A/N: Yep. She's preggo. I mean, in the comics she does get pregnant... just, y'know, not by Stark. That we know. Obviouslyyyy I don't really know anything about the genetic makeup of Spider people so I'm just sort of taking creative intuition and going with what makes sense in my mind and for the story. If you don't like it, so sorry. I had one person PM me asking for her to get taken by HYDRA. Sick individual, making a pregnant woman get kidnapped and mind washed, how rude!... (: fortunately, I'm all for crazy plots. Happy readinggggg~
Disclaimer: as always, I don't own Marvel, MCU or any characters in this. I am not getting paid, no copyright, yada yada.
"I don't get what the problem is, Jess. Aren't you happy?" Steve pushed Jess off him, making her roll backwards, crouching before springing back up and landing a punch in his side before jumping back.
"I am. I really... really am. I know I care for him, everybody knows that. I just... I haven't said it yet." Jess grunted after hesitating as she blocked a punch from Steve who was sparring with her in the gym, hiding from Tony who had been overbearingly attentive. He had to be careful what he said since half the residents had super hearing and she still refused to tell anyone, so every once in a while he would just give her a knowing look. Jess was going crazy.
Steve looked at her from behind his arms that were raised in a defensive mode, raising an eyebrow at her. "Why do you think that is?"
Jess scowled and threw a kick at him, the breath getting knocked out of her as he grabbed her foot and flipped her to the ground, her arms catching her before she landed flat on her stomach. "Well, Dr. Rogers, I think it stems back from being tortured and then forced to kill people. Makes it kind of hard to say the 'L' word." Jess panted, grabbing his leg and pulling him down, putting him in a choke hold.
Steve was silent for a moment, her tone had been joking but the words were serious, making him pause. "I imagine... that would be... hard." he spluttered out as she kept her legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his neck. His arms came back and grabbed her by the waist, flipping her so her back was flush against his front, pinning her wrists with one of his hands.
"What the hell is going on?" Steve let her go quickly and scrambled to his feet, putting a hand out for Jess as he cleared his throat.
"Just sparring, Stark."
But Jess groaned and let her forehead drop to the mat covered floor at being found before taking his hand. Tony wasn't upset about the compromising position they were in, though he may be a bit jealous, he was pissed that she was sparring. Before he even said anything she knew that was what the problem was. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. Rogers was just getting sweet on me." Jess snickered as Steve blushed and shook his head, doing the best glare he could muster. He was just too nice to make it worth much.
Jess' grin flickered as she looked away sheepishly. "We're just messing around, Stark. Drop it." she huffed, hands on her hips as she went over to the dark haired man to stand toe to toe, though he was over a head taller than her.
"You need to be careful." Stark scolded, reaching down like he was going to touch her stomach, her own hand shooting out to grab his.
Looking up at him in warning, she could feel Steve's eyes drilling into the back of her head. "I'm not made of glass." Jess growled through gritted teeth, dropping his hand. Her patience was bubbling over the edge as she crossed her arms and let him put his hands on her waist to pull her closer to him.
"I know that, darling. Somethings are, though."
It was cute. Yeah, sure. Adorable. Him being all protective and all parent like already. She wasn't going to just stop being Spider-woman, though. For six more months? Not a chance.
Jess smiled sweetly, running a hand down his chest and blinking up at him through her long lashes. "You're right." she cooed, grabbing his arm faster than he could comprehend what she was doing and flipping him so he fell on the mat staring up at her with a groan. "Oops, are you one of them?" Steve had slipped out, still embarrassed by the whole thing and wanting to see if Bucky would go on a run with him. Neither of the two noticed.
Tony scowled up at her, standing up and going after her, waiting until he was next to her to pluck her off the ground despite her protests. "Let me go!" Jess snapped, wiggling in his arms as they got on the elevator. She sucked in a sharp breath as he pinned her against the elevator wall gently, her legs instinctively going around his waist.
"Are you going to be a pain in my ass this whole time, Drew? Why don't you take the day off? Or like, the next six months? Maybe longer?" He said in that sexy voice that he used when he was trying to seduce her.
Jess sighed and ran her hand through his hair in a not so common loving gesture. "Tony... you know I can't do that. Do you know how long I said no to this club? Haven't even been here a year and you're wanting me to sit it out? This is my job."
"Okay, but you don't need a job. You have a billionaire boyfriend and baby daddy, you could literally never work a day in your life. Especially putting your life on the line work for a pay check that is surely way less than deserved."
Rolling her eyes, she pushed his shoulder gently as he leaned to kiss her neck. "Oh, is that what you are?" Her heart soared at the word, and while she wasn't dating anyone else and was sure he wasn't, they had never put a label on things. "I will never be the kind of woman you can sit on a shelf and I just do nothing and you know it. I'm an assassin, a damn good one. And an alright Avenger. What would I be if I wasn't those things?" she frowned, thinking about what she would do and shaking her head, unable to fathom the idea.
"A mother?"
Her nose was scrunched up, knowing this might work on other females given the opportunity. Most women would die for the chance to have a billionaire take care of them, to have no responsibilities. "I am not giving up who I am anymore than you will, Iron Man. No more talk, I like you better lately when your mouth is occupied." she purred, leaning in to kiss him and giggling when he put his hands on her ass once the elevator came to a stop, carrying her into his room.
"Captain, call out the game plan." Fury said as he stood in the meeting room a week later, arms behind back as Steve stood up and looked at his team who was sitting around the table.
As Steve explained the mission, Jess ignored Tony who was looking at her from across the room, frowning as he spoke about the objective. Rumlow was going to try to infiltrate the SHIELD base in DC, the objective for the Avengers was simple; don't let him. As he turned to look at her after everyone else had their position, Jess' eyes narrowed as Tony cleared his throat and shook his head. "No. Skip her."
Everyone, including Fury, looked at him with surprise evident in their faces. "Stark, what are you talking about? You as well as any of us know that she's part of us now, not them. She's going to have to face HYDRA eventually. Even I believe she's not working for them." Bucky spoke up, which would've normally put a look of shock on her own face if she wasn't glaring at the dark haired man standing next to the Captain.
"Exactly. She's part of the team, so she's not going."
"Bud, I know it's hard having someone you care for in danger, but you can't stop her because it's dangerous. That's part of the job." Clint pointed out, not sure where the sudden burst of protectiveness had come from. Tony knew better than all of them that Jess was an asset to the team and could take care of herself.
"I understand... however,"
"Stark." she said through gritted teeth, standing up so fast her chair would've fallen if Clint hadn't caught it. "Stand down." she growled in a voice so filled with warning even Nat was impressed.
"she's not going because I have to protect her, and I have to do what's best for my child."
The silence was so quiet, it hurt Jess' ears when all she could hear was the ringing as she saw red. "That's not your call." Jess hissed, going towards Tony to do who knew what but being caught by Thor gently holding her arm.
"Is no one else wondering what the hell is going on here? Or did everyone know but me?" Fury snapped as everyone stayed quiet, angry that his team knew something that he didn't and no one mentioned to say anything. "So, let me just... get this straight. You go from hating my recruit, to knocking her up? Is this a joke?" Fury chuckled quietly, making it all the more worrisome.
Everyone was looking between Tony and Jess, not bothering to respond to Fury who was about to lose his shit.
"How dare you, you pompous asshole!" Jess snarled, not resisting against Thor who was still holding her back though she wasn't happy about the position. "You had no right to tell everyone, especially in a bid to get me benched!" Jess started walking towards him, dragging Thor with her but stopping when Steve put a hand on her shoulder.
"So he's being honest? This isn't just a lie so he can have you stay behind?"
Jess snorted, shaking off both of them and crossing her arms as she avoided eye contact with any of them. "Like I would let him lie while I sat here twiddling my thumbs? No... he's not lying... but what does that matter?! Okay, yes, I'm pregnant. Score two for HYDRA, zero for Jess. One for making me think I'm a spider and two for making me think I was sterile." She cleared her throat, not looking up in case they were looking at her with sad eyes. That wasn't why she told them, she just didn't want them to think she was that irresponsible.
"Jess... I don't know if I can send you out." Steve said after a moment of silence, the blood in her veins running cold as she looked up at him finally.
"What? Why? I'm still me! Guys, come on! I'm fucking Spider-woman. I'm nearly indestructible. Especially to some big, idiot like Rumlow. I'm hardly even pregnant! Dr. Cho said my womb is like ten times stronger than most women, that baby is in a cocoon of steel." Jess tried to bargain, shaking her head with a halfhearted smile as she looked around the room. No one else was smiling. "Oh... my God. You all side with him?! He did this on purpose!"
"Whether he did it on purpose or not, the fact is while you can take care of yourself, Tony will be distracted trying to keep an eye on you and we need to get this guy." Steve looked uncomfortable but his voice was strong, not wavering.
"If he can be so easily distracted, maybe he should be the one staying back! Just say what you mean, Rogers. You need him more than me and now since I'm the woman and pregnant, I'm of no use." Jess snapped, shaking visibly with anger as she ripped her hand away as Tony tried to grab it. "You don't touch me." She moved so she was behind Clint who put a hand out, stopping Tony from advancing.
"No! Jess! That's not it, of course it's not because you're a woman. Stop that. It's because we all will be worried and keeping an eye on you..."
Jess shook her head, refusing to look at any of them except for Nat, feeling a bit betrayed that the other assassin remained quiet. "Let me know how that works out for you since I'll be here alone." Turning away, she threw her mug and left the room, her heightened emotions getting the best of her.
"Thanks for siding with me, Capsicle."
"Save it, Stark. That was the worst possible way to bring this up and you know it. Right before we're about to leave? That was low, even for you." Steve snapped, glad that the others were nodding in agreement with him.
"Whether it's fair or not, I would be worried about her and now she thinks she's less important than you. She couldn't be more wrong, but have fun trying to convince your girlfriend that she's an equal now." Clint chuckled, standing up as the others stood.
Tony stood with his hands in his pockets, sighing as everyone left except for him and Fury. "You better be glad you're a genius and we might need you and your resources, because I want to beat your ass. I worked on getting that woman in this meeting room for almost a year, and you've ruined it in less than that. Fix this. Don't care how, but fix it." He pulled his black trench coat closed and rolled his eye before leaving.
"It's not right what Stark did. I'm sorry."
Jess rolled her eyes and continued kicking the punching bag, not looking at the woman in the mirror. "Yeah, thanks for speaking up in the meeting. Real friend you are." She continued punching and working the bag over, not bothering to look at the red head who had moved to be next to her.
"You're lucky."
Her hand froze mid punch as she heard the words, turning finally to stare at her. "What?"
"I said you're lucky. I actually am sterile... for this reason, of course. In the Red Room, it was part of completing our training. So that we would only focus on our missions, no distractions. Even if I decided I did want to have kids now that I'm no longer a for hire assassin, I couldn't. It never mattered to me, not really... until I found someone that I thought I might want that life with. And I can't have it." Jess listened, feeling bad for the woman and also shocked that she was actually talking about her past at all. Nobody knew, except for Steve and Clint. Thinking about her words, Jess wondered who the person was that Nat had fallen for.
"You know more than anyone why it's insulting that they're treating me like I'm an invalid. Then again, they're making what the KGB thinks a fact; a pregnant assassin is a useless assassin." Jess punched the bag, sending it flying away from her, stepping away so she was facing Nat. "You also know that six months doing nothing, having a kid to take care of instead of doing what I was made for... I don't even know if I made the right decision, Nat. An assassin, as a mother? Who am I kidding?" She was feeling so low, so useless. Putting a hand to her forehead, she shook her head.
Nat gestured to her belly and looked at her as if asking permission. Jess sighed, nodding and watching the bizarre turn of events as Black Widow put a hand on her stomach that wasn't showing yet. "I will try to get them to change their minds, at least until you're further alone. Sitting around doing nothing isn't any better than you being with us." A small smile played on Natasha's full lips as she thought about Tony holding a baby that fit in his hands. "Remember this isn't bad luck, Jess. This is a gift... everyone here is going to treat it as such, even me."
They said good-bye and Jess stood alone in the gym, hands on her hips as she sighed and looked at the ground.
"Miss Drew, Mr. Stark is waiting to leave until he speaks to you."
The AI system still managed to make her uncomfortable, forgetting that she wasn't actually alive and couldn't see her shake her head. "Tell him he'll be waiting a long time, I don't want to see him."
"Drew." Jess scowled as the man overrode the system and was speaking through the speakers, making her walk out the door. "Jess... I know you're mad, but I don't want to leave without talking to you." the voice followed her as she walked down the hall.
"You wouldn't have to if you would've kept your mouth shut." Jess muttered to herself quietly, not sure if FRIDAY had caught that or not.
"Just know I love you, I know you're not used to what that means from people... but sometimes it means taking some anger thrown in your direction to protect the ones you love. I'll be back soon, I'll make it up to you. If you need anything, Happy and Pepper are staying in the tower, and FRIDAY can get ahold of me whenever. Keys to the car are on my dresser. I love you."
Jess stood in her room, looking out her window as the only person she had ever grown to care so deeply for flew away from her. She yawned as she went to the closet and got her suit on, flipping the small tracking device in the air and catching it as she whistled and smirked. Yeah right, like they really thought they were going to leave her behind? Tony wouldn't see the small tracking bug that was located in the armpit (unable to be seen so undetectable) of the suit. "For a genius, baby, you're really an idiot." she cooed, getting dressed and putting on sweats and a hoodie over the suit. Walking into Tony's room, her hands almost stopped over the Tesla sedan's keys but hesitated as she caught sight of the others. Snatching up the ones for the brand new, suped up sports car, Jess smiled deviously. "Oh FRIDAY, I'm just going out for some air. Don't wait up."
She'd show him what happened when someone put Jess in the corner.