Fic: Glory Beyond Mere Biology {Part Two}
Part Two
“Trouble sleeping, Cap?” Natasha asked when she noticed the blonde hunched over the kitchen table, hands cupped around a steaming mug.
Steve jumped slightly at the sound of Natasha’s voice; he had not been expecting anyone in the kitchen at such a late hour, which is one of the reasons why he made the choice to leave his room. Since his fight with Tony, Steve had taken to almost avoiding the rest of the Tower’s inhabitants, in case Tony happened to appear. “A little,” he told the assassin with a shrug.
Natasha hummed in replied, as she set about making a cup of tea for herself and another one for Steve. While nobody could or would call the Russian maternal, at least not in the traditional sense, she did have the desire to protect those she considered family and in the last couple of months (since Loki’s attack on Manhattan), Natasha had come to see the Avengers as a part of her family, which already included Clint and Phil. “The baby or Stark?”
“Both.”
“Want to talk about it?” Natasha asked sincerely. She along with the rest of the team were becoming increasingly worried about Steve, especially after the fight between him and Stark. Although they were worried about both men, they left Stark in Pepper’s capable hands, since she had known him the longest and knew the best way to deal with him. As for Steve, the team was at a lost, even before the announcement of his pregnancy; he tended to keep to himself.
“I just don’t understand him,” Steve told her, frowning. “I thought he wanted to be a part of her life and now I find out that he’s only doing it out some unspoken, misguided obligation to Howard. And now he’s avoiding me.”
“Some men can’t handle it; the prospect of having to face a perceived betrayal.” Natasha explained as she handed him a new mug of tea. Taking it with a grateful smile, Steve watched as Natasha folded herself into the chair across from him.
“I didn’t betray him.”
“No, but he probably thinks Howard did.” Natasha pointed out. “They didn’t have the best of relationships.”
“I know, but it just doesn’t make sense.”
Natasha snorted. “Since when has Stark ever made sense?”
Steve released a small laugh before letting silence fall again. It wasn’t until he was half-way through his tea, that Natasha spoke again. “The doctors say he’s progressing nicely; but he’s still hazy on some parts of his life from before.”
“When can I see him?” Steve asked without needing any clarification as to who the Russian was referring to. Following Bucky’s retrieval, Natasha had made it her mission to help the former Soviet assassin regain his identity; after all, who better understood some of the things he had gone through than her.
“Not yet.” Natasha replied, “The doctors don’t think he’s stable enough. Right now, they’re focused on helping him ‘make sense’ of all that happened after his fall. His system is already dealing with the realization of being 70 years out of time, so they aren’t certain what it would do to him... finding out his best friend is alive and well and looking almost exactly the same.”
“Yeah.”
“Give it some time, Cap. It’s only been three weeks and S.H.I.E.L.D wants to make sure he won’t be a threat to you or the baby.”
“I understand,” Steve told her. “What do you talk about?”
“Mainly how much the cold sucked,” Natasha smirked. “And the Soviets. Can I ask you something? What was he like before?”
“The life of the party; but nothing like Tony,” Steve began. “The first time I meet Bucky was when I was getting my face bashed in by the neighborhood bullies. My mom had just died and I was living in the care of the Sisters at the Roman Catholic Orphan Society. Even though he was a couple years younger than me, he sort of became my unofficial protector and my best friend.”
“You’ve missed him.”
“Yeah,” Steve agreed softly.
“Give him time, he’ll remember soon enough.” Natasha said trying to reassure her friend.
Steve looked at her, giving her a shy smile as she calmly sipped the cooling tea.
“It’s time for bed, Cap.” Natasha told him, using her ‘listen-to-me-or-I’ll-break-your-kneecaps’ voice, which was usually reserved for Clint when Phil wasn’t immediately available to handle the archer. “No offense, but you look like shit.”
“Thanks, Natasha.” Steve said as the Russian left the kitchen, taking her mug of tea with her. Once she was gone, Steve stretched in his chair before pushing it away from the table and climbing to his feet. Although Natasha didn’t have any further insight on his situation with Tony, she did give him something to think about. If Tony didn’t want to see him, then he would leave. There was no reason for Tony to have to hide in his own home, especially when Steve had a perfectly good apartment in Brooklyn waiting for him.
***
“How are you feeling, Captain Rogers?” A petite brunette woman in her thirties asked as she walked into the small S.H.I.E.L.D medical examination room. “Anything unusual since we last saw each other?” She continued, tucking a strand of her shoulder length hair behind her ear.
Steve followed the green eyed doctor’s movements with his eyes. He had liked her from almost the moment he had met her; Steve couldn’t decide if it was her kind eyes or the infectious grin that made him trust her. “Other than my hips hurting; then no, Doctor Young?” Steve said with a shrug. “And please call me Steve.”
“All right Steve. In that case, you can call me Molly.” She countered, beaming broadly before her face twisted into one of concern. “Hurts how, exactly.”
“It’s a pressure; but it’s not like back pain. It feels like something is sitting on my hips.” Steve explained as he shifting slightly on the less than comfortable exam table.
“Well there is,” Molly said good-naturally. “Sorry, but in all seriousness, lay back so I can poke and prod you a bit.”
Steve grinned and complied, leaning back on the hard table and exposing his stomach to the doctor’s gaze. As Molly trailed her fingers along his swollen stomach, lightly pressing against the skin around his hips and flank; a small frown appeared on her lips as soon as she noticed the grimace flash across Steve’s face. Pressing her fingers against the spot again, she focused her attention on the area immediately surrounding it. “I have an idea about what it is; I’ll be back in a minute.”
“It’s nothing serious, is it?” Steve asked concern evident in his voice as he struggled to sit up.
Molly went for a reassuring smile and said, “Everything’s fine, Steve,” as she patted his knee. While she had a great a bedside manner, much better than some of the doctor’s Steve had seen in his childhood, Molly Young knew that there wasn’t anything she could do to calm the nerves of the anxious father-to-be. In her opinion, it was almost as though Steve was waiting for her to say, ‘this isn’t a viable pregnancy,’ which Molly had no intention of saying. Come hell or high water, this baby would be delivered happy, healthy, and into the waiting arms of his or her father.
Closing the door softly behind her, Molly directed a nearby nurse to bring her the portal x-ray machine. Once the nurse left to bring the needed equipment, Molly pulled up the digital copy of Steve’s S.S.R. medical record, taking a quick glance through the various x-ray films that had been taken during Project: Rebirth.
“Here you are, Doctor Young.” The redheaded nurse said, giving the machine’s handle a quick tap before going back to her desk.
Molly gave a short ‘thank you’ then wheeled the machine back to the exam room.
“I want to do an x-ray to confirm my suspicions.” Molly told him, after shutting the door behind her. As she moved the machine into position, so the crane like neck was above Steve, she continued talking. “But I think your hips aren’t shifting like they should.”
“Shifting how?”
“With a woman becomes pregnant, her body begins to release an excess of a hormone called Relaxin. Like the name hints, the theory is that it assists in relaxing your joints, arteries, and intrauterine ligaments during pregnancy, so the baby has room to grow.” She explained as she laid an x-ray apron across his chest, making sure Steve’s stomach was fully covered.
“This isn’t going to hurt the baby is it?” Steve tentatively asked, “I’ve been reading the horror stories about women having miscarriages doing even some of the simplest things... like running. And I’ve been wondering why I didn’t have a miscarriage; I mean I got hit in the stomach during Loki’s attack.”
“I can only assume that it’s the super-soldier serum protecting her. As you know, it enhances your human abilities, such as healing and durability to physical attacks; I suspect that the serum is protecting her as well since right now she is a part of you.”
“Okay,” Steve replied, breathing out a sigh of relief. Ever since he had found out about his pregnancy, he had been worried about accidentally causing a miscarriage. “Thanks.”
“Happy to help,” Molly told the man before stepping back from him and powering up the machine, aiming it at his hips. A few seconds later, the image appeared on the machine, showing her a clear view of Steve’s hips at 28 weeks pregnant. With a few clicks, Molly had the new digital images sent to her tablet so she could compare them with the ones taken a few weeks after the serum had been administered. Pulling the cart away from Steve, Molly pushed it into a corner of the room, so it was out of the way then crossed back to Steve, removing the apron from his chest.
“Need a hand up,” Molly asked with a ghost of a smile as she offered her hand. Steve looked between her face and her hand before ultimately deciding to accept her offer in helping him sit up; the lack of unobstructed movement was quickly becoming one pre-pregnancy aspect he was sorely missing.
Holding the tablet in front of Steve’s face, Molly quickly explained what he was looking at. “The right image shows the positioning of your hips now while the left is the one we took after you woke up.” She clicked a couple of buttons on the program, superimposing one image on top of the other, before continuing with her explanation, “and as you can see, there isn’t any major difference. The computer is calculating a width difference of maybe 2 to 3 millimeters, which isn’t a lot, so as the baby gets bigger, it won’t have as much room to move. It’s going to get very uncomfortable for you, the closer we get to your due date.”
“Is there anything that we can do?” Steve questioned, slightly panicked by what Molly was saying. Taking a deep breath, Steve tried to calm his raging heart; he was prepared for war and for bloodshed, but nothing could prepare him for the thought of losing his unborn child.
“Normally I’d prescribe a hormone replacement but in this case, it wouldn’t have any effect.” Molly replied, double checking the hormone readout from his last round of blood tests. Although his levels weren’t too disconcerting, Molly knew that she was going to have to change his routine until the delivery date.
“Why not?”
“Because your body already produces it…” Steve tilted his head slightly and gave her a look of confusion, but stayed quiet, waiting for her to explain further. “It’s found in semen and is believed to help with a sperm’s mobility. So if I were to prescribe it to you, the hormone would not have the effect on your body we were hoping to achieve. Does that make sense?”
Steve nodded his head, “Yeah.”
“Good.” Clapping her hands together, Molly said, “So instead, I’m going to prescribe, a modified bed rest until your scheduled c-section, which should hopefully help ease some of pressure on your hips.”
“What does that mean?” Steve asked, a mixture of interest and concern showing clear on his face.
“You will be allowed to shower; go to the restroom; move between the couch and bed; and make yourself quick and easy meals... sandwiches and the like. Since you’ve moved out of Stark Tower, I’d recommend that you find a local place that delivers and remember to stick to healthy foods.” She waited for him to nod his head before continuing, “Now that we’ve got that out of way; let’s get down to business with blood pressure, blood draws, and listening to your baby’s heartbeat.”
“Okay,” Steve agreed as he held out his right arm to Molly, who quickly wrapped the black blood pressure cuff around his bicep. She hummed low in her throat as she read the readout before writing it on his chart.
After taking the cuff off, she crossed the room and grabbed the supplies needed for a blood draw. With a smirk on her face, she glanced at Steve before getting to work. “I’m not a vampire, promise.”
“Are you sure about that?” Steve said, smiling at their inside joke, which all started after a nurse had started gushing about the newest Twilight movie and Steve had asked for clarification. What followed was a long winded rant about why the whole book series was a mess of over dramatic angst and lent credence to the school of possessiveness and stalker behavior being romantic. Unfortunately for Steve, his curiosity had been perked and he just couldn’t let it go, which then lead to him being caught reading the first book by Clint and Natasha. Let’s just say, Steve discovered some rather fascinating aspects of their combined imaginations; some of it was still giving him nightmares.
“Promise!” Molly giggled before quickly sobering. “Actually, I have a confession to make... I’m a werewolf. Tragic, I know. Waxing during the full moon is a bitch.” Steve chuckled at her remark, watching her movements as she finished up. “All right if you’ll lean back again, we’ll listen to her heartbeat.”
Steve blinked around the tears in his eyes as the room filled with the steady sounds of his baby’s heartbeat. While the sound was a comforting presence to him, it still couldn’t make up for the loss of Howard being here to meet this child. However if he allowed himself to wonder about the what-ifs, a fear developed that Howard would have been the same kind of father to this child as he had been to Tony. And since it is as they say, ‘hindsight is 20/20’ Steve began to question if he would have made a different choice when it came to having this baby.
After removing the fetal monitor, Molly helped Steve sit up. “As your doctor, I have to stress the importance of having a birthing partner or in your case a c-section partner. It’s nice to have someone you trust to hold your hand during it.” The pair fell silent for a few moments, neither one willing to continue with that particular subject. It another thing that was one thing Steve liked about Doctor Molly Young, she had never asked or pried into the identity of the child’s other father. After giving Steve one final pat on the knee, her own brand of comfort, she said, “Any questions or concerns, even if it’s just the sniffles, call me.” Steve nodded his head and waited until she left the room before pulling his clothes back to rights and leaving. There was a lot he needed to think about and plan for now.
***
“If I didn’t know you were pregnant, I’d say you got fat,” Bucky said by way of greeting, once Steve opened the door. The blonde stared in shock at the sight of his friend, who looked almost exactly the same as he did the last time Steve had seen him, save for the metal arm sticking out of his jacket sleeve.
“Bucky,” Steve whispered, shocked by the sight of his best friend. He had only managed a few words with Natasha since leaving the tower, and Bucky’s progress hadn’t been the topic of those short discussions. “How?”
“Hey, buddy.” The ex-assassin replied laughter bubbling in his throat as Steve pulled him into the apartment with a hug. Bucky returned the hug, squeezing Steve as hard as he dared, while still being mindful of the precious twenty extra pounds his friend was carrying. “Agent Romanov sprung me for the day.”
Steve did a quick glance behind his friend; but didn’t see the redhead anywhere in the hallway. “Where is she?”
“Waiting in the car; she thought you might be in need of a friend.” Bucky explained while he pulled off his coat before leaving it on a nearby chair. As his friend got comfortable, Steve’s eyes wandered across his body, noticing the dark wash of his blue jeans and the dark blue long sleeved henley he wore. Although the henley did little to cover up the bulk and odd shape of his bionic arm, it did hide the arm’s metal plates from view.
“How long can you stay?”
“As long as you need, Steve.” Bucky replied, beaming at his friend. “You’re supposed to call her on your cell...phone, when I’m ready to go.” He repeated, rolling the unfamiliar word around on his tongue. According to the service records, Bucky had been in use by the Soviets until the fall of the Berlin Wall in the early 90s; therefore, it was pure luck that the stasis chamber was still fully optional when Natasha and Clint found him.
Steve breathed a sigh of relief as Bucky settled next to him on the couch. Yet his relief didn’t last long, no sooner than Bucky was seated, the brunet’s mouth opened, uttering the few words that Steve had been wanting to say and dreading at the same time. “So Stark?”
“I had just lost you, Bucky, and it was one time.” Steve explained, involuntarily licking his lips... a little out of nervousness and a little to give his brain time to find the words he wanted to say. “I guess the nuns at the orphanage weren’t lying.”
“Guess not,” Bucky said with a laugh; however, his happiness quickly disappeared as he turned to more sobering thoughts. “What’s this about Howard’s son, Tony? Tasha wasn’t big on the details.”
“I thought we were becoming friends. Hell, I thought he wanted to be involved in his sister’s life, but he’s only doing it out of some misplaced loyalty to Howard.” Steve recounted, hurt and angered by the genius’s actions. While Steve had never expected more than friendship from Tony, especially after the announcement of his impending bundle of joy, he had blindly believed that Tony wanted to be a part of his sibling’s life. It would seem he had been wrong about that.
Wrapping his hand around Steve’s wrist and squeezing, Bucky turned to Steve and said, “I’m sorry, buddy.”
Steve gave a half-hearted shrugged before rounding the couch and collapsing into the vacant seat next to Bucky. “There’s nothing you can do, so tell me about S.H.I.E.L.D.”
“What’s to tell: I wake up; eat breakfast; spend a couple of hours with a psychiatrist getting my head shrunk; then I eat lunch before Agent Romanov drags me off to the gym and tries her own version of recalibration on my head.”
“You should talk to Clint about that.” Steve quipped, smiling. There was an awkwardness between them, but Steve knew it would pass. They weren’t the same men they had been all those years ago; plus, there was the stress of existing in a time, where they would have either been dead or very old men.
“That’s the archer, right?”
“Yeah.”
Twisting his body, Bucky turned into Steve, resting a knee on the cushion between them. “So what’s the deal between them?” He asked earnestly; the tone in his voice threw Steve for a moment; very rarely had Bucky ever cared about the relationship status of a woman he wanted. In his opinion, if the sufficient other wasn’t man enough to keep his girl, then it was his problem not Bucky’s.
“Why, you interested...?” Steve teased, trying to keep the conversation as light as it was ever going to be.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m handsome, she’s a gorgeous dame. I think we’d make beautiful children together.” Bucky replied with a hint of mischief in his voice; though his leer, a few seconds later, gave him away. While Bucky might make everything seem like a joke, given the length of their friendship, Steve had learned all of Bucky’s tells and could read him like an open book.
Steve laughed, “I don’t recall you having children in mind while you were with all those other dames.”
“People change, Steve.” Bucky remarked drily. “What’s the deal between Clint and Natasha?”
“They’re just friends. Clint was sent to kill her; but made a different call and brought her in.” Steve told the other man. “Anyway, Clint’s married to Agent Coulson.”
“How times have changed?” Bucky whistled, remembering a time when being a homosexual meant living in fear of being who you were.
“Yeah,” Steve agreed, pausing a moment before deciding that their mood had gone from being happy to almost out and out depressing in a matter of minutes. “Want to watch a movie?”
“Sure, what do you have in mind?” Bucky asked, glancing around the small apartment, taking note of everything. The space was different yet familiar at the same time; almost as though S.H.I.E.L.D made an attempt at mixing the old with the new, so the WWII veteran wouldn’t feel as out of place in his new home.
“Depends? New for us or new for them?”
“Good question. Let’s go for new for us.” Bucky replied as he grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table. S.H.I.E.L.D had seen fit to give Bucky a crash course in modern technology, so the former Soviet assassin was better equipped to deal with his surroundings when it came time for his release.
“All right,” Steve agreed before asking, “Want something to drink?”
“Sure.”
With an almost innocent expression on his face, which he had witnessed time and time again from both Clint and Phil, Steve countered with, “Mind getting me a glass of milk while you’re up.”
“Funny.” Bucky remarked good naturally with a roll of his eyes. “Good thing I like you.” He continued as he rose to his feet to do his friend’s bidding.
While his friend was gone, Steve readied the movie, selecting it from the list of available classics on Netflix. The new smart TV had been a gift from Pepper, an apology for her role in the events, which led to him leaving the tower. After finding out that her phone call to Tony had caused a fight between the pair and Steve to leave the tower, she had tried to apologize for Tony and the company. However, Steve had rebuffed the apology because he wanted an explanation from Tony and not Pepper, so Pepper sent the TV and focused her attention on getting Tony to be a human being for once.
Pausing the film on the black and white image of the Warner Bros logo, Steve waited for Bucky to return with their drinks. “What did you pick?” Bucky asked as he handed over Steve’s milk before setting back down in his original seat.
“Arsenic and Old Lace, with Priscilla Lane and Cary Grant.” Steve replied, barely managing to keep the smirk off his face; but the humor in his voice was another matter entirely. After pressing play on the remote, Steve rested his hands on his stomach, enjoying the feel as his daughter spun and moved within. Though the feeling had been a little strange at first, it quickly became something to look forward to as his days within this small apartment began to feel endless.
Bucky narrowed his eyes and mumbled a quick, “shut up,” as the movie began to play.
“What? I didn’t say anything.” Steve joked.
“Your look and your movie choice speaks volumes, Steve.” Bucky responded as he pointed an accusing finger. “At least I didn’t have a crush on Jimmy Stewart.”
“Shut up.” Steve grumbled, causing Bucky to break out into laughter. The brunet’s laughter was infectious and soon Steve was laughing as well. They were so caught up in their laughter, the pair managed to miss the opening moments of the movie, meaning Steve had to begin the movie again. Though neither really cared, it was good being together again; it almost felt like home.