Oh my goodness! The reviews I've gotten are absolutely amazing! Thank you all so much for reviewing! Please keep them coming! It really makes me writing this story , and I know I've kept you all on edge for Hannah introduction to the Avengers. So sorry about that. College has been so busy and I've had to work extra hard so I won't have homework this weekend so I can go visit some family a few hours away. So I won't be updating this weekend. Sorry readers! (But I would if I could!) But I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways!

And now, for your reading pleasure... the Avengers!

Train. "Bruises." AZLyrics. MUSIXMATCH, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

Chapter Seven

Stark Tower was a lot bigger when you were looking at it from the ground. My family and I stared at it for a moment before shuffling inside with our bags. Steve, now in normal attire, was waiting for us at the door.

"You mean you don't wear the suit all the time?" I asked and I heard my uncle snort.

"No, Hannah. He doesn't go gallivanting in the suit all day long like some trick-or-treater."

"I do NOT look like a trick-or-treater." Steve objected and my uncle had a small grin on the edges of his lips that said 'yeah right.'

"Yes, really." Steve said. "Besides that suits too itchy to wear all the time. Anyways, may I take your bags?" He asked me and I obliged.

"Thanks." I said, handing him a bag. I didn't realize until after I let it off how much it was killing my shoulder. We filed into the elevator and Steve pressed the highest button.

"Good afternoon Captain, Agent Barton and erm...Agent Barton." A voice said out of nowhere. "And guest."

"What was that?" I asked, confused at the mysterious voice out of nowhere. My uncle chuckled.

"His name's JARVIS and he's an A.I." Oh. Artificial Intelligence, eh? Cause that wasn't freaky enough.

"Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts are awaiting your arrival." The voice called JARVIS continued.

"So, we're going to meet Tony Stark? The Tony Stark?" I clarified. It was hard not to sound excited when I was going to meet the one and only Iron Man.

"Trust me, he's not as great as you think." Steve said dully.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a little...insane." Aunt Nat explained.

"Try very." Uncle Clint exaggerated.

"Self-obsessed, egotistical." Steve continued.

"Doesn't play well with others by any means." My uncle finished.

"But that's what makes him cool." I said, knowing full well from all the publicity he was all of those things. Still, he was pretty awesome.

"Ha! He'll get on your nerves after a while." Steve said as the elevator doors opened. And there standing in the middle of the living area was the Tony Stark.

"Clint, Natasha, so good to see you again." Stark said as we walked in. "And who is this that you've brought with you?" He looked at me.

"Hannah, Hannah Barton." I replied and he turned his head to my uncle in question.

"You're a little young to have a daughter this age, aren't you?" My uncle rolled his eyes.

"She's my niece, Stark."

"How long is she staying?" Tony asked.

"Tony, that's no way to talk to our guests." Pepper Potts reprimanded and turned towards me. "Feel free to stay as long as you like."

"Thank you." I said gratefully. She really was as nice as she was on TV. "I'll show you your rooms." Pepper said and she led us down a hallway. She stopped at the last few rooms down the hall, at which there was a giant window looking out into New York City.

"This one's all yours." She said as she opened a door for my aunt and uncle.

"Thank you, once again." Aunt Nat said to Pepper as Uncle Clint took the bags.

"It's not a problem. Actually, Tony was hoping that you would move in. He's starting to call it Avenger's Tower."

"Why am I not surprised?" She asked and the two shared a casual laugh like long-time friends..

"I'll call you when dinner's ready." Pepper said and she left the two to themselves, leaving me with her.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Pepper Potts."

"I believe you already know who I am." I said. "It's nice to meet you, all the same."

"Thank you." She said as she showed me my room across the hall. "This is your room."

And it was an amazing room. There was a huge window to see across New York City from up top. I was so dazzled by it that I forgot that Pepper was even there.

"Like your room?" She asked, bringing me back to reality. I turned to her.

"Yes. Thank you so much for letting me stay here." I said. She looked like she was going to say something else, but quickly decided against it.

"I'll let you know when dinner's ready."

"Thanks."

She left and I was was back to setting up in my new room. It was about six when JARVIS spoke up.

"Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts wish for you to know that dinner is ready." The A.I. informed me.

"Thanks, JARVIS." I knew he was just a machine, but it was still good to be polite, right?

I wandered out of my room and found my aunt and uncle. We made our way back to the living area again, only to find several other people there. I could easily make out the faces. Steve, Tony, Pepper...and then a man with messy brown hair and glasses, that had to be Dr. Banner, aka the Hulk, and a huge muscular guy with long blonde hair and a hammer attached to his hip, and of course, with the superhero trademark red cape: Thor.

"Clint, Natasha, so good of you to join us!" Thor said joyfully. "And who is our guest?"

"This is my niece, Hannah." My uncle said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "She'll be staying here as long as we live here."

"It's nice to meet you, Lady Hannah." Thor said, taking my hand and kissing it lightly. I tried hard not to blush.

"This is Thor, if you didn't already know." Aunt Nat said. "And this man over here," she referred to the man in the glasses, "is Dr. Banner."

"Dr. Banner." I said politely.

"Call me Bruce." He said as we shook hands.

"Well, now that we've got all the greetings squared away, let's eat!" Tony said, clapping his hands together. I had to admit, there was a lot to eat. More than I had ever seen on a table, let me tell you. It was a BBQ-themed meal, with ribs, corn on the cob, and anything else a BBQ included. Whoever had cooked it had outdone themselves.

"This meat...it's delicious!" Thor said as he held up another rib in his fingers,now covered in BBQ sauce, and bit into it.

"Let me guess who cooked it..." Aunt Nat said as she looked towards Pepper.

"Me!" Tony exclaimed and my uncle snorted.

"I've seen your cooking, Stark. You couldn't even attempt this."

"Hey!" Tony said, putting on a pouty face.

"Thanks Pepper for the meal." Bruce said and Pepper smiled.

"I was delighted to get to cook for once. I rarely get to anymore because of the company."

"Speaking of which, how is it going?" Someone asked.

Not really caring to hear about business and such, I remained quiet and to myself as I nibbled on some corn. However, I wasn't ignored for long.

"So, Hannah, how long are you staying here?" Tony said, catching me completely off guard.

"Tony, she's a guest. Don't be rude." Pepper said sternly.

"I'm just asking." He said innocently as he looked at me, clearly still expecting an answer.

"She's here as long as we're here." Uncle Clint spoke up, giving Tony a look that said to shut his mouth. But he must have missed it (or ignored it), because he continued.

"Why are you staying with the two master assassins? Just some kid your parents dropped off and..."

"Shut it, Stark." Aunt Nat barked fiercely. I looked at Stark, partly angry and sad.

"My parents are dead." I slowly got up and left the room, hoping that no one could see the tears that were now forming in my eyes.

Later...

I sat in my room, watching the New York City lights from the top of the Tower. I was trying to forget, not only about Stark, but about my parents. Mom, although her death had been a long time ago, still left a bitter sting. And losing Dad was still a wound that was fresh and painful. I tried to fall asleep, but my thoughts and emotions made it impossible.

I started to reminisce about my parents. I could remember when I was little and Mom would brush through my hair, how she would stroke my head after she was done and call me her 'baby girl.' Dad would throw me in the air and play airplanes, just like the airplanes we would go see take off at the airport on special nights. Then I shifted to closer memories. When Mom was on her deathbed, she looked so pale and weak. She still managed to smile and call me her 'baby girl.' She was keeping strong for her thirteen year-old daughter, but I was old enough to see she was fading fast. Dad was a wreck. He would subconsciously pace around the house in circles, not knowing what to do as his wife lay dying on their bed. And then shifting to a few weeks ago. The last morning I saw him he had kissed me on the forehead as I rushed off to school so I wouldn't be late for class. Oh, how I wish I could have been a few minutes late for that not-so-important class.

"Hannah?" My uncle's voice interrupted my thoughts. I didn't say anything, but just kept staring out the window. I felt him sit on the bed beside me. "You alright?"

"No." I responded sadly.

"If it helps, no one would talk to him at all after you left. Not even Pepper." That made me laugh.

"Really?" He smiled, happy that he could put a smile on my face.

"Really." There was silence for a moment. "Want to play?"

"Yeah." I responded. He dashed off to his room and I went to get my guitar. He was back in an instant with his instrument.

"I never did get to play 'Bruises' with you."

"That sounds okay." I agreed.

Once we started going, we'd like to never have stopped.

"Loses the vibe that separates
It's good to let you in again
You're not alone in how you've been"

I wasn't alone in how I was feeling. I had my uncle who knew full well what I was going through. And it felt good to have someone.

"Everybody loses, we all got bruises
We all got bruises" (Train).

"When did you start playing guitar?" I asked him curiously.

"When I was around your age." He told me. "Whenever I thought of your father, I would start to play."

"Did you miss him?" He nodded.

"Terribly." He turned to me, his face serious. "You know you can always talk to me...about anything."

"Thanks." I said. "So...can you answer some of my questions, Hawkeye?" He grinned. It didn't take rocket science to count down all of the Avengers. Hawkeye and Black Widow were the only ones that were left.

"What would you like to know?" Oh boy, this was going to be a long night. He told me all about the secret government agency that he worked for and what they did. Although they were master assassins, that didn't make a difference for me. They were my aunt and uncle, and that's what they would always be to me.

Clint's P.O.V.

I had never come so close to killing someone and having to restrain myself as I did at the dinner table that night. I had almost lunged at Stark, and I knew Nat was feeling the same. We had become a family in the short time we had all been together, and seeing Hannah in pain was like getting hurt ourselves. On the bright side, the conversation we had in her room made my day. I couldn't believe I was her favorite Avenger. What were the odds? Nat had failed to mention that when she and Hannah had gone on their girl's day out.

"Is she alright?" Nat asked, setting down one of her books as she sat up on the bed.

"She's going to be fine. I just wish Stark knew when to shut his big mouth."

"You would think a genius like himself would think before saying something."

"I'm beginning to think he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Ticking off some master assassins isn't very intelligent." She laughed at this.

"We could get him back." She suggested with an evil smirk.

"Tomorrow." I agreed. "After he apologizes to Hannah."

"Pepper said she would make him do it...and he was going to mean it." I snorted.

"Since when does he go making sincere apologies?"

"Since Pepper." She said. She then quickly moved on to another subject. "Clint, we need to talk."

"What about?"

"Today. The gunmen. You know he was an assassin sent to kill us. He had the emblem." The emblem. Visions of gunfire from months ago on a past mission flashed through my brain, but I quickly set them aside.

"Where?"

"On his neck."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hannah." She answered.

"Oh." I said softly.

"Clint, I don't think we ever took the time to discuss the gravity of her being here." Nat started.

"Nat, I really don't want to discuss this right now."

"What she did today, although admirable, was dangerous all the same. You know that if she stays with us that she's going to be in danger." It was an undeniable fact, one that I desperately wanted to avoid. Just when I had found family, the thought of losing it again was gut-wrenching.

"Night, Nat." I said as I hopped into bed and turned off the light. I could still feel her eyes glaring at me in the dark.

So tell me, what did you all think? Please, please, please review! I'm literally on the edge of my seat dying to know what you all think! And thanks for reading!