Purple X-Men? C'mon, griezz, you can't forget about Betsy. She's all purple all the time and I love her for it ;)

Chapter 8: What About Barney?

Clint had preened around the tower for a while after getting the official paperwork through. It had been a few weeks, and still, he would bring it up sometimes, randomly, to K whenever something reminded him that she was his mother officially.

It was one of the most endearing things Jan had ever seen, really. It drove her to giggle fits whenever Clint would find some new reason to bring it up — whether that was something as simple as "Mo-o-o-om" when she was messing up his hair or, most recently:

"We gotta go get Barney for his birthday," Clint insisted for the third time that week.

"We will," K promised. "I already checked with Paul to make sure we have the right location for this week's stop."

"We gotta show him the papers that say you're my mom," he insisted, grinning around a bite of sugary cereal even as Thor poured himself a bowl full of that same cereal as well.

"Oh, I don't know," K teased, just because she knew Clint was dying. "Does he need to see some boring paperwork?"

"It's not boring!" Clint insisted. "It's not! It's the best thing ever!"

"Oh, it is, huh?" K said, obviously grinning at him. "Well, I guess I'm just out of luck for all future birthdays and Christmases…"

Clint shook his head at her, though he couldn't help but laugh at her teasing. "No," he said, shaking his head seriously. "You can still try on those days, even if you being my mom is, like, every single birthday and Christmas and everything all at once and amazing!"

"If you say so," K teased, getting Clint to roll his eyes and shake his head at her, though with such obvious affection that it was hard to miss.

Of course, when it actually came time to go get Barney, Clint was nearly bouncing in his seat the entire way there — and getting plenty of affection from Sicem, too. Sicem didn't quite understand why Clint was so excited, but he did know that Clint was happy, so he'd keep licking the little boy and being happy with him.

By the time they pulled up to where the big top was peeking out over the top of a hill, Clint could hardly contain himself.

"He's gonna cry," Clint promised.

K chuckled at that. "Are you sure?"

"I think so. He was always the crier when we were growing up."

K shook her head. "We'll see."

Clint simply picked up the pace as he rushed toward the tent, trying to pick his brother out of the crowd with a grin that threatened to take over his entire face. But this time, it was Barney who saw him first — and returned the favor from all the other times that Clint had surprised him with visits by tackling him.

The boys hit the ground in a pile of laughter and accusations that the other one was cheating when it inevitably turned into a wrestling match. But eventually, once they'd picked themselves back up, Barney hugged him instead. "I was wondering when you guys'd show up," he said.

"We weren't going to miss your birthday," K promised.

"Oh, I know," Barney said. "But I got something to tell you, and it's killing me waiting for you!"

"Oh, really?" K asked, one eyebrow raised, though the smirk she was wearing told the boys that she already had her own ideas.

Barney grinned at her. "Oh yeah." He reached into the front pocket of his uniform — which would usually hold hidden knives if he was performing — and pulled out an envelope that was sealed with wax. "You two gotta come, okay? You're part of the family. Everyone here says so."

K couldn't stop her smile as she sat down to open the sealed envelope, with Clint all but hanging on her arm trying to see over her shoulder. It wasn't a surprise that Miranda and the ringmaster had decided to tie the knot, but it was nice that they were both going to try for a more formal affair.

"Miranda already asked me if I'd give her away," Barney said, drawing himself up proudly. "She said I'm the closest thing she has to family anyway, so I told her that I'd do it if Paul asked me for permission if I was gonna be the family guy. That's what you're supposed to do, right? That's what Ana said when word got out."

"You care a lot what Ana says," Clint said with his nose scrunched up.

Barney flushed. "Well, she — she—"

"Uh-huh." Clint crossed his arms, the troublemaking smirk obvious. "So when are you gonna marry her?"

"I'm only turning eleven, Clint."

"So you want to when you get older?"

"That's not—"

Clint started giggling madly. "Barney and Ana sitting in a tree!" he started singing as loud as he could — at least until K put a hand on his arm and gave him a look.

"Are you being as pushy as Jan, Clint?" she asked with one eyebrow raised.

Clint froze at that, his mouth slightly open, before he quickly shook his head. "Nuh-uh!"

"Sure looks like it," she pointed out.

Clint sputtered a few half-formed excuses before he let his shoulders drop and breathed out a little 'fine' before he let the matter drop — to Barney's obvious relief.

"Thanks," Barney muttered K's way.

K reached over and ruffled his hair, as she liked to do, just to get Barney to duck away from her and roll his eyes. "We'll be there with bells on," she promised.

"Oh good, because I was gonna kidnap Clint and bring him anyway if you didn't," Barney teased.

"You'd get in a lotta trouble," Clint said with a twinkle in his eye. "'Cause she's my mom."

"Yeah, I know," Barney said, laughing and shaking his head.

"No, you don't," Clint insisted. "She's my mom."

Barney's eyebrows shot up, and he looked between the two of them for a moment before he started to grin. "Since when?"

"Since a few weeks ago," Clint said, drawing himself up proudly. "We got Captain America to help us!"

"It's cool enough you got a mom on your own, Clint — you don't gotta exaggerate," Barney said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not!" Clint insisted, his lower lip stuck out. "He really did help us!"

"Clint, I think our family's pretty great too, but why the heck would Captain America even care about you and your mom?"

"Because we're awesome, that's why."

Barney shook his head, still smirking. "If you say so."

Clint stuck his tongue out at that, but K mercifully let Barney in on what the deal was: "He's been helping with the people who are after me. We had to do this the sneaky way — so no one would come after Clint either."

"Oh," Barney said, lighting up with understanding. "That makes sense. I bet the Avengers don't like those bad guys."

"Cap said he was gonna feed one of them his shield," Clint added helpfully.

"I'm not sure … how… to do that?" Barney said, obviously trying to picture it and failing.

"Yeah, well, that's okay. I dunno either. But Thor got the biggest bad guy anyway. He said it was because he'd good at killing ogres." Clint leaned forward, his eyes twinkling. "Thor is actually really funny."

"You have the weirdest stories whenever you come and see me — you know that?" Barney said, shaking his head once again.

"They're true, though," Clint insisted.

"Doesn't make them any less weird."

Clint rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue as he followed Barney back to where some of the other carnies were set up. And of course, when Miranda saw the two visitors, she beamed and waved them over to where she and Paul had simply been sitting together and chatting easily.

"I was wondering if you'd go black for your hair dye this time," Miranda teased lightly.

"Trying to be nice to my roomies when it comes to hair dye," K said. "This is so much better anyhow…" She tossed her hair over her shoulder and winked.

Miranda chuckled at that. "Oh, it wasn't a criticism. I think you look lovely," she promised. "It's just a running joke that Paul and I have — I guessed black this time."

"I guessed red. You did blonde last time," Paul put in.

"Well ,you both probably would have lost," K said. "It was long overdue to go something more wild. Like … I don't know. Purple. Or Blue. Congratulations … by the way."

Both of them smiled a little wider at that. "We already talked to a priest about doing it at the end of the season. Can you make it?" Paul asked.

"Yes. We'll be there." K nodded and turned toward Clint. "Wouldn't miss it, right?"

Clint grinned and shook his head. "No way. I wanna see my big brother give you away!"

"I'm very lucky to have him," Miranda agreed with a smile. "Which reminds me… do you mind if I borrow your mother?"

"Okay, but she's mine and all official now, so you gotta give her back," Clint said, grinning proudly.

"Congratulations are in order both ways, then," Paul said, smiling K's way.

"I'm just happy he wanted to keep me," K said. "I'm a lucky girl."

Clint grinned even wider at that. "Me too," he said. "I'm real glad we got it worked out."

"C'mon, Clint," Barney said, grinning at the adults in the room. "You have lots of weird stories to tell me, I'm sure."

"Oh yeah," Clint said, with obvious relish, as he let Barney lead him off so the adults could talk.

Miranda smiled after the boys long after they were gone before she turned to K. "I'm glad that you both have each other," she said, first and foremost. "But we wanted to ask you about Barney." She leaned forward slightly. "I know it's an unorthodox arrangement, what you and the boys have… but do you think you'd like them both?"

Paul held up a hand. "We're not turning him out of the circus. We're just asking if you'd like to adopt him too or if this is just between you and Clint."

"I adore the kid," K said. "But … that … alright. So, when it came up, I left that decision up to Clint. I didn't want him thinking he didn't get a say."

Paul nodded. "We were thinking of asking Barney to join the family," he admitted. "But we wanted to ask you first."

"We'd love to be aunt and uncle too if that's what he wants," Miranda said quickly. "But he needs something more permanent."

"I'd take him in a second to call him my own," K said. "But that … with him especially, I wouldn't try to make that call without his input."

"He does like to have his independence," Miranda said with an affectionate smile.

"He more or less raised his little brother, from what I understand of things," K said. "He's just a tiny adult. At least … as far as he's concerned."

Paul chuckled. "Yeah, he's already jockeying for my job," he joked.

"I'd watch my back if I were you," K said. "He'd do it."

"He'd be great at it," Paul laughed.

Miranda shook her head and pinched Paul's side before she turned back to K. "I know you have the boys for the weekend, so I wanted to give you the chance to talk to him," she said. "We can have it drawn up ahead of the wedding either way. He needs something to celebrate for himself too."

"I'll ask him — and I'll give him both options," K promised. "If he wants to stick with Clint officially, then I know a guy to make it happen stupid fast."

"Oh good," Miranda said, leaning back against Paul. "I know he thinks he's too old, and I'd love to surprise him with how wrong he is."

"He's like any other kid Christmas morning," K said. "He's adorable."

Paul chuckled. "And he's like any little boy around Ana. He tell you about her yet?" His eyes twinkled as he said it, and Miranda hit him in the arm with a quiet laugh.

"Who?" K asked, looking as if she'd never heard the name at all. "I'm sure you're mistaking him for some other dashing young Barton."

He chuckled. "Oh yeah. And that was definitely not him stealing kisses behind the tent last week."

"Oh, see … now I wanna buy her a lemonade just to watch him react," K said.

"He turned as purple as his shirt," Miranda laughed. "First love — it's so fun to watch."

"I'm so glad he's enjoying himself and growing."

"In more ways than one," Paul said. "Sorry to say he outgrew the clothes you brought last time. We can hardly keep up with him."

"I always bring him new clothes," K said. "I went up three sizes … and I can give you a number to call now if he needs something."

"We've been handling things too," Miranda said.

"I know … I just like to make sure he knows his whole support system is behind him. All the time."

Miranda smiled at that. "It means the world to him. And Clint. It's obvious, even if they don't say it."

"They're good boys, both of them," K agreed.

"And Barney always looks forward to your visits," Paul said. He smiled her way. "Go ahead and leave that number, please — I was wanting to coordinate with you on presents come Christmas anyway."

"After all," Miranda said with a smile, "we may know a thing or two about the styles and toys he's eyeing."

"That would be great," K said earnestly. "I felt bad only coming up with what I did last time. Mostly clothes and a little for his studies ..."

"The way I heard it, you gave him the key to El Dorado," Paul chuckled. "He loved it."

"Glad to hear it," K replied. "I thought he enjoyed it, but he was so quiet." she tipped her head. "Of course … worrying that his idiot mentor wasn't going to let him back in probably put a dampener on a lot of things."

"Ugh." Miranda waved a hand. "Good riddance, I say."

Paul shook his head and then gestured to K. "Let us know if you need anything at all. He's part of our family now, and we want to help."

"Will do," she promised. "And really … thank you for keeping him on. He would have been heartbroken otherwise."

"And we can't have that," Paul said with a smile. "It's our pleasure."

When K caught up to the boys, they had moved on from telling stories to trying to one-up each other throwing knives. They both had very different styles, though, so they kept arguing over who was doing it better. Clint's was more efficient for fighting, but Barney's looked like a showman.

"Boys, you're both pretty," K said.

"M-o-o-om," Clint whined. "Why are you like this?"

"Why do you like me like this?" she countered.

"I don't kno-o-o-ow," Clint said, tipping his head back dramatically.

She made her way over to him and kissed his forehead upside down. "Is it because I'm pretty? Because that's a fair answer. Considering."

"Well, that's part of it," he giggled.

"Yeah, I like when you look like you," Barney put in.

"I like when I look like me too. That last one was just … weird. I could have been in sweatpants and no one would have known any different."

"It was like magic," Barney said. "But our magician isn't even that good."

"If I did my research right," K said, "it was just very advanced tech. Even if the guy that made it thinks he's magical in all ways."

Clint snorted. "Sounds right."

"So … Barney my boy … have you decided what we're doing tonight?" K asked.

Barney grinned and nodded. "Oh yeah!" he said. "I wanna eat something that's not a burger or fast food or something, so I was thinking maybe we could go Italian?"

"You got it," she agreed easily. She stopped and turned to walk backwards, facing the boys. "I may not have changed my hair … but ... borrowed a car. Have to switch some things up all the time, right?"

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't," Barney teased.

"If I didn't, you'd be bored," she said.

"Mom, Barney doesn't get bored. He lives in a circus," Clint said, rolling his eyes.

"Which is why he would get bored," she said. "But … pick the Italian place … though I'm assuming that 'Italian' isn't code for 'pizza'."

Barney laughed. "No, we get pizza and burgers all the time. I wanna eat, like, spaghetti or something that you gotta make."

"And sit down to eat," K said, nodding. "Well … just so happens that I do okay with a primavera pasta ... if you can stand vegetables … and we can put together an easy tiramisu for dessert — that's chocolate and coffee, by the way. Girls love chocolate and coffee."

"O...kay, so why are you telling me that when I'm a boy?" Barney said, his nose scrunched up.

"So you can get ideas on what to give girls," she said with a raised eyebrow.

Barney flushed slightly and looked down at his shoes. "Oh. Okay. Thanks," he said.

She couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I know what most guys like, too," she said. "It's not a bad thing."

"Mom just knows everything," Clint said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.

"I was gonna pick up your birthday cake … but then I figured it might be better to make it …" K shrugged. "Unless you want to find a bakery and pick something different out than last time."

Barney shrugged. "I dunno. I just like having something that's not candy corn and stuff."

"Okay. Well … how do you like red velvet?" K asked. "Jan said that there was a great bakery in town that makes the best red velvet cupcakes."

"Ooh, I like that!" Barney agreed.

"Then after dinner, I'll order them for tomorrow," K said. "But … I think we need to get shopping to cook, and then we can spend a little down time, yeah?"

"Can we get some strawberries and powdered sugar?" Barney asked.

"Ooh, like we had all the time at the Boltons?"

Barney grinned and pointed at Clint. "Exactly. I love that stuff!"

"That sounds perfect," K agreed. "And raspberries and cream."

The boys grinned at that and had a bounce to their steps as they followed K to the store, and they were back to roughhousing by the time they actually got set up at the cottage. Sicem loved it, of course, and it took no time at all before all K could hear while she set up the meal was laughter and playful barking.

It wasn't until after dinner, when everyone seemed settled in, that K decided it was time to bring up the subject of the paperwork. "Did Clint show you his papers?" she asked Barney as he stretched out on the couch, petting the softest spots on Sicem's ears.

Barney grinned and nodded. "He's real proud," he said. "And I'm glad he got a mom. He needs one, you know. He's still real little."

"I think just about everyone needs a mom," K said. "Sometimes." She drew in a deep breath and turned his way a little more obviously. "So … with that in mind, I should tell you that Miranda and Paul asked if I wanted to adopt you too, because they would like to if I wasn't interested."

Barney's eyes went wide, and he stared at K. "Are you… really?" he breathed out.

"I told them that the decision is yours. But that I'd love it if you wanted to adopt me, too." She leaned forward. "The decision is yours either way."

At the phrasing, Barney couldn't help but smile. "I… I didn't think nobody wanted me," he said. "I mean… I'm eleven and nobody wants older boys."

"Sweetheart, I'd adopt you if you were nineteen and on your own if you wanted it," K said.

Barney chewed on his bottom lip. "Wow."

"I'm not asking for an answer tonight," she said. "Take your time thinking it over. I know it's a big decision — and either way, neither Paul, Miranda, or I … we won't change having you do what you like with the circus. We just want to make it so no one can take you away from what you love."

Barney nodded quietly. "Yeah… I really like the circus," he admitted, then glanced up at K. "Do you… I dunno if I can call you 'Mom'..."

"Barney, you can call me whatever you want," she said. "I won't make you do anything that would make you feel like you were forgetting your mother."

Barney nodded again before he suddenly darted over and gave her a hug — though it turned into almost a snuggle instead of the usual quick hug. "You're the nicest foster we've ever had," he said.

"Then I may or may not want the names of the bad ones to kick the crap out of them," she deadpanned.

Barney shook his head and then hugged her again. "Can I… it matters to some people if I wanna keep my name."

"Clint is still a 'Barton'," K said. "I won't take that from anyone."

"Oh good, because I don't think I could be 'Barney K'."

She let out a little sigh. "You should probably read the paperwork, Barney. It's so much worse than that."

Barney shrugged. "I saw it was an adoption finalization. It's …. What more do you need to do?"

"Your brother checked the names at least," she laughed. "But really - take your time. Discuss it with your brother before you decide — if you want."

"Can we surprise him?" Barney asked in a whisper.

"Sure," she agreed.

Barney nodded. "Okay. I… I wanna just… I wanna talk to you maybe… maybe later," he said.

"Any time," she promised. "Wake me up if you need to."

Barney smiled and shook his head. "If I'm gonna get adopted, I'm glad it's you. I just… I just don't know if I wanna get adopted, that's all," he admitted.

"I totally understand. That's why I told Paul and Miranda that it was your call."

Barney swallowed and then nodded before he leaned in and snuggled her all over again. "Thanks, K. This is a really, really great birthday present."

"Honey, this is just a talk we'd have even if it wasn't a birthday. Your present … well. That's tomorrow."

Barney smiled up at her and then finally got up. "I'm — I'm real glad Clint found you K," he said, then kissed her cheek quickly and darted away before he could turn too red.