A/N: So, I'm still pretty slow to update, but second trimester has been good to me. No promises when we get to the spring when I'm due :P

Chapter 3: Explain Yourself, Clint

The kids were all finally coming down from adrenaline and sugar-fueled highs by the time everyone really got settled in. The Avengers wouldn't be at the tower for a while until the damage was repaired, but Tony had secondary (and tertiary) sites set up for just this kind of thing, so it didn't take too long for everyone to get relaxed and semi-comfortable.

Except, of course, for Steve, who looked like he was turning as red as his uniform when Clint saw him.

"You okay, Cap?" Clint asked, genuinely concerned.

"What were you thinking?" Steve started out. "You were supposed to get clear of the incident, not … ride the Hulk into battle."

Clint blinked, surprised by how upset Steve was about the whole thing, and then held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "That part wasn't my idea. The big guy didn't want to worry about stepping on me, okay?"

"You didn't have a plan going into it — and even if you did, you were supposed to evacuate."

"Yeah, but he and my dad were pounding on each other, and the soldiers were targeting them both," Clint pointed out.

"He and your Dad always end up pounding each other," Steve pointed out.

Clint narrowed his eyes and tipped his chin up. "Yeah, but listen to what I'm saying about how the department soldiers were targeting them. Somebody had to remind 'em where the fight was — or they'd end up getting grabbed soon as they wore each other down. Duh."

"That's not … Clint. That would have taken hours," Steve said.

"They'd already been shooting up my dad," Clint pointed out.

Steve blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"That's what the department does to my dad," Clint said in a frustrated tone. "They shoot him up until he can't walk."

Steve turned to look at Logan to corroborate, and when Logan simply shrugged in response, Steve shook his head. "That …. Why would they do that?" He held up one hand. "I know why the Canadians would, but why would Ross?"

"Dad says the Department would like to get the Hulk too, and they're part of the military too, so…" Clint shrugged openly. "I dunno. Villain teamup? Don't those things happen with you guys — or is that just in the comics from the '50s my mom let me read?"

"The Department is half in with the Americans," Logan said as he took a seat. "Thought you knew that. They've been cooperatin' since the start of the Cold War."

When Steve's frown just kept growing, Clint let out a sigh. "See, this is why you and Scott were doing all that talking, I thought. Don't you know about how those guys chased me and my mom through Washington D.C. back before she was even officially my mom?"

"I thought that was just the other side," Steve admitted. "I didn't think it was our guys too."

'It's always been both, Cap," Logan said.

"And anyway, bad guys are bad guys," Clint said with a shrug. "So yeah, I saw 'em targeting my dad and the Hulk, and I don't really care how long a shot it is for them to get screwed. They're not getting screwed on my watch."

"You okay with your kid adopting Banner like that?" Steve asked after a beat, clearly trying to find some humor while he processed it all.

"Like I got a say in who he decides he likes," Logan deadpanned.

Clint grinned even wider. "The Hulk's fun. You just gotta know how to talk to him," he told Steve excitedly. "He's a giant goofball if you ask him to compete — and he wouldn't let me get close to danger even after I told him I'd been training with the X-Men and I can heal."

Steve stared at him for a long moment. "Your kid's weird, Logan."

"Pot, kettle," Logan called back. "At least he ain't wearing star-spangled pj's."

"No, but Mom got me some new long johns for Christmas Eve at the cabin," Clint said.

"She got those for everyone," Logan laughed. "More or less."

"Yeah, Katie thinks they're bunny outfits," Clint laughed.

"Say that louder and they might end up bein' bunny outfits," Logan told Clint quietly.

Clint grinned crookedly. "I'll write it on a sticky note for Mom when she gets home."

"Won't stop her callin' you duck fluff, though," Logan pointed out.

"Are you sure?" Clint asked, one eyebrow raised. "It could be juuuust enough of a distraction!"

Logan chuckled and messed up Clint's hair worse than it already was. "Yeah, never gonna happen. You can be bald and she'll still call you duck fluff."

Clint tried unsuccessfully to rescue his hair from Logan but kept getting it messed up again as soon as he got it lying flat. "You're totally on her side. It's not fair!"

"I'd be stupid to be on anyone else's side," Logah laughed. "Married her for a reason, kiddo."

"Yeah, well, don't forget I saw her first," Clint said, leveling his finger at Logan — because it was a tease he'd never, ever, let up on.

"Still not gonna let that go, eh?"

"Nope. Because it's always gonna be true," Clint replied without missing a beat.

"Save it for when she's around to hear it," Logan told him quietly.

Clint shrugged. "Okay," he said, then turned to Steve. "I'm gonna go hang out with my brother and sister — unless you still want to get mad at me for helping Dad and Bruce?"

"No, go do what you were going to do," Steve said in a breath, and as Clint left, he continued, "You were going to anyhow."

When Clint got to the mansion for the weekend, the other leader of a superheroic team came to talk to him about his life decisions. As expected.

Or, well, almost as expected.

Instead of coming at him and demanding that Clint explain how he could be so stupid, Scott stopped in front of him, frowning hard, before he asked, simply, "Walk me through what happened."

Clint grinned, glad that someone was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on not being totally crazy. "It was kind of amazing, not gonna lie," he said, trying not to look like he was too happy about it or he'd get accused of rushing in for the thrill of it.

"I meant what happened before you decided to take a nearly suicidal ride on the Hulk," Scott said dryly.

"It wasn't suicidal," Clint argued. "It wasn't. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me!"

"But how?" Scott pressed. "I'm not saying you didn't know what you were doing. But I need to know how you got there. I don't want this to just be a lucky guess. If it was, you might not be so lucky next time."

Clint shook his head quickly. "It wasn't a guess," he said, but when Scott held his gaze, he sighed, knowing he'd have to explain it again. "Look, I pay attention, okay? I could see that Mr. Banner was upset because James was upset, and I watched the Hulk when he started transforming. He moved away from us and toward the fight. He wasn't going to let us kids get hurt. So I figured when he got distracted with his grudge match with my dad, if one of the people he wanted to keep safe came to remind him what was what, that would work better than people he was actively fighting trying to talk him down." He shrugged. "It makes sense."

Scott frowned for a long time and then, finally, gestured for Clint to sit with him. "You scared everyone there, Clint. No one knew what you were thinking."

"I didn't have time to explain…"

"And if you'd been wrong?" Scott asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I wasn't."

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. That response was so much like his parents that Scott had to pause a moment before he even tried to respond. Finally, he said, "That's not the point. The point is that you ran in on a theory. Even if you were right this time, you might not be right the next time."

Clint shook his head. "It wasn't a theory," he said. "I knew the Hulk wouldn't hurt me, because I saw him avoiding us when he was growing into a giant. And he spent the whole fight shielding me." He crossed his arms and tipped his head up. "I might not know strategies like you do, but I know people. I know who I can trust."

Scott held Clint's gaze for a moment longer before he finally nodded. "This is why you're in training, Clint," he said. "Because you rush in. Your instincts are good, but you need backup. And your backup can't help you if you don't tell them what you're thinking."

"The Avengers don't have telepathic links, and I told you there wasn't time," Clint insisted. "But seeing as everyone's so bent outta shape, I'll try and send up smoke signals or something," he added, rolling his eyes.

"Clint, this is serious."

"Don't you think I know that?" Clint shot back. "They were shooting at my dad. It was the same department that shot me, too — before they even knew I could heal! I know what those guys can do, okay?"

"But you've never faced the Hulk," Scott started to say, but Clint cut him off with an irritated noise.

"So? You guys face bad guys for the first time all the time, and you have to act on first impressions and instincts and cheating from Jean, don't you?" Clint said. "I know what I saw, and I know what I knew, and I ran with it. That's what you're supposed to do."

Scott massaged his forehead. "This wasn't the first time the Avengers have dealt with the Hulk. You had others around you who know the guy — both versions of him. But you did your own assessment."

"And I was right," Clint said again.

Scott sighed. "Clint…"

"Still right."

"That's not—" Scott let out a breath of frustration. "I just need you to be more careful, Clint. I don't want you to be more reckless now that you're training with us — and especially now that you can heal."

"Um, Scott, I don't know if anyone told you, but it still hurts. I'm not stupid."

"I didn't say you were."

"Good." Clint got to his feet, then decided to give Scott a break. "For the record, you're taking this a lot better than Cap did. I thought he was gonna have a heart attack right in front of me."

"Maybe I should have one too," Scott said, only half-joking.

"Aww, don't do that. Jean and Rachel and the twins need you around!" With that, Clint flashed Scott a huge smile and then bounced off before Scott could figure out how to turn the conversation back to getting the kid to be more careful.

When Carol and K got back to the new Avengers' headquarters — since the tower was a mess — the two of them looked positively wind-whipped and almost breathless from whatever it was they'd been doing. It was pretty clear they'd gone out after the mission, too, because neither of them were in uniform at all — casual wear only. But if the flash drive K was twirling between her fingers was any indicator, they had more intel to look through regarding what exactly General Ross was up to.

"What made you think we needed a distraction that big?" K asked Tony when he spotted the two of them and let out a sigh of relief.

"Wasn't us — they came to us. Your timing was just …"

"Awesome," Carol said. "We had our run of the place without even really trying." She pointed at Tony. "Oh, I should tell you. We got all this done off camera. Didn't need the help."

K slipped over to where Logan was looking pretty wiped out on the couch and took a moment to wrap her arms around him from behind and steal a little kiss. "You get it out of your system?"

"For today, anyhow," Logan agreed. James was curled up, sleeping on his father without a care in the world.

"He got to fight the Hulk!" Katie informed K, running over to wrap her up in a hug at the knees.

"Oh good," K said, resting her hand on Katie's head. "He said he needed to stretch. Who did you beat up, then?"

"I wasn't 'llowed to because of how I was watching out for Billy and Tommy," Katie said, looking perfectly disappointed.

"That's good, though. They're still brand-spanking-shiny-and new, and they need someone clever and quick to keep them out of trouble," K told her before she let her voice drop to a stage whisper. "I mean … Kurt and Wanda are their parents … that's all kinds of trouble."

Katie giggled delightedly and nodded. "And Billy told me about how they met their grandpa with the cape and their grandma who's super evil! They got lots of stuff to worry about!"

"They sure do. So they're lucky to have you on their side, right?" K picked her up and hugged her tightly, then shifted her to her hip and handed her the flash drive. "Keep a good hold on that. Iron Man's gonna want it, and we have to make him work for it. Got it?"

Katie nodded dutifully. "What should I make 'im do to get it?" she asked, completely serious.

K looked over at Carol and sidestepped her way closer so that Katie was in between the two of them. "What do you think, Captain Marvel?"

"It's gotta be something good," Carol said. "He gets everything too easy otherwise."

Katie pushed her lower lip out and then lit up. "Oooh, I got it!" she said. "I got it! He's gotta get a ring for Miss Jan! Cuz of how she wants one!"

"We don't want to kill him," K said - loud enough for Tony to hear it. "He could have a heart attack if we tell him that."

"And he's very delicate," Carol agreed, nodding sagely. "But if you think Jan is the key, we could maybe let her help figure out what to do."

"If we're gonna use that intel, you girls might want to pick a finish line that ain't ten years down the line," Logan called out.

"He's got to set up more cross-team practices," Carol said. "There is no way we can let these kids all end up being X-Men."

"Um, 'scuse me, but my brother's bein' an X-Man-Avenger," Katie said, her hands on her hips. "And so am I, when I get big enough. We don't gotta pick."

"Well excuse me, Miss Purple-Bow Kate," Carol teased. "I just want you around more to take old Iron Man down a few notches."

"If you're nice — and lucky — then Miss Carol might even teach you to fly when you're older," K whispered to Katie. "Maybe just make sure Tony asks Jan out on a real date."

"Oh, and not just where they stay home and eat popcorn," Kate said, nodding her understanding.

"Yes," K said. "Tell him where they need to go to be romantic."

"Somewhere … somewhere pretty," Katie said thoughtfully. "With a beach. No mountains, cuz that's where my first mom died, and I don't want Miss Jan to get hurt, so no skiing or nothing, mkay?"

"Can I please have that flash drive, Miss Katie?" Tony asked in a tired tone with his hand out. "No skiing. Not even waterskiing."

"Only if you promise you'll take her somewhere super romantic," Katie said, holding the drive tight.

"He doesn't know where that might be," Carol stage whispered to Katie.

"You gotta take her to the beach to look at the stars on the water," Katie insisted. "And… and you have to have dinner with candles."

Tony spared a half-hearted glare at Carol and K but bucked up to cover his heart with one hand. "On my life, I'll take her to the beach with the candles and the whole nine. Now can I get that drive?"

Katie sized him up carefully. "I dunno…"

"He's gotta ask her first," K said into Katie's hair. "She might not wanna go if he doesn't ask."

Katie nodded. "Yeah, you gotta ask her. Cuz you kiiiiinda look like you might not."

Tony looked supremely flustered as he spun on his heel to face Jan — who, like Carol, looked like she was barely holding back the giggles. "Jan. Miss Van Dyne. Would you please consider stepping out of the loonie bin with me for a night?"

"Well, not if it's just for the flash drive," Jan said — just holding it together enough to reply before she started laughing.

By that time, Logan had heard enough, and he got to his feet quickly. He made his way over to where the girls were giving Tony a hard time, then handed James to Carol before he picked up Katie and hung her upside down to tickle her until she was squealing with laughter. When he pulled her back up, he put his hand out for the drive. "Come on, Katie. No games. We want to catch the creeps, right?"

"O-kaaay," Katie said, relinquishing the drive at last. "Just for you, Daddy."

Logan kissed her cheek then turned toward Tony to slap the drive in his hand. "You owe me, Stark." Then, he turned to Carol. "And you've been drinking without me. Come on, let's teach the kids how to play poker. The twins should know early for as diabolical as the family is."