"I googled. The baby is the size of an orange by now." Steve said, smiling as he drove the car towards the hospital. "An orange?" Natasha said and he nodded, smiling. "He sure feels bigger. And you googled? I didn't know you could do that." She teased and Steve rolled his eyes. They got just in time for their appointment and didn't have to wait in the waiting room. Dr. Davis tried smiling as he saw Steve's face but was terrified to the bones. Natasha just smiled and sat down inside the room. "This is Dr. Bailey." Dr. Davis said as Steve shook hands with her. "I'll help Dr. Davis in this.. Special case." She said, smiling a bit. "I'm glad you didn't use the word crazy." Natasha said and Dr. Bailey raised her eyebrows as Steve chuckled a bit. He sat down on a chair next to Natasha who had laid down on the bed as directed. "So.. Have you had any troubles this far during your pregnancy?" Dr. Bailey asked and Natasha shook her head. Steve sighed at her. "Yes, the baby kicks. Extremely hard and it leaves bruises on her stomach. It hurts a lot." Steve said seriously. "Is the bruises still there?" Dr. Bailey asked and Steve nodded. "Let's have a look then shall we." She said and Natasha dragged up her shirt. Natasha's eyes met Steve's calm and she took a deep breath, letting Dr. Bailey look at her stomach. "Hm.. How big were they? It's hard to see any." She said and both Steve and Natasha looked down at the belly. The dark blue bruises had disappeared and all that was left was light blue hints of a bruise here and there. "No, they were there last night." Steve said. "Are you sure? Because I think it's impossible for them to disappear so quickly actually." Dr. Davis said and Steve shook his head, biting his lip. "No they were there last night. They can't have.." Steve began. "If the baby kicks a lot, bruises can appear but they're usually very small and it's very rare that it happens. I'm sure it's okay." Dr. Davis said and Natasha frowned a bit.
She sat up a bit on the bed. "Yeah, we're going to leave now." She said and all three of them furrowed their eyebrows, looking at her. "Natasha, what are you talking about?" Steve asked. "I apologise. Thank you for your time." She said, shaking hands with both of the doctors. Natasha walked out of the room and Steve followed her. "Nat!" He said loudly after her and grabbed her arm as he caught up with her. "We need another doctor." She said and Steve shook his head. "Who?" He asked. "I don't know. But we need someone who understands our situation." She said. "I don't think anyone can." Steve said and Natasha smirked. "Stark." She said. "Tony?" Steve asked surprised. "I'm sure he has some connections. There must be some other doctor that understands our situation. Maybe it's something with your serum." She said and Steve nodded a bit. "Fine. But let me talk to Stark?" He asked and Natasha nodded. "Still, how could those bruises just disappear?" Steve asked and Natasha let a hand lay on her stomach. "I don't know." Natasha said, shrugging her shoulders. They stood quiet for a few seconds, just trying to take it all in. "We'll talk with him after the mission tonight. Is that okay?" Natasha asked and Steve nodded. "Fine. But right after the mission. I don't want to wait any longer with this. Even if it is just for a few hours." He said and she nodded. "Good." She said. "So an orange you said?" Natasha asked him as they walked out of the hospital.  Natasha hugged his arm and he walked beside her with pride. "The size of an orange." Steve said, smiling. Natasha looked up at him, smiling as well. Though they were both overwhelmed of happiness by this pregnancy, neither of them could shake the feeling that something was wrong.

• • •

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Steve asked Natasha right as she managed to zip up her tight cat suit. She almost glared at him. She knew that he was just worried and caring but all those questions were getting tiring. "Steve, I know you're worried and all of that but just.." She began and he walked up to her, cupping her cheeks before pressing his lips on hers. "Sorry." He mumbled on her lips and Natasha sighed a bit as his lips parted from her own. Steve smiled a bit, walking over to the bed and grabbed his shield. Natasha watched him intensely. He sure looked handsome in that patriotic suit and she wanted to tell him just that, but she figured she'd save it until after the mission. She didn't want him getting cocky. Still, it was always hard taking her eyes off of that extremely handsome super soldier. She smiled a bit at him as he turned around and his eyes met hers again. "What?" He asked, looking at her suspiciously. "Nothing." She quickly said, biting her lip a bit as she gave him half a smile. She looked at him for another few seconds, enough seconds to make Steve blush a bit. "Let's go." Natasha finally said and Steve nodded, following her out, still feeling her eyeing him now and then.

• • •

The Avengers had been split up into groups as they were entering the heigh but old building. They were divided into three teams. Tony walked with Bruce, Clint with Thor and Natasha with Steve. That way, they could enter the three possible ways into the building without letting anyone escape. Unless they decided to jump out of a window of course or had a secret passage that Stark's tech couldn't detect, but the chance of that happening wasn't too big. Steve had insisted to be paired together with Natasha, though he didn't need to beg that awfully much to the other Avengers. Steve and Natasha was usually paired as partners and the other Avengers didn't want to come in between. By now, they knew that Steve and Natasha were pretty much inseparable. The only one to object a bit was Clint, still missing his best friend. Though he could sense that something was up as Steve's eyes so carefully watched every step Natasha took. Sure, Steve loved her but he knew that she could protect herself. Clint wanted to ask Steve why he was so overprotective, almost feeling like defending Natasha in that matter. She took better care of herself than all the Avengers combined. Still, he decided to just keep it in mind as Natasha walked off with Steve. Natasha had expected The XX's first hiding spot to be a bit more modern and not some almost abounded building but if she knew the group as well as she thought she did, she knew that the inside looked rather more modern than the outside. Steve walked closely behind her as they entered the back door of the building, meant as a secret passage.
They were faced by a hallway, leading up to an elevator. Natasha took a few steps in and Steve frowned. "Nat!" He said and she looked back at him. "Don't worry, I don't think they even have cameras down here. They don't want to waste their equipment. Especially not on this place." She said, hesitating a bit before pressing the elevator button. There was simply no other way to go, not even a staircase. Luckily, the elevator worked and Steve stopped beside Natasha, looking at her as she stared straight forward. Natasha could see Steve smirk a bit in the corner of her eye. They entered the elevator as it hit their floor and Natasha bit her lip a bit before pressing a button to take them to the seventh floor. The elevator was as modern as Natasha had thought and she looked around a bit for hidden cameras but found none. She looked over at Steve and saw him still smirking at her. "Why are you smirking?" She asked and his smirk broke out into a smile before he looked down at the floor. "I just get great flashbacks from elevators." He said, blushing a bit. Natasha couldn't help but smile as the memories of their first night together came rushing into her mind. Her back pressed towards the elevators walls as her legs wrapped around Steve's waist. His hands in her hair before they traced down all over her body while their lips pressed against each other's in pure desire and desperation. Natasha bit her lips, her mind getting a bit dizzy just by the memory. She glanced over at Steve and really had to try and keep it together as his handsome face looked back at her. His eyes were like poison, but a good kind. "Natasha?" Steve suddenly said and she felt the dizziness slowly fade from her mind. "Yes?" She asked, still not taking her eyes off his. "We reached the seventh floor." He said, grinning. "Oh, right." She said, snapping herself back into reality.
Natasha stepped out of the elevator first with Steve close behind her. He had his shield ready in his hands and Natasha held her gun out in front of her. They walked slowly, looking around the empty space. There wasn't even a single furniture in sight. The white walls and white floors made it all disgustingly clean and their shoes left dirty footmarks on the floor behind them. Sunlight reflected on Steve's shield from the big windows and Steve slowly stepped forwards them, looking down at the ground. "Seventh floor, secure." Natasha said into her earpiece. Steve looked back at her and Natasha sighed. "Let's go." She said and Steve followed her to the elevator again, smiling as he saw the disappointment in her expression. "Relax Nat, you will hit down some guys today." Steve said and Natasha looked at him over his shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said and pressed the button to take them to the eight floor. Steve smirked. The elevator doors opened and bullet shots hit the wall behind them. Steve threw himself towards Nat, pulling her towards the side wall as Natasha desperately tried to escape his embrace. "Steve, let go!" She shouted over the sound of bullets who made small round holes in the elevator wall. Natasha finally made it out of Steve's tight grip and held her gun tightly in her hands. "Get it together and cover me." Natasha said and Steve nodded before stepping out the through the elevator,  holding the shield in front of him as Natasha walked behind him, firing shots straight forward. They took a few steps into the room before Natasha ran to the right, jumping up on the wall and pushed away with her feet before she landed on an armed man who fell to the floor immediately. Natasha hit him in the face once before running toward another guy. Steve threw his shield and hit down two men when he heard Natasha laugh a bit. He looked over at her surprised as she hit down one man and kicked another one towards the wall. "Nat?" Steve asked, getting a smile on his face as he heard her laugh. "I've missed this so much." Natasha burst out as she took down a guy with her thigh grip.
Steve chuckled a bit as he grabbed a mans gun, throwing it to the floor before punching him in the face. As Steve looked at Natasha again, she breathed heavily with both of her hands on her waist. She had a huge smile on her face as six men was laying on the floor, passed out. Steve laughed as he looked at her satisfied smile. He almost felt sorry for bringing her to Venice. She sure had missed work. "That was fun." Natasha said, laughing a bit. "Eight floor, secure." Steve said into his earpiece. "Let's tie them up." He added. When all the men were tied up and put to the nearest walls, they went into the elevator again. "We have a situation on the ninth floor." Clint's voice was heard through their earpieces and they hurried towards the elevator again. They could hear shots firing in the elevator on their way up and Steve looked at Natasha. "Stand by the wall." He said and Natasha rolled her eyes. "New rule. I'm not your girlfriend during missions okay?" She said seriously. Steve smiled. "I don't think you've ever called yourself my girlfriend until now." He said, looking at her proudly. "Get over yourself, Rogers." Natasha said while she tried hard to not smile. The elevator doors opened and Thor's hammer smashed against the elevator wall. It soon flew back and placed itself in Thor's hand right before he hit down three men with it. Steve and Natasha hurried into the room only to see Clint and Thor fight against at least 30 men. "What the hell.." Steve mumbled and threw his shield towards a few men. Natasha started firing shots as Clint fired arrows. "Where did they all come from?" Natasha asked Clint over the loud noises. Clint shook his head as one of his arrows pierced right into a mans shoulder. "No idea." He said, hitting down a man with his bow. Steve looked over at man who pointed his gun towards Natasha and threw his shield on him. Natasha took down a guy with her thighs, chuckling while doing so, before she picked up her guns again. Another man pointed his gun at her and fired a shot. Steve's eyes widened and his legs moved faster than air towards her as he pushed her to the ground. Natasha fell on her back, surprised by the sudden fall as Steve fell on his side. "What are you doing, Rogers?" Natasha burst out as Clint fired an arrow at the shooter. Clint walked up to them as Thor hit down the last men with his hammer. "Cap what has gotten into you? Natasha can dodge a bullet!" Clint burst out with a hint of anger in his voice. Steve moaned quietly, holding his hand to his lower stomach as blood started to sip out from his side. "It could have hit the baby!" Steve said irritated as Natasha saw his wound. "Steve, are you okay?" She asked, making her way over to him. "It's fine. The bullet went straight through I think." Steve said, standing up a bit. "The what?!" Clint asked confused. "The bullet." Thor said, shaking his head at Clint's stupid question. Natasha's eyes grew a little as she looked at Clint. "Uh.. I.." She began but Steve interrupted. "She's pregnant." He said, holding his hand over his wound to stop the bleeding a bit. "Wait.. You're what? That's not possible, Cap. She's sterile." Clint said, not taking his eyes if Natasha. "I'm pregnant." She said and Clint shook his head. "What?" He burst out and Natasha nodded. "We don't have time for this now." Natasha mumbled. "Wait a minute. You're pregnant? And you let her go on a mission?!" Clint said, walking angrily towards Steve. "Are you nuts?" Clint burst out and Steve raised his eyebrows. "Try to convince her yourself." Steve said. "I tried." He added. "You're.. You're pregnant?" Clint asked again, looking at Natasha who nodded. Clint's angry expression broke into a smile. "Oh my god." He said, putting his hand on his own forehead. "Lila is going to love this." Clint mumbled to himself, trying to take in the information.

"What are you all chattering about?" Tony said as he entered the room with Bruce a few steps behind him. Everyone turned their head to look at them before Clint continued to walk around the room with his hands on his hips, processing the information. Natasha held her hand over Steve's, making her hand as red as his as his blood dripped out of the wound. "We need to get this fixed." Natasha said. "All the floors are secure. We'll call for back up to take this men away." Tony said, grabbing a gun from a passed out man. Clint followed Steve and Natasha to the hospital, quickly patching Steve up. The bullet had luckily gone straight through his lower stomach and with his super serum soldier in his blood, it would heal quickly. They then made their way to SHEILDs headquarters while Clint repeatedly  either asked them questions or muttered irritated sentences to Steve about letting Natasha take down armed men with her thighs while being pregnant. "I'm going to talk to Fury. You can't be with us on missions, Natasha." Clint said and Natasha frowned. "I know more about this group more than any of you. I'm coming." She said annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Nat, you're acting like a child. You are pregnant. What if something happens?" Clint said and Steve got goosebumps by those words. "I think Clint's right, Natasha. What if you do get injured?" Steve said, looking at her softly. Natasha rolled her eyes, sighing deeply. "I get that you're worried but there's nothing you can do that will make me stay home from these missions." Natasha said, stubbornly.

• • •

"You're pregnant?" Fury asked as the three of them stood in his office. Natasha felt ridiculous. It was so not professional and she felt like she had two little brothers by her side, gossiping to their dad. "Yes." Natasha said tiredly. "That's surprising." Fury said, raising his eyebrows a bit. "Congratulations." He said, smiling a little. "Thank you." Natasha said. "I'm assuming me joining the next few missions won't be a problem?" Natasha said, her voice serious and a bit tense. Nick nodded, smiling. "Of course you can't join the missions. In fact, if you follow them or even step a foot outside your apartment, you're fired." Fury said and Natasha got a surprised expression on her face. "What?" She burst out. "If you follow along on the next missions, you're fired." He repeated and Natasha laughed. "You wouldn't do that. You need me." She said seriously. "Not as much as you need us." Nick said and Natasha stared at him coldly for a few seconds before walking out of the room with heavy steps. Steve smiled at Nick. "Thank you." He said before hurrying after Natasha. Clint sighed deeply, sitting down in the chair across from Nick. "Kids." Clint said, shaking his head. "They grow up so fast." He said, biting his lip while nodding a bit. Fury stood up, staring down at him. "Was there anything else you needed, Agent Barton?" Fury asked and Clint bit his teeth together, giving Fury a smile before walking out of the room. Fury say down behind his desk, changing page in a file. "Kids." He said, scoffing.

• • •

"Natasha, wait!" Steve shouted as he got a glimpse of the red headed woman, walking out of SHIELD headquarters. "Wait for what? For this baby to plop out? Yeah, that's gonna take a while." She muttered and stopped walking as she reached the car. Steve almost chuckled a bit at that but tried to keep it together. "One mission. I got to go to one mission." She said, putting her hands on her waist. "Are you really putting your work before our child?" Steve asked and Natasha frowned. "You know I don't mean it like that." Natasha said seriously. "Well, it seems like you do. It's not your safety that concerns us. It's hers." He said, pointing at her stomach. Natasha bit her lip. "Fine." She said, getting into the car. Steve raised his eyebrows. "That was easy.." He mumbled, getting into the car as well.