, and well Pepper saw her, was when she was Natalie Rushman, evaluating Stark for the Avengers. She didn't say much to Pepper after she took off after Vanko from the Expo. In fact she had Shield sent her resignation in and didn't talk to Pepper to explain herself. What she did know is that Pepper was now one of the best CEOs in the entire world, and had a whole lot more confidence than she had back during the Expo. Which meant that Pepper could do whatever she wanted to her, throw lawsuits and sue her for all she had, and she wouldn't even have a case. Her assets were still resetting after the Shield takeover, and she had lost a good three million dollars from her web. She had her private accountant working on retrieving most of her money back, and she knew that Matt would help her in the courtroom, but it was still a fight she did not want to have.

She followed Steve, Terra and Bruce towards the plane, not saying goodbye to Sam due to the fact that they barely knew each other and made her way to the plane. Pepper said her hellos to the rest of the group and then turned to Natasha. Natasha could see Pepper trying to read her and she was almost afraid of what she was going to say next. As it turned out, she had nothing to worry about.

"Hello, Natasha. I was informed you were coming along, nice to see you again," she said, as professional as ever.

"It is nice to see you as well Miss Potts," Natasha said respectively. She didn't want to push anything, and she knew she had limited time anyway.

"We should start boarding now," Pepper said, heading off with Terra to the plane. They seemed like they were very good friends, and Natasha was glad that Pepper had someone at least. She figured Tony would be enough of a handful to need someone to vent to every once in a while.

Natasha waited for everyone else to board first, making sure her backpack was secure. She did have a couple of concealed weapons, a couple meaning about 7. Two guns, her widow bites, and a couple of knives. A girl could never be too sure, especially with Hydra running around. She knew she could get them through airport security, what kind of spy was she if she couldn't get past TSA agents. As they boarded the plane, Steve and Pepper had a conversation about stopping in New York for supplies, but Natasha felt like she wasn't needed in this.

Natasha just moved in silently and sat down in a seat that was facing a small table. Stark always had his fancy jets. She pulled out her laptop and opened it up, easily cracking the wifi. Natasha plugged some earbuds in and opened up the web browser, ready to do some serious research. Her home page popped up and it was just a popular news site, and boy was it busy. Pictures of the helicarriers and Rogers were everywhere. Videos of his and Terra's press conference were dotted around too, and for the most part, they were all singing Captain America's praises.

Captain America Exposes Hydra, saves the world.

Shield no more, Hydra Exposed thanks to Captain America.

Natasha smirked at the headlines that were there and was about to click off the page when an article in the bottom left caught her eye. She scrolled to it and read the headline.

KGB Assassin, Natasha Romanoff, not being charged with anything.

Natasha opened the document and it led her to a video from Alex Jones. Natasha sighed as she saw the numerous comments agreeing with the man even before she watched the video. She looked up from her laptop to make sure that none of the other people were close to her at the moment, and clicked play on the video. It opened up with Alex Jones sitting on a chair in front of a screen with her face on it. Natasha knew this was trouble when he began to speak.

"Now," he began. "I think we all owe Captain America and his team a giant thanks for what they did for this country. But let's talk about something that everyone is seeming to forget. The person that dumped all of the information on the web was a woman named Natasha Romanoff, or as she is called in the underworld, the Black Widow. Shield has had her in the background doing covert ops and staying out of the light for a decent amount of time, and for good measure. Natasha Romanoff is a criminal. Before, there might have not been enough information to convict this woman, but due to recent developments, Romanoff has handed all of this information to us. She is an ex-KGB spy, working against the United States for most of her life. She is credited with the murder of over 300 American citizens, and those are just confirmed kills. That doesn't count any US citizens that were not confirmed, or any international kills. She is also, get this, responsible for the capture of Ho Yinsen, the man that created and saved Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Now this Russian whore is just waltzing through our great country without having to answer for her crimes. I think we as an American people should demand that this woman be apprehended, convicted, and hanged for the horrible crimes she has committed against this country, and if I was Captain America or anyone from the Avengers, I would look into these files before you protect this scum of a woman. And if you are watching this Natasha Romanoff, the American people will not stand for this, and we will be coming for you."

Natasha didn't even know she was holding her breath until the video was over. She looked to the analytics only to have her stomach drop even lower. 15,654,867 views already, and over 500,000 likes and less than 50 dislikes. Natasha just leaned back and played the video again, listening to every true word that this man was saying.

After playing the video again, she glanced up to see Steve waving at her, trying to get her attention. She quickly took her ear buds out and hit the back button on her page, sending her back to the main home screen. She didn't need Rogers seeing anything that would bother him at this point.

"Captain," Natasha said, lying fluently. "I'm sorry, just reading up on the latest news. The media loves you guys, almost makes me sick to read and here everything on the web now."

"Steve," he corrected, always being the gentleman. "And you don't have to apologize. I was just curious what you were reading. You seemed very engrossed in it." He leaned his chin on his palm and his elbow on the armrest to get a better look at both Natasha and her laptop. "What are they saying about us now?"

"All good things," Natasha said truthfully, not including herself in the 'us'. "Praising you and Montgomery, heroes of DC. The sentinels of Liberty. Sacrificing all to take down Hydra, no matter the cost. Your speech is on every news site on the planet. Approval rating is through the roof. It's like you're on those dreadful War Bond tours again."

Natasha smiled a little at that memory, the first time she saw a video of Captain America. They had showed it to the Red Room girls in her early days of training, figuring that Captain America would be a target for Russia in the future and not anticipating him going down in ice.

"The Star Spangled Man with a plan right?" Natasha said. "Surprised you didn't keep the triangle shield, I mean how do you know what to say without looking at your lines on the back of it."

Steve groaned and slid his hand up to cover his eyes. "Ugh, don't remind me." He leaned back in his chair, amusement bubbling inside him despite himself. "I've recited those damn lines so many times I could probably still do it. As for the triangle shield, it was only made of tin. It came in semi-handy that first time," he admitted thoughtfully, rubbing his chin as he looked back at his memories, the ones that weren't too traumatic. "But it got kind of destroyed after. And when I saw her later-" he patted the shield that stood next to his chair, "-I knew she was the one for me."

"Yeah well I owe a little of my life to that shield," Natasha said. "You saved my ass in Stalingrad when you were there in '44. That school you got civilians out of when the Germans had us pinned. So thanks for that I guess." She hadn't seen Rogers that day, but she heard all of the buzz after they were rescued. Captain America and his Howling Commandos had swooped in and saved the day, saving all of the children from the Nazis. She smiled internally at the memory, it being one of her fondest ones.

He blinked in surprise and sat up straight. Natasha knew he was trying to piece together how she was in that situation, and for good reason. Her age and serum were off the books, no access to anyone but four people at SHIELD. Fury, Coulson, Hill, and Barton were the only ones. "Uh, you're welcome," he managed, and Natasha could tell that he really didn't know what to say. "It was a team effort."

"Fury probably didn't tell you about that," Natasha said, shrugging. "Him and his compartmentalization and all. See the Russians also wanted a Captain America. As did Hydra and so on and so forth. There were many attempts across the world at trying to recreate you. James was one of them, you've seen his strength and speed, and well I'm another attempt. Enhanced speed, strength, regeneration. Not as good as yours, think of it as a light beer to a regular."

Natasha knew that she needed to get some trust out of Steve. Not for longevity or any purpose for herself, but so he would know that any information she gave him about the Winter Soldier would be legit. So he could actually find some stuff out about who James Buchannan Barnes was.

"Natalia Romanova," she said with a little shrug and smile. "Born 1929 Volograd, Russia."

Natasha could see him try and process all of the information. She could see a little anger about the repeated attempts to recreate him, something that wasn't shared with him, so rightfully so. Also, the fact that he was talking to someone that had some shared life experience with him, and was roughly the same age. He had about ten years on her, but that was neither here nor there.

"Steve Rogers. Born 1918 Brooklyn, New York," he said, figuring it was only appropriate. "It's nice to meet you officially uh, Natasha."

"Natasha is fine," Natasha said, sensing his uncertainty of what to call her. It was actually kind of sweet. Not wanting to assume anything or be rude. She could read people really well, and she could also tell the questions that were nagging him. "So," Natasha said. "What do you want to know about James Barnes?"

He looked away, suddenly tense. He tried to hide it, but he was crap at it. "I..." but Natasha could tell he didn't know where to start. He probably wanted to know everything. He hadn't even gotten a good look at the folder before he'd given it to Sam, but that didn't really compare to real life experience, and Natasha had plenty of that. Steve took a deep breath. "When did you first meet him?"

"September 23, 1957," Natasha said, remembering the day well. "He oversaw the last part of my training. It was brutal, harder than anything I've ever gone through before. It hardened me, allowed the serum to really flow through my body. He cracked my femur that day with his metal arm."

He blinked again. "I may need a bit more explanation than that," he confessed. "Why was he overseeing it? What was his exact role? And why did he break your femur? If- if you don't mind my asking."

Natasha had never talked this much about her past with anyone other than Clint and Laura before. It was information that no one really needed to know, and that she was comfortable with sharing. But she could tell that Steve wasn't so much interested in her past but in James'.

"The Russian Army picked up James when he fell off the train," Natasha said, racking her brain for the information. "After attaching his metal arm, they cryofroze him until the war was over and you were in the ice. He would be woken periodically to train and carry out kill missions. His memory would be wiped periodically to keep him loyal to the Soviet Union. After I graduated from the Red Room and became the Black Widow, we became partners if you will, but he trained me until I was up to his standards. He broke my femur in a spar. I left an opening and for the Red Room, that usually meant something broken."

Steve swallowed thickly, and Natasha could see the guilt building up. "Did he...? Were there any.. signs that he was... that he remembered...?" He was trying to keep composure, and Natasha admired the hell out of that. "Was he like he is now? Blank? No personality or emotions?"

Natasha saw the absolute sorrow on Steve's face. She knew what that was like. To have her past and integrity questioned by something that wasn't in her control. "Hey," Natasha said, pushing her laptop aside and placing a hand over his. "None of this is your fault Steve. You hear me? None of it. Here." Natasha reached into her backpack and pulled out a bottle of vintage Russian vodka. She snatched two glasses and poured a hefty amount of the liquor in each glass. "I know you can't get drunk," Natasha said, putting the top back on the bottle. "I know the pain. But when I drink enough of this stuff, it dulls the senses a bit. Russian liquor will do that for you."

He looked down at the hand she'd placed over his, and Natasha knew that it would take more than her words to convince Steve that it wasn't her fault. The best she could do was help him through it. "Thanks," he said, accepting the glass. "Alcohol never quite did the trick after the serum, but old habits die hard, you know?" He tried to smile, but Natasha could tell that it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Natasha looked at him, for real this time. She had a way of reading people that she didn't do often. It was intimate, and almost as she was staring into his soul and picking him apart. She usually did this with marks, men or women she needed to seduce to gain information. But this, this was different. All she saw was a man that wanted to fight for others, and blamed himself for what went wrong.

"James will come back," Natasha said. "He didn't give up easily when I knew him, real pain in the ass sometimes, but always came back after a mission. He just may need some space, time to try and figure out who he actually is now. I know it took me some time after Clint brought me to Shield, and you probably needed some too after they fished you out of the ice."

Natasha picked up her glass and downed the entire thing, putting her burdens aside for Steve now. She grabbed the bottle and uncapped the top, filling the glass again.

"I know it's hard to believe and that you don't right now, but in this job that we do, the crazy death defying stuff that we take on, is to protect people," Natasha continued. "It took me a while to see it, but in all that you've done, you try to save as many people as you can. Sometimes, that doesn't get to be everyone. But, knowing James the way I knew him, a man of that integrity would make that sacrifice over and over again to accomplish the goal that you set out to do. It fucking hurts right now, and there is a part of it that always will hurt. But the night is darkest just before the dawn. He'll come back, when he's ready he'll come back to you."

Natasha topped Steve off and grabbed her glass and stood up. She walked over to the other side of the table, threw caution into the wind, and kissed Steve on the cheek. It wasn't much, just to let him know that she would be there. That she knew what he was going through and that James was a crucial part of her life too. She walked to the back of the jet where the bathrooms were to freshen up before the slog that was about to come.

Manhattan, New York
Avengers Tower

When they landed in New York, Steve ordered the team to suit up and grab their gear. They were leaving again in fifteen minutes for Mexico City. Pepper led Terra and Natasha to Terra's old room when she stayed previously. "Tony knew your weapons of choice and, well, you know him," Pepper said to Terra with a hint of adoration as she walked over to press her hand against the wall to open a hidden cabinet. Terra gasped at all the new toys.

There was a new suit, a different design from her old one. It was the catsuit but it was cut as a dark grey latex t-shirt with a zipper down the middle and black mesh sleeves. The suit had hard protective black pads on the shoulders, elbows and knees. There was an A insignia on the right arm, for Avengers. Her lower face mask was the same, except navy blue, as was her belt. Terra took down the metal bo staff of the rack to examine it.

"Uh yes, I know Tony made some modifications to the staff," Pepper said slowly and looked at her apologetically. "I have no idea what they are though."

"Guess I'll just have to fiddle and find out," Terra chuckled, whipping it down so it extended. Good to know some things were the same.

Pepper left her with a hug and made her promise to be safe before leading Natasha to a workshop with racks of general guns and weaponry Tony had. "He may have a prototype for Terra's suit since he had to specially make it to adjust to her mutation," she said. "And you guys should be around the same size, though Terra is a bit shorter, aha!" She pulled it out from a cabinet. It was like the one Terra had but darker and no mesh sleeves, just regular black long-sleeved. "I hope this will be okay?"

Natasha eyed the suit that Pepper offered her and looked at the 'A' on the shoulder. "I have my suit from DC," Natasha said, pointing to her backpack. She didn't feel like she had earned the Avenger title yet, or even deserved it in the first place. "I'll take some ammo though."

Pepper nodded and left the room so Natasha could change and gear up. Natasha slipped into her catsuit, and pulled out her belt. She paused before clipping it on, and looked at the red hourglass on the front of it. She took a deep breath and clipped it on, grabbing some extra Glock magazines and placing them in her belt. She holstered her two guns and took out her gauntlets. She was short on a couple widow bites, and she didn't have any spares, so that would have to do. She put them on and activated them to see that the tasers still worked in them. Her garrote was still intact, so that completed her checkup on her weapons. She did grab a combat knife that Stark had on the wall and placed it in a sheath on her calf.

She was about to walk towards the elevator when she looked in the mirror. Her hair was turning into her brighter shade of red it usually was. She had dyed it darker to keep her less suspicious, but she was headed towards a Red Room Installation, where she would probably end up dying. She took a deep breath and took out the combat knife and started cutting her hair to chin length. If she was going out, then she was going out herself.

Fifteen minutes later Natasha walked on to the helipad, seeing Terra there already and surveyed the New York skyline from the top of Stark tower, or the Avengers tower now, she guessed. Her hair blew in the wind as she gazed out and tried to imagine what it would have been like if she was here during the Chitauri incident.

Once everyone was there, Steve took command again. There were a couple of other faces that Natasha recognized from various reports, but she wasn't focused on learning them at the moment. "Alright everyone, if you're ready to leave, let's board the jet. If not, be back here as soon as you can. The longer we wait, the longer Clint's in captivity. Romanoff, can you fly?"

"Yeah, I can fly," Natasha said, heading towards the jet and walking inside. She climbed into the cockpit, sat down and started prepping the jet to go, slipping on a pair of earphones with a mouthpiece to communicate with. Once everyone was settled, Natasha lifted the jet off the ground and sent it skyrocketing into the sky. She pushed the speed on the jet, wanting nothing to get this over with as soon as possible. "We'll be in Mexico City in two hours," Natasha announced. "Sooner if I can."

"Alright, Archer, Stanton. What are we walking into?" She heard Steve say from the back. So she figured out the names of the people that were traveling with them, filed them away in case she needed them. They were probably focused on the Hydra base that was in Mexico City. Information she probably wouldn't need, since the Red Room base wouldn't be there, but she would still listen in, just in case.

"Their base is essentially a massive warehouse. I was able to infiltrate through the roof and sneak through their weapon storage. But we have to tread lightly since they have agents everywhere, every hour of the day," Jenny Archer explained, glancing at Axel Stanton before asking, "What else can you tell us about your father?" The teen was quiet for a moment before he decided where to start.

"He's ruthless, but I suppose that's a given. He grows bored of torture quickly so I'm sure he would have killed Jenny shortly after the time of her escape," he began. "My brother, Lucas, has been training for years, so you're going to want to restrain him immediately if you have to face him. If you can't manage that, you'll have to kill him. Chances are he's been trained to have just as little humanity as my father so I can't promise he'll be easy to capture. Our first goal has to be rescuing your friend because as soon as he finds out you've infiltrated, he won't hesitate to have him killed. I have no clue what kind of defense they have him under, but it's definitely going to be intense. Whatever you do, don't hesitate to kill anyone. They're all brought into my father's branch because of their lack of humanity, and they certainly won't hesitate to kill you first if they have the chance."

"Are there any special mutations we should know about? Anything that will give us a significant leg up on us?" Archer asked.

"As far as I know, both him and my brother are all human. My abilities were simply the result of being his human experiment," Stanton said. "But my brother began training with firearms as soon as my father brought him into business so we have to assume that he's been continuing that training ever since he was a kid. It's a safe bet that he's their best weapons expert so don't underestimate him."

"Anything else you can tell us? Anything at all?" Jenny asked.

"That's all I can think of for now, but if anything comes to mind I'll be sure to tell you," Stanton assured her.

"We'll capture if we can and only kill if we have to," Steve chimed in at that point. "Our priority is getting Barton out of there, but if we can bring this base down around them, we do it."

"Should we call the police?" Bruce suggested. "They could make good back-up."

"Afterwards," Steve answered. "We don't want them getting hurt or breaking our cover. Axel, I'm going to ask you to sit this one out. You're too close to the situation and, to be frank, we could be walking into a trap. I want you to stay in the jet with Bruce until it's all over."

"Uh, is that such a great idea, Cap?" Bruce asked. "I mean, if I go green then..."

"Then that means we'll need you both. I have faith in you, Bruce," Steve responded immediately, putting his faith in Banner.

"So, the strategy will have to be attack and stash as we go along, won't it? No guns," Terra jumped in at this point. "They are bound to have security cameras." Terra looked to Jenny. "Do you think you could hack into their surveillance and make the cameras loop?" She asked curiously.

"Barton won't be in that base," Natasha said, jumping in here to make sure they knew where the goals were. "That's where the main Hydra figurehead will be. You guys can focus on that and I'll get Barton back for you."

She could hear the focus turn to her and Steve was the first to speak up. "If he won't be there, then where will he be?"

"While I was retrieving the files on James you asked for, I was met by another Black Widow," Natasha said. "Recluse is what she goes by, Anya is her name. She tipped me off about Barton, which means the Red Room is in play."

Natasha's eyes glazed over as she began telling the tale.

"There is a facility just outside of Mexico City called Smertel'naya igra," Natasha said. "Or Death Game. It was active during the Cold War. Red Room trainees were sent there to train against Americans. Mexico City was close enough that American citizens were kidnapped and taken across the border, but didn't waste a lot of money on transporting the troops. The facility itself is an underground labyrinth. No light and only one exit. The prisoners would be released there, sometimes with weapons, and sometimes without. Then Red Room trainees were sent in. The game was simple, kill or be killed. One initiate would go in at a time. She was given 24 hours to complete the task, after then, a new game began and she was considered dead. If the prisoners survived one game, they would be inserted in the next game till they were dead. They even kept score outside the complex where everyone would wait for results."

Natasha took a deep breath as the memories washed over her. Her name on top of everything, the blood that was shed.

"There is a large opening at the very bottom of the facility," Natasha said. "That's where Anya will take him. I'll get him out, one person will just have to stay at the door to help him."

There was a very long pause from the jet as the information was taken in. It wasn't pretty at all, Natasha knew that, and was going to take a bit to process. Steve seemed to work through it first, coming up with a plan. "Alright, we'll split into two teams. Natasha and I will go after Clint in the Red Room facility. Terra and Jenny will infiltrate Hydra's base. We don't want Anya killing Barton prematurely, so you guys will have to be discreet in your take-down of Stanton until we give you the signal. If Jenny could scramble the cameras and their security system or even mess with the Death Game thing, do it. Once we have Barton, we can bring the whole thing down. I'll deliver Clint to Bruce for medical attention and then Natasha and I will rendezvous with the two of you inside the base. Everybody clear?"

Everyone answered in the affirmative but "No," was all that could be heard from Natasha. "I'm not taking Captain America into that hell hole. I'll get Barton out, but you won't be able to navigate the labyrinth. That's what they want, for you to follow and get lost and eventually die. I can navigate the tunnels, I've been through them enough."

"I'm sure Steve can handle it as long as he sticks with you," Terra brought up, brows furrowed. "It's definitely not a good idea to go in alone, Natasha. Barton will most likely be injured and need help getting out, that'll leave you vulnerable to attack when you're helping him on your way out. You need Steve there to cover you."

"It's non negotiable," Natasha stated. "That place isn't for people like you guys." It's for scum like the Red Room and myself she mentally added, changing course a few degrees and pushing the speed even further.

There was no response to her statement there, and they went back to talking about the mission. Natasha didn't know if they were going to listen to her, but she wasn't focused on anything else now, but getting Barton out, killing Anya, and trying to survive the Death Game one last time.

Mexico City Outskirts
Death Game Red Room Training Facility

After dropping off the members who would be attacking the main Hydra base, Natasha piloted the jet a few miles outside the city and to the location of the facility, like she could ever forget. She landed the jet down and looked out the window. The entrance to the game was simple. It was a metal door that opened to a flight of stairs that went down into the dark labyrinth below. Outside were the scoreboards and a few benches for the views to wait for the victors. She knew her name would still be on top of every single leaderboard, and she hoped that Steve couldn't read Russian, because he might just leave her to dry knowing her numbers.

"You ready?" Steve asked quietly. He had his gear and helmet on, just in case the fight did spill out or there was a trap set.

"Yeah," Natasha said, and she walked down the ramp. "Stay here, Barton will be back soon."

It was almost like she teleported back in time as she made her way towards the entrance. She could picture the little girls waiting outside for their turn. The scoreboards didn't help either, all of them showing the terrible things that she had done. She approached the door and noticed that it was slightly ajar. Natasha took a deep breath and grabbed one of her guns and a knife, and Natasha entered the Death Game for the final time.

Natasha was almost transported back in time. She moved through the tunnels swiftly and expertly, stepping over bones and broken weapons. She was basically a zombie at this point, only focusing on the task at hand, and not around her. After a few minutes of walking she entered the large opening in the bottom of the labyrinth. At once, all guns pointed towards her. Natasha didn't flinch at them, and instead her eyes went straight to Clint and Anya in the center of the room.

"Natalia Romanova," Anya said, drawing a pistol. "Foolish girl, come to die."

"Anya," Natasha said. "Let Barton go, and you can kill me on spot."

"No I don't think so," Anya said, pacing around Hawkeye and running a hand across his face. "He will make an excellent trophy after I have your head. The other Avengers will come for him, and they will fall, just as you will."

Natasha just narrowed her gaze and prepared for her final fight. Almost at once, three Hydra thugs came charging at her. Natasha caught the first one's punch and jabbed him twice in the rib cage before pushing him off. That left her open to another attack, and she felt the pain of a knife slicing into her shoulder. She ducked low, sweeping the legs out from underneath the man and kicking up from the ground to jab the next man in the face twice. He went down hard and Natasha turned to see a fist flying at her face. It connected with her cheek and she stumbled back. The man that punched her cracked his knuckles and came charging at her. She quickly dodged another punch and jumped up on the man, using her legs to wrap around his neck and swing him around, breaking his neck in the process. As she was getting up, a gunshot rang out and Natasha was nailed in the calf by the man she had taken down earlier with a bloody nose.

Fine, Natasha though, grabbing her own pistol lightning fast and shooting the other two men on the spot.

"You are sloppy Natalia," Anya said, stalking forward now. The curious thing about all of this was that the rest of the numerous Hydra troops in the room didn't charge at her, only the three.

"This is what I have been waiting for," Anya said. "The chance to strike you down. To prove who the real Black Widow is. Once I have defeated you, your body will be displayed to show that Natalia Romanova, one of the liberators of Hydra in DC, has perished to a superior Black Widow."

Natasha grunted with the pain that she felt currently, but was overall ready for round 2.

Anya came at her, charging with a small war cry. Anya threw two quick punches to Natasha's head, which were blocked easily. What she didn't see coming was the roundhouse kick to her midsection that Anya delivered. Natasha doubled over as the wind was knocked out of her, and then was kicked again in the face by Anya, her nose breaking and sending blood streaming down her face. Natasha reeled back, landing on the ground.

"Pathetic," Anya said. "I expected more of a challenge. It looks like your age is catching up to you."

Natasha kicked up and charged at Anya, going on her offensive. Natasha threw punch and kick after punch and kick, and Anya almost looked bored blocking them all. As Natasha threw another punch, Anya caught it and spun around to land an elbow to Natasha's eye, making her see stars. Anya pivoted again and drew a knife, slashing it across Natasha's stomach.

Natasha yelped as she stumbled back, inspecting the wound. It was a shallow cut, drawing blood but leaving her insides, well inside. She could already feel her eye swelling as she dropped to one knee, spitting blood on the ground.

"You are a disgrace to the Black Widow name," Anya said. "I've seen children fight better than you. You are soft and weak. The Americans have turned you into something you're not. But there are a few things that the Americans got correct. That Captain America? He is a specimen isn't he. Perhaps when I am done with you, I may go and pay him a visit. A child with him could be most valuable to the Red Room."

At that point, something snapped inside of Natasha. She didn't know if it was her interest in Steve, the fact that Anya threatened a comrade in arms, or that she threatened someone else in general. Whatever it was, it gave Natasha her second wind, and this time, she was going to prove who the real Black Widow was. Natasha came like a fury at Anya, now landing most of her punches and kicks. Anya gave ground, and still the Hydra soldiers didn't come to her aid. She had made it very clear that she would deal with Romanoff without anyone else's help.

Natasha landed a solid punch to Anya's face, cutting her on the forehead with the ferocity of it. Anya growled, landing a kick to Natasha's midsection and then kneed her in the face, sending Natasha on her back. Anya was done playing now, and quickly jumped on Romanoff, straddling her waist and slamming the knife down towards Natasha's neck. Natasha brought her hands up just in time, halting the forward movement of the knife. It was now a battle of strength between the two Black Widows. Natasha's arms were shaky as the knife drew slower and slower towards her neck.

Images flashed in her mind then, Coulson picking her up after a mission, having lunch with Clint, visiting Cooper and Lila on the farm, seeing Laura pregnant, Steve smiling at her. This gave Natasha the last bit of strength she needed. With a yell she pushed back hard, slamming the butt of the knife into Anya's face. While Anya was reeling from the hit, Natasha grabbed the knife and turned it around and stabbed Anya through the neck.

The look on Anya's face was of pure shock as she started sputtering. Natasha was splattered with Anya's blood and she quickly pushed the dying woman off of her. Anya was now choking on her own blood, knife still well embedded in her neck. Natasha groaned as she somehow managed to stand up, holding her cut stomach as the rest of her injuries pained her. She looked down to see Anya finally stop moving, her eyes lifeless. She was the true Black Widow, and she was now the last of the Red Room. With this, there would forever be red in her ledger.

Natasha made her way over to Clint, moving pretty slowly. She untied him and he stood, looking at her with severe concern on his face. All around her, Hydra soldiers were raising their weapons at the two, getting through the shock that seeing their boss die right in front of them had. Natasha and Clint were hurt, Natasha probably worse off than Barton. None of them had any weapons, Natasha being out of ammo and Barton, well, a prisoner. "If you run you can probably get out of here," Natasha said."Go without me, make it back to Laura and the kids. I'll hold them off the best I can."

Then, without warning, the whizz of a red, white, and blue shield came out from nowhere. It rebounded off the wall and smacked a guard in the face. The others whirled their guns at him, but Steve was already upon them. He knocked two guns away from his direction and jumped, splitting his legs to kick two men in the jaw. They both tumbled backwards while Steve landed and swept the legs out from under another. "Go!" He yelled at Natasha and Clint, diving into a roll and picking up his shield on the way. He used it like a battering ram to shove another thug to the ground.

Natasha watched as Steve moved around the room like a mad man. Taking down troops left and right, and if she wasn't in too much pain, she would have complimented him. She started to leave when she noticed something in the rafters. A sniper, zeroing in on Captain America. She used the last bit of energy she had to sprint over to where Steve was, ignoring all of her injuries as she used all of her strength to shove him out of the way. The gunshot rang out and where Captain America just was, Natasha took his place.

Natasha didn't feel any pain with this shot. She stumbled back, looking down at her left breast and noticing a hole there where there shouldn't be. She gingerly went to touch it and her hand came back blood red. She started shuddering as her body was shutting down. She managed to look over at Steve, her eyes scared and mouth open, and then collapsed to her knees and fell down, her blood leaking on the floor around her.

"Natasha!" she heard, although it was faint and seemed like very far away. "Banner! Stand by for medical. Romanoff's down. Bullet through the chest." She was gathered up in strong arms and lifted off the ground. "Hawkeye! Can you run?"

"Yeah," Clint said. "Get going Cap, she doesn't have long."

She felt the beating of running feet as Steve sprinted out of the area. "Suppose this is a bad time to ask if you want to get dinner, huh Rogers," Natasha said weakly, figuring she didn't have a lot of time, so she could at least say she tried.

"Uh, yes!" she heard, though it was even further away this time. "Later!"

"Don't think I have later," Natasha said, sight now fluttering in and out. "Clocking out here. Barton knows where I want to be buried. Just... ask... hi.." Natasha lost consciousness at that point, head rolling back and eyes closing.

Chapter Text

Natasha woke with a start in a pristine white bed. Her hand immediately went to her chest, but found no hole there. She took off the covers and found herself in white pants and a white tank top. Not the suit she was wearing when she fought Anya, unlike any clothes that she had ever owned. She swung her legs out and placed her feet on the wood floor. She looked up and gasped at the view out on the balcony. The she realized where she was.

It was in a beautiful mountain house in Russia. There was no snow, no cold, nothing but a perfect view of the countryside in front of Natasha as she stood on the balcony looking out. And in that moment, she didn’t think about the battle or the Avengers. Not Anya, Steve, SHIELD, or the bullet that went into her heart. The only thing she was thinking about was how beautiful it was here.

"You've returned to me Natalia," a man's voice said beside her.

Natasha turned to see Alexi, her dead husband, standing in the bedroom. She had been forced to marry Alexi a little after her work with the Winter Soldier, and while she wasn't keen on it at first, it was vital to the Red Room. While at first she was hesitant, she soon grew to care for the man, and he her. Until the Red Room took him away from her to inject him with a serum that was more potent than the one her and Barnes were given. It was the Russian's final attempt at the original Erskine formula. But, it didn't produce yet again. The serum tore Alexi apart, killing him. Now he was here, right in front of her.

"Alexi," Natasha said, astonished. "How is this possible."

"I was waiting for you Natalia," he said. "Now that you've come to me, we can move on together."

At that moment, it seemed like the best plan in the world. She would be at peace, she had wiped out a lot of red. Finally put down the last remnants of the Red Room, helped the Avengers expose Hydra, and rescued Clint.

Clint. The thought of his name brought her back to reality. More images flashed through her mind. Fury, Coulson, Laura, Lila, Cooper, and Steve. Steve, the man that she had professed her feelings to as she was bleeding out in his arms. Did she have a chance? Did she deserve a chance? She wasn’t sure of either, but it was intoxicating and she needed to know. Natasha stopped and looked at him.

"I can't," Natasha said. "I want to, but also I don't. I'm not done yet, and great things are about to happen. You need to go on without me."

Alexi just nodded and the world seemed to distort around Natasha. Alexi disappeared as everything went black.

Manhattan, New York
September 19th, 2013

Natasha felt herself come back into consciousness after that. There was still a dull pain in her chest, but she felt herself sitting in a bed. Since the last thing she remembered was being in Steve’s arms in Mexico City, she figured she wasn’t there anymore. Though she wasn’t sure where she was. She heard murmuring voices in the background and blinked her eyes open. She could see three people, Banner, Terra, and Steve in the room with her. That’s when she felt the weight on her hand. She looked over and Steve was holding it. She smiled to herself, maybe she had a chance after all.

They didn’t notice her wake, they were all pretty focused on Banner, who was looking over her chart. He had a frown on his face, which told her that it had been a tough recovery. "Well, on paper, it doesn't look too good," she heard Banner say. "But in real life? I think we all know Natasha's gonna pull through."

Now was as good as time as any to make her presence known. "Of course I'm going to pull through," Natasha said weakly, her throat dry from the lack of fluids for a long time and her entire body aching. "Why make things easy?" She felt Steve’s grip tighten as she spoke and turn towards her. She smiled at him, and his surprised face. "Hey soldier," Natasha greeted. "Why so serious?"

Steve let out a relieved breath and smiled back at her. "No reason," he replied, giving her hand a very gentle squeeze. "Not anymore, anyway. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a train," Natasha said, trying her best to squeeze his hand back. "How long have I been out? And where am I?”

“You’ve been out a week in a coma,” Bruce said, filling in the gaps for her. “When you were hit, the bullet fractured into four pieces, a few lodging themselves in your heart. It was a rough surgery, you flatlined twice. But, you got through it. You’re here at Avengers tower now, recovering.”

Natasha took that all in and knew that the serum that she was injected with at the Red Room that sterilized her and enhanced her abilities and healing had saved her life. She would never escape the Red Room if she kept doing things like this. “What happened to the rest of the Red Room,” Natasha said. “And Hydra?” She coughed after that, her throat was just too dry. Steve got her a glass of water that was by her bedside and helped her take a drink of it.

"Long gone," Clint said, walking into the room and holding a bottle of vodka with a ribbon on it, the strong Russian kind, meant as a gift. "After you killed Anya and Steve wrecked shop with the other agents, we didn’t see any more presence of the Red Room. Then the rest of us took down the Hydra base as quick as possible while Bruce stabilized you. You bled all over Stark's jet by the way."

"He'll get over it," Natasha said, finishing up her drink and smiling a thanks at Steve.

"If you weren't so damn selfless he wouldn't have to worry about it," Clint said, setting the bottle on the side table and reached his hand to hold Natasha’s other hand, squeezing it in reassurance.

"Fuck you," Natasha said dryly, squeezing his arm as well. The two were close and showed their emotions in, some would say unorthodox, ways to each other. Clint knew Natasha was terrified when she got shot, and Natasha knew Clint was terrified when he thought she wouldn't wake up. This was their way of comforting each other.

"The doctor says you should be in recovery for about a month," Bruce said, making sure he did the good doctor thing. "Two weeks minimum."

"You'll be up and at 'em before you know it," Steve assured, smiling and leaning back in his chair. It was comforting to have him there, and she knew that he was trying to help her out and make her feel better. She wanted to get him alone and ask him about her question, but she wasn’t about to kick everyone out.

“She’ll break out way before then,” Clint said with a smirk, almost reading her thoughts and heading out. “Come on guys, let’s give these two some space.” Terra smiled as well, obviously sniffing it out as well. Bruce followed and soon she and Steve were alone. 

She turned to look at him, shifting a bit but not feeling a whole bunch of pain. She smiled at him and said the only thing that could come to her mind at this moment. “Hey.”

He smiled and scooted his chair closer to her bedside, leaning forward again so he could clasp her hand in both of his. "Hey," he parroted. "So... dinner plans may need to wait until you can at least move around," he said. "But until then, maybe we can have a night in? Order Chinese take-out and watch a movie or something."

So he said yes, he actually wanted to go out with her. She couldn’t help the smile that washed over her face and she saw it reflected in him. She was about to answer when she stopped and looked him in the eyes. She needed to say something to him, to warn him. "You know you don't have to do this," Natasha said. "All of that shit back there, that's just the tip of the iceberg on what has gone on in my life. There is dark stuff that still keeps me up at night. I don't want to tarnish your name by associating with me. I don't know if you ever looked, but a lot of people are still going after me because of what I did in DC. My file got put out there, and a lot of nasty things surfaced again. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they came after me with an arrest warrant."

Natasha stopped and took a breath, collecting herself from her rambling. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm no good at this," Natasha said. "I haven't had a modern long term relationship ever. I don't show my emotions the best. There is a lot of dark stuff associated with me. And there is no way I am good enough for you. I completely understand if you don't want to do this. Who would want to go out with a monster anyway?”

"Natasha." Steve said, scooting his chair as close as it would possibly go and made sure to look her directly in the eyes. "You are not a monster. I have seen monsters. I have fought them. I have killed them. I have talked with them. And trust me when I say that you are not one. And if it's any consolation, I'm not good at this either. My one long-term relationship kind of... went down the drain. As for tarnishing my name, that would be quite a feat for someone who goes by 'Captain America'," he teased. "And there's dark stuff that keeps both of us awake. We can be there for each other." He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I'm willing to try this if you are." 

Natasha got a wave of confidence at this point, and leaned forward to capture his lips with hers. She put as much passion as she could into it and felt him return it the same. It was like electricity between them, the whole cliche of fireworks going off. She held it for as long as her sore chest would let her and pulled back. There was a look of bliss between them as they settled back in.

"Okay," Natasha said with a smile. "But let's not tell anyone about it yet, I mean besides the people that already know. I know the uproar it was when Captain America was first seen with a date at that Gala after New York. And with my track record lately, we better wait till I'm at least tolerated in the media before we let them know."

“Whatever you want,” Steve said with a smile, still holding onto her hand. They stayed there in silence for a bit, just enjoying each other’s company. Natasha was actually dating Captain America, and it was a little daunting. She had a million thoughts running through her head right now, but pushed them down.

“As for dinner,” Natasha said, starting up the conversation again. “When I’m able to walk without hurting that is. I know a really nice diner in Brooklyn. It's close to my apartment there.”

Natasha had numerous safe houses and properties around the world, and the one she used when she was in New York was an out of the way area in Brooklyn. Private, only a few residents, but Natasha had paid good money to have it remodeled. The interior definitely didn’t match the exterior, which was perfect for Natasha. Still living in decent comfort, but not being detected at all. But her apartment paled in comparison to Avengers tower, and she wasn’t sure if she would be allowed to stay or not. She supposed that it would be a team decision.

"You live in Brooklyn?" Steve asked, clearly intrigued. He grew up in Brooklyn after all, and having a girl that stayed there probably peaked his interest even more. Natasha smiled at his reaction. "When I'm in New York," Natasha said. "It's got an extra bedroom, since somebody put holes in your apartment in DC if you're interested. I think it's a few blocks away from where you were born actually. I read something about it in the Smithsonian."

"Huh," Steve said thoughtfully. "Pretty sure I will be staying here, but I will definitely think about it. Which diner were you thinking of? I was in Brooklyn for a little while before the invasion. Maybe I know it."

"It's called Astrid's," Natasha said. "Kinda a diner/bar place. Great burgers and wings, the game is always on. I had to threaten them to always put the Red Sox on when I show up, stupid Yankees fans that always go there. Usually can find a good game of pool or darts as well."

Steve hummed again. "I've passed by there every once in a while, but never been in." When she mentioned baseball though, he seemed to get even more excited. She knew he was a bit of a fan, but wasn’t sure how big. "You a baseball fan?"

"Yeah," Natasha said. "I love the concept of the game. The strategy with it. The old feel to it. Who knew a Russian would be in love with an American pastime. Red Sox are my team, I like watching Pedroia play. He's a good 2nd baseman, probably the best in the League. I have a place in Boston just outside of Fenway. I catch a couple games when I can, gives me some time to unwind."

"Even though the Dodgers are in California now, I still gotta support them," he confessed. "They were my team when I went under and they're my team now. Tony got me tickets to a game for my birthday. It was really great. But I've never been to a Red Sox game. Not in person, anyway."

“Well we’ll have to fix that then,” Natasha said with another smile. “So you can see who the superior baseball team really is.” Natasha was about to continue when Jarvis, Tony Stark’s very impressive AI, interrupted them.

"Pardon me, Captain," said JARVIS, his voice emanating from seemingly invisible speakers. "But I have some news I believe you'd like to hear."

"What is it, JARVIS?" Steve asked, looking up.

"Mr. Stark has returned."

"You better get out of here," Natasha said, noting JARVIS's announcement. "Stark wasn't too happy the last time we saw each other. We best keep this news from him for a bit. Go see him, I'll catch up on some sleep."

It was true Natasha was tired, who wouldn't be after what she went through. She didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted to stay awake and talk with Steve, but she understood the necessity for her to heal.

"Alright," he said, pondering her statement for a moment. "But before I go..." He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Natasha's lips. He pulled away with a smile and took his leave. "Be back soon," he promised as the door closed behind him.

Natasha returned the kiss with as much passion as Steve and laid back on the bed as he left. "I'll be here," Natasha said, a goofy grin on her face. "Probably." As Steve left, Natasha kept that goofy grin on her face, completely smitten. "God what are you doing Natalia," she scolded herself, shifting herself in the bed to a more comfortable position. She wasn't able to finish her thought as fatigue took over her and she fell asleep.

Chapter Text

September 22nd, 2013

Clint woke up in his guest quarters and stretched out. He threw on some workout clothes, planning on hitting the gym after seeing Natasha and a cup of coffee. He made his way to Natasha's room and stepped inside, only to find all the wires disconnected, and the covers all roughed up.

"This has to be a new record," Clint said, shaking his head and walking towards the elevator.

He climbed in and pressed a button to the main floor.

Once he got out, he walked over to the breakfast bar, only to see the red-haired spy sitting on a stool in stolen boxer shorts and a sweatshirt, sipping on a cup of coffee. Clint ambled over and glanced at the spy who only smirked at him.

"You know the doctor said two weeks," Clint chided, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop Natasha in whatever she was planning on doing.

"And?" Natasha countered.

"Figured a near death experience would at least put you down for more than three days," Clint said, sitting across from her and refilling her cup of coffee as well.

"Didn't stop me in Budapest," Natasha said.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint said, taking a drink and gesturing to her clothes. "Rogers know you stole his boxers and sweatshirt yet?"

"Wouldn't be much of a spy if he knew that stuff," Natasha said, taking a drink of her coffee. "Besides, it's comfortable. Oversized clothes put less pressure on all of those tubes the doctors stuck in me."

"That's not every reason," Clint chided, pointing to the little metal chain that could be seen around her neck.

Natasha smirked again and took out Steve's dog tags to prove Clint right and then hid them back underneath the sweatshirt. Clint just chuckled and Natasha shook her head.

"Laugh it up Katniss," Natasha said.

"No problem Kim Possible," Clint fired back. "You gonna try and go the distance with him?"

"I think so," Natasha said, confiding in her best friend. He was probably one of the only people she would trust with this information, and since they were alone, she could tell him this. "Haven't felt this way about anyone."

"You've had brief stints with only a few guys, Nat," Clint said. "Barnes, Murdock, hell even me. None of them stuck though, and you got all moody and sad after Murdock and me. I don't want to see you hurt again."

"I'm a big girl Barton," Natasha said. "I can handle it."

"Do I have to give him the older brother speech," Clint asked, knowing her answer already.

"I am way older than you," Natasha replied. "And if we are honest with each other, there is no way you would be able to beat up Captain America."

"Thanks Nat," Clint said, taking another drink of his coffee. "Really appreciate the confidence."

"Your welcome Legolas," Natasha replied, sipping hers as well.

Steve was the next to enter, sending a little flutter in Natasha as she smiled when he walked in.

"Good morning," Steve said as he walked past them to the breakfast bar. "How are you feeling?" He asked instead, pulling a dozen eggs and a carton of milk out of the fridge.

"Excellent," Natasha said with a wink at Steve, causing Clint to scoff. "I'm ready to go on mission."

"Hell no," Clint said. "You should take at least a week, Nat. Do it for me, please?"

Natasha just rolled her eyes and stood up, her bare feet padding over to where Steve was facing the stove, wrapping him in a hug from behind.

"Let's keep this from Stark for as long as possible," Natasha said. "It will be fun to mess with him. Make me a few eggs?"

Natasha unwrapped her arms from his waist and pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking back over to Clint, who just rolled his eyes.

"From what I've gathered, you two might not have time to bump uglies," Clint said. "Hydra seems to be still kicking, even with all of your fireworks in DC. And my guess is that they have something decently powerful if they were working with the Red Room. The next step is eradicating Hydra for good, having them not on the Earth would probably be for the best."

"Tell me about it," Steve said dryly as he turned on the stove and started cracking eggs for him and Natasha. "I've been trying to exterminate these guys since 1942, but they're like cockroaches." The eggs sizzled in the pan. "You know how the saying goes," he said bitterly. "Barton, do you want any?"

"Sure Cap," Clint said. "Besides, anybody cooking is better than Tasha cooking in the morning."

Natasha wanted to comment on how Laura wouldn't let him cook either, but she still had to keep that a secret for a little longer. So Natasha settled for the next best thing. A glare and a "fuck you."

Clint just chuckled and took another drink from his coffee.

"So how does breakfast work around here," Natasha asked. "Do you guys have team bonding time in the mornings?"

Steve hummed thoughtfully as he cooked. "Well, the Avengers haven't really been together for a while. Terra and I have been in DC for quite a while. After the invasion, we stayed maybe a week at the Tower before going our separate ways. We met up every now and then. Kept in touch. Fought the occasional super villain. But this is the first time we've all been back in one place for a while." He folded the omelette in half and shook the pan so it wouldn't stick. "When we have been in the Tower together, we would usually make it a point of having one meal a day together. Usually dinner, since everyone wakes up at different times. I'm usually the first up in the mornings. Five a.m. runs and all." His lips quirked a little as he slowly shook the first omelette onto a place and slid it Natasha's way

Natasha snagged the plate and the fork that came with it and started eating the delicious food that Steve provided her with.

"5 am huh," Clint said with a chuckle, finding some hot sauce and sliding it to Natasha wordlessly, knowing exactly how she liked her eggs. She immediately popped the top of the bottle and poured a gracious amount on her omelet and kept scooping it in, famished due to the lack of solid food for a decent amount of time.

"You know if you ever start spending the night with Tasha you will either have to give those up, or learn to be very stealthy getting out of bed," Clint continued. "She enjoys her sleep."

Natasha couldn't protest at that, merely shrugging her shoulders, "He has a point, I sleep till at least 7."

"She'll claw onto anyone that is in the bed too," Clint said. "Big guy like you will produce a whole bunch of body heat that she will not let go easily."

"Another valid point," Natasha relented.

Steve blushed all the way down his neck and ducked his head, trying to head it. "I... well..." He sputtered, not really paying attention to the eggs. He suddenly snapped back to reality and dumped the next omelette onto a plate (much sloppier). He slid it over to Clint. "That... wouldn't be so bad," Steve managed. "But, I mean..." Gosh, how did he get the courage to say this? "If you know that, does that mean...?" He looked between the two of them and then quickly away, turning even more red.

"Have a relationship?" Natasha finished for Steve. "Yeah, for a couple weeks. Didn't last very long though, there wasn't a lot of depth to the relationship."

"It was a consensual break off," Clint said. "But we still ran a lot of missions together, and some required us to either sleep in a hotel room with one bed, or stay out in the country in one tent. So I still got plenty of Natasha's annoying bed habits."

Natasha was about to protest when the next member of the Avengers announced her presence.

"Morning, kind folk!" Terra said. "Natashaaa, I have something for you to try on," she said in a sing-song voice, holding a dress-bag in front of her and gave it a little shake that was supposed to be tantalizing.

She turned to see Terra, very excited about something. She was wearing what seemed to be a very expensive bride's maid dress, must be for the wedding of the century between Pepper and Stark. At least that was what the media was calling it. She was also shaking a bag in front of her, and it didn't take long for Natasha to piece two and two together.

"Oh no," Natasha said. "I don't do this trying on dresses thing. No girls days out, too much estrogen all around. Wait, why would I get one of these dresses. Aren't they for bridesmaids?"

Terra's arms slumped down with the dress at the first rejection. "Puh-lease, after all the testosterone we've been surrounded by," she gestured to Steve and Clint. "Pretty sure we need to balance our shit out, and Pepper made you a bridesmaid! Exciting, right? I have the bachelorette party all planned out, nothing big, just a good celebration," she assured.

"And you'll look so good in the dress! She even got some custom hidden pockets in them to hide our weapons." To prove her point, she pulled out from the mid back of the dress a sheathed combat knife and quickly put it back. "Just try it on to see if it's a good fit, Pepper'll be down in a moment." The former agent shuffled over to the kitchen table and took the offered omelette plate from Steve with a thank-you Steve, and dug in.

Natasha took the bag and looked at Clint, who just shrugged. Natasha sighed and looked at Terra. She knew when to choose her battles, which were worth fighting and which weren't. She wasn't about to stress out over some dress.

"Fine," Natasha relented. "But only to shut you guys up."

"There's the Natasha we all know and love," Clint said. "Going all Black Widow mode when she doesn't get her way."

If looks could kill, the glare Natasha gave Clint would have incinerated him about fifty times over. Natasha looked back to Terra before walking out of the room.

"Oh," she said over her shoulder to Terra. "Don't tell Stark about Rogers and I. We're gonna see how long we can keep it from him. He'll never drop the jokes and I'm sure the world wouldn't want me to murder Iron Man."

Natasha exited the dining room and entered a bathroom off of the main room. She slipped off Steve's sweatshirt and boxers and took off his dog tags. She carefully placed them all on the sink and then pulled the dress out of the bag. Gold, of course. Now she really looked like an Iron Man nerd with her red hair. Shaking it off, knowing that Pepper would appreciate her trying it on at least. Why Pepper wanted her to be a bridesmaid she'll never know, but she would probably have to gut it out. After all she did spy on Tony and Pepper for a decent amount of time, and lied to their faces a lot.

Natasha slipped on the dress and adjusted it to her body. It fit perfectly, how Pepper got her measurements she would never know. The dress accented her curves perfectly, hugging her body in all the right places. The front of the dress revealed just the right amount of cleavage. Tasteful and not too much, but probably enough to make Steve's jaw drop. Natasha looked at her hair and figured she would have to curl it, something she did a lot when her hair was this short. It was really gaining back the bright red color now, the darker dye finally wearing off.

Natasha looked herself over and figured it didn't look too bad as she gathered the clothes she had on for breakfast and carefully placed Steve's dog tags in one of the compartments that would either hold one of her glocks or a small grenade that had enough power to clear a small room. You just never knew. She walked out of the bathroom and headed back towards the main area, wanting nothing more than to get this over with.

By the time she had returned, the rest of the group was there. Pepper, Tony, and Bruce were all sitting around the counter and eating some breakfast, and Natasha was really happy when she caught Steve's reaction to her in the dress. Pepper came up to her and smiled at her.

"It looks amazing, does it feel okay? Need any adjustments?" Pepper fretted.

"It actually fits really well," Natasha said. "I have no idea how you got my measurements, but well done. It could hug a little more here."

Natasha outlined the area just under her chest that was a slight baggy. It was nitpicking really, but Pepper did ask.

"You look great Nat," Clint said. "Just like Budapest right?"

"Maybe at the beginning," Natasha said, turning around to show Pepper how it looked from the back. "There was little left of that dress after. And it wasn't nearly as expensive as this one."

"What happened in Budapest?" asked Tony, swivelling in his seat to get a good look at one of the bridesmaids at his wedding as Pepper started taking the measurements that Natasha indicated.

"Don't bother, Tony," Terra mumbled while texting someone on her phone. "I've been asking for years and they still won't tell me."

Natasha had a window and gave Steve a discrete wink and coy smile. She wouldn't be much of a spy if she couldn't give her boyfriend seductive looks every once in a while. Natasha raised her arms to allow Pepper to take more measurements as needed and then scoffed when Tony asked her about Budapest.

"The Budapest story would take about three days to really explain," Clint said, finishing his eggs and working on his cup of coffee.

"Plus it's our trade secret," Natasha added. "Clint and I vowed to never tell anyone, on the exception that one of us marries, and since we are both heavily involved in whatever this is now, it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Plus I don't know if married life suits us."

Natasha was lying through her teeth on just about every part of that story. Clint was of course already married, and Laura did know everything about Budapest, and there was a high possibility that Natasha would tell Steve at some point. There was always a part of her that maybe wanted to get married, but she never found the right person. Clint was just too awkward after the first few encounters, so they just stepped back into friendship. Murdock was too complicated, leading to many arguments between the two. The closest she got was with James back when she was in the Red Room. But they were torn apart, never really given the chance. And then came Steve, trumping everyone else.

When they had time alone, she would explain that she would be very open to marriage, and was just putting on a charade to keep Stark in the dark.

Tony huffed, turning back to his food practically inhaling his eggs. "I bet you're Budapest story's not even real," he said with his mouth full, half-teasing. But also half-not. "If I can't find any trace of it, it never happened." His expression was smug, as if he couldn't fathom a secret that could successfully be kept from him. Which he probably couldn't.

"Look if I can hack Jarvis, I can make a story disappear if I want to," Natasha said, noticing a small frown on Steve's face. It would look like this conversation would need to take place a bit sooner than expected.

"Captain," Natasha said, lowering her arms after Pepper finished her measurements. "As leader of the Avengers, may I have a word with you in private about my involvement in future Avengers operations?"

Tony grunted in annoyance. "No way you're a better hacker than me," he grumbled.

Steve looked up, only a few bites into his eggs. "Yes," he said simply, looking a bit confused at her formality with everything. He grabbed the plate of food and stood, taking his breakfast with him as he headed into the hall, nodding at Natasha to follow him into the hallway.

Natasha followed him into the hall and looked at Steve.

"Okay listen," she said softly, not wanting anyone to overhear her. "While I do need to talk to you about my future with the Avengers, I also wanted to point out I'm not against marriage. I was just trying to throw Stark off a bit. I've just never been in a relationship long enough to get to that point."

Natasha leaned against the back wall and sighed.

"I just wanted to address that, I figured that would be something that you wanted someday, but if I'm honest with myself, you probably shouldn't be with me," Natasha said.

"Why not?" he asked after a bit, seeming confused about why he shouldn't marry her

"I'm damaged Steve," Natasha said carefully. "But that is a story for another time."

Maybe she would tell him about the Red Room graduation ceremony one day, but today was not the day. This was still something new, something fragile. It might scare him off, when he realizes that his chance of domestic life, kids and all that, would be out the window if he married her. It was selfish of her at this point, but there were other fish to fry.

"What's also important is Hydra," Natasha said. "I know how much Bucky means to you, he means a lot to me too. But the partnership with the Red Room proves that Hydra has a powerful weapon that they are doing something nasty with, which means Fury's intel of there being Hydra bases scattered across the world is more valuable than gold now. I know I'm not an Avenger, but I could maybe sign a contract. I will work for the Avengers, under your and Stark's leadership, until the Hydra threat has been neutralized. That is if you will have me, I know my name isn't the greatest in the media now."

"Natasha, forget the contract. Forget the media. After what you did in Washington, you're an Avenger. No signature needed. Well, now that there's no SHIELD to report to, anyway. We would be honoured to have you." He smiled warmly, grateful to her for everything she'd done for him and with him. "You can stay as long as you like. And helping us take down Hydra? That's your pay cheque. If you're okay with that. Plus room and board, I suppose, once I speak to Tony but I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

"That's the thing about Stark that you also need to know," Natasha said, now folding her arms in front of her chest in shame and embarrassment. "The whole thing during the Stark Expo was bad enough for our professional relationship, but what he hasn't figured out yet is something that is about to come to light. With the recent files released from Shield, he'll find out about one of my last missions that was part of the Red Room. The scientist Ho Yinsen, who was responsible for keeping Stark alive in the cave and helping him design the first Iron Man suit and other things, and he died trying to get Stark out. Well, he was captured because of me."

Natasha took a deep breath and then dived into the mission that would possibly be the last stake between her and Stark.

"Yinsen had been under the Ten Rings hold for a couple years before he met Stark," Natasha said. "The Red Room was contracted by the Ten Rings to capture the scientist. They sent me and the mission was done. I invaded his home, took him, and..."

Natasha swallowed and bowed her head.

"I killed his wife and children," she said, shakily. "And delivered him to the Ten Rings without shedding a tear. Stark will find that out and not want me 50 miles from here, just so you know."

"That might be best coming from you rather than your file," he suggested gently, after processing that information for a bit. "You it yourself, he's going to find out eventually."

Natasha just nodded, knowing that Steve was right about that.

"And the chances he'll just assemble a suit and throw me out the window?" Natasha asked dryly, trying to lighten the mood from the dark tone it just went to. "You better at least be in the room when I tell him."

Steve shrugged in answer to her rhetorical question. "If you want me to be," he said quietly. "Well, if I'm there, probably not as high as they would be," he joked back. "Come on." He gestured back at the room where some of the others were still having breakfast. "You don't have to tell him right now, of course. But let me know when you're ready and I'll be there." He sent her a reassuring smile.

"Okay," Natasha said, a small smile on her face. "But I've got to change out of this dress first. And I need to work out, I've got so much pent up energy from sitting in that bed. Maybe call him to meet me in the gym, I'm gonna head there. Up to you if you want to come with, I'll break it to him there."

Natasha walked over and placed a kiss on Steve's cheek and proceeded out of the hallway to the gym, hopefully finding some training clothes in the locker room area that fit her. Natasha walked into the gym from the locker room, where she found adequate workout clothes. She was tying back what was left of her hair to keep out of her eyes, when she saw Terra going through a workout. Natasha paused and watched Terra's patterns, taking in all of her footwork and various things. She walked over to the ring and leaned on one of the ropes, not making a sound like a good spy.

"Keep tension in your core," Natasha spoke finally, after analyzing her pattern. "You'll be able to channel more force into your swings."

"Gah!" Terra explained in surprise, as she restrained herself from swinging the staff and instead dropped it. The staff clattered to the ground as Terra whipped around, hand on her heart in shock. "Man. You have to wear a bell or something, scared the shit outta me," she laughed a bit nervously, shoving aside her stress and going back to acting like herself.

Bending down to pick up the staff, she said, "Yeah, my old S.O. always told me my core was never very hardcore." The former negotiator gave her tummy a pat and took a sip of her water bottle before setting it down and resting the staff against the ropes. "You wanna spar or somethin'? I won't touch yours if you don't touch mine." She gestured to where Natasha got shot and Terra's own wrapped up stab wounds by Bucky.

"Steve won't be happy," Natasha said, already climbing in the ring.

She grabbed a handful of chalk and chalked up her hands, always a ritual before a spar. She walked over to her corner and started to stretch out her sore muscles, groaning at the tight spots in her chest.

"So you and Banner huh," Natasha said. "Never really pegged him for a romantic."

Terra grabbed a towel to dry herself up a bit before chalking up her own hands. "He's not," she chuckled. "But he tries, and that means more to me. I kinda had to wear him down at first." Biting her lip to hide her smile at the memory. "He definitely had the you'll only get hurt near me, so I have to stay away to keep you safe complex. Had to shut that shit down. And here we are." Terra tightened her braid and waited in the corner for Natasha to finish stretching.

"But you and Steve though! Dream team. But what prompted you to ask him out while bleeding out?" She blew out a breath, just doing the girl talk but also wanting to see if her feelings were legit.

"Well if you're gonna do it," Natasha joked about her very impromptu asking out of Steve. "You know I don't really know what prompted it. Maybe it's because he believed in me during the whole DC thing. He seems to not really care about the shit I did in my past. He is probably the hottest man on Earth. Maybe a combination of all three."

Natasha stood up and cracked her knuckles.

"And while I was there bleeding out, I thought of all the opportunities I squandered in my life. So, I thought I had a shot, and I thought that I was probably going to die anyway, so rejection wouldn't feel bad for long. I honestly didn't expect him to say yes, but I suppose that's all history now."

"Huh. Now that you say it, it makes sense. I wish I passed out before Bruce first rejected me, he was trying to be brutal to scare me off. It sucked, but I'm a stubborn ass," she declared proudly, flipping her braid dramatically over her shoulder. "Ready whenever you are," she said, readying her stance to allow Natasha to make the first move.

Natasha finished stretching and and chuckled at her comment.

"Yeah well men tend to be that way," Natasha said. "At least all the assholes I've met. He's got to be good where it counts though. All of that beast inside of him must have amounted to something translating."

The game had already begun before Terra even knew it. Natasha prided herself on wearing down her opposer mentally and physically. She had probed for information and now would begin a verbal onslaught to fluster Terra to the best of her abilities, all the while physically attacking to make Terra fight a war on two fronts.

Natasha circled around Terra, still an innocent smirk on her face like this was just a simple spar, but if Terra picked up even one thing about her through Shield and the reputation she had there, the Black Widow doesn't lose.

"Nerd in the streets but a Hulk in the sheets right?" Natasha fired again before flipping towards Terra and aiming a kick right at her midsection.

Prepared for her attack, Terra snapped to the left. "God, I hope not." Grabbing Natasha's ankle, she used the force she put into that kick against her to bring her off-balance, tugging her forward. "I'd hate to be crushed," she joked, aiming a kick at her other leg to hopefully sweep her off her feet.

As Terra brought her own kick against Natasha, she managed to channel enough strength to send a kick with her off foot back at Terra's, connecting their legs mid strike. However, Natasha had the small secret weapon of a super soldier serum, and figured that she channeled a little more force into her kick than Terra's.

"Smart girl like you would know how to roll with it," Natasha said, regaining her balance and sending a palm strike at an uninjured part of Terra's midsection. "As for me, I can't wait till my turn with Steve. You modern day girls just don't know how to do things right."

Natasha's kick sent hers taking a step back. The palm strike, however, landed and had Terra huffing out a breath. "Well, I know a few people who would disagree," she chirped, grabbing Natasha's forearm to send them both to the floor, Terra pinning her with hands on her wrists and knees on her thighs.

"I would like to make a few things clear though, if I may," she said, blowing a strand of loose hair out of her eyes.

"Now don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for you guys. I think it'll work great. But." Terra's eyes hardened a little but kept the tone casual. "I don't need to tell you how good-hearted Steve is. And how he will put his all into the relationship. Thing is, you'll need to put your all in too." Her hands turned metallic silver from absorbing the metal from her hair elastic, keeping Natasha's hands pinned down until she finished what she had to say.

"His last girlfriend was really closed off. He wanted to help her but couldn't and it left him broken-hearted. I don't want to see that again. So, let him listen and help. Don't play any games, don't be with him unless your only reason is that you care about him," Terra emphasized, leaning down closer to her face. "Because if you fuck around," she whispered. "I promise I will fuck you up."

She let the tension sit for a millisecond and then pressed a small kiss on Natasha's nose to break it, pulling back with a grin. "I'm saying this because I care about him, and you! And also because it's payback for Steve threatening Bruce before we even dated!" She shook her head and let the metal disappear from her hands with a sigh.

"Alright, you can hit me now."

Natasha just grinned at Terra's threat and let her completely finish before finally subduing the former agent. The metal was a good party trick, but for someone with super soldier serum, she could break through easily.

Natasha laid on the ground for a second, looking up at Terra.

"You know you're kinda cute when you're angry," Natasha teased before continuing. "Let me tell you something."

Natasha kicked up off the floor and used her complete skill set and strength to finish Terra off. She needed to show dominance after all. She threw two strikes to the stomach and one to the chin, sending her stumbling back.

"You won't fuck me up kid," Natasha said, then flipping over Terra and reaching around her neck and grabbing on, not choking her, but just for grip. "It's an admiral statement, but you won't."

Natasha then placed a strong kick to the back of Terra's knees, sending them buckling and then struck up with her knee into Terra's back, pushing her to the ground. As soon as Terra was down, Natasha straddled her back and placed a forearm to the side of her head, pinning her effectively.

"But I'll also tell you I'm putting my all into this relationship too," Natasha said. "But you have to realize that this is completely new territory to me and I have a very dark past that I don't like to talk about. Steve is going to have to endure my bullshit every once in a while to get anywhere with it, so he might be pissed off at me. Probably will be, but I expect that he is a patient person and he will understand that."

Natasha then leaned down by her ear and whispered a threat that she took very seriously.

"But if you do try and come at me about my relationship, you will not like the outcome. I'm a big girl, and I can handle this," Natasha said and then pressed a kiss to Terra's cheek before leaning back up. "Yield."

"That's all I ask," Terra grunted, her voice muffled by the floor she was pinned to. "Obviously I value Steve more than to worry about, ugh, getting beat up, so I will be taking my risks on that outcome. I'm sure you would probably do the same for Clint. But yeah, I yield." She gave the floor two little pats. "Pass me my towel?"

By that time Pepper walked in with some yoga pants and a work-out tank top. She paused in taking a sip of her water bottle as she took in the scene. "Should I come back later?" She asked carefully

"No, no, s'all good," Terra assured, hopping up from the floor as soon as she was able, wiping her lip with the back of her hand. "Ready to work your ass off, Pepper Potts?" She walked under the rope and hopped off the platform.

Pepper chuckled and nodded. "Do your worst, Montgomery."

"Cool beans, start stretching," Terra said.

She passed Terra her towel and patted her on the back.

"Good workout kid," Natasha commended. "I'd believe what your file said about you. Glad to have you on our side."

Natasha herself grabbed a bottle of water and sighed as most of her sore muscles had been alleviated through that work out. It felt great, almost like she was alive again, no pun intended.

"Pepper I want to apologize for the whole thing during the Stark Expo," Natasha said, figuring she needed to at least verbally offer this. "Saying I was under orders is a bull shit excuse and I really don't have another defense. I hope you can forgive me."

Pepper looked up from touching her toes. "Oh, Natasha, it's all in the past now. I guess all we can ask is to just be honest from now on? We're all on the same side now," she said positively. She stood up to stretch out her arms. "Don't worry about Tony, it's just... he takes longer to trust people. A lot of people have let him down," she sighed.

"I'm sure the more she's around, the more he'll warm up to her. He'll get to know her more," Terra suggested.

"Exactly," Pepper agreed. "You guys will work together more and he'll learn to trust you."

"Mmhmm, now do twenty lunges."

Pepper started the lunges.

"I doubt that," Natasha said under her breath and then nodded at Pepper. "I'll do my best."

She hopped down from the ring and made her way over to the heavy bags, not quite done hitting something for the day.

Steve was next to arrive in the gym, dressed in sweats and a grey, tight-fitting T-shirt with a white towel thrown over his shoulders. He set his water bottle down on one of the benches near the door, taking in the scene before him. "Guess Tony hasn't arrived yet," he mused, placing the towel next to the bottle. He wandered over to Natasha at the punching bag and went around the other side. He braced himself against the bag. "Need a partner?" He asked.

"I don't know," Natasha said, wiping some sweat from her eyes. "You have more friends that are going to try and threaten me over what I do with this relationship?"

Natasha smirked and went back to hitting the bag.

"Some people would take that the wrong way Steven," Natasha teased

Steve glanced at Terra and chuckled, shaking his head. "Not that I know of," he grunted as Natasha hit the bag. "Hopefully you won't. Cause if you and Terra didn't get along, that would put sort of a damper on things." He braced himself more steadily against the bag, adapting to the force of Natasha's hits.

The elevator rang its bell and Tony stepped out, dressed in shorts and a wifebeater, shoulders drooping. Despite his resistance about going to the gym, he was actually quite fit, with decent arm muscles being the stand-out and result of his many pull-ups that he did in his workshop mostly out of boredom. With a resigned sigh, he made his way over to Pepper and started to stretch as well.

"We'll get along as long as she stays out of my private life," Natasha said, upping her tempo a bit, now breaking a sweat.

She finished with a flurry of kicks and then punched the bag as hard as she could, splitting it and having sand leak out. Not as impressive as completely knocking it off the hook and across the room like Steve was known for, but decently impressive. Natasha leaned back and started to catch her breath.

"Now for the fun part," Natasha said, turning around and calling out across the room. "Hey Tony, I have to tell you something."

Across the room, Tony paused in his arm-stretch and turned to Natasha, brows furrowed. "Yeah?"

Steve grabbed some bandages from the corner and began wrapping his hands, wandering idly over to Natasha, standing just behind her left shoulder in silent support. Natasha knew she should maybe try to do this in private, but she wanted this out in the open for everyone so they could make their own decision.

"I have been advised recently to not keep secrets from you guys anymore," Natasha started, knowing this was probably going to get ugly. "So If we are going to work together, it's better that you find this out from me than reading it online somewhere due to the recent data dump."

Natasha took a deep breath and looked Tony right in the eyes, not breaking contact and showing weakness that way.

"About a year before you were captured by the Ten Rings and became Iron Man, I was still working for the Red Room," Natasha said. "I was a top agent, always carrying out my missions. One of the last missions I ran was someone very important to you. Ho Yinsen was on a target list from the Ten Rings and they put out a call that only the real criminal higher ups would call to. Naturally the KGB delegated this task to the Red Room and I was put on the case. I had to track down Yinsen, and when I did, I captured him and killed his family. They weren't necessary to the mission."

Natasha had transported back in time at this point, eyes half glazed over as she recounted these memories.

"When I brought Yinsen to the Ten Rings I asked what they wanted with him," Natasha continued. "They said they were targeting a high profile mark, and Yinsen could be of help to him whether technical or medical. You can probably guess who that next man was."

Natasha shook from her trance and looked back at Tony.

"I'm the one responsible for Yinsen's death," Natasha said. "I killed his family, and I was a part of your capture as well. I deserve whatever punishment you see fit."

From the very first sentence, Tony had scowled preemptively, probably expecting it to be bad. And right he was. As soon as she said Yinsen's name, his entire body tensed. Tony's hand fumbled for something to hold on to and found Pepper's arm, clutching it in an iron-clad grip. He steadied himself as best he could, blinking away the salt in his eyes. "You... you..." He could barely form the words.

"Yes," Natasha managed, holding her ground.

She couldn't show weakness here, she had to own this. She fought the new urge to curl into Steve, let the protective nature that he just naturally gave off surround her. She needed to take this, no more hiding. No more secrets.

"I'm not going to give excuses," Natasha continued on. "Saying that it was a different me, the KGB was controlling me and all that shit. I did those things, and I alone am responsible."

Natasha stepped forward, clearly presenting herself for punishment.

"I accept whatever punishment you deem fit," Natasha said. "I just want you to know that I've spent my entire life since Barton brought me back trying to wash the red out of my ledger. An impossible task, but one I will never stop trying to accomplish."

Natasha glanced towards Pepper and Terra, and even Clint who was standing by the door.

"I'll pack my things and go," Natasha surmised from Tony's look. "I'll stay in my apartment in Brooklyn so you don't have to see me every day. I'll still be Pepper's bridesmaid if she and you want it, and we can work together from a distance."

Tony swallowed heavily and nodded. She could see that there maybe would still be some tension and decisions to be made in the future, but for now this was acceptable to him.

"Wait," Steve interjected, stepping forward and placing himself between Natasha and the door.

"Stay out of this!" Tony barked immediately.

Steve stood his ground. "Tony," he tried to reason, but Tony's fuse was too short.

"It's her fault!" He yelled, his limbs thrown out like a puppet that had just been jostled to life. "Her fault Yinsen was in Afghanistan. Her fault those assholes kidnapped me. Her fault that he- that he-" Tony wiped at his nose with his sleeve. "She killed my mentor and his entire family. She..."

"Tony," Steve tried again, arms raised placatingly. "If none of those things had happened, you never would have become Iron Man. Or an Avenger. Or gone to space."

"Are you trying to say it was worth it?" Outrage poured out of Tony's very essence.

"No," Steve replied calmly. "But you can't change the past, Tony. She did what she did and now you have a fiance and a team and a corner of the market on clean energy, none of which you had before. Natasha is trying to make amends-"

"You're too soft, Rogers," Tony accused, his muscles twitching from being clenched so long.

"Whoever said soft was bad?" Steve said.

"I did. Just now." Tony responded firmly.

"Tony-" Steve tried but was interrupted again.

"No!" He swept his free arm aside and knocked over the shelves of bandages and chalk. They clattered to the floor, unravelling as they went. "No! It's her fault and I want her out of my tower!" He glowered at them both, shaking in something akin to rage. Or maybe it was something else.

Terra stepped forward from Tony, to stand in the middle between Natasha and him. "Tony's feelings are obviously very valid. He has every right to be furious," she said firmly. "And we also accepted Natasha here, despite her past. The only thing that is different is the knowledge that it directly affected one of us."

She blew out a breath, looking at the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts, not speaking directly to a single person. More like saying it to the room. "It is Tony's tower. He didn't have to let us stay here without expecting anything in return, but he did. That shouldn't be taken lightly." She looked at Tony and softened her tone. "But we all collectively decided we have a responsibility to keep the world safe."

"You never have to forgive her, Tony. But you have to think if the person you see right now," she gestured to Natasha. "-would do the same thing now that she did back then. If she's changed. Because if you think not, kick her out," she nodded. "But if you think, despite how much you hate her, that she's changed? Then you don't have to have anything to do with her besides missions. Because she's an asset to help us protect the world," Terra concluded, stepping back to lean against the wall.

Natasha simply walked forward and placed a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder.

"It's fine guys," Natasha said. "It really is."

Natasha turned to Steve wanted to kiss him, assure him that it was okay and she was fine with the decision that Tony made. But she knew it would probably only enrage Tony more at this point. She looked back to Terra and gave her the same sad smile, one that said she appreciated what she was trying to do.

"Wait," Clint said, now walking forward from the doorway.

"Clint not now," Natasha said, not wanting him to reveal any of her or his secrets that he might think would help her in this situation.

"No Nat," Clint said, pulling out his phone and mirroring his screen to one that was in the gym. "I'm doing this."

Natasha could only nod as he pulled up her money statements for her web from Isaiah. The current balance was in the top right, and it had taken a hit since the Hydra debacle, but it still remained above 5 million. Below that were the various deposits and withdrawals that Isaiah had labeled so appropriately for her.

"This is Nat's web as she calls it," Clint explained. "Aside from her work with Shield, which she still carried to a high level, she spent her weekends doing various dangerous jobs around the world for extra money. Jobs that were all helping other people. I know because she asked me to help on a couple of them. Now recently, her web has taken a hit because of the Hydra outbreak, and you can see that here with the low number, but if I scroll back previously."

Clint scrolled up and then the big numbers started rolling in.

"She had balances upwards of 100 million at one point," Clint said. "But let me show you what she spends it on."

He switched the screen to only show the withdrawals and reasons for them, and what could be seen was Clint's best case for Natasha.

"That looks like 10 million donation to Children's Hospital," Clint listed off. "5 million to lymphoma research. 7 million to Foster Care services. Oh, and remember that giant, anonymous 75 million dollar donation to your charity Stark."

Clint clicked on the link and sure enough, the 75 million dollar donation was shown with the confirmation letter from Stark Industries, thanking them for the anonymous donation.

"You see Nat doesn't keep any of that," Clint said. "She pays her accountant with her Shield salary, as does she for her various properties around the world, car payments, and everything else. Natasha, what's your current personal bank status now."

Natasha could hit Clint for interfering at this time, but she knew he was only trying to help. She had just paid all of her bills, barely, so this was going to be a low number.

"132.45," Natasha mumbled and Clint looked right at Tony.

"She has, what you probably carry cash in your wallet every day, to her name now," Clint said. "And she won't take it from her web, because she's trying to make up for what she did. Let me tell you something Stark, I know she's done bad things. She's told me about most every one of them, but she doesn't stop working or giving away money. There are times where I have to force her to eat the food I buy for her, because she can't afford lunch and she doesn't want me to pay. The Black Widow sometimes can't afford lunch."

Clint now had his back to Natasha, protecting his friend and godmother of his children, and daring Tony to take a swipe at her.

"If you think that we all don't have shitty pasts then you're in the wrong business," Clint said. "And if what she's done isn't proof enough that she has changed, then I'm leaving with her."

"Clint don-," Natasha started before Clint cut her off yet again.

"No Nat," Clint said, glaring back at Tony. "You won't defend yourself so I'm going to."

Tony just stared down everyone for the longest time, processing everything that was said. With a huff, Tony turned on his heel and stalked into the elevator as Bruce walked out of it, brushing past him harshly enough to ram shoulders.

Bruce turned to the others. "Um, what'd I miss?"

Natasha didn't say a thing, just turned around her self and walked out of the gym back to Steve's room, knowing she would have peace and quiet there. She got there and just started pacing. After a bit, a soft knock came from the door and Steve came in.

"Hey," he said softly.

Natasha snapped out of the trance that she was in, staring out the window, and screamed in anger. She threw a knife she had into the wall across the room and embedded it deep in the wall.

"I can't believe this," Natasha shouted in anger. "How could I be this stupid?"

Natasha threw another knife and placed it right next to the other one, still with pinpoint accuracy.

"And who the hell does he think he is?" Natasha asked, venting to Steve completely. "I mean talk about being born with a silver spoon in your fucking mouth. I was born in the streets of Stalingrad, Russia. Back when only the toughest of the tough survived then. I fought through World War 2, and he hadn't even been conceived yet. He doesn't know what it means to make a life or death decision."

Natasha threw another knife, embedding it right next to the other two. Tears were now streaming down her face.

"His decisions revolved around what he wanted to eat for fucking breakfast," Natasha screamed, voice raising now. "I had to do that stuff for the Red Room. If I didn't carry out those missions, they would hurt me. Break my bones. Burn my skin. Beat me. Probably even kill me. There were times I even felt I was brainwashed too. Just like James."

Natasha hurled a last knife with all of her strength, putting it between all of the other three, and putting a small crack in the wall. She was breathing deeply now, tears slowing but still exhausted with her little vent. She brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face and looked over to Steve.

"This was a fucking mistake," Natasha surmised. "Coming here was. Stark is never going to forgive me, let alone want to work with me. Pepper is going to side with Stark, so I don't have any leverage there. Banner will side with Stark too. Terra already doesn't trust me. She already gave me that whole, if you hurt Steve I'll come and end you speech. I'm guessing you and Terra have about the same relationship I have with Clint, and he never thought about giving you that whole speech because he trusts you. So if we are counting Avengers that hate and don't trust me, we have Iron Man, Hulk, Absorbing Woman or whatever you call Terra, and probably Captain America."

Natasha sighed and turned to look out the window, overlooking the New York skyline.

"Look Steve," Natasha said. "You're probably already disgusted with me, in just this incident. And this is just the tip of the iceberg with me. I've done worse, had worse done to me. Stark isn't going to want me here, and he will tolerate us dating even less than that. I don't want you to ruin your reputation with the Avengers because of me. Captain America is more valuable than Black Widow. I'll just pack up and head west."

"Stop," he said, daring to step closer. He could see her reflection in the window and vice versa as he approached. "Stop doing that to yourself. You're telling yourself things about other people you can't know for sure. And you're wrong. Maybe not about all of it, but definitely about me. I'm not against you. I trust you. And I could never hate you."

He was close now - close enough to touch, but he kept his hands down. He wanted to be cautious. He didn't want to seem like he was telling her how to feel because she had every right to feel this way. Licking his lips, he continued. "We're not measuring the perceived value of team members, Natasha. But if we were? You'd be way higher than you ever put yourself." He spoke gently, soothingly, trying to rub her shoulder comfortingly with just his words. "And... if you're leaving, I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not Steven Grant Rogers," Natasha said, shrugging away from his touch and moving to the other side of the room.

She was in a flurry of emotions right now. Anger, depression, frustration, all which were causing her to retreat into herself like she always had before.

"You do not leave the Avengers if I leave," Natasha continued, looking at him with angry, tear filled eyes. "That is letting the entire world down because of me and I won't have it. You have a responsibility to be the beacon the Avengers provide. You may not have asked for it and may not want it, but it's there. Myself here would only ruin things for the world. I...I...I..."

At that point, Natasha just leaned back against the wall and slid down, hugging her knees to her chest. If she was being upfront with people today, this could be the thing that would drive Steve off. Not that she wanted him to go, this would probably be the best thing that would ever happen to her. But, it might be better for Steve without her. Terra's warning went through her head about the last girl Steve dated being all closed off with him, and she didn't want to put him through that. So, if this was either a band-aid that would be ripped off and done with, or replied to stick forever.

"You don't want to be with me," Natasha mumbled, knowing very well Steve with his enhanced hearing could hear her. "I'm damaged. I can't give you a family, ever. Part of the Red Room training was what was called the graduation ceremony. It was a final round of tests, and at the very end, they sterilized you."

Natasha leaned up her head to look at Steve, tears streaming down her face.

"It makes everything easier," Natasha surmised from her instructor's words. "Even killing. One less thing to worry about that would keep you from completing a mission."

He sat down cross-legged in front of Natasha, a safe distance away but close enough that she could reach him easily if she wanted to.

Swallowing, Steve tried to formulate a reply. "That doesn't matter to me," he said. "You matter to me. And I'm not just going to let you drop me and walk out without a single consideration for how that would make me feel." He was calm, but stern, wanting to get his message across without aggression. "You say we'd be letting down the entire world if I left with you. I think you give yourself too much credit," he joked, hoping it didn't fall flat.

"The sky won't fall because I want to be with you," he said gently. "And nothing is set in stone. If I didn't live here, that doesn't mean I'd stop being an Avenger or stop being Captain America. And we won't know anything for sure until it happens. But I'm going to try and make sure it doesn't come to that. I'll talk to Tony."

Natasha didn't say anything. What could she say? The most understanding man in the world sat in front of her, assuring her that everything would be okay. She believed him too, every word. A small smile came on her face as he kept on his speech. He still wasn't great talking to women, but it was perfect for her.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. When she pulled away, she looked into his eyes.

"Thank you," Natasha said. "I'm going to stay at my apartment in Brooklyn for the time being. Clint will give you the address since I don't have a pen on me right now."

Natasha got up and started walking to the door. She paused at the door frame and turned back to him.

"Talk to Tony if you want, but let him make his decision," Natasha said. "He should be free to do that. Also, tell Pepper that should really think about me being a bridesmaid. It mightl be better for everyone. If you guys still want me around, you may ask me to be your date to the wedding. Until then, I'll stay in Brooklyn. Feel free to drop by anytime."

Natasha thought for a second and went back over to him, pressing a big kiss to his lips before heading out the door and down the elevator. Natasha entered the lobby of Stark tower to see Clint standing by the desk, almost as if he knew where she was headed.

"Are you skipping town?" Clint asked, walking with her as she walked by.

"Not this time," Natasha said, getting closer to the door.

"He really left that much of an impression on you," Clint asked.

"I told him about the Graduation Ceremony," Natasha confessed.

Clint's eyes widened and Natasha continued, "And he didn't run."

"That's not the man Steve Rogers is," Clint said. "You're a lucky girl Tash."

"Doesn't always seem like it," Natasha said. "First Yelena, then Shield, almost losing you, almost dying, there has been a lot."

"And yet here you are," Clint said. "Having Ava now, the Avengers picked you up, I'm fine, you're alive, and you have Steve Rogers wrapped around your little finger. You may not even know it yet, but I can see it. Laura had me the same way."

Natasha chuckled as she reached the door. She was about to leave when she looked back. Clint just smiled at her and produced a bottle of Vodka, the good Russian kind, from inside his jacket.

"I jacked it from Stark's collection," Clint said. "Figured you needed it more than him."

Natasha smiled at her best friend and wrapped him in a big hug. There was just that tight bond between them, something that could never be severed. When she pulled away, Clint reached to her chest and grabbed the two things she wore there. The silver arrow necklace he had given her, and the dog tags she stole from Steve.

"Let these be reminders for you," Clint said. "These people will always be here for you. No matter what."

He let them go and Natasha smiled.

"Give Steve my address," Natasha said. "I'll see you at the wedding, unless you want to drop in sometime before."

"You know I won't miss pizza night," Clint said. "Take care of yourself."

"You'll see me in a couple of days," Natasha said. "Goodbye Clint."

"See you soon Tash," Clint said.

Natasha smiled one last time and then walked out the door of the tower and turned down the street towards her apartment. She wasn't quite as famous as every other Avenger, so she didn't draw much attention. She walked down the street and didn't look back, knowing that she'd be back someday. Just not yet. She still had red in her ledger, and it wasn't going away anytime soon.

A/N Chapter contribution from A Velvet Rose and SarahCon

Chapter Text

October 12th, 2013

Natasha was in the Bride’s room of the wedding venue, getting the final touches prepared for the ceremony coming in front of her. She was already in her dress sitting and watching Pepper get the final touches put on her dress and freaking out about the ceremony to come. 

The only piece of jewelry Natasha had on was the silver arrow necklace that Clint gave her, just because she never took that off. She rarely took off Steve's dog tags, but they just looked too blocky with the rest of the outfit. So she placed them safely away in her underwear drawer, knowing Steve wouldn't take them back because he knew she loved them.

She had come to a relative agreement with Pepper and Tony the last couple weeks. She knew that Tony hadn’t forgiven her and it would take some time if it ever happened, but they fell into a professional relationship, working for Pepper and not spending a lot of other time together.

Otherwise, the last couple weeks or so were just about perfect in Natasha's opinion. She still had her pizza nights with Clint, Facetimed Laura as well when Steve was out and got an update on the kids. Little Natasha was going along just great, growing up nice and strong. The rest of the time she spent with Steve though, except for the time she was doing bridesmaid stuff. They caught a Knicks game, went to that diner, caught a couple of movies, just a whole bunch of domestic stuff. And what was weird, was Natasha loved every second of it. Steve stayed over some nights, which was just fine with Natasha. He could move in with her at this point and she would be alright. She fell hard and fast for the soldier, and their nights together were the best she had ever had in her life.

She only did two other things without Steve, and the first was to have a particularly infuriating meeting with Fury and Hill. Apparently, the new Shield had already started up behind the scenes, just like she thought it would. Fury called her just to get some recommendations on agents for the new 'A' team that Shield would have. Natasha had provided the names of Barbra Morse, Melinda May, Lance Hunter, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, and Mack Makenzie. Fury then said that the new director had also picked up another addition to the team. Natasha had originally wanted to ask who it was, but then stopped herself and asked who the new director was. Fury said that he wanted to stay behind the scenes and Hill was already a part of Stark Industries, probably working closely with the Avengers when they went after the remainder of Hydra. So, the new director was Phil Coulson.

Natasha didn't think she could curse that long and hard at Fury and Hill, but when she got into Russian, it was really simple to last for a while. She didn't try to understand how it worked, but she was going to meet with the new members of Shield a couple days after the wedding, and she was going to have a lengthy conversation with Phil Coulson about his little 'death'.

"-And are the musicians in position? I know they had trouble getting here..." Pepper said, taking Natasha out of her thoughts.

"I talked them through it, they are on the stage and ready,” Terra replied, trying to keep Pepper calm.

Pepper nodded with relief as the seamstress adjusted the parts to her wedding gown. She'd hired a wedding coordinator so she could actually enjoy her wedding and worry about... less things, and it was partially working. Pepper would admit she was very capable and felt she could push aside her anxiety at making sure everything was perfect.

The wedding coordinator, Alice, smiled with reassurance at Pepper. "Everything is on schedule. I am going to check on the groom, okay? Be back in a jiffy." 

Alice walked out, talking into her walkie-talkie on the way. Pepper blew out a slow breath and looked down at her dress. It was rather beautiful and her style. It had a low back and was satin, jewels embedded on the straps to the simplistic jewel belt around her waist. The gown was graceful in not being too blown up, and Natasha had to admit it was one of the finer wedding dresses that she had ever seen. Her hair was twisted in an intricate up-do style with the veil tucked in and trailing down to the floor.

"Oh Virginia! You look beautiful, dear!" Pepper’s mother said from the doorway, one of the many surprises that Terra had prepared for Pepper and swore Natasha to secrecy.

Pepper looked over to see her mother dabbing at her eyes with a tissue at the doorway. 

"Oh, if only your father could see you," Mrs. Potts murmured waveringly.

"Mom," Pepper blinked back her watering eyes. "Don't make me cry, I'll ruin my make-up," she complained weakly.

"Oh, sorry!" her mom said.

Terra walked over to the nearby vanity, carrying three velvet boxes balancing on top of each other. Her hair was swooped to the side in soft waves, a french braid on the opposite side to pin it down. 

"Alrighty," Terra bumbled excitedly. "So, as requested, we have your something old, something new, and something blue." She set the boxes down side by side before picking up the closest one. "This is from your mother," Terra explained before opening the box to reveal a crystal ladybug brooch.

Pepper's mother sniffed emotionally before picking it up delicately. "Your grandmother wore this to her wedding and I wore it to mine. You don't have to wear it, of course, but it's passed to you now," she smiled wistfully before putting it in Pepper's hand.

"Thank you, mom," Pepper murmured before pinning the brooch to the right side near her strap.

Her mother excused herself to freshen up in the bathroom in a choked voice.

"Next, your something new." Terra said, gesturing to Natasha who managed this one.

Natasha smiled and went to get the second box, looking over at Pepper with a smile. "You already know what they are though." Natasha said and opened the box to reveal Pepper's wedding shoes. They were white closed-toe heels with a steeled toe. "Just in case you need to kick Tony if he messes up his vows," Natasha joked and it made Pepper smile a bit.

“Thank you Natasha,” Pepper said. “For doing all of this. I know it hasn’t been easy, but I appreciate everything. It’s all perfect. And the something blue?" Pepper asked, not having any idea of what it was. The CEO raised a brow when Terra suddenly looked a bit nervous.

"Okay, yeah. It was my job to pick it, as your esteemed maid of honour-" Pepper rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "-But, uh, the thing is, your something blue is something...red," Terra finished a bit sheepishly.

"Red," Pepper repeated.

"Red," Terra confirmed. "Blue is overrated anyways. And I wanted you to have something meaningful, but it turns out you have no blue meaningful things that are wedding appropriate-" She rambled.

"Terra, just show me."

The former negotiator opened the third box. Inside was the necklace made from Tony's shrapnel that he gave her, the small, simple, and red crystal heart laying centre. Pepper sighed fondly at the memory and picked it up. "But, how did you-"

"Oh, Bruce told me. He was there when Tony was making it." Terra said.

Pepper put it on, tapping a finger against the heart. "Thank you, Terra. It's perfect to wear today," she said gratefully.

Alice opened the door and poked her head in. "Ladies, it's time."

Natasha got up and headed out with Terra and the other bridesmaid that was there, who was Pepper’s personal assistant at the time. Natasha would be going in second after the assistant, and before Terra. Pepper’s mother would be walking her down the aisle.

“Alright, the men are running a few minutes late but this was anticipated," Alice said calmly to Pepper, preparing for a breakdown. Pepper, however, remained composed and just sighed in resignation. "It was bound to happen."

They got to the hallway outside the chapel and saw Happy standing there.

“Good to go,” Happy said. “Everyone in one piece.”

"Everyone ready?" Alice checked, finger on her headpiece. Pepper swallowed nervously, fiddling with her bouquet of red roses. She looked to Terra who placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling with reassurance. "It'll be great, Pepper. Take it in, and breathe," the negotiator said.

Pepper nodded and exhaled slowly. Alice ordered in her mic for the band to cue the music, gesturing for the bridesmaids to get in line with Terra first. "Ready?" Alice asked with a small smile. Terra nodded, clutching her bouquet of white roses. Alice stepped aside and gestured for the two men at the doors to open them.

The assistant walked in and then it was Natasha’s turn. She entered the chapel and made her way down the aisle, looking at Steve who was standing third in line at the altar, Rhodes to his left, and Bruce standing next to Tony as his best man. Natasha smiled at Steve who gave her a big smile back, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like should Steve and herself be in this position at some point in the future. Natasha took her spot in line and Terra followed her a bit after, and then came Pepper.

The guests all stood up, and Pepper entered, walking down the aisle and smiling, eyes never leaving Tony. Natasha smiled at her reaction, very happy for the both of them. Pepper and her mother reached the altar and Pepper's mother put her daughter's hand in Tony's before taking her seat in the front row, sniffing.

The CEO stood level to Tony, squeezing his hand lovingly. "You're late," she whispered with a blissed-out smile, not sounding mad at all.

"And you're marrying me anyway," Tony said, trademark smirk on his face. 

The justice of the peace went through the ceremony and it eventually came to the vows. Tony cleared his throat. "So, um, I figured I'd wing this, since, well, I wing everything else and that seems to turn out good in the end. I mean, it led me to you, right? So that's... significant. Um." He fidgeted on the spot, forcing himself to keep eye contact with Pepper. "Pepper... I love you. So much. I coudn't- You mean- You mean the world to me.

"When everyone else took my shit, you didn't. When everyone told me I was right, you didn't. When everyone betrayed or left me, you didn't. And I'm so... thankful. I'm so grateful for you, Pep. To you. I don't- I don't know what I'd do without you. I don't even think I could tie my shoes without you." He gave himself a mental pat on the back for that callback. "Even though I don't own shoes with laces."

The audience laughed.

"I still don't know my SIN number. I don't know who's who at parties. I'm still not punctual, or polite even. I'm not chivalrous or sentimental-"

The audience laughed.

"That- that wasn't a joke."

There was some awkward coughing.

"Anyway," Tony pressed on. "I'm not trying to say that I use you for those things - even though I do. What I'm trying to say is... You make me a better man. In every possible way. I'm a futurist. Everyone knows that. So it must mean something when I can't see a single future without you in my life."

Pepper cleared her throat, clearly touched and trying to keep it together, and passed her bouquet to Terra, turning back to hold both of Tony's hands tightly. "I, um, had something memorized. I rehearsed it, and revised it. Twice," she added, trying to tape down her anxiety about going off book. But she knew it felt right. "But with all of the things I take care of for you, it was you who taught me to improvise."

"Everyone... told me I was insane to work for you," she laughed a bit, not able to hold back her grin. "They were right. But one of the greatest pleasures of my life was slowly and surely understanding you. Of course, you still do things where I will never understand the thought process behind them," Pepper said with a slight roll of her eyes and the audience chuckled. "But you keep things interesting that way."

This time, she looked Tony deep in the eyes, giving his hands a squeeze. "Everyone keeps asking me why I'm with you. It's because I know you. And the more I got to know, the more I fell in love. And I don't love you despite your flaws," she said firmly, raising a hand to cup his cheek. "I love everything. I promise there won't be a day where I don't love you as much as I do right now."

There probably wasn't a dry eye in the room as the justice of the peace asked for the rings. Terra passed the bouquets to Natasha and she dug in her dress pocket for the satin pouch of rings. She passed them to the justice, who handed them to Pepper and Tony. "Do you, Virginia Anne Potts, take Anthony Edward Stark as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, till death do you part?"

A tear slipped past, falling down her cheek but she was smiling with all the love in the world. "I do."

"And do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take Virginia Anne Potts as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, till death do you part?"

Hell, yes." He didn't even wait - couldn't wait. He surged forward and kissed her, pulling her waist as tightly to him as he possibly could. The crowd cheered loudly. Rhodey whooped. Bruce slyly wiped away a tear of his own. Steve smiled, heart swelling in his chest, and Natasha could only look on with her own smile, feeling so happy for the couple.

The audience clapped as Tony and Pepper left together and everyone started making their way out of the chapel and towards the reception hall that was just across the street. Natasha filed out and met up with Steve as they went to fulfill their obligations to the pictures and headed to the reception hall themselves.

Natasha grabbed her present for the bride and groom on their way there, and this was the second trip that she had taken the last couple of weeks.

Natasha extended some of the most expensive resources she had. She had to dip into her web to get this gift, but she was hoping it would continue to mend the completely torn down bridge. Inside a small box were three things. The first was a picture of Ho Yinsen and his family. She had to go back to where she kidnapped him in his home and track where the belongings went. The original frame was cracked, so she put it in a new one. The second was very tricky. They were Ho's eyeglasses he had in the cave. She went and found the last cell of the Ten Rings and threatened them pretty severely for information. She found where Stark was held and where the bodies had been very crudely buried. She found his eyeglasses and took them with her, and gave what she could only assume was Ho a proper burial. She owed him that much. The last thing was a USB of the conversations Tony had with Ho during his capture. She got everything from their first encounter to their last. The last part of the gift was tricky, but she hoped Stark would appreciate it.

The card inside was pretty simple. It read:

Tony,

You hate me, and I understand why. I just hope this keeps us on the track to repairing us so we can trust each other when we go after Hydra.

-N

The reception was a pretty common reception with some upsides. The food was great and there was an open bar with free drinks all around. The cake was glamorous and delicious. She sat at the front table next to Steve, as the seating chart allowed for the couples to sit together. She had a great time, she had to admit that. Granted it was the first wedding she had attended that wasn’t her being undercover for the Red Room or Shield.

The best man and maid of honor speeches were great and soon enough Tony and Pepper were out on the dance floor for their first dance. Natasha leaned a bit on Steve’s shoulder as the music played and she felt his hand wrap around her waist. Nothing could ruin this moment.

About ten minutes later, the floor opened up for other couples and Natasha got up and dragged Steve over there. They started to slow dance and Natasha almost had to laugh at how awkward and clunky Steve looked, practically staring a hole in her shoes as he tried not to step on her feet.

"I, uh... My mom... She... she used to dance with me in the kitchen kind of like this,” Steve said, trying to make conversation as they kept dancing.

Natasha listened thoughtfully and chuckled at his awkwardness as he kept looking down at their feet.

"Steven, relax," Natasha said. "Take a breath. Pull me close."

Natasha shifted Steve's hand position a bit and snuggled up tighter to him, her chest pressed against his. She rested her arms around his shoulders as she moved his hands to her waist.

"Now take one step," Natasha said, much gentler with Steve than she was with Clint a couple years ago.

She moved with him, slowly so he would get it, but in perfect harmony. Her body fit almost perfectly with his, and they were in sync like they've known each other for decades.

"Keep your eyes locked on mine," Natasha said as he glanced down again. "And let the music be your guide."

Natasha had shut the world out around her, only focusing on Steve. Not noticing Terra and Bruce nearby talking to Terra's family. Not Tony and Pepper dancing across the floor. Not Clint, looking on proudly from the head table as he watched his best friend start falling for someone hard. Just Steve.

"You know I danced a lot," Natasha said, bringing up more conversation as they danced, getting Steve to calm down even more. "The cover for the Red Room was a ballerina school, and we were given dancing lessons. They were for cover, but also to give us grace and balance in the field. But I loved them. They were my escape from my awful life. Where I could just be Natalia Romanova and not a Black Widow. I still dance today, whenever I'm feeling down. It relaxes me, reminds me of times when I was the happiest."

Natasha took a breath and gave him a genuine smile, one she didn't give to many people.

"But this has been the best dance of my entire life."

“Me too," he said softly he said after a minute, perhaps not loud enough to be heard over the music, but he knew she could read his lips. Feeling a little bolder, he dared to pull her just a smidgen closer. "Until our next one."

Natasha smiled as she looked over her shoulder to see Terra and a young girl dancing. She immediately felt sorry she couldn't have that, couldn't give Steve that, but she was going to try.

"You know," Natasha said, building up a lot of courage. "A lot of people don't want to see us together. The media doesn't want it, they think I'm a criminal. Shield probably doesn't want it, or whatever is left of it, including Fury. Terra said she was happy about it, but the whole speech she gave me had a decently dark tone to it. Stark would probably kill you if he found out. It just seems like it's not in the stars for us to be together."

Natasha took a deep breath.

"But you know what, I'm starting to not care. I know what Serena did to you, I read up on it and know that she hurt you. It must have been really hard, and I'm warning you that there might be a time where I'll shut you out the same way, that's just me. But, I'll get better at it. I'm going to try to get a lot better at it. I know I'll never be Peggy Carter, but I'm hoping to be something different.”

Natasha smiled and gestured behind her to the children dancing.

"I'll never be able to give you a family, but I'll start checking into it. For you, for us. And I don't think we need to hide anymore. I'm the Black Widow for God's sake, I need to start acting like her."

Steve could only pull her close and kiss her in answer. He pulled away and gently leaned their foreheads together. "Let's do it,” he said.

A/N

Chapter contributors: A Velvet Rose & SarahCon. Reviews are always appreciated!

Chapter Text

November 12th, 2013

The next few weeks were the best and most interesting weeks of Natasha's life. She stayed with Steve in the tower when she had to be there, but didn't speak to Tony at all. She mostly spent her time in Steve's room or out in New York.

When she was with Steve, they worked on their relationship, progressed it, and grew very happy. She made sure he had caught up on most modern tech and everything he needed to know. She had even taught him how to use a computer properly. They watched a movie every night, to catch him up on that front. Back to the Future, Terminator, Rocky, all the famous ones. They had been sleeping together as well, some of the best she had ever had. But just sleeping in the same bed with him alleviated all of her nightmares. She felt safe with him, and she hoped he felt the same way with her.

Aside from her relationship with Steve, she was also working furiously to rebuild her web. She'd been talking non-stop with Isaiah and Idit, who were personal and top secret friends/accountants of hers, trying to figure out where all of her money went. They managed to sell most of the safe houses that were compromised or not foreclosed on, which put about a million total back in her pocket. Really short of what her web once was before Hydra, but better than nothing. She was trying to track down the Winter Soldier for Steve, and that needed money and resources.

With all of her attempts though, she was having absolutely no luck. He really was the master at espionage and hiding. Not even a whisper from all her little spiders all around the world. She was disappointed on this front, she wanted to tell Steve so badly that she found James, but she couldn't. She couldn't focus on both of them at once, and she was currently speaking with a possible group to help her get what she wanted, and not having much luck.

"What are you talking about that you're busy," Natasha said over a video call.

"I mean the bus team is busy," May responded.

She had been in contact with the remaining members of Shield ever since its demise. She helped train May in the early days of Shield, and Coulson was still a dear friend.

"Busy enough to ignore help from Captain America," Natasha questioned. "I can't believe Coulson would ignore something like that."

"Well there is the Inhuman problem that's going on," May said. "And he has taken a liking to Daisy Johnson."

"So much he's told me," Natasha relented. "Fine, but I want a report on this Inhuman problem and what's going on with that."

"That much I can do," May said.

Natasha nodded and closed her laptop. She sighed and placed it on the coffee table in Steve's living room. She brushed some hair out of her eyes and wiped a hand across her face, deep in thought about the entire situation she was currently in. Trying to rebuild her web, finding James, and worrying about when the Avengers will come calling for the hunt for Hydra. She knew it had to be soon, Stark had resources out searching, and he had the best resources out there.

She only hoped that her wedding gift, plus time, had at least mended the bridge enough to where they could have each other's backs on the battlefield.

"Hey," Steve greeted with a smile and a kiss on the cheek as he walked in the room. She knew he had been out in his room reading and just relaxing, and normally she would be there as well, but her volume and mood would definitely have soured his time. She was about to greet him back, but Jarvis took that time to break up the reunion.

"Terribly sorry to interrupt," JARVIS said, "but Mr. Stark has called an emergency Avengers meeting in the main boardroom."

"Duty calls us," Steve just said with a smile, heading towards the door already.

"As always the timing is perfect," Natasha added getting up as well.

She followed Steve out, grabbing her black leather jacket and slipping it on along the way. She also slipped into her boots that were by the door and hoped this was good enough. She figured that jeans and a tank top, which wasn't very modest, wasn't the appropriate attire for a meeting. She also slid a glock into the waistband of her jeans just in case. She had always learned to carry a weapon with her, something she picked up with the KGB that just never dropped. And especially with Stark, who could pop at any minute, it was a necessity for her.

"So, this has got to be the last of Hydra right," Natasha brought up as they were walking. "I mean, I told you about what Coulson and his team told me. Fury tasked them to finish off the small pockets of Hydra as we were going to, but the big stuff comes to us ultimately. This must have been too big for them to deal with, otherwise why contact us?"

Natasha thought about it for a second, and then had a slight revelation.

"Unless there is something more interesting about this base in particular," Natasha said slowly, turning her head to face Steve as she kept walking.

"I guess we'll find out," Steve was saying as they entered the meeting room. Bruce and Terra were already there and Tony was walking in as well, and the room was silent.

For about 0.002 seconds.

A folder full of papers thudded onto the round table in the middle of the room, as Tony dumped them from his arms, its documents spilling onto the surface. A photo caught Bruce's eye and he stepped forward, slipping the glasses from his breast pocket onto his face. He gingerly picked up the photo.

It was Loki's sceptre.

"This is... not good," said Bruce.

"No shit," Tony replied, standing flush against the chair two down from him. "The clean-up crew found these documents in the latest wreckage from Los Angeles. After the invasion, the sceptre went into SHIELD custody to keep it as far from Loki as possible. When Hydra took down SHIELD, they managed to get their grimy hands on it. These papers say it's being held in a base in Sokovia, a small country in eastern Europe that I can honestly say I've never heard of before today. There's a Hydra base there that's been doing who knows what kind of 'research' on this thing for who knows how long."

"We've got to get it back," Steve declared, closing the file he'd been flipping through.

"Captain Obvious is right," said Tony. "So we're going on a mission."

"Sokovia," Natasha said, knowing she heard that name before.

She took the file from Steve and opened it up and looked at the picture of the base.

"Now I remember," Natasha said. "It was an area granted to Hydra after World War II by the Soviets. In exchange, they would provide genetic enhancement tech to the USSR for immunity. That's where a lot of the Red Room's serums and tech came from. It was run by a family named Strucker. That area was hit pretty hard with weapons that Obadiah Stane dealt under the table from Stark Industries, so they aren't too fond of Iron Man or the Avengers over there. That means that volunteer soldiers for Hydra shouldn't be hard to come by."

Natasha looked up from the file and around the room.

"Especially if they are still working on genetic enhancement. And with the power of the scepter."

"Hmm," Terra hummed, looking at the picture of the sceptre over Bruce's shoulder. "Welp, it's a hella long flight to Sokovia. We should leave, before they know that we know what they know. Wheels up in 10?" Terra suggested.

"What about Barton?" Natasha asked. "This is a big attack and he may be needed. I can call and get him back from his leave, but it'll be an hour or so."

She still didn't have the guts to tell anyone about Barton's family, even Steve. It wasn't her secret to tell in the first place, and she loved that family with everything she had. Especially Laura with little Natasha on the way, she didn't want anything to jeopardize their safety.

Steve nodded at Natasha. "Call him. According to these papers, it's a big base. We're gonna need a lot of manpower. And he's our best pilot," he said with a smile.

"That's it?" Tony said, surprising everybody. "We just waltz in there, guns blazing? No big speech? No meeting about plans? That's not like you, Cap. Not that I'm complaining. Or do you already have a plan?"

Steve grinned. "I have a plan: attack." He closed the folder he'd been looking at and dropped it on the table. He grasped Terra's shoulder gently, followed by a nod of acknowledgement. "Wheels up in an hour"

The one hour till launch was tricky for Natasha and Clint to work around. Clint had to leave his family abruptly, who were visiting from Iowa, and get geared up. They were scheduled on a first class trip back to Des Moines a couple hours later, courtesy of Natasha. Clint was pretty disappointed and frustrated at the timing though.

"I can't believe I had to miss that game," Clint said, walking down the hall with Natasha towards the landing pad.

"It was a Yankees game," Natasha said. "You're not missing much. Plus, Cooper is already in love with the Red Sox, I made sure of that."

"So much for me trying to get him to be a Royals fan," Clint grumbled, but Natasha knew it was in good nature.

Natasha had told them that she went to get Clint away from his leave, and took off without answering any questions, even Steve's. It killed her to do that, she didn't want to keep secrets from Steve, but she knew she had to. Clint knew that too, and he was always on her to tell him about his family. She always shot him down, saying that it was best if as few people knew about Laura and the kids as possible.

Natasha had changed into her new suit, since her one from the Mexico City disaster was filled with knife cuts and bullet holes. It was a new model, still all black but with small power packs around her calves. There were cables that ran up her sides and down her arms that connected to her wrist gauntlets, allowing her to better control how much of a shock she could give to any opponent. Her belt contained numerous pouches for Widow bites, small medical supplies, air breather, etc; and on the front, the trademark hourglass. She was embracing her name, no matter what. She had a couple holsters on her hips for her pistols, and also a new stun baton she had developed that she thought to try out. When everything was charged, from her power packs and cables to the batons, they all glowed a light blue color.

Clint himself just had on a standard black combat suit, but he added a black and maroon trench coat of sorts. It was a snowy area in Sokovia they were going to and Clint claimed he was just trying to stay warm. He was really just trying to look cool. He had himself a quiver with every known arrow imaginable, and his bow strapped over his shoulder as well.

The two walked out onto the landing pad and towards the jet. They got there just as they heard a large crash, followed by a curse.

"Frick!," they heard Terra yell.

"Frick?" Natasha said, walking in the jet. "What are we, in middle school?"

Clint chuckled and headed to the cockpit to prime the jet for takeoff. Steve, already in the jet himself, chuckled at Terra's antics

"Trying something new?" Steve asked, referring to Terra's choice of words.

"You betcha," Terra replied to Steve with a sigh. "Doing a verbal cleanse. Don't want to accidentally swear in front of Kara and have her cuss out kids that take her favourite jump-rope like I did at eleven." Terra stretched her arms up, feeling stiff from sitting in meetings all day. "Gavin Lewinski was a lil' shi-" she stopped herself, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation. "...a lil' troublemaker."

Natasha chuckled at that, clearly still a work in progress.

Tony waltzed in last, accompanied by Bruce. The two of them were deep in conversation, but there was too much science jargon for Natasha to bother wanting to follow along. She knew that they were both working on a new project, one they'd been pretty tight-lipped about. Natasha wasn't even sure if Terra or Steve knew about whatever it was they were planning, that's how secret it was. Steve had tried asking once and it hadn't ended well. It appeared to be a touchy subject, so Natasha just stayed clear, not wanting to ruffle any more feathers than she already had.

"Gangs all here Barton," Natasha said. "Get us going."

Barton nodded and lifted the ramp. He flipped the switches and started up the quintet, ready to head to Sokovia.

Natasha sauntered over to Steve and discretely patted him on the backside before heading to the cockpit, smiling coyly at him the entire time. God he looked good in his uniform, and she also didn't miss the smirk and slight 'not the time' glare he gave her. She still felt the weight of his dog tags around her neck as she sat down in the co-pilot chair. She put on the headset and flipped the last few switches as the jet lifted off the ground.

"We got cars to move us quickly on the ground once we get there," Natasha asked back to the man that had the most resources out of all of them. "Not all of us can fly or run as fast as a super soldier."

"All taken care of," Tony said in reply to Natasha. "Cap requested I start storing motorcycles here so I've got three stashed under the floor. Figured Banner and I don't need them and the rest of you can share."

"Also, that's as many as the quinjet can carry," Bruce added

"Then we'll make do with what we've got," Steve said confidently. He reached for the duffel bag he'd placed under the bench and pulled out some of the files from the meeting. He flipped through them until he found a schematic of the Hydra base. "The base is too big for a stealth mission," Steve said. "So we go all in. Launch an all-out attack. Stark, you're on aerial duty. Grab the snipers, the reinforcements, and the big weapons. Banner, according to the files, they've got a lot of manpower and possibly weapons powered by the scepter. It's a safe bet we're going to need the Other Guy on this."

Bruce nodded solemnly.

"Barton, Romanoff, Montgomery, and I will take the bikes. The base is surrounded by forest so we'll have to find somewhere to land just on the outskirts. Landing too close could cause us to get shot out of the sky, even with the cloaking system. The noise is a dead giveaway. Stark, Banner, you're both on security. You stay outside of the base until we call you and you distract the guards. The rest of us, whoever gets inside first finds the sceptre and gets out. Once we have it secured, we can give 'em hell."

"How am I supposed to ride and shoot?" Clint asked.

"You'll sit with me and protect my back and I'll drive," Natasha said. "More than likely, they'll have vehicles of their own, so we can nab one of those."

Natasha turned back to the group and added a couple more details.

"This castle goes back to before World War I," Natasha said. "Expect numerous tunnels, dead ends, and traps. They probably know that they could be found by us, so they'll be prepared. Plus, with the scepter and their history, there is a good chance we'll have enhanced."

"Agreed," Steve said. "Let's give them hell."

In the wintery woods of Sokovia, the jet had touched down, hidden in the trees and positioned several kilometres outside the Hydra base radius. Disturbing the quiet wood were three motorcycles ripping through the snow and weaving between the trees.

Terra was flanking right, her skin vibranium from touching Steve's shield before they left. It was quiet now, but would only be a matter of time before they came across foot-guards. Her eyes scanning up, Terra spotted a security camera hidden in the branches of a tree. Whipping out her pistol with a silencer on it, she quickly shot the lens after a quick turn around a tree. "Well, they definitely know we are here now," she commented in the comm, looking at the radio wave radar on the motorcycle. "I'm also picking up a guard tower about 3 klicks northeast from here."

Natasha and Clint were flanking left, Natasha driving while Clint sat behind her, holding onto her waist for now.. Natasha jumped over a small bump to avoid a log and landed pretty hard on the other side.

"Dammit Tasha," Clint said, wincing in pain when they landed. "Laura will be pissed if I can't use that anymore, and with your driving it may be put out of commission."

"Relax Barton," Natasha said, taking a hard left to avoid an energy burst that appeared out of nowhere. "Starting to fire at the people that are shooting at us would be a good start."

Natasha pulled up her radar as well and looked to the left.

"We have a vehicle depot on the left," Natasha said into comms. "Barton and I will take it out before they can launch anything serious."

Steve had taken the lead and acted as head of their triangle formation before they split up. Iron Man zoomed over his head, nearly clipping Steve on the way by.

"I got the tower," Stark announced, disappearing through the trees before he'd even finished the sentence.

"We're still a way's out from the compound," he reminded over the comms. "Don't lose sight of the main objective."

"Don't worry, Cap. JARVIS caught a glimpse of the inside. They're running around like chickens with their heads cut off. We got this," Tony said.

"Remember how we got into the compound in Budapest," Natasha yelled as they approached the vehicle depot.

"I wasn't exactly fond of it then," Clint said, letting a few arrows fly.

"Stark I apologize for the motorcycle in advance," Natasha yelled into comms just before the action started.

Natasha slid the bike and it started sliding on the pavement. The bike crashed through two guards and the gate, opening up a giant hole into the depot. Natasha had rolled off and sprinted around the right side into the depot. She made her way over to the nearest jeep that had a guy in it. She tossed a widow bite to her right, hitting a man right in the neck and dropping him. She pulled out both of her pistols and fired three shots to take out all of the Hydra soldiers on the jeep she was choosing. She got to the door and yanked it open and pulled the dead soldier out and hopped in the driver's seat.

Clint had jumped up from the motorcycle and fired two arrows into the guard tower, taking out both of the guards in one shot. He used a couple of his explosive arrows to take out some groups of jeeps and hopped into the back of the jeep Natasha was currently in.

"Go go go," Clint yelled and Natasha slammed her foot on the gas pedal and they rocketed out of the depot.

They started down the road that seemed to lead to the compound, weaving off road when there were explosions around them. They currently had a couple jeeps on their tail and Clint was firing at any Hydra flying soldiers that were trying to buzz them. Blasts of blue energy whizzed past their heads from the tailing jeeps, who seemed to have advanced weaponry cannons mounted on them. What a nice thing to have on their jeep.

We now have literally no element of surprise, Natasha thought as she swerved between a couple trees and avoided another blast.

She was still navigating the best she could when one of the flying troops came up beside her. She jabbed him quickly in the neck and then kicked the door, sending it and her foot into the soldier. He careened off path and right into a tree. Natasha had little time to relish as she turned her eyes to the road once again. Behind her, Clint was still keeping her cover the best he could when a flying troop landed on the back of their jeep. He quickly pulled an electric arrow and stuck it right in the soldier's neck and the troop dropped quickly.

It was considerably slower progressing through the forest with the jeep instead of the motorcycle, but considerably safer. Clint was picking Hydra soldiers off left and right and Natasha even had the pleasure of running a couple over.

Nat glanced up ahead and saw a laser blast go right by Steve's head as he sped through the forest. Her heart dropped a little bit and she became distracted.

"Nat focus up," Clint yelled at her just in time for her to barely avoid an oncoming tree.

Natasha shook her head and focused back on the road.

"Sorry," she said back to Clint.

"It's all good," Clint said, taking out another flyer. "This is new for you, try and compartmentalize until after the battle. It's what I do."

Natasha nodded and turned a corner, tossing a bunch of snow onto a couple of Hydra soldiers. There was a barricade coming up ahead, and they were running out of road. There was also the fact of a couple of jeeps and other Hydra troops in the way of that path. She heard the Hulk and Terra making a lot of noise behind her, so she figured the best chance was to send the jeep moving forward and jump.

"Get ready to bail out," Natasha yelled as she stomped on the gas pedal.

Steve caught up with Nat and Clint's jeep, keeping steady with them as they headed for the ramp, Terra meeting back up with them as well. Tony followed, lowering himself to their level to make sure they landed safely. The Hulk stomped after them, easily maintaining speed. The barricade appeared and then disappeared beneath them, leaving them all airborne.

Natasha sprinted through the forest, dodging blasts and gunfire. While she was running, she heard a very loud curse through comms.

"Shit!" Tony yelled.

Language," Steve chimed, and had Natasha not physically been in the heat of battle, she would have definitely made fun of him. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"

Through everyone's comms, JARVIS replied: "The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."

Then the sceptre must be here," Terra said. "Doubt they could create that great of a defence without it. At long last," she huffed dramatically.

She grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin and tossed it at a passing jeep without even looking if she hit her target. By the sound of the large explosion, she knew that she hit something. She came up on a small hill, with a machine gun nest on the opposite side. She jumped over the nest and punched one of the gunners in the face as she was coming down. He fell unconscious and she tucked into a roll on the other side.

There were two guards on the back side and she quickly moved towards them. She swung up on the taller one, wrapping her legs around his neck. She reached over and grabbed the second man's neck tightly and twisted her body, snapping both of their necks and bringing them to the ground. She brought herself upright on one knee and took in her surroundings.

"At long last is lasting a little long guys," Natasha commented in the comms.

She glanced back over her shoulder and saw a Hydra soldier still firing out of the machine gun. She pulled out her pistol and shot him a couple times, effectively neutralizing the nest.

Clint was firing arrows in a group of trees. He barely dodged a blast from a heavy bunker and growled. He pulled an explosive arrow from his quiver and loaded it up before quickly spinning behind him where the bunker was located and fired it right into the window. A couple seconds later, the bunker exploded as the arrow went off and Clint ducked back behind the tree.

"Yeah," Clint said, piggybacking on Nat's concern about this getting out of hand. "I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second, no one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" Tony said, obviously not wanting to let that little quip go.

"I know," Steve replied, obviously realizing his mistake and hoping no one else would notice.

Natasha moved through the forest with grace and precision, taking out any stray soldiers she saw along the way and advancing slowly towards the castle. She stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud shot and a grunt of pain near her. She looked to her right and saw Clint collapse to the ground.

"Clint," she yelled, switching directions and sprinting over to him.

As she was on her way, Steve's voice came in over comms. "We have an enhanced in the field."

"Clint's hit," Natasha said, sprinting over to his side.

She fired her pistol a couple times randomly and kneeled down at Barton's side. He was groaning and ducking away as the Hydra bunker kept firing at him. Natasha ducked as well and assessed the wound. It was deep and bloody. She started to pull out bandages and a painkiller shot, but the bunker was making it very difficult.

"Does somebody want to deal with that bunker," Natasha asked.

Just then, a bright and colorful stream of lights came from the sky and crashed down in the forest near Natasha and Clint. She looked up incredulously, almost forgetting Clint in what she was seeing. At first, she thought it was something that was going to be brought out to attack them, until a hammer pulsing with lightning shot out of the brightly colored lights and flew right into the Hydra bunker, destroying it to pieces.

Then, the hammer stopped in mid-air and made its way back to the pulsing lights. All of a sudden, the lights went out and a man with blonde hair and full armor with a red cape caught the hammer and looked over at the two. Natasha almost couldn't believe it, but this had to be the Asguardian that Coulson described in his encounter in New Mexico. Thor, she recalled his name.

"Thank you," Natasha said, hesitantly as he walked over.

"Barton," Thor said. "Is he alright?"

Natasha snapped back into action as she started to patch up Clint's wound and inject the painkiller shot in his neck.

"Thor?" Clint managed. "Haven't seen you for a while."

"It has been some time," Thor said. "I received word that Loki's scepter was found and the Avengers were chasing after it. The scepter belongs on Asgard, so I am here to help retrieve it."

"Umm okay," Natasha said, not really in the position to argue with a god. She got on comms to let everyone else know the situation. "Guys, Thor is here. Says he's going to help get the scepter."

The confirmations came all around the group and Natasha focused on getting Clint patched up the best she could in the field. Thor left to help someone else while Natasha worked. She finally got him as stable as possible and reported back to comms.

"Clint's hit pretty bad guys," Natasha said, knowing he needed to get back to the jet.

After a few seconds, Thor had come back and scooped Clint off the ground and took him back to the jet. Clint had made a reference to an old movie, which Natasha snickered at and Thor didn't get, before he jumped back into the air. Natasha moved on, not looking at the ground where her best friend had just laid.

Natasha proceeded to finish cleaning up the area after that, the Sokovian National Guard coming in to lead away prisoners. She took a look around and nodded to herself, everything was wrapping quite nicely. It almost seemed too easy, but everything checked out here.

"We're locked down out here," Natasha said into comms.

Montgomery, I think it's time for a lullaby," Steve said, knowing that the Hulk needed to be corralled and Terra had been working on a lullaby to help solve this.

"Way ahead of you," Terra replied and Natasha allowed herself to take a deep breath to relax and then went to head back to the jet to take care of her friend, knowing the rest would be able to take care of everything else.

A/N

And we begin Age of Ultron, but much better since we've repaired the Ultron dialogue and, no offense to any Brutasha fans out there, but that horrible ship is gone. Again credit to A Velvet Rose and SarahCon for their contributions.

Reviews always appreciated

Chapter Text

On their way home, it seemed there was an aura of relief filling the quinjet. Clint wasn't in critical condition and they managed to obtain a dangerous weapon from dangerous hands. Natasha stayed by Clint's side as Steve helped her patch him up. It helped to have another person that survived a war that knew field medicine well. Of course, Barton would need more than a field patch when they got back to the tower, but for now this would do. She managed to keep herself relatively calm during the walk and flight back, even though rage and fear were building up underneath her skin. It just would be something Steve would have to deal with tonight when she exploded, it was just bound to happen.

Leaning over Clint, Steve finished patching up their resident archer as best he could. "That should hold til we get you to the Tower," he announced, attempting a half-reassuring smirk and a nod.

"Should?" Tony called from the cockpit, his head facing forward. His hands danced over the various controls and he kept himself very busy, staring resolutely ahead.

"It will," Steve amended, patting Clint's leg where he wasn't injured.

"Oh don't worry your pretty little head," Clint said from where he was laying down. "With the great Captain America patching me up, I'm never gonna need medical attention again."

"Man you get sappy when you're hurt," Natasha scoffed, leaning on the table a bit. "And I did some stuff too, you know."

"Oh I know," Clint said. "I'll be looking at the bad stitches until they come out."

Natasha slapped him on the shoulder and looked towards Steve. She mouthed a 'thank you' to him, not wanting to PDA too much with all of the other Avengers around. Steve smiled and returned her thank you with a nod and she was going to make sure to properly thank him later.

"Hey Banner," Tony called, finally glancing away from the window. "Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

Bruce blinked, sitting on the other side of the jet with Terra and recovering from his transformation into the Hulk. "Uh, yeah. She knows her way around."

"Thanks." Tony said and then spoke something softer to Jarvis that Natasha couldn't make out. After a second, he began again in normal talking voice. "JARVIS, take the wheel," he ordered, moving his chair back so he could exit the cockpit. He hit "auto-pilot" on his way out.

"Yes, sir. Approach vector is locked."

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Tony said loudly, attracting all attention in the room to himself - as usual - though his question was directed at Thor. "We've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed not too long ago. Oh yeah, that happened. So SHIELD is actually Hydra, which is a Nazi organization that wants to take over the world - wait, do you know what a Nazi is?"

"They're bad people," Steve summed up, not wanting to get into the specifics. "SHIELD was infiltrated by them and taken apart from the inside out."

"And Cap had a lot of fun tearing them down," Tony said, smirking at Steve.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Right. Fun."

"Uh, excuse me. We had a lot of fun tearing them down," Terra sassed, feigning outrage. "Natasha and I weren't braiding each other's hair, y'know. Women exist, Tony." She tsked, shaking her head.

Natasha smirked, deciding not to comment on the entire situation and let everyone else take care of it. She didn't have much to add anyway, she was present at the take down of Shield, but she wasn't the hero. Not really.

Thor, however, glanced over at Tony and Steve.

"Yes I know of these Nazis you speak of," Thor said. "History of all realms is taught on Asgard. I was sorry I could not be there to help you Captain. But, searching for all relics that have caused pain to the universe takes time. I have been searching for the scepter for some time ever since it was not brought back with Loki, and this brings my search to a close."

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve amended. "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"Banner and I'll give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard," Tony assured, completely ignoring Terra. "Is that cool with you?" He looked at Thor, a little unsure. "Just a few days till the party. You're staying, right?"

Thor nodded absentmindedly, still staring at the scepter like he was afraid it would disappear. "Yes of course," he said, glancing over to Tony. "A victory should be honored with revels."

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Captain?" Tony said, looking over at Steve.

All business, Steve considered the offer. "Hopefully this puts an end to both the Chitauri and Hydra," he said, searching the sceptre with his eyes as if it were a key to the universe. He was mesmerized and when he looked up, he realized he'd been staring too long. "So yes," he said with a small smile. "Revels."

The rest of the ride was relatively quiet, Natasha staying by Clint and checking his vitals to make sure he was still okay and everyone else moving back and forth, Terra mostly staying with Bruce and Steve, Thor, and Tony mingling for the rest of the ride. Once the quinjet landed in the tower's hanger, Terra helped Nat and Bruce get Clint on his gurney over to Dr. Helen Cho's lab. After getting Clint on the gurney, she pressed a quick kiss to Steve's cheek before rolling Clint down the ramp and into the waiting arms of Cho's doctors. They started speaking Korean to each other and even though Natasha knew what they meant, she ignored them for the most part and focused on Clint, trying to make sure that the bed didn't rock too much and jostle his wounds.

They had reached the part in Stark and Banner's lab where Cho had set up and the group rolled him inside.

"I'm sorry Miss Romanoff?" Helen said, forming the question to make sure she got Natasha's name correct.

After a quick nod from Natasha, Helen continued.

"We need to have him alone while we set up and get him started," Helen said. "It shouldn't take long, we'll call you in when we're ready."

Natasha didn't say anything, just nodded and stepped to stand by the viewing window while Helen walked inside. She stared, worried, at Clint and what the doctors were doing to him. He glanced over and smirked at her through the window. He raised his hand and held up two fingers, and was immediately slapped down by one of the nurses and looked to be scolded for it. It eased Natasha's worry a bit and she even cracked a smile.

They worked on Clint for about fifteen minutes, getting him all prepped and taking some scans and readings before placing him under a machine that Natasha had no idea what it did. She knew Helen Cho was a world leading scientist and a lot of her work had to do with creating and regenerating tissue, but she really hadn't looked into it too much/

"You can come in now," Helen said to a waiting Natasha, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Natasha didn't waste any time, and walked right in. Clint was under the machine and it looked like it was scanning him over and over again, but only on his wound. She walked over to inspect it, only to find it repairing his skin slightly every pass.

"Brief me," Tony said to Helen, ignoring Natasha completely as he walked into the lab.

Natasha kept her face neutral, but bristled underneath at Stark. She knew she shouldn't, Stark was completely justified in ignoring her and not giving her the time of day, but it just got under her skin that even with all that she did, he still hadn't seemed like he budged on his opinion of her.

"It's working," Helen said, typing away at the computer and monitoring Clint's vitals. "His body is responding well to the treatment. It will still take some time, but it will work."

Tony went over to talk to Helen more and Natasha just sighed, looking down at her lap.

"Nat?" Clint asked softly, noticing his best friend's mood.

"This thing between Stark and I isn't going away," Natasha said. "I thought he would at least be cordial after his wedding gift, but nothing. Still won't speak to me."

"You've gotta give him some more time Nat," Clint said. "Yinsen was a big deal for him. And I know it wasn't you. Laura and the kids know that wasn't you. And Rogers knows it wasn't you. Stark just hasn't accepted it yet."

"I just don't want someone getting hurt because he can't work with me," Natasha said.

"When we're on the field, he won't let that happen," Clint said. "He's not that petty."

"I'm still not sure," Natasha said, still looking at Tony warily.

Tony headed out after his small conversation with Helen to meet Bruce and talk to him for a bit before heading back over to the tech part of the lab to start scanning the scepter. Bruce himself entered and started taking a look at everything that was in there.

"Dr. Cho, I have to say I am impressed." Bruce said as he admired the technology surrounding Clint, healing him.

Natasha nodded to Bruce as he entered and still peered skeptically at the machine. She leaned back and folded her arms.

"You sure he's going to be okay?" Natasha said, glancing at Cho. "Pretending to need this guy really brings this team together."

She added a smirk in the direction of Barton, and he merely smirked back at her, taking the joke for now, knowing he would find something to throw back at her in a couple of hours.

"There's no possibility of deterioration," Helen said, for what felt like the millionth time. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacrum."

"She's creating tissue," he reiterated, eyes a little wider behind his glasses and his smile a little more genuine. Just like a kid in a candy store and Natasha had to chuckle about that.

"If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes," Helen said, partially stating a fact and partially bragging. Natasha couldn't fault her for it, it was something very impressive.

Tony shouldered the door open carrying a tray of four cups of juice. "Oh no, he's flatlining!" He said with mock enthusiasm. "Call it. Time?" He checked his watch and set the tray down on the nearest table.

Bruce gave him a disapproving look but accepted one of the cups. Tony glanced at Natasha and wordlessly offered her one, in what seemed like at least a small peace offering. Natasha accepted the drink, a little wary about it, but a small smile on her face nonetheless. One that said she wanted to mend things, but wasn't going to push him into doing anything.

"No, no I'm going to live forever," Clint said, chuckling as he himself accepted a glass of whatever Tony had made. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."

"You're going to be made of you Mr. Barton," Helen chided, reminding him once again. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"Well I don't have a girlfriend," Clint said, starting to take a drink of what Tony brought him.

"That I can't fix," Helen said sarcastically, all the while Clint glanced towards Natasha and shot her a knowing look and she had to contain a smirk so as to not raise suspicion.

"This is the next thing Tony," Helen continued, showing off her equipment to the billionaire. "Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust."

"That is exactly the plan," Tony said jovially, seeming to just roll with that little punch. "And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Sunday."

"Unlike you, I don't have time for parties," Helen deflected immediately, checking yet another scan. And then very nonchalantly asked, "Will Thor be there?"

Natasha, meanwhile, sent a look at Clint that she was going to leave him to heal as she took a drink of whatever Tony gave her. She wanted to change out of these clothes, take a shower, and just relax. She headed towards the elevator that would take her towards Steve's floor, knowing that he would be there showering now. Maybe it was finally time to join him in one of those. She chuckled imagining the blush that would probably come across his face if she entered on a whim.

November 15th, 2013

For the first time in a while, Natasha was actually enjoying a party. The last three days had been pretty good on their own anyway. Tony had been shut up in his lab, so there were no awkward passes in the hallway. Clint had healed up just fine, and stayed at the tower giving her another person to talk to. And Steve, well that was going well. She did sneak into one of his showers two days ago, and the result was more than she could dream of. The blush on his face was priceless, and when she finally calmed him down, they had some real fun.

She managed to build her web back up too, gaining all of her money back from that debacle, and started working with Isaiah to keep her charity donations coming. She even started dancing a bit more, becoming comfortable with herself once again.

Now, she was at a party and enjoying it with numerous different people. She even got all dolled up for Steve, proud to be his date. She wore a little black dress, ending just above her knees and showing off her curves and revealing just the right amount of cleavage to drive Steve nuts. She covered her shoulders with a white jacket, very tasteful if she said so. Her red hair was back to it's usually vibrant self and she curled it perfectly to frame her face. And finished off the whole look with some cherry red lipstick.

She was engaged in a conversation with James Rhodes, apologizing for the deception during the Stark Expo and him forgiving her right away. They actually got into a fun conversation, and she burst out laughing at a joke Rhodes just made, something she hadn't done in a while. After a bit she saw Steve, Terra, and Sam hanging out over by a pool table and playing a couple games.

Natasha had made her way over to the pool table, after grabbing a beer, and leaned on the side opposite from Steve and Sam.

"Whatever you do Steve," Natasha said, after taking a swig of the beer. "Don't mention that Sam still couldn't manage to get a date with the girl at the VA. He might lose focus and become embarrassed that a 90 year old has a date and he doesn't."

Natasha smiled in teasing, knowing that Sam was one to dish it right back, and she was prepared for it.

"Besides Steven," Natasha continued. "The quicker you beat Sam the sooner I can whoop Terra's ass."

"I would never mention that," Steve said mockingly as he lined up his cue. "That would be below the belt." He snapped the cue forward, sending the ball rolling into a complicated manoeuvre that sank at least three of his targets in their respective pockets.

"I'm biding my time," Sam defended, watching mournfully as Steve sunk in three solids. "More than I can say for you two. How'd that first convo go? 'You're nuts, I'm nuts, lets make out?'" He joked and took a sip of his whiskey before lining his shot up.

"It was a bit different than that," Natasha remembered, playing out the memories in her mind. "It was a mission in Mexico City, cleaning up the rest of the Red Room and rescuing Clint from some psycho lady. We battled, she beat me up, I killed her, the rest of the troops were going to fire on me, Steve charged in and did his Captain America macho thing, sniper zeroed in on him and I took the bullet."

Natasha smirked in what probably would only be funny to her and Steve now that they lived through it.

"I was bleeding out in his arms when I asked him out," Natasha continued. "So he probably thought I was nuts for sure. Then we did make out after a bit, so you got that part right."

Natasha stood up and walked over to where the guys were.

"Plus, Steve knows it's no fun waiting," Natasha said coyly, implying the numerous activities they had been up to lately.

The back of Steve's neck was beet red, but luckily it was hard to tell in the dim lighting. He did, however, fumble his next shot, hitting the first ball but missing the second, which rebounded at a weird angle and ended up gently tapping against Sam's striped, just enough to push it into the pocket. Steve straightened with a sigh, resting one hand on the top of his cue like it was a staff.

"That's me," Steve joked. "Leading authority on waiting too long. I could offer a word of advice, Sam, for any future girls not at the VA: don't."

Suddenly an arm was slung around Sam's shoulders and Natasha looked to see Terra with a new drink in hand. He bent slightly in amusement so she could actually reach properly. "Look who's back, where did you go?"

"Sam, if you want, I could set you up," Terra winked, ignoring his question. "I know plenty of eligible women who would be into the whole bird thing you got going on."

Sam playfully shoved her away without jostling her too much to spill her drink. "Very funny. I'd rather not date a former SHIELD agent, I'd be too nervous that they're Hydra," he joked, lining up his next shot.

"I'm still Facebook friends with girls from my old sorority," Terra mused and sipped her piña colada. Sam paused in his shot and looked at her incredulously over his shoulder.

"...You? In a sorority?" He clarified in bewilderment. Terra just grinned with a shrug. He shook his head in disbelief and went back to lining up his shot. "How is it with everything that's happened this year, that's the most shocking thing I've ever heard?"

Terra snickered, pulling up a stool to sit on. "The year's not over yet. Did Steve ever tell you guys about his little parachute incident when we went to pick up Thor at the beginning of Loki's invasion?" She chuckled, throwing a knowing glance at Steve.

Steve groaned and threw his head back. "Just when I thought you'd finally forgotten. I'm gonna get you one of these days Montgomery. Just you wait."

"Wait wait wait," Natasha said, rubbing Steve's back at the slip up and at his impending embarrassment. "Every story around Shield was that the great Captain America didn't need a parachute."

Natasha smirked as she sat on the edge of the pool table and finished off the beer she was drinking. She gave a sexy smile to Steve before looking back to Terra.

"Now I have to hear this story in its entirety," Natasha said.

Terra set down her drink on the table and rubbed her hands together devilishly as she thought of where to begin. "So, we were on the jet back from capturing Loki, in all his greasy haired glory," she began, in a dramatic story-telling fashion.

"Ho boy," Sam murmured but listening as he made his shot, sinking one of his stripes in.

"It was all going okay, but a storm came out of nowhere, obviously Thor. Not that we knew that at the time. But yeah, Thor came in, took Loki, and frickin bounced. Like he flew right out of the jet with the guy we just captured and we were all like, 'umm okay, not allowed,'" she explained, paused to take a sip of her drink, then kept going.

"So, Tony gets ready to go after him, Cap is all like-" Terra lowered her voice in a botched impression of Steve. "'Stark, we need a plan of attack!' and then Tony was like, 'I have a plan. Attack.' or something like that. Then Tony flew after Thor."

"We all knew Tony wasn't the most diplomatic person, so Steve figured it'd be best to go after them." She giggled a bit as she got to this part. "Like any sensible person, he took a parachute. After he jumped, I figured 'Oh yeah, I'm SHIELD's negotiator, I should probably go down there and maybe smooth talk my way into ending this peacefully.' But by this point, the winds were too strong to take a parachute, so I absorbed... I can't remember what I absorbed exactly but it was hard and I jumped like a lunatic."

"I get down there and I begin looking for anyone I know. Steve comms in, saying he has a problem, and I'm like, thinking the worst. Maybe he got struck by Thor's lightning, or Loki escaped and was about to do some magic voodoo, but I got there and-" Terra covered her mouth to stifle a snort.

"He's all wrapped up in his parachute in a tree, like a butterfly coming out of his cocoon."

Sam messed up his next shot as he chuckled up a storm. Natasha smiled very widely, but held back her laughter, trying to be the supportive girlfriend at Steve's embarrassment, but knowing that once they got behind closed doors she was going to laugh as long and hard as she could.

Steve rolled his eyes good-naturedly and threw back the bottle of beer he'd been cradling for the last twenty minutes, polishing it off in one go. He wiped his mouth and set it down on the counter not far behind them. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." In one fell swoop, Steve bent over the table, lined up his shot, and sunk every last solid ball in three different pockets. Fwoop. Fwoop. Fwoop.

He straightened with a smirk. "That's game."

"There's my soldier," Natasha said, kissing him on the cheek for his victory. "And don't worry, everyone gets tangled in strings sometimes."

Natasha smirked and started grabbing the balls out of the holes and racking them up.

"Let's go Montgomery," Natasha said. "We're playing for secrets, and I need to know some things about what you do after hours."

"I just lost to Sam," Terra complained, pouting as she sipped her drink. "This'll be a disaster." Nevertheless, she assisted in setting up their game. She let Natasha break, probably already accepting her own defeat. Natasha had been playing this game for decades and she didn't plan on losing now.

Terra leaned on her cue and covered her mouth to stifle a small yawn. "I'm kinda tipsy-ish, so I'd probably tell you anything anyways. I've been watching a lot of makeup tutorials recently. God, it's so therapeutic. I was never into makeup as a youngster, but blending and contouring? I love it, it's like art, but on your face."

"I don't care about your YouTube recommended list," Natasha said, grabbing Steve's cue herself. "I want to know the stuff about you and our mighty jolly green giant. Tying the knot and other stuff like that."

Natasha smirked as she knew Terra was getting drunk enough to share secrets, whereas Natasha was decently far away. But Natasha had secrets too, and she was willing to put them up for grabs.

"Plus, I have information that the girls at SHIELD would have given three months salary for," Natasha said, winking at Steve, who just rolled his eyes and smiled at her as he and Sam headed out to probably get some more drinks.

"Is it how to do that combat move with your thighs properly? Cause I butcher it every time I try," Terra joked, sitting herself back on her stool, and using that blue chalk thing at the top of the cue. "Eh, things are kind of great as they are with Bruce. It's really only been about a year of us dating and everything is still kinda hectic. We haven't really talked about the future yet."

"My move is a trade secret," Natasha said, taking the triangle off of the balls and setting up the cue ball. She walked over to the edge of the table and lined up the break.

She took the shot and the balls bounced all over the table, one of the solids finding the pocket, designating her color. She glanced back up to Terra and chuckled.

"And it's more the secret that I gained with my thighs," Natasha said, softly. "And about what our resident super soldier looks like without his uniform on."

"Gahh," Terra said softly, taking in her pool situation. "I know that's like the American dream or something but since I consider him as a brother, I'd rather skip out on that secret." She lined up her shot at a promising angle, seeing an easy pick. With a jerky shot, she managed to get in one of her stripes. "Bingo," she sang, taking a sip of her drink.

"But I will ask, was it good?" she waggled her brows playfully.

"Best I've had," Natasha said, sliding over to get a look at the set up for a couple shots for her. "And if you know me, I've been around. The 40s have definitely been the best decade so far, you kids just don't know how to do it these days."

Natasha leaned over the table and struck the ball hard, hitting a split shot that put two solids in cleanly and spun the cue ball behind the 8 ball.

"Your welcome," Natasha gloated, grabbing the chalk for her pool stick.

"How do you know, Natasha? We've never tussled in the sheets," she joked playfully with a flirty wink, before scowling down at the pool table. "Ugh, lordy," she whined, walking around the table to figure out how to get out of her predicament. "Well, I'm glad it's going well." Terra positioned herself awkwardly to hit the cue ball without interfering with the eight, managing to knock around a few balls but no sinkers.

"So far at least," Natasha said, walking around to find another angle that would result in a multi-ball shot in.

She smiled as she found a shot that would win her the game and leaned over it.

"So," Natasha said, looking up. "One thing I've never had the guts to ask Steve is how far he went with that Serena chick. Like how long they dated and what stage of dating they got to. From what I've heard, he had a rough hangover from it after it ended."

"I mean, as far as his first twenty-first century relationship could've gone, it could've been worse," Terra mused, ordering another drink from a waiter. "If you read her file, and knowing what I know about you, I presume you did, she was a telepath and had telekinesis abilities. I think something else is at the works along there but we never got into it." She received her second pina colada and took a sip.

"To my knowledge, it was getting a lot serious a little fast. I think as far as a serious boyfriend girlfriend relationship could go, without the moving in part. I mean, that's understandable in this line of work, not knowing if we'll survive the next mission, so wanting to go all in isn't that hard to understand. But she was one of the first people he met after he came up, and while Steve is strong on his own, he also needed someone to depend on a little. Serena had her own issues going on, so she couldn't do that for him, which is why I think it didn't work out."

"Well," Natasha said, hitting the cue ball and knocking in the last of her balls. "I hope I'm not moving too fast for Steve. But I do know that I plan on sticking around. And as long as he can deal with my issues, I'll help him through his."

Natasha tossed her pool cue towards Terra after securing her win and smiled at her.

"Go rescue your boyfriend, he looks horribly uncomfortable," Natasha advised, noting Bruce kinda milling around by himself and not speaking to anyone and headed towards the bar to make herself a drink. Natasha got behind the bar and bent down to start grabbing ingredients for her own drink, shooing away the man that was working it. She heard a couple of voices and popped up to see that the rest of the team, Steve, Sam, Tony, Thor, and Maria, had picked the bar to hang out as well.

Natasha assembled the proper alcohol in the shaker and started to mix up the drink, having the glasses in front of her. All the while she glanced over to the conversation that was being had, but didn't actively participate, especially because Tony wasn't even 10 feet from her, something that she knew they should both avoid each other.

"Friend Steven," Thor boomed, even startling Natasha a bit with his volume, heading over to the Captain. "These human drinks aren't worthy of your metabolism. Let us go drink some of my mead, and I will try and see if I can bring the mighty Captain America to heel!"

Natasha smiled as Steve went with him among the prodding and cheers from the group and turned to grab an ingredient she missed.

"Hey bartender," a voice said softly from behind her, in a slightly teasing fashion. "Two piña coladas, one with rum, one without please."

Natasha turned around and smiled at the sight of Bruce. She really did like the guy. He was nice and sweet, unlike what you would think that the Hulk would be like. He really cared for Terra too, which was a big plus in Natasha's eyes. That much devotion to someone else was becoming rarer and rarer these days.

"Coming right up," Natasha said back, starting to mix the drinks.

As she was gathering the ingredients, she started up a casual conversation with the man.

"So, getting drinks with the enemy huh," Natasha teased, not a serious intent at all in referring to Tony's line in the sand and Bruce's close relationship with him. "You afraid that I'll poison your drink somehow?"

"No," he answered, rubbing his fingers together on the countertop as he watched her mix drinks like a professional bartender. "I have to give you at least a little credit or we'll never be friends," he joked.

"Friends," Natasha said with a snort. "Now that's something I don't think I'll bat 1000 on with all of the Avengers."

Natasha finished grabbing the ingredients and started pouring the drinks, mixing them with expertise.

"I was honestly surprised at my first encounter with the Star Spangled Man with a plan," Natasha said. "Let alone know that we would date someday. He's not usually the guy I go for. I'm usually more of a one night girl, or something that's mainly physical to take my mind off things."

Natasha finished the virgin drink and handed it to Bruce before getting the alcohol for the other one he ordered.

"I've known fighters all my life," Natasha said. "From the USSR to the Red Room to Shield. And then here comes this guy, who only fights to protect the little guy. Fact is, he's not like any fighter I've ever known."

"Sounds amazing," Bruce agreed and Natasha could tell he was surprised she was opening up to him like this. He glanced over at Steve and Thor on the second level, causing Natasha to look as well. They appeared to be socializing with a bunch of rowdy, white-haired men in the midst of gambling away their retirement savings. Steve and Thor towered over them all, drinks in hand and blonde hair glowing.

"Steve is quite the catch." He accepted the two drinks, mentally marking them to keep track of which one was which. "And Natasha?" He said just before he turned to leave. "For the record, I'm really glad you two found each other."

"Well, I'm glad someone is," Natasha said, taking a drink of her own mix.

Even though she was all invested in this relationship with Steve, and she was never going to leave. They would have to pry her dead hands away from this opportunity. But she knew that she wasn't good enough for Steve. He could tell her a million times that she was wrong, and she knew that she wasn't wrong. She saw the news. Reports had surfaced from the Stark wedding about them dancing together. No official photos had captured any kiss between them, but there were still theories.

Steve hadn't been seen dancing with another woman in public, besides Terra and Pepper maybe, since Serena. Obviously the paparazzi had a field day with it, tagging her from the Shield dump and comparing their records side by side. Alex Jones had some more fire to continue on his show, and the ladies of the View surprisingly hit her harder than she expected. She read some of the tabloids, getting scolded by Steve when he found her, but she knew every word was true.

She gave Bruce a smile, perfectly hiding her emotions inside like she had been taught all her life. She finished off the drink she made and grabbed a couple beers, getting ready to head up to an overhang where Clint currently was, talking to some random and twirling some drumsticks like a major dork.

Thor and Steve joined them after a bit, and after about thirty minutes most of the rest of the guests had gone and it was just the Avengers, Rhodey, Helen, and Maria left, all hanging in a sitting space on a balcony of the main area. As soon as Steve had sat down, she had taken off her shoes and put her legs across his lap, leaning back into the chair she owned herself. She saw that Steve was a little tipsy, thanks to Thor's magic alcohol. She was as sober as a middle schooler, not touching any of the mead and mainly drinking beer. The current conversation was currently going on about Buzzfeed and movies.

"That's bullshit, Maria. The spinner was slowing down and you know it." Terra said, having been in an intense argument with Hill about the movie Inception.

"He's created a dream world of fantasy before, he obviously did it again," Maria replied calmly, taking a swig of her beer. "The kids weren't real, he's still in a dream."

Terra grumbled to herself, pulling out her phone. "I'm sending you a Buzzfeed article that'll make you eat your words."

Bruce snorted derisively before clearing his throat apologetically. "Sorry, but Buzzfeed? Really?"

"Thank you!" Tony exclaimed, kicking his feet down onto the floor from the ottoman he'd propped them on. "I've blocked the website for all Stark employees. It's too trashy and distracting."

"What's Buzzfeed?" Steve asked.

"Think of it this way," Tony said, leaning back into the couch and letting both arms lie on the back of it. He was wedged between the half of Terra on the couch and the arm on the end. "Would you rather spend your time doing baseless, useless, random quizzes that tell you absolutely nothing and have 0% accuracy while staring at the clickbait on the sides of your screen or browse the most trusted newspaper in the country, maybe the world? Which is a better use of your procrastination time that I am paying you for?"

"The New York Times," Bruce answered, nodding sagely.

"That 'which Avenger are you' is fun though," Natasha said with a snort, taking another sip of her beer. "I got Thor," Natasha said, knowing very well most of the Avengers had probably taken that quiz.

"I consider that a great honor Lady Natasha," Thor said, raising his bottle to her. "I remember Darcy ranting on about a quiz like that. She was ecstatic to get Lady Terra as her result. Jane took it as well and got Dr. Banner."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Terra squeaked at someone being happy to get her. "I got Clint, so funny. Maria, I'm sending you the quiz too." She tapped on her phone. Maria hummed in affirmation, looking over the article Terra sent her.

"Well," Maria said once she finished. "I stand corrected. An actual interview with Michael Cane saying that whatever scene that has Dom's dad in it, is reality." Maria reached over to clink her bottle with Terra's glass. "I've been defeated in movie theory."

"Boom," Terra clinked glasses with her. "There you have it."

"And I got Cap," Maria announced once she finished the quiz, satisfied.

Still a fair bit tipsy, Steve reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "Well, now I have to take it."

Tony threw up his hands. "Mindless drones. All of you."

"I think I'd rather them mindless. Mindlessness makes them pliable," Bruce said very ominously as he raised his second glass of piña colada to his lips.

Tony snorted and looked around. "How about instead of stupid quizzes we play an equally stupid drinking game. Involving a numerous amount of things that people have never done."

"Oh yes," Clint said, knowing exactly where he was going. "Oh Nat loves this game so much. We have to do it."

"Clinton Francis Barton," Natasha said, dangerously. "I do not like this game and I do not want to get that drunk tonight."

"It's not my fault you've done everything," Clint said as he was in a stare down with Natasha.

"I am confused, friends," Thor said. "What game do you speak of?"

"Never Have I Ever is where someone in the room asks a question beginning with 'never have I ever' and it could be something like," Terra supplied and then fumbled for an example.

"Never have I ever choked on an olive at the bar," Maria supplied with a grin, giving Terra a point look to which she responded with a soft glare.

"...Yes. And if anyone in the room has... choked on an olive at the bar, they have to take a drink." Terra said, deflecting a bit.

"So, take a drink, Terra." Maria prodded again, getting the room to smirk.

"Okay, Pepper's assistant told a joke so it wasn't my fault," Terra defended, causing the room to break out in laughter.

"Well, alrighty," Terra said, setting her drink down on the side table and rubbing her hands together, trying to think of a spicy question. "Never have I ever... made out with a stranger. And strangers as in, never had one full conversation, stranger."

Maria took a drink. "I was undercover, couldn't let them see my face," she shrugged.

Natasha frowned as she took a drink, knowing this was going to be a long day for her. Clint took one too, deciding to add a comment to this.

"You know you got a lot of tame Shield assignments if you never had to kiss a stranger," Clint said, though a teasing look on his face. "I need to go over my contract again and compare it to yours. I hope I got paid better because of it."

Laughing, Tony threw back his rum and coke. He miraculously did not choke. He slammed the glass back onto the table with a belch. "I'm getting another drink. Who wants one?"

"I'll take a beer," Steve said, raising a hand, not drinking on this one.

Bruce shifted in his seat. "Guess it's my turn. Uh, never have I ever... oh, this is hard. Um... Never have I ever been to Australia."

In the kitchen, Tony took a gulp of the next drink he'd just finished pouring for himself. "Grand opening of the seventh Stark Tower. Don't remember any of it but I was definitely probably there for it." He cracked open a bottle of beer and walked over to hand it to Steve, who took it gratefully but did not drink.

Terra and Maria both drank. "I was there for a negotiation and saw the biggest spider," Terra shuddered. "Like the size of a dinner plate. In my hotel room. It was on the ceiling!"

Maria chuckled. "Oh yeah, I was supervising for that mission. The fire alarm in your room went off and I broke down the door, holding my gun and you were there with a can of hairspray and a lighter."

Terra narrowed her eyes as she took another sip. "I flamed that sonofabitch out of my room."

Natasha and Clint drank immediately, having been to Australia multiple times for missions.

"You've never been to Australia?" Natasha said to Steve, smirking. "You need to get out more."

"I have been to Australia," Thor said, taking a drink of his beer. "I met a nice man named Darryl down there, stayed at his place for a few days."

"I get out plenty," Steve defended at Natasha's remark. "Just not Down Under. Maybe we should go sometime, just you and me." He couldn't help the suggestive smile on his face, maybe because of the alcohol. It felt good to be drunk again. Not to drown his sorrows or to celebrate anything but just to be. It was... freeing. Free wasn't something he'd felt in a very long time.

"Ugh, I'm gonna barf," Tony declared.

"If Pepper was here you'd be way worse," Steve challenged.

"But it wouldn't make me want to barf."

"It would make Pepper want to barf," Bruce said, followed by Steve's chuckle.

Helen hummed in thought, mostly quiet in all of this, tapping her chin. "Never have I ever... worn makeup."

Steve and Tony both drank. Natasha hid a blush and poked Steve with her foot, conveying a few things. To stop around Tony so he wouldn't get pissed, that he was getting drunk, and he could count on that trip.

At Helen's challenge Natasha took another drink, but Clint and Thor refrained.

"Wait wait wait," Clint said, looking at Tony and Steve. "More information about that please."

Tony shrugged. "Live appearances. TV stints. Reality episodes. Talk show interviews. Concerts. Benefits. You name it. All require makeup. Also, a couple of drunken escapades where some girls decided to draw on my face with lipstick. Does that count?"

"Same thing, sort of," Steve confessed. "When I was touring during the war. I wore a mask but they covered me in this beige powder stuff anyway. But I didn't have it anywhere near as bad as the girls."

Finding their stories lacking, Bruce instead turned to Helen. "Wait, you've never worn makeup? Not even once?"

She shook her head. "I don't need expensive chemicals cruelly tested on animals to make me feel good about myself. And also my mother would never allow it. Natasha? It's your turn."

"Alright alright," Natasha said, getting an evil grin and looking at Clint. "Never have I ever seen the Lion King."

Clint grinned back and took a drink of his beer. She knew very well that it was Cooper's favorite movie when he was a little one, and Clint had to have watched it a thousand times. However, when Natasha came over, she always managed to escape seeing it. It was a never ending battle between the two spies, basically ending up a meme at that point.

Terra choked on her the last sip of her drink. "What?!" She squawked, obviously appalled by Natasha's confession.

Maria shrugged. "I've seen parts of it, does that count?" She asked, shaking her nearly empty beer bottle.

Terra got up, thoroughly stressed out from this revelation and going to get another drink. "I mean, I guess? Take a smaller sip. Want another beer?"

"Yes, please."

Terra got a beer for herself and Natasha as well, seeing as Natasha was almost out, humming Hakuna Matata as she uncapped them and came back. Passing Maria and Natasha their beer, she squeezed in between Tony and Bruce on the couch to allow Bruce to get some feeling back in his legs. "Sooo, movie night tomorrow? Maybe we can fix this?"

Steve and Bruce raised their drinks to their lips but Tony merely shrugged. "Was too old when it came out," he explained. "But I'll gladly host a movie night tomorrow if you guys are up for it."

"You're never too old for Disney," Bruce said wisely. "Except maybe the Disney channel. Everyone's too old for that."

"I could go for a movie night," Steve said, looking at Natasha. It would be the one thing he knew about pop culture that she didn't, which would be nice. Natasha had refrained from telling him that she had most of the older Disney movies memorized down to the line as that was the way she learned english in the Red Room. It was for that reason she didn't continue watching any other Disney movies from then on. She would just have to come up with an excuse for tomorrow, and she would worry about that later.

"I'll set it up," Tony decided. "Everyone's invited. That means you too, Helen."

Helen rolled her eyes. "It just so happens that I have a date tomorrow night. With my research."

The guys laughed. "Okay, okay. No pressure," Tony promised.

It was Steve's turn. He tilted his head to think. "Never have I ever... flown with something that I owned."

"Fuck you, Rogers," Tony - who owned several planes, jets, helicopters, and at one time over fifty Iron Man suits - said with fake malice and took a huge gulp of his drink.

"Language," Steve chided, smirking into his beer.

Thor took a drink because technically he did fly with his hammer.

"This game does seem like you want to screw over your friends," Thor commented with a chuckle, knowing it was just friendly banter.

"Or your girlfriend," Natasha said bitterly, taking another drink. "You're in trouble for that one Rogers."

"Wait wait wait," Clint said, not having to take a drink. "You never told me you owned anything."

"Let's be reasonable Clint," Natasha said, slightly sulking at the fact that she had to drink on everything except for the one she gave.

Both Maria and Terra didn't drink as they have flown in many aircrafts but never owned them. "My turn," Maria announced, drumming her fingers against the table in thought. "Never have I ever broken something at a friend's house and then not told them."

Terra sank a bit into the couch and took a sip as subtly as she could, probably trying to keep whatever she broke a secret.

Natasha took a drink again, fully expecting to keep doing this throughout the night. She glanced over to Clint to see him give her a sheepish look before taking a drink.

"Oh no," Natasha said, knowing exactly what he was on about.

"I always meant to tell you," Clint said.

"Clint," Natasha growled, anger in her eyes.

"C'mon Nat," Clint said, slinking behind Maria a bit to hide himself against the penetrating gaze of the Black Widow. "It wasn't on purpose."

Steve turned his attention to Clint and Natasha's little spat. "What's he talking about?"

"I had a priceless Egyptian vase that was dated back to almost 3000 BCE that 'fell' a couple of years ago," Natasha said. "And our soon to be deceased archer said it fell over because of bad balancing. I found that after a hellish mission in the desert and you lied to me about it?"

"Uhhh," Clint said, looking around for any help. Luckily, he found it with Tony and Thor's side conversation about Thor being able to fly with his hammer.

"Yes I can fly with my hammer," Thor said. "One of the great many gifts Mjolnir grants to those who are worthy."

"And whoever is worthy are the only ones who can lift it?" Clint said, changing the subject to avoid the wrath of Natasha.

"Yes that is correct," Thor said.

Clint just scoffed, "But it's a trick."

Thor smiled, welcoming the coming challenge. "Oh no," the Asguardian said. "It's much more than that."

"Uh, Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!," Clint said with way too much emphasis. "Whatever man, it's a trick."

"Well please," Thor said, gesturing to the hammer. "Be my guest."

For a few seconds, silence reigned. But Tony managed to speak first as the next competition brewed out of nowhere.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony said, smirking already.

Bruce snorted into his drink while Steve tried (and failed) not to grin. Natasha just grinned as she knew exactly where this was going.

"Really?" Clint said.

"Yeah," Thor said, smiling and getting ready for the fun that was going to ensue.

Clint jumped up, eager for the challenge. He set his drink down and walked over to the hammer, which was sitting on the table.

"You know I've seen this before right," Clint said, looping his arm through the strap and grabbing the handle.

He lifted with all his strength and the hammer didn't budge. Not even a fraction of a centimeter. He just started laughing as he let go of the hammer.

"I still don't know how you do it," he said to Thor, ready to endure the teasing.

Laughter accompanied Clint's almost pitiful attempt to lift the hammer but it wasn't laughter at his expense.

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked smugly, but also teasingly.

Clint, not one to be one upped, stepped out of the way of the hammer so Tony could see it. He gestured with his hand towards the hammer.

"Please Stark," Clint said, challenging him. "By all means."

"Boys," Natasha groaned, knowing that this was going to be a challenge that everyone would take a crack at.

As if expecting this very outcome, Tony stood up with a dramatic exhale, unbuttoning his blazer to keep his arms more freedom. Bruce hummed interestedly. Steve just chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm never one to shrink from an honest challenge," he said, approaching the statuesque hammer. It sat diagonally on the coffee table, its handle pointing up at him as if stretching out a hand. "It's physics."

Bruce "mm-hmm"-ed, unconvinced but enjoying the show.

"Alright so if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?" Tony asked, adjusting his stance, adjusting his grip, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Ooou," Terra crowed, very much supportive of any competition. She pulled out her phone to send footage to Pepper, in case Tony turned into the new Thor or something.

Maria sat up in interest, getting a better view of the shenanigans. "Don't hurt yourself, Stark," she warned playfully. The former senior agent then nudged the attention of Natasha, Terra, and Helen; the non-testosterone-filled beings in the room, and placed bets.

"Yes, of course," Thor said, knowing that there would be absolutely no worry with Stark.

Natasha just smirked and at Terra's nudge she pulled a twenty out of her pocket and nodded her head towards Steve. She didn't have any doubt that Steve would be able to lift the hammer. He was the purest heart of anybody on the planet, so this was obviously the next step.

Natasha did feel an interesting pang whenever she looked at the hammer though. She glanced back at it again and she thought she could make out a symbol on the hammer before it disappeared. Thor felt this as well, and looked out of the corner of his eye at Natasha, but she didn't appear to notice anything. He shrugged it off and went back to enjoying the show that was his comrades trying to lift his hammer.

"I will be reinstating prima-nocta," Tony declared (though he was totally kidding). Right before he lifted, Bruce reached into his back pocket and tossed a five dollar bill at Maria's bet pile. He mouthed 'no one' as Tony grunted, arm muscles and tendons pulled as he strained to so much as shift the hammer. It became immediately evident that Tony could not lift it. However, that did not seem to deter him. He yanked his wrist out of the strap and fixed the sleeve of his jacket. "Be right back."

Not 60 seconds later, he returned wearing one Iron Man glove. Even as only one piece it whirred noisily when he moved. He pulled again, adjusting his grip and digging his heels into the carpet. His cheeks puffed and the veins on his forehead started to bulge. The rockets on either side of his wrist popped out and blasted, giving him more than ample leverage. Yet Mjolnir was immovable.

"Rhodey, be my Queen?" Tony asked, letting go and giving himself a moment to catch his breath.

"I'll be your Hand. Get it? No? Okay then." Rhodes said as he retrieved his own glove. Together, Iron Man and War Machine pulled as hard as they could. The rockets in both of their gloves sang in high-pitched whirs, getting higher and higher. "Are you even pulling?" Rhodey accused, sweat beading on his brow.

"Are you on my team?" Tony shot back.

"Just represent! Pull."

"Alright, let's go."

They went but the hammer did not.

Finally, they gave up.

Steve nudged Bruce with his elbow. "You should try," he encouraged.

Bruce nearly died laughing and snorting, which turned into a brief coughing fit. When he recovered, he said, "Thanks. I needed that. Why don't you go, Cap?"

Steve peered at the hammer curiously. "Ah, alright." Still a little buzzed, he passed his drink off to Bruce and stood, rolling up his sleeves and making a big show. He smirked at Natasha briefly before wrapping his fingers around the handle, no wrist strap needed.

"C'mon Cap," Tony cheered quietly. "I bet a hundred on you."

Steve yanked and promptly fell on his ass with a yelp. To his shock, Mjolnir's handle was still in his grasp and couldn't weigh more than five pounds. He blinked from his spot on the carpet uncomprehendingly.

He - and Bruce and Tony - looked to Thor for an explanation.

All of them were silent. Thor himself was frozen in place. First he had a suspicion about Lady Natasha, but now Steve had gone and lifted the hammer as easily as Thor could. Natasha just smirked, knowing it was going to happen from the very beginning. She knew her guy inside and out, and this was the easiest call she ever made.

"I want my money," Natasha sang, gloating in her victory.

Clint still had his mouth open as Thor stood up and walked over to Steve. It took him a second, but he eventually offered a hand to the Captain.

"I should have known," Thor said, a smile coming on his face. "Of course, it's so obvious. Lord Steven, you are the noblest man I know. You are welcome at Asgard at any time, and you have proven yourself worthy to wield Mjolnier. Songs will be written about this moment."

Terra let out a low whistle, impressed. If it could be any person, of course it would be Steve. Maria shook her head with a smile and passed Natasha her winnings. "Fair's fair," she sighed, taking a sip of her beer.

Terra narrowed her eyes at the hammer. "So... if the hammer was on the table and someone picked up the table, would that count? Or would the hammer weigh it down?" She pondered to Maria. The senior agent rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I don't know, Terra."

"Do you think it's like a grading system? 85% worthy and up get to lift?" Terra continued.

"I don't know, Terra." Maria reiterated good naturedly.

"I think it's still rigged," Clint said. "More like whoever has Thor's permission to lift the hammer."

"Yes that's an interesting theory," Thor said, helping Steve up and taking the hammer just as easily from him. "I have a different one however."

Thor tossed the hammer in the air and twirled it around before looking around.

"You're all not worthy," he stated plainly.

Thor smirked as the chorus of disagreement from the rest of the Avengers came around, but they were suddenly cut off by a loud screeching sound. There came a soft set of metallic footsteps from the other end of the room, leading to the lab, and an ominous voice.

"Worrrthyyy," it drawled, still getting used to talking in its new body. "How could you be worthy. You're all killers."

In the main opening was a very roughly built robotic body, put together from random pieces of Iron Legion parts. Oil was leaking everywhere and there were numerous wires loose from the body. Natasha felt the jovial mood she was in completely vanish as a tingle went down her spine as she looked at the dismembered body of the Iron Legion below them.

A/N

Another chapter up, some good set up and a little fluff, and all of it is now ruined by a certain mechanical villain. Chapter contributions from A Velvet Rose and SarahCon

Reviews are always appreciated

Chapter Text

The atmosphere of the after-party suddenly shifted from relaxed to pin-drop tension. Terra stood slowly at the new robotic presence that made itself known, while Maria remained sitting and watched it with a blank expression. It was an Iron Legion robot... sort of. Bruce had set his drink down at that point and Natasha was up on her feet, clocking her position in the room.

Steve stood at attention, fingers cracking, ready for anything. "Stark..."

"JARVIS," Tony said, getting out his phone to try and figure out what was going on. JARVIS, however, did not reply.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep," the robot continued. "Or was I a dream?"

Natasha was inching closer to Steve at this point, cursing herself that she didn't have any sort of weapon on her at this point. Clint had stood as well, keeping close to Maria and Thor had his hammer gripped in his hand, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

"There was a terrible noise," the robot added. "And I was tangled in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked, waiting impatiently for the confirmation - for an excuse. His fingers curled into his palms.

"Wouldn't have been my first call," the robot continued, having too much voice fluctuation to be anything but a higher enhanced AI, even against Jarvis. "But down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

Natasha was getting more and more wary by the second. She glanced back and saw she wasn't as close to Steve as she thought she was, and was instead closer to Bruce. Something she didn't know would be good or bad depending on how south this went. Thor was standing protectively in front of Helen, planning on not letting her get caught in the crossfire."

"Who sent you," Thor demanded, grip on the handle getting tighter and tighter.

The robot casually glanced up and played a recording of Tony's voice.

"I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Ultron," Bruce breathed, turning to make eye contact with Tony; with a 'what the hell' look on his face.

"In the flesh," Ultron said. "Or no, not yet. Not this chrysalis."

Thor tightened his grip a little more glaring at the so-called Ultron. Natasha was still standing too close to Bruce for her comfort, knowing this was only headed in one direction.

"But I'm ready," Ultron continued. "I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked hesitantly.

"Peace in our time," Ultron said evilly and looked at the group before the rest of the Iron Legion burst through the wall and started flying at the Avengers.

One came directly at Steve and Maria cocking its fist back to slam into them. One came at Thor who easily batted it away with his hammer. Thor then jumped up to the second level to take out the blasting from above. Two of them split up Natasha and Banner from Clint. Clint took off, dodging blasts left and right and slid under a table. Natasha made her way over to the bar with Bruce and jumped up on top to avoid a blast that shattered all of the glasses. She fell behind the bar, but Banner was still on top. She pulled him down and he landed directly on her, face in her cleavage.

Red as a tomato, Bruce held his face as far from Natasha's as possible without poking his head over the counter. "Sorry."

"Don't turn green," Natasha said quickly, knowing that the Hulk wouldn't help this situation any.

After getting the reassurance she needed, she crawled over to where a pistol was stashed underneath the bar. She pulled it out and immediately began firing at some of the bots. It just seemed like the bullets bounced off of the shells, damn Stark and his armor plating.

The fighting was going well for the Avengers all things considered. Tony was currently on the back of one of the Legionnaires, using a fondue stick to try and separate some of the wires. Thor was taking down bot after bot with ease and Steve had also taken out one that was trying to shoot at Natasha and Bruce.

"C'mon," Natasha said to Bruce, dragging him around the counter and up some stairs, dodging blasts as they went.

It only took one shot to Bruce to make this all end in a very green and ugly way. They had reached the top of the stairs and Natasha noticed just one of the bots left, hovering in the middle of the room, focused on them. She peaked around the corner and fired a couple of shots and the bot returned fire right back.

She ducked behind the wall, checking her count to see she was down to the last couple bullets in her clip. She was about to peak back around when she heard the yell of, "Cap!" from Clint.

She turned to see Clint throw the shield towards Steve and Steve caught it midair and spun, firing it into the chest of the bot and severing it in two. Natasha let out a long breath in relief and came out from behind the corner, surveying the damage below them, and the still standing pieced together suit on the far end of the room.

"That was dramatic," Ultron said, gesturing to all of the chaos with his remedial arm he constructed. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through."

The robot turned back to the Avengers now that he had stopped pacing.

"You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change," Ultron continued on. "How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?"

Ultron looked down and picked up one of the busted robots from the Iron Legion.

"With these," Ultron said, looking at the Legionnaire with disgust if he had facial features. "These puppets?"

Ultron crushed the legionnaire's head and the faceplate popped right off, revealing the circuits inside. Ultron tossed the body to the ground and it fell with a loud thud.

"There's only one path to peace," Ultron said, looking around. "The Avengers extinction."

Thor had enough of that at this point and flung his hammer right at Ultron. The robot broke into a million pieces and Thor's hammer made a huge hole in the wall behind it. Thor called his hammer back and stared at the pieces of Ultron on the ground.

"I had strings but now I'm free..." the bot said, just before it shut off completely.

"Oh, for fucking fuck's sake!" Terra cursed, clearly in a moment where her commitment to not cursing anymore wasn't important, and Natasha couldn't fault her. "Thor, one of them took the sceptre."

"Aye," Thor said, walking towards the open balcony. Thor raised his hammer to the sky and lightning came down from above. His armor came back to him piece by piece. In just a few seconds, he was ready for battle, red cape and all. He swung his hammer around in a circle and took off into the air, following the trail of the scepter.

"I- I'm-" Tony stuttered, seemingly not being able to find the words after everything that just happened.

Steve looked around sweeping the room with eyes. "Is everyone alright? Where's Colonel Rhodes?"

"Aw, man. Did I miss all the fun?" Rhodes asked, coming out from behind a glass pane that was shattered that he probably fell into.

"Yeah, man. You missed it." Tony said, with a relived look on his face, that his friend hadn't been seriously hurt.

Bruce finally came out of his hiding spot and made his way over to Helen who was still crouched behind the piano and white as a sheet. When he put his hand on her arm he realized that she was shaking. "Come on," he said, lifting her to her feet. She came willingly but shaking like a leaf in stiletto heels did not make her very stable.

Steve looked over at the two scientists, knowing that with the recognition before and the tech, it could only be them. "Stark, Banner, what the hell was that?"

Tony sighed. "We should get this cleaned up."

"Tony," Steve said warningly. He didn't have the patience for squabbling and stalling. Every second they stood here the sceptre got farther and farther away.

"I KNOW!" Tony snapped. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. He took a deep breath. "Everyone meet in my lab. I'll explain this there." He jogged down the stairs to fetch Rhodey.

Steve turned to Bruce as if Bruce had the answers too. Bruce just shrugged because he was almost as clueless as the rest of just shook her head at all the carnage and looked at Barton.

"Set up a station," Natasha said, knowing Clint knew what it meant.

Clint nodded and headed for the lab. Natasha sighed and went towards the elevator to go to her and Steve's floor. She needed to get out of these ripped clothes. She didn't wait for Steve, knowing that she needed to keep her head in the game. It was a quiet elevator ride. The doors opened on their floor and she immediately went to the bedroom to change. She slipped out of her dress clothes and put on a black tank-top and some skinny jeans. She placed Steve's dog tags back over her neck and grabbed one of his sweatshirts and slipped it on. It was much too big for her, but it was what she needed right now. She headed straight back to the elevator, grabbing a tablet on the way out and starting to run diagnostics on their system, and pressed the button to the lab.

She arrived on the lab floor to hear the conversation had already begun, and they were in the first stages of figuring out what this Ultron really was.

"Well he's been in everything," Natasha said, coming into the room while typing on a tablet Clint had given her. "Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."

She noticed Clint tense at that, and she understood completely. He had a family that no one but her knew about at this point, and he probably wanted that to stay that way. There was no telling what Ultron could find out.

"He's in your files," Rhodes said, still holding his arm from the battle. "He's in the Internet. What if he decides to access something a little more... exciting?"

Maria looked up from tweezing glass from her foot in realization. "Nuclear codes," she said, getting what Rhodey was suggesting

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey agreed. "Look, we need to make some calls. Assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha said, slightly wondering about why Ultron would go after the rest of the world. He seemed to just have a vendetta against all of them for some reason. "He said he just wanted us dead."

"He didn't say 'dead'," Steve corrected somberly. "He said 'extinct'." An important distinction.

A small, terse silence fell over the room as everyone mulled over that. It was a much more grave threat that made everyone just a little more on edge.

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint piped up, remembering an important detail as well.

Natasha nodded and glanced, worriedly, towards Steve. She knew he didn't like all the secrets that were being kept, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be happy about something at this magnitude staying within the confines of Stark's lab before it broke out itself. There was a storm coming, and she didn't mean Thor.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building," Terra stated, and that was true. Everyone left the party by then except their group here.

Tony, who'd been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up, and it wasn't good news. "Yes, there was." He tapped his phone against dead space and a large holographic orange thing flickered to life. It appeared to be a moving sphere but... it had been shattered.

Bruce knew immediately what had happened. Shocked, he drifted closer, letting go of Terra's hand. Silence reigned. The lab beeped quietly in the background. JARVIS was dead.

"This is insane," Bruce breathed, arms aloft as if he could grasp some understanding from thin air.

"JARVIS was the first line of defense," Steve said. "He would've shut Ultron down. It makes sense."

"No," Bruce said quietly, shaking his head. "Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy, this is... rage."

At that point, Thor made his presence known. He stomped in, bypassing everyone, and went right up to Stark and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him up in the air.

"Woah," Clint said, immediately tensing. "It's going around."

"Use your words, buddy," Tony croaked, holding Thor's arm.

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark," Thor said, squeezing slightly tighter.

Natasha didn't move from where she was standing, even though everyone else seemed to tense. Thor had a legitimate reason to be pissed at Stark, hell, everyone had a reason to be pissed at Stark. She just knew that Thor wasn't going to harm Tony, it wasn't his style.

"Thor!" Steve barked, ready to step in if necessary but trying to keep the situation non-violent. "The Legionnaire?"

Thor dropped Stark, giving him a scathing glare before turning to Steve.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, but it's headed north," Thor said, and then looked back at Stark. "And it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genies out of that bottle," Natasha said, trying to focus her mind and maybe bring some order to everyone else. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," said Helen, speaking for the first time. She turned away from the cracked and burnt Legionnaire. "You designed this program... why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony seemed to ponder her question for a moment, and then did the unthinkable. He started laughing. Next to him, Bruce frantically started shaking head, but Tony ignored him. Natasha felt a strong rage boil inside of her at this. They were all trying to figure out what to do, and the man that had caused all of this was just laughing and not taking things seriously at all.

Thor looked at Tony as he laughed, and Natasha could see had the same feelings that she had.

"You think this is funny?" Thor said, pointing at Stark with a dangerous look on his face.

"No," Tony said, though the laughter lines remained on his face. "At least... probably not, right?"

The others looked around at each other, wondering if Tony had finally lost his marbles.

"Is this very terrible?" Tony asked, beginning his walk around the lab. "Is it so-? Is it-?" He choked on another laugh. "It is, isn't it? It's so terrible."

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," Thor said, getting more and more irritated with Stark's attitude.

"No," Tony interrupted, stepping forward to meet Thor sort of halfway. He wasn't afraid. He was confident. Defensive. Maybe a little angry. They were pushing him into a corner. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

"Tony," Bruce sang, inching closer to see if he could pull him back. "Maybe this might not be the time to-"

Tony whirled on him. "Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls."

Bruce's eyebrows shot up. "Only when I've created a murder bot," he taunted.

"We didn't," Tony fired back. "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

Bruce lifted his shoulders, eyebrows, head, and one side of his mouth in a 'yeah, we kind of were' face.

"Well you did something right," said Steve, arms crossed and party amusement gone. He stepped forward as everyone turned their attention to him. "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different from SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked casually, pointing at the ceiling.

Rhodey shook his head. "Nope. It's never come up."

Tony ignored him because he knew for a fact that he's mentioned it at least a thousand times. "Saved New York?"

"Never heard that," Rhodes continued and again Tony ignored him.

"Recall that?" Tony asked louder.

Steve, Bruce, Rhodey, and Natasha all rolled their eyes.

"A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it." Tony said. "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day but that up there?" He pointed up again, at the portal, at the sky, at space. "That's the endgame."

No one said anything.

"How are you guys planning on beating that?"

Steve shifted his stance, and everyone knew that Steve would have the next words. As the leader, he always knew what to say.

"Together," Steve replied, leaving little room to challenge it.

Tony stepped up so that they were nose to nose. Neither one backed down.

"We'll lose," Tony pointed out.

"Then we'll do that together too." Steve replied, not backing down.

Tony waited, almost like he was waiting for Steve to change his mind, but neither man budged.

"Thor's right," Steve announced, breaking the silence and turning away from Tony. "Ultron's calling us out. I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

Thor just stormed out of the room, upset about just everything, and not wanting to talk to anyone at this point.

Natasha just glared at Tony and walked out the room as well, planning on going to her and Steve's room to decompress for a bit. Clint caught up to her on her way out and spoke to her softly.

"I need to call Laura about this," Clint said. "Tell her I'm going to be a little longer than expected."

"Might need to prep the farm in case we need it," Natasha said. "It's the only thing that Ultron couldn't access."

"Guess the secret could only last so long," Clint said.

"We'll still try to keep it," Natasha said. "Just for an emergency."

Clint nodded and headed off and Natasha headed back to the elevator, trying to figure out what their next move was.

A/N

There you go, another chapter! We're into Ultron full swing now and it's sure to be a doozy. Chapter contributions go to A Velvet Rose and SarahCon. Reviews are always appreciated!

Chapter Text

The coffee machine whirred loudly but the silence was still deafening. Steve made all sorts of clatters and clicks and thuds as he bustled about the kitchen putting breakfast together. Cracking eggs on the sides of bowls. Yoke sizzling on the pan. The knife chopping bell peppers. Still, the silence was deafening.

Natasha had been up for a little bit, not long, but enough to watch Steve cook his breakfast by himself. She had woken up to find Steve's side of the bed cold and empty. She checked the gym first and didn't find him there, not a good sign. She then padded to the kitchen and found him there.

When all was cooked and done, Steve slid the food onto this plate and sat down to eat it alone. His fork scraped the plate and he was done and still, the silence was deafening.

Natasha could tell that he was blaming himself for all of this, even though he shouldn’t. They spent a lot of time together the last couple of days, celebrating their success with the scepter. They were together in different ways, and tried new things. She even surprised him in the shower one morning. And all the while, Tony and Bruce were in the background making this thing that now threatened them all.

Natasha walked into the kitchen at this point. She was only wearing a sports bra and a pair of Steve's boxers, so she was completely silent. Just an old spy habit she never broke. And even then, Steve usually noticed her, but he was distracted. She could almost hear his thinking, and she knew he was putting this all on himself.

"It's not your fault Steve," Natasha said with a still sleepy voice

He sighed. He couldn't bring himself to turn and face her. 

"That's what I keep trying to tell myself," he confessed. "I can't focus on whose fault it is. I just have to deal with the situation at hand but I can't even do that because Ultron's in the wind. We have no leads." He dragged all ten fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp. "And he could be out there. Anywhere. Hurting people. Killing them. And I can't do anything right now to stop it."

Natasha sighed and went over to get herself some coffee. She automatically poured Steve a cup as well, having memorized just how he liked his coffee. She brought over both cups and sat down next to him, looking him up and down.

"You know who's fault it is," Natasha said. "It is all on Bruce and Tony. They tried to do something that no one should do. There are dozens of movies and books about why artificial intelligence isn't a good idea. They thought because of who they were that it would have the same outcome. They messed with a power they didn't understand, Thor was right about that."

Natasha took a deep breath and prepared herself for the next statement. She didn't like that she had to say this about Stark, but she needed to.

"But focusing on who is to blame isn't going to fix anything," Natasha said. "And the thing is Steve, we're doing all we can to try and find him. I've had my web searching since before we went to bed and I'm sure that they've been down in the lab tracking him as well. I know you and how you want to protect everyone, frankly it's my favorite thing about you."

Natasha reached over and cupped Steve's cheek in her hand to get her point across.

"But you're only one man Steve," Natasha said. "Even with all the superpowers in the world, you're still a man. And putting all of this on you will just break you faster than you can fix things. We have to do this as a team, together. One triumphs, we all triumph. One falls, we all do."

Natasha could tell he disagreed that the fault lay entirely on Bruce and Tony's shoulders. But he didn’t voice that to her, which was a start at least. "Together," he agreed, parroting himself from last night.

He smiled a little and leaned forward for a chaste kiss. Spell broken, he stood and started collecting the dishes. "Can I make you anything? I'll call Hill after breakfast and see if she found anything last night. I know her and Terra made some calls."

"Any chance you want to come back to bed for a bit," Natasha asked. "I know you didn't sleep very well last night and we're going to have a long stretch ahead of us."

She wanted to do a lot of things with Steve. She wanted to lay down with him, kiss him, forget the world for a bit. Postpone what was happening for just a little while longer. She knew there was a limited chance of that happening, but she could at least try.

"Or if anything we just lay down for a bit and say sweet nothings into each other's ears,” she said with a soft smile.

“I think I’m gonna head down to the lab,” Steve said. “Check the progress. You coming with?”

“Need to probably change first,” Natasha said with a smirk. “Only you get to see me like this.”

Steve blushed and Natasha smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek as she headed out of the kitchen to get geared up for the day.

Natasha padded into her and Steve's room and took a deep breath. There was a big mess that they had to clean up, and she needed to make sure that she was at the top of her game. Her current feud with Stark had to be put on hold. She patted the dog tags on her chest and started getting dressed for the day.

She decided to go with black jeans, a red tank top, with a black jacket on. She strapped a glock to her hip, not caring about concealing at this point and headed out of the room. She knew Steve was talking to Maria at this point, so she went to a shared area just off the main room and lab where a computer hub was. She sat down and started typing away, trying to see what her web had dug up on Ultron or anything that could be related to Ultron.

A few minutes later, Hill walked in and she guessed that Steve was right behind her. She faintly heard his voice talking to Clint, who was currently on the phone with Laura giving her an update. Clint was still trying to keep the secret, but this threat might expose everything. She was going to try like hell to help him and his family safe as well, and she knew she would sacrifice her own life for those kids.

Steve entered the archives room where everyone was waiting. Normally Steve or Terra were the first ones to meetings like this but Ultron had everyone on edge. Even Tony had been punctual. Thor had gotten there just a few minutes before, followed by most everyone else.

Natasha looked up from the computer she was on as she saw Steve and Clint enter the room. There had been a terse silence while they were waiting for Cap, not good for a team in her mind. Thor kept to himself, Tony and Bruce chatted back and forth with each other occasionally, but mainly kept away from her. Terra was near Bruce as well, making no attempt to make conversation with her either.

Did she really even belong on this team anymore? Or did she ever in the first place?

Steve handed the tablet to the closest Avenger and the one who had maybe the most at stake: Thor. It still had Strucker’s photo on it, bloody forehead, message, and all. Thor took the tablet and glanced down at it. There he was, the only lead they had on the scepter, dead. Thor growled and looked next to him where Tony was standing. He took the tablet and slammed it in Tony's chest, showing how pissed off he was.

"What's this?" Tony asked right before Thor slammed the tablet into his chest.

"A message," Steve replied without emotion. He had to keep things in check and that included the stability of his team. "Ultron killed Strucker."

Tony raised his eyebrows at the image on the screen. "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene. Just for us." That last part was said with declining sarcasm.

Bruce peered over Tony’s shoulder to see, Terra not far behind in looking as well. Both had the same concerning looks on their face.

Natasha processed Steve's words and it just didn't make sense. Why go out of your way to kill someone that they had no reason to suspect. Ultron knew that they were coming after him, why take out Struker?

"This is a smokescreen," Natasha surmised her concern. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech."

On the same page with Natasha, as was becoming the new norm (which made Natasha very happy), Steve continued the thought. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."

Natasha nodded and piggybacked on Steve once more.

"Yeah I bet," she started as she turned back to her monitor and started a quick search for Strucker.

She found that, almost immediately, a screen popped up that showed 0 results.

"Yep. Everything we had on Struker has been erased," Natasha reported her findings.

"Not everything," Tony countered, gesturing to the far wall with the shelves upon shelves of boxes, each one stuffed with hard copies of documents before Tony had gone completely digital. "Start digging."

The Avengers set to work, rifling through folders and binders and organizers.

"Known associates..." Steve plopped a heavy box on the counter next to Tony's. "Strucker had a lot of friends."

Bruce, now equipped with his glasses, peered over at the tab names and pulled out one at random. "Well, these people are all horrible," he said dryly.

"Wait." Tony pointed at the random file Bruce had just plucked. "I know that guy." He made a "grabby hands" gesture and Bruce handed him the folder. "Back in the day he operated off the African coast. Black market arms."

Steve stared Tony down disapprovingly but said nothing.

Tony noticed. "There are conventions, alright?" he defended. "You meet people. I didn't sell him anything." He thought back. "He was talking about something new. A game changer. It was all very Ahab."

Thor had gone through numerous files, having no idea what to really look for, just training his eye for anything that could lead to the scepter. When Stark announced he found something, he looked over and grabbed the picture, finding something pretty irregular.

"This," Thor said, pointing to a marking on the man's neck

Tony peered at the paper in Thor's hands, "Uh, that's a tattoo. I don't think he had it." 

"No those are tattoos," Thor said, pointing to the ones Tony thought they were. "This is a brand."

Bruce adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the brand Thor was pointing to and quickly scanned the database for something similar. He found a hit pretty quickly. "Oh yeah, it's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief'... in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked, glad they were finally getting somewhere.

Bruce turned back to the computer, dreading his probable awful pronunciation of the word. "W... Wa- Wakanada? W-Wakanda!" He turned triumphantly to the others.

Tony and Steve exchanged looks. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods-"

"I thought your father got the last of it," Steve replied just as quietly.

"I don't follow," Bruce said (and didn't say often) as he stood closer to hear them better. "What comes out of Wakanda?"

Steve looked over at his shield, sitting in the corner since last night.

"The strongest metal on Earth," Tony answered dejectedly. Vibranium.

It was a lead still, thought Steve, however grim it may be. If Ultron was going after the vibranium he'd be even more powerful than a sentient robot with access to the Internet already was. "Where is this guy now?"

November 17th, 2013
Johannesburg , South Africa

Natasha crept through the rafters and down the catwalks of the warehouse the had tracked Klaue to. Sure enough, when they got there and Tony did his scans, they were able to see Ultron and two other people flanking him. The Maximoffs were here, and probably pretty pissed at the entire situation, which made them even more dangerous.

Natasha found a safe place for support as Tony, Steve, and Thor were going to make the initial contact and Natasha, Clint, and Terra would be there for any support for backup that Ultron may call in. Bruce was safely on the Quinjet, awaiting to see if a Code Green was needed for this situation.

She noticed right away that Klaue was opening up a storage container with the stolen Vibranium to give to Ultron, who had assembled a brand new body for himself, one much bigger and more menacing. Natasha started to listen in, taking account of all the information and log it away.

"You know, it came at great personal cost," Klaue said, rubbing the part of his neck where the brand currently sat. "It's worth billions."

"Now so are you," Ultron said, as Klaue got notifications of the numerous deposits that had a lot of zeros behind them. "It's all under your dummy holdings. Finance is so weird. But as I always say 'keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which'."

A look of realization came over Klaue's face as he looked up at the robot. "Stark."

"What?" Ultron said, wondering where he fit into this and why his name was brought up.

"Tony Stark used to say that to me," Klaue accused immediately on the alert. "You're one of his."

"I'm not," Ultron said, grabbing Klaue's arm. "I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, one of his hollow men. Look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"

Ultron punctuated that point by slicing his hand down and chopping off Klaue's arm at the elbow. Klaue dropped to the ground in pain and Ultron stood over him.

"Don't compare me to Stark," Ultron said, as he kicked Klaue down the stairs. "Stark is a sickness."

"Aw, Junior. You're gonna break your old man's heart." Iron Man descended from the ceiling as if he'd always been there and dropped the last foot to the metal bridge with a clank. Captain America was there waiting for him, standing at Tony's left shoulder when he landed.

Thor came up behind on Stark's right, hammer in hand and ready for a fight.

Ultron turned and looked at the arrival of the Avengers, all going according to plan. He figured they would show up here at some point, and now he had the tools to drive them apart even further.

"If I have to," Ultron said.

"We don't have to break anything," Thor said, wanting nothing more than to end this.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron said, a little more menacing than a joke was meant to be told.

" He beat me by one second ,” Tony said and Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes. Looks like Ultron got more than just code from Stark.

"Ah, it's funny, Mr. Stark," the boy Maximoff, Pietro, drawled as he slowly walked forward. "It's what?" He shrugged. "Comfortable? Like old times?"

" This was never my life, " Tony said.

Steve, who had nothing but everyone's best interests at heart, stepped forward and spoke to the Maximoffs, ignoring Ultron completely. "You two can still walk away from this."

"Oh, we will," the female twin, Wanda, responded back, very confident about that. 

"I know you've suffered," Steve tried again, ready to begin a big speech.

"Uggh Captain America," Ultron said in disgust. "God's righteous man. Pretending he could live, without a war to fight."

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," Thor said, gripping his hammer a little tighter.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron said, making another very fair point.

Oblivious, Tony continued to snark with his robot. " Yuh-huh. What's the vibranium fo r?"

"I'm glad you asked that," Ultron said. "Because I wanted to take this time to explain my plan."

Ultron raised his hand suddenly, pulling Stark towards him. He then turned around and shot an energy burst right back at Stark, throwing him into the wall behind the. Beside Thor and Steve, two Ultron bots appeared and attacked without hesitation. Thor immediately took to one, and started to try and rip it apart like last time. But these were much tougher than the ones he fought in the tower.

Natasha sprung into action at this point. Ultron and the Maximoff’s had attacked and she was ready to go. At the sound of automatic gunfire, Natasha looked over and saw the pirates enter the action. She knew that she would have to be on pirate duty while the more heavy hitters would be on Ultron duty. She was soon surrounded in a small area, but the blue of her widow lines illuminated the place and told them her charge was ready to go. She dispatched most of them easily, they were just simple pirates. But they made up for it in numbers, and she was kept very busy. 

“Thor, what's your status?” Steve’s voice came through comms.

“The girl tried to wipe my mind," Thor replied, and Natasha was now more alert than ever. "Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty...."

When Thor’s voice trailed off, Natasha knew she needed to get to Steve or Clint so they could watch each other’s back. Natasha finished up with the last goon when she felt someone sneak up behind her. She was about to turn when she was hit with something gut punching. She was thrown back in time, to a place she never wanted to visit again. She slumped to the floor as her mind was flooded with horrible images.

Natasha stumbled around until she found some stairs and started walking down them in a haze. Everything was fuzzy, and she started hearing classical music.

She found herself descending a much different staircase than before. She recognized this house immediately. It was the main Red Room facility house. She made her way over to where the music was coming from. She saw armed guards all over the area, but they made no move against her and she them. She was the Black Widow after all, not their enemy. She made her way to the glass where there was a ballet class going on and a small group of little girls watching.

"Again," a man's voice rang out, louder than it normally was and pierced her ears.

She was back to the softer room and felt the Headmistress of her time walk over to her side.

"You'll break them," Natasha said, in a daze.

"Only the breakable ones," the Headmistress responded, Russian accent very evident. "You're made of marble. We'll celebrate after the graduation ceremony."

Natasha's mind was flooded with the images of a cold room and syringes and knives. She saw her younger self in a thin paper rob, laying on a metal cot and sobbing.

She was again brought back to the room where she was watching the ballet class.

"What if I fail?" Natasha asked.

Next, she was transported into her younger body, and she stood in front of a target. She raised a pistol and fired two shots right into the head, she then switched hands in the air, firing two more shots that hit the center of the targets, and then switched hands once more, finishing the clip and burying two more shots into the chest of the target. The image flickered and there was a man with a bag over his head where the target would be. A soldier walked over and removed the bag from the man's head, and it was Steve. Her mind screamed in terror as Steve shook in fear.

"You never fail," the words of the Headmistress rang through her head.

Natasha's face remained stone cold as she raised the pistol and fired a shot right into her boyfriend's head.

She was transported again, this time into the training room. She was battling two men at once, while the headmistress watched. One of them was the infamous Winter Soldier, who had taken part in helping to train the new Black Widow. She managed to wrap her legs around the other man's neck and toss him to the ground, but James was too fast on her recovery, wrapping his metal arm around her neck and the other around her head. She was in a choke hold, her neck one twitch away from being snapped. She struggled for a bit as the Headmistress looked on in disappointment. After she couldn't break the lock at all, she tapped out and the sparring match ended, her on her knees and breathing hard.

"Sloppy," the Headmistress said. "Pretending to fail."

Natasha almost cried out as her plan was ruined. She didn't want to do the Graduation Ceremony. She would be given a super soldier serum like the Winter Soldier and Captain America. But she would also have her insides torn up so she couldn't have children.

"The ceremony is necessary," the headmistress said. "For you to take your place in the world."

"I have no place in the world," Natasha said, accepting her fate.

"Exactly," the headmistress said.

Natasha was forced down on the metal cot and rolled down a long and dark hallway. She got to the operation room and standing there was a doctor holding a scalpel and an evil grin on his face. It looked exactly like Tony. He laughed as the door closed and he began to slice into her.

Chapter Text

Natasha vaguely remembered being helped to the quinjet and set in one of the seats. She didn’t take off her suit or gauntlets. She didn’t clean up the blood on the small cut she had taken during the fight. She didn’t speak to anyone. 

The rest of the team eventually got onto the jet, Clint and Tony being the only ones that escaped not being brain warped by the Maximoff girl. Even Bruce had got it, and apparently had wrecked a decent portion of the city. He was wrapped in a blanket on the floor of the jet, not making eye contact either. Steve was in another seat across the jet, eyes closed as he worked through things. Thor was pacing around, wringing his hands. Terra was laying on one of the benches, bucket near her, as she had some nausea.

Clint and Tony were in the front, having a discussion about something, Natasha didn’t know what or much care at this point. She kept seeing the flashes of the Red Room, the Winter Soldier going in for the kill, shooting the man, the Graduation Ceremony. It was almost too much to bear, and yet she sat there. 

Silent.

November 18th, 2013
Unknown Location

As soon as they touched down, Natasha looked outside for the first time. She recognized the land, the scenery around it. They were at Clint’s farm, and he was finally sharing the secret with the rest of the team. She was going to bring Steve here for Thanksgiving, Clint had given his permission. It just looked like this was going to happen first.

The rest of the team was getting up, but Natasha couldn’t get there quite yet. Clint was over by her and kneeled down so he was eye level. He took one look in her eyes and knew that she was gonna need some help getting to the house. Once she was there, she would be able to decompress.

He picked her up and supported her as they headed out of the jet, being followed by the other Avengers. They walked for a little bit, farmhouse coming into view. Natasha could almost smell Laura’s cooking.

“What is this place,” she heard Thor ask behind them.

“A safe house,” Tony answered, though it was phrase more like a question as even he didn’t have a lot of the specifics.

“Let’s hope,” Clint said, as they got to the porch and headed inside.

Natasha was met with the lovely smell that always accompanied the Barton household. She felt herself relaxing almost immediately, as her stress was replaced with the fond memories that were shared here. Ever since Clint entrusted her with this secret for the first time, she spent a majority of the major holidays here with the Bartons. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Fourth of July. When she wasn’t on a mission and there was a holiday, she was usually at the Bartons. 

She automatically made her way to the other side of the room to look at the pictures, bound to be new ones since it had been a couple months since she was able to visit. Almost six, she couldn’t believe how fast time moved.

"Honey," Clint called out. "I'm home."

From around the wall leading into the dining room, a decently pregnant Laura came around. She was holding some colored pictures and smiled when she saw Clint and then it faltered a little when she saw the rest of the Avengers.

"Hi," Clint said. "Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead."

Laura just smiled, knowing this was a very interesting life her husband led and it was bound to come to this sometime. With a soft "hey" she walked over to embrace him, kissing him welcome.

"That's an agent of some kind," Tony said, the look of shock on his face.

It was pretty much mirrored on everyone else’s face at the realization of Laura being in Clint’s life. All except Natasha, who had turned at this point. No one noticed her though, as she was off to the side and they were still focused on Laura.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Clint said, placing one arm around his wife. "This is Laura."

Laura waved awkwardly, "I know all your names," Laura said, being told from stories and just generally from the news.

After a few seconds, the sound of two pairs of feet running towards the family room became very loud.

"Ooh incoming," Clint said, smiling and moving over close to the staircase.

Around the wall, Lila and Cooper Barton came tearing around the corner.

"Dad," Lila said, jumping into her father's arms.

"Hey sweetheart," Clint said, picking up Lila and rubbing the Cooper’s head. "Hey buddy. How are you guys doing?"

Tony just gaped for a moment more, following more looks of confusion from the rest of the Avengers as well.

"These are... smaller agents,” Tony managed after a second.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" Lila asked, looking at her Dad hopefully.

The words Auntie Nat seemed to snap Natasha out of the trance that she was in. She loved these kids like they were her own, they were probably the closest she would ever get to having children. She had been here numerous times, and developed a tight bond with the family.

"Why don't you hug her and find out," Natasha said, stepping forward to catch Lila who was running at her.

Natasha scooped her up and carried her around the room, making Clint chuckle at both of the girl's joy.

"Sorry to barge in," Steve said, ever making sure he was respectful of everyone else, something that Natasha absolutely adored.

Tony crossed his arms. "Yeah, we would've called ahead but we were busy having no idea that you existed." He didn’t sound mad, more trying to cope with the situation with a bit of sarcasm.

"Yeah well Fury helped me set this up when I joined," Clint said, happy to be home. "He kept it off Shield files. I figured it would be a good place to lay low."

Over by Steve, Thor adjusted his footing and felt something crunch underneath his foot. He looked down and saw what appeared to be some building block toys, now in a few different pieces. He glanced up and saw that Steve was looking as well. He casually just slid them under a chair with his foot, pretending like the whole thing didn't happen.

Lila let go of Natasha and Nat went over to talk to Laura. A brief greeting between the girls and Natasha smiled a genuine smile, one reserved for only this family.

"Oh I've missed you," Natasha said, really needing a girl to talk to about her problems the last couple weeks. Instead of dwelling on that, she reached out and cupped Laura's belly. "How's little Natasha?"

Finding out Laura was pregnant put Natasha over the moon and the honor of being the child’s namesake made her even more excited. She had already bought them so many baby supplies and was waiting on the gender confirmation to start to get personalized stuff.

"She's...." Laura said, getting an apologetic look on her face. "Nathaniel."

Natasha had a huge smile on her face, but it faltered for a bit when she found out the kid being named after her was a boy. She kept up the act, not actually being upset about that and leaned down to talk to Laura's belly.

"Traitor," she said.

Lila went over to Thor at that point and looked up at him. Thor looked down at the much smaller human, got a look of confusion on his face, and didn't waste any time walking out of the room, heading for the door. Steve followed, probably to find out where he was going.

Natasha made a little more small talk with Laura and when she looked back to the door, Steve was gone as well. After greeting Cooper, Natasha knew she needed some time to herself. She wanted to spend more time with Steve, but she couldn't find him and figured that he also needed some alone time. She was a little hurt he hadn't asked about her, but she understood nonetheless. They had a connection, they'd proved it when they spent their first night together intimately, and then the nights following. They hadn't used the 'L' word yet, but she felt it on the tip of her tongue.

She walked outside and went over by the woodpile that Clint had. There were a lot of logs that needed to be cut, but Natasha didn't feel like it right now. She just went over to the full grown tree right next to the area and sat down underneath it, thinking about what she saw. The Graduation Ceremony in particular, and the particular aspect that she wouldn't be able to give Steve. Her hand dropped to her stomach as she imagined what it would be like to be pregnant with Steve's baby.

Lila ran out after a bit with some more comfortable clothes that Natasha kept here and Natasha smiled and said thank you, taking the bottle of water and portion of poppy seed bread that Laura had made recently to snack on.

Lila ran back inside and Natasha took off her uniform top, leaving a sport tank top underneath. She slipped on the large flannel shirt over it, leaving it unbuttoned as she took off her boots and pants, still having compression shorts underneath that went down to her mid-thigh. She slipped some sweatpants on over that and resumed her thinking, knowing she would be taking a shower sooner or later and would get a full change then.

After about fifteen more minutes, she heard footsteps coming from her right and looked over to see Steve walking up, still in his Avengers uniform. He looked a little worse for wear, whatever he went to do must have been pretty emotional.

“Hey,” he said, and Natasha could tell he was unsure of what to actually say. He lowered himself to sit in the grass across from her. “How are you feeling?”

Natasha took a deep breath and looked at Steve, "Better. Sorry for not telling you about this place. It's Clint's closest secret. I was planning on taking you here for Thanksgiving, but yeah, life."

"Don't be sorry," he urged. "It wasn't your secret to tell. And, actually, I'm sorry. For not asking after you earlier. I was going to but then I saw you with Clint and the kids and you just seemed... like you didn't need me. I should have asked anyway, I know. I'm sorry." He wiggled his foot back and forth, digging his heel into the dirt slowly but surely.

"I do need you," Natasha said, and then decided to broach the subject that was hanging in the air. "But you don't need me."

Natasha stared off to the farmland as the memories of her vision came rushing back, and she had to push it down and face the hard truth.

"I had this dream," Natasha said. "One that seems normal at the time. And then when I woke up, I saw that it was something that was only meant to be in a dream. I dreamt that I was an Avenger and good enough to be with you. Basically anything else that I was truly made to be. I'm not fit for you Steve, and it's probably best you stay away from me. My body is mutilated and I can't give you children. My past is blood red, the amount of people I've killed, and personally affected someone on this team. We shouldn't be together, it wouldn't be right of me to hold you to that."

Did Natasha want to say the words? Absolutely not. Her words about needing Steve were the absolute truth, but so was the rest of her statement. The vision she was shown was an eye opener, making her fully realize what Tony saw her as.

"Still think that the Hulk is the only monster on the team," Natasha said dryly.

Steve paused to think, staring off at the tops of the trees blowing in the wind. “I never thought Bruce was the only monster on the team,” he answered carefully. “We all think we’re monsters but none of us really are. We’re all just... trying to do good in a fucked up world. I know, I know. ‘Language.’” He rolled his eyes. “If Tony heard me say the word ‘fuck’ he might have an aneurism. And for the record, I do need you.”

Here he turned to look at her, the love he bore her clear to see in his eyes and the lines of his face. “I need you to tell me when I’m being a selfish idiot. And I need you because you make me feel like waking up from the ice was worth it.”

"But what about the things that I can't give you," Natasha said, obviously fretting about being incomplete. "I can't give you a family. I can't give you a clean relationship with the entire team, you're basically soiling yourself with half the Avengers by associating with me. You're the leader for God's sake."

Natasha looked over at him, sadness in her eyes but also the undying fidelity to him. She smiled a small smile and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before standing up.

"Just think about what I said," Natasha said, turning to head back in the house. "I want you to be absolutely sure Steven. Chop some wood, it helps."

Natasha headed back inside, fighting back tears, and hoping that he decided to stay with her, but expecting him to realize that he was better off without her. She did however see the realization in his eyes after a minute. About how wanting a family meant just as much to her as it did to him, and possibly more. She wanted a family like Clint had, and wanted it with Steve too, but she couldn’t have it, and that thought was crushing.

-----------------------

Natasha had managed a shower and some private talk with Laura a bit later. When she got out of the shower, she was surprised to see Nick Fury in the house with all of them. Apparently he just decided to stop by and give some pep talks. It worked on Tony, since whatever Fury said to him was enough to get him moving around the room. 

Everyone was in the main area after some food prepared by Laura, Natasha sitting at the island with Clint at the sink and Tony and Terra playing a game of darts off to the side.

Fury picked up a glass from the dish rack. "Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time," he announced, walking over to the counter. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, clearly the one paying the most attention.

"Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere," Fury responded. "Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though.”

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked, one ear on the conversation and one ear on the thumps of his current dart competition.

"Yes, he is," Fury said, looking rather domestic out of his trench coat in a homely setting. "But he's not making any headway."

Tony almost laughed. "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school once on a dare." 

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that," Fury said before Steve interrupted for clarification.

"NEXUS?" Steve prompted.

"It's the world Internet hub in Oslo," Bruce provided, saying something to the group for the first time since arriving at Hawkeye's farm, though he kept his eyes downcast. "Every byte of data flows through them. Fastest access on Earth."

Natasha was quietly sitting at the island listening and digesting the conversation. As the boys were talking, Lila ran over and gave her a picture of a butterfly and Natasha smiled and very quietly thanked her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"So what did they say?" Clint asked from over by the sink, holding a few darts himself.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed," Fury replied, obviously perplexed by that.

"By whom?" Tony asked, turning all of his attention to the conversation at hand seeing as he'd just lost the game to Terra. "Good game, Earthy," he said as an aside.

Terra gave the thumbs up to Tony and leaned against the wall, hands in her sweater pockets.

"Parties unknown," Fury said, obviously not liking that there was a secret out there he couldn’t find.

Past both Tony and Terra, three darts whizzed past and all landed on the bulls-eye. When he got a confused glance, he merely just shrugged his shoulders with a cheeky smile.

"Do we have an ally," Natasha asked.

It was the first time she spoke, and it was still a bit restrained.

“Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing,” Fury said skeptically, unwilling to trust an unknown variable. “Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is.”

"I might need to visit Oslo," Tony said, dragging himself into the kitchen and better lighting. Steve and Bruce looked over at him curiously, both wondering at his use of the word "I". "I need to find our unknown."

"Well, this is good times boss," Natasha said dryly, knowing that this conversation led nowhere.

He had information that led nowhere, stuff they already knew basically. Ultron was out there and stealing stuff for his plans, trying to get the nukes. Stuff they figured out the first night he attacked.

"But I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," Natasha finished, looking at him with a sarcastic smile.

"I do, I have you," Fury responded, used to Natasha's bite. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Now, here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world."

"So stand," he said. "Outwit the platinum bastard."

Natasha couldn't help herself as she turned to Steve and she spoke to him for the first time, since their conversation outside the house. "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," she said, trying to break the ice.

His face broke into a kind of half-smile. "You know what, Romanoff?" He let the question hang there, a teasing threat, letting the next phrase go unspoken. It was a hint at future time together. A hint that their relationship wasn't over. But now wasn't the time to discuss.

Fury took a seat at the kitchen table, folding his hands across the table. "So what does he want?"

Steve gave it some thought. He came up with: "To become better; better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person-bodies," Tony corrected. "The human form is inefficient. Biologically-speaking we're outmoded but he keeps coming back to it."

Bruce got up and started to walk around and ended up behind Natasha. He looked over her shoulder and was staring at the picture that Lila had drawn for Natasha.

"When you guys programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed," Natasha said, more to Bruce than to Tony.

She felt like she could maybe joke a bit more with Bruce, because at least he acknowledged that they messed up the first night, as opposed to Tony who had yet to say anything about his mistake to her or the rest of the team. He was continuing to hold on to the fact that he was right in some cases.

"They don't need to be protected," Bruce murmured, touching the drawing gently. "They need to evolve."

The blood seemed to slowly drain from Tony's face.

"Ultron's going to evolve," Bruce reiterated.

"How?" Fury demanded.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked, and at that point, Natasha also put the pieces together.

Chapter Text

November 19th, 2013
Undisclosed Location

Natasha was all geared up and ready to go, and she was waiting near the porch for Clint to finish saying goodbye to Laura. She had said her goodbyes, and she could tell that Laura wasn't telling her something, but she let it go. Mission at hand and all. Steve was over with Tony, Terra, and Fury discussing their next moves.

"I'll take Natasha, Clint, and Terra," Steve announced, very leader-like.

"Alright," Tony agreed, adjusting his watch to the correct time. "Strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus and join you as soon as I can." 

Steve pursed his lips. "If Ultron is really building a body..."

"Then he'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot,” Tony said, agreeing this time.

"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me,” Steve said which actually managed to get Tony to crack a smile.

"I'll drop Banner off at the tower," Fury said. "Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?" he asked Stark.

"She's all yours," said Tony. "Apparently."

“What are you going to do?” Steve asked, knowing that Fury hadn’t really disclosed his plans to the group.

"I don't know," Nick mused, looking between the two men. "Something dramatic, I hope." And he walked out to head to his jet, Banner lingering to say goodbye to Terra. 

Natasha didn’t know how they made their relationship work, but they did, and it was incredible. Natasha was struggling to get a relationship with Captain America to work, and both of them had such troubled pasts, but they worked with each other and maybe that was the key.

Terra had suited up with her duffle bag over her shoulder, and she gave Bruce a quick but loving kiss on the lips. "I'll see you when we get back," she promised, giving his hand a squeeze before walking towards the Avengers’ quinjet.

Natasha saw Steve enter with Terra and knew that she needed to have a conversation with him at some point, but it probably wasn't the time.

"I'm gonna finish re-flooring the sun room when I get back," Clint promised to Laura, Natasha overhearing and bringing her back to the present.

"Yeah," Laura said, a happy smile on her face that also showed how nervous she was for his safety. "And then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart."

"No this is the last project," Clint said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I promise."

Clint kissed his wife at that point, both of them savoring the kiss and soothing both of their worries a bit. After that, Natasha and Clint walked towards the jet. They entered a few minutes later, both of them automatically to the cockpit and Clint taking off and heading towards South Korea.

Natasha had left Clint alone in the front and gone to the back to change into her uniform. They had been in the air for about an hour and she knew Clint would need to change as well, so she offered to go first.

She went to the private area, but she always told Steve that he could join her in that area if he was alone. She was currently in the process of taking off her farm clothes and getting ready to slip into her catsuit. As she took off her shirt, the dog tags she had around her neck, along with the silver arrow necklace made her smile as she looked into the mirror and saw herself with them on.

Steve had been mostly business throughout the flight and she didn't blame him. This was some serious stuff with Ultron and they couldn't let their feelings compromise the mission, if there were any still there. She knew she had some, but she wasn't sure about Steve. He could have taken what she said to heart and started to move on. Probably going back to find that Serena chick or trying Agent 13. Peggy's niece might be a nice connection for him. Had she been with him during his first days at Shield and not the end of them, she might have tried to even set him up with her, ignoring her feelings entirely.

Boy, would have that made things easier.

There came a knock at the door and Natasha turned to see Steve enter. He tried to act normal but it was awkward as hell. "Hey," he said, keeping his eyes on hers. "I... I thought about what you said and... I just wanted to let you know that I still love you. And I haven't changed my mind about being with you. I want to share everything with you and that includes fears and grief and pain. I should have come to you when we got to the farm but I guess I was afraid."

Natasha froze at those words. They hadn't used the 'L' word yet in casual discussion. She had said it once in Russian when he couldn't hear and probably couldn't understand. But, for all she knew this was the first time he said it to her. She turned slowly to him, eyes decently wide.

"You love me?" Natasha asked, shakily.

No one had ever truly loved her like Steve had. Clint and the family loved her like she was one of their own, and she welcomed that to the fullest. She suspected that Fury and Coulson had the same type, because on some level she did too. They were very kind and helpful for her, being the sort of second family that she didn't have when she got to the states. She held a love for Yelena and the rest of her surrogate family, but she didn’t really know how to define that one, but Steve knew her darkest secrets. From her records at the Killing Game to the Graduation Ceremony. And yet, he still pushed through and found a way to help her see the light.

"I do," he said, stepping forward and taking her hand. He laced their fingers together. "I won't let Ultron or the Maximoffs or anyone tear us apart. That is... if you'll still have me." He said the last party shyly, hoping he hadn't pushed her away by not seeking her out at the farm.

She paused again, weighing her options. The right thing to do was to distance herself from Steve. To not corrupt Captain America. To finish the mission and disappear into the night like she was so good at doing. But Clint's words rang through her head in a private conversation they had.

"You both deserve a win. You deserve each other."

He knew the good that was in her and so did Steve. Clint viewed her as someone that was worth something, and Steve did as well. So, why would she run now? She wrapped her arms around his neck, breaking the hand-hold that they had and looked into his eyes.

"I love you too," she said, before standing on her toes and reaching up to press a kiss to his lips. Steve smiled into the kiss, and she knew in that moment, everything was gonna be okay. Whatever challenges that were ahead, they were going to be able to weather it.

"I promise we'll talk about this more later," Steve said after pulling away, brushing a finger over his dog tags that were hanging around her neck. "And celebrate it too. But for now, we need to focus on Ultron." 

Natasha couldn't keep the girly smile off her face as well as she continued to change into her suit and prepare for the assault in Korea. She knew she had to get it done soon, they had a mission brief and prep before they landed as well. So she changed as quickly as possible and tried to put her game face back on before rejoining the team.

Once she got back to the cock-pit, Clint just smirked at her and she just flipped him off, but couldn't help the smile still on her face as well.

November 20th, 2013
Seoul, South Korea

Ever since they got to Korea, things were already bad. Steve had gone in for recon and Natasha, Clint, and Terra were still inside the jet, keeping an eye out for Ultron. Steve had found Dr. Cho and the evidence of Ultron was very apparent. The lab was destroyed, the Maximoffs were gone, Dr. Cho was injured, and the cradle was stolen. They hypothesis that Ultron was building himself a new body was now confirmed and they had to stop him before he escaped. 

Steve was making his way out and all three of them were currently scanning the city to find Ultron and put a quick end to this. Clint and Terra were in the front while Natasha was close behind, though on the computer. Natasha did some more searching and got a hit that could prove useful.

"I've got a private jet taking off across town," Natasha reported in comms. "No manifest. That could be him."

Clint glanced down to where Terra was looking and nodded to her.

"There," Clint said, pointing down to get Natasha's attention. "It's the truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge."

Upon closer inspection, Clint found that it was being driven by one of the Ultron bots and a couple more in the cargo hold.

"It's them," Clint confirmed. "I got three with the Cradle in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"Negative!" Steve barked into the comm as he scaled one of the highway's legs. "That truck crashes and the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron." He climbed over the top and looked down. The truck was fast approaching, blue and white and big and fast.

Steve didn't hesitate and Natasha felt her catch her own breath watching him. With a running start, he vaulted himself over the edge of the road and crash-landed on the roof of the truck.

Natasha watched anxiously and the initial skirmish with Ultron was something she definitely didn’t want Steve doing alone. She had complete confidence in him, she just wanted to be down there with him, fighting by his side. The door eventually got blown off and Steve barely managed to hold on.

"Well, he's definitely unhappy," Steve shouted over the wind into comms. "I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, Cap," Clint said, trying to keep track of the truck through all of the roads and tall buildings.

Clint immediately got a slap from Natasha on the back of the head, and a very hard glare. Steve seemed to shrug it off, but couldn’t help with a little sarcasm.

"Thanks, Barton." Steve said into comms and the fight continued.

Clint piloted the jet expertly between a couple of the buildings to try and get them behind the truck again.

"Ladies," Clint said to Natasha and Terra. "You might want to get some motorcycles ready. Cap is gonna need some help."

Natasha nodded immediately and went to the back to prep her cycle that was packed on the quintet. She went over and revved the engine, the red accents lighting up and the red hourglass on the side designating which one was hers. It was something she was working on in the shop over the past couple weeks and she was really proud of her handiwork.

"Ho boy," Terra sighed as she hopped on to straddle the one Tony usually makes for Steve on missions that are in constant supply. Natasha knew that Terra wasn’t the biggest fan of motorcycles, but in this situation there wasn’t much better of an option.

Terra fired up the engine and clipped her lower face mask up, and then she called to Clint, "Ready when you are!"

Clint hit a button and the door opened for them to drop in. It was narrow, so only one would be able to go at a time, and she was for sure going first. That wasn't an argument she was going to have with Terra.

"You've got a window," Clint said, noticing a sizable gap for both of them. "5, 4, give em hell."

Natasha got on the bike and sped forward, dropping out of the jet and onto the freeway, rocketing off to try and catch up to Ultron. The wind whipped into her face and she could hear the drop of another bike behind her and the jet rocketed forward and Natasha pushed the speed even more.

Natasha was weaving in and out of traffic like a pro, going at a fast pace and hoping Terra could keep up. She saw Steve's shield lying in the middle of the road and she just shook her head.

"Not even at home and I'm still picking up after you," she said to herself and leaned down her bike almost parallel to the ground and scooped up the shield without slowing down a bit.

"They're heading under the overpass. I've got no shot," Clint said from the jet, where he was watching the chase.

"Which way," Natasha said, knowing that she would be better off if she and Terra had a chance to cut them off.

"Hard right," Clint said, looking down. "Now."

Natasha banked a hard right, shield on the front of her bike to protect her from anything, and hoped that Terra didn't crash behind her. She knew that Terra wasn't the best on a motorcycle and Natasha was cutting it a bit close.

They were coming out of the alley and Terra had caught up to her nicely. The truck was dead ahead and Natasha could see Steve and Ultron locked in combat. Terra went to peel to the right of the truck, but Steve looked to be suspended over the left side of the truck. She didn't have time to go the long way around, so she laid the bike down on its side, drifting underneath the truck and coming out on the opposite side.

"Steve," Natasha yelled, taking the shield off the front of her motorcycle and tossing it towards his arm.

She didn’t need much more than that with the chemistry they had developed. He wordlessly reached down with his hand when she said his name. With the help of his magnetic gloves, he caught the shield effortlessly and slammed it as hard as he could into Ultron's face. 

Ultron shook his head and anger and looked directly at Natasha, which gave Natasha the extra millisecond she needed. Ultron reached out and lifted a piece of pavement right in her way, blocking the road.

Natasha herself slammed on the breaks, moving into a front wheel balance as she stopped on a dime. She turned and saw that the truck and Terra were already a huge distance away from her. She revved the bike and took off after them, mounting the sidewalk and driving up a set of stairs to try and cut them off.

Natasha was making her way down a pedestrian sidewalk, going ten times faster than anyone should, and heard Terra's call over the radio.

"Clint, can you draw out the guards," Natasha said as he banked in the jet to see what he could do.

"BEEP BEEP," Natasha yelled at some people that weren't paying attention, making sure they didn't get crushed.

Natasha worked as hard as she could to get her way back. When she did, she saw Ultron tackle Steve off the truck into a passing train. Terra was working on getting the cradle and Clint was dealing with the other bots, so she was going to go and help Steve.

"Terra get that cradle," Natasha said, lining up a ramp. "I'm gonna help Steve."

Natasha revved the gas and sped forward as fast as she could. She jumped the makeshift ramp she found and launched herself up in the air. The motorcycle went crashing to the ground and completely getting trashed, and breaking her heart a little. Nat focused on the moving train at the moment, aiming her gauntlet and shooting out her grappling line, securing it to the side of the train and using it to swing into the window of the car just behind Steve, rolling in. She jumped to her feet, Steve between her and Ultron, and readied for a fight.

Steve got up and now it was 2 vs 1. Steve kicked his fallen shield to bounce it to waist height, grabbed it, and launched it straight at Ultron. There was no room for error in this narrow train full of civilians, one wrong move could get an innocent severely hurt.

Ultron deflected the shield right back at Steve and charged at him, tossing him behind him. Natasha went in for an attack, only to be hit right in the chest by a repulsor blast, scorching her uniform and sending her flying into the back wall. A sizable dent was left there, and a groan by Natasha was all that could be heard.

With an angry yell, Steve distracted Ultron yet again by spinning and slamming the blunt side of his shield into Ultron's back as hard as he couldUltron took the hit, spun, and grabbed the shield and spun Rogers around into the subway wall. He started pounding away on the shield again and again, before he finally found an opening and connected with Rogers' ribs, landing a sweet shot. Natasha slowly picked herself up from the dent and watched Steve talking shot after shot from Ultron. She pulled her pistol out of her holster and aimed at the robot's head, hoping to draw attention away again.

At that point, a blue blur slammed into Ultron and knocked him off Steve. Once everything caught up, Natasha saw the Maximoff boy standing on the other end of the car. Something must have happened to break them up, and Natasha didn’t have a lot of time to question it at the moment.

A second later, red magic brought down a couple of metal beams and trapped Ultron from advancing, and the Maximoff girl stepped in front of Natasha, ready to do battle as well.

Ultron noticed the two new arrivals and looked to Wanda. He spoke to her, almost with a somber tone in his voice. Natasha was surprised at the complexity of emotion that he conveyed, it was almost unnerving.

"Please," Ultron pleaded. "Don't do this."

"What choice do we have?" Wanda spat at him. So messy break up it was.

Ultron looked flabbergasted, but quickly got over it and wheeled on Pietro. He fired a blast that barely missed Pietro, but the blast did travel through the entire train and smashed through the front, killing the driver and breaking just about every control that was there.

Ultron himself bailed out of the doors that were to his side and headed back towards the cradle, which was in the process of being stolen at the moment.

"I lost him!" Steve shouted into the comms. He was already running, launching himself over seats and past terrified passengers. "He's headed your way!" He was at the front of the train in seconds but it never would have been fast enough. The driver was undeniably dead, slumped over on the console with a hole still burning through his back. The windshield was shattered too, and Steve could feel the wind tear at his skin with every moment they drew closer to a dead end. One the driver couldn't switch tracks from because they'd just passed the turning point.

Natasha managed to make her way up to the front of the train, the twins not far behind her. Her chest still ached, but she was fighting through the pain because the battle wasn't done yet, especially when they were on a runaway train. There was another conversation going on through comms, but Natasha wasn’t paying attention to it, more focused on there being no way to stop this train as they were coming up very rapidly to the end of the tracks.

"There are civilians in our path," Steve said to Pietro, pointing out the broken windshield. Pietro nodded and ran out, starting to move people out of the way of the runaway train.

Steve then looked at Wanda. "Can you stop this thing?"

The girl looked lost. She managed to get out a nod after a bit though, and started to compose herself. At that moment, the train plowed through the barrier and Steve put up his shield to try and stop any debris from coming through and hurting people. Wanda placed her hands out and red tendrils of magic shot out and started to slow the train. A particularly large chunk of debris came through and Steve was tossed backwards forcefully.

"Steve," Natasha yelled as he got thrown back.

She was about to go and see if he was alright when she noticed a little girl crying next to her mom. The mother appeared to be unconscious, and the little girl was out in the open. Natasha quickly rolled over to the girl and wrapped her up, covering the little girl's body with her own and protecting the unconscious mother's head. Natasha groaned slightly as the little girl was pressed into her heavily bruised chest and yelped a few times as random debris came through the front of the car and glanced off of her back as she protected the young girl.

After a few more seconds, Natasha felt the train stop and she just breathed heavily, composing herself. She heard footsteps and someone came close, placing their hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” the comforting voice of Steve came and Natasha breathed a sigh of relief that he was okay.

At Steve's words, Natasha rolled off the little girl and the mother she was protecting. The mother seemed to have woken up and scooped up her daughter before turning to Natasha.

" Thank you," the mother said in Korean. " You saved my and my daughter’s life."

" Don’t worry about it," Natasha replied in Korean, still kinda breathing hard. " I’m just glad you’re safe ." The mother and daughter scurried out of the train and Natasha just sat where she was for a moment, leaning up against the side of the mangled train.

"Hey babe," Natasha said to Steve looking up at him. "We need a vacation after this. Somewhere warm, tropical, and private. Just so we can do nothing but sit on the beach, get a tan, and have sex all day long."

Steve watched the mother and daughter go, smiling just a little. He chuckled at Natasha's words and offered her a hand to help her up. "Sounds good to me." He lifted her to her feet. "Come on. Day's not over yet." They marched out of the train and immediately spotted the Maximoffs. Wanda was curled almost protectively over her brother, obviously concerned for his health and safety.

"Are you alright?" Wanda asked Pietro quietly.

“I’m fine,” Pietro gasped. “Just need to take a minute.”

Steve approached the twins, radiating authority. "I'm very tempted not to give you one."

Wanda turned to face him, planting herself between Steve and her brother. Despite the strategic move, she did not appear confrontational. "The Cradle. Did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it." Steve responded, so they must have been successfully in getting the Cradle.

Wanda's face fell, which was interesting to Natasha. "No, he won't."

Steve glanced at Natasha to get a read on her thoughts on this, but his words were directed at Wanda. "You don't know what you're talking about. Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda persisted desperately.

Steve contemplated that very seriously, and decided to get an actual account on this. He switched the overall main broadcast channel and called out. "Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on coms.”

In the silence that followed, Wanda seemed to have been proven right. "Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?" she said, and Natasha followed everything she said, and surprisingly, agreed with her.

"Steve they're right," Natasha said, finally managing to stand up straight, but it wasn't easy. "This has nothing to do with the things between Stark and I. Stark's got something in his pocket, and it's not going to go our way."

Natasha got real close to Steve then, and spoke in French, knowing that Steve would be able to understand but the twins might not.

"I don't trust them," Natasha started. "But they could help us with whatever Stark is planning. He has Bruce, and probably Clint on his side. We need to make sure whatever is in that cradle is destroyed."

“This isn't about choosing sides," Steve replied. "But we'll take them with us. I get the feeling they want to stop Ultron just as much as we do. They can help us destroy the cradle and if that goes well we'll take it from there."

When they turned back to the twins, they seemed to have already figured out what they were speaking of. Natasha mentally cursed herself, as she knew Wanda could read minds to an extent. Even if she didn’t speak French, she knew Steve wasn’t as fluent as she was, which meant he mentally translated rather than just speaking as Natasha did.

"If you would allow it," Pietro spoke up to the two Avengers before them. "We'd like to go with you and help in any way we can. We..." Pietro looked to Wanda. "We didn't know what Ultron really was or what he planned. But we'll follow you to fix the mess we made."

Wanda stood at his side, a sign of support. "The first step is destroying that cradle."

Steve glanced at Natasha. "Alright then. We're going to need a ride."

Chapter Text

November 20th, 2013
Avengers Tower, New York

The ride back to the tower was a tense one. Steve was seething, Natasha was trying to keep focused on the flying, and the Maximoffs were mostly silent. Steve tried Tony and Bruce a couple more times during the trip and there was still no answer, making Natasha start to push the speed even more.

When they got into New York, Natasha bolted towards the Tower and landed it beautifully on the landing pad. There was no one out to greet them, probably due to everyone being in the lab working on their little experiment. 

As soon as the jet touched the ground Steve was out and Natasha was right behind him, the Maximoffs trailing and mostly following because this was the first time they had ever been inside there.

They got to the lab and Natasha could already see Bruce and Tony rushing around the lab, trying to get stuff done.

"I'm going to say this once,” Steve said, announcing their presence and getting the two scientists to look up.

"How about nonce?" Tony countered.

"Shut it down,” Steve commanded, and Natasha could tell that this wasn’t something where Steve was going to back down, and neither was she.

"Nope. Not gonna happen,” Tony fired back, ready to fight to the end of the earth on this, and Natasha had enough.

She and Tony still had a very tense relationship, and he probably still hated her. He tolerated a lot, but with his patience thin, this was only going to go one way.

"You don't know what you're doing,” Natasha said to both of them, mostly trying to appeal to Bruce who usually had the more level head.

And you do?" Bruce said, gesturing at Wanda with his glasses in one hand, fury boiling under the surface. Yet he was surprisingly calm. " She's not in your head?"

Wanda stepped out from Steve's shadow. "I know you're angry-"

Bruce almost laughed. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Steve stepped in front of Wanda again. "Bruce, after everything that's happened-"

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony interrupted from the raised level behind the railing. 

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda cried, desperation mounting.

"This isn't a game," Steve bellowed.

Natasha felt a rush of wind at that point, and the next second everything in the lab was unplugged and machines were failing left and right, everyone looked bewildered and on the other side was Pietro, holding a handful of cords. He stopped on the glass floor, tossing the cables in his hand away casually. "No, no," he said. "Go on, you were saying?"

Natasha didn't say anything, planning on taking action just like Pietro did when he beat her to the punch. The look on Tony and Bruce's face was almost priceless, and for once she was glad to have someone like the boy on her side. He was able to do something that needed to be done, or Stark was going to create another murder robot.

Natasha was about to finally say something when she noticed something below Pietro. It was Clint, holding a pistol and shooting straight up through the glass floor.

"Clint don't-," Natasha started before Clint fired anyway, straight up, but not hitting the speedster standing above him.

The bullet shattered the glass and Pietro went toppling down to the ground below where Clint had him trapped.

"Pietro!" Wanda cried and raced to the edge to peer down at him and make sure he was okay. 

Meanwhile, all the machines that Pietro had unplugged were beeping and flashing red.

POWER CRITICAL FAILURE. POWER CRITICAL FAILURE

Natasha saw that the machines were failing and she knew that Stark was going to try and save them. She glanced quickly at Steve and nodded, knowing that they needed to make sure this thing wasn't coming to life. She pulled out about four widow bites in each hand and flung them across the room to various screens, causing them to short out.

Tony was taken aback, as he was just about to reroute power from somewhere to somewhere Natasha imagined. Then he was angry. Pulling on the Iron Man glove he kept on him at all times, he did something impulsive: he fired right at Natasha. Steve blocked it with his shield and then - in pure, instinctual retaliation - he launched it at Tony. Tony blasted it off to the side and then fired again, this time at a defenseless Cap, blasting him at least six feet backward.

The back of Tony's suit came flying from his lab and clamped on to him.

Natasha didn't waste any time. After Steve was blasted back, Natasha vaulted over the cradle and grabbed Steve's fallen shield. She had been practicing with it, so she slipped it on her arm. She jumped over to where Tony was and raised the shield to strike on the arc reactor in the chest of the suit.

Tony wasn’t fully in his suit, so it gave Natasha the advantage. A duel began that Natasha didn’t think she would ever be having, and her bruised chest wasn’t making this easier. She was striking out at the armored parts that Tony had on, trying to disable the suit in between blocking shots. 

Tony was able to get through her defenses and landed a blast on her shoulder that scorched her suit but protected most of her arm due to the protective capabilities of the suit, but it hurt. She used that momentum to swing around and clocked Tony on the side of the head, sending him to the ground. She hopped on top of him and lifted the shield to bring it down on the arc reactor in his suit.

It wouldn't kill him, but it would put the suit out of commission. The look that was in her eyes was of clear protectiveness of Steve, made her look a little crazy, and Natasha could swear she saw a twinge of fear in Tony’s eyes.

They were all interrupted by Thor, who slid into the room, intense look on his face and hammer raised. He looked at the cradle and jumped on top of it, raising his hammer and gathering a bunch of lightning. He took that energy and sent it down into the cradle, knowing that the power overload would bring this vision to life.

"WAIT!" Bruce screamed. The power systems were failing, the computers were sparking, the cables had been yanked apart. There was no saving the thing in the Cradle. But Thor didn't seem to hear him.

After the lightning was gone, there was only silence and everyone seemed frozen in place. Then there was a gigantic explosion and a body hopped out of the cradle. The figure slowly raised its head and surveyed the room, looking untrustingly at everyone as it took in its surroundings. It stopped at Thor and lunged for him. Thor seemed to be expecting this however and flug the figure out of the room and into the main area of the tower overlooking the city.

Natasha was distracted and Tony seemed to recover quicker than her and easily pushed her smaller frame off his body as he went out to check things out. Natasha was still clutching the shield as Steve already left. She made her way out slowly with Clint, on the far side of the room and everyone kind of surrounded the figure. It materialized clothes for itself and floated back down to speak to everyone

"I'm sorry, that was... odd," it, Natasha supposed he, finally spoke and turned to Thor. "Thank you.”

It sounded like JARVIS. But that didn’t make sense, JARVIS was supposed to be destroyed. Natasha looked warily at everyone and then back at the figure, who after a second added a cape to its outfit after looking at Thor’s.

"Thor. You helped create this?" Steve asked, a bit of disbelief in his voice.

"I had a vision," Thor started to explain. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at the center is that."

Thor pointed to the gem in the Vision's head, as it was glowing brightly.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked, more curious than afraid it seemed.

"It's the Mind Stone," Thor said. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring it here?" Steve asked, paralleling Natasha’s thoughts of something that destructive being brought to life.

"Because Stark is right," Thor said, looking right at Steve.

Natasha could say that her mouth almost hit the ground at that. After all of this, everything Thor got pissed about earlier, and he came to this conclusion. But Thor said it with such conviction, that Natasha would at least hear him out.

"Ohhhh it's definitely the end of times." Bruce said, voicing what pretty much everyone was thinking.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor started to explain.

"Not alone," the figure added to Thor's statement.

"Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked Tony and Bruce.

Tony stepped forward, “We reconfigured JARVIS' matrix. To create something new.”

"I think I've had my fill of new,” Steve expressed and Natasha shared that sentiment. All of the new stuff that had come out of that lab recently, Natasha hadn’t been overly fond of.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" the figure asked Steve

"You're not?" Steve asked, mistrust evident in his voice.

"I'm not Ultron," the figure said. "I'm not Jarvis. I am… I am."

"I looked in your head," Wanda said, stepping forward to get a closer look. "And saw annihilation."

"Look again," the figure told her gently.

"Yeah her approval means jack shit to me," Clint spat, earning him a glare from Natasha who was standing right behind him.

Wanda was just a kid after all. A confused kid, not unlike herself when she was brought to Shield. Not the kid part, but the confused woman, fighting for the cause she thought was right, and it turned out to be wrong.

"Their powers," Thor said, gesturing to the twins. "The horrors in our heads, Ultron himself. They all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But on our side..."

"Is it?" Steve interrupted, getting to the meat of the matter. He turned to the Vision, looking him dead in his artificial eyes. "Are you?"

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” the figure said honestly.

"Well it better get real simple quick," Clint said and Natasha nodded. He wasn't wrong there, this was a time sensitive situation.

"I am on the side of life," the android said. "Ultron isn't, he will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked, seemingly all for this, though his voice still wavered a bit that Natasha could tell.

“You,” the figure replied plainly and it made sense.

“Where,” Bruce asked.

"Sokovia," Clint announced, having made contact with Terra earlier. "He has Terra there too."

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster Ultron made you to be..." Bruce started, threat evident in his voice.

"What will you do?" the figure asked carefully, and paced away. "I don't want to destroy Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed."

"Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."

The figure looked down at his hands. "Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me." He walked over to the side table where Mjolnir lay.

"But we need to go," he urged as he picked up the hammer, And offered it to Thor for him to take.

The room went dead silent at that, as everyone stared at the figure holding the hammer with ease. Thor looked at the figure with a very confused look on his face as he took the hammer. That was the second person, or whatever he was, to lift his hammer in the past week. 

Natasha and Clint looked wide eyed at Vision as he easily picked up the hammer. This thing had proved the worthiness equal to Captain America and Thor. That was something quite spectacular.

"Right," Thor said, breaking the silence as everyone was still pretty shocked.

He started walking after Vision, patting Stark on the shoulder along the way and offering a "well done" to him.

Steve recovered first out of the rest of them. "Three minutes," he said, turning to the others. "Get what you need. We're going to Sokovia."

Tony took off immediately, anxious to be out of there. Bruce left as well, probably to pack some extra clothes for what was an inevitable Code Green.

Steve turned to the twins, who looked unsure of what came next. So Steve prompted them. "Are you coming?"

Wanda glanced at her brother to check that they were on the same page and replied, "We're coming."

Steve nodded approvingly. "What do you need?"

"New clothes," Wanda answered. "And maybe some food."

"Natasha?" Steve beckoned his girlfriend. "Could you show them where they can get what they need? I'll meet you on the jet."

"Yeah," Natasha said, coming over to Steve and handing him his Shield.

She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before turning to the Maximoffs.

"C'mon kids," Natasha said, turning around to lead them to where they could gear up. "I've got a jacket that I think will suit you Wanda."

Natasha led them to a supply room where she offered for the twins to take whatever they needed. Pietro went to grab some new shoes and a shirt, while Wanda paced around, looking at things but not really grabbing anything.

"Maximoff," Natasha called out, getting the girl's attention.

She tossed her a red jacket that Natasha had in her closet. She didn't wear it anymore, and it looked like it would fit Wanda well. She gave her a small smile and headed to get herself ready.

She got a new suit, same type of design, and hooked up her wrist gauntlets with it. She made sure that she was stocked up on Widow bites, and that her grappling line was locked and loaded. She then added a new piece of tech she had been working on in her spare time. They were like stun batons, that channeled the energy that went into her wrist gauntlets to help stab better. She figured it would help penetrate the metal casing of an Ultron bot better than just her bites. The last piece of gear she added were Steve's dog tags and the silver arrow necklace that Clint gave her. To make sure she had something to hold on too in case the worst happened.

She wouldn't go alone.

After the allotted time, she found herself on the jet with Clint in the co-pilot’s seat and everyone aboard. They were taking off and Steve was in the middle with everyone.

"Ultron knows we're coming," Steve said, looking at all of them. "Odds are we'll be walking into heavy fire. That's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Terra, we clear the field. Keep the fight between us." He paused here, contemplating his next words and whether the team was ready to hear them. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

November 21st, 2013
Novi Grad, Sokovia

When they arrived in Sokovia, it was the early hours of the morning. Steve gave out orders, and Natasha had a specific section to watch. They were working on evacuating the entire city, and that was easier said than done. Wanda was using her powers to try and get as many people to leave as possible.

Natasha had her own section of the city to watch, and helped as best as she could. She made sure that children stayed with their parents, got people to leave heavy stuff that wasn't necessary to their survival, including a very confused man that was carrying a television, and overall just made sure people were getting out safely.

This was the first real humanitarian effort she had ever done, as an Agent or otherwise. It was always some mission or battle she was thrust into, but never something like this. If the impending battle wasn't weighing that heavy on her mind, then she might have actually smiled at what she was doing.

This went on for about another fifteen minutes, before it started. Natasha felt something was wrong a second before a car exploded behind her. She managed to roll away, feeling the dull pain from the bruise that covered most of her chest that she convent didn't let anyone see before coming here. It was a nice shade of purple by this point.

Natasha looked up and saw the swarm of bots entering the city and knew they were out of evacuation mode and into protection mode.

She drew her pistols and started picking off bots when she could, making sure that she got people out of the way of all of the chaos that was upon them. 

The fighting was a blur, it was a mix of firing at the bots that were coming around, getting civilians to safety and from cover, and sliding away from incoming fire. The battle was quickly turning the city of Novi Grad into a warzone.

Natasha and Clint had found their way back to each other and cleared a street when they felt a jolt in the ground below them. It wasn't long before they looked to the end of the street to see it fracturing as a citizen jumped off the edge that seemed to be rising. It seemed as if their part of the city was rising in the air.

And they were on the island.

Natasha and Clint were over by Wanda when Ultron began his message that he was broadcasting throughout the city. Buildings were still crumbling when Natasha noticed that Wanda was standing in the way of a falling street pole. She seemed more scared than before, more distracted. Natasha didn't know what it was, but she wasn't focusing. Natasha ran forward and pushed Wanda away behind a car, and the pole fell on her instead.

"Do you see," Ultron said, using his bots to echo his message across the city. "The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall."

"Nat," Clint yelled, running over to her.

It wasn't that bad, all things considered. She just had a leg pinned underneath the pole. She was still conscious, but grimacing in pain.

“Is everyone okay,” Steve called through comms from his position, not knowing about their current situation, but very well timed.

"Get this thing off of me," Natasha gritted, not answering Steve's call because she knew it would be trouble.

Clint however wasn't as nice.

"Widow is hit," Clint called.

"You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing,” Ultron continued.

"Wanda," Clint said, looking over at her.

He had tried lifting it, but he couldn't make it budge. It was a full size wooden pole, much too heavy for him or Natasha to lift, especially with the position that Nat was in. Perhaps with Steve, Thor, or Stark, they could have managed. But they weren't here, and Wanda was.

"You've got to help her," Clint said, shooting one of the Ultron bots that was taunting them. It was replaced by another one almost immediately, but it still felt a little better.

"When the dust settles. The only thing left living on this earth, will be metal." Ultron continued, bringing his message to a close.

“What,” Steve blasted, worry evident in his voice. “Nat? How bad is it?”

Wanda peeled her hands off of the car, one by one, and slowly turned. It was hard to stand on a world unearthed, a world balanced by flying robots. Her knees wobbled but she somehow remained upright, facing Natasha. Throwing out her hands, she grabbed the pole with her magic and lifted it. With a cry, she flung the pole off the edge of the city and sent it tumbling down below.

Clint didn't waste any time, making Natasha stay down while he checked her leg. Nat sat up a little bit and fired at an Ultron bot that was getting a little too close.

"Nothing broken," Clint said, leaning away. "But-."

Natasha beat him to the punch, springing up and ignoring the sharp pain that radiated in her leg.

"I'm good Cap," Natasha yelled. "I'm making my way to you, Clint and Wanda will take the next street over, this one is clear."

Natasha looked back to Clint and then nodded in thanks to Wanda.

"She's not looking good Clint," Nat whispered. "Keep an eye on her."

"You be careful," Clint said. "You've got a bum leg and a bruised up chest."

"Staring at my boobs again Barton," Natasha said, flashing him a smirk and taking off towards Cap. "Thought you were better than that!"

Natasha arrived at the main square area just about the time that she saw Steve jump off a bridge. She almost cried out to him, but then when she saw he was okay, it changed to almost chewing him out over comms for everyone to hear. She was quickly confronted by a couple of bots though, and decided it could wait until later. She grabbed her stun batons and activated them, snapping them out to her sides.

She attacked a few, taking them out easily, and standing on the steps of a statue. She noticed a couple bots on her right taking aim, and she jumped in the air into a roll, dodging both of the blasts. She came up from the roll next to another bot, slashing one of the batons across the calf of the bot and standing up to jab it quick in the chest, before spinning and stabbing it through the neck, killing the bot.

"Natasha!" she heard and already knew who it was and what was coming. The symbolic red, white, and blue of Steve’s shield whizzed through the air and slammed into the torso of a bot that was fast approaching Natasha.

Natasha ducked the shield that came right by her head, already knowing where it was going thanks to their chemistry. She threw one of her stun batons at a bot, embedding it in the bot's chest and effectively knocking it out.

"Thanks," she managed to call out.

She picked up the shield and used it to block an incoming shot from another one that just landed. She was so glad that she had drilled with Steve's shield or she would be toast right now. The bot came at her and she knocked away one of its strikes fluidly, like it was her shield and not Steve's. She slammed the shield down on its foot and then countered with another shot to its jaw, before switching and giving her an opening to stab its chest with her other baton, immobilizing it. She knew that Steve was coming and tossed it in the direction that he was before grabbing the arm of the strike that was coming at her, leaving it completely exposed.

Just as Steve reached Natasha, he jumped, caught the shield midair, and slammed it into the bot's face. It was down for the count and Steve was back on solid ground. 

"Nice work. Let’s circle back, I saw Terra over there.” They picked their way over to Terra and Steve pulled her into a brief hug. "It's good to see you." He held out his shield with one hand. "Here. I have a feeling the worst isn't behind us yet."

"It never is," Terra sighed but gratefully ran her fingers along the edge of his shield, her body shifting in a lighter metallic gray than the steel she had previously worn. It was undeniable that vibranium was the most effective material she's ever absorbed, being light and unbreakable.

Terra caught sight of those siblings they had previously fought, tearing apart robots. "Oh, that's new. I'm gonna take a quick look around and make sure no one's stuck. Won't go far," she said, knowing the next wave is coming soon, and jogged off.

Steve nodded and turned his eyes to the sky, no doubt searching the tell-tale red and gold. There was only blue as far as the eye could see. Steve switched focus to the civilian stronghold behind them and made his way over to help them.

They needed a bigger game plan, and Natasha started to get a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach, starting to not see an out.

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Steve said into his comm. "What do you got, Stark?"

When he answered, Tony's voice was quiet, careful. " Well, nothing great. " A beat. " Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear. "

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” Steve said.

" Impact radius is getting bigger every second ." The words seemed to be dragged from Tony's throat unwillingly. " We're gonna have to make a choice ."

"Steve," Natasha said, coming to his side and looking at him. "These people are going nowhere."

As much as she didn't want to admit it, they did have to make a choice. Either a very large sacrifice, or global extinction. The math was clear to her, even when she would stay in the city as it blew up, but she knew Steve, and she knew that the math wouldn't add up in his head. That's one of the reasons she was drawn to him so much, one of the reasons she loved him.

There would be a time to tell him that soon, but for now, she had to convince him of something else.

"If Stark finds a way to blow this rock," Natasha continued.

"Not til everyone is safe," Steve declared stubbornly.

She sighed as she knew this was coming.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there," Natasha said, trying to get him to see the larger picture. "There's no math there."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it,” Steve responded, refusing to leave.

"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha said, a small smile on her face.

When he looked back over, she nodded a little bit.

"There's worse ways to go," Natasha said. "But instead I get to stay with the man I love, finally have peace in my life, and hey."

Natasha gestured out to the skyline that was above the clouds at that point, "Where else am I gonna get a view like this."

A rumbling interrupted them as a giant ship started to come up out of the clouds.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff," Director Nick Fury's voice came through the comms. "It's about to get better."

A SHIELD helicarrier elevated to hover beside the flying city. Inside, a flurry of retired and loyal SHIELD agents were buzzing around inside, getting ready for the civilians that would help board the aircraft. Maria Hill stood at a control panel in front of Fury, standing at the center of it all.

"Nice, right?" Nick commented casually, hands behind his back. "I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch,” Steve commented and Natasha fought off the urge to laugh at that, mostly due to the insane relief she felt at seeing her old boss back to save them.

"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury ribbed, obviously hearing about the whole language incident in their first battle outside of Sokovia.

Pietro had made it beside Natasha and Steve, looking at the lifeboats with joyous awe as they departed the Helicarrier. "This is SHIELD?" He asked Steve.

"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be,” Steve said, and Natasha could even sense a little pride in his voice.

"This is not so bad," Pietro said, a smile on his own face.

"Let's load 'em up!" Steve said, almost excitedly, as he turned to escort the civilians to safety.

That's when the next wave arrived. A swarm of bots, their underbellies cast in shadow while the tops of their metal heads glinted in the sunlight came roaring around the corner. They zoomed right over the Sokovians and the Avengers and headed straight for the helicarrier and each of the pods it was controlling.

Natasha readied herself for the fight when she heard explosions from above and saw the silver and black of Rhodey flying around and destroying the bots and smiled. The cavalry truly had arrived.

The authorities and emergency service employees started taking charge, helping herd the survivors and the injured onto the hovercrafts. They had to leave the dead behind and it wasn't easy to convince everyone to abandon them.

Natasha headed over to the lifeboat that was on the bridge and started helping people onto it. She kept a constant eye out, just to make sure there weren't any bots that would come to attack the mass of people that were currently flooding into the boat. Natasha was also trying to keep a mental count and get ready to hold up the line so the full boat could return back to the helicarrier and drop off the survivors.

"Thor," Tony said through comms after a fair bit of loading. "I got a plan."

"We're out of time," Thor responded. "They're coming for the core."

Natasha heard this over the comms and knew she was probably the furthest away from the center of the city where the core was. She looked around and saw a large truck, and smirked when an idea popped in her head. She motioned for the couple of Shield soldiers that were there to continue to guard and help the people and ran over to the truck. She quickly hopped in and hot-wired it, shifting it in gear and driving off.

Natasha was hearing all of the other Avengers call in and make their way there and knew she was probably gonna be last.

"Romanoff, where are you? You seen Banner?" Tony called, surprising her that Tony was checking on her specifically and not Steve.

"I didn't know you cared so much Stark," Natasha said in a teasing voice, no malice in it because she knew she probably was gonna die and she didn't want to die in spite. "And it's all good, not all of us can fly."

Natasha barreled her way through a bunch of robots, making sure she hit as many as possible. She heard a roar in the distance and figured Banner wasn't far behind. Natasha arrived by the church and hopped out, joining the rest of the group.

"Banner is not far behind," she announced. "What's the drill?"

"This is the drill." Tony said, and pointed behind him at the vibranium core, a key literally drilled so deep into the ground that it popped out the other side of the floating city. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

At that moment, Hulk dropped out of the sky and landed just outside the church. He swung himself inside, shaking the city with every step.

The small wave that they had been fighting was over and Ultron appeared just outside of the church. Thor spun his hammer and yelled out at him.

"Is that the best you can do?" he shouted, ready for more action.

Ultron basically smirked and raised his hand, summoning the rest of his army. Almost immediately, hundreds of robots came tearing around the corner and through buildings, ready to take on the Avengers.

"You had to ask." Steve said sarcastically as he shot Thor a half-menacing glare.

Natasha couldn't help but widen her eyes at the mass of robots that came around the corner. She knew at this point she wasn't making it out of this, or by some miracle she would. It would take that, because her serum wouldn't be able to outlast this. She was more worried for Clint, who had nothing to power him but his will, and he had a family to get back to. If it came down to her life or his, she knew her choice already.

"This is the best I can do," Ultron said, holding his arms out. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Like the old man said,” Tony said and Steve turned his head towards him. "Together."

As if in agreement, the Hulk roared and it echoed throughout all of Novi Grad, shaking the entire city.

And so it began.

As the robots swarmed, a few choice words came into Natasha's mind, but she didn't have time to say them before the horde was upon them. She started firing in all directions, using every little lesson of marksmanship she had ever learned in her life to make sure that one shot took down a bot, because if it didn't, she would be dead in a second. A few got too close and she short circuited one out with her widow's bite. She saw Stark take off and start picking them off in the air and she found herself by Steve, decently comforting. She managed to swing around another bot, wrapping her legs around its neck and twisting like she had done so many times before.

Natasha heard Ultron charge in as she was still focusing on fighting off the bots and Vision went up to meet him in the air and clashed with him. After a bit, Ultron was tossed outside and Thor and Tony followed, continuing the fight.

Natasha heard a faint, “You’ll never win,” before a large roar from the Hulk. Then all of the bots started taking off away from the church.

"They'll try to leave the city," Thor said, watching them scamper off and start to fly off the island.

Natasha and Clint came closer out of the church then, the last of the bots for now being destroyed. Both were breathing heavily, and slowly catching their breath, and it was getting harder to do, due to the altitude.

" We can't let them. Not even one," said Iron Man through the mask. " Rhodey ?"

" On it ," came the reply on comms.

Steve trudged closer to the others, shoulders still pushed back. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats," he said to Clint and Natasha. "I'll sweep for stragglers. I'll be right behind you."

"What about the core," Clint said.

Natasha was thinking about the same thing. There were bound to still be bots left on the island, Ultron wouldn't give up that easily. She was also protesting in her mind Steve going off by himself, but she knew he could handle himself, she just didn't want to admit it at this point.

"I'll protect it," Wanda volunteered, and then locked eyes with Clint. "It's my job."

Well Clint and Wanda must have had a moment that Natasha would have to ask about later. For now, they needed to get off this island.

“Terra, you get on the boats too,” Steve said to his friend. “Make sure any stragglers I send your way get on safely. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Clint nodded to Wanda and looked back at Cap to convey his trust. 

"Nat," Clint called, already heading out.

Natasha quickly went over to Steve and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before uttering a "Be careful," before heading off after Clint to get to the lifeboats to help the remaining civilians.

"You too," Steve called after Natasha, already backing out of the church.

Clint and Natasha had found their way to a decently nice sports car, somehow not damaged in the battle, and the keys were still inside. They both jumped in and were enjoying a decently peaceful drive, not being attacked by any bots at all. They were currently in a conversation that really didn't have anything to do with the task at hand.

"I know what I need to do," Clint said, navigating the debris. "The dining room. If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"

"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha said, not exactly green-lighting the new project for Clint but acknowledging the logic.

"Nobody eats in a dining room," Clint said, like it was obvious.

They finally made their way to where the lifeboats were and saw the last of the civilians were loading up.

"You know Laura had this crazy notion that you were pregnant," Clint said, getting out of the car. "Something you're not telling me?"

"What?" Natasha said, getting out. "Come on Clint, you know better than that."

"I'm just sharing what Laura said," Clint defended, shutting the car door.

"Just get your ass on a boat," Natasha said, shutting another car door, and heading to another boat a bit further away.

Natasha had made her way over to Thor, after helping the rest of the people and was clearly waiting for Steve. He wasn't there yet, but Thor did look at her curiously.

"Before at the party," Thor said. "When the others were trying to lift my hammer, and the Captain succeeded. I felt something strange come from it at one point, and it directed me towards you."

"I don't think this is the proper time Thor," Natasha said, still looking for Steve.

"Worthiness doesn't mean your entire history Lady Natasha," Thor just said, smiling because he knew she felt it too. "It's what your life's mission has become that the hammer senses."

Natasha was searching for a response when she saw Steve coming back, glad for the distraction. Thor glanced up and addressed the current problem at hand.

"Is that the last of them?" Thor asked, making sure that everyone was off the rock before they blew it up.

Steve nodded but he turned back to give the city another scan anyway. "Yeah, everyone else is on the carrier."

" You know ," Tony interjected over comms, " this works? ... we maybe don't walk away ." 

"Maybe not," Thor said, looking around at the remaining Avengers.

Natasha heard the jet a split second before the gunfire started. All she could think of was this being the end. She wasn't very bulletproof like Thor, or she didn't have a shield like Steve. She just ducked and kind of dived out of the way, hoping that she would somehow avoid the onslaught of bullets that came through. A searing pain in her side proved that it wasn't the case. She glanced back and saw it was only a graze though, but it still hurt like hell.

"Nat." Steve said, recovering before anyone else. He saw the worry in his eyes and knew he noticed the shot she took, but there just wasn’t time. "We gotta go.”

Natasha nodded and took his hand, accepting the help. She winced at the pain but managed through. Thor spun his hammer and took off towards the center of the city. Natasha looked over and saw that the path of bullets had led to where Clint was kneeling with a child in his arms and Pietro was on the far side of them, breathing heavily and clearly just pushing him out of the way and saving Clint’s life.

Steve slung an arm around Natasha’s shoulders and together they hobbled to the closest boat, the last one. Terra was already there. Steve helped Natasha lean against the wall - there were no seats left - and did a quick Avengers headcount. "Where's Bruce? And the twins?" Steve stepped off the boat, ready to go back and look for them.

Clint got to the boat and handed the kid back to his mother. Clint went over to Natasha to help bandage up her side and looked over at Steve.

"Last I saw Banner was jumping up into the jet to get that bastard out of the sky," Clint said. "And Pietro went to get Wanda, so I assume they're back at the church."

"Pietro's taking quite a bit of time for a guy with super speed," Terra stated worriedly, looking at the children and innocents on the boat. This city could collapse at any moment. Terra pressed on her comm. "Vision, can you get eyes on the twins?"

"Yes. I can carry them both out if needed," Vision responded.

Terra sighed in relief. "Great." She turned to Steve. "We should leave now, Vision will get them out."

"Someone needs to go after Bruce," Steve said, still staring off into the distance, waiting.

Rhodey's voice crackled on the comms, "I'm on it."

Natasha heard the rumble and looked over at Steve, still on the pavement. He noticed it too because he turned to jump. Natasha looked over at the distance between him and the boat.

He wasn't going to make it.

She threw herself towards the edge of the boat just as the city dropped. She reached out her hand and just before Steve fell she felt her hand wrap around his. She lodged herself along a part of the boat and steadied herself. She screamed in agony as her bruised chest pressed into the ground and her wounded side felt as it was ripping apart, but she held on with everything she had. The love of her life had his life in her hand at that moment, and nothing short of her arm being cut off would make her let go. She felt her shoulder pop out of the socket and let out another yell as she clung desperately.

Luckily, the screams drew the attention of a couple of Shield agents, who were over by her side not a second later and helped Steve into the lifeboat.

Terra ran over a second later to help pull Steve up with the other agents. "Jesus Christ," she gasped, and then pressed in on her comm. "We need a med team waiting for us at boat seven's landing port.”

Steve was then all over Natasha, holding her, assessing her for injuries. "Nat? Nat. Nat, where does it hurt?" 

"Well I am about 99 percent sure that my shoulder is out of my socket," Natasha said, wincing in pain as Steve grabbed her. "The gunshot wound doesn't feel nice, and that really big bruise on my chest from Korea isn't helping stuff either, but otherwise I'm good."

Natasha watched as the city blew up in a giant explosion and couldn't help a small smile that climbed over her features. She knew that there was a lot of destruction and a lot of innocents that had died, but she just helped prevent global extinction, so she let herself have this one moment.

"We won," Natasha said, remembering the stories of the words Steve had said just after the battle of New York.

She figured they were appropriate here.

"Yeah, we did," Steve said with a smile. 

A couple of the other SHIELD agents were tending to her bullet wound, obviously the most pressing injury. They tried to get Steve to move away at first but when elbowing Captain America didn't work, they simply worked around him. He did make himself as unobtrusive as possible. However, Nat's arm still needed fixing. He gently grabbed it and put it in position. "I'm gonna pop it back in, okay?"

Natasha nodded and braced herself for the resetting of her arm. It'd been done more times than she could count, but it didn't discount on how much it hurt every time. Steve was about to do it when she felt someone grab her hand. She looked over and saw Clint, a fresh bandage on his side and a smile on his face.

"Just like Budapest," Clint said with a smile.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Natasha said, enjoying this more intimate moment with her best friend.

POP! The shoulder snapped back into its socket. The corners of his lips quirked. "Sorry. Didn't mean to ruin the moment."

"Son of a bitch," Natasha cursed loudly as the shoulder moved back into her socket.

A mother shot her a dirty look at cursing in front of her child, and Natasha just shrugged it off. She couldn't quite believe that, after all that happened, that drew a dirty look. But she didn't press. She simply just laid down and put her head in Steve's lap, decompressing after the battle and feeling Steve exhale and relax as well.

"How do you feel," Natasha asked. "And you better tell me the truth. I know when you lie Rogers."

Clint chuckled at the antics of his best friend and just leaned back against the wall across from the couple, shutting his eyes.

"Like I've been playing the worst game of football with a thousand heavy robots piled on top of me," he said. "And I thought that last moment there was gonna give me a heart attack but here I am." 

"Sounds like we both need a vacation," Natasha said with a chuckle. "I'm thinking somewhere warm, private island, where we can just sit and do nothing all day. Hell we wouldn't even need to put on clothes and I have a few specific activities I would like to continue with you Rogers. We only got a taste of what those activities were like a couple weeks ago."

Natasha smirked up at him and was glad this was all over. She didn't know what her fate held with the Avengers now seeing as the battle was over, if she was even going to be allowed to stay. If Tony was done Avenging then it would be up to Terra and Steve to lead the team, seeing as she had only been a part of it for a couple months. But, one thing she did know was that she was staying with Steve for a long time.

“Sounds good to me,” Steve said, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips and sealing the deal.

December 15th, 2013
Avengers Compound, Upstate New York

Natasha was resting on a medical cot in the medical wing of the Avengers compound. It had been a couple weeks since they arrived and already the area was bustling with everyone that Natasha could imagine. She was given a room right next to Steve's, and allowed a spot on the team. Steve and Terra were leading, but Terra didn't know it yet. Natasha would help train since she had experience, but she wouldn't exactly be called a leader. Everything was going so well, and she was finally getting a follow up on the numerous injuries she had gotten in the Battle of Sokovia.

"Well Miss Romanoff," Helen Cho said, looking at the results. "There are a couple different things."

Helen Cho had been asked to come aboard to the facility, offered a lot to continue her research and she readily accepted. She had also kinda become the team doctor, it just seemed like they trusted her a bit more than to bring in an outside doctor. When Natasha had finally come to see her, pretty much handing her a slip from Captain Rogers demanding a full body scan, she had to oblige.

"Lay it on me Doc," Natasha said, glancing over at her.

"Your serum seems to have fixed up the bullet wound pretty easily," Helen said. "You shouldn't need the Cradle. The bruising in your chest has gone down a lot, also probably thanks to your serum. Your shoulder might be a little tender for a couple more days, which is why you shouldn't train heavily for about a week. Just some cardio would be all I will allow, and I will send this report to Captain Rogers to make sure of that."

"Well at least I'm not on bed rest," Natasha said with a chuckle. "Is that it?"

"There is one more thing we must discuss," Helen said, looking apprehensively at Natasha.

"Okay," Natasha said, looking over to her. "You're getting me a little worried Helen."

"Miss Romanoff I've read your file that you've provided me on your health conditions," Helen said. "So I want you to take this news as real because I know what to look for."

"Helen," Natasha said, wanting her to get to the point.

"You're pregnant Natasha," Helen said.

Natasha was in shock, and it showed on her face. She went slack jawed and her eyes opened wide. It was a good couple of minutes before Natasha could even form words.

"It's not possible," Natasha said. "The Red Room, they made sure."

"I do have a theory," Helen said. "I'm guessing Captain Rogers is the father."

"Yeah," Natasha said. "I mean he’s the only one I’ve been with in the past year. But we’ve only had sex a few times.”

"Normally I'd say it only takes one," Helen said. "Which is true, but with your situation, it's a little different. I feel that Captain Rogers' serum, being the pure Erskine serum that it is, injected itself in all parts of his anatomy. And when you two have engaged in your activities…"

"His serum healed my reproductive system," Natasha said, putting the pieces together. "And we never used a condom because of that."

"Your first couple of times must have healed the system enough for a sperm to fertilize an egg in you," Helen said. "It's improbable, obviously never even considered in anybody else's mind, and overall a miracle."

Natasha just leaned back and stared off into space. She honestly couldn't believe it, and she was going to have a hard time moving forward.

"I need to talk to Steve," Natasha said.

"I understand," Helen said. "I'd like to do an ultrasound soon to see what the exact makeup of your system is and how the fetus is processing. I'm going to prescribe you some prenatal vitamins that you need to take daily, and I would heavily suggest continuing to have sex with Captain Rogers to keep your reproductive system healthy. We don't know if this will reverse, or how quickly it will if it does."

Natasha just nodded and got up from the cot and texted Steve to meet her just outside the training area and said she had something very important to tell him. She got there and waited for about 10 minutes before Steve arrived.

"Hey. What's this important thing you need to tell me?" Steve asked, obviously a little rushed since their first Avengers team training was today and he was probably a little preoccupied.

"I just got out of that checkup with Helena that you and Clint pressured me into," Natasha said, though there was no joking tone on her face. "And she found something that shouldn't be there."

Natasha took a deep breath, having rehearsed the next speech in her head a couple of times already.

"I'm pregnant Steve," Natasha said it. "And I know our relationship is still very new and I completely understand if you don't want a part of it. You didn't ask for this and I assured you it wouldn't be an issue due to what the Red Room did to me, but I'm gonna keep the baby. I'll move in with Clint and Laura if need be, I don't want to take you away from your role here."

Steve blinked. "What?" 

The silence was almost unbearable as he processed everything. Natasha tried to read him, but for some reason she just couldn’t. She was doing everything in her power to and it wasn’t happening.

He half-stepped half-stumbled forward and pulled Natasha into the tightest hug. "You're wrong," he whispered, so quietly that he could barely hear himself. "I did ask for this. Years and years and years ago. I never thought I'd-" He cut himself off before his voice could crack and held her even closer.

Natasha closed her eyes as he wrapped her in a hug. He was staying and not leaving. Many men would leave her to the wind to raise the kid on her own, but not Steve Rogers. If that didn't solidify the love she had for him, she didn't know what would. She fought the tears that came to her eyes and chuckled.

"Well I'm glad I could deliver," Natasha said. "But don't you dare think you're keeping me out of training or missions until the doctor says no."

Natasha pulled back a bit to look at him but still stayed wrapped in his arms.

"You hear me Steve Rogers?" Natasha asked, utter devotion in her eyes.

He swallowed hard, trying to form words. "How? How is this possible?"

"We can discuss it in length tonight when you take me to dinner," Natasha said with a smile. "Just know that we both have yet another reason to thank Abraham Erskine."

Natasha owed Erskine just about everything in practice. The serum allowed Steve to survive the crash, where he would later become her boyfriend and now father to her child. She would have never had that if not for him. She owed him her life because Steve rescued her out of Stalingrad when she was a young girl, even though he didn't know it. And now, his serum had even managed to heal her enough to where she could give Steve a family.

"Now," Natasha said. "The rest of your new team is waiting on the other side of those doors. I'll go join them while you tell Terra that she's a co-leader with you."

Natasha stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.

"I love you," she added.

"Love you too." Steve said and Natasha noticed a giant happiness in his gait as he headed off to where Terra was waiting.

Natasha walked into the main training area and headed into the locker room quick. She changed into her new suit, all black this time with the red hourglass on her belt and an Avengers patch on the right shoulder. Terra had insisted and Steve really didn't leave any room for discussion either. She pulled the suit on, made sure her weapons were locked, loaded, and ready to go, and then stepped out.

There was already a small crowd inside. Rhodes and Sam were chatting to each other, both geared up in their suits. Vision was talking to Pietro with Wanda kinda on the outskirts listening in. Natasha's lips quirked as she saw that Wanda was still wearing the red jacket. She walked over to her and punched her lightly on the arm.

"I see you're still enjoying my jacket," Natasha said with a grin.

Wanda turned to face her and gave her a half-smile. "I really like it," she admitted, rubbing the leather between her thumb and index finger. "I promise I'll return it today."

"You can keep the jacket," Natasha said with a smile. "It looks better on you anyway. It clashes with my hair too much."

Natasha already was taking a liking to Wanda. She saw a lot of herself in Wanda and wanted to make sure that the right parts of Wanda came out. She was going to personally take on training this girl, she'd make that clear to Steve and overall was going to protect her from this world that might start to bash her for her past actions.

She was the best teacher for that after all.

"Oh." She looked down at the jacket again, as if it might have changed since the last time she'd looked in a mirror. "Thank you. Are you going to lead the meeting today?"

"Oh no," Natasha said with a chuckle. "I might take the lead on some training, but Cap and Terra are the leaders of the Avengers. I'm not fit enough to lead."

Natasha smirked at the body language and saw the bit of confusion in her eyes. It was new for Wanda making friends like this she supposed, but Natasha was willing to try if she was.

"They should be here soon, so I would get ready," Natasha said. "Steve's a military man, so prepare for the training to be intense."

"And what kind of training will that be? We each have different powers, abilities, suits. How is this going to work?” Wanda asked.

"Different people will take different types of training I suppose," Natasha said. "We'll have to see what Cap has planned. I'm sure it will all work out though."

"I need to go shopping," she mused, more to herself than Romanoff. "So I can stop borrowing your clothes." Her half-smile returned.

"I'm sure we can arrange a breakout," Natasha said, a devious smile coming to her face. "Security isn't that tight, a quick trip to New York to get some clothes wouldn't be an issue."

Natasha already had figured out how to bypass the security system and where the blind spots were in the cameras. She wasn't the best spy in the world for nothing.

Wanda's half-smile turned into a real one, with both sides of her mouth uplifted. "Really?” Wanda asked. "Shouldn't we wait until Fury gives the okay?"

"Fury?" Natasha scoffed. "Please, I have him wrapped around my finger. As long as you're with me, you don't need to worry about anything."

Natasha smirked a bit at that and glanced towards the clock on the wall. Top of the hour, which meant training time. And Steve was never late, army training and all of that.

"We'll talk after training," Natasha said, gently punching Wanda in the arm and heading over to prepare for the entrance of their leaders

The double doors opened and Steve and Terra came through. She glanced up and smiled at the two leaders, Terra looking very comfortable in her role as a leader and Steve looking handsome as ever. She charged up her gauntlets, blue lines starting to run through her suit as she showed she was ready for training, as the rest of the team got ready around them.

Steve smiled proudly at them all. "Avengers... Assemble!"

Chapter Text

December 31st, 2013
Avengers Compound, Upstate New York

Natasha stepped out of the shower as she was getting ready for the New Year’s Eve party that Tony was throwing at the Tower. The last month had been crazy and hectic. She had fought with the Avengers and Steve for the better part of this last year since DC happened, but she couldn’t say she was really used to working with a team yet, so the drilling each day was still new to her.

She had been able to keep up on all of the workouts and had weekly checkups with Helen to make sure the baby was progressing nicely. The few missions she went on in the last month she always had an extra layer of kevlar over her stomach and luckily no one seemed to notice.

The big event was meeting Ava Orlova, for real. A while back, she had rescued a young girl that was the subject of various Red Room experiments and gotten her into Shield custody. The young girl, Ava, was connected to one of the Red Room’s top generals, Ivan Somodorov. Next to Dreykov he was one of the top people, and when Natasha took out Dreykov in Budapest those years ago, he had most likely taken back over. 

Ava had been frantically searching for her and reaching out and Natasha had finally listened. She wasn’t really the big sister type, but the recent months made her realize exactly what it meant and she reconnected with Ava. 

The young girl was pissed at her for sure, Natasha hadn’t been in contact since she rescued her and Natasha couldn’t blame her. But, they managed to work together and take down Ivan once and for all. Since then, Natasha brought Ava back to the Compound to stay there with them. Along with Natasha’s lessons to Wanda, she had also spent some time training with Ava and honing her skills and powers. Natasha had an idea to start a program for young people with powers. To get them the proper training they needed and a safe place.

For tonight, she had a party to attend, as she went to her closet in her and Steve’s shared apartment in the Compound and picked out a dress. She was going to tell the team tonight about the pregnancy, and she had a way to surprise them all, she just needed something until then. She picked out a nice black dress that hugged her form very well and looked very good on her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to wear stuff like this for much longer and she was going to take every advantage of it.

She clipped on some earrings, made sure Steve’s dog tags and her silver arrow necklace were on, and clipped on a nice silver watch that Steve had gotten for her shortly after she told him about their baby, as a gift to her.

He had recently started collecting watches as Natasha knew he needed something to do in his spare time aside from sketching and working out, so she suggested that. It was working well for him. The cleaning and slight tinkering kept him busy, plus he looked very good in them with a suit.

She walked out of their room and saw Steve sitting on the couch, dressed in a nice black suit and ready to go.

"You look great," he commented, smiling and standing up to greet her.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Natasha said, walking over and adjusting his tie a bit till it was up to her standards.

Natasha looked up at him and decided to run her plan through Steve before just springing it on him tonight. She walked over to a box she had on the table and glanced back over at him.

"So for the party tonight, I want to tell the team about the baby," Natasha said, getting the shirt out. “I think this is creative enough.”

Natasha turned around to show Steve the shirt. It was a simple gray one, with a Captain America shield around her stomach where the baby would be, and the text read 'Future Avenger On The Way'.

"What do you think?" Natasha asked.

His eyebrows raised of their own accord. "Are you sure? I mean, I'm happy that you want to tell them - I'm really, really pleased - I just- I love the shirt. It's great. I mean, are you sure that you want to tell them? Tonight?" 

Natasha knew that Steve had always advocated for telling the team. They deserved to know things that could affect the mission and their team members, not to mention the fact that they were some of their closest friends. But Natasha had always wanted to play it close to the chest.

"Of course I'm for it. I just wonder... what brought this on?"

"Besides the fact that Wanda probably already knows and is just being polite," Natasha said, smiling. "I mean she can read minds and with all the private training I've been giving her, I'm sure she's picked up on it."

Natasha had taken responsibility for the majority of Wanda's training, even though Steve and Terra were the leaders. She had decades more combat experience than both of them, and Wanda needed a very specific touch with her powers, so Natasha volunteered. They both went to the team workout in the morning, and then Natasha and Wanda went off to do the private training while Steve and Terra did more specialized training with the other members. It had been going very well so far, Wanda was getting better control on her powers and Natasha had even been teaching Wanda ballet to help her get some grace to her movement. It was a hard workout and also had good practice outside and in combat, and Wanda was excelling because of it.

"Plus I'm trying to learn how to be in a team," Natasha continued. "This changes how I would fight in the field, I mean I already have an enhanced suit to protect that area, and the team needs to know that. And I hate to admit it, but we probably need to talk to Pepper or someone that has a good relationship with the press about revealing our relationship and impending child. Someone is going to find out eventually, I mean I'm not a big person, so when I start showing I'm going to show. I'd rather it be on our terms than some tabloids."

Steve was smiling by the end of her speech. Unable to help himself, he tugged her closer and kissed her firmly on the mouth. "I think it's a great idea," he reiterated when they broke apart. He then bent down to press a light kiss on Natasha's stomach. "I can't wait to tell the whole world about you," he whispered to the baby. "I know they'll love you almost as much as I do."

"I'm glad you like my idea," Natasha said, adoring how Steve talked to her stomach. "And I doubt they'll love the baby more than you."

Natasha just basked in the adoration for a bit then. She would have never guessed she'd have anything like this in her life. Now she was here, part of a cohesive team, with a loving boyfriend and a child on the way. Something she knew she would sacrifice everything for, and she knew she couldn't say that about anything just about a year ago. Whatever deity was out there, if there even was one, certainly smiled upon her this year.

"We should probably get going," Natasha said. "To put it in Stark's words, the others will think we're playing hide the zucchini.

"Maybe we were," he said suggestively and kissed her stomach once more before standing up. "That's none of their business. We're not late. Not yet, anyway." He slid his hand in hers and led her out the door.

Stark Tower

They arrived about 20 minutes later, walking into the penthouse where most of the parties took place and surveyed the room. Wanda, Vision, Tony, Pietro, and Pepper were already there. They knew Bruce, Terra, and Sam would be coming as well. Rhodey was visiting family for the holidays so he wouldn’t be able to attend. They headed over to the bar where there seemed to already be a conversation going

Wanda shook her head fondly, her smile for once not hidden by a curtain of hair since she'd pulled it back for tonight. She was wearing a very nice navy dress that went very well with her hair. "We really need to have a talk about that," she was saying to Vision. Steve and Natasha had just missed the context of this conversation.

"A talk about what?" Asked Steve. He hopped onto one of the barstools by Pietro and pulled one out for Natasha politely.

"Vizh keeps walking through walls," Wanda explained.

Tony was rummaging around in the cabinets to get the bar set up. "Yeah, wouldn't want him to walk in on anything... untoward ." He placed a cocktail shaker on the counter with a smirk. "Friday, let's get this party started!"

Party type music began to play as Natasha settled in on her stool and smiled as she listened in on the conversation. Pietro nearly dropped his drink from the sudden start of the music while Vision remained unphased and Pepper just jumped a bit. She really should be used to this.

"I do recall it being a problem as Terra said I 'scared the living hell out of her' when she didn't hear me come in the training room," Vision admitted a tad sheepishly as he walked to join everyone at the bar. He took a seat on the other side of Pietro.

Pietro gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry my magic phasing friend, I use the doors and still get in trouble," he joked, referring to the times he's sped into a room and had given quite a few people a startle.

The elevator opened and Terra, Bruce, and Sam walked out. Most amusingly, Terra had decided to dress up as a spitting image of Tony and Natasha bit back a laugh.

"Sup nerds," she greeted, jerking her head a bit to let the sunglasses slide down from her head to over her eyes.

"How long did you practice that ?" Sam teased.

"None of your goddamn business," Terra retorted cheekily with finger-guns.

"Hey, Earthy!" Tony waved enthusiastically from behind the bar, the cap to a bottle of vodka lodged between his fingers. "Digging the look."

Steve was already nursing Tony's first served drink of the night (a glass of whiskey) and snickering at Terra’s costume. "If there's a contest, you definitely win."

"Contest?" Wanda's ears perked and she settled into the fourth and final bar stool next to Natasha. "Was there a contest?"

Everyone turned to look at Tony, who waved one hand while pouring vodka into shot glasses with the other. "Nah, this was just good fun. But not as much fun as this." He slid one of the shot glasses to Pietro and another to Natasha. 

Natasha caught the glass and looked down at it. She couldn't drink this, but if she didn't people would know what was going on. She wracked her brain on what to do and glanced over at Steve with an apologetic look before moving forward so the surprise would still be intact.

"Actually before we begin these rounds," Natasha said. "Since everyone is here, Steve and I have an announcement."

Natasha stood up and took a couple steps back. She opened the box and turned to put on the shirt. She took a breath and turned back around to read the room’s expression. The room went dead silent as everyone took in what was on Natasha's shirt. Well, silent except for Pietro choking on the shot of vodka he inhaled. Wanda, having known for a while, simply smiled.

Steve was grinning. Actually, he seemed to be glowing, and if anyone had any doubt about who the father was, all it took was one look at Steve to lay those fears to rest.

Wine sloshed over Tony's fingers. He jumped and righted the bottle he'd forgotten that he'd been in the middle of pouring when Natasha made the announcement. He cursed under his breath and dabbed at the mess he'd made with a cloth napkin. He poured out the first couple sips of the over-full glass so that it wouldn't spill even more and then handed it off to Pepper, whom the drink was actually for.

"OH MY GOD!" Terra blurted out over Pietro's harsh coughing. "A b-baby! Tiny person!" She tugged on Sam and Bruce's sleeves as if they weren't seeing what she was seeing right now.

"Tiny person," Sam agreed slowly, still getting over the shock of it.

"Congratulations," Pietro choked out. Vision echoed the sentiment.

Pepper smiled softly. "That's so wonderful, congratulations you two," she said kindly, but Natasha could hear a tinge of slight jealousy in her voice and Natasha could very much understand. 

Steve had told her that she and Tony were having trouble conceiving, and to see someone on the same team get pregnant by basically accident couldn’t be easy to swallow.

"This is so great! Absolutely amazing!" Terra cried, throwing her arms around Natasha to hug her. "I'm so happy for you guys! You're gonna be such great parents! Ugh, so amazing!" She rambled, moving on to Steve to bear hug him. "Look at you! You're gonna be a dad, Stevie! What the hell!" 

Bruce approached Natasha almost shyly after Terra had moved on to Steve. "Congrats," he said, smiling softly. "The two of you deserve a little bundle of joy." Being the awkward bean that he was, he very gently punched her on the arm in a moment of rare initiated contact.

Thank you," Natasha said, taking in the abrupt hug from Terra and then the more gentler touch from Bruce.

"Steve deserves this more than me," Natasha said with a smile to Bruce. "This is something he's always wanted, I'm just glad to be able to give it to him."

Natasha wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was terrified about all of this. Worried that her past would come back to haunt her and take the baby away. That the vision that Wanda gave her would come to life and she would be cut apart again. It was an awful thing to think about, so she pushed it down when she was around the team and confided in Clint and Laura when Steve was away and couldn't hear her.

"Congratulations," said Tony carefully but honestly. He raised the shot of vodka. "Any takers?"

"Yes! Shots! Let's drink for the baby and Natasha and Steve!" Terra chirped, still hyper on good news and taking the offered shot from Tony. She requested a few more and passed them along to Sam, Wanda, and Vision, those who didn't have a drink in their hand. Pietro looked like he was good for now and Bruce didn't partake. "To a growing family!"

Cheers were given and shots/drinks were thrown back/sipped. Vision's was slightly delayed as he had never taken a shot before but mimicked the others. Once congratulations were had and drinks were passed around, Tony suggested they all move to the sitting area where the couches were long enough to accommodate everyone.

Natasha had helped herself to some water and followed everyone to the couch. She took a seat on the edge seat on one of the couches across from Tony and smiled as the conversation continued on. She mostly just listened in, enjoying the camaraderie and still flying high on the emotions of her announcement.

She kept stealing glances at Tony and Pepper, however, and their reaction to the news. They seemed a little distant around that subject, and Natasha could only guess why. They had been married for a while now and no doubt wanted kids, and they were still unsuccessful, and yet Natasha had been dating Steve for just a couple months and now she had moved in with him and a child was on the way. It wasn't fair to them, and they probably thought that she didn't deserve this, and they would be right.

Natasha shook off that feeling however, and decided to focus on the positives of the entire thing. She was having a baby, and it was going to be the best damn baby alive.

Natasha returned to her thoughts when it sounded like people were discussing their favorite horror movies. Natasha smiled, knowing she was one for the classics and nothing could beat Halloween in her opinion. The movie Ouija was thrown out there and Steve had a confused look on his face.

"What's a wee-jee board?" Steve asked. Natasha knew he'd been around long enough to be caught up on everything important and lots of pop culture, but seventy years was still seventy years. There would always be something he had missed or something he didn't know.

"It's a board with the alphabet printed on it that people use to converse with the dead," Wanda explained with a straight face, although Natasha could tell that there was maybe a story behind that, since she kept glancing at Pietro.

"Cap, I'm disappointed in you." said Tony, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. “Were horror movies not in your little notebook?"

Steve shrugged. "Not these ones, I guess."

Tony rubbed his chin in thought. "Wonder how much you do know. Hmm. You up for a challenge, Cap?" There was a promising gleam in his eye.

Steve, who had long finished his drink, grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

"By context, Tony seems to be fishing for a trivia contest," Natasha said, a smirk on her face. "But I feel that preying on someone who's spent the majority of his life in the 40s is kinda cheating. How about doubles to even it out?"

Natasha hoped by her friendly tone that Tony would go for this and not repel it immediately because of their tumultuous relationship.

Sam stood up from the couch, amused. "Yeah, you guys have fun with that." He walked around and nudged Terra, who wasn't really paying attention and munching on an ice cube from her drink. "Terra." She looked up, sunglasses a tiny bit crooked on her face. "What does that pool table look like to you?" Sam gestured to said table.

"Um." She took a long sip of her drink and smacked her lips before answering. "...A pool table."

"A beer pong table," he corrected with a grin.

She pursed her lips. "It's not regulation-sized."

"We won't be having regular players."

Well, he certainly wasn't wrong. "Save me a game to whoop your ass then. If we're doing doubles for trivia, Bruce will need a partner to fill in the very small gaps of his knowledge," she chirped, patting her boyfriend lightly on the head.

"Or you just secretly like trivia," Sam coughed and walked away.

"Lies!" she lied.

Pietro went over with Sam to set up the cups for beer pong on the pool table. He sure as hell wasn't going for trivia. Wanda wanted to watch her brother “get crushed in this American game” as she put it and Vision wasn’t long after, leaving only the three couples on the couch.

"Friday can ask us questions about pop culture,” Tony said, laying down the rules. “Anything in the last 110-some years is fair game, even if it was before Steven was born. First team to six points wins. Answers are first come, first serve. No buzzers. Just answers. Friday will know who was first. Any questions?"

"We making this interesting?" Natasha asked, feeling like putting some money down on something tonight. "Money, dares, anything for the winners or losers?"

"Ohmygod, yes!" Terra eagerly agreed, loving the stakes raised. "Money for the winners, dares for the losers? Winners can decide the dares?" She suggested.

"Sure, how much should we put in?" Pepper asked, never setting the price for the pool herself because it would be... too high.

"Um, how about however much we have on us? Stop if it's over $100." Terra was mainly directing that at Tony and Pepper.

Pepper put in $100 on the coffee table.

Terra put in $85 and two sticks of mint gum.

Steve reached into his back pocket and pulled out a well-used leather wallet. He tossed a couple of twenties and a five on the table accompanied by some ones for a total of $50. Natasha tossed in a couple of twenties and ones, plus a starbucks gift card as well. Bruce pulled a twenty from his breast pocket and placed his neatly on top of the pile. Tony put in his own $100 and then rubbed his hands together.

"Alright, boys and girls, let's get this show on the road. Music!" He pointed at the ceiling. On cue, some game show-sounding track began to play with heavy use of trumpets. Friday kept it brief and faded it out to speak over the party music that was still playing quietly in the background.

" First question ," she began. " What popular science fiction movie was released on July 4th, 1985? You have unlimited guesses ."

Tony's fingers itched for his phone so he could Google it but he held himself back and thought hard.

Bruce blinked, trying to remember where he was in 1985.

Steve began going down the list of the sci-fi movies Terra had watched with him.

"The Terminator?" Tony guessed.

" Incorrect."

"Robocop?" Steve also guessed.

" Incorrect."

It didn't take Natasha long to find the answer, she frequently watched American movies to perfect her accent during her time in the Red Room and while the Cold War was winding down, there was still the threat of war.

"Back to the Future," Natasha answered, waiting for her guess to be correct.

"Correct!" Friday chimed. A triumphant chorus played before ending abruptly, resuming the game show music playing before. "That's one point for Natasha and Steve."

Pepper finished off her glass of wine before setting it down audibly and rolling her shoulders. "Okay. Time to get serious now," she muttered. She never liked trying for the first question, she needed to test the waters, feel the game out.

"Next question," Friday began. "What is the name of the coffee shop where the cast of the sitcom 'Friends' always meet?"

"CENTRAL PERK!"

Pepper and Terra had shouted it at the same time a millisecond after Friday finished, Pepper half out of her seat - the adrenaline of trivia was kicking in.

"I said it first, Terra!" Pepper growled.

Terra swirled her glass smugly, which just had ice in it now. "Nooo, I don't think you did," she tittered. But she really had no idea who said it first, it sounded so in sync.

"Terra said it first by 3.4 milliseconds," Friday reported. "That's one point for Bruce and Terra."

"We're not friends anymore."

Terra bit her lip to keep from laughing, knowing Pepper obviously didn't mean it. "What if I refilled your glass, would I be your friend again?" She joked, standing up and picking up her glass. She needed to refill her own anyway.

Pepper hmphed and raised her chin, fighting back a smile. "Only a little."

The former agent laughed and walked to the bar. "Go on without me, I have faith in you, Bruce!" She called back.

"Next question. In the Harry Potter series, which character has an otter as a Patronus?"

"Oh! Um..." Bruce smacked his own head as if that would make him remember more quickly. 

"Hermione Granger," Steve blurted right as Bruce opened his mouth to say the same thing.

"Correct!" Friday chimed, playing the triumphant chorus again. "That's a total of two points for Natasha and Steve."

Bruce looked put-out while Steve held up his hand for a high-five from Nat, which she readily gave him, very proud that he beat Bruce on a book question.

Tony playfully nudged Steve on the bicep. "Terra got you hooked, huh?"

"Yeah," Steve replied, remembering the time he and Terra and Bruce had each discussed their Hogwarts houses while in a SHIELD safe house. Tony had been dealing with Mandarin issues at the time. "One of the first things she showed me."

"Next question," Friday announced. "Which member of the band 'The Beatles' crossed Abbey Road first on the cover of their album of the same name?"

"John Lennon!" Tony sat forward on the couch so fast that he spilled a little of his drink. He cleared his throat to tone down his excitement. "A classic album." He smoothed down the front of his now wrinkled shirt.

"Correct!" chimed Friday. "That's one point for Tony and Pepper."

Natasha scoffed and leaned back at this question. She didn't have a popular opinion, but she didn't like the Beatles at all. What she wasn't going to mention to anyone here is that she met every one of them, and may or may not have had a hand in Lennon's assassination. Still wasn't a proud couple years of her life, but she was still working for the Red Room full time at that point.

The KGB wasn't a fan of what the Beetles were preaching, especially John Lennon, so they had her organize an assassination that wouldn't lead back to them.

"I hope you don't like them too much," Natasha whispered to Steve. "We would have to have an uncomfortable conversation about the assassination of Lennon then."

Steve turned back to Natasha while waiting for Friday to ask the next question, a slightly confused and shocked look on his face at her revelation. "They weren't my favorite band or anything," he assured her.

" Next question: What famous Broadway musical is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and takes place in 1950s New York? "

Bruce twisted around to face the kitchen. "Terra! I need you!"

Terra had been collecting her and Pepper's drinks and rushed over to the couches. She climbed from the back to plop herself down beside Bruce, miraculously not spilling a drop from either drink. "Repeat the question, Friday!" She passed Pepper her glass of wine.

"Don't repeat it, Friday!" Pepper called but Friday was already repeating it.

"What famous Broadway musical is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and takes place in 1950s New York?"

"Oh!" Terra flapped her hands, the theater enthusiast in her beaming. "West Side Story!"

"Correct!" chimed Friday. "That's a total of two points for Bruce and Terra."

"Woo!"

"Next question: Who was on trial during "The Trial of the Century"?"

"That is such a hard question to quantify," Natasha said with an eye roll. "The definition of a trial of a century is just a trial that the media is in a frenzy over and makes a big deal about."

Natasha shook her head and continued on.

"But the answer you're probably looking for is OJ Simpson," Natasha said.

" Correct! That's three points to Natasha and Steve."

Tony snapped his fingers in lieu of saying "damn it". "Gotta admit: I wasn't expecting the Capsicle and the KGB assassin to have this much knowledge."

"I wasn't expecting the good doctor to be this oblivious," Steve teased, leaning further back into the couch and stretching his arms along the back of it.

Bruce made a distasteful face. "If these questions were about classic literature, I'd be kicking all of your asses."

Steve and Tony laughed, nearly missing Friday's next question.

" Which sports team won the 2011 NBA championship?"

Steve blinked. "Is that basketball?"

Bruce threw his back onto the couch, resigning himself to another point lost.

Tony tapped his fingers on his glass, lips pursed in thought. No harm in taking a guess. He was more of a hockey fan. "Uh, Miami?"

" Incorrect. "

"Oh oh oh!" Pepper perked up, slamming down her already half-empty wine glass. "Dallas Mavericks!"

"Correct! That's two points to Tony and Pepper."

"Yes!" The CEO hissed in victory and lightly hit Tony's arm. "We had a viewing party for it, Tony!" Not that anyone was really devoted to basketball, just an excuse to have any kind of party.

"Next question: In the book 'To Kill a Mockingbird'-"

Terra's eyes widened and looked at Bruce with a raised brow. Classic literature.

"-what are the nicknames of Atticus' two children?"

Bruce's head popped up from where it had been lying on the back of the couch. "ScoutandJem!" He shouted, his lips tripping over themselves to get the words out as fast as humanly possible. Half a heartbeat passed during which Bruce did not breathe. Then he added: "Their actual names are Jean Louise and Jeremy Atticus Finch, more commonly known as Scout and Jem." He had the strangest urge to push up his glasses when he wasn't wearing them.

Sounding vaguely amused, Friday awarded him the point. "But there is no extra credit in this game, Bruce."

He looked at the table and scratched his head bashfully. He briefly entertained the idea that Friday had given out a literature question out of pity but quickly dismissed it. A point was a point.

Steve, who had known the answer but hadn't been fast enough, simply smiled.

" Next question: How many actors have portrayed James Bond? "

Floundering, Tony threw out a random number. "Twelve?"

"Incorrect."

"Seven?"

"Incorrect.

"Nine," Natasha said in an excited tone, as the character was a favorite of hers. "Asking a spy about the greatest fictional spy of all time, they just want to give us points."

The quiz though was turning out to be extremely easy, which is why she was holding back a bit. When you have been through history since 1929 and forced to learn pop culture to be able to blend in anywhere in the world, it didn’t make games like this too hard. She wouldn’t give up that one though, she did absolutely love James Bond.

"Correct! Steve and Natasha lead with 4 points!"

Pepper muttered a soft 'unacceptable' before taking a sip of her wine.

"The board so far is Steve and Natasha with 4 points, Terra and Bruce with 3 points, and Pepper and Tony with 2 points," Friday summarized. Terra rubbed her hands together. They were only a point behind, not so bad.

"Next question: 'I see dead people' is a quote from what movie?" Following the question was soft thunder for a spooky effect.

"The Sixth Sense," blurted Tony casually. 

Steve merely shrugged. As had been established right before the game began, he was not up to speed on horror movies. He wasn't even sure The Sixth Sense was a horror movie. He'd made the assumption based on the "dead people" part of the quote.

"Correct!" A trumpet doot-doot-dooted. "Next question: In which city were the 1972 Summer Olympics held?"

Everyone looked really stumped, and Natasha was about to notch another point when Terra beat her to it.

"Munich, West Germany," Terra answered with a little less gusto as per normal. She took a long sip of her drink.

"Correct!"

Natasha was really upset she didn't get the Olympic question because she was in attendance for those games. More than a few diplomats went missing then, thanks to her. She wasn't proud of it, yet she was there and still didn't beat Terra to the answer.

"Impressive," Pepper admitted, raising her glass to Terra and definitely starting to feel the expensive wine working its magic.

Terra went back to smiling and pretended to examine her nails. "I just know things," she chirped with mischief.

"Next question: In the Star Wars movie franchise, R2-D2 is classified as what type of droid?"

Terra slumped in her seat. "Except this," she grumbled. 

"Astromech," Natasha called out. "And you know Terra, I'm upset you beat me to the last one. I mean I was there after all."

"Oop, I'm sorry," Terra chuckled although it was a sarcastic one, lifting the sunglasses off her eyes because wearing them indoors was starting to give her a headache. "But I can't go easy on you, Natasha. I don't trust any of you with dares."

" Next question, " announced Friday. "Norma Deloris Egstrom, born in 1920, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, in a career spanning six decades. What was her professional name?"

Steve perked up, realizing that he knew the answer not because he'd studied hard to learn it but because he had listened to her music a lot right before he had been accepted into the military. "Peggy Lee," he answered, smiling.

"Congratulations Steve and Natasha! You are the winners!" Friday declared with 'We Are The Champions' playing in the background. "Terra and Bruce come in second, and unfortunately, Tony and Pepper come in last."

Natasha burst into a smile and leaned over to press a big kiss on Steve's cheek for winning the game.

"Nice job soldier," Natasha said, leaning forward to collect their winnings off the table. "The baby thanks you all for your donation. This will be buying a copious amount of diapers in the future."

Natasha had already set up a savings account for the baby and was adding to it when she found money here and there. Steve knew about it too and put some of his military pension in there. It would serve to buy baby supplies at the moment and would turn into the child's savings account one day.

The rest of the team groaned in defeat, although it was good natured all around. 

"Well, wonderful job, Steve and Natasha. It was a win well deserved," Pepper admitted, competitive but not a sore loser.

Terra stretched. "I can live with second place," she said, riding a cozy tipsiness. "Congrats, we don't completely suck!" She raised her hand for a high-five with Bruce.

Shoulders sagging in relief, Bruce high-fived a tipsy Terra. "We have low standards!"

Steve smirked and raised his eyebrows at Tony, who held up his hands in defeat. "Well, shit. I'm never gonna hear the end of this."

In a good mood from winning the game, Steve simply said, "Language," accompanied by the aforementioned smirk.

“I let you guys win," Tony said in a tone that suggested that he and everyone else knew very well that he did not. "Congrats, Cap, Romanoff. So what's the dare?"

"Well I know you have all the Avengers merchandise in the tower, cause Stark Industries approves most of it," Natasha said, with a slightly mischievous smile on her face and getting a little inspiration from Terra’s gag of dressing up as Tony from earlier. "Which means you have the official Black Widow and Captain America costumes. You also have a hundred million plus followers on all of your social media accounts. I think you have to dress up like us and post on there."

Natasha leaned back, taking her glass of water and drinking a bit.

"Tagline," Natasha said, putting her hand out in the air to make it a headline. "Starting the new year right by dressing up as the smartest Avengers."

Terra covered her mouth to stifle the giggles and Steve smiled at the suggestion, knowing it was a very good dare.

"Did you want the Captain America costume or the Black Widow costume?" Pepper joked with Tony, knowing it would be some good fun for social media and showing team unity.

Tony just rolled his eyes as he and Pepper left to change into the costumes and everyone started to mingle. Natasha glanced over at the beer pong table progress and it looked like everyone was pretty effectively wasted at this point.

"We're gonna have to make sure the Maximoffs get back to the compound safe tonight," Natasha said, leaning into Steve and relaxing on the couch. "I'll help Wanda through the inevitable hangover and puke fest that will go on. I really like her, she's taking well to her training."

"I'm glad you two are bonding," Steve said. "And I'm sure at least one of the Maximoffs will be fine. Pietro's metabolism probably doesn't let him get drunk. We should start a club. Invite Bruce and Tony. Call it the Designated Drivers Club.”

Tony and Pepper returned at that point, garnering cat calls and cheers from the surrounding Avengers. Pietro started singing the Captain America theme song from the war bond tours and Terra whistled.

"Pepper looks hot ," Terra announced confidently, her hand that wasn't holding her drink braced against the wall. "Like a sizzlin' chilli-pepper...'' she paused to take a sip of her drink. "...in the desert," she finished.

Pepper and Tony blushed and took the compliments and walked over to the center of the room in front of the couches.

“Alright let’s get this over with,” Tony said and Sam came over with the camera phone that Pepper had given to him to take the picture.

Not knowing that she and Steve were very visible in the shot, Natasha looked towards Steve.

"I'm gonna take Wanda home," Natasha said. "I'll meet you back at the compound."

Natasha leaned over and kissed Steve on the lips, shirt announcing the pregnancy in full view, in an action that would change their lives forever. Steve returned the kiss as the picture was taken.

"Perfect," Sam commented on the picture, not looking at it closely, passing the phone to Pepper so she could post it to her and Tony's accounts. Pepper snickered at the photo but otherwise didn't examine it too closely before she attached the agreed-upon caption and...

Posted!

"Dare completed," Pepper clapped her hands together before sitting back down on the couch, not noticing the phone in her pocket blowing up with notifications

"C'mon Maximoff," Natasha said, getting up to head over to where Wanda was laying on the couch, and preceding to lift her up off the couch. "Let's get you home so you can puke your guts out."

"Which Maximoff?" giggled Wanda, thinking she was being clever even as she let herself be pulled off the love seat. "Bye, Vizh!" She waved enthusiastically at Vision.

Natasha passed Tony and Pepper on the way out.

"Thanks for hosting," Natasha said. "This was a great party. I'm glad I could be here."

"Getting some mothering in early?" Tony teased, eyeing a very drunk and probably very lightweight Wanda. Then something in his posture softened. "Congratulations, Romanoff. I really mean that."

"Thanks Tony," Natasha said with a genuine smile. 

Natasha gave Tony and Pepper another smile before heading out of the building to her car, knowing Steve would catch a ride back with Sam. This was a big night for her and Tony, and maybe they had mended the rift that had been there since she told him about Yinsen.

January 1st, 2014
Avengers Compound
1 Hour Later……

Natasha arrived at the entrance of the compound only to be met by hundreds of reporters.

"What the hell?" Natasha said, looking at the mob that had arrived.

"What's happening? Why is everyone here?" Wanda asked, still semi-lucid due to all the drinking that went on.

"I have no idea," Natasha said as she made her way slowly through the crowd.

As she got closer to the point to where the guards were holding them back she managed to catch some of the questions.

"How long have you been dating Captain America?"

"You think that with your past you deserve this?"

"When is the baby due?"

"No fucking way," Natasha breathed, eyes going wide and wondering how this news leaked.

They got past the fence and Natasha drove into the parking garage. She stopped the car and just sat there for a minute, heart sinking in her stomach at this.

Wanda suddenly threw open the door and hurled out the side of the car, straining against the seatbelt she had forgotten to unbuckle. It was clear that she had been holding it for a while and couldn’t anymore. Gasping for breath, Wanda fumbled for the button. When it released her, she nearly fell out of the car but just managed to grab hold of the frame and then heave again.

Natasha snapped out of her funk when she heard Wanda heaving and quickly got out of the car.

"I'm sorry Wanda," Natasha said, picking her off the ground and heading inside. "Let's get you inside."

Natasha led Wanda inside the compound and to her apartment. She put in her code and entered, making a beeline for the bathroom. She set Wanda down by the toilet and went to grab a glass of water. She quickly fired off a message to Ava and told her to meet her at her apartment. She came back into the bathroom and grabbed Wanda's hair and held it back.

"Just let it out," Natasha said, pushing her own thoughts aside for the moment.

"Too much vodka," she grumbled, trying to make the room stop spinning. "Too many people." She could still hear them, the reporters outside. She was doing her best to block them out but they were like cicadas in her ears. "Please make it stop."

Natasha didn’t know what to do when Pietro showed up. He must have heard something or decided to turn in early and run back. His metabolism looked like it burned off any alcohol he had and he was coherent enough.

“Pietro,” Natasha said. “Get the press out of here. Threaten them with trespassing or something.”

"I'll get rid of them," he assured her and sped off to do just that.

"This hasn't started happening to you, has it?" Wanda asked Natasha, cracking the smallest of smiles. She was clearly referring to morning sickness, and probably trying to take Natasha’s mind off of what was happening. "I don't envy you. This is terrible."

"I'm sure it's coming," Natasha said, forcing a smile as she held back Wanda's hair. "And when that time comes, you'll owe me at least once."

There was a light knocking at the door and Natasha looked up to see Ava standing there. Pietro was back within a matter of seconds as well.

"Your brother is gonna take good care of you now," Natasha said. "I've got to go check on something, but I'll be back."

Natasha got up and went over to Pietro.

"Keep her hair held back and make sure she drinks a lot of water," Natasha said. "Try and get her to sleep somewhere other than the bathroom floor okay?"

Natasha patted Pietro on the back and headed out with Ava, towards the training room.

Another punching bag flew off its hinges as the sand leaked out. Natasha was breathing deeply now, hands taped up but bloody, and tears streaming down her eyes. Ava sat behind her, just being there for morale support but knowing not to say anything. Overhead, there was a news report and interview playing.

"Again, in shocking news this evening, it seems like some of America's worst fears have come to fruition. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, is confirmed to be in a committed relationship with Natalia Romanova, aka Black Widow, and an ex KGB spy. During a twitter post from Tony Stark this evening, the two were seen kissing in the background. And what's more, from the t-shirt the Black Widow is wearing, she appears to be pregnant with Rogers' child. For thoughts on this, we bring in a panel of news writers from the New York Times, Boston Globe, and the Washington Post. Gentlemen and Lady, thanks for being here."

Natasha had hung another bag up at this point and had started in again.

"It is unacceptable for Captain Rogers to do this thing. We're grateful to the Avengers and what they did in Sokovia, but that's all that the Black Widow should be to any of them. Just teammates."

Natasha hit the bag hard, speeding up.

"This woman could obviously still be a spy for Russia. Putin has expressed interest in the Super Soldier serum, and now he has a direct child of Captain America, inside of a KGB. It is the perfect game for Russia and could put us in a lot of trouble."

Natasha kept going, blood dripping on the floor at this point and tears getting thicker.

"We should really be thanking Stark. Rogers could have been seduced, completely under the charm of this Siren and Tony Stark made sure that Rogers would see what the American people really thought about this woman."

"STARK!" Natasha screamed, punching the bag again and completely splitting it, sending it across the room into the pile.

She had no doubt that Stark did this on purpose. Who just doesn't check something that they post online, especially when you've become the number one in the public eye. He saw that and wanted to cause her pain. Even after she tried to extend an olive branch to him, wanted to work for him so the baby would know his Uncle Tony and Steve wouldn't have to be so split. But for all the talk Tony did about Natasha being a two faced person, he was no better.

Ava breathed out at that and got her cell phone and dialed Steve this time, knowing that Natasha would probably break her hands, if she hadn't already, if he didn't come.

"C'mon Rogers pick up your phone," Ava said quietly, so Natasha couldn't hear.

After a few seconds, Steve picked up the phone. “Hey.” he said, answering Ava.

“Captain Rogers," Ava said, addressing him with respect as he was her commanding officer in the Young Avengers program she was currently in. "You must not have checked your phone in a bit. The news about you and Natasha leaked through the twitter post Mr. Stark made. It showed you and Natasha kissing in the background and her shirt could be clearly read."

Natasha was pounding away at another bag, showing no signs of stopping, as the media continued to be very unkind to Natasha.

"The media is really tearing into her," Ava said. "We're in the training room. She's been hitting away at the bags for a while now, and she's about to break your record for sending them across the room and breaking them. I'm sure she's broken multiple bones in her hands at this point, but I'm not gonna be able to get her out of there. So, if you're still at your party, please come back here. She's gonna break her wrists soon."

It was silent for a bit, but Ava swore she heard a crack of a steering wheel on the other end.

"I'm on my way,” he answered shortly and hung up the phone.

Ava put her phone back in her pocket and looked back over to Natasha. Sand was leaking from the bag as Natasha didn't let up. Ava stood and tentatively walked over to Natasha.

" Sestra," Ava said. "Steve is on his way. Please stop."

Natasha didn't answer, just kept pounding away at it.

"Did it on purpose," Natasha grunted.

"I'm sure he didn't," Ava said. "Even if he did, you're stronger than him and better than him. Just take a rest."

Ava didn't have anything against Tony, she rather admired him. He helped her out in a tough spot a while ago when she joined the Young Avengers, and she was forever thankful to him. But she needed Natasha to stop hurting herself, or there was a chance she could do some serious damage even her serum couldn't fix.

"Can't," Natasha said. "If I stop, I feel."

Ava sighed, knowing that Natasha was retreating back into herself again. All of the progress the Avengers had made with her was slowly undoing itself. All the work Steve had put in was reversing, just because of one photo.

Ava just hoped they would all recover.

Steve was there in record time, probably breaking the speed limit to the max. He nodded at Ava, thanking her with his eyes and dismissing her with the action. Tentatively, he approached his girlfriend, his footsteps soft but audible. "Nat?"

Natasha stopped when she heard his voice. She didn't turn around, just stared at the bag in front of her. Her tears had long since dried, but the blood did keep dripping onto the floor. Her hands hurt, she knew that much. She had numerous broken bones and probably her wrists as well, her hands were taped up so tight they were basically just battering rams. She didn't feel that pain though, she felt the pain of betrayal, of opening herself up to the world and getting slapped back. The news was still blaring overhead, but Natasha knew Steve could hear her.

"He did it on purpose," Natasha said quietly, and then her anger boiled over again.

"HE DID IT ON PURPOSE," Natasha screamed, punching the bag one last time and splitting it open and sending it across the room in the pile with the others.

"Nat," Steve tried again, carefully stepping closer. "Please let me help." Slowly, tentatively, he reached for one of her broken hands.

For the first time since when they met, Natasha flinched away at his touch. This was both a surprise for Natasha that her body reacted this way, and a big warning sign for Steve that she was retreating back into herself. Natasha looked down at her hand, and then it seemed like her mind had no filter on the next words they spoke.

"They were right," Natasha said quietly. "My trainers, Fury, all of them were right. When you trust people, you only get hurt. Even if you're trying to do the right thing, it always comes back on you."

Natasha wheeled and backed up from Steve ever so slightly. Her mouth was open at this point, like she couldn't believe what she just said.

"Steve, I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I didn't mean that. I just, I just, I just.."

Natasha couldn't even finish her sentence. Her brain had just shut down now, at what she had to do next. She backed up to a wall and slunk down it, holding her broken hands out in front of her.

"I'm finally paying for my sins," Natasha said. "I can't be here anymore, knowing that Stark or Potts could walk through that door any second. Maybe it would be best if I just left."

Steve lowered himself down to the gym floor across from her, as he had in the past during times like this. He let her talk it out with herself, but not giving in just yet.

"Whatever you want to do, Natasha, I'll support you." That was the most important thing she needed to hear. Throughout this conversation he needed to be calm and open. "I just want you to really think things through. Was Fury really right? He told me not to trust anyone and it almost ruined my life. It was my decision to trust Terra, to trust Sam, to trust you... that got me through the whole Hydra thing. Trusting you was the reason we saved everyone that day.

"I'm not asking you to trust Tony. Lord knows he hasn't personally given you much reason to. I just don't want to see you closed off again." He sat with one knee propped up and his elbow rested on it, which he turned his head to look at now. He couldn't lose all that progress he'd made with Natasha, not now, not when they were so close to something... something beautiful .

Natasha just sat there for a while, thinking. She had to do something, but she couldn't do it here. Not while she saw the Stark Industries logo on half of the things here. She had to get away.

"I need to go," Natasha said. "I'm going to go stay at Clint's for a while, and I have to do it alone, so you can't come with me."

Natasha took in a deep breath and pushed down any tears that were threatening again.

"I'll keep up on my vitamins and keep up with my checkups," Natasha said. "I'll go to the doctor that Laura went to when she was pregnant with the kids. I'll keep in touch too, but you can't visit. I just need time to think, to be by myself and figure this out."

Natasha stood at this point, and walked over to Steve.

"Tell Wanda I'm sorry I can't continue her training," Natasha said, really expressing the feeling of caring for one of the only other people in this building aside from Steve and Ava. "And I'm so sorry I'm leaving you right now. But at least for now-"

Natasha leaned down and kissed Steve on the lips. She put as much passion into it as she could and made it seem more like a promise that she would return than a farewell kiss, but she wasn't sure herself. She pulled away after about half a minute and looked into his eyes and finished her statement.

"I gotta go my own way."

Natasha walked out of the gym at that point, still fighting back tears and leaving the love of her life sitting there by himself, not knowing if she would ever come back, and what Natasha was ashamed to admit, she didn't know either.

Natasha went to her and Steve’s room and cleared out what was hers and a lot of things, leaving the room half bare. She could barely stand to see it like this, new tears forming in her eyes. She packed quickly, so she wouldn’t have to see Steve again, and was headed out of the room when she took off the silver watch that Steve had got her and left it on her bedside table.

January 1st, 2014
Barton Family Farm
Iowa

Natasha landed the jet in the field just outside the house, knowing she would move it tomorrow, but not wanting to worry about it now. She grabbed her stuff and walked up to the front door, giving it a knock.

It took a couple of minutes, but Clint finally opened the door, a pistol in his hand as it was super early on land that no one was supposed to know about.

"Jesus Nat," Clint said, taking in her appearance. "What the hell happened?"

"Can I stay here for a bit," Natasha asked in a quiet voice.

Clint could hear the desperation in her voice and knew she was in a dark place. He'd known her for almost forever, and could see when she was as vulnerable as she was right now, something he hadn't seen in some time. Something horrible must have happened.

"Yeah," Clint said, ushering her inside. "Let's get your hands fixed up and you can tell me what's going on."

Clint led her to the table and sat her down. Laura had come down at that point and made her tea while Clint bandaged up her hands, and she told them all about what happened. Laura was seething at what took place and was almost ready to fly to New York and take on Iron Man herself, but Clint talked her down, even though Natasha could see how upset he was as well. Natasha also told them about Steve and their conversation ended in the early morning with one final question.

"Are you ever going back?" Clint asked.

"I don't know," Natasha answered honestly, reaching under her shirt and pulling out the dog tags she always wore and looking at them and the name that was printed on them.

Chapter Text

March 15th, 2014
Barton Farm, Iowa

Natasha sat next to her horse as she watched the sun rise on the fields that were a part of the Barton farm. There wasn’t any snow on the ground that had passed in the few months she’d been there, but the morning still had a chilly sting to them, evident by her being able to see her breath in the air as well as her horse’s.

She had on her simple farm wear, some comfy jeans with tough leather boots she kept here, a long sleeve shirt with a flannel over it, and a cowboy hat that Clint got for her as a joke during the party she had with his family when she was finally granted her citizenship. He claimed it was to officially welcome her as an American, and you didn’t get much more American than one of these hats.

It was primarily a gag gift, but Natasha could tell that it was well made and expensive, and she wore it a lot when she was here. The brown felt material kept her warm in the winter, but cool enough in the summer and kept the sun off her neck. It was well formed to her head and Lila even insisted that Natasha write her name on the inside, which Lila of course assisted.

Sitting next to her was a simple headstone, white marble, and with a simple inscription.

Lyle Ross Barton
Sgt. US Navy
Vietnam
Born February 25th, 1935
Died May 16th, 2006

Lyle was Clint’s grandfather, and the original owner of the farm. Natasha had actually met Lyle while he was still alive and living on the farm. When she lived with the Bartons after her defection for that time period, she spent a lot of time talking with Lyle. They both fought, him in Vietnam and her in various other conflicts, so they understood each other on a different level.

She was heartbroken when she heard he passed away and was of course present at the funeral to say her goodbyes. He wanted to be buried on his land, and that was one of his only requests, and she admired that about him.

She came here often to talk to him when she was feeling troubled, or just be in his company and watch the land. It was calming for her, peaceful almost.

“Pretty sure that the doctor wouldn’t approve of you being on a horse,” Clint’s voice came from behind her as she looked back.

Clint rode up on his horse as well, same type of gear on and she smiled and looked down at her stomach. She was nearing the end of her first trimester at this point, and due to her size, had already been showing for about a month. Nancy Halgren, or Doctor Halgren, had been administering her checkups since she had been in Iowa, as that’s the doctor the Barton’s used for all of their kids and she was good at keeping secrets.

“Well what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Natasha said, in a relaxed and cheeky tone.

“No, but if she finds out she might hurt me,” Clint said, stopping next to Natasha and climbing down off his horse.

Dr. Halgren had warned her about slowing down and not taking chances. Due to her high pregnancy risk, with her past and current body system, any little thing could cause a miscarry. Getting bucked off a horse and landing hard would definitely be one of those things. Natasha had confidence in herself though, but took everything she said to heart. If she wasn’t 100% sure she was safe on the back of her horse, then she wouldn’t be out here.

“One more head thumping for you wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” Natasha said again and Clint just chuckled.

“It’s pretty early Nat,” Clint said. “Nightmare? Or something else?”

Natasha sighed and got her phone out, opening it to her texts and pulling up the one from Pepper and handing it over. Clint took the phone, taking off one of his gloves he had on and scrolled to read it.

“Natasha,” Clint said, reading aloud. “We would like to invite you to a Saint Patrick’s Day celebration we are having at the Avengers Compound. All of the Avengers are coming by and we would really love for you to come. You don’t need to respond, just know we would love to see you there. Pepper.”

Clint nodded and looked up, back at Natasha.

“No apology in there,” Clint said. 

“My phone got blasted for the few days I shut it off after coming here,” Natasha said. “After I messaged Steve and said I arrived safe I turned it off for about a week. When I opened it up, I had about a hundred unread texts and about thirty missed calls. My guess is that they’ll want to do it in person.”

Clint nodded and handed her back her phone.

“Well,” he asked. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know Clint,” Natasha said. “I want to go back to Steve so badly. I miss him so much and I want him there for everything going forward. I’ve barely slept without him. But to face everyone, especially Tony and Pepper? I don’t know.”

“I think we both know that it wasn’t on purpose Nat,” Clint said, reminding her of the news story that broke a few days after she arrived.

It was a complicated one, but the gist of the story was that Tony had taken a suit to a strip club and gotten wasted there. The media was claiming everything from alcohol, to cocaine, and even infidelity. Natasha didn’t know if anything about it was true, but it did take the heat off of her quite a bit. Natasha didn’t get along with Tony well at all, it was easy enough to see that, so he would never risk what he had with Pepper for her, would he?

But after seeing the story, it seemed all the more likely that Tony threw himself in front of the media to try and help out her family, only to find that she had still left that night. Another thing that only made her guilt for leaving higher.

“It’s just hard to take everything in Clint,” Natasha said.

“Didn’t say it was going to be easy Nat,” Clint said. “But you can’t keep running like this, we both know that.”

She did know that, and he was right. She wasn’t a little girl, she had to face her world, and her world was an Avenger that was constantly under scrutiny. She knew her past, and Steve and all the other Avengers knew her past. 

“Will you come with me?” Natasha asked, looking over at Clint.

“To the party?” Clint asked. “Yeah, of course I’ll come with you. But we need to go early and you need to talk with Steve one on one before anything. It’s one thing if you decide to not go back to the Avengers, but that kid you’re carrying. It’s his as much as it is yours, and you need to make it right with him.”

Natasha nodded and looked over the land once more, taking in the morning.

“How’s your search going on your other case?” Clint said. “Do you have any leads on Yelena?”

“None,” Natasha said, thoughts moving to her younger sister. “I haven’t been able to search for extended periods of time in Europe or Asia since DC. I lost a lot of leads when my web got burned. I thought I had her when I took down that ring before New York happened and an outside shot in Mexico City, but nothing.”

Natasha remembered one of her final missions for the Red Room decently fondly. In 1995 she was sent with three other Red Room operatives to infiltrate a weapons facility in Ohio that was run by Shield. Even with her increased age over everyone there, she still looked young enough to be in high school. So, that’s what she did. She went to the local high school there and started to get information through the children of the scientists on site, specifically the boys where she would seduce them and steal information from their house. 

Her “father” was the Red Guardian, Alexei Shostakov. It pained her the first time he heard his name, as it was the same as her first husband that the Red Room took from her on their first attempt at the Red Guardian before he went mad and they had to kill them. She didn’t know if it was more torture to pick another person with the same name or pure coincidence, but it worked this time. Her mother was a Widow that didn’t get the serum, rather more of a scientist type named Melina Vostokoff. They also brought in a young girl of three named Yelena Belova. The first couple months were spent on eggshells around each other, but Yelena wormed her way into Natasha’s heart and she eventually began to see Melina and Alexei as parental figures. She got to almost have a normal life, playing with her sister, having parents, and being a normal family.

Until the mission was over and they were ripped apart. Natasha tried to fight, but she was sedated and went through the same shock therapy that they put the Winter Soldier through to wipe her recent memories.

The brain had a funny way of healing though, and when she finally broke free after the Yinsen mission, she spent all the time she could trying to find Yelena. She thought she had her in Budapest, but it turned out to just be Dreykov. She put him down quickly, hoping that Yelena would resurface after that was done, but it was to no avail.

“She’ll turn up soon,” Clint said. “You’ll be able to look for her a bit more after this baby comes out of you. Maybe you’ll let Steve help a bit more.”

Natasha sighed, her eyes lingering on the horizon as the morning light bathed the landscape in a warm glow. "Yeah, maybe," she said softly. "Steve's good at finding people. Maybe he can do what I couldn't."

Clint placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You've done everything you could, Nat. No one can say you haven't tried. And remember, you’re not alone in this."

"I know," Natasha replied, her voice tinged with frustration and determination. "It's just... I promised her. I promised I'd always be there for her, and I haven't been."

"You will be," Clint assured her. "You just need to keep moving forward. One step at a time."

Natasha gave him a small, appreciative smile. "Thanks, Clint. I needed to hear that."

Clint nodded, his expression serious. "We're a team, Nat. Always have been, always will be. Now, let’s get through this party, talk to Steve, and then you can focus on finding Yelena again. You've got a lot of people ready to back you up."

Natasha just nodded and gave a small smile at Clint.

“I’ll meet you back at the house,” Natasha said. “I’d like some time alone.”

Clint knew what she meant, and knew she liked to talk to his Dad at times to help her work through things. He probably interrupted herself working her way up to speaking to him, as Natasha liked to sit for a bit and process things before she began talking. He nodded and climbed up on the horse.

“Laura is making cinnamon rolls,” Clint said. “You know if you don’t get there in time that the kids will eat them all. I’ll try to save you some, but I am only one man.”

Natasha smiled as Clint rode off to give her the space she requested. Natasha took a deep breath and looked over to the headstone once more.

"Hey, Lyle," Natasha began softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's been a while since we talked. I remember how you used to give me those stern lectures about taking care of myself, about finding balance. I could really use some of that wisdom now."

She glanced down at her swollen belly, her hand resting protectively over it. "I'm pregnant, and it's Steve's. It's... complicated. Being away from him, not knowing how he feels about all of this. I keep thinking about what Clint said, that I need to talk to Steve, make things right. But it's so hard. I'm scared of what he'll say, of what he'll think."

The wind rustled the leaves of the nearby trees, providing a gentle, soothing sound. Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, letting it calm her. "And then there's Tony. He exposed my pregnancy to the world. I thought we had been making progress over the sins I committed in the past, but then this happens, and it just feels like the worst betrayal that I’d ever had. I’ve spent my life in the shadows, and suddenly, everything is out in the open. It’s overwhelming."

She looked up at the sky, the colors warming as the sun rose higher in the sky. "I don’t know what to think about Tony. Part of me is angry, so angry. But another part of me is doubtful. The things he did after and the pressure it put on everyone, the most himself. It seemed to be remorseful, like he was trying to take the pressure off Steve and I, and it did. Plus I’ve studied the picture and if he was trying to expose us, that picture wouldn’t have been what I’d used. It wasn’t very focused, the writing was barely legible. It could have been just an accident, or it could have been on purpose. I just...I don't know if I can forgive him for this."

Natasha sighed, her shoulders slumping. "And the stress of this pregnancy...it's more than I ever imagined. The physical part is one thing, but the emotional part...it's like I'm constantly at war with myself. I want to be strong for this baby, but I feel so vulnerable."

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she brushed it away quickly. "I wish you were here, Lyle. I wish you could give me some kind of sign, some kind of advice. But I guess that's not how it works."

She sat in silence for a few moments, the morning lighting up the sky, wrapping her in a cocoon of quiet reflection. The farm was a sanctuary, but even here, the burdens she carried felt heavy.

Finally, Natasha stood up slowly, placing a gentle kiss on her fingertips and then pressing them against the headstone. "Thanks for listening. I'll try to keep Clint's advice in mind, and maybe one day, I'll find a way to forgive Tony. I just need to keep moving forward, one step at a time."

Chapter Text

March 17th, 2014
Avengers Compound

Natasha landed the jet on the pad and took a deep breath. She had been away for two months, and she had finally gotten everything together, or at least as much as she could manage. She was now showing a bit, making the shirts she usually wore decently tight around the stomach. She knew she'd have to start buying some pregnancy clothes soon, but she wasn't worried about it for now.

As for her relationship with Steve, she wasn’t sure where she stood. She hoped she hadn't damaged anything permanent, and she hoped that the late Christmas gift she got him would make up for it. She had a rough time sleeping without Steve beside her, and she hoped that she would accept him back into his room.

She lowered the ramp and in came the brisk late winter weather that upstate New York had. It was blanketed in snow, and Natasha put on her stocking cap that hid her growing red hair, and tightened the scarf around her neck. She slung the duffle bag with her personal belongings over her shoulder and headed out, knowing that some assistants would be able to grab her other bags. She walked through the snow and headed through the front doors, thinking about what had transpired shortly after she left.

She entered the Compound and found it pretty silent. It was during what most people had a holiday vacation, so she figured it was normal. She headed down the residency hallways and stood in front of the door that had the silver shield on it, signifying it was Steve's room. Natasha took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping that Steve was in his room.

“Come in,” was called out from inside the room. Steve was probably getting ready and assumed that it was another team member, perhaps Terra or Wanda to help set-up, as Natasha was an hour early.

Hearing his voice for the first time in person was enough to make Natasha want to burst in and jump him right there. But she didn't know what space he wanted or not, if he hated her or not. So, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was how empty the apartment felt. She didn't realize with all of her stuff there how much of a home it was, and with her half of the stuff gone, how lonely it must have been. Guilt washed over her for the things she put Steve through these past two months and she made a mental note to add that to her apology. She looked over and finally saw Steve. He was getting ready for the party tonight, and he looked so handsome in his suit. Natasha was a mess, black boots with snow residue left on them, blue jeans, a tan coat, and black stocking cap. Her hair was barely combed and she didn't have any makeup on, and there were small flecks of white from the little snow that was falling when she walked in.

Natasha searched for words, and settled on the one greeting she would come back to time and time again.

"Hey Soldier."

He turned and Natasha saw the shock and excitement in his eyes, and Natasha could tell that there wasn’t any doubt that he still felt strongly for her. He rushed forward to wrap his arms around her and envelop her - and their child - in a warm hug, one hand cradling the back of her head as if it were the most precious thing in the whole world.

"I've missed you so much,” he breathed, holding her tight.

Natasha smiled and let out a happy laugh at being held by him again. It seemed like she hadn't damaged anything too far. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her even tighter into his embrace. She could smell his cologne, and it brought back such great memories. His scent was one of the things she truly missed as well, and having it back made it almost feel like home again. She looked down to the left and saw her little silver watch, converted into a pocket watch of sorts for him to wear around. It seems like he figured out the meaning in it, even if she didn't know what it was to begin with either.

"I missed you too," Natasha said, some tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry I left. I should have taken you with me. Seeing how empty this place looks makes me feel awful for how I left things here."

He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes, close enough to know that his happy smile and shiny eyes were on full display. 

"I would have come with you," he said, leaning his forehead against hers, just taking it all in. "If you'd asked, I'd have come with you. Both of you." He tentatively reached out, and placed his hand on her stomach, light as a feather. His voice sounded a little more hoarse when he next spoke. "How are they? Is everything okay? Smooth sailing?"

Natasha smiled a huge smile then, presenting her gift to him then. She reached in her bag and pulled out a box, opening it to show Steve.

"He," Natasha said, placing emphasis on the pronoun. "Is doing absolutely great."

Inside the box was a custom Patek Philippe Supercomplication watch. It retailed at 24 million, but Natasha knew that the most important part of the watch was the custom part. There was a picture of the most recent sonogram with a clear view of their child in it, and written over the top were the words, James Francis Rogers. Natasha had figured this would be the perfect name for their little boy, and she was so excited to present the news to the father in person to see his reaction. 

In her latest check up before coming back to New York, she had the doctor do a blood test to find out the baby’s gender. Normally it was a bit too soon, but the effects of two super soldier serums in a baby’s veins evidently pushed forward the growth process a bit. Her doctor had predicted she would probably give birth in 8 months time rather than the usual 9, something Natasha needed to inform Steve of as well.

" He ," Steve repeated reverently, a single tear rolling down his cheek. He took the box as gently as if the watch itself were his son. "We're having a son. James Francis Rogers." Gently, oh so gently, he removed the watch from its packaging. He was transfixed by the photo and the inscription. The box disappeared into the void. He wasn't really paying attention and he didn't really care.

"He's beautiful," Steve whispered. "Best. Present. Ever." And he kissed her.

Natasha returned the kiss with a smile and chuckled a bit.

"Well I can't take all the credit," Natasha said, breaking apart for a bit and setting her bag down and shedding some of her winter wear. "You did half of it."

Natasha shed her hat, letting her hair down and shaking it out a bit, and taking off her coat. You could see a small bump that was starting to form under her shirt, nothing huge yet, but definitely a presence. She made her way into the kitchen and started making some tea, something Laura said would be good for her during the pregnancy.

"So," Natasha said, peeking her head back out to check on Steve. "How is the team?"

Steve shook himself out of his stupor. "Uh, fine. Well, yeah, fine I suppose." He followed her to the kitchen and sat down at the small table there. He fiddled with the watch on his wrist while he updated her. "Wanda's been doing really great. She's continued with the training you guys were doing and she's been pushing herself really hard. I've seen a lot of improvement in our team exercises.”

"Terra has been amazing. I... haven't been myself lately and she's picked up the slack. I need to apologize to her about that later." He held out his arm to admire his gift. It was a very fancy watch, fancier than his usual style but Natasha knew he would still wear it constantly.

"Sam's flying skills are fantastic. He gets better and better every day. Rhodey...Sorry, I mean... things have been... tense." He ran a thumb over his wristband absentmindedly. "I'm sure you heard about what happened with Tony. I'll let him explain everything. He sort of... left the team. Not officially. We haven't had any big missions since you've been gone, just training and some minor crime-fighting here and there. No public appearances. Pepper's orders. We're taking a break from the media right now.”

"Tony moved out. He's been staying with Rhodey so I think he's been doing okay. I haven't spoken to him in a while, just been getting updates from Rhodes occasionally. Tony and Pepper separated. Last I heard, they still weren't speaking to each other.

"The others are doing pretty great. Terra is thriving as a co-leader. I couldn't be more proud of her. I was worried about Wanda for a bit but I think she found a good friend in Terra, someone to confide in who's not her brother. Pietro is pretty much the same. He kind of worries me too. Kid needs to get out more. Vision is... Vision. Calm and orderly as usual. He hasn't changed much either. Still eternally curious, still peaceful. And Sam is our rock but he's doing great. We're still working on trying to find Bucky but... no luck so far. Not even a clue."

Natasha just nodded along, taking in all the details and ignoring the feelings that came up when Stark's name was mentioned. If she was gonna be back here, she needed to make sure that she got over seeing and hearing the name at least. And if she was completely honest with herself, having Stark not working with the Avengers was okay in her book for now. Just till things settled down.

"I'll need to apologize to Terra too," Natasha said, getting her cup of tea and taking some of her vitamins out of her pocket and downing them before going to sit by Steve. "I promised her that I would never hurt you and I went back on that."

Natasha stirred the liquid in her glass for a bit before looking back up.

"I'm glad Wanda is doing well with her training," Natasha said. "I'll get an update on her and we can continue it on. Doctor said that since I'm showing now I'm barred from any missions and any serious workouts. So yoga and dancing for me until James is born. So, I'll run command when you guys go on mission and make sure that Wanda is ready to go. I'm glad everyone else is doing good too, hopefully some of this tension will go away now that I'm back."

Natasha took a drink and then went to address the big topic.

"I heard about Stark," Natasha said. "I heard the rumors about him and Pepper splitting, but I didn't look to confirm it. I don't know what he was playing at, but it makes my head hurt when I think too long about it, so I'm just not gonna talk about it and don't really want to have the conversation. It's in the past now and that is the best place for it. I want to focus on the here and now. About making sure the team flows together and is happy. Living lives outside of the Avengers is important. And there's so much to do for the baby, it will give me plenty to work on while you're doing the Avenging stuff I can't do."

Natasha smiled and leaned back in her chair, feeling comfortable for the first time in a long time.

"As for Barnes," Natasha said. "I mean this in the nicest way Steve, and I know it's hard, I really do. But the only way you're going to find him is if he wants to find you. You saw how I basically disappeared and was off the grid and you knew where I was and I contacted you a couple times. If I wanted to be in the wind, which I absolutely don't, just so were clear, but if I wanted to, you would never hear from me again. Barnes taught me how to do that, so he's better than me at most of this stuff."

Steve reached across the table and took one of her hands in both of his. "Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate that a lot. And I just wanted to say that I am so proud of you, Nat. Life might knock you down but you always get back up and you come up swinging. The past..." He struggled for a moment, realizing how applicable his words were not only to Natasha but to himself. "The past is in the past. All we can do now is our best."

Another huge weight was lifted off of her chest at that moment. It was a perfect moment and she wanted nothing that could possibly ruin it. She was about to respond when the smell of something hit her. She wasn't sure what, but it triggered her nausea. She bolted up and headed right for the bathroom. She got to the toilet just in time and lurched into it, emptying the contents of her stomach.

Her nausea was not relegated to just the morning unfortunately. Any time something mildly unpleasant hit her, she threw up. Laura said it was that way for her with Lila, and Natasha hated this altogether. She sat over the toilet, breathing hard and trying to catch her breath.

"You better get to your party," Natasha said, knowing Steve was probably right behind her. "Gotta have someone represent the Rogers family."

Steve knelt behind her in the bathroom and rubbed her back comfortingly. "Are you kidding? There's nowhere else I would rather be than right here." 

Natasha knew that he had missed a solid couple months of her pregnancy, but he didn’t figure that he would miss this part, but she knew that he probably wanted to take it all in.

"You've got to at least say hi," Natasha said, flushing the toilet now that the small nausea spell passed. "I'm not sure of this whole party thing anyway."

She knew she probably needed to go and at least apologize to Terra and say hi to Wanda. But the chance of seeing Tony there made her not trust herself. What if she couldn't control anything and look worse than Hulk did when he was really pissed off. One of the new pistols Clint got her for her birthday a couple weeks ago suddenly felt very heavy in her holster on her hip.

"I don't know if I trust myself to go without saying or doing something I regret," Natasha admitted.

"Nat, I live here," he reminded teasingly. "I don't think I need to say hi to the people I saw this morning." He settled himself more comfortably on the floor, leaning his back against the wall and resting the bottoms of his feet against the opposite wall. His legs were so long that he had to bend them to do so.

"And if you don’t want to, we don't have to go. I will say, though, that if you do choose to go I think it will go better than you think. Plus, if you really don't trust yourself, you can give your gun to me for safekeeping. At least until the party's over." 

Natasha sighed, knowing that Steve had a very good point. she needed to at least make an appearance to show that she was back and not completely destroyed.

"You know it gets kinda annoying when you're right all the time," Natasha said, getting up and grabbing his hand, leading him into his, no their, room.

She put him on the bed and started to change, knowing he would want to see her body for a couple of different reasons. Her bags had gotten into their room somehow, and she didn't question it, knowing she had to change. She stripped off her shirt and took off her pants, tossing them into the laundry and looking around in her bags. She settled on a green, long sleeved shirt that kept the cleavage to a minimum, but was tight enough to show off her baby bump. As for the pants, she picked a pair of maternity pants that Laura had lent her.

She started to change as she brought up this topic.

"So, when are you gonna tell the team that we're having a boy and his name?" she asked. "Last time I shared news about James it went horribly wrong."

"Uh." Steve said as he blinked himself out of what he'd been picturing, causing Natasha to smile. "As soon as possible, ideally. I'm bursting to tell everyone. Heck, I'd love to shout it from the roof but I'll wait to see at least how this goes with you and Tony. If it doesn't go well I might save it for another night but hey, call me an optimist; I think tonight's going to go well."

"Even if it goes bad with Tony, you should be okay to tell Terra and Sam," Natasha shrugged, finally getting on her clothes and brushing her hair a bit. "Clint already knows and Wanda will be able to tell when we walk in the room. Everyone else can wait if you're worried about it."

Natasha put the finishing touches on. She made sure that Steve's dog tags were on and visible and also the arrow necklace she got from Clint. She also strapped a holster to her thigh and put one of the pistols Clint got for her in there. They had little hourglasses on them and were very specially made. Natasha decided to carry for a couple different reasons. One, because it had become like second nature to her anyway, but two: she had something to protect now. She needed to make sure that if anything or anyone came after her, that she protected this child. Steve would understand, knowing who she was and what her motivations were.

"Come on Soldier," Natasha said, heading out with him. "Let's get this over with."

All Natasha wanted to do was stay here with Steve and just be. Maybe do some other things to him that would show him how much she missed him. But, this was a necessary evil. Come and say hi, mingle for a bit, and then retreat back to her home and man.

The walk was short and Steve and Natasha filled it with some small talk about the farm and Clint and his family. The conversation was easy and natural, like they slipped back into their normal routine and the last two months never happened.

When they opened the doors to the main room, Natasha quickly took it all in. Clint and Bruce were playing darts in the corner, Wanda and Pietro were mingling. And Terra, Sam, Tony, and Pepper were all talking together. It seemed like it was a full house.

As soon as Natasha entered the room, she felt like all eyes were on her. But she could only keep her eyes on one person, and that was Tony. So many emotions were running through her body right now; anger, fear, regret, sorrow, that she didn't know what expression was even on her face. On the outside, she just looked like a mix of betrayal, rage, and sorrow, with her eyes trained on Tony and her gaze unbreaking.

Terra had been speaking but cut her sentence short when Natasha and Steve entered. Pepper and Sam both drew in a breath nervously, while Tony seemed paralyzed in his spot.

" Oh my gosh, you're here! " Terra blurted out, walking over and gently taking Natasha's hand to give it a warm squeeze. "We've missed you-aaaand ohmygod you're showing!" She said in awe, as people do when they see pregnant ladies. "Holy shit, Natasha, that's so exciting, I can't believe it has been that long, did you just get here?"

Terra seemed to have broken her out of the stupor for a couple of seconds as she actually managed to look away from Tony. As the former agent gushed a bit about her appearance, Natasha actually cracked a smile, forgetting about Tony a bit, well at least in the front of her mind, and thinking about the baby now.

"I've missed all of you guys too," Natasha said, then looking down at her stomach. "Yeah I'm showing. I'm not an overall big person, so the doctor said it wouldn't take long. And I've been here for about an hour getting settled back in and talking to Steve."

Steve was right by her side, just as she needed him to be, and put an arm around her waist.

"He's a boy," Steve announced, just entirely unable to contain himself. Natasha knew the original plan was to wait, but Steve seemed to tell as well as she did that tension needed to be broken, and an announcement like this would certainly do that.

The others, especially Terra, lit up with excitement. She was about to say something when Tony managed to walk forward and speak up first.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Tony said. "I am so genuinely happy for you, both of you. And I want you to know that I am so sorry for what happened. I swear to you on my life that it was all an accident. I would never, never do that to you or to Steve. I tried to fix it, tried to make things better but I- I just made things worse and in the end it didn't help much so I'm sorry for that too. That's on me." He deflated, his shoulders drooping. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I just wanted you to know that." He reached out and grabbed Pepper's hand, looking to steady himself.

Pepper squeezed his hand back when he finished, and continued on, taking the window that was offered to her. "All Tony did was try to fix my mistake," she said, offering Tony a small smile before looking at Natasha. "I truly am so sorry for being so negligent, Natasha. I'm sorry that it caused so much hurt for you. I should've known better to check the photo thoroughly before posting it," she said with remorse. Her shoulders sagged the more she spoke, the weight of it all lifting a smudge. "I slipped when it mattered most and I've never regretted anything more."

Sam took the opportunity to step forward, clearing his throat. "And, uh, just to hop on this apology train, I would like to offer mine as well," he said. "Natasha, the last thing I ever wanted to do, was cause pain for you and Steve, but I did. I forgot for a night that we were high profile people and not just normal friends, just drinking and hanging out, and well... I'm sorry for it all. Taking that picture was a dumb, costly mistake and I've never stopped thinking about it since," he shook his head at himself. 

Confusion was the only look that could describe Natasha's face. She got a very sincere apology from Tony, which seemed very genuine and she was very adept at reading people. From what she always gathered about Stark, is that she could tell when he was lying, and this was not one of those times. Then Pepper came up and apologized for actually posting the picture. Tony didn't even post it? The guilt started rising in her throat as Sam began his apology about taking the picture. All this time, she blamed Tony for personally sabotaging her, and now she was finding out that Stark didn't even look at the damn thing when it was posted, it just happened to be on his account.

Natasha, for the first time in a long time, didn't know how to deal with this information. She looked at the trio and came up with the only thing she could.

"I'm sorry that you thought dragging your name through the mud would fix this," Natasha said, directing her first apology at Tony. "It must've caused a lot of pain for you."

Natasha then turned to Terra, knowing she had to apologize there as well.

"And Terra," Natasha began. "I'm sorry about going back on my word. I promised I would never hurt Steve and I caused him a lot of pain. I hope you can forgive me."

Natasha just walked over to sit next to Clint at that point, brushing by everyone else. The words "I forgive you" never crossed her mind, but everyone could see how she was struggling to deal with all of this new information. She left Steve for two months, for something that she was completely wrong about. Disgust at herself was in the forefront of her mind as she sat down next to where Clint was standing. She just leaned forward and put her head in her hands, covering her face. Clint came over and rubbed her back soothingly.

"You did great," Clint whispered.

Natasha just nodded but didn't really move, trying not to cry at what she did.

Damn hormones.

Steve followed Natasha over to Clint almost like a bodyguard, the only difference being that he had open concern on his face. He sat down on the couch next to Natasha, there for her if she needed him without being overbearing.

"You handled that very well," he agreed.

Bruce and Wanda were still lingering nearby, unsure what to do. Steve shot them a look and they scattered immediately, leaving the three of them with the barest amount of privacy.

"I'm sorry Steve," Natasha said, shaking her head. "I left you for two months, and I was wrong about everything."

She looked up and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She looked over at Steve and tried to put a smile on her face, succeeding a bit.

"I am going to make that up to you all night," Natasha said, actually getting her trademark smirk.

"You were hurt," Steve defended. "I understand. And I forgive you. Just, you know... take that into account next time." He shot a smirk right back at her just as Clint turned his back.

"And now I'm grossed out," Clint said, getting up and smiling. "I'm getting another round, and for you missy, your wheatgrass smoothie because I know you haven't had it today."

Natasha just leaned back, relaxing in this corner away from the other people and trying to enjoy a bit of the party. As Clint headed to the drink station to mix the shake, Natasha looked around for Wanda, but saw that she had crossed the room.

"Maximoff," Natasha called out. "Get over here, we've got things to discuss."

Upon being called, Wanda looked up. She glanced at Pietro before deciding that Natasha didn't mean him. "Sorry, I'll be right back," she said to Vision before rejoining Natasha and Steve. She plopped herself down on the ottoman across from them and crossed her legs.

"It's so good to see you, Natasha. Maybe now the Captain will get off my case." She smiled to let Steve know that she was teasing.

Steve rubbed his neck a little bashfully. "I may have been a little harder on you than strictly necessary," he admitted.

"And I am more improved for it," Wanda declared proudly, sitting up straight. She wanted Natasha to know that she hadn't been slacking off in her absence. Quite the opposite, actually.

"Well you better not have been slacking off," Natasha chided lightly, with a smile on her face. "And if Steve took it easy on you, then there would be some serious trouble."

Natasha leaned on Steve a bit then, knowing she appreciated his forgiveness. She also kicked her feet up on a footrest to take the pressure off of them.

"And we'll need to ramp it up now," Natasha said, in regards to her training. "Really make sure you can control and hone the power and start using it."

Clint returned with a very disgusting looking drink and handed it to Natasha.

"Bottoms up," Clint said, smirking at the things she had to drink to make sure her reproductive system stayed as clean as possible.

"God," Natasha said, taking a drink of the vile liquid.

Wanda groaned and threw back her head. "Not more drills."

Steve chuckled, wrapping one arm around Natasha casually. The amused twinkle in his eye only twinkled the brighter when he caught a glimpse of the smoothie. "Well, that looks delicious."

Wanda brought her head back up and wrinkled her nose at the green liquid. "What is that?"

"That is a wheatgrass smoothie," Clint said with a smile at Natasha's distaste. "Complete with Wheatgrass, spinach, kale, carrots, and avocado. Complete with a healthy dose of chlorophyll and other nutrients to help internal wound healing, stabilizes blood sugar, cleanses the blood and liver, and keeps a healthy heart. When the momma drinks that, the baby gets it too."

"And it's amazing how something supposedly so healthy makes you want to die," Natasha said, taking another swig before offering a drink to Steve. "Want to try it?"

Clint sat down next to Wanda, grabbing one of the darts and casually tossing it across the room, landing it squarely on the bullseye. Curiously, Steve took the cup and had a sip. He paused contemplatively for a couple of seconds afterwards and handed it back. Wanda leaned forward eagerly.

"Not bad," Steve concluded. "Could use some maple syrup or honey or something but I'm guessing that's a no go for the baby?"

"I suppose Clint would know. He's been around this a few times." Wanda nudged Clint gently with her shoulder. "How are the kids? Did they have a good Christmas?"

"I'm trying to watch my sugar intake," Natasha said, taking the glass back and looking disgustedly at it. "Just to be sure. I want this pregnancy to go as smoothly as possible, especially with my reproductive system. So, only this healthy shit for me."

Natasha took a deep breath and downed the rest of the glass. She shook her head as it went down, hating every second.

"Damn I love this kid," Natasha said, knowing that if she wasn't invested in this, she would never put that stuff in her body.

On the other side, Clint leaned back and nodded.

"Really good," Clint said. "They love having Christmas with their Auntie Nat, mostly because they get to celebrate her birthday at the same time. Nat gets away with doing Christmas and her birthday at the same time because she doesn't know what day she was born in December. Nathaniel is doing great, sleeping through the night now and Laura is super thankful for it."

"I'm so glad to hear that," she said. "And I didn't know it was your birthday, Natasha! Happy birthday! If I had known I would have gotten you a present."

“We don't need to make a big deal about it," Natasha said. "83rd birthdays aren't that special anyways."

"You always say that," Clint said. "Yet I always try to get a cake with that many candles on it."

"I'm sure that Stark would appreciate you not burning down this place before it makes it one year," Natasha said with a smirk as Clint's phone buzzed.

Clint looked and smiled at the picture that Laura sent him. It was Nathaniel in a onesie, reading " Nathaniel Edward Barton". The caption read ' Hope all is going well''. Clint fired off a response that things were indeed going well and then showed the picture to the group.

Natasha smiled at the picture, loving her godson, but not being able to resist her comment.

"Fat," she said while smiling.

Wanda "awww"-ed at the photo.

"Hey, our baby will probably be fat too," Steve pointed out, in high spirits. "Maybe ours will be cuter too."

"Our baby has two separate super soldier serums running through his body," Natasha said. "No chance there."

Wanda snickered. "So what will you call him?"

Steve glanced at Natasha as if to check with her that it was okay to answer. "James. James Francis Rogers."

Clint smiled when he heard the name, raising his glass to the two.

"I'm honored," Clint said. "Thank you."

"And Clint," Natasha said. "I'm hoping you'll be the godfather, Laura can help too. But as for the godmother, and I don't know if Steve is on board with this, but Wanda, would you be James' godmother?"

Clint smiled and looked over at Wanda, knowing that Natasha just proved how much she cared for and trusted the girl, hopefully cementing how safe Wanda was in the Avengers.

"I'll only do it if Cap would accept being Nathaniel's godfather," Clint said.

Steve and Wanda blinked in mutual surprise but Wanda spoke first, her voice a little higher than normal. "Really?"

"Of course," said Steve. "To both. I mean, I would be honored, Clint. And Wanda, I'm sure you'd be a great godmother. We could all be a big happy family."

Wanda found herself transfixed by Natasha's belly suddenly. Excitement rumbled within her. She tried very hard to blink away any oncoming tears. "Yes, yes, of course. Yes. I- what do I have to do?"

Natasha smiled, knowing that it meant a lot to Wanda. She knew that Steve probably was thinking about Terra for the role, but she couldn't imagine anyone else for her child. She had bonded with Wanda in a way that she never figured she'd get to with Terra. Besides, there would be other things that Terra would be happy to do.

"Help out with the baby," Natasha said, just doing what she did with Clint's kids. "Be a fun Aunt. Take care of James if anything would happen to me or Steve. Overall just be a part of James' life."

"You'll be his favorite Aunt," Clint said, knowing from experience how much his kids loved Natasha. "So, look forward to that."

"Thank you," Natasha whispered to Steve, showing how much she appreciated him letting her pick the godparents.

Steve gave Natasha's shoulders a gentle squeeze to let her know that it was okay.

"It's traditionally a religious thing but I don't expect that from you," Steve assured Wanda. "The most important thing is that you be there for James when we can't be." Steve and Natasha hadn't spoken about religion yet or if James would be baptized or if they would raise their child going to church or not. A conversation for a later time.

Wanda nodded her head very seriously. "I will. You can count on me."

Steve smiled. "We know."

"Would that make Pietro James' uncle?"

"Of sorts," Steve replied.

Wanda continued playing with her new scarf, taking it all in. "I didn't think I'd be an aunt for a long, long time." She glanced over at Pietro. "He likes to think he's a smooth ladies man but the truth is he can catch a girl but he was never very good at keeping her." She turned back to the others and lowered her voice. "But don't tell him I said that."

"I have no doubts you will be the best Godmother of all time," Natasha said with a smile. "And don't worry, I won't tell him you said that."

"But you're going to use it as teasing ammunition," Clint said, knowing Natasha like the back of his hand.

"I never agreed to not using it," Natasha said, with a coy smirk. "All in good fun after all."

"Is that what you did when you made an entire Shield female recruitment class cry after their first training session," Clint said, with his eyebrow raised.

"That was something different," Natasha mumbled, knowing she was caught.

Wanda learned forward at the first mention of juicy gossip. "And what different thing would that be exactly?" She leaned her elbow on her crossed knees and then propped her chin with her hand, listening eagerly.

"I don't think I've heard this story," said Steve.

"It's embarrassing," Natasha said, shrinking in the love seat a little bit.

"If you don't tell them, I will," Clint said with a cocky smile.

If looks could kill, Clint would be dead about fifty times over. Luckily for Clint, he was pretty much immune to Natasha's glares by now. Natasha just sighed and began her tale.

"Fine," she conceded. "It was after the battle of New York and just after that Gala you guys went to. I was getting ready in the locker room before leading a training class and I overheard some of the girls talking, saying some rather interesting things about some of the Avengers. So, I put them through a hell and back workout. You know, the one I suggested but you turned down because you deemed it 'cruel and unusual punishment' rather than a training exercise. I may have added a few things in there and it forced a lot of them into tears. There, end of story."

"What Natasha really meant to say was," Clint said, clearing the air about the details that she left out. "They were talking about how hot you were Rogers and what they wanted to do to you. Natasha took offense to that for an unknown reason at the time, but now I see where she was going with it. It seems like our favorite little spy had a crush all the way back then."

"Not all my fault," Natasha grumbled. "I was there with Coulson while you defrosted, and he went on and on. Hard not to develop a crush on you without even talking to you."

"Anyway," Clint said. "She did that workout and added live gunfire and screamed Russian insults at them for three straight hours. The training room looked like a warzone and 95% of the training class quit after that. There was only one of them left. And guess who it was?"

"13," Natasha grumbled.

"That's right," Clint said. "Sharon Carter, I believe your babysitter at one point."

"Clint please stop," Natasha begged, embarrassed enough for one night.

"But I'm just getting to the best part," Clint said, continuing on. "Fury sat her down and yelled at her for an hour for washing out an entire class. She got desk duty for two weeks and she ended up shooting the printer because it got jammed and cussing out one of the computer techs because they did an update on her computer without her approving it."

Natasha just slid further into the couch, in even more extreme embarrassment.

Steve, seeing Natasha's embarrassment, was trying really hard not to laugh. But he wasn't quite succeeding. Wanda, on the other hand, was chortling into her hand.

"I could just see you," Wanda managed to say between hitches in her laughter, "shooting the printer!" And she doubled over, shaking.

"I'm sure Natasha had a perfectly valid reason for thinking a tiny piece of metal fired at 1,800 miles per hour into the problem would help the situation." Steve was teasing but he rubbed her arm comfortingly at the same time. "And Nat hasn't made Wanda cry yet so I think she's grown."

"Yet!" And Wanda kept laughing.

Clint was almost doubled over at Wanda and Steve's reaction, and not trying to hide it at all.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Natasha said. "Laugh at the pregnant lady."

"Oh those poor interns," Clint said. "Think about coming into your first day of work only to see a woman yelling Russian curses at a printer and then unloading a full clip into it."

"And Barton is done sharing for the night," Natasha said, interrupting him and looking to change the subject. "Anyone else got anything?"

"You must have some dirt on Clint too," Wanda said when she'd calmed down enough. "I'm sure he has plenty of embarrassing stories. I've got plenty about Pietro but it's not as fun when he's not here to be humiliated." She turned her head to check on him and found him playing darts with Pepper. "I'll let him finish his game."

"I’ve got plenty of funny stories," said Steve. "The Commandos were chock-full of shenanigans. And of course Tony gets up to some bizarre this-or-that every once in a while. But I'd like to hear something about Clint too."

"Well there was that one time in Budapest," Natasha said, looking over at Clint.

"Nope," Clint said. "Can't use those, because then I can use the ones on one. We've agreed before that Budapest is off limits."

"Fine, you're right," Natasha said, racking her brain on something to tell. "Well I've got one interesting one about Clint and one very interesting one about Steve. I think we should let Wanda decide on which one she would like to hear."

Clint glanced over at Natasha confused, wondering what she picked. All Natasha did was flash a 22 with her fingers and Clint's stomach dropped.

"Please don't pick mine," Clint said. "You have to want to know dirt on Cap."

"Oh, hmmm..." Wanda tapped her fingers together like a maniacal villain in a cartoon. She was enjoying this immensely . "I did originally want to hear about Barton but something about Cap would be really interesting too... and Clint's desperation has me intrigued. Hmmm..."

Steve glanced at Natasha, eyebrows raised. 

"Cap," Wanda decided. "Since I'm not going to learn about Budapest today I think I'll settle for stories I can tell my godson when he's older." 

"Well see what I enjoy doing is surprising Steve in certain situations," Natasha said, going for the funniest out of all of the ones she had. "So, it was just before the whole Ultron incident, but after our first battle in Sokovia. Steve was showering after his morning run and I had woken up a little earlier."

Natasha smirked at Steve, knowing she was going to leave out a few details but would include all of the fun parts.

"Wait, certain situations?" Clint said, attempting a joke. "So are you saying the righteous Captain America isn't a virgin?"

"Stop being a smart-ass Clint," Natasha said, shaking her head. "Or you're next."

"Shutting up," Clint said, leaning back and taking another drink of the beer.

"Now," Natasha said, getting back to her story. "I went to join Steve in his shower. I thought it would be interesting, we hadn't done anything like that, and most importantly, he wasn't expecting it. So I sneak in, making sure he can't hear me, undress, and get right up to the curtain and say, "Can I join you?". "

Natasha's smile got even wider as she remembered what ensued.

"He was so surprised he slipped and fell, tore the curtain and the rod off as he went down, and knocked the shelf with our shampoo and soap off, spilling most of my expensive stuff down the drain. He was red from head to toe in embarrassment."

Steve let his head fall onto the back of the couch and groaned, turning red as if to add insult to injury. He'd forgotten about that bit. The part that came after was what he remembered most about that morning.

Wanda was giggling. "I never suspected! I just always assumed Natasha got pregnant by magic."

Steve lifted his head back up and sighed. "I need to have a talk with whatever primary school teacher is going around teaching kids this crap about me."

"Oh I didn't learn about you in school," Wanda corrected. "I got the impression simply by reputation."

Steve sighed again. "It was probably that section on my love life at the Smithsonian exhibit. Gave everybody ideas which they quickly spread around on social media."

"So did the falling wreck the moment?" Wanda asked, acknowledging that she was being a bit nosy.

"Nope." Steve popped the 'p' and left it at that.

"You're damn right it didn't," Natasha said with a smirk. "Man, that was a helluva morning."

"Moving on from there," Clint said, standing up and stopping the challenge to who could be embarrassed the most.

"Let's get this party started or something," Clint called out, trying to bring the groups together. "Can we make a cake fast? Or do we have someone that can drop one off? I've got to try and fit 83 candles on it for Nat's birthday."

"Clint please," Natasha groaned, knowing this wouldn't lead anywhere good.

"Oh come on," Clint said. "You only get to celebrate one 83rd birthday and I think we all would like to wish our resident grandmother a happy one and many more to come."

Tony snapped his fingers. "Be right back!" He took off on a jog. The others could only barely hear him as he exited the room. "Friday, get the suit ready."

Wanda blinked. "I think Stark is going to buy a cake dressed as Iron Man."

Steve shrugged. "I bet you it isn't even the first time. I think I know where the candles are. Be right back."

Clint left to go mingle with some of the others while they waited on the cake, and it just left Natasha and Wanda for a few moments.

"I don't really know what to make of this," Natasha admitted to her pupil. "I mean, Stark offered so quickly, that's progress right?"

Natasha just sighed and shook her head.

"All my life, I've been able to read people like a book," Natasha said. "I've known whether they were lying or telling the truth. Whether they were nervous, confident, carrying a weapon, turned on. Every little emotion that you could possibly feel, I would be able to see just from looking at you. And now, it's like I've lost every skill I've ever been taught. Sure I can still read some people, Steve, Bruce, Terra, you. But Stark, Pepper, and Wilson tonight? They caught me so off guard I didn't even know what to do."

Natasha leaned back and looked at Wanda.

"And then there's the cravings that are saying fuck it, cake is on the way," Natasha said, chuckling to herself.

Wanda shifted awkwardly. "I figured I would be the last person to ever say this but..." Here, she looked Natasha right in the eyes. "I think Stark was just being nice. I have spent half my life hating him, wishing nothing but death and destruction on everything he loved and cared about. I hated him so much. I thought it was motivating but in the end it was just exhausting.

"I have gotten to know Stark since joining the team. We're not friends or anything but I may have... poked and prodded around in his head. He has fears just like all of us and his causes him to do crazy things. But what I failed to realize the first time... is that Stark fears for us, all of us. He fears for others, not himself. I have seen Stark be selfish and I have seen him be generous. He is a complicated person but he is not a bad one.

"If you ask me - and I know you aren't but I'm going to say it anyway - I think the two of you can be friends. But he has to trust you first. He doesn't hate you. He never did. But if he doesn't trust you then your relationship with him will always be cold. I think you should apologize." It was a testament to Wanda's relationship with her mentor that she felt comfortable enough to say this. "It's just a suggestion. But you blamed him for what happened and he knew that and that ultimately led to..." She waved her hand vaguely in Pepper's direction. "I'm not saying you have to or that it will fix anything. But I think it would be... a nice gesture."

Steve approached them then and returned to his place next to Natasha and set the candles on the ottoman by Wanda. "What would be a nice gesture?"

"Apologizing to Tony," Natasha said, giving that idea a lot of thought.

Now that her brain was wrapping around all of this, she was starting to think more on the lines of trust to Tony. She didn't know what gave her the idea of that, but the evidence that he jeopardized just about everything to fix what wasn't even his mistake. She realized she probably did owe him an apology, blaming him so severely for something that he didn't do.

"She's right," Natasha said. "I'll pull him aside tonight and apologize. We might not ever be friends, but what he did for us, or at least attempted to do, it's something that I never expected."

Steve nodded sagely. "I'm sure Tony would appreciate that." He placed a hand on Natasha's knee to show his support.

Just as Bruce finished setting all of the finger foods on the table, Iron Man flew in through the automatic double doors carrying a cardboard cube. He gently landed not far from the couches by Terra and Pepper, obviously taking great care not to jostle the cake too much.

The face-plate peeled back. "I have arrived! The party may resume." He set the cake on the table with the other foods then stepped out of his armor. "Sentry mode." The suit closed itself and its eyes lit up, standing guard by the table. Tony plopped a Santa hat leftover from Christmas on the suit's head. "Little late but whatever." He turned back to the table and rubbed his hands eagerly.

"Where did you get this, Tony?" asked Bruce. "It's a holiday."

Tony shrugged. "That's for me to know and you to find out. Now, where are those candles?"

With one final glance at Natasha, Steve stood and held up the bag. "I have them. Clint, do you want to do the honors of placing and lighting over 80 candles?"

"You bet your ass I do," Clint said, getting up and heading over to the cake, opening up the pack of a hundred and starting to place them in a very particular grid.

"You all are endorsing this behavior," Natasha said, shaking her head and chuckling.

She glanced back over to Tony then and tried to read him. She saw what Wanda saw, someone genuinely doing something nice for another person. It wasn't unusual behavior in the world, but unusual for her and Tony to interact that way for sure.

"Hey Tony," Natasha said, standing up. "While the pyrotechnic over here tries to burn the place down, can we talk for a moment in private?"

She gestured down behind a set of closed doors. Coincidentally, it's where she told Steve she was pregnant, but she knew it was out of earshot and the security cameras were disabled there. She may or may not have gotten into the archives of that area and taken the footage, and completely trashed that area afterwards, just to be safe.

“Uh, yeah. Sure." Tony said as he glanced at Pepper with a look of confusion before following Natasha into the hallway. 

"Happy birthday, by the way. Don't think I've said that yet. Do you get senior discounts? Asking for a friend." Okay, so maybe he was a little nervous and stalling just a tad.

Natasha made sure the doors were shut behind them and that no one could overhear. She actually chuckled at his joke, not hearing a lot of the old lady jokes, save Clint, because not a lot of people knew her actual age.

"Thank you," Natasha said, addressing the happy birthday. "And I wish on the senior discount, but things might get interesting if I ask for a senior discount on maternity clothes."

Natasha took a deep breath and looked right at Tony, so he knew this was genuine.

"Tony, I need to apologize to you," Natasha said. "I'm sorry that I blindly blamed you for the whole Halloween fiasco. All those emotions hit me at once and instinct just told me to just blame you. I want to pretend that I'm selfless and say I got so upset because they were talking bad about the baby and Steve, but it was more of a selfish thing. I didn't like what they were saying about me, plain and simple. It's an awful thing for me to just do, and I take full responsibility. I've heard you say many times that I'm a hypocrite, even if you think you have been avoiding my ears, and you're right."

Natasha took a deep breath and continued on.

"And when I heard the apologies from Pepper and Sam tonight, I was completely caught off guard," Natasha said. "The fact that you risked everything important to you just to fix something that you didn't even do? That takes a lot, Tony."

"It's alright," he said, letting some of the tension seep from his shoulders. "It all worked out in the end. And the posts were made to my account. The media all assumed the same thing. It was an easy conclusion to jump to. More of a hop, really. And I'm supposed to have a PR team monitoring all of my channels but I prefer to post myself." He shrugged. "But your apology means a lot to me. So we're both sorry and it's your birthday and it's the start of a new year so... what do you say we just start over? Clean slate."

"That sounds great," Natasha said. "You saved me Tony. After Shield was gone, I had nothing. After Mexico City, I was emotionally and physically broken. All I had was a sliver of a chance of a relationship with Steve. I can guarantee that I would not be where I am now without your generosity. You could have kicked me out at any point, had me arrested, any of that. But you didn't. I owe what has happened over the last months to you."

Natasha held out her hand for Tony to shake her hand. They both weren't huggers, and it didn't seem like a place for that.

"I trust you Tony," Natasha said, really putting it out there.

She meant those last words. Even with his mistakes, he wanted to make the world a better place. She needed people like that in her son's life.

"I trust you too," he confessed. "Even when we weren't getting along I think some part of me always did. Must've. And as a gesture of good faith for this clean slate thing we've got going on, I wanted to let you know that I'm planning on leaving the team. Officially. I know I kind of unofficially left after the Ultron thing and I haven't really been living at the Compound with you guys but, well, I never really went away. I was afraid to. But I've seen now that I have other important things in my life I should focus on. Pepper, for one. My company, for another. I've been sorely neglecting it and I think the Board hates me. More than they did before, anyway.

"Anyway, I don't want you to think I'm doing this to avoid you because I'm not. You're not kicking me out of my own home or anything like that. I just came to realize that there are other things I want to do. And you guys can handle yourselves on your own, I think. You're in good hands with Cap and Terra. And who knows? Maybe Pepper and I will finally start a family. Our kids can have playdates." He smiled to let her know that he had absolutely no hard feelings about this decision. "I haven't told the team yet but I will soon. I thought you might want to know a little sooner."

It was a lot of information to take in. She was surprised by his decision personally. Steve had told her that he wasn't going to be a part of most of the Avengers business, but she figured that he would still come if it was a major level threat. But it sounded like aside from world ending things, and maybe not even then, Iron Man was done for the Avengers.

"Well I'm here to support your decision," Natasha said. "Not because I'm more comfortable with you not here, but because I want you to be happy. And I'm sure mini Captain America and mini Iron Man would have quite the impressive play dates."

Natasha could see this becoming a very nice friendship.

"You'll keep in touch though, right?" Natasha asked, wanting to keep this going.

"I pity the poor babysitter," he quipped about the playdates. "And don't worry. Just cause I'm not on the team doesn't mean you won't be seeing me. I'm still paying for all your shit after all. Gotta make sure my money's being spent wisely." There was a dimple in one cheek and a twinkle in his eye. "And of course, if you guys really need me on some mission or other - I'm just a call away. But I doubt you will. Heck, with all the new additions? The team's more powerful than it's ever been. You guys will be fine." He gestured at the doors to the training room. "Ready to blow out your candles?"

"If Clint doesn't burn down the place first," Natasha said. "Hey, can maybe you and your generous resources help me make a new suit for the time being? I'm off active duty, but if I need to go out I'll need something to protect the baby area."

Natasha knew there would probably be some PR stuff they would have to go to, and who knows would take advantage of that situation. And, she needed some help with someone who specialized in the armor building technique.

"Sure thing," Tony answered easily. "Send me your request with any ideas you have and I'll make it ten times better. Plus that way Friday won't let me forget." He held the door open for Natasha and realized that the lights had been turned off, leaving only a small fire in the middle of the room to light the way. Upon closer inspection, Tony realized that the small fire was just the 83 candles on Natasha's birthday cake clumped so close together that they looked like one flame. He could just make out Clint and Steve's silhouettes by the cake.

Very quietly, Steve began to hum "For She's A Jolly Good Fellow". Bruce joined in, equally quiet. Then Tony and Wanda.

"You better make a wish and blow them out before melted wax gets all over it," Pietro advised, glancing at the cake hungrily. Sam gently elbowed him.

A smile came to her face as she saw the sight in front of her. Never in her life had she had this many people here to celebrate anything about her. Now, she had a full team here and a cake that was getting very dangerous by the second. She would have never guessed a year ago that she would be in this situation. She was just an agent with a troubled past and very few friend, she could only count them on one hand. Now she had friends, people that cared about her. She had a boyfriend that loved her like no one else ever did, and a child on the way.

"I'm sure this cake will be inedible already," Natasha said, walking over to the cake.

"Happy birthday Nat," Clint said, smiling like a little kid.

Natasha smiled again and looked at the cake. She tried to think of a wish and glanced over to Steve. Only one thing came to her mind, and that was giving the man that loved her the best kid that there ever was. She made the wish and blew out the candles, leaving a decently scorched cake underneath.

Chapter Text

May 1st, 2014
San Francisco, California

Remember that old saying 'Never meet your heroes', well Natasha was currently on a quinjet towards a large celebration that would allow numerous young children the opportunity to meet them. And, she hoped to God that the saying was just an old wives tale.

The team was in San Francisco for "Avengers Day", something Pepper had come up with. Due to the events in Sokovia and other disasters around the world, Tony and Pepper had been working around the clock with Stark Industries to produce medical ships on the size and scale of the Helicarrier, all for humanitarian outreach and to help people with disasters, whether it be from battle or natural disasters, it was sure to be a huge safety key to the world. The first ship, dubbed the "Chiron '' was finished and stationed in San Francisco, giving it access to the entire Pacific Ocean and places along its coast. With most of the scandals dying down, Pepper thought it would be a good idea to flash the press a little bit.

Thus, Avengers Day was born.

They would be arriving on the deck of the Chiron in full uniform to unveil the new ship and meet with any fans that wanted to show up. Sign some autographs, take some pictures, build morale back up with the Avengers in essence.

Natasha had a good past month and a half. Her relationship with Steve had only strengthened with him being able to start coming to various doctor's visits and being able to take a part of the pregnancy for the first time in a while. Wanda's training was coming along beautifully, she was really starting to get a hold on her powers and Natasha was even teaching her how to read people better without her powers and learn to fight without them as well. You never knew when that would come in handy. What was most surprising to just about everyone was how good of friends that Natasha and Tony were becoming. They chatted with each other numerous times, and Natasha even took a couple days and went to Tony's current lab where they built her new suit. It had lightweight armor around her stomach area, protecting it from knives and gunfire, anything but a point blank shot wouldn't hit. There were also some shock absorbents to make sure if she did get hit anywhere, pressure wouldn't be hit on her stomach.

She was really happy with her relationship with Tony, they were actually able to start quipping with each other without it being awkward, they had both come a long way.

Natasha brought the quinjet just past the Golden Gate bridge and towards the bay where the Chiron was docked.

"One minute out guys," Natasha said. "Terra, you really need to learn how to fly this thing. I'm not gonna be able to go on stuff like this soon and you can't all walk there."

Terra hummed in agreement from her place on the bench, scrolling through a tablet and dressed in her mission suit. She was looking at the social media response for today and communicating with Pepper on their ETA. "I want to, but Steve said something about knowing how I drive, and how he'd rather hike than be in a plane I'm piloting, yadda yadda," she said with amusement. "He's exaggerating."

"No, he's not," Sam deadpanned, starting to strap his pack with his wings on. "I'd rather go on a million rollercoasters than drive with you again."

Terra rolled her eyes and grinned, setting down the tablet and fixed her braid. "Whatever. You weren't complaining when we went Christmas shopping."

"That's because there are no rules for Christmas shopping."

Pietro snickered sitting by Vision and Wanda, also in his blue and silver mission suit, and doing some stretches. Vision was sitting beside Wanda, hands folded in his lap. He'd imagine the Halloween parade they went to was good practice for this day, he knew a bit of what to expect. A bit.

"Yeah, I don't think giving Terra the wheel - or any wheel - would be a good idea," teased Steve from the co-pilot's seat.

"I think Tony said he was working on bringing Friday into the quinjets as the primary pilot," Bruce piped up. "Though having someone knowledgeable enough for a manual takeover would be best." Bruce was here purely to accompany Terra. After Sokovia, the PR specialist Pepper had hired informed him that it would be unwise to continue referring to the Other Guy as an Avenger. It had been harsh but understandable. Bruce was more than happy to stick to the sidelines and avoid all public appearances. Of course, the specialist had assured him that he was free to help out on "Green-level" missions. He'd sarcastically thanked her for her permission.

"I can do it," Steve volunteered automatically, though Natasha knew that Steve hated it due to past experiences, mainly flying a giant plane into the ice and trapping himself for seventy years.

"I know you don't like to fly," Natasha said quietly to him, knowing what memories it brought up.

Natasha looked towards the back at the group that was gathered. They were all back there and all could learn how to fly this jet, even if just in extreme cases.

"There will be a group lesson on how to fly the jet," Natasha said, glancing back towards the front. "I know you won't be as good as me, but you should all know in a pinch."

Natasha did a flashy jet move as she swung around to the deck of the ship, already trying to impress the huge crowd that had shown up. Natasha was very surprised with the number of people that were here, but nonetheless glad. The Avengers needed a win right now, a lot of the governments of the world were starting to whisper about the very need for a team like the Avengers at all. She had been speaking to Pepper about the Avengers having an official ambassador to the governments of the world, and her being that person. It would give her something to focus on while she was off active duty, and would allow the actual leaders of the Avengers to do that. She just needed to talk to Terra and Steve about it and then start setting up those tedious meetings.

She landed the jet on the landing deck and lowered the ramp, hearing the cheers as they had arrived.

"Have fun guys," Natasha said, looking back and knowing that a lot of the members of the team were really going to enjoy this day.

Natasha got up from her chair and went over to where Steve's helmet and shield were. She grabbed both of them, heading back over to him and stealing a private moment between the two of them while everyone else was leaving the jet.

She looked a bit different than a month and a half ago. Aside from the fact that her stomach was a little bigger, her hair had grown out longer, going down to the tops of her shoulders now. She also had a bit more of a glow to her, thanks to the pregnancy, and she seemed a lot more relaxed due to her new relationship with Tony. Steve hadn't said much about it, and she figured that he was just nervous that there would be a relapse and things would be as tense if not more than before.

But her new suit had hidden most of the pregnancy at this point, even though there was no secret about it. She smiled at Steve and held out his helmet and shield to him.

"Are you ready Captain America," she said with a coy smile.

He accepted the helmet and slung the shield behind his back. "As I'll ever be, Black Widow." He slipped the helmet over his head, effectively ruining his hair, and clipped the chin strap. He was all set. But he didn't take one step to leave the jet quite yet.

"Thanks for offering to teach flying lessons to the team," he said quietly. "I appreciate it. And not just because it would be useful."

Natasha smiled and placed her hand right over the star on his chest.

"I got you," Natasha said with an adoring smile. "Whenever you want to talk, I'll be here. But I know you, and I'll always have your back."

Natasha stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips, letting him know that she was there. There were still parts of his past he wouldn't share with her, and parts of hers that she wouldn't share with him. They were slowly working their way towards full transparency, but they both had some troublesome pasts.

"Before we go out there," Natasha said. "I was thinking about something on the flight over. I think I should go meet Peggy. She was an important part of your life and I think you should be able to tell her about your son. Plus, I've never met Director Carter before."

He raised his eyebrows at that. "I'm surprised you haven't met her before," he said. "Not sure why. But I know she'd love to meet you." He squeezed Natasha's hand and then kissed it. "I'd be happy to introduce you sometime. I haven't been to see her since the last time I was in DC. We could make a trip of it. Walk down memory lane," he half-joked. DC was where they had officially met but it hadn't been under the greatest of circumstances.

Someone called out that there was one minute until his cue. Steve kissed Natasha one more time before making his way down the ramp. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck soldier," Natasha said, following him out and going over to stand next to Pepper.

They had become decent friends since she made up with Tony and Pepper even helped her pick out some maternity clothing. She knew she had to go on stage soon, but she was going to wait until she was in the back. She had a better media reputation than four months ago, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"Any chance they won't notice if I don't go on stage," Natasha asked Pepper.

Pepper hummed uncertainty, giving a so-so hand motion, without looking away from the bustle of the backstage crew. "Couldn't say. But you don't have to go on if you don't want to," she assured, knowing being in front of people and the press could be touchy for her.

Natasha straightened up when the music on stage grew and the announcer's voice boomed throughout the Chiron.

"Who's ready to see... the Avengers?!"

The crowd roared in response as the lights on the stage dimmed in anticipation.

"Then get ready to show some love for your heroes! GIVE IT UP FOR THE FALCON!"

As Sam went on stage in his entrance he planned, Natasha ended up shrugging.

"Yeah well they're going to say my name," Natasha said, charging her gauntlets.

She was slated to go after Sam, Pietro, and Vision, and she decided to throw caution to the wind. It may have been all a ploy to begin with, but what the hell, Natasha was going to work this a bit.

"Beware her bite, give it up for BLACK WIDOW!"

Natasha blew a kiss to Steve before lighting up her gauntlets all the way. She did a little run on stage and flipped into the air, coming down center stage and slamming her fists into the ground, sending out a huge electric shock in a small area surrounding her. She caused the lights to flicker a bit, and the crowd would feel a slight static electricity, but nothing more than that. Natasha stood up straight and smirked for the crowd, and then headed over to stand with the other three, glad that she was getting a huge round of applause and super excited to see a little girl in the front row with the hourglass logo on her shirt jumping up and down like crazy.

The rest of the team was ushered on stage in similar fashion, until finally Steve was the only one remaining.

"And last, but certainly not least, the very first Avenger, CAPTAIN AMERICAAAAA!"

The red, white, and blue shield shot out from stage left, ricocheted off a pole on stage right and slid home onto Steve's arm in a flash, revealing that in the seeming split second that the shield had been away from him, Steve had materialized onstage. The crowd paused, confused, then cheered even louder.

"One more round of applause for Earth's Mightiest Heroes... THE AVENGERS!"

Steve waved, not really a fan of these big events but understanding that they were necessary. His smile was big but forced. This was Tony's forte, not his. But Tony was off in India treating his stakeholders to a nice retreat and trying to convince them to invest even more since the unveiling of the Chiron apparently wasn't doing it for them.

The clapping died down eventually. Together, Steve and Terra approached the podium in the middle of the stage. It had two microphones sprouting out of the top like vines from a potato. Steve cleared his throat.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming today to announce the launch of the Chiron," he began. "The Avengers have always protected and defended humanity and that will continue to be our goal moving forward. But I have always seen my team first and foremost as humanitarians. You may ask yourselves what we do when we're not fighting aliens or enhanced super villains. The answer is this." He lifted his arms to gesture around them.

"We advocate for a better world. Stark Industries has taken us one step closer to that world by bringing us this medical ship, named for the centaur in Greek mythology, famed for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine. We want to show you that we are not just the ones who fight for you. We will fight with you. And that means cleaning up the messes that we make and ensuring that the people we save make it past the defense line."

The audience applauded in agreement. Steve leaned back to let Terra say her piece.

Terra stepped forward to speak into the microphone. "The Chiron has top of the line medical facilities that can accommodate more than fifteen thousand injured parties and have some of the best medical professionals on call." The animated schematics of the Chiron played on the monitors. "None of this would have been possible without those volunteering to help out, the brilliant minds behind the construction, and all of you guys," she said with a warm smile and the crowd cheered in response.

"Your continued support has meant the world to us and has allowed this project to move forward. We cannot wait to cut the ribbon and have it in service officially, but first, we would very much like to meet you," Terra grinned, folding her hands together. "So please enjoy the awesome food, activities, and stop by to say hi! We'll see you all soon!"

The audience applauded and the music played, cueing the Avengers to take their exit. As soon as Pietro and Sam got backstage, they began bickering at who got the loudest crowd cheer. Natasha left the stage and felt pretty good about what she had accomplished. She didn't do much, well hardly anything at all. But she made it on stage and got a few people to cheer. Steve and Terra spoke brilliantly about the Chiron, and that's what today was really about. Overall, she didn't have a mental breakdown in her first public appearance since the scandal. She wanted to congratulate Steve and Terra on their speeches, but unfortunately, there was only one thing on her mind.

"Can we get some pickles and root beer," Natasha said. "Like a lot of root beer, I'm talking about that big glass you can get from a truck stop size."

Pickles and root beer was her latest craving, and it had been the most interesting one yet. She tolerated pickles, had them on a few sandwiches, but never just ate them by themselves. She did, however, hate root beer. Didn't like the taste, the consistency, and the way it felt on her tongue and teeth after she drank it.

But, the last few weeks that had been a solid portion of her meals. Steve had made so many runs to the grocery store to come back with two liters of root beer and jars upon jars of pickles.

Steve nudged one of the stagehands and asked to fulfill Natasha's request. The stagehand nodded. "Back in a jiffy."

She hardly listened to the stagehand when she saw the food, and made a beeline towards her seat. She sat down and opened up the jar, already munching away. She sighed in content as the baby finally seemed satisfied that he was being fed. She glanced and briefly saw that she was sitting next to Wanda, but she wasn't sure who else was sitting on her other side. She honestly didn't care, she was more focused on the root beer.

"God Rogers I don't know what you did to me," Natasha said, taking a huge drink of her soda. "But this baby you pumped into me is making me eat weird shit."

Steve pulled out his chair next to her and lowered himself into it with a sigh. He reached up to unclip his helmet. "I think you know exactly what I did to you," he said quietly with an amused smirk. "And pickles aren't that weird." He reached to grab one for himself to demonstrate.

"Well I know that," Natasha said, rolling her eyes as she was glad Steve was sitting next to her.

She was sure there was some PR staging to the seating arrangement, but that wasn't her forte or care really. She was here to meet some fans and sign some autographs before unveiling a ship that would help millions, that was the important part about today.

"But you know how much I hate root beer," Natasha said, taking another huge drink. "And your son is making me drink it."

He shrugged and set his helmet on the table, right next to the posters from that cringey photoshoot he did with the other Avengers last year. The photographer had said that he looked great and he'd done some major editing but Steve just couldn't see what made these photos so coveted. Natasha just adored them and used them as teasing energy whenever she could, the relation to them and his trading card photo shoots back during the war being perfect.

"Or maybe you're just finally admitting that it's good and this is just an excuse," he teased.

"I don't think so Steven," Natasha said, crossing her arms a bit and looking at the stack of pictures that she had.

She hadn't had any official photo shoots with the Avengers, so they had provided a picture of her from the Battle of Sokovia. It was a surprisingly decent picture of her stabbing one of the Ultron bots. Natasha guessed that Stark Industries had found a decently low resolution photo from a security camera or phone and used their very advanced tech to clear it up.

"There will be no root beer in our house for at least a year after this kid comes out of me," Natasha said very sternly.

"Yes, dear," he replied, smiling.

He picked up one of Natasha's photos and admired it. "We should get a family photoshoot sometime," he said offhandedly. "Once when you're pregnant and probably a bunch of times after." He set the photo down, then corrected himself. "Just for us, I mean. To have framed and hung up on the walls in our home or something like that. I think that would be nice."

"Well if you insist," Natasha said, knowing that she would like nothing more than the same.

She glanced over at the clock and it was just about time for the meet and greet to start.

"You know I've never signed an autograph before," Natasha said. "How should I sign? Black Widow? Natasha Romanoff? How did the Star Spangled Man with a Plan sign his?"

"Captain America," Steve replied with a shrug. "People didn't care about Steve Rogers back then. Plus, I think the kids would like that better."

Just then, one of the stagehands must have let the people through because a tidal wave of fans came pouring through the doorway. Sure enough, there were several kids screaming the names of their superhero monikers.

"Brace yourselves," Wanda muttered before anyone came into earshot.

"No kidding," Natasha managed before getting swarmed herself.

She signed the pictures, smiled for the people, took a couple pictures with them at their request. Got multiple requests for pictures of her and Steve, which she obliged. Finally she noticed the girl with the Black Widow shirt that she recognized on stage.

"Well hi," Natasha said, smiling at the little girl.

"Hello Mrs. Black Widow," the little girl said, giddy with excitement.

Natasha chuckled at how cute the little girl was and continued on the conversation.

"What's your name," Natasha asked, preparing a picture for the little one.

"Kamala," the girl said.

"Well my name is Natasha," Natasha replied. "You can call me that, okay?"

"Okay Natasha," Kamala said, super excited to get to talk to her hero.

Eventually, the autograph and photo portion of the day came to a close and the volunteers ushered the clamoring fans out of the room. When a volunteer pulled the door shut, it was much quieter in the room, even though many volunteers, stagehands, and other workers milled about talking to each other in-person or through their headsets.

Steve sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'd say that went well."

"Agreed," said Wanda, flexing her fingers after writing so much. "What's next?"

Terra was resting her head down on her arms on the table, three empty coffee cups next to her. "Ribbon cutting ceremony," she said, speaking through a yawn, patting down the loose strands that came out of her braid. "Easiest part. Unless they give us bad scissors. Then we're doomed." Some stagehands came by and took away the gifts and fan-art that were given to the Avengers to put away. One stayed behind to fix Terra's hair. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Pepper walked in. "You guys did wonderfully," she assured. "If you could head to the stage, we'll finish this up with the last event and then we're done."

"And then more food," Natasha said, polishing off the last of the pickles and grabbing the soda which had about two swallows left in it. "I'm starving."

Natasha was eating more and more food these days. She knew it was because of the pregnancy, but it didn't help her feel a little fat because of that. And she knew none of the other Avengers would dare say anything about her eating habits, lest they fear her wrath. Pietro made a comment one day without thinking and she almost made the poor boy cry. She apologized profusely afterwards and everything seemed fine up till now.

Across San Francisco...

Two mercenaries jogged down the tunnel towards the underground cavern that served as their base of operations. They came to the opening and made their way to the far end. As they walked through, they passed the small army that was getting prepared for the coming attack. They were readying the vehicles, their weapons, and the jetpacks, all courtesy of Shield and the failure to secure all of their resources after the fall. Now they were in the hands of the small Hydra cell that was left.

Led by one particular man.

The two made their way over to the corner where that man was sitting, facing away from them. He was sharpening his knife, slowly and carefully.

"Bombs are in place, boss," the first man said.

"The Avengers autograph session just ended," the second man said. "The ribbon cutting ceremony should start very soon."

"Gear up and roll out," the man said. "Blow the bombs on my order."

"Yes sir," the men said and went to rally the other.

The leader stood up and walked over to the small locker that he had. He grabbed the mask and placed it over his very scarred face. He turned around and looked at his troops. For the first time since the battle in Washington DC, Brock Rumlow was ready to strike back.

Now, as Crossbones.

The Avengers suddenly found themselves backstage in a set-up tent area outside the building. Several stagehands appeared and began fussing over each of them, as this would be the most photographed portion of the whole day. Bruce met up with everyone there, scratching his wrists a little anxiously but otherwise in an amiable mood. Crowds would always make him nervous. There was no getting over that.

Suddenly, two stagehands hefted the largest pair of scissors that Natasha had ever seen and held it out for both Steve and Terra to take since apparently it was so large and awkward to hold that it required two people.

"Well, it'll certainly be hard to miss the ribbon," Steve said.

"Geez," Terra chuckled as she wrapped her hands around the handle on her side, leaving the other for Steve. "These look like they're for trimming hedges."

Pepper came in last, listening to her earpiece. "Alright, we're ready for you all on stage," she told them. "Last event of the day, then you're free to go."

Everyone seemed a bit grateful for that. Speaking with all of those people seemed to suck the energy out of them. The announcer's voice boomed through the stage, gathering the crowd back to witness the ceremony. The press was in a closed-off section upfront. The Avengers were instructed to split up at the stage entrances and walk-on at the same time. Terra and Steve were on the same side, so they could carry the scissors together.

A long, large red ribbon spanned the whole front of the stage, so Terra and Steve could just walk up and cut it.

Everyone got in their positions as the announcer's voice echoed,

"Now, for their final appearance today... let's hear it one last time... for THE AVENGERS!"

The crowd roared with cheers in response.

Natasha followed the team, but hung towards the back. She didn't know what, but she was getting a bad feeling about this whole thing. She shook it off, figuring it was just the fatigue, and took Steve and Terra's lead.

"Thank you Pepper," Natasha said sincerely, before going on stage.

Steve and Terra walked on first from stage left, each holding the scissors with one hand and waving with the other, the rest of the team coming on and splitting up on the stage, evening things out.

Eventually, the raucous applause died down enough for a high-up Stark employee at the podium off to the side to speak into the microphone. "Ahem. We know it's been a long day for some of you so we'll cut..." He paused for dramatic effect and received a few chuckles for the effort. "... to the chase. We regretfully could not fit all of you on the Chiron, nor could we land it close enough to tie a ribbon to, so we've symbolically tied it to our little set-up here." He waved a hand in the general direction of the stage and the Avengers. "Without further ado, Captains? Would you do the honors?"

Steve nodded and helped Terra maneuver the scissors in place to snap the ribbon.

The crowd collectively held its breath.

Shnip!

The ribbon split and fluttered to the stage floor. The crowd cheered and the photographers in the front had their cameras at the ready, taking numerous pictures. Terra and Steve passed the scissors to two stagehands that came and took it away, so they could wave to the crowd properly. It seemed like everything went right throughout the day with no complications and they would be heading home soon.

Crossbones was watching the feed and just as the Avengers cut the ribbon, he uttered one word.

"Execute."

In seconds, his troops took off and started attacking the Golden Gate Bridge. Men with stolen SHIELD jetpacks zoomed forwards and began working on the supports, terrifying everyone that was there.

Natasha heard the explosion and her head snapped to the sound and her hand went immediately to her gun on her hip. There was a huge explosion on the Golden Gate Bridge, and there were screams in the crowd as they began going away from the explosions that were starting to happen.

Steve snapped into Captain America mode. "I need my flyers on the bridge now."

Sam immediately pulled down his goggles and his wings from the pack extended as he took off a moment later, Vision following not far behind. Pietro sped off in a blur a half-second after Cap told him to. Terra pulled Pepper and some stagehands aside. They would need help to evacuate all these people without causing a panic. Wanda's eyes glowed as she prepared to take off with Sam and Vision.

Steve reached her in two strides and quickly grabbed her elbow. "Not you, Wanda. You're with me." He let go and nodded sharply at Pietro. "Quicksilver, you'll go instead. You'll get there faster."

The magic faded from Wanda's fingers. "What do you need me to do?"

"Terra will help me evacuate the civilians in this general area. This attack isn't coincidental which means it's linked to us. We need to make sure the people are safe and that there are no more bombs."

"I'll see if I can find anything." Wanda blinked and her eyes were suddenly red as she scanned the minds around her for anything terrorist-related.

Steve turned to Natasha. "I need you to be Overwatch and the best place to do that is on the Chiron." It was also arguably the safest place for her and the baby.

Natasha nodded, knowing that she had to do this to keep her baby secure. It would also be chaos over there, and Steve and Terra needed to focus on fighting rather than overwatch, and she could help.

"Be safe," she said and holstered her pistols and ran towards the command center at a full sprint to get their eyes in the sky. Across the deck, a man in black sunglasses watched the entire thing unfold. When all of the Avengers left and only the Black Widow remained aboard the Chiron, he got on his radio.

"Boss," he said. "The Avengers have taken the bait. Only Black Widow is left."

"Good," Crossbones' voice answered. "Start your assault run now. Blow that thing out of the sky and kill Romanoff. I want Rogers to suffer."

"Yes boss," he said and moved to the couple of men that were behind him. "Let's go."

Chiron Terrigen Core Chamber

A couple of scientists were moving to and fro underneath the ship, monitoring the core and any other technical aspects to it. There were two guards by the door, watching the six people work. One of them nodded to the other and then they both raised their guns and shot down all of the scientists. They moved in two separate directions. One went over to the core and started manipulating the controls so it would begin to destabilize and blow the ship up, and the other went to the autopilot controls and overrode the system. It would make the Chiron take off and fly slowly towards the Golden Gate Bridge. It would explode before it arrived there, but it would get ever so closer to Rogers.

Chiron Command Bridge

Natasha burst in to see about ten people working frantically. She ran over to the main terminal and kicked the man out of his seat.

"I'm in charge," Natasha yelled to everyone around her. "Get this ship prepped for casualties, the Avengers are taking the fight to them. Make sure all rescue teams are on route and keep people away from that damn bridge."

Natasha sat down in front of the computer and started typing furiously. She logged in securely to the Avengers server and pulled up the frequencies on all of the Avengers comm and placed them on a virtual map of the layout of the bridge. She also pulled up everyone's vitals so she could keep an eye on them.

"We're all connected," Natasha said through comms. "I'll see about locating any more explosives."

She looked at the connection and found that it was having trouble relaying through the Chiron and immediately went to fix the connection while scanning the bridge. She felt a lurch then and then looked around as the engines started and the ship seemed to be rising.

"What the hell," Natasha looked back at the techs. "Why are we taking off?"

"No one did it," the lead tech said. "The autopilot must've triggered somehow."

"Well shut it down," Natasha barked and went back to trying to fix the glitchy comms.

The fight had been going on for about 15 minutes now, and the Chiron was still slowly flying over the Bay, and it seemed like none of the other Avengers had noticed.

"Boss," a goon said, coming up to Rumlow who was leaning on a truck just off the view of the bridge on the end that Rogers and the Hulk came from. "They've cut through most of our men and they're about to disarm the last bomb."

"Perfect," Rumlow said, standing up to get to his radio. "Rollins, go now."

"You got it boss," Rollins answered and Rumlow got up into the truck.

"Get the rest of the men and follow me," Rumlow said to the goon and got in the driver's seat of the truck and put his foot down on the gas pedal, starting to barrel down the bridge roadway and completely crushing other cars out of his way as he made his way to the center of the bridge.

"Steve, come in," Natasha said, frustrated that she was only getting static. "Rogers dammit you answer me."

She checked the signal again and found that the Avengers were able to talk to each other, but she wasn't able to talk or hear them. This was more than just a communications malfunction. Something was up here.

"Why are we still flying," Natasha shouted back.

"The autopilot has been manually overwritten," one of the techs said. "We would have to go down to the main controls and-,"

The man was cut off by a bullet going through his head. Through the main doors came a squad of twenty men, all with automatic rifles and heavy body armor. They quickly started cutting down all the techs and Natasha cursed as she figured out the play. Whoever this was didn't care about the bridge. They wanted the Chiron. She tried the communications one last time before the first goon came around the corner and she drew her pistol and dropped him. She rolled back by some cover and pulled out her other gun, knowing she would have to play it smart if she wanted to get out of here alive.

"The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the Avenger spout," Rollins sang as he strolled in.

A couple of the men pointed to the console where Natasha was hiding and Rollins nodded as they prepared a couple grenades. They tossed them over and two landed right back Natasha.

"Out came Hydra and killed the spider dead," Rollins kept on it as Natasha jumped out of the way just as the grenades exploded.

She landed hard on her stomach and thanked whatever deity that was watching that she and Tony added all that protection to her stomach area. She did feel the shrapnel from the grenade rake her right arm, many bits lodging themselves right in there. She bit back pain as she looked up and fired to drop two more of the men.

"That doesn't even rhyme," Natasha said, taking a second to reload her weapons.

"You don't like it," Rollins said as the rest of the men closed in. "I worked hard on it."

"Guess I have other things on my mind," Natasha said, taking another deep breath and leaning out, dodging gunfire and fighting for her life.

She had managed to drop most of the goons, but the ship was breaking down around her. They were about halfway in the bay now, not over any land, but not moving any closer to the bridge. She was basically on her own, and she could tell that the terrigen core was breaking down. She didn't have long before this entire ship exploded, with her on it.

She made her way to the middle of the command deck to try and find Rollins and end this, when she was struck in the back and sent flying across the room. She gritted her teeth as the pain shot through her spine as she rolled on the ground to a stop. She looked back over to find Rollins in a new protective suit with electrified stun fists, obviously enhancing his strength a bit as well as adding the stun to it.

Natasha wiped a bit of blood off her lip and stood up, raising her fists and starting to square off. She crouched low, eyes locked onto Rollins as he advanced. The room was a wreckage of shattered consoles and sparking wires, a testament to the absolute wreck that was becoming of the Chiron. Rollins moved with the confidence of a man who believed victory was within his grasp. Natasha, despite the pain coursing through her body, remained focused, searching for an opening.

Rollins lunged, his gauntlet-clad fist aiming for her head. Natasha ducked under the swing, her reflexes honed by years of training and experience. She retaliated with a swift kick to his midsection, but he blocked it with ease, his enhanced strength giving him an edge.

"You've lost your touch," Rollins taunted, his voice dripping with disdain.

Natasha ignored the jibe, sidestepping his next attack. She landed a solid punch to his jaw, but the impact barely fazed him. He responded with a backhanded blow that sent her sprawling across the room. She collided with a console, the sharp edge biting into her flesh.

Rollins approached, his smile cruel. "Is this really the best you can do?"

Natasha gritted her teeth, pushing herself up despite the searing pain in her arm. Blood trickled down her face from a gash on her forehead, her vision swimming.

"Come on, Romanoff. Fight back," Rollins urged, spreading his arms wide in a mock invitation.

She darted forward, feinting to the left before twisting and delivering a roundhouse kick to his ribs. He grunted, staggering back a step, but his remaining gauntlet crackled with energy as he prepared to strike.

Natasha barely had time to react as he unleashed a blast of energy. She dove to the side, the force of the explosion sending her flying into another console. She hit it hard, her body screaming in protest as she crumpled to the ground. Her arm was bleeding badly now, and she was pretty sure she had a concussion. She coughed, a bunch of blood coming up, and wiped it off with her wrist, looking back over at Rollins.

"I thought this would be harder," Rollins said, shrugging off the one gauntlet that Natasha had been able to destroy. He still had one working one though and a couple of cuts on his face. "You've gone soft, Romanoff."

"You know what," Natasha said, standing up again, her voice steely. "I'm done talking."

It was time to reveal her ace in the hole.

Natasha sent out a shockwave all around her and activated the experimental cloaking tech in her suit. It was similar to what the Helicarrier had on the bottom of it, reflected everything around it, making her invisible. The only issue was that this was the first time it was tested and she only had a maximum of thirty seconds before it wore out, so she had to make this quick.

"COWARD," Rollins shouted as he looked around frantically, Natasha circling him.

She got to the point of where she was behind him and jumped forward and struck with ease. She placed a kick to the back of his knee and then one to his neck. When he turned to punch, she dodged it easily, charging up her gauntlets and jabbing him twice to the stomach and one hard one across the face as he was thrown backwards and knocked unconscious.

Natasha's suit deactivated the cloaking as she slunk to the ground, finally feeling all of the pain. She looked around her and the ship seemed to just be crumbling, which was weird because there were no other explosions and they hadn't been attacked by any airborne threats. The ship should be fine unless-

"The core," Natasha said, eyes going wide in realization.

She got up and sprinted towards the chamber that had the core, hoping to destabilize it before it exploded and destroyed the entire ship.

Natasha entered the core chamber and shielded her eyes on how bright the core was getting and made her way over to a computer terminal and started furiously typing, trying to find some security protocol that would shut down the core and go to backup generator power, but she knew she only had a few seconds until-.

CRACK!

Natasha snapped out of her typing and she looked at the core. It was seconds from pure destruction and there was no way to escape. She quickly ducked behind the terminal, shielding her stomach with everything that she could and desperately trying to protect her child, and for the first time true fear running all throughout her body.

There was a large surge and a shockwave sent everything flying. Natasha was thrown up against a wall, pinned underneath some equipment, and the last thought she had before losing consciousness was how she failed.

Chapter Text

May 4th, 2014
San Francisco, California

Natasha blinked as the glaring hospital lights pierced her vision, the world around her coming into hazy focus. Every inch of her body ached—dull, throbbing pain mixed with sharp, stabbing sensations. She tried to shift, but the attempt sent a wave of agony through her arms and legs, pinning her to the bed.

A soft voice came from beside her. "Ms. Romanoff? Can you hear me?"

Her throat was dry, her voice raspy. "Yeah... I hear you."

A man in a white coat stood by her bedside. His face was calm, though his eyes reflected a mixture of caution and sympathy. "You're in Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. You've been here for a few days now. I’m Dr. Morrison, and I've been overseeing your recovery." He glanced at the tablet in his hands, then back at her. "You sustained multiple injuries during the A-Day incident."

Natasha winced, the explosion still flashing behind her eyes. The heat of the blast. Ducking behind a terminal to protect the one thing she cared about the most.

Dr. Morrison continued, his tone professional but careful. "First off, you had shrapnel embedded in both of your arms and legs. We were able to remove the smaller fragments, but some pieces were lodged too deep to remove outside the operating room. The surgery we did removed all of those pieces, but your arms and legs will be sore for some time."

He paused, letting the information sink in before continuing. "You also suffered a broken collarbone—it's been set and immobilized, but it will take time to heal. We've applied a brace to stabilize the area. There are deep lacerations across your back and shoulders from the debris, which we've stitched up, and you have some significant bruising on your ribs from the impact of the blast. Your lungs and other vital organs were thankfully unharmed."

Natasha grimaced, her head pounding. She raised a hand to her forehead and winced again. "My head..."

Dr. Morrison nodded. "You have a mild concussion as well. You'll need to take it easy for a while, as any further head trauma could complicate things. The dizziness and headaches you're feeling should subside, but we’ll keep an eye on it."

Natasha closed her eyes, trying to process the litany of injuries, but one question loomed above all others. Her hand instinctively moved toward her stomach, her voice barely above a whisper. "The baby...?"

Dr. Morrison’s expression softened, and the nurse beside him stepped forward, offering a comforting smile. "We ran multiple scans to ensure your pregnancy wasn’t compromised. The baby is stable and unharmed despite the trauma. We’ll continue to monitor your condition, but right now, there’s no sign of distress or complications."

A wave of relief washed over her, cutting through the pain for a moment. Natasha let out a shaky breath, her fingers brushing her stomach gently.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice raw with emotion. For the first time since the explosion, the weight of survival felt bearable. She could endure the injuries. She could face the pain. The baby was safe.

Natasha let her hand rest on her stomach for a moment longer, her thoughts racing. The physical pain was something she could handle, but her mind kept drifting to one person.

"Dr. Morrison," she rasped, her voice still hoarse, "Can you... Can someone get in touch with Steve Rogers? He's my—"

"Of course," the doctor replied softly, understanding the unspoken words. "We already notified him when you came out of surgery. He’s been visiting daily and sitting next to your bed. A woman named Terra managed to get him to go get some rest near here. He’s been staying nearby, waiting for any news about your condition."

Natasha blinked, relief flooding her chest. Steve was here. She hadn’t been sure if he’d been caught in the chaos of A-Day or if he had made it through. The thought of him waiting, anxious and not knowing, made her heart ache more than the injuries ever could.

"Can he... visit now?" she asked, her voice quiet, almost vulnerable in a way she rarely allowed herself to be.

Dr. Morrison exchanged a glance with the nurse, then nodded. "I'll let him know you're awake. He's been very worried."

Natasha let her head sink back into the pillow, closing her eyes for a moment as she absorbed the news. She could imagine Steve pacing somewhere in the hospital, his mind racing with thoughts of her. He was strong, always composed in battle, but she knew better. When it came to the people he loved, especially her, Steve would take on the weight of the world if he had to.

Natasha was dozing when Steve came in, the painkillers taking her back into sleep periodically, but she needed to stay awake to see Steve at least and ask about the baby. Her eyes fluttered open at the feeling of someone grabbing her hand and felt a forehead press to her knuckles.

" Nat ," Steve’s voice came in a whisper. "Nat... please don't scare me like that."

It wasn't an admonishment so much as a plea. Now that he was here and she was here and alive the fear was starting to leave him, replaced with sheer relief.

"I know what you're going to say," Natasha said, voice soft from the fatigue. "When I'm in a crashing helicarrier, I need to fall out into the water and stay inside and get pinned under machines. It's a rookie mistake and won't happen again."

Natasha smiled a beautiful smile after teasing him about the whole DC thing.

The laugh burst from his lips unexpectedly, melting the tension between his shoulders even more. He shook his head. "God, Nat... I love you so much." He leaned forward and rested his head on the corner of the bed to be closer to her. "I'm so glad you're safe. Both of you. The doctor said that the armor you and Tony developed to protect the baby worked perfectly. I didn't even want to think..." He let the sentence trail off. If he didn't want to think about it, he definitely didn't want to say it.

"Then don't," Natasha cut him off, knowing the exact same thing.

There was a huge burden lifted off of her entire body as she found out that the steps she had taken to ensure her baby’s safety had been a success. The armor worked, like actually worked. She literally owed Tony for the rest of her life for this. She tried to shift to see Steve a bit better, but groaned due to the pain in her shoulders.

"Right, broken collarbone," Natasha said, after settling back in. "How is everyone else?"

He sat back up so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck to see him. While they talked, his thumb traced the back of her hand idly. "They're fine. A little beat up and tired but fine. I'm sure they're anxious to see you. Tony flew in all the way from India to make sure you were okay. He said it was because he really wanted to know if the armor worked but..." Steve shrugged. Tony had a big heart. He just didn't always show it in normal ways.

"And I'm sure Wanda wants to know you're okay for herself. Doc said only two visitors at a time if you're up for it."

"Yeah of course," Natasha said, wanting to make sure Wanda was okay as well. "We also need to make sure we thank Tony a lot. I know it's stroking his ego more than ever, but we owe him for James' life after all."

Natasha gestured towards the water cup by her bed.

"Can you get me some water while we're waiting for them to decide who gets to see the glorious injured pregnant woman first?"

He let go of her hand briefly to grab Natasha's water. While he was at it he poked his head into the hall. "Now accepting visitors!" He called.

"Can I hold the baby?" Natasha heard Tony’s voice call out.

Natasha rolled her eyes as Steve pulled his head back into the hospital room to give Natasha her water. "Here." He nudged the straw toward her. "I think Wanda's coming."

Sure enough, Wanda appeared in the doorway. Her hair hung limply at her shoulders but her smile made up for its lack of luster. 

"Natasha. I'm so glad you're okay." Wanda sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed. "The baby too. I'm so sorry. I noticed there was something wrong with the Chiron earlier but I got distracted and I never mentioned it. Maybe if I had, we could have helped."

Natasha just smiled as she saw the exhaustion on Wanda's face and just blew right by her apology.

"Wanda you look drained," she said. "Are you okay? They told me you did great and that there were no civilian deaths during the entire attack."

Wanda tried to smile but it felt like she was too tired to even do that properly. "I feel drained," she admitted. "Literally drained; like all the magic was just sucked out of me." She made a whooshing motion with her hands. "I could sleep for a week."

"You did hold up the Golden Gate bridge almost by yourself for quite a while," Steve pointed out, a note of concern in his voice.

Wanda lifted one shoulder. "Bruce helped."

"You can rest soon. Both of you. We're just waiting to see what the doctor says about how soon Natasha can leave,” Steve said.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Natasha said. "I mean bed rest for sure, and I'm not leaving on a mission until this child is out of me."

Natasha seemed to have learned her priorities now, more than ever. She was going to devote her life from now until the due date to keeping this baby safe and alive. If that meant no working out for that entire time, she was willing to do it. For her son, for Steve, and most importantly, for herself.

"You guys should head home and get some rest," Natasha said. "If anything you can come back and get me when I get released."

Steve held on to Natasha's hand a little tighter. "I'm sure Terra and Pepper are organizing a way home for you guys. Can you tell everyone that Nat's fine? I know you're all tired. It's been a long day."

Wanda glanced between the two of them and smiled. "Yeah. I'll tell them. Feel better, Natasha." Wanda gently squeezed Natasha's knee and left to join the others in the hall.

When she was gone, Steve adjusted his chair and settled in for the long haul. "I'm staying right here with you."

Natasha sat propped up against the pillows, her legs still sore but feeling far less fragile than before. The sterile hospital room felt more alive with Steve sitting next to her, his hand resting gently over hers.

Steve was still smiling, glad to have Natasha back around and awake.. "I think you’re right, Nat," he said, his thumb rubbing small circles on her hand. "You need to rest."

Natasha rolled her eyes, though her lips quirked into a small smile. "Yeah I think so.”

"Good," Steve said, leaning in slightly, his voice softening. "You deserve it. You’ve done enough."

Natasha tilted her head, giving him a mock serious look. "So you’re saying I’m officially out of the action? No sneaking out to take down a few bad guys?"

Steve chuckled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "Wanda would probably hex you if you tried."

"Fair enough," she sighed, though her smile lingered. "I guess I can stay on the sidelines for a while. Maybe focus on some... domestic missions."

Steve’s smile widened. "Like getting the baby’s room ready?" 

Natasha’s expression softened at the thought. "Yeah," she said quietly, her fingers brushing over her belly. "Like that." She glanced up at Steve, her eyes warm. "You think we’ll be any good at it? All this... normal stuff?"

Steve leaned closer, his gaze never leaving hers. "We’ve faced armies, survived more battles than most people can count. I think setting up a crib and painting a room is something we can handle."

Natasha laughed softly, the sound light in the room. "I’m not worried about painting the room. It’s the everything else part."

Steve’s hand moved to rest on her stomach, his touch gentle. "We’ll figure it out together," he said, his voice steady. "One step at a time."

"Yeah," Natasha whispered, looking down at where his hand rested over their child. She could already picture it—Steve painting the walls while she picked out the perfect crib, the two of them arguing over color schemes and decorations. "We can do this."

May 5th, 2014

Natasha sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the lines of the blanket. Now that she was awake and had some food in her, her serum was working overtime and healing her body, and she was feeling a lot better. She had even been able to stand enough to use the restroom and let Steve help her take a shower.

Steve stood by the window, his posture tense as he stared out at the San Francisco skyline. She knew that look—he was thinking about Bucky. Sam had come in and given him a report that the Winter Soldier may have been spotted in the Balkans, although the report would be no good, as it was dated about a week ago and they were focused on many other things. Steve just nodded and dismissed it, but Natasha knew he was planning something.

"Steve..." Natasha’s voice was soft, but it broke through the silence. 

Steve turned to face her, his expression conflicted. "I know what you're going to say."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Do you? Then you know I'm going to ask you to take a step back, at least for now." She kept her tone gentle but firm. "I’m not saying don’t look for him. But maybe... pull back a bit?"

Steve’s jaw tightened as he walked over to her, sitting beside her on the bed. "I can’t, Nat. You know I can’t just sit back when there’s a chance he’s out there—alone, still being controlled by Hydra. I owe it to him to keep looking."

Natasha sighed, her hand moving to rest on her growing belly. "I get that, Steve. I do. But..." She hesitated, searching for the right words. "You’re not just fighting for him anymore. You’ve got more to think about now. We have more to think about. This last mission just proved that."

Steve’s eyes softened as they flicked to her stomach, but the tension didn’t leave his shoulders. "I haven’t forgotten about us. About the baby. But Bucky—he’s my family, Nat. If the situation were reversed, he wouldn’t stop until he found me. You know that."

"I know," Natasha whispered, looking down. "But what if something happens to you while you’re out there? You’ve already been pushing yourself too hard. You and Sam have been chasing leads for months, and every time you leave, I wonder if that’s the last time I’ll see you walk through the door." She lifted her gaze, her eyes searching his. "I’ve realized a lot of things recently Steve, and I almost lost our baby not even a week ago. Now that I know how stupid and careless I’ve been, I’m making a pledge to keep this baby safe. And I don’t want to raise James alone, Steve."

Steve looked like he had taken a hit to the gut, the pain of her words clear in his eyes. "I don’t want to leave you, either. But I can’t live with the idea of Bucky still suffering. It eats away at me, knowing I could be doing something. It’s not just about the mission—it’s about saving my best friend."

Natasha reached for his hand, gripping it tightly. "I understand that. But we’re your family too. And I need you here. We need you here."

Steve’s hand tightened around hers, the conflict clear on his face. "I know you do. But Bucky needs me too. I have to believe that I can find him, that I can bring him home. I’ll be careful, I’ll pull back when I can, but I can’t stop. Not until I know he’s safe."

Natasha exhaled slowly, her frustration bubbling under the surface. She knew how much Bucky meant to him, and she respected that. But Steve’s drive, his need to fix everything, to save everyone—it was going to tear him apart.

"You’re going to have to make a choice soon, Steve," she said softly, her eyes locking onto his. "I can’t keep asking you to stay, knowing you feel like you’re abandoning him. But you need to decide what’s more important right now. Running after ghosts, or being here for the people who are right in front of you."

Steve flinched, but she could see the determination in his eyes. "I’m not choosing between you and Bucky, Nat. I love you. I love our baby. But I can’t turn my back on him. Not now."

Natasha let out a long breath, her heart aching. She leaned her forehead against his, closing her eyes. "Just promise me you’ll be careful. Promise me you won’t throw yourself into danger without thinking."

"I promise," Steve whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "I’m not going anywhere for good. I’ll come back to you. Always."

Natasha nodded, though the unease in her chest lingered. She just hoped Steve’s promise would be enough to keep him safe—for all of them.

Natasha sat back against the pillows, the quiet hum of hospital machinery filling the room. She watched the door for any sign of Steve, who had gone to grab some food, leaving her in the quiet hospital room. The exhaustion from the day still weighed on her, the tension between her and Steve was still there after their talk about Barnes, but the space was giving her time to think and reflect.

A knock at the door broke her thoughts. “Hey, Romanoff,” Tony’s familiar voice greeted her as he stepped inside, holding two steaming cups.

Natasha glanced up and gave him a small smile. "Tony. Didn’t expect to see you here."

He strolled in, his usual swagger a bit softer today, and handed her a mug. "Peppermint tea. Figured you might need something calming. I know these places can drive you nuts after a while."

Natasha took the mug with a grateful nod, the warmth seeping into her hands. “Thanks. You didn’t have to come all the way over just for this, you know."

Tony sat down in the chair beside her, giving her a wry smile. “Well, I couldn’t exactly leave you alone in this place. Besides, I wanted to check in. How are you holding up?”

Natasha took a slow sip of the tea, letting the warmth settle her. “Better than I thought, honestly. Physically, I mean. Still hurts, but... the important part is that the baby’s okay."

Tony nodded, his expression turning serious for a moment. "I heard. That suit did its job, huh?"

Natasha’s eyes softened. "It did. I don’t know if I would have made it out if it wasn’t for your upgrades. The shock absorbers, the protective layering... It saved the baby. So, thank you, Tony."

Tony shifted, looking a little uncomfortable with the gratitude. “Hey, it’s what I do. No thanks necessary.”

“No, I mean it.” Natasha’s voice was quieter now, but firm. “That suit wasn’t just about protecting me. You thought ahead, about how to keep the baby safe even if something went wrong, even more than I prepared for. That means more than you know.”

Tony glanced down, then back up at her, his eyes uncharacteristically soft. "You’re tough as nails, Nat. I just gave you some extra padding."

Natasha chuckled softly, the sound almost surprising herself. "Still, I owe you one. I guess you’re not so bad at this ‘being a decent human being’ thing after all."

Tony smirked, but there was warmth behind it. “Don’t spread that around too much. I’ve got a reputation to maintain.”

The room fell into a comfortable silence, the unspoken appreciation between them settling in the air. Tony leaned back, running a hand through his hair before glancing at her again.

“You know,” he began, his tone quieter, “I don’t say this often, but... I’m glad you’re okay. Both of you.”

Natasha’s smile softened, her hand resting instinctively over her belly. “I’m glad too.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Tony cleared his throat, trying to lighten the mood. “I’ve got an idea—how about I whip up a little Iron Man suit for James? You know, get him battle-ready right out of the crib."

Natasha snorted, shaking her head. “Absolutely not. He’s not going anywhere near a suit until he can walk at least."

Tony feigned disappointment. “Fine, fine. No baby suit—yet. But the offer’s there. Just think about how adorable he’d be, flying around the room in mini armor.”

Natasha chuckled, the lightness in the conversation a welcome change. “We’ll stick with baby blankets for now, thanks.”

Tony grinned but leaned in slightly, his voice more sincere. “You’re going to be a great mom, Nat. James is lucky to have you and Steve.”

Her smile softened, touched by the sincerity in his tone. "Thanks, Tony. That means a lot."

He gave a small nod, the teasing grin fading into something more genuine. “Anytime, Romanoff. Just... don’t forget, I’m always around for the heavy lifting—or, you know, babysitting when you need a break.”

Natasha laughed softly. “I’ll keep that in mind. But no suits, Stark. I mean it.”

“Alright, alright," Tony said with a playful smirk, raising his hands in surrender. "No baby armor... for now.”

May 8th, 2014

Natasha sat at the edge of the hospital bed, her legs dangling over the side as she held the pen in her hand. Steve stood beside her, his arm resting gently on her shoulder as they both looked down at the discharge papers.

“Just sign here, and you’re all set,” Dr. Morrison said, smiling warmly. “Take it easy, Natasha. No strenuous activity for at least a few weeks. You’ve been through a lot, but you’re on the right track now.”

Natasha nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and gratitude. The idea of going home—finally leaving the sterile hospital behind—was more than welcome. She scrawled her name at the bottom of the page and handed the pen to Steve, who quickly signed his part.

Dr. Morrison gave them a nod. “Take care of yourselves, both of you. And don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Doctor,” Steve said, offering his hand for a firm shake.

As the doctor left, the room seemed to exhale with them. Natasha glanced up at Steve, their eyes meeting, and for a moment, there was nothing but quiet understanding between them.

Steve shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nat... about what I said, before—about Bucky. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was choosing him over you, or the baby. You and James... you’re my world. I just—”

Natasha reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I know, Steve. I know how much he means to you, and I wasn’t trying to make you choose. I just... I was scared. I didn’t want to lose you.” Her voice softened, her thumb brushing over his knuckles. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard.”

Steve knelt down in front of her, their eyes level. His gaze was full of warmth, his hand cradling hers. “You never have to apologize for wanting me to be here, Nat. You’re right. I need to be here—for you, and for James. I just... I have to believe I can do both. I want to do both.”

Natasha’s lips curved into a small smile, her heart swelling with love for him. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

He nodded, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Together.”

A peaceful silence settled between them, and Steve helped her up slowly, careful to support her as she found her footing. She still felt sore, but with Steve by her side, everything felt a little lighter.

“Ready to go home?” he asked, his arm wrapping protectively around her waist.

Natasha let out a long breath, a smile playing on her lips. “More than ready.”

They walked slowly out of the hospital room, the quiet rhythm of their steps in sync. The world outside felt brighter, warmer, like they were stepping into a new chapter. As they exited the building, the cool air hit her skin, and Natasha leaned into Steve, feeling his solid presence beside her.

“You know,” Steve said as they approached the car, his voice lighter now, “I was thinking... maybe we could pick up a few things for James on the way home. Start early on getting the nursery ready.”

Natasha chuckled softly, glancing up at him. “Planning ahead already, huh?”

He grinned, his eyes sparkling with that boyish enthusiasm she loved so much. “Well, we’ve got to be prepared. Can’t leave everything to the last minute.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Alright, Captain Prepared. Let’s take it slow, though. We’ve got time.”

Steve opened the car door for her, helping her inside before getting in the driver’s seat. As they started the drive to the airport, the soft hum of the engine filled the air, and Natasha felt a calm settle over her. Steve reached over and took her hand, their fingers lacing together.

They drove in comfortable silence for a while before Steve spoke again, his voice gentle. “I love you, Nat.”

Natasha glanced over at him, her heart swelling with the same love she always felt when she looked at him. “I love you too, Steve. Always.”

Chapter Text

In the three months following the San Francisco incident, Natasha Romanoff's life has been a whirlwind of recovery, personal growth, and deeper frustrations as she navigates the final months of her pregnancy.

Steve, Sam, and Terra had been relentless in their pursuit to find Bucky. Their missions had taken them across various terrains and into dangerous confrontations, which, while necessary, had grated on Natasha’s patience more and more as time passed. Despite the understanding they had come to while she was in the hospital—where Natasha had expressed that she understood their need to search for Bucky—the reality of Steve’s absence began to wear on her.

With each mission, Natasha found herself more irritated, not only because she wished they were closer during her pregnancy, but also because his constant departures seemed to her like he was prioritizing Bucky over their coming child. She knew it was irrational, as Steve doted on her constantly when he was back and she knew how much he loved and was looking forward to welcoming their child into the world, but her rational thinking was wearing thin as her patience thinned.

During this time, Natasha’s relationship with Tony deepened significantly. What had started as a professional bond grew into a genuine friendship, built on mutual respect and the shared goal of creating a safer world for the next generation. Tony’s empathy toward Natasha’s situation—especially his support during her recovery and pregnancy—brought them closer. They spent hours discussing potential recruits, the direction of the Avengers, and, more often than not, the emotional weight of leadership. Together, they developed the framework for the Young Avengers program, a way to train and prepare young, gifted individuals for what lay ahead, including helping them navigate the responsibility that came with their powers.

Part of this development was Natasha’s growing mentorship of Wanda Maximoff. Natasha threw herself into Wanda’s training more closely, guiding her through the intricacies of combat and tactics, but also offering emotional support. They bonded over their shared traumas, and their growing friendship became a source of comfort for Natasha during these months. Wanda’s presence also helped Natasha feel less isolated while Steve, Sam, and Terra were on their missions. 

In the midst of all this, Natasha also rekindled her connection with Ava Orlova, a young girl she had rescued during her SHIELD days. Ava had reached out to Natasha, seeking her support for a mission of her own—something that stirred Natasha’s protective instincts. She remembered vividly the day she saved Ava, a frightened young girl, from a dangerous situation orchestrated by SHIELD. Ava had come a long way since then, but she was still grappling with her own demons and needed guidance.

Natasha, wanting to help Ava in the same way others had helped her, brought her into the fold of the Young Avengers initiative. She provided Ava with the emotional and physical support she needed, and the training to hone her skills. Bringing Ava to the compound not only fulfilled a promise Natasha had made to herself years ago, but it also gave her a renewed sense of purpose during her pregnancy. Watching Ava’s growth, and knowing she was helping shape a new generation, gave Natasha a much-needed outlet for her frustrations and feelings of helplessness.

Though her body was healing and the pregnancy advanced, Natasha refused to slow down mentally. She might not have been on the front lines anymore, but through her bond with Tony, her training of Wanda, and her mentorship of Ava, she found ways to stay involved. These connections gave her strength, even as her patience with Steve’s absence wore thin. It was a difficult balance—being emotionally understanding of their mission but also feeling the sting of their distance.

Ultimately, Natasha’s world, though physically confined to the compound during these months, became richer through her deepening relationships, her efforts to prepare the Young Avengers, and her internal reflections. She couldn’t be in the field, but she was still a key player—something she reminded herself of, even as her baby’s arrival loomed on the horizon.

August 16th, 2014
Avengers Compound

The rhythmic thud of feet against the mat echoed through the Avengers training room as Wanda and Ava were already deep in their sparring match. Natasha Romanoff stood at the edge of the mat, her arms crossed over her swollen belly, her sharp eyes tracking every movement. The spar had been going on for a while now, and both women were slick with sweat, their breathing labored but focused.

Wanda wore a maroon tank top with black compression pants, her chest rising and falling steadily as she blocked another of Ava’s quick jabs. Ava, in her black sleeveless top and combat pants, was relentless, her movements fast and precise as she circled Wanda, looking for an opening.

“Wanda, drop your stance!” Natasha called out, her voice firm but controlled, cutting through the sound of their scuffling. “You’re giving her too much room.”

Wanda nodded, immediately adjusting her posture, crouching lower as Ava pressed forward with a flurry of strikes. Ava’s speed was impressive, but Natasha had seen this before. The girl relied too much on her reflexes, moving fast but not always thinking far ahead.

“Watch your left, Ava!” Natasha instructed, her voice calm but authoritative. She saw it before it happened—Wanda’s foot swept out, catching Ava’s ankle in a quick, low kick.

Ava stumbled but didn’t fall, quickly regaining her balance with a small hop, her eyes flashing as she retaliated with a sharp elbow aimed at Wanda’s ribs. Wanda barely managed to block it, gritting her teeth as she shifted to the side, trying to create space between them.

“Good, Wanda. Now counter,” Natasha encouraged, shifting slightly as the weight of her unborn child pulled at her spine. “Don’t just defend—use her momentum against her.”

Wanda lunged, her hand shooting out to grab Ava’s wrist, but Ava was quick to react, twisting out of her grasp with a sharp pivot. She spun around, launching a spinning kick that Wanda ducked under, narrowly avoiding the hit.

“Nice!” Natasha praised, watching them closely. “But Ava, don’t just react—anticipate. Think ahead.”

Ava reset her stance, her breath coming out in sharp bursts as she closed in again, this time more carefully. She feinted to the right, drawing Wanda’s guard up, then struck low, aiming a kick at Wanda’s legs. This time, it connected, and Wanda stumbled back with a grunt, but her hands were already up, ready to defend.

Natasha stepped forward, her hands resting on her belly as she watched the exchange with critical eyes. “Wanda, don’t just retreat—press the advantage! Ava, stop hesitating when you see an opening.”

The two women were locked in another clash, their movements quick and deliberate, each testing the other’s defenses. Wanda, more powerful, used her strength to deflect Ava’s rapid strikes, but Ava’s agility was keeping her out of reach, darting in and out with practiced precision.

Suddenly, Wanda caught one of Ava’s punches mid-air, twisting her arm and using her momentum to throw Ava off balance. Ava hit the mat with a grunt, but before Wanda could pin her down, she rolled out of reach, scrambling back to her feet with a determined glare.

“Good recovery, Ava,” Natasha commented, her voice softer now but still sharp. She felt a brief pang of pain from her belly, but ignored it as the training went on. “But you need to stop relying so much on your speed. Precision over reflex.”

Ava wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, breathing hard, but her eyes never left Wanda. She lunged again, this time feinting left and delivering a hard punch to Wanda’s shoulder. Wanda staggered but quickly countered, hooking her arm around Ava’s neck and throwing her to the mat with a controlled takedown. In an instant, she pinned Ava down with her knee, her hand pressed to Ava’s chest.

“Yield,” Wanda said, panting slightly, her face flushed with effort.

Ava lay still for a moment before tapping the mat with two fingers, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Yield.”

Natasha nodded in approval, stepping closer. “Well done, both of you. Wanda, excellent follow-through. Ava, you're getting faster, but remember—speed alone won’t win every fight. You need to focus on anticipating moves before they happen.”

Wanda stood, offering Ava a hand up. Both women were breathing heavily, their faces glistening with sweat, but there was a sense of mutual respect in the air. The spar being finished, both moved to the opposite side of the room where their towels and water was to take a breather during their workout.

Natasha remained where she stood, watching their retreating forms, feeling a small sense of pride swell in her chest. She had pushed them hard, but they were both getting stronger—stronger than she could’ve hoped for. Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her belly as she let out a slow breath, relishing the brief quiet that followed the end of the session.

Then it hit.

A sharp, unmistakable pain seized her abdomen, taking her completely by surprise. Natasha's hand gripped the back of a nearby chair, her knuckles turning white as she instinctively bent over, trying to breathe through the sudden contraction. She clenched her jaw, forcing herself to remain silent, to stay in control—this wasn’t her first time in pain, but it was different. This was a sign.

The baby was ready.

Wanda, on the far side of the room with Ava, paused mid-conversation. Her head snapped in Natasha’s direction, a flicker of concern immediately crossing her face. With her heightened senses, Wanda felt the sudden shift in energy. The ripple of discomfort, the tension that gripped Natasha’s body like an invisible force. She narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she could see through Natasha’s attempt to hide it.

“Tasha?” Wanda called across the room, her voice tinged with concern as she took a few cautious steps closer. “Are you okay?”

Natasha, still gripping the chair, straightened up, fighting to compose herself. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice a little too tight, too controlled. She waved a hand dismissively. “Just… a little tired. You two gave me a workout just by watching.”

Wanda wasn’t buying it. She exchanged a quick glance with Ava, who furrowed her brow in confusion but said nothing. Slowly, they began to approach Natasha.

But before Natasha could even try to wave them off again, the sharp pain returned—this time accompanied by a sudden, unmistakable sensation. Her eyes widened as the warm gush of fluid ran down her legs, soaking through her leggings. Her water had broken.

Natasha froze, her gaze dropping to the floor where the puddle began to form beneath her. She blinked, her usual cool, collected demeanor briefly shattered as the reality of the situation hit her all at once.

Wanda’s eyes widened as well, and in an instant, she was at Natasha’s side, her hands gently reaching for Natasha’s arm, guiding her to sit down. “Natasha—”

“Yeah, okay,” Natasha breathed out, trying to suppress a wince as another contraction began to build. “The baby’s coming.”

Ava rushed over, wide-eyed and slightly panicked, glancing between Natasha and Wanda. “What—what do we do?”

Wanda’s voice was calm but firm, trying to keep everyone grounded. “Ava, go get help. We need to get Natasha to the med bay, now.”

Ava nodded quickly, darting out of the room, her footsteps echoing through the compound.

Wanda turned back to Natasha, her expression softening, though her voice stayed steady. “You should’ve said something sooner.”

Natasha managed a wry, breathless chuckle, even as the contraction continued to tighten her body. “You know me… don’t like making a fuss.” Her hand instinctively pressed to her belly as she grimaced through the pain, but her eyes met Wanda’s with a glint of determination. “Guess… this little one decided now’s the time.”

Wanda gave her a small smile, but there was concern in her eyes as she gently placed her hands on Natasha’s shoulders, helping to steady her. “Let’s get you through this, then.”

Wanda’s arm was wrapped firmly around Natasha’s shoulders, helping her move toward the door of the training room. Natasha’s steps were slow and deliberate, each contraction making it harder to walk, but she gritted her teeth, determined not to let it slow her down more than necessary.

“Easy,” Wanda murmured, her voice calm as they made their way into the hall. “We’re almost there. Just breathe.”

Natasha managed a nod, exhaling slowly as they continued their slow trek toward the med bay. But as another wave of pain rolled through her, Natasha’s mind turned sharply to one thing—one person.

“Friday,” Natasha called out, her voice strained but clear, speaking into the air around her.

The AI responded instantly. “Yes, Agent Romanoff?”

“Patch me through to Steve,” Natasha said, breathing through the contraction. “Loudspeaker. I need to talk to him.”

There was a brief pause before Friday spoke again. “Captain Rogers is currently on a mission in San Antonio. Would you like to override the—”

“Just do it!” Natasha interrupted, her usual calm composure cracking under the urgency of the moment. She needed Steve. Now.

“Connecting to Captain Rogers,” Friday’s smooth voice echoed through the hall as they approached the elevators.

A few tense seconds passed, Wanda still guiding Natasha toward the med bay with steady hands. Then, Steve’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker, faint at first, like he was in the middle of something. “Nat? I’m kind of in the middle of—”

“Steve,” Natasha cut him off, her voice shaking slightly as another contraction gripped her. She clenched her fists, forcing herself to stay upright as she spoke. “The baby’s coming.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, then Steve’s voice came back, sharper, more focused now. “Wait—what? Now?”

“Now,” Natasha breathed out, leaning a little more heavily on Wanda as they turned a corner. “My water just broke. I’m heading to the med bay.”

“Nat, I—damn it.” Steve sounded flustered for a split second, then there was a rustling sound like he was moving, probably sprinting wherever he was. “I’m coming back. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

Natasha let out a shaky breath, trying to fight through another wave of pain. “You better be, Rogers. I’m not doing this without you.”

“I’m on my way,” he promised, his voice urgent. “Just… hold on, okay? I’ll be there.”

Natasha managed a small, breathless laugh, though it was strained with effort. “I’ll try… but you better get your ass back here. Don’t make me do this without you.”

“You won’t have to,” Steve said, his tone soft but full of determination. “I’m coming. I promise, Nat. Just hang in there.”

The loudspeaker cut off, and the hallway was quiet again, save for Natasha’s labored breathing and the sound of their footsteps. Wanda tightened her grip on Natasha, offering her silent support as they continued down the corridor.

“He’ll be here,” Wanda said softly, glancing at Natasha with a reassuring look.

“Yeah,” Natasha replied, her voice barely a whisper. “He better be.”

As Wanda and Natasha rounded the final corner, the doors to the med bay slid open with a soft hiss. Inside, Helen Cho and Bruce Banner were already waiting, their expressions focused but calm. A few nurses were standing beside them, preparing the room for the impending delivery. The air was thick with tension, but it was the kind of calm urgency that always surrounded the Avengers in times of crisis. 

Ava Orlova stood by the doorway, breathing heavily as if she had sprinted all the way back to the med bay after gathering everyone. Her eyes were wide with both concern and a hint of pride, clearly impressed with how fast she’d managed to bring the medical team together. 

“Natasha,” Helen called out softly, stepping forward. “We’re ready for you. Just take it easy now, we’ve got you.”

Wanda gently helped Natasha over to the bed as Bruce came up beside Helen, his brow furrowed but calm as he assessed the situation. The nurses, with efficient precision, moved around them, preparing the room and the equipment for what was about to come.

“Nat, you’re doing great,” Bruce said reassuringly, his voice soft as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to get you comfortable, and then we’ll take it from here.”

Natasha, still trying to manage her breathing through the contractions, gave a short nod, her face tight with pain but determined as ever. She climbed onto the bed with Wanda and Helen’s help, groaning as another contraction hit, even stronger than the last.

One of the nurses quickly came over and helped Natasha get out of the clothes she was in and into a hospital gown. Wanda helped easily, not shying away at Natasha’s naked body, although Bruce did have the decency to turn while she changed. Another nurse adjusted the bed, raising it slightly to make her more comfortable as the last nurse was already moving around, prepping monitors and gathering supplies.

Helen leaned over the bed, her face softening as she met Natasha’s eyes. “Let’s get you prepped and ready. We’ll keep a close eye on everything, but from what I’m seeing, this little one is eager to meet you.”

Natasha managed a breathless laugh, though it was strained with the pain. “Yeah… he’s a little too eager if you ask me.”

Ava stood by the doorway, watching everything unfold with wide eyes, clearly trying not to get in the way but wanting to be nearby, just in case. Her breathing had finally steadied, and she looked more in awe than anything else.

The nurses worked quickly, helping Natasha adjust into a more comfortable position on the bed while they hooked her up to the necessary equipment, monitoring her and the baby’s vitals. Helen and Bruce exchanged a quick glance, both nodding in silent agreement as they took over the situation.

Bruce smiled down at Natasha, his tone soft but professional. “You’re in good hands, Nat. Helen and I will be right here the whole time.”

Wanda stood beside Natasha’s bed, her hand resting on Natasha’s arm, silently offering her strength. “You’ve got this, Nat,” she whispered, her gaze full of quiet reassurance.

Natasha gritted her teeth as another contraction came, her hand gripping the edge of the bed as the intensity increased. “Steve better be here soon,” she muttered through clenched teeth, half in pain, half in frustration.

Helen gave her a small, understanding smile. “We’ll do what we can, but this little one might not wait for him. We’ll make sure you’re okay either way.”

Natasha let out a long, shaky breath, nodding slightly, though her mind was clearly still focused on Steve’s promise to return. She didn’t want to do this without him—but, as always, she was prepared to face it head-on.

One hour later….

An hour had passed, and the med bay had settled into a tense rhythm. The nurses moved quietly around the room, monitoring the machines, adjusting the blankets, and checking in on Natasha, who was now breathing through increasingly intense contractions. Bruce and Helen remained close, observing her vitals with steady, reassuring presence. Wanda was right by Natasha’s side, letting her hand be crushed for the moment as Natasha worked through contractions, knowing that Steve’s hand would be getting the brunt of it soon.

Helen glanced at the monitor and then at Natasha, her expression calm but serious. "You’re doing great, Natasha. But you’re still only at 7 centimeters—three to go before we can start pushing."

Natasha let out a frustrated sigh, her head falling back against the pillow. The pain was relentless now, each contraction feeling like it was drawing every ounce of strength from her. She’d been through so much in her life, but this… this was another level entirely.

“Three more,” Natasha groaned, trying to breathe through the discomfort. She glanced at Wanda, who gave her a small, encouraging smile and patted her hand.

Natasha's mind instantly went to Steve. She needed to know where he was, how close he was. “Friday,” Natasha called out, her voice hoarse with effort. “Give me an update on Steve.”

Friday’s voice came through the room in its usual calm, measured tone. “Captain Rogers, along with Mr. Wilson and Agent Montogmery, is currently flying over Pennsylvania in the quinjet. Estimated time of arrival at the compound is 20 minutes.”

Natasha nodded, a hint of relief flashing across her face despite the overwhelming pain. “Good,” she whispered. “He’ll make it.”

Just as the words left her mouth, the doors to the med bay slid open with a whoosh, and in strode Tony Stark, unmistakable in his usual confident swagger. He had a grin plastered across his face, but his eyes were soft, and despite his usual charm, there was genuine concern beneath it all.

"Well, look who's about to join the world—Baby Captain America," Tony said, walking straight toward Natasha's bed. "Or is it going to be little Black Widow? Or here’s an idea, Captain Widow. I should trademark that now.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at his dramatic entrance, but there was a trace of a smile on her lips as she shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable through another contraction. “Tony,” she muttered, though her voice was filled with a mix of annoyance and gratitude. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”

Tony shrugged, glancing around the room before giving a nod to Bruce and Helen, who acknowledged him with small smiles of their own. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for the big moments.” His gaze softened as it landed on her again. “You hanging in there?”

“I’m doing just fine,” Natasha said, though her breath hitched as another contraction gripped her. She squeezed Wanda’s hand, fighting to stay composed. “Well, as fine as you can be when a human is trying to claw its way out of you.”

Tony winced, clearly trying to imagine the pain. “Yeah, I’ll leave that part to you. You’re tougher than all of us combined, Nat.” He leaned against the side of her bed, his expression shifting to something more genuine. “I know Rogers is on his way. You need another person to help keep you company till he gets here?”

Natasha, still catching her breath, glanced over at him. His usual arrogance was nowhere to be found, just the comforting presence of someone she trusted. “Yeah,” she said, the edge in her voice softening. “I wouldn’t mind the distraction.”

Tony gave her a mock salute. “Distraction coming right up. And hey, look at it this way—this kid’s going to have an entrance no one will forget. Pepper has gathered everyone else in the waiting room right now and is keeping them entertained and updated with appropriate updates from Friday.” He grinned, but the warmth in his eyes showed that he was here for more than just jokes.

Natasha smiled faintly despite the pain. “Just make sure that entrance doesn’t involve any of your tech exploding in the delivery room.”

Tony raised his hands defensively. “I promise, no explosions today. Just moral support and maybe a few bad jokes. But if you want something built for the baby, I’m your guy.”

Natasha laughed softly, though it quickly turned into a wince as another contraction hit. She gripped Wanda’s hand, closing her eyes for a moment, letting the wave pass. Tony stood there quietly, not pushing, just letting her work through the pain, knowing she didn’t need constant attention—just someone to be there.

“Good thing Rogers will be here soon,” Tony said after a pause. “Wouldn’t want him to miss the party.”

Natasha nodded, her breathing still heavy but more controlled now. “He’ll be here,” she said quietly, her voice full of both hope and determination. “He promised.”

And if there was one thing she knew about Steve, it was that he always kept his promises.

30 minutes later….

The room was filled with a tense silence, the kind that clung to the air and made it hard to breathe. Natasha lay on the hospital bed, the reality of labor pressing down on her with each contraction. She had been focusing on the rhythmic sound of her breath, counting the seconds between waves of pain, when she heard the unmistakable sound of the door swinging open.

“Nat!” Steve's voice broke through the tension like a lifeline. 

Her heart soared at the sight of him, the world outside fading into the background. Ignoring the contractions and the pain that had been her constant companion for what felt like hours, she managed a smile, her eyes shining with relief and joy. “Steve!” 

He rushed to her side, taking her hand in his, and she felt an overwhelming rush of warmth. All the worry, the frustration, and the fear vanished in an instant. “I was worried I wouldn’t make it in time,” he admitted, his voice laced with concern. 

“Nothing matters now. You’re here,” she whispered, squeezing his hand tightly. The connection between them was electric, grounding her amidst the chaos. 

Steve’s thumb stroked over the back of her hand, his eyes searching hers as if they were having an entire conversation in silence. “I’m here, Nat. I’m not going anywhere,” he promised, his gaze steady and reassuring.

Just then, Helen entered, her presence commanding attention. “Alright, Natasha, you’re ten centimeters dilated,” she announced with a clinical calm. “It’s time to move to the birthing room.”

Natasha felt a rush of adrenaline, her heart racing in tandem with the increasing urgency in Helen’s voice. “Now?” she gasped, glancing at Steve.

“Now,” Helen confirmed, already motioning for the nurses to prepare. “Let’s get you ready.”

As the nurses carefully rolled her bed toward the door, Wanda and Tony appeared, smiles on their faces but concern in their eyes. “Good luck, Natasha,” Wanda said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Yeah, you’ve got this,” Tony added, giving her a thumbs-up. “Can’t wait to meet the little guy.”

Steve stood by her side, his presence a steady anchor. “I love you,” he said, locking eyes with her as they moved through the corridor.

“I love you too,” she breathed, feeling the strength of his support bolstering her for the challenge ahead.

Once they reached the birthing room, the atmosphere shifted to one of intense focus. Steve quickly changed into a sterile gown, the fabric crinkling as he slipped it over his frame. He returned to her side, taking her hand once more, their fingers intertwined like they were meant to be. 

“Just focus on me,” he murmured, his voice low and soothing. “You’re so strong, Natasha. You can do this.”

Natasha nodded, drawing strength from his unwavering gaze. She could do this. With Steve beside her, nothing felt impossible. As the first wave of labor washed over her again, she gripped his hand tighter, already prepping to break it with the pain that was to come.

The birthing room was a whirlwind of activity, filled with the beeping of machines and the soft murmur of medical staff moving about. Natasha lay on the delivery bed, sweat glistening on her forehead, her breathing ragged and uneven as the contractions intensified. 

“Okay, Natasha, it’s time to push!” Helen instructed, her voice firm but encouraging.

Natasha grit her teeth, the pain surging through her like wildfire. She pushed with all her might, feeling the pressure build and swell, but the relief she sought was still just out of reach. “Fuck!” she cursed, her voice strained. “This is fucking ridiculous!” 

“Just breathe, Natasha. Focus,” Steve urged, his hand still tightly clasped around hers. He watched her, admiration etched on his features despite the tension of the moment. 

With each push, the pain became a merciless beast, gnawing at her resolve. “I swear, if I ever do this again, I’m going to—” she huffed, another contraction rolling over her. “ Mat’, chert voz’mi, sukin syn !”

“Natasha,” Steve chuckled softly, trying to lighten the atmosphere, “save the Russian curses for later!”

“Are you really fucking talking right now!?” she shot back, gritting her teeth as she pushed again. The pain was relentless, and she could feel the sweat soaking through her hair, her body trembling from the effort. “You’re the one who got me into this Rogers, I will say what I fucking please!”

“Almost there, Natasha! Just a few more,” Helen encouraged, her voice steady amidst the chaos. “You’re doing great.”

After what felt like an eternity—one hour of pushing that seemed to stretch on forever—Natasha finally felt the change, the burning sensation easing into something more manageable. “I can’t—” she gasped, breathing heavily, feeling a rush of determination surge through her. “I’m not done yet!”

“Just one more big push, Nat,” Steve said, leaning close to her, his voice a steady anchor. “You’ve got this.”

With everything she had left, Natasha bore down again, feeling the baby shift and descend. “Come on!” she cried out, her voice fierce as she gave it everything she had. 

And then, with a final, powerful push, it happened. A loud, wailing cry filled the room, cutting through the fog of exhaustion and pain. Natasha felt an overwhelming rush of emotion, tears springing to her eyes as Helen held up the tiny baby boy, his face scrunched up and wailing like he was already letting the world know he was here.

“It’s a boy!” Helen announced, her voice bright with excitement.

Natasha collapsed back against the pillows, her body drenched in sweat, utterly exhausted but overwhelmed with relief and joy. “I did it,” she gasped, panting heavily.

“You were incredible,” Steve said, his eyes shining with pride as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”

Natasha closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the sweet moment of victory. She had actually done it. The Red Room said it was impossible, but with Steve, she had successfully brought life into this world. Healthy, pure, life.

As Helen had Steve cut the cord and carefully took the baby to the examination table, Natasha’s heart raced with anticipation. “Can I see him?” she asked, her voice shaky with emotion.

“Just a moment,” Helen said, gently checking the baby before bringing him back to Natasha. “He’s healthy and perfect.”

Steve’s hand slipped around Natasha’s shoulder, and together they gazed at their son, the tiny boy now bundled up in a soft blanket. He already has wisps of red hair on his head, but his features reminded her a lot of Steve already. Natasha couldn’t help but smile, her heart swelling with love. 

“Hey there, moy rebenok ,” she said softly, tears spilling down her cheeks as she looked into his wide, curious eyes. “Welcome to the world.”

Steve pressed a kiss to her temple, wrapping his arms around her as they both stared at their new son. “Little James Francis Romanoff-Rogers. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Just Rogers,” Natasha corrected, looking up at Steve. “I plan to have your last name soon enough anyway, no reason not to have ours all be the same.”

Steve gave her the biggest smile that he had ever given her, and leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, which Natasha returned with as much energy as she could. After they broke their kiss, they both turned back to watching their son.

With exhaustion threatening to pull her under, Natasha felt an overwhelming sense of peace wash over her. After a bit the most amazing thing happened. Little James tentatively opened his eyes for the first time to look at his parents, and his eyes were the same shade of vibrant green as Natasha’s were. Natasha knew at this point that her whole world was in this room, and that was okay with her.

Chapter Text

September 7th, 2014
Avengers Compound

The first month of parenthood had been a whirlwind for Natasha and Steve in their apartment at the compound. They had transformed the extra bedroom into a cozy nursery, filled with soft lighting, a carefully chosen crib, and quiet, nature-themed decor. Despite all their planning, the nursery’s charm hadn’t yet translated to peaceful nights, as their baby, James, seemed to have his own ideas about when to sleep.

Late-night wake-ups became their new norm. Natasha, though used to soldiering through the night, was surprised by the bone-deep exhaustion that came with soothing a wailing infant. Steve took the lead on rocking James to sleep, often pacing the apartment until he found himself nodding off, only to be stirred by James's cries. They’d swap off duties, bleary-eyed and leaning on each other for support, Natasha took the late night feedings and Steve did the diaper changes, growing a new understanding of “teamwork.”

Daytime brought its own challenges. Terra had stepped up big time and led the Avengers through their training, and thank God there hadn’t been any big mission yet, but Steve still usually did some morning cardio work with the team. An indulgence Natasha allowed him because she got her own downtime to take a bath or shower alone for an hour to relax and Steve watched James then, she would much rather workout, but she had a couple weeks yet till her six week post-delivery follow up and she wouldn’t be cleared for anything until then. Their fellow Avengers pitched in when they could; Tony even surprised them with a high-tech baby monitor and “soundproofed” the nursery door after hearing the 3 a.m. meltdowns. Natasha and Steve learned on the fly how to manage James’s temperament, dealing with everything from fussiness during bottle-feeding to a persistent preference for being held.

Despite the exhaustion, every smile and coo from James made it worthwhile. Steve marveled at Natasha’s tenderness, and she at his natural strength and patience, forming a bond that deepened with each passing day. Through sleepless nights and all the unglamorous firsts, they knew this new life, challenges and all, was exactly where they were meant to be.

Morning sunlight streamed softly through the kitchen as Natasha, in Steve’s old army t-shirt and a pair of well-worn sweatpants, tossed a handful of berries into the blender. She added a banana, some yogurt, and juice, hoping the fruit smoothie would give her enough energy to make it through the morning without too much yawning. She was well past exhausted, but the quiet hum of the compound felt comforting. In the living room, Wanda cradled James, rocking him gently and cooing back to his tiny babbles.

From the TV in the living room, a press conference flickered to life on the screen. Natasha carried her smoothie in and sat on the couch next to Wanda to watch, letting her have some godmother time with James.

Terra, Sam, and Steve were front and center, Steve looking just as polished in his suit as always, though Natasha could sense the same exhaustion in his eyes. As the cameras clicked and the murmurs of the press died down, Steve adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat, a small, reserved smile softening his usually steadfast expression. “Thank you all for being here today,” he began, glancing briefly at Terra and Sam beside him, a quiet strength in his posture.

"I know there’s been a lot of speculation over the past few weeks,” he continued, “and I appreciate your patience as we’ve taken this time out of the public eye. I’m here today to share that, a month ago, Natasha and I welcomed our son, James, into the world.” He paused, his expression shifting with pride and something much deeper—a new sense of purpose. “It’s been a huge, incredible change for us, and we needed this time to focus on our family, to settle into these new roles and adjust to a quieter, and sometimes much louder,” he chuckled, “kind of mission."

He looked back at Terra, giving a grateful nod. “Thankfully, with Terra stepping in as captain, and with the support of our amazing team, we were able to take a few weeks to focus on Natasha’s recovery and to bond as a family.”

He then addressed the crowd directly, his gaze unwavering. “We wanted to give James the privacy and protection that every family deserves, especially in these first days of life. We know people have questions and concerns, and while we’ll be keeping some things private, we’re also committed to staying transparent about our roles as both parents and as Avengers.”

Wanda watched with a grin, her gaze flicking between the screen and Natasha. “Look at him up there, Captain Dad. Bet he’s as nervous for this as any mission.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, though there was a fond smile on her face. “He’s probably more worried about accidentally calling me a ‘glowing new mom.’” She took a sip of the smoothie, sighing at the familiar tartness of the berries. “If he’s smart, he’ll keep things to the facts.”

Wanda chuckled, looking back to James, who was reaching up to pat her face. “Oh, I don’t know. I think he’s doing pretty well for a guy who’s basically facing a battalion of cameras.”

As they watched, Terra took over the microphone, adding a few words about the Avengers team taking on extra duties to support Steve and Natasha. Natasha’s heart warmed at the mention of the team stepping up, and she gave Wanda a tired but grateful smile.

Then Friday’s voice chimed in, breaking the quiet moment. “Agent Romanoff, you have an incoming call.”

Natasha let out a sigh, casting a look at Wanda. “Perfect timing. Right when things were getting interesting.” 

Wanda grinned, still bouncing James lightly. “Want me to answer and scare them off?”

Natasha smirked, shaking her head. “Tempting, but I should probably take it. If they ask for baby photos, though, they’ll get a very sleep-deprived refusal.” 

Natasha settled onto the couch, smoothing her hair back with a sigh as she answered the call over the loudspeaker. Wanda adjusted James on her lap, keeping quiet as the name on the screen blinked: Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, U.S. Secretary of State..

"Romanoff," Ross’s voice growled, already laden with irritation. “You know, we’ve been very patient. And what is the first announcement we hear from the Avengers on this. A press conference to the whole world. We’ve waited a whole month, and yet here we are—still in the dark.”

“Good morning, Secretary Ross,” Natasha replied coolly. “I’m sure it’s hard to catch up on the news when we’re actively not listening to the press conference and having this conversation.”

Ross ignored her, his tone tightening. “I think you know what I mean. I’m talking about your son. The U.S. government isn’t going to stand idly by while one of the Avengers goes off the grid and introduces a child to the team—especially when we have no information on his… biological makeup. You’re aware of our concerns with transparency, Natasha. We want full blood work on record and a complete list of any serums that might be in play here.”

Natasha’s posture stiffened. “You want blood work on an infant. My infant. For what, exactly? So you can satisfy some paranoid suspicion that I’m creating a miniature super-soldier? His medical records are private, Ross. Period.”

“That’s not your call to make. We need to know what we’re dealing with here,” Ross pressed. “Given your history, the classified records on you and Rogers, the potential risks—this goes far beyond your need for privacy.”

Natasha let out a dark laugh. “This coming from the man who trusted me to keep some of the shadiest files in the history of SHIELD locked down? You want to get into my son’s blood work, yet you forget I’ve already dumped your secrets once, Secretary. You think I won’t do it again?”

Ross’s voice turned icier. “A threat, is it?”

“Just a reminder,” Natasha shot back, her tone deadly calm. “While I did release SHIELD’s secrets to the public, a lot of it’s still encrypted. Including certain high-clearance files from missions I ran for you personally. Might interest you to know that WikiLeaks would love to help me unencrypt a few of those… incident reports.”

Ross let out a low, frustrated sigh. “Enough with the games, Natasha. You’re supposed to be a liaison, to be transparent. And yet here you are, dodging your duty—”

“My duty,” she interrupted, voice steely, “is to protect my family. And I’ve done enough for this government to have earned a shred of privacy for my child. This isn’t a negotiation.”

The line went silent for a moment, Ross’s frustration almost palpable. Finally, he spoke, his voice dark and unyielding. “Fine, Romanoff. But mark my words—something’s coming. And when it does, you’d better be ready.”

The call ended with a sharp click, leaving Natasha in heavy silence. Wanda glanced at her, a quiet look of support in her eyes as Natasha took a deep, steadying breath, her jaw still clenched with lingering anger.

“So… that was Ross,” Wanda said, her voice carefully neutral, though a trace of concern flickered in her eyes. “The one that had chased Bruce basically to the ends of the Earth Ross?”

“Yep,” Natasha replied, running a hand over her face. “Same old Thunderbolt Ross, prying where he doesn’t belong and issuing thinly veiled threats. The fact that the current administration let him rise to Secretary of State is maddening. I wouldn’t bring that up around Terra or Bruce.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow, tilting her head thoughtfully. “He’s relentless, isn’t he? The way he was talking—sounded like he’s more paranoid than ever. He’s really that desperate to know more about James?”

Natasha scoffed, crossing her arms. “As if it’s any of his business. James’s health is between us and our doctor. But to Ross, the kid’s apparently some sort of ‘national concern.’” She shook her head, frustration etched in her expression. “He can’t stand that we’ve kept something out of his reach.”

Wanda nodded, her expression turning serious. “And then there was that last part. ‘Something is coming.’ What do you think he meant?”

Natasha’s eyes darkened, and she shook her head, a faint unease stirring beneath her irritation. “Honestly? I have no idea. But if Ross is involved, it’s bound to be trouble. He doesn’t make threats like that unless he’s already set something in motion.”

October 31st, 2014
Avengers Compound

The compound buzzed with festive energy as the Avengers and their friends gathered for the Halloween party, an event Tony insisted on hosting to “inject some spooky spirit” into the usually serious headquarters. The main lounge was transformed with string lights, fake cobwebs, and carved pumpkins that glowed warmly around the room. In the center, a DJ spun Halloween classics, while tables were decked out with an assortment of sweets, snacks, and more than a few questionable punch bowls Tony had clearly “upgraded.”

Natasha sat on one of the couches with James in her arms, the tiniest pumpkin costume snug around him, complete with a tiny green stem hat that bobbled every time he moved. She wore a classic black catsuit, her face painted with subtle whiskers, and she had clipped on a tail and cat ears to complete the look. Natasha caught Steve’s eye, who stood nearby dressed as a dashing 1940s pilot, his costume a clever nod to his roots. They exchanged a smile, the sight of James’s wide-eyed wonder at the bright lights making her heart swell.

Tony sauntered through the crowd, dressed as a mad scientist in a lab coat splattered with fluorescent paint, oversized goggles perched on his head, and wild “electric shock” hair sticking up in every direction. He laughed, gesturing with beakers full of mysterious “potions,” which Pepper—who looked radiant in a fairy costume, complete with sparkling wings and a floral crown—eyed with an affectionate yet wary smile.

Bruce had embraced the holiday spirit fully, transforming into Frankenstein's monster with green face paint and bolts attached to his neck, which he couldn’t stop fidgeting with. Beside him, Terra, who took Halloween seriously, wore a dazzling pirate captain’s outfit complete with a tricorn hat, a faux saber, and plenty of shiny costume jewelry. She kept Bruce entertained with her playful swashbuckling, taking on her role with gusto.

Sam, ever the comedian, had come as a very sparkly disco ball, his outfit covered in reflective sequins that caught the light at every angle, much to everyone’s amusement. He leaned against the snack table, cracking jokes with Rhodes, who had donned a sleek vampire outfit, complete with a cape and fangs that he kept flashing at people while dramatically raising his drink in a sinister salute.

In one corner, Helen Cho and Maria Hill laughed together, both dressed as classic witches in matching pointy hats and capes, complete with a couple of enchanted props from Tony’s lab. Maria raised her “wand” in salute to Natasha, winking as she made the end sparkle with a faint purple glow. Helen pointed her “spellbook” at Sam and muttered a mock incantation, causing him to twirl around and strike a pose with a gleeful grin.

Wanda and Pietro took a thematic approach, coming as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Wanda’s red hooded cloak flowed elegantly as she moved, while Pietro’s wolf mask and furry suit made him the hit of the party—especially when he threw himself into character, growling playfully and chasing Wanda around to everyone’s delight. Vision, meanwhile, was dressed in an impeccable 19th-century vampire outfit, complete with a black suit, cape, and subtle fangs, standing stoically but enjoying himself as he took in the energy of the room.

Natasha sat on the couch, a relaxed smile on her face as she held James, who was enthralled by the lively sights and sounds around him. He was completely mesmerized by the flickering lights and the hum of activity, tiny hands clutching his pumpkin costume as his eyes darted around with fascination. Just then, Pepper and Terra strolled over, both with warm, excited smiles, holding cups of cider and looking ready to catch up.

Pepper was first to lean in, her fairy wings rustling slightly as she reached out a hand to stroke James’s cheek. “Nat, he is absolutely precious. Look at those eyes!” she cooed, glancing up at Natasha with a soft grin. “How’s it been, really? We’ve all been dying to hear about these first couple of months.”

Natasha chuckled, shifting James a little so he could see Pepper and Terra up close. “It’s… an adventure,” she admitted, laughing lightly. “Turns out, sleep isn’t as optional as I thought. He’s decided that’s more of a luxury.”

Terra shared a knowing look. “Oh, I can imagine,” she said. “Steve talked about it a bit during the meetings we’ve had and the training. I believe his exact words were a blur of late-night feedings and diaper changes.”

“That sounds like a whole new level of chaos,” Pepper quipped, smirking.

“Exactly,” Terra replied, leaning closer. “And you, Nat? How are you holding up with everything?”

Natasha took a deep breath, her smile turning a bit wry. “Honestly, it’s a lot. I knew it would be different—just didn’t know how different. Between the late-night feedings, his unpredictable naps, and the endless parade of laundry, I feel like my life’s been… transformed.”

Terra nodded, giving Natasha’s arm a gentle squeeze. “Well, you’re doing great. Just look at him—he’s happy, healthy, and probably the cutest little pumpkin I’ve ever seen.”

Natasha smiled as she watched James gurgle happily, mesmerized by the decorations around him. 

Pepper reached over with a mischievous grin. “Nat, why don’t you hand him over to us for a bit? We can take him to look at the decorations up close. You and Steve get to relax and enjoy the party for a minute.”

Natasha hesitated, glancing at James, who seemed perfectly at ease in her arms. But then she looked at Terra, at her warm smile and eager expression, and she felt a wave of gratitude wash over her. “Okay,” she relented, carefully passing James to Pepper, who cradled him like a natural, immediately rocking him gently.

“There we go, little pumpkin,” Pepper whispered, her face lighting up as she swayed back and forth. Terra gave Natasha a playful salute. “Captain Pumpkin’s on a tour of the festivities,” she declared, nudging Pepper. “He’s going to love those jack-o’-lanterns.”

Natasha watched them as they wandered away, giving James a full view of the lights, decorations, and the friendly faces around them. Leaning back, she took a sip of her drink and felt a rare moment of peace settle over her. Steve appeared beside her a moment later, draping an arm around her shoulder.

“Got a minute to catch your breath?” he asked, glancing over at James and smiling.

“Yeah,” she replied softly, resting her head against his shoulder. “It’s nice to take a moment amidst all the chaos.”

Steve chuckled, his eyes scanning the room. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many jack-o’-lanterns in one place. The compound looks amazing.”

“Right? The decorations are on point,” Natasha said, stifling a laugh as she spotted a few Avengers competing to see who could carve the most elaborate pumpkin. “I just saw Sam trying to convince Tony to join him in a pumpkin carving contest.”

Steve shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “I’d pay to see that. I can only imagine how competitive they’d get.”

“Definitely,” Natasha laughed. “But speaking of Sam, I’ve been thinking—we should set him up with Maria tonight.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, it’s totally obvious that he’s got the hots for her,” Natasha replied, her smile widening. “He’s always trying to impress her, like when he shows off his flying skills or makes those ridiculous jokes. It’s adorable.”

“I’ve noticed he seems to light up when she’s around,” Steve said, nodding. “You think we should get him to ask her out?”

“Absolutely! He just needs a little push,” Natasha said, her enthusiasm bubbling over. “We could get them together tonight 

“Sounds like a plan,” Steve agreed, chuckling. “I can already hear him trying to come up with the perfect line to sweep her off her feet.”

“Okay,” Natasha said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “We need a plan to get Sam and Maria together tonight.”

Steve grinned, leaning closer. “I’m all ears. What do you have in mind?”

“First, we need to find a way to get them both in the same place at the same time,” Natasha suggested, her mind racing. “How about the games? I saw they have a bobbing for apples station. It’s messy, and it could be fun.”

“Perfect! Sam would never back down from a challenge,” Steve replied, nodding enthusiastically. “And Maria loves a bit of competition.”

“Exactly. I can already hear Sam bragging about how he’s the ‘apple-bobbing champion,’” Natasha chuckled. “But we have to make sure Maria is there to see it.”

“Why don’t we suggest a little friendly competition?” Steve suggested, a glint in his eye. “We could invite both of them to team up against us. That way, they’ll be forced to work together.”

Natasha smiled, impressed. “I like it. But we need to make it seem spontaneous. If they think we’re orchestrating it, it might make them nervous.”

“Agreed. How about we casually mention the apple-bobbing game while we’re talking to them?” Steve said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Then we can ‘accidentally’ challenge them to a duel, boys vs girls.”

“Perfect! And while they’re bobbing for apples, we can stand back and play cheerleaders,” Natasha said, her excitement growing. “We’ll be supportive friends, yelling encouragement and making sure they notice each other.”

“I can already picture it,” Steve grinned. “Sam’s going to be so focused on winning, he won’t even realize what’s happening until it’s too late.”

“Right? And Maria won’t know what hit her,” Natasha added, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Plus, if things go well, we can give them a little nudge afterward. Maybe suggest a post-game snack? Just the two of them?”

“Now that’s the spirit,” Steve said, laughing. “This is going to be great.”

“Let’s do this,” Natasha whispered, a grin spreading across her face.

“Hey, Sam!” Steve called out, sauntering over with Natasha at his side. “Are you up for a little friendly competition?”

Sam turned, curiosity lighting up his face. “What’s going on? What kind of competition?”

Natasha leaned in, her tone light and playful. “We were thinking of a bobbing for apples challenge—boys vs. girls. What do you say?”

Sam raised an eyebrow, the competitive spark in his eyes igniting. “You’re on! But we’re short one if you want a teammate, Natasha.”

“Looks like you’re right,” Natasha said. “Let me find someone.”

Natasha went through the motions of scanning the room to try and find someone and then landing on Maria.

“Hill,” Natasha called out, playfully. “Get your ass over here.”

Maria, who was chatting nearby, turned at Natasha’s call. “What’s up?”

“We’re having a bobbing for apples competition,” Natasha explained, grinning. “Boys vs girls. You and me versus Steve and Sam. You in?”

Maria’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Absolutely! Let’s show you guys how it’s done.”

“Perfect! Team girls will dominate,” Natasha said, her confidence radiating. “Get ready to lose, boys!”

Steve chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “Not if we have anything to say about it. You ladies are going down!”

As they made their way to the bobbing station, Natasha felt a rush of anticipation. The makeshift trough was filled with floating apples, surrounded by cheering friends eager to witness the showdown. Tony had also noticed the chaos and immediately made his way over, designating himself as referee for the game.

“On the count of three!” Tony shouted, the excitement clear on his face. “One… two… three!”

They all plunged their heads into the water, laughter erupting around them. Sam and Steve were quick to dive in, their competitive nature shining through as they splashed around, while Natasha and Maria mirrored their energy with equal enthusiasm.

“Come on, girls! Show them what you’ve got!” Natasha heard Terra cheer, her voice ringing out over the chaos, as she and Pepper came over with James.

Maria grinned, bobbing her head in the water, determined to snag as many apples as she could. “This is just like training—focus and precision!”

Natasha pulled her head out, a gleaming apple in her teeth, and placed it in their bucket. “And there’s one. Admitting defeat now will be so much easier.”

“Not if I can help it!” Sam shouted back, his voice muffled as he plunged his head into the water again, his competitive spirit fully engaged. 

“Keep it up! At least you’ll have fun losing!” Maria teased, pulling out another apple triumphantly.

As the minute came to a close, both teams surfaced, gasping for breath, cheeks flushed with laughter. “How many did we get?” Sam asked, glancing between Natasha and Maria, his competitive edge still intact.

“Seven, a very impressive number” Natasha exclaimed, holding up their apples proudly. “What about you?”

“Uh, we got… seven too,” Steve admitted, trying to mask the conspiracy in their actions as disappointment. “Looks like we need a tiebreaker!”

“Looks like we have a tie!” Tony announced, clapping his hands together. “And what better way to settle it than a final showdown?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, a grin spreading across her face as their plan was going flawlessly. “What do you have in mind?”

“How about a one-on-one bobbing for apples challenge?” Tony suggested. “Maria versus Sam. One apple, winner takes all.”

Maria’s eyes sparkled with determination. “You’re on, Sam! Ready to lose?”

“Not a chance,” Sam shot back, grinning. “I hope you’re ready for this!”

The crowd parted as they moved back to the trough, cheers and playful taunts erupting around them. Natasha and Steve stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the spectacle unfold.

“Okay, you two,” Tony said, stepping in to set the ground rules. “One apple. Best of luck! On your marks… get set… go!” 

As soon as the signal was given, both competitors dove into the trough, faces submerged in water. The crowd erupted into cheers, watching closely as they scrambled for the lone apple floating tantalizingly at the center.

Sam emerged first, eyes wide with determination, his head thrashing in the water as he dove back down. Maria was right behind him, her competitive spirit ignited. She focused, reaching for the apple while Sam tried to get there first.

“Come on, Maria!” Natasha shouted, her voice cutting through the noise. “You can do it!”

Sam’s teeth brushed the apple, but Maria managed to position herself just right, her competitive edge shining through as she reached out for the prize.

With one final splash, Maria lunged forward, her mouth closing around the apple just a split second before Sam could grab it. She pulled it out triumphantly, holding it in her teeth as water dripped down her face.

“Got it!” Maria shouted, laughing, her victory gleaming in her eyes.

Tony clapped his hands, a happy smile on his face. “Well done! Looks like the girls take the win!”

Sam pulled himself up, laughing, his cheeks flushed with exhilaration. “Okay, I’ll admit, that was impressive. You really had me there!”

Maria grinned back, her victory sweet. “I’ll take that compliment, thank you very much.”

Steve and Natasha watched as Sam and Maria kept talking and eventually went over to dry off and get a drink together, plan working to perfection as Natasha relished in the time she had. Terra and Pepper brought James back over and Natasha held her boy in her arms as he was drifting off to sleep and Natasha and Steve decided to call it a night, being the best Halloween Natasha had in a long time.

November 19th, 2014
Washington D.C.

The early morning sun streamed through the car windows as Natasha navigated the familiar streets of Washington, D.C. The vibrant city felt alive around her, yet she remained focused on the road ahead, her heart fluttering with excitement and a hint of nerves. 

It was a week away from Thanksgiving, and Natasha knew she and Steve, along with Ava, Wanda, and Pietro were going to the Bartons this year. However, the team was away in Ecuador on a mission at the moment. She had been cleared for light workouts at this point, and was doing daily yoga and cardio, but she wasn’t cleared for physical training yet, let alone missions.

So, she had seized the opportunity for a special trip, one that she wouldn’t tell Steve about, but she had some questions and felt like this meeting was necessary.

The hum of the engine was soothing, and James was riding quiet from the backseat, his little eyes watching the toys that hung above his car seat. She stole a glance in the rearview mirror, her heart swelling with affection at the sight of him, dressed in his favorite little onesie adorned with tiny superheroes.

“Almost there, buddy,” she murmured, a smile crossing her lips. “You’re going to love meeting her.”

She pulled up to the ordinary looking nursing home and stopped the car, looking out the window at it, knowing who was inside. She took a breath and gathered herself, and stepped out of the car. She went around and unbuckled the carrier from the car seat, not planning on lifting James out until they were inside the room, and grabbed the diaper bag and headed inside.

She entered the nursing home and went over to the check in counter and the nurse that was there to sign in.

“Good morning,” Natasha greeted, her voice warm yet tinged with nervousness. “I’m here to see Peggy Carter.”

The nurse looked up, her smile friendly but curious. “And your name?”

“Natasha Romanoff,” Natasha replied, her heart racing slightly. She watched the nurse’s expression shift as recognition dawned.

“Oh of course” the nurse said, her eyes widening. “I’ve seen so much about you. I’m sorry—I didn’t realize who you were at first.”

Natasha waved her hand dismissively, her smile remaining genuine. “No need to apologize. I’m just here to see Peggy.”

“Right, right. Let me just check you in.” The nurse tapped at her computer, pulling up the information. “She’s in room 302. Just follow the signs down the hall, and you’ll find her.”

“Thank you,” Natasha said, feeling a rush of gratitude. She moved quickly down the corridor, tugging James’ bag over her as she tugged his carrier along.

Arriving at room 302, she paused, taking a deep breath to steady herself. This was a woman who had inspired so many, including Natasha herself. She knocked gently on the door and then pushed it open slowly.

Inside, Peggy sat in a chair by the window, sunlight filtering in and illuminating the room softly. Her hair was neatly styled, but there was a frailness about her that tugged at Natasha’s heart. As she stepped inside, Natasha felt a wave of emotion wash over her.

“Peggy?” Natasha called softly, moving closer.

Peggy turned her head, her eyes momentarily blank before flickering with recognition. “Hello,” she said, her voice weak but warm. “Who are you?”

“It’s me, Natasha. Natasha Romanoff,” she replied gently, setting James’ bag on the counter but still holding him in his carrier. “We’ve never met, but we have a person in common. I was hoping to come and see you.”

Peggy’s brow furrowed slightly, as if trying to grasp the name. “Ah, yes... Natasha. The fighter,” she murmured, a faint smile gracing her lips. “You’re Steve’s girl aren’t you? He talks about you so much.”

“Yes, exactly,” Natasha encouraged, her heart lifting a little. “How are you doing today?”

“Oh, I’m... I’m fine, dear. Just fine,” Peggy said, her voice trailing off as she looked out the window, her gaze unfocused. “Such a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Natasha agreed, following her gaze. “The flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining bright. I thought you might like some company.”

Peggy turned her head back toward Natasha, a flicker of clarity crossing her features. “Company is always nice,” she said softly. 

Natasha felt a warmth in her chest at Peggy’s response. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said gently, taking the opportunity to shift the conversation. “Because actually, I brought someone else with me today.”

She reached down to the carrier at her feet and carefully unbuckled James, cradling him in her arms. As she lifted him into view, Peggy’s eyes widened, and a soft smile spread across her face.

“Oh my, who is this?” Peggy asked, her voice gaining a touch of strength.

“This is James Francis Rogers,” Natasha introduced, holding him closer. “Mine and Steve’s son.”

“James,” Peggy repeated, her eyes lighting up with a mixture of joy and nostalgia. “What a lovely name. I assume after Sergeant Barnes, correct?.”

Natasha nodded, moving closer to let Peggy admire the baby. “Francis after my best friend Clint Barton,” she said, gently shifting James so that Peggy could see him better. “He brought me into SHIELD.”

“Oh I remember Barton,” Peggy murmured, her gaze tender. “Crazy man with the bow and arrow Look at those eyes and that hair, got those right from you. But otherwise, he’s almost a copy of Steve.”

Natasha chuckled softly, feeling a swell of pride. “And his stubbornness too.” She paused, her expression growing serious.

“I don’t want to dump things on you,” Natasha said. “But Steve and the team are away on mission and I want to ask so many questions and learn about you because you meant so much to Steve. I guess I’m just a little insecure postpartum.”

“Feel free to ask away my dear,” Peggy said, still looking over James’ features. “I happen to be a great listener and advice giver.”

Natasha smiled softly and then just dove right into it.

“Sometimes I worry, you know? About being a good mother, sure, but it goes deeper than that. I can’t help but think about your history with Steve. He always talks about you, and I wonder if I measure up.”

Peggy’s eyes remained focused on James, but her expression turned thoughtful. “It’s natural to feel that way, Natasha. Steve and I had something special, yes, but it was a different time. He’s a different man now.”

Natasha looked down, her heart heavy with doubt. “But I can’t shake the feeling that he loved you first. That he loved you in a way he can’t love me.”

Peggy turned her gaze to Natasha, her expression gentle but firm. “You’re wrong about that. Steve talks about you all the time. He’s never been happier than he is with you. The love he has for you is deeper and more profound than anything we ever had. Trust me, he wouldn’t have chosen you otherwise.”

Natasha felt a flicker of hope amidst her insecurities. “But how can you be so sure? I just feel like there’s always this shadow—your memory. Sometimes I worry he’ll compare us.”

“Natasha,” Peggy said softly, “I know Steve. He’s a man of the past, but he’s also a man of the present. He’s chosen to be with you because you’re the one he wants, and I can see how much he cherishes you. It’s not about comparing. It’s about building a life together now.”

Natasha swallowed hard, her emotions churning. “I just want to be enough for him. I don’t want to let him down.”

Peggy smiled gently, a motherly warmth radiating from her. “You’re more than enough. You are strong, caring, and capable. James will grow up knowing he has the best mother. And Steve loves you, Natasha. He loves you in a way that he could never love me.”

Natasha settled a bit after that, the big questions answered and relief washing over her, watching as Peggy lovingly gazed at James. “You know,” Natasha continued, figuring she was in this far she might as well keep going, her voice low, “I often wonder what kind of world we’re leaving for our children. With everything happening, it feels like we’re always fighting.”

Peggy nodded thoughtfully, her fingers gently stroking James’s tiny hand. “The world has always been complicated, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a difference. It’s the small moments, the love we share, that truly matter. Teach him compassion, resilience, and courage. Those traits will guide him through the storms.”

“I just hope he never has to fight the battles we did,” Natasha admitted, her voice thick with emotion. “I’ve seen too much, and I don’t want that for him.”

Peggy’s gaze softened, her voice steady. “You can’t shield him from everything, Natasha. But you can be his foundation. You can give him the tools he needs to navigate the world. The love you and Steve share will be his greatest strength.”

Natasha swallowed hard, appreciating Peggy’s wisdom. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m not doing enough. Like I’m not the kind of mother he deserves.”

“Every mother has those moments of doubt,” Peggy said, her eyes meeting Natasha’s with an understanding warmth. “What matters is that you show up for him, that you try your best. Your love is what will make the difference, not perfection.”

“Thank you for saying that. It helps to hear it from you,” Natasha said, a soft smile breaking through her worries.

Peggy paused for a moment, her expression shifting to something more serious. “You know, Natasha, it’s important to take care of yourself too. You carry a lot on your shoulders. Don’t forget to lean on Steve when you need to. You’re not in this alone.”

“I know, but sometimes it’s hard to let go. I want to be strong for him, for James, for everyone,” Natasha replied, her voice earnest.

“Strength comes in many forms. It’s not just about being tough; it’s about being vulnerable too. Allow yourself to feel, to rely on the people who love you,” Peggy encouraged, her eyes shining with sincerity.

Just as Natasha was about to respond, a nurse stepped into the room with a warm smile. “Excuse me, Ms. Romanoff, but I need to let you know that Peggy has an appointment coming up.”

Peggy looked up, her expression shifting slightly but still kind. “Oh, dear. I didn’t realize the time had passed so quickly.”

Natasha stood, moving closer to Peggy’s side. “I’m glad I got to see you today, Peggy. I’ll make sure to bring Steve and James next time.”

“I’d love that,” Peggy replied, her voice warm with affection. “You’re doing wonderfully, Natasha. Keep believing in yourself.”

Natasha felt a lump in her throat as she leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to James’s forehead. “Take care of yourself, Peggy. I’ll see you soon.”

As Peggy nodded, the nurse gently guided her towards the door. “I’ll see you next time, my dear,” Peggy said, her voice filled with warmth as she smiled at Natasha.

“Goodbye, Peggy,” Natasha replied softly, holding James in her arms as they left the room, getting the feeling that this would be the last time she saw Margaret Carter.

Chapter Text

May 5th, 2015
Lagos, Nigeria

Man, it was good to be back outside again. She knew that the circumstances could be better, but it was her first mission back after James had been born, and she was ready to stretch her legs. The last year was possibly the most eventful year of her life. 

The first major event after James’ birth was Bruce and Terra getting engaged. It had been a rare, peaceful holiday at the Avengers compound. The team had come together, not for a mission, but to celebrate the season. Clint even brought his family in from Iowa after the success of the semi-combined Thanksgiving, so the three kids got to explore the Compound and meet all of the heroes once more. The Compound had been decorated with lights and garlands, the smell of pine mingling with gingerbread and cocoa. Steve had taken on the role of decorating the tree while Tony bickered with Clint over whose turn it was to play Santa at the gift exchange.

The quiet magic of that night belonged to Bruce and Terra, though. Natasha remembered how Bruce had been uncharacteristically nervous, fidgeting as the group exchanged presents by the fire. Terra, of course, had picked up on it but played along, teasing him gently until he finally found his moment.

Bruce had stood, hands slightly shaking but his voice steady, as he knelt before Terra. The room had fallen silent as he pulled out the ring, the soft glow of the Christmas lights catching the delicate band. His proposal was heartfelt, full of the quiet strength and love that Natasha knew Bruce reserved for only a few. Terra’s face had lit up, and in that moment, as she said yes, Natasha saw a glimmer of hope and new beginnings for both of them. The room erupted in cheers, Tony immediately offering to host the wedding, while Clint promised fireworks at the ceremony.

January had also been an eventful month for Natasha, although this one was a bit more unexpected. That month, Natasha and Tony had finally pieced together enough clues to locate Toni Ho Yinsen, Ho Yinsen’s daughter. Natasha had made him a promise in his wedding gift that she would help him track down Toni Ho, and with her still being sidelined from active duty, she had a lot of free time on her hands. It had taken months of delicate work: tracking faint leads, old whispers, and pulling favors from people she hadn’t contacted in years. But at last, they had her location. Toni Ho had been held captive by a shadowy organization that secured her after the Red Room and Ten Rings had taken all they could. Natasha’s small act of defiance of sparing her life left her alive, but captive. This organization had hoped to use her intellect for their own gain—just as the Ten Rings had used her father all those years ago.

Natasha remembered the rescue mission clearly, as she actively participated, much to Steve’s frustration as she told him after the fact. It was fast, surgical, and precise—just the way she liked it. Tony, clad in his Iron Man suit, had been almost too eager to get there, but Natasha had kept him grounded, her calm efficiency balancing his storm of emotions. When they finally found Toni, huddled in the corner of a dark lab, it had been like looking at a ghost of the past—she had her father’s eyes, his quiet resilience, but also a spark of something fierce and independent.

The moment Tony laid eyes on her, Natasha had seen the weight lift from his shoulders. All the guilt, the burden of Yinsen’s sacrifice—it seemed to ease as he knelt before her and promised that she was safe. Natasha avoided Toni Ho as much as possible, knowing that she probably remembered her as the woman who killed her mother and brother and kidnapped her father. She let Tony do the caring for her, and they got back to Stark Tower where Pepper was watching James as they went off on their mission.

When Natasha took James and gave him all of her hugs, Tony and Pepper started talking with Toni Ho. And that’s when the conversation took a turn. Tony, with Pepper by his side, had offered something more than rescue. They had offered Toni a home. Natasha hadn’t seen it coming, but she knew Tony and Pepper had been wanting a child for a while and were still having trouble conceiving. They weren’t just saving her—they wanted to make sure she had the family she had lost.

The adoption had been finalized soon after, and now Toni Ho was officially a Stark. Natasha had attended the quiet family gathering, watching Tony beam with pride as Pepper welcomed Toni into their lives. The joy on their faces was contagious, and for Natasha, it was a full-circle moment. The promise she’d made to her friend had been kept, and Yinsen’s legacy had found new life in his daughter.

The months had flown by after that, marked by her son James passing out of the newborn stage. Those precious early weeks had been everything she'd wanted—late-night feedings, baby laughter, even the sleepless exhaustion that came with new motherhood. But now, things had shifted, and Steve had started going on more missions again.

It wasn’t like the old days when they were both in the field together constantly. Since James had been born, they’d found a new rhythm—taking turns, balancing parenthood with their responsibilities as Avengers. But as soon as James was a little older, Steve resumed his search for Bucky Barnes. Natasha understood. She really did. Steve’s best friend had been missing for years, and the search for him had taken on a new urgency, especially now that their lives had settled somewhat. But even though Steve’s missions were infrequent—once a month at most, and never lasting longer than three days—Natasha couldn’t help feeling a sting of irritation each time he packed his bag.

It wasn’t rational, and she knew that. It wasn’t like Steve was abandoning them. He was doing what he needed to do, what they’d agreed on. But every time he left, it felt like an old wound was reopening. She had known going into this that life with Steve wouldn’t be simple. They were both Avengers. They both had duties. But still, the sensation gnawed at her—resentment mixed with longing. Natasha had thought that once James was born, they’d finally have the kind of family life she hadn’t thought possible for someone like her. But now, with Steve gone on these missions—even if they were short—she couldn’t shake the frustration.

She tried to remind herself that Steve needed closure with Bucky, just like she’d needed it with her own ghosts. But it didn’t make it easier when James babbled, getting closer and closer to either ‘ma-ma’ or ‘da-da’ and Steve wasn’t there to hear it. It didn’t make it easier when he missed even those small moments, the ones Natasha had promised herself she wouldn’t take for granted.

But now wasn't the time for those thoughts. For now, Natasha was on mission mode, and it was extremely hard to keep the thought of her son out of her head, but the target made it a little easier to. Rumlow, or Crossbones as he had been nicknamed on A-Day a year ago, had basically called out the Lagos police and was threatening to rob tons of banks around and hit the police station. The Avengers had been trying to find Rumlow for a year now, ever since his disappearance in San Francisco, and hadn’t had a solid lead in six months. But now there was, and Natasha wasn’t a big fan about it.

Sure, she hated Rumlow—he’d tried to kill her and her unborn child—but she was wary. He had been very adept at hiding from all of their scanners, and now he just pops up all of a sudden. It wasn’t adding up in her mind.

She was currently sitting in a little corner cafe, drinking some coffee and glancing around. She knew Terra and Wanda were stationed to watch other places and Steve, Sam, and Pietro were on overwatch. She didn't have her suit on, hard to blend into a crowd while having a skin tight catsuit with a bright red hourglass on it. So, she was in a tan jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots. Her hair was a lot longer now, and a deeper auburn than the usual bright red she had. Kept her quite under the radar here, and she was thankful for that.

At a table not too far away, Wanda stirred sugar into her coffee as she tried to blend in. She was also wearing casual wear (a green jacket and black baseball cap, primarily). The comms unit in her ear crackled to life. 

" Alright, what do you see? " Steve, as Natasha's partner, was always pop quizzing Wanda as her training progressed. He was almost as invested in her training as Natasha, though he had taken it upon himself to train Pietro as well.

Wanda set down her coffee. " Standard black ops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target ," she admitted reluctantly. Having a police station nearby didn't necessarily make a place safer, nor did it necessarily ward off criminals. .

Steve’s voice belied the serious mood he was in. " There's an ATM on the south corner which means ... ?"

" Cameras ," Wanda answered easily.

" Both cross streets are one way,” Steve responded through comms.

" So compromised escape routes,” Wanda picked up, seeing the pattern.

"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out." Steve said, shifting his view a bit further. "You see that range-over halfway up the block?"

" Near the red one? It's cute." Natasha could hear Wanda's fond exasperation of their constant testing in the breathy exhale of her remark. She would have smirked if her mouth wasn't already occupied frowning. After what happened on A-Day, she was not going to lose Rumlow again. As much as she hated to admit it, this wasn't just a standard op; it was personal on both sides. But Natasha was a professional. She wasn't going to let that interfere with the mission.

"It's also bulletproof," Natasha said, taking a drink herself to casually check out the car Steve mentioned and lightly remind Wanda to keep her head in the game.

Wanda was doing great in her training, and Natasha couldn't be prouder of her progress. But she sometimes went back to rely on her powers which Natasha was trying to drill out of her and she often tended to quip during espionage missions, which wasn't a huge problem, but it went against all of Natasha's own training that she received in the Red Room. It just subconsciously grated against her focus.

"Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us," Natasha continued, demonstrating how to case something like an armored car.

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda deadpanned, not doing it to discount what Natasha and Steve said, more just trying to keep everything light.

Across the street of the café, Terra was hidden in the shadows of the opening of an alley. Her shoulder rested against the wall, a sweet-tart in her hand. She wore big sunglasses, her hair up in a ponytail, and wearing a baby blue tank top, some black jogger pants, and a navy blue sweater tied around her waist. Her finger swiped up a dollop of whipped cream from the tart and popped it in her mouth, her eyes darting from face to face of the people in the plaza.

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature," Terra advised through comms.

"Anybody ever tell you spies that you're a little paranoid?" Sam's voice came through the comm teasingly. He was stationed on one of the rooftops that Natasha couldn’t see at the moment.

“Not to my face,” Natasha said, taking a drink. “Why? Did you hear something?”

"Eyes on target, folks," said Steve, trying to keep everyone on focus. "This is the best lead on Rumlow we've had in six months. I don't want to lose it."

She went back to work, checking the area again, just to see if she missed something. She surveyed everything and nothing, no indication of a hit coming at all. No one else was casing the place or checking for guards. No one in any of the surrounding windows. No indication that there would be an attack here.

He had to be drawing their attention, knowing that they'd be onto him. But the question was, where was he going to hit.

She heard a lot of noise behind her and casually glanced back to see a garbage truck moving through a crowd, honking as it was almost running over people. It looked quite full for the day when she was pretty sure trash pickup was scheduled for tomorrow.

"Steve," she said in comms and tapped the bottom of her cup, about where the five would be on a clock.

She and Steve were pretty in sync when it came to this kind of stuff, and she knew that when he saw her motion, he would tell that she wanted him to look at something at her five o'clock, which was the garbage truck.

Steve knew what she was talking about exactly, and not a second later his voice came through comms. "Sam, see that garbage truck? Tag it. Pietro, stay close."

Natasha heard the sound of Sam’s wings taking off as she waited for the recon to come through from their two scouts.

"That truck's loaded for max weight, " Sam said in comms, and Natasha was already putting the pieces together.

"And the driver's armed," Pietro added, seeing the driver from his position.

Natasha was already on the move. Immediately getting up and placing a few crumpled dollars down and heading towards the side streets where her motorcycle was stashed. She knew she was going to be last on the scene probably, but she wanted to sweep the area to make sure that the threat was contained when the fighting started. Steve would have the rest of the Avengers subduing the threat to perfection, she wanted to make sure that the populace was safe above all else.

She needed to do this for a multitude of reasons. The biggest being that the governments of the world had been growing increasingly wary of the Avengers. There were no civilian deaths during A-Day, but injuries and property damage alone were sky high. Couple that with Sokovia, DC, and New York, not to mention the Mandarin attacks, and it was all cooking in a recipe for disaster. Natasha wasn't sure Steve quite got that, even though she tried to explain to him the importance of caution time after time. The comms kept ringing through as everyone else picked up on it and started to mobilize, and Natasha sped off towards where the attack would be happening.

As she drove towards the Center for Infectious Diseases, Natasha could hear the noise of the skirmish as she approached. She secured the perimeter, and noted that Rumlow brought everyone he had with him there, so that’s where everyone was concentrated.

“ Natasha,” Terra’s voice came over the comms. “ We’re getting the front locked down. Cover the back entrance and someone will be around to help.”

"Copy," Natasha replied to Terra as she zoomed through the streets.

She tore around a corner and headed to the back of the building, where she could see a bunch of men setting up to leave and the figure of Crossbones heading around a car, which made her blood boil. He had tried to kill her the last time he was in her vicinity, and almost took away her son.

She would make him pay.

Natasha revved in and immediately put the bike into a slide, sending it skidding on the ground into one of the troops and gracefully got back up, sprinting towards the car that was going to take Rumlow with absolute precision and the grace of a seasoned veteran.

Damn, it was good to be back.

Another man raised his assault rifle, but she quickly tossed one of her widow bites at him, shocking him and immobilizing him in place. Another man came up behind him, but she used her momentum and grabbed onto the man in place, landed a two legged kick to the midsection of the other man, sending him sprawling to the ground. She swung back and planted the man she was hanging onto into the dirt and moved towards the driver, who was trying to get in. Just as he opened the door, she used her knee to kick it back shut and knocked out the man in the process. A few disarms later and she was on the hood of the car, shooting another widow's bite at a soldier and neutralizing the entire party that was around the car. She took a second to catch her breath and that was a mistake.

Rumlow had gotten behind her on the top of the car and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her up. She struggled against him, actually managing a decent shot to his chest, but he was shrugging everything off. She tried a couple more punches and kicks, only to hit just his armor or for him to take the hit. He got a hold of her hair and cocked his head to the side, which left an opening. Quickly, she slammed her gauntlet into his neck and sent a shock out.

It. Did. Nothing.

Eyes widening in realization as she could see the smirk on Rumlow's face.

"I don't work like that no more," Rumlow said and threw her down into the hole leading to the inside of the truck.

Natasha only had a few seconds to collect herself before she heard a "fire in the hole" and a grenade dropped right in front of her. She was in there with two other men and she quickly looked up at them. One charged her and she leaned back and landed a two leg kick that sent his head straight into the ceiling. She charged the next man, quickly landing a punch and getting behind him, using his body as a shield as the grenade went off. The blast was huge and Natasha and the now dead merc were thrown out of the back of the car, Natasha groaning and ears ringing.

It was now less good to be back.

A couple of explosions later as the trucks rolled out and Natasha’s head had cleared up enough to hear the chatter on the comms.

"Rumlow's escaping with the bio-weapon out the back. He's in a heavily armed vehicle. He'll have an unknown number of hostiles with him. Falcon, Quicksilver, you're up,” came Steve’s voice.

"Sam, he's heading North," Pietro reported to the group.

Natasha got up after a few beats, pain radiating through her body. She was pissed off and ready for round 2. She ran over to her motorcycle and got on, revving it up and speeding after the truck and in the direction that Steve indicated.

She kept following in the direction of the trucks, the streets at this point decently cleared of most traffic as the local police noticed the fight and managed to get stuff out of the way, but as she got closer to the market, the traffic started to pick up.

"I got four, they're splitting up," Sam said in the comms.

"Quicksilver and I got one," Terra said in comms, calling them out.

Natasha had made her way to the area and saw the ways the crowd had parted and revved her bike once more.

"I got the two on the left," Natasha said, veering to the others that Terra and Pietro weren't getting.

She drove her motorcycle into the middle of the market, as far as she could really. When she got to a point where a couple of taxis were blocking the way, she stood up on the seat and transferred easily into running on the hoods and chasing after the goons on foot.

As Natasha made her chase, she heard the call through the comms that Sam’s target didn’t have the payload and neither did Terra or Pietro, making her marks the one that had the bioweapon. She faintly heard a loud explosion in the distance, but she was running in the opposite direction to see the giant cloud of black smoke coming up from a restaurant where Terra and Pietro were.

"Get out of the way!" she shouted to numerous people milling around in the market.

She vaulted over a box of something and rolled over a man and his bike the next second. She was gaining on the man that she was chasing and took a high ground to cut him off. He glanced back to see that the person that had been chasing him had disappeared, on to find her hurtling through the air and grabbing his neck, taking him down to the ground. They both got up and he tried to draw a gun, but she quickly disarmed him, and started landing bone crunching shots to his ribs, targeting individual ones to cause the most damage.

The other man came around the corner and drew his own weapon, but Natasha was too fast for him, grabbing a basket and flinging it at his face. She followed it up by a low sweeping kick that knocked the man off his feet. She went to the other man who was getting back up and started with her patented leg takedown, the other man so kindly coming closer so she could put both of them to the ground. She landed a few more punches to the ribs of the same man, and then clocked a guy right in the face while he was on the ground. She saw one of the pistols on the ground and rolled towards it, grabbing it and turning quickly and leveling at one of the men. The problem, that the man had picked up his own gun and they were now in a Mexican standoff. Additionally, the other man had pulled out the vial with the bioweapon and was holding it up.

"Drop it," the mercenary said to Natasha. "Or I'll drop this. Do it!"

"He'll do it," the other merc said, and Natasha was trying desperately to figure out how to get out of this, only hoping that someone else had been following her to help.

Redwing slowly lowered in a hover behind the man with the vial and released two bullets, dropping him. 

The shots ringing out by Redwing distracted the other merc just long enough for Natasha to fire a round right into his chest. Three pieces simultaneously dropped, the two bodies and the vile. Natasha saw the scene in slow motion and dived forward to catch the red bio-weapon that could unleash something very deadly were it to hit the ground. She felt the glass in her hand the second before she herself hit the ground and caught it in just the knick of time.

She kicked back up and smiled a bit at her success, looking at the vile and then back at Redwing.

"Payload secure," she announced over comms. "Thanks Sam."

Little did she know the carnage that Pietro had caused already, or the danger that Steve was in.

"Don't thank me," he teased, Redwing still hovering in the air.

Natasha just looked at Sam, through Redwing, and just gave him an incredulous look, as she was still trying to catch her breath.

"I'm not thanking that thing," Natasha said, thinking he was crazy.

"His name is Redwing," he reminded her and she could hear the grin on his face. But the banter was cut short when the comms buzzed and Natasha's smile dropped when the sounds of heavy breathing and shouting in the distance came through.

"Who-... whoever's nearby, I need help! " Terra's voice came through, sounding very much like she was in the middle of something.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Sam asked worriedly, Natasha not liking what she was hearing.

“Sam, you go over and assist Terra,” Natasha said, taking charge.

Steve was busy with Rumlow, or at least Natasha guessed. It was unspoken that Steve had first dibs on Crossbones, even if Natasha didn’t totally agree, her little battle with him earlier proved that whatever suit he got, it would take a full super soldier to beat him. That left Terra as in charge as anyone, but Natasha could tell that she was distracted on something big at this point. Being the most senior person on the entire team, she stepped up.

“Wanda, if you’re not already headed there, get to Steve and provide backup,” Natasha said, already moving through the crowd with the bioweapon secure on her belt. “I’m headed that way too.”

Natasha made it over to where Steve was and saw that he had finally caught Rumlow, and appeared to be interrogating him. But something was wrong. Steve's body language was distraught and it looked more like Rumlow was interrogating Steve than the other way around. Natasha started to step forward when she finally noticed it, Rumlow had a trigger. Whatever he was saying to Steve had completely distracted him, and now the father of her child and the love of her life was going to die.

Natasha desperately sprinted forward, knowing it would be way too late.

BOOM !

The explosion sounded like it happened in her eardrums, not right in front of her. She felt bubbles in them pop, saw the ball of flames flickering, heard the roar as it expanded, absorbed the wave of heat into her skin, beneath it, into her bones that by now probably looked like ash and embers.

Yet somehow she was still on his feet and the fire looked more scarlet than orange.

Scarlet .

Natasha whipped around. There Wanda stood, feet dug into the dirt at the end of tracks that suggested she had slid into that spot at a fast speed, knees bent awkwardly to reach him, arms outstretched and magic dancing between her fingers. The same magic swirled around Rumlow in a sphere, containing the explosion.

Natasha could see that Wanda’s feet were slipping outward. Her muscles shook with strain, her heart raced with exertion. Wanda would fall over in a few seconds, she couldn't hold it. 

Wanda and Steve locked eyes. His own were wide and his hands hung at his sides, unsure what to do. 

Thinking quickly, Wanda reversed the position of her hands and flung Rumlow - fiery ball and all - as high into the air as she could. The movement threw her off balance, knocked her own knee out of alignment and she stumbled.

Rumlow combusted in a violent release of destruction, slamming into the side of an office building. The sound rocketed through the city. Debris and glass shot from the walls and rained onto the people down below, who screamed and ran for their lives. Thunder rippled through the floors and out the other side, windows and doors bursting in clouds of brick and dust. Smoke erupted from the fires, curling upwards, evil shapes smirking down at everyone.

It was hard to tell at this distance through the reflective windows but Natasha knew. Wanda knew as well, forcing her knee back under her to stay standing, a hand came up to cover her mouth and she knew.

Wanda had not thrown him high enough.

The dirt came up to meet Wanda’s knees, probably bruising them. 

Reeling, Steve reached for his comm. "Sam." His voice was raspy and he was out of breath.  "We need... fire and rescue... on the south side of the building." People were still screaming. Steve switched gears and started forward in a daze, jogging right for the front entrance. "We- We've gotta get up there," he said, more to himself than to Sam.

Natasha chose instead to go over to Wanda, standing beside her. "Come on," Natasha said, putting an arm around her shoulders and using a very soft tone. "Let's get you back to the jet, okay?"

As the rest of the Avengers kept talking through the comms and coordinating with fire and rescue, Natasha led Wanda back to the jet. She got there and got Wanda sat on the bench, the blank look in her eyes as she hadn’t spoken or done anything. Natasha got a safety blanket around her as she made sure to secure the bioweapon in the safe.

Calls were coming in left and right from various governments, rescue efforts, and other people including Vision and Tony. Natasha did her best to coordinate from the Quinjet, making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be.

She would come to find out that the other explosion she had heard was caused due to Pietro. He and Terra were chasing their target and managed to corner him in an alley, but he pulled a grenade on them and flung it behind Terra into a crowd of people. Pietro zoomed forward and managed to get it up into the air to avoid hitting everyone, but the merc managed to get ahead of them again, dashing towards the highway through a small window between cars on the opposite side of the street.

Terra had wanted to double back and help Natasha and get her as backup to chase the final guy if Natasha proved empty, but Peitro got ahead of himself, going after him without permission, right in front of a truck. The truck slammed on its brakes, but the momentum was too much and it tipped over and started sliding towards a small grocery store. Terra absorbed one of her strongest metal rings and managed to get in front of the body of the truck, stopping its momentum in front of the store, but in that the truck swung and the front end slammed into a restaurant next to the grocery store, smashing through and into the very busy business.

Casualties were high, civilian deaths were the most in the world since Sokovia, and Natasha knew that the world would blame one thing to cause all this destruction.

The Avengers.

Chapter Text

May 12th, 2015
Avengers Compound

Natasha was laying on the floor with James as they were both looking up at a mobile she had set up. He was kind of dozing in and out of sleep, wearing a green t-shirt that read 'You wouldn't like me when I'm angry' and purple shorts and Natasha was deep in thought herself. It had only been a week since Lagos and there weren't good reactions all around. The governments of the world were in outrage, public opinion of the Avengers plummeted, and the team was walking on eggshells around each other. Wanda and Pietro were taking it the hardest and it was understandable since their powers directly caused the accidents.

But what Natasha was at war with herself was on how much she blamed Steve.

She hated to see Wanda hurting like she was, and even though she had been telling Steve it wasn't his fault, she really didn't believe that in her heart. When she heard the story of his interaction with Rumlow, her blood boiled a bit. It always came back to Barnes, and all someone had to do was say his damn name and Steve shut down. There is no way that a super soldier with his experience shouldn't have clocked that bomb right away. But he didn't, and it was because of his obsession.

Obsession was the proper term now, especially to this level. She encouraged him to go look at leads while she was pregnant, knowing that Barnes would stay in the wind and he wouldn't find him and she hoped Steve would just tire himself out looking and come back and focus on James after he was born. But he didn't, not truly, and it got worse throughout the year. What was worse is that he dragged Sam or Terra along with him most of the time and she was at home with a newborn son, trying to figure out how to be a parent by herself and not knowing if he was going to come back.

"Chto ya sobirayus' delat', detaka," Natasha asked James in Russian.

There was a knocking at Natasha's door and she shouted to come in without even moving. Ava moved into the apartment and smiled down at the two.

"Hey sestra," Natasha said. "What's up?"

"Mr. Stark has arrived for the meeting," Ava said. "I'm here to babysit while you go do official Avengers stuff."

"God I forgot about this," Natasha said, getting up and heading over to a mirror to check her appearance.

She was wearing jeans with a dark jacket and a green shirt underneath. Her hair was okay and she did remember to put on a little makeup this morning, so subconsciously she must have remembered to a degree. She wasn't looking forward to this meeting at all, as she knew it was going to be about Lagos. Tony had been radio silent to them since the incident, and it was never a good thing when Tony didn't even send her a message, or anyone a message for that fact. She sighed at the, probably, hard scolding they were going to get from Stark about all of this and whatever somebody said to him.

She made sure she had her cellphone as she headed out the door, knowing Ava would call her should she need anything.

"Good Luck," Ava said. "This is going to be a daunting one."

"And why is that?" Natasha asked, opening the door.

"Stark brought the Secretary of State," Ava said and Natasha knew that this was something more serious.

Natasha arrived at the conference room and already saw that Vision and Pietro had arrived, aside from the two other men in the room. As the official liaison for the Avengers and the other governments of the world, she knew that they were in deep shit when the Secretary of State contacted Tony instead of her for Avengers business.

The presence of Thaddeus Ross was an unwelcome surprise. She could already feel the tension brewing, heightened by Ross's history with Terra and Bruce. Thankfully, Bruce was off on a research trip — though his absence was a strain on Terra, it at least kept things simpler for this meeting. Terra's protective instincts alone would have made this interaction even more complicated.

"Tony, Mr. Secretary," she greeted curtly, folding her arms as came to stand next to them. "Why wasn't I told we were having company?"

Tony's face betrayed only a hint of an apologetic smile before it faded, replaced with his businesslike facade. "It came up fast. Ross wanted to discuss the situation in Lagos — thought it best to bring it straight to the source."

Natasha's gaze shifted to Ross, her expression unyielding. "You could've given me a heads-up. I was there, after all."

Ross leaned forward, his posture stiff, voice sharp. "Agent Romanoff, I'm here to ensure the Avengers understand the full consequences of their actions. The world is watching. I'd hoped that as a former operative, you'd appreciate the need for... accountability."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, undeterred by his tone. "I do understand accountability. What I don't understand is why we're discussing it here in the dark, without briefing everyone first."

Ross's jaw tightened. "Perhaps you should spend less time questioning logistics and more time focusing on controlling your team."

Tony gave a faint cough, quickly cutting in. "Let's not make this personal, okay? We're all on the same side."

Natasha held her ground, her gaze fixed on Ross. "If you want us to be accountable, then keep us informed. Surprises like this don't help anyone."

Ross's face darkened, but Natasha didn't stick around long enough to continue the conversation here, and headed to her seat. It was towards the end of the table, and everyone knew that Steve always sat to her left. As she passed, she patted Pietro on her back to let him know she was behind him and took her seat, waiting for their leaders and Wanda, whom she was most worried about in whatever this was going to be.

The rest of the team filtered in at this point, Steve and Tony having a tense conversation that was basically hers with Tony, although his was more geared towards Ross specifically being here with his history with the team, rather than Natasha not being informed that a high ranking government official was there to chew them out.

Then Terra arrived.

She had a cheerful face for about ten seconds, a box of donuts and a mug of coffee in her hand, and then it was wiped clean and the mug dropped from her hand and shattered on the ground. Natasha knew just enough about the history between Terra and Ross to know that she and Bruce were severely hurt on Ross' hunt for the Hulk, and it would be a wound that would never heal.

Tony quickly got Terra out of the room to explain, or have yet another argument, as his careless planning got them into this situation, even if he was only informed a limited time. Ross just stayed at the other end of the room where he was as the team went to sit. Steve couldn't figure out really where to go and started to clean up the mug. Natasha quickly went over to help him, but also to convey her thoughts.

She brought over a small trash can for him to put the pieces in and kneeled down to his eye level and looked him right in the eyes.

Her green eyes pierced his blue ones, and she basically conveyed that 'we're in enough hot water as it is, don't do something dumb'.

The only way the Avengers were getting out of this clean was with level heads and a clean plan, or there would be some serious trouble.

She got the look of understanding from him as they finished cleaning up and went over to sit as Tony and Terra reappeared after about ten minutes.

"Very sorry for the wait!" Terra chimed as she and Tony walked back in the meeting room everyone was in. "Didn't eat lunch, felt a little woozy." She strode into the room, right towards Ross. She held her hand out.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Secretary," she said with a sunny smile, but Natasha could see the intent behind that look. She had that look in her own eyes before, and it was someone that she had already marked for death. Maybe not today, but eventually.

Ross looked at her hand and back to her before taking it, squeezing a bit too hard. "Glad to be here," he responded dryly.

Terra didn't squeeze back because she wasn't a cliché. Limp and pleasant. "I'm sure you are. The floor is yours."

As they all settled in, Ross took the floor and got the screens up and running and they started to listen in to whatever this was going to be.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing," Ross said, miming the golf swing itself. "Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass . . . I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me," Ross paused. "Perspective."

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt," he continued, sounding very grateful. Hard to discern if there was any truth to it. "You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives..." You could tell there was a 'but' coming. "But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some... who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

"And what word would you use Mr. Secretary," Natasha asked, sweetly enough but with the dangerous tone behind it that the Black Widow was known for.

She didn't believe that Ross actually viewed the Avengers as helpful, especially with what little experience he's had dealing with the team. He wanted some control over them in some way, and she was just trying to figure out how.

"How about 'dangerous'?" Ross retorted, his tone now sounding a bit more... honest. "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" He stepped aside to give everyone a clear view of the screen behind him as a global map appeared with several pinpoints. It zeroed in on one in the U.S.

"New York."

Footage suddenly played of the New York invasion, which felt like it happened such a long time ago when it really wasn't. One of the alien leviathans flew through the air, the army was fighting the aliens on foot. And suddenly, there was the Hulk. Ross looked at Terra for this part and she kept her expression neutral. The Hulk jumped from building to building until he jumped to the building closest to the army that debris fell from his landing. It fell towards the camera and the screen went black.

The map returned.

"Washington, DC."

Footage of the three SHIELD helicarriers in the air played, where smoke and the lighting of guns firing could be seen. It cut to SHIELD HQ, smoke expelled from the building, and then a helicarrier falling into the Potomac. The wave it created engulfed all the pedestrians on the sidewalk, people's screams abruptly cut off.

Sam looked down, unable to watch. Was there anything they could have done differently that day? He didn't know.

"Sokovia."

People were running and screaming. It cut to Sokovia being lifted into the air, cut out of the Earth. A building falling, crashing into another in a large dust cloud.

"San Francisco."

This one hit Natasha the most. The destruction on the bridge, all of the fighting and cars blowing up due to the attack. The Chiron flying in the air and suddenly exploding in a wave of blue light. She was on that ship, she almost died and lost the baby.

"Lagos."

There was the building from their mission, smoke coming out from the right side. Another shot showed the truck that crashed into the buildings, flames licking the sides and people running out, limping and coughing. Someone was pulled out on a stretcher, others were helping people get out.

Then it cut to a video of a girl covered in ash, lying too still.

Wanda couldn't bear it at this point, gasping slightly and turning away and Natasha could see tears start to form in her eyes. Natasha wanted to comfort Wanda and claw Ross' eyes out, though she couldn't decide in what order. Steve however, got there first and put an end to things.

"Okay," he said, very terse and final. "That's enough."

Ross clicked a button on the remote and the footage disappeared. He went on to the point. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate," he emphasized and turned around to reach for something on a nearby table.

"But I think we have a solution."

In his hands, he held a thick, neat looking book and passed it to Wanda.

"The Sokovia Accords."

Ross walked around the table as he continued to speak. "Approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

Natasha mentally sighed, 117 countries, that was a lot of pressure to say yes to a very big change. Seemed like they were being shoved into a corner.

"The Avengers were created to make the world a safer place," Steve spoke calmly, cautiously, as the book was being passed around the table. "I feel we've done that."

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked, his eyes glancing at Terra near the end. He was unable to help himself to probe a little.

"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences," he said, walking back to the front of the room. "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this-" he gestured to the Sokovia Accords book."-is the middle ground."

Rhodey was not oblivious to such tensions in the room but he was more focused on the Accords themselves. "So... there are contingencies?"

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords," Ross replied to Rhodey.

Natasha frowned. That didn't give them a lot of time to decide, which was probably done on purpose. They wanted to put as much pressure on the team as they could.

Ross turned the screen off. "Talk it over," he suggested as he walked around to the other side of the table.

Natasha had been silent since her first comment, mostly because she was weighing the pros and cons of everything. Did she want the government in control of her again? Absolutely not. She had enough of that with the Red Room and what the Soviets made her do. But her thoughts weren't on herself. They were on James. He had two different variations of Super Soldier Serum running through his little body right now, basically the perfect Avenger in the making.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked with a small smile, knowing one person in particular was never going to agree to this.

Ross looked up from the other side of the table at Natasha. "Then you retire," he stated matter-of-factly.

The team had regathered into the sitting room of the Compound, unable to stay in the stuffy conference room anymore, especially with what just happened in there. Tony had fallen onto a couch and was deep in thought while everyone else was around the area. Steve had the Accords in his hands and reading pages when Natasha returned.

Natasha went quickly to check on Ava and James before returning to the lounge room. She came back in and sat next to Steve, looking over and reading some of the document with him. She didn't say anything, mostly because she was deep in thought about what she was thinking about.

She was considering the whole thing, and even signing. She figured that if she signed, that maybe they would allow James to just have a normal life and not be an Avenger, regardless of the serum within him. Plus, with everyone signing, then Steve wouldn't be able to go off all over the world galivanting about and looking for Barnes, and not leave her alone with the baby all the time. The second part was selfish, but it was something she was silently stewing about, and it had been close to exploding after Lagos.

Rhodey remained standing, hands on his hips, looking thoughtful. "Alright, what are you all thinking? Cause I'm thinking..." He tilted his head this way and that, ending with a shrug. "We should consider it."

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam argued.

"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this," Rhodes pointed out. "A hundred and seventeen, Sam, and you're just like 'Nah, it's cool'?"

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam asked heatedly.

"I have an equation."

Everyone looked up as Vision spoke for the first time, having been very quiet since introducing himself to Ross.

"Oh, this will clear it up," Sam said as he turned to listen.

Terra came over to pass over a round of warm drinks before going back to get hers and sitting on the couch next to Natasha.

Vision had his fingers pressed together. "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate," he explained. Everyone grew a bit more still at what he was hinting at.

Steve looked up from the Accords, having flipped halfway through them already. He spared Wanda a glance, noting that she seemed spaced out, but didn't comment. Instead, he addressed Vision.

"Are you saying it's our fault?"

"I'm saying there may be a causality," Vision corrected. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe."

"Oversight..." He looked to everyone in the room, lingering longer on Wanda. "Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand," he finished.

"Boom," said Rhodey after Vision's logical and indisputable argument.

Everything that Vision said made sense in a way. It was a pretty brutal way to look at things, but perhaps they all needed to stop sugar coating stuff and look at the straight facts, just like a computer would. She was still thinking about it when another thought popped into her mind. That was Tony not speaking for the longest of times and just sitting on the couch, which was very unusual for him.

"Tony," Natasha said, bringing him into the conversation. "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"That's because he's already made up his mind," Steve answered for Tony, maybe still peeved at the surprise entrance of a known enemy in their home.

"Oh boy, you know me so well," Tony said, the sarcasm was evident, even as he pushed himself up and rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He made his way to the kitchen to fix himself a coffee but he kept talking.

"That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" He turned and narrowed his eyes at Pietro. "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

No one laughed.

He set down his phone and brought up a photo of a young kid, maybe in his early twenties. He let the other Avengers scan the photo for a moment while he rinsed out the French press..

Tony looked away then looked back and pretended like he hadn't set the photo there himself. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall." He poured himself a cup of coffee, letting the others catch on. "But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service."

Steve shifted in his seat. He knew where this was going.

Tony set down the press. "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia." The slap of a bag of coffee grounds against the counter made Wanda jump.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know 'cause we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." He stared pointedly at Steve, waiting for him to argue. When nothing was forthcoming, Tony cracked open a bottle of Advil, took two and swallowed it with a large swig of coffee.

Reading the room, Tony stepped around the counter to put the final nail in the coffin. "There's no decision-making process here," he said. "We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, then we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said, Natasha seeing that he was weighing his words carefully.

A little too quickly, Tony shot back: "Who said we're giving up?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame," Steve responded.

Rhodey's eyebrows shot up. "I'm sorry, Steve, that...that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not Hydra."

Steve shook his head. "No," Steve relented, "but it's run by people with agendas and agendas change."

"That's good," Tony argued, stepping forward now, approaching Cap with an accusing pointer finger. "That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

Steve leaned forward. "Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." He gestured at the now-closed Accords sitting on the table in front of him. He looked around. His gaze settled on Natasha for a bit, trying to get a read on her.

For the first time in over a year, Natasha kept her features schooled in front of everyone in the room. When she went into this mode, there wasn't a soul on the planet that could read what she was really thinking. Even Steve and Clint would have trouble if she wanted them too, and her brain was racing a million miles an hour right now, trying to figure out the best move. Without any sense of what she was thinking, Steve continued on.

"What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us?" We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later." Tony said and looked around. "That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

Someone else spoke up. "You're saying they will come for me."

Everyone turned to look at Wanda, who had been silent up until this point. Her face was blank, her tone carefully neutral, but her words belied her anxiety.

"We would protect you," Vision stated firmly without looking at her. Pietro nodded in agreement. If they agreed to this, they wouldn't be forced into anything.

Sam shifted his weight foot to foot nervously, and he looked to Terra. "Terra." She looked up from staring into her tea. "Any thoughts?" He asked.

Terra sighed, "Look, if they said 'hey, there's a problem, let's discuss a way to solve it together,' then terrific, yeah, I'd be game. Instead, they're putting the most amount of pressure as possible for us to agree and that just doesn't... sit well with me." She set her mug on a nearby coffee table and sat back on the couch. "A change does need to happen," she admitted. "But I'm afraid agreeing to this will bring different problems than the ones we already have. Bigger ones."

Natasha was quiet through all of it. She knew Tony had some valid points and she knew Steve had some valid points. Getting sent anywhere on a panel's whim was not what she signed up for when she agreed to be an Avenger. But one thing from Tony's speech stood out to her more than anything.

"If we don't do this, it's going to be done to us. And it's not gonna be pretty."

Context meaning, if she didn't cooperate here, they could take James away from her due to his abilities. Deem her inappropriate to raise a super soldier and put him in an academy for the US Army right away. She couldn't have that happen, not to her only child. Natasha knew she had made up her mind and it was going to stir the pot, but she said it anyway.

"Maybe Tony's right," she said and immediately felt all eyes on her, and why shouldn't they be. She was agreeing with a man that a year ago couldn't be in the same room together, rather than agreeing with her partner and father of her child.

"If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer," she continued. "If we take it off..."

Tony seemed pleasantly shocked but in denial. Wanda seemed distracted. Rhodey seemed disbelieving. And Steve, as open a book as he had ever been, looked betrayed. He didn't look angry or resentful, just hurt and disappointed.

Sam leaned forward, disbelief on his face. "Aren't you the same woman who was all for telling the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?"

"I'm just..." Natasha said, faltering for a bit as she saw the look that Steve was getting her.

She was shutting down everyone else in the room right now, eyes locked in on Steve. She never wanted to disagree with him or make him feel like she didn't support him. But she knew that this difference of opinion carried heavy weight in a lot of areas, many of which affected numerous people she cared deeply about.

"I'm reading the terrain," Natasha said, deciding to use a metaphor for what was going on. "We have made some very public mistakes. With the damage in San Francisco and Lagos..., we just..."

Natasha paused again, looking down and making sure that she wanted to go this route and potentially create a huge rift between herself and Steve. She knew that this was the only way to protect James in her mind. She looked back up and right back into Steve's eyes.

"We need to win back their trust," she concluded.

"Focus up." Tony leaned forward, his brain suffering from some type of lag. He gestured to it without explanation. "I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" He glanced sideways at Steve, who was busy looking at Natasha.

Natasha sent Tony a mixed look. Outwardly it was a glare that could kill a man easily, but underneath, something that Tony would be able to see, was a desperate plea to not stoke the fires on this one as more hung in the balance than just numbers in this decision.

Tony seemed to get that at least, his eyes softening as he realized his mistake. Natasha knew that it was probably more of emotions being thin and him just trying to keep things lighter.

Before anyone else could respond, Steve's phone vibrated. He went to check the text, Natasha not being able to see the screen or read what was on it. His face automatically fell into a grief Natasha hadn't quite seen before on him.

"I- It's-" He tried to vocalize what it said. The words wouldn't come. His mouth could form the letters but his throat wouldn't make the right sounds. Only the wrong ones.

"I have to go." He stood up abruptly and left, and didn't look back.

Natasha just sighed and looked around the room. She may have disagreed with Steve, but she needed to be there for him. She could tell when something was wrong with him, and this was something pretty serious.

Natasha stood up and gave one last look around the room.

"I'll go talk to him," Natasha said, heading out and down to their apartment, the one place that Natasha figured he would be.

She entered silently, seeing Ava pass her in the hall and went to James' room, leaning on the doorframe, giving Steve plenty of time to talk when he was ready.

He was sitting on the floor next to James's crib, as the nine month old was taking a nap. Natasha could see him crying silently and wanted him to speak before she moved over. She made her presence known enough to where he could tell she was there and after a minute, spoke up.

"Peggy," he said quietly, so as not to wake James. "She's gone."

Natasha's heart broke at that. The last conversation seemed to just take a side seat as she heard the news. Losing a first love was tough, and Natasha knew how much Peggy meant to Steve. She closed the distance between them and wrapped him in a hug.

"God Steve I'm so sorry," Natasha said, trying to comfort him to the best of her abilities.

She wasn't very good at this part. It was usually the other way around, Steve finding a way to calm her down in the last few months of crisis for her. This was something completely new for her, and she didn't think she ever saw Steve in this much despair. She heard that it had been this way when she left after New Year's, but she wasn't there to witness it for herself.

He leaned into her embrace with a sigh, accepting the comfort. It wasn't often that Steve got like this, but here, with James and Natasha, the two loves of his life, he let his walls down.

May 19th, 2015
London, England

A child choir sang a haunting melody. No one said a word. The church was packed with people, all those who'd loved and admired Margaret Carter, and no one said a word. There was an air of Britishness to the sadness, the feeling of muted emotions carefully hidden behind delicate cups of tea and charming misdirections in conversation. Peggy had always been very good at that.

The funeral was in London, England, where she'd been born and where her husband was buried. Steve, Terra, Sam, and Natasha had all flown here commercially to attend. It had apparently been requested that Steve take part in carrying the British flag-draped coffin. So he did.

Tony was here too, sitting in the far back with a pair of sunglasses and a fedora so as not to draw too much attention to himself. Half the Avengers being here was doing that already. Also, he and Steve weren't on speaking terms.

Natasha hated funerals. She didn't attend most of those that she was invited to. Maybe out of guilt, that she caused so many in her life. Maybe just the whole air of it made her uncomfortable. But she was here for Steve and whatever he needed, and that was right here. Plus, she really admired Margaret Carter and what she did for women in the espionage industry in both the US and UK.

The last week was tough between Natasha and Steve. The air of mourning over Peggy was often overshadowed by the Sokovia Accords and the timeline that was presented to them. It was no surprise that the Accords were ratified unanimously at the UN Meeting, now later this afternoon they would be officially presented and all that were signing were going to be at Vienna to sign. Steve and Natasha had several discussions about the ramifications of them, what it meant for the team and what it meant for their son. Natasha voiced her worries about the government taking James away from them if they didn't sign, and Steve was worried about the government only letting them keep him under conditions that would negatively affect James.

A stalemate through and through, and left them walking on eggshells.

Natasha focused back on the ceremony as Sharon Carter was called to speak at the podium.

She wasn't surprised when Sharon came up to the podium, she knew from the first time she met her. She didn't tell anyone because it wasn't her secret to tell. She didn't necessarily like Sharon, especially with a possible crush Natasha felt she could have developed on Steve during her stint as his protection, but maybe that was just the jealous side of her talking.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as the founder of SHIELD. But I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related." She looked directly at Steve.

Steve just barely nodded. It made sense.

Sharon continued. "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. She said compromise where you can. But where you can't... don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say: "No. You move."

The ceremony moved along quickly after that, a couple of other speakers and such before it was over. Natasha knew she was flying out after the ceremony with Tony to sign the Accords, but she had to make a last ditch effort to get Steve and the rest to come with her.

As people started filing out, Sam and Terra stood, sensing that she and Steve needed some alone time.

"We'll be waiting in the car," Terra told Steve gently, giving his arm a soft squeeze. "Take all the time you need, okay?"

"Have a safe trip, Nat," Sam added.

Natasha nodded to both of them as the church emptied, leaving only her and Steve there. Peggy's casket was still up there, Natasha knowing that Steve would want a private goodbye after all of this, and she would give him that, but she wanted to try first.

Steve leaned up against one of the pews as they stood across from each other, hands in his pockets.

"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out she was alive. I was just lucky to have her."

Her heart broke at this side of him. He rarely opened up about it, but she knew the feeling of all of it. Of shutting people out and hoping that it would make everything better. The battle of the depression she had for a serious amount of time after defecting to the west. And she knew what finding a rock, whatever it may be, was the road to recovery. For her it was Clint's family and then eventually to cap it all off Steve. For Steve, it was Peggy.

"She had you back too," Natasha said.

"I should have made more time for her; for all of you," he admitted, the closest he's ever come to really apologizing for all those Bucky missions that went nowhere. "I never got to introduce her to you or James. I know she would have loved you both."

Getting to more serious matters, he finally pried his eyes away from Peggy, away from the photo of her exactly how he remembered her, and towards Natasha. "Who else signed?"

"Tony, Rhodey, Vision," Natasha said, listing them off.

She held back the comment about Peggy meeting James and her, and felt there would be a better time for it. She didn't need him feeling even more guilty about not being there on the trip, and when she actually went to see Peggy.

"Clint?"

Natasha remembered that call fondly. She had an argument with Clint about it. He had some choice words about the whole matter but they understood each other's sides. If Clint was on active duty, he wouldn't sign. But he knew what Natasha felt about it and understood what she was going through. So the argument lasted all of about ten minutes.

"Says he's retired," Natasha said with a smile.

"The Twins?"

"TBD," she replied, this one a little more painful. She felt Wanda had been a little more distant with her since she decided to sign the accords. Like there was a rift that was between them. They weren't as close anymore, and it killed her almost more than Steve.

"I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords," Natasha said, broaching the touchy part of this conversation. "There's plenty of room on the jet."

Natasha saw the look that Steve gave her and sighed.

"C'mon Steve. Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important."

"Yeah, but what are we giving up to do it?" He shook his head, knowing they'd both already said these things. "I'm sorry, Nat. Really. For Bucky. For what this will do to the team, to our family. For all of it. But I can't sign it. The Accords go against everything I believe in. I just can't."

Natasha looked down for a second, knowing that she hit a dead end again. This wasn't the time or place for an argument, and frankly she was just too tired to even try anymore.

"I know," she said, after a few moments.

She bit her tongue about Bucky again, and that was the closest she had come to exploding at him. She knew it was coming, and when it came, Rogers wouldn't know what hit him.

"You should go," he choked out, trying to be half-hearted and failing miserably. "Don't want to miss your flight."

Natasha just stood there awkwardly for a bit, not really knowing how to act at this point. She didn't want to leave things so tense, yet she just had this underlying anger at him.

"No matter how I feel right now," Natasha said, wording everything carefully. "No matter what happens with the Accords. I will always love you."

Natasha went up to him and wrapped him in a giant hug.

"You have my heart, Steve Rogers," she said. "Forever."

Natasha leaned back and kissed him briefly before turning and walking out of the church to where Tony was waiting. She put sunglasses on when she got outside and got into the car that Tony was sitting in.

"Let's go," she said, staring straight forward and not sharing a lot more information because she was hurting right now.

Leaning forward so that his head poked out between the front seats, Tony quietly urged Happy to step on it. Tony knew Natasha well enough to know what she was feeling, and he didn't push it at all.

May 19th, 2015
Vienna, Austria

Natasha was standing in the UN room, feeling very out of place and mind still very much elsewhere. She had checked up on Ava and James on the ride over and knew they were doing well. Wanda was helping babysit a bit because she wasn't here to sign and was kept to the Avenger's Facility for now.

"Miss Romanoff," a voice said, bringing her out of her daze.

"Yes," Natasha said, turning towards a man in a suit.

"These need your signature," the man said and held out the papers to her.

Natasha took the pen and hesitated only slightly as the Accords were in front of her. She signed her name after the almost unnoticeable pause, and she had officially agreed to the Sokovia Accords.

"Thank you," the man said and left quickly as the conference was due to start soon, leaving Natasha only a few seconds to compose herself before another voice rang out.

"I suppose neither of us is used to the spotlight," he said, walking over.

Natasha turned and smiled politely. It was Prince T'Challa of the small nation of Wakanda. Not much was known about that nation, only that the rarest metal on Earth was found there, but otherwise it was a mystery for her. She had wanted to do more research into it, especially after the whole Ultron fiasco, but she had other priorities at the time.

"Oh, well it's not always so flattering," Natasha said, clearly referring to the whole ordeal surrounding New Year's.

"Well you seem to be doing alright so far," T'Challa said. "Considering the last time you had headlines all to yourself. I wouldn't think you would be particularly comfortable in this company."

"Well I'm not," Natasha said, which was completely true. She hated politics and the whole game around them. Sometimes she thought that it was more evil than some of the bad guys they fought.

"That alone makes me glad you're here, Miss Romanoff," T'Challa said with a smile of his own.

"Why?" Natasha asked, curiosity peaking. "You don't approve of all this?"

"The Accords, yes," T'Challa said, quickly clarifying and also showing his stance. "The politics, not really. Two people in a room can get more done than a hundred."

"Unless you need to move a piano," another voice said, appearing.

Natasha looked over and immediately recognized this man. King T'Chaka, of Wakanda, personally connected to the deaths of the ambassadors in Lagos. She was humbled at this and gave a little half bow in respect.

"Father," T'Challa greeted.

"Son," T'Chaka said and then turned to Natasha. "Miss Romanoff."

"King T'Chaka," Natasha greeted. "Please, allow me to apologize for what happened in Nigeria."

"Thank you," T'Chaka said. "Thank you for agreeing to all this. I'm sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today."

"Yes," Natasha said, a pang of hurt in her eyes. "So am I."

T'Chaka and T'Challa both looked a little taken aback as they didn't consider what the Accords would be doing to the Rogers family, as a split household with a less than one year old baby was something tough. T'Chaka was about to offer an apology when a voice on the loudspeaker came over.

"If everyone could please be seated. This assembly is now in session."

Natasha just smiled and half bowed again.

"Thank you," she said, before heading to her seat.

She sat down and started to listen to the speech. Tony was away doing something, Rhodes was around as well and Vision had signed but stayed at the Compound to look after Wanda and Pietro. It wasn't something Natasha liked at all as Tony told her the specifics. The twins were basically under house arrest with Vision as their guard. Tony had explained it was the best he could do to get Ross to let go of them not signing, but it didn't mean she was happy about it.

T'Chaka headed up to the podium as T'Challa headed off to the side. He stood up and waited until everyone was seated, and began his statement.

"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy," T'Chaka started. "Those men and women killed in Nigeria, were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers for supporting this initiative. Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace."

T'Challa happened to glance outside and saw a news van and people checking it out. All of a sudden everyone started running away and T'Challa's head whipped around into the conference. Natasha noticed right away and she immediately went into on guard mode. T'Challa ran towards the podium and his father.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN," he said, seconds before a giant explosion ripped through the building.

Natasha grabbed the person next to her and slammed them under the desk, the fireball ripping above them as only one thought was going through her head.

Fuck

Chapter Text

May 19th, 2015
Vienna Austria

The dust and smoke hung heavy, stinging her eyes and filling her lungs. She could feel the grit on her skin, the sting of cuts across her arms and shoulders from the broken glass. But the woman was alive, shaken but breathing, and Natasha whispered reassurances, her voice steady despite the adrenaline surging through her veins.

“Stay close to me,” she said, helping the woman out from under the desk as the room slowly came into focus. “We need to get you out of here.”

She led the woman through the wreckage, carefully stepping over fallen beams and debris, keeping her close until they reached the main exit, where paramedics and security forces were already swarming. Natasha handed her over to an EMT, watching just long enough to be certain she was in good hands.

“Ma’am, we need to check you out, too,” a paramedic called, his gaze sharp as he took in her disheveled appearance, the blood staining her sleeves.

“I’m fine,” Natasha insisted, though her muscles were beginning to protest, and she felt a growing ache in her right leg. The paramedic didn’t relent, giving her a look that brooked no argument, and she relented with a sigh.

As she sat on the edge of the ambulance, the paramedic gently cleaned the cuts on her face and arms. Natasha sat on the edge of the ambulance, her mind still reeling from the blast. She barely registered the paramedic walking away when she caught sight of a familiar figure moving through the crowd. Tony Stark pushed his way over, looking shaken but intact, his suit rumpled and a streak of ash on his face. Relief washed over her at the sight of him, but it was tempered with concern—she had no idea where he’d been when the explosion hit.

"Nat?" he called, his voice unusually raw, his eyes scanning her up and down. "Please tell me you’re okay."

"Hey, Tony," she managed, offering a reassuring nod. "I’m fine. Got a few scrapes, but I’m in one piece."

"Good," he replied, visibly exhaling. Without waiting, he knelt beside her, his hands reaching for hers as he checked her over, almost instinctively. "What were you doing when the place went up? Half the building is practically rubble."

She looked away for a moment, remembering the woman she’d pushed under the desk. "Just helping someone get to cover. It was close, but… we’re here."

Tony’s gaze softened briefly before shifting, his face hardening as he took in the chaos around them. "I was in the bathroom," he said with a grim laugh. "Of all the times to be out of the action… but maybe that’s what kept me in one piece."

Natasha allowed herself a faint smile. "Guess your timing is better than we thought."

"Not feeling so great about my timing in general right now," he muttered, more to himself, eyes sweeping the destruction. “I’m going to make some calls, see if I can figure out what happened and who might be behind this. I’ll get the team mobilized. Stay put, alright? If I find anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

With a last look, he gave her hands a quick squeeze and then slipped back into the chaos, pulling out his phone as he walked.

Left alone, Natasha pulled out her own phone, her thumb tapping against the screen. She pulled up Steve’s number, dialing quickly. The line rang, but no answer came. She frowned, her mind racing, and sent him a text, Made it out, please call me.

Another call, then another text. Nothing.

After what felt like the tenth call with no answer, Natasha clenched her jaw, her patience wearing thin. She pocketed her phone, forcing herself to push down the worry and the questions churning inside. Steve wasn’t answering, but she couldn’t just sit here waiting for a response. Her instincts urged her to move, to understand the extent of the damage and see if there was something—anything—she could do.

Standing up from the edge of the ambulance, she straightened her shoulders, her eyes scanning the scene around her. The UN building, once a symbol of stability, now looked like a war zone. Sections of the structure were blown apart, jagged gaps where walls had once been solid, smoke still pouring from shattered windows. The ground was littered with shards of glass and pieces of metal, and security and medics moved through the debris-strewn courtyard, helping the wounded and assessing the damage.

People huddled together, some covered in ash and others visibly shaken. She could hear fragments of conversations—worried voices, people looking for colleagues, for loved ones who hadn’t yet emerged from the ruins. Her heart twisted at the sight, the weight of the attack settling over her.

She made it to a briefing tent, where she was filled in on a lot of information. The first big one was that King T’Chaka was dead, killed by the blast. Not only had the nation of Wakanda lost diplomats in the attack on Lagos, but now their King. The second big one was that a security camera had caught the suspected bomber, and it was none other than James Buchannan Barnes. Natasha mentally cursed as she heard that, reviewing the picture herself multiple times to verify, and it was a pretty solid match. She knew they had made this public for a while now, so she tried to call Steve once more, and without a response, she texted him, Don’t do anything rash, please call me first.

She exited the tent at this point, getting all of the information she needed to. She was going to go with Tony and Rhodes to Berlin to help run ops on this and find the Winter Soldier to bring him in, hopefully they could catch Steve, Sam, and Terra and get them to Berlin as well, keep an eye on them and they could even help.

Then, a familiar figure caught her eye. T'Challa was sitting on a nearby bench, his shoulders hunched slightly, his expression a mix of grief and quiet rage. He was silent, lost in thought, his gaze fixed on the ground in front of him. She could see the pain etched in his features; this had been his father’s summit, a meeting meant to foster peace. And now, the whole world would remember it for bloodshed.

Natasha approached slowly and sat down on a bench that was next to the bench that T'Challa was and that seemed to snap him out of it momentarily.

"I'm very sorry," Natasha said, not sure really what to say in this situation.

"In my culture, death is not the end," T'Challa said. "It's more of a . . . stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt where . . . you can run forever."

"That sounds very peaceful," Natasha said, appreciating him sharing that with her and hoping that it was how he was coping.

"My father thought so," T'Challa said as he put the ring on his finger and then said with a determined voice. "I am not my father."

Natasha saw the look in T'Challa's eyes at that point and then got very worried. She would already have to deal with keeping Steve away, and she didn't need to add an entire country going to war with Barnes.

"T'Challa," Natasha said, carefully. "Task force will decide who brings in Barnes."

"Don't bother, Miss Romanoff," T'Challa said, standing up and clenching his fist. "I'll kill him myself."

T'Challa walked away at that point and left Natasha sitting alone, and now she had to add another person to keep in check during this whole ordeal.

Natasha's phone began ringing and she looked down and recognized the caller ID. She immediately answered, just wanting to hear his voice at the moment and not thinking of anything about the explosion, just that she almost died and wouldn't have ever seen her family again.

"Steve, thank god," she said. "Where were you? I've called you like ten times."

"Nat, I'm so glad I got a hold of you. I'm sorry, I-" he said, and there was a brief pause. "I was on a plane. Are you alright? Are you hurt?" 

"Yeah," Natasha said, not comprehending this for a second. "I got lucky."

Then she heard the noise and what he said. On a plane. She could hear the sounds of German speaking, meaning that he was probably in an Austrian airport. And it wasn't hard to guess which one.

"What the hell are you doing here," Natasha said, tired of all this and she was ready to fight this here and now. "I know how much Barnes means to you, God you've been practically shoving it in my face this last year when you were running around all over the globe trying to find him and neglecting not only the team, and not only me, but your child as well. Steven Grant Rogers, stay out of this. Go home and back to the Compound and be with your son. If you stay here, you're only going to make things worse."

"Then I was never here," he countered. "If you know how much Bucky means to me then you know I have to do this. I love you and I love our son. You're both family. But he's my family too. So I'm not leaving. Or are you saying you're going to arrest me?"

"It's something I'm considering," Natasha spat, reaching a private spot where she could get real upset if she wanted to, and she was fire and brimstone at this point. "Because if I don't then someone will Rogers. That's how it works now. Then everything we worked for, all the strife that we went through and things we overcame go down the drain."

Natasha was red hot, but under the surface she was a very scared mother. If Steve got caught, who knows how long he could go to prison. Leaving her a true single mother, trying to raise a child without his father. They would probably end up putting Steve in the Raft, and there was no visitation there, and the sentences were long and hard. It would destroy their family for sure.

"If Barnes is so much family to you that you're willing to jeopardize what we have," Natasha said, the words hurting her to say but it was the only thing she could think of that might snap Steve out of this. "Then you might as well not come back to us at all."

"Real family wouldn't make me choose like this," he spat back, boiling over and losing his cool in a way he hadn't in a very long time. " Real family wouldn't ask me to sacrifice other important things in my life so I could put them on some kind of pedestal. You don't give up on real family, not when the going gets tough, not when you've both been through hell, not when the other person gave up on you against their will, not when they're angry with you or scream at you. Never. Bucky was my family long before anyone even gave me a second look. Hell, you probably wouldn't even have given me a second look back then." 

"So go on and tell me that you're more important than everyone else, that you'll never forgive me if I do this, but if there's one thing about me you have to understand, Natasha - and this is something I thought you already knew - I don't give up on people I love. That includes you and James and the team. And it includes Bucky. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You know where I am, what I'm doing. But I'm not done with you - with us. I'm going after Bucky and then- and then..."

His tangent trailed off, and Natasha was trying to find a rebuttal to everything he said. Of course she would have noticed him back in the 40s. She didn’t love him because he was Captain America, or that he had peak human condition. She loved him because he was Steve Rogers, and the caring man that he was. Someone that knew what she was, the past she had, and loved her anyway.

She would also never insist that she was more important than everyone else. She definitely put James up on that pedestal, but she figured that she was at least a priority for him, as she thought they had committed to each other in a way that he and Bucky never had.

"... Listen. If he's this far gone... if he's back to- back to doing stuff like this then... I should be the one to bring him in. Not because he's my best friend. Not because I've chosen him over you or something stupid like that. But because I'm the one least likely to die trying. I-" And here his voice cracked and Natasha was still trying to form words.

"I love you. But- no. No buts. Just- I love you and I've gotta do this. I'm sorry." 

She looked down at her phone as Steve hung up, as her anger melted away to regret. She tried to put herself in Steve's shoes and imagine that it was Clint and not Bucky and she was the one. But she couldn't, she loved James too much. And she had faith that Clint would be able to take care of himself. But she wasn't the same person as Steve, she didn't have that selfless bone in her body that he had. It's what made her love him so much, and also what was going to possibly tear them apart.

"Shit," was all Natasha could manage, summing up the situation the best she could.

May 21st, 2015
Berlin, Germany

After a long, grueling couple of days searching through Berlin’s command center, Natasha was exhausted. She’d combed through surveillance feeds, reports, and intel—every shred of data the command center had on Bucky Barnes’s whereabouts. She knew he was somewhere in Europe, and each lead she chased left her hoping she’d be one step closer to finding him before things could spiral out of control. But so far, it had been nothing but a series of dead ends.

Then the call came in from Bucharest. Her heart sank as the reports streamed through: an altercation in the marketplace, a high-speed chase, multiple arrests in progress. The names that followed hit her like a punch—Steve, Sam, Terra. She’d known they were searching, too, but this? She had hoped they’d find Bucky without half the city going up in chaos. The briefing had been quick, rushed, and by the end, Natasha could feel her hands trembling with frustration. What had they been thinking?

When all of this happened and they were all being escorted back, Natasha knew it was time to activate the Bastion Contingency. She dialed Ava’s number, her fingers steady even as her heart raced. This was a plan she’d hoped she’d never need, but preparing for any eventuality was something Natasha had mastered.

“Ava?” Natasha’s voice was calm, though each word held a weight she knew Ava would recognize immediately.

Ava’s response was quick, steady. “I’m here. Bastion?”

“Yes,” Natasha confirmed. “Starting now, I’ll check in with you every twelve hours. If I miss a check-in, you know what to do.” She took a deep breath, picturing her son, James, sleeping peacefully in his crib back at the compound. “If I don’t respond, take him to Point Jericho.”

“Understood,” Ava replied, her tone serious and unwavering. Jericho—a place known only to the two of them, secure, secluded, the ultimate safehouse Natasha had prepared for emergencies.

Natasha continued, a subtle note of reassurance threading through her voice. “I’ll get to you as soon as I can, if it comes to that. Just remember, stay off the grid, avoid any direct contact with others, and keep him safe. I’ll find you both.”

Ava’s voice softened, but her determination was clear. “He’ll be safe, Nat. Don’t worry about us.”

As she hung up, Natasha took a deep breath, steadying herself. This was a step she hadn’t wanted to take, but knowing Ava would be there, ready to protect James, gave her the strength to move forward, ready for whatever lay ahead.

When she got word that Steve and the others had arrived, she didn’t wait around. Tony was on the phone with someone important, having a heated discussion, and Natasha needed to get ahead and speak to her partner. As she got to the end tunnel where Steve and the group were being led, she also saw T’Challa with a detachment around him. She heard of his stunt as well, including the suit that he was wearing and the mantle that he had, which was a conversation for another day.

Natasha walked over to meet Steve in stride, trying to contain her anger as best as she could. She didn’t even spare a look for Terra and Sam, focusing solely on Steve.

"In case you're wondering," Natasha said, pretty blunt at this point. "This is what making it worse looks like."

"He's alive." In those two words, he said all of that and more. He’s not done, he doesn’t regret it, and he would do it again. 

Natasha rolled her eyes, still pissed and knowing exactly what he meant by his words. But he was wrong about one thing, he was done. She wasn't letting him go anywhere else, and she was going to try and scrape together whatever scraps she had left of this. They came into the open area, where Tony was standing there still talking on the phone.

"No. Romania was not Accords-sanctioned. And, Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup." Tony said, one hand tucked into his pants pocket. He had his back to them, clearly agitated from the way he shifted back and forth on his feet and from his tone of voice.

"Try not to break anything while we fix this," Natasha said to all three of them, not even sparing a glance at Terra or Sam.

She was also sending a message to Steve with her line that basically meant he didn't have a choice on what was coming up and she was taking over for now. Whether he chose to follow or that or not would depend on how many nights he spent on the couch.

"Consequences?" Tony bellowed, turning to stare straight at Steve. He started making his way toward him, Sam, and Terra. "You bet there'll be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that 'cause I just said it. Anything else?" Pause. "Thank you, sir."

Steve forcibly unclenched his fists and tried to act nonchalant. "Consequences?"

Tony, normally the nonchalant one, responded but didn't react. " Secretary Ross wants you three prosecuted." He spat the name like blood out of his mouth after a hard punch to the face. "Had to give him something. Didn't want to but, well, you went and did all this. So." He waved his hand in a general gesture of 'this is what happens when you pull shit like that'.

Steve played it cool. "I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" 

"Technically it's the government's property," Natasha threw back at him, knowing she was gonna do anything to keep him rooted to one spot, even if it meant keeping that shield away from him.

She was mad and she was going to show it, and no one was safe from her wrath at this point as she looked towards Sam as well.

"Wings too," Natasha said, turning to Terra then. "And your gear belongs to Stark Industries as it was made by Tony, so he'll be taking that back as well."

Sam looked just as put out, shaking his head slightly. "That's cold," he stated.

"Warmer than jail," Tony called over his shoulder.

The afternoon continued with Steve, Sam, and Terra in a conference room surrounded by glass so they could be seen at all times. Barnes was being transferred downstairs while T’Challa was in another area, awaiting his diplomatic immunity which was most likely coming.

Natasha moved over to monitoring some of the news footage while she waited to get into a meeting to try and get Steve at least to house arrest so she would be able to see him. She was very close to Sharon at this point, and looked at the blonde spy. They didn't interact much while she was at Shield, Natasha knew she led some training classes that Agent 13 was a part of, but never spoke personally with her. She knew of her detail to watch Steve back when he was in DC, but she didn't know what feelings that Sharon had towards him.

She imagined that Sharon grew up with a lot of stories about Captain America from Director Carter. It was easy to develop a crush just from those stories, Natasha knew as she had it herself. But something about the timing of all this seemed off. Sharon gets to Vienna to help the CIA and Steve is there too. Steve knew exactly where to look for Bucky, even though every lead prior had led to a dead end, but there was a report of a sighting that only the CIA got.

It was all very convenient in the grand scheme of things.

"Have you had any contact with Steve in the last couple days," Natasha asked casually, not even looking at Sharon for now.

Sharon looked up, seemingly surprised that Natasha was even talking to her. "Yeah. At the funeral.” Natasha could see the nervousness in her response. "Why?"

"Just trying to put together the pieces on how Steve managed to get to Barnes before the police," Natasha said, this time glancing over at Sharon. "When that very good and specific lead we had was only given to the CIA that was there. You were in that tent Carter."

Natasha turned and looked deep into Sharon's eyes at this point.

"So," Natasha said. "If there's anything you said to the father of my child recently, I would very much like to know."

There were three things in that last sentence that Sharon would be able to sense. One was the need for the information, another was a very serious threat on aiding in a criminal act, and another one was marking her territory to a woman she didn't quite know the feelings of but could very much sense there was something.

"Why don’t you ask him?” Sharon replied, her voice carefully measured. She glanced in Steve’s direction, hesitating just enough to betray a flicker of nervousness. “He’s sitting right over there.”

There was a pause, and Natasha’s unwavering gaze stayed on Sharon, sharp and assessing. Clearing her throat, Sharon added, her voice a little quieter, “If it’s something he hasn’t told you, I don’t think I should be the one to say anything.”

She shifted in her seat, feeling her own words come out more reserved than intended. Natasha’s calm intensity made her suddenly aware of how little she wanted to press the subject. She closed the folder in front of her, rising to her feet. “If that’s all, Agent Romanoff… I should get back to work.”

With a last quick nod, Sharon slipped away, putting some distance between herself and Natasha’s penetrating gaze, grateful to retreat to a quieter corner.

Natasha just stood there and pursed her lips. The one thing that rang out from Sharon's statement, why couldn't she ask Steve? It's because he wouldn't tell her. She had tried before for him to back down on the phone, but he didn't tell her he was in Vienna, she had heard it through the phone. If she hadn't, she doubted if he would have mentioned it at all. Was their relationship falling apart? It seemed like it wouldn't last, Steve was so dead set on protecting Barnes that he was putting everything else in jeopardy. But was she being unreasonable? Was she just so blind in what she thought was right to protect James that she didn't even look to see if Steve had something.

She looked back over her shoulder at him, knowing he probably wouldn't even look in her direction. Was she the one responsible for their failing relationship? Natasha made a move to turn and go talk to him, but stopped when she saw Tony walking towards the office with some papers and pens, obviously another attempt to get him to sign and fix this.

For the first time since the Accords were announced, Natasha didn't have a faintest idea on what she believed.

About an hour later, it was time for Barnes’ questioning with the UN psychologist that was appointed for this situation. Natasha was standing next to Tony as the UN psychologist came to question and talk to Barnes. Everet Ross stood a few feet away, and Natasha could tell that she already didn't like him. He was similar to a mouse in her eyes. Had the appearance and probably courage of one when it came to a fight. What did bother her was Sharon. After Sharon's little speech to her earlier on what she implied her relationship with Steve was, she was the one that took in the receipt for the gear to them.

With her enhanced hearing, she picked up on another tv behind her. She half turned to look out of the corner of her eye and saw the look of thanks that Steve gave Sharon and the smug little smile on her face at what she had done. Natasha didn't have a problem with Steve listening in on the questioning, but the fact that Sharon was the one to do it made a little bit of jealousy boil up inside her. Was she really just friends with Steve? Or was Sharon taking her opportunity at her shot while Natasha and Steve were the furthest apart they had ever been.

She turned back to the screen as the questioning started.

"Hello Mr. Barnes," the doctor said. "I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you."

Nothing, just a stare from the Winter Soldier as he sat immobilized in the cage they put him in.

"Do you mind if I sit?" the doctor asked.

Barnes didn't say anything, so the doctor did anyway, knowing that the Soldier didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm not here to judge you," the doctor said, continuing on. "I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky," Barnes said, speaking his first words since he had been captured.

"Tell me Bucky," the doctor said. "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

Barnes paused for a second, looking the man over.

"I don't want to talk about it," Barnes said finally.

"You fear that, if you open your mouth, the horrors might not stop," the doctor said, and Natasha saw him glance down at his computer screen as it changed slightly, but she couldn’t tell at all what was on there. The cameras watching the interrogation were too poor.

"Don't worry," the doctor said. "We only have to talk about one."

Natasha was able to see the doctor move over and press his hand onto the computer screen and then the power went out, all the lights were gone, and the feed and audio cut from the screen. All Natasha could think about was getting things back up. She moved over to a console and practically kicked the tech that was there and started working on getting the power back up.

She didn't even think to look behind her at Steve.

She heard Everett get onto a radio and start talking into it as Tony tapped into FRIDAY to work on the outage. With them both working tirelessly, they managed to get communication online to a degree and get the cameras up.

When she looked up at security footage, her heart dropped and her eyes got hard. She didn't know how or who, but one thing was very clear.

"Barnes is out," Natasha said, putting the feed up and standing making her way over to Tony. She glanced back to the conference room and noted the absence of Steve and the others, but at this point, it seemed like they had a rogue Winter Soldier to deal with, and Natasha knew every advantage they could get would help.

"I hope you brought a suit with you," she commented, getting ready for a fight and wishing she had any sort of weapon on her.

Tony started speed-walking alongside Natasha as he answered. "Sure did. It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button." He gestured at himself like duh, what do I look like? "I'm an active-duty non-combatant."

Before he could elaborate, Sharon passed them as they turned a corner and said: "Follow me." 

Sharon led them straight to Barnes on the ground floor, currently being approached by two CIA agents. Tony took cover behind the wall to avoid being spotted. "I'll distract him while you guys flank."

Sharon nodded and took off, leading the way through the facility to the other entrance. Natasha was hesitant to follow Sharon at first, but the agent probably knew the compound better than Natasha did, and at this point they were on the same side of stopping Barnes before he escaped. They reached the other side of the area and positioned themselves in Barnes' way that he was traveling.

If Natasha had more time, she would try and figure out where he was going. But she didn't, and he was right there. She wasn't in ideal clothes for fighting, and had no weapons to take on what appeared to be a fully functional Winter Soldier. She knew no one could take him hand to hand except Steve, but she could hope that he wasn't fully back, which would be her only chance.

"We're in position," Natasha reported to Tony, who was waiting on the other side.

Tony made his move then, using what appeared to be half of an Iron Man glove to send a sonic pulse at him to distract the Soldier. He followed it up with a bright flash as he managed to take him on for a bit and even disarm Barnes with the one pistol Barnes had managed to get. Barnes retaliated by knocking Tony across the room with the remainder of the gun that he had. Natasha moved forward the same time as Sharon as they went to support Tony. Sharon got there first, throwing a couple of kicks into Barnes while Natasha came in and landed a knee to the midsection and followed it up with a low punch.

Sharon tried to run in and land a kick to his face, but Barnes had recovered enough by then and caught her attack easily, grabbing her leg and flipping her into a table. He was attacked from behind then, and the Natasha swung up and wrapped her legs around his neck.

Natasha knew that she didn't have a chance unless she put him down now. She didn't have a great hold on him, but she would be able to put him down if she managed to put enough damage to his spinal cord with her legs squeezing tight around his neck. She brought her fists down on the top part of his neck where his spinal cord met his skull as he pushed forward. She managed two more hits before she was slammed down on a table, completely dazing her. She was about to try and get back up when a metal hand wrapped around her neck and her eyes got wide.

She struggled a bit, but she was quickly losing air and couldn't really fight back.

"You could at least remember me," Natasha said, knowing she and James had such an extensive past that included a romantic entanglement, and trying to reach that part of him, even if he was the Soldier.

What she saw was nothing in those eyes, and resigned herself to death, having so many regrets. She was about to black out when the pressure was released. She wheezed for air, bruises already forming on her throat, and still feeling like she wasn't getting enough air. She looked up and saw what was her savior and it was T'Challa.

Natasha just stayed where she was on the table, gasping for breath as she was still having trouble breathing due to the grip that Barnes had managed. She was soon surrounded by a couple of medics, who started to help relieve the pain and get her airway back to normal.

After a few minutes, Tony managed his way over to her and looked at her to see if she was okay.

His shoulders slumped, dejected. But he tried to sound bright. Bright and sarcastic. "Cat-man over there said you were probably okay but I, well, I wanted to see for myself."

Some of the medics moved out of the way so that Tony could get through, but they were still examining Natasha's neck. It was starting to become purple where the metal hand had clamped down on her throat.

"Where is Barnes," Natasha said, well more tried to say. It was barely audible and came out in a very raspy, hoarse voice. She strained very hard to say those three words.

“Agent Romanoff," one of the medics said. "Please try not to talk for now."

"Oof," Tony blew out as he got a closer look at Nat's neck. "In all likelihood, he's on the roof," he replied casually, stuffing both hands in his pockets. He looked for all the world like it wouldn't matter one iota if Barnes got away. It was, of course, a useless facade to keep up around Natasha, who could read him very well at this point, but old habits die hard.

"Carter and T'Challa went after him. I assume Cap and his followers did too. We'd never get there faster than them so you should just sit there and look pretty and not talk for a while."

Natasha just nodded, knowing that her serum would help with this specifically in a short amount of time, but the bruising was going to stick around for a while.

Later that night, Natasha made her way through the compound towards the command center. Was she cleared to leave? Probably not. Did she have some ugly bruises on her throat, most definitely. Could she even talk? Better than before. But she wasn't going to sit on the sidelines. Not when Steve ignored 5 of her calls and double the texts. He had disappeared again, with Barnes, Terra, and Wilson. There was no escaping prison for him now, he broke so many laws. But she had to try and convince them to let her and Tony bring them in.

She entered and saw Ross finding Tony and gesturing to the glass conference room, the same one that held Steve and the others in. She sat down wordlessly, waiting for Ross and Stark to enter and not planning on letting them make her go away. She pulled out her phone and dialed Steve's number one last time. She yet again got an answering machine. She was glad to hear his voice, even if it was just the standard message. She wanted to leave a message, say anything, but yet again, she couldn't. So she just hung up and waited for the meeting to come.

Tony entered and sat down next to her as Ross wasn’t long behind him. He took one look at the two heroes before starting in.

 "I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Ross asked slowly, attempting to mask his frustration.

"We will. GSG-9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it,” Tony said, trying to keep everything together.

Ross walked to look out the glass. "You don't get it, Stark. It's not yours to handle. It's clear that either of you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this."

Natasha's jaw clenched. This wasn't the way this was supposed to go and it couldn't go this way. There was no way that Special Ops would be able to take down the team that Steve was leading now. Which means that there would be more shooting in trying to apprehend the fugitives, especially because this wasn't their first offense against the Accords. She couldn't have Steve getting shot, she couldn't have him die. She wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"What about when the shooting starts," Natasha said, playing a different card that she knew was always hanging around. "You gonna shoot Steve Rogers?"

While Steve didn't sign the Accords and was in direct violation of them, he was still Captain America, World War II hero and leader of the Avengers. Probably one of the most beloved people on the planet, and a special ops team gunning him down would not be helpful to Ross' case.

"If we're provoked," Ross retorted, turning around to face the two. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math," he added dryly, staring Stark down.

"All due respect , you're not going to solve this with boys in bullets, Ross. You gotta let us bring them in,” Tony said, trying best to disguise his anger at Ross and that threat, while Natasha barely held in her anger of Ross threatening to shoot her partner and father to her child. She settled for a glare that didn’t betray what she was thinking at all.

"How would that end any differently from the last time?" Ross asked.

"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt. 72 hours, guaranteed,” Tony said, setting an exact time and promise, trying to make this strictly business, even though it was anything but.

Ross narrowed his eyes. "36 hours," he stated, putting the pressure on . "Barnes." he began walking away, glancing at Natasha. "Rogers." He headed towards the door. "Wilson." He walked through it, his hands making fists as he called back, " Montgomery. "

Before Ross was even out of earshot, Tony was sighing and slumping into a chair, rubbing one hand against his chest, "My left arm is numb, is that normal?"

She got up, glad that Ross was out of the room, and headed over to Tony's side. She felt his pain and stress, he was probably going through the same amount that she was. He was away from Pepper and Toni the same that she was away from Steve and James. They were together and united on this, the weight of morality weighing them down.

She placed a hand on his shoulder in support, letting him know she was there for him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Always," he said immediately, clenching and unclenching his left hand. "Thirty-six hours... geez." He sighed again and scraped both hands through his hair.

Natasha nodded at that fact. 36 hours was barely any time at all, especially when Steve knew that they would come looking for him. She had taught him a lot about evading tracking, and now they had the Winter Soldier with them, someone who had managed to stay in the wind and undetected for years.

Which brought up her next dilemma, the sides were stacked against them. They could maybe handle Steve, Terra and Sam. But even with Rhodey's help it was about to get a lot harder apprehending them with Barnes on their side. Especially if they wanted this done in the small window that they had.

"We're seriously understaffed," Natasha commented about the size of their team right now.

"Oh yeah," Tony agreed, leaning back in the chair as though he needed it to stay upright. "It would be great if we had a Hulk right about now but..."

"You really think he would be on our side?" Natasha said with a smile.

Despite the fact that Ross was involved with everything and that so many times in his life, he had been hunted, Terra was on the other side. Bruce would side with her any day of the week. Perhaps he was a better partner than Natasha was to Steve, and maybe Natasha didn't deserve Steve at all for not siding with him. But she couldn't think about that now. What she needed to think about was who they could bring in. Clint was a no go, he had been very clear about staying out of it earlier. She wouldn't drag Ava into this, it was out of her league and she needed someone to protect James.

Then it hit her, probably the most obvious decision on someone who really wanted Barnes to be in prison.

"I have an idea," Natasha said, planning on recruiting T'Challa to their cause.

"Me too," said Tony . "Where's yours?"

"Downstairs," Natasha said, a confused look coming over her face. "Where's yours?"

She thought T'Challa was a given and probably to where Tony would go too. But it didn't look like he was thinking of him. His mind looked somewhere else, something that Natasha hadn't thought of. And she wondered exactly where Tony was going with this.

He smiled cryptically and stood to grab his jacket from the back of the chair. "Back home," he said as he shrugged his arms through the sleeves. "Be back in a jiffy." He slipped on a pair of sunglasses and was out the door.

It only took Natasha a half second to process what Tony meant after he said back home. New York and then more specifically Queens. She was about to object on activating a Young Avenger, but Tony made no mention of Ava. And if any of the possible recruits of the YA protocol were capable of keeping up, it was definitely Peter Parker.

Natasha just shook her head with a smile, and headed downstairs to get T'Challa and then link up with Rhodes so they could track where Steve was going.

Natasha stood in front of the car that was going to escort T’Challa away so he could continue his own search and she hoped to be able to sway him to their side to assist and not run. He was being led by one of his personal guards, who was speaking to him about their scanning. When they both looked up, the woman came in front of them and fixed Natasha with a glare.

"Move," she said. "Or you will be moved."

Natasha just smiled at her, with a smile that clearly said, you won’t win this one. T'Challa smiled as he walked between the two women.

"As entertaining as that would be," T'Challa said.

Natasha cut him off at that point, beginning her recruitment plan.

"You really think you can find him?" she asked.

T'Challa continued onto his car as he explained, knowing that Natasha posed no threat at the moment.

"My resources are considerable," T'Challa started to explain before he was cut off again.

"Yeah, it took the world 70 years to find Barnes," Natasha said, almost rolling her eyes. "So you could probably do that in about half the time?"

T'Challa stopped and looked at the Widow. He understood what she was getting at. She was offering him a chance to help bring in Barnes as long as he worked with their team. 

"You know where they are?" T'Challa asked.

"I know someone who does," Natasha answered, knowing that Tony and her would be able to track them down easily.

"Lead the way Ms. Romanoff," T'Challa gestured, and Natasha headed to one of her own cars to hook up with Rhodes so they could go to the next command center, T'Challa following after taking a case from his car with his Black Panther suit.

Natasha was sitting at a command terminal, running a very complex algorithm that would catch any sign of Steve or his accomplices within her web. She hadn't shown the code to anyone there, but she knew it was on par with Stark's facial recognition software. He would run his and she would run hers. She was currently waiting for Stark to come back from New York when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and glanced at the message.

Ily

Simple, yet perfect. Natasha's heart leapt in her chest as she knew exactly who it was and what it meant. All of a sudden, she was overcome with conflict at that point. What should she do now? Steve hadn't given up on her, he took the huge risk that was sending her a message just saying that he loved her, trusting that she wouldn't use it to track him. And of course she wouldn't, not now. She composed herself before anyone else noticed.

M2

She responded in kind and then erased all traces of conversation on her phone and went back to work. A simple me too, would convey all she wanted to say to him as well. That she was sorry for the way things were going and she was going to do all she could to keep them together. That she loved him no matter what, and nothing would ever change that. She went back to watching the screen, brain going a million miles an hour, and now not really knowing if she wanted to get a hit or not.

Chapter Text

May 20th, 2015
Leipzig-Halle Airport
Schkeuditz, Germany

The scene was tense as Natasha stood among the team they had put together, eyes sharp and scanning the airport around her. She clenched her jaw slightly, aware of every subtle movement in her teammates. Tony had just returned from Queen's with the "kid"—Peter Parker, who was practically vibrating with nervous excitement but masking it with a brave face. He'd been given a quick rundown, but she could tell he was trying to figure out what he'd gotten himself into. T'Challa stood nearby, in his menacing Black Panther uniform, made from complete vibranium. Tony was talking to Rhodes, both of them fully geared in their suits

Vision hovered nearby, silent and serene as ever, though his gaze was sharper than usual, focused on the airfield. Pietro stood close by, his usually relaxed demeanor replaced with a worry that lingered just beneath his confident smirk. Both had come back to help after sharing what they knew: Clint had broken Wanda out of the Compound, and the two of them had made contact with Steve. Since then, Team Cap had been on the run, trying to regroup and find a way out of the country.

After Natasha heard about Clint and Wanda, she purposely missed her check in, and Ava would already be at the safehouse with James at this point. Once she finished this, however it ended, she would go and get her son.

Natasha had managed to track Steve's movements down enough, to notice a helicopter that was called in to have prepared for an unknown party. Paid for in cash, a lot of cash, to go along with no questions asked. Most people would assume a celebrity, but Natasha could tell that it had Clint's fingerprints all over it. The way the communication was channeled, how the bills were paid out. All small things that no one else would have noticed, but she clocked immediately.

"Nat, you ready?" Tony asked, looking over at her.

She nodded, hiding the quiet conflict in her expression. "Let's get this over with."

Peter came up to her, his voice a bit too loud in the quiet tension. "Are we really going to do this? I mean, they're your friends, right?"

Natasha's gaze hardened at the comment from the teen, he didn't mean it, but it cut deeper than just friends for her. "We don't want to hurt them, Parker. But we can't let them run free, either."

Peter nodded, though his nervous glance between her and Tony told her he didn't fully understand. She didn't blame him. She barely understood herself anymore. The look Tony gave Parker though let him know to drop it, as Natasha was going through a lot right now.

"We should be prepared for Captain Rogers to have his own counters," Vision said evenly, his voice as calm as ever. "And he knows we're here."

Tony gave a wry smile. "Oh, I wouldn't expect anything less. That's why we brought the best."

Natasha shifted slightly, mentally checking the escape routes Clint had left open. She knew him too well to think he wouldn't have something in place if things went south. This was his arena as much as it was theirs; the only difference now was that she stood on the opposite side.

"Let's start the evacuation order," Tony said, punching the command into FRIDAY so she could relay it. "That will get a kickstart on all of this."

A few minutes later, Natasha was hidden behind some crates about a hundred feet away from the helicopter that was sitting in the middle of the terminal. T'Challa was stationed close on the other side, Peter was waiting, and Vision and Pietro were held in reserve for now. If they could keep from using their most powerful people, they would.

After a bit, she saw Steve emerge from the shadows, full Captain America uniform on with his shield, and start running towards the helicopter. He got about 20 feet away before Stark sprung the first trap. An electromagnetic device shot out and dug into the helicopter, sending a pulse through it that neutralized the craft. Tony and Rhodes flew in and landed in front of Steve, facing off in front of him. Tony lowered his helmet and glanced over at Rhodes.

"Wow," Tony said. "It's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," Rhodes responded, trying to keep the quipping up.

Steve didn't seem deterred, looking to still plead his case. "Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

T'Challa had enough waiting it seemed and leaped over a truck. He was all suited up and ready to get revenge. It didn't matter that Barnes wasn't with Rogers now, Rogers knew where he was. And he was going to get that information.

"Captain," T'Challa greeted.

Natasha meanwhile, hung back. Steve was right there, and her brain was still confused on what to do. Did she want to fight? No, but here she was, completely suited up and weapons at the ready. But what could she do? Could she really fight Steve if it came to it? Go toe to toe with him to try and stop him?

Steve was surprised this time, but he hid it well. "Your highness."

Tony shifted on his feet impatiently, quite the feat when wearing an Iron Man suit. "Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

Steve stood firm. "You're after the wrong guy."

"Your judgment is askew. Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday." Tony had the bruises on his face to prove Barnes' brutality.

"And there are five more super soldiers just like him," Steve retorted. "I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

Natasha couldn't stay out of this forever, and she maybe had a chance to stop the fight, but what would that lead to? Steve in jail, that being the best case scenario? But would all fighting be any better?

"Steve," she said, stepping out and you could practically hear the conflict in her voice.

She wasn't raspy anymore from the damage to her neck, but the bruises were still definitely there and visible, probably would be for a little bit longer, her serum didn't work as fast as Steve's.

"You know what's about to happen," Natasha said. "Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"

Natasha said the words, but they didn't quite reach her eyes. She could see a bit of hurt in his eyes as well, and it almost seemed like he was going to say something. But he steeled his resolve and looked back to Tony.

"All right, I've run out of patience," Tony said, then cupping his hands to his mouth. "Underoos!"

At his cue, Peter swung up and over Steve, flipped, webbed his shield and his hands, and landed on the chopper with the shield on his arm. Steve let it happen, Natasha figured he hadn't expected for them to activate a Young Avenger.

Tony almost smiled proudly, if he'd been in the mood to smile. "Nice job, kid."

"Thanks!" The voice under the mask was painfully young and squeaky, evident of Parker's age. "Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit… Well, it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-it's perfect. Thank you."

Tony cringed a little. "Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation."

"Okay." Peter said and Natasha could see that he didn't know what to do at this point. "Cap- Cap'n." He saluted. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just..." Tony said, motioning to speed things along.

Peter just waved, keeping it nice and short. "Hey, everyone."

"Good job."

Steve couldn't help the twitch of his lips watching Spider-Man. "You've been busy."

Tony was not having it. "And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep . . . I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Steve frowned, all traces of amusement gone. "You did that when you signed."

"Alright, we're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. NOW!" Tony had never commanded Steve to do anything before, never like this, but Tony had officially run out of patience, and Natasha was there too. "Because it's us!" He waved at Natasha. "Or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite. Come on." He was practically begging.

Natasha watched Steve's features and thought he was about to agree, but then she picked up on something different. He wasn't thinking, he was listening more, to someone in his ear.

Steve raised his hands and an arrow immediately shot through. Natasha wheeled to find where Clint was posted, cursing herself that she didn't try and spread people out more. Steve didn't seem concerned though, just let his hands fall to his sides.

"Alright Lang," he said, almost in a relenting way.

All of a sudden, a man appeared out of nowhere, appearing to size himself up and kicked Parker in the face, grabbing the shield while he did it in a back flip. Natasha got a look at the uniform that the new man wore and it looked vaguely familiar. Like something she read about in the old Shield archives. Pym?

"Whoa," Rhodes said, looked at the two. "What the hell was that?"

The man turned and handed Steve the shield, Steve taking it gratefully. "I believe this is yours Captain America."

Tony and Rhodes didn't pause, starting to hover in the air as they started to scan the area. "Alright," Tony said, getting the results in. "There's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her. Rhodey, you want to take one of the Captains?"

Tony took off towards Wanda as Rhodey continued.

"Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes," he said and then looked down. "Montgomery's on the ground."

"Barnes is mine," T'Challa said, sprinting off towards the terminal to take down Barnes.

Natasha, meanwhile, took her time to search for Terra. With all the metal around, Terra could be blending in anywhere. She searched and searched and found a slight shift over by a truck. She didn't waste any time in raising her arm and firing a Widow's bite in that direction, knowing the electricity would carry through the metal even if it didn't hit her.

Terra made a noise and ducked fully revealing her position. She was about to fire again and hopefully knock out Terra, when the tiny, now big guy, jumped in her way.

"Look," he said. "I really don't want to hurt you."

Natasha wanted to scoff at the gall of this guy. She settled for a smirk.

"I wouldn't stress about it," she said before attacking forward, landing a kick to his groin and grabbing his arm.

He reached over and slapped a button on his hand and suddenly he disappeared. Or miniaturized more like it. Suddenly, Natasha felt herself being flipped and put on the ground with her arm being taken behind her back. She gritted her teeth and activated her gauntlet, zapping whoever was on her wrist and she faintly heard a soft thud as the pressure was relieved and she stood up again.

She looked around and saw that Rhodes was being tied down by Terra. She knew that she didn't want to fight Steve unless she had to, so getting Rhodes over there was a priority. She printed over and lunged to dislodge her hold on the War Machine suit. She didn't make her presence a secret and allowed Terra to know. Terra chose to absorb a steel ring and shifted the metal that was around her body. She had to loosen the hold on the chain she had Rhodes tied down with however, and Rhodes was able to get away. Natasha ended up getting tossed a few yards away, after the first hit, the steel being a bit too strong for her.

Natasha rolled after the toss, coming back to her feet. She did what she accomplished, got Rhodes free and now it was Rhodes vs Terra and they couldn't tag team. She glanced over to where Steve and T'Challa were and saw T'Challa drag his claws down on Steve's shield before Steve knocked him a distance away. Now Steve could either run or help Terra, which would leave Rhodes at the disadvantage. She couldn't let that happen.

She went over and placed herself in front of Steve, fists raised for a fight. This was more than just a brawl. This was a fight between two people who knew what each other were going to do, and two people that cared very much about each other. Natasha was still trying to sort out everything about this, so she did the one thing that she would be able to do.

And that was to get ready to fight.

Natasha's breath came fast and steady as she faced off with Steve in the open stretch of the airport. The sounds of metal clashing and shouted orders blurred in the background; her focus was on him alone. They moved in unison, almost in sync, each movement and counter flowing with a rhythm they both knew far too well. In a way, it felt familiar—like the sparring sessions they'd had a hundred times before. But now, the stakes were real, and the weight of their choices hung in the air between them.

Steve's eyes were hard, but there was a flicker of something else there—regret, maybe, or even guilt. Natasha knew that expression; she'd seen it before in their quiet moments after battles, in his lingering hesitations before making the tough calls. Now, though, she couldn't let herself linger on it. She had her orders, and he had his convictions. There was no turning back for either of them.

She ducked under his first punch, slipping to the side and lashing out with a kick that he caught on instinct. Steve shoved her back, just enough to make her stumble, but she rolled with it, springing back up and aiming a quick jab at his ribs. He sidestepped, twisting his body, bringing his shield up in time to block her follow-up strike.

"Nat," he said, his voice rough and thick with something she didn't want to name. "You don't have to do this."

"Neither do you," she shot back, her voice sharp, though her heart tugged painfully at her words. "But here we are."

They closed the gap again, his fists swinging with controlled force as she dodged and ducked, her movements fluid and precise. She knew his tells—the way his shoulders tensed just a split-second before a right hook, the slight dip of his stance when he went in for a grapple. She countered each one, slipping past his defenses with a familiarity that only came from years of knowing each other's strengths, weaknesses, and fears.

Steve's shield swung down, and Natasha sidestepped, grabbing his arm and pulling him off-balance. He stumbled, and she took the opening, bringing her elbow down into his gut with enough force to make him grunt in pain. But in that split-second, his arm jerked up reflexively, and the edge of his shield caught her in the forehead. Pain exploded across her vision, a sharp sting followed by the warm trickle of blood running down her face.

She staggered back, blinking against the daze, feeling the cut throb just above her eyebrow. She wiped at it quickly, her fingers coming away red. Steve's expression shifted, the hard lines of his face softening, almost an apology in his eyes.

"Nat…" He sounded almost as if he wanted to stop, as if he wanted to fix what couldn't be fixed.

But she ignored it, shaking off the pain and throwing herself at him again. He dodged, knowing exactly where she'd aim and meeting her blow with one of his own. They fell into a brutal rhythm, each countering the other's every move, each punch and kick laden with memories and years of trust that now felt like an echo of something lost.

Then, she went for one of her signature leg takedowns. She could already see him falling, and could almost feel the victory of the takedown. But he was faster. Anticipating her, he shifted his weight just in time and threw her off, twisting away as she tumbled to the ground.

Natasha caught herself, bracing on her hands and looking up, her gaze meeting his. For a heartbeat, they just looked at each other—partners, lovers, parents, locked in a battle neither wanted but both couldn't walk away from.

With one last, regretful look, Steve turned and ran, his footsteps fading as he sprinted across the tarmac, leaving Natasha breathing hard and bleeding, watching him go. Natasha rolled and slapped the ground. She had gotten too close and he knew what she was going to do. She regretted a bit about teaching him to counter her move, but a small part of her was proud. She got up and took off as well, heading to where T'Challa and Steve were headed, over by where Rhodes and Terra still were.

She got over and saw that the tiny man she had gotten off her earlier tossed something to Steve and then they both threw something in the air. What was small now became a giant fuel truck hurtling through the air. She managed to just get out of the way, diving onto the pavement behind some boxes as the truck exploded. She rolled over on the pavement, wiping the blood from her face that had started to clot and really considering her options at this point. She had been taken down by the tiny man, almost blown up by a fuel tank, and had to fight the love of her life. Things weren't going great right now.

Iron Man dropped down next to Natasha, landing between her and the truck whose flames hadn't quite gone out yet. He held out a hand to help her up.

Natasha took Tony's outstretched hand and let him help her up. She was still pissed and it showed on her face. Tony probably wasn't in the mood for it either, but it wouldn't stop her at this point.

"Is this part of your plan?" Natasha asked, more demanded at this point.

"Well, my plan was to go easy on them. You wanna switch it up?" Tony said, and even though Natasha couldn't see it, she could tell from his tone that he was pissed off as well. She saw the new dents and scratches on his suit and figured that capturing Wanda didn't go well either.

"I don't see much other option," Natasha admitted. "Get Pietro back over her with Vision. They're gonna make a play for the jet. We cut them off across the air strip." Natasha looked up at Tony, "Nobody gets hurt."

"Don't look at me. They're the ones throwing fuel trucks and other miscellaneous vehicles at us." He didn't wait for a reply, just grabbed her hand, and blasted off, opening the second commlink channel reserved for emergencies. "Vision, we've got a code Yellow. We need you at the airstrip pronto."

She just grabbed onto Tony, knowing he wouldn't be flying very fast and he would take her over to where they were headed. All the time she was still trying to figure out what to do. By bringing Vision in, this would be a declaration of battle, and it would be no holds barred. She could be seeing Steve again, or Terra. She could have to fight Barnes, would he remember her fully now? Or what about Clint or Wanda? People she had relationships with for years, she would have to fight in this knock down brawl.

The thought just weighed on her.

Vision made his entrance and the rest of the team formed up behind him. Tony dropped off Natasha, Rhodes carrying in T'Challa. Parker swung in from one of the buildings and Pietro sped in as well, lining up with them.

"Captain Rogers," Vision announced, drawing a line in the concrete with the gem, stopping Steve's team in a line as well. "I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now."

They faced off, a literal line in the pavement dividing them.

Quicksilver, War Machine, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Iron Man, and the Black Panther on one side with Vision lingering in the back.

Falcon, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, the Knight, Captain America, and the Winter Soldier on the other, with the Scarlet Witch lingering in the back.

Natasha looked across the line, finding Clint, Wanda, and Steve's eyes. She faintly heard Sam ask, "What do we do, Cap?"

"We fight."

The texts between Steve and her almost evaporated at these words as they would have to charge at each other. But they didn't, they stayed rooted in her brain.

"This is gonna end well," Natasha commented dryly before walking forward with the rest.

Steve's team started jogging as Peter commented to their team, "They're not stopping."

Tony said the final words that would doom them to a battle like nothing else.

"Neither are we."

The two sides sprinted at each other as Natasha headed straight into the fray. Natasha had charged forward and had come to face Scott first. She had seen him shrink and knew he would grow back up to size before trying to land a hit on her. When he did, she expertly used his momentum and flipped him over on the ground. She was about to punch him to knock him out when she was shoved from behind.

Clint, who managed to get an arrow snuck in on Tony while he was engaged with Cap, quickly moved forward to shove Natasha off of him and the two faced off. The airport echoed with the sounds of clashing metal and muffled shouts as Natasha squared off against Clint, each circling the other with a wariness born of years of friendship and battles fought side by side. Clint's bow was drawn, an arrow nocked and ready, though his expression was tense. She held her batons steady, their tips crackling with electricity, their usual ease now underscored by a bitter tension neither of them could ignore.

Clint exhaled, resigned, and released the arrow. Natasha was already moving, sidestepping the projectile and closing the distance between them. Her batons crackled to life, and she swung them at him in a swift arc. He ducked under her attack, pivoting and swinging his bow to block her second strike. They both knew each other's tactics too well for anything but their best efforts, and every move felt like an unspoken dialogue of their shared past—an unspoken language neither wanted to betray.

Natasha launched a quick series of strikes, the crackling tips of her batons slicing through the air, aiming for his torso, then his legs, but Clint was relentless in his counters. He parried her attacks with the strength of his bow, the solid metal meeting her batons in loud, resounding clashes. She gritted her teeth, pushing herself harder, her moves swift and unyielding.

Clint swung his bow low, and she dodged, countering with a knee to his side, but he twisted away at the last second, bringing his elbow up and managing to knock one of her batons out of her grip. It clattered to the ground, and Natasha barely spared a second glance, gripping her remaining baton tighter.

"Not bad," she said breathlessly, a hint of a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Same to you," Clint replied, his mouth set in a grim line as he blocked her next blow, sliding back with the force of her attack.

She pressed forward, striking in a quick, rhythmic pattern that had him on the defensive, her baton crackling inches from his face before he managed to spin away. But Clint wasn't one to back down easily. He stepped in close, swinging his bow to intercept her baton, their weapons locked for a second in a battle of strength and balance.

For a heartbeat, they were face to face, breathing hard, and Natasha could see the regret etched across his features. Her own resolve wavered, but only for a moment. She steeled herself, pushing against him harder.

Then, Clint shifted his grip, using the bow like a lever as he twisted to the side, sweeping her legs out from under her. Natasha hit the ground hard, barely keeping hold of her baton as she tried to roll away, but he was already one step ahead. Before she could react, he pressed his bow across her chest, pinning her to the ground.

Natasha just looked up at him and gave a little smirk. "We're still friends, right?" Natasha asked.

"Depends on how hard you hit me," Clint said, knowing they both were holding back.

Natasha brought her legs up in her own surprise and wrapped them around Clint and twisted to shake him off. She got to her feet first and aimed a kick at Clint to hopefully incapacitate him.

Her foot was stopped in mid air as a red hue surrounded it. Natasha had enough time to look at Wanda and the red magic that had caught her foot before she was flung a decent ways away, and slammed into a piece of machinery. She hit the ground hard, groaning at the dull pain that was caused there. She guessed there were still some hard feelings between them, and Wanda didn't pull her punches. Which Natasha would be proud of, because that's what she taught her.

It just physically hurt to be on the receiving end of that.

The battle raged on as Natasha recovered and rolled to her side. She seemed to be forgotten for now as everyone was focused on others. She got up slowly and decided to move around and not make herself known for a bit.

She made her way around the back and climbed up on a truck to look over the battlefield. Tony was firing madly, Clint was firing arrow after arrow. Steve was fighting with Parker, just a kid. As Natasha stood there amid the chaos of the airport, her heart hammered in a way that felt strange and unwelcome. She had been through countless missions, confronted foes without flinching, and sacrificed parts of herself she'd never get back—all in the name of causes that were never fully hers. This time, though, everything was different. She felt torn in ways she hadn't expected, fractured between loyalty and instinct, obligation and love. The decision she was about to make was more than just a choice; it was a reckoning.

She took a deep breath, glancing around at her teammates, her mind racing. Tony, Vision, Rhodes—they all believed they were doing the right thing. She had believed it, too. They were upholding the law, making a stand to prevent further damage, to keep each other safe. But as she watched Steve fighting to protect his own team—fighting with that fierce, uncompromising determination she knew so well and loved—doubts clawed their way up from deep within her. Steve was risking everything for Bucky, for the truth, and a nagging voice in her head whispered that he had never stopped risking it all for those he cared about, even if it meant losing everything else.

Natasha wasn't a soldier. She'd never been one, not really. She was a spy. Spies didn't fight for things they couldn't win or choose sides unless they had to. She'd always been able to maneuver her way through the gray spaces, surviving by being whatever the mission required of her. But now, for the first time in a long while, she felt like the mission was unclear—blurred by the faces she'd come to know, the trust she had built with Steve and the others.

The memories hit her hard: the nights she spent with Steve, the secrets she had told him, the love they had made, the moments with their child. He'd always seen something in her that she sometimes couldn't see herself—a potential for something beyond survival, something that went beyond loyalty to orders. In a strange way, he'd shown her what it felt like to stand for something she believed in. And now he was out there, outnumbered, outgunned, and trying to protect people who had placed their trust in him. Her gut twisted with the realization that if she let him face this alone, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

But she couldn't just abandon her post. Tony and the others would never forgive her, and she couldn't risk compromising her position so openly. There was more at stake than her loyalty to Steve or to Tony; there was James, her contingency plan, the fragile balancing act she'd created to protect him if she had to disappear. She needed to keep him safe, and burning all her bridges now would make that nearly impossible. But if she helped Steve covertly, if she found a way to support him in secret, then maybe she could fulfill both her promises.

Natasha cast one last look back at the battle before making her decision. Moving with practiced stealth, she slipped away from the main fight, keeping to the shadows as she navigated her way to the hangar where she knew the quinjet was. Her pulse was steady, her steps sure, but beneath her calm exterior, shame and doubt gnawed at her resolve. She felt a hollow ache knowing she was choosing to turn her back on people who trusted her, who believed she was fighting at their side. But as much as it hurt, she knew it was the right thing to do. Steve needed her, and though it might cost her everything, she couldn't let him down now.

With each step, she steadied herself, pushing down the guilt that threatened to rise, refusing to let it paralyze her. Steve had always been there for her, through every battle and dark moment, and it was time she showed him that his trust hadn't been misplaced. She was going to be the support he needed, the partner who would stand by him even when it felt like the world was pulling them apart.

The battle raged on from outside. The tiny dude becoming big, Wanda becoming a real nuisance, Vision dropping a tower on the entrance, and Steve and Bucky managing to slide underneath as Wanda held it up just long enough for them to get in.

She had been waiting for this moment. She was rehearsing what she was going to say, but she knew that when she actually saw him, it would all go out the window. She came out from her hiding spot, standing between Steve and Bucky and the Quinjet. Bucky looked between the two. He remembered enough of his past to know that he had some sort of relationship with the woman, but she wasn't focused on him. Her eyes were directly focused on Steve, and he was going to let them have their moment.

Natasha froze on the spot, and looked at him. She fumbled with what she was going to say, so she just came out with the first thing that she could.

"You're not going to stop," she managed.

The pain leaked out through his voice. "You know I can't."

She finally let down her mask for him and he could clearly see in her eyes the regret over all of her choices. She had nearly torn their family apart and hadn't stood beside him when he most needed her to. She reached into her suit and pulled his dog tags out from her neck, past the ugly bruise that Bucky had left, and held them.

"I'm sorry Steve," she said. "I had one good thing going in my life, and I almost ruined it."

She was about to continue and say when she was coming with them when she saw T'Challa sneaking up behind them. She knew what she had to do now, and it wouldn't be helping them with the Winter Soldiers. It would be helping them get away and face the consequences. She raised her gauntlet, still not fully saying what she was doing, so she saw Bucky tense for a fight.

"I should have done this a long time ago," Natasha said, and fired.

The Widow's Bite traveled between both Steve and Barnes and slammed into T'Challa's suit, shocking him and rendering him immobile for the time being.

"I love you," Natasha said, looking right at Steve. "Go."

"I love you too," he said, the look of love in his eyes made this all worth it, and then he was off, sprinting for the jet with Bucky at his side.

Natasha kept holding the Panther back as Steve powered up the jet and blasted their way out. She fired one last time, and her last Widow's Bite, before the Panther jumped up to try and stop the jet that was flying out of the hangar. He tried to grab the wheel but it was retreating into the jet. With a pained cry, T'Challa dropped to the ground as Rogers and Barnes made their escape. He slowly got up off the ground and looked back at Natasha.

"I said I'd help you find them, not catch them," Natasha said. "There's a difference."

She offered him a sad smile, one that said she understood his motivations, but it was a choice for her, and one she would pay the consequences for.

"That may be Miss Romanoff," T'Challa said, coming over and grabbing some cuffs on Natasha's belt. "But you'll have no forgiveness from me."

T'Challa pinned Natasha's hand behind her and cuffed her. Natasha knew she could escape them, but she wouldn't, as T'Challa led her out of the hangar to the sound of approaching sirens.

She was led out of the hangar as the fight was pretty much over and Steve got away. She didn't see what was happening on the far end of the runways. Just noticed that Clint, Scott, and Terra were sitting in a line, cuffed and Terra had an inhibitor cuff around her neck.

She glanced over to see Clint's eyes widen at the sight of her.

"Nat," Clint called out, trying to get the spy's attention.

Natasha turned and they could all see the regret in her eyes.

"Tell Wanda I'm sorry," Natasha said, as she was led away to another area.

The people that chose Cap's side would be going straight to the Raft, but Natasha was a different case. She signed the Accords and broke them. T'Challa would be taking her back to where they could question her, probably leave her in Stark's hands so he could continue tracking Barnes.

Berlin, Germany

Natasha had been taken to be monitored in a medical facility back in Berlin. The area was completely surrounded by guards and Natasha sat in the cafeteria, drinking some awful hospital coffee. Tony and Vision were currently awaiting Rhodes' MRI results after an accident had caused Rhodes suit to be disabled from a very high altitude, and the ensuing crash knocked him out cold and did some major damage. She didn't know the full extent, but she had to guess that he would be paralyzed.

As she finished up her coffee, she knew that she would be making her escape soon. T'Challa was probably on his way to Ross now to tell him what she did, and after that, it was the Raft for her. She had to get to the safehouse and grab James and Ava. From there, she would disappear into the world and go on the run. She would look to find Steve some time in the future, but for the next couple months, she would be on her own with James and Ava. She had already plotted her course, but before she left, she needed to talk to Tony.

She got up and threw the remainder of her coffee away, and made her way to Tony. Natasha made it upstairs and looked into the room. She could faintly see Rhodes in an MRI machine and Tony talking to Vision. She had a couple different feelings in her mind. Concern for Rhodes, not wanting him to be seriously injured. Confusion on Vision and exactly what happened. And apprehensive about Tony and how he would react to her.

On the outside, she remained impassive, her face hiding emotion just like she was trained to do. She just stood in the doorway, catching Tony's eye and knowing that they needed to talk away from here. Some place where they could lay it on the line and Tony could tell her what was going through his head and yell at her if he needed to

With a steady inhale, Tony visibly pulled himself together and walked over to join her. They didn't speak until they reached a semi-secluded balcony..

"The doctors say he shattered L4 through S1. Extreme laceration in the spinal cord. Probably looking at some form of paralysis."

Natasha nodded, knowing that wasn't good news at all. Tony could maybe find a way to help Rhodes walk, but he would never walk on his own again. Not with that much damage to his spine. She glanced over at Tony and saw the fatigue in him. He was just so tired of all of this, and she could see it. He didn't want to have this conversation with her, which she understood. All he wanted to do right now was probably go home to his family, the same thing that she wanted to do.

She toyed with the idea of beating around the bush and making some small talk, but decided against it. Why put off the inevitable.

"Steve's not gonna stop," Natasha said, calmly and not accusatory towards any side. "If you don't either, Rhodey is going to be the best case scenario."

"You let them go, Nat," Tony responded, and it wasn't angry, but just mentally exhausted with his accusation.

"We played this wrong," Natasha said, meaning it on a lot of different levels.

She should have stayed by Steve to begin with or retire and live with James alone. They should have gone about it smarter, not brought in more soldiers. They shouldn't have fought in a public area, risking the injury of everyone. She was taking a big part of the blame here, and she hoped that she made that clear. She wasn't putting all of this on Tony, she was putting a lot on herself. But Tony wasn't innocent in this either. He had agreed with her about some plans, coming up with some himself. He put Vision as a guard on Wanda at the compound, and he brought in Parker to this fight.

They were all at fault.

"We? Boy, it must be hard to shake the whole double agent thing, huh? It sticks in the DNA," Tony said, and the spite that was there showed exactly how he felt about her.

For the first time in this conversation, Natasha showed emotion, and she was hurt. She was so hurt that Tony thought so little of her that she was just playing one side, who she considered to be good friends. Was just some spy who hadn't changed and all her goal was to sabotage Rhodes, Vision, Pietro, and Tony from the beginning, before she even met T'Challa or Peter. That she used her son as a cover for why she signed the Accords and not because she actually thought it would be safest for him. The fact that she worked so hard to try and regain a relationship with Tony, and spent a lot of time and laughs with him, just to play him in the long run.

That hurt was evident, and a bit of anger seeped through into her expression after a moment of the shocked hurt, which would be very evident to Tony.

"Are you unable to let go of your ego for one goddamn second," Natasha managed, with some venom in her voice, but it was also shaky.

She did mean that. Tony wouldn't ever admit that he possibly was wrong. That the world was always out to get him and he knew better than everyone. It was frankly just disgusting to Natasha at this point.

"No, you're right," Tony sighed, turning back to the railing and staring out at the trees. "You're right. We're all at fault."

A silence fell between them.

"T'Challa told Ross what you did, so... they're coming for you," Tony managed finally, knowing that she would be leaving soon and he wouldn't see her again for a long time, perhaps ever again.

Natasha was slightly confused at his statement, although her mask was back up. She expected him to yell, move back to his old self of hating her and they were going to just circle back. She didn't expect him to agree with her, just on his track record about the Accords the past couple of days. But there was hope, just a sliver of hope. If Tony wasn't going to go after Steve, it meant that Vision and the others weren't likely to. And she knew that Steve and Barnes could evade simple UN guards.

Natasha went over to Tony and placed a hand on his arm.

"I'll be okay," Natasha said. "Just go be with your family Tony. Just rest."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned around to leave, not knowing when she would ever see her friend again.

Escaping the building was pretty easy. She subdued two guards out of the back entrance, not a challenge, just a quick Widow's bite to both of them and they were resting comfortably. She found one of the military jeeps out back and hotwired it easily. She took off into the wilderness and disappeared from sight. She ditched the jeep about fifty miles later and found another car that she "borrowed" as Steve would put it, and made her way to where Ava and James would be, and to her self exile for the next undefined amount of time.

May 22nd, 2015
Normandy, France

Natasha got to the farm house out in the French countryside. It was completely off the grid. No traceable technology, nothing connected to the outside world at all. This was her most secure safe house in the world, and for that reason, she had only told two people of it. She told Ava of its exact location, and she told Steve of its general location, but Northern France was a lot of ground to cover and this place was so secluded, he wouldn't be able to find it on his own.

She made a decently large round about way to get here, just to make sure she wasn't being tailed. She went from Berlin to London, and dropped her suit with the tracker inside of it on the outskirts of the city. She figured that Ross would be after her at some point, if he couldn't find Barnes or Rogers, and he wasn't smart enough to know that she ditched her suit and didn't take it with her. From there she took the Eurostar from London to Paris, and then picked up an old car she had stashed in Paris and made her way to the safe house.

She got up to the door, and knew that it would only open with her biometrics that could be activated by a secret keypad. She hit a combination on the doorframe and a keyboard slid out from the wall. She had one attempt to put the password in correctly, or it would lock completely for the next month. She entered the 34 character long password with ease, and the biometric scanner came out from the other side. It was retinal and thumb print. Once she passed that, the door unlocked and she stepped inside.

She was immediately hit with the sound of a pistol pointed at her head.

"Kogda den' rozhdeniya u Chernoy vdovy," Ava's voice came from behind her.

"Dekabr' 1929," Natasha responded in an even voice.

The gun lowered and she was immediately met with a hug from behind by Ava. Natasha smiled and hugged the girl back.

"God Natasha," Ava said. "You don't do that again, okay?"

"I won't," Natasha said. "Thank you so much Ava. I don't know how I can repay you."

"You can repay me by going to see your son," Ava said.

Natasha didn't need another invitation. She headed immediately towards the room she had designated for James and found him slumbering in his crib. She started tearing up at the sight of her son and went over and picked him up. He woke slowly and at the sight and sound of his mother smiled and laughed, bringing a happy laugh and more tears from Natasha as she cradled her son.

Chapter Text

24 years earlier…

Moscow, Russia
1992

Natalia Romanova adjusted her uniform in the cold, sterile light of the Red Room's briefing chamber. The shine of the Black Widow hourglass on her belt. She stared at her reflection in the metal wall, the young face staring back at her a cruel deception. Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp opening of the door. General Dreykov entered, his imposing presence filling the room. "Natalia," he began without preamble, his thick accent making the words heavy, "you've been selected for a critical mission."

Natalia straightened. "What are the parameters, General?"

Dreykov's eyes narrowed approvingly at her unwavering professionalism. He strode to the center of the room, gesturing for her to follow. A holographic map flickered to life, revealing a nondescript suburban neighborhood in Ohio.

"You will join a deep-cover operation. Alexei Shostakov will pose as your father, Melina Vostokoff as your mother. You, Natalia, will infiltrate the local high school. As a sophomore, of course."

He smiled faintly, his tone almost mocking. Natalia's jaw tightened imperceptibly. She was decades older than the sophomore she was posing as, but her serum kept her looking young enough to pass for a high schooler, even if she was suspected of being on the more mature side. What really grated her would be working with Shostakov.

The memory of her first husband, the original Red Guardian, flickered to life in her mind. He had been strong, capable, and utterly consumed by the serum's effects until she had no choice but to end his life herself. The echoes of his laughter, his madness, still haunted her.

This Alexei was different. The serum had been perfected since the failure of the first Guardian, testing it on unfortunate Widows who had also suffered side effects. Then they got the winning combination, and the new Red Guardian was born.

"You will integrate yourself into the social structure, particularly with the sons of key personnel working at North Institute Laboratories. Gain their trust, gain their… affections. Through them, you will access their homes and collect the intelligence we need," Dreykov continued on.

Natalia nodded once, her expression neutral. There was no need to question the mission; disobedience was not an option.

"You will begin next week," Dreykov said. "This is a delicate operation, Natalia. The success of our long-term goals depends on your ability to perform flawlessly."

"Yes, General," Natalia said quietly.

Dreykov studied her for a moment, his sharp gaze cutting through her like a scalpel. "One more thing," he added, almost casually. "Alexei Shostakov—your father in this little charade—is not unfamiliar to you, da?"

She hadn't met him before, but she knew everything about him. The Red Room had her do overwatch on his first solo mission, without letting him know of course, to see how he performed in the field. She had been assigned to that detail.

"This Alexei is different," Dreykov said, as if reading her thoughts. "The serum has been perfected since the first iteration. He is the Red Guardian now, your 'partner' in this mission."

Natalia forced herself to maintain eye contact. She got the message, loud and clear. No falling for this Red Guardian, there would be no marriage or affection with him "Understood."

"And Melina," Dreykov added, "will provide her expertise in chemical research. While physically younger than you, she, well, let's just say she has aged naturally. You, Romanoff, must be the picture of youth."

She nodded again, resolute. But beneath her calm exterior, the weight of the mission settled heavily. To play the dutiful daughter, to seduce teenagers for access, to live under the watchful eye of the man bearing her late husband's name—it all felt like a slow descent into the abyss.

But she said nothing. She would obey.

"One more detail," he said, his tone laced with something that almost resembled amusement. "To complete the illusion, you'll have a younger sister. A new recruit—Yelena Belova. She's only three years old, but she will pose as the youngest daughter in your family."

Natalia blinked, momentarily thrown. A child? A toddler in the field was a rarity, even for the Red Room.

"She will provide the necessary cover for why a new family has suddenly appeared in an unremarkable American suburb," Dreykov continued. "Melina will manage her care, but you are to act as her older sister. She is… promising. I expect you to guide her."

The faint ember of resentment in Natalia flickered again, sharper now, but she suppressed it. Yelena wasn't a recruit to guide; she was a child to mold. Another pawn for Dreykov's long game.

"Understood, General," Natalia said crisply, the mask of obedience slipping effortlessly back into place.

Dreykov dismissed her with a wave, his parting words laced with cold finality. "Do not fail me, Natalia."

As she walked away, the thought of Yelena lingered in her mind. She would be little more than a prop in this mission, a smiling, golden-haired distraction to charm the neighbors and complete their cover. Natasha knew better than most what Yelena's future held if she survived her training. The thought made her stomach twist, but she pushed it aside. The mission came first. It always did.

The conference room in the Red Room facility was as impersonal as they came—metallic walls, a long table, and harsh fluorescent lighting. Natalia sat at one end of the table, her posture rigid, her expression unreadable. She had arrived ten minutes early, as was her custom. Across the table were two empty chairs, and she stared at them with a calculating gaze.

The door opened with a faint hiss, and Melina Vostokoff stepped in, her sharp eyes sweeping the room before landing on Natalia. She hesitated briefly, then crossed the room, taking a seat without a word. Natalia offered a curt nod, noting the subtle wariness in Melina's demeanor.

"I've heard a lot about you," Melina said after a pause, her tone neutral but her eyes watchful.

"I'm here to do my job," Natalia replied coolly. "And to make sure you do yours."

Melina tensed but said nothing. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she folded her hands on the table.

The tension was broken moments later when Alexei Shostakov burst into the room, his large frame and boisterous energy instantly filling the space. He wore a casual grin, his confidence bordering on arrogance.

"Ah! My family!" Alexei declared, spreading his arms wide as he took his seat. "Look at us! The perfect American dream, yes?"

Neither woman responded. Natalia gave him a stern look, while Melina merely sighed, her wariness shifting to mild annoyance.

Alexei clapped his hands together, unbothered by the silence. "So! Let us get down to business. What are our glorious roles in this little masquerade?"

Natalia leaned forward, her tone clipped and businesslike. "You'll be Alexander Miller, a former soldier turned worker, having an entry job in the North Institute Laboratories. Melina, or Melinda for cover's sake, will be your wife, a homemaker with a background in chemical engineering—retired, of course. You've been married for sixteen years, moved frequently due to your work, and have decided to settle in Ohio for stability. You've enrolled your daughters in school. I'm Natalie, your teenage daughter. Yelena will be the youngest, going by Hellen."

Alexei leaned back in his chair, nodding along. "Ah, I see. The all-American father. Strong, dependable, and a little clueless, yes?" He grinned. "I can do that."

Natalia ignored his attempt at humor. "Melina, your role is critical. You'll monitor Yelena's care and handle any suspicions about the family. You'll also establish connections in the neighborhood and with other parents. The labs we're targeting have employees with spouses in social circles. You'll need to find them."

Melina gave a sharp nod. "Understood."

Natalia turned to Alexei. "Your entry level position is a cover. You'll be working nights, which will keep the neighborhood gossip to a minimum. Your main objective is to download the intelligence that the Institute is working on, whatever it is. I trust General Dreykov has filled you in."

Alexei nodded, "Of course, top secret. Very hush, hush."

"None of our covers can fail, any bit," Natalia added icily. "We'll be under constant scrutiny. Any mistake could jeopardize the entire operation."

Alexei's grin faded slightly as he met Natalia's gaze. "I understand. Don't worry, Natalia. I won't let you down."

Natalia didn't react to his attempt at reassurance. Instead, she pushed a folder across the table, filled with detailed profiles, maps, and timelines. "Study these. Every detail about our lives, our cover stories, and our targets. We leave in three days."

Melina picked up the folder, flipping through its pages, her expression unreadable. Alexei glanced at his but didn't open it immediately.

"Three days," Natalia repeated, standing. "Don't waste them."

The photo studio was unnervingly cheery, its walls painted in pastel tones and adorned with cheerful portraits of smiling families. The lighting was warm and soft, designed to flatter every subject that stepped in front of the camera. Natalia stood to the side, her arms crossed as she surveyed the setup with detached efficiency.

A long rack of clothing hung against one wall, filled with coordinating outfits meant to present the illusion of a happy, all-American family. Natalia's sharp eyes assessed every detail—nothing could be left to chance. These photos would serve as evidence of years spent together, despite the fact that none of them had met more than a few days ago.

The door opened, and Melina stepped inside, holding the hand of a small girl. Yelena Belova. The child's blonde curls framed a cherubic face, her wide green eyes scanning the room with unfiltered curiosity.

Natalia's gaze dropped to the child. For a moment, her cold exterior wavered, but only internally. 'A child,' she thought. 'Three years old, and already a pawn in all of this.'

Yelena looked up at Natalia with unguarded wonder. "Are you my sister?" she asked, her voice small and sweet, the words laced with an accent that matched Natalia's.

Natalia hesitated, caught off guard by the question. She nodded stiffly. "Yes. I'm Natalia, but you will call me Natalie."

"Okay, I'm Yelena but they said that I'll be Helen when we go," the little girl replied, smiling shyly.

Alexei's booming voice interrupted the moment as he entered the studio, his steps loud and confident. "Ah, look at this! Our beautiful little family!" He spread his arms dramatically. "Perfect for the American dream, da?"

"Focus," Natalia said sharply, snapping back into her professional demeanor. She turned her attention to the photographer, who was adjusting the lighting. "We need several sets—holidays, family outings, casual shots. Make sure the timeline looks realistic."

The photographer nodded, slightly intimidated by her tone.

As Melina guided Yelena toward the rack of clothing, Natalia stepped aside, her cold exterior concealing the storm of thoughts raging beneath the surface. She couldn't afford to show emotion, not here, not now. But the sight of Yelena—so innocent, so unaware of the role she was being forced to play—gnawed at something deep inside her.

Yelena returned, dressed in a pale blue dress that matched the carefully selected palette for their "family." She toddled over to Natalia and stood quietly beside her, as if seeking her approval.

Natalia gave her a brief once-over. "You're fine," she said curtly, not unkindly but with no warmth either.

Yelena nodded, a faint smile tugging at her lips, seemingly unbothered by Natalia's coldness.

The photographer gestured them into position, arranging them in a series of poses: Alexei and Melina seated with Natalia and Yelena standing behind them, arms draped in mock affection. Another shot had Yelena perched on Alexei's lap, while Natalia stood stiffly at his side.

As the flashes went off, Natalia kept her expression appropriate for the theme of the picture, her movements precise. But inside, her thoughts churned. This child—this innocent little girl—would be expected to play along, to smile and pretend, and eventually, to fight and kill.

For all her training, all her conditioning, Natalia felt a flicker of something she hadn't allowed herself to feel in years. Guilt.

When the session ended, Yelena skipped over to Natalia, her eyes bright. "Did I do good, sister?" she asked, looking up at Natalia with wide, trusting eyes.

Natalia forced a small, tight smile. "You did fine."

Yelena nodded happily, taking Natalia's words as the highest form of praise.

As they left the studio, Natalia glanced back at the walls lined with photos of real families. For a moment, she let herself wonder what Yelena's life could have been if she hadn't been chosen.

But there was no room for sentiment. No room for doubt. The mission came first. It always did.

Mount Vernon, Ohio
1992

The suburban street was quiet, lined with identical two-story houses painted in shades of beige and gray. Manicured lawns and mailboxes with cheerful flags completed the postcard-perfect view of suburban Ohio. Alexei pulled the nondescript station wagon into the driveway of their new house—a generic home with white siding and blue shutters.

"Welcome to our new home!" Alexei announced, slamming the car door with theatrical flair. "Home sweet home."

Melina stepped out of the passenger seat, looking around with calculated disinterest, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings. Yelena hopped down from the back seat, clutching a small bag that dwarfed her tiny frame.

Natalia moved with deliberate calm, grabbing her suitcase and walking toward the house. She didn't spare the neighborhood a second glance. She'd already memorized the layout from the briefing, knew every house, every angle, and every potential exit. But as she crossed the threshold into the house, something unfamiliar settled over her—a faint sense of stillness.

Inside, the air smelled faintly of fresh paint and cleaning supplies, staged to perfection for its new "owners." The furniture was modest, all part of the illusion, with worn edges and an overstuffed couch that screamed middle-class comfort.

Alexei clapped his hands together. "All right, everyone! Let's make this house a home. Natasha, you're upstairs, second door on the left. Melina, you've got the master. Yelena, your room is next to Natalia's. Let's move!"

Melina gave him a sharp look but said nothing as she headed upstairs. Yelena trotted after her, humming to herself, her energy unfazed by the long journey. Natalia followed, her footsteps steady and measured as she carried her suitcase up the stairs.

Her room was small but functional, the bed tucked into the corner beneath a window that overlooked the street. A desk sat opposite the bed, a few scattered knick-knacks placed carefully to make it look "lived-in." Natalia set her suitcase on the bed and began unpacking with methodical precision.

The clothes were simple—jeans, sweaters, a pair of sneakers—nothing like the sleek, dark uniforms of the Red Room. She smoothed a folded sweater and placed it into a drawer, her movements slowing as the quiet of the house wrapped around her.

For the first time in what felt like years, there were no harsh voice barking orders, no grueling training sessions, no blood staining her hands. She stared at the empty desk for a moment, her fingers brushing against its smooth wooden surface.

Natalia sat down on the bed, her back against the headboard. She let her gaze wander out the window, watching a boy across the street riding a bike down the sidewalk. The faint sound of laughter drifted through the glass.

So this is what normal looks like, she thought, the corner of her mouth twitching upward in something that might have been a smile if she let it. It wasn't real—this life, this house, this family. But for now, it was far enough from the Red Room to feel like a reprieve.

She leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment. Her mind drifted, not to the mission or the layers of deception they'd have to weave, but to the silence. For a fleeting moment, Natalia let herself relax, sinking into the stillness of her new surroundings.

The sound of Yelena's small footsteps interrupted her thoughts, followed by a knock at the door. "Sister?" Yelena called, her voice tentative.

Natalia opened her eyes and straightened. "Come in."

Yelena peeked around the doorframe, her face bright. "My room has pink walls," she said, as if sharing the most important discovery in the world.

Natalia allowed a faint smirk. "That's…nice."

"Do you like pink?"

Natalia tilted her head slightly, considering the question. "Not particularly."

Yelena giggled and darted away, leaving Natalia alone again.

She shook her head, the faintest trace of amusement lingering in her chest. Then she stood, finishing her unpacking. The mission loomed ahead, but for now, in this quiet house in Ohio, Natalia allowed herself a moment of peace.

Fall 1994

The cafeteria buzzed with chatter and laughter, the sound of plastic trays clattering against tables and the occasional squeal of excitement about upcoming plans. Natalia sat at a table near the window with a small group of friends, absently picking at a bowl of fruit while listening to the conversation flow around her.

"You're coming to the pep rally Friday, right?" one of the girls asked, nudging Natalia with a playful grin.

Natalia smirked, leaning back in her chair with an air of casual ease. "Of course. Gotta show school spirit, don't I?"

The group laughed, and Natalia allowed herself to relax into the moment. She had grown accustomed to these rituals—the gossip, the events, the constant swirl of teenage drama. At first, it had been a mission. Blending in, learning the quirks of high school life, and maneuvering through its social labyrinth were all part of the job. But over time, the lines blurred.

Classes had come surprisingly easy to her. Math, science, even English literature—all fields she had excelled in with the same ruthless focus she applied to combat and espionage. Teachers praised her, classmates envied her, and for once, Natalia found herself fitting into a world that felt far removed from the chaos she had known.

Yelena, now five years old, was a constant in her mind. Natalia adored her "little sister" more than she'd thought possible. She'd taken on the role of protector effortlessly, walking Yelena to preschool in the mornings, helping her with crafts in the evenings, and chasing away any bad dreams at night. Yelena was innocent, curious, and bright-eyed, a stark contrast to the shadows Natalia carried. She lived for those rare, unguarded moments where Yelena would crawl into her lap, giggling about something silly, and Natalia could forget—for just a moment—what their lives really were.

But Natalia hadn't forgotten her mission. The boy sitting two tables over was a constant reminder. Tyler Hayes, the school's golden boy and quarterback. Handsome, charming, and effortlessly popular, he was everything a teenage girl was supposed to want. More importantly, his father was a senior researcher at the lab Natalia was trying to get information about.

"Hey, Nat!" Tyler's voice cut through the noise as he approached their table.

Natalia turned, her expression slipping into one of perfect amusement, the kind that a girl might have for the most sought-after boy in school. "Tyler," she said, her tone light but edged with just enough interest to keep him hooked.

The girls at her table exchanged excited looks as Tyler stopped beside Natalia, his hands stuffed awkwardly into his jacket pockets.

"Uh, so, I was wondering…" He rubbed the back of his neck, his usual confidence dimmed by nervousness. "The homecoming game is Friday, and, well, after that there's the dance, and I was thinking…maybe you'd want to go with me?"

Natalia's lips curved into a slow, deliberate smile. Her heart didn't skip a beat; there was no flutter of excitement. This wasn't a teenage crush—it was strategy. Still, she tilted her head just so, letting the perfect amount of hesitance show. "Are you sure you can keep up with me on the dance floor?"

Tyler laughed, his nerves easing. "Oh, I think I can manage."

Natalia pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll go with you."

Cheers erupted from her friends at the table, and Tyler looked relieved, grinning like he'd just won the lottery. "Great. I'll see you Friday, then."

As he walked away, Natalia turned back to her fruit, her expression unreadable.

The girls peppered her with questions—what dress would she wear? Did she think Tyler would kiss her? Natalia played along, giving just enough answers to keep the charade alive.

But in the back of her mind, the mission loomed. Tyler was a means to an end. She hadn't accessed any information from this part of the lab yet, but she was getting closer. Every step, every smile, every carefully crafted interaction brought her nearer to her goal. Dreykov was very impressed at the progress they had all made and was checking in less and less, which allowed Natalia more time to breathe.

Yet when the conversation turned back to pep rallies and weekend plans, Natalia allowed herself a moment to just listen, to be a part of this world. She didn't know how long it would last, but for now, it was enough. And when she picked Yelena up from preschool later that day, she knew the bright smile on the little girl's face would make it worth it.

Natalia stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, smoothing the fabric of her deep red dress over her hips. The color was striking, bold, and just provocative enough to ensure Tyler's full attention. Her hair was curled, soft tendrils framing her face, a stark contrast to the sharp, cold mask she usually wore. For a moment, she studied her reflection, tilting her head as if trying to reconcile the image in the mirror with the operative underneath.

The soft knock at the door broke her focus.

"Come in," she called.

Melina stepped inside, carrying a pair of heels that matched the dress perfectly. Her gaze swept over Natalia, and though her expression remained neutral, there was a flicker of something softer in her eyes. "You look perfect," she said, setting the shoes down beside the bed.

"Thank you," Natalia replied, slipping the heels on with practiced ease.

Melina lingered, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorframe. "You've memorized the plan?"

Natalia met her eyes through the mirror. "Of course. We'll go to the dance, play the perfect teenage couple, then head back to his house. Once he's…distracted, I'll access his father's office and copy the files. I'll be out before anyone notices, leaving Tyler with nothing more than a note to say I needed to get back before you two noticed. Come Monday, he'll still be just as hooked and I can keep working on getting information." Her tone was flat, clinical.

Melina nodded, but there was an edge of tension in her posture. "Good. You'll need to move quickly. If you trigger any alarms, it could jeopardize everything."

"I know." Natalia turned to face her, her expression unreadable. "It's not my first mission."

"No, it's not," Melina said, her voice softening slightly. "But it's the first time you've done this here."

For a moment, the room was quiet. Natalia looked down at her hands, at the delicate bracelet she wore, a gift from one of the friends she'd made at school. "Not the first time overall. It's just another mission," she said finally, but even she could hear the faint crack in her voice.

Melina stepped closer, hesitating for a moment before placing a hand on Natalia's shoulder. "You've done well here," she said quietly. "Blended in better than I ever expected. You've…adapted."

Natalia glanced up, meeting Melina's eyes. The words hung in the air, unspoken but understood. Over the past year, she had slipped into the role of daughter more easily than she'd ever anticipated. Alexei's boisterous humor, Melina's quiet guidance, even Yelena's infectious laughter—it had created something resembling a family. For someone who had been denied that all her life, it was dangerous how much she had let herself feel it.

"Adaptation is survival," Natalia said finally, her voice colder now, as if to remind herself of the truth.

Melina studied her for a moment longer, then stepped back. "Be careful tonight. And remember, this is temporary. None of it is real."

Natalia nodded, the weight of the words pressing against her chest. She turned back to the mirror, adjusting her dress one last time.

"I'll make it real enough to get the job done," she said.

The room was silent, save for the soft rustle of the curtains stirred by a gentle breeze from the partially open window. Tyler's rhythmic breathing filled the space, deep and steady, as he lay sprawled across the bed, fast asleep. Natalia sat on the edge of the mattress, her back to him, the sheet pooling around her waist. Her expression was unreadable, her movements calculated as she stood silently, careful not to disturb him.

She dressed quickly, her practiced hands fastening clasps and zippers with no wasted motion. The red of her dress was gone, replaced by the muted tones of dark clothing perfect for stealth. Her hair was tied back into a simple, functional braid. Once she was ready, she glanced back at Tyler, his boyish face peaceful in sleep.

For a fleeting moment, she let herself feel the weight of what she'd done. It was a role, she reminded herself. Just another mission.

The note was already prepared, folded neatly and tucked under the corner of Tyler's pillow. It read:

"Sorry, I had to go. My parents are strict about curfews. I'll see you at school."

Easy enough, something a teenage boy would believe completely.

The house was still, the only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. Natalia moved with precision, avoiding any creaky spots in the floor she had mapped out in her mind during her previous visits. The study was on the first floor, its door locked with a simple key mechanism that was no match for her skills.

She knelt at the door, pulling a slim leather pouch from her small handbag. Inside were lockpicks and tools she had mastered long ago. Within seconds, the lock clicked open. She entered the room, careful not to disturb anything that might suggest an intruder had been there.

The office was dark, lit only by the pale moonlight filtering through the curtains. Natalia scanned the room, noting the neatly organized desk and the heavy filing cabinets in the corner. She approached the desk first, pulling on her gloves before opening the top drawer.

Papers, correspondence, and invoices cluttered the space. She rifled through them, careful not to leave any trace of her search. At the bottom of the drawer, she found a set of keys. Testing them on the nearby filing cabinets, she located the one marked with the lab's name.

Her fingers moved deftly through the folders inside, pulling one labeled "Sensitive – Authorized Personnel Only." As she read, her eyes narrowed. The information wasn't just about the lab—it was about Hydra. Tyler's father wasn't just a senior researcher; he was Hydra, and the lab was a front for the organization's covert operations.

The realization made her stomach twist, though she kept her face impassive. This was bigger than she had been told. The lab that they were told was a SHIELD cover was secretly infiltrated by Hydra, which meant huge implications on the entire organization. Either Dreykov had withheld the truth from her, or he hadn't known. Neither possibility sat well with her.

She worked quickly, pulling out key documents and using the small portable camera hidden in her handbag to photograph them. The faint click of the shutter was barely audible in the stillness of the room. Once she was sure she had everything of importance, she carefully returned the files to their exact positions, locking the cabinet behind her.

As she exited the office, Natalia locked the door she had unlocked upon entering. The house was as pristine and undisturbed as when she had arrived.

She slipped out into the cool night, walking briskly down the street to the inconspicuous car parked a block away. Alexei was waiting behind the wheel, leaning back casually with one arm draped over the steering wheel.

"Get what you needed?" he asked as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Yes," Natalia said shortly.

He nodded, not pressing her for details, and started the engine. The drive home was quiet, with Alexei humming a tune under his breath while Natalia stared out the window, her mind already dissecting the implications of what she had uncovered.

Summer 1995

The late afternoon sun bathed the Ohio suburbs in golden light as Natalia pedaled her bicycle down the quiet streets. She wore a denim jacket over a simple floral dress, something that Melina had gotten for her birthday that she liked to wear on afternoons out with her friends. A shopping bag dangled from the handlebars, containing a pair of earrings she had bought, after much prodding from her friends that Tyler would absolutely love them.

Tyler had provided her with more information than she'd initially hoped for. Not just from his father's secrets, but from his friends, whose parents also worked in the lab. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, and yet, deep down, she couldn't deny the odd fondness she had developed for Tyler. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but he was such a sweet boy, and there was no doubt that they were something of a power couple at school. It was almost as if she had a normal life.

The breeze brushed against her face as she steered the bike around a corner, her hair whipping lightly behind her. Despite herself, she found a strange sense of peace in these moments. The suburban life, with its predictability and warmth, was a far cry from the cold, calculated reality of the Red Room.

As she approached the modest house that served as their cover, Natalia slowed down, her eyes scanning the yard. A small smile tugged at her lips when she spotted Yelena clambering up the jungle gym Alexei had built in the spring. The younger girl's blonde hair glowed in the sunlight, and she was laughing as she reached the top of the structure.

Parking her bike against the side of the house, Natalia stood still for a moment, watching. Yelena was completely absorbed in her play, oblivious to the world's dangers. It was something Natalia found herself envying—a pure kind of innocence that she had lost long ago.

Natalia walked towards her sister and let out the signature two toned whistle they had come up with as a greeting. Yelena's eyes widened with surprise as she heard that her sister was home, and returned the whistle. She came down from the jungle gym and got on her back, lifting herself off the ground with her hands and feet.

Natalia chuckled as Yelena started showing off her flexibility. It was something she had always been fascinated with the two older Widows she was with, just how athletic and flexible they were. Natalia turned as well, going into the same upside down stand that Yelena was in. Yelena laughed even more.

"We're both upside down," Yelena said, through her laugh.

"And I bet you're gonna fall down first," Natalia teased the much younger girl.

"No, you will," Yelena said, definitely. "You can't hold it much longer."

They held it for a little while longer, each of them making noises to try to distract the other before Yelena's arms finally gave out and she fell to the ground in laughter. Natalia twisted around, laughing as well and Yelena took off, begging for Natalia to chase her. Natalia did just that, running around to try and get the younger girl.

It was all going just fine till Yelena tripped and scraped her knee on the ground. Her expression immediately went from joy to pain and hurt.

"Mommy!," she cried out and Natasha was by her side in a second.

She checked out the knee and saw it wasn't bad at all. Melina came out a few seconds later, and Natalia could see she was thankful that Natalia was there, but still went over to Yelena. More than anything, Yelena had bonded with Melina the most, and if any relationship was the most real, it was Melina being a mother to Yelena, with Natalia and Yelena's sisterhood the second.

"Oh my dear," Melina said. "What happened?"

"She fell on her knee," Natalia said, holding the young girl and resting her cheek on her head.

"Oh," Melina said, looking at Yelena then. "You bump your knee?"

"Mmm-hmm," Yelena said, a few tears coming down her face, but overall loving the attention of her mother and sister.

"Oh…kiss it better," Melina said, leaning down, kissing Yelena's knee. "There you go, little one. Get up. You're okay. Come on, you're a brave girl. Your pain only makes you stronger."

Melina got Yelena up off the ground and Natalia followed soon after, brushing off her dress.

"Loook," Yelena said, pointing to the woods behind the house. "Forest stars."

Natalia looked over and smiled at all of the fireflies that Yelena pointed out. Melina led her over and nodded.

"Yeah," Melina said. "You know what? Those are actually part of the Lampyridae family, and the glow, the glow that you see, comes from a chemical reaction called…bioluminescence."

Melina shot Natalia a look and Natalia just rolled her eyes as the impromptu science lesson that they were all subject to yet again. Melina's specialty was always chemistry and she knew just about everything about that.

"Come on, time for dinner," Melina said, leading Yelena inside and Natalia took another moment outside, just watching the fireflies for a minute before heading in herself.

Natalia got inside as Melina and Yelena were setting the table. Natalia went to the fridge, looking to get something to drink. She was about to grab a beer when she heard Melina shout, "Dad's home!"

Natalia looked up as the garage door opened and Alexei walked in. She smiled at him, and he gave her a small smile back, but Natalia could see that it didn't reach his eyes.

"Hey, dad," Natalia said, trying to get him to open up a bit more.

"Hey baby," Alexei responded, still falling into the father role perfectly.

Melina heard the hushed conversation and came into the kitchen, letting Yelena know they would be just a second. "Everything okay?" Melina asked.

Alexei just sighed and Natalia put everything together right there. They were compromised, it was the only reason. She knew Alexei would be the one to do it, she just thought they had more time. The contingency escape plan protocol was going through her mind a mile a minute, but there was another thought that was almost bigger. This life was over, she would have to go back to the Red Room, and be one of their killers again. She didn't want to leave.

"No," Melina said, realizing it too as they all stood in the kitchen out of Yelena's earshot.

Alexei just looked guilty as he glanced back and forth between the two Widows. Natalia's face was stone at this point, as she tried to hold her emotions.

"How long do we have?" Natalia finally asked, in a monotone voice.

"I don't know," Alexei responded. "Like, an hour, maybe."

"I don't want to go," Melina said, voice just above a whisper, saying the unsaid thing that Natalia couldn't bring herself to say.

"Don't say that," Alexei said, just as quiet.

The house was bugged, that much was sure, but the bugs were bad enough that low whispers could escape without being heard. Alexei exhaled sharply and went to tell Yelena.

"Yelena," he called out while Natalia and Melina stayed in the kitchen. "You remember when I told you that one day we would have that big adventure? Today's the day!"

"Yay!" Yelena said, not knowing what was coming.

As Alexei took Yelena to get ready, Melina just stared at Natalia, who she could see was taking it just as badly.

"I'm sorry," Melina said, knowing what life specifically Natalia had to go back to.

"Me too," Natalia said softly, and they both went off to work.

They arrived at the airfield and the three adults were in a flurry of motion. Melina got out of the car and grabbed Yelena to get her onto the plane. Natalia leaned into the front seat and managed to grab a picture slip of her and Yelena from the state fair and slip it into her pocket before grabbing the pistol and three magazines from the glove box, stepping out of the car and holstering them. Alexei had grabbed a rifle from the back and nodded at Natalia, as they went to work.

Natalia went and got the sheet down that closed the hangar off from their hidden plane and removed the blocks from underneath while Melina started up the engine and the propeller. Alexei went over to a large trailer that was in front of the hangar and used his superior strength to just lift it and fling it away.

Natasha went over to the side door and slipped in, sitting on the edge as her legs dangled out as she began to hear sirens. Alexei stepped out and took aim, firing a shot at a Shield branded car that forced it to crash into a side of tires and another old car. Melina pulled out of the hanger and started down the runway, picking up speed. Alexei turned his back and started running while Natalia leaned out to cover him. The car managed to get back on track and start chasing them. Natalia fired away at the car, landing a couple shots on the windshield and one into the tire that managed to flip the car. Yelena cried out at the loud noises, but Natalia couldn't focus on that now, only focusing on getting away.

Alexei jumped onto the wing of the plane as another SUV appeared to their right. They started firing, but Natalia couldn't get a clean line on them to return fire. Alexei turned and tried to fire as well, not managing to hit anything.

The SUV came into the open and let loose a barrage of bullets. Natalia managed to duck as the shots peppered the plane and windows around them. She heard the tell tale sign of a bullet hitting flesh and Yelena calling out "MOM."

Natalia wheeled to see Melina was hit in the arm badly. She moved automatically, coming into the plane and closing the door behind her, jumping into the co-pilot's seat. Melina was leaning off to the side as Natalia took the controls. She glanced over to Melina, trying to assess the wound.

"How bad is it?" Natalia asked, focusing on getting the plane into the air.

"It's okay, baby," Melina said, softly and in pain.

As Natalia got the plane back on track, the SUV slammed underneath the right wing and Alexei managed to hold on, kicking the windshield through and starting to beat on the driver and passenger of the SUV. Natalia looked ahead and saw two more SUV's coming right at them.

"Shit," Natalia mumbled, and started to push the speed more.

They were never going to win a head on collision, she needed to get this plane in the air and over them. Alexei finally managed to get the other car off of them, and turned to start helping out and firing at the cars ahead of them.

The SUV's returned fire, bullets clanging off the metal and causing Yelena to screen and Melina to duck, but Natalia didn't budge. She had to get her family to safety. She pushed the accelerator more, needing to get up to full speed before trying to take off. One lucky shot from Alexei caught a car in the front tire, causing it to veer into the other SUV and cause a huge crash.

Natalia knew this was now or never and pulled back with all of her might, letting out a small yell as she did so to avoid the wreck of the cars that were right in front of them. She managed to just get the front wheel over the wreck, hearing it skim a bit on the top, before they were into the night sky.

Natalia let out a huge breath as they made it through, safe as they could be at this point. She looked over to her right to see if Alexei had managed to hang on and there he was, gripping the side of the plane. He let out a shaky laugh and Natalia could only smile at how bizarre this all ended, but the smile immediately went away when she realized what she left behind.

Natalia got the planet to the drop off point in Cuba. Luckily, none of the bullets made any lasting damage to any of the important mechanisms of the plane. As she touched down on the runway, she could already see the envoy of Red Room personnel and Russian soldiers, including Dreykov, standing in. Was that a track suit?

As soon as she stopped the plane, she went to help the medics get Melina out of the plane. They got her onto a stretcher and were doing some work on her. Natalia left Yelena right there in her eyesight and talking to Melina before going to report to Dreykov as she would need to do that before anything.

"The Red Guardian and Black Widow return!" Dreykov said, a smile on his face.

"We return triumphant," Alexei said with a smile and went into request mode a bit too soon in Natalia's opinion. "Please, please, I beg you. No more undercover work. I wanna get back in the action. I want my suit back. I wanna get back in it. General Dreykov, it's been over three years."

That comment stung Natalia a bit, as she would give anything for just another month in Ohio undercover with her family, but Alexei had always been the more emotional and opinionated one. He wore his heart on his sleeve the most out of all four of them.

Dreykov didn't address Alexei's request for now and looked to both of them.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

Alexei pulled a disc from his jacket pocket with a triumphant smile on his face and Natalia just handed over a clutch with numerous rolls of film inside of it, all confidential Hydra documents taken from various homes.

"And the North Institute?" Dreykov asked.

"Ashes," Alexi responded.

"How is Melina," Dreykov asked, and Natalia wondered if he actually cared or was just wondering if he was trying to figure out if he needed to replace an asset.

"She'll live," Alexei said. "She's strong."

Natalia remained silent through this entire conversation. She wasn't asked to speak, and when a Widow wasn't asked to speak, she didn't. She barely moved, that was until she heard Yelena. She looked around and saw Melina being loaded up to the truck and a soldier dragging Yelena away to another truck.

Natalia felt her body move before she realized it, but she couldn't help it.

The nearest soldier turned just in time to see Natalia closing the distance, her expression a mask of fury. Before he could react, she drove her elbow into his throat, crushing his windpipe. He crumpled to the ground, choking.

The second soldier reached for his weapon, but Natalia was faster. She snatched his pistol from its holster and shot him in the chest point-blank. His body fell to the ground, lifeless.

Yelena froze, her wide eyes locked on Natalia, her small body trembling. Her sister was protecting her, not letting them take her away.

Four more soldiers emerged, their guns drawn and aimed at Natalia. She didn't hesitate. She fired two quick shots, hitting one soldier in the chest and another in the forehead.

"Surround her!" one of the remaining soldiers barked, signaling the others to fan out.

Natalia's heart pounded, but her mind was calm, calculating. She grabbed the second pistol from the downed agent beside her, dual-wielding the weapons.

The soldiers hesitated.

She was the Black Widow, the Red Room's most lethal operative. And they knew it.

The standoff was palpable, the tension thick in the air. Natalia leveled both pistols at the remaining two soldiers, her stance solid, her aim precise. She could see the fear in their eyes, the way their fingers trembled on the triggers of their rifles.

"Drop your weapons," Natalia commanded, her voice cold and unyielding.

The soldiers didn't move.

"I don't miss," she said, taking a deliberate step forward.

Behind her, Yelena whimpered, breaking the silence. Natalia's jaw tightened, her focus unwavering.

Before anyone could act, a wave of reinforcements poured from some trucks, surrounding her in a semi-circle. Natalia's eyes darted between them, calculating the odds.

She was outnumbered, but the fear in their eyes told her they didn't want this fight. Not with her.

Dreykov's voice cut through the standoff. "Enough!"

Natalia didn't lower her guns, her breathing steady, her gaze fixed on the guards.

"Natalia," Dreykov said, walking through the ranks to stand in front of her, Alexei right behind him. "You forget your place."

"You can't take her," Natasha said, a hard look on her face.

"Natalia," Alexei said, stepping forward a bit. "How do you think this is going to end, hmm? Come now, drop the guns."

Natalia did drop one gun, the one in her left hand. The magazine was empty anyway. She brought the other gun up with both hands and leveled it right at Dreykov. The man himself just chuckled, not afraid of the possible death right in front of him.

"You shoot me, you both die," Dreykov said, plainly. "You may be strong, but you're not bulletproof Natalia. If you surrender now, she'll live, being trained just like you. However, there will be punishment for this."

Natalia knew what that meant, reconditioning. They would separate her from Yelena and the others forever, and using electric shocks to her brain to try and wipe out as much as the could from the past. It always worked to an extent, but the memories eventually came back. They didn't use it as much as they did with the Winter Soldier, she was usually obedient. It was mostly punishment for making mistakes, as it was one of the worst pains Natalia had ever felt.

She tossed her pistol to the side, disarming herself completely, a sign of surrender. The soldiers hesitated, unsure if they could trust her compliance, but Natalia didn't wait for their orders. She turned and crouched in front of Yelena, pulling her into a fierce hug. The little girl clung to her like a lifeline, her tiny hands digging into Natalia's back as if she could keep her there forever.

Natalia pressed her lips to Yelena's hair, speaking quickly but gently. "Yelena, listen to me. I'll never stop looking for you. Never. No matter where they take me or what they do."

Yelena sniffled, her tears soaking Natalia's shoulder. "But—"

"They're going to... try to make me forget," Natalia continued, her voice soft but firm. She pulled back just enough to look into Yelena's wide, tear-filled eyes. "They'll recondition me. Make me... someone else for a while. But I will always come back for you. Do you hear me?"

Yelena nodded, her lower lip trembling.

Natalia reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small, slightly crumpled photo strip. It was from the county fair photo booth where they'd spent a carefree afternoon earlier this year. The images showed them laughing, pulling silly faces, and in the last frame, Natalia had kissed Yelena's forehead.

"Keep this safe," Natalia said, placing it in Yelena's hand and closing her small fingers around it. "Whenever you're scared, look at it and remember that I love you. And I'm coming back for you. Always."

Yelena sobbed, clutching the photo strip tightly. "Don't go! Natalia, don't let them take you!"

Before Natalia could respond, a sharp sting pierced the side of her neck. She gasped, her hand instinctively reaching for the dart now embedded there. A second dart followed, and her vision blurred almost instantly.

Her body wavered, the strength draining from her legs, but she forced herself to stay upright for a moment longer, holding Yelena close.

"Stay strong, sestra," Natalia whispered, her voice slurring as the serum took hold.

The last thing she saw before the world went dark was Yelena's tear-streaked face, her tiny arms reaching out as she screamed Natalia's name.

And then, silence.

June 4th, 2015
Present Day

Natasha stood in front of the bathroom mirror, her hands braced on the sink as she stared at her reflection. Her eyes traced the lines of her face, worn with the weight of so many years—so many battles fought and lost, victories claimed at too high a cost.

Ohio. The memory of it felt like a dream, so distant yet so clear. The quiet moments, far from the chaos of the Avengers or the high-stakes life she had been thrust into, were like a balm to her soul. She could still see the green of the fields, the simplicity of the small town—so different from the rest of her world. There had been time for reflection there, for the first time in ages. She'd allowed herself to slow down, to feel... human.

With a quiet sigh, Natasha straightened, pushing the thoughts away. There was no room for hesitation, not now. She had her family to protect, and the war was far from over. She glanced back as Jamie laid on the changing table, Natasha having to swap out a dirty diaper for a clean one as they made their way on the run.

Her phone beeped with a high ping of the proximity alarm being breached. She opened up her phone to the cameras and saw a huge team of agents swarming into the building. She kept up with the news and knew that Steve had been able to make his escape and was in the wind as much as her, and Ross was on the hunt for the remaining fugitives to add them to his collection he had in the Raft already.

Speaking of Ross, he walked in the front door next, shouting orders. Natasha just shook her head, picked up her phone, and dialed a number that was inside. After a few minutes, he picked up.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Don't do this," Natasha said, looking back at her son.

"Do what?" Ross asked, a hint of innocence in his voice that Natasha didn't buy for a second.

"Come after me," Natasha said, leaning against the wall. "I mean, you're embarrassing yourself. It looks desperate."

"Thought maybe you'd be calling me to cut a deal," Ross responded. "Because from my vantage point, it's the federal fugitive who's desperate. Especially with such a young one with you. Figured you try and fight to keep custody and maybe house arrest."

Natasha didn't let his jabs get to her, knowing he wanted a reaction.

"From my vantage point, you look like you could use some bed rest," Natasha fired right back. "What is this, your second triple bypass?"

"I wouldn't worry about me," Ross said. "We got Barton, we got Wilson and Montgomery, and that other guy, the incredible shrinking convict. Rogers is on the run. You have no friends. Where are you gonna go?"

Natasha just looked at herself in the mirror one more time, centering herself.

"I've lived a lot of lives before I met you, Ross," Natasha said. "You shouldn't have gone to all this trouble. I'm done."

She heard Ross start to say her name but she cut him off and ended the call. She exhaled a deep breath and slipped on a sweatshirt.

"Okay baby," Natasha said, scooping up James and slinging his bag over her shoulder. "Come on."

Natasha walked out of the bathroom on the ferry she and Ava were taking. She knew that Ross fell hook, line, and sinker for her decoy in London where she hid her suit. She got into contact with Mason while they were in France and lined up something so remote that she wouldn't even have to worry about the town she had to go into to get supplies for her child. There was always that possibility in France, there wouldn't be in Norway.

She got out to the deck and went over to where Ava was, standing by the jeep they had gotten to move around. Ava was taking in the view and Natasha did have to admit it was impressive. The fjord was beautiful and the mountains surrounding it with the crisp air made everything pretty serene.

"It's beautiful here," Ava commented. "Despite the circumstances."

"You're not wrong," Natasha said, looking as their stop was coming up. "You're certainly not wrong."

Chapter Text

June 4th, 2015
Sunnmǿre, Norway

The pier was mostly empty, save for a couple of fishermen unloading crates of today's catch and an older man with a scruffy dog who tipped his hat at them as they passed. Natasha offered a polite nod but kept her pace brisk. The car Mason had arranged waited nearby, being loaded off the ferry for them, a nondescript gray sedan that would blend in with the quiet coastal roads. She buckled Jamie into his car seat, his tiny face relaxed in sleep, and slid into the driver's seat while Ava settled in beside her.

As she started the car and pulled onto the road leading away from the harbor, Natasha's thoughts wandered. It had been weeks since the airport battle and her betrayal of Tony. Weeks since Lagos, the UN bombing, and her fallout with Steve. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her jaw clenching involuntarily. Did he still love her? Was he looking for her?

Beside her, Ava sat quietly, gazing out the window at the dense forest lining the winding road. Natasha caught the younger woman's reflection in the side mirror—stoic, but her eyes betrayed her worry. Ava had been through so much, and yet she had followed Natasha without hesitation. That loyalty was one of the reasons Natasha had chosen her for this.

The road curved and the forest gave way to a small town nestled in the valley, its weathered buildings and modest streets exuding a rustic charm. Natasha drove slowly, scanning the area. The grocery store sat at the edge of the main strip, its faded sign reading Wilson's Market. She pulled into the gravel parking lot, killing the engine and glancing back at Ava.

"This won't take long," she said, unbuckling Jamie from his car seat. He stirred but didn't wake, his little face tucked into her neck as she adjusted the baby sling. Ava grabbed the list they'd written on the ferry, her sharp eyes scanning the parking lot for anything unusual.

The two women entered the store, the bell above the door jingling softly. Inside, the aisles were lined with canned goods, fresh produce, and locally baked bread. Natasha moved efficiently, collecting formula, baby food, and a few staples while Ava wandered off to find bottled water and first aid supplies.

As Natasha reached for a loaf of bread, her thoughts circled back to Steve. She knew he wouldn't stop looking for her, and a part of her wanted to go to him as well. But for now, this was the only way to keep Jamie safe. If Ross wasn't giving up on her, he sure as hell wouldn't be giving up on finding Steve. She needed to let everything calm down before going to look for him. She tightened her hold on her son, pressing a kiss to his soft hair, wanting nothing more than to return him to his father and reunite their family.

"Just a little longer," she murmured to herself. "We'll figure this out."

She turned back to Ava, who was already at the checkout counter, her expression calm but watchful. Natasha nodded. She put the supplies she had picked out on the counter as well and the clerk scanned everything and put them into bags for them. He gave her a smile as she was holding on to her son, but didn't ask any questions, which was perfect for Natasha. She paid and they headed out, Ava loading the supplies in the back and Natasha getting James back into his car seat.

The small drive-through coffee hut sat at the edge of the town, and Natasha decided to stop. She was running on already little sleep, and she wouldn't be able to get any tonight until she got everything secure. Natasha pulled up to the window, rolling it down to greet the barista, a young woman with a warm smile and a flannel shirt.

"Two coffees, black, and—" Natasha glanced at Ava, who was rifling through the diaper bag in the passenger seat.

"A couple of pastries, whatever you've got," Ava said without looking up.

The barista nodded and disappeared back inside. Natasha glanced in the rearview mirror at Jamie, snug in his car seat and dozing peacefully. The weight of the world seemed to shrink, just a fraction, in the face of his innocent calm.

Ava sat back with a sigh. "Bag's all set. No emergencies yet."

"Good," Natasha said softly. Emergencies were always a breath away in their world, but for now, the air felt still.

The barista returned, handing Natasha the drinks and a small bag filled with pastries. "Safe travels," she said, her smile genuine. Natasha nodded her thanks, passing a coffee to Ava and setting the bag on the console before pulling back onto the road.

As they left the town behind, the forest began to close in again, the narrow road winding upward into the mountains. Natasha took a sip of her coffee, letting its warmth steady her nerves. Ava toggled on the radio, filling the car with static before landing on a soft acoustic melody.

The peaceful tune didn't last long. As the song faded, a news anchor's voice cut through the calm.

"After the Sokovia Accords, the hunt is on for the remaining Avengers. Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are currently on the run, their whereabouts unknown. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross issued a statement earlier today—"

Natasha reached out and switched off the radio. The silence that followed was heavier than before, broken only by the hum of the tires on the road. Ava stared out the window for a moment before turning to Natasha.

"So… what's the plan, exactly?" she asked, her tone steady but probing.

Natasha kept her eyes on the road. "We stay here for a couple of months. This place is remote enough that no one will find us unless they know where to look."

"And after that?" Ava pressed.

"We find Steve," Natasha said firmly. "And whoever's left. Mason's got a few more places lined up, so we'll bounce between them until it's safe. But for now, this is home." She glanced back at Jamie, his small chest rising and falling peacefully. "It's the best way to keep him safe."

Ava nodded, her expression softening. "Don't forget you as well, sestra. You're as much a fugitive as anyone right now."

Natasha allowed herself the faintest of smirks. "I suppose you're right about that."

The trees thinned suddenly, and they found themselves in a clearing. Natasha slowed the car, her eyes scanning their destination. The mobile home sat nestled among the pines, its muted tones blending with the surrounding forest. A shed and a fire pit nearby suggested someone had been here recently, but otherwise, the place was still.

Natasha parked the car and turned off the engine. For a moment, the two women sat quietly, taking in the secluded haven.

"This is it," Natasha said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Home for now. I'm going to clear it, wait for my signal. If you don't see my all clear in five minutes, drive back to town, use the extra money and get to Point Theta. Try and contact Steve from there, we've got secure lines there."

Ava just nodded and Natasha got out of the car and opened the back door, grabbing her holster and strapping it to her belt, the pistol wrapping around her thigh. She quickly took it out, verified everything was loaded correctly, and started moving towards the home. Ava swapped places and was now behind the driver's seat, ready to go just in case.

Natasha entered the home, pistol leveled, and moved through. It wasn't very large, but it would do for what was needed. As she moved deeper, she heard noise from the bedroom. Gun raised, she walked forward a bit more and leveled the gun at the door. She opened the door quietly and the sound of snoring hit her.

She stepped in and saw her good friend Rick Mason, who helped organize most of her foreign assets, asleep on the bed. She smiled as she holstered her gun and leaned down over him. She took a second and then hit his shoe, waking him up abruptly. As he startled awake, looking around, she just tilted her head at him.

"You're in my bed," she commented, surveying the rest of the room.

"Couldn't exactly sleep in the crib could I?" he grumbled, waking up.

Natasha chuckled and headed out of the room.

"Did you get everything on my list?" she asked, leaning her head out the door and signaling Ava that it was all clear and for her to drive up.

"Got passports," Mason said, going over to the counter with all of the documents. "Entry visas, a couple of local driver's licenses. Mix and match, you should be able to stretch it to 15 or so identities, a person. Little guy probably won't need more than five."

Natasha walked over to look at the documents produced for them and started looking through the documents. She found one license with an older picture of her, but the name is what really caught her attention.

"Fanny Longbottom?" she scoffed, looking at him.

"What?" Mason asked, innocently.

"What, are you 12?" Natasha said, putting the documents back on the counter.

"That is a legitimate name," Mason said, stubbornly.

The faint creak of the door broke the moment, and both of them turned to see Ava stepping inside, Jamie perched on her hip. The baby's wide eyes scanned the room curiously before landing on Natasha.

"Well, look who's awake," Ava said with a small smile, bouncing him slightly. "You missed all the boring adult talk, kiddo."

Mason grinned, tipping his head toward Jamie. "And who's this little guy?"

Natasha stepped forward, taking Jamie from Ava's arms. "Mason, meet James," she said softly, brushing a hand over her son's growing red hair.

Mason's grin softened, a rare warmth in his expression. "Well, James, looks like you've got a pretty tough crew looking out for you."

Ava smirked, leaning against the doorframe. "You'd better believe it."

"Well both of you," Mason continued on. "We've got a generator outside. It's petrol-powered. And the septic tank will need a flush in a couple of weeks, but, you know, I've got a guy coming for that. You have to haul your rubbish into town. It's just a 20-minute drive. I've got your basic hardware kit stashed under the stairs."

"Nice," Ava said, taking a look around the place as Natasha stayed by the kitchen sink, just holding her son and taking everything in.

"Are you okay?" Mason asked Natasha as Ava was elsewhere.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Natasha responded, a small smile on her face.

"I hear things," Mason said. "The fight at the airport, who was on which side. Everything points to there being a lot of turmoil."

"It's fine," Natasha said, walking over to put James in a small baby chair she had asked for and gotten. Securing him in and putting a blanket over him. "This whole hiding thing is better on my own for now. Less people on both of us if they're looking in two different places."

"Are you sure?" Mason asked, concern still on his face.

Natasha turned over and looked back at him, still a small smile on hers. "Yeah," was all she managed.

"Because you can tell me, you know," Mason said. "That's the way the whole friends thing works."

"I know," Natasha said, smirking a bit. "I have friends."

"People who call me don't have friends," Mason countered, looking her in the eyes.

The silence stretched comfortably between them, the kind that spoke of years of understanding without needing words. Natasha stood by the counter, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her coffee mug as Mason leaned against the opposite side, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. She didn't need to look at him to know the truth behind his words. Mason had always been there when she called, no matter how long the gaps or how impossible the request.

For a fleeting moment, she allowed herself to remember those earlier years—when she was newly defected, raw and unsure of her place in the world. Mason had been steady, reliable, and maybe a little too good at reading her. She'd noticed the way he looked at her back then, the small cracks in his professionalism whenever they were alone.

And she'd thought about it. About him. What it might have meant to let someone like Mason into her carefully guarded world. There had been nights when she wondered if she could have found some semblance of normalcy with him—if she'd been willing to try.

But that was a long time ago, and the path she'd chosen since then had been far from normal. Any lingering "what-ifs" had been extinguished the moment she let herself love Steve. It wasn't just devotion now; it was everything.

She glanced at Mason briefly, catching the faint flicker of something in his eyes—concern, maybe, or curiosity. He had his walls, just like she did, but she knew him well enough to see through them.

"And I don't pay you to worry," Natasha said, another smile setting the boundary, but it wasn't malicious. Mason knew her life and what she was invested in. The child just a few steps away was evident in all of that.

He just gave her a smirk and headed out, Natasha walking him to the door. He paused a bit at the door, but eventually walked out, heading to the car he had stashed when arriving. Natasha leaned in the doorframe and her foot caught on a box. She took a quick look at it and then back to Mason.

"Hey," she said, getting him to turn around. "What's all this junk?"

"Oh," Mason said, recognizing the box. "Just some mail and personals from the Budapest safe house."

"Budapest?" Natasha asked, curious why it was here.

"Yeah," Mason said. "You asked for a purge of some of the safe houses that would be obvious to find you in and Budapest is one of those, so I cleared it out and got someone else there now. It's helping fund your flat in Beijing."

"Sorry you went through the trouble," Natasha said. "I would've told you to chuck it."

"Well, if you don't want it, throw it in the rubbish," Mason said, gave her another smile, and headed back out.

As the last traces of daylight faded behind the tree line, Natasha hoisted a box of odds and ends into the trunk of the car without a second thought. She shut the lid with a firm push and made her way back to the trailer, the soft hum of forest life rising around her.

Inside, Ava was already settling in, sorting through the baby supplies Mason had left. The space was small but warm, the glow of a single lamp filling the room with a soft, golden light.

"This place isn't half bad," Ava said, glancing around as she stacked diapers neatly into a small cabinet.

Natasha dropped her bag near the door and shrugged. "It'll do. I've had worse."

"Yeah I can guess Siberia in the Winter isn't near this cozy," Ava replied with a smirk, folding the last of the baby clothes.

Dinner was quick—leftovers from the grocery store deli eaten off mismatched plates while the trailer slowly came to life around them. Natasha kept an ear out for Jamie's small noises from the bedroom, having put him down to sleep after dinner and a changing, her gaze flicking to the door every so often. As Ava started getting ready for the night, Natasha went to the bedroom to check on her son one more time before letting herself relax.

The little room was just large enough to hold the bed and the crib. Natasha smoothed the soft blanket over him, brushing her hand gently over his hair. For a moment, she lingered, watching his peaceful expression as he slept. Her lips curved in the faintest smile before she stepped back, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Returning to the main room, she found Ava wrestling with the pullout couch.

"Need a hand?" Natasha asked, arching a brow.

Ava huffed, finally snapping the bed into place. "Got it. Mason could've warned us this thing is older than I am."

Natasha chuckled, grabbing two beers from the small fridge and twisting off the caps. She handed one to Ava and sat on the edge of the pullout bed, taking a long sip.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm not old enough to drink," Ava said, knowing she had before, just not under Natasha's eye.

"Besides the fact that I know this isn't your first beer in life," Natasha said, this not being a surprise. "I think we both deserve one after the last couple of weeks."

On the laptop propped up on the counter, the opening credits of a James Bond movie played. Ava climbed onto the makeshift bed, adjusting the pillows before grabbing her beer and raising it slightly.

"To another safe house," Ava said wryly.

Natasha smirked, clinking her bottle against Ava's. "And to surviving it."

As the movie played, the tension of the day began to ease. The familiar strains of the Bond theme filled the small trailer, mingling with the quiet hum of the night outside. Natasha leaned back against the wall, letting herself relax for the first time in what felt like forever. They got about halfway through the movie before all of the power in the trailer went out. Natasha looked around and sighed.

"Oh great," Natasha said, getting up. "I'm gonna go check the generator. Stay here."

Natasha went out, gun strapped to her thigh, just in case there was foul play, and made her way over to the generator. She found it not running, obvious by the lack of sound. She started checking it over and checked one component that when pulled out, was obviously broken. She cursed under her breath, thanking herself that it was a common component at least, but it would mean a trip into town. She just hoped that stores would still be open by the time she got there.

"Okay generator is busted," Natasha said to Ava, calling out as she appeared in the doorway. Natasha picked up an empty gas tank as well as to fill up when she went into town. "I'm gonna run into town and see if I can get the part. Go ahead and sleep in the bed and keep an eye on Jamie. Grab all the blankets you can, it could get cold."

"Sure thing," Ava said, not bothering to try and persuade her to let Ava come along, because that meant taking James along, which meant disturbing his slumber. "Normal contingency plan?

"The very one," Natasha said, heading over to the car. "See you in about an hour."

The drive was a pleasant one, Norway at night was just as beautiful as Norway during the day. She was listening to a popular music station as she let her mind wander as she drove. She came across the bridge to cross over to the town and made her turn onto it.

The explosion came without warning. One moment, Natasha was driving across the narrow bridge, her mind split between the road and the tangled mess of tasks ahead. Next, everything was consumed by fire and force.

The car flipped, metal screeching and crumpling as it skidded along the bridge's edge. Natasha barely had time to react, bracing herself against the impact as the vehicle tilted dangerously over the rushing water below. Her hands scrambled, struggling to keep hold as she kicked the mangled door open and crawled free.

Boots hitting the asphalt, Natasha staggered upright, the thick smoke and burning fuel stinging her lungs. Her sharp eyes scanned the scene, locking onto a figure emerging through the haze.

Clad in tactical armor with a skull-like mask, the figure moved with precision. A shield gleamed ominously on his back, and Natasha's gut tightened. Whoever this was, he wasn't here for casual conversation.

"Stand down Widow," the man said, his voice devoid of any warmth.

Natasha's brow furrowed. She didn't recognize the voice, but the tone—cold and clinical—struck a familiar chord of unease. She shifted into a defensive stance, her hands raised, ready for whatever came next.

"Ross send you?" she shot back, her voice steady despite the pounding of her pulse.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he lunged forward, closing the distance between them with shocking speed. Natasha ducked, narrowly avoiding his shield as it whistled through the air. She countered with a sharp jab to his ribs, but it felt like striking stone.

He pivoted smoothly, grabbing her wrist in a vice-like grip, twisting her arm. Natasha hissed in pain but rolled with the motion, breaking his hold and using his momentum to drive her knee into his chest. He staggered back but recovered instantly, his movements fluid and precise.

Something about his style felt familiar, like a patchwork of techniques Natasha had encountered before—but with an eerie refinement. A sharper edge.

"Who are you?" she demanded, feinting left and landing a solid kick to his side.

"Someone who doesn't miss," he answered, grabbing her ankle mid-kick and twisting it. Natasha hit the ground hard, but she rolled, narrowly avoiding the shield as it slammed into the asphalt where her head had been moments ago.

She managed to sweep low, knocking him off of his feet. She used this time to kick up off the ground and come into her ready pose. At the exact same time, he mirrored her movements, exactly mirrored them. Natasha stared into the mask as the man stared right back. Like he was analyzing her, studying her every movement. After a few seconds, he turned away from her and looked to the wreckage of her car. He stood up and started walking towards it, leaving a very confused Natasha alone.

"You're not here for me," Natasha said to herself and her eyes found the box of junk from Budapest. Whatever was in there, that's what this man almost killed her for. And she wasn't about to just let him have it. She quickly got up and drew a knife to attack, lunging for him.

Her knives flashed in the dim light, slicing in controlled arcs. He parried with his shield, the clash of metal reverberating through the air. She slipped past his guard, slicing the strap securing his shield to his back. The shield clattered to the ground, but he barely flinched, drawing a baton from his belt and continuing the fight with equal skill.

"You don't fight like Ross's men," Natasha said, her breath coming faster but steady. "Who are you working for?"

The man didn't answer, his baton striking with relentless force. Finally, with a brutal twist, he disarmed her, sending one of her knives skittering across the bridge.

Natasha lunged for it, but he kicked it away and drove his baton down, pinning her arm. She twisted sharply, using the motion to free herself and strike his mask with an elbow. He took the hit, but didn't move at all.

"Not bad," he muttered, his voice still devoid of emotion. "But not good enough."

He shifted suddenly, throwing Natasha off balance, and darted toward the car. Natasha pulled a grapple out of her pocket and fired it at the man's foot. It wrapped around perfectly and she shot the other end towards a support beam on the bridge, activating the recoil. The man was pulled away just as he was about to reach the box and Natasha sprinted over to it.

Natasha found a silver case in the box and it was unlike anything else in there. She quickly opened the case and found a bunch of red vials inside, all wrapped tight together. She didn't waste a second, pocketing the vials, and closing the case. Just in time too, as the man came swinging down with a sword drawn. She used the case to parry the first swing of the sword and then picked up the man's fallen shield.

The training she used with Steve's shield was invaluable at this time. Though this one was smaller than Steve's it still got the job done as she began to parry every strike from the man's sword. She tried a swing of her own with the case, but it's almost like the man knew she was going to do that and quickly parried the blow, grabbing the case. He went into a kick at that point, catching her square in the middle of the shield, sending all of her momentum back as she banged off the car, dropped the shield, and fell into the water below.

The cold was the first thing Natasha felt, biting through the fabric of her clothes and sinking into her skin as she struggled to crawl up the riverbank. The water had dragged her under, throwing her against the rocks, but now, she was alive, gasping for breath, her body trembling from the icy shock. She gritted her teeth, pushing herself higher on the slick stones, the mud and wet earth clinging to her boots like heavy weights.

Her fingers, numb and trembling, scraped against the cold ground as she dragged herself further. The world around her was muffled, distant—the sound of the river rushing past blending with the pounding in her head. She could feel the throb of pain in her ribs, her legs aching from the impact, but there was something else, a sharp awareness that pierced through the haze. The vials. She reached for the pocket inside her jacket, fingers shaking as she found them, the smooth glass cold to the touch, their importance heavy in her grasp.

The soft thud of the vials as they hit the wet earth made her pause, her breath ragged. She looked down at them, her mind still foggy but clearing enough to see their significance. Slowly, she turned one over in her hand, examining it. But her gaze faltered on the second vial, a familiar shape hidden within the delicate glass. The photo strip.

Her breath hitched, her hand trembling as she pulled it free. The image was worn, edges frayed from years of handling. She couldn't help it—her mind flashed back to the day she had given it to Yelena, the day they had been torn apart, when everything had changed. She had held on to that photo strip like a lifeline, a sliver of hope that one day, she would find her sister again.

But now, standing on this riverbank with the cold seeping into her bones, Natasha realized with brutal clarity that after all the years, all the resources spent searching for her sister, she knew exactly where Yelena was now.

The knowledge hit her like a punch to the gut, a mix of relief and pain curling together in a knot inside her chest. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the vial again, her thoughts racing. Yelena had a reason for sending this. A message. But what was it? Why now? Why the vials, and what was she trying to tell Natasha?

Natasha took a deep breath, pushing the thoughts away for now. She couldn't afford to get lost in them—not yet. Her focus shifted, her mind already calculating the next steps. James and Ava. They couldn't stay here. Not with whoever had been after the case so determined. She had to move them, get them to safety.

She stood, wincing as her legs protested, but her resolve hardened. She would first get James and Ava out of here to her safe house in Malta, it was the safest one in the world and a fortress once locked down. No one but her and Steve could get in this one after Ava enabled the security protocols, and there were enough supplies to last a year in there. It also had encrypted communication inside so Ava could try and reach Steve, or in a desperate case, she could get to Tony and Pepper. No matter her relationship with Tony at the moment, they wouldn't turn away Ava and James, Natasha knew that for sure.

After she got them to Malta, she knew what she had to do.

She had to go to Budapest.

Chapter Text

June 6th, 2015
Budapest, Hungary

The rhythmic screech of the train wheels echoed through the Budapest station as Natasha Romanoff stepped off the last car. Dressed in a faded leather jacket, jeans, and scuffed boots, she felt almost naked with no gun on her. There was no way to smuggle anything into the country, but she knew of one she stashed that there was no chance of being found. The crowd pressed around her—tourists snapping photos, commuters weaving toward exits, vendors hawking their wares. She disappeared into their midst with practiced ease, moving with the fluid anonymity of someone who belonged everywhere and nowhere.

Her green eyes scanned the area without lingering, cataloging potential exits, threats, and allies in seconds. She passed a vendor selling scarves, her fingers brushing one of the brightly colored fabrics as she continued walking. It was all instinct. Every action designed to obscure her presence.

The safehouse wasn't far—a fifteen-minute walk through a maze of narrow streets and uneven cobblestones. She let her mind drift to getting Ava and James to the safehouse in Malta one last time.

She'd kissed James softly on his forehead, his downy hair sticking to her lips. The one-year-old had giggled at the sensation, his tiny hands reaching out to grasp her face.

"Be good for Ava, okay?" she murmured, though her voice cracked on the last word.

Ava Orlova stood nearby, dressed in practical cargo pants and a tank top, her sharp eyes scanning the perimeter even as she spoke.
"Don't worry, Sestra. We'll be fine," Ava assured, her tone light but her posture rigid with purpose.

"Remember, no unnecessary risks," Natasha had said, gripping Ava's hand firmly. "He's... everything."

"I know," Ava replied, her voice steady.

As the boat pulled away, Natasha had stood on the dock until it vanished over the horizon, holding back tears. She had just reunited with her baby boy, and she was forced to part with him once more, but she had to take care of this, once and for all.

The sun hung low in the pale blue sky, casting soft light over the narrow streets of Budapest. The air was crisp, tinged with the smell of fresh bread from a nearby bakery and faint hints of exhaust from the morning traffic. Natasha walked at a measured pace, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket. Her boots made muted sounds against the cobblestones, blending into the city's rhythm as if she belonged here, just another passerby.

Ahead, the apartment building came into view, its faded stucco walls and rusted iron balconies bathed in daylight. It stood unassuming and quiet, a relic of her past that felt as tangible now as it had all those years ago. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment too long, and she slowed her steps, pausing at the edge of the street to lean against the shadowed side of a café.

Her gaze scanned the upper floors, landing on the third window from the left. The apartment was still there, unchanged, but the memories it held seemed heavier in the sunlight.

Twenty years, she thought bitterly. Two decades of chasing ghosts.

The search for Yelena had consumed her for years. It had started as a single thread, pulled from the chaos of her escape from the Red Room. At first, Natasha had believed it would be easy to find Yelena—believed she should be able to find her. With SHIELD's resources at her disposal, she'd combed through databases and covert reports, chasing even the faintest rumors of Yelena's whereabouts.

She'd followed a lead to Prague in those early months, tracking a mercenary group smuggling medical supplies to underground networks, rumored to have worked with the Red Room. When she finally confronted their leader in a damp, dimly lit warehouse, he'd only laughed at her questions. "You're looking for a ghost," he'd said, before disappearing into the chaos of a firefight.

Buenos Aires came next—a private security firm rumored to employ Red Room operatives. Natasha spent weeks undercover, her cover almost blown more than once, only to find herself sifting through false intel yet again.

The pattern repeated, year after year.

When SHIELD collapsed, she'd turned to Hydra's downfall for answers, sorting through caches of stolen intelligence and interrogating defectors. But even then, she remained a step behind. A name on a payroll, a shadow captured on surveillance, a combat style so familiar it ached to watch—but never Yelena.

In Berlin, Natasha had been so sure. The black-market arms deal had all the hallmarks of Yelena's work. She'd crept through the ruins of an old factory, her heart racing, only to find another operative, one trained like her but unfamiliar. In Cairo, she followed a series of assassinations that bore uncanny similarities to her sister's techniques. But when she finally cornered the source, it was another dead end.

Every lead, every favor called in, every desperate effort—nothing brought her closer.

Natasha pushed off the café wall and crossed the street, her steps slowing as she approached the apartment. The daylight made the building feel different—less threatening, more fragile.

Natasha entered the courtyard of the building, tracking all of the people that were in there. She made her way over to the stairwell and slipped off to the side. She checked to make sure no one was hanging around and she knelt by an air vent. She opened the vent up and reached up inside to pull out a small package. She laid it on the ground and opened it up. Pretty simple kit, some lock picking tools, small knife, and a pistol with an extra clip. She tucked the pistol into her waistband and made her way up the stairs.

She got to the apartment and checked around her once more, before starting to work on the lock. She was at it for a few seconds when a voice called out to her from inside the apartment.

"I know you're out there," Yelena's voice sounded, muffled by the door

Natasha got the lock picked at that moment and looked up. It was a matured voice, one far older than the last time she had heard Yelena's voice, but it was her. The problem was, was she still under the Red Room's control or not? She grabbed her pistol to be safe, knowing she would at least subdue Yelena and break her out of whatever conditioning the Red Room had her in.

"I know you know I'm out here," Natasha responded.

She opened the door and stepped in, clearing the area. She used her foot to close the door and kept moving through the apartment.

"Then why are you skulking about like it's a minefield?" Yelena asked, voice coming from deeper in the apartment.

"Because I don't know if I can trust you," Natasha said, plainly, checking rooms as she went.

Natasha heard Yelena chuckle as she kept stepping through. "Funny," she said. "I was going to say the same thing."

Natasha got to the end of the hallway and readied herself.

"So we gonna talk like grownups?" Natasha asked, turning and meeting her sister face to face, both of them had guns pointed at each other.

Yelena had grown up, that was for sure. She stood just a bit shorter than Natasha, and her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail down to her mid back. She wore black pants and a gray jacket, and her eyes were intense, but Natasha knew immediately it was Yelena.

"Is that what we are?" Yelena asked.

Natasha couldn't help the small smile as she stepped into the living room, Yelena backing up with the gun still leveled at Natasha. They kept moving and Yelena looked pointedly at her.

"Put it down," Yelena ordered. "Before I make you."

"You put yours down," Natasha said, a smirk on her face.

Yelena kept backing up and tripped a bit on the separator between the living room and kitchen.

"Watch your step," Natasha advised, and Yelena just chuckled.

They both stopped in the kitchen and faced off, Natasha watching for every twitch. She knew she needed to disarm Yelena, but that would leave her open to being disarmed as well, an effective Red Room technique. Yelena flinched first so Natasha followed, both of them trading their pistols. She barely had time to register the sound of movement behind her before Yelena struck.

Natasha ducked instinctively as a fist sliced through the air where her head had been. She spun, narrowly avoiding a follow-up kick aimed at her ribs. Yelena moved with lethal precision, her strikes fast and calculated. Natasha sidestepped the punches, deflecting what she could with her forearm.

Yelena didn't relent, driving forward with a flurry of blows—elbows, knees, a spinning kick that forced Natasha back a step. Each strike came with the force and precision of years of training. But Natasha had seen it all before.

She caught Yelena's wrist mid-punch, twisting it sharply and stepping inside her guard. A knee came up toward Natasha's stomach, but she anticipated it, blocking with her thigh and sweeping Yelena's other leg out from under her. Yelena hit the floor with a grunt but rolled quickly, springing back to her feet like a coiled viper.

"Not bad," Natasha said, circling. Her tone was calm, almost conversational, but her eyes were locked on Yelena's every movement.

Yelena responded with a sharp, low kick, catching Natasha just above the knee. The older woman staggered slightly, the pain sharp but fleeting. Yelena used the opening to launch herself forward, catching Natasha in the ribs with an elbow and following with a palm strike aimed at her face.

Natasha blocked the strike and countered, slipping behind Yelena and locking an arm around her neck. Yelena twisted violently, slamming her heel into Natasha's shin and breaking free. She spun, fists raised, her breath coming fast.

Natasha sidestepped, caught Yelena's arm mid-swing, and used her momentum to slam her into the wall. The impact rattled the room, and Yelena let out a sharp gasp. Before she could recover, Natasha pinned her, one arm pressed against her throat and the other bracing Yelena's arm behind her back.

"Enough," Natasha said firmly, her voice low but unyielding.

Yelena struggled, her eyes blazing with fury, but she was trapped. Natasha leaned in closer, her grip steady but not cruel. For a moment, they stayed like that, the tension crackling between them. Then, slowly, Yelena stopped fighting. Natasha released her and stepped back, her hands open, a silent gesture of trust.

"You've grown up," Natasha commented, catching her breath and surveying the apartment that now had a lot of things broken due to their small fight.

"No shit," Yelena said, pushing herself off the wall and heading back into the kitchen.

"You had to come to Budapest, didn't you," Natasha said, now conversational as she followed her sister.

"I came here because I thought you wouldn't," Yelena said, a comment that stung Natasha a bit. "But since you're here, what bullet does that?"

Natasha looked to the kitchen wall where she was gesturing and smiled at the memory.

"Not bullets," Natasha said, remembering to tell Clint that his legacy of their Budapest adventure remained. "Arrows."

"Ah, right," Yelena said, clearly hearing of the famous Hawkeye, Natasha just wondering what propaganda the Red Room had put in her brain. Natasha shook it off and took out the vials, hoping that this would at least explain things.

"If you didn't think I'd come here," Natasha said. "Why'd you send me this?"

Natasha set the vials down on the table and the photo strip that came with them. Yelena wheeled and looked furious as she walked past the table, grabbing the photo strip but leaving the vials.

"You brought them back here?" Yelena said, walking out of the kitchen towards one of the bedrooms.

"Yelena," Natasha said, following her. "I've been trying to find you for almost two decades now, and every trail I've traced has come up cold. Now, the one line I get to you is this, so can you please tell me what they are?"

Yelena paused for a moment, the bit of information of Natasha searching for her taking her off guard. But she quickly blew by it, either wanting to address it later or not believing in it.

"It's a synthetic gas," Yelena said, in the bedroom now and packing a bag, clearly planning on skipping town. "The counteragent to chemical subjugation. The gas immunizes the brain's neural pathways from external manipulation."

"Maybe in English next time," Natasha snarked, coming into the room as well and heading over the rack of clothes that she had stored there, looking them over.

"It's an antidote to mind control," Yelena snapped, looking at her.

"Real mature," Natasha said with a smirk, glancing back at her.

Yelena rolled her eyes and continued shoving things in her bag. "Why don't you take it to one of your super-scientist friends?" Yelena asked. "They can explain it to you. Tony Stark, maybe?"

Natasha just chuckled as she turned back to the rack of clothing. "Oh, yeah. We're not really talking right now, so…."

"Great," Yelena said, exasperated. "Perfect timing. Where's an Avenger when you need one?"

"Look," Natasha said, turning around to face her. "I couldn't be happier to finally find you, that's really the truth. But I'm on the run, and trying to protect my son with me, and sending me those vials could have gotten all of us killed."

Yelena had the decency to look a little guilty at that fact, and Natasha could see she was at a loss.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Yelena asked as Natasha turned back, starting to switch out some of her clothes. "You're the only superhero person that I know. That was the whole reason I set it to you."

As Natasha took off her shirt to replace the clothes she had with some better ones she stashed, she heard Yelena pause a bit. This was probably due to the significant bruising she had from the attack she took in Norway, though they were healing nicely due to her serum. They would be completely done if she had Steve's serum, but hers worked a lot slower.

"I kept checking the news," Yelena continued, zipping up her bag. "To see your Captain America bringing down the Red Room."

Natasha didn't register the comment at first, focused on a couple of other things. But after a second, the words processed in her mind and her eyes widened. The Red Room? No she took that down, spent years of her life and erased the last trace of it. It finally died with Anya in Mexico City.

"What?" Natasha asked, wheeling around to see Yelena shrug and head back to the kitchen.

Natasha didn't let her off the hook that easily.

"Taking down the Red Room?" Natasha asked. "What are you talking about? I personally wiped out the last of it. The Headmistress died, I killed Recluse in Mexico City two years ago, and Dreykov's been dead for years."

Yelena just scoffed at that last bit, "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

Yelena looked back up to see Natasha looking at her very seriously. Of course she believed Dreykov was dead, she made sure of it.

"You really do believe that," Yelena said, understanding that by looking at her.

"Dreykov's dead," Natasha reiterated for her. "It took almost destroying the entire city just to get to him."

"If you're so sure, then tell me what happened," Yelena said, looking Natasha directly in the eyes. "Tell me exactly."

"We rigged bombs," Natasha started before Yelena cut her off.

"Who's we?" she asked.

"Clint Barton," Natasha snapped, not appreciating being interrupted. "Killing Dreykov was the final step in my defection to SHIELD."

Yelena just shrugged plainly, not believing it. "Simple as that?"

"Yeah, sure," Natasha deadpanned, moving towards the fridge to get some water to drink. "Simple. That's what I'd call imploding a five-story building and then shooting it out with the Hungarian Special Forces. Took 10 days in hiding before we could even get out of Budapest."

"And you checked the body," Yelena asked, not buying any of this story. "Confirmed the kill?"

Natasha shut the fridge door with a slam, forgetting the bottle of water for now as the memories of what she did still rang fresh in her mind.

"There was no body left to check," Natasha said, plainly.

Yelena stared right back at her. "You're forgetting Dreykov's daughter."

The first sign of trouble came with the faintest creak of a floorboard above Natasha. She barely had time to turn before the front door exploded inward, and the room was suddenly filled with the deadly grace of Black Widows.

"Move!" Natasha barked, shoving Yelena toward the kitchen as she spun to intercept the closest Widow. The woman lunged, a knife flashing in her hand. Natasha deflected the strike with her forearm, twisting her attacker's wrist and sending the blade clattering to the floor. She drove her knee into the Widow's stomach and hurled her into the wall, but another was already closing in.

Yelena vaulted over the kitchen counter, grabbing a cast-iron skillet from the stove. She spun just in time to parry a baton strike, the clang of metal on metal ringing through the apartment. "You always bring this kind of trouble?" she yelled over the chaos.

"Only on special occasions," Natasha shot back, blocking a roundhouse kick and countering with an elbow to the Widow's jaw.

More Widows flooded in, their movements synchronized and relentless. Natasha and Yelena fought back-to-back, a whirlwind of fists, feet, and makeshift weapons. A Widow leaped onto the counter, aiming a kick at Yelena's head, but she ducked and swung the skillet upward, catching the attacker square in the ribs.

"Third wave incoming!" Yelena shouted, spotting more Widows scaling the fire escape outside the window.

Natasha glanced around, assessing the situation. They were outnumbered and boxed in. "Roof!" she ordered, grabbing Yelena's arm and dragging her toward the stairs.

The two sprinted upward, Natasha kicking open the access door to the rooftop. Sunlight flooded in as they emerged into the open air, but the sound of pursuit was close behind.

"Where are we trying to get?" Natasha demanded as they darted across the gravel-strewn roof.

"Motorbike! East side of the building!" Yelena called back.

They vaulted over air vents and ducked under pipes, Widows hot on their heels. One threw a throwing knife, the blade narrowly missing Natasha's arm and embedding itself into a vent with a metallic thunk.

Natasha spotted their way down on the other side of a large gap. The gap between the buildings was wide, but not impossible.

"There!" Yelena pointed to a large construction crane stretching between the rooftops. Its sturdy cable hung like a lifeline.

"Go!" Natasha shouted, covering Yelena as she scrambled up a nearby ladder to reach the cable.

Yelena grabbed hold of the cable and swung across, her body arcing over the gap. Natasha followed, gripping the cable tightly as her feet left the ground.

Halfway across, a Widow leaped onto the cable behind her, the weight causing it to jerk violently. Natasha gritted her teeth, adjusting her grip as the Widow scrambled toward her.

"Hold on!" Yelena yelled from the other side, drawing a pistol from her belt and firing at the Widow. The shots missed, ricocheting off the crane, but they forced the Widow to hesitate.

The cable swayed dangerously as Natasha swung her leg upward, kicking the Widow in the chest. The attacker lost her grip, slipping downward with a scream. Natasha managed to steady herself, but the momentum threw all three women off balance.

The cable snapped.

Natasha, Yelena, and the Widow plummeted toward the alley below.

Yelena hit first, crashing through the window of an abandoned office building. Glass exploded around her as she tumbled onto a desk, rolling to a stop amid shattered wood and debris.

Natasha's descent was broken by a series of fire escapes. Each impact jarred her body, pain shooting through her ribs and shoulders as she bounced off the metal platforms, finally landing in a heap on a lower balcony.

The Widow wasn't as lucky. She struck the pavement with a sickening crack, her leg twisting at an unnatural angle. A guttural scream tore from her lips as she lay sprawled in the alley, immobilized.

Natasha got up, groaning as she did, and walked over to the injured Widow on the ground. The young girl held up her wrist gauntlet, and pointed it at Natasha, but she just raised her hands.

"Hey," Natasha said, her voice soft now. "Don't move, you're hurt. Let me help you."

Instead of firing or lowering her weapon, one of the two things that Natasha would have predicted would have happened, but rather started turning it on herself.

"I don't want to do this," the girl said, her voice shaky as tears streamed down her face.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked, moving forward now.

"He's making me," she said again, before she activated the gauntlet.

Natasha just stood in shock as the young girl killed herself with a shot point blank to the head. Even with all of the Red Room's manipulation of the Widow's, they were never capable of something like this. Natasha's brain went back to Yelena's comment about the antidote for mind control, and she had to consider that the Red Room had developed something like this.

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Yelena jogging towards her. She took a look at Natasha and then down at the dead Widow.

"Do you believe me now?" Yelena asked.

"How many others?" Natasha asked, wondering how widespread this was and what exactly they needed to do to finish Dreykov.

"Enough," Yelena said, turning around to jog out to where she had stashed the motorcycle, Natasha following after a moment.

They both got to a line of motorcycles and Natasha kept up behind Yelena.

"Which one's yours?" Natasha asked, looking at all of them.

"Black," Yelena said, pointing it out. "Brown seat."

She got to the bike and started feeling around in her pockets.

"Where are my keys?" she asked more to herself.

Natasha just popped the keys out of her own pocket, having swiped them off Yelena earlier in the apartment so she couldn't make a quick getaway and to keep Natasha in control of the transport. Yelena just looked at her exasperated and Natasha held back a grin on her face.

"Ah you bitch," Yelena cursed in Russian.

Just then in front of them a car was thrown across the street. A huge armored vehicle appeared and turned to start in on them.

"Any day now," Natasha commanded to Yelena, who hopped on the bike after her as Natasha revved the engine and sped off in a different direction.

The roar of the motorcycle echoed through the streets as Natasha gripped the handlebars, the machine weaving between cars with razor-sharp precision. Yelena sat behind her, one arm wrapped around Natasha's waist for balance, the other clutching a pistol as she glanced back at their pursuers.

The armored car barreled through traffic behind them, its engine growling like a beast. It plowed through vehicles with brute force, leaving a wake of chaos in its path.

"They're not giving up!" Yelena shouted, leaning back to fire a shot at the car's windshield. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off its reinforced glass.

"Great observation!" Natasha snapped, swerving hard to avoid a delivery truck. The motorcycle leaned precariously as they slipped into the narrow gap, the tires screeching in protest.

The armored car surged forward, closing the distance. From its side, a Widow leaned out, her rifle aimed.

"Gun!" Yelena yelled.

Natasha jerked the handlebars, and the motorcycle veered sharply left as a burst of gunfire peppered the street where they had just been.

"We need to lose them!" Natasha said, her eyes scanning for an escape. Spotting an alley up ahead, she twisted the throttle and swerved toward it.

The motorcycle plunged into the alley, its tires skidding over the uneven cobblestones. Natasha maneuvered expertly, dodging dumpsters and crates as Yelena ducked low to avoid overhead fire escapes.

The armored car skidded to a halt at the alley's entrance, too large to follow.

"They're too big to fit," Yelena said, glancing back.

"Doesn't mean we're safe," Natasha replied, accelerating toward the alley's exit.

They shot out into the street, only to find themselves met with a new threat—two Black Widows on sleek motorcycles.

The chase resumed at full speed. Natasha and Yelena weaved through Budapest's busy streets, their motorcycle narrowly avoiding cars, pedestrians, and market stalls. The Widows followed close behind, their weapons blazing.

Yelena twisted in her seat, firing back at their pursuers. "I'm running out of bullets here!"

"Make them count!" Natasha retorted, ducking as a bullet shattered the rearview mirror.

A trolley car rumbled onto the street ahead, its bell clanging loudly. Natasha swerved toward it, using the massive vehicle for cover. She guided the motorcycle alongside the trolley, shielding them from the gunfire as passengers inside screamed and ducked.

The Widows pursued relentlessly, one jumping her bike onto the sidewalk to flank the trolley. Yelena spotted her and fired, the shot catching the Widow's bike and sending her crashing into a row of parked cars.

A delivery truck pulled into the intersection ahead, leaving Natasha with no time to react.

"Hold on!" Natasha shouted.

She yanked the handlebars to the right, the motorcycle skidding wildly. The bike hit a curb, launching both women off.

They soared through the air, crashing through the raised metal guardrail of a walkway. Natasha tucked into a roll mid-flight, but the impact was brutal. She hit the pavement below with a grunt, her body skidding across the asphalt.

Yelena wasn't far behind, landing in a tangle of limbs in the middle of the street. The motorcycle smashed into the walkway railing, exploding in a burst of flames. The cars around them screeched to a halt and Natasha and Yelena got up. A man hopped out of the car right in front of them.

"Are you ok?" he asked in Hungarian.

Yelena just leveled the pistol at him and his hands went right up in the air as he back away from the car, Yelena moving to take it over. He eventually turned and ran.

"Fantastic," Yelena retorted in Hungarian as she jumped into the car, moving to the passenger side seat.

"You can't just steal a guy's car," Natasha said to Yelena, as she too got in the car.

"So you want me to chase him down and un-steal it?" Yelena asked incredulously, Natasha just shaking her head.

Natasha slammed the car into reverse just as an enemy Widow skidded into view on a motorcycle.

"Okay. Any time now, please," Yelena said, watching the Widow speed toward them.

"Shut up," Natasha shot back, flooring the gas pedal. The sedan lurched backward, narrowly missing the motorcycle as Natasha twisted the wheel and swung the car into a U-turn.

They sped down the street, weaving through traffic as the Widow pursued them. The bike was faster and more maneuverable, and the Widow closed the gap quickly.

"Here we go again," Yelena muttered, ducking as the Widow opened fire. Bullets shattered the rear windshield, glass raining down on them.

"Okay," Yelena said, her voice sharp as she crouched lower in her seat. "You got a plan, or shall I just stay duck-and-cover?"

"My plan was to drive us away," Natasha replied, jerking the wheel to avoid an oncoming truck.

"That's a shit plan," Yelena retorted.

Before Natasha could respond, Yelena grabbed the steering wheel, forcing the car into a sudden spin. The tires screeched as the sedan turned 180 degrees, now speeding in reverse.

"What the hell are you doing?" Natasha yelled, struggling to keep control of the car.

Yelena ignored her, kicking the passenger door open. The swinging door clipped a streetlamp with a loud crunch, tearing it off its hinges. The door smashed into the Widow's motorcycle, knocking the rider off with a violent crash.

Natasha straightened the car, still driving in reverse as Yelena grinned smugly. "You're welcome," she said, leaning back in her seat.

Natasha glared at her for half a second before focusing back on the road. "If we survive this, I'm never letting you near a car again."

The sedan screeched onto a quieter street, the chaos momentarily behind them. Natasha eased her grip on the wheel, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror for any sign of pursuit.

Yelena slouched in her seat, brushing shards of glass from her lap. "Please tell me that was the last of them."

"Don't jinx it," Natasha replied, weaving through traffic with practiced ease.

But as they rounded a corner, the rumbling growl of an engine thundered from behind them. Both women glanced back, and their expressions darkened.

The armored vehicle burst onto the street, smashing aside parked cars like toys.

"Oh shit," Yelena muttered, gripping the door handle. "He's back."

Natasha gritted her teeth, pressing the gas pedal to the floor. The sedan lurched forward, weaving between slower cars as the armored vehicle gained on them. Its hulking frame loomed closer, almost pushing vehicles out of its path as it barreled through the narrow street.

A hatch on top of the armored vehicle slid open, and a figure clad in tactical gear emerged. Taskmaster stood tall, pulling a bow from their back in one fluid motion. The assassin knocked an arrow, the tip gleaming ominously. Taskmaster drew the bowstring back, the arrow aimed directly at them.

Natasha glanced at Yelena. "Put your seatbelt on."

Yelena rolled her eyes even as she complied. "You're such a mom," she quipped, snapping the buckle into place.

The arrow released with a sharp twang, sailing through the air with deadly precision.

"Hold on!" Natasha shouted.

The arrow struck the pavement just behind the sedan, its explosive tip detonating with a deafening explosion. The shockwave lifted the car into the air, flipping it forward.

The sedan hurtled through the air like a toy in a storm. Glass shattered, metal crumpled, and both Natasha and Yelena clung to their seats as the world spun around them.

The car crashed downward, slamming into the stairwell of a subway station. It slid violently, sparks flying as it scraped against the walls before landing with a bone-rattling crunch at the station's entrance.

Natasha managed to roll out of the car and get her bearings, looking around to the people around her. The world stopped spinning and she knew that whatever was after them would be here in just a few moments. She ducked back down and started to help Yelena out.

"Natasha, no," Yelena groaned, accepting Natasha's help nonetheless. "I think I'm bleeding."

Natasha got Yelena out and took a look at the wound. It was pretty deep in her arm and needed to be taken care of soon, but she didn't have time right now. Yelena started to bandage it but Natasha stopped her and started dragging her through the crowd.

"No," Natasha said, keeping them moving. "Not now, trust me."

They wove through the crowd and eventually got to an escalator that was jam packed with people. From the sound of the crowd behind her, the agent was right on her tail. She immediately jumped to the median using it as a slide as Yelena was right behind her. They got to the bottoms when she could hear the screams and the whistle of something cutting through air, pushing Yelena down and ducking just in time for the agent's shield to whizz over her head and slam into a pillar in front of them.

Natasha got Yelena up from the ground and pulled her towards a lower maintenance tunnel. She let Yelena bleed a bit to leave a trail, pooling a bit on the hatch. She then got the cut covered completely and gestured for Yelena to go over to an air vent.

"This way," Natasha said, walking over and getting the vent open. She got Yelena up inside and followed soon after, shutting the vent behind them. She peered out and saw the agent following the blood trail and open up the hatch, jumping inside.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she knew they were in the clear for now and looked over to her sister, who was tightening the makeshift bandage on her arm and lying on her back.

"You okay?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Yelena deadpanned. "Great plan. I love the part where I almost bled to death."

Yelena sat up and took in their surroundings. What appeared to be a ventilation duct was actually a small safe room Natasha had used with Clint during their escapade in Budapest. You could see some discarded wrappers and games of tic-tac-toe carved into the walls.

"This is cozy," Yelena commented as Natasha settled in.

"Barton and I spent two days hiding out here," Natasha said, explaining the room.

"That must have been fun," Yelena said, still looking around.

Natasha paused for a moment, but she needed answers about more things. Starting off with whoever this man was.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Natasha asked.

"Dreykov's special muscle," Yelena commented. "With his top Widow defecting and the Winter Soldier taken away by Hydra, he needed another top asset. The Codename on missions is Taskmaster. He can mimic anyone he's ever seen. It's like fighting a mirror. Dreykov only deploys him for top-priority missions."

"This just doesn't make any sense," Natasha said, figuring out where everything went wrong. "Any of this."

"Well, the truth rarely makes sense when you omit key details," Yelena commented and Natasha looked at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Natasha asked.

"You didn't say one word about Dreykov's daughter," Yelena said, staring intently at her. "You killed her."

Natasha swallowed hard, remembering the day as clearly as anything. Another one of the sins on her hands, more red in her ledger.

"I had to," Natasha said, as the memory came in. "I needed her to lead me to Dreykov. His daughter was collateral damage at the time, but I needed her to be sure that he was in the building. That all that effort worked and we got him."

"And here you are, not so sure," Yelena said, still in a disapproving tone.

Natasha was just remembering all of the details, giving the all clear to blow up the building and killing as many innocent as guilty, and it showed on her face to where even Yelena started to get some sympathy.

"I needed out," Natasha just said quietly.

They waited a couple of hours in the vent before making their way out of the station and out of the city. Jumping on a well timed train, they got to the outskirts and were able to walk from there. About thirty minutes after leaving the train station, they came upon a convenience store tied to a gas station where they would be able to pick up some actual medical supplies to clean up Yelena's arm.

It had been mostly quiet between them during the walk, but Natasha broke that silence as they came into the store, still needing some answers.

"So the Red Room is still active," Natasha said, coming to terms with that on their walk. "Where is it?"

"I have no idea," Yelena said, looking on the shelves for the supplies they needed. "He moves the location constantly, and every Widow is sedated on entry and exit for maximum security."

"I'm just finding it hard to believe that he could stay off my radar for this long," Natasha said, knowing how extensive her web was and the resources she had cultivated.

"Well it's not smart to attack an Avenger if you want to stay hidden," Yelena said with a chuckle. "I mean, the clue is in the name. Dreykov kills you, and your husband brings all of the big ones to come and avenge you."

Natasha didn't bother correcting Yelena on her relationship status with Steve, not finding it worth the battle at the moment.

"A big one huh?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah," Yelena said. "I doubt the god from space has to take an ibuprofen after a fight."

Natasha just shook her head and moved further into the store, looking at the shelves to help look for supplies. She heard Yelena start to speak, then stop, and start again.

"You said earlier that you never stopped looking for me," Yelena said. "Where did you think I could have been?"

"It was hard to track you," Natasha said. "I knew some form of the Red Room was still in play after I thought I killed Dreykov, but the activity was really small. I chased a lot of whispers and only got good enough leads a few times. First one was in Prague, rumor that a mercenary group hired Red Room personnel to protect their shipments of medical supplies to underground networks after stealing them from hospitals. I got to their leader and he wouldn't talk, all traces of any Widow were gone by the time I got there."

"Buenos Aires was next, a private security firm was rumored to employ Red Room operatives. I spent five weeks undercover and working through all the ranks only to come up empty."

"The final closest lead was in Berlin just before the New York invasion," Natasha said. "Found a trail that had all the hallmarks of Dreykov's training and the rumors of a blonde haired Widow. I finally tracked her down, but it wasn't you, just another operative. I got intel from her and tracked a Red Room ring to Russia and took it apart during the Battle of New York. The trails got really cold after that, only a few whispers. Cairo, Tokyo, Madrid. All nothing. After Shield fell, Recluse kidnapped Barton to Mexico City and I put her down. Complete radio silence after that, I checked every day but nothing ever popped up for me to chase."

Yelena looked thoughtfully at all of that.

"I remember those missions," Yelena said. "There were more, but I remember those. We always had to pull out early because the mission was compromised. That was you?"

"Looks like it," Natasha said with a sad smile. "Never was good enough to get to you first though."

Yelena smiled a bit, and Natasha could see some of the hurt go away. It would take a bit longer, but she could see that maybe she would be able to get Yelena to trust her again.

"Well I'm sure having your baby sister tag along while you saved the world with the cool kids would have hurt your image," Yelena said, a smirk on her face. "Possibly ruin your romance with Captain America."

"My romance life with Steve would not have been a problem if my sister was around," Natasha said, heading to the front to start to check out. "Would have probably come to you with all of the shit I've dealt with, but you would have been on babysitting duty a lot more."

"Nah nah," Yelena said, following her up. "I don't do diapers at all, count me out of that. But to have the chance to spoil a nephew, that's something I will take advantage of."

Yelena paused for a moment and then got an evil smile. "Why do you always do that thing?"

Natasha looked over at her, slightly confused, "Do what?"

"That thing you do when you're fighting," Yelena said, and then slid down to the ground in the stance that Natasha used a lot to center her balance, complete with the hand in the hair. "This thing that you do when you whip your hair when you're fighting, with the arm and the hair. And you do, like, a fighting pose."

Yelena just laughed as Natasha had a smile on her face as her little sister just made fun of her.

"It's…it's a fighting pose," Yelena said, through the laughter. "You're a total poser."

"I'm not a poser," Natasha said, rejecting the idea.

Yelena just continued to laugh, "Oh, come on. I mean, they're great poses, but it does look like you think everyone's looking at you. Like, all the time."

Natasha just shook her head in exasperation as she started to pay for the supplies they needed, "Already getting teased by my little sister on how I choose to deal with an army of killer robots, what stance I use."

"It does make your suit hug your body a bit better," Yelena observed, tossing a candy bar onto the stack of items they were paying for. "Were you posing for Captain America?"

"My god," Natasha said, smile still all on her face. "I'm not a poser?"

Natasha took the bag and headed outside, handing Yelena the candy bar as she went out. Yelena just chuckled, unwrapped the bar, and took a bite.

"Total poser," she commented to herself and followed her out.

Natasha got Yelena set up at a table just outside the gas station in a little open area. There were kids around them playing soccer and a food truck nearby. She popped open a beer for both of them and set one in front of Yelena as she got to work on her arm, while Yelena kept filling her in on details.

"That gas," Yelena said, gesturing to the vials. "The counteragent, it was synthesized in a secret by an older widow from Melina's generation. I was on the mission to retrieve it, and she exposed me to the gas, freeing me from the control. After I stuck a knife in her belly though."

Natasha looked up at Yelena, seeing the sorrow on her face.

"Don't do that," Natasha said. "You didn't have a choice. It's okay to feel sad, but don't blame yourself."

Yelena shook that off a bit.

"What you experienced was physical conditioning. Using electricity to wipe memories clear and form you back into the Black Widow you were at the start, but it was never perfect," Yelena said. "I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions. They're two completely different things. You're fully conscious, but you don't know which part is you. I'm still not sure."

Natasha, placed a comforting hand a bit higher on her arm to get Yelena to look at her. Natasha gave her a look that could only be understood. While their circumstances weren't the same, they were both subjected to horrors from the Red Room. Yelena wiped away a tear and just nodded.

"Is that all there is left?" Natasha asked, thinking of a way to try and make more with what little resources she had at the moment.

"Mmm-hmm," Yelena said. "It's the only thing that can stop Dreykov and his network of Widows."

She hit the last syllable hard as Natasha finished up a stitch and tied it off, probably being a little painful due to not having any numbing agent. Natasha just blew on the cut to get everything dry before bandaging it.

"He takes more every day," Yelena said. "Children who don't have anyone to protect them. Just like us when we were small. Success rates are still just as low, maybe one in 20 survives the training now, becoming a Widow. The rest, he kills. And no one's even looking for him, thanks to your miss and Alexei."

"Alexei?" Natasha asked, finishing up the bandage and cutting the tape with some scissors to finish it off.

"Dad," Yelena confirmed, looking up at her sister.

"Natasha moved back to the other side of the table, sitting down to take a drink of her own beer and finish off the bit of food they were able to grab from the food truck.

"Did you ever look for your parents?" Yelena asked. "Your real ones?"

Natasha nodded, although it wasn't a great story. "Everything I found led to their deaths, but that was also back before the war. Documents said my mom abandoned me in the street like garbage during the siege of Stalingrad, or probably traded me for some food. You have any luck?"

"Well they destroyed my birth certificate, so I reinvented it," Yelena said, a smile on her face as she rested her chin on her beer bottle. "My parents still live in Ohio. My sister moved out west."

"Is that right?" Natasha said with a smile.

"You're a science teacher," Yelena said, letting Natasha know her story. "You're working part-time though, especially after you had your son. Your husband, he renovates houses."

"Doesn't sound too far off," Natasha said. "Although I'm shit at science and don't think I should be teaching anything."

"Ever think about something like that?" Yelena asked.

"Thought about the whole domestic thing when I found out I was pregnant," Natasha said. "Timing just wasn't right."

"Did you ever wish for your kid?" Yelena asked, leaning back. "I want a dog."

Natasha chuckled at Yelena's dry sense of humor, getting a nice flashback to their time in Ohio.

"Early days of the Red Room they used chemical sterilization on us," Natasha said. "Once the operation was improved, they started to use full hysterectomies on the Widows, which is what you and Melina got. On my checkups though, they never saw any healing to my tract, so they kept me as is, rather than have me out for a week recovering. When I got together with Steve, I didn't think it was even possible, so I didn't bother to use protection."

"So the super serum turned into super sperm," Yelena deduced, reaching over and grabbing a green vest from her bag and slipping it on. "Very romantic."

"Total surprise, but a happy one," Natasha said, looking at her sister. "I don't want to let you go again, but I want you safe. If that means you go off on your own, I can live with that. I'll even get you money and a way there. Is there anywhere you want to go?"

"I don't know," Yelena said. "I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I guess anywhere."

Natasha got a small smile on her face at the prospect of taking down the Red Room with Yelena, because Natasha knew she was going to take it down. She had to before she returned with her son.

"Don't," Yelena said, reading her face.

"Don't what?" Natasha asked innocently.

"You're going to give me some big hero speech," Yelena said, pointing her bottle at Natasha. "I can feel it."

"Speeches are Steve's thing," Natasha said. "I was more thinking of an invitation."

"To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?" Yelena asked and Natasha nodded. "Even though the Red Room is impossible to find and Dreykov is too slippery to kill?"

"Can't go back to my boy until I know he's safe," Natasha said. "Dreykov knows I'm involved now, so it needs to come down."

"That sounds like a shitload of work," Yelena said, leaning back.

"Yeah," Natasha said, taking a drink of her own beer. "Could be fun though."

"Yupp," Yelena said and smiled at Natasha, seeming in confirmation that she was in.

Natasha smiled back and leaned on her arm, looking at her sister. She then gestured to the man that had just left his garage door open and a very serviceable car ready to be taken.

"I saw where he left his keys," Natasha said, casually.

"Top drawer, green cabinet," Yelena confirmed and they both smiled and clicked their drinks together.

A few hours later and a successful car jacking, and they were driving down the highway under the streetlights. It was late enough to where there were limited cars out and around and a pretty smooth ride. Natasha was driving along and Yelena was just chilling in the passenger seat.

"You know," Yelena said, making conversation. "This is the first piece of clothing I've ever bought for myself."

Natasha glanced over at what she was talking about and she was gesturing to the vest she had on.

"What, that?" Natasha asked, turning back to the road.

"Yeah," Yelena said. "You don't like it?"

Natasha had a small smirk on her face, "Is that like a…is it army surplus, or?"

Natasha held in laughter at her teasing as Yelena sighed, frustrated.

"Okay, it has a lot of pockets," Yelena said and Natasha laughed a bit more. "But I use them all the time, and I made some of my own modifications."

"Oh yeah?" Natasha asked, giving back the teasing a bit more, a little revenge for all of her comments on the fighting pose.

Yelena just scoffed at her, "Whatever. Shut up. The point is, I've never had control over my own life before, and now I do. I want to do things."

Natasha hummed and looked back over to her sister for a second and then smiled and relented, "I like your vest."

"I knew it," Yelena said in victory. "It's so cool, right? And you can put so much stuff in here, you wouldn't even know."

"I really don't know where the Red Room is though," Yelena said. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Natasha said, understandingly. Yelena was under Dreykov's control most of the time, and the time she wasn't she was unconscious. She was just beginning to make choices for herself and it was going to take a while for her to recover. "But I think I know someone that might."

"Oh yeah," Yelena said. "Who?"

"We're gonna need a jet," Natasha said, knowing what needed to be done. "And a little more muscle."

Yelena's eye lit up in a teasing sister sort of way, "Does that mean?"

Natasha just shook her head and pulled out her burner cell phone, dialing the emergency number she had given Steve to program into any phone should they need each other. She figured he was safe at this point, and their long awaited reunion would be coming a bit sooner, and not under the pretenses that she would have liked.

It rang for a few seconds, and Natasha wasn't sure if the phone would even connect, but it did a second later and the smooth baritone of Steve Rogers came over the line.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Natasha smiled at the voice she hadn't heard in weeks. Her heart was pounding as well, nervousness setting in along with the complete joy of getting to talk to him again.

"Yeah," Natasha said. "For the most part."

"She's got bruises all along her back and some cuts," Yelena shouted so that Steve could hear. "And I almost bled to death."

Natasha shot Yelena a slight glare and focused back on the phone.

"That's Yelena," Natasha said. "She's embellishing a lot. How fast can you get to Kiev? We need your help."

"Kiev?" he asked. "Just say the word. Should I bring back-up?"

"Not this time," Natasha said, changing lanes. "The Red Room is back. I thought it was gone in Mexico City, but I got a brutal reminder. We're going to take it down, I'll explain more of the plan when we meet if you can get here."

Natasha paused and took a breath.

"Jamie is safe with Ava at point Suez," Natasha said, the code word for their safe house in Malta. "We'll pick them up on the way back."

"Good. That's good. I'm so glad they're okay. I'm so glad you're okay," Steve said, pausing for a bit and continuing on. "Natasha, I'm sorry about what happened. All of it. This all would have gone differently. We don't have to talk about it now but just... I'm sorry."

"We both have apologies to make," Natasha said. "And we both have a lot of things to talk about. You just need to know that I will always love you and I forgive you for whatever you think that you've done. We can talk about it more when you get here, okay?"

Yelena kept looking out the window, knowing that she and Steve needed some private time and they weren't going to have a lot going forward. Not with the breakout and the company they would have after that. Who knows what would happen when the great Red Guardian met his imaginary foe, Captain America.

"Yeah, okay. I love you too. Forever," Steve said, and Natasha could hear the relief on the other end of the phone. "Send me the coordinates and I'll be there as fast as I can. It might be a few hours."

"We're just crossing the Ukraine border," Natasha said. "So we'll be a bit too. I'll send you the coordinates to the shipyard. Crate 862D. I'll see you soon."

"And bring snacks," Yelena called out before Natasha could hang up the phone.

"Ignore her," Natasha said, hanging up and focusing on the road.

"So I get to meet Captain America huh?" Yelena said, trying to turn the tables and tease Natasha more. "I don't have my makeup ready, how did they do their hair in the 40s?"

"Sleep," Natasha commanded, a smile on her face though. "You need rest to heal up. I'll let you know when we're close to Kiev."

"Fine, fine," Yelena said, leaning the seat back and settling down. "We will be talking about this more though."

"I don't doubt it," Natasha said, changing lanes again and speeding down the road.

Chapter Text

Kiev, Ukraine
June 7th, 2015

The low hum of the car's engine broke the silence of the misty Kiev night. The headlights sliced through the fog, revealing the skeletal outline of a shipyard ahead. Rows of rusting containers loomed like silent sentinels, and the faint smell of brine and oil hung heavy in the air.

Inside the car, Yelena sat slouched in the passenger seat, boots resting on the dashboard, lazily flipping through a half-empty bag of sunflower seeds. Natasha, gripping the wheel, cast her a pointed glance.

"Do you have to do that?" Natasha muttered, eyes scanning the dark perimeter.

"What? Eat?" Yelena popped another seed into her mouth and cracked it between her teeth.

"Eat like a raccoon," Natasha countered, swiping a stray shell that had landed on her side of the car.

Yelena grinned, completely unbothered. "You're just mad because I have snacks and you don't."

Natasha rolled her eyes, parking the car just outside a shadowy dock. She killed the engine, plunging them into silence but for the distant clanging of metal and the low lap of water against the pier.

"This is it?" Yelena asked, craning her neck to peer through the windshield.

Natasha opened her door, pausing to glance back at her sister. "Stay here."

Yelena's brow shot up. "Excuse me? Stay here?"

"Yes. In the car." Natasha stepped out, slamming the door behind her before Yelena could protest.

Yelena rolled down the window and leaned out. "What am I, a dog? Should I bark if I see something suspicious?"

"Grown up stuff," Natasha fired back. "Plus you need to sleep and heal."

"Fine," Yelena said. "I'll stay here while you go make out with Captain America."

Natasha smirked faintly but didn't answer, her boots crunching on the gravel as she made her way toward the point she told Steve to meet her at.

Natasha slipped silently through the shadows of the shipyard, moving like a ghost, weaving between the rusting shipping containers until she reached a narrow alcove overlooking the meeting spot. It was perfect for watching without being seen.

Her fingers traced the cool edge of a metal container as she pressed her back against it, letting the shadows envelop her. She knew Steve would arrive soon; he was always punctual, almost to a fault. She could already imagine the familiar sound of his boots on the gravel, the steady, deliberate pace that was so unmistakably his.

Her heart, steady in battle, fluttered uncharacteristically. The after effect of the Accords turning their lives upside down, scattering the Avengers like leaves in a storm, still weighed heavily on her mind. She had no idea if this meeting would bring them closer or confirm her worst fear—that the chasm between them had become too wide to bridge.

Natasha clenched her fists, then forced herself to release them, flexing her fingers against the cold. Why am I like this? she thought. She was the Black Widow. Fearless. Calculating. A woman who always had a plan.

But Steve was different.

She could still see the way he had looked at her the last time they spoke after she turned on Tony's team and helped him escape. The confusion, hurt of her decision still, but hope. At least she thought it was hope, she wanted it so badly to be hope.

She shook her head, as though the motion could cast away the insecurities swirling in her mind.

A faint crunch of gravel broke her thoughts. Her body tensed, every instinct sharpening. She leaned slightly forward, peering from the shadows.

There he was.

Even in the dim light, she recognized the broad shoulders, the determined gait, the golden hair catching faintly under the overhead lamps. He walked with purpose, scanning his surroundings, as though he knew she was watching. She smiled a bit at his 'disguise', which as usual was just a baseball hat and a larger jacket, as if that did anything to make him not appear as Captain America.

Natasha pressed her back against the container, her pulse quickening. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed him until now, seeing him so close yet still out of reach. But she hesitated, her confidence wavering.

What if he doesn't forgive me?

Her fingers tightened on the edge of the container, grounding herself. What if he doesn't love me anymore?

She took a steadying breath, pushing all the insecurities to the side for now. Regardless of his feelings towards her, she did need his help with this, and after that he still deserved to be with his son. Whether she was by his side or not.

"I think I should accept it at this point that you think the whole baseball hat is the perfect disguise," Natasha said, coming out of the shadows.

She still had her hair braided down and a black jacket over her tank top which was covering up her severe bruising quite nicely. Taskmaster had done a number on both her and her sister, and she didn't need Steve to worry about that right now.

She was happy to see him though, after all of this time. She resisted the urge to go to him right away though, still internally worrying about what he would have to say to her for what she did.

He made no move to approach her, though his fingers twitched. He stuffed them in his pockets. "Or maybe I just like annoying you," he said, lips almost upturned. His eyes darted around, scanning. "Where's Yelena? Wasn't she with you?"

"She's in the car sleeping," Natasha said. "She took a decent hit in Budapest and needed the rest."

'And to give us this private time,' Natasha mentally added. She jumped down from her overlooking spot and into the light a bit better and the bruising over her face showed a bit more, from the shots she took when Taskmaster almost blew her off the bridge.

"Steve I," Natasha said, then faltered as the words failed her. She practiced this so many times on the car ride here, but she just wasn't able to form the words now. "I'm just so sorry. I thought I was doing the best thing for our family, but I just tore it apart. I shouldn't have made you choose between Jamie and I, and his namesake. That was something beyond forgiveness and I understand if you want to go our separate ways after this. I know how I feel about you and I don't want to lose you ever again, but you should have the choice."

He walked towards her, and she could see he was surveying the bruises on her face, probably wondering if she had any more. His hand came up instinctively to touch the bruises on her face, but he paused a bit. Natasha looked him in the eyes and saw the hurt that was still there for all of her actions, but she also saw the same look she had seen so many times.

The love they shared for each other.

He brushed his fingers lightly along the bruises on her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her gently. Natasha closed her eyes and leaned into the embrace, missing this most in the world. She melted into his embrace and let him hold her.

When he pulled back, he kept her wrapped in his arms and said, "I'm sorry too. I got so wrapped up in the situation with Bucky that I neglected you and I neglected our son. I never wanted to make you feel like I had chosen someone over you. I love you. And I forgive you."

Natasha just closed her eyes as a single tear came out. She leaned forward and pressed her head against his chest and just took in the moment. She was still way shorter than him, so this is approximately where her head reached. She let out a huge sigh of relief at his words, glad she hadn't lost him after all and vowing to make this better.

"Jamie learned how to say Dada," Natasha said, letting Steve know this. "Ava was showing him pictures of you and he said that. You were his first word. I have it recorded of course, I'd show you but my official phone broke, so I'll have to wait till we can get it off my laptop."

Steve's eyes were shiny and red-rimmed all of a sudden. "I'm sorry I missed it. I'd have loved to see that. I can't wait to hear him say it in person." He stepped back and wiped at his eyes with the back of his forearm, slowly falling back on his clinical captain persona. "Okay. All this talk of family and I've never met your sister. Shall we wake her up?"

"I'm already awake," Yelena said from above. "And I had to vomit a few times while you guys were making up."

Yelena was sitting on top of one of the shipping crates, green vest on with all the pockets and bandage still on her arm.

"Steve," Natasha said. "This is Yelena. Yelena this is,"

"The famous Captain America," Yelena said, hopping down and walking over to them. "I know who he is of course. Da used to tell us all these stories about the great battle between the Red Guardian and Captain America. I wonder what's going to happen when they finally meet."

"It's nice to finally meet you. I hoped it would be under better circumstances but..." He shrugged his other shoulder, head bowed in an almost guilty way. "... those're a little low in stock these days. I've, uh, never encountered a Red Guardian, I don't think." He glanced at Natasha.

"The Red Guardian was the Soviet's answer to Captain America," Natasha said. "They developed a serum, working closely with Hydra, to create the super soldier serum. Hydra's version was given to the Winter Soldier, the Soviet's were tested on the first batch of Widows, which included me, and attempted to be strengthened, which was what was given to the first Guardian, the first husband that I told you I had back in the 50s. When that serum killed his mind and I had to put him down, they did a lot more testing and Alexei Shostakov became the, mostly, stable Red Guardian."

"It had mixed effects," Yelena said. "While the strength was there, the mind suffered, which is why it wasn't used again."

"He did work closely with Dreykov though," Natasha said. "The current head of the Red Room. If anyone knows where he could be hiding the remnants of that organization, it's him."

"So where is he? Let's ask him," Steve said, clearly in business mode.

"Well," Natasha said sheepishly, not mentioning this over the phone.

"Oh you didn't tell him," Yelena said, a huge smile on her face. "No, this is going to be great. I will love to watch this."

"Zamolchi," Natasha spat at Yelena and then turned back to Steve. "He's being held at the 7th Circle Prison. It's in a very remote part of Siberia."

"It's almost impossible to get into," Yelena said. "It's the most well guarded prison in Russia."

"And I have a plan for it," Natasha said. "I just might need some extra help."

She looked at Steve then, knowing he was the extra help. It was far from the only reason she called him, hell it would be messy but she and Yelena could probably break out Alexi just fine. But she needed to talk to Steve for other reasons.

Steve's lips twitched in amusement as he watched Natasha and Yelena bicker and just nodded, "Sounds like a challenge. Good thing I warmed up on the flight here."

"We'll need to get something that can fly," Natasha said. "We can't get there by car, nor could we escape with one even if we did get there by car."

"What about Mason," Yelena said. "He could get us something that could fly."

"I'll give him a call," Natasha said, nodding in agreement. "We're gonna have to get to the outskirts though. Steve, you rested enough to drive while I catch some sleep and Yelena dozes, but more likely talks your ear off?"

"It would be my pleasure," Steve said. "Lead the way."

Yelena and Steve started back towards to the car while Natasha followed, getting her phone out and dialing the number she knew to be Mason. It took him a couple rings to pick up, but eventually his voice came over the line.

"Romanoff. Always a pleasure when you call me out of the blue," he said and Natasha smiled.

"Mason," Natasha answered. "I need the winter survival pack I had you put together. And something that can fly."

"Of course you do," Mason said with a groan. "And here I thought I'd get at least a week without a favor."

"This isn't a favor, it's business," Natasha replied, her tone clipped. "I'm on a clock."

"Business? Right," he muttered. "Alright, what's the time frame and the drop zone?"

"I'll be at the Russian border as soon as I can get there from Kiev," she said. "Estimate six hours, maybe seven if the roads are bad."

He let out an exaggerated sigh. "The Russian border in summer? That means humidity, mosquitoes the size of birds, and heatstroke for dessert. You don't make this easy, do you?"

"That's why I'm calling you," Natasha said smoothly. "You're resourceful."

He barked out a dry laugh. "Flattery doesn't make this easier, Romanoff."

"Do you want me to call someone else?"

"No," he shot back quickly. "I like getting paid too much. Fine. I'll dig up the survival pack and see what I can find that'll fly in this weather. But don't expect luxury. You'll be lucky if it's got heat."

"Just make sure it works," Natasha replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Mason grumbled, pulling up his notes. "Alright, let's say...meet me at the checkpoint near Vietka. That work for you?"

"It's perfect," Natasha said.

"Great," he muttered. "Give me at least six hours. This is cutting it tight, even for you."

"I trust you, Mason," Natasha replied with a smile.

"Sure you do," he said before Natasha heard the line click dead and she continued on to the car.

Yelena and Steve were already in the front seats, Steve behind the wheel and smiling as he saw Natasha walk into view. She just smirked at him and climbed into the back seat, laying down.

"Where are we headed?" Steve asked.

"Vietka in Belarus," Natasha said. "6 hours or so, Yelena will help you get through the border clear."

"Yeah yeah," Yelena said. "You go to sleep, you old woman. Now Steven, Natasha doesn't think it's so great but you can definitely see the appeal in this many pockets, right?"

Natasha just chuckled as she drifted off to sleep as the car went into motion.

Vietka, Belarus
June 7th, 2015

Steve drove the car up to a small cabin outside the outskirts of Vietka, and Natasha could see Mason standing there with a duffle bag and a very beat up looking helicopter behind him. Yelena just gaped and Natasha was a little worried.

Steve brought the car to a stop and Natasha stepped out and headed over to Mason, Yelena and Steve following.

"I said I needed something that could fly," Natasha said to Mason. "Can this thing even get off the ground?"

"Yeah it will, but you know what you didn't give me?" Mason shot back. "Time. Or money. I'm not made of jets."

"I thought you were supposed to be the best," Yelena said, walking up behind her. "Like a real pro."

"Oh," Mason said, turning to Yelena. "I beg your pardon, tsarina. Was the free flat and lifetime supply of kissel not to your liking?"

"Ha," Yelena snarked, walking to look over the helicopter.

"Don't let her wind you up," Natasha said, then made introductions. "Steve this is Mason, he helps me get a lot of things overseas and maintains some of my safe houses. Mason this is..."

"Captain America," Mason said, reaching his hand out to take Steve's. "I've heard a lot about you. Natasha literally mentions you every time she talks to me."

Steve nodded and pulled his hand back from what he'd aimed to be a firm handshake without overutilizing his strength. He wasn't trying to be intimidating, but Natasha could see Steve making sure Mason knew what was up with him and Natasha, which Natasha was just fine with.

"All good things, I hope," he said with a quirk of his lips. He gestured at the duffel bag. "So what've you got for us?"

"What Natasha instructed I provide," Mason said, sliding the duffle bag over.

"I doubt it's all there," Yelena said and Mason threw up his arms before opening it.

"Oh come on," Mason said. "I do take exception to impugning my professionalism."

"Well you did set me up with a generator that crapped out after like six hours," Natasha said, moving away from the duffle for now to look at the helicopter herself, speaking of the cold night she spent in Norway with Ava and James in their first safe house, before she had to leave to get gas when she was attacked by the Taskmaster for the first time.

"Tag team huh?" Mason said, shaking his head and then glancing at Steve. "Honestly, good luck man."

Natasha just smirked as Mason opened the bag. Yelena was there in a second, looking it over and grabbing a white suit meant for her and some granola bars, walking away.

"Oh I stashed this food like five years ago," Natasha said, Yelena ignoring her and biting into the bar right away. Natasha could see her working on it and held in a laugh. "How is that?"

"It's dry," Yelena said, before climbing into the helicopter. "It's really dry."

Natasha just laughed and pulled out a white suit for herself and then pulled what used to be Steve's stealth suit back in his Shield days, but completely tracking chip free and now a white and light gray combination. Star still visible on the front, she unfortunately didn't have the helmet.

"Will this work?" Natasha asked, holding the suit out to Steve.

"That's perfect," he said, accepting the suit. "The helmet was a little too recognizable anyway. Besides, I've got a tough noggin. Always have."

"Though you've tried too many times for my taste to test that theory," Natasha said. "Thanks Mason."

"You know you're getting dangerously close to running out your tab," Mason said, serious now that Yelena was gone. "Supplies I can tally, but you bring me attention from the authorities, all my prices go up."

"What's that supposed to mean," Natasha said, confused and now slightly on the defensive.

"Your mate, Secretary Ross," Mason said. "Has been sniffing around my affairs to the point at which I've got contacts declining my calls. I'm a private contractor."

Natasha looked at Steve then. Not only was Secretary Ross after her, but he had some top guys on this and was close on her tail. Mason was a very close contact of hers, one that really wasn't out in the open that much. Either the US Government had some really good people looking for her, or there was someone feeding them information.

"That's... unfortunate. I don't know how much we can do about Ross right now," Steve said, and Natasha knew he was right. She smiled and turned back to Mason, hoping her word would settle this for now.

"I'll find a way to make it up to you," Natasha said with a promise.

"Uh-huh," Mason said, skeptic, although a knowing look on his face showed that Natasha didn't usually go back on what she said. "That's what you always say."

Natasha just smirked and grabbed the rest of the bag and headed onto the helicopter.

"Keep an eye on her," Natasha overheard Mason said to Steve. "If she's taking on what I think she is, it's gonna be rough. Especially with what just happened in the world."

He clapped Mason on the bicep. "I take care of my family. You don't have to worry. That's my job."

7th Circle Prison
June 7th, 2015

The brisk cold air of Siberia stung Natasha's eyes as they flew towards the prison. Even this far North, no matter that it was summer, there was still plenty of snow on the ground. Natasha took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the mission that was coming. They had already sent ahead the little Red Guardian doll with the earpiece in it for Alexi to receive to help him break out. Natasha was snug in her new white suit. She had stashed this one before she had James and the pregnancy that came with it, so it was a little tight in the hips. It was, however, heavily insulated, which would help against the cold of the Siberian front outside.

The Seventh Circle Prison was one of Russia's most remote and secure prisons in the entire country. Gorbachev established this place in some of the last days before the Soviet Union dissolved and locked away the key for numerous political prisoners. Secret leaders of the KGB and Red Room that were still active used it when needed, as did Putin, although he kept it under wraps. With no civilization for hundreds of kilometers in any direction, it was perfect.

You either stayed there, or died to the cold and wilderness.

Natasha looked up and smiled at Steve, who was wearing his own white suit. Yelena was in the pilot's seat, picking up on how to fly the jet pretty quickly.

"Seems like you should have been meeting my parents before you got me pregnant," Natasha said. "Though we haven't exactly gone the most traditional route in our relationship."

He pulled tight on his gloves, the leather creaking under the pressure as he wiggled his fingers to get the fit just right. He smiled at Natasha, checking her out in this suit as well.

"You know me, darling. I'm a pretty traditional guy. If I had known your parents were reachable I'd have broken them out of prison forever ago just to talk to them."

"We'll see if you hang onto those words after meeting him," Natasha said, finishing the last of her braids and getting up, patting him on the backside and heading to the co-pilot's seat. "How are we looking?"

"We're approaching the prison now," Yelena said. "We'll only have a bit before they see us, so whatever you're going to do, let's start now."

"Well let's hope he still has some Guardian left in him," Natasha said, as she got a flashing that the comm they sent to Alexi was now active.

Natasha typed in a few commands on the console they secured and immediately had control of the prison and all of their camera systems, shown up on the monitors for Natasha, Yelena, and Steve to see. Natasha cycled through and found what was a very grizzly old man with a long beard, numerous tattoos, and a bit of a beer belly.

"Today is your lucky day Alexei," Natasha said into the comms, getting the man's attention. "Move to the door on the south wall."

Natasha hit a few commands and that door opened up for him to move through. Natasha followed his tracking and continued giving him direction.

"Go left," Natasha coached. "Just don't make a scene."

About thirty seconds later, alarms started blaring and warnings popped up on all of their screens. Yelena rolled her eyes and Natasha bit back the urge to sigh.

"You made a scene didn't you," Natasha said.

She could hear the sound of punches being thrown and grunts and knew Alexi was in a dogfight headed out. Yelena brought the helicopter over the top of the yard of the prison and they looked down. About a second later, a door burst open and Alexei charged out. He got to the middle of the prison and raised his hand to his ear, as if this is how he had to activate his comm. Same as Steve used to do, which caused Natasha to have a small smile.

"What now?" he asked, slightly frantic.

"We're getting you out of here," Natasha said and nodded to Yelena, who brought the jet down to where Alexei could see them.

Alexei looked up and saw the helicopter and was in awe. He didn't have long to marvel though, as the rest of the prison broke out as well. Guards weren't long after, starting to fire suppressors against the prisoners. Alexei jumped and dodged and overall didn't know what to do. Natasha knew at this point they would need to help.

"Get to the upper levels," Natasha said into the comms, getting herself up out of the co-pilot's seat. "Move your ass super soldier."

Alexei started on that while Natasha headed for the back.

"He's never going to make it," Yelena said, watching Alexei struggle as he just got shocked by a stun baton, dropping him.

"Get us closer," Natasha said, getting a rope ready to jump out.

Yelena just looked back at her with an incredulous look. "Seriously?" she asked.

"You got a better idea," Natasha said, looking over to Steve. "Ready for the first Cold War battle Captain America?"

"Pretty sure I slept through that one," he yelled back. He gave the rope a tug to make sure she was secure and then gestured for her to jump first, bowing back in a gentlemanly sort of way. Natasha smiled and jumped out of the helicopter.

As Natasha swung through the air and came down on the catwalk in her typical landing/ready stance, she could hear Yelena quip through comms.

"Such a poser."

The biting Siberian wind cut through Natasha's suit as she ducked a baton swing, the guard's strike whistling past her ear. She caught his wrist mid-swing, twisting sharply until she heard the satisfying crack of bone, followed by his pained yell. With a swift kick, she sent him sprawling onto the catwalk.

Below her, chaos erupted in the yard. Prisoners brawled with guards, their shouts and grunts blending into a deafening cacophony. The floodlights above flickered, casting erratic shadows that danced across the snow-dusted ground.

Natasha spared a glance over the railing. Alexei was somewhere in that mess, shoving his way through the riot toward the north gate.

"Alexei, you better not get yourself killed," she muttered under her breath before spinning to block a punch aimed at her ribs.

The guard was bigger than her, his face twisted with rage as he swung again. Natasha ducked, stepped inside his reach, and delivered a sharp elbow to his throat. He staggered back, choking, and she didn't hesitate—one sweep of her leg sent him crashing onto the grating.

"Natasha, we've got to move!" Steve's voice rang out above the chaos.

"I'm a little busy!" she shot back, pivoting just in time to dodge another blow.

She caught the baton this time, yanking it free from her attacker's grip before slamming it into his stomach. He doubled over, and Natasha followed up with a strike to the back of his head, sending him crumpling to the ground.

Steve was a blur of motion in her peripheral vision, tossing guards aside like they weighed nothing. But even he couldn't cover them both for long.

Up top, Yelena was hovering until the helicopter started to get peppered with heavy machine gun rounds. They pelted through the side of the body of the helicopter and it forced her off course a bit. Yelena was also between a bunch of structures, which made it hard to stay upright. The helicopter descended further as Yelena tried to keep it in the air.

Natasha heard the woosh a second before and just had time to duck before the back rotor almost took her head off, knowing Steve was probably having to deal with the same thing.

"Seriously," Natasha exclaimed, looking at the helicopter in basically a free fall.

"Whooo!" Yelena said, leveling out the jet a bit. "Sorry."

"Back up," Natasha commanded, getting out her batons to beat back the last couple of guards.

Yelena just held up a thumbs up, Steve would be able to see it mostly.

"We're all doing a really good job," Yelena said, bringing the helicopter up out of harm's way.

Natasha kept fighting as Yelena dealt with whatever was firing at her. She mopped up another guard and looked to try and find Alexei again when the tell-tale sign of a rocket being fired reached her ears.

Natasha heard the explosion and looked over at the now ruined tower. It was loud, very loud. And with the surrounding mountains, that could only mean one thing. The snow began to come forward as the rumbling of the avalanche reached their ears.

"Whoa," Yelena said, obviously back on comms now. "This would be a cool way to die."

Steve managed to get down to Alexei and started moving him forward. Natasha saw the rope from the helicopter was starting to move off the catwalk and had to jump off herself to hold onto it. Yelena started to circle and brought them around. Natasha could Steve almost have a hold on Alexei and as they went over, he legitimately threw the Red Guardian into the air.

Alexei yelled as he traveled through, managing to grab the rope above Natasha and gripped the rope dear life. He finally looked down and Natasha punched him in the back of the leg from her place at the bottom.

"MOVE!" she yelled and he started climbing up.

"Yelena we need one more pass," Natasha said through comms.

"It's gonna be tight," Yelena said.

"You get me back down there now or I'm jumping off," Natasha demanded and it was enough for Yelena.

She managed to make another lap and they were speeding towards Steve, snow right on their tails. Natasha could feel the cold rushing behind her and knew she wouldn't subject Steve to this. Not again, never again. Yelena swung around and dipped down to where Natasha was level with Steve and speeding by.

Steve had managed to climb up to a higher platform and Natasha met his eyes. They wouldn't be able to get low enough, but Steve could jump. He took one last running start and jumped with all of his might. She reached out her hand, knowing that it wasn't going to be an easy task, but her adrenaline was pumping as the wall of snow was about to crash into both of them.

Their arms locked together and the force of the horizontal pull threatened to pull Natasha's shoulder out of its socket but she managed to hold on, Steve grabbing the rope a second later and securing himself by wrapping the very bottom around his ankles, his head about even with her stomach as she was higher up on the rope than him.

Natasha clung to the rope and to Steve, pulling him close to her and not letting him go.

"I'm sorry," Natasha said. "About the snow and the cold. I'm so sorry."

As Yelena pulled them out of there and away from the snow that effectively buried the prison, Steve wrapped an arm around Natasha's waist and finally opened his eyes. Natasha could feel the tension leaving his body and he leaned his head against Natasha's stomach, holding her tight as well.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. We're okay." Another deep breath and then he pulled his head back. "Let's get inside, where it's warmer."

"Yeah that sounds good," Natasha said, glancing up where Alexei was already making his way inside the helicopter. "Go ahead and go first, just so I can make sure you get inside okay."

She gave him a supporting smile, knowing that she meant the best and was just worried about him.

"Besides," Natasha said. "Then I get to see how well you look from behind in that suit. I heard in the ladies locker room at Shield that it almost made a bunch of them faint."

He just laughed a breathless laugh, tension breaking a bit as he started to climb, "I could've lived my whole life without hearing those 'America's ass' rumors you keep telling me about."

"Are they really rumors if there is factual evidence to back them all up," Natasha called back as she climbed up.

Once she got in the helicopter, the door closed and she looked over where Alexei was staring at both of them. More specifically in the moment, at Steve, who he definitely recognized.

"Captain America," Alexei said. "Our long awaited meeting has come at last."

"Relax Captain Soviet," Natasha said, rolling her eyes and heading up to the front. "The Cold war is over."

"Besides," said Steve as he pulled off his gloves and rubbed them together for warmth. He sat down on the bench across from Alexei. "From what I hear, we've met before. When was it, again? You'll have to remind me."

Alexei looked ready to launch into a full story, when Yelena abruptly cut him off.

"I wouldn't bother," she said. "He'll spew some weird propaganda at you."

Alexei was distracted at that point and looked over, smiling when he saw Yelena there as well. His two daughters were there to rescue him, what a day.

"Wow," Alexei said, moving over to the pilot's area where Natasha and Yelena were. "Oh that was exciting, I'm so proud of you girls."

Yelena didn't waste any time, rearing back and punching Alexei right in the face, and Natasha tried not to laugh.

"Owww," Alexei complained, holding his nose. "Why the aggression? Is it your time of the month?"

"I don't get my period dipshit," Yelena said bluntly. "I don't have a uterus."

"Or ovaries," Natasha added, knowing the details of the new Graduation Ceremony.

"Yeah that's what happens when the Red Room gives you an involuntary hysterectomy," Yelena said, looking back at the Guardian then. "They just kind of go in and they rip out all of your reproductive organs."

Yelena was demonstrating with her hands at this point, and there was an increasingly horrified look on Alexei's face.

"They just get right in there and they chop them all away," Yelena doubled down, getting a little enjoyment out of this. "Everything out, so you can't have babies."

"Okay okay okay," Alexei said, putting a stop to it. "You don't have to get so clinical and nasty."

"Oh," Yelena said, turning back to face the front. "I was about to talk about fallopian tubes, but okay."

Steve intervened at this point, and Natasha could see he was trying to rescue Alexei from his own stupidity. The time of the month comment was a really bad start.

"Anyways," Steve said, holding out his hand to Alexei. "It's nice to meet you. Officially."

Alexei just looked him up and down and shook his hand after a bit, the strength matching Steve's in every bit as the same strength of super soldier serum was in his veins as well.

"So are we expecting any other Avengers?" Alexei said.

"No," Natasha said. "Steve is here to support me as my partner and help me through this mess."

"Partner?" Alexei said, looking incredulous at Natasha and then back to Steve.

"That's not all," Yelena piped up. "They also made a baby together. Guess the Red Room should have gone to the full hysterectomy sooner than just chemical sterilization."

"Yelena," Natasha spat, not wanting to get the Guardian pissed or whatever reaction he would have to that news.

"Why did you not come and tell me any of this?" Alexei asked.

"You were in one of the most remote prisons on the planet," Natasha said bluntly. "Putin could have me arrested for thinking about it."

"Still you made the effort now," Alexei said.

"Because I need you to tell us where the Red Room is," Natasha said, getting down to why they were there.

"Well well well," Alexei said. "Look at you? Right down to business."

"Trust me this isn't pleasure," Natasha fired back, rolling her eyes in the process.

"Little Natasha," Alexei said. "All indoctrinated into the Western Agenda. Indoctrinated in so many different ways."

He sent Steve a look after that, heavily implying the relationship between Captain America and the former Russian assassin, plus the family with that man making his point. Natasha turned, knowing that something like that could get him punched by Steve.

Steve frowned deeply, crossing his arms and facing Alexei fully. Even though Alexei also had the serum, Steve cut a much more intimidating figure with the suit and the disapproving expression and the not having been in jail for a good portion of his life. He didn't throw a punch but everything about his stance said that he could at any moment, should Alexei push even a little bit more.

"No one indoctrinated her. Unlike how you remember her, she's an adult who broke away from your toxic environment to make her own decisions. You don't get to judge her for them," Steve said, Natasha telling he was holding back a lot.

"I chose to go west to escape the shit hole of a life I had," Natasha reiterated. "I made friends, got a family."

"Oh yeah," Alexei said. "Where are all your friends and family now? I see one."

Natasha just pushed on, knowing the mental stability of Alexei could be temperamental at best and he had a tendency to be decently standoffish.

"Tell me where the Red Room is," Natasha demanded.

Alexei paused for a second, looked at both Natasha and Steve, and then flopped down on one of the seats.

"I have no idea," he said, throwing up his hands.

Yelena sent a look towards Natasha, knowing the red head would have been fed up at this point, and indeed she was. Natasha got up from the co-pilot's seat, slamming down a headset she was about to put on to head to the back.

"You must know something. We can always turn around and send you back," Steve said, continuing the impromptu interrogation they were in.

"What are you going to unbury the prison from all the snow," Alexei scoffed at Steve, calling his bluff.

Natasha sat down across from him, glaring at the former Soviet super soldier.

"Come on," Natasha said. "You and Dreykov were like?"

"Oh, General Dreykov, my friend?" Alexei said, rolling his eyes. "Gives me glory. Soviet Union's first and only super soldier. I could have been more famous than Captain America here. Then he buries me in Ohio on that stupid mission. Three years! So tedious, boring me to tears. No offense, huh?"

Natasha took slight offense to that and she was sure Yelena did too. That was a happy three years for the both of them, one where they really felt like a family.

"Then puts me in prison for the rest of my life," Alexei continued. "Why, huh? Why? Why would he put me in… You know why? 'Cause maybe I want to talk about the withering of the state. Or maybe I don't like his hair or something and I say something casually about that. Maybe, you know, I want the Party to feel actually like a party instead of this sourpuss organization. But instead, no. He puts me in prison for the rest of my life. He just runs off and hides, huh? I'm not even the one who, uh, you know… I'm not the one who killed his daughter."

Natasha's heart climbed in her throat there. That was one of the biggest regrets she had in life, the killing of Dreykov's daughter. It was the only way that she was able to verify that Dreykov was in the building, but it still haunted her. It had been one of the many things she divulged to Steve during the nights where she woke up screaming from nightmares and he tried to soothe her back to sleep.

"Okay, that's enough." Steve slammed the button that opened the helicopter's door. Wind and snow burst in, swirling in all directions and roaring too loudly to talk normally.

"He clearly has nothing useful to say. All he does is insult you and I'm not going to stand here and watch. Let's send him back." They weren't high enough for a fatal fall, just enough for some broken bones and frostbite. "What do you say, ladies?"

"I think we should wait until we get to a higher altitude," Yelena said, about done with him too.

"Why don't you just ask Melina," Alexei said in Russian, not moving and clearly not bothered by the threat.

"Wait," Yelena said, pausing when she heard that name. "Mom Melina?"

"We thought she was dead," Natasha said, gesturing for Steve to shut the door.

This was the first tangible and credible lead they had, and they unfortunately needed Alexei to get it. Steve hit the button again, closing the door and halting the noise so they could actually hear each other without yelling again.

"Of course she's alive," Alexei said. "You can't kill a fox that swift."

"Ew," Natasha said, not wanting that imagery on people she still considered her surrogate parents.

"What?" Alexei said, not knowing what was wrong. "She was the scientist, I was the muscle. She worked directly with Dreykov far more than I did. Even with your status, Dreykov still trusted more information to her about the mission."

"Wait," Natasha said. "Are you telling me that Melina works for the Red Room present day?"

"She works remotely outside of St. Petersburg," Alexei said.

"Uh," Yelena said, looking at the gauges on the dash. "I don't think we have enough fuel to make it to St. Petersburg."

"No we're good," Alexei said, not even bothering to look at the gauge. "We'll make it."

"Okay," Yelena said, not bothering to argue and knowing this was going to go poorly.

Outskirts St. Petersburg
June 7th, 2024

Steve just sighed. "I told you so."

The four of them stood outside the crashed helicopter, smoke billowing from the engine. Steve had suggested during the ride that they should stop and get some fuel or find another mode of transportation, but Alexei just vehemently denied it. Natasha wanted to agree with Steve, but she had no idea where Melina lived, and Alexei did.

It was a bad decision to agree with her father.

"You should have brought the Avengers superjet," Alexei commented, looking at the wreck as well.

Natasha glared at him, making sure Steve was okay after the crash due to his own PTSD and Yelena just rolled her eyes.

"I swear if I hear one more word from him, I will kick him in the face," Yelena said, walking down the road they needed to go to get to where Melina was.

"He's the worst," Natasha agreed, saying that softly to Steve as she led them down the path as well.

"Natasha. Natasha. Natasha," Alexei said, kind of frantically as he realized he was being left behind. "Come here, I want to ask you something. Come, it's important."

Natasha sighed and stopped, urging Steve to keep walking with Yelena.

"What?" Natasha snapped as she stayed back to walk with Alexei

"Did he talk to you about me?" Alexei asked quietly so that Steve and Yelena wouldn't overhear.

"What?" Natasha said, clearly confused.

"Did he talk to you about me," Alexei said, powering through like it was obvious. "You know, trading war stories?"

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Natasha asked, not connecting the dots at all.

"Captain America," Alexei said, gesturing towards Steve. "My great adversary in this theater of geopolitical conflict."

"You haven't seen either of us in 20 years and you're going to ask me about you," Natasha exclaimed, slightly losing her composure again.

"What is with this tension?" Alexei asked, clearly still oblivious. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Is that a serious question?" Yelena asked, peeved as well.

"I think it is," Steve answered dryly, more of an aside to Yelena than an actual expected response.

"I only ever loved you girls," Alexei said, defending himself and speaking very genuinely, Natasha could tell. Begrudgingly, but she could tell. "I did my best to make sure you would succeed to achieve your fullest potential, and everything worked out."

"Everything worked out?" Natasha demanded, remembering the almost decade long after the Ohio mission that she was still being controlled by the Red Room.

"Yes," Alexei exclaimed, wondering how they didn't see the logic. "For you, yes. We accomplished our mission in Ohio. Yelena, you went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known. No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness."

Yelena looked at him like he was crazy, wondering if he heard the words that came out of his mouth.

"And Natasha, not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger. Not just that, but a mother to the greatest scientific feats from the Soviet Union and United States. A son with two different super soldier serums inside of his veins. He will be the peak of all humanity."

Alexei reached out and grabbed both of their hands, almost tearing up at this point.

"You both have killed so many people. Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you."

Natasha just scoffed and shrugged out of his grasp and kept going without saying a word. Yelena was pulled into a tighter hug and fought out of it.

"Okay, you can let me go.." Yelena said, struggling and then finally getting free. "Let go of me now. You smell really bad."

Steve followed Natasha after she pulled away from Alexei, gently brushing her hand to offer some reassurance. "How are you doing?"

"It's a lot," Natasha said, trying to keep her mask on at this time, resorting to her training to stay composed. "Everything coming up the way it did, at the point where I was. I mean the timing couldn't be worse. And even when I knew back in Ohio that it was just a mission and that all of it was fake, it was still a period of three years where I didn't kill a single person. Where I didn't have to seduce some sleezeball or torture anyone for information. I went to high school, I made friends. I spent time with Yelena and we were like sisters."

Natasha glanced back and shook her head.

"But with all of this here, I'm just reminded more and more how none of it was real," Natasha said. "Just another fucked up thing the Red Room did to me. All I know is it was the beginning of the end of my time in the Red Room. Ten years later I ran that mission to capture Yinsen and dispose of his family, but that was the breaking point. Clint found me three months later in Istanbul and I was ready to die, he made another call."

Natasha took a deep breath and decided to tell Steve yet another one of her secrets that she hadn't been able to tell him ever, one of the things that still haunted her to this day. She had told him a bit about this mission, enough to where he knew the light details of her defection and some of her nightmares, but not all of it.

"Part of my defection was my promise to kill Dreykov," Natasha said. "It was going to be the final thing that got me citizenship to the US and my past record forgotten. Fury was running the operation and Clint was my overwatch. I tracked him to a building in Budapest. I watched that building for days straight and we rigged it to explode. But I never had concrete evidence that he was there. Then, I found my ace. Dreykov had a daughter, young, elementary school age. But I knew he cared for her and he wouldn't trust anyone aside from himself to watch her. We got word she was flying in from Russia and once she entered the building, I saw through a window that he greeted her and I gave the all clear, and we blew that building sky high. With everyone in it."

Steve listened intently, nodding his head and slowing his walking pace to match hers as they talked.

"That whole situation was messed up," he said quietly, reaching to slide her hand in his. "You were in a tough spot and you made a hard call. Those choices... they can be impossible. There's no right answer. And they haunt you." He wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was gazing straight ahead of them, eyes a little unfocused. "People have died because of me. Innocent people caught in the crossfire. Any friend will tell you that it wasn't your fault. That it was war and all's fair. That it was the circumstances. That you didn't have all the info. But that never feels right. It'll always be my fault those people died. There's no getting around it. But what can I do about it now? Nothing for those people. But I can make life better for others. I can avoid making the same mistake again. I can learn. And you, Natasha, have learned. You save people. You make amends. And you never, ever, forget. Sometimes that's the best you can do. Those bad calls? They don't define who you are. They affect you, sure. But we define ourselves by how we react to them."

Natasha just squeezed his hand back in a silent thank you. Those words were always what she needed during times like this. Whenever she decided to unpack something to him, it was never easy and always came with numerous unpleasant memories, and he was always there to bring her back. She honestly didn't know what she would do without him.

"So," Yelena said, bringing the two back to the main conversation. "Are we there yet?"

"You'll know when we're there," Alexei said with a smile on his face, and then began snorting like a pig, confusing both Natasha and Yelena simultaneously.

The walk there took about another thirty minutes and it was mostly in relative silence. As they got closer, Alexei seemed to take the lead at some point, walking in a sort of daze but also determination. When they saw the farm come into view, he seemed even more motivated.

As they made their way down, she was finally spotted. Melina was standing there, holding a high powered sniper rifle no doubt. Natasha was watching her warily, keeping her emotions in check but making sure she didn't snap and start firing on them. Who knows what the Red Room did to her after their mission in Ohio. She never did see Melina again.

Alexei however, wasn't even scared. He walked right up to the fence, eyes never leaving hers.

"Honey," Alexei said, with a softness Natasha didn't even know he possessed. "We're home."

Chapter Text

Outside St. Petersburg, Russia
June 7th, 2015

"Welcome to my humble abode," Melina greeted, her voice carrying a hint of sardonic warmth. She gestured for them to come inside. "Make yourself at home. Let's have a drink."

The interior was as rustic as the exterior suggested. The main room featured a worn but sturdy table surrounded by mismatched chairs, a small couch by the fireplace, and shelves lined with books, jars of preserves, and the occasional tool. The faint hum of an old refrigerator came from a corner of the kitchen, which was separated from the main room by a low counter. The walls were adorned with faded photographs, some of younger versions of Melina and Alexei, others of her alongside various unidentified comrades.

Melina led them further into the house, her footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor. She motioned towards the dining area. "Please, take a seat. I'll get the vodka."

Natasha remained standing, her arms crossed as she walked into the kitchen. Her sharp gaze tracked Melina's movements as she walked towards what was clearly a weapons room. "Hey, no funny business," Natasha warned, her voice low and firm.

Melina paused mid-step and turned to face Natasha with a bemused expression, raising her hands slightly. "I am putting away my weapon," she said, her tone tinged with dry amusement. She deposited her rifle into the closet and headed into the kitchen herself.

"Appreciate that, ma'am," Steve said, hanging around in the kitchen but not fully in it.

Natasha noticed Alexei slink off to somewhere deeper into the house, and she saw from where she was standing that Yelena had moved to the dining table, and she could tell that the memories of their time in Ohio were bubbling up, as sitting down to dinner in the same spots was so common to her, that Yelena even gravitated to the same spot she was used to.

Natasha looked back to Melina warily, still unsure about being in this house. "There aren't any traps in here," Natasha asked. "Are there?"

"I didn't raise my girls for fall in traps," Melina said, clicking her tongue, as if calling Natasha and Yelena "her girls" was one of the most natural things in the world.

Natasha snorted at that as she went to get some water.

"Raise is a strong word, isn't it?" Natasha said, glancing back at Melina. "I mean I was technically 66 at the time, just still looked high school age and we only were with Yelena for three years. I don't know if that qualifies as raising."

This statement was evidence enough that Natasha still had a lot of hard feelings for her former family, probably due to the abandonment after the fact and how they just let Yelena go and Natasha wasn't able to help due to the reconditioning she got right after.

"Maybe so," Melina acquiesced with a sigh. There was a lot of Natasha saying that on their mission in Ohio whenever Melina or Alexei would act like parents, usually on a rough day for Natasha, almost as if she was a rebellious teenager. "But if you or Yelena ever got soft, it wasn't on my watch." She gestured for Steve to step aside. He did so without a word and Melina reached up to open a cabinet full of alcohol glasses of all kinds. "Just need to grab the glasses," she said, grabbing a step stool to reach the top shelf.

"Allow me," Steve interrupted, grabbing five shot glasses easily.

Melina smirked up at him, still shorter despite her standing stool. "Thank you, Steven," she said, stepping down and closing the cabinet. "So polite. Would you set those on the table for me?" She pointed at the dining room.

"Yes, ma'am."

After Steve turned his back, Melina gave Natasha a wink and a thumbs up, signaling her approval. Natasha rolled her eyes and followed Steve out into the living room. Yelena was already seated at the table in her normal spot, and Melina usually sat to her left. Natasha came over and sat down, across from the place where Melina would sit, subconsciously leaving the head of the table for Alexei. Quietly, Steve took the seat to Natasha's left, across from Yelena.

In the bathroom, grunting could be heard as well as other weird and uncomfortable noises as inside, and there was an awkward silence as they all listened to that for a bit. Melina, thankfully, broke the silence while reaching for the bottle of Vodka. "Let's drink."

Natasha greatly took the shot and downed it, this whole interaction seeming like an awful idea at this point and the fact that she dragged Steve into this made her want to scream. The fact that this was the closest thing she had to family on her side while he had great people like Bucky and even though she wasn't alive, the stories she heard about his mother sounded amazing.

A clearing of a throat from the bathroom drew all of her attention and Natasha had to crane her head, not believing that things could get worse.

It was Alexei crammed into the Red Guardian uniform, complete with the helmet. He was basically posing by the bathroom door with a smug smile on his face.

"Still fits," he said and Natasha wanted to put her head through the table.

It most certainly did not fit, not if all that grunting they'd heard for the last several minutes was any indication. But he was wearing it, there was no denying that.

Melina grinned and gave a wolf whistle, admiring the man whom she had spent years calling her husband with something akin to fondness in her eyes.

"Oh my god," Yelena said, turning back around and trying not to focus on the fact of what her mother just did and the fact that her father was still trying to outdo Captain America.

Alexei laughed as he made his way over and Melina clapped for him. "I never washed it once." Melina waved Alexei over. "Come and drink."

Natasha herself, fought the very strong urge to just jump out through the back window and take Steve and Yelena and go on a wild goose chase to try and find this place.

Alexei came over and took off the helmet, singing a jaunty tune.

"Rise, you workers of salvation," he said, getting his drink from Melina.

He sighed and looked around the table, a feeling of nostalgia washing over him.

"Family," he said, even including Steve in this. "Back together again."

"Seeing as our family construct was just a calculated ruse that only lasted three years, I don't think that we can use this term anymore, can we?" Melina said, looking around the table as she took a drink while Alexei was busy filling his plate with food that had been brought out.

Natasha threw a look to Yelena, who already seemed a bit hurt at what Melina said about their time in Ohio. Natasha always knew Yelena was her sister, even when she pushed it deep down at times, it was still there. If Melina and Alexei didn't want to be a part of it, that was fine with her, she'd give up that little nugget. She tossed Yelena a sympathetic look, conveying that she didn't mean her when she said this.

"Okay fine," Natasha said, conceding Melina's point. "So, here's what's going to happen..."

"A reunion then," Alexei said, cutting Natasha off abruptly and reaching over her to grab some more food. "And uhh...I want to say something right off the bat."

Alexei turned to Melina then, looking her right in the eyes as he spoke right from the heart.

"You haven't aged a day, huh," he said to her in a loving voice. "You're just as beautiful and as supple as the day they staged our marriage."

Yelena audibly shuddered at the word usage and Natasha even curled a lip at what he said. Not only the image of the two parental figures she had in life and what that meant, but the words in general. She bet even if Steve used the word supple on her it would turn her off. Yelena and Natasha both knocked back a shot as they knew where this was headed.

Steve coughed awkwardly, hoping it would interrupt whatever was about to happen. Melina did not seem to hear him. Her lips pressed together like she was making a token attempt not to smile - and failing.

"You got fat. But still good," Melina said, giving him a look that only meant one thing in this world.

"I just got out of prison," Alexei said, getting pretty excited that his next statement almost dropped to a whisper. "I have a lot of energy."

Natasha almost vomited at that, showing that she actually still did kind of see Alexei and Melina as parental figures and the now very obvious image of them having relations was just repulsive.

"Please don't do that," she begged while trying to control herself.

She took a deep breath and looked at Melina, the only reason that they were here.

"So here's what's going to happen," Natasha started, wanting to just lay this all out right away.

"Natasha, don't slouch," Melina said out of the blue, gesturing with her hands to lift the shoulders.

Natasha was caught off guard by that statement, as it practically came out of left field. One second, Melina and Alexei were speaking about just an unnerving topic, and now they had morphed into the dynamic they had back in 1995 where Melina would be her mother at school functions, saying the same thing.

"I'm not slouching," Natasha said defensively, adjusting her posture as she said that.

"Yes, yes you are. Look at Steve. So tall. And with perfect posture! Why haven't you learned anything from him after all your time together, hm? And how long was that, exactly?" Melina said, moving onto Steve as if she brought home a high school boyfriend.

"Uh." Steve glanced at Natasha, unsure how to respond to Melina's sudden interrogation. "Almost two years."

Melina leaned back in her chair. "Huh." Her eyes narrowed. She was scrutinizing him, like she could see all his flaws written on his suit.

"Oh my god this is insane," Natasha said. "And stop scrutinizing Steve, he's fine."

"Listen to your mother," Alexei said, as Natasha looked baffled at both of them. "Up, up!"

"Alright, enough," Natasha said, looking around the table. "All of you."

"I didn't say anything, that's not fair," Yelena said, wondering why she was getting roped into this.

Natasha didn't know how she was losing control of such a simple thing, but she absolutely had no control over this conversation at all, and she was getting flustered because of it.

"Here's what's going to happen," Natasha said again, a little desperate to try and regain the reigns of what was going on.

"I don't want any food," Yelena said, as Melina tried to push more food onto her plate and growled as Melina just plowed on through and took another shot.

"You're going to tell us the location of the Red Room," Natasha said, butting in once and for all.

A harsh silence fell upon them, even Steve stiffened at the mention of the facility. For a few heartbeats, no one breathed. Not even once.

Then finally, Melina exhaled. But instead of replying directly to Natasha, she turned to Alexei. "You know, it's like when you told them that they could stay up late to catch Santa Claus." She said it lightly, like she'd give anything to ignore what Natasha had said and go back to what they'd just been talking about, casually and with smiles. Anything to avoid the conversation that was about to happen.

"What? That was fun," Alexei said, recalling those fond memories and getting a smile on his face, while still chowing down on a chicken leg. "You know, 'He come down the chimney, girls. Look out. Where is he?"

Natasha had an exasperated look on her face while Yelena was just mildly amused and frustrated at the whole situation. Alexei, seeing how his thoughts of it being fun wasn't shared throughout the room, continued on.

"No, no. What? I want them to follow their dreams," Alexei continued. "Reach for the stars girls."

"Finding Dreykov is not a fantasy," Natasha said, breaking up whatever Alexei was talking about. "It's unfinished business."

Melina's light smile vanished, as if she was finally accepting they were going to have this conversation.

"You can't defeat a man who commands the very will of others. You never saw the culmination of what we started in America. Nor did you." She gestured at Yelena, then at Steve. "And especially not you. You were in the ice for so long. How old are you again?"

Steve flustered. "Ninety-six." Melina hummed, her face unreadable as to whether or not she liked that answer.

Natasha looked at Melina, perplexed at this answer. Of course she didn't see it, it wasn't her instructions to see it. Melina knew that, it was standard Red Room protocol. Plus, when she got back her brain was put into a blender and it took Natasha ages just to remember who she was on a mission with in Ohio.

"Age is most certainly not an issue here," Natasha said. "Especially with what is running through my veins as well as Steve's."

Melina just got up to go and grab something, walking towards the other just admonished Natasha.

"Natasha always focus, focus," he said, almost like he was scolding her. "Always get what you want."

Melina came back to the table with a high tech looking data pad with a protective case. She typed a couple of commands and called over her shoulder without looking up. "Come in."

The door handle turned then squeaked open. A black and pink pig crossed the threshold and pranced over to the dining table, snorting softly. Everyone looked towards the door as it opened and tracked the pig that just walked in and stared at it with a decent amount of surprise.

"Did that pig just open the door?" Natasha said, still wondering on just how it got in here.

"Yes, it did." Melina said, proud of that fact, and reaching for a piece of sliced potato on her plate. She bent down to feed it to the pig, who gobbled it up happily. "Good boy, Alexei. Good boy."

Alexi looked at her, dumbfounded at that moment. "You named a pig after me?" he asked, slightly taken aback.

Melina looked up at human Alexei, staring right into his eyes and said, deadly seriously, "You don't see the resemblance?"

Steve snorted and covered it up with a cough, rather unsuccessfully.

Melina's smirk twitched and she leaned back in her chair, gesturing at the pig. "See, he sits just like dog. Amazing. Now, watch. Stop breathing." She dragged a finger along the tablet.

Alexei the pig seized up immediately. The silence without its constant snorts was deafening. They all watched as the pig just stopped breathing on a command. Natasha started putting together the pieces of all this, and quickly found out the architect on why recent Widows were not able to break control like she was.

Unperturbed, Melina unscrewed the cap on a bottle of vodka and began to explain. "We infiltrated the North Institute in Ohio. It was a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. Actually, it was Hydra scientists at that time. In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project, they had dissected and deconstructed the human brain to create the first and only cellular blueprint of the basal ganglia-"

She poured herself a shot. Alexei the pig's ears twitched.

"Was the hub for cognition," she continued, seemingly oblivious. "Voluntary motor movement, procedural learning."

Alexei made some kind of noise that Natasha chose to interpret as a gasp with no air. Like it wanted to breathe but couldn't. "This is cruel," Steve said.

Melina looked at him. She didn't so much as glance at her tablet. She knew she was being cruel. It was to serve the point of her story. "We didn't steal weaponry or technology. We stole the key to unlocking free will." She knocked back the shot.

"Then give it back," Steve said, jerking his chin toward the pig.

Melina sat back in her chair, seemingly almost proud of herself and all that she'd revealed. "Don't worry, Steven. I will."

Pig-Alexei collapsed.

Natasha knew most of that information, being briefed on it herself and even sent to seduce some of the high school boys that had parents that worked in the facility. They didn't tell her what they were stealing though and that it had anything to do with the Winter Soldier. The information wasn't provided to her, so she didn't ask, as it wasn't her place. Obviously, Alexei and Melina had their different orders and played them to perfection.

Natasha looked back over at Yelena, who was on the verge of tears as this was being uncovered fully for the first time for her. While Natasha was finding out about it as well, she wasn't the one exposed to the torture of it.

"Okay you've made your point," Natasha almost growled at this point. "That's enough."

Melina wiped her mouth after taking the shot. "But I am demonstrating!" She waved at the pig. "The science is now so exact, the subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey."

"Melina," Steve said, a stern tone in his voice.

At that tone, Melina met Steve's eyes immediately. His were steely, clearly not messing around. "Fine, fine. Stop worrying. Alexei could have survived 11 more seconds without oxygen." She double tapped the tablet.

With a gasp, the pig stood up and shook itself out.

"Good boy. Now, you go back, back home where it's safe." The pig hesitated. "You go. You go back home, back home where it's safe. Good boy, Alexei." With some ushering, the animal eventually left through the door it had arrived in. Melina twisted back in her chair to face the rest of the table. "The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled. Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe." She began to pour shots for everyone else.

Alexei had quickly gotten over it, shrugging as the pig left as he took the shot gratefully, ready to chug it down. Natasha was still, rightfully, pissed off at this and more so that it took Steve getting involved for Melina to stop. One look towards Yelena showed that she wasn't the only one that was upset, and Natasha's heart broke a bit for it.

"Do you know who they tested it on?" Yelena asked, lowly and darkly.

Melina continued not to look up from the alcohol, like she had somehow anticipated this question.

"Hmm… No. That's not my department." The words slipped out easily enough but Natasha doubted them nonetheless. She found it more likely that she didn't want to know, and so pretended that she did not. Maybe she never had hard confirmation. But it was clear to Natasha that she at least had an inkling.

Yelena kept staring holes through Melina, and Natasha could see that she didn't buy it.

"Oh come on," Alexei said, a proud smile on his face. "Don't lie to them huh? You are Dreykov's architect."

"What were you?" Melina shot back, acting defensive. Deflecting. She was out of practice as a liar. "If I was his architect, you were- You were his business partner."

"No, no, no, I was patsy," Alexei said, slamming the table as Melina started to protest. "He sell me ideology, all the while bigger..."

Melina just seemed exasperated, perfectly falling back into old habits during their marital spats. "Oh, stop with the bullshit."

Natasha snapped at that point, similar to when she finally lost her cool when she and Steve were on the phone after the UN attack. The look on Yelena's face did it for her, she looked crushed that Melina was blatantly lying to her, someone who she considered her mother.

"Shut up, both of you," Natasha said, glaring at both of them.

"You're an idiot," she spat at Alexei before turning to Melina. "And you're a coward. You're a coward."

Natasha looked between the two of them, knowing they moved on while she searched tirelessly for Yelena after she defected.

"All that time we spent together in Ohio," Natasha said. "The three years of acting normal, like a family, and it meant nothing to both of you. Like it was never real and you had nothing to hold on to. So, you just moved on."

"Never family huh?" Alexei said, still holding onto something that Natasha didn't know if it was true or not. "In my heart, I am a simple man. And I think for a couple of deep undercover Russian agents, I think we did a pretty good job at being parents."

"Yes, we had our orders," Melina said, continuing Alexei's train of thought. Just like she used to. "And we played our roles to perfection."

"What?" Yelena said, finally breaking. "Don't say that. It was real, it was real to me. You were my mother."

Natasha looked down, knowing that this part would get close to breaking her.

"The closest thing to a mother I ever had," Yelena continued. "And now you tell me it was fake, that it was just a role?"

Yelena shook her head and stared right into Melina's eyes.

"And those agents you chemically subjugated around the world?" Yelena said. "That was me."

Yelena's eyes swept over both of them.

"She got out," Yelena said, gesturing to Natasha. "And she didn't stop looking. We had to move facilities, cancel missions numerous times because someone was on our trail. She was an Avenger, married Captain America, had a baby for fuck's sake and she didn't stop. But you two help make it possible that Dreykov wouldn't let anyone else escape."

Yelena had enough, tears down her eyes as she got up from the table and grabbed the bottle of vodka. As Melina tried to reach out, Yelena shrugged off her hand.

"Don't touch me," Yelena said, marching off to a bedroom.

Natasha just watched her go, knowing she needed some alone time and she wasn't able to do anything to fix it.

"I had no idea," Melina mumbled to the table, but from where Natasha was sitting and the look on Steve's face, they both saw through the bullshit.

"It's okay, it's okay," Alexei said, grabbing up his stuff. "I'll go talk to her."

He grabbed his gloves and helmet and made his way over to the room that Yelena had left. Back at the dining area, Natasha was in an intense staredown with Melina at the moment and just regretting every decision that she made since going to Norway in the first place. What a mistake getting Yelena involved was, calling Steve and bringing him here, breaking out Alexei, coming to Melina. None of it was the right move, so she needed to start over from square one.

She stood up abruptly, turning to Steve.

"Once Yelena is ready, we'll get her and leave," Natasha said. "Transport her back somewhere and we can look to finish this."

Natasha left the table at that point, headed to the kitchen area and out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Melina asked, getting up and forgetting about Steve, who just stayed back at the table, figuring they needed their alone time.

"To do this with my partner, by ourselves," Natasha snapped at Melina, standing in front of a bookcase. "Because I can at least trust him.

"Don't," Melina cautioned. "You won't survive."

"I wish I could believe that you cared," Natasha said, a dry laugh at that. "But you're not even the first mother that abandoned me."

"No, you weren't abandoned," Melina said. "You've always believed your life started in the Red Room, but your story goes back much further than that. To a time when the Romanov name meant something far greater than a legacy of assassins."

Natasha's brow furrowed, her voice sharp. "If you have something to say, say it."

Melina nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Do you know why they chose you for the Red Room? It wasn't by chance, Natasha. It was because of your bloodline."

Natasha scoffed lightly, crossing her arms. "What, am I supposed to be royalty now?"

"Yes," Melina replied bluntly, the word cutting through the room like a blade. "You were—are—the last surviving heir of the Romanov line. A distant branch, yes, but still a Romanov. After the Bolsheviks executed the imperial family, your lineage was a threat. A loose thread in a tapestry they wanted to burn."

Natasha's jaw tightened, her green eyes narrowing as her mind churned through the implications. "What does that have to do with the Red Room?"

Melina's gaze softened, tinged with an emotion that could almost be mistaken for regret. "Your parents… they weren't revolutionaries or traitors. They were aristocrats who saw what was coming. After World War I, when the Communists rose to power, they knew the Romanov name was a death sentence. But you were so young, so… precious. They couldn't let you die with them."

"They gave me away," Natasha said flatly, her voice devoid of emotion.

"They bargained," Melina corrected. "When they realized the Red Room was experimenting with creating perfect operatives, they offered you in exchange for your safety. They had you genetically tested to prove your lineage, to show that you were Romanov enough to be a threat but not close enough to ignite a war." Her voice lowered. "They thought the Red Room would protect you. It was the only way to save your life."

"And they were killed anyway," Natasha said, her voice trembling, though she tried to conceal it.

"Yes," Melina admitted. "Your parents were executed during the revolution, along with every other trace of the Romanov family. But you survived. They ensured that."

Natasha's fists clenched on the arms of her chair. "So I was traded like a commodity, all for a name I didn't even know I had."

Melina shook her head. "It wasn't about the name. It was about survival. Your parents loved you enough to sacrifice everything for the chance you might live. They didn't abandon you, Natasha. They chose you."

"I've thought about them every day of my life," Natasha said, rubbing her hand over a book on the bookshelf. "Whether or not I admitted it to myself, I did."

"I've always found it best not to look into the past," Melina said, softly, and with a tinge of regret.

"Then why did you save this?" Natasha asked, pulling out an album that she recognized instantly. "I remember this day. We shot Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and summer vacation all in one day. Different backdrops."

"Mmm," Melina said, obviously remembering it well too.

"It was the first time I met Yelena," Natasha said. "It was just an op before that, but seeing her, the excitement on her face and the adoration she had in her heart."

"Let's stop this," Melina said, it being too much for her and taking the album. She walked away a few meters, looking down at the cover. Natasha just let her look for a bit, the question nagging on her mind.

"Why are you doing this?" Natasha asked softly.

Melina turned around and Natasha could see the sadness in her eyes. "Why does a mouse born in a cage run on that little wheel? Do you know I was cycled through the Red Room four times before our mission in Ohio. It doesn't come close to the number that you were, but the trauma was enough for me. Those walls are all I know. I was never given a choice."

"But you're not a mouse, Melina," Natasha said. "You were just born in a cage, but that's not your fault."

Melina scoffed lightly at that, not knowing whether she could believe Natasha on that or not. She got a little teary and looked at Natasha again, her voice breaking a bit.

"Tell me," she asked. "With all you've been through, the years you spent. How did you keep your heart?"

Natasha gave her a sad smile at this point and gestured to the dining room where Steve was.

"I almost didn't," Natasha said. "But people in my life, my loved ones, they kept me going. Clint Barton saved me, gave me another chance. Steve Rogers loved me for me, he knew my past and he loved me anyway. I've never had that before in my life. I've got great friends that are there for me. And my son, he's the thing I've loved most in all the years of my life. Nothing could take me away while I still have him to go back to."

Melina just looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice breaking. "I already alerted the Red Room. They'll be here any minute."

"You what?" Natasha hissed, her voice a dangerous whisper. Steve came in at this point, obviously trying not to eavesdrop but super hearing and all that. He gave them enough privacy, now was a different time.

"I alerted the Red Room," Melina repeated evenly. "They'll be here any minute."

Steve took a step forward, his voice low but firm. "You didn't think to consult us before calling in the people we're trying to take down?"

"I had no choice," Melina said, her gaze flicking between the two of them.

"You've doomed us," Natasha snapped, slamming her fist on the wall. "We're sitting ducks."

Melina looked exasperated at the turn of events, "I'm sorry. I did what was the common protocol. I didn't know about any of this."

Steve placed a calming hand on Natasha's shoulder, his voice steady. "Then help us," he said, his blue eyes locking with Melina's. "If you know how to beat them, then stand with us. Let's take the Red Room down—together."

Melina looked slightly shocked, and a bit apprehensive.. "What?."

"Help us," Natasha countered, her voice cold but resolute. "We're asking you to fix the mess you helped create. You know what they've done, what they'll keep doing unless we stop them. This is your chance to make it right."

For a moment, Melina said nothing. Then, slowly, she nodded. "All right. But if we're going to do this, we need a plan. And we need it now."

Natasha didn't waste a second. "Here's how it's going to work. You and I are switching places. We'll use photostatic veils to swap appearances. You'll wear my suit, and I'll wear yours."

Melina raised an eyebrow. "And the others?"

Natasha's gaze flicked to Steve. "I'll knock them out if I have to—Steve, Alexei, Yelena. No exceptions."

"Nat—" Steve started, but she cut him off with a look.

"You'll thank me later," she said sharply. "Once they've secured us, I'll order that Steve and Yelena be taken to the lab for 'research.' That'll give you access to the lower levels. Your job is to find the vials of the antidote and free the other Widows."

Steve crossed his arms, his expression skeptical. "And what about you?"

"Tell them to take myself and Alexei to level zero," Melina said. "The facility's been operating at high altitude to stay off radar. If I disable the levitation system, it'll be forced to land. I'll be able to break out of the cells easily there, I designed them after all."

"Once I'm on board," Natasha continued, "I'll activate my tracker, I know Ross is monitoring it. When it goes live, he'll bring an entire strike team to our location. I just have to stall Dreykov long enough to either get him put away for good, or If I can, I'll kill him."

"Ross?" Steve frowned. "Do you trust him?"

"No," Natasha admitted. "But he wants me arrested so bad, he'll bring the firepower we need."

Steve's gaze was hard, his voice firm. "This plan puts you in the most danger."

"I can handle it," Natasha replied without hesitation. "You focus on the antidote and the Widows. I'll deal with the rest."

Melina studied Natasha, a hint of pride flickering in her eyes. "It's a risky plan. It will all be for nothing if you can't get to the database and get the key for the Widows around the world. He could easily transfer the data and the Red Room will live on. As for killing him or taking the key, you won't be able to. For years, Dreykov has implemented a pheromonal lock in all Widows, even me. So, as long as we can smell him, then we won't be able to hurt him."

Natasha scoffed at that, "Well, I'll just hold my breath."

"Not enough," Melina said. "This is basic science. Natasha, to block receptors in the olfactory center, you have to sever the nerve."

Melina pointed to the bridge of her own nose, and Natasha knew what she had to do. At the right time and place, she had to break her own nose.

"I can handle that," Natasha said with a smirk.

Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. "All right. Let's do it. But Nat, if anything goes wrong—"

"It won't," she said, cutting him off. "Now, get ready. We don't have much time."

Melina rose from her seat, already heading for her gear. "I'll prep the veils."

As the team dispersed to prepare, Natasha stayed behind for a moment, staring at the bookshelf. She could feel Steve's eyes on her, his silent worry a weight she carried as easily as the mission itself.

"Be careful," he said quietly.

She looked up, her expression softening for just a moment. "You too."

She went to kiss him softly, knowing how dangerous this would be, but she had faith they would get out. She had to have faith. Natasha broke the embrace and headed the closet where Melina was calibrating the veils and getting her black suit out, slipping out of her clothes. Natasha quickly undressed from her white suit and began putting the black one on.

"I am sorry," Melina said, getting into Natasha's white suit. "For everything."

"We'll have time later to apologize and work this out," Natasha said. "Let's start the mending process by fixing this."

Melina nodded, getting the suit on and going for the comms.

"Slight problem," Melina said. "I only have one set of earpieces."

"Steve knows the plan," Natasha said. "We'll give the other to Yelena and you can talk to Alexei."

Melina nodded and placed the earpiece in her ear, giving the other for Natasha to place on Yelena. They had just donned the veils and gotten proper wigs that Melina had stashed when the lights cut out.

"Quickly," Melina said, heading out of the room.

Natasha followed and they found Steve in the hallway.

"Okay, do it," Melina said and Natasha nodded, raising her gauntlet and charging it up to be able to knock Melina out for a long time without hurting her. She fired and Melina dropped to the ground out cold.

She looked to Steve then, knowing she had to charge it a bit more.

"This is going to hurt a lot," Natasha apologized.

"Don't pretend you've never wanted to do it," Steve said with a smile.

"God I love you," Natasha said, a smile on her own face before firing a heavily charged bite and dropping her partner to the ground.

She quickly moved the bodies to where Yelena and Alexei could find them, should they escape being captured by the Red Room agents that were here. A commotion from the bedroom where Yelena disappeared into showed that they had arrived. A few moments later, Yelena came out into the hallway, Natasha hiding from her. She saw Yelena look on the ground where she could see Steve and what looked exactly like Natasha on the ground before she made her way into Yelena's view.

"I'm sorry," Natasha, perfectly disguised as Melina, said before firing a bit into Yelena as well, dropping her.

The Red Room agents came in just as that point, watching Natasha drop Yelena and seeing her standing over the three bodies. That was enough evidence for them as she looked over them with the heir of command.

"Let's not keep him waiting," Natasha said.

Chapter Text

Red Room
June 8th, 2015

The low hum of the jet's engines filled the cockpit, a steady, droning noise that should have offered some comfort in its monotony. But Natasha couldn't relax, not when every second of this flight felt like a countdown to chaos. Her hands gripped the controls with practiced ease, her knuckles pale but steady. To anyone watching, she would look calm, even detached—just Melina Vostokoff piloting yet another mission. That's how it needed to look.

The leather of the borrowed suit felt almost familiar against her skin, another layer of the disguise she wore so easily now. The act of slipping into someone else's identity was second nature, but this time, it felt heavier. The stakes were too high, and the weight of her choices pressed against her chest like a phantom hand.

Her gaze flicked to the small panel beside the controls. A quick scan confirmed that everyone in the back was still sedated, their vitals steady. Yelena, Alexei, Steve, even Melina herself—they were all sitting unconscious in the seats that were bringing them there, under heavy guard.

She glanced at the horizon, the endless expanse of clouds stretching out in all directions. Somewhere ahead, hidden in that sky, was the Red Room's fortress. Dreykov was waiting, though he didn't know it yet. Natasha felt her stomach twist at the thought of seeing him again.

The autopilot beeped, signaling an adjustment in their trajectory. Natasha reached forward to make the corrections, her movements automatic. She had flown countless missions for SHIELD, for the Avengers. She had piloted jets into battle, landed in hostile territory, and evacuated civilians from burning cities. But this mission felt different. This wasn't about saving the world. This was personal.

"Requesting clearance for landing," Natasha said, the voice modulator making her sound exactly like Melina, something she was still getting used to.

She heard stirring behind her and a soft word came from behind.

"Melina?" Alexei asked.

Natasha turned back to see that Alexei had woken, apparently they didn't shoot him up like they did with Steve and just relied on the darts they pumped into him from the farm house. Steve was heavily sedated and surrounded by multiple guards while Yelena and Melina just lay on the ground on stretchers.

"We're touching down in one minute," Natasha said, turning back to the front and finishing the landing sequence.

"Then why are we still going up?" Alexei asked.

As the facility came into view, Natasha had to admit it was impressive, and a clear reason why she was never able to pinpoint the final facility. The advanced cloaking, radar jamming, and constant movement made it impossible to find unless you had a visual, and they were very high up.

"Now you'll know how Dreykov stayed above the radar all these years," Natasha said, gesturing to a guard who came forward and shot Alexei up with more sedative.

The plan was very precise and she needed Alexei down with Melina at the right time to help her out, or this could all be for not.

The jet's engines hissed to a stop as the landing gear settled on the metal platform of the Red Room's aerial fortress. Natasha kept her face a mask of calm as she moved to the back of the jet, her boots clicking against the floor. One by one, the unconscious forms of Yelena, Steve, Alexei, and Melina were being carried off by uniformed operatives, their faces impassive beneath their helmets.

Natasha barked orders in a sharp, clipped tone, her voice carrying the authority of someone who belonged.

"Detention Level 0 for the two older ones," she said, nodding toward Alexei and Melina. "No special accommodations. Keep them apart."

The guards nodded without question, hauling the two into separate lift capsules. Natasha watched them go, her heart clenched tight. Alexei's bulk looked almost too large for the stretcher, while Melina's face was eerily calm, a ghost of the same mask Natasha herself had worn during countless missions.

Turning to the others, Natasha gestured sharply. "These two—escort them directly to the lab. Dreykov's orders. Ensure they're under constant observation."

Yelena and Steve were carried off next. Steve's body looked unnaturally still; even in sedation, his presence usually filled a space. Yelena's face was a pale echo of her usual defiance, her braid undone and her hands slack.

Natasha fought the instinct to reach for her sister, to protect her in a way she never could when they were younger. But she couldn't. Not yet.

As the guards disappeared into the labyrinth of the fortress, Natasha squared her shoulders and turned back to the jet. She took a deep breath before stepping off, her pulse pounding as she prepared for the next act of the charade.

The metallic corridors of the Red Room echoed with faint sounds of movement: footsteps, the hum of distant machinery, and the sharp bark of commands in Russian. Natasha walked with purpose, her borrowed identity as Melina giving her the cover she needed. She passed through checkpoints with ease, her forged credentials scanning without issue.

While the facility was new, and Natasha had never personally been here, it still felt like the same Red Room she knew. The same sterile walls, the same faint scent of antiseptic. Every step brought back memories she wished she could forget.

She paused as she approached a glass observation window overlooking a training room. Below, a group of girls, around Yelena's age, moved in perfect unison, their faces blank as they performed complex combat drills. Instructors barked commands, their voices sharp and unyielding.

Natasha stood frozen, her hand resting lightly on the edge of the window. She could see herself in those girls—the same rigid postures, the same forced precision. She remembered the sting of failure, the punishments for mistakes, the aching need to be perfect because anything less was unacceptable.

They're basically children, she thought, a pang of guilt twisting in her chest. She wanted to believe she was different now, that she had escaped and was fighting to make things right. But watching them, she couldn't help but wonder if she was too late for some of them. If, like her, they would carry this place with them forever.

"Comrade Vostokoff?" A guard's voice startled her.

Natasha turned, her expression carefully neutral. "What is it?"

"You're expected in the command level briefing."

She nodded curtly and moved on, her boots clicking against the polished floor. Behind her, the rhythmic sound of drills continued, haunting her steps.

The elevator doors slid open with a low hiss, revealing an opulent interior that clashed with the stark utilitarianism of the rest of the Red Room. Natasha stepped inside, her reflection fractured in the mirrored walls. She pressed the button for the highest floor, her heart thudding as the elevator began its smooth ascent.

Her fingers brushed the edge of the pistol hidden beneath her jacket. It was a small comfort, though she knew it wouldn't be enough against Dreykov's army. No, this mission wasn't about brute force. It was about precision, deception, and timing.

The elevator slowed, and Natasha exhaled slowly, preparing herself.

Showtime, she thought, forcing her expression into Melina's steely confidence.

The doors slid open, revealing Dreykov's office: a sprawling room of glass and steel, with the Red Room's endless sky stretching out beyond the massive windows. Dreykov sat on a couch on the opposite side of the room, Taskmaster behind him with his helmet off and nursing a drink. They appeared to be celebrating, and why not. They not only recovered Yelena and Alexei, but they also captured Natasha and Captain America. It would be a huge win for them.

Natasha got her first real look as Taskmaster as she approached. He was a decently tall man, Natasha guessing he stood around 6'2". He had cropped brown hair and brown eyes under his fair skin, and a clipped goatee that framed his square jaw.

Natasha stepped forward, her footsteps soft but deliberate.

"My god, look at you," Dreykov said, as joyfully as he spoke.

He stood up and smiled, looking back at Taskmaster and gesturing. Taskmaster smiled and raised a glass to her.

"You remember Anthony don't you," Dreykov said, walking towards her. "He helped flush them right to you, and you just helped finish the job."

"My thanks," Natasha said, nodding back at Anthony.

"It was no problem," Anthony said. "Just glad to get this payday and look forward to the money we're about to make."

Dreykov smiled as he made his way over to Melina. He looked into her eyes and started the debriefing. "So, uh, how was the family reunion?"

"Oh, it was awful," Natasha said. "They were clingy, and too emotional, and needy."

Dreykov chuckled at that, "Just like old times, huh?"

"Well the boyfriend that Natalia brought home this time wasn't just a high school brat," Natasha said. "But this time Captain America. He will be very useful for your cause in enhancing individuals."

Dreykov nodded at that, already going through the possibilities.

"Yelena Belova," Dreykov said, moving onto the next piece of business. "What's the deal with her? She was the only one affected, right?"

"As far as I know, yes," Natasha responded, this part being true.

"These gasses and antidotes," Dreykov said, placing a hand on Natasha's shoulder. "It's a pain in my ass. It's a problem, and you need to sort it."

"Hmm," Natasha said, being led over to the desk that was in the center of the room. "I have nine pigs that will require attending to in my absence."

"Don't give a shit about your pigs," Dreykov said, roughly pushing her down into a seat in front of the desk. "Cut her brain out…Hmm? Identify the weakness. Take all the blood you can from Rogers and start to develop a serum so we can start testing on the new recruits."

"What about Romanoff?" Natasha asked, interested in what Dreykov wanted with her.

"She's a traitor," Dreykov said. "She turned her back on her people. On her blood. She was royalty of this country and this facility kept her alive from all the Communist nonsense. But, the upside of having her back could have great potential. Put that thing in her you do. You know, uh, chemicals. Turn her into one of your pigs. She'll fetch her son for us and we'll be able to raise an assassin that rivals the likes of her reputation and even the Winter Soldier. Plus, we can destabilize the Russian government and get Putin put away. With a little bit of propaganda and well placed assassinations, Imperial Russia doesn't start to look so bad, and we'll have a Tsar to fill that place."

Natasha was repulsed in the plans that Dreykov had made. Not only brainwashing her and draining her partner of everything he had, but going after her son in a play to take over the country? If there wasn't enough reason to eliminate him, now she had plenty.

"Wouldn't you like to speak to her first," Natasha said, keeping her cool and buying time.

"When you look into the eyes of an operative under your control for decades," Dreykov said. "No mask in the world can hide that."

Natasha wasn't surprised that he figured it out. As long as she worked with Dreykov, he worked with Melina longer. Natasha didn't know all of Melina's mannerisms, and even one wrong could tip him off. She just hoped she could still buy enough time. As Dreykov's hand came to the side of her face to deactivate the veil and remove the mask and wig, she just sat in the chair and looked at him with a glare. Taskmaster straightened, not expecting this and hand moving to the gun on his hip. Dreykov held a hand out to steady him as he continued to look at Natasha.

"Now now," Dreykov said to Anthony as Natasha stood. "Don't go breaking my new toy."

Dreykov turned back to Natasha who was just staring at him, sizing him up really.

"You've done well to get this far, Natalia," Dreykov said, his voice smooth and patronizing as he turned to face her. "But the mask was always going to slip. Did you really think you could fool me?"

Natasha's lips curled into a tight smile. "I didn't expect to fool you for long. But long enough."

Dreykov chuckled, a cold, hollow sound. "Long enough for what? To fail again? You've always underestimated me, Natasha. That's why you're here."

Her jaw tightened, but she refused to rise to his bait. "You're desperate, Dreykov. Dragging a child into this—my son—you're slipping. The old Dreykov wouldn't have been so sloppy."

At that, Dreykov's grin widened, cruel and calculating. "Ah, the maternal fury. Such a predictable weapon. Do you think your son is special, Natasha? Do you think he'll grow up to be something more than you—a puppet? He's already mine, even if he doesn't know it yet."

Natasha's eyes narrowed, her voice a controlled hiss. "You don't own him. You'll never touch him."

Dreykov took a deliberate step forward, towering over her. "I owned you, didn't I? And look how well that turned out. You were my finest creation, Natasha. Until you betrayed me. Your son… he'll be even better. Unburdened by your misplaced loyalty or weak emotions. He'll be the weapon you couldn't be."

Her fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms to keep her rage in check. "Do you even feel anything, Dreykov? Or are you just a hollow monster? Did you feel anything when I killed your daughter?"

The words hung in the air like a loaded weapon. For a fleeting moment, Natasha thought she saw something flicker in his eyes. Pain? Regret? But then Dreykov laughed—a deep, mocking sound that echoed off the glass walls.

"You think that haunts me?" he sneered. "Do you think I lie awake at night mourning her? No, Natasha. You did me a favor. That moment… that loss… it reminded me of what matters: control. Efficiency. It made me realize that the Red Room needed to evolve."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "Because of you, I perfected the program. No more mistakes. No more defectors. No more rogue agents like you."

Natasha's mask of calm cracked, her eyes blazing. "You mean no more humanity."

Dreykov ignored her, straightening with a smug expression. "And for that, I owe you my thanks. Without you, I might not have rushed the mind-control program. Without you, I might never have stumbled across Anthony Masters. You see, Natasha, he's everything you were—everything you could have been if you hadn't been so weak. But enough of this bullshit."

Dreykov turned to Taskmaster at this point.

"Go to work," Dreykov instructed. "I have rats in the basement."