I do not own any of the named/recognizable characters present. They belong to Marvel. Other recognizable things belong to their respective owners. This was written purely for fun.
"Home, sweet home," Tony said on a weary exhale as the car pulled up in front of Stark Tower. The building lobby beyond the vehicle windows was dim, since it was still far too early in the morning for employees to begin arriving for work.
But he didn't want to think about work at the moment, considering it had been all he had been doing since Tuesday morning. Here it was, 4:37 AM Sunday. All he wanted to do was either go fiddle in his workshop or go crash in bed.
The past week had been rough and trying on his nerves. Each meeting with the Board of the west division of Stark Industries told him more and more that they wouldn't reach an agreement that would keep everyone happy. No, the only way the Board would be happy was if the company went back to creating weapons. He'd been out of the business for years now; he didn't understand why they were making such a big fuss about it now.
Well, that wasn't true. The new set of deals that Pepper had worked out during that impromptu trip to Washington DC meant that the executives of the company—which included the Board—would need to take slight pay cuts to fund some new research into green energy. Stark Industries was already years ahead of anyone else, but they had the opportunity to push it further, which would generate more jobs. The pay cuts now would be repaid in full in about a year—with interest—in about a year, should the research come through.
And considering Tony Stark himself would be leading that research, there was no doubt in his mind that this would go through.
But the Board wasn't happy about the pay cuts to their income. No matter how they tweaked the agreements, nothing was settled happily. Stark had even offered to lay down some of his own money, that's how confident he was in this, but the Board wouldn't hear it.
Bunch of stuffy old suits…
The car pulled into the underground parking garage, where they disembarked at last. As the driver started to gather their bags, Tony and Pepper moved off to the elevator that would lift them up to the penthouse. The ride up was quiet, since Pepper was still drowsy from napping both on the plane and on the drive back to the tower. Tony moved to put an arm around her, and Pepper gave him a small smile before she settled against him. It had been a long week for her.
"Straight to bed, then?" Tony asked softly once the elevator was a few floors away from their destination.
Pepper drew a long breath before she straightened herself up. She turned a look over at him. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're not tired," she replied.
As Tony grinned back at her, the elevator slowed to a stop.
"Welcome back," JARVIS greeted them both. "Please mind young Dr. Banner as you walk through the living room."
They exchanged confused looks as the elevator doors opened. What was Bruce doing out of bed at this time of night?
The penthouse beyond the elevator was dim with only the overhead emergency lights illuminating the way. Together, they both exited the lift and approached the living room. The lights were off, but the television was on. There was a man and a woman on screen, both wearing ridiculously colorful outfits while trying to sell some kind of blender. The volume was low, but Tony was able to hear the TV personalities talking about the revolutionary blade as the 1-800 number appeared at the bottom of the screen.
They were sure to be quiet as they approached the sofa and armchairs that circled the television. The only piece of furniture that was occupied was the sofa, where Bruce was sleeping. He was bundled in the dark greyish-blue blanket Tony had given him on the helicarrier those weeks ago, with one of the corners pulled up over his head so he was properly cocooned in the fabric. He was curled into a tight ball, probably with his arms wrapped around his stuffed animal. It looked as if he had shifted just a little in his sleep, for a portion of the blanket was hanging over an eye.
The other one, however, started to flutter. As if sensing their presence, Bruce slowly came awake with a tiny sleepy sound that made Tony smile. The little boy's hand escaped from the confines of the blanket to rub at his eyes, which made the blanket hanging over his face flop backward.
When Bruce's bleary eyes found the couple standing in front of the sofa, a drowsy smile crossed the child's face. "You're back," Bruce said, his mumbled words slurred in his sleepiness. The kid fought sluggishly against the blanket wrapped tightly around him, trying to free himself.
The sight made Tony huff a laugh. He knelt down to help untangle the blanket. "We just got in," he said. He welcomed the happy embrace the boy gave him once his limbs were free from the fabric. After giving Bruce's body a light squeeze, he drew back, letting his hands rest on the child's shoulders. "I hope you weren't waiting up for us," the engineer said, looking Bruce in the eye.
A shadow flickered across the boy's happy expression and he looked away. "I had a bad dream," Bruce admitted in a low whisper. "I couldn't fall back asleep, but I didn't want to wake up Thor, so I asked JARVIS if I could come out here to watch some infomercials, like we did that one time."
As Bruce's eyes drifted over the man's shoulder to see what was on the television screen at the moment, Tony felt a tinge of worry begin to blossom in his chest. Despite how much closer Bruce had gotten with his teammates over the past week, fear of inconveniencing anyone had kept the boy alone in the aftermath of a nightmare.
And despite what had sounded like an awesome day with the team at the museum, the kid still had a nightmare.
Pepper moved from around the back of the sofa to gently sit down on the cushions next to the little boy. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked gently.
Bruce hadn't noticed her presence while he had been talking to Tony, but happiness appeared again as he hugged the redhead. "I've missed you both so much," the boy said into Pepper's side, where his face was tucked against.
Pepper smiled serenely and combed her fingers through his hair. "And we've missed you," she replied.
Tony moved from his kneeling position in front of the sofa and sat down next to Pepper, so the child was between them. He curled an arm around the redhead's shoulders so she leaned against him, letting his other hand wander to the boy's back. "Did you have fun with everyone tonight?" he asked.
The kid withdrew from Pepper's embrace to nod at Tony, and his delighted grin was abruptly ended when he yawned into a tiny fist.
Pepper smiled again. "How about you tell us about it once we've all gotten some sleep," she suggested.
"Do you think you'll be alright back in your room?" Tony asked the child.
Bruce nodded again. "I think I was asleep when you came in," he replied softly in another sleepy mumble. He happily snuggled his face into Tony's shoulder when he was transferred from Pepper's arms to his.
As Tony stood, Pepper collected the blanket and stuffed rhino, and the three of them moved quietly through the dim penthouse and toward the guest suite that had a soft purple light peeking around the open door. They walked to the bed, where Tony gently laid Bruce back down in the rumpled sheets that looked to have been disturbed in a frenzy of thrashing limbs.
Tony wondered uncomfortably if he hadn't been able to see any redness in the kid's eyes because the dimness of the overhead lights.
Before Tony and Pepper could tuck the child back in, Bruce gave them both another hug. "I'm really happy you're back," he murmured softly to the couple. "I really missed you."
"I'm really happy we're back, too," Tony replied airily, reaching over to rustle the kid's hair for a moment. "Believe me, I didn't even want to leave in the first place. Blame Pepper."
"Don't blame Pepper," the redhead replied, gently nudging Tony out of the way so she could press a kiss to the crown of Bruce's head. She smiled again when she saw the content little smile on the boy's face, and she tucked him in. "Get some sleep, Bruce."
" 'kay," Bruce replied in a drowsy mumble as his eyes fluttered shut.
Tony was brought back to Tuesday morning, when he had tucked Bruce in right before Pepper and he had left the little boy in Agent Coulson's care. As he and Pepper moved off toward the door, they could hear Bruce's breathing already beginning to even out, signifying that he had succumbed to slumber once more.
The engineer pulled the door until it was just cracked open, shining just a sliver of purple light onto Pepper, who was waiting behind him.
Pepper took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Come on," she said softly, leading her boyfriend down the hall toward their bedroom. "We should all get some sleep."
Tony met her eyes, and when he saw the exhaustion she had hidden behind a warm smile for Bruce's sake, he nodded. Together, hand-in-hand, they walked through the darkness toward their bedroom to finally get some sleep.
Tony woke up before the alarm set for 9:30 AM could go off. Both he and Pepper had decided to only sleep for a few hours, so their sleep cycles wouldn't be completely off. With only Sunday to recover from any jet lag—and with Pepper's need to be back to full power tomorrow as her usual CEO business-dominating self—she was sure to use the day to her full advantage.
Pepper hadn't woken up yet, so Tony decided to stay in bed until the alarm sounded. He took in her relaxed features as he languidly made himself more comfortable on the mattress, in no hurry to start the day. He knew that the past couple of days had been stressful, but now, laying here on the other side of the cross-country trip, he realized just how much stress it had put on Pepper.
And once he realized he was starting to fall into a light doze, he realized how much stress he himself had been under.
9:30 finally approached, and JARVIS gently yet firmly roused them both. Tony blinked into awareness from the drowsy state he had fallen into and watched Pepper come awake.
When she saw that he was watching, she gave him a sleepy smile. "Good morning," she said softly.
"Morning," Tony returned, reaching over to brush some of her hair from her face. "I vote we have another lazy day."
A thoughtful expression crossed Pepper's face and she looked off, no doubt running her schedule through her head. "I really should work on some of this—"
"No," Tony interjected. "You've been working practically nonstop for weeks now. You even worked on our last lazy day! What you really should do is take a break."
Pepper turned a scrutinizing look toward him. She looked like she wanted to protest, but given how many times she had told him the same thing about working down in the lab, she probably knew better than to be hypocritical. "And I can't convince you otherwise?" she asked regardless.
When Tony answered her question with raised eyebrows, she sighed lightly and rolled onto her back. "Very well, Mr. Stark," she replied. "But that means you can't go down to the labs today either."
"I wasn't planning to," Tony rejoined, and grinned in a faux-innocent manner when she turned a disbelieving look toward him. "I'm not going to the labs today."
"Or the workshop," Pepper added, a smile beginning to tug at the edges of her lips.
Tony huffed. "Or the workshop," he promised.
Pepper let the smile appear and she reached over to lightly pat his hand. "Then it's a deal," she replied, and they both finally got up.
Despite a half-hearted protest, Pepper let Tony shower with her. What some might call a suspiciously long time later, they were ready to head out of their room and begin their day.
When they exited their shared bedroom, Tony had expected to hear some kind of noise coming from the penthouse or within the kitchen. He had expected to hear the television running, or the sound of cutlery or conversation or some other sort of sign that there were other people on the floor, but they were met with silence.
A quick look at Pepper told him that the quiet had caught her off guard, too.
Before they were given much more of a chance to ponder over it, however, JARVIS's voice came from overhead. "Captain Rogers has requested your presence down on the communal floor," he announced.
Just a hint of a blush appeared upon Pepper's cheeks. "I hope he wasn't expecting us sooner," she murmured. When Tony turned a wicked grin toward her, she rolled her eyes and caught one of his hands in hers before she walked off toward the elevator.
It was just after ten fifteen in the morning when they walked off of the lift and onto the communal floor. As soon as they were off the elevator, they were greeted with the sounds they had expected from upstairs: there was a soft sizzling sound from the kitchen, along with what sounded like a spoon gently hitting the sides of a cup as someone stirred sugar into their coffee. There was low conversation, and finally there was a child's soft giggle.
Tony was smiling before he realized it.
Together, they walked into the kitchen, where they found Thor sitting at the table. Natasha was standing at the kitchen island, cutting up a handful of strawberries into bite-sized chunks before tossing them into a separate bowl than the larger bowl on the counter with other sliced fruit. Clint was leaning against the counter, stirring another spoonful of sugar into his coffee and grinning over at Steve and Bruce, who were in front of the stove. They lingered in the doorway to observe the scene.
Thor was the first to notice their arrival. "Ah, welcome back, friends!" he greeted Tony and Pepper with a jovial voice.
The others glanced over to offer their good mornings. Bruce grinned brightly at them, but as he was busy helping Steve make scrambled eggs and making what looked like French toast on his own, he couldn't rush over and hug them as it looked like he wanted to. If they hadn't seen the boy to bed before dawn, Tony wouldn't have even noticed that the kid had been up in the middle of the night, shaken awake from a bad dream.
"We thought we'd take care of breakfast this morning," Steve said as he turned his attention back to the eggs. "JARVIS mentioned that you had requested to be woken up before ten."
Clint smirked knowingly and snorted into his cup of coffee.
As Tony and Pepper pointedly ignored the archer, Natasha turned a look at the other man. Clint immediately tried to put up an innocent expression, but did a laughably poor job. "Why don't you make yourself useful and set the table," Natasha suggested in a manner that meant that her request was more of a command.
"I am being useful," Clint protested in his defense. "I'm coaching Bruce in making the French toast."
Pepper finally stepped further into the kitchen. "Tony and I can set the table," she offered.
Thor immediately got to his feet. "This feast is in your honor, Lady Pepper," Thor said as he gently led Pepper to a seat at the table. "Neither you or Tony are meant to assist us."
"Then maybe Thor can make himself useful and set the table," Clint piped up from across the room. When Natasha turned another look toward him, the archer swiftly focused intently on the French toast Bruce was making with Clint's lack of supervision.
Tony finally snorted a laugh and stepped into the kitchen, too. "Well, I'm not about to complain about a homemade breakfast," he said. He dodged around Thor and the stack of plates he was carrying and moved to the coffee machine. "Pep? Coffee?"
The familiar chaos that came with a kitchen overrun by several people washed over him as he prepared two cups of coffee, one for Pepper and one for himself. Thor worked around the two of them once they had sat down as he finished setting the table, and the demigod moved his own cup of coffee aside before he offered his assistance to Natasha. The redheaded assassin was now cutting a cantaloupe with the kind of terrifying precision that came with her job, so Thor was happy to leave her to her cutting board as he went about washing off berries. Clint continued to keep a vague eye on Bruce, who obviously knew very well what he was doing after his single lesson weeks ago when he had learned how to make French toast. Instead, the archer was teasing Steve about something, and the captain would tease back in such a manner that continued to make the little boy between them giggle softly to himself. When Thor interjected with a few remarks of his own, Bruce would actually let himself laugh.
It amazing Tony how much he realized he had missed this. It was rare for all of the Avengers to be together at any other time than after a mission. Thor split his time fairly equally between Earth and Asgard. Natasha, Clint, and Steve were all active agents in SHIELD, and the captain had his own apartment on the other side of town.
The kind of liveliness in the kitchen that Tony had grown accustomed to was when Dr. Banner would engage in the lighthearted banter between himself, Tony, and Pepper in the mornings before Pepper would go off to her office and Bruce and Tony would disappear into the labs. Tony was now quite fond of those little moments of peace between the three of them, and while it sent a pang of longing through him for full-grown friend, he was thrilled to experience the liveliness his entire team provided.
And as he watched Bruce beat back his hesitance to quietly join in the teasing against Clint, Tony realized that he had this little boy to thank for bringing them all together like this. Before, it was always battle that drew the group together, but battle seemed to be the furthest thing from anyone's mind at the moment. Now, there was only lighthearted banter mixing in with the sound of sizzling bacon and the smell of coffee and freshly cut fruit.
The feeling was intoxicating.
Soon enough, the food was ready. They all helped in putting the food out on the table, and there was a fair amount of chaos as they tried to navigate around each other in getting either mugs of coffee or cups of juice. A few minutes later, all seven of them were seated around the table, digging into the feast that had been put together in honor of their hosts' return.
They all offered their praise to Bruce once they tried the French toast, and Clint easily deflected the boy's attempt to say the praise belonged to the archer, since Clint had hardly supervised. A bashful little smile appeared on the child's face after that, and he offered a softly delighted thank you to the repeated praise.
"So," Pepper began as the meal progressed, scooping another small helping of the fruit salad onto her plate, "does anyone have any plans for the day?"
"I believe friend JARVIS mentioned a possibility of rain to come across the region late this afternoon," Thor replied once he had swallowed most of his mouthful of scrambled eggs, "but the morning sun is most lovely at present."
As the demigod took a hearty swig of his fruit juice to wash down the rest of his eggs, Natasha peered out the window next to the table. "It might be a nice day to go for a walk in the park," she offered.
"The park sounds lovely," Pepper agreed. She smiled over at Bruce, who was seated between Tony and Clint. "Does that sound like something you'd like to do today, Bruce?"
The boy looked thoughtful as he finished chewing the bite of melon and swallowed. He glanced across the table at Steve. "Do you think we could feed the birds again?" he asked quietly, but with hope in his voice.
Steve smiled. "I think that's a definite possibility."
Bruce beamed and looked back up at Pepper. "Then yes," he finally answered in response to her question. His smile faltered a moment later and he glanced between her and Tony. "You don't have to work today?" he asked hesitantly.
Tony hated that the kid thought they needed to work, that their jobs were more important than a day in the company of good friends.
An apologetic smile touched Pepper's lips. "Not today," she answered Bruce.
The smile that appeared on the boy's face was beautiful, and it brought the engineer out of his darkening thoughts. "Maybe we can grab lunch in the city, then," Tony suggested, lifting his coffee mug for a sip.
"That sounds good," Clint piped up. He glanced over at Thor, who was putting a third helping of French toast onto his plate. "When did you say it was supposed to start raining?"
"Sometime past noon," the demigod answered as he reached for the bottle of syrup.
"The local meteorologists predict the rain will begin at roughly three thirty this afternoon," JARVIS supplied helpfully.
Tony grinned. "Perfect," he said. "That gives us plenty of time in the park and a chance to grab a late lunch before the rain starts."
A content and serene smile crossed Pepper's face. "It's a plan, then."
The walk to the park was actually really nice. Tony was so used to flying everywhere—be it on his private jet or as Iron Man—or just living life in the fast lane. It was refreshing to just take a walk and enjoy the nice weather while it lasted. It reminded him of the day at the zoo with Bruce, which had been equally enjoyable as they just walked to exhibit after exhibit with the company of a shy but eager child.
That child had eagerly taken hold of Tony's hand as their walk had begun, and the engineer had nearly hurt himself grinning. Bruce hadn't hesitated or looked for permission as he had done in the past. It continued to astound him with just how far Bruce had come in the few weeks since their teammate had been changed into a skittish little boy.
Bruce had immediately smiled when Pepper took his other free hand in hers. With the boy between them, Tony and Pepper followed after Steve and Thor (both adequately disguised) down the sidewalk with Clint and Natasha bringing up the rear.
They made it to the park unhampered and began to wander around. There were a few other groups of people moving about, but they were left alone to enjoy their time together.
After a few more minutes of exploring, they came across an open grassy area off of the concrete path. The trees that lined the walkway opened up to let the sunlight shine down freely upon the grass.
Clint immediately beamed and unslung the bag he had against his back. Before they had left the tower, Clint and Natasha had vanished, telling the rest of the group that they'd meet them in the lobby.
It appeared that they had taken a detour to the subterranean gymnasium to grab a few things. The archer reached into his bag to pull out a plastic disk and he looked over at Bruce. "You ever play Frisbee, little man?" he asked.
The little boy shook his head and carefully released Tony's and Pepper's hands to that he could approach the archer.
Tony felt himself smile as Clint eagerly beckoned the kid to come closer before he began to explain the game and how to throw the disk. Steve and Thor wandered further into the grassy area, the captain explaining the game as they walked. He turned his attention back to Clint and Bruce as the archer demonstrated the proper throwing technique.
When the engineer felt a familiar hand slip into his, he looked over to find Pepper with a similar smile on her lips. Her eyes were on Bruce, but when she spoke, her words were directed at her boyfriend. "He seems to have come along quite nicely while we were away," she said softly for only Tony to hear.
The man let his gaze fall back to the grassy area in front of them as Clint threw the Frisbee to Steve, who then proceeded to explain how to throw the disk to Thor. Bruce looked much more at ease with the group than he had before. Of course, the last time the kid had been with the entire team had been back on the helicarrier on the day that he had been changed. Then, he had been completely silent and sore and dizzy. He hadn't really smiled, and he hadn't really trusted anyone.
Now, he was learning how to play Frisbee with them. Thor delicately lobbed the disk in a nice throw toward Clint and Bruce, and though the boy ducked and brought an arm up to protect himself when he attempted to catch it (which he missed terribly), he was grinning happily.
"It seems like it," Tony agreed, and stifled a laugh when the boy attempted a throw. The Frisbee went straight into the ground.
Clint knelt down after retrieving the disk and guided the child through the motions, and the next time Bruce tried to throw it, the disk flew nicely through the air and came up short only by a few feet. "There you go!" Clint praised the boy with a smile and pride in his voice, and Bruce grinned in delight.
"You two plan on joining us?" Natasha asked the couple suddenly as she appeared as if out of thin air.
Pepper smiled and offered a nod. "I haven't played since undergrad," she explained, "but I'll give it a try."
Tony and Pepper followed Natasha out onto the grass, where they made a medium-sized shape that could be a circle if you squinted. Together, the seven of them tossed the Frisbee around. Bruce and Thor quickly got the hang of the game. While Thor would sometimes accidentally send the disk way over someone's head and Bruce's throws occasionally lacked the power to reach the person he was throwing to, they all had fun.
When they got tired of that, they broke off into smaller groups. Clint, Steve, and Natasha started tossing around a football while Bruce, Thor, Pepper, and Tony began to search the grass for four-leaf clovers. That eventually dissolved into Bruce and Thor picking those little white flower-weeds that seem to grow wherever grass did ("white clover," Pepper had supplied helpfully) while Pepper and Tony retreated back to the concrete walkway to sit on a bench in the shade.
The couple fell into a pleasant conversation, talking about subjects that didn't involve Stark Industries or cranky old board members or the like.
They were discussing where they ought to take everyone for lunch when Bruce, Thor, and Natasha all came running up to the bench Pepper and Tony were seated on. The demigod and the boy still had the white clover flowers in their hands.
"Natasha said she can braid these flowers into Thor's hair," Bruce explained with a grin as he climbed up onto the bench next to Pepper. His smile brightened when Pepper let her arm drape around his shoulders.
"Did she, now?" Pepper asked, drawing the boy into a half-embrace as Natasha sat down next to Bruce.
"I can do you next, if you like," Natasha replied, a tiny smile touching her lips as Bruce and Thor deposited their collection of flowers into her lap.
"If your hair was a touch longer," Thor began to the redheaded assassin as he sat down upon the ground with his back gently pressed against Natasha's legs, "I would return the favor. My mother Frigga would be able to perform such feats of stunning magic on your length of hair that I, sadly, cannot replicate."
Natasha let Thor's golden locks down from the loose bun it had been in all morning, carding her fingers through his hair until it was straight once more. She glanced over at the child next to her. "Have you ever braided someone's hair before?" she asked.
Bruce nodded. "I've braided Momma's a few times, but never with flowers," he answered.
Tony leaned forward so he could watch. "Do you want to do Pepper's once Natasha's finished with Thor?" he asked. He smiled in encouragement when the boy peeked around Pepper to look at him. "I bet you'll be a pro once Natasha's shown you how to do it."
Pepper smiled. "I'm fine with that," she said, giving the child a smile of her own.
Bruce beamed. "Okay, I can do Pepper's hair," he agreed, and then he turned his attention to Natasha's hands so he wouldn't miss a single detail in what she did with Thor's hair.
Thor kept still as Natasha—and then Bruce—started braiding his hair. He launched into a story about how he and the Lady Sif had once braided Volstagg's beard prior to a grand feast after Thor had insisted it would assist him in garnering the attentions of a fair young warrior. Natasha and Bruce had to pause when Thor got to laughing as the story progressed, but they were all laughing as well.
Another handful of hearty laughs escaped from the demigod before he could continue. "Well, Hildegard did not take kindly to his advances," Thor went on, "and when Volstagg did not make haste in leaving her company, she reached out—" He mimed the actions with his own hand, clutching a meaty fist at the air. "—grabbed his braided beard, and shorn the entire thing with a single slice of her dagger." He laughed uproariously again. "Oh, Volstagg did not speak to neither Sif nor I for a fortnight, nor did he ever allow anyone to braid his beard again."
Once their laughter died down, Natasha affixed the hair-tie to the end of Thor's braided hair. "Well, as long as you don't go and anger Dr. Foster, I don't think this braid will end in an unwanted haircut."
Thor snorted a laugh.
"I feel like we just missed a truly epic story," Clint said as he and Steve walked up.
Natasha looked up at the approaching pair. "Thor was just regaling us with a story from Asgard," she replied deadpan, which made everyone who had heard the story huff a laugh.
After she clapped Thor's shoulder, the Asgardian reached up to feel for the white clover flowers in his braided hair. As his fingers traced around one flower, he grinned radiantly and looked over his shoulder at Natasha and Bruce. "Many thanks, friends," he said.
As Clint and Thor wandered off to go try Frisbee again, Bruce started braiding Pepper's hair. Tony supplied the flowers when Bruce asked for one, ensuring that only the very best of the white clover flowers were used. Natasha supervised the whole thing, but she hardly needed to say anything at all, since Bruce had apparently picked up the skill with ease. Steve was sitting against the trunk of a nearby tree with his sketchpad on his lap. From the sound of shifting paper, Tony imagined that the captain was filling page after page with sketches of the different scenes around them.
When Bruce was finished braiding Pepper's hair, Steve set aside his sketchpad and pulled out the last bit of a loaf of bread that was starting to go stale. Bruce immediately grinned, and as Natasha strolled off to join Thor and Clint, the rest of them began to feed a nearby pigeon. More birds began to appear, and soon they had a swarm of birds vying for their attention and a piece of stale bread.
The clouds were just starting to roll in when they started packing up, and while they didn't look heavy with rain, their greyish hue offered a promise of what was to come. The seven of them left the park and wandered off in search of a restaurant for lunch.
They decided on a buffet-style restaurant to appease everyone. Tony paid for the admittance fee and they were shown to one of the private rooms, since that was the only available space for a party of seven at the moment.
Tony helped Bruce in getting his food since the food displays were far too high for someone as small as the little boy to see. By the time they got back to their private room, the rest of the team was there with full plates.
"Thank you for getting a vegetable," Pepper said to the child when Tony set the plate down upon the table. "You have been getting vegetables while we were gone, right?" she asked.
"Most of the time," Bruce answered with a reassuring smile as he watched Tony cut the broccoli into more manageable bites. "Natasha taught me how to make a spinach pizza, and Clint made steamed green beans the other night."
Clint made a noise around a mouthful of potatoes. He swallowed and looked over at Bruce. "And don't forget that zucchini and squash dish you tried at the restaurant last night," he said.
Bruce grinned. "That's right," he agreed.
Next to the archer, Natasha smiled. "The kid loves his vegetables," she said.
"Speaking of last night," Pepper began, glancing back down at Bruce, "you never told us how your night was last night."
The boy immediately beamed and started to tell Tony and Pepper about the make-believe game they had played after their phone call. Tony found it hard to imagine this group of superheroes playing with dinosaur toys, but he found the notion endearing. From the look on Pepper's face, she must have thought it was the most adorable thing she'd heard in recent history.
"I took pictures," Natasha informed Pepper and Tony when the story had come to an end.
Clint turned a shrewd look toward the spy. "Only because you didn't join us immediately," he pointed out.
"She was but building suspense," Thor said with a wide smile.
"That's right," Steve agreed with a sagely nod of his head. "The Dinosaur Queen needed an entrance of her own."
They all shared a laugh, and the meal went on.
It was just beginning to drizzle when the group got back to the tower. They rode up the elevator together, and Tony was thankful that he had made the private elevators large enough to hold seven people comfortably.
They passed the afternoon comfortably, playing different board games to pass the time. In between games, there was a brief gift exchange in which Tony and Pepper were led to the living room sofa and ordered to close their eyes. When they opened them again, there was a small collection of gifts sitting on the coffee table in front of them. There was a coffee mug with the image of a dinosaur thinking about equations for Tony and two dinosaur themed pens for Pepper, but their main focus was on the pair of little stained glass bowls.
It was easy to tell whose was whose, since one of them was a dark pink and yellow combination—clearly meant to be the Iron Man colors. The other was a collection of a multitude of colors, ranging from purple to light pink, from yellow to blue.
"Bruce and I picked up an arts and crafts kit at the grocery store," Natasha explained as the couple turned their bowls around in their hands, marveling at the craftsmanship. She turned a soft smile over toward the boy, who was watching Pepper and Tony closely and almost anxiously. "Bruce made those for you all by himself."
The child glanced at Natasha. "You did the parts with the oven," he reminded her with a wry little smile.
"But you made the designs," Natasha returned.
"Bruce, they're gorgeous," Pepper said reverently as she lowered her bowl to give the boy a smile that warmed the entire room with its loving affection.
"They're beautiful," Tony agreed, grinning brightly over at Bruce. "Come here," he said as he opened his arms.
The smile that appeared on Bruce's face warmed the room even more than Pepper's ever could have. The boy rushed into Tony's embrace, and Tony pulled the child up onto his lap to give him a full-body hug. "I'm so glad you had fun with everyone," he said softly into the boy's curls. "Thank you so much."
Pepper scooted a little closer to him, and Tony welcomed her into his embrace so that the couple was both hugging the child.
Across the room, Clint cleared his throat. "Y'know, Tasha helped pick out those pens and the mug," he said casually, but he was grinning. "Does she get a hug?"
"Don't even think about it," Natasha replied, which made the archer smirk.
"Oh, hush," Thor chided the two agents. He was smiling at Tony, Pepper, and Bruce. "I think that you make a most handsome trio."
"You are pretty cute together," Steve granted. There was a rather sappy smile on his face as he observed, and Tony could imagine that they would be the subject of an upcoming sketch.
"Disgustingly cute," Clint agreed with a smile of his own.
The embrace loosened, and as they were deciding on which game to play next, Clint made a thoughtful noise. The archer went to go grab the bag he had taken to the park earlier before he turned a grin at the rest of the group. "Maybe now would be a good time to show Thor that move Bruce taught us yesterday."
"Move?" Tony asked even as a radiant smile crossed the Asgardian's face.
"Now would be wonderful," Thor said. "I am most eager to witness this."
"What move?" Tony asked again, looking from Thor to Clint.
It was Steve that answered. "Come see," he answered cryptically with a conspiring wink at Bruce to ensure that the boy did not explain.
They all piled back into the elevator and went down to the underground gym. Pepper and Tony hung back a little bit at Steve, Thor, Clint, and Bruce moved off toward the mats.
Tony realized that Natasha was standing back with him and Pepper. "Did you want your thank you hug?" he asked, opening his arms wide and raising his eyebrows.
"Touch me and I'll break your arm," Natasha replied somehow endearingly. Her eyes were trained on the group on the mat, where Bruce was explaining this move to Thor as Steve and Clint demonstrated. "We were a little surprised to learn this yesterday," she commented almost casually.
Tony glanced away from the group and looked over at Natasha. "What exactly is this move?" he asked.
Natasha's expression was thoughtful. "It's a martial art," she explained quietly so her voice wouldn't carry across the gym. "Bruce says he had a dream about it." She finally looked away from the demonstration to look Tony dead in the eye. "It's called Aikido."
Tony felt like a rug had been pulled from under his feet. His eyes shot back to the other group just as Clint landed bodily on the mat, but his focus was on the little boy. "In a dream, you say?" he heard himself ask as if through a tunnel. His mind was racing.
As Natasha made an affirmative noise in her throat, Pepper glanced between the two of them. "What?" she asked softly. She did not have access to the Avengers' files.
Tony's eyes didn't leave the child across the gym, but he answered his girlfriend. "Bruce was learning how a martial art in his time in Brazil," he explained in a rushed whisper, "to help him control the Hulk."
He didn't need to be looking to know that understanding was dawning on Pepper's face.
"He's getting back some of his memories," Tony concluded. There was no telling how many memories the boy had experienced in his sleep, and he knew that Bruce was reluctant to talk about his dreams, so it would be impossible to find an answer. He wouldn't be able to ask without making the boy uncomfortable—or suspicious. Bruce was incredibly bright, but he still believed that he had been brought to the future by accident. Tony didn't like that they were letting the kid believe what was ultimately a lie, but he didn't want to think about how frightened or worried or upset he would be if he found out he was supposed to be a full-grown man.
Probably best if they let him continue to believe that he was in the future and to keep working on an antidote before the little guy worked out the truth.
"This is big," Tony breathed. He looked over at Pepper. "Bruce and I will be down in the lab tomorrow."
Pepper nodded, and promptly smiled as Thor let out a triumphant cheer when he managed the martial art move against Steve. Clint, Steve, and Bruce all laughed. The CEO glanced over at Natasha, who was watching the group with a fond little smile on her face. "You and the rest of the team are welcome to stay in the tower while we're busy."
The assassin bowed her head graciously. "Thanks, but Coulson has another mission for us. We're due back to the helicarrier tomorrow before noon for the debriefing."
"Maybe we can do another breakfast tomorrow, then," Pepper suggested, "so we can spend some more time together before everyone has to leave."
Natasha smiled. "I think that sounds like a nice idea," she answered.
Pepper returned the smile, but before she was able to say anything, Bruce scurried up to them.
"Did you see?" the child asked eagerly as he looked up at Tony and Pepper.
Tony managed to push aside his rapid thoughts for the moment to grin down at Bruce. He'd have plenty of time to muse over this new discovery tomorrow in the lab. "We sure did," he answered before he drew one of Bruce's hands into his. "How about you teach me so I can try it on Thor?"
Bruce grinned and began to lead the way over to the others, where he coached Tony through a combat move that he had seen in a dream.
A/N: I'd like to take a moment to apologize for not answering your reviews. I do read and treasure each and everyone of them, but I have been rather busy here of late, and I don't want any of you to think that I don't care about your thoughts. I absolutely love reading what you have to say about each chapter. I am going to try my very best to start answering reviews again.
That said, thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always welcome!