Two Chapters, on Monday, as promised!

Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own any of characters depicted below that you may recognize...they belong to forces higher then me, and I respect them and applaud them for their beautiful creations.


Forgiveness

"What brought this on?" Steve looked down at Harper, who looked beautiful in her navy dress, and who'd wrapped both arms around his neck as if she didn't hate him and who'd invited HIM to dance, and during the Father-Daughter dance at that.

Steve was trying not to read too much into it.

He was failing.

"This…" Harper sighed and sought out a laughing Tony Stark with her gaze. "This is all Stark's fault."

"It is?!" Steve asked surprised, and Harper laughed.

"Actually, it is." She shrugged. "He made me realize what's important, and what's not." She shot Steve a stern look. "And if I were smart I would stop giving you extra chances, kick you to the curb, and move to Boston."

Steve winced. Then he frowned. "Wait, why Boston?"

Harper shrugged, and her eyes took on a faraway look. "I don't know, actually. I've just always wanted to go there." Then she shook herself. "Back to kicking your sorry butt to the curb.

Steve made a face. "Is that what this is?" He asked slowly. "You kicking me to the curb?"

Harper sighed. "No…this is the opposite of that."

Steve's shoulders relaxed. "If I were you, I wouldn't give me another chance." He hedged.

"Most people wouldn't," Harper laughed. Then she shrugged. "But I understand why you did what you did, and Tony's made me realize that this, who I am…it doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"It's not what you want." Steve shook his head.

"Steve." Harper shook her head. "I'm 19 years old. I don't KNOW what I want. Maybe these powers are nature's way of telling me what I need." She chuckled and looked towards the Team, who watched Steve and Harper dance unashamed. She shook her head in their direction, and they grinned unapologetically.

"So…is what I'm seeing right now acceptance?" He asked tentatively.

Harper shrugged. "I guess so." She admitted. "Yeah." She looked Steve straight in the eye and smiled.

"I forgive you."

And relief like Steve had never known washed over him. He'd been so afraid that this really was the end, and Harper was a better, more forgiving person than he could've hoped for.

"I love you." Steve blurt out, and Harper's eyes widened.

"I mean…..You're the family I never expected and the daughter I never saw coming, but you're a part of my life and I couldn't imagine living it without you, and…" Steve took a deep breathe. "I may be a screw up of an adoptive dad and a horrible failure who sucks at all of this, but I meant what I said." Steve smiled tentatively. "I love you."

Harper smiled.

"Right back atcha Pops."

And the rest of Steve's worries slipped away.


"So…everyone's good?" Scott asked suspiciously.

Harper rolled her eyes as Steve sat back down at the table and she leaned against his side.

"Yeah, we're good." Harper answered.

"So how have you been?" Thor asked brightly. "My brother isn't training you too hard?"

"Your brother is a menace and he needs to be stopped." Harper smiled. "But I'm learning a lot, so I guess he can stick around.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Clint made a face, and Harper stuck her tongue out at him.

"Where'd he go anyway?" Will asked.

"He had to take care of something." Harper said cryptically.

"So…." Tasha crossed her arms. "What have you been up to?"

"Uhhhhhh," Harper looked anywhere but at the Avengers. "I've been working on Morris' case." She nodded quickly. "Yeah, that's what I've been doing." Steve's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but before he could ask, Harper snapped her fingers.

"Which reminds me! Are you all are still helping with Turkey Day?"

"Turkey what?" Clint asked confused, mouth full.

Harper huffed. "You know, handing out meals to the homeless on Thanksgiving? That the Manhattan Project is putting together?"

"Oh, right." Clint nodded slowly. "Yeah, we're still doing that." He paused. "When is it again?"

Harper's eyes narrowed. "It's this Thursday. You know, on Thanksgiving?"

"Right, right." Clint nodded. "I knew that…I was just testing you."

"Uh huh." Harper nodded disbelievingly. "Sure. Anyway." She smiled at the group, pausing at Steve as her smile deepened. "I should go, you know. Help Loki with the….thing. Anyway! See you guys!" She waved, patted Steve on the shoulder, and disappeared into the crowd.

"So!" Tony appeared right where Harper had just been. "Did my motivational speech work?! Are we good?!"

"Yeah…" Steve said after a moment. "We're good."

"Yes!" Tony lifted a fist in victory. "Now; back to my wife." He winked at the table and disappeared once more.

"She's hiding something." Steve said the minute Tony left.

"Agreed." Clint nodded. "But what?"

"I have a feeling we'll find out on Thursday." Jake guessed thoughtfully.

"Ok. But what do we do till then?" Avery shot the table a look.

Will stood and grabbed a tray of champagne from a waiter, plopping it on the table.

"This is what we do." He smiled.

"We celebrate."


Homeless

"Loki?" Clint grimaced at the blond kid everyone knew Loki wore as a disguise, who stood tapping his foot at the corner Harper had told them all to meet at. "Where's Harp?"

"Harper is otherwise engaged." Loki sniffed. "I'm sure you'll run into her shortly. Until then, she's left me in charge."

"Which means we have to listen to you?" Avery crinkled his nose, then he shrugged. "Ok."

Loki shot Avery a wary look, then began to speak. "You will be delivering meals to groups of homeless individuals between the blocks of 1st and 16th. Deliver in groups of three and make sure to neither patronize nor force a meal on these individuals. They are human and thusly deserving of respect, so treat them with care."

"Ironic, coming from you." Clint coughed, and Loki's eyes narrowed. Clint held up his hands in mock surrender, wincing when Tasha smacked him warningly.

"You're meals are just here." Loki pointed to a wagon that sat by his feet, the wagon overflowing with brown takeout boxes. "When you finish your route or if you need more, the van is stationed just a block over; on Broadway. Any questions?"

"One!" Scott raised his hands. "Where's Harper?"

Loki leveled a sharp glare at Scott, and he quickly subsided. "She's around." He said tightly. "And if you fail, she will hear of your disgrace." And with a whirl, Loki marched away.

"Well. He was pleasant." Steve made a face. "Are we ready?"

"Sure are!" Will grabbed the handle of the wagon. "Let's go feed some people."


"I don't understand how Harper convinces us to do all this crap." Clint shoving his hands into his pockets as he followed slowly behind Steve and Scott.

"Maybe it's because she's super nice and fun and also terrifying and we adore her?" Scott answered glibly, and Clint scowled.

"Maybe." He conceded.

"And it's not like she's asking us to kill a man." Steve reasoned. "She wants us to do our part to better the community, which is something we should be doing anyway."

"Yeah, shut up." Clint hurried to fall into step with the other two. "My thing is; if this is like, her jam or whatever, where is she?"

Steve furrowed his brows. "That's a good question, actually."

"Hey! Are you guys not done with your route yet?" Will jogged over with a smile, peering into their mostly full bags. Thor and Jake followed at a more sedate pace.

"We have a block or so more to go." Steve admitted.

"Seriously?" Avery snorted. "We finished ours like that." Avery snapped his fingers and Tasha and Bruce shared an eyeroll.

"Well, if someone wouldn't ask them their life stories every time we stop," Clint grumbled, "We would've been done faster."

Tasha raised a brow at Steve, and he raised his hands. "Yo." He admitted. "It wasn't me this time."

Scott grinned bashfully. "I just like talking." He confessed.

"Hey guys." David and Tasha joined them, another figure in tow. "Seeing as Stark ditched us all to go on his honeymoon or whatever, we picked up this random stranger to help us with our route." David smiled back at Morris.

Morris rolled his eyes. "Hey everyone. Where's Harp?"

"That's the million dollar question." Bruce snorted.

"Let's just finish our route and we'll hunt her down." Steve decided. "Let's go."

The group shrugged and followed Steve as he marched resolutely down the last block, looking for anyone in need of a meal.

"Hey." A raspy voice spoke from one of the alleyways, and Steve paused.

"Yes?" He asked, smiling.

The raspy voice belonged to a man, back hunched with age and frail arms wrapped around himself tightly to keep out the cold. "You one of them Manhattan Project chumps?"

"Dude." David leaned over to whisper to Tasha. "That's the Beckett guy…from when Harp went Vio-LENT. Heh. Get it?" Tasha shot him a look and he stepped back in apology, going silent as Steve searched for a polite way to answer.

"I'm volunteering with the Manhattan Project, yes." Steve nodded slowly. "We're handing out meals this evening, would you like one?"

The man snorted. "No, I'm just fine. But my crew needs some food. Mind bringing it back to them?"

Steve nodded. "How many do you need?" He asked.

Beckett eyed the bags in Steve's hand, and after a moment, he smirked. "Just bring the rest of what you have." He decided. "Tell your groupies to follow you too."

Steve shot his "groupies" a look and with a shrug, followed Beckett deeper into the alleyway.

"Is he bringing us back here to kill us?" Will whispered.

"Shush." Bruce admonished.

"You gotta admit, this guy is hella creepy." Jake tried, but Thor grabbed the back of his neck and he went silent, slowly following Steve into the alley.

"This here's my crew," Beckett introduced once he'd arrived at the very back of the alleyway, where cardboard boxes taped together made a simple roof and two walls, all leaning against the side of a building that made the third wall. Several people sat inside the makeshift house, and Beckett introduced them one by one.

As Beckett went through roll call, Steve handed out the meals with a warm smile to each person.

Molly, an elderly woman with an angry scowl, snatched the meal from Steve's hand. Don and Craig, boys not more than ten and twelve, smiled bashfully and thanked Steve quietly. Carly, the woman Steve remembered interviewing and who glared darkly at Morris, took her meal silently. Solomon, a lone figure huddled in the back of the cardboard house, didn't even come out, instead just holding a pale hand out. Steve handed Solomon the meal and Solomon pulled it close to his chest, still hidden in shadows.

Beckett shrugged. "He's new." Beckett explained slowly. "Too uppity for his own good at this point. Hasn't let Pride fall yet." Beckett looked at his crew with sad eyes. "It'll happen soon enough though."

"Don't forget the Eagle." Solomon's low tones reached out, and Beckett snapped a finger.

"Right. Eagle!" Beckett looked up, and Steve and the others followed his gaze to see a small shape perched in a corner of the fire escape staircase. "Come get a meal!"

The figure didn't move, and Beckett sighed. "She's new too," He admitted. "She's not a whole lot of pride, but she's shy."

Solomon snorted, and Beckett shot him a glare.

"Anytime now, Eagle," Beckett pressed, and the figure unfolded itself and hopped from the fire escape, landing nimbly in front of Steve.

Steve's eyes widened as he took in the young woman in front of him, and his mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Eagle, is it?" Clint stepped forward with a meal.

Harper, hair tangled and matted, face smeared with dirt and dressed in dark, old clothing, tilted her head.

"So what if it is?" Her voice came out deeper than the others had heard it, smoky almost.

Clint shrugged. "Nothing…it's just an interesting choice that's all." He held out the meal and Harper grabbed it with one hand, but when she pulled, Clint refused to release it.

"Been out on these streets long?" He inquired, and Harper rolled her eyes. "Awhile." She snapped. "What's it to you?"

Clint stared long and hard at Harper, and Harper reciprocated, unblinking. Finally, Clint let go of the meal and Harper shot the entire group a sneer…and then a wink. Then Harper was jumping back onto the fire escape and curling back into a small ball.

Beckett shrugged. "An odd one, she is." He confessed. "Thanks for the food."

Steve nodded, then turned abruptly and marched out the alley, the rest if his groupies following behind slowly.

When Steve was far enough away, he whirled to face Morris.

"Did you know about this?" He hissed out.

Morris' eyes darkened. "Do you really think I would've allowed her to do this?" He snapped.

Steve took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "No." He said after a moment. "I don't think you would have." He whirled around and continued walking. "Which is why she didn't tell either of us."

"Ummm….why is Harper pretending to be a homeless person?" David raised his hand.

Thor coughed. "Remember what she said when we asked what she's been doing?" He reminded.

"She said she was on Morris' case." Avery's eyes widened and he nodded in understanding.

Scott shook his head. "I still don't get it," he admitted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tasha chuckled lightly, impressed.

Morris followed behind the Avengers, shaking his head slowly. "She's working my case." He explained.

"She's gone undercover."


Undercover

When Harper walked into the Avengers tower, thankfully clean and with Loki in tow, it was to find The Avengers and Team two seated in the living room, waiting for her with arms crossed, Morris seated in the middle.

Harper and Loki shared a look, and Loki raised his hands and retreated to the kitchen. Harper sighed and faced the firing squad, head held high.

"No excuses, No regrets." She said firmly. "I'm doing the right thing."

"EHHHHHHHHHH!" Scott's fist hit the arm of the couch, his mouth making a loud buzzer sound. "Wrong answer." He shrugged apologetically. "Try again."

Harper rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for not telling you?" She tried, blinking innocently in Steve's direction.

"EHHHHHH!" Will buzzed this time, though he winked. "Not good enough. What else you got?"

Harper crossed her arms. "I'm trying to solve a case," she started, but Morris interrupted her.

"MY case," He corrected, "The case that I agreed you could HELP with, not takeover. When you first thought about going undercover you should've immediately come to me,"

"So you could say heck no?" Harper shook her head. "Like you would've let me wander the streets at all hours of the night covered in dirt and talking to strangers."

"Of course I wouldn't have!" Morris blew up. "How irresponsible would it be for me to allow a minor, and not just that, my only family, to dangerously throw themselves in the line of fire just to get the job done!?"

"Extremely irresponsible," Harper admitted. "If I were NORMAL." She stressed. "I've lived more of my life on the streets than I've lived with Steve or known about you COMBINED…and then doubled." Harper shook her head. "But not only was I trained in combat and know the lifestyle because I lived it, I'm also extremely enhanced and can take care of myself."

"We know you're capable." Steve spoke up. "We know you can take care of yourself. But you forget that you don't HAVE to. You have people who care and who want to know what you're doing with your life and if you're putting yourself in danger; not because we don't believe you can handle it, but because we'd like to be available to have your back if necessary. You don't have to do everything alone anymore."

"Loki has been with me the entire time." Harper added.

Clint perked up. "Let me guess. Solomon?"

"Got it in one, Katniss." A voice from the kitchen called out, and Clint grinned, then grimaced.

"What's up with Katniss anyway?" He grumbled.

Harper smirked. "I made him watch that movie and he got hooked."

"Anyway." Steve shot Clint a look. "You're responsible enough to call for backup. That's fine and good, but the fact of the matter is we would have at least liked a heads up."

Harper sighed. "You realize that now I feel super guilty about this."

Steve smiled smugly. "That was the plan." He admitted.

"But I'm not going to stop." Steve huffed.

"And why not?" He crossed his arms.

"Because." Harper crossed her arms. "I have a lead."

Morris, despite himself, looked interested.

"And it's a good one, too." Harper added, and Morris sighed.

"Wait a second." Thor raised his hand. "What case?"

"Morris has been working on a case that Team Two has been helping with." Harper debriefed. "It's no big deal."

"So then…do you mind if I and my brother take our leave?"

Harper's eyes widened. "Right! You guys have a…thing." She narrowed her eyes. "How long will this thing last?"

"You mean the celebration feast in Asgard that Thor is dragging me to?" Loki entered the room with a raised eyebrow. "A week, perhaps."

"Which is how long Nat and I will be gone." Clint winced. "We have a…thing, as well."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second. When did all of this vacation planning happen?"

"When you were stalking Harper and she was apparently pretending to be a homeless person." Scott smiled.

Steve shook his head. "Bruce?"

"Conference in Berlin." He said apologetically.

Steve sighed. "I see how it is." He shook his head, then sent Harper a sly grin. "Guess I'll have to hound Harper for the next week."

Harper grimaced and turned to Morris.

"Let's hope this case keeps me busy so I don't commit murder." Harper muttered, and Morris turned to smile at Steve.

"Well if it helps," He said slowly, "My award ceremony is in a few days."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Avengers, disperse." She demanded. "Enjoy your vacation, let's hope nothing catastrophic happens without you on call."

"Well that's encouraging." Clint stood up and stretched. "But if anything does happen, we have a very reliable team two that can be called upon in time of crisis." Clint winked at Will.

Jake and Avery snorted, Scott laughed loudly, and David shook his head slowly.

"Let's hope nothing catastrophic happens." Will repeated.

"Because if something bad DOES happen," David added.

"Then everyone's dead." Avery finished.

"Don't think like that!" Harper joined Team Two on their couch. "I'm sure you could handle it."

The Avengers shared a disbelieving look and shook their heads.

it's not that they didn't trust team two to get the job done.

it's just that...they really didn't.


Harper is pretending to be homeless, which could never lead to problems...right? Heh. Morris' case is being worked by Harper whether he likes it or not, and soon enough this case will be blown wide open...perhaps in the next chapter?

~CLC~