Steve Rogers stood alone on the side of a street in Vienna, a cap on his head and a pair of sunglass on his face to conceal his identity, watching his wife, Natasha Romanoff on the other side of the street. Someone had set off a bomb at the signing of the Sokovia Accords. The king of Wakanda was dead. And Bucky Barnes was the lead suspect. Steve just needed to know one thing. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Natasha assured "Thanks. I got lucky. Steve, I know how much Barnes means to you. Believe me, I do." He was Steve's brother in all blood. The same way Loki was Thor's and Clint was hers. "Stay out of this one. Please," she insisted "you'll only make this worse. For all of us."
"Are you saying you'll arrest me?"
"No," she answered quickly, the thought of putting Steve Rogers in handcuffs making her sick to her stomach. "But someone will. If you interfere and get caught, you will be arrested. That's the way it works now. And I don't want to see that happen."
"That makes two of us," Steve agreed.
They were newlyweds. Two months after Sokovia, they got engaged. They had been married for three months.
"I will get myself on the team sent after Barnes," Natasha promised "I will find him and bring him in alive. Trust me."
"Darling, there is no one in the world I trust more than you," Steve assured her "But if he's this far gone Nat, I should be the one to bring him in."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the least likely to die trying." Bucky spared Steve's life at Washington D.C. Fished him out of the water and left him where Natasha and Sam could find him. Because Bucky remembered his past with Steve. If Steve went after him, there was a chance Bucky would see him as a friend offering his help. If anyone else tried that, all Bucky would see was an enemy trying to kill him.
Steve wouldn't back down. Natasha knew that. Nothing could keep him from protecting the man who was like a brother to him. Nothing except…
"I'm pregnant Steve," she revealed, giving him a moment to process "I found out a week ago. I'm about six weeks in. I didn't want to tell like this, love. But Nigeria happened. And the Accords and now this." The Black Widow's voice wavered slightly as she asked "Please say something."
Steve stayed silent as he fought to stay upright, his knees starting to wobble as his eyes filled with tears. He was going to be a father. A fact his wife of three months had chosen to reveal in a blatant attempt to steel-arm him. Part of him wanted nothing more than to run across the street and hug her, tell her how excited he was and thank her for giving her the most precious gift anyone had ever given him. Part of him wanted to go over there and start a shouting match over her using their child as a bargaining chip. So, he settled on telling her the most important thing. Four little words. "I love you Natasha."
"Steve," Natasha sighed as the line went dead, blinking slowly as she fought to keep her emotions in check. "I love you too."
"She tell you to stay out of it?"
Sam Wilson looked up from his dessert as Steve walked into the cafe and placed his palms on the lunch counter, his jaw clenched and his neck veins bulging. Whatever he and Natasha talked about, Steve didn't like it. "She might be right."
"She's pregnant."
Sam whipped his head around and looked his friend in the eye. "Are you serious?"
"Six weeks."
"Wow," Sam marveled as he straightened up in his seat "So are we still going after Barnes or are we looking for a baby crib?"
"I have to find him, Sam."
"Why?"
"Because Natasha signed the Accords," Steve reminded "and right now, I can't think of anything more terrifying than my oldest friend getting into a gunfight with my pregnant wife."