Notes: Alright, hopefully you've stuck with us for chapter two, even if I am 99% sure that chapter alert never went out. If you missed it, please go back. It's a good one. Otherwise - ONWARD!


Chapter Three: Sneaky Ferals


For the most part, the mansion residents who had stayed over the summer were enjoying the chance to relax now that the school year was out, but that simply wasn't the case for Scott.

He had been taking a hard look at the school and the team and everything else in front of him ever since he'd spoken with Kate at the beginning of the year. He absolutely believed her when she told him that Charles Xavier had spoken with her, but… he wanted to deserve that kind of praise.

Still, it was nice to know he had that support, even if it wasn't totally deserved. Yet.

But it had gotten the wheels turning in his head, and shortly after the school year ended, just a few days after Jubilee's wedding, he had made the first diplomatic overture.

It was just a simple message. He wanted to meet with Captain America — he'd even come to the Avengers if they wanted him to — and anyone else they felt he needed to meet with so that they could start to repair the relationship between the X-Men and the Avengers.

It was obvious that the Avengers didn't know what to make of his request, but Cap had agreed to it, if nothing else because he was curious.

As Scott got to the Avengers mansion, he had to shake off the feeling that he was walking into enemy territory. He was there to mend fences, after all, though it didn't stop the adrenaline all the same. It wasn't like he could exactly help it. He didn't have the best track record with these guys, and he was sure they probably thought the same thing about him, if he was being honest.

Still, it wasn't like things weren't improving. Since Kate had joined the X-Men, the other Hawkeye had been over often, and through a combination of asking about K and having Logan on the team, the Black Widow, of all people, had become a recognizable face at the mansion, something that Scott could never have predicted. Then there were Kate's Young Avenger friends, several of whom were now fully-fledged Avengers…

Yes, things were improving. But that didn't change the fact that the Avengers met Scott with their heavy hitters. Cap was there, along with Iron Man, Thor, and Captain Marvel.

There was no small talk as they headed inside, and it wasn't until they were all seated at a large table that Scott cleared his throat to speak. He had spoken in front of world leaders before, so this wasn't entirely new, but the idea itself was new enough that he had to admit to being a little nervous.

"I have a proposal," he said as the four heavy-hitting Avengers watched him carefully, "to try to bridge the gap between our two teams." When he didn't seem to hit any resistance yet, he nodded. "The Avengers have had X-Men on their teams before, but until recently, the X-Men haven't had any Avengers join their team."

"Kate speaks highly of all of you," Steve said with a slow and measured nod.

"She's great," Scott agreed with an honest smile. "And having her on the team has been a learning curve for us as much as her. Our teams travel in such different circles that we had to start an entirely different training regimen for her so she could deal with our brand of trouble." He glanced around the table and took a breath to hold it for a moment. "And I realized — as long as our teams stay that separate, we're going to keep having a hard time understanding each other. It's hard to empathize with something you don't experience personally."

"So, what are you proposing?" Carol asked, her hands folded in front of her as she leaned forward in her seat. "What, are you recruiting?" she asked, sounding almost insulted by the idea.

"Not exactly," Scott said, shaking his head. "More like… an exchange program."

The Avengers around the table looked dubious and in various states of suspicious, but Scott was relieved to see that Steve, at least, was nodding along, entirely serious as he thought it over. "That's not a bad idea," he said, and Scott let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Usually, there was a lot more yelling at this stage when it came to reasoning with the Avengers, so this was going well.

"It would be good for my team to see what kind of problems the Avengers face," Scott said. "This isn't just about wanting to show the Avengers what the X-Men deal with. I'll be honest: there are times talking to Kate or her friends that I just haven't heard of some of the people or problems she's talking about."

"So how would this 'exchange program' work?" Steve asked, seeming to take the lead as he looked honestly engaged by the idea and leaned forward.

"That's what I came to talk to you about," Scott admitted. "I don't want to ask for more permanent positions or assignments; a few days or a week would be fine to get a feel for each other's teams, and we could involve more people that way instead of relying on one or two people to carry the interests of their respective teams to the other all the time."

"We'll start with a few days at a time," Steve suggested. "And we'll go in pairs." He smirked the slightest bit as he added, "No one likes to be the odd man out."

Scott had to smirk and nod at that before he slid forward a roster for the X-Men. "This is everyone on the team right now," he said. "I'm not going to invite myself or my team into your home. This is your call."

"That's it?" Tony said, his voice metallic inside the suit as he shook his head. "We just pick some names, you pick some names, and we start singing 'Kumbaya' with each other?"

"Well, I'm not expecting singing in the first week," Scott said with a barely-concealed smirk and was surprised to find that Thor was chuckling quietly. He glanced toward the broad Asgardian, raised an eyebrow, and added, "You can choose the Avengers to send, and we can work out a schedule with the fuller rosters after we've had a few trial runs."

"Why the generosity?" Carol asked in a clearly suspicious tone.

"It was my idea," Scott said simply. "I'm not here to make demands."

"Then … really. Where is this coming from?"

"I told you," Scott said, keeping his tone even. "I'm just trying to find a way for our teams to understand each other a little better. I think we could all benefit from it."

"Xavier always tried to get humans and mutants to coexist, but he didn't really do much of that in action — just ideals," Steve said. "I'm guessing this is your social experiment to see if it actually will hold water."

"You could call it that," Scott allowed. He took in a deep breath. "I'm just trying to live up to what we've been saying all along."

"Like you said," Steve replied, watching Scott carefully. "We've had mutants on the team for years. It kind of seems like you're testing your people — if this isn't some …"

"If anyone on your team feels like they aren't being treated well by my team, I promise I'll address and fix it the moment it's brought to my attention," Scott said. "I don't think you'll have anything to worry about, but if that's your concern, I can tell you everyone at that mansion honestly believes in the vision that Professor Xavier had for peaceful coexistence." He shook his head minutely. "It's not a test. It's… an olive branch." He paused. "We've had non-mutants on our team for years, but they've been aliens or non-humans. It's time we start living up to our creed when it comes to humanity and the way we treat you."

The gathered Avengers seemed to share a glance that held an entire conversation as they considered it, and while it was impossible to read Iron Man, it seemed Thor, at least, was entertained by the idea if the grin was anything to go by.

"I'm not expecting an answer today," Scott clarified. "Take your time. But we'll never be able to even start to find a middle ground if I don't ask."

"We'll talk it over with the full team," Steve said after a moment. "But I think you can expect a call before week's end, either way."


It didn't take long for the word to spread through the mansion that the Avengers and the X-Men were going to start swapping members — and by the sound of things, just about everyone was excited by the idea. Kate in particular had already been bugging Scott to know what the rotation would be and when she could expect to see her old Young Avengers buddies in the school — and insisting that he make sure that there was no scheduling conflict so that she wouldn't be out on rotation when they were at the school.

And it didn't matter that Scott told her the Avengers were choosing who to send. She still bugged him.

So when the rotation did start up, Kate was beyond thrilled to see that the Avengers had decided to send over Clint and Natasha — since the two of them had been over to the institute often enough lately that they were a safe first choice — as the first part of the exchange program.

They were only a couple days into the four-day rotation, but already, Kate was loving it, and she was sure to be the one to answer the door when the bell rang, and Clint and Natasha were standing there — and Clint had the biggest grin on his face.

"Katie," he said as he rushed forward in two steps and wrapped her in a hug as if she hadn't just literally seen him a day ago. "Katie, have you met Gerry yet?"

"Yeah, Clint, I saw him, like, about a month ago," Kate said, shaking her head at him. "Jess came by the mansion a few weeks after he was born. You missed the hug magnet."

"Yeah, I did. But Katie, have you seen him smile?"

Kate was grinning ear to ear. She had never seen Clint like this, and it was especially fun to see when he had been so down about being sure he was Gerry's father beore. "Yeah, I heard babies do that at three months," she said, unable to stop smiling.

"Katie." He was digging in his pocket for his phone. "You gotta see the pictures. I took a bunch."

Kate couldn't stop from laughing as Clint pulled up the pictures, and she looked past him to Natasha. "Has he been like this all day?"

Natasha smirked the slightest bit — the kind of longsuffering expression that Kate had come to recognize when it came to these two. "Pretty much."

Kate just shook her head and grinned as Clint handed her the phone and she scrolled through the pictures of little Gerry Drew. The little guy had finally grown enough hair that you could tell in the pictures that he was blonde and not bald, but it was still that delicate light color that made it hard to tell. And in every single one of the pictures, it looked like Gerry was full-on laughing.

"I think he likes you, Clint," Kate said with a grin as Clint nodded his agreement.

"I kept pulling faces," he explained. "Actually, he got kinda mad when I stopped and had to go." He looked pretty proud, his chest slightly puffed out for a moment before he shrugged. "Anyway, Jess said I can stop by whenever if I want to, you know. Babysit or something."

Kate and Natasha shared a look that clearly read they weren't going to bring up the conversation they'd had at Natasha's favorite spa when they pulled Jess out for a day of "mommy pampering." Which, in the case of Kate and Natasha, was code for telling Jess to pull her head out and at the very least let Clint be part of things, even if she wasn't going to admit she'd gotten pregnant while she was dating him. And given birth to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Clint replica.

Jess was so, so far in denial.

Baby steps, Natasha had said, with a look that told Kate she was actually thinking about murder. Which was a very scary look.

"She should just take Gerry by your place," Kate said conversationally. "Has she been by recently?"

Clint sighed and shook his head. "Nah, but you know. Single mom. She's busy." His shoulders slumped the slightest before he seemed to shake it off. "Anyway, I just — you know — thought you'd want to see the pics."

"He looks just like you," Kate said with a grin.

"You think?" Clint brightened instantly, and Natasha snorted.

Kate just grinned at her old mentor as she gestured for the two of them to follow her. "You're early. Scott and Kurt are still listening to Tony be an idiot for their rotation," she told them with a grin. "Let's grab some coffee, huh?"

Clint grinned at her and nodded, still walking on air as the three of them made their way to the kitchen. "I gotta ask, Katie — I mean, you'd know. How's it on the other side?" Clint asked as he filled himself up a cup of coffee. "I mean, I totally love the whole 'coming to the mansion' part of the exchange program, but your boyfriend? He gets to deal with Stark. I'm just curious."

"He's more patient than people realize," Kate said with a little smirk. "But I think he'll be glad when the rotation switches."

"Not me. I like being the foreign exchange student at the school," Clint laughed. "Best idea Cyclops has ever had."

"He's running on epiphany juices," Kate said with a quiet smirk into her coffee mug.

Once the three of them had been properly caffeinated, Kate suggested that they head down to the Danger Room. "Scott and Kurt will probably meet us there anyway. Just 'port right into the booth," she said with a smile as they headed for the elevator.

The three of them made their way down and grabbed seats up in the booth, though the Danger Room was already in use, and Natasha was more than happy to watch the show as K and Logan sparred — while Clint excitedly told Kate more about his visit with Gerry.

Scott and Kurt were running a bit late though — and the sparring match down below was far more interesting anyway, as it was a tossup as to who would win any given day. As Clint leaned over to watch, K kicked Logan's legs out from under him and, in a second, used his fall to pin him. But instead of trying to throw her, Logan picked his head up the slightest bit, turned his head toward her, and whispered something that not even the cameras in the booth could pick up — but Clint could.

It was an easy phrase to lip-read, too, because of the switch from m's to r's, but still Clint had to stare for a second, sure he had not just seen Logan say the words "Marry me."

Natasha put a hand on Clint's arm with a little smirk. "I can teach you that move if you want," she teased, which only got him to look at her for a second with wide eyes and pure, open surprise.

Luckily, he was saved when first the bamfs and then Scott and Kurt made their appearance, and of course, a couple of the bamfs went straight to Nat to growl at her just so they could get a growl in response and dissolve into giggles.

"How was it?" Kate asked, slipping right over to Kurt to wrap her arms around him as she took in his expression. "Did the bamfs get into Tony's robots again?"

"They went right for the workshop," Scott said, shaking his head at the little guys, who just giggled delightedly and didn't look the least bit sorry.

"It's only because Tony complained about it so much," Kurt said as he looked between the two non X-Men. "He whines about those things like a child."

"That's what I keep telling him," Clint agreed with a wide grin and a nod before the grin widened into something more obnoxious as he dropped his voice. "Hey - have you seen Gerry lately?"

"Clint saw him today. There are pictures. He's very proud," Kate explained to Kurt in nothing even close to a whisper. "He was getting baby belly laughs all day."

"You should show the whole team when we're done here," Scott suggested with a grin. "That's a great age. Annie's nephew was adorable at three months."

"I'll make sure Annie sees 'em too," Clint replied easily, which got a look from Scott before Scott just shook his head at him and leaned over to the microphone.

"Stay put — we're coming down to you," he told Logan and K, which only had Logan snorting out a little laugh, considering he was still pinned.

The five of them headed down from the booth to join the two ferals as Clint apparently couldn't wait and was already showing off the pictures on his phone to Kurt. "And this one? Oh man. He couldn't stop laughing for a good few minutes. I think Jess was concerned," Clint was saying with a huge grin.

Kurt made a beeline for Logan and K and tipped his head to Clint. "Have you shown them this yet?" Kurt asked.

Clint shook his head. "Pics from this morning," he explained to Logan, still wearing the wide grin. "Gerry's smiling."

The two of them took a peek and K raised one eyebrow high. "Oh yeah. That ... Kate? What did I tell you about this? Kid's just missing a bandage."

"I already told Clint he looks just like him," Kate said, grinning.

"Smells better though," K said to Clint.

"Except when he needs a change," Clint shot back.

"Nope, still smells better than you on any given day."

"Well," Clint said, pausing to consider it. "Yeah, that's true. He's kinda perfect. Jess does good work."

"Even with what little she had to work with," K said with a smirk. "You gonna do the proud daddy thing all day or are we going to get to work?"

But at the word 'daddy', Clint suddenly seemed to deflate. "He's… he's Jess's. I just love him is all," Clint said lamely as Kate let out a huff of breath behind him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Logan said before he reached up and popped Clint in the back of the head.

"What?" Clint rubbed his head where Logan had hit him.

"I'll draw you a diagram later. Let's get to work," he replied.

Still rubbing his head, Clint just chuckled. "Make sure Cyclops gets in on the learning. You know — seeing as he's all 'three months is such a great age'."

"I'll be sure to tell that to his time-displaced son next time I see him," Logan replied.

"Well, Cable is such a baby sometimes," Clint shot back, still grinning.

Scott looked between the two of them for a moment before he just let out a sigh that came from having to deal with exactly this kind of behavior far too often. "Right," he said, calling their attention back to him. "We'll be running an invasion scenario. Kree — just to make sure everyone's up to date."

"Again?" Kate laughed, knowing it wasn't as much a matter as keeping everyone "up to date" as it was Scott still feeling sore that the Kree had tried to ruin Jubilee's wedding and wanting to prevent any further problems down the line — for the newlyweds and for the team in general.

"What's it you're always telling your students, Kate? Practice until it's second nature?" Scott shot back with a smirk.

"Should we do it blindfolded then?" K asked him from just behind his elbow. "Because that might be fun."

"Just run the simulation," Scott said, shaking his head at her.

"You heard him," Logan said to K. "No fun."

"No wonder he's taking so long with Annie," Clint chimed in.

Scott shot them all the dryest look he could manage before he called out the command codes to start up the sim, and Kree soldiers descended on the New York streets immediately.


It didn't take much pushing for Kate to convince Clint and Natasha to stay for dinner, especially when Kate "suggested" to Clint that Pete was a great baby photographer if he was in the market. "Besides, Annie needs smiling baby pictures, and you know it," Kate added with a grin as she steered them toward the kitchen. "Plus, Remy's cooking."

"Oh, well, don't twist my arm," Clint said, laughing.

Of course, once they were in the dining room, Kurt was sure to point Clint at anyone that he hadn't shown the pictures to yet, and the excited archer was off, grinning madly as he shared his phone with Annie while Kate and Kurt sat down across from him and Natasha, with Logan and K taking the seats across from Annie and Scott to watch Scott turn slightly pink as Annie gushed over the pictures.

"He's sure excited for someone who says he's not the father," Kate whispered across the table to Natasha, who just smirked.

"He doesn't say that. He just says Gerry is Jess's," Natasha said. "He's a good liar. Very specific," she added, sounding suspiciously proud.

"Yeah. He's real believable when he's bought every kind of childproofing for his place and has trouble getting to the cereal in the morning," Kate snorted.

"Well, it's hard to keep up a lie when we all know the truth," Natasha said mildly, though she wasn't looking at Clint.

But Clint's excited Gerry gushing was interrupted when Remy came out with jambalaya, and the conversation turned from babies to the Avengers/X-Men exchanges and how they were going.

Clint was only half paying attention to Natasha's light teasing and suggestions of how to survive another few days of Tony's robots v. the bamfs, though, because Logan had leaned over to K to whisper something again, and he waited a moment, watching, sure that maybe he'd misread it the first time.

But no — there it was again. 'Marry me,' plain as day. And K gave Logan the dryest look after that as he grinned back at her— so there was no mistaking it.

Clint blinked in surprise several times before he turned to Kate. "How long's that been going on?" he asked her in a low undertone.

"What? Them dating? Pretty sure I told you about the daring Sabretooth rescue Scott and I pulled to get her here, remember?" Kate said with a light shrug and a smile, but Clint shook his head insistently.

"No, no, the other thing," he said, leaning forward with wide eyes. "The proposing. Is it a joke? It doesn't look like a joke." He said it just soft enough for her to hear, and maybe for Kurt to hear, considering he was looking so shocked — though there was also the enhanced hearing down the table to consider, even if they didn't look like they'd heard him, too busy kissing to scowl their way anyhow.

"Wait...what?" Kate stared at him in shock. "Clint, that's not funny."

"I'm not kidding, Katie," he said, then leaned back in his chair, glanced at Logan and K, and sighed. "Tell you after dinner."

But that wasn't going to last long, considering the grin that was slowly spreading over Kurt's face and the purely dumbfounded look on Kate's. The two of them waited only long enough for Clint to finish eating before they excused themselves and all but dragged Clint out of the dining room.

"Spill," Kate commanded him as soon as they'd pulled him into the nearest empty classroom.

"I mean, you guys didn't catch it?" Clint asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's been saying 'marry me' in her ear. I thought it was a joke?" He looked between the two of them. "It's not a joke, is it?"

Kurt was trying to stow the grin as he shook his head. "He's never joked about that before. Ever."

"Well then." Clint looked between the two of them. "Well, good for them. I guess?"

"They're not engaged," Kate pointed out.

"Yeah, I didn't see a yes, so I figured that one out, thanks, Hawkeye," Clint said dryly. "But seriously. How long has it been going on? I figured you guys would know."

"I haven't heard her say anything about it," Kate said, looking to Kurt with both eyebrows raised. "Did you know?"

"No, he didn't say anything to me," Kurt said with a little shake of his head. "When did this happen?"

"During training, when she pinned him," Clint said. "And then again during dinner. It's a multiple times a day thing, apparently." He looked between the two of them. "You seriously missed it? Don't you live with these guys?"

"Yeah, but apparently he's been all sneaky about it," Kate said with a bit of a frown as she looked between the two men. "Besides, he'd probably have told us if she said yes. Which she won't. Not for a while, anyway." She shook her head. "Surprised she didn't run. Or hide."

"That's a good sign then, yes?" Kurt said.

Kate looked up at him for a moment and then let out a breath. "Yeah, that's true," she had to admit. "Must mean she likes him," she added in an attempt at a teasing tone.

"Then this is our new hobby, it seems. Watching for the multiple-times-a-day proposal," Kurt said, grinning again.

"What, you're going up against a Hawkeye in a sightseeing competition?" Kate teased.

"Yes, I think so," Kurt said with a nod. "Since this is the kind of spotting competition I think I can win."

"And what do I get when I win?" she teased.

"We're not betting," Kurt said. "This is just for bragging rights."

"And Logan calls me the Chicken Hawk," Kate said.

"Dangerous grounds," Kurt laughed.

"Put your money where your mouth is," she shot back.

"Woah, okay, you two. I can leave? If you'd like privacy?" Clint said, pointing at the door. "Do you ever stop, or does Hank just feed you intravenously at this point?"

"Well, sometimes we drink water," Kate laughed as she snaked her arms around Kurt's waist.

"Whiskey," Kurt replied.

"That's what I said," she replied. "Water."

"Yeah. I'm just going to go now. I'm not even going to make up a reason anymore? You two are ridiculous." Clint shook his head at both of them. "Good luck on your new hobby. Tell me who wins and spots the yes, huh?" Clint waved at them half-heartedly over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

"That sounds like a fair enough game," Kurt said, turning to Kate with the full force of an impish grin as he added, "Of course — I'll win."

"You so will not," Kate said, drawing herself up and poking him in the chest.

"I will," Kurt countered, stealing a quick kiss as the impish grin turned even moreso.

"With confidence like that, you'll have to put up something more than bragging rights," she said, taking a step closer.

"Alright then," Kurt said, pulling her in closer with both hands on her back. "Tell me what you want if by some miracle you win — which you won't."

"Three days in the Pacific. Just you and me — Logan can watch the army," she replied after a moment of thought.

"That is entirely doable," Kurt replied. "And incredibly unfair."

Kate drew a little halo over her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I always play nice," she said sweetly.

Kurt chuckled and shook his head, stealing another long kiss as he thought it over before he finally decided, "Same time — but out to Alaska again."

"In the cold?" She wrinkled her nose.

"For fires, yes." He gave her a crooked grin.

"Done." She nodded once and stood on her toes to kiss him. "You drive a hard bargain." He just chuckled at that, one hand in her hair to keep her close and kiss her all over again.