Isabelle woke up and yawned, squinting as the sun poured through her windows. She scrambled over to the bedside table where the remote lay, and she pushed the button that lowered the shades, blocking out the bright rays. She slid out of bed and into her furry purple bunny slippers Aunt Pepper had gotten her when she offhandedly mentioned her feet being cold one morning.

The clock on the wall showed it was early, only 7:15 that morning, so Belle stood for a moment, listening to the apartment. There was no sound of movement, no low murmur of the kitchen radio where her father was listening to NPR as he prepared their morning meal. Belle tilted her head slightly the other way and listened again; She could not hear her father snoring, so she headed down the hall and peaked into his room, which she found empty.

Belle sighed, she was disappointed but not surprised. Bruce had not taken a day off to spend with her in over a month, and he had last week promised he would take this particular Saturday off and they would visit the park and maybe the zoo. Belle realized he had forgotten his promise, so she quietly headed down the hallway to get a bowl of cereal before getting a head start on her school work for the week ahead.

It was overly quiet, so Isabelle decided to make conversation with the most constant presence in her life, JARVIS.

"Good morning, JARVIS." She called from her place on a stool at the kitchen counter.

'Good morning, Miss Banner.' JARVIS replied on queue.

"Its dad working already?" She ask through a mouthful of Lucky Charms.

'Yes ma'am. He and Mr. Stark have headed over to the office of the mayor for a breakfast meeting. I was instructed to inform you after you'd eaten that your father was most sorry he was not there when you awoke, but that Ms. Potts would be home if you needed anything.' The AI replied.

"The Mayor has meetings on Saturdays?" Belle pondered aloud. "Does anyone in New York take a day off?"

'I assume due to the alien invasion and subsequent mess, many are working longer hours.' JARVIS offered.

"I guess." Belle sighed. "Hey JARVIS?"

'Yes ma'am?' JARVIS replied.

"Can you send a message to my dad's phone from me?" She ask quietly.

'Of course. What would you like me to say?' JARVIS ask.

"Just the words 'it's Saturday'. Please." Belle said, idly stirring at her remaining cereal. JARVIS let her know when it was sent and delivered, and Belle poured the rest of her breakfast down the garbage disposal and placed her bowl into the dishwasher before headed back down to her room to get dressed. Afterward, she took her books and headed down to the third floor, where Tony had just installed a greenhouse room, which took up the entire floor. There were comfortable places to sit, places to eat, and general cozy relaxing spots; This had quickly became Isabelle's favorite place in the tower. She often did her homework here, so it was how she decided to spend another day alone.

It was a couple hours later before Belle even looked up from her studies, hearing someone's footsteps approaching. She looked over toward the elevator doors to see Pepper coming over, holding a box close to her chest.

"Hey you, whatcha into?" Pepper ask, sitting across from Belle. The box she held made some noise, like something raking or scratching against the cardboard.

"Practicing how to calculate quartiles and interquartile range." Belle replied, sliding her math work over to let Pepper see. Pepper's eyes widened briefly while looking at the advanced mathematics that the nine year old girl was correctly calculating. She quickly regained her composure, however, and smiled at Belle.

"Do you have a minute to take a break?" Pepper ask. Belle smiled.

"This is next week's lesson, I just didn't have anything better to do." Belle explained.

"You have toys and a tv..." Pepper reminded her, unable to hide how sad for Belle she felt. It was written all over the tiny girl's face how sad and disappointed she was feeling. "Listen. I know your dad is a busy guy, and I am not always here to keep you company. So I was thinking..." Pepper slid the box across the table. "You need a friend."

Belle looked at the woman very skeptically, and she took the box from the table. It was no bigger than a shoe box, but had holes cut in the top of the cardboard. Belle carefully opened it to find a small, fluffy calico kitten. The kitten looked up at her with wide green eyes and gave a small 'mew' before tugging at the large pink bow she had on. Belle's brown eyes grew large and bright.

"OH MY GOD!" The little girl shouted, scooping the kitten out of the box. "It's so cute!" She held the kitten to her chest and petted it's head gently.

"She can stay with you all the time." Pepper said quietly. "When I was a little girl, I had one just like her. Her name was Puff and we were best friends."

"I love her!" Belle gushed. "How did you get dad to agree?"

"Have you ever heard the expression 'it is better to ask forgiveness than permission?', by any chance?" Pepper ask with a smile. Belle shook her head. "Well, it's not something I want to teach you is exactly morally correct, but sometimes it is necessary to just... do things and then apologize later. So- in short, to answer your question... I didn't ask your dad. I just sent Happy to get her, and he's upstairs setting up her litterbox and feed and water station. All three are automatic. The only thing left is... What are you going to call her?"

Belle seemed to ponder on this for a few minutes, stroking the kitten's head as she purred in her arms. She picked the kitten up and turned her over, examining her before bringing her close once again.

"Her fur is almost in squares of different patches of colors." Belle commented. "She almost looks... pixelated. Is Pixel a good cat name?"

"Pixel is a perfect cat name." Pepper beamed. "She does look like a pixelated little kitty."

"I love her so much! Thank you Aunt Pepper!" Belle said, rising from her seat and giving Pepper a one armed hug, as she held Pixel with the other.

"You are so very welcome, sweetness. Don't worry about your dad, okay? I'll take the heat from that. I told Happy to put her beds in your room and in the living room, and her scratching post is in the corner by the window in your room, along with her basket of toys. Her litterbox is self cleaning, but it is in your bathroom. If you think of anything else you want for her, you just let me know, or ask JARVIS to order it."

"Thank you Aunt Pepper!" Belle grinned. "Can I have a book about training kittens?"

"Of course! I'll get online and pick a good one as soon as I get upstairs. She came from a shelter that already trained her to use the litterbox, so all you have to do about that is show her where it is. But I will absolutely get you a book on how to train her." Pepper nodded. "Do you need anything else? Do you need me to order you lunch?"

"No thank you, I think I'll go home and show Pixel around!" Belle said, scratching the kitten between the ears.

"Alright, sweetie. Let me know if you need or want anything, okay?" Pepper called after the tiny girl as she headed to the elevator, leaving Pepper and her studies at the table.

"Yes ma'am." Belle called back, boarding the elevator.

JARVIS delayed giving the notification of the message from Belle to Bruce until he and Tony were about to leave their meeting. Bruce had just shook hands with the mayor and Vice Mayor when he heard the chirp of his phone in his pocket. He excused himself and stepped to the side, taking the phone from his suit jacket and looking at the screen.

The screen read:

NEW MESSAGE-VOICE REQUEST FROM BELLE BANNER TO BRUCE BANNER, 'ITS SATURDAY'

The phone gave him the option to send a reply through JARVIS, which Bruce ignored. He closed his eyes tightly, silently cursing himself. Tony saw the distress on his friend's face, and he quickly said his goodbyes the city officials before coming over and laying a hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"Hey man, you okay?" Tony ask.

"I promised Isabelle I'd spend today with her. We were supposed to go to the park..." Bruce said, shaking his head. He turned his phone so Tony could read the screen. "I am the worst."

"You really aren't." Tony chuckled. "Not even on the radar. Take it from someone with a bad dad. And, as someone who had an ever worse dad, you should know that you are not. You just have a lot on your plate. Don't worry, tomorrow is all free."

"No it isn't- We have-" Bruce started to remind Tony, but Tony raised a hand, cutting Bruce's words off.

"Like I said, tomorrow is all free. As your boss, I would know." Tony said with a wink. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure Isabelle is okay, she was probably just... reminding you." Tony said after a second of hesitation.

"We both know it was passive aggressive." Bruce said with a roll of his eyes.

"She can't help it. That has to be her first language, living with you." Tony said with a humored snort. Bruce glared at his friend as they got into Tony's car.

"Yeah, well." Bruce sighed. "I just-"

"What's up?" Tony ask, pulling out and into traffic.

"I have been thinking a lot about what you said, about her being lonely? I don't want her to be lonely, Tony. I want her to be safe but-" Bruce sighed heavily. "Maybe I need to relax a little. Let her be a kid more often?"

"Whatcha thinking?" Tony said, trying to hold back commentary, so Bruce could get his thoughts all out.

"I was looking at schools, actually. For the fall." Bruce replied. "There is one not too far from the Tower, great reviews, great STEM program, advanced courses of study... It would not only be kids her age, but it would be kids on her level. Plus, this place goes from kindergarten to high school, so no need to worry with finding another later on, not until college anyway."

"Midtown?" Tony guessed. Bruce looked over at his friend, who kept his eyes on the road.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Bruce ask, surprised.

"I donated their new computer lab." Tony laughed. "Toured the school, met the kids, took pictures. The whole nine yards. It really is a nice place. They have a huge portrait of you in the chem lab."

"What? Why?" Bruce squawked. Tony burst into a fit of laughter.

"Because you're a famous and widely respected scientist, dumbass." Tony said with a snort. "They have mine up in the engineering lab."

"So they'll throw just anyone up on the walls, huh?" Bruce joked back. He glanced at Tony, who looked back over at him, and both men began to giggle like children as they teased one another.

"I think it is a great idea, for the record." Tony said after a while. "Letting her go to school, I mean."

"I hope so. I wish kids came with instructions. But then again, I don't think anyone else has a kid like mine." Bruce confessed.

"Have you thought about letting her train... When she's older, I mean... To maybe..."

"Join the Avengers or SHIELD?!" Bruce scoffed. "Over my dead body, which, we have established will be no easy feat."

"Just a thought." Tony defended.

"Not one of your better ones." Bruce snapped back.

"Hey, man. I'm sorry." Tony said softly.

"Yeah." Bruce nodded. "Me too. I shouldn't be so sensitive over it. I know. You're a great friend, Tones. And a fantastic Uncle."

"Thank you, Brucie Bear." Tony smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Bruce found Isabelle on the floor of their living room, cross legged, swinging a stick around. As he got closer, he noticed the stick had a string attached, which had feathers on the other end, and a small fluffy calico cat was chasing the toy around as Belle waved it about, and she giggled as the kitten swatted frantically at the feathers.

"Whose your friend, Bella Boo?" Bruce called, propping up on the wall.

Belle jumped slightly, as she had been so distracted by her new pet she had not noticed her father come in.

"Hey daddy!" She called, scooping the kitten up as she stood up from the floor. She came over and held the kitten out to Bruce. "This is Pixel."

"Hi, Pixel." Bruce said in a somewhat flat voice, but he did give the kitten a small scratch behind the ears. "Where did you come from?" He ask, looking at the kitten.

"Aunt Pepper said she thought I could use a friend who could be with me all day, so I'm not always alone." Belle replied, pulling Pixel back words hit Bruce like a shot to the chest, and he almost winced from them.

"Oh?" Bruce ask, moving over to sit on the couch. "Well, thats... Sweet of her."

"Happy set up her litterbox, and her food and water. All three are automatic." Belle explained.

"That's nice." Bruce replied.

"You're mad." Belle said, looking her father in the eye.

"No." Bruce shook his head.

"You are." Belle said, holding the kitten even closer.

"Do I look man, Isabelle?" Bruce ask firmly.

"You don't have to 'look' mad, but your eyes are green, so..." Belle replied, mirroring her father's tone.

Bruce closed his eyes and took several long, deep breaths, blowing each one slowly out his nose. He flopped himself back against the back of the couch. He found himself reaching out to childhood therapy to calm down, and he listened to three things he could hear, the first being the almost engine like sound of the content kitten, who was purring in Isabelle's lap. The second was their ice maker, which was a bit nosier, but the third was the small, happy humming Belle was doing as she stroked Pixel. He then took another deep breath, this time through his nose, naming the smells or their apartment. He then thought for a moment, feeling around on his teeth with his tongue to name the taste he found- black coffee. He then opened his eyes and sat back up, moving to the edge of the couch.

"Better?" He ask, his voice soft. Belle looked up at him and quirked the side of her mouth.

"Brown again." She reported. "Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to make me give Pixel back?" she ask, her voice cracking as she fought hard against the tears he knew she didn't want to shed.

"No, baby. You can keep the kitten." Bruce replied without hesitation.

"You weren't mad at me?" Belle ask.

"No Belle." Bruce replied quietly.

"What about Aunt Pepper?" Belle ask, the worry echoing in her voice. Bruce shook his head and sighed.

"No, babygirl. I was mad at myself. And the fact that I have to be gone a lot, and the fact that Pepper is right, you needed a friend like Pixel, but I didn't realize it."

"Oh." Belle said quietly, looking back down at Pixel, who swatted a paw up at one of her curls. Bruce watched her for a moment, then cleared his throat.

"Hey- Do you still want to go to the park tomorrow?" Bruce ask, forcing excitement into his voice.

"Yes please!" Belle shouted, her eyes lighting up. "You don't have anything to do?"

Bruce leaned forward and rapped his knuckles against their coffee table, an old habit of superstition he picked up from his mother's mother, about how it was better to physically knock on real wood than say the words 'knock on wood', as it made the luck better to actually do the knocking.

"As long as more aliens don't roll in and need me to stop them, I'm all yours." Bruce promised.

Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, be sure to follow so you know when an update hits! And if you feel like it, reviews make my whole day!

Thanks!