A/N: A little angst to start off the chapter, some separation anxiety... some Malibu beach time!

The Tuesday after, it was mommy-and-daughter day. Everyone else was working or out on the town, and Natasha was relishing her time with her daughter, without the handfuls of uncles. They'd just finished painting their nails (dark red for Natasha and light purple for Allie), after a breakfast of pancakes and a berry smoothie, and they were hanging out in the living room, playing Legos.

"Mommy?"

Natasha carefully snapped a green brick into place. "Yes baby?"

"You're weally pretty mommy." Allie wrapped her arms around Natasha's midsection in a hug and nestled into her shoulder.

Natasha smiled and placed a gentle hand on Allie's hair. "Thank you."

"Can you teach me to dance?" Allie asked, looking up at Natasha.

"What kind of dancing do you want to learn?"

"Uh...I want to dance like you taught Steeb and Thor and daddy and Bwuce."

Natasha had taken it upon herself to teach Steve to swing dance (finally), and by extension had taught the rest of the Avengers. Except Tony and Pepper, who knew how to swing dance already, and put on a better show than most Dancing with the Stars.

"All right." She stood up and led Allie to a clear space with no Legos. "First, you step like this and then..."

She taught her the basic swing step and then they had lunch: grilled chicken breasts and salad.

After that, it was time for a nap. Natasha tucked Allie into her bed and lay down with her to read a story. "What story?"

"The Wussian Bears."

Natasha read her the story of the little bears in Russian, and did the different voices for each little bear. She watched in amusement as Allie went from wide-awake to drowsy blinking, each blink longer than the last.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?" Natasha murmured.

"Can I has a baby sister?" she asked in a sleepy whisper.

Natasha froze. "What?" she asked, feeling panicked.

"Yeah," Allie continued, nestling further into her mother's side and tangling her fingers into Natasha's loose T-shirt. She yawned. "Cuz, those girls from the park were sisters, and everybody in cartoons has sisters, and I want a sister. Or a brother, 'cept he has to be nice and not pull my hair like dat one boy on dat one show. Can you have one, mommy? I help take cawe of it, kay?"

Natasha frowned. "I don't, I don't think that's a good idea, baby."

"Wh'no?" She was almost asleep, her little eyelids fluttering.

"Because... because we can't. It would be too dangerous. What if I had to go save the world and I had a baby?"

Allie let out a little 'hm'. "Not good. Nev'r mind, mommy. Can we have ice cweam for dinner?"

"Sure baby, why not?"

"Hm." She turned and nestled her face into Natasha's shoulder, asleep a second later.

Natasha stared down at her chubby little cheeks, and sighed, feeling bad for giving her a non-answer. But how was she supposed to explain to Allie that she couldn't have babies. The Red Room had ripped it away from her when she was barely more than a child herself, and Allie had been more than she'd ever thought possible. She pressed a kiss to Allie's forehead. "I love you, malyshka," she whispered, tugging Allie closer.

Allie sighed in her sleep.

Natasha closed her eyes, just to relax, and fell asleep a few moments later.

Clint found them when he came back from SHIELD, and a soft 'snap' of a camera shutter was what woke Natasha up.

She blinked at him drowsily. "Hey."

"Hey." He knelt next to the low bed and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Didn't mean to wake you." He reached over to smooth a hand over Allie's hair. "How was the little punkin?"

Natasha slid out of bed and tugged him out of the room. "Great, as usual."

"Then why do you have that little wrinkle, right, there?" He poked at it gently, on her forehead.

She sighed, and let her forehead fall into his shoulder. He put his arms around her waist and rubbed her back. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"She asked if she could have a baby sister," Natasha mumbled into the soft fabric of his Henley.

Clint stiffened slightly, and his grip on her tightened fractionally. "What did you tell her?" he asked, his tone even.

"That it wouldn't be a good idea in case we had to save the world again."

"Well you're not wrong," Clint mused. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Natasha said. "She agreed with me, anyways. Maybe when she's older, I'll tell her."

"Yeah." Clint held her close.

"Daddy?" A soft, drowsy voice made them both look up. Allie was standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with a tiny fist. "You home?"

"Hey, there's my girl," he said, letting go of Natasha and kneeling down to scoop Allie into a hug. "You awake, there, sweetheart?"

She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Nope."

"What if I told you there was grapes, and cheese sticks?"

She perked up. "Snacks?"

"Snacks," Clint confirmed, standing up with her in his arms. "C'mon, I bet you're hungry. That was a good nap, huh?"

"Yeah."

Natasha watched her husband and child walk down the hall to the elevator and grinned. Yeah. No matter what was in her past, there was nothing that could beat what she had right now.

A~A~A~A

"But why do you hab to go?" Allie asked, looking up at Clint, Natasha, and Coulson with devastating puppy eyes.

"It's our job, baby, we have to." Clint knelt and gave her a final hug. "And in the meantime you be good for the team, okay?"

She pouted. "Kay. I wuv you."

"I love you too." He kissed her forehead and handed her to Natasha.

"We'll see you soon, okay, baby? I love you."

"Love you mommy." Allie then hugged Coulson. "Be safe," she admonished. "No hurt. No stwess."

Coulson smiled. "I'll try."

Allie watched them leave, and sought comfort in the form of Thor.

He played with her while they watched Mulan, and then he gave her a hug and picked up Mjolnir. "I will see you soon, little one."

"Where are you goin?"

"To visit Jane in New Mexico. I will be back on Tuesday."

"Give Jane and Dawcy hugs."

"I will."

She watched him leave, and climbed into the beanbag. "JARBIS?"

"Yes little miss?"

"Where's everybody?"

"Captain Rogers is in his room, packing, and Dr. Banner and Sir are in the labs."

Allie's eyes began to water. "Where's Steeb goin?"

"He's going on a road trip, little miss. I believe your father told you yesterday that Captain Rogers was leaving."

Allie frowned. "I 'member," she said, sniffing. "He's gonna say bye, right, JARBIS?"

"Yes miss, of course - he's in the elevator now."

Steve walked into the living room and was met by a tearful Allie. "Hey, hey, what's this?" he asked, picking her up. He cupped her cheek with a gentle hand. "What's wrong, doll?"

She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. "You goin' way and mommy daddy Cou-son gone, and Thor's gone, and I be alone for dayyys cuz Bwuce and Tony and Pepper always busy." She finished her speech with a sniff and a truly tremendous pout.

Steve called on all his Captain America skills to refrain from smiling at her expression, and gave her a hug instead. "Listen, sweetheart, you're not going to be alone at all." He pulled back to look at her. "You think that Bruce and Tony and Pepper would let you be alone?"

She pouted.

"Didn't you spend time with Bruce in the lab just yesterday?" Steve asked.

She sighed. "Yes."

"And Tony let you play with his bots the other day, remember?"

"Yeah."

"And Pepper let you nap in her office, right?"

She folded her arms, still pouting. "Yes."

"Then what are you worried about?" he asked.

She hugged him. "I want mommy and daddy."

Oh. It wasn't about them, after all. "They'll be back before you know it," Steve promised. "And if you ask Tony, maybe you can call them tonight before bed. How does that sound?"

"Yeah," she said, voice muffled into his leather jacket.

"Kay." He kissed her head and got in the elevator. "Labs please."

The elevator deposited them in the labs, and Steve caught Tony and Bruce's eyes and waved them over. "Okay, doll, I've gotta go," he said, giving Allie a kiss on the forehead. "I'll send you postcards, okay?"

"Kay. Be safe, Steeb. Bwing me a pwesent?"

He laughed. "Sure." He handed her to Bruce.

Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Gonna take your bike?"

"Yeah."

"You sure you don't want to take my jet?" Tony asked. "You could travel in style."

Steve shook his head. "I think, I've gotta do this the old-fashioned way."

"All right. If you break down somewhere, don't forget you have a cellphone. And keep it on, for crying out loud, in case Allie wants to talk to you. And don't forget that it's a camera. I want at least five cheesy selfies with famous statues, mister."

Steve laughed. "I'll try my best." Quietly, he told Tony about calling the spies before bedtime, and Tony nodded.

"We'll be fine," Tony said. "Now shoo. It's time for some preschool science." He ushered him out of the labs.

Allie didn't even notice 'Steeb' leaving, she was so involved in a game of catch with Dummy and You.

The day in the labs was very educational. Allie and Tony did some basic upgrades to her robo-dog, and gave it the ability to wag its tail. Then Bruce read a story with her; they were slowly working their way through Stuart Little. Then all three of them had Chinese takeout for lunch.

After that, Tony took Allie to a children's museum, and had dinner at one of Tony's favorite Italian places. Allie fell asleep on the way home, and very grudgingly woke up when Tony prodded her. They watched Finding Nemo, and Allie had a bath. As soon as she was out, she gave Tony an expectant look.

"What?" he asked.

"Call daddy," she said.

"Oh yeah. JARVIS?"

"Connecting to SHIELD," JARVIS announced.

There was a ringing, and then someone picked up. "Coulson."

"Hi Cou-son," Allie sang out. "Can I talk to daddy? Or mommy?"

There was an audible smile in Coulson's voice. "Sure. Hold on a second." There was a shuffling, and then,

"Hi baby."

"Mommy!" Allie squealed. She looked at Tony plaintively. "Can I has a phone?"

"Oh. Yeah." He connected a headset and fit it over her ear.

She curled into the couch and started to chat with her mom, and later Clint. "Yeah. And then we had pasketti. Uh-huh. I had a meatball. And dere was dis huge dinosaur, and Tony said he was goin' to get one for de common room, and-" She looked at Tony. "Mommy said no. I told you so, Tony."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said, waving her concern away.

Allie chatted away for another ten minutes, and then reluctantly bid her parents good night.

Bruce fed her a final snack, and tucked her in. "Good night, sleep tight, Allie."

"Ni-night, Bwuce," she murmured. She snuggled into her pillows, turned into an orange-spotted kitten, and snuggled into the pillows some more.

Bruce pet a soft ear, and left the room, turning out the lights.

A~A~A~A

Two hours later, Tony woke up to a soft 'meow.' He opened his eyes grumpily - he'd just gone to sleep - and found Allie as a kitten, sitting on his stomach. "Hey," he said softly, blinking. "What's up?"

She curled up onto his chest, her little paws on his arc reactor. "Mreow," she said sadly.

He smoothed her little furry head. "Okay," he said, closing his eyes. "Don't get smooshed." And he went back to sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, Allie, in her human form, was curled into Pepper's side, the woman's arm encircling the little girl protectively. Both of them were sound asleep. Tony smiled softly. "JARVIS, picture," he whispered.

He watched his wife sleep for a while, and marveled at the fact that he was a happily married man. Actually, happily, married. Yeah, he was a jerk sometimes, and sometimes he really, really, wanted to get drunk, and he had panic attacks and flashbacks, but everybody in this tower did.

Pepper shifted slightly and stretched, opening her eyes slowly. She smiled when she saw Tony gazing at her. "Like the view?" she asked lazily.

"Love it," he said gently. He reached out to trace the curve of her jaw. "You're so beautiful."

She covered his hand with hers, and kissed his fingers. "When did Allie get here?"

"I don't know. Midnight, ish." He reached out to smooth Allie's wildly tangled hair. "I think she had a nightmare or something."

"Poor baby," Pepper said, hugging her closer. "She's really attached to Clint and Natasha."

"She's really worried," Tony corrected. "Yesterday she asked me if I could make Iron Man suits for both of them so that they would be safe." He sighed and scrubbed at his face with one hand. "I don't know how we're going to keep her busy for the next week. There's only so many four-year-old science approved activities we can do."

Pepper glanced at the rotten weather outside, and tilted her head. "What if we went to Malibu?" she asked. "You have all your lab facilities over there, and I can easily do a week's worth of work in the house. And Allie would love the beach."

Tony smiled. "That's a brilliant idea, Pep."

"Yes I know." She gave him a smirk.

Allie woke up, then, stretching and rubbing her eyes with her fist. She shuffled around, and buried her head in Pepper's shoulders. "Is it breakfast?" she murmured.

"Good morning, sweetie," Pepper said, rubbing her back gently. "You awake yet?"

"No," Allie said grumpily.

Tony chuckled. "What if there were waffles?"

Allie turned to look at him, then shook her head. "No." She went back to cuddling.

Pepper checked the time. "Oh, but I gotta go baby." She carefully moved the sleepy girl over to the other side of the bed. "You cuddle with Uncle Tony till you're ready to get up."

"I'm not a pillow," Tony grumbled, wrapping an arm around Allie in spite of his words.

"I have photographic evidence that says otherwise," Pepper said in a sing-song voice.

He gasped dramatically. "Who took pictures?"

"Who didn't, is the question," Pepper corrected, gathering her clothes.

Allie giggled as they continued their banter, definitely awake, but happier.

Pepper kissed Tony goodbye and waved to Allie. "See you later, alligators," Pepper said.

Allie sat up interestedly. "Tony can I be an alligator?" she asked.

"Uh, if we find you some pictures maybe." He handed her a tiny green sock. "Did you take your socks off?"

"I dunno?"

"Okay." He threw on a sweatshirt and a pair of slippers, and picked her up. "Waffles!" he announced, carrying her out the door as she giggled.

He, okay, Bruce, but he helped, made waffles with blueberry syrup, and they dug in. Allie succeeded in staying relatively clean, and after breakfast got dressed in a blue and grey sweater-tunic and blue leggings. After some deliberation, she added a bright green beanie, and slipped on a pair of butterfly wings that came with her dress up collection. "Dere." She followed Tony down to the lab and climbed onto one of the stools. "Tony?"

"Yes dear," he replied, smiling at the green beanie.

"What we gonna do today?"

"Hmmm." Tony scratched his chin and cast his eyes up to the ceiling dramatically. "What are we going to do today?" He held up a finger. "What if..." He raised an eyebrow at Allie mysteriously. "Ready for this?"

She nodded eagerly.

"What if we went to California?"

She stared at him. "Why?"

"Why not?" he replied, pulling up a picture of his house in Malibu, and the private beach. "That's my house. What do you think?"

"Is too big," she said frankly.

Tony laughed. "Yeah, it probably is. But do you think it's big enough for you, me, Pepper, and Bruce?"

She nodded. "And JARBIS?"

"Yep. JARVIS will be there. And so will the robots."

You chirped happily and did a victory dance.

Allie nodded. "Let's go to de beach."

The rest of that day they packed most of Allie's things ("how did we accumulate this much stuff in like three months?"), and that evening the four of them flew down to Malibu. Allie was excited for the first hour of the plane ride, pushing all the buttons in the jet, and spontaneously turning into a puppy, kitten, bird, dragon, and kitten, in that order, before she passed out from sheer exuberance.

When she woke up the next morning, she was in a strange room, and for a second she was scared. Then,

"Good morning, little miss."

"JARBIS!" Allie popped out of bed. "We here?"

"We are in the Malibu house," JARVIS confirmed.

"Cool!" Allie pressed her nose to the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the ocean. "Wowwwwww."

"Pretty, isn't it?" Pepper asked, coming into Allies' room.

"Is so amazingful," Allie breathed. "Can we go in it, Peps?"

"After you have breakfast," Pepper promised.

"Okay!" She ran to get her swim clothes and a pair of shorts out of the closet. "Help?" she asked, holding up the straps of the swimsuit.

Pepper helped her get dressed, and they went to breakfast: eggs and toast.

Then they gathered up supplies, towels, a giant umbrella, and copious amounts of sunscreen, and headed down to the water. Pepper slathered both Tony and Allie in sunscreen, opened a lounge chair under the umbrella and pulled out her tablet. Allie went to play with the Science Bros, and they taught her how to build a perfect sandcastle. Of course being geniuses, they had to go above and beyond and build a castle and a courtyard big enough for Allie to sit in, a two-foot-deep moat that was a perfect circle, and a drawbridge with supplies from Pepper's tote.

Allie was thrilled with her castle, and declared herself Princess Allie. Tony was Knight Tony, Bruce was King Bwuce, and Pepper was the Queen. "Shouldn't I be the king if Pepper's the queen?" Tony asked the little girl.

Allie contemplated this for a moment and then shook her head. "Nope," she said firmly. "Knights has armor." She tapped his arc reactor gently. "Yous gots armor. And Bwuce is more respons'ble. So he's de king, and Pepper's amazingful so she's de queen."

Tony smiled gently. "Can't argue with that, kiddo." He scooped her out of the castle. "Now, little miss, who wants to play in the water?"

They played till lunchtime, had sandwiches and watermelon, and then Allie passed out under the umbrella on a beach towel, smiling in her sleep. Tony took a nap, too, much to Pepper's surprise, and Bruce took the peaceful time to meditate.

Allie woke up two hours later, raring to go, and she and Bruce spent a while drawing in the sand and making up stories. They even managed to sneak some math in there as they added up piles of seashells. Allie picked a shell for each one of the Avengers family, including JARVIS. Tony teased his AI that he'd have to give him his own room just to hold his material possessions.

They all slept very well that night.

The next day, Pepper took Allie sightseeing. They went to a chocolate factory, and Allie came away with a grab bag of goodies which she solemnly promised to eat only in human form, not puppy. Then they went shopping, Allie perfectly content to be Pepper's dress-up doll. Later that evening, Happy staggered dramatically under the weight of bags and boxes as he carried everything into the house.

Allie had some chow mein and a piece of teriyaki chicken before going to bed, and a content Pepper curled up next to Tony on the couch, putting her feet in his lap. He started to massage them obligingly. "Get everything you wanted?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Good." He pressed into the arch of her foot with his thumb, and smirked when she giggled.

"I got her the cutest little dresses," Pepper said, leaning her head back on the arm of the couch. "She makes everything look cute, actually."

Tony remembered one day she'd only wanted to wear one of Clint's shirts and nothing else, and grinned. "Even Clint's old SHIELD shirt?"

Pepper laughed. The little girl had been drowning in old, faded, material, but so happy with her new portable tent space that she was twice as adorable. "Yes." She fell silent again quickly.

"What's wrong, Pep?" Tony asked, after a minute.

"There were lots of paparazzi today," Pepper said. "Happy couldn't shield us from all of it."

Tony's hands stilled for a moment. "And Allie?"

"Hid behind me, mostly, but they wanted to know who she was. I told them she was a dear friend's, that we were having a girl's day while her parents were on business."

Tony relaxed slightly. "Good. It's true, anyway. And you've got tons of friends, nobody's going to connect the dots. Just in case... JARVIS, media watch for Allie?"

"Yes sir."

They went to bed soon after.

A~A~A~A

They stayed in Malibu for another week, and then returned to the tower. Thor was back, along with Jane and Darcy, and there was a pile of postcards waiting from Steve, who was now somewhere in Florida. "Probably at Disney World without us, the brat," Tony sniffed.

"We go to Disney World?" Allie asked, her eyes widening with excitement.

"Maybe after your parents come back," Tony said, realizing after a second he could not deprive Clint or Natasha of taking Allie to Disney World, or else he'd wake up stuck full of knives and arrows.

"Okay." She summoned her robo-dog with a wave, turned into a small Doberman puppy, and started to wrestle on the floor. Disney World was forgotten, for now. The kid never forgot anything, seems like, and the other day Bruce had been forced into watching Mulan for the umpteenth time because he'd promised that they would watch it later.

A few days later Steve returned, having satisfied his wanderlust for now. He brought back with him an alligator plushie for Allie.