Disclaimer: I own nothing Marvel. However, the Scholl ranch and family is mine.

Tony opened his eyes. The ceiling was wrong—it was steel, not the usual white walls above him. Looking around, he saw that he was in a much smaller room than normal, and he now recalled that the sheets were not as fine as he was used to. Then it all came back to him with a rush—the experiment, the accident, and landing on the ranch. That night they had given him a guest room to sleep in.

He gave a sly smile as he remembered Daisy's enigmatic words from the previous afternoon. Well, today his 'friend' would be arriving. Maybe he would know something about what Daisy was referring to.

Quickly he jumped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to clean up—he didn't have any fresh clothes, but he could still comb his hair, at least.

Everyone in the family ate breakfast together—a slightly novel experience for Tony, as he was used to just catching a bite whenever—and discussed plans for the day's activities. A pasture needed work on the fences, and Tony agreed to accompany Jake to help fix the fence. "Fencing" was what Jake and Erwin called it.

Maria and Daisy were going to be busy preparing for the guest, who would arrive sometime in the afternoon. Erwin was planning to check on some cows at a different place—he would be gone most of the day.

Soon Jake and Tony had gathered up the supplies they needed (metal fence posts, wire, staples, wire clips, fencing pliers, wire stretchers) and stopped back at the house to pick up some water and a sack lunch, since they would be gone past lunchtime.

Daisy brought out the coolers to them. She smiled as she handed the food and water to Tony through the window of the pickup truck. "Have a good day, guys."

Tony smirked. "I'll do my best, although," he raised his eyebrows at her, "I may have trouble, since I'll be occupied with a mystery a certain someone has presented to me."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please." She started walking back toward the house, but turned around and waved to them as they started moving. "See ya!"

It was three in the afternoon when they returned, which was slightly later than Jake had estimated. They had had trouble with the pickup trying to break down, but Tony had fixed it. With wire and baling twine, which was an impressive feat by Jake's standards. But they had finally managed to make it back, although with rather smudged and dirty faces from all the dust blowing around.

Despite the dirt, three children flung themselves at Tony and Jake as soon as they stepped in the house, demanding that they play with them.

Jake laughed, gently untangling himself from young arms. "Well, what are you playing?"

Mandy grinned mischievously as she looked up at Jake from where her arms were wrapped around his legs. "We're seeing who can make the funniest faces!" she declared enthusiastically.

Ryan looked up at Tony with a wicked glint in his eye. "And you have to play with us, because you said you would yesterday, but you never did."

Tiny crossed his arms, rolled his eyes, and made the best exasperated face that he could conjure up. "Really, guys? One careless word and you blackmail me?"

The three kids burst out in breathless laughter. "Dat was funny!" giggled Kylie. "Aden! Do't aden!"

Soon the four of them (Jake had made his escape) were crossing eyes, puffing cheeks out, and pulling their faces into all sorts of grotesque figures. Maria and Daisy shook their heads in fond disapproval as they watched.

But it was interrupted when a sleek black car pulled up to the ranch house. Tony didn't notice it at first, but he looked up when he heard the door open and Daisy and Maria go out to greet their guest. Then the kids noticed and crowded to the window to see who was here.

"It's Clint!" Ryan exclaimed. "Treehouses!"

"Yay! Bows and arrows!" squealed Mandy. "It's so fun when Clint comes!"

"Yay, Clint!" echoed Kylie.

Tony could only stare as the familiar figure stepped out of the car and swung two bags over his shoulder. Daisy greeted him with a smile, and he grinned back, which was a surprise in itself. Maria gestured him inside.

"It's good to be back," Clint Barton remarked as he stepped in the door. "I do like this place." He turned to Daisy with a mock seriousness. "Have you taken care of my chickens?"

She gave a dry laugh. "Yeah. They're fine."

At last Clint turned toward Tony. He raised an eyebrow. "Hey, pal. Heard you needed a lift and some clothes."

Tony nodded skeptically. "Well, that is the unfortunate truth." He narrowed his eyes. "You, however, were not the 'friend' I was expecting." He pulled a 'thoughtful' face. "Actually, I didn't know who to expect. But it certainly wasn't you."

Clint smirked. "There's more to me than meets the eye."

That was when Tony snapped. He wasn't angry, not really. Just…indignant. Righteously indignant, he reasoned to himself. So he raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked sarcastically. "I never would have guessed. Clint has a secret getaway he never tells anyone about! Oh my!"

Clint raised both his eyebrows in mild astonishment. "Hey, I don't tell a lot of people about a lot of things." He frowned. "And this was my secret getaway. I'm guessing it won't be so secret anymore."

Tony shrugged. "Aw, don't worry. It'll still be secret. You just might have to…share. A little bit."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Right."

Just then Daisy giggled. Both Tony and Clint looked up in surprise, to find Jake, Maria, Daisy, and the kids all staring at them in amusement.

Clint narrowed his eyes at Daisy. "You know, right now you're reminding me of someone I met a while back."

She just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"She's a little trickster."

Daisy raised an eyebrow and widened her eyes in mock innocence. "Me? I would never."

Tony looked at Clint. "You know, right now I agree with you for once."

A.N. So I'm getting close to the end of this story. It's not done yet, there's about a chapter left. So I was thinking about maybe doing a series about the Avengers coming to the Scholl ranch. What do you guys think?