Chapter Two: Satisfied

They changed cars in Wroclaw. Natasha knew someone who knew someone who could get them a cheap car with a new license plate that was untraceable. They drove to Minsk.

"It's safe here," Natasha explained, "Well, safer than in Western- Europe or the US. I know a place we can stay."

They ended up staying at a small hotel on the outskirts of town. "Ivan!" She said when she saw the owner.

Ivan was an old man in his seventies, who was clearly happy to see Natasha.

"Natalia!" He exclaimed, hugging her. They started speaking in rapid Russian. Bruce just stood and waited. "Bruce, this is Ivan. Ivan, Bruce."

"Pleasure to meet you," Bruce said.

Ivan nodded smiling and said something in Russian. "He says it's wonderful I have finally found a partner and that he is very happy to have us. We can stay as long as we like, he will help us with finding an apartment and the right documents. He won't tell the authorities we're here."

Ivan gave them the best room, which meant they had a good bed, a functioning bathroom, and tv. "How do you know this guy?" Bruce asked.

"He's a sort of uncle to me, he knew my grandma," she explained, "We kept in touch."

The TV was turned on, they were broadcasting footage of the Leipzig/ Halle fight. "Steve Rogers and team arrested, currently held at Raft Prison. Natasha Romanoff still missing," she translated, "Why won't it ever end?"

Bruce wrapped his arms around her. "It will be okay, I promise you. We can start over."

"I actually didn't plan on staying here that long, I was hoping to get on the first plane to St. Petersburg and catch a plane to the Maldives there."

"The Maldives sound great, actually. But maybe it's easier to stay in Minsk for a while."

"I agree," She answered.

"You know, I can start over as a doctor, you can be a nurse," Bruce said. Natasha smiled and kissed him.

"I only killed people all my life," She whispered.

"I can teach you how to stitch someone up," He offered, "It's not that hard."

"I longed for a normal life for so long, yet it terrifies me."

"We'll get used to it."

Natasha got up and got some documents out of her bag. "I got us some fake passports, documents and I got something for your license," She explained, "I am Natalia Sokolova, you're Bruce Sokolov. We are married, we both studied at the University of Amsterdam, where we met. You studied medicine, I studied Russian. Your parents are Russian immigrants, but you were raised in the Netherlands, and thus is your Russian pretty bad."

"Sounds good," He answered, "You really thought this through." He kissed her. "We will keep fighting, they aren't going to take you away from me, Nat. Never."

Settling down in Minsk was easier than Natasha had expected. She and Bruce rented a nice apartment downtown. They both started working at the local hospital, Bruce as a doctor, Natasha as his interpreter.

They lived like that for six months. Bruce was stable and calm, they discovered new ways for him to control his temper and the green guy. He was able to get intimate again, something they were both very happy with. It was like their life couldn't get any more normal.

Natasha came out of the bathroom. "Nat, we should do a checkup. This is the fourth time this week you're throwing up after breakfast," Bruce said worriedly.

Natasha shook her head. "It's just a fever."

"Just let me do a checkup," he answered, "I feel better if I can figure out what kind of virus you have."

A couple of days after the checkup, Bruce received the results of Natasha's test.

"Nat?"

"What?" She walked into their small living room.

"I just got your results back," he said shaking.

She sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

"You're pregnant," he whispered.

"No," she whispered, "How?"

"We slept together, remember? On several different occasions?" Bruce said.

"I'd figured that out," She said, letting herself fall on their couch, "

He embraced Natasha. "I think it's perfect." He kissed her.

She was scared, something that terrified her. She was Black Widow, spy, assassin - she was never scared. "I didn't even have parents!"

"I promise you, sweetheart, we'll figure this out."

She placed his hands on her stomach. "I believe you."

"I thought it was impossible for us."

"Yeah, me too," She smiled, "In nine months, we'll have a kid around."

"She'll be beautiful," Bruce answered.

"She?"

"It's definitely going to be a little red-headed girl."

Natasha smiled again, looking at him. "You know, I'd like her to grow up somewhere else. Maybe we could go back to the US, just to have Clint and Laura by my side. Laura has a lot more experience with all this."

Bruce nodded. Since they had arrived in Belarus, they hadn't contacted Clint or Tony or any of the other Avengers. Natasha missed Clint terribly, Bruce knew.

"I like it here," She continued, "It feels a bit like the good part of my youth before I was brainwashed. But she will get a lot more opportunities if we move back to New York."

"I could call Tony."

Natasha reached for his hand. "Not yet. Maybe in a couple of months. I want to stay in our little bubble as long as possible."

They simply didn't get that long. On a Friday night, four months later, knocking on their front door disturbed their peace. Natasha lay curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. She slept a lot and always fell asleep during TV programs. Bruce opened the door.

"Nice place you have here, buddy," Tony Stark greeted him.

"Tony," Bruce said surprised, "Come in."

Tony looked very out of place in their apartment. "Where's Natasha?"

"Nat's asleep."

"Who's there, Bruce?" Natasha said from the living room.

"An old friend," Bruce answered. She walked into the hall, wearing a tight black turtleneck sweater and jeans. "Hey, Tony."

"Natasha. You look..." Tony paused before continuing speaking, "Pregnant."

"Excellent observational skills, Tony. You would beat Sherlock Holmes in a heartbeat," She smiled, "I'm four and a half months along."

"Would you care for some coffee?" Bruce asked.

"Totally," Tony answered, "I'm right off the plane from New York."

He sat down on the couch next to Natasha and scanned the apartment. "Where are your weapons, Widow?"

"I'm not going to tell you that," She answered, "It would be a very stupid move in case you turn out to be hostile."

Bruce gave Tony his coffee and sat down in the chair opposite. "Why are you here, Tony?"

"Natalia Sokova and Bruce Sokov. You couldn't fool me with that one, to be honest. It took a while before I tracked you down, but once I knew you were here, it was easy to find you. I came for two things. One, I apologize for my behavior and ego-centrism the last time we saw each other."

Natasha looked into his eyes, seeing he really meant those words. Coming all the way to Minsk to apologize was something. Especially for Tony Stark. "I accept your apology," she said.

"Thank you," He said genuinely, "And secondly, your trial is scheduled for next week."

"I thought the UN had decided to let the Sokovia Accords no longer apply to the Avengers?" Bruce said.

"Correct, though Thaddeus Ross was very convincing in front of the judge. He wanted to sue one Avenger, at least. You weren't in the US, you were on the run, so you were the perfect victim. I am here to offer you a plea bargain."

"Continue, Tony."

"The Avengers have been revived, again. Loki returned to earth and we still have no idea what he wants. We were hoping you would join us in our fight, in case we have to fight. Considering your current condition, training us and coordinating the fight will work just fine.

If you agree to this, you'll fly to New York tonight. There will be no trial. I got you a nice house and took care of your bank accounts. I will provide everything you need; I will make sure your little one will get everything he or she needs."

"Why aren't you offering Bruce this?" Nat asked, "He's just as important, dare I say, more important."

"Bruce is welcome to join us, but to convince Bruce, I had to convince you. He will follow you to the end of the world, if necessary."

Bruce shook his head. Nat and he exchanged several looks before they both nodded. "We'll do it."

"Lovely," Tony said, rising up, "Plane's waiting."

"How did you even know I would agree so fast?"

"You're Black Widow, Natasha," Tony grinned, "You need danger in order to live."

Within 15 minutes, they had packed their most important stuff and left in Tony's red Porsche.

"You couldn't have picked a less noticeable car, could you?" Bruce asked.

"Nope, I was in a hurry when I left New York. This was the only car I could get easily on my plane."

"You're the only guy I know who would take his own car on a plane for a twenty-minute ride," Nat said, "Unbelievably."

Natasha rested her head on Bruce's shoulder when the plane was ready to take off.

"How are we going to face the others?" Bruce asked.

"We did what we had to do in order to survive," she whispered, "It was unsafe for us to stay. Look at what happened to the others."

"I hope we will just as safe in America," Bruce said, "We have to start thinking about her after all." He shifted a little, so he could look Natasha in the eye. "I've been thinking about names."

"Are they better than the last ones?"

He smiled. "Absolutely. What do you think about Natalia Nikolina Victoria Banner- Romanoff?"

"Really? You want to name her after me, give her my Russian name?"

"Why not? I think it would be fitting," Bruce said, "Nikolina after your mom, Victoria after mine."

"I wish they both could have seen her," Natasha whispered, "I like the sound of it." She kissed him softly.

"Lovebirds, please put on your seat belt," Tony said, "I know picking names is very, very important, out of my own experience, but if you fall out of your seat it's not going to be gentle."

"Out of your own experience?" Natasha noticed.

"A lot can change in a year, Widow," Tony said, getting his phone out and showed them a picture of a baby girl, "Elyza Rose Maria Virgina Stark, born three months ago. Pepper and I couldn't agree on the name. It took a very long time to decide since Pepper wanted Elizabeth and I wanted Rose, so we chose Elyza."

"She's beautiful," Natasha gasped. The small baby already looked like a female Tony with her dark hair and alert eyes, but she had Pepper's nose.

"Of course she's beautiful. She's my daughter, she takes that after both her parents," Tony answered.

Natasha closed her eyes and slept a bit, the only way to calm herself down.

"Tasha!" Clint said happily when he saw her at the Avengers Facility, "Man, look at you! You're huge!"

Natasha laughed and hugged him. "How's Nathaniel?"

"Doing fine, asking when his auntie Nat's coming over. Lila misses you a lot."

"I'll drop by soon," She promised.

The other Avengers, except Vision, were distant. Probably still mad at her for pulling her little stunt in Leipzig.

"Good to see you again, Dr. Banner," Vision said, "It's been way too long."

"Romanoff, Banner," Steve greeted, "I have a meeting to attend, I will see you two later."

"We have to go as well," Tony announced, "I promised you guys a house, remember. We're going to take a look at it."

The house was an hour driving away from the New Avengers Facility and a five-minute walk from Laura and Clint's place.

"It's beautiful," Bruce said.

"Here's the key," Tony gave him a key with a Hulk- key ring, "I expect you to stop by at the Facility tomorrow at 10. We have some things to discuss. Car keys are on the kitchen table, the car is in the garage. I didn't get you a helicopter, but Clint has a Quinjet, you can borrow it if you need it. Remember, don't be late tomorrow." Tony got back into the car.

"We won't be late," Natasha said and turned to Bruce, "Can we open the door now?"

"Absolutely."

Natasha was dazzled by their new house. The living room was modern, yet a bit classic. Black leather couch, HD TV and a luxurious kitchen.

"This house must have cost him a fortune," Bruce said.

"It's so large," Nat answered, "I love the wooden details everywhere."

"Shall we go take a look upstairs?"

"Sure."

The house had three floors and a cellar. On the first floor, there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a study, on the second another three bedrooms. In the cellar was a fully equipped lab for Bruce.

"He even got us a nursery," Natasha said surprised.

"He must have done that while we were flying home," Bruce answered. The pink nursery was classy. Above the pink cradle hung an Avengers mobile with small Avengers figures. Natasha touched the figure of the Hulk.

"Look how cute you are," She commented.

"You're cuter."

She kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Natasha smiled. "Why don't we check out our bedroom?"