So I had lots of people concerned I'd killed off Pepper, Jane and Darcy... But don't worry, they're not dead!
The jet had just touched down in Washington, a few blocks away from the Embassy while the Avengers talked tactics. They were just about to move out when Coulson's voice crackled over the intercom
"Stark? Rogers? Come in?"
"We're just about to move out Coulson" Steve informed him
"Don't! We need you to get back here. Now"
"What happened?" he asked worriedly
"Shield got him, they took all the data we had on Clint, Natasha and the machine you build, and no one is responding at the tower"
Tony swore, a lot, and loudly
"Hill took a team over but they can't get access. Not even Jarvis is responding"
Tony swore a lot more as the jet took off, heading back to New York
XxX
The plane they'd been transported in had landed and the kids transferred into another cell in a large underground building, Clint was just thankful they were being kept in the same cell.
Shortly after they'd arrived Natasha began to stir
"Tasha? Natasha?" Clint whispered, taking off the sweater he'd fallen asleep wearing and wrapping it around her. One of the plus points of falling asleep in front of the TV and Thor putting you to bed was that Clint was still dressed, Natasha was wearing pajamas and the cell was anything but warm.
"Clint?" she asked, finally coming round. She took in her surroundings with teary eyes but refused to let them fall
"It's okay Tasha, I got you" he said, hugging her closer
"W-what-" she began, but the loud footsteps approaching halted her words as she looked at Clint with panic clear on her face
"Tasha, listen to me. I need you to be strong, okay, can you do that?"
She nodded up at him, determination set in her face
"They'll come and save us, they'll come" he told her, but she already knew that; Clint was trying to convince himself. From his abusive father, let down of a mother, the adults in the foster home who only care about their pay check and the guys in the circus who didn't really give a damn; Clint had never had an adult he could count on before... He just hope he'd finally found some he could.
"Pretend to still be asleep" he whispered quickly, gently pushing her head back down into his lap as one of the men rounded the corner
Natasha shut her eyes as she heard him approach and stop at the door to the cell. Clint was glaring at him as he spoke into his phone
"The girls still out of it Davros... No, wasn't my- ... Right, okay"
"I guess we're starting with you boy" he snarled, and Clint felt Natasha's hand tighten round his
He squeezed it back, silently telling her it was okay before he stood up, and walked over to the door of the cell
"Don't worry about your little friend, we'll be back for her later" he said, smiling, as they headed down the dim hallway. But it was too much for Clint; he turned and punched him, hearing a satisfactory crack when his fist connected with the man's face, he slammed his heel down on top of the man's foot before elbowing him in the ribs. Clint thought about running, making a break for it, but Natasha was still locked in the cell down the hall, and there was no way he could leave her.
The man's grip on Clint's shoulder tightened, and as he dragged him forward Clint yelled in pain.
Clint was still glad he'd done it though; if he could keep their attention on him for a while, then maybe be distracted enough to leave Natasha alone.
He was dragged down hallway after hallway, into another room, with bright lights and a metal desk; his hands were handcuffed behind his back before he was shoved down into an uncomfortable chair before being left alone, waiting...
XxX
Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor landed back at the tower and headed straight down to Tony's floor. Thor went to check on Jane and Darcy, who were both lay motionless on the bed, and nothing he did would wake them.
Steve found the kids room empty, bed covers and pillows strewn across the floor...
Bruce saw Natasha's penguin, abandoned in the middle of the hall between her and Pepper's room. She never went anywhere without that damn penguin...
And Tony found Pepper, equally as unresponsive as Jane and Darcy.
The three women had puncture marks on their necks; they'd been injected with something to knock them out. Bruce took some blood, just to make sure it wasn't anything they needed to worry about while Tony got to work getting Jarvis back online.
Steve checked in with Shield, informing them that the kids were missing
"Tony! Tony!" Bruce shouted, running back out the elevator having been to the lab to run the blood tests
Tony looked up startled, hoping there was nothing wrong with Pepper, but Bruce still had the blood samples gripped in his hand
"What is it Bruce?"
"The machine, it's gone"
"But that means-"
"They means they're probably de-aging again, and whoever took them probably aren't as concerned with keeping them happy and healthy as we are..." Tony completed Steve's thought
"We need to find them, fast, or it might be too late..."