Bruce bent over the flasks, studying the chemicals closely. He stared through the rim of the glasses, tapping the glasses with the eraser of his pencil. Slowly standing back up, he wrote down a few things on a clipboard.

"Remind me what you're doing again?" Tony asked, stuffing his mouth with blueberries. "This isn't really your job."

Bruce took off his glasses. "It's… weird to explain," he murmured.

Tony shrugged and turned around to see Steve slumped up against the wall. "What's up with you, Capsicle?" he asked.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I don't really want to do anything right now."

Tony shifted his sight to Clint, who was busy doing something with his bow. Thor stood over Clint, watching his work silently. Natasha rested her cheek on her hand in the corner of the lab, her fingers in her hair. Lifting her head up, she said, "I'm going to go see if anybody needs anything." She headed out of the lab.

Clint looked up from his bow. "Slow day today," he said.

"No kidding," Tony muttered back.

The room was engulfed in silence. Bruce went back to tapping the glasses again. Thor was now amusing himself with a piece of fluff on his arm. Steve had his hands wrapped around his jaw. Nobody looked at each other. Nobody said a word.

Then there was a flash.

Natasha entered the lab. "Hey, I saw a flash come from here. Are you guys al—" She stopped. Nobody was there. Her body stiffening, she looked around for any sign of them. Her eyebrow raised, she turned to leave the room when she heard what sounded like a baby gurgle.

"What the—" She looked down to see a toddler with dark brown hair and a tiny Black Sabbath t-shirt staring back up at her. He giggled, drool spilling out of his mouth. Natasha jerked her leg back, a mix between terror and confusion on her face. She looked back a little further to see a little blonde boy lying on his back wearing a plaid shirt with a jacket, his toes in his mouth. He pulled his foot away from his face and laughed. Turning her head to the right, she saw two more toddlers, one wearing a black suit and holding an arrow in his head, the other one sporting long blonde hair and laughing as the toddler with the arrow swung the weapon around.

She sprinted out of the room. "Fury!" she yelled. People stuck their heads out of the rooms they were in, watching her interestedly. "Fury!" she called again. She burst into the room where Fury was at. He glanced over his shoulder, giving her a menacing glare.

"Agent Romanoff," he started. "Please tell me you have a perfectly good reason for bursting in here like a maniac."

"The Avengers, sir," she said, her eyes growing wide. "They're—they're babies!"

He stared at her. "What?" His voice carried a mocking tone.

"Sir, they're babies!"

"Agent Romanoff—"

"I'm not kidding! Come look!"

Fury gave an exasperated glance at the other workers in the room. "I'll be back soon." He shook his head and followed Natasha.

She took him to the room. "Look at this," she breathed. Baby Steve was sitting in the middle of the room, staring at the ceiling. He had a tiny smile on his face, and gurgling noises came from his throat. "Where's the rest?" she exclaimed.

Fury wasn't focused on that fact. His eyes were locked on Steve. He walked slowly towards the toddler, kneeling down and picking him up. Fury's hands startled Steve, causing Steve to start whimpering. "Don't cry," Fury said softly. He held Steve in his hands, looking at him nicely. "Calm down, little one."

Natasha stared at him, horrified. Nick Fury was acting like a parent? She turned away, feeling a tad bit sick. Since when had he learned that? "Sir," she said. "The rest of the babies are gone."

Another baby noise was heard. They bother looked at Steve, but Steve had his eyes closed and was slowly falling asleep. Natasha went behind the lab bench to see one last toddler with wavy black hair and tiny glasses in a purple shirt, hitting a clipboard ferociously on the ground. He laughed wildly at his source of entertainment.

Natasha glanced back at Fury, who was now rocking Steve. Clearing her throat, she picked up Bruce and said, "Sir."

Fury looked up at her and saw Bruce in her arms. Bruce was sucking his finger, staring at something down on the floor. The toddler laughed suddenly, a wicked but cute sounding laugh. He squirmed in her arms, reaching out towards the chemicals in the flasks on the bench. "No, no," she said, taking a few steps away. He still tried to reach them.

She glanced back at Fury. "What do we do?"

Fury looked down at Steve, who had his thumb in his mouth and was fast asleep. Fury gave a small smile. "We try to find out who did it and reverse the effects."

"I bet you everything I own I know who did it."

Fury gave her a small nod to let her know to continue.

"Who's this mischievous? Loki."

"Loki," he chimed. He stared down at Steve for a few moments longer before looking back up at Natasha. "Agent, we need to find the rest of the toddlers, put them in a room, and find Loki. I'm putting you in charge of the Avengers until further notice."

Her eyes widened. "Sir, I'm an agent, not a caretaker. Are you sure—"

"If I wasn't, would I be putting you there?" He stood up and handed her Steve. "There's an intern who'll watch them for you in your room as you find the others." He started to leave before turning around one last time. "And that's an order."

Natasha watched him leave. She looked down at the two toddlers. Bruce was hitting Steve, causing Steve to stir from his slumber. "Knock it off!" she told Bruce. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her with wide eyes. She sighed—and then groaned at the task laid before her.