Darcy had just woken as the jet made it back to the tower. She was disorientated and confused, lashing out at Phil before she realised who he was and apologising profusely for the black eye she gave him when she woke.

It was a relief to everyone that Clint and Natasha had made it back, relatively in one piece, and not too young now the de-aging had started once again.

Coulson and Hill, satisfied everything was under control at the tower, headed back to Shield to see if they could track the jet that had taken off with the remaining Hydra agents on board; hoping if they found them, they may also find the missing Asgardian artifact they needed to get the machine up and running again.

Tony was talking with Thor about a possible replacement for the stone, as he desperately tried to figure something out to halt the de-aging process again. They were still nowhere near returning Clint and Natasha to their adult selves and needed something to give them more time.

When they'd arrived back, Clint had run into Jane's arms as soon as they'd disembarked the jet. He'd sat on her lap while Bruce bandaged his broken fingers and assessed him. Jane glanced worriedly over to the others as his top sagged off his shoulders and he repeatedly pulled his jeans back up; by the looks on their faces they'd noticed too.

Pepper had taken Natasha from Tony when they'd landed, allowing him to go and get out of his suit and take a look over the machine, and she hadn't been able to hide the shock on her face as she felt how small Natasha now was; she was drowned in Clint's jacket, but even underneath that; her own clothes were baggy and no longer fit right. She was so exhausted she slept right through; not even stirring as Bruce cleaned and bandaged her raw and bleeding wrists.

"How much time do you think they lost?" Darcy asked Bruce, finally wording what none of the others had

"It's hard to say" Bruce said tiredly, glancing over at Clint who'd finally fallen asleep on the sofa next to Jane
"I'd say Natasha lost a few months at least, I'm guessing she's in the early days of being four now, if she's not three already, and Clint, well, he lost more; I'd say he was getting close to six"

XxX

It was getting close to 3am, just a few hours since they'd returned; Bruce was exhausted after his Hulk out, and Darcy had persuaded him to get so rest as his stress levels rose. Thor had returned to Asgard to search for some possible replacement or magic that may help them while Tony continued to work well on throughout the night.

Clint slept sprawled across the sofa, using Jane's lap as a pillow as she slept too. While Pepper refused to let Natasha leave her arms; settling into the arm chair and holding her while she slept.

Steve was pacing, something just didn't make sense to him. They'd all thought Hydra had shrunk Clint and Natasha down to weaken them, make them vulnerable; an easy target. However they'd had them back, why didn't they just kill them if that's all they were after..? He contacted Coulson to share his concerns, before turning in himself; it had been a long day.

XxX

The following morning everyone was woken by the smell of pancakes; Steve had got up early in order to make Clint and Tasha's favourite.

Pepper, Jane and Darcy took them out to the park and they stopped for ice cream on the way home; Clint was even allowed two

"Why are you being so nice to us?" Clint asked suspiciously as Darcy came back with his second serving

Natasha looked up from where she was stirring hers, trying to encourage it to melt

"We're always nice to you, now eat up or I'm gonna steal your ice cream" Darcy warned, but Clint was not deterred;

"Peoples are only ever this nice when theys got bad news for you. Either that or they want summet"

"What bad news?" Natasha asked Pepper. Since she'd woken up Natasha's English had been more stunted than before; her accent was more obvious and sometimes it look her a while to think of the right word.

Pepper glanced at the two other women before deciding to tell them the truth;

"You remember the machine Tony and Bruce built?"

"Yes" "Da"

"Those people who took you, they took the machine too. And it... it got broken"

"Fix it?" Natasha questioned as Clint glanced down at the new clothes they'd had to go out and get him

"They're trying Tasha"

"But, does that mean we're getting small again?" Clint asked worriedly, glancing down at Natasha

"Yes, but Tony will fix it"

"But what if he doesn't? What if- what if-"

"Clint, calm down. He'll fix it, I know he will. He won't let anything happen to you"

The five of them headed back to the tower, not much in the mood for ice cream any longer. When they got back, the kids settled down to watch a film with Steve for a while.

Pepper was just about to order dinner when she heard shouting from the other room;
Clint was lay on the floor, bruises appearing down his cheek and on his arms as the other's stood back, unable to do anything to help.

Natasha was crying in Darcy's arms, as Bruce was called up to check on him. There were no more broken bones, thankfully, but bruises littered his body and cigarette burns appeared on his arms. It was clear at this age Clint had still been at home with his abusive father, and this news did nothing to make Tony leave the lab to get any rest.

XxX

Shield had gotten nowhere tracing the jet; it seemed to have just disappeared. Tony and Bruce were making little progress in finding a cure, and Thor had returned from Asgard with no helpful suggestions... And all the while Clint and Natasha were running out of time.