“Bruce, please. I would ask someone else but there is no one around. The others are all in a debriefing and I’m sure they help you as soon as they’re finished. I just want to rush over and see if he’s okay.” Y/N stands in front of the scientist, her hands clasped together. Her brother had an accident early in the morning and the hospital called her to come over and sign some papers. His wife is pregnant, and she called Y/N as well, asking her if she could pick her up and get her to him. From all what she heard and how they sounded it isn’t really serious, but she still worries. “I’m sorry, Y/N but this is really important. Can’t you take them down and let Dum-E look after them? Or Butterfinger and U?” Y/N’s pleading face is immediately replaced with a look of hurt and distrust. “Would you really trust the three with your kids even if you’re in the same room?”
“Probably not.” Bruce admits. His arms are still crossed while they argue. He really needs to work out this thing he’s working on and has no time to look out for the kids. But he sighs, uncrosses his arms and nods. “Alright. This once because you seem really worried. But you have to come if I call. I don’t know how long the briefing will go. You know how Fury is sometimes.”
“Of course. Thank you, Bruce.” She kisses the man on the cheek before she bends down to the two boys. “You two be nice to your uncle, okay? He has plenty of work to do. I’m back as soon as I can.” She kisses each of them on the nose, pats Lady’s head and is almost out of the door as she turns around once more. “I love you two.” She says it in a soft and loving voice and points at them, then she’s gone.
Bruce looks at the two boys who look up at him and sighs. “Okay, eh… What do you want to do?”
“U-Uncle Bruce? Is mommy sick?”
“No. Why are you thinking that, Steve?” The brunette crouches down next two Steve whose eyes are already filled with tears. “Mo-mommy s-said something a-about a h-hospital.” He sobs a bit, so Bucky takes his hand and holds it tight in his own while Bruce rubs his own hand up and down on Steve’s back. Lady comes closer and whines at the small child, licking his hand. “No, your mommy is fine. But her brother had an accident. So, he went to the hospital and mommy is visiting him now.” He smiles a bit to calm the kids down. It seems to work on Steve but Bucky still looks worried. “Again, what do you want to do?”
“Can we watch cartoons?” Bucky asks carefully and Bruce frowns. “I don’t think that is-”
“I want to draw, please.” Steve pulls on Bruce’s hem and looks up at him, still teary eyed. Bruce nods at the blonde boy. He takes him over to one of his tables and makes some room, places some papers and pencils on it before he gets a chair in front of it. He places some pillows on it as well so that Steve can actually look on the paper without kneeling on the chair. Then he picks the boy up and sets him down on it and watches as he eagerly starts to draw. “And you?” Bruce turns back to Bucky who now sits on the ground, cuddled up in Lady’s fur. The boy shrugs and looks near tears himself. Bruce sighs and looks back at his experiment before he crouches down in front of Bucky. “What is it?”
“I want mommy…” Bucky whines and rubs his eyes. “Bucky is clingy today.” Steve calls from where he sits and Bruce looks briefly back at him before he directs his gaze back to Bucky. “You’re clingy?”
“Bad night.” Bucky shrugs and suddenly looks a bit ashamed of himself. A tear slips out of his eye and Bruce feels his heart clench. Why is it that they always cry when he’s near?
“Come on, Bucky.” Bruce opens his arms, unsure if it’s the right thing to do but in the same moment Bucky falls forward into his arms and nuzzles into his chest. He sobs slightly and Bruce pats his back, feeling a bit awkward.
“Can I… Can I help you? A mission?” Bruce frowns and looks around his lab. Everywhere are papers flying around, screens filled with statistics and charts. “I’m sorry, Bucky. There is nothing you could help me with at the moment. But I have a few cars lying around somewhere. If you find them you can play with them.” Bucky nods shaky as if he's thinking of something else, but then he loosens his hug on the scientist and walks around the room, picking up papers and searching under tables and chairs for the cars Bruce mentioned. Lady is on his heels the whole time and follows him. Bruce watches both of them for a moment. He feels himself relax a bit. He’s never really alone with them and if he is one of them is sick and sleeps almost all the time. This is something entirely new for him but ‘til now it’s almost easy.
For a while it’s silent in his lab. Each of them minds his own business and Lady sleeps next to Bucky as he plays with his cars. Then everything escalates quickly. Steve squirms on his chair and looks around. Bruce sees it briefly out of the corner of his eyes as he shakily stands up and tries to climb down from the lab chair. The chair rolls away from the desk and Steve loses his balance and falls, hitting his head and landing on his butt. He starts crying immediately. Now Bruce knows why he tried to climb down because the small boy loses control on his bladder and produces a small puddle on the ground. At the same time Bucky starts crying as well. Bruce doesn’t really know why, but he guesses he’s still missing Y/N. He looks back and forth between the two not able to decide to whom he should go first. Lady starts whining and jumping between the two. Helplessly overwhelmed, he feels to lose a bit of control over himself. His hands turn a bit green and a pain soars through his neck. His experiment fails at the same time as Lady comes up to him and bites in the fabric of his pants to tug him to her owners. “F-FRIDAY! G-get someone down here. Now!”
* * *
“Stark. Is there a possibility that HYDRA has more than this station down in Texas?”
“It seems so. I would be surprised if this was the only o-”
“I’m sorry, boss. Dr. Banner requests help immediately.” FRIDAY interrupts Tony mid-sentence. The genius looks a bit annoyed but as she finished, he frowns. “Can’t that wait?”
“I’m afraid it can’t.”
“Fine. Nat, he’s your boyfriend. Would you?” Tony gestures to the door and Nat grumbles something about not being together but walks out of the door nonetheless. “What's the matter, FRIDAY?” She walks down the hall to the elevators, slightly annoyed that Tony chose her to go but grateful at the same time, that she doesn’t have to be stuck in the debriefing all day. “Dr. Banner is currently alone with Captain Rogers and Sargent Barnes. It seems matters got out of hand for him to cope with.”
“Why is he with the kids?” Nat frowns and pushes the button for the elevator. “Miss Y/N has a business in the hospital nearby. She asked Dr. Banner to watch them.” Nat hums in understand even if she’s slightly confused by why Y/N needs to go to the hospital. The ride is quick and soon she's in the hall to Bruce's lab. She hears rustling from over her and sighs. “Clint! Come down from there.”
“Shit.” Clint curses and soon jumps down from an opening in the vent he was sitting in. “Trying to get away from Fury?” Nat smirks at him and Clint just rolls his eyes and sighs theatrical.
“Always. It’s boring as hell. Each time the same speeches, the same questions. At least Cap manages to get us out of there sooner.” Nat smirks at him and punches him on the shoulder but her smirk dies down as he hears a roar that sounds familiar to the one of a big green something and lots of crying. She shares a frightened glance with Clint and not a second later they are bursting through the door of Bruce's lab. Lady is still jumping up and down between Steve and Bucky. Both kids are red-faced and crying while Steve is holding the back of his head. Nat's eyes fly over to Bruce who grips his desk plate and tries to not lose control. “GET THEM OUT!” It’s a mix of his and Hulks voice and Nat knows that he can't hold of any longer. A loud pang on another table lets her twitch, and she looks over to the failed experiment which just now starts burning the surrounding papers. “Clint!” The archer nods and quickly gathers a wet Steve and a red-faced Bucky in his arms and runs out, Lady next to him and leaves Nat with Bruce to try to get him out of the Hulk-time he’s currently in.
Clint rushes over to the elevator and in it. He takes a deep breath as the doors close and looks at both children in his arms. He crouches down and sets them down. Bucky doesn't let go of him though, so he holds him sill hugged to his chest with one arm while looking over Steve. The small boy is a mess. He’s wet, red-faced and gasps for air while still holding the back of his head where Clint can see a bump forming itself. “Hey, hey. Steve, it’s okay.” Steve shakes his head vehemently and cries a bit louder. Lady nuzzles her snout to his cheek and licks comforting at it before she whines and looks at Clint helplessly. Clint switches his eyes from Steve to Bucky and back again. “FRIDAY? Get Sam out of the briefing. I need his help here. Send him to the common room.” He doesn't wait for her answer. Instead, he steps out of the elevator and quickly rushes to the kitchen area of the common room. “Buck, you need to let go for a second. I just pick up some ice for Steve's head. Okay?”
“Nooo…” Bucky whines and starts crying a bit louder again. Clint stets him on a stool at the bar. He lets go of Steve's hand and takes both of Bucky’s in his. “Hey, come on, buddy. I’m right back. Just a second.” The brunette shakes his head again in a speed which makes Clint questioning if he can give himself a concussion like this. “Hey, man. What's up here? Why should I- Holy!” Sam comes in and looks at the scene. A whining Lady sitting next to a crying, red-faced Steve who looks a bit blue by now and Bucky who clings to Clint like he would die if he lets go. “Sam! Please. Get some ice for Steve and find his inhaler. Y/N keeps one around here!” Sam nods and Clint focuses back to Bucky. He picks him back up into his arms and starts rocking him and rubbing his back. “I’m lucky I have three of you at home. Now, buddy, will you calm down a bit?” He’s not expecting an answer but Bucky still shakes his head. “Mommy! I want mommy.”
“I know. We can call her, okay? But you need to calm down first.” The archer walks up and down at the bar and looks for Sam who by now has Steve in his lap and gives him a puff of the inhaler while awkwardly holding a cooling pack at his head. “What happened?” Sam looks up at Clint with a questioning face and Clint just shrugs. “Dunno. We came down and Bruce seemed to Hulk-out. The two were already crying, so I grabbed them and got them out.” Sam rises an eyebrow but doesn’t ask further.
Steve calms down slowly. He’s only sniffling by the time Sam puts the inhaler away. “Want to get out of the wet things?” Sam looks down at Steve who gives him a tired nod. He rubs his red and probably hurting eyes and lets himself be picked up by the man. Sam claps Clint on the back and leaves to get Steve changed. Clint still has all hands full of trying to get Bucky to stop crying. “Hey, now it’s good, Buck. You’re okay and Steve is okay. Calm down a bit.” Bucky shakes his head again and hides his face in Clint's shoulder, wetting the fabric with his tears and puffing his warm breath against it. But he calms down. Very, very slowly. By the time Sam comes back with a, again, crying Steve in his arms, Bucky is only a hanging bag in his arms. “What did you do?” Clint frowns at Sam who looks a bit helpless now that Steve is crying again. “Used the bad word.”
“Bad word?”
“The ‘N’ word. Nap.” He mouths the last word and realization hits Clint. “Oh.”
“NO!” Steve screams. He probably has picked up what they talked about. His screams lead to Bucky starting to whimper. He clutches his ears and start sniffling. “Ow.” Clint looks down at the brunette and soon both boys are crying and calling for Y/N. Steve holding his hurting head and Bucky holding his ears.
Tony and Pepper walk in but stop shortly and look at the distressed men. “What the hell is going on?” Tony’s gaze switches between Sam and Clint while Pepper walks up to Sam. She talks to Steve in a silent and calm voice and soon has the crying bundle of misery in her own arms and rocks him. “Mommy!” Bucky's cry sets a pang through the hearts of them all. Clint walks over to Tony and presses the boy to him before he retreats to a stool at the bar and flops down. “They just won’t calm down. Whatever it is that happened down there, it’s bad.”
“Where's Y/N? Hey, Bucky, shh.” Tony watches Sam and Clint and both men shrug. “Miss Y/N is currently in the hospital to visit her brother.” FRIDAY’s voice sounds from the ceiling. Tony raises an eyebrow but says nothing. “Hey, Buckaroo. What’s wrong?”
“Mommy!” Bucky whines and hugs Tony a bit closer. “I know, I know. What’s with your ear? You rub it. Stop that.” Tony takes Bucky's metal hand gently from his ear. “Noo. Hurts.” Bucky whines again and sobs a bit, hiding now in Tony’s neck. “Your ears hurt?” Bucky nods and sighs tiredly while silent sobs still shake his body. “Okay. Let's find something for that. FRIDAY. What helps for hurting ears?”
“A dishtowel with onions should help, boss. I still would recommend to visit a doctor.”
“We try the towel first. Sam, cut some onions.”
“Why me?” Tony just throws him a dirty look before he wanders over to Pepper who sits on the couch with Steve in her arms. He sits down as well and looks over the miserable boys in their arms. “Holy… Does she survive this all the time?”
“Wonders of a mother, Tony.”
“FRIDAY, play the record of Y/N’s singing from Bucky’s panic attack, will you?” FRIDAY doesn’t answer but the record starts to play just as he finishes speaking. Y/N’s silent and loving voice fills the room as she sings ‘my sunshine’. Slowly both boys calm and Steve looks up and around to see if he finds his mommy but ends up staring at Pepper. He even smiles a shy smile before he snuggles back into her embrace. Bucky instead lays his heavy hand back on Tony’s shoulder and starts sucking on his thumb, still sniffling. Suddenly Wanda comes in with a floating Vision behind her. She walks over to Bucky and, from wherever she has it, she plucks his thumb out of his mouth and plops a pacifier in it. Bucky sighs happily and closes his eyes in comfort. Wanda smiles and strokes his hair before she reaches out and passes another pacifier to Steve. He starts sucking on it, too, and smiles at his favorite aunt in gratitude. Sam comes up as well and passes the dishtowel with onions to Tony who presses it to Bucky’s ear and scrunches up his nose against the smell.
A loud crash sounds though the hall and everybody looks up. Y/N’s singing ends abruptly as FRIDAY speaks up. “Boss, emergency protocol Hulk.”
“SHIT!” Tony stands up abruptly making Bucky whine. He looks down for a second as the doors fly open and Natasha come in limping and clutching her side. “Get the Kids out!” She shouts. Not a second later the doors get ripped out of the ankles and Hulk jumps in. He roars through the room in blind rage and throws one of the doors in the direction of the remaining Avengers. Pepper, Vision, Wanda and Tony jump to one side, careful of the boys while the others get out of the way to the other side. Just as Tony wants to stand back up Bucky manages to free himself of his grip. “Bucky! NO!” A new loud crash sounds as Tony's armor comes flying through a window and assembles itself around him. They watch helplessly as Bucky runs up to Hulk and stops just before him. “Buck!” Steve struggles and wiggles so that Pepper can’t hold on the small child and, as soon as she lets go of him, he rushes to Bucky, hiding slightly behind him. “Guys! Take whatever weapon you find. FRIDAY! I need Veronica.”
Hulk roars once again and is about to storm further into the room as Bucky speak up. “Hulk!” He stretches out his little arms to the green big guy. Everybody holds their breath as Hulk looks down at the child with a grim expression. Bucky smiles at him holding the dishtowel again against his ear. Hulk takes a step forward. “Whoa, big guy. Stop right there!” Tony takes a step forward as well. The others gather around him. Hulk just looks at them, screams and suddenly has both children in his arms. Lady, who was hiding under the table comes up to him, tail tucked between her legs and whines, head hanging low. Hulk grunts at the dog and glares at the others. “Buddy, come on. Let them down.” Tony holds up his hands and takes another step forward. Hulk growls at him as if to dare him to come one step closer. Suddenly Bucky and Steve hug the green monster and Bucky even goes as far as to kiss the part of Hulk’s shoulder that he can reach. Not only the Avengers look lost at the gesture. Hulk even looks really confused only knowing the goodnight story from Nat as the only lovely gesture. “Hey, big guy. Time for a good night story.” Nat limps up beside Tony and holds out a hand for Hulk to take. He looks at Nat, a bit unsure, if Hulk can look unsure, and studies her. He passes Steve to his other arm, so that the boy is now directly next to Bucky and reaches out with his free hand. “FRIDAY, quit Veronica. I think we got it.” Thankfully FRIDAY doesn’t answer, so Hulk doesn't get startled. He nearly touches Nat's hand, but then he backs down. His back colliding with the wall behind him, which thankfully doesn't collapse at his weight. He slowly slumps down, grunts again but his eyes are still focused on Nat. Careful, not to aggravate him again, she takes a few cautious steps forward. Lady follows Nat, seeing it as her chance to approach her both boys to protect them despite being afraid herself. Hulk sits down with a grunt and Bucky snuggles closer to him with Steve. “Good Hulk.” Steve mumbles around his pacifier and closes his eye as Bucky giggles and pats Hulk’s cheek, not able to reach any higher. Hulk shakes his head like a confused puppy and grunts again. “They play too much with the figures we got them.” Tony shakes his head at the scene and watches as Natasha squints her eyes. She seems to register what happens. “Okay, guys. It’s safe. He comes back.” Hulk shakes his head a bit more but slowly the green color descends, and he starts to shrink to his normal Bruce hight. A few minutes later and almost naked, Bruce sits on the ground with two asleep children in his arms. Lady runs up to him, growls for a second before she nuzzles and sniff at the two boys. Just then she lays down beside Bruce and watches him closely. She looks a bit as to dare him to do a wrong move. The man just lays his hand on her head, letting his own fall back against the wall, closes his eyes and sighs while holding both boys with his other arm. “Guys! What happened here!” Y/N runs in hand on her heart. Her face shows a lot of fear, and she looks around wildly at the scene. Everybody stares at her before they relax and shake their heads. Y/N eyes land on Bruce, who sits tiredly next to her, both boys on his arms. She leans heavly against the wall and closes her eyes as she sees the last bit of green vanish from Bruce’s skin. “Oh my… my heart.”
“Y/N. Hey!” Clint is next to her as her legs give out for a second. “It’s okay. Nobody's hurt. Actually, I think Hulk even likes the boys.” She looks up and glares at the archer and then at the others before she looks back at the snoring scientist with her kids. “I will never, ever again leave them with one of you.” She points at the group of heroes. Clint smirks and leads her over to one of the couches before the others gather around her. Nat quickly places a blanket over Bruce and the kids before she joins them.
“Oh, Y/N, before we forget it. Steve hit his head pretty bad and has a bump and Bucky probably gets sick. His ears hurt.”
“What?” She looks confused at Sam and together they start to tell what happened as far as they know.