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Everyone let's out a sigh as they get on the Avenjet. No one seems more relieved than Clint for the day to be over. He beats everyone else to the controls. "Are you sure you're in a place to be flying?" Tony asks him. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm gonna take us to a safe house."
"A safe house, huh?" Tony asks him. "Figure we could use a break." Tony figures he probably means himself more than anyone else, after the whole circus thing. But he won't argue that he feels like he's been run over by a bus. And he has no doubt that the rest of the team probably feels similarly. He did get shot out of a canon after all. "Think you could talk to the four, ask them to watch New York for us for a few days?" Clint asks. "Where are you taking us?" Steve asks. "Like I said, safe house. What, don't trust me?" His grin isn't as cocky or teasing as it usually is. "Of course we trust you." Steve assures him. And Tony nods to confirm he agrees.
Everyone buckles in for the ride. "Do you think Clint will be okay, I've never seen him this serious." Sam whispers. "Facing things we're not proud of is never easy. He'll be okay eventually. He just might need some time." Steve tells him. Tony wants to laugh, no kidding.
"Do any of you know where our friend is taking us?" Thor asks. "No clue." Hulk says. "As long long as there's food, I don't care." Hulk says.
They land hours later. Outside a small town still inside the New York State lines. Tony looks outside and sees a farm-style house. Cute, but not exactly what Tony was imagining when Clint had said "safe house". The morning sun is hitting the tall grass surrounding the house, causing refractions off of the dew drops that haven't evaporated yet.
"Looks fragile." Hulk says. "Yeah, don't break anything. Please." Clint says. "Hawkeye, saying please?" Sam says. "It's a miracle." Tony deadpans. Clint leads the way up the dirt path.
When he gets to the doorstep Tony watches Thor and Hulk step as gently as possible. Clint grabs a set of keys out of his pockets and unlocks the front door. "This is a safe house?" Thor asks. "I guess so." Tony tells him, "Probably S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Hey babe! I'm home." Clint shouts into the house. "Babe?" Tony asks quietly. "Clint I swear if you're just here to hide from the Hulk again…"
"I've only done that twice." Clint argues as a man comes out from around the corner. He pauses when he see's the group behind Hawkeye. He's about the same height as Clint with red hair that's been swept to the side, brown eyes, freckles, a square jaw, and most surprisingly, a blonde baby, maybe 6 months old, held on his hip. He's just in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that says 'I tell Dad Jo K Es Periodically… But only when I'm in my element.' "I brought company." Clint says, giving the man a kiss. "Thanks for the warning." He says, rolling his eyes.
"Wait, Ant-Man?" Tony asking, finally recognizing him. In his defense it's been a long night and Scott is not in his suit, or anything resembling the Scott Lang he's used to interacting with. "Hello again, Stark. Avengers. Didn't think I'd see you again so soon after the whole Pym Particle incident."
"Wait, what is happening here? I thought you guys had some sort of, I don't know…weren't you arguing? What was that whole thing about the past being the past? And the boot?" Sam asks. "Well I did shrink him down and he did spend some time in his own shoe. That wasn't a lie." Scott says, smirking at him. "Not an experience I want to repeat." Clint admits, shuddering, "But it's for show. Fury helps keep this under wraps and off of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files. But we can lie low here for a few days." Scott raises a brow. Clint shakes his head in a way that Tony figures means 'later'. "Can someone enlighten me as to what is happening?" Thor asks. Scott and Clint snort at the same time.
Small footsteps can be heard running from somewhere in the house. "Someone noticed you're here." Scott says. "Here comes trouble."
"Clint!" A little girl shouts, running around the same corner Scott just came from, jumping into his arms. "Hey Cassie!"
"Clint! Guess what!"
"What?"
"Guess!"
"You're going to clean the whole house."
"No!" She giggles. "Well then you gotta tell me."
"I finally learned to do a handstand."
"You gotta show me then." The girl jumps down, she's maybe nine years old, coming to Clint's middle. She flips herself onto her hands and proudly shows off her handstand. "Think you can keep doing it if I tickle you?" Clint asks. "NO!" She shouts. "Too late!" She shrieks as he starts to tickle her sides, falling over. "DADDY! SAVE ME!" She shrieks as she giggles. Scott shakes his head at the two of them.
"Nat, hold your niece." Scott says, handing over the baby. She takes her without complaint. The rest of the team stares at her. "What?" She asks. "You knew?" Tony asks. "Of course I knew." She says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it should be. "And you are not upset?" Thor asks. "Why would I be upset?"
"I think we were all under the impression that the two of you were an item." Tony tells her. She laughs. "I love Clint, but Scott can keep him. We're friends. And he's a little too sarcastic for my tastes. What do you think Abby?" Nat turns to the baby. She looks up at all of them with large brown eyes and babbles out a few sounds. Natasha nods and then turns back to the chaos.
Scott and Cassie seem to have Clint pinned down (Scott stradling him and Cassie sitting on his chest) and are now tickling him. "Someday, you and I are going to team up against all of them." Nat tells the little girl. She makes a few more noises.
"I yield! I yield!" Clint shouts finally. The three of them are breathless from laughing as Cassie and Scott finally let Clint go.
Tony actually smiles at the sight. Sure this is never what he would have pictured for his friend. But it works for him. And it clearly makes him happy. And now he can kind of see it. But instead of helping with homework Clint's the kind of parent who feeds their kids chocolate cake for breakfast, teach them to handle sharp objects younger than probably actually advisable, hang them over a banister, play a ridiculous number of hours on an Xbox or Switch together, stay in pajamas all day, and probably somehow find their kid on the roof after looking away for just a little too long.
Cassie looks up and notices the other people in the room. "Uh, Daddy?"
"Yeah sweetie?" She points at them. And he looks over. He gives a soft smile and scoops her up. "These are Clint's friends. Maybe he can get up and introduce us."
"Once I catch my breath." He says from the floor, "And find my glasses."
"I have them." Cassie says, sticking them on her face. Though they're a little to big for her, she holds them to the bridge of her nose. "Ah, what? Cass." Clint groans. Scott just laughs. She hands them back when he stands up.
"Cassie, these are the Avengers. That's Thor, Tony, Steve, Hulk, and Sam. And you know Nat." Cassie waves to the spy who waves back. "Everyone, this is my family. You know Scott. This is my step-daughter, Cassie." He says, ruffling her hair. "And this is Abigail. My favorite blonde niece." Nat says. "Auntie Nat, she's your only blonde niece." Cassie says, pointing to her own red hair like her dad's.
"Wait, you're married?" Steve asks, "When did that happen?"
"While we were all split." Clint says simply, "Look, I know this is what I signed up for when I brought you all here, because no more big secrets, but can we do this tomorrow? Right now, I just want to go collapse in my bed." Scott raises a brow at him. "Okay." Tony agrees, "Let's all try and get some rest, we've had a long night."
"I know you all fight some weird hours but sleeping during the day?" Scott asks when Clint flops into their bed. Clint just groans.
"Where's Cassie?" He asks after a minute. "Playing in her room. And Abby is down for a nap. So you can tell me what's going on." He feels the bed shift under Scott's weight as the red-head lays down next to him. Clint turns his head to look at him, his brows furrowed with concern.
"Is this a conversation where I'm gonna have to drag it out of you even though you want to tell me?" Scott asks. "Probably, yeah." Clint admits. Because he's not good at emotional conversations. Ever. And he already had one 'backstory reveal' today. It's not like Scott doesn't know, it is how they met, but he still hates talking about that time in his life. "Then go change into something more comfortable and less covered in dirt and sweat."
"Hey." Clint pokes him. "It's true. You're still wearing your shoes too. Idiot." Scott pokes him right back. Clint rolls out of bed before they can have an all out poking fight and anything that results from it.
He throws off his boots into some corner of the room and then his belt and suit. Then go his glasses. Probably not all in the same spot. He wasn't really aiming.
Scott shakes his head when he sees what Clint's wearing, "Someday I'm gonna buy you one of those shirts."
"And I won't wear it because it's not as fun if I don't steal it from you." He stole one of Scott's science joke t-shirts. He also put on pants but only because he's learned that some of his friends have no sense of privacy. "You're not my husband, you're a glorified clothing thief." Scott says as Clint lays down, hiding his face in Scott's chest. "You love me." Scott hums in agreement and Clint lets out a content sigh when he feels fingers running through his hair. He likes the tower and all but this is home.
"How's your hearing aids?" Scott asks. "Is good." Clint tells him, not even bothering to try to put together a proper sentence. He's comfy and he's safe. For just a minute there's nothing he has to do. There isn't a Hulk to argue with. Tony isn't calling them to Assemble. Nat isn't calling him an idiot again. Steve isn't trying to impliment more team bonding or training. The world isn't ending. His world isn't ending. He's in bed with his favorite person. In their house. In the room that Scott and Cassie spent days trying to decide what color to paint it before deciding on gray. Where pictures of their family hung on the wall. Some of them with Maggie and Paxton. Drawings that Cassie had made for them. And somewhere in the basement was Scott's lab with Joey and his ant farm. All of the random shit that makes it theirs. You told him five years ago that this is where he would have wanted to be he probably would have shot an explosive arrow at your feet.
"You gonna talk to me?" Scott asks. "Eventually." He just wants to lay here and breathe. He wants to stop thinking. He wants to stop thinking about circuses and ringmasters. He wants to stop thinking about mind control and what ifs. He wants to stop thinking about Trickshot. He wants to stop thinking about everyone almost dying. Because of him. Because of something he did. Because he was stupid enough to think that he could pretend. "Hey." Scott's thumb gently swipes across his cheek. Oh, he's crying isn't he. Well, he didn't mean to do that.
"Ringmaster almost killed everyone. To get back at me. He had them try to kill me. And Sam was caught in the middle of all of it. The dumb bird refused to leave. Everyone almost died because of me."
"Well let's get one thing straight, that wasn't your fault." Scott tells him. Clint looks up and glares at him. "Don't look at me like that. Because you can't take responsibility for someone else choices. No matter why they made them. So no, it wasn't your fault. And Sam wouldn't leave you because you're teammates. Actual teammates. Who care about each other and trust each other. He chose to help you and the rest of your team. And maybe it was a close call but you're all here. You're going to be okay. You and Sam did it. And he didn't even need his Mom to help him." Clint lets out a snort at that. "You're never letting that go, are you."
"No, absolutely not. Tony and the rest of you Avengers, never living it down." Clint actually laughs a little. "We had help actually." Clint admits. "Oh yeah?" Scott asks. "Python."
"Really?" Clint nods, "She's getting her second chance."
"You're still beating yourself up for it, aren't you."
"I was stupid to think I could just leave it behind me. I don't… what…"
"Hey." Clint looks back up to Scott's gentle grin, "We're okay. And if Ringmaster ever found us here, I could always just shrink us and hide in the anthill with Euclid, Hubble, Turing, Tesla, Hawking, Edison, Otto, Ford…"
"Are you just going to keep naming your ants to try to get me to smile."
"It's working."
"Scott Lang you play dirty."
"You know you used to hate that I named all my ants." He points out. "And now I think it's adorable. Bite me."
"I will but when you're in a better place." Clint ends up laughing. "Better?" Scott asks. He nods. It's not perfect. They both know it's not going to be. But he does feel a lot better. Everyone is safe. None of the bad guys know about this place. And his team is okay. "Good, now go to sleep. You need it." It doesn't take him long to begin to nod off.
Steve looks out at the tall grass as it drifts in the breeze. The leaves and the trees as well. He enjoys watching it. It reminds him of simpler times. Tony was right, he really is a nostalgia guy.
Clint and Scott chose a nice place. It's quiet. Abby and Casie would have a good childhood out here. And isn't that an interesting thought. Clint Barton having a domestic life. As unconventional as it might be. But nothing about any of their lives is conventional.
"Hey Cap." Tony says, sitting across from him. He sticks out on leg on the stair and joins him in stairing off into the distance. "I never imagined this kind of life for the Hawk, but it works for him. He looks happy." Tony says. "Yeah. I can see why." Steve agrees. "You thinking about retiring?" Tony teases, looking at him with a smirk. Steve just laughs. "Not for a long time. But finding someone to share my life with, even as crazy as that life is…" Tony hums, looking away. "Do you never think about ever settling down?" Steve asks. The realizes it's probably a ridiculous question the moment it's out of his mouth. "I think everyone knows I'm not really the settling down with a wife and 2.1 kids type." Steve rolls his eyes.
"Sure Cap, with the right partner, it might be nice. But I've found that most people don't exactly like having their life endangered by bad guys. Or eventually they get tired of me and my issues. Like my ego." And theres the self deprecation Steve sees in Tony all too often. Yeah, Tony think pretty highly of himself, but at the same time he also spends a lot of time beating himself up. For everything. For things beyond his control.
"We all got our issues, Tony. That doesn't change. But anyone who really loves you is there with you through it." 'I hope that's what we are' goes unsaid. "You say that now Rogers. But there's a lot."
"I know that. And I want you to let me in." Tony raises his brow, "You really mean that?"
"Yes Tony, I do. I wanna be part of the good and the bad days. If you want me too."
"You do realize what it sounds like your implying, right Steve? It sounds like you're implying romantic intent."
"Romance has never really been my strong suit. But not I'm trying to say that I want to take you on a date, not imply it. I just don't know know what I'm doing." Tony chuckles, "You are a bit of a sap, Captain. But I do happen to like that about you."
"Mhm, now who's the sap?" Steve asks him, leaning in closer. Tony matches him. "What if I started telling you about all the things that we could do in the Avengent that would give Barton a heart attack. Would you still think I was a sap?" He licks his lips, eyes flicking to Steve's mouth. And that does things to him. "What if I just kiss you instead?" Tony nods a hums, "I can live with that."
Steve gently reaches out to cradle Tony's face in his hands. Tony clearly doesn't think he's going fast enough because he grabs Steve's shirt and yanks. Their lips end up colliding, with Steve's strength the only thing keeping their heads from banging together. Steve feels Tony's goatee scratch against his skin as he nips at the burnette's lips. He let's out a moan and gets closer. Steve finds himself pressed back against the support beam he was leaning against. Tony move his hands to Steve's shoulders, then their chest to chest. Steve can feel the arc reactor in Tony's chest. He runs his hands down Tony's sides, trying to get him closer. His warmth, he just needed more. Tony seems to get the message though, or maybe he almost just wants more, and lets Steve pulls him into his lap.
"Damn Rogers." Tony mumbles, close enough that Steve can feel his lips moving. He let's Tony start biting and kissing the side of his neck. He starts trying to get more skin to skin contact. Getting his hand's under Tony's shirt.
He doesn't even realize what he's really doing until he feels cool metal underneath his fingers and Tony shivers. "Fuck, Steve." Tony whispers by his ear. "Sorry." He mumbles. "That was a good thing." Tony tells him. "Really?"
"If it were anyone else, probably not. But you're currently holding me like you think I'm the most precious thing in world. How do you even do that?" Tony chuckles. "Because you are." Steve tells him. Tony actually blushes. Steve didn't even realize he'd be able to do that. "You're lucky I like you."
"Damn right I am."
"Well at least you know it." Tony chuckles, leaning back in. This time they have a few short kisses.
"How are you feeling, by the way?" Steve asks. "Fine mostly. Definitely had worse. But I'm not against a short break. I've got a lot of bruises that could probably use to heal before I add more." Tony chuckles. Steve doesn't think it's as funny as he does. "How are you, you almost drowned."
"I'm fine."
"You're ability to recover is simply unfair." Steve does laugh at that. If only Tony had seen him before the serum.
"Excuse me." A small voice says from the doorway. They both look over to see Cassie. Steve smiles at her. "Could you help me. Everyone else is asleep and I don't want to wake my daddy and Clint."
"What can we help you with kiddo?" Tony asks. "Will you open this?" She asks, handing a bag of chips. "Well let's just see." Tony says, climbing off of Steve. He gets it open and then takes one, "Opening tax." He explains handing it back. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Everyone else is asleep?" Steve asks. "Yeah. Hulk snores really loud." She says, pulling out one of her doritos and taking a bite. They both let out a small laugh. That's a bit of an understatement. "They all fell asleep in the living room. Except daddy and Clint. They're in their room."
"How long have you known Clint?" Tony asks. "He and daddy started dating when I was five. Then Clint moved in a little while later. They got married two years ago. I got to be the honorary flower girl."
"Honorary?" Steve asks. "They didn't do a big fancy wedding like the ones of TV. Here, I'll be right back." She runs inside and comes back with a picture frame. Handing it to the two of them. In what looks like the field oustide of this house stand Scott and Clint in suits and ties in what's probably their first kiss as a married couple as Cassie, Natasha, Fury, and then five people Steve doesn't recognize clap and cheer around them. "That's my mom and that's Paxton. He's my other step-dad." She explains, pointing to two of them. "That's Hank and Janet. And that's Hope. They're daddy's friends from work. Hank is a scientist."
"Hank Pym?" Tony asks. Cassie nods. "Like the particles?" Steve asks. "Hank made daddy's suit. And he gave it to daddy so that he could help me."
"That was nice of him." Steve says. "Yeah." She agrees.
Steve looks at the photo and can't help but feel like they should have been there too. "I don't actually remember when I first met Clint." She explains, going back to the original question, "I was too little. Daddy was building things for people. And Clint was a performer. That's how they met. Daddy was supposed to make stuff for Clint's show. Daddy said they didn't really get along at first. Clint says it's because daddy was trying to show off. And daddy always argues that Clint was always showing off too. It's pretty funny."
"What kind of performer?" Tony asks. "He was in a circus. He doesn't like to talk about it though. So daddy and I leave it alone. Aren't you Clint's friends?" She asks. "He doesn't always like to tell us stuff. Most of our friends aren't great sharers." Steve tells her. "Clint doesn't like talking about it so we just don't. He said he isn't proud of it. And that maybe when I'm older that he'll tell me why. And that it makes him sad because of his brother. Sometimes he'll show me the tricks he would do, though. He showed me one where he starts dropping towards the ground and pulls himself to safety at the last second. He can also do the trapeze. That's always cool to watch." She finishes her last chip. She starts playing with the bag, crumpling and uncrumpling it.
"What about your sister?" Tony asks. "One day I came for daddy's week and Clint was holding her. And daddy introduced her as my baby sister."
"How long ago was that?" Steve asks. "That was May. I get every other week during the summer. Daddy get's weekends during the school year. Daddy said that Abby is six months old now. Auntie Nat jokes that she really looks just like the two of them. I think it's a little funny."
"You're pretty observant kid." Tony tells her. She laughs, "Mom said that one day maybe I can work at S.H.I.E.L.D. like Clint and Nat."
"Keep working on it and maybe you will." Steve tells her. He doesn't think Clint would like that. But she's got plenty of time to decide what she actually wants to do with her life.
"Are you two together like my Clint and my daddy?" She asks. "Oh look at that, now you're face matches your color scheme." Tony says. Steve glares at him.
"Oh wait, are you the leaders of the Avengers?" She asks. "Yeah." Tony tells her. She nods a few times and then joins them looking out in the distance. "Sorry I interupted your tip-toeing then." She says. "What?" The both ask. "When I came outside." She says like it explains everything.
"I might need a little more information." Steve tells her. "Clint sometimes comes home and complains about the team leaders. Using a lot of words I'm not allowed to repeat. He said you guys are in love with each other and your UST is part of what broke up the Avengers the first time. And now living with it is ridiculous. I don't know what UST is though. But that you two are… I think he used the word dense. Too dense to actually realize you feel the same about each other. He also said you needed to get your shit together. But don't tell daddy I said shit." She whispers the last part conspiratorially. "My lips are sealed." Tony tells her. And Steve thinks it's adorable.
"Can you keep a secret too?" Tony asks. She nods. "Steve and I kissed." He whispers to her. She gasps. "We'll tell later, but for now it's our secret, right?" She nods. "Pinky promise." She holds out her hand with her pinky up. Steve takes it and then Tony.
"There you are." Natasha says. "Hi Nat!" Cassie says, jumping up. "What are you doing out here?"
"Talking." Cassie says. "Oh yeah, what about?" She asks. "Stuff." She says. Nat shakes her head fondly. "Has Tony already turned my niece against me?" She asks, picking her up. Tony gasps in fake offense, "I would never."
"Yeah. Tony is my friend." Cassie says, grinning at Natasha. She looks over at Tony in surprise. The man shrugs. Steve ends up laughing at the scene.
"Did you get some sleep?" Tony asks the Widow. "A little. It's hard to sleep next to the incredible snoring competition." She says. They hear both Thor and Hulk let out loud and long snores. It sends Cassie into a fit of giggles.
"I'm gonna see what I can do about making dinner for everyone." Steve tells them. "Sounds good Cap." Tony tells him. "Come on, I'll show you where to find things." Nat tells him. She sets Cassie down and starts leading Steve towards the kitchen.
Tony sits down in the kitchen and watches Steve start to pull stuff together. It looks like he's making pancakes. "If you look any more love sick you're going to give yourselves away." Nat tells him. He glares at her. Of course, she was probably inside listening to them talk to Cassie. "Don't give me that. I'm a spy, remember."
"I try to forget on occasion." She rolls her eyes at him.
They start to hear babbling on the baby monitor. "Sounds like Abby's awake." Nat says. "Come on Tony, I'll show you her room." Cassie says, grabbing his hand. He looks over to Nat. "Go on Tony, she's going to show you Abby's room." She says with a small smile.
Tony lets the girl drag him upstairs. Hell if he knows why she likes him so much. Or why anyone thinks it's a good idea for him to be the one to pick up the currently content baby.
Cassie opens the door to the nursery. It's simple. Just painted light purple with a white crib and some picture frames. Tony has noticed neither Clint or Scott have a ton of interior decorating skills.
The baby has pulled herself up and is bouncing slightly on the matress using the rails of the crib to hold herself up. Hi Abby." Cassie whispers. Abby makes a few noises that almost sound like a reply. Tony reaches in and picks her up. She doesn't put up any sort of fight or argument. She seems like a pretty content baby. Though she does start chewing on her hand.
He tries to hold her kind of like he saw Scott doing it early. Just with both arms. He carries unstable chemicals all the live long day. He can carry a tiny human.
And that's how he finds that she's very wiggly. And is very fascinated by the glow in his chest. The three of them make their way back downstairs. She keeps taping the arc reactor. It's a little funny.
And when they make it down he finds that the smell of food must have woken up Thor and Hulk. And Thor and Hulk probably woke up Sam, who still seems a little groggy. Steve has put out all kinds of things on the table. Nat holds something out to him as he enters the kitchen. It's a bottle. He raises a brow at her. "Don't mess with the happy baby Stark, but she does need to eat." Stupid Black Widow. He takes a seat at the table and gives it to her. "Make sure to hold it at an angle that doesn't let her suck on a bunch of air." Nat tells him. "I got it." He tells her. If she's gonna make him do it she could at least trust his abilities.
It's very domestic for them. It's kind of nice. To not have to run off to save the world at a moments notice. He can really see why Clint likes this. And why he kept it to himself.
"Hey Cass, do you wanna go wake them up for some food?" Nat says to the little girl. She runs up the stairs. "Cute kid." Hulk says. "She's the best." Natasha agrees. "She will become a fine young warrior." Thor says. Steve starts pushing out plates of pancakes to the people at the table. And he reminds everyone to eat some of the fruit he put of the table too. Hulk doesn't need to be told twice and takes a bunch of strawberries and stuffs them into his mouth.
Cassie comes running back down. "They'll be down in a minute." She says, sitting up on one of the barstools. Steve sets a plate in front of her and she starts adding things to her pancakes happily.
Tony almost laughs when he sees Scott coming down the stairs. Clint is clinging to his frong like a fucking koala. Scott's carrying him around like this is a regular occurrence.
Hulk does chuckle and get's flipped off for it. "I can drop you." Scott tells him. Clint just grunts. "Hope you don't mind." Steve says. "Nah, just one less thing for me to do." Scott tells him, "Thanks. Has Abby woken up yet? I didn't hear her get up."
"Probably because she's more fascinated with the arc reactor than anything else." Tony jokes as she gets distracted from eating, again. Her parents look over and chuckle when they see it. "She seems to like you Stark. She cried any time Tasha got near her for a month." Clint says. Natasha flicks the back of his head. "Ow." He says, pouting at her.
She finishes the bottle so Tony helps her sit up. Before he can help her she let's out a burp.
He can't remember a lot about babies development. But he knows she can hold her own head up. And she starts going for the arc reactor again. He wonders what she likes about it so much. What about it fascinates her so?
Clint walks over. "Hi Abby." He says. She makes grabby hands towards the archer. So Tony let's Clint take her.
He tosses her into the air and she lets out a giggle. And he does it again for her to giggle again. "Have you made any progress on your walking? Should we see." He sets her feet on the ground, letting her little hands grab onto his fingers. And she's off immediately. She almost falls but rights herself using Clint's hand. She starts walking around the kitchen with Clint cheering her on.
Tony counts about thirty steps when he guesses she's decided that's enough and sits down on the ground. She smiles up at her frowning dad. "You are a booger." He tells her. She babbles a little and let's Clint pick her back up.
"Why would she want to walk when she sees how much other people like getting carried." Scott says, grabbing orange juice out of the fridge and pouring a glass for Cassie. "That's different. Huh Abby." She says nothing. "Traitor." Clint complains. She giggles. And that makes everyone else laugh.
Steve walks over and sets a plate in front of Tony with a kiss to his temple. Tony knows what he's doing. Sneaky Rogers. "Thanks babe." Tony tells him. "Of course doll." And man if that doesn't just send shivers down Tony's spine. Everyone stares at them for a minute as Steve walks back to the stove.
Cassie, unable to hold it in any longer, bursts out laughing. Nat just gives a small smile. "Pay up." Hulk says. Clint, Thor, and Sam all hand him five dollars. "The son of Asgard will be triumphant, next time." Thor tells Hulk. "Keep telling yourself that, goldilocks."
After that dinner is largly uneventful by their standards. After everyone finishes eating enough pancakes to finish feeding an army Tony helps Steve with the dishes.
"You look deep in thought." Scott says, joining Clint on their back porch where he's sorting through some of his arrows. Clint feels his hand settle on his shoulder and turns with what he knows is a shit eating grin. "I'm just thinking about all of the questions the team is going to ask and what I'm going to answer. Like how we met and how I'll say I met Scott for the first time when I was performing an amazing trick and he fell completely head over heels at the sight of me and my athletic an acrobatic prowess."
"Uh huh. I hope you add that the first time I met you as Hawkeye you called me a lowlife son of a bitch."
"I believe my insults are far more creative than that." Clint argues. "You were too overcome by my good looks once again to be able to come up with anything else."
"Uh huh. And then I'll tell them about how my stupid husband got himself stuck in our pipes."
"And then I'll tell them that my stupid husband came home from a mission with his best friend and a baby and told me surprise."
"And I'll tell them how you blew a cable arrow up in my face."
"Maybe I'll tell them about how when you asked me out for our real first date that you said I had eyes."
"Whatever you say. Bug."
"Love you too, Robin Hood."
"That's a low blow." Clint complains. Scott just hums, grabbing his neck for a kiss. He'll let the Robin Hood thing slide… this time.