Hey! Sorry it's been a little while. This is kind of a filler chapter again, but I need a few of these because I need some time to pass before the interesting stuff but I also just don't want to skip over everything in between XD. Plus I kinda wanted to show a little bit of the friendship between Bruce and Natasha (keyword: friendship. Sorry marvel, I love you, but...why? Where the heck did that even come from like seriously) anyway because I feel like they would be cool friends. I know the last few have mostly been about Ana but that's kind of my main focus for the story as the original plan just had her, so I already have more ideas for her. Anyway hope you enjoy!
"Archer?" Tony called from the vent. Below him stood Atticus, Rory, Ana, and Natasha. The three kids covered their eyes as Tony struggled to climb into the air vent.
"I can see his butt crack," Ana whispered to Atticus and Rory, who both nodded in disgust.
"Pull your pants up Stark, you're scarring my child," Natasha joked.
"Oh that's typical Natalie. There's a child stuck in an air vent and you're worried about yours getting a glimpse of my ass-"
"Tony!" Natasha yelled.
"Ass...assination," he tried to cover it up.
"That's not any better."
"Whatever."
"This is what you people do?" Rory asked incredulously.
Natasha and Atticus both nodded.
"What did you think we did?" Atticus asked.
"I don't know, bad stuff. Or at least productive stuff."
"Bad stuff? Where the hell did you get that?" Atticus asked. "Here at man who's self conceited enough to name his entire company after himself industries, we only do productive and fun
things for the good of the people, right Tony?"
"Right-" Tony agreed, suddenly the ceiling panel he was hanging onto broke and he crashed into the ground.
"Ouch," Atticus muttered as Rory shook her head and Ana and Natasha laughed.
"God, why can't fuc-fudging Robin Hood just come out already, this is ridiculous." Tony complained as he slowly stood up.
"What the hell are you doing?" A voice yelled from the hallway. The group turned to see Archer standing there, looking annoyed.
"Trying to find you, idiot." Atticus said.
"In the ceiling?" Archer raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I was in my room."
"Oh. My. God." Tony said, turning to Natasha, who was looking a little pale. She quickly pointed to Ana.
Ana shrugged. "Oops."
Tony turned to Natasha. "Your little...thing made me climb into a ceiling for nothing."
"You needed the workout." Natasha muttered.
"Oh are we doing the fat jokes now? Really? It's like two pounds."
"Oh my god," Archer whined. "Grow up, if you're gonna make me leave, let's fucking go."
"Hey, watch it." Natasha scolded, gesturing towards Ana.
"Whatever." Archer muttered. "She's used to it anyway."
Ana nodded.
"Just... Watch it." Natasha mumbled. Normally this kid would've gotten it a lot worse, but she already felt terrible and just wasn't in the mood for a fight.
Archer rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack off the floor. He met eyes with Atticus for a second and quickly noticed Rory. "Who are you?"
"A friend." Atticus said.
"I didn't know you had those," Archer replied coldly. "You're getting weak."
Atticus just rolled his eyes while Rory stared between him and Archer, looking insanely confused.
"Well," Tony cleared his throat. "We're gonna go, you've already wasted a half an hour of precious suit making time. Have fun with all that." He gestured towards Natasha and Archer.
"We should go too," Natasha said, bending down to pick up Ana. "Come on, Archer."
They all walked to the elevator and Archer slowly trudged after them.
They first went down to the lab, where Tony, Atticus, and Rory got off. Then the silent elevator started to head back to Natasha and Steve floor.
"Mama," Ana, who had been strangely quiet, whisper.
"Yeah?"
"I don't feel good," Ana said.
Natasha reached her hand up to feel Ana's forehead, which was hot. "You're burning up," she muttered. "We'll be home in a minute."
"I think I'm gonna puke," Ana stated before vomiting, narrowly missing Natasha and Archer's feet. "Oops."
Archer let out a string of curses that was exactly what Natasha was thinking, causing Ana to burst into tears. The spy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, fighting down a wave of nausea, before evaluating the situation in front of her. This was going to be a long day.
"Oh my god Ana, that's disgusting!" Archer yelled.
"I'm sorry," Ana wailed, burying her face in Natasha's jacket.
The elevator doors opened and Archer walked out.
"Archer," Natasha called after him. "Can you go grab me a washcloth?"
"No."
"Do it," she ordered. He didn't move. "Now."
He sighed and ran to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a washcloth.
"Thanks," Natasha muttered as she grabbed it from him, and started wiping off Ana's face.
"I'm sorry Mama," Ana cried.
"It's ok, it wasn't your fault. Everyone gets sick sometimes."
"Not like this," Archer said from his place in the doorway. Natasha stepped out of the elevator, leaving the mess for someone else to deal with.
"What do you mean?" She asked as Ana started coughing.
"You better get her some meds or something, otherwise she won't last long."
"What?" Natasha asked, reaching a hand up to feel Ana's forehead again, it was even hotter than before.
"Remember that great genetic you guys so generously gave her? The whole auto-heal thing that actually doesn't work for her?"
"Shit," Natasha muttered. How had she forgotten? Bruce had given her some medicine that he thought would help. "We just need to find the medicine."
"Where is it?"
"It's..." She trailed off. She had no idea. Steve knew, he was the one that put it somewhere. "Check the bathroom."
Archer nodded and ran down the hall, while Natasha ran to the kitchen, still holding Ana.
"I don't feel good," Ana whispered. "Where's daddy?"
"He's at work still." Natasha answered as she looked through the cupboards.
"Why?"
"Found it," Archer yelled before Natasha had a chance to reply. He ran down the hall and handed the bottle to Natasha.
"Thanks," she said, and poured a tablespoon into a cup after setting Ana down on the counter. "Drink this, it'll help."
Ana nodded and picked up the cup. She quickly made a face and set it down. "It smells funny."
"I know, but you have to drink it."
"I don't want to." Ana crossed her arms and glared up at Natasha.
"Ana-"
"Don't be a baby Annie, just do it." Archer said.
"I'm not a baby."
"Prove it then."
Ana glared at him a minute before taking the cup and drinking. "There."
"Good job, Ana." Natasha said, then turned to Archer. "Thanks."
He nodded. "So where am I supposed to sleep for a month?"
"Guest room, down the hall to the right." She answered.
"K," he said as he left.
Natasha put the bottle back in the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of Tylenol for herself.
"What's that?" Ana asked.
"Medicine."
"Why?"
"I don't feel very good either."
"Oh," Ana looked down. "When's daddy gonna be back?"
"Soon," Natasha answered. Giving Ana the thermometer to take her temperature. "102. You're really sick sweetie, want to go lay down?" She'd call Bruce to come check on her later.
Ana nodded. Natasha pulled out a pillow and blanket and set it on the couch. After Ana laid down she put in a movie for her to watch until she fell asleep. As soon as Ana was asleep, the phone rang.
Natasha read the caller id, it was Steve. "Hey."
"Hi. How's everything going?"
"Well," Natasha started. "I feel like shit, Ana's sick, and Clint's on a month long mission so Archer's staying with us.
"Oh, is Ana ok?"
"Yeah, she's fine. So when are you going to be back?"
"Uhh," he paused for a minute. "They found a lead in Kiev."
"Bucky?" She asked.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go check it out."
Natasha sighed. "Steve, there's no was you're going to find him if he doesn't want to he found."
"But I haven't had a lead in months, I think this is it."
She rolled her eyes. "How long are you going to be gone?"
"I don't know, a few weeks maybe." He answered.
"A few weeks?" She almost shouted.
"Yeah, so?"
"Don't you think you have more important things to worry about?"
"He's my best friend, Nat." He replied. "I have to find him."
She sighed. He was so oblivious sometimes. He wasn't going to find Bucky, and she needed his help. But whatever, she could do it herself, she'd be fine. "Fine, go find him then. Take your time."
"Nat-" he started, but she hung up.
She shook her head. He could go do what he wanted, she could handle everything here. Ana was asleep, Archer was moping around somewhere, she could do her paperwork later. Right now she could just take a break-
"Mama!"
"Shit," Natasha whispered and walked into the living room where Ana sat, very much not asleep. "Yeah?"
"My head hurts, really, really bad."
"I'll go see if Bruce can come check on you."
Ana nodded.
Ten minutes later the elevator dinged and Bruce, Aria, and Alex walked out.
"Hey Ana," Aria said.
"Hi." Ana replied. "I'm sick."
"Yeah," Alex said, and then all three of them immediately started talking about something else while Bruce checked Ana's temperature and did a few tests.
"She's just got the flu," he finally concluded. "The medicine you gave her will stop the serum from hurting her, but I don't think it's safe to give her anything else with it, so you'll just have to wait until she gets better I guess."
Natasha nodded. "Thanks."
"So where's Steve?"
"Not here."
"Care to elaborate?" Bruce asked. He had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"No."
He nodded, that was what he expected. "So, how are you?"
"Tony didn't convince you to let him make Jarvis scan me in my sleep or something?"
"Nope."
"Oh, well. You guys were right." She muttered.
"That's great!" He said, wisely choosing to not go for a hug, he'd leave that to Thor. Suddenly he turned serious. "We'll need to run some tests as soon as possible, just to make sure everything's alright. Can you come to the lab now?"
Natasha shook her head. "I have a lot of paperwork to do, plus I need to take care of Ana and I don't think Archer's eaten lunch yet and Clint probably wants me to call the school and tell them Archer might be starting later than planned, and-"
"Ok, we'll do it another time." Bruce said.
"Thanks."
"Do you need any help or anything? I can take Archer if you want."
"No, I can handle it, but thanks for offering."
"No problem, let me know if you need anything. Too much stress isn't good for pregnancies."
"I'll be fine." Natasha assured him.
"And then I shot the dynamite and Aria's entire mansion exploded!" They heard Alex yell as he told a story, waving his hands around in the air as he spoke. Ana laughed and Aria stuck her tongue out at Alex. Archer, who had appeared when Natasha and Bruce were talking, smiled and laughed along with them.
"You know," Natasha said as they watched the kids talk. "If you would have told me during the battle of New York that eight years later I'd be living in Stark's tower, watching my and Captain America's kid play with your twins and Clint's son, I don't think I would've believed it."
"Yeah, same here. But I don't think I'd have it any other way."
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"I swear to god, if there was any way to get rid of you, I would!" Tony yelled, standing up to glare at Atticus and Rory, who had fallen out of their chairs from laughing so hard. After Tony made them clean grease off of little pieces of the suits for an hour, Atticus had decided it was time to get revenge. After Tony had left the room he put a lot of the slippery substance on the ground and screamed, causing Tony to run back in and slid across the room, not so gracefully falling at the end.
"Sorry," Rory said, trying to catch her breath. "But that was hilarious."
"Brats." Tony muttered before standing up. He glared at them, but Atticus could tell he wasn't actually mad. "This isn't over."
"Is that a threat?" Atticus asked.
"You'll find out."
"It's five." Atticus stated.
"Damn it," Tony swore as he looked at the clock. "Let's go."
The three of them walked out into the underground garage and got into the closest car.
"So where am I taking that one?" Tony asked, gesturing at Rory.
"122 East 125th Street," she answered.
"125th? That's in the business district, kid. Where all the big companies are."
"Oh oops I meant 127, I don't know why I said fifth. There's a little apartment building right on the end of the block." She said quickly.
"Right," Tony nodded. "What did you say your name was? Full name?"
"Rory Hamilton."
"What?" Atticus interjected. "At school-ow!" He whined after Rory dug the heal of her shoe into his foot.
"Hey I'm trying to drive here." Tony yelled. "Keep it down."
"Sorry," Rory said before Atticus could reply. He gave her a strange look and she glared back. "You say nothing." She whispered. He nodded timidly.
A few minutes later Tony stopped. "Here we are."
"Thanks!" Rory said as she got out of the car and walked towards the apartment building. As they drove away Atticus looked back. She stood outside looking confused for a minute, before walking away from the building and heading down the alley to 125th street.
Strange. Why was she lying? She said the wrong name, and she had said earlier that her father was part of a big company, so there was no way she lived there, in a tiny apartment. Something was wrong here, and Atticus was determined to find out what.
