I'm back again! I hope you enjoy the previous chapters and have fun reading! I don't really have anything else to say, just vote on the Stark's baby name and gender. Feel free to leave comments below!

Just so you know, this is after Age of Ultron, so Spoilers for those very sad people who haven't seen AoU yet. Even though it wasn't mentioned in the previous chapters, there is a floor for Wanda and the Vision. They were both on various missions or leaves of absence. Thanks for your flexibility with my hectic ideas. I've recently gotten used to the Scarlet Witch. Thought I'd add her in. And even though at the end of Age of Ultron, there's a new facility, the Tower is their residence in this story and the training facility is their main base. Hopefully that's acceptable.

Floors of the Stark Tower:

Basement- common floor, First floor- Bruce, Second- Clint, Third- Steve, Fourth- Nat, Fifth- Thor, Sixth- Wanda, Seventh- Vision, Eighth- the Starks.

A month later, things were going well for the Avengers. Natasha and Steve had made up, and they had even started to go out to dinner together. Natasha's flashbacks were becoming even more infrequent. Betty and Bruce were happy in their lab, doing who-knows-what to squirrels. Jane and Thor were obsessing about Norse legends and astronomy. Pepper and Tony were busy expanding the tower to accommodate their future addition. Clint was enjoying his time with his kids at the farm. Maria was getting used to mainly using her left arm.

"Is anyone here?" A somewhat familiar voice asked, with a distinct Sokovian accent. The first to greet the newcomer was Clint.

"Wanda! It's so great to see you!" he exclaimed. "What brings you to our neck of the woods? I thought you were staying in Sokovia. Getting rid of some baddies over there." Steve followed Clint, and he leaned casually against the counter.

"I thought that I would accept Stark's offer and work with the team again." Wanda said, a little bit uncomfortably. "My brother is still dead, and missions alone was getting a little melancholy. I never forgot your offer."

"That's awesome, Wanda. Your floor is floor six. Vision is above you and Thor is below you. Hope you don't mind mixing with the guys up there." Steve told the brunette. She smiled slightly. "It's great to have you back with the team!"

"It's not a problem. I'll keep them in line." she said, with a touch of humor in her voice.

"That's good. They need the reality check." Steve joked. "May I take your things up for you?" Wanda shrugged and handed him a duffel bag. Steve stepped into the elevator with the Avenger next to him. He punched the button for the sixth floor.

"What have I missed?" Wanda asked nervously. "I wasn't debriefed before coming here, but I did hear some odd things about the team on the news." Steve sighed. The Sokovian was a nice girl, and he trusted her. He wasn't sure if he wanted to explain the hectic past month or two.

"We went to Russia to track down a terrorist group. We ran into Natasha's ex husband, Alexei Shostakov. He tortured her because she turned against Russia a long time ago, and we were detained for several months. Natasha now suffers occasional flashbacks that are somewhat dangerous. Make sure you're careful." Wanda nodded. Steve realized that she probably had them, too, after staring at Stark's undetonated bomb for many days, under her bed in Sokovia. "Agent Hill was wounded after Natasha had a flashback at SHIELD. Tony and Pepper are expecting their first child. And I'm dating Nat." Wanda looked surprised. Steve wasn't sure which fact startled her the most.

"Congratulations, Steve. Natasha is a great partner to have." she said. "Thank you for updating me. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for the team in Russia. You should have called me." Steve shook his head. They stepped out of the elevator and onto Wanda's floor.

"You would have gone through all that, too, and that's not something you want to see. It was terrible." he told her.

Pepper and Maria were visiting Clint's kids on the farm. Lila had attached herself to the brunette SHIELD agent and the redheaded CEO of Stark Industries. Cooper wanted Maria to teach him how to shoot. Maria refused, to Laura's relief.

"I wish that it were like this all the time." Maria said thoughtfully as she and Pepper were walking in the field a couple miles from the farm. "Peaceful. Not like back in New York, where you have to worry about Fury and Natasha and the rest of the team."

"I still worry about them, but it's different when I distance myself." Pepper said. They walked in amiable silence for a while, and then Pepper suddenly stopped. Maria kept walking. She had gone a couple feet when she realized that Pepper wasn't next to her.

The redhead was pale and her hand was to her abdomen. Color rushed from Maria's face when she registered the pain on her friend's. Maria hurried to Pepper's side and eased her to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked urgently.

"Pain." Pepper gasped. "I don't know what's going on, it wasn't due until April or May." Maria leaned over her friend. Her mind was reeling.

"What do you want me to do? Can you walk?" Pepper tried, but she fell back to the ground in pain after a few steps. "I could carry you back to the farm." Maria offered. Pepper shook her head frantically.

"You'll hurt yourself. Your arm-"

"It's your baby, Pepper. If I die saving your baby, I won't care." Maria insisted. "I didn't bring a cell phone. You can't walk. If I leave you here, you could die and your baby, too. It will be slower if I carry you, but then I won't have to lead Laura and Clint back here."

"Maria, don't risk your life-"

"It's my choice, Pepper. I'm choosing to do this, alright? It's not your fault, and besides, I have two arms. I can carry you in both and maybe nothing bad will happen. It'll be alright. Just focus on shutting the pain out." Maria said, struggling to keep her voice calm and collected. She felt herself slipping into her SHIELD facade. Cool, emotionless. Determined.

Maria lifted Pepper, who cried out in pain as Maria took her first step. The longer Maria walked, the heavier Pepper seemed to get. Pepper could feel Maria's muscles tensing beneath her sweater sleeves. Maria could feel blood... coming from somewhere... seeping into the sleeves of her white cashmere turtleneck sweater. It was sticky and warm. Pepper didn't know if it was Maria's blood, and Maria didn't know if it was Pepper's.

Short chapter, I know. I wanted to get this idea out there as soon as possible, and I was so excited to write this chapter!