So sorry about my lack of updates, but as I said earlier I'm on my labour ward rotation and have just been so so busy!
So here it is, the latest chapter of this fic, that has turned out so much longer than I ever intended. I reckon it'll be about 40-45 chapters long by the time it's finished so we're not that far off... But who knows!
Thanks again to everyone who's been following this fic! And as always, your reviews are always much appreciated!

Clint woke, still under the table in their fort. Natasha had crawled over to him at some point in the night and was now snuggled close to him under his arm, still asleep.

"Tasha, Tasha" he nudged her, whispering to wake her

"Huh?" she asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly

"Natasha, wake up"

"Why? Is not morning"

"It is, almost" he admitted, reading the time of 5am on the clock

"Why we awake?"

"Don't you think we should do something nice for everyone? To say thank you for yesterday"

Now Natasha was interested, and finally opened her eyes "What we going to do?"

Clint thought for a minute, ruling out all his initial ideas because Natasha was too little to do most of them

"We can make them breakfast?" he offered

Natasha nodded enthusiastically "Pancakes!" she shouted excitedly, causing Clint to put his hand over her mouth and shush her quickly

"Sorry" she whispered. She followed Clint to the kitchen, and climbed onto the chair he dragged over for her

"What's first?" she asked

Clint shrugged; "put those eggs in this bowl while I get the flour out"

She nodded, concentrating at the task he'd given her while Clint climbed onto the worktop

"What next?" she asked

"No Tasha, without the shells" he told her, looking at the eight eggs, all smashed in the bowl complete with broken egg shell

"Ooops" she said, scooping out the shells with her hands and dripping egg everywhere

Clint jumped down from the counter to rush and help, but didn't realise the lid was off the flour. It erupted into a cloud of flour, coating the surfaces, floor and the two kids as he hit the floor

"Double ooops" Natasha commented from where she stood, covered in egg and flour

It was six thirty when Pepper made her way into the kitchen to get her morning cup of coffee

"What on earth..?" she began to ask; Natasha was sat in the middle of the floor, covered in flour, licking crushed blueberries off her hands while attempting to pour seven glasses of orange juice, while Clint; who was covered in pancake batter, was trying to scrape a congealed mess out of the microwave, having failed to figure out how to turn on the stove

"Shush" Natasha warned her "It's a rusprise"

"A rusprise?"

"She means a surprise, we were trying to make you breakfast" Clint explained, offering her a plate of undercooked eggs, flour, squished fruit and spilled juice with a sheepish smile on his face

"Well, that's a lovely idea" she told them, taking the plate from Clint and remembering the time Natasha had tried to make Tony lunch...

She put it subtly back on the counter and changed the topic

"How about we watch another film in the fort before it gets tidied away, and Tony can make us all breakfast when he gets up?" she offered

Natasha grinned, sprinting back to the fort and shouting "Frozen!" while searching through the pile of films

"But we just watched that like two days ago" Clint groaned, following her with Pepper.

"I'm sorry about the mess" Clint told Pepper as they climbed into the fort, sitting next to Natasha who was already happily watching the film

"Maybe hold off on the cooking for now?" Pepper suggested with a gentle smile

"Yeah, Tasha isn't very good at it" he whispered and Pepper suppressed a laugh; Natasha as an adult still hadn't mastered the skill of cooking, she even managed to mess up microwavable popcorn. Though Clint wasn't much better.

Halfway into the film, when Clint had given up watching and was reading his comics and Natasha had changed position, sitting in Pepper's lap (covering her in flour as she did), they heard a thud from the kitchen, followed by Darcy's voice;
"What the hell?"

"Sorry Darcy" Pepper called, as Thor chuckled and helped her up

"What happened?" Jane asked, eyeing the state of the kitchen

Pepper joined the others, explaining that Clint and Natasha had wanted to make them breakfast. The two women nodded, understanding, Thor however, did not; "It looks as if a small explosion occurred, are the children okay?"

"They're fine, Thor. Just a little messy"

Jane and Thor set about tidying the kitchen, while Pepper made coffee for them all and Darcy went to change into something a little less covered in egg
The four of them then joined the kids in the fort to watch the end of the film; Darcy singing along dramatically and making Natasha laugh, while Thor became absorbed in the comics Clint showed him

Tony, Steve and Bruce appeared as the film ended, and Natasha informed Tony that Pepper had volunteered him for breakfast duty

Tony scooped her up, perching her on his hip "Okay then, why don't you help me?"

Pepper rolled her eyes "Not a good idea" she informed him

"Why not? You want to help, right?" Tony asks Natasha, who nodded enthusiastically

"Okay fine, but don't say I didn't warn you"

It took two hours for Tony to make breakfast, by which time it was more like lunch. Steve had to go to the shop twice for more eggs and flour, and after Clint insisted on helping too, the mess just spread.

Tony sat down tiredly, already on his fifth mug of coffee "Next time, make sure I listen to you" he said, pressing a kiss to Pepper's forehead

Darcy and Jane were playing on the wii with Clint and Natasha now the fort had been dismantled, when Clint cried out. He fell to the floor, clutching his jaw. Natasha was by his side in a second, while Steve lifted him from the floor.

Bruce examined him briefly; as bruising quickly spread across Clint's jaw and cheek. "He'll be okay" he informed the others, holding an ice pack to Clint's swollen face.

Natasha frowned intently in Pepper's arms, clutching her stuffed penguin

"I'm going back to the lab" Tony informed the others, heading over to the elevator with Jane and Bruce following

"I'm going to head over to Shield, see if they've made any progress in tracking the Hydra plane yet" Steve said, also leaving.

It hit Darcy that the fun, light-hearted mood she'd manage to create over the last day had quickly vanished. She watched the sad faces of the two mini-assassins as their teammates left...