A/N: Not dead! Just extremely busy... here's the next bit so you don't have to wait so long in between posts.

"Tony, remember your old friend Justin Hammer?"

"That sorry excuse for an engineer? What'd he do now?" Tony asked distractedly.

"Well, he's being funded by HYDRA and apparently trying to remake the super soldier serum," Clint said cheerfully.

Tony groaned in the manner of a slowly-dying cow, and rubbed at his face with greasy hands, leaving black streaks behind. "Okay, I think I've been playing my music too loud because, what? He's not smart enough to even attempt it-"

"Have you heard of a biologist named Maya Hansen?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no?"

"Yes you have. She's helping him, and she's smart enough. And, they're working off of old SSR notes on the serum which somebody from HYDRA gave them access to through SHIELD." Clint gave him the dossier. "Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to stop them."

Tony stared suspiciously at the tablet in his hands. "This isn't going to suddenly melt into acid, is it?" he asked.

"No."

"Okay, cool. I can do that. Where's Steve? Shouldn't the original super soldier be working on this?"

"He's working with Bucky right now."

"Oh. Never mind. Can I have Thor and Bruce?"

"Yes, as long as Bruce stays in the tower. His words, not mine."

"Cool."

With the two most unsubtle members of the team taking down the most unsubtle bit of HYDRA's current machinations, it didn't take long for events to show up on TV.

"YOU BLEW UP THE MANSION!"

Tony winced at Pepper's rage. "I had to lure them out somehow! How was I supposed to know that their super soldiers explode?!"

Pepper took a deep breath and counted to ten in silent French. "Are you hurt?" she demanded.

"No. And Thor's fine too."

"Good. Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Good. Get back here, you've got a meeting with the board to explain why you're not clinically insane."

"Yes ma'am."

A~A~A~A

There was a month-long period of peace, in which JARVIS, Bruce, and Steve vetted a trustworthy VA counselor named Sam Wilson for Bucky, and got the reluctant Sgt. Barnes talking. Sam was a laidback man with a strong loyal streak, and he thought the Avengers were awesome. He also thought Allie was the cutest little kid he'd ever seen, including his own nieces. He also heartily approved of pet therapy.

"You guys have a lot of pets," he said, watching a grey bunny hop into the living area. "What is that, like the fifth one I've seen since last week?"

The bunny stopped and looked at him.

So did Clint and Steve and Bucky. Bucky started to laugh.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You, pets," Steve started, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his grin. "Sorry, we forgot to tell you."

"Does Tony Stark have a petting zoo?" Sam asked cautiously.

Clint snickered. "Nothing so crazy." He knelt down and held out a hand to the grey bunny. "Allie baby, come here and show Sam what's going on."

"Wait, you named your pet after your ki-" Sam stopped in mid-word as he watched the bunny transform into Allie. She leaned into Clint's arms and smiled shyly at Sam.

"Hi," she said.

Sam's jaw dropped. "You're a shapeshifter?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's awesome, Allie."

"Yep."

"Show him your favorite one," Steve urged gently, grinning.

Sam watched in awe as Allie transformed into a red-scaled dragon and poofed a little cloud of smoke. "Whoooooaa. Okay. That's like the coolest thing ever."

The dragon preened happily and turned back into Allie. "I wike dragons," she said.

Clint swooped her up in a hug. "And now it's time for all dragons to have lunch!" He carried a giggling Allie off to the kitchen.

With Sam's help, Bucky slowly continued to develop his social skills and regain his individuality. He was different than the old Bucky though. Where the old Bucky was all smooth charm, the new Bucky was more awkward. His sense of humor came back quickly though, and he and Steve picked fun at each other all day long on good days. Bucky was sharper now, too, in a way that war and constant tactical missions had taught him to be. And of course, he was a super soldier now, so he, Steve, and Thor were eating all day long. Allie was keeping score of how many hot dogs they could eat. So far Thor was in the lead, but Bucky had seventy years of TV to catch up on and he was slowly gaining on the thunder god.

A/N 2: Stay tuned for more shenanigans :)