Chapter XI
"Nat, sweetheart?"
"Hm?"
Natasha looked from Chloe who was in her baby seat next to her dad. Steve gave her a worried look. He'd looked at her like that since they'd heard the truth from Yelena.
They were in a private plane on their way to Louisiana. Sam had called, telling Steve that he was ready, and she and Steve had decided to fly down there so Steve could give his shield to the only person who deserved it. The timing wasn't ideal but Sam taking over the shield had to happen. They had both agreed that they had to stay together. The two of them could protect Chloe better than just one of them. Yelena had left to continue her hunt for Batroc, but promised to call if she had any good leads. Natasha didn't want Yelena to take care of him alone. She would help her sister while Steve and Bucky would look after Chloe. They didn't tell Bucky everything, just that Chloe was on the Power Broker's radar and he immediately offered his protection for their daughter. He'd suggested to ask Sharon for help, but Natasha wanted to keep the circle of people who knew about Chloe as small as possible. And she didn't trust Sharon, something about her not being offered a pardon didn't sound right.
"We'll land soon." Steve informed her. "A change of scenery will be good for us."
Natasha nodded. She knew that Steve was trying to cheer her up. He tried to hide his fear, but she could see right through him. He was just as scared as she was. Someone was after their daughter and that was every parent's nightmare. Natasha didn't care how much blood she had to spill to protect Chloe. Sarah had wanted her baby to have a safe home, and Natasha was going to honor that wish. No matter what it took. Natasha couldn't stop thinking about Sarah. She'd promised herself that Chloe would know about her mama. They would honor Sarah's legacy.
"I want Chloe to have Sarah's name." Steve looked from Chloe to her. "I want her name to be Chloe Sarah once we get her official papers."
"I love that." Steve smiled softly.
They knew that Sam was helping his sister with their family boat, so they drove to the harbor after they'd brought their luggage to the house they were renting. It was a lot of luggage. You needed a lot of stuff when you traveled with a baby. She was honestly glad that she had Steve to carry everything.
Natasha doubled-checked that Chloe was protected from the sun after she put her daughter in her stroller. God, she looked so cute with her sun hat! She caught Steve checking out her legs when she turned to face him. She'd chosen to wear a summer dress that showed a lot of skin, because Natasha couldn't deal with the Louisianian heat otherwise. Steve had no problem with extreme temperatures thanks to his serum. If Chloe did indeed have the serum then she wouldn't at least suffer a heat stroke... No, she wasn't going to think about that until Bruce had looked into it.
They walked down the pier, people recognized them, but they didn't seem to care. Sam had already told them that it was a tight and loyal community, so Natasha wasn't too worried that word got out that two Avengers suddenly had a baby.
"Steve! Nat!" Sam waved at them. He was on the family's boat, but came towards them. "And you must be Chloe! Hello, you cute little thing!"
Chloe did her adorable cooing sound and Natasha could see that Sam was smitten.
"Hey, Sam."
Steve and Sam did that half hug man thing and Natasha kissed Sam on his cheek.
Sam told them that they were fixing the boat so they could sell it and the whole town was helping. Steve immediately offered his help. There was still time for him and Sam to talk about everything.
Natasha sat down on a bench that was thankfully underneath an umbrella so Chloe wasn't in the sun. She'd woken up and was now on Natasha's lap, looking at all the people around her. A lot of them stopped for a minute to tell Chloe how cute and beautiful she was.
"Natasha?" Sam's sister Sarah was coming towards them. "Hi! Sam didn't tell me that you were coming as well!" Her gaze landed on Chloe. "Aren't you a little beauty? Hello!"
"This is Chloe. Our daughter. Steve and I adopted her." Natasha half-lied.
Sarah grinned. "You and Steve?"
"Yeah, we're together." Natasha grinned back. "I'm really happy."
"That's great!"
Sarah left to get them iced teas and when she got back, Natasha asked her all kinds of questions about motherhood. She'd already talked to Pepper and Laura about being a mom, but Natasha needed to know everything. She needed to be the best mother for Chloe. She owed it to her mama.
Natasha came out of the bathroom, toweling off her wet hair. Steve was sitting on the bed, only in boxer shorts and Natasha used the chance to ogle him. He looked up from his tablet and grinned at her.
"See something you like?"
"Always." Steve's gaze traveled over her body. She was only wearing panties and a thin camisole. "See something you like?"
"Always."
She laughed and crossed the distance to the adjoining room to check on her baby. Chloe was sound asleep, the whole day had been very exciting for her.
She watched her sweet girl for some time until she felt Steve's arms wrapping themselves around her. "You had fun today?" He whispered into her hair.
"Yes." She turned around in his arms to look up at him. He always made her feel so safe and protected. "It was great to talk to Sarah. And dinner was good. Her boys are very sweet. How was it to work on the boat with Sam?"
"Great. We talked and I think we're in a good place. I should have had that talk with Sam before I told him that I wanted him to carry the shield."
She nodded and her gaze traveled back to Chloe.
Steve cupped her face to make her look at him and he leaned down to kiss her. "I don't want you to worry too much. I know you're scared and so am I, but we'll keep her safe. If anyone can protect her, then it's us. We'll find out who the Power Broker is and we stop him."
"I know." Natasha had tasked the few trustworthy contacts that she had to collect everything on the Power Broker that they could. She was going to stop the Power Broker. And if she had to put a bullet into his head to do so. She didn't care. She was going to protect her baby.
Steve licked his way into her mouth and she moaned quietly, careful not to wake up Chloe. Natasha ran her hands over his naked chest, Steve's grip tightening on her waist when she started to use her fingernails.
"Steve..."
He lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom. "Let me make you feel good, doll." He placed her gently onto the bed and crawled on top of her. "You're such a great mom. You're not the only one that gets turned on because of it."
She blushed furiously. She'd hoped that he didn't notice how much she loved that he was so good with their little one. She'd always made fun of Laura who had the hots for Clint when he was in dad mode, but boy now she knew how hot that was. Steve only had to have Chloe in his arms and look at his little girl with so much love in his eyes and she wanted to him to pound her. She was honestly surprised that Clint and Laura only had three children.
Steve's hand disappeared underneath her camisole to cup her breast. "I love how good you are to her. How much you love her." He kissed down her neck. "The way you look with her. It drives me insane. All I want is to do is be with our Chloe and spend the rest of the time inside you." Natasha moaned loudly when she could feel how much he was turned on. The hand that was not playing with her breast covered her mouth. "Shh, doll. I don't know what it is. If it's something primal, but all I can think is mine when I see you two together. Nothing is sexier than you being the mother of my child."
That drove her wild. Yes, she was the mother of his child. She used her feet to push his boxers down. She almost cried when she felt him pressed against her wet underwear.
"Honey, I need you, please."
"Anything for you." He whispered hotly into her ear and ripped her camisole apart. Holy shit.
It was pretty clear to everyone what she and Steve had been up to last night. They were both sporting a healthy glow and still had rosy cheeks. It had been so fucking good last night that Natasha had even cried. She'd never done that before and her heart almost burst out of her chest when Steve had kissed her tears away, telling her how much he loved her.
Steve was going to help Sam a little bit more with the boat until the two would drive to an abandoned manor with a lot of land where they could train. He wanted to show Sam how to handle the shield.
Natasha was sitting underneath the umbrella again, searching the dark web for intel, while Chloe was dozing in her stroller. The first mentions of the Power Broker were from 2017 and it seemed like he was mostly acting from Madripoor. Natasha figured that he had an intelligence background, there was no way someone could keep their identity a secret for so long without any professional training.
Steve was suddenly standing in front of her. "We're heading out now."
"Okay." She felt uneasy that Steve would be away from Chloe, but they were surrounded by people and an attack would just be unwise. Natasha didn't look like it in her summer dress, but she was heavily armed.
"I've got my phone with me. I can be here in ten minutes." He glanced at Chloe and Natasha could see that he didn't want to leave her. But Sam becoming Captain America was important. Maybe even part of protecting Chloe. "I love you." He bent down to kiss Natasha. "We should be back around dinner time. Sam wants his nephews to see him with the shield before they have to go to bed."
Natasha smiled. "I love you, too. I'll keep our sweet girl safe."
"I know." He gave her another peck and took one last look at Chloe before he left with Sam.
Chloe woke up half another later, needing a diaper change. Sarah was so kind to let her use the cabin of her boat to change Chloe's diaper. Natasha had to look twice when she came out of the cabin. Bucky Barnes was talking to Sarah Wilson. It looked like he was trying to flirt with her, but she seemed more amused than actually interested.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Gee, it's great to see you too, Natasha." He patted a big metallic suitcase next to him. "I've got something for Sam." He waved at Chloe who was strapped to Natasha's chest. Chloe's response was a sneeze.
"It was nice to meet you, Bucky, but I have to get back to work." Sarah said and Bucky grinned at her.
"It was really great to meet you. I hope I'll see more of you." He gave her a real smile and Sarah just shook her head. She said goodbye to Natasha and Chloe who giggled when Sarah tickled her naked foot.
"I can tell you where Steve and Sam are." Natasha told Bucky when he followed her to the umbrella.
"Nah, I'll wait for their return. That's between Sam and Steve." He pointed at the bench. "Can I?"
"Sure." She made room for him.
"How's the little one?"
"Great. She's getting bigger each day. And learning new things. She can lift herself up on her arms now when she's on her tummy." Chloe who was still strapped to Natasha's chest, moved her arms around and Natasha gave her her hand so she had something to grab.
"Any new leads?"
"No. Nothing yet." She sighed. She was so frustrated. She couldn't just sit here. She needed to eliminate the threat. Her daughter's life was in danger! Her gaze fell onto the suitcase next to him. "What's in there?"
"Something for Sam."
"You two seem to get better along..."
"Yeah." Bucky wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the water. "I wasn't really mad at Sam. And I never hated him. I just...Steve said that Sam was the one to carry the shield, his first and only choice and when Sam turned it down...If Steve was wrong about Sam, he is wrong about me. The things he said about me..."
"That's not true." She said softly. She knew exactly how Bucky was feeling. All that self hatred eating you up...
"I know that now. I've actually realized that in therapy...And spending time with Wilson. I'll never understand what it's like to be a black man. I never thought about why Sam had reservations." Chloe made a gurgling sound and Bucky smiled at her. "How's the adoption process going?"
"Put on hold." Natasha didn't like it, but they had no other choice. "Word can't get out that we're adopting a child. If anyone finds out that Yelena knew Chloe's mother then it would only be a matter of time until they connected the dots."
"I'm sorry." Bucky replied. Chloe reached out her tiny hand to him and Bucky let her wrap her fingers around his finger. "That must be so frustrating to wait so long to be officially her parents. Steve only talks about you and Chloe. He loves you very much. I've never seen him like this. He seems...at peace."
He sounded wistful. "You'll get there, too." She promised him. "Trust me."
Sarah invited them all over for dinner again, and it was just so beautiful to see her boys react to Sam carrying the shield. Sam becoming Captain America was the right choice, the only choice towards a better world.
Sam and Steve were both happy and Natasha hadn't missed how Bucky had taken Sam to the side to give him his gift. Natasha had a hunch about what was in the suitcase, but she knew that it wasn't any of her business so she kept her mouth shut.
Chloe was sleeping in her father's arms, her sweet face pressed against his chest. He was sitting next to Bucky at the dinner table and talking to him. Steve caught her looking at them and he smiled at her. She gave him one in return. She finally understood what Clint meant with that family was everything. She thought she'd understood the love he had for Laura and the kids, but she hadn't. Not until Steve and Chloe. She'd never imagined that she could love so much.
Her phone started to buzz on the table and she picked it up to check it. It was a text from Yelena.
The Power Broker put a bounty on Chloe's head! 100 million! Everyone will be now looking for her!
The phone fell out of Natasha's hand.
No!
"Nat? Natasha? What's wrong?"
She barely heard Steve's frantic voice. No one put a bounty on her baby's head! She was going to hunt down the Power Broker and kill him. The moment the Power Broker had decided to go after Chloe, he'd signed his own death warrant.