Unicorn
Chapter Seven
Unicorn
“Bruce? Thor?” Steve kicked himself for the question as soon as he asked it. Of course it was them.
“Aye, hello again friends.” Thor greeted walking up to the group of six that had assembled on the patio overlooking the landscape that Thor just destroyed.
“Thor, how many times do I have to tell you about my yard? You are fixing it this time.” Tony chastised; he was pretty happy with himself for maintaining a stern looking expression.
Natasha, Steve, and Sam walked down the stone steps to meet the pair of new arrivals. Rhodes and Tony stayed up on the patio while Charlie remained hidden behind her grandfather. The girl was pressed against him so hard, Tony thought she was trying to merge into him. Watching the reunion of hugs and handshakes below Tony looked behind him, “Charlie, come on, it’s just Thor and Bruce. They are good guys I promise.” All he got in answer was the feeling of a head shaking against his back from the girl. Rolling his eyes at Rhodes for either the shyness or terror of his granddaughter, Tony decided to let the group come to him instead of trying to force Charlie to detach so he could walk.
Seeing Tony was when the reality of Bruce finally being back on earth hit the scientist. After greeting the group that came to him and Thor, he walked up to meet with Tony and Rhodes. “Rhodes, Tony.” He reached and embraced the surprised Tony. The appearance of a child hiding behind the Ironman peeking at him, who bore a more than minor resemblance to his friend, made Bruce question the timeline. “Tony. How long have I been gone?”
It wasn’t a hard calculation for Tony to conduct, he had been worried sick about his friend and had counted the days since his disappearance after the Avengers defeated Ultron. “Over four years Bruce, where the hell have you been?”
In total exhaustion, Bruce answered, “I don’t think you would believe me if I told you.”
“We’ve been bravely vanquishing the enemies of the nine realms.” Thor proudly proclaimed leading the welcoming committee up to where they were. “And who is this fair maiden?” Thor asked referring to Charlie.
Tony reached behind him and pulled Charlie loose. “Come on, be polite and introduce yourself. I’m here, no one will hurt you.” If the last part of Tony’s comment startled Bruce, he didn’t say anything.
Charlie, knowing that she was going to have to say something put on a mask of confidence and stood upright as she let go of her grandfather. “I’m Charlotte Barton, who the hell are you?”
“I taught her that.” Tony said proudly smiling to the group, then disclaimed as he dropped the smile, “Please don’t tell her parents.”
“And I am Thor Odinson, son of Odin.” The tall blonde-haired man said with a bow of his head towards the girl.
Taken aback by the greeting, Bruce quickly recognized the last name. The child was somehow connected to Clint, but he thought Clint’s daughter was named Lila, and a blonde. However, it had been four years, so he could have remembered the girl incorrectly, but he was pretty sure he had never met this Charlotte before. He kneeled to the child and extended his hand. “Hello. I’m Dr. Bruce Banner.”
Charlie reached out to shake his hand. Professor Charles Xavier was a heavy presence on her upbringing, and strongly instilled proper manners in her from an early age. The same manners that Tony, within a year was corrupting by his influence. That and her mother’s job had forced Charlie to introduce herself and shake hands on more than one occasion. Shaking the man’s hand, she noticed that his neck was changing colors. He had green tinted veins slowly running up his neck. Tony had also seen this. “Bruce?” Bruce started to shake his head, as if he was fighting something. “Bruce?” Tony repeated and pulled Charlie away as he sent an alarming look to the group. Bruce wouldn’t let go of her hand, in fact he was trying to keep a hold of the girl.
“Bruce, let go!” Tony shouted. Steve was by his side within nanoseconds, helping him to pry the man’s grip off the child who was starting to panic. The two men were able to remove Charlotte from Bruce’s grasp just in time to see him morph into the Hulk. “Someone get her out of here.” Tony screamed. Natasha was fast on the command, but Tony stopped her. “Not you, I need you for a lullaby.” Natasha halted and looked around for the best avenue to get to the Hulk and conduct a lullaby, the code they used for the soothing technique to calm the beast into yielding back to Bruce. Tony shouted at the Falcon, “Sam, hurry.” Sam didn’t need to be told twice. He ran over and picked up the girl in a fireman’s carry and ran into the compound. Then full gravity of what was happening hit everyone by the Hulk’s actions, he followed them.
“What the hell is going on?” Rhodes shouted in question.
Hitting his chest piece to activate the housing unit for the nanotech particles that would dispense his suit Tony answered as he waited for the suit to form around him, “I have a horrible idea, but it really isn’t the important thing right now. He’s after Charlie!”
Only Tony had any sort of weapon, unaware of Thor’s new-found abilities in the wake of his father’s death. Natasha had a gun concealed in the back of her pants as she always did on any day that ended in a y, but that wasn’t going to help them in the least bit against the Hulk. The only easy solution to the problem right now was for Natasha to get in front of him somehow and attempt a lullaby. She darted around the compound to get access to another door. Hopefully the size of the Hulk in the narrow halls of the compound would slow him down enough for her to be able to cut him off by going through the gym. That was too much of a risk for Tony to gamble on, Natasha being faster than the Hulk. He knew Sam would try to protect Charlie but he wasn’t anything against the green powerhouse. Powering up his repulsors, he lifted off the ground, only to see that Thor was out running Nat. They stood a chance to intervene against the Hulk if Thor got to him and delayed him enough for Natasha to get in there.
Steve and Rhodes had followed the Hulk’s path into the compound. The path of rumble made it easy enough to trail him. Rhodes broke off with Steve to run to the storage room where the War Machine suit was. It had been a long time since he had suited up, but now was as good a time to break the streak as any. Running into the room, Rhodes went to his unit and entered in the code to open the suit’s containment locker. He caught movement in the corner of the room. Looking towards the area he found Sam crouched down covering Charlie. Somehow, Sam had lost the Hulk in the maze of the compound.
Now with the locker open, the War Machine armor moved out and opened up for the user to step in. Knowing that options were limited when, not if, the Hulk found them, Rhodes stepped in and the suit encased him. He would not last long against the creature, but hopefully whatever time he got would be enough for Sam to keep Charlie safe.
The sound of crashing was getting closer to them. Sam moved in tighter around the child as Rhodey took up his position in front of the huddled pair. Between Sam almost physically being on top of her and the War Machine standing in front, Charlie was as hidden and protected as she could be. Right outside the door they heard metal bending, releasing a straining sound until whatever it was had enough and snapped. Hearing that, the frightened eleven-year-old let out part of a scream, the second part was quieted by Sam covering her mouth.
What happened next was the beginning of the end of their ‘hide and seek’ game. A gigantic green fist made impact with the thick steel door. The impression of the impact showing through to their side. Rhodes guessed less then two more of those would cause the door to fall in and they would be face-to-face with the legendary Hulk.
A second punch was thrown at the door as the War Machine powered up to its full capacity. The fight wouldn’t be long, so he could use all of the power now. As predicted, the third punch at the barrier granted the Hulk access. The door flew in, slamming against the far wall before thundering loudly as it fell onto the tiled floor. War Machine took two steps towards the creature, then suddenly the Hulk was gone. Looking to the left he saw Thor and Tony on top of the attacker. They had shown up just in time to remove the Hulk from his goal. Sam stood up holding Charlie against him and moved towards the opening, ready to run to a new location with the child if the two men were unable to stop the threat. Steve and Natasha were running towards the skirmish from opposite directions in the hall.
“Stop friend.” Thor yelled at the green ally straddled underneath him.
Tony had one of the Hulk’s arms pinned down with all the strength he could muster and screamed, “It’s a little girl. It’s Clint’s little girl. You don’t want to hurt her!”
The Hulk’s head turned towards Tony. The lock in eyes made Tony wish he used the bathroom when he first needed to go ten minutes ago but put it off. The beast blinked a few times, if no one knew better, it seemed the green face softened some at Tony’s words. The eyes looked away for the man on his arm and moved to Sam who was holding Charlie, who had a tear stained face. Asking Sam, the Hulk spoke to the entire group for the first time ever, “Little girl hurt?”
Tony answered before anyone else could. “I don’t think so, but I need Banner to look at her and make sure.” It was a lie, he knew Charlie was physically fine. Maybe telling him that the kid could be hurt would be enough for the suddenly concerned Hulk to release to Bruce to check the kid over. “She needs Bruce.”
“The sun is getting real low.” Natasha said walking up to where Thor and Tony still held the Hulk down. She kneeled down next to his head and softly caressed the side of his face. “The sun is getting real low.” She repeated as the men felt the Hulk stop struggling underneath them.
Somewhere between Tony’s request for Banner and Natasha’s actions, the Hulk relented. Slowly, Thor and Tony sank to the floor as the mass they were on top of decreased in size. Leaving a nude Bruce Banner in the middle of them. Thor detached his cape and covered the gradually coming-to man.
~~~
Everyone was sitting in the ruins of the communal room in silence as the compound’s cleaning and maintenance staff worked around them. Bruce was sitting between two of the kitchenette’s stools on the floor drenched in sweat almost rocking from the events that just unfolded. Steve was standing nearby as a precautionary measure with Sam next to him. Tony was sitting in a recliner, beside him on the floor was Charlie sheltered in what he had named ‘the iron bubble’. It was still a prototype, but it was better than nothing at the moment. The sphere was done in the same gold and red color scheme as the Ironman suit, but the front was a shatter-proof clear material, so the occupant could see out and others could see in. Natasha and Rhodes were on the couch. In the other recliner across from Tony was Thor. If the Hulk reemerged, he would have to go through Steve, Sam, and Thor before getting to Charlie.
It hadn’t been all silence since Bruce was able to regain control over his counterpart. Once Bruce was able to communicate, all he could utter was ‘sorry’ repeatedly. Charlie, as soon as Tony had her in his arms was also on repeat, asking for her parents. She demanded someone to call her dad and ask him to hurry up, since she knew Clint was on his way. The demand from the child brought up questions from both Bruce and Thor of the girl’s origins. A quick recap of everything that had happened in the last year was supplied and resulted in Bruce isolating himself under the kitchen island over the Hulk attempting to attack the daughter and granddaughter of his friends.
The silence was disrupted by the sound of running coming at them. Everyone adjusted themselves to be able to look down the hall to see Clint dashing towards the room, jumping over debris as he did so. Finally arriving at the group, Clint had to take a lot in at once. The first thing was Charlie in some kind of a ball, then there was Thor and Bruce’s presences after being God knows where for almost five years. Thor smiled welcomingly at him while Bruce refused to make eye contact. “What…the…hell?” Was all the man could get out while he was catching his breath. Everything was fine until Clint entered the residential area of the compound. Seeing the ruins of what used to be the main hall and knowing his daughter was around was enough to give him a heart attack.
Charlie had her own agent to watch her, Debbie, but she wasn’t as ‘hands on’ as the other agents were with his other children. Professor Xavier had concerns about a government agent being in the school, and Charlie was not endangered within the Xavier school’s walls. The compromise was for Debbie to stay in the car and receive updates throughout the day. The same kind of ‘protection’ was the method used whenever one of the kids was at the compound. The agents either waited in the car or stationed themselves on the floor dedicated to the Department of Mutant Affairs and conducted check ins every once and a while. The destruction upon first inspection seemed to be contained to the residential and training areas of the compound. The areas that were reserved for Avengers’ use only. It was highly possible that no one else in the facility even knew there was an incident. Clint didn’t receive any communication from Debbie, so it was safe to assume the woman didn’t know anything had happened either.
Charlie started to scratch at the ball, trying to get out at the arrival of her father. Tony pressed something on the side of the device. “Just don’t touch Bruce, got it?” He instructed warmly as the front lifted, the child pouncing as soon as she could towards Clint. She practically climbed up him to get him to hold her. Clint stared at Tony looking for an answer to his question. “We had a bit of trouble with introductions.” The man glossed.
Charlie delivered on more of the ‘exacts’ of her grandfather’s claim and filled her dad in. “He,” she started pointing at Bruce, “Turned big and green. He chased me.”
There was a brief moment that Clint thought he may drop Charlie at that revelation. Tightening his arms around his daughter he looked to Bruce. The clearly guilt-ridden man again refused to look his way. “The Hulk attacked my daughter?”
“In simple terms, yes.” Tony replied then tried to explain why. “Something happened when Charlie shook his hand. I think the physical contact is what set him off. When was the last time McCoy ran Charlie’s gamma levels?” The HYDRA Sandbox base housed the experiments they were conducting with Bruce’s ‘Hulk’ serum. The group blowing up their lab with Kate in it was what cause her poisoning. Being pregnant with her daughter at the time, Charlie was also exposed to gamma radiation. The difference between Kate and Charlie was that Charlie had the activated X-gene which protected her from the lasting effects. The girl always tested high in her gamma levels, but not dangerously high like Kate did. Charlie and Kate weren’t the only Bartons affected by the Sandbox, the newest addition would be also. It was a concern that Vee’s levels would mirror his or her sister’s. However, Dr. McCoy would test the infant immediately after birth to find out how much of the mother’s poison reached the child. So far, all test had shown it wasn’t really a concern. Life threatening or not, both Charlie and Vee would need frequent level checks for the rest of their lives due to being exposed to their mother's blood in utero.
“Um, about two months ago.” Clint hesitated to reply, fearful of what path Tony was on. Bruce finally moved his head up to listen in on the conversation once the words ‘gamma levels’ were used in reference to the young girl.
“It was Bruce’s formula that did this to Kate and Charlie.” The grandfather started then realized that information was omitted from the quick ‘recap’ to Thor and Bruce. Quickly turning around, he found Bruce gawking at him. “Bruce, it’s not your fault at all, but it was your serum. I’m thinking the Hulk reacted to the fact that Charlie has the same chemical make up. Probably just took the big guy by surprise.”
“What happened to them?” Bruce asked of the new information as he was standing up.
“I told you that Kate was pregnant when she was ‘separated’ from Clint right?” Banner nodded so Tony continued. Clint looked muddled about the word ‘separated’ being used as an acceptable term for what happened to Kate and himself but didn’t cut in on Tony’s explanation. “Well separated is a very general term for what happened. After the other guy redecorated Harlem, HYDRA got a hold of your serum, there is a very long and depressing story that goes with that one.” Tony took a deep breath, “Don’t get me started on that one, anyway, back to the main story, HYDRA started to experiment with it. Kate worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. at that time and they wanted to stop it. She was sent into their lab to hack a server. It so happened that the lab was housing a very large quantity of your serum right next to the equipment Kate needed to be at to do her work. HYDRA knew Kate was there and they blew up the lab. Fast forward some, and Kate has…gamma radiation poisoning from that. She is on a drug protocol that keeps her alive, but…” Looking to Charlie who was staring at him, Tony stopped his explanation and turned back to Bruce and just shook his head hoping the scientist would understand the gesture, Kate would eventually succumb to the effects.
Bruce was silent. He looked to the floor and took in what Tony had told him. Looking up, he stared at Charlie. “And her?”
“She’s fine Bruce.” Natasha interjected, seeing the guilt in his eyes and hearing it in his voice. “There is a lot more to Charlie then the gamma radiation.” The full account of who and what Charlotte Barton was could wait.
Trying to maintain his breathing for fear of hyperventilating at the revelations, Bruce questioned with eyes still trained on the child in her father’s arms. “But she also has it because of me. A mother and child were hurt due to my serum?”
“No, because of HYDRA.” Clint enforced, knowing that if asked, Charlie would agree with her father’s choice of who to blame for the devastation that befell on her family. He just had an entire parent-teacher meeting devoted to that topic.
“But you can help Bruce.” Stepping closer to Banner, Tony offered him a way to help, a method to make things right in his mind over the guilt. “I would have appreciated it a year ago when I had to help develop a new drug protocol for Kate, but you’re here now.” Turning to look at Clint behind him. “Are you cool with me handing him Kate and Charlie’s medical files?”
“Would have to ask Kate about that one Tony. I don’t have a problem with it. Don’t really see her having one either.” Glancing at Bruce, “In fact I would very much so like your input on her condition. Maybe you can find something that McCoy and Tony couldn’t.”
“McCoy?” Bruce quired because that was the second time now that name had entered the conversation.
Bobbing his head Tony concluded. “There is a lot to catch you up on. Why don’t you take a shower and change? Then we can all sit down, order some lunch, talk about where you and Thor have been. Then we can discuss Kate, Charlie and Vee.”
Another new name for Bruce. “Who’s Vee?”
“The baby that Kate is carrying.” Natasha informed him.
“She’s pregnant?” Bruce questioned to Clint in doubt over what his research told him was the impossible. “With gamma radiation poisoning? How is that possible?” He was still a bit unclear of the ‘Kate and Clint thing’ and what happened to the last wife Bruce had seen Clint with. Nat and Tony both promised to fill Thor and him more in-depth later when Charlie wasn’t there. What he did understand was that Charlie was the product of the current Mr. and Mrs. Barton. Now apparently, she wasn’t the only one because a sibling was on the way.
“I obviously don’t want the details.” Tony reported as he walked over to where Clint was still holding the girl. He put his hands over her ears and loudly whispered to his audience. “But how I understand it, Clint and Kate were attempting to revisit their youth. It had something to do with a date night of skee-ball, greasy pizza and cheap beer.”
The room once again fell into silence, no one really knowing how to follow Stark’s comment. Bruce brought a fist to his mouth and coughed into it. “That’s not what I meant.”
Clint pulled Charlie away from Tony’s hands and moved over to the chair the grandfather was sitting in earlier. “For someone ‘who obviously didn’t want the details’, you know way too much about that night Tony. I have to admit I am concern and a bit scared right now.”
Clint swore that Charlie’s face changed into Kate’s as she chastised him. “You went to the boardwalk without me?”
Clint was in awe of it all. The child was just chased down by the Hulk and she was upset that he and his wife went to the boardwalk for a date night eight months ago? “Honey, mommy and daddy just needed some time to themselves. You got to spend time with Peppy and grandpapa.”
Shaking her head at the absurdity of it all Charlie stated, “Moms and dads shouldn’t do that, it’s wrong.”
Sam couldn’t help himself. “Well if moms and dads didn’t do that, they wouldn’t be mommys and daddys now would they?”
Thor, gravely misreading the environment, happily praised his teammates. “I think it is wonderful that you and Stark have decided to combine your houses. Your descendants will be fearless warriors and great leaders.”
Dryly Clint replied to Thor. “Yeah, cause just like my children, I planned this.”
“What does that mean?” Charlie asked.
Pausing for a second Clint over simplified his meaning. “It means that daddy got a little overzealous and now has to spend the rest of his life paying for it.” Rhodes, Natasha and Sam all laughed at Clint’s reply to his daughter and Thor joined in, not really understanding but going along with the group chuckle.
Tony pointed at the father of his grandchildren. “You sir, are a dirty bird.”
“I think it would be a good idea for us all to take a break.” Steve suggested. There was a child in the room, two if Tony’s maturity age counted. He then addressed Clint. “The window for the Balkans is sixty-eight hours out, we have time. Why don’t we postpone the meeting until tomorrow morning?” Looking to Charlie he told her father, “She needs you. What happened, it was…intense.”
Clint’s conversation with Kate just minutes ago still fresh in his mind, laid a kiss on top if his daughter’s head. After everything that was said this morning, by the Professor, Kate and Charlie herself, the child ran to him for comfort, was sitting with him now for safety and security. How could his daughter doubt his love and commitment to her? That he would want her to be anything but what she was? Turning the girl so he could meet her eyes, eyes identical to his own, “Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
With a shake of the head, she reported, “No, when Dr. Banner turned green, Mr. Sam grabbed me and helped me get away. It was really scary.”
Clint pulled her in for a hug and moved his sight to Wilson. “Thank you Sam.”
“Not a problem. Don’t know how much I could have done if he got to us. But everyone,” he nodded to the rest of the group, “put themselves between us and him. It was a group effort.”
Charlie broke the embrace to gain his attention. “Am I still in trouble.”
Clint surveyed the room. While the child did threaten the human race mere hours ago, the Hulk did just try to kill her within the last hour. How the hell does a parent keep a child on punishment after that? “We have a few things to discuss, but you don’t have to stay here anymore and can go back to school tomorrow. Charlie why didn’t you do something when the Hulk started to chase you?”
“What?” The child asked confused by the question. She understood that she was done stapling Grandpapa’s papers and she was able to go to school tomorrow. However, the rest of what her dad said didn’t make sense.
Clint never really knew what to call what Charlie did. He was even more hesitant to attach labels to things after learning from Kate that referring to Charlie being a mutant as a ‘condition’ was wrong. “With your…um…powers. Why didn’t you make something to stop him?”
“Because you would be mad.” There was a light patronizing intonation in how Charlie said that, like it was the stupidest question she had ever been asked.
Clint wanted to scream, throw something, anything to release the anger and fright he was feeling. Charlotte’s life was in danger and she didn’t do anything because he would be mad at her. He had spent the last year in weekly sessions with her, teaching her how to fight and defend herself. Apparently, the child was smart enough to know that wouldn’t help her against the Hulk, but she did have another powerful weapon in her arsenal, and she decided not to use it because of him. “Oh sweetie. I love you, you know that right?” Charlie nodded her head and Clint questioned if she was placating him, telling him what he wanted to hear. A pain gripped his stomach, does she doubt I love her? “If you are in trouble like that, you stay alive, whatever the means you have to use to achieve that end. You could have been hurt or worse. You have to use every tool in your toolbox.”
If Charlie wasn’t confused before by her father, then she sure as hell was now. At a slow speaking pace, she reminded him, “But you said ‘no’.”
“Like I said we have some things to discuss, and one of them is going to be a revamp of some of the rules.”
“Can we still go to the park and ride my bike around? They have that big hill there.” Clint had to laugh at the excitement the child had about riding her bike down a big hill. Despite the threats, mutant powers, and schoolboy crushes, she was still just a little girl.
“Yeah, sure.” Clint told her with a smile on his face at the innocence of it all. “We just have to go by and get Lila and Nate. I loaded all the bikes into the back of the car before I left the house.”
Seeing that Clint was about to leave, Tony proposed arranging a get-together for later. “I was sort of hoping since Thor and Bruce are back, we could do a dinner thing if that’s doable?”
Sliding Charlie down to stand on the floor, Clint stood up. “I don’t think tonight is in the plans for me. I’m going to take my kids to the park, pick up my boy after practice and go home to eat a dinner cooked by my wife. Then I intend on sleeping until I have to do it all over again tomorrow.”
Remembering that he had postponed the meeting, Steve asked the room. “Nine o’clock alright for everyone tomorrow morning to try this again?”
Everyone nodded in agreement to the meeting time, and Clint asked, “Do you think we will be heading out tomorrow?”
“I think it would be best, but that’s up to you and Natasha." Steve answered. The recon was totally on them, it was their decision on when they thought was the best time to do it.
Clint pulled Tony off to the side and softly conferenced. “You should set something up for tomorrow evening. That way Kate can talk to Bruce. Perhaps after she speaks with him, she will allow him to work with Hank on her case. I wouldn’t mind an expert in the field being around when Vee comes. However, as you know, it’s all contingent on Kate trusting him. Let’s get them together for a meal and hope it works out as intended. Just call her up and invite her to dinner since I am out of town. Spring Bruce on her then.”
Tony thought to himself that every once and a while, Barton had a good idea. “I am in love with that idea.”
“Charlotte.” Bruce called out to request the child’s attention. Clint quickly left Tony to place himself between his child and long-lost friend. In fact, everyone in the room moved to get closer to the young girl. Bruce put both hands up to convey to the group that he wasn’t going to do anything that could provoke what had happened earlier. Returning to the child, Bruce spoke genuinely and apologized, “I’m really sorry about what happened, I didn’t mean to do that. Again, I am so sorry if I scared you.”
The girl seemed to study the man for a long minute before she said anything back to him. “Are you sick like my mom?” Charlie didn’t understand a lot of what the adults were talking about, but she was taking away from the conversation that Dr. Banner was sick like Kate was.
Bruce didn’t have Kate’s medical file. He had to admit he was beyond curious about the woman but would wait until either Clint or Tony gave him the files before he came to a solid conclusion of the similarities of their ‘conditions’. It was best now to be abstract with the child. “I think so, but I can’t be sure until I see your mom’s file.”
“My mom doesn’t turn green, she just gets really sick. Dr. McCoy helps her, he works in his lab and mixes things until it will work for her.” She glanced up to Tony. “Grandpapa too. Maybe they can help you.”
Bruce smiled at the girl’s faith in science. She really was Tony’s. “Maybe they can.”
“Ok, so we are heading out.” Clint reported clapping his hands. “There is just one more thing that has to be sorted before we leave.”
Steve ran through his head the list of things that needed to be done and couldn’t figure out what Clint was referring to. “What’s that?”
“What the hell do I tell Kate about…” Clint bobbed his head towards Bruce. “and,” he pointed at Charlie. “that?”
Natasha, always the practical one simply suggested, “Honestly, if the little one can keep her mouth shut, I wouldn’t say anything.”
Charlie knocked down Nat’s idea by enlightening every one of her inability to remain quite about anything. “I cannot keep my mouth shut. All my teachers say so.”
Biting the inside of his cheek to stop any snicker from escaping his mouth, Clint thought about a suitable response, “It has recently been revealed to me that Charlie is a social butterfly.”
“Isn’t that nice.” Thor commented, not sure what it meant, but it seemed like a good thing for a girl to be a butterfly.
“Not when she gets detention at least three days a week for it.” Clint shot back.
Rhodes stepped up and voice the only real option Clint had in this situation. “Then I would beat Charlie to the punch. Better she hears it from you then,” looking to Charlie still dressed in her ‘prison’ garb, “that”.
“Dad.” Clint felt himself being pulled out of the room by the child. “Let’s go please.”
Clint put his hand up in Charlie’s direction to gesture for her to wait a minute. He understood her haste to go, she was probably still scared and just wanted to leave the compound after what happened. Addressing the team, Clint said his goodbyes. “Let me know if anything changes with the mission. If not, I will see you all here at nine on the dot. Come on Charlie.”
~~~
The rules were simple at the park, stay where you could see Clint. When the children couldn’t see him, they knew that they had gone too far and needed to come back. There were Secret Service agents positioned all around, but the kids had to be within eye sight of their father. Other than that, he allowed the children to have free reign. They had a back yard, a pretty big one for the community they lived in. It was nothing compared to the park located just five minutes east of the compound and a ten-minute drive from their home. There were chess stations for people to play, and Charlie sometimes enjoyed just watching the people play the game. Clint wasn’t a chess player, but Charlie was. She would play with her mother and the Professor. The thought suddenly hit Clint as he watched the girl ride away and he directed Nate to the playground that perhaps he should ask Kate and Steve for some chess lessons, another way to bond with his daughter.
As Charlie had earlier spoken about, there was a big hill that the sidewalk followed right next to the chess area. Perfect for children not experienced yet to take on the bike trails that were all over the park and through the surrounding woods. There were two playgrounds, one for toddlers that was fenced in with soft cushiony material on the ground in case of fall and another for school age children surrounded by mulch. Watching Charlie and Lila ride out in different directions on the path, Clint sat down on the bench and watched Nate run to the swings.
Charlie was just about to take the bend to bike up the hill when she caught in the corner of her eyes in the sun’s reflection, a metallic item falling down the hill. Reversing the petal of the bike to brake, she got off and pick the item up before it rolled onto the pavement and became scratched up. Looking up, she saw an older man looking down at her. Closing her hand around the item that she recognized to be a bishop chess piece, she set down her bike and ran up the hill.
“Thank you very much young lady.” The elderly man in a gray fedora wrapped in a tweed jacket with the collar flipped up to meet the hat’s brim said as he accepted the piece back.
“You’re welcome.” She replied with a smile and set about returning to her bike when the man asked her a question.”
“Do you play?”
Turning back around she nodded. “Yes, with my teacher.”
“Do you win?”
“No, he is really good.” The disappointment was clear in the child’s voice over her inability to win a chess game against Professor Xavier.
The man chuckled at that comment and dropped the retrieved bishop into the cashmere bag that contained the other pieces. “Well then, maybe if you played with your own set,” he supposed as he handed the bag to her, “you would have better luck.”
Declining the offer, Charlie explained, “I can’t take your chess pieces.”
“You aren’t taking them, I am giving them to you.” The man assured her with a warm and friendly smile.
Charlotte had been taught not to accept anything from strangers, but she also had been taught to be polite and respectful, especially towards the elderly. It certainly was a moral dilemma for the young girl. Luckily for her, at that moment Clint and the agents realized that they didn’t have Charlie in their sights. Clint came running up the hill at the vision of his daughter speaking to a stranger.
“Charlotte!” He yelled to get the child’s attention. When Clint reached her, he grabbed his daughter’s upper arm and pulled her towards him. “What are the rules?”
“I’m sorry.” The man interrupted to prevent any reprimand the girl was going to receive due to assisting him. “It was my fault sir. I dropped my chess piece down the hill and this wonderful child was kind enough to help me. The knees aren’t what they used to be and I’m thankful for her for saving them from the potential injury I could have sustained going downhill myself.”
“Dad, he said I could have his set.”
“His set of what?” Clint asked cautiously, changing his eyes from being trained on Charlie to the man in question.
“Sir, again I apologize for any alarm I caused you and …” He looked towards the woman in a black suit that was coming up behind the father. There was another woman watching Lila and a third man still down below at the playground watching Nate. “your people. You have obviously raised a bright, polite and considerate child. Those traits are rare enough in this world, add to that your daughter plays chess, and she is a unicorn among her peers. I wanted to gift her with my chess set for the kindness she showed me today.”
“Dad?”
Sending Charlie a stern glare, Clint refused the gift. “Thank you, but she doesn’t need to take yours. It is a very nice offer however I don’t want her doing the right thing expecting to be rewarded."
“As I said, she is a unicorn.” The man looked to the child then back to her father. “Perhaps this one time?” He again offered the bag, but this time to Clint. “Every player needs their own set and maybe it could be a reminder to her to always do what she believes is right. I have other sets and want to encourage the game for the youth.” The elder then dropped the pleasant intonation from his voice and replaced it with a monotone pitch. “It is more for me than her, makes me feel I did my part for the cause.”
“Dad, it would be so cool to go to school tomorrow with my own pieces to play against the Professor. Please?” She begged Clint. He had told her in the car that she would be with the Professor every other day instead of study hall, and Charlie was ecstatic at the change in schedule.
Clint eyed the man suspiciously. There was something in the last comment that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He quickly weighed the pros versus the cons of the offer. The guy seemed genuine enough, the feeling Clint was experiencing could just be paranoia with recent events. If there was any doubt, Clint could always hand over the set to the agent to check out for him. Releasing a sigh which let Charlie know she had won, Clint nodded towards the man and accepted the bag. “Thank you.”
Charlotte released a short high pitch sound of joy as she took the bag from her father and expressed her gratitude to the man. “Thank you so much!”
“You are very welcomed my dear. Next time I see you, I hope you tell me that you had won against your teacher.” Tilting his hat at Clint, “Sir, you have a blessed day.”
“You do the same. Come Charlie, your brother and sister are probably looking for us by now.” Clint observed taking Charlie by the hand and leading her down the hill back to her bike.
“A unicorn indeed.” Magneto said to himself watching the family regroup at the bottom. He remained for a moment longer before leaving the park, having successfully set in motions the events to complete his task and knowing his message would be received.