Sorry for the late update! But here's to the first chapter of the new year! And a Happy New year! This is a pretty cute chapter to start off 2015!
Bruce announced the next day that late in the night Hank Pym had messaged him saying he'd made astounding possess with the new blood samples. "He says it's not ready for testing yet but that Clint's body was incubating dormant particles in his blood stream."
Tony kicked back in his seat. "Bet Reed's pissed."
"I'm not going to speculate."
"Means 'yes'."
"Anyway, according to Hank, Clint's blood was keeping the particles alive but dormant and he's trying to reactivate them so he can get them to give back what was taken."
"Did Hank say how long his body will host the particles?" Tony asked, this time seriously.
"He says they have a shelf life and are slowly dying inside him. He says in a matter of months the particles will be completely gone. But with the ones he's isolated from Clint's blood stream he should be able to reverse the process and repair the damage."
Steve sat back n his seat. "So it shouldn't take too long then? I know Pym works fast."
"No, I don't think it'll take too long at all."
There was a long pause, it was what they wanted, everything returned to normal and Clint to be an adult again but there was no denying that in the time spent with the boy-Clint a certain level of attachment had been formed.
"I guess Hank will let us know when he's got it down." Tony said.
"Yeah."
Natasha looked out the window quietly. "I think I'll miss him like this."
Barney nodded, he understood. Of course he didn't know that Clint had helped her find the maternal instinct she thought she'd lost but in a way he understood what she meant better than any of them.
"Guess we'll just keep going like we have been until then." Tony said. "Who's spending the day with him? I have a business meeting at noon so I'm out."
"I can." Barney said.
"I think I'll stay with you." Natasha said quietly.
Steve smiled. "Think we should throw him a party before he changes back?"
"I don't think that's a bad idea." Tony mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Natasha turned to Barney as the others left the room. "Would you like to do anything special today?"
He shrugged. "We could take Clint to a zoo. Guess he's like that."
She smiled. "I think so too."
Not even two hours later they had the boy dressed and out the door. He hugged close to Barney as they walk but shot curious glances over at Natasha, looking away quickly when she caught his eye.
To Clint, it was the perfect start to a day. He was going somewhere exciting with his brother and with Natasha whom he liked very much. He walked between them, clinging to his brother unconsciously.
His day with Bruce had eased his fears that the people in the tower would not like him and now that he had Barney he was sure they wouldn't send him away. And he old himself, that if they did send him away Barney would take care of him. Barney had always done his best to take care of him. Sometimes he'd felt like he just irritated his brother, especially when Barney was off with his friends but he'd never felt like Barney hated him and if he and Barney got into a fight it was nothing like a fight with his father. The difference was, he could hit back. Barney may have been bigger and ultimately always won but he never felt helpless when they fought each other.
But now, on a sunny day, walking between his big brother and a woman he thought was the prettiest woman in the world he couldn't have been happier.
"What would you like to see first?" Natasha asked him once they reached the zoo. She was looking at a map while Barney stood looking out at the animal enclosures.
Clint thought for a moment. "I wanna see a tiger!" He said.
"Actually that's pretty close, good choice."
They headed off, Clint holding his hands over his eyes to block the sun. Natasha smiled at Barney who was following after, hands in his pockets. "I think you picked a very good way to spend the day."
He grinned. "Thought he'd like it."
Clint spent five whole minutes looking at the tigers.
"He looks like Calvin and Hobbs." Barney laughed. Natasha smiled.
"What next?" She asked.
"Penguins!"
And so they headed to the penguin enclosure. After a moment of studying the birds Clint looked up. "Natasha, are there penguins in Russia?"
"Only in zoos." She said.
"Wow! This is my first time seeing a penguin not on tv."
After that they saw the bears, the lions, the monkeys and elephants before stopping for lunch at a kiosk.
Clint sat between them at a picnic table eating happily. They had let him see every animal he'd wanted. Thinking about it he thought that that was a bit unusual for his brother but there was something different about Barney anyway. He chalked it up to Barney being grown up now.
"I'd like to see the aquarium." Natasha said thoughtfully, interrupting his reflections.
Clint didn't care too much about fish but he though that since she'd let him drag her around to see what he wanted it was only fair and anyway, he didn't want to make her mad or anything. "Okay. Do they have sharks?"
"Yes, I think so." She said, looking at a brochure.
He caught his brother's eye and grinned. "Cool!" Barney returned his smile, looking honestly interested himself. As they stood to head towards the aquarium he offered Clint a chance to ride on his shoulders. His brother instantly seized the opportunity and was delighted to see above the crowd.
Natasha smiled her smile that always made it seem as though she knew some secret joke. While the boys watched the sharks she took her chance to look at the exotic fish she'd wanted to see. Across the aquarium she could hear them talking a little too loudly but there were only a few people there and they didn't seem bothered.
"Wow!" Clint exclaimed, which seemed to be his remark for every new animal they saw. The glass wall of the shark tank reached the ceiling and situated on his brother's shoulders he was at eye level with a great big hammerhead shark.
Barney laughed. "Think he'll fit in a fish bowel?" He asked.
"Maybe a great big one."
"Dunno if we can get one of those at the pet store. Have to ask."
They stood someone before Barney's shoulders grew tired and he bounced Clint around to get the feeling back. Clint laughed delightedly and to Barney it was such a free happy sound he thought he might never have heard it before.
They returned to the sunlight outside and Barney suggested that they get ice cream, wanting more than anything to hear his brother laugh so joyously again. It worked and even though Clint ordered a vanilla because he knew it it was the cheapest thing on the menu, he still laughed freely. Barney shared his chocolate with him, demanding a little bit of vanilla just to make it fare. He was careful to stay a brother. He wasn't a father and he didn't really want to make it harder for Clint to relate to him than it already was.
The zoo trip eventually came to and end and although Natasha offered to get him something from the gift shop Clint declined.
They returned to the tower in good spirits, Clint talking excitedly.
When they reached the elevator a blonde man was standing tapping his fingers anxiously. He looked over at them in surprise. "Natasha." He said, eyes going instantly to Clint. The boy shrank away.
"Dr. Pym." She said pleasantly. A tremor ran through her heart. If Pym was at the tower it mean he had either perfected his new particles or was nearly there. She immediately shut the new feelings down. It was not her place to keep Clint a child and anything other than wanting full restoration was selfish. She shook Pym's hand.
"Is that Barton?" He asked.
Clint hugged his brother's legs and Barney put a hand on the back of his head. "Yeah, this is Clint. Who're you?"
"This is Dr. Henry Pym." Natasha said, noting the defensive way Barney was standing in front of his brother.
Barney nodded. "Oh, yeah." He shook Pym's hand.
Hank smiled. "Going up?" He asked as the doors opened. They stepped into the elevator. "Well, I came to see things for myself. I also and pretty close to fixing the particles."
Natasha cleared her throat and gestured towards Clint with her eyes.
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, I wanted to talk to Dr. Banner about our project."
She smiled with approval. "He'll be in his lab. Do you want to get off on that floor?"
"Oh yeah. That'd be fine."
The elevator dinged and he smiled. "Nice meeting you Clint." he nodded at Barney.
Natasha watched him go and Clint relaxed. "He's alright." She said to him. He nodded but did not look convinced.
Barney brushed a hand over his brother's head. "You wanna watch tv for a little bit?" He asked.
Clint smiled and nodded. "Yeah!"
The two of them headed of to the living room and Natasha took the elevator back down to the lab to hear what Hank had to say.
"Unbelievable. He really is just kid." Hank was saying. "I had to see it for myself before we turn him back."
"You said you were close." Natasha interrupted.
"Yeah, I've been running some tests with lab mice and I think I've got a good understanding of the particles. I'm reversing them as we speak."
"When do you think you'll have them ready?"
"Well I was telling Bruce just that. In a day or two most likely."
She nodded and sank onto a stool. "Will he remember the past week?"
"He should. He'll age into an adult again, that should take about three minutes. You won't have to shock him this time, before he had his whole life to lose but he can't age past where he left off. Anyway, he'll remember this week perfectly. He might have a fever again after he returns to usual but that seems to be a side effect of the process I haven't worked out and it only lasts a day so he'll recover. Also he may have headaches for a few days but that's just from his thought process returning to normal and the sudden reintroduction of his memories."
She nodded, taking it all in. "I see."
Bruce checked his watch. "Did you want to give hi a quick examination before you leave?"
Hank nodded. "If that's okay. I just want to see the full effects of the particles on a human being."
"I think it would be alright. Although he just a normal child. Also, watch what you say. We haven't explained everything to him. We told him there was an accident but he doesn't know how it happened. I don't think it'd really hurt him to know but if it's going to be put right soon I think it would just be better to explain when he's an adult."
Hank nodded and they had Barney bring Clint down. He his behind his brother's legs, peeking out carefully.
Bruce knelt down. "Clint, do you think you could hop up on a stool for us? Doctor Pym here would like to give you a check up?"
Clint glanced up at hank curiously and motioned with one finger for Bruce to come closer. 'will I get a shot?" He asked.
Bruce chuckled. "No shots today."
The boy nodded and climbed onto the stool. Instead of taking his temperature Hank sat down opposite him. "Actually, I just want to talk." He asked Clint several questions bout his date of birth, what grade he was in, and then questions about what he liked and disliked. Finally they let Clint and Barney g back upstairs and he grinned. "Amazing. Really. He's completely reverted to his child self."
Bruce smiled exasperatedly. "I told you."
Hank suddenly became much more serious. "You know these particles could be the secret to immortality."
Bruce frowned. "You'd never die but you'd lose half of your life every time you made yourself younger."
"But think of the possibilities. If I could find a way around that. . ."
Natasha got to her feet smiling. "I'll leave you to it." She didn't agree with Pym. Death was a part of life. It was a finality and some finalities shouldn't be messed with.
Thanks for reading and sticking with me to a new year!