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Chapter Text

Natasha splashes the ice-cold water on her face. She wipes off the water on her face with some paper towels from the bathroom. She watches as Ross and his S.W.A.T team infiltrate a large building presumably where Natasha is hiding out. As Ross dramatically struts into the building, Natasha picks up her phone and dials his number. He picks up, "Hello?" "Don't do this," Natasha says. "Do what?" "Come after me, I mean you're just embarrassing yourself. It makes you look desperate," She matter-of-factly states. As he rambles on about how everything would be easier if she just turned herself in, Natasha starts slipping on her sweater. "Rogers is on the run," He says. Natasha smirks to herself as she hears some heavy footsteps from outside the bathroom. "Where are you gonna go?" "I've lived a lot of lives, Ross. You really shouldn't have gone through all this trouble," Natasha picks up her phone and hangs up on him.

She hears a soft knock on the door, "You ready?" A voice says. She opens the door to see the tired face of her best friend. "Let's go," she hands him her phone, "You mind snapping that in half for me? You're the one with all the super strength anyways and I don't really feel like littering." Steve gives her a look and takes the phone from her hand. He snaps the phone in half and tosses it into the nearest trash can. "So, where to next?" "I was thinking somewhere cold..." She links her arm with Steve and rests her head on his shoulder. "We can go anywhere we want now, but we're gonna have to come up with some new identities and I know just the person to help us with that," Natasha says.

She leads Steve over to one of the crew member's rooms. She pushes the door open and gladly finds that the room is empty. Natasha grabs the old-fashioned telephone from the desk and dials a number. The phone rings for a few seconds before a man on the other side picks up the phone. "Hello?" Steve hears the faint voice of a man on the other side. "Hey Mason, it's me," Natasha says. "Who's me?" Mason asks. "It's Natasha, listen I need some fake ID cards. Do you think you can make two?" "That shouldn't be hard. When do you want them?" He asks. "In a few days. We'll be in Norway," she says. Steve can't pick up what Mason says next, but Natasha responds, "Yeah, there should be fine." At that moment, the distinguishable sound of the ships blaring horn is sounded, signaling that they have arrived at their destination. "Thanks, Mason. Yeah, buh-bye," she hangs up her phone and grabs her go-bag.

Steve and Natasha rush out of the room and off the ship before they can get caught.

Time Skip
They arrive at a quaint trailer and Natasha pulls out a gun from behind her. "Wait here," she says. She sneakily opens the door and walks through the trailer. Natasha can hear faint snoring coming from in the bedroom. She rolls her eyes and gently kicks the door open. She hits the boots of the man sleeping in her bed, waking him up. "You're in my bed," she says, and then she calls out to Steve, "You can come in!" Steve walks into the trailer and sees Natasha talking to a man who seems to have just woken up. "I'm not even under the covers," he retorts. "Did you get everything I asked for?" Mason stands up shows her the things on the countertop, "Got you some passports and driver's licenses." Natasha grabs the papers and sifts through them, "Fanny and Hank Longbottom?" Steve snorts as Natasha gives him the papers. "There's a generator outside; petrol-powered. You can haul the rubbish to town, just a twenty-minute drive. There's a basic hardware kit just under the stairs. Some amenities in the cupboard," Mason says as he gestures to where each item is placed. "You guys gonna be okay?" "Of course," Natasha quickly responds. "So, what's the deal with you guys?" Mason asks pointing to the pair while finding a comfortable place on the couch. "Just friends," she says. Mason raises an eyebrow at Natasha, meticulously watching Steve glance and nervously fiddle with his fingers, there's obviously something going on between the two of them, but he decides not to snoop. "I guess I better get going," Mason says and stands up from the couch. "Thank you so much," Natasha says and embraces him into a tight hug. "Take care of yourselves, okay?" Natasha walks to the doorway to watch him leave. She spots a box of mail by the doorway and stops him before he leaves, "What's all this?" "Oh just some mail from the Budapest safe house," he says. "Budapesht?" "Yeah, Budapest." "No, it's Budapesht," she corrects him. "Pest. It's BudaPEST." "No... I'm pretty sure it's Budapesht." "Ah whatever. See you," Mason turns on his heel and walks away.

"Are you sure it's Budapesht?" Steve says. "Yes, I'm sure." Natasha smiles and bends down to pick up the box of mail. "Do you wanna grab the food from the car?" Natasha asks. "Sure," Steve walks out of the trailer and to where they parked the car to grab the groceries. Natasha begins to grab some pots out of the cupboard and fills them up with hot water. She placed the pot onto the stove and turns it to high, waiting for the water to start boiling. Steve hauls in the grocery and places them on the counter. Natasha grabs some noodles out of the bag and puts them into the boiling water. She grabs some chopsticks and begins stirring them. Steve leans on the counter and stares at her in wonder. "Well, spit it out," Natasha says not taking her gaze off of the noodles. "What'd your mean before?" He asks referring to her "Just friends," comment. "Mean... What?" She's utterly clueless as to what Steve is referring to. "You said we're just friends. I mean I thought by now I would mean something more to you," Steve says. "Why? It's never bothered you before," She says while fishing the noodles out of the pot and puts them into two bowls. "I dunno, I guess we would be something more by now. Especially after the whole ordeal with taking down HYDRA and you let us go." "Do you want be something more?" She's not comfortable with asking that question but she does so anyway. She wants to get a straight answer out of him, just to know she wasn't the only one who felt something other than friendship towards him. Sure there was Bruce, but that flame had long since died out when he took off after the fight with Ultron. Natasha hoped with all her heart that she wasn't the only one feeling this way. "I'm fine with however you want to define us," Steve replied, completely and utterly missing his chance to blurt out his feelings for the redhead standing in front of him. They stare at each other, hazel on blue, each with such ferocity, communicating more than words ever could. Natasha tears her gaze away from the passionate blue eyes, she chews on her bottom lip with uncertainty before resuming what she was doing.

Natasha tops off the noodles with some sesame oil and salt before handing him a bowl. They sit down on the couch together and Natasha turns on a familiar movie. Natasha mouths the lines along with the movie and Steve glances at her, hiding her smile. He never looked at her through this light before. He felt something different towards her and it was definitely not something a friend should be feeling. He wanted to tell her and the whole world how much he loved her, but there was something holding him back. Maybe it was because he had never loved another woman other than Peggy before. It could be that Steve felt like he was betraying her memory if he ever told Natasha how he felt. No matter what it was, Steve knew that he shouldn't tell her just yet. Natasha unexpectedly leans her head on his shoulder as she continues eating her noodles.

That's when the power went out. "Shit," Natasha says. She puts down her bowl and stands up, "The generator probably crapped out. Be right back." Natasha walks to the generator and tries turning it on a couple of times, but it fails, "Steve! I've gotta go to town, wanna come?" Steve walks out of the trailer, "Sure. Do you want me to drive?" "No, I've got it." Natasha hauls the box of mail and tosses it into the trunk. They both slip on their jackets and head into the car. The radio turns on and starts playing Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" Steve stares at her as she sings along with the song. "What?" "Nothing, you just didn't strike me as a Swiftie," Steve says. "Is that judgment I'm hearing?" "I'm not judging anything. I think it's absolutely adorable," Steve smiles. Natasha playfully punches his arm and gives him a pouty expression, "Take that back right now. I am not adorable. I am bad. Ass." "Sure thing, Kitten." "Don't call me Kitten," Natasha whines. "Why not? It suits you perfectly well and I know that deep down you love it," Steve gives her a sly look. That's when a missile flew out of nowhere. It hits the underside of the car and the car flips over landing on the side of the bridge. Steve and Natasha groan. "You okay?" Steve asks. She nods wincing in pain. She reaches over to the glove apartment and opens it. Natasha pulls out two guns and hands one over to Steve. She works her over to the backseat of the car, "Too bad I'm a better shot when I'm mad." She shoots at the advancing figure but they deflect the bullets with their shield. They throw their shield at Natasha but it gets caught in the window.

Time Skip
Natasha grabs the vials with her non-dislocated arm while Steve attempts to fend off the armored figure. Natasha grabs Steve and they jump off the bridge and into the water. Steve holds onto her waist and pulls her to shore. "Are you okay?" She tries moving her arm but moans in pain, "P-pretty sure my arms dislocated." "Here let me help," he places his hands on her shoulder. "On three. One..." He places some force onto her shoulder and pops it into place. Natasha yelps at the excruciating pain. She pants as Steve lets go of her shoulder. She pulls the vials from her pocket and sees a slip of paper poking out. She pulls the picture from the vials and holds it to the red light. "Who is that?" Steve asks. "Someone that I used to know," she says, brushing off his question. "We've gotta go to Budapest." "Sure, but how are we gonna get there?" "You still got your fake ID?" "Yep," Steve pulls the card and his passport out of his pocket.

Skip to: Budapest
Steve and Natasha walk into the old building and she stops at one of the rooms, grabbing a gun from in the cupboard. She pulls some pickpocket tools from her pocket and she heads up, Steve following in close behind her. She goes to unlock the door but a voice with a heavy Russian accent starts talking, "I know you're out there." Natasha pockets her tools and looks to Steve, "I'll handle this. Whatever happens, please don't get involved." Natasha pulls out the gun she procured earlier and opens the door. "I know you know I'm out here," Steve follows in behind her and closes the door. He walks calmly over to the fridge. "So, we gonna talk like grown-ups?" Natasha says. "Is that what we are?" The woman with the thick Russian accent says. Natasha walks towards Yelena and she walks backwards into the kitchen nearly tripping on a small bump on the floor, "What your step," Natasha says with a smirk. Yelena enters the kitchen and spots Steve holding a can of soda from her peripheral vision, "Who's that?" "Hank Longbottom, nice to meet whoever you are." "You're not Hank Longbottom and my sister neglected to tell you who I am?" "Sister?" Steve says, shocked. Yelena turns to Natasha, " You didn't tell any of your superhero friends who I am?" "Why should I? You're not really my sister." Natasha continues forcing Yelena back until she hits the counter. That's when Yelena and Natasha simultaneously grab each other's guns. "This should be fun. You got any food in here?" Steve asks as he pulls a chair out from the dining room table to watch the two sisters fight. "Kinda busy here, Steve," Natasha yells while she slams Yelena into the cupboard smashing the household appliance. Some granola bars drop down like food from a vending machine. The two sisters flip away, Yelena flips her older sister into the door, breaking the glass. "Ooh, yum," Steve stands up from his chair and grabs the granola bars. At that moment, Yelena had pushed Natasha back slamming her against the wall. "That looks like it hurts. You sure you don't need any help?" "I've. Got. It," Natasha says through gritted teeth. She grabs the white curtain and rips it from the rings. She wraps it around Yelena's neck and pushes off of the wall landing on the floor. Yelena quickly grabs the other end of the curtain and wraps it around her sister's neck. They hold each other there for a minute each one losing air by the second. "перемирие(Truce)," Natasha says in Russian. They let go of their death grips on the curtains and Yelena pushes away from her, loosening the loop around her neck, and gasping for air. "ты вырос(You've grown up)," Natasha says stating the obvious. "нет дерьма(No shit)... I need a beer," Yelena stands up and brushes herself off before heading to the fridge and cracking open a bottle. "Why didn't you ever come look for me?" Yelena asks, reminding Natasha of the 6-year-old she was. "I thought you got out when I destroyed the Red Room." "Destroyed it?" "Yes, I killed Dreykov which means the Red Room got destroyed." "How do you know you killed him? Did you see the body?" "He was in the building when it exploded, there was no body to check." "You can't honestly believe that. Did you ever even bother to check if the Red Room was physically deserted or not?" Natasha looks down, "We did." "You clearly never looked hard enough seeing that Dreykov is still training more Wodows," Yelena says, she grabs another bottle and hands it to Steve, "Nah, I don't drink. Alcohol doesn't affect me all that much."  "So, you're the famous Steve Rogers my sister ran off with," Yelena says, handing the bottle to her sister instead. "I-I mean she did-didn't really run off with me," Steve nervously says. "He's cute," Yelena says to her sister. "Heh, sure," Natasha says and grabs the bottle of beer. "So, are you guys together? Or..." "We're just friends," Natasha firmly says. "I totally believe you," Yelena says as she walks to the weapons room. Natasha gives Steve a weird look before following her sister.

She grabs some guns and a few knives and hands it to Steve, "I know it's a step down for you from your shield—" "Thank you," Steve interrupts. He gratefully accepts the weapons and Natasha grabs one of the knives and stuffs it into her boot. "So, what's in the vial?" Natasha asks as she heads into one of the rooms to change. "It's an antidote for chemically subjugated agents..." She trails off as she stares at Natasha's bruised back. "Jesus," Steve says, he puts down his granola bar, "You got any Arnica? Or some Aloe Vera?" He asks Yelena. "I don't have Arnica, but I should have some Aloe Vera. I'll be right back." "Steve," Natasha says, "You really don't have to make such a fuss. I'm fine." "Nonsense. Those are gonna hurt like hell soon and believe me you—"

A loud explosion comes from the kitchen just as Yelena runs back into the room, "We've got to go." The pair follow Yelena out of the flat where four more Widows are waiting for them. Yelena pulls out a flash grenade. She pulls out the pin and tosses it at the two Widows in the stairwell. She runs up the stairs and Steve and Natasha follow her. "Where are we heading?" Steve asks. "East side of the building! I've got two bikes there." The trio runs through a glass hallway avoiding shots from the snipers on the building across from them. One of the Widows abandons her sniper to pursue them. They slide down the roof together and stop at something resembling a really large pipe. Steve tips off the metal piece that's attaching the big pipe to the building. Yelena and Natasha hold onto the pipe as Steve pushes it away from the building. He jumps onto it before it falls from his grasp. The Widow following them is too far behind and doesn't reach them in time. The pipe hits the other building and Steve grabs the window ledge with one hand and Natasha with the other as to prevent her from falling. "I've got you. I've got you," he slowly pulls her up into the building and they continue running to their destination. "Which ones yours?" Natasha asks. "Brown and blue seats," Yelena says, "Shit, I only have one set of keys." Natasha tosses the pair of keys she's holding in her hands into the air. "Ah... сука(bitch)," Yelena says. She gets on the back of the blue seated motorcycle and Steve gets on the back of the other one, Natasha clinging to his waist. They quickly start off the bikes as a big armored truck begins mowing cars down left and right, not giving a care about any of the civilians. They zip through the city on their bikes, narrowly avoiding a train before crashing their bikes on a small wall and landing on a blue car. Yelena whips out her gun and points it at the man inside. "вы в порядке(Are you guys okay)?" He asks quickly getting out of his car. "фантастический(Fantastic)," Yelena says. She hops into the car, sliding over into the passenger's seat. Steve hops into the backseat. "You can't just steal a car," Natasha scolds her sister. "What do you want me to do? Chase him down and un-steal it?" Steve snorted in reply. Natasha backs the car up and hits the car behind them before turning the steering wheel to the left and accelerating forward.

that was so much  writing  omfg. okay anyways hope u guys enjoyed this. i'll update soon but rn i've gotta sleep —maddy xx

Chapter Text

One of the Widows follows them as Natasha weaves through traffic. The Widow holsters her machine gun and shoots at the blue car. "Crap," Steve says ducking so that he won't get shot. "What was the plan?" Yelena asks. "My plan was to drive us away!" Natasha says. "That's an absolute shit plan," Steve says. "Exactly," Yelena says, agreeing with Steve. "Both of you, just shut up and let me drive," Natasha says Yelena quickly comes up with an idea on the spot. She grabs the steering wheel from Natasha's hand and wrenches it to the right, effectively turning the car so that they were now facing the Widow that was chasing them. Yelena quickly opens the door and it hits a fire hydrant. The door completely separating from the car and hitting the Widow's bike. Natasha wrenches the steering wheel back around again. "Quick thinking," Steve says to Yelena. "Thanks." That's when the armored truck appeared once more. Steve sees the truck quickly advancing towards them, "Oh shit." "Put on your seatbelt," Natasha says. "You haven't had yours on this entire time?!" Steve asks. "Shut up Steve. Yelena put on your seatbelt," Natasha says once more. "You're such a mom!" Yelena says as she quickly fastens on her seatbelt as the person in the armored suit. They nock the arrow in their bow and aim. Steve sees this, "Guys, hold on!" The arrow is fired and it sticks itself to the underneath of their car. It quickly detonated sending the battered blue car in the air and flipping it over. The car lands on its roof as it slides into the train station. The three of them groan as onlooking spectators stare at them with worry. Natasha groans as she slides herself out of the car, "Everyone okay?" Steve nods but Yelena doesn't. "I'm bleeding," she says attempting to wrap her arm with a cloth. Natasha stops her, "Not now. We've gotta go first." They run towards the escalators and jump on the barrier that separates them sliding quickly down to the train level. That's when the armored soldier arrives and throws their shield with as much force as Steve does, at them. The trio quickly lands on the floor, narrowly avoiding getting their head chopped off by the metal frisbee. "Where to now?" Steve asks. Natasha points to a vent above them and Steve immediately understands what she's saying. He clasps his hands together like a foothold for Natasha and Yelena. With the help of Steve's boost, they quickly haul themselves into the vent. Steve squats down and jumps, just high enough that he can pull himself up with his arms. When he manages to pull himself up into the narrow space, he finds himself centimeters away from a certain redhead's face.

Yelena stares at them, confirming exactly what she thought was going on between her adoptive sister and her not-boyfriend. Yelena takes the opportunity of awkward silence to look through the vent. She sees that the armored soldier had fallen into their trap and had opened the tunnel leading far away from where they actually were. "Great plan," Yelena says as she wraps her bleeding arm, "I love the part where I almost bled to death." "No need to be so dramatic," Natasha says, "We all got out in one piece, right?" "Sure," Yelena says. "So, what is this place?" Steve asks looking around the vent. "It's where Barton and I hid out for a couple of days," Natasha replies. "Must've been fun," Yelena says pointedly looking at the drawings of tic tac toe and hangman. "Who was that guy?" Natasha asks. "Their name is Taskmaster," Yelena says, "Dreykov only deploys them for special missions. It's his personal pet project, they can mimic essentially everybody. Which is how they threw that shield with such accuracy." "This isn't making any sense," Natasha says, leaning against one of the sides of the vent wincing in pain. "Well, truth really makes sense when you omit key details," Yelena says. "What was that supposed to mean?" Natasha defensively asks. "You didn't say a word about Dreykov's daughter," Yelena says, "You killed her." "Woah now," Steve says." "I had to," Natasha says. "I'm sorry?" Steve says. "It was the final part of my defection to S.H.I.E.L.D., and I needed someone to confirm that Dreykov was in the building." "So you used his daughter," Yelena says. "She was the only one that we could trust. I needed to be sure. It was simple. Easy in easy out. Or so we thought. Blowing up the building landed me and Barton in a shootout with the Hungarian police for ten days," Natasha finishes looking down with a guilty expression. "Yet here you are, not so sure," Yelena says. "I needed out," Natasha says, her eyes brimming with tears that she quickly brushes away. "Shouldn't we get going?" Steve says, desperately changing the subject. "Yeah," Yelena says.

Time Skip
They arrive at a small gas station and they head into the store looking for some medical supplies. "So," Steve says, "If the Red Room is active then where is it?" "I have no clue," Yelena says, "They constantly move locations and every Widow is sedated on the way in and out for maximum security." She grabs some gauze from one of the shelves, "Where did you think I was all this time?" Yelena asks her sister. "I thought that you... got out and was living a normal life," Natasha says. "And you never thought to contact me?" "I thought you didn't want to see me," Natasha says. "Did you? Or did you not want your baby sister tagging along while you hung out with the cool kids?" "I'm sure it wasn't that," Steve says. "Are you always this nice?" Yelena asks. "Yes, he is. You'll get used to it." They bring the medical supplies up to the checkout counter. "What's that thing you always do?" "What thing?" "That thing that you always do when you're fighting. Like the thing," Yelena slides down into Natasha's Widow pose, "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. That's it— it's a fighting pose. You're a total poser." "I'm not a poser," Natasha says. Steve laughs, "You kinda are." "Aw, c'mon. They're great poses, but it does look like you think everyone is looking at you all the time," Yelena says as she stands up. "All that time I spent posing? I was trying to make up for all the bad shit I did with the Red Room," Natasha says. She hands the cashier some cash and grabs their things.

Time Skip
They arrive at a quaint little outdoor restaurant and Natasha goes inside the store to grab some beers. This is the perfect moment for Yelena to finally know exactly what was happening between Steve and her sister. "So Steve, what's the deal with you and my sister? There's like this tension whenever you look at each other," Yelena says. "There's nothing going on," Steve says. "Oh c'mon. I've seen the way the two of you look at each other," Yelena says. Steve spots Natasha making her way over with a couple of beers. "Look, Natasha's here with the beers," Steve says, just narrowly avoiding the subject. She hands Steve a soda and gives her sister the other beer. They sit in comfortable silence each one sipping on their beverage. Natasha looks out at the kids, thoughtfully. "That gas," Yelena says shifting her gaze to the vials hidden in the bag, "Was synthesized in secret by an older Widow from Melina's generation. I was on a mission to retrieve it when she exposed me and in turn, I killed the Widow that freed me." "Did you have a choice?" Natasha asks. "What you experienced was psychological conditioning. I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions, they're two completely different things. You're fully conscious, but you're don't know which part is really you," Yelena chokes up but pushes on through, "I'm still not sure." Natasha takes sympathy for her sister and stands up to go help Yelena patch up her wound. She pulls the dirty towel from her arm and asks, "Is that all that there is left?" "Mmhmm," Yelena responds. "It's the only thing that is able to stop Dreykov and his network of Widows," Yelena emphasizes the last few words as Natasha stitches up her arm. She gently blows on the wound. "He takes more every day. Children who don't have anyone to protect them. Just like when we were younger," Yelena says, "Maybe one in twenty survives the training and becomes a Widow, the rest he kills off. To him, we are just things, pawns on a chessboard that he has no problem with sacrificing because there will always be more. Now no ones even looking for him thanks to you and Alexei." "Alexei?" Steve asks. "Dad," Yelena says. The two sisters gaze longingly at the children with their parents. "Did you ever look for your parents? Your real ones," Yelena asks. "My mom abandoned me in the street like garbage. What about you?" She asks Yelena. "They destroyed my birth certificate so I made one up. My parents still live in Ohio. My sister moved out West." This puts a smile on Natasha's face, "Is that right?" "You're a science teacher," Yelena continues, "You're working part-time though. Especially after you had your daughter. Your husband..." Yelena looks to Steve, "He renovates houses." "That sounds like fun," Steve says. "Did you ever wish for kids?" Yelena nonchalantly asks, trying extremely hard to goad a response out of the two of them, "I want a dog." Natasha doesn't answer her questions, but she looks to Steve. Her eyes say it all. She wants kids, but she very well knows that she can't have them. Steve knew that Natasha wanted kids, he saw the look on her face the day they went to Clint's house and met his kids. He wished, he wished with all his heart that he could give her the one thing she wanted. "Where are you gonna go next?" Steve asks. "I don't really have anywhere to go back to so I guess anywhere," Yelena says. Natasha leans forward as if she's about to say something. "Don't," Yelena says. "Don't what?" Her sister asks. "You're about to give me some big hero speech, I can feel it," Yelena says. "Ah, speeches are more Steve's thing. It was more like an invitation." "To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?" "Yep," Natasha says. "Even though Dreykov is too slippery to kill and the Red Room is impossible to find?" Steve sighs and brings his soda can up to his lips, "Nothing's impossible anymore." "It still sounds like a shitload of work," Yelena says. "Yep," Natasha responds. "It could still be fun," Steve says. Natasha and Yelena let out a soft laugh. The red-haired assassin rests her head on her arm, "I saw where he put the keys," referring to the dad who was polishing up a car. "Top drawer, green cabinet," Yelena responds almost immediately.

Time Skip
Natasha looks to the side to see Steve glancing around nervously. "Why are you so tense, big guy?" Natasha asks. "I'm tense because whenever I'm in a car with you something bad always happens," Steve says. "That's not true, nothing bad happened that time we went to the old S.H.I.E.L.D. compound." "We got blown up almost immediately after getting out of the car." Yelena sniggers from the backseat. "You know Natasha, this is the first piece of clothing I've ever bought for myself?" Yelena asks, showing her sister her vest. Natasha looks into the rearview mirror, "That?" "Yeah, you don't like it?" "Is that like an army surplus? Cause Steve would know something about that." "Hey!" Steve says, obviously offended. "Okay! It has a lot of pockets, but I use them all the time and I even made a few of my own modifications. It's cool right Steve?" Yelena asks like a younger sister asking her older brother for approval. "I think it's pretty cool," Steve says. Natasha laughs. "Shut up," Yelena says to her sister, "The point is, I've never had control over my own life before, and now I do. I want to do things." Natasha doesn't say anything, she just continues to chew on her gum, "I like your vest," she says. "I knew it," Yelena says, doing a little air pump, "I knew you did. It's so cool, right?" "Yes, yes it is." "And you can put so much stuff in here, you wouldn't even know." Natasha and Steve share a smile. "I really don't know where the Red Room is though," effectively ending their moment of playfulness, "Sorry." "I know," Natasha says, "But I think I know somebody who does." "Oh yeah? Who?" Steve asks. "Well we need a jet and I know just the person to call," Natasha says.

Time Skip
The trio walks through a field of wild grass to where a tall woman is standing next to a helicopter. "Maria?" Steve says while shielding his eyes from the sun. He jogs up to the agent and engulfs her in a massive bear hug. "Missed you too," she says, patting his back. The sisters follow him a little further behind. "Thanks for helping on such short notice, Maria," Natasha says and gives the brunette a hug once Steve has released her. "Did you get the other stuff?" "Yep," Maria reaches into the helicopter and pulls out a duffel bag, "I also packed one of Steve's combat suits." "Thank you," Steve pulls out a Captain America suit that's a slight bit tattered. Yelena digs around in the duffel bag and pulls out an old granola bar. "Oh, I stashed that like 5 years ago. How is it?" Natasha asks. Yelena takes a bite out of it, "It's dry." "Lemme see," Yelena hands the granola bar to Steve and he takes a bite out of it, "It's really dry. Still okay." Steve grabs the duffel bag and climbs into the helicopter while Yelena walks around to look at it. She breathes some hot air onto the window steaming up the glass. "So, where are you guys gonna go?" Maria asks. "We're gonna take down the Red Room first then go free the others," Natasha replies. "Well, good luck then," Maria says and hands Natasha the duffel, "Call me if you need me." "Thanks again, Maria," she grabs the bag and climbs into the helicopter. Yelena starts up the helicopter and within minutes, they're several feet off the ground. "Steve and I will change first then you can change, okay?" Natasha says. Yelena nods and continues directing the chopper to their destination.

Natasha begins taking off her shirt and winces in the process. Steve gives her a sympathetic look, "Here lemme see." "No, I'm fine Steve." "No, you aren't. You're obviously in a lot of pain," Steve says and he bends down to pull out a bottle of aloe vera. "Come here," he firmly says, showing Natasha that she has no choice in the matter. She begrudgingly takes off her shirt and sits next to Steve on one of the benches, her bruised back facing him. He squirts some aloe vera into his hand and begins to gently apply it onto her back. Natasha hisses in pain. "Sorry," Steve says, quickly taking his aloe vera-covered hands away from her back. "No, no. Keep going, it feels really nice." Steve placed his hands on her back once again. Massaging in the aloe vera and massaging out all the knots in her back. "You know no one has ever cared about me like you have before... It's nice," Natasha says. He places some butterfly kisses on her bruises, "All better now," he says, giving her a lopsided smile. "Aw, you guys are so cute," Yelena says. They both turn to look at her and Steve's ears begin to redden, Natasha blushes a deep crimson red. "So are you guys gonna change or should we just keep staring at each other as this gets more awkward. Cause I am perfectly fine with doing that," Yelena says and narrows her eyes at her sister.

whew, thanks you guys so much for reading this and as always, any feedback is welcome. okay see guys in the next chapter! —maddy

Chapter Text

Natasha hastily stands up and heads to the far end of the helicopter. She quickly changes into her suit and Steve does the same. "Do you want me to braid your hair?" He sheepishly asked. Unbeknownst to Natasha, he was practicing in secret. "You know how to braid hair now? Do you have any other secret talents I should know of?" Steve lets out a chuckle, "I'm pretty good you know." "I'll believe it when I see it," Natasha says. They sit down on the bench and Steve begins to deftly part her hair. He makes one plait and asks, "You got a hair tie?" Natasha smiles, "Does the great hair braider not have a hair tie?" "Just give me one," Steve says and holds out his hand. 

She reaches into one of the pockets in her suit and pulls out a couple of hair ties. He grabs two and ties one around the braid he was holding in his hand. He grabs another section of her hair, right by the first braid, and begins braiding again. In a few short seconds, he was done. "I don't have a mirror, but I think it looks pretty awesome," Steve says. "You say that about everything," Natasha says. "Only when you are the one I'm talking about." "You're a real flatterer, you know that?" Steve smiles and heads up to where Yelena is, "Here, let's switch and you can go change." Yelena hands him the controls and slips past him, allowing him to sit down in the seat.

She walks over to where Natasha is standing and zipping up her suit. "You guys really need to sort out whatever is going on in between the two of you or I'm going to do it. It's getting way too hard to watch you guys dance around the subject," Yelena says, "And whether or not you like it, it's going to affect the mission." Natasha completely ignores her sister and walks to the seat next to Steve. "Ignore me, real mature," Yelena says. Knowing full well that Steve is completely oblivious to their conversation because of the headphones he's wearing.

Time Skip
After about an hour of flying, Natasha starts feeling a little tired. "I think I'm gonna grab a quick power nap. Wake me up in 30 minutes," Natasha says to Steve. "Okay," he replies. Natasha switches seats with Yelena and grabs the headphones laying on one of the benches to put on so that the loud whirring of the helicopter wouldn't keep her awake. Within a few minutes, Natasha drifts off to sleep.

"So Steve, You ever think about having a family yourself?" Yelena asks while flipping on some controls in the helicopter. "Maybe, long ago probably. But, that opportunity disappeared when I crash-landed that plane. And I barely had a father myself, you know, so I wouldn't even know how to take care of a kid," Steve says. "See, I don't think that's true. I might not have known you for a long time, but I can tell that you would be fantastic with children and besides what's the harm in trying? You only get one chance in life, right?" "You're really wise for your age, you know that?" Yelena dramatically flips her hair, "Of course I do." Steve let's put a soft chuckle. "Now if you wanted, who would you want to have a family with? Your hypothetical dream woman that is."

Steve steals a glance at Natasha, still fast asleep. "I would want nothing more than to marry my best partner and friend in the whole world, but I'm not sure that she feels the same way about me." "Do you really think that? Tell me about her." "Well, she's the most amazing woman I have ever met. Strong and ferocious. Sure she has a few flaws, but she's worked extremely hard to make up for her mistakes. She can be very stubborn at times, but still witty and she's able to think on her feet." "Sounds a lot like someone I know." "Is it that obvious?" "As clear as day. I honestly don't get the two of you. With the profession that we're both in, there is very little time to waste and you need to tell her how you feel. You do like her, right?" "I'm in love with her." "Didn't think that you loved her, but that makes it ever more important for you to let her know your feelings. But maybe after the mission is done, yeah?" Yelena says and Steve nods in response.

"Promise me," Yelena says and holds out her pinky. He smiles and links pinkies with her, "Promise." Little did Steve and Yelena know, Natasha had heard their entire conversation. She smiles to herself but quickly hides it and continues pretending to sleep. After a little while of "sleeping," she actually drifts off to sleep. In what felt like a few minutes, she woke up to Yelena violently shaking her. Her brown eyes were just mere inches from her own hazel ones. Natasha jerks awake, "What the hell?" "You wanted me to wake you when we were a few minutes away from the prison remember? Or has spending so much time with Steve caused you to have amnesia?" "Hey!" Steve says from the pilot's seat, "I heard that. I still have a body of a 35-year-old, you know. My ears and mind still work perfectly fine."

Yelena hands Natasha an earpiece, "It's connected to the one Alexei's gonna receive."

Time Skip
Natasha looks at the tablet in Yelena's hand to watch as Alexei receives his package., making sure that he receives his earpiece. When he finally inserts it into his ear, Natasha says, "Today's your lucky day, Alexei." She looks at the tablet once again, "Move to the door on the south wall." Alexei looks behind the office of the guards and sees that the metal bars are sliding open. He stands up and walks to the guards who are his sandwich. Alexei reaches through the window and grabs the guard by his collars. He pulls the guard through the window and smashes the other guard's face into the metal bar. "Go left," Natasha says, guiding Alexei through the prison, "Just don't make a scene." Another door opens and all the prisoners begin to freak out, "Красный Страж убегает(The Red Guardian is escaping)!"

Guards with riot shields start pushing against the wave of prisoners. Natasha hears the commotion coming from the other side of the comms, "You made a scene didn't you." Alexei kicks down the metal door that was barring him from the outside world. "What now?" Alexei asks with his gruff voice.  "We're getting you out of here," Natasha says. Alexei looks up to see a helicopter flying a couple of hundred feet above his head. He frantically looks around to see prisoners and guards alike running at him.

A guard dressed in army gear presses a panic button, sounding the alarm. "Go to the upper level," Natasha says as riot guns are fired at the prisoners. One guard cracks open a flare and tosses it to where Alexei is. "Move your ass, super soldier," Natasha says. Alexei hears and grunts in effort, he runs at a wall and uses it as leverage to propel himself to the second level. He manages to grab the yellow poles on the side of the ledge, but a guard quickly runs over and tases him. He loses his grip and falls onto the snowy ground, landing on his back. "He's never going to make it," Yelena says. "Get me closer," Natasha says. Yelena and Steve both give her a look, "You guys got a better idea?" Natasha opens the door of the helicopter and grabs the rope attached to the side of the helicopter. She swings down from the helicopter and lands on one of the levels of the prison. She lands into her Black Widow pose. "Such a poser," Yelena says. Steve chuckles.

Time Skip
Natasha pulls Alexei into the helicopter and they both lay there panting. When he finally looks up, he sees Steve staring at them. He stands up and walks towards Alexei, "It's so nice to meet you, Alexei. I've heard quite a lot about you." Alexei looks at Natasha then at Yelena then at Natasha and then back to Steve. He quickly stands up, "You're Captain America." "Yep, that's me." Alexei raises his fist to punch Steve but Natasha quickly stops him. "What are you doing?" "He's the reason the whole world doesn't know who I am."

"Can you guys fight later because I could use some help up here!" Yelena yells from the front of the helicopter. Natasha moves up to the front to help her out while Steve goes to sit on one of the benches. Alexei pokes his head through the door and yells, "Прощай, бездельники(Farewell, douchebags)!" Before sliding the door closed.

He sits down across Steve. Alexei stares at him and furrows his brows with an utter look of disgust on his face, Steve looks at him with a calm visage, completely unfazed by his attempt to be intimidating. "So, what is Captain America doing here?" Alexei asks the two women. They don't answer because they can't hear him and neither can Steve. "Oh, you can't hear me huh? You guys can't hear me because of the," he makes a rotating helicopter blade motion.

He lunges over to the far end of the bench and grabs a set of headphones, "Can you guys hear me now?" He stands up in between the seats. Yelena takes the opportunity to knuckle him in the nose. "Oh God, ow!" Steve's lips curl into a slight smile. "Why the aggression, huh? Is it your time of the month?" He asks. "I don't get my period, dipshit. I don't have a uterus," Yelena says. "Or ovaries," Natasha adds. Alexei looks at the two of them with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's what happens when the Red Room gives you an involuntary hysterectomy," Yelena says. "They kind of just go," she says while gesturing with her hands, "in and pull out of your reproductive organs. They just get right in there and they chop them all away. Everything out." "Okay, okay!" Alexei says as he sits back down. "So you can't have babies," Yelena continues on. "Okay! You don't have to get so clinical and nasty!" He says in a thick Russian accent. "Oh, well I was about to talk about fallopian tubes, but okay," Yelena says. Natasha looks out the window in an attempt to hide her smile.

"It means so much to me that you came back for me. Except for you," he says while looking at Steve, "I'm not happy that you're here at all." "No," Natasha says, "No, you're going to tell us how to get to the Red Room." He lets out a small laugh, "Oh look at you, huh? All business?" "Trust me, this isn't pleasure." "Little Natasha, all indoctrinated into the Western agenda." "I chose to go west to become an Avenger," she says and looks to Steve, "Cause they treated me like family." "Family. Well, where is that family now? Where are they now? Where is that family now." "Tell me where the Red Room is." "I have no idea, okay?" Steve pulls off Alexei's headphones and his own, "Bullshit." 

"Why are you even here?" Alexei says, "You've probably never even heard of the Red Room before." Natasha pulls off her own headphones and plops herself down on the seat next to Steve, "He's here because he wants to help and so far, he has done way more than you have. But you and Dreykov were like—" "Dreykov! General Dreykov, my friend, huh? Gives me glory. Soviet Union's first and only super-soldier. I could have been more famous than you," he says and points to Steve, "He buries me in Ohio on that stupid mission." Yelena looks at him with an 'are you fucking with me?' look. "Three years! So tedious and boring me to tears," He catches Yelena's gaze, "No offense, huh? Then puts me in prison for the rest of my life. Why? Huh? Why? Why would he put me in pri— you know maybe I just 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. Or maybe I want the party to feel actually like a party and not the sourpuss organization that it is. But instead, no. He puts me in prison for the rest of my life," he says stomping like a toddler having a tantrum, "And 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."

Alexei gives Natasha a pointed look. Steve stands up, slouching a little bit so his head doesn't hit the roof. He has a glowering expression on his face as if he wants to beat the shit out of Alexei. "Ooh is Mr. Captain America trying to look all intimidating? With your shiny hair, and your blue eyes, and your big biceps. I have them too you know?" "Мой Бог(My God), Ii you show your biceps I will throw you out the window. Can we throw him out the window?" "I think we should wait till we get to a higher altitude." "Agreed," Steve says and sits back down. "Почему бы не сипросить Мелину, где зто(Why not ask Melina where it is)?" "Wait Mom Melina?" Yelena asks in utter shock. "We thought she was dead," Natasha says. "Ah, you cannot kill a fox that swift," Alexei says with admiration and a tiny trace of lust. "Ew," Natasha says and makes a face of disgust. "What? She was the scientist, the strategist. I was the muscle. She worked with Dreykov far more than I ever did," Alexei says. "Wait, are you telling me that Melina is working for the Red Room present day?" "She works remotely outside St. Petersburg." Yelena lets out a laugh, "Uh, I don't think we have enough fuel for St. Petersburgh." "Nah, we're good, we'll make it," Alexei says. "Okay."

yay!! thanks for reading this chapter and sticking with this story! also thanks to everyone who's been commenting and giving feedback, it really means a lot! sorry this chapter took a little while longer to write, i was busy shooting my short film. anyways, as always, feedback is always welcome :) i'll update with the next chapter soon, see you then —maddy<3

Chapter Text

The helicopter falls down from the sky but safely lands on a field of grass. Steve slides the door open and helps Natasha and Yelena off of the helicopter. Natasha squats further away from the rest of the group, examining the terrain. "You should've brought the Avengers' super jet," Alexei says. Natasha rolls her eyes. She stands up and starts walking next to Steve and Yelena.

"I swear if I hear one more word from him I will kick him in the face," Yelena says. "Natasha," Alexei says while half running and half walking, "Natasha! Natasha, come here. I want to ask you something." Natasha gives Yelena a look and she sighs in annoyance. She slows down her pace so that Alexei can catch up with her while Yelena and Steve keep on walking ahead. "Come, it's important. Did he talk to you about me?" "What?" Natasha asks, genuinely confused. "Did he talk to you about me? You know, trading war stories?" "Who? What are you talking about?" "Captain America. That guy," he says and points at Steve, "My great adversary. In this theater of geopolitical conflict not so much a nemesis, more like a contemporary— no, coequal. You know, I always thought there was a great deal of mutual respect till I met him today—"

Natasha interrupts him, "Wait, you haven't seen either one of us in 20 years and you're going to ask me about you?" Steve and Yelena stop in their tracks and turn to stare at Alexei. "What is with this tension?" He asks, "Did I do something wrong?" Steve scoffs and Yelena rubs her brow, "Is that a serious question?" "I only ever loved you girls," Alexei says to Natasha and Yelena, "I did my best to make sure that you would succeed to achieve your fullest potential and everything worked out." "Everything worked out?" "Yes. For you? Yes. We accomplished our mission in Ohio," he walks towards Yelena, "You went on to become the greatest child assassin the world has ever known. No one can match your efficiency, your ruthlessness." He turns to the redhead, "And Natasha. Not just a spy, not just toppling regimes, destroying empires from within, but an Avenger," he says with pride, "You both have killed... so many people," Alexei says while shaking their wrists, "Your ledgers must dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you." Alexei hugs them, squishing Yelena's face into his tattooed chest.

Natasha takes a whiff of his odor and immediately pushes herself free of his grasp. She sighs and walks over to where Steve is standing. He puts his arm around her and she puts her arm around his waist. Alexei pats Yelena's arm and kisses the top of her head. Yelena uses her arm to create space between herself and Alexei, "Okay, okay. Enough. You can let go of me now. You smell really bad." Alexei has a look of confusion on his face as Yelena pulls away from him and he sees Steve's arm around Natasha, "What's with those two?" He nods his head in the pair's direction. "Trust me, you do not want to know," Yelena says.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Steve asks Natasha. She looks up and into his intense blue eyes, "What?" "That time we went undercover at that mall, remember that?" Steve says fondly while playing with a strand of her hair. Natasha lets out a small laugh, "Yeah, of course, I do. Back when times were simpler. I miss those times." "Me too, kitten. Me too." She leans her head on his chest,

Alexei and Yelena catch up to the laughing pair. "So," Yelena says, "Are we there yet?" "You'll know when we're there," Alexei mimics the sounds of a pig eating.

Time Skip
Melina opens the door of the barbed-wire fence, still pointing her weapon at Steve. "Опусти оружие, Мелина(Lower your weapon, Melina)," Alexei says. "Я скажу, как только ты скажешь мне, кто это(I will once you tell me who this is)," Melina says. Natasha raises her gloved hand and places on the silencer, "Он друг, я доверяю ему свою жизнь(He's a friend, I trust him with my life)." "I would say he's more than just a friend but..." Yelena says under her breath. "Отлично(Fine)," Melina says and walks towards a small house. The group follows her.

She opens the white front door, "Welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home." The group splits off, Yelena walking into the dining room and Natasha following Melina. "Let's have a drink," Melina says as she sets down her sniper in a secret room. "Hey, no funny business," Natasha says. "I am putting away my weapon." Natasha walks off into the kitchen.

"Any booby traps around here? Anything we need to know about?" "I didn't raise my girls to fall into traps," Melina says, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth. "You didn't raise us at all," Natasha says.

The red-headed Avenger opens the tap and fills up a glass of water. "Ah, maybe so," Melina says, "But if you got soft, it wasn't on my watch." Melina, Natasha, Yelena, and Steve awkwardly sit at the table staring at each other as Alexei makes weird grunts and noises from the bathroom.

"Let's drink," Melina says and grabs a bottle of vodka. She hands a shot to Steve, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier." "Steve Rogers, ma'am. It's so nice to meet you," he extends his hand and shakes Melina's. "Wait, Steve as in Captain America?" "Yep," Steve says. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off saving the world with the other Avengers?" "Just taking a quick break to help Natasha out and the Avengers recently broke up so... not much for me to do at the compound other than getting arrested and thrown into jail." "Ah, I understand."

Alexei finally opens the door of the bathroom and walks out in a red suit that very similarly matches Steve's suit. Alexei clears his throat. Everyone at the table turns and stares at him, either in shock or amusement. 

"It still fits," Alexei says with a hand leaning on the doorway. Melina wolf whistles as Alexei lets out a wheezy laugh. "Oh my God," Yelena says. The two sisters roll their eyes as Melina applauses and Alexei cackles with glee. "I never washed it once," Melina says as Alexei makes his way to the dining table to sit down, "Come and drink." She opens up the bottle of vodka again. Alexei begins singing, "Rise ye workers of salvation. Ruh, duvuh, duh, deh, dah. Family, back together again..." Alexei sighs with content and he scans the table, and his eyes land on Steve. "Well, seeing as our family construct was just a calculated ruse that only lasted three years, I don't think we can use this... this term anymore. Can we?" Melina says and looks to Alexei.

"Agreed," Natasha says, "So here's what's going to happen." "Okay then," Alexei stands up and reaches in front of Natasha for some food, interrupting what she was saying, "Reunion dinner, huh? And uh... I want to say something right off the bat, you haven't aged a day and you are just as beautiful and as supple as the day they staged our marriage," Alexei says to Melina. Yelena and Natasha groan in disgust while Steve holds in a laugh. Yelena grabs a shot of vodka and quickly swallows it down.

"You got fat," Melina says and Natasha takes her own sip of vodka, "But still good." "I just got out of prison and I uh," he looks around nervously at the group and lowers his voice, "Have a lot of energy." Melina awes in glee. "Please don't do that," Natasha says, "So, here's what's going to happen—" "Natasha, don't slouch," Melina says. "I'm not slouching." "Yes, yes you are." "I don't slouch." "You're- you're going to get a back hunch." Alexei reaches over and shakes Natasha's arm, "Listen to your mother." "Oh my God, this is—" "Up, up!" Alexei says while demonstrating for her how to straighten her back.

"Alright, enough! All of you!" Natasha says. "We didn't say anything!" Yelena says and points to herself and Steve, "That's not fair." "Here's what's going to happen!" Natasha says, absolutely annoyed at this point. "I don't want any food," Yelena says as Melina puts some food into her plate. "Eat a little something, Yelena. You want some, Steve?" Steve nods and holds out his plate, "This is fantastic, Mrs. Romanoff. Did you make it?" "Ah, first off, it's Vostokoff. And second of all, yes I did. You're very sweet you know." Steve sheepishly smiles.

"You're going to tell us the location of the Red Room," Natasha says, steering the conversation back on track. Melina sniffs and rubs her nose, "You know, it's like when you told them they could stay up late to catch Santa Claus." "What? That was fun. 'He come down the chimney, girls. Look out! Where is he?' You wait for him and then when the cookies are gone, then you see he's there. No, no! I— What? I want them to follow their dreams. Reach for the stars!" Alexei says with excitement.

"Finding Dreykov is not a fantasy, it's unfinished business," Natasha says. "You can't defeat a man who commands the very will of others. You never saw the culmination of what we started in America. Except for maybe you," Melina says looking to Steve. She stands up and leaves the room. "Natasha, always focus, focus," Alexei says and looks at her with annoyance. Steve grabs a container of food and begins scooping some out and onto Natasha's plate. "Steve," Natasha says. "What? You've gotta eat something. Especially since you're drinking vodka, alcohol and an empty stomach don't mix."

Melina comes back with a tablet in hand. She presses the tablet twice before saying, "Come in!" Everyone looks to the door in surprise when a pig opens up the door and walks into the dining room. "Did that pig just open the door?" Natasha asks. "Yes, it did," Melina bends over and feeds the pig a piece of food, "Good boy, Alexei. Good boy." "You named a pig after me?" "You don't see the resemblance?" Alexei gives her a half-smile.

"See he sits just like dog. Amazing, right? Now watch..." "It's a little weird," Steve says. "Stop breathing," Melina says and turns the pig's respiratory system down to 0%. The pig immediately stops panting and the whole room is silent. "We infiltrated the North institute in Ohio. It was a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists— actually it was—" "HYDRA scientists," Steve, Melina, and Natasha say simultaneously. "At that... of course you guys would know," Melina says, "In conjunction with the Winter Soldier project they had dissected and deconstructed the human brain to create the first and only cellular blueprint basal ganglia." "That's the project that Bucky was subjected to," Steve says. His eyes fill with a fire that only Natasha could see. She grips his hand under the table, silently telling him not to do anything. Yelena looks to her sister her eyes shining with tears.

"With half the cognition," Melina continues on, "Voluntary motor movement, procedural learning. We didn't steal weaponry or technology, we stole the key to unlocking free will." Melina downs the shot of vodka she was holding in her hand. Yelena looks out the window, desperately trying not to break down into tears. Steve lets go of Natasha's hand and goes to grip her knee as not to break her fingers from how hard he was gripping them.

The pig gasps and collapses onto the floor. "What are you doing?" Natasha asks, genuinely concerned for the poor animal. "Oh, I am explaining! That the science is also exact, the subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey," Melina says. "Okay, you've made your point," Natasha says. "Yeah, I think that's enough Ms. Vostokoff," Steve says, still maintaining his politeness despite the animal cruelty he was witnessing.

"Yes, alright. Don't worry, Alexei couldn't have survived 11 more seconds without oxygen," Melina brings the pig Alexei's oxygen back up to 100, and it immediately scrambles up, "Good boy, now you go back home. Back home where it's safe. You go, back home. Back home where it's safe. Good boy, Alexei." The pig listens and walks right back out the door as if it was never affected. Steve grabs the bottle of vodka out of Alexei's hands and chugs it all down even though it doesn't affect him one little bit. All he desires is that fleeting moment where he can numb his emotions. He hated being reminded of all the bad things that happened to Bucky because he wasn't able to save him.

Natasha looked at him with a sympathetic gaze and took his hand into her own once he was done drinking the vodka.

"The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled. Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe," Melina says. "Do you know who they test it on?" Yelena asks, barely able to hold back her sobs. No one but Steve and Natasha can see her strong facade slowly crumbling away.

"Mmm, no. That's not my department," Melina says. "Bahhh," Alexei says, "C'mon, c'mon. Don't lie to them, hmm?" "I'm not lying." "You're Dreykov's architect." "What were you? If I was his architect you were his- you were his partner! You were his business partner!" "No! I was patsy!" "Don't give me this." "He sell me ideology," Alexei says getting agitated and raising the heat of the room. "Oh stop with the bullshit." "Shut up! All of you," Steve yells over the two adults fighting finally having enough of the argument. He couldn't see another fight between Melina and Alexei that resembled a fight so much like between his own parents again. "Your adoptive daughters are here asking for help and all you guys can do is fight each other, talk about who is more impressive, and discuss how you guys are destroying innocent little girl's lives. Being completely insensitive and ignorant to the lives at this very table and all over the world."

"He's right," Natasha says. "You are an idiot," she says to Alexei and he furrows his brows sadly, "And you're a coward. You're a coward," she says to Melina. "And our family was never real so— there's nothing to hold on to. We're moving on." Yelena looks down and fumbles with the zipper of her jacket. Steve easily spots this and tries to find a way to comfort her. "Never real," Alexei says with disbelief, "Huh? In my heart, I am simple man and I think for a couple of deep undercover agents, I think we did pretty great as parents." "Yes, we had our order and we played our roles to perfection." "Who cares?" Natasha says.

"That wasn't real." "What?" Yelena asks in utter incredulity. "That wasn't real." "Nat, c'mon. Don't say that," Steve says, placing his hand on her forearm. "Who cares?"

"Don't say that," Yelena says, her strong exterior finally crumbling, "Please, don't say that. It was real. It was real to me. You are my mother, you were my real mother; the closest thing I ever had to one. The best part of my life was fake," she takes a deep breath trying to still the wave of oncoming tears, "And none of you told me... And those agents you chemically subjugated around the globe? That was me. Hmm." Yelena looks at Natasha, "And you? You got out, Dreykov made sure no one else could escape. Aren't you going to say anything?" Natasha looks down, unable to meet her sister's gaze. "No. The only person who has shown me any sort of empathy is Steve and I only met him a couple of days ago. Showing that strangers care about me more than my so-called family does."

Melina tries to hold Yelena's hand but she quickly snatches it away, "Don't touch me." She grabs the second bottle of vodka and pushes her chair away from the table, standing up and heading into one of the bedrooms. "Yelena," Natasha says, trying to reason with her. "No," Yelena walks into the bedroom and closes the door behind her. "I had no idea," Melina says. " It's okay, it's okay," Alexei says.

"I should probably go after her," Steve says, about to stand up from his own seat. "No, no. I'll go talk to her," Alexei says, signaling for Steve to sit right back down. He exits the table and follows after Yelena.

Natasha stands up from the table and pulls Steve with her. "Where are you guys going?" Melina asks. "To do this ourselves." "Don't, neither one of you will survive." Natasha pulls Steve into the kitchen with her to grab some things before leaving.

god, that took a really fucking long time to finish. anyways, i got a 5 on my ap exam so i was busy sending my score to colleges. oh also sorry if this chapter feels a little slow, but i'll start writing the new chapter soon! and as always, feel free to leave feedback :) —maddy

Chapter Text

"I really wish that I could believe that you cared, Melina. But you're not even the first parent to abandon me," Natasha says.

"No," Melina says, "You weren't abandoned. You were selected by a program that assessed the genetic potential in infants."

Natasha stops what she's doing and turns around to look at Melina, "I was taken?"

"I think I better go check on Yelena," Steve says, awkwardly exiting the conversation.

Natasha opens and closes her mouth as if she's about to say something to get Steve to stay, but nothing comes out except a breath of air.

Steve steps into the bedroom and leans on the doorway, silently watching Yelena declare what she had been holding back, "The only thing you care about are your stupid glory days as the Crimson Dynamo and no one wants to hear about it."

"It's the Red Guardian," Alexei corrects her.

"Get out," Yelena says, "Get the fuck out!"

She points to the doorway where Steve is standing. Alexei wearily stands up and exits the bedroom but not before stopping at where Steve is standing.

"Maybe you'll have more luck at getting through to her," he says and gives him a pat on the back.

"I'll try my best," Steve says.

He walks in and crouches down next to her so that they're sitting side-by-side.

"I know you don't want to talk but trust me, I know how you're feeling," he says, understandingly.

Yelena let's out a wry laugh, "I really doubt that you do. You ever have your fake family betray you and lie to you?"

"Well, aside from the lying part, I've had an experience not all that different from yours. The Avengers were my family too, you know. And signing those papers turned us against each other. All I'm trying to say is, they were looking out for what was best for you at that time. Not knowing is better than knowing that your family isn't real, at least you had something to hold onto even when all hope seemed to be lost. In the end, it's better to have some semblance of a family than no family at all."

"You are a wise man, Steve Rogers," Yelena says.

"I try my best."

Steve puts his arm around Yelena. Picture perfect snapshot of siblings. She leans against Steve's shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief as if the tension in her chest had been cut.

"If I ever had a brother," Yelena says, "I would want it to be you."

"Aww," Steve says, a giant smile spreading across his face, "And if I ever had a sister I would want it to be you too."

Their little picturesque moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud whirring of plane engines outside of the house. The sound from the planes was so loud that the house trembled and shook as if it was scared of the outside force that would soon attack them.

"Shit," Steve said and he quickly leaps to his feet, "Ross must've found us."

He peers out of the glass window but is immediately blinded by the bright light being emitted from the plane.

"Stay down," he says to Yelena, "I've got this."

As Yelena crouches down, a red tranquilizer dart lands on his chest.

"That's cute," Steve says and goes to pull it out.

That's when ten more red tranquilizer darts land on his chest, piercing the dark blue material.

"You have got to be fucking with me," the super-soldier says as he thuds to the ground, the tranquilizers going to work immediately.

Steve's eyes slowly close and the last thing he sees is Yelena pulling her gun from her holster and taking cover behind one of the bedroom walls.

Time Skip:
Steve woke up on one of the red padded mats in a locked-in a nice cell where he is separated from the outside world no doubt by planes of bulletproof glass. He rubbed at his bleary eyes, his head was pounding immensely hard as if he had a hangover.

"This must be what Natasha feels after she has had too many shots of vodka," Steve muses to himself.

That's when he immediately realized that Natasha was nowhere near him.

"Kitten?" He desperately calls out.

His call was answered by a grunt from the cell adjacent to his.

"Alexei?" He says.

"No, it's Natasha," Alexei says in a squeaky voice, "Of course it's Alexei, who else would it be? And you seriously call my daughter 'Kitten'? She must hate it."

"Fantastic," Steve mutters to himself, "I am trapped with the second most egotistical man on Earth."

"My ears still work. And why am I second?" His thick Russian accent asks, "You know what, I don't even want to know the answer, as long as I'm not first. Now, let's try getting out of here."

Alexei begins punching the glass then throwing all of his weight against it. Nothing seemed to faze the glass, it was as if it was made of tungsten.

Natasha wakes up as she hears the loud thudding coming from the cell next to hers.

"This is a great way to wake up," Natasha thinks to herself. "Alexei," she calls out.

Natasha slowly sat up as Alexei sat down on the red mat, completely worn out from his boxing match with the impenetrable glass door. Alexei, defeated, walks to the mouth of the cell and presses his forehead against the glass, mashing his face against it so his breath fogs up the door.

"Natasha," he says, "I can't save us. I need you to know that I'm sorry. I pledged my life to a cause that I thought would mean that I was very brave, possibly the bravest, but I wasn't really brave. I was cowardly."

He lets out a defeated sob his face still mashed against the glass. He slowly starts sliding down the door, dragging his face along the smooth surface.

"And a killer. When they came and took you away from me— no cause is worth that. You should only sacrifice yourself. To think that—"

His big speech is interrupted as the glass doors slid open. Alexei waves his hand through it as if to check if he was hallucinating or not. He stands up and grabs his helmet. He and Steve quickly exit the cell before the doors can close again.

"How did you do that?" Steve asks Natasha.

"I designed these cells myself," she replied but this time, with a heavy Russian accent.

Realization dawns on his face as he realizes that the woman in front of him wasn't his Natasha. Melina reaches to the top of her face and pulls the mask off.

"What?" Alexei says in utter shock, "What?? I bared my soul to you and it was just you the whole time?"

"Yes," Melina replies, "I'm afraid so, but wait— I'm on comms with Yelena."

She touches her earpiece and Alexei does the same.

"Yelena, it's me. It's mama," she softly says with a caring tone, "You have a two-inch blade concealed in your belt line."

Melina waits a few moments for Yelena to recollect herself, "Outside right hip."

She waits some more and taps her foot as her daughter disarms and knocks the doctors unconscious.

"Don't throw a fit," Melina says, "There wasn't time."

"Okay girls, I'm having trouble hearing you, but Natasha, there's something I need you to know. I need you to know that I... I'm sorry— no more excuses, okay? I gave my life for a cause, I thought I was being brave—"

Steve watches with amusement as Melina slowly approaches Alexei to tap him on the shoulder. He fishes out some granola bits, nuts, and dried berries from one of the many pockets on his belt. He eats his food as if he's watching an extremely interesting reality TV show. Melina taps on Alexei's shoulder to get him to turn around.

"You don't— you don't have earpiece," she says.

"What?" Alexei says, extremely confused.

"No, she can't hear you. You don't have earpiece!"

"Why not?" Alexei reaches his gloved hand into his ear and wiggles it around as if an earpiece will miraculously appear in there.

"It wasn't part of the plan."

"Well then, what's the plan?" Steve asks.

"Natasha activated her tracker which means Ross will be here soon. We have to land the Red Room so that we can safely get off—"

"Wait, are you saying that we're in the air right now?" Steve asks.

Melina nods. "You have got to be shitting me," Steve says, "This will be the last and only time I will ever be on a flying building."

"Let me guess," Alexei says, "The ones you've been in before have all fell out of the sky."

"More or less."

"Of course," Alexei says.

"Don't give me that attitude," Steve says, "Let's hope for your sake that we don't get crushed under this mass of concrete."

Alexei gulps but tries his best to paint a brave face.

"Can I get back to the plan or shall I wait for your pissing contest to end?" Melina asks.

"Sorry," Steve says.

"I will go activate the landing protocol and we can descend within the hour. The only problem was, that we only had two earpieces. Which means that Natasha is facing Dreykov on her own."

Steve nearly spits out his granola as he hears this. He puts the rest of his snack back into his pocket.

"I've got to go help her," Steve says.

He's about to set off to god knows where since he doesn't even know his surroundings when the Taskmaster enters the room.

"I think she can handle herself," Melina says.

"Yeah," Alexei says, "Right now, we've got bigger problems. Like for instance, we just have to press buttons and hack computers and then I don't know, there's nothing for me to do and I want to— I want to break something, huh?"

"Yes," Melina says her eyes quickly clouding with lust. She peers over Alexei and Steve's figure to see an armored figure slowly approach them.

"Oh, there is something for the two of you to break," Melina says.

She silently leaves the room to continue talking Yelena through the steps of the plan as Alexei and Steve turn to see Antonia approaching them. Alexei squeezes his head through his helmet and pats his own forearms and then his thighs, he makes a pose mimicking something that a first-grader would do in drama class.

"Are you posing as a tiger?" Steve asks, desperately trying to hold in his laughter.

"At least it's better than your boring boxing pose," Alexei says.

"What's wrong with my pose? You look like you just came out of drama class," Steve says laughing.

Antonia flashes out her Panther claws and the signature swish of metal against metal brings the boy's attention back to the matter on hand.

sorry it took me so long to update!! i was preoccupied w filming, reading for class, and doing writing class :/ i'll update soon!! as usual, feedback is always welcome :) oh and sorry if this chapter seems a little short. i promise the next one will be longer —maddy

Chapter Text

hey guys, i’m sorry that i haven’t updated in a while. i’m currently busy with finishing my summer homework because my school starts next week and a i really need to get it done. i promise i’ll update as soon as i can and thank you to everyone who’s been commenting and leaving feedback!

—maddy

Chapter Text

Antonia throws Alexei through the glass wall and turns around to kick Steve in the groin. "Motherfucker," he exclaims as her foot makes contact with his groin. He drops to the ground immediately while Alexei stands back up and brushes himself off. 

"Are you gonna help or are you just gonna lay there?" Alexei asks as Antonia advances towards him. "I'm 90 years old give me a break," Steve says as he slowly gets up. 

By the time he's on his feet Antonia already has her arm wrapped around Alexei's neck. "Help," Alexei says between gasps. "What? You insult me and now you want my help?" Steve incredulously says, "Get your priorities straight man." 

Steve walks over to Antonia's shield and throws it at her chest with practiced precision. It hits her about a centimetre away from Alexei's chest and causes her to stumble back loosening her grip around Alexei's neck. 

Melina appears out of nowhere and lands a final kick on Antonia sending her stumbling back into the cell. With a heave of effort, Alexei slaps the cell shut. 

"We have to go," Melina says. 

The trio quickly runs out of the building and to the closest available jet. Melina quickly gets into the pilot seat and starts up the plane. "Do you see the girls?" "No!" Alexei yells to Melina. He tosses the shield he acquired to some part near the back of the plane. 

"Hold on!" Melina yells as the plane starts going into free fall. The two super soldiers roll to the front of the plane and hold on for dear life. "We need to go back," Melina says as she turns the plane back around. A group of Dreykov's minions begins shooting at them when Alexei picks up the shield and flings it at the one who lands on the roof of the plane. 

"Nice form!" Steve says. "Thanks!" Alexei says before the plane crash lands on the ground. 

Steve and Alexei help Melina limp out of the wreckage of the plane. "Mmph, I think my leg's broken," Melina says. 

"Nat?! Natasha?!" Steve desperately calls out. Natasha looks over to Steve helping Melina limp over. 

He sprints to her, faster than he ever has in his life. He picks Natasha up into his arms as if it's been a lifetime since he's seen her. He puts her gently back down and once again, they're centimetres away from each other's face. Steve tentatively brushes the stray hairs away from her face and brings her in by her waist. He crushes his lips into hers, his tears smearing her face. When their lips finally part, Steve says, "I've waited 7 years to do that." "What? You wait 7 years and you're only gonna kiss me once?" Natasha says. She grabs him by the nape of his neck and pulls him close, going onto her tiptoes to meet his kiss again. 

Yelena whoops and hollers while Alexei groans in disgust. They break apart, completely ecstatic. An expression dawns on Steve's face. "What's wrong?" "I thought I lost you forever," he says tearfully. "Aww baby, you'll never lose me. If history has proven anything, I'm too hard to kill." Steve embraces her in a tight hug. Steve eventually lets her go and Natasha looks to Alexei. 

"You for something to say?" "I'd just mess it up." He reaches out his hand and Natasha takes it. It's a sweet moment that's quickly interrupted by a loud roar of engines coming from the distance. 

"Here comes the cavalry," Natasha says. 

"So," Melina says, "What's our plan?" "You guys go. I'll stay," Natasha says. "That's insane," Steve says. "Exactly, we fight. We fight with you," Alexei says. "I'll hold them off," Natasha says. "Natasha," Alexei groans. "I'm not gonna lose you again," Steve says. All their voices pile on top of each other as they argue with Natasha. 

"You guys go," Natasha says. "Oh my god," Yelena exclaims. "Besides," Natasha says, "If it can work out between all of us, there may be some hope for the Avengers. Little bit." Natasha says with a smile on her face. She makes a 'little bit' gesture with her fingers. 

"Okay," Yelena says as she starts unbuckling her best, "If you're leaving, then I guess you should take this. I know how much you like it." Natasha walks over with a shy smile on her face and talks the vest from Yelena, "Shush... It does have a lot of pockets." "Very handy pockets, yeah." The sisters smile at each other momentarily before Natasha reaches into her pocket and pulls out a vial and the memory card. 

"He has Widows planted all over the world. Melina will need to copy the formula, but you'll be the one to tell them it's over." The group looks over as another vehicle sets down not too far from them. It's the Widows. 

Yelena walks over to them as they exit out of the plane. Natasha looks over to her sister as she joins the ranks of the Widow. She's finally found her place. 

Melina turns around to look at Steve and Natasha. "Hey, you take care of yourself, okay?" Natasha nods. "Promise me you'll take care of our Natasha?" Alexei asks Steve. "I promise." "Don't worry guys, we've got this," Natasha says. "I know," Melina responds. She turns to Steve and he says, "Well be in Paris in a month or two if you guys and Yelena want to meet up, okay?" Melina and Alexei offer him a soft smile. They limp/walk to the plane. 

Steve joins Natasha's side. "You don't wanna go with them?" She asks. "I would never leave you... You and me against the world remember?" Steve says. He looks over to her, "Are you ready for a new life?" "As ready as I can be," Natasha says. 

A Few Days Later:

Natasha and Steve managed to get out of the fight unscathed and they were now heading towards a rendezvous meetup with Maria. Natasha sat behind Steve as he accelerated the motorcycle. She leans her head into his back, soaking up his warmth. "You comfortable back there, kitten," Steve asks. She smiles into his back. In a few short minutes, they arrive at the rendezvous point where Maria is waiting. 

They walk up to her hand-in-hand and she immediately notices. "Glad to see that you guys finally got together and about damn time too," Maria says, "Anyways, as you requested. One quinjet." Maria says while petting the plane like it was her brand new gift. "Wow, Maria. This is impressive," Natasha says. "Why thank you. Just needed a little bit of time and persuasion is all. The jet's all fuelled up ready to go wherever you guys need it to... Do you guys know where you're going?" "Probably somewhere secluded to get the others out of the Raft and then wherever life takes us next I guess," Steve says. "Well then, good luck on your guys' journey. Call me if you ever need anything. God knows I've got a whole bunch of free time on my hands now." Maria gives each of them and hugs before leaving. 

"You ready?" Steve asks Natasha. "Of course," she says with a big smile. She climbs aboard the plane. 

"So, do you wanna fly?" Natasha asks. "No, I really don't." "Why not?" "I thought we already went over this?" His brows furrowed together with worry. Natasha stands onto her tippy toes and pecks him on the lips. "You're cute when you're worried."

hey guys!! sorry that update took so long and that this chapter was especially short. i promise the next chapters will be longer, but i might not update as often because school just started and i have a bunch of sat and ap prep that i have to get through this year so bear w me. anyways thanks for the continuous support!! as always, feedback is always welcome —maddy

Chapter Text

y'all ready for a little grey's anatomy crossover??

A few days later
Everyone was settled down. Scott and Clint were with their families; they were able to cut a deal with Secretary Ross for them to be able to be with their family, but with the requirement that they would have to be under house arrest.

Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda on the other hand, were still on the run. Choosing freedom instead of captivity, the four fugitives found safety in an old S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse belonging to Maria Hill who was nice enough to host them.

Steve was still coming up with a plan for Wanda to be able to meet up with Vision and stay with him, but being the overprotective brother figure that he is, he didn't want to put her in harm's way.

"Steve, we'll be fine. We'll stay in Scotland, we'll even use disguises if that makes you feel better," Wanda says.

Steve still looks unsure, "But what if you guys get hurt, or worse?"

"They won't," Natasha says walking into the kitchen where the discussion is being held, "They'll contact us if they're in trouble, right?" She was donning Steve's sweatshirt that made her frame seem impossibly smaller with a pair of Nike shorts underneath. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun with blonde flyaways framing her face.

Wanda vigorously nods.

"Natasha's got a point, Steve. There are very few people that would be able to hurt a telekinetic and an android," Maria chimes in.

"Fine," Steve caves, "But promise me that you'll contact us at least once a month, doesn't have to be anything big. Just send us some sort of signal that you guys are safe."

Wanda nods, "I will."

Steve pulls her into a hug, squishing her face into his dark blue sweatshirt, "I'm gonna miss you, Wands."

"Me too, Stevie," Wanda says.

They finally break away from each other and Wanda turns to Natasha to give her a hug.

"Make sure you take care of him okay?" Wanda says.

"Of course," Natasha embraces Wanda. She turns to Maria, "Thank you so much for taking care of me."

"It was my pleasure, I'm gonna miss your wonderful cooking skills," Maria says and gives a nod of her head.

Wanda pulls away and grabs her duffel bag. She starts walking towards the door when Sam rushes down the stairs adjacent to her.

"Don't I get a goodbye hug?" Sam says.

Wanda smiles and drops her bag, "Of course you do. Sorry, I thought you were still sleeping."

"I'm not about to sleep through the farewell of one of my favourite young Avenger."

Sam embraces Wanda tightly, "I'm gonna miss you, kiddo."

"Me too, Birdie."

Wanda pulls away from him and sees Vision appear in the doorway of the little cottage. She walks over to him and takes his outstretched hand.

"You ready?" "As ready as I can be."

Wanda gives one last look to the cottage and the four people who have taken care of her the last few weeks and years. She gives them a small smile before launching into the air with Vision.

Natasha notices sniffling coming from the figure beside her.

"Are you crying?" "No," Steve says, "Just got some dust in my eyes." "Aww baby, it's okay."

Natasha pulls him into a hug, "Why don't we go upstairs? I've got something I want to talk to you about."

The pair walk up the stairs to where the bedrooms are located while Sam helps Maria begin preparing dinner.

Steve and Natasha make their way to their bedroom where they sit on the bed. The mattress sinks under the two of them, supporting their weight.

"What do you want to talk about, kitten?" "I want to get a uterine transplant."

"A what?"

Natasha turns to face him and brings her legs up to her chest. "A uterus transplant. I want us to have kids," Natasha says and she takes his hands into her own.

"Are you sure about that? I mean we could always just adopt."

"I know. Maybe somewhere further down the line we could adopt, but I want to experience the full breadth of motherhood, I want- I want to breastfeed my baby and go through the experience of childbirth. I want all of it, even the painful parts."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I know that there would be risks involved, but I want to do it," Natasha chews on her lip and looks to Steve waiting for an answer.

The sun shifts and filters through the window leaving a rainbow ray on Natasha's face. It shines on her medium-length blonde hair. Steve looks at her and offers her a lopsided grin.

"Then let's do it." "Really?" "Yes, yes! I've always wanted kids, but I've never found the right person until I met you." "Not even with Peggy?" "Not even with Peggy."

They're suddenly interrupted when Natasha's phone starts ringing. She picks it up and Melina's name flashes on the screen. She answers the call.

"Mom?"

"Hi baby," Melina answers, "I'm so glad you picked up. Your dad and I were wondering if we could stay with you guys for a little while."

"Yeah sure. Is there something wrong?" Her eyebrows knit together in worry.

Steve noticed the expression on her face. "Is everything, okay?"

She holds up a finger making a "quiet" motion.

"No, no. We just need somewhere to lay low for a little while. Some of your dad's old prison friends got out and there looking to settle a score."

"Of course they are. Well then, we're at 3 Rue des Vieux Moulins in Kaysersberg, France. Yeah, knock three times in a row, wait one second then knock once, wait one more second then knock twice."

"Okay, thank you, Natasha."

"Of course, momma. Stay safe, okay? Bye-bye."

"Well?" Steve asks when Natasha hangs up the phone.

"Looks like my parents are gonna come stay with us for a little while."

"That's fantastic! More time for me to get to know them better."

"Steve, Natasha!" Sam yells from the first floor, "Dinner's ready!"

Steve smiles and stands up to open the bedroom door. He unlocks the door and the smell of spaghetti and meatballs waft through the doorway.

"It smells good," Natasha says.

"It won't be as good as Wanda's cooking though," Steve says sadly.

"True," Natasha responds, "Let's just hope she taught Sam a thing or two before she left."

—

The four of them sit together at the dinner table as they eat the spaghetti in peaceful silence. The clacking of utensils on dinnerware is the only thing that fills the air.

Maria notices that Natasha keeps looking at Steve and finally puts down her fork in frustration.

"What is it?" Maria asks.

"What?" Natasha says in utter confusion.

"There's something going on, so spit it out."

"Fine..." Natasha says, "Steve and I have decided to have a kid together!"

Maria covers her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god, really?" "Yes!" "I'm so happy for you!"

Maria stands up from her chair and embraces Natasha tightly. Sam claps Steve on the back.

"Way to go man. You're finally gonna be a dad."

Steve smiles sheepishly.

"Are you guys gonna adopt, get a surrogate?"

"I'm gonna get a uterus transplant and we'll maybe adopt a kid somewhere further down the line."

"That's fantastic! Have you guys found a doctor to do the transplant yet?"

"Uhm, no. We just decided together today to do this."

"In that case," Maria says, "I have a great doctor to recommend to you guys. Some of her friends were thinking about working with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a little bit, but they decided against it."

Maria scribbles down a phone number on a nearby napkin.

"That's the phone number for... Dr. Addison Montgomery. She's the best OB/GYN's in the United States."

"Maria, you do realize that we're living in Italy and that we're fugitives, right?"

"Of course I realized that. I'm sure she would love to fly here. Besides, she owes me a favour anyways."

—

Natasha stares at the bright fluorescent of the room as she fiddles with her hospital gown. She shifts uncomfortably on the patient table as Steve drums his fingers on his knee.

Addison finally opens up the door and walks into the room.

"Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait, but I needed to double-check. In terms of getting the surgery, you seem like a very good candidate. You're in great health and in tip-top condition. Now it might take a little while, anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. But when we get a donor, I will let you know, and then you'll come in for the surgery," Addison says.

"Great!" Steve says.

"How long does the surgery take?" Natasha says.

"It usually takes around four hours, eight hours if there are any complications. Any more questions?"

Natasha shakes her head.

"Okay then," Addison continues, "I'll just give you a quick checkup, and then you'll be free to go."

Natasha sits up on the patient table as Addison removes her stethoscope from around her neck. She moves her bright blonde hair to the front of her body and places the diaphragm up against her back.

"Deep breath," Addison says.

Natasha took in a slow, controlled breath and let it out.

"Good, again," Addison says as she moved the diaphragm to the other side of her back. Natasha takes in another deep breath.

Addison moves the diaphragm to her chest. She repeats the process again. "Everything sounds great!" Addison says, "Now I'm gonna need you to lie back, I'm gonna check your abdomen."

Natasha lays back on the patient table and the paper crinkles underneath her. Addison places her hands where Natasha's kidneys are located.

"Okay! You seem to be in tip-top condition so I don't think we should be expecting any complications in surgery. Now for the surgical team, Dr. Arizona Robbins and Dr. Carina Deluca will also be on the team. They should be arriving a day or two before the transplant."

Steve stands up and moves to Natasha's side. He clasps her hand into his own. "Thank you so much, Dr. Montgomery."

He shakes Addison's hand using his free hand. "Of course, if you guys have any questions regarding the surgery, please feel free to call me. I don't want you guys to be worrying about anything," Addison says.

—

By the time they pulled into the secret garage of the safe house, the rain had started pouring. Lightning split open the stormy grey sky as Natasha watched in awe. She was never not fascinated by the effect of rain on the surrounding environment.

Natasha steps out of Steve's slick black jeep and they walk up from the garage and into the safe house together. They're greeted by the loud conversation happening between Maria, Sam, Melina, and Alexei.

"You were really in a Russian prison?" Sam asks in complete disbelief.

"Of course!" Alexei booms, "Do you not believe me? I even beat this huge 6'4" guy in arm wrestling. He has a razor blade for an arm now." Alexei was talking animatedly with his hands gesturing here and there. Natasha noticed that he had cut his long hair into something a little tidier and trimmed his long prison beard. He was wearing a loose black t-shirt with some faded blue dad jeans.

"Nah, no way man. I don't believe you," Sam says.

"You want to test my arm wrestling prowess?" Alexei says rolling up his sleeve.

Natasha quickly steps in before anyone's arm is broken, "I'm sure there's no need for that. There are plenty of other ways to prove your strength such as... carrying in the groceries that we picked up on the way here. Whoever can bring in the most bags wins."

Maria stifles a laugh as Sam and Steve rush out to the jeep loaded with groceries. Alexei looked down to see his daughter's green unblinking eyes staring at him. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "It so good to see you, sweetheart, but I gotta go. I've got some important business to attend to."

Natasha snorted as Alexei briskly followed the boys out to the car.

"Hiya momma," Natasha says and gives Melina a big hug.

Melina was wearing an oversized grey knit sweater and simple black jeans, her raven hair cascaded around her shoulders in waves.

"That was clever," Maria says, "How did the appointment go?"

"It went well," Natasha says.

"What appointment?" Melina asks.

Natasha turns to Melina, she had completely forgotten to tell Melina about the decision that she and Steve had come to.

"Oh right! I haven't told you yet," Natasha takes a seat on a barstool by the kitchen island and motions for Melina to do the same, "Steve and I decided to have kids together so we had an appointment with Dr. Montgomery, an OB/GYN from the states, today."

Natasha chews her bottom lip nervously afraid of how her mother was going to react to the news.

"I'm gonna be a grandmother?" Melina asks ecstatically.

"Yes," Natasha says and she looks up from her fiddling fingers, "You're not upset?"

"Why would I be? I'm gonna be a grandmother!" Melina stands up and gives her daughter a big hug, showering the top off her head with kisses.

Alexei, who had just walked into the room, overheard their conversation and dropped the groceries he had by the doorway of the kitchen.

"Who's becoming a grandmother?" Alexei apprehensively asks.

Melina breaks apart from Natasha, both women with happy unshed tears in their eyes. Melina walks slowly towards her husband.

"We're gonna be grandparents, Alexei," Melina says.

Alexei covered his mouth in shock, "Really?"

Natasha nodded happily and Alexei ran over to her and picked her up squashing her in a big bear hug.

"C'mere," Alexei said to Steve, motioning him to give him a hug. Steve unabashedly smiled and walked over to the pair. Alexei wrapped his right arm around Steve's big frame and squished him into the bear hug.

When he finally lets them go, they're both quietly gasping for air.

"This is the best news I have ever heard," Alexei says.

"Well then," Maria says and clasps her hands together, "I'm sure that we are all famished. I'll get to starting dinner."

—

Natasha let the warm water plaster her blonde hair to her hair, she let out a soft sigh; feeling relief from the relaxing bath. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her wet body, she towelled her hair off as she headed into the bedroom that she and Steve shared. She smiled as she saw Steve completely passed out on the bed, snoring softly.

She grabbed a nearby dark red sweatshirt that most likely belonged to Steve and threw on some grey sweatpants. She worked her way into Steve's side and wrapped an arm around his midsection. Steve felt the intruder wrap themselves around his body and opened his eyes to see Natasha resting her head on his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her, bringing her closer to his chest. She looked up to him through hooded eyelids, green meeting blue. A couple of unspoken lines dialogues exchanged in between the two of them. He leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips.

They slowly dozed off into sleep only to be awoken by an abrupt knocking on the front door a few hours later. Steve glanced at the clock through his bleary eyes and saw that it was 4 in the morning. He quickly woke Natasha.

"Babe, there's someone at the door," Steve says with urgency.

"Wha?" Natasha says instantly alert. She hops out of bed instantly slipping into her training and grabbed the handgun located under her bed.

She followed Steve out of the room and see Sam poke his head out of his bedroom, Maria creeps out with her own gun, and Melina and Alexei slowly doing the same.

Natasha makes some motions towards Maria and she nods, quickly understanding her signals. They slowly creep down the stairs slowly avoiding any noises that would alert the people at the door.

The knocking continued with more ferocity. Natasha slowly but surely crept to the door, peering through the peephole only to be met with a black leather coat. Maria and Melina stood to the side of the door with their guns raised. Natasha signalled a countdown with her fingers.

"3... 2... 1..." She quickly opened the door and the two brunettes posed to shoot, but they were met with the towering figure of Nick Fury.

"Nick?" Natasha and Maria both said with shock.

"Don't look so surprised. Did you not think that I wouldn't hear about the breakup between the Avengers? Or the fact that you and Rogers were gonna have the baby. Oh or maybe the fact that you had a family? That's right," Fury says, "I know all about the shenanigans you guys have been up to."

The occupants of the safe house stared at Fury with their mouths agape.

"What are you all doing standing there? Get me a drink would ya? Vodka, neat. Please." Fury added.

Natasha raised her eyebrow at the one-eyed man, "It's 4 in the morning, Nick."

"Well, I just got in from California so it's technically 7 am," Fury stated.

Maria opened her mouth to argue with him but Fury interjected before she could say anything.

"Ah, ah, ah. You better not argue with me on this, Hill."

Maria grumbled under her breath something about his liver and how he was gonna die faster if he didn't listen to her.

"I may only have one eye, Hill, but I still have two perfectly fine ears," Fury says, "So is anyone gonna invite me in or..."

"Right, right," Natasha says, "Come in."

Fury stepped into the not-so-small safe house, his black leather coat patterned with the rainwater. Natasha checked to see that the street was empty before closing up the door and locking it once more.

"Well this is a nice house," Fury says.

Steve walks from the kitchen, a glass of vodka in hand. Fury takes the glass.

"So," Natasha says, "How did you know that Steve and I were planning on having kids?"

"Don't you remember?" Fury says, "I have eyes and ears everywhere."

"Of course, how could I have forgotten," Natasha says as she rubs the bridge of her nose.

"Why do you want, Nick?" Maria asks as she tucks her gun into the back of her jeans.

"Just to check up on you guys and asked what the hell you guys were thinking and who came up with the genius plan to break apart the Avengers."

"We didn't have a choice, Fury," Steve says as he crossed his arms.

Melina and Alexei slowly tried exiting the conversation as they saw that it didn't involve them.

"You two aren't going anywhere," Fury says as he sees the pair trying to leave, "I'm not done with questioning you."

Fury moved towards the kitchen and sat down at the dining table as the rest of the group followed them. Maria and Natasha opted to stand as the rest of them sat down.

"So? Are you gonna give me an explanation or not?" Fury says.

"I really wouldn't pull on that thread if I were you, Nick," Maria says.

"No, I want to know what the hell happened," Fury says.

"We didn't have a choice, Fury," Steve says.

"Of course you had a choice, you guys could've— I dunno— worked out a consensus between yourselves? Now that the Avengers have split apart, more criminals have risen up seeing that no one would be able to stop them."

He's met by confused expressions and he raises his eyebrow.

"Batroc? Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine? Zemo? Nothing? Do you guys not watch the news or something?"

Natasha shook her head.

"Agh whatever, my point is, the world saw the Avengers break up and they're starting to lose hope. Nonetheless, that's not the only reason I'm here. I heard about the four of you plus your sister bringing down the Red Room," Fury says pointedly to Natasha.

"You know about Yelena?" Natasha says.

"Of course I do. Very well done if I may add."

"What do you want, Nick? I mean you obviously came here for a reason," Maria says.

"I'm here to offer you guys a position back at SHIELD. We're officially back up and running seeing that the Avengers won't be getting back together anytime soon, I took matters into my own hands."

He looks around the group and no one speaks up.

"No takers? Okay then, I guess I better get back then. Got a cat to feed and everything."

"A cat?" Steve asks.

"Yes, Rogers. I have a cat. Now if you guys need anything, I'm sure you'll know how to contact me," Fury says before walking briskly out the door leaving no trace of his presence except for an empty glass.

whew that was a lot of writing oml. anyways lmk if u guys liked this chapter!! oh also not that anyone cares BUT I GOT A JOB OFFER WHICH MEANS IM FINALLY GONNA EARN MONEY YESSS so yeah that was just a quick life update for u guys —maddy

Chapter Text

"Well that was strange," Melina said.

Natasha chuckled, "That's certainly one way to describe him. So, now that that's over, I think I'll be heading out to run an errand."

As walked past Steve she trailed her hand along with the fabric of his grey shirt.

"You coming, мой суперсолдат?" She said and shot him a sly wink as she disappeared into the garage. Steve helplessly looked around the room.

"Don't look at me, man," Sam said and put his hands up.

Steve swiftly walked towards the garage, "See you guys when we're done, I guess."

Alexei groaned in disgust. "You know, we're no better than those two," Melina said, "Come on, Crimson Dynamo. Let's go get some sleep."

The raven-haired woman led the ex-convict as he protested with the name she gave him up to their bedroom.

"It's Red Guardian— Lena told you to call me that, didn't she."

"I'm not saying a word," Melina mimed zipping her mouth shut.

"Well, I guess that just leaves you and me," Sam said, sending a flirtatious wink Maria's way.

"Not a chance, Wilson," Maria said while smirking, "I'm going on a run."

"Maybe I could join you?" "Only if you can keep up!" Maria called out as she headed up to her room to get changed, "Although, I really do doubt it given that you're more used to flying."

Sam opened his mouth, fully ready to make a comeback but Maria was already in her room.

—

"So," Steve said as he sat in the passenger seat of his jeep, "What errand are we running?"

Natasha casually chewed on her gum, "I'm not telling you."

She smirked at Steve.

"Seriously? I can't even know where we're going?"

"Nope," Natasha said as she turned the corner and an abandoned barn came into view.

"Woah," Steve said. The jeep slowed to a stop and Natasha stepped out of the car.

"How'd you find this place?" He asked.

"I was on one of my morning runs when I found it," Natasha said. She took Steve's hand and led him into the barn, "I took it upon myself to spruce it up a little."

Steve followed Natasha up the rickety stairs each step creaking under their weight. She led him into the loft of the barn. A quilt lay in the middle, surrounded by a mountain of blankets. They had a view of the little town. The floor itself was adorned by fairy lights making it seem all the more magical.

As if on cue, rain started pattering on the wooden planes of the roof creating an ethereal and tranquil sound. Natasha admired her handiwork as Steve stepped towards her, but this time, something about his approach was different. He was gentler as if he was afraid of hurting her. He cradled her face into his own hands, cupping her chin. He leaned down and enveloped her lips with his own.

Natasha wrapped her arm around his neck pulling him closer. They moved together in an angelic way, responding to each other's movements. The smell of wet grass and dirt wafted up to the second floor as Steve kissed down Natasha's neck, slowly nipping at the soft skin as she arched into his kiss. He began slipping her coat down her shoulders, but she brought her hands up to stop him.

"Wait," she said.

"What's wrong?" He asks, "Do you want to stop?"

"No, no, but can we go slow?" Natasha nervously chews on her lip, "I haven't done this with anyone since I had to sleep with people to get intel."

"That's okay. We can go as slow as you want, kitten."

Natasha gave him a soft smile and began sliding her hands up his sides. She tugged at his shirt and he immediately got the message. He pulled his grey shirt over his head, his bare chest hitting the crisp air.

He gently lead her backwards and laid her down on the blanket. He began trailing butterfly kisses on her chest all the way down to her navel. He slowly began sliding her tank top over her head and pulling her jeans down, leaving her in her undergarments. He came back up and kissed her on the lips, his hands slipping behind her back to unclip her black lace bra. He moved over to her neck, sucking on her pulse point. Natasha moaned in response and carded her hands through his hair.

He stops and looks up at her lovingly, "I adore you."

Natasha's heart constricted then swelled with love. All her life she was taught that she was unworthy— incapable of love, but finally, she had found someone who taught her something different; that she deserved to be loved.

She gazed into his oceanic eyes, getting lost in their light blue hue. She felt as if she could stare at those eyes forever. She gripped the back of his neck and brought him up to eye level. She rested her forehead on his.

"I adore you too," she whispered back.

The sky began turning dark as thunder rumbled in the distance. The sky roared and the wind whistled around the barn, shaking the walls. The fairy lights flickered slightly as Natasha flipped them over so she was on top of Steve.

She fumbled with Steve's sweats, quickly untying the drawstring. He lifted his hips allowing Natasha to slip off his navy sweatpants.

—

Natasha lay on Steve's chest, their nude bodies were covered by a blanket, keeping them warm despite the intense activity they just had. The air had turned colder with the continuous rain.

She took a manicured finger and stroked his chest, admiring the way it rose and fell with each breath he took.

"I could stay here forever," she said.

Silence filled the air as they cuddled together, sharing each other's warmth and comfort. She tangled her legs into his.

"Have you thought about names for when we have kids?" Steve asked.

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought.

"I was thinking James if it's a boy and Rain if it's a girl," Natasha said, "What about you?"

"Those are beautiful names," Steve said and he kissed the top of her head, "I like any names that you come up with."

Off to the side, Natasha's phone began vibrating. She groaned and rolled over to pick up the call.

"Hello?" Natasha asked, "Yes, this is she."

She took her phone off from her ear and put it on speaker.

"It's Dr. Montgomery," she whispered.

"Natasha? Steve?" Addison asked, "Do I have you both on the line?"

"Yes, we're both here," Steve answered.

"Great! Well, I have some good news. We found a donor! I'll need you both to come in so we can get you prepped for surgery. Dr. Robbins and Dr. Deluca are flying in as we speak," Addison said.

"That's fantastic news!" Natasha said, "We'll be at the hospital as soon as we can."

Natasha hangs up the phone and launches herself into Steve's arms, her eyes brimming with tears.

"It's happening!"

"I know! We should head home and pick up some clothes and let the others know."

Natasha stood up and began putting on her tank top and jeans. When they were all dressed, they rushed to the car since it was still raining. Steve got into the driver's seat and Natasha got into the passenger's seat.

—

Melina stumbled into the bedroom belonging to the frenzied Steve and the more calm Natasha. Steve was busy throwing clothes into a bag when Melina, with her charcoal black hair all tousled up, walked in.

"What's going on?" She asked while rubbing her bleary eyes.

"We're heading to the hospital," Steve breathlessly said while stuffing some clothes into the bags.

"A donor became available?" Melina's eyes shot wide open.

Natasha nods excitedly as Melina disappears into the hallway.

"I've gotta go make some coffee," she said.

"What else are we missing, what else..." Steve frantically said.

Natasha walked up to him and placed her hands on his face.

"Breathe," she said, "Calm down. Everything's going to be fine. The hospital is barely 20 minutes away. If we forget anything, the house is only a short drive."

"You're right," Steve said, "Pillows! That's what we need."

"Babe, the hospital has pillows, okay? Calm down."

"I know, I know. I'm just excited."

"Me too, but you don't need to act too frazzled."

She went up into her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. Natasha zipped up the duffel bag and grabbed a thick coat on the way out.

"Let's go," she said.

—

"Okay, Ms. Longbottom-" Taryn said, "That's a strange name..."

She looked down at her clipboard and Natasha raised a stern eyebrow at her.

"Excuse me?" She said, trying her best to feign offense.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry. I just thought that in my head and then it came out of my mouth. Oh god, Dr. Montgomery is gonna be so mad at me," Taryn said, her ears turning red with embarrassment.

Natasha let out a melodic laugh and the young resident visibly relaxed.

"Don't worry about it," she said.

Taryn narrowed her eyebrows at Natasha as something about this woman seemed extremely familiar.

"Wait a minute... Are you Natasha Romanoff?"

"Sadly, I'm not. Though you'd be surprised at how many times people have mistaken me for her," Natasha said.

"Huh. Okay then, please don't eat anything after midnight since we don't want you to aspirate during surgery. No clear liquids of any kind two hours before the surgery because again— we don't want you to aspirate. Now this is your hospital gown, we've got your compression socks here and if you need to use the bathroom, it's that door right there," she said and pointed to the door in the room, "Any questions?"

"No, thank you so much, Dr. Helm," Steve said.

She exits the room and closes the door behind her. Natasha grabs the hospital gown and heads into the bathroom to change.

—

Natasha settles herself down on the hospital bed, shifting slightly to get into a more comfortable position. Steve grips her hand as they wheel to the double doors where Steve would not be able to enter.

"I'm afraid this is where we'll have to leave you," Addison says.

"Bring her back to me," Steve says and gives a kiss to Natasha's forehead before letting her go.

"Don't worry, we've got this," Arizona says, offering him her brightest smile, "She's in the best hands."

Taryn, Arizona, Carina, and Addison push Natasha's gurney through the double doors and onto the other side.

Steve let out a sigh and went to go sit in the waiting room for her. Luckily for him, when he got to the waiting room, he was met with the familiar face of Sam and Maria.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asks.

"We thought you could do with some company," Maria says.

Chapter Text

"Let's get started shall we?" Addison said as the scrub nurse fastened on her surgical gown.

She held out a gloved hand, "10 blade." She made an incision horizontally from Natasha's belly button down.

"So," Arizona said, breaking the silence, "How are things going with Meredith? Last I heard you guys were talking about moving in together."

Addison peers over her mask at Arizona.

"What? I'm genuinely curious."

"Fine," Addison said and went back to working on Natasha, "What do you wanna know?"

"How'd you guys get together, when are you guys moving in, etc. Give me all the deets," Arizona said.

"Aren't you supposed to know all this?" Addison asked.

"Well, I only heard that you guys started dating, never any specifics."

"I'm sure neither Dr. Helm nor Dr. Deluca wants to hear this," Addison said.

"I'm fine with it," Carina said as she stood just inside the sterile zone waiting for the uterus.

"Me too," Helm said slightly clenching her jaw. She had a massive crush on Meredith Grey, but she still wanted to hear this.

"Fine," she said curtly, "She came to LA about a year after Derek's death, completely in shatters and we comforted each other in that time until we realized that we both wanted more than just a friendship between us."

"That's kind of sweet," Arizona said as she stopped one of the bleeders.

"That's a lot of scar tissue," Addison said, under her breath.

"Yeah," Arizona replied as they looked at what the Red Room doctors had done to Natasha.

"Whoever did this was clearly in a haste and handled the surgery with no care," Addison tsked in disappointment.

It was disgusting how the Red Room operatives and overseers cared so little about the young women and girls who did all of their dirty work for them.

"Someone call for Jackson Avery to fly here. I wanna make sure that she has as small a scar as possible with all that she's endured."

—

Steve paced around the waiting room, glancing anxiously at the doors where doctors were coming in and out.

An hour passed.

Then another.

Then another.

Then four more hours passed.

The clock counted down the time until at last Addison walked swiftly through the door followed by Arizona, Carina, and Taryn. Lastly, a guy with mesmerizing eyes follows behind them.

Their surgical gowns flowed behind them as they made their way over to the anxious Steve and the group of people that consisted of the residents of the safe house.

"How'd the surgery go?" He asked.

"We experienced some complications, but nothing we didn't anticipate," Addison said, "However, we did find quite a lot of scar tissue surrounding the place where she had her uterus taken out. We'd like to keep her for a few days, just to make sure her body can handle the transplant. But overall, the surgery went great. Dr. Avery here helped make sure Natasha had as small of a scar as possible."

"Thank you so much," he said and hugged Addison tightly.

"She did fantastic, Mr. Rogers," Arizona said just loud enough for the four of them to hear.

"You know my name," he said, surprised.

"You're a national hero, Captain. Of course, we know your name," she said.

He gave her one of his golden boy smiles, "Thank you, Dr. Robbins, Dr. Deluca, Dr. Avery."

"Dr. Helm here will lead you to her room," Carina said.

"Follow me," the resident chirped.

She led the groups of superheroes through the winding hallways before finally arriving at Natasha's room.

She lay in bed, still asleep. Her frame was incredibly small her red hair standing out from the blankness of the room. Her chest was faintly rising and falling, indicating that she was still alive.

Steve walked over to the side closest to the window and grabbed her IV-free hand.

Melina turned to Dr. Helm, "When will she wake up?"

"She should be coming around in just about a few hours," she said.

"Thank you so much," Alexei said and shook her hand.

The room was exceptionally quiet, nothing could be heard, except for the constant hissing of the ventilator which was helping Nat breathe, and the heart monitor, measuring her heart rate.

"She looks so small," Melina whispered.

—

Natasha groaned in her sleep, her eyes flitting awake. She began coughing at the intrusion in her throat. She could barely hear anything over the commotion of people rushing around her in her hospital room.

Someone began sliding the tube out of her mouth and the rough coughing turned into a harsh coughing fit that quickly dissipated.

"Hey, baby," Steve said.

Natasha became acutely aware of the man holding her hand by her bedside. She tried talking, but nothing came out except a soft raspy voice asking for water.

Yelena quickly poured a cup of water and handed it to the hospital patient. She took it and downed it in one go.

Nat licked her chapped lips to wet them, "Hey."

Her voice was rough like sandpaper, but Steve grinned in happiness to hear her talk again.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Tired," she said, "Did the surgery go well?"

"Yeah," Steve said.

The red-headed doctor walked in followed by Carina and Arizona.

"Ms. Romanoff," Addison said as the door closed behind her, "How are we feeling?"

"Good," she said and perked up.

"Well, I've got some good news and bad news. The bad news is you'll have to see me in a few months, but the good news is... you have a brand new uterus," Addison said.

Natasha covered her mouth in shock and her eyes began tearing up, "Really?"

Carina nods. Arizona nods. Addison nods.

Her hand instinctively went to where the surgery was performed. A ghost of something long gone had finally returned to her. The choice that she was never given, she had again. Anything would be up to her now. It was all her choice.

Her. Choice.

Natasha burst into immediate tears, "Thank you so much. Thank you so so much."

A wide smile graced Addison's face at the joy emitted from Natasha. This was why she got into the job. For these small moments of happiness. To see the joy on her patients' faces.

"My pleasure," she said simply.

—

Natasha was able to get home after two weeks in the hospital. Her incision had healed up nicely and there was barely a scar leftover; a testament to Dr. Avery's skillful hands.

Steve wheeled Natasha out of the hospital to their jeep where Yelena was waiting in the driver's seat to drive them.

"You got everything?" Steve asked Natasha.

"Yep," she said, "I'm ready to go home."

Steve lifted her out of the wheelchair and Yelena quickly opened the backseat of the car.

—

5 months later...

Steve and Natasha arrived back at their safe house in Italy after uncovering a local mafia that was terrorizing high school students. It was quick and easy work, but it made the two superheroes miss the big action of fighting with the Avengers.

Still in their suits, Steve pulled Natasha close to him. They were slightly covered in smoke, but Natasha's green eyes still stood out in the darkness of the night.

Natasha reached for the door underneath Steve's back and unlocked it. They stumbled into the little home.

"Are the others home?" Natasha asked in a whisper.

"No," Steve said, "Yelena's out looking for more widows, Maria and Sam went to go meet up with an agent who's still working at the Compound, and Melina and Alexei are out on a date night."

Natasha smiled mischievously, "That means we have the house to ourselves."

"That we do," he said.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Hmm. Let me guess."

He leaned down and kissed her deeply.

She ran her hand through his hair that was beginning to grow out. She gripped his neck with her other hand and jumped to wrap her legs around his waist.

He walked the both of them up the stairs to their bedroom, stopping more than once.

Steve nearly trips on the last step but catches himself in time. Natasha falls into a fit of giggles.

He lays her down on the bed they share and begins unzipping her suit. He peels off her suit and she lays on the bed in her undergarments, breathless. Steve gazed at her, his eyes twinkling.

Natasha feels the urge to cover herself and her hands move instinctively.

"No," Steve said, "Don't. You're beautiful. I love you and all your scars. They are a testament to how strong you are, my love."

He reaches behind his head to pull off his own suit. As it comes off, it reveals his muscular physique as a result of hours on end spent in the gym training.

Natasha's hair forms a perfect halo around her face. Her dark red roots have already begun appearing again.

Steve leaned down and began peppering kisses on her chest.

—

Natasha laid on Steve, their chests heaving. He brushed aside her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

He tipped her chin up and kissed her.

"I can't wait until I can carry our child," she said, beaming.

"Me too," he said, "You are going to look radiant."

Natasha smiled.

"They're going to look so beautiful," she said.

"And so loved," he said and kissed her head.

"I mean with a family our size, of course, they are," Natasha said.

"Speaking of family," Steve said, "What do you think about going back to the Avengers?"

"I would love to go back. Although, I'm not sure that we would be welcome back. Maybe in a little bit. Keep doing what we're doing until Ross stops stepping on our heels. Now that I'm thinking about it, we should probably move safe houses."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"What do you mean 'why?' Ross is bound to catch up to us soon and we haven't exactly been on the down-low."

"Fine. You make a good point."

Distant voices are heard coming from downstairs. Alexei is drunkenly singing an old Russian song as the front door slams shut.

"Shh, детка," Melina said, attempting to shush him, "Steve and Tash are trying to sleep."

Alexei let out a weird giggle, too high-pitched for his usual voice, "Shhh."

Natasha and Steve covered their mouths trying not to laugh.

They fall asleep in each other's arms. For the first time in a long time, they felt safe, loved, and peaceful.

—

Natasha woke in the early afternoon sun, basking in the warmth. She reached her hand over for Steve and found the bed empty. She sat up in a panic. She threw the nearest clothes she could reach and rushed out of the room.

She whipped the door of Melina and Alexei's room open and found only Melina.

"Where are the guys?" She asked.

"I don't know," Melina answered.

She sees the panicked look on her daughter's face and quickly walks over to her.

"They're probably just taking an early morning run. I'm sure they're fine," Melina said.

Melina was probably right, but Natasha couldn't ignore the feeling of fear in her gut.

—

It was dark. Pitch black.

Steve could only see tiny spots of light through the darkness of the bag over his head. He slowed his breathing down. He closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings and what he knew.

There were indistinct whispers from two men in front of him. A driver shushing them. A man next to him grunted. Steve only knew one man who made those types of noises when he was pissed off.

Alexei.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He subtly moved his hand over to Alexei's arm and started tapping on it in morse code.

This is Steve, he said.

Alexei's arm twitched a little.

Don't panic, he typed again.

The guards caught on to what they were doing. One of them stood up in the small space.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked innocently.

"Don't act dumb," the guard hissed. She brought one of his hands to Steve's shoulder and grabbed it roughly, "I don't like it when people lie."

She buried her fist in Steve's stomach, punching him hard.

Steve doubles over in pain. Unable to do anything because of his handcuffs.

"Keep your hands off of him!" Alexei said.

"What was that?" The guard asked, "I would've expected more from the man who was my father's right-hand man for years."

"Antonia?" Alexei asked in shock.

"You really think my dumb older sister could've captured two super soldiers on her own? She followed my father around like a sheep while I was left to defend myself. I became better than all of them," she hissed, " I am better. You will pay for what you have done to me and my father Captain Rogers."