Chapter 1
The weather outside was atrocious. Dark clouds, high winds and rain. Lots and lots of rain. Pepper and Maria left the tower for lunch and returned after half an hour, soaked to the bone and still hungry after they abandoned their search for food once the wind picked up.
Each of the Avengers and a few other guests had sought refuge from the storm in the tower. Steve and Natasha had brought Sam along with them from Washington, they were now making use of the gym, Clint too. Rhodey had shown up, also drenched and hungry after his lunch date had cancelled on him, he had immediately made his way to the kitchen and made food for everyone, that currently only he and Maria were sat eating. Thor had brought Jane with him to meet everyone, and after introductions had been made she was abruptly dragged to the lab to ‘do science’ with Tony and Bruce.
Bea was sulking. She was sat by the window that looked out onto the outdoor walk-way with her face practically pressed against the glass. It had been better weather for the past couple of days, a little cold but not rain and Tony had made the mistake of telling Bea they could go to the park. But when the weather had been bad Tony had to tell her they couldn’t go, Bea had understood once he explained but the toddler was still upset. She had been sat watching the rain all day, looking sad and frowning.
“What is the matter with the little one?” Thor asked when he came back from the lab and into the lounge where Pepper was sat on the couch keeping a close eye on Bea.
“Yesterday Tony told her they could go to the park today but the weather’s bad so they can’t go. She’s a little upset.” Pepper smiled softly. “The wind is calming down a little now but it’s still raining.”
Bea looked over to them. “Ow’side?” She pointed, pressing one of her little fingers to the glass.
“Oh baby, the weather’s still too bad.”
“I could take her?”
Bea perked up upon hearing this.
“Yeah! Ow’side!”
“Are you sure?” Pepper asked.
“Of course, I can make the rain stop for long enough. It will be fun.”
“Ow’side! Ow’side!” Bea cheered jumping up from her spot by the window.
“I don’t think you can go back on it now.” Pepper laughed.
“Unc’ ‘For ow’side!” Bea ran over to Thor and grabbed his leg, grinning up at him.
“Of course.”
“But first you need to get changed princess, put something warmer on, and get your wellies and your coat.”
“Ow’side!”
“Okay, okay. C’mon let’s get you ready.” Pepper picked Bea up and started towards her room. “Won’t be long, ten minutes at the most!” She called back to Thor.
“No rush, I’ll go and ask Jane if she wants to come along.”
“Yeah!” Bea cheered grinning widely at him over Peppers shoulder.
Thor smiled to himself as he headed in the direction of the lab.
“… You just need to change these values.” Jane was stood by Tony’s side in front of a computer, pointing at the screen. “That should stop the circuits from frying and later exploding.”
“I didn’t remember to correct for the smaller circuits.” Tony mumbled. “No wonder it wasn’t working…”
“I thought that you and Pepper talked about this?” Bruce asked without looking up from his own screen.
“We did, no robo-dog. But I still needed to know why it didn’t work.”
“Sometimes you don’t spot mistakes in your own work because you don’t realise you’ve made them.”
“Am I interrupting?” Thor asked after listening patiently for a couple of minutes.
“Of course not. This is casual science, not intense science.” Tony didn’t look away from his computer and correcting the flawed code.
Bruce and Jane shared a look and both rolled their eyes.
“Hey. What’s up?” Jane smiled at him.
“I’m taking Bea to the park. Do you want to come along?”
“Isn’t the weather still bad?”
“It’s calming down now.”
Jane cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is that because it just is, or because of you?”
“Well…” Thor hesitated “It was a bit of both. A joint effort.” Jane smirked at him. “She looked sad, I had to do something.”
“Then yeah, sure. I’d love to come with. Just let me grab my coat.” Jane returned her borrowed safety goggles to a box and grabbed her coat from the back of a computer chair.
No sooner had Jane put on her coat and left the lab with Thor after saying ‘See you later on.’ to Tony and Bruce than Bea ran up to them, bouncing on her toes with excitement.
“Unc’ For! Ow’side!”
Bea was now wearing a yellow and orange puffa jacket over the t-shirt and jeans she had been wearing all day, some matching yellow and orange wellies and a pair of orange mittens.
“Ground rules.” Pepper stated following behind her daughter.
“Go on…”
“No flying, no portals, no unscheduled trips to Asgard.” She ticked them off on her fingers as she went.
“That’s fair.” Jane nodded.
“No flying, no portals, no Asgard. Agreed.” Thor held out his hand and Pepper shook it.
“Good.” Pepper smiled at Bea who was still bouncing excitedly. “Have fun.”
“Ow’side! Ow’side!” Bea chanted staring up at Thor and Jane with a beaming smile and big blue eyes.