Um...so...BONUS~~~~~~~~~~~ Because I forgot i sent 3 chapters to my lovely editors last and not 2, so here you go! hahahahahaha

I Can Hear the Drums

Chapter 46

Dr. Castillo stood at the nurse's station as she worked her way through a few of the labor and delivery forms. Natasha had skipped over most of the paperwork, but Castillo knew her and the Avengers well enough to complete the necessary information herself. She had some time to wait while the second OBGYN team worked to get Romanov's backwards baby into the proper delivery position. The last thing she wanted today was to end her shift with a natural, breech delivery. Medications to get the baby turned had little to no effect on the super-soldier Avenger and while they attempted other noninvasive techniques over the past few weeks, nothing seemed to change the baby's mind on coming out butt-first.

"Figures a child of Clint Barton would be so stubborn," she whispered to herself as she finished the emergency contacts. Her next order of business was to order up an E.R. If the baby began to show the smallest signs of distress, she had to consider a cesarean. It was the last thing anyone wanted. Natasha naturally didn't take anesthesia well. The attempt would turn their steady-handed anesthesiologist into a chain smoker by the end of it. If they did end up on that slippery slope, she may need to be under general anesthesia, which would put the baby in additional distress.

"Henry Barton. Trouble before you even get out. Shouldn't be surprised." Castillo said to herself.

"How is she, doc?"

Castillo jumped, losing some of her papers over the counter top and onto the lap of her nurse. She shot a look over her shoulder and saw Tony Stark standing at her back. He looked like death took him off the earth ten days ago, and someone just happened to resurrect him.

"Mr. Stark! You look horrible, what happened?" Castillo exclaimed. Then, suddenly she realized exactly why he arrived. Natasha must have changed her mind and called him.

"She kicked me out. I was making her nervous. I'm making me nervous. I wanted to drive. Steve had to drive. I couldn't find my keys." Tony stuck his hands into his pockets, found something, and extracted it. "Oh, look. I found my keys. I could have driven."

Castillo gave him a warm, forgiving, smile. "Mr. Stark, given the state you're in, I think it was for everyone's benefit that you didn't. Is Captain Roger's with her now?"

"They're doing something to her. She kicked him out too. I think I might faint. Do guys get contractions? I think I'm feeling one. A big one." Tony swayed on his feet, caught the counter in his hand and went impossibly paler. Castillo left her forms and eased him against her. Together they glided into the waiting room where Tony fell into one of the chairs and began to consider hyperventilation.

"Men can occasionally commiserate with the feelings of a woman in labor, yes. And I've seen it a few times too. What I need you to do is try and take a deep breath and not pass out in my waiting room. I have enough freaked out fathers up on this floor without you setting them off." She leaned forward, stole a cup from the water cooler, filled it and passed it to him.

Tony drank it like a shot of whiskey, which he most likely needed. "She was fine like two hours ago. We were having dinner, and then… Gush! It just all came out, and I was sitting two feet away from her. And her eyes get really big and I didn't know what to do, so I started to scream and then she started to scream—"

Castillo straightened. She checked her watch. Natasha had been in the hospital for almost four hours already. There was no way she'd been out with Tony after then. Her mouth began to open, to question him a little further about just who they were talking about when Steve rounded the corner of the waiting room. He had an overnight case in his hand that looked distinctly similar to something that Pepper Stark might carry, but not Natasha Romanov.

"Dr. Castillo! Great to see you. Nurse Biehl said you were around someplace. You have a special patient tonight?" Steve asked, holding out his hand to shake hers.

Castillo shook, and then carefully crossed her arms over her chest. "I see. Yes. A special patient. I'm putting in a little overtime. Mrs. Stark is here?"

"Yeah, if you can believe it. She's ready for this to be over so she can fit her shoes again. She didn't want to come so early, but things seemed to be moving pretty fast, so we weren't sure we should wait until the contractions quickened up," Steve replied. For a man Natasha had been so concerned would completely lose his cool in the face of a woman in labor, Steve appeared to have himself in control. Tony, however, was a different story.

"I'll poke in and tell her hello when I go back up. I'm sure she'd be happy to see a friendly face. Has anyone called Dr. Banner?" Castillo's mind jumped to stay on top of her actions. If Natasha planned to go through this alone and just waltz back home with Tony and Pepper's new baby, that might get spoiled with the hospital swarming in Avengers. She was happy to have left Natasha's file on the counter. Steve might not think of himself as a spy, but he had eyes like a hawk. Undoubtedly he'd have seen Natasha's name written down. Pepper and Natasha both going into labor the same day? What were the odds of that?

"Bruce!" Tony exclaimed. "I didn't call Bruce! He's in class, there's no way he'll get here in time! I have to fly down—"

Steve dropped Pepper's back and used one strong arm to keep Tony planted in his seat. "You are not stealing the helicopter to fly down to Princeton. He is one hour away, if he doesn't speed. And something tells me, he won't even take a car. I'll call him. How fast do you think this takes? We might be here for a few hours at least."

A few hours, Castillo thought to herself. That was an understatement. Pepper planned to stay overnight, Natasha was required to at the very least. Super-healing or not she was incredibly high risk. Then there was always the neonates. Keeping those two worlds from colliding would be nearly impossible.

It had to be done. She knew Natasha felt a terrible guilt over Clint Barton's death. Why exactly those feelings occurred, she never shared, but that wasn't Dr. Castillo's area of expertise. Any number of things might have happened in that war, even a falling out between the husband and wife. She'd made up her mind early on to never be a mother to her child, and that was a decision Castillo didn't understand, but respected. If she wanted to go through this alone, then Castillo was going to do everything she could to keep the Avengers separated.

One of the nurses approached the ring and smiled at the Avengers before focusing on the doctor. "Dr. Castillo? Ms. Romanov is asking for you."

Castillo's saucer-sized eyes snapped to Steve and Tony. Had they heard?

"Natasha?" Tony demanded. If someone held a sheet of paper beside him, he might completely disappear into the color.

Castillo pressed her lips together and threw mental daggers at her nurse. Understanding the sudden fallout he'd wrought, the man swiftly scurried back to the nurse station to hide.

"Is she really here?" Steve breathed.

"Now, look you two. She doesn't want—"

Tony sprang out of his chair and took off at a dead sprint up the hallway. He might have no idea where he was running, but he'd continue to race around the hospital until he found exactly where they'd hidden Natasha away. Castillo knew better than to try and catch him, or even stop him. He was far from being in his right mind at this point. As a man, having two children at the same time by two different women, he had every right to freak out.

Castillo looked at Steve for support. "Captain, there is a reason she came without saying anything. She would prefer to do this her own way. We can both agree she is an independent woman and more than capable of handling herself, even in this situation. Captain?"

Steve was frozen in place. He had Pepper's bag resting on the floor, the strap limp in one hand while the other remained extended as if to continue holding down the now escaped Tony Stark. His eyes glazed over and for all she knew he had gone completely catatonic. Castillo leaned toward him and pressed down on his extended arm, but she couldn't move it. He was as frozen as a Central Park statue.

"Lovely," she sighed. So, Natasha wasn't far from the mark when she said Steve couldn't handle the idea of her going into labor. She found Tony's cell phone had slipped from his pocket onto the waiting room chair. She picked it up, decided not to waste another minute bringing Steve Rogers around, and headed off to the nurses' station to pick up Natasha's file. The faulty coworker slipped behind the file wall to avoid her deadly gaze.

:(:):(:):

Tony rushed through the OBGYN halls, opening doors at random and being chased out by nearly every man or woman who didn't happen to recognize him. He'd swept in and out of twelve rooms, came upon Pepper again, who held her arms out, smiling and expecting him to go bounding too her, but was sorely disappointed when Tony left again with the door slamming behind him. He headed down another wing, gasping and panting as his too-tense muscles threatened to shatter under the mental anguish.

Clint. That was all he could think about. His best friend. His brother. Clint's family was coming into the world, for a second time, and Tony was going to do everything he could to keep Clint's child safe. His first daughter died in isolation, alone, behind a wall of plastic, tubes, and large and impersonal monitors. She died hours before her mother, in this same exact hospital from that horrible virus which once crippled the entire galaxy after Galactus came. Clint never got to see them before they died. He was struggling himself on that viral edge and just happened to be lucky enough to live.

Not this time. This time Tony was going to see that offspring of Barton into the world and become a bulldog of protection. He'd make the child live in a bubble if he had to. Build a miniature Iron Man suit. Little Henry Barton was going to have everything his father ever wanted for him and more. He had a whole family, a brotherhood, waiting to welcome him in.

Tony threw open another door and took a couple strides inside. Lying sideways in the bed, a mop of red hair shot up and instantly screamed, "TONY, GET OUT!"

"Natasha!" Stark cried, exploding in excitement. He rushed toward her, and consequently right in the line of fire. She hurled a tray at him. He took a direct hit to the side of his face and went crashing to the floor, dragging the supply stand down with him.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOU! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Natasha continued to scream.

Something smacked into Tony's back as he crawled hand-over hand for the door. A final unidentified object connected with his leg as Tony escaped through the door and closed it behind himself. He glanced up and saw Dr. Castillo looking down at him.

"If you had waited a few minutes, I might have said that she doesn't want to see anyone," she said.

"I don't get it. We were going to do this together for him. I just want to help," Tony said. He spun around, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"It's called labor. Honestly, I've seen this more often than you know. She'll be just fine when this is done. Do everyone a favor and call Bruce. Get him up here. I won't even yell at you for using your cellphone."

"It's just, with his first—"

Castillo squatted down beside him. "I know, Tony."

His face flushed the first color she'd seen in him. "It's all we have left of him."

Her throat constricted seeing the depth of emotion affecting him. "I know."

"I'll call Bruce." He patted down his pockets, to feel his phone out, but ended up with nothing but his set of keys. Without missing a beat, Castillo produced it. Bruce's number was already put into the call box. He hit the send key.

:(:):(:):

"If a patient is suffering from a lesion in area one, or between cervical vertebrae one and six, the patient can suffer a different set of reflexes from the impairment of upper motor neuron pathways. The way to break down the diagnostic techniques of patients suffering this disability starts with a general physical exam, which you would hope the referring general practitioner managed before the patient ended up in your advanced neurological care. I always recommend repeating a physical exam to be sure—"

A phone went off in the lecture hall, interrupting Bruce's carefully laid out speech. He considered continuing on, but the volume of the device was just enough to make the laughing students too much to talk over. He glanced around for the reflection of a guilty face. A few of the students, sleeping in the front row no less, stumbled awake and grasped blindly into their bags.

He had a large class today, over nine hundred had signed up for his normally eight hundred-strong advanced neurology clinical course in Princeton's now booming doctorate program. Bruce virtually invented the section in the university and since coming back to Earth enjoyed a position as a full-time "visiting" professor. His schedule as an Avenger and part time Hulk kept him running all over the world at any given moment. Since he entertained an illustrious career as one of the greatest minds in neuroscience and gene transfer, Princeton administration did whatever they could to endure his schedule commitments. There was a mile long list of other schools and private institutions lined up to snatch Bruce next should he ever go back on the academic market.

On top of the students, he had two hundred other colleagues visiting from across the globe for his week-long lecture series. Already in day seven, he'd gotten most of the ground breaking material out of the way in the first few lectures. Today he was presenting a personal case, though most of the audience was unaware of it. Spinal disorders were near and dear to his heart after Tony Stark had been hanged by a Kree warrior years back. He had a full, miraculous, recovery since then. This made Tony a medical marvel that attracted attention from the thousand plus men and women in the room.

The phone continued to ring until everyone shuffled around in their seats and checked their own devices. Sitting beside the Dean of Students, Betty Ross smiled and caught his attention. The post-war baby boom had hit her the way it was roaring through most of Earth's population. Bruce could do little more than sigh and contemplate the deficiencies in his life when she announced her pregnancy, with twins no less.

Her husband, sitting just beside her, motioned to the podium. Taking their cue, Bruce looked down. He hardly got calls during class hours. Avengers Mansion knew the top heroes were not taking up cases yet. He turned the phone over, apologizing to the chuckling audience. He noticed Tony's number and sent the call to voicemail.

"Apologies. Sometimes duty calls, and sometimes you make them call Thor instead," Bruce said.

The crowd politely laughed.

With Tony's call safely rerouted, he hit the silent key and left the phone by the podium. He accelerated through the next slide of his lecture and dove back in. "So where were we? Oh, physical exam. Yes, so you always want to perform your own, in depth, physical concurrent to your neurological assessment. I have seen multiple patients referred to me for neurological maladies who had a cancerous growth, or cardiologic dysfunction, or pulmonary disease that may prove more pressing than the patient's ability to feel a finger or walk a straight line. The patient must come first. Don't become blindsided by your need to solve their—"

Five hundred unsilenced cellphones all chimed simultaneously in a cacophony of sound. Even the department chair, associate dean, and collage president shifted in their seats to uncover their own devices and glare into the screens.

"I do hope that is not a campus alert saying there's a meteor planning on landing in Princeton," Bruce said, looking around for any confirmation.

A few students elbowed each other, displaying their phones and the received text message. The Betty stood and scrambled up to the stage, handing over her phone for Bruce to read.

Bruce saw the first line and signed. "Tony Stark. I'm not surprised. Everyone get excited, yes Iron Man did just text you. I actually got a few extra slides in before he hacked your signals. He must be getting slow. I'll be sure to tell him that." Bruce grabbed his glasses from the podium and fit them on as he took the cell phone and read the message.

CODE STORK: COME NOW: DO NOT STOP FOR BAGELS: I BROUGHT SPARE CLOTHES

An overwhelming excitement threw Bruce's heart into a jackhammer pace almost instantly. He grabbed the wooden pedestal to keep from tipping right over. Today was the day. Either Natasha or Pepper was having the big one and Tony needed his support. Without a second thought, Bruce began grabbing his items off of the podium and handed them, his bag, and his outer shirt to Betty.

"I apologize everyone, but I am apparently about to become an uncle! We will pick up where I left off on Monday. There is still an exam next Thursday. I expect everyone's reports on demyelination of axons associated with the UIC-1 complex by Wednesday 5p.m. Late work will not be accepted, and yes it does still count as half of your grade. No, 5:01 is not 5:00pm." He hopped toward the door first on one foot and then the next as he pulled his dress shoes off and left them in a trail along the floor. His teaching assistant jumped out of her seat and rushed to collect them up. Like a wave, the lecture hall flooded out, if only to get a glimpse of the world's foremost neuroscientist turn into a massive, green rage monster.

bahahahahaha! Tony Army crawling to safety, Bruce being awesome. Steve...just Steve... Avenger's babies are going to be like herding cats!

So, i'm going to be in-house these coming weeks at the vet school which means I will have classes all day and will be sleeping mostly on campus, on a cot, in the cold of a barn alleyway all night while waking up every 1 1/2 hours to check pateints. So that's why I kinda wanted to blast you with updates while I had the chance.

PLEASE REVIEW! don't forget this kindly little step. I need it to feed my happiness:)