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Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 18

It was different when Sam told her she was pregnant. Not because of who the person was that was telling her, (no, she would trust Natasha with her life) but because of the fact that Sam had actually seen the results of her bloodwork that told him just that. It was hard to argue and distrust those kind of facts.

"Nobody tells him."

Bucky and Sam stared at her, Sam surprised that Maria had no other reaction, while Bucky seemed horrified to be close to someone pregnant.

"Are you insane?"

"No. But I know that he will go insane after he hears that I'm still going to stick with him until this is all over."

"You can't-"

"He's going to have that exact face," spat Maria, pointing at Sam who rolled his eyes, "Just ten times worse… Please… I have to do this. Where am I supposed to go otherwise? Sit and just wait in this corner until everything's fine? No! When I decided to use my fighting abilities for the greater good, I made a silent promise to do it until I can't do it anymore. And seeing as I am still breathing, I will finish this mission. This ring was given to me because I wanted to be by Steve's side the rest of my life." At this point, Maria was vigorously pointing towards the engagement ring on her finger. "I'm doing both no matter what you all think."

"You're putting yourself in danger, and the baby… You're being self-centric. It's not like you, Maria," pleaded Sam. "Please… This is all you've ever wanted, right? Then stick with it. Make sure you get to keep this peace of wonderfulness-"

"Why am I so sick and in pain if I'm pregnant?"

Another silence appeared, broken only by Sam's sigh.

"There's… There's some reasons. But the main reason behind those… reasons, are still uncertain. Natasha had an idea, though."

"Yeah?"

"You can't tell Steve."

Bucky straightened up, looking quite curious about what else they were going to keep from Steve.

"It's, uh, the serum. The child… Your body can heal, right? Nat thought that the baby may be slightly, uh, stronger than other children may be. It might be… too strong for your body. Steve needs to eat a lot, and so does the baby. Your body is protecting it, giving it all it can, but harming itself in the process. That's why you're weak. You're basically missing out on everything your body needs to survive because it's giving it to the baby while at the same time healing itself…"

"Why does it hurt? And when I use my powers, why does it hurt then?" asked Maria.

"I don't know, Maria. That was all Natasha managed to say to me before I left. I just wanted to make sure you were okay… I'm sorry."

Maria looked away from Sam, taking in everything she had just heard. She had an explanation for the strange way she had been feeling and she had, sort of, an explanation for the pains. But it was an explanation that she never thought she would ever hear. She was pregnant... A soon-to-be-mother… She had never thought it would ever happen. She had thought her body was broken…

"Congratulations," said Bucky sheepishly, causing her to look over at him.

A soft sob escaped her lips, causing Bucky's face to fall into one of worry, before she suddenly flung herself over towards Bucky, hugging him closely. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and before she knew it, she had grabbed Sam as well, hugging them both tightly as she swayed back and forth.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me…" she sobbed.

"Hormones…" muttered Sam, trying to get away from Bucky as best as he could, though he could not keep away the smile that spread over his lips at Maria's happiness.

"Now, more than ever, do I have to stay with Steve… I can't be separated from him," said Maria with a shaky voice as she let go of the two men. "Who knows how long this civil war crap will go on… We need to stick together."

"I do agree," said Steve's voice, causing everyone to gasp. "Being together is the only thing we can do."

He walked around the corner, a pleased look on his face which disappeared the moment he saw Maria's tears.

"Why are you crying?" he asked quickly, crouching down in front of her.

Her heart ached to tell him, though she knew better and simply hugged him, nearly causing him to fall over. From the corners of her eyes she saw Bucky still in the same position as when she had hugged him, looking completely horrified and shocked, barely even blinking. She laughed at him, nuzzling into Steve's shoulder as he tightened his grip on her.

"What happened when I was away?"

"Everything…" she breathed before letting go of Steve. "I love you."

Steve was slightly shocked at the words, neither of them having actually showed affection in front of anyone before. Though he still smiled and repeated the words before wiping away her tears.

"I've got a car waiting outside. Sharon's going to meet us in twenty minutes just outside of here underneath of that large overpass we crossed earlier. She'll have our things."

"Good," sighed Sam. "We'll need them."

"Help me up," sighed Maria, holding out a hand for Steve who helped her, a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just… tired." She smiled at him, pecking his cheek in cheer happiness.

"Okay, whatever happened here – I like it," declared Steve, causing Maria to chuckle.

With still shaking knees, even though she was by now unsure of whether it was the baby, or the surprise of actually being pregnant that was making her knees act like that, Steve helped her sit down in the front seat of the small car he had stolen. Sam and Bucky watched before both glancing at each other and then the car.

"You could have stolen a bigger car…"

"Borrowed… This was the only one I thought would not be missed," admitted Steve, shrugging as he closed Maria's car-door and shutting out the rest of the conversation for Maria to hear… until Sam and Bucky both tried their best to sit down in the back.

"We're not going to fit in the back…"

"You want Maria to have to sit in the back?"

A silence ensued before the men gave up and entered the car.

With each man that entered the car, the entire poor thing shuddered slightly under their weight. Someone's knee was pushed into the back of Maria's seat and she quickly adjusted her seat to give the person more space.

"Can you move over?" asked Bucky.

"No." Maria had to bite her lip at the blunt answer. Although she still did not like the fact that Sam was having so much problem with adjusting to Bucky, them acting like two children was rather funny at least.

Steve sat down, the car shuddering again before he closed the door, starting up the engines.

"You know," began Maria, her voice weak, "This might just be a car from your time."

Steve shot her an amused look before driving off, the car's engine giving off strange noises. As she glanced at the sideway mirror, she was sure that she saw black smoke behind their vehicle.

"Yep, no one's going to miss this car…" muttered Sam, voicing what Maria had been thinking, just in a slightly less positive way.

Twenty minutes later, the four heroes had arrived underneath the overpass where Sharon was going to meet them. They parked and waited silently, nobody saying anything. Maria leaned her head against the dirty window on her side, staring up at the highway above them. How different life would have been had she been one of the people sitting in one of those cars, speeding down the road without a care in the world. Steve would know about the baby, they would maybe be driving to buy a crib or some other baby stuff… Things would be so different, had the Accords never been introduced to them; had Stark never let his fears and insecurities get the better of him.

Though she did not hate Stark, not even dislike him. Everyone was entitled to their own opinions, no matter how much they differed from another's. Not to mention that Stark had helped her get rid of the life she used to live. Had it not been for Tony, Maria would maybe never have gotten the job to clean his toilets, which would have caused Maria to not earn enough money to help her grandmother. That in turn might have caused Maria to go down a darker path once more…

She shivered at the thought, glancing back at the two men sitting behind her. Sam nodded at her, giving her an impatient face while Bucky simply looked away from her. Slowly, she turned her head to Steve who was staring ahead of him.

Her heart swooned with an overwhelming ache to tell him the truth, to get it out there and let him know what was in store for them… The ring around her finger burned, knowing that, by keeping it from him, she was breaking silent rules of the bond that the engagement ring symbolized. Though by telling him the truth, she might not be allowed to stay by his side through this whole ordeal, and although she was afraid of hurting the baby, she desperately wanted to help Steve fight these Villainous Super Soldiers…

"There she is," mumbled Steve, breaking the silence as he stared at something approached them via the rear-view mirror.

The soft rumbled of a car approaching was heard and soon, a much fancier and newer car passed them by before parking in front of them. Sharon, her blonde hair flowing beautifully, stepped out of the car, turning to Steve. Much to Maria's discomfort, Steve nearly fell out of the car, seeming way too excited to be meeting with Sharon again.

He left the car door open and the stench of gasoline coming from the highway above them burned Maria's nostrils almost as much as the jealousy and worry hurt Maria's heart as she saw Steve and Sharon talk. He smiled, chuckled and conversed with her as though they had known each other all their lives. He was allowed to be friends with other women no matter how much Maria disliked them… But there was something about the hasty progress of their relationship that just made Maria boil with hatred.

Nausea hit her like a car and Maria stumbled out of it, walking away from it and Steve. The sound of a car door creaking open caught her ears, though she did not look back. Instead, she made her way over to a small, disgusting looking pond, staring at the rubbish people had thrown out of their cars and that, miraciously, had landed in the pond, with monotone eyes.

Someone appeared next to her, startling her slightly as she had not heard any footsteps. Though the swift shine of something metal told Maria who it had been before she turned her head to look at him.

"It's always strange when you've missed someone, watched someone die, and then find out they're not completely dead but live on in someone else. I doubt Steve knows what he's feeling. I doubt he even feels anything. He's just… mourning."

Maria sighed, putting her hands in the pockets of her pullover. "I guess… I mean, he never really got the time to mourn. She died only a couple days ago."

This time it was Bucky's turn to let out a sigh and as Maria glanced over at him, she saw the grief in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, you knew her too of course."

"It doesn't matter… To her, I was dead. And I'd rather keep it like that." He glanced over at her, their eyes meeting briefly.

"They brainwashed you and they manipulated me… Fuck Hydra, man…"

Bucky chuckled, surprising Maria slightly. It was the first time she had ever seen him even smile.

"I admire you." Again, Maria felt surprised. Who was this person standing next to her? Just minutes ago he had looked completely horrified about being close to her; a pregnant woman… Now… "You got away."

"You're getting away too." She shivered, looking away from Bucky. "You can do the same things I've done. It doesn't erase the past – nothing erases the past. You'll always having it hanging above you like a cloud of dust. But… you'll get away. Steve will help. I will help. And no matter what Sam says right now, he will help too."

"I really do admire you."

Maria looked down at her feet, her shoulders tensing up. She didn't deserve his admiration.

Footsteps approached and Bucky turned around. As his metal arm turned towards Maria, he moved away from her a bit extra. She looked at him with sympathy, realizing how awful it must be to live with something attached to you which you cannot trust, something that was given to you by the enemy to do horrible things with, while you at the same time cannot live without it.

"We've got all the equipment from Sharon. Everyone ready to start driving over to the airport?"

Bucky glanced over at Maria before passing Steve by. At the lack of answer, Steve walked over to Maria and looked at her. His face was riddled with worry and at the look, she just couldn't stay jealous.

"I just needed some air," breathed Maria, glancing down at her shoes.

"How are you feeling?" asked Steve quietly, glancing back at Bucky who was leaning against the trunk of the car, watching Sam as he carefully inspected his wings to make sure no one had hurt them.

"Fine… The pain stays subdued when I'm not doing anything… But I still feel weak."

A gentle hand was pressed against her shoulder and she looked up at him, "Is-Is there something you're keeping from me?" Maria's eyes widened involuntarily at his words. "We've known each other for quite some time, I know when something's weighing you down."

"It's nothing," she breathed, trying her best to act normal again.

"If it's Sharon –"

"No, I understand. Bucky – he talked to me about it. It's… not that," said Maria before shaking her head, "If I say that when the time is right I will tell you, would you trust me?"

Steve stayed silent at her words, grasping her hand and running a finger over the engagement ring, "What do you think?"

Maria smiled, squeezing his hand, "Then I will tell you when the time is right. And in the meantime, I promise to you that I will not in any way endanger it…"

Steve frowned at her words, clearly curious about what she meant by that. Though she simply smiled and leaned up, pressing her nose against his, "I love you."

A smile appeared on his lips.