You can't know love till you know pain
You can't feel pride till you feel shame
Cause love's one thing you can't pretend
And desperation's not your friend
But in the silence, we can make a sound, oh
Everyone wants
Everyone needs
And we want something to believe
When we get close, everyone knows
Feels like we're going home
Everyone wants
Everyone dreams
In the end love is all we need
When we get close, everyone knows
Feels like we're going home
"Going Home", by The Score
The problem wasn't getting into the hospital.
Natasha kept her face free of microexpressions as the team secured the hospital. Tony was dead silent as he took position next to Rhodey, the eyes their masks of glowing harshly in the night. She caught Wanda running through breathing exercises, while Sam's gaze darted all around his person.
The hospital staff had supposedly been alerted to their presence by FRIDAY, and while their path was clear of any obstacles, the stares on their faces told a very different story about preparedness. Natasha gave each staff member they ran into a once-over, and none of them appeared to be threats, she wasn't going to be trusting any of them any time soon.
Her mind got louder the closer she got. They took the stairs up to the floor with Parker on it, making the effort pass far too quickly for Natasha's taste.
"Uh, guys," Tony said, "We've got a problem."
Steve cleared a landing of stairs as he asked, "What is it?"
"I don't know how, but FRIDAY just spotted a truck with the head of HI security in it leaving the parking lot."
"Hammer's here?"
Natasha kept her face stock still as Tony replied. "Dunno. But the truck that just left was armed for war, so - maybe?"
Steve's expression tightened. He threw a glance back at her, Wanda, and Sam. "Alright then. Track the truck back to wherever it came from. Has the NYPD given any updates on how things are going on their end?"
"They haven't told me anything bad, Cap. So things are either going smoothly or something is about to make our lives a whole lot worse."
"Get in contact with the police chief." Steve said, twisting the handle to Parker's floor. "Stay sharp."
"Three AM sharpness coming up, Rogers."
The floor was almost entirely empty. Natasha knew that Parker was being treated near this end of the floor, which would make things easier, logistics-wise. She quickly rounded a corner and was met with a sight that helped nothing.
Justin Hammer stood outside of the hospital room, immersed in conversation with a woman who Natasha presumed to be their doctor. Skepticism was etched into her face, albeit she stayed remarkably collected, considering the two burly guards flanking Hammer.
All parties immediately turned their heads when the avengers came down the corridor. Birefly, Hammer balked, before quickly plastering a tired smile across his face. The doctor gawked as Hammer extended his hand. "Captain Rogers!"
"Save it." Steve brushed Hammer's hand aside. "Is the kid ready to be moved?"
The doctor recovered her wits with a firm shake of her head. "Y-yes. He's ready." she paused. "I'm sorry, I just-"
"-It's nothing." Steve said easily. Natasha was staring Hammer down guardedly. "Thank you for being so adaptable."
"Is something wrong with Peter?" Hammer asked. A small, radical part of Natasha very much wanted to test his jaw with an uppercut, which she firmly shunted aside. "I'm happy to cover whatever else may come up."
"You won't be needed." Natasha said. "You can leave. You too, ma'am. We'll take the kid from here."
Hammer went quiet for a moment, before slowly nodding and setting off away from them. The doctor followed in his footsteps about five seconds later, her frame tense. Natasha followed Hammer with her eyes until he was out of view.
She turned her gaze back to Steve, whose hand was lingering on the door to Parker's room.
"Ready?" he asked them. All three avengers nodded, and Steve opened the door.
Of course, they were wide awake. Their eyes immediately locked onto Steve, wide and flabbergasted. May looked to Natasha for a moment - two seconds? It shouldn't have been noticeable, however long it was.
"Uhm." May Parker's nephew gulped. "I - uh - I - I don't-"
"Calm down, son," Steve said gently, "It's alright."
May took her nephew's hand. "Thank you, Mr. Rogers."
"Bu-"
"Shh, Peter," May whispered, removing her hand from theirs and pushing him back onto his hospital bed. "You'll be okay. I'll explain all of this later."
Mary Parker's son made a sound like a fish gasping for air, before gulping again. His gaze flitted about the room - it was too sterile and white for Natasha's taste, combined a little too well with the sight of her offspring - with a wild, almost fearful lilt.
Steve took off his helmet. Richard Parker's son seemed to flinch at the small hiss it let out as the mask loosened. Steve approached them slowly, crouching down to their level. "You're in danger, Peter. Your aunt is too." he cautiously laid a hand on their shoulder, "We're gonna take both of you somewhere safe, okay?"
Natasha was scrutinizing the windows of the hospital room, double and triple checking for any sign of Hammer's people or hospital staff. She heavily doubted that Rumlow would try anything, but she couldn't discount the possibility, nor the thought that he now, there were a whole group of very important people in the same room.
"O-okay." May's nephew said, "I-if you s-say so."
They talked too little. Or perhaps, too much. Hearing their voice was like having a needle shoved into her arm. It was always in the same spot, too; a sharp, concentrated stinging, a well of emotions she shouldn't have had, all the scenarios that had slipped through the cracks of her thought-policing over the years banging on the door of her painstakingly crafted neutral expression. She wanted them to shut up and simultaneously wanted them to keep talking, as a reminder that despite her mistakes, they weren't dead yet.
They were silent on the way to the quinjet, and only asked a few questions on the flight to the compound. Their eyes were plenty active, jumping between different members of the team, wonder caught between uncertainty.
Natasha kept her eyes away from them and May, staying in the cockpit, and hanging back and catching Tony's shoulder as he moved to leave after they landed. He looked up at her, somewhat confused, met with a steely gaze. He gave a small nod.
Steve led the escort moving May and her nephew to medical. He gave them a questioning look, and Natasha answered, "Just double-checking something about the intel I got the other day. We won't be long."
Captain America grunted, before nodding. Natasha ignored the curious gaze that dashed between her and Tony's backs.
"You're gonna run tests, right?" she asked Tony.
He frowned, then shrugged. "Probably. I'd like to learn about his powers, and while we'll have to run it by his aunt, I'd still take a DNA sample for identification purposes." he cocked his head. "Do you suspect that string bean of being evil or something?"
"No," Natasha said, "But you should know a few things first." She crossed her arms. "Firstly, that he's mine."
Tony's brow furrowed deeper. "Nat, he kinda all our responisbility now."
"No." Natasha said firmly. "He's my son."
A vein in Tony's neck tensed. He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, snorting. "Hilarious, Romanoff."
"Do the test," Natasha said, "Do a thousand. You'll find the same thing each time."
Tony held her gaze for several moments, in which a myriad of emotions played across his face. His jaw gradually loosened, and then he finally said softly, "You're serious."
Natasha nodded. "That kid is a failed supersoldier - the FSB got a bag of Steve's blood in the late ninties, tried to use it to make their own Captain America." Tony's eyes shot wide. "It's a long story, and I can explain more later, but you can't tell Steve about this."
"Does - does his aunt know?" Tony asked.
"Yes. Known for years."
"That kid," Tony began, "they're, what? Fourteen? You must've…" he trailed off, looking away from Natasha's raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." she replied, "It isn't pretty."
Tony sighed heavily. "You don't want me to say I'm sorry they put you through that, right?"
Natasha leaned back a bit. "Not particularly. The past is the past."
"Steve had a grandkid." Tony whispered to himself. "And he's still a virgin."
"This gets out to no-one," Natasha told Tony sharply. "This stays between us and May Parker, understand?"
Tony bit his lip for about thirteen seconds. He bowed his head, then raised it. "Yeah."
"You didn't say anything." May said. Again, they were having a conversation in the bathroom. No-one to listen in.
"I didn't see much need." Natasha was standing tall, whilst May was leaning against the counter of the bathroom's sink with sagging shoulders, pulsating weariness.
"Of course," the woman responded quietly, "Of course. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Natasha said, "Tonight's been tiring for all of us."
"He took it better than I thought he would," May murmured, "I was afraid he would have…" she threw a glance toward the mirror, then put her face in her hands. "I don't even know anymore. I thought…"
"We're gonna get Rumlow." Natasha told her. "Hammer too. Then you and your nephew can go back to your apartment." Perturbed eyes turned to Natasha. May opened her mouth, then closed it. "Tony'll get him tutors. He won't fall behind in school." Natasha added, "he'll be able to call or facetime his friends whenever he needs to."
May let out a long breath. "Right." she thrummed her fingers against the sink's counter. "Are you guys gonna - gonna train him? Test him?"
"You're his guardian." Natasha said. "It's your choice, in the end, but we'd need his DNA for ID."
May frowned. "So does…?"
"Tony knows. He's promised to keep it under wraps."
May snorted. "I trust you, but I don't trust him."
"He knows what I'd do if he lets it out." Natasha replied simply. May sighed again.
"Right. Everything will be fine." she muttered, "Of course it will."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Parker," Natasha took a step toward her. "I know what your nephew means to you. I didn't ever predict that things would turn out this way."
May's focus was on her shoes by now, but slowly raised up to meet Natasha's neutral expression. Anger flickered through May's eyes. "No. You didn't." she laughed. "No-one did! Because who would predict that - that your son would end up adopted by my husband's brother, that he would die, and that-" May swallowed thickly, "-I'd be the only family he thinks he has left!" she laughed once more, sounding slightly maniacal. "Or that he'd have superpowers and that he'd lie to me for months and that I'd be so - so - so..." May's face darkened, and she turned her look at the wall, her lips twisting upward unpleasantly on the way.
Natasha wasn't sure what to say. Assurances would probably exacerbate the woman's anger, and she didn't have much to say that wouldn't be a lie straight through her teeth. Because nothing had gone according to plan; the thing she'd poured so much effort into avoiding had come to pass, and the person she'd attempted to keep somewhat safe - for moral reasons - had nearly died.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Parker." Natasha said.
Happy holidays! I'm honestly floored by the reception this story has received, and I'm really thankful to everyone who follows, favs, and reviews - it makes my day to see that someone enjoys my work that much! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and any and all favs/follows/reviews will be greatly appreciated.