"Tony?" Steve asks after the battle is over. The whole team is in the same area, besides Tony.

"Does anyone know where Tony is?" they all shake their head.

"Tony report!" When no answer comes Steve really starts to freak out

"JARVIS, where is tony and what is his status?"

"Tony has been brought back to the tower, by my command as he was unable to make the call himself. As for his condition. You're going to need to see it for yourself."

The team quickly makes their way back to the tower and once inside Steve speaks up "Where is Tony?" "He is currently on the common floor, but you should proceed carefully. His current condition could be quiet difficult to process." JARVIS said

"Is he hurt? Is he in pain?" Steve demands

"He is currently unconscious but not by injury per say."

"Why is he being so cryptic?" Natasha demands

"We're here." Steve says rushing out of the elevator. What he doesn't expect to find is a sleeping 8 year old boy on the couch.

"Who is this?" Steve asks

"That is Sir." JARVIS informs "And he appears to be waking up."

They all look at the boy who slowly comes back to reality. He groans slightly before opening his eyes. He looks at each and every one of them and then sits up sighing.

"Tony?" Steve asks hesitantly

"Who are you?." Tony says sounding way too old for his age.

"what?" Steve asks clearly confused.

"Who are you? Was I kidnaped again? If you did my father won't pay ransoms." Tony repeats like he's said it a thousand times. "Wait What do you mean again?." Steve says looking over to the others. "Wow, you really must have put up a good fight this time."

"What?" Natasha asks clearly confused.

"Your clothes." Tony says like it's obvious. "You fought someone. Usually when I get kidnaped they usually take me from school or when I'm outside when I'm not protected. How'd you get me anyway?"

"Get you?" Steve asks still confused

"Of course." Bruce says realizing "He still thinks we kidnapped him." The other Avengers take in a breath

"What?" Steve breaths outraged

"We didn't kidnap you Tony." Bruce says softly "We're trying to protect you."

Tony shakes his head. "They're gonna find me." The way Tony says it makes Steve pause. It's more like resigned not relief.

"Do you want them to find you?" Steve asks quietly

"Mmm no not really." Tony says, shrugging

"Well why not? Isn't Howard a nice father?" Steve asked

"Nice? Ha! I bet he doesn't even know what the word nice is." Tony scoffed "he is too obsessed with finding Steve, he likes to think of that guy as his son and he pushed me to the side when Steve disappeared from the maps" tony said and continued "like I used to worship captain America but now I just think that he is the reason my father hates me so much" he said

Steve was in loss for words. 'Howard pushes away tony because of me? He hated me? Is that why he acts like a jerk to me?'

"Okay, you seem like a smart kid, Tony so I'm going to tell you what is actually going on." Steve said once he came back from his thoughts

The team gives Steve and warning look but he shakes it off.

"I'm smarter then you." Tony says crossing his arms "You're dumb. You think you're getting money."

"I don't think... okay, what's really going on is your dad had to go on a trip. And he asked us to babysit you."

"No." Tony shakes his head "You're lying."

"No I'm not." Steve said

"Yeah you are. Jarvis and Anna take care of me when he's gone."

"They had to go with him." Steve says firmly

"He wouldn't hire a babysitter. he'd just leave me." Tony says with a glare. "I know you're lying." Steve takes a step back

"Tony..." Steve says quietly

"Okay, how about this." Bruce says stepping forward. "Just believe us when we say we're not going to hurt you." Bruce is going to put his hand on Tony's shoulder but before he can Tony flinches back making the team on alarm. That's the kind of flinch a kid has when he's been hurt before.

"Don't touch me!" Tony shouts cowering himself in the corner to of the couch. Bruce puts his hands up

"Okay, okay. Relax. No one is going to touch you." Tony gives him a skeptical look.

"I want Jarvis." Tony mumbles looking down

"Jarvis?" Bruce asked "yes sir" Jarvis Asked "jarvis!? Your here too? Where are you? Did they put you in The ceiling?" Tony asked questions

"Tony, we're friends, you can trust us." Steve tries to convince Tony

"I don't believe you." Steve indicates that they should go in the other room and talk. They all nod and head to the corner where they can see him, but can't hear them.

"Should we tell him the truth. He's clearly smart, maybe if we told him what was happening he'd be less scared of us." Steve says in a hushed voice

"I don't think it's us he's scared of." Bruce replies

"What do you mean?" Steve asks

"Well, let's discuss the plan, and later we can discuss that." Bruce says

"Okay. Well what do we tell him?"

"I say go for the truth, nothing else is working. And Thor? Maybe you could go and try and find a way to change him back." Clint says taking point.

"I think that's a good plan for now." Steve looks over "Guys." He says alarmed. They turn and look and find an empty couch

"JARVIS, where did Tony go?" Steve says running over.

"He went to use the bathroom. He is just finishing up." They share a look as Tony comes back from around the hall.

"Can I go home now?" Tony says plopping back on the couch. "Or can I at least have something to do?"

"Thor." Steve motions and Thor heads for the landing pad

"You know, this place is nice. I don't see to why you need money." Tony says curious "Wait," Tony pauses looking at Steve "You're dressed as Captain America. Why?" Tony demands.

"Well, Tony. I am Captain America." Steve says softly hoping that helps.

Only it makes matters worse as tears start to form in his eyes

"You're not here to get money." Tony says softly as tear fall down his face. "You're here to get rid of me." Tony voice cracks at the end "Just get it over with." Tony says trying not to sob.

"No, Tony, god. We're not getting rid of you."

"He said. He told me." Tony says in between hiccups "You're back so I'm going away."

"No, Tony. Listen. We're going to tell you the truth now, okay? The absolute truth." Tony looks up through blurry eyes. "We're in the year 2016." Tony tilts his head "You we're turning 46. Then some bad guys found a way to turn you back to a child. You appear to be 8ish."

"I'm turning 10." Tony whispers.

"Really?" Steve asks shocked and Tony sends a glare. "Right, sorry. So, we the 5 of us, are your family now. We fight bad guys together."

"No." Tony shakes his head. "I don't like fighting and violence. I wouldn't do that."

Steve at a loss of words looks to his team mates for help

"Show him the suit?" Bruce suggests

"Good idea. JARVIS, can you pull up-"

Tony bolts up looking around the room for the familiar face

"Where is he?" Cutting Steve off. "Where's Jarvis?"

"Crap." Steve whispers

"Honey, it's the year 2016." Natasha says quiet. "Jarvis is in an old folk's home." Nat decides it's probably not the best idea to tell a 10 year old that his favorite person is dead. "But the older you made an Artificial Intelligence that you named after him. Say hello JARVIS."

"Hello, young Sir." Tony's eyes bolt to the ceiling. And then around the room.

"So, if Jarvis is in a home, you'll take me to see him?"

"Yup. Once this is all figured out." Natasha promises. She feels slightly bad for lying

"And dad. And mom. What about them?"

"Alive and kicking. More or less."

"So you're telling me, all my family who is well into their late 90's are alive?"

"Yup." Natasha doesn't even pause

"Mhmm..." Tony says skeptical "My dad drinks a lot. He wouldn't make it to late 99. He's already old and frail."

"He does."

"And Anna? What about her?"

"She's alive too." Tony thinks for a moment

"And her and Jarvis's kid. How's he doing?" Tony asks innocently

"He's healthy and doing well." Tony nods at Nat's answer.

"Mhmm... did you know that when Anna was in her 20's she got shot." Tony says "And she can't have children."

"I uh... they adopted one." Nat says less confident.

"Mhmm... expect for the fact that she told me I was enough for them and that they weren't looking to adopt. And at her age she is in her 60's so adopting wouldn't happen." Natasha puts her hands up

"Okay, you got me. All those people have passed away." Natasha says honestly

"How can I believe you now?"

"You're smart. Tell me if I'm lying."

"You lie for a living. I can't tell." Tony says shrugging

"How do you know that?" Natasha ask shocked

"Well you say we fight crime. The outfit you're wearing remind me of a spy movie. And when you tried to lie to me, I didn't believe you only because I knew better. Otherwise you're very convincing."

"Wow." Natasha mumbles "Genius even now."

"Believe me." Steve says stepping up. "I wouldn't lie."

"So... if it is 2016, what am I like?"

"You're a superhero. You're a genius who runs Stark Industries. You're funny. You're a hero." Steve answers honestly

"Superhero?" Tony asks skeptic

"Mhmm"

"What's my power?"

"You have a suit of armor that you built. Want to see?"

"Yes." Tony says hopping of the couch.

"Okay Tony, follow me." Steve reaches out his hand offering Tony the chance to take it but Tony looks at it and looks down. Steve puts his hand down wondering what happened to Tony that he doesn't want to be touched, or comforted. Steve just doesn't understand.

As soon as they are in the lab Tony walks up to the glass case holding the suits.

"I made these?" Tony asks looking at them wide eyed.

"Yup." Steve says with a grin.

"How?"

"Uh... I have no idea, you tried explaining it to me once, but I didn't understand."

"So I'm smarter then you?" Tony asks with a lopsided grin. So much like the adult Tony.

"Well, you're basically smarter then everyone." Tony nods

"Cool." Tony says "So... Can I have something to eat?" Tony asks which takes Steve by surprise.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want?"

"Something with cheese." Tony says with a small smile

"You like cheese?" Steve says with a small laugh

"It's my favorite food." Tony says tilting his head "Why didn't you know that?"

"It never came up." Steve replies honestly "How about a grilled cheese."

"And tomato soup?" Tony asks shyly

"If we have some."

"Okay. Let's go." Tony walks to the elevator with Steve trailing behind

"So the liar lady said that they all are dead." Tony says. Steve makes a mental note to give him names.

"Yeah." Steve says cautiously

"Well, I want to know how."

"I don't think-"

"Tell me."

"Okay... Car accident. Killed your mom and dad. Jarvis raised you after that until he passed away too. I'm not sure about Anna."

"Do I talk about my family when I'm older?" Tony asks as they enter the kitchen.

"No. Rarely ever. And when you do it's never a real answer." Steve says getting a pan out as the rest of the team comes in.

"Are you going to take advantage of me as a kid and ask me what the old me refuses to tell you."

"No." Steve says looking for tomato soup

"Is it because you figured most of it out?" Tony asks sitting on the chair.

"Partly. We still don't know what it all means, but... we can kinda guess what happened." Steve answers honestly

"Mhmm. I'm not gonna like that, am I?"

"Probably not, no." Steve says placing the sandwich in the pan and heating up the soup in the microwave.

"So," Steve says "Maybe we should tell you our names. You already know my name, so."

"I'm Bruce Banner." Bruce says with a nod.

"And your superpower?"

"Well, we can discuss that later." Bruce says avoiding it

"Mhmm."

"I'm Clint Baton. I don't have superpowers. I have a bow and arrow and you think it's freaking awesome and you like me the best."

"Clint." Steve says disapproving

"I'm Natasha Romanov and I'm a trained spy who somehow ended up on this team when we had to save the world."

"Uhuh. And what about the other guy." Tony says and Bruce for a minute thinks he's talking about the Hulk

"That's Thor. He's really strong." Tony nods

"Right." Tony says as Steve puts his sandwich down "How'd they find you?" Tony asks looking at the sandwich and soup.

"People found me. Are you going to eat?" Steve asks the kid who is just eyeing the sandwhich

"You didn't put anything in it, did you?" Tony asks poking it.

"No." Steve says "I promise."

Tony nods skeptically but takes a bite. And chews it slowly after swallowing Tony nods

"Can I have some juice?"

"Yeah, apple or orange?"

"Apple." Tony says dipping his sandwich in the soup. "Can you all stop staring at me? It's creeping me out."

"Sorry." They says and look around the room

"So, how are you going to change me back?"

"Thor is working on it."

"How did I get changed in the first place?" Tony asks sipping his juice.

"We don't know."

"What do you know?"

"That we are going to fix you." Steve says surely

"Okay." Tony says and finishes his sandwich

"You want to play Mario kart?" Clint asks

"Mario Kart...?" Tony asks and Clint grins

Ten minutes skip

"He beat me." Clint says confused.

"Seriously?" Natasha says walking over. "Tony beat you?"

"It's not that hard. He's pretty bad actually." Tony says with a  giggle

"I am reigning champion." Clint defends.

"Not anymore." Bruce says with a laugh "Way to go Tony, you beat the champion on your first try."

"He rigged it!" Clint shouts "He must have. He's smart, he could do it."

"Nuh-uh. I'm just better then you, bird brain." Tony says with a laugh but the Avengers pause at the similar nickname "What?" Tony asks noticing them staring

"Bird Brain?" Steve asks

"Sorry." Tony mumbles "It just came out. Please don't be mad."

"Tony, we're not mad." Clint says softly "I promise." Tony slowly nods "Just old you use to call me that. We were just wondering why you remembered that."

Tony shrugs. "Let's play tag." Tony jumps up and tags Clint ad darts away "You're it!"

"Oh. Oh it's on!" Clint says getting up chasing after Tony. Tony squeals and runs faster.

"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" Tony grins darting around the table.

"Maybe not, but i can catch Nat." He says and turns and tags Natasha who was behind him

"You're it!" Clint and Tony shout as Clint darts away.

"Ohh, Clint you're gonna regret that." Natasha says smirking and darts for Clint as Tony giggles and runs out of the way.

"She's fast. She's gonna get you!" Tony laughs

"Maybe." Tasha says gaining on Clint. "Or i can get Steve!" She swiftly turns and tags Steve.

"You're it!" The three of them call laughing Steve turns to Bruce who was next to him and raises an eyebrow

"No i'm not getting into all your shenanigans. I'm out."

"You're no fun." Steve says but turns off running after Tony who just squeals and darts away laughing.

The 5 of them are laying on the floor laughing out of breath when Thor returns "I found a way to reverse it. My friend has already started the process."

"I don't feel too good." Tony says closing his eyes all of a sudden

"We were having so much fun." Clint Pouts and Steve rolls his eyes.

"It's alright Tony, you're going to be okay." Thor says "She mentioned he might feel a little sick during and after." Tony groans and the Avengers watch as 10 year old Tony slowly grows into 46 year old. Once he's the right age Tony groans

"I think I'm going to be sick." Tony mumbles

"Are you gonna throw up?" Steve asks perking up. "Bathroom?"

Tony groans and rolls on to his back

"What the hell is going on?" Tony asks willing the feeling to go away.

"Do you remember anything?" Steve asks hesitantly. Tony opens one eye and looks at him.

"Yeah. Did you poison me? Is it that terrible grilled cheese? That was probably the worst grilled cheese I've ever had. Like you burned the bread and the cheese wasn't even melted." Tony says with a slight smirk "Terrible." Steve shakes his head but can't help the small smile

"It will pass." Thor says

"What turned me into a 10 year old?" Tony asks quietly

"Well, those things we were fighting? When you kill the last one it unleashed a spell. Like to get back at you for killing them. And you must have killed the last one." Thor explains

"Someone help me up." Tony says and Steve stands up and offers him a hand

"Are you going to throw up?"

"No." Tony says and Steve pulls him up. Tony stumbles and Steve steadies him. He gives a slight nod, but pulls away. "So, I'll just..." Tony points to the lab and Steve shakes his head

"We need to talk about what happened."

"We really don't." Tony says taking a step towards the elevator

"Please Tony." Steve asks quietly "I need to know... were you abused?"

"I was kidnapped 9 times before I turned 10." Tony whispers softly "Howard paid ransom for the first 3, but then refused." The Avengers listen without speaking "After I turned 10 I was kidnapped 5 more times before I turned 16. After you're 16 they don't send out an amber alert. So the next time I was kidnapped I was gone for 3 weeks."

"Oh my god." Steve whispers.

"Then I hired Happy. And didn't get kidnapped again... until Afghanistan." Tony sighs

"What else?" Natasha asks softly

"Howard was a drunk." Tony says quietly "He didn't like me very much." Tony shrugs "You can put together the pieces."

"How bad was it?" Steve asks trying to control his rage for the man he once called friend

"Steve." Tony says softly putting his hand on his shoulder "Don't do this to yourself."

"Just tell me." Steve says quietly "I need to know."

"It was pretty bad, for a while. But most of the time he was ignoring me completely. He was cold and calculating. Never told me he loved me, never told me he liked me." Tony shrugs "It's okay though. I got through it. I had Jarvis and Anna. They would take care of me."

"You said that since I'm back, you'd have to leave." Steve says "I don't understand."

"I was just a replacement to Howard. One that could never live up to his standards." Steve closes his eyes to force back tears

"Why did you never tell us this?" Natasha asks

"Bruce knew." Tony says shrugging and they all look to him

"He's my best friend." Bruce says with a small shrug "He told me and I respected his trust."

"Is that why you said 'of course' when you realized Tony thought we kidnapped him?" Steve asks and Brue nods.

"Rhodey knows too. You haven't really gotten to know me so well like Bruce has where I tell you my deepest secrets. It's not like you guys don't have them." Tony looks to them each. "It doesn't affect me like it used to." Tony says quietly

"I still would have like to know before finding out like this."

"Maybe you should have made more of an effort to talk to me." Tony says with a shrug

"Yeah, I should have. And I'll do better. I promise." Steve says amking Tony smile

"Come on, You have to make me another grilled cheese."

"I thought you said it was terrible?" Steve asks following him to the kitchen

"It was but I still want one." Tony says and Steve laughs

Part 2 coming soon
And a quick thanks to banana072003 for helping me and proof reading this chapter