The most problematic mission yet

by TarotTerra

Thor was always a man of duty. He kept his word. So when a young mother, dying in his arms during a battle, begged that he would take care of her child, he just couldn't go back on his word now could he? But he would need some help from his teammates.

Hello Everyone~ I know I don't have the best track record for finishing Fanfics that I start, but I've got an entire week to sit on the couch, and write little drabbles for this Idea that I've been thinking about since I first saw the Avengers three weeks ago, and just again last week. Honestly, I think up little tiny scenes here and there while I'm working, and it's been driving me nuts, so I figured I would have to put it down on digital paper.

Avengers

Rated T

Summary: Thor was always a man of duty. He kept his word. So when a young mother, dying in his arms during a battle, begged that he would take care of her child, he just couldn't go back on his word now could he? But he would need some help from his teammates.

---

The city was in a state of panic, but that wasn't unusual. With a team as well known as the Avengers, it was really no surprise that people wanted to test their power...attempt to exceed it.

The villain this month, seemed to be horde of gigantic mutant dogs, Huskies, or wolves, it was hard to tell. Tony and Steve had been arguing over that for the past ten minutes.

"Look, all I'm saying in that-" Tony paused to dodge his way through a powerful clamp of the Mutant canines jaw. "Who goes through all the trouble of Mutating a pack of Huskies? Wolves are much more threatening." He shot some lasers into the creatures eyes and it howled in pain before wilting to the debris covered roads of Manhattan before it.

"And harder to come-" Steve grunted as he punched one of the large beasts in the jaw knocking it back into a building, where once it crumpled to the floor and laid still. "By. And all I'm saying is that it's illogical! Huskies are common house pets, right? Easy to obtain."

"Yeah, but look at these guys! Wolves have coats of mixed white and grey! Just like Wolves!"

"I'm pretty sure I saw some brown on the one I just took down."

"That would be dried blood Cap."

"Speaking of blood, Hawkeye, Black Widow." Captain America said, blocking a blow from a giant paw. "Civilians. How are they? Any casualties on your end?" He asked, before jumping into the air and slamming his fist into the last of the Huskies, at least of the ones that swarmed him, skulls with a cracking noise. It fell like a puppet whose strings were just cut.

"We're right as rain Cap, only injured on this end." Natasha's voice came through the speakers.

"Friends." Thor said, his voice oddly heavy with what sounded like Sadness. "I require your presents... I have an Injured one in my arms...she is in much need of attention. I fear she will not last long."

"On our way buddy." Tony said, before locking in on his friend of a demi-God's location. "He's on the Corner of east 59th and Park Av." He informed the rest of the group, flying his way there quickly. "Has Bruce Shrunk yet? We're prolly gonna need his doctor skills."

"Y-Yeah, I'm here...The Big Guy ran out of wolves to smash." Bruce called through his earpiece, sounding shaky, as he always did after hulking out. "I'm a couple blocks away, Thor...just try and...keep her as comfortable as possible until I get there..."

"Hurry my friends...She has a small Midgardian child."

No one said anything, but everyone ran just a little faster.

---

By the time everyone had made it there, Bruce was shaking his head softly to Thor.

The Mother was laying with her head in Thors lap, as he tried to comfort her by running his fingers through her long caramel hair softly, just as his mother had done for him as a child. She had a pretty face, in the girl next door kind of way. The woman seemed to be far too young to be a mother, maybe twenty two at most. Her eyes were sky blue, and filled with pain. Her clean skin, with a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose, was pale, and getting lighter and lighter as the moments passed, due to the internal bleeding she no doubt had. Her lower half from the waist below was crushed almost flat. Steve suspected that either a car was flipped onto her legs, or one of the mutants slammed all its weight down on her limbs when she was already down. Laying cradled in her blood stained arms, was a small infact, impossibly small to everyone but Bruce, who was used to being around smaller babies, in India. The child was sleeping peacefully, small chubby limbs wrapped in a soft pink fleece onesie, with the same caramel hair that her mother had, only much thinner, and shorter with a soft curl to it. Her little face was peacefully, eyes closed in sleep. The infant was sucking on her thumb, her tiny hand lightly coated in drool.

"Thank you Thor..." The woman croaked out, blood slipping out the side of her mouth.

"Do not thank me...I could not save you in time..." He whispered softly, sounding broken and guilty. Tony wondered idly if he only felt this bad, because she bore a small resemblance to a certain Jane Foster.

"You saved my Daughter...That is all that matters to me...Haylee is all I have...and I'm all she has...well...not for long."

"Do not speak like that." Thor said firmly.

"I'm not stupid." The woman chuckled weakly, before coughing, blood spattered against the chest armor of Thor. "I know I'm not gonna make it much longer..."

"We will stay with you until the end, and when the time comes, we will meet again in valhalla."

"I...I'm g-getting cold..." She whimpered and Bruce kneeled next to her to check on her vitals. With Shaking, thin arms, she held up her infant towards Thor. "T-Take her please...I don't...I don't want her to be in my arms when I go...That's morbid..." Thor took the child carefully, holding her securing in one arm, the other holding the dying womans hand. The child didn't stir once during the exchange.

Bruce took her free wrist and checked her pulse. "Her blood pressure is dropping fast... She doesn't have much time left."

"Thor...Y-You've done so much for me...But please...Look after Haylee...Please, I... beg...you..." Her words slow as the life slowly left her eyes, and the colour left her skin.

"I promise you. I will watch over your child as if my own." The rest of the group stood stunned, never really figuring Thor to be the fathering type. But he sounded so honest, and maybe a tad guilty. He must have felt so bad for letting this woman die while under his protection.

"Thank you..." The dying mother smiled, tears of relief slipping down her cheeks. "Thank...you..." She breathed her last breath before she was gone to this world, Empty Blue eyes staring up at the sky above her.

Bruce leaned over and closed her eyelids, trying to give her farewell some small comfort.

The sirens of rescue cars sounded in the distance, but it was for too late for the nameless corpse in front of them. Thor held the child to his chest like he'd seen mothers do and looked down at the child, feeling pity on the child for losing their mother at such a young age. The tiny child slept on peacefully, her tiny first curled up against her face as she sucked on her thumb. She was snoring lightly, but it was hard to hear over the sounds of sirens. He was amazed that she could be so peaceful with all the destruction around her.

The rest of the team looked down at the floor, taking a moment of silence for the women whom they had all only known for a few moments.

---

The six Avengers sat around the kitchen table in the Avengers tower, previously known as Stark tower. Tony had opened it up to his friends, in a rare act of kindness, giving each of them a floor of the building to themselves. He had thrown a welcome party for his new roomies and it lasted almost two days.

The baby, Haylee, was sleeping quietly in a grey baby carrier that doubled as a carseat in the center of the table. They had picked it up, along with a blanket to cover her, on the way home from one the shops that hadn't been damaged in the battle.

They were waiting for Fury to come back with news of the Mother, and if Thor was really allowed to look after her.

They all looked up when Fury came into the room with a flurry of leather behind him.

"The Mothers name was Ashley Sanders, age 19. There is no Father on Haylee's birth certificate. Haylee is two weeks old. Her birthday is the 10th of June." He said, tossing a file onto the table. Her birth certificate and other files, mostly her small amount of medical history, about her where inside. "Ashley's parents are still alive, they live over in seattle. We got in contact with them, but they wanted nothing to do with Haylee. They said, and I quote, "We kicked the tramp out when she got pregnant, why on earth would we want to take in the bastard child?" According to our research, Ashley was date raped while partying at her high school graduation after party, and has no idea who the father is. Police were unable to track down the rapist. Ashley's parents didn't believe her that it was rape, and kicked her out once they found out about Haylee. Ashley moved to NYC when she was 4 months along and has been living in a one bedroom apartment above the cafe she worked at. We got in contact with her work and informed them of what happened. They send their best wishes to Haylee."

"I am the one who Ashley asked to look after Haylee." Thor protested. "Why would you go looking for another to do the job I have taken on."

"Because, Thor, you're not an American citizen!" Fury said. "Legally, you can't adopt her."

"But I was asked to look after her by her mother!" He stood up and almost slammed his fist on the table, but stopped when he remembered the infant on it. He didn't want to wake the sleeping baby.

"Calm down! You aren't allowed to adopt her, and there is nothing I can do about that! You can look after her for the night, but in the morning, social services are coming to take her into foster care."

"What?!" Natasha cried, looked upset. "Foster Care!?"

"What is this...Foster Care?" Thor asked with a frown. "Does Jane have an involvement? I do not recall her mentioning it..."

"The Foster care system is where children without families, and who can't be adopted, are placed until they are of legal age. They get shipped from one home to another, never able to really form any bonds with the people, because the people who are assigned to look after them only see them as a pay check! The whole thing is a joke." Tony growled slightly, glaring at Fury. "Do you know what the statistics are for Foster children are? Most of them get beaten, sexually abused, in gangs, in jail, dead, or all of the above, before they turn 18!"

"I will not allow this!" Thor boomed. "She should not be punished in such a way, for something that she cannot control! It is my fault that her mother is in Valhalla! I was unable to save this Child's mother, the least I can do is give her a home!" He loud voice, caused Haylee to stir, but not wake.

"Thor, it's just legally impossible for you to adopt her." Fury said, his voice softening, at least for him, it was soft. "Besides, you all can't just go around adopting and taking in every child who loses a parent during your heroic battles. The kids are going to stack up really, really quick. Trust me. Where are they all going to stay? Is Stark going to buy a farm out in the country and ship them all there were they can free?"

"Her Mother's final words on this world where for me to take care of her." Thor said determinedly. "It would be a great dishonor to her memory as a warrior if I were to disregard them!"

"She wasn't a warrior Thor! She was a waitress!" Fury said, sounding exasperated.

"You did not see her fight to save her Daughter as I did." Thor said. "She stood up to a threat far greater then she could have hoped to face and survive, all to protect her young one. When the monstrous beasts attack her, stepped on her, she only cared for her child. She gave her life to save her. That is a true warrior, and I hope to see her in Valhalla one day."

"Regardless, you aren't allowed to adopt her!"

"I'll adopt her." Steve spoke up for the first time since the mother, Ashley, had died. Everyone turned and looked at the young...older?...the man who looked and had the mindset of a man in his early twenties.

"Steve...you know what kind of responsibility that is?" Natasha perked up, looking a little hopeful. She wasn't the type for children, but even she didn't sit well with the idea of sending this tiny little baby girl to the cold world of the foster system.

"My mother raised me from when I was little, until she died after I finished school. She did it all by herself." He said firmly. "I knew how hard it was for her, and she did it all by herself. I will have the support of the rest of the team, I hope..." He looked around at the others at the table. There were nods from the rest of the avengers, even if Tony looked a tad hesitant about the whole thing.

"We save the world on a monthly basis." Clint said. "How hard can a baby be?"

"If you're set on this Steve, I'll go get the adoption papers. Social services are still going to come by in the morning, but with Haylee's things from her Mothers apartment." Fury said. "I'll be back before sunset." And with that, he left, his leather duster flowing along behind him.

"Am I the only one who think he was expecting that?" Tony asked, taking a sip of his scotch on the rocks.

"Nope." Natasha sighed, resting her arms on the table. "Things are going to be different around here from now on..."

The group nodded in agreement.

Bruce fiddled with his glasses. "I hate to be the downer, but are we sure this is really for the best? We don't all exactly lead a stable life...Are we sure that this would be the best for Haylee? She would be in danger...enemies of ours, who would try to use her to get to us."

"None of us really lead stable lives as children either...and I think we turned out okay." Tony smirked a bit. "I mean, my dad was never really there for me. Cap lost his mom young, and his dad even younger. Bruce! Your father was certainly never going to win any awards." The Doctor flinched a little at the mention of his drunken and abusive father. "Barton, you were raised by carnies! Evil carnies! And Natasha! You were trained to be a spy before you even knew any better. And Thor...well...you actually had pretty good life...aside from evil brother."

"He was not always evil." Thor protested.

"He became evil." Tony rolled his head. "Look, my point is, we know how NOT to do it. So, let's just do the opposite of that."
The others looked between themselves and a bit of a tension was lifted. They could do this.

---

"I guess...since I'm adopting her...I'll be Dad..." Steve said, tilting his head to the side a bit as he sipped at a cup of coffee. He liked the coffee from the forties better...or maybe it was the milk.

"I wish to be Father as well. She is my responsibility." Thor spoke up.

"Uh no offence Thor, but that might give people the wrong Idea about our relationship..." Steve mumbled, blushing a bit.

"But I was asked to look after her! I promised I would care for her as my own!" Thor cried.

"You can be her big brother...you know...Look after her that way. You'll still be her role model, but without all the stress of being a father. You won't have to discipline her."

"I do not know if I am fit to be brother...you all saw what happened with Loki. He grew up in my shadow, feeling inferior to me which lead him to the path he took. Who is to say that small little Haylee will not feel the same?" The Thunder god lowered his head in shame.

"This is your chance to redeem yourself then. To be the Brother that you know you can be." Steve smiled, patting his god-friend on his broad shoulder. "You have a big heart, Thor, put it to use."

"If you believe it, Captain, then I shall try." Thor nodded, looking determined. "I shall be the best Brother this world has seen." He offered an awkward smile.

"I think I'm gonna be a Big Brother to her too, Thor." Bruce spoke up. "Being an Uncle would make me feel even older then I am, and I have a feeling I can't just be the guy who lives in the house with everyone else, huh?"

"Not at all." Steve smiled with a chuckle. "We're all going to be her Family."

"I guess I could be Aunty Natasha..."

"Not gonna be her Mommy?" Tony teased.

"Yeah, not the mothering type." Natasha said bluntly. "Kids aren't my cup of tea."

"I suppose I could deal with being Uncle Clint." Hawkeye shrugged a little. Brother seemed a little too personal for him. With Uncle he could get away with just being the family friend.

Steve nodded. "Tony, I was hoping that you'd be her GodFather...you know, incase something happened to me, you'd have the money and resources to support her."

"Yeah, sorry cap, no can do."

"Why not?" Steve frowned.

"GodFATHER. I am in no way, fit to be a Father." Tony shook his head. taking another sip of his scotch. "I can do Uncle though. Good old crazy Uncle Tony. 'Sides, I can still buy her things and shit as the uncle, right?"

"Why am I not the GodFather? I am a god..." Thor frowned.

"That's not what it means Thor. It basically means that if something were to happen to Steve, something that left him unable to care for Haylee, then Tony would take over his job as father. It's another legal thing." Clint spoke up, patting his friend on the rather large bicep.

"I...understand." The Thunder God seemed to pout little, crossing his buff arms across his equally buff chest.

"Then I guess we're a family now." Steve smiled at his friends around the table, who all smiled back.

"Haylee...Welcome home." Bruce smiled at the small baby, who slept through it all.

---

Natasha was helping Steve fill out the adoption papers. "Are you going to change her last name to Rogers?"

"No...She should have something of her Mothers. Even if it's just her maiden name."

"So, Haylee Sanders it is then. Sign there...write her name there...and your name there. And then you should be all done." The all American-boy did as he was instructed.

"You seem to know a lot about contracts and legal things." Steve chuckled lightly, as he flipped the huge stack of papers closed and handed them back to Fury.

"I once infiltrated the Stark company as an employee from the legal department who made her way up to secretary for Pepper."

"You did that? You snuck into Tony's company?" Steve asked, looking up at the woman who was standing over his shoulder.

"It was to see if he was worthy of getting into the Avengers." Natasha explained. "He didn't pass."

"Then what's he doing here?"

"Turns out we needed him...faults and all." Natasha smiled softly.

Fury looked through all the papers, double checking over his work. "All seems to be in order here, Congratulations Steve, you're officially a father."

Steve let out a heavy breath as the full weight of the situation settled in. He was this tiny babies father. He was the one who was responsible for her. He was the one she was going to depend on for a long, long time. He had to teach her right from wrong, he had to do everything for her until she learnt to do things herself.

Well, atleast he had a team that would help him with the same determination they had always had for saving the world.

He hoped.

---

It was maybe an hour after Fury left that Haylee had started to wake up fully. She had stirred every once and awhile, but for the most part was a sound sleeper. Bruce was the first to notice as she squirmed a little, scrunching her face up.

"Haylee is finally waking up from her nap you guys." He called to the rest of the team, who were all spread over the open living space/kitchen/dining room.

Steve stood up from the couch and rushed over, Thor hot on his heels. Tony didn't leave his spot at the bar. Natasha walked over with Clint on her left.

Baby Haylee whimpered softly, and peeked her big eyes open. They were a soft Hazel colour, with little flecks of green here and there. She looked around at the strange people around her and started to cry, balling her tiny little pink hands into fists and her chubby little face scrunching up as she wailed.

Steve scooped her out of the baby carrier and cradled her like he'd seen mothers do.

"Mind her head, Steve. She's too little to support it herself yet." Bruce said, guiding the super soldiers hand to the back of the infants head.

"This is harder than it looks..." Steve mumbled, rocking the baby girl gently, trying to calm her down, but she was having none of it.

"Maybe she's hungry." Tony spoke up from his place behind the bar. "Maybe 'Tasha should break out the Milk Jugs." He chuckled, earning a dark look from both the ex Russain and her bow and arrow loving 'friend'.

"It wouldn't work like that Tony." Bruce sighed. "A Womans body only begins to produce milk when they are pregnant." He explained in a text book way.

"Which I am not, and don't ever plan to be."

"What are we supposed to feed her then? Regular milk?" Steve asked, rocking her slowly.

"No. Regular milk would be horrible for her. She needs special formula." Bruce shook his head. "Her Mothers breast milk would be the single best thing for her, but we can't provide that." He sighed, taking off his glasses to rub at the little red indents on the bridge of his nose.

"JARVIS." Tony spoke up.

"Yes Mr. Stark?" The soft british tone of the A.I. sounded throughout the room.

"Please research how to make baby formula, and then, if you could, make some for us. ASAP?"

"I will do my best Mr. Stark." And with that, JARVIS got to work.

"He'll have it ready in ten minutes. Tops." Tony said, sipping at his drink once more.

"What are we going to use as a bottle?" Clint frowned. "I mean...she can't use a glass yet, right?"

"What about an icing bag? Or one of those needleless needles?" Natasha spoke up, trying to be helpful, despite her aversion to children.

"A Plastic Syringe would work." Bruce said with a light nodding of his head. "I think I have one in my kit, I'll be right back." He said, rushing from the kitchen, towards his room, which was three floors down.

Steve continued to rock the child, trying his best to keep her calm until A.I. finished its concoction, and the Doctor returned with a syringe. "It's okay Haylee...food is coming...just calm down, please calm down..." He begged a little. He'd only been in charge for 4 hours and he was already floundering. He was starting to feel like that awkward kid from Brooklyn again, and not the superhero from WW2 that he had become.

She paused her crying for a bit to look up at the strange large man that was holding her. Her large brown eyes were red rimmed from crying, her little button nose has a trail of snot leaking down the side of her face, and her little tiny fists were clenched so tightly.

"That's it. No more tears." He smiled gently, using his thumb to wipe her chubby cherry red cheeks dry. "See? All better...Isn't that nice Haylee?" His tone took on a softer tone, almost akin to baby talk.

Tony snickered into his tumbler glass from his place behind the bar.

Steve shot Tony a dark look, almost daring him to take over, before smiling down at the bewildered baby. "I'm your new Father. We're going to be your new family now...I know you're probably scared, and you want your Mother...but we're going to do the best we can for you. Me, Uncle Tony, Uncle Clint, Aunty Natasha, and your new big brothers Thor, and Bruce."

"Sir? The Formula is ready." JARVIS said, a small pot of warm white-ish liquid rose up from a hole in the countertop.

"Great, Thank you JARVIS." Tony smirked. His A.I. really was the greatest thing ever invented.

"Just doing my duty sir." The A.I. said.

"Where is Banner with that syringe?" Clint asked, just before Bruce came jogging back into the room.

"Found it." He panted slightly, holding up the device victoriously. Clint took the pot and put it down in front of Steve, were Bruce filled the small plastic syringe with 20ml of warm milk. He stood in front of Steve and tried to coax Haylee into taking the tip of it into her mouth. "She's used to taking a nipple. We'll need to invest in proper bottles." He said, as the baby kept whining and pushing the strange thing away. He reached out and stroked the side of her cheek with his finger, attempting to calm her.

Eventually, after a few minutes of slow work, she took the milk. Everyone sighed a little in relief. Bruce feed her the milk slowly, and one she finished the one serving, he filled up another, and then another, and eventually, she pushed it away again, only because she was too full. "Do you know how to burp her, Steve?" Bruce asked, taking what was left of the formula over to the fridge to save it, and then placed the plastic syringe in the dishwasher.

"No." He admitted almost shyly.

"Here, I'll do it, and then next time you just do what I did." Bruce offered a smile, taking a dishcloth from the counter and placing it over his right shoulder. He gently took the baby girl and placed her so her head over the back of his cloth covered shoulder. He patted her back gently, and rubbed soothing circles on it. This lasted maybe a minute or two until there was a wet belch from the small infant.

Natasha looked a uncomfortable. "She just threw up..." She could handle a lot of things, but vomit always made her uneasy.

"That's what the towel is for." Bruce said, taking Haylee off his shoulder, and used a clean part of the towel to wipe the spit up off her chin. "You need to burp her after every meal, or else she might get gas bubbles, which can be really uncomfortable for babies." He explained to Steve, who nodded, looking a little overwhelmed.

"You're really good with her, Dr. Banner." Steve admitted, taking the baby into his arms once more.

"I am a Doctor, Steve. I've looked after my fair share of babies." Bruce smiled a little, tossing the soiled dishcloth down a hatch towards the laundry room. "Though, the babies in India where sickly, compared to Haylee..."

"I'm glad you're here to help." Steve smiled.

"Children of midgard are so small..." Thor said, looking down and the now contented baby in the Captains arms.

"She will grow quickly enough." Bruce smiled and Tony swished down the last of his drink.

"Not soon enough." He murmured. "I will not be the one getting up at God knows how early to change diapers." He vowed.

"I thought we were going to get through this like a family." Steve said with a frown. "That means we all take equal share..."

"Hey, I'll help out financially, and with day trips, and picnics and birthdays and all that jazz, but don't expect much else from me."

"Tony, You can't just be there for the fun parts. You have to take responsibility too. We're a team. And Haylee is our mission now." Natasha scolded crossing her arms.

"And a most problematic mission at that." Thor said, making a face. "She is emitting a most foul smell."

The others made a similar face as the smell of a messy diaper filled the kitchen. Haylee wiggled and made a cute little 'Ah' sound, before returning to sucking on her thumb.

"And so it begins." Tony rolled his eyes, pouring himself another drink.

---

It was an unusually warm day in July, as the Avengers dressed in black and took the quiet trip to the cemetery. Haylee's mother was being buried today. The small invitation was sent addressed to Haylee.

At first, they were unsure if they should even go in the first place, but eventually, the guilt wore down on them. This was a 19 year old girls funeral. The same 19 year old girl who died before their eyes just days before. So they sucked it up and got dressed in black.

Clint and Bruce had borrowed their suits from Tony.

Natasha was in a simple black dress that stopped at the knee, a black hat with a small viel sat on her head, blocking the top half of her face from view.

Thor had to have a suit made for him. Nothing Tony owned would fit without tearing at the seams.

Steve, was in his old Military uniform, with Haylee cradled in his strong arms.

It was a small servis, only a handful of people were there when they arrived. The introductions were brief.

A young woman named Christy, whom Ashley had worked with was surprisingly calm. "I wanted to thank all of you..." She said, making eye contact with each of the Avengers. "You made sure that Ashley was as comfortable as possible until the end, and to take Haylee in like that..." She paused to shake her head lightly, her straight black hair flying around her face. "Ashley always knew you guys where heros. From day one. Some people doubted you, but she always stood up for you guys. Almost lost her job over it once or twice, arguing with customers. Thank you for coming...For bringing Haylee."

They didn't know how to respond to that, but Christy just nodded and left to go stand with some of the other people she worked with, all of whom seemed too intimidated to come talk to the team of Heros

Just before the priest started to say his bit, an older couple came and stood near the back. Neither seemed to want to be there, or even sad in the least.

"Those are Ashley's parents." Said a tearful voice to the left of the group. They turned and saw a woman who had been crying into her handkerchief the whole time they had been there. "I bet they only came so they could save face." She spat. "They never cared for Ashley, and they've never even met Haylee!"

"You seem to know a lot about Ashley, Miss." Steve said softly, trying to calm to the woman before she started a scene.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry...M-My name is Maddielyn...I was A-Ashley's best friend, was ever since 3rd grade when we went to girl guides camp together...I m-moved with her to New York and I held her hand during the twenty hour labour..." She choked on a soft sob. "We were closer than sisters." She managed to strangle out. She was a pretty girl, the same age as Ashley, maybe younger. She had long hair. Soft blond curls fell to her waist, straightened bangs framed her heart shaped face, which was red and blotchy from tears. Her large olive eyes were red rimmed and watery with tears that didn't seem to stop.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Bruce said softly, from his place next to Tony.

"I-If...If you don't mind...C-Could I please hold Haylee? One last time? I w-was like an A-Aunty to her...If I wasn't a student, I would have taken her myself...but...I'm broke just supporting myself." She asked almost shyly.

"Of course Ma'am." Steve said, gently placing the sleeping baby girl into the sobbing young ladies arms.

"This is goodbye, 'Lee... You're gonna have a much better life now." She ran a her finger top down the side of the infants face, before kissing her forehead.

Steve only hoped that would be so.

---

Things were hectic at Avengers tower. Haylee had been a member of their little ragtag family for almost a week and a half now.

Much to the teams dismay, she had come down with something that Bruce was calling Colic. From what Steve understood, it meant that for hours at a time, she would just cry for no reason. She wasn't hungry, she had a clean diaper, she wasn't in need of attention, or uncomfortable, she would just cry for no reason and it was putting everyone on edge.

Tonight was Bruce's third night in a row looking after the inconsolable baby, and he was on the edge. He'd tried to warn the others during dinner that someone else should have Haylee duty tonight, he expressed his fear of the Hulk smashing Haylee, but the others had laughed it off.

"You've got a better lid on it than that." Tony said, around a mouthful of tortellini.

Bruce left his bedroom with a heavy sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose before putting his glasses on and headed down the hall to Haylee's room.

The team had decided that until Haylee was old enough to sleep through the night alone, that they would all move onto one floor. It was a tight fit, but with all the rooms being soundproofed, it was alright. JARVIS made for a good Baby monitor, even if he had mentioned once or twice that he was a supercomputer, and baby monitors could be purchased quite easily from any store that sold child supplies.

Bruce opened the door to the infants room and flicked on the light. The room was a mix of pastel green and pale lavender. It was the same size of everyone elses room, so large. Tony never did anything small. One of her walls was solid window, overlooking the city. Said window was currently tinted to block out the glow of the city lights, which were still going bright even at 4am. Her crib was new, bigger than the one that was left in her mothers apartment. It was also able to switch into twin bed when she got older. The only things that were kept were her clothing, toys, bottles, and baby photos and videos that Ashley had collected in mass. Any money that the young mother seemed to get, if it wasn't going to rent, it was going to her baby girl. While the Avengers thought it was sweet, they didn't really want to keep the second-hand funiture. So, thanks to Tony, all the furniture in Haylees room was new.

The baby was wailing at the top of her lung, screaming at her mobile of little pink, purple and orange butterflies as if it had insulted her.

He scooped her up, and almost instantly, she spat-up on his only clean shirt left.

The rope that had been slowly fraying over the last few days, finally snapped.

The whole floor awoke to a loud, earth quaking, window rattling roar.

Steve and Thor where the first one in Haylee's room, and they stopped in the doorway, frozen in shock. Natasha, Clint and finally Tony, ran behind them and jaws dropped.

There, sitting in the center of the babys room, was the Hulk. All green and large and muscled and surprisingly, not smashing. He was sitting cross legged on the soft plush creme carpet, with the little baby laying in his large hand. She didn't seem scared at all! In Fact, she was doing something she had never done before. She was laughing! Her first laugh, and all because the Hulk, the big green rage monster that had destroyed Harlem, was playing Peekaboo with her. His huge hand covered his eyes, before pulling it away with a grunt, smiling down at the baby who seemed to find this hysterical. The sound seemed to please him, so he did it once more and again and again.

"JARVIS?" Tony whispered, not wanting to break the magic of the scene before them.

"Yes sir?" The A.I. responded in the same hushed tone.

"I do hope you are filming this..." He whispered, over the sound of Haylee's high pitched giggle, as Hulk pulled his large hand away from his face, with a bit smile.

"Already done sir. I started filming the moment Dr. Banner hit a code green." Code Green was what they had started to call it when Bruce started to Hulk out.

"Great. Save the file. Label it "Haylee's first Laugh."" Tony said, before yawning behind his hand. "I'm going back to bed." He said, just as the Hulk carefully put Haylee back into her crib and sat back down staring intently at her crib, as if to keep guard. "He seems to have everything under control."

"Come on." Natasha pulled on Clint's pajama sleeve. "We should all go back to bed. God knows she'll be awake again in a few hours."

Hulk huffed out a heavy breath as the small child drift into her first peaceful night since she got colic.

When Bruce awoke the next morning, sore, stiff and in the shreds of his cloths, he was in an instant panic. Fearing for Haylee's safety, he leapt to his feet and checked his surroundings. Nothing was broken. Not a single thing. Haylee was laying on her back, watching the mobile turn as she gummed on her fleece covered foot. "Ahhah!" She squealed, recognizing his face.

"You're okay? How are you okay?" He gasped

All he got in response was a raspberry, followed by a giggle.

"JARVIS?" Bruce called up the the ceiling desperation and confusion in his voice.

"Yes Dr. Banner?"

"How is Haylee okay? I know that the...the Other Guy...made an appearance. She should be..." He paused looking a little green, and not in the hulk way. "How is she okay?"

"Would you like me to play the tape?"

"Please."

The still tinted windows suddenly turned into a TV screen, and Bruce watched as the Other Guy played Peekaboo with the little baby and even got a laugh out of her, before putting her to bed with such a gentle nature. He fell back into the rocking chair in a slight state of shock. He ran his hands over his face and sighed heavily. He had some thinking to do. About the Hulk, and how he viewed him. Much thinking indeed.

---

Clint finishing washing his glass, and took the washcloth with him as he turned back to Haylee, and stopped dead in his tracks, the cloth slipping from his fingers and landing soundlessly on the floor.

Apparently the memo that the Avengers couldn't leave dangerous items around, now that Haylee had learned the ability to grab onto things, hadn't reached Natasha.

"Ah." Haylee exclaimed, as if she really had no idea there was a 9 millimeter pistol in her lap.

"That's a baby with a gun." Clinton 'Hawkeye' Barton stated the obvious, trying to see that maybe, just maybe, if he blinked enough it would go away.

"Baby with a gun...BABY! WITH A GUN!" The shock started to seep away.

"I'm calling Natasha." He picked up his phone, only to put it down moments later, only getting the words 'baby with a gun' out of his mouth. "She hung up."

A look of something akin to love came over his face and in a soft awe filled voice, he proclaimed. "Awww, it's a baby with a gun..."

Moments later he was violently kicking the air to his right. "It's a baby with a gun!" He raged.

He turned his attention to the infant. "Who sent you? Was it Agent Brians? I will buy him a new tub!"

He was now back on the phone, only this time with Fury. "Does my life insurance cover babies with guns?...oh really?"

And now he was on top of the kitchen counter with his bow aimed at the baby girl in her high chair. "Get out."

He looked around and picked up what he thought was a sock monkey that was laying on the floor.

" How about we trade? Here...I'll give you this, and you give me that." He traded the gun for the plushie. "Now isn't that better-...ooohhh." Somehow what was once a grey sock monkey was now a desert eagle.

He hung his head in his hand. "I'm really stupid." He said, sounding almost tearful.

He pointed the gun that he had taken from her, back at the infant who was sucking her thumb innocently. "OH! Not nice now is it?! Huh? No! I'm a MAN with a gun! What are you? You're a baby with a gun! You know nothing!"

The guilt set in quickly. "I'm sorry that was mean, you don't deserve that, you're young...here take mine..." He handed the gun back, so now Haylee had both the guns sitting in her lap.

"Now it's a baby with two guns..." He whispered, covering his face, before pulling his hands away. "Where's the baby, there's the baby! Why don't you leave!?"

"You know, I kinda want you to shoot me so when I die, and god's all like 'Oh Clinton, how did you die?' I can be all 'I don't know god, maybe I was shot by a BABY WITH A GUN!"

Haylee laughed at his antics, even if she didn't understand anything that was going on around her.

"Don't laugh." He whined, "You're sick...you're a sick baby with a gun."

Clint was now moving from left to right, and up and down sporadically. "Oh! Not easy is it? Not easy to hit a moving target."

Later that Night, when Bruce was wrapped his shoulder carefully after having removed the bullet from his muscle, Clint refused to talk about what had happened.

Unfortunately for him, for the next 5 days in a row Tony played the security video at least twice per meal.

It only took half that time for Clint to forgive her.

---

Thankfully the Colic had passed quickly enough, and all was well in the tower.

Today was Tony's turn to look after Haylee. As most days when Tony was asked to look after her, She was placed in a playpen in the Lab, as the genius billionaire playboy ect. went about his business, without his usual ear shattering heavy metal soundtrack. He was going through some design ideas for a new suit as Haylee made soft gurgles and giggles, Dummy holding one of her toys above her head, her tiny little arms reaching for it. The robot would lower the toy, to the point where she could almost touch the soft plush rabbit, before it was take it away from her reach.

"Would you stop torturing her?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow as he worked out a design flaw in his hologram. "The kid may only be 4 months old, but that kinda torment might stick in her subconscious, and we don't want her growing up to hate robots. Not in this house."

The Dummy made a sad sort of whurring noise, before dropping the toy, and it landed on her face, startling her into tears.

"Scrap metal! That's what you'll be in a minute, I swear!" Tony threatened as he stood up from his desk and went over to the playpen. He sighed heavily and picked her up awkwardly. He really was no good with kids. Holding the infant at arms length by her arm pits, he stared at her in a mixed look of aggravation and disinterest. "What do you want? Do you wanna hit the Dummy back? Cuz you can."

Dummy started to roll away. "Ah-ah! Stay." Tony snapped at the machine, who lowered its head in an almost shame like way.

"Ah-ah!'' Haylee mimicked, her tears coming to a stop.

Tony turned his attention back to the baby and raised an eyebrow. "Ah-ah?" He asked dryly.

"Ah-ah!"

Tony seemed a little impressed with her. "Well...atleast you have the mental capacity of a parrot." He said. To anyone else, it would have been an insult, but he didn't really mean it like that. He was just stating a fact.

Haylee giggled a bit before sucking on her thumb. He noticed that she was now able to support her head on her own, it wasn't flopping from side to side like a rag dolls as it had last month or so.

"You are growing up quick..." He mumbled. "JARVIS?"

"Yes sir?"

"Bring me down the Baby chest holder thing."

"The Mei tai sir?"

"Yeah...that." Tony said, with a dismissing wave of his hand.

"It will be here in a moment sir."

Tony looked down at the baby girl, before holding her properly up against his chest. She seemed to be enamored with his Reactor, her tiny little hands placed over the glowing blue light that shone through his shirt. She made a soft sting of non sequitur babbles. "You're like mold, kid. You really grow on a guy." He sighed, as the Mei tai appeared on the desk next to him, raising up from the moving mechanics of the house.

"Thank you JARVIS." He said, before spilling on the soft contraption and sticking Haylee carefully in it so she was resting against his chest. She placed her little brunette head against his blue glowing chest and fell into a soft sleep, sucking on her thumb once more, getting a tiny bit of drool on his favorite black sabbath shirt.

Once he was certain she was safely in place, he returned to work.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes sir?"

"This..." He gestured to Haylee who was now napping against his reactor. "Stays between us."

"Naturally sir."

"Good...Uh, Play some Death Cab for Cutie on a lower volume. The 'Narrow Stairs' album please."

"That isn't your usual soundtrack to think to, sir."

"JARVIS, Haylee the mold baby is sleeping and my normal soundtrack for thinking is AC/DC and the like. Death Cab is little more calming for an infant don't you think?"

"You are correct, sir."

"As always." Tony smirked, flipping through some holographic equations.

There was a long silence in the lab, as the soft music played throughout the room. Haylee slept and Tony worked, before he caught himself running his fingers through her soft hair, over her tiny head. He looked uncomfortable before he got a look of resolve on his face. He looked down at her.

"I promise you...I won't be like my Father. You will know you are loved in this home." He whispered down to the sleeping baby.

---

Thor had taken up a love of cooking. Sure the stove and the microwave confused him to a certain degree, but as long as he was supervised, everything usually ended up fantastically.

Today, he was in the kitchen, cooking what appeared to be a feast. The counters and even the table to a certain degree was covered in food.

The whole kitchen was filled with wonderfully smelling food as the thunder god sung, loudly and off key, songs of old.

Natasha and Clint came into the kitchen, following the smell and raised their eyebrows at the sight.

"Thor?" The ex russian asked, drawing the gods attention. "What are you doing?"

"Friends!" He boomed, the largest smile on his face. "Today is a momentous occasion! We must celebrate!"

"Celebrate?" Clint frowned. "Celebrate what?"

"Haylee has learnt the power of movement! Observe!" He gestured down to the ground, where, indeed, Haylee was on her hands and knees, crawling about the kitchen floor at surprising speeds. The ten month old paused her motoring to look up at her Aunt and Uncle with her large hazel eyes, her short wavy brown hair was done up pigtails, compliments of Steve. Steve was so proud that he was able to put her tiny hair into pigtails, that the others didn't have the heart to tell him they were a mess and completely lopsided. Well, Everyone but Tony that was. She sucked on her pacifier, making a soft squeaking noise, before she crawled around to the other side of the kitchens island with high pitched noises of exertion.

Clint chuckled. "I'll go get her daddy...he'll love this." He exited to the room with a quickness to his step. Everyone in the tower loved to see Steve go into full on Papa-mode.

Natasha kept watch over Haylee while Thor cooked, just to make sure she didn't pull any pots out of the cabinets, or decided to see what the electric sockets did. Natasha made a mental note to get everyone to childproof the tower once they put her down for bed.

Steve came running into the kitchen. "Haylee's crawling?!'' The look of joy and expectation on his face was enough to make Natasha stifle a laugh. The Tiny crawling wonder, wrapped in a soft fleece yellow onesie, came crawling around the corner. Her tiny little hands making smacking noises against the tile flooring.

Steve rushed over to the other side of the room from where she was, before he sat down and held his arms open. "Haylee! Come to Daddy!" He called, a look of pure joy on his face.

The baby girl made a sound of joy, before she crawled happily over to him, before putting her hands on his legs and pulling herself up to sit like her was.

"Good girl Haylee! Such a good girl!" He praised, picking her up and holding her above his head. She giggled behind her binky, loving the attention that her new father was giving her.

"She is a strong, and fast learner!" Thor praised, raising the spatula in his hand, as if it were Mjolnir itself. "The feast in her honor will be ready shortly." He nodded, returning to the stove.

"That she is!" Steve smiled, keeping his eyes on his adopted daughter. He really had grown to love her in the past 9 and a half months that she had been living with them.

As the team ate and talked, Haylee played with the apple sauce that had been given to her, getting it all over her High chair, and her little face. Tony leaned over and wrote basic math equations in her food. "Can you answer two plus two?" He asked in a baby voice.

"Bababababa!" Haylee responded, patting her hands in the mess of apple sauce.

"Hear that Bruce? It's not four anymore! Two plus two is bababababa." He said, looking serious. "Contact the boards of Mathematics!" He called joyously raising his hand in the air dramatically

Bruce choked on his wine, laughter bubbling from his lips. "I can see that going over so well."

Steve smiled, glad to see everyone getting along so well, all because of Haylee.

"She'll learn to start speaking soon, right?" Clint asked, before taking a bite of his pork chop. Thor always seemed to make pork whenever he cooked. The others didn't question it.

"According to the books I've been reading," Steve spoke up. "Babies learn to speak simple baby words, like 'Up-py' or 'dada' usually around, or just after the time they turn one." He smiled softly, trying to imagine being called Dada. Before he became the super soldier that he was now, he never even dreamed of become a husband, let alone a father. He had accepted that he would age and die alone. But then he became the hero of world war two. The kind of guy he had always wanted to be. For a brief moment, he had hoped that maybe...that maybe a dance with Peggy would lead to more. However, once he woke up, seventy years in the future, that was once again shattered. He didn't really like the way women were in this time. Not the whole, independent thing, that he was okay with. Peggy was a strong woman who had her own career, and he respected that. It was the way that these women seemed to have absolutely no respect for their bodies. They would sleep with anyone, and from mind bogglingly young ages. He gripped his fork and knife and cut into his meat a little harder than necessary. He would see to it that Haylee would never end up like one of those girls. She would wait until marriage, if he had anything to say about it. And really, with a Dad like Captain America, he doubted that any little punk would try.

"Hard to believe it's almost been a year." Natasha said, sipping at her red wine. "I know we're still...two months shy, but hey. It's been 9 and a half months already!"

"That's about the same amount of time as she spent with her mother, if you count her time in the womb." Bruce spoke up and a thick hush fell over the table. It was broken only moments later when Haylee started babbling again.

"Kakakakak!" She shrieked, the look of seriousness on her face was enough to make one think that she fully believed she was speaking english.

"You don't say?" Tony indulge her, leaning forward.

"Ababababaah!"

"No!" He gasped, looking offended. "I would never!"

The team broke into snickers and stifled laughs as Tony continued this one sided conversation with the baby.

After another hour of wine and conversation, they finally put Haylee to bed, and went about baby proofing the Avengers Tower.

And they had to go it all over again in the morning, having missed half of the things they were looking out for last night.

---

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Haylee~ Happy Birthday to you!"

The now one year old squealed in excitement, at the sight of of the giant novelty candle in the center of her cake.

"Blow it out, Haylee! Like this!" Steve smiled as he demonstrated. All he got was a blank look.

"Just blow it out Steve, She'll understand next year." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Let her try, Tony!" Steve chuckled. "Come on Haylee, you can do it, Blow!" He poofed out his cheeks and amazingly, she mimicked. Slowly, he turned to look at the cake, and waited for her to follow his lead. When he exhaled the air in his cheeks, she spat, all over the cake.

Natasha was doubled over with laughter, as was Bruce and Tony and even Thor. Clint however, didn't look too impressed. "Well, I'm not eating that."

Once the cake situation was under control, they moved onto presents.

Steve had her sitting in his lap while he unwrapped the gifts before her eyes.

From her father, she was given some pretty new clothing, and a collection of bath toys. She honestly seemed more interested in playing with the wrapping paper.

"What did Uncle Clint give you?" He asked in the same baby voice he used for talking with the infant that he always did. He carefully ripped the wrapping paper away. "A toy bow and arrow set! Isn't that nice of him?"

"I know it says ages three and up, but she's gonna be around a lot more dangerous things then Plastic arrow with suction cups on the ends of 'em, right?" Clint shrug and Steve smiled. "It's wonderful, Thank you Clint."

"This is from Aunty N." Natasha smiled, holding out a small box, that had a beautifully simple bow on the top.

The lid came off easily, and inside, was a beautifully painted wooden russian doll.

"They're called Matryoshka." Natasha said. "They have small parts, so don't let her put them in her mouth. I had one as a child...if I remember right, it was my great Grandmothers."

"It's beautiful Natasha. Thank you." Steve smiled. "I know just the spot for this on her shelves."

Natasha smiled. "Hopefully, she'll make more use of it when she's older."

"Okay, Okay! Time for Uncle Tony's present!" Tony smiled. The others looked at him, and saw that his arms were empty.

"Umm...Where is it?" Steve asked, frowned slightly.

"It's in her room!" Tony smiled, a glass of orange juice in hand. He wasn't aloud to drink at her birthday party. "There was too much to wrap."

"Too much?"

"I bought one of each girls, and gender neutral toy that the giant Macy's down the way had! I was gonna buy more, but Pepper told me to reel it back."

"One of each!? Jesus Tony!" Bruce gasped. "Now I feel like my little gift is not enough." He pouted a little.

"What did you get her, Bruce?" Steve asked, looking at the bag in the scientists hands.

"It's a collection of Chemicals that are completely harmless...but, really pretty." He pulled out a large circular glass vase, that was sealed shut. A mix of purple, pink, red, orange and white glowing liquids seemed to almost dance about in their glass home, resembling a tie dye sunset. "I thought it was a little more unique than your conventional nightlight."

"Bruce, that's amazing." Natasha gasped.

"Yeah, Holy shit Bruce." Tony smiled. "Yours is all personal 'n shit. Mines something anyone with money could give."

"I wish to give my gift to Haylee!" Thor boomed, holding up an...animal crate.

"You got her a pet?" Steve smiled, holding out his arms for it.

"Yes! A midgardian beast, I assure you. I wished to bring her one from Asgard, but Jane told me that that might not be the best of plans." He said, passing it over. "All Children of Asgard have a pet at one point in their early years."

Steve opened up the crate, and pulled out a little kitten, who was almost all white, except for a few darker patches on his face, ears and legs.

"Jane told me this breed of cat is called 'Snowshoe.'" Thor smiled. "He is a good cat, the strongest and healthiest of his litter."

"Does he have a name yet?" Steve asked smiling down at Haylee who was watching the kitten, who was sitting in the american's large hands.

"No. I am no good with these Midgardian names.''

"Then I guess we should all name him."

"How about...Steve?" Tony smiled as said all american boy blushed and sputtered.

"What? Why after me?"

"Cuz he's got your googly eyes, dear." Tony said, batting his eyelashes mockingly.

"Come off it!"

"I like it...he does kinda look like you, Cap." Clint chuckled.

"So, I got two votes for Steve!" Tony smiled, holding up his two of his fingers in the air.

"I think...Phil..." Bruce spoke up from his spot on the couch.

A silent hush once again fell over the team, as they remembered their favorite babysitter, whom was still a sore subject for them.

"Yeah...Phil it is..." Steve said with a nod and the little kitty looked up at him with his large blue eyes, before returning to playfully trying to bat at the one year olds pigtails, which Steve was still getting the hang of.

-

"Come on Haylee, you can do it, I know you can." Steve smiled, as he sat on the carpet of his daughters room. "It's so easy, just say Dada."

He got a babble in return. "Adadada."

"That's so close, Haylee." Steve chuckled. "It's just Dada."

"Adada."

"Dada."

"Adadada."

"Dada."

This continued on for a while, before finally, Haylee smiled brightly and said "Dada!"

"Yes! It's Dada! I'm Dada!"

"Dada!"

Steve laughed happily and cuddled the baby close and had her saying it at least 5 times to every Avenger in the Tower. JARVIS had to hear it about 50 times.

Soon after, she got 'Unca To', 'Tow', 'B'uce,' 'Aun'y Nah,' and 'Unca C'win' down.

Tony seemed to melt a little, before he stiffened up and acted as if he wasn't affected.

Thor was endlessly amused and overjoyed that she had gotten so close to his name, his thunderous voice could be heard from blocks away.

Bruce smiled and tried to hide his tears.

Natasha was rather cold about it, but Steve could tell she was happy.

Clint wasn't too fond of his new nickname, at first. But it seemed to grow on him eventually.

Steve couldn't be the happier. He honestly loved being a Dada.

---

Haylee was 2 and a half years old when she said her first full, grammatically correct sentence.

"I love you Daddy!"

Steve cried like a baby, and Haylee was instantly worried she had done something wrong.

Tony had JARVIS film it. It became instant blackmail material for the rest of Steve's life.

---

When it finally happened, it took everyone by surprise. They knew that it would happen some day, but it still took them off guard.

It was three in the morning when JARVIS's alarm went off. "There is an unidentified person in Miss Haylee's room."

The group had never run that quickly.

When they ran into the room, there was a strange man, with a sleeping Four year old in his arms. He was wearing a leather coat, and had the most ridiculous sideburns that anyone in the room had ever seen. He was tall, and built. It took the team very little time to figure out how he got into the room. The large window wall, had a giant hole in it.

Phil the cat was hissing angrily from his place in the corner.

"PUT HER DOWN!" Steve screamed.

The strange man in the coat shook his head.

"Can't do that." His gravely voice made it seem like he hadn't gone a day without smoking at least a pack in his life. "Proffessor X wants her."

"Well your Proffessor X can't have her!" Steve growled. "She's my daughter, and she isn't going anywhere!"

"This isn't up for discussion." The Man growled, before leaping out the window.

"HAYLEE!" Steve shouted, running out to the edge of the window.

"Out of the way Spangles." Tony said, making sure his bracelets were in place. He took a few steps back, before jumping out the same hole that the man who stole their favorite toddler went through. Half way through the fall, his bracelets expanded outwards and became his suit. It was a new prototype he'd been working on for weeks.

He didn't even hit the ground, just used the jets in his boots to hover about 5 feet above the pavement.

"Now. Give me back my niece." He said, holding up his hand to charge a blast of energy.

The Strange man, who was now crouching in a giant crater in the middle of the street, looked at the now ironclad Tony stark. He stood up and faced Iron man, and held up his hand in a manner that made Tony think for a moment that he may flip him off. The billionaire was however shocked when three metal claws seemed to grow out of the spaces between his knuckles.

"That's a neat trice. Now, kindly return my niece to me otherwise things might get difficult." Iron man said, pretending that he wasn't a little unnerved by this man. He was however, knocked to the ground, when something blasted him from behind. He rolled and stood up, trying to figure out what had hit him. There was another man in average clothing, and thick sunglasses.

"Scott, what are you doing? I can handle this." said the man with the claws.

"Professor X said you might need some backup, Logan." The newcomer said, lowering his sunglasses and a red beam of energy once again stuck Iron man. He was however prepared for this, and held his ground, digging his boots into the concrete.

He wasn't prepared for was a striking blow to the back, that seemed to slice his armor. It was the clawed man, Logan. He leaped over his back and was now standing next to the man with the messed up eyes, Scott.

"GIVE ME BACK MY NIECE!" He shouted, blasting Scott in the chest with his hand beam, knocking him back about a good 10 yards.

Thor flew down from the tower, now dressed in battle gear, his hammer clutched tightly. He leapt into battle instantly, almost about to hit Logan, but stopped when he saw that he was still holding Haylee, who was still sleeping. He must have knocked her out with some form of midgardian chemical.

"My sister. Return her to me." Thor commanded, his tone of voice leaving no room for compromise. His arm was held out to take her back from the man.

"Sister, Niece...you guys got a fucked up relationship." Logan said, gesturing between Thor and Iron Man.

Scott sat up and used his eyes to blast Thor back into a car, setting off it's alarm.

"Tell your Professor X that he can't have Haylee. She's our family." Tony said, as the rest of the team made their way down from the tower, all of them dressed for battle.

"Professor X has had us looking for her for four years now."

"Well you guys haven't been doing a good job, she's been here since the day her mother died." Tony snarked at the man.

"Why does your Professor X want my daughter in the first place?" Steve asked, moving closer towards the man holding Haylee. He frowned a little. "Logan? Logan is that you?"

"Do...I know you?"

"It's me! Steve! Steve Rogers! We fought in World War 2 together!" The Captain cried exitetedly.

"Holy shit, I didn't think I'd see anyone from there again..." Logan scratched the back of his head.

"You still fighting for the Canadians?" He asked conversationally, much to the surprise of everyone around them.

"I work for Professor X now..."

"Huh..." Steve said, looking a little confused before he cleared his throat and got back to business. "What does Professor X want with my Daughter?"

"Professor X wants her, because she's a mutant. We need to identify her powers and then he wants to train her, before she can end up hurting anyone." Logan said. "You would have no idea how to control her, or her powers, whatever they may be. She could wipe out the planet with the levels over power she was giving off! We need to take her back to the school, to train her!"

"A Mutant? That's impossible." Bruce shook his head, from his place in the back. "I'm her Doctor, I've done blood tests, she's a perfectly normal baby. No mutations at all!"

"That's not right...Professor X's machine said that she was a mutant! Back when she was only a few days old!" Scott exclaimed, standing up and making his way back over to Logans side. "It was a strong reading, stronger than most adults! But, like a pulse, that's what took us so long to track her down, It didn't come up often."

"I think I might be able to explain that!" Came a voice from the alley to the right of their battle grounds. Out from the alleyway, rolled a dumpster.

"Oh god is that who I think it is?" Scott groaned, looking uneasy.

The lid of the dumpster swung open, and up stood a man in a red and black uniform, not an inch of skin showing. "IT WAS ME!" Cried the Man. "I WAS THE MUTANT ALL ALONG!" His voice went up a couple of pitches for this exclamation. He pulled off the banana peel that was sticking to the top of his head and tossed it to the side.

"Oh God it's him." Logan groaned. "Wade, what are you doing here!?"

"You know this guy?" Steve asked, looking a tad shocked.

"Deadpool. The merc with the mouth." Logan said, sounding like he wanted nothing to do with man. "He was in the same experiments that I was."

"Experiments?"

"It's a long story."

"What do you mean, you were the mutant all along?" Natasha asked, ignoring Logan and Steve.

"Well, You see, Ashley Sanders parents are fucking loaded!" The man exclaimed, using his hands to talk. "So when she went from seattle to new york, her dad paid me to look after her and her baby! So between missions and stuff I would check in on Haylee and her mommy. Then Ashley died during that giant wolf attack, so, now I'm just kinda looking after Haylee."

"That doesn't explain how Professor X's machine read her as a mutant." Logan snarled. He was clearly none too found of this Wade character.

"Well, According to the yellow box that is narrating this story in my head, his machine is a little glitchy, and was reading my mutant energy, whenever I was near Haylee." Deadpool explained. The Avengers and Scott and Logan all seemed a little unnerved by this answer.

"Wait...How did you get in Stark Towers!?" Tony cried. "JARVIS would inform me if there was a stranger near Haylee."

"I'm Deadpool. I do what I want." The man seemed to smile beneath his mask

JARVIS spoke up from inside Tony's suit. "I'm sorry sir, but his eccentric personality lead me to believe he was a friend of yours. He never caused any harm to Haylee, if that is any consolation."

"I would never hurt Haylee! I was paid to protect her. Duh."

"How much were you paid?" Clint asked.

"Enough to buy Batman a new batcave!"

"Who is this...Batman?" Thor asked and everyone else shrugged having no clue as to what this strange man was talking about.

"It doesn't matter. Haylee isn't a Mutant, so give her back to her daddy, bub." Deadpool said, gesturing to Logan who muttered something about not calling him bub and how it was his job.

The clawed man reluctantly did so. "I want a copy of her blood tests. Just to prove to Professor X that taking her wasn't necessary."

"Done." Bruce said simply, as Steve took his sleeping toddler back. "Come back in the morning, you can have it then. For now, We'd like to go back to bed, if you don't mind."

"Good.

Things were settled in the morning, and both Logan and Scott left. Deadpool however, seemed to just vanish, but the Avengers were sure he would return again.

---

Bruce was done. He was just done. He couldn't keep doing this. Every day he spent in this tower, in this city, he was putting the ones he loves, the ones he cared about in danger and he couldn't do it anymore. He almost lost control today. It was family movie night, as Tony had declared, and they were watching an action flick. Everything was going great until the machine guns started going off. The beast inside him struggled beneath his skin as the memories of a helicopter above head let loose all it had, shooting rapidly at him from the machine gun attached to the aircraft. The bullets bouncing off his skin. No. Not his skin. The Other Guys skin. He quickly made a lie about a bathroom break and ran to his bedroom and locked to the door behind him. He tried to control his breathing for what seemed like hours. It was only luck that The Other Guy didn't show up. He couldn't put his team at risk like that.

He had already packed his bag, taking the bare minimum with him.

So, at 2 in the morning, he started to sneak out through the halls of the Avengers tower. He went slowly, and quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up, or alert any AI's as to what he was doing, in case said AI decided to speak up.

He was halfway down the last hallway, the elevator in sight, when the door just in front of him and to his left opened up and light poured into the dark hallway. He tensed and froze in place.

Out from the room, which was a bathroom Bruce recognized, came a small figure. Maybe 2 and a half feet tall at most. Haylee

The seven year old girl walked out of the bathroom with a yawn, her stuffed monkey held tightly under one arm. She was adorable, Her hair messy and all over the place and her nightgown was too big, hanging off one shoulder. Her eyes were half lidded and fogged over.

Bruce stood extra still, hoping that if he didn't move, she wouldn't see him. No such luck.

"Bruce..." She said with a small smile. "Do you need to use the bathroom too?"

"No sweetie, Just going to get some water from the kitchen." He lied smoothly, guilt twisting in his gut. He was lying to a child.

"Can you tuck me back in please?" She asked innocently, not seeming to notice the bag hanging off his shoulder.

"Sure." He smiled, atleast he could leave knowing he said goodbye to the little girl.

He took her hand, which was still a little damp from her washing it in the sink after her trip to the bathroom, and lead her back to her room. He helped her into bed, and tucked her in, and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Haylee. Sleep well. I love you." He stood up and was about to leave for good, when she spoke up again.

"Bruce, are you leaving?"

"Yes Honey, It's late. We both have to go to bed."

"No...I mean leaving...like how Uncle Clint and Aunty Tasha do sometimes..."

"What makes you think that?" He asked, stiffening a little. Caught.

"You have a bag...Bruce please don't leave." She begged.

"Honey...I have to."

"No you don't..." Her voice cracked with tears

"Yes, Haylee, I really do. I'm not safe."

"Daddy said that this is the safest place ever!"

"Haylee..." Bruce paused to collect his thoughts. "I could hurt you...and everyone here...you know about Hulk...how he comes out when I get mad."

"But he hasn't hurt us ever before!"

"He almost did tonight. During the Movie. I can't risk it anymore Honey, I couldn't live with myself If I hurt you, or anyone else in this building."

"Then don't so it!" She pleaded, tears in her eyes. "Hulk is my friend! He's nice to me!"

"Honey, Hulk is only nice to you because you're not dangerous to him. He doesn't think that way about Thor, or Uncle Clint, or even your Dad...And you might get hurt by accident. I can't let that happen. So I'm going away so it never has to happen."

She started to sob and the sight broke his heart. He couldn't handle it, so he stood up again and started heading towards the door.

"You're just running away!" Haylee cried. "Daddy said once you start running away you can never stop!"

Bruce paused in his tracks again. He wasn't running was he? He was protecting his loved ones...

"I just want my big brother Bruce..." She sobbed, and he dropped his bag to the ground before sitting on the side of her bed and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry Haylee...I'll stop running...I'll stop running..."

From his place at the end of the bed, Phil the cat yawned and curled into a tighter ball.

---

Steve impatiently tapped his hands against his steering wheel. Children flooded out of the school that he was parked in front of.

Haylee, now 10 years old, walked out of the school slowly and almost scared. She came down the pathway, and reluctantly slipped into the passenger's seat. Steve noticed the bruise on the left side of her temple. It was fresh, she didn't have it 6 hours ago when he dropped her off, but already purple and swollen.

Wordlessly, Steve started the car, and began the drive home

"So...You wanna tell me about the phone call I got from your teacher?"

"Tyler had it coming." She pouted.

"You broke his nose and kicked him in the stomach."

"He started it."

"That's no-"

"He said that you and the rest of the Avengers where bad guys."

Steve looked at her.

"And when I said he was stupid for thinking that, He threw a rock at me." She pointed to her bruised forehead. "I was defending myself, just like Aunty Tasha taught me."

"Honey...you can't do that..."

"Why not!?" She cried, tears brimming in her eyes. She didn't understand, she was only doing what she thought was right!

"Because your being trained to fight by assassins. You can't use your skills to beat up bullies in the playground. That would just make you a bully yourself.'' Steve said firmly. Short after Haylee had turned 5, she was kidnapped again, but this time, getting her back wasn't so easy. Natasha and Clint managed to convince him that for her own protection, they would have to teach her how to fight. Natasha and Clint taught her the basics of hand to hand combat, she was signed up Karate which she went to on mondays wednesdays, and she was also taking Kendo classes on tuesdays and thursdays. Private tutors came to the tower, under Tonys pay. He was paying for all her education, School, and otherwise, he claimed that it was her christmas gift that would never stop giving. Her only really normal after school activity was Swimming on saturdays, which she went down to the local pool and swam for an hour with other children her age. Bruce, being her doctor, always made sure that they never pushed her body too hard, the last thing they wanted was her to become crippled in her later years.

Haylee wiped at her eyes and Steve pulled over to take a look at his daughter who was fighting back tears with chocked breaths of air. She was tall for her age. Today she had picked out a pair of worn blue jeans with holes in the knees. On her tiny feet were a pair of grey, dirt covered converse. She wore a black t shirt with his shield painted on the front, the paint purposely made to look old and worn. Her shoulder length brown hair had lost the waves she had as a baby, and was currently pulled into a ponytail at the crown of her head. Steve had done that for her before she left this morning. He would admit that she was a tomboy. He had hoped that she would grow into a proper young lady, but he couldn't change her, and he would never try. Frankly, He was a little glad inside that she would rather play kickball with the boys, then gossip about the boys with the girls, because then he could have another thing to talk to her about, and he didn't have to worry about having a boy crazy daughter. She would even watch football with himself, Tony and Clint on the sundays that a game was on. It was almost like having a son, but she would never let him forget that he was infact, a lady. She used that excuse all the time. To get into the bathroom first in the morning, "Ladies first, Dad!" To take the last of the Milk during breakfast, "Ladies first, Dad!" To call shotgun when Tony would drive them out to dinner. "Ladies always get the front seat Dad!" And he, being the gentleman that he was, would never fight it.

He reached out and rubbed her shoulder gently. "Don't cry, I'm not mad at you."

"But you're disappointed right? That's even worse than mad!" She managed to get out.

"No...I'm actually proud of you."

"W-what?" She looked up at him, her large hazel eyes red with tears as she tried to wipe them off her face. "B-But you hate bullies!"

"But you're not a bully are you? You were only sticking up for yourself. And next time, you'll know how to go get a teacher, instead of beating the snot out of another kid, okay?"

"Right...Thanks Dad..."

"Come on...Let's go get some Ice cream before we head home, okay? Nothing makes a bump on the noodle feel better then Ice cream right?"

"Right!" She smiled, her tears drying up almost instantly. "I can have rocky road right?"

"Of course you can." Steve smiled, starting the car up again and heading towards their favorite ice cream parlour.

The first call to the parents from the teachers were always the hardest, but Steve thought he handed it alright.

---

When Haylee was eleven years old, Steve took her out shopping one day. While shopping, she spotted the coolest thing her eleven year old eyes had ever seen. It was a bike. It was a beautiful, shiny red bike! It had a black plastic weave basket on the front and everything. She instantly grabbed onto her Dad's shirt and asked him if she could have it.

At first, Steve thought about just saying yes and taking it home and then starting to teach her how to ride it, but then he had an idea.

"Haylee. I'm not going to buy you that bike." He said firmly, and almost instantly, the tears started to well in her eyes, but he cut her off before she could ask why. "You, are going to buy that bike for yourself."

"Daddy, I can't. I don't have any money...You and Uncle Tony have the money." She said, still looking sad.

"You're going to start doing chores around the house, and you'll earn enough money to buy that bike for yourself.'' He explained. Steve was actually really proud of himself for thinking of this. This was just the way to insure that She wouldn't be so spoiled with money as Tony was! He grew up getting anything he wanted without having to work for it, and therefore had no real concept of money! Besides, this way she would also learn some skills about taking care of herself and cleaning, things she would need when she grew up and moved out! Though he hated to think of her moving out. She was his baby girl.

"Chores?" She asked.

"Yeah. You know how Uncle Tony sends maids into your floor to clean up after the messes you make?"

She nodded.

"Well, from now on, No more maids! You'll be cleaning up after yourself, and if you do a good job, each week on saturdays, I'll give you Five dollars."

"How many weeks will it be before I get my bike?" She asked, not looking too thrilled with the plan, but she was willing to go along with it.

Steve quickly checked the price of the bike and did a double take. Bikes never cost that much in the forties.

"Well, If I pay for half of it, it will take you...Ten weeks. You'll have it just in time for back to school."

"Ten Weeks?!" She whined. "I want my bike now!"

"Well, I'm only going to pay for half of it." Steve said firmly. "So it's either you start doing chores, and earn your money, or you don't get the bike at all."

"But it's so cool!"

"Then you're just going to have to save up for it huh?"

Haylee nodded lightly, and Steve went to go talking to a salesperson about putting the bike on hold until his daughter could earn her half. Throwing around the name Captain America could help every now and then when it came to bending rules.

By the time that she was able to buy her bike, Steve was more than ready to teach her how to ride it. There were some scrapped knees, and bumped heads, but in the end, she was a pro, and she loved that bike so much more than if she was just given it.

---

"Haylee?" Steve called down the hall to her bedroom. There was no response and he frowned. He had told her time after time after time to not have her music up so loud that she couldn't hear him. He sighed heavily as he came down the hall and knocked on her door. No answer again. He punched in his log in code, and the door slid open.

The computer was shut off, the lights were off aswell, the bed was empty and worst of all, Haylee wasn't in her room.

The panic set in almost instantly. He had already checked the living area on her floor of the Avengers Tower, so the next logical place to check was the bathrooms. She wasn't in either of them! Why she needed two bathrooms he would never know, but Tony gave her two anyway. Something about for when she had sleepovers. Not that Haylee ever did have sleepovers. All her friends were boys, and he was not going to let a boy have a sleepover with his daughter while he was still in charge.

He quickly went to Tony's floor, more specifically, his lab. He was hoping that she would be in there, playing with Dummy, or even just watching Tony work over his shoulder, as the two sang along to rock and roll music. She loved any kind of music that Tony liked. But he was out of luck, Tony simply said that he hadn't seen her since that morning when they all ate breakfast together. He was about to say something more, but Steve left too fast to hear what it was.

He then went to Bruce. He was in his library, reading a rather large scientific text book that Steve couldn't even hazard a guess as to its contexts. Bruce explained that Haylee had come to see him briefly after she had returned from school, explaining that she would need some help with some upcoming homework. Steve didn't think it was fair that she had someone as smart as Bruce helping her out, but he held his tongue. He knew that Bruce would only guide her in the right direction, where as Tony would flat out give her the answers. He cursed under his breath before running off.

Next came Natasha. She was in her personal firing range, trying to best her own high score of over 180 bullseye in under two minutes. It was an unspoken rule in the tower that you never interrupted Natasha during target practice, or anything that required her to have a gun in her hands, so Steve waited as patiently as he could, which basically meant he was bouncing on his feet till she was finished, a few second too short of her highscore. Once the guns were down he ran up to her and asked if she had seen her pseudo niece anywhere. When all he got was a confused headshake in return, he sprinted out of the room as quickly as he had entered it.

Lastly, He checked with Thor. The God was in the living room of the communal floor, watching a trashy daytime tv show. Real Housewives of...something or other. Steve didn't pay attention to the screen. Steve asked him hurriedly, if he had seen Haylee. And once again, the response he got was negative.

Unable to take it anymore, he cried out, "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" and moments later, Tony Bruce, and Natasha were in the same room that he and Thor where. He was about to explain how Haylee was lost, when he got cut off.

"Where is Clint?" Natasha asked.

"Clint? He's back from his mission to Africa?" Steve frowned.

"Yeah, He showed up just after you left to go pick up Haylee from school." Bruce said, taking off his glasses to clean them. "You didn't know?"

"No..." Steve trailed off before shaking his head. "Look! Haylee is missing, I can't find her anywhere!"

"...You didn't check Clints floor, did you?" Tony asked.

"No...She's not allowed to go there...unless he's home...Shit." Steve said, before running to the elevator.

When he and the rest of the Avengers arrived at Clints floor, they ran into his living area, which was more like a playground, with all the scaffolding and beams and other things to keep Clint up high where he liked to be. And sure enough, there is Clint and Haylee, sitting with their legs hanging over the edge of his favorite nesting place. They were both holding DS's and shouting at each other about blue and red shells like they were both 5 years old, and not the 13 year old girl and a 39 year old man that they were.

"So...Why didn't you just ask JARVIS where she was in the first place?" Tony asked him after a moment of silence.

---

Haylee loved her Uncle Tony. He was funny, smart and he gave her almost anything she asked for, especially if her dad said that she couldn't have it! He had given her a Cellphone, that he had made, He had given her a computer, that he had made, and she was pretty sure that by the time she was old enough to drive, he would buy her, or even make her a car! "Only the very best for my niece." He would always say.

But this, by far, was her favorite thing that Uncle Tony had ever given her.

"Now, It's just a prototype, so be careful with it." He said, slipping the silver metal band onto her left index finger. "But also, try and see what needs improving."

"So, try and break it, but not when my life is in danger?" Haylee asked, clenching a fist to see how it felt.

"Exactly." He smirked and ruffled her hair. "This is why you're my favorite niece."

"Uncle Tony," She laughed. "I'm your only niece!"

"All the more reason for you to be my favorite." He smiled. "Now, all you have to do to activate it, is press the underside of the band with the side of your thumb three times in a row."

"That's really specific." Haylee said, looking at the ring on her finger.

"Yeah well, don't want it setting off by accident, now do we?" Tony smirked. "Go on! Show me what you got! Don't tell me all those classes I've paid for have gone to waste now, have they?"

Haylee just laughed and tapped the underside of the ring with her thumb, and instantly, the band started to morph into a metallic bo staff, about 6 feet long that felt extremely light in her hands. "That is so firetrucking cool!"

Tony threw his head back in laughter. "I had a feeling you would say that."

She smiled and started to run through some basic attack strategies with her new bo staff. It was a lot lighter then she was accustomed to, and would take some getting used to, but she loved the way it felt in her hands. Twisting her hands, she notices that part of the staff twisted. "What does this do?" She asked, as she started to twist it.

"No no! don't!" But it was too late. The staff clicked, and a blast much like the ones that came out of Iron Mans hands, shot out of the end of her bow staff and went right through the wall. The force of it sent her flying backwards, and she whacked her head on one of his tables.

About an hour later as she lay in a bed in Bruce's medical bay, listening to Tony and her Dad argue out in the hall as Bruce looked over her ct scan all she could do was laugh and say, "Best. Concussion. Ever."

---

Growing up in the Avengers house, there were a few things you learned pretty quickly as Haylee discovered.

One. Don't talk to Bruce before he has had his morning coffee. Never ever do it.

Two. Never go near Natasha when she was holding a gun. Never ever EVER do it!

Three. Never ever ever talk about anything remotely sexual around Steve, or Haylee if Steve was around. She had already had the 'Fondue talk' and that was enough for one lifetime.

Four. Tony had to keep all his experiments in the lab.

Five. Don't mention Phil the Cat, who had died of old age only a few months ago. It caused a lot more pain around the tower then anyone liked to talk about.

And six, Thor is the only Avenger who can cook with shit. Everyone else sucks it up and buys take away.

So when Haylee expressed an interest in learning how to cook when she was sixteen years old, Thor was the first and only choice for a mentor in the culinary arts. The lessons, quickly became a time of bonding. Haylee would tell him stories of highschool, and her friends, and her classes and such, and Thor in return would tell her of Asgard and his adventures there. He told her stories of Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, and of the good times he had had with Loki, as well as a few of the bad times, and of his mother and father. Haylee wasn't afraid to admit, that Odin frightened her. He seemed to give out such harsh punishments for the smallest of things, but it wasn't really her place to judge, she had never even meet the guy...not that she ever really wanted to.

Thor taught her everything he could about cooking, and after that, they started to learn together from recipes they found online, or through the cookbooks that they bought. The only thing Thor couldn't do in a kitchen, was baking. He was the worst baker that had ever graced the planet in Haylee's opinion. So when ever she wanted to bake cookies, or brownies, or make someone in the tower a cake, she had to learn how to do it herself. The first couple dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies wound up being flatter than pancakes and brittle as all hell, but they tasted okay, at least, according to Her Dad, Uncle Tony, Bruce and Thor. Natasha and Clint somehow didn't see how lying to her was going to help her bake better cookies.

It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually, Haylee became a competent baker. She wasn't going to open any shops anytime soon, but her cookies and brownies were loved by all in the tower, and her cakes only just as popular.

So obviously, they became a bargaining chip to get out of chores and to avoid bad report cards and the like.

---

Bruce had an odd sleeping schedule. Between sleepless nights of research, and the nightmares that he did have when he slept, it was no real surprise to anyone to find the man napping in certain places in the tower.

At the moment, the Doctor was asleep on his keyboard, his text screen filled with a key mash that continued to scroll on and on and on.

Haylee snuck into the lab and turned the lights on, Jarvis having turned them off once he was sure Bruce was asleep. She walked up behind the man and shook his shoulder lightly. "Bruce? Bruce?"

He jolted away, drool on the side of his mouth, the pattern of the keyboard left on his cheek, and his glasses askew. "I'm up!"

Haylee giggled a bit. "I see that."

Bruce adjusted his glasses and sat up straighter, taking in the sight of the sixteen year old in front of him. She was growing into a beautiful young lady. Her mousy brown hair was left down, just brushing the tops of her shoulders, and her large hazel eyes twinkled with laughter. A few freckles dusted the bridge of her nose, but they were hidden a little behind the light tan she already had, so early into spring.

"What's up?" He asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You see... You have to promise not to tell my dad first!"

"I can't make that promise till I know what it is."

"No fair!" She groused before sighing. "Okay! A boy in my class asked me out."

"New Boyfriend huh?" Bruce smiled a little, now fully able to understand why she came to him and not Steve. Steve had made it clear several times that no man would ever be good enough for his little girl. The last two guys who asked her out didn't even get to take her out of the house. They showed up to pick her up, and left empty handed.

"His name is Josh... He's really a nice guy...not like Johnny-Ray."

Johnny-Ray was the last boy to ask her out. The second he walked through the door, Tony was running a background check on him, and it was quickly apparent, that this boy only one year Haylee's senior was trouble. He had already tried every drug known to north america, and had been arrested for assault twice. Both against his girlfriends at the time. Needless to say, he was booted out real fast.

"Josh huh?"

"Yeah, He's in English class with me." She said with a small blush. "He's in the drama club, he works with building the sets and stuff."

"He sounds like a nice guy."

"He really is! He's been walking me from class to the caf, just so he can stand in line with me!" Haylee gushed. "He even waits with me after school before Dad comes to pick me up. He's missed his bus like, 5 times now for me."

"Real modern day gentleman hmm?"

"I like him..." Haylee blushed. "Like...a lot."

"Then you should let your dad meet him. If he's as great as you say, he should pass the check."

And so, Two days later, Haylee brought Josh home for dinner.

He was a tall boy, tanned with dark curly hair. He clearly had italian heritage. He wore nice jeans, and dark blue button down shirt. He was nothing but a gentle man, and bruce saw nothing wrong with him.

Steve however, was a completely different story.

Nothing that Josh did seemed to be good enough. His hair was too long. His shirt was wrinkled. He didn't offer to pull out Haylee's chair. Why was he only getting a B in math? The list just went on and on.

Eventually, Haylee snapped and left the table in tears. Bruce of all people followed her.

While she cried into her pillow, he rubbed her back, and told her all about his romance with Betty, and how her dad hated him too.

In the end, Bruce was the only guy in the house to like Josh. The rest put up with him because he honestly made Haylee happy.

---

"UGH!" Haylee grunted, as she fell to the hardwood floor of the training room. She just lay still for a moment, gasping for air as she chest heaved.

"Get up." Natasha ordered. "Do it again."

"I can't!" Haylee cried. Her arms hurt, her legs hurt, her everywhere hurt! In all her eighteen years, she had never felt so tired and sore. "I just can't! Let me have a break please!"

"The Enemy isn't going to give you a break!" Natasha said, getting back into her stance. "Now GET. UP." She barked.

"Aunty Tasha please!" Haylee cried, her arms shaking as she pushed herself back up. She couldn't even do that much as the collapsed out from underneath her weight.

"I won't say it again Haylee, Get up."

"I CAN'T!" The young lady screamed.

"If you can't even get up for training, how will you be able to get up when your fathers life is in danger!? Or Mine!? Or Tonys?! Or Any of ours! You're weak, Haylee, and we can't risk our lives by letting someone weak fight alongside us!"

Haylee was on her feet and with bo staff in hand, violently attacking Natasha, blinded by rage. For over ten years they have been training her and there was no way she was going to be a disappointment now. Jabbing, swinging, wilding attacking her aunt was all that Haylee could do, until she finally landed a hit, knocking the assassin onto her back. She pointed the staff at her neck, and breathed heavily as Natasha stared at her.

"Now you're finally understanding." The redhead smiled. "But you left shots are still sloppy. One more time."

---

Hailstrom was her name.

Not Maelstrom. That was vortex of water in a hurricane. She was Hailstrom. A vortex of pain that if anyone messed with would feel not only her wrath, but the wrath of the Avengers. And Deadpool. But that was a whole other story.

She wore a mask on her face, that hid her eyes from sight. It was a little cheesy, and did little to hide what she really looked like, but it was enough to make her feel more comfortable in the heat of battle. It was also a computer screen that helped her identify targets, civilians, things about to explode, that sort of thing.

A tight black t shirt made of the of the strongest and lightest armour, with a matching olive green skort was her uniform. She work knee high black combat boots. All the better to kick ass with.

Not only did she have her trusty Bo Staff, but she was also equipped with all sorts of fun gadgets. Small pebble like objects that were actually powerful bombs. Wrist bands and an attachment for her boots that had retractable blades on the sides. A silver necklace that turned into a garrote wire on command. You got the idea.

She was a forced to be reckoned with.

And Her Father wouldn't have it any other way.

---

Thor was late. Normally this would be a problem, Bifrost and all, Thor was normally late for things.

But this was the one thing he couldn't be late for.

Haylee's twenty second birthday.

There was a small gathering up on the top floor of Avengers tower, With Haylee's closest friends, The Avengers, and the other superheros that they had grown close to over the years.

Haylee was dressed to the nines, as Tony had demanded that this be a black tie event. Her sleek forest green dress stopped just above her knees and was held in place with a classy halter top. Her hair was curled into ringlets and light natural make up graced her features.

Steve had hugged her and told her how proud he was to have a daughter like her.

Bruce smiled his awkward little smile, before pulling her into an even more awkward hug.

Tony had drunkenly hit on her friends, but she knew it was out of love.

Clint and Natasha were there in spirit, having retired from the hero/assassin business last year. They were currently living in a small island home in tahiti last time she checked.

When Thor did arrive, it was flashy. The rainbow bridge depositing him right onto the roof, in the middle of the dance floor. Lots of girls complained about their hair being ruined from the winds.

"You're late." She teased lightly, tapping his armour clad shoulder.

"I had to get you this." He said, pulling out from behind his back a golden apple of all things.

"You brought me fake fruit?" She asked as it was placed in her hands.

"This is the Asgardian Golden Apple of Immortality. You have the choice now Haylee...to live as an Immortal, and forever fight for the good of this world, and all the other worlds. That is my gift to you."

Haylee was speechless, as she gapped down at the apple in her hand. She jumped a little when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. She looked up and it was her Father.

"You don't have to take it, if you don't want to." Steve said. "It has its downsides, and it's upsides...You'll never be able to die, but...at the same time, you'll never be able to die."

Haylee understood exactly what he meant. Sure in fights she wouldn't have to worry as much, because she wouldn't be mortal anymore, but she would also never be able to find the eternal rest that, eventually, all her friends would find. Her Uncle Tony would die...Bruce would die...Natasha and Clint would die even sooner than the rest would... And she would never be able to see them again...She would never even meet her mother in after life. It would be her, Thor, and possibly her Father, till the end of time.

For a good long couple of moments She thought, all eyes on her.

"I've desided." Haylee announced, with a smile on her face.

---

AND THAT'S THE END!

"NO!"

Huh? What? DEADPOOL! What are you doing here?!

"You only stuck me in your shitty fanfic to make your boyfriend happy, and you only did it for one scene!"

I mentioned you twice.

"You name dropped me once and had me in one scene."

Look, This Fic is over, do just...go away and stop breaking my Fourth wall.

"Never! HEY! EVERYONE! ICYEMO15 WROTE THIS FIC IN LESS THAN A MONTH! SHE ONLY STARTED IT BECAUSE SHE WAS HIGH ON PAINKILLERS AFTER HER WISDOM TEETH WERE TAKEN OUT! SHE WILL DO ANYTHING FOR REVIEWS! SHE'S A MASSIVE SLUT FOR REVIEWS!"

Shut up deadpool!

...

He's gone?

Thank god, that guy's a douche.

But a correct douche, please review, I can only get better with your help.