While Percy cried on the phone or something to Bruce, begging him to cook dinner again when they returned, Clint took the time to slowly approach the girl. He made sure to keep distance between them and crouch so they were on eye level with each other. He didn't want to startle her and cause more problems for them, especially if she may have been enhanced in any way.

The girl didn't seem to be wary of him very much, instead focused intently on Percy and his Moment™ and how the demigod seemed close to just melting on the floor in sadness. She turned back to Clint, giving him a worried look.

Clint could only shake his head. "Girl, Hell if I know."

Percy turned his head sharply to them, as if able to tell what they were talking about, and he didn't look all that guilty when the girl flinched back in shock. "What are you doing in here?"

"Um, I- I'm sorry?"

The demigod stalked closer, only moving to stand beside Clint and not any closer to her, and gave her an unimpressed look. "What are you doing here in a Nazi hangout?"

"A what?"

The girl seemed genuinely shocked, as if the idea of HYDRA being full of Nazis was a complete surprise to her, and it caused Percy to fully focus on her for the first time that night. He took a few steps towards her, still a respectable distance away. "What's your name?"

She gave him a defiant glare, as if he was challenging her with that question. "Jessica Drew."

The way he hummed in response, though, made her think her answer was wrong.

"Why are you with HYDRA?" Percy tilted his head, face unreadable.

Usually, Clint would join in the conversation to try and relieve the tension but this time he didn't. Percy was actually doing one of the things he was best known for in SHIELD and that was interrogation. He knew the best questions to ask or the most logical methods to use no matter what type of person it was and he could easily make the person think he was on their side. This method, though, was an asshole move because Clint could tell Percy just wanted to get on her nerves while gaining information.

"They said that they were the good guys and that they'd help me find my parents," Jessica answered, though it was provided a bit more hesitantly. When the two men exchanged a look, the black-haired man looking exasperated beyond relief, the twelve year-old began to believe that something was really wrong. "What- What exactly is HYDRA to you?"

Clint took out his phone as Percy walked away to go poke around in some stacks of paper, pulling up a few articles and videos about HYDRA currently and their past. He slid it over to the girl, who picked the device up slowly. He could see the horror filter across her face and he cleared his throat to get her attention before she could go any further.

"Jessica, I think there's been a huge misunderstanding. See, we're part of the Avengers." Clint gestured to himself and Percy, the demigod now sitting on the floor squinting at a large book with several files around him. "I'm Hawkeye and he's Halo. Besides looking for your parents, is there any other reason HYDRA would keep you around?"

Before Jessica could answer, Percy let out a few quiet curses and threw the folder down, standing up. "She's enhanced." He studied the girl once more, returning back to stand next to Clint. "Turns out her DNA was fucked up when she was still in utero by her own pops." He waved a hand at her when she tried to speak. "No, don't worry, it was a complete accident with a magical science laser thing. Things always get fucky with those."

"What did he do to her?" Clint wondered, stooping down to grab his phone when Jessica slid it back to him. The girl was slowly warming up to them, inching her way closer, but he didn't want to do anything to ruin that progress.

Percy sighed so heavily, Jessica felt it in her own bones, and ran a hand down his face. "Barton, meet Spider-Woman. Or, I guess, Spider-Girl."

Jessica crossed her arms, standing up. "I could have told you that."

"Girl, I honestly don't care about anything that you have to say. Just shut up and let us figure out what to do with you so I can go home."

"You're an asshole."

"You're a kid."

She raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I thought we were stating the obvious."

Clint groaned, pushing Percy back a few steps. "Dude, chill. Let's just take her to SHIELD-"

Percy tensed up, looking at his best friend with hard eyes. "No, fuck no. We'll take her to Xavier's or some shit. There's no way I'm letting Nick get his hands on her info."

"What's Xavier's?" Jessica asked, even though she looked like she expected an unclear answer.

Aww, she was catching on.

"It's a school for children with powers to train them and adjust to civilian life," Clint explained before Percy could try any of his usual bullshit. "Charles Xavier, or sometimes known as Professor X, is in charge of the school. He's pretty nice."

"What if I don't like the school?" The brunette challenged, crossing her arms once more.

Percy and Clint shrugged at the same time. "We'll wing it."

Jessica looked unimpressed by them (which was fair). "I feel like this is fairly common with you two."

The son of Poseidon held up a pointer finger before clicking on his calms. "Coulson, leave me the fuck alone. Barton and I stormed the building and shit like you asked. The kid? What kid? No, I didn't kill it. I'm not bringing it in. Because it's a kid."

The spider woman went to say something about being called an "it" but Clint just shook his head with an expression that said to just go with it. 

"Barton is currently indisposed." Percy paused for a second. "I might have killed him. Wait, no, don't hang up-"

Clint, honest-to-God, cackled when his com beeped to show that Coulson was calling him. "What's up?"

"Why doesn't he want to bring the child in?"

"It's a child, sir."

"... Fair enough. Is there any other reason?"

"He thinks the kid may have other connections. We'll handle it and keep you in the know when you need to be."

"We'll talk later at the tower then and you can tell me more. Stay safe."

Clint turned off his com before turning back to the other two, who seemed to be having a staring contest, except both gazes were filled with contempt. "Good news! We don't have to bring her into SHIELD!"

"The bad news?" Jessica wondered, already dreading the answer.

"You're our responsibility now."

"I'm going to die."

"Yeah, probably."

—

The three made it out of the HYDRA hideout without any fuss, Clint and Percy grabbing files and the like as they went. Jessica seemed to prefer standing near Clint, staying as far away from Percy as she could manage. To be fair, Percy was keeping his distance as well, like he was some kind of stray cat.

"So, what am I supposed to call you guys? Just Hawkeye and Halo?" Jessica finally spoke after about fifteen minutes of silence.

"You can call me Clint," The archer offered, smiling at her.

Percy eyed her from where he had his arms submerged in what was probably a large bucket of some highly dangerous liquids. "I'd rather you didn't talk to me at all."

The girl didn't say anything for a second as she wandered closer to the demigod. "What are you doing?"

"Soaking my hands."

"Doesn't that say radioactive on the side?"

Percy actually leaned back to read the label, as if he hadn't before, and Jessica looked understandably alarmed now. "Huh."

"You can call him Jack," Clint offered when the two didn't speak again after a bit. "Short for Jackass."

The son of Poseidon never liked offering his name to children he found during any SHIELD missions. There was always the chance that they may be a demigod and he wanted to lessen the chance of any of the Camps figuring out his current location. Avengers Tower was one thing but he may actually scream if he ran into the Stolls in Monte Carlo again.

Jessica seemed to accept that answer, nodding her head. "Where are we going now?"

"We're going to get you some clothes and then we're gonna eat some tacos and break into Xavier's."

"We never actually break in," Percy assured her after taking his hands out of the (maybe) radioactive liquid. "We always get caught by Logan at the front."

"Wow... You guys suck."

While the two sassed each other about who knows what, Clint made his way over to his pickup truck that he had the foresight to bring along with them. He dumped the files in a cardboard box in the backseat, making sure to close it the best he could so the papers didn't go flying when he inevitably forgot about them when he rolled down the windows. When he looked back at the two, Jessica was poking at the pouches around Percy's waist and Percy was having the good grace not to kill her where she stood. She seemed to get over his attitude quicker than most people, though that may have been because she was curious as to how he still had arms.

"No, I'm not a robot." Percy arched away from her touch, looking as if he'd start hissing at any moment like a startled cat. "Even if I was, what makes you think I would be made of strong enough metal to resist acid?"

"You're pretentious enough, I just assumed. If you're not a robot, how were you not hurt by the stuff in the bucket?"

The son of Poseidon gave her a deadpan look before crawling through the truck window to get into the backseat, never mind that he could have just opened the back door.

Clint just ushered Jessica into the front seat before she could question her sanity for probably the fifth time that day. It wasn't even five in the afternoon yet. "Alright, girl, should we get some clothes and shit or something eat? You hungry?"

"Can we get the stuff now, please?"

"Oo, girl knows manners," Percy commented from the backseat. He was curled up close to the box, knees tucked up to his chest, but he still managed to look high and mighty as he stared at her through the rearview mirror.

Jessica looked close to turning around and slapping the shit out of him.

"Okay, so... Anyone know any good shopping places near here?" Clint tried to prevent any fights from taking place in the truck and it seemed to work as Percy listed off shops he saw when he was pretending to listen to Coulson before the start of the mission. Jessica didn't seem to have any objections to them, mostly because she was messing around with the radio that seemed to be permanently stuck on the Yiddish channel after Percy poked it one day.

The shopping went smoother than Clint thought it would. Jessica and Percy seemed to have a bonding moment as they complained about the lack of pockets in the ladies section and she seemed to take him seriously when he was telling her the pros and cons of two different fabrics. The archer was mostly just trying to find shoes in his size to replace the ones Maurice the Roomba ate by accident in a moment of panic. He just let the other two do whatever they wanted.

Percy and Jessica ended up with four bags between the both of them while Clint ended up with two pairs of shoes and a package of white socks.

All in all, it was a complete success. 

Jessica was smart for a twelve year-old, doing more research on the Avengers to ensure that the people she was with were safe. She also seemed to understand when Percy was upset or if he was just faking, keeping her distance when the man tensed up almost unnoticeably like a spring. She wasn't afraid to snark and poke at him, to ask question after question until Percy looked like he was one second away from opening the truck door, never mind that they were now going fifty on the road. Jessica was a nice girl with a sense of humor that fit Percy and Clint's almost alarmingly well.

"What the heck is wrong with your radio?" Jessica huffed in frustration, turning the left knob all the way to the left. Unfortunately, even changing to many different channels didn't let them leave the Yiddish news station.

"Oh, hang on." Percy leaned forward between the two seats, grabbing the knob and turning it to the right two channels. Almost immediately, modern pop music started playing, barely any static coming through.

The spider woman sighed heavily, shaking her head. "You're like a freaking cryptid or something."

"Thanks, I think. Like Mothman?"

"Sure, yes, like Mothman."

After a bit of discussion, the three decided to just go through a Taco Bell drive-thru instead of going inside somewhere to eat. They were all tired, Jessica from dealing with Percy and the two SHIELD agents from dealing with each other. The spider woman ended up getting a quesadilla while Percy got a five layer burrito. Clint got this weird burrito full of Doritos, ranch, cheese, beans, and something bright pink that made the other two look at it in both fascination and horror. The fact that the people at Taco Bell had the balls to make it was what amazed them the most.

While they were eating, Percy connected his monster-proof tablet to his hotspot and opened YouTube to play funny gameplay videos. During that time, Clint contemplated out loud what it would be like to get everyone to play Among Us or Rainbow Siege. The two SHIELD agents decided that it would be a disaster but Jessica said she'd pay to see it. Percy volunteered her to pitch the idea to everyone else.

Percy huddled by his box at one point when he received a video call and he had to spend over five minutes assuring DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers that he'd be home soon. Just when he was ready to hang up, Hela got ahold of the phone and now he was reassuring his grandchildren that he was just dropping someone off, he wasn't running away just because Steve said he thought he was a 'real swell guy.'

Jessica looked highly interested in the conversation but tried to not intrude to the best of her ability, especially when Percy smiled the way he did to the silver-haired boy on the screen. He seemed genuinely content with talking with the people and it was the most open she had seen the man. His smiles were small, sometimes a little sad, and, for a moment, Jessica wanted to find out who hurt him so much and destroy them where they stood.

Clint quietly explained who the people were to the twelve year-old, telling her how Percy basically adopted them all just because he felt that the world had wronged them for far too long. If the world wouldn't love them, then he'd just love them twice as much.

"He just- All of them?" Jessica didn't even look weirded out, just in awe that someone's heart could be so big and loving despite being so obviously broken. She wondered if her parents acted like that when she was with them or if that man was just someone special. "That's... Wow..."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool." Clint grinned a bit before his face suddenly dropped and he turned to face her. "Don't ever told him I said that. Ever."

A smirk made its way onto Jessica's face and she spoke in a sing-song voice. "Oh, Jack~"

"No!"

Xxxxxxxxxxx

merry christmas! happy holidays!

words: 2,666

song: dreamy night - lilypichu