Natasha took a seat in her office cubicle, ready for the day of work ahead. She logged onto her computer and brought up several case files that needed looking over. There were numerous different headshots of S.H.I.E.L.D's latest targets, along with page-long bios of necessary information. Normally, Natasha would have had first pick on which terrorist she wished to track down. However, her personal life got in the way in the form of a lemon-sized being resting in her belly. She smiled softly and let her fingers trace against the subtle swell of her middle. Natasha wasn't keen on the idea of giving up missions, but for her and Loki's little boy, she would gladly make the sacrifice. Her gaze shifted from her computer screen to a photo of a black and white blob that she tacked to the wall. The picture was only a few days old and Natasha wasn't used to having her son's first photo staring back at her, but something was very noticeably different about it today. Her soft features hardened as she snatched the photo off the wall to stare in disbelief. There on the silhouette of her baby's head was a set of long, curved horns drawn on in a metallic gold marker. The assassin scowled as her mind went to the most likely prankster responsible. She stormed out of her cubicle, ready to kill with only her fierce eyes. Sure enough, Tony Stark was in the lab, accompanied by Bruce and several trainees. "Stark, we need to talk!" she seethed.
Tony kept his eyes focused on the touch screen hanging before his face. "Give me a sec, 'mommy,' I've gotta work on this."
"'Work?!'" Natasha mockingly laughed at him as she approached his side. "'Work,' my ass!" She slammed her ultrasound photo against his screen. "You get so pissy when people touch your stuff, so what the hell is this about?!" she demanded.
Tony shot Bruce a look of warning and pointed towards the door. His partner nodded and forced the fellow scientists to leave the lab with him. "What? You don't think it's gonna come out with a wild helmet?" he asked Natasha with a playful smirk.
"That 'it' is my son!" the redhead snapped back at him. Something inside her broke, allowing for all of her rage to be taken out on Tony.
"Ok, ok," Tony nodded, "I'm sorry to Junior in there."
"That's not the only thing you better be sorry for!" She shoved the picture in his face.
Tony eyed his contribution to the picture and snickered. "It was just a joke. No hard feelings, Romanoff."
Natasha continued glaring daggers at the man. "That's not an apology!"
"Ok," he sighed with a smile. "I'm sorry… Now it's your turn."
"Why the hell am I apologizing?!" she shouted.
"That." Tony pointed a finger at her. "I feel threatened. And don't blame the hormones, 'cuz I can tell when you're royally pissed off with me."
Natasha loudly groaned. Tony was on her last nerve and all hell was ready to break loose. "You ruined my picture-of course I'm pissed off!" she lashed out.
"And I'm sorry," he stated. "How about you go tell Pepper what I did wrong and then we'll print out another picture for you," he suggested. Tony knew when to draw the lines with his joking around and now seemed to be a good time. The last thing he wanted was Natasha hulking out on him.
Her eyes fell to the photo, permanently ruined by Tony's addition. "It won't be the same," she said quietly. "This is the first picture we got of him…"
"It'll still be the same picture, though," Tony quickly added. "Just throw that one out after you get a new one."
"I'm not throwing away a picture of my baby!" Natasha's face suddenly grew hot. She felt her eyes sting and she cursed her erratic whirlwind of emotions. Tony didn't understand-the picture was solid evidence that her baby was real person inside of her, and a 'he.' Natasha's vision blurred and she hated herself for getting ridiculously worked up. It was just a picture... But the sentiment behind it mixed with raging hormones made it seem like it was the eighth wonder of the world.
"Natasha?" Tony's voice was full of concern as he watched her bowed head. She was going to smack him-he just knew it! He could already see her body shaking in fury.
No. No, Natasha told herself as she felt hot tears threaten to fall. She wasn't going to cry-not in front of Tony! He would never let her live it down! The cold and cunning Black Widow, brought to tears by a silly joke… She could already hear the laughter. A single tear escaped her and landed on the photo. There was an uncomfortable pause between the two after that. He knew. He knew she was on the verge of tears. She felt his reassuring hand rest on her shoulder and there was no holding back the tears after that. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you!" she managed to choke out, refusing to make eye contact.
"That's the spirit"! Tony gently pat her shoulder, only to have her pull away from him.
"Sorry," she whispered, back facing him. "And thank you." She left the lab, head down, and made her way to the nearest bathroom to straighten herself up.
"Natasha!" Loki had seated himself in her office chair upon her return. "I happened to pass by the Doctor and he said you were angry with Anthony," he smiled. "Care to tell me the story?" He pulled her onto his lap.
"Let's just say he knows I'm dangerous." She already regretted how childishly she acted, but her hormones were to blame for it all. "Can you believe this?" She showed Loki how he defaced the picture and the god began to laugh. Laughing. He was actually laughing…
"Is that supposed to be my helmet?" He grinned widely. "Well, our son is a Prince, so he deserves a crown instead. Wouldn't you say so, Natasha?"
"Yeah. I guess so…" Natasha stared at the picture and imagined a baby with dark hair and a wide smile wearing Loki's ridiculous helmet. "It'd be sillier wearing your helmet, though."
"Are you referring to royal Asgardian headwear as being 'silly?'"
Natasha felt all of her previous anger and sadness fade away with her laughter. She pinned the picture back onto the wall and took a moment to admire it. Sure, Tony may have added his own personal flair to it, but that only made the photo even more special. Natasha decided to keep it that way. It was perfect, just like her son.