Quick note: I'm volunteering at a youth camp for my church, so I will be gone for a little while, and therefore, I won't be updating. CC, however, has been prepping her universes for constant fill of updates while I'm gone, so there will be much story-ing anyway. But this one will be quiet for a while, seeing as I'll be technology-less and surrounded by teenagers :P

Chapter 3: What Dragged the Cat In

It was such a nice day out that it was hard for Clint not to want to go outside, though he was still a little nervous about it. He knew that they were behind a gate and all that, but it wasn't until Tony suggested the roof that Clint actually did go and enjoy the summer sunshine.

Clint had always felt safer when he was higher up. Climbing trees or even a couple times climbing drainpipes — no one looked up, especially not for little kids.

Plus, it was really, really cool up there. He could see everything for what felt like miles around, and nobody would even know he was up on top of the tower. He probably looked like a little speck if anyone was even looking up that way.

He hadn't brought Sicem up, of course, though Thor had delighted in taking the dog out into the yard when he needed to get out. It was kind of surreal watching the big, huge god of thunder playing around with a little yellow dog, but Clint was really starting to like Thor. Thor was just… fun, and he knew sign language, too, which seemed to drive Tony nuts — so Clint did it even more.

But it was also kinda nice to get away from the crowd that lived in the tower and to be out on the roof by himself for some peace and quiet. He had brought up a rope that he'd gotten out of a supply closet, too, and for a long time, he just played pretend on the roof, swinging the rope around in the best imitation of Indiana Jones that he could muster.

It wasn't exactly a bullwhip, but it was the best he had on hand.

In his game, he had just managed to rescue the Holy Grail from the Red Skull's clutches when there was a loud, echoing boom that shook the air all around him.

Surprised, Clint nearly fell backwards as he looked around. That had sounded like thunder, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky…

And then Clint grinned, realizing what must have happened, and he abandoned his game to rush back into the tower and down the stairs. He wanted to know who Thor was fighting, and since he hadn't been able to see from the roof, maybe Steve or Jan could tell him what was going on.

Tony was the first one he saw, though, and he tried to run to catch up with Tony's much taller strides. "Wha- what's going on?" he panted.

"Your guess is as good as mine at this point, kid," Tony told him. "Someone crossed our Asgardian, apparently."

"Someone stupid," Clint said.

"Yeah, that's a given," Tony agreed as the two of them got in the elevator to go investigate.

When they got downstairs, the other Avengers were there, too, and Clint ran over to K with wide eyes. Something made Thor mad, he signed to her.

She tipped her head to the side and shrugged before she made her way to stand next to him. "What do you think happened, kiddo?"

"I think it was the Red Skull," Clint said, thinking of the game he'd been playing. "I think he tried to get to Cap and Thor fried 'im!"

"If it was him, he totally was asking for it," K agreed.

Clint nodded to himself, but the group didn't have to wait in suspense for much longer before Thor arrived — dragging in a very fried-looking Sabretooth, who was completely down and out for the count. And the scent of burning hair and flesh still clung to him.

K made a face as she pulled Clint back a few steps, even pushing him behind her as Thor and Tony got to work dragging him off to parts unknown. "Well, that didn't take long."

"Where did — okay, so I gotta know what happened," Jan said, her eyes wide as she all but hovered near Thor.

The god of thunder simply shrugged. "He was searching the perimeter to find a way inside. He found his way in, but I doubt it was the way he thought he would take," he said, with an unmistakable twinkle of trouble in his gaze.

"Vacker," K said, shaking her head slowly.

Thor grinned her way. "I told you, did I not? This ogre is naught before the might of Thor."

She chuckled at that and zipped over just to make a quick move to kiss his cheek. "Just beautiful."

Thor let out a hearty laugh. "It was my pleasure," he promised before he went back to helping Tony make sure Sabretooth was secure, leaving the rest of the group to stare after where they'd disappeared.

Still, Steve was frowning slightly. "I don't like how close he was to the tower," he said. "How did he know you were here? Nightcrawler took you here directly."

K let out a breath and tuned to face him. "Captain Rogers, he's one of the best trackers in the world, and contrary to popular belief, the guy's smart." She paused and amended herself. "Not … Stark smart, but … he's no slouch."

"Yeah, but I thought the whole point was to hide you two away," Jan pointed out. "I mean, I'm not complaining — I love having you guys around. But Cap has a point."

K thought it over for a moment, frowning at where they'd dragged Creed away. "He may have followed Logan."

"He knows Logan's part of the team," Steve said. "It's not unusual for Logan to come here."

"Yeah," K said. "But if he smells like me …"

"Oooh, right," Jan said, her eyes wide. "I didn't think about that. I mean, I did, but not the ramifications — I mean, not like that."

"What did you think?" K asked, turning her way.

"Oh, just happy my friend is happy, that's all," Jan said brightly. "I wasn't thinking about the diabolical ways that could be used against him!"

"Well, that's like … all that guy does," K said.

"Then I'm glad we caught him," Steve said. He turned toward K fully. "I'd still like to ask you to stay here, at least until we can be sure the department won't come running to the front gates of the institute the moment you go back. Just because Sabretooth is down doesn't mean the other threat isn't hanging over yours heads, and they've already proven that they will come to the school."

"Yeah, they just … would fly over the gates," she said, keeping a straight expression on her face.

Steve shook his head at that. "You know what I mean," he said. "And it's a valid concern, considering the 'present' he left you last time."

"Yeah, please don't refer to it that way. I know there are jokes about it, but it's just ... " She shook her head lightly. "I don't creep easily, but that was creepy."

Steve let out a breath and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Tony build that cell downstairs based on everything Logan told him about the guy. He had Bruce Banner look it over. Whatever happened before… you're safe now. At least from him."

"How solid are Stark's failsafes?" K asked. "Or would you mind terribly if I tested it out?"

"If it'll make you feel better," Steve said, "I wouldn't mind. But Tony has been working on this day and night. It's a solid holding cell, K."

She considered him for a long moment. "Have you ever known someone to break into the helicarrier?"

"Not to my knowledge, no, why?"

She smirked at him and nodded slowly before she waved at him. "Yes, you do."

"No way," Jan said, her eyes wide, at the same time Clint started giggling and saying, "That's so cool."

"Ask Fury about unsigned notes on his desk," she said. "It was a Chanel lipstick."

"Okay, you have to tell me that story," Jan said, grinning even wider.

K nodded at her but turned her attention back to Steve. "If it can be done, I can tell you about it."

Steve gestured for her to lead the way. "I'd feel better knowing that cell is fully tested. I don't want him slipping out of here like he did SHIELD's holding cell. Not with you both here."

"I would test that for you if he wasn't in it," K said, smiling tightly. "But in the meantime, I can test Stark's security — to see if his early warning systems work on a fine scale."

"I'll tell Tony to warm up his A game for you," Steve said.

K smirked at that and turned to Jan. "I'll need a bodysuit…"

"Oh, I am so on it," Jan promised, grinning widely. "You'll look fabulous."

"I have no doubt," K agreed before she turned back to Steve. "You know I'll do whatever I can to make sure he stays where he belongs, right? I'm not going to coast."

Steve nodded seriously. "And you know we're doing everything we can to make sure no one touches you or your son, right?"

She nodded. "I just want to help with that," K said. "Offer insight where I can."

"Then lead the way," Steve said. "Let's see what we can do to tighten security around here."

Clint had managed to talk his way into watching some of the security testing as Tony more or less put K through the paces of the Tower security, but he could hear Steve questioning again whether or not this had been a good idea when Tony kept coming up with increasingly creative swear word combinations for every minute that K evaded capture.

But every time Steve suggested to Clint that they could do something else — play a game or whatever he could think of — Clint wasn't going anywhere. Even if he hadn't been enjoying himself watching Tony get frustrated, the truth was that he needed to know that his mom had tested out the security, because there was a big, blond terror getting locked up downstairs, and Clint did not want that guy to get loose.

Plus, Clint always enjoyed the chance to get other people to see how amazing his mom was. He liked to brag on her, and this was a great opportunity to do so.

Still, Clint was a little torn. So far, his mom had been able to slip through a lot of what Tony had set up, and while he was glad for the chance to brag on his mom, the whole point was to test the systems… and Clint didn't like the idea that they couldn't stop his mom or Sabretooth.

Clint was starting to shift uncomfortably and wondering where he and his mom would go this time if the tower wasn't good enough when Tony let out a satisfied-sounding, "gotcha," followed by yet another string of words that Clint couldn't help but giggle over.

"What did she trip?" Steve asked, genuinely curious as he leaned forward.

"Last-ditch failsafe in the lab." Tony was already on his feet and headed that way. "She should not have been able to get that far."

"That was the point - we need to know where we can beef security up," Steve pointed out, though by then, they were already moving to go get K.

When Tony got to where K'd been caught, he stopped dead in his tracks and let out a disbelieving noise as he threw his arms up. She was hanging upside down — nearly in the center of the room — with one arm free, which happened to be holding Tony's coffee mug.

"At least you left me coffee," K said with a little smirk. "Hi."

"Okay, breaking into my lab is one thing — but stealing my coffee on top of that?"

"Fight me for it, big boy," she shot back, which just had Clint giggling hard before she took a sip of it — upside down.

Tony took a few steps toward her, and she met his glare with a more serious look. "The fact is, I could get out of this, but I was trying to keep it to what Creed could manage, and that means his claws couldn't get out of this. Mine can. So don't get cocky."

Tony shook his head at her. "Give me back my coffee."

"Try and take it, you'll need medical intervention. My coffee. I stole it; it's mine now."

For just a second, Tony looked irritated — before he smirked at her. "I wasn't aware coffee-stealing was something I had to guard against for Sabretooth attacks."

"Well now you know," she said in an almost snooty tone. "But that's not to stop Sabretooth attacks. You should still guard against it, though."

Tony shook his head as Steve stepped forward, smirking at the exchange. "Alright, you'll need to take us through how you got past some of those defenses so we can fix it," he said. "Sabretooth is still down for the count, but when he wakes up, I'd prefer it if we were as prepared as we can be."

"Sure," K said before she offered Steve the mug. "Hold my coffee, would you?"

"How come he gets the coffee back?" Tony complained.

"Because he'll give it back once I get down," K said as Steve took the mug, and a moment later, she popped a claw and cut herself loose. She even managed to land in a crouch before she stood up and took the mug back. "Thank you. Where do you want to sit down and take notes?"

"We have a meeting room set aside already," Steve said. "And it's further from the cell block than the others."

"I'd be more worried about you guys if he got loose," K said. "I have an exit strategy for Clint and me for emergencies."

"What's that?" Clint asked, his eyes wide.

She turned his way, smirking crookedly, with her eyes dancing with trouble. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Ooh, right, so I can be awesome and get past everything and no one knows how," Clint said, nodding seriously.

"Mmmhmm," K said, nodding. "And … so that someone doesn't screw it up by setting traps up for you." She looked Tony's way with one eyebrow arched. "At least … any more than what's there already."

Tony put a hand over his heart. "I'm offended that you think I would set traps for a seven-year-old."

"They're not for a seven year old," she said, shaking her head. "But that doesn't mean he can't stumble into them." She paused and narrowed her eyes in thought. "Unless … can you set up triggers that will go off for certain masses? Instead of just … something going past it. Like … anything under around a hundred pounds wouldn't touch it .."

Tony nodded. "Weighted triggers — yeah, I can definitely do that. Easy peasy."

"I'm more concerned with size over weight," K said. "I'd trigger a lot of them by weight but not size. Clearly … big and ugly would hit all of them. But if we're making a quick escape, I'd rather not make it easier on him by getting myself caught."

"I'll work something up," Tony said. "It's been a while since I've had a good project, and updating the security and coming up with height- and weight-specific triggers should be a good stretch."

"If you're looking for projects, I might be able to get you thinking," K said as they made their way into the meeting room. She headed over to the coffee maker and topped off the mug she'd stolen from Tony before she took a seat next to him where she could easily show him on his blueprints where the trouble started up.

She made herself right at home, and even went so far as to pick up a red pencil to mark where she thought he could add something with more punch, working around Tony to get to where she wanted to be as she told him what worked, what didn't, and gave suggestions to hide the triggers better as well as a few more ideas on improvements that Tony latched onto with both hands.

The whole time, Clint watched with wide eyes, completely fascinated by the whole thing and trying to see for himself what all his mom had been able to do. Watching her go over the blueprints with Tony, he could sort of see the logic of her path, too, and he was nodding along by the time K was done.

"That's so cool," he breathed out to her.

"Not bad for old intel," K said.

Clint grinned up at her and then tugged on her sleeve to get her to bend down to his level so he had her full attention. I want to learn how to do that, he signed to her carefully.

I'll teach you. K smirked at him and then kissed his forehead. "I think we can work with this. If … you're not afraid of the dark or small spaces."

Clint shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I'm not scared of nothing," he promised, then paused. "Well… except big bad guys with claws, but I think that's an okay thing to be scared of."

"It absolutely is," K agreed before she stood up straight again and turned toward Tony and Steve. "If you boys don't need me for anything else, I think … I should go back and change."

Tony waved her off. "Go ahead. I'll let you know if I want to pick your brain."

With that, she winked Cap's way and took off with Clint — and not only her coffee mug that she'd stolen from the lab but the one Tony had been using in the meeting room too, just to see how long it would take to get a rise out of him.

"Not yours!" Tony called out after her.

"Finders keepers!" she called back. "Poor coffee security!"

Clint couldn't stop giggling as he kept up with K. "You're gonna own all his coffee cups by next Tuesday!"

"It's hilarious," she said. "And he won't try to get it back, so … I'll just keep picking at him."

"Well, even if he's kinda stupid sometimes, he's real smart not to mess with you," Clint pointed out.

"Which is good to see," K said. "But … before I tell you my big plan, I think I need to get Jan to find me a purple paint pen."

"What for?" Clint asked, his head tipped to the side and his nose scrunched up.

She took his hand and found a quiet spot to crouch down and level with him. "I realized we have a way for you to hide — and me too, if we're smart about it. Even if every single one of Tony's defenses and systems fail, we have a way to hide. It might not do the Avengers any good — most of them are too big — but … you and me? This place will work fine."

"A hiding spot just for little people?"

She nodded with a growing smile. "And I want the pen so I can mark your paths."

"And it's gotta be purple because it's for me," Clint surmised, starting to smile and nod. "Makes sense!"

"Exactly," she said, nodding her head still. "I'll keep this bodysuit … Tony will probably want me to re-test his system when he gets done with it anyhow. And I'll use it when I map out your paths."

The two of them made their way back to the living area for the Avengers, and when they got there, Jan was in a bit of a down mood, though she perked right up when she saw them. "How did it go?" she asked, genuinely interested and hoping all was well.

"I gave Tony some homework," K said. "Stole his coffee. Twice. That'll hopefully motivate him. But … I need to ask you a favor." She looked over at Clint with a smirk. "I need a couple of purple paint pens ... a half dozen pen flashlights … and a roll of duct tape."

"O...kay. That is a weirdly specific shopping list," Jan said.

"I like weirdly specific, and it's for Clint's safety, so …" She stopped and snapped her fingers. "Oooh … and a few containers of pepper spray. Just in case."

"That part I do understand," Jan said with a small smirk. "Sure, I can get my hands on all of that. The purple paint pens I'll have to dash out to get, but hey, shopping trip." She smiled at the two of them. "Gotta be purple for Clint, right?"

"Oh, also … can you get a single white coffee cup that I can draw on … For Tony."

"I can, and I will, but I need to know the story behind that one," Jan said. "It sounds entertaining."

"I broke into his lab and stole his coffee," K said. "Then after I got out of his trap and showed him what to fix … I stole his new coffee. I'm going to keep taking his cups until the only one left is the one we finish drawing on for him." She grinned at her. "Wanna help?"

"Um, yes," Jan said, grinning delightedly. "Of course!" She bounced on her toes slightly and then headed for the door. "This is gonna be so fun."

"Maybe some rhinestones for that one too," K said… in colors he would like."

"Oh yes, I like you," Jan giggled. "Please stay forever!" She clapped her hands together. "Let's get started."