A/N: Has been a while since I've last updated and most of you or maybe a few of you have noticed my detour to the Clintasha fic universe of things. I've finally gotten out of that universe for enough time to update this :).
If there was one thing that Jared absolutely, completely and entirely loved, apart from that chalkboard that his mother and father gave to him the other day, it was the Avenger's Tower in New York. There was nothing else that could ever compete with the greatness of that tower. He knew everything there was to know about the building, from the history of why it was built twice to why there were 20 floors that only few knew and had access too. He knew about the war of the worlds and how the mighty 'Avengers' or so that was what his father liked to refer to the team as, had defeated the evil blue men and saved world once and for all.
He just couldn't understand why his mother and father didn't want to live in the towers. What better than to be able to speak to Jarvis anywhere and everywhere in that entire building? Didn't they know how wonderful and amazing it was to have a conversation with the AI during those few minutes spent in the elevator? Or even in some occasions in the cleaner's cupboard when Jared felt the need to hide in the cleaner's cupboard for no reason at all?
Apart from the enhanced Jarvis features that he loved so much, he also loved being able to spend time with his father's comrades. He knew Natalie the most out of all of them given her being instructed to remain with the Stark's between assignments. But he had seen only little of the others apart from those festive season get together dinners or those few times they visited Stark Towers. He loved getting to know each of them, from their weapons of choice – which his mother had expressed on numerous occasions that he really didn't need to know about, to their armour of choice – which his mother also did not like him learning about, to the more personal side of them or as his father liked to put it 'the human side'.
He loved listening to them talk about the places they had been for missions, assignments or for their own personal vacations. At one point Jared decided quite simply that collectively they had all been to every place in the entire world, with the exception of Asgard that is. His Uncle Thor had that one up on the others, but despite that, Jared also knew that the others had more one ups to the god of thunder. His Aunty Natalie alone had been to more places than he could count, with his Uncle Clint's total following quite closely behind or if not almost equalled. He knew his Uncle Steve was probably somewhere around the same total as his Uncle Bruce with his father maybe exceeding the number twice over, he wasn't completely sure.
He had to admit that of all of his father's comrades, with the exception of his Aunty Natalie, his favourite was his Uncle Bruce. The scientist almost always had red liquorice in the labs. It didn't matter if Jared visited his Uncle Bruce in the labs on level 2, or 5, or 17, 25 or 56. It seemed that no matter where Jared stumbled into the lab with his father to find his Uncle Bruce there, that no matter what he would have some handy. His second favourite was his Uncle Clint for no real rhyme or reason other than the fact that he had the coolest weapon of them all. He remembered having listened to his Uncle Clint explaining to him the fine workings of his bow and why it was his weapon of choice. It still amazed him to this day how cool the weapon was and that even though it was old and out dated, was still as deadly as any other weapon when put in his Uncle Clint's hands.
His third favourite was a tie between his Uncle Steve and his Uncle Thor. Although it seemed that more than anything, his Uncle Thor scared him. The man towered above him like Stark Tower's itself and he always had this weird look on his face that Jared could never quite make out to whether he was having stomach problems or if he was angry at someone. The god of thunder had more muscles than Jared had ever seen on any man and the intimidating look always made Jared weary. His Uncle Steve was probably the nicest of all of them, but on occasion he seemed to always give his father weird looks and Jared didn't really like that all that much. He didn't understand why his Uncle Steve scolded his father for being 'annoying' because his father was anything but 'annoying' to him.
But on the whole Jared loved everything and anything to do with Stark Towers. If it wasn't the extended Jarvis feature then it was his father's comrades. In some occasions it was the cool and interesting things his father and his Uncle Bruce were inventing in the labs or if not then it was all of his Uncle Clint's really cool bows to his Uncle Steve's shields or his Uncle Thor's hammer that seemed to be the heaviest thing Jared had ever tried to lift. He loved Stark Towers and he still couldn't see why his mother and father wouldn't want to live there.
He pondered over all of that as he stared across the night skyline of New York City. It bustled with life and he could hear wayward singing and whistling which he assumed to be another drunk roaming the blocks. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice his Uncle Clint taking up residence on the lounge behind him.
"Hmm…" the sound of his Uncle Clint's familiar hum startled him slightly.
Jared turned around and sighed considerably when he realized it was only his Uncle Clint.
"What's on your mind bud?" his Uncle Clint asked softly.
Jared shrugged and then mumbled, "I was trying to figure out why mummy and daddy won't live here."
He sighed as he sunk back into the sofa beside his Uncle Clint.
His uncle Clint smiled and ruffled at his hair. "We've had this conversation before, Jared."
"I know, Uncle Clint," Jared sighed, "But I just can't help it, every time we come for a visit I just want to stay here and not go home."
"Maybe you should just-"
"And daddy is always here, so wouldn't it be a lot easier if we lived here? Daddy wouldn't have to always fly back and forth," Jared explained even though he knew that no matter how much he explained, he was still going to have to go back home in the next two weeks.
"Maybe in time your father will come around with the idea," his Uncle Clint told him although the expression on his face seemed to tell a different story. It was almost as if he had more to say but yet wouldn't say anything.
"And you wouldn't have to be so far away from Aunty Natalie anymore," Jared added, "I'm sure you and the others miss her."
"That I sure do, Jared," his Uncle Clint said softly and weirdly enough his eyes glistened when he said that. "But don't tell her I said that, okay?"
Jared nodded obediently and added, not exactly knowing what his words would actually mean to the agent, "Aunty Natalie misses you too."
"Huh… well, I'm…I'm glad," his Uncle Clint smiled as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Clint, there you are, is Jared with-"
"He sure is," his Uncle Clint smiled warmly at her before he added, "I found Jared all alone in here and thought I'd stop by and see what was bothering him. He had the whole 'Tony Stark' look on his face."
She smiled at his Uncle Clint's comment, although he wasn't too sure exactly what his Uncle Clint meant by the 'Tony Stark' look. Surely Jared would always have his father's look on his face.
"Are you okay, Jared?" she asked gently and touched his cheek, "You didn't decide to go climbing into the ceiling ducts again right?"
"No, no, I didn't, I swear Aunty Natalie," he told her honestly as he tried to swipe away her hand.
"No swearing about it, just don't do it again," she said simply as she adjusted his crooked collar.
"Hmm… I've clearly missed out on a lot since your last visit," his Uncle Clint observed as he smirked at his Aunty Natalie.
"Yes well, you won't be missing out on this for much longer," she replied softly as she ruffled Jared's hair.
Jared whined a little at her actions but she seemed to ignore his attempts entirely as she slid onto the sofa beside his Uncle Clint.
"Oh? What did the one eyed man have to say?" his Uncle Clint asked. Jared noticed by this point his Uncle Clint had his arm around the back of the sofa which also meant that his arm was really close to the back of his Aunty Natalie's shoulders. It seemed all so strange to Jared as he always thought that nobody other than him would ever be allowed to be that close to his Aunty Natalie.
His Aunty Natalie kept quiet for almost a minute before she said softly, "He's decided to drop my cover."
"Does Tony know?" his Uncle Clint asked.
"Clint," she murmured, her tone seemed to be warning him of something of what Jared wasn't exactly sure.
"Come on, Nat. He's going to know sooner or later anyway…"
She sighed considerably after a few moments and then murmured softly, "Tony made the call."
"Oh… so he's finally decided then?"
"Yes," she nodded.
Jared was completely lost at this point of the conversation. He had no head or tail as to what exactly his Uncle Clint and Aunty Natalie had been talking about. He guessed that it had something to do with his father but what exactly he wasn't sure. He did or rather he could feel that the atmosphere in the room had shifted and more than ever he just wanted to excuse himself politely and leave the adults to talk.
"And I'm guessing they want us to say something?"
"Yes."
His Uncle Clint hummed for a moment before he murmured softly, "I guess I'll go, so you can-"
"I think it's better if we did this together, don't you?"
"Probably…"
Jared shifted despite his attempts to remain completely inconspicuous. He noticed the both of them had quietened considerably and the strangeness in the air only seemed to increase with every passing second. He wasn't sure if he should leave the room or if he should just sit there and wish that he would sink into the sofa. He really didn't understand adults. He just didn't no matter how hard he tried.
"Jared…"
He turned to his Aunty Natalie slightly startled from the sudden sound of her voice in the seemingly quietened room.
"I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you," she started.