The morning after "the decision", Natasha heard and felt Steve get out of bed, get dressed, and then leave.

Was he running already?

For several minutes after he left, she just lay there, hugging her pillow before finally pulling herself out of bed for a shower. By the time she made her way to the kitchen, Steve was walking back into her apartment, holding two bags.

She smiled, "Hey…you went to the store?"

He nodded, "Just to get breakfast…and to the pharmacy on the corner."

"The pharmacy?"

Steve set the beg on the counter and pulled out a bottle of pills and a book, "Prenatal vitamins…and one of those pregnancy guide books. The lady behind the counter said it was the best one, so..." Natasha picked up the bottle of pills and the book and stared at them. Steve noticed her silence and took a step forward, "Something wrong?"

"This is really real…I mean…I'm—we're gonna do this."

Steve slowly took the bottle and book out of her hand as she looked up into his face. He ran his hands down her arms and looked into her eyes, "It's gonna be alright, Nat."

She leaned forward and laid her head against his chest as he enveloped her in a comforting embrace and gently stroked her hair. Steve kissed the top of her head as she sighed, "Fury says I'm supposed to go on a mission tracking terrorist cells in Pakistan at the end of the month."

He stopped stroking her hair and leaned back, "We have to tell him."

Natasha shook her head, "We can't tell Nick Fury anything."

"Well, you sure as hell aren't gonna go traipsing after terrorists while you're pregnant with my child."

"Calm down there, cap. Might I remind you that this is not 1942?"

Steve let out a sigh, "I know. I'm sorry, and I know you're just as strong, smart and capable as any man…but whether you want to admit it or not…you're in a delicate condition."

She anxiously ran a hand through her hair, "Ok. You need to calm down. I JUST agreed to have this baby and you're already freaking me out with all these lifestyle changes, and the pills and the books…ugh! Can you just give me a second? Just a moment to get used to the idea that I'm turning my entire world upside down?!"

He nodded as she snatched breakfast off the counter, stomped into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Steve stood in the empty kitchen for a second, dumbstruck and rooted in his spot. Slowly, he picked up the book and sat down as he began reading the first chapter.

"Thanks to hormonal changes that affect neurotransmitters, as well as conflicting feelings about impending motherhood, it is very common for women to experience mood swings throughout their pregnancy."

Steve looked in the direction of Natasha's closed door and sighed, "Well…guess that explains that…"

The following week, Clint returned from his mission in Europe. Natasha wished she could continue to avoid him, but when Fury called an urgent meeting at SHIELD, she knew her time was up.

Before she left for the meeting, she rummaged through her closet in an effort to find an outfit that drew attention away from her belly…but unfortunately, every article of clothing she owned was made to hug every curve of her body.

She ignored Steve when he tried to convince her that no one would know and that she didn't look anymore pregnant than he did, but his declarations fell on deaf ears.

As far as her mind was concerned, she looked huge and Clint would know she was pregnant as soon as he laid eyes on her.

When she walked into the conference room, Clint was already there, sitting down. He stared at her as she sat down across from him and crossed her arms across her flat stomach.

Soon after Tony arrived, Fury took his place at the front of the room, "I've called you all here because there's been a severe security breach in Washington." He paused as he pressed a button that made the projection screen behind him flicker to life. On the screen was a picture of, what looked to be, a mosquito, "This is our enemy's newest weapon. This little thing may look like an insect to the naked eye, but it's actually an artificial intelligence device equipped with microphones and cameras."

"How do we know these little mosquito-bots don't have anything to do with the Vice President's failed coup attempt?" asked Tony.

"We don't. We have samples on their way to Stark Tower as I speak. I'm sure Tony has spread the good news that you'll all be put up in apartments in his building, and move-in day is today. I need the team on top of this and working around the clock without any distractions. I want everyone to report to the Tower in an hour. Bruce, you'll be analyzing data with Tony. Natasha, Clint…I want you to try to track accomplices of the perps you subdued back at that warehouse and gather them for questioning. Steve, I want you to draw up a tactical proposal that tells me exactly how many of these little bastards our enemy would need if they were attempting to gather useful intel from all three branches of government."

Now that everyone had their orders, they went their separate ways…well, they should have. Clint followed Natasha out as Steve watched carefully.

Clint's voice was low as he spoke, and the stoic look on his face was in stark contrast to the urgency in his tone, "I've been trying to reach you for days...weeks. Where have you been?"

"Busy."

"Don't give me that. Something is going on with you."

She looked around, "Now is not the time, and it sure as hell isn't the place."

"Well, seeing as how hard it is for me to get in contact with you, I'd think now was as good a time as any."

Natasha pursed her lips, "I think we should wait until we're somewhere more private to talk."

Clint slowly relented and nodded before walking away from her.

Steve wanted to follow her when she left SHIELD, but for now, he had to respect her wishes to keep their relationship, and her pregnancy, under strict wraps.

She returned to her apartment to quickly pack a bag, then reported to Stark Tower. She was the first one to arrive, so Pepper showed her to her apartment. As Pepper finished showing her around, Natasha nodded, "So…is Jarvis' watchful eye in here too?"

Suddenly, the kindly old English accent sounded through the PA system, "I'm not quite used to Ms. Romanoff's voice signature yet, Ms. Potts. Am I needed here?"

Pepper smiled knowingly at Natasha, "No. Thank you, Jarvis."

Natasha sighed a little, "Is there a way to turn him off?"

"Um…I'm sure there is, but that would probably be like asking Tony to kill a beloved family pet, so…"

Natasha smiled and held up a hand, "I understand. I'm fully aware of Tony's attachment to his toys and technology."

Pepper sighed, "Truth be told, I'm really glad you're here. I was afraid I was going to be surrounded by a bunch of testosterone once Tony let me know the team would be moving in."

"Well, I hope I provide enough estrogen for you. I'm not really your typical girly-girl."

"At least you have a uterus."

Natasha shifted a little, "Yep. That I do."

Tony arrived, "I would apologize for interrupting girl talk, but I'm pretty sure Natasha doesn't know how to speak chick."

Pepper elbowed him as he put an arm around her shoulders, "I was just going to leave Natasha to settle in."

"Yeah. And I was hoping you could limit Jarvis'…interaction…in my apartment."

Tony cocked his head to the side, "Have something to hide, Agent Romanoff?"

"I'm a spy. Secrecy is in my nature. There's a reason I chose to live in a regular apartment rather than SHIELD's dormitory. I value my privacy."

"Point well taken. I'll see what I can do."

When Tony left her apartment, he went to his office and closed the door, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to keep a close eye on Ms. Romanoff, but keep it on the down low. I don't want her unpacking skeletons in any closets in this building."

"I'll be sure to keep a keen eye, sir."

When Clint made it to the tower, he patiently let Pepper and Tony show him to his apartment, then immediately sought out Natasha so that they could finish their talk.

She knew he would be her first stop when he arrived, so she wasn't surprised when he knocked on her door.

"Hey."

Natasha opened the door wider and let him in before closing it behind him.

Clint turned around, "So…let's start with the fact that you've been blatantly avoiding me."

She looked away, "I've been busy."

"I call bullshit."

Natasha sighed, "Fine. I've been avoiding you because I needed time away from you. I told you I didn't want to keep going on the way we were, and less than five minutes later, you're on top of me."

"You know about my past, Nat. You know why it's hard for me to open up. I thought you'd be patient. You're not necessarily a beacon for emotional honesty."

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. It's too late for that…"

"Why?" When she didn't answer him, he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her to him, "Why is it too late, Natasha?"

She started to speak, but a knock on the door forced them to separate so that she could walk over to the door to find Nick Fury standing there.

"We've found a source that's willing to talk. I want you two and Rogers to rendezvous and bring them here for safekeeping."

Clint nodded, and luckily, neither of the men noticed the concerned look on Natasha's face as they filed out of the room.

Natasha was partially relieved to see Steve downstairs beside the SHIELD issued black SUV. He gave her a look of concern as she approached, "You up for this?"

She nodded, "It's just a pick-up. Should be smooth sailing."

An hour later, Clint, Natasha and Steve drove up to a dark shipyard in Brooklyn. Clint parked the car, "Let's have a look around."

"Um…maybe it would be best if Natasha stayed in the car? We can make a quicker getaway if someone is ready to go in the driver's seat." said Steve as he tried to keep the desperation and concern out of his voice.

Clint gave him a funny look, then looked at Natasha, "You good with that?"

She nodded, "Yeah. That's fine."

Steve and Clint got out of the car and began looking for their informant. They eventually found him cowering behind some crates.

"Director Fury sent us. We're here to take you some place safe."

The man, who looked as though he hadn't slept in ages, shook his head feverishly and jerked away when Steve tried to approach, "No! They're here! Nowhere is safe! They find you…and your families! They wanna take over the world…and you know what? They're gonna!"

"Sir, just calm down. You'll be safe if you just come with us", said Steve soothingly.

The closer they got, the more hysterical the man got.

When the man stood up, he was met with a bullet to the head. Steve and Clint immediately ducked for cover as they both attempted to locate the origin of the gunshot.

"I heard a gunshot. Are you boys OK?" came Natasha's voice over their communicators.

"We're fine. I wish I could say the same for our informant. He was shot by an unidentified assailant. What do you see, Hawkeye?"

Clint stole a peek over the boat he was ducking behind, "The shot came from that abandoned building…but they've got a pretty decent head start on us already."

"I got movement!" shouted Natasha over the communicator.

Steve and Clint took off toward the SUV and jumped in. Natasha gunned it after the fleeing vehicle as it pulled onto the main road and began darting in and out of traffic.

Steve glanced at her, "Careful…"

She gave a quick nod as she sped up, darting past several cars. When they got closer to the vehicle they were pursuing, the assailant stuck his hand out of the front window and began firing shots.

Steve glanced behind them and noticed a sedan speeding up and driving erratically, "Uh…I think we got company."

"Shit…" muttered Natasha.

Clint opened the sunroof and stood up before shooting an exploding arrow at the car's back wheel. It exploded and immediately crippled the vehicle, causing it to lose control and crash.

The car behind them sped up as the men inside began firing on their vehicle.

Steve drew his own side arm and began firing, but did little to deter their attackers. One of the bullets hit their front tire, which caused the SUV to swerve a little, but Natasha was somehow able to keep it under control.

They drove beside them, and just as Clint was about to land a shot, they slammed into the SUV, causing the disabled vehicle to careen out of Natasha's control.

The SUV spun off of the road, then down into an embankment, hitting a tree.

Steve shook his head in an effort to regain his bearings once they hit the tree. His first thought went to Natasha, who was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious.

Clint groaned and stretched his battered limbs, but seemed to be OK outside of the stray cut or bruise.

Steve panicked and jumped out of the back seat to rush to Natasha's side, "Nat…can you hear me?"

Clint joined him and checked her pulse, "She's alive. Probably a concussion."

"We have to get her to a hospital."

Steve called 911, and within minutes, Natasha was being rushed into an emergency room. Clint told them that her name was Natalie Rushman instead of using her real name. As she was wheeled back for treatment, Steve and Clint were forced to stay in the waiting area.

Clint stepped outside to call Fury and let him know what happened just before one of Natasha's nurses walked up to him, "You came in with Ms. Rushman?"

"Yes. Is she alright?"

"The doctor is examining her now. Do you know of any medications she's currently taking?"

Steve lowered his voice, "Prenatal vitamins…she's pregnant."

The nurse nodded and scribbled down some notes on her clipboard, "Alright. Any allergies?"

"Not that I know of…um…will the baby be alright? The crash was pretty violent."

"We don't know anything yet, sir. I'll update you as soon as possible."

Clint returned just moments later, "Well Fury is sufficiently pissed...and should be here any minute. Any news on Nat?"

Steve shook his head, "Not yet."

They sat in the living room for an hour or so before a nurse came out, "You came with Ms. Rushman?"

They both nodded and stood, "Yeah. How is she?"

"Just a concussion. We'll want to keep her for observation for the next day, but she should be clear to go home by tomorrow. She's awake now and the baby is just fine. The doctor will probably just want her to take it easy for a few days and follow up with her Obstetrician."

Steve's eyes widened as Clint stuttered, "B-b-baby?"

"Thank you, ma'am", said Steve, quickly cutting in to distract her from Clint's shocked reaction at the news.

When she walked away, Steve turned around to face the flabbergasted Clint. He still seemed to be in shock, so Steve stepped in front of him, "Clint-"

"She's pregnant. She's pregnant? Why didn't she tell me?"

Steve sighed, "We wanted to keep it quiet until-"

Clint's head snapped up, "We? What the hell do you mean…we?"

Steve stuttered, "We…I mean…Nat and I…"

Clint narrowed his eyes, "You…and Nat?"

"I think she was waiting for the right time to tell you."

The archer's jaw clenched as he crossed his arms, "Oh? Is that right? Well…maybe now is the right time to tell you that Natasha and I had sex…about two months ago."

Steve stared at Clint's angry, flashing eyes, "So…you're saying…"

Clint ignored his words as he shook his head in disgust and placed a hand against his temple, "How long has this been going on?!"

"Maybe we should take a step back and avoid discussing the details."

"Oh, is that inappropriate? The woman who I thought I had a future with is pregnant, and there's a chance that I'm not the father."

Steve crossed his arms, "You thought you had a future with her? I'm sure that would be news to her!"

"Nat knows how I feel about her."

"Does she? How would she? Have you ever said anything?" When Clint remained silent, Steve nodded at his confirmation, "Of course you didn't…but you wanna know what? I have. Natasha knows EXACTLY how I feel about her. I've shown her with every look…with every word…with every touch."

As soon as Steve got those last two words out, Clint swung at him, landing a punch to the side of his face.

The punch would have laid out any other man, but Captain America only stumbled back a half step. He let out a deep breath, "Don't do that again, Clint."

The two men stood there, staring at each other for several moments until Tony and Nick walked in. They noticed the tension between the two and approached cautiously.

Nick looked between them, "What's going on here?"

Steve broke eye contact with Clint and looked at Fury, "Natasha has a concussion. She should be released tomorrow."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "All this fuss over a concussion? Fury, you can have her released, right?"

Clint and Steve exchanged looks before Steve stepped forward, "It's probably best she stay here, sir."

Nick crossed his arms, "Captain, it's not a regular day at SHIELD unless someone comes back with a concussion. This is a routine injury as far as I'm concerned."

Clint stepped forward, "I agree with Rogers, sir. The wound on her head was rather nasty. In my opinion, we should allow Natasha to stay in a place where she can be monitored by a staff of experienced doctors."

Tony gave them both a peculiar look before Fury nodded thoughtfully, "Fine. But I want a full account of this botched mission right now."

Clint sat down with Fury as Steve left the waiting room to go to the bathroom and grab himself a cup of coffee. As he passed the nurse's station, he heard one of them talking, "Ms. Rushman, in 204 complained of nausea. Do we have any Zofran up here?"

Steve made his way to her room and opened her door. She was sitting up in bed with a bandage on her head as a nurse took her blood pressure.

Natasha perked up slightly, "Steve…"

He smiled a little as he sat down beside her, "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Ok, I guess. I got a pretty bad headache."

The nurse smiled and removed the cuff from her arm, "That's normal. The meds should help a little, but we can't give you the good stuff since you're pregnant."

When the nurse left, Natasha sighed and leaned back as she placed a hand on her flat stomach, "When I woke up here…I was scared...about the baby. I was actually really concerned about it. I didn't know that feeling would come so soon. I went from not even being totally sure I wanted it...to being terrified of losing it."

Steve sighed and lowered his head. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Is everything alright?"

There was a torturously long moment of silence before he slowly looked up to meet her eyes and let out a deep sigh, "Why didn't you tell me that the baby might be Clint's?"

Natasha's eyes widened before she shifted uncomfortably and looked down at her hands. When she finally mustered up the courage to look him in the face again, her eyes were glistening slightly, "I didn't tell you because…I wasn't going to have it until you made me see the beauty in this crazy…truly unexpected circumstance. You're the reason I am going to have this baby. You made me want this. I knew that if I was going to do this with you, I'd never be hurt or alone, and more importantly, my kid would be loved and taken care of…so I chose not to tell you because…either way you look at it, I'm going to be a mother because of you…"

Steve gently took her hand before he leaned over to gently kiss her lips, "I wish you would've told me…"

"I don't know what I was thinking keeping that from you. I'm so sorry."

He lowered his head again, "I was really looking forward to becoming a father…now I feel like that might not happen. Feels like I just got robbed of something."

She shook her head, "Please…Steve…it might be yours."

"But we can't be sure…until we're sure…right?" She nodded as he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, "I know I don't really have a right to say anything because, when this started, we did agree that it was just sex…but I have to ask why…"

Natasha fiddled with the edge of the blanket that covered her legs, "I wish there was an explanation in the world that could placate you, Steve…I really do…but somehow, I don't think you'll like my admission that I'm powerless to resist a man who has held my life in his hands on more than one occasion. I'm weak…it's not more complicated than that. Maybe that's why I cut off all communication with him. I was afraid of getting sucked in again..."

"So…if this baby is his…and you're forced to interact with him on a daily basis so that you can parent this kid together…where does that leave us?"

She stared into his pleading eyes for a few moments before her door opened. Tony walked in with a cheesy-looking gift basket he probably purchased from the gift shop in the hospital. Natasha forced a smile as Steve quickly sat back and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, Nat. They didn't have any vodka…but I doubt you'd be wanting any of that…seeing as how you're probably already feeling like you have a hangover."

She smiled weakly, "Thanks."

Tony looked between the two of them, "Am I interrupting something? I'm kinda getting a funky vibe here."

Steve shook his head, "Nope. I was just leaving."

"Really?" she said before she could stop herself. She hadn't meant to say that…and she certainly hadn't meant to sound so desperate and disappointed at the announcement of his departure.

Tony noticed her tone of voice and raised a brow at Steve, "You stay, cap. I've gotta call Pepper. She's been wanting minute-by-minute updates on your condition."

"Thanks again, Tony."

Steve sat by her bedside in silence for several moments after Tony left, and watched as she eventually fell asleep. He stood and walked to the doorway as Clint entered the room and stared at her sleeping form, "How is she?"

"Tired, achey…but she's gonna be fine."

Cline nodded, "What about the baby?"

"The ultrasound didn't reveal any problems with the pregnancy."

Clint looked surprised, "You saw the ultrasound?"

Steve shook his head, "No. She only told me."

"Oh."

The two men stood there awkwardly for a few second before Steve let out a slight groan, "Look, Clint…it looks like our paths are gonna keep crossing where Natasha's concerned, so let's just do our best to be civil and concentrate on getting her through this, OK?"

Clint nodded, "Fine."

The more you review, the more I write!

To my faithful reviewers: someone asked about another Rogan story- I will think one up as soon as I find my muse and am able to finish "A Good Soldier". Thank you so much for reading my stories. I hope you're enjoying this one!