Bruce stays standing in the corner of the large catering hall. The high ceiling and echoing walls remain intimidating enough on their own without the presence of a million people. With his elbow on the table, his focus stays low.

The introverted scientist fidgets with a long stemmed glass between his fingers, twisting the base a consistent 30 degrees every two seconds. Banner has memorized the count of each teardrop shaped crystal in the centerpieces and exactly how long a dash to the emergency exit would take.

Bruce tugs at his tie when he sees Svetlana coming up from the back of the room, startled by the unexpected guest.

Stark waves and stands up taller to greet his invited company, circling Bruce's table to flag her down, "Lana!"

Banner wastes no time in gripping his friend's arm, "What are the Mikhailovs doing here?!"

The engineer brushes off his uptight companion, "You had open plus one so I made it a plus three. Izabella is a nerd like us so she's going to love the convention. I thought we could inspire her and her brother."

"I hate talking in front of people."

"Well then seeing familiar faces in the audience should help you."

" Vrach ," Izabella hugs Banner from the side, his eyes still glaring at Tony.

Brody greets the physicist next with a fist bump. Svetlana looks around the room;

"Where Natasha? Off again?"

"She's working."

"Where?"

Bruce gives Tony a look that spells out 'save me'.

The engineer wraps an arm around his shoulder, "We! Should get backstage for the presentation and we'll give you all the VIP tour around the convention later."

"Hey,' Pepper gives Tony a kiss, 'Good luck!"

Brody gives Antonia a high-five, the young girl excited when Izabella lowers herself to Anna's level;

"Antonia. You have beautiful dress."

Antonia eagerly does a twirl, showing off her rule pink skirt.

Brody taps her shoulder, "Hey Anna! What color is Izzy's dress? Do you know what color that is?"

Izabella opens her mouth, her eyes wide in play, "What cousin Brody say?"

Antonia moves to hug Izabella again, "Pu'ple."

"Purple," Brody corrects.

"Pu'ple,' the girl reaches for Izabella's hand, giddy for what she usually interprets as a magic trick, 'do it!"

"Not now, Antonia. We go watch Mr. Stark and Vrach ," the older girl reaches to take Antonia's hand and Brody reaches for the other, leading their friend inside of the auditorium.

Bruce is shaking on the inside when he steps out on stage with Tony beside him. Stark has his presentation memorized but his antics and jokes are what gets the most audience interactions. He's quite comfortable in the spotlight- which is no surprise to anyone.

Banner looks out at the audience with a nervous grin. His eyes catch a small thumbs up from Izabella, giddy to see her mentor's accomplishments. Her smile takes away the stress. Without Natasha around, it feels good to know he still has a support system. This kid believes in him, looks up to him and only ever sees the good. And he wants her to be proud of him.

Bruce ignores the audience and flows through his script flawlessly as Tony's assistant, much calmer as the presentation continues.

Izabella trails him afterward, eager to explore the same vendors he is. Even through her broken English she has similar questions, the twosome practically sharing the same brain cell when it comes to anything science.

When she pokes at him to ask a question in Russian, Bruce is happy to translate and ask it for her. The vendor responds with a chuckle;

"Your daughter's smart. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Banner scrambles to address the first part, "Oh she's not- my daughter- but she's smart, yeah."

Izabella holds her hands behind her back, head tilted with a smile, "Auntie wants me to be nurse."

The physicist shoves his hands into his pockets, "A nurse? But, you love chemistry, and biology…"

"You not like 'nurse'? But you medical-."

He laughs, "Well yeah. I just. You know what, do what makes you happy."

She shrugs and points to another display. It's a new form of microscope that causes her eyes to light up, "Please translate Vrach ?"

"One more and then we should really track down your family before Svetlana starts to panic."

She laughs, "Yeah."

Tony is off at the opposite end, walking with Antonia in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. He freezes in front of an aerospace display, looking down to spot Brody in complete awe. The boy has his head tilted up with his eyes wide.

Tony laughs and quietly stands beside him;

"See something you like?" Brody nods quietly, still reading all he can. Tony's chest puffs proudly; "You know, I could probably get you into an aerospace engineering program if you wanted."

Brody finally speaks, pushing his STARK glasses further up his nose, "Mr. Stark-."

"Oh 'Uncle Tony', I insist. If your sister can call me-."

"How do I become a pilot?"

Stark huffs out a sigh, "So you just wanna fly around and reap the benefits of the hardworking creators, you don't want to create anything…"

"I think I wanna be a pilot."

He sips his drink, "I'll ask Rhodey and get you the info. No interest in engineering? Really?"

"Nah. That's more Izzy's thing."

"It's not, she likes a different science-."

"I'm not a nerd- No offense!"

He sniffles with a grumble, "Yeah none taken. Help me Antonia, you're my only hope."

The girl is too busy pointing at a poster to acknowledge him, "Pink!"

Tony chugs the rest of his drink and scoops his daughter up into his arms, "You kids are killing me! There's thirteen of you left at the center and I can't get ONE engineer!"

Natasha Romanoff's decision to take Riley out is only in part due to the younger girl twisting her arm. Of course, Linda must go wherever Riley goes now that Violet is with her new family.

After catching a last minute flight from Mexico back to New York, spending time with the kids isn't exactly at the top of Natasha's to-do list but she finds it necessary to make time for them. Even if she's anxious to get home and to see her dog and Bruce...possibly in that order.

She's tired and in no mood to answer Riley's every question. But the two girls seem to need a mood booster and Natasha is happy to oblige if it makes them happy.

Riley is playing with Romanoff's phone, taking selfies with Linda in the backseat.

Natasha shakes her head, seeing Maria's name appear along the top;

"Don't answer that-."

Riley refuses to listen and swipes down, "Hey Agent Hill. It's Riley."

'Where is Natasha?'

Romanoff throws her head and snatches her device back with one hand on the wheel;

"I'm here, I have Riley and Linda with me."

Maria pauses before responding, 'It's case number 44.'

Her eyes lower, trying to figure out how best I answer her question with the kids in the car;

"...Fury has the photos."

'Can you walk me through it?'

"Not with the girls around."

'I'll call you tonight. And I'm missing a post mission physical report.'

"Bruce checked me-."

Riley crosses her arms, "You're lying."

Natasha glares with her head tilted in Riley's direction, ready to strangle the mind reading meta beside her. She mouths;

"Consent, Riley!"

'I'll check in later when you don't have the kids.'

Natasha ends the call, pulls over to the side of the road.

"I'm only going to say this once. When the phone rings and I say, 'don't answer that', it means you do not answer the call. Yes?'

Linda nods. Riley lifts an eyebrow, her arms still crossed.

Natasha continues with her eyes only on the figure in the passenger seat, "When I say 'consent' do you understand what that means? You cannot invade someone's personal thoughts let alone blurt out what you just read."

Riley lifts her foot to kick lightly under the dashboard.

Natasha continues, "You ask for permission, or you will lose privileges. Do you understand me? This is not the first time we've had this conversation. Riley, put your eyes on mine this instant."

Natasha is serious and her eyes spell out danger. So Riley nods.

The redhead puts her vehicle back in drive, "Okay. We are getting coffee. What do you girls want?"

Riley tucks her hands under her thighs and stares out the window with a mumble, "To get adopted."

Natasha's tone softens instantly, her lips parting with a gentle whisper, "What was that?"

The girl answers back with a calmer reply, "I said an Iced caramel Frappuccino...Please."

The redhead bites her cheek, unsure of how to respond, "Linda?"

She's somber now too, checking the STARK gloves on her hands, "Same."

Natasha tilts her head, "You girls know you can talk to me, right? I'm hard on you because I care. Bruce and I want you to find families and-."

Riley is still upset, "I'm just not wanted-."

"Riley, stop. You are."

Linda laughs, "And I'm a literal bomb, so. That's complicated."

"Girls, no."

Riley is shifting in her seat, "It's not like you and Dr. Banner even want us."

"I've told you and everyone else; us fostering any of you is a conflict of interest. And we can't have 13 kids in our apartment. We're trying, I promise you we're trying. We want you to go to good families, not just sign you off to the first few applications that come in."

Linda sneaks her head in between the driver and passenger seats;

"How come you don't visit as much as Dr. Banner does?"

Riley laughs, "Yeah seriously. If Jane doesn't stop by and Pepper is working we get stuck with the boys."

Linda mumbles, "Thor thinks we enjoy his Asgardian games. I mean I think it's cool but. We don't always want Clint's archery class either."

"And Steve is...boring."

Natasha holds her head, "We have movie night coming up. A few birthdays, that's fun, right?"

"We wanna build forts,' Riley remarks numbly, 'Like Tony does with us. And have all girl sleepovers."

"Build what?"

Riley scoffs, "Were you ever a kid?"

Natasha tilts her head thoughtfully; no birthdays, no family moments outside of those with Ivan. Spending a majority of her childhood with her 'sisters' before she was asked to turn on each of them.

With the shake of her head she brushes it off with a lie she knows Riley will attempt to read through;

"Honestly, I don't remember my childhood. Let's get our coffees and go to the mall after?"

"Yas! Queen!" Linda excitedly leaps out of the backseat.

Riley releases her seatbelt, giving Natasha a glance once Linda climbs out of the car;

"I'm sorry for bringing up you as a kid- and for reading your mind."

Natasha nods, "Thank you for apologizing. That's very mature of you."

"I know you're older than me but I like you as a sister. You like me like a sister too, right? Not just a mentor?"

"Yes, of course I do,' Natasha debates on asking for a hug, quickly changing her mind when Riley kicks her door open and scratches against the vehicle next to them, 'Ugh! Riley-! 40 push-ups, now. Go."