Notes: CC: Yeah, Tony and Cap are THE Good Guys, come on. The Avengers are heroes at heart, so the idea that they'd let Hank stay after that nonsense? Come ON. No way.

And Sweet Arly, I couldn't stand to leave you hanging for too long! Here is a chapter just for you!

Chapter 12: Barney Is Looking Out For The Women In His Life

"Are you excited to see your brother give Miranda away?" K asked Clint quietly.

Clint shrugged. He hadn't really been giving the wedding as much thought when he'd been counting down the weeks until Barney got to live at the school with them, but now that he was wearing the nicest tux he'd ever even owned, he supposed he should think about that…

"I dunno," he said. "I think it's pretty cool... but I think he's more happy about it than me." He grinned up at K. "Ana said she'd be his dance."

"Yeah? Are you going to dance too?" She pulled him over to straighten out his hair a little better — a total change from the usual — and then she started to tie his bowtie for him. "You'll have to figure out how to do this."

Clint made a face. "I don't like 'em. It feels like being strangled."

"Yeah, Logan said he hates them too, but he still wears them when he needs to," she said. "Not going to complain at all that girls get the pretty dresses and heels."

Clint shook his head. "Kitty says heels can be painful though. So she said a suit's nothing to complain about."

"She just doesn't know how to walk right in them," K said. "Or she's wearing the wrong size. Heels are easy."

"Well, she's not much older than Barney, so maybe she just hasn't learned that yet,"Clint offered.

"That's what I'm getting at," K said. "But there's nothing wrong with heels. I'm just as fast in them than I am out of them."

"Yeah, but you're good at everything," Clint pointed out.

"Only because I've practiced," she said, booping his nose.

Clint grinned and then kissed her cheek. "I'm more excited about Barney living with us for a while," he admitted. "I like having my family together."

"I hope he likes it there," K said.

"Well, he's got kids his age there," Clint said. "I asked Jubilee and Kitty if they'd help him meet some of the new kids, because I think they need friends too."

"Oh, then he'll know half the school before lunchtime on the first day he's here," K said. She leaned back and gave Clint one final once-over. "You, my darling boy, are as perfect as you can be."

"You say silly things, Mom," Clint said, batting her hand away.

"I say things that are right — and you don't know how to just smile and say thanks when it's about how handsome you are. Yet."

"That's because you just like my duck fluff," Clint said, shaking his head at her, though she did catch him shooting a glance at the mirror to see how he looked too.

She shook her head at him and put on a swipe of lipstick. "Lets go. I'm sure we'll need to find a good spot to watch Barney grin."

Clint grinned and nodded, offering her his arm the way Jean had showed him before they left. He was almost as tall as K anyway, and he wanted to be a good escort. "Will you dance with me? Storm showed me some stuff."

"I'd love to," K said as she took his arm and smiled. "And I'll show you a few things, too."

"'Cause you know everything," he agreed, nodding seriously.

"Because I am old and have been around forever," she argued.

Clint giggled. "You're really bad at hearing nice things too, Mom."

"I am. Guess it's something we share," she said.

"Family trait," he agreed, kissing her cheek as they headed off to sit together.

Logan was waiting for them — K had invited him as a 'plus one' — and the other carnies were shooting them questioning looks, obviously wondering who the new addition was.

They didn't ask outright, though — not when there was something else to be focused on. Paul was in the full coattails look, but K had to smirk when she saw that Miranda, too, was in full coattails — basically an all-white version of her showy swordswoman look but with longer tails and high-heeled boots. And Barney looked amazing beside her, too, totally proud as he strutted beside her in a purple-lined tuxedo.

"That's our Aunt Miranda," Clint whispered to Logan. "That's what we're calling her because one time? She pretended to be our Romanian aunt so the bad guys were real confused."

"She sounds like a pretty smart cookie," Logan said back, sure to watch that Clint was able to read his lips.

Clint grinned and nodded. "They almost adopted Barney, but Mom wanted him," he explained. "I think that's pretty great, especially because Barney's eleven, and most people don't want kids after they're ten."

"Most adults are idiots," Logan said.

Clint hid his little giggle behind his hand as he nodded his agreement. "Uh-huh," he whispered back, though he didn't say anything else once Barney got Miranda to Paul and the two of them looked like mirror images of each other — Paul in black and Miranda in white. Jan would have loved the design of it.

It was a quiet, sweet ceremony, and when the two of them shared a kiss, everyone in attendance cheered — and Barney came running over to them with a grin.

"They're gonna go to the Bahamas now that they're married — isn't that so cool?" he said, then paused when he saw Logan. "You're not Kurt."

"No, I'm not," he said before he couldn't help but smirk. "I'm Logan, and you gotta be Barney."

Barney nodded. "Yeah, that's me," he said, holding his hand out. "What happened to Kurt? I thought for sure K would bring him because it's a circus group."

"Nothing happened to Kurt," K said. "I wanted to go with Logan."

"She likes dancing with him," Clint muttered to Barney.

Barney's eyebrows shot up, and then he started to very slowly nod. "Oh, got it. You're the guy she's dating." He tipped his head to the side and looked Logan over a little more critically. "You better be nice to her, because me and Clint are good with all kinds of weapons if you're not."

"Got it," Logan said, smirking to himself. "Don't gotta worry about that, though."

Clint tugged on Barney's sleeve and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "He's got problems with people who hit kids and girls, so he knows what the deal is."

Barney nodded. "Good, 'cause I'm not losing another mom," he whispered — quiet enough that he didn't know Logan would have been able to hear it.

Clint gave him a serious look. "Yeah, that ain't happening, I promise."

Barney nodded and then took a deep breath, set his shoulders, and shot a grin K's way. "Okay, come on — there's dancing and stuff and also cake. It's chocolate on chocolate, which is my favorite."

"I know," she said. "So what's on the top of your list?" She gave Logan's arm a little squeeze and took the few steps to take Barney's. "Your lead, kiddo."

Barney grinned. "Well, Paul and Miranda gotta dance first, and then I'm supposed to dance with her too. And then we can all dance with whoever we want or we can just eat cake." He paused. "But I gotta save a dance for Ana, because I promised I would."

"If it's like any other wedding I've been to, there will be plenty of time for all of that," K said. "But you're the one that knows where we're headed."

Barney grinned as he lead the way to where the rest of the group was gathered, with Clint shaking his head and walking behind them with Logan.

"I dunno why he's so excited," Clint told Logan. "It's just dancing."

"You'll like it more when you're older," Logan said.

"That's what Mom says — and Jean and Storm," Clint said. "But they also keep saying I'm a lady killer, and that's just not true."

"Not yet, give it a few years and a couple pining little girls," Logan told him.

Clint shrugged. "If you say so," he said, though it was clear he didn't believe Logan. Still, he did have to smile when the dancing started and Paul and Miranda did look really happy, so it was hard to boo-hoo the dancing part if everyone was having fun.

Of course, Barney was having a blast, because he was in high demand. After dancing with Miranda, he took a turn with Ana before he bounced over to K. "Wanna dance with me?" he asked. "Ana's dancing with her dad."

"Sure," K said, though she took a second to kiss both Clint and Logan on the cheek before she went with him. "So. Tell me about Ana."

Barney turned a bit pink but nodded. "She's really cool," he said. "She's an acrobat, but she's actually really shy when she's not performing, so sometimes we just sit around and play cards and stuff. She likes quiet things."

"I like her already," K said.

"What about you?" Barney said. "Clint just says Logan's not gonna be mean to you, but that's not much to go on."

"He's a good guy," K said. "I like him. What do you need to know?"

"I dunno… I don't even know where he came from or how you met him or nothing."

"He was in the group that got us away from those idiots chasing me," K told him. "So that … answers most of that, I think. Though, he's Canadian, so … that's a negative."

Barney scrunched his nose up. "Why's that bad? We got some of those in the show."

"They're too nice," she teased. "I'm just being a pain. I like to pick on him about it. I made him say please and thank you to get his tools when I helped him with his motorcycle."

Barney grinned at that, though, because he knew if Logan could take some teasing then he was alright. "Okay, well, then… does he have powers?" he asked. "If he's on the team with all the mutants and stuff like Clint was talking about…"

"He's on a couple teams, and yes, he does have powers. He's … actually more or less like me," K said.

"So he heals?"

"And the other stuff," K said. "But I look better doing it … so."

Barney had to smirk at that. "Yeah," he said. "So he can listen in when I'm being quiet? Because I told Clint I'd kill him if he was bad…"

K nodded at that. "He wouldn't take offense to that, Barney. He'd just think you're being careful, that's all."

Barney let his shoulders drop. "Okay, good. I just want you to be okay. You're real important to Clint, you know," he said, dropping her gaze.

"That brings the count to three of you guys that have that outlook," K said quietly.

"Oh, that's good," Barney said. "I'm glad he — that's good."

"He teaches at the school," K said.

"What's he teach?" Barney asked.

"History, Combat, and Self-Defense," K said. "Might be other things if it's warranted, but … that's what I know is the regular."

"Do you think he'll be okay with me being in his classes even though I'm your kid?"

"I don't know why he wouldn't," K said. "He gave Clint a knife a while back."

"Good, because I'm excited about self-defense and stuff." He paused. "But I'm not easy to buy if he wants to get with you, just so you know. I don't do that."

She smiled at that. "No, that knife was for his self-defense. It was a necessary thing. I'm pretty sure Clint told you about it when we came by with Kurt."

"Oooh, right," Barney grinned. "He was real proud of how he helped to take the bad guy down." He leaned in closer. "I think he could be a hero too, but don't tell him that, or he'll get a big head."

"He already wants to be a hero," K said. "And they're encouraging him to do it, too." She smiled. "All of the teachers are on the team, so they know how to direct the kids that want to try that."

"Well, I don't think I could do that and be a ringmaster," Barney said. "That's what I want to do, you know. I bet I'd be good at it."

"You'll be amazing," she agreed.

He looked even prouder as he leaned in. "Paul says I could take over for him when he and Miranda have kids and then he can just be a dad," he whispered. "But Miranda doesn't know that because she doesn't want kids yet, so don't tell nobody."

"I won't," K chuckled. "I promise."

Barney smiled again as the song came to a close and then offered her his arm. "Okay, you can dance with your date if you want," he said. "Thanks for dancing with me."

"I think I just might," K said. "And thanks for asking me." She quickly darted over to kiss his cheek — gently, though, so as not to leave a smear of red. "Go get your girl." The two of them headed off the dance floor, and when they got to where Logan and Clint were, Logan took K's hand and swept her right back out into a lot more proper looking dance, leaving the boys together.

"I asked her about Logan," Barney said.

"Yeah?" Clint asked, leaning forward and honestly curious as to how that conversation had gone.

"Yeah, you only told me the stuff about him fighting and stuff. I wanted to know about him."

"But the fighting stuff is cooler," Clint pointed out.

Barney smirked. "Yeah, maybe." He tipped his head toward where K and Logan were dancing. "She really likes him, though."

"We gotta keep an eye on them," Clint said.

Barney nodded. "Yeah. I think between us two, we'll be okay, though."

"Probably," Clint agreed, then smirked when he saw that Ana was looking their way. "Your girlfriend wants to dance with you."

"She's not my—"

"Uh-huh." Clint shoved Barney in the arm — toward Ana. "If you're gonna kiss her, don't let Mom catch you, or she'll give you looks all day."

"Hey, I can be sneaky."

"Not as sneaky as Mom."

"If you say so," Barney said, rolling his eyes before he went to go dance with Ana.

The couples were dancing along, most of them doing more of a awkward, quiet sway, though a few like Logan and K, were keeping up a reasonable honest dance. It seemed like K was entirely wrapped up in Logan, and when Barney got a reasonable chance — he did, in fact lean forward to steal a kiss with Ana.

It didn't last long though. Not when there was a wickedly loud and clear wolf whistle that split the air a second into it, followed by K rooting Barney on. He turned bright red, of course, made worse when better than half of the carnies in attendance joined in with the cheers and whistles, though K was cut off when Logan pulled her over for a kiss — followed by a quiet 'give the kid a break' that Clint only read.

Clint was still giggling madly when a red-faced Barney made his way over, looking scandalized. "You said she'd just give me looks!"

"I was wrong," Clint giggled delightedly. "This was so much better."

"I hate you sometimes, Clint."

"No you don't!" Clint said, still laughing and holding onto his stomach as Barney rolled his eyes — and tried very hard to look nonchalant and to just focus on eating some cake instead of dancing.