Pepper was in bed when Tony entered their tiny quarters, but she wasn't asleep. She motioned for him to join her. Tony climbed in beside her and pulled her in close to him. He was so glad she came with the team, so he didn't have to wait any longer to hold her in his arms.

"I have a confession to make," Pepper said softly, "and I need you to hear it from me, not Happy."

"What? Did you run Stark Enterprises into the ground while I was out of the galaxy?"

"No, well, maybe a little," she said. "Let's just say the bottom line isn't looking very promising after all the aid I've approved since the Snap. A lot of it went to Sokovia."

"Good, thank you. I don't care what it cost the company. We'd be financially set if the company never made another dime. People need help. I'd have done the same thing," he said.

Pepper sucked in a deep breath. "I know, but that isn't what I was going to tell you. You're probably not going to like what I've done. Happy probably has an APB out for me by now."

"Again with the bringing up Happy in bed," Tony teased. "Unless you're trying to tell me you're leaving me for my head of security, please don't bring him up again."

Pepper laughed. "That is most definitely not going to happen."

"Good then lay it on me. What'd you do?"

"I didn't tell Happy where I was going."

"I'm sure he's worried, but he'll understand. He probably would have came with you to get me."

"He probably would have come to get you but insisted I stay behind," Pepper paused. "I'm pregnant, Tony. We're having a baby."

Tony froze. "Did you just say-"

"I did. I know it was irresponsible to go hurtling through space with our child-"

"Not something I would have expected you to do," he admitted.

"But I needed to be here with you."

Tony kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're here with me. We're having a baby, Pepper. I'm not mad. I want this with you."

"You don't think I'm a bad parent."

"You're going to be a great mom. No more space travel until the rugrat is born but I understand why you needed to be here. I do have one thing I need you to do for me though."

"What's that?"

"Set a date. I want our kid to be born after the wedding. Otherwise, the honeymoon isn't going to feel much like a honeymoon, not with Morgan demanding I share his mother with him."

"It could be a girl, you know."

"That's fine. Morgan works either way."

"I'm really not sold on the name Morgan, Tony."

"We can negotiate names later. I'm just thrilled you're here with me, and we're going to have this baby."

Steve woke up in an empty bed the next morning. Memories from the night before flooded his mind. Why wasn't Natasha in his arms? Had they moved to fast? Was she having second thoughts?

He quickly dressed and went looking for the woman he loved. She was sitting in the cockpit, her eyes never left the controls. "I wondered when you were going to show up."

Steve was perplexed. "I woke up and you were gone."

Natasha turned her head slightly and frowned. "And, you thought I left because of last night?"

Steve nodded. "Is this the part where we have the awkward morning after talk?" he asked.

"Is that what this is? An awkward morning after?"

"I didn't think so until you weren't there when I woke up. If we moved too fast-"

"Too fast? Snails move faster than we have, Steve. It was time for me to relieve Rhodey. You were sleeping, peacefully for a change. I didn't want to wake you."

"I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I'm not very good at these things. Not much past experience to draw on when it comes to real relationships," Steve said.

"Pretty sure that could be said for both of us," Natasha said, motioning for him to sit beside her. "The timing could have been better, but I know how I feel about you, Steve. It's scary, because I've never been this emotionally invested before. What we have, even before last night, is more real than anything I've ever experienced. I'm all in."

"Me too. I can live without a lot of things, but I don't think I could live without you. I want us."

"Then I guess there's no reason why we can't both get what we want for a change, but we can't let our relationship affect the mission. We have a job to do."

"And, we'll do it together, all of us. Tony and I talked things through. We are going to put our differences aside and defeat Thanos, whatever it takes."

"Good, we do whatever it takes then worry about everything else."

"I sure hope you're not suggesting we table us until this is over," Steve said

"Pretty sure there's no putting the cork back in this bottle, and I don't want to waste any more time," Natasha said. "I do have one complaint though."

Steve frowned. "What is it?"

"You showed up without coffee, and no breakfast? Is that any way to treat a lady?"

"I think I can fix that," Steve smiled and kissed Natasha before going to get them something to eat.

He found Tony eating his own breakfast in the galley. He was alone, and Steve nodded his direction before starting a fresh pot of coffee and pulling our a few bagels.

"I guess you had that talk with Widow last night," Tony said, taking a sip of his juice.

"We talked. She feels the same way."

"That much I figured out. Thin walls," Tony smirked. "Limits some of the nicknames I had for you. I can't call you Captain Virgin anymore."

"You could never call me that," Steve said. He didn't mind the direction the conversation was going as much as he once might have, because, at least, they were talking. He did make a mental note to warn Natasha about the thin walls.

"All kidding aside, I'm glad you have each other. Not everyone's as lucky as us."

"No, things are bad back home, Tony. Clint's in the wind. He lost his entire family. Lots of people lost the ones closest to them. We have a lot of challenges ahead of us."

"We'll face them together," Tony said. "We'll fix this or die trying. I have to tell you, I'd really prefer not to die trying this time. Pepper's pregnant."

"She's pregnant? We brought a pregnant woman on a potentially dangerous mission? Tony, I swear I didn't know."

"I believe you. She didn't want you to know. She said she had to come. I hate it, but I get it," Tony said.

"I've missed you, Tony. I carried that phone around, hoping you'd call. When I thought you were gone and we'd never get a chance to make peace, it nearly killed me. You might not believe me, but I think I mourned more for you than even Bucky. You are family. I'm sorry things went so sideways. I'll help you keep Pepper and the baby safe, whatever it takes."

"I believe you," Tony said, looking him in the eye. "I never left my phone at home either. I'm glad you came after me. We'll be okay. Some people have lost everything thanks to our stubbornness, but not us. We have the women we love. We're luckier than most."

"We are," Steve agreed. "Some people would be smart enough to quit and just live out their lives with the ones they had left, too, but that's not us either."

"But, not us," Tony said, standing to shake Steve's hand. "We stand together and fight."

And, I'm ending this here. The sequel is coming and will pick up after Endgame. It is call "Whatever it Takes", and it's pretty angsty already. Probably another weekly update story because of my scedule.