Annie hated to admit that the fostering process was much more challenging than she thought it would be. They had passed assessment after assessment over the last few months, yet they had been unable to have a child placed with them. Something she knew greatly saddened Clint, but it had also started to affect her. She had known that she had wanted children, she knew that she had wanted to love and care for children in the same way her parents had cared for her. And knowing that this was being challenged by forces out of her control was hard. And as she took more time to dwell on what should have been, she found her mobile phone coming to distract her from the ongoing negative thoughts. 

The message itself had come from Kitty who usually text Annie the most random of things. Kitty had settled down now, something the younger mutant never thought would happen, and often shared the woes of her relationship. Yet this time there was only one word, well a set of numbers more likely. A code their specific generation of X-Men had put into place when they were still in the academy. 

141

A code they rarely used, but she had seen starting to become more common since the events of Sokovia. Since the Avengers had found the project X base hidden inside of the Hydra base, more had been cropping up. Only this time it would be Annie's first return to one since the battle of Sokovia where she had unwillingly stumbled across one. Previously she had not been to one since she had lost her parents. The memories threatening to come crashing back as she tried to quickly box them away trying to focus on the now. On what she needed to do now. She knew she needed to respond rather soon to whether she was coming or not, only to find her phone taken from her hands before she could type out one. She watched as Clint typed out a response before looking up to properly make eye contact with him. She knew he was worried about her returning to proper missions but they had decided it was time for her to do so. 

"I'm not letting you walk back into one of those places for the first time alone." Clint's voice bounced around the room as it came to register in Annie's head. Though she could make sense of what he said she was still struggling to understand. It would appear as though he was making it out that he would also be attending, and she supposed that was so much for a 'retired' superhero.

"I thought you were retired." Annie spoke back raising a single eyebrow at her own words. 

"I retired from everything but this. I told you together or not at all and I meant it." Clint watched as the tears gathered in Annie's eyes, knowing that the words would make her emotional but not this much. 

"You know that was the last proper conversation my parents had before we left that final time. My dad wanted my mum to stay behind, but she refused. Used those exact words on him. It worked." Annie reduced the distance between the pair of them moving to brush her hand against his cheek, the roughness of his stubble dancing across her fingertips. 

"Just like it's going to work for me?" Clint's tone was cheeky as he knew he had won.

"Just like it's going to work for you." 

Three hours later the pair would embark upon the jet which had landed in their garden. The spot they had used with the avengers having becoming a purposeful clearing for such situations. Clint was quick to make his way to the front, knowing that the co-pilot seat would be saved for him after the others had worked out he was also coming along. The mans lack of mutation did not mean he was a waste of space to the team who were more than happy to have someone with his expertise onboard. Annie was quick to take her usual seat smiling as her best friend turned around to smile back at her. 

"Hello Bartons." Kitty attempted to joke expecting Annie to blush at her words, like she had done so many times before over the years, yet Annie could not bring herself to do so. 

"What's up kitty kat."

"You know I hate that." Kitty grumbled before turning back to face the front making an effort to annoy Bobby instead. The man who was usually the team leader looking a bit more annoyed than usual. He had been forced to step aside to allow Wolverine to take over control of the team. Logan was a member that the team all knew, some better than others, and had once been one of their teachers. He was now, someone who only turned up when it looked like everything could go south. So it was never a nice sign to see him upon the jet you were heading out on. 

The base itself was located in an old bunker. And like most of them seemed to, it ventured deep below the earth's surface in a slurry of tiny little corridors. The team would split, knowing that in case of emergency most of them would be able to exit. Annie came to notice that she had yet to stumble across anything which looked like a testing facility pondering just what area of the base she had actually found. It to her seemed like a long corridor of doors. Doors which lead into empty rooms. That was until she thought she had heard the faint sound of crying. 

The crying of a baby. And then Annie was off, her focus now upon the noise. It would have to be the last door at the end of the corridor of which she came across the noise, it being much clearer from outside of the door. She used her telekinesis to throw the door off its hinges, unsure of what she was about to see on the inside but prepared for anything. Only to find what looked like an agent stood there with a baby in their hands. The agent was quick to notice they were no longer alone in the room. They placed the baby down on a table before turning their full attention to Annie.

"Oh dear you've come right on time. I'll get not only to kill this little one but you as well." Annie rolled her eyes at his words, choosing to ignore the heinous crime he was about to commit.

"Yeah yeah sure and then you'll go for world domination right?" Annie didn't like to toot her own horn too much, but the fight seemed to be pretty easy. The man falling rather fast to her own hand to hand combat. Feeling as though the usual way was more meaningful than her using her mutations upon him. Only to watch as he drew his own weapon upon himself. She knew that many of these agents had this clause upon defeat but it would be her first time witnessing it. 

"You'll never reunite that baby with his parents." Were the final words before the gun went off in the room. Annie felt her pulse increase as she turned her attention away from the man and towards the baby. Carefully moving to pick the small infant up who could be no older than a couple of weeks at most. But they were gorgeous. Annie knew she should not be focusing on that in the moment but this baby was adorable and instantly seemed to settle in her arms. 

She moved her way out of the room, checking the final room upon the right before heading backwards just incase she had missed anything. Only to wish she had never done so as she came across the two recently deceased bodies of who she could clearly gather was the babies parents. Therefore, Annie turned on her heel and headed back in the direction of where she had entered the base. She would be the last to return to the jet, noting that there were no other new comers to the jet other than the baby in her arms. Either they had been too late, or this base was barely active, and Annie wasn't sure whether she wanted to know the answer to her question. 

"Ann?" Clint would be the first to approach her, his eyes flickering between her and what she held in her arms. 

"I only found this little one. Was too late for the parents." She mumbled allowing him to approach fully both of them focusing on the baby she still held.

"Holy shit." Clint paused going to say something more before stopping himself. The words no longer there. He went to take the baby from her and Annie was quick to allow him to do so, watching on. Wondering if there was some sort of higher power listening. Because this felt freaky and more unusual than anything else that had ever occurred to Annie during her life. Though she didn't get much choice to say anything more as Bobby started to usher them onto the jet, intending to get back to the school as quickly as they possibly could, especially considering what they had found within the base. Annie wasn't sure what she had expected from Clint in this moment, he could have moved back to the front to the co-pilot seat or he could just take the seat beside her. He had clearly gone for the second option as he seemed to scan the area for something they could safely place the baby inside, but coming up blank. Choosing rather to keep the baby in his arms and not allowing any harsh budging whilst the plane. 

The ride back, like usual, was rather quiet. Annie only really recalled noise on the way back to the school when things had gone horribly bad. Sound on the jet back was never a good sign, usually one of heartbreak. And therefore, when silence surrounded the passengers she allowed her attention to drift to the small baby she had managed to save. The one fate seemed to be pushing in her direction. Yet she didn't find the immediate apprehension she expected to feel in the moment. Perhaps her found family would continue. She wasn't sure, what she was sure was that she could not tear her eyes away from her partner as he looked down at the baby in awe. And as a knowing feeling followed her, she knew that the baby would most likely come home with them that evening. After all, who better to take in a mutant baby found in a torture cult in then an unstable mutant and her ex-circusfolk partner.