The kid avengers

Meet the Kids

"WHAT?!" was all Pepper could respond, completely shocked.

"Kids?! No, really? REALLY?"

Phil sat silently, Pepper was pretty much engaged in a one-sided conversation, punctuated by occasional nods on his part.

"This must be a mistake! That just CAN'T happen! It's impossible!"

"Pepper, you live in a tower with six superheroes" Phil reminded her calmly. "One of whom is a god from another world and one of whom spent 70 years frozen in ice"

Pepper stopped ranting and pacing back and forth, realisation suddenly hitting her. Finally, It had been 20 minutes since he'd told her what had happened, or as much of what had happened that Phil knew himself.

"Tell me again?" she asked him, sounding slightly defeated, all her energy used up in the 20 minutes of denial she'd just put herself through.

"Wait here" he told her gently. "I'll bring them to you, we'll need your help in looking after them. They're bound to be a handful!"
"Especially Stark" he added in a whisper as he turned to collect 'The Avengers' from the medical bay.

Pepper could not believe her luck. She'd just finished work for a week off, her first proper vacation since she'd begun working at Stark Industries. She'd hoped to spend some time alone with Tony, maybe go out for a lunch date with Natasha, and just relax!

But as luck would have it, just before she left her office, her phone rang.

"Pepper Potts" she answered quickly as she filed away her last bits of paperwork.

"Pepper, its Maria Hill from SHIELD. We've got a... urm... situation here. Director Fury needs to see you. Now"

It hadn't been a question, however polite Maria made her voice, it was an order.
Neither Hill nor Fury had really spoken to Pepper before, so the abruptness of the phone conversation shook her and she panicked, her mind going into overdrive thinking of all the horrible possibilities as to why she'd be called into SHEILD.

"I'll be right there"

Phil re-entered Fury's office, snapping Pepper from her thoughts and back to the present. Her eyes went wide as she took in the scene in front of her:

Phil was stood holding a toddler, maybe two years old, possibly younger? He had a chubby face, bright wide eyes, and a curly mop of brown hair. As he smiled, dimples formed on his cheeks. He was truly adorable.
A child with an equally big grin stood on Phil's left. It could only be Thor with that long blond hair. He still looked strong, but was shorter than Pepper would have expected.
Next to Thor was Tony; a small skinny boy with messy dark hair. He looked incredibly tired; his pale skin only extenuated the dark circles under his eyes. He was rocking back and forth on his heels, bored; clearly taking everything in his stride.
To Phil's right stood a scrawny boy with blond hair. Phil had told Pepper that Steve was the oldest after the regression had taken place, reverting to his 12 year old self.
Holding his hand was Clint. Barely reaching Phil's waist. His dark blond hair was all over the place, he had dirt smudges on his face and arms, but there was a mischievous grin on his face; they image of any typical seven year-old boy.
Partially hiding behind Steve, a small girl gripped his other hand. Natasha. She eyed Pepper suspiciously. Her long, red curls reached the base of her back, her porcelain skin was marred with bruises, and her left wrist was bandaged. Pepper gasped slightly, apart from Tony (her boyfriend) Pepper was the closest with Natasha of all the Avengers, and seeing her friend so small, and injured truly upset her.
The rest of the team looked relatively unscathed, apart from Steve who was visibly wheezing.

Pepper looked back at Phil.

"They all seemed to have regressed to the exact physical and mental state at which they were when they were this age originally" he offered her as an explanation. "Which means no 'hulking out' from Bruce, no serum for Steve, and evidence of the treatment she received in the Red Room on Natasha"

"Natalia"
The word was spoken softly, barely above a whisper, but both adults and all of the boys turned to look at Natasha. It was the first time she had spoken since 'the incident'.

"Pardon?" Phil asked, bending down to meet her eye level

"My name is Natalia, not Natasha. I do not understand why you think this"

At five years old, Natasha would have been with the red room a year at most, her English was already strong, however her accent was undoubtedly Russian.
Phil just nodded, stood back up and looked at Pepper. "Please" was all he said, to which she replied with a nod.

This was going to be a fun week off work...