So, this is the final chapter of this volume of Clint's story. As you'll see, he's about to have some big changes in his life... but we think he'll enjoy it all the same, even if he has been enjoying his time with the X-Men...
Volume 3 will be up soon, but in the meantime... *presentation hands*
Chapter 20: Some House Cats Bring Dead Birds...
By the time the X-Men, K, and Clint got back to the mansion, they were all in great moods. Clint and Jubilee were both riding an incredible sugar high, and Kitty couldn't stop laughing at Kurt as he gushed about the circus — and reminisced about his own formative years.
K had kept the inducer on — just in case they were followed, as she was highly paranoid that someone was following the circus waiting for her. But that just had Clint in an even better mood, since he and Kurt and K all matched.
What they weren't expecting at all, then, was to come home to find that there were a bunch of black-clad soldiers… just… tied up and sitting on the front lawn.
"What the hell..." K muttered, half under her breath. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Kurt frowned and teleported to the soldiers. He leaned down to examine them closer, and his eyes only narrowed further. "I believe," he said slowly, "that these are the same men chasing you, K."
She put the Jeep into neutral and pulled the break before she stepped out of it, then took a few steps from the still running vehicle to close her eyes and draw in a slow, deep breath — and then almost immediately swear outright. "This isn't working out."
"What's wrong, Mom?" Clint asked quietly.
"They can't keep Creed under wraps," she said. "So this … isn't gonna work."
Clint turned positively pale at that. "I thought he was gone," he said softly.
"His stink is all over this place."
Kurt stopped and then held up a hand. "I need to make a call," he said, disappearing quickly to place the call to the tower — and let the Avengers know that he needed Logan back. Now.
K shook her head and climbed in the Jeep again to head up to the house with the kids. There was no reason to stick around where the giant tabby cat had left a freakin' offering.
The good mood was entirely gone from the group as they got inside, and once they arrived, Clint took next to no time to rush over to where Sicem was, half curled up and watching the door. It was obvious Sicem was looking out for Clint — though K was doing the same thing by heading right back out again once Clint was inside to see what she could do about the tabby cat in question.
So when Jean and Scott got in, Jean was completely shocked by her reintroduction home — with a tiny blond boy all but attaching to her and hiding under her arms.
"Woah, what's wrong?" Jean asked, tucking Clint into a hug.
Clint shook his head and simply held on tighter, though even when he couldn't say anything, Jean could hear him projecting out how scared he was.
When Scott picked up on what Jean was sharing with him, he frowned and crouched down by both of them. "Clint, no one is going to let anything bad happen to you or your mom. You know that, right?"
Clint peeked out from underneath Jean's arms and narrowed his eyes at Scott. "Yeah but he already got here," he said.
Scott frowned. Jean, we need to talk to her before she leaves. If he catches them alone…
I know, Jean agreed, reaching out to K to connect Scott and K. K, we know what happened, she said.
Not interested in hearing it, she replied, though her tone was one of high nerves, and her mind was racing.
K, you have to know he's safer here.
I know he is, she agreed, and already, Jean could 'hear' the gears turning.
Don't, Scott said. I know what you're thinking. He can't come back from that — from feeling like his family walked out.
I don't … I can't do anything for him to keep him safe.
You can be his mother. That's all you need to do. We can help with the rest of it.
Yeah, that's not working out so great. I haven't seen this idiot in years until I got into this group.
Scott let out a breath. I know, he said. But I also know how we found you. Backup is the difference between life and death when it comes to these guys.
I know. And ties are what they use to catch you. I'm very well versed.
So don't let them make that true, Scott said. They want you to be isolated and to break up any connections you have. I know from experience — the way to fight that is to have a family anyway.
I can't … have this conversation right now, K replied, clearly frustrated with all of it.
When would you rather have it, then? Before or after you sit down with Clint — who, by the way, is terrified.
Get out of my head.
As soon as you get here to have an in-person conversation, I'll be more than happy to do just that.
If I come up there now, you're gonna be bleeding, she shot back, and she kicked a box in the garage clear across the whole span, where it bounced off of a blue convertible.
We're just trying to keep you and Clint safe — and together, Jean projected gently.
Before K could snarl back a response, though, she had to take a step back as Kurt appeared with Logan in tow — which sent her thoughts straight into Swedish as she swore at the two men. "Your little friend doesn't know how to keep her nose in her own head," K snarled their way.
"We've been telling her as much for some time," Kurt said.
"Yeah? She usually let her doofy boy toy do the talking too?" she asked.
Kurt looked honestly surprised. "Actually, no."
"Just wait," Logan said, stepping forward and trying to get her to breathe. "No one wants Scott in their head. I get it. But give me a minute to figure out what's going on here."
"What's going on is your psychotic fan club left a freakin' dead bird on the front porch, so to speak," K said.
Logan stopped and frowned deeper at that. "What the hell are you talking about?"
K gestured grandly toward the front of the garage. "I'm sure your buddy can fill you in. He saw it when we came in." She pulled her arm out of his hand. "And I need to get moving on a long overdue exit strategy."
"Don't you freakin' do anything until I figure out what kind of message he's sending," Logan said in an overly short tone himself.
She gave him a dry look for that and turned on her heel. "You're on a clock, Romeo." She left the two men for the time being, on her way to get Clint — and to slap Scott if she could reach him — leaving Logan and Kurt sharing a look before he headed out to the soldiers that were, as she'd said, more or less gift-wrapped.
And by the time he finished running down the scent trail to where it ended half a mile up the road, the Avengers had shown up to find out how SHIELD had lost such a high-priority captive.
When Logan got to the group, he didn't waste any time trying to undo some of the damage. "Cap, if you don't mind, you need to go talk to Clint. Let him know this isn't as bad as it looks. Creed actually stopped the Department from infiltrating the institute and coming after her."
Steve nodded, frowning toward the other Avengers, who were looking over the soldiers Creed had left behind. "Where is he hiding, do you think?
"He took off at the road, likely had a car waiting for him there. No tellin' from that where he ran off to, but he'll be stayin' close."
Steve nodded, still with narrowed eyes. "I still don't know why he'd even…"
"He was keepin' 'em off her tail, Cap."
"Why?" Steve said. "I thought you said he was working for them."
Logan let out a sigh at that. "He thinks he's got a claim on her — and the kid too."
Steve positively stiffened as he turned toward Logan. "What?"
Logan nodded once and tipped his head. "She said she wasn't on board when it went down, I can tell you that. And she managed to shake him for years."
Steve's eyes were still narrowed as he thought it over. "Alright. I'll find Clint. And Logan — I want to know when you find a trail. I'll be looking too."
"You got it," Logan said, though he was looking pretty distracted.
Steve let out his breath and put a hand on Logan's shoulder before he slipped into the mansion — where to his surprise, Clint was curled up with Jean and Scott, with Sicem clearly playing guard dog at their feet.
Clint's eyes went wide when he saw Steve, enough that he didn't see Scott straightening up as well. "Mr. Captain!" Clint blurted out. "What… what're you doing here?"
"Wanted to make sure you're alright," Steve said. "Logan asked me to check in on you while he finds your mom."
"Is she okay?" Clint asked.
"I haven't seen her, honestly," Steve said.
Clint frowned and laid his head back down on Jean's arm. "She's real mad," he said quietly. "And real scared — even if she's not telling anyone that."
"I'm sure Logan knows," Steve said as he took a seat nearby. "But how are you?"
Clint glanced at both Scott and Jean before he bit his lip and shook his head. "I … I dunno," he admitted, holding onto Jean a little tighter. "I dunno how to make him go away."
"I'm going to personally make sure that Tony figures out how he got out — and fixes it so that can't happen again."
Clint winced one eye shut. "Tony who makes knife holes in his helmet Tony?"
Steve couldn't help but smile at that. "He fixed that, as a matter of fact," Steve told him.
"Good, because it was stupid," Clint said, his arms crossed.
"Do you want to go and see how things are going with Logan? He said that the trail dropped off down the road."
Clint paused and then shook his head. "I… I wanna stay inside," he said. "I don't want nobody to see me."
Steve nodded carefully at that. "Alright. So … what can I do to help in the meantime?"
"I don't know," Clint admitted. "I don't… I don't know where me and Mom are gonna go now. Because he's big and mean and what if he finds us again?"
"I'll just have to feed him my shield."
Clint couldn't help but smile at that, and Jean brushed his hair back a bit. "See? I told you — you're safe here," she told him.
Clint nodded and snuggled a bit more into Jean, though Scott did take a moment to talk to Steve away from little ears. "Do you know how he was able to get past SHIELD — or why no one knew he was out until he came here?" he asked.
"I honestly don't know much," Steve admitted. "Nightcrawler came to get Logan — it sounded like an emergency, so … well. We followed. Tony will come up with a much better containment unit."
Scott glanced back at Jean and Clint and let his frown deepen. "Logan told you that Sabretooth managed to kidnap Clint before, didn't he?"
Steve tipped his head at that, looking somehow even more furious. "No, he didn't, but I think he's got a burn going on." Steve stepped a little closer and let his voice drop lower still. "He said this was Creed protecting."
Scott's eyes were narrowed behind the glasses as he nodded just barely. "That's what Jean said," he agreed. "The last time we ran into him, she had a peek at his mind — he's convinced that Clint and K… belong to him."
"I already told Logan, but I'm telling you now — I want in on this," Steve said.
"I wouldn't argue the backup," Scott agreed. "Especially with a kid involved," he added in a lower tone. He didn't look back at Jean or Clint, but it was clear Jean knew what they were talking about by the glance she shot them before she went back to trying to tickle Clint into a giggle.
But before Jean could get the giggle she wanted, K and Logan came in — with Kurt next to Logan. The little group didn't get too far before K pulled off the inducer and tossed it to Kurt. "I appreciate the thought — but that's not going to help me much. Thanks, though." She stopped when she saw Clint all curled up. "So... I guess our options are slim," she said, crossing her arms.
Clint utterly abandoned Jean to rush over to K and hug her tightly. "Captain America says he'll feed that guy his shield."
"Yeah? Is he gonna have us sleep on the couch?" K teased.
"If it would make you feel safer," Steve said with a small smirk, though he was openly looking K over — not just the way she was with Clint but the fact that she was so small compared to the seven-foot monster they were talking about.
"I'm a horrible houseguest, isn't that right, Scott?" K said, giving him a little glare.
Scott simply met her gaze for a moment before he turned to Steve. "Clint's been catching up on his education here," he said.
"I'm reading mysteries," Clint said softly, glancing up at Cap. "And… and Storm got me comic books."
"I'm sure Jan would love to read with you," Steve said. "She was asking when you'd be by again."
Clint nodded quietly, tucking into K more. "Okay," he said.
"What about Sicem?" Jean asked.
"Sicem's gotta stay with us!" Clint said quickly, wide-eyed. "I don't want to leave him behind!"
"The dog's name is Sicem?" Steve asked with a smirk as he rested his hand on the dog's head, and Sicem just tried to lick him.
"Yeah, 'cause he thinks he's a guard dog," Clint said, nodding seriously.
"He is a guard dog," K argued. "He's just not a very good one. He's more a watch dog than a guard dog."
"I'm sure we can find accommodations for all three of you," Steve said.
"But… can I still come here for school?" Clint asked quietly.
"I can bring you back and forth any time you like without anyone following you," Kurt promised.
Clint smiled at that. "Good," he said, then settled back in with K. "Then we can still come here, even if we gotta live with Mr. Eye Holes."
"Oh, is that his title?" K asked, brushing his hair back before she kissed the top of his head.
"Uh-huh. I thought he was real cool, and then I saw his helmet and it's not… very smart for a real smart guy," Clint tried to explain.
"Well … they almost always think they're smarter than they are," K said.
"They can use my room," Logan said to Steve.
"Are you sure?" Steve asked, though by the time he'd asked it, he was smirking.
"No one can complain that way," Logan said, shrugging. "And I can hunt for the idiot from the tower."
Steve nodded at that. "Is that alright with you, ma'am?" he asked K - just to get the look from Logan that followed.
"Only if you don't call me 'ma'am'," she said.
"Fair enough," Steve said. "What do you prefer?"
"Pretty much anything but that," she said. "I'll answer to 'hey you', if it's easy."
Steve chuckled at that. "Well then, 'hey you', if you have anything you want to bring, I'll let my team know to prepare for some newcomers." He smiled. "We don't usually have families around, so this will be a good change of pace."
"If it's that much trouble, we can figure out something else," K said.
Steve shook his head. "No trouble — I just want to make sure it feels like home. Even if it is a bad situation."
"If you can keep that idiot off my back, then it'll be fine," she said. "And we'll be out of your hair as soon as we can."
"As soon as Sabretooth is in much stricter custody," Scott put in.
"Or dead," K said, which got a smirk out of Logan. "I'd take dead too."
"Well, Cap said he was gonna feed him his shield," Clint said again — simply because he found the concept so entertaining.
"Yeah?" K said, shifting her expression to keep him in a good mood. "Is that the right way or entirely backwards … like shoving it up places?"
Clint made a face. "I dunno. I just think it would be funny to try and fit a shield in his big mouth."
"Oh, it'd fit with room," K said, brushing his hair back one more time before she met his gaze and purposely ran her hands backwards through his hair to make it all stand up on end.
Clint shook his head at her as he pushed his hair back down. "But then we can come back here, right?" he whispered. "I like it here. I like the lake and my teachers and… and all of it."
She paused for just a moment, but then she nodded her head carefully. "If that's what you want to do, then as long as you can go to school here, I'm okay with that."
"Good," Clint said, giving her one more hug before he rushed over to Jean to ask her to help him pick out some books with Storm so he could keep reading — which he was enjoying more and more now.
After all, he had never had this many friends before, and he didn't want to let that go.