When Natasha realized that she wouldn't get Tony to talk because he was busy imagining his married life with Pepper, she decided to look for Bruce. Which wasn't too hard, because he was just moving between the lab and their room. And Nat knew that if she wasn't home, Bruce would hide in the workshop. That's why she went there right away.
And he was really there. He was so busy with work that he did not notice her presence and she could watch him in silence. And as she watched him, her thoughts went back to Pepper and the news she'd found out today. She and Bruce would never have children, after all, they had clarified that before he disappeared. But that didn't mean they couldn't be Aunt Nat and Uncle Bruce. And now it will be even better because they will know the little ones from birth. They will take Peter and his new sibling with them so that Pepper and Tony can spend some time alone. Deep down in her soul, she hoped it would be a little girl, and they would name her after her when it didn't work out with Nathaniel.
Natasha shook her head at her thoughts. If Fury had told her years ago that she would have a family because of watching Tony Stark, she would have laughed at him. Even now, it seemed like a beautiful dream from which she would have to wake up to reality. To the reality in which she was a trained killer.
"Can you keep a secret, Bruce?" she said suddenly. It was a bit of a useless question because she knew him and she always knew that he would reveal everything, but she needed to confide in someone, and someone else was currently out of the question.
Bruce winced and dropped a stack of papers on the floor. "If I turn into a Hulk because of this one day, you take full responsibility for it," he muttered, moving his glasses closer to the root of his nose before bending to the ground so he could collect his notes.
"I have Hulk under control," she reminded him, walking over to help him.
"Tony probably wouldn't be too happy anyway," he said, and as she picked up the last lying papers she'd handed him, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
"So, can you keep a secret?" she asked again as they sat down at one of the desks.
"You know it's very unlikely," he laughed nervously. He was always nervous around her. For some reason, he couldn't get rid of it. She was so beautiful and smart and funny! And she chose him. He was afraid he would say or do something stupid one day and she would realize that she could have someone better. Someone less like him and more like Steve.
"Then you will have to try really hard because I have to share it with someone. I was having dinner with Pepper today and she said- Are you ready?"
"Any chance I could back off?"
"Pepper is pregnant! And now you can't get out of it," she said with a happy smile as his jaw dropped slowly to the ground.
"She is pregnant? But I thought - Wait, it's Tony's, isn't it?" he asked for reassurance, which, as he recognized from her expression, was a very bad reaction. Her smile faded and she gave him a very terrifying look.
"Someone tries to suggest that Pepper has another guy one more time, and you'll be looking forward to ME explaining to you for once and all that she doesn't have another guy," she said in an icy voice.
Bruce swallowed hard. Such, in short, was life with Nat. "I didn't suggest anything, I just wanted to make sure," he muttered under his nose, fearing to say something out loud at the moment.
"So to be clear, Pepper is expecting Tony's baby. Better?" she asked sweetly, and Bruce nodded slowly.
"And Tony knows it?"
"No, I'm the very first person to know about it. You are second now and you have to promise me that you will do everything you can to keep it to yourself," she said firmly.
Bruce chuckled. "Then call Thor to take me back to Sakaar."
"I can't believe I'll be a five-time aunt! And you will be your uncle for the second time. Isn't it even more exciting than saving the world?" she exclaimed happily.
Bruce watched her with a smile. He liked this side of Natasha. He would like to see her so happy all the time. "It really is," he agreed.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Peter was returning from outside. He barely crawled through the window and descended from the ceiling when he heard the distant voices of Natasha and Bruce. At first, he thought he couldn't hear right, but then when Natasha told Bruce he would be an uncle for the second time, his stomach swayed uncomfortably and his heart tightened anxiously. He heard well.
Pepper was pregnant. They will have another child. What did that mean? This new information made an even bigger mess in his head than he had there so far. He knew in his heart that Pepper wasn't like that, but he had to take from what he saw with his own eyes, so he couldn't help wondering if it was Tony's child at all.
Peter was sitting on the floor in the middle of his room, still wearing his suit, tears streaming down his cheeks. Except that Nat came back with Bruce, everything was wrong. The only thing, what he really wanted now, was for him to sit on the couch, wrapped in a shaggy blanket, in the arms of both his parents and in his hand a mug of delicious hot chocolate with a mountain of marshmallows. Just like when he was a little boy.
But he was no longer a little kid. Mom was gone, and he had no idea if she was still his mom. She left him, as did Mary. Maybe in the end they should have been left alone with Tony. Just dad and son. He was the only one he was sure about in his life. His dad will never leave him.
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The Devil With The Face of an Angel | Irondad, pepperony
FanfictionThe devil comes in many forms. Some just aren't as obvious as others. Tony Stark thought he'd met a few in his life. Obadiah Stane, Ivan Vanko, Aldrich Killian, and others. But he was so wrong. The real Devil he met was the one with the face of an a...