New Beginnings

”Thor, could you kindly give Hawkeye a lift?”

Thor blinked at Agent Coulson’s voice in his comm.link. As per usual for missions, Agent sounded curt and professional, but something about his tone was off, an undercurrent of tightness or tension that Thor did’t get a read on.

”Certainly. Is there something to worry?”

Agent let out a huff of breath that wasn’t an open show of frustration, but Thor had seen and heard enough to recognize it for what it was.

”Just… get him off of that perch, please.”

”I will, Son of Coul,” Thor promised, raised the Mjölnir, and took off.

Usually, it was either Hulk or Iron Man who collected Hawkeye, but for some reason, Agent had been atypically tense around them both. Thor didn’t know why — although one didn’t usually need a reason to be put off by Iron Man. It was just one of Tony Stark’s gifts, to annoy people to no end.

Almost from the beginning, Hulk had struck a tight friendship with Hawkeye, and it wasn’t uncommon to see the archer perching on Hulk’s shoulder after a successful operation, both grinning like maniacs. Very often, their outings ended up with the Lady Natasha rolling her eyes and Agent Coulson retiring for the night, complaining a migraine. However, despite their antics, Hulk never put Hawkeye in any danger. So, for all Thor was aware, there was no need for Agent Coulson to be on edge about Hulk.

Nevertheless, Thor didn’t question Agent’s decisions regarding his beloved. It wasn’t his place.

When Thor landed on the building’s roof, Hawkeye was leaning heavily on a chimney, clutching his bow in hand. His face was pale with a thin sheen of sweat with eyes half-mast, and his unoccupied hand was clenched in a tight fist.

”Hawkeye?” Thor called hesitantly. ”Are you feeling unwell?”

Something in the archer’s pose deflated and he turned from Hawkeye the Avenger into Clint, Thor’s friend. ”Yeah, you could say that,” he chuckled weakly. ”Could you just... take me to Phil?”

”Certainly,” Thor said and gave him an assessing look. ”Can you stand on your own?”

Clint swallowed thickly and shook slowly his head. ”I don’t think so.”

Thor nodded. ”I see. I will support you then, if you allow it.”

Clint didn’t open his eyes, just made a vague waving motion with his hand.

Thor took that as permission and stepped forward. He scooped Clint under his arm — quite like he did with his Lady Jane, in fact — and took flight.

When they landed into the clearing where the rest of the team was waiting, Clint stumbled. Thor stabilized him, but before he had the chance to ask if he was alright, Agent Coulson was already there. He tucked Clint into a tight embrace and guided Clint’s nose to rest against his neck.

Instantly, Clint’s whole frame relaxed and he almost melted against his mate.

”Thank you, Thor,” Agent Coulson said over Clint’s shoulder as a clear dismissal.

Satisfied that Clint was going to be alright, Thor nodded and left the pair alone.

The debriefing later that day was quieter than normally. Just as always, the table in the Tower’s conference room was laden with food and correct report forms, but the room was lacking two very distinctive things: Agent Coulson and Clint.

”Is Hawkeye alright?” Thor asked Lady Natasha as he helped himself his third sandwich.

Lady Natasha quirked her brow. ”All things considered… yes, I think he’s just fine. Why?”

Thor shrugged. ”Earlier today, he seemed to be feeling ill. And Son of Coul asked me to get him instead of asking Hulk or Iron Man.”

Lady Natasha let out a noncommittal hum and took a delicate sip of her tea. Thor knew her well enough to wait until she was ready to say whatever she redeemed necessary for him to hear.

After a moment, Lady Natasha lowered her empty cup on the table. ”How much of our biology do you understand?”

”I know it is different from the Asgardian one,” Thor said slowly. ”We only have two genders, male and female, while you have three subgenders to both.”

Lady Natasha nodded. ”Correct. And while you have only one gender able to carry a child, we have four.”

Thor stopped to blink. ”Four?”

”Yes. Female and male betas and omegas are our carriers, albeit the male betas are less fertile than the others.”

Thor lowered the rest of his sandwich on the plate in front of him and frowned. Male carriers?

Even after Loki’s more adventurous affairs, that sounded ludicrous. At least Loki had been dealing with magic that had temporarily changed him to female, which made sense in a warped way. Thoroughly male carriers in what seemed a perfectly normal world sounded crazy.

After the Great Battle of New York, when Thor had been properly introduced to the others, they had mentioned their secondary genders in an offhand way. He hadn’t paid it much attention to, since it made little difference to him. Now he tried to look back and remember… Steve and Tony were alphas, as was the Hulk, whereas Bruce was a beta. Natasha hadn’t said much, just quirked a smile and shot Clint an exasperated look when he had said she could be whatever she wanted.

Clint, on the other hand, had flippantly introduced himself as the teams quota omega.

Thor glanced at Lady Natasha who was watching him with a small, serene smile. She looked like she was waiting for something. His eyes went wide as he understood.

”Hawkeye is with child?” He exclaimed.

Lady Natasha winced a bit about his volume.

From the other side of the table, Tony snorted. ”Nope. Clint is knocked up, which makes things a bit hard on Hawkeye.”

Thor frowned. ”I don’t understand.”

”It’s uncommon for an omega to be in as physically demanding a position like Clint is, let alone do something as dangerous as Hawkeye does,” Lady Natasha explained.

”Let me put it this way: if an Asgardian woman gets pregnant, how does her partner react?” Steve asked.

Thor didn’t need to think about the answer. ”They get concerned, of course, and more protective. It’s normal.”

Steve nodded. ”See, you are demigods and you still act like that. Here in Midgard, the secondary gender instincts make things a lot more… interesting. Alphas in general are protective about the people they care about, and even more about their mates. Alphas and omegas form the strongest bonds, and, consequently, have the strongest instincts as well.”

”Ah,” Thor mused. ”So Agent Coulson is even more protective about Clint than usual.”

”Yep,” Tony mumbled, his mouth full. Lady Natasha cleared her throat and Tony swallowed before continuing. ”And he didn’t want me or Hulk to get Clint because we’re alphas. He doesn’t trust us.”

”Yes, he does,” Bruce chided. ”He just can’t help his instincts. Clint’s pregnancy has Phil’s alpha instincts on overdrive. As a result, to his alpha side, Thor is the safest choice. You have no secondary gender which makes you, pardon my language, null.”

Thor nodded. Even though he had no offspring of his own, he had no problems understanding instincts and protectiveness. The idea of a child inside Clint still didn’t make sense.

A couple of days later, Thor walked into the common living room to see Clint slouching on the couch.

”May I join you?” He asked.

Clint dropped his head against the backrest to look at him. ”Yeah, sure.”

Thor sat carefully down, in case Clint was still feeling ill. He glanced at his friend and frowned at the bright green things Clint had in a bowl.

”Wasabi peanuts,” Clint said. ”Want a taste?”

”Why not?” Thor mused and took a couple. They were pungently spicy and he found didn’t like them that much.

Apparently, his face told Clint as much as the archer grinned.

”They are for acquired taste,” he said and popped a handful into his mouth. ”Phil can’t stand them,” he mumbled cheerily.

After a couple of more handfuls of the spicy peanuts, he reached out for a glass waiting on the coffee table, and took a hearty sip of some thick, white liquid.

”Pregnancy, uh,” Clint said. ”Makes you crave weird shit. I mean, the wasabi peanuts are bad, but this?” He saluted Thor with his glass. ”This is just evil. And awesome.”

”What is it?” Thor asked, cocking his head. The liquid looked a bit like milk, but milk usually wasn’t that thick.

”It’s kefir. It’s kinda like soured milk, but without the clumps. Supposedly good for you.” Clint took another gulp and smacked his lips together. ”Phil and I, we discovered this years ago on an op in Russia. Nat refuses to drink this, says it brings back too much bad memories. Phil thinks it’s sentient slime or something. He’s not wrong, you know.”

”Then why are you drinking it?” Thor asked, confused.

”Because of this,” Clint said and poked his abdomen. ”Makes me do all sorts of stuff.”

Thor fell silent for a moment, thinking. He eyed Clint’s abdomen, but it was as flat as ever, and no sign of softness or roundness belied the new life growing inside him.

”This is weird for you, isn’t it?” Clint asked, not unkindly.

Thor made a face. ”Perhaps a little, yes,” he said sheepishly. ”In my world, only females can carry a baby. An idea of a male with a child is… disconcerting.”

”Must be yet another oddity of our world to deal with,” Clint huffed and shook his head.

”How is it?”

”What? The pregnancy?”

Thor frowned. ”Being an omega, as you say. You are obviously a male.”

Clint grinned. ”Yep. Manly bits and all.”

”Then how can you be pregnant?”

Clint paused mid-chew and gave Thor a long look. ”I can give you an Omega Anatomy 101 if you want me to, but that would be a bit awkward.”

Embarrassed, Thor hurried to say, ”I apologize if I offended you, I did not mean that.”

Clint shook his head. ”No, it’s not that. It’s just… I grew up on a Circus, remember? I know how my body works, but that’s pretty much it. If you want to know more, Bruce can fill you in.”

Thor nodded. They sat in silence for a moment, then Clint huffed a small laugh.

”Go on, ask.”

”I do not wish to pry.”

”Nah, it’s okay,” Clint waved his hand in a Just get on with it! motion.

Thor nodded again and gave Clint a searching look. ”In Asgard, pregnancy is highly valued and the expecting women are protected. Carrying new life is sacred, and something about it makes our women softer. You…” he waved his hand at Clint’s direction. ”You are not soft. I cannot think you as soft.”

Clint gave him a wry smile. ”Can you think about how the Lady Sif would be if she ever got pregnant?”

Thor paused and blinked. ”You are not wrong,” he then said with a grin.

Clint downed the rest of his drink and leaned back against the cushions. ”It’s strange. I always knew I was an omega, but I guess I didn’t fully understand what it meant. Circus isn’t the best of places to learn about the normal things, you know? And I never thought I’d end up pregnant on purpose.”

He paused for a moment. Thor stayed silent, giving his friend the time and space he needed.

”I never thought any of this would be for me. A family and friends. A mate,” Clint said softly. ”I never thought I’d be in a place I’d feel safe enough to have a kid. Never, before Phil. He puts up with my shit, and the team puts up with my shit, and… I guess I just feel at home. It feels right.” He shrugged and put his hand on his stomach.

”But I’ll be bloated and bitchy, and my feet will swell and I’ll be disgusting, and you’ll still be stuck with me, Phil,” Clint said with a slightly louder voice, and turned his head to look behind them.

Thor hadn’t even realized Agent Coulson had stopped on the doorway, but the bond he and Clint shared must’ve alerted Clint.

Agent Coulson rolled his eyes as he strode towards them. ”The only disgusting thing about you is that white slime you insist on drinking,” he said fondly and pressed a gentle kiss on Clint’s forehead.

With a content sigh, Clint turned his head to press his nose against Agent Coulson’s neck, baring his throat in the process. Even Thor, who wasn’t tuned into the gender dynamics of Midgard, understood what a display of utter trust it was.

With a small smile, he stood up, excused himself, and let Clint and his mate enjoy each other’s company in peace.

No matter how odd male going through pregnancy still felt to him, he couldn’t wait to see the little Hawk, whenever he or she was ready for this world.