Meet the girls
This was not how Natasha thought her day was going to go. First, she and Clint had been enjoying a relaxing day at the Tower, only for Fury to call them down to the infirmary. Finding out it was for Yelena and Kate, who had been on a short “in and out” mission had nearly given her a heart attack; finding the two little girls had made her think she had had it for a moment. After the girls, or at least Yelena as Kate had hidden and refused to move, had been examined, poked, and prodded for over an hour, the only sure facts they had were pretty few.
HYDRA had been working on a machine in secret that turned out was to make their aging soldiers young and fighting fit again. The girls had unknowingly activated it, making them deage. Yelena was five years old while Kate was between two or a very young three. Yelena at this time had been living in Ohio and had yet to have gone through the Red Room so was a fairly normal child overall, while Kate had been another story. It was well known to Natasha that she had been abused by her family, but she had not had any idea how early it had started. Seeing the small toddler with the right side of her face all bruised, eye swollen shut and with a broken wrist had nearly sent her into a rage. This wasn’t even the full extent as far as they knew as she had only recently allowed them to look her over, so they still had to do a more thorough exam after her wrist was taken care of. Only the toddlers fear filled whimpers had kept her anger down. Yelena had just been shocked that her big sister was “so old now!” Bruce had let out a snort at that while Tony broke out into laughter. At least Pepper had the sense to go out and get them things they would need for the girls, or at the very least sent Happy with a list. Yelena sat next to Kate on exam table, chatting away as Kate had a cast put on her wrist. Something about fireflies from what she could gather.
“Ok, I have some clothes that should last them a few days and we went ahead and got some pull ups for Kate just to be safe. I didn’t get any for Yelena, but I did get them a few T-O-Y-S. Any clue how long they may be like this?” Pepper announced as she swept into the room, Happy trailing behind her with a couple of large bags.
“None, we have the machine but it’s basically in pieces from the fight so Bruce and I will be starting work on that tomorrow. For tonight Fury wants his agents to catalog everything first,” Tony informed her as he made his way over to the girls. Yelena watched him curiously while Kate flinched, ducking her head down in an attempt to make herself smaller. Tony felt his heart clench at the sight, memories of long ago when he used to try and make himself unknown to his father coming to mind. Sitting on a stool near them, he made a show of opening a bag of dried blueberries while humming loudly to himself. Eating a few, he let out a massive sigh as he looked at the children with a pout.
“I don’t know about you two but I can’t possibly eat all of these blueberries by myself. Would you mind helping me?”
Yelena grinned and nodded eagerly, reaching in for a big handful when he held the bag out. Kate watched warily, wanting some but not sure if she should. Yelena made the decision for her when she dumped her handful in Kate’s lap before grabbing another.
“There you go, now you won’t have to reach for it since your arm hurts!”
Natasha smiled at the easy cheer of her baby sister, remembering when she was small so long ago. She would be good for Kate, no doubt about it. For her part, Kate watched warily as the other two ate the berries before carefully grabbing one. Natasha frowned at the difficulty she seemed to have picking it up, even moving her good arm too far away from her chest seemed painful. She had a sneaking suspicion that one was hurt as well, but they had been too distracted by the larger injuries that they had taken care of those first and had yet to do a full exam as they were waiting for Dr. Cho. Moving forward slowly, she eased herself down on the other chair in front of them.
“Hi Tasha!” Yelena beamed, waving at her while chewing her snack.
“Hey sestra, enjoying those?” she asked with a smile as Yelena nodded eagerly. Patting her tiny leg, she turned to look at Kate who was still eating one berry at a time. She stopped when she noticed Natasha looking at her, keeping her head down while staring at the woman through her hair.
“Kate, does your other arm hurt too? You aren’t in trouble honey, we just need to know so we can help you feel better,” Natasha asked gently, gaining the attention of Bruce as he was finishing wrapping her wrist.
Kate sniffled a bit before giving a small nod.
“Good girl, can you tell me where?” Natasha asked as she leaned forward while still making sure to give the child her space.
Kate shook her head furiously while whimpering as tears formed in her eyes.
“It’s ok, Katie! Tasha is the BEST sister ever and will make you feel all better from your owies!” Yelena chirped as she gave the younger girl a small hug.
Natasha smiled softly at the easy affection Yelena gave Kate. She had almost forgotten had loving she was before Dreykov had gotten hold of her. Kate seemed almost confused, not sure what to do but also enjoying the gentle affection. Big blue eyes looked between the sisters before she pointed at her elbow.
“Good girl, you are so brave for telling me. Think we can let Bruce take a look?”
Kate whimpered again but slowly extended her arm out. So far they had been helping and her arm really did hurt. Bruce gently took it in his hand, feeling along it before stopping when she whined in pain.
“Dislocated elbow, likely pulled along by her arm or something similar. I’m going to have to pop it back into place, ok sweetie? It’ll hurt for a second but then it’ll be good as knew,” he said softly while smiling at the tiny child.
Kate just sobbed a bit as he slowly extended her arm, rotating it before popping the joint back into place with a loud crack. Kate screamed before breaking into loud sobs, curling into herself when her arm was released. Yelena whimpered next to her, tears forming as her bottom lip wobbled.
“You hurted her!” she exclaimed while hugging Kate close, letting the toddler cry in her lap.
“I know he did detka, but he had to do it to fix her arm so she can feel better. The pain will pass soon and in a few days, it’ll be good as new, I promise,” Natasha cooed as she cupped her sister's cheek while using her free hand to gently rub Kate’s back.
“Pinky promise?” Yelena asks with a small sniffle, her doubtful eyes glancing down at a quietening Kate.
“Double pinky promise,” Natasha confirmed, smiling while holding out both pinkies. Yelena grinned while linking her smaller ones with them, shaking them once before letting go. Kate sniffled miserably as she watched them both with confused bloodshot eyes. Her thumb slowly made its way into her mouth as she tried to soothe herself.
“Ok my loves, lets see what Pepper got for you hmm? Then I think it may be time for dinner before we have a nice bath,” Natasha said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster while getting the bags to start digging through them. True to her word, Pepper had gotten multiple sets of play clothes, pajamas, underwear, pull ups, and some of the tiniest socks and shoes. There were also kid friendly cutlery and sippy cups, along with bath supplies with what must have been an army sized bucket of rubber ducks. She did raise an eyebrow at the pack of pacifiers near the bottom.
“Hey, boss lady here says she has two kids who need things and one is a toddler, toddlers still use those!” Happy defended when she gave him a questioning look.
She was kept from saying anything by Kate whining slightly while reaching for the pack. Her eyes were fixed straight on the pacifiers as she continued to suck her thumb.
“You want one, sweetheart? Probably better than your finger,” Nat mused while opening them up and handing the purple one to Kate, who instantly shoved it in her mouth and sucked happily, eyes slipping shut as her body relaxed slightly against Yelena.
“I think she likes it. She’s tiny so she’s allowed but I’m a big girl,” Yelena stated proudly while holding the toddler close. Kate just leaned more heavily as the stress of the last couple of hours caught up to her, sending her into a light doze.
“She doesn’t talk very much,” Yelena said rather bluntly while looking at Natasha.
“Oh, she may start to yet, believe me. You didn’t say too much at her age either,” Natasha teased, although that wasn’t fully true. Yelena may not have been as talkative in her older years, but baby Yelena had been a downright chatterbox. The fact that Kate had said almost nothing was concerning, but she hoped as she got more comfortable with them she would open up a bit. Reaching forward, she gently moved the sleeping child until she was laying on the exam table. She really was small for her age. Barely 24 pounds, she remembered Clint’s children had been bigger at half her age. She probably needed at least a good five pounds before she was a decent size, but they would have to find her old health records to be sure.
Yelena watched the whole thing silently before raising her arms up once Kate was settled. Natasha smiled while lifting her baby sister into her lap, cuddling her close as they both sighed happily. She had definitely missed when she was this small, but they still needed to get them back to their original ages.
Time to move on to the next step.