NEW YORK CITY.

It should have been a lazy morning. It was her day off, which meant she could sleep in, watch nonsense on TV and do nothing. Clint was away bothering his wife for once; she had no SHIELD assignments and no paperwork to fill out. She was free.

Or so she thought.

Nick Fury had requested her immediately. So she walked out of her apartment and jumped on her slick, black Corvette. The drive to The Avengers facility wasn't far, but it was rush hour and she was getting tired by the second as she waited for the lines of cars to move.

Needless to say, Fury was less than impressed by her tardiness.

"You are late"

"You didn't told the rest of the New York population I had to be here fast" Natasha Romanoff retorted, sitting across from him and eyeing Steve Rogers as he sat next to her. She found it odd, since they rarely worked on solo assignments anymore, but decided to let Fury explain.

"As you are aware, Rogers and Stark were sent on a mission to Russia. HYDRA had a genetic lab down there that was successfully shut down" Fury stated, walking around his desk and touching it, which caused the room to go slightly dark as digital blinds obscured the office… "But there was a little complication it seems…"

She saw Steve squirming in his seat next to her and she was trying not to smirk at it. There was nothing more amusing that Steve Rogers being uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it only added to her curiosity. What was she called in for?

"It turns out, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff weren't the only ones they tampered genetics with. In fact, we found disturbing records that showed they tried, for three years, to create not only adults, but children like them, without success" She grimaced at that, because Fury's voice told her those children didn't have a happy ending and she might have been the Black Widow, but she was still sensitive with children. "But they tried again this year, and apparently they succeeded. And by that I mean, the child has yet to show any sign of what they had done to it. Stark and Cho are already working on figuring everything out"

"Okay, that's great but would you please get to the point? I do wish to spend my day off relaxing before jumping into Avenger mode again"

"I'm afraid neither you nor Rogers will be tending to Avengers missions for a while" Natasha was about to refute but Fury's glare kept her mouth shut. "The child needs someone to care for him, and you both are the only ones I trust to do it. If he's taken away from us and lands back in HYDRA's hands… Just imagine what they could do with a child as young and this one Natasha. Look what they did with you, with Barnes, with the twins… He needs to be guarded and my top agents are in charge. So there is that"

Fury has lost his mind. She was Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow. One of the world's greatest spies. She could destroy someone as easily as Stark with his suit or Rogers with his shield and all she had to do was smile. But she was NOT a babysitter. Let alone to a genetically enhanced child.

"Why don't you have Stark look after it with Pepper? Or Hill? Hell… Carter might be willing to do it. Or Cli-"

"You are doing it and that's it, Romanoff. There is a car waiting on the private parking lot. Maria should be there waiting with the child. The car will drive you to your new makeshift house. It's been set and you have your façade. Go on and make us proud."

She wanted to argue, man didn't she wanted to argue. But she figured it was pointless so she got up and swiftly walked out of the room. She could feel Rogers walking right behind her so she didn't bother hiding her discomfort

"You were oddly quiet, Cap. Don't you see what's wrong with this?" she huffed, getting into the elevator and touching the screen to send it up to the parking lot.

"It is for a good reason. That child is helpless" he reasoned and of course Cap would see it as a sweet sacrifice.

She didn't say anything else, but groaned immediately when they stopped in the parking lot and were greeted by Maria Hill holding a very squirmy, crying child. Steve went to hold him but refrained a second later.

"I might hurt him. Tony was the one that found him and brought him here" He explained, sidestepping Maria and jumping in the car instead. Maria closed her eyes as the child wailed again.

"He's five months old, will be six next week according to Stark. Doesn't have a name except for the code they put on a bracelet. Pepper fed him around two hours ago and you guys have a car seat in there. Here you go" she handed the crying child to Natasha and quickly moved away. If you need anything, call Pepper. Or Fury. Or me as long as it's not to babysit. Good luck"

Natasha frowned as Maria jumped on the elevator and left her alone with the crying- wait. He wasn't crying anymore. In fact, the baby was cuddling to her as she held him. The driver of the car opened the door for her and she jumped in, watching Steve trying to figure out what the car seat was.

"It's a car seat. You have to sit the baby there" she explained "It's supposed to keep the baby safe in case of an accident. Most cars come with it now. Unless it's a sports car"

The baby sighed in her shoulder and she set him on the seat, studying his face for the first time. He was wide awake, staring at her with deep blue eyes and red hair sticking up and she felt her stomach lurch because you had to be extremely cruel to even attempt experimenting on an innocent child like him.

"He seems to like you" Steve commented, and his booming voice caused the child to glance his way. He smiled at Steve before returning his attention to Natasha.

"He likes you too. And he is quite adorable. I can't believe Pepper let him go"

"You are a fool if you think Pepper won't be at that house almost every day"

"I know".

AN: So... hi there! I recently got into the entire MU and i absolutely adore my little team of Super Heroes. Especially Nat and Steve!... Let me know what you think of this little preview! Dont forget to R/R! -OHP