Natasha nearly dropped her glass. "What?"

"I for one think it a wonderful idea." Thor set down his own glass. "Why should they be denied progeny? They are both great warriors; it is right that they should have a legacy together."

Clint looked skeptical. "I second Natasha."

"I want to know how you manage to talk him into these things." Pepper sat on the back of the couch behind Clint, Happy's hand on her shoulder. "In less than two years, you went from suspended animation to dating the stubbornest man alive. Six months later you're married. Another six months and we're here. What is your secret?"

Steve shrugged.

Bruce took off his glasses and fiddled with them. "Regardless of how anyone was talked into anything and what your reasoning may be, there are still a multitude of practical issues with what you suggest. For one thing, you'd need a doctor willing and qualified to perform that kind of three-parent in vitro procedure—which, before you suggest it, I am not. You'd also need to find a woman to be that third parent."

"We've been considering all that." Tony poured himself another glass of scotch. "For the record, Bruce, you're actually better qualified than most, and you have the advantage of: we know you. I have Jarvis running a search of the world's best ob-gyns; I'll send out a few queries."

"We don't know about a mother, though," Steve added reluctantly.

Jane shrugged. "I'd be willing."

"I approve of their having a family but I'd rather not see you bear another man's child, even under such circumstances."

Jane started to argue but Tony cut in. "No, it's alright. We figured Shakespeare wouldn't let that fly, but thanks for volunteering. Pepper, stop giving me that look, we're not even going to ask. Natasha, Steve's pretty much terrified of the idea of you pregnant and hormonal and I for one don't disagree with him."

Clint muttered something which earned him a sharp kick to his ankle.

"I'll do it."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Darcy where she was standing by the windows. Half of them had forgotten she was there. She shrugged and walked toward the circle of couches. Jane studied her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She shrugged again. "I mean"—she gestured at Steve and Tony—"you guys are cool, and I totally get that you'd rather at least sort of know whoever's carrying your kid than it be somebody random, and you're kinda out of chick friends." Steve nodded and she continued. "And, like, I think it might be good to know what it's like to be pregnant before having kids of my own—never mind that I don't have a boyfriend. Also would I get paid?"

"Yes." Tony sipped his drink.

"Bonus."

Tony and Steve exchanged a look. Steve set his down drink. "Darcy, can we talk to you in private?"

##########

"I can't believe I've agreed to this. I am not a medical doctor." Bruce scrolled through the details of the process. The whole thing bore a general resemblance to cloning, starting with the removal of the nucleus from a donor egg, then fertilizing it—but with genetic material from two sources instead of one. Of course, there were plenty of picky details. "I'm a physicist."

"You're almost as smart as I am." Tony clapped a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "I trust you."

"That worries me."

"Sir?" Jarvis interrupted. "Your husband has returned from the airport with your guest. They are waiting for you downstairs."

"Thank you, Jarvis." Tony grinned. "See, it's not like you're on your own."

Following Tony out of the room, Bruce said, "I think this is beyond the realm of expertise of most obstetricians."

"She's not most obstetricians. She's also a physiologist."

"Where do you find these women with odd combinations of expertise? You seem to know a lot of them."

"Midwest, mostly."

Downstairs, Steve watched as the young, pretty Dr. Lorain Hueniger looked around the atrium. She pulled her red corkscrew curls up into a hairclip and turned to smile at him. "You live here? I've been in much less spacious five-star hotels."

"Yes, ma'am, I live here. I'd honestly prefer a walk up in Brooklyn, but the billionaire inventor husband needs more room than that for his toys."

"I understand."

Behind her, the elevator opened and Tony strode out, followed by a somewhat anxious looking Banner.

"Doctor, glad to see you've safely escaped Texas. Why do you even live in Texas? Given your profession, I'd think you'd rather be somewhere more liberal. Never mind that." Tony shook her hand. "Lorain, right? Happy to have you here. Tony Stark, but of course you know that; I'm famous and I hired you."

Steve barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lorain nodded. "Nice to meet you. I appreciate you having Steve and your driver meet me. And I believe we're leaving someone out."

Bruce stepped forward and held out a hand, which she took. "Bruce Banner. I'm a friend. Tony thinks I'll be helping you, but, given that I'm a physicist, I'm afraid I won't do you much good." He shot Tony a look.

"He's a physicist who's awfully good with biology." Tony moved to stand with Steve.

"Well, any extra pair of educated hands is a help." Lorain gave a confident smile. "Especially given that I was instructed not to bring any of my usual assistants."

Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "We'd prefer to keep things as private and quiet as possible for as long as possible."

"Of course."

############

Later in the day, after Darcy had returned from shopping with Jane, Dr. Hueniger settled herself into the floor of the tower that had been converted into a clinic since the Chitauri incident, and started running medical diagnostics. Darcy checked out fine. Other than the obvious cardiac complications and an admonition to lay off the caffeine and alcohol, Tony checked out as well. After running the usual tests on Steve, the doctor stood a moment, contemplating the chart on her tablet. She looked him over, taking in the height, the build, the dogtags, and then sat on her stool. "Okay, everbody knows Tony is Iron Man. You're married to him, and, frankly, you're perfect. Weirdly so. You have a better resting heartrate than most Olympic athletes. Ordinarily, I'd say that's great. But given the kind of company Iron Man is known to keep, and the fact that you're wanting to have a child, I feel obligated to ask who and what you are."

Steve hesitated. "I'm just a soldier, ma'am."

She set her tablet aside. "For the sake of your potential offspring, I suggest you tell me the truth."

He sighed, leaned his elbows on his knees, ran a hand through his hair, and was quiet.

"The field I work in involves a high degree of confidentiality. I'm privy to a lot of people's—mostly rich women's—secrets and I won't tell any of them. No why knows why I'm in New York or who I'm working for. Few people even know where I am. I understand and respect your preference for secrecy, but this matters. I could start guessing—I'm not above turning to wikipedia—but it would be better if you told me."

"I, uh"—he hesitated—"I'm Captain America..."

"I think the hopes and dreams of half my interns were just crushed." Lorain stood.

"Huh?"

"You're pretty popular among college-aged girls. Now then, what does it mean to me as a doctor that you're the Star Spangled Man—other than what my chart tells me?"

He started listing and she started typing. Eventually, he ran out of things to list. "Uh, I can't get drunk. I've tried."

"Sounds convenient and/or frustrating."

"Yeah. That's all I can think of, but I can ask if Tony can get you access to part of my file."

"I'd appreciate that. And I'll be doing my blood work. As long as nothing really weird pops up though, I'd say everything's good."