Heeeeeeelllllloooooo! :D I'm alert, alive, awake, enthusiastic!

LexiconGirl - Ah yes, that Loki ;) How will the Avengers solve this I wonder…Thank you so much! :D Thank you thank you thank you! :D School can be so mean XP Luckily things don't REALLY start until Monday.

Avengerlicious - Well in this chapter, you find out exactly what ages they are :) Wait…ages? Plural? Oh yes :) Thanks!

Noodle Fanatic - I dunno why I didn't tell you. I have plenty of fanfictions to talk about I guess…Um…I think I came up with it about five or six months ago. It's just been sitting here. Don't really know what you mean though. Not a fanfic? :/

-(::)-

You give up your childhood. You miss proms and games and high-school events, and people say it's awful... I say it was a good trade. You miss something but I think I gained more than I lost.
-Mary Lou Retton

-(::)-

All Parker could hear was beeping. It was a soft, steady beeping. It sounded a lot like a—

The beeping sped up when she realized it was a heart monitor. Her eyes remained closed. She tried to calm herself down. "Marie," said a voice. "Marie, are you awake?" Parker recognized the voice. She knew who it was. It was Steve. She felt comforted, but still couldn't help but worry.

What had happened? He used her real name, no one used her real name anymore. Parker was in a hospital, she could tell, but how bad was it? She gave all she had to open her eyes. There was lots of white lights. It was too bright. Parker reeled back. "Parker?" She opened her eyes again and her vision was blurry. She tried to see straighter. She blinked several times. Parker looked up and saw Steve. She smiled, though he did not. "Parker, you may be a little shocked, or scared even, but try not to worry, we're working on it."

"W-Working on what?" Parker's eyes widened. Her voice was much higher pitched than it had been before. "Steve, what's going on?"

Steve sighed. "Thank goodness you still remember."

"Remember? W-What?"

Steve put a hand on Parker's shoulder. "Marie. Stay calm, and pull away the blankets."

Parker hesitated before grabbing the thin hospital sheet. She pulled it off and looked down. The heart monitor went erratic. Parker swung her legs off of the bed and attempted to get out of the room. Steve grabbed her hand as she was reaching for the IV tubes. "Don't touch them. You can't just rip them out." Parker tried to take deep breaths.

"I don't understand," she said quietly. "Why do I look like a four year old?!"

"At the restaurant Loki attacked. You jumped forward and took the blast of a spell he had cast. Most of it anyway."

"And Lily and Elizabeth?"

"They got it too, just not as much."

As if they had been listening in and waiting for this moment, two people burst into the room. It was Lily and Elizabeth, yet it wasn't Lily and Elizabeth. They were teenagers again. Elizabeth still two or three inches taller than Lily, and Lily still as spastic as she normally is. Well, more so. Same with Elizabeth. They came to the side of Parker's bed. "I'm not sure if I should say 'Thank you' or 'You're an idiot'," said Lily.

"Look, it was an instinct—"

"Just because you're leader and you're heroic and brave and responsible," Elizabeth said sarcastically, "doesn't mean you have to use yourself as a sacrifice for everything," she complained. "The same thing happened with the doom bots!"

"Guys, I'm fine—"

"No! You are most definitely NOT fine! YOU'RE A FOUR YEAR OLD RIGHT NOW FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" yelled Lily.

Steve turned to them. "Look, I know you're worried about Parker, but she needs to be alone right now. You guys need rest too. By the way, how were you aloud out of your medical wards?"

"Oh, you know," said Lily with a shrug. "Talking with Tony. Being amazing. He was pretty easy to convince."

"Okay, you two need to go back to your hospital rooms. Anything could happen at any moment." The two teenagers grumbled and left. Steve turned back to Parker. "Any more questions before I leave?"

"Yeah, two. One, how long will it last. Two, are we at the SHIELD hospital, a public hospital, or Stark Tower medical bay?"

"We don't know how long this will last, and we're at Stark Tower." He sighed. "Stark and Doctor Banner are thinking it will have a greater affect on you than the others since you took most of the blast."

He stood up and looked at his watch. "It's nine o'clock. You should probably go to bed. Tomorrow you need to get examined. You may have the brain of a twenty-three year old, but you have the body of a four year old, which means you should have been asleep an hour ago. Which you were, but you were more unconscious, really."

He walked over to the door and turned out most of the lights, leaving two dim ones on. Parker actually did feel exhausted. She felt her eyelids drooping, and eventually fell prey to sleep.

-(::)-

Parker could smell food. Or something. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a tray on a cart on her left. A doctor had their back turned to her on the other side of the room. Parker sat up and looked at the tray. She had no idea what it was, but it didn't look too appetizing. The nurse turned around. Parker didn't recognize the woman, but the adult smiled. "Good morning. I brought you some food."

Before anything more could be said, the door opened. It was Tony. "Hellllooooo Parker," he said with the cocky grin of his. He turned to the nurse. "I've gotten this under control, feel free to take the day off." The nurse smiled.

"Thank you Mr. Stark," and she left the room.

Tony took one look at the tray of food and raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me you weren't actually thinking about eating that." Parker shrugged. Tony folded his arms and shook his head. "Oh Parker. Hospital food will kill you. Come on, Bruce is making bacon and eggs for the rest of us. Elizabeth and Lily are already up." He shuddered. "I don't think I'll last very long with two teenagers running around the tower. Especially two super-powered teenagers."

He helped Parker with the hospital gear. She slid off of the side of the bed. It was pretty high off of the ground given her current height, so Tony had to help her down. "Oh, and Nat got you this," he said handing her a plastic shopping bag. "It's a lot better than that hospital gown, trust me. There's a bathroom a room over," he said gesturing to a door across the room.

Parker nodded and went inside the bathroom. She found a pair of jeans and a green long sleeve shirt. She quickly changed into it and came back out. Tony lead her down the hallway. "You haven't been very talkative. Ashamed of your voice range?" Parker rolled her eyes. "Come on. Say something."

Parker sighed in annoyance. "Look, I'm saying something. Satisfied?"

"Mildly," Tony said with a smirk.

They continued to walk down the halls. Parker began to slow. The walk was much further than it was in her normal age. They turned to a staircase. "The elevator needs to be repaired. It's having problems." Parker was lagging behind a bit further than she had hoped. Tony noticed that she wasn't right by him and turned around. Parker tried to run to catch up, but Tony walked back to her. She was panting and very noticeably tired. "I-It's a lot…harder to…keep up when…the stairs seem three times…as long."

"You don't seriously expect me to carry you?"

"Well that wasn't what I was suggesting, but…" Parker trailed off with a shrug. She looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes. Tony groaned.

"Gosh dang it. Fine!" He helped her up onto his shoulders. Parker laughed triumphantly.

"The last time I rode on someone's shoulders I was…five. I was watching the parade for the ninety-second anniversary for my hometown. I was on my dad's shoulders." Parker reflected back on the memory. She never spoke about her life before her teenage years except to Lily and Elizabeth. There was silence for a bit as they climbed the last of the three flights of stairs.

Tony opened the door to the level they were headed to. Tony helped down Parker and they both walked into the dining room. Elizabeth and Lily both jumped up and Elizabeth scooped up Parker. "You're so light!"

Parker struggled in her friend's grasp. "Let go!" she said, trying to push away from Elizabeth. Elizabeth changed her holding position. Parker gave up on struggling. She hadn't been held by someone in forever and — honestly – it was kinda nice! Elizabeth put Parker down in her seat. "I'm not incapable of sitting down by myself you know," muttered Parker.