I know it's been FOREVER and I'm terribly sorry. Family drama came up so I've been rather distracted. So I have an outline of this story and for where I want to go with it, there is probably only 2 chapters left of this story. I may do a sequel but it'd be a fluffy sequel, my preference over action anyway. I'm leaving for vacation on Thursday for a whole week and will do my best to either finish this story before I leave or get one more chapter up. I'll do my best. I'm super pumped for my trip so that may benefit you all or hinder you. I get to see my best friend of 14 years for the first time in like a year and a half. I'm flying completely across country to LA. Woot Woot! So anyway, here's chapter 10. Let me know if you'd like to see a sequel. Particularly one in which Lillian and Clint's relationship develops a bit more and some more of the new Rogers family. :)

Review :)

Disclaimer: I cried myself to sleep because I don't own anything but my own pathetic ideas.

Before Natasha reached the tower, she called Tony and informed him to get a room ready. She also told him to have Steve meet them in the garage. She pulled discreetly (as discreetly as one can be in a yellow Ferrari) into Tony's private garage under the tower.

Steve was already there waiting for them and pulled Amelia into a bone crushing hug.

"You really worry too much." Amelia teased.

"I let you go once. I'll never let it happen again." He breathed into her hair.

Natasha walked around to the trunk and heard Vitelli thrashing around inside. She trained her gun on it. "Hey Cap, want to do the honors?"

He walked around the car and popped open the trunk. At once, Vitelli, jumped out, screaming. He momentarily paused when he saw Natasha with the gun and it was enough time for Steve to sucker punch him square in his nose. Vitelli dropped to the floor in a heap while Steve stood off to the side looking exceptionally proud of himself.

"Steve," Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Look, he's lucky I only hit his nose. The urge to break his damn jaw would've won if we didn't need him to talk." Steve told her.

She waved him off. "Well then fine, you get to carry him upstairs." Steve heaved him up and tossed him unceremoniously over his shoulder, his nose leaving a trail of blood behind them. The group walked into the private elevator and headed up. They bypassed each team member's floor, and even the common area, before coming to a stop on the highest level. The doors opened to reveal a very large meeting room. In the center of the room was a large semi-circular table that faced a seemingly blank wall. Steve and Natasha walked past the table and to a door at the far end of the room. Amelia followed behind in awe.

Behind the door was a series of interrogation rooms. Tony, Lillian and Thor stood outside of one of them and nodded to Steve as he entered the room. He dropped the body in one of the chairs and strapped him in using the metal chains attached to the chair. Vitelli's head lolled onto his shoulder. Steve joined the others outside.

"He'll be out for a while." Steve said proudly.

"Aren't you supposed to be the merciful one, Cap?" Tony said playfully.

"Trust me, I am." They all knew that if Steve had really used all his force, then they wouldn't have anyone to interrogate and a hell of a lot more paperwork.

"Okay well on that cheery note," Tony clapped his hands. "Let's head to the conference table and wait for him to wake up." They walked out and everyone took a seat. Tony tapped the table in front of him and it lit up. He pressed the screen and the wall in front of the table came to life. Amelia saw an enlarged picture of her husband (she supposed she should start considering him her ex-husband) and grimaced at his swollen face.

"Well it doesn't need to be that large." Tony said in disgust before he shrunk the picture and set it off in the corner.

Steve felt Amelia tense up and shot Lillian a pleading look. She stood and grabbed Amelia's hand, steering her out of the room. The two women left the team members alone and headed down to the common area with Pepper and James, deciding to get some lunch ready for everybody.

After a while, Bruce joined the group from his isolation in his lab and they sat talking about anything other than the man in the other room and the overwhelming absence of another.

Maria Hill stepped out of the helicopter as it landed on a street in Long Island outside of a business park. SHIELD agents were walking back in forth, clearing the debris of the other buildings. Only the agents that Fury trusted impeccably were on the destroyed site of the safe house, which they had erected a tent over.

Maria was there to make sure everything was done up to protocol. At least, that was the lie she told Nick Fury and herself. She knew inside that there was a small sliver of hope that her dear friend was alive. Maria and Clint had graduated in the same class at SHIELD. Their relationship was originally a rocky one; Maria thought Clint was arrogant whereas Clint thought that Maria had a very large stick shoved up her… well you get the picture. Despite the character flaws, the two had grown close in their years at SHIELD. Maria preferred being a field agent but left after an anonymous recommendation had her in the Second-in-Command position at SHIELD. Even though he never came out and said it, she knew it was him when he had only acted surprised that she had gotten the job. He wasn't that difficult to read if you knew how.

When Fury told her that Clint died, she didn't believe it. He'd survived so much in his short life and it just didn't seem plausible to her that he could have perished in a careless explosion. She supposed that he would have liked his death to be a little less dramatic; perhaps taking a bullet for a child, hoping on high for just a bit of requital as his last act in an attempt to clear out the endless red clouding his ledger.

Maria walked into the tent and through the site. She saw an agent pick up melted weapons and the hope in her chest shook unsteadily.

She heard an unusual noise and quickly paused, scanning the area. She resumed her walking when she heard the sound again, this time louder. It sounded like someone was screaming. Looking at the rubble around her feet, she dropped to her knees, desperately digging through the rubble as the sound grew closer. Her chest swelled when she saw a handle protruding through the debris. She took off her jacket and used it retch open the door. The screaming stopped and she looked down at Clint, her eyes watering.

"Fancy seeing you here," Maria said.

Clint raised his eyebrows at her. "Come to join the party?" Maria laughed breathlessly, closing her eyes.

"You are a complete idiot, Clint Barton."

It was another thirty minutes before they saw the telling signs that Vitelli was waking up. Natasha steeled herself and walked back through the door and entered the room. She closed the door behind her and sat across from the still unconscious Italian. His head was rolling around and he groaned as he opened his eyes. It took them a few seconds to adjust but as soon as he caught sight of the assassin, he violently flinched and a hiss escaped through his clenched teeth. His nose had managed to clot up but it was bent at an awkward angle and both of his eyes had swelled up. That, coupled with the gunshot wound in his shoulder, had the man gasping in pain.

Outside of the room, the rest of the team stood on the other side of the one-way mirror, watching the interaction.

"Nice punch, Steve." Tony applauded his friend.

"He's going to need medical attention soon." Bruce said without much conviction.

"Let him suffer." Thor growled. Bruce didn't argue.

"You're a psychotic bitch!" They heard Vitelli yell.

"Oh he is going to regret that." Tony smirked. They watched as Natasha sat there, silent, just staring at the man in front of her. His glare eventually turned into a look of uneasiness.

"Why the fuck am I here?" He asked.

Natasha cocked her head at him. "After everything you've done, how can you even ask that question?" She was the epitome of calm which unnerved even the men outside of the room.

"You can't prove anything!" He spat at her.

"I don't need to prove anything." She told him. "We already have all we need to lock you away forever."

He scoffed. "Good luck sweetheart. I know people you can only dream about meeting."

"You know, you're rather arrogant. What would you say if said people were the ones to sell you out in the first place?"

To the men, they noticed nothing on his face when she said that. To Natasha, she saw the arrogance in his eyes falter for a split second. It was just enough to tell her that she had implanted a seed of doubt in his mind.

"You don't know what you're taking about. I want my lawyer."

Natasha smiled maliciously. "You must not know who you're speaking to. I'm no cop; I have no protocols to follow." She stood up and started walking around the table towards him. Fear crept up on his face. "I do, however, have a lot of pull with some very important people: people who you can only dream about." She whispered the last part in his ear and he flinched back.

"Then again," She walked back around to her chair and rested her arm on the back of it. "It may very well be the same people."

"What do you want from me?"

"We need your cooperation." Natasha straightened her body.

"Fuck you." He spat. "You shot me. Why should I help you?"

"I spared your life. People want you dead Antonio Vitelli. That's why I was hired. We're on the same team. If you help me, I'll help you. The people that are after you will stop chasing you."

"Maybe I want to die." Vitelli said.

Natasha laughed maliciously and a shiver of fear ripped through his body. He knew that this woman was more than capable of killing him.

"If you wanted to die, your eyes wouldn't be screaming in fear." Natasha told him before she exited the room.

Once the door closed, she faced a round of applause.

"Bravo, Spider; it was an Oscar worthy performance." Tony told her.

"You continue to impress me, Lady Natasha." Thor said, his clapping hands causing the hallway to vibrate. Vitelli looked around in panic.

"Come on, let's let him simmer." Natasha said. "I'll have him singing like a bird in no time. That man is a child."

"Mr. Stark," JARVIS came over the system. "Mrs. Stark has told me to inform you, and I quote, to 'Get your ass down here right now'."

Steve bit his hand to stifle his laughter.

"Ah, such a joy my wife is." Tony sighed before walking towards the elevator. When the doors opened, they all froze.

Clint was sitting on one of the couches and smiled sheepishly at his team. His right arm was in a sling and his leg was propped up on the table in front of him. Pepper sat next to him, holding his hand and Lillian stood behind the couch, looking as if she's seen a ghost. Amelia and James were strangely nowhere to be found.

Natasha was the first to react. She walked right up to him and punched him in his jaw.

"OW, what the FUCK, Tasha?"

"That was for running back into the building with no backup." She pulled him into a hug. Clint could count on one hand how many times she's hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight. "You're such an idiot." She said softly.

"Everybody keeps saying that." When she pulled back, she saw pain etched on his face.

"Bruce," She waved him over despite Clint's glare.

He crouched in front of him and smiled. "Good to have you back, Clint."

"Good to be back. It's not much. I'll be fine." He assured Bruce.

Bruce raised his eyebrow. "Well then humor me. I did just watch you die."

Clint grimaced. "Sorry. A few bruised ribs, dislocated shoulder, concussion and now a sprained ankle."

Bruce furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean by now?"

"What happened to my antique end table?" Tony shouted.

Pepper shot her husband a look and he quickly quieted down.

"That's my fault." Lillian said guiltily. "We weren't sure who was at the door so we sent Amelia and James to hide and when Barton came into the room, I sort of threw him into the end table."

"You sort of threw me?" Clint said sarcastically. "I went flying across the room!"

"You let a woman throw you across the room?" Tony joked as he made his way over to Clint. He clapped him on his back. "It's good to see you buddy. I hadn't gotten a chance to show you my new moves in Dance, Dance Revolution."

Clint laughed at his friend. "What moves? You look like you're seizing every time you step up."

Suddenly, Clint had the breath knocked out of him as a tiny blob made contact with his body.

"Jeez kid, for a three year old, you're kind of heavy." James didn't say anything, opting instead to just squeeze Clint. Clint for the most part was able to keep most of the pain off of his face. The last thing he wanted was for James to know that he was hurting him. "It's alright buddy, I'm not going anywhere."

James finally looked at him and Clint saw that he was crying. "Everybody said you died."

"It takes a lot more than that to kill me, buddy." Clint winked at him. "See for yourself. I give you permission to pinch me anywhere you'd like to make sure I'm really here." He spread his good arm.

James tentatively reached up and lightly pinched Clint's cheek. He dramatically flinched. "See, I told you."

James grinned and hugged him again. "Mr. Clint?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Uncle Tony said I can call him that because we are all family. Can I call you Uncle Clint?" he asked shyly.

Clint ruffled his hair. "Of course you can. Did Aunt Pepper show you the game room yet?"

"You knew that she knew?" Tony shook his head. "Does everyone forget that I own this tower?" As per usual, he was ignored.

James nodded vehemently. "I even beat Uncle Tony's score in the dancing game!" There was a cry of indignation.

Steve gently picked James up and placed him on his hip. "Let's let Uncle Bruce look at Uncle Clint for injuries."

Bruce glanced up at the title with a small smile. James grinned back.

He took Pepper's spot on the couch and helped Clint out of his sling. "You did a fairly good job setting it but you know it's not going to be painless to get it back. You're lucky it's not your bow hand." His hands flitted gently over Clint's ribs. "I'm not feeling a break, but you'll be sore for a while. As for the concussion, I know you won't listen to anything I say about rest so I'm not even going to try. How are your ears?"

"They feel fine. My aids didn't get damaged in the explosion." Clint told him.

"Speaking of which, how are you still alive?" Steve asked. "Bruce and I watched the place go up in flames right after you entered.

Clint rubbed the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "I went back for a few personal items."

"That's great but how did you get out alive?" Natasha goaded.

"I had a room below the warehouse, a basement I guess. I've had that safe house for twelve years and I've spent a lot of time in that room. I don't trust my personal belongings in any my apartments so I left them there. I went back to get them because I figured the place was compromised. When the explosion hit, I was headed down and it threw me into the room and trapped me there. Hill found me about an hour ago and I came straight here."

"What was so important that you risked your life to get?" Tony asked him.

He grabbed the urn that was on the floor by his feet. "My mother's ashes," He told his team. "This is the most important thing I own. I'd protect this over even my bow."

"You could've told us." Bruce said gently. "You know we would've protected it just as much."

"I know. In retrospect, I know I should've brought it here a long time ago. This is my home."

"Bout time you realized that, Clint." Tony rolled his eyes.

Clint sat up straight. "Okay, enough of the emotional shit…I mean stuff." He amended when he remembered James was in the room. "So the Council is after our heads. Why?"

Natasha smirked evilly. "What do you say we go find out?"

Clint looked at Natasha with caution. "Who are you torturing?"

"An Italian rat," She hissed.

Clint's head snapped to Amelia and James. The child was oblivious to the slight nod his mother gave the archer.

"Okay then," Clint stood. "Come on, Doc. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with."

Bruce grabbed his arm at the elbow and also on the shoulder. With a sharp contrasting movement, Clint bit his tongue from crying out in pain as Bruce correctly set his shoulder.

"Look at that," Clint breathed through his clenched teeth. "Good as new."

"Get to bed." Natasha ordered. "Bruce may not be able to order you to rest but I will personally see that you get at least a few hours of sleep. Don't bullshit me; I can see the concussion is affecting you."

Clint glared at her but found it best not to argue. "Yes, mom." He headed towards the elevator. "Oh, don't have too much fun without me."

"We won't start until you're back." Steve assured. He nodded tersely and left the room, his mother's urn tucked safely under his good arm.

The rest of the team sat in silence for a few minutes. Tony covered James' ears.

"Fucking Clint Barton."

Like I said, fluffy is more my strong suit. I love writing banter, especially between Clint and Tony. I happen to absolutely adore their bromance. There isn't too much left of this story and I will try my very best to get the rest out before Thursday between me shopping and prematurely packing.

Leave a review. You know they are an author's best motivation!