"A De-Aged Avengers Holiday Tale" requested by 51pegasib

The God's work in strange ways. Great miracles do they perform. Thor has learned these Midguardian phrases from Steve.

There are many kinds of Gods, as Thor has always known. What he does not know is which gods enacted this magic on his friends on this particular day.

Christmas day, to be exact.

He awoke to find his team had regressed in age. Bruce at 7 is the oldest. Clint and Tony coming right behind at 6. Steve is 5 and Natasha a very tiny 4.

It was a very chaotic morning. Natasha only cried a little to find her parents were no there.

Neither Bruce nor Clint cried. They accepted it as the norm. Parents disappear, you wake up in a strange place, all apart of life really.

But they were surprised to find presents with their names on them under the tree. The presents for their adult versions had disappeared. Instead replaced with presents for their childhood selves.

Thor was surprised at that as well.

SHIELD has their magic consultants working on it. (Thor wonders if SHIELD has consultants on everything, best not to ask).

Currently Steve is laying on his belly, drawing a picture on his new artist's pad. He keeps wiping his nose with his sleeve. His very tiny frame is a carrier for many an illness, as Thor found out earlier.

Phil had dropped off a bag full of "stuff….things the kids might need"

And good for that, otherwise the good Captain's little self might not have survived.

In the middle of wrapping presents, he had gone into a fit. He fell on his back and started gasping. Tony, thinking it was some sort of game, fell at his side and imitated him.

"THAT IS NOT FUNNY!" Thor snapped, before he could think better of it.

The kids all stopped and stared. Bruce took off to hide behind the couch and Clint placed himself in front of Natasha (the only one who didn't seem scared) using his body as a shield.

Thor didn't have time to apologize for that. Instead he rummaged through the bag, looking for the little piece of portable magic that would cure Steve's fit.

He handed it to Steve and told him to press the button and breath, which he did. The relief on his little face was heart wrenching.

Thor turned to Tony, still laying on the ground. Tony gave him a beautiful smile.

That is what he wants, Thor realized, attention. Much like his older counterpart. He cried for it, begged for it. Even bad attention was attention and therefore worth it.

So Thor ignored him. Tony went to drag Bruce from behind the couch, instead.

Currently Natasha is twirling around the floor. "I'm a ballerina" she cries out in Russian as she spins. "Lookit Thor, I'm a ballerina" she calls out as she spins faster and faster and falls right on her rear.

Thor cannot help it, he roars with laughter. "You are quite a dashing ballerina, Natasha."

It is quite shocking to see her so carefree and happy. She is unmarked by her future. She is free of spying and violence. Her hair is a darker color of red, it reaches only to under her chin.

Her laughter is loud and beautiful, like none he has ever heard from her.

She is unmarked by her future and he wishes he could keep it that way.

Natasha gets herself up and begins to twirl again. Clint gets up and begins to twirl with her. He is already….Thor doesn't want to think the word, 'tainted' but he does. He can still smile and twirl around the floor, but his gaze is guarded.

He is guarded. Wants to protect himself and those around him. The price for being raised by a tyrant.

Yet he twirls with a little Russian girl that he doesn't know. He laughs and spins faster and faster. They bump into each other and fall down.

Thor gets up, worried there will be tears. Instead they rub their noses, in tandem, and begin to laugh. Clint gets up and pulls Natasha up as well and then they're off again.

Bruce watches all from the corner where Tony is nattering at him. If Clint's father was a tyrant, Bruce's was an abomination. Bruce looks up at Thor, sizing him up. He hasn't spoken a word since Thor's outburst of anger.

Tony sees Bruce's attention has been diverted and he isn't one to take that. So he pulls at Bruce's sleeve and directs him to look at Tony while he talks.

To Thor's surprise, Bruce smiles at that. Little Bruce has been virtually untouchable. Physical contact has been almost completely ruined for him, no matter how much he craves it. But Tony's meaningless chatter seems to have calmed him down some.

From what Bruce has told them over time, this is also something he did not have as a little one.

He turns to look back at Steve again. His tiny body gives Thor pause. He knows Steve was born into a time of famine and strife. His little body rarely got the amount and quality of food that it craved. That is why Steve is now lying on the floor. The richness of their Christmas feast has all but incapacitated him. But it is a happily brought illness.

Because Steve is drowsy with a full stomach, something he too used to lack.

As a child, Thor lacked nothing. No comfort or food was denied him, no love withheld. These children surrounding him were not so lucky. Today they are warm, happy and contented.

They have not lived the future's that will make them who they are.

While SHIELD's magicians are trying to figure out a cure, Thor can't help but hope that they will not succeed. Then these children can have the lives they were so cruelly denied.

But, without what they had gone through, would they not be the heroes they are?

Does not the future need their hunger, their watchful eyes and spy training? Their need for attention and their burning anger?

Would not the world fall apart without their damaged souls?

Thor does not bother to wipe his tears away. They are a mark of his caring for the wonderful, tainted people around him.

"Why're you crying, ?" Steve asks.

"It is just over something silly, little one." Thor responds.

"What?" Clint chirps at him, coming to see the very large man crying on the couch.

"I am simply crying for what cannot be."

He gets up and goes to the bathroom, removing his sadness from their happy day, until he can cheer himself up.