Chapter 24

Zaria groaned as she stretched and walked around her room. It was becoming increasingly difficult to sit down for long periods of time without her baby kicking incessantly into her stomach and ribs. She paced back and forth behind the chair she had been using to sit at the computer desk while mulling over the information she and J.A.R.V.I.S. were collection.

"Would you like to take a break?" The A.I. asked.

"No…" Zaria answered. "You're sure that we're the only ones that have this information?"

"So far, yes. Director Fury has not progressed as far into the research as you have as he has not had access to the information you provided to me from memory. Without it I do not believe he would be able to make the correlations we have."

"Good, keep it that way until I say so. Please."

"Is there any particular reason as to why you wish to hide this information?"

Zaria paused in her pacing and stared off at the far wall. "If I'm wrong there is no need to let them know."

"But if you're correct in your hypothesis they should be aware of the fact that there is a possibility he is hiding in the location we have discussed."

"That's a big "if" J.A.R.V.I.S. and I would prefer to have more facts before sharing. So please…"

"If you say so Zaria. I will continue to monitor the data and location you have picked out and will inform you if anything changes."

"Alright, thanks." Rubbing a hand over her stomach she winced at another painful kick to her ribs. "Honestly, she's going to break my ribs at this point… I'm going for a walk in the halls, I'll be back shortly."

The hallway was empty when Zaria stepped out into it and began her aimless walk. Hand to her stomach she wandered around thinking about the information she had gathered on her grandfather and her health compared to her pregnancy. She didn't feel she was any sicker than she had been when they found her four months ago, but she did feel tired more often. There were only a few weeks left until her due date by what Samantha had told her, and Bruce had told her the serum he was working on was as finished as he could get it without testing it first. She had hope, which she clung to desperately, more than she would ever tell anyone else, but she had hope and she couldn't just give up.

Pain spasmed in her stomach causing her to stop and lean against the wall. It was different than what she usually felt, this wasn't a kick to her ribs or a fist in her lower abdomen, and it felt like her muscles contracted painfully; almost like the pain she felt when she first arrived. She breathed slowly and evenly as she tried to continue walking down the hall in hopes to get herself closer to where she needed to be if this took a turn for the worse. Slow steps forward, slow even breaths, and no more pain made her cautiously optimistic, maybe it was nothing, maybe it was just a fluke, she could easily make it where she needed to go and just have Samantha give her a quick check up.

As she turned the corner and spotted the medical room she used often for her checkups her muscles contracted painfully again as warm liquid ran down her leg.

She put her head against the wall. "Please be water, please be water…" She muttered as she slowly turned her attention to her legs.

"Damn…" She hissed as she caught sight of blood and not water. "Water would have been better…"

Pain made her catch her breath and her legs give out causing her to slowly slide down the wall and sit on the ground. She tried to breathe calmly, tried to think as she sat there on the cold floor. Did she attempt to crawl the length of the hallway that remained between her and the medical room or did she hope someone would find her and just wait for them.

"J.A.R.V.I.S." She said in a breathy voice as pain contracted in her abdomen again.

"I've already informed Doctor Banner and Doctor Davenport. They should be on their way shortly." He responded quickly.

"Okay…" She leaned her head back against the wall. "If I die, give everything I have to Steve, no one else, got that?"

"I will give all the data we have collected to Steve upon your death." He answered.

The elevator dinged and heavy footsteps came running down the hall towards her with the click of heels following shortly behind.

"Zaria!" Samantha's voice reached her before they turned the corner. The honeyed blonde came into view just behind the mousy appearance of Bruce. The quirky hairstyle of Samantha didn't match the concern etched deeply into her face. "Bruce, if you can carry her I'll go and get the room ready."

"Right." Bruce nodded as he bent down next to Zaria; Samantha rushed down the hall to the medical room, flinging the door open violently.

"It's not that bad." Zaria said between clenched teeth.

"Right, and that's not blood on the floor." Bruce responded lightly. He slipped his arms around her and lifted her gently.

"Bruce…" Zaria's voice was soft. She caught his gaze with hers as he headed down the hallway to the medical room. "Whatever happens, don't let me lose her."

"We won't." He answered firmly as he put her down on the gurney.

"I can give you an epidural, but I don't want to do that yet as I'm not sure what the outcome of this is going to be. If it looks like we'll be delivering your child now I will give it to you, but otherwise you'll have to handle the pain as much as you can." Samantha said as she set up an IV drip in Zaria's hand. "Is that alright?"

"Whatever you think is necessary." Zaria answered tightly.

"You're going to have to lose the pants." Bruce said as he handed a pair of scissors to Samantha.

"Just don't cut me."

"I'll try not to." Bruce answered wryly as a smile lifted one side of his mouth. They made short work of the yoga pants she had taken to wearing around the tower then snipped away her underwear before covering her with a medical sheet.

The door opened to a panicked looking Steve. "Can I do anything to help?"

"You can hold her hand and try to stay as much out of our way as possible." Samantha answered briskly. "Normally I would say no, but it looks like we'll be delivering this baby one way or another."

Steve made it way around the room carefully so as to not get in the way of Samantha who was dashing back and forth between the bed and the counter where the medical supplies were. He stood by the head of the bed and smiled nervously at Zaria then took the hand she offered. Samantha let out a frustrated sound before she all but dumped everything that was on the counter onto a moveable cart then parked it next to the bed where she could reach them quickly.

"I'm hoping you will be able to deliver the baby normally, but if not we will go in for a C-section." She said as she moved down to the end of the bed and pulled out the foot rests. "Can you move yourself down lower?"

"Sure, I'll try." Zaria mumbled as she slowly scooted herself down the bed and rested her feet on the armatures.

Samantha spread the sheet for Zaria's legs and gave her a quick medical look over. "Well your water broke, that's good. If we're lucky you're just going to have a premature birth and everything will be fine." Samantha caught Bruce's gaze and held it. Something silent passed between them before Samantha jerked her head once to the side.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Steve demanded; he had caught the look passing between the two doctors.

Samantha bit her lip. "She's bleeding a lot and she's not dialating. I'm not left with a lot of options here. We could go in and do a C-Section but the risk of her bleeding even more is high and with that much blood loss I'm not sure if it's a good idea."

"What is a 'C-Section'?" Steve asked.

"It's where I make an incision in Zaria's abdomen and then again in her uterus to take the baby out that way."

"Do whatever you have to save my child." Zaria gritted out.

"Zaria…" Steve murmured.

"She won't be conscious much longer if we don't figure out something and I cannot give her that shot until we have the baby out." Bruce stated as he prepared a syringe.

"Do it, do it now before this gets worse." Zaria snapped.

Samantha pursed her lips then went around to the cart she had brought over. "I don't have time to give you the anesthetic to put you under but I will give you the epidural that will help with the pain. I'm not sure how effective it will be on you then I'm going to begin the C-Section as I'm not sure how things affect you with your unique DNA. Once I start it I cannot stop, do you understand?"

"Yes, now hurry up and get this over with."

"Right." Samantha gave Zaria the shot and then dragged the cart with her as she went over to Zaria's stomach. She moved Zaria's feet off the holders then rolled the sheet down to see her stomach. Taking the scalpel she hesitated a moment then began the incision. She worked quickly and efficiently, cutting into the skin and muscles while doing as little damage to them as possible before she finally exposed the baby. She delivered the baby efficiently, cutting the umbilical cord neatly before taking the baby away from Zaria and off to one side where she cleaned the baby; it started crying.

"Congratulations." Samantha said as she turned around holding Steve and Zaria's child swaddled in cloth. "You have a baby girl."

Zaria smiled briefly before her head listed to one side and the machines began to go haywire.

"Zaria!" Steve shouted.

"Get back Steve." Bruce snapped as he stabbed a large needle directly into Zaria's chest and injected her with something. "We only have one chance with this."

"What do we do now…?" Steve asked as Samantha approached him with his child.

"We wait."