𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬 𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦

chapter vi.

Tony stood by Loki's bed, shaking him roughly. Loki's eyes flickered open and he glared at Tony through half awake eyes. "Do you want to die today Stark?" Loki growled at him, trying to get back under the covers. "Don't be a wuss, it's already five thirty and I've been working for hours." Loki sighed as he was dragged out of his bed by an exhausted Tony Stark.

"Where are we going?" He demanded as they passed the doorway.
"The Lab." Tony replied, deciding that no further explanation was necessary. Loki thought about what to say next as he was pulled impatiently down the corridors. When they reached the lab, Tony pushed him down into a chair. "Try and take it like a man." Tony said with an eye roll as he pulled out a needle. "Wait what?!" Loki yelped, his voice higher than usual, "Why are you stabbing me?"
"Because you and Thorn both have magical blood and come from the same place and have similar magic so it's likely that you both have similar blood which means I can probably use it to help with finding the cure!" Tony explained impatiently. Loki had barely nodded before Tony shoved the needle into his arm, drawing out some of Loki's blood. "Ow!" Loki cried out in pain. "What did I say? Stop being a wimp!" Tony said, sounding irritated, "You've probably woken up the-"
"Who screamed?" Steve asked.

Tony sighed and glared at Loki who looked down. "Sorry." Loki muttered. Thor, Clint and then the rest of the children joined Steve at the doorway looking concerned. "Nothing's happening, you guys should go back to sleep." Tony replied, ushering them out the door, "You guys aren't even meant to be in here."
"Bruce is allowed in here!" Clint objected, folding his arms as Tony didn't blink when Bruce walked past him and sat on Tony's chair. Tony hesitated, looking at Bruce. He felt a stab of sadness again. This was Bruce's lab too. Tony briefly thought of the countless hours spent in here together, researching for S.H.I.E.L.D, for his suits, for anything and everything they found amazing. "Yeah well...That's different." Tony said eventually, but he picked Bruce up anyway and deposited him outside the door to avoid any arguments.

Tony shut the door and sighed loudly. "You know, it is rather unfair to only let Bruce in." Loki said tentatively. "Shut up Loki, it's Bruce's lab as well as mine."
"Tony...he's five."
"How many times to I have to tell you to shut up Loki?"

The kids didn't go back to bed however. They were already up, and much more importantly than that, they were starving. Walking into the kitchen, they pulled themselves up onto stools and chairs. "Does anyone actually know how to make food?" Bruce asked after a while.
"Sure I do." Clint replied, "How hard can it be?" Thor nodded.
"I've watched Loki make cereal thousands of times!" Thor agreed, sliding off of his chair and walking over to the kitchen cupboards. "Thousands?" Bruce said uncertainly. He shared a worried look with Steve and Natasha.

"Tony's gonna kill us if we make a mess." Steve pointed out. Clint dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "We're not gonna make a mess. And besides, you're hungry aren't you?" Steve hesitated before nodding. "Then problem solved." Clint said, sounding very sure. Using a chair, he climbed onto the kitchen counter and pulled out a huge box of cereal. Before he could stop himself, Clint started to stumble under the weight of the huge box. Thor managed to grab his arm before he fell off the edge of the marble counter top, but it was too late for the box of cereal. Coco Pops went flying, landing on the floor and spilling out everywhere.

The kitchen fell into silence. "Oops." Clint said at last.
"We're dead." Steve said, sounding defeated as he slumped into a chair. Bruce nodded.
"Tony will officially kill us." He added, sitting down next to steve and giving lint an 'I told you so' sort of look. Clint was unwilling to admit defeat and so was Thor.
"Nonsense," The God said, "There's some left, we just need some milk." Before any of them could stop him, Thor grabbed the chair and opened the fridge. "Thor...don't." Bruce said nervously. Thor ignored him completely and pulled out the carton of milk. He jumped off of the stool, but as he did so, he slid on the coco pops which layered the floor and the milk carton fell out of his hand, smashing and sending rivers of milk across the floor.