Another one down. I tried to infuse more humor into this one than I have been. Let me know if it worked.

- Illusinia

Prompt: hospital

From: avengers-tables .livejournal under 50-word prompt (yes, I do intent to use all 50 words)

Pairings: Clint/Darcy

Missions could be one of the most tedious things to ever grace the face of the Earth. Especially when they went sideways. Such was the case with this one. Though the Avengers has emerged victorious, things hadn't gone as planned. Thankfully, Stark had a hard head and harder armor.

Thus, when the Quinjet set down on the tarmac inside Avenger's Tower, Clint found himself more than a little anxious to get off the plane. Namely so he could go climb into bed with a very pregnant Darcy. Being away right now, when she was so close to her due-date, was the hardest thing about being a superhero.

Stepping up to the entrance, his eyes swept the hanger and froze when they landed on Darcy. Beautiful, glowing Darcy. The mother of his child and most important woman in his life at the moment. Part of what kept him alive and going were thoughts of her, he could legitimately say that. In his pocket, a small pouch rested heavily against his leg.

Pepper and Jane were standing with her, watching anxiously as everyone deplaned. When Tony stepped out, Pepper practically ran forward to check him over. The dent in his helmet would probably worry her more than a little.

Similarly, Jane gasped and nearly tackled Thor when she realized he had a wound on his arm. One that was still bleeding. Because he'd refused medical treatment before they left. Not that medical treatment in the middle of small-town Kansas was going to be superb, but still...

Shaking his head, Clint just continued down towards Darcy, watching her as he went. She was standing there, one hand resting over her swollen stomach while the other reached out towards him. Thank God. It was her sign that he could touch her without fear. If both her hands were drawn in, he needed to wait but if she reached for him, everything was good. What neither one noticed was how carefully the others watched them. Darcy's pregnancy had everyone on edge, mostly due to how it had effected her powers. An out of control energy manipulator, as they'd all found out, was a very dangerous thing.

However, when his hand came to rest in hers, Clint found that he didn't care how dangerous Darcy was. Without fear, he pulled her flush against his body and tucked her head under his chin. One of her hands came up to grasp his and lay the palm directly against her stomach. Beneath his hand, the baby kicked happily. Standing there, with both of his women securely within reach, brought a peace that Clint rarely knew.

"Happy to be home?" asked Darcy quietly, the fingers of one hand stroking through his hair while the other continued to rest on his over their child.

"Always," murmured Clint with a soft smile. "What, you're not glad I'm back?"

Darcy snorted softly. "I'm very glad you're back. Molly's been unbearable without her daddy around to sing her to sleep at night."

"Aw," whispered Clint as he rubbed soft circles along her skin, "did you miss Daddy, baby girl?"

A kick against his hand answered his question. There were chuckles from both parents before Darcy leaned up to kiss him softly. "You should go shower. Phosphorous sulfate isn't a good smell for you."

Clint hummed softly and buried his nose in her hair. "You should join me then, make sure to get it all off."

Darcy chuckled and shook her head. "No, I need to get over to Central Hospital. Go shower and I'll see you there."

The word 'hospital' had barely registered before Clint was drawing back sharply to look her over, eyes wide. For her part, Darcy looked the picture of calm, though she did wince a little and rub her stomach slightly. "Darcy, what's wrong? Why do you need a hospital?" It took a lot of effort not to panic.

She just shrugged. "I've been in labor for about three hours now and I just figured I should get over there eventually. Unfortunately, S.H.I.E.L.D hasn't built a maternity ward yet."

By now, the rest of the people in the hanger were staring at her slack-jawed and more than a little confused. Thor was the only one who didn't seem to be in any form of shock. He just looked really confused.

All Clint could do was make sputtering noises and stare at Darcy with 'deer-in-the-headlights' eyes. She just sighed and shook her head. "What? I wanted to wait until you were back and I figured if I went to the hospital before that, Fury would just call and say I was in the hospital which would freak you out."

The reasoning made sense in Darcy-world, but just made everyone else cringe. Jane was the first to recover, pulling out her keys with a sigh. "I'll get the car."

"Don't bother," muttered Tony, apparently less surprised than he probably should have been. His cellphone was already in hand and against his ear. "Hey, Happy? I need you to bring the car around now. We're taking Darcy to the hospital." There was a pause as Happy apparently asked something. "No, apparently she's been in labor for three hours. She wanted to wait for Clint to get back before she left." Something else was said by Happy that just made Tony shrug. "Eh, makes sense to me. See you in two." Then he hung up the phone and handed it back to Pepper. "Alright, let's move people."

Less than thirty minutes later, Darcy was secured in the hospital maternity ward. Clint sat beside her, hair dripping wet and skin still damp from his very quick shower. Which Darcy had convinced the nurses to allow him to take at the hospital. Apparently, the nurses were a lot nicer when you were relaxed beyond all belief and enjoyed making jokes.

Well, until the doctor asked how long she'd been having contractions. When the words 'three hours' left her mouth, a lot of hell broke loose. Apparently they weren't used to women knowingly ignoring their contractions.

Within two hours, Molly was born and a very exhausted Clint was stepping out into the hall with a huge smile pasted on his face. The others were still there, with Coulson, Fury, and Loki now in attendance. Apparently, the nurses had seen fit to give the group their own private waiting area, not that Clint could blame them. All of the Avengers were still in their battle gear with the exception of Tony who had changed back into his normal clothing. Pepper had apparently been a boy scout, because that was the only way Tony could have gotten the clothes he was wearing. Furthermore, Coulson looked uneasy, Fury was tense, and Loki appeared to be reading though a pile of medical journals on human pregnancy and birth. He'd become fascinated with the subject when Darcy started to show.

Everyone in the room looked up when Clint entered, Jane and Pepper scrambling to their feet with wide eyed curiosity. The rest of the room just seemed to be holding its collective breath.

"They're alright," assured Clint, his smile never fading. "Molly and Darcy are both back in the room if anyone wants to come see them.

The stampede to the door was only half unexpected. Most people won't wait around at a hospital for two hours unless they really want news and Clint knew pretty much every member of the Avengers considered Darcy family.

He followed the group into the room, where Jane, Pepper, and Natasha immediately bee-lined for the bed where Darcy currently lay with Molly tucked against her chest. The baby was wide awake and blinking uncertainly at the whole room. She didn't seem scared though, which Clint counted as a good thing. He didn't have any family and Darcy didn't talk to her own much. The people currently in the room, they would be Molly's family. Which was scary when he though about it.

"She's beautiful," whispered Jane, one finger reaching out to stroke the thin hair on Molly's head.

"Agreed," murmured Natasha from the other side of the bed, "she's going to be beautiful when she grows up."

Clint grinned and came to stand beside Darcy's head. "Just like her Mom, right Darce?"

"Damn straight," muttered Darcy as she shifted a little. Molly cooed slightly.

"Amazing," whispered Loki as he came to stand beside Clint. "Such a small being..."

Darcy grinned up at him and motioned for Loki to sit beside her. "Have you held a baby before?"

Loki nodded slowly. "Yes, several times in court. Why?"

She didn't respond, just thrust Molly in his direction. Loki jumped a little and took the baby into his arms as if she was made from spun glass. Clint was relieved about that.

For a moment, the trickster god couldn't find a word to say. His eyes were glued to the bundle in his arms, in shocked awe. Then she reached a hand towards him, little fingers making jerky movements as if she were reaching for something. His wide and confused eyes rose to Darcy, with laughed softly.

"Give her your finger," whispered Darcy. "She wants to say hello."

Loki did as he was told, sliding his finger against the tiny palm. Molly's fingers closed slightly against his own. Then he jumped a little, much to Darcy's amusement. "By the Allfather..."

"I told you she wanted to say hello," pointed out Darcy as Loki continued to stare at Molly in awe. "She can't talk right now, so she has to use other means of talking. That just happens to be the one she's picked up already, mostly because she was talking to me that way."

"Incredible," whispered Loki.

Fury came to stand behind the Norse God, eye glued to the child in his arms. "So her powers are already manifesting?"

"Dude, they were manifesting in my womb," snorted Darcy. "And its not really a surprise. Look at who her mom is."

Loki nodded slowly. "She will be as powerful as you, then?"

Darcy shrugged and reached for Molly again. Loki handed her over reluctantly, apparently enjoying his time with the child. "Hard to say, and don't worry Loki, you'll get a lot more time with her. Thor volunteered you for baby-sitting duty. Which is probably best sense you can actually see when someone's manipulating energy. However, you aren't allowed to teach her Norse as a first language. Second language or duel language, alright, but it can't be her first."

Clint snorted. "Yeah, we want to understand what she's saying."

"Ah, but Darcy speaks Norse," pointed out Loki with a grin. "She is more than capable of understanding the language."

"No Loki," deflected both Clint and Darcy simultaneously.

Loki just laughed while Jane reached out to hold Molly next. The newborn spent the next half hour being passed around the room to everyone, including Coulson and Fury. By the end of it, Molly was cranky and Darcy informed them that she needed to feed the baby so they could either deal with it or get out. Everyone but Clint left pretty quickly at that, promising to be back later to visit.

As Jane and Thor, the last of the group, departed, Clint couldn't help but consider what kind of a family his daughter was going to have. Then he groaned when he realized exactly what kind of a family his daughter would be surrounded by.

Well, who ever said fatherhood would be easy?

Poor Molly, she really doesn't have a snowballs chance at being normal. Oh well, growing up surrounded by superheros has to have some benefits. Also, I know the birth I described is unlikely, but it was more fun this way.