Give Life Meaning...

Everyone Has Family

     Steve walked off the jet after Clint was rushed off with Natasha by his side, the injury looked pretty bad, but the kids hadn't let him hand them off. Having earned their trust, he was wary of breaking it by forcefully handing them off, which is how Natasha found him sitting on the other side of the med bay coaxing the kids to do as the doctors asked.

     "How are they?" Natasha asked, coming to sit by Steve and reaching out with a slow reassuring hand to touch their hair. 

     "They're in severe need of a bath and this one," Steve jiggled the little girl a bit, seeing a slight smile crack on her solemn face. "Needs to keep the bandages on her feet and hands. The doctor said it looked like they had tried to restrain her, and she fought them. They probably even took their shoes to keep them from running. It was popular to do that among the prisoners, but I can't imagine it was that hard to keep kids under control." 

     "Well, she fought them. Look at her. Her entire body is a bruise," Natasha cooed, and while she had always loved Clint's kids, she felt drawn to the two curled on Steve's lap. "What about him?"

     "This one," Steve gestured with his head, noting the boy was far more timid than his sister. "He isn't half as bruised as she is. It was like she took the beatings for him. The doctor thinks they're twins, but they're calling in a... Pediatrician, they called it. A specialized doctor for them." Natasha chuckled, seeing Steve's face contort in confusion as he recalled what they called the doctor. 

     "That's good. I'm sure the doctors here are the best, but it's probably best to get people in here who are used to treating kids and not adult superheroes. Bruce mentioned getting some blood from them so they can start fluids which they need, and then some blood to check and see if we can find any blood relatives," her heart thudded against her chest at the thought. What was it with these two that made her heart ache and stomach twist? While she felt the ache occasionally with Clint's kids, it was fierce. She'd come to the acceptance years ago that she would never have any of her own. 

     "They'll be okay with Bruce putting in the IV?" Steve spoke up, shifting in his seat and unconsciously drawing the children tighter against him at the thought. His eyes went to where the other medbay doctors milled about doing paperwork, cleaning up, and presumably preparing to put needles into the kid's arms. "I mean... They're so little, and I've seen the needles here." The little girl jerked in his arms, her green eyes sliding sharply to his, any hint of contentment gone from her body as she tensed herself up. 

     "They'll be fine. You'll be fine," she soothed both of them. The little girl was getting ready to fight and bolt. The change in demeanor and she recognized the caged look despite the girl being at most three, and she was going to fight to escape. It amused her that Steve was equally concerned, afraid of hurting them unnecessarily to the point he looked ready to fight. When Bruce entered the room, she gestured to him to pause, and the little girl began to whimper. 

     "It's okay, Princess," Steve cooed, shifting the little girl higher onto his chest, resting his head against hers to soothe her fear. With the quiet boy in his other arm, there was no way to rub her back like he wanted to. Looking down, the boy was frozen, crocodile tears coming from his stormy blue eyes as he faced Bruce but never uttered a word. He never moved to run and just seemed to accept whatever was coming. Steve looked at Natasha feeling helpless. Natasha moved to sit right beside Steve on the little girl's side and took the boy who let her. He was limp but didn't fight the transfer, and when the little girl saw, she made a noise of distress. "He's okay, Princess, see, he's right there. She's just holding him. Okay? She's going to keep him right beside you." His hand went up and rubbed small soothing circles around her back. 

     "See? He's right here. I'm not going to take him anywhere," Natasha cooed to them both, cuddling the boy closer and watching the girl reach out and grab the boy's hand as she sat shoulder to shoulder with Steve. "She protects him. That's sweet." It shattered her to think they had to take roles like that so young, but they had a bond. Silently she gestured for Bruce to come further into the room now that they were more settled. 

    "This is our friend Bruce, and he's going to help make you guys feel all better," Steve spoke, talking them through Bruce's actions in an attempt to keep them calm. It was fine until Bruce put the IV in the boy's arm, and the girl went ballistic. Steve stood up and moved away from Natasha, grunting as she kicked and screamed. "She's strong." He grunted, holding her against his chest, trying to find a safe way to keep the squirming toddler. 

    "I can give her a sedative," Bruce offered, standing up after finishing with the boy but was quickly shot down with a look from both Steve and Natasha. "I was just trying to find an easier solution than holding her." 

     "Clearly, we have to earn her trust, and she's been through enough. Both of them have," Steve told the doctor before leaning to the girl's ear. "He's okay... Look. He's okay. It's helping him, and it's helping you both." He spoke calmly as he rubbed her back, feeling the girl relax and then go limp in his arms as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Steve didn't know if she understood everything was okay or felt she failed the boy. It was an awful feeling to have and to have it so young. When they both drifted off to sleep, they laid them both in the hospital bed, watching them curl up together. The girl tried to wrap herself protectively even though she was significantly smaller. 

      Meanwhile, Tony called for a private meeting, excluding two very specific Avengers. "We have a situation," if Tony Stark said they had a situation, it wouldn't end well. "We found a file on the kids. They're recorded as two years old, and they're simply called Code 3 and 4, which doesn't tell us much... I assume whatever it is they were trying to accomplish had previous before them. It's the parents of these two that are the complication. The only thing we know for certain is that they're Natashas." There was an immediate shock, followed by Clint balking at the news. 

     "Tony, we would know if she had kids. She doesn't have the ability to carry, let alone produce them," Clint was protective of Nat's feelings on the matter. It took a lot of healing to get to that point in her life. 

     "Hey! Bird, I know that," Tony argued before pulling the files on the hologram screen. "She didn't carry them, but this details that they took her eggs before the surgery. They essentially kidnapped her kids and this list... Is the potential fathers'. Recognize anyone?"

     "Steve... How would they-" Bruce stopped, remembering what they were told about Hydra infiltrating SHIELD. There was a lot of violation of bodies going around. "Why aren't they here? They need to know this." 

     "You're doing the DNA test, correct? There's no need to get Capsicles dander up about possibly suddenly being a father without being one hundred percent. Plus, this could be a false lead, but you needed a heads up," Tony told them all, watching as the group shook their head in disbelief. Clint glanced back towards the hall that led to the medbay. 

     "This is a bad idea... Keeping this from them, I mean. They deserve to know how to feel and what they're going to do with the kids," Clint explained, sitting back against the couch and trying to decide how he felt about his best friend being a mother. Something that had always knowingly been out of reach. Something with her DNA being used by HYDRA. "They would have sent the girl to the Red Room eventually... It must be a joint effort now. What happens to the kids after?"

     "I figured you'd take them way Barton. After all, we're not a daycare," Tony said, dismissing the concern, glancing at Clint when the man stood up.  

    "You don't get to decide that! This is the kids we're talking about. Her flesh and blood and possibly Caps, they should get to decide whether or not they want to raise them!" Clint wasn't going to let Tony ship the kids off before his best friend even got to choose how she felt about it.