It was a rather crisp March morning in New York City, but having moved from London 3 years ago, it was nothing that you weren’t used to, wrapped up in a cream-coloured puffer jacket and some red touch-screen gloves, you set off on your journey to work. Leaving London as a fresh-faced 21-year-old, to fulfil your dreams of living in New York, you never expected to be where you are now, working as an agent in a highly secure government agency – SHIELD. When moving, you didn’t really think too much about how you were going to afford to live, you were just too excited to be living in such a bright and vibrant city full of life, luckily, you had a cousin who agreed to put you up until you found a job and could afford your own apartment. It had been 4 months of tedious and unsuccessful interviews when you stumbled upon the job opportunity at SHIELD, granted, it was only a receptionist’s job, which you considered a little bit of a lowly job, however, it paid well, given the extremely sensitive nature behind the organisation, so you jumped at the opportunity.
Upon entering, you greeted your co-workers with a cheery smile and a little wave before setting down behind your desk and preparing for the long shift ahead. The day had barely started, but it already felt like you’d been there for hours, and you just couldn’t wait to get home and laze in front of the television with a microwaveable meal and a glass of wine. That all changed though, when you saw a fleck of that iconic red hair in your peripheral vision. That hair belonging to the most attractive woman you had ever seen, Natasha Romanoff. Plump pink lips, a cute button nose and those beautifully iridescent jade eyes that sparkled beautifully when the light hit them.
“…Y/ N?” Too busy thinking about the Russians near perfect features, you didn’t realise she’d come over and struck up a conversation with you. “Huh? Did you say something Agent Romanoff?” at your inability to realise you were staring directly at the spy, she just smirked at you. “Having pleasant thoughts there дорогая (darling)?” “Err, no, A-agent, just thinking about…” Normally, you were a very assured young woman, not cocky or arrogant, but you carried yourself with confidence, yet with one look at the other woman’s smirk, she’d managed to turn you into a stuttering mess. “Don’t even bother trying to finish that lie. I’m a spy, I know everything детка (baby).” Desperately, you tried to scramble some words together in order to form some kind of cohesive response to the Russians light interrogation, but alas, nothing came out and instead, your mouth gaped open like a fish taking in air.
Sensing the uneasiness, she lightly laughed at the state you were in, before finally breaking this weird level of slight sexual tension “Relax darling, I’m just teasing, although, I do hope it was me you were thinking about?” she questioned you with a playful little pout, before breaking out into another of her signature smirks. God, how you loved that smirk of hers, but you always wished you could wipe it off her face somehow. Gaining a little confidence, albeit fake, you finally managed to reply to her. “Well then, I think you’ll be pleased to know that I was thinking about you, Agent Romanoff.” Capping off your sentence with a cheeky little wink, you decided to be even cheekier and keep running with your slight flirting, “in fact, I think you’ll be pleased to know that I spend a lot of time thinking about you.” Your own tiny smirk had her faltering for a second, just a second, but you still took it as a small win. “Well then детка (baby), it seems like the feeling is mutual. What does your evening look like tonight?” “Tonight, consists of homemade, by which I mean microwaveable, lasagne and binge watching some crappy reality tv show, that I will unconsciously find myself sucked into.” through a light chuckle, she replies “Not anymore, you and I are going out tonight, dress up nicely and I’ll pick you up at 7.30pm. See you later and don’t forget to text me your address!” before you could question where she was taking you, she was already walking off, swaying her hips from side to side, no doubt with an extra bit of sway just for you.
Your excruciatingly long shift finally ended, and you couldn’t wait to get home, as today signified the start of your long-awaited holiday period that you’d requested from the Director 2 months ago. You’d told Fury that you were going back to England to see your family for 6 weeks, as you hadn’t had a chance to go home and see them since you moved to New York. However, you were probably just going to spend the 6 weeks in your apartment relaxing and doing things you hadn’t found the time to do, considering your busy work schedule.
Aware that you’d spent too long procrastinating and thinking about the things you could potentially do with your precious vacation time, you decided to get ready for your date with Natasha. Thankfully, it didn’t take you too long to shave and exfoliate whilst in the shower, which meant you could spend longer on your makeup and choosing an outfit that showed off all of your assets, without appearing too slutty. Heading to your closet, you spotted the perfect outfit. A skin-tight black dress that went down to your knees. The dress hugged your curves perfectly and showed off enough cleavage to entice any man or woman, without leaving yourself too exposed to any unwanted attention, which as a young woman in this bustling city, you were certain to receive. Paired with your black dress and natural makeup look, were some small black heels in order to boost your height to closely match Natasha’s. Ordinarily, you would’ve worn flats, or even trainers with your dresses, but you really wanted to make an extra effort for Nat, plus you weren’t too sure of the dress code of the place you were going, considering Natasha didn’t tell you earlier before walking off.
Eventually, 7.30 arrived and you were made aware of Natasha’s presence by the sound of her Corvette Stingray’s engine. Just in time you thought, as you finished placing your final bit of jewellery on. A sequenced knock broke you out of doing your final checks in the mirror. Stood behind the door was a stunning redhead dressed in a beautiful one sleeved black suit, the jacket being one sleeved - revealing a perfect amount of skin to be considered sexy, yet also classy. Her hair was slicked back into a high bun and her ears were adorned with several pieces of jewellery, just like yours. Like you, she was also sporting some small black heels, no doubt for comfort after spending all day walking around the SHIELD building and completing tasks for Fury.
“Wow, you look absolutely stunning мой идеальный маленький ангел (my perfect little angel).” “As do you, Natasha. Also, I have no idea what you just said, but I’ll assume it means something good?” “That’s for me to know, детка (baby).” Winking at you, she offered you her arm, ready to leave and make your way to the restaurant that she’d booked for this evening.
Getting in the car, you finally asked about the location for the evening – turns out Natasha really wanted to impress you, as she’d booked a table at the one of the fanciest Italian restaurants in the city – La Masseria. A restaurant that had a pianist playing classical music the entire evening and a beautiful view of the city, especially in the evening.
The date was amazing, and Natasha was an absolute gentlewoman throughout the entire evening, opening doors for you, repeatedly checking in to make sure everything was to your liking and you were comfortable, and even paying for your meal, which lead to a tiny argument, as you’d polished off the majority of a bottle of expensive champagne to mark the occasion.
Driving back, you started to feel the effects of the alcohol, you didn’t usually drink a lot, so consuming that amount of alcohol over the course of 2 hours, was definitely a foreign concept and something you were starting to regret, as you could feel the incoming headache. Nat had one hand on the steering wheel and the other was resting on your bare thigh, tracing small circles on the exposed skin, sending shivers down your spine. Little touches and flirty banter had been shared between the two of you all night, and clearly that wasn’t stopping any time soon, not that you were complaining at all, you’d been desperately crushing on the woman for the better part of your time at the agency and it seemed like it wasn’t all in vain.
The drive itself took longer than you expected considering you only around 20 minutes away from the restaurant and there was no traffic, but maybe the alcohol was dulling your senses and that’s why it felt longer than it should’ve. However, as long as it took, you still arrived back at yours too soon for your liking and you weren’t quite ready for the evening to end yet, so you decided to invite Natasha back in for another drink. She gratefully accepted and helped you out of the car and up towards your apartment. “I really enjoyed tonight, Nat, thank you for a really pleasant evening and I hope we can do this again sometime soon?” “It’s been my pleasure and I’d absolutely love to do this again darling.” Standing shyly by your front door, you stayed silent and still as you stared into those vibrant green eyes of hers. Too engrossed in her eyes you don’t even notice how she’s begun to subtly lean closer towards you. It’s only when her plump lips connect to yours that you notice. You eagerly return the soft kiss, prompting her hands to land on your waist in a firm hold and she pulls your front flush against her own. A soft whimper leaves you as her tongue slips inside your mouth and you can feel her smirk against your lips. She pulls away far too quickly for your liking, only to begin trailing kisses along your jaw making her way towards your neck.
Finally, you pulled away in order to open your door and carry on this make-out session in the comfort of your own home, as opposed to the dingy corridor of your apartment block. “You want to come in?” you ask with a shy smile, “hmm yes please angel, want to keep pulling those beautiful little whimpers from you.” Turning round to unlock your door, you took a brief moment of time to reflect on the evening before you felt Nat grab your hips from behind, pulling your ass to meet her crotch, where you felt a prominent bulge in her trousers. “Well, you certainly came prepared to get lucky, didn’t you? Hmm?” “Oh, believe me, I knew I’d get my own way by the end of the night.” “What do you mean by that cheeky?” “Don’t worry your pretty little head about that. You don’t need to think about that, or about anything at all for that matter.” You felt Nat move your hair off your neck to the side, to place a gentle kiss there, but you were still thinking about what she possibly meant by her last statement. You didn’t get to think about it too much however, as the next thing you felt was a sharp pain in your neck and then everything went black.
When you came to, you immediately panicked, not recognising your surroundings, you tried to scream for help until you realised that there was something gagging you, preventing you from making any distinguishable noises. Nevertheless, you still screamed to try and get someone’s attention and help you out of the restraints that were tying your hands to the top of the bed and your feet to the bottom of it. Needless to say, this only got one person’s attention – Natasha, the woman who you theorised had put you in this position in the first place.
“Ah, you’re awake. Now, you’re going to be a good girl and listen to me first and then I’ll take that gag out. There’s no point screaming, I’ve made the room soundproof, I only knew you were awake because the cameras alerted me to your movements. Do you understand me Y/N?” with a shaky nod, you signified for her to continue. “I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I saw you enter that coffee shop and then, you started working for SHIELD and things couldn’t have been more perfect. I didn’t even have to come to you, you came straight to me and now here we are, all these years later. Now, do you promise to be good and not scream? If you do scream, I’ll put the gag straight back in.” you frantically nod, desperate to alleviate the ache in your jaw from being stretched around the ball gag.
“Thank you, Nat! Look, I don’t know what this is about, but I promise I won’t say anything, and things can go back to the way they were before, nothing needs to change!” “You don’t understand котёнок (kitten), I don’t want things to go back to the way they were before. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours, that’s the way things should be.” “You didn’t need to kidnap me for me to be yours Natasha! I would’ve been yours willingly, but now I don’t want anything to do with you!” “It doesn’t matter what you want anymore, you belong to me now. Forever. Now just stay still whilst I take what I want.”
Palming at her crotch, you see the bulge of the strap that you felt pressed against your ass earlier on. “You’re staring зайка (bunny). Do you like it, do you want to feel it inside you?” “I don’t want you or your strap anywhere near me.” “You’ll change your mind soon enough, don’t worry.” As she pulls down her trousers, you roll your eyes and flare your nostrils out of pure frustration. It’s clear she isn’t going to listen to you, but that doesn’t mean you’ll stop pleading for your freedom. When you look at her again, she’s dressed only in a lacy black strapless bra, which she must’ve put on, because you definitely remember the distinct lack of a bra when you went to dinner earlier, and a pair of black boxer briefs. “I’ve had just about enough of your attitude you little whore, you’re going to be good for me and take what I give you and be grateful for it too.” Finally, she strips her boxers off, revealing a long and thick flaccid penis. Surprise etches itself onto your face as your eyes widen at the sight of Natasha’s natural appendage, which you estimated to be at least 9 inches long and 4 inches thick.
“Now you’re going to be a good little girl and suck Daddy’s cock.” Snapping back into the situation at hand and out of your thoughts about Natasha’s dick, you fire back immediately. “Get the fuck away from me! You’re not my Daddy, you’re a sick fuck.” At that, you clamp your mouth shut as she menacingly stalks her way over to you. “Come on baby, open wide, get my cock nice and wet ready for that tight little pussy.” You remain firm and keep your mouth shut. Natasha replies through gritted teeth, “I said, open wide or I’ll make you and trust me, you don’t want that.” Still, you keep your mouth shut with your lips tight together. “No? You still don’t want to? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With your refusal, Nat pinches your nose, so you’re forced to open your mouth to desperately get air back into your lungs. Before you know it, you’re greedily gulping down air and so Natasha takes this moment to shove her thick cock straight into your mouth and down your throat.
“Good girl, that’s it. Ugh, love hearing those pretty sounds as you choke on my cock like the little шлюха (slut) that you are.” She doesn’t stop and mercilessly fucks your face as you choke and cry, desperately begging her to stop with a pitiful look in your eyes. “Aww baby, you look so beautiful crying for me as I fuck you, but I’m not going to stop. I’ve been waiting patiently for you and I’m going to take what I want and there’s nothing you can do about it. I think you’re ready for me now, if your cunt is anything to go by, it’s leaking through your underwear onto my sheets. I always knew you were a little whore, but you’re mine now and I’m the only one that gets to use you from now on.” Whilst you’re busy trying to breathe at the same time as sucking her cock, she takes a knife and slices through your underwear to get a clear view of your soaked sex. “God, you’ve got such a pretty cunt котёнок (kitten). I’ll get to it soon enough, I promise.”
Pulling out of your mouth, Natasha stares at the string of spit still connecting you to her before deciding to rub it all over your mouth and give you the appearance of the whore that she has declared you as. “I can’t believe how good your mouth felt on my cock, I wonder if that pretty little pussy will feel as good. Well, there’s only one way to find out, but first I want a taste.” Wasting no time, Natasha dives straight in and licks a strip from your dripping entrance, all the way up to your clit, which is throbbing with excitement, much to your chagrin. “Mmm, you taste divine, so sweet, I never want to stop eating this pussy. It looks like you’re enjoying it even more, I can see your hole clenching against nothing, but don’t worry, I promise I’ll fill it soon, when I’ve finished eating.” She throws you a cheeky wink whilst sporting a perverted grin before diving right back in, slowly edging you towards your own climax. “Please stop Tasha, I don’t want this. Just let me go, I promise I won’t say anything!” “Oh милая (honey), you know that’s not an option, you’re mine now and I don’t share my things.”
The vibrations of her words against you and her frantic sucking and licking, send you ever closer to your impending orgasm, which you can feel building in the pit of your stomach. “Tash, stop, please! Please, I’m about to pee!” At your words, she doubles down and if possible, eats you out with even more vigour, which has you crying and begging for mercy as you desperately try to wiggle away from her mouth. “Cum for me angel, want you to cum all over my face. Do it now!” Her approval gets you to cum and for the first time in your life, you start to squirt, all over her face, to which she chuckles in astonishment. Rubbing furiously at your clit, she tries to strengthen and prolong your orgasm, which sends you into another orgasm, albeit not as strong, but still enough to completely wipe you out and send your eyes rolling back into your head.
“Wow, that was so hot baby, let’s see if you can do that with my cock inside you.” And with that she thrusts inside you with one painful motion. “No, m’too sensitive, please stop Tash.” “That’s not my name and you know it. What do you call me?” You don’t answer her, which is clearly the wrong answer, as it earns you a hard slap to the face. “I said, what’s my name slut?” “Daddy, your name is Daddy!” “Good girl. I knew you could listen and follow instructions. Daddy loves being inside you, you’re so tight and warm. I’ll be sure to stretch you out though, can’t have you squeezing my dick too hard.” Her thrusts seem to get harder and deeper, sending your brain careering into a fuzzy headspace. “Daddy, m’so full.” “Yeah, you are baby, look how deep I am, I can see a cute little bulge in your tummy.”
Letting go of your hips, she grabs the knife off the bedside cabinet to rid you of your dress that she had pushed up, and your bra too. “Ugh, baby, you’re so perfect. This beautiful body, just for me to mark as my own.” With each word, she presses a kiss to your breasts and starts to suck on your nipples, sending you headfirst into another smaller orgasm. “Oh god baby, clench on my cock again. That’s it, good girl. I’m so close baby, Daddy’s gonna make that tummy bulge even bigger after I cum inside you. Gonna fill you up with my seed, get you pregnant and watch how your belly grows with my child and your breasts fill with milk.” Her words sober you up completely and you start to panic. “No no no, Nat, please don’t cum in me, I don’t want to be a mother. Not yet please, I’m not ready.” “I don’t care what you want, we’ve already established this. My sperm is more potent than the average human’s, thanks to the super soldier serum the Red Room gave me, so I have no doubt you’ll be pregnant when I’m finished. We can be a happy little family, just the three of us.” Your crying seems to spur her on and it triggers her own climax as she stills inside you, unleashing load after load of heavily potent sperm into your fertile womb. Eventually, after what feels like 5 minutes, she finally stops cumming and pulls out. “Told you I’d bulge that cute little tummy out.” You look down and see that there is indeed a noticeable bulge from all the cum that she’s fucked into you, and you see the spy staring back at you with a cocky smirk. “Now you stay there baby, just while I go and get something.” Before she leaves, she grabs several pillows and places them under your hips and cants them up, so that none of her cum drips out.
A few minutes later she comes back with a shiny metal object in her left hand, one that you immediately recognise as a butt plug, with a black gem on the end of it. “Take a look baby, I’m going to plug you up with this to make sure that none of that precious cum drips out and you stay full. Need to make sure you’re fully bred, don’t we sweet girl?” You mumble a slight agreement, so she knows you’ve heard her and acknowledge her words. You watch as she takes the plug into her mouth, using her spit to lube the object up. She keeps eye contact with you the entire time, and to your dismay you can feel the effect she’s having on you in your still full cunt. After she puts the plug in, she gives it a pat on the gem, which she revealed had her own red hourglass logo design inside the black gem. Soon after, the actions of the past hour cause you to fall into a dreamless sleep, so Natasha decides to leave you be and get some proper rest, as uncomfortable as it may be with your limbs tied to the ends of the bed.
The next few weeks went by with every day being pretty much the same, Natasha would take you to the bathroom to wash and relieve yourself, standing nearby so you don’t hurt yourself after not using your limbs for a period of time. She’d breed you twice a day and plug you up after every session to make sure it took, which to neither of your surprise, resulted in you getting pregnant. Since you got pregnant, Natasha has been incredibly good to you, making sure you felt okay and weren’t on your own when dealing with the horrible morning sickness. She’d untied you from your restraints as soon as she realised you were pregnant and moved you upstairs into her bed, because she didn’t want any extra stress on you and the baby, which made you rethink about her a lot. You’d painted her as this vicious monster who took you away from your life and normality, when actually, she was just a woman who was desperate to be with the woman she loved and have the perfect little family she’d always dreamed of. It was evident how much she cared, she would take any chance to touch and rub your belly, even though you were barely showing any physical signs at such an early stage.
6 weeks was nearly up, and Fury would be expecting you back at work on the following Monday, however, you knew that Natasha wasn’t going to let you go back to work, especially not since you were now carrying her child, so she devised a plan. In order for you to get more time off and not raise suspicion, she was going to get you to write a letter to Fury, detailing some personal issues back home in London, meaning you couldn’t come back yet. Natasha helped you write the letter, with a little reluctance from yourself, as although you were starting to come round to being with Natasha permanently, you still wanted to go back to work and regain a sense of normalcy, but she flat-out refused, citing your pregnancy as the reason you couldn’t. With a sigh and a deep frown carved out on your face, you finished the letter and made sure it looked perfect before sending it off to Fury. The efforts were successful as Fury told you to take as much time as you needed before coming back to work, which you thought was strange, but Natasha told you not to worry about it.
By the time you were 4 months pregnant, you were quite big for the stage of pregnancy you were in, thinking it a little strange, you asked Natasha if you could get checked out at the hospital. Needless to say, she wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of you leaving the apartment, because she was well aware that you could run and report her to the police, but you reassured her that you weren’t going to do that and even said she could come along with you. So off you drove to a private hospital, with the mother of your child squeezing your clammy hand in reassurance, telling you that everything would be fine. It was then, that you realised how much Natasha cared for you, and that was your downfall. That was when you truly fell in love with Natasha Romanoff.
The sonographer saw you immediately when she saw who was walking by your side, she was pretty shocked to see an Avenger walking in with a fairly large pregnant woman, in truth, she probably thought you were about to pop, even though you were only just over halfway into your pregnancy. “Babe, I promise everything is going to be okay, you and our baby will be fine and you’re in the best possible place here.” “I know, but I can’t help but feel like something is wrong. I just feel strange, like there’s something else going on.” Your suspicions were confirmed when the sonographer turned her screen around and showed you the picture of your children growing inside of you. You were growing multiple mini-Romanoff’s inside you. Not one, not two, but three. There were three babies growing inside of you. Seeing your babies on the screen solidified the decision that you wanted to have a life and a family with Nat. Truthfully, she was over the moon at having so many children, she’d decided years ago that she wanted a huge family, but you, well you were terrified. The thought of giving birth to one child scared you, but three, that had you so scared that you passed out in Natasha’s arms.
“Родная (sweetie), wake up! Are you okay?!” gently tapping your face, Natasha wakes you up carefully, so as not to shock you any more than you already are. “Hmm, yes, I’m fine love, just surprised. I-I just can’t believe we’re having triplets!” “I know, but I can’t wait for them to get here, and it’ll just be our little family against the world. I promise that I’ll love you and the triplets forever, I’ll be the best mother ever, and if you’ll accept me, the best wife ever. I know I didn’t go about this in the correct way, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me, but I couldn’t…” pressing your lips against hers to cut off her anxious rambling, you take her face in your hands, to highlight the seriousness of your next words. “No, you definitely didn’t go about it the right way, but I know why you did what you did, and I understand it was out of desperation to be able to have the loving family that you didn’t have when you were growing up. I would’ve always given you that, although I’d probably have waited a couple of years at least. But that doesn’t matter now, we’re having a baby, well three babies, and I want them to grow up in a family with two parents that love each other and seeing you over these past few months has made me realise how much I love you. So, yes. I’ll accept you as my wife. Just promise me, no more shady things, no secrets, and no lies.” “I promise you angel, no more of any of it. I’ll tell you everything about me, I want to be completely honest with you, so how about we start with my real name – before I changed it when I joined SHIELD. My real name is Natalia Alianovna Romanova.” “Well, I understand why you changed it, but I think your real name is absolutely beautiful, just like you. Can I call you Natalia?” “Yes, but only you. I like the way it sounds rolling off your tongue.”
Natasha, or Natalia as you now knew her, planned your wedding for 2 months down the line. Neither of you were too bothered about a fancy ceremony, you just wanted to be married to each other and you couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Y/N Romanova. So, Natasha whisked you both off to City Hall, where in the presence of two complete strangers, you finally got married. “I love you Mrs Romanova and you three little Romanov’s too.” Natasha bent down to press a kiss to your swelled stomach where you were harbouring the three little bundles of joy that connected you permanently. Although she had changed her name when she came to America, you told her you wanted to honour her and the triplet’s Russian heritage, therefore you decided to be known as Romanova, as opposed to Romanoff.
Finally, after 8 long months of horrible cravings such as pickles on chocolate ice cream, you were ready to pop. Nat had bought a bigger place so that the triplets could have their own rooms as they got older, and you both had your own relaxation or work area. Her Avenger money really helped, thank you Tony Stark, as you didn’t realise how expensive it would be to cater for three children. You weren’t allowed to lift a finger, which was nice because you enjoyed being pampered, but it definitely pissed you off at times as it made you feel completely useless. At one point, you got so mad with Natasha, you told her she had to sleep on the sofa for a week. However, you caved fairly quickly, because you couldn’t sleep without Nat’s hand wrapped around you, holding your belly protectively or kissing your neck to lull you off to a peaceful sleep with a smile on your face.
Labour was a long and painful process, although you didn’t realise just how long it would take to get these gremlins, as they were now known, out of you. 20 hours later and you finally welcomed three beautiful and healthy babies into the world. Both of you had decided you didn’t want to know the sex of any of your children, but you had produced a list based on family names. The people present for the birth were, Natasha and her best friend Clint, of course he didn’t know the truth about how this situation came to be, but Natasha was a spy for gods sake, she could spin a web of lies to anyone, and they’d likely believe her, which luckily, he did, otherwise you’d have both been in a mess. As her best friend, Clint, and his wife Laura, would be the godparents of the triplets. She told you about Clint’s family on the premise that you swore you wouldn’t tell anyone, which of course you wouldn’t, so you agreed that they would be perfect to be Auntie Laura and Uncle Clint. First came a little girl, followed by another little girl, and finished off with a little boy to complete the set. The nurse passed you the oldest, Natasha the middle child and handed the little boy to Clint who asked you what names you had planned for the children. “Well, we decided to name this little one in my arms Anastasia Ivanovna Romanova, the one Natasha is holding Tatiana Ivanovna Romanova and the little boy is Nikolai Ivanov Romanov. We decided to give them the patronymic of Natasha’s father, Ivan. Nikolai is named after my father, Nicholas, and we decided that Anastasia and Tatiana were just beautiful traditional Russian names that we both liked.” As you looked into Anya’s beautiful emerald eyes that matched her mother’s, you knew life was absolutely perfect now, even if your happiness came about in rather unconventional methods.