Author's Note: Hello everyone! At long last (which lasted a little long...) the "Agent and Smaller Agents" are revealed! Clint's gonna have some explaining to do...

There is a part two to this chapter, which will be next, and which covers the movie events at the Barton farm (with my own take on some things)

Hope this does justice to what you all've been waiting for. Feedback is great and I hope you enjoy Chapter 10! :D

Chapter Ten: "Uncle Clint's What?"

Sam looked down at the tiny scrap of paper in his hand. The nine-digit string of numbers bored itself into his brain.

Just call the stupid number, Wilson! Clint gave it to you. What's the worst that could happen?

The area code, which he'd googled out of curiosity, was for Hebron, New York; aka: scenic nowhere, Upstate New York. That seemed about right for a safe house, but still…

He couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

Breathing out a shaky sigh, he slowly dialed the number into his phone.

Saturday had been the 'victory party', aka: 'the night Stark's peacekeeping robot turned into a megalomaniac psycho'.

Sunday and Monday, everyone had been researching, tracking news reports, and flipping through old paper files like madmen (since Ultron had erased pertinent digital files), trying to find any scrap of helpful information.

Tuesday, the Avengers had left for Wakanda.

Steve had made the decision not to send Christy to school until this whole affair was over. Ultron's 'invasion' of the Tower had shaken her up quite a lot; even more than she was maybe willing to admit.

At first, he'd though that sending her to school would help give her a sense of normalcy. But Sam had put the deathblow to that theory.

"Sure it'll be normal." He'd replied. "Too normal. And she's still freaked out, mark my words. A creepy robot just basically invaded the safest place she's ever known. And once you leave, she'll be worried, more than normal. If she goes to school and someone notices, they might start asking questions. She won't be able to pretend everything's okay, but she sure as hell can't say 'my dad's Captain America and I'm scared cause he's off fighting an evil robot.' So they might suspect something else."

Steve and Bucky had both looked utterly clueless, so Sam had sighed. "They might think there's abuse going on."

Needless to say, Steve suddenly had very little desire to send Christy anywhere near a New York public school.

Sam had elected to remain behind with Christy again, and Bucky had as well.

"You're fighting someone who has the power to mess with minds? Steve, I'd be the worst liability ever!"

No matter how much Steve had tried to talk one or both of them out of it, they had both stood firm. Six Avengers was more than enough, and with all the insanity, the kid needed some sense of stability.

And then, something interesting occurred.

In a brief, stolen moment of quiet, Clint sidled over to Sam. "Look, I know you and Barnes are stayin' back with the kid, and she's out of school. Just some advice, but you might wanna get out of the city for a while."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe you're right. Know any good safe houses?"

Clint nodded, his face perfectly straight, and handed him a slip of paper. "Call this number." At Sam's confused look, he added, "It's…some people I know. They'd put you up for however long it takes to deal with all this."

"Even Bucky?" Sam asked. It had to be said. Some people might be put off by the whole 'metal arm and slightly-frequent nightmares' thing.

"Even him." Clint grinned. "They've put up with worse. Namely me."

Sam tucked the slip into his jeans' pocket. "I'll think about it. Thanks."

Now, it was late afternoon on Wednesday. Christy's face was pinched in a bad combination of worry and boredom, and even Bucky and Sam were starting to feel stir-crazy.

"Call the number." Bucky finally said quietly. He was sitting on the couch with Christy, who had finally fallen asleep on his lap, after barely sleeping at all the night before. "We gotta get outta here."

Sam nodded and retrieved the slip of paper out of his room. As he studied the string of numbers, he tried to ignore the feeling in his gut that warned him something was up.

Since when do safe houses have phone numbers?!

He shook his head and dialed the number. The ring tone sounded once, twice; and then…

It clicked. And a voice said, "Hi, this is the Barton house."

Sam felt as though someone had snatched all the oxygen out of his lungs.

The speaker was young, and most likely male, with the high tones of someone who hadn't gone through puberty.

"The Barton house?!" Sam managed to say, his own voice going high. "As in Clint Barton?"

"Yeah…that's my dad." the speaker replied. "Uh…are you one of the Avengers?"

There was loud chattering in the background, and the speaker muttered, "Quiet, Lila!"

Sam shook his head and decided to play along. "Yeah, I kinda am."

"Oh. Uh…do you wanna talk to my mom?"

"Maybe that would be helpful."

"Okay. I'll get her." There was a loud 'clack' as the phone on the other end was presumably set down.

After a few moments of dead air, there was suddenly static, and a woman's voice said, "Hello? Did Clint give you this number?"

"Yes, ma'am…" Sam muttered, grateful to have someone talking sense. "Uh…how exactly are you…?"

The woman sighed on the other end. "My name is Laura Barton. Clint…is my husband. The sweet boy who answered the phone is our son, Cooper, and our daughter Lila is currently babbling about the fact that I'm talking to one of the Avengers…by the way, you are…?"

"Sam Wilson." Sam said, on autopilot. "They call me the Falcon."

"Oh. Yeah, Clint definitely mentioned you. All good things, I promise." Laura's voice sounded like she was smiling.

Sam's head felt like a spinning top.

"Okay…let me get this straight. Clint Barton, aka, Hawkeye…is married? With children?"

"Correct on both counts." Laura sighed again. "This is probably the worst timing ever for you to find out, but I think he needed something this drastic to finally come clean…he's been so on edge about keeping us safe, ever since last spring—D.C…."

Sam let out a shaky breath. "Yes. Well. We've all been a bit on edge after that. But seriously…" He shook his head. "Well, guess I'll get to the point. Uh, Clint basically said me and two others could crash at your house, but I had no idea…"

"It's still perfectly fine." Laura said firmly. "Clint explained the situation. We have enough space."

Sam couldn't resist muttering, "Well at least he explained things to one of us…"

"I know, it seems so clandestine, but please…I'd like the chance to meet some of you all in person, and I'm sure the kids would too…"

Laura sounded extremely apologetic. Sam sighed. It wasn't like he could really blame her.

Clint on the other hand…Clint Barton had some explaining to do.

"If you really don't mind, we'll come. Christy could use some time with kids her own age, anyway."

"Oh, how is she doing? I can't wait to meet her! Clint said so many good things…"

Sam couldn't help but smile. "Well, she's Captain America's kid, alright. Very sweet, sort of snarky, and…currently pretty shaken up."

"She could probably stand to get away from everything."

"Exactly." Sam was starting to like this woman.

You sure know how to pick 'em, Barton…

"So, we're around four hours out from the city…would you leave tomorrow?"

Sam thought for a second, and then replied. "Yeah, that sounds fine. Listen, I really appreciate…"

"Don't mention it." Laura said firmly. "It's our pleasure."

"I still can't believe Uncle Clint's married." Christy muttered. It was the next day, Thursday, and they were all piled in the black SUV that Tony called Steve's 'dad car'.

"That makes three of us." Bucky replied, from the shotgun seat. He scanned the horizon. "Man, it's dead out here!"

"City boy…" Sam joked, keeping his eyes on the road (because this seemed like the sort of place where deer would leap out in front of them at any moment).

Christy gave a gut-level sigh and whispered. "But why didn't he tell us? I mean, I know he keeps secrets, but…this is a pretty big secret!"

Sam shook his head. "I really don't know, kid. I don't think he was trying to be mean. I think it mighta been for safety reasons…"

"Oh…'cause he was a spy and now he's an Avenger? But why didn't he tell us? Dad didn't try to hide it from everybody when he adopted me!"

"Look, you'll just have to ask when you see him again." Sam said. "Cause we can keep up the 'but why's' forever, but we'll never get anywhere."

"Kinda like now?" Bucky snarked, trying to get Christy's mind off of the situation. "'Cause I swear I saw this same field five miles back.."

Sam rolled his eyes, but relief surged though him as Christy laughed a little.

She's been way too quiet…and having nightmares again. This whole thing is just not healthy for her at all…

I really hope Clint was right about this…

"There's only one good word to describe this." Bucky said as they parked the car in the graveled driveway of the house. Laura had given Sam the address.

"Is it 'awkward'?" Christy hissed. "'Cause that's how it feels."

"Something along those lines…"

They reached the front door.

Sam sighed. "Try and act respectable, you two!" He said, as he knocked on the brown wooden door.

"Yes, dad." Bucky muttered. Sam was about to shoot back a smart remark, when the door swung open.

A small girl of about six stood beaming in the entryway. "Hi! I'm Lila. Mom's coming." She looked up and stared them over with an intense chocolate-brown gaze that reminded Sam very strongly of Clint.

Christy looked out from behind Bucky. She'd been pretending to be shy, like she always did when she was nervous. "I'm Christy."

Lila smiled. "Wanna come see my room?"

Christy smiled back and nodded. "Okay."

Bucky breathed out in relief.

So far…spectacular. She's actually smiling like a normal kid. Thank you, Clint…

A beautiful (and extremely pregnant) brunette lady with the same eyes as Lila suddenly appeared at the door. "Oh, hi, come in, please. Let's figure things out in the house."

Lila grabbed Christy's hand and pulled her forward. Sam and Bucky trooped in behind the two girls, who seemed to be giving each other silent appraisals.

They all walked back into the kitchen, where a boy of about nine, with his mother's dark hair and Clint's hazel eyes was sitting at the table. He looked up the noise and smiled happily. "Hi. I'm Cooper. Are you guys really Avengers?"

"Cooper, remember your manners." Laura chided softly.

"Yeah, we are." Sam added. As soon as he spoke, Cooper looked slightly embarrassed.

"Did I talk to you on the phone?"

Sam nodded.

"Oh…sorry if I freaked you out. Mom said you kinda sounded freaked out."

Laura shook her head.

"Oh, he was." Bucky chimed in. "But that was your dad's fault, not yours."

Christy, still standing next to Lila, looked over at Laura. "Can I call you Aunt Laura?" she asked quietly.

Laura immediately went into 'mom mode'. "Of course you can, sweetie." She gave Christy a hug. "I'm really glad to finally meet you. You're as beautiful as Clint said."

Christy ducked her head. Bucky rubbed her shoulder. "Aw, quit pretending you're shy, kid."

"I'm not shy, but this is weird!" Christy burst out. She then looked slightly embarrassed. "I mean…I'm sorry."

"It is a little weird." Laura admitted. "And it's not the best timing in the world. But it's not bad either, right?"

Christy shook her head. "It's not. I'm sorry. I'm kinda tired, I didn't sleep so good last night."

Cooper looked curious. "Why not?"

Christy bit her lip and looked very much like she was about to burst into tears. "I miss my dad. I'm scared 'cause he had to go fight."

Cooper stood up. "Wanna go where I go when I miss my dad?"

"It's nice." Lila added. "Nicer than my room."

Christy nodded and the two Barton kids escorted her back out through the front door, and around to the back of the yard, where a wooden treehouse perched in a large oak tree.

Which left three adults standing semi-awkwardly in the kitchen.

Laura sighed. "Well, now that that's happened…"

"Introductions?" Bucky offered. Laura smiled.

"I think I know who you two are. Bucky Barnes, correct?"

Bucky nodded, looking a bit startled. And then annoyed, as he realized that Clint had probably told his wife about them all. "Very pleased to meet you, ma'am; however, I may have to punch your husband when this is all over."

"I think there's gonna be a line." Laura said. Turning to Sam, she added, "So that makes you Sam Wilson. The 'only sane man'."

Sam rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes. And now the only one in possession of that title, thanks to Mr. 'I Have a Secret Life'…"

"Yes. Well…" Laura shook her head. "And then there's me. Laura Barton. Clint's wife and the mother of those two monkeys out there." She glanced around the kitchen. "Would you like some coffee? We have a Keurig…"

"You should sit down…" Bucky said quietly. "I mean, considering you're kind of…y'know…"

"Pregnant?" Laura smirked. "I'm perfectly fine, Mr. Barnes."

"I insist." Bucky pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and swept his non-metal hand downward.

Sam looked gob smacked. "Clearly, you need a date."

"It's called being a gentleman, Wilson."

"Oh, and I'm not…"

Laura chuckled. "Ah, boys. I've forgotten how crazy they can be in groups." She sat down. "I'll sit if you two will as well."

Both men sat down. Laura leaned forward slightly.

"So…I know some things. But what exactly has been happening?"

Sam sighed. "How much do you know?"

"I've never been in a tree house before." Christy said, as she followed Cooper up the wood-beam ladder.

"Don't they have tree houses in New York City?" Lila asked. She was behind Christy.

Cooper snorted. "No. New York's got skyscrapers. Giant big building made of metal and glass. Dad showed us pictures, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah. Do you live in a skyscraper, Christy?"

"Yeah…yeah, I guess it is. It's called Avengers' Tower, but we just call it the Tower. Everybody has a floor to themselves."

They reached the top of the tree and pulled themselves into the wooden 'house'. It was very nicely constructed with plenty of room for three children.

"I like it up here 'cause I can see everything." Cooper said. "All open field for miles. And it's quiet. I like quiet sometimes."

"Are you really Captain America's kid?" Lila asked, her eyes big and earnest.

Christy nodded. "Yeah, I am. Only, his name's not really Captain America. That's just his superhero name."

"Like Dad's is Hawkeye." Cooper chimed in.

"Yeah, like that. His real name's Steve Rogers. And he's the best dad in the world…"

"How old are you?" Cooper asked quickly, since Christy was frowning like she was about to cry, again. "I'm nine."

"And I'm six!" Lila added proudly.

"I'm ten." Christy said quietly. "What…what do you guys like to do?"

Cooper shrugged. "I like to read. And practice archery, but only when Dad's home. It's no fun by myself."

Christy looked happy at that. "I like books and music. And my punching bag."

"You have a punching bag?" Cooper cried.

"You have a bow and arrow." Christy pointed out.

"Yeah, but…I thought only boys had punching bags."

"Well…I have one. Like Dad. It's a special one that has bad guy's faces on it."

"I like drawing and coloring. And reading, too." Lila said. "Are we cousins? 'Cause we don't really have any cousins. Dad doesn't really have a family and Mom's doesn't like us."

"'Cause she married Dad." Cooper explained. "They kinda don't like him for some reason."

Christy frowned. "Who could hate Uncle Clint? He's great. He took care of me last year when Dad was in D.C…I kinda feel bad about that now. I used to hate it when he left for weekends. If I'd known…"

"I don't mind sharing Dad." Cooper said. "And you call him Uncle Clint. So we are cousins."

Christy shrugged. "Guess so. I never had cousins before, either." She smiled. "I like it."

"Can I touch your arm?" Lila asked Bucky.

Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table (some on actual chairs, some on folding chairs) eating dinner, which consisted of baked chicken, potatoes, and broccoli.

"Lila…" Laura said in a warning tone. Bucky shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine…go ahead, kid."

Lila reached over and stroked the metal gently with one finger. "It's so pretty…"

Bucky felt his throat catch. He'd mostly gotten over his self-consciousness about the arm, but still…

'Pretty' probably wasn't the first word he'd use to describe it.

"Does it hurt?" Lila asked.

"Nah, not really…maybe it did once, but not anymore."

Lila nodded. "Did Mr. Tony give it to you? Dad said he makes metal stuff."

Bucky sighed. "No…I wish Tony gave it to me."

"The bad guys did. HYDRA." Christy said. "His real arm got hurt 'cause he fell off a train in the mountains, and then the bad guys found him and gave him a metal arm."

"Christy…" Sam warned.

The blonde pursed her lips. "'S true."

"Why'd bad guys give you something?" Cooper asked. "Bad guys don't give, they take stuff."

"You're right, they don't give, not without a price." Bucky said quietly. "They…they hurt my brain, so I couldn't remember anything. Not my friend, not my life, not my name. And they made me…do bad things. Because I couldn't remember they were bad."

The room was deathly quiet.

"That's like what happened to Dad." Cooper whispered to Christy. "I know 'cause I listened to Mom and Dad talk one night."

Christy nodded. "Only, Uncle Bucky's was worse…"

"But you remember stuff now, right?" Lila asked, eyes wide.

Bucky nodded. "I do. I do because my friends found me and helped me remember."

Laura shot Sam a look. Sam mouthed 'understatement of the year'.

Lila gave the metal arm a final pat. "I'm glad you're better." Bucky sighed again.

"Me, too, kid. Me, too."

Lila wouldn't hear of anything less than Christy sleeping in her room, so the two girls were currently piled into Lila's double bed. The Barton's only had one extra guest room, though, so Sam and Bucky were stuck sharing a bed. Not the most ideal of circumstances, but do-able. Thankfully, Sam slept like the dead.

Bucky, however, could not sleep. He didn't know if it was the unfamiliar environment, or his own pressing worries about Steve, but rest seemed to be completely eluding him. Finally, he gave up, slid quietly out of bed and padded out into the living room.

Clint had a nice place, he thought faintly. Very nice. Typical 'American Dream' house.

He settled down on one of the couches and lost himself in daydreams (nightdreams?)

Maybe someday I can have a place like this. Maybe all of us can. Maybe someday, we won't have to fight…

Lila woke up to a strange sound, like someone was talking. For a minute, she thought that Dad was home, and he and Mom were talking in the kitchen.

But the noise was right next to her ear, so she turned over.

Christy was curled into a ball and in the moonlight though the window blinds, Lila could see that she looked upset.

"No…" Christy mumbled. "Daddy, run…you gotta run. They're gonna get you…run, Daddy."

Christy was having a nightmare.

Lila rolled out of bed. Mom will know what to do. Mom always knows what to do…

As she came out into the hallway and started to turn towards her parents' room, she noticed a figure stretched out on the couch in the living room.

The figure started up suddenly. "Hey, kid, uh…Lila. What's up?"

Lila took a step closer.

"Mr. Bucky? How come you're not asleep?"

Bucky grinned slightly. "Just couldn't. What's wrong?"

Lila frowned. "Christy's talking in her sleep, like Cooper does sometimes. She was telling her Daddy to run. So I was gonna get Mom…"

Bucky swallowed a curse and started to walk towards Lila's room. "I'll get her. Maybe you should go bunk with your mom, kid. This could take a while."

But Lila shook her head. "I'm okay."

Bucky shook his own head in disbelief. Right, Clint's kid. Probably not afraid of conflict and high emotional situations…

As soon as they entered the room, Bucky sat down on the bed and gently pried Christy out from under the blanket. "Christy? C'mon, doll, wake up for me, huh? Wake up for Uncle Bucky..."

Christy's eyes shot open wide and her chest started heaving.

"Okay, that's it, easy...shh…" Bucky kept her pressed tight against his chest. "'M here…"

"Dad?" Christy whispered hesitantly.

Bucky sighed. "I wish, kid."

Christy's face crumpled up immediately. "I dreamed that…that thing was gonna get Dad! That he was hurting him and I was screaming for him to run, but he didn't run and he…he stopped breathing like mom and then…and then I was alone…"

Bucky slowly gathered Christy's hair out of her face. "Shh…listen to me, kid. Your dad is not about to die on you. I promise."

"But you can't promise! Nobody can promise anything! Sometimes…sometimes nice people die, even when they didn't want to."

The room was quiet for a moment. Bucky couldn't refute any of that. It was true.

It was heart-breakingly true.

"But…but your dad's really strong, right?" Lila asked, sitting down next to Bucky on the bed. "He's strong and fast and he's got a shield. He won't die..." Suddenly, the six year old's face froze. "What if my dad does? He doesn't have super powers, not really! What if…?"

Bucky felt Christy wriggle out of his grip and plant herself between him and Lila. "But Uncle Clint's done a lot of spy stuff. He knows how to get away from bad guys. He'll be okay…"

Lila still looked a little scared. "But what if the bad robot hurts him? He's not super-fast, so he maybe can't get away…"

Bucky decided to end this before it could get away from him any further.

"We are not…" he tucked both girls under his arm, "…discussing which of your dads is more likely to die because no one is dying! Understand? None of the Avengers. They're all gonna come out of this alive. Get it?"

He could feel the brush of hair on his arm as both girls nodded.

"Good. Now…" he sighed heavily. "To bed, the both of ya. I know at least one of you has school tomorrow…"

"Mom said we didn't have to go." Lila corrected. "'Cause it's Friday and none of us have tests."

"Right…okay. But you still need sleep." He rolled off of the bed and started to prop himself up against Lila's night table. "I'll stay here until you two fall asleep."

"But my brain won't stop talking to itself…" Christy protested.

"Me neither…" Lila added.

Bucky stared. And sighed again.

"Fine…do lullabies work on you too, Lila?"

Lila nodded enthusiastically and both girls immediately scrambled under the covers.

"You have to come back on the bed." Christy added. "Otherwise we can't hear you."

Oh for the love of God… But he did. He had re-learned how to say no to most people, but not to Christy. Not for anything that wasn't life-threatening.

He started to sing.

"Gol-den slumbers kiss your eyes

Smi-les await you when you rise…"

The tune was familiar, the words pulled out of a long-ago memory. It was also Christy's favorite. (And…his too.)

"Cares you know not, therefore sleep.

While I watch o'er you, do not weep…"

No more weeping. He prayed silently. There's already been enough of that.

He told himself that he would get off the bed, now that he actually felt tired. But before he could move, the world faded to black…

Sam woke up around six the next morning, got out of bed, and made his way out to the kitchen. Fixing coffee seemed like a nice way to make up for unceremoniously showing up on someone's doorstep. As he passed a slightly ajar door, though, some glint of light caught his eye.

Opening the door, he peered in and immediately started fumbling for his phone.

Bucky Barnes was asleep half sitting up in the middle of Lila's bed. Somehow, over the course of the night, the two girls had managed to turn him into a makeshift pillow. All three were currently dead to the world.

Sam smirked. So much for the "Scary Winter Soldier." Caption: Ladies Man.

Bucky's eyes cracked open; he was not exactly a heavy sleeper after everything he'd been through. He caught sight of Sam and muttered. "Shaddap."

"Coffee'll be ready soon." Was all Sam replied.

He exited the room and continued into the kitchen.

Alright, Clint, I have to hand it to you…this was a pretty good idea.

The inspiration for Christy's nightmare dialogue comes from the song "Run, Daddy, Run"; which was made for the Hunger Games soundtrack. The song fits Katniss in that universe, but several lines also accurately describe Christy's emotional state at this point, so it might be worth checking out.

I doubt I will update before Friday, if even then. Thanksgiving Break starts this Friday and that means all the professors cram things in before break, so I will be focusing on my schoolwork.

Reviews are wonderful things...