A/N: Okay, so a quick explanation as to why this story kind of dropped off suddenly. My husband and I got a call for a little girl who we're now in the process of adopting, and it's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to us. But it has also meant sleepless nights, lots of paperwork, and the sudden thrust in a matter of days from being just the two of us to having a newborn at home. We're finally getting our feet underneath us again, but obviously, fanfic isn't as important to me as my original fiction and my family, sorry. CC and I are still keeping the 714 going strong because we've got that written out FOREVER in advance, and she's been putting out stuff on the stories she leads, but because this one is a story where I'm running the plot... it got sidelined. Can't promise it'll get all the attention it used to get, but I can promise I'm finally getting back into it ;)
Chapter Two: Size Difference
Anyone watching Bruce Banner with all the kids following him around trying to get him to play with them could see that he wasn't entirely sure what to make of his following of ducklings — especially when Katie started chanting "quack quack" and Clint frantically shushed her.
Tony tried — he really did — to give Bruce some backup, but the final nail in the coffin when it came to stopping the kids in their quest came when Bruce made the cardinal error of telling Katie that he liked her dress. He had been trying to redirect her attention to her dresses and not him, but somehow, he had only ensured that he would remain the kids' focus for the foreseeable future.
Still, it was better than letting Logan and Bruce test each other's boundaries. Logan was obviously ready for a fight — not that Tony blamed the guy. For as much as the Howlett-Barton-Bishop family had been through lately, he'd be itching to hit something too.
Not that he thought that meant Bruce should get in the middle. He just knew where the urge came from.
Still, Tony was thankful when the crowd of kids slowly started to disperse from around Bruce, getting distracted with their own little games. Tommy was trying to entice Katie into a game of hide and seek. Katie wanted to play Defenders instead and kept insisting that Billy had to be Mr. Frank because he had dark hair, so Tommy could be "Foggy, I guess." Which Tommy didn't seem too happy about.
Katie and Tommy were just building up to an argument when they were rudely interrupted — by an explosion that knocked everyone their off their feet.
The first thing that happened in the immediate aftermath of the explosion was that Tony rushed to check on the kids. He could hear them sniffling and was worried one of them might have gotten hurt, but when the worst damage was that Billy had banged his elbow and Katie had a bruise on her knee from falling too hard, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright kiddos," Tony said. "Come on; we need to get out of here quick." He was trying to gather them up even as his AI was running numbers trying to decipher things like the structural integrity around them and who was injured and in need of help.
"Who're we fighting?" Tommy asked eagerly.
"We are not fighting anyone. This is the part where we regroup and make a plan," Tony said.
"That's important too," Clint said, making his way over with Bruce, who looked slightly green, and not from nausea, though he hadn't freaked out, which Tony was counting as a good thing for the moment. "That's what I'm working on learning — remember, Katie? I was telling you how Scott said I can't be an X-Men until I learn about plans?"
Katie rolled her eyes toward Tony, though her desire to tease her big brother was temporarily overriding any fear over the attack. "He's always talking about the team, you know. It's because Scott let him do training now 'cause he keeps getting got."
"And that's what we're going to work on avoiding today," Tony said as he got them moving. He stopped and did a quick head count. "Where's the tiny one?"
Clint swivelled and frowned. "James was with Dad, but I don't see them…"
"I have him!" Jan called out. "I have him! It's good, but we should go."
"We can hide in the walls," Katie told Billy, grabbing his and Tommy's hands so she could lead the way. "Mom has things written in the walls so we can know where we're going, and they're kid-sized!"
"No, no no no no no nooooooo," Tony called back. "We need to go to a different building. No hiding in the walls!"
"Awww, but it's fun!" Katie pouted.
"You can hide in the walls when there's not explosions," Clint told her, trying to help. "But if there's an explosion and the wall you're in gets hit, you're not safe."
"Oh," Katie said, her eyes wide; she clearly hadn't considered that.
"It's okay, though!" Jan promised. "We'll get some more marks in the ductwork when your mom gets back. I'm sure she can come up with more!"
"Oooh, yes!" Katie nodded and bounced slightly, still holding onto Tommy and Billy's hands as the gaggle followed Jan and Tony out, with Bruce taking up the rear and doing what he could to make sure the kids didn't fall behind or get distracted.
"Logan's already down there," Jan said — more to Tony than the kids. "He um … he took a shortcut. He was a little mad."
"Wonder why," Tony said dryly.
"It's a mystery," Jan replied with a smile.
"It's 'cause he's real tired of his kids being where danger is," Katie informed Jan in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone. "He said so."
"That makes sense," Jan said. "And I have to agree, but we have to get you guys out of danger so he can do what needs to be done. Right?"
"I'm helping!" Katie promised, holding up the hands that were holding Tommy's and Billy's as proof.
"She's dragging," Tommy muttered, and Katie stuck her tongue out at him.
"Then don't be so slow!" she shot back, earning a noise of pure offense from Tommy.
James let out a noise that spoke to how unhappy he was with all the noise and the fuss going on around them, which got half the kids to focus on him for a moment anyhow. Especially since he didn't usually complain like that. But it got them all moving. Jan was half-wrapped around him and cooing to him as she tried to get him to settle down, but the upset baby's cries weren't doing Banner any good.
"It's okay, buddy," Jan said as she snuggled James, but it was clear he wasn't settling down as quickly as anyone would have liked. It wasn't an angry sort of cry but one that was obviously upset and confused.
"I can hold him when we get to a car or jet or something," Clint offered. "When he's crying, sometimes it works better if one of us gets him if Mom and Dad can't."
"Yeah, he still sometimes gets upset," Katie said. "Remember when Mom and Dad and Clint were gone? I was super upset too!"
The closer the little group got to the lower levels, the more chaos was ruling over the scene. Most of the other Avengers were trying to get the military presence outside of the building to back off — and to stop firing on Logan, who was worked right up into a solid rage. Kurt and Wanda were doing their level best to both keep the building from outright collapsing and to get people out that couldn't get through the wreckage and fires that were breaking out all over the building and surrounding areas.
"That's my parents," Billy told Jan in a stage whisper, his eyes wide. "We should go help them!"
"No, no," Jan said, obviously not expecting them to want to dive into a mess like this. "We have to get everyone safe! Don't you want to help with James?"
"Oh, right." Billy was frowning toward the chaos. "It's just… I want Mom and Dad to be okay too," he said, which was the moment Jan realized this was the first time Billy or Tommy had seen their parents at their jobs.
"Your mom and dad will be more than fine. They're going to be amazing because they're heroes and they know what they're doing. But this little guy?" She tipped James so that Billy could see how upset he was. "He needs someone to watch out for him."
Billy bit his lip and then nodded seriously. "Okay. I'll watch out for him."
Which was all well and good when it came to evacuating, but to Tony's alarm, when he looked over at Bruce to check on him, the big guy didn't look so good either. His gaze was locked onto the fight down below and the soldiers around Logan, and Tony honestly wasn't sure what was bothering him more: the uniforms or the clearly enraged Wolverine.
And then James let out the tiniest whimpering cry, and that was it. The next second, the Hulk was barreling toward the fight — and didn't seem to care much if Logan or the soldiers were his target.
"Oh, wow, is that his superpower?" Billy asked at the same time Tony started swearing himself blue.
And even though Logan had been halfway baiting Banner the whole time they'd been at the tower with him, as soon as he actually started to fight him, Logan did try to get him to stop. Even if he was hitting him hard, too.
"Why's he fighting Dad?" Katie asked urgently, tugging on Tony's sleeve. "Dad's a good guy!"
"He knows that," Tony defended. "But your dad and the Hulk just… don't get along."
"But he didn't attack us," Clint reasoned. "He went for the fight. So he's not stupid."
"No, he's not," Jan agreed. "He's just mad."
Clint nodded thoughtfully, obviously working something over, but it wasn't until Logan took a hit that knocked the two of them apart that Clint did anything. And then, all at once, he had rushed forward out of Jan and Tony's reach and all but skidded to a stop in front of the Hulk, complete with skinned knees and wide eyes.
"Hey, so, you're absolutely focused the wrong way. My dad isn't the bad guy here okay? The idiots with guns are. So stop making a mess and help me take 'em down!"
It was such a brazen move that no one knew what to do. Even the Hulk looked stunned, staring down at this kid who had no business taking him on but who was there all the same.
"Come on," Clint said, already turning to the fight. "I bet I can get more than you!"
And just like that, it was like a switch had been flipped, and the Hulk grinned, running ahead of Clint to bash a path — which had Clint cackling gleefully.
"No cheating!"
"Do we… do we do something?" Jan whispered urgently to Tony, holding onto his arm.
"What do you want to do?" Tony replied quietly.
Jan looked down at James in her arms. "I don't know? Something?"
"Right," Tony said in a breath. "Hey! Hawkeye! Come on, bud, we gotta get your dad out of here so your mom doesn't get mad at all of us."
"Five more minutes!" Clint called back in a laugh. He was trying to keep up with the Hulk, and to everyone's surprise, the Hulk was letting him, even if he was taking all the soldiers down before the could even look at Clint. It was actually a very effective way to get the Hulk to focus on the fight and not Logan: the big guy obviously didn't want Clint hurt but was too entertained by his enthusiasm to shut him out either.
"I'll get Logan," Tony said as the armor fired up. "Take the kids out of here; you know the place."
Jan nodded quickly, grabbing Katie's hand before she could also get in trouble — and trusting Katie to rope the Wagner-Maximoff boys into following her. Which they did.
That just left Clint and the Hulk behind. Which would have been more fun if Clint could actually fight, but at least the big guy was letting him play.
Somehow, by the time the last of the soldiers was forced to turn tail, the Hulk had scooped Clint up in the course of the fight to keep him from getting trampled underfoot, which was how a grinning Clint ended up meeting up with the other Avengers on the Hulk's shoulders.
"Any word back from Carol and K yet?" Tony asked quietly once they were well away from the 'authorities'.
Jan shook her head, her attention occupied by all of Logan and K's dramatic kids. "No… but I doubt they missed this if they're paying any attention at all."
"You're assuming they're going to listen to the news when they're covering their own tails, though," Tony pointed out.
"Those ladies can multitask. You underestimate us girls!" Jan defended.
"I'm not underestimating anything to do with them," Tony replied. "I know better."
"Smart man." Jan smirked, then waved as the Hulk set Clint down and he came running over to them.
"That was so much fun," Clint gasped, his face flushed with adrenaline.
"Bud, that wasn't fun; that was borderline psychotic," Tony said.
"Umm have you ever gotten to ride on the Hulk's shoulders? Because it is fun!"
"Yeah, no," Tony said, trying to direct him toward a path to exit. "That's just you."
"I knew he'd be alright if he knew who the bad guys were," Clint explained happily.
"All we'll need to do is set him up with a baby bjorn, and you'll be set to go," Tony teased. "He can cart you around in a backpack to point him the right way."
"I'm down," Clint said without missing a beat.
"Maaaaybe not," Jan said, pulling a face. "Come on, buddy. We still need to regroup after all that."
"Right." Clint nodded and then looked toward Logan, rushing over to check on him. "You okay? They were shooting you even before the Hulk showed up, so it had to be brutal, and I know it hurts getting shot just once…"
"I'm fine," Logan grumbled. "Just ticked off they were there at all. Shouldn'ta been."
"Yeah, they looked like, um, I mean, Tony said the Hulk's been having issues, but they looked… department-like."
"Department is a military outfit," Logan replied, honestly confused, since he thought Clint knew that much.
"Yeah, but when I was hanging out with the Hulk, they were targeting him. And I thought they were, you know, an our family problem."
"They screwed with a lot of people," Logan said. "They'd love to get a hold of your mom or me, but they sure as hell wouldn't complain if they could manage to down the Hulk, either."
Clint pulled a face and looked toward where a suddenly much smaller Banner was talking with Jan and looking rather shocked himself. "That's stupid," he said. "He's an Avenger. And he's not a mutant, so people, you know, care more, as dumb as it is that people don't care about mutants, I mean."
"Except the Hulk has a history of doin' a lot of damage," Logan pointed out. "They don't care if they're scared of whoever it is."
"Huh." Clint shook his head. "Still stupid," he decided — and marched himself over to Bruce to wave and catch his attention. "You okay? I don't know about how you and the Hulk work, but I know getting shot hurts, and you got shot a few times while you were big and green."
"Oh, yeah, hi there," Bruce said haltingly. "I'm — I'm fine. Thanks." He looked from Clint over to Tony with a questioning expression. "Why is he worried again?"
"Kid followed you," Tony said as gently as he could. "Apparently, he and the Hulk get along. Which is weird when you consider his dad."
"Huh," Bruce looked just as shocked as the others at the news. "Are you sure you didn't get hurt, Clint?"
Clint gestured with his arms out wide. "Nah, I'm fine. I got singed a bit, but that healed right up, no problem. Besides, you were fighting my dad. You needed someone to remind you who the bad guys were," he said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone. "You weren't gonna hurt me."
Bruce looked a little frustrated at the declaration. "There's no way for you to know that."
"Sure there is," Clint said, still sounding perfectly reasonable. "You didn't go crazy and hurt any of us even when we were annoying — and you were focused on the fight, so I knew that's where you wanted to be. You just needed reminding."
"Let him be," Logan advised. "Banner's totally different than the Hulk."
"Yeah, the Hulk's more fun," Clint said with a crooked grin. "Even if he hogged all the bad guys — even though I told him I could shoot 'em just fine."
"He's just like that," Logan agreed.
Clint nodded, then turned more serious as he locked gazes with Bruce again. "But really, me and my family deal with the department a lot. So if they come after you again, you can call us if you need to. It's not right for them to try and grab you or me or anyone."
"Clint, if they manage to catch the Hulk and get 'im back to their base, they're gonna get everything they asked for," Logan said.
"Then we can't let 'em do that," Clint said, his arms crossed before he stopped, turned, and pointed a finger at Tony. "You guys are Avengers. You should be doing something about the department! Them and anyone else who think kidnapping and forcing people to work for them is okay. That's what Avengers do."
"No," Logan laughed. "I mean they'll get what's comin' to 'em." He chuckled to himself. "I've seen him do real damage on those creeps before. It'd be hilarious."
Clint shook his head stubbornly. "Doesn't matter. It still shouldn't happen. I mean, you know it still hurts when you get caught. And maybe the Hulk doesn't get stopped, but it hurts when he gets hit. You can tell because he gets all tense and more upset when he's getting shot than when he's just frustrated."
"Uh huh," Logan said — and even went so far as to sock Banner in the shoulder as he passed him by.
"So… can we get ice cream now?" Katie cut in, looking up at Logan with her eyes wide and her long eyelashes fluttering. "There was a fight, so now there's ice cream, right?"
"As long as we get offa the street first," Logan said.
"Oh, I guess," Katie said, pouting dramatically before she grinned, spun around, and made a dash for the other Avengers. "Uncle Kurt! 'Port me to ice cream! I can't wait!"