"Natasha, stay with me," Clint hissed in my ear, his voice soft but full of panic at the same time. He'd seen this before, when his son Francis was born but this was different. That had taken place in a hospital, with proper doctors and obstetricians. This wasn't there, this was in a shield building under siege.
"Natasha, you need to stay with me." Dr Banner was calm and collected. Doctor Banner, he knew what he was doing, he'd done this before but it didn't help the pain or the fear I felt.
This wasn't supposed to happen, it wasn't possible. I remembered being told the operation had been a success and yet here I was.
The pain was unlike a sharp knife wound or the torn feeling a bullet left, it felt like tension, tightening springs inside my belly. The tension caused my legs to tremble and curse their lot in life.
"Right Natasha," Bruce called out over a screaming shell above our heads,
"I need you to push."
Mom asked the lady to come in to our house. She sounded angry when she spoke to the lady and I knew there was a reason for that. Mom didn't get angry very often and when she did she was scary, very scary. The lady did just as Mom said and went forwards into the dining room. Mom quickly shut the door behind her, leaving Nate and I outside. Nate laughed,
"Silly Mommy, she'll get time out," and disappeared upstairs. Just as he disappeared the shouting began between mum and the lady.
"I know I wasn't there," the lady's voice came first, "And I'm sorry Laura but I had debts to repay, the debts left behind by your husband."
"He left nothing, he was a good man!"
"That may appear so to you, but in the other world, his other life Clint had some things to settle. Have you ever heard of the Punisher by any chance?"
Clint? That was what my Dad had been called, was this lady here about Dad too, like the man with the eyepatch?
"Look things may have been different when he worked for shield but once Clint pulled out his cape for the world, things had to be different. After New York, we all had to do some things we didn't want. Things to keep the civvies safe." There was a break for a minute, when the lady didn't speak. I thought I'd heard all they were going to say but then the lady said one more sentence.
"I'm here for my daughter."