Notes: Hey guys! I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this ... should be the first chapter in a while that actually notifies. OOPS. Well. If you would, go back, read what you missed! YES, robbie! Clay is pretty darned awesome, and he's a good go between I think. The concern is growing between these two idiots. And it's almost like ... they're ... maybe ... becoming like ... a FAMILY or something. So weird.

890 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

As Coulson had predicted it was late by the time the group got to the Avengers mansion in New York. The building was massive and lit architecturally to showcase several of the mansions' more elaborate features. Scott had seen the place on the news and in the paper, and it was clear that the boy didn't think that the reports had done it any justice. He stared at the sheer size of the place as they got out of the car, and did a double take as Logan simply headed toward the doors as if he was meant to be there all along. Out of place as he was.

The butler that ran the place met them before they could enter and kindly introduced himself as 'Jarvis', promising that they would be relocated to the Tower once it was finished - if they were still around. He was particularly kind to Scott, and seemed a bit wary of Logan as he took the two wayward mutants to their rooms - next to each other, of course. Before he left them for the evening, he was sure to inform them of what they could expect the next day. "Breakfast will be served off the kitchen starting at Seven. Coffee service begins at Six thirty."

Logan nodded and thanked him before he just watched the well dressed gentleman head off before he and Scott shared a look and Logan was sure to make it clear to Scott. "Let me know if you get a bad feelin' about this. I'll pull the plug."

But Scott saw for just an instant that Logan looked like he was already set to run. Though if it was at the idea of being with this group of heroes or under SHIELD custody, Scott just wasn't entirely sure. "If Cap is with them, I'm sure it'll be fine for a few days anyhow," Scott said as diplomatically as he could. He held the files in his arms a little tighter, reminding himself that if he had time off and away from school, he could at least try to soldier through Logan's file.

Logan saw the little movement when Scott held tighter to the files and nodded in agreement before the young man headed into his room. For a moment, Logan considered doing the same, though he couldn't possibly relax not knowing a few exits out. He left the door open and silently headed off to stalk through the mansion and find his exit strategies as Scott settled into his room.

The next morning, Scott woke up with the sun .. unintentionally of course. After all the excitement and the exertion from his game, he would have been more than happy to sleep late, but it was just that his room apparently faced the east that when the sun broke over the horizon line - it acted as an alarm clock of sorts. He dragged himself out of bed and took his time getting dressed and ready for the day. He really should have checked the place out - or gotten a basic breakdown of where everything was in the mansion before he went to bed. But it was a little late for that, so he did the next best thing and followed his nose to the smell of breakfast cooking.

He sleepily made his way through the ornate halls until he found Logan - and Cap, of course - with their heads together and drinking coffee in the morning sun. It wasn't until he got closer that Scott overheard what the two of them were saying, and it sounded suspiciously like something that needed intervention. Scott frowned to himself and decided to go see what was happening just in time to see the two older men simply straighten up and invite Scott into their hushed discussion.

"So … what's going on?" Scott asked, looking between the two of them. Something had to be up.

"Nothing," Logan replied, though Steve didn't like the answer.

"I'm trying to get him to relax a little bit," Steve explained with a smirk. "He looks like he's ready to bolt. I don't think he likes the layout of this place. Too many windows."

Scott settled into a frown and watched his guardian for a few moments. "Have you even gone to bed?"

Logan opened his mouth to say something but Steve beat him to it.

"No he has not," Steve replied, though that actually got Logan to reach out and crack him one in the arm that Steve had him hissing out a little 'hey' as he rubbed the spot.

"'M not tired," Logan answered, glaring at Steve just the slightest.

"Sure it doesn't have anything to do with all the coffee you've been drinking?" Scott asked dryly with one eyebrow raised.

"It might if it had any effect on me," Logan replied, shaking his head at the both of them. "Don't worry about it. I didn't do much of anything yesterday. I'm not tired yet."

"You look like hell," Steve said frankly as he got up to get another cup of coffee. "You know. Like you've been pacing or something all night."

"I'm fine, damnit," Logan insisted, though he was pinching the bridge of his nose over the tag team effort. "There are reasons I prefer the woods, Cap."

"I know," Steve said from across the room. "But there are reasons that the city's useful too. Things like … back up."

"More people to get hurt, you mean," Logan replied irritably and under his breath.

"You're going to have to take a break sooner or later," Steve said. "Go ahead. I'll keep watch for you."

Logan's response was a simple one - to growl Steve's way and flat refuse to reply to anything else. But to his credit, Steve caught on quickly and just let out a sigh, dropping the subject altogether for the time being.

"The rest of the Avengers will be in and out. The mansion is nice, but we're prepping to move our operations into Stark Tower," Steve said, now more toward Scott than Logan. "I'm sure Jarvis will clue them in to your presence before you run into anyone."

Scott wasn't exactly sure what to do with that information - outside of just wait and see where it was going to lead, though the fact that he knew he had at the minimum a few days with nothing pressing to do was a nice change of pace. He drew in a deep breath and looked around the place, appraising everything he could see.

This was, by Logan's own admission, a safe place to be. So why in the world was he so tense about it? He frowned to himself as he tried to work it out. Unsecured place, he understood. But. Logan knew this was one of the few places on the planet that the Department wouldn't come looking. It was frustrating trying to figure him out sometimes.

After breakfast, and before any of the Avengers could pop in, Scott headed back to his room to keep working his way through the file. He wasn't making much progress … that or the lighting in the mansion wasn't as bright somehow now that the morning sun had moved to the other side of the building. It just felt as if it was slow going.

He didn't notice when there was a gentle knock on the open door until his visitor knocked a second time and called his name. When he looked up, it was Steve, leaning against the jamb with a frown.

"Please don't tell me you've picked up Logan's rotten habit of self isolating," Steve said as he stepped inside. "What are you doing in here anyhow?"

Scott sat up straighter where he was sitting on the bed and just gestured to the papers in front of him. "I'm … trying to help him figure out well, everything," Scott replied.

Steve frowned deeply on hearing that and almost glared at the papers. "He's letting you just … he knows you have all this stuff?"

"Yeah," Scott replied. "He's got a policy … no lies, that kind of thing. And … I want to help."

"It's also a lot easier for him to just hand that over to someone he trusts than to just tell someone what happened," Steve said, looking irritated. "There is little to nothing in that file you should read." He shook his head and made his way over to pull a chair up nearby and then made sure to pick up the nearest page, intent on reading through the file with him.

"Don't -" Scott warned, one hand outstretched. "I have an order to things. And I haven't gotten through the redacted parts on that stack yet. Not really."

"It's redacted for a reason," Steve said, though he did put the paper back where he'd found it.

"Right. I know." Scott said with a nod. "And if it's like the rest of what I've found, it's because the guys that wrote it were covering their butts." He stopped for a second and found himself trying to recover his composure after realizing what he'd just said. "I don't know what's legal and what's not - but I do know that what they did wasn't right. And they didn't want anyone to know about it."

When that didn't get anything but that same open look from Steve, Scott let out a sigh and started to explain how he'd managed to get around some of the redacted sections - and then went so far as to hand him the notes that he'd amassed - alongside Logan's notations in the margins.

"I don't have any distractions here," Scott explained as Steve started to help him. "So if I don't have anything going on … why not try to solve this mystery?"

"Maybe because you don't need to know what they did," Steve suggested. "A kid shouldn't know this stuff has happened to anyone, let alone the guy in charge of keeping you safe."

"My age isn't going to stop these guys coming after me - and Logan said they did," Scott pointed out. "If I'm in it, I want to know what we're up against. I need to be able to help, because I'm part of this now. Or what was the point of making it all official if I can't protect my family?"

"I'm pretty sure we have the protection detail down right now," Steve replied with a little smirk. "That is how you got here, isn't it? And they have no reason to go after you if it's not to get to him. Fury has all this information himself. He's been over it. We've got this part."

But Scott just shook his head. "I appreciate that, I really do, but you've only got this part because you know about it," he explained. "You didn't know about it before - and I'll bet you didn't know about the State Home for Foundlings either."

Steve frowned and tipped his head to the side. "Why don't you tell me about it then?"

"Didn't Logan tell you how he found me?" Scott asked, though as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he almost laughed. "No, never mind." He shook his head. "The people in this file aren't the only ones out there doing... " He gestured wordlessly at the papers he had spread out. "There was a crazy doctor at the orphanage where Logan found me doing his own kind of experimentation. Logan got me out… but I can tell you that guy didn't let my age stop him, and he'd been at that place for a while."

"What did he do?" Steve asked in a lot less stern tone. "I'll see what we can do to deal with them."

"He's not there anymore - Logan, ah, stabbed him," Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So it would fall more into 'unsolved murder'," Steve said dryly.

"Maybe," Scott admitted. "Though I don't know if anyone knew the guy was there, and I know nobody knew about the setup he had in the basement, so… maybe not."

"Let sleeping dogs lie there," Steve said quietly. "So … you're trying to return the favor then?"

Scott frowned as he thought about it. "Maybe that's part of it, but - you need to read some of these notations. Logan isn't the only one they messed with, and they've got a whole list of criteria that…" He let out a breath.

"You're right, he's not the only one they messed with," Steve agreed. "But those guys … they're a lot nastier than just one creep."

"Believe me, I know," Scott said, tipping his head at the paper he had in front of him. "But you tell me this - do you think they'd let something like age stop them?"

"No," Steve admitted. "I don't."

"So I'm not going to let it stop me from helping," Scott said as if it was obvious. "Besides, I'd rather be prepared than find out the hard way."

Steve let out a breath and just held his gaze for a moment. "Alright then. How about I help you out?"

Scott nodded and wordlessly gestured to a spot nearby. "Sure."