Once Upon A Dream

Hello, welcome to my newest fanfiction project. This is not canon with any of the movies or the biggest part of the comics, but thanks to the Multiverse, it is possible and even happened (Dark Reign FF #2). Thanks to Wolfsprinzessin for the prompt of writing some cute kid-fic with some of the Avengers cast!

Technically, the only difference of Earth 3490 to the MCU is that Tony Stark is a female with the name of Natasha Stark, the Iron Woman, who is married to Steven Rogers. So, if that is not your cup of tea then please, there is a (probably red highlighted) cross in the top corner of the screen. :)

This is rated T because, let's face it, Tony/Natasha won't hold on with nicknames and cursing just because of the presence of kids and there is still Steve. I am never too sure about the rating, so if you think this can pass as something else (higher, lower), tell me.

This was supposed to be a one-shot but I somehow couldn't stop writing this story. I got a bit carried away with this chapter so the kids aren't the main focus but that will change. Soonish. Well then, let's begin, shall we?

Just Another Thursday

There is too much bright light for Natasha's liking so she pulls the blanket up a little higher to cover her face. Why just had Jarvis drawn up the blinds? The mattress dips slightly and a heavy body settles behind her.

'Time to stand up.', the soft voice murmurs, trying to draw away the blanket.

'Just five more minutes, Stevie.', Natasha grumbles, voice still hoarse from sleep. The blond chuckles. With vigor she holds onto her blanket, refusing to give up sleep just yet but of course her husband is stronger and wins the unequal struggle.

'Come on, Nat. You gotta get up.' There is a smile in his voice. 'The children are already waiting.' Steve rubs circles on her now exposed upper arm.

Natasha sniffs the air conspicuously. 'Do I smell bacon?' She turns half around to find Steve hovering over her.

'Uh huh. Made an extra portion for you, darling.' He gives her a quick kiss. Dreamily Nat stares up into his bluer than blue eyes.

Steve already stands up and leaves for the kitchen again. 'I would hurry or Rachel won't leave you any bacon.', he teases.

With a loud groan she throws the blanket off and stands up. Natasha stays in her shorts and tank top and merely throws over a long cardigan before heading downstairs to the kitchen following the delicious smells. Damn Steve for knowing all her weak points and for forcing her to stand up this early because 'the family has to eat together'.

'Morning, Mommy.', Rachel chimes when she enters the big spacious room. The girl sits together with her brother at the kitchen island which Steve had already filled with all sorts of breakfast treats like every day. Natasha stands smiling between James and her, ruffling through their still messy hair.

'Good morning, my sweethearts.' She presses a kiss on their heads and sits down on her usual seat next to the blonde girl.

Steve places a big plate with bacon and eggs in front of her and gives her a kiss. 'Thank you, darling.'

Maybe standing up early during the week isn't too bad, Natasha thinks with a smile. Steve makes breakfast, they eat together and decide what to do for the rest of the day. Though she wouldn't mind sleeping an hour or two longer, the happy faces of her family cheer her up. And her husband always is overjoyed when she manages to do her work in her actual work time and doesn't have to spend half of the night in the workshop. And on the weekends Steve lets her sleep in, well, until the kids are up and about and demand their attention at least which usually is at the same time. In that aspect they take a lot after Steve.

Finally the blond sits down with his family. 'What do you plan on doing today?', Natasha asks around the first slice of bacon.

'Nothing fancy, just writing some reports. And you?'

'I still gotta fix the latest glitches with the holoscreen and then there is probably a long list from Pepper of things she needs to be done. That'll probably take most of the morning.', she sighs.

'Can I come with you, Mom?', James asks, looking up from his waffles. James Rogers is six years old, has short messy, dark brown hair and is rather small for his age. His love for science he got from his mother though he is usually calm and shy as his father. The clever boy loves to spend time in the workshop or tinkering with his own machines. Rachel isn't into science as much as her brother but the little blonde four-year-old girl is probably just as smart. Natasha is glad they get along and play together instead of bickering the whole day.

'Sure, sweetheart.', she immediately agrees. Before James was born she couldn't imagine having a child around herself the whole day but now she is glad that James often accompanies her. She dreads to think about a time when he will have other thinks to do and won't cling to his parents anymore.

His grin is the ultimate reward. After breakfast Steve takes Rachel and her playthings to his office and James and Natasha head downstairs to the workshop.

While finding the glitches and trying to fix them, James asks a thousand questions about the workings of them and Natasha is glad to answer him. She explains all her inventions to him and lets him help her so he can get a feeling for the tech and the fine wiring. He has steady hands and she helps him when he doesn't know the next step. The wiring of the holoscreens is delicate but she has trust in him.

An hour after lunch, Natasha packs away the now fixed screens and turns to James. 'So, now that we are done with the boring stuff,', she steps closer and her eyes shine with mischief, 'let's get to the fun stuff.' James' grin matches her own.

Twenty minutes later a big bang shakes the house.

When the dust finally settles and they have pulled of the goggles, Natasha can see the whole extent of the small explosion. Soot had blackened their faces and clothes and all they can do for a little while is staring.

'Okay.' Natasha takes a deep breath. 'This wasn't supposed to happen.' James tries to stifle his giggles behind his hand. She turns around to him. A quick once-over confirms that he is also unhurt. Uncomfortable she coughs because of the dust collecting in her mouth but Jarvis had already activated the exhaust ducts to clear the air.

'Alright, sweetheart.' She crouches down in front of the lab table he still sits on. James' brown eyes still gleam with mirth and enjoyment, framed by big circles where the goggles had protected them. White teeth stand out against the blackened skin when he grins. At least he isn't frightened, she thinks. Then again, he spends a lot of time down here in Natasha's workshop and more often than not something goes wrong. 'Your daddy doesn't need to know of this, right? He would just get upset and worried again.' The brunette stops for a second. 'What do you say, we get Rachel and go eat some ice cream?', she asks with exaggerated enthusiasm.

He chews on his lip, too clever to not recognize the bribe but unsure whether to bite or not. Then his face lights up. 'Can I get one with strawberries?'

'Anything you want, sweetie.' Natasha immediately agrees, standing up and helping James to jump of the table. The intercom comes online with a faint crack.

'Natasha?' Steve's voice doesn't sound too happy.

She has the good graces to wince. 'Yes, darling?' Nat knows he can practically hear her guilty conscience.

'What was that noise?'

'Nothing, really.', Nat quickly answers. 'Just a minor.. malfunction.' Well, it wasn't more, right?

Steve sighs. 'What happened?'

'We were just.. experimenting.' She can almost hear his palm hit his forehead.

'How bad is it?', he asks. She can hear the frustration in his voice.

'Not bad at all, it's really nothing, darling.'

He doesn't believe a word she says and turns to his chief source of information. 'Jarvis? What's happened?'

The smooth British voice of the AI quickly replies. 'There is a hole in the wall, sir.' Somehow that traitor has the nerve to seem amused.

Not that Steve would share that feeling. 'A hole?!'

'Just a really small one.', Nat immediately defends herself. 'If I hang up a picture there no one will know any better.'

'Natasha, you blew a hole into the wall? Is James with you?'

'Yes.', the brunette admits.

'Hello, Daddy.', James chimes from behind her.

'Hey, champ.' Steve sighs.

'Don't you worry. We will go eat ice cream and Jarvis will send down the Iron Legion and fix this.', Natasha informs her husband.

'Mrs Stark, the Iron Legion is not programmed for this. I fear they don't have any knowledge of repairing walls.' Jarvis sounds thoughtful.

Natasha opens her mouth to answer but leaves out her breath in a huff. 'Really?' Damn. 'Well then, I'll fix this in the morning. Place it on my to do list, Jay.'

'May I remind you, Miss Natasha, that with my calculations you will already need till Christmas to work through the list?'

'What? Christmas?' She worries her lip. 'That's impossible.', Nat claims though she is insecure. Because, seriously, Christmas? That is ridiculous. 'I fixed the fridge just last week. And even in less time than I estimated.'

'You weren't supposed to 'fix' the fridge, you were supposed to go grocery shopping!', Steve intervenes.

'Yes, but now the fridge will send a list to my phone of what I need to buy and you won't have to survive on ice cream and instant meals.', she justifies her actions.

'I wrote you a shopping list.'

'Yeah, but now you don't need anymore.' Aren't the advantages obvious?

'Natasha.', he groans. Alright, his face is definitely tilted against a wall in frustration by now.

Grinning Natasha claps her hands and turns back to James. 'Now that that is resolved.'

'You promised to go eat ice cream with us.' James pulls off the most adorable pout. Natasha finds her heart melting and apparently Steve doesn't feel any different.

He chuckles. 'Then come up here and get ready.' Sometimes it's good to have the children on her side.

A wide grin spreads on the young face and he runs towards the elevator to get quickly upstairs. Shaking her head the brunette steps in after him, Jarvis being mindful enough to delay the elevator because James is too giddy to wait much longer. She ruffles his dark brown hair when the doors close and the cabin starts to move upwards.

'I thought we shouldn't lie to daddy or you.', he says quietly, ducking away from her hand and instead taking it in his. His unruly mop of hair is already tousled enough.

For a short moment she is speechless. 'Well, I didn't lie. Per se. The damage could have been considerably worse. But you're right, no lying. Not to any of us.', she says just to emphasize her point.

'Okay.', James says. Natasha crouches down and brushes some of the black soot from his face though it doesn't do much. When the doors open at the top floor, she stands up and they exit. Steve already awaits them, looking displeased. His arms are crossed and he taps his foot, always a very bad sign.

'Hello, darling.' She tosses her brightest smile at him. He merely continues to glare at her. 'Alright, go get cleaned up, sweetheart.' Nat gently shoves her son towards the stairway in the corner of the living room to go upstairs where his room is. She steps closer to Steve when James quickly runs to his room to change his clothes and get the soot from his face and out of his hair.

'Well, I'll get dressed as well and better take a shower. Wanna join me, soldier?', she asks with a wink.

'Natasha.', he tries to keep his temper and frustration in check. Apparently the giving in had just been for James and the forgiveness doesn't extent to his wife.

She looks up at Steve with her most flirty smile for a few more seconds, then she groans and drops the smile. 'Fine, then get Rachel and get her dressed.'

'What?' One of his brows rises in disbelief.

Nat turns back and looks at him as if he had lost his mind. 'I promised James to go eat ice cream and I won't back off from that promise.' Steve is about to say something but she is faster. 'And we can't leave Rachel here. Or well, then you have to deal with her disappointment.' She crosses her arms at her own logic because she knows he wouldn't want to deal with a grumpy Rachel.

He groans and Natasha knows she has won. She heads for the stairs now as well. 'Natasha, what were you thinking anyway? You can't endanger James' life like that.', his voice keeps her back. Steve sounds rather resigned than angry.

She sighs and turns back. 'What was I supposed to do? Tell him to stay away? It wasn't dangerous, I promise.'

His lips quirk up into a smile. 'Just be more careful.' Steve knows as well as she that James can't be kept out of the lab for good. He loves to tinker just as much as his mother. The blond comes to her and tilts her head to peck her lips. Smiling he runs his thumb over her dirty cheek.

'And hey, it wasn't even my fault.' She points her finger at him when she eases out of his touch. 'Dum-E messed up that last bit, not me. All that I learned is that if I want it to be done right, I have to do it myself.', Natasha tells him as she leaves and heads upstairs as well to shower and then get dressed for going out.

She runs into Rachel halfway up the stairs 'James said we go eat ice cream.' The small blond girl giddily bobs up and down.

Natasha smiles. 'Yes, we all go. So get a jacket, it's chilly outside.' Rachel's face lights up and she practically runs up the stairs to get ready. 'Wait with your daddy in the living room.', she calls after the girl but doubts she heard it.

Thirty minutes later she goes downstairs and gets almost run over by James. His hair is still wet, Steve apparently forced him to shower as well to get all the grime out of his hair. He now wears a clean t-shirt and jeans and jogs to his father and sister who already wait for them.

'Are the sunglasses really necessary?', Steve asks with a sigh when he spots Natasha.

She watches her children trying to regain Steve's attention. 'Yes. So, who's ready for some ice cream?', she asks with a smile. As expected the kids' eyes shine with excitement.

Rachel reaches her arms up and Steve picks her up. Nat takes James hand and they take the elevator down into the garage.

Reviews? Ideas? Something?