"He looks... better?"

"He looks tiny."

"No shit Sherlock, he's a baby! No thanks to you."

"You don't think I did it on purpose, do you?"

"I don't know, maybe. You've hated the guy ever since you met him. It's been months and you barely acknowledge him!"

"I don't hate him enough to turn him into a baby!" Tony shouts at the archer, irritated as he paces back and forth, running his heads through his hair repeatedly.

At his shout Thor's cape begins moving on the couch, the body underneath slowly stirring awake.

"Ssh!" Natasha hisses at both boys. "You're waking him."

However, her warning was too late and a child's head peeks out from the red cape. His eyes open and immediately his head snaps towards Natasha after hearing her velvety voice. Tiny blue, curious eyes gaze into soft green eyes before Natasha levels him with a blank stare, silently examining him. After a moment, the corner of her lips quirk up in what she would call a smile. Without removing her gaze from the child, she addresses Tony. "Are you sure this is Steve?"

Tony collapses in the love seat across from the couch, his eyes never leaving the baby. "Pretty sure. I mean this thing was right where Steve had stood, and it was surrounded by his giant super soldier gym clothes."

Thor's head snaps towards Tony and he frowns, his voice dark. "Stark, you will call this babe by its proper name. Seeing as you were the cause of Captain Roger's current situation."

Tony quickly raises hands in mock surrender and opens his mouth to defend himself, but the baby lets out a sharp cry and his whole body tenses. Natasha rolls her eyes and her eyes sweep over the tiny body, still wrapped in Thor's cape. "Hey there little guy." Steve's eyes look over the room before landing on Natasha, his eyes full of tears. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." She coos softly, her voice calm and soothing. The four guys in the room watch carefully as the woman interacts with their tiny teammate. Clint leans forward in his seat as if anticipating something that wasn't happening.

For a few moments the boys watch Natasha tickle, talk to and laugh with baby Steve. It isn't until Steve starts whimpering and fussing that the boys visibly tense and slightly panics. Natasha simply only tries to calm the child down without actually picking him up which only seems to upset him more. Clint is the only one brave enough to speak what's on all their minds.

"Aren't you going to pick him up?"

Natasha looks up at them, an irritated look in her eyes. "What? Just because you guys see boobs, you instantly think mommy." The boys stay silent.

Huffing out a breath, she shakes her head before reaching out to grab Steve without hesitation. Her hands slip under his arm pits and she lifts him up easily, Steve weighting no more than 20 pounds. She stands with the child, holding him in a cradle position. "Ssh," Natasha whispers bouncing the baby and rocking him back and forth. The boys watch in amazement and relief; at least one of them knew what to do. Steve slowly begins to calm down, tears still running down his red face. His gaze lands on Natasha and he places a small chubby hand on her cheek, curiously looking at her. Natasha gives him a small smile, the only thing she can offer him, and reposition him against her chest when he gets fussy again. Laying his head on her chest, Steve's crying ceases instantly when he feels and hears the steady beat of Natasha's heart.

"How do you do that? Or know what to do?" Tony asks in surprise. Natasha shrugs, and he huffs to her lack of response. "Well keep doing it!" Clint slumps onto the floor and Thor ceases his pacing across the common room floor, their bodies relaxing.

After wiping the tears off Steve's face, much to Steve's disapproval, Natasha notices Steve's attention has been grabbed by something in the room. She follows his gaze towards the shy scientist sitting in the corner of the room. Steve smiles when Bruce gives him a tiny wave, the light in the room making the tablet in his hands glint. Steve's attention is caught by the shiny object and he only watches Bruce type for a minute before losing interest.

Watching as the baby occupies himself with playing with Natasha's hair, the archer lets out a loud, long sigh. "What are we going to do with him?" He asks rubbing the back of his neck.

Bruce's eyebrows furrow in concentration, "I've theorized that considering his lack of communication with any of us," Bruce says pointing at the men in the room, "He has no memory of being any older then 2, his current age."

"What about little Red over here? How come he is interacting with you?" Tony asks pointing at the willingness Steve expressed of letting Natasha hold him.

Bruce shrugs. "Well I'm not at all surprised. He was raised by a single mother whose hair slightly resembled the color red. When he looks at Natasha, he might see his mother or feel some familiarity in such a strange place."

Thor steps forward, "What about you Doctor Banner? He offered a smile and expressed some interest in your activities."

"He's a baby. They'll look at anything that's shiny or chewable." Bruce points towards Natasha who's trying to keep the baby from eating her hair. "Anyway, he has the mental capacity of a baby and it's like he has never aged at all. I have no idea how long it will last. Could be a couple days, weeks or months."

"Months!" Tony shouts, jumping up from his seat on the couch. Steve whimpers and buries his head deeper into Natasha's shoulder, hiding behind her hair.

Bruce motions for Tony to lower his voice replying in a calming manner, "Yes. It all depends on how fast you can find a cure considering it was your machine that caused this."

The fact that Bruce was against him in this situation took Tony back, but he's quick to support his actions. "I was trying to help the poor guy. He was struggling trying to keep up with modern technology so I thought I'd make easier for him and slip it in his brain."

Bruce gave him a look, "That sounds like brainwashing."

"No, no, no!" Tony sighs, "You're not getting it. He missed 70 years! That's a lot to catch up on. Honestly I was just trying to help! But I didn't know the parts would counteract and do exactly the opposite of what I was trying to do. To be honest, it was a shock to me when my machine brought down his physical appearance, along with mental capacity."

"Well this is just great. Our team leader is a baby, Fury is going to kill us and now we're stuck with this th-" Clint starts to say, but Thor sends him a warning look before he can finish his sentence. "Baby." Clint finishes. "What are we going to do? None of us know anything about children, least of all how to care for them."

Natasha gives the archer a sly smile and starts walking up to him, baby in arms. "I'm sure you guys will figure it out." She says in a calming voice before she drops the baby in her partners lap. The expression on Clint's face would've been extremely funny if he hadn't of almost dropped Steve. The archer's hands immediately go around the baby's waist and he pulls him close to his chest, his shoulders tense and his expression priceless. Steve squirms and winces from almost being dropped and tries to reach back out to Natasha, clearly not liking the new person holding him. Natasha just tucks the blonde mess of curls on his head and gives Clint a smirk.

"You guys?" Tony questions raising an eyebrow, his voice expressing his anxiety. "What? You're not helping?"

Giving him a smile, she speaks "You see I would, but..." Natasha shrugs and starts walking down the hall towards the elevator where a duffle bag was placed directly in front of it. Steve tries desperately to reach the redhead, trying to get out of Clint's arms, which tighten around him when he wriggles and squirms. "Fury assigned me a two week mission in England."

"England!" All the boys scream in worry much to Natasha's satisfaction. Bruce and Clint share uncomfortable glances and Thor looks frightened. Tony's mouth drops, eyes wide.

Natasha bends down picking up her duffle bag, a content smile on her face. "But I'm sure you guys will be fine, I'm mean you are the Avengers. If you can battle aliens, you'll be able to care for a baby." She walks into the elevator, turning around to see her teammates faces one last time. Her eyes go to Steve who is on the verge of tears before the elevator door close.

It silent for a long moment until...

"WAH!"

Clint almost drops the screaming baby in his arms, the sudden cry alarming him. Every head is turned towards the frantic archer as he makes attempt to calm the upset child. "Um... calm down." He says emotionlessly, "I-It's okay. Clint's...h-here?"

Tony shouts over the crying, "Is that supposed to make him feel better?"

"Here you try!" Clint says about to pass Steve to Tony, but the billionaire runs behind Thor, claiming loudly,

"I don't hold babies and I don't like being handed things. Give it to Thor!"

"I'm afraid I must decline my hawk friend. I do not trust myself with young Steven and I may drop him." Thor says obviously uncomfortable. Bruce quietly slips out of the room while two of the men argue and Thor tries to make himself small to get away from them. Bruce sends a sympathetic glance towards Thor before riding down to the lab.