Once again, thank you all very much for all of your very kind reviews! I am very glad you all like the story! Here is part 2 of chapter 7 and I hope you enjoy!
5 Avengers and a Baby - Chapter 8
Clint and Natasha both stare at the timer as it counts down on the explosives they just set before they slowly turn to look at the smiling Toddler sitting behind them.
"Mer-ca?" Steve grins and picks up the toy shield off the floor after it bounces back to him.
"What. Just. Happened?" Clint frowns.
"We are officially on a deadline, Barton," Natasha quickly gathers all of their supplies. "We need to get to the other two generators. Now."
"Come on, Steve," Clint slides the Kid into his pack and they rush to the door.
"Nineteen minutes, 22 seconds," Natasha sets her watch to the count down.
The two Master Assassins quickly, but cautiously, peek around the corner to check for guards. Once they are confident the hall is clear, they follow the navigator Natasha had used earlier to find their way to the next generator. Natasha skillfully navigates the base as she takes turn after turn through the maze of halls.
"Are we almost to the next generator?" Clint asks after he starts to get a little nervous about the time.
"Almost there," Natasha answers and checks her watch at the same time. "We've got fifteen minutes."
"Hold on," Clint hisses and grabs Natasha's arm when he spots a couple AIM agents walking their way. They both jump down a dark hall and hold their breath when they get closer.
"Hi!" Steve peeks out from under the flap of Clint's pack and waves to try to get the attention of the two new people that could maybe be new friends. He offers up his toy cow with a smile. "Moo cow?"
"Shhhhh, Steve," Clint holds his finger to his lips, looking over his shoulder to the friendly kid in the pack on his back. "You don't want to be friends with them," he whispers. "The people in yellow are bad, Steve."
"Yay-yo?" Steve whispers like Clint.
"Yeah, yay-yo is very bad, Steve," Clint nods. "They're not nice and we don't want them to find us so I need you to be really quiet and hide if you see Yay-yo, alright?"
Steve silently nods, understanding that he needs to be quiet, and ducks inside the pack. "Atta boy, Steve," Clint smiles.
The two AIM agents walk past Clint and Natasha while they hide in the shadows. Steve peeks over the top of the backpack and watches the two men in their yellow suits walk away and wonders why they're so bad. They don't seem mean.
Once the hall is clear again, Natasha leads Clint down a few more turns when they finally reach the second generator room. Natasha cracks the lock with the same device she used on the first door.
"Twelve minutes," She reports. Clint slips off his pack and starts to place the explosives on the second generator.
"Keep an eye on the Kid while I set the charges," Clint points back to Steve while he connects a few wires to the explosive.
"Why don't you watch Steve while I set the charges?" Natasha frowns at Clint.
"I already started."
"You barely started and you're doing it wrong."
"What are you talking about? I'm not doing it wrong."
"Maybe I should set the charges and you should watch Steve," Natasha sets her hands on her hips.
"Just watch the kid, Woman," Clint smirks cheekily at Natasha and she shoots him a look.
"Oh, there will be consequences for this later, Barton," Natasha threatens with a raised brow as she walks over next to the Toddler. "You won't grow up to be a turd like Clint, will you Steve?" Natasha kneels next to Steve.
"Hey," Clint frowns.
"Steve and I are having a conversation, Clint," Natasha grins. "You just focus on your charges, Turd."
Durd!" Steve grins and points at Clint.
"That's right, Steve," Natasha laughs.
"Don't teach him that," Clint laughs and tries to look offended as he finishes setting the charge.
"What's his name, Steve?" Natasha grins.
"Durd," Steve laughs at Clint's 'upset' face he's making at him. The Archer switches to a 'sad' face and kneels down next to Steve and he pats Clint's face with his little hands. "Quint," he smiles.
"Thanks, Steve," Clint head bumps the little kid before turning to Natasha and making a snarky face to her, but she makes a face right back at him. Clint smirks and picks Steve up in the bag, swinging him up onto his shoulders again. Steve laughs when Clint spins around a couple times before they dash down the hall again to the next generator.
"Ten minutes," Natasha checks her watch.
"Right," Clint nods and runs after Natasha, but runs into her when she suddenly stops. "What's wrong?"
"The navigator froze up," She frowns and tries to get the device to start up again.
"What?" Clint comes up next to her to look at the screen to see if he can help.
"It just froze," Natasha shrugs in frustration and hits the device.
The two of them try to fix the scanner when Steve pops out of the pack to look around.
"Yay-yo, Quint," Steve points at five AIM agents coming their way, but the two Assassins are distracted with trying to fix the device.
"Shhh, Steve. We need to stay quiet," Clint shushes the Toddler without really hearing what he's saying. They're too focused on fixing the scanner.
Steve decides to make friends and waves at the men despite Clint's warning. They don't seem to mean. Maybe they just need a friend. "Hi," Steve smiles. "Hi, Yay-yo! Mer-ca?" Steve holds up his shield to the men to see if maybe they would like to play.
"Yay-yo?" Clint looks at Natasha when he suddenly realizes what Steve is saying.
"Uh-oh. Yay-yo," Natasha glances behind them to see the five AIM agents walking down the corridor.
"Hey you!" One of the men yells when he spots the two Avengers.
"Busted," Clint frowns and he and Natasha quickly make a run for it.
"Hey! Stop!" The man orders and the group chases after them.
"Bye, Yay-yo," Steve waves while Clint and Natasha run down the hall.
"Steve. Yey-yo is bad, remember?" Clint reminds him while they try to loose the pursuing men, but Steve just laughs as he's watches the men chase after them and he's jostled back and fourth inside the pack when Clint runs. A bullet hits the wall as they take a sharp right down another hall. "What do we do when Uncle Clint says "Yay-yo" Steve?" Clint reminds the Toddler and Steve ducks into the pack.
Clint and Natasha take another sharp turn, but their hearts sink when they see a dead end facing them. They turn to go back, but the AIM agents quickly cut off their retreat. Clint shrugs off the backpack and scoots it across the floor to the back wall. Steve giggles again when the bag slides along the floor.
"Stay there, Steve," Clint orders and Steve watches from the bag, not moving.
Natasha and Clint run down the hall, trying to keep the fight as far away from Steve as possible. They intercept the men and hold them off from getting too close to the Toddler who is peering over the edge of the bag. Natasha leaps through the air, wrapping her leg around one of the men's necks before she twists around him and throws him into the floor.
Clint makes quick work of one of the others when drops to his knees, skidding across the floor, to avoid a powerful right hook from the large man and simultaneously pulling his bow from his back. He skillfully shifts his weight to spin around on his knees to face the man, firing an arrow that blows a hole into the ceiling above him, burring the man in a pile of rubble.
Another AIM soldier fires a gun from behind Clint, grazing him across his arm. Natasha acts quickly and runs at Clint who grabs her hands, continuing her forward momentum while she runs along the wall with bullets flying at her before leaping into the air. Clint swings her around and she sends a powerful kick to another AIM agent's head. After Natasha lands in a crouched position, Clint launches himself up off of her shoulders to tackle the fourth man to the ground. He drills a fist into the man's face, knocking him out.
"Easy now," the fifth AIM agent warns when Clint and Natasha spin on their heels to face the man, bow drawn and gun at the ready. Their hopes sink when they see the man holding the pack with Steve in it and he has a gun trained on the Toddler.
"Hi," Steve smiles at the man, not understanding the danger he's in.
"Funny place to find a kid hanging out," The man stares Clint and Natasha down while he carelessly swings the pack with Steve in it, taunting the two SHIELD Agents. "You always bring babies on your dangerous missions?" The man turns and smirks back at Steve.
"If you so much as touch him you'll have at least 6 arrows and a knife in your sorry carcass before you even hit the ground," Clint threatens and pulls his bowstring back.
"Add a full clip of bullets to the list," Natasha glares.
"If I go down, your cute, little friend here is going down with me," The AIM agent grins as he cocks the gun he's holding to Steve.
"What do you want," Clint tries to contain his fury and keep control of the situation.
"Lay down your weapons and surrender," The man orders, but when the two Agents don't follow his direction he shoves the gun roughly into Steve's little chest. Steve whimpers at the man and looks at him with tears in his eyes.
"Don't touch him," Clint orders and makes a move to put his weapon down.
"Seven minutes," Natasha whispers to Clint.
"We'll do what you want," he glances to Natasha who follows his lead.
"Good choice," The man grins.
Clint kneels on the floor and starts to lay down his bow before he shouts, "Yay-yo, Steve," Clint re-aims his bow with lightning speed and fires the arrow. Steve remembers what Clint told him about when he saw the men in yellow and quickly ducks his head into the pack. Before the AIM soldier even knows what is happening, the arrow pierces through the handle of the bag, pulling it out of the his hand and lodging itself into the wall behind him. Natasha's swift reflexes are on top of the man before he even knows what hits him. She nails her shot, hitting the man in the chest.
"Barton," Tony's voice comes over the communicator. "We're about twelve minutes out. What is your status?"
"Busy, Tony," Clint runs down the hall to the pack hanging from the wall by the arrow. Natasha stops at the man laying on the floor and kicks the gun away from his hand while keeping her own weapon trained on him to cover Clint.
"What's wrong? What's happening? You got caught didn't you? Is Steve okay?" Tony's questions come in rapid fire.
"Just shut up for a second, Stark," Natasha shouts.
Clint pulls the arrow and the bag from the wall and flips the flap open to reveal the little Toddler sitting inside the pack, his scared, blue eyes looking up at him.
"Quint," Steve cries and holds his hands up.
"He's fine," Clint sighs in relief and picks the scared Kid up and holds him close while Steve hugs his neck tightly.
"What do you mean 'he's fine'?" Tony asks again. "What's going on Romanoff? Why was he not fine?"
"Ow, Quint?" Steve frowns and points at the bloody graze on Clint's arm.
"I'm fine, Steve," Clint smiles at the concerned toddler, reminding him of Steve's adult self.
"We'll explain later, Tony," Natasha pulls Clint down the hall after he slips Steve back into the backpack when she gets the scanner working again. Clint holds the pack tightly and makes sure Steve doesn't see the gruesome aftermath of their fight with the AIM agents.
"I expect a FULL explanation," Tony demands. "We'll be there soon. Stay alive for a little while longer, alright?"
"That's the plan," Clint answers.
They run down a few more halls before they finally reach the last generator. Natasha cracks the door and they quickly set the charge. Clint doesn't even take Steve off his shoulders this time, but the Toddler peeks out from the pack to try to watch what they're doing. Natasha sets the charge while Clint connects the timer.
"Yay-yo!" Steve suddenly shouts and throws his little toy shield at an AIM agent trying to sneak up on Clint and Natasha. The shield nails the man in the face and Natasha finishes the job with a right hook to the jaw. Clint stands and catches the shield with one hand as it bounces back to them before handing it back to Steve over his shoulder.
"Thanks, Kid," Clint grins.
"Time to go," Natasha sets the charge and they quickly run down the hall only to be intercepted by more AIM soldiers.
"Yay-yo time, Steve," Clint directs the Toddler while he nocks an arrow. Steve ducks in the pack and Clint and Natasha charge into the advancing AIM agents. Arrows, bullets, and fists fly through the air while the two Agents fight their way through. One of the AIM soldiers grabs Clint by his backpack, ripping the bag off of the straps. Clint whips around and kicks the man's feet out from under him before snatching the backpack out of the air. He quickly pulls the toddler out of the pack and Steve hides his face in Clint's neck.
"We don't have time for this," Natasha warns when she looks down at her watch. "Five minutes."
"Duck!" Clint orders and throws a small, silver sphere into the air. He and Natasha drop to their knees and the orb sends out a pulse through the air at chest height, throwing the army of AIM agents into the walls before they all fall to the ground.
"Could've done that sooner," Natasha pants.
"Better late than never," Clint shrugs. He scoots Steve further up onto his shoulder and they run back to the tunnel they created to break in. Natasha reattaches the disk to the concrete they had cut through before and pulls it crashing down to the floor to reveal their ice tunnel.
Clint boosts her up into the tunnel and hands her Steve before he climbs up too. They shuffle down the tunnel and Natasha hands Steve to Clint so she can pull out a grappling gun from her pack. She fires it up where their anchors are pounded into the ice from before. The grappling gun hits it's mark and lodges itself into the ice. She hands Clint the second gun before she flips a switch on her gun and it pulls her up the sheer ice cliff. Clint follows after her with Steve in tow.
Once they're out of the crevasse the snow and wind cut through the air with a bitter cold. Clint tucks Steve into his parka and zips him up, keeping him safe and as warm as he can in the severe cold.
"Two minutes," Natasha shouts through the harsh wind. They run as fast as they can, trying to put as much distance between them and the base as possible.
The ground starts to shake, but they don't take the time to notice. They keep running across the glacier as fast as they can, knowing that every second counts right now. The ice behind them flies up into the air in a massive fireball from the first charge they set followed by two more explosions to their left from the other two charges. The glacier starts to crumble and cave in on itself with the destruction of the base.
"Run! Run! Run! Run!" Clint shouts and they somehow manage to run faster.
The ice continues to fall away into the deep crater. Clint looks down at the ground and sees cracks and fissures traveling through the ice under their feet. He glances back to see the ground falling out from under them. They're only just ahead of the collapse, but it's gaining ground.
"We're not going to make it!" Natasha shouts and Clint know's she's right. They're not fast enough to outrun the collapse.
Their last few steps on solid ground come before they start to fall into the crater swallowing everything in it's path. Steve grabs onto Clint's uniform under his parka when they start to fall and Clint holds onto him tightly with one hand and grabs Natasha's hand with the other.
At the last second, Thor swoops in like a blur of black and red, grabbing Natasha's free hand, but Clint slips out of her grip.
"No! Clint!" she yells as she watches Clint fall.
"Need a lift?" Tony snips when he flies in from nowhere and grabs Clint's hand.
"I wouldn't say no to a ride," Clint pants and looks down at the abyss below they narrowly avoided.
Thor and Tony fly the two Master Assassins to solid ground and set them down.
"What the hell happened?" Tony looks back at the mass destruction behind them.
"Explosives," Clint pants. "Steve set them off with his shield."
"Where is Steve?" Tony looks at the two Agents frantically when he realizes he's nowhere to be found. Clint unzips his coat slightly to reveal Steve with his face buried into Clint's chest and his little fists hanging on to the straps on his uniform for dear life.
"We need to get back to the jet," Clint frowns and zips his jacket backup when Steve shivers. The parka is warm, but not warm enough to keep the small kid from catching a chill.
"Lucky for you guys, we have a jet ready to go. Bruce?" Tony calls over the communicator. "We could use a lift."
"On my way," Bruce answers while he locks onto their location.
The wind is mercilessly whipping through the air and bites at the Avengers while they wait for Bruce to pick them up. Clint stands with his back to the wind, shielding Steve from the chill as much as he can, but the toddler is still holding on tight as he shivers and shakes under his parka.
"He's getting too cold," Clint gives Tony a worried look after a few minutes go by. "We need to get him out of here."
"Bruce," Tony connects with the Scientist over the communicator. "What's your ETA?"
"I'm having some trouble navigating through the blizzard, but I'm almost to your location."
"Step on it, Bruce," Tony frowns and stands in front of Clint to try to protect the toddler from the wind.
"Co-d, Quint" Steve shivers.
"I know, pal," Clint pulls his arms inside his parka from his sleeves and warps them around the freezing Kid. "We're going to go home soon."
"Time to go, kids," Bruce announces over the jet's PA system as soon as Clint finishes his sentence.
"See? Uncle Bruce is here to take us home."
The Avengers all board the aircraft and they're all relieved to get out of the cold and into the warmth of the jet. Tony grabs one of the heavy blankets out of the overhead compartment and rushes over to Clint who is sitting in one of the passenger seats with Steve in his parka. He unzips his jacket and Steve still clings to Clint. Clint wraps the blanket around chilled Kid, hoping his own body heat combined with the extra layer of the blanket will be enough to warm Steve up.
"You okay, Steve?" Tony tries to get the kid to look at him. Steve peeks out from the blanket at the man and nods. "Ready to go home?" he asks and Steve nods again before snuggling into the blanket while Clint holds him close.
"Let's go home, Bruce," Natasha takes Bruce's place in the pilot's seat and he goes back to check on Steve.
"Hey, Kid," Bruce smiles at Steve.
"Boo," Steve grins back.
"Can I look at you to make sure you're okay?" Bruce sits next to Clint and holds out his hands. Steve nods and Bruce picks him up to look him over. "Looks like you have a little cut," Bruce checks out a very minor scrape on Steve's hand and puts a band-aid on it for him.
Steve leans over and picks up another band-aid out of the first aid-kit. "Op, Boo?," Steve holds the band-aid up to Bruce and he opens it for the kid. Steve takes it and gently places it over Clint's wound on his arm, although it doesn't really cover the long bullet graze.
"Thanks, Kid," Clint hugs Steve when he holds his hands up to the Archer and takes his place back under the blanket on Clint's stomach. "I feel better already."
"Always the protective leader," Bruce grins and shakes his head before he buckles into one of the passenger's seats.
Natasha flies the jet off of the ice and back to the Tower. Tony and Thor strap into the other passenger seats and Clint leans back into his chair, thoroughly exhausted.
"How the hell did this happen," Tony shakes his head as he recounts the day. "How did we all lose track of Steve today?"
"I don't know. It was crazy this morning," Clint rubs his hand across his forehead before checking on the Kid. Steve is snuggled under the blanket with his face smushed against Clint, fast asleep.
"At least all has ended well," Thor crosses his arms and nods. "Steven is safe and your mission was successful. We shall do better the next time."
"It shouldn't have happened this time," Natasha frowns.
"Look, this whole situation was horrible," Bruce jumps in. "But Thor is right. We need to put it behind us and make sure we do better in the future. Steve is safe and we're all fine. We were lucky this time."
The rest of the ride home is quiet. Everyone is exhausted from the insanity of the day. They drag themselves off the jet and Clint carries the sleeping kid in from the elevator and into the nursery. He carefully lays him down in the crib and quietly closes the door behind him before retiring to his own room.
A few hours later, Tony is woken up by cries through the baby monitor. He sleepily staggers down the hall to the nursery and finds Steve sitting with his back in the corner of the crib while he hugs his stuffed bunny. His eyes are wide and he looks terrified.
"What's wrong, Steve?" Tony frowns and walks up to the crib. Steve holds his little hands up and Tony lifts him up out of the crib. He moves to the rocking chair in the corner and sits with Steve.
"Yay-yo," Steve whimpers and hugs Tony tightly.
"Yay-yo?" Tony frowns, unsure of what that means. Tony rocks Steve in the chair and he starts to fall back to sleep, but he catches himself and fusses in Tony's arms, trying to stay awake.
"Oh-ny," Steve cries. "Yay-yo. Yay-yo, Oh-ny."
"Steve, I don't know what you're talking about," Tony holds Steve in front of him and tears streak down his little cheeks. "You need to go back to sleep." Tony tries to lay Steve back down, but Steve panics and holds onto Tony tightly.
"What's going on?" Clint whispers from the doorway after being awakened by the Toddler's cries.
"Something is wrong with Steve," Tony shakes his head and tries to clam the frantic kid down.
"What's wrong, Kid?" Clint walks into the dark nursery.
"Yay-yo," Steve cries.
"He keeps saying that," Tony looks at Steve, trying to figure out what the kid is trying to tell him.
"Aw, Steve," Clint shakes his head and takes Steve from Tony. "Yay-yo is what we called the AIM agents at the base we infiltrated."
"Yay-yo?" Tony raises a brow, thoroughly confused.
"Yellow," Clint explains. "All the AIM agents were wearing yellow suits."
"Oh. Yay-yo," Tony nods, finally understanding.
"No yay-yo," Steve tucks his face in Clint's shoulder and holds onto him.
"It's alright, Steve," Clint walks around the room with the frightened, little kid. "Did you have a nightmare? There's no bad Yay-yo guys here, Steve. You're safe."
"Should we check for Yay-yo's?" Tony stands to search the room when Steve nods. "Any Yay-yo's in the closet?" Tony opens the closet doors and Clint walks over to show Steve that it's empty. "How about under the crib?" The two men check under the crib. "Nothing there. How about in the toy box?" They walk over to the toy box and show Steve there's nothing there. "How about in Bucky's cage?" They walk over to Bucky's cage on Steve's dresser and peek in and watch the hamster run around on his exercise wheel. "No Yay-yo's in Bucky's cage. I think we're Yay-yo free, Steve."
Clint moves to put Steve back in the crib, but Steve whimpers and holds onto Clint desperately.
"Alright," Clint sighs and sits in the rocking chair with Steve. "I've got this, Tony."
"You sure?" Tony frowns.
"Yeah," Clint nods. "I'll get him to go to sleep. We'll be okay."
Tony nods and leaves Clint and Steve in the quiet nursery. Clint grabs the blanket, plug, and jingle bunny from the crib. He wraps Steve up and hands him the bunny and the plug. He hugs the bunny close when Clint sits back down in the chair and gently rocks with Steve in his arms.
"Steve," Clint whispers and Steve looks up at him with very tired, blue eyes. "You know that Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Tony and I will keep you safe from the Yay-yo's like we kept you safe from Doom, right?" Steve nods. "You know that we care about you very much?" Steve nods sleepily again. "You don't have to be scared, Steve. The Yay-yo's you saw were just a nightmare. They weren't real and if any real Yay-yo's come, your Uncle Clint will make sure they don't get anywhere near you. Okay? Steve?" Clint looks down at the Toddler who is now sleeping soundly in his arms.
Clint stands to put Steve down in the crib when Natasha walks in to check in on them.
"Is he sleeping?" Natasha whispers.
"Yup," Clint carefully sets Steve in the crib and they both quietly walk out of the nursery, closing the door behind them. They return to their room and go back to bed.
"You're such a good Uncle Quint, Barton," Natasha leans over and kisses him on his cheek before she punches him in his non-injured arm.
"Ow," Clint rubs his arm. "What was that for?"
"I told you there would be consequences for that 'woman' comment," Natasha smirks and lays down to go to sleep.
"I save the kid and get him to go to sleep after comforting him and I still get punched," Clint shakes his head. "I can't win."
