Notes: Yeah, I also hate the Clint is so hurt and scared. He's such a sweet boy and doesn't deserve all this crap :(

Chapter 11: Steve Finds Out

For the next couple of months until the end of the school semester, things for the little Howlett family were mercifully quiet. Katie eventually stopped making Logan do everything one-handed, even if she was still in the habit of just shouting "Daddy!" at Logan at random intervals and running over to get thrown in the air and snuggled… and James was starting to let other people hold him.

And Clint was doing a little better too, mostly because things didn't feel too different. Even if he was healing, he didn't have claws or anything, and the only real difference in his life was that he didn't run through Band-aid boxes as often… and the fact that he didn't need his hearing aide anymore, which was kind of weird in and of itself. Everyone sounded so much louder and clearer, and that had taken some getting used to.

So when they headed to the Avengers for the summer — bringing Hank and Susie with them, too, to keep the family together — Thor seemed unusually loud when he greeted them. Clint wasn't used to getting the full Asgardian experience, clearly.

Not that he had time to really think on it when they were getting mobbed by everyone else. Jan was already making Clint over, and Carol wanted to talk to K. And there were some introductions to be made, too, with a set of twins that had joined the Avengers named Wanda and Pietro.

"You look kinda familiar," Clint told Pietro when they were introduced, though he couldn't quite place it.

"We haven't been on the team very long," Wanda said.

"Well, where were you before that? Didja ever go to my brother's circus or maybe grow up in Iowa or something?" Clint asked. "Because I feel like I've seen you before."

"Ah, no. On both counts," Pietro said, shaking his head as he stepped back.

"Didja used to be bad guys?" Katie piped up. "My Clint fights lots of those even if he's not a junior X-Man yet!"

"Of course he does. Clint doesn't slow down for anybody," Jan said, grinning and ruffling Clint's hair.

"It's because I'm so awesome all the bad guys know they have to get me before I can grow up to kick their butts even harder," Clint said with a quiet smirk.

"Kid knows where he's going," Tony chuckled — though when he came to stand by Jan and they were holding hands, Clint grinned crookedly at both of them.

"Knew you'd get 'im," he told Jan in a mock whisper.

"Me too," she whispered back.

Clint grinned her way and then pointed at Tony. "Last person who hurt her got screwed, so you're gonna be good, right?"

"Wait, when did you get a tiny big brother?" Tony teased Jan.

"Like, a few years ago. Keep up," Jan teased and kissed his cheek.

Clint grinned — and then started to laugh when he looked past Jan and realized that Katie had managed to monopolize Thor's attention entirely. She'd half climbed up his side until he picked her up, and they were chatting away in Korean, clearly delighting Katie.

Steve was headed over Clint's way, and Clint grinned at him. "Katie doesn't get to do that except some with Dad — and Mom and I are trying to learn it."

"I'm sure you'll pick it up fast enough," Jan said. "Smart guy that you are."

Clint nodded at that. "Hey, I know some Swedish and I know sign and English, so I'm already ahead of the game."

"You really are," she agreed. "I saw your parents flirting in Japanese too. You guys are going to be the most multilingual family around."

Clint grinned. "And James is going to learn all of them."

"I'm sure he will," Jan said, turning to look for him.

Clint smirked and pointed Jan toward where Logan was with James. "You need to hold a baby. And then make Tony do it too."

"Hey now," Tony said.

"I'm right," Clint said decisively, pushing Tony's arm to get him to move — while Jan was already skipping off. He grinned, crossed his arms, and leaned back, smirking Steve's way. "You guys're gonna have a little bitty baby at the tower pretty soon, huh?"

"Only if you count James," Steve said. "I doubt Jan's going to get her way as quickly as she'd like."

"Mom says once you're married, you just do what your wife says."

"She would say that," Steve laughed.

"I think she's right, though," Clint said. "Because she and my dad are in love all the time and that's what they do." He paused. "And my birth family was the opposite, and they didn't do so good, so…"

"She's skipping the part where she does what he wants, too," Steve said, smirking a little.

"Yeah, they did have a baby, and I know he wanted one," Clint said with a shrug. "And he brought home Katie and Susie too." He grinned and looked toward Katie again. "I like having 'em around."

"Then it's a good thing he did that," Steve said as he took a seat and glanced down the hall. "Do you know if your mom had plans with Carol before she got here?"

"No, but she likes Carol, and she was kind of sad she couldn't do so much when she was pregnant, so that makes sense they're talking," Clint said with an easy shrug. "They're probably gonna destroy Hydra by the end of the week."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Steve said with a little laugh. "They kicked me out."

"Well, there ya go," Clint said, grinning crookedly. "Maybe you and me can do stuff. I can show you what Dad taught me about how to fight! I'm gonna be on the junior team in a couple years, you know!"

"I might have heard that rumor."

"Well, it's true," Clint said, drawing himself up. "And in the fall, I'm gonna be in Dad's class with the kids at the school for combat and stuff. And Mom has been helping me with archery, and Kurt helps me with swords, so I can fight with knives, arrows, swords, guns, and fists." He listed them all off on his fingers. "If there's any Hydra left when Mom and Carol are done, I'll take care of 'em!"

"Might be why they're plotting," Steve said with a crooked smile. "But it sounds like you're learning a lot for a kid your age."

"Hey, there are some really bad people after my family. I gotta keep up!" Clint said.

Steve held up both hands. "I'm not arguing with you on that. I've had to deal with more crap just from you three than I have for most people."

"Mom says it's because they're trying to learn how to distill awesome."

Steve laughed outright at that. "Sounds like her."

Clint grinned and then grabbed Steve's arm. "Come on. I can show you how I can write Mom's name in arrows and stuff!" With that, he started to pull Steve along. "For real. I helped Mom do some hunting this winter and everything!"

"Oh yeah? What else did you guys get up to?"

"I'm trying to teach Katie about how to be safe with weapons so she can learn to shoot a bow when she's strong enough to pull it back," Clint told Steve.

"Of course. What was I thinking? Every Kindergartener needs to know that."

"Mom's already teaching Katie and Susie all about horses, too," Clint said. "We're gonna learn to shoot on horseback!"

"You guys are going to have the best childhood … in between attacks, of course."

Clint made a face at that. "Yeah. There are seriously stupid people, Cap," he said. "They grabbed me and my parents a couple months ago, and it was the worst."

"I didn't hear about that," Steve said, looking honestly concerned. "What happened?"

"You remember that department that wants my mom and dad?"

"Yeah, I do. Did they come after you again?"

Clint nodded. "We got out, but it was the worst. That's why I've been working with Mom and Dad a lot." He shrugged, but he didn't want to talk about the worst of it — that he was mostly working with his parents to figure out how to deal with the healing, since he was still getting hurt and running headlong into trouble, and the tingling healing sensation really bothered him.

"You say things like that, and it makes me glad they're there for you, but it also makes me want to go crack your dad for not telling me anything."

"Katie didn't let him do anything without her for, like, three weeks," Clint defended. "She was real upset we were gone. You know, because her dad died in front of her when she was little."

Steve nodded at that. "Still kinda want to hit him."

"Yeah, well, Kurt says that's a constant," Clint said with a smirk. "You can talk to him about it, 'cause he said he'd come and visit on weekends so I can still keep learning to fence with him. He's helping me learn how to use my right hand too!"

Steve really had no idea on how to handle Clint being so positive on his weapons training and so clearly avoiding talking about absolutely anything else. So he did the only thing he could think of: "Does that mean you think you're ready to run a sim?"

"Oh yeah. I can take on anything you got!" Clint said, drawing himself up confidently.

"Our training programs aren't like the hard-light holograms in Westchester," Steve warned. "We've got life model decoys."

"Okay, well, just tell me where to shoot them to make it count," Clint said.

"Just like you'd shoot anyone that was real," Steve said.

"Okay, well, are they robots or people? Because if they're people, then I don't want to kill 'em — but if we're fighting robots, then you always take head shots on not-people so they stay down. That's what Dad says."

Steve smirked at that. "Yeah, but these are real enough that they've fooled people into thinking they were real people."

"Oh, wow."

"Come on, we'll give you something to do that doesn't involve watching Jan melt into a puddle."

Clint grinned, clearly thrilled, as they headed down to where the training room was and he told Steve all about all the training he was getting up to and how he was going to help K teach Katie to stick up for herself since the bad guys were gonna keep coming after their family and how he kept trying to talk Scott into letting him join the team sooner than when he was thirteen but Scott wasn't budging… All of it. He was clearly proud, and Steve couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

And it was even more fun to watch Clint once they did get a sim started, because he was having a blast. Steve could see some of his brother slipping out in the showmanship as he twirled his bow around before he started taking his shots, and then when Steve suggested switching weapons, Clint did a spectacular twirl into one of the simulated Hydra soldiers to put his sword through a few joints. And again, that was down to being trained by a circus performer — this time Kurt.

It was both entertaining and hard to watch, since there were a few times that Clint — still a beginner, after all — simply didn't see an LMD coming and took a few hard falls. But he would get up every time and dive right back in, leaving Steve wondering if he should call it or keep going.

Eventually, Clint started to get a little sloppier, and Steve figured that was a good place to stop before the kid wore himself out. He called it, and Clint put his weapons over on the rack, sporting a big bruise on his cheekbone and a few cuts — but the biggest grin Steve had seen him wear yet.

"See?" Clint said. "I toldja I'm good!"

"Yeah, you sure are," Steve said, though he was wondering how upset his parents were going to be when Clint came back from one sim with cuts and bruises. Already. "Let's get you washed up, huh?"

Clint grinned and nodded. "So what do you think?" he asked, almost bouncing with every step. "I'm going to be an X-Man and an Avenger once I'm old enough! Like Dad!"

"You're well on the path," Steve chuckled.

Clint looked perfectly proud of himself, grinning as he grabbed a towel and headed to the showers off the training room, leaving Steve shaking his head. Clint really was a good fit for Logan and K — an unstoppable force like the two of them were.

A while later — after Steve had time to review the tape and be a bit more impressed now that he was watching without also worrying about the cuts and bruises he couldn't do anything about now — Clint came out of the showers and waved Steve's way, looking like new.

"Did you catch it when I got those two shots in, like, a few seconds of each other? That was pretty cool, right?"

"It really was," Steve said, grinning. But he quickly did a little double take when he realized that, unlike just a short time ago, Clint didn't have a bump or bruise on him.

Clint seemed oblivious for the moment, still riding the high of convincing Captain America to let him show off. "I bet I could learn to do a double shot if I work on it, and then I can get even faster," he said. "Can I see?"

"We're going to have trouble keeping you in arrows," Steve said.

"Dad says he knows a guy."

"It's probably whoever's pulling ninja's arrows out of him," Steve said dryly.

Clint snorted. "Maybe. But I told Mom I want to do like the Green Hornet does on TV and have, like, some gadgets and stuff. Do you think I could do that? I bet I could do it."

"I'll bet she can convince Tony to make something like that for you," Steve said.

"I bet if I tell Jan to ask Tony, I'll have all the arrows I want forever," Clint snorted.

"Jan will want to make sure you're not going to get hurt, too," Steve said, giving Clint a significant look, but Clint either didn't understand the hint Steve was giving him or didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm okay," Clint said with a shrug. "I'm pretty tough, you know."

"Oh sure; you'd have to be, living with who you do," Steve teased.

Clint grinned crookedly. "Mom taught me some great stuff before we even met Logan. I told him I'd neuter 'im if he ever hurt Mom."

But that had Steve chuckling to himself. "Good for you. Put some fear into him."

"I don't think I really scared him. Dad isn't scared of much," Clint admitted, his hands in his pockets as he shrugged easily.

"No, but it's the thought that counts, and a threat like that to Logan is a statement," Steve said.

"Hey, I take care of my mom," Clint said, tipping his chin up.

"Sure do," he said. "Why don't you go find out what she and Carol are up to? Since you're protecting her."

"You just want to use me like a spy," Clint teased.

"Maybe a little," Steve said. "But I figure you won't worry about too much unless she's planning to take on the Red Skull."

"Yeah, if she's doing that, she needs Dad too."

"Yeah, at least," Steve laughed.

Clint grinned and gave Steve a two-fingered salute before he headed off to go find his mom so he could brag about how well he'd done. And Steve went upstairs as well, this time in search of Logan.

"So," Steve said as he came up on Logan and James, who had gotten fussy for Jan. "How long has Clint been healing?"

"Surprised he told you," Logan said.

"He didn't," Steve said. "He was showing off what he's been learning on weapons training, and fifteen minutes after the sim, you wouldn't have known he even got a papercut."

"Yah, well … no one was real thrilled about that, if you want to know the truth."

"I do, actually, want to know the truth," Steve said.

Logan tipped his head to see that no one was headed their way. "It was when Weapon X picked us up. The three of us. Sinister was working with 'em, and he gave Clint K's healing."

Steve looked for a moment like he didn't know what to address first: the fact that all three of them had been with the department, the fact that Sinister was working with them, or… "He what?"

"Listen, that's what the guy used to do; I don't know how to put it any more plain than that."

"But why?" Steve asked. "Why pick on Clint?"

"From what I can piece together? Clint already healed a little on his own. He's got the mutant gene; it's just in the wrong spot. So, Sinister … adjusted that. Boosted him with K's healing."

Steve was transitioning from shock to anger by that point. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it wasn't just because they wanted Clint to match his parents."

"No, it wasn't," Logan said. "When we got back, K took about a week every night and went out of her way diggin' hard on 'em. Found out Sinister really did wreck most of their research on the kid. Only there was one memo between higher-ups about a young test subject that might be the key stepping stone to making totally 'normal' humans into healers."

"So it's the same song and dance as always."

"You shouldn't be surprised," Logan said.

"I really shouldn't," Steve said, shaking his head.

"Only thing that's new is that I found out I'm not an ideal donor."

"Well, that is new," Steve said, one eyebrow raised.

Logan looked more irritated at that though. "They had her in stasis, Cap."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "So they were just …" His expression twisted. "...using her as a supplier for their experiments?"

"Looks like."

"And you're sure that research is destroyed?" Steve asked.

"It is now," he said in a drawl. "She sent 'em a little electronic present that she stole from Stark."

Steve smirked at that. "Sounds about right."

"I doubt they can even get anything to boot up at this point."

"Good." Steve shook his head. "That kid is ten. There is no reason—"

"Yeah. Well. They were pushin' for the baby, too," Logan said. "From what Clint remembered, anyhow. That was the trigger that had Sinister pickin' up stakes and moving us out."

Steve shook his head. "Every time you come back, you have a story that makes me want to take a walk with you and tear up the place."

"Do that an' no one'll be watchin' to see what the hell K and Carol are up to."

"Your son is convinced they're conspiring to destroy Hydra on their own." Steve smirked. "He's probably right."

"She's in a mood."

"After what you told me? I don't blame her."

"Can't really blame 'er," Logan said. "Just hard to balance out when I know she won't let me get away with takin' off to fight without her on this one. And I'd like to keep this group together, you know?"

"You've got a great family, Logan. Seriously," Steve said, smiling despite himself. "They're all a little cracked to match you."

"Lucky thing," Logan deadpanned. "We just gotta find you one that don't mind a kickline in the background."

"Yeah, get on that," Steve chuckled. "That's your project while the girls are dismantling Hydra."

"Oh, no," Logan said, shaking his head. "You gotta find your own girl."

"Mine won't have kickline clearance, though," Steve teased.

"Maybe yours'll be on the kickline."

"I'll keep my eyes open."