Fires blazed around them as the Avengers fought to win the battle against the hordes of bilgesnipes that had made their way to Earth from Asgard. There were only a few remaining, but the battle seemed to rage on. All members of the team were growing tired. Tony was missing a glove, Clint was on almost out of arrows, Thor was clutching a wound on his stomach as he swung his hammer, and even the Hulk was beginning to slow down. The team had been fighting for hours, and all of them needed medical attention.
Natasha and Steve were fighting hard against one of the few remaining beasts. She was on it’s back when suddenly it reared up and she lost her footing. Natasha fell to the ground and cracked her skull against the asphalt. The bilgesnipe bit hard into her leg and shook her like a ragdoll.
“Nat!” Screamed Steve, voice breaking. He threw his shield hard at the bilgesnipe and it dropped Natasha. Steve glanced over at his beloved. Natasha lay unconscious on the ground. The beast charged Steve and he bashed it in the face with his shield, dazing the creature momentarily. It created enough of a distraction that Clint was able to fire an explosive arrow, killing it. There were still more enemies about, and Steve was torn. His duty was to the team, but his heart told him to take care of Natasha.
“Go. Take care of her. We can handle the rest, Cap,” Clint told Steve, jogging back into the fray. Steve nodded and rushed over to Natasha who was beginning to stir. Blood was pooling around her. The wound from her leg was gushing. Blood caked her hair from when she had hit the ground.
“Fury,” Steve said into his com, “Natasha needs immediate medical attention. I don’t know if she is going to make it. Get a team down here now.”
“On it, Captain,” Fury said gruffly. Steve held Natasha in his arms. Hot tears rolled down his face. She blinked her eyes a few times before looking up at the super soldier. She opened her mouth to say something, but Steve shushed her.
“Steve. Important. I don’t know…if I am going to make it,” she said softly.
“Don’t say that. You’re going to be fine,” Steve choked.
“I need you to know two things. I love you…and I’m pregnant,” she said drifting back into unconsciousness. Steve’s mouth hung open for a moment. He couldn’t believe it.
“Fury! What’s the 20 on the medical team?” Steve shouted into the com.
“They’re 30 seconds out, soldier. Calm down. Agent Romanoff is going to be fine,” Fury replied.
Steve looked to the skies as he heard a helicarrier in the distance. They landed about a block away where there was a space clear of wreckage. Steve picked Natasha up and sprinted her over to the jet. The medical team loaded her onto a gurney and started treating her as they took off. Steve ran back to where his shield lay, picked it up and ran back into the battle. There was only one beast left.
He threw his shield as hard as he could, knocking the creature off balance and onto its side. He picked up a stray piece of rebar and impaled the bilgesnipe through the skull, killing it. He breathed heavily, the physical and emotional toll from the battle finally catching up to him. He fell to his knees and waited for the quinjets to come pick up the team and take the rest of them to SHIELD’s medical center. Clint came and sat next to him, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder, “She’s going to be fine, Cap. She’s come out of much worse than this. I promise,” Clint reassured him. Steve gave him a small, hopeful smile. The rest of the Avengers joined the two. Clint pulled out a pair of boxers from one of his utility pockets and threw them to Bruce who had shrunk back down to normal size.
***
Steve waited quietly in the chair next to Natasha while she slept. His mind raced. They were going to have a baby. Natasha was going to be fine, she was resting at the moment. He thought about what to say. He was tired. The super soldier had not slept since before the battle. He refused medical attention and had not left Natasha’s side since arriving at the hospital.
“Steve,” came a soft voice from across the room. Steve was on his feet and at her bedside in an instant.
“Babe,” Steve said. He reached down and grabbed her hand.
“You should see a doctor,” she said, a slight smile on her face. She noted the blood still on his hands and in his hair. There were cuts on his face and bruises on his knuckles.
“I will. I’m more concerned about you,” he replied, “A baby huh?”
“Yeah,” she said, “That’s good news for you, right, Steve?”
Steve grinned broadly, “That’s great news. I can’t think of any better news. How long have you known?”
“I’m eight weeks along. I’ve known for five,” she admitted.
Steve put his hand on her stomach. “A little us!”
“Calm down there, Capsicle. We still have a while,” she chuckled.
Steve pulled back and got down on one knee. He retrieved his wallet from his pocket, and from within pulled out a small diamond ring. “It’s my Mama Rogers’s ring. I had Fury find it after our first date. I was going to wait to take you out somewhere fancy, but I think now is the right time. Natalia Alianovna Romanova, will you marry me?”
“You know the answer to that, Steve. Yes. I don’t want a big wedding though. Too much security risk,” she said, happily. She took the ring. It fit perfectly. “Cap, I’m exhausted, and you need to do something about that cut above your eye. Go see a doctor, and I’m going to get some sleep,” Natasha suggested. Steve nodded. He leaned and kissed her gently on the lips before heading out the door into the urgent care wing.