Hey guys! Good God, so sorry about the long wait! All I can say is grad school; it's a horrible decision really. I'm kidding (kind of) but seriously, I'm so sorry for the super long hiatus! And thanks so much for reading guy, ya'll are awesome! :D

"Barnes! Grab Steve and bring him to the lab! We got-"

Whatever Tony's next words were going to be are effectively cut off by the presence of a very sharp, serrated blade touching the base of his throat. The hand holding the blade is connected to an arm locked at the elbow which itself is connected to a deadly silent former assassin. Said assassin is fixing him with a dark, dangerous glare and the unspoken request to shut the hell up. The reason for such a look is the sleeping toddler snuggled against his chest and sleepily clinging to his shirt.

"Jesus, man, pulling a knife on someone in their own home-" Tony starts again and stops when the tip of the blade digs into his skin just slightly.

"He's asleep," James tells him quietly, his metal arm wrapped around Steve's tiny body and cradling him close. "If you wake him up, I'm going to stab you in the face."

"Great manners," Tony grumbles in response but he does make an effort to lower his voice when he speaks. "I thought we were past the whole "sudden movements could provoke murder" stage in our relationship. Also, I thought you told Fury you had stashed all your weapons; I don't have to tell you that gripping a hunting knife while cradling a sleeping toddler seems more than a little dangerous."

James simply rolls his eyes at the accusation. "I told him I stashed the guns. You didn't honestly think I was going to get rid of all the weapons when Steve's like this, did you?"

Tony sighs and rubs his eyes like he's suddenly exhausted by the conversation. "Okay, first of all, you're a weapon on your own. Like, I'm pretty sure you could kill someone with a pocket watch. And second, a knife? Really? Seems pretty flimsy compared to the arsenal you're usually carrying around."

"Who says I only have one?" James asks, lowering the blade and sliding it back into its holster while adjusting Steve in his arms absently. "I have six hidden in this room."

"That's terrifying."

"Thank you."

"And excessive."

"I'm not taking any chances."

"Yeah, I can see that," Tony mutters, glancing around the room like he's trying to find the hidden blades. He doesn't see anything but then he hadn't really been expecting to; if the former assassin said they were hidden, then by God, they were hidden.

"What do you want, Stark?" James asks after another second or two passes, glancing up from Steve to meet the other Avenger's eyes.

"We found Loki," a new voice cuts in before Tony can answer and both look up just in time to see Natasha stride into the room. She's dressed down in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and she still somehow manages to make it look like battle armor. It's impressive, really. "It took a while but we managed to track him down just outside of Jotunheim. Thor has him restrained in the lab."

"Which means we should hurry," Tony cuts in, nodding toward the lab down the hall as indication. "The words "Loki" and "restraint" don't exactly coincide very neatly."

James nods and starts to push himself off the couch only to stop when Steve makes a sleepy little muffled noise in protest. He freezes instantly, still halfway sitting on the edge of the couch, and glances down at the bundled toddler in his arms.

Natasha catches on to his predicament and steps forward, opening her arms in a silent invitation to take Steve from him.

James sees this and hesitates for about 2.5 seconds before carefully passing off the sleeping child to her. He doesn't like the idea of passing Steve off to anyone but he trusts Natasha as much as he trusts himself so it seems like a reasonable trade.

Natasha takes Steve and bundles him into her arms, cuddling him close and bouncing just slightly on the balls of her feet. Steve blinks up at her slowly, having woken up regardless of the steps taken to prevent it. It takes a second for recognition to kick in but when it does, he offers her a small, sleepy smile. Natasha smiles back warmly, pressing her forehead to his and continuing to bounce him just slightly. "Доброе утро, солнышко."

Tony watches the scene play out in front of him, looking slightly miffed that he wasn't trusted with tiny Steve's welfare. "I see how it is, pass the kid off to a woman. Nothing sexist about that at all."

"Sexism has nothing to do with it," James counters smoothly as he pushes himself off the couch. "I would just prefer not to hand Captain America over to a man who used to specialize in developing WMDs."

Tony blinks for a second, allowing the comment to sink in. "Natasha is a WMD," he says, pointing to the other Avenger who's currently preoccupied with speaking in Russian to the toddler in her arms. "She's probably the deadliest person on this team aside from you and that's saying something."

"Careful, Stark, you're going to make me blush," Natasha replies sweetly, catching him in the shin with the toe of her boot.

Tony winces and bites back a curse, grumbling something indistinguishable under his breath. "Yeah, so as I was saying, we should get to the lab. Loki isn't the most cooperative god in the galaxy and would probably just as soon leave us dangling in the wind rather than fix this so we should probably get going."

James nods toward the hallway and extends his arm. "Lead the way."

Tony accepts the invitation and leads them back down the hallway toward the lab, Natasha right behind him and James following along behind her. The others are already inside, Bruce and Clint blocking the door and Thor standing in the middle with his hand clamped on Loki's shoulder. At least James is pretty sure the person standing in the middle of the room is Loki.

He recognizes Thor from the files he'd been given but the dark-haired man standing next to him is new and unfamiliar. There's a dangerous glint in his eye when they come around the corner, a mix somewhere between mischief and mayhem. He looks dangerous and unhinged, the kind of person who would laugh wildly while their hands were dripping with blood. Even though he hasn't moved or said a word yet, everything about him feels threatening and James doesn't like it for a second.

The trickster god's eyes land on the tiny Captain bundled in Natasha's arms and he smiles slowly like a cobra. "Oh my, what an adorable mascot you'd make," he muses quietly, his eyes locked on the child version of Steve. "I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm sure all of your adoring fans would simply love to see one of their heroes in such as state. As he is now, I'd say he represents the physical embodiment of innocence and virtue. What's the sense in changing him back?"

"Because if you don't I'm going to make a necklace out of your teeth," James grinds out, his eyes narrowing at the dark-haired god before him. He doesn't trust him, not for a second, and the sooner he changes Steve back to normal and goes back to whatever far reaches of the universe he calls home, the better.

Loki turns his attention away from Steve and levels his eyes on the former assassin. "How interesting. I don't believe we've met before."

"Oh wow, where are my manners," Tony says, stepping forward and putting himself between James and Loki. "I forgot all about the introductions. James, this is Loki, our resident god of crazy," Tony says indicating the god with a flip of his hand. "His favorite hobbies include destroying major metropolitan areas, sounding like a Shakespeare knockoff, and being just a little bit of a sociopath. Oh, and he gets a bit stabby sometimes so I wouldn't stand too close if I were you."

Tony glances back at Loki then, the trickster god meeting his gaze with a look that's equal parts annoyance and exasperation. "Don't worry, he'll grow on you though. A lot like skin cancer actually."

"My, how I've missed your acerbic tirades," Loki responds with a heavy, weighted sigh.

"Feeling's mutual, Hamlet," Tony shoots back, turning to face him again. "And since we're on the subject of homicide, I'd like you to meet James Buchanan Barnes: a former Soviet assassin who's racked up a body count that would rival your own. He also happens to be Captain America's best friend, the same Captain America you transformed into a Cabbage Patch kid a few days ago. I feel that I should also mention that he's furiously and dangerously overprotective of Steve and he's not exactly happy with what you did to him."

"Understatement," James growls in response, his metal hand curling into a tight fist.

"There," Tony says, glancing in between the two of them. "Now that we've gotten those pesky introductions out of the way I would suggest that you go ahead and abracadabra Steve back to normal because this guy would really, really like to use you as target practice and I don't think there's a whole lot holding him back right now."

"I'd like to get in on that too," Clint mutters from his place by the door, his arms crossed over his chest and sharp glare leveled at Loki.

"Same here," Natasha adds in, her arms still looped around the tiny Captain pressed against her shoulder.

Loki's gaze flickers between all of them, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Such high and mighty threats but I am curious, what will you do if I refuse? You cannot kill me or your precious Captain will be stuck in his current state permanently. So what will you do if I refuse to turn him back?"

"Who said anything about killing you?" James asks darkly, the threat very evident in his voice. "That would be much too easy. The things I have in mind are much slower and infinitely more persuasive."

"Besides," Bruce chimes in from his position close to the door, the first time he's spoken since they arrived. "I think the Other Guy might like to have a few words with you about this matter as well. I know he'd like to see you again," he adds, his eyes flashing green for a split second.

The smirk on Loki's face does falter ever so slightly at the implication and James has no idea who the 'Other Guy' is but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to meet him anytime soon.

"Your game has lasted long enough, brother," Thor scolds sharply, his deep voice rumbling like approaching thunder. "Return the Captain to his original state or the consequences will be dire." He finishes his warning by rattling Loki by the scruff of the neck like a disobedient puppy.

The trickster god grumbles something rather unflattering under his breath and rolls his eyes. "Very well," he mutters with another heavy sigh. "Honestly, you people take everything so personally." He motions toward Steve with a flick of his wrist. "Bring him here."

Natasha relinquishes her hold on Steve and passes him back to James. The tiny Captain, seemingly unaware of the negotiations concerning his current state, allows himself to be handed over without a fight and simply curls his tiny fingers into the former assassin's shirt.

James steps forward slowly, his eyes narrowed at the trickster god. He still doesn't trust him but this is the only way to change Steve back to normal. "No tricks," he growls low and dangerous in the back of his throat. "If you do anything to him-"

"Yes, yes, very threatening," Loki replies with a slight roll of his eyes. "I will return your Captain to his normal form, have no fear. I grow weary of this game anyway."

Marginally satisfied with the answer, James drops to one knee and sets Steve down on the ground in front of him. The toddler looks up at the dark-haired god above him and frowns uncomfortably. He turns back to James and reaches out, grabbing the hem of his shirt and clinging to it.

"You'll have to step back," Loki tells him with all the enthusiasm of someone watching paint dry. "Magic is a tricky thing; wouldn't want to get caught in the backlash."

James fixes him with a dark glare and straightens slowly, disentangling himself from Steve's grasp. The tiny Captain whimpers in protest but James steps away from him anyway. It's one of the hardest things he's ever had to do.

"It's okay, Stevie," he tells him quietly and the others are kind/smart enough not to remark on the nickname. "I'm right here."

Once he's stepped far enough away, Loki levels a small staff at Steve and flicks his wrist. There's a flash of light, the dull hum of electricity, and the lab fills with a silvery smoke that blankets the room like a fog.

For a moment no one moves, everyone standing stunned and silent as the smoke continues to swirl. James isn't sure who steps forward first, him or Tony, but they both speak at the same time. "Steve?" "Cap?"

For one heart stopping moment, Steve doesn't answer. Then, from somewhere inside the fog, he finally speaks up. "Guys? Is the lab on fire? What's with all the smoke?" The smoke begins to thin then and a full grown (and very nude) Steve Rogers is standing in the middle of the lab where his toddler self had been only a few seconds before.

"There. Satisfied?" Loki asks once the smoke has dissipated enough for the others to see that Steve is both alive and an adult in front of them.

Steve frowns and looks at him suspiciously. "What's he doing here?"

"Well, you uh...got Loki'd, Cap," Clint informs him from across the lab.

"And he's here fixing what he started," James continues, letting out a soft sigh of relief when he sees that Steve appears mostly normal and unharmed,

The Captain turns to look at him then, surprise mingling with the confusion in his expression. "You're back," he says and it comes out equal parts question and hopeful statement. James just nods in confirmation.

Steve looks like he wants to say more but he suddenly becomes aware that he's still very nude in the middle of the lab and a bright flush starts to color his cheeks. "Uh...why am I not wearing any clothes?"

"That's a bit harder to explain, Capcicle," Tony tells him as he snags a spare lab coat off the wall and walks over to hand it to the newly resized Captain. "You've been pint-sized for the past couple days and your reformed assassin buddy has been your de facto bodyguard/babysitter in that time."

"My…? Wait, what?" Steve asks as he buttons the lab coat.

"Don't worry, it was cute," Clint pipes up from across the room. "There was finger painting and everything." He starts to go into detail but Natasha elbows him sharply in the ribs before he can continue.

"The important thing is that you're back," Natasha tells him with a small smile. Her eyes travel up and down his body, taking in the ill-fitting lab coat that provides just enough cover so that Steve isn't completely exposed anymore. "And full grown," she continues with a smirk.

"It is good to see you back in your more conventional form, Captain," Thor chimes in with a warm smile, one hand still clamped on Loki's shoulder. The trickster god rolls his eyes at the statement.

"Yes, yes, this is all very touching," he grumbles, shooting Thor a dark look when the thunder god shakes him slightly. "Now if you wouldn't mind releasing me, it would be very much appreciated. Returning to this repulsive planet was not exactly what I had in mind for the day."

"Even though you're the one responsible for all this," James growls, his eyes narrowing at the dark-haired god across the room.

Loki opens his mouth to retort but is cut off when Thor grabs him by the scruff of the neck and wheels him around. "That's enough," he warns dangerously as he walks his brother back across the room. "You've caused enough trouble for one day."

They stop at a point all the way across the room, providing plenty of space between their position and the others. Thor glances back at Steve one more time. "I'm glad you're back, Captain," he tells him once more before he turns his attention to the ceiling. "Heimdall, we're ready."

Almost as soon as the words have left his mouth, a bright beam of light engulfs the two gods like a spotlight suddenly flickered on above their heads. There's a bright flash, a gust of air, and then both gods are gone, leaving the rest of the team behind in the lab.

For a moment no one speaks, the vacuum created by the portal leaving them all a bit speechless. Tony is the first to break the silence, stepping forward with a low whistle that echoes through the room.

"Gotta love it when Loki comes to visit," he mutters, gesturing to the spot where the two gods were standing only a few seconds before. "Always a good time. Fun and chaos for all."

"I think I'd prefer it if he kept his distance," James grumbles darkly, shooting a glare at the empty space the trickster god had been occupying.

"You and everyone else who's ever met him," Clint quips from across the room while Natasha nods silently in agreement.

"Uh guys?" Steve asks, glancing down at himself and pulling at the hem of the lab coat self-consciously. "Not to break up the party or anything but would it be alright if I found some clothes that...you know, fit?"

"Yeah, yeah, always so needy," Tony teases lightly, clapping Steve on the shoulder. "Good to have you back, Cap. Oh, and if Pepper starts getting baby crazy, I'm totally blaming you Rogers."

OOOOO

Several hours later (after much poking and prodding by Bruce and Tony both to make sure he was actually back to normal) Steve and James find themselves back in the apartment. In spite of Steve's transformation back into his adult form, James still feels a bit edgy.

"You're sure you're okay?" he asks for probably the fifth time that afternoon. He keeps waiting for the fallout, for the other shoe to drop, the final "eff you!" in Loki's grand scheme. It never comes and it's making him uncomfortable.

Steve, for his credit, contemplates the question for a moment before answering. "Yeah," he tells him honestly with a tiny shrug. "I feel fine, really. A bit weirded out to find out that I've been a toddler for the past few days but otherwise I feel fine."

"Do you remember any of it?" James asks and that's probably the one question he hasn't asked yet. He'd been so focused on the physical that he'd barely even thought about the mental.

Steve frowns and thinks for a moment, his expression unreadable. "Not much," he answers finally, shaking his head slightly. "It's all kind of like a dream. I mean, there are a few snippets that are a little more clear than others but most of it is kind of hazy."

James nods in understanding; he's experienced that more than once since coming out of stasis.

The Captain smirks a little and chuckles. "I guess I haven't properly thanked you for taking care of me while I was...well…" He fades off and holds his hand out to represent a child's height.

James just shrugs in response and crosses his arms over his chest, sinking back into the couch. "I wouldn't get too carried away," he tells him, catching Steve's eye from the corner of his. "It's not like I'm ready to open my own daycare or anything."

Steve smiles again and shrugs. "Well, I know it probably wasn't easy so thank you."

"No problem."

Another more comfortable silence fills the room and it seems like things are finally getting back to normal. Then Steve speaks again.

"What's up with that bear, by the way? The one with the mask?"

James feels a muscle in his jaw clench and vows to make Coulson's life a living hell the next time he sees him. "Your pal Coulson thought you might like it when you were," he copies Steve's gesture from earlier and indicates a child's height with his hand. "It's called a Bucky Bear; the stupid things apparently sold like crazy back during the War."

Steve grins at the explanation. "Seriously? You got turned into a teddy bear?"

"I'm still armed with a knife, Rogers."

The Captain smirks again but wisely doesn't say anything else. He slumps back into the couch, shoulder-to-shoulder with the former assassin, and lets his head drop back against the cushions.

"I think I'll keep it," he says after a minute and this time there's no teasing in his voice, just a statement of fact. "It's kind of cute, actually."

James doesn't say anything in response to that and just lets the subject drop. He also doesn't say anything about the crayola stick figure drawing Steve had given him a few days before that now has a permanent place carefully folded and tucked in the corner of his dresser. No one needs to know about that.

Translation:

Доброе утро, солнышко- good morning, sunshine

Thanks so much for reading guys! Hope you all enjoyed it! :D