It was only with the greatest self loathing and shame that I entered Tony Stark's tower. I ignored the protesting guards as I walked into his private elevator.

A million thoughts were racing through my mind. What had brought me to this? Why was I lowering myself to asking Tony Stark for help? Images of that night came creeping back. One stupid tryst with a supposed god. A single mistake that had ruined my life. Or at least it would. I hadn't told anyone.

Stark was working alone. He didn't notice my quiet steps across the floor.

"Stark." I said. I could still back out... It wasn't too late. But even as the words crossed ny mind I knew they were wrong.

"Natasha?" he turned, confused. "I thought you were in Johannesburg with Katniss?"

Clint. I hated to think of what this would do to him. We had always just been friends, purely platonic. But I knew he wanted more. This would kill him.

"No. I came back."

"Why? Is he still there?" Stark was frowning. I knew Clint had been telling people we were together. I had let him, in an attempt to make up for past sins. But then I found out.

"He is. I didn't tell him I was leaving." my voice was cold and cutting.

Stark frowned. He could obviously tell something was wrong. He just hadn't worked out what.

"I need help."

"With what?"

"I need to get to Asgard."

"What? Why?"

Stark was unprepared for what I said next.

"I'm pregnant."

He stood there, frozen with shock. No witty retorts. No sarcastic replies.

"And it's Thor's." I whispered. My voice cracked on the last syllable.

"Oh my god..." he whispered, putting the pieces together. He put an arm around me as I started crying.

As I desperately tried to stop the tears, I realized I had something I had never had before. A friend. Not an ally of war, a real friend. As much as I hated that it was anybody as arrogant as Tony Stark, I still appreciated it. It was new and unfamiliar.

"When did it happen?"

"The night before he left."

"Oh."

I pulled away and sat on the couch. "So there's going to be a half god on Earth. God help us."

I smiled waterily."Let's hope it does."

"What are you going to do? I mean, no offence to the guy, but I doubt he's going to be a great father trans-planet."

"That's where you come in." I whispered.

Stark frowned, looking confused. "Just throwing it out there, I'm probably going to be an awful father to my own kids, let alone somebody else's."

I smiled weakly at. "No, it's nothing like that. I need you to get me to Asgard."

Stark frowned again. "I don't think that's possible. Not without the tesseract."

"I need you to find a way. Please. You're a genius. There has to be some way."

"Well... Maybe... I'd have to do a lot of research... It depends."

"On what?"

"We know we can get to Asgard through the portal. What we don't know is whether Asgard is in the same universe."

"What do you mean? There's only one universe." I said, shaking my head.

"It's complicated... We don't know how this works. Nobody anywhere does."

"Is there a way Stark?" I snapped, annoyed by his abstract musings.

"I don't know. I need to find out more. I could talk to Selvig. He probably knows more about this than anyone on Earth."

"Please do. Just don't say anything about why."

I stood up to leave. At the elevator I turned.

"Tony. Thank you." I whispered softly.

He waved it off and went back to his computer.

I left and went to a shooting range outside the city.

My aim was off. Only by a tiny amount.

Eventually they closed. I walked around the streets, not knowing where to go. I hadn't thought about where I was going to stay when I came to New York. I went back to the city and checked into a hotel. I had dinner at the restaurant and went back to my room.

My dreams were haunted by huge babies that threw hammers at me and summoned lightning to attack me with. I kept on tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

At around 7 I gave up on being rested. I showered quickly and got dressed. I ate breakfast at the restaurant and caught a cab to Stark towers. The guards didn't protest again when I entered the private elevator.

It wasn't hard finding the bedroom. I listened for a moment outside the door to make sure I wasn't interrupting anything, but there was only Stark's loud snore's. I threw open the door and went in. I was starting to pull open the heavy curtains when they automatically flew open. Tony groaned.

"What?"

"Up. You have work to do." I looked around. He had pulled the blanket over his head and rolled onto his stomach in an attempt to block the light.

"Yes. Sleeping! And bad Jarvis. You obey me, not her." Tony grumbled.

"Jarvis, get him dressed and out of bed please." I said, leaving the room. I could hear Tony protesting against Jarvis but ignored it.

10 minutes later he came out, only standing with the support of a metal hand on his back.

"I'm reprogramming you Jarvis." he grumbled, loosening the tie that was neatly tied around his neck.

"Oh I'm so scared Mr. Stark." the computer responded. I laughed slightly. Even his computer was sarcastic.

"Thank you Jarvis!" I said sweetly.

"Quite welcome Miss. Romanoff. Should you require any other services I would be happy to serve."

"Oh that's it! You're getting deleted Jarvis! I always knew I should have made you a woman!" Tony roared.

I laughed again. "Coffee please Jarvis."

"Aren't pregnant women not supposed to have caffeine?" Tony grouchily said.

I had him in a chokehold in half a second.

"You never talk about that! Ever! It stays between the two of us!" I released him.

"You're getting off to a really bad start here. First you get me out of bed before midday, and now you nearly kill me."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you contacted Selvig?"

"No."

I sighed. "He set up a lab here right?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's only a couple of blocks away."

"It is sir. I can program the address into your phone's gps if you wish?" Jarvis interjected.

"Yeah. But I'm still mad at you."

I stood up and went to the elevator. Tony followed.

"Natasha. What are you going to do if you get to Asgard? What do you think will happen?"

I sighed. "I don't know. But he has a right to know, doesn't he?"

"I guess."

We got there in only a few minutes. Eric Selvig was reading a newspaper.

"Selvig." Tony addressed him. He looked up.

"Tony Stark? Black Widow?" he seemed confused and slightly scared.

"I need your help." Tony said.

"With what?"

"What do you know about how Asgard and Earth work with regards to space and time?"

I tuned out for the scientific stuff. I didn't understand most of it.

It went on for over an hour. I nearly fell asleep at some parts.

Eventually Tony tugged at my arm. I jumped down from the counter I had been sitting on and followed him out.

"So? Is there a way?"

Tony looked around uncomfortably. "Not here. Come on." He pulled me into his sports car and we drove back to the tower. He stayed quiet until we stepped out of the elevator.

"There might be a way. It would require ridiculous amounts of energy though. And it would take time."

"Can you do it?"

"Of course I can do it, I'm a genius! But it won't be easy. Everything will be tentative. Cautious. And I'm going to need that girl. Jane... Foster."

"Okay. How long will it take?"

"Months. At best."

"What?" I cried out. "This does kind of have a time limit Tony!"

"it's this or nothing."

"Fine. Start!"

"I need to talk to some people first. This is an entirely new area for me."

I sighed and nodded. I left.

The next few weeks were hellish for me. Th constant waiting and suspense. I went to Tony every day at midday. It was mostly just to make sure he ate since whenever I asked how it was going his reply was generally complete nonsense to me.

I started feeling some of the less pleasant side effects of my condition. I would throw up the second I got out of bed, and quite regularly during the day. My emotions were all over the place. Once I even cried.

Tony did his best to try and work faster but it wasn't enough. A month passed. I started showing.

One month and three weeks after I went to him he called me at three in the morning.

"Natasha. You have to get here. Fast."

I rolled out of bed. The nausea had slowly started fading. I threw on a pair of jeans, grabbed a sweatshirt and left. I ran out of the hotel and jumped into a cab.

Stark Towers was still bright.

Tony didn't look good. His skin was pale and his face looked dirty and unshaven. There was an enthusiastic twinkle in his eyes.

"Come here Nat. I had it for a few seconds."

"Had what?"

"An Einstein Rosen bridge. It was incredible."

"You've done it?"

"Yes. And look."

He handed me an orange with a note attached.

To whomever it may concern,

Throw this back if it is at Asgard. We will explain.

"I threw it in!" Tony said with glee.

"And it's fine?"

He nodded.

I was unconvinced. I pulled a knife out of my shoe and cut the fruit open. It was perfect and fresh. I carefully sniffed it and squeezed some juice onto my finger. I licked it carefully. It was fine.

"And you're sure this will work?" I said cautiously.

He nodded. "You should suit up."

I nodded. I went down a floor in the elevator. Fury had insisted we put all of our equipment in the same place. And keep it there. Unfortunately Tony was the only one guaranteed to still keep the same place. The rest of us were too nomadic.

The black fabric was tighter than usual. I barely managed to zip it up. I didn't leave a single gun or piece of equipment there. I had no idea how these gods would react to me.

"Ready?" he asked, regarding me carefully.

I silently nodded. Now wasn't the time to back out.

Tony started doing something with his computer.

Then suddenly a black hole appeared.

"Go!" he yelled.

Without hesitation I jumped in.