Tony greeted them at the elevator, on the thirteenth floor. To him, someone who was not going to fall for superstition, it could oddly enough be the safest place in the tower for them. That particular floor looked like a modern apartment. A modern, Tony Stark apartment, that is. Only one light in the center of the open floor plan was on, everything else appeared to be baron.
" Where's Pepper?" Natasha asked as they wandered around in exploration. She was looking forward to the presence of another female.
" Uh, I don't know" Tony answered, pouring drinks in the kitchenette, deciding that everyone needed one. " I know she's in hiding, but, I don't know here."
Bruce's eyes widened, " you don't know where she is?"
Tony began handing out the glasses to each of his guests, " I know she's safe. But, if I don't know where she is, someone else who shouldn't know where she is can't force it out of me."
The room remained silent for an agonizing moment, reflecting on how much o a risk others were at, let alone their own safety. Even for Tony, to make such a sober statement, one that was laced with his own unsettlement.
" Anyways, that's why we're here, to try to put an end to this" Tony said, handing Natasha a glass of cranberry juice. It was assumed that hers, unlike the others, was alcohol free, but that would remain between them.
" We hardly knew it even started" she said.
" Then you're here alone, are you?" Clint asked, surveying the city skyline while gazing out the floor to ceiling windows.
Tony turned towards the window, " yes" but then quickly turned back, " wait, no. I have a doctor downstairs, for a check up. I asked her to stay until Natasha gets here."
Natasha glared at him, mid-sip of her drink. It was a warning glare, to say the least. She was worried it would cause unnecessary questions, since it certainly didn't blend in.
" Are you sure that's a good idea?" Clint made his way down the carpeted steps to a an area surrounded by couches, " having someone else here? That's so random."
Tony inflated his cheeks before letting out a puff of air, " smoke inhalation is a scary thing, Barton. Along with third degree burns. We were in a fire, you know. We're not much use for Steve if we're not in good shape ourselves, or if someone drops dead."
Bruce nodded his head in agreement, but really, he saw through that reasoning, " that sounds like a good idea."
" She'll leave as soon as Natasha is checked out" he added, " I'll even go with her."
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Natasha and Tony rode the elevator back down to the twelfth floor. She was aggravated by the situation, and how he almost caused a scene, but reminded herself that he meant well, and kept the angry thoughts to herself.
" The doctor didn't really examine you, did she?" she asked, as the elevator started its slow start.
" Not really, maybe a kick smack at my knee for the reflexes and what not. You, though" and Tony pointed right at her, in case she thought he may have been referring to somebody else " you need to get checked out."
Natasha rolled her eyes, " is this really necessary right now?"
The elevator came to a final stop, the doors opened to a dimly lit- but well decorated- hallway that Tony stepped into. " Yes, it is. Because of everyone here, Sergeant is the most important."
" I'm sorry, Sergeant?" Natasha followed him down the hall.
Tony pointed to her stomach, " Sergeant. It's like the junior ranking of Captain. It's cute, right?"
She agreed, it was, " but I don't think thats the correct order of rank in the army."
" It's fine, it doesn't matter if its exact. My point is, the little one is top priority, even if not everyone knows that right now. And that little prick in your finger is not enough."
" I still don't think it's a good idea, having someone else here."
" Don't worry" he muttered as they rounded the corner to a well lit laboratory.
Not that she was shocked he had such a setting in his home, especially considering the size, but some elaboration did impress here. There were a number of machines, none of which she recognized, along with well stocked shelves and cabinets full of supplies.
A middle aged woman looked up from her file on the counter, greeting them both with a smile, not seeming too concerned with any ongoing events.
" You must be Natasha" she greeted, shaking hands when close enough, " I'm Melinda, I'm Mr. Stark's attending physician."
" It's very nice to meet you, thank you so much for helping."
" Tony has told me the exciting news. Congratulations! You must be so excited."
Natasha smiled, the doctors warm expression being very contagious, " I"m not sure what I am yet."
" That's certainly understandable. Is this your first pregnancy?"
" Uh, yeah, it is."
Melinda gestured for her to lay down on the examination table under the overhead light. All the vitals were examined, and came back normal. No concerns with her lungs or any minor injuries to her skin That's not what was worrying her, however. Natasha lifted up her shirt when instructed to do so, and Tony announced that this was his cue to leave.
But Natasha stopped him, " no, please, stay."
Tony made a face, " are you sure?" she nodded.
Melinda retrieved a bottle from under the table, having been prepared when Tony told her what her assistance would be needed for. A clear gel was squirted onto Natasha's exposed stomach, " any idea how far along you may be?"
" N-no, I don't" Natasha answered.
Tony snorted, " that much, huh?" After the snarky comment, he noticed that Natasha had turned her head, facing away from Melinda and the ultrasound machine. He also noticed that she had began to tremble.
" Let's see if we can figure that out for you" the doctor said, as she began to move the wand along Natasha's skin, spreading the newly applied gel. " Are you alright, sweetie?" she asked the patient. She, too, was beginning to notice the shaking.
Natasha nodded, eyes closing tightly. " I am, I'm just...I'm sorry" she whispered.
Tony leaned over just a bit, " I'm didn't have you do this to be mean."
" I know you didn't."
He reached for her hand, gently taking hold of it. his thumb glided along the top of her head. The gesture, along with her deep breathing, helped ease her nerves, but not by too much. She stayed laying in the same position.
" Well, judging by the size of the baby, I'm predicting you're about seven weeks into the pregnancy" Melinda said, focusing on the monitor in front of her, "however, this is not my area of expertise, but definitely in the seven week range." She glanced over at Natasha, " would you like to see?"
Natasha shook her head, " no, no thank you."
" Nat" Tony said in a soft tone, wanting to convince her otherwise. He saw her eyes open just enough, for a pair of tears to slip out and begin trailing down her nose and cheek.
" I can't, not right now" she cried, " is...is everything okay?"
The doctor felt agony for the young girl laying on the table, " the baby looks great. The right size, and a nice strong heartbeat. I'll print some pictures, in case you want to look later."
And she did as promise, printing black and white photos from under the monitor. She handed them to Tony, who hid them in his back pocket. Natasha's stomach was cleaned off, and Melinda began to gather her belongings.
" I'm going to leave a list of obstetricians in the city, they come highly recommended. It's important you get another check up in the next few weeks, make sure everything is on track. You may be able to get an idea on the due date by then. If I had to guess, I would say mid to late November."
Natasha's sniffles were too distracting for her to listen to any important instructions. Tony seemed to be paying attention, nodding along and seeming to be intrigued to whatever it was he was being told. A few moments later, Tony thanked Melinda, and she left with the large tote bag she had arrived with, headed towards the elevator.
" That was nice of her to come" Natasha squeaked, wrapping her arms around herself after she pulled herself into a sitting position onto the table.
Tony shrugged, " I told her how important it was. Because it is."
She sniffled again, this time not being able to hold back another wave of tears. The emotions didn't seem worth hiding any longer, she was so far out of her element as it was. " It shouldn't be happening like this" she cried.
Tony clicked his tongue, " what shouldn't have? Conception?"
" No" though that was a little out of the ordinary as well, " the ultrasound, the doctor visit...he's suppose to be here. I'm not suppose to be alone."
" Hey, hey, no" Tony stepped forward, forcing her into a hug (she was getting a lot more than usual later, it was nice), " no, no, you're not alone."
She sobbed harder, " he's suppose to be here!" and for a brief moment, she felt guilty for screaming in his ear.
But he didn't make a fuss about it, " listen to me" he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back just enough to face her, " even if the worst case scenario becomes the...soon to be current situation, no one is leaving you and Sergeant behind. Lots of uncles, yes, but certainly not alone." Natasha paused, and he thought he had made progress, but then she continued crying, " come on! Jarvis is great with kids!"
" If you two are done down there, we may have found Steve" Clint's voice rang through the intercom system, and Natasha almost knocked Tony to the floor when she jumped off the table in a mad dash.
The two of them made a mad return to the thirteenth floor, where Clint and Bruce were hunched over a laptop that had been set up on the coffee table, Bruce was typing away, both hardly noticed that the others had returned.
" Steve!" Natasha yelped, " you found him?!"
Bruce looked up, but only at Tony with a narrowed glare, " when were you going to tell us that you had put a tracking device inside Steve?"
Tony's hand clenched into a fist and rested over his mouth, and his eyes widened as the other three were giving him ugly, and possibly well deserved, stares.
" You knew where Steve was this entire time?" Natasha dragged out the pronunciation of each word for emphasis.
" No!" Tony was quick to defend, " no, well, I forgot that I did that."
" This software is rather old, it hasn't been updated in months, so that's very likely."
Tony pointed at Bruce after what may have been an act of backing up buddy, " yes, see, I forgot! Innocent mistake, could have happened to anyone" he saw that there was still an explanation wanted from him, and he let out a sigh. " Okay, it was right after New York, Steve and I were hanging out somewhere downstairs while construction was going on, the rest of you were meeting with the may or something. Anyways, we were letting off some steam, and both were a little drunk..."
" Steve can't get drunk" Natasha muttered.
" I was drunk enough for the both of us, but it was rubbing off on him. We were making a joke that he should have a microchip implanted in him in case he was ever buried under seventy years of snow again. Then we could find him! So, yes, I put one in the back of his neck after he fell asleep. And yes, I forgot. A lot has gone on since then."
The staring continued.
" Wow" Clint finally muttered. He, like the others, were not too surprised of the explanation.
Bruce scratched the back of his neck, " well, now that we have that out of the way. Assuming the microchipped wasn't removed, we can track him, but, since the the software is outdated, it's a pretty big radius"
" How big?"
" About ten miles. So, lets get going."
He, along with Clint, took off for preparation. Natasha attempted to join them, but Tony snatched her elbow.
" You're staying here."
Her eyes lit up, " are you crazy?! What are the chances that we would get this lucky?!"
" Yes, we're lucky, and it's going to stay that way" he leaned in closer and lowered his voice, " that's why you and Sergeant are staying here."
Her eyes stayed locked on his, and he did the same. Whether or not she would admit it, he was right. Nothing could bring her more joy than to destroy the streets of New York, and whoever it was that took Steve in the first place. But, there were other things that came first, and that was something that she couldn't argue.
" Are we going or not?" Bruce unplugged a hand help GPS that was connected to the laptop.
Tony made the announcement, though only continued to look at her, " Nat is going to stay here. In case Steve shows up. Who knows, if he escapes, his first instinct may be to come here."
" Excellent idea" Bruce agreed, joining Clint by the door, all supplies gathered, " lets get going."
Tony grabbed a suitcase that was leaning against the couch- the suit, she assumed- and joined the others. " Jarvis is fully programmed, anything electric in here can be used to get in contact with us. If anything happens, tell us, and use anything you need."
Natasha felt like a teenager being left home alone with instructions on how to survive. They left, and she was alone, she hated being alone. This was a recent development.
She could still hear them bickering in the elevator.
" You put a microchip in someones body and FORGOT" Clint snapped.
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Natasha collapsed on the couch, her first real moment to the rest since the beach house that once was. Not even when sleeping did she feel this at ease. Maybe it was the silence, or being the only person in an enormous skyscraper. There was also the thought that Bruce, Tony, and Clint could walk through the door with Steve at any moment. Or, without him.
She had stopped asking Tony for updates through the walkie talkie that Jarvis had provided, he was getting annoyed and made sure she was aware of that. Soon enough, she fell asleep on the couch she was yet to get off of.
Hours later, when she awoke, everything was just as quiet as before. There were no nightmares, no panic attacks, not even any vomiting (not yet), everything was the same. When her eyes opened, she looked down to where her hand was resting on her stomach, over her hoodie. She assumed it must have secured herself there while she was sleeping. There was a slight change in that area, maybe something only she would notice for the time being. But, it was enough for her to come to terms, that no matter what happened on the outside, this was gong to follow its own timeline.
" Here we go" she whispered, caressing her stomach, even if it had no impact for the being on the other side just yet. " We're going to find your daddy, I promise. You'll know who he is, one way or the other" she continued her conversation with the little being. The rambling went on for a little while longer, eventually trailing off as she dozed off again.
By the second time she woke, she was beyond restless, all exhaustion fading away. There hadn't been any updates from the boys- sure, they were alright, but still no sign of Steve. The radius was far too large, as was the city itself. Bruce refused to let them split up, to avoid another search party for when another one of them went missing.
Nighttime eventually came again, and there had been no change. The day was spent pacing, tidying the already spotless apartment, and playing various word games with Jarvis- with the occasional upset stomach. The computer was actually very good and keeping her distracted. Considering his creator, he had more than enough practice.
She had found more of Pepper's clothing in the back bedroom, sticking to a selection including yoga pants as she was hardly Pepper's size to begin with. She sat down in front of the laptop that Bruce had been using and pulled it open. The tracking software was still displayed on the screen.
The signal- better yet, Steve- was weak, wherever it was. The doctor had been right, the radius was going to make the search much harder, but she had to remind herself that it was better than nothing.
Natasha squinted, wanting to verify what she saw on the screen was correct. The signal- Steve- began moving, drifting along the lines of the underlying map. Very slowly, but enough for it it to be noticed. She dove over the back of the chair she had been sitting in, rushing to snatch the walkie talkie off the kitchenette counter.
" Tony, Tony! Are you there?! The signal is moving.
She held the device close to her face, desperately awaiting a response.
" Moving" he soon responded, " to where?"
Natasha ran back to the computer to check, " uh, it looks like it's moving southeast, but I can't get the exact coordinates."
There was a static pause before Tony came back, " did it move at all before?"
" No, not that I've seen."
" We're north of the tower right now" he said, " which means the signal is heading towards the tower. But that's just a guess."
Her eyes widened, and she leapt off the chair again, " then you were right! You said he could come back here! He probably is, and he probably needs help!"
" Natasha, we don't know if that's even him, stay where you are. if it keeps getting closer, tell me, I can come back."
" NO!" Natasha screamed loud enough to cause feedback in the device, " no! He could need help, I'm going after him!"
She switched off the walkie talkie and headed for the elevator. With any more luck, she would be on the run before Iron Man could come back and stop her.
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Natasha took off in the car that they had arrived from the airport with. Her mind was racing, too fast to process any rational thought. The only instinct she had was to drive in the correct direction, only being able to filter how Steve from anyone else walking on the street who wasn't him. It was more of use than sitting on the couch and waiting for nothing. Tony's wrath could be dealt with later.
Forty five minutes into the frantic search, there was nothing. However, that also meant no angry rescue from Iron Man, and that was just as beneficial for car turned down a less populated street, she soon saw that there wasn't anyone lurking about, which she didn't find too suspicious for that part of town, and that hour of the night.
The car accelerated, distracted by thoughts that Steve could be hiding on the side of the street, injured, and waiting for help. The loud crack of the windshield startled her, and brought her back to reality as she slammed on the brakes.
The street was too dark to identify where, or from who, the bullet came from. She crouched further into the seat when another bullet took out the passenger side window, she screamed. While staying low to the car floor, she pushed open the driver side door and rolled into the street. She heard footsteps scraping along the tar as she ran, and she cursed herself for not thinking to bring a gun with her.
" Agent Romanoff, show yourself" a mans voice called, it didn't sound far, " do not make this difficult for yourself."
Her breath quickened, her throat swallowed hard as she crouched low, behind the drivers door. This may have been why Tony wanted her to stay back at the tower for all this time.
Another window on the car was shot out, she closed her mouth tightly so that there were not any sounds of fear that could escape. All senses were right on the edge, but she could not program herself on what to do next.
By the time she was able to realize that someones arm had wrapped itself around her waist, she was being dragged backwards. Another hand closed over her mouth, Natasha and the captor scrambled to the alley next to where she had stopped the car. It was dark, and silent enough that they were not seen by whomever it was that was lurking about the streets.
She was being dragged, but in a delicate manner. There was a quick left turn down another path between neighboring buildings, only a few more feet before they came to a stop. She chose not to put up a struggle, and instead, stayed pressed against the man who had backed them into the brick wall.
" Please, don't panic" his voice rasped, " I'm want to help you."
Natasha was not sure if she could recognize that voice. The hand over her mouth, however, tasted of metal.
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I apologize for the wait, but you've all been so patient with some dull chapters, I wanted to pick things up in the plot for this one. Thank you for reading!
