THANK YOU TO:::

All my anonymous guests!

Aini NuFire, WestonFollower, khaitosfren, TortoisetheStoryteller,.ROX, penguincrazy, Qweb, Liliththestormgoddess, amy. .9, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, ThePenguinApocalypse, discordchick

m klindt(OMG, that was too funny!)

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grishma239 (I cant help it, it's all connected.)

8839 (enjoy every line you read! and just gloss over those grammar mistake parts)

TheNaggingCube (you've found me again! please enjoy!)

Ms. Hawkeye (probably THE best review ever! i keep rereading it and laugh!)

IWriteSinsOrTragedies (I actually had a friend named Cooper, and we all called him Coop)

jensmit75 (Why thank you!)

Niom Lamboise (Will try! And i just love hearing about the tears of readers. I'm evil like that)

Daughter of the North (what a beautiful compliment! Thank you! And it seems Cooper has encountered some classic masks after all...)

LeanneDaseyLover (Until you pointed it out, I hadn't realized the many bits of humor I've added to this. What a nice surprise for me! LOL! Lila is about 5ish going on six or six in this)

Avenge Me

Chapter 6

"I think we should call in the local P.D. on this one, Clint. It's far enough from the house that I'm not sure they'd make the connection, but still...this is bad." Bruce said, meeting the others on the side of the roadway. He hiked a thumb over his shoulder, where a guard rail had been blown over with an incredible force.

Thor, Steve, Tony, and Clint made their way over. They could see the shattered remains of a driver's side window blown up over the roadway, and four sets of tire tracks scorched along beside it. Clint jogged over to the mangled guardrail and thrust his head out over the embankment. He recognized Stacy's car immediately.

He'd been angry at first when he heard that she refused to drive away with his kids, to protect them where he couldn't. She had a family of her own. A husband and a son who relied on her. He couldn't imagine there were many normal humans out there in the world who would decide to invite trouble into their homes. The kind of trouble that might land them on the side of the road with their skulls caved in.

Clint stuck to the thick grass clods as he scrambled down the embankment toward her Subaru. He wanted to know that she was going to live, but at the same time he couldn't leave any trace that he was even there. Avengers, the secret Barton family, none of them could be associated with what happened here. The minute he reached the car, though, all of his fears manifested.

Stacy Belmont was dead. Her body half hanging out of her crushed driver's side car door. Her upper half laid against the soft earth and gazed sightlessly into the sky. Clint could see her cell phone siting on the passenger floor. Besides that, there was nothing. Tony followed him down, leaving the others at the roadway. The fewer footprints in the area, the better.

"I called the local police. Fake name. Burner phone. Response time around here is about ten minutes. We should leave before then," Tony said quietly.

"If she hadn't placed that call, I wouldn't have known they were gone. She might not be dead, either." Clint replied, standing over her. He took a deep breath and turned away from the tragic scene, scrubbing a hand over his horrified face. "Her son's in Cooper's class. They're friends. I should call her husband, say something – "

"No, you shouldn't."

Clint looked over at Stark, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I know you feel like this is all your fault, but it's not. It's Hydra's. It's not your fault you have a life outside of this stupid stuff that we do. You, telling everyone that she was killed by Hydra goons, isn't going to change the fact that she's dead, Clint. Let the cops take it. They might come to the same conclusion. It's obviously a murder case, but it will give us time while they spin their wheels to find your family."

The decision made sense, though it still left a sour taste in Clint's mouth. He looked down at the woman again. She was someone he trusted. A scared, normal person caught up in the web of a life he lived, and was murdered trying to escape from it. Tony might think it wasn't Clint's fault, but that wasn't necessarily how he saw it.

Tony was right, though. Telling her husband that Hydra murdered his wife wouldn't change anything in the first few days. Silently accepting Stark's plan, he retraced his steps back up the hill. Stark took a final look at the scene, and went along behind him.

:(:):(:):

Maria Hill paced to and fro on the landing pad beside Pepper Potts. She held a file in one hand, passed it to Pepper, took it back, continued to pace. Her functional heels made a familiar click-click-click off the metal flooring.

"I just can't believe it. How did I miss this? I don't miss things. Fury didn't share everything with me, he doesn't share stuff like that with anyone, but I knew Barton before the Avengers. He was a flirt, show-off! And for crying out loud, we called him Pluto, Lord of the Underworld. He could drink Thor under a table if he wanted to." Hill stopped, leveling her gaze on the other woman. "How did I miss a wife and two kids?! Not just one of them, but two! And not just two, apparently he's made up a third, and that's about to come out of the production line in little over a month!"

Pepper shrugged. "I asked him once if he had anyone important, and he said he didn't have a girlfriend. That's all I ever got out of him."

"Two and a half kids!" Hill began to pace again, tapping the file against her arms which crossed behind her back.

"At least they have the youngest. Clint's still worried about the others, though. I can't imagine what he must be going through."

"Stark does, I'm sure," Hill replied. In the distance, the sun began to reflect off the forward glass of the Aven-jet's cockpit. The Avengers were only a few minutes out.

Pepper dwelled on that thought for a bit. At first, she'd meant to question Hill on her meaning, but she didn't really have to. When Pepper had been kidnapped, experimented on, Tony went to a very dark place in order to find her again. She could imagine the others were keeping a close eye on the archer, but that didn't mean he wasn't still suffering. She chewed her bottom lip.

They stepped back into the tunnel a little, waiting for the jet to land. Stark was piloting; not a surprise to them. Clint usually insisted on taking them himself, and only injury, exhaustion, or death prevented that.

When the plane landed, Tony gave them a small wave from the cockpit before dropping the back hatch open. Where, in the past, the landing of the jet barely preceded the pile-out of Avengers seeking to escape the cramped quarters, no one was in a hurry this time.

Banner hung by the back cabin, watching Steve, who stepped out of the way while Natasha gathered up a few packed bags. Thor hovered by Clint's elbow as the Avenger limped for the ramp. There was a small child holding tightly to his hand, and, the minute she spied the outside world, she practically climbed up Clint's leg for her father to hold her again. Thor, who had been carrying a small stuffed dog, promptly passed it over Clint's shoulder to the child, who squeezed it against her chest. Stark brought up the rear.

"She's ok," Clint announced first and foremost. "Scared and shy, but they didn't hurt her."

"I'll drop these in your room, then head to the lab." Natasha told him, walking away with Clint's bags. Barton thanked her and led the team inside.

He didn't exactly intend on being the front-runner of their current mission, but the minute everyone caught sight of Lila, they sort of froze up and ceased to form rational thoughts on their own. He knew what his excuse was, Clint was her father. He had a right to be worried and fearful that he may never see his wife and son again. Why the rest of the Avengers were following him around like lost puppies, he couldn't begin to explain.

Hill, who had been losing her mind with the overflow of information, now sought to catch up. "Is she hungry? Does she need something?"

"She needs her mother, and so do I," Clint replied, deadpan. They strode onto the main floor of the Avenger's wing. He could see Natasha already rounding the corner from their private rooms toward the lower level laboratory.

"Bruce, can you help Natasha? I'll be there in a minute."

Without question, Bruce headed away, tugging Tony along with him. Steve watched them go, wondering whether it was better to file away with that crowd or stay behind with Clint, Thor, and the two women. Not missing the opportunity, he went.

"Lila, I need you to – " Clint tried to pull his daughter away from him, but she clung as tight as crazy glue. "Lila, honey, let go of daddy."

"No!" she announced steadfastly.

"Lila, I need to go help Aunty Nat find mommy and Coop. You need to let me go."

Given that option, Lila did release her cloying grip. Clint set her down on one of the couches, arranged her "rabbit" beside her, and even extracted the plastic hammer from his pants pocket. All of the precious commodities in hand, he planted a kiss on her cheek. "OK, sweetheart, this is Miss Pepper and Miss Maria. They are very, very nice people, and Daddy trusts them. I want you to trust them too. It's getting late, so I want you to eat dinner, get on a different pair of jammies, and go to bed."

"But – !"

Clint held up his hand. "No buts. What Daddy says, goes. Eat, jammies, bed. I need to find mommy and bring her back so, for right now, I need you to be a big girl and be brave for me, understand?"

Lila pooched out her bottom lip slightly in disapproval. It didn't last long.

"O – OK, daddy."

"That's my good girl," Clint said. He turned his attention to Maria and Pepper. "She likes carrots, but not the big ones, the little ones. And she likes chicken, just not grilled chicken, and she peels off the breading. If she eats a sandwich, you have to cut off the crusts. She can have one slice of pizza, no pepperoni. And no sugar or soda before bed. Actually, no soda at all. Laura doesn't like it."

Pepper nodded frantically to all of his instructions. "It's OK, we'll figure it out. Don't worry about us girls. You just go do what you have to."

"Thank you. If you need me, or if something – "

Pepper grabbed him under one arm, and helped pull him to his feet. "It'll be fine, Clint. Really. You go find her. We can't help with that, but at least we can help with this."

Clint stumbled slightly as he stood, but tried to hide it. Hill sent him a worried glance. He kissed his daughter's forehead, charged her to be good, and headed off in the direction of the lab. Thor leaned down and, with a clawed hand, attacked the child's middle, sending a cascade of laughter into the room. He followed after Barton, grinning from ear to ear.

They rounded the first corner and moved toward the lower lab, when very suddenly Clint stopped. He doubled over, listed sideways, and landed on his hind end with his back propped against the curving wall. Filled with fear, Thor rushed beside him.

"My friend! What has befallen you?" the Asgardian exclaimed, low enough so Lila might not overhear.

Clint winced, holding his hands to either side of his throbbing knee. While adrenaline and an overwhelming fatherly love might dampen all pain, it did not dismiss it completely. The ride back on the jet had been pure Hell. Running, hiking, and climbing stairs threatened to swell the joint beyond use all together. He was lucky to have hidden the agony this long, beneath the two measly Aspirins he'd downed before Stacy's phone call threw his life into a tailspin. That was hours ago, and now he was feeling it.

"My leg," he whispered, trying not to touch it. "It's killing me. Every time I move, it's like glass shards. I can hardly walk."

Thor opened his mouth to say something akin to shock. He took the cuff off Clint's pant, and carefully pushed it back over the joint. The Asgardian sat back and placed a fist against his mouth when he saw the damage. Clint's knee was very swollen, twice the size it had once been. The color was deeper, angrier than before, and a distinct square-edged imprint lay testament as to the cause of the damage. Thor glance down at his hammer guiltily.

"It is my fault this has occurred. You must not walk. You require time to heal!"

Clint grabbed his shoulder plate and used it, and the wall, to force himself back to his feet. A few minutes of sitting was all he needed, he told himself. He still had too much to do. Sitting around, letting the others find his family for him, wasn't in the cards. Natasha might overlook something. Fury might try contacting them with a code she didn't know. Clint had worked with the director longer than Natasha had. He would know the things to try that she wouldn't.

"Barton, I beg of you – "

"I can't stop," Clint panted, trying to step forward. He was forced to grab the wall to prevent from falling right over. His smashed knee reminded him of his own mortal ways. He gasped.

"If you will not heed my advice, do me the honor of at least assisting you!" Thor pleaded. He cast a look behind them to be sure no one was about to stumble into their conversation. Thus far, no one came.

"This isn't fair. It's not fair. I've got to find them, I don't have time for this!"

"We will find your family, I swear on my father's life to that. But if you do not take care, then what good will you be on the mission to recover them?" Thor reasoned.

Clint, stubborn as ever, plodded ahead. He limped for the lower level, where the rest of the team were gathered. He was getting there on his own strength, even if it killed him.

Unable to deter him, or even to help him, Thor considered some other option. He left Barton to limp down the corridor, and returned briefly to the other room. He found the bottle of Aspirin Tony often consulted, and grabbed the bucket of ice from the bottom cooler. He said nothing to the questioning looks of Hill and Potts. There was work yet to be done, and if Clint was determined to drag himself through agony's gates, Thor could at least provided some relief from the pain he had so erroneously inflicted.

Poor Clint, trying so hard to push himself. Someone just needs a break.

Coming up: Lila becomes a tycoon, Ambien, and Cooper solves a problem

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