"Tony, we need to go shopping again" Pepper called from the other room

He sighed, they'd been shopping practically every single day for one thing or another... "Why this time?"

"None of Natasha's clothes fit" she called again, as the child in question ran past Tony wearing a dress which was clearly too big for her. She was laughing, and Clint was chasing her also laughing. Natasha's tights caused her to skid across the floor and she ended up in a heap by Steve's feet, Clint soon fell over her and the two of them were in fits of giggles on the floor

It was nice to see them happy again, now that Natasha had recovered from her injuries

"They're deaging at different rates, aren't they?" Pepper asked Tony when he joined her in the kids bed room, she was sorting though their clothes and there was a huge pile that were too big for them

"Yeah, but we still have time. Medical reckon Tasha is about 6 to 6 and a half at the moment, and Clint is somewhere between 8 and 9"

"Do you know why? I mean Tasha's lost over two years and Clint's lost what, one and a bit?"

"As best we can guess they deage less when they're happy, and it speeds up when they're hurt or scared or upset, which is why Tasha is getting so young so quick. I just hope when she hits four; before the red room took her, she had a relatively normal childhood right, so it should slow right down"

Tony peered round the corner to see Clint thrown over Steve's problem as Natasha was jumping to try and 'save' him, she chased Steve round the lounge while he 'kidnapped' Clint and eventually threw her over his other shoulder

Steve tickled them both and they shrieked and wiggled and squealed, so he threw them both down on the couch

Tony laughed as Steve turned around and Natasha jumped on his back, and somehow managed to climb up to his shoulders, Clint clung to his legs so he couldn't move and shouted "We got you! We got you! We win". They wouldn't let him go until he surrendered, and after that Steve and Pepper took the two of them out for ice cream before going to stock up on yet more clothes

Tony headed back to the lab where Bruce was rubbing his eyes tiredly; he hadn't left the lab in almost five days

"I brought you some food"

Bruce jumped slightly, he hadn't notice Tony's arrival

"Thanks" he said, taking a mouthful of coffee and a large bite of sandwich

"Where is everyone?"

"Tasha needs new clothes"

Bruce nodded sadly, he'd noticed her shrink by at least a few inches over the past few days, but if he and Tony were right; now she was fully healed she should stabilise for a while

"You know, I was thinking about bring Jane Foster in on this, I know she's an astrophysicist, but she has a lot of medical background too... And it's someone we know we can trust. She was a big help last time this all happened..."

"A set of new eyes can't be a bad thing" Tony agreed

"I'll ring her later" Bruce said, pushing his glasses back on his nose as he tuned back to his work

"Anything?"

"Nothing new, what about Shield?"

"No, Fury yelled at me last time I rang; they're still not getting anywhere with the remaining Hydra agents, and when I asked where his interrogation experts were he yelled 'She's currently playing with goddamn dolls in your frickin tower!' and hung up on me

"He's stressed"

"He's not the only one"

"Pepper, can I have two ice creams?" Clint asked hopefully

"No Clint, you can I have one ice cream"

"But I can't decide!" he whined

"Well you'll have to decide" Pepper told him, copying his whining voice and Natasha laughed

"What flavours do you want?" Natasha asked, reaching up on her tip toes to see over the counter, but she was too short and still couldn't see

"Mint chocolate chip and mocha coffee" Clint said longingly, trying his best to convince Pepper but she wasn't budging

"Want to share?" Natasha offered, jumping now to try and see all the flavour Clint was looking at. Steve lifted her up so she could finally see

Clint agreed quickly, before Natasha could change her mind

They ate their ice cream before heading over to the mall once again

Pepper bought some clothes for Natasha, and some more in the next size down as well to prevent them needing to go shopping again too soon

"Pepper, I'm bored"

"I know Clint, sorry. We're almost done"

"I don't like that one Pepper... Or that one" Natasha informed her

She sighed and put several of the tops back on the shelve

"Can we go now?"

"Clint"

"Please Pepper, shopping is boring"

"From now on, I'm buying everything online" Pepper whispered to Steve as she went to the counter to pay