Page After Paige

19. Priority One

Chapter 19

Priority One

Paige~

Daddy, Puppy, and I walked on the sidewalk and he told me about how one day he would take me to the circus and show me what all of the acts were. He said that he once walked on a thin rope while everyone watched him. I've only been up high once, and from there everyone looked like ants. His stories were a great distraction but I know something is wrong. Everyone seemed nervous and that meant they would grow gray hairs faster. I didn't want that for them.

"Is something wrong at home?" I asked. Daddy made the same face he made when I asked him about if I would ever have one. I know who my real real daddy is, but Papa was in the car with Mama and Marie so I couldn't ever see him again. "Or do I have to ask mommy about that too?" He sighed.

"Paige I don't know if you could handle it." I took a deep breath which was probably bad for me since it smelled like cars.

"It's okay, you can tell me, I'll even put on my big girl face." He looked into my eyes and bit his lip like he had before and then shook his head.

"I can't, sorry, but I can barely handle it." He confessed heaving another sigh. It was then he smiled as if a lightbulb switched on in his head he carried me into a store on the corner of the street. "Did you know that Mr. Goodbear had a bunch of brothers and sisters? He even had a couple kids." I gasped in excitement. Mr. Goodbear never mentioned the rest of his family much. Only his Aunt Violet.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, tons of them. And they all hang out here." He said as he turned into an isle. I gasped at the variety of teddy bears. And to think, these are all of Mr.Goodbear's relatives. Daddy set me down and I began greeting each of the teddy bears.

Clint~

I. Am. Sooo screwed. I mean the teddy bear relatives were pretty much all I could think of to distract her. It may not seem like that much of a big deal but this kid was very sentimental. I'm almost positive that if we left the store we'd have every single one of these teddy bears to carry with us. At least nows my chance to call for backup.

"So Barton, you told a very young and very sentimental girl that all of the teddy bears in that store are her current teddy bears relatives?" It sounds worse when Rogers says it.

"It was the only thing I could come up with. She keeps asking questions that are making me nervous, what was I supposed to do?!" I exclaimed. I heard clattering in the background and eventually a crash and then a new voice spoke to me.

"Barton I swear if you break that little girls heart I will end you." Natasha threatened. The line went dead and with all the sarcasm I could muster I silently thanked them all for their help. Suddenly, the greatest idea popped into my head. Quickly I texted Tony.

Round everyone up and meet us at the Build-A-Bear workshop closest to my location. This is a priority 1. All Avengers to Build-A-Bear Workshop!!!

Now all I had to do was convince Paige to come with me. "Oh, wait a minute! Walter is that you?" I said talking to the teddy bear nearest to me. "Paige, I am so sorry! This is Mr. Goodbear's family this is Walters family." I said as If I just came to realize I had gotten it all wrong. I saw Paige's grin and knew that I was in the clear. "C'mon! I know where they are!" I took her hand and we left the store with only a few looks being thrown at us.

"Wait a minute, where's Puppy?" She asked as she searched around. Before I could panic I spotted the puppy sniffing the garbage can just outside the store.

"He's right here, no need to panic." I said reassuring...myself. She picked up his forgotten leash and we walked to build a bear workshop where the others were already waiting. Everyone minus Thor. I'd have to ask to confirm my theory but I'm pretty sure he stayed behind keep and eye on Loki.

"Mommy!" Paige squealed as she caught sight of her mother. Nat didn't look nearly as tired as she did earlier. In fact she looked more than awake.

"Well hello there my little princess!" ...Never had I ever expected  to see the day where those words would come out of her mouth....

"Alright, let's head in." Stark said poking his head out of the store. I hadn't noticed that he was already inside... Once we stepped inside, however, there were no other customers and only the staff was present. All of them had big and/or nervous smiles.

"Welcome to Build-A-Bear Workshop!" One of the staff members greeted. From then on we all made teddy bears and  completely ignored the people outside of the shop taking pictures and squealing.

Each of us made our own teddy bear and made our own little message to put inside a bear. Mine was for Paige so my message was for her ears only. When it came to dressing the bears we were all thrilled to know that they had Avenger costumes for the bears. So, naturally, we each put our costumes on our bears. Paige swung for something a little more causal for her bear. In the end everyone had a bear to take home, but this was not the type of chapter where at end of day we all went home and lived happily ever after.

Nooo we were far from that day.

We all went home and forgot about the treacherous accident that happened to Mr. Goodbear. So when Paige went to put her new addition to the family, Molly Stuffman, to bed she was met with a crime scene. The murder of Theodore 'Teddy' Goodbear.

So she screamed... Very, very loudly. But we were all there to comfort her as she cried... And cried and cried and cried. So much for avoiding all of this.

But on the bright side she eventually calmed down especially after she heard the messages that the others had recorded in their bears.

"I never heard yours Daddy." She pointed out to me. I gave her a soft smile. A few jaws dropped at what she had called me but I shook it off.

"Mine is for when you're ready for bed. Then you can listen to my message." I told her. And then I spent the better half of 30 minutes hiding my bear from my curious teammates.

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!!" I shouted getting everyone to stop. "LETS ALL JUST CALM DOWN!"

"INDOOR VOICE!" Paige scolded, being a hypocrite while doing so.

"Why don't we all just watch a movie?" Bruce suggested from his seat in a chair. I guess he'd just been watching us the entire time...

"That's a fantastic idea. Any suggestions?" I agreed.

"LILO AND STITCH!" Paige shouted- once again using her outdoor voice.

"You guys heard the lady. It's movie time! Popcorn and movie candy is our priority one right now people! Move! Move! Move!" After everyone retreated to prepare for the movie I sat down next to Paige and handed her the teddy bear I had fought so much for.

"Here, take him. He's yours." I said with a smile. She thanked me and just before the others came back in she listened to the message...

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