The bed was moving. Natasha sat up quickly, knocking something-or someone- over in the process. She looked around and sighed. Clint was curled up next to her and Maria had stood up and resumed jumping on the end of Natasha's bed. Natasha put her head in her hands and tried to wake up fully. She looked to Maria. "Are you the only one up?"

Maria nodded. "Thor snores."

Natasha smiled. "I know. Are you hungry?"

Maria nodded again. "Want pancakes."

"Then pancakes you shall have."

Maria grinned and Natasha glanced at the clock, suppressing a sigh when she saw the time; it was just after six-thirty in the morning. Maria started jumping on the bed and woke up Clint who laughed and joined in. Natasha shook her head and grabbed both children mid-jump and tucked them under her arms as she headed to the kitchen. Maria's tinkling laugh woke Steve, who wandered out and helped Natasha cook, also following behind her and washing the odd dish before he decided to take Maria and Clint to the living room and asked JARVIS to play Frozen at Maria's request.

As the pancakes browned on the griddle, Natasha mentally planned out the day. As soon as Pepper got home, Natasha would run to the store—the kids couldn't keep wearing clothes that were too big for them. After that, Natasha figured that some time at the park was in order so that the kids could blow off some steam. As Natasha was wondering what to do for lunch and dinner, a mug pressed into her hand and the aroma of coffee filled the air. Natasha looked over to find Steve smiling at her. "You looked like you could use some caffeine. And I left it plain because I don't know how you like your coffee."

Natasha pulled Steve into a hug. "I like my coffee black. It's perfect, thank you."

Steve smiled and blushed and Natasha laughed as she flipped the last pancake onto the towering stack and set the plate of food onto the table before taking a sip of coffee and setting to work to work waking the rest of the kids. Tony was already up and tinkering with scrap metal, confusing Natasha as to where and how he got it. Natasha only had to say "breakfast" for Tony to run out of his room, into the kitchen, and launch himself into a chair, making Natasha cringe as she heard a crash, followed shortly by "Nothing broke!" then "Wait, I lied. Was that vase always here?" and finally "Um, I'm bleeding."

Natasha ran out with the first-aid kit that Pepper always made sure was full. She gently pulled the small glass shard from Tony's palm while lecturing him on being careful and not running in the house. Natasha covered the cut with a band-aid and swept up the broken glass.

The crash had woken Thor, who came running out, hammer at the ready. Upon seeing breakfast on the table, Thor plopped down in a chair and waited with a fork in hand. Natasha gently shook Bruce awake, not wanting him to miss out, but after he called her a few choice words, Natasha let him ho back to sleep, deciding that she'd talk to Pepper about what to with him later.

As Natasha sat down at the table, Clint crawled into her lap and Natasha smiled, putting a pancake on both of their plates while Steve helped Maria, Thor shoveled food into his mouth while complementing Natasha's cooking, and Tony are happily, chatting with Thor about television.

Pepper came home just after the dishes were done and Natasha was pouring her third cup of coffee. Pepper gaped at the kids and looked to Natasha before smiling. "You look tired, the kids keep you up?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Very funny. I was up until one with Bruce and after he went to bed, I went to bed, but got woken up by Maria because Clint was having a nightmare. This happened twice before Clint just gave up and spent the night in my bed. Maria woke me up at six-thirty and I got all of two hours of sleep."

Pepper chuckled. "How many of them are there?"

"Six. Clint, Tony, Steve, Maria, Bruce, and Thor."

Pepper frowned, looking into the living room. "I only see five."

"Bruce is still sleeping." Pepper grabbed a cup of coffee and Natasha sighed. "Speaking of the alter ego of our large green friend, I'm going to need some help dealing with Bruce."

Pepper frowned. "Why?"

"Bruce has a terrible attitude. He instigated three fights just last night and called me a few… inappropriate words this morning."

Pepper raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Bruce as in Bruce Banner, mild-mannered scientist that helps Tony in the lab?"

"That's the one."

"Bruce is moody? I find that hard to believe."

"JARVIS, play with footage from Bruce's room this morning."

A screen dropped down from the ceiling and Natasha's conversation with Bruce was played. Natasha touched Bruce's shoulder and he jerked awake, glaring at Natasha and asking what the (insert curse word here) she wanted. When she said that she had made breakfast and he might want to get up, Bruce had sat up quickly and he looked more than angry. "You woke me up this early for f***ing breakfast? What the f*** is wrong with you, you bi***?! You stupid bi***!"

Pepper gaped at the screen. "What is his problem?"

Natasha sighed again and shrugged. "I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the other guy. The Bruce we know knows how to control his anger. What if the other guy is present, but Bruce doesn't know how to control him now?"

As if on cue, there was a crash, a familiar roar, and a shrill scream as Tony ran past them. "I just wanted to know if he'd play Monopoly with me!"

A/N: So, thoughts anyone? Thanks to all who reviewed!