Okay, here is the next chapter (finally). I know it's been such a long time between updates and I'm really sorry. I just hope you like this. I've hit a bit of a writer's block, but hopefully it will clear up so you guys can get the next chapter soon!


The boy had long black hair, most of it hung in his face. He was about 8, however, he was a little big, more the size of a 9 or 10 year old. He grinned at them, melting each of their hearts. He had a huge gap in between his two front teeth, and when he looked up and smiled it took over his whole face. He had light freckles and deep looking eyes. The most notable factor, however, was his arm. The fact that it was metal.

"Hi!" He shouted at them, trying to get up but tripping over the shirt that hung at his knees. "My name's Bucky! What's your name?" He successfully got up and ran over to Tony, who looked a bit shy.

"I'm Tony." The adults watched the exchange between the two in shock.

"Why is he a kid too!? I thought SHIELD caught the guy who did this!" Clint growled to the other 3.

"They did. The winter soldier must have been hit by the same blast that got you guys." Coulson answered.

"That means he was in the area, right? How did we not notice him?"

"He's a highly trained assassin, if he doesn't want us to know he's there, then we don't." They watched as Tony and Bucky excitedly talked.

"Your arm is so cool!" Tony told him, opening up quickly to the nice and acentric kid.

"Really? I don't know where it came from, but I think it's like metal or something. I just woke up with it." Tony lifted up his shirt to show the other boy his arc reactor.

"Look! I woke up with this!" Bucky ran his fingers over it.

"Woah, It glows! Does it hurt?"

"No, not really. Does your arm hurt?" Bucky shrugged as Tony put his shirt back down, sticking out the metal arm so Tony could see.

"A little."

" I could probably fix that. I new connector strap, it looks a little rusted, that could be fixed, I bet I could make a new one out of a lighter metal!"

"Really? But you're just a kid! You can't do all that!"

"I' m a whole 7 years old! Plus, I'm super smart." He let go of the arm he was inspecting and let Bucky lower it. "I could fix it."

"You're so cool. We should be friends."

"This would be really cute if Barnes wasn't an assassin and Tony wasn't a miniature Iron Man." Clint commented from where they were all watching the exchange. A small voice cut through the room from the hallway.

"B-Bucky?"

"Steve!" The black haired boy ran over to the now larger boy, immediately recognizing him. "Why are you so big?!" He asked the serum enhanced boy that he remember as a little kid as they hugged.

"Why are you so small?"

"Punk."

"Jerk."

"You guys know each other?" Tony asked confused, walking over to where the reunion was taking place.

"Yeah, me and Bucky are best friends!"

"I thought I was your best friend." Tony said, just above a whisper.

"Yeah, but I've known Bucky forever! We do all kinds of stuff together." Steve replied passively, not looking away from Bucky and almost ignoring Tony completely.

"We're the closest pals ever!" Bucky added, laughing as Steve grabbed his hand and drug him over to the watching adults.

"Guys, this is Bucky!"

"Nice to meet you kiddo." Clint said, kneeling and shaking the boy's non-metal hand. "Do you happen to know how you got here?"

"I dunno. I went to bed last night and then woke up yesterday under this tree by this field. I saw you guys and recognized Stevie, so I followed you guys into the airplane thingy and then you guys went to that white room with all the beds and stuff and I hid in the vents. Then you got off and went into this place and so I followed you here too and I've been exploring."

"You've been with us this entire time?!" Coulson asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it was fun!"

"Did you get to see the labs?" Tony asked, but Bucky didn't get to answer because Steve grabbed his arm again.

"C'mon Buck! I have to introduce you to the other kids!"

"Can I come too?" Tony asked as the two ran back down the hall, laughing.

"He knows where the other kids are, let's go!" Clint asked and the adults all chased the boys, leaving Tony alone in the large room.

"I guess I'll just wait here….." Tony said disappointedly to himself as he climbed onto the sofa. "All alone…"

"You're not alone." Tony gasped and looked around the room for where the voice had one from.

"Bruce!?" He climbed out from behind a small bookshelf.

"Yeah, this game is getting boring. I don't wanna play anymore."

"You're a good hider! We couldn't find you anywhere!" Bruce climbed up on the sofa with him.

"I don't like to hide. It's lonely."

"Apparently not hiding is lonely too." Tony said sadly, looking over to the hallway where all the others had left him.

"But I'm here too, so you're not alone."

"That means when you were hiding you weren't alone either, we were all in the room."

"Yeah…..but I still felt lonely. I feel lonely a lot. You don't have to be alone to feel lonely." Bruce stated looking at his hands.

"Lonely is not being alone, but it's the feeling that no one cares.'" Bruce nodded slowly at Tony's words. He let out a little gasp when Tony hugged him tightly. "I care."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're a really great friend. The others care about you too. Nat and Clint, Thor, Steve, even the adults."

"They care about you too." Tony didn't say anything back.

"Can we go get ice cream!?" The boys heard from behind them. They turned around to see the others all walking into the room. Apparently, they had all been found.

"Yes, but after we find- oh Bruce! There you are!" Hill noticed the kids on the sofa.

"Yeah, Tony found me." Thor ran over and gave Bruce a big hug.

"We should go get victory ice cream!" Steve, Bucky, Bruce, and even Natasha, who was starting to warm up to them, cried out 'Yeah!' and Tony and Bruce hopped off the sofa.

"Alright, let's go!" Clint shouted, racing the kids over to the elevator. Tony trailed behind with the remaining adults, not everyone would fit in the elevator. The first group went, then they got in.

"So, Tony, what kind of ice cream are you going to get?"

"I like chocolate ice cream, sir." He told Coulson. "Are we all going to become adults again?"

"That is what I am working on. Soon, you will all be back to normal." Loki answered as the elevator beeped, reaching the ground floor.

"Me and Bucky are sitting in the car together!"

"It's 'Bucky and I'." Tony mumbled, but nobody heard. They all started walking over to the door that led to the extensive garage to the side of the tower. They opened the door and Clint found the biggest car he could in order to fit them all. It was a large blue van.

"Natasha, sit next to us!" Bucky shouted as the three of them headed to the back of the car.

"My brother, Bruce, and I shall occupy the middle row!" Thor shouted, grabbing Loki and Bruce's hands and pulling them into the car.

"I'm driving." Coulson stated, walking around the car to get into the seat behind the wheel.

"Shotgun." Hill said, causing Clint to curse and hop into the car.

"Alright, that leaves you and me, Tones."

"I wanna sit with Clint." Natasha complained from the back.

"Yeah! There are four seats back here! Come on, Clint!" Steve joined in.

'Sorry guys, but I'm sitting with Tony."

"No, that's alright. You can go." Tony said, putting on a fake smile.

"See! He said it's fine! Come on!" Bucky yelled, bouncing on the seat. Clint put a hand on Tony's head as he headed back to claim his new seat.

"Thanks kid." The entire car ride everyone could hear giggles and laughter from the back row. The middle row was relatively quiet, except that Bruce kept asking the two asgardians random questions, such as how far away the moon was and what color eyes everyone had. Tony sat quietly alone in the front row, playing with a small illusion of a hamster Loki had given him to occupy himself. When they reached the ice cream parlor they received some strange looks, mostly because they were a large group and were all, except for Tony and Bucky (who had been given a captain america shirt and tan shorts), were wearing the same clothes. Also, one of them had a metal arm. The boys and Natasha ran up to the counter.

"Hi guys, my name's Freddy. Welcome to Scoopies. What would you like?"

"Oldest first!" Thor shouted.

"Alright then, I'll have vanilla chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles in a cone." Clint said with a devious grin from where he was standing behind the children.

"Strawberrie! I wish to have the rainbow sprinkles too! In a cup, however." Thor shouted.

"Cookie dough. In a cone." Natasha ordered.

"Chocolate! And Vanilla! And brownies on top and chocolate syrup!" Steve said, jumping up in excitement.

"I'll have what he's having!" Bucky said from the side of Steve, equally as excited.

"I'd like chocolate ice cream please. In a cone, sir." Tony added quietly.

"I want what Thor got." Bruce said, grabbing the young gods hand.

"Alright, coming right up, guys." They all waited in anticipation as they watched the boy scoop each of their choices.

"Thanks!"

"Thank you mortal!"

"Thanks!"

"Yes! I love ice cream!"

"Say thanks, punk."

"Oh, right, thanks!"

"Thanks!"

"Thank you sir."

"Thank you!" They each walked over to the benches outside the store, balancing the cups or cones in their hands. Balancing, that is, until Steve tripped. His large cone broke on the ground, shattering into pieces, sending splatters of chocolate ice cream and brownie bits everywhere.

"M-my ice cream." He said quietly, about to start crying on the floor. Tony was about to run over and offer his his ice cream, but Bucky beat him to it.

"That's okay, punk. You can have mine."

"Really? But then you won't have any!"

"That's okay, I wasn't really in the mood for ice cream anyway." Bucky helped him up and handed him the messy cone.

"Thanks, Bucky, this is why you're my best friend." Tony looked at them sadly as they walked cautiously over to the bench, careful not to drop the second ice cream. Natasha slid onto the bench next to Bucky

"Can I be your best friend too?"

"Sorry Tasha," Steve said while licking his ice cream, "You can only have one best friend."

"I'll be your best girl friend."

"Ew! You mean like dating!?"

"No! Gross, just your best friend that's a girl. He's your best friend that's a boy, I'll be your best friend that's a girl."

"Oh, okay. I guess that works. We can be the three amigos!" They laughed and Bucky, who was in the middle, slung an arm around each of them. Tony looked around. He walked over to Hill, Coulson, and Clint, who were sitting on another bench near by.

"Would one of you like my ice cream?"

"Why Tony? Don't you want it?" Clint asked, finishing up his own.

"No, I don't really want it anymore. Sorry."

"That's alright." Hill said. "I'll take it. Thanks." He handed her the ice cream and went to go sit down on the bench with Thor, Bruce, and Loki.

"Can I sit with you guys?"

"Yeah!" Bruce said. "I was just asking Loki about how the whole magic thing works."

"Cool." Tony listened to them question each other, but he wasn't really paying attention. Natasha was his first friend. Now, she liked Steve and Bucky more. Clint was a big adult now, and he probably liked them better too. Bruce liked Thor more than him. Steve was originally mean to him, but they had become friends. They were supposed to be best friends. Bucky was nice to him, too, when he first arrived. He looked over at the 'three amigos' laughing with each other. It was getting close to lunch time, so after they all finished their ice cream, they stopped by a small corner restaurant in the area. They all sat down. The order went Clint, Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Loki, Thor, Bruce, Tony, Hill, Coulson. The waiter came over to take their large order. In total they wound up with 6 orders of fries, 5 hamburgers, 4 sprites, 3 salads, 4 chicken tender platters, and 5 juices. They all waited patiently, most of the kids talking excitedly with each other, Tony just sat with a red crayon and a coloring book. Bruce looked over to see what he was drawing as the food arrived.

"Woah, what's that?" He asked, grabbing the paper and looking at what seemed to be an equation .

"Oh, um...it's an algorithm." Bruce looked at him confused, then turned back to the paper.

"What does it say?"

"It doesn't say anything. It's like a math problem, to help figure out things."

"Well, what's it helping you figure out?" He asked, placing the paper back on the table.

"What made Clint an adult again." Hill, who had been listening to their conversation, looked over.

"Wait, what? Tony, can I see?"

"Umm, yes ma'am." He answered, handing her the paper. She looked over it.

"Coulson, look at this." She showed him the paper too.

"Wow, that's really impressive, kid."

"Yeah, but it's not right. I can't figure it out." He said, pouting a little and looking disappointed.

"That's because it's magic." Loki told them blatantly, not looking up from where Thor was telling him something. The food was passed around and everyone dug in.

"I hate magic." Tony stated, causing all the adults with memories to smile. The older version of Tony had said that phrase numerous times after dealing with situations much like this one. They were all laughing and eating, but stopped as a small voice came from behind Steve.

"Are you the Avengers? Why are you all kids?"