"You know," Steve suggested. "If you want to defuse this situation a little, giving us your real names might be a good start, even just first names."

Steve saw the teenagers look at one another, and he noticed particular distress in the faces of the girl with auburn hair and – if he didn't miss his mark – the boy who was calling himself "Five." Yet they seemed to come to a nearly unanimous decision – the boy "Two" had a bit of a stare down with "Five" before the latter agreed.

The youngest girl spoke first, admitting, "Yeah, I'm Dakota."

"And I am Scarlet," came next.

"My name's Ryan," "Two" said.

"I'm Andy," "One" admitted.

"I'm Hazel."

"Hayne."

When Andy saw the blonde girl was about to open her mouth, he said hastily, pointing to the girl in question, "She's Demi."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not her real name?" Bruce asked.

Andy paused, but his answer seemed to be honest when he said, "It's a nickname. Her real name gives her biology away."

"What about you?" Steve asked "Five," trying to present himself as a friend.

"Blaine," the boy growled. "And don't anybody get emotional over me because I've had a very bad day, and I might just be in the mood to gouge your eye out for it."

Natasha half snorted, half laughed, and Steve realized that the master assassin was on the verge of tears as she muttered, "You sound like your father."

"Who is my father, exactly, Agent Romanoff?" Blaine asked, looking at her with sudden, almost vicious interest.

Natasha paled, suddenly getting awfully solemn.

Blaine stood up, slowly making his way towards the redhead as he spoke, "See, Agent Romanoff, remind me now: what's the first rule of interrogation? Isn't it 'never ask a question you don't already know the answer to'?"

Natasha sucked in a deep breath, and Steve saw her barely, just barely glance at Clint. Steve's own eyes flew to Maria, who was still standing silently in a corner, the question brimming in his eyes. She nodded – also just barely a movement – and Steve stifled a groan, realizing that Clint had no idea.

"Listen," Natasha began softly. "I know I screwed up-"

"-Twice-"

"I made a mistake in not telling him then-"

"-And every day after then-"

"-But our relationship was very different then."

"'Love is for children; I owe him a debt.'" The words were softly spoken by Demi, and they froze Natasha in her tracks, mouth open mid-sentence.

"Where did you hear that?" Natasha asked her quietly.

"From my guardian. He was very proud of the fact that he made you cry."

"I didn't cry; it was an interrogation tactic. Agents don't cry."

Blaine snorted before saying angrily, "But their daughters do. And you know what? When their sons are asked to ki-"

"Don't," Dakota said, suddenly jumping towards him and laying a gentle hand on his arm. "Don't, Blaine. Don't try and slam them with guilt for what Fury did. It's fine, we're fine, and you know what? You use it right, and your actions from today could really give you a leg up with these people."

"What?" Blaine asked, jerking away from her. "The fact that I killed a man?"

"He wasn't a man," Demi said, not fiercely, but obviously meaning every word.

"No, he was a g-"

Demi stepped towards him, saying, this time with as much ferocity as ever, "He was a monster!"

"You know," Maria's voice startled them all. "I know I'm supposed to keep my nose out of it, but can I say this? The Avengers are called what they are for a reason. Their job is to avenge good people, and, Blaine, you did that today."

"Doesn't make it easy," Clint said gruffly before turning to Blaine and asking, "Does it help to know that it gets easier?"

"Not at all."

"Wait a second," Pepper said, rubbing her temples as she brought them back to point. "Fury made you kill someone?"

"He's given me a couple of marks, yeah, but I've only killed the one guy today."

"Do we want to know who he was?" Tony asked.

"All you need to know for now is that he was a bad guy," Andy declared.

"If Fury's asking kids to kill," Steve said warily, "What else has he done to you guys? Agent Hill didn't say much, but she says you need out. Why?"

"For example," Ryan said. "Because he kept me on ice for years after I was dug up from beside my father." Steve's eyes widened, but before he could ask any questions of… his son... Ryan added, "It's a long story; I can explain it to you later."

"He may or may not have made a walking lab experiment out of me," Andy muttered.

Hayne rolled his eyes when he realized that it was his time to speak and chose to say bluntly, "He's afraid of me."

"I was the electrocution case," Hazel confessed.

"Why?" Dr. Banner asked.

"Because he wanted to make me stronger, and he and his goony doctor didn't understand it doesn't work that way. Moving right along. Blaine?"

"He tried to get me to kill someone very close to me."

"I just got here," Demi said with a shrug.

"She was a child bride in an abusive marriage, and Fury left her with that man for the entirety of her life until we came along on our rescue mission," Ryan supplied.

Scarlet said, "You know… I think that by default, he's become afraid to hurt me."

"Why?" Natasha asked.

"Because of the information that Maria leaks to him. My boyfriend is capable of making a very big mess of his brain matter."

"Sounds like you're all capable of that," Clint muttered. "Except for maybe Dakota. You seem kinda harmless."

Blaine shook his head. "She's not harmless. She knows how to fight and she's got a gun on her right now. Looks are very deceiving."

Dakota sighed dramatically, saying, "And I guess our tale of basic woes can end with my saying – again – that Fury tried to have me killed for no real reason on my part, except for that he viewed me as the most disposable one in JID."

"And that's just the basics of what you guys have been through?" Tony double-checked.

"The main points," Andy said simply.

"Well, that's enough for me," Tony replied before turning to Maria. "Agent Hill, how many of these children are actually your legal wards?"

"Just Dakota."

"Are there any of whom Fury holds guardianship?"

"No; most of them aren't officially ours."

"So they're all free to go with a parent if they want?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You cannot legally keep them here because – legally speaking – they are not here at all, am I right?"

"Yes," Maria said, shifting uncomfortably. "All except for Dakota."

"And I will use every last penny of my fortune to make sure Pepper and I are her guardians again if that's what it takes. I don't suggest that, though; I might suddenly get a taste for spilling my guts to the press – and maybe even the president. As it is, every one of these kids is going back to Avengers tower with us today, Fury be damned."

Steve saw that Maria was trying to decide whether she should be smiling at Tony or fighting him for the kids, but in the end she only nodded and said, "I'll see to it that you have full guardianship of your daughter by morning on the condition that Fury doesn't find out that I brought you here."

Tony nodded very seriously, speaking for the entire team as he said, "Done."