Relief hit both of the children like a brick wall; Clint fell to his knees as his legs failed to keep him upright any longer; the weight of the world truly having been lifted from his shoulders and he finally felt able to breathe again. Natasha dissolved into a flood of tears after having held them in for so long. She sobbed as she struggled to breathe through the gag.
And Tony just stood there for a moment; because he literally didn't know what to do... The relief at seeing them was getting to him too

"I've got them" he told the others down the coms, before he used his suit to get Clint out of the handcuffs holding his hands behind his back. He broke the cable ties holding Natasha in place and removed the gag from her mouth; her arms were around his neck in a second as she wept, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

Tony was glad he had his suit on, because no one saw him crying as he hugged her tightly. He pulled Clint towards them, snapping him out of the state of shock he seemed to have gone into as Clint wrapped his arms around Tony and Natasha.

"First floors clear, Tony get them out of here. Me and Thor will locate the machine"

Tony stood, lifting both of the kids with him as he turned back towards the door. He knew carrying them would leave him limited if he had to fight, but right now he couldn't bear to put them down.

Bruce had arrived now by, just at the same time as a group of back up hydra agents. Knowing the kids were okay and with Tony, he let go of his control and allowed the other guy to appear, taking far too much satisfaction in the fear on their faces as they saw him appear.

Steve was searching room after room, taking out anyone working for hydra he came across; he was in no mood for mercy; these men had kidnapped two of his team mates, his team mates who had been turned into children by these same men. In Steve's eyes, they didn't deserve mercy. And from the sounds coming down the hall; Thor agreed with him.

He finally found what he was after in the room at the very end of the hallway. Seven armed agents were guarding the door, with a further five inside. However they were no match for Steve, and he was soon stood alone in the room.
The machine Tony and Bruce had built was sat there; with one very important piece missing. The Asgardian stone that powered it, that kept Clint and Natasha from getting any younger, was missing...

"Damnit" he hissed, grabbing the machine and activating his com;

"Got the machine, but the stones missing"

"We need that stone!" came Tony's voice

"There are no others, that was the last remaining artefact from the halls of our kings" came Thor's voice

Tony rounded the corner, seeing his path blocked by yet more Hyrda agents. He darted back round the corner as bullets flew towards him; he'd obviously been spotted.

Placing Clint and Natasha on the ground, he looked into their terrified faces

"You'll be fine" he assured them, before pointing down the hallway behind them;
"I need you to run that way, I'll be right behind you in a minute, and Bruce is outside waiting for you guys okay?"

They looked doubtful, but the hydra agents were getting closer, and he had to make a move

To his surprise, it was Natasha who grabbed Clint's hand and gave him a tug in the direction Tony had pointed; Clint's jacket hung loosely over her shoulders as she continued down the hall dragging a reluctant Clint behind her.

Tony smiled proudly, before turning to face the men firing at him, swiftly dealing with them.

Clint and Natasha eventually made it out of the building, but were faced with a new problem; there stood the Hulk. They knew it was Bruce deep down (really deep down), but Natasha froze, retreating back into the building.

Clint gripped her hand, trying to encourage her forward; they needed to get away from the explosions and fighting going on inside, he knew Bruce would protect them, but Natasha was clearly terrified.

The Hulk turned to face them, locking eyes with two frightened children. Natasha was still trying to scramble backwards; held in place only by Clint's grip on her hand, however his grip was slackening; her wrists were bleeding from the cable ties that had been far too tight and the blood was making her hand difficult to keep hold of.

She jerked backwards as the Hulk took a step toward them, she fell to the floor as Clint turned to see the Hulk shrinking back down; Bruce suddenly reappeared, taking control again and calling for Clint and Natasha to run towards him.

Thor, Steve and Tony appeared behind them. Thor grabbed Clint as he ran past, Tony scooping Natasha up off the floor as Steve followed, carrying the partial machine with him; they made it over to where Bruce was stood as the whole building collapsed behind them.

A jet from the other side of the collapsing facility could be seen taking off, carrying the remaining few Hydra agents with it as the Avengers made their way back to their own transport; all desperate to get home.

XxX

Back at the tower Pepper and Jane had both woken up and been filled in by Phil and Maria. They were anxiously waiting for news when Steve's voice came over the intercom;

"Coulson? Hill?"

"Captain Rogers"

"We have the kids and the machine, though it's missing a piece and without it it's no longer functioning"

"Can we replace it?" Coulson asked, but was interrupted by Pepper;

"Steve, are they okay?" she sounded worried beyond words

Steve glanced back over to Natasha who was sleeping in Tony's arms, her hand gripping Clint's as he sat leaning into Thor

"Yeah, yeah they're okay"