Well, with all the stuff happening, I've had a lot of time to write. I hope ya'll enjoy this filler, it set's up quite a bit. The next chapter does too. I love it when the pieces fall together. Don't forget to review guys!

0=change focus to a different character

00=scene change (no matter how big or small)

000=timeskip

F000=this means that we move back to the next avengers time.

P000= No this is not poo. it's moving back to the past.

Chapter 9: See the Connections Form

Francis was slowly beginning to come too again. He heard a high pitched occasional beeping. He had to fight against the urge to just go back to sleep. He felt like he hadn't slept properly in months, but something in him told him to wake, so he was trying to. He eventually was able to open his eyes and looked around. He seemed to be in some kind of infirmary, hooked up to a machine that was making that beeping. He felt groggy for some reason, like something wasn't quite out of his system yet.

"Welcome back to the waking world, kid," a familiar voice drew his attention to the door. The second he saw Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, standing in the doorway, what happened in the alleyway came back to him..what he could remember of it anyway. He was still processing it.

"Uh... thanks?" Francis said slowly, reaching up and rubbing his eyes. "Still not sure I'm fully in the waking world though." He paused as he realized that the colors of the room didn't look right and he didn't have his special glasses. He looked around, spotting them on a table next to him. He let out a breath of relief and grabbed them before realizing they weren't their normal color. Why were they that? A throat clear drew his attention to the doorway again. Clint was giving him a look.

"Something wrong?" The older archer asked. Francis shook his head.
"I just.. don't remember them being this weird color," he replied, glancing back down at the glasses.
"They're red. How is that a weird color?" Clint asked, not quite understanding what he was saying. This confused Francis further. Red? They'd never been red? Why were they red? That didn't help him at all.

"Nevermind… Where am I?" He asked, changing the subject. Hawkeye had what could've been considered his dad's signature eye brow raise for when he was either tabling a discussion for another day or just didn't understand something. He wasn't about to guess which it was.

"You'll find out later," Clint answered, walking into the room and sitting in the chair next to the bed. "Right now we need to figure out why AIM wanted you bad enough to attempt a kidnapping in broad daylight." Francis could tell there was a question added in his young fathers mind, but he wasn't sure to ask it. He shrugged, figuring they'd get to it eventually.

"Beats me," he said. This was so weird…

00

Pym was quietly eating some cereal in one of the main rooms, listening to a commercial with his mind elsewhere. His jaw still kind of hurt to move but he had to eat. Tony had already gotten an air mattress for his room but he didn't feel much like being in there. He'd rather be out there, looking for his friends, but Jarvis was tasked with acting like a babysitter. He could just hack the AI again, but he didn't want to give them a reason to kick him out.

He paused in his eating when he heard voices approaching outside the room.

"You get anything?" He could make out Tonys voice.

"He says he doesn't know why A.I.M is after him. He seems really confused in all honesty," Hawkeye replied, a strange tone in his voice. Pym put his spoon down and snuck closer to the door to hear.

"So do you. Still can't figure out why you wanted to keep an eye on him?"

"No, it's bugging me to no end," the frown was evident in Clints voice.

"Maybe you should try talking to Cap about it. You two might be able to figure something out," Tony suggested. The door slid open then, causing Pym to fall on the floor with a shout of surprise. The two Avengers looked at him and then behind him.
"Sounds like a good idea, Tony," Caps voice came from behind Pym, making him role onto his back to look at the soldier. He smiled sheepishly at being caught. He must've come to check on him using the other entrance to the room and Pym had been too busy listening to notice.

"What were you doing, Pym?" Tony asked, crossing his arms a bit. He didn't look mad though, just curious. This made the boy feel some relief. He'd been on the receiving end of Tony's stern look before, well Older Tony's stern look, and he didn't like it.

"Jarvis doesn't like to open doors for me, but I wanted to hear what you guys were saying so I may have been listening to your conversation?" Pym rubbed the back of his head nervously as he explained. Surprisingly, Hawkeye started laughing at the explanation. He had not expected that... "what's so funny?" He asked curiously. Tony was giving Hawkeye a look that mirrored the question.

"I don't blame you, kid. I'd be eavesdropping too if I were you, but I wouldn't have fallen on my face while doing it," Clint finally said after a moment. Pym blinked, unsure what to say. This was really Francis' dad?

"What?" was all he seemed to be able to get out. Tony shook his head while Cap offered the kid a hand. Pym took it and let out a yelp at getting pulled to his feet much quicker than expected. He brushed off his suit and gave Cap a smile of thanks.

"Okay then..." Tony said slowly and then glanced down at Pym. "Where were you trying to go that Jarvis won't let you?"

"Back to my room." Pym answered. Tony raised an eyebrow and looked up at one of the cameras in the hall. It was as if a silent question was being communicated to the AI, one that it picked up on.

"I thought it best he not be allowed to wander the tower, sir. After all, he did arrive here under strange circumstances and-"

"And saved my life. He's a very brave young man. I think you can cut him some slack, Jarvis," Steve said, placing a hand on Pyms shoulder. The boy tensed up a bit at it, mostly out of surprise more than anything else.

"Yeah, what Cap said. When I asked you to watch him I didn't mean for you to lock him in a room," Tony concurred.

"My apologizes sir, I shall change the directive then," Jarvis replies and a beeping noise confirmed that he had done so. Pym rubbed the back of his neck again.

"Thanks," he said. Tony nodded to him.

"Just don't prove me wrong, kid," Stark replied and caught the small shoulder slump on Pyms part. Cap patted his shoulder before taking his hand off it.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about Hakweye?" The soldier asked, reminding them all of the previous conversation.

"Oh, right," Hawkeye started but paused. He wasn't sure if he should talk about this in front of the kid, even if he was one of the ones who voted for him to stay with them. "I should probably show you first. Follow me." He walked away from Pym and Tony, the former of which seemed a little too curious about where they were going, and Cap followed him after a moment.

F000

The elder Tony Stark exited a room with a sigh and worry etched on his face. Torunn was by his side in a matter of moments.

"How is he?" She asked immediately. He gave her a smile and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He's fine. Just needs rest and a few good meals and he'll be recovered in no time. Azari is a strong young man."

"I know he is. I just can't imagine what he's been through. Let alone... the others," Torunn said, trailing off a bit. They'd discovered more about that lab after getting everyone to safety, but it didn't look good. Jocasta was still sorting through some of the information. He put both hands on her shoulders.

"We will find them Torunn," he said assuringly. She nodded.

"I know we will. We have to," she replied. He nodded in agreement and paused a moment.

"What do you remember of the lab we found Azari in?" He asked her. He needed to know so he could figure it out for himself. Since they woke up and the robots had disappeared, he'd been experiencing headaches, followed by visions involving Pym...and Francis. He needed to know if this was happening to her as well. "More specifically, of what happened before we woke up."

"I remember... flashes. The robots, rooftops, a young winged girl... Hawkeye..." Torunn's look turned serious. He recognized it. "What happened to Francis?" He shook his head.

"I don't know Torunn. But what happened gave us a lead, I think..." Tony replied.

"What DID happen Tony? Do we even know that?" She pointed out. He rubbed his face and took a breath. He was sorting through the snapshots of what he remembered.

"I have an idea about it.." he said. He mulled it over a second and began to walk. Torunn followed him, wanting to know. Especially now that it was essentially down to only the two of them. "There were dinosaurs and robots there, right?" Tony questioned to double check his facts.

"I believe so..." she said slowly.

"I know where we were. More specifically, when. My memory of that day is a little hazy-"

"YOUR memory is hazy? I thought you had a 'photographic memory'?" She interrupted, surprise clearly evident in his voice. He sighed, turning into his lab. This wasn't something he liked to talk about because it admitted that it was one of the things he didn't know. A lot of that pride had disappeared over the years of raising the kids, but not all of it.

"I don't like to admit it, but there is a section of time, more than one, that I'm...fuzzy on in parts. The day and event where we were is one of the ones that is like that...was like that," he began typing on his computer. Since they'd gotten access to the tower again and to his network of information, he'd been sifting through it. A number of things didn't make sense and there was still a large amount to go, but he'd remembered seeing some broken security footages in files. Jacosta was tasked with cleaning them up. "Jacosta, status on cleaning those video files?"

"I'm still working on it, but I have managed to salvage some footage," the AI replied. The footage came up and it was a little grainy. It was of a hallway. After a few moments of being in and out of static, a person appeared and ran across the screen.

"Pause it and roll it back!" Tony says quickly. Jocasta obeys and rewinds it. Then plays it. "Pause." The image stops. It's blurry and the video is still damaged but they can make out the figure. The helmet was new, but the gauntlet on his arm was unmistakable.

"Is that...?" Torunn said, trailing off. They both recognized who it was on that screen. It didn't help quell their worry.

"James," Tony replied with a nod.

"Why is James there? Is that where he's been all this time?" She has a million questions running through her head. "Where is this?" She looks at her guardian, wanting answers. He was rubbing his eyes, looking like a headache was coming on.

"The more appropriate question is 'when?' This was years before Ultrons attack. The Avengers were still together then..."

"Still together? You guys split off?"

"Before the attack, the avengers had split for years. Not just to settle down either..." Tony frowned at the memories. "It's a long story. I'd gage this to be somewhere around 2014, give or take a year."

"2014? That long ago? Why? Why there?" Torunn wondered out loud. Though she had questions about the split Tony spoke of, it wasn't what was important right now.

"I'm not sure. As I said my memories of that is hazy," he replied. "Until we were in the middle of everything going on, I hadn't a second thought of these tapes. I put Jocasta to work cleaning them up right away." Torunn shook her head, looking up at the still image of her helmet wearing friend.

"What is going on Tony?" She couldn't help the question. So little made sense right now. Their family was broken apart. Who knows what put two of them in the past or what happened to Pym! Azari was hurt. It's down to just Tony and her. It's tough times like these where James would say something to help the team spur on or give hope. James wasn't here though. He was in the past facing God knows what. They had to get back to him. They had to help their friends.

"I don't know Torunn, but we'll find out."

P000

Hawkeye and Cap stood outside the tower infirmary, looking through a computer activated one way mirror at its occupant. Cap glance between the sleeping young man and Hawkeye, somewhat seeing a resemblance.

"Tony and I stopped him from getting kidnapped when we were all at the diner. I remember looking out the window and catching sight of him. Something, I don't even know what, made me want to follow him. I'm glad I did..." Clint explained.

"I know the feeling. I'm pretty sure I recognized it on your face when you got back to the diner... what's his name?" Steve asked.

"...I forgot to ask that," Clint said, a look of realization and annoyance at himself on his face. Steve couldn't help but laugh a little at Clint's face.

"Guess I cant say much better for the kid at the carnival. We still have no proof he's Rogue, so I'll table his name for another day," Steve looked back at the young man. "He looks like you."

"Really?" Clint said, seemingly taken aback by observation. He looked back at him and blinked a little. "I don't see it." Steve shook his head at Clint.

"Well, I think so anyway. When he wakes up again, you should talk to him more. Have a proper introduction," he suggested. Clint thought about it for a few, mulling it over. Seemed like a good place to start.

"Not a bad idea. Maybe whatever conversation starts will jog his memory..."

"He's having memory issues?" Steve questioned. Clint has neglected to tell him that before.

"Yeah, somewhat. He says he doesn't remember much before the AIM attack."

"You believe him?"

"I do. His confusion at what happened is too genuine of a reaction to fake," Clint just stared at the kids sleeping face. He still couldn't place why this young man had such an affect on him. There was some kind of connection he couldn't place and it was driving him nuts.

"Well, Tony's got the best resources available. He'll get his memory back with his and your help," Steve assured him. In the back of his mind he was gaining an idea. One he'd have to check out later.

"Hopefully. I'm gonna sit in there for a bit. I'll keep you in the loop, maybe we can figure out whatever is going on," Clint said and began to leave Steve to go into the room. Steve nodded and looked back through the one-way. However, he soon looked back at Cline, seeing that he had paused in the doorway. "Oh and Cap? There's something I need to tell you about the kid from the carnival..." Steve raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wondering what this information is.

"What about him?" He asked after a second too long of silence had passed between them. "He's homeless," Clint told him. Steve looked bewildered by this news. If he was homeless, why go to a carnival? Shouldn't he save his money for other things? And why hadn't he been able to guess that? The kid hadn't looked homeless when he saw them. He seemed in perfect health and hygiene.

"How do you know this?" He asked. Clint sighed leaning against the door slightly.

"When Sam and I went to get food for the team the day after the first attack from Rogue, we came back and said we'd seen Rogue, the kid, whatever his name is, there. What we didn't tell you was that we followed him from the diner to one of the abandoned apartment buildings in the lower sector of the city. He was living in one of the more stable rooms it looked like," Hawkeye explained, knowing the question that would come next.

"How come you didn't share this sooner?" Cal asked, still absorbing the information and making a mental note to talk to Falcon later. Clint shrugged.

"At the time, I honestly didn't think we'd see the kid again, and technically we still haven't since we have no proof that he and Rogue are the same person. It seemed like an in sequential detail that I forgot about with everything that's been going on. But now..." Hawkeye paused, looking back at the sleeping young man before looking back at Cap. "Now I know how you've been feeling since we met the kid and I was reminded of it. Thought you deserved to know. Who knows, maybe it'll help us figure this whole thing out." He looked back at the young man. Steve mulled it over a bit, but wasn't upset at Hawkeye for keeping this from him.

"Maybe. Thank you for sharing this, Hawkeye. I'll look into it, you just look after him," He told him, giving a small gesture towards their newest guest. Clint nodded and then entered the infirmary, closing the door behind him. Steve took a moment to reflect on things while looking through the one way. He glanced between Hawkeye and the young man once more. The resemblance was clearly there. Maybe there was more to all of this than they'd realized yet, but hopefully this new puzzle piece will help them work to figure it out. He turned and walked away from the infirmary. He had some research to do.

Heheheehe, the plot thickens! How will this change things? What is going on with Hawk? Will I ever answer these questions? Yes! Stay tune for the further chapters where the real fun begins!

~March 28, 2020~