In this chapter; Evie is eleven, Elijah and Henry are seven, Alexis is three and Cecelia is two
One morning at 3am; both Natasha and Clint were woken suddenly when they heard Alexis screaming from down the hall.
Once they reached her room they found her thrashing and screaming in bed, still fast asleep. It took them several minutes to wake her, and once they had she clung to Natasha tightly, still shaken from whatever nightmare had woke her.
Clint went to resettle the other children who had also been woken by their sisters nightmares, while Natasha tried to calm down Alexis who was still crying and clinging to her mother.
Natasha scooped her daughter up, carrying her down the hallway to her room while rocking her gently. Alexis settled quickly in the middle of her parents bed, still clutching Natasha firmly. Both of them were asleep by the time Clint returned and climbed into bed next to them.
The next night Alexis woke screaming again, this time Natasha resettled her in her own bed, before she woke again an hour later. This became a nightly occurrence, and although Alexis seemed fine the following mornings, no memory of the night before; the lack of sleep for her parent soon started to show.
Alexis hadn't slept through the night in over four weeks.
Generally, Clint and Natasha took it in turns to spend the night in Alexis' room with her, allowing the other to try and get some sleep. It had gotten to the point where she wouldn't sleep alone; too scared to be left by herself in a dark room.
When Clint fell asleep in a meeting between Director Fury and the avengers, and when Natasha had taken to skipping meals in order to catch half an hour to nap; the other members of the team stepped up to try and help.
Bruce tried to convince Alexis that not all monsters were bad, and that she shouldn't be afraid.
Steve told her that monsters couldn't get into the tower, that she was always safe in her home, and should never have to feel afraid.
Tony explained that he too had had nightmares as a child. He explained that they were just bad dreams; thoughts in her head that weren't real and couldn't hurt her.
Thor promised her he would forever keep her safe, just like everyone else in the tower.
And Pepper bought her young niece a dream catcher; a ploy that had worked wonders when Evie had had nightmares just a few years earlier.
But nothing worked.
In order to allow Clint and Natasha to get a full night sleep Pepper occasionally stayed with Alexis for the night; although it allowed for some short term relief it didn't solve the problem.
It had gotten so bad that Fury had even offered to get a SHIELD cleared child psychiatrist in to speak to her.
Unsure at first, desperation finally got the better of Clint and Natasha who agreed.
The night before the appointment when Alexis awoke, screaming in fear; she was alone. Tears fell from her face as she cried hysterically.
Suddenly someone appeared at her door; Evie padded quietly across the bedroom floor, and climbed into bed with her sister, a moment later Henry and Elijah arrived too, squeezing in beside them.
"Lexie, tell us why you're scared?" Evie asked quietly, hugging her baby sister.
"I'm s-scared of the m-monsters" she stuttered through her sobs.
"You don't have to be scared Lex!" Henry told her confidently.
"Yeah; mom and dad are superheroes!" Elijah added with a yawn.
Henry smiled comfortingly at Alexis as she nodded and settled back down to sleep between her three older siblings.
Natasha woke uncomfortably at the kitchen table. Straining her eyes she looked around to try and comprehend why she was in the kitchen.
It had been her night to stay with Alexis; but over a month of restless nights had left her completely exhausted. She'd got up in the middle of the night (after Alexis had woken for the third time!) to get a drink and obviously crashed there at the table.
She peaked round the corner of Alexis' room hoping to find her still asleep. What she saw brought a smile to her face; Evie was lay with her back to the wall, hugging Alexis close to her chest, Alexis held her favourite giraffe teddy in one had (it was a gift from Pepper when she'd been born) and her other hand clutched Henry's. Elijah was lay at the foot of the bed, a torch in one hand.
Clint appeared behind Natasha, wrapping his arms round her waist and kissing the side of her neck. Cecelia walked in beside them; climbed up onto the bed and curled up next to Elijah.
"We make cute kids you know Nat?"
"Yeah, yeah we do" she smiled.