43 | with great power comes great fear

Hope

Remember when I said that I'm not fine? If you do, then let me elaborate on that, because even Nick Fury himself is implying that I am indeed far from fine.

"It's just for a couple of days." I reasoned with Tony. We're back in Malibu and after the incident back in Monaco, things are getting out of hand. And if we don't do something about it, then it's gonna get messy.

"You're acting like this is just a vacation. They're locking you up, Andrea." Tony responded. Since this conversation started—which began when S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents once again showed up in our front door—he hasn't let go of my hands, both of my hands.

"That's an exaggeration. They're just going to observe me." I said.

Natasha has an obligation to report back to Fury. So, you can imagine his reaction when he found out that his precious tribrid is losing her grip on things—becoming more of a threat than an ally. But he doesn't want to give up on me just yet, obviously. He told me to come to the organization as a patient—not a prisoner, a patient, to get me looked at and see what's going on with me. Because I've never felt hunger and anger like that before, let alone both at the same time.

I really could have killed somebody that day.

"You don't need observing. You're fine." He denied.

Tony has a habit of denying things when he doesn't like the situation. Actually, I think all people have that habit. The urge to deny them is more desirable than to accept them.

"Tony." I gently squeezed his hands. "I know what I felt that day, and I know what I'm feeling now. I'm not fine."

The more I deny it, the worse it's going to get. I have to know what's going on with me before it's too late.

"Can't they observe you here?"Tony asked me while sparing Agent Hill a glance, and not exactly a friendly one before averting his gaze back to me. "Come on, it's your birthday tomorrow!"

"We'll celebrate when I get back." I said. Just when I thought that the public's rage with me could not get worse, it did. "People are freaking out. We need to at least make them think that an agency is dealing with me to ease their concerns."

"They don't know what they're saying."

"Right. They're just mindlessly chanting 'the devil incarnate' and 'inferna' over and over again."

Tony sighed deeply as he lowered his head, dropping it on my shoulder while still holding on to my hands. "I don't understand why this is happening to you, of all people."

The witches said it themselves. I'm an abomination. I upset the balance of nature. I guess this is one of the ways nature is getting back at me.

I pushed my lips into a thin line and gently pulled my hands away from his before placing them on the sides of his face to lift his head from my shoulder. My thumbs caressed his cheeks as I stared up at him.

"When they see you, they see hope. They see a hero." I said. And I meant every word. My Snarky, a hero. That's a world I want to live in. "When they look at me, they see a threat. A monster. And that's okay because that's how it's always been."

"Just because that's how it's always been doesn't make it okay." He answered.

But that's how the world works. Unfair is its middle name.

—

"I'm not putting that on." I refused as I stared wide-eyed at the patient gown Natasha is holding while she stood next to Fury and a female doctor.

"Did you miss the part where we told you you're here as a patient?" Fury asked, his tone already indicating his irritation. This man is always annoyed, and this is just the first time I've complained since I arrived.

"No—" I answered but was quickly cut off by Fury.

"Then wear the damn gown." He insisted before looking towards the female doctor. "This is Dr. Helen Cho. She is a brilliant geneticist."

"Such a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Mikaelson." Dr. Cho said politely and, dare I say, rather enthusiastically, as if she really is glad to finally meet me. Me. The world-renowned tribrid monster. She offered me her hand before I accepted it

"That's surprising but I'll take it." I replied as I subtly shook her hand and pulled away.

"She's going to run a few tests on you to find out the origin of your sudden changes." Fury explained. "Dr. Cho is very valuable. Can I trust you with her?"

What I like about Fury is also what I hate. He's painfully blunt. He doesn't feel the need to sugar-coat. But he can be infuriatingly mysterious if he wants to be. I honestly don't know which one I hate more.

"I'll keep my fangs to myself." I replied.

"You better." Fury said before he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving me and Dr. Cho.

"Do you need help?" Asked Natasha as she handed me the boring patient gown.

"I can do it myself." I said. Just because she gave me wedding dress advice and we semi-shared in the restroom back in Monaco doesn't mean we're automatically friends.

Natasha simply nodded before she exited the room as well. Dr. Cho smiled at me, still polite as ever, before she guided me towards another room where I can change considering that the room we are currently in has a huge window that connects us to the next one. I already know that there will be people watching as they run tests on me. I'm not sure if this is still a good idea.

"I feel exposed." I muttered to Dr. Cho as she started to prep me while I laid down on the table in the middle of the room.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you're safe the entire time." Dr. Cho said before taking what looks like an oxygen mask, only it doesn't look like it's emitting oxygen.

I sat upright and slightly moved away while staring at what the doctor's holding. I don't trust that. What the hell is that?

"What are you doing?" I asked her, my forehead creasing at the sight of the mask.

"It's just general anesthesia." Dr. Cho answered.

I could not help but shoot my eyebrows upward in surprise. "You're going to put me under?"

"Most tests require anesthetic considering these tests may trigger any or all of your three sides. It will be harder for me and my colleagues to continue with the tests if we're too busy fighting you." Dr. Cho explained.

It makes sense. Just sitting at this table is already making me feel agitated. My mood swings are all over the place. Damn this werewolf gene. And damn whatever it is that's making it worse.

"It'll just be for a couple of hours." Dr. Cho assured me.

"How am I supposed to know I'm safe with you?" I asked. Trust issues are the least of my problems. I have more pressing ones like abandonment issues, daddy issues, anger issues, paranoia issues, and so on. I don't think I have enough time to discuss my rather thick file of psychoanalytic observation.

"Don't you already feel safe?" She asked back.

I don't actually. I don't feel safe anywhere, which in return makes nobody feel safe as long as they're around me. But what other choice do I have?

"Let's just get this over with." I said before lying back down on the table.

My eyes followed the mask until Dr. Cho placed it over my mouth and nose. Anesthesias, from what I know, is supposed to be odorless. At least, most of them are. But this one has that faint scent of permanent marker that some people are addicted to. But I guess with my heightened senses, only I was able to pick up on that smell.

And in just mere seconds, I drifted into the tempting, peaceful slumber.

Malibu, California | February 12, 1996

"How do I look?" Tony asked.

I wish I could say he looks good. I mean, he does. But the weirdness outweighs it. Why is he wearing glasses?

"Like a professor from a porno." I said before pointing at his specs. "What's with the glasses?"

"Nothing. I just thought I'd spice things up a little. Unfortunately, the world's not ready for me and my glasses yet." Tony explained as he removed the glasses and hid them inside the pocket of his coat before he began adjusting his suit.

I decided to go with him on his business trip so that we could go to Barbados right after in time for Valentine's Day, just like we planned. We haven't had a proper vacation in a while with all the messes I was helping my family clean up.

The two of us are now in his private jet when I noticed him deep in his thoughts in front of me. His forehead is creased, his right knee jumping up and down, his  eyes squinting as he stared out the window, and the sound of his heartbeat slightly racing were clear signs that he was thinking of something that's bothering him..

"Tony, what's wrong?" I asked.

His gaze suddenly shifted towards me in surprise before he leaned back on his chair and tried to get rid of all the nervous hints from his body by leaning back against the chair and smoothing down his suit.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking." He answered.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

I can look into his head myself. But I've already promised Tony not to invade his mind like that. And I respect that. Our relationship doesn't give me the right to trespass in his head. If there's something wrong, I want him to tell me himself.

"Just silly thoughts." He answered.

"Tony." I said with a slight warning tone. He's being really vague and knowing him, he likes babbling  about things, even the most random ones. I know something's bothering him.

He stared at me for a little while longer before he exhaled deeply and leaned forward, letting his arms rest on his knees. "When you went back to your main timeline...did you find out if, you know...I have a good life?"

You had a good life. Past tense. But you did have a good life. Although I can't exactly hint at his death, can I?

"Yeah. You have an amazing life." I answered with a genuine smile on my face. I'm picking my words carefully because I don't want anything from the future of my main timeline to affect this one too much in the wrong way. "You have a wonderful family. A kind wife and a beautiful daughter."

He tilted his head slightly as he looked away, his eyes narrowing.

"A wife that's not you and a child that's not yours?" He then glanced back at me. "Doesn't seem like the wonderful life I want." He commented.

I simply laughed at his statement. "Of course it's not. You're different in this timeline. You didn't lose me."

"And I'm not going to, ever." He said before he smiled at me.

—

I felt my fingers twitch first as I began to regain consciousness. I felt my body become sore the moment I woke up. What kind of tests did they run that I feel this sore? Even the mere movement of my wrists is enough to make me whimper.

"Andrea?" I heard a familiar female voice echo in my ears. It sounded like she was talking into a microphone from how her voice sounded. My head is also pounding. What the hell is happening?

"Andrea." Her voice—Natasha's voice went back to normal as my ears got used to the new surroundings.

I let my eyes adjust from the bright light coming in the room through the windows before opening them completely and looking around. The last thing I remember is being put under by Dr. Cho in one of the labs in S.H.I.E.L.D.

I don't remember moving to a hospital.

"What the hell am I doing in a hospital?" I asked. Now that I've talked, it's only then did I realize how dry my throat had become. But my hunger is not at all out of control as it should be for not drinking for a couple of hours. Although, now that I think about it, my throat isn't supposed to be this dried out if I'm only asleep for a couple of hours.

"You're still in the headquarters. We just transferred you to a different room." Natasha answered.

I looked down at my arm and saw two tubes—one inserted at the back of my hand where the IV goes in and the other pierced in my arm, directly in my vein where the blood is flowing in.

They're doing a blood transfusion on me?

"How do you feel?" Dr. Cho asked. I just noticed her presence when I looked at the tubes inserted in my right arm. She was checking my vital signs as she stood beside my bed.

"Sore. Weak. Slightly thirsty." I answered honestly before I continued. "Irritated. Relieved. Bored. I'm really not sure. It's a confusing mix."

Silence fell in the room once again after I spoke. I witnessed the brief exchange of suspicious glances between Natasha and Dr. Cho as if they already know what's wrong with me.

"What? What did you find?" I asked them.

"We should wait for Director Fury to arrive." Natasha suggested.

I narrowed my eyes at her as I saw Dr. Cho get something in the corner of my eye.

"Here." Dr. Cho said as she handed me a glass of water. Thank God, because I'm really thirsty. "You haven't drank anything for days."

I almost spit out the water from my mouth because of what she just said. Did I hear that right or are my ears still not recovering? I was out for days?

"Wait—Days? I was unconscious for days? I missed my birthday?" I asked, my eyes widening as I stared at Dr. Cho down. "You said I'll only be out for hours."

"Things changed." She answered.

I arched an eyebrow at her. Just that mere gesture was enough to intimidate her. That's a person who's well aware of what I'm capable of. "Care to elaborate?" I asked.

"We should really wait for Director Fury—" Natasha tried to butt in until I cut her off.

"I don't give a fuck about Fury. Just tell me what's going on." I insisted.

Why the hell should we wait for Nick Fury when all of this is about me? I'm the patient. I should be the one to hear the results first, right? But I guess my answer is incorrect because when fury showed up at the door of my room, his knowledge of what's wrong with me already poured out of his mouth.

"We brought in Dr. Cho, thinking that your case is related to mutation." Fury said as he stood at the doorway with his hands on his hips, the front of his trench coat tucked underneath his arms. "But we were wrong."

It's already a given that Fury has a thing for dramatic theatrics. The fact that he's making things a lot more suspenseful by building it up as he talks proves that. And as much as I like theatrics, I'm not liking this one.

If it's not a mutation. Then what is it?

"Turns out you're just experiencing what 6 million other women in the entirety of America are going through this exact moment." Fury completely walked inside the room, shutting the door behind him before taking a spot at the front of my bed.

"You're pregnant, Mikaelson." He said.

I'm what?

I couldn't hold back the smile that stretched on my lips at hearing how absurd that sounded. If this is their idea of a joke, then well done. Because that's hilarious. Just the thought of me being pregnant is already cracking me up. This could not be more unreal.

"That's funny." I said, as a faint laugh escaped my lips. "Seriously, what is it?"

I noticed Fury furrowed his eyebrows, looking rather offended as he shared glances with Natasha and Dr. Cho before averting his gaze back to me.

"I just said you're pregnant."

"Yeah, I know. It's hilarious. So, what's the real one?"

"That—" Fury looked away as he heard his voice raising, causing him to take a breath before glancing back at me and speaking again. "That is the real one."

"I'm pregnant?" I asked with still an absurd grin on my face. How can I take them seriously when they're pulling off this prank on me?

"You're. Pregnant." Fury repeated, emphasizing those two words while pointing his open hand to my face then to my stomach as if to shove the words into my brain that's rejecting the information because of how unbelievable it is. Because it's what it is. Unbelievable. A pregnant tribrid? Come on. I know I'm still fertile but barely. Nature made it that way so I wouldn't try and mess with the balance again. Why do you think I haven't been pregnant for fifteen years?

I glanced at Dr. Cho when she handed me a file. "We had to keep you sedated for a week to be able to observe the fetus considering you were only five weeks pregnant at that time."

The smile on my face slowly decreased until it completely vanished. Not even a trace of my smile was to be seen from my dumbfounded expression as I proceeded to stare at Dr. Cho in disbelief.

"What?" I asked. Reality is starting to sink in and the news is getting more real by the second.

"You're having a baby, Ms. Mikaelson." Dr. Cho said, a small smile tugging on her lips.

I looked down on the file she handed me and I flipped it open. The first thing I saw was the sonogram clipped to the first page of my file. It was incomprehensible in my eyes. I'm having a hard time deciphering the picture until Dr. Cho stepped in to help me.

"This is your gestational sac. And see this tiny thing right here?" She pointed to the very small figure inside what she mentioned was the gestational sac. "That's your baby."

My heartbeat was steady. Actually it's the most steady it has ever been. My fingertips grazed the part of the sonogram where my baby lies. My baby. God, even just thinking about that seems unreal. This is mine? This baby is really living inside me?

A smile spread on my face as I stared at the picture, my eyesight becoming blurry from the tears forming in my eyes. It's like every emotion was thrown into a bowl and mixed together. I feel happy, nervous, paranoid, excited, and overprotective.

"I'll have someone contact Stark and your family." Fury said before he turned around was about to walk away.

Suddenly, all I felt was fear.

"Don't!" I said, causing him to stop in his tracks and earning a look of skepticism from him.

"What do you mean 'don't'?" He asked, turning back around completely to face me again and walk back towards my bed.

"Don't tell them yet." I repeated.

Fury shot his eyebrows upward in surprise. And judging from the look he's giving me, I'm pretty sure he's not surprised in a good way.

"Excuse you?" He said.

"I need you to keep this hidden for a while." I said. Now that the information has completely sunk into my brain, I finally realized that even if this is the best news ever to me, it would be the worst one for the public if they find out about this. They're already scared of me. How much more when they find out I have another one like me inside my stomach?

"Stark—" Fury tried to reason with me until I cut him off.

"Fury, I'm a first-born Mikaelson witch who happens to be a tribrid expecting another first-born Mikaelson witch who's also going to be a tribrid." I said. Saying that out loud makes everything a lot more complicated. I couldn't imagine what my mom was going through while keeping me safe in her womb, but I know it was more than what any normal mom could take.

I also know it's going to be the same with me. Maybe even a lot worse. Because who would go after the pregnant tribrid if not everyone?

"You think the people are gonna freak out more." Natasha stated, realizing my point.

And not only the humans will freak. Every faction will come for this baby like they came for me.

"Because that's how every species' nature works. They see great power, they feel great fear. And if they feel great fear—" I explained before Fury took it upon himself to finish my sentence.

"They defend themselves by any means necessary. Even by killing." He continued.

I'm not letting them anywhere near my baby. I'm not going to let them treat my child like how they treat me. This baby just became one of the people I will protect forever.

"I need you to keep this hidden. At least until the public calms down." I told Fury.

"And if they don't?" He asked.

Truth be told? I have no idea.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

—

*in Pietro's voice* Didn't see that coming?

If you did, then good for you. <3