Chapter 9: The ambush

1 week later

The sun was shining through the trees above, and there was only the sound of birds chirping as they flit through forest. Everything was green, highlighting the beauty of life. Nat and Steve walked side by side under the overgrowth, hand in hand, taking in the serenity that had been their back garden for the past week. "What are we going to name this baby if ours?" Steve enquired, as they continued walking, looking down at her. "I haven't really thought about it." Natasha answered truthfully, looking up at him. "Well, we do need to make a decision...""Yes... we do..." They stopped walking and turned to face one another. As they gazed into each other's eyes, their bodies leaned closer together, and their lips met, kissing passionately, but slowly.

Suddenly, a blast hit the ground beside them, throwing them away from each other. Nat scrambled up into a sitting position, panting as Steve leapt to his feet. "Captain Rogers, you are under arrest for- " But before the iron legion robot could continue, he flung his bare fist at its head, breaking all of the circuits allowing it to function. "Shit! Come on, we need to move, now!" He yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her up onto their feet. They hadn't run very far before another blast was fired at them, grazing Steve's arm as they pelted through the woods back towards the house. "Go!" He roared, leaping up to break the second robot, launching his arm through its chest. Nat sprinted off, but a third blast collided with the ground under her feet, she screamed as she flew into the air. She landed on her back, knocked out. Steve let out a roar of fury and fear as more of the iron legion showed up. He was outnumbered 20, 30, 40 to 1.

"Cap!" Wanda shouted, racing over to their aid. "Get to Nat! I'll take care of these fuckers!" She used her powers to crush the metal beings in the air with no effort, whilst shielding the couple from further harm. Steve crawled over to Nat, placing his fingers to her pulse, and sighing with relief once he had found it. He tried shaking her gently to wake her, and then increased the speed every few seconds. "Is she ok?" Wanda cried, as more of the legion made their way over to them. "She's breathing but she's unresponsive.""Take her back to the house and call Fury. I'll cover for you." She ordered, not turning to face him, concentrating all of her energy into protecting them. Steve picked up Nat's limp body and ran, tears streaming down his face and falling onto hers. "Help!" He cried when he had entered, racing into the living room and placing her gently down onto the sofa. "What happened?" Sam whispered as he and Bucky entered after him, their skin turning a ghostly colour. "We were ambushed... 'Tasha got caught in the crossfire... Wanda's out there fighting them so that I could bring her back..." He panted, kneeling beside Nat, stroking her head. A small trickle of blood was making its way down her forehead. "Can you grab her burner from her cabinet, it has Fury's number on it." Sam nodded, running up the stairs. Bucky sat down beside Steve, and dabbed her face with his shirt, cleaning up the startlingly red blood. Sam appeared a few moments later, phone in hand and passed it to Steve. Steve flipped it open and dialled Fury's number, his hands shaking. He left the room, just as Wanda entered. "I've created a protective shield around the house," She said, shaken up and covered in scratches, her clothes torn in places. She took Steve's empty spot, and tried to read Nat's mind. "She's scared." She whispered, moving her hand so that it hovered just above her bump. "How's the kid?" Sam asked, his voice cracking slightly. "It's hard to tell." She said, eyes shut firmly, focusing all of her remaining on trying to read it. "I think it's ok." Sam sighed out of relief. Bucky just say in the corner, eyes glistening with tears. Steve re entered, hanging up the phone, and moved towards Wanda, standing behind her."Fury's on his way; he's sending the Quinn jet.""Did you tell him about the pregnancy?" Sam asked, facing him, a look of concern leaving worry lines on his forehead."I kinda had to, didn't I?""Steve, she's scared. I read her mind. I'm not 100% sure on the baby, but from what I can tell, it's doing ok." Steve gave her a weak smile."How long until he arrives?" Sam enquired."He didn't say, but he said that it would be soon. Buck, what's on you mind?" Bucky looked up, his eyes were slightly puffy and bloodshot."I just don't know how this could've happened.""None of us do; the Secretary is going out of control." Steve moved over and patted him on the shoulder. He then moved back to Nat and held her hand.

————————————————————————————————————————————

By the time Nat had woken up, they were already half way to SHIELD and the avengers compound. She sat up immediately, and Steve grabbed her hand gently. She turned to face him, her face contorted with fear. "Sshh, Nat, it's going to be ok. We're on our way to SHIELD." Steve hushed, stroking her hair in comfort."WHAT?!" She cried; she started breathing heavily. "No, no, no! We can't go back!""Glad to see you're finally awake, agent Romanoff." Fury said, as he put the jet on autopilot. Slowly, he walked over to them, and crouched next to Steve, his one eye staring in hers. "We're just going to get you checked out, and to make sure that nothing bad has happened to your child." Nat swung around to look at Steve. He gave her an apologetic look, folding his arms in front of his chest. "'Tasha, we tried to wake you up back at the safehouse, but we couldn't. We were all terrified that we may lose you or our baby, and we didn't have any other choice." He whispered, voice breaking as a new silent flood of tears overcame him."I understand. I'm sorry I couldn't get away fast enough." She said, her voice softening as she became overwhelmed with emotions."Hey, hey, hey," Steve hushed, moving over to embrace her, rubbing her back as she wept into his shoulder. "It's not your fault, don't every blame yourself for someone else's actions. It's that bastard of a secretary who is to blame. He was the one who ordered the shooting.""Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth, Rogers?" Fury interrupted, as he made his way over to the pilot seat once again. "You may want to prepare yourselves for landing, we're here."