Sorry this took soooo long, but stuff has been getting in the way. Sorry not proof read, just want to continue with this story as best as I can!
We're back to present day now! Xx
Blurry spotlights blinded the spy temporarily.
A buzzing roar nagged at her ear, firmly Romanoff shook it off. She was moving, her eyes blinking uncontrollably.
Where was she?
As Natasha continued down the spotting lights she contemplated her surroundings, she could only see above; the contrast off bright lights and then a shadowed patch made red dots appear before her.
She couldn't look to the left or the right, Widow tried but a groan sounded from a distance, stopping her from moving her neck. She was still moving, and the sound of rushed footsteps beside her jammed her system with nerves. She was flying, in the sky and the harsh tints of white were the stars...
Another distant groan bounced against her tightening skull, she was the one groaning.
Suddenly in the space of 2 seconds it all flooded back to her, too quickly Tasha was drowning in the anguishing memories:
"You Coward!"
Screams splitting her skull, ducking behind cover as an explosion rocked the land beneath her feet, she flew backwards.
Red sparks trapped the Widow in a web.
"Be honest with me...do you really want this? Want this? Want this?" Sobbing sounds ran around her ear drum, the beat was so repetitive Romanoff couldn't stop the sound, it didn't leave. It just got quieter until it, like everything else, faded into an ibis of numbness.
"HEY! I thought we were together!"
"You're got a lot of nerve..."
Crumbling bricks banged against hollow bodies, gas clung to her suit like a bad odour.
"STEVE!"
"Huh!" Natasha gasped, suddenly her blurred vision sorted the puzzle into the correct order, the dashing lights stopped assaulting the disorientated spy. She sprang forward; she was being strolled on a gurney, not flying.
The hurried footsteps were featuring unlinked lines of conversation "We need to get her to the operating room."
"Did you see that other guy?"
"No..what happened?"
"Is that Tony Stark!"
Nat spun her eyes adjusting and the nurses and doctors surrounding her took note of her suddenly stirred state. "Miss please sit down!" Romanoff ignored the crude woman; she always struggled to follow orders.
Romanoff stumbled forwards, her feet feeling weightless and foreign, like her entire body was asleep. Her numb fingers were shaking as she reached for Stark, her hands heavy and stiff; how do you work these things again?
Tony started upon seeing Tasha's shuddering figure, immediately Stark panicked and fell backwards, crashing to the floor. He began crying hysterically; it hurt to watch.
She felt a plug in her memory, had she hit her head?
Something wasn't adding up...
"Stark...what's wrong...how did we get here?"
His face suddenly became blurry as her own tears subconsciously formed and began pouring; it was like her body knew what had happened and her mind was waiting to catch up. Instantly big hands gripped Romanoff's shoulders; Pietro, she thought as a sliver of silver flashed in her vision and Pepper rushed to Tony's side. But Romanoff and Stark never broke eye contact, despite the numerous patients and family and doctors who stepped between the distancing figures.
Natasha sobbed and collapsed, letting Maximoff support her completely as she heard Stark's overwhelming roar "I didn't mean it! I NEVER MEANT TO HURT HIM..."
This time her vision went blank and the sounds began to sink into the river of silence, the last things she heard were combined of clawing breath, muffled sobs, meaningless assurances and one word: "Steve."
Present day
It took a number of sedatives to Keep Widow from attacking the medical staff and returning to her husband's side.
Steve Rogers had been through a lot, but what that...thing had done was overwhelmingly painful to hear, agonising to describe and - despite the other Avengers having their own run ins with the Machine - unimaginably murderous.
Natasha felt sick just picturing Steve's face; beaten and blooded, his surface covered in as many patches as a cow, blood sticking to him and hiding his skin.
Romanoff was now awake, heavily drugged and therefore too dizzy and woozy to see straight let alone attempt to be by Rogers' side.
Her present companion was Pepper Potts, though Natasha knew Pepper would much rather be checking on Tony; Potts felt obliged sympathising with what Nat was going through and informing the medical staff about Romanoff's pregnancy.
Luckily a miracle had been bestowed onto the woman, the baby was fine.
Natasha wished however that the flooding miracle had washed over Rogers' instead, as much as they craved a baby...Nat knew she would not be able to raise this child without Steve.
The idea brought tears to her stinging eyes and Pepper handed her a tissue tenderly whilst the spy half-heartedly concealed her sobs.
"When can I see him?"
Pepper didn't know, though she'd asked many times. Steve had been rushed straight into surgery and Potts knew one thing; it wasn't looking good.
Though Cap's body healed insanely quicker than average, there was something about that suit: the one the Machine had used to break Steve, that affected the regular process.
Pepper took her hand "I don't know, Tash...I wish I did."
Widow bit her bottom lip as the her hospital door swung open and a white faced Clint Barton sprinted in, a group of irritating nurses yelling that he couldn't go in.
He embraced Natasha immediately whilst scanning her with his eyes, Nat did the same, not at all surprised to see little to no out of the ordinary injuries - despite Clint being the most...clumsy Avenger and the most prone to injuries on easy missions, during the main battles, he remained untouched almost -
Natasha pushed him away, her tone and eyebrows hitching to frightening heights of venom "Steve!"
Barton attempted humour which was luckily - for him - ignored "My name's Clint!" after noticing the disapproving shake of the head, his false concern was replaced with a mixture of wanting to tell his best friend the truth and kept her as positive as could be.
"He's still in surgery, but he should be getting out soon."
Widow had a shaking stillness in her eyes, of stunned shock, silence and a dash of panic "He shouldn't have been touched at all! This is...this is all my fault, I should have never..."
Clint cut her off as much to Potts' dismay, delivering the correct amount of crudeness to bring her to her senses but not shove back into familiar territory. "Should have what? Nat there's nothing you could have done to prevent that from happening, we all know if it had been you Steve would have battled that thing to the death!"
"If it had been me Steve wouldn't have let it go so far! He's stronger than me, better...I could have done more." Nat's voice cutting through air.
Pepper interjected "Natasha, you're right. You could have done more, but you shouldn't have. Steve would have been furious if he knew you'd sacrificed yourself and the baby-" Potts stopped abruptly, clenching her teeth together as realisation of her slip up taunted her.
Both women turned to look at a crossed armed Barton, who wore the same expression of stern bemusement...and then it sank in.
You saw the light bulb brighten and the wheels beginning their destination.
"You're...You're pregnant?" Natasha's tears answered him with enough believability, both residents sprang forwards "Hey, Tash that's amazing..." her sobs shaking her shoulder's violently.
The crack in her voice banging painfully against the drum in their ears, "Not if I don't have a husband to raise it with!"
Frequent clangs and bashes, occasional beeps. An ocean of disjointed and distorted sounds, swallowed breaths and tints of whispers.
The only thing felt was isolation, a cold dark sense that he was being watched.
Icy fingers grasping his skin, making him shiver.
Tony Stark sat in solitude.
Ever since returning from the battle he wouldn't allow himself the privilege of company; it was he who requested a private room, it was he who sent Pepper to Natasha.
Though he had not caused every injury presented so visibly on Rogers' sleeping body, Stark had had a big share in it.
And Tony hated himself for it.
No matter what way he looked at it, Steve was in this coma because of him.
Stark would try to replay the battle in his head, try to come up with a reason justifiable for his actions towards one of his best friends, but he didn't want to. Stark wanted to be punished for his mistakes, he'd decided hours before arrival at the hospital, he no longer craved redemption and as soon as he'd been released from the hospital's care - several days ago - Tony's first call had been to Nick Fury.
Declining and retrieving his application for the Security Council, despite them having voted for him, Tony didn't want any further part in this and he was positive, once the people discovered the truth of the latest Sokovian battle, they'd be even more dismayed with the Council's selection.
As well as Sokovia and many more countries disagreeing strongly with the choice, though it had been made vivid to the Sokovian population that the attack had been caused by Hydra thanks, mainly, to Director Coulson.
Currently Stark was holding his head in his hands, sat opposite the person he'd most recently inflicted pain on.
Steve Rogers lay lifelessly in front of him, looking as fragile and pale as the old Steve had looked before his experiment, this was the lowest point Tony had ever seen the soldier and there was nothing pleasant or fulfilling about such a disturbing sight.
The team had been settled into the hospital for at least a week, Wanda and Pietro being taken back to SHIELD hospital for further recovery due to their enhanced abilities, which Banner was a big part in so he was swapping from there to here.
The only two remaining team members still checked in were Mr and Mrs Rogers, though Natasha was meant to be checking out tomorrow.
And that would be the first time she'd be able to see Steve, everybody had felt given Natasha's emotional stability or lack of it, she shouldn't be putting herself into too daunting situations, sadly that included visiting her coma-struck husband.
Now she was a month pregnant and Steve still had no idea.
The news hadn't exactly come as a surprise, after all they had been trying for a child for...just over a month...wow Steve really was super, it was just unexpected. The worst part of this being that the regular bundle of excitement that came with pregnancy wasn't allowed to commence until Steve was back and the doctors had no clue when that would be.
No clue
Pounding feet sprinted down the corridor, they'd kept Widow for far too long and now...she was free.
However Natasha had no intentions of leaving the hospital without her husband; this was going to be the first time she'd see him since the battle, just over a week ago.
Steve had already missed so much, a month of the pregnancy had spun by.
Tasha couldn't help but wonder if maybe things would have been different had Steve known Natasha was pregnant, would he have still fought as dangerously as he had?
Or would he have felt a new pull to not throw away his life in order to protect hers?
Though Natasha knew had Steve known she was pregnant there would have not been a chance in hell that she would have even been in the quinjet during the battle - which was probably a good thing considering that the yet had been destroyed unsurprisingly when Barton had returned, at least that's what Wanda had told her.
The twins had made a full recovery, Wanda taking longer than her brother. As it turned out during the battle Scarlet Witch had managed to over shadow her regular limit. It must have been the desperation of the fight, Romanoff gulped just thinking about it.
Suddenly she threw the door open, Pietro and Clint's heels not far behind hers.
Upon seeing her husband, Natasha felt icy fingers paralyzing her in place. The shock some how forcing her to the seat next to his bed, her eyes never leaving his brown bruised face.
The one advantage of his coma-state was that his lack of motion allowed the majority of his injuries to heal.
As Tasha continued to stare at his frozen state she cringed at the feeling invading her chest: a painful pleasure filled her up as she reflected on her recent conversation with Fury.
Nat had demanded, though Nick had almost urged her on in agreement, that Steve not be excepted for the Council position.
Tasha knew when Steve woke there may be severe consequences to her making that decision but before, he'd just wanted it for a security, so he knew he wouldn't be guilt tripped into returning to SHIELD after he'd pulled away.
But now, they had a baby on the way and Romanoff was putting her foot down and she knew as soon as Rogers heard of the baby, he'd be more than happy to agree.
Natasha shook away the sickening smile threatening to play with her features at the thought that this was all over:
She felt a weight being forcefully lifted off her chest. It was so heavy it had sunk into her skin and for however long it had been there her skin and veins had grown around the weight, accepting that this crushing ache was now apart of her. And now it was being torn away, sure in a while it would feel better, she would feel lighter, free. But now all she felt was the pain of knowing it was over...and not in the way she wanted it to be.
For several more moments the spy sat still, as if she was deprived of emotions...and then when she no longer felt the burning eyes of Maximoff and Barton on her neck she lent forward, squeezing Steve's hand tightly and cried for what felt like the first time in her life.