In Fair New York, Where We Lay Our Scene - Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 3

There was a silence and the Avengers shared looks. The only noise in the room was the doctor's heavy breathing.
"I guess that settles where he's going," Tony said.
Natasha nodded. "We'll have to call in Professor Xavier."
There was another silence as they tried to figure out exactly how they felt about that.
On one hand, Charles was interesting. On the other...he was a telepath.
Tony and Steve were the only ones who weren't completely put off by that fact.
Coulson sighed. "Fury's not going to like this."
They could only nod dumbly.

xxx

Fury didn't like it at all. The idea of a mutant being in a HYDRA zone was worrying to him, especially one that the doctors were calling 'nigh immortal'. He was worried that HYDRA might be experimenting with mutants.
There was also the idea of Xavier in general. He respected Xavier, of course. But he was a telepath, and telepaths were bad for the whole 'spy' business.
Regardless, he contacted the X-Men and discussed the boy, setting up a meeting with Xavier. In the end, they ended up bringing the boy to a pre-chosen area.
Tony had tried to lobby for a meeting at the school, but Xavier and Fury had both agreed that six Avengers walking around Xavier's school would only bring trouble.
Fury had made sure to cast Tony a look at that.
Anyway, they had decided to meet in a restaurant. Tony rented out the entire venue.
After a bit of discussion, it was decided that Tony, Clint and Steve should attend. Fury was sceptical about sending Tony, considering the weapons schematics and technology just lying around in his head, but Tony was insistent. No one else had wanted to go anyway. If it wasn't for the child's attachment to Clint, he wouldn't have gone either. Steve had volunteered to go as well, considering he was the 'team leader', which Tony had laughed at.
They met Xavier and Scott by the counter. "Couldn't have picked something on ground level?" Scott asked them by way of greeting.
Tony shook his head. "It's worth the elevator trip," he promised. "Some of the best food."
Charles ignored them, looking at the boy, who was clinging to Clint's leg. They'd found out that the boy, who had eventually revealed his name was Wade, was very clingy.
The boy jerked, and then relaxed. Though no words were spoken, it was clear they were having a conversation.
"So how have you been?" Tony asked Scott.
The other man shrugged. "Same as always."
"I see you're wearing glasses. The VISOR not cool enough for you?"
Scott smirked. "I see you're wearing plain-clothes. Being a Transformer not fun enough for you?"
Tony grinned back. "Only on week-ends."
"How's Wolverine?" Steve asked, in his serious voice.
The last time the Avengers and the X-Men had teamed up, Logan had been pretty badly hurt, though had insisted he'd be fine in a few days.
"He's fine." Scott's face lit up slightly as he reflected on his lover's behaviour. "Back to drinking and scaring the children."
"He's not that bad," Xavier said, apparently having finished with his telepathy-conversation.
Scott gave him a look. "He made Colossus cry."
Tony and Clint laughed, while Steve looked a bit disapproving.
Charles waved his hand. "I believed someone mentioned something about food?"
Tony grinned and bowed slightly, gesturing to their table in the center of the room. "After you."
Scott shook his head with a grin as the group migrated towards the table.
After they were all seated, a couple of waiters and waitresses surged forward to meet them, obviously having been waiting for their conversation to finish so they could get on with it. After all, Tony had rented out the whole place.
"Would you like to order some drinks?" asked one of the waiters.
After they had ordered some drinks, they began talking. Tony and Steve retold the story of where they had found the boy, while Wade sat silently staring at Charles. Every so often Charles smiled or made some gesture towards the boy, which everyone else took to mean that Xavier was having two conversations. Even doing this, he still asked questions and kept up with the conversation easily with a skill that Tony was jealous of. The servers came back and handed out the drinks, and took their food orders.
Charles began to ask questions about the doctor's report. By the time the food had come they had exhausted all they knew about the boy and where he had been found. The conversation turned to more personal matters, and then into small talk. Xavier and Scott affirmed what Tony had said about the food. By the time they were ready to leave, Scott asked Wade if he'd like to see his bike. Wade cautiously agreed and they disappeared into the elevator. Charles sat up straighter and looked at the other three men.
"He's an interesting boy," Charles told them.
"Tell us something we don't know," Tony said.
"He's got a strong healing factor, but it's less developed than Wolverine's."
Clint made a noise. "He's got us there," he told Tony. "We didn't know that."
Charles seemed to be considering something. "We can't take him," he said finally.
"What?!" The three exclaimed.
Charles paused a moment before he answered. "He's a lot younger than what we normally take in...and he needs... a more personal touch than we usually provide." He frowned. "He's got a dark past, he needs a family to care for him." He looked up. "He isn't HYDRA. He doesn't even know what that is."
"So what, you're ditching him?"
Charles shook his head. "We can't take him in yet. In a few years..." He nodded. "He'll have a place with us. If you can find someone to look after him, that's the best way to go."
"Great," Clint said.
Xavier turned his gaze to him. "He seems fond of you."
Clint squirmed. "Uh..yeah."
"Have you thought of adopting?" Charles continued.
Clint flushed. "What?"
"Just a thought." He looked at Tony. "Thanks for lunch."