[lxcttrll]

Nick let out a soft sigh at the feeling of Brad rubbing his back, allowing himself to relax. "I'm sorry if I seem like I'm pushing you away. My Spidey senses are just really sensitive and I don't like being suddenly touched," he explained, pulling away from Brad's chest to look him in the eye. "I'm really grateful you're letting me stay here and everything, so I'm sorry if I'm acting like an asshole."

[bhdire8]

Brad blinked a few times, for the first time realising what it had been for the fellow superhero. "i-i... i'm sorry.. i didn't know...." he stuttered. "i-if i had known, i wouldn't do that. or at least i would ask for your permission before touching you... i'm j=just so used to physical touches. I'm sorry...." he blushed at th emebarrassment, half because of how he had felt bad when Nick had no intention of pushing him away, another half from being this dense and not realise the discomfort he was causing the other man.

"It's.. nothing. A-and.. and I'm so happy you aren't... pushing me away." he said in a whisper, too embarrassed to say it properly. he was the one being demanding now. "i... i like you and my usual way of showing affection is from touches.... i'll not do that now that I know it's only going to make you nervous! i swear!" the lieutenant said, straightening himself raiisng his hand in the air.

[lxcttrll]

"No, no, it's okay. Just let me know when you want a hug or something," Nick assured, taking a step back and stretching, allowing a few joints to pop. As his arms came down, one hand rubbed at his belly, a small smile on his face at the reminder of his baby. "I mean, it's good that you like me, considering we're gonna be having a baby. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't think you were handsome... We should think of names and figure out nursery stuff. If you don't have anything to do today," Nick suggested.

[bhdire8]

Brad's smile echoed that of Nick's. "I will remember to do that... Spidey." he teased. "can I touch it as well?" he asked before he reach out to touch his bump.

And they did exactly that, setting up the nursery was the first thing, just looking at the possibility of cribs had taken a fiar amount of their day, and then they had further went to look for baby clothes... and o their amusement, both of their sutis were available in onesies - and what other choice did they have other than placing immediate orders?

(hmm, some time skip? )

It could be the safe shelter, or it could be because of the lovely food theyh were served in the pnethouse, all maybe several factors added together, but eventually Nick had started to regain his appetite and to Brad's astonishment, whatever weight the Ice Crawler managed to put on all concentrated on his bu mp.

[lxcttrll]

Nick was content at Brad's side, happy to develop their relationship further, and spent most nights in Brad's bed instead of his own. Nick liked that he was gaining weight in all the right places, and honestly didn't mind any stretch marks he was getting along his hips and belly. If it meant their son was growing at a good rate, Nick would wear them with pride.

It was a nice night of takeout and a movie, Brad half-asleep and Nick just barely awake. He was alert, though, when he felt some movement in his belly, grabbing Brad's hand and pressing it to the spot where a few little kicks could be felt. Nick let out a little chuckle, grinning over at Brad. "Baby boy's saying hi."

[bhdire8]

Brad was barely conscious when his hand was grabbed. thanks to his ability he was in high alert immediately and... well, what came under his palm wasn't exactly the "attack" he was expecting.

He looked up in disbelief at Nick - it was the first real kick he had felt. Granted the baby had started moving long before that, but they weren't strong enough for him to feel... and this time. "our boy.... that's our boy!?" he said rather astonished. "oh my..." tears welled up in his eyes. there was never a moment as this one that hit him as hard - he was really going to be a father, and that their baby boy was growing very healthily in Nick...

[lxcttrll]

Nick leaned over and kissed Brad's cheek, cuddling close to his boyfriend. "Yeah, that's him. We really need to think of a name for him, that's probably why he's trying to get out attention," he laughed. "God, I can't wait to meet him."

[bhdire8]

"won't be long now..." Nick's belly visibly ballooned up and sometimes he was worried looking at Nick moving around, his belly barely contained making him look like he could easily topple - but in genearl he had retained a remarkable level of agility, must be his spider instincts kicking in.

"How about Quintus?" he suggested. "it's a Greek name isn't it?" he smiled suggesting some relation to Nick's roots.

[lxcttrll]

"Yeah, Quintus is Greek. I was actually thinking Marcus, or maybe Antony," Nick suggested, rubbing his belly with a dreamy smile. "I dunno. I'd probably be happy with anything, I'm so in love with him already."

[bhdire8]

"i like Marcus more...." Brad said thinking about it. "And true....we just had blurry pictures of this little one, but already I'm so proud of you. you hear me, boy?" he smiled talking childishly to Nick's bump, adding his hand on to stroke it softly.

While they were indulging in domestic life, however, the gang had seized this opportunity to expand further, their territory expanded so quickly, they somehow managed to get wind of where the pair was sharing a flat. unbeknownst to them, they had been under surveillance for some time now, the gangnoting the peculiar physique of Nick with much interest....

[lxcttrll]

"We'll settle on Marcus, then. You can pick his middle name, if you want, since I kinda chose his first name," Nick smiled, lacing their fingers together over his bump.

The remaining few weeks of his pregnancy went as smoothly as possible, though Dr. Miller put Nick on bed rest, not wanting him to be under too much strain with all male pregnancies falling under the 'high risk' category. Of course, that also meant Nick was alone in the apartment a lot, with Brad tending to his duties and John off running errands. It was one of those days where Nick was all by himself, napping in the sitting room with the TV on. Before Nick could even fully wake up, a few members of the gang had broken into the apartment, tied Nick up, and knocked him unconscious before toting him away to an unknown location.

[bhdire8]

The middle name alone was enough to send Brad into a namesearch frenzy, he had been struggling to decide on one name. At some point, eh even declared he had enough names he liked for an entire soccer team - and looked at Nick with some hopeful look. maybe... maybe they could use them all at some point.

Brad returned home, still in his suit, to find the apartment empty. The sign of a break in was obvious and Brad couldn't believe all the safety measures he'd put in place had failed. It later turned out one guard around their building was a member of the gang, allowing htem access ot practically any place within the building. He could not help but be fearful fo rhis love.r..where would you be, Nick?

the Lieutenant had always upheld his moral standards, but at times li ke this, he was almost driven mad. He went straight up to raid the nearest hiding place that he knew of and grabbed the regional leader of the gang.. He pushed him towards the edge of the roof and asked. "WHERE IS THE ICE CRAWLER!" Brad had never threatened someone like this, but it was Nick and Marcus that were at risk here, with Nick being so heavily pregnant, he HAD to find them soon...

[lxcttrll]

Nick had no idea where he was, but it was dark, and he was tied to a chair. The good news, though, was that little Marcus was kicking like a madman, letting Nick know he was alive. Nick held onto that feeling, not bothering to look around the room, knowing there wasn't much he could do. He knew there was a guard at the door, but other than that, there wasn't anybody around. What bothered Nick the most, though, was that this gang now knew what his face looked like.

The leader struggled in Brad's grasp, glancing behind him at the concrete far below. "He ain't here, that's all I know," the leader replied, still trying to push Brad's hands off of him despite knowing he was no match for the lieutenant. "He's tied up somewhere dark and secluded with that baby of yours."

[bhdire8]

"how could you not know! don't tyou think i won't hurt you .... good thing you know the baby's mine, be prepared to take my wrath... you and your gang's gonna regret when you burn in hell....." he dragged the leader up at his collar, pullling him up to say directly into his ear.

Reaching down, the lieutenant snapped the little finger of the leader, causing him to cry out loud and squrim with the pain. "So? you have 9 more chances to say before i snap some OTHER parts of you... WHERE IS HE!" He said, not believing this man knew nothing of Nick's whereabouts.

[lxcttrll]

"Oh, God! Really and truly, man, I don't know! I got word that we caught him and are moving him to a secure location. It ain't here, they woulda told me!" the leader cried, squirming to try to get out of Brad's grip.

It was hot. Nick wasn't sure if the gang was doing it on purpose, or if it was just generally hot, but as the Ice Crawler, Nick didn't like heat. However, this soon began to play as his advantage. His sweating eventually allowed him to wriggle out of his restraints and inconspicuously take out the guard at the door. He still had his web shooters (good thing these gang members weren't the brightest), so he went up to the rafters of the building, stealthily taking out hang members one by one and looking for a way out.

[bhdire8]

At thsi pont Brad was more convinced this guy really knew nothing - but for safe measures he snapped another of his finger, this thumb this time, making the man scream and, to his disgust, wet his pants at the pain. He threw him back onto the roof. "oh can't you be more of a gronw up? where do you know as secure locations? huh?" he said, keeping his distance, he stomped on the injured hand to squeeze the last bit of information out of the guy before leaving him on the roof, himself darting out to visit that list of locations the gang had provided.

"Kick his stomach!" The gangs put up a fight, one of the leaders shouted as he was kicked to the floor, hinting his companion on how to best tackle the ice crawler noting his obvious weakness.

[lxcttrll]

Surprisingly, Nick was still pretty light on his feet and could fight, even with his center of gravity a little thrown off by his belly. He was careful not to let any gang members get too close to him, though, knowing they were probably aiming for his belly. He tried not to do so much hand-to-hand combat as he did with webbing people to the floor or to a wall.

It took a while, but Nick eventually cleared the base, though he knew he couldn't stay there and wait for help. He climbed up to the roof, and stealthily leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he felt like he was safe, finally sitting down to rest. Marcus was still squirming and kicking, so Nick rubbed his belly to try to calm the baby a little. "We're safe, it's okay."

[bhdire8]

It was as if there was a pair of invisible hands guiding the pair together. Brad was running and leaping between buildings, rushing from one place to another trying to track down his lover. It had been more than a day since Nick was kidnapped, and the lieutenant was more than nervous.

He was about to jump to the other building, ready to take off again... when he saw a dark shadow at the corner. Just then, a breeze brought the whisper of Nick to the lieutenant's ears and his heart pumped so much faster. "Nick, is that you!" He whispered, walking up to the shadow.

What they didnt know was, the gang had gathered all their men to close in on the pair, determined to get rid of them once and for all.

[lxcttrll]

Nick looked up when he heard someone call his name, his face breaking out into a smile as he sighed in relief. "Hey, yeah," he spoke, lugging himself off of the floor with Brad's help. "The doctor was right, I shouldn't be running around and doing this," he laughed weakly, leaning forward and pressing his face to Brad's chest.

"Get 'em!" someone shouted, the gang members beginning to move in on the pair. Nick couldn't help but groan, turning around and beginning to fight back to back with Brad.

[bhdire8]

Having learnt from their mistake, a lot more people clustered around Nick than Brad this time. They knew Nick was the "weaker" link now - all things relative - and focused on him. the lieutenant tried to break trhough from the crowd surrounding him, but try as he might, the people who were surrounding him aimed more at stalling than hurting him, and he had yet to find a way to break free.

"Nick!" he exlcaimed hearing only a grunt from behind. Quickly turning to his lover, his heart skipped a beat seeing someone attempt to kick his belly - he leapt forward but he was too far - everything played out in slow motion as he watched his fellow superhero swiftly dodged the attack.... but there was another guy come launching towards them from the other side... .