Chapter X
Zemo was on his way to the Raft and Steve was more than relived that Bucky was still going to therapy even though he didn't have to anymore. The Flag Smashers were laying low and John Walker was waiting for his verdict. Sam had mentioned that he wanted to visit Isaiah Bradley again to talk to him and Steve was still hoping that Sam would change his mind and carry the shield. He was only waiting for Sam's call to ask him to come down to Louisiana to give him the shield. But until then, Steve was going to spend every minute with his family.
Chloe rolled onto her stomach and raised herself up on her arms. Natasha who was sitting with Chloe on her baby blanket, cooed proudly and took photos of their little girl. Steve watched them both with a big smile on his face. He was one lucky son of a bitch. Chloe looked at him with her big blue eyes and his heart melted. He had no idea how he was supposed to say no to her when she was older. Hell, he couldn't even say no to Chloe's mommy. Natasha could make him to do anything she wanted. His girls had him wrapped around their fingers.
"Great job, Chloe!" He said proudly and sat down behind Natasha who leaned against his chest. He caught the sweet smell of her hair and closed his eyes for a second. This smell was home.
Chloe plopped down again and both he and Natasha immediately reached for her, but Chloe just lifted her head and looked at them like she didn't get why they were worried. She was fine.
"You did so good!" Natasha rubbed her hands over Chloe's back. "I'm gonna send those photos to your uncle Clint. He can't wait to meet you." Natasha started to tickle Chloe who laughed delightfully. Nat picked her daughter up and placed her in her arms. Steve looked over Natasha's shoulder and smiled at Chloe. He loved her so much. He loved them both so much. He pressed a kiss to Natasha's temple and cupped Chloe's sweet face.
"I wanna stay in this moment forever." He whispered in awe. He was finally at peace. He didn't feel out of time anymore. Everything that had happened to him had been to have this. To love Natasha and to be Chloe's father.
"Me, too." Natasha breathed and ran her thumb over Chloe's cheek and then his hand. "Nothing can beat this. Our little family is perfect." She leaned down to press a kiss to Chloe's forehead. "Next week, we'll meet with our lawyers so you'll be officially ours, sweet girl."
Next week they were going to discuss with Murdock and Nelson on how to proceed. They'd filled out forms, had proof that they could provide for Chloe, and had character witnesses, but there was still the chance that a family court could deny their adoption application. Chloe hadn't really come into their life in a legal way and they still didn't know much about Chloe's background. The one person who could answer those questions was hiding from Natasha. He knew that she was frustrated because he was too. They had to know everything about Chloe. They were her parents. And deep down he was scared that the court would put Chloe in the system or someone else would come for her. If it came to that, he knew without asking Natasha that they would take Chloe and run. They would leave everything behind to find a new safe place for their daughter to grow up. As long as the three of them were together, everything would be okay.
Natasha must have had similar thoughts because he felt her tense against his chest. He let go of Chloe and cupped Natasha cheek to make her look at him. She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. "I love you. Everything will be okay." She nodded and he kissed her. Natasha kissed him back so softly that he wanted to cry. He would never have to doubt her love. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel her love for him. She nibbled on his lower lip and he sighed happily.
"I love you." She whispered between kisses. "Before I died..." He tried to swallow the sob, but she heard him anyway. He didn't like to think back to that time. When he'd seen that Clint had come back alone...Steve had died, there was no other way to explain how he had felt.
"Shh..." She kissed him gently. "Before I died, my last thought was you. It was your face that I saw before I died." Chloe made a sad sound like she understood what Natasha was talking about. Steve knew that it was impossible, but maybe their daughter picked up on her parents' feelings.
Steve rested his forehead against Natasha's temple. "I'll never lose you again."
"I'll never leave you again. I can't. I want to live. I want to be with you. Be Chloe's mom and be your wi-" She stopped herself, cheeks turning pink. Steve grinned. It was good to hear that she was thinking about marriage as well.
"Sweetheart, I'm an old-fashioned guy. I will ask you, I promise you that." He would never forget how happy she looked in that moment.
Yes, one day they would get married. He knew it. The look in her eyes changed and he bit his lip. He hoped Chloe would be sleepy soon, so they could have some time as a couple. He was pretty much always in the mood, and he did wonder if it was partly because of the serum or just completely Natasha, and he was pleasantly surprised about what got Natasha in the mood. Yesterday, he'd bathed Chloe with Natasha watching them, and as soon as Chloe was in her bed and tucked in, she jumped him in the hallway and they barely made it into her bedroom. God, how Natasha had looked on her hands and knees on her bed and then looked over her shoulder, telling him huskily what she wanted him to do to her...Jesus, his girl was a goddess.
"Steve!" She tsked mockingly. "I have our baby in my arms!"
"Huh?"
She pressed her ass against his groin and he moaned. Oh. "Sorry!" He hadn't even noticed...
"Save it for later. There's something I wanna introduce you to once Chloe is sleeping. It will blow your mind!" He wasn't proud of it but his mind went completely blank when he heard the word blow. Did that mean that she wanted to-" Yes, I will exactly do that. If you want me to."
"Yeah, please." He managed to rasped out. He had to calm down.
"But that's enough talk about blow jobs right now. There's a child present!" Natasha tickled Chloe's tummy who giggled happily. Thank God, she had no clue what her parents had been talking about.
Chloe was sleeping in her room and the living room was cleaned up. Natasha took his hand and led him to her bedroom. He was excited and a bit nervous.
"You don't have to." He told her when they were in her room. He'd never ask her to do something that she didn't want one hundred percent. "It must be uncomfortable for you-"
She kissed him to shut him up. "Oh, I want to. Because I love you and it will make you feel incredibly. I'm also doing it for me. I want it, too. Trust me. I think about it all the time."
"O-okay." He replied dumbly because all his blood was leaving his brain. He could see how much she really wanted to and that was...just...holy shit. Natasha undressed him slowly before she told him to sit on her bed. He watched her remove her clothes and he couldn't stop staring. She was just so beautiful. She kissed him deeply and a little bit dirty with teeth and tongue and then she sank to her knees and ran her hands over his thighs. She kissed her way upwards from his right knee towards his-
Loud knocking on the front door made Natasha stop.
"No!" He almost shouted and Natasha groaned loudly, resting her head on his thigh. Feeling her breath on his dick wasn't helping at all.
"I will kill whoever this is!" Natasha snarled, grabbing his Henley and throwing it on. "Is it too much to ask to have a quiet night to blow your boyfriend?!" She murmured underneath her breath while she left the bedroom. Steve plopped down on Nat's bed, trying to cool off.
"Yelena!" He heard Natasha exclaim. Yelena was here?! Steve quickly got up to grab his pants.
"Hey, sis. Nice shirt! Am I interrupting anything? You got a guy over?"
"You ignore my calls for four days and then just show up?!"
"I'm sorry, it's not like I knew that you got a sex date! Is Chloe here while you're fucking some guy?!"
"Hey! I'm not fucking some guy! My boyfriend is here! Don't talk about him like that! We're raising Chloe together! He's her father!"
"What? You've decided to raise Chloe? That's great!" Steve came into the living room and Yelena's eyes almost fell out of their sockets and then she started to laugh. "I should have seen that coming. I don't even know why I'm surprised!" Her eyes roamed over his body. Right, he was only wearing his jeans. "Nice abs!"
"Stop ogling him!" Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. "Steve and I are gonna get dressed and then you'll tell us the truth."
Yelena's playfulness immediately turned into a guilt. "That's why I'm here, sis."
They were seated at Natasha's kitchen table. Steve was sitting beside Nat while her sister was opposite of them. The baby phone was in the middle of the table, Chloe's sleeping noises could sometimes be heard.
Yelena's hands were wrapped around her mug of tea and she seemed nervous. He'd only met Yelena once years ago when she had been barely an adult. Now she was a woman in her twenties, but she seemed like a guilty little kid. Not that he could blame her, Natasha was glaring at her.
"Start talking!"
Chloe's wheeze could be heard over the baby phone and Yelena looked at it with a little smile. She took a deep breath before she started to talk.
"A few months before the Blip, I was in Tallinn. I was taking some time off and just traveling through Europe. It was late and I was at a cafe to get something to eat but they were closing up and everything was sold. Pretty much everything else was already closed. I walked out of the cafe and someone asked me if I wanted to share her sandwich." Yelena smiled. "It wasn't like I was starving or anything, but this stranger offered me half of her sandwich just like that. We talked while we shared her sandwich and we just clicked. I wanted to be her friend because I knew she was special. A kind soul." She looked up from her mug. "She was pregnant and probably very hungry, but she still shared her food with me."
"That girl was Chloe's mother." Steve concluded.
"Yes. I could tell that she was the sweetest and kindest person that I've ever met. So I invited her for breakfast. I stayed longer in Tallinn than I had original planned." Yelena looked at him. "Her name was Sarah." His eyes widened. Chloe's biological mother had the same name as his? "She was originally from Poland, but decided to move to Tallinn for college. She was 19 years old and pregnant. Yes, she was young, but so happy to become a mom." Yelena wiped a tear away. "We stayed in contact. Texted every day. I didn't know it then, but she was sick. She had a rare blood disease. She had insurance so she had her meds and the baby was doing fine. But then the Blip happened and people reappeared and suddenly there was no more place for those who were left behind and Sarah lost everything. She had no family who could support her- she had been an orphan even before the Snap. She ended up in a resettlement camp in Riga. Those camps are a joke. There's barely enough food for everyone, let alone medicine. It took me weeks to track her down and when I finally found her she was already getting worse. "
"Oh, Yelena." Natasha said softly, not being angry anymore.
Yelena wiped her tears away and Steve's heart ached for her. Yelena was like Natasha. She didn't have a lot of friends, but the ones she did have she loved fiercely.
"I knew she was dying. She had people there who looked after her. One of them was Karli. They all loved her. I didn't know how to help Sarah and her unborn baby. I looked and looked and then I finally heard about the recreation of the Super Soldier Serum that was happening in Madripoor. I knew it wouldn't be easy to get it, so I included Karli in my plan. She relocated to Madripoor to get into the Power Broker's circle. I don't know how but she managed to get in and stole the serum. She gave me one vial and kept the rest, one of them was meant for her friend Donya who looked after everyone at the camp and was also sick. I didn't care what happened to the rest of the vials, I just wanted Sarah to get better.
I knew that the serum helped you, Steve, so I prayed that it would help Sarah. And it did." Yelena smiled. "She was completely cured. She and the baby made it. She gave birth to Chloe in Riga and Sarah was so happy. I found a little apartment for the two of them in Stockholm and moved them there. I wanted to visit them..." Yelena closed her eyes, her pain written across her face. "Sarah called me, saying that she felt like she was being followed...Karli told me that the Power Broker was pissed that the vials were taken and we feared that they would come for her. She was a technically a super soldier, but she had no idea how to fight and she had a tiny baby... I immediately went to Stockholm...But they already got to her. They just left her there... Half dead...The apartment ripped apart, they were looking for something. Or rather someone. They know about Chloe. Sarah had been smart, she left the baby with another mother from her baby group and told me to get Chloe and to find her a new home. A new mama." Tears were running down her face. "I promised her and then she...She was just gone...I didn't want to, but I knew I had to leave her behind. I called the cops, got Chloe and came to you Tasha."
"I'm so sorry, Leni." Natasha got out of her chair to hug her sister. "I'm so sorry about your Sarah."
Steve thought about what Yelena had told them while Natasha was comforting her sister. God, his heart broke for Sarah. She hadn't deserved any of this. She had just been a young pregnant woman and then her life went to hell. And her baby was still in danger.
"What about Chloe's father?" Steve had to ask. Where the fuck was he?!
"Not in the picture. A married man who lied to her. He just used her. He was out of her life the second she told him that she was pregnant. Started rambling about a wife and then disappeared. Forever. She said that she didn't want that lying piece of shit in her daughter's life. It was only ever Sarah and Chloe."
"Why didn't they take Sarah with her? Couldn't they recreate the serum with her blood?" Natasha asked her sister.
"No, they can't. Nagel said that it doesn't work. That's one of the reason why the Power Broker is so furious." Yelena said. "If you don't want to work for the Power Broker, then you get killed. Karli seems to know who it is, but she won't tell. She says it's the only leverage she has. But I know who killed Sarah. I've been trying to track him down ever since I've brought Chloe to you. I think you two know him. It's Batroc."
"Batroc?" Steve repeated. Wow, he hadn't heard that name in years. How could Batroc just kill a young mother?!
"The Power Broker hired him to take out Sarah. He's probably tasked with killing Karli and the others as well."
Steve hadn't realized that Natasha had been quiet in the last minutes until his gaze landed on her. "Nat?"
"I know why the Power Broker is after Chloe. She could be his perfect little brainwashed super soldier if she's enhanced like her mother." She whispered, her face pale. Steve felt like someone punched him in the gut. God, he was getting sick.
"Yes." Yelena whispered back. "I knew she would be safest with you. You and your friends would keep her safe. You are the only one I can trust. Karli said that the Power Broker is smart and the person you at least expect. We knew we needed someone who couldn't be fooled. No one can play you, Tasha. I know that you-" She looked at Steve with a little smile. "And Steve can protect her. The Power Broker is hunting down Karli for her betrayal and after she's dead, they're coming for Chloe."