The kid avengers

Reunited

45 minutes later and she was back in the tower, anxiously riding the elevator up to the 63rd floor.
Clint and Natasha were waiting for her on the couch; Clint's arms wrapped protectively round the smaller child, one hand running gently through her hair. He smiled at Pepper, releasing his grip of Natasha as she threw herself into her arms still sobbing.
Clint turned to leave; taking himself back to bed, knowing his best friend was in safe hands.

Pepper rocked Natasha back and forth and whispered "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over in her ear as she sat in down. The sobs finally subsided and her breathing steadied, Pepper wiped the remaining tears from her face and asked; "Did Phil know you used his phone?"

"No" Natasha admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want to wake him"

"Was it a bad nightmare?"

She nodded. One hand was clutched around the locket Pepper had given her, the other was clutching Pepper's sleeve; as if she were afraid to let go in case she left again.

"It's okay, I'm here now, go back to sleep"

The next morning Steve woke Maria; bringing her a cup of coffee. Bruce was crawling round her bedroom floor and she could hear Tony and Thor talking from the corner; watching a hockey match on her TV.

"What are you all doing in here exactly?" she asked as she sat up.

Steve offered her a grin; "Pepper and Natasha are asleep in the lounge. I didn't want the others to wake them. They look like they had a tough night"

"Wait, Pepper is here?"

"Yeah"

"Why?"

"You got me" he answered with a shrug of the shoulders.

Coulson slipped in through the door, passing a plate piled high with toast round the boys before offering it to Maria.

"Have you seen my phone? I plugged it in to charge last night, I'm sure of it..."

"No, not seen it. Boys have you seen Phil's phone?"

Several echoes of 'no' came from Tony and Steve (and Bruce who copied them), Thor, with a mouthful of food just shook his head.

"Hey Steve, who'd you say was in the lounge?" Maria asked again

"Just Pepper and Natasha, they're asleep in the arm chair. I put a blanket on them because Natasha was shivering"

"Well where's Clint?"

Phil's eyebrows shot up as he suddenly realised he was missing.

"He's still asleep too, in his and Natasha's bed though, not the lounge"

Maria got out of bed and ruffled Steve's blond hair "Thanks kid! I dunno what we'd do without you!" shooting a joking 'you're useless' glance to Phil over Steve's head.
She earned a grateful smile from Steve before leaving to have a shower.

Pepper was woken by Natasha gently stroking her cheek; relief flashed across the little girls face when she realised Pepper didn't seem angry with her.

"I'm sorry that..." The young girl stopped talking when Pepper put her finger to her lips.

"It's okay, I was going to come back this morning anyway, I missed you guys too much" she said with a smile, Natasha's arms flung round her neck and she hugged her tightly.

"Natasha..." she began, Pepper felt Natasha stiffen slightly at the turn in conversation, repositioning herself so she was sat further away; she patiently waited for the telling off she'd expected since she'd rang last night. Pepper swept Natasha's hair back to get a better look at her; eyes still fixed on the ground. Pepper knew how hard it was for Natasha to talk about her childhood and had avoided prying too much into the nightmares of her child-self. It was getting too much; she couldn't stand another night being woken by her screams and cries. It broke Pepper's heart every time. But the sad expression on her face made Pepper reconsider, and changed tact: "You want some pancakes?"

"Yes please" she answered, a grin growing wide on her face.

"Go get Clint then"

"Okay... CLINT!"

She watched as Natasha skipped down the hallway; her pyjamas adorned with Toy Story characters. She returned a moment dragging a still-sleepy Clint with her, wearing a matching pair of pjs. They took their usual shared seat at the table and told Pepper all about the events of the previous day; they'd watched The Incredibles (which that had both loved!), they'd played chutes and ladders twice with Thor and Steve, which Clint had won both games, then Maria had taught them to play cards. (They didn't tell Pepper about the game of tag that broke out with Tony while the adults had been cooking dinner which resulted in the DVD cabinet being knocked over).

Pepper insisted that the nine of them went bowling that afternoon.
Thus far; she had avoided telling Phil and Maria why she'd appeared two days early, although she assumed they'd probably guessed.

There were too many of them to all play on one lane; so they booked three lanes next to each other; but still played it as one, big game. The six kids supported each other; cheering each other on and offering advice on how to improve. Tony and Clint were especially good; Tony even managed to beat Phil to the top spot. Even Bruce had a go, with some help, and enthusiastically cheered when he knocked down some of the pins.
Maria took them to her favourite cafe for cake afterward and Phil treated them to some new DVDs before they left for home. Overall it had been a great day; and it made Pepper realise that she never wanted to spend another day away while The Avengers were still children. She missed them too damn much!