The next day started the same way as the day before, with Janet arriving, Clint trying to get some revenge on her (which backfired) and Steve gave some instructions before they left for the day. Unlike yesterday, Jan decided to stay indoors. She fed Peter his breakfast, a plain, boring porridge which he didn't like, so she had to bribe him with a cookie. She then sat him down with some crayons and some paper, while she explored more of the upper floors of the tower. She'd found peter's bedroom and three others (including Clint's) as well as the two labs. Today, she wanted to get her bearings on the top floor.

When she stepped out of the lift, she was hit with an unusual smell. It was florally, but then also stank of smoke. She'd never encountered incense before, but something at the back of her mind told her that was what it was. She stepped out of the lift and through the double doors that lead to a large communal space. This was the same on all of the other five floors, so she assumed it was how it was here too. The room was a lot barer than the other floors. The curtains had been thrown wide open and the air was filled with the scented smoke. No wonder this is on the top floor, everyone else would be smoked out! The carpets seemed to be oriental style rugs layered out in a mismatch of patterns and colours. As she looked around the room, she noticed a figure sat cross-legged on the floor. Jan couldn't see them that clearly through the smoke, but she could make out dark hair and the faint outline of glasses on his nose. Bruce. He hadn't seemed like the spiritual type. She stepped forward to announce herself, so he wouldn't be startled, like Nat had warned her about.

"Hi, sorry to just turn up like this but-"

"AAAAHHH!" He screamed at her, as he leapt up. Jan didn't know what was going on until she saw him reach for a pillow and cover himself. Shit! She hadn't noticed through the smoke, but Bruce was butt naked. She turned around sharply shielding her eyes.

"I'm sooo sorry! I didn't know- with all the fog- I promise I didn't see anything!" She started to panic, remembering that somehow, this little squirt managed to transform into the big green destroying machine on a regular basis. She quickly ran to the elevator and climbed in before anything else could be said.

Downstairs, Jan discovered that Peter had grown bored of just writing on paper and had taken to drawing a life-sized self-portrait on the wall.

"PETER!" She wailed at him. He dropped the crayons and spun round to cling onto her leg.

"Do you like my picture?" He gave her the puppy dog eyes that could let him get away with murder.

"Peter," She sighed, knowing a lost battle when she saw one. "It's a very nice picture, but you can't do stuff like that on the walls!"

"But daddy said I could do it!"

"Daddy's at work-"

"Not that daddy." He rolled his eyes, like it was the most obvious thing in the world that his other daddy had said that and not Steve. Jan took a moment to process this information but decided to let it slide. It wasn't her place to get involved with relationships. But she had an idea on how to deal with this mess.

"Have your dads" That was weird to say. "Ever read you Cinderella" He nodded, his eyebrows crunching together in confusion. "Well, do you want to play Cinderella?"

"Cinderella's for girls!" He stuck out his tongue, which also caused him to go all cross-eyed. She couldn't help but giggle at that face.

"No, we'll do a special version. You help me clean up this mess, and then I'll let you dress up however you want for lunch." He thought for a moment at the offer.

"But I don't have any dressy up clothes!" Jan glanced down at her watch and thought quickly.

"Well once we've cleaned up... um... When's your birthday Peter?" He sat down and started to tap his chin with a chubby finger.

"Ma birthday is the 15th of ow-gust!" He announced proudly with a smile. His parents had obviously been teaching him to say that. Jan did some maths in her head.

"That was only a couple of weeks ago! Well, Peter, since you don't have any dressy up clothes, after we've cleaned this up, I'll take you out to buy some as a late birthday present. How does that sound?" His eyes shone and he bobbed his head up and down before running over to the kitchen and trying to reach the bottle of bleach on the counter.

"No Peter! You're not allowed to play with that!" She ran after him, in a sudden panic.

Bruce had managed to creep downstairs and go into his lab without another awkward encounter with the nanny. Steve had said he should've mentioned his morning routine, but it had slipped his mind and well, now he had learnt his lesson. When lunchtime came around and he didn't have work left to do, he realised he would have to face her. His rumbling stomach also decided then would be a good idea to remind him he hadn't had breakfast either. He would've had breakfast up on the top floor, but Clint had managed to eat everything up there and so until he went shopping, he had to use the main kitchen to get food.

He left the lab and looked either way down the corridor. He couldn't see anyone and for a moment, he wondered if they had gone out like yesterday. Unluckily for him, he heard Peter squeal from the living room. Oh well, It's now or never. He shuffled down the hall awkwardly and walked into the big open space. Peter was sat in his high-chair against the counter and the Nanny (Jo, Jan?) was at the microwave, trying to get it to work. As soon as he spotted him, Peter screamed out.

"UNCA BRUCE!" He didn't know if it was the sudden enthusiasm when he entered a room, or the fact that he had always chosen to play with him when given the choice, but Bruce had the sneaking suspicion that he was his favourite uncle (though he would never admit that in front of the others).

"How you doin' Peter?" His nephew was wearing what seemed to be a black onesie with two sticks coming out the back on either side. "Whatcha wearin' kiddo?" He asked flicking one of the sticks and watching it as it bounced up and down. Peter gave a giggle.

"He's meant to be a spider, though I had to improvise as the shop has started stocking for Halloween yet." Said the nanny from the corner. She stood up and turned to Bruce. "Do you know how to work this thing?" He nodded and headed over to wear she was stood. Tony had always wanted the most advanced stuff in his house, but it often made it hard for everyone else to use it.

"How long do you want it for?"

"2 minutes." He pressed the buttons, and the plate inside started to turn, and the timer started. For a moment, he thought that maybe she had forgotten about this morning. He was wrong.

"I'm really sorry about this morning, I didn't realise you were up there, I mean-"

"It's okay, I was meant to tell you last night, but I kinda forgot." They both gave awkward smiles and avoided one another's gaze.

"What would you like for lunch?" She asked suddenly, stepping away and searching through the cupboards. "I'm heating up some soup for me and Peter. There should be enough for you as well, but if you want something else I could-"

"Soup's fine." He said. He went to sit with Peter at the counter. Jane closed the cupboard and went to sit on the other side of Peter. The kid looked to the adults on either side of him; he could sense the tension between them, but was unsure on what to actually do, so his head just kept swinging from one side to the other. When the beeper went off, Janet leapt up to get some bowls. She served out the soup and handed the two boys their bowls before sitting back down with hers. It wasn't too warm because she didn't want Peter to burn himself. As she started to spoon the stuff into Peter's mouth, Bruce tried to strike up a conversation.

"So Nat said you had a boyfriend. What does he do? I mean like is he Wall Street or-"

"He's a Biochemist." She said casually, trying to avoid questions, but Bruce could never resist asking about other scientists.

"Oh, so what area does he work in? Pharmaceutical? Toxicology?"

"Ants, mainly. He's technically an entomologist, but he's just obsessed with those little things!" Bruce had some odd interests when it came to science, but for someone like her to be dating someone who was obsessed with ants? It seemed a little weird.

"And what about you? Are you a professional nanny? I mean, not that that's a bad thing or anything, it's just-" She laughed as Peter tipped his bowl all over the counter. She handed him a piece of bread and started on her soup.

"No, I went to college, I got a PhD in Molecular biology, but I only really did that to get close to Hank. I'm just kinda floating at the moment, trying a bit of this, a bit of that, but when I saw this job in the paper; it just seemed a bit more permanent you know and I've always been good with kids." She took a sip of her soup before continuing. "At least I thought I was. I have no idea what to do with this one. He doesn't seem to like any of his toys. The only time he really seemed to be having any fun was when he was running around in the park yesterday, though I don't think Steve would be very happy if I put monkey bars in the front room now." Bruce was amazed at how quickly the girl could talk. It had only really registered with him that she said that she had a freaking PhD!

"Well, playing with toys is kind of his dads' thing. We all have something he likes to do with us. With me he likes blowing stuff up in the lab. He plays pretend with Nat, 'cause she's so good with all the different accents. I'm not quite sure what Clint used to do with him, but it didn't last long and Thor-"

"Thor?"

"Oh, he doesn't live here, just comes and goes when he's needed. He just tells Peter stories for a straight hour and he'll just sit there and listen." He'd never really thought about how they all had their separate things that they did with Peter. To them, it was all just play.

"I guess my thing could be letting him run around a little." She got up from her seat and went to the sink to get a cloth. The soup still lay in a puddle on the counter and now Peter was trying to Aim pieces of bread at the red splotch.

"Yeah it could. The only problem being that you can't really play tag in here. The best game is hide-and-seek and whenever we play that it's always Clint or Nat that win. The kid never stands a chance!" He picked up his now empty bowl and placed it in the sink. Janet went over to wipe the counter and also to snatch any remaining food from Peter's reach. If he was hungry later, well, she'd deal with that then.

"Nat said the other night that everyone had kind of been banned from looking after Peter. Why were you banned?" She carried on wiping the side. She thought she knew the answer, but she wanted to know, because she wanted to know whether or not she should be scared. Bruce on the other hand, could already tell she knew the answer.

"Yes it's for the reason you're thinking of, but it was my own choice. I nearly 'Hulked out' one night when I was alone with him and I just couldn't risk it. At least if I'm with one of the others, they can try and protect him."

"But what if it happens on a day like this, when it's just me here? All the other guys are freakin' superheroes! I can just fl- I mean I'm not strong or deadly like them. What exactly can I do to help?" Bruce knew what she meant and he had already thought of it. The truth was that just having someone around helped him keep his calm. It meant he could separate himself if things got too much and then not have to worry about what Peter was doing.

"Trust me; you're more help than you think you are." He patted her on the shoulder. It was an odd thing to do, but since he was about twice her age, it seemed more appropriate than a hug or anything else. She smiled and finished the cleaning up. Bruce was about to leave to go back upstairs, but he just had to ask something.

"Where'd ya get the money from the costume?"

"Oh, I got it as a late birthday present for him! It wasn't too much, it's okay." Bruce was a little uneasy about her having to spend her own money on the kid, but if he thought it was being a problem, he could mention it to Steve.

That was the last normal moment of the day. For at that exact moment, Thor had appeared at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ with Loki in tow...