AN: Tumblr prompt: could you do avengers meet ice prince danny? (the au where he was raised by frostbite and has an ice limb and everything) thank you! 3

Drabble 86-Ice Son

"Father's going to freeze me," Danny muttered under his breath. He scratched his head with his right arm-the ice one-and looked around the city. It was quite strange, and definitely different than the Far Frozen, and the ice villages there. These building were made of glass and stone, and held up under the hot summer sun. They were tall, too, and there were these weird machines that made constant noise. He observed the people around him. They had various shades of skin, but none were like his pale blue due to being the Ice Child. This place was strange, but Danny still found no reason to dislike it.

None of the humans seemed to notice that he was blue or that his skin was hard and cold compared to their warm, fleshy bodies. He was unnatural, and he knew that, but everybody was to caught up in their own lives to notice one oddity.

Except one.

It was a little ways into his walk when Danny realized someone was following him. From the glimpses he had of the man, he could tell that there was short, sandy hair and a determined look in his eyes. He strode but kept his distance, waiting to see what he would do. This was understandable, and Danny really, really didn't want to get on anybody's wrong side in this weird warm world where everything, even inanimate objects, we alive and thriving and making noise and waking up. This mortal world was his new drug. It was strange how in just a few hours he became addicted to the smell of the trees from the large Park and the sounds of construction and footsteps. People would go underground to catch a machine to go somewhere great. He was addicted to living. And really, that was the saddest part, because he knew he would never be able to experience it like them.

He kept walking and watching, and after a while the sun beating down on him made him forget about the person following him. He needed something cool. Like shade, or snow. He couldn't go inside anywhere because then people would see him, but maybe the dark spaces in between the buildings. What were they called again? It didn't matter as long as he could get to one and rest.

The next open one was just a few buildings down, and he quickly ducked down into it, leaning against the wall and wiping away the sweat that had covered his skin. He had only ever sweat once before, and he had to admit that it was definitely an uncomfortable sensation. He doesn't drink anything to sustain himself, so technically speaking there shouldn't even be water coming from his skin. He talked to his father about it once before, and the great leader of the Far Frozen had said that too much heat it catastrophic. That the sweat wasn't water he had drunk, but the ice that coarse through his veins, and his ice core begging for mercy.

Danny let his eyes close as he leaned his head back against the wall, pulling at his ice core to bring the sweet cold throughout his body. And while it gave him a sense of relief, it was short lived, and caused a major spike of pain in his chest. It was so bad that he became speechless, falling to his hands and knees and clutching his chest with his flesh hand. His other, the one of ice and bone, held him up, but Danny doubted that it would last if he couldn't get somewhere cold soon. His concentration and core kept it intact and moving, and if that was gone than so was his arm.

He sat up on his knees, clutching his shoulder where ice met flesh and tried to pull himself together. It was too hot, and he had waited to long to cool down. He knew it would take a cool minute to do so. Maybe he could wait until night to continue his adventure. Night was always cooler and the social atmosphere was different as well, so he would still be experiencing something new.

"Hey, kid, you okay?"

His icy eyes flew open as he looked over at the man who spoke. He couldn't see many of the man's features, but he could tell it was the blonde who had been following him. He nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat before answering.

"Yeah. Yeah, I just need to cool off," he answered.

"Maybe you could try this," the man said as he opened his coat and took something out of it. It was the size of his palm and pill shaped. The bright blue light stood out against the black material that held it in. Danny opened his mouth to ask what it was, but before he could it was pressed against the back of his neck and activated.

Cold immediately ran down his spine and to his core, providing a sort of relief that would have taken him hours to achieve. He sighed in relief and relaxed.

"Uh, I think your crown is melting, dude."

Danny made a sort of weird throat noise before he grabbed the floating sign of his power and held it in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over his father's careful, detailed work. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over it, letting his ice wash over it to fix what had been lost. It wasn't the first time he had had to fix it, and a part of him knew it certainly wouldn't be the last. But he had spent centuries memorizing the ridges of the elegant design.

"Thank you for your assistance," Danny said as he stood up. He placed his hand over his shoulder again, hardening the ice of his arm before giving it a little shake and holding it out for the man to shake.

Thankfully, he did.

"Name's Clint," he said.

"I'm Danny."

"Right," Clint said, letting go. "So, uh, no offense or anything but what are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Clint sighed and rubbed his toes into the ground. "What I mean is, you're blue and almost melted, and you have an ice arm? I mean, come on. I know you may be a lot of things, but human obviously isn't one of them."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong, I suppose," Danny spoke, giving Clint a tiny shrug. But he was the prince of the Far Frozen. He couldn't just announce who he was. That was literally asking for bad guys to come and invade or asking for someone to hurt him. He couldn't do this out in the open, and he most certainly couldn't tell a stranger.

All of these thoughts swarmed in his mind, and still for some reason, he felt compelled to tell this person. His father had always told him he could read people without noticing. That all he had to do was follow his gut and it would eventually lead him down the right path. His gut was saying he could trust this man. But everyone else in the streets shouldn't be allowed to know.

"Um...It's kind of personal," he finally answered. "And I can tell you, but just not here. Just in case there are any prying ears."

"Well, you should start worrying about prying eyes. If you wanted to stay a secret you shouldn't have been just walking on the sidewalk with everyone else. You're lucky I noticed you first. But, uh, anyway, you want somewhere private to talk? We could go to my place."

"That would be best, I think. Thank you, Clint."

"Yeah, no problem, kid."

Clint looked over at Danny as they walked into the elevator of the Tower. It was the Avengers' personal one, and was one of two in the building that took them all the way up to the living quarters. He hadn't really noticed it on the subway ride over, or the two block walk from there to the Tower, but now that he was in a confined space with the kid, he realized he was freezing. He was sure that if he tried he would have been able to see his breath. Danny, though, didn't even seem to notice that it was cold, or that he was slowly turning Clint into an archercicle. He had always sort of looked up to Steve but that didn't mean he wanted to follow in the guy's footprints exactly.

There weren't many Avengers that were in the living area. Thor was off-world, and he was pretty sure Nat and Wanda were somewhere in Malta on off-record unofficial-official Shield business. That left Bruce, Steve, Tony, and Vision, who he was sure would be no help. Steve was the only one on the couch, bent over a sketch[ad while the TV played some Disney movie he hadn't seen yet. He didn't look up when they walked in and said hi, but when they walked over to him to ask where he knew Tony was, he became as stiff as a board. Clint hadn't even said anything yet. But when Steve's eyes zeroed in on Danny, he understood completely. He had seen that look in the mirror. He placed a strong hand on Steve's shoulder and squeezed it slightly, enough to ground him.

"Hey, where's Tony? We all need to talk."

"In the lab with Bruce I think," Steve said. His voice was even, but Clint heard the speed of which the words were said. They were a bit rushed as he stood up, placing his unfinished drawing on the coffee table over one of the stains Clint accidentally made.

"Cool. Grab a hoodie and meet us down there," Clint said. Steve nodded, and Clint was pretty sure that it was relief in the eyes of the soldier when he looked over at him once more before leaving. Jesus, if he was like that around Danny he couldn't imagine what winter was like for the guy.

"Before we head up so you can explain everything, do you want anything to eat?" Clint asked, turning to Danny who was looking around the living room in a sort of awe.

"Oh, no, I'm good. I don't really eat or anything," Danny replied casually.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I'm a-"

"-Mr. Barton, Stark requests your presence in the lab. I believe he wishes to ask you about the boy," Friday told them. Clint sighed and nodded, waving the AI off. He liked Jarvis way more.

"Yeah, yeah," he told her, "tell them we're on our way." He turned to Danny, who was looking a little intimidated by the disembodied voice of the Tower. "Come on, kid. Let's head up to the lab."

He nodded and followed Clint back into the elevator to go four floors up to Tony and Bruce's playground. They were in the middle of working on something or other when they walked in. Clint took one of the stools and told Danny to sit, while he himself hopped up on the counter. By that time Steve had joined them in the biggest, comfiest hoodie he had, which, much to Clint's amusement, was an Iron Man hoodie.

"Who's the kid?" Tony asked, placing his goggles around his neck. Clint gestured to Danny and gave Tony a look.

"Ask him yourself, dude."

"Who are you?" Tony asked, turning to Danny. He hugged his arms close to his chest, and Clint listened as he watched the floating crown move with Danny's head. He looked up at Clint, who smiled and nodded, before he answered.

"My name is Danny. I am the son of Frostbite, who is the leader of the Far Frozen. Um, I'm a ghost. I have an ice core. I like long flights through the blizzard, and I really, really love space."

"Wait," Steve said, stepping forth. "You're a ghost?" Danny nodded and held out his hand, forming some weird, jagged piece of ice. Before anyone could even think of asking him what that was for, he dragged it across the palm of his hand, letting green slime ooze out of the wound. They watched as it sealed itself up all nice and neat like nothing had even happened. He wiped the green stuff on his pants.

"That's why I don't eat or sleep and stuff. I don't really need to."

"Can you fly?" Bruce asked, pushing up his glasses. Danny nodded and floated a few inches off of the chair before sitting back down.

"Clint, where did you find him?" Tony asked.

"Melting in an ally. Same old, I guess," he replied, completely serious.

Clint looked over at Danny again while Tony talked to him, or Bruce. He wasn't really paying attention. Tuning Tony out had become an automatic response to hearing Stark's voice. But this time he at least had an excuse. The room was getting colder, and while it wasn't necessarily written on Danny's forehead, his body language told Clint he was anxious. But he was dead, what did he have to worry about?

"How did you get here, Danny?" Steve asked him, pulling his hoodie tighter around him. he felt it too, but Steve would probably just chalk it up to coming closer to the kid.

"I fell into a natural portal. I really should have been paying more attention, though," he berated himself. "I mean, they're pretty common in the Ghost Realm, I should have been watching where I was going."

"Then what were you doing walking around New York?" Clint asked, hopping down from the counter so he could lean on it instead.

"Well, I've never been outside of the Ghost Realm. I wanted to see the sights before I went back."

"So...You're a glorified, super powered tourist?" Tony asked. Bruce elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look.

"...Yeah, I guess so."

"How do we get you back home?" Bruce asked.

"Well, I don't really think there's much you can do. But I can fly around, look for a natural portal and pray that it'll take me back to the Ghost Realm. Or someone from there will come here and drag me back. I haven't been able to form portals yet, but my friend Wulf can. My dad can too, but I would rather have Wulf find me," Danny said. He had a fond smile on his face as he thought of his furry friend slobbering all over the place. He looked up at the humans, but his expression quickly changed. All four of them were starring at something behind Danny, speechless and dumbfounded.

"DO you not want your father to embarrass you?" Someone said behind him. Danny whirled around, only to see his father's large, intimidating figure. His ice arm scratched his chest before being crossed over his chest with his flesh one. His glowing blue eyes pierced through Danny, who sighed and hung his head.

"I'm not grounded again, am I?" He asked. "It was an accident this time, I swear, dad!"

"Dad?" Tony asked, shocked. He turned to Bruce, then to Clint, then to Danny and his father. Then he leaned over to Clint and whispered, "I feel sorry for his mother."

Tony's ribs were gonna be pretty bruised up by tomorrow if he kept this up.

"Sure it was, son. You can tell me all about it while you clean the stables."

"It really was an accident."

Frostbite stopped halfway through the portal and turned back around, glaring at Clint, and keeping his son behind him protectively.

"And who, I ask, are you?"

He walked over to them, letting the portal disappear. Clint tried his best to keep his cool, but when an eight-foot ice-cyborg yeti towered over you, you had to resist the urge to suddenly use the bathroom. Clint took a breath and stood up straighter, holding out his hand. It was microscopic compared to the ghost's.

"My name's Clint, sir. I helped your kid out. Stopped him from melting. But what he's saying is true. Him being here really was an accident. See, part of my job is to tell when people are lying, and your son? He told nothing but the truth."

"Hm...Perhaps." His hand shot out and shook Clint's smaller one, nodding at the human with respect. "Well, it would be rude of me to not thank you for helping him out. If you ever find yourself in the Ghost Realm or the Far Frozen, just know you have allies there, Clint."

"Thank you, sir. We appreciate it. And Danny and yourself are welcome back anytime as well."

"Isn't that a group-" Tony never got to finish his sentence thanks to Steve stepping in.

"Thank you, Humble One. We may return in due time."

The portal opened again, revealing a snowy wasteland that was in the middle of the blizzard. Before stepping through, Danny ducked under Frsotbite and waved at the heroes, giving them all a giant grin. Frostbite nodded to them, stepped through after his son, and disappeared. Tony turned to them all.

"The next person who elbows me to shut up is gonna seriously regret it."

"Well," Clint laughed. "Not as much as you'll regret talking tomorrow."

"Sure, Barton. Sure."