"Oh god, the babies!"
The battle against Cul, Odin's brother and god of fear had ended, and Bruce had been calmed from the Hulk rage he'd fallen into due to Cul's powers. I came down from my adrenaline high after soothing Hulk back down so that Bruce could share the space with him, I remembered the last time I had seen the babies was in the jaws of the Vulparev who had grown to be huge beasts in size and gained some kind of powers at the threat to the children.
I quickly grabbed the threads, searching for the babies. When I wrapped my hands around them, I felt them with Natasha, Wanda, Clint, and Sam, as well as our grandchildren and the Vulparev. I let out a sigh of relief and the overwhelming urge to cry hit me. I took a deep breath and looked back at the rest of my family who were gathered around and talking about what had just happened. "I'm gonna go check on the kids," I said as my iron suit bled back out of its casing.
"Sweetheart?" Steve said, taking a step towards me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah - I mean -" I shrugged and gestured around at all the damage caused. "No, but I need to hold the babies."
"Okay," he said. "We'll catch up with you in a bit."
I nodded and took off, following the trail of the thread to the palace and finally finding them taking cover in the old escape tunnels under the palace. They all looked at me in relief as I flew in and landed near them, and the kids ran over and hugged my legs. The vulparev were still in their large forms and I wondered if it was like a pokemon evolution and that's just how they were now. Natasha was holding Nova and Sam had Thour but both the vulparev were sticking close to their charges. "Is it over?" Wanda asked as I crouched to soothe the little ones.
"Yes," I said. "There's a lot of damage. I don't know where we'll sleep tonight, but the palace is big."
"What the heck is up with these guys?" Natasha asked, pointing to Inky and Icy.
"They went through a pokemon evolution?" I said, which made Clint start laughing. "It was crazy. The babies were threatened and they just Hulked out."
"That's - Jesus, you'd think Loki would have told us that," Sam said.
"Why? It was definitely funnier this way," Clint argued. Sam laughed and shrugged.
Wanda came over to me with a look of concern and rubbed my back. "Okay let's go find somewhere nicer to wait for everyone. Maybe there are guest quarters we can use."
"Thank you," I said softly and she took my hand and started leading us out of the tunnel.
It took a little while for us to find somewhere to crash. We had to ask a few guards and by the time we were in some living quarters the children were practically asleep on their feet, the vulparev had shifted back into their tiny cute selves, and all the adrenalin that had been keeping me going was gone and I felt like I was about to completely fall apart.
"Okay, little ones," Wanda said. "Let's have a snack and a story. It might be time for a little nap before dinner."
"And you," Natasha said to me. "Let's go feed these two and relax."
"Okay," I said, taking Thour from Sam and instantly feeling a little more grounded when the infant was in my arms.
Sam kissed me gently and brushed a lock of my hair off my face. "I'm proud of you, honey," he said.
"Thank you," I said. "I'm kinda proud of myself."
He grinned and tapped my nose with his index finger. "Good. Now go get some rest."
I followed Natasha into the bedroom. The bed was not quite king-sized and there was no way we were all going to fit in it that night. The idea seemed to add to that raw feeling I had. After all, this had happened, I wasn't going to be able to go to sleep with all my spouses and I hated it.
I took off my dress and bra and lay down on the bed. Nova pointed at me as Thour quickly scrambled up so she was half lying on me as she breastfed. "Bwah?" he said, looking up at Natasha.
"Yes, yes," she said, putting him down on the end of the bed. He made an excited huffing noise before crawling at top speed at me and mimicking the same position as his sister. Inky and Icy both jumped up onto the bed and curled up into little balls at my feet as Natasha lay down beside me and started playing with my hair. "So what happened out there?" Natasha asked. "We only got information Wanda was gleaning off people outside and the odd guard. Thor and Bucky came by, dropped the twins in our arms with the hulked-out versions of Inky and Icy, and told us to take the kids somewhere safe before running off."
I let out a breath and ran my palms up and down Thour and Nova's backs and began telling her everything. I told her about Cul attacking. That I didn't know why but he wanted the throne and I thought maybe he saw me and the twins as a way to get them. I told her how scared I was and how that fear turned into a need to protect the children. How the vulparev changing and how they had powers. How they used their powers to protect the babies and take them to Thor. But also how seeing them change made me think of Pokemon and how that stupid dumbass thought had pushed the fear back and made me think rationally. How the others had come. Fighting him and then trapping him and forcing him back through the door with Thor, Loki, and Tony. How Bruce had gotten lost in the fear for the first time since our bonding and that Hulk went on a rage-induced destruction of Asgard and that I'd helped calm him down again.
Natasha didn't interrupt, or question anything, she just listened as she played with my hair. When I was done she smiled softly. "I'm so proud of you. Look at how far you've come. Remember back when we met you and Tony nearly had a fit because we suggested you go with Hammer's daughter?"
"Justine," I said. "Yeah. But I did it."
"Yes, you did," she said and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"You've come a long way too, Natasha," I said. "Look at you here, with your wife and children. Wasn't there a time you didn't believe in family at all?"
Natasha closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her forehead against mine. "We all have." She pulled back and sat up. "I'm going to go find somewhere for these two to sleep, and then I'm going to make you come because I love you and it looks like you could use some endorphins coming off your adrenaline crash."
I started laughing. "Yes, ma'am," I said. "As long as I can make you come too because I like a little side of Natasha's come to go with my endorphins."
She got up and gave me that little half-smile I was so smitten with even still. "Dirty girl. How can I say no to you?"
She disappeared through the door and I gave my focus to the twins. While I waited for Natasha to return, Nova slipped off me and began playing with his feet, sleepily babbling to himself as Inky moved up beside him and cuddled into his side.
Natasha returned with two of the baskets we put the babies in when we ate at the dining table when they were too small to sit up properly. Both Thour and Nova were asleep when she got back and she moved them each to a basket and put them by the window. They were far too big for them now, and when Inky and Icy squeezed in beside them, there was not an inch of space that wasn't occupied by either baby or Vulparev.
"We'll get something better after dinner," Natasha said as she took off her dress. "There's still a lot of chaos out there."
"They look cozy and they sleep well with their little friends," I said, my eyes locked on Natasha. She smirked at me when she noticed me staring and started to do a little striptease, rolling her hips as she took off her bra.
"You look pretty cozy there too," she said. "Are you tired?"
I shook my head. "Not at all."
She turned and rocked her ass too and fro, shaking it slowly to the tempo of an unheard song as she pulled her panties down and off. When she was completely naked she crawled up my body, kissing her way up the insides of my thighs as she pulled my panties down. Her lips traveled over my stomach and she twirled her tongue around my belly button. My muscles rippled under her touch and I squirmed and arched my back.
She moved higher, peppering kisses on my breasts, collarbones, and neck. I wrapped my arms around her and pushed my thigh up between her legs. She pressed her pussy against my thigh and ground down against it, her slick smearing on my skin. She looked down at me and hummed softly. "Hello there, my hero," she said.
"But you're my hero," I said. "How can we both be each other's heroes?"
"I don't know," she said. "But I like it."
She brought her lips to mine and we kissed her hand skimmed down my stomach to my cunt. Her fingers slipped between my folds and they ran over my clit sending little sparks out through me. I mimicked her, bringing my fingers to her pussy and teasing her clit. When she moved her fingers faster, I did the same with mine, and when she sunk her fingers inside me, I did the same to her.
The whole time we kissed. Our breasts pushed together and we rocked our hips against the other's hand. This kind of slow, intimate lovemaking was not my norm with Natasha. It happened - but usually, with Natasha, there was more to it. A slight dominance or protectiveness - or even just a need to show off her skills. There were usually toys involved and if not we went down on each other. This time, there was none of that. We were unwilling to break the kiss, and while I matched her movements she didn't speed up or become more dominant to try and outdo me. We were equals connecting through an intimate act. We were making love.
I began to stroke my fingers over Natasha's g-spot, my fingertips running down the ridges of her cunt with each stroke. Her slick rand down my hand, soaking my fingers and forming little rivulets on my wrist. I knew I was just as wet as she was. Her need and desire were feeding my own and it felt like a heavy weight was pressing down right in my core, fighting to break something inside me.
Natasha broke the kiss, leaning her forehead against mine. "Elise," she breathed. It almost sounded like a question.
I put my free hand on her cheek and looked right into her eyes. "Together, Tasha."
Our thumbs moved faster as our fingers pressed and dragged inside each other. Each breath I took was shallow and ragged and filled with the air Natasha had just exhaled. We both tensed and when we did, we pushed hard down on those sweet spots, and as one we came. I arched my back and moaned loudly and Natasha shuddered above me. We kept stroking each other through it and then slowly roomed our fingers. Natasha lay down beside me on her back and I stuck my slicked fingers in my mouth and sucked them clean as I relaxed into the orgasm high. She was right. The endorphin rush had helped balance out the adrenalin crash I had just had. But more than that, the connection we'd just shared had made me feel myself again and had grounded me to her.
Natasha rolled onto her slide and smiled. "Do you need a nap?"
"No," I said honestly. "But I'd like to lie here for a bit with you. Is that okay?"
"Of course it is," she said, cuddling up to my side. "I'm more than happy to snuggle with my heroic wife."
"Isn't that both of us?" I giggled.
She smirked and kissed my cheek. "Yes. And it's a statement that goes for both of you."
I curled into her, tucking my chin under her head, and when I spoke, it was with a content sigh. "The same holds for me too."