Clint walked back into the living room rubbing his cheek which had a very visible hand print on it. Tony and Bruce looked up and chuckled.
"What did you do now?"
"I didn't do anything! I simply told her that maybe she should change into something more appropriate and she smacked me!"
"Steve is gonna pissed when he gets back."
Clint huffed as he threw himself on the couch with a scowl. Steve walked in with Natasha's lunch in hand. He shrugged out of his jacket and took one look at Clint before spinning and walking straight to his room.
"You know pregnancy is just making Nat more and more terrifying."
The guys were a lot more relaxed now that Natasha was almost 5 months pregnant. Natasha's constant mood changes and emotions were driving them all insane. Steve walked back out and joined them on the couch.
"Steve, I get you love Natasha. I do too, but maybe we can just lock her in her room for the rest of the pregnancy."
Steve glared at him but didn't say anything like he normally would. Natasha waddled out a few minutes later with a pout on her face.
"Clint…"
"yeah Nat?"
Her bottom lip quivered and the redness around her eyes showed that he had been crying.
"I'm sorry I slapped you."
She waited for him to smile and extend his arms which didn't take long. It was impossible for any of them to not smile every time they saw her. Her belly was prominently sticking out, it now looked like she had shoved a medium sized beach ball up her shirt.
"I'm sorry I insulted your clothes, you look beautiful in anything."
"I just figured you meant I was too fat to look good in it."
Clint realized that she had changed from the too small tank top into a flowy shirt and leggings. Steve handed Natasha her lunch and she began to eat right away. Maria Hill stepped out of the elevator and into the room with a look of purpose on her face. Natasha and Clint cringed, they liked Maria but they were still not used to not having Phil be the one to fill them in. It took Natasha a minute before she realized that Maria being here meant that the Avengers were going away.
"We need the Avengers in Latvia, you will all be taking down a small organization that seems to be shaping itself after hydra. I'll leave the files with each of you. You will be leaving tonight at 1700."
Natasha looked helpless as the men she loved instantly prepared for battle while she had to stay behind. Fury had made it very clear that Natasha would be placed on mandatory leave for the remainder of her pregnancy as well 3 months after. Maria nodded as everyone received their files and she walked out.
"Alright team, get packed, we leave in 3 hours."
Natasha sat on the couch, her lunch forgotten on her lap as she watched everyone hurry to get their things together. Steve and Clint were the first ones done, they came back out to the living room in no time.
"Nat, are you alright."
"I'm fine but I swear to god if any of you come back injured I will wait till you get better and then make you wish you hadn't come back."
"Don't worry. Its not good, we'll be back before you know it."
The worry did not leave Natashas eyes but she managed to give him a tight smile as he pulled her into his arms. As the guys began joining them in the living room Natasha gave each of them a stern talking too. They had all been threatened by the time they had to leave.
"I called Pepper little red, she's gonna be staying here for a little while. She'll be here later tonight so don't be startled."
Natasha nodded at Tony and hugged him one more time before allowing him to climb onto the waiting jet. Thor was meeting the Avengers in their designated area. Natashas lip quivered as the jet lifted off.
"damn hormones."
She went back inside and made her way into each of the Avengers' room. She took a shirt from Thor's room, a blanket from Bruce's room, one of Tony's pillows, sweatpants from Steve and a sweatshirt from Clint. She got dressed and set up camp in the living room, bringing a few other blankets with her to create a nest. Clint would tease her if he saw that his sweatshirt was slightly tight around her stomach. She tried to go to sleep but couldn't manage knowing that the men she loved we're away, putting their lives in danger.
"Jarvis, pull up the file of the mission."
"Those files are restricted Mrs. Rogers."
Natasha smirked and began to hack into SHIELD, it took her less time that in usually did.
"I guess Stark is rubbing off on me."
She read the file over and over again, each time she became more aware of how dangerous the mission really was. She had to reassure herself that they would all be fine and she wouldn't have to worry. She heard the elevator moving and figured Pepper would arrive soon so she got up and made tea for the both of them. By the time Pepper walked in, Natasha was already in the kitchen boiling some water.
"Hey Natasha, how are you?"
"I'm good Pep, why don't you put your stuff down? I'm making some tea."
Pepper smiled and walked towards Tony's room to put her things away. Natasha took a moment to take a deep breath and try to compose herself.
"So do you by any chance happen to know exactly what Tony and the guys are up to?"
"Their mission if to infiltrate and demolish a hydra-like organization in Latvia that has been terrorizing SHIELD. They just have to get in, take some of the heads out. Get as much intel as they can and then destroy it. Shouldn't take more than a month."
"A month?"
"Yeah, maybe less. It would be a month when Clint and I took on missions like that but now they have Iron Man, the Hulk, a super soldier and a Norse god, odds are that if everything goes well, they'll be home a little early."
"I thought Thor was in New Mexico."
"He was, he spent the last week there with Doctor Foster, He was assigned to meet the group just outside of Estonia."
"Youre not worried about them are you? Because you know they'll be fine."
"Of course I'm worried, are you gonna tell me youre not worried about Tony?"
Pepper made a face at Natasha and began to get up once the water boiled but Natasha waved her away.
"I got it, who knows how much longer I'll be able to move this easily, this baby is growing like crazy. What kind of tea would you like?"
"Earl grey please, so you'll be six months along when they come back?"
"about, we were going to find out the sex of the baby this week but I'm gonna wait till Steve comes back."
"Whens your appointment, do you want some company?"
"Friday at 3, if you want to come youre more than welcome to."
Pepper smiled and nodded as she accepted her tea and walked over to the living room where she took a seat on the largest couch and was joined by Natasha. They put each other at ease a little but it was clear that they were both worried about the men they loved.
"How about we go out tomorrow to get our minds off this mission? We can go out for breakfast and yoga and then maybe do some shopping."
Natasha smiled at Pepper.
"That sounds like a great idea."
"Kids will probably be running around in costumes, it'll be cute."
"Wow, I totally forgot about Halloween, its Clints second favorite day of the year."
"whats his first?"
"Thanksgiving, he's a pig."
Pepper laughed and Natasha joined her. They picked a movie and settled comfortably into the couch, falling asleep in no time.
"Do they know youre watching Tony?"
"No, im surprised little Red hasnt found out. She's usually so on top of everything."
"Maybe she trusts you?"
Tony gave Bruce a skeptical look before diverting his attention back to his phone screen where he had Jarvis displaying the security footage from the tower. Tony was resting on the couch in their safe house while the other avengers worked on the mission.
"Don't judge me for doing this, I'm keeping an eye on little red and tony jr and making sure Pepper says nice things. Don't pretend that you didn't all enjoy Natasha collecting little pieces of us to get comfortable. I'll have to remember to get that pillow back, it was specially made."
Steve rolled his eyes as he studied the files that they had received but he was still grateful to Tony for being so interested in Natasha's well being. It put him at ease to know that she was safe.
"Uh guys."
"Yeah Legolas?"
"this may be a little harder than we thought?"
"The infiltration or the attack?"
"Both, mainly the attack."
"Why is that?"
"They have something we don't…we're nowhere near capturing this kind of weaponry, its like nothing we've ever seen before."
Tony and Bruce walked over to the archer and both of their faces lost color.
"well shit…this doesn't look fun at all."
"Guys this could be deadly."
Clint looked at Bruce and Tony and then at Steve.
"well all our missions are deadly, we just have to be extra careful. Natasha would kill us all if we died."
Tony snorted but he continued to re-read the file and try to think of a way in which they could have the upper hand.