"How do you think mom is going to take it that I went to sleep a 13 year old and woke up as a 22 year old?" JJ asks.
"Not well but you're still her kid no matter what," Steven says.
"About that," Sarah says.
Both boys look at Sarah in confusion.
"What if I could turn back our ages?" Sarah asks.
Both boys immediately protest.
"Are you crazy, Sarah? You'll kill yourself!" JJ says.
"Just listen. Ever since everyone helped me save Tony, I feel like I have too much power running through me. It's like my body stored the extra energy. I don't think I passed out because I was drained of energy but because I had too much flowing through me," Sarah says.
"We can't risk you like that," JJ says.
Sarah looks towards Steven who despite the original outburst, hasn't said anything.
"You can look ahead, can't you? You can make sure it's safe before I do it," Sarah says.
Steven nods and his eyes glow blue, activating his powers. He stays in his trance for several
minutes before coming out.
"So?" JJ asks.
"She'll have no problem with aging down me and her but JJ is a problem. JJ was so close to dying at the airport that aging him backwards past that is dangerous. As long as you stop before that, you will be fine. JJ will just be 14 instead of 13. The real question though is if you want that, JJ," Steven says.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"You're 22 years old. You've been an adult for many years. How are you going to feel about going back to being 14 again?" Steven asks.
JJ pauses for a second and really ponders Steven's question. How will it feel to be 14 again? He could still go back to his family as a 22 year old. He knows his parents will accept him in any form. There's definitely parts of being grown that appeal to him. However, he will grow and get back to this age eventually. Also, this wasn't the childhood that he imagined for himself. He wants a chance to get the childhood that he lost.
"Eh, I'll still be a year older than you, punk," JJ says with a smile.
Steven can't help but smile back. He hates to admit it but it's hard seeing JJ so much older than him. It just shows how much time they've lost with each other throughout the years. If JJ decided to be his current age, he would have supported him but he's glad he decided against it.
"Should we do it now or later?" Sarah asks.
"Do you feel ready now?" JJ questions.
He hopes she does because he doesn't want to have time to second guess his decision. He knows he's making the right choice but his brain doesn't always agree with him.
"As ready as I'll ever be. I've never aged myself down before," Sarah says.
They both see Steven's eyes glow blue and they wait for his assessment. Steven looks through all the different scenarios but she always seems to be fine as long as she doesn't age JJ past his injury at the airport.
"She'll be fine as long as she doesn't do anything crazy that I haven't looked for," Steven says.
"Oh yeah, because aging ourselves down isn't crazy," JJ says sarcastically.
"You know what I mean, jerk," Steven says in annoyance.
They both look to Sarah, waiting for her to get started. She nods slightly and closes her eyes. She focuses on aging herself back through the years. It's strange aging herself down but she knows it's working. She has to take away four years away to turn her age from 17, back to 13. She takes year by year off. She isn't sure it worked but when she opens her eyes and sees awe in the twins' eyes, she knows it worked.
"Wow, I've seen a lot of crazy shit but that takes the cake," JJ says.
"You better fix your language before we go back because ma will have your hide if she hears you cussing," Steven says.
JJ rolls his eyes at his goody-goody brother. However, he knows he's right. His mom doesn't allow cursing in the house. She doesn't have to know that dad swears like a sailor when she's at work and he's with the kids.
"Do you think our dads will remember us? Do you think they'll remember us being here in this time?" JJ asks.
They'd be lying if they said they weren't thinking about it. Steven could always show their parents visions of their time here but it's not the same as them actually remembering it.
"I don't know... they didn't seem to show any indication while we were growing up. They'd already remember it happening right?" Sarah asks.
"I don't know, our whole family has messed with time travel too much to really understand the repercussions anymore," JJ says.
They fall into silence as they all think about the uncertainty of the next couple days. Sarah decides that they need to move on because their fathers will either remember them or not and there is nothing they can do to change that.
"Who's next?" Sarah asks.
"Steven," JJ answers instantly.
She looks at Steven in confirmation and he gives a small nod.
Sarah reaches out and places her hand on his chest.
"Ready?" She asks.
He exhales sharply but then gives a sharp nod. He trusts her and knows everything will be okay.
Sarah repeats the process with Steven and when she is done, JJ starts laughing. They both look at him in question.
"I'm like a foot taller than you now," JJ says through laughter.
He pulls Steven out of his seat to show the drastic difference in their height. Sarah cracks up slightly because the image in front of her sort of looks like the pictures she's seen of her dad and uncle before the serum.
"Yeah, yeah. Very funny," Steven grumbles.
"We look like our namesakes before the war," JJ says.
"Alright, alright. Are you done stalling?" Steven asks.
JJ's smile falls at the question because he didn't even realize he was stalling. However, as he thinks about it, he does have a pit of anxiety in his stomach. Sarah sees the distress on her cousins face and grasps his hand.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. You know our family will accept you no matter what," Sarah says.
JJ close his eyes and takes a deep breathe. He squeezes Sarah's hand and sits back down. He grabs her hand and places her palm against his chest.
"Do it," he says.
Steven walks up behind Sarah and places his hands on Sarah's shoulders so she can pull energy from him if she needs it. Really it's more so to comfort her because reverting JJ is going to be the hardest on her.
Sarah closes her eyes and activates her powers. It's the strangest thing that JJ has ever felt. He can literally feel himself shrinking. His shoulders becoming less broad and his body becoming slimmer and shorter. Everything is fine until he starts getting a headache. He quickly realizes what's going on and yells at Sarah to stop.
She immediately rips her hands off of JJ. He slumps back on the bed and goes limp. Sarah screams and crawls over to JJ. She lifts his head so she can feel the back of his head.
"Ow," JJ groans as she touches the sensitive area.
She leans back and gives a sigh of relief when she realizes she cut herself off just in time.
"Thank God," she says.
JJ props himself up on his elbows to look at them.
"Well? How do I look?" JJ asks.
"No worse than usual," Steven says with a grin.
JJ scoffs at his brother.
"Please, it's impossible for a Barnes to be unattractive," JJ says.
Steven rolls his eyes but holds out a hand for his brother. JJ allows Steven to pull him to his feet and bring him in for a hug.
"Thank you," Steven whispers.
It isn't until that moment that JJ realized how important it was to Steven that they be the same age. It must have been hard for him to see his twin be so much older than him. If he stayed that age, they wouldn't feel like twins anymore.
"Let's go home," JJ whispers back.
Sarah gives a smile to her boys. It wasn't until this moment that she could finally accept that they were going back. They would get to redo their childhood. They would never regret coming to this time but now they get a chance to finish the life they left behind without missing a step.
"There's only one thing left to do," Sarah says.
"We have to tell the team," Steven says.
"Time to assemble the Avengers," JJ says.
They text everyone to meet at Tony's house. JJ knows that Tony will be a little annoyed that they are inviting everyone to his house but they will be away from prying eyes.
They wait until ten minutes after the agreed upon meeting time to teleport in. They want to make sure everyone is already there because as soon as people see their appearance, everyone is going to flip and they don't want to go through that more than once.
Right before JJ is about to teleport in, JJ starts laughing hysterically. Sarah and Steven both look at each other in confusion.
"What?" Sarah asks.
"Sorry, I was just imagining the stupid expression Sam is going to have on his face when he sees us. I'm so going to miss messing with him," JJ says through laughter.
"This is why he hates you," Steven deadpans.
"Please? Who could hate me?" JJ says right before teleporting them in.
They arrive in the middle of the Stark's living room. They look around and are quick to see that everyone they messaged was there. They didn't invite all the Avengers, the team was too big for that now. They just invited the people who know and love them.
Tony, Pepper, Sam, Wanda, Scott, Strange, Clint, Bruce, Rhodey and of course, their fathers.
It takes a moment for everyone to realize they are there but when they do, it's chaos. Everyone starts talking over each other and demanding explanation, we'll almost everyone.
Tony, Wanda, Bucky and Steve sit in silence because in a way, they knew this was coming. As soon as they got a text from the kids, they knew what this conversation was going to be about. Of course, it was surprising to see them as teens again, especially JJ, but they knew that they had decided to go home.
Steve is the one to bring everyone to attention.
"Hey!" Steve shouts in his Captain America voice.
Everyone immediately goes silent.
"Go ahead," Steve says with a nod.
"We've decided to go back to our time," JJ says.
Immediately everyone starts talking over each other again.
"Just let us finish!" Sarah yells.
Everyone is so startled by the outburst from the young Rogers that they stop talking. Sarah nods at JJ to continue.
"We don't belong here. We will never regret coming to this time and meeting you all but it's time for us to go home," JJ says.
"The world needs you," Scott says.
"It's in the best hands. If we thought that the world needed us, we'd stay, but it has you. It has all of you," Steven says.
Clint turns and looks at Strange.
"Aren't you Dr. Time? Doesn't this break some kind of 'time law'?" Clint asks him.
"It's Strange and no, it doesn't break any so called 'time laws'. Like the kid said, they don't belong here," Strange says as he looks right at Steven.
They've always understood that they always had to go back to their time. They weren't meant to be here in the first place and now it's time they set things right.
Sam looks over at Steve and Bucky wondering why he hasn't heard their voice in all of this.
"What about you two? You're just going to let your kids click their ruby slippers three times and hightail it back from Oz?" Sam asks.
Bucky doesn't know why Sam's question rubs him the wrong way but it does. He wants to lash out but he knows that it's not Sam's fault that he's been so emotionally unstable the last few days. Ever since going through Lizzie's things, he has felt more and more frustrated.
Knowing his kids are leaving is making him so confused about where to go from here. He's so scared to go back to Lizzie even though he knows that everything will turn out perfectly according to the kids. Maybe it's because he feels he doesn't deserve that life with Lizzie, Steve, and all the kids. He's hurt so many people. Hell, he killed the parents of a person in this room. Why does he deserve a happy ending?
He can feel the room closing around him. He gives one last glance at his sons before storming out of the room.
Steve watches his best friend's retreating form with sadness. He knows how much he's been struggling with the kids leaving and Steve's decision to go back to the girls. He clears his throat and looks around the room warily.
"We discussed the matter as a family and we support the kids in their decision," Steve says.
"You're just fine with losing your daughter forever?" Sam asks skeptically.
Maybe he would feel different if he hadn't already decided to go back but he knew he was only losing his baby girl for a little bit. In two years time, he would be holding her in his arms again. He will get to experience every part of her childhood. He loves Sarah and he's so glad she came to this time but part of him wishes he got to raise her from the beginning and now he will.
"There's only a few of you who will understand this but being a parent means putting your kids happiness first. If this will make them happy, I'm behind them one hundred percent," Steve says.
He means that whole heartedly. He would give up anything and everything for Sarah. He knows that if they decided to stay in this time he would never be able to leave. As much as he loves Peggy, his daughter will always come first.
He looks at Tony, Pepper, Scott and Clint and see understanding in their eyes.
"Thank you, dad," Sarah says softly.
If they thought the voices were loud when the kids announced they were leaving, it was nothing to the outburst that happens next.
"Is this a bad time to mention that I'm going with them?" Wanda asks.
As the room breaks into chaos, Sarah can't help but smile at her adopted sister. Everything was going to be perfect now. Wanda knows in that moment that she made the right decision.