Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, just playing with them.

Note: I should be working on my other story but I'm stuck on that and then I found this story I had started a while back and decided to publish it. I liked reading some baby/de-aged-Clint fic and I thought I would try one. This is my first Avengers fic, Avengers friend fic, protective!Bruce/Hulk, de-aged!Hawkeye. All mistakes are my own. This story is set some time after the first Avengers movie but definitely before the second one. I do so hope you enjoy the story!

"Hawkeye!"

Came the panicked shout from Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man; as a strange gas engulfed Clint's body. As Tony moved; taking out what was left of the crazy scientists and henchmen that had attacked Clint, he recalled how this day had started out so nicely. But, of course, an Avenger's day is never easy for long.

Only Clint and him had been in the Tower when they got the call of trouble. Pepper was on a business trip, Natasha was on a long-term mission, and Thor in Asgard. While Steve and Bruce had been called to the Hellicarrier earlier in the day to look over some stuff and would be back shortly. As it was only some crazy scientist and their heavy-handed henchmen, Clint and Tony figured they could handle it. Iron Man truly hoped they weren't just proved wrong; he dreaded facing the Widow's wrath and possibly the Hulks' should anything happen to Hawkeye.

Tony cautiously approached Clint as the gas started clearing away. Tony dreaded finding Clint dead or dying, as he had no clue was this gas could do. So he was surprised and slightly alarmed when instead of seeing Clint he saw a baby, swamped in Clint's clothing. Tony, bewildered, carefully picked the baby up; wrapping Clint's shirt around it. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Tony had known the baby was Clint. It really clicked when he saw the baby looked so much like Hawkeye, with pale blond hair and skin yet unmarred by the sun. What really let him know it was Clint was the baby's beautiful tri-colored eyes that were the same as Hawkeyes'.

Tony was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard baby Clint speaking, surprisingly maturely,

"Tony what the hell happened and why am I so small?" looking up at Iron Man, from staring at his own small hands, he demanded, "Put me down!"

Tony, shaking off his surprise rather quickly, threw a devious grin at baby Clint and, ignoring his question and demand, carried/flew him all the way back to the tower in his Iron Man suit and all.

Tony, with Clint sleeping in his arms, was greeted by Bruce and Steve as he reached home. Rogers and Banner had come back some time during the earlier trouble. They both noticed that Hawkeye was not back with Tony and though it wasn't like Clint had to be with Tony 24/7, it was still odd. Then, of course, the other odd factor being that Stark was holding a strange baby and that most likely wasn't his. Putting them at slight unease; they were both gaping at the strange spectacle with a loss for words, after a moment Steve collects himself enough to ask,

"What happened, where is Hawkeye? And what is with the baby, please tell me you didn't find out you are a father to the child?"

Tony gave him a mock wounded look, "Really Steve, womanizer I may be; however, I would know if I had a kid. I'm not even that fond of kids. But no, it's odder, take a closer look."

Both Steve and Bruce moved closer and got a good look at the sleeping baby. They couldn't see his eyes but the kid did look familiar. Both weren't too sure what to think; Bruce confusedly, brought up

"He kind of reminds me of what Clint would look like as a kid..."

He trailed off as the light-bulb went off in his head.

"No way, it couldn't be...Clint's kid!? Where is Clint?"

Okay, maybe not the right light-bulb.

Of course, Tony couldn't really expect them to figure it out as he had not given any details of what went down earlier. So before they could come to anymore weird assumptions and since he wanted Bruce to check up on baby Clint soon. Along with the fact that Banner was starting to turn a little green when not hearing an answer to Hawkeye's whereabouts also added to Tony's decision to end this guessing game. Tony explained all the details of what happened in their earlier fight.

After he finished talking he barely gave them time for the information to sink in before asking Bruce to examine Clint, who was still asleep, and make sure everything was alright. Shaking off the shock at the unexpected news; Bruce nodded in agreement to Tony's question and carefully took Clint from Tony and to the lab.

While Bruce was in the lab, Tony and Steve were in the communal kitchen. Steve making coffee while Tony was sitting at the island. There was silence for a while until the coffee was finished and poured and both were sitting at the island with cups in hand. Tony brought up a question that had been on his mind.

"You know it is odd, Clint was awake when I first got to him but then fell asleep not too long after I headed back to the tower. He wouldn't usually be asleep this long, I wonder if he is alright?"

"I'm sure he will be fine."

Steve's reply was not as assuring as he meant for it to be.

"Also why do you think his mind didn't go back in time with his body?"

Stark questioned more to himself than looking for an answer from Steve. Steve was about to try to answer till he realized that Tony was thinking out loud. However, Steve did point out:

"Bruce will probably know the answers to those questions, hopefully."

Silence fell once again, both males lost in thought about their friend and how he was turned into a kid. After a few moments, Steve pulled out an old cell phone and started messing with it. Curiosity got the better of Tony and he peered over Steve's shoulder to get a look at his phone's screen. Tony asked,

"Are you trying to catch up in the technology world there, Capsicle?"

"Yeah."

Grunted Steve, not bothering to look from his phone.

"I could help you with that you know."

"No thanks, I got this,"

Steve was too prideful to accept Tony's help and mostly did not want Tony's help because Tony was a pain in the ass.

Tony sigh, "But I could teach you so much faster."

Before Steve could bother with denial; Tony made a quick lunge for the phone. Steve saw him coming in time to keep hold of the phone. He tried to push Tony off without using too much strength. Somehow Tony managed to hold on and this led to an impromptu wrestling match.

The scene that Bruce, holding an awake (if slightly grumpy) Clint, walk in on would be comical if it wasn't two grown men who should know better; his teammates no less. If Clint had not been in his arms Bruce would have face-palmed at his teammates antics; as it was he just let out a loud, aggravated sigh.

Upon hearing that both wrestling members stopped. Steve was lying on his back, legs brought up defensively, with the phone held tightly out of the other's reach. Tony was nearly balancing on Steve's legs, trying to reach for the phone in the other's hand. Still frozen in that position both looked towards Banner; one with a slightly sheepish look, the other with a smirking grin.

Bruce glared at them, while Clint was giggling silently,

"You know I could have sworn it was Clint who was turned into a kid, no one else. Did I miss something else or did you guys turn back to children mentally on your own?"

Demanded Bruce, sarcastically.

At the commanding tone, both culprits sprang to their feet and away from each other. Steve looked about to defend himself when Tony (who could care less to explain himself) nearly jumped towards Clint in his excitement. Tony moved to snatch baby Hawkeye from Banner; however, he quickly noticed Bruce's green skin and backed off. Bruce managed to calm down as he really did not want to Hulk out with Clint in his arms. He had felt a need to protect Clint with the state he was in now, and the way Tony moved towards them made him on edge, bringing Hulk close to the surface.

Clint, for his part, was rather calm when watching it all play out; he trusted Banner to keep calm and he didn't exactly want Tony to grab him. Once the excitement settled down, Tony and Steve stared at Bruce waiting on answers.

Bruce explained that Clint was health for a baby is age and that his age was just at three years. He could walk some but it was still shaky. When Tony asked about if it was normal for a baby that age to sleep a lot, the answer was yes. Bruce asked if they had any more questions.

"Why didn't his mind go back in time with his body?"

"Well, on that I don't have an exact answer. However, if I were to theorize, I would say that since his brain uses electrical waves, it is harder for that to be turned back than the physical body."

Tony gave Bruce's reply some thought.

"That sounds pretty sound there."

Clint interrupted, asking to be put down. Though worried about letting him go, Bruce allowed him down. All three watched Clint carefully to make sure he was alright standing. Once they saw that he was fine, they turned attention back to their discussion. Steve asked to Bruce,

"Is there an antidote to turn him back or can you make one?"

There was a few moments of thought till Bruce replied,

"I highly doubt there is an antidote for something like this out there, but I believe I can figure this out. Not sure how long it will take and I need to run some more tests on Clint to see how this will work."

Tony and Steve nodded in agreement. Tony spoke up,

"I could probably help if you need it."

Bruce nodded in acknowledgement. The three were about to talk further when a crashing sound shocked them.

"Clint!"

All three shouted in unison, looking towards the sound. They found Clint on the ground, holding his side, not too far from a counter that was close to a vent covering. Surprisingly, it was Bruce who moved the fastest in reaching Clint; his skin slightly green. Bruce quickly and carefully picked Clint up; checking for injuries. Once he saw that Clint was fine his skin went back to it normal color. Giving baby-Clint a stern gaze, Bruce reprimanded,

"What do you think you were doing!? You could have been hurt!"

Clint was cowed at first until the end of Bruce's sentence. Once he heard that, he took offense,

"I'm an assassin, Bruce, I would be fine. I know how to handle myself."

Tony and Steve watched in slight horror, as skin gave a greenish glow and got bigger. Tony quickly grabbed Clint from the light green Banner, to be safe. Luckily, Bruce managed to get it back under control though the headache that brought was not pleasant. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he growled,

"Not anymore! Your muscles do not know the training, physically! You may know mentally, but your body can't do those moves now."

Clint conceded that he may have a point by looking away with a mumbled, "Whatever."

There was a tense moment of silence though it didn't last long until Tony (who couldn't take much of any silence) broke it. Tony, exuberantly, cuddled Clint closer (just to make Clint uncomfortable and annoyed) and exclaimed

"He's adorable, a mini-Legolas! Even matching hair color now!"

Clint glared up at Tony and tried to escape from Tony's arm prison, while growling,

"I'm not adorable, I'm an assassin Iron-ass."

The other two weren't sure whether to laugh or groan at the scene. They chose the first option; clutching their sides as they tried to catch their breath back. Calm reigned once again, as the three adult Avengers came up with a plan of what they needed to do.

"We need to get him some clothes."

"He will also need somewhere to sleep, similar to a crib, as his own bed is too big and someone needs to be in the room with him."

Right after Bruce pointed out that out; Tony raised his hand, waving it around like an excited child, able to hold Clint with one hand.

"He can stay with me! In my room."

Bruce spoke tentatively,

"Well not exactly, Tony. You and I both work with dangerous chemicals that can harm a child. Thor and Natasha wouldn't be here for awhile. So that leaves Steve."

Steve grinned smugly at Tony, and had he not had to hold up a reputation as Captain America he would have stuck his tongue out. Tony glowered at him, then decided,

"Well, we still need to get him clothes, I'll get Pepper to come back earlier and her and I can get that done."

The other two agreed and Bruce added,

"I'll get the crib built; while you guys are gone."

Steve decided he would try to baby proof the house, (though he wasn't too sure what all that would entail but he would try). Tony was going to take Clint with him to find clothes. So with that plan; Bruce, Tony and Clint went their own way, while Steve stay in the living area.

Tony contacted Pepper telling her it was an emergency and so she was meeting them in the first store of many not too long after the call. She was only slightly irritated at the fake emergency call because she had been working with Stark too long to be surprised or angry. Her irritation disappeared when she saw baby-Clint and learned that Tony wanted to do some clothes shopping.

~TBC~

Next Time: Tony, Pepper, and Clint go clothes shopping.