Disclaimer: I do not own any Avengers characters.

"So how 'bout some background information before we waltz in?" Hank said as he flew on a red ant next to Iron Man and Thor. Captain America was riding his motorcycle over rooftops as with Hawkeye holding on and Panther running. Hulk hopped along.

"Yea." Tony agreed. "You said they were her grand-parents. From the mom's side?"

"No, they died awhile back." Then Clint frowned. "From the dad. They're Joseph and Sonya but I just call them Mr. and Mrs. H."

"So where's the dad?"

His face clouded more. "He's gone and good riddance."

"Can you explain?"

"From what they told me he was a drunk. Some times he got violent, so her mom kicked him out and so did his parents. But after that his parents would still take care of Maria and her mom as if though her mom was their daughter. He would stop by time and time to drop off some money or when he needed some."

"Did you ever meet him?" Hank was almost afraid to ask.

"Yea. Once or twice." He said impassively.

"You said violent." Captain America said carefully "Did he ever hurt Maria?"

He nodded curtly "Yes."

It was silent till they reached the house Clint told them of. It was a single story house but it looked pretty big with red bricks and yellow trimming. There was a porch with a swing bench and wooden table and some chairs. It had a gate but inside were many rose bushes that were blooming and a single oak tree on the green lawn. It was a nice homely house in a quaint neighborhood.

Captain America parked the bike on the curb and Clint got off. The neighborhood was quiet except for some kids playing down the street. Clint opened the gate and they walked in and up the steps onto the long porch to the door. Tony had to admit he felt nervous. He was about to tell these senores that their grand-daughter got hurt in a battle with them there, for their battle. Not the easiest thing to do.

Clint knocked on the wooden door that had a glass window. Then someone came up and opened it. In the door way was a tall man in denim pants and a button down yellow shirt. He looked about in his fifty's or sixty's with brown short hair and blue eyes. His anxious face showed relief and he broke into a smile and opened the door wider. A few paces away was a lady who looked to be the same age as the man. Her dark brown hair was in a bun and silver streaks, her skin a rich dark brown as were her eyes. She wore a long dark blue dress with black flats. Her eyes were guarded but when she saw the man in purple outside of the doorway she to smile.

"Clint, son, good to see you in one piece." The man said he clapped Hawkeyes shoulder in a friendly manner. "Come in, come in."

"Thanks Mr. H great to see you. Sorry but I brought, uh, friends."

"Not at all come in as well." But now he really took in to whom else was standing on the porch and grinned. "The Avengers. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all." He held out his hand to Iron Man who shook it lightly.

"It's a pleasure to be here Mr. Havlent."

"Please call me Joseph." He continued to greet everyone as they came in. Mrs. Havlent had gone to Hawkeye.

"Oh it is so good to see you alive. Are you alright?" she released him from his hug and looked at him closely, looking at his cuts and bruises.

"I'm fine Mrs. H. You know nothing can put me down." He grinned easily.

"I want to hear you say that when your all casted up." She harrumphed playfully. Then she turned into the others who had walked in. "Oh my, the Avengers. Oh I'm sorry for the mess."

"Oh no it's fine ma'am." Captain America said with a smile. "Thank you for allowing us to come."

"Oh it's no problem at all." She smiled. "Hello Hulk. How have been, I just put some of my cookies in the oven and they'll be out shortly."

He smiled. "Yum."

Mr. H closed the door. "It's very great to meet you all. Clint would tell us about you and we would always see you guys in the news and paper. Maria loved to hear of you."

"And, uh," Mrs. H interrupted hesitant "where is Maria? I trust she is safe, she always is with you Clint."

Guilt crossed across his face, painfully. "She, I.- I'm sorry, it's all my fault." He turned away. They were all quiet

Then Captain America stepped up and put a hand on Clint's shoulder "He's right. It's his fault she's alive."

"Don't try to butter it up Cap', we all know-"

"Well, I don't believe it." Mrs. H said fiercely. "You would never hurt her in anyway if you can help it."

"How about we all sit in the living room to talk?" Mr. H suggested putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I agree." Tony said.

"So you see we didn't even know you guys existed till yesterday." Tony was concluding. They had all gone to the living room and were seated or standing. Mrs. H had served drinks. "But had we known of you we would have done all that we could to protect you and Maria. Clint is part of our team and you being a part of him."

Clint shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He hated all this mushy talk of family and teammate and togetherness.

Captain America was standing by the TV looking at the shelves above and around it. It had numerous of baubles and pictures. One had a younger Maria standing at the beach in a swim suit hugging a lady who looked very much like her. He took her to be Maria's mom before she passed. Off to the side towards the back was a picture of a man with an arm around Maria who also looked a bit like her. They had the same nose and ears. She had an almost a bashful smile. But in front of that was another picture that almost covered it. It was a more recent picture of her with Clint and Natasha. They seemed to be at a theme park, they were holding each other, Maria swished in the middle but they were all grinning and smiling, even Clint. Captain America was surprised how normal the looked without their costumes, how comfortable.

"Oh, my poor Maria." Mrs. H said sadly but trying not to cry.

Mr. H said. "We told her to not allow it to interfere with her school and assumed that you knew. I'm sorry we should have mentioned it to you as soon as it started."

"No it's okay, it's my fault. If I hadn't given her those arrows none of this would have happened."

"We aren't here to point fingers Clint." Tony said putting a hand on his helmet that was on his knee. "When one of us is at fault we are all at fault. That's what part of being a team is."

"I examined her myself" Hank interrupted "As I said before, no major life threatening damages. She just needs time to heal and rest up."

"Aye." Thor said "A friend of mine, the lady Jane Foster, shall see to her health as well this evening."

"She's a paramedic." Hank explained.

"Well, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Maria is pretty much all we have left." Then he turned to Clint and smiled. Clint smiled a bit back then noticed something. He had his red baseball hat on and car keys hanging a bit from his pocket.

"Were you going some where before we got here?"

He looked slightly embarrassed. "I was going to get some more wood for an order due this week. Haven't started on it."

Mrs. H rolled her eyes. "He's a hard worker but at the same time a procrastinator."

"What do you work as?" Panther asked.

"I'm a carpenter. I work at a shop but also at home."

"I'll go with you to help you carry it." Clint said as he got up. He pulled his hood back on which had been another shock for the Avengers. Out of most of them they had hardly ever seen him with his hood off, let alone out of costume.

"Me to." Hulk said dusting off some crumbs from his chest. He had eaten a whole batch of cookies himself not that they could blame him. "I can carry you and all the wood easily."

They walked out and Mr. H followed. "We'll be back shortly" and with a wave he was gone.

Now they were alone with Mrs. H. After a slight silence and fidgeting around a bit Hank talked. "Delicious cookies."

"Why thank you. They've won over 4 bake competitions." She smiled proudly.

"I can see that." Captain America said looking at another shelf that held various awards including hers. But there was also some for Maria from soccer and academic awards. She had two of softball one of track and martial arts plus some academic awards. "Maria seems to be very well rounded."

"Oh yes." Mrs. H said just as proudly as any grand-parent can. "She has high grades and has played a variety of sports though she prefers soccer and now archery. And Clint has always been their to encourage her. Well, since he's met her. He has been such a huge, positive impact on her life."

"We can see that." Tony said. "Clint explained to us what happened and everything. Well at least we think he has. But there still is a bit of curiosity on how this has been going on. We wouldn't have even dreamed he had this, er, life, behind being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and an Avenger."

"I often saw him disappear to places." Panther added quietly from were he leaned against the wall, part of the shadow. "But I never pursued him or even imagined this was what he was doing."

"And if I may add as well I never pictured him as a, ah, guardian type." Hank added.

Thor chuckled. "Very true."

"And you would like for me to explain?"

They all glanced at each other then nodded.

"Well it may take awhile but I see no reason why not. Let's see. Yes he does have to juggle these different lives and he doesn't know when he's needed or what will happen past this moment but he is there for her and not just if she needs help or something. He comes by, takes her to games, or on outings. An I believe the term you were looking for Hank is 'father'." She smiled gently. "I believe you already know of what came of my son." She looked now sad. "I don't know what got into him and I am ashamed off him. But when Clint came and began to look after Maria." she smiled again. "Yes he did become a father to her though we have never said it out loud. And he became a son to us and overshadowed the shame I felt to my real son. And it wasn't hard; it was as if though he was already a part of it. And Maria loves him so much as he loves her."

"They do seem to be very close." Captain America smiled holding up a picture of them back to back, Clint in his costume and Maria in her costume that was a mirror image of him. Both of them had an arrow notched and were grinning. He passed it to Tony.

"Oh yes very. The longest distance they kept was when he was . . . locked up. A terrible mistake, Maria was in a horrible state during that time."

"What about Black Widow?" Thor asked.

Again her face fell slightly. "She was like a daughter. As Maria's mother was to us. We don't know what happened to her but some part of me, behind my anger, still thinks of her that way."

"And Maria thought of her the same way?" Hank asked.

"Yes. Even though no knots were tied or blood was shared we were like a family." She hesitated then went on. "There was even talk that Maria would go live with them. But then things change." She sighed.

"And what about her training?" Captain America asked. As he took back from Panther the Halloween picture and placed it on the shelf.

"She was always a bit sporty but when Clint came in things went bigger. She loved to watch him train. She was fascinated about his agility and all other tricks he had. He began to train her and she got better with every session. Natasha then began to train her in various martial arts. Then they began to train her with weapons. Well, wooden weapons that my husband made. And then of course the bow and arrows and I'm sure Natasha had given her some gifts as well."

"Really!" Tony exclaimed rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Hank frowned at him already sure what he was thinking. "And what else?"

"Natasha taught her some languages such as Japanese, Russian and I believe more. Clint taught her various things he learned from his life with the circus."

This surprised every one. They all knew that Clint had bit of a troubled life and had grown up in a Circus but he never liked to talk about it and no one ever really pressed the issue. Tony leaned forward. "What did he mention about being in the circus?"

But then the door opened and Mr. H and Clint walked in. "Hello everybody."

"Hey, where's Hulk?" Tony asked.

"Putting the wood out back." Clint answered.

"Told you I could do it." Hulk smirked as he walked in.

"Please, I heard you panting on the way over hear."

"No!"

"Sure." He turned to the others. "I think we should get going. We still need to pick up Thor's chick."

Thor frowned "You should not speak of women that manner. She is a mere friend."

"Whatever you say Goldylocks." He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Havlent. "Do you guys want to come over?"

They looked at each other thoughtfully but then surprisingly shook their heads. Mr. Havlent spoke "We'll give her time to rest and see her soon." But Mrs. Havlent had a slight twinkle in her eyes.

He nodded, gave Mrs. H a hug and shook hands with Mr. H. Everyone else began to say good-bye. Soon they were off again to the mansion. Clint immediately went straight to Maria's room and Jane Foster followed with Thor and the rest.

"Hey you guys." Jan smiled as they walked in. "She's fine. She wanted to take a nap."

Clint let out a smile as did everybody else as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.