"Banner, I…I need to speak with you." Cara said tried to force down her pride as she ignored the raised brow Stark looked at her with from his own table in the lab.
Banner looked at her with polite confusion. "What is it, Agent Barton?"
"I've read that for exercise, while walking and such are still good," Cara paused as she thought about how to voice her request, "but that yoga is also a good form to consider, and I was thinking…" she trailed off as she didn't want to actually say it. The words seemed to be stuck in her throat.
Recognition showed in Banner's eyes and he looked uncertain. "Are you sure? There has to be classes you can take."
"It would be too hassling if someone recognized me; I do not need people pestering me if the Captain and I are together." Cara replied.
"I thought it was Steve?" Stark questioned and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face.
Cara scowled at him, and she proceeded to ignore him once more and turned her attention back to Banner. "Would it be an inconvenience?" she asked.
"Well, no, but, are you sure?" Banner repeated.
Cara could see now why he seemed so nervous. "Yes, I am. I…" she couldn't say that she understood his concern, as she wasn't in the same position as he. "If you are uncertain, then could you give me a good spot to do this and I'll do the rest myself."
"That's what she said." Stark cut in and Cara thinned her lips as she glared at him again.
"You are such a child." She muttered.
"How are you going to deal with a kid if you can't deal with me?" Stark questioned.
Cara narrowed her eyes and her expression got a pinched look to it, but she smirked the next moment. "Are you aware you just agreed with what I said?"
"Oh, I know what you said." Stark retorted flippantly. "Boy or girl, your kid's still going to be a handful." He said and smirked at her. "I bet the reason you're so uptight is because you were a handful when you were a kid."
Cara lost her smirk as her expression closed off. "I'll make sure my child doesn't turn out like I did." She said quietly, but there was conviction in her tone. "And you will not interfere with that."
"Me? Interfere?" Stark huffed, sounding offended. "I'm going to be the fun uncle, so I'll have to cut in sometimes."
Cara let out a low hiss as the word triggered an instant reaction. "I have no doubt my kid will call you many things, but that is never going to be one of them. No one gets to be called that."
"Thanks for that, I hope the kid calls you many things too." Stark retorted loftily.
Cara glowered at him, but her expression tempered out as she looked at Banner once more. "Any yoga suggestions?"
"I usually do it in my room, but it has to be some place you'd be comfortable in." Banner said. "And it's too dangerous to do it in here."
Cara glanced around at the devices on the tables and couldn't disagree with that. "I see; I'll keep that in mind."
"Are you two still talking about yoga?" Stark questioned with a raised brow.
"What else would we be talking about?" Cara asked stiffly, and the thought of Stark's interpretation made her feel nauseas.
Stark apparently noticed this as he pointed to the trash bin off to the table he was at. "If you're going to puke, do it in there and not on my shoes."
"Great, Tony; she'd probably do it now out of spite." Banner quipped.
"He's not wrong." Cara added flatly and nodded at Banner. "Thank you for your advice." She said quietly as she swallowed her pride and turned on her heel back to the elevator. She would be meeting Natasha outside to go to the clinic for her ultrasound appointment, and despite her own thoughts that she hadn't been feeling worse than normal; there should be no reason to worry about anything.
Only, the thought of actually seeing the kid, it brought a strange feeling out in her; it made her hands shake when they weren't being numb, and any excitement was overrun by the overwhelming urge to vomit. It was just a big mess of not knowing what to feel for this. On the one hand, it made things even realer, but on the other hand, it made things real.
To acknowledge that she was pregnant was one thing, to actually see the proof was quite another.
Cara made a detour to the kitchen and grabbed herself a bottle of water to calm her nerves. She took a deep, calming breath before she walked toward the outside and saw Natasha standing by a cab, her arms crossed. "Just started to freak out a little." She explained and held up the bottle. "Needed something to calm myself down."
Natasha nodded as they got into the cab and it drove off, the redhead obviously having already told the cabbie where to take them. "Have you decided to find out the sex when the kid develops enough to tell?"
Cara hadn't even thought about that, as she'd been too hung up on just having a child in general. "No, I don't want to know." She said firmly. "I…want to be surprised." She said and they lapsed into silence during the continued car ride. Neither of them were really one for words, so it was a comfortable silence.
Cara glanced out the window, but looked at Natasha abruptly when she spoke up. "Driver, stop the car at the end of the street."
"What's wrong?" Cara muttered.
"The car behind us, it's been tailing us since we left the Tower, and it has no license plate." Natasha muttered back.
Cara gritted her teeth. "What are the chances we need to get the others involved?"
"I count only one; you find another cab, I'll deal with this." Natasha said and Cara nodded.
"First thing I'm gonna do is straighten this whole 'Steve and I' thing out, this is just ridiculous." Cara grumbled to herself. When the cab stopped, Cara calmly got out of the cab, thinking to herself that now she was definitely going to have to reschedule the appointment. She walked down the curb to distance herself without making it seem obvious that the follower had been found out. She stood on the sidewalk, deliberately looking for a cab when she heard someone step next to her.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it, sissy?"
Cara's eyes widened, rage and alarm flaring to life as she whirled to look at the man standing next to her. "Oh, it hasn't nearly been long enough. Don't you have some rock to slither under, you snake?" she hissed and saw Natasha stand on the man's other side, her hand reaching for her gun. "You better give me a damn good reason why you're here, Barney." She said and saw Natasha reach more quickly for her gun.
"How's this for a reason: FBI." He replied and Cara narrowed her eyes. "Badge's in the jacket if you don't believe me." He said and jerked slightly as Natasha's hand shot out and pulled the black badge out of his pocket before tossing it to Cara.
The blonde examined the picture of her brother looking smugly up at her, and the other identifications that it was real. "He's telling the truth." She grumbled. She glared up at her brother, who had aged since she last saw him when he was eighteen. "You got old."
"Can I still shoot him?" The redhead inquired. "No one would have to know."
"As tempting as that is, not even SHIELD could cover this up." Cara said and Barney looked annoyed.
"I'm your brother, or have you forgotten that?"
"I know that," Cara answered, "or have you forgotten what a total bastard you were when we lived at the circus?" she asked and Barney remained silent. "Thought not, now what are you doing here?"
"Can't a guy come and see his little sister without there being a reason why?" Barney asked innocently and Cara narrowed her eyes further. "Fine, saw your picture and thought we could reconnect now that I knew you were still alive."
"Wow, we never see each other after all this time, and you think I'm dead?" Cara asked and rolled her eyes. "If this isn't part of any assignment, then why don't you make it another few years before we 'reconnect'?"
"Come on, sissy…" Barney trailed off and Cara turned away.
"Leave, or I'll let Natasha shoot you." She said.
Barney looked at the redhead, before he sighed. "You're still as stubborn as ever." He said and walked back toward his car.
Cara watched him leave and hailed another cab. "Come on, we can still make my appointment."
"You could always reschedule." Natasha pointed out.
"No, I refuse to let this ruin my day. I already let him ruin plenty of days before." Cara said and they got into the cab that stopped. "To the clinic off 42th street."
When Cara had been let into the room and the gel had been smeared over her stomach, Natasha stood to her side as the technician rolled the roller over her stomach. Cara's eyes were glued to the image of what her insides looked like, so blurry and grainy. She furrowed her brow and squinted. "Where is it?"
"It's right there." The technician said pointing to a pen-sized shape on the screen. "That's your baby."
Cara stared at the form, her mind freezing as she took in how small it looked. "Is this size normal?" she asked quietly.
The technician nodded. "It's moving along nicely, would you like to know the sex when it's developed?"
"No." Cara said instantly.
The technician looked a little taken back by the snappish tone. "Alright then, would you like a picture to take with you?"
Cara blinked, but as she thought how detrimental it could be to keep such evidence, it was still a good point in this mess. "Yes, I'll take one." She said and the technician nodded before moving the roller away.
"I'll get that for you, and you can just clean that gel off."
Cara was handed a cloth and she rubbed the gel off her stomach. "It's small."
"You've already said that." Natasha replied.
"I know, but does this mean it's human?" Cara questioned.
"It seems we still have to wait for the answer, but it is growing at a human rate." Natasha said.
"I guess." Cara said softly, feeling dazed from seeing the first proof of her child. "Natasha, hand me the trash can, I'm going to be sick." she said and the redhead gave her the trash bin, and not a moment later did Cara throw up.
"Is this 'happy' sick, or 'I can't believe this' sick?" Natasha asked calmly once Cara was finished.
Cara breathed heavily as she washed her mouth out with her bottle. "A little bit of both, I suppose. I still can't believe that's growing inside of me." She said as the emotions started to settle in; in her shock she'd forced them back, but now they came flooding through. She put her head in her hands and gripped her hair. "It's real, it's all real now, isn't it?" she choked out.
The redhead didn't say anything as she placed a hand on Cara's shoulder, as the blonde started to sob.