First off, I would like to apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I don't what happened! A whole month between updates? Wow. I really did not mean to leave in suspense for so long. But this thing just took forever to write. Seriously, I must've rewritten this thing like three times (What can I say? I'm a perfectionist.) Anyway, sorry for the wait, hopefully the next one won't take so long. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and here's to an awesome 2016! Enjoy ;)

Steve Rogers had always been a very protective person. As a kid, he couldn't count how many times Bucky had to pull his fat out of the fire for picking a fight with someone who made a remark about how Steve's mother was always sick. When someone in the SSR made the mistake of looking down at Peggy simply because she was a woman, it took all of his willpower not to give them an up close look at his right hook. Not to mention that he took on two armies just to bring Bucky home. But that none of that came close to what Steve was willing to do when it came to James and Natasha. Which is why he was half to the jet before Natasha even muttered Austria.

Throughout the whole flight, Steve never sat still. He just kept pacing back and forth, like a caged lion ready to pounce, barking about how the plane wasn't going fast enough. Clint tried to calm him down, but when the archer suggested that Steve sit down, the soldier responded with a question of his own "What would you do if it was Bobbi?" Clint shut up and gunned it.

When they finally reached Natasha's safe house, Steve didn't even wait for the plane to land. He jumped out the bay doors and sent two armed men flying right off the roof. Clint and Sam didn't even try to get in his way. Steve was angry. Like, Hulk angry. As the super soldier charged through the floors of the abandoned office building, He sent three men though a wall and two out the window. Natasha took care of the last one, putting a bullet in his head before Steve even realized he was there, saving his life.

She was in bad shape. A large knife wound in her leg, a dislocated shoulder and a bullet in the side of her stomach. Though the trail of bodies behind her proved she didn't go down easily. Steve quickly scooped her up as her legs started to give out, rushing her to Quinjet so that Bruce and Simmons could start patching her up. They did their best, but they could only do so much until they reached the Tower. Once they had taken off, Tony called. James was okay.

Natasha woke up in a groggy state, her eyes blurry as she starred up at the fluorescent lights. Her head was spinning and her body felt sore. Her stomach felt like it was on fire. She craned her neck over to her side and noticed a familiar face sitting in the chair beside her bed "Steve?"

"Nat!" Steve jumped in his seat, dropping the book that once lay open in his lap. "You're awake. Guys! JARVIS, tell the others that Natasha's up."

"I will alert the others immediately, Captain Rogers."

"What happened?" Natasha slurred "Where?"

"You're at the Tower Nat. Don't worry," Steve reached over and gave her hand a comforting squeeze "you're safe." Only Natasha didn't feel very safe.

She was drugged. The fogginess in her head and the spinning of the room made that clear. When she looked around she saw that she was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm. "Not again."

Steve didn't like how Natasha was looking right now. Her face was pale and her breath was rapid. If Steve didn't know any better, he'd say she looked scared. "Nat are you okay?"

"Hey," Clint walked in with Bobbi and Sam beside him "How's she's doing?"

Steve sighed. "See for yourself."

The second the others walked in the room, Natasha seemed to get worse. Her breath was rapid and she looked like she was ready to jump out of her skin. Clint recognized the signs in an instant "Oh boy."

"So," Simmons walked into to the room with a welcoming smile "how is our brave pati-," before she could even finish the word patient, Simmons shrieked as a scalpel went flying past her. If it weren't Clint, it would've landed in her head instead of the wall.

"Natasha!" Steve quickly grabbed her as reached for another weapon, holding her down as she struggled to break free.

"What's going on here?" Bruce demanded as he and Tony came in.

"Natasha's a little… cranky," Clint offered.

Simmons gasped. "Cranky? She tried to put a bloody scalpel in my head!"

Steve groaned as he struggled to keep Natasha under control. "Banner, do something."

"Let me try giving her a sedative."

"Banner, I wouldn't," Clint's warning came too late. The second he came at her with that needle, Natasha slammed her foot right in Bruce's face.

Bruce cried out as he clamped his hands over his face, his skin starting to change color "I think she broke my nose!"

"Don't go green!" Tony begged. "I just finished renovating."

"Everybody out," James hoped down from the air vents and landed without a sound, barking orders in a very Steve-like manner "Now."

"Listen to the kid," Clint advised "visiting hours are over."

"Clint, what is going on?" Bobbi asked.

"Panic attack."

"What?"

"Mom's having a panic attack," James elaborated "and you guys need to get out right now."

"I've seen Natasha like this," Clint remembered "First time I brought her to the SHIELD med bay she broke the doc's arm in three different places."

"Which is why you guys need to get out," James repeated "before she gets her gun."

Bobbi frowned. "What makes you think she has a gun?"

Clint chuckled. "She always has a gun."

"Natasha," Steve shouted "put the gun down!"

James quickly pushed Clint and the others out of the room. "Get out. Get out. Get out!" he shouted, locking the door behind them. The ten year-old quickly ran back to his mother's bed, yanking the gun out of her hand as Steve struggled to keep her under control.

"I'm guessing this is where you got your fear of doctors from?"

"You could say that."

Steve winced as Natasha slammed her knee into his side "You're mother's a lot stronger than she looks."

"She's scared. We need to make her feel safe."

"How?"

"Mom said panic attacks are like nightmares when you're awake."

Steve grunted as Natasha kicked his knee. "Yeah, just more violent. Natasha. Natasha, you need to relax" Steve told her in a calm soothing voice "I know that you're scared. I know something terrible happened to you before and you're worried it's about to happen again. But it's not. Do you know why? Because I'm here," he told her "Whoever it is that hurt you, they will never hurt you again. I won't let them hurt you. I will never let anyone hurt you," As Steve kept talking, he felt Natasha digging her nails into his back. Then he realized that she wasn't trying to push him away, she was trying to pull him closer. Steve started rubbing gentle circles on between her shoulders as the Black Widow sat trembling in his arms. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise."

After Natasha calmed down, Steve and James moved her to her room. Bruce and Simmons weren't too happy about it, but Clint assured them it was for the best. Once the drugs started wear off, being around Natasha would be a lot safer. Clint was surprised that Steve was able to calm her so fast.

When Clint asked about it Steve shrugged "I just tried to make her feel safe." When he went back to check her, Steve found Natasha trying to pull the IV out of her arm. "Nat, you need to keep it in."

"No more drugs," Natasha insisted in a weary voice.

"It's not drugs. It's medicine. The doctors gave it to you to help you get better."

"I don't trust doctors" Natasha looked at Steve with pain filled eyes. "All they do is hurt me."

Steve sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand. "Any doctor that wants to do that is going to have to go through me."

Natasha smiled. "My hero."

"Nice to see you're regaining your sense of humor," Steve quipped, trying to ignore the warmness in his cheeks "now get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," Natasha disputed, stifling a yawn.

"You need to rest," Steve insisted "Please Nat, for me?"

Natasha looked at Steve and offered a flirty smile, her eyes still glassy from the painkillers "Okay Stevie. But only because you're so sweet."

Steve blushed. "Get some sleep. I'll be back to check on you soon."

"Steve?" Natasha called as the soldier made his way out the door. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

Natasha woke up the next morning in a state of confusion. She knew she was back in the Tower, but couldn't remember how she got there or why her stomach was killing her. As she glanced around the room, she saw a familiar face sleeping in the chair next to her bed. "Steve."

The soldier stirred, rubbing his face as he woke "Hey," he groaned as he cracked a painful crick in his neck "these chairs are not meant for sleeping."

"So why did you?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Steve replied "and it looks like I'm not the only one." Natasha looked down and saw James fast asleep, snuggled up to his mother's frame. Steve smiled "I think he's a mama's boy."

Natasha smirked. "You say that like it's a bad thing," she teased. "James," Natasha gently rocked the child's shoulder "Baby wake up."

James sighed as he rubbed the sleep in his eyes. "Hi."

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were hurt pretty bad."

"Bad is an understatement," Steve said in agreement "Nat, what happened?"

Natasha scowled. "My C.I. sold me out. Apparently Hydra has pockets big enough to rival Stark. It's not every day you get the chance to pull a fast one on an Avenger, so they made the most of it."

"You should've brought back up."

Natasha frowned at the judgemental tone in Steve's voice. "I've been in worse situations."

"You could've died out there."

"But I didn't."

"That's not the point! James nearly," Steve cut himself off when he realized he was starting to shout.

Natasha sat up in her bed "James nearly what?" When Steve told her, Natasha felt her heart nearly jump out of her chest. "I'm sorry." On instinct, she wrapped her arms him and pulled him close. "I'm so sorry." Natasha pulled only for a second so she could look James in the eye. "No more missions. Not until we get you home."

"For both of us," Steve agreed.

"Only if we can a Disney marathon until Mom gets better," James stipulated "Family tradition."

Natasha smiled "Deal." As James ran off to get the movies, Steve asked why he was the first one she called and not Clint. Natasha paused. "Because I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Steve paused, letting her trust in him sink in before he responded. "And I never will."