"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" groaned Tony as the Avengers Alarm blared in the background.
"Language," chided Steve, already rolling out of bed like the properly trained army boy he was.
"Language yourself, I was actually asleep for once," snapped Tony, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled out of bed.
"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but the alarm seems to be distressing Miss Emmaline," said JARVIS over the still sounding alarm.
Tony and Steve were out of their bedroom and into Emmy's before they even had time to let JARVIS's words sink in. The little girl was not in her bed, as they had expected, but crouched with her stuffed dog in the corner, small hands covering her ears. Her eyes widened at the unexpected entrance of her new fathers but when Tony ordered the lights on, she recognized them and was running before they spotted her hiding place. Emmy launched herself into Steve's legs because Steve was the closest to her from the door.
"Whoa," said Steve, startling at the sudden impact. "Easy there, baby, easy. You're okay. Hey, what's wrong sweetie? Did the alarm scare you?"
"J, cut the alarm in this room," said Tony.
Instantly, the alarm was silent but could still be heard echoing throughout the rest of the Tower. Emmy clung to Steve's white undershirt, sobbing uncontrollably, Steve's arms wrapped around her holding her firmly against his chest.
"Hey, baby, you're okay. I've got you."
Emmy just sobbed harder.
"Do you want Daddy?" asked Steve quietly, at a loss of how to calm the child.
"Steve, I don't know what to do with a crying kid," hissed Tony, panicked, but Emmy was already reaching blindly for Tony and Steve handed her over.
"Hey kiddo," said Tony softly, trying to quell his racing heart as Emmy burrowed into his neck. "That was just the Avengers Alarm. It probably isn't even something important. Let's go find out what's going on, okay?"
Emmy didn't respond but did seem to slow her tears minutely as Tony talked.
"Let's go see what the big deal is," said Tony to Steve with a sigh. "I swear, if it's not aliens, I'm going back to bed. I'm not in the mood to deal with a mad scientist. Even Bruce."
By the time they reached the common living room, everyone else was assembled.
"You can't bring a kid on a mission," said Bruce with a grin when he spotted the finally calm Emmy resting tiredly in Tony's arms.
"There had better be a really good reason for sounding the alarm," said Tony, shooting Bruce a glare. "Clint needs all the beauty sleep he can get and he's not getting it so now I'm going to have to deal with looking at him for the rest of the week."
"Robot scorpion things attacking DC," said Natasha in her succinct, agent manner.
"Nope, not aliens, I'm going back to bed," said Tony, turning to make his way back to his room but Steve's hand on his arm stopping him.
"Sorry," said Steve, truly looking sorry but not sorry enough to let his husband go. "If it's robots, we'll need you. You can take them down a lot faster than we can."
"I'll stay," yawned Clint. "I have zero interest in fighting more robots this week. You guys go, I'll put the kid back to bed."
Tony looked down at the nearly sleeping bundle in his arms, then at the archer, then at Steve.
"Emmy?" said Tony softly. "Emmy, Papa and I have to go to work right now. It'll just be for a few hours but you can't come with us. Do you want to stay with Uncle Clint?"
Emmy blinked sleepily up at Tony, then over at the archer who Tony was pointing at.
"We'll come back," assured Tony. "This is part of our job, we have to leave sometimes but we always come back. Okay?"
Emmy nodded slowly and reached out towards Clint, who blinked in surprise but easily picked her up. Emmy inspected the archer for a moment, then looked back at Tony and Steve. Her purple eyes were heartbreakingly sad but resigned, her expression saying, "I'm not happy about it but go already."
With a quick kiss on the head from her fathers, the Avengers left Clint and Emmy alone in the living room. For two minutes the pair just stood there, looking after where their family had disappeared.
"Well kiddo," said Clint with a sigh. "Want to head back to bed?"
Emmy shook her head and pointed to the couch, her intentions clear; she would not be getting any sleep for a while.
"Okay, that is the first thing we are going to conquer," said Clint, sitting on the couch and setting Emmy down across from him. "I don't care that you don't talk, kid. That's fine, everyone has their quirks, but there is a much more efficient way to communicate without talking that does not include pointing and hoping for the best. Got it?"
Emmy nodded seriously.
"Good," said Clint. "Because I'm mostly deaf without my hearing aids and your dad made me some really awesome ones, by the way. But I use sign language a lot. So that's what you're going to learn, got it?"
Emmy cocked her head to the side but seemed content enough.
"Let's start with the alphabet," said Clint.
Emmy was a fast learner, soaking in everything Clint showed her and repeating it back exactly as she saw it done. By the time she was yawning again and blinking hard, Clint had taught her the entire alphabet and about 35 signs. By that time, Clint was also yawning and asked JARVIS to turn on the television before laying back on the couch. Emmy made herself at home sitting on the archer's chest, not quite ready to give up her fight to stay awake. Clint didn't mind because she may have been four but the girl was tiny.
The rest of the Avengers returned several hours later, tired but freshly showered from their debrief at base, and found Clint fast asleep on the couch and Emmy curled up on his chest, throw blanket carelessly pooled around them.
"They look so cute," whispered Steve.
And they did. Clint had one arm under the pillow grasping what they all knew was a hidden knife, and one arm around Emmy. Emmy was clutching her dog in one hand and Clint's shirt in the other, as if she was afraid he would disappear during the night, which she probably was. Her soft red hair was splayed around the archer's chest like a blanket.
"You think he would ever invite Laura and the kids over?" asked Steve, looking over at Natasha. "He probably misses them when he has to stay here."
"You'd have to ask him," said Natasha with a shrug. "But I think you'll have an easier time convincing him to let you bring Emmy to his farm than his family here."
"Oh, we should go to the farm, Steve!" said Tony excitedly. "I bet Emmy would love it! And there would be other kids for her to play with. She has to be just about Nate's age."
Steve smiled down at Tony and kissed him softly, saying, "I think that's a great idea."
Emmy began to whimper and twitch, a nightmare taking hold of her. Before anyone could do anything, Clint began rubbing Emmy's back and humming softly, his chest rumbling under Emmy's ear. Quickly, the girl quieted and fell into a deeper sleep.
"Seriously guys, I just got her to sleep," whispered Clint, opening one eye to glare at them. "Keep it down."