shanachie_quill (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shanachie_quill) wrote2013-01-16 11:27 pm
shanachie_quill) wrote2013-01-16 11:27 pm
Entry tags:
FIC A Surprising Rescue
Title: A Surprising Rescue
Characters: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Ariana Barton, James Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Phil Coulson
Fandom: Avengers
Series: Assassin Baby
Written For: whogeek, chrismouse (navmetchick)
Prompt:
Summary: When Ariana is kidnapped, the Avengers get help from a surprising source.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: from the comics—Bucky returning, general for my series, Ariana is now 14
Warnings: minor violence—off-screen, Ariana is always adorable, the Avengers are over-protective
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, Ariana doesn’t even belong to me (she’s totally Clint and Natasha’s), not making any money off this.
Author's Note: Yes I am totally jumping around in the series. I will work on putting them in better order at some point soon. Ariana is now 14. This is essentially my ‘How to Get Bucky’ into the series. Thanks as always to whogeek.
Ten Years After the Attempted Chitauri Invasion
Ariana Barton struggled against the ropes that bound her to the chair. She still couldn’t believe she’d been caught so easily. She knew how to protect herself, how to break just about every hold she was put in, but she was so small, that she had just been overpowered. So far her captors had left her alone since they’d tied her to the chair and put her in this room, which was about the only thing she could be grateful for. They’d searched her pretty thoroughly and found all but one of her knives, although she couldn’t reach it from the position she was currently in.
But she was more pissed than hurt.
Neither of her parents were going to be happy when they figured out what had happened. She just wasn’t sure who they were going to be angrier with; the idiots who had grabbed her or her for allowing herself to be grabbed in the first place. “And they were smart enough to dump my backpack and necklace,” she muttered as she tried to figure out how to contort herself to reach the knife in her boot. “This is just not my day,” she added as she almost tipped her chair over.
Straightening herself back up, she was contemplating just tipping herself over and seeing if she could break the chair when she heard noise outside the door. Bracing herself as the door slammed open, she stared as a body dropped to the floor.
A second later, a man stood silhouetted in the doorway; a gun held in his right hand. Ariana noted it was pointed downwards, although he was scanning the room. When he caught sight of her, he stepped forward, dropping to one knee by her. “Ariana?” he questioned.
“I don’t know you,” she replied.
“Good point,” he replied. “But I know your mom and dad.”
“Yeah? Prove it. Cause I don’t go with anyone,” she told him. “I’m totally going to trust you when I’m tied to a chair and you just broke into the room.”
“Yeah, definitely Clint’s daughter,” he muttered. “Okay. Right. Prove I know them.”
“Better make it fast, soldier boy,” she answered. “They aren’t gonna be stymied for long.”
The man raised an eyebrow at that. “Solider boy? Really? Fine. Your mother is Natasha. She calls you dyetka. Your father, Clint, calls you Button because you punched him in the nose once as in ‘right on the button’. Only your Uncle Coulson is allowed to call you Ari. Should I go on?”
“No. Fine. You’ve met them at least. Wanna untie me now?” Ariana tugged on the ropes that bound her to the chair. “And who are you?”
He straightened up, snapping up a sharp salute. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am. Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes. Anything else you desire, ma’am?”
“I wanna go home,” she told him quietly.
“Yeah,” he answered softly. “We can do that. Hold still for a minute, okay?” He pulled a knife from his boot and swiftly cut her loose, checking her wrists to be sure she wasn’t bleeding. “Can you walk?”
“I can even shoot if you have a spare gun,” she told him.
“I don’t have one small enough for your hands,” he answered, “but we’ll see what we can do.”
She eyed him suspiciously as she stood up. “You aren’t just saying that?”
“Doll, I helped train your mother. I’m not going to underestimate you.”
“Be even better if I had my bow,” she muttered as she followed him to the door.
“Where was it?” James asked as he peered around the doorway.
“With my backpack. But they dumped that. Before we even got here. It’s why Mom and Dad couldn’t track me,” she answered.
“Okay, so not an option,” he told her. “Let’s just get you out of here. Before SHIELD decides I’ve been in here too long.”
“SHIELD sent you to get me?” she questioned, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
James turned around, chivvying her into motion again. “No. SHIELD sent me in to get information from the Hydra cell. When I discovered that they were holding you, I decided I would get you out. Your parents have everyone looking for you. And I owe Natasha.”
“So you work for SHIELD,” Ariana continued as she followed him down the hallway.
“You could say that. In a manner of speaking,” James answered.
“Either you do or you don’t. Well, I guess you could sorta work for them like Unca Tony. Oh, crap. Unca Tony!”
“Doll, you gotta be quieter,” James cautioned.
“No. Unca Tony’s gonna kill me. I lost SERA,” Ariana explained.
James spun around enough that he could see her and watch the corridor ahead of them. “Who? Your cousin or someone? Was there someone else with you when you got grabbed?”
“No. No. My AI.” Ariana held up her wrist, showing that it was bare. “She’s in a bracelet I wear. They ripped any jewelry I was wearing off.” Frowning, she said, “Which means someone knew I have a tracker in a necklace.”
“Which also means someone had way too much information about you,” Bucky pointed out. “Okay. We’re moving faster now. And you need to be quiet. Can you do that?” When she nodded in reply, he asked, “Are you gonna scream if I pick you up? Cause I can probably move faster if I carry you.”
“I can hang on if you put me on your back,” Ariana replied. “Dad and I used to practice when I was a kid.”
“Doll, you’re still a kid.”
Ariana stuck her tongue out in response, but grabbed onto his leather jacket; hauling herself up and into place. Tucking her feet in against his hips, she wiggled around until she was settled against him, her hands holding tight to his jacket. “Okay. Let’s get out of here. I want my mom and dad.”
“Yeah. I can understand that,” James told her. “Keep your head down, okay? Just in case we run into anyone. I think I got rid of most of the people around here, but you don’t need to see that.”
“Dude, my mom is the Black Widow. And my dad is Hawkeye.”
“Not the same. And I’m not explaining to the Chernaya Vdova that I exposed her daughter to that.” He shifted, making sure he could move with her on his back, although she really wasn’t heavier than the rucksack he carried in the war. “Ready?”
“Aye, Sergeant.”
James was surprised they didn’t run into any opposition on the way out, but he’d been pretty thorough on the way in. As he reached street level, the comm Steve had shoved into his ear crackled to life. “Barnes, you still alive?”
“Stark? Where the hell are you?” James replied. “I’ve got information. And a very important package.”
Ariana’s head popped up behind him. “Unca Tony? You’re talking to Unca Tony?”
“Stark is your Unca Tony?” James replied. “Oh that’s just. Priceless.”
“Unca. You’ve got Ariana?” Stark yelped in his ear. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. Tell Widow and the Hawk that she’s safe. Have them rendezvous with Cap and us.”
“Got it,” Tony answered. “Keep our girl safe.”
“Like she was my own,” James responded. “You ever ridden on a bike with your dad?” he asked as he lowered her to the ground so he could check his bike over to make sure no one had messed with it.
“Hold tight, lean into the turns, don’t distract the driver,” Ariana recited.
“Good girl.” James threw a leg over the bike, then held a hand out, helping her onto the back. “Ready?”
Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby
James saw the flame of Natasha’s hair before anything else and slowed the bike, pulling to a stop just before Ariana flung herself off the back, screaming, “Daddy!”
The archer was clearly expecting it because he didn’t stumble as she barreled into him, wrapping his arms around her, and bending his head until he could whisper to her. He held her tightly, whispering to her, before kissing the top of her head, and passing her to Natasha. Turning to James, he said, “I can’t thank you enough, Barnes.”
“I couldn’t leave her there, Barton,” James replied. “It wouldn’t have been right. Besides someone once came for me, I’d like to think he’d see it as repaying that.”
“You know I would, Bucky,” Steve said from where he was watching the reunion of the small family.
“Whoooo?” Ariana demanded, turning from where Natasha was reassuring herself that her daughter was mostly unharmed.
Steve nodded towards James, who’d used the time to dismount from the bike, and draw closer to the Avengers. The blonde rested a hand on Ariana’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “You remember me telling you about my friend, Bucky? This is…”
Ariana’s hand came up to cover her face. “No. You can’t be serious. I was clinging like a limpet to Bucky?!”
“Excuse me?!” Clint demanded.
James’s eyes widened. “That sounded much worse than it was! I carried her out of the warehouse! She was on my back!”
“Like you carry me, Daddy!” Ariana added. “Or Captain. Or Thor. Nothing bad, really! Oh my god. Mom? Can we go home now?” she begged.
Natasha smiled. “I think you’ve had more than enough excitement for today. What happened to SERA?”
“Oh, man! SERA! They ripped her off me. Her self-destruct activated by now. Man, Unca Tony is…”
Clint hurried to wrap his arms around her, including Natasha in his embrace. “Tony isn’t going to care, Button,” he said. “He was as worried as we were when SERA sent out the distress.”
“But still! I need to tell him. And let him know that I didn’t do it on purpose,” Ariana protested.
“I’m sure he knows,” James spoke up from where he stood next to Steve, “but we really should not stick around here.”
“He’s right,” Steve agreed when it looked like Clint was going to protest.
“Fine. Cap, would you take Ariana?” Clint asked as he ran a hand down her hair. “And we’ll see you back at the Tower?”
Ariana gripped his hand, refusing to be pushed away. “I want to ride with you, Daddy!”
Clint and Natasha exchanged looks before Clint nodded. “Okay. Tasha, you want to…”
“I can take her,” Bucky offered.
“No that’s all right,” Natasha replied. “I’ll ride with Cap if he doesn’t mind.”
“Nooo,” Steve said, looking between the two assassins. “It’s not a problem at all.”
“Am I losing my touch?” James asked.
Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby Assassin Baby
Ariana squeezed herself between her parents as they all rode up in the elevator to where Tony and Bruce waited in the penthouse. She drew comfort from their closeness as the elevator carried them swiftly to their destination. As the doors drew open, the two scientists looked up from their tablets almost in unison. “Is she all right?” Bruce asked.
“Some bumps and bruises, but she seems fine other than that,” Clint replied.
“Will you let me decide that?” Bruce asked. “Ariana? Let me look you over?”
“I’m fine, Greenie,” Ariana insisted. “Unca Tony!” She threw her arms around the billionaire as he got close enough. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his chest.
“For what, fledgling?” he asked, tipping her head back so he could look at her while they talked.
“They took SERA and she destroyed herself,” Ariana answered.
“Hey. Hey. I can rebuild SERA. I have backups. You? I cannot rebuild you. Or replace you. So let them take her. We’ll rebuild her better than ever,” Tony assured her.
“You can start now, Stark, but Bruce is going to look Ariana over and then she is going to eat something and rest,” Clint commented. “She’s had a rough day.”
“When did you become such a Debbie Downer, Barton?” Tony questioned, even as he released Ariana to allow Bruce room to step closer.
“When I got a teenage daughter,” Clint retorted. “Is she okay, Bruce?”
“She seems fine, Clint. I would definitely recommend rest and food. And you’ll let me look at you again tomorrow, Ariana, just to be sure?” Bruce asked.
Ariana leaned her head on his shoulder for a minute. “Sure, Greenie.”
“If she’s good then, we’re gonna take her downstairs and feed her,” Natasha broke in. “Come on, Ariana.”
“Sure, Mom.” Ariana let go of Bruce, going around the room to each of the Avengers and Coulson (who had slipped quietly into the penthouse while they were talking) and hugging them, murmuring her thanks.
Clint and Natasha added their thanks; Natasha pausing for a few words in Russian to James, before Clint started chivying Ariana towards the elevator, teasing her, “No one is going anywhere right now. And if they do, I’m sure JARVIS will tell you.”
Just as the door opened, Ariana broke away and darted back to James, hugging him tightly to his surprise. “Thank you,” she told him. “I know you didn’t have to.”
Chernaya Vdova--Black Widow
Characters: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Ariana Barton, James Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Phil Coulson
Fandom: Avengers
Series: Assassin Baby
Written For: whogeek, chrismouse (navmetchick)
Prompt:
Summary: When Ariana is kidnapped, the Avengers get help from a surprising source.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: from the comics—Bucky returning, general for my series, Ariana is now 14
Warnings: minor violence—off-screen, Ariana is always adorable, the Avengers are over-protective
Disclaimer: No one recognizable belongs to me, Ariana doesn’t even belong to me (she’s totally Clint and Natasha’s), not making any money off this.
Author's Note: Yes I am totally jumping around in the series. I will work on putting them in better order at some point soon. Ariana is now 14. This is essentially my ‘How to Get Bucky’ into the series. Thanks as always to whogeek.
Ten Years After the Attempted Chitauri Invasion
Ariana Barton struggled against the ropes that bound her to the chair. She still couldn’t believe she’d been caught so easily. She knew how to protect herself, how to break just about every hold she was put in, but she was so small, that she had just been overpowered. So far her captors had left her alone since they’d tied her to the chair and put her in this room, which was about the only thing she could be grateful for. They’d searched her pretty thoroughly and found all but one of her knives, although she couldn’t reach it from the position she was currently in.
But she was more pissed than hurt.
Neither of her parents were going to be happy when they figured out what had happened. She just wasn’t sure who they were going to be angrier with; the idiots who had grabbed her or her for allowing herself to be grabbed in the first place. “And they were smart enough to dump my backpack and necklace,” she muttered as she tried to figure out how to contort herself to reach the knife in her boot. “This is just not my day,” she added as she almost tipped her chair over.
Straightening herself back up, she was contemplating just tipping herself over and seeing if she could break the chair when she heard noise outside the door. Bracing herself as the door slammed open, she stared as a body dropped to the floor.
A second later, a man stood silhouetted in the doorway; a gun held in his right hand. Ariana noted it was pointed downwards, although he was scanning the room. When he caught sight of her, he stepped forward, dropping to one knee by her. “Ariana?” he questioned.
“I don’t know you,” she replied.
“Good point,” he replied. “But I know your mom and dad.”
“Yeah? Prove it. Cause I don’t go with anyone,” she told him. “I’m totally going to trust you when I’m tied to a chair and you just broke into the room.”
“Yeah, definitely Clint’s daughter,” he muttered. “Okay. Right. Prove I know them.”
“Better make it fast, soldier boy,” she answered. “They aren’t gonna be stymied for long.”
The man raised an eyebrow at that. “Solider boy? Really? Fine. Your mother is Natasha. She calls you dyetka. Your father, Clint, calls you Button because you punched him in the nose once as in ‘right on the button’. Only your Uncle Coulson is allowed to call you Ari. Should I go on?”
“No. Fine. You’ve met them at least. Wanna untie me now?” Ariana tugged on the ropes that bound her to the chair. “And who are you?”
He straightened up, snapping up a sharp salute. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am. Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes. Anything else you desire, ma’am?”
“I wanna go home,” she told him quietly.
“Yeah,” he answered softly. “We can do that. Hold still for a minute, okay?” He pulled a knife from his boot and swiftly cut her loose, checking her wrists to be sure she wasn’t bleeding. “Can you walk?”
“I can even shoot if you have a spare gun,” she told him.
“I don’t have one small enough for your hands,” he answered, “but we’ll see what we can do.”
She eyed him suspiciously as she stood up. “You aren’t just saying that?”
“Doll, I helped train your mother. I’m not going to underestimate you.”
“Be even better if I had my bow,” she muttered as she followed him to the door.
“Where was it?” James asked as he peered around the doorway.
“With my backpack. But they dumped that. Before we even got here. It’s why Mom and Dad couldn’t track me,” she answered.
“Okay, so not an option,” he told her. “Let’s just get you out of here. Before SHIELD decides I’ve been in here too long.”
“SHIELD sent you to get me?” she questioned, stopping in the middle of the hallway.
James turned around, chivvying her into motion again. “No. SHIELD sent me in to get information from the Hydra cell. When I discovered that they were holding you, I decided I would get you out. Your parents have everyone looking for you. And I owe Natasha.”
“So you work for SHIELD,” Ariana continued as she followed him down the hallway.
“You could say that. In a manner of speaking,” James answered.
“Either you do or you don’t. Well, I guess you could sorta work for them like Unca Tony. Oh, crap. Unca Tony!”
“Doll, you gotta be quieter,” James cautioned.
“No. Unca Tony’s gonna kill me. I lost SERA,” Ariana explained.
James spun around enough that he could see her and watch the corridor ahead of them. “Who? Your cousin or someone? Was there someone else with you when you got grabbed?”
“No. No. My AI.” Ariana held up her wrist, showing that it was bare. “She’s in a bracelet I wear. They ripped any jewelry I was wearing off.” Frowning, she said, “Which means someone knew I have a tracker in a necklace.”
“Which also means someone had way too much information about you,” Bucky pointed out. “Okay. We’re moving faster now. And you need to be quiet. Can you do that?” When she nodded in reply, he asked, “Are you gonna scream if I pick you up? Cause I can probably move faster if I carry you.”
“I can hang on if you put me on your back,” Ariana replied. “Dad and I used to practice when I was a kid.”
“Doll, you’re still a kid.”
Ariana stuck her tongue out in response, but grabbed onto his leather jacket; hauling herself up and into place. Tucking her feet in against his hips, she wiggled around until she was settled against him, her hands holding tight to his jacket. “Okay. Let’s get out of here. I want my mom and dad.”
“Yeah. I can understand that,” James told her. “Keep your head down, okay? Just in case we run into anyone. I think I got rid of most of the people around here, but you don’t need to see that.”
“Dude, my mom is the Black Widow. And my dad is Hawkeye.”
“Not the same. And I’m not explaining to the Chernaya Vdova that I exposed her daughter to that.” He shifted, making sure he could move with her on his back, although she really wasn’t heavier than the rucksack he carried in the war. “Ready?”
“Aye, Sergeant.”
James was surprised they didn’t run into any opposition on the way out, but he’d been pretty thorough on the way in. As he reached street level, the comm Steve had shoved into his ear crackled to life. “Barnes, you still alive?”
“Stark? Where the hell are you?” James replied. “I’ve got information. And a very important package.”
Ariana’s head popped up behind him. “Unca Tony? You’re talking to Unca Tony?”
“Stark is your Unca Tony?” James replied. “Oh that’s just. Priceless.”
“Unca. You’ve got Ariana?” Stark yelped in his ear. “Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. Tell Widow and the Hawk that she’s safe. Have them rendezvous with Cap and us.”
“Got it,” Tony answered. “Keep our girl safe.”
“Like she was my own,” James responded. “You ever ridden on a bike with your dad?” he asked as he lowered her to the ground so he could check his bike over to make sure no one had messed with it.
“Hold tight, lean into the turns, don’t distract the driver,” Ariana recited.
“Good girl.” James threw a leg over the bike, then held a hand out, helping her onto the back. “Ready?”
James saw the flame of Natasha’s hair before anything else and slowed the bike, pulling to a stop just before Ariana flung herself off the back, screaming, “Daddy!”
The archer was clearly expecting it because he didn’t stumble as she barreled into him, wrapping his arms around her, and bending his head until he could whisper to her. He held her tightly, whispering to her, before kissing the top of her head, and passing her to Natasha. Turning to James, he said, “I can’t thank you enough, Barnes.”
“I couldn’t leave her there, Barton,” James replied. “It wouldn’t have been right. Besides someone once came for me, I’d like to think he’d see it as repaying that.”
“You know I would, Bucky,” Steve said from where he was watching the reunion of the small family.
“Whoooo?” Ariana demanded, turning from where Natasha was reassuring herself that her daughter was mostly unharmed.
Steve nodded towards James, who’d used the time to dismount from the bike, and draw closer to the Avengers. The blonde rested a hand on Ariana’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “You remember me telling you about my friend, Bucky? This is…”
Ariana’s hand came up to cover her face. “No. You can’t be serious. I was clinging like a limpet to Bucky?!”
“Excuse me?!” Clint demanded.
James’s eyes widened. “That sounded much worse than it was! I carried her out of the warehouse! She was on my back!”
“Like you carry me, Daddy!” Ariana added. “Or Captain. Or Thor. Nothing bad, really! Oh my god. Mom? Can we go home now?” she begged.
Natasha smiled. “I think you’ve had more than enough excitement for today. What happened to SERA?”
“Oh, man! SERA! They ripped her off me. Her self-destruct activated by now. Man, Unca Tony is…”
Clint hurried to wrap his arms around her, including Natasha in his embrace. “Tony isn’t going to care, Button,” he said. “He was as worried as we were when SERA sent out the distress.”
“But still! I need to tell him. And let him know that I didn’t do it on purpose,” Ariana protested.
“I’m sure he knows,” James spoke up from where he stood next to Steve, “but we really should not stick around here.”
“He’s right,” Steve agreed when it looked like Clint was going to protest.
“Fine. Cap, would you take Ariana?” Clint asked as he ran a hand down her hair. “And we’ll see you back at the Tower?”
Ariana gripped his hand, refusing to be pushed away. “I want to ride with you, Daddy!”
Clint and Natasha exchanged looks before Clint nodded. “Okay. Tasha, you want to…”
“I can take her,” Bucky offered.
“No that’s all right,” Natasha replied. “I’ll ride with Cap if he doesn’t mind.”
“Nooo,” Steve said, looking between the two assassins. “It’s not a problem at all.”
“Am I losing my touch?” James asked.
Ariana squeezed herself between her parents as they all rode up in the elevator to where Tony and Bruce waited in the penthouse. She drew comfort from their closeness as the elevator carried them swiftly to their destination. As the doors drew open, the two scientists looked up from their tablets almost in unison. “Is she all right?” Bruce asked.
“Some bumps and bruises, but she seems fine other than that,” Clint replied.
“Will you let me decide that?” Bruce asked. “Ariana? Let me look you over?”
“I’m fine, Greenie,” Ariana insisted. “Unca Tony!” She threw her arms around the billionaire as he got close enough. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his chest.
“For what, fledgling?” he asked, tipping her head back so he could look at her while they talked.
“They took SERA and she destroyed herself,” Ariana answered.
“Hey. Hey. I can rebuild SERA. I have backups. You? I cannot rebuild you. Or replace you. So let them take her. We’ll rebuild her better than ever,” Tony assured her.
“You can start now, Stark, but Bruce is going to look Ariana over and then she is going to eat something and rest,” Clint commented. “She’s had a rough day.”
“When did you become such a Debbie Downer, Barton?” Tony questioned, even as he released Ariana to allow Bruce room to step closer.
“When I got a teenage daughter,” Clint retorted. “Is she okay, Bruce?”
“She seems fine, Clint. I would definitely recommend rest and food. And you’ll let me look at you again tomorrow, Ariana, just to be sure?” Bruce asked.
Ariana leaned her head on his shoulder for a minute. “Sure, Greenie.”
“If she’s good then, we’re gonna take her downstairs and feed her,” Natasha broke in. “Come on, Ariana.”
“Sure, Mom.” Ariana let go of Bruce, going around the room to each of the Avengers and Coulson (who had slipped quietly into the penthouse while they were talking) and hugging them, murmuring her thanks.
Clint and Natasha added their thanks; Natasha pausing for a few words in Russian to James, before Clint started chivying Ariana towards the elevator, teasing her, “No one is going anywhere right now. And if they do, I’m sure JARVIS will tell you.”
Just as the door opened, Ariana broke away and darted back to James, hugging him tightly to his surprise. “Thank you,” she told him. “I know you didn’t have to.”
Chernaya Vdova--Black Widow