In this chapter; Evie is almost two and Natasha is six months pregnant


Natasha was sat in a large room, empty of all other people and distractions, staring at a pile of paperwork.
She was bored out of her mind, her husband and other Avengers were downstairs being briefed about their upcoming mission by Phil. She sighed as she felt the baby kick; it was just as restless as she was.
Pepper was looking after Evie for the day, the three had planned to go to the zoo before Fury had called her in to complete all her paperwork before her maternity leave started, now she wished she'd been more organised and kept on top of it.

Fury appeared at that moment, dumping several more files on the desk;

"Your husband's been a bad influence on you, your paperwork always used to be in on time"

She pulled a face, playing with her pen and making no progress on the work in front of her. Instead she'd compiled a list of gift ideas for Evie's second birthday, coming up in three weeks time.

Suddenly an alarmed sounded loudly. Fury barked something down his com unit before turning to Natasha;

"Stay here, this floor will be locked down. I'll be back when i've dealt with this mess"

"But what-" she was cut off by Fury's abrupt exit.

Resting back on her chair, she rubbed at her stomach and sighed, she was tired of feeling so useless.

A few minutes later she heard a loud bang down the corridor, followed by hurried talking and footsteps. Natasha peered round the corner to see several men breaking into the archive office where all the field mission paperwork was kept. If she was being honest; she was slightly impressed. She'd never known anyone (other than herself) able to crack the security on that office.

Only then did she realise she didn't have her usual com unit in. Reaching into her pocket for her phone, she found herself with a gun placed against her temple;

"Was machst du denn hier?" (What are you doing here?)

Natasha struggled to stand back upright from her squatted position, keeping her hands in full view. She'd already dialed Clint's number and knew he'd answer, even if he were in the middle of a battle...

"Ich hätte fragen sich das Gleiche von Ihnen" (I should ask the same of you) she responded, in the same flawless accent as the man holding the gun.

The use of his native language seemed to have thrown the man, and she took her opportunity when she saw it. Grabbing his wrist with both hands, she turned and pulled his arm sharply downward over her shoulder, breaking it instantly. She elbowed him sharply and knocked him unconscious. She used his weapon to take out three of the other men, finding the clip only half full to begin with (amateur!)

She found herself slightly off balance as she took out the fifth man with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. She could hear Clint shouting her from the other end of her discarded phone, and that one moment distraction was all it took. One of the remaining men ran at her and tackled her to the floor. She slammed painfully into the wall before hitting the floor, her head colliding with the corner of the door as she fell.


Natasha was vaguely aware Clint had arrived; she heard her name called over and over. But that was all she noticed; her attention was otherwise focused on the searing pain through her abdomen, and the throbbing in her head. She felt lightheaded and dizzy; as if she was about to fall, despite knowing she was already lay on the floor.


"Tasha? Tasha! Come on Tasha; you're okay! You're okay right?"

Natasha was lay unconscious on the floor; the guys who'd attacked the lower floors of HQ had been a distraction, allowing a team sent to bypass them to the uppermost floor in order to steal some damn paperwork. Unfortunately Natasha had been there; she'd successfully taken out five of the men alone and six months pregnant, the ones who were still alive were now in custody waiting to be questioned.

The floor had been locked down, which resulted in a delay in the team reaching her; the overrides took time and it was over 30 minutes from when Natasha had rang him, to Clint reaching her. Giving the remaining men time to escape with their files.

He stroked the hair from her bloodied head, tears rolling down his cheeks as waited for the medical team to arrive. The team were worried about moving her.

"You're gonna be okay ребенок (baby). Me and Evie need you возлюбленный (sweetheart)

The other members of the team watched from down the hallway, Tony rang Pepper to let her know what had happened and to make sure she was free to stay with Evie for the night; the team would be staying at SHIELD until they knew their teammate was okay.


On reaching the medical bay Natasha had started to regain consciousness, groaning in pain and clutching her stomach.

"She's going into hypovolemic shock due to severe blood loss" the doctor told Clint as they wheeled his wife into surgery.

"But what-"

"Listen, both your wife and baby are at serious risk here Agent Barton, I really need to see to them. Someone will be down to talk to you in the next half hour or so, okay?"

"Right"

Clint's legs buckled as he sat down. Leaning against the wall and planting his face in his hands, Steve and Bruce appeared either side of him. Sitting silently, providing comfort in the best way they could.

Hour after hour went by, time ticked away but his team never left his side. No one said a word and in silence they waited. Four hours past before the surgeon appeared at the end of the hall. Clint stood and walked towards him, leaving his team gathered behind him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to look the doctor in his face.

"Your wife is in critical condition; she's lost a lot of blood! But I think she's out of the woods. Knowing Agent Romanoff she'll be awake soon"

"What about the baby?"

"I'm sorry; there was nothing we could do to save her."

"Her?"

"The placental abruption was severe, the trauma sustained during the fight caused the placenta to separate from the uterus, which is why your wife lost so much blood, but it also meant the baby wasn't getting enough oxygen"

"Can I see Nat?"

"Sure, she's in her usual room. Do you want me to update the others?"

"Yeah" Clint said, already on his way down the hallway to find his wife.


She was already awake from the anaesthetic; she was pale and tired, looking somewhat smaller than she had earlier; her stomach much flatter than the last time he'd seen her.

Approaching slowly he took her hand in his, brought it up to his face and kissed it gently.

"It was a girl" she whispered, turning to face him eventually as he lay next to her on the bed.

He nodded, reaching his arm round her shoulders and stroking her arm in a soothing motion.

"I'm sorry" she began, her voice breaking as tears fell down her face

"Natasha. No. I'm sorry. I should have been there; you shouldn't have been alone"

"Clint, I always thought I couldn't have children, maybe Evie was a fluke, maybe we can't... I'm sorry"

She admitted her biggest fear; she knew how much he longed for more children. Since Evie had been born she'd had two miscarriages, one so early she hadn't even known she was pregnant, the other was barely two months in.
The doctors had assured her it wasn't her; that she could still have children, that sometime it just happened... And then she'd fallen pregnant once again; and she'd kept it to herself for so long, terrified it'd all go wrong once again. But after her 12 week check up; when the doctors assured her all was fine, she'd started to believe them.

Now this was harder; she'd felt her daughter move, she was used to the restless nights and the way she kicked extra hard when Clint placed his hands on her stomach. They had lost a baby.


They lay like that for the next few hours, until Natasha fell asleep in his arms and Clint finally cried for his loss.

He was interrupted by the doctor entering the room;

"I'm sorry to interrupt; only we need a name for the documents, did you have one or do you need some time?"

Clint though for a moment, appreciating the doctor referring to the death certificate as a 'document', it made it slightly easier to deal with; his daughter had a death certificate before she'd even lived.

"Julia Marie Barton"

It was something they'd discussed only the week before. They'd talked well into the night, laughing and joking; excited for their future...

Clint fell to sleep next to his partner; grateful that he still had her. Whatever had happened Natasha was still here, and for that he would forever be thankful.