As the day went on, the Avengers each stayed in their respective parts of the compound, as they always did. Tony and Bruce were in the laboratory, as far apart as any two people could be in the messy room, so that Tony did not get yelled at for suggesting inane ideas to Bruce while the scientist was busy brainstorming his newest heart rate measuring and reducing tool (which Tony called his "Hulk-O-Meter"). Clint and Natasha were outside, the former hitting bulls-eyes one after another with his bow, and the latter heckling him and every so often blasting a hole through a target with her handgun. Thor had gone down to talk to/threaten his brother. Steve, Sam Wilson, and Bucky were huddled together in the office next to Stark and Banner's lab, on a holo-call with Shuri and Okoye from Wakanda, discussing possible anti-HYDRA methods they could take to fully delete the organization's hold on Bucky's mind. Every so often a loud crash would come from the laboratory next door, followed by the recognizable snicker of Tony Stark and the frustrated cursing of Bruce Banner.
While Banner was actually being productive and working on an experiment that benefitted the team as a whole (because even though Bruce was the only one capable of Hulking out, the other Avengers greatly appreciated every day that they didn't die a painful and gruesome death by an enraged green monster), Stark was busy tinkering with his new age serum.
The Gamma rays he had gotten from Banner the previous day, along with the splash of Asgardian magic he had extracted from Thor and his brother, had enhanced the serum's ability so that whoever ingested it would go down in age depending on how much of it they took. Once it was finished, Tony assumed, a drop or two would be enough to get even 100-year-old Steve down to a skinny thirteen-year-old asthmatic kid. Tony, ever the multitasker, was also working on his next Iron Man suit, downloading schematics for a new team comm unit, and delving deep into the coding that ran his AI F.R.I.D.A.Y.
With so many tasks, it was obvious that someone could mix things up. But not the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
At least, until his lab partner started gushing blood.
Banner cursed loudly and dropped his machinery to the ground with a clatter.
Of course, any loud, remotely angry-sounding noise coming from Banner's side of the laboratory always raised some concern, so Tony quickly stood, knocking over his half-empty water bottle as he did so.
Now it was Stark's turn to swear. It took about half a moment for him to determine that making sure Bruce wasn't going to Hulk Smash him to smithereens was more important than saving his research from being soaked through.
"We good, bud?" Tony asked, looking up. Banner's eyes were scrunched closed, his fingers clenched around a scratched arm that was bleeding profusely. "Bruce…" Tony's fingers hovered over the lab's panic button (which, fortunately, had only ever been used twice).
Banner groaned, his eyes opening for a slight second. Tony could practically hear his lab partner's heart rate increasing as his brown irises flashed with green.
"Yup," Tony decided quickly, slamming the button, "that's not good. F.R.I.D.A.Y, get Nat in here, now!" He jogged over to the wall and rapped his knuckles against it hastily. "Hey, uh, Cap, you guys might wanna suit up and help me hold Banner down…"
There was the sound of clattering, apologizing, and cursing (both in English and Russian), before Steve, Bucky, and Sam showed up in front of the lab.
"Doctor Banner," Sam started slowly, sliding his mechanical wings onto his back, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Bruce groaned, putting all of his willpower into slowing his heartbeat down back to normal. "Scratched myself." Blood was still streaming through his fingers, a streak or two of green mixed in with the crimson. "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine…" He paused to take a deep breath, a tinge of green creeping its way up past the collar of his shirt. "No, nevermind. Not… not fine."
"F.R.I.D.A.Y, where's Nat?" Tony demanded. "And honestly, I thought that button deployed my sui-" His words were cut off mid-sentence by a metal suit slamming into him and engulfing him. "Okay, okay," Tony groaned, discombobulated from the quick and clumsy transition into his Iron Man suit. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, Nat?"
"I'm here," a feminine voice said smoothly, the ex-assassin sleekly making her way into the lab, Clint scurrying behind her with his archery duffel over his shoulder and Natasha's handgun holstered at his side. Nat gracefully made her way past the puddles of water, metal bits, and strewn papers on the ground. She smiled, and every male in the room had the swoopy-gut feeling associated with missing a step on a staircase or seeing someone attractive. "Hey, Bruce."
Just the sound of the red-head's voice seemed to calm the injured scientist. "H- hey, Nat."
"Forty-five days." Natasha pointed to the chart on Banner's desk, reading DAYS SINCE LAST CODE GREEN. "Wouldn't want to break that streak, now would you?"
Banner, clutching his left arm to his chest, shook his head slowly. "No, no. All...all good. Tony, can you- can you toss me the paper towels?"
Tony tore off a generous amount off the roll to mop up his spilled drink and tossed the rest to his friend.
"Thanks," Bruce muttered, holding a wad of towels to his arm.
"What happened?" Nat asked, taking Bruce's uninjured hand into her own.
"Loose piece of metal I didn't account for or notice," Bruce answered, examining the wound on his arm. "Not too bad though. Probably won't even need stitches." He winced, pressing the towel harder on his arm. "Hurts like h*ll though." He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.
"You sure I'm not gonna have to call Veronica again?" Tony asked, only half joking.
"Don't hate, Veronica worked wonders last time."
"If my wonders you mean it destroyed an entire city, then yeah, sure Banner, Veronica worked miracles. Hey, F, you can let me out of this thing now." The suit flew off of him, leaving him standing in the lab in his t-shirt and jeans once more. Tony turned back to his workstation, mopping up the puddles of water that had pooled all over his (thankfully waterproof) keyboard.
"Tony," Steve said, his tone threatening, "don't joke about it." He lowered his shield, and turned to Bucky and Sam. "C'mon, we left Okoye and Shuri on hold, we've gotta get back."
"Wait," Bucky said, staring intensely at a fixed point behind Tony. "What- what's that?"
Tony whirled to face what Bucky had pointed at. "Sh*t," he swore. The vial of ageless serum had fallen and shattered onto the ground during the commotion, and was now giving off a light smoke. "F.R.I.D.A.Y, can we get a reading on that?"
"It seems to be highly radioactive, sir," the AI answered calmly. "I'd recommend cleaning it up as soon as possible."
"Engage invisible radioactivity gear," Tony commanded, grabbing multiple grease-stained rags and mopping up the mess as best he could. "You guys need to get out, especially you Banner. Steve, get Thor from the basements."
"What about Loki?" Sam asked.
"Yes, yes, him too," Tony groaned, having momentarily forgotten about their Asgardian captive. "Just get out of here! All of you!"
As they rushed out of the room, Tony looked down at his hands. The towels were fuming greatly, and the floor even more so. The smoke was growing denser with every second, and Tony, though he had his radiation gear on, was concerned at its rapid rate. "F, get me my suit again."
Within moments, Tony was secured within the exoskeletal Iron Man suit once more. "These fumes… how do I get rid of them?"
"You'd need a complex filtration device capable of handling great amounts of radiation and Asgardian magic, sir."
Tony wracked his brain, but it was difficult to think with the grayish smoke making it harder and harder to see. The fumes had started eeking out the cracks in the laboratory's doors and windows, seeping through the entire compound like a stealthy disease.
"Sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y said as hesitantly as an Artificial Intelligence device could, "I think it's futile at this point. You need to get out before it starts to get into your system."
"Yeah, you're probably right." The thrusters on his feet powered up and Tony made a quick exit from the compound through the window, crashing and shattering glass everywhere.
Even though she had been putting up with his over-the-top antics, Pepper Potts had to do a double take when she saw her fiancé flying down from a silenced helicopter and walking up to her porch.
"Tony?"
"Hey, Pep." Tony's voice was ragged as he popped open his Iron Man helmet and gave her a half-hearted smirk. "Got room for… eight more?"
"What?" Pepper blinked, hoping she'd heard wrong.
"Just… don't freak out, alright? I did enough of that already for both of us." He gave her another pained grin and looked up at the silent private helicopter hovering soundlessly above them. "Bring 'em in!"
There was a flash of green light and the helicopter disappeared, just as an incredibly irked Loki materialized next to Tony. A child sat on his shoulders, giggling and playing with the antihero's long black hair.
"Where's the rest?!" Tony furiously asked him.
"Oh, yes. Them." Loki waved his hand and six more small children appeared, two in each adult's arms.
Pepper gaped at the redhead baby girl in her left arm and the brown-haired boy in her right.
"Whose- whose kids are these…?" She let her sentence trail off, unanswered,when she caught a glance at one of the children in Tony's grasp. The child had a tight black shirt, tiny little sneakers, bright blue eyes, and a tuft of golden blond hair. Pepper could've added two and two together if given time, but she didn't have to. The last piece of the puzzle was right there, grasped tightly in the baby's tiny hand: a shrunken Frisbee-like object, looking more like a plaything than the world's most formidable and famous weapon.
"Oh Tony, you didn't."
Tony chuckled: a dry, painful sound that had anything but amusement behind it. "Wanna help babysit the World's Mightiest Heroes?"
