Four Superheroes and a Tsarevna

By NukaCola101

DISCLAIMER: All characters are copyrighted by Disney/Marvel. I own nothing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've seen a lot of de-aged fics floating around the Avengers section and I wanted to give my own spin on the ever-popular plot device. Read and Review!

It had been a particularly normal day for the Avengers. Well, if you could call it normal. The group was out on a mission in the city when a trump card was laid out before them: a group of super powered underlings showed up and ready to spoil the team's advantage over their foe. As such, the group divided themselves and began to pick apart their opponents. While Tony, the Hulk and Steve fought on the ground, Clint and Natasha where high up on the roof of a nearby building. With the two assassins slowly being outnumbered, Clint quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out a small round object.

"Nat, we gotta bail!"

"Are you crazy?! It's a straight forward drop from this height!" she said, still firing her pistol at the enemy.

"I got a plan. Trust me."

After finishing her clip, she turned to Clint and nodded. The two then jumped off the edge of the roof and where soon falling incredibly fast. Hastily pulling Natasha close to him, Clint had his thumb on the button of the stop watch-like item.

"Nat…close your eyes and take a deep breathe. We're going to jump."

"Jump?" she questioned, then saw the object in Clint's hand. "Is that what I think it is?"

Clint only nodded. He then pressed the button and soon the two of them teleported. A blue light engulfed their bodies and soon Clint and Natasha disappeared from mid-fall. Within a few seconds, Clint landed hard against the payment on the ground with a grunt. He was on his side and had a few scraps on his bare arms, but otherwise was fine. He rolled over, looking up at the sky.

"Damn! I didn't think it was gonna be that much of a pain, huh Nat?" Clint soon realized that the Russian wasn't next to him. Sitting up and getting his baring together, Clint quickly looked around.

"Nat? Where are you?" he called out. He got up and winced a little. Still in some pain from the hard landing, he looked around once more when a rustle caught his attention. A flash of cloth near a dumpster gave Clint direction on where to go.

"Nat? Is that you? Are you OK?"

He peered around the corner of the dumpster and to his surprise he saw a small young girl cowering in the corner. She could have been no more than five or six and had on a black t-shirt that was too large for her tiny frame. Her short red hair was in tousled waves and she had on no shoes.

"Hey, it's gonna be OK. My name is Clint and I'll get you to safety." He told the girl calmly. Clint extended his hand out to her. The little girl looked up and had striking blue-green eyes. Clint swore she looked familiar, but now was not the time to dwell on it. He had to get the girl somewhere safe and fast!

"You're not gonna hurt me mister?" she whimpered.

"No, I won't. I promise." He reassured.

The girl eyed his hand, then Clint's face. Clint gave her a warm, caring smile. The girl grabbed his hand…and then smacked his throat hard. The blow sent Clint falling on his backside and lose his breathe. The red-headed child ran away toward the open street.

"Hey kid, get back here!" Clint yelled to her. A scream then came and he quickly dashed to where the little girl was.

She was looking up at the Hulk, who was no more than a few feet away from where she was standing. Too terrified to move, the small child started to shiver in fear. Clint scooped her up in his arms.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screeched and began to struggle in Clint's arms. But his grip was strong and Clint held onto the little girl tightly. Suddenly, the Hulk came up to Clint and with one look the girl screamed again. She buried her face into Clint's chest, her grip against his body now tightened.

"Don't let him get me!" she pleaded and started to cry.

"Hulk, go let Tony and Steve know I'm fine. Nat is missing, but I found some kid out here. I'll go bring her someplace safe."

The Hulk eyed the little girl in Clint's arms, whose red curls was bobbing up and down slightly from her erratic breathing. He then looked at Clint and nodded.

"OK. Go find safe place for tiny Tasha."

Clint was about to tell the Hulk that it wasn't Natasha until both he and the Hulk saw a car roll past them. The Hulk grinned with delight, knowing what came next. As the green giant ran toward the fight, Clint sprinted in the opposite direction, holding the small girl in his arms. When he felt they were far away from the battle, Clint looked down at the girl. She was still crying, although not as loud or hard as before.

"Hey kid, the monster's gone now." He told her.

The child slowly looked up at Clint. Her face was wet from her tears and her eyes were mildly puffy and red from her constant crying. Now that he had a better look at her, the resemblance to Natasha was uncanny. Clint produced a tissue from his pocket and wiped her wet face and nose clean.

"Now if I put you down, will you promise not to run away from me…or try to hit me again?"

"I promise." The little girl said. Clint put the child down and she did as she was told. Now hiccupping from crying so hard, she sniffled and rubbed her eyes.

"So kid, do you have a name?" Clint asked. The girl was quiet for a moment and then spoke.

"Natasha…Natasha Romanoff."

When the rest of the team met up with Clint, they couldn't believe it. Everyone was back at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and in the sick bay with the child Clint had rescued. They were waiting for a doctor and nurse to come and examine the little girl. The poor child was sitting on the exam table, eyes wide with confusion and uneasiness as she was watching the three adult men talk about what happened.

"So let me get this straight: that kid sitting on the table in front of us in the too-big t-shirt is our little cutthroat from Mother Russia?" Tony asked Clint.

"Hard to believe, but yes. That's Nat, red curls and all."

"If so, how did she become a child?" Steve asked, sending a sympathetic smile to the girl. She twisted her shirt nervously, still with the same expression of worry on her face.

"Well…" hesitated Clint. "Tony, promise me you won't freak out."

"What'd you take?" he said in a frustrated tone.

"You know that telelporter you snatched from Deadpool awhile back? I, uh…borrowed it and used it to teleport me and Nat from a fight earlier."

Tony was oddly calm after what Clint had told him. Just as Clint was thinking he was off the hook, Tony grabbed the collar of his shirt and jerked Clint harshly, ready to punch him squarely in the face.

"You asshole! You better have it with you and in one piece because of you don't…" Tony growled.

"I do! I do!" Clint nervously proclaimed.

"Enough!" Steve commanded and separated the two men.

"Clint…I was incorporating some alien tech into that teleporter. I haven't even given it a test run yet!" Tony angrily spat at the archer.

"Well guess what? You got your test run and it turned Nat into a kid!"

"Anything wrong with you, bird boy? Got a craving for birdseed chimichangas?" Tony asked sarcastically. Clint only glared at him with disgust.

"You two can have your quarrel later. Let's just see if this little girl is really Natasha." Steve told both of them. He then turned back to the girl. "Hey there sweetie. How are you doing?"

"Fine." She said, looking down at her lap.

"I know you are scared and confused, but the three of us are going to make sure that you are safe and sound."

"Really?" the child said and looked up at Steve, paying attention to the concern in his voice. "Will you keep me safe from the big green scary monster?"

Steve was told that the Hulk had frightened the little girl badly. They made sure that Bruce was back to normal before heading back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and not present when they took the girl to the sick bay; all the men concluded that they didn't want a repeated incident with the child.

"You bet." He told her. The little girl smiled with glee.

After a struggle with the doctor (it turned out the child was afraid of hospitals; it took both Clint and Steve to calm her down just to have the doctor take a blood sample), the results were clear: the little girl was indeed Natasha. Upon hearing the report, Nick Fury demanded that Tony get straight to work on getting the kinks out of the teleporter. As for Natasha, Fury assigned the team to care for her and suspended their active duties until further notice.

"UGH! It's just like that crappy 80s movie…except not funny to say the least." Tony muttered as he glanced at the teleporter in his hand.

The team had just gotten back to the tower and where beat. Clint was holding Natasha's hand while Steve was carrying a large brown paper shopping bag filled with clothes. S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to find a few child-sized outfits for the now six year old Natasha. She was wearing some black capri-style leggings and a better fitting t-shirt with sport sandals on her once bare feet.

"You better call Pepper first thing tomorrow morning, let her know that she's going to have to take a six year old clothes shopping." Clint said. He knew that Tony was still mad at him for taking the teleporter, but Tony had eased up on Clint once finding out the truth about Natasha.

"So how long do you think it'll be before Natasha's back to normal?" Steve asked as he put down the shopping bag on a free chair by the kitchen island.

"Who knows. Judging by how long it took me to find the replacement parts…" Tony paused, thinking. "It could be days, weeks. Maybe months." Both Steve and Clint exchanged worried looks.

"At least you have Bruce to help you out. As they say, two heads are better than one." Clint commented.

"Speaking of Bruce, someone better go get him. He should know what we're dealing with." Steve suggested. Tony nodded and made his way to the lab that he and Bruce shared.

Clint led Natasha over to the kitchen island and they both sat down. Steve was over by the stove, heating up a small pot of milk. Clint looked at the six year old, who was watching Steve intensely, wondering what he was cooking. He was beginning to feel guilty about what had happened to his partner. He always made sure that Natasha was never in harm's way. From their first meeting, the now juvenile Natasha had no memories of Clint. She now just saw him as the guy that saved her.

"How would you like some hot cocoa Natasha? I bet you could some right now after what happened today." Steve said, grabbing a mug from the cabinet next to the stove.

"I never had that before." She said, watching Steve pour the hot cocoa powder and warm milk into the mug and mixing it.

"Then you're in for a treat! And I'll even add some marshmallows too." He said and plopped several mini marshmallows on top of the frothy beverage.

He handed the hot mug to her. Carefully eyeing the steaming cup, Natasha blew on the cocoa to cool it down. She then took a tiny sip. After letting her mouth acquire the taste, she smiled.

"It's good!" she said and took another more satisfying sip.

"Glad you like it." Steve said. He noticed the somber expression on Clint's face. "It looks like your friend Clint could use a cup of cocoa as well." He told Natasha.

"You want some?" she asked Clint, handing him her mug.

"No thanks. I'll make my own later." He gave her a small smile of appreciation.

"Oh…OK." Natasha said with disappointment. Clint didn't like making Natasha feel bad (even as an adult). "Alright Nat. Just one sip."

Natasha's mood brightened and Clint took a sip from the mug. He handed it back to her. Natasha peered into the cup and scowled.

"Hey, you drank it all!" she told Clint. He swallowed and stuck his tongue out at her. She promptly did the same.

"More please." She said to Steve, holding the mug up to him and he happily obliged.

As Natasha was having her second cup of cocoa, Bruce had come into the room to introduce himself to her. From Tony had told him about what happened to Natasha, Bruce was worried how she would react to meeting him. He knew that she was terrified of the Hulk and if she ever found out that he was the big scary monster…

"Hello Natasha." He said to her.

"Hello." She replied. She was unsure what to make of Bruce.

"My name is Bruce. I'm a friend of Clint, Steve and Tony. I was told that you'll be staying with us for a while."

Natasha nodded. She grew shy and looked to Clint and Steve for reassurance.

"Bruce is a good friend. He'll make sure you're safe as well." Clint told the little girl. Clint's trusting of Bruce was more than enough proof to the six year old that Bruce was a person she could depend on.

"OK." She said and turned back to Bruce. "You want some cocoa? Steve makes a good cup." He smiled; glad to see that Natasha found him to be friendly. "Sure, why not." He said as Steve prepared a mug for the scientist.