Chapter Eight:

Before Steve and Felicia headed back to the tower, his phone rang. He answered quickly.

"Suit up Captain Rogers." Nick Fury's voice rang out across the line.

"Director? What's the situation?" Steve scooped Felicia up in his other arm as he quickly made his way down the sidewalk. SHIELD was closer than the Tower, if something was happening in New York he didn't want to leave Felicia on the streets.

"Suspicious activity in Central Park started at five this afternoon. Twenty minutes ago, it became clear that it was beyond the capabilities of the New York police. Five minutes ago, it became an attack. What's your current location?"

"Two blocks and closing on SHIELD. I'm not alone." Steve picked up his pace, weaving through the foot traffic.

Fury was silent for only a moment and Steve could hear the unspoken curse in his voice. "I'll place the kid in my office. Agent Romanov has your shield en route to Central Park. Get here and suit up. We'll have transportation by the time you get here."

"Understood." Steve shoved his phone into his pocket and shifted Felicia into a firmer hold. "Felicia, there's an attack happening. We're heading to SHIELD, you'll be safe there." Felicia's grip on him tightened and even at the speed they were now going, he heard her shaky breath. The only ones she knew from SHIELD were Natasha, Clint, and Coulson and Coulson made her nervous. Steve rubbed her back. "I wouldn't leave you there like this if I could get you back to the Tower first, but the site of the attack is between us and the Tower. It's safer for you to go to SHIELD." He felt her nod into his chest as he reached SHIELD.

Within seconds, they were through the doors. Coulson and Fury were waiting for them. Steve set Felicia down and glanced between Coulson and Fury while Felicia eyed them both warily.

Fury raised a brow at the girl but spoke to Steve. "Agent Coulson will give you a breakdown of what we know about the attack and accompany you to it. I'll escort her to my office. She'll be safe and out from under foot there."

Felicia looked at Steve, who looked surprised but nodded and looked back at Felicia. "One of us will be back as soon as we can, okay?" She nodded and he went off with Coulson.

Felicia eyed Fury, who seemed amused by her. He tilted his head towards a hallway. "If you'll follow me." He turned, hands behind his back and led the way. Silently, she followed through the hallways.

Into an elevator and down another hall, he opened a door and waited for her to enter. She froze a couple of steps in, eyes locked on the cat on the desk. She glanced back at Fury who simply watched. A thump brought her attention forward again to see the cat padding over to her. Another glance at Fury as the cat meowed and begin winding between her legs before rearing up and butting its head against her hand.

Fury smiled, eyes alight with something she couldn't read. "That's Goose. She'll keep you company while we're busy with the attack. Do you need the bathroom? The door automatically locks."

Felicia shook her head, giving Goose the petting she was demanding.

Fury nodded and pulled a water bottle out of his coat. "This is for you, Goose has her own dishes. Trail mix is on the desk. I'll check on you when I can." With that he left the room.

Felicia heard the door lock behind him as she looked at Goose. "Well. Want to see if I can figure out how to watch what's going on?" Goose meowed at her and followed her over to the chair behind the desk and leapt into her lap when she sat down. She pulled out her phone, only to find no service or internet connection. "That's a set back." Her eyes turned to the computer on the desk. "Only one thing to do then." She scratched Goose behind the ears as she purred in her lap and started typing with her other hand.

Fifteen minutes later, Fury was back and staring her down after she'd gotten through one level of his security.

"Is Stark teaching you?" He crossed his arms across his chest.

Felicia ducked slightly behind Goose. "No. Jarvis. I wanted to surprise Tony."

"And you are using it on my computer why?"

"I wanted to know what's going on." Goose butted their heads together, still purring.

Fury sighed and came around, covered her eyes with one hand and typed with his other. After a minute he took his hand away and was pulling up a variety of camera angles on the screen. "Do not become as big a problem as Stark is, young lady, we do not need two of him." He was looking down at her when she looked up. "I don't think the ego would suit you."

Felicia ducked her head to hide a smile that quickly disappeared at the battle on the screen. Her eyes tracked the things attacking Hulk. "They'll…be okay right?"

Fury patted her on the head. "This attack is small compared to their first. They should have it wrapped up soon. But I need to head back to make sure their backs are covered. Don't try anything else on the computer." He reached down and gave Goose a pat as well and started to leave.

"I made it further in than I thought I would." She was frowning at the battle playing out.

Fury looked back at her. "You made it further than I thought you would too." And then he was gone.

Left alone with Goose again, Felicia watched the battle in silence except for Goose's purring. Fury hadn't turned on the sound if there was any and had told her not to mess with it. Felicia couldn't tell what exactly everyone was fighting against. It wasn't a machine but it wasn't like any animal she'd ever seen. Kind of like a jelly fish? She made a face as Steve got coated in goo as one exploded. Despite it, she could tell they were winning. Soon, she watched the last creature explode from a blast from Tony's suit. She watched as people dressed like the people she'd seen in SHIELD's halls emerge from seemingly nowhere and start cleanup.

But she watched as Hulk started to look around, looking more agitated as time went by. Biting her lip, she started to worry. The last time Bruce had been like this, his instinct seemed to be to get away. Was he going to run off again? But last time there had been people actively shooting at him. Now people were almost flowing around him, but it was clear how tense the people near him were. Tony—Iron Man—landed near him but though he clearly listened to Tony he was still looking around.

Felicia couldn't sit still anymore. It felt like Bruce was going to run off again. She didn't want to be left behind if he did. She stood up and placed Goose on Fury's chair before leaving the office. The door locked behind her, but she was already running down the hallway. The wait for the elevator was frustrating, but searching for the stairs would take longer. She watched the floors count down on the ride to the ground floor. As soon as the doors opened, she started running back the way Fury had led her.

When she got to the lobby, Fury was there and frowning at her. "What are you doing young lady?"

Her eyes darted at the door behind him and back. "Going to Bruce." She felt trapped, especially as other agents around the lobby turned to look at them.

Fury stared at her for a moment before tapping an earpiece. "Hold him where he is Stark. We're sending in a couple of neutralization options." Another tap. "Hill, I'm heading on site. You're in charge here." He crooked a finger at Felicia and started walking off.

Felicia hesitated before following. It seemed like he might be taking her to Bruce, but he might also be sending in someone to hurt Bruce and if he was maybe she could prevent that.

Fury led her to a garage and to an SUV. "In the back please." He climbed into the driver's seat.

She scrambled in behind him and he pulled out as soon as she was buckled in. Minutes later he was pulling to a stop and she could see Bruce inside the park nearby. She was out of the car and running before Fury could say anything. There was a cluster of fallen trees at the edge of the park and instead of going around, she scrambled over and through the branches.

When her head popped out the other side, Tony tilted his head and his face plate popped open. "Dandelion Puff, please tell me you weren't in the trees the whole time."

Bruce's head swung back towards them, eyes landing on her but his head was tilted as if listening.

"I wasn't." Felicia replied to Tony. She started to climb fully free of the trees, only to find the back of her coat and hair tangled in the branches. She set about freeing herself.

As she did, she listened to Fury arriving and talking to Stark, then heard Clint's voice calling out a greeting.

"Hawkeye." Felicia glanced out of the branches to see Clint walking to Bruce completely at ease, waving a hand at Fury as he called out his codename. Felicia freed the last of her hair as Clint began softly talking to Bruce. He seemed to calm a bit, attention focused on the archer.

Felicia was starting to climb out again when she heard it. In the corner of her eye she saw Fury turning to look towards her but she was already ducking back in between the trees. She wiggled down further in between the fallen trees. She found them in a hollow between a trunk and a branch. She picked them up and tucked them into the hood of her coat and climbed back out.

Fury had stepped closer while she had been searching and watched her silently. She grinned up at him. "Found them!" She ignored his questioning brow and called out a bit louder as she stepped further away from the trees. "Bruce I found them!"

Clint's head whipped around. "What are you doing here kiddo?"

Tony opened his mouth to say something but Bruce stepped past him and knelt in front of her.

Aware of the other men now watching, she pulled them out of her hood and placed them in Bruce's outstretched hand. "You were looking for these kittens, right?"

Bruce rumbled gently and scooped her up with his other hand, cradling both hands close to his chest.

Clint came around looked at her. "Kittens?"

Felicia nodded. "They were trapped under the trees." She picked up a tiny black puff ball. "I almost missed this one in the dark but it climbed up my arm on its own."

Tony poked her arm and got a kitten deposited in his hands for it. "So these were what were making Big and Green unhappy?"

Felicia looked up at Bruce, who was watching the kittens explore his hand. "Seems like it."

"Okay, this is great. Calm all around." Clint said pulling himself up with a hand on Bruce's arm to look at the kittens better. "That does not explain what you are doing here. Steve said he put you somewhere safe."

Felicia nodded. "Fury brought me here after it was over." Her eyes darted towards him as Clint sent a look his way.

"She'd been around when the Hulk last calmed down, it was a calculated risk that she could do it again." Fury stated.

Clint was frowning, but it wasn't very effective with a kitten clawing up his shoulder. "So you put a child at risk instead of using the talked about, planned for, and approved way of calming the Hulk down?"

"He hasn't calmed down yet." Fury pointed out.

Felicia suddenly leaned forward and scooped up the remaining kittens, just as Bruce began to shrink back to normal. Clint fell on top of him with a yelp while Felicia curled around the kittens as she fell next to them. She looked up at Fury disapprovingly. "It takes a bit for him to calm down." She turned to Clint. "What's the approved way?" She trusted him but Bruce still came first.

Clint held up a sleek arrow as he climbed off of Bruce. "Tranquilizer arrow. He and I have discussed it thoroughly in case an accident occurs. I didn't want to do anything without his approval and thought it might be easier if the Hulk had some idea of what was going on when I show up."

"Is that why you started with talking to him?" Felicia looked at the three kittens in her arms and noticed the one that had been on Clint's shoulder was curling up on Bruce's chest.

"Yeah. He wasn't attacking so I thought maybe we could do it without the tranqs." He held a hand out to her. "Need help up?"

Felicia shifted the kittens, who started to try climbing all over her, and accepted Clint's hand. It was a relief to hear that there were others thinking about Bruce's actions before assuming he was going to strike at them like the people and police had when he'd changed in Chicago. "Last time Bruce was out for a few hours, but he was green a lot longer then."

Tony was looking at her, an unreadable light in his eyes. "You don't see Bruce and Hulk as different people, do you?"

Felicia frowned in thought. "They're different, but the same. Same emotions, just different expressions." She buried her face in a kitten on her shoulder. "They're…neither of them ever drew back from me even though everyone else who saw me did." The kitten on her shoulder batted at her nose drawing her out of her memories and out a laugh.

Tony scooped up another kitten from where it was trying to shove the other kitten off her shoulder. He raised it to look in its eyes. "We're going to be keeping these little guys, aren't we?"

Felicia looked up at him with wide eyes. "Can we?" She pointed at the one on Bruce. "They like both sides of Bruce."

Clint picked up another kitten with a slight frown. "Kiddo, did you see a momma cat anywhere in the trees?"

Felicia shook her head. "I only found these guys because they were meowing. I was mostly feeling around in there." She glanced back at the trees. "Do you think she could be in there?"

Clint patted her shoulder. "It's a possibility. We'll have people more the trees and search. She might have left them around there and gone off for food and might never come back. I'm pretty sure the kittens are old enough to be away from her, but if we can find her we can see if she belongs to someone. Those people may want the kittens."

Tony glanced away from the kitten he was having a staring contest with, who batted his nose as he moved. "I'm saying finders keepers, just keep them out of the lab."

"Really Stark? I didn't take you for a cat person." Fury stepped next to Felicia and ran a finger over the head of the kitten on her shoulder.

"No you're the one no one takes for a cat person. Except for maybe a long haired white cat." Tony gestured with a kitten in each hand.

"Goose is an orange tabby." Felicia caught the way Clint gave Fury a sharp look at her words and tilted her head at him.

Tony stopped and looked at her. "Wait. He does have a cat and its named GOOSE?"

Felicia giggled. "And she's a sweetheart!"

Clint handed back the kitten he'd picked up. "So Goose liked you Felicia?"

Felicia accepted the kitten. "She was in my lap as soon as I sat down when he put me in his office."

Clint turned to Fury. "You left her unsupervised in your office?" He was starting to seem amused.

"Did you want me to leave her in a less secure location? Like Coulson's office where people are always coming in and out to deliver paperwork? Or would you have had me take someone like Hill and leave her under their supervision?" Fury asked.

Clint laughed. "Nah, just curious is all." He turned back to Felicia. "Do anything fun in there?"

Felicia frowned at him now. "I watched the battle and cuddled Goose. What did you expect me to do?"

Tony and Clint both shot Fury a disapproving look before Clint looked back at her. "You didn't poke around even a little? Not at all curious what he had in his drawers?"

"I don't know enough about him to care." Felicia watched as Clint bent over in half laughing.

Fury looked at him. "Agent Barton, if you will see her and Banner off site? Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov are helping oversee clean up with Agent Coulson."

Tony handed Felicia the kittens, filling her arms back up. "And I need a look at the tech used to create those creatures before the SHIELD goons wreck it." His faceplate snapped back down. "Make sure Clint doesn't mess up getting Bruce home safe, kay Kidlet?"

"Hey!" Clint shouted as he helped Felicia with all the kittens.

Tony just laughed as he took off.

Felicia looked at the kittens. "How ARE we going to get everyone back?"

Fury stroked the kittens again before turning away. "I'm sure Agent Barton has this in capable hands." He walked away and started giving orders to some lingering SHIELD agents.

Clint was sticking his tongue out after Tony but turned back to Felicia with a grin. "How about we stick the little guys back in your hood and I help Bruce to one of the SHIELD cars and we borrow that to get back to the Tower?"

Felicia nodded and held still as Clint transferred all the kittens to her hood before she scooped up the kitten that had fallen asleep on Bruce. Clint grabbed Bruce and pulled an arm over his shoulder. Once Bruce was sitting up, Clint grabbed his waistband to keep the now loose pants up as he pulled Bruce upright. Clint jerked his head towards the road and she followed him with a still sleeping kitten in her arms.

Clint grinned at an agent waiting by a car on the street. "Agent Sitwell! Can we borrow that car?"

Felicia ducked behind Clint as the agent sighed. "As long as you don't wreck this one Barton." He opened the back door and helped Clint maneuver Bruce inside.

While they were busy with that, Felicia climbed into the passenger seat and locked the door. One of the kittens had climbed back on her shoulder and was watching the backseat, hissing. Felicia looked back just as Clint looked at the kitten, who was definitely hissing at Sitwell. After a couple minutes, Bruce was safely inside the car and Clint was accepting the keys from Sitwell.

He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car while Felicia pulled the kitten from her shoulder and settled it in her lap with the sleeping one. Clint eyed it. "You know, Goose doesn't like Sitwell either. Maybe cats don't like him." He started the car and they headed towards the Tower.

Felicia just pet the kittens in her lap, leaning forward so she didn't squish the ones in her hood.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the Tower. Pepper and Happy were waiting for them at the elevator. While Happy helped Clint with Bruce and Pepper helped Felicia with the kittens. Jarvis held the elevator open for them and delivered them to Bruce and Felicia's floor. Bruce was delivered to his room and Pepper and Felicia settled in the living room with the kittens.

Felicia took the cushions and pillows of the couch and made a barrier to keep the kittens in and Pepper brought over a bowl of water as Clint came back to the living room.

Happy peered in. "I'm going to run to a pet store before they close and pick up some things for the kittens."

Pepper smiled as a kitten climbed into her lap as she settled on the ground with them. "Thank you Happy."

"I have prepared a list of immediate necessities and sent it to your phone." Jarvis offered.

"Thanks Jarvis. Be back soon!" Happy left quickly.

"Jarvis, could you order some pizza? I doubt any of the Avengers will be up for preparing anything." Pepper suggested.

"Of course."

They sat around with the kittens. A black—male—two calicos—girls—a ginger tabby—another male—and finally a tiny, feisty white with a grey dot on her forehead, a final girl. Pepper knew how to identify kitten genders from cats in her past. Both calicos were dainty ladies in the making while the ginger tabby just wanted to snuggle up and sleep. The white one was ready to fight everything, purring all the while, and the black one was trying to climb everything. Well, they were all little climbers. Little, fluffy climbers.

"Steve and Agent Romanov have arrived back and are cleaning up before they join you. The pizza is on the way up with Happy and kitten supplies." Jarvis alerted them. "Sir is expected to return within half an hour."

Happy showed up, the front desk lady helping with the pizza before quickly returning to work. The kittens were devouring the new kitten food as Natasha looking comfy in jeans and a soft sweater joined them. She sat with Pepper and Felicia and the kittens.

Clint had disappeared to do his own cleanup but returned two minutes after Natasha. He and Happy plated some pizza for the girls. As soon as the little black kitten finished feasting, he went directly to Natasha and climbed up her sweater to her shoulder, leaning inquisitively towards her pizza. Felicia watched, grinning, and nearly missed the white one leaping for the slice of pizza in her hand. She fell back giggling as she tried to hold it out of reach.

Steve arrived with Tony in the elevator and they both decided to eat out of reach of the kittens. Tony's rambling about some of the technology that had been found and Felicia asked some questions that had him jabbing a finger and nodding at her with his mouth full.

Once everyone had finished eating, Tony stood saying he was heading to his lab. The ginger kitten had another idea and broke free of the cushion barricade to come racing up Tony's leg to hang purring from his chest.

This is what Bruce walked into. His eyes looked haunted but watching the kittens and Tony quickly brought a smile to his face. He came over and settled next to Felicia, accepted food from Steve. Tony immediately forgot about the lab and started rambling to Bruce who, since most of the criminal's science was bioengineering, understood more than the others.

They discussed the science as Felicia distracted the kittens from Bruce's food and asked questions about their talk.

They were so engrossed, it took Coulson dangling a wet and bedraggled cat in front of Felicia's face for them to notice his entrance. The kittens immediately began mew up at her.

"I believe this is their mother. She got caught by an agent who had to rescue another agent who accidentally soaked her with a hose." Felicia looked up at Coulson, tense, to see him just as pristine as ever except for a sleeve with several obviously new holes.

She tilted her head. "She's feisty?"

"Incredibly." He dropped her in Felicia's lap but the cat immediately left to check on all the kittens.

She hissed at everyone except for Felicia and when she turned to Bruce, who by then had a calico sleeping on his knee, she climbed into his lap and curled up with her sleeping kitted and started purring as she bathed the kitten.

Clint was grinning at the sight as he brought over a towel. "Wonder if these cats are related to Goose at all."

"It's unlikely." Coulson said as he left.

Bruce began to gently dry the mother off, getting louder purrs. The last of the haunted look left his eyes.

xXxXx

Author's note: So this is probably crap. But I wanted this to happen. I'm also writing an original story with a completely different writing style so going between the two is making it worse. I do have an announcement. I will be trying to move my stories to AO3. I will likely keep updating here as well, but if you are on AO3 my user name is the same. It might not be anytime soon, but I'm trying. If you have name ideas for the kitties, maybe leave them in a comment? I haven't named them yet. Hope you enjoyed.

Lady of the Shards