"Nat?" Steve spoke into his comm. "We're all good up here, come on through."
"Rodger that Rogers," the spy replied with a small laugh to herself. All of the Avengers were currently on a mission in Germany. S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to locate a band of rouge HYDRA agents and their headquarters. Naturally, Fury summoned the Avengers to clean things up. Luckily, it was winter break and Pepper was able to watch six year olds James and Lucy at the Tower in New York.
Steve, Thor, and Tony had just finished securing the entrance and taking out all the guards. The next item on the agenda was to find any HYDRA weapons and bring them back to base. Then on the way out, they were going to destroy the massive warehouse.
Steve smiled to himself when he saw his wife, Bruce, and Clint turn the corner and head towards them. Natasha holstered her 9mm and began to walk briskly towards her teammates—they had a mission to complete.
Out of the corner of his eye, Steve saw a surviving HYDRA agent jump up from behind a pile of cargo crates. Before he could react, the sound of a bullet being fired rang throughout the room.
Natasha immediately sank to her knees as a pained gasp was forced from her mouth. Bruce was at her side in an instant. Steve's eyes went wide with horror; he quickly dropped his shield and sprinted to his wife while Tony and Thor took out the guilty agent.
Natasha was flat on her back by the time that Steve dropped to her side. "Natasha? I'm here, I'm here," he barely managed to say, gingerly taking her small hand in her large one. Natasha groaned and clenched her teeth together as a wave of pain consumed her. "How bad is it?" Steve questioned, turning his attention to Bruce—a gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"She'll be okay, but it's not good. She got hit on the right side of her chest underneath where her collarbone ends. We've got to get her back to the quintjet, and then right into surgery when we land," Bruce informed.
"Ste-St," Natasha stammered and tried to grip Steve's hand.
"Shh, it's gonna be all right Nat," Steve reassured. She was conscious as Steve carefully scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to the quintjet.
Within five minutes, the team was headed back to New York. Bruce had Steve hold a towel to Natasha's chest to slow down the bleeding. Thirty minutes into the flight, Steve noticed Natasha's eyelids start to droop as she struggled to maintain consciousness.
"Eyes on me Natasha. Come on, stay with me. Think about James and Lucy," Steve tried, but it was no use. The last thing that Natasha heard before slipping into darkness were the names of her children.
"She's lost a lot of blood," Bruce stated. "We need to get back to base as soon as possible." The doctor noticed Steve's blank stare and attempted to reassure him. "It'll be all right Steve. She's going to be fine; I won't let anything happen to her. I promise."
"I'm counting on you Bruce. I can't lose her—they can't grow up without her," was all Steve said before he returned to aimlessly playing with his wife's crimson curls.
Ninety minutes later, the quintjet landed at the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital in New York. Steve watched on helplessly as Natasha was wheeled away into surgery. It took both Clint and Tony to hold Steve back and keep him from following Bruce and Natasha.
Tony saw that Steve was kept in the waiting room of the hospital while they waited for any updates on Natasha. Tony took the time to send a text to Pepper to let her know what was going on:
Make sure you're not around the kids when you read this. Natasha was shot in the chest during our mission today. She's going to be fine, Bruce has her in surgery now. Steve is with me in the waiting room, he'll come get James and Lucy when Natasha is out of surgery. Don't tell the kids or let on that anything's wrong.
Steve sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair in the hospital's waiting room. He was hunched over, his head in his hands. The man struggled to remain calm as chaotic thoughts swirled through his head. He knew he wasn't going to lose Natasha, but he couldn't stop blaming himself for what happened. If only he had taken out that agent—if only he were the one who was shot.
Steve was pulled from his thoughts as Bruce emerged from the door of the waiting room. The super soldier practically jumped out of his chair upon Bruce's arrival. "How is she?" he questioned eagerly.
Bruce held both hands up defensively as he tried to get Steve to calm down. "She's out of surgery and everything went well. There's no timetable on how long she'll have to stay in the hospital, but I'm 100 percent certain that Natasha's going to make a full recovery." Steve let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding in.
"Can I see her?"
"Not yet Steve, sorry, She's still unconscious, and it looks like she's going to stay that way for a few more hours," Bruce informed. "Steve, go back to the Tower and to your kids. I promise that you'll be the first call I make when she's close to waking up." After several minutes of persuasion, Steve begrudgingly agreed to go back to the Tower to inform James and Lucy of the situation.
Steve stared at the harsh metal doors as he took a breath and braced himself. He plastered a fake smile on his face as the elevator doors slid open to Tony and Pepper's living room.
"Daddy!" Lucy squealed. The young redhead abandoned her coloring book and ran into her father as he dropped to a knee. Steve gratefully accepted his daughter's embrace and held her longer than he normally would have. Lucy pulled back and studied her father's face. Her smile immediately fell and was replaced by the concerned arching of her eyebrows. Damn, she's too much like Natasha already, Steve thought to himself as he dropped his pretend smile. "Daddy, what's wrong?"
"Uh, where's your brother sweetheart?"
"In the kitchen with Aunt Pepper," Steve rose and took Lucy's hand as he moved to the kitchen.
"Hi Daddy! Aunt Pepper and I are making cookies!" James greeted his father happily as Pepper gave Steve a knowing look.
"Hey buddy, it looks like somebody's having fun."
"Mmhmm. Where's Mama?" James asked innocently.
"Here, let's talk about that," he lifted Lucy up onto the barstool next to James. Two sets of eyes—one blue, one green—stared at him intently. "I don't want to make you two upset, but your mother was in an accident when we were on our mission today."
"Is Mama dead? Is she coming back?" Lucy screamed nervously.
"No, no, no honey Mama's not dead—don't worry. She's—"
"Is she going to be okay Daddy?" James questioned quietly.
"Yes James," Steve started softly. "This morning, a bad guy saw Mama and shot her right here," Steve pointed to a spot on his own chest. "So we came right back here to the hospital and uncle Bruce was able to help Mama feel better."
"Can we go see her?" James asked, surprisingly calm.
"Yes we can. Come on, Aunt Pepper can come with us." Lucy made a sharp choking noise as tears spilled over her eyelids. She reached up to Steve, asking him to carry her. He complied, even though she was too old. She buried her head in the side of his neck as she continued to sob. Pepper took James' hand and the group of four began their trek to the hospital.
James sat quietly next to Pepper as she softly stroked his hair. The two, along with Clint, Thor, Tony, Steve, and Lucy were all in the hospital waiting room. Lucy had not let go of Steve since they arrived at the hospital. The tension hung thickly in the air like moisture on one of those hot summer days. Steve tapped his foot rhythmically—sort of a nervous habit—as Lucy clung to him and tried not to cry again.
"Steve?" Bruce interrupted. Steve had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard Bruce enter the room. "Natasha's awake. She's asking for you."
Steve found himself at Natasha's door—that is, after Clint helped to pry Lucy off of him. Steve tentatively pulled down on the handle and opened the door. He stood there, taking her in. The only bright spot in the room was her hair, which fell messily across the pillow in crimson locks. All the color had disappeared from her face and her complexion was that of the stark white sheets. Her chest was heavily bandaged and an IV poked out from her arm.
Steve stood there for what felt like an eternity. Natasha's head lolled to the side as she noticed his presence. Her green eyes lacked their usual spark and were uncharacteristically dull. "Are you just going to stand there?" her voice came out, barely above a whisper. Steve said nothing in reply; he walked over to the bed and placed his forehead on hers, their noses just brushing.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," he said, mimicking her whisper. "I'm so sorry Nat."
"I promise I'll try. And please don't. Don't you do that to yourself Steve. It was my own fault." She took sharp, pained breaths in between her words. Despite what she would tell everyone, Steve could see the pain behind her eyes. He decided not to argue against her for now; instead, he tilted his mouth to hers and lightly kissed her.
"I love you so much. And I know two little people who are very worried about their mother," Steve brought up as he stood. "Are you up for a quick visit?"
Natasha's eyes closed as a slow smile spread across her face. "I'm always up for them."
Several minutes later, Steve returned—each of his hands holding a smaller one. Both twins lagged slightly behind Steve as he walked them over to Natasha. Steve kneeled down next to them and urged them on.
"Are you okay Mama?" James asked cautiously as tears lingered in his eyes.
"Yeah мальчик, I'm all right, I've just got a big bandage on me. I'm so happy to see you two," she moved over to one side of the bed and patted the empty space next to her. Lucy anxiously crawled up onto the bed, followed by a more reluctant James. Lucy tried to hug Natasha, but a nervous Steve quickly pulled her back.
"No hugs for a while Lucy," Steve cautioned and released his daughter. "Now, I'm going to go tell your aunts and uncles that Mama's doing well. Can you two behave until I get back?" James and Lucy nodded yes in unison. "Okay. I'm not joking around," with a stern warning, Steve exited the room.
"See James, I told you. Mama's okay," Lucy declared, returning to her 'I'm always right' personality. "Mama when are you coming home?"
"I don't know Luce, but hopefully soon. I don't know if I'm allowed to drive all the way back to D.C., or if I will have to stay in New York for a little while."
"Oh, okay. Well I want to go ask Uncle Bruce. Can I go find him?"
"Yes, but be careful." Natasha only agreed to her daughter's request because Tony had gotten her a private floor in the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital. "And stay away from the elevator." Lucy ran off happily, leaving Natasha and James alone in the room. "Come here James," Natasha asked as her son snuggled into her side. She used her good arm to stroke his blond hair. "All right, spill."
Like his father, James was a terrible liar and a worrier. "You really scared me Mama," James said, hurt evident in his small voice. "I didn't know what was going to happen or what to do."
"I know James, and I'm sorry. I should have been more careful today. I hate making you and your Daddy and your sister go through this and I'm sorry." When did I get so sentimental? Natasha thought to herself.
James just inched himself closer to Natasha. "I don't want you and Daddy to go away forever and never come back."
"I don't want that either James. You, Lucy, and Daddy are my whole world."
"So you and Daddy will always be here? Promise?" James asked innocently.
Natasha embraced her son in a one-armed hug. "Daddy and I will always be here for you. Don't worry James." Natasha felt guilty for promising her son the one thing that she couldn't guarantee. At that moment, it felt like that bullet had hit her straight in the heart.
A/N: I want to offer a huge thank you to all of you for bearing with me. I know I haven't updated a lot recently, but I had a pretty awful end to 2014. Not to bore you with my personal issues, but to give you insight into what's been going on with me, my team finished 2-15 on the season and my car caught on fire in my school's parking lot (it was later totaled). Anyway, I'm looking forward to a new year with more frequent updates. Thank you to everyone who continues to read my writing, you guys are awesome! Happy (late) New Year!