Geovanni Buonarroti sighed and tossed his phone onto his bed in frustration. The young Italian man had been trying to contact his younger sister, Constantine, for days now. Geovanni was the youngest brother in their family and only Constantine's senior by four years. Yet he still was extremely protective of the young woman, just as their older brothers, grandfather, uncles and godfathers were. Constantine was the only girl in their family. Sure they had wives, but Constantine was of the family by blood and there for, everybody's girl.

The last time that Constantine had contacted any of them was before she had been taken by Loki. Just thinking of anybody treating his baby sister like a slave, exhausting her to no end and...so help him if he even tried to touch her inappropriately, it made Geovanni's blood boil in his veins. Nobody hurts their Constantine and gets away with it. Not Constantine Alessia Buonarroti of La Cosa Nostra. That was asking for a death sentence. Constantine was the daughter and youngest child of their late father who had been the Underboss or second in command to their Grandfather...who was The Boss of the Italian Mafia and had been for several years.

Geovanni switched on the TV and settled himself on his bed as he tried to calm himself down. But the moment he turned on the News, all he could see were reruns of the Avengers' battle against the aliens. His heart clenched in his chest the moment he saw the familiar archer dressed in black and purple, falling off buildings and shooting explosive arrows at the aliens. The newscasters were saying that the battle had been two weeks ago and that the city was still cleaning up. Two weeks...two weeks...Constantine had two weeks to call him..yet she hadn't. Dear God...what if something had happened to his little sister...his bambina?

The newscasters were saying that she was hiding under the alias 'Clint Barton' and that she was posing as a male. Of course she was. Geovanni sighed, the daring little spit-fire that was his baby sister would definitely do that. The Italian picked up his phone and pressed the first number on his speed-dial.

"Padrino, farmi un posto sull'aereo successivo in America. Ho intentions di tornare la nostra bambina." (Godfather, get me a spot on the next flight to America. I'm going to get our little girl back.)

-TimeSkip-

'Clint Barton' sighed as she rested her forehead against the cool surface of the mirror in front of her. She looked at herself in the mirror, the cropped short spiky blond hair, the flat plain that was her stomach and...and the bandages wrapped around her chest to make her breasts lie flat and impossible to see. She gently and hesitantly reached upwards and unbound her chest slowly, wincing as the pressure lifted, then sighing in relief before collapsing backwards to flop onto her bed unceremoniously. She curled into a ball reflexively and whimpered.

She wished she was a man or at least the daughter that her family wanted. Men didn't have to pretend to be something they weren't just to be treated equally and if she were the Constantine that her family wanted, then her life would be so much easier. Yet she wasn't. She wasn't a man, she loved being a woman and had been proud of that fact for most her life..until she had wanted to join SHIELD as an archer. They had leered at her and hadn't given her a single chance, she wasn't Natasha, she wasn't amazing like her. So she went home and dressed like a boy, chopping off her hair and came back to try again.

But the only reason she had even tried to join SHIELD was because she couldn't be the Constantine that they wanted. They wanted her to be sweet, soft-spoken and docile but that just wasn't her. She was strong, powerful and loved to speak her mind. But they didn't want that from a girl...from the family's only girl. They wanted someone that they needed to protect, but she could take care of herself and do so well. She just wasn't their Constantine. So she left and tried to create her own life...and she did. She created Clint Barton and she loved being him better than being Constantine.

The Avengers seemed to like Clint as well, and they never suspected that she was a woman. In fact, they assumed that she and Natasha were a couple. Both girls would laugh hysterically at that, behind closed doors. Natasha was the only one besides Fury who knew, she'd actually saved her on multiple occasions. Like when the Avengers would find a stray feminine hygiene product in her bag. Natasha would instantly claim it loudly as her's and hit Clint on the head for 'Hiding it'. Nobody ever thought anything of it.

Nobody wanted to see the way that Clint's chest bulged out slightly, the way she was skinny and short for a guy, the way her hips were rounded instead of sharp. Nobody wanted to see the signs, so they didn't. Clint sighed and she pressed her face into the soft blankets on her bed. Why couldn't she just be normal.

"Clint? Are you in there?"

She jumped alert at the sound of Bruce's voice and scrambled to grab her clothes, at least she was still wearing pants. She reached for her breast bindings but ended up toppling off the bed and smashing her head against the floor.

"Fuck!"

She yelled, before she could stop herself and she heard Bruce begin to turn the doorknob. Clint blushed scarlet and scrambled to wrap her chest with clumsy fingers. But her thumbs kept getting snagged on the gauze and she cursed under her breath.

"Wait! Don't come in! I'm not decent!"

She cried frantically, tugging at the stupid bindings and she heard Tony's sarcastic voice through the door.

"It's not like we don't have the same equipment, Legolas."

The genius laughed and Clint rolled her eyes in irritation, then yelped as she saw the door open. She dove for a pillow on the bed and smashed it over her chest and stomach. She even blushed slightly as she saw Bruce and Tony enter the room. The archer climbed on the bed, using the pillow like a shield and she saw Bruce's eyebrow quirk upwards in confusion.

"I-Is there something you wanted?"

Clint stammered and bit her bottom lip as she focused on their shoes. The next thing she knew, there was a hand on her bare back and another mouth on her own. Clint shoved him back and screamed and swinging her leg in an arc, her foot smashing against the inside of Tony's knee. The genius let go of her instantly and cried out.

Clint pressed her pillow even harder to her chest and leapt from the bed, fleeing into the bathroom where she instantly locked the door and collapsed to her knees. She panted softly and whimpered. Dammit...why was she so stupid?

"Clint? Fuck...I'm sorry! I didn't know you'd react like that!"

Tony cried and jiggled the door knob but sighed when he discovered it was locked. Then it was Bruce's voice who spoke through the door, soothing and gentle.

"Clint? Please come out. We really have to talk to you. Tony was just trying to skip ahead."

Bruce sighed and Clint swallowed reflexively trying to speak, failing and then trying again softly.

"T-Talk through the door if you have too!"

She stammered then berated herself for acting like a stupid teenage girl. She was a grown woman. Sure a grown woman pretending to be a man...but still a grown woman. She could hear the way Bruce and Tony sighed through the door.

"Look Bird-brain, we like you. A lot and we would love it if you would join in."

Tony's words didn't register in Clint's brain at first and that was why she stupidly asked her next question.

"Join what?"

She could imagine Tony's lecherous smile from across the door as he spoke and she smiled slightly when she imagined Bruce's common eye-roll.

"Our relationship, Legolas!"

That was when it registered in Clint's mind and she stumbled backwards in surprise. They liked her in that way? Even when they thought she was a guy? Would they like her real self? Would they like Constantine the same way?

"N-No! You don't want to be in a relationship with me! You don't even know anything bout me!"

Clint squeaked and Tony laughed as if it was obvious.

"Then tell us, Birdie."

When Clint didn't really respond, it was Bruce who hesitantly asked the next question. In a small worried sounding voice.

"You are gay aren't you, Clint?"

Both of them were silent as they waited for her answer and she cleared her throat before speaking.

"No I'm not gay...I don't like girls."

She sighed and could almost sense their confusion through the door.

"But if you're not gay and you don't like girls...then what are you into?"

Tony asked, confusion clear in his voice and Bruce grunted his agreement at Tony's question. Both were deeply confused. Clint climbed to her feet shakily and instead of grabbing her pillow again, she snatched up a towel and wrapped it around her torso before opening the door to a pair of confused scientists.

Clint latched onto the first one she could get her hands on, and that happened to be Tony. She fisted her hands into his shirt and slammed her lips onto his. The genius deepened the kiss and she felt it as Tony's hand slid down to her crotch area, trying to grab onto something that wasn't there. She saw his brow furrow as he patted her crotch area in confusion, Clint gently reached down and lifted his hand to her chest. In reflex, Tony cupped his hand under her left breast before leaping backwards in surprise and taking Clint's towel with him.

Both scientists stared openly at the half-naked archer as she stood in front of them, her C-cup chest blazing in all its glory. Bruce quietly slipped off the lab coat he was wearing and covered Clint with it softly.

"I'm sorry."

She whispered, fat tears rolling own her cheeks that were blushing scarlet.