After a few uneventful days at the tower, Phil came to visit the two miniature assassins
"Hey Coulman!" Clint greeted with a smile, pausing his game of tag and causing Natasha to run right into him
"Coulson" Phil corrected, grinning back at his two former agents. The age difference between them was more obvious now than ever; Phil recognised the clothes Natasha wore as some of the once she'd been bought last time this had happened; which meant she'd gotten a lot younger since last time he'd seen them
The two ran off, continuing their game as Phil went to speak with Steve and Tony; the Hydra agents they were questioning had both committed suicide during the night and they had no other leads. Currently they were relying solely on the research Bruce and Tony were conducting, and making little progress with
Natasha suddenly interrupted their hushed discussions; looking worried and wide eyed and Tony knew instantly there was something wrong. He followed her back down the hallway with Steve and Phil following behind; they found Clint curled up on the floor, clutching his arm and whimpering
"Come on buddy, let's go get this looked at okay" Steve said gently, scooping the small child up into his arms and heading down towards Bruce's lab
"When is Jane Foster due to arrive?"
"She's supposed to be here by the end of the week; I just hope she's able to help" Tony said gravely, taking Natasha's hand and taking her down to the lab so she could be with her friend
Bruce had barely finished putting Clint's arm in a cast; he'd broken it in two places, when Natasha shouted out in pain and fell to the floor
She had a bullet stuck in her chest, broken ribs and a collapsed lung; they'd been expecting the stab wound, and Clint's broken arm. They hadn't known to expect this.
Bruce set about to work as Clint hovered nervously nearby
Bruce and Tony went back to work once she was stable while Steve sat with the two kids in the lab, Phil had headed back to Shield to let Fury know just how urgent a solution was; seeing them suffer first hand was more than he could handle
"Is she gonna wake up?" Clint asked, gripping Natasha's hand awkwardly with his
Clint's eyes were so big and sad and Steve couldn't help but feel for him. The poor child was terrified, he was scared about what was to come, worried about his friend and had had to place all his trust in Tony and Steve; his and Natasha's entire future depended on them finding a solution, and that was almost too much pressure to bear.
"I hope so" was all he could answer; he couldn't give him false hope. Even as a child Clint would see straight through that ploy
Natasha did wake soon, and returned to her bedroom that night with Clint. But the next morning he couldn't wake her; on examination Bruce informed the others than she'd developed an infection and gone into septic shock; it seems they weren't great with infection control in the red room
It was touch and go for a while; she started showing symptoms of heart failure and Bruce began to worry it was more than her tiny body could handle. But eventually her condition improved and the two kids got better, slowly.
By the time she was back to full health Natasha had lost a lot more time; she spoke with a heavy Russian accent where it was untraceable before, once more none of her clothes fit and neither did any of Clint's
"I am so sick of buying kids clothes" Pepper commented, arriving back at the tower following a trip to the mall. She'd opted to go alone this time to speed things up
Clint and Steve barely looked up from the game they were playing on the wii, and Tony wasn't there; probably in the lab working with Bruce; the two of them had barely left since the incident where both kids had been injured and deaging at the same time
There was a bang from the back room, and Pepper looked around to see Natasha was absent and sighed
"Natasha?" she called, putting down her shopping bags before she went to investigate. But before she left the room, Thor appeared in the doorway, holding Natasha up by her ankle. She swung slightly as Thor examined her with confusion. She giggled and reached down towards the floor, but Thor was holding her high up
"Who does this belong to?" Thor asked loudly, causing Steve and Clint to turn around. Clint's jaw dropped slightly as he saw the large man in the strange uniform he recognised from the photo by Natasha's bedside
"Thor, put her down" Pepper instructed, but screamed slightly as Thor released his grip; he reached out and grabbed her again before she could slam into the ground
Pepper's eyes were screwed tightly shut as she tensed against Natasha's cries, but they never came
When she opened them again Thor was stood, holding Natasha by her ankle again as she hung upside down, slight bewildered as to whether that was funny or scary
"Hey mister, you're Thor!" Clint told him, leaning over the back of the sofa
"You have more than one?" Thor asked, still confused
Natasha looked like she was going slightly red in the cheeks as all her blood rushed to her face
"Thor, gently put her down" Pepper instructed slowly, going over to help Natasha up as she swayed with dizziness
Pepper was concerned when Natasha stumbled slightly so she picked her up and sat her on her hip; noticing the much smaller size of her than the last time she'd held her
"Thor, this is Natasha and Clint" she said, indicating to the children
"Oh" was all he answered, glancing over the two children and recognising the red curls, blue eyes and mischievous grins of his friends "I see"
Steve sighed, "Come on Thor; I'll explain everything to you"
"He talks funny" Natasha whispered and Pepper had to agree