The entire Avengers team were clustered in one of the infirmary rooms of their secret base, the presence of all eleven of them making the room rather crowded. Still, Steve smiled bemusedly to himself, it was nice to see the team together, even if it was because they were all concerned for his welfare, even though he'd told them repetitively that he was fine.
The arrow that had shot Steve had pierced him between his collarbone and top rib, at a downward angle, and would have gone the whole way through him, if it hadn't hit his shoulder blade and embedded itself there. According to Helen, Steve was lucky that the arrow had missed his lungs, although apparently the arrow hadn't missed by much, and it had been relatively straightforward for a Doctor of Helen's skills to remove the arrow and patch Steve up. She'd confidently told him that within a few days, thanks to the Serum, Steve would be fine.
Steve had also been told about the pint-sized assassin that had been the one who shot him, although nobody seemed brave enough to voice their suspicion that maybe they had finally found Natasha's son after all this time, although Steve knew that he was not the only member of the team to suspect, judging form the way that some of the others were glancing towards her.
For her part, Natasha herself was sitting alone, gazing stonily out the window. Pietro had innocently tried to coax her into the game of Cards against Humanity that he, Sam, Tony and Rhodey were engaged in, and Thor was enthusiastically watching, but had quickly backed down when she'd turned her glare on him. Wanda and Vision were both sitting and talking quietly not far from the door, but they were speaking too quietly for Steve to hear. Bucky and Bruce were both sitting at Steve's bedside, although Bruce was absorbed in a book that he'd brought in with him, and Bucky was giving Steve flashbacks from his youth by the way he was mothering Steve, repetitively checking the blankets Steve was covered in and asking Steve if there was anything he wanted. When he wasn't fussing over Steve, he was sending concerned looks over his shoulder towards Natasha.
As much as Steve pretended otherwise, he was aware of the growing romantic interest between Bucky and Natasha. Most of the team were, even if it was only from the slightly sappy look in Bucky's eyes when he looked at Natasha. It wasn't just on Bucky's side either, with Natasha often permitting Bucky closer than anyone else on the team.
From what Steve had gleaned from the snippets Bucky and Natasha had let slip when Steve was within earshot, they had known each other in the past, and had even been involved with one another, and now they were in the process of rekindling that relationship, figuring out how things could or would work when they were Simply Bucky and Natasha, instead of the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow. Steve wasn't exactly sure how far they had taken things, but Tony had told him that he'd seen the pair holding hands in the gym the previous week. To an outsider, that gesture might not seem like much, to to Steve, who knew both of them so well, and understood how hard it was for either of them to let others close, it was a massive step.
Still, Steve felt guilty that he hadn't confessed how much he knew to Bucky, but the moment he opened his mouth to say something about it and apologise Helen Cho burst into the room, her whole persona agitated.
"You better not have left any of the bastards at that base alive," she announced, "tell me you killed them all...or, no...tell me you left some alive and they are locked up in the deepest darkest pit of hell so that I can go there a kill them myself, Hippocratic Oath be damned."
"What's up Doc?" Tony asked, and half the population of the room rolled their eyes at him.
"The boy... that poor little boy..." Helen shook her head sadly.
Sam frowned, "The kid that shot and almost killed Steve...that boy?"
Helen nodded; her lips pursed in a thin straight line.
"How is he?" Bucky asked.
"I've stitched up a couple of his cuts that needed stitching, he's got some bone bruising to his ribs from where he rolled on his quiver, and he's got a mild concussion, but other than that he's ok. He's still asleep though."
"It wasn't any Hydra guys that hurt him. If it's anyone's fault it was mine... I was the one pursuing him," Bucky told her, guilt rolling over him in waves.
"It's not that I'm angry about," Helen shook her head sadly; "you didn't know he was going to jump out a window and fall down a mountain. When I was treating his injures, and checking him over I found...there...there's evidence of physical abuse...injuries that are older than the attack. Injuries and Scars of old injuries that I would expect to see on the body of a seasoned Agent or a soldier…not a child."
"How bad?" Bruce asked as most of the team cringed.
"On some of his x-rays there was some evidence of bone remodelling, and there are some bruises that are clearly older than today, I would guess more like a week old...and it looks like he's been whipped on his back on numerous occasions, as he has some scarring there. Some of the scars look like they might have been inflicted with a belt as well. In other places it looks like they've used cigarettes to burn him, and there are some injuries that were caused by someone with a knife. Some of the injuries look like they date back at least three years, more likely four or five years. It's been going on for most of his life, I would say."
"Have you...been able to figure out who he is yet?" Natasha asked, the slightest hint of a catch in her voice.
"Judging from his growth and development and the condition of his teeth, I would put him as being between four and six years of age, approximately, but the DNA tests haven't come back yet. I will tell you the moment we know for sure, it shouldn't be too much longer," Helen replied sympathetically.
"Sorry, but the kid was the only survivor from the base. They weren't keen to surrender." Tony apologised to Helen, who sighed in disappointment and wandered out of the room, presumably to check on the kid who had shot Steve, who was in a nearby room, securely locked in and handcuffed to the bed.
"Don't blame the kid for what happened to me, any of you" Steve ordered the rest of the Avengers, using his sternest tone, "You heard how old he is...he was probably just scared and trying to defend himself. I'll be fine soon, and it sounds like he's had a hard life already without us making things even worse for him."
The rest of the Avengers nodded in agreement, none of them had really been planning on holding Steve's injuries against his attacker once they'd realised how young the child was, and they all fell quiet again.
It didn't take long for Natasha to walk out the room, and Steve gently nudged Bucky in the arm, glancing at the doorway pointedly. Bucky blushed, ducking his eyes and avoiding everyone's gaze as he followed Natasha out of the room.
AVENGERS
Natasha didn't turn around when she heard the door to the special containment room within the medical wing of the base open and close as someone entered, instead focusing on the small boy who was lying in the hospital bed in front of her, having been cleaned up after his attempted escape, his injuries bandaged, his hair washed and clean, and his clothes exchanged for some pyjamas that looked rather big on the boy, and the rails preventing the boy from accidently rolling out of bed pulled up, with the boys right wrist handcuffed securely to the railing and anything that could be used as a weapon out of arms reach, just as a precaution.
"Are you ok?" Bucky asked softly. Natasha shrugged, but didn't say anything as the former Winter Soldier stood beside her, gazing quietly down at the boy lying, unconscious, in the bed, looking so hopelessly small and pale and young.
"I kind of thought he had your nose and chin, when I was bringing him back," Bucky offered when Natasha didn't say anything. Natasha hesitated, looking at the boy's nose and chin herself. Bucky was right, there was a certain similarity there between her own features and the boy's.
"We won't know for certain until Helen finishes the DNA test."
"Did you ever find out who the father was?" He asked gently.
Natasha hesitated, before she nodded, "According to the reports that they found at the base I was at they used two different donors for the twins...even though they're twins...they were only ever half siblings, with different biological fathers. When...when I was brought back after...after the twins were born, they ran Elena's DNA through a database. I was the only one who got the results. It took me a year before I could bring myself to look at them...not long after SHIELD fell. I should have looked at it earlier, we might have realised that Hydra had moles within SHIELD...even if we didn't realise how deep it went."
"Why do you say that?"
"Elena's biological father was Steve."
Bucky choked "As in...Rogers?' he coughed, "our Steve? As in Captain America?"
Natasha nodded, "I double checked it with a scientist friend of a friend. Apparently, it is possible with modern technology to create sperm cells from blood samples, and before the fall of SHIELD it was something that SHIELD scientists were working on. It is very likely that at one point they got hold of a blood sample from Steve that was meant for SHIELD and they used that to make Elena."
"What about the boy?"
Natasha shook her head, "They could have done the same testing on the umbilical cord from when he was first born, but I told them not to. With Hydra's access to everyone's files and blood samples, it could have been anyone in SHIELD, or out of SHIELD."
"Does Steve know?"
Natasha shook her head again, "No," she replied.
"Why?" Bucky asked, "I think he deserves to know that his blood was used to get you pregnant."
"He probably does," Natasha agreed, "But you know him better than anyone. He'll blame himself, even though he couldn't do anything about it. Elena never stood a chance of surviving after birth. They…they did an autopsy on her, and found she had multiple serious defects in her heart, lungs and brain, it's a minor miracle that she survived as far into the pregnancy as she did. You know better than anyone, except for Steve himself, what health issues he had before he had the serum. Considering his level of medical knowledge do you think that he would blame his genes for what happened to her, that it was what he passed onto her that ultimately killed her, even if it wasn't anything to do with him?"
Bucky swallowed. Now that Natasha had mentioned it Steve would blame himself eternally for what had happened to the baby girl, regardless of whether or not it was his faulty genes that robbed her of a chance of life.
"He would,' Bucky offered, swallowing to moisten his throat and to get rid of the lump that had seemed to form there, "you're right."
"There have been so many times I've wanted to tell him the truth, but I couldn't bring myself to inflict that kind of guilt and pain on him. I know how much it hurts. For the last six years I've blamed myself for what happened to both of them, I blamed myself for not being a good enough mother to them. I blame myself for her not surviving, for Elena having those defects that meant she would never have survived, even with expert medical attention, even if it wasn't actually my fault either. I blame myself for not being strong enough to stop them from taking my son...for being weak. I...I don't want anyone else feeling like this." Natasha's voice broke and she looked away, but not before Bucky saw the tears shining in her eyes. He frowned and slowly and carefully, he put his arms around Natasha.
"It wasn't your fault, Nat," he told her gently, holding her in a hug tight enough to offer some comfort, but at the same time loose enough that if Natasha wanted to, she could easily get away.
Natasha sobbed, and Bucky realised that he'd never seen Natasha cry before. He wondered if this was the first time Natasha had actually opened up about what happened to the twins to someone. Natasha turned in Bucky's arms rested her face against Bucky's broad chest, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"What if this boy is him? What if he's my son?"
"Then you'll help him, we all will. Yes, it will be difficult for us to gain his trust, yes, he'll probably never have the normal childhood you hoped he would, but he'll be safe, and he'll know what it feels like to be loved and hopefully, given time, he'll be able to trust as and know that none of us will hurt him...that he's free now."
"None of us know how to deal with children," Natasha pointed out heavily, "I don't know how to deal with children."
"After what he'd been though I don't think he'll be a stereotypical kid," Bucky replied, "We'll just have to see how it goes, I guess. You'll figure it out, we all will." Bucky gently kissed Natasha's forehead.
Predictably, it was at that moment that Helen Cho let herself into the room, and Natasha and Bucky sprang apart from one another. The budding...thing...between them was still rather new (or rather, their current attempt at it was...they had after all been together in the past,) and neither of them were quite ready to let anyone else know about it.
"Don't mind me," Helen excused herself, "but also, for your information, everyone already knows. Tony's already running a betting pool to see how long it takes for you guys to actually announce that you're together."
"Seriously?" Bucky pouted, although he couldn't help but think it was something that Howard would have done in their youth.
Helen nodded, checking the boy's vitals and making some notes on her Stark Pad.
"The DNA results came back," Helen told Natasha once she'd finished checking the boy over, "Do you want them now, or..."
"I'll go," Bucky offered, moving to leave the room. He stopped when he felt Natasha's hand tighten around his flesh wrist.
"You can stay, if you want," Natasha spoke, her voice calm, despite her earlier breakdown, "besides, everyone will know soon enough."
"If you want," Bucky nodded, stepping a little closer to Natasha as she dropped her hand away from his wrist.
Helen cleared her throat, "Ok, well, our suspicions were confirmed by the DNA testing. The boy is your son, Natasha. Might I be the first to offer my congratulations...and to say that I am very happy for you that you were able to find him and get him back."
Natasha nodded, although she said nothing. Bucky noticed how Natasha moved her hand so it was resting gently over the boy's hand, her fingers curled lightly around his smaller fingers.
"There...there's something else I need to tell you," Helen began, shifting her weight uncertainly. It was a strange look for the doctor, who was usually so determined and unfazed by anything the Avengers did.
"What, is something wrong?" Natasha asked quickly, and Helen rapidly shook her head in reply.
"No, nothing like that, aside from the things I mentioned earlier he seems to be a healthy little boy...possibly a little underweight and small for his age, now that we know exactly how old he is, but there was something else that came up during the DNA testing. As you requested, we ran his DNA samples against the broadest range of samples we have on file...and there was another parental match."
"You know who his father is?" Bucky asked for clarification.
Helen nodded, avoiding looking at both Natasha and Bucky, focusing instead on the boy in the bed, still unconscious and oblivious to everything going on in the room around him.
"It's you," Helen finally said. Natasha stiffened, and Bucky blinked furiously.
"Hang on...Me?"
"Yes, Bucky...you are the child's biological father."
"Oh...Oh my god." Bucky swallowed thickly, leaning against the wall, looking from Natasha, to the boy in the bed. Natasha was watching him, a sad look on her face.
"I'm not surprised, to be honest," she admitted, "I kind of suspected that it was you, especially when I found out who Elena's father was. It would make sense, in a painfully ironic way. Hydra would have appreciated it...not to mention that it wasn't as though our relationship was being discouraged when were involved... before. If they'd had the technology to do it it's quite possible, they would have undone the sterilization and made us sleep together until I got pregnant back then. The child of the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier...it would have been the ultimate KGB and Hydra weapon."
Bucky couldn't help but shiver. Natasha was right, about all of it. Bucky had experienced the most freedom he'd had throughout his entire time under the control of Hydra when he and Natasha had been involved with one another, and Bucky belatedly realised that it had been part of Hydra's manipulation of him and Natasha, rewarding their affection for one another with some sort of perceived freedom.
"And they still almost ended up with their weapon," Bucky murmured, looking past Natasha at the boy, so small and young now, but already dangerous, as proven by Steve in the hospital bed only a few rooms away. Who knew what sort of threat he might have posed had he been older when he'd been found, or if he'd grown to maturity under Hydra's training regime? Bucky knew that Natasha's biggest fear was having to face her son on a mission, having to fight the warped, twisted man the baby she gave birth to alone and unassisted had become.
"The key word there is almost," Helen pointed out with a small smile, "Children this young tend to adapt fairly easily. I'm not saying that it will be a fast process, or that there won't be challenges, but I know that with the entire team helping you, this little fellow will, hopefully, be able to put what he's been through in the past."
Bucky and Natasha both nodded, but didn't say anything, and Helen slipped discretely from the room, leaving them alone with the boy...their son, Bucky automatically corrected himself. It was going to take a while before the knowledge sunk in.
"Do you want to tell the others?"
"They should know," Natasha sighed with a nod, looking at the little boy in the bed, "he does look a bit like you, you know?"
Bucky drew closer, looking at the boy himself. Natasha was right, he realised. Now that he knew to look for it, he could see some of his own features echoed on the boy's face.
"Two...two of my sisters were blonde, and my mother," Bucky offered, "My mom used to joke that Steve looked like one of her kids too. I...I looked more like my dad."
"I don't remember what my family looked like," Natasha admitted, "It is possible that one of them was blonde though.
"I...I can't believe that...that I'm technically his dad," Bucky whispered, drooping his flesh hand down onto the bed so it brushed one of the boy's fingers, "I'm sorry that you had to go through what you did."
"Sometimes I am too, but now that I'm looking at him, and I know that he's safe and that they can't get him here...I don't regret it so much." Natasha admitted, a hint of guilt seeping into her voice.
"Natasha...that's not something to be guilty about. It means that you love him...just like you always have. When I first got told about what happened to you I felt sorry for you, I wondered what your children would have been like had they both survived and grown up free, and I told myself that, if we ever did find your son, or if you got pregnant again, that I would care about...love that kid...because it was the right thing to do and because they deserved it, even without thinking about the possibility of me being their father. Now that this has happened, that your son is back, and I know that he's mine...I never expected to feel love for the kid this strongly."
Natasha smiled and put her arm around Bucky's shoulders, "That's because you're a good man, and you're going to be a great father."
"Thank you," Bucky blushed, before Natasha pulled his head down and pressed her lips against his is a gentle kiss, neither of them moving their hands away from their son.
"I'll go tell the others about the DNA results," Bucky offered once they'd separated. Natasha nodded, looking hesitantly down at the boy in the bed. Bucky placed his metal arm on her shoulder gently.
"It's ok; I can do it on my own. You can stay here with him if you want."
"Will you be ok?"
Bucky simply nodded, pressing a chaste kiss to the top of Natasha's head, before hesitating, and bending , gently kissing the top of the boy's head too.
"He's not going to let me do that once he wakes up," Bucky offered by way of explanation, "Just getting in while I still can and he can't stop me from doing it."
Natasha nodded and smiled, before Bucky hurried out of the room. He slowed down however, watching through the observation windows as Natasha gazed down at their son, before she too placed a kiss on their boy's forehead. She then sat in one of the chairs at the boy's bedside, ready to keep guard and hold vigil until the boy regained consciousness, her hand resting on the bed, just a few inches away from their son's fingertips.
As he headed back to Steve's room, Bucky hoped from the deepest part of his heart, that their boy woke up soon, and they'd be able to see what sort of damage Hydra had done to the young boy's mind.