A/N:Hey guys, sorry for the wait. I left the memory stick this was on at my Granddad's house and I've only been able to get it today!
Enjoy the chapter, guys, and check out my new fic Assumptions!
"We're running out of people to ask, Nat." Clint sighed, slouching against the playground fence.
The dog's tail wagged happily as he watched the toddlers playing in the sand through the metal bars. He pawed at the fence and whined. Natasha got down on her knees and hugged him tightly, not caring about the little puddle of water she was resting in.
"I don't want to have to send him to strangers, Clint." She said. The dog looked away from the children long enough to lick her face. She kissed his muzzle. "If he can't be with us, then he has to be with someone we at least know and trust."
They had been out looking for someone to take in the dog all morning, having woken up at the crack of dawn to begin their quest. Clint had called around all of their friends from school still in the area, but they were college students, and even their high school friends still at home couldn't commit to caring for a dog. Natasha had called practically everyone else they knew; Maria, Steve, Trip…she had even called Bobbi and Hunter's friend, Izzy, who she had only met a few times, to see if she knew anyone. She didn't.
Clint wrapped an arm around her when she stood back up, leaving the dog to his observations of the children. "I think we need to go and see Phil and Mel." He said. "Maybe they know someone who can take him."
"But he's ours." Nat whined. It's what she had been saying all morning, hoping by some miracle an idea would occur to her and she and Clint would be free to keep him.
"Come on, baby." Clint kissed her temple. "We'll walk over to the gym, see your Mom and Dad." He tugged on the dog's leash. "Come on, Dave." Clint grimaced. "Nope. Still not a Dave."
…
Bobbi sat outside of the Real Estate offices a few miles from her parents' house, fiddling with her phone and waiting on Hunter. They had woken up early, eaten breakfast, and borrowed one of the cars to begin house-hunting and job-searching for Hunter. They were already many hours and many realtors into the day, and so far on both the house and the job, it wasn't going well.
This time, Bobbi had opted to remain outside while Hunter explored their options. Seeing just how much they couldn't afford was getting her down. Bobbi much preferred to sit on the bench outside and watch the expensive cars drive by, making up stories for the people inside of them, than to listen to another arrogant guy in a bad suit tell them their financial state was laughable.
She was just imagining that the woman in the overly large sunglasses driving the white Range Rover was going to pick up her child from their private school because they had shot someone with a dart gun, when her phone began ringing obnoxiously, ripping Bobbi from her entertainment.
"Hello?" She answered cautiously, not recognising the number on the screen.
"Bobbi? It's me, Iz."
"Oh." Bobbi smiled. "Hey, you name didn't come up on my phone."
"New number." Izzy said apologetically. "Well, not really, this is just my new work phone, you can still call me at my cell."
Bobbi arched an eyebrow. "Work phone? I thought you weren't starting work for another two weeks?"
"I'm not, and neither are you." Izzy laughed. "But I'm trying to get prepared."
"That sounds nothing like you."
"Vic's been on my back about getting organised." She admitted.
"Ah, sounds more accurate." Bobbi said.
"She says I need to be more organised now that I'll have my very own employee." She laughed loudly. "Just how excited are you to be working for me?"
"Incredibly." Bobbi grinned.
And she was telling the truth. Izzy had been the only reason she had managed to actually get through her Masters degree. It had turned out to be a hell of a lot harder than Bobbi had first anticipated, and what with having work, school, and Hunter to juggle, she had very nearly found herself dropping out. If it hadn't been for Izzy offering her help and tuition to Bobbi for free, there would have been no way Bobbi could have ever hoped to graduate. She was eternally grateful to Isabelle Hartley, and aside from all the other things she had done for Bobbi, the woman was practically unparalleled in how well she could control Hunter. Bobbi had learned a lot from Izzy.
"As much as I appreciate the chat," Bobbi said, "is there any particular reason you called me?"
"The dog." Izzy said, and Bobbi had to replay her voice in her head just to make sure she had heard her correctly. Even then, she felt the need to clarify.
"The dog?"
"Yes."
"What dog?"
"Clint and Natasha's dog."
Bobbi frowned. "How the hell did you hear about that? It only happened yesterday."
Izzy chuckled on the other end of the line. "Your dear baby sister called me this morning and asked if I knew anyone who would be willing to take care of her dog. She was adamant it had to be someone I knew well, someone I knew for sure was a good dog owner."
Bobbi sighed. "They've been pretty upset about the whole thing. She texted me this morning to tell me they were out trying to find a home for it."
"I just wanted to let you know she called me." Izzy said. "She sounded a little distressed. I felt bad telling her I didn't know anyone who could take it."
"I'll talk to her. I'm sure she'll be fine." Bobbi said. She hoped Nat would be fine. When Natasha got upset, she tended to stay that way for a while. "I'm sure she understands."
"Okay. Just tell her I am sorry. Vic and I just don't have the time for a dog, at least not at the minute."
"Don't worry about it, Iz."
Izzy made a noise of acknowledgement, and the line went quiet for a few seconds. "So," Izzy said eventually, "how have you been, Bobbi? Found a place to live?"
Bobbi laughed humourlessly. "Trying to."
"Trying?"
"You know how it can be, looking for places to live. My parents are letting us stay in their house for as long as we need." She smiled. "They've been really good about the whole thing."
"They're letting Hunter stay too?"
"Yeah."
"That's nice of them. I honestly thought they hated him." Izzy laughed. "If I was your parents, I'd hate him."
"Yeah? Well, they have a good reason not to." Bobbi mumbled. She twisted the rings on her finger.
"Oh yeah?"
Bobbi bit the bullet. "Hunter and I got married."
The line was silent.
"Izzy?"
"Sorry, I'm still here. I was just deciding if I was shocked or if I actually expected this." Izzy blew out a breath. "Honestly, I think I saw it coming. Congrats."
"Thanks." Bobbi twisted her rings again. "You're not mad, right?"
"Of course, not. Honey, why would I be mad?" Izzy paused. "Were your family mad?"
"Nat wasn't." Bobbi said quietly. "Dad was mad, but he's over it. He's the one who said we could stay there with them." She sighed. "My Mom, I'm not sure. I think she's mad, but I haven't talked with her properly yet. We had a fight."
"I'm sorry to hear that. She's probably just a bit surprised."
"Maybe."
Bobbi felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. Hunter hopped over the back of the bench and sat down next to her, kissing her cheek and pressing his nose into her neck. He wrapped both arms around her, almost pinning them to her sides.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Listen, Iz, I have to go."
"Hi, Izzy." Hunter mumbled into Bobbi's neck.
She ran her fingers through his hair with her free hand. "Hunter says 'Hi'."
Izzy sniggered. "Tell him I said 'fuck off'."
"Izzy says 'Fuck off'." She informed her husband.
"So impolite." He grinned.
"Izzy, I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay, honey. See you both in a couple of weeks. Oh, and tell Natasha I hope she finds a home for her dog."
"Will do. Bye."
"Bye, Bobbi."
Hunter kissed her cheek again. "What'd Iz want, then?"
She turned her head to press a kiss to the top of his head. "Nat called her about the dog."
"Jesus." Hunter breathed, siting up. "Her and Clint are really scraping the barrel aren't they? No luck with your mates from school?"
Bobbi shrugged. "Apparently not. But most people either of us knew from school don't even live around here any more."
"It's a bloody shame your dad's scared of dogs." Hunter said. "He's a cute little bugger. The dog….not your dad."
"Dad's not scared of dogs."
Hunter lifted his head. "What?"
Bobbi smiled. "He doesn't like them, but he's not scared." She cocked her head to one side in thought. "Not sure why he doesn't like them."
Hunter grinned. "It's because he's fucking terrified of them, love."
"He's not."
"He is." Hunter insisted. "Why else would he hate them so much? I mean, he likes other animals. He doesn't even mind your sister's eight-legged freak."
"Huh." Bobbi said, considering Hunter's point. "Maybe he is."
"You know I'm right."
Bobbi shrugged. "So, any luck in there?" She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the real estate offices.
Lance grunted. "Too expensive."
"Hm." She'd expected as much.
"They had jobs going though." Lance said with a face like thunder. "But apparently I'm not legally qualified to sell houses."
Bobbi smirked. "Hunter, you're not legally qualified to sell houses."
"Well isn't that just a pile of wank?" He muttered, pouting.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Teacup, you'll find a job somewhere." Bobbi guided his head to her chest and ran her fingers through his hair. "I'll love you even if you never work another day for the rest of your life."
"Really?" Hunter murmured.
"Really." Bobbi kissed his head. "However, I would prefer it if you found at job at some point so we don't end up destitute."
He chuckled. "Duly noted, love."
It was then Bobbi's phone began buzzing with a text. Hunter fished it out of her pocket and held it in front of her face.
"Anyone interesting?" He asked.
Bobbi glanced at the screen. "My Dad. We're being summoned." She opened the message. "He wants us to pick up Skye from school on our way over. Oh, hey. We could see Pepper while we're there. I miss hanging out with her."
Lance cuddled into her, pressing his face into her neck. "No. Let's just stay here forever."
She flicked his ear. "On this bench?"
"Yes." Lance said. "We'll live out the rest of our lives on this bench, outside of this shitty estate agents. You and me."
"Sounds lovely." Bobbi smirked. "Just what I used to dream about when I was a little girl."
"Right here, on this bench, is where we'll make our life. This is where we'll bring up our children."
Bobbi moved enough that Lance was forced to sit up again. She stared at him for a second, trying to work out whether even a small percentage of what he was saying was true. She decided just to ask.
"We're gonna have kids?" She breached the subject with an uncharacteristic hesitancy.
Hunter, however, seemed perfectly at ease with the question. "Yeah." He said, pulling his jacket up higher around her shoulders. The rain from that morning had stopped but there was still a chill in the breeze. "And we'll raise them on this bench."
"Hunter?" Bobbi asked, watching him struggle with his coat's zip. He grunted a pathetic response, frowning at his uncooperative jacket. "Hunter?" Bobbi asked with more insistence, and Hunter looked up.
"Yes, my darlin'?"
"Lance, were you being serious?"
His face softened. "I promise we won't really have to live on a bench for the rest of our lives."
She rolled her eyes. "Not that, idiot. I meant about us having kids."
"Oh." Lance smiled at her widely. "Yeah. Course I was. We'd be brilliant parents."
"Yeah?" Bobbi smiled, arms going around his neck.
Lance kissed her. "Well, I mean, we'd be 'not terrible' parents. You know, as a team."
"As a team?"
"You'd be a brilliant Mum, and I'd be one of them Dads that can't parent for shit, but who drives the kids to football every Saturday and takes them to all their swimming lessons." Lance grinned. "Together, we'd be really 'not terrible'."
It took a passing police car's siren to remind Bobbi that she was sitting on a bench in the middle of the street, practically weeping over the fact that her husband had thought about them one day having children. She coughed and attempted to subtly wipe her eyes.
"You okay, love?" Hunter took her hand and pulled it away from her face. "Bob, are you crying?"
"No, no." She laughed. "Maybe a little."
"Why?"
"Because I love you." She said, and stood up. "Now come on, let's go pick up my baby sister." Bobbi began walking down the street.
Hunter followed her, jogging to keep up. "I know I'm not crying, but I promise I love you, too."
Bobbi grabbed his hand and swung their joined hands between them. "Come on, Teacup. I'll make you cry one of these days."
He kissed her cheek. "I don't doubt it, darlin'."
…
"Okay, class." Miss Potts said. "I want you to complete the worksheets that Jessica is bringing around. When you finish, you can have free time."
Jessica wasn't very good at handing out worksheets, Skye thought. Maybe it was because she was so friendly, but after every few pieces of paper she delivered, Jessica stopped to talk to one of the students. Eventually she made it to the table Skye shared with Grant, and placed a sheet in front of Skye, perching herself on the edge of the table.
"This looks easy." She said, handing another of the worksheets to Grant. "It's awesome when Miss Potts gives us these to do 'cause they only take like five minutes and she lets us have free time after we're done."
"Jessica Drew." Miss Potts said. Her arms were folded and she had one eyebrow arched up.
Jessica turned around on the table and smiled at the teacher. "Yes?" She sat on Skye's worksheet, making it wrinkle and crease.
"Jessica, stop chatting and pass around the worksheets, please." Miss Potts said.
"Yes, Miss Potts." Jessica slid off the table, and Skye had to grab her worksheet before it fell off with her.
"Thank you, Jessica." Miss Potts said, and went back to writing something about 'counting in fours' on the board.
"Sorry." Jessica grinned at Skye and tried to smooth her sheet of paper for her, completely unaffected at having been reprimanded by their teacher. "Here." She took the creased paper from Skye and handed her a new sheet from the top of the pile, continuing to make her way around the classroom.
Grant nudged Skye with her elbow. "You seen this?" He pointed at the sheet. "I dunno what Jess thinks is easy, but this ain't it."
"I don't know how to do fractions." Skye said, frowning at the sheet. "Do you?"
Grant shrugged. "Kind of. Pepper's been helping me, and Tony's super good at math. He's been helping, too."
Skye continued to frown at her paper, hoping somehow the equations would begin to make sense. "So you can help me?"
"Not really, Skye. I said Tony and Pepper were helping, not that I could do it. And even if I can, I don't think I can teach you how." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
"S'okay." Skye shrugged, and went back to glaring at her paper.
Miss Potts walked over and crouched by their table. "How are we doing?" She asked kindly.
Grand was attempting to complete the first of the questions. "Okay…I think."
"Try your best." Miss Potts said. "That's all I want."
He smiled at her. "I can do that."
"Good boy. How about you, Skye?" She asked.
In her old schools, Skye didn't like asking for help. Her last teacher hadn't taken too kindly to her not knowing what to do in lessons, so Skye had stopped asking and had just stayed quiet. But Miss Potts wasn't like that, she always wanted to help.
"I can't do it." Skye said, sliding the paper over to her teacher.
Miss Potts smiled. "Have you tried?"
"Yes." Skye lied.
"Oh, really? Because I can't help but notice you haven't even written your name on the paper."
Skye blushed and scribbled her name sloppily on the top of the paper. "Okay, now I can't do it."
"Skye." Miss Potts said. "I know sometimes things seem difficult, but the key is to try."
The numbers made no sense. Skye could try as much as she liked, but that wouldn't change the fact that Jessica seemed to be able to the work in her sleep, but to Skye it was like reading something in a different language. She wondered if this was how Natasha had felt when first attending school all those years ago. It was probably way worse for Nat, now Skye thought about it. At least she spoke the same language as her teacher.
"My sister used to not be able to speak English, you know." Skye said, hoping to divert the topic of conversation to anything other than math.
"I do know." Miss Potts said. "I can remember when Natasha only spoke Russian."
Skye looked up. "You can?"
"Yeah. I used to work in Melinda and Phil's gym back then."
"Nat can speak English now, though. She's really smart." Skye said proudly. "So is Bobbi. She went to college twice. Because she wanted to."
Miss Potts laughed. "Oh I know. They're both very clever." She picked up Skye's worksheet. "And so are you."
"M'not." Skye muttered. Everyone else in the class seemed to at least know something about what they were doing. Skye had no clue. "M'too stupid for this."
"Hey." Miss Potts said in a voice that sounded closer to mad than Skye had ever heard her. "We do not talk about ourselves in that way." She stood up. "You just need a little more help. Come on over here."
Skye got out of her seat and followed her teacher over to her desk, sitting down on the chair Miss Potts pulled out for her.
"So, Skye." Miss Potts said. "How are you settling in?"
Skye looked over at her teacher. "I thought we were doing math."
"We were." Miss Potts chuckled. "And we're going to continue to, but I just wanted to know how you were feeling."
"Feeling?" Skye asked.
"Yes."
It was a difficult question because Skye had a lot of feelings all the time, and sometimes she couldn't always work out exactly what it was she was feeling. Skye closed her eyes, and tried to concentrate of her feelings. The sound of the class was getting louder now that some of the other children had apparently finished, or were close to finishing, their work. Skye heard Miss Potts shush some of them, and the sound went down to a murmur.
What was she feeling?
Skye could hear Jessica laughing somewhere over the other side of the room. She couldn't pick out what she was saying, but her laugh was distinctive enough for Skye to recognise with her eyes closed.
"Skye?" Miss Potts said.
"Happy."
"Sorry?"
Skye opened her eyes and looked over at Miss Potts. "I'm feeling happy."
Her teacher smiled. "That's wonderful."
"Mostly happy. I think." Skye squeezed her eyes shut and thought of her Mommy. "I'm happy." She thought about her sisters, and Clint and Hunter and Phil. And then she thought about the baby. That feeling was harder to describe. "Is there a word that means worried? The kind of worry where when you think about something your tummy hurts?"
When Skye opened her eyes, Miss Potts had a strange look on her face. She wasn't frowning exactly, but she didn't look happy either. It was a look Skye had seen on Bobbi's face, when she had been worried about Skye the night before. Maybe there wasn't another word for it. Maybe it was just 'worried'.
"You know the feeling?" Skye said.
Miss Potts nodded. "I think I do. A bit like being worried, and nervous."
"Yes." Skye answered quickly. "Yes. Like that."
"Anxious?" Miss Potts supplied.
Skye rolled the word around in her head a few times. Anxious. Anxious. Anxious. It was familiar. As of she had heard the word before, but never made the effort to find out what I meant.
"Sounds kinda right." Skye smiled. "Sometimes I feel anxious."
Miss Potts put her hand on Skye's shoulder. "Why do you think you feel like that, Skye?"
She was only trying to be kind. Skye tried to tell herself that. Asking about feeling worried, had probably frightened Miss Potts. Grown ups tended to get concerned about things like that. But Skye could remember being asked the same question somewhere else. Somewhere she didn't like thinking about.
Why do you think you feel like that?
Skye had heard that question before.
Why do you think you feel like that?
She didn't like the question. It was stupid.
Why do you think you feel like that?
Skye had laughed in the doctor's face when he'd asked that. Surely he understood that if Skye knew why she felt the way the she did, the nuns wouldn't have bothered to send her to a psychologist twice a week. She Miss Macy and her abrupt end at that foster home to thank for her dreaded trips to 'Doctor Carson: Specialised Child Psychologist'. That's what it said on his door. Skye had sat outside of it enough that she had been able to eventually read even the long words etched on his plain and boring door sign. Not like the awesome one Bobbi had made for her bedroom. Plus, Doctor Carson liked to introduce himself as 'Doctor Carson: Specialised Child Psychologist', every time she went to one of her sessions. If nothing else had been gained from the torturous sessions, Skye now knew that 'psychologist' had a silent 'p' at the beginning of it.
Attending one, two-hour session with Doctor Carson, twice a week, had been an arrangement that had lasted less than four of the twelve prescribed weeks, and had ended with the psychologist sending her away with a envelope that she was meant to give to Sister Margaret. Skye had opened it herself on the way home. Most of the stuff on the papers inside had been boring, but general things about Skye that she heard often enough from her social worker. One of the pages, however, the one at the back, had said something that Skye wasn't sure she would ever be able to forget.
Reading was hard. Many of the words on the sheets in the envelope had been too long for Skye to even attempt to decipher, and she'd skipped over most of them. But she could read that last page perfectly fine. Big, bold letters, underlined by the computer, but then circled by hand with a red pen.
Mary Sue is a lost cause.
Skye knew just fine what that meant, but Sister Margaret had taken the opened envelope from her, glanced through the pages, and pointed out that last one to her. "Well," Sister Margaret had said, "we all knew that already, didn't we?"
Lost cause.
No point in making the effort.
"Skye?" Miss Potts said, breaking her from her little pit of self-reflection. "Are you okay?"
"I think so." Skye said.
She thought back to that day. Lost cause.
Maybe she was a lost cause, at least back then. But not anymore. Skye wasn't that person anymore. She wasn't Mary Sue Poots, the orphan from St. Agnes' who was always bad and was a 'lost cause'. Now, she was Skye. And Skye had friends, a best friend. Skye had sisters. Skye had Phil. And Skye had a Mommy. And even though thinking about the baby made her anxious (Skye was pleased she could put a name to the feeling), she knew her Mommy loved her. Skye was fairly sure Mommy didn't think she was a lost cause.
Miss Potts still looked a little concerned, so Skye grinned brightly at her.
"I'm okay, Miss Potts." Skye said. "I can't really tell you why I'm anxious, but it's nothing bad." She grimaced. "Well, it is kinda bad, but not bad bad." Skye attempted to clarify. She decided to cut to the chase. "I'm not being abused. Don't worry."
"I see." Miss Potts just looked confused now. "Are you sure everything is okay? How is it at home? Are you enjoying living with Melinda and Phil."
Skye nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah. It's great. Bobbi and Hunter are staying with us now."
"They are?" Miss Potts asked. She was smiling a little now.
"They got married." Skye grinned. She supposed now that everyone in their family knew, it wasn't really a secret anymore.
Miss Potts nodded. "Oh. They did?" She pushed the fractions worksheet back in front of Skye. "Good for them."
"Yeah." Skye said. "You want to hear what Hunter did when Mommy shouted at him? It was really funny."
"I'm sure that I would love to, Skye, but right now, we're learning about fractions."
Skye huffed. Miss Potts was a really nice teacher, but that was the thing about teachers, they usually thought it was more important to teach than have fun. So, just because Skye liked Miss Potts, she stopped gushing about her family, and made the effort to concentrate on her fractions.
Twenty minutes, and two tantrum near-misses later, Skye had correctly answered twelve of the fifteen questions on her worksheet, and she felt infinitely proud of herself when Miss Potts said she deserved a special sticker for her efforts. She picked the one with a friendly looking spider on, because it looked a little like Charlotte, and stuck it right in the centre of her t-shirt.
Skye grinned, skipping back over to her table with Grant, clutching her worksheet. Grant Ward high-fived her when she sat down and gave her spider sticker an appreciative flick.
Suck it, Sister Margaret. Skye Coulson was not a 'lost cause'.
…
Phil had spent the last couple of hours organizing the paperwork for the series of loans he and Melinda were planning on giving to Bobbi and Hunter. Giving his daughter some money here and there, although sounding simple enough, seemed actually to be a real pain in the neck, literally, because Phil had been sitting weirdly while doing the paperwork.
Melinda had given it the once over, but not really having the expertise in the area, had dragged Tony Stark from her office, into Phil's, and traded his weird Rubix cube for the paperwork. For all that Tony Stark sometimes acted like a child, he was damn good with finances.
"Yeah." Tony said, dropping the files onto Phil's desk. "All in order. All legal."
"Great." Phil smiled. "Thanks, Tony."
"No problem." Stark took his toy back from Mel, and sat next to her on Phil's couch. "So," he said, not looking up from the toy, "how's things going with the kid?"
"Skye's doing well. I've asked Bobbi and Hunter to pick her up from school on their way over." Phil said, smiling at Melinda.
"Great." She said, and propped her feet up on the coffee table.
Phil frowned. "I hope Skye's okay. She was acting weird this morning."
Tony looked up. "Oh?"
Melinda shook her head. "She's fine, Tony. Phil just worries."
"Yeah." Tony said. "Kids can be weird. Well, if it makes you feel any better, Pepper says she's doing really well in school. Nice kid from what she's told me. And Grant, well, he thinks she's awesome." Tony laughed. "Agent Skye and Agent Ward are gonna take the world."
Phil grinned. "I'm just glad she's making friends. I worry about her settling in."
Stark elbowed Melinda. "From what I've heard, you two have more to be worried about, huh?" He smirked at Phil. "What with your oldest getting hitched."
Melinda nodded. "And the dream team getting a dog."
Tony glanced at her. "What?"
The door to Phil's office opened without anyone knocking, and a scruffy looking blonde dog with one eye, bounded into the room, followed by a sheepish Clint. Phil pushed his seat as far back to the wall as he could as the dog sniffed around his ankles. The animal dragged his leash along behind him, doing a turn of the room, before deciding the couch looked far too comfortable to pass up, and jumping up next to Tony.
Phil pulled his desk back, effectively trapping him against the wall, but simultaneously protecting him from the dog he was totally not terrified of.
Melinda rolled her eyes and took her feet off the table. "No dogs on the couch."
The dog gave a little 'ruff' of acknowledgment but refused to move.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you understand me."
It 'ruffed' again.
The billionaire raised an eyebrow at Clint, as Natasha walked through the door.
"Sorry." Clint said. He watched as the dog began licking Tony's hand.
"Who are you apologising to?" Melinda asked.
Clint looked at Nat. She shrugged.
"I'm not sure." He said. "Everyone?" Clint fiddled with his hearing aid. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, Mel. I didn't mean it."
"Me either." Natasha said, stepping forward. She bit her lip. "I'm so sorry."
Melinda stood up, leaving Tony and the dog on the couch, and opening her arms. Natasha rushed forward to hug her without hesitation. Clint appeared to be a little more hesitant, but he joined in the hug, wrapping both arms around Natasha and Melinda.
"I'm so sorry, Mama." Natasha said quietly.
"I know." Melinda kissed her cheek. "I forgive you, Bubba." She smiled at Clint. "And you. You're forgiven."
Clint frowned. "I didn't mean what I said. You're the best Mom ever, Mel."
Melinda gave both kids one more squeeze and let them go. "I love you both very much." She smiled. "Now, how's doggy house hunting going?"
Natasha sat herself down next to Tony and the dog, who had wormed his way onto the billionaire's lap and was happily gnawing on the elaborate Rubix cube toy.
"We tried really hard." Nat said.
"Really hard." Clint agreed, perching on the edge of Phil's desk. "But we can't find anywhere for him."
Phil poked Clint in the back with his pen. "Nowhere?"
"Nowhere." Clint said sadly. "We even called Izzy."
Melinda sat on the arm of the couch and ran her fingers through Natasha's red hair. "We can't keep him, honey."
"I know." Nat said. "I know."
Tony ruffled the fur on either side of the dog's face. "Aww, you kids obviously aren't looking hard enough." He grinned at the dog. "Who wouldn't this little guy? Huh, one-eyed pirate dog? Who wouldn't want you?"
Phil smirked. "You making friends, Stark?"
Tony didn't look away from the dog. "You're a good little pirate puppy, a good little one eyed puppy. Yes. Yes, you are." The dog licked his chin and Stark laughed. "So you agree?"
Phil watched as Natasha began signing to Clint. He picked up 'dog' and 'yes' and something Phil thought might have been 'idiot' but he couldn't be certain. Clint sniggered at something Natasha signed, then nodded.
"Hey, Tony?" Natasha said.
"Hm?" Tony glanced over at her.
Natasha smiled. "You, um, you have a lot of room, right? A big yard and stuff?"
"And you've got a kid now." Clint added. "Does your little boy like dogs?"
Tony chuckled. "Are you trying to convince me to take your dog?"
"Dad won't let us keep him at home." Nat said.
Clint turned on the desk to smirk at Phil. "He's scared of dogs."
Phil scoffed. "I am not."
"Pet him, then." Clint dared. "Go on, pet him."
Phil eyed the dog with what he felt was perfectly adequate caution. Tony may have been letting the animal lick his face, but Phil would prefer to keep that mouth full of teeth as far away from his throat as he could, thank you very much.
"No thank you." Phil said.
"Cause your scared." Clint sang.
"Am not." Phil muttered.
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Are too."
"Am-,"
"Phil." Melinda cut him off. "You're forty-three. Stop."
"Am not scared." He muttered under his breath, and Melinda shot him a look. "Sorry."
"Please, Tony." Natasha was saying when Phil began paying attention again. "Please, he needs a home."
Stark was smiling, letting the dog chew on the toy again. "He is pretty cute."
Clint jumped off the desk. "And he can run around in your huge yard."
Natasha hopped up, too. "And he's really good with kids. Your little boy will love him."
"And he knows how to fetch."
"And how to poop outside." Nat added.
"And how to bark at birds." Clint said.
Tony cocked his head at him.
"Well," Clint shrugged, "he can stop the birds pooping on your cars."
"Listen, guys." Tony said, moving the dog off his lap and standing up. "I'd have to speak with Pepper first, but-,"
"You'll take him?" Natasha bounced from foot to foot.
Stark put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Providing Pepper agrees…and I'm sure she will…" He looked from Natasha to Clint and back again. "I'd be happy to have him."
Nat nearly knocked Tony off his feat when she hugged him, pulling back almost as quickly with a little pink blush dusting her cheeks. Clint smirked at her and she thumped him in the arm.
"Thank you for taking him, Tony." She said, leaning into Clint's side.
"Yeah." Clint added. "Thanks." He slapped his knees and the dog jumped off the couch. "Hear that, buddy? You're gonna live with a millionaire!"
"Billionaire." Tony scoffed. "And you guys can come visit any time." The dog jumped up at Tony, putting his paws on his chest and wagging his tail. "If I'm going to be paying for this mutt's food, shouldn't I at least know his name?"
"Doesn't have one." Clint shrugged, smiling at the happy dog.
Natasha wrapped both arms around Clint. "Clint's been calling him 'Dave'."
Tony grimaced.
"Yeah," Clint sighed, "I didn't think it fitted either.
Phil observed the scene from his desk chair, happy to keep the large expanse of furniture between him and the fluffy demon. "Name or no name, going from being a pound dog on death row to living the life of luxury with Stark in less than two days…I'll tell you what that dog is, it's freaking lucky."
Stark clapped once. "'Lucky' it is."
"Huh?" Phil said dumbly.
"Lucky." Stark said again. "Thanks for the name, Phil. Suits him."
"It really does." Melinda interjected. "He looks like a 'Lucky'."
Clint grinned. "I like it."
"Me too." Nat said. "Lucky. It's nice."
Phil turned to Melinda. "Did I just name that dog?"
She smiled and shrugged.
Tony glanced at his watch, which Phil noted, appeared to have a distinct lack of hands and one too many LCD screens than Phil felt entirely necessary for a watch.
"Listen, kids." Tony said. "School's out in a couple of minutes. Let me call Pepper, get everything sorted, and then you can all come over while we get Lucky here situated in his new house."
"Awesome." Clint grinned. "Party at Stark's."
"No party." Mel said, and Tony and Clint groaned. "It's a school night." She explained.
"Not for us." Clint protested.
Mel rolled her eyes. "But it is for your little sister." She eyed Tony. "And Pepper, and your son."
"Fine." Tony said. "A gathering at my house. A gathering of friends and family that will end at a reasonable time and involve no alcohol."
Clint and Natasha shared equal looks of disappointment.
"I don't know what you two are so sad about." Phil said to the kids. "You wouldn't be getting any of the booze anyway."
"But-," Clint tried.
Phil pointed to him. "One year!" He did the same to Tasha. "Two years!"
Nat stared at him blankly. "What?"
"Legal drinking ages are in place for a reason. I will not have my children breaking any laws. Not today." Phil even put his foot down for emphasis, only to remember his feet were concealed by the dog-repelling desk.
Clint smirked. "So," he dragged out the word, "tomorrow we can break laws?"
"Be quiet, Clinton." Melinda said.
"Hey, Pep." Tony said, holding his phone to his ear. He picked up Lucky's leash and left the room, voice carrying behind him. "You love animals, right, Pepper?" He paused, still walking down the hallway. "Okay, great, well…" Stark's voice faded as Phil's office door closed.
Clint turned to address the room, hands on his hips. "That went shockingly well."
Natasha nodded in agreement.
"If Tony Stark is anything," Phil said, "it's shocking." He left the sanctuary of his desk now that the dog was gone.
"It's okay, now." Nat grinned. "The mean doggy can't get you anymore, Dad."
Phil narrowed his eyes at her and crossed the room to seek out some comfort in the form of his beautiful and sympathetic wife. Melinda held him in her arms and kissed him gently.
"It's okay." Mel said, stroking his cheek. "That scary puppy is all gone."
Phil folded his arms across his chest and glared at the snickering kids. He turned to his wife. "I hate all of you."
She kissed him again. "I'll protect you." Mel stepped in front of him and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting them on her belly. "I love you."
He rested his head on Melinda's shoulder. "I am not scared of dogs."
Tony poked his head around the door. "Pep's all for it." He grinned. "Lucky Stark, welcome to the family." Stark opened the door further for Lucky, and the dog hastily bounded into the room.
Phil yelped and stumbled back onto the couch, almost pulling Mel with him, when the dog tried to jump up at him. Melinda grabbed Lucky's collar and guided him away from her husband.
"Sure, Phil." She smirked. "Totally not scared of dogs."
He pouted. "You were meant to be protecting me."
…
By the time school was over and Miss Potts had led the class outside to the playground, ready to be picked up, it had stopped raining and despite the chilly breeze, the sun was still hot on their backs.
"How come it wasn't like this at recess?" Grant grumbled. "We could have played spies, instead of that stupid card game."
"We can still play tomorrow?" Skye suggested, sitting down on the stone steps outside of the school. "Phil said he'd read me a new Captain America story tonight. We can have the story be our game tomorrow."
Grant Ward smiled and jumped down the steps. He always did things like that: jumped from anything that could be jumped from and climbed anything that could possibly be climbed. It was fun being with Grant Ward because Skye liked doing those things, too.
He aimed his finger gun at the basketball hoop they'd spent much of last week pretending was an evil robot called 'Ultron'.
"We'll get all the bad guys." Agent Ward said. "'Cause we don't let no one get away from us. Huh, Agent Skye?"
She secured her backpack on her back and hopped down the stairs after Ward. "Bad guys don't stand a chance!" She laughed.
Someone whistled loudly near Skye, and she whipped around to aim her 'gun' at them. Hunter grinned back at her, holding up both hands in surrender and dropping to his knees.
"I'm innocent!" He said. "Please, don't shoot, Skye."
"That's Agent Skye to you, sir." Skye told him.
Lance pretended to be scared, doing a funny face that made Skye giggle, even though Agent Skye was trying to be serious.
"Please, Agent Skye." Hunter begged. "I have a wife, and no children. Please don't kill me."
Skye pretended to think about it, stepping close enough to Lance that she could touch his head with her finger gun. "Hmm." She hummed. "Okay, you're innocent." She decided, and wrapped both arms around his neck instead.
Hunter laughed and stood up with Skye hanging on like a monkey. "You judged me wrong, Agent Skye!" He said in a funny accent. "I am zee evil Count Von Bad-Guy." He lifted her onto his hip. "And I am zee greatezt teekle torturer in all of zee world. Prepare to be teekled."
Lance began relentlessly tickling Skye's sides, not even stopping when she squealed. He bent over, tipping her upside down, and Skye saw Agent Ward watching them, laughing.
"Help me, Agent Ward." Skye shouted. "P-please." Tears were streaming down her face, and her stomach was hurting with the belly laughs.
Agent Ward ran over, face serious, even if his shoulders were still shaking with laughter. "Let my Agent go, or suffer the consequences!"
Lance stood up straight, and stopped his ticking to reply. "Oh yeah, you and what army?"
Miss Potts appeared behind Grant, putting her hands on his shoulders. "This army." She said. "Count Von Bad-Guy."
Skye rested her head on Hunter's shoulder, recovering from the tickle attack. He hitched her up on his hip.
"Nice to see you, Pepper." He smiled, crossing the distance to give her a one armed hug, still holding Skye in the other. "Christ, it's been ages."
Miss Potts nodded. "I know. I'm still a little mad you stole Bobbi away to go gallivanting around England. I miss all of us handing out."
"Me too." Hunter said, "If not only for all the free booze I got when I knocked about with Tony."
Miss Potts rolled her eyes and leaned down to kiss the top of Grant's head. "Not boozing so much now." She said. "We're parents now."
"So I heard." He laughed. "Who'd have thought it? This you're kid, then? Hello, mate." He gave Ward a little wave and Grant smiled back.
"Grant's my best friend." Skye said.
"Yeah?" Hunter turned his head to look at her. "You know Bob and I used to hang out with Pepper and Tony all the time a couple of years ago."
"You did?"
"Oh yeah. Back when we used to all work at the gym during the summer."
Grant looked up at Miss Potts. "Tony worked at the gym?"
"Not exactly." Miss Potts said. "But he was there a lot. I worked there. Tony was just there." She looked around the playground. "Where is Bobbi?"
"Around here somewhere." Lance said. "She saw one of her mates form school, or something. Oh," Hunter nodded in the direction of the school gates, "speak of the Hellbeast."
Skye watched as Bobbi jogged across the playground, catching sight of Miss Potts and waving. "Hey, there, teach!" Bobbi called. "You better be teaching my baby sister well."
"Of course I am." Miss Potts said, pulling Bobbi into a hug when she reached her. "Long time, no see. How are you? Married I've heard?"
Bobbi blushed. "So the whole world knows now, do they?"
"Sorry." Skye said. She'd honestly thought it was okay to tell people now.
Hunter kissed her cheeks. "It's alright, kiddo. She's not mad."
"I'm not." Bobbi said, reaching over to hug Skye. "I promise, baby sis."
"Okay."
"You read to go home, honey?" Bobbi asked her, and as Skye was about to reply, Miss Potts' phone began ringing.
She held up a hand. "Sorry, let me just get this." Miss Potts walked over to a more quiet area of the playground to talk on the phone.
"It's Tony." Grant said. "I can tell by her smile."
"That's adorable." Bobbi said.
Hunter nodded at Grant. "This is Agent Ward, Bob."
"My name's Grant." Grant Ward grinned.
Lance continued. "Agent Ward here is Pepper and Tony's foster son. And Skye's BFF."
Bobbi smiled and held out her hand to Grant. He took it and they shook. "It's lovely to meet you, Grant. I'm Bobbi."
"Hello, Bobbi." Grant said.
Skye poked Hunter in the cheek and he turned to her. "How comes you guys are picking me up?" She asked. "Where's Mommy?"
"'Mommy' now is it?" Hunter said.
"Yes."
"Well, Mommy's at work still." Hunter said. "Phil asked us if we could pick you up."
"But she's okay? She's okay, right?"
Hunter frowned. "Of course she is, darlin'."
Bobbi stroked her cheek. "Why wouldn't she be?"
"No reason." Skye said. She could tell from the look on her face, that she wasn't fooling Bobbi, but her big sister gave her a kiss on the forehead and left it at that. Skye was grateful.
Miss Potts returned, putting her phone away and smiling. "Apparently you're all coming over to our house tonight. A gathering, I'm told."
Grant took her hand. "Skye gets to come over?"
"Yes." Miss Potts smiled at him. "Everyone's coming. Bobbi, Hunter, Clint, Nat-,"
"Mom and Dad?" Bobbi asked.
"Yep. The whole crew."
"Brilliant." Hunter said. "What's the occasion?"
Miss Potts hugged Grant. "We've got a surprise for Grant."
Skye watched as Grant began begging his foster mother for more information on his surprise. Frankly, he wasn't the only one who was curious, Skye wanted to know, too.
When they were walking to the car, Hunter turned to Skye. "You're his best mate, what do you think they've got him?"
"Not sure." She said honestly. "I hope it's something awesome…like a bullet resistant shield."
Bobbi shook her head. "We may need to have a discussion with Dad about how much is too much Captain America."
Skye scoffed. "No amount of Cap is too much, Bobbi. Everyone knows that."
Lance tickled Skye's side a little and smirked at his wife. "That's you told. Skye knows best."
Skye nodded. "The man's not wrong."
A/N: Thank for reading, and please do leave a review. I love to hear what you think! Cheers, mates. xx