IMPORTANT! When I replaced the Author's Note with the actual Chapter 6 last week it didn't send out a notification email so if you haven't read chapter 6 yet PLEASE HIT PREVIOUS CHAPTER. That's all, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the property of their creators, nor am I seeking to make a profit from this.

Chapter 7

Two months after Jason Baker's article ran in the New York Times, two weeks after Coulson's visit, they went back to the park a few blocks away from the tower. It was Friday afternoon, so there were a lot of people out and about but Natasha didn't worry about the boys. They had become extremely cautious about making Bruce upset by anything and everything, and when they left the tower everything became a threat that they felt obligated to protect him from. Tony especially did everything in his power to keep Bruce calm and happy - Natasha found it endearing. Even Loki endeavored to keep Bruce happy, instead choosing to irritate the other boys (Thor especially).

Ever since Jason Baker's article had run in the New York Times Natasha had been plagued by the feeling that something would go wrong, that people would freak out and demand something from SHIELD that they could not give - like a cure for the Avengers, or even a way to make regular citizens younger as well.

There had been a few crazies here and there who had managed to capture the attention of a struggling journalist or who wrote to magazines with their own crazy theories; all in all, however, things had not changed very much. After they defeated the Chitauri and Loki went away for a little while things had calmed down and the people had put everything they had into rebuilding New York City and had not had very much energy left over to worry about what the Avengers were doing - as long as they were not being threatened they were fine, and most people didn't call Loki's various large-scale pranks extremely threatening. When they found out that their Avengers were now three to five year olds, they had been slightly disturbed - there was suddenly someone powerful enough to turn back the clock and make four adults young children - and a bit concerned until they had learned that the person responsible was de-aged as well and that they had nothing to fear from him, as long as he stayed like that they were perfectly fine with it. There was no uproar where the media got their hands on them and played them up as some kind of team of "Super Babies". Natasha suspected that SHIELD had something to do with that.

They spent a few hours at the park, simply letting the boys run off their excess energy. They played tag - Clint was forced to join in - and climbed all over the small jungle gym that the park had. There weren't any other children there, but then again it was a small park. It would seem that most kids preferred the larger park a few blocks farther away. Natasha was perfectly fine with that.

"Natasha will you push me on the swing?" Steve asked, running up to her with his eyes in full puppy-dog mode. Natasha gave him a small smile.

"Of course." She stood up and took his outstretched hand and was dragged over to the swings. As she walked she glanced around the park and took inventory. She saw Tony and Bruce running up the wide steps on the jungle gym to go down the slide again, Clint and Thor were taking turns hitting the tetherball around the pole as hard as they could. She had Steve.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Where was Loki?

"C'mon!" Steve said, trying to drag her the rest of the way to the swings.

"Hold on, buddy. Barton!" She yelled. The use of his surname got his attention immediately because Clint looked up at her just as Thor hit the ball and was hit in the chest with it.

"Oof, what?" He yelled back, rubbing his chest.

"Where is Loki?" She turned in circles, looking everywhere she could. "Loki!" She called. "Loki!" There was no response. She breathed heavily in through her nose and out through her mouth - trying to stave off panic. What is wrong with me? She thought. I am a trained assassin, I do not panic, she told herself. Yet something inside her was breaking. Clint ran over and gripped her shoulder, looking straight in her eyes.

"Hey, hey calm down okay? We'll find him. When was the last time you saw him? Boys get over here!" He called to the four boys who had stopped where they were and stood staring at Natasha with confused looks on their faces. Clint repeated his command and they all scurried over to where the two were standing.

"I. . . I think he was sitting at the picnic table over there with his astronomy book," she glanced over at the table and saw that the book was still there. "I saw him there and then I looked away and watched Tony and Bruce and then Steve came over and wanted to swing and then when I looked back he wasn't there."

"Fuck," Clint swore under his breath. Natasha glanced at him and saw him get his phone out. She moved away from him to walk over to the picnic table to pick up Loki's book. It was closed and his papers with his drawings were still neatly tucked just inside the hardback cover. There was no note or anything indicating that someone had taken him, or that they took him because they knew who he is. There was no indication that someone had taken him at all, Natasha told herself. Maybe he just wandered off... But she dismissed that thought quickly. Loki had proven to be a clingy three-year-old. Sure he would go off on his own around the house, but he never went far and he was always eager to rejoin the group; and he had taken to never leaving Natasha too far away. Ever since the night he had joined her in her bed after his nightmare they had bonded. Loki knew that she was not his mother, but he sure did not act like it - and truth be told, no matter how averse to motherhood she had been before this whole fiasco she did not feel as averse to it now. In fact, she had found that it came easily to her. And whether or not their mission stood, Natasha intended to act as if it did. They still had no idea how much longer the boys would remain boys.

She sat heavily on the table's bench, clenching her eyes shut and clutching the astronomy book to her chest. She opened her eyes again when there was a hand on her knee. Thor was standing in front of her.

"Where's Loki?" He asked. She could tell that he was trying to sound brave and strong, but she could hear the slight shake in his words.

"I don't know Thor, but we're going to find him." She put the book down next to her and pulled Thor in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her neck and held her. She felt a slight sense of shame when she realized that it seemed that Thor was the one comforting her, instead of her comforting him because his brother is missing. She closed her eyes again, and buried her face in Thor's tiny shoulder, his fine blond hair tickling her ear. She let go and looked up at Clint when he sat down next to her on the bench.

"Nick says that we should go home," Natasha's eyes widened despite herself. "He's sent a team to start looking but he says that we need to get the rest of them home just in case this isn't an individual act. What if Loki is just the first?" His voice lowered for the last sentence, and he was looking at her with meaningful eyes. Finally she nodded.

"Okay guys, let's go home." She stood up and took Thor and Bruce - the two closest to her – by the hand and started walking. She glanced back and saw that Clint had taken Tony and Steve by their hands and was walking briskly to try to keep up with her. Steve stumbled, so Clint just picked him up and kept going.

"What about Loki?" Tony asked, he sounded angry that they weren't going to look for him themselves.

"Do you remember Mr. Fury?"

"The one with the eye-patch?" He had visited the previous week to let Clint and Natasha know that their plan for what to do with Loki was being revised. He hadn't said exactly how it was being revised, but Clint had been happy; it seemed that Fury was listening to them.

"Yes, he is sending out a highly trained team to look for him. We have to get you guys home just in case the people that want Loki also want you guys. But don't worry, nothing is going to happen to you." Natasha very much felt like finding the sick bastard herself and bringing back a few of her old pre-SHIELD moves.

When they got home Natasha told the four boys to go play in their room, and surprisingly they all went without complaint. She started pacing in the living room, unable to calm herself down enough to sit on the couch.

"JARVIS, call Pepper."

"Yes, Miss Romanoff." A few seconds later Pepper answered.

"Pepper Potts," she answered. Her voice sounded loud against the quiet of the room.

"Pepper it's Natasha, something's happened."

"Is everyone alright?" She immediately sounded harried.

"We were at the park and I took my eyes off of him for a few minutes and when I looked back he was gone." She stopped pacing. She couldn't keep the anger that had been creeping up on her for the past twenty minutes out of her voice. She should have been more vigilant!

"Who? Is it Tony?" Pepper sounded on the verge of panic.

"No, it's Loki." Pepper paused.

"Oh no," Pepper sounded less concerned now. Natasha's heart sank – because that is exactly how she should have acted herself, instead of worrying like Loki is her own child. Natasha wrapped her arms back around her waist and continued pacing. "I'm coming home. I'll see you in a half hour." With that she hung up.

Clint, who had watched her from the boys' doorway walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Natasha come sit down. There is nothing we can do now, our job is to stay here and make sure that the other four are safe."

"How can I just sit down? All five are our job! He is our responsibility! Our mission! They all are and we've failed! Do you know how long I looked away? For only about five minutes, and someone took him from right under my nose. I had my guard down for five minutes and this is what happened." She stopped, and slowed her breathing again. She hadn't realized she had yelled until she stopped and the room became completely silent. She stared at Clint, willing herself to be as calm as he seemed to be. "JARVIS give me the security footage of the boys' room, the live feed."

JARVIS put up the holographic screen without a word. The boys were sitting on their floor. Tony and Steve were playing unenthusiastically with their legos, Bruce was working on his puzzle and Thor was sitting against his bed with his arms wrapped around his knees.

Natasha dismissed the holographic feed and went to the boys' room. She went and sat down next to Thor, who leaned against her. She put her arm around his small shoulders.

"Is Loki going to be okay?" He asked quietly after a minute.

"Yes," Natasha said without thought. She turned so that she could look into his eyes, and took his chin in her hand. His eyes were red, and he was trying to stop his tears but they kept falling. "We're going to find him and bring him home, I promise." In retrospect that was a very stupid promise to make, because regular-sized-Thor demanded that his comrades kept their promises, of course five-year-old-Thor would as well – and there was no way that she could ensure that this promise was kept. All she had was a brittle hope and faith in the people that Fury had sent.

Later that night, after everyone had eaten and they had bathed the boys and put them to bed Natasha lay in bed, unable to sleep. She had the security feed floating above her head so that she could reassure the paranoid part of her brain that had emerged over the past few months that the boys – my boys – were safe. She could just barely hear Clint snoring on the couch from her open door. She was vaguely ashamed for denying him access to what had become their bed, but she needed space. She was feeling so emotional and it frightened her. She wasn't used to it, and she didn't know how to deal with herself.

She wished she could sleep like he could, even if just for a few minutes. She felt exhausted – physically and emotionally drained. She rolled over and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep – even if only for a few hours.

Suddenly she felt a pang of pain in her head. She let out a yelp – not so much from pain as from surprise. She had been almost asleep and suddenly she was wide-awake. She curled in on herself, holding her head. The feeling came back a second time a few seconds later, only this time she felt like she could almost hear a voice calling her name. She sat up in bed. "Loki!" She said, one hand still on her head. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling in her head. She felt another pang, and this time her eyes flew open and her vision whited out for a split second. As her vision came back it was not the TV on the other side of the room that she was looking at – it was a strange concrete wall. She heard whimpering and her name called in a soft, quavering voice and realized that she was looking through Loki's eyes. She had no idea how or why but somehow his magic had broken through whatever barrier his spell had erected when he was blasted by his own spell and reached out to her. She willed Loki to look around to give her a better sense of where he was, but he only stared straight ahead. She closed her eyes as her head throbbed one more time and suddenly she could feel where Loki was. It was almost as if something were tugging on her brain, and she scrambled out of bed to put some clothes and shoes on.

Fully dressed she stumbled out of her room, knocking the wall in her haste and she saw Clint jerk upright on the couch. "I know where he is," Natasha said, her voice urgent. She grabbed keys and looked back at the couch, expecting Clint to question her. Instead she was met with his bare chest right in front of her as he grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her.

"Go get him," was all he said as he very nearly shoved her out the door to the staircase. She flew down the stairs, taking them two, sometimes three at a time. Finally she was in the garage and into her car; seconds later she was speeding down the highway.

She followed the tugging sensation in her brain only four miles to the west. Natasha steeled herself, keeping the anger she felt down so that she could focus. Loki's magic led her directly to an unassuming two-story house with a white picket fence. She parked her car a block away and ran to the back of the house, keeping herself hidden. There was no one on the street and only one streetlight was lit, but there was no telling what kind of sickos lived in this neighborhood, no matter how "nice" it seemed on the outside.

She could feel the magic line pulling her towards a window that was along the bottom of the house – the basement. What kind of sick motherfucker leaves a child in the basement? Natasha shook her head and forced all thoughts out of her mind as she approached the window. She looked inside and saw a carpeted room with concrete walls. There were boxes directly under the window and there was a cot sitting off to one side with a small figure sitting curled up on top of it. Loki! Natasha carefully tested the window, finding it unlocked. Idiots. She saw Loki's head jerk up and a smile blossom on his face. Natasha put her finger to her lips, praying that he stayed silent. She crawled in from the window, thanking whatever gods were listening that the boxes were full of books or something solid and she could just climb down from them. Loki ran to her as she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his small frame. "You're safe, shhh you're safe," she found herself whispering over and over again. She didn't notice the tug on her brain disappear.

"Loki, are there any other kids here with you?" Natasha prayed that this wasn't some kind of human trafficking den she had found, and when Loki shook his head she breathed a sigh of relief. She picked Loki up and carried him to the window, telling him to climb the boxes and get out of there.

Suddenly there was a noise from the top of the stairs and the door opened. Unfortunately there was nothing separating the door from Natasha and Loki's current position, so she could see a man in his mid-to-late thirties standing in the doorway. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" He yelled and started down the stairs.

"Get behind me Loki," Natasha said, setting him down and preparing to take this man down.

"What's going on?" Came a female voice from the top of the stairs, but before Natasha could get a look at her she was in full-fledged Black Widow mode, and the man was down in seconds. As Natasha made sure that the man wasn't going to wake up any time soon, the woman the top of the stairs screamed and yelled that she was going to call the police, but before she could even move Natasha was up the stairs with her hand around the woman's throat holding her against the wall.

"Do you really think that that would do you any good, when I have you here on kidnapping?" She said, her voice dangerously low. The woman's eyes widened and she choked out, "who are you?" Suddenly Natasha recognized her – the woman from the park the week before.

Natasha narrowed her eyes and didn't answer. Instead she pulled out her phone and dialed SHIELD.
"Agent?" Came Coulson's calm voice.

"I've got him," Natasha gave the street name and house number. She quickly knocked the woman out and set her down on the ground. She gave the woman one final contemptuous look before hurrying back down the stairs. She didn't see Loki at first, but quickly spotted a small dog cowering in the corner. It was black with green eyes and Natasha surmised that Loki had gotten scared and shifted in order to hide himself. She went over to the puppy and picked him up, cradling him close to her chest. She didn't see the point of going back through the window so she took the stairs and walked out the front door. She waited on the porch for five minutes before one of SHIELD's cars showed up. Coulson got out along with two other agents. A police car pulled up a few seconds later

"Is he okay?" Phil said as he ascended the steps of the house.

"Yes, he's just scared. He watched me take down the two psychos in there."

"Where are they?"

"Out cold in the basement."

"Wouldn't have expected anything less from you, Natasha. Go home and get some rest, you look like hell." Phil gave Loki a pat on the head, a smile, and Natasha a pat on the shoulder. Natasha gave him a small smile, and headed back to her car. As she walked she felt Loki start to shift back and adjusted her hold to accommodate a child instead of a dog, and held him closer as he buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"Are you okay?" She whispered as she put him in the car. She didn't have a car seat, so she just tried to get him as securely buckled-in as she could.

"I'm hungry," he said and Natasha laughed quietly.

"I'll make you breakfast when we get home."

"Pancakes?"

"Anything you want."

When Clint woke up the next morning, he was momentarily confused as to why he was sleeping on the couch. Then he remembered the events of the previous day. He sat up, stretched his arms up and yawned. He stood up, scratching the back of his head, and headed to Natasha's room. He cracked the door open and peered in.

Natasha was curled up on her side under the sheet, and Loki was curled up right next to her, facing her. One of Natasha's arms was wrapped securely around Loki's small shoulders and one of his hands was clenched in the t-shirt that she slept in. Clint wasn't surprised to find him there.

He hadn't been able to fall back asleep after Natasha had rushed out the night before, and had paced for a while, made himself some coffee, and then ended up just sitting on the couch staring aimlessly out the window at the lights of the city. Even at two am it was still so bright.

Finally, at three JARVIS had announced that Natasha was back with Loki, and a few minutes later the door opened and Natasha entered holding a sleeping Loki. Clint stood and watched as Natasha went straight for the boys' room. He followed, and stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame. She laid Loki down on his bed and went to the large closet that held all of the boys' clothes. She came back out a few moments later carrying a clean set of pajamas for Loki. Clint went and helped her carefully undress Loki and put on the shirt and flannel sleep pants. He didn't open his eyes once.

When they were done Clint took Natasha by the hand and they exited the boys' room and quietly shut the door. Clint pulled Natasha into a hug and held her there. She didn't return it at first, her arms hanging limply at her sides; however, after a moment she wrapped her arms around his middle and held him so tight it was difficult for him to breathe. She pressed her face into his chest, and Clint knew that if she were any other woman she would be crying right now. After a minute or two they broke apart and Clint leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. She leaned up and kissed him, and then pulled back completely.

"I need to be alone," she said quietly, and Clint nodded; he didn't quite understand, but he knew that she would tell him what happened in the morning.

Now Clint withdrew from the room, leaving the door ajar, and went to the kitchen. According to the oven clock it was seven thirty. He rubbed his eyes, wishing that he could go back to sleep, but he was awake now and that wouldn't change. He decided to make coffee, and grabbed the first book he could find in the living room, The Hobbit. Loki had been reading it to Thor, and had seemed to enjoy it. While he waited for the coffee to be finished he sat down on the couch and started reading. In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Clint chuckled, and continued reading.

A half an hour later Clint heard a door open and close again quietly, and after a few seconds Natasha sat down on the couch next to him.

"I made coffee, if you want some?" Clint asked, marking his page and looking up at her. She looked tired, as if she hadn't slept well – and indeed, she hadn't slept very long. She nodded, and he went into the kitchen and poured two mugs of coffee from Tony's fancy coffeemaker. He was pleased to find that even a half hour after making the coffee it was still piping hot. He re-entered the living room, handed Natasha her coffee – black, as she likes it – and sat back down. "I thought you'd sleep longer."

"I didn't sleep much. Couldn't shut my brain up," she muttered, taking a sip. She winced a little at how hot it was, but took another sip anyways.

"What happened last night?" Clint asked after a few comfortably silent moments. Natasha took a deep breath and set her mug down.

"I'm not sure why, but Loki's magic must have activated itself, probably because he was scared, and it attached itself to my mind, and I just knew where he was. I even saw through his eyes for a few seconds. It was almost like I was being pulled to where he was."

"Where was he?"

"In a fucking nice two-story house with a white picket fence. It was the most innocuous house imaginable, and he was locked up in the basement with no light, no bathroom, and only a stupid cot to sleep on. He was huddled in the corner when I got there." Clint felt anger flare up, and he was suddenly itching to get out his bow and arrows.

"There was a middle-aged couple there when I got in. The woman was the same woman from the park last week." Clint felt the color drain from his face. He had spoken to that woman, he hadn't given her secrets of course, but he hadn't suspected her in the least and had mentioned that the boys liked that park and that they went fairly often. He felt slightly sick.

"What about the girl that was at the park with her? She said it was her daughter but I'm starting to doubt that was the case."

"Loki didn't think that there were any other kids there – it could have been her niece or someone she was babysitting. . . She and the guy she was with are in SHIELD's custody now, and God help them if they let me interrogate them." Clint couldn't help but agree with her wholeheartedly.

It was at that moment that Natasha's door opened again, and Loki emerged, rubbing his eyes. He was still in his pajamas. He walked over to the couch and climbed up so that he was sitting in between Clint and Natasha. "I'm hungry," he mumbled, sounding tired and cranky.

"Of course, what do you want? Pancakes?" Natasha said, smoothing his fine black hair down as he leaned against her. He nodded, and moved so that he was leaning against Clint as Natasha stood up and went into the kitchen.

Clint was still holding the Hobbit, and lifted his arm so that Loki could nestle under it as he opened it up and started reading. After a few minutes the boys' door opened Thor came around the couch a couple seconds later. He stopped for a fraction of a second and then he surged forward and Loki ducked from under Clint's arm and they were throwing their arms around each other. Clint closed his book again and watched as Thor tightened his hold on his brother and whispered, "I missed you."

"I missed you too, brother."

I hope you all liked this chapter, I wrote most of it months ago when I had writer's block and this scene came to mind, so I was always itching to get to it so I could expand it more. Also, my lovely beta has gone back to school and no longer has time to edit, so this is the first chapter without her input. I'm sorry if it's not up to its usual par, and if you see any typos or things that just don't make sense please let me know so that I can fix it!

Another announcement I would like to make is that the end is quickly approaching. I estimate three more chapters and an epilogue until this story is completely finished.

As always, please review! They make me so happy. :)