Loki's face was naturally pale. He was a Frost Giant, after all, it wasn't like he spent his time basking in the sunlight. But Nick Fury knew something was wrong when the Jotun's face was almost literally white. Though they had once been enemies, he and Loki were on somewhat friendly terms now. But today he drew in a sharp breath and demanded, "Loki, what did you do?"
"Well, I, uh-"
They were in the main headquarters of SHIELD, where Loki's brother Thor, along with Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner should have been. Now they were nowhere in sight. "Where are the Avengers?" Fury's tone was not pleasant.
"Well, you see, ah-"
"Loki!" a small voice interrupted. A golden-haired child ran to the Frost Giant and wrapped his arms around his leg. When Fury realized who the child was, his jaw dropped.
It took a moment for Fury to find his voice. Loki gave a nervous "ehehehe" chuckle, and Fury asked slowly, "Laufeyson? Would you care to explain why your brother is a child?"
Loki was just about to try and explain as best he could when they heard singing from down the hall. It was a little boy, without much musical talent, from what they could gather, but he sang proudly- and loudly- nonetheless. "A-MEEE-wica, Amewica, God SHED His Gwace on theeee-"
Fury had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had a dire suspicious that he knew who the child was. "Don't tell me… that's Rogers."
Loki grew dark red now. "Maybe…" he croaked, feeling his palms sweat.
"Loki, play!" Thor was jumping up and down now, sucking on his hammer. Mjolnir was a little heavier for him now that he was in child form, but he still managed. He was worthy, after all.
"Not now, brother, go play with your friends, all right?" This was weird. Loki remembered similar conversations long ago, but the roles were reversed. Now he was having to learn to be the "big brother". Thor stuck his lower lip out in a pout, but obeyed and ran off.
Now Fury was at his wit's end. "Friends?" he growled. "As in, plural? As in, they're all children?!"
Loki winced and ran his fingers through his hair. "You see, Barton wanted to see a spell, and I might have accidentally turned them all into children, and now I'm trying my hardest to figure out-"
"Wait, wait wait." Fury held up a hand. This was getting to be too much to bear. "You don't know how to turn them back?"
Loki fidgeted nervously as he heard the de-aged Avengers clamoring in the hall, discussing their favorite cartoons. This was not his day. "You see, sir, I don't know how I turned them into little ones in the first place."
Fury threw up his hands in frustration. "You're supposed to be an expert on magic!"
Loki gave his signature "Ehehehe" laugh again. "You're never too old to learn, right sir?"
This had to be a dream. It was too ridiculous to be real. There was no way that earth's mightiest heroes were all about six years old now. Before Fury even had a chance to respond, however, a very young Bruce Banner entered the room crying. His pants were wet and a voice that probably belonged to kid Stark was laughing. "I had an accident," he whispered, and Fury sunk down into a chair, holding his temple. It was real.