Hehehehehe! You guys have no idea how excited I am to have finally reached this chapter! I've literally been planning this since I came up with the idea of this story.

Hope you enjoy!

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 13: Head to Head part 1

000

(~One week later~The Tower Training Room~Francis~)

Training bots floated in the air, moving around them rapidly. Francis carefully watched them, a novice bow in his hands. He wasn't happy about using the beginner bow as his younger father insisted, but he knew that he could hit a target with anything, whether that be a novice bow, advanced bow, or something simple like a knife or rock. He saw that three training bots were going to be coming together. They blended into the wall a bit for him, the colors being very similar, but he knew they were there. He'd lived a lot of years fighting robots before he got his glasses. The color issue didn't affect his aim.

He drew back the bow and fired. Listening as the arrow flew through the air and went through all three training bots just as they lined up, pinning the last one to the wall. He grinned, turning to his younger father.

"Told you I could do it," he said, prompting a laugh from Clint. He'd had a challenge from him after a week of observation, receiving the all clear from Jarvis to leave the infirmary and Tony was able to check his eyes. That last part he didn't get, but it got him in the training room, proving his aim to and spending time with the younger version of his father. Even though he's not technically his father at this time, he was soaking up every minute spent with him. He did his best to ignore the pit in his stomach that had formed a week earlier when he was told the Avengers know who he and Pym are, but it was still present.

"Not bad kid. Guess I did a good job teaching you," Clint said, impressed.

"I'm nineteen, I'm not a kid. But yeah, you did," Francis admitted with a grin. He tossed the bow from one hand to the other and held it out to the older Hawkeye. "Will you let me use a more advanced bow now?" Clint studied him a moment before taking the bow.

"Sure. Let's head to my room," He agreed, heading towards the door of the training room, turning off the simulation. the training bots flew back to their storage in the walls as Francis followed Clint out of the room. He hadn't gotten to see much of the tower when leaving the infirmary to find Pym before his migraine. Now he was taking in what it looked like compared to the tower of their time. It's nuts how different it was. It didn't take long to reach Hawkeye's room. It was surprisingly cool. Pool table, different types of arrows, boys, devices for tips, tv etc. A big window took up one wall, looking out at the city.

"Whoa," Francis said, impressed. He hadn't expected his dads room to be…well like this. Clint entered, smirking slightly to Francis' reaction to his room. Francis was right behind him. He kept glancing around the room at everything there, including stuff they didn't have anymore because of Ultron. Halfway through the room, he caught a glimpse of the view from the window. He couldn't look away. Stepping closer to the window, he saw practically the whole city from there. So full of life. He hadn't even realized his father was talking to him. He was so caught up in the difference. This wasn't the same city. He felt that same feeling as when he'd left Ultra City with his team that first time. It was so big, so populated, and absolutely breathtaking. He could hardly reconcile the fact that the city would one day look so different.

"It's quite a view, Huh?" Clint's voice was right next to him, making Francis jump a bit. He looked at his father and then back at the city.

"Yeah. It's almost hard to believe this is how the city is. It's really big," the young archer said, sounding as in awe as he felt. He could feel his fathers eyes on him.

"What's it like where you're from?" Clint asked. Francis tried to think of a good answer.

"Different. Really different," he said, settling on being vague. He felt like he shouldn't say much else. His tone portrayed that it wasn't all good. He looked at his fathers face. Clint seemed to be attempting to decipher the meaning behind those words. He clearly had hoped for more than that. "What bow can I use?" He changed the subject. His father raised an eyebrow but seemed to allow the subject change.

"Oh right," Clint walked over to the main area where he kept his bows when he wasn't working on them. He examined them a moment, then picked up one of the bows he doesn't use much anymore but was still in great shape. "Try this one." He said, gently tossing it in Francis' direction. The young archer caught it easily and examined it. He blinked slightly in recognition. The bow was similar to the one he used in the future. He smiled, testing the string and the bow strength.

"This'll be perfect," he said. "Thanks." Clint patted his shoulder.

"Hey, you proved you can use it in that training room," His father replied. "No need for thanks." Something new seemed to come into his mind. "Did I ever teach you anything other that how to use a bow?" Francis nodded.

"You taught me a lot. How to use your surroundings, fighting techniques, looking for weak points, anticipating the enemies move... stuff like that," Francis replied nonchalantly, once again seemingly occupied by examining the bow again. "And how to make my own arrows."

"I taught you how to survive..." Clint said, a tone in his voice of confusion, but also of disappointment or...was that sadness? Francis glanced at him. The look on his younger fathers face was hard to read. "I didn't do anything fun with you? Like throw a baseball or show you how to play pool?" Oh, now he understood. Everything Francis listed was things he had to know and were necessary for him to be able to keep surviving with the Scavengers in case his father ever didn't make it, which happened. Nothing he mentioned could be considered normal.

"Well, we didn't really have a pool table, but we did throw a ball around a few times when we could. One time we got to watch a movie. You found a projector that was still workable and some dvds. You set up this whole room for it and we got to spend part of the night just watching them," Francis said, a genuine nostalgic smile on his face. That was his favorite memory. He was always training, learning, watching Sams kid and some of the other younger kids, etc. That memory was one of his favorite. It was just him and his dad. They got to watch, laugh, and just forget about the worlds troubles for a while. Not to mention it was his first time he can remember fully seeing a movie. He had some vague memories of a movie or two before the attack, but he was so young then. He didn't remember most of what the world was like or things they'd do before Ultron.

"Sounds like you didn't do that often," Clint observed. Francis shrugged.

"We were pretty busy. Doesn't matter though. Not doing them often made them that much more special. Even with whatever happened to cause my amnesia now, if that got worse, those times are the memories I'm positive I could never forget," Francis replied simply. It felt good to talk about this. He didn't feel like he could be as open with his team as he did with his dad. Even though he has to beat around some things, like Ultron and the state of things back home, he still felt like he'd be okay saying stuff like this. Clint walked over to the pool table, moving the different tech arrow heads and crossbows on it. Then he grabbed two cue sticks, tossing one to his future son. Francis caught it with the hand not holding the bow and looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Well? You wanna learn," Clint gestured to the pool table. Francis then realized what he was doing. He was making up for not doing more normal things, even though he didn't know the surrounding circumstances on why. He was giving Francis more memories to look back on. He settled into the comfortable smirk he gets from his father and set the bow down.

"Sure." He approached the table and Clint started showing him how to set up the game and chalk the tip of the cue. And for a time, Francis could once again forget the troubles of the world as they played.

0

(~Pym~)

Pym was in one of the gathering rooms with big windows and TVs and game systems. He was sitting on the couch. He had the tv on curtesy of Jarvis, but he wasn't paying attention to it. He was staring out the window, at the city and the skyline. Somehow the city seemed so much bigger now than when it was overrun with robots. It was so full of life as well. He rubbed his chin, where the bruise was almost gone, but the memory was still there.

Tony has been looking for Rogue, attempting to use his frequency idea to track him, but it was proving difficult so far. Pym tried to help, but Tony seemed to want to keep him out of it. He was spooked by what Pym had told him about his parents, he could tell. He probably shouldn't have told them that, but oh well. Can't change it now.

Beyond that, he spent just about every day checking to make sure Francis was there and that whatever is in his head wasn't doing anything. He wanted to tell him about the scan, warm him about what was there. However, Tony said that that could actually trigger the thing to do whatever it's purpose was. So it was best to keep him in the dark for now. He hated that, but trusted Tony even if this Tony didn't trust him.

His mind wandered to Francis spending time with his younger father. He knew he had to be soaking up his time with him. Francis didn't talk about his dad much beyond when he told him about the machines getting him. He could tell the second Clint knew who Francis was instantly more comfortable speaking to him and Pym could see the major similarities between the two. He looked up at the ceiling. Would it be the same way if he got to meet his own parents? Would he be able to see the similarities? Be able to talk to them easily? Would they even want to get to know him? He felt a pit form in his stomach at that last thought. He didn't know what his parents were doing out there. They weren't with the Avengers right now, that much was clear, and they definitely didn't know he was their son... Should he even try to find them?

Red over took his vision and a blaring alarm flooded his senses. He jumped up from the couch, rushing out the door towards Tony's lab. The last time he saw lights like these... he knew it had to be important. He shrunk down and flew to get there faster. He flew into the lab and immediately noticed that Cap, Widow, Tony, and Thor were already there. Clint arrived then, Francis right behind him. Hulk and Sam entered through a different door. Pym flew over to Francis, who was behind Clint and everyone, and grew back to his normal size. He stood right by his friend as the alarms stopped.

"What's the emergency, Tony?" Cap asked once everyone could hear again. Tony seemed satisfied by something.

"Glad that got you guys here quick," He said. This confused Pym. Did he do that without it being a big deal?

"Did you find something?" Widow asked, ignoring that comment and getting straight to the points something told Pym she's been having a bad day.

"Yes, but not the way you're probably thinking. I haven't found how to track Rogue yet," Tony said, quickly getting that question out of the way before it could be asked. "But, I have found some traffic on AIM." Pym heard some clicks, but couldn't see what was happening. He shrunk and flew up to Francis' shoulder height to see. Tony had pulled up some security footage of some guys in stupid yellow suits breaking into a place and stealing a missile before shooting out the cameras.

"Who's Rogue?" Francis whispered, clearly aware of Pym being so close to him while floating. Pym floated up to Francis' ear and whispered back.

"James. He's going by Rogue here…. I don't know why…" he frowned, remembering the beating he took from him. Francis turned his head to look at his currently tiny friend, a look of surprise on his face. Pym shook his head and pointed at Tony to get him to pay attention to what he had to say.

"As you can see, they took a missile. Lucky for us its easily traceable," Tony stated smugly.

"Isn't this something SHIELD usually takes care of?" Sam asked, interrupting. Tony nodded.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. Seeing how AIM tried to kidnap two people near us and succeeded with one, it's now ours. I know where AIM is. We need to get to Avenge Jet, get the missile from them and talk to whoever is left afterwards. They may be able to tell us where they're keeping Rogue. It's a win win," Tony said, sounding very confident.

"It's a long shot. We don't know If these AIM soldiers will have any information on Rogue," Cap reminded him of the possibility. Tony shrugged.

"Well, I haven't figured out how to track Rogue yet, so right now, it's our only shot. Get whatever you need and get to the jet, I'll meet you there," Tony said. Francis' voice surprised Pym as it was rather laud with how close he was.

"What about us?" The words drew attention to Francis as the other Avengers seemed to have just realized he was there. Pym was still too small to see right now. Tony looked at Clint who shrugged, a silent communication passing between them.

"You need to stay here," Tony said firmly. Unlike with Pym, Tony's firm tone didn't make Francis back down.

"No way. You said it yourself, AIM tried to kidnap me. If you're going after them, I at least want to be there to see it," the young archer argued. Pym could see the gears turning in Tony's head. "Besides, for all you know it could be a diversion to get to Pym and I. They already tried once right?" he smirked, knowing very well he was making a good point. Tony was silent a moment and Pym realized why. He didn't trust Francis and he was trying to find a way around the argument.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Tony settled on trying to sound protective. Clint took this moment to step forward.

"Look, Francis can shoot. He can protect himself," He vouched. "What's the harm in letting him come along?" Tony gave Clint a look.

"And what about Pym? The kid nearly got beaten to death by Rogue a few weeks ago. What would he do if AIM got him because they came along? Last I checked, he doesn't have a way to keep himself safe," Tony tried to argue back. Francis grinned, catching Tony's attention. "What?" Francis glanced Pym and nodded, much to the other Avengers confusion. Pym took a deep breath before flying up to Tony and firing a low level stinger into his side. Tony cried out and jumped away from that side, rubbing his side. "What the he-" Pym chose that moment to fly over to his work table by him and grow back to his normal size, sitting on the table as nonchalantly as he was able.

"I'd be fine," he stated, doing his best to ignore the looks of the other Avengers.

"That...that light that was fighting Rogue while I was unconscious was you?" Cap said, astonished. Pym smiled at him.

"I told you, I'm the Pym's kid. Did you really think I couldn't do anything?" Pym replied simply.

"Their other kid doesn't!" Tony said in frustration, clearly not happy about being stung. Francis and Pym froze. Pym looked at Tony, wide-eyed. He felt his heart pounding and wasn't sure he heard right.

"What did you... did you just say they have another kid?" He asked, his mind going a million miles a minute. Tony looked confused.

"Yeah... they have a daughter," the billionaire said. Pym fell silent. He had a sister! He had a sister! Is she still alive? Did she survive? Did Ultron get her? Why didn't his Tony tell him? "You...didn't know?" Tony realized. Pym shook his head. He looked at the floor, his stomach churning.

"My guardian didn't tell me..." Pym said quietly. Tony raised an eyebrow at that.

"Remind me to have some words with him when we find a way home," Francis stated darkly, picking up on the fact Pym didn't say who his guardian was. Anyone could hear the anger in his voice. Pym shook his head.

"He probably had a good reason," The young teenager said slowly, clearly not believing his own words. He shook his head, attempting to put aside the swimming feeling in his head. "My point still stands, Francis and I should come. At least let us watch. Think of it as a learning experience. We'll stay out of the way and if anything does happen, you'll be right there to stop it," he stated clearly.

"Which you wouldn't be if you just left us here. We'd be on our own," Francis jumped in, backing Pym up but giving the shrinking boy a look to say 'we'll talk about this later.' Cap sighed

"They make a good point, Tony," he admitted. Tony looked at the rest of the Avengers and shook his head. Time is of the essence.

"Fine, but you stay out of the way and if something happens, call us. I'll give you some coms on the jet," Tony finally admitted defeat. Any other day that would elicit an excited reaction from Pym, but with what he just learned, he simply nodded. The meeting was adjourned, the Avengers disbanded to grab any gear they may need. Francis grabbed Pym right outside the lab and waited for the automatic doors to close.

"You okay, short stack? That was a pretty big thing to find out about in there," the young archer asked when they were alone.

"Yeah... no... I don't know. I just..." Pym shook his head, trying to organize his thoughts. He settled for the biggest question in his mind. "Why didn't Tony tell me?" Francis shook his head.

"I don't know, Pym. Maybe he thought it would make your situation worse somehow. I mean, Tony didn't tell you about me either..." Francis said, though Pym could tell he was just as bitter about that as he was about Tony keeping the knowledge of Pyms sibling to himself. "You gonna be good to be out in the field?" Pym took a deep break and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he stated not to convincingly.

"Good... and Pym, when did you learn about James being here? Has he been here the whole time?" Francis asked gently, not wanting to create even more for the kid to have to bare but wanted to know considering how long James has been missing. Pym subconsciously rubbed his jaw at that, a gesture reminding Francis of what Tony had said earlier about Pym nearly being beaten to death by Rogue... by James... "He gave you that bruise didn't he?" He realized.

"Yes... it was after you talked to me and Azari in that building. I found him here, in the tower, about to try to kill Captain America..." Pym took a deep breath and shook his head to keep his mind from getting stuck there. "Something happened while I was fighting him. Whatever brought me here also tried to bring me back. For some reason it didn't work, but I felt soo nauseous afterwards that I couldn't fight anymore. He took advantage of that..." Pym looked up and saw the pissed off look in Francis' eyes. He wanted to head that off at the pass. "There's something wrong with him. He's not himself and I thought that maybe he had gone back to our time after cause I haven't seen him. Found out only recently that he's still here. And the people who tried to get you have him."

"Jesus," Francis said, but somehow didn't sound as surprised as Pym thought he would. He looked almost conflicted. Then he started rubbing the back of his neck and Pym was reminded of the scan results once again.

"I know. We should figure out where the Avenge Jet is so they don't leave without us," Pym said, reminding him that they'd barely managed to get Tony to agree to them going. This seemed to work in grounding Francis' mind from wherever its was going.

"Uh, Right. We can go to my dads room, he's probably grabbing more arrows and can take us to the Avenge Jet," Francis replied and began walking in that direction. Pym followed him, relieved a bit by the fact he successfully navigated that whole situation. His mind could now wander back to his sister. He couldn't believe he had a sister...

00

(~SHIELD Helicarrier~Rogue)

Rogue grinned as the last agent felt to the power of the Mind Stone. Perfect. SHEILD had been surprisingly easy to break into and take over. Compared to breaking into the tower it was a walk in the park. Then again, their security measures don't really count on a spy from the future with as much knowledge as he had.

"By now, the Avengers will likely have found out about the missile your men stole, so they should be on their way to meet them," he stated to MODOC, who turned then turned to him.

"Indeed, it seems your plan so far has been working," MODOC stated, his voice as grating as ever. Rogue shrugged, taking a gun from one of the brainwashed men and examining it.

"Of course it is. They're predictable," Rogue stated. The real reason it was working so well is because he knew about this time. MODOC would've found the Mind Stone eventually, he just helped it along for his own gain.

'That's not what you said a few months ago reviewing those tapes. You know he's going to stab you in the back, right?' James spoke from his place in the mental cage. Rogue rolled his eyes.

'Of course he will, but I'm going to be ready for that.' He thought back, checking the ammo in the gun. Half full. He'll need more.

'He has an infinity stone, you really think you can combat that?' James stated, sounding somewhat smug. Rogue stood up, heading for the door with the gun.

"I'll be right back," he told MODOC, who didn't reply. He made his way down the halls, eventually finding an armory. Perfect. 'You don't know much about Ultron, do you?' He thought as he located another pistol and the ammo.

'I know enough. You're in my head remember?' James replied bitterly.

'Connection doesn't work both ways, James. I know much more than you do and I know all about how this will go,' Rogue said simply as he reloaded the first gun's, a glock, clip. Then checked the pistols clip and grabbed extra clips with ammo.

'We're in the past, Rogue,' James spat Rogues name. 'Everything we do creates a wild card. You may think you know how this'll go, but I guarantee you that you can't be prepared for everything that will happen here.' Rogue picked up a small device, placing it in the small storage space in his shields device.

'It's a good thing you're smart enough that I can use your brain to get out of any wild cards that pop up," Rogue responded, smirking as he left the armory.

000

(~Aboard the Avenge Jet~Tony~)

"Alright team, we're almost there," Tony said as Widow piloted the ship. He looked at his team. On the plane, there was Cap, Widow, Hawkeye, and Falcon. Thor and Hulk we're traveling on the ground and in the air respectively. Then he looked at Francis and Pym. Francis was staring out the window in absolute awe, a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. Pym was sitting next to him, leg bouncing in either nervousness or excitement. He got the feeling these kids didn't take planes much. He still wasn't sure it was good idea they came.

"They're up ahead, I see them," Widow stated. The green trucks riding in a convoy with one truck with a large missile on and some men in those ridiculous yellow suits.

"Hulk, Thor-" Tony said, opening the coms on the jet so everyone can hear. Hulk and Thor had begun the age old 'who has the best uniform' conversation earlier and it sounded like it was still going. "Guys!" He interrupted. "See the AIM trucks? Go after them. We'll join you once Widow lands the jet." They continues their conversation but Tony could see Hulk jump and land in the middle of the cars. Widow picked a sand dune to park the jet opened and reached into a cabinet once they landed. He pulled out two communicators and walked over to Pym and Francis, holding them out. The two looked at his hand a second and then took them.

"Communicators. Anything happens you tell us. And you stay in the jet." He was serious. He wasn't about to let them get hurt or kidnapped by AIM, not to mention Francis is still a wildcard. He didn't need something messing up the mission. They placed the communicators in their ears and nodded to what he said. He looked at both of them carefully before stepping away. The rest of the team had already left the jet as he was talking to them, which was just as well. He didn't want to get the looks he'd be receiving from Hawkeye for anything. He still needs to talk to Clint later about the fact he gave the kid a bow and arrows. For now, he needed to focus on the task at hand. He grabbed the case that was his packed in suit and left the jet, choosing to put his armor on outside.

0

(~Francis~)

Francis watched Tony leave before cracking a smile at Pym.

"Same old Tony. Think he ever lightens up?" He said as he pulled out an arrow. Pym smiled back.

"Sometimes, he does. When he's not in parent mode," Pym replied and looked at the exit to the jet that was currently closed. "We're gonna follow them right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Francis said with a grin. He doubted Tony actually expected them to stay there anyway. They were Avengers kids after all. Not to mention his father wouldn't have given him the bow and arrows if all he was gonna do is stay on the jet.

00

(~SHEILD Helicarrier~Rogue~)

Rogue watched the footage pulled up on one of SHIELDs satellite imaging systems. Honestly, he could see why Ultron was able to take over things. Easily hackable tech everywhere made for an easy take over. Add the element of surprise and you have yourself your very own robotic empire.

He examined the Avengers as one by one they joined the fight against the AIM soldiers who were leading them. Despite how much he hated them, he had to admire their proficiency in dealing with problems.

'They're taking apart those stolen vehicles like they're tin foil. You still think your plan is gonna work?' James said, clearly mocking Rogue. Rogue ignored him. He could tell his host has been irritated since he'd had those brief moments of freedom a week ago on that rooftop. It would take some time to make him compliant again. It was nothing he couldn't handle though.

"Get ready, SHIELD's part to play is almost up," he said, not even looking away from the screen to see if MODOC acknowledged him.

00

(~Francis~)

Francis and Pym climbed on top of the sand dune the jet was parked behind and could see the Avengers. They were making quick work of the AIM scientists, but the conversation was so lighthearted while they did so. It was strange to hear while in a battle that they were arguing over who had the best uniform.

"Do you think they've always been so... carefree when fighting?" Pym asked, a look on his face Francis couldn't quite read. The young archer shrugged.

"Maybe. The world is different from our own. Times not really as dark as they are in the future. They had the luxury of being able to joke like this during a fight," Francis stated with a frown. Aside from flirting with Torunn a few times during a fight or someone making a small reference to something, their team had never really been anything but serious during a fight. Maybe if they lightened up a little they'd get along better outside of the fighting... he reached up to his ear and activated his comm so the Avengers could hear him.

"You guys always discuss stupid topics like them when trying to stop the bad guys?" He asked, giving Pym a smirk as the kid laughed.

"AIM's a joke on a normal day. Stupid conversations are fine when we're dealing with them," Tony replied to them and then added "besides, I think you all will agree the best uniform is the one that can throw a ten megaton missile off course." Pym laughed again as they watched Tony do just that with the newly launched missile. The explosion into a hill of solid rock was spectacular to see.

"That was awesome!" Pym cheered. Francis grinned. He had heard so many stories of his dads adventures with the Avengers. Seeing one, even a small one, was incredible to him. He imagined Pym may feel the same way.

"Another Advanced Idiotic Mistake," Tony said, earning a chuckles from Pym. The Avengers were headed back to the dune, hauling the trucks and people there. Tony spotted Francis and Pym from the air. "Didn't I tell you two to stay in the jet?" Francis shook his head.

"We're Avengers kids. What did you expect?" Pym replied, much to Francis' surprise. He seemed to be in a good mood though, all things considered, so he wasn't going to question it. His father laughed too, seemingly agreeing. Tony let out a sigh.

"Whatever. Go ahead and get down here," Tony told them. Francis high fived Pym before looking down at the Avengers while Tony landed. He began to climb over the sand dune while Pym shrunk down and flew towards. He paused as he looked over at the rock. Something occurred to him. This wasn't right. He slid down the other side of the dune, running towards Tony and the other Avengers. He'd tuned out their conversation until now. They're talking about some program or something.

"Something doesn't add up," Francis interrupted them.

"What do you mean?" Pym asked as he grew back to normal size next to him.

"Yeah, care to elaborate?" Hawkeye asked, genuinely curious to what Francis had to say. Given the look Tony and Cap were giving him, he knew he had their attention.

"This made absolutely no sense. I mean, they steal a missile in front of surveillance and then drive it out to the desert? What were they going to do with it? There's nothing out here. Furthermore, they fired it when you came close to beating them. But what was the target? What was the point?" Francis told them what was bothering him, a bad feeling settling in his stomach. It seemed to settle into everyone else as well.

"You're saying this was a set up?" Cap questioned. Francis nodded.

"Well, one way to find out," Tony stated and walked towards the tied up AIM agents. Before he could reach them, what looked like several jets came into view and then hovered above them. Francis took in the sight.

"Whoa..." Pym said next to him. Tony muttered something that Francis couldn't make out. He felt a tugging on his arm from Pym. "Who is that?" Francis kept his eyes trained on the ships, unsure of the actual answer.

"That would be SHIELD," Clint told them. Francis drew in a breath.

"Wait, SHIELD? As in THE SHIELD?" He said, reconciling that he was staring at a Shield jets. The same SHIELD that he'd heard stories about. "Holy shit."

"Guess I've told you about them then," Clint said and Francis nodded quickly. Ropes dropped down from the jets and men quickly dropped down. Not only that, but it seems several ships were sent down as well. Francis looked at Pym, his awe subsiding. He was getting a bad feeling again. Tony approached the agents, clearly trying to keep things friendly.

"Got it under control guys! One AIM squadron ready for pickup," Iron man said. Francis' tightened his grip on his bow and reached a hand up slowly, ready to draw an arrow. His instincts were screaming at him that this was wrong. They were right. Mere moments after Tony finished speaking, the shield agents aimed their guns at him. "Hey, you wanna watch where you're pointing that!" Fire. The energy blast was released from the guns and hit Tony. At the same time, Francis drew and fired an arrow in a fraction of a second. The arrow pierced the gun of the man who fired and made it spark and fizzle.

The agents seemed surprised by his quick counter attack and so did the Avengers. That feeling that sat in his stomach since the headache a week ago rose slightly. It felt like something inside him was stirring a bit. The agents then had some of their guns aimed at Francis. Cap stepped closer to them, hand out but clearly ready for a fight if necessary.

"SHIELD cease fire!" He said, using a voice from his military days. The agents didn't waver.

"Avengers, stand down!" Clint stepped in front of Francis in a defensive and protective stance. Francis looks back at Pym. He mouthed the word 'shrink!' Pym nodded and did so. Francis turned back to the situation at hand.

"Anyone have Fury's cell number?" His father asked.

"You really think he'd pick up?" Francis said, drawing another arrow quickly.

"SHIELD coms aren't letting me through," He heard Widow say.

"There's no need for combat-" The agents were cut off as Hulk turned on them, enraged by their attacking Iron man. Francis saw the agents begin to move.

"Hulk buster engage!" One of the agents said. Before Francis could blink, Hulk was knocked back so hard he slammed into the stolen AIM vehicles. All hell broke loose then. Francis fired an explosive arrow at the hulk buster, knocking it off balance as its allies open fire. Francis ran in an arch, avoiding the fire and firing back as he did so. He wasn't paying attention to anyone else as his instincts for survival kicked in. He shot two in the shoulder with arrows before he saw smoke coming from nowhere cover the targets. He blinked, remembering that he wasn't the only archer here. Then he remembered the coms. He switched his back on just as Cap spoke.

"Regroup at the jet!" They were running. Francis glanced about him, realizing he could still see the dune, he ran along side it. As he broke out of the smoke and spotted the Avengers, Pym's voice came from his right.

"There you are! I couldn't see you after Hawkeye shot that smoke arrow!" Francis glanced at his still tiny friend and smirked. He opened his mouth to reply but no words left as he skid to a stop at a sight he didn't expect to see. A large ship, much bigger and larger than the jets, was flying towards them and the Avengers who had stopped as well.

"No way..." Pym said next to him and Francis slowly walked closer to the Avengers.

"Whoa…They sent the whole tri-carrier?" Falcon said, sounding surprised.

"We lived on that." Pym whispered in Francis' ear, prompting him to tear his eyes away from the airship to look at the kid.

"What?" He hissed out quietly.

"When we had to leave our home the day we met you, we saw that the dome we lived in was built on top of one of those," Pym explained. Francis looked back at the airship, trying to imagine it.

"That's insane," He muttered, but didn't get to say much more than that.

"Jeez I'll buy you a new hover cycle!" His father said, though the stress was in his voice from the situation. As if on cue, 14 jets were deployed from the carrier and opened fire.

"What did we do to make SHIELD so angry?" Cap asked as he ran to cover, still carrying Tony. Francis was right behind them. "Tony, please tell me your armor is back online."

"Just…barely… This has got to be Hawkeye's fault," Tony replied, sitting up.

"Which one?" Francis' jested slightly and smirked at the slightly amused looks they gave him. He surveyed the battle as Clint joined them. Falcon was dodging fire. Hulk and Thor took out one jet. He didn't see where Pym ran. He spoke through the coms. "Pym, you there?" he asked.

"Yeah! I'm behind Cap!" Pym replied. Being on coms, everyone heard it and Cap, Tony, and Clint looked behind them and saw the little glowing dot flying there. Francis grinned.

"Think you can go big and help take care of these guys?" He asked rhetorically as Pym returned to normal size. He had a big grin on his face.

"Oh yeah!" he said and ran passed the Avengers who were processing the meaning of his words.

"By go big, do you mean he can-" Tony's unfinished question was answered when Pym stopped in the middle of the battlefield and started growing. He grabbed two of the jets in the air as they tried to swerve and avoid him, He smashed the backs together, prompting the pilots to eject, and threw one into another jet.

"Oh yeah!" Francis cheered, laughing. He especially enjoyed the looks on the Avengers faces close to him.

"Your efficiency program anticipate that?" Hawkeye asked Tony rather pointedly.

"They're not added to the program," Tony said. Francis could feel a tiny bit of amusing tension between them and remembered that earlier they'd been discussing a program when he'd interrupted.

"What about 100% betrayal by SHIELD?" Clint asked, snark in his tone. Tony didn't get to rebuttal this time. One of the jets was landing in front of them. Francis aimed an arrow, intending to fire immediately, but paused. This one wasn't attacking. He lowered his bow slightly. The back ramp opened and a familiar voice came from the jet speakers.

"Everyone get in!" Widow said. Francis put his arrow back in his quiver. This was going to be interesting.

"But we have the Avenge-jet!" Tony said as Thor and Hulk chose this time to join them.

"We're not going home," Widow responded. With that they approached the jet. Clint ran on.

"Thor, Hulk give us some cover!" Cap ordered as he too ran on, followed by Tony. Francis waited a second for Tony's back to be turned before running on too.

"Oh no- you need to get back to the jet," Tony said when he saw Francis there. Francis saw Widow look back at them behind them and gave him a wink. She turned her focus back ahead and the ships ramp began closing. Francis grinned.

"Too late," He said in a cocky tone, much to the knights chagrin. Tony let out a sigh and walked towards Widow. Francis shook his head. He really didn't understand why Tony didn't want him there. It's not like the timeline would get screwed up if he got hurt and he'd survived a long time before this and could take care of himself. He felt like there was something else there.

"Pym, we're using a jet to get to the tricarrier. Cover us with Thor and Hulk and follow them if they have to come up and help," He relayed to his teammate.

"Roger," Pym replied and the small laugh he gave could easily be heard in his giant form. Francis let out a laugh himself. Usually James got annoyed if they said that too much on a mission to mess with him… He glanced back at Tony.

"Honestly, is he always like this?" Francis asked the two Avengers by him quietly. Clint and Cap shared a look.

"Give him time. He's just struggling with the change. He can be stubborn so it takes him a while to adjust," Cap told him. He gave him a firm pat on the shoulder before joining Tony up by Widow. Francis glanced at his younger father, silently asking for confirmation on this.

"Cap's right. When an unknown factor comes into our lives Tony can clam up and be a real asshole about it. Actually, he can be an asshole a lot of times, but he's a good guy. He'll come around," Clint assured him as the jet shook and rose into the air. Francis scoffed at bit at the asshole comments, but nodded. He already knew Tony was a good man. One who made a lot of mistakes, but he did raise his friends right. That was enough for him. He just wished this Tony could be a little more humble.

"Seems like he could deserve a big punch in the face sometimes," he said, crossing his arms. Clint laughed.

"Oh yeah, definitely does sometimes. Let's join them up front incase they have a plan," his father said and they joined the rest of the group. Where they found out that they didn't really have a plan. Hawkeye took a seat next to Widow, rubbing the bridge of his nose slightly. He gave Francis a look of 'this is one of those times' before speaking.

"So we have a hornet problem and what do we do? Fly right into the nest," Disbelief was highly evident in his voice.

"Fury has some explaining to do," was Tony's only answer, the mans faceplate was down once more. Francis shook his head.

"Last time I went into a place without a plan I got ambushed and lost 6 months of my memory and somehow wound up here, so that isn't really comforting," Francis said sarcastically. There was a look that passed over the Avengers faces when he said this that he couldn't quite read. It was gone before could decipher it.

"In all likelihood, SHIELD has been compromised," Cap stated his theory. It was a sound one, but still didn't mean that flying toward their base was a good idea.

"Or this is about the time I took Fury's eyepatch," Hawkeye said to lighten the mood, and maybe get a laugh out of his son. It worked. Francis let out a disbelieving laugh.

"Wait, what?" the young archer said in surprise. This was one story he hadn't heard about.

"That was you?" Widow deadpanned, only receiving Clint's signature smirk in response. Francis ran a hand through his hair. He wondered how often his father had done these things for her to not be surprised by this and everyone blaming him for SHIELD.

As the jet approached the hanger, a heaviness settled in the air. Everyone fell quiet. Widow typed on the computer. A robotic 'Access Granted' got them in. Francis reached back tp grab an arrow as they landed, but he saw Clint shake his head at him. He raised an eyebrow but followed his instructions. The ramp opened again and they stayed back a bit. SHIELD agents were outside the ramp.

"This is an unscheduled landing, identify yourself!" An agent commanded. The avengers looked at each other, silently asking who would go first. Widow seemed to answer that. She opened a hatch on top of the jet and climbed out of it.

"We're here for Fury guys, not you!" She yelled as she jumped, kicking an agent away and running the second she landed. The other agents opened fire. Francis was right behind the Avengers as they exited. He stayed behind Cap with his shield up. He wondered briefly how Cap doesn't get hit by anything when the shield doesn't even cover his whole body. He drew back an arrow on his bow at the same time his father did, but fired sooner, nailing one of the shield agents guns.

"Careful, SHIELD is still our ally," Cap warned, looking straight at Hawkeye.

"Do they know that?" his younger father replied, firing his arrow. A burst of smoke was released the moment it hit the ground by the agents, providing temporary cover from the agents. Hawkeye and Cap ran for the nearby hall. Francis was behind them. Before he reached the hall he felt a wave of dizziness passed over him, making his vision swim. He had to slow down but kept going. Once he was in the hall and by a wall, he stopped.

"Close it!" Cap told Widow, who complied. He could feel eyes on him as he took some deep breaths and leaned on the wall. His head was swimming and slightly muddled. This was the worst time for this to hit.

"Francis… Hey you okay?" His fathers voice reached his ears. Sounded a bit like he was underwater.

"Yeah, just give me a second," Francis replied, drawing in a few more breaths. Finally, it went away. He started to be able to see straight. He stopped leaning on the wall and sighed. He then noticed the looks the avengers were sharing. Like they had the same question but didn't want to say it.
"What happened?" Cap asked. Francis shook his head.

"I don't know, I just got dizzy out of nowhere," He told them, watching their expressions. "I'm fine now though. Promise." He wasn't about to get sidelined because of this. Clint sighed.

"If it happens again, shout. Okay?" the archer said. Francis nodded in agreement. He noticed he had a sudden urge to put on his sunglasses. He'd brought them, but didn't wear them as the red lenses didn't really help him. He heard Widow typing on on the computer she used to shut the door.

"Are you seriously expecting to hack into Fury's-" Clint was cut off by beeps of approval from the machine. Widow smirked at him before running down the hall. "Of course she does." He looked back at his future kid. "Go in front of me, we need to follow her." Francis opened his mouth to argue, but the look Clint got on his face stopped him. He nodded and started running after Widow. He could hear the other two avengers follow. Apparently Ironman was up ahead, waiting on them. He gave a grin before stopping behind Widow, who had paused to check around a corner. She started to go again, but stopped so fast Francis almost ran into her. The other Avengers stopped as well.

"Looking for me?" A man Francis presumed to be Fury said, surrounded by other agents. Something about him seemed, wrong. He didn't understand it, but he had this distinct feeling that there was something really wrong with Fury. Iron Man stepped in front of everyone and slightly shielded Francis from view.

"Fury, I'm giving you 10 seconds to explain what's going on, here" he said, anger clear in his voice. Fury didn't seem to care.

"You're operations have defied more than enough international laws. I'm shutting the Avengers down and taking you in," The leader of shield said firmly. Francis narrowed his eyes a little at that, but his father immediately drew an arrow. Cap held a hand out, pushing Hawkeyes arm down so he couldn't aim. Francis raised an eyebrow at him for doing so.

"Let's hear him out first," Cap said. There was something in his voice that made Francis think there was more to that statement.

"Fury could have some valid points," Tony agreed. Hawkeye sighed reluctantly.

"I do not look good in a prison uniform," Clint said.

"Look Stark," Fury began before Francis could comment on that. "I don't like being in this position either. But my superiors promise there's still room to negotiate your sentencing." There. Fury's eyes. That's what was wrong with him. His eyes weren't right. They didn't hold a light in them. Francis glanced at the other shield agents as they surrounded them. They all had it. It was like they were missing what made them human.

"Tony… There's something wrong with their eyes,' He whispered to Iron Man. This got a glance from the other Avengers and then their own observing glances. Fury seemed to notice him then.

"Who's that?" He asked in an intimidating way. Clint narrowed his eyes at Fury. Tony didn't give Francis a chance to answer, clearly taking the glare the young archer was giving Fury to mean it'd be disrespectful and make things worse.

"New Avenger," Iron Man answered simply. Fury raised an eyebrow at him.

"You picked a bad time to join up kid," The SHIELD leader stated and began to walk. Francis just scoffed in response. The other agents made them start walking.

"Public sentiment about the Avengers has changed in recent times. Your conflicts with the Kabaal were reckless," Fury continued to explain, stopping at a door.

The Kabaal? I'll have to ask about that one. Francis thought, having not heard the story.

"You say reckless, I say saved the world a dozen times over," Tony replied smuggly. Fury shook his head.

"That's not how SHIELD sees it, but more importantly-" Fury opened the door and his sentence was finished by a sight Francis never would've imagined.

"That's not how MODOC sees it!" a large floating head said, surrounded by armed SHIELD agents.

"What the hell is that?" Francis blurted out. MODOC looked offended.

"You are in the presence of the worlds greatest mind, show some respect!"

"Thats debatable. Looks like Cap owes me a shawarma sandwich," Tony said.

"You two had a bet?" Hawkeye said incredulously.

"I swore it'd be Red Skull behind this!" Cap replied incredulously. Francis started to tune them out once he got over his shock of seeing the giant floating head. He looked around the room while MODOC began monologuing, taking in how many agents were in there. He stopped at a shadowy part on the left, behind a wall accent. Someone was standing there, just out of view. He narrowed his eyes at the person. Movement to his right made him tune back in as Tony stepped forward, saying something about the giant heads fashion accessory? His eyes wandered to the stone in the middle of MODOCs forehead. Something about it seemed familiar somehow, not in the sense he'd seen it, but in the sense that he should know about it.

"That what I think it is?" Tony asked.

"The mind stone called to me! It claimed me!" MODOC said. The voice that cut into the conversation next made Francis' head snap to the area where he'd noticed the person.

"That's BS and you know it," James, or Rogue as Pym had told him earlier, stepped out from the accent in the wall, rolling his noticeably red eyes at MODOC. "You and your people couldn't have found the Mind Stone with the data you had in a million years without my help."

"So this is what we get for trying to help keep you away from AIM? Assisting our enemies in coming after us?" Tony said, crossing his arms. His voice didn't have any harshness in it.

"You failed to help me when I asked, so yeah, I'm doing what I had to," Rogue said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. His voice was so flat. His hair was a lot longer than the last memory Francis had of him, but that's to be expected considering how long he'd been missing. But those eyes... why were his eyes red? He then realized that he'd locked eyes with Rogue, who seemed to be studying him as well. It was like he wasn't expecting him to be there but wasn't surprised that Francis was standing in front of him.

"Enough! If it were not for me you would still be in a cell with Dr. Darren! Show some respect!" MODOC snapped at Rogue and Francis saw a flash of anger in his eyes before it disappeared and was replaced by mild annoyance and he turned his attention the big head. Francis blinked, the weird feeling returning and causing him worry. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked at the face of his younger father silently asking if he was okay. He nodded back though he wasn't entirely sure and worked to focus more on the situation.

"Sure, whatever you have to tell yourself. Your head is almost as big as your ego," Rogue said flatly. This got a laugh and some chuckles of agreement out of the Avengers and made Francis smirk a little.

"None of you understand. My superior mind is no longer limited to the control of technology!" The Mind Stone began to glow as MODOC spoke. "If you can't show me the respect I deserve of your own mind, I will force you to!" the glow spread out in the blink of an aye and enveloped the Avengers.

Francis felt his mind start swimming as he was lifted to a point that his dangling feet were 3 inches off the ground. He felt like he was being split in half. Two sides of him were waring while he felt all the sensations of them from the sidelines. He was fighting the control but it felt like he wasn't the only one. Pain flooded his senses and he clenched his eyes shut, doubling over almost as he grabbed his head. At some point he started screaming. At some point he thought he heard someone else screaming. Then glass breaking and suddenly he was on the floor. He was gasping and his head was throbbing badly. Glancing around the room as he clutched his head, he saw Thor, Hulk, Falcon and Pym fly in.

"Miss us?" Hulk asked as they landed. Francis's gaze wandered over to Rogue. He was in a similar position to him. He looked like he'd been just as in pain. Did MODOC really attack him to? If he and Rogue were in pain why weren't the others? They didn't seem to be affected as badly.

Get up you idiot! He heard someone say in the back of his mind. He shook his head and pushed himself up slowly.

"You… SON OF A BITCH!" Rogue yelled angrily at MODOC, but Francis could still hear the pain in his voice. He was standing up as SHIELD began to fire on Hulk and the others, but he seemed wobbly on his feet. He took out a gun.

"Hawkeye, you okay?" Pym asked him by his ear, momentarily distracting him from Rogue.

"I don't know," Francis replied with a grunt. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get a grip here. When he opened them again Hulk was in the air with MODOC attempting the same thing on the big green that he'd tried on them. Then he heard a man yelling. Behind MODOC, he saw a SHIELD agent on the ground, clutching his shoulder. Rogue stood feet away, a psychotic look in his eye as he held the smoking gun aimed at MODOC. It appeared that the agent had jumped in front of MODOC to keep Rogue from shooting him. What the hell?

"SHIELD is just a distraction! Focus on getting the Mind Stone!" Cap told the other Avengers near him, knowing that if they got the Mind Stone away then they could end this quickly. Is the Mind Stone why James shot that agent? Since when did he use guns anyways?

"You guys need to explain this whole Mind Stone thing to me when we-" Francis was cut off by MODOCs beam once again enveloping him and the pain returning.

GOD DAMN IT! THIS IS MY MIND! The same voice that told him to get up yelled in his head. He didn't know where it was coming from, but at this point he was more focused on not letting the giant ugly head win in taking over his mind. There was some yelling he couldn't make out as he fought the losing and very painful mental battle. Then a flash happened and he felt weightless for a few seconds and then everything felt wrong. He reached up to rub his head as he opened his eyes.

The first thing he realized is that everything looked more vibrant in color. Colors he knew he could usually only see this intensely with his glasses were easily seen and distinguished. He didn't feel his glasses on his face as he rubbed his head. The second thing he noticed was that he was wearing a black glove and something yellow… Oh no….

"Did we win?" he heard Thors voice next to him and turned to look. To his surprise, he saw Window rubbing her head.

"I don't think so," Widows voice came from in front of him and seemed to be coming from Hulks body. Francis looked to his left. He saw Rogue first, on the ground and seemed to be semiconscious. Then he saw... himself. He looked in pain, but okay and like he was just waking up too. His eyes were a little unfocused as he looked around before he locked eyes with Francis. His eyes went wide, a weird sight to see on his own face. Even weirder was the voice that came from his body.

"What?" It was Pym. Pym and Francis had switched bodies and they weren't the only ones.

Hehe! Yesssss... I literally love this. Give me your thoughts on this chapter. I also have some fun things in the works.

This story started actually blowing up this month. The visitors shot up to well over 100 visitors more than last month and more people are reading it than ever before. This blows my mind so thank ya'll so much! I really want to try to build a community for this story so people can theorize and have fun with it. So I'm working on a few things to help with that that I'll hopefully be releasing by my next chapter. Stay tuned for that and feel free to geek out in a review or toss some theories and questions my way. I love hearing them:)

See you in the next update!

~August 28, 2020~