AN: Starting a new little series! For those of you who thought this was going to be "You Might Need it Now," I'm super sorry. Life has gotten to me and I feel really stressed out, this is honestly a decompression fic which is why it might not be very good. I want it to be quality writing for YMNiN, so I don't want to force anything out. I have a general direction but not a full plot. I promise, I will get back to it! I'll try to post the next chapter sometime this week, but it's midterm week so no promises. I'm not going to abandon it! It will be finished! I just need time.

This fic is basically just tiny!Tony. I'm going to take prompts, so leave a review or PM me if you have something specific you want me to do! Whump or fluff are accepted. I'm writing this for fun, so updates will probably be sporadic, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. In this, Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron haven't happened yet - Tony still has the arc reactor, right now there's no Bucky, and Clint doesn't have a family just for logistics sake. They're all living in the tower together. Anyway, enough rambling! Here's the fic. I'll make my AN's shorter in the coming chapters.

It was a normal operation. Or it was supposed to be, until they lost track of Iron Man. No one really noticed until after the battle was over, although, to be fair, Hawkeye had tried to tell them Tony was no longer in the field, and they had ignored him. It was when Bruce, who hadn't been needed, emerged from the quinjet and asked where his friend was that Steve started to panic. It was normal for Tony to wander off in the middle of battle, chasing stragglers or looking for a source, but he normally returned by the time it was finished. Natasha only scoffed.

"He's probably fine," she said. "You know him, he's probably napping under a tree somewhere." Bruce gave a wry smile, but no one else found it particularly funny. Thor was looking about nervously.

"Man of Iron usually tells when he goes off alone," he pointed out, looking at Steve for guidance. Steve didn't have any. He wanted to be angry, but instead he was just worried.

"Tony?" he asked into his earpiece, glancing at the others anxiously. Bruce was taking calming breaths. "Tony, where the heck are you?" For several minutes there was no response, and then a panting breath rasped in their ears. Natasha's hands twitched to tear out her comm, but she stopped herself. "Tony, what's happening?" Steve couldn't keep the panic from his voice, and Bruce was looking sick.

"Cap," Stark rasped over the comms, sounding distinctly out of breath. "Cap, I need some backup." And it was clear he was trying to keep the pain and fear out of his voice, but not quite succeeding.

"Where are you?" Clint asked sharply while Natasha reloaded her guns and Thor gripped Mjolnir tighter. Bruce was clenching his fists. Tony began to respond but cut himself off with a cry, sounds of fighting and the crushing of metal screeching in their ears, followed by a screech.

"God damn it!" Tony hissed, his voice breaking. "Fuck... Fuck!"

"Sir," JARVIS spoke, his voice tinged with worry, "the air filtering systems in the suit have been dangerously damaged and power has been compromised. In addition, your heart rate has increased, and my sensors detect your arm is broken in at least two places."

"I can feel that myself, J!" Tony snapped breathlessly. "Cap, please tell me you guys are still there."

"We're here Tony," Bruce responded, trying to keep calm. "Where are you, we're coming now."

"I'm-" Tony started and was cut off again with a "fuck!" There was the screech of tearing metal and Tony cussing like a sailor at something. "Get the fuck- What the hell are you-?! Don't touch that! Dammit! J, I need a report!"

"All systems offline, sir."

"Fuck! I'm blind!"

"Tony! Where are you?!" Steve could feel the panic starting to turn his blood cold, but he forced it down, putting as much command into his tone as he could manage. Tony grunted in response, muttering curses and starting to respond several times before more fighting sounds could be heard.

"Dammit! J, tell them where we are!"

"Sir, your location is offline."

"Well tell them where I w-" Tony screamed and Bruce ripped out his comm, crushing it in his fist, looking distinctly green. Thor was red with anger. "Fuck! Fuck, that hurts!"

"Sir, I must advise you remove the suit!"

"If I take off the suit they'll kill me, J, so great plan!"

"Sir, if you do not take it off the suit will kill you!" JARVIS deadpanned, and the Avengers felt their stomachs drop. Tony cursed in a way that told them his A.I. had given him good reason.

"You guys better get here quick. I'm pretty sure this was a trap. As far as I know, I'm south of you." They could hear the armor creaking and shuddering as Tony climbed out of it, cursing and muttering about manual releases. The team was already running after Steve and Thor, searching for any sign of their wayward Iron Man. Tony was panting heavily, whispering to them "I'm hiding for now, but it won't take them long to find me." His voice broke with pain, but if he was scared, he was doing a good job hiding it.

"What happened?" Steve demanded, trying to push down his panic and anger.

"I wish I knew. I was trying to take down some stragglers but more kept coming, and they dragged me into some building and started tearing off my suit!"

"Hold tight, we're on our way," Natasha told him coolly. Bruce had remained at the quinjet, trying to calm himself down.

"I can't exactly go anywhere," Tony chuckled, before he cursed loudly. They could hear crashes and the garbled voice of someone talking to Tony, before Tony answered "I never consented to that. How much will I be paid? Actually, I guarantee you don't have enough." There was a pause.

"Tony?"

"What the- Jesus! What is that?! Get away from me!" Panic was audible in Tony's voice now and they could hear him thrashing and groaning with pain. "What did you just do?! It'll what!?" There was a crash and Steve forced himself to run faster. Tony's breathing was harsh and forced, and the sound of feet was so loud they could hear it through the comms.

"Tony! What happened?" Clint demanded, saying to the rest "There's a building up ahead."

"They g-gave me something," Tony gasped before letting out a whimper, a strange and foreign sound from the billionaire. "Fuck, guys, it hurts."

"Just hold on!"

Then the screaming came, shrill and cracking, and they all tore out their comms in surprise. Steve stared at the building that was now less than 50 yards in front of them before looking to the sky, where an army of robots like the ones they had just defeated was bearing upwards to the clouds. Thor looked about ready to follow them but Natasha snapped, "Leave them! Let's go get Stark."

Clint was already running into the building, a broken down shanty with no front door and shattered windows. They saw him freeze just inside, staring at something, and followed cautiously.

Lying in the middle of the floor, curled up and crying loudly, in an oversized t-shirt, was a small, dark haired boy. He was clutching and clawing at his chest with one arm, the other lying uselessly on the floor, clearly broken, tears and screaming making his face red. The Avengers froze, trying to connect what they saw with what they knew.

"Anthony?" Thor asked weakly, clearly more at ease with the situation with the others, but still confused. The boy heard and tried to stop crying, wiping desperately at his face - the attempt only cemented that this was their comrade. Steve rushed forward, carefully looking the boy over and gathering him into his arms.

"Tony, what's wrong?" he asked frantically. "What happened?" Tony shook his head, clutching to the front of Steve's suit apparently unconsciously.

"It hurts, Steve," the boy whimpered, his voice breaking, and for Tony Stark to admit that he was in pain it had to hurt a lot. "They injected me with something weird and it h-hurts a lot." He sobbed weakly, giving up on trying to hold it in, feeling vulnerable and needy. "My reactor hurts. They broke my suit." Steve looked up at the others in horror, not knowing what to do. Natasha, ever the calm one, holstered her guns and walked forward, lifting Tony up carefully.

"Tony, do you know what happened to you?" she asked gently. Tony didn't really want to answer, because it was scary, but he did anyway, in a small voice.

"I'm a kid again. The guy said I would be, but I didn't think it would work." He sniffed, looking up at her. "It hurts Natasha. How do I fix it?" She blinked, glancing at Clint for support.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We'll get you back to normal." He nodded, needing to believe her, and wrapped his arm around her neck, seeking comfort, mumbling an apology. She said nothing, even though the arc reactor pressing against her was uncomfortable, rubbing his back gently. "Let's get back to SHIELD," she muttered to the others. "They're going to want to take a look at him."

Little Tony resolutely refused to let go of Bruce. By the time the team had made it back to the helicarrier Bruce's shoulder was soaked with tears. They kindly ignored Tony's crying, attempting to preserve some semblance of his dignity, which Tony was both thankful for, as a logical adult, and upset by, as a needy child. Bruce just held him and comforted him, reassuring him softly, and Tony found himself relaxing. When they finally made it to the helicarrier med-bay Bruce had managed to get him to stop crying, but he still wouldn't let Bruce leave him alone with the doctors.

He was picking at his red cast while Bruce talked to the doctors when Steve and Clint entered, both cleaned up and wearing SHIELD issued workout clothes. Tony waved weakly, noticing how Steve looked angry, but Clint smiled back at him weakly. He looked down again.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked in a stiff tone, and Tony found himself shrinking back, nodding silently. "Good. Now, what the heck did you think you were doing?" There was the anger. Tony sniffled, shrugging. "Why can't you just listen to orders?! Why do you always have to go off on your own? One day, someone is going to be seriously hurt because of you!" Steve launched into his usual rant, and Tony felt a lump rising in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, tried to ignore Cap's words like he usually did, but they stung.

"Steve," Clint said quietly, trying to restrain their captain, but Steve ignored him.

"And look what happened this time! Look at you!" Steve's voice rose in volume and Tony choked back a sob, the tears beginning to fall again, making his face hot.

"Steve!" Clint said louder, his own anger and frustration showing through, and Tony curled into himself, holding his cast to his stomach. Steve froze, staring at the boy and trying to figure out what he had done and how to fix it. Clint pushed past him, sitting down on the bed next to Tony and bundling the small boy close to him.

"I didn't mean to," Tony sobbed, and he knew he was acting childish, he knew he was being stupid and it that this was really unlike him, but he couldn't stop it. "I w-was trying to h-help. I th-thought they were g-g-going to go into the t-town and hurt someone. I d-didn't mean to d-disobey."

He felt like all his walls had been simultaneously smashed. He was tired, and his chest ached horribly in a way that it hadn't since the first few months he'd had the reactor, and he was scared and just wanted Pepper there so he could be vulnerable without being judged and be told everything would be alright. He couldn't even summon up the energy to be sarcastic. He felt about as big as he looked, and about as useful too. He sobbed loudly, burying his face in Clint's side.

The archer rubbed his shoulder, mumbling nonsensical assurances and glaring at Steve. "We know that, Tony," he assured softly, pulling the boy into his lap and hugging him gently. "We know this wasn't your fault. Steve is just scared for you."

"But I'm u-useless a-at the best of t-t-times and now I'm l-like this and it i-is my fault, I should've b-been able to h-h-handle it." Tony couldn't stop himself and only cried harder in his attempts, coughing and whimpering as it jostled the arc reactor.

"Tony, you aren't useless." He shook his head, not believing the now older man, unconsciously sticking his thumb in his mouth. It was an embarrassing habit his father had managed to train out of him when he was young, but it seemed it was back now. Neither Steve nor Clint had the heart to point it out to him. "No you're not, Tony. The Avengers need you. This wasn't your fault."

Tony just sniffled, tears still streaming down his face. He looked very small like that, curled up in Clint's lap wearing an oversized t-shirt with the light of his reactor shining through it. "I want to go home," he finally said quietly, looking up at Clint. "I'm tired. I can't deal with this."

"The doctors want to keep you here," Steve said quietly, and Tony blinked a few times before frowning.

"They can't keep me here. They can't! I'll sign myself out."

"Tony, you're little now," Clint gently reminded him. Apparently that was the wrong thing to do. Tony climbed out of his lap, his face red, and started screaming.

"I don't have to stay here if I don't want to! They have no right to keep me here! I'm a grown man! I want to go home!" His hands were in fists and he grabbed a pillow, looking about ready to beat someone with it. Clint held up his hands in surrender, not sure how to handle a child.

It was around that time that Thor walked in, took in the situation, and scooped Tony up, placing the small Avenger on his shoulders. "What is wrong, little Stark?"

"They won't let me go home," Tony responded, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. "But I'm tired and want to go to bed." Thor let out a deep chuckle, patting Tony's knee.

"That is okay, little Stark. I will watch over you and make sure you go home. You may sleep!" Tony rested his cheek on the top of Thor's head, grumbling.

"I don't trust the doctors. They just want to experiment on me and the arc reactor. I don't want to go to sleep here."

"Fear not, young friend! I will not allow the doctors to harm you. You may sleep, Anthony." Tony grumbled again but his eyes slipped closed, and despite how apparently uncomfortable his position must've been, fell asleep draped over Thor's head. Steve and Clint watched as his thumb found its way into his mouth again, then stared a bit more to reassure themselves of the gentle rise and fall of their friends chest. Thor watched them, chuckling softly. "You are not good with children?"

"I wouldn't say I'm bad with them," Steve mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down sheepishly. "But this is Tony... I guess there are some things I'll have to get used to."

"I'm actually very good with kids," Clint huffed, crossing his arms. "Kids love me." Thor laughed a bit.

Steve stepped out of the way as Bruce entered. The physicist glanced at the bed, then searched the room until his eyes lighted upon Tony, perched on Thor's shoulders, and he held his hands out for the boy. Thor obliged without question, watching as Banner cradled the still sleeping boy gently. Tony sighed at the more comfortable position and pressed his face to Bruce's shoulder. It was only then that Bruce looked up at the expectant faces, speaking softly.

"Physically, he seems to be okay. He still has the shrapnel and the arc reactor, although both seem to be giving him an immense amount of discomfort. He has a broken arm from the fight, and bruises which we assume were also from the fight." He sighed quietly and the atmosphere in the room became stiffer. "He appears to be about five years old. He's retained all his memories, but has childish impulses and is very emotive. For all intents and purposes, he's simply a brilliant child. As an adult, he understands when he's throwing temper tantrums or being childish, but doesn't have the impulse control to stop himself." He glanced down. "We all know things like that are going to be hard on him, considering how he usually acts. They identified a strange substance in his blood and don't know how long it will take until he can change back. For now, the four of us, Natasha, and Pepper are supposed to be his guardians."

"They don't know how to change him back," Clint confirmed carefully. "So he could be stuck like this? We might have to raise him all over again?" Bruce glanced up, his eyebrows pinching together. It was all the answer they needed.

"Natasha and Pepper are at the tower now preparing a room for him. They said we could take him home, since the stress of being here isn't good for him." Steve sighed, watching the sleeping boy in Bruce's embrace.

"We should stop by the store and pick up some things for him."

"Yeah, like a pacifier," Clint snorted, and Bruce frowned at him. Steve made a face.

"I was thinking more like toys. A kid like Tony can't be occupied by regular things for kids his age, and we can't let someone his size into the workshop. He's going to need something." Thor nodded thoughtfully.

"And clothes," the demigod added, motioning to the oversized shirt. "Friend Stark will be more comfortable in clothes that are his own size." Bruce nodded.

"Guess we'd better get to it."