A/N: There's a lot of Clint Barton hate going around but not in this story.
Uncle Clint seemed to be catching his breath when he ran into Mommy and Morgan at the backyard where all the guests were gathered.
He kissed Pepper on the cheek. "Glad you guys could make it. Oh, thanks!" He said accepting a wrapped box from Pepper. "Laura's at the food table making sure the kids don't poke themselves with the barbecue sticks."
He turned to Morgan. "Hey, kiddo, up top!" He hovered a hand in front of her for a high-five.
Morgan shyly reciprocated.
She had the look of a kid who was excited to be at a birthday party but was quite hesitant to lose herself in the celebration since she didn't know anyone there.
Pepper and Clint exchanged looks.
"Come on," Uncle Clint nodded to the area where all the kids seemed to be gathering, throwing balls at each other. "Peter just arrived a couple minutes ago. And I'll introduce you to the other kids. I think they're in need of one more player in their game of dodgeball."
Morgan's face lit up and she took Uncle Clint's hand, pulling him to the area.
Uncle Clint chuckled and the next thing Morgan knew, he had hefted her over his shoulder, her head dangling. Morgan screamed in delight.
"I'll throw you like a dodgeball ball!"
"No!" She laughed, her legs kicking in the air.
Uncle Clint put her down and Morgan ran, leading the way and leaving her mother and Uncle Clint behind.
"Thanks," Pepper said to Clint.
"Don't worry. This isn't Uncle Clint's first rodeo. I'll make sure she has a great time."
Being a dad, Clint knew more than anyone how shy kids could be and how to draw them out of their shell.
They got to the middle of the field that was Clint's yard and the kids were all talking over one another. Some of them were old enough to be teenagers while the rest were children around Morgan's age. There was Peter and Wanda and also Bruce Banner looking like a giant amidst the youngsters.
A ball flew past and hit a kid. It was a soft ball made from cloth and cotton, one of many that were currently lined on the ground.
There was a sharp whistle and Scott Lang emerged from the throng of teenagers. "I said not yet!" cried an exasperated Scott. "Hi, Uncle Scott!" Morgan cried excitedly, her previous reserve gone. She liked Uncle Scott a lot. She remembered his magic tricks at Daddy's funeral. They made her feel better.
Pepper hadn't even noticed he was among the crowd, but that was probably because he acted like a kid most of the time too.
He picked up the ball on the ground, saying, "Oh, hey Morgan!" He spotted the girl and gave her a high five. This time Morgan energetically reciprocated.
"Can I join?" she asked.
"Absolutely! You can be on my team. We were just about to start." He nodded his head at Uncle Clint and then cupped his free hand around his mouth.
"Team Hawkeye on my left, Team Ant-Man on my right."
At the signal, the kids dispersed.
Clint patted Pepper on her arm. "That's my cue." He began jogging away saying, "Don't worry about her. She's with the world's greatest dad. Although, Scott's like second greatest."
Pepper laughed and she heard Scott cry, "I heard that!"
She took one last look at Morgan and then went off to find her own team to hang out with.
...
"Alright, team," said Uncle Scott, clasping his hands. "A little pre-game prayer before we start. Let's gather round. That's it. Get in there, Morgan."
Morgan stood between Lila and Cassie and mimicked their pose, palms held together, eyes closed.
"Almighty Captain America," Uncle Scott began.
Morgan cracked open one eye and said, "He's not God."
Uncle Scott relented and said, "Almighty Thor, God of thunder and lightning, we call upon your power—"
"Are you guys ready to play or are you gonna keep on praying that you'll win?" came Uncle Clint's teasing tone from across the field.
Whatever Uncle Scott had planned to say next was abandoned and in its place was a hasty "help us beat our enemies. Amen!"
There was a chorus of Amens from the big kids and Morgan echoed an Amen 'cause it seemed like the right thing to do.
"You ever played dodgeball before?" Lila asked Morgan as they took their places.
Morgan nodded. "You throw the ball and not get hit."
"That's right."
A whistle sounded again and Morgan screamed in excitement.
She didn't get a ball fast enough and instead jumped out of the way of flying balls.
A ball landed beside her and she ran to grab it, flinging it hard across the field. It didn't go very far and she happily squealed.
She caught another ball and went closer this time to land a hit on Uncle Bruce who stood out not only because he was green but also because, well, he was the Hulk.
She missed him, though, Uncle Bruce crying out a "Whoa!" as he took a step back to avoid it. The ball was picked up by Uncle Clint.
He locked eyes with her.
Morgan screamed, running away.
"I'm gonna get you, Morgan"
"Nooo!" Morgan jumped left and then right, not knowing where to go.
"I'll save you, Morgan!" Uncle Scott threw a ball but Uncle Clint only caught it.
"Hey! No fair! You're using your superhero powers!" said Uncle Scott and Morgan immediately studied Uncle Clint because she wanted to see what his power was.
"It's called pure skill, Lang."
Morgan thought for a quick minute that she wanted Pure Skill too. She shook away the thought in favor of throwing another ball; she bent over to pick one up but the moment cost her.
She got hit on the back and she screamed, laughing.
She stood aside and watched them play, cheering for Team Ant-Man. Standing there, she was able to get a better look at how the players were doing.
Peter was dodging balls, doing backflips, Wanda was laughing as she ran and Lila was even getting a few good hits there!
Uncle Scott on the other hand… Morgan didn't know what Uncle Scott was doing. He seemed to be dancing on the field, trying to distract the "enemies."
And it was working 'cause the kids on Team Hawkeye were giggling and Uncle Scott would then use the opportunity to hit them.
A familiar boy got hit and joined Morgan on the side.
"Hi, I'm Nate," he said, smiling. "You're Morgan right?
Morgan nodded, realizing who he was. "It's your birthday! Happy birthday!"
"Thanks! Your dad's Iron Man!" Nate said, eyes wide in awe. "He's the coolest!"
Morgan bristled with pride. "Your dad's cool too. He's really good at dodgeball."
"I know! He can hit any target! Look!"
Morgan's eyes widened in amazement as they followed Uncle Clint who did hit his targets every time—even if that target was Uncle Bruce!
Uncle Clint's super power was awesome!
Eventually, more and more kids got hit and then it was only Uncle Scott and Uncle Clint left.
"Distraction Plan! Distraction Plan," Uncle Scott was saying over and over again as he did some really funny dance moves, sprinting right and then back and then left, basically running and skipping all over the place.
"What's he doing?" Morgan asked Nate, mouth turned up in amusement.
"My dad never misses and I think Uncle Scott is trying to distract him."
Uncle Clint paid Uncle Scott no mind and threw.
Morgan never saw anything like it.
Uncle Scott dove and the ball missed him.
He triumphantly cried "HA! You missed!" at what seemed to be his victory, his eyes following the ball as it landed.
But Uncle Clint was fast. "Made you look." He pulled a ball out of nowhere and hit Uncle Scott.
"Noooo!" Uncle Scott cried, dropping to his knees, fists shaking at the sky.
Cassie laughed at her dad, shaking her head. "He's so dramatic," she said to Morgan before running off to congratulate the winning team.
Morgan nodded, agreeing even though she had no idea what dramatic was. Daddy would say that was another Word of the Day. She filed dramatic in her head to ask Friday later.
Team Hawkeye was jumping and cheering. Uncle Clint had Nate on his shoulders.
Morgan joined them, clapping her hands and jumping too.
"That was so cool, Uncle Clint!" Morgan gushed at the marksman.
"How about me?" asked Uncle Scott, pouting. "I was pretty cool. Did you see my moves?"
"Yeah, but Uncle Clint has Pure Skill." Uncle Scott choked while Uncle Clint barked a laugh. Morgan turned to the latter. "Uncle Clint, can you teach me Pure Skill too? I want to throw like that!"
Uncle Clint put Nate down who ran to do another fun activity with his friends, leaving his dad with Morgan.
"Sure thing, kid. I got just the game for you."
"Him?" cried Uncle Scott who laid a hand over his chest, pretending to be hurt. "I thought you were on my team. You're going over to the dark side? I'm gonna be sick."
Morgan giggled shamelessly and waved goodbye to Uncle Scott who was now throwing up cards. How he managed to do that, Morgan didn't find out.
...
Uncle Clint handed her a yellow duck.
Not a real one, but a toy.
Morgan stared at it, eyebrows furrowed.
"I thought you're going to teach me how to throw at a target." You didn't throw ducks… or toys. That wasn't how you took care of your toys, thought Morgan.
"I am. That," he pointed at the duck, "is a very dangerous weapon."
Morgan looked at the duck in her hands again. It didn't look dangerous.
She faced Uncle Clint. "I'm not a baby anymore, you know."
"I know," he said, bending down to whisper, "I was also a spy. You know what that is?"
Morgan nodded. She watched Spy Kids with Daddy before and spent the whole weekend pretending they were hunting bad guys.
"Well, this," he said, taking her duck, "is a gun. I know it doesn't look it, but that's what a spy wants you to think so that you won't get scared when you see the duck gun."
Morgan gave him another skeptical look, one eyebrow raised.
Uncle Clint shrugged. "Well, if you don't want it…" he made the move of walking away from her and Morgan reacted.
"I want it!" She grabbed the duck and looked at it really hard straight in the eyes, like that would somehow make it appear more dangerous. "What's it do?"
"Press the orange button."
Morgan did as he said and elicited a small cry when water shot out of the duck's beak and straight at her face.
Uncle Clint laughed. "I told you it was a gun!"
Morgan recovered, wiping the water off her face. She laughed as she realized, "It's a water gun!"
"Yep! You got it!" Uncle Clint then revealed his own gun, a chameleon this time. "Lesson number 1: aim."
"Aim?" asked Morgan, following Uncle Clint to a wooden stand where targets were hanging from. Right nearby was a table where you could refill the water in your gun using a dispenser. There were similarly disguised water guns in a basket beside it.
"We," began Uncle Clint, brandishing his chameleon, "are going to use these water guns and try to hit those targets."
Morgan drew her back straight in preparation.
Uncle Clint made her stand three feet away from the targets. He made her close one eye too.
"To help you focus," he said.
He positioned Morgan's arms as she aimed her duck at a target.
"Okay, now, fire!"
Morgan pressed and the water came shooting out of her duck and almost hit the target.
Morgan grinned, jumping. "Did you see that? Did you see that? I almost hit it!"
Uncle Clint gave her a high-five. "You know, if you give your duck a long press, a stream of water is gonna come out. Watch where that water's going and adjust your hand so you can bring the water close to the target."
Morgan did as she was told and was pleased to find that that technique was better than simply aiming and firing. The stream of water acted like a guide, similar to how she and her friends played laser tag on her fifth birthday.
Uncle Clint continued to teach her other stuff, like how to hold her duck properly or how to stand. He reminded Morgan a lot of Daddy whenever he taught her something new in the garage.
They refilled the water in her duck when it ran out and went a couple more rounds.
Soon, she was hitting the duck at her fifth or sixth try and that was apparently good enough because Uncle Clint said, "Nice job, Hawkeye!"
"I'm not Hawkeye!" Morgan said, shaking her head. "I'm Nebula, space warrior!" Well, sometimes she was, Morgan thought. Other times, she also pretended to be Spider Girl. Yesterday she was Rescue.
Uncle Clint laughed, relenting. "Okay, Guardian of the Galaxy. Why don't you get some more water for your duck?"
Morgan turned to the water station and started to fill her duck with water.
Just as she twisted the cap closed, Uncle Clint ran over to her and pulled her down to the ground, crouching behind the water station.
"Shh," he said, a mischievous look in his eye that told Morgan they were now playing a game. But what, she didn't know.
"What are we doing?" Morgan asked, putting on an equally mischievous face.
Uncle Clint put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Ant-Man's going to pass us in a few seconds and we're gonna ambush him with our water guns."
Morgan nodded excitedly. This was like a battle and it was time to be a space warrior.
Uncle Clint held up three fingers.
Morgan resisted the urge to look at where Uncle Scott might pass lest she risk getting seen. She was great at hide-and-seek for a reason.
Uncle Clint held up two fingers.
Morgan giddily bit her lower lip in suspense, stifling a giggle that was threatening to come out.
Uncle Clint held up one finger.
Morgan held her breath.
And then Uncle Clint jumped out from his hiding spot, Morgan following close behind.
"AAAH!" Uncle Scott cried, clutching his chest in a very funny way as Morgan and Uncle Clint barraged him with a rain of water.
"I'll get you for this, Frogeye!"
"It's a chameleon, Lang," Uncle Clint said, letting a final squirt of water land on Ant-Man.
Finally given a reprieve, Uncle Scott looked at Morgan, a devilish smile on his face.
Morgan started to squeal.
"RUN MORGAN!" said Uncle Clint. "I'll distract him!"
Morgan ran while Uncle Scott quickly grabbed another water gun from the basket and chased after her.
Morgan ran past Nate and she grabbed his hand. "Come on, come on! He's coming!" She pulled him behind a tree and used the moment to catch her breath.
"Who's coming?"
Morgan never got to reply because Uncle Scott's voice rang loud and clear, "WATER FIGHT!"
That seemed to be the magic word because as soon as Uncle Scott said it, all the kids starting shouting and grabbing the closest thing to a water gun they could get—water bottles, cups still filled with juice.
"Water fight?" came a voice from the drinks table.
Morgan turned and watched as Sam threw what was left of his drink at Peter's shoes. Sam laughed loudly and then ran away.
Peter dropped the sandwich he was holding back to his plate and then chased after the man. "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE CAPTAIN AMERICA NOW DOESN'T MEAN I'LL GO EASY ON YOU!"
Uncle Bucky and Grandpa Steve stood laughing at the side.
Beside the drinks table was the food table where Mommy, Aunt Laura, and Aunt Hope were hanging out too. They groaned upon seeing what was happening but didn't seem to be too mad because they were still smiling.
From her hiding place behind the tree, Morgan also saw Cassie run back to the water station and grab the basket of water guns, tossing them at everyone who asked. One of them was Wanda.
Suddenly, there was a sharp whistle and everybody stopped what they were doing to see Uncle Clint holding up two flags. Uncle Scott jogged over to him and they exchanged a few words.
And then, they addressed gathered birthday guests. "Alright, listen up. First one who gets the other team's flag wet wins! Choose your team wisely."
"Team Ant-Man, your base is at the Water Station. Team Hawkeye, our base is at the tree house."
All the kids immediately followed their chosen team leaders.
Morgan chose to be on Team Hawkeye this time and she and Nate ran to join Uncle Clint who was giving out tasks. One boy was tasked to circle Team Ant-Man's base while another was told to be the water guy and refill water guns when needed. Lila was tasked to squirt at any enemy she saw. Sam was gonna go and be a distraction for the other team, and on and on it went.
"I'll go distract Cooper!" Nate volunteered, running and leaving Morgan behind.
"How about me? What do I do?" Morgan asked Uncle Clint when everyone had gone.
"You," Uncle Clint said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're the only person I trust to get the job done."
"What job?"
"You have to protect me."
"But I'm not very good at hitting my targets. I still don't have Pure Skill." They only started practicing a while ago!
Uncle Clint shook his head. "It's not about Pure Skill, Morg. It's about trust and I trust you to protect me with everything you've got."
Steeling her emotions, Morgan nodded. "I'll do it. Let's win this thing."
…
"Look at you! You're all wet!"
Morgan stopped a foot away from where her mother was seated. She was damp and red from the water fight.
Mommy reached over and took Morgan's arm, pulling her close. She wrung out Morgan's hair.
"It was so fun!" Morgan cried, chest heaving up and down as her mother then started to dab a napkin on her face.
"Did you win?"
Morgan shook her head but beamed. "Uncle Bucky got our flag."
"So, are you ready to go home now?"
Morgan shook her head. "No! I want to play some more. Water, please."
Mommy raised a brow. "What, your water gun ran out of water already?"
"It's for me, not the duck," Morgan said.
"Oh, why didn't you say so? Here. Drink from mine."
Morgan drank from Mommy's glass in a hurry and then left with a hasty "Thanks!"
"No kiss?" Mommy cried after her.
"Moooom, not now!"
Pepper, Laura, and Hope laughed at Morgan's retreating form.
"She's got to be the luckiest kid in the world," said Hope, settling her beer on the table.
"How so?" Pepper asked. A dead dad hardly counted as lucky.
"Well, look at her. She's got, what, 5 dads out there on the field and half a dozen siblings? When my mom left, I had nobody which was ironic 'cause my dad was alive."
Suddenly, water sprayed all over the women causing them all to squeal and shout.
"Scott!" Hope yelled, grabbing her beer as a weapon and jumping out of her chair to run after him.
"And now, Morgan's got one mom out on the field," said Laura, catching Pepper's eye. "I think I'm gonna add to that number. Wanna join? We can go and take out the garden hose."
Pepper cocked her head in thought for a minute before getting up.
They walked to the greenhouse, Hope's words ringing in Pepper's ear.
Morgan had family that extended beyond blood and genetics.
Looking at her now, piggybacked on Wanda and firing water at everyone who even looked at her direction, sounds of shrieks and laughter filling the air…
We'll be alright, was Pepper's last words to Tony.
And they were.
They all were.
A/N: Clint should be in jail but then we wouldn't have this chapter. This ends Extended Family and thank you for reading!