Authors Note: This is my first Avengers story, so any feedback(positive and negative) and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated so I can make this story even better.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers
After the New York battle, all the Avengers decided to live together. They each had their own floor in Stark Tower. Over the next year, the Avengers noticed Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff growing closer 'till the point where anyone who saw them together would think that they were in a relationship. As much as they tried to hide the fact that they were together, Clint and Natasha lived in a tower full of superheroes and spies.
What the others didn't know was that after a little over two years of "dating" Clint and Natasha had escaped the tower on a quiet afternoon and walked down to city hall where they signed the papers and had their little secret wedding. It took them awhile, but eventually, they came to the agreement to tell the rest of the Avengers. It was no shock to either of them that when they told the other Avengers, they were bombarded by congratulations and smiles, even a, "I knew you two were together all along" from Tony.
Now that their secret was out they didn't have to walk around on eggshells around the other Avengers. They could be happy together- happily married in front of the others. What did come as a shock though was what happened no more than two months after they told the others.
Natasha stood leaning against the bathroom sink. She nervously drummed her fingers against the cold countertop. She glanced down at her phone. Bright numbers of the timer flashed back at her, 1:03 they read. One minute. In one minute Natasha would confirm what she already expected, but wasn't ready to believe. She drummed her fingers to the rhythm of second ticking away. When the timer finally beeped she took a shaky breath and flipped over the small plastic stick. Natasha's heartbeat quicken as she saw the two faint lines appearing on the little screen. She slid to the floor with the test in her hand. As much as she didn't think it was possible the nausea, fatigue, headaches all pointed to this: pregnant. After what the Red Room had done to her she knew it was next to impossible for her to get pregnant, yet here she was on her and Clint's bathroom floor with a positive pregnancy test in her hand.
After the initial shock wore off a new feeling set in. Fear. First, the nerves started in her stomach making her take deep shaking breaths in order to fight the urge to throw up. That feeling crept up her spine and her hands started to shake. Natasha's head was spinning, she couldn't think straight. How could this have happened? This wasn't supposed to happen. She was an assassin, she and her husband killed people for a living. How were they supposed to be parents, let alone good ones? Did she even want this baby? Did Clint? The question buzzed around her head making her dizzy. Somehow she made it to the bed she shared with Clint and fell asleep.
When she woke up it took her a moment to remember what happened. Then it all came rushing back to her, hitting her at full force like a bullet. Bullets, the thing she used every day to fight the bad guys. Babies shouldn't be around bullets she thought. Natasha rolled over and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. The clock told her it was only 6:30 pm, despite the dark New York sky outside her window. She slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. Standing alone in her room she had no idea what to do next. After the minutes ticked away, Natasha decided that home pregnancy tests can be wrong, even though she was almost sure it wasn't. Natasha got dressed in clean clothes and drove to a clinic half an hour away. In the car, Natasha kept going over everything in her head. None of it added up, yet at the same time, it all made sense. As she walked towards the clinic she felt totally lost and alone in this big world full of people.
After checking in with the nurse at the front desk Natasha sat down on the couch at the far end of the room to fill out some forms. Staring down at the page she had no clue how to answer some of the questions staring back at her. Name. That one was easy enough: Natasha Romanoff. The next few questions were easy enough, date of birth, address, insurance. As she flipped the page she found it harder to answer the questions. Job- classified, past injuries- too many to count, past surgeries-. She left that one blank, unsure how to answer it. After what felt like hours a nurse called out her name. She stood and followed the nurse down the hallway into an examination room. The nurse asked her basic questions about her health and then took her vitals. As the door closed behind the nurse Natasha looked around the room at the walls, they were painted a soft color as if it were designed to calm someone's fears. For Natasha, it only reminded her of her fears.
A little more waiting and a doctor appeared. She introduced herself as Dr. Ramos. She smiled as she greeted Natasha, but her brow furrowed as she read Natasha's paperwork. After going over the same questions and answers that she had told the nurse earlier Dr. Ramos looked at Natasha and signed. "It says here that your job is classified, you've been injured too many times to count and you left the question about past surgeries blank," the doctor. stated clearly. After a deep inhale and exhale Natasha readied herself for the conversation that was about to follow. "I can't talk about my job. As for the injuries I've been shot, broken bones. The scars and bruises tell most of the stories. It comes with the job," Natasha answered truthfully, "The thing about the surgery is that when I was younger I had a surgery performed that was supposed to sterilize me, it left me with a lot of scaring, yet here I am, possibly pregnant so…" The doctor. nodded in understanding. "For today we'll draw blood to confirm the pregnancy and do an ultrasound to see what we're dealing with," Dr. Ramos said. Natasha only nodded her head as the doctor. gathered the supplies to draw her blood. Natasha closed her eyes she the doctor. inserted the needle. Natasha could deal with pain, but there was something about needles that still scared her, they brought her back to her time in the Red Room.
When Dr. Ramos had finished she handed the blood off to a nurse who took it to the lab. "Now that that's over with I wanna do an ultrasound to see what we are dealing with. You mentioned some scarring earlier," she said as she pulled an ultrasound machine over to the side of the bed. Natasha lifted up her shirt and waited for the cold gel to follow. As the cool gel touched her skin it caused her to inhale sharply and she turned her head to look at the screen. Dr. Ramos started the ultrasound pointing out various things on the screen. Natasha wasn't really listening though. She was thinking back to the Red Room and her graduation ceremony. The memories flashed across her mind, each one drawing Natasha deeper and deeper into her thoughts. "I see what you mean about the scarring," Dr. Ramos said pointing to something on the screen, drawing Natasha back into the moment, "If you look over here you can see that little dark spot" Natasha looked at where the doctor was pointing. "That's your baby," Dr. Ramos confirmed. The doctor mentioned something about her blood work and not really needing it to confirm the pregnancy, but she wasn't listening. The fear set in again as she stared at the screen. That was her baby. Her and Clint's baby. "By the looks of it, I would say you're around eight weeks pregnant which would put your due date around the second week of October," Dr. Ramos said. Natasha nodded. "How much time do I have to decide whether or not I want to keep it," Natasha asked in a small voice. "The State is New York slows abortions up to 18 weeks. There are other options. But yes, you have some time to decide," Dr. Ramos offered, "but I just want to let you know that the state does require you to talk to a counselor and review your options if you do decide to go ahead with an abortion." Natasha nodded her head in thanks.
She head was swimming with questions and thoughts and concerns. The doctor was talking about prenatal vitamins and more check-ups and talking with her primary care doctor. It was all too much for her at the moment. After getting the prescription filled at the pharmacy down that hall, Natasha thanked the nurse on her way out and walked to her car. She sat in her car for at least 20 minutes before actually putting the key in the ignition and starting the car. Natasha had the intention of driving back to Stark Tower but instead found herself driving aimlessly through the streets of New York. After driving around for an hour or so she pulled over and went into a coffee shop. She ordered a cup of decaf coffee and then found a seat in a big chair next to the window. Looking out at the busy streets with all the people going different places. All the people who are good, mixed in with the bad people. The world was such a mess, Natasha wished she could be swallowed up by the chair she was sitting in. The world was a scary place, full of bad people who want to hurt her, who want to hurt Clint. Bad people in the world who would want to hurt their family and their baby.
As Natasha sat there and thought she decided that she couldn't make this decision by herself. She would tell Clint tomorrow, but for now, she was exhausted and overwhelmed.She got back into her car and drove back to Stark Tower. The elevator ride was uneventful, a casual exchange of hellos between her and Bruce Banner. After she got to her floor she walked to her bedroom, changed and fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, she heard the sound of breathing next to her. Natasha's brain immediately went to the worst case scenario, she reached down her hand hovering above her gun. Then as the sleep cleared from her head she rolled over and saw Clint fast asleep next to her. She let out a deep sigh of relief. As Natasha just sat in bed, she grew anxious and impatient. She needed to talk with Clint and she needed to talk now. Natasha grabbed his arm and shook him awake. As he rolled towards her their gazes met. Clint couldn't tell exactly what was wrong but he knew something was up. There was a look in her eyes, a look that said, "We need to talk."