I am back! Again! It was kind of difficult getting into the groove of this chapter so it took a little longer than I thought it would. It was the same thing as chapter 12…a lot of deleting and rewriting. I also kind of have this nasty cold that is throwing me off, (I just sneezed on my computer screen and am screaming internally. This cold won't go away and I'm sick of sniffling all day).

IMPORTANT: So, I realized from a review I made a mistake (I can't find the person but thank you so much for saying something), and it turns out I accidently aged Elli a year too much haha. She is supposed to be turning six, so I went back in chapter 13 and changed it.

Thanks to all my reviewers. I love reading your thoughts on the story. Also, to dbr: you are absolutely right. I have a sadistic heart which is why this chapter exists now. I hope it meets your expectations, I'll probably torture the Avengers a little more next chapter haha

QueenofNetflix: I hope your head is alright, I was so concerned I got my act together and finished the chapter lol.

Guest that wants to tie me to a chair: I loved your review (both of them?). They were quite enjoyable. Keep being you, guest.

And thanks for those who added me to the communities they run. Totally awesome and appreciated.

Alright enough chatter. Let's get on with it…

I don't own the avengers or anything to do with Marvel.


"Shit is right," Tony almost growls at the vent as he pulls his daughter closer to him. He is mostly annoyed with himself—he should've realized the archer was in the ventilation system, the man had been missing for the past few days. Coulson probably knew all along, the jackass.

Clint isn't sure if he should try to crawl away or sit still and wait for Stark to maim him.

"DADDY," Elli gasps as she gently slaps Tony's shoulder, breaking the tension easily, "you're not supposed to say that word!"

"Yes, yes," her daddy sighs, before plopping her down on the hospital bed, eyes still trained on the vent, "swearing is bad. Munchkin knows best."

Elli nods her head in satisfaction as Fury walks into the room with Coulson. Her stern gaze lights up in excitement as she floats over to her grandfather.

"Papa! I made a new friend! He's coming to my party," Releasing her powers, Elli falls into her Papa's waiting arms. He pretends to drop her before swooping her up into a tight hug, making her giggle with glee.

"I never said yes, young lady," Tony walked over and poked the white haired child on the nose before snapping a new bracelet on her wrist, her features instantly changing to match his. Clint can't help but watch with interest, the kid looked like a carbon copy of Stark now. Female and tiny, but extremely similar all the same. Elli gives her daddy the best puppy eyes she can muster as Coulson pulls the now dark brown mane into a somewhat tamed ponytail.

"New friend?" Fury raises his eyebrows at Tony before following the billionaire's eyes to the vent. The director makes a noise of understanding before having a silent conversation with the man he's come to see as a son.

"Elli, why don't you go with your Papa and decide what kind of cake you want?" Fury is already walking toward the door, ready to let Tony and Coulson handle the archer.

Forgetting her new friend for a moment, Elli's eyes light up at the thought of sugary goodness. She looks her Papa dead in the eye, her small hands on his shoulders.

"I want mint chocolate chip," Coulson laughs at the youngest Stark's face, determination shining through her golden eyes.

"That isn't cake, that is an ice cream," his voice is patient as Fury walks through the sliding door and out into the hallway.

"Make it a cake then!"

Tony actually cracks a smile as the glass door slides shut, cutting off their conversation. His daughter had an addiction. He and Coulson share a glance before turning back to the vent and the still frozen archer.

"Barton, I'm not talking to you while you're in a vent so you better get your ass out here," Tony finishes stuffing Hulkie into the duffel as Clint guiltily removes the vent cover and hops down. Rocking on his heels, the archer tries to avoid the billionaire's eyes.

"So, you sat in a vent for five days to spy on my kid?" Clint feels his face flush, Stark made him sound like a weirdo.

"I…I just," Barton ran a hand through his hair, trying not to squirm. He was grateful Stark wasn't blasting him with the Iron Man suit, but maybe that would've been more comfortable, "I just wanted to make sure she was alright. That I-I didn't cause too much damage—"

"You skewered her with an arrow," Tony was sitting now, legs crossed, in the chair Fury had brought the first night Elli had been injured. The memory of Tony sitting at his broken child's bedside made Clint pale along with the flinch the genius's words had brought.

"I-I'm so sorry," Stark was staring at him with no emotion traceable on his face, Coulson stood to his side as unreadable as ever, "I know that probably means absolutely nothing to you, but I am so very God damn sorry. I can't tell you how many times I wished I could take it back, or that I had even just hesitated on Cap's order. Not that I'm blaming Cap, I take full responsibility…I just need you to know how sorry I am Tony."

Both men said nothing in response, Stark only quirking an eyebrow causing Clint to try to swallow down the lump growing in his throat.

"And I know nothing I ever do will change what I did, but these last few days have been killing me. I shot my teammates kid, and God, I couldn't even begin to imagine what I would do in your position."

Clint looked everywhere but his teammate. He knew the man deserved to be looked in the eye, but he was sure that he might run out of the room if he did. The archer settled to look at the floor. Footsteps echoed in his ears until he was staring down at Stark's shoes.

"So I can't shoot Cooper then?" Clint's head shot up to see Tony smirking at his look of horror, "No eye for an eye, skewered kid for a skewered kid? I'm kidding of course, your kid would never recover as fast as mine and then he would miss her party."

"…What?" Barton felt his jaw drop as he looked between Stark's shit-eating grin and Coulson's calculated smile.

"Laura is a lovely woman, very nice on the phone. How old is Lila anyways? 5? 6? Elli's turning 6. Maybe the girls could have scheduled playdates," Tony seemed to be seriously contemplating this as he scrolled through his phone's calendar.

"You told him?!" Clint glares at Coulson, he had thought his handler would keep his secret to his grave.

"No, I didn't," the agent remains unaffected by Clint's glare, "Fury told him."

"Wha-why would Fury tell him?" All this time, Clint thought Fury hated Stark and here the man is telling the archer's deepest darkest secret to Tony like it's no big deal.

"To calm me down," Stark returned his phone to his back pocket before resting his hands on his hips, "he explained the whole secret 007 family thing and convinced me you would never hurt Elli on purpose. He figured you were wallowing in a puddle of guilt somewhere from causing what you fear the most. Plus, it wasn't really your call, so I can't blame you."

"Only Stark knows, Fury and I agreed to let you decide if you want to tell the others," of course Natasha already knew, Coulson was referring to Banner, Rogers, and Thor.

"…wow," Clint wasn't sure what to say, he felt like a few days ago he and Tony polar opposites, but now he realized they had a lot more in common than he originally thought. He felt a lot of regret thinking about the past year he had spent on a team with this man. If only he had been more open and trusting with his teammate, they might've avoided this situation.

"Don't go apologizing again," Tony glared at the sad puppy look on Clint's face, "I already forgave you, go beg Fury for forgiveness if you want to grovel to someone."

"Why would I apologize to Fury?" He would have to thank Fury for smoothing things over with Tony, but an apology didn't seem necessary.

"Well, you did shoot his grandbaby," Coulson laughs dryly before exiting the room.

"…Oh my God," Clint felt the panic rising in his stomach, Elli had called the man Papa multiple times, only now did the connection click, "Ooooohhhh my God."

"Yep, Fury has been Papa for a while now," Tony picked up the duffle of Elli's stuff and started strolling out the door, "He's a fantastic baker, makes the cake for the party every year."

"Oh my God I am going to die."


Natasha and Steve sat at the round table on the main deck. Banner had returned to the tower a few days prior at Stark's insistence. The man had wanted to disappear again—he was sure the team was finished, having injured a teammate's child—but, Stark had caught the genius before he could wander off. The doctor had apologized which Tony had brushed off immediately, after all the man hadn't even been there. He had probably been wandering in search of pants. During one of Pepper's visits, Tony had herded Bruce into her general direction, volunteering the shy man to be part of the red head's decorating team for the youngest Stark's party. Banner had never seen so many streamers in his life.

After failing to locate Loki, Thor returned to Asgard to inform the All-Father of the resident Skīr-r and of Loki's interest in her. He had offered to take the Skīr-r with him—which was met with much animosity from those who considered her family. He amended his offer to bringing back an Asgardian healer before Tony politely declined and informed the God that Elli had a personal doctor. Thor nodded despite not believing a Midguardian doctor being qualified to treat a Skīr-r, he did not wish to upset the Man of Iron further. Promising to return soon, Thor called to Heimdall before being whisked away.

Natasha tapped at a tablet, glancing at the Captain every once in a while. For the past few days the man had been drowning in a sea of regret.

Tony's eyes are like ice, but Natasha wouldn't be surprised if the man started shooting heat beam out of his eyes at any minute. From the second the billionaire had walked into the room, a fight had been ready to break out between Captain America and Iron Man.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Even though Steve felt terrible for what had happened, he honestly felt that this whole thing could've been avoided if Stark trusted his team more.

"I saw no reason to," After the child had woken up after surgery, Coulson had practically dragged Tony from Elli's room. What the man had expected, Stark wasn't sure. He'd rather be with his daughter than his idiot teammates.

"But we are your team, you should have trusted us!" Tony felt a white heat rushing to his head, trust in Captain Fucking America to turn his daughter being shot by an arrow—on the man's own goddamn orders, he might add—to a lecture on how Tony is a poor teammate.

"Trust? You want to talk about goddamn trust, Rogers?" Tony was in the man's face now, practically snarling, "Since the moment we met, you have shown just how much you don't like me. Every single thing I say, every decision, is wrong to you. Now tell me, why should I trust Elli to you? When have you ever trusted me?"

"How could I have known—"

"What? That I'm not how the media portrays me? That I don't bring a woman home every night? That I'm not an alcoholic? There is no way you could have known any of that," they're both red faced now, Stark breathing a little heavy, "because you never bothered to get to know me. None of you cared to get to know me."

There was a heavy silence after that, Rogers still visibly fuming but having nothing to say in response. Stark sighed as his coloring returned to normal.

"Elli is special, not just because of the Skīr-r thing," Tony dismisses the term Skīr-r with a wave of his hand, it meant nothing to him—Elli was just Elli. He takes a deep breath trying to calm himself, "Maybe I should have told the team, but seeing how you treated her, like a goddamn monster, I don't regret it. She isn't some mythical Asgardian legend, Rogers. She's my baby girl and I'm going to protect her no matter what."

Steve has the decency to look somewhat ashamed, Natasha can't help but feel guilty herself. Stark looks tired and slightly dejected as he steps away from the Captain.

"You know what the worst part is?" Steve says nothing, just stares down Tony, "You were her hero. The person she looked up to. For weeks she has been talking about it, her birthday I mean—the theme of the goddamn party was supposed to be Captain Freaking America. She and Coulson had been trying to convince me to ask you to come."

The billionaire can't help but laugh—out of frustration or disappointment, Natasha couldn't tell. He remembered earlier that day when Pepper had brought a mended Captain America doll, tight stitches barely noticeable in the neckline. Elli had shied away from her once favorite toy before ducking under the covers, refusing to talk to anyone until Pepper left with the doll.

"Now I think you're what she fears the most."

Steve had been torturing himself since then. He wanted to go find Tony and apologize, but he was terrified to see the child he had hurt so badly. Today was the day Tony was going back to the tower. Steve hoped to see him before he left; he wasn't sure if he was still welcome in the man's home. He seriously doubted it.

Looking him over, he looked terrible. He hadn't shaved and had dark bags under his slightly bloodshot eyes. Natasha was sure that if he didn't have the super serum running through his veins, Steve would look a lot worse. Not wanting to be around his misery anymore, she got up and began walking toward the dining hall. It was on her way that she heard it, the voice she had heard in Fury's office before the fight with Loki. Unable to help herself, Natasha followed the voice until she spotted them.

"How about a chocolate cake with mint frosting," Fury was holding a dark haired child with chocolate colored eyes. It took her a moment to realize it was Eleanor Stark.

"And chocolate chips!" Fury chuckles as they continue down the hallway towards his office, Natasha following behind. It was surreal to hear the director laugh like that.

"And chocolate chips, of course," the most feared spy in the world stops to nuzzle noses with the little Stark, "Will you help me bake it, baby girl?"

"Of course Papa!" Natasha can't help but freeze as Fury blows a raspberry into the child's neck, causing squeal of laughter. The pair disappears into the director's office as the Black Widow comes to a terrifying realization.

They had shot Nick Fury's grandchild.

They were so dead.

******YEP******

Alright, so Tony doesn't hate everyone. That's good. Next chapter will be Elli's birthday party, with the Avengers fearing Fury's wrath haha. And don't worry, I promise Elli will eventually forgive Captain America. Pepper hasn't thrown out the Cap doll yet.

I feel like my earlier chapters went at such a faster pace, that this kind of normal time progression is throwing me off. I mean technically 5 days has passed and Tony did a bunch of forgiving so it's ok?

I decided to include Clint's family. I just think it'll be really cute for the kids to meet each other and Tony and Clint dadding out together.

Update on my Pokemon Go travels, I caught a jigglypuff today at the grocery store. My life is complete, my childhood dreams fulfilled.