London is gorgeous. It's just as exciting as Steve remembers it but somehow more beautiful. He thinks it has to do with Natasha at his side. 

She's not competing—hasn't even practised for months—but she gets past security when he flashes his badge and his team coach makes an exception "just this once". Even though they were very strict about not allowing her to stay in the Olympic village with him, they're able to slip through the rules in the actual gym.

Neither of them mentions it, but the presence of the Russian team unsettles them both. Fortunately, they don't bump into them until after the qualifiers which means they have a handful of days to prepare for it.

There's no way Steve could have prepared for the moment he meets Ivan, though.

"—you lose to some dirty drugs and turn to fucking Americans—"

Steve has never heard Ivan speak anything but Russian yet somehow, the language doesn't sound the same when it's not being spoken by Natasha.

The hallway is far from empty, but no one intervenes as Ivan shouts insults and profanities loud enough that Steve hears them from the locker room and comes running.

In theory, Steve knows that Natasha can handle herself. He's seen her drink more alcohol than Bucky and he's watched her deck a man so hard he passed out in the street. She should have taken care of Ivan before he'd even opened his mouth. There's just something about the man, however, that seems to cripple her because she isn't moving away from him. She simply stands there and takes what he has to say even though there are tears in her eyes.

Steve wants to say that he let her handle it. He wants to be able to tell his teammates that he walked out of the locker room just in time to see Natasha punch her ex-coach so hard that he dents the wall. She doesn't, though, and he can't.

Instead, he walks out of the locker room just in time to see Ivan raise his fist. Natasha—thank every deity above—moves before he can hit her, but the action still sends Steve surging forward.

"Steve, no!"

She grabs him before he puts Ivan through a wall which is fortunate because later Steve learns that he would have been disqualified if she hadn't.

"Your pretty American boy should know," Ivan hisses at her. He glares at Steve but Steve doesn't waver. "Tell him your sins or I'll add to the list."

"Do not speak to her."

A ripple of pride courses through him at the complete shock on Ivan's face. Clearly, he had not expected Steve to understand or speak Russian. The moment is short-lived, however.

"She has told you then?" Ivan taunts, his greedy eyes landing on Natasha who's still holding Steve's arm. "About the drugs and the late nights and the many, many sins she has committed in the name of Mother Russia—"

"You are not welcome here," Steve interrupts. Behind him, Natasha inhales sharply and he wonders if anyone has ever dared to interrupt Ivan before him. "Leave her alone."

Before Ivan responds or Steve loses his patience, he turns and walks away. Natasha sticks to his side, but she doesn't utter a word until they are outside and far enough away from the arena that no one will eavesdrop.

"Are you okay?" Steve thinks back to how Ivan had raised his fist at her and how Natasha had reacted instinctively. "He hit you, didn't he?"

She misunderstands him and shakes her head vigorously. "No, you saw—"

He repeats the question in Russian and this time she understands. Before you left Russia, he had meant, he used to hit you.

"Yes." It's a simple answer, but it crushes Steve's entire world. "He is not a good person, Steve, but you are."

"Doesn't matter," Steve grumbles.

"It does to me."

She tugs his arms around her and lays her head on his chest until the tension seeps from his body. When his back is no longer taught and his shoulders aren't so straight it hurts, he takes a deep breath.

"You're okay?" 

He only asks it again because he needs to hear her confirm it. She won't lie to him, but avoiding a question is her way of keeping the truth from him.

"I am."

She's honest. She isn't lying. But at that moment, it isn't enough.

He kisses her and his hands shake, but she either doesn't notice or doesn't mind. Her fingers curl in his hair and Steve pulls her closer. Even on her tiptoes, she isn't close enough and Steve decides it won't do.

Somehow, they end up back at her hotel. He doesn't remember calling a taxi and he doesn't know how they manage to wait until her door is locked, but they do.

When he finally catches his breath, he realises that Natasha is tense and still awake. Usually, she falls asleep shortly after they finish.

"What's on your mind?" he whispers, burying his nose in her hair.

"You never asked what he meant," she whispers in return. "About the sins and—"

"I don't need to," Steve interrupts. "If you thought it was important, you would tell me."

He feels her smile against his chest as she snuggles closer still.

"It is not anymore," Natasha murmurs. "Important, that is."

"Then I don't care."

He spends the rest of the night in her hotel. And the night after that. And every night after until they finally return to New York.

It's luck that they don't have any difficulties leaving Europe or returning to the United State. There's a moment where Natasha thinks she lost her passport and after a very panicked search of her hotel room, she finds it.

They make it all the way back to the apartment in Brooklyn before anything else comes up.

Sharon calls almost as soon as they drop their bags. Reluctantly, Natasha answers the phone and Steve leaves to shower so she can have at least a little privacy. When he steps out of the bathroom, she's off the phone and picking at her nails.

"What did Sharon have to say?" he asks.

Her eyes flicker up to his, but he doesn't miss the way her gaze lingers on his chest.

"WADA is going to lead an investigation on the Russian lab," she tells him softly. With just a whisper of an accent, she says, "They think they have enough evidence to end the program."

When she doesn't say anything else, Steve tries to prompt her further. "But?"

"But they have to publish my name. And that would mean I could never go home."

He knew it was coming. From the moment they had first received that letter from Russia, he knew there would come a time when she would never be able to return. He just hates that it isn't on her terms.

"How can I help?"

She holds out her hand and Steve tumbles onto the bed beside her. He's still only in a towel, but he curls around her all the same and pulls a blanket up over her shoulders.

"Would you want to go back?" he asks. Natasha shakes her head.

"But I would like the choice."

Steve thinks he understands, but he doubts that he does. 

"We'll go wherever you want." He kisses her temple firmly to seal the promise. "We can go anywhere in the world."

"Except Russia," she reminds him with a small smile.

Steve lets out a soft laugh and agrees. "Except Russia."

Later, when WADA publishes a report with everything Natasha had shared with them and all the evidence they find in Moscow, she cries. Steve stays home from the gym and misses out on the American Cup, but she's more important than another title so he doesn't mind. Especially when she reveals—albeit accidentally—that she might be pregnant and it's incredibly unfair because she's already had enough emotional melting pots (her words, not his) to last a year.

"Don't laugh at me!" she cries, biting back a smile as tears stream down her face. "English is hard."

"I know," he agrees, kissing her cheeks too many times to count. "But the actual phrase is emotional meltdowns."

She screams in frustration and the next morning they find a doctor to confirm what Natasha had already started to suspect. It's the last time she cries about her home and the first time she cries about their baby, but Steve cries too so it's okay.

When they've finished crying together in poor Doctor Banner's office, Steve makes sure to leave an especially kind Google review later because Banner certainly did not deserve to deal with two emotional parents-to-be. It's unfortunate that Banner knows Sharon who knows Bucky who—well, knows and tells everyone else. 

It's not exactly how Steve had imagined the news being shared with their friends, but Bucky is nothing if not an efficient gossip. By the end of the week, all of his teammates know and he even receives a couple of congratulations from his coaches.

They move to Colorado if only because travelling to the training centre gets more and more difficult. Whether it's because of the address change or simply because Russia gives up, Natasha stops receiving mail from them shortly after they arrive. They don't hear much from Russia until the weeks leading up to the next World Championships.

Having several athletes banned from international competitions, Russia is understandably upset. They take the next few weeks to release statements that all but mention Natasha by name. By the time they're getting ready to fly to Worlds, Natasha's stopped paying attention.

Even though Greece is a little too close to Russia for comfort, they go to Worlds. Sharon advises against it, but Natasha's pretty confident the Russian government won't do anything that could further damage their reputation in the athletics world.

As it turns out, flying overseas with Natasha eight months pregnant should have been their biggest concern. They end up returning to the States with a baby instead of any medals, but Steve still thinks it's the best competition he's even been to. 

When they introduce their daughter to Bucky, however, their little bubble is momentarily ruined. The first thing he says when he sees her is, "She looks Greek."

It's a bit of a miracle that Natasha doesn't throw something at him, but she definitely shouts at him enough to make up for it. Steve just holds their daughter and watches in amusement.

She ends by threatening to remove his status as godfather if he ever says something so offensive ever again. After promising to never offend her again (and do a myriad of chores for the next several weeks), she finally allows Bucky to hold their daughter.

"You're right," Bucky murmurs a few seconds later. His eyes never leave the baby. "She's definitely Russian."

Steve doesn't understand why having a Greek-looking baby was a bad thing—and maybe it wasn't—but Natasha looks thrilled at the thought of a Russian-looking baby. Perhaps it was more of an excuse to shout at Bucky than anything.

When he glances over just in time to see both his daughter and Natasha yawn, he thinks he might fall in love a little bit more.

The End