I'll Be There

"No, wait!Go up! Go up!" Steve pleaded as he attempted his save his Fox from falling after Alex had used Ike to knock him off the screen. "Damn it," Steve muttered.

"Oh, well," Alex stated plainly as she began attacking Clint's Link. "Better luck time."

"Alex, that was so unfair. That's like the tenth time you blatantly attacked Steve," Clint said as he dodged Alex's attacks and proceeded in shooting her character with arrows.

"That's the whole point of the game. One by one, you kill off the ones that didn't really have what it takes. There are only three of us playing and Steve just so happened to be that person," Alex pointed out as she failed to block Clint's attacks. "Fuck," she mumbled in frustration.

"It looks like that battle strategy isn't in your favor," Steve commented as he watched Alex struggle. "Team work is one of the best strategies. If you didn't kill me off, I could have helped you defeat Clint."

"Yes, but in the end, there's only one winner and you can't count on your teammate to bring you to victory; you can only count on yourself," Alex countered. "Besides, even if we did decide to team up, how would I know that you weren't just going to let me down?" Alex questioned as she pressed harder the buttons on the controller out of frustration.

"Alex, look, I know you're mad at me because of everything that happened, but I promise you I won't let something like that happen again," explained Steve.

"Why are you even bringing that up?" Alex scoffed. "I'm talking about a game here, but if you want to dwell on what happened because you feel guilty about it, then be my guest."

"Yeah, Alex, we both totally believe that. Your whole conversation with your baby daddy up to this point hasn't secretly been about how mad you are at him," Clint said sarcastically as he knocked out Alex's character off the screen, leaving her with one life left.

"Shut up, Clint! No one asked you," Alex shouted as she tightened her grip on the controller and tried to attack Clint's character.

"But I'm right. Am I not?"

"I said shut up," Alex repeated as she clutched her controller tighter until her grip caused the controller to break in her hands. "Damnit, not again," Alex muttered to herself as Clint's and Steve's eyes widened in shock.

"Clint, give me your controller," Alex demanded. "I need to kick Steve's ass again."

"Do you mean in the game–or are you actually going to beat him with it because I don't condone...let's call it domestic abuse," Clint responded.

"Steve is six foot three and weighs 220 pounds. Even with the training the two of you gave me, if I were to hit Steve, it would be like a mosquito bite," Alex stated bluntly.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am," Alex began, stopping mid-sentence when she realized what she had done.

'Crap,' she thought. 'Now they're going to want to know when I got so strong and what happened to me and how I escaped—gaah! I really don't want to have that conversation.'

"You were saying?" Clint continued.

"I said I'm sure. Gosh, you people don't listen," Alex scoffed as she turned her attention to the screen and began scrolling through characters to battle with.

"Alex, you just broke a controller. How on earth were you able to do that?"

Steve asked confused.

"I dropped that controller a million times, it was bound to break eventually," Alex deflected as she kept her eyes locked on the screen in front of her, not daring to look Steve's way.

"You've thrown controllers across the room every time I beat you in a game and they still haven't broken," Clint pointed out. "What?Are you on steroids or something?"

"Clint, I have a baby. Why would I take steroids or anything else for that matter?"

"Did they do something to you?" Steve asked with concern in his voice.

"What are you talking about?" Alex responded as she continued to ignore Steve's gaze.

"Red Skull. Did he or anyone from hydra give you something to make you like this? You said they did tests on you, but you never went into detail. Is this what they did to you?"

"I don't know," Alex mumbled, paying Steve no mind.

"Alex, look at me and tell me the truth," Steve begged.

"I said I don't know," Alex replied as she turned to face Steve. "There. Are you happy?"

"How do you not know what they were doing to you?" inquired Clint.

"I was their prisoner as in they did whatever they wanted and withheld information from me. Hell, I didn't even know I was having a boy until one of the guards spilled the beans."

"Wait—we're having a boy?" Steve asked astonished. "Why didn't you tell me? I know you were mad at me, but don't think you think you should have told something that important to me?"

"Okay, one: I'm still mad at you and two: it never came up in our conversations," Alex explained.

"What conversations? You've ignored me the last two days and the only times you did talk to me were to ask what was in the fridge"

"Guys, enough," Clint interjected. "You can talk about your relationship issues later. Alex, if they didn't tell you what they were doing to you, then how did you find out?"

"I just woke up one morning pissed off and found out that I could break walls," Alex responded. "It was basically part of my everyday routine: whine, complain, punch walls out of frustration, and trying to figure a way out. I just got really lucky one day after they, apparently, decided to try to make me stronger for reasons unknown and used that to escape," Alex half lied. She wasn't completely sure as to why the hydra doctors decided to give her what she assumed was a failed super solider serum they created, but she did theorize that it had something to do with them trying to save her child. Of course, Alex wasn't about to explain her theory to them because that would mean her revealing to them her shame in a desperate moment.

"Have you seen a doctor?" Steve asked.

"No," Alex began. "I mean—I was going to see one in California to make sure the baby was okay, but then I ended up coming back to New York. It's fine though, I'm twenty-two weeks, so I only need to see a doctor once a month."

"I didn't mean for the baby. I meant for you. Alex, hydra is known for their attempts in producing a super-solider serum and most of the time, what they create has harmful side effects," explained Steve. "Now, I know you seem alright for now, but I think you should see one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doctors. They'll be able to find out what the hydra doctors did to you and if it posses any threat to you or the baby."

"No. I'm not going to S.H.I.E.L.D. to get poked with needles! Not only did you not do anything to save me, I don't think they did either—and they have eyes and ears all over the world."

"Alex, that's not true. If it wasn't for S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony and I would have never found out about that women and the jet in Malibu and I would have never found you."

"Speaking of which, who was that woman?" asked Clint. Steve turned his attention to Clint for a second and gave him a questioning look before Clint responded, "Nat filled me in."

"She's someone who I can count on," Alex said in a condescending voice. "She was a guard that helped me escape after I found out I was strong," Alex explained.

"Why would she do that? She's Hydra?"

"Just because she's an ex-Hydra member doesn't mean she's bad just like not all S.H.I.E.L.D. members can't rise to the occasion. I can name at least one," Alex spat.

"Will you stop throwing that in my face, Alex," Steve replied with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I'm not doing anything, but if the shoe fits—wear it," Alex scoffed as she began to make her way out of the room. "And I'm not going to see a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor. I'll see my regular doctor."

"You mean the doctor who ratted you out to Hydra in the first place?" spoke Steve.

"What are you talking about?" Alex questioned as she raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She had known Dr. Parker for quite some time and she knew how serious the clinic took patient confidentiality, but she also knew that Steve would never lie to her, so she wasn't sure what to believe.

"Although I was never able to find you, I was able to track down one of the people involved in your kidnapping. After much interrogation, I found out the reason why you were kidnapped was because someone wanted our baby and the only person who knew about him, besides the two of us, was Dr. Parker," explained Steve. "Look Alex, I know you're mad about a lot of things, but I'm all I'm asking is for you to do this one thing. Not for me, but for the baby. Please, let a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor take a look at you to make sure everything is okay."

Alex gave Steve a long hard look and noticed how genuinely concerned he was. "Okay, fine," she sighed. "But don't think this changes anything. Like you said, I'm doing this for the baby, not for you; and afterwards I'm going to find a new doctor."

"I understand," Steve responded as he watched Alex exit the room.

"You know she's lying, right?" hinted Clint.

"Lying about what?"

"Lying about things not changing," Clint began. "She doesn't know it yet, but she's slowly warming up to you. I saw the way she looked at you and she knows that you care."

"Of course I care."

"Good. Now just make sure you show her that you do."