Tony and Dean were still sitting on the couch when the front door swung open and Nat came barreling in.

"Becky Walters? Seriously? She's my age! That's disgusting Dean, you pervert!" She shouted at her foster brother.

"Nat!" Tony chided.

Dean stood and marched right up to the sixteen year old.

"She didn't think it was disgusting when I had my fingers up her-"

"Dean!" Tony shouted, cutting him off.

The two teens stared at each other, no further than three feet apart, before Nat pounced on him.

Dean thought he could fight, but he was nothing compared to Nat. It was all he could do to defend himself as she punched, kicked and tried her damndest to get him down.

"Nat!" Someone screamed.

"Dean!" That was Sammy. Dean knew that scream no matter what and Sammy needed him.

Unfortunately, the one second he turned to look for his brother was the one second Nat needed and she caught him with a blow to his chest, bringing him to the ground. Nat jumped on top of him and was about to cause him further pain before her weight was lifted from him rather suddenly.

Dean opened his eyes and saw Thor with a struggling Nat in his arms, fighting him to get to Dean.

Tony ran and was kneeling by Deans head. "Dean are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

Dean slowly shook head, watching Nat glare at him with murderous eyes.

"Great job Thor, we've got our hands full at the moment, can you please bring Nat to the gym? Maybe help her work it out?" Steve was talking very gently and quietly. "Tony? Bruce needs your help right now, I'll tend to Dean."

Thor all but threw Nat over his oversized shoulder and marched off into the hall. Bruce on the other hand was still standing in the front entrance. His head was down, fingers twisted in the bottom of his jacket as he shifted his weight from side to side.

Tony brushed his hand through Deans hair then stood to help Bruce. As Steve made his way over to Dean, the teen saw that Tony was talking quietly to Bruce.

"Dean, are you okay?" Sam ran and nearly tackled his brother in a hug.

"Oof. Well if I wasn't, you collapsing on top of me isn't gonna help, ya dork." Dean teased as he hugged his brother back. "I'm just fine Sammy. You know I'm invincible!"

"Sam, I need you to let go of Dean so I can make sure he's really okay and not just being a macho man." Steve was smiling as he helped Sam off the older teen. "Sam, Clint, why don't the two of you start your homework?"

"No thank you Steve. I want to stay with Dean." Sam didn't even glance at Steve as he watched Dean sit up.

"Yeah papa, I'm gonna stay right here." Clint hadn't moved from his spot and his face was white as a sheet.

"Alright Dean, take a deep breath for me." Steve had his hands on either side of Dean's ribcage, assessing his breathing. "Any pain?" Dean shook his head. "Okay, well I don't think anything's broken, you'll have to thank Thor for reacting so quickly or that might not have been the case."

"I'm sorry about her!" Clint shouted suddenly.

Dean looked at Clint in confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know, she's my sister and she hurt you and-I-I'm sorry Dean!" Clint's whole demeanour was completely different from the usual boisterous prankster the boys had met. In his place stood a small boy, his head hanging low and feet shuffling, as if he couldn't decide whether to run or stay put.

Steve went to reach for the child, but Dean was faster. He launched himself to his feet and knelt in front of Clint, trying to catch his eye.

"Hey. Hey Clint. I want you to look at me. Can you do that?" Dean was speaking low and grazed his fingertips at Clint's wrists. "Clint please I want to say something to you and I need you to look at me when I say it."

Clint lifted his head slightly.

"Good job Clint, thank you. Now listen very carefully. You do not have to apologize for what Nat did. She is her own person who makes her own decisions and if she feels she wants to apologize to me, she will. You did absolutely nothing wrong Clint. Do you hear that? You did nothing wrong and you never have to apologize when you didn't do anything. Okay?" Dean explained to the boy softly, holding one of his hands and rubbing his other hand down Clint's arm. "Do you understand?"

Clint nodded, then wrapped Dean in a tight hug. Both Steve and Sam could see Dean tense, then melt into the hug, pulling Clint close before letting go.

"Now. I believe your papa told you to do your homework. You better get on it so you can beat the next level of your game tonight! If you don't I will!" Dean teased as Clint chucked. Clint headed towards the stairs with a small smile towards his father.

"That was really good Dean." Steve spoke. Dean was still kneeling, facing away from Steve and his brother.

"Dean?" Sam called out.

"You better join him Sammy, you know he needs help with his spelling." Dean smiled at his brother before shooing him up the stairs.

"I'm really proud of you Dean."

Dean shrugged. "I may not know much, but I know how to deal with scared little brothers."

Steve placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Yes, you do. And now that your little brothers are gone, how are you really?"

The teen shook his head. "Why did she attack me? I know I was being a shit, and anywhere else I would've expected it, but- "

"I can't pretend to know what's in Natasha's mind. But we can ask her. How about we go to the gym and check up on her? Both Thor and I will be there to intervene should she want to hurt you again. Hopefully we can figure out what happened." Steve suggested.

Dean nodded. "Hey, where did Tony go?"

The man sighed. "Do you remember how we said that Bruce sometimes gets meltdowns?"

"I caused him to have one? I'm so sorry!" Dean immediately apologized.

"Hey, no it's no ones fault. I think it was just a lot happening a little too fast and too loud for him. Tony is the best one to help calm him down so I'm guessing the two went to Bruce's room for a bit." Steve gave Dean his reassurance.

"Now," The blonde man stood up and held a hand out for Dean. "How's your courage level? We're about to check on an angry Russian redhead with martial arts training. You ready?" He teased.

Dean smiled and took the offered hand. "Only if you go in first."