A/N: First up let me profusely beg for your forgiveness for taking sooooooooooooooooo long to update this. To be perfectly honest it has been so long since I've last updated that I'm not even sure if any of you will read this. My inspiration came from recently re-watching Ironman 3 and watching Tony and that Harley kid made me think about my little Jared all over again. I couldn't help but write this. On a different note, I liked to think that if I don't update anymore after this chapter then at least this would be a good place to close off... Though if inspiration strikes me again I will post up a chapter. I'd like to also take this opportunity to thank every one of you for reading, reviewing and favouring this story. :)

Jared returned to their level approximately 3 hours later, exactly 45 minutes before lunch time. Ella had been called by his Aunty Natasha of whom he greeted with a quick and simple 'hello' before he hurried off. He didn't stick around long enough to figure out why his Aunty Natasha and Uncle Clint had that serious look on their faces.

Their level was quiet when he stepped from the elevator, well, with the exception of Jarvis greeting him. The AI hardly said much else as he walked to the front door and instructed Jarvis to open the securely locked door. Jarvis complied with letting him know that his parents were there and that they had inquired about his absence earlier. He didn't say anything other than that audible grunt which he was sure Jarvis picked up on.

He pushed the door open and quietly shut it behind him. He stilled when a sound drifted from the kitchen and just like Ella had taught him, he pressed himself up against the wall and kept perfectly still. He walked really slowly, keeping his eyes in the direction of the kitchen as he crept slowly. But a hand touched his shoulder and he turned and found himself staring into his father's eyes.

"Let me guess," his father started calmly in that knowing tone of his, "Ella taught you how to sneak?"

He nodded, unsure of himself to say anything.

"I'm afraid she's going to have to do better than that," his father murmured disapprovingly and then scratched at his beard with one hand as he looked Jared up and down. He squatted to a lower level so that his eyes levelled Jared's and then continued, "You need to keep your legs to the wall, here," he pointed to the leg that was particularly away from the wall, "and here…"

Jared shifted his foot accordingly and glanced back up at his father again.

"And, you need to keep this hand on the wall," his father instructed as he pressed his little hand into the wall, "And the other in a loose fist," his father continued, curling his hand into a fist and positioned it near to his little chest, "so that you not only maintain balance but also recover fast enough when someone takes you by surprize."

"Oh…"

"The idea is to not be caught so you need to also look behind you every so often," his father explained simply, "I had to learn this all the hard way."

"Why?"

His father smiled momentarily before he said, "Because when you work with the world's two best master assassins, you learn by being thrown to the floor."

"Uncle Clint and Aunty Natali-Natasha have thrown you to the floor?" Jared asked quickly, forgetting entirely that he was supposed to be angry at his father.

"Accidentally, yes, but I suppose I deserved it," his father replied.

"What did you do?"

"I tried to sneak up on them," his father told him and smiled slightly.

"Oh…" he nodded and said, "They've never thrown me to the floor when Ella and I sneak up on them."

His father grinned, "That's because they always know when you guys are sneaking around."

"How? Jarvis?"

"Sometimes," his father nodded, "But also they've got good senses. You could almost say they know almost everything that's happening around them within a good radius."

"Is that why they're master assassins?" Jared asked and then started to remember that he was supposed to be angry, "Is that why Aunty Natal-Natasha was so good at lying?"

His father's smile fell and he breathed in deeply before he murmured, "Let me start out by saying that she didn't particularly like doing that to you."

"It wasn't fair," Jared said softly.

"It wasn't easy for all of us, bud," his father said. "Your Uncle Clint argued with your Uncle Fury about it for days, but that was the way it needed to be."

Jared kept silent for a while and even though he was supposed to be angry at his father, he could sort of understand.

"Are we going to live here now?"

"Yes."

"Why now?" Jared asked softly.

"Because you're older," his father started and glanced down the hallway briefly before looking back at him again, "because of our enemies and because your uncle Fury needs me to be closer to the rest of the team."

"But what about mummy and the company?"

"Mummy will work from the tower here and the company will stay where it is in Malibu," his father explained.

"And Uncle Happy?"

"Here with us."

Jared stayed silent for a few moments more as he processed everything his father had just told him. Did this mean that he was going to go to school here in New York from now on? He hoped the other kids were nice. He really didn't want to have a bunch of body guards following him around every day again.

"I'm still mad at you, daddy," Jared said softly after a while, "But not as much anymore."

His father smiled and nodded, "That's good to know. Now what do you say we persuade your mummy to have ice cream for lunch?"

Jared smiled.