I do not own any of the characters present. They belong to Marvel comics. This was written purely for fun. Please note that I am not a trained psychologist.

Tony took a sip of his coffee, letting the noises of a bustling kitchen wash over him as he focused on his Starkpad. The rest of the team, minus Bruce, was in the kitchen as well. At the table, Thor was telling Natasha a stirring tale from a long-ago battle in Asgard while the assassin busied herself with cleaning one of her many weapons. Steve was at the stove, spatula in hand as he fixed up the eggs they managed to devour every morning. Clint was nearby, perched on the counter and pestering the super soldier. Tony was seated on a stool at the kitchen island.

When the noise suddenly came to an abrupt halt, Tony looked up. His eyes landed on Bruce as the physicist wandered into the room. The man had kept to himself for the rest of the day after learning about his other personalities yesterday, but Tony was relieved to see him out and about today. There were still dark circles under his eyes, and he still looked tired and achy, but the fact that he had left his room at all—let alone sought out company—was promising.

The silence lasted for all of a second before Clint grinned and jumped down from the counter. The sound of his feet hitting the ground seemed to shake everyone from their sudden hush.

Steve smiled warmly and cracked a few more eggs into the mixing bowl without ever asking if Bruce wanted any. Clint grabbed the kettle from the back burner of the stove, easily dodging around the soldier to grab it, and then moved to the sink to fill it with water.

Movement from his periphery made Tony glance over in time to see Thor rising to his feet, an enormous smile on his face as he stared at Bruce. "I am most pleased to see that you have emerged from your lair at last, dear friend," the demigod welcomed as he engulfed the physicist in a huge hug, lifting the smaller man off his feet.

Bruce hung limply from the Asgardian's arms for a moment longer before a small chuckle escaped from him. "Thanks, Thor," he said softly.

Once Thor had gently put the physicist back down, Natasha gracefully lifted herself from her seat. A look of surprise crossed Bruce's face when the redhead approached and hugged him as well. The embrace was loose and gentle, and Bruce obviously didn't know how to react aside from tensing a little.

"It's good to see you again," Natasha said quietly. She stepped back to study him closely, hands still on the physicist's shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

The tension in Bruce's shoulders relaxed a bit, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Better," he replied honestly, although he did still sound tired.

Natasha watched him for a moment longer before she gave a single nod and released him.

Once the assassin had started to return to her seat at the table, Bruce stepped around the island and sat down next to Tony. The room instantly froze and became silent again as Natasha, Thor, Steve, and Clint all looked between Tony and Bruce, searching for a hint of tension or strain between the two scientists.

Finally, the kettle began to whistle. Bruce moved to take care of it, but Clint waved at him to sit back down.

With that, everyone returned to their normal morning routine. Tony sipped at his coffee and glanced over at the physicist next to him. Bruce had another small smile on his face, like he was still surprised to see himself with this group on some level, but on another level, somewhere deeper, he was glad that he was with this group of people at all…like he was glad that this group of people, this group of friends, really did have his back.

When Bruce turned and caught him staring, Tony smiled and took another sip of his coffee.

There was a call to assemble that afternoon. The Hulk was a little quieter than usual during the fight, which had Tony worried. He wasn't able to focus on it for very long stretches of time, however, as he was kept thoroughly busy with the newest of Earth's invaders. Every-so-often, he would hear a roar from across the battlefield, but it was nothing like normal.

Soon, the fight was over with another strong victory for the Earth and the Avengers. They were all reconvening on street-level when Tony spotted the Hulk. He was relieved to see the green goliath smiling up at Clint, who was on a massive shoulder. Tony caught the tail end of Clint and Hulk's conversation, in which the archer was apologizing for using the tranquillizer on him a few days ago.

The Hulk waved off the archer's concerns. "Cupid fine," he rumbled.

When the giant came to a stop with the rest of the team, he looked straight down at Tony. The two stared at each other for a long time before Tony swallowed and lifted his face-plate. The giant didn't look angry, but his smile was gone. "How are you feeling, Big Guy?" he asked.

The Hulk nodded a little. "Hulk okay," he replied. His face then darkened into something more threatening, and he leaned forward, ignoring the archer on his shoulder who balanced himself with ease. From the corner of his eye, Tony saw the rest of the team tense a little as the giant poked the chest piece of the engineer's armor once they were face-to-face. "Tony never make Banner hurt again," the Hulk growled in a low, menacing voice with his teeth bared.

Tony nodded. "I won't," he responded. "I'm so sorry about what happened, and I'll try to never hurt Bruce again. I'm sorry that I hurt you, too, Hulk."

The two remained frozen for a moment longer before the Hulk snorted and poked Tony's chest again for good measure. "Good," he said, and then withdrew his hand. He straightened up. "Banner say Tony say sorry when Tony talk about others. Hulk want to make sure."

The rest of the team suddenly froze at the mention of the 'others.' They all turned their intense stares to Tony in unison, who just stared straight back up at the Hulk.

"You told Bruce?" Natasha asked in a low voice.

"I was done lying to him," Tony answered, sparing her only a brief eye before he returned his attention to the goliath. "Bruce told you, Big Guy? About the others?"

They were all surprised when a gentle smile appeared on the Hulk's face. "Banner explain," the green giant said, carefully articulating the rarely used word. "Say others like brothers and sisters, but can't see." He shrugged, careful not to jostle Clint. "Others been there long time, so nothing really change. Hulk still smash, and both still on team, still with friends. Things good."

A huge grin spread wide across Tony's face. "You bet we're all still friends."

The green goliath grinned wide at the affirmation from Tony, which was followed by agreements from the rest of the team. "Hulk happy," he said with a rumble in his chest that sounded less like a growl and more like a content purr. He then carefully set Clint down on the street and began to shrink down.

The debriefing with Fury aboard the helicarrier was quick, as the team had fought with a cohesiveness that they had never achieved before. He turned his eye briefly on Bruce to welcome the man back, and asked if he was feeling better. The drowsy scientist smiled a little from his chair and replied that he was, and then apologized for missing the previous fight.

After that, the meeting quickly wrapped up, and then the six teammates were back on a quinjet and on their way back to the tower.

Once they had returned and finished cleaning up a little, they gathered for their post-mission dinner and movie. They all settled in with their Thai take-out and started the film, each of them content to just fall into this ritual. The atmosphere between them was lighter than Tony could ever remember. With how stressful the past few days had been, to be sitting with Bruce and the rest of the team together, sharing a meal and each other's company, was pretty remarkable.

Bruce, of course, fell asleep not long after he had finished eating, curled into the corner of the sofa with a blanket wrapped around him. The rest of them were quiet for the rest of the movie in respect for their sleeping friend, just like any other time they had all gathered to watch a film together.

Tony kept his smile to himself. It really did feel just the same as it had been, only with more camaraderie. The discovery of his other personalities hadn't changed how Bruce seemed to feel about them. Sure, the physicist hadn't spoken to them about his other personalities, but the fact that he had felt comfortable enough to approach them spoke volumes. The fact that he was still willing to fall asleep in front of them said even more.

And then there was the way that he hadn't even flinched when Tony gently woke him up once the credits started rolling. Tony fought the smile that threatened to appear as they all went their separate ways for the night.

The following week passed with similar ease. Steve hadn't called any full-team practices in reverence to the team healing up after their last battle (and letting Bruce fully heal after the brutal Monster transformation, followed swiftly by the recent battle on top of that). They all kept busy doing their own things. Tony had been down in the lab, and Bruce's time had been split between working with Tony or being off on his own; Tony wasn't sure what he was doing, but he had an idea.

It was early in the morning, too early for Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Thor to have already been through the kitchen for breakfast, when Tony stepped out of the elevator. As he walked across the communal living room toward the kitchen, he spotted Bruce passed out on the sofa. There was a blanket thrown carefully over him—probably Steve's doing, either on his way to or from his morning run.

Tony grinned at the sight, and then moved into the kitchen and looked immediately at the table. Sure enough, there were slips of paper littered across the surface, along with a box of colored pencils. He got the coffee maker started first before he went to go look at Robby's newest pieces of artwork.

When he saw what was drawn, he suddenly felt his chest tighten with some emotion that he wouldn't admit to having and a quiet, breathless laugh escaped from him. Each and every one of the drawings included either Bruce or the Hulk. At long, long last, the man and his big green alter-ego had been included in the boy's drawings.

There was one from their very first full-team practice, with the Hulk and Thor sparring in the woods. Both looked determined to win, but they were both grinning widely, looking like they were having the time of their lives.

There was another with himself and Bruce working in the lab, huddled together and looking at screen.

A grinned crossed Tony's face when he saw that his goatee was accurate this time, remembering the child's first spoken words to him.

Another displayed Steve standing in the Hulk's hand, dressed in his work-out clothes with his shield on his arm. The expression on the soldier's face was almost paternal in his encouragement of the Hulk, who looked cautiously proud.

Another depicted Clint and Natasha helping Bruce prepare a meal for the team—accurate in that Natasha was dicing vegetables with frightening efficiency, and Clint was making a nuisance of himself on the counter next to Bruce, grinning as he peeled potatoes. Bruce himself was smiling patiently over at the archer, and Natasha was fighting a smile herself.

There was one of the Hulk alone, mid-battle and mid-roar.

There was one of Bruce alone, writing in a notebook in the lab as his glasses slipped down his nose.

Tony felt his grin lightened into something softer. They had finally been included in Robby's drawings.

As he was studying the last drawing of the bunch, he heard movement from the next room. He glanced over at the room in question for all of a second before he moved across the kitchen, paper still in hand.

When Bruce wandered in, the physicist offered a sleepy 'good morning,' which was followed by an equally sleepy 'thank you' when he spotted the kettle on the stove, already heating the water for his morning tea.

Tony responded with a greeting and a smile from where he was seated at the kitchen island. He sipped at his coffee, not bothering to watch the other man move behind him, but just waiting in anticipation. Sure enough, when he heard Bruce's movements come to an abrupt halt, he glanced over.

Bruce was staring intently at the refrigerator, and all signs of drowsiness had vanished. Tony hid a grin behind another sip of his coffee as the physicist slowly moved closer to the fridge.

Hanging with the aid of magnets from the kitchen appliance was one of Robby's drawings, Tony's personal favorite from the bunch. The artwork showed each of the Avengers in front of the tower. They were all in uniform, with Iron Man and Thor hovering above Natasha and Steve. In the center of the drawing were Hulk, Clint, and Bruce. The archer was perched on the green giant's massive shoulder, his bow pulled back and an arrow notched and ready to be fired. Hulk himself was standing tall, a savage grin on his face and his hands clenched into tight fists, ready for action. Standing in front of the goliath was Bruce, hands folded together with a small, tranquil smile on his lips.

Beneath the entire team, all seven of them, was the proud proclamation in a child's messy scrawl: "ouR fAmiLy."

When Tony finally looked away from the drawing, hanging with pride on the fridge, his eyes went back to the physicist. Bruce was smiling in the same way Robby had captured in the doodle: small, but completely peaceful.

After he spent another long moment just looking, Bruce's smile widened and he ducked his head. Then he glanced over at Tony, who was hiding his own smile behind his mug of coffee. There was something distinct in the physicist's expression that bespoke how Bruce still thought the whole situation was bizarre, but there was an element of fondness that overpowered the negative emotion.

Bruce looked like he wanted to say something, but after remaining silent for another second, he just shook his head and looked back at the drawing on the fridge. "Well…" he said, and had no intention of following up the statement with another thought.

Tony grinned, but said nothing to prompt his friend into speech. Instead, he just watched Bruce go about getting his tea ready. He didn't say anything each time he caught Bruce peeking back over at the drawing on the refrigerator.

Finally, Bruce sat down next to Tony at the island, watching the steam from his tea dance in the air. They sat silently for a moment before Bruce's eyes landed on Tony. "He's a good kid," he admitted quietly.

Tony nodded his agreement and set down his mug of coffee. "Are you two still corresponding?" he asked, hoping he wasn't prying.

A smile appeared on Bruce's face. "Not quite so much in the past few days," he said. He looked down at his tea and ran his fingertips lightly against the ceramic, careful not to burn himself. "I've been corresponding more with the Doctor." He paused to glance back at Tony. "Seems he's not too happy with you at the moment."

Tony cringed, but there wasn't anything accusatory in Bruce's expression. "Yeah, I can't imagine he would be…" The engineer trailed off as he looked into his coffee, and then he finally looked back at Bruce. "You've been able to talk to the others?"

Bruce shrugged with an easy movement, now that the stiffness in his neck and shoulders had finally vanished. "Not sure if talk is the right word, but passing notes sounds a bit juvenile." He grinned when Tony snorted a laugh. "I've shared words with Robby and the Doctor so far."

"No one else?" Tony asked.

"Not yet," Bruce replied.

There was a lull in their conversation as Bruce took an experimental sip of his tea, which was still steaming. As he set the mug back down, the physicist's eyes returned to the refrigerator.

Tony also glanced over at the doodle on the fridge. He eyed the boy's clumsy handwriting, feeling that same feeling of warmth in his chest as he read the words our family. He didn't necessarily know who the our entailed.

But as he turned back around to look at Bruce and saw the little warm smile on the man's face, he had a feeling that the sentiment encompassed Bruce in some degree, too. He felt a smile of his own begin to tug his lips.

When Bruce glanced over to find Tony staring at him again, the engineer grinned. The engineer hitched a thumb over his shoulder to the table behind him. "The kid did a few more, if you're interested."

Bruce peered over his shoulder to glance at the kitchen table. He spotted the slips of paper littering the surface, and his smile widened slightly.

The physicist slid off of the bar stool and approached the table, Tony echoing his movements. Tony hung back for a moment, just watching as his friend put his glasses on to study Robby's artwork.

Bruce looked up from one of the drawings and glanced at Tony. "He got your goatee right," he commented casually.

Tony grinned wide, and approached the table to join his friend.

A/N: I cannot offer enough thanks to everyone who has favorited, subscribed, given reviews, and-most importantly-read this story.

If you're interested in reading the books that inspired this, I highly recommend them: When Rabbit Howls by the Troops for Truddi Chase, The Flock by Joan Frances Casey with Lynn Wilson, and A Fractured Mind: My Life With Multiple Personality Disorder by Robert B. Oxnam. They are amazing books on a very fascinating topic.

You, the readers, have spoken! You all have pretty unanimously voted on having a series of one-shots written. While I cannot guarantee how frequently these one-shots will come out, know that I have three definite stories in mind already. I'm opening up the floor for suggestions on which team member you'd like to have meet one of Bruce's personalities from this story.

With that, I offer my thanks again for reading. Thank you!