When Rose returned from the presentation and the following meeting that came out of nowhere, she was ready to crash. She totally ignored that it was about 11AM New York time. She just wanted some shut eye. She entered Mia's floor, making her way to the sitting area. There she found Mia, asleep on the couch, three thick books on the table in front of her with many stick up notes peeking out.
Still tired, Rose just settled next to Mia, cuddling to her a little. Unlike others, Mia and Rose had never been weird about being physically close to each other. Homosexuality may have been accepted these days, but the two witches had always been close-physically, emotionally and mentally. Which does not mean that they slept together. Been friends for so long and being through everything, they were each others' rocks, support systems. Tony was not Rose's only anchor. Mia was her anchor too.
Rose relaxed a little more when Mia's arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer. Mia always had a tendency of being protective of Rose, no explanation needed there.
"When did you come back?" Mia asked, sleepily. her eyes were still shut but Rose knew she had woken up
"Just now" Rose replied "Where are the kids?"
God! they sounded like a lesbian couple with a family, Rose mentally noted. Not that it would be a bad thing. If Rose swung that way, she would definitely date Mia, forget Ron and his feelings
"I sent them to bed. they are all probably sleeping. hopefully"
"I checked the labs. they were empty"
"forbid their entry in labs unless they turn back to adults" Mia murmured
"Good thing" Rose replied, suppressing a yawn
"Pep?"
"evening"
"hmm" Mia turned a little and pulled Rose a little closer
Steve was the first to wake up. He was pretty shocked when he learned that he slept a long time. It was 11.34AM when he woke up. Getting off the bed, he walked to the mirror and checked himself. He was now something around 4.3ft. his muscles were gone but he still looked healthy, unlike before when he actually was a kid. His hair had lightened and the stiffness he earlier had was no longer there.
a rumbling sound from his stomach made him realize how hungry he was. Quickly refreshing himself, he made out of his room and headed toward Mia's, which was made their temporary rebound communal. He was soon joined by others, except Bruce who was still sleeping.
Reaching the floor, they stopped seeing the only two adults, cuddling and sleeping on the couch and the fat books in front of them
"Are you sure they don't have a thing for each other?"
Steve looked down at Clint-really looked down;he was about 3ft only-and frowned
Tony threw Clint his own glare and Nat smacked him while Thor looked a bit clueless
"Would it be a problem if that was the case?" Tony asked, arms folded
Steve secretly hoped that was not the case.
"Nope" Clint replied "Not at all"
"Isn't Lady Hermione betrothed to Rose's foster brother?" Thor asked, a bit clueless
"She is" Natasha replied "And that is why that is not the case"
"So, who's hungry?" Clint asked, changing the topic
"We cannot cook, Clint" Steve said
"And why not?" Clint pouted
"Because you don't reach even upto the countertop" Tony snorted "I think only Thor and Steve will"
"We should wake them up, then" Thor suggested
"that would happen if you let us sleep" Rose grumbled from her place. she tiredly opened her eyes and looked at the mini-avengers "Hungry?"
"Yeah" Steve replied, a bit embarrassed
"Take a seat. I'll whip up something" Rose removed Mia's hand from around her and stood up, stretching her body. she yawned and headed for the small kitchen on Mia's floor. In fact all their floors had a kitchen, which weren't as big as the one on the communal.
She pulled her hair into a bun which turned out very messy but kept the hair away from her face. Rose heated a pan and started mixing pancake batter while making strong coffee for herself and Mia. She stopped when she saw Tony standing in front of the machine in anticipation
"Dad?" she asked as he looked at her. It felt wrong and awkward to call him 'dad'. A de-aged Tony looked scarily similar to Teddy, which already freaked her out. now she knew where her son got most of his looks from. Whatever was different in Teddy, came from his father.
"I want coffee" Tony replied
"No" Rose shook her head "No caffeine"
"But-"
"No 'but', dad. Physically you are 7. I'm not taking any risk. No coffee until you go back, okay. That goes for all of you" she looked at the rest of them team
"But...i want coffee. I need coffee!" Tony whined and Rose froze. Why did that sound eerily like an actual 7 year old instead of a 44 years old man turned 7?
"Hot chocolate?" Mia asked, entering the kitchen
Tony looked at her with big doe eyes, lips pouting a little before he nodded
"Why don't you sit down?" Mia smiled. Tony nodded and sat down.
"Any one else wants hot chocolate?"
Every hand went up
Rose was serving breakfast when she saw someone at the doorway. She looked up and smiled at Bruce, telling him to take a seat, when the first nuclear bomb was dropped on them
"Uh..." his eyes darted around nervously "but who are you? where am I?"
Seven pairs of eyes widened and looked at the deaged scientist. Some mouths were opened in shock. Tony's fork fell down.
"Bruce?" Rose softly began nearing towards him with cautioned steps. Though Mia and she had ruled out the possibility of the team still having powers, since none of them showed any signs of such, she'd really hate to confront a mini-uncontrollable Hulk at the moment
"How do you know my name?"
Rose crouched and raised her arms in a placating manner
"My name is Rose. And I know your name because we are friends"
"I don't remember you" Bruce noted
"Because you had an accident recently. You suffered from a nasty concussion. That's why."
"Where are my parents?" he asked, on the verge of entering his flight or fight mode
Rose shared a panicked look with Mia then looked back at Bruce
"Why don't you come with me and I'll answer all your questions?"
Bruce looked hesitant but nodded and Rose took him to the nearest room. He asked questions and she tried to answer them to her best. In the end, he mostly believed her and agreed to trust her. When the two returned, Mia handed him the breakfast. Rest of the team had finished and was now occupying the sitting area while Mia stayed with Bruce
"Are we all gonna lose our memories?" Steve asked
"I guess that's one effect of the spell" Rose deadpanned
"But how did he lose them first?" Tony frowned
"Steve and Nat have serums, Thor's Asguardian, Clint's a hedgewizard and you've lived with me long enough to be resistant to a lot of magical anomalies. Bruce had none them." Rose frowned "Any of you could be next"
Unfortunately, second nuclear bomb exploded quite soon and it appeared that Bruce was like the catalyst. Within the next 3 hours, all the Avengers lost their adult memories one by one. It was a bitch to explain every single of them why they ended up with two young women and bunch of other unknown kids without any memory of how they ended there without their parents or guardians.
Tony had threatened to call the police on them. Rose didn't blame him. Tony had experience of getting abducted since he was kid. But it was hard to convince Tony that he was not abducted but was willingly living with them.
Thor almost called Hiemdall but Mia managed to talk him out of it. Last thing they wanted was a pissed-off Odin or Frigga on them. That would really crush Rose's first impression on the Norse Goddess of Magic
Steve took the news, heard them out completely and with the visible proof, believed them, but remained skeptical. It didn't matter much to Clint. He was still a baby.
Nat almost knocked Mia before Rose subdued her and explained to that it as not a prank, she was not in Red Room anymore and she wasn't forcibly taken either. Basically their half truth was something among the lines of
"Look, we know you. And you all know each other and us. Recently there was an accident and as a result all six of you have retrograde amnesia" Rose explained
"Retro-whatchamacallit-sia?" Tony asked
"Memory loss" Mia continued "You have forgotten a bit of the past. And since you knew all of us, we decided to let you stay here until you get your memory back. Capiche?"
And then started the questions and doubts, which only increased the witches' resident headaches.
If anyone ever asked, the two witches would readily deny using a bit of magic on the kids for convincing them that they were not a threat and for the last time-no, they were not kidnapped
After hours of work, the six Minivengers(as Rose and Mia had taken to call them) were settled on the sitting area with some random movie playing on the TV
"We need to find a cure, fast" Mia said, eating their breakfast-turned-brunch
"Yeah" Rose nodded "I think the worse is yet to come. Pepper"
"You didn't tell her?" Mia raised a brow
"Didn't get a chance" Rose took a sip of the coffee "She's gonna freak out when she'll return later today"
"Then Pepper's your responsibility"
Rose pouted but didn't argue.
Shouting from the background grabbed their attention. Turning around the two found Thor, Tony and Steve in an argument
"what the fu-" Rose started but Mia elbowed her "-ish!"
"What's going on?" Mia demanded "Boys!"
"I want to watch the science show!" Tony cried
"We all are watching the Discovery channel. Whats your problem Tony?!"
"I'm the Son of Odin. You shall give me the contraption at on-"
"It's called a remote, you idiot!"
"Your turn?" Rose looked at Mia with a pleading look. Mia sighed, got up and made her way to the Minivengers. Rose had no idea what happened but whatever did, they all settled down silently
"What did you do?" Rose asked when Mia returned
"Gave the remote to Nat. Even at this age, she freaks the hell out of the boys"
Rose looked over her shoulder at the team. Nat was sitting in the middle, Clint pressed next to her and remote on the other hand. None of boys dared argue or fight over the remote. If anyone tried, Nat shot them a dirty look and they'd shut up
"Guess somethings never change" Rose chuckled then looked back at Mia, who was frowning "Hey, look at it this way. You get to practice for when you'll have your own kids"
"I swear" Mia sighed "After this experience, I'm not having kids. Never. You hear me? NEVER!"
Rose laughed "What about Ron?"
"Call and ask him to babysit these rascals for a few hours. He'll have the same opinion"
Rose chuckled. She was glad to have a son she wouldn't trade for anything else in the world. And she was also glad that Teddy grew up around Andy and was less 'rascal' and more of a behaved troublemaker, however that worked
After the brunch, the two girls set up to find a cure. Rose decided to finish the book that started the problem, mainly to see if there were gonna be anymore effects other than de-aging and memory loss and to see a counter spell. Mia was going through other equally old books for similar stuff.
A few hours later Rose and Mia sent the kids to their rooms to shower and change. Rose offered to help Clint, but he refused stating he was a big boy and could take a bath himself. Reminded her so much of Teddy. But Rose deduced that his denial had to do more with the fact that she was a woman he didn't know and was shy. Steve must have sensed the same because he stepped in, offering to help Clint should he need.
Once the kids left, Rose and Mia took a breath of relief before getting back to research.
"Rose?" Mia asked, closing the book
"Yeah, i got something" Rose nodded, showing the Gaelic page to her
"Unha vez emitido o feitizo, o suxeito volverá á idade orixinal dentro dos sete días siderais" Mia read
"Yeah. One sidereal day is 23 hours and 56 minutes. 7 sidereal days, a week. They are stuck like this for a whole week before the spell wears off and they are turned back to normal"
"So for a whole week, we are on babysitting duty of the Avengers?" Mia complained
"Tell me about it" Rose muttered
When Pepper entered the lift, as of habit, she pressed the button to the communal and waited
"I'm sorry Ms. Potts but Miss has forbid entry to the communal floor until further notice"
"Did she say why?" Pepper frowned
No answer
So Pepper pressed for Rose's floor.
Having known Rose for almost 15 years and seen her through every high and low of her life, Pepper considered herself pretty informative and understanding of her young boss' life. Personally, she always expected the unexpected with Rose. She was a witch, one of the strongest there were and tended to make impossibles a joke.
But she did not expect to see what she saw when she entered Rose's floor. Rose was on the couch, StarkTab on her hands as she was steadily talking to two young boys. The third, smallest kid, who was playing with Legos on the carpet, looked about 3-4 years old. What the hell had happened?
Rose and Mia had decided to distribute the kids so to reduce the pressure. Rose quickly chose Tony, Bruce and Clint. Mia was left with Nat, Steve and Thor. with the partition, Mia took the kids down to the art studio, the Starks had built for Steve, to keep them occupied but not before mouthing some colorful swears towards her, to which she laughed. Rose got the tamest three-her father, pseudo uncle and pseudo big brother-while she got a veteran soldier, a professional assassin and a Norse god. How was it any fair?
Rose herself took the 'Science Bros' to her floor to discuss some basic science theories while giving Clint a box of Legos to play with. Clint was settled on the carpet trying to build something while the older two boys somehow managed to keep up with her science rant. Then she noticed Pepper and froze. Shite!
Seeing her attention somewhere else and not on him, Tony pouted, got up and started jumping on her expensive Italian sofa
"Ro-sie! look-at-me! I-was-talking!" he exclaimed between each jump
"Maybe you should sit down Tony" Bruce suggested
"Tony?" Pepper asked softly
Tony turned around and spotted the strawberry-blonde
"You are very pretty" he said with a 'charming' smile "who are you?"
Rose blinked twice. Was her father always like that? Scratch that, bigger question-Was a 7 year old supposed to be flirting?
Pepper sputtered and gaped at Tony then at Rose
"I can explain" Rose said, quickly standing up. She handed the tab to Bruce and led Pepper to the minibar on her floor, pouring them a drink before she started explaining everything. By the end of it, Pepper didn't know whether to cry, laugh or strangle Clint with her bare hands. She settled on pouring herself another stiff drink, gulped it in one swift motion and then shook her head
"One week?" Pepper asked. Rose nodded
"Okay. I can handle it for a week."
"Thanks Pepper" Rose smiled ad hugged her PA, making the red head laugh
"Just remember that once they go adult, Clint's gonna be in trouble"
"I'll let him know" Rose smiled and pulled
Pepper nodded "I'm calling it a night" she placed a kiss on Rose's forehead and looked at the boys
"Good night boys"
"Good Night" Tony beamed. She smiled before using the stairs to walk to her room
"Who was she?" Tony asked, no demanded when Rose made her way back to the sofa
"That's Pepper. She's my best friend and Personal Assistant"
Tony pouted "Why is she named after a spice?"
"We thought Mia was your best friend" Bruce added
Rose looked at Tony with a smile "That you gotta ask her yourself." then she turned to Bruce "You can have more than one best friend, you know"
"Really?"
Rose nodded, then pulled the tab "So, got anymore suggestions?"
Mia was taking the three to the art room when she realized something. She was well aware of Steve's passion of art-they all were-and that he had drawn the team on numerous occasions. And if one of them saw those drawings and made connections, it would be bad. So she quickly asked JARVIS to guide the three to the art room and excused herself for some personal matter. Once out of their sight, she apparated to the art room and hid all the paintings of the team and left the ones which were about landscapes and in general.
then she left before the kids could enter and then appeared behind them
"You found it. I was a bit worried you might get lost"
"JARVIS helped" Steve smiled softly. it had really taken quite a bit to ask all the kids to call by their names without any salutations
"Great. So, art? Steve, I've heard you can draw really well" she said
"It's nothing" Steve replied, rubbing the back of his neck and bit embarrassed
"So modest" Mia chuckled "So this is the tower's art room. Go wild" she grinned
the three entered the room and looked around. The room was the most colorful in the tower and had to be every artist's dream. Everything ranging from different papers and drawing sheets to every type of paint, crayons, pencil and brushes were there. Like everything.
"They are amazing" Steve sounded a bit overwhelmed "and expensive. Are you sure we can use them?"
"Positive" Mia smiled "I promise Rose won't mind."
So three of them took sheets and started making whatever they were feeling like. Mia took a seat in the sidelines, pulled out her starktab and started working on a report. No matter how much they hated, they had to tell Fury about the accident. and since out of the two, Mia had more tact and patience, she was to be one to tell Fury. After all she was their handler, right.
"Lady Mia!"
Mia looked up from the tab and at the Norse God who was showing her his painting. It was of some animal, something she had never seen before on either sides of the world. It was huge, had big antlers and remotely resembled a buck
"What have you drawn, Thor?" she asked, a bit confused
"Bilchteim!" Thor grinned
"What?" Mia blinked and Thor visibly deflated
"A Bilchteim. They are huge, scaly, big antlers and crush everything in their path" Thor explained
"Never heard of them" Nat offhandedly remarked
"they are not on Midgard?" Thor asked in confusion
"Not really, no" Mia shook her head "But you are a good artist"
"Thank you, milady"
Mia smiled
"Pardon me, Lady Mia, but I need some sustenance"
"Uh...right" Mia stood up. She had forgotten that Thor had one of the two biggest appetites on the team and was constantly hungry
"You guys need anything?" she asked
"We are good" Nat replied
"Me too" Steve smiled
"Alright, you two," she looked at Nat and Steve "try not to make a mess"
The two nodded and went back to their drawing.
In the kitchen, she whipped some previous night's leftover, reheated them and handed it to Thor, who started eating with vigor. She sighed. She was tired of dealing with the kids and wanted a small break. So did Rose.
she inhaled sharply and then exhaled. Why was it her who was always dragged into such...situations?
At night, Rose ordered dinner from outside. She was in no shape or form to cook. Keeping up with two super-intelligent kids was taking a toll on her. Not to mention the third one who would always start crying should his Lego building break down after going 18 blocks. She was irritated, tired and wanted to sleep in her heavenly bed and not woken up. How in the hell was she going to make it past a whole week?
Mia curled next to her as the girls' watched Frozen (Nat and Clint's recent obsession) with the whole team around them eating pizzas. Pepper had just appeared for a glimpse, picked a box and took it to her room, saying she had some PA work to do.
This was the third time Frozen was running on repeat and by now Tony and Thor had gotten a hang of "Let it Go" and sung it at every single presented occasion with Clint joining in, singing in his cute baby voice and broken lyrics. Leave it to Disney to write songs so catchy that it would have a better part of Avengers addicted to them.
Once dinner was done, the girls ushered the kids to their rooms, made sure they changed into PJs, brushed and then tucked them in bed. While Mia went to sleep in her room, Rose took the projects she was supposed to be working on and resumed working. everything aside, she was still the CEO of Stark Industries and a company so big won't run itself
Rose was finally having a bit of free time. Mia had left for the SHIELD HQ to deal with Fury and his tantrums. Steve had grown fond of the art room. So Rose made him get stuff from there and work at Mia's floor. She really didn't want to risk any kid away from her eyes.
Nat and Thor were with Clint, helping him with Legos, in front of her on the carpet. Despite the de-aging and memory loss, Nat had remained close to Clint. Had to be something in her subconsciousness.
Once Rose showed them how to work the latest StarkTab, Bruce and Tony had gotten a hang of it. Now they were designing something. Rose had no problem with that, as long as they didn't build a Skynet or homicidal robot.
Rose looked from her own tab when she heard the elevator open and Brittany stepped out, crisply dressed. Honestly, Brittany was turning more and more into a second Pepper with her work attitude, attire and the ways she dealt with Rose.
"Morning, Brit" Rose smiled
"Good Morning, mam" Brittany smiled
"Come on, take a seat" Rose scooted a little and let Brittany sit down. Pepper had reminded that the paperwork for that London business deal was still pending along with some new patents that the R&D wanted to file that needed her signatures. And knowing the situation, Pepper had asked Brittany to go upstairs and get them signed
Brittany handed the papers to her boss and maintained a professional attitude. Rose internally smirked. If Brittany noticed the sudden appearance of kids, she didn't mention it
"Accidental magic" Rose muttered
"I didn't know that the team had anyone magical" Brittany asked. She knew it couldn't have been either of the witches, since they had excellent control of their magic.
"Neither did we. Turns out Hawkeye is a hedgewizard" Rose snorted
"huh" Brittany muttered "so how long before they go back to...normal?"
"uh...4 more days" Rose replied, flipping the page as she read the content "What happened to the left over budget from R&D?"
"Right now it's there. But I was going to put it in M.S.F.'s funds"
"Don't. Put it in Expo's expenses. I heard that Viastone is making a presentation this spring?"
"they are" Brittany nodded "Ms. Potts wasn't really happy about it"
"Neither am I." Rose exhaled "What's with all our competitors showing off at our show?"
"Our show's the only one in town. And believe it or not,mam, it's quite popular"
Rose chuckled
"Rosie!" Clint called
Rose looked up from the papers at the 4 year old who was beaming at her. Thor and Nat looked quite proud beside him. Surprisingly, only Clint and Tony called her 'Rosie'.
The current reason of all smiles and rainbows, the Lego building was not only huge but looked like Avengers Tower made out of Lego. It explained why the three were so engrossed and dedicated on building it
"It's amazing" Rose nodded. It really was too good for kids their age. But then again, they were not really kids, were they?
and then their attention turned towards Brittany, looking at her in anticipation.
"Uh...it's beautiful. Great job" Brittany smiled shyly
"Thank you, fair maidens" Thor grinned
And suddenly Clint pouted
"What's wrong, Clint?"
Clint looked at her, almost tearing "Legos are finished."
"I'm sure we can make something from the remaining ones" Nat tried "Like a hut or...a boat"
Clint shook his head, wiping his nose on his shirt's sleeve before picking up the Lego pamphlet and pointing at a big yellow castle
"I want this" he sniffed
"Oh Merlin" Rose tiredly rolled her eyes "Not again"
"This happened before?" Brittany asked, trying not to sound amused. Really. An employee should not be amused at her boss' problem. but she was failing miserably
"In the morning, Clint made a fuss on how there aren't enough blue and grey Legos. So i transfigured them. Now he needs yellow" Rose complained before looking up at the ceiling "do we have anymore Legos, J?"
"There is another box in the storage, Ms"
"I'll get it" Nat got up and left, JARVIS giving her the directions
"I don't know why we even have so much Lego" Rose grumbled, going back to the paperwork
It must have been just 5 minutes roughly before she felt someone poke her knee. Suppressing a groan, she looked up at the Science Bros
"Yeah?" she asked, as softly as she could. Well she couldn't take her anger out on the kids whatever might be the reason. Noe of it was their fault. the adult them? definitely, though
"We got stuck." Tony extended the tablet towards Rose which had a complex mathematical equation on it. Complex for others, not her.
Rose placed the paperwork aside, shooting Brittany an apologetic smile, before taking the tab and looking at the equation.
"Is this Mr. Stark?" She heard Brittany whisper to her, to which she nodded
"Mr. Stark is my dad. You know my dad?" Tony asked the blonde PA, not noticing how Rose had paled
"Kind of" Brittany nervously smiled. She was one of the few who were aware that Howard Stark's name was a taboo in the current Stark household, Pepper had told her. She perispherically noticed her boss, going through that Maths equation, pale and a bit panicked by the sudden turn of events
"Really? How?"
Let it be said that Starks were way too curious for their own good.
"I...work in Stark Industries" Brittany managed
"Ooh" Tony took in then looked at Rose "Do you work for Stark Industries, too?"
"I do, Tony" Rose deadpanned, correcting the equation
"Then do you know dad?" Tony demanded eagerly
Don't snap. Don't. Control, Rose. he doesn't remember. he doesn't know. Keep calm. Deep breath. Don't snap at Tony. He's your father.
Rose hated her grandfather as much as Tony, if not more. She had a pretty good reason for it.
Rose finally managed to solve the equation and all but threw the tab towards Bruce "Here, I solved it"
"Thanks" Bruce shyly said
"Tell me, Rosie! Do you know my dad?!"
Rose was really trying to keep calm. Bruce must have noticed her efforts because he quickly pulled Tony away
"She's busy, Tony. Let's not disturb her"
"B-But.."
"Come on" Bruce guided him back to their previous spot
Rose took a few long deep breaths as she calmed down
"I'm sorry, Brit" she muttered, running her hands over her face
"It's just stress" Brittany replied "I understand"
"Thanks Brittany. No really, thank you" Rose sighed and went back to signing the papers
Once done, she handed everything to Brittany, who stood up
"If I may, Mam, try taking them out for a day. To the park or something. It should help you and Ms. Granger with the stress"
Rose nodded with a smile as her PA left. Just then Nat entered with a box of unopened Lego set on the floor next to her two friends.
Thank god, Merlin and every single deity. the kids were not making a mess at the moment. And she needed a few minutes to compose herself. She noticed Steve, sitting by the huge windows, smiling to himself in what looked like pride
"Hey, what are you smiling at, Steve?" Rose approached Steve with a smile
Steve, still a bit shy but no as much as before, flipped over the sketchpad and showed her a drawing of Elsa.
"It's gorgeous, Steve" Rose grinned "Really good."
"Thanks"
"Mention not, kid" Rose reached and ruffled his hair. She stood up and walked to the Science Bros
"How's it coming?"
But sometimes, headaches were worth it, especially when it comes to family.
By the time Mia returned, it was past the kids' bedtime and they had all returned to bed. Pepper was sleeping in her own room. Rose was sitting on Mia's floor, going flipping through the channels
"Fury held you out long enough" Rose looked at Mia, as she came to sit next to her
"He's pissed" Mia noted
"On who?" Rose asked, finally settling on some 60's action movie. She wasn't really paying any attention to it anyway
"The whole situation" Mia sighed
"That makes both of us" Rose added earning a weird look from Mia
"I'm just...pissed. Not on the kids, not on the team, not on us, just pissed in general"
Mia snorted
"Anyway, Fury said he'd cover our arses should anything arise but if it turned out to be Avenger level threat, you and Rhodey have to do the whole team's work."
"Just me and Rhodey?" Rose frowned
"He might call the Fantastic 4 but he's not sure who all will respond"
"Sue won't. She swore she was done with the whole superhero business" Rose grumbled "Johnny definitely will. he won't miss a chance to flirt with me. Not sure on Ben and Reed"
Mia scoffed "You know, i kinda miss the days when our biggest headache was our DADA teacher trying a move against your or some lackey of Voldemort's trying to off you"
Rose snorted "Kids are worse than Voldemort?"
"Super-powered kids are worse than Voldemort"
Turned out, they did have their powers. Steve had accidentally lifted the whole couch to take out Clint's Lego piece which had gotten under it. When Thor when got in an argument with Bruce, Rose was pretty sure that she saw a tinge of green on Bruce's neck before a bolt of lightening hit them and she rushed to calm Bruce. Nat still had her killer reflexes. All in a single day. And she had informed Mia immediately about them.
"Brit suggested that we should take them out on a picnic or something."
"tomorrow" Mia nodded
"I agree" Rose smiled before she turned the TV off, conjured a blanket over them both ad went to sleep
Rose's sleep was broken when she felt something move against her body. The movement stopped soon before something pressed against her stomach and chest. Rose slowly opened her eyes and noticed the small bump under the blanket right next to her.
Rose slowly pulled the blanket and a pair of warm brown eyes stared back at her
"Bad dream?" she asked tiredly
Tony nodded. Rose gave him a soft smile and wrapping an around him, pulled him a bit closer and closed her eyes. He wriggled a little and came closer to her face
"Can I ask you something?" he whispered
"Hmm-mm" Rose hummed
"Were you mad at me? In the morning?"
Rose frowned
"What made you ask that, Tony?"
"It's just...you didn't seem happy when I asked about Dad. Brucie said you were trying not be mad at me for asking about Dad."
Rose sighed. So Bruce did notice
"Dad always got mad if I asked too many questions. He would say that I'm Stark and I should know the answers, not the questions"
That sounded like something Howard would say, alright. That arse.
Rose opened her eyes and looked at Tony with the look she reserved solely for Teddy
"I was not mad at you, Tony. I was mad at your father" she explained
"Why?"
Rose paused. Should she tell him the truth or lie?
"Because I don't like your father. Some while ago he did something that I and my dad didn't like."
Tony nodded softly "I understand. Jarvis once told me that Dad's job made a lot of people unhappy"
Rose's chest tightened. This was the third time Tony had mentioned Jarvis. She never met the man personally-he had died when she was a baby- but she knew that Jarvis was Tony's Sirius. Just a tad bit better and stuck longer with her father.
"that's right, kid" Rose nodded
"Did dad make you mad?"
"somewhat"
"Did i make you mad?"
Rose smiled and kissed his forehead "I could never be mad at you, Anthony"
And that was the truth. Despite all of her father's shenanigans, she could never stay mad at him for more than a few hours.
Tony just grinned at her and snuggled closer "i really like you Rose. You are sweet and beautiful and caring. Just like Jarvis and Anna. And Mia too. Can i stay here forever?"
Rose lightly laughed "Sure you can"
Tony stuck close to her body, if that was possible "'night" he sleepily said
"Good night" Rose smiled at her father snuggling to her "dad"
This was not the first time this had happened. Only 16 years ago, it was Tony who was chasing her nightmares away
"Job well done" she heard Mia mutter next to her
Rose smiled and closed her eyes, going back to sleep
Mia woke up to something poking her cheek.
"What?" she groggily muttered and turned away. But the poking continued. Mia slowly opened her eyes and looked at her BFF, who was contently sleeping with Tony latching to her like an octopus, her pink hair spread across the sofa with a little bit on Tony as well.
With a mild groan, Mia turned and looked at the culprit-Natasha
"What's it, Nat?"
"I'm hungry" Nat replied "You said not to make anything by my own"
Another rule Rose had added when she found Thor trying to cook and almost burned their kitchen down
"Are you bonkers?" Mia muttered and picked her phone from next to her, squinting to see the screen "It's 5AM, Nat. Go back to sleep"
"But I'm hungry" Nat complained "I don't want to wake Rose and Tony. He gets whiney"
"Ugh" Mia got up, pushed over the covers and made her way to the kitchen. She pulled out a box of cereals, milk carton, a bowl, spoon and placed them on the kitchen island
"Anything else?" Mia asked. She became a little more awake when she noticed Natasha press her lips together
"Nat?" she asked, sitting next to the Black Widow
"Were to telling truth? Am i never going back to the Red Room?"
"of course we were. You can stay here as long as you want, darling"
"But...how did i get here? Why don't i remember anything?"
"I'm sorry i can't answer all your questions right now, Natasha"
"Natasha?"
Mia blinked in confusion. And then it hit her.
"I'm sorry. Natalia. It was just a slip-up. But like i said, I'm sorry I can't tell you everything. Rest assured, Rose and I are gonna be there for you whenever you'd need us"
"Thank you" Nat shyly smiled
"What are friends for?"
Nat chuckled
"So any particular reason you were asking for an early morning snack?"
Nat shrugged "i just woke up a little hungry"
Mia nodded, pouring some cereal in the bowl while Nat opened the milk carton
"Hey Mia?"
"Yeah?"
"Is there a possibility that i can train somewhere?"
"Train?" Mia frowned
Nat slightly shuffled
"You know..."
"Physical training? like fighting and all?"
Nat nodded
"Mmm...well, there's a gym in the building"
Nat perked up at the mention
"But I'll only take you there if you kept it a secret from others"
"Even Rose?"
"Uh..maybe not. JARVIS will tell her anyway. I meant the kids."
"You don't others to come?"
"Not everyone knows what you do, Natalia"
Nat giggled. Mia chuckled. It was first time she had heard the assassin giggle. It was cute
"Can we go now?" Nat asked, eagerly
Mia looked at her, took a deep breath and nodded with a smile
"Finish it up, change out of your PJs and we'll head to the training facility"
"Okay" Nat nodded, quickly ate her early morning snack and rushed to her room
"Hey, no running in the house!" Mia called after her
"Sorry!"
Mia walked back to the couch and sat down, took out her wand and changed her clothes to ones more appropriate for gym with a spell
"Want me to come with you?"
Mia looked at Rose, who was looking at her with sleepy eyes
"Let me have some friends in the team, will you?"
Rose chuckled, straightening up
"when did Tony get here?"
"2.30-ish" Rose replied "Take her to the one on 84th floor. That's most kid friendly we have without all the weapons and fatal stuff"
"Do i even want to ask why you have a kid friendly training facility?"
Rose gave Mia a smug smile "Just in case anyone had a mood for bring-your-child-to-work day"
Mia raised a brow. As their handler, she was told of Barton's secret
"I'm ready"
The two girls looked ahead and found Nat, dressed in some sports capris, sport shoes a tank top and her hair in a pony
"Let's go" Mia stood up
"Have fun" Rose lazily called and once they left settled back in the comforters
Second part of de-aged Avengers. for some reason i'm kinda loving to write on this topic. Definitely gonna have a third part which will be there within a week, most probably.
Guys, please review! How come there are only 3-5 people who review but so many read?
Reviews help me with the kinks in the story and give me some great ideas. So please, review