"Are you sure you want it this way? I could arrange a secret life for you somewhere out of reach. You wouldn't be the first person I would do it for," the dark man said as he watched the young woman with the baby in her arms.
"You know everything about me, do you really think I'm the right person to raise a child?" she asked a rather rhetorical question. She kept her eyes on the sleeping boy in her arms. He was her little miracle. They had to do something wrong during the final ceremonial, otherwise, she could not explain it.
"I won't persuade you. Requests?"
"Just make sure he has a place in the world. Not like me. I have no place in the world. I never had," she said, pinning a small spider to the blanket in which her son was wrapped. "Just remember I love you, okay?" she told him, even though he was asleep. It didn't matter, he was a few months old, and even if he was awake, he wouldn't remember. "Мамочка, любит тебя, мой паучок."
"You did me a favor, now I will do it for you. I will make sure he has a great family. What about his father?"
"Dead. I took care of it myself, relieving you of another problem," she said, finally giving him a look. She wasn't entirely sure she could trust him after their rocky start. But she didn't have much choice, and he didn't seem to want to kill her anymore.
"What do you mean?" he asked incomprehensibly. He didn't like it when he didn't know something.
"Let's just say the Red Guardian won't be a problem anymore," she answered simply.
"I am very much looking forward to our cooperation, Agent Romanov. When you are ready, I will make sure that your son has a place in the world. From now on, you have it too. Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I'm ready," she said in a firm voice, and it was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.
Natasha tried not to remember the day too often. It was one of her worst days, but she knew she had made the right decision. She focused on work and tried to make up for all the bad things she did while she was in Russia. And everything went well. She allowed herself to remember her son only on his birthday, hoping that Fury would keep his promise. Hoping her boy had a place in the world.
It only became complicated when she was sent to spy on Tony Stark. Too often, she found herself in the company of their nine-year-old son, which then made her think more often about her own son. She didn't even name him then, because she thought it would be easier. Spoiler alert - it wasn't. She thought she would ask Fury if her boy was doing well, but in the end, she always rejected it. It was the past. She made a decision, so she must stick to it.
"Мамочка, любит тебя, мой паучок," she whispered, staring at the little plush spider. The same one she gave to her son.
"Do you have a child, Miss Natalie?" Peter asked curiously, and Natasha jumped in fright. Peter was the only person she had never heard come. She quickly tossed the spider into her purse and turned to Peter, who was standing in the kitchen doorway.
"No, I don't," she replied simply, giving him a small smile.
Peter gave her an inquisitive look. He thought about something for a moment, but he seemed to let it go and went to get some juice.
"How was school?" she wondered. She was waiting for Pepper to pick up something and then they will go to the company together. She deviated a little from her task when she became Pepper's assistant, but Fury said it wouldn't matter. She was still close to Tony.
"Good," he muttered. "Do you speak Russian?" he was curious again. Natasha found out he had it in his nature.
"A little," she said casually.
"You have a good accent," he complimented her.
The redhead had to chuckle. "Can you recognize that?"
"Немного," he replied in Russian and Natasha froze. Now she understood why he had asked her if she had a kid. He understood what she was saying.
"Your accent isn't bad either. How long have you been learning Russian?" she continued their conversation.
"Since I remember," he said, sipping his juice. "My mother was Russian. My parents wanted me to be connected with her in some way," he explained.
The agent frowned slightly. She knew from the information she had that Pepper and Tony had adopted Peter as a small baby. That means he couldn't remember his mother. That meant it was Pepper and Tony's initiative. She had to smile at the thought. She could only hope that her son had such a great family.
"That's nice of them," she said with a small smile.
"Yeah, it's just a shame they don't know more about her," Peter sighed. "But I'm happy here. They are my mommy and daddy. I love them. I just know I have another mom somewhere. It would be nice to know more about her," he added.
"I understand that," she told him, reflecting on his words. "I don't mean to be intrusive, but what about your father? And I don't mean Tony."
"It's okay, it's cool that I can talk to someone about it," he grinned at her. "My biological father is dead. My parents were told he wasn't a good man," he answered honestly.
A chill ran down the redhead. It was beginning to remind her so much of her life. She looked at Peter and took a good look at him. It has been nine years since she officially began working for S.H.I.E.L.D. Peter's mother was Russian, just like her. His father was dead and she killed her son's father. Nat looked into his brown eyes and her heart stopped for a moment. Her son also had brown eyes, but she had never connected it before. Would it really be possible for this amazing boy to be hers?
"I found what I needed. We can go, Natalia," informed her incoming Pepper. As soon as she saw Peter, a bright smile settled on her face. "Hi, Petey," she greeted him and walked over to him so she could hug him and kiss him on the forehead.
"Hi, mommy," Peter smiled at her.
"I have to go back to work, but Dad's in the workshop if you want to do something with him," she told him.
"Okay," he agreed, "see you later. Bye, miss Natalia," he said goodbye and ran away.
Natasha returned to base that day. She shouldn't go there while doing her task, but this situation required it.
"Ah, I was starting to think you wouldn't figure it out," Fury said as she walked into his office.
"You always have everything planned, so I wonder what you think will happen now," she asked.
Fury just watched her for a moment before sighing. "It's been nine years. You've come a long way, Natasha. You won't change your decision anymore, but you can become a part of his life," he tried to convince her.
"You must have gone crazy. I will not interfere in their lives," she snapped at him. Whenever she thought she knew him, he did something like this and confused her.
"Just promise me you'll think about it. After all, you'll probably be in touch with him if we launch the Avengers program," he insisted.
"Fine, we'll see how it develops. Now we have to make sure Tony doesn't die," she said harshly. That was her main task now. She won't let Peter lose his father. "And Fury? Thank you."
"For what?" he asked a little incomprehensibly.
"That you've made sure Peter has a place in the world," she said softly and left.