Meanwhile, we rejoin our heroes...
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or the Avengers or any of the related rights.
...
They had to be patient to put Steve's plan into action, and that was really not something that any of them were good at.
Bruce got tired and ended up taking a nap, but they figured that was probably okay. They didn't want him to get too grumpy, and besides, if they wanted to make him angry and bring out his big green other self, there was really no better way to do it than waking him up from a nap.
Naptime was sacred. Everybody knew that.
Tony wound up trying to build things out of the toys the bad guys had left for them to play with. He tore pages out of the coloring book that Nat wasn't using (no one was dumb enough to try and steal Nat's coloring book, no matter how happy she seemed with her red sippy cup and crayons) and tried to fold them into cool designs.
But Steve was older, so he was just a little bit better at the being patient thing. And Clint had always been good at waiting. Waiting for Dad to go to sleep, waiting for Barney to come back. . . .
"You nervous?" Steve asked, catching Clint's gaze.
"A little," Clint admitted.
Both boys glanced over at where Loki and the Enchantress were talking. She seemed to be upset about something, and Clint recognized the voice Loki was using. The smooth-everything-over voice that grownups used when they didn't want you to get upset even when you had every right to be.
"Trouble at home?" Steve whispered, following Clint's gaze.
But Clint didn't think so. They didn't look like a couple. He might not have been very old, but he'd seen enough to know when people had been in each other's spaces, old enough to know what it looked like when two people were emotionally distant and distinct.
Barney was always saying that Clint paid things way too much attention, but Clint liked to think that was what kept him alive for so long—he could see storms brewing and try to calm things down before they got out of hand.
Not that he was any good at the calming things down part, but he was improving. At least, that's what he liked to tell people.
The Enchantress threw her hands in the air and left the room.
Loki shook his head for a moment, staring after her as she left, before he ran his hand over his face and approached the kids.
Steve and Clint hurriedly tried to pretend that they hadn't been spying. Clint wasn't sure that they were all that convincing, but that was the advantage of being small. Grown-ups liked to think you weren't a threat so long as you were small.
But most grown-ups hadn't met Clint.
Loki surveyed the group, and his gaze rested for probably a longer time than he meant it to on Bruce, who was smiling in his sleep. That was probably a good thing.
Steve nodded over at Clint, who grinned. Time to cause some trouble.
"What are you doing here?" Clint demanded loudly enough to get Loki's attention.
Loki turned to Clint and looked him over, something like a smile on his face. That probably wasn't a good sign. When grown-ups like that smiled, it almost always meant they had something up their sleeves.
Still, no one had ever accused Clint of being smart, and he figured he should probably go ahead and dive in anyway.
"Back off, mister, or there'll be trouble," he said, raising his fists. He actually could throw punches, too, because Barney had taught him, and that would be useful.
Loki tilted his head and laughed softly. "I assure you, trouble will find you on its own soon enough," he said.
Clint jutted out his lower lip and tried to look intimidating. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Loki sighed the way grown-ups sighed when they were getting tired of explaining things. "It means," he said softly, "that it is not yet your turn for the grand adventure you so crave." And his gaze fell on Steve.
Oh no. No, no. Nope. No way was Clint letting Steve get taken and manhandled by these creeps.
Clint didn't even really think about it. He just jumped and latched onto the nearest thing he could get his hands on and sink his teeth into.
He ended up clamping down on Loki's hand as he was reached for Steve and grabbing a fistful of a cloak that disappeared when Loki realized Clint was using it to hold himself up—but not quick enough to drop Clint, who was still biting.
Clint reached up and this time dug his nails in, too, and he could hear Loki's shriek of displeasure and feel someone pulling at his hair.
No way. Not letting go. Nope.
Clint bit harder, and even though his eyes were watering from how hard Loki was pulling to get him off, he couldn't help smiling in triumph when he heard Loki yelp.
Finally, he couldn't hold on anymore, and he let go. But when he released Loki's hand, he threw himself backward into Loki's chest so that, if he was very lucky, the momentum would make them both tumble backward.
Sure enough, Loki took a few steps back, and that was all Clint needed.
He abandoned all pretense at attacking Loki as soon as his feet hit the ground outside of the magic playpen.
"Run, run, run, just as fast as you can!" he shouted over his shoulder. "You can't catch me—I'm the Purple Kid!"
He heard Loki's shout of annoyance and knew that his distraction had worked.
Great.
Now all he had to do was wait for Steve to enact Step 2.
…..
Steve looked dubiously at the sleeping toddler in front of him.
He hadn't actually thought anyone would go for the idea. He knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth that it was stupid, and if Bucky had been around (where was Bucky, anyway? Was he hurt? Was he also magicked into being younger?), well, Bucky would have told him that he had his head on the wrong way around.
But Clint had been all for it, and, even though Tony had whined about it, they managed to convince Tony to keep Natasha (and her crayons) on the other side of the playpen for when the madness broke out.
Steve just really hoped this was a good idea.
It definitely wasn't, but he hoped.
He took a deep breath, gulped in some air, and then screamed, "WAKE UP, BRUCE!"
Bruce jolted awake, looking around like he was scared, and Steve could see the green around his cheeks as he started to turn into a monster.
Oh man, this was such a bad idea.
The little green Bruce yelled and screamed like he was throwing a tantrum, and then his gaze found Steve.
Steve gave Bruce a shy sort of wave.
Bruce charged at him.
This was the scary part. This was the really, really scary part, and why had Clint let him talk them into this plan? It was a dumb plan, only apparently there was no Bucky around to tell everybody so.
Steve waited until the last second and then, with reflexes that he knew he didn't have, so why did he have them now?, he dived out of the way.
Crash.
Bruce went careening into the magic playpen fence that surrounded them and fell backwards onto his bum.
Bruce blinked at Steve, then back at the fence. "PUNY MAGIC!" he shouted, glaring at the fence before he wound up another punch to have a go at it again.
Steve grinned and tried not to look too relieved as he glanced over at Tony. (Tony, for his part, looked all-too-relieved, though he also looked slightly disturbed, because Natasha was in his lap, and she seemed to be cheering on the green Bruce in his destruction.)
Steve joined Tony in their corner and watched the tiny green Bruce monster go to work.
If all went well, they'd be out of the playpen in no time. Just so long as Clint was able to keep everyone distracted.