Always Be Safe (Steve Rogers x Pregnant Avenger)
Summary: After a dangerous mission ends in failure, you and the rest of the team just narrowly escape before being killed. On the way back to the compound, reality hits you and are forced to tell Steve that you have been keeping a very important secret from him.
Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female!Reader
Warnings: Brief mentions of death, angst, ends with a dash of fluff.
A/N: Easing back into writing after a couple of weeks of being gone!
Your stomach was turning. The bile was quickly climbing its way up your throat.
Shutting your eyes, you pressed your lips together into a tight, thin line hoping that you could keep it down.
It was taking every ounce of strength you had left inside you not to be violently sick.
“Are you alright?” Wanda’s worried voice came from beside you. “You’re pale.”
“Fine,” You managed to squeak out in reply before sinking down into your seat.
Of course you weren’t fine. Neither she, nor was anyone else sitting in the ship.
Not after what you had all just witnessed on your latest mission.
An entire city had been destroyed.
It had been obliterated to absolutely nothing.
Hundreds of people were dead. And you, along with everyone else who was on board would have been dead too, had it not been for Clint, who had flown the ship in to rescue you just mere moments before being blown to smithereens. It’s not like this was the first time that you’ve had a brush with death—you had been part of The Avengers for a long time now and you’ve had a decent number of dangerous missions go south before. But this time things were different. After getting back positive results for a pregnancy test from the medical facilities back at the compound a couple of weeks ago, you had fallen into some kind of stage of complete denial. For several days since then, you carried on with your normal duties as if nothing had changed. You didn’t have to think twice about joining the team on the latest mission, even though you knew that where you were going had been labeled as a complete war zone.
“You need to tell him,” Wander murmured quietly, causing your head to snap in her direction, your eyes wide.
She knew. Of course she knew, how could she not?
She fucking knew everything.
“Wanda,” You said her name, your voice strained. “Please. Don’t tell anyone—especially, not Steve.”
“It’s not something you can keep a secret forever,” she reminded you, logically. “And besides that, he deserves to know. He has a right to know that he is going to be a father.”
Subconsciously, you lifted a hand and lightly placed it over your stomach. You closed your eyes and leaned forward into your seat, bracing yourself to place your head down between your knees in case another wave of sickness came over you.
That’s when it slowly dawned on you that you simply couldn’t do this anymore.
You couldn’t put your life at risk, not when you were carrying another life, one far more precious, inside of you.
And yet, this was your duty. This is all you had known for years.
How could you give up being an Avenger?
Slightly startled, you opened your eyes.
You hadn’t even noticed when Steve had taken Wanda’s spot next to you.
“You don’t look so good,” he stated, observing you with a concerned gaze.
You quickly let your hand drop away from your stomach. “I’m fine, Cap.”
Steve shot you a knowing look. “It’s okay. You don’t have to lie to me.”
He moved closer to you and reached up, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear.
“I saw the look on your face,” he said, lowering his voice. “When shit hit the fan back there. This was a hard loss for us, I know.”
“Steve.” You spoke weakly, feeling yet another wave of nausea coming over you.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to put on a brave face for anyone,” he assured you, gently. “At least not for me.”
A tear slid down your cheek—it was quickly followed by another and another.
“Steve?” You whispered. “There’s—there’s something that I have to tell you.”
Steve quickly took your hand in his. “What is it, my love? What’s the matter?”
You tried to speak, but the fear instantly overwhelmed you.
“You can tell me,” Steve encouraged, squeezing your hand. “What is it?”
Dropping your gaze away from his, you let out a small, hesitant sigh.
“Do you remember when I went to the medical facility two weeks ago?”
He nodded. “Of course I do. I’m the one who made you go in the first place. You were ill, and could hardly get out of bed for days.” His grip on your hand tightened and a worried expression flashed across his face. “Why? Is something wrong? Are you sick?”
“No. I’m not sick, Steve. I’m pregnant.”
Steve’s blue eyes went wide with pure, utter shock as he hissed, “What?”
“The physician ran a number of tests, including a pregnancy test. It came back positive.”
He let go of your hand and looked away from you, letting your words sink in.
Your throat and mouth went dry. “Steve, please say something.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Steve cut you off sharply. “You didn’t know how?”
You blinked furiously in a futile attempt to hold back more tears. “Steve, I don’t blame you for being angry. I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you. I wanted to tell you right away, and I see now that I should have.”
He fell completely silent once again, his eyes fixed on the floor of the ship.
“I would have never let you come if I had known,” he murmured.
“I wasn’t going to let you come on this mission without me—”
“You put your life at risk!” He shouted, jumping up to his feet. “You put the baby, our baby, at risk! How could you do something so foolish, so selfish? What were you thinking?”
Your face grew incredibly hot as everyone glanced your way in shock—except for Wanda, of course.
“You’re pregnant?” Natasha gasped, lifting her hands to her mouth.
“Oh shit!” Sam exclaimed.
“Really, Rogers, you knocked her up?” Tony’s irritated voice followed. He’d be down an Avenger for months. “How many times do I have to tell you to wrap it before you tap it—”
“Guys!” Wanda fiercely glared at everyone into turning back into their seats and minding their own business.
No longer able to keep your composure, you dropped your face into your hands and started sobbing quietly into them.
Steve dropped to his knees in front of you, his expression softening. He gently took your wrists and pulled your hands away from your face. “Hey. Look at me. I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you like that. I’m sorry.”
“What are we going to do, Steve?” You whispered, feeling your heart ache at the image of the children that you had seen on your mission. “We can’t bring a baby into this world.”
“What are you talking about?” He shook his head incredulously. “Of course we can.”
“How can you say that when we both know how awful and ugly this world can be?” You shook your head.
“But we both also know how beautiful this world can be too. I know we just had a rough mission, but don’t let one of our failures cloud your judgement—”
“Think about the risks,” You whispered. “With this baby having not one, but two Avengers as parents! It’s life could possibly be put in danger from the moment it’s born.”
“It won’t be easy, but this baby…” He paused and the corners of his lips turned upwards into a small smile. “This baby will never be in harm’s way, my love. This baby has you and me to protect him or her, to stand in any fight for him or her.”
“Do you really think that we can do this, Cap? You think we can keep our baby safe?”
Steve lifted himself up to give you a soft, tender kiss.
“Yes, I do. This baby will always be safe, no matter what. I will make sure of it,” he promised you.
