Disclaimer: I do not own any Avenger characters.

"I can't believe you would do this? Well actually I can, but still, this is a new low. I thought you'd have at least some bit of common sense to know how wrong this would be. Did you not realize that it might be a little dangerous for a teenage girl to be in the middle of a Hydra battle? What were you thinking, Hawkeye? Were you even thinking at all? She's just a kid, not a superhero!" Tony cried. He had been chewing Hawkeye out the whole time.

When Thor carried her to the jet, Hank readied the mini medic bay. He pulled out a bed and laid her in it, hooking her up to a small EKG. Then Tony had a screen cover the area and they waited on the other side as Jan changed her out of her clothes to a medical gown.

When she was ready, Hank rechecked all her wounds again and reported. "She'll wake up. I already sewed up her head and wrapped her wounds. She has two broken ribs but no threats of splinters. She may have slight head trauma, but-"

"What do you mean? What will happen to her? You said she'd wake up. What do-"

"Take a breath, soldier." Captain America ordered.

"I don't need to breath!"

"Clint, calm down." Hank said. "What I meant was that her head will probably hurt when she does wake up."

"I am calm!"

"Clint, take a deep breath." Jan said soothingly staring straight at him as she grabbed his face in her hands. Hank frowned slightly. Hawkeye did as he was told. "Now let it out. See? Now calm down. She's going to be fine, okay?"

He nodded glumly and sat on the floor next to the bed. He reached for her hand and stared at her.

"Now can you please explain, who she is, to us?" Tony said folding his arms.

Hawkeye didn't say anything for a while. And when he did his voice sounded tired. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Her name is Maria Havlent. She's- it's sort of a long story."

"Uh, she is not thy's mate, is she?" Thor asked warily.

"What!" Hawkeye cried angrily. "Ewe, no. She's way to young!" Then just as quickly as he exploded he was quieter but grim. "Way to young. She's so young."

"My point exactly." Thor sighed in relief.

"Then exactly who is she? Hank asked.

"Yeah and why the matching look? Are you guys related?" Jan butted in.

"Guys, stop. Let Hawkeye talk." Tony ordered. When they had quieted he turned to Clint. "Continue. From the beginning."

He sighed. "It was almost two years back. She was going to turn fourteen the next month. She used to live in New York with her mom."

"Wait, used to?" Jan covered her mouth when everyone turned to her. "Oops, sorry. Continue."

"Yeah, used to. And it's all my fault." He glared at the wall as he remembered. "It was night. Widow and me were chasing a Hydra spy. He was pretty good. Widow and I split up, I was right on his tail. But then he changed directions through the city, running over the rooftops of apartments. I still followed him but now Widow had to catch up to me. I was getting tired of the chase. I was on my sky cycle and fired at him. I was careless. He was able to dodge the missile and instead it hit the side of an apartment and . . . went off."

He paused. "I heard the screams. I knew I had to save whoever was in there. It was my priority. I left the Hydra spy and went to the burning apartment. Inside Maria was there with her mom. She had moved her mom to the center of the room were there was no fire. She was pretty smart. She touched the door to make sure it was safe, trying to escape but was panicking. Her mom was coughing, burns on her arms and face; cuts were the shards of glass had hit her. When she saw me she screamed and threw who knows what at me.

'Hey kiddo. I'm trying to help you,'

She looked at me and said 'Don't save me. It's my mom that needs help.'

I checked on her mom. She was breathing but barely. I heard ambulance coming and knew I had to get her to them fast. I asked the girl to open the door since the new door I had made was on fire. She shook her head frantically.

'There has to be more fire on the other side because the doors hot.'

I told her to stand back. I ran to the door and kicked it then quickly moved out of the way. Flames exploded in but she was okay.

'What's your name kid?'

'Maria' she said. Even with the Spanish tongue." He smiled a little remembering.

"I said 'Maria. I need you to go down the stairs and get safely out of the building.'

'No! Not with out my mom!'

'Maria go! I'll carry your mom.' We stared at each other. There was something in her eyes, something fierce. Then Widow came in.

'Hawkeye. What's going on?' she said covering her mouth from the smoke.

'I need you to take her out of here.'

'No! Not without my mom!'

'Don't worry. He'll get her. Let's go' Widow calmed her and they began to leave.

I knelt by her mom and finished wrapping her arm. It was broken. Then she coughed and her eye's flittered open. 'Maria? Where are you?'

'It's okay lady. She's safe now I made sure of it.'

'What happened?'

That's when I realized that I had caused it. If I wasn't so cocky or paid more attention it wouldn't have happened. 'It's my fault. I'm sorry. But I took care of your daughter and now it's your turn.'

'No.' she coughed 'Maria is my world and the only thing that matters. If you did this then it's you responsibility.'

'Um, what are you talking about?'

She paused. 'Will you grant me my dieing wish?' she stared at me accusing. I knew I had to.

'Yes.'

'Since you caused this I want you to take care of my daughter. Please do! Help her and protect her! Let her have a good life. Always remind her that I love her. And help her. Care for Maria.'

I was so shocked then I noticed that her breathers were getting way low and her eyes closed again. I carried her on my back and ran down the stairs and outside the building, and gave her to the ambulance. They had already looked over Maria; Black Widow was next to her. We went with her to the hospital. But it was to late. She was gone." He paused sadly then continued.

I went to Fury and explained what happened. He said it wasn't entirely my fault, but I knew it was. And I told him of Maria's mom's last wish. He said I didn't have to. But it was strange. I wanted to. Not just to save what I had done wrong. To correct it. But something about her said she needed me." They were all quiet.

Finally Thor spoke up. "But if she is thy's responsibility then she is thy's daughter?"

"I guess according to the law, yeah. I don't really have custody of her since technically we don't exist, but I knew I couldn't really take care of her. Like have a home with her, take her to school and stuff. But I'm there for her. We'd go to her games and concerts whenever we could. She lives with her grandparents and I'll visit her there."

"So what about the whole costume and stuff? It's almost exactly like yours." Wasp sniffled.

He smiled a little at that. "Because I'm her hero."

Wasp actually looked like she was about to cry. She leaned on Hank's shoulder and he patted her shoulder.

"When was the last time you visited her?" Captain America asked.

"When that guy the Leader started taking over the world. We went real quick to give her and her grandparents a shot to protect them from the Gamma Radiation. No, wait. After the whole Kang alien thing."

"Wait." Tony interrupted. "We!"

Hawkeye glanced at the Hulk and everyone followed his gaze. The Hulk turned away purposefully.

"Hulk. You knew about this?"

"Yes." He glared down at Tony. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah! Why didn't you tell us! Why didn't either of you mention it?"

"You didn't ask." Hulk frowned. Tony turned to Clint who nodded. Tony sighed in frustration.

"Earlier you said we, also. Is there another who knows of her?" Panther asked taking a small step forward.

His face hardened. "Yea. Widow. She . . . cared for her to. Or at least she acted like she did. Why do you think I want revenge! She didn't just betray S.H.I.E.L.D. and me. She betrayed Maria too."

"I'm so going to cry." Wasp said as she shrunk down and fluttered over to Maria. She stared at her then turned to Hank. "She is going to be alright, isn't she Hank?"

He sighed. "There is always that small possibility, Jan that-"

"Is she!"

Hank stared hard but nodded. "She will. And she'll be even better when we arrive at the mansion."

"Speaking of which shouldn't we have been there by now?" Hawkeye inquired.

"Yeah but Fury contacted us." Tony sighed. "He wants to talk to us. Again. Plus one of our small engines broke so we're going pretty slow. Weren't you paying attention?"

"No. What I miss?"

"Thor lost a little bit of control with his lightning and it exploded a lot harder than it was supposed to. A giant piece of rock or something hit the engine. When we got here and Hank was reading the medic bay Fury contacted us and said to meet him out in the Atlantic. It's on autopilot. We should be getting there soon."

"Well I'm not going."

"We should all go." Captain America stepped in. "Like a team Hawkeye. Remember."

"I have my phone hooked up to the medical system, Clint." Hank added when he took in his expression. "I'll know if anything changes and we'll be there in a flash."

"A lot can happen in a flash."

"Captain America is right, Hawkeye. Either you go, or we have to take her with us." Tony crossed his arms.

"Fine I'll go."

"We are here." Panther said. He was in the front of the ship looking out; they all went to his side. Hawkeye let go of Maria's hand and patted it. Then he went to look.

"Wow. What happened?"

"Well find out." Iron Man said.

Below the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship was flying awkwardly and had a gaping hole in the side.

"How many times do I have to tell you Avengers, to keep out of S.H.I.E.L.D. business? Hydra is not something you guys can mess with. This is our area and yours is to focus on the breakout, but instead you went hunting for Hydra. And what was your responsibility you let go and now look what happened." Fury yelled angrily. Iron Man stood looking down at him as he yelled. When he finally stopped ranting he put in.

"But we were in our area. Hydra just got in it. We had spotted Reaper so we went after him. He was with Hydra."

"But we had Reaper. Till he escaped about half and hour ago."

"Yeah. Our Reaper turned out to be a hologram just like Strucker. Only Widow was real but she got away."

"The perfect plan." Captain America added. "We were distracted by one side of Hydra while they attacked from the other side to free Reaper."

Fury nodded then turned back to Iron Man "You should have called me."

"We didn't want you messing around in our business."

Fury frowned then glanced at the other Avengers. His eyes settled on Hawkeye. "So how did the Black Widow escape?"

Iron Man answered when Hawkeye just glared. "We got a bit distracted."

"With what?"

"Injuries."

"You guys seem to be okay now."

"We're fast healers."

"I've heard that before." Fury smiled a little. Then sighed. "Well you guys are going to have to get him again. Next time he won't escape. I'll personally make sure of that."

"Good."

"Can we leave now?" Hawkeye asked impatiently. Without waiting for an answer he turned and began walking away.

"Hawkeye." Fury said.

He stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around as he growled. "What do you want?"

"I know you. You're frustrated that you can't catch Widow. But you can, if you join us. Come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. We could use you, you were our best."

"I won't come back." He turned around, his body angry but his voice flat. The other Avenger's fidgeted slightly. "I don't need S.H.I.E.L.D. You guys will probably just end up locking me up again."

"That was a mistake! You know that. But just think it over. There's still a spot open for you."

"Then it'll stay open."

After an awkward silence Hulk glanced around. "Hey. Where's Wasp?" Ant-Man elbowed him and glared. "What!"

There was a pause then Hawkeye sprinted out.

"Wait!" Tony yelled.

"Thanks a lot." Hank sighed

"What! You hit me!"

"As great as this was, we really have to go Fury." Iron Man said as the others began to race out.

"What is going on Stark!" Fury asked angrily.

"Nothing. Mind your business and we'll mind ours." And with that they all left.

Hawkeye raced into the jet. "What happened!" he yelled as he went to Maria's side protectively.

"Nothing, calm down Clint." Wasp soothed. She was seated by Maria's legs, holding her hand. "Hank noticed her heart rate go up a little. She probably just woke up a little but she went back to sleep. She's fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked looking up at her. He was on his knees next to the bed.

She smiled. "Positive."

He sighed in relief and then looked up at her abash. "Sorry for yelling at you that way."

"It's okay." Then she hesitated. "You really care for her, don't you?"

"She's the only thing I really have."

Then the others came rushing in.

"Is she okay?" Captain America asked as he came up behind. Hank went to the monitor and took a look at the 3-D computer,

"Yeah, she's fine. She woke up and just went back to sleep. She's resting." He then turned to her and opened one eye. Then he typed into the computer as Tony and Panther started the jet. "No fever, or threats of coma. I doubt she'll even have a concussion or brain problems. She will have to be bed rested for awhile and no more of this too." He waved his hand to her costume.

"Try telling her that. When she wakes up." Hawkeye smirked a bit.

"If she's anything like you, I'm sure that'll be fun."

Hawkeye's smirk widened.

"Why don't you sit in a chair?" Wasp said as she moved to one.

"I'm good here." He said and held her hands.

After awhile the others were taking naps. Tony pretended to fly the jet but it was really on autopilot and he was snoozing to.

Hawkeye laid against the bed, still holding a hand, his mask off. He murmured in his sleep. "All my fault . . . so sorry. She has to . . . wake up. Maria. Please be okay . . . take care." He sighed. The hand he held tightened. He smiled a little as a hand played with his dirty blond hair, fussing it around comfortably. He opened his eyes slightly and met a pair of deep brown eyes.

"It's so funny how you talk in your sleep." A voice chuckled.

He closed his eyes still smiling. Then something clicked in his brain. He bolted up alert and surprised. "Maria!"

"Duh. Who else?" Maria smiled, a light in her eyes.

"Maria!" he swooped down and hugged her. She threw her arms around his shoulder laughing. She pressed her nose into her shoulder remembering his smell. He grabbed her face and kissed her cheeks and forehead. Then abruptly he let go. "I'm sorry are you hurt? Is your rips fine? Where does it hurt? Do you need-"

"I'm fine Hawkeye." She rolled her eyes playfully. She sat up carefully only showing a minimum of pain. "Calm down. Just a little pain. No pain no game, right."

He sighed in relief. "Just glad you finally opened your eyes."

"What happened!" Tony almost fell off his chair and he stumbled standing up. "I'm up, I'm awake! Just . . . checking armor. What's up?" He glanced around as he yawned and looked at Clint then Maria. "Oh, hey, she's up."

That seemed to be the magic word. Everybody woke up.

"Oooo, look she's up." Wasp said excitedly shaking Hank's arm. She shrunk down and fluttered over to her smiling widely. "Hi! I'm Jan, or Wasp. I already know your name, Hawkeye told us. How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Do you need anything? We could get you some food or something to drink."

"Uh- I'm good?" It sounded more like a question, her face was bewildered.

"Jan, let her wake up properly." Hank said as the other began to crowd around.

"Nice to see you finally wake up." Captain America smiled kindly. "I hope you're not hurt to bad."

"Aye, the battle wounds you received are great for some one with your age." Thor joked slightly.

"Um, I'm good. And yeah." She glanced around nervously, blushing. Clint smiled knowing how much she hated being the center of attention.

"Hello." Panther bowed his head slightly and held out his hand. "I am T'Challa."

"Hey." She shook his hand. "Or Black Panther. I know about you guys. You guys are the best, seriously."

"Why thank you." Tony smiled as he walked up and took off his helmet. "Tony Stark as I'm sure you know."

She looked at him blankly. "Never heard of him."

"Wait, what? Tony Stark, owner of Stark industries." He stared at her as she shook her head. He held up his helmet. "Iron Man!"

She kept staring at him then busted laughing. "Of course I know about you."

The others all laughed at Tony's face then he sighed. "Whew, I was about to say."

"But, hey. Where's the Hulk?"

They turned to the back where he sat glaring around.

"Hey, Hulk. Aren't you going to say hi?" she looked at him but smiling.

He grumbled something but got up and walked over to her. He looked down at her. "Hey." But she stared up at him still smiling. He smiled and held out his hand. She slapped it high five and they pounded fist. "Glad your awake."

"Thanks. Um . . . how long was I out."

"Just a couple hours." Hank said. Then he walked up and shook her hand. "I'm Hank Pym."

"Yeah, Ant-Man. You made the Pym Particles."

"That's correct."

"So how many hours before I'm up and running again." She stared up expectantly. The others chuckled."

"She knows jokes." Tony laughed. But Hawkeye was frowning and Hulk just shrugged. She gave them a weird look and chuckled nervously.

"Na, but really, how many hours." She stared, as they laughed harder.

Jan took in Clint's face then Maria's. She stopped laughing. "Oh, you were serious?"

Maria nodded slowly.

"Hour's?" Hank repeated as he stopped laughing. She nodded again. "Maria, it'll be days, maybe even weeks before you can go around normally."

"Good thing I'm not normal." She smiled, showing two dimples.

"But you won't be better in a matter of few hours, though."

"Listen to him." Hawkeye said. He was leaning against the wall by the head of the bed, his arms crossed.

She stared at him for a while then sighed. "How bad is it?" she muttered as she lay back down.

"You had to get the back of you head sewed up." Hank said as he walked to the 3-D monitor again. "You're pretty bruised up. You also have four broken ribs but I wrapped you up tight. You should be good."

"Wait, you told me two." Hawkeye glared at him.

"You were going crazy. I gave you minimum information."

"You lied to me."

"No . . . just minimum information."

"You shouldn't have lied to me."

"I had to. You were to much yourself."

"Thanks, what's that supposed to mean."

"Not in a bad way. Usually."

"You know what? Last time I come to you for medical care, 'kay"

"You guys, keep it down, will ya." Jan hissed. "She is trying to sleep."

They turned and noticed her eyes were shut and she was breathing softly.

"We'll continue tomorrow." Tony decided after they stared at her for a while. "We'll be approaching New York soon. Where's she going?"

"With us." Clint said. "I'll call her grand-parents and tell them what happened."

"Fine. But think it over, if she's going to stick with us or not." He glanced at her costume then at her. Then he went back to the controls.