A/N: I apologize for my extreme lack of updates, I had computer troubles and writer's block, but now I'm back so I hope that you like this extremely long chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3: Prophecy In Red

Ivan POV

Adamovich Ruby Organization (Red Room) HQ #5, Novosibirsk, Russia.

I gazed out of the window at the driving snow and grinned.

Winters in Russia were harsh, but I had never felt more at home.

My life was in order now that I had my old job back and I had two assignments to keep myself busy with.

Five months had passed since I left the states and come back to Russia. My patience was wearing thin… although I had never been a very patient man when it came to vengeance.

The time had come for me to exact my revenge on the daughter who betrayed me and her mad scientist husband who pretends he is a normal human.

Anastasia Grace Banner would become the foundation for many Russian genetics and radiation advances. The tests that would be run on her would be so beneficial to the Red Room's Super Soldier serum program.

Soon, our Black Widows would become the best agents in the entire world, capable of handling any covert operation. They would become superior spies and skilled mercenaries, trained to show loyalty only to their handlers and superiors in the Red Room.

Vladimir had offered me my old job within the Red Room as his partner but since I had so much SHIELD intel, he was depending on me to find the weak spot of SHIELD, infiltrate the organization and dismantle it until nothing remained of their group.

My team was in New York City and, according to them, they had stumbled upon the weak spot and possibly, the information I would need to obtain Anastasia.

I turned around and looked at the files on my desk, the picture of a young woman with jet black hair and hazel eyes stared back at me.

She was the weak link.

Doctor Karolyn Abernathy, SHIELD's newest doctor who happened to be the only SHIELD-approved pediatrician in the area.

Maybe I would be able to kill two birds with one stone.

Bruce POV

Six and a half months old already….my little girl is getting so big.

"Bruce…can you come here please?", Natasha called from the nursery, "and can you bring Agent Snuggles?", she added.

I sighed softly and picked up the Build-A-Bear that Fury gave Anastasia for Christmas with a smile.

Agent Snuggles was a brown bear who wore a suit, much like most of the agents at SHIELD. I laughed to myself when I imagined Fury of all people, standing in line at the workshop and actually going through the process of building a stuffed animal.

I entered the room and found Anastasia on her play mat, sitting up and waving her chubby fists at me as she babbled. Natasha looked up at me from her spot on the floor and said,

"She's passed her previous time for sitting up, now if only she would start talking…"

Anastasia giggled as I placed Agent Snuggles by her.

"Ba!", she shouted happily at the sight of her stuffed friend.

Anastasia was supposed to be saying simple words now, like most six month old babies should be, but she was already starting to eat soft foods and she enjoyed all of them except for the one time we tried to give her a taste of baby food from a jar, she hated that. In any case, both of us were learning how to use a food processor to make Anastasia's baby food.

She was starting to get her baby teeth in and she hated that too. I bought a set of teething rings that worked great and, to my surprise, Anastasia didn't Hulk out too much.

Unfortunately Dr. Abernathy, the pediatrician, found out that Anastasia's Hulk side HATED getting vaccinated. At the five month checkup, Anastasia had to get many of the necessary vaccinations for infants and after the first shot she had turned green. Dr. Abernathy was scared stiff and Natasha had to put the poor doctor in a restraining hold until she stopped trying to jump out of the window or call the police. Needless to say she was very reluctant to come under SHIELD's wing and more uncertain than most of the civilian doctors that were on SHIELD's radar to be 100% confidential about the records of their undercover patients. Unknown to Dr. Abernathy, her new secretary was actually Serena Atwell. She and Clint were working undercover to make sure Dr. Abernathy was keeping her oath of silence. Clint was undercover as a maintenance man in the same medical building as Dr. Abernathy's practice.

I gazed at Natasha as she held Anastasia and they babbled back and forth as if they were having a conversation.

"Anastasia.", I called softly to my daughter and she stopped babbling to Natasha.

I called her name again and she looked at me with a smile on her face and reached out to me.

I took her from Natasha and she giggled at me before saying, "Da-da!", and reaching for my glasses.

I laughed and said, "No Anna, Daddy's glasses aren't a toy.", but she pulled them off anyway.

Natasha took them from Anna and slipped them back onto my face. Anastasia's bottom lip began to quiver and I grabbed another toy to occupy her with quickly before her tears began to flow.

"Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark wants to speak with you via the intercom but he wanted me to make sure that you and Mrs. Banner were not, and I quote 'having sexy fun time'.", Jarvis interrupted.

"Jarvis, we're keeping it G-rated here, so Tony isn't interrupting anything, but tell him to keep it down, it's almost nap time.", Natasha replied before scooping Anastasia up and selecting a book to read to her.

I left the room and then Tony came over the intercom.

"Bruce? We need to have a little talk.", he began.

I sat on the sofa and asked,

"About?"

"Well it's about a couple of things in particular."

"Don't tell me… the first thing is about the Lab right?", I asked sarcastically.

"Well…Yes.", he replied. "Can you get up here asap?"

I sighed, "No problem."

"Great! See you in a few.", Tony replied.

I poked my head into the nursery as Natasha laid Anastasia in her crib.

"Natasha, I'm heading up to the Lab, so I'll see you soon."

She walked over to me, turned on the baby monitor, and closed the nursery door.

"Sounds great but remember, I'm going out with Jane tonight, she said that she needed to get out of the tower for a while and just have time away from the twins, she asked me to come along so we can have a 'mother's night out'.", she said as she picked up a few of Snowy's toys and put them away.

"Yes, I didn't forget. Thor invited me up to his apartment so there would be more supervision...the twins are too much for just one demigod to handle, so we turned babysitting into a joint effort.", I replied.

"Alright then. Have fun in the Lab.", she said as she kissed me softly. "And make sure Tony doesn't blow himself up.", she added as I left the apartment.

I took the elevator up to the lab and Tony was waiting for me as the doors opened.

"Ah there you are Bruce!", Tony greeted, clapping me on the back, "How's everything going? Do you want some eggnog, I have some in the mini fridge that was leftover from Christmas?"

He was never this friendly, and he never shared his eggnog, so I immediately got the feeling that he had most likely set my desk on fire again.

"What did you do this time?", I asked, slipping into my lab coat.

"Nothing! I just need to ask you a few things.", Tony replied.

I walked over to my section of the lab and began to organize my (thankfully) uncharred desk.

"Well, you said you had to ask me a few things, go ahead and ask.", I said, shuffling papers at the same time.

"Okay. On a scale of slug's speed to bullet train, how fast would you say you can move?"

I turned and looked at him.

"Repeat your question."

"How fast can you move?"

"Normal speed or Hulk speed?", I asked.

"Both."

"Well, I'm not that fast as far as human speed goes, I know that Beth is faster than I am with running…", I trailed off.

"Beth can outstrip her husband on her worst day, so don't feel bad. But I know you can run faster than me on a normal day. How fast is the Hulk?", he asked.

"Um… According to Natasha, the Hulk is lightning fast.", I replied, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, this is a lot for me to ask of you, and it's really awkward for me to do this, but if it works, I will be eternally grateful.", he said.

I huffed in agitation.

"Just tell me!"

"Okay! Okay! I want to see if I can find a way to take someone else's sperm cells and replace their DNA with mine, like how donated eggs get chromosomes removed and the mother-to-be has something taken out of her faulty egg and put in the donor egg, only it'll be with sperm.", he blurted out.

I stared at Tony for a good few seconds to make sure he was being serious.

The look on his face was so unlike his normal expressions.

The normal Tony was always lighthearted and free-spirited, he always had jokes to tell and had great (sometimes risky) ideas. He always smiled and was crazy in his own way. There was always a mischievous look in his eyes.

Looking at him now, he was dead serious. He didn't smile and there was no sign of mischief in his eyes, only desperation and fear. He looked older than the Tony I was so used to working with. Worry lines crossed his face and he was getting a few silver hairs here and there.

"Are you serious?", I asked.

"Bruce…I'm serious as a heart attack…", he replied in a stolid voice.

"Tony…I know why you want to do this and it hurts me to tell you that it's nearly impossible to do something like that with sperm…", I said, turning away from him.

"So that's it then? We won't even try?", he asked.

"Tony, you know how I feel about screwing around with DNA, and I know your intentions are a last resort to try and have a baby with Pepper but trust me when I say that messing with DNA is dangerous.", I said. "Screwing around with cells and radiation is how Steve became the super soldier, but it's also how I became the Hulk…"

"It's worth a shot, what could possibly go wrong?", he said.

"Okay then. What if I did agree to help you with this and let's say we did find a way to do this replacement thing and Pepper agreed to have the modified sperm put into her body?"

"We would put it in her, right?", Tony replied.

"I guess so, but picture this: she gets pregnant and everything goes smoothly until the baby is born and has serious mutations or worse… the baby doesn't make it…", I replied, feeling a twinge of grief as I recalled the first time Natasha had been pregnant. "I'm sure you would blame yourself for it if something went wrong."

Tony turned away and clenched his fists.

"You don't understand what I'm going through… I'm desperate to try anything. The doctor came back with the results of Pepper's fertility tests and said she's perfectly healthy and that I'm the one that has the defective system…"

"You're right, I don't understand, but that-"

"Bruce, you got Natasha pregnant twice without even trying, so you can't tell me not to be desperate.", Tony said angrily, "Pepper is going to get sperm from a donor and then she'll get pregnant but it won't be my baby she's carrying…"

The Hulk was restless in the back of my mind, he didn't like being reminded of the situation and much less being reminded of the miscarriage, but I forced him back with all my might.

"Tony, I know you want to be a father and see a combination of yourself and Pepper in a child, but this DNA extraction and replacement experimentation is a long shot mainly because a sperm cell can't survive for more than nine days and has to be kept at a specific temperature…"

"And that is where you come in.", Tony said, turning to face me.

"Me? How am I going to change the durability of sperm cells? I'm not God.", I replied. Tony had really lost it now.

"No! I know you can't change them, but you know how I said I would be asking a lot from you?", Tony asked with a shrug, "I said I would be eternally grateful…"

Realization dawned on me as his intentions were made clear.

"If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting then my answer is a resounding NO!", I said firmly, emphasizing the 'NO' for finality.

"Aww c'mon Bruce!"

"I said no!", I repeated, walking away to the other section of the lab.

"Bruce, It's just a tiny bit of-"

I turned on my heel and pulled my glasses off.

"No! You aren't going to use my sperm as the donor!", I snapped.

"Why not?"

"You know goddamn well why not!", I yelled, still keeping the Hulk at bay, "Tony, your test tube baby could end up with mutations from the initial experimentation with a normal sperm cell if it worked, I'd hate to see what type of abnormalities a child would have if I let you use my sperm cells and it worked!"

"The only reason why I asked is because you are the Hulk!", Tony shouted back.

"Well guess what, I- wait…What did you just say?", I asked.

"I want you to be the donor because you are the Hulk.", he repeated.

"This could end badly…"

"You are the only one who has cells that are probably durable enough to live for more than a week outside of the body.", Tony added.

"I'm not doing this and that's final.", I said, hanging up my lab coat.

"Why not?", Tony asked.

I turned around and said in a softer voice to my desperate friend,

"Because you want a child so badly that your willing to go to such lengths as using risky experimental science with genetics, cellular mutations, a donor with gamma radiation poisoning, and all to have a child that may or may not live full term. Besides, if it does live to term, it may have numerous physical and mental abnormalities. You're going to make yourself insane. I've seen colleagues go insane and it's not a fun thing to witness. I'd hate to see it happen to you."

He got this devastated look on his face and exhaled, looking older and more tired than ever before.

"You know Bruce, I think you're right… I am driving myself insane.", he muttered, "I'm sorry for calling you down here, away from your wife and daughter, go be with them. Leave me alone.", he said, turning away from me and walking towards his workbench.

"Hey Tony.", I called after him.

"What do you want?", he asked, not even turning to look at me.

"To impart unto you a commonly used phrase: 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' I think it applies to this situation. Life is giving you the lemons or the choices you don't want to have, and instead of accepting your situation and making lemonade, you're taking the lemons and trying to make scotch. You're trying to create more options for yourself and it won't work the way you want it to."

"So I should give up on Pepper having my baby someday?"

"No, just keep in mind that someday you will be a father to some child and it will be the greatest thing that has ever happened to you.", I replied.

"Thanks for talking some sense into me.", Tony said.

"You're like a brother to me Tony, I can't have the second-in-command CEO of Stark Industries losing his sanity on my watch…Pepper would kill me, then kill you, then find a way to kill me a second time."

Tony laughed and I smiled, glad to have the normal Tony back.

"Yeah, I need ideas too.", Tony said, finally facing me.

"What for?"

"My one year wedding anniversary with Pepper is tomorrow and she didn't say anything about plans or gifts, so I have no idea what to do."

"Take her to the festivities in Times Square, you could make international news.", I said with a shrug.

"Nah, I don't think Pepper would like that."

"Take her to that little island off the coast of Brazil and spend some time there.", I suggested, "Or get her a Pandora bracelet and personalize it."

"I like the bracelet idea.", he said before running out of the lab, "Thanks Bruce!"

"No problem!", I said before turning back to my desk and resuming the task of organizing its contents when my phone buzzed.

I checked my inbox and found a message from Clint that read:

"Abernathy is getting into dangerous waters over here, some shady man just walked into the practice and his buddy is standing guard at the door to Abernathy's practice. I don't know if he's the father of some rich kid that needs a prescription filled or if he's actually a member of some espionage group that's looking for SHIELD's weak spot. I just sent his photo into SHIELD's database to see who he is, but I haven't got the results back yet. We'll keep you posted, just thought you should know because your daughter's medical records are there."

I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that this day was about to get really strange and possibly dangerous. The Hulk felt it too.

"SHIELD confirmed that both of them are Russian, but neither have links to any espionage groups.", Clint typed before sending photos of the men.

Both of them were wearing red and had their ears pierced with ruby studs.

"They work for a jewel trading company… Adamovich Ruby Organization ring any bells?", he typed.

"Nope, no bell.", I typed back, yet something told me that these two men were up to no good.

Natasha POV

I was in the gym doing my cardio routine when Pepper came in wearing her exercise clothes and looking like she had just heard the juiciest bit of Wall Street gossip.

"Hey Pepper, whatcha up to?", I asked as I took a water break and stretched.

"Oh, just the usual workout. How about you?", she asked with a pleasant grin.

"I'm taking care of the last bits of my postpartum belly and getting rid of the stretch marks on my thighs and butt."

"At least the girls are still in fine shape after all your mommy duties.", Pepper laughed.

I laughed too.

"Yeah, they've never been a problem except if you count the first time I went on a honey pot mission to seduce some international drug lord and Clint spent the whole time with his sight trained on my cleavage…", I said.

"Wow, talk about your awkward situation… I think Tony feared me more than he respected me when our relationship was strictly professional because he still did some pretty stupid things when I was working as his PA, but he never tried to make any romantic passes at me.", Pepper said as she began to jog on one of the treadmills.

I started walking on the one next to her and then joined her at a jogging speed.

"So what are you and Tony doing tomorrow night for your anniversary?", I asked.

"Oh I have a surprise planned for him, it's pretty big…", she replied.

"And you can't tell anyone because it's top secret?", I asked.

"Well… kind of…yeah."

"Aww so I don't even get a hint?", I asked, really wanting to know what she knew (I'm a spy, I live on secrets).

"Well I guess I can give you one tiny hint…but you can't tell a soul!", she gushed before looking around and lowering her voice, "Okay here it is: Big changes are coming to the tower."

I shrugged.

"Well yeah, I know you take your interior design stuff seriously, but I hope your changes will include a new couch in the living room big enough for all of us. You aren't going to completely refurbish the place are you?"

Pepper laughed.

"Sorry, that was your one clue."

"You're right, you did only say you would give me one hint.", I shrugged as I started going my pre-pregnancy speed, which was one of the highest settings on the treadmill.

I was running just as fast and just as long as I was before I got pregnant, I was also working on my weight training…in two weeks, I would be able to try out the obstacle course that SHIELD had set up in the NYC HQ for testing the skills of any agent.

I just surpassed my previous time and was on my way to completing five miles in under seven minutes, a new personal best for me, when Bruce came into the Gym.

"Natasha. We have to talk.", he said.

I held up my pointer finger and said,

"Almost finished here, then we can talk."

I turned off the treadmill and started walking around the Gym to lower my heart rate and then I motioned to Bruce and we moved out into the hall.

"Hey…", I panted, "What's….wrong?"

"Well, Clint is undercover at the medical building and he saw these two men go into Dr. Abernathy's office. He took their photos and ran them through SHIELD's system to analyze their identities, turns out that they were just two men who worked for a Russian jewel trading organization and that they were pretty much unaffiliated, but I still got a bad feeling about them.", he said.

My eyes shot open and I almost spit out my Gatorade.

"Bruce! What is the name of the organization they work for?", I asked, fear evident in my voice.

He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out some papers.

"Um, they work for the 'Adamovich Ruby Organization'…here are the pictures of the men…", Bruce said as he handed me the photos.

The Adamovich Ruby Organization was a company I had never heard of, but the only two words that mattered to me were 'Adamovich' and 'Ruby'. I looked at the photos of the two men and, although I had never seen them before, they certainly did look a lot like the type of men who would work for the Red Room.

"Natasha. What's wrong?", he asked. "You just got really pale."

"I have never heard of any company by that name but I have heard of the name Adamovich…", I said.

"Is it code for something?", he asked, straightening his glasses.

"No, when I was in the Red Room, the director was named Vladimir Adamovich…"

"I see the correlation… but if this is the Red Room in disguise and Adamovich is behind all of this, why would he target a pediatrician?"

I thought for a second.

"Dr. Abernathy is under surveillance because of how reluctant she was to become a SHIELD civilian doctor… She's an easy target who would comply to the request of anyone who threatens her. Not to mention the fact that a lot of SHIELD employees that are parents in the area have their children's medical records kept there.", I replied.

"And you're 100% sure about this?", Bruce asked, "Isn't 'Adamovich' a popular Russian name?"

"It is. But I don't like the looks of these men…"

The elevator doors opened at the end of the hall and Fury walked out of them with Jane and Thor.

"Dr. Banner, Agent Banner, you two should come with me.", he said before walking down the hall to the small meeting room at the end.

We sat down inside and Fury addressed us.

"You all are the only ones on the team with children, super-powered children at that. Your children, and the children of many SHIELD employees, are also patients of Dr. Karolyn Abernathy. SHIELD had to bring her under protection for this reason. Agents Atwell and Barton are undercover at the medical building because I felt that Dr. Abernathy was a risk."

Jane spoke up.

"Director Fury, if this is about the two men Clint saw today, we already know. He notified Bruce and I about the situation. The second I heard about it, I told Thor, so I'm sure Natasha knows by now.", she said.

"Well since you all have been informed, I suppose you already know that these men are dangerous."

"Their records say otherwise…", Bruce said, holding up the photos and information about the two men.

"That's because our system was hacked by people who allegedly work with or for them.", Fury replied.

"Are they with the Red Room?", I asked.

Fury fixed me with his stare.

"We don't know if they are or not, but maybe you can tell us, since you were affiliated with them for quite some time."

All eyes were on me now.

"I don't know if they are but I do know that the company they work for sounds a lot like an alias for the Red Room. This 'Adamovich' could be the same person as Vladimir Adamovich, director of the Red Room which would also explain the 'Ruby' part of the name.", I replied.

"Well our top hackers are searching for any recent business deals and any sales made by the organization. Our hackers found a few sales, but the customers were all Russian and their orders were in code. We have no clue who these customers actually are but we should have them identified in a few hours. As for the two thugs Agent Barton saw, one was shot and the other escaped from the building. According to Agent Atwell, one of them locked her in a storage closet just as the other one was taking photos of some files. When she shot the lock off the door, it was too late to see which files they had photographed because they had been returned to their proper place. All the patient's records must now be combed over to make sure that nothing is missing. We have agents at the scene and investigations are underway.", Fury explained.

"What shall become of the healer?", Thor asked.

"Dr. Abernathy has agreed to join our witness protection program, she and her husband are headed someplace new and they will blend in with life in their new setting. In the meantime, we are replacing Dr. Abernathy with a SHIELD medic who has experience with pediatric care."

"What should we do for now?", Bruce asked.

"Stay in the tower until further notice. We have no clue where the other thug is or if he's got allies. We'll look into your hunch about the connection between the Adamovich Ruby Organization and the Red Room and let you know if we have any leads. The Avengers will still be on call in case anyone needs them, but Dr. Odinson and Agent Banner…" , he said, turning to face Jane and I, "You are not allowed to leave the tower under any circumstances. Thor and Dr. Banner are only allowed to leave if the entire Avengers team is called. That is all."

Fury left the room and I looked over at Jane.

"Well, there goes our Mother's night out…", she said, voicing my thoughts with a sigh.

The Next Day (New Year's Eve)

Bruce POV

"Hurry up Tony! Pepper is waiting for you!", Steve called as Tony finally came out of the Lab with his suit on.

"I'm sorry, I was putting the finishing touches on Pepper's anniversary gift… Are we all ready to head upstairs to the dinner party?"

"Yeah… Hey, where did Loki go?", Phil asked.

We all looked around and shrugged.

"He didn't tell me about anything…", Steve replied. "Maybe he went to change his tie again…he's been acting weird lately, like he's hiding something."

"That's weird, so has Pepper…I asked her yesterday if she was hiding anything and she told me flat out that she was, that it was a surprise, and that she wouldn't give me any hints.", Tony stated, "Maybe I'm getting a car as my anniversary present.", he said with a shrug.

"Don't count on it Tony.", Clint said as he straightened his tie. "You know Pepper wouldn't buy you another car, even as a birthday present."

"I know what I'm getting for my birthday present…", Phil said.

"What's that?", Clint asked.

"A son. Maria and I finally got the gender of our baby…She's due on March 2nd."

Everyone congratulated Phil as he nodded and accepted the congratulations.

"Ah, there you are Loki! You just missed a most joyous piece of news! Maria is carrying a son! We were wondering where you had run off to!", Thor said, clapping Loki on the back and almost causing him to faceplant. "You weren't hiding from mother and father were you?"

"Congratulations Phil and no, I wasn't hiding from them or your friends, I just had to take care of something… Darcy's birthday is in a week and I just had to find a good hiding place for her present, you know, someplace secret…"

"You hid it in your old helmet, didn't you?", Tony asked.

"No way! She loves that helmet…I hid it in the same part of my closet that my summer clothes are kept in."

"Well gentlemen, I do believe that we have kept them waiting long enough.", said Tony and soon we were crammed into the elevator and headed up to the living area.

We got out a few moments later and greeted the guests.

The Lewis's and the Potts's had come over for the New Year's Eve festivities since they lived relatively close to New York. The real surprise came around noon today when King Odin, Queen Frigga, and a group of Thor's friends (Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, I think) showed up unexpectedly.

The King and Queen of Asgard came mainly to visit their grandchildren for the first time. Thor's warrior friends came because they hadn't seen Thor in ages (or at least since the last time he was on Asgard while Jane was in her second month of pregnancy). Odin was surprised to see Loki out and about instead of being locked in a prison cell. Frigga on the other hand was too thrilled to finally meet Darcy.

Some of Phil and Maria's friends from SHIELD were present too.

Fury had flown his parents into town yesterday evening for the New Year's celebration.

Beth's family was remaining in Oxford because they hosted a town gathering at their farm on New Year's Eve.

I spotted Natasha holding Anastasia across the room and made my way over to her. She wore a knee length sapphire dress with silver high heels that accented the physique that she worked so tirelessly to regain.

"Mrs. Banner, you look superb.", I said, kissing her cheek.

"Ah! You must be the Banners! Nick has told us all about you!", said Fury's mom in greeting. "I'm Marian and this is Sam.", she said, introducing herself and Fury's father.

Natasha smiled back and went on with the introductions.

"You've been a mother for how long?", Marian asked as she noticed Natasha's hourglass physique.

"Six months.", she replied.

"You look fantastic! You must have worked hard in six months.", she complimented.

"Thank you…"

Fury came over to us and said that dinner was ready.

We followed everyone into the dining room and took our seats.

"Ahem!", Pepper stood up and tapped her water goblet with a knife, "May I have everyone's attention please?"

The room fell silent.

"Thank you, I just wanted to say a few words before we got dinner underway. First of all, on behalf of everyone who lives here, thank you for attending this little party. Secondly, we hope you enjoy yourselves. I actually have an important announcement to make. Exactly one year ago today, I married Tony Stark. This first year of marriage was full of new challenges and obstacles that Tony and I have faced together.", Pepper paused and looked around, "About a month ago, I realized that our anniversary was fast approaching, but that I had no clue what to get the man who has everything. Then I realized that there was one thing that Tony…That the both of us wanted more than anything. A family of our own.", she blushed and took Tony's hand, "Happy Anniversary Tony…I'm pregnant."

The look on Tony's face was priceless as the whole room erupted in cheers and congratulations.

I was sitting near enough to Tony and Pepper that I heard him whisper to Pepper,

"You...you're serious… And it's one that we didn't need help with?"

"Nope, I didn't have anything done…"

"So we're really going to be parents?", Tony asked, and I could tell he was trying to stop himself from shedding tears of joy.

Pepper nodded.

I looked over at Natasha who was clearly nervous even as she fed Anastasia her food.

"Natasha, are you still worried about what happened yesterday?", I asked softly.

"Bruce, you know I am, and for good reason. When Fury told Jane and I that we were basically under house arrest for our own safety, that didn't make me feel safer, that made me feel like a fish swimming in circles inside its bowl while a hungry cat watches its every move, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill and devour its prey.", she replied.

I understood her situation, having been on the run before from Ross and Blonsky, and I knew all too well how 'home' could turn into a place that you felt trapped in.

"Well we don't know whose files were photographed…", I replied, trying to ease her anxiety but inadvertently adding to my own instead.

"That doesn't help matters!", she whispered sharply.

I looked over at Jane and Thor who were finished eating and were making conversation with all of the Asgardians except one. Queen Frigga was bouncing Liz on her knee until she turned her head and made eye contact with me.

It was like she was looking into my soul and then she stared at Natasha in the same way.

She whispered something to Odin and handed Liz to him before rising and making her way over to us, her gown rippling in her wake.

"Is this seat occupied?", she inquired politely.

We both shook our heads and she smiled before being seated.

"You must be the proud warrior Lady Natasha and you must be her husband, the respected healer, Sir Bruce. I am Frigga, wife of Odin Allfather and Queen of Asgard. I couldn't help but notice that you carry the same burden of concern that my son and his wife carry, only the weight of yours is much greater than theirs. What troubles you so?"

Natasha began to tell her what happened with Dr. Abernathy but Frigga interjected.

"I am aware of that and I must tell you that, although I am sorceress, I have also acquired the gift of prophecy. It works on mortals better than on Aesir and other beings.", she gestured towards Natasha's hand, extending one of her own. "May I?", she asked and Natasha shrugged before placing her hand in Frigga's.

"I see that the warrior's sharp senses are intertwined with her motherly instincts… The spider is trapped in the glass bell jar… the guess was correct… the red you see unfolding before you is the red you carry in your past… The faceless man is holding an hourglass with blood on his hands… vengeance is what he seeks, vengeance on the one who cast him out... the warrior is pulled from the embrace of the healer and the daughter is pulled from the cold arms of her mother…", she muttered before releasing Natasha's hand.

"What does that mean?", Natasha asked.

"You must interpret it yourself…I can only tell you so much.", Frigga replied before holding her hand out to me. "Your turn."

I placed my hand in hers and felt a warm sensation surge through my body.

"I see that your emotions are separate and yet the same… there is so much anger inside of you… there is hatred towards the same faceless man whom the warrior fears… the healer is trapped like the spider, caught inside a physical and a mental prison… the faceless man has blood on his hands, he seeks to inflict pain and sorrow on the one who has done nothing wrong…the healer must protect what is his at all costs… the faceless man is coming… the hourglass has run out of sand… the faceless man steals the warrior and daughter away to a cold place… green surrounds the healer and it becomes him…", Frigga prophesied.

I knew what she saw. She saw that the Hulk was the embodiment of my emotions, she saw that, deep inside, I was always angry, I was feeling trapped, and she knew that I would lay down my life for my wife and daughter.

Frigga looked over at Anastasia who jabbered happily at her from her high chair.

"Your daughter is beautiful…would you allow me to see what her future holds?"

We nodded and Frigga reached out to Anastasia who grabbed one of Frigga's long, slender fingers before she quieted and her eyes went wide with wonder.

"I see her in green, just like her father… but it does not overcome her… she will grow into a beautiful young woman but it will not be a happy time for her… the red that was in her mother's past will become her future… the faceless man has shattered the hourglass… time is up… the daughter will change… the red will consume her, the faceless man pulls her away from the healer's strong embrace and the warrior's cold body without mercy… the daughter longs for their embrace…", Frigga prophesied.

All of our prophecies were frightening and Frigga sensed this.

"Oh, do not worry yourself if my prophecies seemed darker than what you expected, the future is not set in stone and one's destiny can be changed a million times in a single heartbeat. Do not fear my words for they are merely words, but heed them when I say take caution against the faceless man."

"But who is the faceless man?", Natasha asked.

"He is the one who seeks vengeance on you for casting him out,", she said, pointing at Natasha, "He is the one who wishes to turn your life into your darkest nightmare,", she said, pointing at me, "and he is the one who wishes to steal her away for his own gains.", she said, pointing to Anastasia.

Natasha clenched her jaw in anger.

"Lady Natasha, you know the faceless man…", Frigga stated.

"I do alright… his name is Ivan.", Natasha replied in a deadly voice.

"Then you know what must be done…", Frigga said before standing, wishing us luck, and walking away to stand by Odin.

I glanced at Natasha.

"Now that we know what's going on…what should we do?", I asked as she scooped up Anastasia.

"I don't have a plan yet but we might have to do the very thing Fury told us not to."

"Leave?", I asked.

Natasha nodded as we left the dining room.

"Leave."

The next few hours passed in a sort of blurry haze.

As we rang in the New Year, we had smiles on our faces but deep feelings of fear in our hearts.

A/N: That was quite a trial! Please tell me what you think!

Happy New Year!