DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Marvel.
"Found anything yet?" Tony asked his AI as he worked on his StarkPad, trying to decipher some of the HYDRA data they got from the lab.
"Nothing yet, Sir. There is no DNA match in the HYDRA database" FRIDAY answered, eliciting a frustrated groan from its owner.
"Wanda has worked really hard to get information out of the lab workers that were captured, but there's nothing. They were given samples and told to create embryos with it. First five tries were successful but only one pregnancy made it. The other samples we recovered, but there's still no match" Helen Cho joined Tony, handing her pad to him.
They were at a dead end. There was no registry of the baby's birth, and although they did found out who was the surrogate mother, she was not the biological one. The baby's DNA did not match anything they had.
"Can I take a look at the blood samples?" Cho asked, getting a dismissive wave from Tony as he got up, groaning as his aching back stretched.
"I'm heading out. I'll try to sleep before heading to Steve's barbeque. If you need anything, ask FRIDAY." He muttered before leaving the room. He was tired. But if there was something he hated, was not knowing something. He had been holed up in his lab for the past few weeks, trying to figure out if that baby was a threat. If he was anything like the Twins, they were in for a lot of trouble.
They were missing something and he knew it. But there was no time for him to figure it out.
He took a shower, changed into some PJs, and tried to fall asleep, but of course his phone buzzed. He rolled his eyes when he realized it was a message from Vision. He knew they were getting everything ready for Steve's party, which didn't start until the late afternoon, but he checked anyways.
It was a selfie showing Steve and Natasha on the grass of the backyard, the baby perched on Steve's chest as they looked at the camera. Natasha had obviously stolen Vision's phone and was having fun with it.
Everyone kept telling him the baby looks like Natasha, and for the first time he actually sees it. They even looked like an actual family. He rolled his eyes yet again, before tossing his phone aside. But then his eyes popped open. Could it be…
"FRIDAY? Can you check the baby's DNA and see if you find something odd. Like super serum or something like that?"
"I'm on it, sir"
He scrambled to his feet and pulled out the large StarkPad from under his bed, retrieving the pictures Vision and Wanda had taken of them.
"FRIDAY, fractionate the facial features of both Natasha and the baby please. And while you are at it, try to do a chronological aging of her. Well… de-aging. I wanna see how Romanoff might have looked like when she was a child"
He waited for a few moments before fragmented pictures started showing on his pad, along with a black and white photo scan of a young girl, around 8 years old.
"Sir, I was able to find a picture of Ms. Romanoff aged nine years old. It was from the Red Room and KGB files, SHIELD stashed the information away"
"Thank you F. Keep working on the DNA"
He looked at the picture, and moved it to the center of the pad, creating a hologram of it. He moved some of the baby's features and imposed them on her photo… The resemblance was uncanny. The eyes shape, mouth and even his ears could be imposed in Natasha's picture and it wouldn't look completely disrupted. He had a gut feeling, and he was sure as hell hoping to be wrong.
"F. Run a DNA test between the baby and Agent Romanoff. I need it done"
"I'll work on it, Sir"
He changed into fresh clothes, sleeping long gone from his mind, and headed to the lab, which was eerily quiet.
"Dr. Cho received a call from the Avengers Facility. A battle exercise went wrong and her assistance was required. She said she would be back as soon as it was over" FRIDAY's voice ran through the lab, but he ignored it.
He checked over Natasha's SHIELD files. Her medical record was impressive, many wounds that a normal person wouldn't survive, but she did. The Red Room and KGB had given her some sort of synthetic super serum to help her develop as the Black Widow. And they had also sterilized her, something he was finding out just now.
"Well… I never felt the need to check her files until now. F, DNA test?"
"I am almost done with it, sir. However, my research of the young baby's DNA has found some interesting marks you might want to check" the AI then displayed the image in front of him.
He has seen those marks. Anyone with access to SHIELD's labs did. And he was seriously not liking where this was going.
"FRIDAY, once you are done running Natasha's DNA, run Steve's. I have a feeling HYDRA got extra creative when they were in SHIELD"
"Of course sir."
Two hours later, he was feeling minutes away from fainting. He was literally, about to faint.
"Tony, the party is in an hour. You've been here far too long and you promised to try and get some sleep" Pepper's voice brought him out of his stupor and he frowned, looking at her with worried eyes. "Are you okay? You are pale"
"Well… this is actually funny. But apparently Steve and Natasha have a son. As in the child Fury told them to care for. He's their son. HYDRA got a hold of Steve's sperm and Natasha's eggs and created a super baby with their DNA. So no, I'm not okay. I think I will pass out" He spat out, shaking his head, because there was no way this was happening.
"Are you sure? Tony this is huge…"
"Don't you think I know that? And yes, I'm sure. FRIDAY ran a DNA test on the three of them and it's a match! Everything is a match… and the frozen samples we have on lockdown? They match Natasha and Steve. So yeah, that kid is their son" Pepper was frozen, and quite honestly, he couldn't blame her.
"But that's not it. He has the serum. He has this crazy blend of the super soldier serum from Steve and the synthetic serum from Natasha. He might be developing like a normal child, but he is going to be as strong as Steve, maybe even more, if Natasha's serum didn't cancel out anything. But the truth is that Captain America and Black Widow have a son. A powerful, serum-enhanced son."
"We should tell them. Before Fury finds out"
"And we will" Tony sighed, looking at her "FRIDAY, print everything we did today. I think I got the perfect birthday present for Capsicle"
-00-
He should've known Wanda was going all out for this. Really, he should have. The girl had basically bounced her way through the house decorating and somehow the house was filled of red, white and blue decorations everywhere. Except maybe for the bedrooms upstairs, there was nothing that didn't look patriotic.
"Too much?" Natasha asked next to him, they were lying on the lounge chairs at the backyard, the baby peacefully asleep on her chest.
"Yeah… but I'll let her get away with it. She's too excited"
Sam was currently starting the grill, Maria standing next to him unwrapping the meat. Vision and Pietro were in charge of preparing the drinks and Wanda was helping Rhodey set up some of the fireworks they had gotten.
"Tony and Pepper are late. It's not unusual of Tony but Pepper?"
"I say he got distracted playing with his toys and Pepper is dragging him here as we speak. I was sent to retrieve him more than once in his Malibu house, it was almost impossible to drag him away" she readjusted the baby on her lap and he couldn't help but smile.
"You never told me how it was, to work for Tony I mean. I bet it was awful"
"Technically, Pepper was my boss. I only worked with Tony whenever she was done with his antics. She's a very patient woman let me tell you"
He laughed. Which was something he did through the evening. Pepper and Tony finally arrived and of course he found something wrong with Rhodey's firework array. And Natasha had been right, their neighbors did took a pep at their little party, and for the first time since his mother died, he felt happy on his birthday. Not that Bucky didn't try to cheer him up back then, but there was only so much they could do.
Everyone (but Tony) helped clean up the house, and it was around 9pm when everyone left. Everyone except Tony and Pepper.
"Spill it, Stark. I can hear your struggle all the way from here!" Natasha yelled from her bedroom, where she was getting the baby ready for the night as he sat with the duo in the living room.
"I think you should hurry and come down here. This actually relates to you"
Pepper kept giving him sympathetic smiles through the evening that somehow made him uncomfortable, which was odd because she was Pepper, and she didn't make people uncomfortable. And apparently Natasha had picked up that something was off.
"Alright I'm here. Spit it out" she huffed and sat next to Steve, eyeing the envelope Tony was holding.
"Well… I did some research, and… I really wish Banner was around to help but… yeah, this is for you to read. Take it as a present, Cap. Read it when we are gone. I don't want a knife in my chest. Uh… I'm sorry" he stuttered his way out as he basically pulled Pepper out of the house, leaving Steve and Natasha oddly confused.
"Shall we?" he asked and she nodded. But nothing could have prepared them for what they found.
