The doctor chuckled softly, adjusting her glasses. "I wouldn't really call it a problem."
Natasha's brow furrowed, her patience thinning. "What's going on? Spell it out."
The doctor's smile faded, replaced by a slight frown. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Natasha asked a little angrily.
The doctor met her eyes. "Miss Romanoff, you're pregnant."
...
...
...
"Miss Romanoff?"
...
...
...
"Miss Romanoff?"
Natasha blinked, the doctor's voice pulling her back from the fog that had settled over her mind. She stared at the woman in the white coat, her thoughts scrambling as the words echoed in her head. "...I'm sorry... could you repeat what you said..." she asked, her voice quieter than she intended.
The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile and brought her clipboard up again, glancing at the notes before meeting Natasha's eyes. "You're pregnant, Miss Romanoff. You're going to have a baby, and from what I can see, everything is going well so far. All the symptoms you've been experiencing are perfectly normal in the first trimester."
Natasha sat there on the medical bed unable process the information she'd just heard. None of what the doctor said made sense; it felt like she was speaking a language Natasha had never heard before. Pregnant? A baby? She stared at the doctor's face, waiting for some sign that this was a mistake or a joke, but the woman just waited patiently.
Natasha's hand moved unconsciously to her stomach, pressing lightly against the fabric, as if she could feel something there that would confirm or deny it. Impossible. She could not have children, the Red Room procedures stripped away any chance of a normal life.
They had made sure of that.
"This is impossible," Natasha said finally. "I can't have children. There were... procedures. They made it so I couldn't."
The doctor tapped her fingers on the clipboard for a moment, then set it down on a nearby tray and gestured gently. "I understand this is a shock, but lie back for me, please. We'll confirm it properly."
Natasha complied slowly, reclining on the bed as the doctor wheeled over the ultrasound machine, adjusting the screen and applying gel to the wand. "I redid the tests a few times myself," the doctor explained while she worked, "so I don't think there's a mistake. Sometimes the old procedures aren't as final as they seem, especially with everything that's been happening lately, It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen."
The wand glided over Natasha's abdomen, the gel spreading over her stomach as the screen flickered to life with grainy black-and-white images. The doctor angled it carefully, pointing to a small cluster on the display. "There see that? That's the embryo, about eight weeks along. Looks perfectly healthy."
Natasha turned her head toward the screen, her breath catching as she stared at the tiny shape, the faint flutter that the doctor identified as a heartbeat.
It was real... a life growing inside her.
Tears welled in her eyes without warning, blurring the image as she reached out instinctively, her fingers hovering near the screen but not touching it. "A miracle," she whispered to herself, the word slipping out as emotion crashed over her in waves she could not hold back. After everything she'd been through and done, this tiny existence felt like something pure, something hers that no one could take away. She lay there entranced as she burned what was perhaps the most amazing moment in her life into memory.
The trance broke when the doctor stepped away, reaching for the phone on the wall. Natasha sat up abruptly, a flicker of panic cutting through the awe. "What are you doing!?"
The doctor paused with the receiver in hand. "It's standard protocol to report any pregnancies to HR, proper forms need to be filled out for medical leave and adjustments."
Natasha swung her legs off the bed, her voice firm despite the lingering dizziness. "Don't! I want to keep this a secret. At least for now..."
The doctor hesitated, her hand still on the phone, then smiled softly and nodded after a moment. "Alright if that's what you want."
Natasha exhaled in relief, wiping the gel from her belly with a towel the doctor handed her. "Thank you." She dressed quickly, pulling on her clothes that had been layed out on a table. However as she walked toward the door, she caught a glimpse in the small mirror on a side table; the doctor's qas now on her phone typing rapidly. Natasha lunged back without thinking, her leg snapping up in a back kick that struck the phone from the doctor's grasp, sending it flying into her waiting hand as she caught it mid-air.
Unknown: Black Widow has been impregnated by subject Grayson.
A cold look settled on Natasha's face, completely blank and devoid of emotion, her training kicking in as she pocketed the phone and turned to the doctor. "I'm sorry Agent Widow, but I have a job to do and protocol is protocol."
The doctor's hand moved toward her holster for the stun gun, but Natasha was faster, stepping in close to grab the wrist and twist it outward, forcing the arm up while her other hand struck the elbow joint. She swept the legs next, dropping the doctor to the floor, then followed with a chokehold from behind, applying pressure to the carotid until the struggles ceased and the body went limp.
Natasha released her, standing over the fallen doctor as panic surged through her like ice water. The worst thoughts flooded her mind on what would SHIELD do if they knew. Experiment on the child, turn it into a weapon, raise it in a program like the Red Room? She trusted Nick Fury to an extent, but she also knew the things he had done, the lines he had crossed to keep the world safe, he was not above sacrificing individuals for the greater good.
Her baby would not become that.
She wouldn't let anything happen to it.
Natasha bolted from the room, she had to get out of there now. No doubt when the person on the other end of the phone realised the doctor wasn't replying they'd put the base into lockdown. She wouldn't be surprised if they already had agents coming for her.
She stepped out of the medical room and walked down the hallway with a casual walk. Her training had already kicked in and guided her movements while she kept her expression neutral. She smiled at a passing technician who nodded in greeting and continued on his way. Inwardly she planned her escape and mapped the facility's layout in her mind. The power room sat two levels down near the maintenance sector, so she could overload the generators there which would trigger a cascade failure in the electrical systems.
That would knock out lights, cameras, and automated locks for at least ten minutes and give her a window to slip out. She passed another agent who she recognized from ops and exchanged a quick hello while she quickened her stride. If the alarms triggered early she would have to divert to the armoury and fight her way out, which hopefully wouldn't happen.
She reached the stairwell and descended making sure to not look like she was in a hurry or in any kin of panic. An analyst coming up the stairs smiled at her, she returned it with her own smile that faded away the instance she was out of view. Once on the lower level she turned left toward the power room and scanned the corridor for patrols. Two guards stood at the far end but they faced away while they chatted about their shift.
She walked past a junction where a maintenance worker pushed a cart and she stepped aside politely. Her plan solidified as she approached the door. She would enter under the pretense of checking a report if questioned and then tamper with the primary relay which would cause a surge in the backup generators.
She swiped her access card at the power room door and it beeped open. Inside technicians monitored consoles but they barely glanced up when she entered. She moved to a side panel and pretended to inspect a readout while she waited for one to step away. When the nearest tech turned to grab a tool she quickly input an override code that bypassed the safety locks and initiated a gradual overload sequence on all generators.
The system accepted it without immediate alarm and she closed the panel before slipping out unnoticed.
She left the power room and headed toward her quarters to grab essentials like her go-bag with cash IDs and a burner phone. Agents passed her in the hall and she maintained her calm demeanor while she nodded to them. Hopefully she'd have enough time to get to the garage and get out of here.
She turned a corner and planned to take the east corridor to avoid the main security hub but to her surprise a familiar appeared ahead of her.
"Nat!" Clint said as he jogged up to her. "What happened? I heard you passed out in the briefing room are you okay? Fury said it was nothing but you looked rough last time I saw you and then you ended up in medical, what did the doctor say? Is it stress or something else? You've been off lately and I'm worried—"
"I need to go Clint," Natasha said as she tried to step past him but he moved with her.
"Wait hold on, what's the rush? Talk to me if it's serious we can figure it out together like always—"
*BOOM*
The generators went off and a massive explosion rocked the building from below. Lights flickered and alarms wailed as the floor trembled. Natasha cut past him in the confusion and sprinted down the hall while Clint stumbled and shouted after her. "Nat what the hell wait!"
However a number of Security guards turned the corner ahead with stun guns drawn which they levelled on her the moment she came into view "Agent Romanoff! Stop right there!" They shouted.
She accelerated into a run while the guards fired stun darts that whistled past her ear, she slid under the barrage on her knees avoiding most of them and continuing to run.
"What's going on!? Hey stand down she's one of ours!" Clint's voice echoed behind her.
The guards didn't listen and continued to reload their stun guns, Clint pulled his bow out and fired three stun arrows in quick succession. The first hit a guard in the shoulder who dropped twitching. The second embedded in another's thigh and sent him crumpling. The third struck the last in the chest who collapsed with a grunt.
"Nat stop! What are is going on!?" Clint called after her again.
Natasha did not look back as she vaulted over a fallen guard and turned into a side corridor where more security waited. Two agents blocked her path with batons raised but she leaped forward and drove her knee into the first one's gut which doubled him over. She used his shoulder as leverage to flip over the second who swung at empty air. Landing behind him she delivered a kick to his neck that dropped him.
A third came from a doorway with a pistol but she disarmed him with a twist of his wrist and followed with an elbow to his jaw that knocked him out cold. She grabbed his weapon mid-fall and fired at a fourth agent rounding the corner. The shot hit his vest but staggered him long enough for her to close the distance and sweep his legs out from under him before stomping on his radio to crush it.
She sprinted onward through the shaking halls, explosions from secondary systems rippled through the building. She dodged into a service tunnel that led to the garage level. A team of four blocked the exit with rifles trained but she hurled a flash grenade she had snatched from the disarmed agent's belt which detonated in a blinding burst. They fired blindly while she rolled and took them down one by one, delivering a kick to the knee of the first, then a punch to his jaw. A punch to the throat of the second who choked and fell. She grabbed the third's rifle strap and yanked him into the wall face-first, she then spun and kicked his head smashing it even more against the wall. The fourth recovered his sight too late as she swept his feet and finished with a strike to the temple that left him unconscious.
She ran passed them and into the garage and straight towards one of the SUV's. After removing the trackers on it she hotwired it seconds and drove it toward a side maintenance door that was still ajar. Guards poured in from the stairs but she accelerated through them scattering bodies like pins before crashing the door open in a shower of sparks. The SUV barreled up a service tunnel that twisted toward the surface.
Pursuit vehicles screeched behind her with sirens wailing but she timed a turn that sent one crashing into the wall. Another pulled alongside and rammed her side which dented the door but she countered by barging them into a barrier that flipped their car. The tunnel narrowed ahead with a security gate dropping but she floored the accelerator and smashed through it.
She burst out onto the surface under the night sky where perimeter guards opened fire from towers. Bullets pinged off the armored glass while she veered toward the fence line and plowed through the chain link in a screech of tearing metal. Alarms faded behind her as she raced across the ground toward the highway.
The facility's lights shrank in the rearview until they vanished, and Natasha allowed herself a single breath of relief before focusing on the road.
She needed to get somewhere safe for now...
(AN: Damn if only shield wasn't infested by Hydra agents, maybe then would Natasha have been safe.)
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