A Future Boy is the Pasts Problem

Small Problem

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0=change focus to a different character
00=scene change (no matter how big or small)
000=timeskip
F000=this means that we move back to the next avengers time.
P000= No this is not poo. it's moving back to the past.

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Chapter 8: Small Problem

Pym rubbed the biggest bruise on his cheek and looked down at his feet as he swung them back and forth from his place on the couch. The Avengers were in another room, most likely arguing about him, but he wasn't worried about that. He was worried about his friends. Hawkeye's strange behavior, James trying to kill his father in the past and then fighting him, that weird circuitry! What had happened to them? Can it be reversed?
...he hoped it could.
00
"Okay so what are we going to do with him?" Hawkeye asked looking at his team. Tony was suspicious, but intrigued. Cap was seemed unsure. Widow...well he couldn't read her expression right now. Hulk looked like he was actually thinking. Falcon seemed pretty against the kid staying. Finally, Thor was also on the indecisive side.
"I think he should stay with us. He's out of his time and element. If he goes out into the world there's no telling what could happen, to him or the civilians he runs into," Steve said, thinking this through.
"We don't know anything about him though. For all we know that could be what he wants us to do so he can take us down from the inside," Widow said. She didn't trust him. The kid seemed to have a secret and one he didn't want to share.
"I have to agree with Widow on this one," Sam (Falcon) said. "I find it really strange that he could hack Jarvis so easily like that."
"Earlier you were running around with a complete stranger who turned or blew up those robots just by touching them," Hawkeye pointed out the speck in Falcons eye.
"Yeah well at the time I didn't have a choice on whether or not to trust her. Besides her powers came in handy," Falcon defended himself.
"Perhaps the young lad is a hero who fights for great glory back in his home time," Thor said, casting his vote. "It would be a well made decision to have him on our side." Hulk shrugged and glanced at the door.
"I don't like the way he looks," the big green said, blowing out air. Something made him waver in trusting the kid into their home.
"Well I don't see any harm in letting him stay here. Besides if we turn our back on him he may end up joining the wrong side. I for one do not want that to happen," Hawkeye said, now taking his side. This left the vote at a tie and the tie breaker would be... Tony Stark. All eyes turned on the billionaire, who looked at both sides a moment before opening his mouth...
00
"Great, now we have to worry about Pym," Rogue muttered in slight annoyance as he worked to fix his gauntlet.
"Why worry? It's not like the pipsqueak can do anything," Hawk looked up from the arrow he was making. He didn't get why Rogue was so worried about the kid.
"Yeah, Except make James hesitate," Rogue said. He'd experienced it first hand when he had had Pym in the perfect spot to get rid of him. He'd soon found his arm pulling away and shaking as James fought for control. His own loss of temper was probably to blame for James being able to get a foothold like that, even a weak one.
"Oh yeah, cause that's a real problem isn't it?" Hawk said, some monotone sarcasm in his voice.
"Oh shut up. You haven't had to deal with it yet," Rogue snapped at him.
"Yeah and you know why?" Hawk asked rhetorically as he stood up. Rogue looked up at him, awaiting the answer. "Because my host is basically asleep. He doesn't know what's going on. Ever. Because of that he doesn't fight back. Yours on the other hand, is watching this all like a movie from inside a cage with a rusted lock and a void in the back. He can rattle it and even knock the lock off until you shove him back in his place. But mine remains blissfully unaware. Makes things easier." Rogue remained quiet a moment as Hawk turned his back to him to grab another arrowhead. He was pondering the new information. He had a feeling it wasn't as secure as Hawk claimed. Which brought up some questions.
"Hey Hawk, where were you earlier?" He asked. Said person glanced at him.
"What do you mean? You know where I was." Rogue shook his head.
"You were in the city providing cover yeah, but there was a point when I called you on the coms and you didn't answer. What were you doing?"He clarified. A hint of confusion crossed Hawks face, making Rogue smirk.
"What? What are you talking about?" He said, not knowing what he meant.
"When I was in the tower and being shot at by Pym I tried to call you. You didn't answer. What were you doing that prevented you from answering?" Rogue asked with a raised eyebrow. He had a feeling he already knew, despite Hawks bragging a moment ago.
"Well I guess I was too busy with the Avengers and all the robots running around trying to kill any humans they see," The archer replied, allowing a little sarcasm into his voice.
"Yeah but every robot in Ultrons arsenal knows that we're on his side. They wouldn't hurt you. On top of that, the Avengers would be to preoccupied with the chaos in the city to focus on you solely. So what happened?" Rogue pushed. Hawk remained silent however. The red head shook his head. "You don't know do you?" The scowl on Hawks face was all he needed. "I knew it. Maybe that not remembering thing works both ways Francis."
"I swear Rogue if you call me that one more time-"
"You'll what? Kill me? Then Ultron would punish you for killing your partner instead of killing the Avengers. Of course if you don't care about that then you're more than welcome to try," Rogue practically challenged, standing up to seem more intimidating to Hawk. The two locked glares for several minutes, neither wavering.
"You know what, Rogers?" Hawk broke the silence. The use of his last name made Rogue narrow his eyes. "I can't wait for you to fail so I can see Ultron come here and rip you apart," he said, seething anger seeping through his words and body posture. Rogue smirked.
"I thought the programming didn't allow for emotions to come through?" The red head said mockingly. Hawks glare turned even more deadly than before, if that was possible, before he turned around and walked off. The archer needed to get some air. Once he was gone, Rogue looked at his gauntlet. He pushed a few things on the digital screen on the side, pulled up an audio file and hit play.
"You know what, Rogers?...I can't wait for you to fail so I can see Ultron come here and rip you apart," Hawks voice came from the audio file. Rogue smirked. He could use it against Hawk if Ultron did wind up coming here. Perfect.
"I won't be the one he rips apart Francis," the red head said as he saved the file.
00
Back inside Stark Tower, two doors of an empty room whooshed open as Tony Stark lead Pym inside.
"This'll be your room while you're stuck here," Tony said as he looked at the teenager. Pym glanced around the room with a raised eyebrow. He loved how big the room was but...
"Um... I like the size of it.." he said, trying to figure out how to say what he wants to say.
"But..." Tony added to his sentence, trying to help him along to see what he had to say.
"But...where am I gonna sleep?" Pym asked seeing as the room was completely empty. Tony gained a look on his face like 'ooooo'.
"Well we'll get you an air mattress until I can order a better one for you. Sounds good?" He asked. Pym nodded but he really hoped he wasn't gonna be here long enough to need a real one.
"Thanks..." he said and walked in further to look around. Tony watched him a moment before awkwardly leaving the room. He still wasn't completely sure that he'd made the right decision but it was too late to go back on it now. He sighed and started walking to his lab. What was he getting himself into?
F000
Torunn cracked her eyes open, groaning as the burry wall and floor came into focus. She was on the ground? When did that happen? Wasn't she just in the air? She pushed herself up after rolling over onto her stomach and looked around. She was still in the building where they had found Azari... Azari... Wait, Pym and him ran while they fought off the robots! Are they okay?? and... where are the robots? She flew up slightly to get a good look around. Just parts... no active robots.
A groan drew her attention to the corner of the room where she spotted Tony in his black and red armor. She flew over to him and landed at his side. Kneeling down, she inspected his armor for damage.
"Tony...?" She said gently once she was satisfied with his armors condition. She placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly. Tony groaned again before turning his head to look at her, the mask of his suit coming up so she could see his face.
"Torunn? What happened? Where are the others?" He asked as his eyes slowly focused in on her face and his mind worked its way through the fog clouding it. She shook her head.
"I'm not sure. I just woke up myself. Are you alright?" She asked him, hoping her guardian wasn't somehow hurt beneath the armor. He nodded and sat up, glancing around.
"Where did..."
"When I woke up there were only pieces left, no active robots," She explained. A perplexed look crossed Tony's face. His eyebrows nit together in a confused manor. She had seen this look a few times, usually after an argument with one of them where he didn't understand what had just happened.
"But that doesn't..." Tony trailed off. After a moment he stood up, with some help from Torunn, and looked at the room. He blinked a few times as an image passed in his head. He stared a second and then turned to Torunn. She had a similar look on her face. "Regardless of what happened, we should take advantage of this and find Azari and Pym and leave," he said. She nodded but then an idea struck her.
"Tony, that may have been the case when there was a ton of robots here, but now that they're gone, shouldn't we search to see if anyone else is here? Get as many people out as we can?" Tony hesitated. He wanted to help, but at the same time he didn't know if all the robots are gone and he didn't want to risk the kids... not again.
"Maybe..."
"Maybe? Tony that's why we do this, to save lives. What's the point if we only look after our own team and leave anyone else behind?" Torunn urged, pulling at Tony's heart with her words. He sighed and nodded.
"You're right Torunn. While we look for Pym and Azari, we'll get anyone else out that we can," he said. Torunn smiled at him and nodded. They split up to cover more ground. They found a few people there and helped them out. Many were suffering from malnutrition and had scars in various places. It didn't help their worry for the rest of their team. Eventually they started leading the people out towards the exit they'd come in at. That was when they found him.
"Azari!" Torunn exclaimed and knelt by the passed out, injured boy lying on the ground in the middle of the hallway. Tony stopped and the people with them looked on, a few recognizing Azari from when they'd seen glimpses of him in the hall. Tony moved to check on him when another image hit, this one causing considerably more pain than the last one. He remembered... something... he was talking to Pym on the roof, with Azari... he had watched over him while the shrinking boy flew off to do... to do what?...
Another image and his question was answered. He had told Pym to fly to the tower... to find James. That's right! James was in the tower! Or he thought he was... and Francis was outside!
Just as soon as the memories and images came, they went. Tony blinked a moment and realized he was grabbing his head. He slowly let go, becoming aware of the ache settling in behind his eyes. He straightened up and looked around. The people were staring at them, many with confused looks on their faces, some with concern.
"Let's get Azari back to the tower so he can rest," He finally said when he straightened up. Torunn glanced at him in worry before nodding and gently picking up the passed out boy. As they made their way out of the now empty lab, Tony collected his thoughts, attempting to fit together the puzzle pieces of what had happened in his head.
P000
Hawk was walking through the streets of New York, looking like he was wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans. He'd occupied himself for several hours shooting targets at the docks, mostly picturing Rogues face where he was aiming. He didn't understand where that burst of anger came from, as it was against his programming, but it seemed that once he worked it off he was back to functioning normally again. He'll have to work harder to keep that from happening again. If Ultron found out...he shuttered to think what would happen. He adjusted his red glasses, considering getting something to eat since his host does require food. He had his glasses find the nearest location for a quick bite to eat and began following the directions there.
He was casually walking, hands in his pocket, trying to stay as invisible as possible. He neared the dinner rather quickly and felt his stomach growl in response. He detested the feeling, but it was a necessary evil. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as the diner came into view. He narrowed his eyes as he saw that through the window of the diner that the avengers were there. He felt his programming wind up but knew it would not be wise to draw attention to himself with them. Despite his stomachs protests, he decided to keep walking to find food elsewhere. The hair on his neck didn't settle though and he casually glanced back, noticing a man was following him. He looked forward again with a blank stare ahead, calculating the best course of action to take. He could take the man easily, but not in a public place like this. He'd need a more private place, less populated.
"Route to the nearest area that is least populated by people," he mumbled just loud enough for his glasses to pick up and plot a path. Luckily the path lead to an area not far from here, makes it easier and quicker to lose his tail. About a block away from the area, he just started passing an alley he suddenly felt someone grab his arm and pull him into the alley. "Hey!" He shouted as this happened, yanking his arm away the second he was able and taking a stance. He didn't have his bow and arrows with him because they'd look suspicious walking around. He had them stashed in a safe place, but now he'd have to fight hand to hand. He saw that there were three men in the alley wearing strange uniforms Jocasta identified them as aim from the logo on their uniforms. Two men joined the three, blocking his exit. He glanced at each, noting the weapons they each had. 'Shit' he thought, knowing the odds were against him.
"The heck do you creeps want?" he asked, being sure to keep all of them in his line of sight. One smirked, activating his weapon, revealing it to be a type of taser.
"You," He answered and like it was the magic word, they attacked. Hawk side step to avoid being hit by one of the tasers, punching the man in the side and pushing him to knock him off balance. He went to punch another, but that one blocked his punch and attempted to hit him with the taser. He grabbed his wrist and broke it, listening to the man scream. He threw his body into a third assailant, but on his whirl around he wasn't fast enough. A fourth assailant landed a hit with the taser in his mid back. Hawk could feel the electricity travel up his spine. He couldn't help the scream that escaped his lips as the pain flared. Flashes of images went through his mind, quick and painfully memories showed. It felt like an eternity but he knew it wasn't. When it finally stopped though, the relief he felt, despite the disorientation it caused, was a welcome feeling.
He fell forward, dizzy, with a splitting headache and twitching a little. He couldn't focus. He thought he'd heard one of the men say something about a signature being found but he couldn't really tell. Who were these guys and what the hell did they want with him??
He felt two hands grasp each arm and not-so-gently yank him up and a prickled feeling in his neck. He felt like puking from their 'gentle' treatment. He didn't know what was happening exactly, but he didn't like it.
"The heck do you want from me?" He asked, sounding more in pain than he would've liked as he glared up at one of the men.
"You'll find out soon enough," the man he glared at answered. He seemed to be the leader. Francis heard something whiz through the air before he saw it. An arrow that flew right past the leaders head. He glanced at the direction it came from and almost had to do a double take.
"The heck...." he muttered under his breath. Clint Barton stood there, another arrow already in his bow. He looked so much younger than...than when Francis last saw him. What was going on??
"Picking on kids now AIM? Don't you have anything better to do?" Hearing his fathers voice sent a chill up his spine, especially sounding so cocky. When he knew his father, he hadn't gotten to see that side of him often. The weight of the world had been on his shoulders, having to lead the scavengers during Ultrons rule. It was strange to see him so...lighthearted.
"Get the subject out of here," the leader practically growled at the two holding him. And they started to move him. He stumbled, still feeling the affects of the taser but he sure as heck wasn't going to go anywhere without a fight. He started struggling, both physically and against the tasers affects.
"You aren't taking me anywhere!" He got out.
"Kids right," a voice sounding like it's from a speaker floating above him. Francis looked up and saw the knight-Iron man....In a suit of armor he didn't recognize. He fired off a repulser beam at one of the men holding him and Francis was able to use his free hand to deliver a solid right hook to the other assailant. He had to stumble back afterwards into the wall as he didn't have his footing. "You won't be taking him anywhere."
Francis rubbed his head as he slid down the wall, feeling dizzy. He didn't know why that just happened or where he was and it was catching up with him. It didn't help that his vision was swimming a bit. He had to blink a few times to re-orient himself.
"Hey, you okay?" He looked up to see a hand extended out to him. Clint was offering to help him up. He hesitated a moment before taking his hand and getting pulled up. He couldn't stop himself from staring a moment. There was so much he wanted to say but something told him that none of it would make sense.
"Yeah, I'm just a little confused and soar, I think... who were those guys?" He asked, deciding that would be a good first question.
"A.I.M. Advanced Idea Mechanics. They're no joke. Any idea why they'd be after you, kid?" Tony asked, him face plate going up and shocking Francis even more than when he saw his younger father.
"Holy..." he paused, just processing the way Tony looked now. He wasn't the wiser old man with white hair, he was a lot younger. He then realized that he was staring and it was probably creepy at this point. "Um... no, I have no idea why they wanted me." Though he was starting to get an idea based on what he was seeing here.
"There has to be some...reason...you sure you're okay? You look like hell," Clint asked. Francis shook his head and immediately regretted it as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He had to lean against the wall again. Something wasn't right.
"Whoa whoa whoa, easy. Did they get you with something?" Tony asked, placing a hand on Francis' shoulder to steady him. Francis rubbed his head, feeling so much worse.
"I think...they did..." he said slowly, trying to get the words out as black dotted his vision. "Damn it..." he slumped over, forcing the iron avenger to catch him. He could still somewhat hear them, but their voices sounded muddled.
"Shoot, we have to get him to a hospital," Tony said, powering up his jet repulsers.
"Tony wait...." Clint said hurriedly, his voice fading from Francis' ears. "There's something about this kid....." darkness.
0(~Clint~)
Tony was giving him a look as he held the unconscious teenager. Clint could tell that he wasn't sure about this. Truthfully, he wasn't either, but there was something about this kid. He felt it when he helped him up. He knows this kid, someway, somehow... is this how Cap felt at the carnival?
"I can't explain it Tony," He said, scratching his head. "It's like...like I need to keep an eye on him. Like I know him somehow but can't place it." With those words, Tony seemed to realize that that was very similar to what Cap had said. He mulled it over a moment before nodding.
"I trust your instincts. We'll take him to our infirmary, figure out who he is and why A.I.M was so interested in kidnapping him," he said, making Clint let out a breath of relief. With that, they decided that Tony would go back to the tower and Clint would let the other avengers know what happened back at the dinner, possibly get their food to go.
As Clint walked back towards the dinner, his mind was working hard to try to figure out just what was going on. Why had this kid gotten in his head so quickly? Who was he?

~~

So AIM is after Hawk and he was lucky the Avengers intervened. Clint now knows how Steve has been feeling. But what did AIM want with him? What will the Avengers do about their two guests?

We'll see as the mega upload continues!
~January 17, 2021~