Jane found herself crawling through the air vents above the communal lounge after Natasha suggested this is where Clint would be found, but what she'd do when (and if) she found him, she didn't know.
They'd decided it wasn't a good idea to send Natasha into the vents after him for fear she'd bolt too, and she still hadn't quite gotten over her crying ordeal and was clinging to Pepper for comfort; leaving Jane the only one left who was able to actually fit into the vents.
"I knew I should have brought Darcy" Jane muttered to herself as she manoeuvred a particularly tricky corner
"Who's Darcy?" Clint asked, surprising her
He was sulking in the corner, watching through the vents as Natasha dosed on Pepper's knee
"She's my friend"
"Your best friend?"
"Yeah, I guess she is... I should ring her" Jane thought out loud; she'd taken off in a bit of a hurry and Darcy was probably worried about her
"Tasha is my best friend"
"I know she is"
"If Steve and Tony don't want us no more, if they send us away then I won't see her anymore"
"Clint, they're not going to send you away" she told him gently
"How do I know you're not lying to me?"
"Clint, look down there" she said, directing his vision to where Steve was passing Natasha a glass of warm milk now she'd stirred. She'd crawled into Tony's lap and the two of them sat watching Scooby Doo on the TV while Pepper fussed over her. "Do you really think they'd send you guys back?"
Clint gazed at Natasha, he could hear her asking about him and she sounded worried. He looked to Thor who tried to distract her from her fears as Tony held her tighter. No one wanted a repeat of the upset they'd had earlier, and all the adults were concerned that Jane had not yet (to their knowledge) found him
Clint shook his head sadly
"Did you hear what Tony told Natasha about the machine?" she asked, trying to shift into a more comfortable position and failing
"No" Clint admitted
"It's not a fix, they don't know how to make you back into adults yet. But it should stop you getting any younger, stop you getting hurt"
"That'd good" Clint nods "Tasha is getting real little"
Jane smiled, she didn't know Clint all that well, but she knew it was typical of him to put Natasha first, always.
The two walked back into the communal lounge hand in hand, receiving relieved smiled from the other five adults while Natasha threw herself into Clint's arms; it was an awkward hug however, as the height difference between them both now was more noticeable than ever, and Clint refused to let go of Jane's hand
"I'm sorry I yelled" Clint told Tony
Pepper suggested Natasha and Clint played on the wii while the six adults went to discuss something private in the other room, but Clint seemed reluctant to let Jane go, and so Natasha grabbed Tony's hand and asked him to stay too.
Pepper, Bruce, Thor and Steve filed into the other room to talk, while Tony and Natasha played against Jane and Clint on Wii Party.
"So who do we test it on?" Bruce began
"What if it doesn't work, what if it makes it worse?" Pepper asked worriedly, peering round the corner as she heard Jane and Clint cheer, high fiving each other while Natasha huffed
"All the data we have suggests it'll freeze their again, they won't get any younger but they also won't get older. There's just no way to be sure"
"Wait, if they don't get any older what happens if they get hurt? They won't be able to heal themselves" Steve questioned
Bruce shrugged, it was a possibility himself, Jane and Tony had been concerned about, but weighing it up against the rapid deaging it seemed worth taking the risk
"The machine operates using the Asgardian artefact you requested?" Thor suddenly joined the conversation
"Yes"
"Well then if the artefact is removed, the machine ceases to work and the static aging will no longer apply"
"You're sure?"
"Positive my friend"
"So we're agreed? We go ahead with it?"
The three adults nodded, returning to the lounge to watch the battle on the wii. Pepper and Bruce joined Natasha's team while Thor and Steve joined Clint's and the competition went on for hours, ending in a three-all draw which everyone (other than the kids) thought was for the best.
Natasha was rubbing her eyes and Clint was yawning but they all headed down to the lab before they went to bed. There was no telling when Natasha would receive another training injury or Clint would get another beating and they decided it best not to wait until tomorrow.
"I need you to stand right here" Bruce told them gently, positioning them in the centre of the lab. Clint nodded seriously, taking Natasha's hand in his
She looked up at him gratefully before schooling her features once again to hide how nervous she felt
Bruce hit the button on the machine, aiming the invisible rays towards the kids who stayed still, despite the icy feeling in their veins.
The machine stopped after a minute or two and Bruce quickly ran a few tests. He was waiting for the results while Natasha slept on the hospital bed using Clint's lap as a pillow. He played absently with her hair, trying to stay awake while listening to the adults hushed tones
"Did it work?" Pepper asked
"It seems to have; their cells have stopped aging, or de-aging, they're static"
"If we could sell this we'd make a fortune!" Tony muttered, earning glares from Steve, Pepper and Jane and a small laugh from Bruce
"So we did it, they're really okay?" Jane asked
"For now, they're going to be just fine"
When they re entered the lab, Clint had fallen to sleep as well; safe in the knowledge that he was safe, he was with friends, and he could trust them.
Tony lifted Natasha from where she slept, causing Clint's eye to flicker open to check she was alright before he instantly fell back to sleep. She smelled like peaches and her curls were matted from the spilt juice, her tiny form weighing nothing in Tony's arms as he carried her to bed.
Steve carried Clint back up to his room; he was still covered in paint and smelled like cherries. But he wrapped his arms round Steve's neck as he carefully lifted him from the bed and half asleep whispered in Steve's ear "thanks" before he was softly snoring once again.