It was two days after the latest incident in Sokovia. Wanda and Pietro were in the process of getting their US citizenship. Allie was thrilled that everyone was okay, and she spent her time switching from one family member to another, just hanging out and playing. She made sure to hug Darcy a lot too, who had never been kidnapped and was finding the experience a bit difficult. Allie, veteran of two kidnappings and three crises, gave her sage advice. "Ice cweam and lots of cuddles."
Everyone was in the living room watching Batman V. Superman and criticizing it, when FRIDAY spoke up. "Sir, the Secretary of State is in the lobby."
The movie paused. Bruce bolted from his chair, his heartrate increasing drastically. Tony and Steve bolted up as well. The twins, the Asgardians, and Vision eyed the tense Avengers worriedly.
"Who is the Secretary of State?" Thor asked.
"General Ross," Tony answered grimly. "Wouldn't trust him as far as Allie could throw him. He's got a vendetta against Bruce. FRIDAY, slow down the elevator."
Steve touched Bruce's arm lightly. "Bruce? You're okay. He's got no authority here, he doesn't have any reason to come after you. Everything's going to be okay."
"You don't know that," Bruce said, taking deep breaths.
"I do know that," Steve replied calmly. "We're not going to let anything happen."
Allie suddenly jumped up and threw her arms around Bruce's waist, hugging him tightly. "Everything's gonna be a-okay," she said, her voice muffled.
Bruce put a gentle hand on her hair. "Thank you, Allie."
She turned into a puppy and jumped into his arms for comfort.
"Boss, we've got less than a minute before the elevator arrives," FRIDAY reported.
"Bruce, Vision, go up to the lab. You're not home," Steve said. "Natasha, take Allie and go down to your apartment."
"I can handle it, Steve," Bruce said.
"I know you can," Steve said confidently. "But if he's going to start throwing insults I'm pretty sure we're the ones that are gonna lose it. So, we're keeping you safe, and away from him. Tony?"
"I'll talk him down," the billionaire said cheerfully, a sharp grin emerging. "He won't get two feet past the elevators."
"Excellent."
Natasha picked up Allie. "C'mon, sweetheart. Let's go."
"No, I wanna stay," Allie said, pouting.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
The elevator dinged open.
"Too late," Clint murmured.
Allie hid behind Natasha as the former general stalked out of the elevator.
He ignored Stark's, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" and his gaze swept the room. His eyes settled on Allie, and narrowed.
She scowled back at him before Clint moved to block the general's view.
"Secretary Ross," Steve said, putting on his grandstanding persona. "It's an honor to have the Secretary of State with us today."
They shook hands, and Ross stepped back. "If you would take the child out of the room, we can get down to business," he said briskly.
Pietro scooped up Allie, ran with her to Bucky and Bruce, and ran back, all in less than a second. "There," he said, crossing his arms. "Speak."
Ross scowled at him, and turned to the rest of the Avengers. "Where is the rest of your team?" he asked Steve.
"Not here," Steve replied.
"All right then." He handed him a paper.
"What is this?" Steve asked, looking at it. 100% legalese stared back at him.
"I am suing the Avengers for custody of the child known as Allie Barton," the General declared.
Clint almost choked on his own spit. "What!" he spat out, glaring daggers at the man.
"You can't do that," Steve replied, handing him back the paper.
"Yes I can, and I will. In the last year alone, you've brought in an ex-HYDRA assassin and two untrained HYDRA mutants to the Tower. Captain, your entire team is composed of volatile individuals and actual aliens, not to mention the monster you're currently hiding from me." General Ross looked like the most righteous man on the planet, staring down the shocked superheroes. "The Avengers are unfit to take care of a child, let alone one with mutant powers."
"You have no right," Clint said angrily, stepping forward.
Tony blocked his forward movement with a gentle shove and a brittle smile. "General, I don't think you understand," he said, his manner charming but his eyes dangerously cold. "Clint Barton's daughter is completely, legally, his. The living quarters of this place have been inspected by the child services department, and are still being inspected regularly. And if you think for one moment we will let you take away our Allie and turn her into some government super weapon, you are sadly mistaken."
The General nodded, his eyes glinting with an almost insane light. "Then give me Banner."
They all glared at him silently. "You are insane," Pietro finally said, and received a sharp elbow in the side from his sister.
The General gestured expansively. "Give me Banner, and you can keep your little mutant. All this trouble goes away."
"How about this?" Tony asked. "You get out of my Tower, stop harassing the people trying to save the planet, and leave Bruce Banner alone. He has done nothing to you."
"Nothing? He tried to kill me and half the army?"
"After you sent a true monster to kill him," Steve reminded him. He drew himself to his full height. "Secretary Ross. Dr. Bruce Banner is not a monster. He does not deserve to be caged like a wild animal, or experimented on. You need to give up. Now."
"You can't give me orders, Captain."
Steve smiled thinly. "I don't think you understand. If you take Bruce, or Allie, you'll see why we're called the Avengers."
General Ross's eyes narrowed, and without a word, he marched out of the room.
Everyone heaved a sigh as soon as he was gone.
"What do we do?" Wanda asked the more experienced heroes.
Natasha was scowling dangerously. "Give me an hour."
Steve held out a pacifying hand. "Now, hold on a second. That would just make our position worse."
Tony threw a few holograms onto the wall. "FRIDAY, get me all the dirt on General Ross. All of it." He gave the other Avengers a slightly manic grin. "Trust me. He'll be gone by the end of the week."
The intercom clicked on. "Is it safe to come back?" Bucky's voice asked.
"All clear, Buck," Steve reported.
"Yay!" Allie's voice said, and they all smiled.
They regrouped in the kitchen to eat. "What did he want?" Bruce asked, looking haunted.
Allie cuddled against his side in silent comfort.
Steve shook his head. "Nothing we were willing to give him." He patted Bruce on the shoulder.
In deference for Allie's presence, nothing else was said about the matter, until she brought it up herself. "Is the mean general going to come back?" she asked worriedly.
Tony kissed her on the head. "Nope. I promise."
"Good." Allie climbed into her dad's lap and hugged him tight. "Can we have ice cream?"
"Yeah. Whatever you want, baby girl." Clint felt Natasha's glare from across the room. "Within reason," he amended.
"Rocky Road," Allie requested.
A~A~A~A
"Say geronimo, say geronimo," Allie sang absently, as she listened to headphones and did her homework. "Say geronimo..."
"Geronimo," Steve said, poking her in the side as he walked past her. "Where's Tony, doll?"
"He's in his lab destroying General Ross's credit score," Allie replied placidly.
"Seriously?"
"Yup." She held up her tablet. "Steve, what's the prime factors of twenty-seven?"
"Uh..." He sat down next to her. "I don't know but we'll figure it out, okay?"
"Kay."
They were Googling it, when Tony strutted in happily, making a beeline for the coffee.
Steve gave him a suspicious side-eye. "What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Tony."
"I may have sent an email to the UN Supreme Court of Human Rights with files from Ross's personal servers detailing plans for the Hulk and/or the super soldier serum." Tony gave them a satisfied smirk and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Victory is sweet. Tastes like organic espresso roast Colombian beans."
Allie stared at his cup. "Can I taste it?"
"Sure."
Natasha walked in just as Allie was taking a sip. She glared at Tony.
He pointed at Steve. "It's his fault! He didn't stop me."
"Steve is not your babysitter," Natasha said dangerously. "You know Allie's not supposed to have coffee."
"But Steve's 85% of my impulse control when Pepper's not here," Tony complained, hiding behind Allie.
Allie giggled. "It tastes like victory, mommy. I's just taking a small sip." She handed the cup back to Tony and hugged her mom. "Can I have banana pudding?"
Natasha gave her an indulgent smile. "Sure." She smacked Tony lightly on the shoulder. "Move over."
Tony moved. All the way across the living room to safety.
Steve handed him the tablet. "Explain prime factorization to Allie."
A~A~A~A
General Ross was tried by the United Nations and fired. He retired to a small island in the Pacific, plagued by Tony's virus that kept him from having good credit. And somehow, all the ATM's would spit out his card, and none of his emails would go through. What a strange world we live in...
A~A~A~A
It was a week after that, that an employee of SI brought a virus into the building. The computer bug didn't make it past the second level of firewalls protecting the Avengers, and FRIDAY caught it in less than five seconds.
The SI employee confessed that they'd been paid by one of Justin Hammer's associates to get information about the Avengers' defenses.
Cap called a superhero meeting. Allie was also included. She had her own chair, and a notepad for Important Meeting Notes.
"We need to move out of the city," Steve declared, as the second order of business. "This Tower is too obvious of a target and there's too many people going in and out to effectively track anyone, not to mention if HYDRA, or anyone, attacks the building again, lots of people could be seriously injured."
"Where could we go in this realm?" Loki asked.
"The farm," Allie suggested cheerfully.
"No, we don't want to expose Laura and the kids," Clint replied gently.
"Oh yeah." Allie chewed on the end of her pencil. "Nebraska."
"What's in Nebraska?" Thor asked.
"Nothing," Sam said, making a face.
"How about upstate New York?" Tony suggested, putting up a hologram. "SI has this old set of warehouses that haven't been used in like thirty years. We could turn it into an Avengers base."
"Yes," Bruce said, looking at the wide-open spaces, away from most signs of civilization. "Yeah, this could work. If there's an, incident, I wouldn't have to worry about breaking the most expensive city in the country."
Steve nodded slowly. "I like this plan." He raised an eyebrow at Tony. "Can you make up some building plans?"
"Of course." Tony tilted his head. "You want to help, Mr. Artist?"
Steve grinned.
"This is either going to go very well, or very badly," Loki murmured, watching their two polar opposites start to toss ideas at each other.
Thor nodded gravely.
"Meeting's over," Steve said absently, waving everyone away.
Allie turned into a duckling and waddled over to Bucky.
"You wanna float in the sink?" he asked.
An emphatic duckling-nod.
He picked her up gently, and toted her away to paddle around in the bathroom sink.
A~A~A~A