Clint's memory loss was worse than Pepper had originally feared. He had memories of every Avenger as individuals and of the initiative itself, but not that it had happened. To him, Manhattan hadn't even been attacked. The S.H.I.E.L.D bunker that had been destroyed was still active. Last thing the archer could remember was Coulson getting a call saying that Captain America was found, alive. While both Pepper and Tony were thankful that Clint couldn't remember Loki's control over him, they were both rather terrified of what was going on and what could happen to the boy next.

"So... Captain America leads the... Team?" Clint asked, beginning to understand that Tony was not pulling a prank and this wasn't a mission gone wrong. Now, he was re-asking questions in an effort to wrap his mind around the idea that this was actually happening. That he, in fact may actually be in danger. Tony nodded. He had been going through as much as he could to try and recall Clint's memory but nothing seemed to be helping. Once he lost the memory, it was like it never happened to him. Pepper stood off to the side, just watching and putting her two cents in when she thought it was needed. But mostly, she wondering what would happen. What would Clint do when he forgets her and Tony? Or S.H.I.E.L.D? How much worse could this get? "And Dr. Banner was approved for the team?"

"Yup," Tony replied, unsure what else to say. Clint frowned. Fury had told him once that Banner had been considered but was too volatile for team missions. The scary thing was Tony had had some video files that showed the Avengers fighting together. Clint briefly figured that most of it could be faked. But then Tony began showing the team working together. Images like Hulk tossing Black Widow into an attacker, Clint and Captain America fighting back to back and Mjolnir flying by Clint's perch and the Iron Man catching the archer when he fell from a building. Things that Clint knew never happened. Never would have happened unless Tony was telling the truth. Tony jerked forward when Clint shook his head. "You okay?"

"Can I say no?" Clint muttered. He was surprised when Tony nodded his consent. For some reason the boy figured that Tony would have said no. Clint sighed and looked to the floor. There was no way that he wanted to see the genius's reaction to this. "Then no."

"What's bothering you the most?" Pepper gently inquired after a minute of silence. Clint glanced at her quickly before focusing on the floor. He could tell that they were worried about him. Were worried about what was happening. If what they said was indeed true, and Clint was beginning to believe it, then they were worried about losing their friend. Slowly, he shrugged. He almost wished he had a better answer for them. For his friends, but he didn't. This was a lot to take in and especially believe in.

"Take your pick," Clint suggested. Pepper nodded, having assumed as much. It was a lot to take on. Clint shook his head again, beginning to go a little pale. "This is... It's too much."

"I'm sorry," Tony mumbled. He leaned forward in his chair to place a hand on Clint's small knee. "I'm still working on trying to fix this. But I need Bruce. It was his serum."

Clint nodded, taking the admittance of Tony's mess up with ease. It had already been determined that Clint had no memory of how he had been turned into a kid. Pepper had already known the truth and just watched the boy, wondering what he was going to do. Tony sighed deeply. He needed to fix this.

"And Bruce is... Missing?" Clint wondered aloud as he yet again shook his head. Tony frowned before glancing at Pepper. She looked just as worried. Slowly, she moved to stand next to Clint.

"Clint?" Pepper pressed, ignoring his own questioned. The ex-archer shook his head again. Pepper placed a hand on Clint's shoulder. He jerked at the touch which made the CEO glance down at Tony's hand. There had been no reaction then. "Are you okay?"

Clint gently shook his head but this time began to regret it. Right away he began to feel dizzy and nauseous. Something was strange. Not wrong, just weird. Unbeknownst to him, Clint began swaying. Pepper called out to him again. This time there was no reply at all. Worried, she traded a look with the genius before calling out louder and gently shaking Clint's shoulder. Clint turned her head to face her but before his eyes could focus on her, they rolled and he dropped to the ground.

"Oh my god!" Pepper screamed. Tony jumped to his feet as Clint began kicking out and pushing things away with flailing limbs.

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted as Pepper and him backed away from Clint's rapidly moving form.

"They are coming, sir!" JARVIS quickly intoned. Pepper jerked to look at Clint in shock.

"Who's they?"

"The doctors I began staffing after that hospital trip!" Tony answered. Thankfully, Bruce had long ago requested a 'Medical' floor for whenever the Avengers get injured. It was great to have them brought back to the Tower rather than waiting wherever they needed to be. With Bruce being able to watch over the others while they recover, it was nice for the S.H.I.E.L.D doctors to agree to let the Avengers rest at the Tower. Especially Barton. Since that area was set up, Tony was easily then able to staff it full of highly capable employees.

It didn't take long for the doctors to show up and push Pepper and Tony even further away. Tony didn't even argue as the doctors began kicking away tables and chairs and other work related objects that had surrounded the boy in their effort to reach him. All he did was watch. Knowing that Clint was in their capable hands, they easily backed off. Then Pepper looked at Tony. Her gaze was worried and terrified as she spoke to the genius.

"What are we going to do?"


Clint ended up having a grand mal seizer. He spent the rest of the day, and into the night, unconscious. The doctors, that Tony had hired, believed that the archer's attack was more than likely stress induced. Tony and JARVIS had given them all their knowledge on Clint's condition and they used that to come up with this answer. They believed that what had happened may have weakened his system enough that when they mentioned his failing memory, Clint basically stressed his body to a breaking point.

"I would suggest not talking about his memory loss," one of the various doctors suggested. Tony frowned. He had planned on checking Clint's memory almost every hour just so he could track the rate of deterioration. Maybe the memory loss would help the genius fix the archer. But if the seizer happened every time he tried, it might not be for the best. "I understand you need to keep track of it, but we don't know what else could happen. You wouldn't want him to have a stress induced heart attack."

"So, I have to skip around his memory loss without knowing what he may have forgotten? That's ridiculous!" Tony shouted at the doctor. The others moved away from the one who had spoken. They knew better than to question Tony Stark. The first doctor shrugged, not really caring that he was speaking to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

"I'm sorry, but like you, we don't know what this did to him. For all we know, that serum could kill him in the next few minutes," the doctor explained. Tony almost snapped but stopped when the doctor raised his hands in defense. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. We are all in uncharted territory. The less we put on his system, the better. His mind will cover what he's missing. And when it doesn't, he'll ask."

"But what if he doesn't ask?"


Clint woke an hour later with no memory past finding out about Coulson. The doctors allowed Tony to briefly explain about Loki and Manhattan but no one freely mentioned the archer's involvement. They explained about his seizer and how they wanted to watch him overnight. In the end, they got four more hours before Clint escaped their care. At first, the docs worried, but after JARVIS said the archer was in the living room and that he was monitoring the boy, they relented. Never mind the fact that Tony mentioned, Clint had a penchant for avoiding doctors.

Two days later, Clint was fine. He made no mention of his failing memory, nor did he seem too concerned with staying in the Tower rather than the Helicarrier. JARVIS kept track of Clint and Tony slipped into the boy's room while he was gone to add tracers to each piece of clothing the boy owned. The genius figured that Clint might check for tracers sooner or later, but if each article was covered, he could only hope that Clint would miss one. JARVIS monitored each piece every morning and told Tony if one went offline so the genius could fix it.

JARVIS was Clint's main interaction for the next week. Tony spent his days sneaking around with the tracers and working in the lab. Pepper worked hard at SI, trying to cover everything. Never mind that she was just starting to see reports about Clint being Tony's illegitimate son. Clint didn't seem to mind being alone. Actually, JARVIS noted that it seemed normal for the boy to be alone. At times, the archer asked for people JARVIS didn't know. But JARVIS and he had established a reminder each morning.

"Good Morning Clint Barton. My name is JARVIS. I am the artificial intelligence for Stark Towers. You have been invited to live here with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. There are others who live here as well but as they currently are not here, it is not a concern of yours at the moment. If you wish to know about them, feel free to ask. Mr. Stark is currently in his labs trying to find your brother and Miss Potts is at work," JARVIS intoned as he had every morning since Clint's seizer. A lot of the information that JARVIS stated was something that Clint knew, but he wanted to AI to keep saying the same thing as they never knew what he'd lose. If JARVIS mentioned Barney early, then oh well. But at least most of Clint's main questions would be answered.

"Thanks JARVIS," Clint muttered as he rolled out of his bed. It had seemed like it had only been a few days since JARVIS had started telling him the same thing every time he woke. Already he was getting used to it and trying to think of new things to say. Originally it had just been JARVIS explaining who he was and where they were. Then it extended. Tony and Pepper were notable names, he had heard them in his past, so he wasn't concerned with forgetting them. He was concerned that he'd try to run. Each day, Clint could feel that feeling grow stronger and stronger. His past was catching up with him.

"Breakfast is waiting for you upstairs. I have made pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast. Apple juice and milk are waiting in the fridge," JARVIS added. Clint smiled, glad that the AI was going through each step he had asked. The more JARVIS explained, the better Clint would be able to keep himself around. Especially the more safe the place seemed. With Tony constantly busy in the labs and Pepper now always at SI, Clint was usually left to his own devices. Something his past was very much used to and it seemed to settle him more as he lost more and more of his memory. JARVIS was the only abnormal interaction he was currently getting.

"Thanks," Clint replied as he got up and began getting dressed. He had post it notes marking where everything was in his room so that he would remember. Not that he had forgotten any of that so far. In the other room, his TV started with a video that explained most of what he had forgotten and a lot that he would forget. JARVIS had to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D to get some of the video, but at least Clint would be able to center himself. No one but JARVIS and he knew that this was their routine. "I want to do something different."

"Like what, Clint Barton?" JARVIS asked. Clint shrugged. He glanced at the video, showing him asking Coulson to go to a movie. A smile crossed his face.

"A movie. What is in theaters?"


An hour later, Clint was bothering Tony in the lab.

"No," Tony growled for the fifth time. Clint pouted, acting more his body age than normal. What Clint didn't know was that JARVIS reported to Tony every hour. Any time that Clint asked for help, or forgot something on the video, JARVIS would mention it. Tony had learned that in the past two days, Clint had regressed far enough to just about forget S.H.I.E.L.D. Sometimes it came and went but a lot of it, just went and never came back. More seemed like a dream.

"Come on! I can't go by myself," Clint whined. Tony shook his head. He was still busy trying to find Bruce. Every day that passed, Tony and Steve began to lose hope. Tony even had to force himself to demand that Fury send Natasha out to find more evidence. But Fury claimed that Natasha was on a very important mission. One that was bigger than Bruce.

"Go to my theater room," Tony begged when Clint began to try dragging him away from his work. Clint shook his head in a distraught nature. Tony yanked his hand away from the boy, making Clint stumble back. The genius winced, realizing that the archer would never have stumbled if he hadn't have lost his memory from S.H.I.E.L.D, if Tony hadn't accidently used that damned serum...

"You don't have this movie, I checked," Clint moaned as he grabbed at Tony's hand again. Tony shook his head and waved his other hand at the boy.

"Ask JARVIS to download it," Tony suggested, making the boy release him as he turned back to the computer. Clint frowned and backed away. He didn't want to bother Tony too much. But JARVIS had told the boy that Tony needed a break and would easily relent to going to see a movie. Clint glanced toward the ceiling, wondering if maybe the AI was lying.

"He can't, I asked."

"Then go yourself," Tony snapped, done with the conversation. Clint flinch away from the genius in shock. Surprised at the outburst, the boy slunk away. Sending an angered glare up at the ceiling, Clint left the lab and headed for the elevator. A few minutes later, Tony realized that it had gotten silent. He turned around and noticed that Clint wasn't in the lab with him. "Clint? Clint!"

The genius jumped to his feet and began searching for the boy. He jumped into the elevator and made it race to the communal living room. No Clint. He checked the kitchen. No Clint. Clint's bedroom. No Clint. The theater room. No. The game room. No. It seemed that no matter where the billionaire went, there was no Clint.

"JARVIS!" Tony desperately cried to his AI.

"Clint Barton left almost fifteen minutes ago. Currently the tracers on his clothing indicated he is at the nearest theater entrance," JARVIS informed his creator. Tony cursed as he rushed back to the elevator. "Sir, Clint Barton requested to go to a rated R film. I am unsure what protocols will be enacted to prevent him."

"Pepper's gonna kill me!" Tony whined.


Tony arrived at the theater just in time to see Clint being placed in a police car. Clint fought with all his might to stop the men trying to force him in. It showed one of the men who was currently nursing a bloody nose. The second the boy spotted the genius, he ducked down and hide inside the car. Surprised at his change in attitude, the other officer looked to see what the boy had seen.

"Mr. Stark," the officer called when he spotted the billionaire.

"What happened here?" Tony asked, trying to sound like just a curious bystander. The officer looked shocked at the genius's question. He glanced back at Clint before focusing on Tony again.

"This boy tried to see a movie without an adult. When asked about his parents, he mentioned they died but that... Well, that he was staying with you, sir," the officer recalled. Tony nodded and looked to Clint. The boy, who had perked up to stare at Tony, ducked down again in the seat as if he was getting berated himself.

"He has been," Tony confirmed. The officer looked even more stunned then before. Tony sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I've been watching over him. I told him to get tickets and I'd catch up to him."

"Ah... Well, he made no mention of that," the officer stated. Tony smirked and shrugged. His eyes rolled a little as he looked back over at Clint, who again had tried to look at Tony and once saw that Tony was looking, ducked back down.

"Kids," he tried to joke. The officer frowned and glanced back to Clint as well. With a deep sigh, he turned back to Tony. Right away the genius could tell that he wasn't going to get off easy. He almost winced but years of being a public figure was able to stop him.

"I have to bring him down to the station for an hour or two cause of..." the officer trailed off and pointed to his partner who was pitifully trying to stop the bleeding by using napkins from his Starbucks trip earlier that day. Tony frowned but nodded. "Will you meet us there, or would you like a ride?"

"Uh... I'll meet you there," Tony muttered, shuddering at the idea of the press's 'field day' at Tony Stark getting a police ride 'down town'. The officer nodded and Tony waited only a minute to watch as the officers got into their car and began to drive off. Clint turned in the car and pitifully looked back at Tony, tears forming in his eyes as he believed the billionaire was getting rid of him. Tony sighed deeply and rubbed his face. "Now, I want to kill me."

Tony reached the police station only a few minutes after Clint had been brought in. The boy was still handcuffed to a chair by the officer's desk (the same officer Tony had dealt with at the theater). Upon seeing Tony come in, Clint brightened for a moment before he realized what the situation looked like. Then he ducked down as low as he could go. The officer noticed this and glanced over at the entrance to see the billionaire. Needlessly, he waved. Tony nodded and headed over.

"So, as I mentioned, we may need to keep him for a bit," the officer said to Tony in greeting. Tony nodded. Clint said nothing. He just stared at the floor. "My partner isn't pressing charges."

"Okay. Thanks," Tony muttered. The officer nodded but slid a pad of paper over toward the genius. It took Tony a bit longer than he would have liked to admit that the officer wanted his signature as a bribe to not press charges. Growling at the implication, Tony snatched a pen and quickly scrawled his name on the pad. The officer nodded his thanks before taking the pad back.

"Now, I assume he's adopted?" Tony froze. He had no proof that Clint was with him. Clint jerked his head up in surprise. He didn't know that Tony was his father.

"Uh. Not really," Tony mumbled, humiliated. The officer frowned. "We... Uh, we haven't fully signed the papers yet."

"Ah... Who is your case worker?"

"Case worker?" Tony questioned in shock. The officer glanced at him.

"The person in charge of this adoption?" No reaction. "The person who inspects to make sure everything is going good and you are all adjusting?" Again, nothing. "No one has come to see you about adopting him or seeing if your place is a suitable environment?"

"No," Tony moaned. The officer's frown deepened. This was becoming a bigger issue. Tony again almost winced. Instead he focused on Clint and gave him a look that basically warned him to 'sit there and be silent or you're in deeper shit'. Clint focused back on the floor.

"What is his name?"

"Clint," Clint replied, looking up at the officer before Tony could speak. Tony almost groaned. "Clinton Francis Barton."

"Thanks," the officer grumbled before typing the name in the system. He was rather surprised to actually find a boy by the same name already in the system. But that boy had gone missing at almost ten years old and would now be around 30. Glancing at the six year old beside him, he frowned. "Named after your father?"

"No... My father is Harold," Clint sniped. The officer looked back at the report. Indeed, this boy had a father named Harold. Shrugging it off as a coincidence, the officer sighed deeply. Typing in a request to the orphanage that Clint had long ago left, the officer mentioned that Clint was trying to be adopted by Tony Stark and no one from OCFS (Office of Children and Family Services) had been in to check on the family.

"So, is that everything?" Tony wondered aloud. The officer finished typing his report before looking back at the two. Right away Tony could tell he shouldn't have asked but then again, he was Tony Stark. He had a reputation to uphold and sitting there waiting, was totally not upholding it.

"OCFS will explain some things to you two and will basically take over from here. But, I need to speak to Clint alone," the officer told Tony. Frowning, Tony nodded and stood up. He looked back at Clint but the boy refused to look at him. Sighing, Tony walked away. "Is it true that Mr. Stark told you to get tickets for the two of you?"

"JARVIS said so," Clint whispered, not looking at the officer. The officer frowned as he tried to figure out how JARVIS fit into this situation. Clint sighed when he realized that most people might not know who the AI was. "JARVIS is an artificial intelligence that runs Stark Towers."

"Okay. And who takes care of you at Stark Towers?"

"Mostly JARVIS," the boy admitted, his memory of the other weeks were Tony and Pepper had taken care of him lost to the tapes that JARVIS played. Clint only could watch them and even then, it just never felt real. Just like he was watching a recording or a fake video.

"Uh un. And, do you feel safe there?" Clint frowned at the officer before nodding. He hadn't felt safe in most other places but there didn't seem to be a problem at the towers. "Do you want to go back with Mr. Stark?" Clint looked over at the billionaire. He looked tense. Almost afraid of what was going to happen. But the boy remembered what JARVIS told him. Tony Stark was his friend. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay, I'm going to let you go home with Mr. Stark. But... Call me, if there is any more problems, okay?"

"O... Okay," Clint muttered as he took the card that the officer began handing him. As gently as he could, the officer un-cuffed the boy. Slowly, Clint slid off the chair and began to slink over toward Tony. The officer watched and when Clint got to Tony's side, Tony reached to grip the boy's shoulder but stopped when Clint winced. Sighing, Tony gently let his hand hover behind Clint as he led the boy out of the station. The officer's partner turned to him.

"Think that was a mistake?"

"It's Tony Stark. Why would he be abusing the boy?" The officer replied before turning back to the report of the Clint Barton that would be about 30 now. He frowned. Could he have gotten this whole thing wrong?


Finally getting to the good parts. OCFS, new and dangerous folks. Tee hee. BTW, 4094 words this chapter.

For those keeping up to date, Baby Clint is doing good. Getting some more attitude lately, signing and babbling a lot more. Having fun doing things that used to freak him out or scare him. Loves playing in the sand and dirt and is constantly demanding to be outside. Thankfully it has always been good weather.

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Reviews Responses:

Niom Lambiose - Thank you!

sammygirl1963 - I always love reading stories were he hides in vents and so I wanted him to play in the vents as a kid and then I went out and got the Hawkeye bow toy and trying to shoot straight with it was really hard so that gave me the idea for this chapter. Then I had the idea that Clint would show it to Tony and he'd be all like 'I could so do better toys than that' and so he'd go and build toy weapons and such. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your own pet dog. It's always hard to lose a fur baby no matter how long they stay with us.

pottyandweezlbe89 - When I first wrote the forgetting Coulson moment, I thought OMG, my readers are gonna KILL ME and then I thought, 'I'm gonna KILL ME! But then as I fleshed it out some more I realized how well it worked out and now that Age of Ultron is out and everything, it works. I love updating everyone on Baby Clint and it's so fun now as I retype this and see how much his old interactions inspired this story and even now seeing how much he sometimes acts like the Clint that I'm writing. God, there are some times that I just wish that I could record a day in Baby Clint's life and just narrate it like this story cause there are a lot of days that I could just see it fitting so well. If only my husband and I acted more like Tony and Pepper, lol.

MO-5431 - Well I guess sometimes responsibility goes out the window when you have a 30 year old mind set stuck in the body of a six year old body. Actually, to be honest, I meant to have Pepper do a freak out over the beer bottle but for some reason skipped over it once I got her in the room. I guess cause I wrote the cute scene with Clint being asleep instead. While I haven't mentioned it in any chapters, Clint hasn't had any beer since that one incident. JARVIS even decided to let it slid just that once. Thanks for the condolences. Glad you are entertained and hope you stay that way.

ThePenguinApocalyse - Tee Hee, glad you love it. Thanks for the condolences.